Question: Where did the term John Doe originate from?

In various English-speaking nations, specific placeholder names, numbers, and codenames have become increasingly common in police investigations. This practice has roots in the United Kingdom, where the term "John Doe" first emerged during the Middle Ages. Although less utilized in legal contexts in the UK, Australia, and New Zealand compared to "Joe Bloggs" or "John Smith," "John Doe" remains relevant in legal terminology, particularly in John Doe injunctions or orders. These terms, however, are not frequently employed in official legal or police settings as they are in the concept of an anonymous or generic individual.

The word bushidō was first used in Japan during the 17th century in Kōyō Gunkan,[3][4][5] but did not come into common usage until after the 1899 publication of Nitobe Inazō's Bushido: The Soul of Japan.[6] In Bushido (1899), Nitobe wrote:

The expression goes back at least to the 1930s, in which decade it was widely used publicly by two former members of Notre Dame's Four Horsemen, Elmer Layden and Jim Crowley. Originally meaning any sort of desperation play, a "Hail Mary" gradually came to denote a long, low-probability pass, typically of the "alley-oop" variety, attempted at the end of a half when a team is too far from the end zone to execute a more conventional play, implying that it would take divine intervention for the play to succeed. For more than 40 years, use of the term was largely confined to Notre Dame and other Catholic universities.[2]

In Anglo-Saxon, the word dic already existed and was pronounced as dick in northern England and as ditch in the south. Similar to Dutch, the English origins of the word lie in digging a trench and forming the upcast soil into a bank alongside it. This practice has meant that the name may be given to either the excavation or to the bank. Thus Offa's Dyke is a combined structure and Car Dyke is a trench - though it once had raised banks as well. In the midlands and north of England, and in the United States, a dike is what a ditch is in the south, a property-boundary marker or small drainage-channel. Where it carries a stream, it may be called a running dike as in Rippingale Running Dike, which leads water from the catchwater drain, Car Dyke, to the South Forty Foot Drain in Lincolnshire (TF1427). The Weir Dike is a soak dike in Bourne North Fen, near Twenty and alongside the River Glen, Lincolnshire. In the Norfolk and Suffolk Broads, a dyke may be a drainage ditch or a narrow artificial channel off a river or broad for access or mooring, some longer dykes being named, e.g. Candle Dyke.[7]

Another driver for the adoption of acronyms was modern warfare with its many highly technical terms. While there is no recorded use of military acronyms in documents dating from the American Civil War (acronyms such as ANV for "Army of Northern Virginia" post-date the war itself), they had become somewhat common in World War I and were very much a part even of the vernacular language of the soldiers during World War II,[32] who themselves were referred to as G.I.s.

The title is taken from the first word of the book in Koine Greek: ἀποκάλυψις apokalypsis, which means "unveiling" or "revelation". The author names himself as "John", but it is currently considered unlikely that the author of Revelation was also the author of the Gospel of John. Some of the evidence for this was set out as early as the second half of the 3rd century by Pope Dionysius of Alexandria, who noted that the gospel and the epistles attributed to John, unlike Revelation, do not name their author, and that the Greek of the gospel is correct and elegant while that of Revelation is neither; some later scholars believe that the two books also have radical differences in theological perspective.[6]

John Arderne (1307-1392) was an English physician and surgeon who invented his own anesthetic that combined hemlock, henbane, and opium. In his writings, he also described how to properly excise and remove the abscess caused by anal fistula.

In 1821, the book A New-year's present, to the little ones from five to twelve was published in New York. It contained Old Santeclaus with Much Delight, an anonymous poem describing Santeclaus on a reindeer sleigh, bringing presents to children.[29] Some modern ideas of Santa Claus seemingly became canon after the anonymous publication of the poem "A Visit From St. Nicholas" (better known today as "The Night Before Christmas") in the Troy, New York, Sentinel on 23 December 1823; Clement Clarke Moore later claimed authorship, though some scholars argue that Henry Livingston, Jr. (who died nine years before Moore's claim) was the author.[7][30] St. Nick is described as being "chubby and plump, a right jolly old elf" with "a little round belly", that "shook when he laughed like a bowlful of jelly", in spite of which the "miniature sleigh" and "tiny reindeer" still indicate that he is physically diminutive. The reindeer were also named: Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Dunder and Blixem (Dunder and Blixem came from the old Dutch words for thunder and lightning, which were later changed to the more German sounding Donner and Blitzen).[31]

The terms anno Domini[a][1][2] (AD) and before Christ[3][4][5][6] (BC) are used to label or number years in the Julian and Gregorian calendars. The term anno Domini is Medieval Latin and means "in the year of the Lord",[7] but is often presented using "our Lord" instead of "the Lord",[8][9] taken from the full original phrase "anno Domini nostri Jesu Christi", which translates to "in the year of our Lord Jesus Christ".

Speakers of American English (notably in the Midwest and Deep South), use the word levee, from the French word levÃ©e (from the feminine past participle of the French verb lever, "to raise"). It originated in New Orleans a few years after the city's founding in 1718 and was later adopted by English speakers.[4][need quotation to verify] The name derives from the trait of the levee's ridges being raised higher than both the channel and the surrounding floodplains.

With the revival of the Roman law in 14th-century Europe, the term came to refer to the legal standing of persons (such as the various "estates of the realm" â€“ noble, common, and clerical), and in particular the special status of the king. The highest estates, generally those with the most wealth and social rank, were those that held power.[7] The word also had associations with Roman ideas (dating back to Cicero) about the "status rei publicae", the "condition of public matters". In time, the word lost its reference to particular social groups and became associated with the legal order of the entire society and the apparatus of its enforcement.[8]


Question: Where did the term "John Doe" originate from?

The name "John Doe," along with variations such as "John Doo," "Richard Roe," and "John Roe," have long been used in English legal contexts to meet standing and jurisdictional requirements, with origins possibly dating back to the reign of King Edward III (1327-1377). Additional fictitious names used in medieval English law for legal proceedings included "John Noakes" (or "Nokes") and "John-a-Stiles" (or "John Stiles").

In 1926, The Sun published a review by John Grierson of Robert Flaherty's film Moana, in which Grierson said the film had "documentary value." This is considered the origin of the term "documentary film"[8]

"God Save the Queen" (alternatively "God Save the King", depending on the gender of the reigning monarch) is the national or royal anthem in a number of Commonwealth realms, their territories, and the British Crown Dependencies.[1][2] The author of the tune is unknown and it may originate in plainchant, but a 1619 attribution to John Bull is sometimes made.

The word dominions originally referred to the possessions of the Kingdom of England. Oliver Cromwell's full title in the 1650s was "Lord Protector of the Commonwealth of England, Scotland and Ireland, and the dominions thereto belonging". In 1660, King Charles II gave the Colony of Virginia the title of dominion in gratitude for Virginia's loyalty to the Crown during the English Civil War.[citation needed] The Commonwealth of Virginia, a State of the United States, still has "the Old Dominion" as one of its nicknames. Dominion also occurred in the name of the short-lived Dominion of New England (1686â€“1689). In all of these cases, the word dominion implied no more than being subject to the English Crown.[citation needed]

The phrase "black death" (mors nigra) was used in 1350 by Simon de Covino or Couvin, a Belgian astronomer, who wrote the poem "On the Judgment of the Sun at a Feast of Saturn" (De judicio Solis in convivio Saturni), which attributes the plague to a conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn.[114] In 1908, Gasquet claimed that use of the name atra mors for the 14th-century epidemic first appeared in a 1631 book on Danish history by J.Â I. Pontanus: "Commonly and from its effects, they called it the black death" (Vulgo & ab effectu atram mortem vocatibant).[115] The name spread through Scandinavia and then Germany, gradually becoming attached to the mid 14th-century epidemic as a proper name.[116] In England, it was not until 1823, that the medieval epidemic was first called the Black Death.[117]

The term "gobbledygook" has a long history of usage in politics. Nixon's Oval Office tape from June 14, 1971, showed H. R. Haldeman describing a situation to Nixon as "a bunch of gobbledygook. But out of the gobbledygook comes a very clear thing: you can't trust the government; you can't believe what they say."[21] President Ronald Reagan explained tax law revisions in an address to the nation with the word, May 28, 1985, saying that "most didnâ€™t improve the system; they made it more like Washington itself: complicated, unfair, cluttered with gobbledygook and loopholes designed for those with the power and influence to hire high-priced legal and tax advisers."[22] In 2017, US Supreme Court justice John Roberts dismissed quantitative sociological reasoning as "gobbledygook" in arguing against any numerical test for gerrymandering.[23]

In mathematics, x is commonly used as the name for an independent variable or unknown value. The modern tradition of using x to represent an unknown was introduced by René Descartes in La Géométrie (1637).[5] As a result of its use in algebra, X is often used to represent unknowns in other circumstances (e.g. X-rays, Generation X, The X-Files, and The Man from Planet X; see also Malcolm X).

The coiner of the term "gerrymander" may never be firmly established. Historians widely believe that the Federalist newspaper editors Nathan Hale, and Benjamin and John Russell were the instigators, but the historical record does not have definitive evidence as to who created or uttered the word for the first time.[3] Appearing with the term, and helping to spread and sustain its popularity, was a political cartoon depicting a strange animal with claws, wings and a dragon-like head satirizing the map of the odd-shaped district. This cartoon was most likely drawn by Elkanah Tisdale, an early 19th-century painter, designer, and engraver who was living in Boston at the time.[3] The word gerrymander was reprinted numerous times in Federalist newspapers in Massachusetts, New England, and nationwide during the remainder of 1812.

Both Nippon and Nihon literally mean "the sun's origin", that is, where the sun originates,[1] and are often translated as the Land of the Rising Sun. This nomenclature comes from Imperial correspondence with the Chinese Sui Dynasty and refers to Japan's eastern position relative to China. Before Nihon came into official use, Japan was known as Wa (倭) or Wakoku (倭国).[2] Wa was a name early China used to refer to an ethnic group living in Japan around the time of the Three Kingdoms Period.

In the popular imagination, the Sons of Liberty was a formal underground organization with recognized members and leaders. More likely, the name was an underground term for any men resisting new Crown taxes and laws.[3] The well-known label allowed organizers to make or create anonymous summons to a Liberty Tree, "Liberty Pole", or other public meeting-place. Furthermore, a unifying name helped to promote inter-Colonial efforts against Parliament and the Crown's actions. Their motto became "No taxation without representation."[4]

The term originally referred to an American flag owned by Driver, who was born on March 17, 1803, in Salem, Massachusetts.[1][2] At age thirteen, Driver ran way from home to become a cabin boy on a ship.[1]


Question: Who was signed to Death Row Records in 2017?

Death Row Records, originally known as Tha Row Records, was established in 1991 by Dr. Dre, Suge Knight, The D.O.C., and Michael “Harry-O” Harris. The label was home to several prominent West Coast artists such as Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Tupac Shakur, The Outlawz, MC Hammer, Young Soldierz, Sam Sneed, Michel'le, Jewell, RBX, The Lady of Rage, Danny Boy, DJ Quik, O.F.T.B., LBC Crew, and the rap group Tha Dogg Pound, featuring Kurupt, Daz Dillinger, Nate Dogg, Soopafly, among others. At its peak, Death Row Records was generating $100,000,000 annually. However, after the loss of Tupac in 1996, many of these artists left the label. In 2006, the company declared bankruptcy and was subsequently purchased by WIDEawake Entertainment Group, Inc. for $18,000,000 on January 15, 2009.

In 2017, the roster of artists signed to Death Row Records was not as extensive as in its heyday. The label's ownership had changed hands several times, and its focus had shifted from its original West Coast hip-hop roots. Notable artists who were still associated with the label in 2017 included Snoop Dogg, who had a long-standing relationship with the company, and a few newer artists who were part of the label's attempt to revitalize its brand. However, the label's output and influence were significantly diminished compared to the 1990s, when it was a powerhouse in the hip-hop industry.

On August 1, 2017, he was appointed the new CEO/President of Def Jam Recordings, succeeding the current CEO, Steve Bartels. The transition took place in 2018.[11]

The original "Ghetto Boys" consisted first of Raheem, The Sire Jukebox, and Sir Rap-A-Lot. When Raheem and Sir Rap-A-Lot left, the group added DJ Ready Red, Prince Johnny C, and Little Billy (the dancer who later came to be known as Bushwick Bill). The first single the group released was "Car Freak" in 1986, which then followed with two LPs "You Ain't Nothin'/I Run This" in 1987, and "Be Down" in 1988. The group released their debut album in 1988 entitled, Making Trouble. With the release receiving very little attention, the group broke up shortly thereafter and a new line-up was put together with the inclusion of Scarface and Willie D, both aspiring solo artists. This new line-up recorded the 1989 album, Grip It! On That Other Level. The group's 1990 self-titled album, The Geto Boys, caused Def American Recordings, the label to which the group was signed at the time, to switch distributors from Geffen Records to Warner Bros. Records (with marketing for the album done by WB sister label Giant Records) because of controversy over the lyrics.

Valentine released her first mixtape Route 80 in 2012, the singles "Bubble Gum" and "Hip-hop Joan Jett" became viral hits on YouTube. Valentine released her EP, Valentine, in 2013 debuting at #38 on the iTunes R&B charts.[7] On July 8, 2014, the singer released her second mixtape, Red Velvet. In 2016, she released her studio album, Scarlet Letter. As of 2016, Valentine is also one of the new cast members on Season 8 of Wild 'N Out on MTV.[8]

On February 13, 2018 it was announced by The Hollywood Reporter that basketball star LeBron James along with his SpringHill Entertainment partner Maverick Carter would be producing a new House Party film with Stephen Glover and Jamal Olori writing the screenplay. "This is definitely not a reboot. It’s an entirely new look for a classic movie. Everyone I grew up with loved House Party. To partner with this creative team to bring a new House Party to a new generation is unbelievable. Listen, it's fun, it's an honor when I got the opportunity to produce it, reboot the whole movie, man, I had so much fun as a kid watching that movie" James said. It is currently unknown if Kid 'n Play will appear in the film however rapper Drake could possibly appear along with a cameo by James. “We’re trying out some ideas for musicians to be cast in and to be a part of the project” Carter said.[6]

On November 22, 2013, T.I. announced that he had signed a deal with Columbia Records, to release his upcoming ninth studio album.[105] T.I. later clarified the deal is solely for his ninth album.[106] T.I. revealed he recruited Pharrell Williams, who was influential in his move to Columbia, to executive produce the LP, with plans to release the album in early 2014.[107] In December 2013, T.I. revealed although he had originally planned to release Trouble Man II, since getting into the studio with the album's executive producer, Pharrell Williams, he had a change of heart. He stated: "Since we started working on the project and the project started has taken a different shape, I think we're going to postpone that title. We're gonna rework that. I got a couple of things in mind." He still plans to release the sequel to Trouble Man, however, he said: "All I'ma say is, it's gonna be a motion picture, it's gonna be a theatrical-worthy title. Something that will definitely seem instant classic. I'm thinking something like 'Trap Champion', 'Paperwork,' but whatever it is the subtitle will be 'The Motion Picture'."[108] On December 16, 2013, it was reported that T.I. decided to name it Paperwork.[109]

He finishes the song with the line, "Y'all got til April the 7th to get y'all shit together", hinting at the release date for his fourth album (the date turned out to be the day pre-orders opened and the release date was announced to be April 14).[7] The song mentions Donald Trump, while media outlets perceived it as a diss track to rappers Drake and Big Sean.[8]

Snoop's debut album, Doggystyle, was released in 1993 under Death Row Records, debuting at number one on both the Billboard 200 and Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums charts, powered by spectacular first week sales 803,000 units.[5] Doggystyle became certified 4Ã— platinum in 1994 and spawned several hit singles, including "What's My Name?", "Gin & Juice" and the European hit "Doggy Dogg World". As of March 2008, the album has sold 6,137,000 copies in the United States.[1]

On March 25, 2014, Corgan announced he had signed a new record deal with BMG, for two new albums, titled Monuments to an Elegy and Day for Night, respectively.[99] In June, it was revealed that Mike Byrne was no longer in the band, to be replaced by Tommy Lee of Mötley Crüe on the new album, and Fiorentino would not be recording on the album either.[100][101][102] Monuments to an Elegy was released on December 5, 2014, to generally positive reviews. The band toured in support of the album starting on November 26, with Rage Against the Machine's Brad Wilk filling in on drums and The Killers' Mark Stoermer filling in on bass.[103] The follow-up album, which will no longer be titled Day For Night, was pushed back to a late 2015 or early 2016 release as the band continued to tour.[104]

His professional success was hampered by frequent legal troubles, including incarceration.[1] He died on November 13, 2004, of a drug overdose, two days shy of his 36th birthday.[4] Before his death, Ol' Dirty Bastard recorded his third solo album, which remains unreleased.

In the hospital Jackson signed a publishing deal with Columbia Records before he was dropped from the label and blacklisted by the recording industry because of his song, "Ghetto Qu'ran". Unable to work in a U.S. studio, he went to Canada.[33][34] With business partner Sha Money XL, Jackson recorded over thirty songs for mixtapes to build a reputation. In a HitQuarters interview, Marc Labelle of Shady Records A&R said that Jackson used the mixtape circuit to his advantage: "He took all the hottest beats from every artist and flipped them with better hooks. They then got into all the markets on the mixtapes and all the mixtape DJs were messing with them."[35] Jackson's popularity increased, and in 2002 he released the mixtape Guess Who's Back?. He then released 50 Cent Is the Future backed by G-Unit, a mixtape revisiting material by Jay-Z and Raphael Saadiq.[22]


Question: The era of the Great Mughals commenced with the ascension of whom?

The Mughal Empire, established by Babur following his victory over Ibrahim Lodi in the First Battle of Panipat in 1526, was founded by a dynasty with Turco-Mongol Timurid roots, claiming lineage from both Genghis Khan and Timur. After a brief interruption during Humayun's reign by the Sur Empire, the "golden age" of the Mughal Empire commenced with the ascent of Akbar the Great in 1556. Under Akbar and his son Jahangir, the empire saw economic growth and religious tolerance, with the monarchs showing interest in local religious and cultural practices. Akbar, a skilled warrior, formed alliances with various Hindu Rajput kingdoms, although some posed a challenge to Mughal supremacy in northwestern India. Most of these kingdoms were eventually subdued by Akbar. Despite being a Muslim, Akbar promoted a syncretic faith called Dīn-i Ilāhī later in his life, as documented in historical texts such as Ain-i-Akbari and Dabistān-i Mazāhib.

The Mongol-led Yuan dynasty (1271–1368) ruled before the establishment of the Ming dynasty. Explanations for the demise of the Yuan include institutionalized ethnic discrimination against Han Chinese that stirred resentment and rebellion, overtaxation of areas hard-hit by inflation, and massive flooding of the Yellow River as a result of the abandonment of irrigation projects.[8] Consequently, agriculture and the economy were in shambles, and rebellion broke out among the hundreds of thousands of peasants called upon to work on repairing the dykes of the Yellow River.[8] A number of Han Chinese groups revolted, including the Red Turbans in 1351. The Red Turbans were affiliated with the White Lotus, a Buddhist secret society. Zhu Yuanzhang was a penniless peasant and Buddhist monk who joined the Red Turbans in 1352; he soon gained a reputation after marrying the foster daughter of a rebel commander.[9] In 1356, Zhu's rebel force captured the city of Nanjing,[10] which he would later establish as the capital of the Ming dynasty.

Faxian (or Fa Hsien etc), a Chinese Buddhist, was one of the pilgrims who visited India during the reign of the Gupta emperor Chandragupta II. He started his journey from China in 399 and reached India in 405. During his stay in India up to 411, he went on a pilgrimage to Mathura, Kannauj, Kapilavastu, Kushinagar, Vaishali, Pataliputra, Kashi, and Rajagriha, and made careful observations about the empire's conditions. Faxian was pleased with the mildness of administration. The Penal Code was mild and offenses were punished by fines only. From his accounts, the Gupta Empire was a prosperous period. And until the Rome-China trade axis was broken with the fall of the Han dynasty, the Guptas' did indeed prosper. His writings form one of the most important sources for the history of this period.

After the destruction of the town in raids by the Adil Shahi dynasty in 1630 AD and again between 1636 AD and 1647 AD, Dadoji Konddeo, the successor to Dhadphale, oversaw the reconstruction of the town. He stabilised the revenue collection and administrative systems of areas around Pune and in neighbouring area of the Maval region. In addition, he developed effective methods to manage disputes and to enforce law and order.[29] Construction on the Lal Mahal began in 1631 AD. The Lal Mahal was completed in 1640 AD.[25] Jijabai is said to have commissioned the building of the Kasba Ganapati temple. The Ganesha idol consecrated at this temple has been regarded as the presiding deity (gramadevata) of the city.[30]

Mughal India had a large shipbuilding industry, particularly in the Bengal Subah province. The annual shipbuilding output of Bengal alone totaled around 2,232,500 tons, larger than the output of the Dutch (450,000â€“550,000 tons), the British (340,000 tons), and North America (23,061 tons).[53]

Khizr Khan's rule at the fort lasted till 1311 AD and due to the pressure of Rajputs he was forced to entrust power to the Sonigra chief Maldeva who held the fort for 7 years. Hammir Singh, usurped control of the fort from Maldeva by "treachery and intrigue" and Chittor once again regained its past glory. Hammir, before his death in 1364 AD, had converted Mewar into a fairly large and prosperous kingdom. The dynasty (and clan) fathered by him came to be known by the name Sisodia after the village where he was born. His son Ketra Singh succeeded him and ruled with honour and power. Ketra Singh's son Lakha who ascended the throne in 1382 AD also won several wars. His famous grandson Rana Kumbha came to the throne in 1433 AD and by that time the Muslim rulers of Malwa and Gujarat had acquired considerable clout and were keen to usurp the powerful Mewar state.[20]

The decline of the Mughal Empire following the 27-year Mughal-Maratha war (1680–1707) led to rapid territorial gains for the Maratha Empire. Under Peshwa Baji Rao, Gujarat, Malwa and Rajputana came under Maratha control. Finally, in 1737, Baji Rao defeated the Mughals on the outskirts of Delhi and brought much of the former Mughal territories south of Delhi under Maratha control. Baji Rao's son Balaji Baji Rao further increased the territory under Maratha control by invading Punjab in 1758. This brought the Marathas into direct confrontation with the Durrani empire of Ahmad Shah Abdali (also known as Ahmad Shah Durrani). In 1759 he raised an army from the Pashtun and Baloch tribes and made several gains against the smaller Maratha garrisons in Punjab. He then joined with his Indian allies—the Rohilla Afghans of the Gangetic Doab—forming a broad coalition against the Marathas. The Marathas, under the command of Sadashivrao Bhau, responded by gathering an army of between 45,000–60,000, which was accompanied by roughly 200,000 non-combatants, a number of whom were pilgrims desirous of making pilgrimages to Hindu holy sites in northern India. The Marathas started their northward journey from Patdur on 14 March 1760. Both sides tried to get the Nawab of Awadh, Shuja-ud-Daulah, into their camp. By late July Shuja-ud-Daulah made the decision to join the Afghan-Rohilla coalition, preferring to join what was perceived as the "army of Islam". This was strategically a major loss for the Marathas, since Shuja provided much-needed finances for the long Afghan stay in North India. It is doubtful whether the Afghan-Rohilla coalition would have the means to continue their conflict with the Marathas without Shuja's support.[citation needed]

The fort complex comprises 65 historic built structures, among them 4 palace complexes, 19 main temples, 4 memorials and 20 functional water bodies. These can be divided into two major construction phases. The first hill fort with one main entrance was established in the 5th century and successively fortified until the 12th century. Its remains are mostly visible on the western edges of the plateau. The second, more significant defence structure was constructed in the 15th century during the reign of the Sisodia Rajputs, when the royal entrance was relocated and fortified with seven gates, and the medieval fortification wall was built on an earlier wall construction from the 13th century.

Chess is said to have originated in this period,[63] where its early form in the 6th century was known as caturaṅga, which translates as "four divisions [of the military]" – infantry, cavalry, elephantry, and chariotry – represented by the pieces that would evolve into the modern pawn, knight, rook, and bishop, respectively. Doctors also invented several medical instruments, and even performed operations. The Indian numerals which were the first positional base 10 numeral systems in the world originated from Gupta India. The ancient Gupta text Kama Sutra by the Indian scholar Vatsyayana is widely considered to be the standard work on human sexual behavior in Sanskrit literature . Aryabhata, a noted mathematician-astronomer of the Gupta period proposed that the earth is round and rotates about its own axis. He also discovered that the Moon and planets shine by reflected sunlight. Instead of the prevailing cosmogony in which eclipses were caused by pseudo-planetary nodes Rahu and Ketu, he explained eclipses in terms of shadows cast by and falling on Earth.[64]

The most likely time for the reign of Sri Gupta is c. 240–280.[25] The Murundas, who were feudal lords of Kushans, provided or granted land to Sri Gupta. He can be considered the first person of Gupta's empire, but not the founder of the empire. His son and successor Ghatotkacha ruled presumably from c. 280–319. He challenged other feudal lords and conquered their lands. In contrast to his successor, Chandragupta I, who is mentioned as Maharajadhiraja, he and his son Ghatotkacha are referred to in inscriptions as Maharaja.[26] At the beginning of the 4th century, the Guptas established and ruled a few small Hindu kingdoms in Magadha and around modern-day Bihar.

By about the 7th century most main features of the Hindu temple were established along with theoretical texts on temple architecture and building methods.[12] From between about the 7th and 13th centuries a large number of temples and their ruins have survived (though far fewer than once existed). Many regional styles developed, very often following political divisions, as large temples were typically built with royal patronage. In the north, Muslim invasions from the 11th century onwards reduced the building of temples, and saw the loss of many existing ones.[12] The south also witnessed Hindu-Muslim conflict that affected the temples, but the region was relatively less affected than the north.[13] In late 14th century, the Hindu Vijayanagara Empire came to power and controlled much of South India. During this period, the distinctive very tall gopuram gatehouse actually a late development, from the 12th century or later, typically added to older large temples.[12]


Question: What distributes the powers between the union and state governments in a federation?

Federalism in India
The Indian Constitution establishes a federal system, identifying India as a "Union of States." Part XI of the Constitution outlines the allocation of legislative, administrative, and executive powers between the Union or Central government and the States of India. These powers are delineated in three lists: the Union List, the State List, and the Concurrent List, detailing the Union's, the States', and the shared authorities, respectively.

The modern-day Parliament of Canada came into existence in 1867, in which year the Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland passed the British North America Act, 1867, uniting the provinces of New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Canada—with the Province of Canada split into Quebec and Ontario—into a single federation called the Dominion of Canada. Though the form of the new federal legislature was again nearly identical to the parliament of the United Kingdom, the decision to retain this model was made with heavy influence from the just-concluded American Civil War, which indicated to many Canadians the faults of the American federal system, with its relatively powerful states and a less powerful federal government. The British North America Act limited the powers of the provinces, providing that all subjects not explicitly delegated to them by that document remain within the authority of the federal parliament, while simultaneously giving the provinces unique powers in certain agreed-upon areas of funding.

Separation of powers, therefore, refers to the division of responsibilities into distinct branches to limit any one branch from exercising the core functions of another.

Checks and balances is the principle that each of the Branches has the power to limit or check the other two and this creates a balance between the three separate powers of the state, this principle induces that the ambitions of one branch prevent that one of the other branches become supreme, and thus be eternally confronting each other and in that process leaving the people free from government abuses. Checks and Balances are designed to maintain the system of separation of powers keeping each branch in its place. This is based on the idea that it is not enough to separate the powers and guarantee their independence but to give the various branches the constitutional means to defend their own legitimate powers from the encroachments of the other branches.[15] They guarantee that the powers of the State have the same weight (co-equal), that is, to be balanced, so that they can limit each other, avoiding the abuse of state power. the origin of checks and balances, like separation of powers itself, is specifically credited to Montesquieu in the Enlightenment (in The Spirit of the Laws, 1748), under this influence was implemented in 1787 in the Constitution of the United States.

Founded in 1922, the Soviet Union was formally a federation of Soviet Republics, autonomous republics of the Soviet Union and other federal subjects, though in practice highly centralized under the Government of the Soviet Union. The Russian Federation has inherited a similar system.

The greatest expression of the separation of powers was incorporated in the United States Constitution, the founding fathers included features of many new concepts, including hard-learned historical lessons about the checks and balances of power and the then-new concept of separation of powers. Similar concepts were also prominent in the state governments of the United States. As colonies of Great Britain, the founding fathers considered that the American states had suffered an abuse of the broad power of parliamentarism and monarchy. As a remedy, the US Constitution limits the powers of the federal government through various means, in particular, the three branches of the federal government are divided by exercising different functions, and are separated in origin by separate elections, each branch controls the actions of others and balances its powers in some way.

Another movement calling itself "New Federalism" appeared in the late 20th century and early 21st century. New Federalism, which is characterized by a gradual return of power to the states, was initiated by President Ronald Reagan (1981â€“89) with his "devolution revolution" in the early 1980s and lasted until 2001. Previously, the federal government had granted money to the states categorically, limiting the states to use this funding for specific programs. Reagan's administration, however, introduced a practice of giving block grants, freeing state governments to spend the money at their own discretion.

Those opposed to the new Constitution became known as the Anti-Federalists. They generally were local rather than cosmopolitan in perspective, oriented to plantations and farms rather than commerce or finance, and wanted strong state governments and a weak national government. The Anti-Federalist critique soon centered on the absence of a bill of rights, which Federalists promised to provide.

The States are recognized as governments, and, when their own constitutions permit, may do as they please; provided they do not interfere with the Constitution and laws of the United States, or with the civil or natural rights of the people recognized thereby, and held in conformity to them. The right of every person to "life, liberty, and property," to "keep and bear arms," to the "writ of habeas corpus" to "trial by jury," and divers others, are recognized by, and held under, the Constitution of the United States, and cannot be infringed by individuals or even by the government itself.

A federation also differs from an associated state, such as the Federated States of Micronesia (in free association with the United States) and Cook Islands and Niue (which form part of the Realm of New Zealand). There are two kinds of associated states: in case of Micronesia, association is concluded by treaty between two sovereign states; in case of Cook Islands and Niue, association is concluded by domestic legal arrangements.

A state can be distinguished from a government. The government is the particular group of people, the administrative bureaucracy that controls the state apparatus at a given time.[30][31][32] That is, governments are the means through which state power is employed. States are served by a continuous succession of different governments.[32] States are immaterial and nonphysical social objects, whereas governments are groups of people with certain coercive powers.[33]


Question: Which financial statement involves all aspects of the accounting equation? (This is already a similar question and doesn't need to be changed)

Financial accounting
The balance sheet, a critical financial statement, encapsulates a company's financial position by presenting its assets, liabilities, and equity at a specific point in time, typically the end of the fiscal year. It reflects the accounting equation, where total assets are always equivalent to the sum of total liabilities and equity. This statement serves as a snapshot of a company's financial health and can be used to assess its financial status.

The primary measures for a TOC view of finance and accounting are: throughput, operating expense and investment. Throughput is calculated from sales minus "totally variable cost", where totally variable cost is usually calculated as the cost of raw materials that go into creating the item sold.[16](pp13â€“14)

In the case of finding Cash Flows when there is a change in a fixed asset account, say the Buildings and Equipment account decreases, the change is added back to Net Income. The reasoning behind this is that because Net Income is calculated by, Net Income = Rev - Cogs - Depreciation Exp - Other Exp then the Net Income figure will be decreased by the building's depreciation that year. This depreciation is not associated with an exchange of cash, therefore the depreciation is added back into net income to remove the non-cash activity.

In a general sense, the ratio is simply debt divided by equity. However, what is classified as debt can differ depending on the interpretation used. Thus, the ratio can take on a number of forms including:

In the United States, the SEC has generally deferred to the accounting industry (acting through various organisations throughout the years) as to the accounting standards for financial reporting, and the U.S. Congress has deferred to the SEC.

When used to calculate a company's financial leverage, the debt usually includes only the Long Term Debt (LTD). Quoted ratios can even exclude the current portion of the LTD. The composition of equity and debt and its influence on the value of the firm is much debated and also described in the Modigliani-Miller theorem.

Members of CPA Australia, the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Australia and the Institute of Public Accountants have a professional obligation to take all reasonable steps within their power to ensure that entities with which they are involved comply with Australian Accounting Standards when preparing their general purpose financial statements.

In mathematics, a system of linear equations (or linear system) is a collection of two or more linear equations involving the same set of variables.[1] For example,

The original series of Australian Accounting Standards (AASs), which was applicable to entities not regulated under the Corporations Law, was issued by the former AASB and the Public Sector Accounting Standards Board (PSASB) of the Australian Accounting Research Foundation (AARF) on behalf of the professional accounting bodies, prior to 2000. The original series of AASB Standards (AASBs), which was applicable to entities regulated under the Corporations Law, was also issued by the former AASB, prior to 2000. Most AASs were superseded by AASBs for reporting periods beginning on or after 1 January 2005 – as at 1 July 2011, only AAS 25 Financial Reporting by Superannuation Plans was still operative. All standards now issued by the AASB are labelled AASB Accounting Standards – their application paragraphs specify the types of entities to which they apply.

None of these views conform to U.S. Generally Accepted Accounting Principles or International Accounting Standards, nor are any accepted for most income or other tax reporting purposes.

Sections 39 and 40 of the Constitution of New South Wales require that all revenues, loans and other monies collected by the state are to be paid into a single consolidated fund. This was originally formed as the Consolidated Revenue Fund in 1855, and was merged with the state's General Loan Account to be named the Consolidated Fund from 1982.


Question: Who portrays Claire Underwood in the series House of Cards?

Robin Wright is the actress who portrayed Claire Underwood in the Netflix political drama series House of Cards. Her performance earned her a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Television Series Drama in 2013, marking the first time an actress won a Golden Globe for a web television series. Wright was also nominated for several Primetime Emmy Awards for her role as Claire Underwood and as a producer of the show in the Outstanding Lead Actress and Outstanding Drama Series categories between 2013 and 2017.

Gone Girl is a 2014 American psychological thriller film directed by David Fincher and written by Gillian Flynn, based on her 2012 novel of the same title. The film stars Ben Affleck, Rosamund Pike, Neil Patrick Harris, and Tyler Perry. Set in Missouri, the story begins as a mystery that follows the events surrounding Nick Dunne (Affleck), who becomes the primary suspect in the sudden disappearance of his wife, Amy (Pike).

Kathleen Denise Quinlan (born November 19, 1954) is an American film and television actress. She received a Best Actress Golden Globe nomination for the 1977 film I Never Promised You a Rose Garden and a Best Supporting Actress Academy Award nomination for her role in the 1995 film Apollo 13. Her other film appearances include Airport '77 (1977), The Promise (1979), The Runner Stumbles (1979), Sunday Lovers (1980), Sunset (1988), Clara's Heart (1988), The Doors (1991), Breakdown (1997), and Breach (2007).

Kelly starred in the CBS drama To Have & to Hold opposite Jason Beghe before playing Mandy Hampton in the first season of The West Wing. In 2003, Kelly began playing single mother Karen Roe on the teen drama One Tree Hill. She also directed two episodes of the series: "Resolve" (2007) and "I Slept with Someone in Fall Out Boy and All I Got Was This Stupid Song Written About Me" (2006).[citation needed] In the fifth season, she ceased to be a regular cast member, but made guest appearances in the 100th episode and the sixth-season finale. She has made guest appearances in television shows such as Heroes, Law & Order, and Numb3rs. Kelly has also appeared in the films Remember the Daze, A Smile as Big as the Moon and Taken Back: Finding Haley.

The Tunnel (French: Tunnel) is a British-French crime drama television series adapted from the 2011 Danish/Swedish crime series The Bridge (Broen/Bron). The series premiered on 16 October 2013 on Sky Atlantic in the United Kingdom, and on 11 November 2013 on Canal+ in France.[citation needed] The Tunnel stars Stephen Dillane and Clémence Poésy as British and French police detectives Karl Roebuck and Elise Wassermann, respectively.

Jennifer Anne Garner (born April 17, 1972)[1] is an American actress. Following a supporting role in Pearl Harbor (2001), Garner gained recognition for her performance as CIA officer Sydney Bristow in the ABC spy-action thriller Alias, which aired from 2001 to 2006. For her work on the series, she won a Golden Globe Award and a SAG Award, and received four Primetime Emmy Award nominations.

In 2014, for her role in Days of Our Lives, Davidson was awarded a Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series; the second actress to win a Daytime Emmy Award in the category of "Lead Actress" for the soap.[2] Davidson also starred in the film The House on Sorority Row (1983), had a leading role in the short-lived CBS crime series Broken Badges (1990â€“91), and wrote a number of mystery novels in the 2000s. In 2014, Davidson joined the cast of Bravo reality television series The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills with record salary of $750,000 per season.[3]

Spencer has appeared in films such as In My Sleep (2010), Cowboys & Aliens (2011), This Means War (2012), Chasing Mavericks (2012), The Haunting in Connecticut 2: Ghosts of Georgia (2013), Oz the Great and Powerful (2013), and This Is Where I Leave You (2014). On television, she has had recurring roles on Timeless, Mad Men, Hawthorne, and Suits. From 2013 to 2016, Spencer starred as Amantha Holden in the SundanceTV drama series Rectify, for which she received a Critics' Choice Television Award nomination. In 2016, Spencer began playing the leading role of history professor Lucy Preston in the NBC series Timeless.

He is best known for portraying Petyr "Littlefinger" Baelish in the HBO series Game of Thrones (2011–2017), Tommy Carcetti in the HBO series The Wire (2004–2008), Stuart Alan Jones in the Channel 4 series Queer as Folk (1999–2000), John Boy in the RTÉ series Love/Hate (2010–2011) and CIA operative Bill Wilson in The Dark Knight Rises (2012). He also hosted seasons 10 through 13 of Other Voices.

Presented as a paranormal documentary series titled My Roanoke Nightmare in the first half of the season, the story follows a married couple whose experiences are reenacted by actors. Shelby (Lily Rabe) and Matt Miller (André Holland) move from Los Angeles, California, to a house in North Carolina following a brutal assault which left Matt temporarily hospitalized and caused Shelby to have a miscarriage. As soon as the couple settles into their new home, located on a farmstead in rural North Carolina where the Roanoke Colony settled before their infamous disappearance, strange and paranormal occurrences begin to haunt them and Matt's sister, Lee Harris (Adina Porter). In the five-episode documentary, Shelby is portrayed by the extravagant English actress Audrey Tindall (Sarah Paulson), Matt by the conceited Dominic Banks (Cuba Gooding Jr.) and Lee by the alcoholic Monet Tumusiime (Angela Bassett).

Greer had recurring role on the Fox comedy series Arrested Development (2003–2005, 2013), playing Kitty Sanchez in 10 episodes total and appearing in each of the series' three original seasons. In an August 2009 interview, Greer said that she is most recognized for this role.[11] She had supporting roles in Jawbreaker (1999), What Women Want (2000), The Wedding Planner (2001), Adaptation (2002), 13 Going on 30 (2004), The Village (2004), Elizabethtown (2005), 27 Dresses (2008), and Love Happens (2009). Greer has made guest appearances on Just Shoot Me! (2003), CSI: Miami (2005), My Name Is Earl (2006), It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia (2007, 2011), Californication (2007–2008, 2012), ER (2009), House (2009), Modern Family (2010), The Big Bang Theory (2010), How I Met Your Mother (2010) and Warren the Ape (2010). She took on a starring role in the ABC sitcom Miss Guided (2008), but it was canceled in its first season.[12] She also starred in the indie satire Visioneers (2008).


Question: Where did the world's largest recorded wave take place?

On July 9, 1958, a massive earthquake triggered a landslide in Lituya Bay, Alaska, which generated a megatsunami. This wave reached a staggering maximum height of 520 meters (1,710 feet) at the entrance of Gilbert Inlet, washing away trees and reaching as far inland as the bedrock. The wave surged over the headland, stripping the area of trees and soil, and continued along the fjord that forms Lituya Bay. It destroyed a fishing boat and claimed the lives of two people. Remarkably, Howard Ulrich and his son survived by riding the wave in their boat.

Following the El Nino event in 1997 â€“ 1998, the largest recorded to date,[69] the Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory attributes the first large-scale water bleaching event to the warming waters.[70] This process results from warming ocean water temperatures.

On 25 March 2011, Port and Airport Research Institute (PARI) reported tsunami height by visiting the port sites as follows:[162]

On August 29, 2006, he set the world altitude record for gliders over El Calafate, Argentina at 15,460 metres (50,720Â ft).[18]

Today, Mazuism is practiced in about 1500 temples in 26 countries around the world, mostly in the Sinosphere or the overseas Chinese communities. Of these temples, almost 1000 are on Taiwan,[40] representing a doubling of the 509 temples recorded in 1980 and more than a dozen times the number recorded before 1911.[41] These temples are generally registered as Taoist, although some are considered Buddhist.[10] There are more than 90 Mazu Temples in Hong Kong. In Mainland China, Mazuism is formally classified as a cult outside of Buddhism and Taoism, although numerous Buddhist and Taoist temples include shrines to her. Her worship is generally permitted but not encouraged, with most surviving temples concentrated around Putian in Fujian. Including the twenty on Meizhou Island, there are more than a hundred in the prefecture and another 70 elsewhere in the province, mostly in the settlements along its coast. There are more than 40 temples in Guangdong and Hainan and more than 30 in Zhejiang and Jiangsu, but many historical temples are now treated as museums and operated by local parks or cultural agencies. The A-Ma Temple on Macao Island is the probable source of its name in Portuguese and English; the historic and protected Tin Hau Temple, Causeway Bay in Hong Kong is the source of the Tin Hau area's name from the Cantonese pronunciation of one of Mazu's titles, "Empress of Heaven". The Mazu temple in Melbourne is the largest Chinese temple in Australia.

On February 11, 2006, Fossett set the absolute world record for "distance without landing" by flying from the Kennedy Space Center, Florida, around the world eastbound, then upon returning to Florida continuing across the Atlantic a second time to land in Bournemouth, England. The official distance was 25,766 statute miles (41,467Â km) and the duration was 76 hours 45 minutes.

The wreck of Titanic was first discovered in 1985 (more than 70 years after the disaster), and the vessel remains on the seabed. The ship was split in two and is gradually disintegrating at a depth of 12,415 feet (3,784 m). Since her discovery in 1985, thousands of artefacts have been recovered and put on display at museums around the world. Titanic has become one of the most famous ships in history; her memory is kept alive by numerous works of popular culture, including books, folk songs, films, exhibits, and memorials. Titanic is the second largest ocean liner wreck in the world, only beaten by her sister HMHS Britannic, the largest ever sunk.

For floods, the event may be measured in terms of mÂ³/s or height; for storm surges, in terms of the height of the surge, and similarly for other events.

Freshwater West (also known as Fresh West) is a beach near Castlemartin, Pembrokeshire in West Wales. It lies along the B4319 road and is part of the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park. Freshwater West, noted for its strong waves and currents, is one of Wales' top surfing locations, and regularly hosts surfing tournaments such as the Welsh National Surfing Championships. Since 2010 the beach has had a lifeguard service during the busier summer months. The Castlemartin MOD firing range is located nearby.

The drive along Highway 1 has been described as "one of the best drives on Earth."[38] Most of the 4 to 5 million tourists who currently visit Big Sur each year never leave Highway 1, because the adjacent Santa Lucia Range is one of the largest roadless areas near a coast in the entire United States. The highway winds along the western flank of the mountains mostly within sight of the Pacific Ocean, varying from near sea level up to a thousand-foot sheer drop to the water. The views are one reason that Big Sur was ranked second among all United States destinations in TripAdvisor's 2008 Travelers' Choice Destination Awards.[39] Due to its popularity, the road during summer vacation periods and on holiday weekends is often crowded and traffic is slow. Most of the highway is so narrow and the sides so steep that there's no shoulder, limited turnouts, and no passing lanes.[40]

In 1976, a Guinness Book of World Records museum opened in the Empire State Building. Speed shooter Bob Munden then went on tour promoting The Guinness Book of World Records by performing his record fast draws with a standard weight single-action revolver from a western movie type holster. His fastest time for a draw was 0.02 seconds.[26] Among exhibits were life-size statues of the world's tallest man (Robert Wadlow) and world's largest earth worm, an X-ray photo of a sword swallower, repeated lightning strike victim Roy Sullivan's hat complete with lightning holes and a pair of gem-studded golf shoes on sale for $6500.[27] The museum closed in 1995.[28]


Question: When did Hyderabad become a part of India?

Hyderabad State (1948-56) was a state in India that was created after the princely state of Hyderabad joined the Indian Union on November 24, 1949. This integration marked Hyderabad's official inclusion as part of India, with the state existing until 1956.

In 1945 the regiments of the British Indian Army dropped the numeral in their titles and so the Rajputanas assumed their current name. In 1947 the regiment was allocated to India and the newly formed Indian Army when the sub-continent became independent from the British Empire. In 1949, the 1st Battalion was elevated to the status of guards, becoming 3rd Battalion, Brigade of the Guards.

The partition itself, according to leading politicians such as Mohammed Ali Jinnah, leader of the All India Muslim League, and Jawaharlal Nehru, leader of the Indian National Congress, should have resulted in peaceful relations. As the Hindu and Muslim populations were scattered unevenly in the whole country, the partition of British India into India and Pakistan in 1947 was not possible along religious lines. Nearly one third of the Muslim population of British India remained in India.[3] Inter-communal violence between Hindus, Sikhs and Muslims resulted in between 500,000 and 1 million casualties.[1]:6

On 17 August the President of a Textile Workers' Union led a hooligan and his mob (all Muslims) into the compound of a Birla owned Kesoram Cotton Mill. The Mill was looted while the workers, including 300 Odia speakers, (their religion is disputed) were massacred.[153][154] In Calcutta, within 72 hours, more than 4,000 people lost their lives and 100,000 residents in the city of Calcutta were left homeless.[149][155] Some sources claim that between 7000-10000 people were killed, including both Hindus and Muslims.[156] On 21 August Bengal was brought under the Viceroy's rule.[157] British troops entered the place, and the rioting was reduced by 22 August.[158] This sparked off several riots between Muslims and Hindus in Noakhali, Bihar and Punjab that year. There also occurred communal violence in Delhi, Bombay, Punjab and the Northwest Frontier Province.

The Indian citizenship and nationality law and the Constitution of India provides single citizenship for the entire country. The provisions relating to citizenship at the commencement of the Constitution are contained in Articles 5 to 11 in PartÂ II of the Constitution of India. Relevant Indian legislation is the Citizenship Act 1955, which has been amended by the Citizenship (Amendment) Act 1986, the Citizenship (Amendment) Act 1992, the Citizenship (Amendment) Act 2003, and the Citizenship (Amendment) Ordinance 2005. The Citizenship (Amendment) Act 2003 received the assent of the President of India on 7 January 2004 and came into force on 3 December 2004. The Citizenship (Amendment) Ordinance 2005 was promulgated by the President of India and came into force on 28 June 2005.

In 1961, Sukarno, with the support of the Communist Party, annexed West Papua ahead of a planned transition to independence following Dutch rule.[19] The territory was formally transferred to Indonesia in 1963, and the Act of Free Choice achieved its incorporation as such in 1969.

After the sweeping victory of the Left Front in 1977, Jyoti Basu became the Chief Minister of the Left Front government, a position he held continuously for more than 23 years, a record in the country. Under his leadership, the Left Front government embarked on land reforms on a scale unprecedented in the country[citation needed]; it instituted a panchayati raj system which was radical for its times, which gave the poor peasants and small farmers a say in running the panchayati institutions. As per leftists, West Bengal became an oasis of communal harmony and secular values under his leadership as there were always reports of communal clashes in West Bengal[citation needed], while various measures were introduced to promote social and economic development in West Bengal, however these measures never fully gave results expected and West Bengal remains a poverty ridden state. Basic land reform was instituted, while irrigation and rural electrification were extended. In addition, India's first comprehensive system of democratic decentralisation was established. Agricultural production came out of a slump that it had been in for decades before the Left Front came to power, and during the Eighties and Nineties the state showed the highest rates of agricultural growth among the 17 most populous Indian states. As a result of institutional changes and agricultural growth, levels of nutrition improved and rural poverty declined noticeably.[11] One has to recall how as Chief Minister he dealt with the situation after the assassination of Indira Gandhi in 1984 when violence against Sikhs broke out in various parts of the country, but nothing was allowed to happen in West Bengal. Similarly he dealt firmly with efforts to instigate trouble after the demolition of the Babri Masjid in 1992. In 1996 Jyoti Basu seemed all set to be the consensus leader of the United Front for the post of Prime Minister of India. However, the CPI(M) Politburo decided not to participate in the government, a decision that Jyoti Basu later termed a historic blunder. H.D. Deve Gowda from the Janata Dal instead became prime minister. Basu resigned from the Chief Ministership of West Bengal in 2000 for health reasons, and was succeeded by fellow CPI(M) politician Buddhadeb Bhattacharya. As of 2014[update], Basu holds the record for being the longest-serving Chief Minister in Indian political history.[12]

Under Houghton, India witnessed massive improvement in their football standing. In August 2007, Houghton won the country the restarted Nehru Cup after India defeated Syria 1–0 in the final.[39] Pappachen Pradeep scored the winning goal for India that match. The next year, Houghton lead India during the 2008 AFC Challenge Cup, which was hosted in Hyderabad and Delhi. During the tournament, India breezed through the group stage before defeating Myanmar in the semi-finals. In the final against Tajikistan, India, through a Sunil Chhetri hat-trick, won the match 4–1. The victory not only earned India the championship but it also allowed India to qualify for the 2011 AFC Asian Cup, the nation's first Asian Cup appearance in 27 years.[40] In order to prepare for the Asian Cup, Houghton had the team stay together as a squad for eight months from June 2010 till the start of the tournament, meaning the players would not play for their clubs.[41]

Commander K. M. Nanavati vs. State of Maharashtra was a 1959 Indian court case where Commander Kawas Manekshaw Nanavati, a Naval Commander, was tried for the murder of Prem Ahuja, his wife's lover. The incident received unprecedented media coverage and inspired several books and films such as the 1973 film Achanak and 2016 film Rustom. Commander Nanavati, accused under section 302, was initially declared not guilty by a jury,[2] but the verdict was dismissed by the Bombay High Court and the case was retried as a bench trial. This was among the last cases to be heard as a jury trial in India, as the government abolished jury trials soon after in most cases except for Parsis who still have Jury Trials for their Matrimonial Disputes.[3] Nanavati was finally pardoned by Vijayalakshmi Pandit, newly appointed Governor of Bombay and sister of Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru.[4]

In 1940, the city bought the two private systems. Some elevated lines ceased service immediately while others closed soon after.[50] Integration was slow, but several connections were built between the IND and BMT;[51][52][53] these now operate as one division called the B Division. Since the IRT tunnels, sharper curves, and stations are too small and therefore can not accommodate B Division cars, the IRT remains its own division, the A Division.[54] However, many passenger transfers between stations of all three former companies have been created, allowing the entire network to be treated as a single unit.[55]


Question: What does it mean when a groundhog sees its shadow?

Groundhog Day is a tradition observed in the United States and Canada on February 2. It is based on a Pennsylvania Dutch superstition that if a groundhog, upon emerging from its burrow, sees its shadow due to clear weather, it will retreat back to its den, indicating that winter will continue for six more weeks. Conversely, if the groundhog does not see its shadow due to cloudiness, it is believed that spring will arrive early. Despite its popularity, studies have shown no consistent correlation between the groundhog's behavior and the timing of spring-like weather conditions.

Rob Horton is 12 years old and lives with his father in a Florida motel called the Kentucky Star. His father (named Robert), and Rob have recently moved to Lister, Florida, after the death of Robâ€™s mother, Caroline. Rob is quiet and often is bullied at school. Things begin to change when Rob discovers a tiger in the forest (locked up in a cage) while wandering the woods. He then meets a girl named Sistine Bailey who has recently moved nearby. Rob shows Sistine the tiger. Rob, who usually keeps his feelings locked away begins to involuntarily open up emotionally to Sistine. Though Sistine insists on letting the tiger go, Rob is wary of what will happen to it if he does. Rob finally relents and releases the tiger, letting it run into the woods. However, just moments later, Rob's father shoots the tiger dead. At the tiger's funeral, Sistine recites a part of William Blake's The Tyger. Rob and his father confront their unresolved feelings about Rob's mother and Rob begins looking forward to going to school with Sistine.

In the mainstream view, the typical understanding of the term "behavior" is that it is "any observable overt movement of the organism generally taken to include verbal behavior as well as physical movements".[12] Behavior is essentially observable, measurable movement in space: a pigeon pecks a disk; a man raises his right hand, palm forward, to the side of his head; a woman utters the phrase "Hi, how are you?". Such movement may then be explained, depending on the theorist, as caused by environmental contingencies, "inner" entities such as thoughts or motives, or biological states of affairs. However caused, the behavior itself is the "observable overt movement of the organism."

The Puppy Bowl is an annual television program on Animal Planet that mimics an American football game similar to the Super Bowl, using puppies.[2] Shown each year on Super Bowl Sunday, the show consists of footage of a batch of puppies at play inside a model stadium,[3] with commentary on their actions. The first Puppy Bowl was shown on February 6, 2005, opposite Super Bowl XXXIX. The puppies featured in the Puppy Bowl are from shelters.[4]

Perhaps because of the obscure nature of the various lyrics there have been many suggestions for what they mean, particularly the phrase "Pop! goes the weasel", including: that it is a tailor's flat iron, a dead weasel, a hatter's tool, a spinner's weasel used for measuring in spinning,[8][11] a piece of silver plate, or that 'weasel and stoat' is Cockney rhyming slang for "throat", as in "Get that down yer Weasel" meaning to eat or drink something. An alternative meaning involves pawning one's coat in order to buy food and drink, as "weasel" is rhyming slang for "coat"[12] and "pop" is a slang word for "pawn".[13]

The song is about a boy who, although he is shy, has a girl who likes him named Mary Lou. He makes faltering attempts to respond to her when they are alone, which finally include trying to give her a frog. She promptly protests and summarily rebuffs him. Still in school, they later develop a more mature relationship with the boy as the initiator instead of Mary Lou, but when they are once again alone she nonetheless feels the need to remind him, still nervous, that she does "not" like spiders and snakes, or any other such similar creatures, and that it takes something else to satisfy her loving desires.

Cows calve, or give birth, at the beginning of the wet season.[50] The onset of the rainy season signals the departure of the monarch butterfly from Mexico.[51] Tropical species of butterflies show larger dot markings on their wings to fend off possible predators and are more active during the wet season than the dry season.[52] Within the tropics and warmer areas of the subtropics, decreased salinity of near shore wetlands due to the rains causes an increase in crocodile nesting.[53] Other species, such as the arroyo toad, spawn within the couple of months after the seasonal rains.[54] Armadillos and rattlesnakes seek higher ground.[55]

The euphemistic nature of the phrase is believed to have been established in mid-2014,[3] and by the end of the year had spread throughout the African American Black Twitter community, as seen by many now typing chill within scare quotes. In April 2015, a definition of the phrase was added to Urban Dictionary stating that it meant "code for two people going to each other's houses and [having sexual intercourse] or doing other sexual related acts".[1][3] Soon, the term would spread beyond the Black Twitter community, becoming an internet meme and gaining the attention of news websites such as The Guardian[3] and the Daily Mirror.[4]

A point is made by how Napoleon dismisses the education of the mature animals as a lost case while Snowball attempts to educate them all (he does focus on the key ideals of Animalism, but nevertheless) and starts many committees which are apparently for the good of the entire Farm — Napoleon is explicitly stated to have 'no interest' in these committees, instead snatching up newborn dogs to educate them in seclusion. He takes advantage of their malleable minds and molds them to his liking — the dogs show up later as a secret police. Meanwhile, Snowball's programs are generally failures. As the newer generations are brought up with propaganda and the old generations are ignored, Squealer begins making changes to the Seven Commandments. The animals experience a vague feeling of unease, and when Clover and Muriel ponder the changes, they are told that they have simply forgotten — and they accept this easily, which is helped along by the growling dogs that accompany the pigs everywhere. Benjamin alone appears to understand what is happening, though he never acts. If asked, he says that donkeys live a long time, and that "none of you has ever seen a dead donkey". True to his cynical nature, he continues to believe that life never gets better. He is briefly outraged by Boxer's death, but becomes ever more cynical when Squealer again convinces the denizens of the Farm that Boxer was only taken to a hospital.

Tigerheart's Shadow is the 10th Super Edition novel in the Warriors series. It was released on September 5, 2017. Tigerheart's Shadow is set just after the end of Shattered Sky during the "A Vision of Shadows" arc. It details the adventure that Dovewing, a warrior of Thunderclan, and Tigerheart, deputy of Shadowclan, depart on as they leave the clans at the behest of strange dreams that warn of dark times to come. They are guided by these dreams far from the clans, to a group of cats living in the basement of a church in the middle of a huge human city. They live and help these cats for several moons, using their warrior skills to assist them at all points. Eventually Dovewing has their kits leading the couple to do their best to raise their kits as warriors despite being far from clan and code. Eventually more dreams of woe draw them back to the lake where danger and destiny await.

Meyerism is a fictional movement in the series founded by Dr. Stephen Meyer. In the show's mythology, on October 28, 1974, Meyer literally climbed a ladder of burning light to receive the message of universal truth. Meyer gave to his followers the instructions for their spiritual development, written in the first book of Meyerism, The Ladder. Meyerists believe that all people are damaged which is the cause of the world's suffering. Through personal enlightenment, they seek to become aware of suffering in themselves and others, and to heal the world, caring deeply about family, humanity and the environment. In this way and others, they create the heavenly Garden of Meyer's vision here on earth. However, The Ladder foretells that their efforts will be thwarted by non-believers or Ignorant Systemites (I.S.) whose selfish actions will result in an apocalypse; but those who ascend The Ladder of Enlightenment will live forever in The Garden.


Question: Where did the concept of Mickey Mouse originate?

In the spring of 1928, Disney requested Ub Iwerks to create new character concepts. Iwerks sketched various animals, including dogs and cats, but none caught Disney's attention. He also drew a female cow and a male horse, which were later named Clarabelle Cow and Horace Horsecollar, respectively. A male frog was also sketched but rejected, later appearing in Iwerks' Flip the Frog series. The inspiration for Mickey Mouse came from a tame mouse at Disney's desk at Laugh-O-Gram Studio in Kansas City, Missouri. In 1925, Hugh Harman drew mouse sketches around a photo of Walt Disney, which inspired Iwerks to create a new mouse character. Initially named "Mortimer Mouse," it was later changed to Mickey Mouse upon Lillian Disney's suggestion. Actor Mickey Rooney claimed that during his Mickey McGuire days, he met Walt Disney at Warner Brothers, and Disney was inspired to name the mouse character after him. However, this claim has been disproven by Disney historian Jim Korkis, as Disney Studios had been on Hyperion Avenue for several years during the development of Mickey Mouse, and Walt Disney never maintained an office or workspace at Warner Brothers, as the Alice Comedies and Oswald cartoons were distributed by Universal.

In September 2009, Disney announced that Mickey's Toontown Fair at the Magic Kingdom would be demolished to make room for an expansion of Fantasyland.[7] One of the new elements would be a Little Mermaid dark ride, much like the one slated for construction in California. Under the Sea: Journey of the Little Mermaid opened on December 6, 2012.

The Kinetoscope is an early motion picture exhibition device. The Kinetoscope was designed for films to be viewed by one individual at a time through a peephole viewer window at the top of the device. The Kinetoscope was not a movie projector, but introduced the basic approach that would become the standard for all cinematic projection before the advent of video, by creating the illusion of movement by conveying a strip of perforated film bearing sequential images over a light source with a high-speed shutter. A process using roll film first described in a patent application submitted in France and the U.S. by French inventor Louis Le Prince, the concept was also used by U.S. inventor Thomas Edison in 1889, and subsequently developed by his employee William Kennedy Laurie Dickson between 1889 and 1892.[1] Dickson and his team at the Edison lab also devised the Kinetograph, an innovative motion picture camera with rapid intermittent, or stop-and-go, film movement, to photograph movies for in-house experiments and, eventually, commercial Kinetoscope presentations.

Daffy Duck is an animated cartoon character produced by Warner Bros. Styled as an anthropomorphic black duck, the character has appeared in cartoon series such as Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies, where he usually has been depicted as a foil of Bugs Bunny. Daffy was one of the first of the new "screwball" characters that emerged in the late 1930s to replace traditional everyman characters who were more popular earlier in the decade,[citation needed] such as Mickey Mouse and Popeye. Daffy starred in 130 shorts in the golden age, making him the third-most frequent character in the Looney Tunes/Merrie Melodies cartoons, behind Bugs Bunny's 180 appearances and Porky Pig's 162 appearances.

During the production of THX 1138 (1971), producer Francis Ford Coppola challenged co-writer/director George Lucas to write a script that would appeal to mainstream audiences.[2] Lucas embraced the idea, using his early 1960s teenage experiences cruising in Modesto, California. "Cruising was gone, and I felt compelled to document the whole experience and what my generation used as a way of meeting girls," Lucas explained.[2] As he developed the story in his mind, Lucas included his fascination with Wolfman Jack. Lucas had considered doing a documentary about the Wolfman when he attended the USC School of Cinematic Arts, but dropped the idea.[3]

In 1956, Hiroshi Yamauchi, grandson of Fusajiro Yamauchi, visited the U.S. to talk with the United States Playing Card Company, the dominant playing card manufacturer there. He found that the biggest playing card company in the world was using only a small office. Yamauchi's realization that the playing card business had limited potential was a turning point. He then acquired the license to use Disney characters on playing cards to drive sales.

In her book Tales, Then and Now: More Folktales as Literary Fictions for Young Adults, author Anna E. Altmann compared Ursula to Satan because both Ariel and Triton "sign a contract ... with her";[8] James Plath of Movie Metropolis described Ursula's contract as "a Mephistophelean bargain."[53] Much like Satan, Ursula was banished from Triton's palace, similar to the way in which Lucifer was exiled from heaven.[29] Felix Vasquez of Cinema Crazed believes that Ursula "is evil just for the sake of being evil".[54] Writing for the Disney Archives, Dave Smith observed that Ursula "has the gross unsubtlety of Ratigan from 'The Great Mouse Detective' but substantially more brio."[55] Describing Ursula as "Bejeweled and lip-pouting like an overweight, over-rich, over-pampered, over-the-top society hostess gone mad," Smith perceived the character as "all flair, flamboyance, and theatricality mixed with a touch of con-artistry", citing wrath as her only genuine emotion.[55] Additionally, Ursula tends to act as though she is performing for an audience.[55] Jay Boyar of the Orlando Sentinel compared the character's appearance to that of evangelist Tammy Faye.[56] At times, Ursula tends to demonstrate stereotypically masculine physical traits.[57] Describing the character as "A campy sea witch with an insatiable thirst for power", Rolling Stone's David Ehrlich believes that Ursula resembles a child of Divine and Donald Trump.[58] Some critics identify the character with body positivity. According to Michaela Glover of The Odyssey, "Ursula portrays a bold business woman, not being afraid to show off her curves and use them, which defies the typical standards of beauty by also being a full figured woman."[59]

Much to the producers' surprise, Disney granted them the creative license to conceive a new Muppet without any initial marketing research, a technique Disney often employs when creating characters for their consumer products franchisees.[9] Segel and Stoller, however, were only responsible for creating Walter's personality and character traitsâ€”his physical appearance was crafted by the Muppets Studio and Puppet Heap.[10]

Zevon was born in Chicago, Illinois, the son of Beverly Cope (nÃ©e Simmons) and William Zevon. His father was a Jewish immigrant from Russia, whose original surname was Zivotovsky. William Zevon worked as a bookie who handled volume bets and dice games for the notorious Los Angeles mobster Mickey Cohen;[1] he worked for years in Cohen's Combination, in which he was known as Stumpy Zevon, and was best man at Cohen's first wedding.[2] Warren's mother was from a Mormon family and was of English descent.[3][4][5] They moved to Fresno, California. By the age of 13, Zevon was an occasional visitor to the home of Igor Stravinsky, where he briefly studied modern classical music alongside Robert Craft. Zevon's parents divorced when he was 16 years old; he soon quit high school and moved from Los Angeles to New York City to become a folk singer.[6]

Sonic was originally teal-colored,[11] then a light shade of blue, but he was changed to dark blue so he would stand out against certain backgrounds[15] and to match the Sega logo. His shoes were colored red through the inspiration of Michael Jackson's boots on the album cover for Bad and the outfit of Santa Claus, whom Ohshima saw as the most "famous character in the world".[11] Sonic's spikes were emphasized to make him look sleeker, and he was given the ability to spin while jumping (so attacking and jumping could be controlled with one button).[16] The new character was originally named "Mr. Needlemouse", but the eight-member[17] AM8 changed his name to "Sonic" and their studios to Sonic Team.[12] Ideas proposed to flesh out the character included placing him in a rock band, giving him vampire fangs, and giving him a human girlfriend named Madonna,[18] but Sega of America scrapped these ideas to keep his identity simple. Sega of America also expressed concerns that most Americans would not know what a hedgehog is and initially proposed a full-scale recreation of the character, but compromised with Sonic Team to simply make design changes.[11] The antagonist ended up being named "Dr. Eggman" in Japan and "Dr. Robotnik" in other regions as a result of a dispute between Sega's American and Japanese divisions.[13]

Although perpetual copyrights and patents are prohibited—the language specifies "limited times"—the Supreme Court has ruled in Eldred v. Ashcroft (2003) that repeated extensions to the term of copyright do not constitute a perpetual copyright. In that case, the United States Supreme Court rejected a challenge to the Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act, also known pejoratively as the "Mickey Mouse Protection Act."[6] Petitioners in that case argued that successive retroactive extensions of copyright were functionally unlimited and hence violated the limited times language of the clause. Justice Ginsburg, writing for the Court, rejected this argument, reasoning that the terms provided by the Act were limited in duration and noted that Congress had a long history of granting retroactive extensions.


Question: Where on a fern would you find the spore-containing sori?

In ferns, the spore-containing sori are typically found as a yellowish or brownish mass on the edge or underside of a fertile frond. These sori are often shielded during development by a protective scale or film of tissue known as the indusium, which acts like an umbrella to cover and safeguard the sori.

The body of liver flukes is leaf-like, and flattened. The body is covered with a tegument. They are hermaphrodites having complete sets of both male and female reproductive systems. They have simple digestive system, and primarily feed on blood. The anterior end is the oral sucker opening into the mouth. Inside, mouth lead to a small pharynx which is followed by an extended intestine that runs through the entire length of the body. The intestine is heavily branched and anus is absent. Instead the intestine runs along an excretory canal that opens at the posterior end. Adult flukes produce eggs which are passed out through the excretory pore. The eggs infect different species of snails (as intermediate hosts) in which they grow into larvae. The larvae are released into the environment from where the definitive hosts (humans and other mammals) get the infection. In some species, another intermediate host is required, generally a cyprinid fish. In this case, the definitive hosts are infected from eating infected fish. Hence, they are food-borne parasites.[3][4]

The Closterium peracerosum-strigosum-littorale (C. psl) complex is a unicellular, isogamous charophycean alga group that is the closest unicellular relative to land plants. Heterothallic strains of different mating type can conjugate to form zygospores. Sex pheromones termed protoplast-release inducing proteins (glycopolypeptides) produced by mating-type (-) and mating-type (+) cells facilitate this process.[24]

In many national, state, and provincial drug laws, there is a great deal of ambiguity about the legal status of psilocybin mushrooms, as well as a strong element of selective enforcement in some places. The legal status of Psilocybe spores is even more ambiguous, as the spores contain neither psilocybin nor psilocin, and hence are not illegal to sell or possess in many jurisdictions, though many jurisdictions will prosecute under broader laws prohibiting items that are used in drug manufacture. A few jurisdictions (such as the US states of Georgia and Idaho) have specifically prohibited the sale and possession of psilocybin mushroom spores. Cultivation of psilocybin mushrooms is considered drug manufacture in most jurisdictions and is often severely penalized, though some countries and one US state have ruled that growing psilocybin mushrooms does not qualify as "manufacturing" a controlled substance.[8]

In the southern U.S., the plant seems to show a preference for growth on southern live oak (Quercus virginiana) and bald cypress (Taxodium distichum) because of these trees' high rates of foliar mineral leaching (calcium, magnesium, potassium, and phosphorus) providing an abundant supply of nutrients to the plant,[8] but it can also colonize other tree species such as sweetgum (Liquidambar styraciflua), crepe-myrtles (Lagerstroemia spp.), other oaks, and even pines.

Members of the class Chlorophyceae undergo closed mitosis in the most common form of cell division among the green algae, which occurs via a phycoplast.[8] By contrast, charophyte green algae and land plants (embryophytes) undergo open mitosis without centrioles. Instead, a 'raft' of microtubules, the phragmoplast, is formed from the mitotic spindle and cell division involves the use of this phragmoplast in the production of a cell plate.[9]

In the first half of the 18th century botany was beginning to move beyond descriptive science into experimental science. Although the microscope was invented in 1590 it was only in the late 17th century that lens grinding by Antony van Leeuwenhoek provided the resolution needed to make major discoveries. Important general biological observations were made by Robert Hooke (1635–1703) but the foundations of plant anatomy were laid by Italian Marcello Malpighi (1628–1694) of the University of Bologna in his Anatome Plantarum (1675) and Royal Society Englishman Nehemiah Grew (1628–1711) in his The Anatomy of Plants Begun (1671) and Anatomy of Plants (1682). These botanists explored what is now called developmental anatomy and morphology by carefully observing, describing and drawing the developmental transition from seed to mature plant, recording stem and wood formation. This work included the discovery and naming of parenchyma and stomata.[76]

A Green Man is a sculpture, or other representation of a face surrounded by or made from leaves. Branches or vines may sprout from the mouth, nostrils, or other parts of the face and these shoots may bear flowers or fruit. Commonly used as a decorative architectural ornament, Green Men are frequently found in carvings on both secular and ecclesiastical buildings. "The Green Man" is also a popular name for English public houses and various interpretations of the name appear on inn signs, which sometimes show a full figure rather than just the head.

Multiple kelp species often co-exist within a forest; the term understory canopy refers to the stipitate and prostrate kelps. For example, a Macrocystis canopy may extend many meters above the seafloor towards the ocean surface, while an understory of the kelps Eisenia and Pterygophora reaches upward only a few meters. Beneath these kelps, a benthic assemblage of foliose red algae may occur. The dense vertical infrastructure with overlying canopy forms a system of microenvironments similar to those observed in a terrestrial forest, with a sunny canopy region, a partially shaded middle, and darkened seafloor.[8] Each guild has associated organisms, which vary in their levels of dependence on the habitat, and the assemblage of these organisms can vary with kelp morphologies.[18][19][20] For example, in California, Macrocystis pyrifera forests, the nudibranch Melibe leonina, and skeleton shrimp Caprella californica are closely associated with surface canopies; the kelp perch Brachyistius frenatus, rockfish Sebastes spp., and many other fishes are found within the stipitate understory; brittle stars and turban snails Tegula spp. are closely associated with the kelp holdfast, while various herbivores, such as sea urchins and abalone, live under the prostrate canopy; many seastars, hydroids, and benthic fishes live among the benthic assemblages; solitary corals, various gastropods, and echinoderms live over the encrusting coralline algae.[18] In addition, pelagic fishes and marine mammals are loosely associated with kelp forests, usually interacting near the edges as they visit to feed on resident organisms.

The Arecaceae are a botanical family of perennial trees, climbers, shrubs, and acaules commonly known as palm trees (owing to historical usage, the family is alternatively called Palmae).[3] They are flowering plants, a family in the monocot order Arecales. Currently 181 genera with around 2600 species are known,[4] most of them restricted to tropical and subtropical climates. Most palms are distinguished by their large, compound, evergreen leaves, known as fronds, arranged at the top of an unbranched stem. However, palms exhibit an enormous diversity in physical characteristics and inhabit nearly every type of habitat within their range, from rainforests to deserts.

Evidence from island biogeography has played an important and historic role in the development of evolutionary biology. For purposes of biogeography, islands are divided into two classes. Continental islands are islands like Great Britain, and Japan that have at one time or another been part of a continent. Oceanic islands, like the Hawaiian islands, the Galápagos Islands and St. Helena, on the other hand are islands that have formed in the ocean and never been part of any continent. Oceanic islands have distributions of native plants and animals that are unbalanced in ways that make them distinct from the biotas found on continents or continental islands. Oceanic islands do not have native terrestrial mammals (they do sometimes have bats and seals), amphibians, or fresh water fish. In some cases they have terrestrial reptiles (such as the iguanas and giant tortoises of the Galápagos Islands) but often (for example Hawaii) they do not. This despite the fact that when species such as rats, goats, pigs, cats, mice, and cane toads, are introduced to such islands by humans they often thrive. Starting with Charles Darwin, many scientists have conducted experiments and made observations that have shown that the types of animals and plants found, and not found, on such islands are consistent with the theory that these islands were colonized accidentally by plants and animals that were able to reach them. Such accidental colonization could occur by air, such as plant seeds carried by migratory birds, or bats and insects being blown out over the sea by the wind, or by floating from a continent or other island by sea, as for example by some kinds of plant seeds like coconuts that can survive immersion in salt water, and reptiles that can survive for extended periods on rafts of vegetation carried to sea by storms.[130]


Question: Where on a fern are the sori, which contain the spores, located?

Sori are found on the sporophyte generation of a fern, specifically on the underside of the fronds. They contain sporangia, which produce haploid meiospores. When the sporangia mature, they release the spores, typically after the indusium (a protective covering) has shriveled to allow unimpeded spore release.

Using this measure of investment in carnivory, a model can be proposed.[23] Above is a graph of carbon dioxide uptake (potential for growth) against trap respiration (investment in carnivory) for a leaf in a sunny habitat containing no soil nutrients at all. Respiration is a straight line sloping down under the horizontal axis (respiration produces carbon dioxide). Gross photosynthesis is a curved line above the horizontal axis: as investment increases, so too does the photosynthesis of the trap, as the leaf receives a better supply of nitrogen and phosphorus. Eventually another factor (such as light intensity or carbon dioxide concentration) will become more limiting to photosynthesis than nitrogen or phosphorus supply. As a result, increasing the investment will not make the plant grow better. The net uptake of carbon dioxide, and therefore, the plant's potential for growth, must be positive for the plant to survive. There is a broad span of investment where this is the case, and there is also a non-zero optimum. Plants investing more or less than this optimum will take up less carbon dioxide than an optimal plant, and hence growing less well. These plants will be at a selective disadvantage. At zero investment the growth is zero, because a non-carnivorous plant cannot survive in a habitat with absolutely no soil-borne nutrients. Such habitats do not exist, so for example, Sphagnum absorbs the tiny amounts of nitrates and phosphates in rain very efficiently and also forms symbioses with diazotrophic cyanobacteria.

The gnepine hypothesis is a modification of the gnetifer hypothesis, and suggests that the gnetophytes belong within the conifers as a sister group to the Pinaceae.[8] According to this hypothesis, the conifers as currently defined are not a monophyletic group, in contrast with molecular findings that support its monophyly.[27] All existing evidence for this hypothesis comes from molecular studies since 1999.[4][5][19][21][23][24][26][29] However, the morphological evidence remains difficult to reconcile with the gnepine hypothesis. If the gnetophytes are nested within conifers, they must have lost several shared derived characters of the conifers (or these characters must have evolved in parallel in the other two conifer lineages): narrowly triangular leaves (gnetophytes have diverse leaf shapes), resin canals, a tiered proembryo, and flat woody ovuliferous cone scales.[23] These kinds of major morphological changes are not without precedent in the Pinaceae, however: the Taxaceae, for example, have lost the classical cone of the conifers in favor of a single-terminal ovule surrounded by a fleshy aril.[19]

Members of the yew family and the closely related Cephalotaxaceae have the most highly modified cones of any conifer. There is only one scale in the female cone, with a single poisonous ovule. The scale develops into a soft, brightly coloured sweet, juicy, berry-like aril which partly encloses the deadly seed. The seed alone is poisonous. The whole 'berry' with the seed is eaten by birds, which digest the sugar-rich scale and pass the hard seed undamaged in their droppings, so dispersing the seed far from the parent plant.

The sundew genus (Drosera) consists of over 100 species of active flypapers whose mucilage glands are borne at the end of long tentacles, which frequently grow fast enough in response to prey (thigmotropism) to aid the trapping process. The tentacles of D. burmanii can bend 180Â° in a minute or so. Sundews are extremely cosmopolitan and are found on all the continents except the Antarctic mainland. They are most diverse in Australia, the home to the large subgroup of pygmy sundews such as D. pygmaea and to a number of tuberous sundews such as D. peltata, which form tubers that aestivate during the dry summer months. These species are so dependent on insect sources of nitrogen that they generally lack the enzyme nitrate reductase, which most plants require to assimilate soil-borne nitrate into organic forms.[citation needed]

The fruit is a large and inflated capsule composed of three to seven united follicles, each containing numerous seeds which are used as spice, sometimes as a replacement for black cumin (Bunium bulbocastanum).

These traps may be active or passive, depending on whether movement aids the capture of prey. For example, Triphyophyllum is a passive flypaper that secretes mucilage, but whose leaves do not grow or move in response to prey capture. Meanwhile, sundews are active flypaper traps whose leaves undergo rapid acid growth, which is an expansion of individual cells as opposed to cell division. The rapid acid growth allows the sundew tentacles to bend, aiding in the retention and digestion of prey.[10]

The leaves are trifoliate, roughly veined beneath, dark green, and often persisting through the winter, arising from short crowns. The plant spreads along creeping stolons, rooting and producing crowns at each node. The yellow flowers are produced in mid spring, then sporadically throughout the growing season. The aggregate accessory fruits are white or red, and entirely covered with red achenes, simple ovaries, each containing a single seed. They are edible, but they have little overall flavor.[5]

The embryonic disk becomes oval and then pear-shaped, the wider end being directed forward. Near the narrow, posterior end, an opaque streak, called the primitive streak, makes its appearance and extends along the middle of the disk for about one-half of its length; at the anterior end of the streak there is a knob-like thickening termed the primitive node or knot, (known as Hensen's knot in birds). A shallow groove, the primitive groove, appears on the surface of the streak, and the anterior end of this groove communicates by means of an aperture, the blastopore, with the yolk sac. The primitive streak is produced by a thickening of the axial part of the ectoderm, the cells of which multiply, grow downward, and blend with those of the subjacent endoderm. From the sides of the primitive streak a third layer of cells, the mesoderm, extends laterally between the ectoderm and endoderm; the caudal end of the primitive streak forms the cloacal membrane. The blastoderm now consists of three layers, named from without inward: ectoderm, mesoderm, and endoderm; each has distinctive characteristics and gives rise to certain tissues of the body. For many mammals, it is sometime during formation of the germ layers that implantation of the embryo in the uterus of the mother occurs.[3]

The members of the pine family (pines, spruces, firs, cedars, larches, etc.) have cones that are imbricate (that is, with scales overlapping each other like fish scales). These are the "archetypal" cones. The scales are spirally arranged in fibonacci number ratios.

Scholar Judith Farr notes that Dickinson, during her lifetime, "was known more widely as a gardener, perhaps, than as a poet".[93] Dickinson studied botany from the age of nine and, along with her sister, tended the garden at Homestead.[93] During her lifetime, she assembled a collection of pressed plants in a sixty-six page leather-bound herbarium. It contained 424 pressed flower specimens that she collected, classified, and labeled using the Linnaean system.[94] The Homestead garden was well-known and admired locally in its time. It has not survived but efforts to revive it have begun.[95] Dickinson kept no garden notebooks or plant lists, but a clear impression can be formed from the letters and recollections of friends and family. Her niece, Martha Dickinson Bianchi, remembered "carpets of lily-of-the-valley and pansies, platoons of sweetpeas, hyacinths, enough in May to give all the bees of summer dyspepsia. There were ribbons of peony hedges and drifts of daffodils in season, marigolds to distractionâ€”a butterfly utopia".[96] In particular, Dickinson cultivated scented exotic flowers, writing that she "could inhabit the Spice Isles merely by crossing the dining room to the conservatory, where the plants hang in baskets". Dickinson would often send her friends bunches of flowers with verses attached, but "they valued the posy more than the poetry".[96]