Posted by Jane from Ciao on Wednesday, August 26, 2009,
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Static electricity refers to the buildup of electric charge on the surface of objects. The static charges remain on an object until they either bleed off to ground or are quickly neutralized by a discharge. Although charge exchange can happen whenever any two surfaces come into contact and separate, a static charge will only remain when at least one of the surfaces has a high resistance to electrical flow (an electrical insulator). The effects of static electricity are familiar to most people... Continue reading ...
Posted by Jane from Ciao on Wednesday, August 26, 2009,
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The Empire State Building is a 102-story Art Deco skyscraper in New York City at the intersection of Fifth and West 34th Street. Its name is derived from the nickname for the state of New York. It stood as the world's tallest building for more than forty years, from its completion in 1931 until construction of the World Trade Center's North Tower was completed in 1972. Following the destruction of the World Trade Center in 2001, the Empire State Building again became the tallest building in... Continue reading ...
Posted by Jane from Ciao on Wednesday, August 26, 2009,
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Everyone must have heard this well known phrase. So when was sliced bread invented? Otto Frederick Rohwedder of Davenport, Iowa invented the first loaf–at–a–time bread–slicing machine. A prototype he built in 1917 was destroyed in a fire, and it was not until 1928 that Rohwedder had a fully working machine ready again. The first commercial use of the machine was by the Chillicothe Baking Company of Chillicothe, Missouri, who produced their first slices on July 7, 1928. Their product, ... Continue reading ...
Posted by Jane from Ciao on Wednesday, August 26, 2009,
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Sardinia is an island which makes up part of Italy. It the second largest island, after Sicily, in the Mediterranean Sea.
Capital: Cagliari
Currency: Euro
Language: Italian
Population: 1 665 617
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Posted by Jane from Ciao on Wednesday, August 12, 2009,
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Mantodea or mantises is an order of insects which contains approximately 2,200 species in 9 families worldwide in temperate and tropical habitats. Most of the species are in the family Mantidae. Historically, the term "mantid" was used to refer to any member of the order because for most of the past century, only one family was recognized within the order; technically, however, the term only refers to this one family, meaning the species in the other eight recently-established families ar... Continue reading ...
Posted by Jane from Ciao on Wednesday, August 12, 2009,
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The Republic of Iceland IPA is an island country located in the North Atlantic Ocean between mainland Europe and Greenland. It has a population of about 320,000 and a total area of 103,000 km². Its capital and largest city is Reykjavík.
Located on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, Iceland is volcanically and geologically active on a large scale; this defines the landscape. The interior mainly consists of a plateau characterized by sand fields, mountains and glaciers, while many big glacial rivers flow... Continue reading ...
Posted by Jane from Ciao on Wednesday, August 12, 2009,
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The Republic of Cuba is an island country in the Caribbean. It consists of the island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos.
Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago is the second largest Cuba Cuba is home to over 11 million people and is the most populous Insular nation in the Caribbean. Its people, culture, and customs draw from diverse sources, including the aboriginal Taíno and Ciboney peoples; the period of Spanish colonialism; the intro... Continue reading ...
Posted by Jane from Ciao on Sunday, June 7, 2009,
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Where does this phrase come from?
It originates back to the 1600s. Back then drainage was very poor and gutters overflowed with rubbish and unsavory items. It is thought that animals such as rodents lived in the thatched roofs and when it rained heavily, the dead carcasses would fall out of the sky – so coining the phrase it's raining cats and dogs!
Such a lovely thought! Continue reading ...
Posted by Jane from Ciao on Thursday, April 9, 2009,
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He did not invent the light bulb but perfected the design so it could be manufactured on as mass scale. He also created a system to distribute electricity so that his invention could be commercialised.
Edison patented an electric distribution system in 1880, which was essential to capitalise on the invention of the electric lamp. On December 17, 1880, Edison founded the Edison Electric Illuminating Company. The company established the first investor-owned electric utility in 1882 on Pearl ... Continue reading ...
Posted by Jane from Ciao on Thursday, April 9, 2009,
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Cambodia is located in South East Asia and borders Thailand, Laos and Vietnam. Oil and natural gas deposits were found underneath territorial waters in 2005 and will be extracted in 2011, which could be very beneficial to their economy.
Capital: Phnom Pehn
Currency: Riel
Language: Khmer
Population: 13 388 910 Continue reading ...
Posted by Jane from Ciao on Thursday, April 9, 2009,
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Lithuania is one of the three Baltic states. Situated along the South Eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, it shares borders with Latvia to the north, Belarus to the southeast, Poland, and the Russian exclave of the Kaliningrad Oblast to the southwest.
Independence from the Russian Empire (1918)
Entered EU: 1 May 2004
Currency: Lithuanian litas (Lt)
Capital:(and largest city) Vilnius
Official languages: Lithuanian
Government: Semi-presidential republic
President: Valdas Adamkus
Prime Ministe... Continue reading ...
Posted by jane from Ciao on Friday, March 27, 2009,
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The Great Barrier Reef – The beautiful Great Barrier Reef is the single largest structure made by living organisms; it can even be seen from outer space. It is located off the coast of Queensland, Australia, in the Coral Sea within the South Pacific Ocean. It is comprised of over 2 900 individual reefs, 900 islands and is the largest coral system in the world. The reef was chosen as a world heritage site in 1981 and is one of the 7 natural wonders of the world.
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Posted by Jane from Ciao on Sunday, March 22, 2009,
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Mount Everest – Standing 8848 metres above sea level Mount Everest is the highest mountain in the world and has been crowned as one of the 7 natural wonders. It is located on the border between Sagarmatha Zone, Nepal, Tibet and China and is part of the Himalayan range. The summit of Everest was first reached in 1953 by the mountaineers Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay. Since then many more have managed the climb. In 2007, 3679 ascents were made to the summit.
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Posted by Jane from Ciao on Sunday, March 22, 2009,
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Hindus believe in Karma, reincarnation and dharma which is personal duty. There is no one founder. It’s the world’s 3rd largest religion after Christianity and Islam with a billion followers. 905 million of these live in India. Hindus do not eat cows because cows are holy. Hindu society honours the cow as a symbol of unselfish giving. Cow–slaughter is legally banned in almost all states of India.
Offshoots of the religion – Sikhs, Buddhism, Jainism.
Main gods – Rama, Sita brother ... Continue reading ...
Posted by Jane on Wednesday, March 18, 2009,
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The Phonograph.
Edison invented the first sound recording device which was patented on February 19, 1878.
He attached a needle to a telephone receiver and placed it close to a foil cylinder. The needle made indentations in the foil cylinder recording the vibrations caused by the sound of the voice. He was able to play back the message he had created realising he had invented a device to record sound.
This brought him international fame.
In May 1889, the first "phonograph parlor" opened ... Continue reading ...
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