Brainwave
1.
An electrical impulse in the brain.
"there were systematic changes in brainwaves with sleep"
2.
INFORMAL
A sudden clever idea.
"Then he had a brainwave"
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Charlemagne is crowned emperor - December 25, 800. Pope Leo III crowned the Frankish king, Charlemagne, Emperor of the Romans on Christmas Day, 800 in St. Peter's Basilica in Rome, making him the most powerful ruler of his time.
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Don't most of us, most of the time, gaze unseeing along our journey?
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Arthur Rubinstein (1887 – 1982)
Rubinstein's interpretations of Chopin are some of the most highly regarded of all time. He retired from his career in 1976, aged 89.
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The title also had to be changed to Pride & Prejudice, as the Minerva Press published a novel entitled First Impressions by Margaret Holford in 1800. Finally, in late 1812, the novel was accepted by Egerton and published in early 1813 in boards in an edition of probably 1,500 copies (Keynes).
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Habitual Aspect. Definition: Habitual aspect is an imperfective aspect that expresses the occurrence of an event or state as characteristic of a period of time. He used to live here.
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Corpulent
Adjective
(of a person) fat.
"A short, somewhat corpulent man"
Synonyms :
fat
fattish
obese
overweight
plump
portly
stout
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Physical Features
Geology
The Isthmus of Suez, the sole land bridge between the continents of Africa and Asia, is of relatively recent geologic origin. Both continents once formed a single large continental mass, but during the Paleogene and Neogene periods (about 66 to 2.6 million years ago) the great fault structures of the Red Sea and Gulf of Aqaba developed, with the opening and subsequent drowning of the Red Sea trough as far as the Gulf of Suez and the Gulf of Aqaba. In the succeeding Quaternary Period (about the past 2.6 million years), there was considerable oscillation of sea level, leading finally to the emergence of a low-lying isthmus that broadened northward to a low-lying open coastal plain. There the Nile delta once extended farther east—as a result of periods of abundant rainfall coincident with the Pleistocene Epoch (2,588,000 to 11,700 years ago)—and two river arms, or distributaries, formerly crossed the northern isthmus, one branch reaching the Mediterranean Sea at the narrowest point of the isthmus and the other entering the sea some 9 miles (14.5 km) east of present Port Said.
Physiography
Topographically, the Isthmus of Suez is not uniform. There are three shallow water-filled depressions: Lake Manzala, Lake Timsah, and the Bitter Lakes; though distinguished as Great and Little, the Bitter Lakes form one continuous sheet of water. A number of more-resistant bands of limestone and gypsum obtrude in the south of the isthmus, and another significant feature is a narrow valley leading from Lake Timsah southwestward toward the middle Nile delta and Cairo. The isthmus is composed of marine sediments, coarser sands, and gravels deposited in the early periods of abundant rainfall, Nile alluvium (especially to the north), and windblown sands.
The Economy
Operation
In 1870, the canal’s first full year of operation, there were 486 transits, or fewer than 2 per day. In 1966 there were 21,250, an average of 58 per day, with net tonnage increasing from some 437,000 long tons (444,000 metric tons) in 1870 to about 274,000,000 long tons (278,400,000 metric tons). By the mid-1980s the number of daily transits had fallen to an average of 50, but net annual tonnage was about 350,000,000 long tons (355,600,000 metric tons). In 2018 there were 18,174 transits with a net annual tonnage of about 1,121,163,000 long tons (1,139,630,000 metric tons).
The original canal did not permit two-way traffic, and ships would stop in a passing bay to allow the passage of ships in the other direction. Transit time then averaged 40 hours, but by 1939 it had been reduced to 13 hours. A system of convoys was adopted in 1947, consisting of one northbound and two southbound per day. Transit time went up to 15 hours in 1967 despite convoying, reflecting the great growth in tanker traffic at that time. With some enlargement of the canal, transit time since 1975 has ranged from 11 to 16 hours. Upon entering the canal at Port Said or Suez, ships are assessed for tonnage and cargo (passengers have ridden without charge since 1950) and are handled by one or two pilots for actual canal transit, which is increasingly controlled by radar. Southbound convoys moor at Port Said, Al-Ballāḥ, Lake Timsah, and Al-Kabrīt, where there are bypasses that allow northbound convoys to proceed without stopping. In August 2015 a new 22-mile (35-km) expansion running parallel to the main channel was opened, enabling two-way transit through the canal. The main channel was deepened to allow for the passage of larger ships. The expansion project, launched by Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi in 2014, was part of an effort to boost Egypt’s economy.
The nature of traffic has greatly altered, especially because of the enormous growth in shipments of crude oil and petroleum products from the Persian Gulf since 1950. In 1913 the oil in northbound traffic amounted to 291,000 long tons (295,700 metric tons), whereas in 1966 it amounted to 166,000,000 long tons (168,700,000 metric tons). The closure of the canal from 1967 to 1975 led to the use of large oil tankers on the route around the Cape of Good Hope and prompted the development of the Sumed pipeline from Suez to Alexandria, which opened in 1977. Since 1975 the increased size of tankers—the largest of which cannot use the canal—and the development of sources of crude oil in areas outside of the canal route (e.g., Algeria, Libya, Nigeria, the North Sea, and Mexico) have reduced the canal’s importance in the international oil trade.
From an all-time peak of 984,000 in 1945, passenger traffic has declined to negligible numbers because of the competition from aircraft. Further decline in canal traffic resulted from a shift of Australasian trade from Europe to Japan and East Asia. Some movement of oil, however, from refineries in Russia, southern Europe, and Algeria has continued, chiefly to India, and the shipment of dry cargoes, including grain, ores, and metals, has increased. A more recent feature has been the growth of container and roll-on/roll-off (ro-ro) traffic through the canal, chiefly destined for the highly congested ports of the Red Sea and Persian Gulf.
The major northbound cargoes consist of crude petroleum and petroleum products, coal, ores and metals, and fabricated metals, as well as wood, oilseeds and oilseed cake, and cereals. Southbound traffic consists of cement, fertilizers, fabricated metals, cereals, and empty oil tankers.
Communications and towns
Construction of the canal led to the growth of settlements in what had been, except for Suez, almost uninhabited arid territory. More than 70,000 acres (28,000 hectares) were brought under cultivation, and about 8 percent of the total population was engaged in agriculture, with approximately 10,000 commercial and industrial activities of various sizes. During the Suez Crisis in 1967, almost all the population was evacuated, and most of the settlements were severely damaged or destroyed during subsequent warfare. With the reopening of the canal in 1975, however, reconstruction of the area was begun, and most of the population had returned by 1978. Port Said was made a customs-free zone in 1975, and tax-free industrial zones have been established along the canal. The major urban centres are Port Said, with its east-bank counterpart, Būr Fuʾād; Ismailia (Al-Ismāʿīliyyah), on the north shore of Lake Timsah; and Suez, with its west-bank outport, Būr Tawfīq. Water for irrigation and for domestic and industrial use is supplied by the Nile via the Al-Ismāʿīliyyah Canal.
There are two roads from the pre-1967 period on the west bank. Ferries have largely been replaced by four underpasses: north of Suez, south and north of Lake Timsah, and at Al-Qanṭarah. From this last, a road continues along the east bank to Būr Fuʾād, and another runs eastward through the Sinai to Israel. Newer roads on the east bank run eastward to the Khutmiyyah, Giddi, and Mitla passes, which give access to the central Sinai. The railway on the west side of the canal was restored in the 1970s. In 1980 the Ahmad Hamdi road tunnel was opened, connecting Egypt proper with its governorate (muḥāfaẓah) of Shamāl Sīnāʾ. About 1 mile (1.6 km) of the tunnel passes beneath the canal itself. As part of the 2014 expansion project, the Egyptian government built additional tunnels that run beneath the canal, which were opened in May 2019. The expansion project also includes the development of additional transportation infrastructure in the surrounding area, aims to reclaim some 4 million acres (1.6 million hectares) of land for cultivation, and plans to develop a sprawling free-trade zone along the canal.
William B. Fisher
Charles Gordon Smith
The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
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out of it. From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English out of itinformal a) slightly unhappy because you feel different from the rest of a group of people and cannot share their fun, conversation etc I felt a bit out of it because I was the only one who couldn't speak French.
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Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, in full Johann Chrysostom Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, baptized as Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart, (born January 27, 1756, Salzburg, archbishopric of Salzburg [Austria]—died December 5, 1791, Vienna), Austrian composer, widely recognized as one of the greatest composers in the history of Western music. With Haydn and Beethoven he brought to its height the achievement of the Viennese Classical school. Unlike any other composer in musical history, he wrote in all the musical genres of his day and excelled in every one. His taste, his command of form, and his range of expression have made him seem the most universal of all composers; yet, it may also be said that his music was written to accommodate the specific tastes of particular audiences
WRITTEN BY: Stanley Sadie
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