title: Milk content: in 1 pint glass bottles with aluminium foil tops directly to households, has almost disappeared. Two of the main reasons for the decline of UK home deliveries by milkmen are household refrigerators (which lessen the need for daily milk deliveries) and private car usage (which has increased supermarket shopping). Another factor is that it is cheaper to purchase milk from a supermarket than from home delivery. In 1996, more than 2.5 billion liters of milk were still being delivered by milkmen, but by 2006 only 637 million liters (13% of milk consumed) was delivered by some 9,500 milkmen. By 2010,


title: Milk content: the estimated number of milkmen had dropped to 6,000. Assuming that delivery per milkman is the same as it was in 2006, this means milkmen deliveries now only account for 6–7% of all milk consumed by UK households (6.7 billion liters in 2008/2009). Almost 95% of all milk in the UK is thus sold in shops today, most of it in plastic bottles of various sizes, but some also in milk cartons. Milk is hardly ever sold in glass bottles in UK shops. In the United States, glass milk bottles have been replaced mostly with milk cartons and plastic jugs.


title: Milk content: Gallons of milk are almost always sold in jugs, while half gallons and quarts may be found in both paper cartons and plastic jugs, and smaller sizes are almost always in cartons. The "half pint" () milk carton is the traditional unit as a component of school lunches, though some companies have replaced that unit size with a plastic bottle, which is also available at retail in 6- and 12-pack size. Glass milk bottles are now rare. Most people purchase milk in bags, plastic bottles, or plastic-coated paper cartons. Ultraviolet (UV) light from fluorescent lighting can alter the flavor of


title: Milk content: milk, so many companies that once distributed milk in transparent or highly translucent containers are now using thicker materials that block the UV light. Milk comes in a variety of containers with local variants: Practically everywhere, condensed milk and evaporated milk are distributed in metal cans, 250 and 125 mL paper containers and 100 and 200 mL squeeze tubes, and powdered milk (skim and whole) is distributed in boxes or bags. When raw milk is left standing for a while, it turns "sour". This is the result of fermentation, where lactic acid bacteria ferment the lactose in the milk into


title: Milk content: lactic acid. Prolonged fermentation may render the milk unpleasant to consume. This fermentation process is exploited by the introduction of bacterial cultures (e.g. "Lactobacilli sp., Streptococcus sp., Leuconostoc sp.", etc.) to produce a variety of fermented milk products. The reduced pH from lactic acid accumulation denatures proteins and causes the milk to undergo a variety of different transformations in appearance and texture, ranging from an aggregate to smooth consistency. Some of these products include sour cream, yogurt, cheese, buttermilk, viili, kefir, and kumis. "See Dairy product" for more information. Pasteurization of cow's milk initially destroys any potential pathogens and increases


title: Milk content: the shelf life, but eventually results in spoilage that makes it unsuitable for consumption. This causes it to assume an unpleasant odor, and the milk is deemed non-consumable due to unpleasant taste and an increased risk of food poisoning. In raw milk, the presence of lactic acid-producing bacteria, under suitable conditions, ferments the lactose present to lactic acid. The increasing acidity in turn prevents the growth of other organisms, or slows their growth significantly. During pasteurization, however, these lactic acid bacteria are mostly destroyed. In order to prevent spoilage, milk can be kept refrigerated and stored between in bulk tanks.


title: Milk content: Most milk is pasteurized by heating briefly and then refrigerated to allow transport from factory farms to local markets. The spoilage of milk can be forestalled by using ultra-high temperature (UHT) treatment. Milk so treated can be stored unrefrigerated for several months until opened but has a characteristic "cooked" taste. Condensed milk, made by removing most of the water, can be stored in cans for many years, unrefrigerated, as can evaporated milk. The most durable form of milk is powdered milk, which is produced from milk by removing almost all water. The moisture content is usually less than 5% in


title: Milk content: both drum- and spray-dried powdered milk. Freezing of milk can cause fat globule aggregation upon thawing, resulting in milky layers and butterfat lumps. These can be dispersed again by warming and stirring the milk. It can change the taste by destruction of milk-fat globule membranes, releasing oxidized flavors. Milk is used to make yogurt, cheese, ice milk, pudding, hot chocolate and french toast. Milk is often added to dry breakfast cereal, porridge and granola. Milk is often served in coffee and tea. Steamed milk is used to prepare espresso-based drinks such as cafe latte. The importance of milk in human


title: Milk content: culture is attested to by the numerous expressions embedded in our languages, for example, "the milk of human kindness", the expression "there's no use crying over spilt milk" (which means don't "be unhappy about what cannot be undone"), "don't milk the ram" (this means "to do or attempt something futile") and "Why buy a cow when you can get milk for free?" (which means "why pay for something that you can get for free otherwise"). In Greek mythology, the Milky Way was formed after the trickster god Hermes suckled the infant Heracles at the breast of Hera, the queen of


title: Milk content: the gods, while she was asleep. When Hera awoke, she tore Heracles away from her breast and splattered her breast milk across the heavens. In another version of the story, Athena, the patron goddess of heroes, tricked Hera into suckling Heracles voluntarily, but he bit her nipple so hard that she flung him away, spraying milk everywhere. In many African and Asian countries, butter is traditionally made from fermented milk rather than cream. It can take several hours of churning to produce workable butter grains from fermented milk. Holy books have also mentioned milk. The Bible contains references to the


title: Milk content: "Land of Milk and Honey." In the Qur'an, there is a request to wonder on milk as follows: "And surely in the livestock there is a lesson for you, We give you to drink of that which is in their bellies from the midst of digested food and blood, pure milk palatable for the drinkers" (16-The Honeybee, 66). The Ramadan fast is traditionally broken with a glass of milk and dates. Abhisheka is conducted by Hindu and Jain priests, by pouring libations on the image of a deity being worshipped, amidst the chanting of mantras. Usually offerings such as milk,


title: Milk content: yogurt, ghee, honey may be poured among other offerings depending on the type of abhishekam being performed. A milksop is an "effeminate spiritless man," an expression which is attested to in the late 14th century. Milk toast is a dish consisting of milk and toast. Its soft blandness served as inspiration for the name of the timid and ineffectual comic strip character Caspar Milquetoast, drawn by H. T. Webster from 1924 to 1952. Thus, the term "milquetoast" entered the language as the label for a timid, shrinking, apologetic person. Milk toast also appeared in Disney's "Follow Me Boys" as an


title: Milk content: undesirable breakfast for the aging main character Lem Siddons. To "milk" someone, in the vernacular of many English-speaking countries, is to take advantage of the person, by analogy to the way a farmer "milks" a cow and takes its milk. The word "milk" has had many slang meanings over time. In the 19th century, milk was used to describe a cheap and very poisonous alcoholic drink made from methylated spirits (methanol) mixed with water. The word was also used to mean defraud, to be idle, to intercept telegrams addressed to someone else, and a weakling or "milksop." In the mid-1930s,


title: Milk content: the word was used in Australia meaning to siphon gas from a car. Besides serving as a beverage or source of food, milk has been described as used by farmers and gardeners as an organic fungicide and fertilizer, however, its effectiveness is debated. Diluted milk solutions have been demonstrated to provide an effective method of preventing powdery mildew on grape vines, while showing it is unlikely to harm the plant. Milk Milk is a nutrient-rich, white liquid food produced by the mammary glands of mammals. It is the primary source of nutrition for infant mammals (including humans who are breastfed)


title: "Michael Faraday" content: the Royal Institution in 1833. In 1832, Faraday was elected a Foreign Honorary Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He was elected a foreign member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences in 1838, and was one of eight foreign members elected to the French Academy of Sciences in 1844. In 1849 he was elected as associated member to the Royal Institute of the Netherlands, which two years later became the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences and he was subsequently made foreign member. Faraday suffered a nervous breakdown in 1839 but eventually returned to his


title: "Melbourne Cricket Ground" content: Indies player Joe Solomon being given out after his hat fell on the stumps after being bowled at by Richie Benaud. The crowd sided with the West Indies over the Australians. Not only was the first Test match played at the MCG, the first One Day International match was also played there, on 5 January 1971, between Australia and England. The match was played on what was originally scheduled to have been the fifth day of a Test match, but the Test was abandoned after the first three days were washed out. Australia won the 40-over match by 5 wickets.


title: "Mehmed I" content: the barriers between different forms of monotheism." Successfully developing a popular social revolution and syncretism of the various religions and sects of the empire, Bedreddin's movement began in the European side of the empire and underwent further expansion in western Anatolia. In 1416, Sheikh Bedreddin started his rebellion against the throne. After a four-year struggle, he was finally captured by Mehmed's grand vizier Bayezid Pasha and hanged in the city off Serres, a city in modern-day Greece, in 1420. The reign of Mehmed I as sultan of the re-united empire lasted only eight years before his death, but he had


title: "Max Planck" content: did help his nephew, the economist Hermann Kranold to emigrate to London after his arrest. He hoped the crisis would abate soon and the political situation would improve. Otto Hahn asked Planck to gather well-known German professors in order to issue a public proclamation against the treatment of Jewish professors, but Planck replied, "If you are able to gather today 30 such gentlemen, then tomorrow 150 others will come and speak against it, because they are eager to take over the positions of the others." Under Planck's leadership, the Kaiser Wilhelm Society (KWG) avoided open conflict with the Nazi regime,


title: Moncton content: Road and the Musée acadien at Université de Moncton. The Moncton Museum reopened following major renovations and an expansion to include the Transportation Discovery Centre. The Discovery Centre includes many hands on exhibits highlighting the city's transportation heritage. The city also has several recognized historical sites. The Free Meeting House was built in 1821 and is a New England-style meeting house located adjacent to the Moncton Museum. The Thomas Williams House, a former home of a city industrialist built in 1883, is now maintained in period style and serves as a genealogical research centre and is also home to several


title: Mineralogy content: that depend on the geometry of the crystal. In a sample that is ground to a powder, the X-rays sample a random distribution of all crystal orientations. Powder diffraction can distinguish between minerals that may appear the same in a hand sample, for example quartz and its polymorphs tridymite and cristobalite. Isomorphous minerals of different compositions have similar powder diffraction patterns, the main difference being in spacing and intensity of lines. For example, the (halite) crystal structure is space group "Fm3m"; this structure is shared by sylvite (), periclase (), bunsenite (), galena (), alabandite (), chlorargyrite (), and osbornite


title: Mineralogy content: liquids with different indices, the index of the crystal can be estimated, usually to within . Systematic mineralogy is the identification and classification of minerals by their properties. Historically, mineralogy was heavily concerned with taxonomy of the rock-forming minerals. In 1959, the International Mineralogical Association formed the Commission of New Minerals and Mineral Names to rationalize the nomenclature and regulate the introduction of new names. In July 2006, it was merged with the Commission on Classification of Minerals to form the Commission on New Minerals, Nomenclature, and Classification. There are over 6,000 named and unnamed minerals, and about 100 are


title: Minestrone content: Minestrone Minestrone (; ) is a thick soup of Italian origin made with vegetables, often with the addition of pasta or rice, sometimes both. Common ingredients include beans, onions, celery, carrots, stock, and tomatoes. There is no set recipe for minestrone, since it is usually made out of whatever vegetables you have. It can be vegetarian, contain meat, or contain a meat-based broth (such as chicken stock). Angelo Pellegrini, however, argued that the base of minestrone is bean broth, and that borlotti beans (also called Roman beans) "are the beans to use for genuine minestrone". Some of the earliest origins


title: Minestrone content: of minestrone soup pre-date the expansion of the Latin tribes of Rome into what became the Roman Kingdom (later Roman Republic and Empire), when the local diet was "vegetarian by necessity" and consisted mostly of vegetables, such as onions, lentils, cabbage, garlic, broad beans, mushrooms, carrots, asparagus, and turnips. During this time, the main dish of a meal would have been "pulte", a simple but filling porridge of spelt flour cooked in salt water, to which whatever vegetables that were available would have been added. It was not until the 2nd century B.C., when Rome had conquered Italy and monopolized


title: Minestrone content: the commercial and road networks, that a huge diversity of products flooded the capital and began to change their diet, and by association, the diet of Italy most notably with the more frequent inclusion of meats, including as a stock for soups. Spelt flour was also removed from soups, as bread had been introduced into the Roman diet by the Greeks, and "pulte" became a meal largely for the poor. The ancient Romans recognized the health benefits of a simple or "frugal" diet (from the Latin "fruges", the common name given to cereals, vegetables and legumes) and thick vegetable soups


title: Minestrone content: and vegetables remained a staple. Marcus Apicius's ancient cookbook "De Re Coquinaria" described "polus", a Roman soup dating back to 30 AD made up of farro, chickpeas, and fava beans, with onions, garlic, lard, and greens thrown in. As eating habits and ingredients changed in Italy, so did minestrone. Apicius updates the "pultes" and "pulticulae" with fancy trimmings such as cooked brains and wine. The introduction of tomatoes and potatoes from the Americas in the mid-16th century changed the soup by making available two ingredients which have since become staples. The tradition of not losing rural roots continues today, and


title: Minestrone content: minestrone is now known in Italy as belonging to the style of cooking called "cucina povera" (literally "poor kitchen") meaning dishes that have rustic, rural roots, as opposed to "cucina nobile" or the cooking style of the aristocracy and nobles. Like many Italian dishes, minestrone was probably originally not a dish made for its own sake. In other words, one did not gather the ingredients of minestrone with the intention of making minestrone. The ingredients were pooled from ingredients for other dishes, often side dishes or "contorni" plus whatever was left over, rather like the "pulte". There are two schools


title: Minestrone content: of thought on when the recipe for minestrone became more formalized. One argues that in the 17th and 18th centuries minestrone emerged as a soup using exclusively fresh vegetables and was made for its own sake (meaning it no longer relied on left-overs), while the other school of thought argues that the dish had always been prepared exclusively with fresh vegetables for its own sake since the pre-Roman "pulte", but the name minestrone lost its meaning of being made with left-overs. The word "minestrone", meaning a thick vegetable soup, is attested in English from 1871. It is from Italian "minestrone",


title: Minestrone content: the augmentative form of "minestra", "soup", or more literally, "that which is served", from "minestrare", "to serve" and cognate with "administer" as in "to administer a remedy". Because of its unique origins and the absence of a fixed recipe, minestrone varies widely across Italy depending on traditional cooking times, ingredients, and season. Minestrone ranges from a thick and dense texture with very boiled-down vegetables, to a more brothy soup with large quantities of diced and lightly cooked vegetables; it may also include meats. In modern Italian there are three words corresponding to the English word "soup": "zuppa", which is used


title: Minestrone content: in the sense of tomato soup, or fish soup; "minestra", which is used in the sense of a more substantial soup such as a vegetable soup, and also for "dry" soups, namely pasta dishes; and "minestrone", which means a very substantial or large soup or stew, though the meaning has now come to be associated with this particular dish. "Minestrone alla Genovese" is a variant typical of Liguria, which contains greater use of herbs, including pesto. "Minestra" is a variant from Malta, which prominently features "kunserva" (a thick tomato paste), potatoes, kohlrabi, cauliflower and sometimes spaghetti. Minestrone Minestrone (; )


title: "Mackinac Bridge" content: Mackinac Bridge The Mackinac Bridge ( ) is a suspension bridge spanning the Straits of Mackinac to connect the Upper and Lower Peninsulas of the U.S. state of Michigan. Opened in 1957, the bridge (familiarly known as "Big Mac" and "Mighty Mac") is the world's 20th-longest main span and the longest suspension bridge between anchorages in the Western Hemisphere. The Mackinac Bridge is part of Interstate 75 and the Lakes Michigan and Huron components of the Great Lakes Circle Tour across the straits; it is also a segment of the U.S. North Country National Scenic Trail. The bridge connects the


title: "Mackinac Bridge" content: city of St. Ignace on the north end with the village of Mackinaw City on the south. Envisioned since the 1880s, the bridge was designed by the engineer David B. Steinman and completed in 1957 only after many decades of struggles to begin construction. The bridge opened on November 1, 1957, connecting two peninsulas linked for decades by ferries. A year later, the bridge was formally dedicated as the "world's longest suspension bridge between anchorages", allowing a superlative comparison to the Golden Gate Bridge, which had a longer center span between towers, and the San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge, which had


title: "Mackinac Bridge" content: an anchorage in the middle. It remains the longest suspension bridge with two towers between anchorages in the Western Hemisphere. Much longer anchorage-to-anchorage spans have been built in the Eastern Hemisphere, including the Akashi Kaikyō Bridge in Japan (). But the long leadups to the anchorages on the Mackinac make its total shoreline-to-shoreline length of , longer than the Akashi-Kaikyo (). The length of the bridge's main span is , which makes it the third-longest suspension span in the United States and 20th longest suspension span worldwide. It is also one of the world's longest bridges overall. The Algonquian peoples


title: "Mackinac Bridge" content: who lived in the straits area prior to the arrival of Europeans in the 17th century called this region "Michilimackinac", which is widely understood to mean "the Great Turtle." This is thought to refer to the shape of what is now called Mackinac Island. This interpretation of the word is debated by scholars. Trading posts at the Straits of Mackinac attracted peak populations during the summer trading season; they also developed as intertribal meeting places. As exploitation of the state's mineral and timber resources increased during the 19th century, the area became an important transport hub. In 1881 the three


title: "Mackinac Bridge" content: railroads that reached the Straits, the Michigan Central, Grand Rapids & Indiana, and the Detroit, Mackinac & Marquette, jointly established the Mackinac Transportation Company to operate a railroad car ferry service across the straits and connect the two peninsulas. Improved highways along the eastern shores of the Lower Peninsula brought increased automobile traffic to the Straits region starting in the 1910s. The state of Michigan initiated an automobile ferry service between Mackinaw City and St. Ignace in 1923; it eventually operated nine ferry boats that would carry as many as 9,000 vehicles per day. Traffic backups could stretch as long


title: "Mackinac Bridge" content: as . After the opening of the Brooklyn Bridge in 1883, local residents began to imagine that such a structure could span the straits. In 1884, a store owner in St. Ignace published a newspaper advertisement that included a reprint of an artist's conception of the Brooklyn Bridge with the caption "Proposed bridge across the Straits of Mackinac". The idea of the bridge was discussed in the Michigan Legislature as early as the 1880s. At the time, the Straits of Mackinac area was becoming a popular tourist destination, especially following the creation of Mackinac National Park on Mackinac Island in


title: "Mackinac Bridge" content: 1875. At a July 1888 meeting of the board of directors of the Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island, Cornelius Vanderbilt II proposed that a bridge be built across the straits, of a design similar to the one then under construction across the Firth of Forth in Scotland. This would advance commerce in the region and help lengthen the resort season of the hotel. Decades went by with no formal action. In 1920, the Michigan state highway commissioner advocated construction of a floating tunnel across the Straits. At the invitation of the state legislature, C. E. Fowler of New York City


title: "Mackinac Bridge" content: put forth a plan for a long series of causeways and bridges across the straits from Cheboygan, southeast of Mackinaw City, to St. Ignace, using Bois Blanc, Round, and Mackinac islands as intermediate steps. In 1923, the state legislature ordered the State Highway Department to establish ferry service across the strait. More and more people used ferries to cross the straits each year, and as they did, the movement to build a bridge increased. Chase Osborn, a former governor, wrote, By 1928, the ferry service had become so popular and so expensive to operate that Michigan Governor Fred W. Green


title: "Mackinac Bridge" content: ordered the department to study the feasibility of building a bridge across the strait. The department deemed the idea feasible, estimating the cost at $30 million (equivalent to $ in ). In 1934, the Michigan Legislature created the "Mackinac Straits Bridge Authority" to explore possible methods of constructing and funding the proposed bridge. The Legislature authorized the Authority to seek financing for the project. In the mid-1930s, during the Great Depression, when numerous infrastructure projects received federal aid, the Authority twice attempted to obtain federal funds for the project but was unsuccessful. The United States Army Corps of Engineers and


title: "Mackinac Bridge" content: President Franklin D. Roosevelt endorsed the project but Congress never appropriated funds. Between 1936 and 1940, the Authority selected a route for the bridge based on preliminary studies. Borings were made for a detailed geological study of the route. The preliminary plans for the bridge featured a 3-lane roadway, a railroad crossing on the underdeck of the span, and a center-anchorage double-suspension bridge configuration similar to the design of the San Francisco – Oakland Bay Bridge. Because this would have required sinking an anchorage pier in the deepest area of the Straits, the practicality of this design may have been


title: "Mackinac Bridge" content: questionable. A concrete causeway, approximately , extending from the northern shore, was constructed in shallow water from 1939 to 1941. However, a unique engineering challenge was created by the tremendous forces that operate against the base of the bridge, because the lakes freeze during the winter, causing large icebergs to place enormous stress on the bridge. At that time, with funding for the project still uncertain, further work was put on hold because of the outbreak of World War II. The "Mackinac Straits Bridge Authority" was abolished by the state legislature in 1947, but the same body created a new


title: "Mackinac Bridge" content: Mackinac Bridge Authority three years later in 1950. In June 1950, engineers were retained for the project. By then, it was reported that cars queuing for the ferry at Mackinaw City did not reach St. Ignace until five hours later, and the typical capacity of 460 vehicles per hour could not match the estimated 1600 for a bridge. After a report by the engineers in January 1951, the state legislature authorized the sale of $85 million (equivalent to $ in ) in bonds for bridge construction on April 30, 1952. However, a weak bond market in 1953 forced a delay


title: "Mackinac Bridge" content: of more than a year before the bonds could be issued. David B. Steinman was appointed as the design engineer in January 1953 and by the end of 1953, estimates and contracts had been negotiated. A Civil Engineer at the firm, Abul Hasnat, did the preliminary plans for the bridge. Total cost estimate at that time was $95 million (equivalent to $ in ) with estimated completion by November 1, 1956. Tolls collected were to pay for the bridge in 20 years. Construction began on May 7, 1954. The American Bridge Division of United States Steel Corporation was awarded a


title: "Mackinac Bridge" content: contract of more than $44 million (equivalent to $ in ) to build the steel superstructure. Construction, staged using the 1939–41 causeway, took three and a half years (four summers, no winter construction) at a total cost of $100 million and the lives of five workers. Contrary to popular belief, none of them are entombed in the Bridge. It opened to traffic on schedule on November 1, 1957, and the ferry service was discontinued on the same day. The Bridge was formally dedicated on June 25, 1958. G. Mennen Williams was governor during the construction of the Mackinac Bridge. He


title: "Mackinac Bridge" content: began the tradition of the governor leading the Mackinac Bridge Walk across it every Labor Day. U.S. Senator Prentiss M. Brown has been called the "father of the Mackinac Bridge," and was honored with a special memorial bridge token created by the Mackinac Bridge Authority. The bridge officially achieved its 100 millionth crossing exactly forty years after its dedication, on June 25, 1998. The 50th anniversary of the bridge's opening was celebrated on November 1, 2007 in a ceremony hosted by the Mackinac Bridge Authority at the viewing park adjacent to the St. Ignace causeway. The design of the Mackinac


title: "Mackinac Bridge" content: Bridge was directly influenced by the lessons from the first Tacoma Narrows Bridge, which failed in 1940 because of its instability in high winds. Three years after that disaster, Steinman had published a theoretical analysis of suspension-bridge stability problems, which recommended that future bridge designs include deep stiffening trusses to support the bridge deck and an open-grid roadway to reduce its wind resistance. Both of these features were incorporated into the design of the Mackinac Bridge. The stiffening truss is open to reduce wind resistance. The road deck is shaped as an airfoil to provide lift in a cross wind,


title: "Mackinac Bridge" content: and the center two lanes are open grid to allow vertical (upward) air flow, which fairly precisely cancels the lift, making the roadway stable in design in winds of up to . The Mackinac Bridge is currently a toll bridge on Interstate 75 (I-75). Prior to the coming of I-75, the bridge carried US Highway 27 (US 27). It is one of only three segments of I-75 that are tolled, the others being the American half of the International Bridge near Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, and Alligator Alley in Florida. The current toll is $4.00 for automobiles and $5.00 per


title: "Mackinac Bridge" content: axle for trucks. The Mackinac Bridge Authority raised the toll in 2007 to fund a $300 million renovation program, which would include completely replacing the bridge deck. Every Labor Day, the bridge is open to walkers for the Mackinac Bridge Walk. Painting of the bridge takes seven years, and when painting of the bridge is complete, it begins again. The current painting project began in 1999 and was expected to take 20 years to complete because the lead-based paint needs to be removed, incurring additional disposal requirements. The bridge celebrated its 150 millionth vehicle crossing on September 6, 2009. Five


title: "Mackinac Bridge" content: workers died during the construction of the bridge. All five men are memorialized on a plaque near the bridge's northern end (Bridge View Park). Contrary to folklore, no bodies are embedded in the concrete. One worker has died since the bridge was completed. Daniel Doyle fell from scaffolding on August 7, 1997. He survived the fall but fell victim to the water temperature. His body was recovered the next day in of water. Two vehicles have fallen off the bridge. On September 10, 1978, a small private plane carrying United States Marine Corps Reserve officers Maj. Virgil Osborne, Capt. James


title: "Mackinac Bridge" content: Robbins, and Capt. Wayne W. Wisbrock smashed into one of the bridge's suspension cables while flying in a heavy fog. The impact tore the wings off the plane, which then plunged into the Straits of Mackinac. All three men were killed. Because the bridge is not accessible to pedestrians, suicides by jumping from the bridge have been rare, with the most recent confirmed case taking place on December 31, 2012. There have been roughly a dozen suicides by people jumping off the bridge. Some individuals have difficulty crossing bridges, a phenomenon known as gephyrophobia. The Mackinac Bridge Authority has a


title: "Mackinac Bridge" content: Drivers Assistance Program that provides drivers for those with gephyrphobia, or anyone who is more comfortable having someone else drive them across. More than a thousand people use this service every year. Those interested can arrange, either by phone or with the toll collector, to have their cars or motorcycles driven to the other end. There is no additional fee for this service. Bicycles and pedestrians are not normally permitted on the bridge. An exception is allowed for riders of two annual bicycle tours. On an everyday basis, for a $5.00 fee, the Authority will transport bicyclists and their vehicles


title: "Mackinac Bridge" content: across the bridge. Travelers across the Mackinac Bridge can listen to an AM radio broadcast that recounts the history of the bridge and provides updates on driving conditions. The Mackinac Bridge Walk has been held each year since 1958, when it was led by Governor G. Mennen Williams. The first walk was held during the Bridge's Dedication Ceremony held in late June, and has been held on Labor Day since 1959. Until 2018, school buses from local districts transported walkers from Mackinaw City to St. Ignace to begin the walk. Thousands of people, traditionally led by the Governor of Michigan,


title: "Mackinac Bridge" content: cross the five-mile (8 km) span on foot from St. Ignace to Mackinaw City. Before 1964, people walked the Bridge from Mackinaw City to St. Ignace. Prior to 2017, two lanes of the bridge would remain open to public vehicle traffic; this policy was changed in 2017 to close the entire bridge to public vehicle traffic for the duration of the event. The Bridge Walk is the only day of the year that hikers can hike this section of the North Country National Scenic Trail. During summers, the Upper Peninsula and the Mackinac Bridge have become a major tourist destination.


title: "Mackinac Bridge" content: In addition to visitors to Mackinac Island, the bridge has attracted interest from a diverse group of tourists including bridge enthusiasts, bird-watchers, and photographers. The Straits area is a popular sailing destination for boats of all types, which make it easier to get a closer view to the underlying structure of the bridge. On June 25, 1958, to coincide with the 1958 celebration of the November 1957 opening, the United States Postal Service (USPS) released a 3¢ commemorative stamp featuring the recently completed bridge. It was entitled "Connecting the Peninsulas of Michigan" and 107,195,200 copies were issued. The USPS again


title: "Mackinac Bridge" content: honored the Mackinac Bridge as the subject of its 2010 priority mail $4.90 stamp, which went on sale February 3. The bridge authority and MDOT unveiled the stamp, which featured a "seagull's-eye view" of the landmark, with a passing freighter below. Artist Dan Cosgrove worked from panoramic photographs to create the artwork. This is one of several designs that Cosgrove has produced for the USPS. On April 24, 1959, Captain John S. Lappo, an officer in the Strategic Air Command, operating from Lockbourne AFB flew his Boeing B-47 Stratojet beneath the bridge. Following a General court-martial, he was grounded for


title: "Mackinac Bridge" content: life. A feature-length documentary entitled "Building the Mighty Mac" was produced by Hollywood filmmaker Mark Howell in 1997 and was shown on PBS. The program features numerous interviews with the key people who built the structure and includes restored 16mm color footage of the bridge's construction. The history and building of the bridge was featured in a 2003 episode of the History Channel TV show "Modern Marvels". On July 19, 2007, the Detroit Science Center unveiled an , scale model of the Mackinac Bridge. The exhibit was part of the state's 50th anniversary celebration of the bridge. Sherwin-Williams supplied authentic


title: "Mackinac Bridge" content: Mackinac Bridge-colored paint for the project. The bridge and its maintenance crew were featured in an episode of the Discovery Channel TV show "Dirty Jobs" on August 7, 2007. Host Mike Rowe and crew spent several days filming the episode in May 2007. MDOT also featured the bridge on the cover of the 2007 state highway map to celebrate its 50th anniversary. Mackinac Bridge The Mackinac Bridge ( ) is a suspension bridge spanning the Straits of Mackinac to connect the Upper and Lower Peninsulas of the U.S. state of Michigan. Opened in 1957, the bridge (familiarly known as "Big


title: "Mixmaster Morris" content: Mojave Desert, Glastonbury Festival, Rainbow 2000 and Mother SOS in Japan, Chillits in Northern California, and Berlin's Love Parade. He also ran the downtempo night Nubient in Brixton. In 1995, he played at the first The Big Chill festival, and then became a resident for the next 16 years. He also collaborated with the German musician Pete Namlook under the name Dreamfish, recording two albums. Also with SF-based musician Jonah Sharp and Haruomi Hosono of Yellow Magic Orchestra he made the album "Quiet Logic" for the Japanese label Daisyworld. In 1998 he joined the UK's Ninja Tune record label, with


title: "Montreal Expos" content: 7–0 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies. The excitement of the early-season heroics quickly gave way to the realities of being an expansion team as the Expos struggled for much of their inaugural season. Montreal tied their expansion cousins, the San Diego Padres for the worst record in the NL with a record of 52–110. The team fared little better in the following seasons; the Expos went 73–89 in and 71–90 in . The team's best player, and first star, in its early seasons was Rusty Staub. Acquired from the Houston Astros in a trade prior to the Expos' inaugural season,


title: "Maria Eleonora of Brandenburg" content: December that year before her nephew gave her permission to visit Brandenburg. Still, the new Elector insisted that Sweden should provide for his aunt's upkeep. She received a small pension of 30,000 écus a year. After a while Maria Eleonora surprisingly started to long for Sweden, and in 1648 she returned. Queen Christina went to meet her mother's ship. It was delayed by a storm and the young queen slept in the open for two nights and contracted a fever, which kept her in bed for some days. In October 1650 Maria Eleonora attended her daughter's postponed coronation ceremony. Christina


title: "Mieszko I of Poland" content: invaded. Perhaps another raid against the Polabians took place. But there are indications that it was an expedition against the Czechs, Mieszko's first against his southern neighbors. Possibly on this occasion the Duke of the Polans accomplished the most significant expansion of his state, the take-over of Lesser Poland. Thietmar's narrative, however, raises doubts as to whether the joined military operation actually happened. The chronicler claims that a settlement was then concluded between the Emperor and the Bohemian ruler Boleslav II the Pious, which is not mentioned in any other source and is contrary to the realities of the political


title: "Mary, Queen of Scots" content: at Carberry Hill on 15 June, but there was no battle as Mary's forces dwindled away through desertion during negotiations. Bothwell was given safe passage from the field, and the lords took Mary to Edinburgh, where crowds of spectators denounced her as an adulteress and murderer. The following night, she was imprisoned in Loch Leven Castle, on an island in the middle of Loch Leven. Between 20 and 23 July, Mary miscarried twins. On 24 July, she was forced to abdicate in favour of her one-year-old son James. Moray was made regent, while Bothwell was driven into exile. He was


title: "Messier object" content: diffuse nebulae, planetary nebulae, open clusters, globular clusters, and galaxies – visible from European latitudes. Furthermore, almost all of the Messier objects are among the closest to Earth in their respective classes, which makes them heavily studied with professional class instruments that today can resolve very small and visually spectacular details in them. A summary of the astrophysics of each Messier object can be found in the "Concise Catalog of Deep-sky Objects." Since these objects could be observed visually with the relatively small-aperture refracting telescope (approximately 100 mm, or 4 inches) used by Messier to study the sky, they are


title: "My Neighbor Totoro" content: The character made multiple cameo appearances in a number of Studio Ghibli films and video games and also serves as the mascot for the studio and is recognized as one of the most popular characters in Japanese animation. Totoro was ranked 24th on IGN's top 25 anime characters. In 1958 Japan, university professor Tatsuo Kusakabe and his two daughters, Satsuki and Mei, move into an old house to be closer to the hospital where the girls' mother, Yasuko, is recovering from a long-term illness. Satsuki and Mei find that the house is inhabited by tiny creatures called "susuwatari"—small, dark, dust-like


title: "MOS Technology" content: and other volatile organic compounds (VOCs). GMT ceased operations and was liquidated. Most of the MOS chips are named according to following rules, which shows used technology (logic gate design): MOS Technology MOS Technology, Inc. ("MOS" being short for Metal Oxide Semiconductor), also known as CSG (Commodore Semiconductor Group), was a semiconductor design and fabrication company based in Norristown, Pennsylvania, in the United States. It is most famous for its 6502 microprocessor and various designs for Commodore International's range of home computers. MOS Technology, Inc. was originally started in 1969 by Allen-Bradley to provide a second source for electronic calculators


title: Metabolism content: Autotrophs such as plants can construct the complex organic molecules in cells such as polysaccharides and proteins from simple molecules like carbon dioxide and water. Heterotrophs, on the other hand, require a source of more complex substances, such as monosaccharides and amino acids, to produce these complex molecules. Organisms can be further classified by ultimate source of their energy: photoautotrophs and photoheterotrophs obtain energy from light, whereas chemoautotrophs and chemoheterotrophs obtain energy from inorganic oxidation reactions. Photosynthesis is the synthesis of carbohydrates from sunlight and carbon dioxide (CO). In plants, cyanobacteria and algae, oxygenic photosynthesis splits water, with oxygen produced


title: Mecca content: Mecca Mecca (; "" () is a city in the Hejazi region of the Arabian Peninsula, and the plain of Tihamah in Saudi Arabia, and is also the capital and administrative headquarters of the Makkah Region. The city is located inland from Jeddah in a narrow valley at a height of above sea level, and south of Medina. Its resident population in 2012 was roughly 2 million, although visitors more than triple this number every year during the "Ḥajj" (, "Pilgrimage") period held in the twelfth Muslim lunar month of "Dhūl-Ḥijjah" (). As the birthplace of Muhammad, and the site


title: Mecca content: of Muhammad's first revelation of the Quran (specifically, a cave from Mecca), Mecca is regarded as the holiest city in the religion of Islam and a pilgrimage to it known as the Hajj is obligatory for all able Muslims. Mecca is home to the Kaaba, by majority description Islam's holiest site, as well as being the direction of Muslim prayer. Mecca was long ruled by Muhammad's descendants, the sharifs, acting either as independent rulers or as vassals to larger polities. It was conquered by Ibn Saud in 1925. In its modern period, Mecca has seen tremendous expansion in size and


title: Mecca content: infrastructure, home to structures such as the Abraj Al Bait, also known as the Makkah Royal Clock Tower Hotel, the world's fourth tallest building and the building with the third largest amount of floor area. During this expansion, Mecca has lost some historical structures and archaeological sites, such as the Ajyad Fortress. Today, more than 15 million Muslims visit Mecca annually, including several million during the few days of the Hajj. As a result, Mecca has become one of the most cosmopolitan cities in the Muslim world, although non-Muslims are prohibited from entering the city. "Mecca" is the familiar form


title: Mecca content: of the English transliteration for the Arabic name of the city, although the official transliteration used by the Saudi government is "Makkah", which is closer to the Arabic pronunciation. The word "Mecca" in English has come to be used to refer to any place that draws large numbers of people, and because of this some English speaking Muslims have come to regard the use of this spelling for the city as offensive. The Saudi government adopted "Makkah" as the official spelling in the 1980s, but is not universally known or used worldwide. The full official name is "Makkah al-Mukarramah" ()


title: Mecca content: or "Makkatu l-Mukarramah" (, ), which means "Mecca the Honored", but is also loosely translated as "The Holy City of Mecca". The ancient or early name for the site of Mecca is "Bakkah" (, also transliterated Baca, Baka, Bakah, Bakka, Becca, Bekka, etc.). An Arabic language word, its etymology, like that of Mecca, is obscure. Widely believed to be a synonym for Mecca, it is said to be more specifically the early name for the valley located therein, while Muslim scholars generally use it to refer to the sacred area of the city that immediately surrounds and includes the "Ka‘bah"


title: Mecca content: (, Kaaba). This form is used for the name Mecca in the Quran in 3:96, while the form Mecca is used in 48:24. In South Arabic, the language in use in the southern portion of the Arabian Peninsula at the time of Muhammad, the "b" and "m" were interchangeable. Other references to Mecca in the Quran (6:92, 42:5) call it "Umm al-Qurā" (), meaning "Mother of All Settlements"/"mother of villages". Another name of Mecca is "Ṫihāmah" (). Another name for Mecca, or the wilderness and mountains surrounding it, according to Arab and Islamic tradition, is Faran or Pharan, referring to


title: Mecca content: the Desert of Paran mentioned in the Old Testament at Genesis 21:21. Arab and Islamic tradition holds that the wilderness of Paran, broadly speaking, is the Tihamah and the site where Ishmael settled was Mecca. Yaqut al-Hamawi, the 12th century Syrian geographer, wrote that Fārān was "an arabized Hebrew word, one of the names of Mecca mentioned in the Torah." Mecca is governed by the Municipality of Mecca, a municipal council of fourteen locally elected members headed by a mayor (called "Al-Amin") appointed by the Saudi government. , the mayor of the city was Dr. Osama bin Fadhel Al-Bar. Mecca


title: Mecca content: is the capital of the Makkah Region, which includes neighboring Jeddah. The provincial governor was prince Abdul Majeed bin Abdulaziz Al Saud from 2000 until his death in 2007. On 16 May 2007, prince Khalid bin Faisal Al Saud was appointed as the new governor. The early history of Mecca is still largely disputed, as there are no unambiguous references to it in ancient literature prior to the rise of Islam. The Roman Empire took control of part of the Hejaz in 106 CE, ruling cities such as Hegra (now known as Mada'in Saleh), located to the north of Mecca.


title: Mecca content: Even though detailed descriptions were established of Western Arabia by Rome, such as by Procopius, there are no references of a pilgrimage and trading outpost such as Mecca. The first direct mention of Mecca in external literature occurs in 741 CE, in the Byzantine-Arab Chronicle, though here the author places it in Mesopotamia rather than the Hejaz. Given the inhospitable environment and lack of historical references in Roman, Persian and Indian sources, historians including Patricia Crone and Tom Holland have cast doubt on the claim that Mecca was a major historical trading outpost. The Greek historian Diodorus Siculus writes about


title: Mecca content: Arabia in his work Bibliotheca historica, describing a holy shrine: "And a temple has been set up there, which is very holy and exceedingly revered by all Arabians". Claims have been made this could be a reference to the Kaaba in Mecca. However, the geographic location Diodorus describes is located in northwest Arabia, around the area of Leuke Kome, closer to Petra and within the former Nabataean Kingdom and Rome's Arabia Petraea. Ptolemy lists the names of 50 cities in Arabia, one going by the name of "Macoraba". There has been speculation since 1646 that this is could be a


title: Mecca content: reference to Mecca, but there is no compelling explanation to link the two names. In the Islamic view, the beginnings of Mecca are attributed to Ishmael's descendants. The Old Testament chapter Psalm 84:3–6, and a mention of a pilgrimage at the Valley of Baca, that Muslims see as referring to the mentioning of Mecca as Bakkah in Quran's Surah 3:96. Some time in the 5th century, the Kaaba was a place of worship for the deities of Arabia's pagan tribes. Mecca's most important pagan deity was Hubal, which had been placed there by the ruling Quraysh tribe and remained until


title: Mecca content: the 7th century. In the "Sharḥ al- Asāṭīr", a commentary on the Samaritan midrashic chronology of the Patriarchs, of unknown date but probably composed in the tenth century C.E., it is claimed that Mecca was built by the sons of Nebaioth, the eldest son of Ishmael. In the 5th century, the Quraysh took control of Mecca, and became skilled merchants and traders. In the 6th century they joined the lucrative spice trade, since battles elsewhere were diverting trade routes from dangerous sea routes to more secure overland routes. The Byzantine Empire had previously controlled the Red Sea, but piracy had


title: Mecca content: been increasing. Another previous route that ran through the Persian Gulf via the Tigris and Euphrates rivers was also being threatened by exploitations from the Sassanid Empire, and was being disrupted by the Lakhmids, the Ghassanids, and the Roman–Persian Wars. Mecca's prominence as a trading center also surpassed the cities of Petra and Palmyra. The Sassanids however did not always pose a threat to Mecca, as in 575 CE they protected Mecca city from invasion by the Kingdom of Axum, led by its Christian leader Abraha. The tribes of southern Arabia asked the Persian king Khosrau I for aid, in


title: Mecca content: response to which he came south to Arabia with foot-soldiers and a fleet of ships into Mecca. The Persian intervention prevented Christianity from spreading eastward into Arabia, and Mecca and the Islamic prophet Muhammad, who was at the time six years old in the Quraysh tribe, "would not grow up under the cross." By the middle of the 6th century, there were three major settlements in northern Arabia, all along the south-western coast that borders the Red Sea, in a habitable region between the sea and the great mountains to the east. Although the area around Mecca was completely barren,


title: Mecca content: it was the wealthiest of the three settlements with abundant water via the renowned Zamzam Well and a position at the crossroads of major caravan routes. The harsh conditions and terrain of the Arabian peninsula meant a near-constant state of conflict between the local tribes, but once a year they would declare a truce and converge upon Mecca in an annual pilgrimage. Up to the 7th century, this journey was intended for religious reasons by the pagan Arabs to pay homage to their shrine, and to drink from the Zamzam Well. However, it was also the time each year that


title: Mecca content: disputes would be arbitrated, debts would be resolved, and trading would occur at Meccan fairs. These annual events gave the tribes a sense of common identity and made Mecca an important focus for the peninsula. The "Year of the Elephant" is the name in Islamic history for the year approximately equating to 570 CE. According to Islamic tradition, it was in this year that Muhammad was born. The name is derived from an event said to have occurred at Mecca. According to early Islamic historians such as Ibn Ishaq, Abraha, the Christian ruler of Yemen, which was subject to the


title: Mecca content: Kingdom of Aksum of Ethiopia, built a great church at Sana'a known as "al-Qullays" in honor of the Aksumite king Negus. It gained widespread fame, even gaining the notice of the Byzantine Empire. Abraha attempted to divert the pilgrimage of Arab people from Kaaba to al-Qullays and appointed a man named Muhammad ibn Khuza'i to Mecca and Tihamah as a king with a message that al-Qullays was both much better than other houses of worship and purer, having not been defiled by the housing of idols. When Muhammad ibn Khuza'i got as far as the land of Kinana, the people


title: Mecca content: of the lowland, knowing what he had come for, sent a man of Hudhayl called ʿUrwa bin Hayyad al-Milasi, who shot him with an arrow, killing him. His brother Qays who was with him fled to Abraha and told him the news, which increased his rage and fury and he swore to raid the Kinana tribe and destroy the temple. Ibn Ishaq further states that one of the men of the Quraysh tribe was angered by this, and going to Sana'a, slipped into the church at night and defiled it; it is widely assumed that they did so by defecating


title: Mecca content: in it. Abraha marched upon the Kaaba with a large army, which included one or more war elephants, intending to demolish it. When news of the advance of Abraha's army came, the Arab tribes of the Quraysh, Banu Kinanah, Banu Khuza'a and Banu Hudhayl united in defense of the Kaaba. A man from the Himyarite Kingdom was sent by Abraha to advise them that Abraha only wished to demolish the Kaaba and if they resisted, they would be crushed. Abdul Muttalib told the Meccans to seek refuge in the hills while he with some leading members of the Quraysh remained


title: Mecca content: within the precincts of the Kaaba. Abraha sent a dispatch inviting Abdul-Muttalib to meet with Abraha and discuss matters. When Abdul-Muttalib left the meeting he was heard saying, "The Owner of this House is its Defender, and I am sure he will save it from the attack of the adversaries and will not dishonor the servants of His House." Abraha attacked Mecca. However, the lead elephant, known as Mahmud, is said to have stopped at the boundary around Mecca and refused to enter. It has been theorized that an epidemic such as by smallpox could have caused such a failed


title: Mecca content: invasion of Mecca. The reference to the story in Qur'an is rather short. According to the Surah of Al-Fil, the next day, [as Abraha prepared to enter the city], a dark cloud of small birds sent by Allah appeared. The birds carried small rocks in their beaks, and bombarded the Ethiopian forces and smashed them like "eaten straw". Camel caravans, said to have first been used by Muhammad's great-grandfather, were a major part of Mecca's bustling economy. Alliances were struck between the merchants in Mecca and the local nomadic tribes, who would bring goods – leather, livestock, and metals mined


title: Mecca content: in the local mountains – to Mecca to be loaded on the caravans and carried to cities in Shaam and Iraq. Historical accounts also provide some indication that goods from other continents may also have flowed through Mecca. Goods from Africa and the Far East passed through en route to Syria including spices, leather, medicine, cloth, and slaves; in return Mecca received money, weapons, cereals and wine, which in turn were distributed throughout Arabia. The Meccans signed treaties with both the Byzantines and the Bedouins, and negotiated safe passages for caravans, giving them water and pasture rights. Mecca became the


title: Mecca content: center of a loose confederation of client tribes, which included those of the Banu Tamim. Other regional powers such as the Abyssinian, Ghassan, and Lakhm were in decline leaving Meccan trade to be the primary binding force in Arabia in the late 6th century. Some Thamudic inscriptions which were discovered in the south Jordan contained names of some individuals such as "‘Abd Mekkat" (, "Servant of Mecca"). There were also some other inscriptions which contained personal names such as "Makky" (, "Meccan"), but Jawwad Ali from the University of Baghdad suggested that there's also a probability of a tribe named


title: Mecca content: "Mecca". According to Islamic tradition, the history of Mecca goes back to Abraham (Ibrahim), who built the Kaaba with the help of his elder son Ishmael in around 2000 BCE, when the inhabitants of the site then known as Bakkah had fallen away from the original monotheism of Abraham through the influence of the Amalekites. Muhammad was born in Mecca in 570, and thus Islam has been inextricably linked with it ever since. He was born in a minor faction, the Hashemites, of the ruling Quraysh tribe. It was in Mecca, in the nearby mountain cave of Hira on Jabal


title: Mecca content: al-Nour, that, according to Islamic tradition, Muhammad began receiving divine revelations from God through the Archangel Gabriel in 610 AD, and advocated his form of Abrahamic monotheism against Meccan paganism. After enduring persecution from the pagan tribes for 13 years, Muhammad emigrated (see Hijrah) in 622 with his companions, the "Muhajirun", to Yathrib (later called Medina). The conflict between the Quraysh and the Muslims, however, continued: The two fought in the Battle of Badr, where the Muslims defeated the Quraysh outside Medina; while the Battle of Uhud ended indecisively. Overall, Meccan efforts to annihilate Islam failed and proved to be


title: Mecca content: costly and unsuccessful. During the Battle of the Trench in 627, the combined armies of Arabia were unable to defeat Muhammad's forces. In 628, Muhammad and his followers wanted to enter Mecca for pilgrimage, but were blocked by the Quraysh. Subsequently, Muslims and Meccans entered into the Treaty of Hudaybiyyah, whereby the Quraysh promised to cease fighting Muslims and promised that Muslims would be allowed into the city to perform the pilgrimage the following year. It was meant to be a ceasefire for 10 years. However, just two years later, the Quraysh violated the truce by slaughtering a group of


title: Mecca content: Muslims and their allies. Muhammad and his companions, now 10,000 strong, marched into Mecca. However, instead of continuing their fight, the city of Mecca surrendered to Muhammad, who declared peace and amnesty for its inhabitants. The pagan imagery was destroyed by Muhammad's followers and the location Islamized and rededicated to the worship of God. Mecca was declared as the holiest site in Islam ordaining it as the center of Muslim pilgrimage, one of the faith's Five Pillars. Then, Muhammad returned to Medina, after assigning Akib ibn Usaid as governor of the city. His other activities in Arabia led to the


title: Mecca content: unification of the peninsula. Muhammad died in 632, but with the sense of unity that he had passed on to his Ummah (Islamic nation), Islam began a rapid expansion, and within the next few hundred years stretched from North Africa into Asia and parts of Europe. As the Islamic Empire grew, Mecca continued to attract pilgrims from all across the Muslim world and beyond, as Muslims came to perform the annual Hajj pilgrimage. Mecca also attracted a year-round population of scholars, pious Muslims who wished to live close to the Kaaba, and local inhabitants who served the pilgrims. Due to


title: Mecca content: the difficulty and expense of the Hajj, pilgrims arrived by boat at Jeddah, and came overland, or joined the annual caravans from Syria or Iraq. Mecca was never the capital of any of the Islamic states but Muslim rulers did contribute to its upkeep. During the reigns of Umar (634–644 CE) and Uthman ibn Affan (644–656) concerns of flooding caused the caliphs to bring in Christian engineers to build barrages in the low-lying quarters and construct dykes and embankments to protect the area round the Kaaba. Muhammad's migration to Medina shifted the focus away from Mecca. This focus moved still


title: Mecca content: more when Ali, the fourth caliph, took power choosing Kufa as his capital. The Umayyad Caliphate moved the capital to Damascus in Syria and the Abbasid Caliphate to Baghdad, in modern-day Iraq, which remained the center of the Islamic Empire for nearly 500 years. Mecca re-entered Islamic political history during the Second Islamic Civil War, when it was held by Abd Allah ibn al-Zubayr, an early Muslim who opposed the Umayyad caliphs. The city was twice besieged by the Umayyads, in 683 and 692. For some time thereafter the city figured little in politics, remaining a city of devotion and


title: Mecca content: scholarship governed by the Hashemite Sharifs. In 930, Mecca was attacked and sacked by Qarmatians, a millenarian Ismaili Muslim sect led by Abū-Tāhir Al-Jannābī and centered in eastern Arabia. The Black Death pandemic hit Mecca in 1349. In 1517, the Sharif, Barakat bin Muhammed, acknowledged the supremacy of the Ottoman Caliph but retained a great degree of local autonomy. In 1803 the city was captured by the First Saudi State, which held Mecca until 1813. This was a massive blow to the prestige of the (Turkish) Ottoman Empire, which had exercised sovereignty over the holy city since 1517. The Ottomans


title: Mecca content: assigned the task of bringing Mecca back under Ottoman control to their powerful "Khedive" (viceroy) of Egypt, Muhammad Ali Pasha. Muhammad Ali Pasha successfully returned Mecca to Ottoman control in 1813. In 1818, followers of the Salafi juristic school were again defeated, but some of the Al Saud clan survived and founded the Second Saudi State that lasted until 1891 and led on to the present country of Saudi Arabia. Mecca was regularly hit by cholera outbreaks. Between 1830 and 1930 cholera broke out among pilgrims at Mecca 27 times. One of the world travelers to Mecca in the fifteenth


title: Mecca content: century was Ibn Battuta. In his travels, he provides us with an important description of the city. Around the year 729, Ibn Battuta arrived in Mecca. Immediately when Battuta arrived in Mecca it felt like a holy sanctuary and thus he started the rites of the pilgrimage. He remained in Mecca for a couple of years. During Battuta's second year there, his caravan arrived "with a great quantity of alms for the support of those who were staying in Mecca and Medina" (p. 51). Giving these alms to the poor also helped to fulfill another pillar of faith, while he


title: Mecca content: was also fulfilling the pillar of making the Pilgrimage to Mecca. While in Mecca, prayers were made for the King of Irak and then also for El Melik El Nasir. The prayers were made in the Temple of Mecca. This temple is very large, but was also destroyed once and was rebuilt a little bit smaller than the original. The temple also contained images of angels, prophets, Jesus, his mother Mary and many others. This temple is one of the most important parts of Mecca due to the fact that many people make the pilgrimage to Mecca for the purpose


title: Mecca content: of going to the temple. The people of Mecca were also an important aspect of the village. They were described as being humble and kind, also willing to give a part of everything they had to someone who had nothing. The inhabitants of Mecca and the village itself was very clean. There was also a sense of elegance to the village. Ibn Battuta spent about three years in Mecca before he left with intentions of moving on to Yemen. Mecca nowadays is a lot different than Battuta saw it, but it still is a place of holiness. The city has


title: Mecca content: become more advanced with new technology, but along with new skyscrapers and event centers, it still contains temples that are important for the pilgrimages to Mecca. In World War I, the Ottoman Empire was at war with Britain and its allies, having sided with Germany. It had successfully repulsed an attack on Istanbul in the Gallipoli Campaign and on Baghdad in the Siege of Kut. The British agent T. E. Lawrence conspired with the Ottoman governor Hussain bin Ali, the Sharif of Mecca. Hussein bin Ali revolted against the Ottoman Empire from Mecca, and it was the first city captured


title: Mecca content: by his forces in the Battle of Mecca (1916). Sharif's revolt proved a turning point of the war on the eastern front. Sharif Hussein declared a new state, the Kingdom of Hejaz, and declared Mecca as the capital of the new kingdom. News reports in November 1916 via contact in Cairo with returning Hajj pilgrims, said that with the Ottoman Turkish authorities gone, Mecca at Hajj 1916 was thankfully free of the previous massive extortion and illegal money-demanding by Turks who were agents of the Ottoman government. Following the 1924 Battle of Mecca, the Sharif of Mecca was overthrown by


title: Mecca content: the Saud family, and Mecca was incorporated into Saudi Arabia. Under Saudi rule, much of the historic city has been demolished as a result of construction programs – see below. On 20 November 1979 two hundred armed Islamist dissidents led by Saudi preacher Juhayman al-Otaibi seized the Grand Mosque. They claimed that the Saudi royal family no longer represented pure Islam and that the Masjid al-Haram (The Sacred Mosque) and the Kaaba, must be held by those of true faith. The rebels seized tens of thousands of pilgrims as hostages and barricaded themselves in the mosque. The siege lasted two


title: Mecca content: weeks, and resulted in several hundred deaths and significant damage to the shrine, especially the Safa-Marwa gallery. Pakistani forces carried out the final assault; they were assisted with weapons, logistics and planning by an elite team of French commandos from the French GIGN commando unit. Under Saudi rule, it has been estimated that since 1985 about 95% of Mecca's historic buildings, most over a thousand years old, have been demolished. Historic sites of religious importance which have been destroyed by the Saudis include five of the renowned "Seven Mosques" initially built by Muhammad's daughter and four of his "greatest Companions":


title: Mecca content: Masjid Abu Bakr, Masjid Salman al-Farsi, Masjid Umar ibn al-Khattab, Masjid Sayyida Fatima bint Rasulullah and Masjid Ali ibn Abu Talib. It has been reported that there are now fewer than 20 structures remaining in Mecca that date back to the time of Muhammad. Other buildings that have been destroyed include the house of Khadijah, the wife of Muhammad, demolished to make way for public lavatories; the house of Abu Bakr, Muhammad's companion, now the site of the local Hilton hotel; the house of Muhammad's grandson Ali-Oraid and the Mosque of abu-Qubais, now the location of the King's palace in


title: Mecca content: Mecca; Muhammad's birthplace, demolished to make way for a library; and the Ottoman-era Ajyad Fortress, demolished for construction of the Abraj Al Bait Towers. The reason for much of the destruction of historic buildings has been for the construction of hotels, apartments, parking lots, and other infrastructure facilities for Hajj pilgrims. However, many have been destroyed without any such reason. For example, when the house of Ali-Oraid was discovered, King Fahd himself ordered that it be bulldozed lest it should become a pilgrimage site. The pilgrimage to Mecca attracts millions of Muslims from all over the world. There are two


title: Mecca content: pilgrimages: the Hajj and the Umrah. The Hajj, the 'greater' pilgrimage is performed annually in Mecca and nearby sites. During the Hajj, several million people of varying nationalities worship in unison. Every adult, healthy Muslim who has the financial and physical capacity to travel to Mecca and can make arrangements for the care of his/her dependents during the trip, must perform the Hajj at least once in a lifetime. Umrah, the lesser pilgrimage, is not obligatory, but is recommended in the Qur'an. Often, they perform the Umrah while visiting Al-Haram Mosque. Mecca has been the site of several incidents and


title: Mecca content: failures of crowd control because of the large numbers of people who come to make the Hajj. For example, on 2 July 1990, a pilgrimage to Mecca ended in tragedy when the ventilation system failed in a crowded pedestrian tunnel and 1,426 people were either suffocated or trampled to death in a stampede. On 24 September 2015, 700 pilgrims were killed in a stampede at Mina during the stoning-the-Devil ritual at Jamarat. Mecca is at an elevation of above sea level, and approximately inland from the Red Sea. Central Mecca lies in a corridor between mountains, which is often called


title: Mecca content: the "Hollow of Mecca". The area contains the valley of Al Taneem, the Valley of Bakkah and the valley of Abqar. This mountainous location has defined the contemporary expansion of the city. The city centers on the Masjid al-Haram area, which is lower than most of the city. The area around the mosque is the old city. The main avenues are "Al-Mudda'ah" and "Sūq al-Layl" to the north of the mosque, and "As-Sūg Assaghīr" to the south. As the Saudis expanded the Grand Mosque in the center of the city, hundreds of houses were replaced by wide avenues and city


title: Mecca content: squares. Traditional homes are built of local rock and are generally two to three stories. The total area of Mecca today is over . In pre-modern Mecca, the city used a few chief sources of water. The first were local wells, such as the Zamzam Well, that produced generally brackish water. The second source was the spring of Ayn Zubayda. The sources of this spring are the mountains of J̲abal Saʿd (Jabal Sa'd) and Jabal Kabkāb, which are a few kilometers east of Jabal Arafa or about southeast of Mecca. Water was transported from it using underground channels. A very


title: Mecca content: sporadic third source was rainfall which was stored by the people in small reservoirs or cisterns. The rainfall, scant as it is, also presents the threat of flooding and has been a danger since earliest times. According to Al-Kurdī, there had been 89 historic floods by 1965, including several in the Saudi period. In the last century the most severe flood was in 1942. Since then, dams have been build to ameliorate this problem. Mecca features a hot desert climate. Like most Saudi Arabian cities, Mecca retains warm to hot temperatures even in winter, which can range from at night


title: Mecca content: to in the afternoon. Summer temperatures are extremely hot and consistently break the mark in the afternoon, dropping to in the evening. Rain usually falls in Mecca in small amounts scattered between November and January. Mecca houses Al-Haram Mosque, the largest mosque in the world. The mosque surrounds the Kaaba, which Muslims turn towards while offering daily prayer. This mosque is also commonly known as the "Ḥaram" or "Grand Mosque". As mentioned above, because of the Wahhabist hostility to reverence being paid to historic and religious buildings, Mecca has lost most of its heritage in recent years and few buildings


title: Mecca content: from the last 1,500 years have survived Saudi rule. Expansion of the city is ongoing and includes the construction of tall Abraj Al Bait Towers across the street from the Masjid al-Haram. The towers were the third tallest building in the world when completed in 2012. The construction of the towers involved the demolition of the Ajyad Fortress, which in turn sparked a dispute between Turkey and Saudi Arabia. The Zamzam Well is home to a celebrated water spring. The Qishla of Mecca was an Ottoman castle facing the Grand Mosque and defending the city from attack. However, the Saudi


title: Mecca content: government removed the structure to give space for hotels and business buildings near to the Grand Mosque. "Ḥirā’" () is a cave near Mecca, on the mountain named "Jabal an-Nūr" (, "Mountain of Light") in the region of Tihamah of present-day Saudi Arabia. It is notable for being the location where Muhammad received his first revelations from God through the angel "Jibrā’īl" (), who known as Gabriel to Christians. The Qur'an Gate, located on the Jeddah-Mecca Highway, marks the boundary of the area where non-Muslims are prohibited to enter. It is the entrance to Makkah and the birthplace of Muhammad.


title: Mecca content: The gate was designed in 1979 by an Egyptian architect, Samir Elabd, for the architectural firm IDEA Center. The structure is that of a book, representing the Qur'an, sitting on a rehal, or book stand. The Meccan economy has been heavily dependent on the annual pilgrimage. As one academic put it, "[Meccans] have no means of earning a living but by serving the hajjis." Income generated from the Hajj, in fact, not only powers the Meccan economy but has historically had far-reaching effects on the economy of the entire Arabian Peninsula. The income was generated in a number of ways.


title: Mecca content: One method was taxing the pilgrims. Taxes especially increased during the Great Depression, and many of these taxes existed as late as 1972. Another way the Hajj generates income is through services to pilgrims. For example, the Saudi national airline, Saudia, generates 12% of its income from the pilgrimage. Fares paid by pilgrims to reach Mecca by land also generate income; as do the hotels and lodging companies that house them. The city takes in more than $100 million, while the Saudi government spends about $50 million on services for the Hajj. There are some industries and factories in the


title: Mecca content: city, but Mecca no longer plays a major role in Saudi Arabia's economy, which is mainly based on oil exports. The few industries operating in Mecca include textiles, furniture, and utensils. The majority of the economy is service-oriented. Nevertheless, many industries have been set up in Mecca. Various types of enterprises that have existed since 1970: corrugated iron manufacturing, copper smithies, carpentry shops, upholstering establishments, vegetable oil extraction plants, sweets manufacturies, flour mills, bakeries, poultry farms, frozen food importing, photography processing, secretarial establishments, ice factories, bottling plants for soft drinks, barber shops, book shops, travel agencies and banks. The city


title: Mecca content: has grown substantially in the 20th and 21st centuries, as the convenience and affordability of jet travel has increased the number of pilgrims participating in the Hajj. Thousands of Saudis are employed year-round to oversee the Hajj and staff the hotels and shops that cater to pilgrims; these workers in turn have increased the demand for housing and services. The city is now ringed by freeways, and contains shopping malls and skyscrapers. Health care is provided by the Saudi government free of charge to all pilgrims. There are ten hospitals in Mecca: There are also many walk-in clinics available for


title: Mecca content: both residents and pilgrims. Mecca's culture has been affected by the large number of pilgrims that arrive annually, and thus boasts a rich cultural heritage. As a result of the vast numbers of pilgrims coming to the city each year, Mecca has become by far the most diverse city in the Muslim world. In contrast to the rest of Saudi Arabia, and particularly Najd, Mecca has, according to "The New York Times", become "a striking oasis" of free thought and discussion and, also, of "unlikely liberalism" as "Meccans see themselves as a bulwark against the creeping extremism that has overtaken


title: Mecca content: much Islamic debate". The first press was brought to Mecca in 1885 by Osman Nuri Pasha, an Ottoman Wāli. During the Hashemite period, it was used to print the city's official gazette, "al-Qibla". The Saudi regime expanded this press into a larger operation, introducing the new Saudi official gazette "Umm al-Qurā". Henceforth presses and printing techniques were introduced in the city from around the Middle East, mostly via Jeddah. Mecca owns its hometown paper, "Al Nadwa". However, other Saudi and international newspapers are also provided in Mecca such as the "Saudi Gazette", "Al Madinah", "Okaz" and "Al-Bilad". The first three


title: Mecca content: are Mecca's (and other Saudi cities') primary newspapers focusing mainly on issues that affect the city, with over a million readers. Many television stations serving the city area include Saudi TV1, Saudi TV2, Saudi TV Sports, Al-Ekhbariya, Arab Radio and Television Network and various cable, satellite and other specialty television providers. In pre-modern Mecca the most common sports were impromptu wrestling and foot races. Football is the most popular sport in Mecca, the city hosting some of the oldest sport clubs in Saudi Arabia such as, Al-Wahda FC (established in 1945). King Abdulaziz Stadium is the largest stadium in Mecca


title: Mecca content: with capacity of 38,000. As in other Arabian cities, Kabsa (a spiced dish of rice and meat) is the most traditional lunch but the Yemeni mandi (a dish of rice and tandoori cooked meat) is also popular. Grilled meat dishes such as shawarma (flat-bread meat sandwich), kofta (meatballs) and kebab are widely sold in Mecca. During Ramadan, fava beans in olive oil and samosas are the most popular dishes and are eaten at dusk. These dishes are almost always found in Lebanese, Syrian, and Turkish restaurants. The mixture of different ethnicities and nationalities amongst Meccan residents has significantly impacted Mecca's


title: Mecca content: traditional cuisine. The city has been described as one of the most cosmopolitan Islamic cities, with an international cuisine. Traditionally during the month of Ramadan, men (known as Saggas) provided mineral water and fruit juice for Muslims breaking their fast at dusk. Today, Saggas make money providing sweets such as "baklava" and "basbosa" along with fruit juice drinks. In the 20th century, many fast-food chains opened franchises in Mecca, catering to locals and pilgrims alike. Exotic foods, such as fruits from India and Japan, are often brought by the pilgrims. Population density in Mecca is very high. Most long-term residents


title: Mecca content: of Mecca live in the Old City, and many work in the industry known locally as the "Hajj Industry". Iyad Madani, Saudi Arabia's minister for Hajj, was quoted as saying, "We never stop preparing for the Hajj." Year-round, pilgrims stream into the city to perform the rites of Umrah, and during the last weeks of Dhu al-Qi'dah, on average 4 million Muslims arrive in the city to take part in the rites known as Hajj. Pilgrims are from varying ethnicities and backgrounds, mainly Central Asia, South Asia, Southeast Asia, Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. Many of these pilgrims have


title: Mecca content: remained and become residents of the city. The Burmese are an older, more established community who number roughly 250,000. Adding to the Hajj-related diversity, the oil-boom of the past 50 years has brought hundreds of thousands of working immigrants. Non-Muslims are not permitted to enter Mecca under Saudi law, and using fraudulent documents to do so may result in arrest and prosecution. The prohibition extends to Ahmadis, as they are considered non-Muslims. Nevertheless, many non-Muslims and Ahmadis have visited the city. The first such recorded example of non-Muslims is that of Ludovico di Varthema of Bologna in 1503. Guru Nanak


title: Mecca content: Sahib, the founder of Sikhism, visited Mecca in December 1518. One of the most famous was Richard Francis Burton, who traveled as a Qadiriyyah Sufi from Afghanistan in 1853. The Saudi government supports their position using Sura 9:28 from the Qur'an: "O ye who believe! Truly the Pagans are unclean; so let them not, after this year of theirs, approach the Sacred Mosque." Formal education started to be developed in the late Ottoman period continuing slowly into and Hashimite times. The first major attempt to improve the situation was made by a Jeddah merchant, Muhammad ʿAlī Zaynal Riḍā, who founded


title: Mecca content: the Madrasat al-Falāḥ in Mecca in 1911–12 that cost £400,000. The school system in Mecca has many public and private schools for both males and females. As of 2005, there were 532 public and private schools for males and another 681 public and private schools for female students. The medium of instruction in both public and private schools is Arabic with emphasis on English as a second language, but some private schools founded by foreign entities such as International schools use the English language for medium of instruction. They also allow mixing between males and females while other schools do


title: Mecca content: not. For higher education, the city has only one university, Umm Al-Qura University, which was established in 1949 as a college and became a public university in 1979. In 2010, the Mecca area became an important site for paleontology with respect to primate evolution, with the discovery of a "Saadanius" fossil. Saadanius is considered to be a primate closely related to the common ancestor of the Old World monkeys and apes. The fossil habitat, near what is now the Red Sea in western Saudi Arabia, was a damp forest area between 28 million and 29 million years ago. Paleontologists involved


title: Mecca content: in the research hope to find further fossils in the area. Telecommunications in the city were emphasized early under the Saudi reign. King Abdul Aziz Al-Saud (Ibn Saud) pressed them forward as he saw them as a means of convenience and better governance. While in King Husayn's time there were about 20 telephones in the entire city; in 1936 the number jumped to 450, totalling about half the telephones in the country. During that time, telephone lines were extended to Jeddah and Ta’if, but not to the capital Riyadh. By 1985, Mecca, like other Saudi cities, possessed modern telephone, telex,


title: Mecca content: radio and television communications. Limited radio communication was established within the Kingdom under the Hashimites. In 1929, wireless stations were set up in various towns of the region, creating a network that would become fully functional by 1932. Soon after World War II, the existing network was greatly expanded and improved. Since then, radio communication has been used extensively in directing the pilgrimage and addressing the pilgrims. This practice started in 1950, with the initiation of broadcasts the Day of Arafa, and increased until 1957, at which time Radio Makka became the most powerful station in the Middle East at


title: Mecca content: 50 kW. Later, power was increased to 450 kW. Music was not immediately broadcast, but gradually introduced. Mecca has only the small Mecca East Airport with no airline service, so Mecca is served by King Abdulaziz International Airport located at Jeddah, about 100 kilometres from the city centre. To cater the large number of Hajj pilgrims, this airport has a specifically built Hajj terminal which can accommodate 47 planes simultaneously and it can receive 3,800 pilgrims per hour during the Hajj season. Al Mashaaer Al Mugaddassah Metro is a metro line in Mecca opened in 13 November 2010. This 18.1


title: Mecca content: kilometer elevated metro transports pilgrims to holy sites Mount Arafat, Muzdalifah and Mina in the city during hajj reducing the congestion on the roads. Mecca Metro, officially known as Makkah Mass Rail Transit, is a planned four-line metro system for the city. This will be in addition to the Al Mashaaer Al Mugaddassah Metro which carries pilgrims during Hajj. A high speed inter-city rail line (Haramain High Speed Rail Project also known as the "Western Railway"), is under construction in Saudi Arabia. It will link along 444 kilometres (276 mi), the Muslim holy cities of Medina and Mecca via King


title: Mecca content: Abdullah Economic City, Rabigh, Jeddah and King Abdulaziz International Airport. This rail line is planned to provide a safe and comfortable transport in electric trains in-turn reducing the travel time to less than two hours between Mecca and Medina . It will be built by a business consortium from Spain. Some of the intercity highways which connects the city of Mecca are: Mecca Mecca (; "" () is a city in the Hejazi region of the Arabian Peninsula, and the plain of Tihamah in Saudi Arabia, and is also the capital and administrative headquarters of the Makkah Region. The city


title: "Aurel Stein" content: Sanskrit to English. Stein was a lifelong bachelor, but was always accompanied by a dog named "Dash" (of which there were seven). The fourth expedition to Central Asia, however, ended in failure. Stein did not publish any account, but others have written of the frustrations and rivalries between British and American interests in China, between Harvard's Fogg Museum and the British Museum, and finally, between Paul J. Sachs and Langdon Warner, the two Harvard sponsors of the expedition. Stein died in Kabul on 26 October 1943 and is buried in Kabul's British Cemetery. Stein, as well as his rivals Sven


title: "Natural selection" content: individuals a reproductive advantage are also heritable, that is, passed from parent to offspring, then there will be differential reproduction, that is, a slightly higher proportion of fast rabbits or efficient algae in the next generation. Even if the reproductive advantage is very slight, over many generations any advantageous heritable trait becomes dominant in the population. In this way the natural environment of an organism "selects for" traits that confer a reproductive advantage, causing evolutionary change, as Darwin described. This gives the appearance of purpose, but in natural selection there is no intentional choice. Artificial selection is purposive where natural


title: "Molotov cocktail" content: weapon against Soviet T-26 tanks supporting the Spanish Republicans in a failed assault on the Nationalist stronghold of Seseña, near Toledo, south of Madrid. After that, both sides used simple petrol bombs or petrol-soaked blankets with some success. Tom Wintringham, a veteran of the International Brigades, later publicised his recommended method of using them: The Battle of Khalkhin Gol, a border conflict of 1939 ostensibly between Mongolia and Manchukuo, saw heavy fighting between Japanese and Soviet forces. Short of anti-tank equipment, Japanese infantry attacked Soviet tanks with gasoline-filled bottles. Japanese infantrymen claimed that several hundred Soviet tanks had been destroyed


title: Matzo content: Matzo Matzo, matzah, or matza ( "matsoh", "matsa"; plural matzot; matzos of Ashkenazi Jewish dialect) is an unleavened flatbread that is part of Jewish cuisine and forms an integral element of the Passover festival, during which "chametz" (leaven and five grains that, per Jewish Law, can be leavened) is forbidden. As the Torah recounts, God commanded the Jews to create this special unleavened bread. During Passover it is eaten as a flat, cracker-like bread or used in dishes as breadcrumbs and in the traditional matzo ball soup. Matzo that is kosher for Passover is limited in Ashkenazi tradition to plain


title: Matzo content: matzo made from flour and water. The flour may be whole grain or refined grain, but must be either wheat, spelt, barley, rye, or oat. Some Sephardic communities allow matzos containing eggs and fruit juice to be used throughout the holiday. Passover and non-Passover matzo may be soft or crisp, but only the crisp "cracker" type is available commercially in most locations. Soft matzo, if it were commercially available, would essentially be a kosher flour tortilla. Non-Passover matzo may be made with onion, garlic, poppy seed, etc. It can even be made from rice, maize, buckwheat and other non-traditional flours


title: Matzo content: that can never be used for Passover matzo. Gluten-free matzo-lookalike made from potato starch, tapioca, and other non-traditional flour is available and may be eaten on Passover, but does not fulfill the commandment of eating matzo, even for people with celiac disease who cannot eat Passover matzo, because matzo must be made from one of the five grains (wheat, barley, oat, spelt, and rye), all of which contain gluten, except for most (but not all) types of oat matzo. Oat matzo may only be used by those who cannot have any other kind because it's not certain that oat is


title: Matzo content: actually one of the five grains (it may be a mistranslation), so those who can have wheat matzo should do so. "Matzo" is mentioned in the Torah several times in relation to The Exodus from Egypt: There are numerous explanations behind the symbolism of matzo. One is historical: Passover is a commemoration of the exodus from Egypt. The biblical narrative relates that the Israelites left Egypt in such haste they could not wait for their bread dough to rise; the bread, when baked, was matzo. (Exodus 12:39). The other reason for eating matzo is symbolic: On the one hand, matzo


title: Matzo content: symbolizes redemption and freedom, but it is also "lechem oni", "poor man's bread". Thus it serves as a reminder to be humble, and to not forget what life was like in servitude. Also, leaven symbolizes corruption and pride as leaven "puffs up". Eating the "bread of affliction" is both a lesson in humility and an act that enhances the appreciation of freedom. Another explanation is that matzo has been used to replace the pesach, or the traditional Passover offering that was made before the destruction of the Temple. During the Seder the third time the matzo is eaten it is


title: Matzo content: preceded with the Sephardic rite, "zekher l'korban pesach hane'ekhal al hasova". This means "remembrance of the Passover offering, eaten while full". This last piece of the matzo eaten is called afikoman and many explain it as a symbol of salvation in the future. The Passover Seder meal is full of symbols of salvation, the closing line, "Next year in Jerusalem," but the use of matzo is the oldest symbol of salvation in the Seder. At the Passover seder, simple matzo made of flour and water is mandatory. Sephardic tradition additionally permits the inclusion of eggs in the recipe. The flour


title: Matzo content: must be ground from one of the five grains specified in Jewish law for Passover matzo: wheat, barley, spelt, rye or oat. Per Ashkenazic tradition, matzo made with wine, fruit juice, onion, garlic, etc., is not acceptable for use at any time during the Passover festival except by the elderly or unwell. Matzo dough is quickly mixed and rolled out without an autolyse step as used for leavened breads. Most forms are pricked with a fork or a similar tool to keep the finished product from puffing up, and the resulting flat piece of dough is cooked at high temperature


title: Matzo content: until it develops dark spots, then set aside to cool and, if sufficiently thin, to harden to crispness. Dough is considered to begin the leavening process 18 minutes from the time it gets wet; sooner if eggs, fruit juice, or milk is added to the dough. The entire process of making matzo takes only a few minutes in efficient modern matzo bakeries. After baking, matzo may be ground into fine crumbs, known as matzo meal. Matzo meal can be used like flour during the week of Passover when flour can otherwise be used only to make matzo. There are two


title: Matzo content: major forms of matzo. In many western countries the most common form is the hard form of matzo which is cracker-like in appearance and taste and is used in all Ashkenazic and most Sephardic communities. Yemenites, and Iraqi Jews traditionally made a form of soft matzo which looks like Greek pita or like a tortilla. Soft matzo is made only by hand, and generally with "shmurah" flour. Flavored varieties of matzo are produced commercially, such as poppy seed- or onion-flavored. Oat and spelt matzo with kosher certification are produced. Oat matzo is generally suitable for those who cannot eat gluten.


title: Matzo content: Whole wheat, bran and organic matzo are also available. Chocolate-covered matzo is a favorite among children, although some consider it "enriched matzo" and will not eat it during the Passover holiday. A quite different flat confection of chocolate and nuts that resembles matzo is sometimes called "chocolate matzo". Matzo contains typically 111 calories per 1-ounce/28g (USDA Nutrient Database), about the same as rye crispbread. "Shĕmura" ("guarded") matzo ( "matsa shĕmura") is made from grain that has been under special supervision from the time it was harvested to ensure that no fermentation has occurred, and that it is suitable for eating


title: Matzo content: on the first night of Passover. ("Shĕmura" wheat may be formed into either handmade or machine-made matzo, while non-"shĕmura" wheat is only used for machine-made matzo. It is possible to hand-bake matzo in "shĕmura" style from non-shmurah flour—this is a matter of style, it is not actually in any way "shĕmura"—but such matzo has rarely been produced since the introduction of machine-made matzo.) Haredi Judaism is scrupulous about the supervision of matzo and have the custom of baking their own or at least participating in some stage of the baking process. Rabbi Haim Halberstam of Sanz ruled that machine-made matzo


title: Matzo content: were chametz. According to that opinion, handmade non-"shmurah" matzo may be used on the eighth day of Passover outside of the Holy Land. However the non-Hasidic Haredi community of Jerusalem follows the custom that machine-made matzo may be used, with preference to the use of "shĕmurah" flour, in accordance with the ruling of Rabbi Yosef Haim Sonnenfeld, who ruled that machine-made matzo may be preferable to hand made in some cases. The commentators to the Shulhan `Aruch record that it is the custom of some of Diaspora Jewry to be scrupulous in giving Hallah from the dough used for baking


title: Matzo content: "Matzot Mitzvah" (the Shĕmurah matzo eaten during Passover) to a Kohen child to eat. "Egg (sometimes "enriched") matzo" are matzot usually made with fruit juice, often grape or apple juice instead of water, but not necessarily with eggs themselves. There is a custom among some Ashkenazi Jews not to eat them during Passover, except for the elderly, infirm, or children, who cannot digest plain matzo; these matzot are considered to be kosher for Passover if prepared otherwise properly. The issue of whether egg matzo is allowed for Passover comes down to whether there is a difference between the various liquids


title: Matzo content: that can be used. Water facilitates fermentation of grain flour, but the question is whether fruit juice, eggs, honey, oil or milk are also deemed to do so. The "Talmud", Pesachim 35a, states that liquid food extracts do not cause flour to leaven the way that water does. According to this view, flour mixed with other liquids would not need to be treated with the same care as flour mixed with water. The "Tosafot" (commentaries) explain that such liquids only produce a leavening reaction within flour "if" they themselves have had water added to them and otherwise the dough they


title: Matzo content: produce is completely permissible for consumption during Passover, whether or not made according to the laws applying to matzot. As a result, Joseph ben Ephraim Karo, author of the "Shulchan Aruch" or "Code of Jewish Law" (Orach Chayim 462:4) granted blanket permission for the use of any matzo made from non-water-based dough, including egg matzo, on Passover. Many egg matzo boxes no longer include the message, "Ashkenazi custom is that egg matzo is only allowed for children, elderly and the infirm during Passover." Even amongst those who consider that enriched matzot may not be "eaten" during Passover, it is permissible


title: Matzo content: to "retain" it in the home. Matzo may be used whole, broken, chopped ("matzo farfel"), or finely ground ("matzo meal") to make numerous matzo-based cooked dishes. These include matzo balls, which are traditionally served in chicken soup; matzo brei, a dish of Ashkenazi origin made from matzo soaked in water, mixed with beaten egg, and fried; matzo pizza, in which the piece of matzo takes the place of pizza crust and is topped with melted cheese and sauce; and kosher for Passover cakes and cookies, which are made with matzo meal or a finer variety called "cake meal" that gives


title: Matzo content: them a denser texture than ordinary baked foods made with flour. Hasidic Jews do not cook with matzo, believing that mixing it with water may allow leavening; this stringency is known as "gebrochts". However, Jews who avoid eating "gebrochts" will eat cooked matzo dishes on the eighth day of Passover outside the Land of Israel, as the eighth day is of rabbinic and not Torah origin. Sephardim use matzo soaked in water or stock to make pies or lasagne, known as "mina", "méguena", "mayena" or . Communion wafers used by the Catholic Church as well as in some Protestant traditions


title: Matzo content: for the Eucharist are flat, unleavened bread. The main reason for the use of this bread is the belief, that because the last supper was described in the Synoptic Gospels as a passover meal, the unleavened matzo bread was used by Jesus when he held it up and said "this is my body". All Byzantine Rite churches use leavened bread for the Eucharist as this symbolizes the risen Christ. Some Oriental Orthodox and Eastern Catholic Christians use leavened bread, as in the east there is the tradition, based upon the gospel of John, that leavened bread was on the table


title: Matzo content: of the Last Supper. In the Armenian Apostolic Church, the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church and Eritrean Orthodox Tewahedo Church, unleavened bread called "qǝddus qurban" in Ge'ez, the liturgical language of the Eritreans and Ethiopians, is used for communion. Catholic Christians living on the Malabar coast of Kerala, India have the customary celebration of Pesaha in their homes. On the evening before Good Friday, Pesaha bread is made at home. It is made with unleavened flour and they consume a sweet drink made up of coconut milk and jaggery along with this bread. On the Pesaha night, the bread is baked


title: Matzo content: (steamed) immediately after rice flour is mixed with water and they pierce it many times with handle of the spoon to let out steam so that the bread will not rise (this custom is called "juthante kannu kuthal" in the Malayalam language meaning "piercing the bread according to the custom of Jews"). This bread is cut by the head of the family and shared among the family members. In Israel, the Saint James Vicariate For Hebrew Speaking Catholics uses matzo as the host for the Eucharistic celebration in the Mass as a form of inculturation. At the end of World


title: Matzo content: War II, the National Jewish Welfare Board had a matzo factory (according to the American Jewish Historical Society, it was probably the Manischewitz matzo factory in New Jersey) produce matzo in the form of a giant "V" for "Victory", for shipment to military bases overseas and in the U.S., for Passover seders for Jewish military personnel. Passover in 1945 began on 1 April, when the collapse of the Axis in Europe was clearly imminent; Germany surrendered five weeks later. Matzo Matzo, matzah, or matza ( "matsoh", "matsa"; plural matzot; matzos of Ashkenazi Jewish dialect) is an unleavened flatbread that is