Context: Tymnet was an international data communications network headquartered in San Jose, CA that utilized virtual call packet switched technology and used X.25, SNA/SDLC, BSC and ASCII interfaces to connect host computers (servers)at thousands of large companies, educational institutions, and government agencies. Users typically connected via dial-up connections or dedicated async connections. The business consisted of a large public network that supported dial-up users and a private network business that allowed government agencies and large companies (mostly banks and airlines) to build their own dedicated networks. The private networks were often connected via gateways to the public network to reach locations not on the private network. Tymnet was also connected to dozens of other public networks in the U.S. and internationally via X.25/X.75 gateways. (Interesting note: Tymnet was not named after Mr. Tyme. Another employee suggested the name.)

Question: What was Tymnet

Question: What did Tymnet connect

Question: How did user of Tymnet connect

Question: The business allowed for private companies to do what

Question: Gateways allowed private companies to do what


Context: There were two kinds of X.25 networks. Some such as DATAPAC and TRANSPAC were initially implemented with an X.25 external interface. Some older networks such as TELENET and TYMNET were modified to provide a X.25 host interface in addition to older host connection schemes. DATAPAC was developed by Bell Northern Research which was a joint venture of Bell Canada (a common carrier) and Northern Telecom (a telecommunications equipment supplier). Northern Telecom sold several DATAPAC clones to foreign PTTs including the Deutsche Bundespost. X.75 and X.121 allowed the interconnection of national X.25 networks. A user or host could call a host on a foreign network by including the DNIC of the remote network as part of the destination address.[citation needed]

Question: How many types of X.25 networks were there originally

Question: Who developed DATAPAC

Question: WHat did foreign clones of DATAPAC allow for


Context: AUSTPAC was an Australian public X.25 network operated by Telstra. Started by Telecom Australia in the early 1980s, AUSTPAC was Australia's first public packet-switched data network, supporting applications such as on-line betting, financial applications — the Australian Tax Office made use of AUSTPAC — and remote terminal access to academic institutions, who maintained their connections to AUSTPAC up until the mid-late 1990s in some cases. Access can be via a dial-up terminal to a PAD, or, by linking a permanent X.25 node to the network.[citation needed]

Question:
What was AUSTPAC
What did AUSTPAC support
How are AUSTPAC connections made


Context: Datanet 1 was the public switched data network operated by the Dutch PTT Telecom (now known as KPN). Strictly speaking Datanet 1 only referred to the network and the connected users via leased lines (using the X.121 DNIC 2041), the name also referred to the public PAD service Telepad (using the DNIC 2049). And because the main Videotex service used the network and modified PAD devices as infrastructure the name Datanet 1 was used for these services as well. Although this use of the name was incorrect all these services were managed by the same people within one department of KPN contributed to the confusion.

Question: What was DATANET 1

Question: Strictly speaking who was included in DATANET 1

Question: Who else did DATNET 1 refer to

Question: Was the Use of the DATANET 1 name correct


Context: The Computer Science Network (CSNET) was a computer network funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) that began operation in 1981. Its purpose was to extend networking benefits, for computer science departments at academic and research institutions that could not be directly connected to ARPANET, due to funding or authorization limitations. It played a significant role in spreading awareness of, and access to, national networking and was a major milestone on the path to development of the global Internet.

Question: What is CSNET

Question: What was the purpose of CSNET

Question: Funding limitations allowed CSNET to be what


Context: Internet2 is a not-for-profit United States computer networking consortium led by members from the research and education communities, industry, and government. The Internet2 community, in partnership with Qwest, built the first Internet2 Network, called Abilene, in 1998 and was a prime investor in the National LambdaRail (NLR) project. In 2006, Internet2 announced a partnership with Level 3 Communications to launch a brand new nationwide network, boosting its capacity from 10 Gbit/s to 100 Gbit/s. In October, 2007, Internet2 officially retired Abilene and now refers to its new, higher capacity network as the Internet2 Network.

Question: what is Internet2

Question: Who did internet2 partner with

Question: What was the first internet2 network named

Question: Who did internet2 partner with

Question: ableine was retired and the new platform is called


Context: The National Science Foundation Network (NSFNET) was a program of coordinated, evolving projects sponsored by the National Science Foundation (NSF) beginning in 1985 to promote advanced research and education networking in the United States. NSFNET was also the name given to several nationwide backbone networks operating at speeds of 56 kbit/s, 1.5 Mbit/s (T1), and 45 Mbit/s (T3) that were constructed to support NSF's networking initiatives from 1985-1995. Initially created to link researchers to the nation's NSF-funded supercomputing centers, through further public funding and private industry partnerships it developed into a major part of the Internet backbone.

Question:
What is NSFNET
What did NSFNET promote
What did NSFNET eventually provide


Context: The Very high-speed Backbone Network Service (vBNS) came on line in April 1995 as part of a National Science Foundation (NSF) sponsored project to provide high-speed interconnection between NSF-sponsored supercomputing centers and select access points in the United States. The network was engineered and operated by MCI Telecommunications under a cooperative agreement with the NSF. By 1998, the vBNS had grown to connect more than 100 universities and research and engineering institutions via 12 national points of presence with DS-3 (45 Mbit/s), OC-3c (155 Mbit/s), and OC-12c (622 Mbit/s) links on an all OC-12c backbone, a substantial engineering feat for that time. The vBNS installed one of the first ever production OC-48c (2.5 Gbit/s) IP links in February 1999 and went on to upgrade the entire backbone to OC-48c.

Question: what does vBNS stand for

Question: What did vBNS do

Question: Who operated the vBSN network

Question: By 199 how many universities were connected

Question: What did the network install in 1999


Context: The Black Death is thought to have originated in the arid plains of Central Asia, where it then travelled along the Silk Road, reaching Crimea by 1343. From there, it was most likely carried by Oriental rat fleas living on the black rats that were regular passengers on merchant ships. Spreading throughout the Mediterranean and Europe, the Black Death is estimated to have killed 30–60% of Europe's total population. In total, the plague reduced the world population from an estimated 450 million down to 350–375 million in the 14th century. The world population as a whole did not recover to pre-plague levels until the 17th century. The plague recurred occasionally in Europe until the 19th century.

Question: Where did the black death originate?

Question: How did the black death make it to the Mediterranean and Europe?

Question: How much of the European population did the black death kill?

Question: When did the world's population finally recover from the black death?

Question: For how long did the plague stick around?


Context: The plague disease, caused by Yersinia pestis, is enzootic (commonly present) in populations of fleas carried by ground rodents, including marmots, in various areas including Central Asia, Kurdistan, Western Asia, Northern India and Uganda. Nestorian graves dating to 1338–39 near Lake Issyk Kul in Kyrgyzstan have inscriptions referring to plague and are thought by many epidemiologists to mark the outbreak of the epidemic, from which it could easily have spread to China and India. In October 2010, medical geneticists suggested that all three of the great waves of the plague originated in China. In China, the 13th century Mongol conquest caused a decline in farming and trading. However, economic recovery had been observed at the beginning of the 14th century. In the 1330s a large number of natural disasters and plagues led to widespread famine, starting in 1331, with a deadly plague arriving soon after. Epidemics that may have included plague killed an estimated 25 million Chinese and other Asians during the 15 years before it reached Constantinople in 1347.

Question: What does it mean for a disease to be enzootic?

Question: How old are the gravestones that reference the plague?

Question: Where do scientists think all of the plagues originated from?

Question: When did the Chinese famine begin?

Question: How many did this epidemic in China kill?


Context: Plague was reportedly first introduced to Europe via Genoese traders at the port city of Kaffa in the Crimea in 1347. After a protracted siege, during which the Mongol army under Jani Beg was suffering from the disease, the army catapulted the infected corpses over the city walls of Kaffa to infect the inhabitants. The Genoese traders fled, taking the plague by ship into Sicily and the south of Europe, whence it spread north. Whether or not this hypothesis is accurate, it is clear that several existing conditions such as war, famine, and weather contributed to the severity of the Black Death.

Question: Who introduced plague to Europe?

Question: Who did the army siege belong to?

Question: What did the Mongol army throw in their catapults?

Question: Where did the genoese traders bring the plague?

Question: What contributed to the severity of the plague?


Context: From Italy, the disease spread northwest across Europe, striking France, Spain, Portugal and England by June 1348, then turned and spread east through Germany and Scandinavia from 1348 to 1350. It was introduced in Norway in 1349 when a ship landed at Askøy, then spread to Bjørgvin (modern Bergen) and Iceland. Finally it spread to northwestern Russia in 1351. The plague was somewhat less common in parts of Europe that had smaller trade relations with their neighbours, including the Kingdom of Poland, the majority of the Basque Country, isolated parts of Belgium and the Netherlands, and isolated alpine villages throughout the continent.

Question: Which direction did the disease first move in?

Question: Which country was the last to receive the disease?

Question: What types of European groups were able to avoid the plague?

Question: Where was the disease spreading between 1348 and 1350?

Question: When did a plague-ridden ship land in Norway?


Context: The plague struck various countries in the Middle East during the pandemic, leading to serious depopulation and permanent change in both economic and social structures. As it spread to western Europe, the disease entered the region from southern Russia also. By autumn 1347, the plague reached Alexandria in Egypt, probably through the port's trade with Constantinople, and ports on the Black Sea. During 1347, the disease travelled eastward to Gaza, and north along the eastern coast to cities in Lebanon, Syria and Palestine, including Ashkelon, Acre, Jerusalem, Sidon, Damascus, Homs, and Aleppo. In 1348–49, the disease reached Antioch. The city's residents fled to the north, most of them dying during the journey, but the infection had been spread to the people of Asia Minor.[citation needed]

Question: What effect did the plague have on the Middle East?

Question: When had the plague reached Alexandria?

Question: How did the plague infiltrate Alexandria?

Question: Where did the residents of Antioch flee to?


Context: Gasquet (1908) claimed that the Latin name atra mors (Black Death) for the 14th-century epidemic first appeared in modern times in 1631 in a book on Danish history by J.I. Pontanus: "Vulgo & ab effectu atram mortem vocatibant. ("Commonly and from its effects, they called it the black death"). The name spread through Scandinavia and then Germany, gradually becoming attached to the mid 14th-century epidemic as a proper name. In England, it was not until 1823 that the medieval epidemic was first called the Black Death.

Question: Who claimed that the name Black Death first appeared in 1631?

Question: What is the Latin name for Black Death?

Question: Who allegedly coined the name Black Death?

Question: When did the name black death officially take root in England?

Question: Did the plague spread in Scandinavia or Germany first?


Context: Medical knowledge had stagnated during the Middle Ages. The most authoritative account at the time came from the medical faculty in Paris in a report to the king of France that blamed the heavens, in the form of a conjunction of three planets in 1345 that caused a "great pestilence in the air". This report became the first and most widely circulated of a series of plague tracts that sought to give advice to sufferers. That the plague was caused by bad air became the most widely accepted theory. Today, this is known as the Miasma theory. The word 'plague' had no special significance at this time, and only the recurrence of outbreaks during the Middle Ages gave it the name that has become the medical term.

Question: What was the black death originally blamed on?

Question: Who was the medical report written for?

Question: What is the newer, more widely accepted theory behind the spread of the plague?

Question: What is the bad air theory officially known as?


Context: The dominant explanation for the Black Death is the plague theory, which attributes the outbreak to Yersinia pestis, also responsible for an epidemic that began in southern China in 1865, eventually spreading to India. The investigation of the pathogen that caused the 19th-century plague was begun by teams of scientists who visited Hong Kong in 1894, among whom was the French-Swiss bacteriologist Alexandre Yersin, after whom the pathogen was named Yersinia pestis. The mechanism by which Y. pestis was usually transmitted was established in 1898 by Paul-Louis Simond and was found to involve the bites of fleas whose midguts had become obstructed by replicating Y. pestis several days after feeding on an infected host. This blockage results in starvation and aggressive feeding behaviour by the fleas, which repeatedly attempt to clear their blockage by regurgitation, resulting in thousands of plague bacteria being flushed into the feeding site, infecting the host. The bubonic plague mechanism was also dependent on two populations of rodents: one resistant to the disease, which act as hosts, keeping the disease endemic, and a second that lack resistance. When the second population dies, the fleas move on to other hosts, including people, thus creating a human epidemic.

Question: What was considered responsible for the black death as well as the epidemic in southern China?

Question: Where and when did the investigation of the plague pathogen begin?

Question: Who was yersinia pestis named for?

Question: What did Paul-Louis Simond establish in 1898?

Question: What was the bubonic plague mechanism reliant on?


Context: The historian Francis Aidan Gasquet wrote about the 'Great Pestilence' in 1893 and suggested that "it would appear to be some form of the ordinary Eastern or bubonic plague". He was able to adopt the epidemiology of the bubonic plague for the Black Death for the second edition in 1908, implicating rats and fleas in the process, and his interpretation was widely accepted for other ancient and medieval epidemics, such as the Justinian plague that was prevalent in the Eastern Roman Empire from 541 to 700 CE.

Question: Who wrote about the great pestilence in 1893?

Question: What did Gasquet think the plague was?

Question: When did the second edition of Gasquet's book come out?

Question: What did Gasquet's book blame the plague on?

Question: What is another plague thought to have spread the same way?


Context: Other forms of plague have been implicated by modern scientists. The modern bubonic plague has a mortality rate of 30–75% and symptoms including fever of 38–41 °C (100–106 °F), headaches, painful aching joints, nausea and vomiting, and a general feeling of malaise. Left untreated, of those that contract the bubonic plague, 80 percent die within eight days. Pneumonic plague has a mortality rate of 90 to 95 percent. Symptoms include fever, cough, and blood-tinged sputum. As the disease progresses, sputum becomes free flowing and bright red. Septicemic plague is the least common of the three forms, with a mortality rate near 100%. Symptoms are high fevers and purple skin patches (purpura due to disseminated intravascular coagulation). In cases of pneumonic and particularly septicemic plague, the progress of the disease is so rapid that there would often be no time for the development of the enlarged lymph nodes that were noted as buboes.

Question: What is the mortality rate of the modern bubonic plague?

Question: How high do plague fevers run?

Question: What percent of untreated victims of the plague die within 8 days?

Question: What is the mortality rate of pneumonic plague?

Question: What skin-related symptom appears from the pneumonic plague?


Context: In October 2010, the open-access scientific journal PLoS Pathogens published a paper by a multinational team who undertook a new investigation into the role of Yersinia pestis in the Black Death following the disputed identification by Drancourt and Raoult in 1998. They assessed the presence of DNA/RNA with Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) techniques for Y. pestis from the tooth sockets in human skeletons from mass graves in northern, central and southern Europe that were associated archaeologically with the Black Death and subsequent resurgences. The authors concluded that this new research, together with prior analyses from the south of France and Germany, ". . . ends the debate about the etiology of the Black Death, and unambiguously demonstrates that Y. pestis was the causative agent of the epidemic plague that devastated Europe during the Middle Ages".

Question: When did the Plos Pathogens paper come out?

Question: What was the Plos Pathogens paper about?

Question: How did scientists assess the DNA/RNA of yersinia pestis?

Question: Where did scientists find their Y. pestis sample?

Question: What does the plos pathogen paper claim?


Context: The study also found that there were two previously unknown but related clades (genetic branches) of the Y. pestis genome associated with medieval mass graves. These clades (which are thought to be extinct) were found to be ancestral to modern isolates of the modern Y. pestis strains Y. p. orientalis and Y. p. medievalis, suggesting the plague may have entered Europe in two waves. Surveys of plague pit remains in France and England indicate the first variant entered Europe through the port of Marseille around November 1347 and spread through France over the next two years, eventually reaching England in the spring of 1349, where it spread through the country in three epidemics. Surveys of plague pit remains from the Dutch town of Bergen op Zoom showed the Y. pestis genotype responsible for the pandemic that spread through the Low Countries from 1350 differed from that found in Britain and France, implying Bergen op Zoom (and possibly other parts of the southern Netherlands) was not directly infected from England or France in 1349 and suggesting a second wave of plague, different from those in Britain and France, may have been carried to the Low Countries from Norway, the Hanseatic cities or another site.

Question: What are clades?

Question: What strains of y. pestis were found in the mass graves?

Question: What do the strains of y. pestis suggest abut the plague?

Question: How and when did the first variant of y. pestis enter Europe?

Question: When did the y. pestis reach England?


Context: The results of the Haensch study have since been confirmed and amended. Based on genetic evidence derived from Black Death victims in the East Smithfield burial site in England, Schuenemann et al. concluded in 2011 "that the Black Death in medieval Europe was caused by a variant of Y. pestis that may no longer exist." A study published in Nature in October 2011 sequenced the genome of Y. pestis from plague victims and indicated that the strain that caused the Black Death is ancestral to most modern strains of the disease.

Question: What is the current status of the Haensch study?

Question: Where was the burial site used for testing located?

Question: What is thought to have happened to the y. pestis that caused the black death?

Question: When was the study on sequenced Y genomes published?


Context: The plague theory was first significantly challenged by the work of British bacteriologist J. F. D. Shrewsbury in 1970, who noted that the reported rates of mortality in rural areas during the 14th-century pandemic were inconsistent with the modern bubonic plague, leading him to conclude that contemporary accounts were exaggerations. In 1984 zoologist Graham Twigg produced the first major work to challenge the bubonic plague theory directly, and his doubts about the identity of the Black Death have been taken up by a number of authors, including Samuel K. Cohn, Jr. (2002), David Herlihy (1997), and Susan Scott and Christopher Duncan (2001).

Question: Who challenged the plague theory first?

Question: What did Shrewsbury note about the plague?

Question: What was Shrewsbury's conclusion?

Question: What did Graham Twigg publish in 1984?

Question: Who discussed Twigg's study in 2002?


Context: It is recognised that an epidemiological account of the plague is as important as an identification of symptoms, but researchers are hampered by the lack of reliable statistics from this period. Most work has been done on the spread of the plague in England, and even estimates of overall population at the start vary by over 100% as no census was undertaken between the time of publication of the Domesday Book and the year 1377. Estimates of plague victims are usually extrapolated from figures from the clergy.

Question: What is as important as identifying plague symptoms?

Question: Why are researchers struggling to identify the history of the plague?

Question: How much do estimations of the population during the plague vary?

Question: Where can population estimates be extrapolated from?

Question: During which years was no census taken?


Context: In addition to arguing that the rat population was insufficient to account for a bubonic plague pandemic, sceptics of the bubonic plague theory point out that the symptoms of the Black Death are not unique (and arguably in some accounts may differ from bubonic plague); that transference via fleas in goods was likely to be of marginal significance; and that the DNA results may be flawed and might not have been repeated elsewhere, despite extensive samples from other mass graves. Other arguments include the lack of accounts of the death of rats before outbreaks of plague between the 14th and 17th centuries; temperatures that are too cold in northern Europe for the survival of fleas; that, despite primitive transport systems, the spread of the Black Death was much faster than that of modern bubonic plague; that mortality rates of the Black Death appear to be very high; that, while modern bubonic plague is largely endemic as a rural disease, the Black Death indiscriminately struck urban and rural areas; and that the pattern of the Black Death, with major outbreaks in the same areas separated by 5 to 15 years, differs from modern bubonic plague—which often becomes endemic for decades with annual flare-ups.

Question: Why might rats not be responsible for the plague?

Question: How significant was the transfer of disease through fleas?

Question: Why  might the temperature affect the theory of plague spreading?

Question: Was the bubonic plague spread faster or slower than modern bubonic plague?

Question: How many years could separate outbreaks of the black death?


Context: A variety of alternatives to the Y. pestis have been put forward. Twigg suggested that the cause was a form of anthrax, and Norman Cantor (2001) thought it may have been a combination of anthrax and other pandemics. Scott and Duncan have argued that the pandemic was a form of infectious disease that characterise as hemorrhagic plague similar to Ebola. Archaeologist Barney Sloane has argued that there is insufficient evidence of the extinction of a large number of rats in the archaeological record of the medieval waterfront in London and that the plague spread too quickly to support the thesis that the Y. pestis was spread from fleas on rats; he argues that transmission must have been person to person. However, no single alternative solution has achieved widespread acceptance. Many scholars arguing for the Y. pestis as the major agent of the pandemic suggest that its extent and symptoms can be explained by a combination of bubonic plague with other diseases, including typhus, smallpox and respiratory infections. In addition to the bubonic infection, others point to additional septicemic (a type of "blood poisoning") and pneumonic (an airborne plague that attacks the lungs before the rest of the body) forms of the plague, which lengthen the duration of outbreaks throughout the seasons and help account for its high mortality rate and additional recorded symptoms. In 2014, scientists with Public Health England announced the results of an examination of 25 bodies exhumed from the Clerkenwell area of London, as well as of wills registered in London during the period, which supported the pneumonic hypothesis.

Question: What does Graham Twigg propose about the spread of disease?

Question: What was Norman Cantor's theory about the plague?

Question: Which diseases do many scientists believe contributed to plague pandemic?

Question: What is septicemia?

Question: How many bodies did Public Health England exhume?


Context: The most widely accepted estimate for the Middle East, including Iraq, Iran and Syria, during this time, is for a death rate of about a third. The Black Death killed about 40% of Egypt's population. Half of Paris's population of 100,000 people died. In Italy, the population of Florence was reduced from 110–120 thousand inhabitants in 1338 down to 50 thousand in 1351. At least 60% of the population of Hamburg and Bremen perished, and a similar percentage of Londoners may have died from the disease as well. Interestingly while contemporary reports account of mass burial pits being created in response to the large numbers of dead, recent scientific investigations of a burial pit in Central London found well-preserved individuals to be buried in isolated, evenly spaced graves, suggesting at least some pre-planning and Christian burials at this time. Before 1350, there were about 170,000 settlements in Germany, and this was reduced by nearly 40,000 by 1450. In 1348, the plague spread so rapidly that before any physicians or government authorities had time to reflect upon its origins, about a third of the European population had already perished. In crowded cities, it was not uncommon for as much as 50% of the population to die. The disease bypassed some areas, and the most isolated areas were less vulnerable to contagion. Monks and priests were especially hard hit since they cared for victims of the Black Death.

Question: How much of the population in the Middle East died of the plague?

Question: How much of Paris' population was killed by the plague?

Question: What do isolated, spaced out graves of plague victims indicate?

Question: How many people would die of plague in largely populated cities?

Question: Which areas were least vulnerable to disease?


Context: The plague repeatedly returned to haunt Europe and the Mediterranean throughout the 14th to 17th centuries. According to Biraben, the plague was present somewhere in Europe in every year between 1346 and 1671. The Second Pandemic was particularly widespread in the following years: 1360–63; 1374; 1400; 1438–39; 1456–57; 1464–66; 1481–85; 1500–03; 1518–31; 1544–48; 1563–66; 1573–88; 1596–99; 1602–11; 1623–40; 1644–54; and 1664–67. Subsequent outbreaks, though severe, marked the retreat from most of Europe (18th century) and northern Africa (19th century). According to Geoffrey Parker, "France alone lost almost a million people to the plague in the epidemic of 1628–31."

Question: When did the plague return to Europe?

Question: What did Biraben say about the plague in Europe?

Question: How many French people were lost to plague between 1628-31?


Context: In England, in the absence of census figures, historians propose a range of preincident population figures from as high as 7 million to as low as 4 million in 1300, and a postincident population figure as low as 2 million. By the end of 1350, the Black Death subsided, but it never really died out in England. Over the next few hundred years, further outbreaks occurred in 1361–62, 1369, 1379–83, 1389–93, and throughout the first half of the 15th century. An outbreak in 1471 took as much as 10–15% of the population, while the death rate of the plague of 1479–80 could have been as high as 20%. The most general outbreaks in Tudor and Stuart England seem to have begun in 1498, 1535, 1543, 1563, 1589, 1603, 1625, and 1636, and ended with the Great Plague of London in 1665.

Question: What did historians do in the absence of census figures?

Question: When did the black death technically subside?

Question: How many people died in the outbreak of 1471?

Question: When was the great plague of London?


Context: In 1466, perhaps 40,000 people died of the plague in Paris. During the 16th and 17th centuries, the plague was present in Paris around 30 per cent of the time. The Black Death ravaged Europe for three years before it continued on into Russia, where the disease was present somewhere in the country 25 times between 1350 to 1490. Plague epidemics ravaged London in 1563, 1593, 1603, 1625, 1636, and 1665, reducing its population by 10 to 30% during those years. Over 10% of Amsterdam's population died in 1623–25, and again in 1635–36, 1655, and 1664. Plague occurred in Venice 22 times between 1361 and 1528. The plague of 1576–77 killed 50,000 in Venice, almost a third of the population. Late outbreaks in central Europe included the Italian Plague of 1629–1631, which is associated with troop movements during the Thirty Years' War, and the Great Plague of Vienna in 1679. Over 60% of Norway's population died in 1348–50. The last plague outbreak ravaged Oslo in 1654.

Question: How many people died of plague in Paris in 1466?

Question: The black plague ravaged Europe for three years followed by what country?

Question: Which outbreak was associated with troops in the thirty years war?

Question: When was the last plague outbreak?

Question: How many times did plague occur in Venice?


Context: In the first half of the 17th century, a plague claimed some 1.7 million victims in Italy, or about 14% of the population. In 1656, the plague killed about half of Naples' 300,000 inhabitants. More than 1.25 million deaths resulted from the extreme incidence of plague in 17th-century Spain. The plague of 1649 probably reduced the population of Seville by half. In 1709–13, a plague epidemic that followed the Great Northern War (1700–21, Sweden v. Russia and allies) killed about 100,000 in Sweden, and 300,000 in Prussia. The plague killed two-thirds of the inhabitants of Helsinki, and claimed a third of Stockholm's population. Europe's last major epidemic occurred in 1720 in Marseille.

Question: How many were killed by plague in Italy in the 17th century?

Question: How many were killed by plague in Naples in 1656?

Question: How many residents of Seville died of plague in 1649?

Question: Who fought in the great Northern war?

Question: When was Europe's last major epidemic?


Context: The Black Death ravaged much of the Islamic world. Plague was present in at least one location in the Islamic world virtually every year between 1500 and 1850. Plague repeatedly struck the cities of North Africa. Algiers lost 30 to 50 thousand inhabitants to it in 1620–21, and again in 1654–57, 1665, 1691, and 1740–42. Plague remained a major event in Ottoman society until the second quarter of the 19th century. Between 1701 and 1750, thirty-seven larger and smaller epidemics were recorded in Constantinople, and an additional thirty-one between 1751 and 1800. Baghdad has suffered severely from visitations of the plague, and sometimes two-thirds of its population has been wiped out.

Question: During which years was the plague present in Islamic countries?

Question: How many people were lost in Algiers during 1620-21?

Question: How long did plague last in the Ottoman empire?

Question: How many people, at most, have died of plague in Baghdad?


Context: There are three major types of rock: igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic. The rock cycle is an important concept in geology which illustrates the relationships between these three types of rock, and magma. When a rock crystallizes from melt (magma and/or lava), it is an igneous rock. This rock can be weathered and eroded, and then redeposited and lithified into a sedimentary rock, or be turned into a metamorphic rock due to heat and pressure that change the mineral content of the rock which gives it a characteristic fabric. The sedimentary rock can then be subsequently turned into a metamorphic rock due to heat and pressure and is then weathered, eroded, deposited, and lithified, ultimately becoming a sedimentary rock. Sedimentary rock may also be re-eroded and redeposited, and metamorphic rock may also undergo additional metamorphism. All three types of rocks may be re-melted; when this happens, a new magma is formed, from which an igneous rock may once again crystallize.

Question: An igneous rock is a rock that crystallizes from what?

Question: Sedimentary rock can be turned into which of the three types of rock?

Question: When the three types of rock are re-melted what is formed?

Question: What are the three major types of rock?

Question: What changes the mineral content of a rock?


Context: In the 1960s, a series of discoveries, the most important of which was seafloor spreading, showed that the Earth's lithosphere, which includes the crust and rigid uppermost portion of the upper mantle, is separated into a number of tectonic plates that move across the plastically deforming, solid, upper mantle, which is called the asthenosphere. There is an intimate coupling between the movement of the plates on the surface and the convection of the mantle: oceanic plate motions and mantle convection currents always move in the same direction, because the oceanic lithosphere is the rigid upper thermal boundary layer of the convecting mantle. This coupling between rigid plates moving on the surface of the Earth and the convecting mantle is called plate tectonics.

Question: What was the most important discovery that led to the understanding that Earth's lithosphere is separated into tectonic plates?

Question: Which parts of the Earth are included in the lithosphere?

Question: What is another word for the Earth's upper mantle?

Question: Plate tectonics can be seen as the intimate coupling between rigid plates on the surface of the Earth and what?

Question: In what decade was seafloor spreading discovered?


Context: The development of plate tectonics provided a physical basis for many observations of the solid Earth. Long linear regions of geologic features could be explained as plate boundaries. Mid-ocean ridges, high regions on the seafloor where hydrothermal vents and volcanoes exist, were explained as divergent boundaries, where two plates move apart. Arcs of volcanoes and earthquakes were explained as convergent boundaries, where one plate subducts under another. Transform boundaries, such as the San Andreas fault system, resulted in widespread powerful earthquakes. Plate tectonics also provided a mechanism for Alfred Wegener's theory of continental drift, in which the continents move across the surface of the Earth over geologic time. They also provided a driving force for crustal deformation, and a new setting for the observations of structural geology. The power of the theory of plate tectonics lies in its ability to combine all of these observations into a single theory of how the lithosphere moves over the convecting mantle.

Question: What is the area called where two plates move apart?

Question: What is the area called where one plate subducts under another?

Question: What type of fault boundary is defined by having widespread powerful earthquakes, as in the state of California?

Question: Whose theory was the theory of continental drift?

Question: The lithosphere moves over which mantle n the theory of plate tectonics?


Context: Seismologists can use the arrival times of seismic waves in reverse to image the interior of the Earth. Early advances in this field showed the existence of a liquid outer core (where shear waves were not able to propagate) and a dense solid inner core. These advances led to the development of a layered model of the Earth, with a crust and lithosphere on top, the mantle below (separated within itself by seismic discontinuities at 410 and 660 kilometers), and the outer core and inner core below that. More recently, seismologists have been able to create detailed images of wave speeds inside the earth in the same way a doctor images a body in a CT scan. These images have led to a much more detailed view of the interior of the Earth, and have replaced the simplified layered model with a much more dynamic model.

Question: What types of waves do seismologists use to image the interior of the Earth?

Question: In the layered model of the Earth, the outermost layer is what?

Question: In the layered model of the Earth there are seismic discontinuities in which layer?

Question: Recently a more detailed model of the Earth was developed. Seismologists were able to create this using images of what from the interior of the Earth?

Question: In the layered model of the Earth, the mantle has two layers below it. What are they?


Context: The following four timelines show the geologic time scale. The first shows the entire time from the formation of the Earth to the present, but this compresses the most recent eon. Therefore, the second scale shows the most recent eon with an expanded scale. The second scale compresses the most recent era, so the most recent era is expanded in the third scale. Since the Quaternary is a very short period with short epochs, it is further expanded in the fourth scale. The second, third, and fourth timelines are therefore each subsections of their preceding timeline as indicated by asterisks. The Holocene (the latest epoch) is too small to be shown clearly on the third timeline on the right, another reason for expanding the fourth scale. The Pleistocene (P) epoch. Q stands for the Quaternary period.

Question: Why is the second timeline needed?

Question: Which timeline is further expanded in the fourth scale?

Question: What is the name of the latest epoch?

Question: The Pleistocene epoch takes place during which period?


Context: The principle of cross-cutting relationships pertains to the formation of faults and the age of the sequences through which they cut. Faults are younger than the rocks they cut; accordingly, if a fault is found that penetrates some formations but not those on top of it, then the formations that were cut are older than the fault, and the ones that are not cut must be younger than the fault. Finding the key bed in these situations may help determine whether the fault is a normal fault or a thrust fault.

Question: What principle relates to the formation of faults and the age of the sequences through which they cut?

Question: When rock formations are found on top of a fault that have not been cut, then they must be older or younger than the fault?

Question: Finding what helps to determine if a fault is a normal fault or a thrust fault?

Question: Rocks on top of a fault that are cut are always older or younger than the fault itself?


Context: The principle of inclusions and components states that, with sedimentary rocks, if inclusions (or clasts) are found in a formation, then the inclusions must be older than the formation that contains them. For example, in sedimentary rocks, it is common for gravel from an older formation to be ripped up and included in a newer layer. A similar situation with igneous rocks occurs when xenoliths are found. These foreign bodies are picked up as magma or lava flows, and are incorporated, later to cool in the matrix. As a result, xenoliths are older than the rock which contains them.

Question: What foreign bodies, which are older than the rocks themselves, occur igneous rocks?

Question: Xenoliths are picked up by what and deposited into the matrix of igneous rocks?

Question: What is another word for inclusions in sedimentary rocks?

Question: What is the principle that states that with sedimentary rocks, inclusions must be older than the formation that contains them?

Question: What is something that is often torn up and included in sedimentary rock?


Context: The principle of faunal succession is based on the appearance of fossils in sedimentary rocks. As organisms exist at the same time period throughout the world, their presence or (sometimes) absence may be used to provide a relative age of the formations in which they are found. Based on principles laid out by William Smith almost a hundred years before the publication of Charles Darwin's theory of evolution, the principles of succession were developed independently of evolutionary thought. The principle becomes quite complex, however, given the uncertainties of fossilization, the localization of fossil types due to lateral changes in habitat (facies change in sedimentary strata), and that not all fossils may be found globally at the same time.

Question: Which principle is based on the appearance of fossils in sedimentary rocks?

Question: Whose principles were the principle of faunal succession built upon?

Question: The fact that not all fossils may be found globally at the same time causes the principle to become what?

Question: The presence or absence of what can be used to determine the relative age of the formations in which they are found?

Question: The principle of faunal succession was developed 100 years before whose theory of evolution?


Context: At the beginning of the 20th century, important advancement in geological science was facilitated by the ability to obtain accurate absolute dates to geologic events using radioactive isotopes and other methods. This changed the understanding of geologic time. Previously, geologists could only use fossils and stratigraphic correlation to date sections of rock relative to one another. With isotopic dates it became possible to assign absolute ages to rock units, and these absolute dates could be applied to fossil sequences in which there was datable material, converting the old relative ages into new absolute ages.

Question: When was the ability to use radioactive isotopes to date rock formations developed?

Question: What type of correlation was used previously to help date rock formations?

Question: It is now possible to convert old relative ages into what type of ages using isotopic dating?

Question: Previous to isotopic dating sections of rocks had to be dated using fossils and stratigraphic correlation relative to what?

Question: When dating rocks, what is the absolute isotopic date applied to?


Context: For many geologic applications, isotope ratios of radioactive elements are measured in minerals that give the amount of time that has passed since a rock passed through its particular closure temperature, the point at which different radiometric isotopes stop diffusing into and out of the crystal lattice. These are used in geochronologic and thermochronologic studies. Common methods include uranium-lead dating, potassium-argon dating, argon-argon dating and uranium-thorium dating. These methods are used for a variety of applications. Dating of lava and volcanic ash layers found within a stratigraphic sequence can provide absolute age data for sedimentary rock units which do not contain radioactive isotopes and calibrate relative dating techniques. These methods can also be used to determine ages of pluton emplacement. Thermochemical techniques can be used to determine temperature profiles within the crust, the uplift of mountain ranges, and paleotopography.

Question: What techniques can be used to determine paleotopography?

Question: The point at which different radiometric isotopes stop diffusing into and out of the crystal lattice is called what?

Question: What type of ratios are used in geochronologic and thermochronologic studies?

Question: How can you find the absolute age of sedimentary rock units which do not contain radioactive isotopes?


Context: When rock units are placed under horizontal compression, they shorten and become thicker. Because rock units, other than muds, do not significantly change in volume, this is accomplished in two primary ways: through faulting and folding. In the shallow crust, where brittle deformation can occur, thrust faults form, which cause deeper rock to move on top of shallower rock. Because deeper rock is often older, as noted by the principle of superposition, this can result in older rocks moving on top of younger ones. Movement along faults can result in folding, either because the faults are not planar or because rock layers are dragged along, forming drag folds as slip occurs along the fault. Deeper in the Earth, rocks behave plastically, and fold instead of faulting. These folds can either be those where the material in the center of the fold buckles upwards, creating "antiforms", or where it buckles downwards, creating "synforms". If the tops of the rock units within the folds remain pointing upwards, they are called anticlines and synclines, respectively. If some of the units in the fold are facing downward, the structure is called an overturned anticline or syncline, and if all of the rock units are overturned or the correct up-direction is unknown, they are simply called by the most general terms, antiforms and synforms.

Question: Rock units become thicker and shorten when placed under this type of compression.

Question: Where do thrust faults form?

Question: When rock folds deep in the Earth it can fold one of two ways, when it buckles upwards it creates what?

Question: When rock folds deep in the Earth it can fold one of two ways, when it buckles downwards it creates what?

Question: If the tops of the rock units within the folds remain pointing upwards, they are called what?


Context: Extension causes the rock units as a whole to become longer and thinner. This is primarily accomplished through normal faulting and through the ductile stretching and thinning. Normal faults drop rock units that are higher below those that are lower. This typically results in younger units being placed below older units. Stretching of units can result in their thinning; in fact, there is a location within the Maria Fold and Thrust Belt in which the entire sedimentary sequence of the Grand Canyon can be seen over a length of less than a meter. Rocks at the depth to be ductilely stretched are often also metamorphosed. These stretched rocks can also pinch into lenses, known as boudins, after the French word for "sausage", because of their visual similarity.

Question: This causes the rock unit as a whole to become longer and thinner.

Question: Stretched rocks that pinch into lenses are known by what word?

Question: Where can the entire sedimentary sequence of the Grand Canyon be seen in less than the length of a meter?

Question: Rocks that are a depth where they are ductilely stretched are also often what?

Question: What causes rock extension?


Context: The addition of new rock units, both depositionally and intrusively, often occurs during deformation. Faulting and other deformational processes result in the creation of topographic gradients, causing material on the rock unit that is increasing in elevation to be eroded by hillslopes and channels. These sediments are deposited on the rock unit that is going down. Continual motion along the fault maintains the topographic gradient in spite of the movement of sediment, and continues to create accommodation space for the material to deposit. Deformational events are often also associated with volcanism and igneous activity. Volcanic ashes and lavas accumulate on the surface, and igneous intrusions enter from below. Dikes, long, planar igneous intrusions, enter along cracks, and therefore often form in large numbers in areas that are being actively deformed. This can result in the emplacement of dike swarms, such as those that are observable across the Canadian shield, or rings of dikes around the lava tube of a volcano.

Question: What is another word for long, planar igneous intrusions?

Question: Where do dikes form?

Question: What type of gradients are formed by faulting and other deformational processes?

Question: What activity maintains topographic gradients?

Question: What events are often associated with volcanism and igneous activity?


Context: All of these processes do not necessarily occur in a single environment, and do not necessarily occur in a single order. The Hawaiian Islands, for example, consist almost entirely of layered basaltic lava flows. The sedimentary sequences of the mid-continental United States and the Grand Canyon in the southwestern United States contain almost-undeformed stacks of sedimentary rocks that have remained in place since Cambrian time. Other areas are much more geologically complex. In the southwestern United States, sedimentary, volcanic, and intrusive rocks have been metamorphosed, faulted, foliated, and folded. Even older rocks, such as the Acasta gneiss of the Slave craton in northwestern Canada, the oldest known rock in the world have been metamorphosed to the point where their origin is undiscernable without laboratory analysis. In addition, these processes can occur in stages. In many places, the Grand Canyon in the southwestern United States being a very visible example, the lower rock units were metamorphosed and deformed, and then deformation ended and the upper, undeformed units were deposited. Although any amount of rock emplacement and rock deformation can occur, and they can occur any number of times, these concepts provide a guide to understanding the geological history of an area.

Question: The Hawaiian Islands are made up almost entirely of what?

Question: What is the oldest known rock in the world?

Question: What type of rock is found at the Grand Canyon?

Question: The rocks at the Grand Canyon have been in place since when?

Question: Where is the oldest known rock in the world located?


Context: Geologists use a number of field, laboratory, and numerical modeling methods to decipher Earth history and understand the processes that occur on and inside the Earth. In typical geological investigations, geologists use primary information related to petrology (the study of rocks), stratigraphy (the study of sedimentary layers), and structural geology (the study of positions of rock units and their deformation). In many cases, geologists also study modern soils, rivers, landscapes, and glaciers; investigate past and current life and biogeochemical pathways, and use geophysical methods to investigate the subsurface.

Question: What is petrology?

Question: What is stratigraphy?

Question: What is structural geology?

Question: What modern formations do geologists study?


Context: In addition to identifying rocks in the field, petrologists identify rock samples in the laboratory. Two of the primary methods for identifying rocks in the laboratory are through optical microscopy and by using an electron microprobe. In an optical mineralogy analysis, thin sections of rock samples are analyzed through a petrographic microscope, where the minerals can be identified through their different properties in plane-polarized and cross-polarized light, including their birefringence, pleochroism, twinning, and interference properties with a conoscopic lens. In the electron microprobe, individual locations are analyzed for their exact chemical compositions and variation in composition within individual crystals. Stable and radioactive isotope studies provide insight into the geochemical evolution of rock units.

Question: What do petrologists use electron microprobes in the laboratory for?

Question: What properties are analyzed with a conoscopic lens by petrologists?

Question: Stable and radioactive isotope studies provide insight into what?

Question: Petrologists identify rock samples in the field and where else?

Question: What type of microscope is used by petrologists?


Context: Petrologists can also use fluid inclusion data and perform high temperature and pressure physical experiments to understand the temperatures and pressures at which different mineral phases appear, and how they change through igneous and metamorphic processes. This research can be extrapolated to the field to understand metamorphic processes and the conditions of crystallization of igneous rocks. This work can also help to explain processes that occur within the Earth, such as subduction and magma chamber evolution.

Question: How else can petrologists understand the pressures at which different mineral phases appear?

Question: How else can petrologists understand the temperature at which different mineral phases appear?

Question: Data from physical experiments can be extrapolated to the field to understand what processes?


Context: Structural geologists use microscopic analysis of oriented thin sections of geologic samples to observe the fabric within the rocks which gives information about strain within the crystalline structure of the rocks. They also plot and combine measurements of geological structures in order to better understand the orientations of faults and folds in order to reconstruct the history of rock deformation in the area. In addition, they perform analog and numerical experiments of rock deformation in large and small settings.

Question: What type of geologists give information about strain within the crystalline structure of the rocks?

Question: How do structural geologists observe the fabric within the rocks?

Question: In order to better understand the orientations of faults and folds, structural geologists do what with measurements of geological structures?

Question: What kind of experiments of rock deformation do structural geologists perform?


Context: Among the most well-known experiments in structural geology are those involving orogenic wedges, which are zones in which mountains are built along convergent tectonic plate boundaries. In the analog versions of these experiments, horizontal layers of sand are pulled along a lower surface into a back stop, which results in realistic-looking patterns of faulting and the growth of a critically tapered (all angles remain the same) orogenic wedge. Numerical models work in the same way as these analog models, though they are often more sophisticated and can include patterns of erosion and uplift in the mountain belt. This helps to show the relationship between erosion and the shape of the mountain range. These studies can also give useful information about pathways for metamorphism through pressure, temperature, space, and time.

Question: Zones in which mountains are built along convergent tectonic plate boundaries are called what?

Question: What are among the most well known experiments in structural geology?

Question: Horizontal layers of what are pulled along a surface into a back stop in analog versions of orogenic wedge experiments?

Question: What does critically tapered mean?

Question: Which is more sophisticated, numericals model or an analog models of orogenic wedges?


Context: In the laboratory, stratigraphers analyze samples of stratigraphic sections that can be returned from the field, such as those from drill cores. Stratigraphers also analyze data from geophysical surveys that show the locations of stratigraphic units in the subsurface. Geophysical data and well logs can be combined to produce a better view of the subsurface, and stratigraphers often use computer programs to do this in three dimensions. Stratigraphers can then use these data to reconstruct ancient processes occurring on the surface of the Earth, interpret past environments, and locate areas for water, coal, and hydrocarbon extraction.

Question: The analysis of stratigraphic sections such as drill cores is done by who?

Question: What type of surveys show the location of stratigraphic units in the subsurface?

Question: What can be combined with geophysical data to produce a better view of the subsurface?

Question: What tool do stratigraphers use to see their data in three dimensions?

Question: Stratigraphers try to locate areas for what types of extraction?


Context: In the laboratory, biostratigraphers analyze rock samples from outcrop and drill cores for the fossils found in them. These fossils help scientists to date the core and to understand the depositional environment in which the rock units formed. Geochronologists precisely date rocks within the stratigraphic section in order to provide better absolute bounds on the timing and rates of deposition. Magnetic stratigraphers look for signs of magnetic reversals in igneous rock units within the drill cores. Other scientists perform stable isotope studies on the rocks to gain information about past climate.

Question: Why is it important to precisely date rocks within the stratigraphic section?

Question: Who analyzes rock samples from drill cores in the lab?

Question: What types of scientists looks for signs of magnetic reversals in igneous rocks within the drill cores?

Question: Who dates rocks, precisely, within the stratigraphic section?


Context: Some modern scholars, such as Fielding H. Garrison, are of the opinion that the origin of the science of geology can be traced to Persia after the Muslim conquests had come to an end. Abu al-Rayhan al-Biruni (973–1048 CE) was one of the earliest Persian geologists, whose works included the earliest writings on the geology of India, hypothesizing that the Indian subcontinent was once a sea. Drawing from Greek and Indian scientific literature that were not destroyed by the Muslim conquests, the Persian scholar Ibn Sina (Avicenna, 981–1037) proposed detailed explanations for the formation of mountains, the origin of earthquakes, and other topics central to modern geology, which provided an essential foundation for the later development of the science. In China, the polymath Shen Kuo (1031–1095) formulated a hypothesis for the process of land formation: based on his observation of fossil animal shells in a geological stratum in a mountain hundreds of miles from the ocean, he inferred that the land was formed by erosion of the mountains and by deposition of silt.

Question: Fielding H. Garrison believes that the science of geology can be traced to where?

Question: Living from 973–1048 CE he was one of the earliest Persian geologists, what was his name?

Question: In China, this person inferred that the land was formed by erosion of the mountains and by silt deposition, what was his name?

Question: This person proposed explanations for the origins of earthquakes and the formation of mountains, what was his name?

Question: What prompted Shen Kuo to believe the land was formed by erosion of the mountains?


Context: James Hutton is often viewed as the first modern geologist. In 1785 he presented a paper entitled Theory of the Earth to the Royal Society of Edinburgh. In his paper, he explained his theory that the Earth must be much older than had previously been supposed in order to allow enough time for mountains to be eroded and for sediments to form new rocks at the bottom of the sea, which in turn were raised up to become dry land. Hutton published a two-volume version of his ideas in 1795 (Vol. 1, Vol. 2).

Question: Who is viewed as the first modern geologist?

Question: In 1785 James Hutton presented what paper to the Royal Society of Edinburgh?

Question: James Hutton published a 2 volume version of his theories in what year?

Question: What was the main idea of James Hutton's paper?


Context: The first geological map of the U.S. was produced in 1809 by William Maclure. In 1807, Maclure commenced the self-imposed task of making a geological survey of the United States. Almost every state in the Union was traversed and mapped by him, the Allegheny Mountains being crossed and recrossed some 50 times. The results of his unaided labours were submitted to the American Philosophical Society in a memoir entitled Observations on the Geology of the United States explanatory of a Geological Map, and published in the Society's Transactions, together with the nation's first geological map. This antedates William Smith's geological map of England by six years, although it was constructed using a different classification of rocks.

Question: Who produced the first geological map of the U.S.?

Question: In what year was the first geological map of the U.S. produced?

Question: In what year did William Maclure begin the process of creating the first geological map of the U.S.?

Question: What was the memoir entitled which was submitted to the American Philosophical Society?

Question: To whom did William Maclure submit the map?


Context: Sir Charles Lyell first published his famous book, Principles of Geology, in 1830. This book, which influenced the thought of Charles Darwin, successfully promoted the doctrine of uniformitarianism. This theory states that slow geological processes have occurred throughout the Earth's history and are still occurring today. In contrast, catastrophism is the theory that Earth's features formed in single, catastrophic events and remained unchanged thereafter. Though Hutton believed in uniformitarianism, the idea was not widely accepted at the time.

Question: First published by Sir Charles Lyell in 1830 this book was called what?

Question: What doctrine did the doctrine of the Principles of Geology successfully promote?

Question: Which theory states that slow geological processes are still occurring today, and have occurred throughout Earth's history?

Question: Which theory states that Earth's features remained unchanged after forming in one single catastrophic event?

Question: Which famous evolutionist was influenced by the book Principles of Geology?


Context: Newcastle upon Tyne (RP: i/ˌnjuːkɑːsəl əˌpɒn ˈtaɪn/; Locally: i/njuːˌkæsəl əˌpən ˈtaɪn/), commonly known as Newcastle, is a city in Tyne and Wear, North East England, 103 miles (166 km) south of Edinburgh and 277 miles (446 km) north of London on the northern bank of the River Tyne, 8.5 mi (13.7 km) from the North Sea. Newcastle is the most populous city in the North East and Tyneside the eighth most populous conurbation in the United Kingdom. Newcastle is a member of the English Core Cities Group and is a member of the Eurocities network of European cities. Newcastle was part of the county of Northumberland until 1400, when it became a county itself, a status it retained until becoming part of Tyne and Wear in 1974.[not in citation given] The regional nickname and dialect for people from Newcastle and the surrounding area is Geordie.

Question: How many miles south of Edinburgh is Newcastle?

Question: How many miles from the north Sea is Newcastle?

Question: What network is Newcastle a member of?

Question: What county was Newcastle a part of until 1400?

Question: What's the regional nickname for Newcastle and its surrounding area?


Context: The city developed around the Roman settlement Pons Aelius and was named after the castle built in 1080 by Robert Curthose, William the Conqueror's eldest son. The city grew as an important centre for the wool trade in the 14th century, and later became a major coal mining area. The port developed in the 16th century and, along with the shipyards lower down the River Tyne, was amongst the world's largest shipbuilding and ship-repairing centres. Newcastle's economy includes corporate headquarters, learning, digital technology, retail, tourism and cultural centres, from which the city contributes £13 billion towards the United Kingdom's GVA. Among its icons are Newcastle Brown Ale; Newcastle United football club; and the Tyne Bridge. It has hosted the world's most popular half marathon, the Great North Run, since it began in 1981.

Question: Who built a castle in Newcastle in 1080?

Question: What trade was the city an important center of in the 14th century?

Question: What resource was mined in the Newcastle area?

Question: What century was Newcastle's port developed in?

Question: What globally popular half marathon began in 1981?


Context: The first recorded settlement in what is now Newcastle was Pons Aelius, a Roman fort and bridge across the River Tyne. It was given the family name of the Roman Emperor Hadrian, who founded it in the 2nd century AD. This rare honour suggests that Hadrian may have visited the site and instituted the bridge on his tour of Britain. The population of Pons Aelius at this period was estimated at 2,000. Fragments of Hadrian's Wall are still visible in parts of Newcastle, particularly along the West Road. The course of the "Roman Wall" can be traced eastwards to the Segedunum Roman fort in Wallsend—the "wall's end"—and to the supply fort Arbeia in South Shields. The extent of Hadrian's Wall was 73 miles (117 km), spanning the width of Britain; the Wall incorporated the Vallum, a large rearward ditch with parallel mounds, and was constructed primarily for defence, to prevent unwanted immigration and the incursion of Pictish tribes from the north, not as a fighting line for a major invasion.

Question: What was the first recorded settlement in what became Newcastle?

Question: What river was there originally a bridge across in Roman times?

Question: What was the estimated population of Pons Aelius around the 2nd century?

Question: Whose wall has fragments visible in places around Newcastle even today?

Question: What tribes were the Romans fearful would invade from the North?


Context: Throughout the Middle Ages, Newcastle was England's northern fortress. Incorporated first by Henry II, the city had a new charter granted by Elizabeth in 1589. A 25-foot (7.6 m) high stone wall was built around the town in the 13th century, to defend it from invaders during the Border war against Scotland. The Scots king William the Lion was imprisoned in Newcastle in 1174, and Edward I brought the Stone of Scone and William Wallace south through the town. Newcastle was successfully defended against the Scots three times during the 14th century, and was created a county corporate with its own sheriff by Henry IV in 1400.

Question: Newcastle served as a northern fortress for which country during the Middle Ages?

Question: Who granted Newcastle a new charter in 1589?

Question: How high was the stone wall built around Newcastle in the 13th century?

Question: What was the name of the King of the Scots?

Question: How many times did Newcastle fight off the Scots during the 14th century?


Context: From 1530 a royal act restricted all shipments of coal from Tyneside to Newcastle Quayside, giving a monopoly in the coal trade to a cartel of Newcastle burgesses known as the Hostmen. This monopoly, which lasted for a considerable time, helped Newcastle prosper and develop into a major town. The phrase taking coals to Newcastle was first recorded contextually in 1538. The phrase itself means a pointless pursuit. In the 18th century American Timothy Dexter, an entrepreneur, widely regarded as an eccentric, defied this idiom. He was persuaded to sail a shipment of coal to Newcastle by merchants plotting to ruin him; however his shipment arrived on the Tyne during a strike that had crippled local production; unexpectedly he made a considerable profit.

Question: What did a 1530 royal act restrict shipments of?

Question: What was the cartel of Newcastle burgesses known as?

Question: What does the phrase "taking coals to Newcastle" mean?

Question: What was the American Timothy Dexter widely regarded as?

Question: What did the merchants of Newcastle plot to do to Timothy Dexter?


Context: In the Sandgate area, to the east of the city and beside the river, resided the close-knit community of keelmen and their families. They were so called because they worked on the keels, boats that were used to transfer coal from the river banks to the waiting colliers, for export to London and elsewhere. In the 1630s about 7,000 out of 20,000 inhabitants of Newcastle died of plague, more than one-third of the population. Specifically within the year 1636, it is roughly estimated with evidence held by the Society of Antiquaries that 47% of the then population of Newcastle died from the epidemic; this may also have been the most devastating loss in any British City in this period.

Question: Who did the keelmen live with in a tight-knight community east of Newcastle?

Question: How was coal transferred from the river banks to colliers?

Question: How many folks died of plague in Newcastle in the 1630s?

Question: What percentage of Newcastle's population was culled by the plague?

Question: The epidemic in Newcastle was the most what in any British city at the time?


Context: During the English Civil War, the North declared for the King. In a bid to gain Newcastle and the Tyne, Cromwell's allies, the Scots, captured the town of Newburn. In 1644 the Scots then captured the reinforced fortification on the Lawe in South Shields following a siege. In 1644 the city was then besieged for many months and was eventually stormed ('with roaring drummes') and sacked by Cromwell's allies. The grateful King bestowed the motto "Fortiter Defendit Triumphans" ("Triumphing by a brave defence") upon the town. Charles I was imprisoned in Newcastle by the Scots in 1646–7.

Question: Who did the North declare for during the English civil war?

Question: Who was Cromwell's allies?

Question: What was roaring as Newcastle was stormed?

Question: What does Fortiter Defendit Triumphans mean?

Question: Who was imprisoned in Newcastle by the Scots in 1646 through 1647?


Context: In the 19th century, shipbuilding and heavy engineering were central to the city's prosperity; and the city was a powerhouse of the Industrial Revolution. This revolution resulted in the urbanization of the city. In 1817 the Maling company, at one time the largest pottery company in the world, moved to the city. The Victorian industrial revolution brought industrial structures that included the 2 1⁄2-mile (4.0 km) Victoria Tunnelling, built in 1842, which provided underground wagon ways to the staithes. On 3 February 1879, Mosley Street in the city, was the first public road in the world to be lit up by the incandescent lightbulb. Newcastle was one of the first cities in the world to be lit up by electric lighting. Innovations in Newcastle and surrounding areas included the development of safety lamps, Stephenson's Rocket, Lord Armstrong's artillery, Be-Ro flour, Joseph Swan's electric light bulbs, and Charles Parsons' invention of the steam turbine, which led to the revolution of marine propulsion and the production of cheap electricity. In 1882, Newcastle became the seat of an Anglican diocese, with St. Nicholas' Church becoming its cathedral.

Question: What did the Industrial Revolution cause to happen to Newcastle?

Question: What was the largest pottery company in the world in 1817?

Question: Newcastle was one of the first cities in the world to have what innovation?

Question: What were shipbuilding and engineering important to Newcastle for in the 19th century?

Question: What did Charles Parsons invent?


Context: In large parts, Newcastle still retains a medieval street layout. Narrow alleys or 'chares', most of which can only be traversed by foot, still exist in abundance, particularly around the riverside. Stairs from the riverside to higher parts of the city centre and the extant Castle Keep, originally recorded in the 14th century, remain intact in places. Close, Sandhill and Quayside contain modern buildings as well as structures dating from the 15th–18th centuries, including Bessie Surtees House, the Cooperage and Lloyds Quayside Bars, Derwentwater House and "House of Tides", a restaurant situated at a Grade I-listed 16th century merchant's house at 28–30 Close.

Question: What type of layout does Newcastle's streets have in many parts?

Question: What are chares?

Question: What runs from the riverside to higher parts of the city center?

Question: What kind of buildings are in the towns of Close, Sandhill and Quayside?

Question: What is the House of Tides?


Context: The city has an extensive neoclassical centre referred to as Tyneside Classical largely developed in the 1830s by Richard Grainger and John Dobson, and recently extensively restored. Broadcaster and writer Stuart Maconie described Newcastle as England's best-looking city and the late German-born British scholar of architecture, Nikolaus Pevsner, describes Grey Street as one of the finest streets in England. The street curves down from Grey's Monument towards the valley of the River Tyne and was voted England's finest street in 2005 in a survey of BBC Radio 4 listeners. In the Google Street View awards of 2010, Grey Street came 3rd in the British picturesque category. Osborne Road came 4th in the foodie street category. A portion of Grainger Town was demolished in the 1960s to make way for the Eldon Square Shopping Centre, including all but one side of the original Eldon Square itself.

Question: What has recently undergone extensive restoration?

Question: What did John Dobson describe Newcastle as?

Question: What street does Nikolaus Pevsner think is one of the finest in England?

Question: When was a part of Grainger Town destroyed?

Question: What is in Eldon Square?


Context: Another green space in Newcastle is the Town Moor, lying immediately north of the city centre. It is larger than London's famous Hyde Park and Hampstead Heath put together and the freemen of the city have the right to graze cattle on it. The right incidentally extends to the pitch of St. James' Park, Newcastle United Football Club's ground, though this is not exercised, although the Freemen do collect rent for the loss of privilege. Honorary freemen include Bob Geldof, King Harald V of Norway, Bobby Robson, Alan Shearer, the late Nelson Mandela and the Royal Shakespeare Company. The Hoppings funfair, said to be the largest travelling funfair in Europe, is held here annually in June.

Question: What's the name of the green space north of the center of Newcastle?

Question: What an the freeman of Newcastle do with their cows on the Town Moor?

Question: What is said to be the largest travelling funfair in Europe?

Question: When is the funfair held in Newcastle?

Question: What honorary title does Bob Geldof hold?


Context: Large-scale regeneration has replaced former shipping premises with imposing new office developments; an innovative tilting bridge, the Gateshead Millennium Bridge was commissioned by Gateshead Council and has integrated the older Newcastle Quayside more closely with major cultural developments in Gateshead, including the BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art, the venue for the Turner Prize 2011 and the Norman Foster-designed The Sage Gateshead music centre. The Newcastle and Gateshead Quaysides are now a thriving, cosmopolitan area with bars, restaurants and public spaces. As a tourist promotion, Newcastle and Gateshead have linked together under the banner "NewcastleGateshead", to spearhead the regeneration of the North-East. The River Tyne had the temporary Bambuco Bridge in 2008 for ten days; it was not made for walking, road or cycling, but was just a sculpture.

Question: What has replaced the former shipping premises?

Question: Who commissioned the Gateshead Milennium Bridge?

Question: Who designed the Sage Gateshead music center?

Question: Why have Newcastle and Gateshead linked together under a common banner?

Question: How many days did the River Tyne have the Bambuco Bridge?


Context: The historic heart of Newcastle is the Grainger Town area. Established on classical streets built by Richard Grainger, a builder and developer, between 1835 and 1842, some of Newcastle upon Tyne's finest buildings and streets lie within this area of the city centre including Grainger Market, Theatre Royal, Grey Street, Grainger Street and Clayton Street. These buildings are predominantly four stories high, with vertical dormers, domes, turrets and spikes. Richard Grainger was said to 'have found Newcastle of bricks and timber and left it in stone'. Of Grainger Town's 450 buildings, 244 are listed, of which 29 are grade I and 49 are grade II*.

Question: What is the historic heart of Newcastle?

Question: When was Richard Grainger actively building and developing?

Question: How high are many of the buildings with turrets?

Question: How man of Grainger Town's 450 buildings are listed?


Context: The Grainger Market replaced an earlier market originally built in 1808 called the Butcher Market. The Grainger Market itself, was opened in 1835 and was Newcastle's first indoor market. At the time of its opening in 1835 it was said to be one of the largest and most beautiful markets in Europe. The opening was celebrated with a grand dinner attended by 2000 guests, and the Laing Art Gallery has a painting of this event. With the exception of the timber roof which was destroyed by a fire in 1901 and replaced by latticed-steel arches the Market is largely in its original condition. The Grainger Market architecture, like most in Grainger Town, which are either grade I or II listed, was listed grade I in 1954 by English Heritage.

Question: What earlier market did the Grainger Market replace?

Question: When did Newcastle's first indoor market open?

Question: How many guests attended the dinner celebrating the opening of the Grainger Market?

Question: How is the opening of the Grainger Market documented in the Laing Art Gallery?

Question: Who listed the Grainger Market architecture as grade 1 in 1954?


Context: The climate in Newcastle is oceanic (Köppen Cfb) and significantly milder than some other locations in the world at a similar latitude, due to the warming influence of the Gulf Stream (via the North Atlantic Drift). Being in the rain shadow of the North Pennines, it is among the driest cities in the UK. Temperature extremes recorded at Newcastle Weather Centre include 32.5 °C (90.5 °F) during August 1990 down to −12.6 °C (9.3 °F) during January 1982. In contrast to other areas influenced by the Gulf Stream, such as inland Scandinavia, Newcastle has milder winters and cooler summers, similar to the remainder of the British Isles.

Question: What's the climate like in Newcastle?

Question: What kind of influence does the Gulf Stream exert on Newcastle?

Question: What type of shadow does the North Pennines cast?

Question: When was the coldest temperature in Newcastle recorded?

Question: What area is Newcastle's milder winters and cooler summers most similar to?


Context: In 2010, Newcastle was positioned ninth in the retail centre expenditure league of the UK. There are several major shopping areas in Newcastle City Centre. The largest of these is the Eldon Square Shopping Centre, one of the largest city centre shopping complexes in the UK. It incorporates a flagship Debenhams store as well as one of the largest John Lewis stores in the UK. John Lewis is still known to many in Newcastle as Bainbridges. Newcastle store Bainbridge's, opened in 1838, is often cited as the world’s first department store. Emerson Bainbridge (1817–1892), a pioneer and the founder of Bainbridges, sold goods via department, a new for merchant custom for that time. The Bainbridge’s official ledgers reported revenue by department, giving birth to the name department store. Eldon Square is currently undergoing a full redevelopment. A new bus station, replacing the old underground bus station, was officially opened in March 2007. The wing of the centre, including the undercover Green Market, near Grainger Street was demolished in 2007 so that the area could be redeveloped. This was completed in February 2010 with the opening of a flagship Debenhams department store as well as other major stores including Apple, Hollister and Guess.

Question: What year was Newcastle ninth in retail expenditures?

Question: What is one of the largest city center shopping complexes in the UK?

Question: What department store is thought to be the first in the world?

Question: How did Brainbridge's official ledgers report revenue?

Question: What year was the new bus station in Newcastle officially opened?


Context: Other shopping destinations in Newcastle include Grainger Street and the area around Grey's Monument, the relatively modern Eldon Garden and Monument Mall complexes, the Newgate Centre, Central Arcade and the traditional Grainger Market. Outside the city centre, the largest suburban shopping areas are Gosforth and Byker. The largest Tesco store in the United Kingdom is located in Kingston Park on the edge of Newcastle. Close to Newcastle, the largest indoor shopping centre in Europe, the MetroCentre, is located in Gateshead.

Question: What type of destination is the area around Grey's Monument?

Question: Gosforth and Byker are the largest shopping areas of what type?

Question: The largest brand of what store in the UK is located in Kingston Park?

Question: What is the name of the largest indoor shopping centre in Europe?

Question: Where is the MetroCentre located?


Context: The Tyneside flat was the dominant housing form constructed at the time when the industrial centres on Tyneside were growing most rapidly. They can still be found in areas such as South Heaton in Newcastle but once dominated the streetscape on both sides of the Tyne. Tyneside flats were built as terraces, one of each pair of doors led to an upstairs flat while the other led into the ground-floor flat, each of two or three rooms. A new development in the Ouseburn valley has recreated them; Architects Cany Ash and Robert Sakula were attracted by the possibilities of high density without building high and getting rid of common areas.

Question: What was the dominant housing template when industrial centres were growing the fastest?

Question: What were Tyneside flats built as?

Question: Where is this housing style being developed recently?

Question: What profession are Cany Ash and Robert Sakula?

Question: What can be achieved without building high or getting rid of common areas?


Context: In terms of housing stock, the authority is one of few authorities to see the proportion of detached homes rise in the 2010 Census (to 7.8%), in this instance this was coupled with a similar rise in flats and waterside apartments to 25.6%, and the proportion of converted or shared houses in 2011 renders this dwelling type within the highest of the five colour-coded brackets at 5.9%, and on a par with Oxford and Reading, greater than Manchester and Liverpool and below a handful of historic densely occupied, arguably overinflated markets in the local authorities: Harrogate, Cheltenham, Bath, inner London, Hastings, Brighton and Tunbridge Wells.

Question: What proportion did detached homes rise in 2010?

Question: Where does the proportion of shared and converted houses in 2011 put this dwelling type in the color-coded brackets?

Question: What type of markets is the dwelling type below?

Question: Harrogate market is in the local what?

Question: What market other than Harrogate, Cheltenham, Bath, inner London, Hastings and Brighton is overinflated?


Context: According to the UK Government's returned 2001 census information, the city of Newcastle had a population of 189,863, whereas the metropolitan borough of Newcastle had a population of around 259,000. Newcastle has a population of 282,442 according to the Office for National Statistics. The metropolitan boroughs of North Tyneside (population circa 201,000), South Tyneside (population circa 148,000) and Gateshead (population circa 201,000) are, along with Newcastle, all part of the Tyneside conurbation (population circa 880,000). The metropolitan county of Tyne and Wear, which consists of the four aforementioned boroughs as well as the City of Sunderland (population circa 275,000), had a population of around 1,076,000 and the Tyne and Wear City Region which also includes North Durham, South East Northumberland and the Tyne Valley has a population of 1,650,000. Newcastle is also home to a large student population with Newcastle and Northumbria Universities in the local area. Areas with predominant student populations include Jesmond and Heaton.

Question: The population of Newcastle was 189,863 according to what year's census?

Question: Which borough of Newcastle had a population around 259,000?

Question: Newcastle is home to a large population of what type of person?

Question: There are two of what type of institution in Newcastle?

Question: Jesmond and Heaton are areas filled predominantly with what?


Context: According to the same statistics, the average age of people living in Newcastle is 37.8 (the national average being 38.6). Many people in the city have Scottish or Irish ancestors. There is a strong presence of Border Reiver surnames, such as Armstrong, Charlton, Elliot, Johnstone, Kerr, Hall, Nixon, Little and Robson. There are also small but significant Chinese, Jewish and Eastern European (Polish, Czech Roma) populations. There are also estimated to be between 500 and 2,000 Bolivians in Newcastle, forming up to 1% of the population—the largest such percentage of any UK city.

Question: What is the average age of people who live in Newcastle?

Question: Scottish or Irish describe the type of what people in Newcastle have?

Question: What type of surnames is their a strong presence of?

Question: What is the smallest number of Bolivians it's estimated live in Newcastle?

Question: What percentage of Newcastle's population is it believed the Bolivians account for?


Context: The dialect of Newcastle is known as Geordie, and contains a large amount of vocabulary and distinctive word pronunciations not used in other parts of the United Kingdom. The Geordie dialect has much of its origins in the language spoken by the Anglo-Saxon populations who migrated to and conquered much of England after the end of Roman Imperial rule. This language was the forerunner of Modern English; but while the dialects of other English regions have been heavily altered by the influences of other foreign languages—particularly Latin and Norman French—the Geordie dialect retains many elements of the old language. An example of this is the pronunciation of certain words: "dead", "cow", "house" and "strong" are pronounced "deed", "coo", "hoos" and "strang"—which is how they were pronounced in the Anglo-Saxon language. Other Geordie words with Anglo-Saxon origins include: "larn" (from the Anglo-Saxon "laeran", meaning "teach"), "burn" ("stream") and "gan" ("go").

Question: What is the dialect of Newcastle known as?

Question: Who conquered much of England after the end of Roman imperial rule?

Question: What does the Geordie dialect keep of the older language which came before it?

Question: Strang is an Anglo-Saxon word which means what in modern English?

Question: Would word means burn in the Anglo-Saxon language?


Context: "Bairn" and "hyem", meaning "child" and "home", respectively, are examples of Geordie words with origins in Scandinavia; barn and hjem are the corresponding modern Norwegian and Danish words. Some words used in the Geordie dialect are used elsewhere in the Northern United Kingdom. The words "bonny" (meaning "pretty"), "howay" ("come on"), "stot" ("bounce") and "hadaway" ("go away" or "you're kidding"), all appear to be used in Scots; "aye" ("yes") and "nowt" (IPA://naʊt/, rhymes with out,"nothing") are used elsewhere in Northern England. Many words, however, appear to be used exclusively in Newcastle and the surrounding area, such as "Canny" (a versatile word meaning "good", "nice" or "very"), "hacky" ("dirty"), "netty" ("toilet"), "hoy" ("throw", from the Dutch gooien, via West Frisian), "hockle" ("spit").

Question: "Bairn" and "hyem" have origins from what culture?

Question: Where are some words from the Geordia dialect used?

Question: What folks are likely to use words like "howay" and "hadaway"?

Question: What appears to be used exclusively in Newcastle and surrounding areas?

Question: What language does "hoy" originate from?


Context: In a report, published in early February 2007 by the Ear Institute at the University College London, and Widex, a Danish hearing aid manufacturer, Newcastle was named as the noisiest city in the whole of the UK, with an average level of 80.4 decibels. The report claimed that these noise levels would have a negative long-term impact on the health of the city's residents. The report was criticized, however, for attaching too much weight to readings at arbitrarily selected locations, which in Newcastle's case included a motorway underpass without pedestrian access.

Question: What was published in February of 2007?

Question: What was Newcastle named as the most type of city in the UK?

Question: What's the average decibel level of noise in Newcastle?

Question: What type of impact can the residents of Newcastle expect the city's noise to have on them?

Question: What was one location the noise readings in Newcastle were taken at?


Context: There are concentrations of pubs, bars and nightclubs around the Bigg Market and the Quayside area of the city centre. There are many bars on the Bigg Market, and other popular areas for nightlife are Collingwood Street, popularly referred to as the 'Diamond Strip' due to its concentration of high-end bars, Neville Street, the Central Station area and Osborne Road in the Jesmond area of the city. In recent years "The Gate" has opened in the city centre, a new indoor complex consisting of bars, upmarket clubs, restaurants and a 12-screen Empire multiplex cinema. Newcastle's gay scene - 'The Pink Triangle' - is centred on the Times Square area near the Centre for Life and has a range of bars, cafés and clubs.

Question: What is referred to as the Diamond Strip?

Question: What is "The Gate"?

Question: How many screens does the Empire muliplex cinema have?

Question: What's the name of Newcastle's gay club scene?

Question: What does the Pink Triangle have a range of?


Context: The city has a proud history of theatre. Stephen Kemble of the famous Kemble family successfully managed the original Theatre Royal, Newcastle for fifteen years (1791–1806). He brought members of his famous acting family such as Sarah Siddons and John Kemble out of London to Newcastle. Stephen Kemble guided the theatre through many celebrated seasons. The original Theatre Royal in Newcastle was opened on 21 January 1788 and was located on Mosley Street. It was demolished to make way for Grey Street, where its replacement was built.

Question: What does Newcastle have a proud history of?

Question: Who managed the original Theatre Royal in Newcastle?

Question: What did Stephen Kemble guide the Theatre Royal through?

Question: When did the theater in Newcastle originally open?

Question: On what street was the Theatre Royal's replacement built?


Context: The city still contains many theatres. The largest, the Theatre Royal on Grey Street, first opened in 1837, designed by John and Benjamin Green. It has hosted a season of performances from the Royal Shakespeare Company for over 25 years, as well as touring productions of West End musicals. The Mill Volvo Tyne Theatre hosts smaller touring productions, whilst other venues feature local talent. Northern Stage, formally known as the Newcastle Playhouse and Gulbenkian Studio, hosts various local, national and international productions in addition to those produced by the Northern Stage company. Other theatres in the city include the Live Theatre, the People's Theatre and the Jubilee Theatre. NewcastleGateshead was voted in 2006 as the arts capital of the UK in a survey conducted by the Artsworld TV channel.

Question: What does Newcastle still contain many of?

Question: What first opened in 1837?

Question: What company has been hosted at the Theatre Royal for over 25 years?

Question: What do other smaller venues of Newcastle tend to feature?

Question: What was NewcastleGateshead voted in 2006?


Context: The Literary and Philosophical Society of Newcastle upon Tyne (popularly known as the 'Lit & Phil') is the largest independent library outside London, housing more than 150,000 books. Its music library contains 8000 CDs and 10,000 LPs. The current Lit and Phil premises were built in 1825 and the building was designed by John and Benjamin Green. Operating since 1793 and founded as a ‘conversation club,’ its lecture theatre was the first public building to be lit by electric light, during a lecture by Joseph Swan on 20 October 1880.

Question: What is the largest independent library outside of London?

Question: How many CDs does Newcastle's library have?

Question: What was the last name of the designers of Newcastle's library?

Question: What was the first public building to be lit by electric light in Newcastle?

Question: Who lectured at the Newcastle library on the 20th of October in 1880?


Context: The Newcastle Beer Festival, organized by CAMRA, takes place in April. In May, Newcastle and Gateshead host the Evolution Festival, a music festival held on the Newcastle and Gateshead Quaysides over the Spring bank holiday, with performances by acts from the world of Rock, Indie and Dance music. The biennial AV Festival of international electronic art, featuring exhibitions, concerts, conferences and film screenings, is held in March. The North East Art Expo, a festival of art and design from the regions professional artists, is held in late May. EAT! NewcastleGateshead, a festival of food and drink, runs for 2 weeks each year in mid June.

Question: What festival takes place in April in Newcastle?

Question: When is the Evolution Festival hosted?

Question: How often is the AV Festival held?

Question: What is the festival of food and drink known as?

Question: How many weeks each year does the food and drink festival run?


Context: The Hoppings, reputedly the largest travelling fair in Europe, takes place on Newcastle Town Moor every June. The event has its origins in the Temperance Movement during the early 1880s and coincides with the annual race week at High Gosforth Park. Newcastle Community Green Festival, which claims to be the UK's biggest free community environmental festival, also takes place every June, in Leazes Park. The Northern Rock Cyclone, a cycling festival, takes place within, or starting from, Newcastle in June. The Northern Pride Festival and Parade is held in Leazes Park and in the city's Gay Community in mid July. The Ouseburn Festival, a family oriented weekend festival near the city centre, incorporating a "Family Fun Day" and "Carnival Day", is held in late July.

Question: What is the largest traveling fair in Europe?

Question: When does the largest traveling fair in Europe take place?

Question: What movement did the fair held in June have its origins in?

Question: What type of festival is The Northern Rock Cyclone?

Question: Which festival is held in Newcastle's Gay Community in mid-July?


Context: Newcastle Mela, held on the late August bank holiday weekend, is an annual two-day multicultural event, blending drama, music and food from Punjabi, Pakistani, Bengali and Hindu cultures. NewcastleGateshead also holds an annual International Arts Fair. The 2009 event will be in the Norman Foster designed Sage Gateshead Music and Arts Centre in September. In October, there is the Design Event festival—an annual festival providing the public with an opportunity to see work by regional, national and international designers. The SAMA Festival, an East Asian cultural festival is also held in early October.

Question: What is an annual two-day multicultural event held in Newcastle in late August?

Question: Where will the 2009 International Arts Fair be held?

Question: What festival is held in October in Newcastle?

Question: What cultural festival is the SAMA festival?

Question: Who holds an annual International Arts Fair in Newcastle?


Context: Lindisfarne are a folk-rock group with a strong Tyneside connection. Their most famous song, "Fog on the Tyne" (1971), was covered by Geordie ex-footballer Paul Gascoigne in 1990. Venom, reckoned by many to be the originators of black metal and extremely influential to the extreme metal scene as a whole, formed in Newcastle in 1979. Folk metal band Skyclad, often regarded as the first folk metal band, also formed in Newcastle after the break-up of Martin Walkyier thrash metal band, Sabbat. Andy Taylor, former lead guitarist of Duran Duran was born here in 1961. Brian Johnson was a member of local rock band Geordie before becoming the lead vocalist of AC/DC.

Question: What genre of music is Lindisfarne classified as?

Question: What year was the song Fog on the Tyne released?

Question: What band is considered by many to be the first black metal group?

Question: What band is often regarded as the first folk metal group?

Question: What group is Newcastle native Andy Taylor the former lead guitarist of?


Context: The Pilgrim Street building was refurbished between November 2006 and May 2008; during the refurbishment works, the cinema relocated to the Old Town Hall, Gateshead. In May 2008 the Tyneside Cinema reopened in the restored and refurbished original building. The site currently houses three cinemas, including the restored Classic —the United Kingdom's last surviving news cinema still in full-time operation—alongside two new screens, a roof extension containing the Tyneside Bar, and dedicated education and teaching suites.

Question: Between what dates was the building on Pilgrim Street refurbished?

Question: Where was a cinema relocated while repairs were underway?

Question: How many cinemas are currently housed at one site?

Question: What's the name of the United Kingdom's sole remaining news cinema?

Question: Where is the Tyneside Bar located?