Ancient history is the aggregate of past events from the beginning of recorded human history and extending as far as the Early Middle Ages or the Postclassical Era. The span of recorded history is roughly 5,000 years, beginning with Sumerian Cuneiform script, the oldest discovered form of coherent writing from the protoliterate period around the 30th century BC.
The term classical antiquity is often used to refer to history in the Old World from the beginning of recorded Greek history in 776 BC (First Olympiad). This roughly coincides with the traditional date of the founding of Rome in 753 BC, the beginning of the history of ancient Rome, and the beginning of the Archaic period in Ancient Greece. Although the ending date of ancient history is disputed, some Western scholars use the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 AD (the most used), the closure of the Platonic Academy in 529 AD, the death of the emperor Justinian I in 565 AD, the coming of Islam or the rise of Charlemagne as the end of ancient and Classical European history.
Although each installment of the Final Fantasy series is generally set in a different fictional world with separate storylines, there are several commonalities when it comes to character design, as certain design themes repeat themselves, as well as specific character names and classes. Within the main series, Yoshitaka Amano was the character designer for Final Fantasy, Final Fantasy II, Final Fantasy III, Final Fantasy IV, Final Fantasy V and Final Fantasy VI, Tetsuya Nomura was the character designer for Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy VIII, Final Fantasy X, Final Fantasy XI and Final Fantasy XIII, Yoshitaka Amano created and did the concept art for the characters while Toshiyuki Itahana was the final character designer for Final Fantasy IX, and Akihiko Yoshida was the character designer for Final Fantasy XII.
The series has often featured male characters with slightly effeminate characteristics, as well as female characters with slightly tomboyish, but still feminine, characteristics. This trend has generally increased as the series evolved. These characters are usually teenagers, which some critics have interpreted as an effort on the part of the designers to ensure the players identify with them. At the same time, some female characters have been increasingly designed to wear very revealing outfits. Square Enix has stated that a more rugged looking hero had been considered for Final Fantasy XII but had ultimately been scrapped in favor of Vaan, another effeminate protagonist. The developers cited scenaristic reasons and target demographic considerations to explain their choice. For Final Fantasy XIII, Square Enix settled on a female main character, described as a "female version of Cloud from FFVII." This aspect of Final Fantasy can also be seen in Sora, the protagonist of Kingdom Hearts, a crossover series featuring Final Fantasy and Disney characters.
Ancient is an album by Japanese new age artist, Kitarō, which was released in 2001.
The album was nominated for 44th Grammy Awards New Age Best Album in 2002.
All songs written and composed by Kitaro.
General, Finnish: kenraali is the highest officer's rank in Sweden and Finland. In Sweden, it is held by the Supreme Commander (Swedish: överbefälhavare) of the Swedish Armed Forces and the monarch. In Finland, it is held by the Chief of Defence. In Sweden, the monarch still holds the nominal rank of General as well as Admiral and General of the Air Force.
Finnish Defence Forces rank of kenraali is comparable to Ranks of NATO armies officers as OF-9.
In peacetime the rank of Full General is reserved for the Commander of Finnish Defence Forces. Sometimes a General's branch of service is indicated in the rank. So far Finland has had seventeen of jalkaväenkenraali (General of Infantry), a few of jääkärikenraali (Jägergeneral), two of ratsuväenkenraali (General of Cavalry) and one tykistönkenraali (General of Artillery). Marshal Mannerheim himself was the other one of the two Generals of Cavalry before his promotion to Field Marshal.
General, in comics, may refer to:
It may also refer to:
The General (train numbers 48 and 49) was the Pennsylvania Railroad's number two train between New York and Chicago. Only a bit slower than the Broadway Limited, it had no extra fare and for a time before World War Two, carried more passengers than the Broadway Limited or the New York Central's Twentieth Century Limited.
The General was inaugurated in 1937, and carried coaches and Pullmans. It received some new lightweight equipment in 1938 as part of the fleet of modernism, but it was mostly heavyweight until 1940. It was the only "Fleet of Modernism" train to be streamlined without an observation car. It lost its coaches when the Advance General was inaugurated in 1940. It was re-equipped with lightweight sleeping cars from both the pre-war Broadway, and new cars from post-war orders. At this time, it also carried the Broadway's pre-war observation cars. In 1951 the General lost its all-Pullman status when it was combined with the all-coach Trail Blazer for non-peak travel periods only. In 1952 this consolidation became permanent, and by 1960, the Trail Blazer name was dropped. In 1967 the General was renamed the Broadway Limited when that train lost its numbers and all-Pullman status.