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Windmill
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<p>A windmill is a machine operated by the force of wind acting on vanes or <a href="/facts/Windmill_sail/xTNcNgJ5">sails</a> to <a href="/facts/Mill_(grinding)/0PWTxI1c">mill</a> grain (<a href="/facts/Gristmill/TP4qMmSr">gristmills</a>). Windmills were used throughout the <a href="/facts/High_Middle_Ages/uPRGYdE6">high medieval</a> and <a href="/facts/Early_modern_period/hhpHM721">early modern periods</a>; the horizontal or <a href="/facts/Panemone_windmill/swf49hmb">panemone windmill</a> first appeared in <a href="/facts/Persia/24yukge8">Persia</a> during the 9th century, and the vertical windmill first appeared in <a href="/facts/Northwestern_Europe/d8zrdArn">northwestern Europe</a> in the 12th century. Regarded as an icon of <a href="/facts/Culture_of_the_Netherlands/28Dtkcmh">Dutch culture</a>, there are approximately 1,000 windmills in the <a href="/facts/Netherlands/y8xn5stT">Netherlands</a> today. </p>