skirts and tops. I usually like to shop for something new when I have had a long lay off but although I knew this opportunity was on the horizon the things that have been in my way meant I just haven't had the time to shop. So it was back into the wardrobe. I am sure this combo has been seen before but I am not dressing for you ..... its all about me tonight

 

Not sure how everyone lives their femme-life but I have items in my wardrobe which I haven't worn for a while and maybe I should move them on. But call me Jane I just love seeing my stuff on the rack.... so I cycle it slowly

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

History

United States

Name: USS Franklin D. Roosevelt

Namesake: Franklin D. Roosevelt

Builder: New York Naval Shipyard

Laid down: 1 December 1943

Launched: 29 April 1945

Commissioned: 27 October 1945

Decommissioned: 30 September 1977

Struck: 1 October 1977

Nickname(s):

 

"Swanky Franky"

"Foo-De-Roo"

"Rosie"

"Rusty Rosie"

 

Fate: Scrapped

General characteristics (as built)

Class and type: Midway-class aircraft carrier

Displacement: 45,000 tons

Length: 968 ft (295 m)

Beam: 113 ft (34 m)

Draft: 35 ft (11 m)

Speed: 33 kn (61 km/h; 38 mph)

Complement: 4,104 officers and men

Armament:

 

18 × 1 – 5"/54 caliber Mark 16 guns

21 × 4 – 40 mm Bofors /60 caliber guns

 

Aircraft carried: 137

 

USS Franklin D. Roosevelt (CVB/CVA/CV-42) was the second of three Midway-class aircraft carriers. To her crew, she was known as "Swanky Franky," "Foo-De-Roo," or "Rosie," with the last nickname probably the most popular. Roosevelt spent most of her active deployed career operating in the Mediterranean Sea as part of the United States Sixth Fleet. The ship was decommissioned in 1977 and was scrapped shortly afterward. She was the first aircraft carrier of the United States Navy to be named in honor of a President of the United States.

 

Contents

Early career

Roosevelt at commissioning ceremonies in 1945

 

Franklin D. Roosevelt was laid down at New York Naval Shipyard on 1 December 1943. Sponsor Mrs. John H. Towers, wife of the Deputy Commander-in-Chief, Pacific Fleet, christened the ship Coral Sea at the 29 April 1945 launching. On 8 May 1945, President Harry S. Truman approved the Secretary of the Navy's recommendation to rename the ship Franklin D. Roosevelt in honor of the late president, who had died four weeks earlier.

 

Roosevelt was commissioned on Navy Day, 27 October 1945, at the New York Naval Shipyard. Capt. Apollo Soucek was the ship's first commanding officer. During her shakedown cruise, Roosevelt called at Rio de Janeiro from 1 to 11 February 1946 to represent the United States at the inauguration of Brazilian president Eurico Gaspar Dutra, who came aboard for a short cruise. During April and May, Roosevelt participated in Eighth Fleet maneuvers off the East Coast, the Navy's first major postwar training exercise.

 

On 21 July 1946, Roosevelt became the first American carrier to operate an all-jet aircraft under controlled conditions. Lieutenant Commander James Davidson, flying the McDonnell XFD-1 Phantom, made a series of successful take-offs and landings as Roosevelt lay off Cape Henry, Virginia.[1] Jet trials continued in November, when Lt. Col. Marion E. Carl, USMC, made two catapult launches, four unassisted take-offs, and five arrested landings in a Lockheed P-80A.

 

Fleet maneuvers and other training operations in the Caribbean preceded Roosevelt's first deployment to the Mediterranean, which lasted from August to October 1946. Roosevelt, flying the flag of Rear Admiral John H. Cassady, Commander, Carrier Division 1, led the U.S. Navy force that arrived in Piraeus on 5 September 1946.[2] This visit showed U.S. support for the pro-Western government of Greece, which was locked in a civil war with Communist insurgents. The ship received thousands of visitors during her calls to many Mediterranean ports.

 

Roosevelt returned to American waters and operated off the East Coast until July 1947, when she entered Norfolk Naval Shipyard for an extensive overhaul. At that time, her quad 40 mm Bofors anti-aircraft guns were replaced by 40 3-inch (76 mm) Mark 22 guns in Mark 33 twin mountings.

USS Roosevelt

Roosevelt at Pier 91 in Seattle, 1953 or 1954

 

From September 1948 to January 1949, Roosevelt undertook a second tour of duty with U.S. Naval Forces, Mediterranean. In 1950, Roosevelt became the first carrier to take nuclear weapons to sea. In September and October 1952, she participated in Operation Mainbrace, the first major NATO exercise in the North Atlantic. Roosevelt operated with other major fleet units, including the aircraft carriers USS Midway, USS Wasp, and HMS Eagle, as well as the battleships USS Wisconsin and HMS Vanguard.

 

Roosevelt was reclassified CVA-42 on 1 October 1952. On 7 January 1954, she sailed for Puget Sound Naval Shipyard to undergo extensive reconstruction. Too large to pass through the Panama Canal, Roosevelt rounded Cape Horn and arrived at the shipyard on 5 March. She was temporarily decommissioned there for her refit on 23 April 1954.

Refit

Roosevelt in 1956, after SCB-110 reconstruction

 

Roosevelt was the first of her class to undergo the SCB-110 reconstruction, at a cost of $48 million. She received an enclosed "hurricane bow," one C-11-2 and two C-11-1 steam catapults, strengthened arresting gear, an enlarged bridge, a mirror landing system, and a 482-foot (147 m) angled flight deck. SPS-8 height finding radar and SPS-12 air search radar were mounted on a new tubular mast. The aft elevator was relocated to the starboard deck edge, the forward elevator was enlarged, and all elevators were uprated to 75,000 lb (34,000 kg) capacity. Aviation fuel bunkerage was increased from 350,000 to 450,000 gallons (1,320,000 to 1,700,000 L). Standard displacement rose to 51,000 tons, while deep load displacement rose to 63,400 tons. As weight compensation, several of the 5-inch (127 mm) Mark 16 anti-aircraft guns were landed, leaving only 10, and the 3,200-ton armor belt was removed. Hull blisters were also added to cope with the increased weight. Roosevelt recommissioned on 6 April 1956.

 

After post-refit trials, Roosevelt sailed for her new homeport of Mayport, Florida. In February 1957, Roosevelt conducted cold weather tests of catapults, aircraft, and the Regulus guided missile, in the Gulf of Maine. In July, she sailed for the first of three consecutive Sixth Fleet deployments. Her assignments in the Mediterranean added NATO exercises to her normal schedule of major fleet operations, and found her entertaining a distinguished list of guests each year.

A-4 Skyhawk of VA-172 aboard Roosevelt during her only Vietnam deployment between August 1966 and February 1967

 

During a 1958 mid-year overhaul, the 22 remaining 3-inch (76 mm) guns were removed.

 

On 24 October 1958, Roosevelt supported USS Kleinsmith in the evacuation of 56 American citizens and three foreign nationals from Nicara, Cuba, as the Cuban Revolution came to a climax.

 

In late 1960, the Control Instrument Company installed the first production Fresnel Lens Optical Landing System (FLOLS) onboard Roosevelt. She recorded her 100,000th aircraft landing in March 1961. During a 1963 overhaul, six more 5-inch (127 mm) guns were removed.

 

While operating in the Eastern Mediterranean in the fall of 1964, Roosevelt lost a blade from one of her 20-ton propellers. She proceeded from Naples, Italy to New York with the number one shaft locked. After replacing the propeller at Bayonne, New Jersey, Roosevelt returned to the Mediterranean to complete her cruise.

 

From August 1966 to January 1967, Roosevelt made her only deployment to Southeast Asia, spending a total of 95 days "on the line." Her embarked airwing, Carrier Air Wing One, consisted mainly of F-4 Phantom IIs and A-4 Skyhawks. Roosevelt received one battle star for her service during the Vietnam War.

 

In January 1968, Italian actress Virna Lisi was invited by Roosevelt's crew to participate in the ship's 22nd birthday celebrations. Lisi helped prepare 5,000 T-bone steaks at a large cook-out staged on the flight deck.

Austere modernization

Roosevelt in 1970 after her austere 11-month refit of 1968-69.

 

Roosevelt was initially slated to undergo an extensive reconstruction (SCB 101.68) similar to that received by Midway from 1966 to 1970. This plan was derailed by massive cost overruns in Midway's reconstruction, which eventually totalled $202 million. Roosevelt was therefore limited to an austere $46 million refit, enabling her to operate the Grumman A-6 Intruder and LTV A-7 Corsair II.

 

In July 1968, Roosevelt entered Norfolk Naval Shipyard for her 11-month modernization program. The forward centerline elevator was relocated to the starboard deck edge forward of the island, the port waist catapult was removed, the crew spaces were refurbished, and two of the four remaining 5-inch (127 mm) anti-aircraft turrets were removed. Roosevelt also received a deck edge spray system using the new seawater compatible fire-fighting chemical, Light Water. She put to sea again on 26 May 1969.

 

From 1 August 1969, Roosevelt embarked Carrier Air Wing Six, which served as the ship's air wing for the next seven cruises.[3] In January 1970, Roosevelt returned to the Mediterranean for another Sixth Fleet deployment.

 

Roosevelt's twenty-first Sixth Fleet deployment was marked by indirect participation in the October 1973 Yom Kippur War, as she served as a transit "landing field" for aircraft being delivered to Israel. The Roosevelt battlegroup, Task Force 60.2, also stood by for possible evacuation contingencies.

 

From 1973 through 1975, VAW-121 operated aboard Roosevelt as one of the last Grumman E-1 Tracer squadrons in the fleet. Roosevelt received a multipurpose designation, CV-42, on 30 June 1975, but she did not operate any anti-submarine aircraft. In June 1976, Roosevelt embarked VMA-231 with 14 AV-8A Harrier attack aircraft.

 

The ship embarked Carrier Air Wing Nineteen for its final deployment, which lasted from October 1976 to April 1977.[4] VMA-231 was on board for this deployment, which demonstrated that VTOL aircraft could be successfully and seamlessly integrated into fixed wing air operations. On 12 January 1977, Roosevelt collided with the Liberian grain freighter Oceanus while transiting the Strait of Messina. Both ships were able to proceed to port under their own power.

Decommissioning and disposal

Roosevelt during her final Mediterranean cruise in 1976

 

By the late 1970s, Roosevelt was in poor material condition. Deprived of the upgrades that Midway and Coral Sea had received, Roosevelt was the least modern and least capable of the class. Furthermore, Roosevelt used General Electric turbines, which gave persistent problems and reduced speed compared to the Westinghouse units used on the other ships. The Navy therefore chose to decommission Roosevelt when the second Nimitz-class carrier, Dwight D. Eisenhower, entered service in 1977. Roosevelt completed her final cruise in April 1977. She was officially decommissioned on 30 September 1977. The decommissioning ceremony was held on 1 October 1977 and the ship was stricken from the Navy List on the same day. Efforts to preserve Roosevelt as a museum ship in New York City failed.

 

Roosevelt's generally poor condition weighed against retaining her in the reserve fleet. Moreover, her low hangar height of 17 feet 6 inches (5.33 m) limited the aircraft types that she could handle. It was reasoned that existing Essex-class aircraft carriers could handle the same types of aircraft at lower cost. Some admirals also feared that if Roosevelt were retained, the Carter Administration would use her reactivation as a reason to cancel future Nimitz-class carriers.[citation needed]

 

On 1 April 1978, the Defense Reutilization and Marketing Service sold the ship to River Terminal Development Company for $2.1 million. After usable equipment was removed from Roosevelt at the Norfolk Naval Shipyard's Inactive Ships Facility, the carrier was towed to Kearny, New Jersey. She arrived on 3 May 1978 and was scrapped that year.

Hoover Dam is a concrete arch-gravity dam in the Black Canyon of the Colorado River, on the border between the U.S. states of Nevada and Arizona. It was constructed between 1931 and 1936 during the Great Depression and was dedicated on September 30, 1935, by President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Its construction was the result of a massive effort involving thousands of workers, and cost over one hundred lives. It was referred to as Hoover Dam after President Herbert Hoover in bills passed by Congress during its construction, but was named Boulder Dam by the Roosevelt administration. The Hoover Dam name was restored by Congress in 1947.

 

Since about 1900, the Black Canyon and nearby Boulder Canyon had been investigated for their potential to support a dam that would control floods, provide irrigation water and produce hydroelectric power. In 1928, Congress authorized the project. The winning bid to build the dam was submitted by a consortium named Six Companies, Inc., which began construction of the dam in early 1931. Such a large concrete structure had never been built before, and some of the techniques were unproven. The torrid summer weather and lack of facilities near the site also presented difficulties. Nevertheless, Six Companies turned the dam over to the federal government on March 1, 1936, more than two years ahead of schedule.

 

Hoover Dam impounds Lake Mead, the largest reservoir in the United States by volume when full. The dam is located near Boulder City, Nevada, a municipality originally constructed for workers on the construction project, about 30 mi (48 km) southeast of Las Vegas, Nevada. The dam's generators provide power for public and private utilities in Nevada, Arizona, and California. Hoover Dam is a major tourist attraction; nearly a million people tour the dam each year. The heavily traveled U.S. Route 93 (US 93) ran along the dam's crest until October 2010, when the Hoover Dam Bypass opened.

 

As the United States developed the Southwest, the Colorado River was seen as a potential source of irrigation water. An initial attempt at diverting the river for irrigation purposes occurred in the late 1890s, when land speculator William Beatty built the Alamo Canal just north of the Mexican border; the canal dipped into Mexico before running to a desolate area Beatty named the Imperial Valley. Though water from the Imperial Canal allowed for the widespread settlement of the valley, the canal proved expensive to operate. After a catastrophic breach that caused the Colorado River to fill the Salton Sea, the Southern Pacific Railroad spent $3 million in 1906–07 to stabilize the waterway, an amount it hoped in vain would be reimbursed by the federal government. Even after the waterway was stabilized, it proved unsatisfactory because of constant disputes with landowners on the Mexican side of the border.

 

As the technology of electric power transmission improved, the Lower Colorado was considered for its hydroelectric-power potential. In 1902, the Edison Electric Company of Los Angeles surveyed the river in the hope of building a 40-foot (12 m) rock dam which could generate 10,000 horsepower (7,500 kW). However, at the time, the limit of transmission of electric power was 80 miles (130 km), and there were few customers (mostly mines) within that limit. Edison allowed land options it held on the river to lapse—including an option for what became the site of Hoover Dam.

 

In the following years, the Bureau of Reclamation (BOR), known as the Reclamation Service at the time, also considered the Lower Colorado as the site for a dam. Service chief Arthur Powell Davis proposed using dynamite to collapse the walls of Boulder Canyon, 20 miles (32 km) north of the eventual dam site, into the river. The river would carry off the smaller pieces of debris, and a dam would be built incorporating the remaining rubble. In 1922, after considering it for several years, the Reclamation Service finally rejected the proposal, citing doubts about the unproven technique and questions as to whether it would, in fact, save money.

 

Soon after the dam was authorized, increasing numbers of unemployed people converged on southern Nevada. Las Vegas, then a small city of some 5,000, saw between 10,000 and 20,000 unemployed descend on it. A government camp was established for surveyors and other personnel near the dam site; this soon became surrounded by a squatters' camp. Known as McKeeversville, the camp was home to men hoping for work on the project, together with their families. Another camp, on the flats along the Colorado River, was officially called Williamsville, but was known to its inhabitants as "Ragtown". When construction began, Six Companies hired large numbers of workers, with more than 3,000 on the payroll by 1932 and with employment peaking at 5,251 in July 1934. "Mongolian" (Chinese) labor was prevented by the construction contract, while the number of black people employed by Six Companies never exceeded thirty, mostly lowest-pay-scale laborers in a segregated crew, who were issued separate water buckets.

 

As part of the contract, Six Companies, Inc. was to build Boulder City to house the workers. The original timetable called for Boulder City to be built before the dam project began, but President Hoover ordered work on the dam to begin in March 1931 rather than in October. The company built bunkhouses, attached to the canyon wall, to house 480 single men at what became known as River Camp. Workers with families were left to provide their own accommodations until Boulder City could be completed, and many lived in Ragtown. The site of Hoover Dam endures extremely hot weather, and the summer of 1931 was especially torrid, with the daytime high averaging 119.9 °F (48.8 °C). Sixteen workers and other riverbank residents died of heat prostration between June 25 and July 26, 1931.

 

The Industrial Workers of the World (IWW or "Wobblies"), though much-reduced from their heyday as militant labor organizers in the early years of the century, hoped to unionize the Six Companies workers by capitalizing on their discontent. They sent eleven organizers, several of whom were arrested by Las Vegas police. On August 7, 1931, the company cut wages for all tunnel workers. Although the workers sent the organizers away, not wanting to be associated with the "Wobblies", they formed a committee to represent them with the company. The committee drew up a list of demands that evening and presented them to Crowe the following morning. He was noncommittal. The workers hoped that Crowe, the general superintendent of the job, would be sympathetic; instead, he gave a scathing interview to a newspaper, describing the workers as "malcontents".

 

On the morning of the 9th, Crowe met with the committee and told them that management refused their demands, was stopping all work, and was laying off the entire work force, except for a few office workers and carpenters. The workers were given until 5 p.m. to vacate the premises. Concerned that a violent confrontation was imminent, most workers took their paychecks and left for Las Vegas to await developments. Two days later, the remainder were talked into leaving by law enforcement. On August 13, the company began hiring workers again, and two days later, the strike was called off. While the workers received none of their demands, the company guaranteed there would be no further reductions in wages. Living conditions began to improve as the first residents moved into Boulder City in late 1931.

 

A second labor action took place in July 1935, as construction on the dam wound down. When a Six Companies manager altered working times to force workers to take lunch on their own time, workers responded with a strike. Emboldened by Crowe's reversal of the lunch decree, workers raised their demands to include a $1-per-day raise. The company agreed to ask the Federal government to supplement the pay, but no money was forthcoming from Washington. The strike ended.

 

Before the dam could be built, the Colorado River needed to be diverted away from the construction site. To accomplish this, four diversion tunnels were driven through the canyon walls, two on the Nevada side and two on the Arizona side. These tunnels were 56 ft (17 m) in diameter. Their combined length was nearly 16,000 ft, or more than 3 miles (5 km). The contract required these tunnels to be completed by October 1, 1933, with a $3,000-per-day fine to be assessed for any delay. To meet the deadline, Six Companies had to complete work by early 1933, since only in late fall and winter was the water level in the river low enough to safely divert.

 

Tunneling began at the lower portals of the Nevada tunnels in May 1931. Shortly afterward, work began on two similar tunnels in the Arizona canyon wall. In March 1932, work began on lining the tunnels with concrete. First the base, or invert, was poured. Gantry cranes, running on rails through the entire length of each tunnel were used to place the concrete. The sidewalls were poured next. Movable sections of steel forms were used for the sidewalls. Finally, using pneumatic guns, the overheads were filled in. The concrete lining is 3 feet (1 m) thick, reducing the finished tunnel diameter to 50 ft (15 m). The river was diverted into the two Arizona tunnels on November 13, 1932; the Nevada tunnels were kept in reserve for high water. This was done by exploding a temporary cofferdam protecting the Arizona tunnels while at the same time dumping rubble into the river until its natural course was blocked.

 

Following the completion of the dam, the entrances to the two outer diversion tunnels were sealed at the opening and halfway through the tunnels with large concrete plugs. The downstream halves of the tunnels following the inner plugs are now the main bodies of the spillway tunnels. The inner diversion tunnels were plugged at approximately one-third of their length, beyond which they now carry steel pipes connecting the intake towers to the power plant and outlet works. The inner tunnels' outlets are equipped with gates that can be closed to drain the tunnels for maintenance.

 

To protect the construction site from the Colorado River and to facilitate the river's diversion, two cofferdams were constructed. Work on the upper cofferdam began in September 1932, even though the river had not yet been diverted. The cofferdams were designed to protect against the possibility of the river's flooding a site at which two thousand men might be at work, and their specifications were covered in the bid documents in nearly as much detail as the dam itself. The upper cofferdam was 96 ft (29 m) high, and 750 feet (230 m) thick at its base, thicker than the dam itself. It contained 650,000 cubic yards (500,000 m3) of material.

 

When the cofferdams were in place and the construction site was drained of water, excavation for the dam foundation began. For the dam to rest on solid rock, it was necessary to remove accumulated erosion soils and other loose materials in the riverbed until sound bedrock was reached. Work on the foundation excavations was completed in June 1933. During this excavation, approximately 1,500,000 cu yd (1,100,000 m3) of material was removed. Since the dam was an arch-gravity type, the side-walls of the canyon would bear the force of the impounded lake. Therefore, the side-walls were also excavated to reach virgin rock, as weathered rock might provide pathways for water seepage. Shovels for the excavation came from the Marion Power Shovel Company.

 

The men who removed this rock were called "high scalers". While suspended from the top of the canyon with ropes, the high-scalers climbed down the canyon walls and removed the loose rock with jackhammers and dynamite. Falling objects were the most common cause of death on the dam site; the high scalers' work thus helped ensure worker safety. One high scaler was able to save a life in a more direct manner: when a government inspector lost his grip on a safety line and began tumbling down a slope towards almost certain death, a high scaler was able to intercept him and pull him into the air. The construction site had become a magnet for tourists. The high scalers were prime attractions and showed off for the watchers. The high scalers received considerable media attention, with one worker dubbed the "Human Pendulum" for swinging co-workers (and, at other times, cases of dynamite) across the canyon. To protect themselves against falling objects, some high scalers dipped cloth hats in tar and allowed them to harden. When workers wearing such headgear were struck hard enough to inflict broken jaws, they sustained no skull damage. Six Companies ordered thousands of what initially were called "hard boiled hats" (later "hard hats") and strongly encouraged their use.

 

The cleared, underlying rock foundation of the dam site was reinforced with grout, forming a grout curtain. Holes were driven into the walls and base of the canyon, as deep as 150 feet (46 m) into the rock, and any cavities encountered were to be filled with grout. This was done to stabilize the rock, to prevent water from seeping past the dam through the canyon rock, and to limit "uplift"—upward pressure from water seeping under the dam. The workers were under severe time constraints due to the beginning of the concrete pour. When they encountered hot springs or cavities too large to readily fill, they moved on without resolving the problem. A total of 58 of the 393 holes were incompletely filled. After the dam was completed and the lake began to fill, large numbers of significant leaks caused the Bureau of Reclamation to examine the situation. It found that the work had been incompletely done, and was based on less than a full understanding of the canyon's geology. New holes were drilled from inspection galleries inside the dam into the surrounding bedrock. It took nine years (1938–47) under relative secrecy to complete the supplemental grout curtain.

 

The first concrete was poured into the dam on June 6, 1933, 18 months ahead of schedule. Since concrete heats and contracts as it cures, the potential for uneven cooling and contraction of the concrete posed a serious problem. Bureau of Reclamation engineers calculated that if the dam were to be built in a single continuous pour, the concrete would take 125 years to cool, and the resulting stresses would cause the dam to crack and crumble. Instead, the ground where the dam would rise was marked with rectangles, and concrete blocks in columns were poured, some as large as 50 ft square (15 m) and 5 feet (1.5 m) high. Each five-foot form contained a set of 1-inch (25 mm) steel pipes; cool river water would be poured through the pipes, followed by ice-cold water from a refrigeration plant. When an individual block had cured and had stopped contracting, the pipes were filled with grout. Grout was also used to fill the hairline spaces between columns, which were grooved to increase the strength of the joints.

 

The concrete was delivered in huge steel buckets 7 feet high (2.1 m) and almost 7 feet in diameter; Crowe was awarded two patents for their design. These buckets, which weighed 20 short tons (18.1 t; 17.9 long tons) when full, were filled at two massive concrete plants on the Nevada side, and were delivered to the site in special railcars. The buckets were then suspended from aerial cableways which were used to deliver the bucket to a specific column. As the required grade of aggregate in the concrete differed depending on placement in the dam (from pea-sized gravel to 9 inches [230 mm] stones), it was vital that the bucket be maneuvered to the proper column. When the bottom of the bucket opened up, disgorging 8 cu yd (6.1 m3) of concrete, a team of men worked it throughout the form. Although there are myths that men were caught in the pour and are entombed in the dam to this day, each bucket deepened the concrete in a form by only 1 inch (25 mm), and Six Companies engineers would not have permitted a flaw caused by the presence of a human body.

 

A total of 3,250,000 cubic yards (2,480,000 cubic meters) of concrete was used in the dam before concrete pouring ceased on May 29, 1935. In addition, 1,110,000 cu yd (850,000 m3) were used in the power plant and other works. More than 582 miles (937 km) of cooling pipes were placed within the concrete. Overall, there is enough concrete in the dam to pave a two-lane highway from San Francisco to New York. Concrete cores were removed from the dam for testing in 1995; they showed that "Hoover Dam's concrete has continued to slowly gain strength" and the dam is composed of a "durable concrete having a compressive strength exceeding the range typically found in normal mass concrete". Hoover Dam concrete is not subject to alkali–silica reaction (ASR), as the Hoover Dam builders happened to use nonreactive aggregate, unlike that at downstream Parker Dam, where ASR has caused measurable deterioration.

 

With most work finished on the dam itself (the powerhouse remained uncompleted), a formal dedication ceremony was arranged for September 30, 1935, to coincide with a western tour being made by President Franklin D. Roosevelt. The morning of the dedication, it was moved forward three hours from 2 p.m. Pacific time to 11 a.m.; this was done because Secretary of the Interior Harold L. Ickes had reserved a radio slot for the President for 2 p.m. but officials did not realize until the day of the ceremony that the slot was for 2 p.m. Eastern Time. Despite the change in the ceremony time, and temperatures of 102 °F (39 °C), 10,000 people were present for the President's speech, in which he avoided mentioning the name of former President Hoover, who was not invited to the ceremony. To mark the occasion, a three-cent stamp was issued by the United States Post Office Department—bearing the name "Boulder Dam", the official name of the dam between 1933 and 1947. After the ceremony, Roosevelt made the first visit by any American president to Las Vegas.

 

Most work had been completed by the dedication, and Six Companies negotiated with the government through late 1935 and early 1936 to settle all claims and arrange for the formal transfer of the dam to the Federal Government. The parties came to an agreement and on March 1, 1936, Secretary Ickes formally accepted the dam on behalf of the government. Six Companies was not required to complete work on one item, a concrete plug for one of the bypass tunnels, as the tunnel had to be used to take in irrigation water until the powerhouse went into operation.

 

There were 112 deaths reported as associated with the construction of the dam. The first was Bureau of Reclamation employee Harold Connelly who died on May 15, 1921, after falling from a barge while surveying the Colorado River for an ideal spot for the dam. Surveyor John Gregory ("J.G.") Tierney, who drowned on December 20, 1922, in a flash flood while looking for an ideal spot for the dam was the second person. The official list's final death occurred on December 20, 1935, when Patrick Tierney, electrician's helper and the son of J.G. Tierney, fell from one of the two Arizona-side intake towers. Included in the fatality list are three workers who took their own lives on site, one in 1932 and two in 1933. Of the 112 fatalities, 91 were Six Companies employees, three were Bureau of Reclamation employees, and one was a visitor to the site; the remainder were employees of various contractors not part of Six Companies.

 

Ninety-six of the deaths occurred during construction at the site. Not included in the official number of fatalities were deaths that were recorded as pneumonia. Workers alleged that this diagnosis was a cover for death from carbon monoxide poisoning (brought on by the use of gasoline-fueled vehicles in the diversion tunnels), and a classification used by Six Companies to avoid paying compensation claims. The site's diversion tunnels frequently reached 140 °F (60 °C), enveloped in thick plumes of vehicle exhaust gases. A total of 42 workers were recorded as having died from pneumonia and were not included in the above total; none were listed as having died from carbon monoxide poisoning. No deaths of non-workers from pneumonia were recorded in Boulder City during the construction period.

 

The initial plans for the facade of the dam, the power plant, the outlet tunnels and ornaments clashed with the modern look of an arch dam. The Bureau of Reclamation, more concerned with the dam's functionality, adorned it with a Gothic-inspired balustrade and eagle statues. This initial design was criticized by many as being too plain and unremarkable for a project of such immense scale, so Los Angeles-based architect Gordon B. Kaufmann, then the supervising architect to the Bureau of Reclamation, was brought in to redesign the exteriors. Kaufmann greatly streamlined the design and applied an elegant Art Deco style to the entire project. He designed sculpted turrets rising seamlessly from the dam face and clock faces on the intake towers set for the time in Nevada and Arizona—both states are in different time zones, but since Arizona does not observe daylight saving time, the clocks display the same time for more than half the year.

 

At Kaufmann's request, Denver artist Allen Tupper True was hired to handle the design and decoration of the walls and floors of the new dam. True's design scheme incorporated motifs of the Navajo and Pueblo tribes of the region. Although some were initially opposed to these designs, True was given the go-ahead and was officially appointed consulting artist. With the assistance of the National Laboratory of Anthropology, True researched authentic decorative motifs from Indian sand paintings, textiles, baskets and ceramics. The images and colors are based on Native American visions of rain, lightning, water, clouds, and local animals—lizards, serpents, birds—and on the Southwestern landscape of stepped mesas. In these works, which are integrated into the walkways and interior halls of the dam, True also reflected on the machinery of the operation, making the symbolic patterns appear both ancient and modern.

 

With the agreement of Kaufmann and the engineers, True also devised for the pipes and machinery an innovative color-coding which was implemented throughout all BOR projects. True's consulting artist job lasted through 1942; it was extended so he could complete design work for the Parker, Shasta and Grand Coulee dams and power plants. True's work on the Hoover Dam was humorously referred to in a poem published in The New Yorker, part of which read, "lose the spark, and justify the dream; but also worthy of remark will be the color scheme".

 

Complementing Kaufmann and True's work, sculptor Oskar J. W. Hansen designed many of the sculptures on and around the dam. His works include the monument of dedication plaza, a plaque to memorialize the workers killed and the bas-reliefs on the elevator towers. In his words, Hansen wanted his work to express "the immutable calm of intellectual resolution, and the enormous power of trained physical strength, equally enthroned in placid triumph of scientific accomplishment", because "the building of Hoover Dam belongs to the sagas of the daring." Hansen's dedication plaza, on the Nevada abutment, contains a sculpture of two winged figures flanking a flagpole.

 

Surrounding the base of the monument is a terrazzo floor embedded with a "star map". The map depicts the Northern Hemisphere sky at the moment of President Roosevelt's dedication of the dam. This is intended to help future astronomers, if necessary, calculate the exact date of dedication. The 30-foot-high (9.1 m) bronze figures, dubbed "Winged Figures of the Republic", were both formed in a continuous pour. To put such large bronzes into place without marring the highly polished bronze surface, they were placed on ice and guided into position as the ice melted. Hansen's bas-relief on the Nevada elevator tower depicts the benefits of the dam: flood control, navigation, irrigation, water storage, and power. The bas-relief on the Arizona elevator depicts, in his words, "the visages of those Indian tribes who have inhabited mountains and plains from ages distant."

 

Excavation for the powerhouse was carried out simultaneously with the excavation for the dam foundation and abutments. The excavation of this U-shaped structure located at the downstream toe of the dam was completed in late 1933 with the first concrete placed in November 1933. Filling of Lake Mead began February 1, 1935, even before the last of the concrete was poured that May. The powerhouse was one of the projects uncompleted at the time of the formal dedication on September 30, 1935; a crew of 500 men remained to finish it and other structures. To make the powerhouse roof bombproof, it was constructed of layers of concrete, rock, and steel with a total thickness of about 3.5 feet (1.1 m), topped with layers of sand and tar.

 

In the latter half of 1936, water levels in Lake Mead were high enough to permit power generation, and the first three Allis Chalmers built Francis turbine-generators, all on the Nevada side, began operating. In March 1937, one more Nevada generator went online and the first Arizona generator by August. By September 1939, four more generators were operating, and the dam's power plant became the largest hydroelectricity facility in the world. The final generator was not placed in service until 1961, bringing the maximum generating capacity to 1,345 megawatts at the time. Original plans called for 16 large generators, eight on each side of the river, but two smaller generators were installed instead of one large one on the Arizona side for a total of 17. The smaller generators were used to serve smaller communities at a time when the output of each generator was dedicated to a single municipality, before the dam's total power output was placed on the grid and made arbitrarily distributable.

 

Before water from Lake Mead reaches the turbines, it enters the intake towers and then four gradually narrowing penstocks which funnel the water down towards the powerhouse. The intakes provide a maximum hydraulic head (water pressure) of 590 ft (180 m) as the water reaches a speed of about 85 mph (140 km/h). The entire flow of the Colorado River usually passes through the turbines. The spillways and outlet works (jet-flow gates) are rarely used. The jet-flow gates, located in concrete structures 180 feet (55 m) above the river and also at the outlets of the inner diversion tunnels at river level, may be used to divert water around the dam in emergency or flood conditions, but have never done so, and in practice are used only to drain water from the penstocks for maintenance. Following an uprating project from 1986 to 1993, the total gross power rating for the plant, including two 2.4 megawatt Pelton turbine-generators that power Hoover Dam's own operations is a maximum capacity of 2080 megawatts. The annual generation of Hoover Dam varies. The maximum net generation was 10.348 TWh in 1984, and the minimum since 1940 was 2.648 TWh in 1956. The average power generated was 4.2 TWh/year for 1947–2008. In 2015, the dam generated 3.6 TWh.

 

The amount of electricity generated by Hoover Dam has been decreasing along with the falling water level in Lake Mead due to the prolonged drought since year 2000 and high demand for the Colorado River's water. By 2014 its generating capacity was downrated by 23% to 1592 MW and was providing power only during periods of peak demand. Lake Mead fell to a new record low elevation of 1,071.61 feet (326.63 m) on July 1, 2016, before beginning to rebound slowly. Under its original design, the dam would no longer be able to generate power once the water level fell below 1,050 feet (320 m), which might have occurred in 2017 had water restrictions not been enforced. To lower the minimum power pool elevation from 1,050 to 950 feet (320 to 290 m), five wide-head turbines, designed to work efficiently with less flow, were installed.[102] Water levels were maintained at over 1,075 feet (328 m) in 2018 and 2019, but fell to a new record low of 1,071.55 feet (326.61 m) on June 10, 2021[104] and were projected to fall below 1,066 feet (325 m) by the end of 2021.

 

Control of water was the primary concern in the building of the dam. Power generation has allowed the dam project to be self-sustaining: proceeds from the sale of power repaid the 50-year construction loan, and those revenues also finance the multimillion-dollar yearly maintenance budget. Power is generated in step with and only with the release of water in response to downstream water demands.

 

Lake Mead and downstream releases from the dam also provide water for both municipal and irrigation uses. Water released from the Hoover Dam eventually reaches several canals. The Colorado River Aqueduct and Central Arizona Project branch off Lake Havasu while the All-American Canal is supplied by the Imperial Dam. In total, water from Lake Mead serves 18 million people in Arizona, Nevada, and California and supplies the irrigation of over 1,000,000 acres (400,000 ha) of land.

 

In 2018, the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) proposed a $3 billion pumped-storage hydroelectricity project—a "battery" of sorts—that would use wind and solar power to recirculate water back up to Lake Mead from a pumping station 20 miles (32 km) downriver.

 

Electricity from the dam's powerhouse was originally sold pursuant to a fifty-year contract, authorized by Congress in 1934, which ran from 1937 to 1987. In 1984, Congress passed a new statute which set power allocations to southern California, Arizona, and Nevada from the dam from 1987 to 2017. The powerhouse was run under the original authorization by the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power and Southern California Edison; in 1987, the Bureau of Reclamation assumed control. In 2011, Congress enacted legislation extending the current contracts until 2067, after setting aside 5% of Hoover Dam's power for sale to Native American tribes, electric cooperatives, and other entities. The new arrangement began on October 1, 2017.

 

The dam is protected against over-topping by two spillways. The spillway entrances are located behind each dam abutment, running roughly parallel to the canyon walls. The spillway entrance arrangement forms a classic side-flow weir with each spillway containing four 100-foot-long (30 m) and 16-foot-wide (4.9 m) steel-drum gates. Each gate weighs 5,000,000 pounds (2,300 metric tons) and can be operated manually or automatically. Gates are raised and lowered depending on water levels in the reservoir and flood conditions. The gates cannot entirely prevent water from entering the spillways but can maintain an extra 16 ft (4.9 m) of lake level.

 

Water flowing over the spillways falls dramatically into 600-foot-long (180 m), 50-foot-wide (15 m) spillway tunnels before connecting to the outer diversion tunnels and reentering the main river channel below the dam. This complex spillway entrance arrangement combined with the approximate 700-foot (210 m) elevation drop from the top of the reservoir to the river below was a difficult engineering problem and posed numerous design challenges. Each spillway's capacity of 200,000 cu ft/s (5,700 m3/s) was empirically verified in post-construction tests in 1941.

 

The large spillway tunnels have only been used twice, for testing in 1941 and because of flooding in 1983. Both times, when inspecting the tunnels after the spillways were used, engineers found major damage to the concrete linings and underlying rock. The 1941 damage was attributed to a slight misalignment of the tunnel invert (or base), which caused cavitation, a phenomenon in fast-flowing liquids in which vapor bubbles collapse with explosive force. In response to this finding, the tunnels were patched with special heavy-duty concrete and the surface of the concrete was polished mirror-smooth. The spillways were modified in 1947 by adding flip buckets, which both slow the water and decrease the spillway's effective capacity, in an attempt to eliminate conditions thought to have contributed to the 1941 damage. The 1983 damage, also due to cavitation, led to the installation of aerators in the spillways. Tests at Grand Coulee Dam showed that the technique worked, in principle.

 

There are two lanes for automobile traffic across the top of the dam, which formerly served as the Colorado River crossing for U.S. Route 93. In the wake of the September 11 terrorist attacks, authorities expressed security concerns and the Hoover Dam Bypass project was expedited. Pending the completion of the bypass, restricted traffic was permitted over Hoover Dam. Some types of vehicles were inspected prior to crossing the dam while semi-trailer trucks, buses carrying luggage, and enclosed-box trucks over 40 ft (12 m) long were not allowed on the dam at all, and were diverted to U.S. Route 95 or Nevada State Routes 163/68. The four-lane Hoover Dam Bypass opened on October 19, 2010. It includes a composite steel and concrete arch bridge, the Mike O'Callaghan–Pat Tillman Memorial Bridge, 1,500 ft (460 m) downstream from the dam. With the opening of the bypass, through traffic is no longer allowed across Hoover Dam; dam visitors are allowed to use the existing roadway to approach from the Nevada side and cross to parking lots and other facilities on the Arizona side.

 

Hoover Dam opened for tours in 1937 after its completion but following Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, it was closed to the public when the United States entered World War II, during which only authorized traffic, in convoys, was permitted. After the war, it reopened September 2, 1945, and by 1953, annual attendance had risen to 448,081. The dam closed on November 25, 1963, and March 31, 1969, days of mourning in remembrance of Presidents Kennedy and Eisenhower. In 1995, a new visitors' center was built, and the following year, visits exceeded one million for the first time. The dam closed again to the public on September 11, 2001; modified tours were resumed in December and a new "Discovery Tour" was added the following year. Today, nearly a million people per year take the tours of the dam offered by the Bureau of Reclamation. Increased security concerns by the government have led to most of the interior structure's being inaccessible to tourists. As a result, few of True's decorations can now be seen by visitors. Visitors can only purchase tickets on-site and have the options of a guided tour of the whole facility or only the power plant area. The only self-guided tour option is for the visitor center itself, where visitors can view various exhibits and enjoy a 360-degree view of the dam.

 

The changes in water flow and use caused by Hoover Dam's construction and operation have had a large impact on the Colorado River Delta. The construction of the dam has been implicated in causing the decline of this estuarine ecosystem. For six years after the construction of the dam, while Lake Mead filled, virtually no water reached the mouth of the river. The delta's estuary, which once had a freshwater-saltwater mixing zone stretching 40 miles (64 km) south of the river's mouth, was turned into an inverse estuary where the level of salinity was higher close to the river's mouth.

 

The Colorado River had experienced natural flooding before the construction of the Hoover Dam. The dam eliminated the natural flooding, threatening many species adapted to the flooding, including both plants and animals. The construction of the dam devastated the populations of native fish in the river downstream from the dam. Four species of fish native to the Colorado River, the Bonytail chub, Colorado pikeminnow, Humpback chub, and Razorback sucker, are listed as endangered.

 

During the years of lobbying leading up to the passage of legislation authorizing the dam in 1928, the press generally referred to the dam as "Boulder Dam" or as "Boulder Canyon Dam", even though the proposed site had shifted to Black Canyon. The Boulder Canyon Project Act of 1928 (BCPA) never mentioned a proposed name or title for the dam. The BCPA merely allows the government to "construct, operate, and maintain a dam and incidental works in the main stream of the Colorado River at Black Canyon or Boulder Canyon".

 

When Secretary of the Interior Ray Wilbur spoke at the ceremony starting the building of the railway between Las Vegas and the dam site on September 17, 1930, he named the dam "Hoover Dam", citing a tradition of naming dams after Presidents, though none had been so honored during their terms of office. Wilbur justified his choice on the ground that Hoover was "the great engineer whose vision and persistence ... has done so much to make [the dam] possible". One writer complained in response that "the Great Engineer had quickly drained, ditched, and dammed the country."

 

After Hoover's election defeat in 1932 and the accession of the Roosevelt administration, Secretary Ickes ordered on May 13, 1933, that the dam be referred to as Boulder Dam. Ickes stated that Wilbur had been imprudent in naming the dam after a sitting president, that Congress had never ratified his choice, and that it had long been referred to as Boulder Dam. Unknown to the general public, Attorney General Homer Cummings informed Ickes that Congress had indeed used the name "Hoover Dam" in five different bills appropriating money for construction of the dam. The official status this conferred to the name "Hoover Dam" had been noted on the floor of the House of Representatives by Congressman Edward T. Taylor of Colorado on December 12, 1930, but was likewise ignored by Ickes.

 

When Ickes spoke at the dedication ceremony on September 30, 1935, he was determined, as he recorded in his diary, "to try to nail down for good and all the name Boulder Dam." At one point in the speech, he spoke the words "Boulder Dam" five times within thirty seconds. Further, he suggested that if the dam were to be named after any one person, it should be for California Senator Hiram Johnson, a lead sponsor of the authorizing legislation. Roosevelt also referred to the dam as Boulder Dam, and the Republican-leaning Los Angeles Times, which at the time of Ickes' name change had run an editorial cartoon showing Ickes ineffectively chipping away at an enormous sign "HOOVER DAM", reran it showing Roosevelt reinforcing Ickes, but having no greater success.

 

In the following years, the name "Boulder Dam" failed to fully take hold, with many Americans using both names interchangeably and mapmakers divided as to which name should be printed. Memories of the Great Depression faded, and Hoover to some extent rehabilitated himself through good works during and after World War II. In 1947, a bill passed both Houses of Congress unanimously restoring the name "Hoover Dam." Ickes, who was by then a private citizen, opposed the change, stating, "I didn't know Hoover was that small a man to take credit for something he had nothing to do with."

 

Hoover Dam was recognized as a National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark in 1984. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1981 and was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1985, cited for its engineering innovations.

Somewhere north of Denver, CO – Stopped by one of those areas off the main road with a ‘view’. There wasn’t much of one due to the overgrowth of vegetation however there was plenty to photograph. These flowers looked like ships lifting off into space, I imagined their stems being the blast from rocket engines as the peddled spacecraft shot into the atmosphere.

 

Maybe I should lay off the caffeine.

In this picture you have to large LNG carriers along with worlds largest barge.

This barge will be used for transportation for the gigantic Johan Sverdrup oil field in Norway.

 

Pictures from Bøvågen in Karmøy, Norway.

Cloudy and windy, but the sun had just started to push through.

In these pictures you have both old norwegian history (church) from Viking age, and offshore industry which is Norways main export. Unfortunally these vessels seen in these photos is all layed up and awaiting new assignement.

Chasewater ParkRun January 22nd 2022. Back again after a lay-off due to Avian Influenza at Chasewater Country Park. First batch of images here and plenty more to follow.

I hiked the Yellowwood Lake loop in the Yellowwood State Forrest. Southern Indiana is quite hilly, and it was very hot. This 5 mile trail was a serious challenge for my “out of shape” ass. I really need to lay off the cheeseburgers. :-) I managed to get a few shots along the way.

The man depicted on this monument is performing one of the most dangerous yet essential jobs in the construction of the (Boulder) Hoover Dam. Sitting in a bosun’s chair, hundreds of feet in the air, his job was to set charges and clear the loose rock from the face of the canyon walls.

 

This statue depicts Joe Kine, who performed the work of a high scaler at Boulder Dam, Glen Canyon Dam and other reclamation projects in the 1930’s and 1940’s. Joe was given the first artist’s proof several years before his death in 1998.

 

This monument is dedicated to all of the men who labored to build Hoover Dam, 98 of whom lost their lives during various phases of the project. J.G. Tierney, a U.S.B.R. employee, was the final fatality.

 

Steven Liguori, the artist of the High Scaler, was commissioned to do the original bronze statue by Bert Hansen. This statue was made possible through donations to the Nevada Business Enterprise Program for the Blind.

 

Hoover Dam is a concrete arch-gravity dam in the Black Canyon of the Colorado River, on the border between the U.S. states of Nevada and Arizona. It was constructed between 1931 and 1936 during the Great Depression and was dedicated on September 30, 1935, by President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Its construction was the result of a massive effort involving thousands of workers, and cost over one hundred lives. It was referred to as Hoover Dam after President Herbert Hoover in bills passed by Congress during its construction, but was named Boulder Dam by the Roosevelt administration. The Hoover Dam name was restored by Congress in 1947.

 

Since about 1900, the Black Canyon and nearby Boulder Canyon had been investigated for their potential to support a dam that would control floods, provide irrigation water and produce hydroelectric power. In 1928, Congress authorized the project. The winning bid to build the dam was submitted by a consortium named Six Companies, Inc., which began construction of the dam in early 1931. Such a large concrete structure had never been built before, and some of the techniques were unproven. The torrid summer weather and lack of facilities near the site also presented difficulties. Nevertheless, Six Companies turned the dam over to the federal government on March 1, 1936, more than two years ahead of schedule.

 

Hoover Dam impounds Lake Mead, the largest reservoir in the United States by volume when full. The dam is located near Boulder City, Nevada, a municipality originally constructed for workers on the construction project, about 30 mi (48 km) southeast of Las Vegas, Nevada. The dam's generators provide power for public and private utilities in Nevada, Arizona, and California. Hoover Dam is a major tourist attraction; nearly a million people tour the dam each year. The heavily traveled U.S. Route 93 (US 93) ran along the dam's crest until October 2010, when the Hoover Dam Bypass opened.

 

As the United States developed the Southwest, the Colorado River was seen as a potential source of irrigation water. An initial attempt at diverting the river for irrigation purposes occurred in the late 1890s, when land speculator William Beatty built the Alamo Canal just north of the Mexican border; the canal dipped into Mexico before running to a desolate area Beatty named the Imperial Valley. Though water from the Imperial Canal allowed for the widespread settlement of the valley, the canal proved expensive to operate. After a catastrophic breach that caused the Colorado River to fill the Salton Sea, the Southern Pacific Railroad spent $3 million in 1906–07 to stabilize the waterway, an amount it hoped in vain would be reimbursed by the federal government. Even after the waterway was stabilized, it proved unsatisfactory because of constant disputes with landowners on the Mexican side of the border.

 

As the technology of electric power transmission improved, the Lower Colorado was considered for its hydroelectric-power potential. In 1902, the Edison Electric Company of Los Angeles surveyed the river in the hope of building a 40-foot (12 m) rock dam which could generate 10,000 horsepower (7,500 kW). However, at the time, the limit of transmission of electric power was 80 miles (130 km), and there were few customers (mostly mines) within that limit. Edison allowed land options it held on the river to lapse—including an option for what became the site of Hoover Dam.

 

In the following years, the Bureau of Reclamation (BOR), known as the Reclamation Service at the time, also considered the Lower Colorado as the site for a dam. Service chief Arthur Powell Davis proposed using dynamite to collapse the walls of Boulder Canyon, 20 miles (32 km) north of the eventual dam site, into the river. The river would carry off the smaller pieces of debris, and a dam would be built incorporating the remaining rubble. In 1922, after considering it for several years, the Reclamation Service finally rejected the proposal, citing doubts about the unproven technique and questions as to whether it would, in fact, save money.

 

Soon after the dam was authorized, increasing numbers of unemployed people converged on southern Nevada. Las Vegas, then a small city of some 5,000, saw between 10,000 and 20,000 unemployed descend on it. A government camp was established for surveyors and other personnel near the dam site; this soon became surrounded by a squatters' camp. Known as McKeeversville, the camp was home to men hoping for work on the project, together with their families. Another camp, on the flats along the Colorado River, was officially called Williamsville, but was known to its inhabitants as "Ragtown". When construction began, Six Companies hired large numbers of workers, with more than 3,000 on the payroll by 1932 and with employment peaking at 5,251 in July 1934. "Mongolian" (Chinese) labor was prevented by the construction contract, while the number of black people employed by Six Companies never exceeded thirty, mostly lowest-pay-scale laborers in a segregated crew, who were issued separate water buckets.

 

As part of the contract, Six Companies, Inc. was to build Boulder City to house the workers. The original timetable called for Boulder City to be built before the dam project began, but President Hoover ordered work on the dam to begin in March 1931 rather than in October. The company built bunkhouses, attached to the canyon wall, to house 480 single men at what became known as River Camp. Workers with families were left to provide their own accommodations until Boulder City could be completed, and many lived in Ragtown. The site of Hoover Dam endures extremely hot weather, and the summer of 1931 was especially torrid, with the daytime high averaging 119.9 °F (48.8 °C). Sixteen workers and other riverbank residents died of heat prostration between June 25 and July 26, 1931.

 

The Industrial Workers of the World (IWW or "Wobblies"), though much-reduced from their heyday as militant labor organizers in the early years of the century, hoped to unionize the Six Companies workers by capitalizing on their discontent. They sent eleven organizers, several of whom were arrested by Las Vegas police. On August 7, 1931, the company cut wages for all tunnel workers. Although the workers sent the organizers away, not wanting to be associated with the "Wobblies", they formed a committee to represent them with the company. The committee drew up a list of demands that evening and presented them to Crowe the following morning. He was noncommittal. The workers hoped that Crowe, the general superintendent of the job, would be sympathetic; instead, he gave a scathing interview to a newspaper, describing the workers as "malcontents".

 

On the morning of the 9th, Crowe met with the committee and told them that management refused their demands, was stopping all work, and was laying off the entire work force, except for a few office workers and carpenters. The workers were given until 5 p.m. to vacate the premises. Concerned that a violent confrontation was imminent, most workers took their paychecks and left for Las Vegas to await developments. Two days later, the remainder were talked into leaving by law enforcement. On August 13, the company began hiring workers again, and two days later, the strike was called off. While the workers received none of their demands, the company guaranteed there would be no further reductions in wages. Living conditions began to improve as the first residents moved into Boulder City in late 1931.

 

A second labor action took place in July 1935, as construction on the dam wound down. When a Six Companies manager altered working times to force workers to take lunch on their own time, workers responded with a strike. Emboldened by Crowe's reversal of the lunch decree, workers raised their demands to include a $1-per-day raise. The company agreed to ask the Federal government to supplement the pay, but no money was forthcoming from Washington. The strike ended.

 

Before the dam could be built, the Colorado River needed to be diverted away from the construction site. To accomplish this, four diversion tunnels were driven through the canyon walls, two on the Nevada side and two on the Arizona side. These tunnels were 56 ft (17 m) in diameter. Their combined length was nearly 16,000 ft, or more than 3 miles (5 km). The contract required these tunnels to be completed by October 1, 1933, with a $3,000-per-day fine to be assessed for any delay. To meet the deadline, Six Companies had to complete work by early 1933, since only in late fall and winter was the water level in the river low enough to safely divert.

 

Tunneling began at the lower portals of the Nevada tunnels in May 1931. Shortly afterward, work began on two similar tunnels in the Arizona canyon wall. In March 1932, work began on lining the tunnels with concrete. First the base, or invert, was poured. Gantry cranes, running on rails through the entire length of each tunnel were used to place the concrete. The sidewalls were poured next. Movable sections of steel forms were used for the sidewalls. Finally, using pneumatic guns, the overheads were filled in. The concrete lining is 3 feet (1 m) thick, reducing the finished tunnel diameter to 50 ft (15 m). The river was diverted into the two Arizona tunnels on November 13, 1932; the Nevada tunnels were kept in reserve for high water. This was done by exploding a temporary cofferdam protecting the Arizona tunnels while at the same time dumping rubble into the river until its natural course was blocked.

 

Following the completion of the dam, the entrances to the two outer diversion tunnels were sealed at the opening and halfway through the tunnels with large concrete plugs. The downstream halves of the tunnels following the inner plugs are now the main bodies of the spillway tunnels. The inner diversion tunnels were plugged at approximately one-third of their length, beyond which they now carry steel pipes connecting the intake towers to the power plant and outlet works. The inner tunnels' outlets are equipped with gates that can be closed to drain the tunnels for maintenance.

 

To protect the construction site from the Colorado River and to facilitate the river's diversion, two cofferdams were constructed. Work on the upper cofferdam began in September 1932, even though the river had not yet been diverted. The cofferdams were designed to protect against the possibility of the river's flooding a site at which two thousand men might be at work, and their specifications were covered in the bid documents in nearly as much detail as the dam itself. The upper cofferdam was 96 ft (29 m) high, and 750 feet (230 m) thick at its base, thicker than the dam itself. It contained 650,000 cubic yards (500,000 m3) of material.

 

When the cofferdams were in place and the construction site was drained of water, excavation for the dam foundation began. For the dam to rest on solid rock, it was necessary to remove accumulated erosion soils and other loose materials in the riverbed until sound bedrock was reached. Work on the foundation excavations was completed in June 1933. During this excavation, approximately 1,500,000 cu yd (1,100,000 m3) of material was removed. Since the dam was an arch-gravity type, the side-walls of the canyon would bear the force of the impounded lake. Therefore, the side-walls were also excavated to reach virgin rock, as weathered rock might provide pathways for water seepage. Shovels for the excavation came from the Marion Power Shovel Company.

 

The men who removed this rock were called "high scalers". While suspended from the top of the canyon with ropes, the high-scalers climbed down the canyon walls and removed the loose rock with jackhammers and dynamite. Falling objects were the most common cause of death on the dam site; the high scalers' work thus helped ensure worker safety. One high scaler was able to save a life in a more direct manner: when a government inspector lost his grip on a safety line and began tumbling down a slope towards almost certain death, a high scaler was able to intercept him and pull him into the air. The construction site had become a magnet for tourists. The high scalers were prime attractions and showed off for the watchers. The high scalers received considerable media attention, with one worker dubbed the "Human Pendulum" for swinging co-workers (and, at other times, cases of dynamite) across the canyon. To protect themselves against falling objects, some high scalers dipped cloth hats in tar and allowed them to harden. When workers wearing such headgear were struck hard enough to inflict broken jaws, they sustained no skull damage. Six Companies ordered thousands of what initially were called "hard boiled hats" (later "hard hats") and strongly encouraged their use.

 

The cleared, underlying rock foundation of the dam site was reinforced with grout, forming a grout curtain. Holes were driven into the walls and base of the canyon, as deep as 150 feet (46 m) into the rock, and any cavities encountered were to be filled with grout. This was done to stabilize the rock, to prevent water from seeping past the dam through the canyon rock, and to limit "uplift"—upward pressure from water seeping under the dam. The workers were under severe time constraints due to the beginning of the concrete pour. When they encountered hot springs or cavities too large to readily fill, they moved on without resolving the problem. A total of 58 of the 393 holes were incompletely filled. After the dam was completed and the lake began to fill, large numbers of significant leaks caused the Bureau of Reclamation to examine the situation. It found that the work had been incompletely done, and was based on less than a full understanding of the canyon's geology. New holes were drilled from inspection galleries inside the dam into the surrounding bedrock. It took nine years (1938–47) under relative secrecy to complete the supplemental grout curtain.

 

The first concrete was poured into the dam on June 6, 1933, 18 months ahead of schedule. Since concrete heats and contracts as it cures, the potential for uneven cooling and contraction of the concrete posed a serious problem. Bureau of Reclamation engineers calculated that if the dam were to be built in a single continuous pour, the concrete would take 125 years to cool, and the resulting stresses would cause the dam to crack and crumble. Instead, the ground where the dam would rise was marked with rectangles, and concrete blocks in columns were poured, some as large as 50 ft square (15 m) and 5 feet (1.5 m) high. Each five-foot form contained a set of 1-inch (25 mm) steel pipes; cool river water would be poured through the pipes, followed by ice-cold water from a refrigeration plant. When an individual block had cured and had stopped contracting, the pipes were filled with grout. Grout was also used to fill the hairline spaces between columns, which were grooved to increase the strength of the joints.

 

The concrete was delivered in huge steel buckets 7 feet high (2.1 m) and almost 7 feet in diameter; Crowe was awarded two patents for their design. These buckets, which weighed 20 short tons (18.1 t; 17.9 long tons) when full, were filled at two massive concrete plants on the Nevada side, and were delivered to the site in special railcars. The buckets were then suspended from aerial cableways which were used to deliver the bucket to a specific column. As the required grade of aggregate in the concrete differed depending on placement in the dam (from pea-sized gravel to 9 inches [230 mm] stones), it was vital that the bucket be maneuvered to the proper column. When the bottom of the bucket opened up, disgorging 8 cu yd (6.1 m3) of concrete, a team of men worked it throughout the form. Although there are myths that men were caught in the pour and are entombed in the dam to this day, each bucket deepened the concrete in a form by only 1 inch (25 mm), and Six Companies engineers would not have permitted a flaw caused by the presence of a human body.

 

A total of 3,250,000 cubic yards (2,480,000 cubic meters) of concrete was used in the dam before concrete pouring ceased on May 29, 1935. In addition, 1,110,000 cu yd (850,000 m3) were used in the power plant and other works. More than 582 miles (937 km) of cooling pipes were placed within the concrete. Overall, there is enough concrete in the dam to pave a two-lane highway from San Francisco to New York. Concrete cores were removed from the dam for testing in 1995; they showed that "Hoover Dam's concrete has continued to slowly gain strength" and the dam is composed of a "durable concrete having a compressive strength exceeding the range typically found in normal mass concrete". Hoover Dam concrete is not subject to alkali–silica reaction (ASR), as the Hoover Dam builders happened to use nonreactive aggregate, unlike that at downstream Parker Dam, where ASR has caused measurable deterioration.

 

With most work finished on the dam itself (the powerhouse remained uncompleted), a formal dedication ceremony was arranged for September 30, 1935, to coincide with a western tour being made by President Franklin D. Roosevelt. The morning of the dedication, it was moved forward three hours from 2 p.m. Pacific time to 11 a.m.; this was done because Secretary of the Interior Harold L. Ickes had reserved a radio slot for the President for 2 p.m. but officials did not realize until the day of the ceremony that the slot was for 2 p.m. Eastern Time. Despite the change in the ceremony time, and temperatures of 102 °F (39 °C), 10,000 people were present for the President's speech, in which he avoided mentioning the name of former President Hoover, who was not invited to the ceremony. To mark the occasion, a three-cent stamp was issued by the United States Post Office Department—bearing the name "Boulder Dam", the official name of the dam between 1933 and 1947. After the ceremony, Roosevelt made the first visit by any American president to Las Vegas.

 

Most work had been completed by the dedication, and Six Companies negotiated with the government through late 1935 and early 1936 to settle all claims and arrange for the formal transfer of the dam to the Federal Government. The parties came to an agreement and on March 1, 1936, Secretary Ickes formally accepted the dam on behalf of the government. Six Companies was not required to complete work on one item, a concrete plug for one of the bypass tunnels, as the tunnel had to be used to take in irrigation water until the powerhouse went into operation.

 

There were 112 deaths reported as associated with the construction of the dam. The first was Bureau of Reclamation employee Harold Connelly who died on May 15, 1921, after falling from a barge while surveying the Colorado River for an ideal spot for the dam. Surveyor John Gregory ("J.G.") Tierney, who drowned on December 20, 1922, in a flash flood while looking for an ideal spot for the dam was the second person. The official list's final death occurred on December 20, 1935, when Patrick Tierney, electrician's helper and the son of J.G. Tierney, fell from one of the two Arizona-side intake towers. Included in the fatality list are three workers who took their own lives on site, one in 1932 and two in 1933. Of the 112 fatalities, 91 were Six Companies employees, three were Bureau of Reclamation employees, and one was a visitor to the site; the remainder were employees of various contractors not part of Six Companies.

 

Ninety-six of the deaths occurred during construction at the site. Not included in the official number of fatalities were deaths that were recorded as pneumonia. Workers alleged that this diagnosis was a cover for death from carbon monoxide poisoning (brought on by the use of gasoline-fueled vehicles in the diversion tunnels), and a classification used by Six Companies to avoid paying compensation claims. The site's diversion tunnels frequently reached 140 °F (60 °C), enveloped in thick plumes of vehicle exhaust gases. A total of 42 workers were recorded as having died from pneumonia and were not included in the above total; none were listed as having died from carbon monoxide poisoning. No deaths of non-workers from pneumonia were recorded in Boulder City during the construction period.

 

The initial plans for the facade of the dam, the power plant, the outlet tunnels and ornaments clashed with the modern look of an arch dam. The Bureau of Reclamation, more concerned with the dam's functionality, adorned it with a Gothic-inspired balustrade and eagle statues. This initial design was criticized by many as being too plain and unremarkable for a project of such immense scale, so Los Angeles-based architect Gordon B. Kaufmann, then the supervising architect to the Bureau of Reclamation, was brought in to redesign the exteriors. Kaufmann greatly streamlined the design and applied an elegant Art Deco style to the entire project. He designed sculpted turrets rising seamlessly from the dam face and clock faces on the intake towers set for the time in Nevada and Arizona—both states are in different time zones, but since Arizona does not observe daylight saving time, the clocks display the same time for more than half the year.

 

At Kaufmann's request, Denver artist Allen Tupper True was hired to handle the design and decoration of the walls and floors of the new dam. True's design scheme incorporated motifs of the Navajo and Pueblo tribes of the region. Although some were initially opposed to these designs, True was given the go-ahead and was officially appointed consulting artist. With the assistance of the National Laboratory of Anthropology, True researched authentic decorative motifs from Indian sand paintings, textiles, baskets and ceramics. The images and colors are based on Native American visions of rain, lightning, water, clouds, and local animals—lizards, serpents, birds—and on the Southwestern landscape of stepped mesas. In these works, which are integrated into the walkways and interior halls of the dam, True also reflected on the machinery of the operation, making the symbolic patterns appear both ancient and modern.

 

With the agreement of Kaufmann and the engineers, True also devised for the pipes and machinery an innovative color-coding which was implemented throughout all BOR projects. True's consulting artist job lasted through 1942; it was extended so he could complete design work for the Parker, Shasta and Grand Coulee dams and power plants. True's work on the Hoover Dam was humorously referred to in a poem published in The New Yorker, part of which read, "lose the spark, and justify the dream; but also worthy of remark will be the color scheme".

 

Complementing Kaufmann and True's work, sculptor Oskar J. W. Hansen designed many of the sculptures on and around the dam. His works include the monument of dedication plaza, a plaque to memorialize the workers killed and the bas-reliefs on the elevator towers. In his words, Hansen wanted his work to express "the immutable calm of intellectual resolution, and the enormous power of trained physical strength, equally enthroned in placid triumph of scientific accomplishment", because "the building of Hoover Dam belongs to the sagas of the daring." Hansen's dedication plaza, on the Nevada abutment, contains a sculpture of two winged figures flanking a flagpole.

 

Surrounding the base of the monument is a terrazzo floor embedded with a "star map". The map depicts the Northern Hemisphere sky at the moment of President Roosevelt's dedication of the dam. This is intended to help future astronomers, if necessary, calculate the exact date of dedication. The 30-foot-high (9.1 m) bronze figures, dubbed "Winged Figures of the Republic", were both formed in a continuous pour. To put such large bronzes into place without marring the highly polished bronze surface, they were placed on ice and guided into position as the ice melted. Hansen's bas-relief on the Nevada elevator tower depicts the benefits of the dam: flood control, navigation, irrigation, water storage, and power. The bas-relief on the Arizona elevator depicts, in his words, "the visages of those Indian tribes who have inhabited mountains and plains from ages distant."

 

Excavation for the powerhouse was carried out simultaneously with the excavation for the dam foundation and abutments. The excavation of this U-shaped structure located at the downstream toe of the dam was completed in late 1933 with the first concrete placed in November 1933. Filling of Lake Mead began February 1, 1935, even before the last of the concrete was poured that May. The powerhouse was one of the projects uncompleted at the time of the formal dedication on September 30, 1935; a crew of 500 men remained to finish it and other structures. To make the powerhouse roof bombproof, it was constructed of layers of concrete, rock, and steel with a total thickness of about 3.5 feet (1.1 m), topped with layers of sand and tar.

 

In the latter half of 1936, water levels in Lake Mead were high enough to permit power generation, and the first three Allis Chalmers built Francis turbine-generators, all on the Nevada side, began operating. In March 1937, one more Nevada generator went online and the first Arizona generator by August. By September 1939, four more generators were operating, and the dam's power plant became the largest hydroelectricity facility in the world. The final generator was not placed in service until 1961, bringing the maximum generating capacity to 1,345 megawatts at the time. Original plans called for 16 large generators, eight on each side of the river, but two smaller generators were installed instead of one large one on the Arizona side for a total of 17. The smaller generators were used to serve smaller communities at a time when the output of each generator was dedicated to a single municipality, before the dam's total power output was placed on the grid and made arbitrarily distributable.

 

Before water from Lake Mead reaches the turbines, it enters the intake towers and then four gradually narrowing penstocks which funnel the water down towards the powerhouse. The intakes provide a maximum hydraulic head (water pressure) of 590 ft (180 m) as the water reaches a speed of about 85 mph (140 km/h). The entire flow of the Colorado River usually passes through the turbines. The spillways and outlet works (jet-flow gates) are rarely used. The jet-flow gates, located in concrete structures 180 feet (55 m) above the river and also at the outlets of the inner diversion tunnels at river level, may be used to divert water around the dam in emergency or flood conditions, but have never done so, and in practice are used only to drain water from the penstocks for maintenance. Following an uprating project from 1986 to 1993, the total gross power rating for the plant, including two 2.4 megawatt Pelton turbine-generators that power Hoover Dam's own operations is a maximum capacity of 2080 megawatts. The annual generation of Hoover Dam varies. The maximum net generation was 10.348 TWh in 1984, and the minimum since 1940 was 2.648 TWh in 1956. The average power generated was 4.2 TWh/year for 1947–2008. In 2015, the dam generated 3.6 TWh.

 

The amount of electricity generated by Hoover Dam has been decreasing along with the falling water level in Lake Mead due to the prolonged drought since year 2000 and high demand for the Colorado River's water. By 2014 its generating capacity was downrated by 23% to 1592 MW and was providing power only during periods of peak demand. Lake Mead fell to a new record low elevation of 1,071.61 feet (326.63 m) on July 1, 2016, before beginning to rebound slowly. Under its original design, the dam would no longer be able to generate power once the water level fell below 1,050 feet (320 m), which might have occurred in 2017 had water restrictions not been enforced. To lower the minimum power pool elevation from 1,050 to 950 feet (320 to 290 m), five wide-head turbines, designed to work efficiently with less flow, were installed.[102] Water levels were maintained at over 1,075 feet (328 m) in 2018 and 2019, but fell to a new record low of 1,071.55 feet (326.61 m) on June 10, 2021[104] and were projected to fall below 1,066 feet (325 m) by the end of 2021.

 

Control of water was the primary concern in the building of the dam. Power generation has allowed the dam project to be self-sustaining: proceeds from the sale of power repaid the 50-year construction loan, and those revenues also finance the multimillion-dollar yearly maintenance budget. Power is generated in step with and only with the release of water in response to downstream water demands.

 

Lake Mead and downstream releases from the dam also provide water for both municipal and irrigation uses. Water released from the Hoover Dam eventually reaches several canals. The Colorado River Aqueduct and Central Arizona Project branch off Lake Havasu while the All-American Canal is supplied by the Imperial Dam. In total, water from Lake Mead serves 18 million people in Arizona, Nevada, and California and supplies the irrigation of over 1,000,000 acres (400,000 ha) of land.

 

In 2018, the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) proposed a $3 billion pumped-storage hydroelectricity project—a "battery" of sorts—that would use wind and solar power to recirculate water back up to Lake Mead from a pumping station 20 miles (32 km) downriver.

 

Electricity from the dam's powerhouse was originally sold pursuant to a fifty-year contract, authorized by Congress in 1934, which ran from 1937 to 1987. In 1984, Congress passed a new statute which set power allocations to southern California, Arizona, and Nevada from the dam from 1987 to 2017. The powerhouse was run under the original authorization by the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power and Southern California Edison; in 1987, the Bureau of Reclamation assumed control. In 2011, Congress enacted legislation extending the current contracts until 2067, after setting aside 5% of Hoover Dam's power for sale to Native American tribes, electric cooperatives, and other entities. The new arrangement began on October 1, 2017.

 

The dam is protected against over-topping by two spillways. The spillway entrances are located behind each dam abutment, running roughly parallel to the canyon walls. The spillway entrance arrangement forms a classic side-flow weir with each spillway containing four 100-foot-long (30 m) and 16-foot-wide (4.9 m) steel-drum gates. Each gate weighs 5,000,000 pounds (2,300 metric tons) and can be operated manually or automatically. Gates are raised and lowered depending on water levels in the reservoir and flood conditions. The gates cannot entirely prevent water from entering the spillways but can maintain an extra 16 ft (4.9 m) of lake level.

 

Water flowing over the spillways falls dramatically into 600-foot-long (180 m), 50-foot-wide (15 m) spillway tunnels before connecting to the outer diversion tunnels and reentering the main river channel below the dam. This complex spillway entrance arrangement combined with the approximate 700-foot (210 m) elevation drop from the top of the reservoir to the river below was a difficult engineering problem and posed numerous design challenges. Each spillway's capacity of 200,000 cu ft/s (5,700 m3/s) was empirically verified in post-construction tests in 1941.

 

The large spillway tunnels have only been used twice, for testing in 1941 and because of flooding in 1983. Both times, when inspecting the tunnels after the spillways were used, engineers found major damage to the concrete linings and underlying rock. The 1941 damage was attributed to a slight misalignment of the tunnel invert (or base), which caused cavitation, a phenomenon in fast-flowing liquids in which vapor bubbles collapse with explosive force. In response to this finding, the tunnels were patched with special heavy-duty concrete and the surface of the concrete was polished mirror-smooth. The spillways were modified in 1947 by adding flip buckets, which both slow the water and decrease the spillway's effective capacity, in an attempt to eliminate conditions thought to have contributed to the 1941 damage. The 1983 damage, also due to cavitation, led to the installation of aerators in the spillways. Tests at Grand Coulee Dam showed that the technique worked, in principle.

 

There are two lanes for automobile traffic across the top of the dam, which formerly served as the Colorado River crossing for U.S. Route 93. In the wake of the September 11 terrorist attacks, authorities expressed security concerns and the Hoover Dam Bypass project was expedited. Pending the completion of the bypass, restricted traffic was permitted over Hoover Dam. Some types of vehicles were inspected prior to crossing the dam while semi-trailer trucks, buses carrying luggage, and enclosed-box trucks over 40 ft (12 m) long were not allowed on the dam at all, and were diverted to U.S. Route 95 or Nevada State Routes 163/68. The four-lane Hoover Dam Bypass opened on October 19, 2010. It includes a composite steel and concrete arch bridge, the Mike O'Callaghan–Pat Tillman Memorial Bridge, 1,500 ft (460 m) downstream from the dam. With the opening of the bypass, through traffic is no longer allowed across Hoover Dam; dam visitors are allowed to use the existing roadway to approach from the Nevada side and cross to parking lots and other facilities on the Arizona side.

 

Hoover Dam opened for tours in 1937 after its completion but following Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, it was closed to the public when the United States entered World War II, during which only authorized traffic, in convoys, was permitted. After the war, it reopened September 2, 1945, and by 1953, annual attendance had risen to 448,081. The dam closed on November 25, 1963, and March 31, 1969, days of mourning in remembrance of Presidents Kennedy and Eisenhower. In 1995, a new visitors' center was built, and the following year, visits exceeded one million for the first time. The dam closed again to the public on September 11, 2001; modified tours were resumed in December and a new "Discovery Tour" was added the following year. Today, nearly a million people per year take the tours of the dam offered by the Bureau of Reclamation. Increased security concerns by the government have led to most of the interior structure's being inaccessible to tourists. As a result, few of True's decorations can now be seen by visitors. Visitors can only purchase tickets on-site and have the options of a guided tour of the whole facility or only the power plant area. The only self-guided tour option is for the visitor center itself, where visitors can view various exhibits and enjoy a 360-degree view of the dam.

 

The changes in water flow and use caused by Hoover Dam's construction and operation have had a large impact on the Colorado River Delta. The construction of the dam has been implicated in causing the decline of this estuarine ecosystem. For six years after the construction of the dam, while Lake Mead filled, virtually no water reached the mouth of the river. The delta's estuary, which once had a freshwater-saltwater mixing zone stretching 40 miles (64 km) south of the river's mouth, was turned into an inverse estuary where the level of salinity was higher close to the river's mouth.

 

The Colorado River had experienced natural flooding before the construction of the Hoover Dam. The dam eliminated the natural flooding, threatening many species adapted to the flooding, including both plants and animals. The construction of the dam devastated the populations of native fish in the river downstream from the dam. Four species of fish native to the Colorado River, the Bonytail chub, Colorado pikeminnow, Humpback chub, and Razorback sucker, are listed as endangered.

 

During the years of lobbying leading up to the passage of legislation authorizing the dam in 1928, the press generally referred to the dam as "Boulder Dam" or as "Boulder Canyon Dam", even though the proposed site had shifted to Black Canyon. The Boulder Canyon Project Act of 1928 (BCPA) never mentioned a proposed name or title for the dam. The BCPA merely allows the government to "construct, operate, and maintain a dam and incidental works in the main stream of the Colorado River at Black Canyon or Boulder Canyon".

 

When Secretary of the Interior Ray Wilbur spoke at the ceremony starting the building of the railway between Las Vegas and the dam site on September 17, 1930, he named the dam "Hoover Dam", citing a tradition of naming dams after Presidents, though none had been so honored during their terms of office. Wilbur justified his choice on the ground that Hoover was "the great engineer whose vision and persistence ... has done so much to make [the dam] possible". One writer complained in response that "the Great Engineer had quickly drained, ditched, and dammed the country."

 

After Hoover's election defeat in 1932 and the accession of the Roosevelt administration, Secretary Ickes ordered on May 13, 1933, that the dam be referred to as Boulder Dam. Ickes stated that Wilbur had been imprudent in naming the dam after a sitting president, that Congress had never ratified his choice, and that it had long been referred to as Boulder Dam. Unknown to the general public, Attorney General Homer Cummings informed Ickes that Congress had indeed used the name "Hoover Dam" in five different bills appropriating money for construction of the dam. The official status this conferred to the name "Hoover Dam" had been noted on the floor of the House of Representatives by Congressman Edward T. Taylor of Colorado on December 12, 1930, but was likewise ignored by Ickes.

 

When Ickes spoke at the dedication ceremony on September 30, 1935, he was determined, as he recorded in his diary, "to try to nail down for good and all the name Boulder Dam." At one point in the speech, he spoke the words "Boulder Dam" five times within thirty seconds. Further, he suggested that if the dam were to be named after any one person, it should be for California Senator Hiram Johnson, a lead sponsor of the authorizing legislation. Roosevelt also referred to the dam as Boulder Dam, and the Republican-leaning Los Angeles Times, which at the time of Ickes' name change had run an editorial cartoon showing Ickes ineffectively chipping away at an enormous sign "HOOVER DAM", reran it showing Roosevelt reinforcing Ickes, but having no greater success.

 

In the following years, the name "Boulder Dam" failed to fully take hold, with many Americans using both names interchangeably and mapmakers divided as to which name should be printed. Memories of the Great Depression faded, and Hoover to some extent rehabilitated himself through good works during and after World War II. In 1947, a bill passed both Houses of Congress unanimously restoring the name "Hoover Dam." Ickes, who was by then a private citizen, opposed the change, stating, "I didn't know Hoover was that small a man to take credit for something he had nothing to do with."

 

Hoover Dam was recognized as a National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark in 1984. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1981 and was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1985, cited for its engineering innovations.

Work today was more like being on a reality show instead of a day at work. Who is going to be laid off today? They let 3 go today with more to go by the end of this week. We just got back from a 2 week lay off and we are already about to have another week in a few. What the Honda Plant does now dictates our work schedule. Bad for finacial reasons great for photography.

Stupidity drew me out of my nice warm, dry house with GB Curling on the box, to see a Tractor in the pouring rain at Kempston Hardwick on a Derby Test Train, 3Q35 Derby to Reading Triangle Sidings, This is heading for Bletchley via the Marston Vale Line where it will reverse back to Bedford to take the MML south to the Cricklewood Curve to Acton and the GWML.

On the second day of operation of the D Trains after a lay off of several weeks since before Christmas, a Bedford bound service calls at KH.

 

37219 (rear)

9714 (leading)

230003

 

9714, 62384, 9806, 72630, 99666, 96608, 37219 … thx to Railcam contributor

 

Kempston Hardwick, Beds 15 Feb 2022

 

Soggy, VERY grey, cold, and SOGGY!

Now this was an odd little piece from Chevy, the SSR or Super Sport Roadster. Essentially, the SSR was built to compete with the likes of the Ford SVT Lightning, a supercharged version of their conventional Ford F-150. The SSR is similar in that it's powered by a 6.0L V8 engine, giving the car 395hp. Styling was largely influenced by the famous Advanced Design pickup trucks of the 1940's and 50's, being built onto the platform of the long wheelbase Chevy Trailblazer, but to be honest the connection between the two does strike me as rather vague.

 

Launched in 2003, the car went on sale for princely sum of $42,000, and sales in the first year were lukewarm at best, with only 9,000 cars sold by 2004. Eventually, lay-offs and labour disputes at the Lansing Craft Centre, where the SSR was built, resulted in the factory being shut down in 2006, spelling a premature end to the SSR.

 

In all, 24,150 SSR's were built, with only 24,112 being sold to customers. Today the SSR is cited as one of the most misguided ventures in motoring history, describing the car's styling as ugly, it's performance as unimpressive, and it's production an absolute shambles.

 

But for me there is something rather likeable about the SSR. Indeed it's not the prettiest car in the world, but for what it is as a small, versatile little pickup truck, I don't think it's as bad as many people make it out to be. I wouldn't exactly go out of my way to own one, but I can see what the attraction is. :)

I guess that they get kind of tired of me and my lens looking at them and chasing them around.

the post said :

 

Okay, before you start calling me names and before those training-bra-wearing little girls start screaming at my face, listen to my argument first.

 

In my defense, I'm not jealous of them. I won't ever be jealous of them unless they gain credibility by actually singing in the genre known as "rock", not "pop". You have no right to call yourself a BAND until then. Oh right, and the the whole "good boy" image is a load of crap. That's just there so moms will like you for being their daughters' role models and buy merchandise that's got the "JBro" image on it. It's a hoax for the consumer to eat the crappy music up.

 

LYRICS

 

Let's just go analyze some of their lyrics...

 

Just might be paranoid

I'm avoiding the lies

Cause they just might slip

Can someone stop the noise?

I don't know what it is

But I just doesn't fit

I'm paranoid

 

Okay, good lyrics you guys got there. That REALLY makes sense. -Insert heavy sarcasm-

 

DISNEY

 

Now, onto a new point. You're from Disney. I'm sorry but that's a good enough reason to hate the Jonas Brothers. Yes, that includes hating Miley Cyrus and all those other wannabe celebrities. Has anyone noticed that now all the actors in Disney tv shows/movies all have singles coming out? Like that Emily Osment from Hannah Montana? Agh.*No, I don't hate the old Disney, where they produced great films like the Lion King, Mulan, Aladdin, and such. Just now, where they're greedy businessmen who want to take all your money with tacky schemes. Sigh, sounds just like those Twilight franchise businessmen...

 

SKINNY JEANS

 

This last one is something MANY people will share the same opinions about, whether you hate the JB or not. The notorious skinny jeans.

Those guys wear more skinny jeans than an average American eats hamburgers, and that's a lot. When you see a photo of either one of those guys, you can bet your money they're wearing skinny jeans. For starters, I don't want to fricking see your balls. I don't think they're hot, sexy or even remotely attractive. It's disgusting, distracting, and all around barf-inducing. Hmm...now I don't expect only models to wear skinny jeans, but the guys look like they're 5"5 with them on. So as a third party observer, please lay off the skinny pants. *Skinny jeans/pants should be worn with a top that covers the balls (for guys).

 

I probably have more insignificant rants, but these would be the highlights. Enjoy reading it and if you have anything you'd like to add, comment! :)

 

my reply ; ok here`s my reply to that ;

 

first of all , the skinny jeans days with them are OVER . they haven`t worn any in a WHILE , so that`s a null and void reason

 

their lyrics for this album are MUCH MUCH MUCH better (no pun intended for any jb fans areading this) . here`s a few :

 

No this isn't what I wanted

Never thought it'd come this far

Thinkin' back to where we started

And how we lost all that we are

We were young and times were easy

But I could see it's not the same

Standing here but you don't see me

Give it all for that to change

I don't want to lose her

Don't want to let her go

 

Standing out in the rain

Need to know if it's over

Cause I would leave you alone

I'm flooded with all this pain

Knowing that I'll never hold her

Like I did before the storm

 

With every stike of lightning

Comes a memory that lasts

Not a word is left unspoken

As the thunder starts to crash

Maybe I should give up

 

Standing out in the rain

Need to know if it's over

Cause I would leave you alone

I'm flooded with all this pain

Knowing that I'll never hold her

Like I did before the storm

 

I'm trying to keep the lights from going out

And the clouds from ripping out my broken heart

They always say a heart is not a home

Without the one who gets you through the storm

 

Standing out in the rain

Knowing that it's really over

Please don't leave me alone

I'm flooded with all this pain

Knowing that I'll never hold you

Like I did before the storm

 

anddd ;

 

She walks away

Colors fade to gray

Every precious moment's now a waste

She hits the gas hoping it would pass

The red lights starts to flash

It's time to wait

 

Cause black keys never looked so beautiful

And a perfect rainbow never seemed so dull

And the lights out never had this bright a glow

And the black keys

Showing me a world I never knew, no

A world I never knew

 

She hates the sun cause it proves she's not alone

And the world doesn't revolve around her soul

She loves the sky cause it validates her pride

Never lets them know when she is wrong

 

Cause black keys never looked so beautiful

And a perfect rainbow never seemed so dull

And the lights out never had this bright a glow

And the black keys

Showing me a world I never knew, no

Yeah

And the walls are closing in

 

Don't let them get inside of your head

(x4)

 

Cause black keys never looked so beautiful

And a perfect rainbow never seemed so dull

And the lights out never had this bright a glow

And the black keys

Showing me a world I never knew

Don't let them get inside of your head (x4)

Sometimes a fight is better black and white

 

and nick (the little one) wrote that one ALL BY HIMSELF , and yes they DO write their own music , thanks . i`d name more , but that`s all i need to put .

 

your reason for hating was completely illegitimate , ingnorant , and STUPID . they actually sincerely ARE good guys . they`ve been a band and have been wearing their purity rings beforeeee they started that disney bs , jsyk . when you have a GOOD reason for hating them , lemme know . until then , stfu . kthanks ! and ftr ; most of their fans (and i mean FANS , not the teenies) are over 14 . got it ? good . seriously , hating them for the way they dress ? what are you , five ? i could go ON AND ON about what a pointless post this is , but i thibnk i`ve made my point . all the haters are either ignorant , or jealous . nuff said . and HELL YEAH i`m a jonas brothers fan . btw you screwed up the lyrics to paranoid , dumbass

 

just throwing all of this out there . copyright claim . you will be fined if you redistribute or steal

Photo taken by Socrates

Oh dear, the dreaded 'engine malfunction' warning message has reappeared after a very long time on the Convers+ screen in my 2013 Ford Mondeo Titanium X 2.0 TDCi.

 

This engine malfunction warning message was accompanied by the engine going into Limp Home Mode (LHM) where maximum engine RPM is drastically cut with just enough power to get you home with the idea of preventing a roadside breakdown.

 

Also within the driver messages (but not shown here) was 'Transmission Limited Function' and 'Hill Assist Deactivated'. These generic messages will be unique to Ford PowerShift (automatic) variants once in limp home mode. These messages will disappear once LHM is cleared and/or the primary fault is rectified.

 

Note the generic yellow 'i' for information light to the left of the fuel gauge, the 'engine management' or 'check engine' warning light.

 

While these fault message(s) could be for endless reasons, from a corroded hardwire wiring loom connection, partially blocked or leaking diesel injectors, speed or ABS sensor, Diesel Particulate Filter (DPF), choked up Exhaust Gas Recirculation (EGR) valve, DPF Vaporizer or a Lambda sensor problems and so on, the error codes will be logged within the engine control unit (ECU) ready to be plugged into a diagnostic machine thingy in order to hopefully identify the exact fault(s) and their locations.

 

Even a gunged up diesel fuel filter alone is enough to throw the ECU into LHM on a Ford Mondeo. I have had previous experience of this on an older 2007 Mondeo (see below).

 

The best thing to if these warning messages appear is to stop, switch the engine off, wait a minute or two and restart the car. In most scenarios this will reset the ECU, clear LHM and the other driver messages although these will still be logged in the ECU for diagnostic machine purposes. However it's highly likely LHM will reappear very quickly if the origin of the fault is not fixed.

 

After just over 3 and a half years of ownership and 186,000 miles driven from purchase, this is only the second 'engine malfunction' message I've encountered with my otherwise reliable Ford Mondeo. The first time was at 70,000 miles so I don't think it's done too badly.

 

The car was not worked at all for 107 days or even driven very far due to the 2020 coronavirus pandemic and I think that prolonged lay off and lack of use might have something to do with it.

 

This car under normal circumstances has a very hard life.

 

A tried and trusted diesel car fault favourite remedy is giving the engine a good thrash for 20 miles plus on a dual carriageway at over 2000 rpm and no higher than 4th gear if it's a manual. This is the clichéd giving the car a good clean out which will force a DPF 'regen' and does work in my experience.

 

www.flickr.com/photos/stuart166axe/tags/EA63LDJ/

 

My Ford Cortina Sierra Mondeo album flic.kr/s/aHsiXhTYna

 

My Taxi album flic.kr/s/aHsiSUugXW

This is a manipulated photo for the Down Under Challenge Group.

 

Hear Elvis:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=T1Ond-OwgU8

    

Song copyright to the Elvis Presley

Corporation

 

Well, it's one for the money,

Two for the show,

Three to get ready,

Now go, cat, go. But don't you step on my blue suede shoes.

You can do anything but lay off of my Blue suede shoes.

 

Well, you can knock me down,

Step in my face,

Slander my name

All over the place.

 

Do anything that you want to do, but uh-uh,

Honey, lay off of my shoes

Don't you step on my Blue suede shoes.

You can do anything but lay off of my blue suede shoes.

 

You can burn my house,

Steal my car,

Drink my liquor

From an old fruitjar.

 

Do anything that you want to do, but uh-uh,

Honey, lay off of my shoes

Don't you step on my blue suede shoes.

You can do anything but lay off of my blue suede shoes.

 

The Science behind the emotion.

 

Q: Why don’t we forget how to ride a bike?

 

A: Theory holds several clues to support the oft-heard phrase “just like riding a bike.”

 

Riding a bicycle is what motor control experts tend to refer to as a “continuous task,” compared to discrete tasks with definite endings (like turning a key to start your car). Peter van Kan, kinesiology professor at UW-Madison, said research has laid out three reasons why bicycle riding feels like second nature.

 

Discrete tasks draw more on verbal and cognitive skills, while continuous tasks are written into a more reflexive mechanism in the mind. Continuous tasks also require — and are more likely to be given — more attention and time during the learning process, and thus become further ingrained.

 

“One way to look at it is a continuous task may incorporate many discrete actions,” van Kan said. “(While learning) a continuous task you have many more opportunities to accomplish the many discrete tasks.”

 

Most important, van Kan said, might be the way we judge bicycle riders. If you learn to ride a bicycle, but then stay out of the saddle for several years, your first few cranks of the pedals post-lay-off may not make you look like Lance Armstrong.

 

“You may be a little unstable at first,” van Kan said. “But very quickly, as you are repeating those many discrete tasks, you are renewing what you learned years before and you may quickly be stable and appear to be a good bicycle rider.”

 

host.madison.com

Four members of the first batch of VC Class Volvo B10M/Caetano Algarve II dating from 1994 are seen resting during the Summer lay-off, VC1,7,8 and 13 are seen.

You can burn my house, you can steal my car

Drink my liquor from an old fruit jar

Do anything that you wanna do

But uh uh honey lay off of my shoes

But don't you, step on my blue suede shoes.

Well you can do anything but lay off of my blue suede shoes.

 

* Blue Suede Shoes*

 

E is for Elvis Presley

E de Elvis Presley

It feels like about 12 midnight and and I hear my youngest daughter, tickles aka Mayhem, stirring in cot, there was a little too much fun at the beach the day before and a bit too much heat for the little tacker which meant for a restless night - after 10 minutes of gerry's pro rocking and soothing skills she was back down for another round of sleep and i thought, 'sweet i gotta plenty of hours before my alarm goes off for my sunrise session' :)

 

However low and behold, what felt like literally 5 minutes and the alarm goes off and its 4:30 am.... damn...I lay there for several minutes contemplating whether the sunrise is gonna be worthwhile and whether I should get those extra 2 hours of sleep... as it happens, a few days before I had woken up early with the girls (chaos and mayhem) and we all watched the most spectacular sunrise I had ever seen, from the lounge room window :)

 

I dragged myself from the bed with my ninja sleath skills and promptly cracked my head on the door as trying to carry my camera bag out in the dark, but luck was on my side and tickles remained asleep.. well long enough for me to bail ;)

 

A short drive to Chinamans beach and i noticed the colour developing in the sky, awww man this means I am gonna have to run to get to my sunrise spot, with the camera bag on and the anti-spider equipment deployed I started a jog down to the beach...jeez..i should have layed off that crackling from christmas ;(

 

I love seascapes, i love sunrise, i do it all even in light of the lack of sleep and the pain of getting up and getting to a place.. the moment the suns colour develops and the morning starts it simply rejuvenates my soul. Standing alone with nothing but the sea washing up and the sound of peddles rolling in the surf there is a sense of calm and control about the world...

laying off of Kos harbour

Taj-ul-Masajid is a Mosque situated in Bhopal, India. The name is also spelt as Taj-ul-Masjid. However the correct Name is Taj-ul-Masajid and not Taj-ul-Masjid. "Masajid" means "Mosques" (Plural of "Masjid") and "Taj-ul-Masajid" literally means "Crown Among Mosques". It is the largest Mosque in India.

 

HISTORY

The construction of the Mosque was initiated during the reign of the Mughal Emperor Bahadur Shah Zafar by Nawab Shah Jahan Begum (1844–1860 and 1868–1901) of Bhopal (Wife of Baqi Mohammad Khan) and continued to be built by her daughter Sultan Jahan Begum, till her lifetime. The mosque was not completed due to lack of funds, and after a long lay-off after the War of 1857, construction was resumed in 1971 by great efforts of Allama Mohammad Imran Khan Nadwi Azhari and Maulana Sayed Hashmat Ali Sahab of Bhopal. The construction was completed by 1985 and the entrance (eastern) gate was renovated grandly using ancient motifs from circa 1250 Syrian mosques by the contribution of the Emir of Kuwait to commemorate the memory of his departed wife.

 

ARCHITECTURE

The Mosque has a pink facade topped by two 18-storey high octagonal minarets with marble domes. The Mosque also has three huge bulbous domes, an impressive main hallway with attractive pillars and marble flooring resembling Mughal architecture the likes of Jama Masjid in Delhi and the huge Badshahi Mosque of Lahore. It has a courtyard with a large tank in the centre. It has a double-storeyed gateway with four recessed archways and nine cusped multifold openings in the main prayer hall. The Quibla wall in the prayer hall is carved with eleven recessed arches and has fine screens of trellis work. The massive pillars in the hall hold 27 ceilings through squinted arches of which 16 ceilings are decorated with ornate petaled designs.

 

ANNUAL CONGREGATION

Aalmi Tablighi Ijtima is an annual three-day congregation that draws people from all over the world. It was held at Taj-ul-Masajid until it was shifted to Islam Nagar outside the city due to shortage of space.

 

WIKIPEDIA

Have recently got back into drumming after a 13 year lay off (Retired) Now back playing with My mate & singer for The Varukers in a band called The Vile. Great band & great people. Already been to France twice & off to Italy later this month. Recording a full length CD next month for general release :)

Just bought this recent book on the late former Temptation Dennis Edwards

 

MEMORIES: The Amazing Life and Untimely Death of the Legendary Dennis Edwards Paperback – May 10, 2019

by Anthony Fuller (Author)

 

"Don't Look any Further!" This collection of memories has it all! Dennis' incredible highs, his professional

 

and personal lows, and everything in between. From Alabama, to Detroit, to Los Angeles, to St. Louis, and

 

finally to Chicago. The reader gets an inside look at Dennis' entire life, his loves, the people that

 

surrounded him, and his magical rise to Stardom!

 

YouTube biography on the late Dennis Edwards

 

The Dennis Edwards Story (The Temptations)

 

www.youtube.com/watch?v=acXtg3_aHWs

  

Biography

 

Dennis Edwards

 

Dennis Edwards Jr. (February 3, 1943 – February 1, 2018) was an American soul and R&B singer who was best known

 

as the frontman in The Temptations, on Motown Records. Edwards joined the Temptations in 1968, replacing David

 

Ruffin and sang with the group from 1968 to 1976, 1980 to 1984 and 1987 to 1989. In the mid-1980s, he attempted

 

a solo career, scoring a hit in 1984 with "Don't Look Any Further" (featuring Siedah Garrett). Until his death,

 

Edwards was the lead singer of The Temptations Review featuring Dennis Edwards, a Temptations splinter group.

  

Biography

Early years and career

Edwards was born in Fairfield, Alabama,[1] about eight miles from Birmingham, to Reverend Dennis Edwards Sr. He

 

began singing as a toddler, just two years old, in his father's church. The Edwards family moved to Detroit,

 

Michigan when Edwards was about ten years old, and Edwards would continue to sing in the church pastored by his

 

father, eventually becoming choir director.[2]

 

As a teenager, Edwards joined a gospel vocal group called The Mighty Clouds of Joy, and studied music at the

 

Detroit Conservatory of Music.[2] He was not allowed to sing or listen to secular music at home, and his mother

 

disapproved when he began pursuing a career singing rhythm and blues music.[2] In 1961 he organized his own

 

soul/jazz group, Dennis Edwards and the Fireballs.[3] In 1961,[4] Edwards recorded a single for the obscure

 

Detroit label, International Soulville Records, "I Didn't Have to (But I Did)" b/w "Johnnie on the Spot".[3]

 

Following time served in the US military, in 1966 Edwards auditioned for Detroit's Motown Records, where he was

 

signed but placed on retainer. Later that year, he was assigned to join The Contours after their lead singer,

 

Billy Gordon, fell ill.[2] In 1967, the Contours were the opening act for several Temptations concerts, and

 

Temptations members Eddie Kendricks and Otis Williams – who were considering replacing their own lead singer,

 

David Ruffin (who was a personal friend of Edwards[5]), took notice of Edwards and made his acquaintance.[2]

 

1967–1984: The Temptations years

Later in 1967, Edwards quit the Contours and was placed back on retainer.[2] He attempted to get a release from

 

his contract, as Holland–Dozier–Holland had promised to sign him to their new Invictus Records, but was drafted

 

in late June 1968 to join the Temptations, who had just fired Ruffin from the act.[2][6] Ruffin had tipped

 

Edwards off that he was being drafted as his replacement, which eased Edwards's conscience in replacing him.

 

[2][6][7]

 

The Temptations officially introduced Edwards on July 9, 1968 on stage in Valley Forge, Pennsylvania. However,

 

Ruffin, who was attempting to make his way back into the group, crashed the stage during Edwards's lead vocal

 

on "Ain't Too Proud to Beg" to significant applause.[6] He continued similar stunts for about a month until,

 

according to Edwards, the group decided to lay-off Edwards — with the promise of a solo deal from Motown — and

 

rehire Ruffin.[6] When Ruffin failed to show for his return engagement in Gaithersburg, Maryland the next

 

night, Edwards was permanently kept on and the Temptations refused to entertain rehiring Ruffin any further.[6]

 

Edwards was the first singer to join the Temptations after their "Classic 5" period. With his rougher gospel-

 

hewn vocals, Edwards led the group through its psychedelic, funk, and disco periods, singing on hits such as

 

"Cloud Nine" (1968), "I Can't Get Next to You" (1969), "Ball of Confusion (That's What the World Is Today)"

 

(1970), "Papa Was a Rollin' Stone" (1972), and "Shakey Ground" (1975), among others. Two of these songs, "Cloud

 

Nine" and "Papa Was a Rollin' Stone", won Grammy Awards.[3] During this time, Edwards was engaged to Yvonne

 

"Frankie" Gearing, the lead singer of Quiet Elegance, who toured with The Temptations as their backing group.

 

Edwards remained in the Temptations until being fired by Otis Williams in 1977 just before the group's

 

departure from Motown to Atlantic Records. After a failed attempt at a Motown solo career, Edwards rejoined the

 

Temptations in 1980, when they returned to Motown.[3] In 1982, Edwards got the chance to sing with Ruffin and

 

Eddie Kendricks as part of the Reunion album and tour. Edwards began missing shows and rehearsals, and was

 

replaced in 1984 by Ali-Ollie Woodson.[citation needed] In 1989, Edwards was inducted into the Rock and Roll

 

Hall of Fame as a member of The Temptations.[8] Edwards was also inducted into Rhythm & Blues Hall of Fame with

 

The Temptations in 2013.

 

1984–1990: Solo career

Motown re-launched Edwards's solo career, in 1984 with the hit single "Don't Look Any Further," a duet with

 

Siedah Garrett.[3] The album of the same name reached No. 2 on the R&B charts and included the radio singles

 

"(You're My) Aphrodisiac" and "Just Like You."[9] When problems arose between Woodson and the Temptations in

 

1987, Edwards was brought back once again.

 

He and the group recorded the album entitled “Together Again”, featuring the hit single “I Wonder Who She’s

 

Seeing Now”.

 

Edwards was again replaced by Woodson in 1989 after leaving the group for a third and final time.

 

1990–1994: Ruffin, Kendricks, and Edwards

Edwards toured and recorded with fellow ex- David Ruffin during the late 1980s as "Ruffin/Kendricks/Edwards,

 

former leads of The Temptations", although nothing was released.[3] The 1998 Street Gold DVD Original Leads of

 

the Temptations documents this historic period.[10] After the deaths of Ruffin (1991) and Kendricks (1992),

 

Edwards was forced to wrap up the project alone. In 1990, Dennis teamed up with Kendricks to release a

 

dance/club track for A&B Records entitled "Get It While It's Hot". The track was recorded at Fredrick Knight's

 

recording studio in the duo's old home town of Birmingham, Alabama; it was produced and engineered by house

 

music pioneer Alan Steward. The track created a lot of controversy, as it contained a short rap sequence which

 

did not sit very well with die-hard Temptations fans. Edwards's Don't Look Any Further: the Remix Album was

 

released in 1998, containing updated dance mixes and the original 1984 track.[citation needed]

 

The Temptations Review featuring Dennis Edwards

During the 1990s, Edwards began touring under the name 'Dennis Edwards & the Temptations', prompting a legal

 

battle between himself and Otis Williams. It was decided that Edwards's group would be called The Temptations

 

Review featuring Dennis Edwards (this name remains extant). Edwards's group included Paul Williams Jr. (son of

 

original Temptations member Paul Williams), David Sea, Mike Patillo, and Chris Arnold.[citation needed] Edwards

 

was portrayed by Charles Ley in the 1998 biographical television mini-series The Temptations, though he was not

 

heavily focused upon, as the mini-series gave more attention to the Ruffin/Kendricks-era Temptations lineup.

 

[citation needed] The Temptations Review group was inducted into the Rhythm and Blues Hall of Fame on October

 

4, 2015 in Detroit, Michigan, when Edwards was also given the Living Legend Award.[citation needed]

 

Personal life and death

Edwards had a relationship with singer Aretha Franklin, who stated he was the inspiration behind her 1972

 

R&B/Soul song Day Dreaming.[11] Edwards was briefly married to Ruth Pointer, whom he wed in Las Vegas in 1977.

 

[12] The couple had one daughter, Issa Pointer, who became a member of her mother's vocal group, The Pointer

 

Sisters. While in Detroit, Dennis and an unknown woman conceived his last daughter, Martika Edwards who still

 

lives in Detroit today and celebrates her fathers legacy. Edwards moved to Florissant, Missouri in the 1980s to

 

be closer to his mother.[13]

 

Edwards died in a Chicago hospital on February 1, 2018, two days before his 75th birthday. He had been battling

 

meningitis before his death.[14][15]

 

Discography

See also: The Temptations discography

Singles

YearSongPeak Chart Positions

USUS R&BUK

1968"I Didn't Have To (But I Did)"–––

1984"Don't Look Any Further"72245

"(You're My) Aphrodisiac"–18–

"Another Place in Time"–––

1985"Amanda"–77–

"Coolin' Out"–23–

Albums

YearAlbumPeak Chart Positions

USUS R&BUK

1984Don't Look Any Further–2–

1985Coolin' Out–36–

1993Talk to Me–––

References

Colurso, Mary (10-23-2012). Classic concert: Dennis Edwards back in Magic City with Temptations Review

 

(video), Ala.com; Retrieved February 17, 2013.

Meros, Tom. "Dennis Edwards (Interview)".

"Biography by Ron Wynn". Allmusic.com. Retrieved January 7, 2009.

"R&B Showcase Magazine Interview". Archived from the original on February 3, 2018. Retrieved May 18, 2010.

Ribowsky (2010), Ain't Too Proud to Beg, pp. 180–188.

Ribowsky, Mark (2010). Ain't Too Proud to Beg: The Troubled Lives and Enduring Soul of the Temptations.

 

Hoboken, New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons.ISBN 978-0-470-26117-0, pg. 184–187

Ribowsky (2010), pg. 187–188

List of Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Inductees

"Don't Look Any Further Album Archived September 29, 2010, at the Wayback Machine; accessed March 12, FOLLOW

 

YOUNG MCNUGGET ON SOUNDCLOUD.COMcoolin'-out "Coolin' Out Album], msn.com; accessed March 12, 2015.

Profile: Ruffin, Kendricks and Edwards, streetgold.com; accessed March 12, 2015.

Gerren Keith Gaynor (February 2, 2018). "Throwback Clip: Aretha Franklin talks writing 'Day Dreaming' about

 

Dennis Edwards". The Grio. Retrieved February 2, 2018.

Shuler, Deadra (January 4, 2011). "Topically Yours: Dennis Edwards Interview (podcast)]". Rainbow

 

Soul/Blakeradio.com. Retrieved February 17, 2013.

"Legendary Temptations singer Dennis Edwards, of Florissant, dies at 74". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. February 3,

 

2018.

Edwards, Brad (February 2, 2018). "Dennis Edwards, Temptations Lead Singer, Dead At 74". CBS 2 Chicago.

 

Retrieved February 2, 2018.

Grow, Kory (February 2, 2018). "Temptations Former Lead Singer Dennis Edwards Dead at 74". Rolling Stone.

 

Retrieved February 2, 2018.

USS Franklin D. Roosevelt (CV-42)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

History

United States

Name: USS Franklin D. Roosevelt

Namesake: Franklin D. Roosevelt

Builder: New York Naval Shipyard

Laid down: 1 December 1943

Launched: 29 April 1945

Commissioned: 27 October 1945

Decommissioned: 30 September 1977

Struck: 1 October 1977

Nickname(s):

 

"Swanky Franky"

"Foo-De-Roo"

"Rosie"

"Rusty Rosie"

 

Fate: Scrapped

General characteristics (as built)

Class and type: Midway-class aircraft carrier

Displacement: 45,000 tons

Length: 968 ft (295 m)

Beam: 113 ft (34 m)

Draft: 35 ft (11 m)

Speed: 33 kn (61 km/h; 38 mph)

Complement: 4,104 officers and men

Armament:

 

18 × 1 – 5"/54 caliber Mark 16 guns

21 × 4 – 40 mm Bofors /60 caliber guns

 

Aircraft carried: 137

 

USS Franklin D. Roosevelt (CVB/CVA/CV-42) was the second of three Midway-class aircraft carriers. To her crew, she was known as "Swanky Franky," "Foo-De-Roo," or "Rosie," with the last nickname probably the most popular. Roosevelt spent most of her active deployed career operating in the Mediterranean Sea as part of the United States Sixth Fleet. The ship was decommissioned in 1977 and was scrapped shortly afterward.

 

Early career

Roosevelt at commissioning ceremonies in 1945

 

Franklin D. Roosevelt was laid down at New York Naval Shipyard on 1 December 1943. Sponsor Mrs. John H. Towers, wife of the Deputy Commander-in-Chief, Pacific Fleet, christened the ship Coral Sea at the 29 April 1945 launching. On 8 May 1945, President Harry S. Truman approved the Secretary of the Navy's recommendation to rename the ship Franklin D. Roosevelt in honor of the late president, who had died four weeks earlier.

 

Roosevelt was commissioned on Navy Day, 27 October 1945, at the New York Naval Shipyard. Capt. Apollo Soucek was the ship's first commanding officer. During her shakedown cruise, Roosevelt called at Rio de Janeiro from 1 to 11 February 1946 to represent the United States at the inauguration of Brazilian president Eurico Gaspar Dutra, who came aboard for a short cruise. During April and May, Roosevelt participated in Eighth Fleet maneuvers off the East Coast, the Navy's first major postwar training exercise.

 

On 21 July 1946, Roosevelt became the first American carrier to operate an all-jet aircraft under controlled conditions. Lieutenant Commander James Davidson, flying the McDonnell XFD-1 Phantom, made a series of successful take-offs and landings as Roosevelt lay off Cape Henry, Virginia.[1] Jet trials continued in November, when Lt. Col. Marion E. Carl, USMC, made two catapult launches, four unassisted take-offs, and five arrested landings in a Lockheed P-80A.

 

Fleet maneuvers and other training operations in the Caribbean preceded Roosevelt's first deployment to the Mediterranean, which lasted from August to October 1946. Roosevelt, flying the flag of Rear Admiral John H. Cassady, Commander, Carrier Division 1, led the U.S. Navy force that arrived in Piraeus on 5 September 1946.[2] This visit showed U.S. support for the pro-Western government of Greece, which was locked in a civil war with Communist insurgents. The ship received thousands of visitors during her calls to many Mediterranean ports.

 

Roosevelt returned to American waters and operated off the East Coast until July 1947, when she entered Norfolk Naval Shipyard for an extensive overhaul. At that time, her quad 40 mm Bofors anti-aircraft guns were replaced by 40 3-inch (76 mm) Mark 22 guns in Mark 33 twin mountings.

 

From September 1948 to January 1949, Roosevelt undertook a second tour of duty with U.S. Naval Forces, Mediterranean. In 1950, Roosevelt became the first carrier to take nuclear weapons to sea. In September and October 1952, she participated in Operation Mainbrace, the first major NATO exercise in the North Atlantic. Roosevelt operated with other major fleet units, including the aircraft carriers USS Midway, USS Wasp, and HMS Eagle, as well as the battleships USS Wisconsin and HMS Vanguard.

 

Roosevelt was reclassified CVA-42 on 1 October 1952. On 7 January 1954, she sailed for Puget Sound Naval Shipyard to undergo extensive reconstruction. Too large to pass through the Panama Canal, Roosevelt rounded Cape Horn and arrived at the shipyard on 5 March. She was temporarily decommissioned there for her refit on 23 April 1954.

 

Roosevelt was the first of her class to undergo the SCB-110 reconstruction, at a cost of $48 million. She received an enclosed "hurricane bow," one C-11-2 and two C-11-1 steam catapults, strengthened arresting gear, an enlarged bridge, a mirror landing system, and a 482-foot (147 m) angled flight deck. SPS-8 height finding radar and SPS-12 air search radar were mounted on a new tubular mast. The aft elevator was relocated to the starboard deck edge, the forward elevator was enlarged, and all elevators were uprated to 75,000 lb (34,000 kg) capacity. Aviation fuel bunkerage was increased from 350,000 to 450,000 gallons (1,320,000 to 1,700,000 L). Standard displacement rose to 51,000 tons, while deep load displacement rose to 63,400 tons. As weight compensation, several of the 5-inch (127 mm) Mark 16 anti-aircraft guns were landed, leaving only 10, and the 3,200-ton armor belt was removed. Hull blisters were also added to cope with the increased weight. Roosevelt recommissioned on 6 April 1956.

 

After post-refit trials, Roosevelt sailed for her new homeport of Mayport, Florida. In February 1957, Roosevelt conducted cold weather tests of catapults, aircraft, and the Regulus guided missile, in the Gulf of Maine. In July, she sailed for the first of three consecutive Sixth Fleet deployments. Her assignments in the Mediterranean added NATO exercises to her normal schedule of major fleet operations, and found her entertaining a distinguished list of guests each year.

A-4 Skyhawk of VA-172 aboard Roosevelt during her only Vietnam deployment between August 1966 and February 1967

 

During a 1958 mid-year overhaul, the 22 remaining 3-inch (76 mm) guns were removed.

 

On 24 October 1958, Roosevelt supported USS Kleinsmith in the evacuation of 56 American citizens and three foreign nationals from Nicara, Cuba, as the Cuban Revolution came to a climax.

 

In late 1960, the Control Instrument Company installed the first production Fresnel Lens Optical Landing System (FLOLS) onboard Roosevelt. She recorded her 100,000th aircraft landing in March 1961. During a 1963 overhaul, six more 5-inch (127 mm) guns were removed.

 

While operating in the Eastern Mediterranean in the fall of 1964, Roosevelt lost a blade from one of her 20-ton propellers. She proceeded from Naples, Italy to New York with the number one shaft locked. After replacing the propeller at Bayonne, New Jersey, Roosevelt returned to the Mediterranean to complete her cruise.

 

From August 1966 to January 1967, Roosevelt made her only deployment to Southeast Asia, spending a total of 95 days "on the line." Her embarked airwing, Carrier Air Wing One, consisted mainly of F-4 Phantom IIs and A-4 Skyhawks. Roosevelt received one battle star for her service during the Vietnam War.

 

In January 1968, Italian actress Virna Lisi was invited by Roosevelt's crew to participate in the ship's 22nd birthday celebrations. Lisi helped prepare 5,000 T-bone steaks at a large cook-out staged on the flight deck.

 

Roosevelt was initially slated to undergo an extensive reconstruction (SCB 101.68) similar to that received by Midway from 1966 to 1970. This plan was derailed by massive cost overruns in Midway's reconstruction, which eventually totalled $202 million. Roosevelt was therefore limited to an austere $46 million refit, enabling her to operate the Grumman A-6 Intruder and LTV A-7 Corsair II.

 

In July 1968, Roosevelt entered Norfolk Naval Shipyard for her 11-month modernization program. The forward centerline elevator was relocated to the starboard deck edge forward of the island, the port waist catapult was removed, the crew spaces were refurbished, and two of the four remaining 5-inch (127 mm) anti-aircraft turrets were removed. Roosevelt also received a deck edge spray system using the new seawater compatible fire-fighting chemical, Light Water. She put to sea again on 26 May 1969.

 

From 1 August 1969, Roosevelt embarked Carrier Air Wing Six, which served as the ship's air wing for the next seven cruises.[3] In January 1970, Roosevelt returned to the Mediterranean for another Sixth Fleet deployment.

 

Roosevelt's twenty-first Sixth Fleet deployment was marked by indirect participation in the October 1973 Yom Kippur War, as she served as a transit "landing field" for aircraft being delivered to Israel. The Roosevelt battlegroup, Task Force 60.2, also stood by for possible evacuation contingencies.

 

From 1973 through 1975, VAW-121 operated aboard Roosevelt as one of the last Grumman E-1 Tracer squadrons in the fleet. Roosevelt received a multipurpose designation, CV-42, on 30 June 1975, but she did not operate any anti-submarine aircraft. In June 1976, Roosevelt embarked VMA-231 with 14 AV-8A Harrier attack aircraft.

 

The ship embarked Carrier Air Wing Nineteen for its final deployment, which lasted from October 1976 to April 1977.[4] VMA-231 was on board for this deployment, which demonstrated that VTOL aircraft could be successfully and seamlessly integrated into fixed wing air operations. On 12 January 1977, Roosevelt collided with the Liberian grain freighter Oceanus while transiting the Strait of Messina. Both ships were able to proceed to port under their own power.

 

Decommissioning and disposal

 

By the late 1970s, Roosevelt was in poor material condition. Deprived of the upgrades that Midway and Coral Sea had received, Roosevelt was the least modern and least capable of the class. Furthermore, Roosevelt used General Electric turbines, which gave persistent problems and reduced speed compared to the Westinghouse units used on the other ships. The Navy therefore chose to decommission Roosevelt when the second Nimitz-class carrier, Dwight D. Eisenhower, entered service in 1977. Roosevelt completed her final cruise in April 1977. She was officially decommissioned on 30 September 1977. The decommissioning ceremony was held on 1 October 1977 and the ship was stricken from the Navy List on the same day. Efforts to preserve Roosevelt as a museum ship in New York City failed.

 

Roosevelt's generally poor condition weighed against retaining her in the reserve fleet. Moreover, her low hangar height of 17 feet 6 inches (5.33 m) limited the aircraft types that she could handle. It was reasoned that existing Essex-class aircraft carriers could handle the same types of aircraft at lower cost. Some admirals also feared that if Roosevelt were retained, the Carter Administration would use her reactivation as a reason to cancel future Nimitz-class carriers.

 

On 1 April 1978, the Defense Reutilization and Marketing Service sold the ship to River Terminal Development Company for $2.1 million. After usable equipment was removed from Roosevelt at the Norfolk Naval Shipyard's Inactive Ships Facility, the carrier was towed to Kearny, New Jersey. She arrived on 3 May 1978 and was scrapped that year.

Mrs. Butler forgot to pin her brooch lol if she did then she must lay off the brandy..........

Founded in 1872, The Boston Globe (and Boston Sunday Globe) is the most widely circulated daily newspaper in Boston and in New England, United States. In 2008 the Globe's average weekday circulation fell to 350,605, down from 382,503, or 8.3 percent. Sunday circulation fell 6.5 percent to 525,959.

 

The decline in circulation of the Globe mirrors the decline throughout the United States and the world with a few exceptions, such as India and China, where slight rises have been noted.

 

In addition to drops in circulation at the New York Times and Washington Post, circulation of such industry leaders as the Houston Chronicle, the Star-Ledger of Newark (New Jersey), the Philadelphia Inquirer, the Orange County Register and the Detroit News fell 10 percent or more. Many more newspapers are losing readership.

 

The rise of the Internet (The Christian Science Monitor is going to be an internet-only journal, for example) explains part of the problem for hard-copy newspapers. Tough economic conditions are also blamed, as well as a decline in analytical reading overall. Magazines are also losing readership.

 

According to my source at Globe, they are laying off people and cutting back on their costs (such as closing down business in two of their three buildings). The source tells me that it is like a "Skeleton Crew" working now at the Globe offices...many of whom are employed to deal with technology and the internet.

 

sources:

 

wiki

 

www.nytimes.com/2008/10/28/business/media/28circ.html?_r=1

 

www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/search/article_display.jsp?v...

 

www.usatoday.com/money/media/2008-08-29-newspapers-in-dec...

 

www.techcrunch.com/2008/03/28/decline-of-us-newspapers-ac...

I broke my main camera on Saturday and my computer has been acting wonky for the past few days. Not a good time for my two most important pieces of nerd equipment to go down, but I do like the sound of a D700 and a MacBook Pro...

 

So I feel a little blue. Not as blue as AS is pretending to be here, but pretty blue.

 

* I processed this photo on a different computer, and as you can tell it is not calibrated. Yikes. So lay off on the saturation comments. I am well aware.

 

Strobist Information:

Monoblock in XL Octobox camera left

Monoblock in L Octobox high above model

Monoblock in XL silk panel camera right

* Flashwaves Triggers

** I'll update with the name of the strobes when I find the set up shots

 

Okay there's a little story behind this musical instrument; isn't there always? LOL.

 

When I was about 15 years old, which is more years ago than I care to remember, I had done something to displease my father who decided my punishment should be a 2 week grounding [not that that was the term for it in those days!]. One evening, a couple of days into the punishment, my father came home and handed me this mandolin harp and announced that I could now spend the punishment days learning to play it. I like to think it was his way of telling me that he thought he had been a bit harsh but wasn't about to back down.

 

Suffice to say I did have to stay in for the full 14 days, but regrettably never learnt to play this instrument which was well out of tune when I got it. Much later in life I found an old clock key worked on the tuning keys and did get it tuned up but alas I still haven't managed to learn how to play it.

 

I think it is quite old as the inscription label inside the sound box reads " Guitar Columbia Zither - Mandolin Harp - Finest Quality - Made in Saxony". It is quite beautifully decorated as you can see from the image in the comments below.

 

Anyway it is my submission for Macro Mondays' weekly theme "Musical Instruments" which I am pleased to be getting back to after a bit of an enforced lay off attending to other non-photographic issues.

 

HMM to all who view & if you also take the time & trouble to comment / fave it then I thank you most sincerely in advance. :>)

The Oakland Oaks were a minor league baseball team in Oakland, California that played in the Pacific Coast League from 1903 through 1955, after which the club transferred to Vancouver, British Columbia. The team was named for the city and used the oak tree and the acorn as its symbols.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Jack Flater

Position: Pitcher

Bats: Right • Throws: Right

5' 10", 175 lbs

Born: September 22, 1883 in Sandymount, MD

Died: March 20, 1970 (Aged 86) in Westminster, MD

Buried: Pleasant Grove Cemetery, Sandymount, MD

Debut: September 18, 1908 (Age 24)

vs. SLB 8.0 IP, 10 H, 1 SO, 1 BB, 0 ER, L

Last Game: October 3, 1908 (Age 25)

vs. BOS 8.0 IP, 5 H, 2 SO, 2 BB, 0 ER, W

Full Name: John William Flater

 

Link to his minor league stats - www.baseball-reference.com/register/player.fcgi?id=flater...

 

John William Flater (b. September 22, 1883 – d. March 20, 1970 at age 86) was a Major League Baseball pitcher for the Philadelphia Athletics just at the end of the 1908 season (September 18 – October 3). The 5 right-hander was a native of Sandymount, Maryland.

 

Flater pitched in five games for the Athletics. He hurled complete games in all three of his starting assignments, and he finished two other games in relief. He pitched much better than his 1–3 record would indicate. In 39.1 innings he allowed only 49 baserunners (35 hits, 12 walks, and 2 hit batsmen), and just 9 of the 15 runs that scored against him were earned runs. His ERA was an excellent 2.06. He was pitching for a team, however, that won 68 games, lost 85, and made 272 errors, including 3 by Flater himself. The games he lost were by scores of 2–1, 3–2, and 5–4.

 

Four of his famous teammates on the Athletics were future Hall of Famers Chief Bender, Eddie Collins, Jimmy Collins, and Eddie Plank.

 

Flater died at the age of 87 in Westminster, Maryland, and is buried in nearby Sandymount, Maryland.

 

Jack Flater compiled a minor league career batting average of .226 with 1 home run in his 291-game career with the Albany Senators, Utica Pent-Ups, Williamsport Champions, Newark Indians, Oakland Oaks and Los Angeles Angels. He began playing during the 1903 season and last took the field during the 1912 campaign. He won 45 and lost 40 games from 1908 to 1912.

 

(Sporting Life, 25 July 1903) - Albany has signed pitcher Flater, late of the Baltimore Club, and has released pitcher Arthur I. Goodwin. (The baseball records do not show it but he pitched for the Baltimore Orioles in the Eastern League for the first few months of the 1903 season)

 

(Sporting Life, 12 March 1904) - John Flater awarded to the Albany Club. After playing with Baltimore for about two weeks in April and early May the player was given a written notice of release, and at that time signed a 1904 contract with Baltimore. He joined the Albany Club, July 14, playing with that club to the finish of the season; was duly reserved and signed a 1904 contract with Albany. Baltimore failed to reserve Flater. The Board ruled that player must be given an unconditional release or carried on club's pay-roll; to do otherwise would create confusion and encourage a violation of "farming" rule.

 

(Sporting Life, 5 October 1907) - Pitcher Flater, of Utica, may join the Philadelphia Athletics this week. This would give the Athletics another Southern player. He lives at Westminster, Md.

 

(Sporting Life, 13 June 1908) - Pitcher Flater, of Williamsport, is suffering from several broken ribs, the result of getting in the road of one of Jack Emerson's fast benders.

 

(Sporting Life, 8 May 1909) - During the past week Manager Mack of the Philadelphia Athletics reduced his pitching staff by one member, turning Flater, last year with Williamsport, over to Newark.

 

(Sporting Life, 15 May 1909) - MONTREAL AT NEWARK MAY 3.— Pitcher Jack Flater recently purchased from the Philadelphia Athletics, made his bow in Eastern League company by shutting out the Montreals. Four scattered hits, in as many innings, were all the Royals could get. He also fielded his position in superb style. Score: Newark 2 - Montreal 0.

 

(Sporting Life, 12 March 1910) - Jack Flater who pitched for Utica several seasons ago, has signed a Newark contract.

 

(San Francisco Call, 11 May 1911) - Jack Flater, the new pitcher of the Oakland club, is due to arrive here Saturday and in all probability will work against the Seals in the coming series. The newcomer has an excellent record and should prove a tower of strength to the team. He was an old sidekicker of Wolverton. When Harry was with Williamsport Flater won 35 games and lost but 15. Last year he started with Newark, but his arm went back on him and he was forced to lay off. Now he has regained his old time speed and will be of great help to the pitching staff.

 

(San Francisco Call, 18 May 1911) - Jack Flater, a New Arrival, Pitches and Bats His Team Into a Tie With Seals - Plater, the Oaks' latest acquisition in the hurling department, lost but little time in making himself a prime favorite with those who are always for a winner. Just off the train from the east, the new Oak was shoved into the game yesterday by Manager Wolverton to show what he could do, and his work was 100 proof with a double seal. Not alone did the new arrival -distinguish himself in the hurling line, but he proved to be a swatter of no mean ability by busting the show up in the tenth, when he biffed the pellet up against the left field fence and, shoved Hetling across with the winning run.

 

(San Francisco Call, 22 June 1911) - BEAVERS LOSE FIRST GAME TO THE OAKS - Jack Flater Keeps the Champions Guessing and Wolverton's Bad Boy Makes a Homer - The Oaks came right back at the Beavers yesterday, and more than evened it up for their defeat on the previous afternoon. The transbay team gave the leaders one of the finest wallopings of the season, and never left the result in doubt at any time. They took an early lead, and kept increasing their advantage right along, until the finish was 8 to I. On the other hand, Flater, the man who depends upon salivated slants to bewilder his victims, had them hypnotized throughout and they were bowing before the Oak flinger, as an English flunkey bows to his lord. Flater was right. He tossed one of those games that marked his debut in the Coast league and there was not a time during the affray when he was threatened with annihilation. Flater had their number and they kept going to the plate and then back to the bench with monotonous regularity.

 

(The San Francisco Call, February 01, 1912) - John Flater, who pitched in and out ball last season, but who showed a lot at times, has also sent in his contract. He is a big fellow and a great future is before him. He had a fine spitter, and figures to have a winning season with the Oakland Oaks this year.

 

(Sporting News, 30 March 1912) - The Oakland Club has traded pitcher Flater to Los Angeles for shortstop Bert Delmas.

 

(San Francisco Call, 3 May 1912) - Bert Delmas Will Lead New Modesto Nine - Bert Delmas, the former Los Angeles shortstop, who was traded to the Oakland club at tho end of the season for John Flater, but failed to report to the Oaks, has squared himself with organized baseball and Ed Walters, president of the Oakland club.

 

(Morning Oregonian, July 30, 1912) - FLATER WILL BE RELEASED - Angel Pitcher Obtained From Oaks Has Weak Arm. LOS ANGELES, Cal., July 29. (Special.) "Jack" Flater, the right-hand pitcher whom the Angels procured from Oakland the first part of this season, is slated for release, according to reports today. The release of Flater practically closes the famous Delmas case so far as the Angels are concerned. Bert Delmas, who for five years played short for the Angels, turned outlaw this Spring. Delmas said he would not play with the Angels any more and the Oakland club traded back Flater to Los Angeles, Delmas giving them cause to believe that he would join the northern team. Delmas never joined them and he now is managing the Modesto outlaws. Flater came south, but his arm was In bad shape. The wing had been painted with a heavy coat of iodine and the ligaments in his arm were dried up. He has not been in the best of shape for a year.

 

(Sacramento Union, 1 August 1912) - Managers Hogan of Vernon, and Berry of Los Angeles swung the big axe vigorously last night and as a result four players were released outright. The Los Angeles management let Pitcher Jack Flater go. It was stated the men were taken from the payrolls because of President Baum’s ruling that no team in the Pacific Coast league could carry more than twenty-one players.

Bhopal is often called the "The City of Begums (Queens)" for the successive dynasty of Queens that ruled the city.

 

The most impressive structure in Bhopal is the Taj-ul-Masjid, one of the largest and most elegant mosques in India. Work on the mosque was commenced during the reign of Shah Jahan Begum of Bhopal, who ruled from 1868 to 1901. Taj-ul-Masjid literally translates as 'The Crown of Mosques', and the construction of the monument was characterised by sporadic bursts of activity alternating with spans of inactivity during the reigns of successive Begums. However, the monument was never completed due to lack of money, and after a long lay-off, construction was resumed in 1971. The building really presents a spectacular sight and is worth taking a bow to. It's pink façade is topped by two huge white-domed minarets pointing upwards to the heavens, as if seeking its blessings. The monument also has three huge bulbous domes, an impressive main hallway with attractive pillars, marble flooring and a spacious courtyard. The mosque is one of the most important landmarks in the city of Bhopal, and is multi-purpose as it is used as a madarsa (Islamic religious school) during the day.

Niblet weighs approximately 10 1/2 ounces and measures about 10 inches from head to heel. Her taste buds are developing, so she can actually taste whatever I'm eating. So I should lay off the spicy foods? Kid is also starting to develop meconium - the black tar she'll poop out right after birth. Yummy.

 

Heart rate is 144-146 beats per minute. Midwife says we're doing swimmingly, says things couldn't be better. I weigh 139 pounds - the heaviest I've been in my entire life. That's a 14 pound gain so far. All for a good cause...

From Silver Streak 2

This was Miss P's first shoot with us after a long break. Rather than being a little rusty she jumped in with both feet and seemed to have improved during the lay off. Absence makes the heart grow fonder?

Do anything you want but lay off of my blue suede shoes.

The former Taylor and Boggis Foundry at 2441-2469 E. 71st Street in Cleveland, Ohio, in the United States.

 

Taylor & Boggis was founded in 1868 and was Cleveland's oldest foundry. It manufactured machine, metal, and wood patterns and specialized in grey iron castings. Gray iron is a type of cast iron that has a graphitic microstructure. It is the most common cast iron.

 

In 1919, Taylor & Boggis, Columbian Hardware, and Republic Structural Iron Works merged to form the Consolidated Iron-Steel Manufacturing Co.

 

The Taylor & Boggis plant was originally located on Central Street (now W. 3rd Street) between Ohio Avenue (now Central Avenue) and Stone's Levee. It moved to a new plant at E. 55th Street and Bellford Avenue in 1911, and then purchased the former Cleveland Brass & Copper Co. plant on Babbitt Road in Euclid, Ohio, in 1932.

 

The Ohio Foundry Co. was formed in 1893. In 1906, it built a 50,000-square-foot plant on E. 71st Street between Quincy and Woodland Avenues. The plant included a 60 by 300 foot finishing plant and a 160 by 250 foot foundry plant. The general contractor was George Caunter & Son, with masonry work provided by C.L. Briggs and structural steel by Interstate Engineering Co.

 

Consolidated purchased Ohio Foundry in 1958, and renamed the E. 71st Street plant for Taylor & Boggis. This became known as "Plant No. 2", while the Babbitt Road facility was "Plant No. 1".

 

Consolidated spun off Taylor & Boggis Foundry to a management buy-out team consisting of Frank Gill (president of Artisan Patterns and Engineering), Joseph Hanks Jr. (a vice president of Consolidated and plant number two manager), and Ernest Thomas (plant number two superintendent) in 1961. They in turn sold their company to Oglebay Norton in 1969.

 

Oglebay Norton spun off the foundry in 1993 as a separate company. It took the name "T&B Foundry".

 

T&B Foundry shuttered its operations in 2012, laying off 100 workers. The eight-acre site was sold to developer J. Duncan Shorey in 2015, who planned to renovate the building. He proposed builidng a fish farm in the basement, adding a farmer's market on the first floor, putting a cooking school on the second, adding artists' studios to the third, and using the remaining floors as a computer server farm. The adjacent acreage would be turned into an orchard.

 

Nothing has happened since then.

This is a shot of Tower Bridge in London that I took over two years ago in September 2008.

 

Got to get some kind of plug-in to remove the lens distortion. You can really see it here with the lamp stand and the tower leaning towards each other, and the railing being bowed like that.

 

I've been around on Flickr, but I have only been visiting streams and commenting. I haven't been posting. Haven't really had the time to process much for myself. Things at work have been busy - we had another round of lay-offs on top of that (took place on Thursday), and I've been working on some shots from someone who wanted them changed (new backgrounds, filtering, etc.) so that's eaten up most of my time. But after I saw my last post was on September 19 I realized I had to process and post something as that was so long ago! Hopefully life will quiet down a bit, though it's showing no signs of it.

 

Have a great weekend everyone!

German postcard by Franz Josef Rüdel, Filmpostkartenverlag, Hamburg, no. 5132. Photo: Constantin / Seitz / Klaus. Heintje and Hansi Kraus in Hurra, die Schule brennt - Die Lümmel von der ersten Bank IV. Teil/Hurrah, the School Is Burning (Werner Jacobs, 1969).

 

Dutch singer and actor Hein Simons (1955) was a famous child star in the 1960s under the name Heintje. He sang in Dutch, English, German, Japanese and Afrikaans, and he sold more than 40 million records worldwide. His greatest hit was Mama. Between 1968 and 1971 he also starred in six German light entertainment films, of which one became surprisingly popular in Red China.

 

Hendrik (Hein) Nicolaas Theodoor Simons was born in Kerkrade-Bleijerheide, in the south of the Netherlands, in 1955. Heintje was discovered after a talent contest in the Dutch town of Schaesberg by Addy Kleijngeld, a producer of the CNR record company. Kleijngeld went on to compose and record all his hit songs - mostly together with the German producer Wolfgang Roloff. Heintje’s first hit was Mama (1967), a Dutch version of the evergreen sung in the 1940’s by opera tenor Beniamino Gigli. It became a success in the Netherlands and a German version was produced for the German countries. In 1968 Mama reached the #2 position in the German hitparade. Heintje’s next German record, Du sollst nicht weinen (You should not cry) (1968), even became #1. Other huge hits soon followed as the # 1 hit in Germany ánd the Netherlands Ich bau' dir ein Schloss (I’ll build you a castle) (1968), Heidschi bumbeidschi (1968) – another # 1 in both Germany and the Netherlands, Ich sing ein Lied für dich (I sing you a song) (1969) – another # 1 in Germany, the Dutch song Ik hou van Holland (I love Holland) (1970), the English song I'm your little boy (1970) and another Dutch song Jij bent de allerbeste (You are the best) (1971). In 1971, Heintje started a USA tour with 10 shows. He received 45 Golden records all over the world (at the time the award for 250,000 sold records in Europe and for 1 million records in Great-Britain) and a dozen Platinum records. Worldwide he sold more than 40 million records.

 

Between 1968 and 1971, Heintje appeared in six German films. His first film was Zum Teufel mit der Penne/To Hell with School (Werner Jacobs, 1968) with Peter Alexander and Theo Lingen. This comedy was the second of the Lümmel film series (6 in total), stuffy but harmless farces in which young students and other youths dissociate themselves from the older generation. Heintje played a supporting role and sang his hit Mama. In the following years he starred in three sentimental Heintje-films opposite Heinz Reincke and Ralf Wolter: Heintje – ein Herz geht auf Reisen/Heintje: A Heart Goes on a Journey (Werner Jacobs, 1969), Heintje – einmal wird die Sonne wieder scheinen/Heintje: Once the Sun Will Be Shining Again (Hans Heinrich, 1970) with Paul Dahlke, and Heintje – mein bester Freund/Heintje: My Best Friend (Werner Jacobs, 1970) with Corny Collins. Heintje – ein Herz geht auf Reisen was awarded a Golden Screen in Germany for more than 3,000,000 attendances within 12 months. With subtitles the Heintje films were shown all over the world. Surprisingly, the film became also popular in communist China in the early 1980s. On IMDb, Zhengyu Sun comments: “In the West, this film may be easily neglected as time goes by. But amazingly, Heintje would definitely be crowned as one of the memorable western films on Chinese screen even from today's perspective. Although filmed in 1960s, the film wasn't available in Red China until earlier 1980s. When the film was introduced, it was given a Chinese title, Handsome Boy. Actually, Heintje conforms with Chinese traditional values to great extend, such as parental and grandparental love, the theme of the harmonious family, the main character's righteous and courageous virtue. All of which seem pretty familiar and quite acceptable to the Chinese point of view. What's more, the songs performed by little Heintje Simons also contributed a lot to the popularity of the film in China. Without any exaggerating, the film is a household name among those middle-aged and well-educated.” Heintje also appeared - now in starring roles –in two more Lümmel farces, Hurra, die Schule brennt/Hurrah, the School is Burning (Werner Jacobs, 1969) and Morgen fällt die Schule aus/No School Tomorrow (Werner Jacobs, 1971), his final film.

 

When Heintje was 16, the inevitable happened: his voice changed. His last hit in the Netherlands was Meine Liebe für dich (My love for you) (1972). He continued to be quite popular in Germany, but couldn’t lay off his image as a former child star. In 1975, he made two LP’s with songs in Afrikaans, which were quite successful in South-Africa. His performances in the state of apartheid lead to some criticism in his home country though. As a young adult, he tried to make a come-back in the Netherlands with the song Und das alles nur weil wir uns lieben (And that's just because we love each other) (1978), but it only became a modest success. He also tried several come-backs in the German speaking regions, and in 1995 he even recorded a techno version of his first hit Mama. Nowadays Hein Simons resides with his family on a horse ranch in Neu-Moresnet, a part of the city of Kelmis in the east of Belgium. In 1981, he married Doris Uhl, and they have three children, Pascal (1982), Gina (1989) and Hendrik (1992). Hein Simons still performs and records regularly.

 

Sources: International Hein Simons Website, Zhengyu Sun (IMDb), Wikipedia and IMDb.

 

And, please check out our blog European Film Star Postcards.

‪Tiësto - Ten Seconds Before Sunrise‬

 

Forte Prenestino covers eight hectares south-east of Rome. Originally built a century ago as a military base, the Forte was abandoned in the sixties like so many of Italy's public buildings in this time of property speculation and public corruption. When a group of mostly young people from the neighbourhood decided to occupy the Forte on May Day almost twenty years ago, they were inspired not by the legacy of Togliatti - the Italian communist leader who effortlessly blended stalinism and social democracy - but by a determination to establish and extend a radical, self-managed alternative to the marginalisation which life on the city fringes offered."All of a sudden, we were inside, 'running' the place - we who had never managed anything except our unemployment, our homelessness", they later commented wryly. "Many people are convinced that the Forte is run by just a handful of people, a management committee that makes decisions in the name of and on behalf of everyone else. Such people simply can't conceive - whether for reasons of ideology or cynicism - that a micro-society of equal persons can survive and prosper..."Today Forte Prenestino plays an important role in its local community. It houses an exhibition gallery, practice rooms for bands, space for theatrical performances, a dark room, gymnasium, and cafe. Classes are held, there are regular film nights, courses on design and sculpture, and a documentation centre. Outside Rome, the Forte is best known for its music label, featuring local rap and reggae bands. It also produces the journal Nessuna Dipendenza, which documents the Forte's activities and engages in political discussion and debate.Forte Prenestino is one of about fourteen 'Occupied Self-Managed Social Centres' (CSOA) in Rome. There are about hundred or so CSOA elsewhere in Italy - it's hard to be precise, as any given week brings news of a new site or two established, or an old one evicted. Their origins go back to the mid-seventies, a time when the extra-parliamentary left played an important part in Italian youth culture. Even then, the CSOA were often established in reaction to the growing conservatism and authoritarianism of such groups, whether these be the little parties formed after the Hot Autumn of 1969, or the apparently more radical collectives known as Autonomia Operaia (Workers' Autonomy).By the end of the seventies, the organised far left had largely been smashed, caught between extensive State repression on the one hand, and a flight into private life or terrorism on the other. In industry, a decade-long battle for control over working conditions came to an end, with the massive 1980 lay-offs at FIAT flagging an impending victory for managerial prerogative throughout Italy.The CSOA that survived the chaos of those years eked out their existence during the early and mid-eighties as bastions of an 'alternative lifestyle'. 'Transgressive' identities - from those associated with punk music, to more traditional anarchist or autonomist politics - played a central role in holding many of the remaining social centres together, in the face of an Italy where opportunism, fear and cynicism apparently reigned supreme.

The late eighties onwards have confounded many of the glib arguments that class war in Italy is over, or that the future has been reduced to a choice of 'Export or death'.Beginning in 1987 among school teachers and railway staff, a growing dissatisfaction with the inability of existing unions to defend pay and conditions has spread to other sections of the workforce, creating a small but lively current of rank and file groups and 'alternative' unions pledged to direct action and self-organisation. Unrest among school and university students has brought a similar cycle of mass action since 1990, with occupations 'under self-management' a frequent occurence.Much of this activity has fed into the revival of the social centres in the nineties. As dozens of abandoned buildings have been seized up and down the Italian peninsula, the social and political identity of the CSOA has become richer, more complex

Found this mantis doing its thing on the dead tree by the office.

I managed to capture the arrival of newly-overhauled DMS19 at BK after its original spell at BN from new. No garage code or blinds have been added at this point. Next door from L to R is DMS546, 322 (transferred from PM the previous year after a lengthy lay-off), 552, 1620 (out of service) and 1626.

 

*** Retouched 31/03/2023

 

Copyright myself

Pictures from the Vanarama National League North clash at Broadhurst Park between FC United of Manchester and Darlington.

 

The game finished in a hard fought 3-2 victory for Darlo. who were 2-0 up inside 27 minutes.

 

Hardy opended the scoring for the visitors latching onto a superb ball from Thompson before slipping the ball past the advancing keeper.

 

Quakers went two-up on 27 minutes but it should have been more as thye spurned a host of chnaces. Liam Marrs’ free-kick was headed down by Mark Beck for Hardy to lay off in turn for Thompson to fire across Frith.

 

Against the run of play United pulled a goal back on 42 minutes when Jason Gilchrist spotted Jameson off his line, and chipped the ball over the keeper followed by an equaliser on 66 minutes from Thomson.

 

A draw looked on the cards however with 10 minutes left subsititute Cartman cleverly found Purewal with an overhead kick for his fellow sub to charge up the left. His ball to the far post was blocked, but it came back out to Cartman, who struck a low shot that took a deflection and beat the keeper to make it 3-2. Darlo were able to weather a late storm to secure all 3 points!

Er.... gotta lay off that chocolate.

This picture of an old abandoned Detroit Public School sort of sums up the whole "lack of an exit plan" problem with closing schools here in Detroit, laying off teachers with no plans for reassignment, etc. I understand the idea behind a decrease in population, etc here in Detroit facilitating the requirement of reducing the number of schools, etc. The only plan I have seen for the schools that have closed or are to be closed is a) they sit abandoned for a few years b) they sit abandoned for a few years full of materials that other schools could have used or c) they get demolished and have no plans for the land after the demolition. Sort of how the teachers get treated too. Hmmm..... I notice a trend here.

Think li'l 'cheep cheep' needs to lay off the Almond Roca, as he's turning into quite the little 'porker'!

 

This little fella is a Hallmark collectible, and while I MIGHT be pushing the season just a tad, I thought he'd look oh-so-cute filled with jelly beans for Easter time...

Now this was an odd little piece from Chevy, the SSR or Super Sport Roadster. Essentially, the SSR was built to compete with the likes of the Ford SVT Lightning, a supercharged version of their conventional Ford F-150. The SSR is similar in that it's powered by a 6.0L V8 engine, giving the car 395hp. Styling was largely influenced by the famous Advanced Design pickup trucks of the 1940's and 50's, being built onto the platform of the long wheelbase Chevy Trailblazer, but to be honest the connection between the two does strike me as rather vague.

 

Launched in 2003, the car went on sale for princely sum of $42,000, and sales in the first year were lukewarm at best, with only 9,000 cars sold by 2004. Eventually, lay-offs and labour disputes at the Lansing Craft Centre, where the SSR was built, resulted in the factory being shut down in 2006, spelling a premature end to the SSR.

 

In all, 24,150 SSR's were built, with only 24,112 being sold to customers. Today the SSR is cited as one of the most misguided ventures in motoring history, describing the car's styling as ugly, it's performance as unimpressive, and it's production an absolute shambles.

 

But for me there is something rather likeable about the SSR. Indeed it's not the prettiest car in the world, but for what it is as a small, versatile little pickup truck, I don't think it's as bad as many people make it out to be. I wouldn't exactly go out of my way to own one, but I can see what the attraction is. :)

≈ Just another crappy image made from my stolen photo...

using McCain of all the bloody people.... damn ≈

 

OK.. this is what I have to say about the whole thing.....

 

the moment that I spent with my grandmother, as she held the framed vintage image of her mother as a young woman in her hands was so very powerful & moving... that image "Mother and Child"

was made with tri-x film... shot in natural light with my Nikon F2 or maybe my FM2...

 

anyway

it was made on Cape Cod in the late summer... it was a moment

from my life this was real & so the photo is imbued with this deep

feeling from my heart...

 

I shared it on flickr

 

Three years later It was stolen & used in a disrespectful way on a cheep internet site without my permission

 

It was made in a different time than the time when it was taken from me & made into a joke...

 

The photo was made in 1999 or so.... long ago..

 

is it now "old skool" to respect others?

 

is it out of style to do the right thing?

 

it seems that in many ways we have come to this

in so many... many ways...

 

since this image was made, we as a nation have been dragged

through the muck of our own sick dream of the world.. as deep values

and kind ways of seeing the world crumble around us all

 

and as the tools get smarter, culture has turned into a big joke...

 

web weirdoes stealing images & making a mockery of them...

never an understanding & no respect for the creator/artist who dreamed & made the images in the first place

 

biotech companies stealing the information to so many life forms

to try to copyright them and own nature, even change it's perfect design

 

it is a time when lives and dignity have been stolen from the poor...

the poor ....many who are slaves... real slaves...

the poor children... the murdered & poor women in Mexico... India... Africa

the world over

 

the War in Iraq that needs to end!

 

as we tune in to "The Real Housewives of Orange County"....

"Rock of Love"... "What Not to Wear"... "Extream Makeover" and such....

as the magazines spit out creepier & creepier

celebrity images... our senses are dulled...

how can we address these things?

 

Real life things like real slaves... on this planet NOW....

slaves who harvest our foods...little girls in cages in India made to do 30 to 40 sex acts a day & murdered girls from factories in Mexico who

make the things we buy at Wall-mart or Sam's Club that break too soon...

 

all that plastic crap that we don't need

made in China & shipped all over this dying planet...

 

in this time of the stolen economies... of addiction to oil & plastic &

to porno ....to war & greed

 

in this time of lay offs & break ins...

 

it all boils down the same thing... it is the EGO...

lies & EGO... of taking... of taking beauty.. of taking art..

of taking women

of taking the earth...

 

it is separation

and it is wrong

 

it is a time NOW to stop all of the lies...

all the taking.... for we will just be stuck with all this taking...

STUCK... I tell you, this I know...taking gets you stuck!

 

it is time to be kind & good & true & just STOP...

 

Being Fake is Lame not caring about this planet & the people on it, is a crime.

 

≈ STOP TAKING MY ART & OTHERS ART 2 ≈

 

that is what I think.

 

PEACE • PAX • Paz... Beauty • Truth & Art

View On Black

  

Ford was launched in a converted factory in 1902 with $31,000 in cash (approximately US$704 thousand, adjusted for inflation) from twelve investors, most notably John and Horace Dodge, who would later found the Dodge Brothers Motor Vehicle Company. Henry Ford was 40 years old when he founded the Ford Motor Company, which would go on to become one of the largest and most profitable companies in the world, as well as being one of the few to survive the Great Depression. The largest family-controlled company in the world, the Ford Motor Company has been in continuous family control for over 100 years.

 

During its early years, the company produced a range of vehicles designated, chronologically, from the Ford Model A (1903) to the Model K and Model S (Ford's last right-hand steering model)[1] of 1907.[2] The K, Ford's first six-cylinder model, was knows as "the gentleman's roadster" and "the silent cyclone", and sold for US$2800 (approximately US$65.4 thousand, adjusted for inflation);[3] by contrast, around that time, the Enger 40 was priced at US$2000,[4] the Colt Runabout US$1500,[5] the high-volume Oldsmobile Runabout[6] US$650, Western's Gale Model A US$500,[7] and the Success hit the amazingly low US$250 (approximately US$5.84 thousand, adjusted for inflation).[8]

 

The next year, Henry Ford introduced the Model T. Earlier models were produced at a rate of only a few a day at a rented factory on Mack Avenue in Detroit, Michigan, with groups of two or three men working on each car from components made to order by other companies (what would come to be called an "assembled car"). The first Model Ts were built at the Piquette Road Manufacturing Plant, the first company-owned factory. In its first full year of production, 1909, about 18,000 Model Ts were built. As demand for the car grew, the company moved production to the much larger Highland Park Plant, and in 1911, the first year of operation there, 69,762[9] Model Ts were produced, with 170,211 in 1912.[10] By 1913, the company had developed all of the basic techniques of the assembly line and mass production. Ford introduced the world's first moving assembly line that year, which reduced chassis assembly time from 12½ hours in October to 2 hours 40 minutes (and ultimately 1 hour, 33 minutes),[11] and boosted annual output to 202,667 units that year[12] After a Ford ad promised profit-sharing if sales hit 300,000 between August 1914 and August 1915,[13] sales in 1914 hit 308,162, and 501,462 in 1915;[14] by 1920, production would exceed one million a year.

 

These innovations were hard on employees, and turnover of workers was very high, while increased productivity actually reduced labor demand.[15] Turnover meant delays and extra costs of training, and use of slow workers. In January 1914, Ford solved the employee turnover problem by doubling pay to $5 a day, cutting shifts from nine hours to an eight hour day for a 5 day work week (which also increased sales; a line worker could buy a T with less than four months' pay),[16] and instituting hiring practices that identified the best workers, including disabled people considered unemployable by other firms.[17] Employee turnover plunged, productivity soared, and with it, the cost per vehicle plummeted. Ford cut prices again and again and invented the system of franchised dealers who were loyal to his brand name. Wall Street had criticized Ford's generous labor practices when he began paying workers enough to buy the products they made.[18]

Ford assembly line (1913)

 

While Ford attained international status in 1904 with the founding of Ford of Canada, it was in 1911 the company began to rapidly expand overseas, with the opening of assembly plants in England and France, followed by Denmark (1923), Germany (1925), Austria (1925),[19] and Argentina (1925),[20] and also in South Africa (1924)[21] and Australia (1925) as subsidiaries of Ford of Canada due to preferential tariff rules for Commonwealth countries. By the end of 1919, Ford was producing 50 percent of all cars in the United States, and 40% of all British ones;[22] by 1920, half of all cars in the U.S. were Model Ts. (The low price also killed the cyclecar in the U.S.)[23] The assembly line transformed the industry; soon, companies without it risked bankruptcy. Of 200 U.S. car makers in 1920, only 17 were left in 1940.[24]

 

It also transformed technology. Henry Ford is reported to have said, "Any customer can have a car painted any color that he wants so long as it is black." Before the assembly line, Ts had been available in a variety of colors, including red, blue, and green, but not black. Now, paint had become a production bottleneck; only Japan Black dried quickly enough, and not until Duco lacquer appeared in 1926 would other colors reappear on the T.[25]

 

In 1915, Henry Ford went on a peace mission to Europe aboard a ship, joining other pacifists in efforts to stop World War I. This led to an increase in his personal popularity. Ford would subsequently go on to support the war effort with the Model T becoming the underpinnings for Allied military vehicles.

 

[edit] History of the blue oval

 

The Ford oval trademark was first introduced in 1907. The 1928 Model A was the first vehicle to sport an early version of the Ford script in the oval badge. The dark blue background of the oval is known to designers as Pantone 294C. The Ford script is credited to Childe Harold Wills, Ford's first chief engineer and designer. He created a script in 1903 based on the one he used for his business cards. Today, the oval has evolved into a perfect oval with a width-to-height ratio of 8:3. The current Centennial Oval was introduced on June 17, 2003 as part of the 100th anniversary of Ford Motor Company.[26]

 

[edit] Post-World War I developments

 

In 1919, Edsel Ford succeeded his father as president of the company, although Henry still kept a hand in management. Although prices were kept low through highly efficient engineering, the company used an old-fashioned personalized management system, and neglected consumer demand for improved vehicles. So, while four wheel brakes were invented by Arrol-Johnson (and were used on the 1909 Argyll),[27] they did not appear on a Ford until 1927. (To be fair, Chevrolet waited until 1928.)[28] Ford steadily lost market share to GM and Chrysler, as these and other domestic and foreign competitors began offering fresher automobiles with more innovative features and luxury options. GM had a range of models from relatively cheap to luxury, tapping all price points in the spectrum, while less wealthy people purchased used Model Ts. The competitors also opened up new markets by extending credit for purchases, so consumers could buy these expensive automobiles with monthly payments. Ford initially resisted this approach, insisting such debts would ultimately hurt the consumer and the general economy. Ford eventually relented and started offering the same terms in December 1927, when Ford unveiled the redesigned Model A, and retired the Model T after producing 15 million units.

 

[edit] Lincoln Motor Company

 

On February 4, 1922 Ford expanded its reach into the luxury auto market through its acquisition of the Lincoln Motor Company, named for Abraham Lincoln whom Henry Ford admired, but Henry M. Leland had named the company in 1917. The Mercury division was established in 1938 to serve the mid-price auto market.[29] Ford Motor Company built the largest museum of American History in 1928, The Henry Ford.

 

Henry Ford would go on to acquire Abraham Lincoln's chair, which he was assassinated in, from the owners of the Ford Theatre. Abraham Lincoln's chair would be displayed along with John F. Kennedy's Lincoln limousine in the Henry Ford Museum & Greenfield Village in Dearborn, known today as The Henry Ford. Kennedy's limousine was leased to the White House by Ford.

 

[edit] Fordlândia

Main article: Fordlândia

 

In 1928, Henry Ford negotiated a deal with the government of Brazil for a plot of land in the Amazon Rainforest. There, Ford attempted to cultivate rubber for use in the company's automobiles. After considerable labor unrest, social experimentation, and a failure to produce rubber, and after the invention of synthetic rubber, the settlement was sold in 1945 and abandoned.

 

[edit] The Great Depression

 

During the great depression, Ford in common with other manufacturers, responded to the collapse in motor sales by reducing the scale of their operations and laying off workers. By 1932, the unemployment rate in Detroit had risen to 30%[30] with thousands of families facing real hardship. Although Ford did assist a small number of distressed families with loans and parcels of land to work, the majority of the thousands of unskilled workers who were laid off were left to cope on their own. However, Henry Ford angered many by making public statements that the unemployed should do more to find work for themselves.

 

This led to Detroit’s Unemployed Council organizing the Ford Hunger March. On March 7, 1932 some 3,000 - 5,000 unemployed workers assembled in West Detroit to march on Ford's River Rouge plant to deliver a petition demanding more support. As the march moved up Miller Road and approached Gate 3 the protest turned ugly. The police fired tear gas into the crowd and fire trucks were used to soak the protesters with icy water. When the protesters responded by throwing rocks, the violence escalated rapidly and culminated in the police and plant security guards firing live rounds through the gates of the plant at the unarmed protesters. Four men were killed outright and a fifth died later in hospital. Up to 60 more were seriously injured.[31]

 

[edit] Soviet Fords and the Gorki

 

In May 1929 the Soviet Union signed an agreement with the Ford Motor Company. Under its terms, the Soviets agreed to purchase $13 million worth of automobiles and parts, while Ford agreed to give technical assistance until 1938 to construct an integrated automobile-manufacturing plant at Nizhny Novgorod. Many American engineers and skilled auto workers moved to the Soviet Union to work on the plant and its production lines, which was named Gorkovsky Avtomobilny Zavod (GAZ), or Gorki Automotive Plant in 1932. A few American workers stayed on after the plant's completion, and eventually became victims of Stalin's Great Terror, either shot[32] or exiled to Soviet gulags.[33] In 1933, the Soviets completed construction on a production line for the Ford Model-A passenger car, called the GAZ-A, and a light truck, the GAZ-AA. Both these Ford models were immediately adopted for military use. By the late 1930s production at Gorki was 80,000-90,000 "Russian Ford" vehicles per year. With its original Ford-designed vehicles supplemented by imports and domestic copies of imported equipment, the Gorki operations eventually produced a range of automobiles, trucks, and military vehicles.

 

[edit] World War II

 

President Franklin Roosevelt referred to Detroit as the "Arsenal of Democracy." The Ford Motor Company played a pivotal role in the allied victory during World War I and World War II. As a pacifist, Henry Ford had said war was a waste of time, and did not want to profit from it. He was concerned the Nazis during the 1930s might nationalize his factories in Germany. During the Great Depression Ford's wages may have seemed great to his employees but many of the rules of the factories were very harsh and strict. Those were tense times for American companies doing business in Europe. In the spring of 1939, the Nazis assumed day to day control of Ford factories in Germany.

 

With Europe under siege, Henry Ford's genius would be turned to mass production for the war effort. After Bantam invented the Jeep, the War Department handed production over to Ford and Willys. When Consolidated Aircraft could at most build one B-24 Liberator a day, Ford would show the world how to produce one an hour, at a peak of 600 per month in 24 hour shifts. The specially-designed Willow Run plant broke ground in April 1941. At the time, it was the largest assembly line in the world, with over 3,500,000 square feet (330,000 m2) under one roof. Edsel Ford, under severe stress, died in the Spring of 1943 of stomach cancer, prompting his grieving father to resume day-to-day control of Ford. Mass production of the B-24 began by August 1943. Many pilots slept on cots waiting for takeoff as B-24s rolled off the line.[34]

 

In the United Kingdom, Ford built a new factory in Trafford Park, Manchester during WW2 where over 34,000 Rolls-Royce Merlin aero engines were completed by a workforce trained from scratch.

 

[edit] Post-World War II developments

 

At the behest of Edsel Ford's widow Eleanor and Henry's wife Clara, Henry Ford would make his oldest grandson, Henry Ford II, President of Ford Motor Company.

A Ford Taurus, one of Ford's best-selling models. In its 21 year lifespan, it sold 7,000,000 units. It is the 4th best selling car in Ford's history, behind only the F-150, the Model T, and the Mustang.

 

Henry Ford II served as President from 1945–1960, and as Chairman and CEO from 1960–1980. "Hank the Deuce" led Ford to become a publicly traded corporation in 1956. However, the Ford family maintains about 40 percent controlling interest in the company, through a series of Special Class B preferred stocks.

 

In 1947, Henry Ford died. According to A&E Biography, an estimated 7 million people mourned his death.

 

Ernest R. Breech was hired in 1946 and became the Executive Vice President. Then later became Board Chairman in 1955.

 

In 1946, Robert McNamara joined Ford Motor Company as manager of planning and financial analysis. He advanced rapidly through a series of top-level management positions to the presidency of Ford on 9 November 1960, one day after John F. Kennedy's election. The first company head selected outside the Ford family, McNamara had gained the favor of Henry Ford II, and had aided in Ford's expansion and success in the postwar period. Less than five weeks after becoming president at Ford, he accepted Kennedy's invitation to join his cabinet, as Secretary of Defense.

 

In the 1950s, Ford introduced the iconic Thunderbird in 1955 and the Edsel brand automobile line in 1958. Edsel was cancelled after less than 27 months in the marketplace in November 1960. The corporation bounced back from the failure of the Edsel by introducing its compact Ford Falcon in 1960 and the Mustang in 1964. By 1967, Ford of Europe was established.

 

Lee Iacocca was involved with the design of several successful Ford automobiles, most notably the Ford Mustang. He was also the "moving force," as one court put it, behind the notorious Ford Pinto. He promoted other ideas which did not reach the marketplace as Ford products. Eventually, he became the president of the Ford Motor Company, but he clashed with Henry Ford II and ultimately, on July 13, 1978, he was famously fired by Henry II, despite Ford posting a $2.2 billion dollar profit for the year. In 1979 Philip Caldwell became Chairman, succeeded in 1985 by Donald Petersen.

 

Harold Poling served as Chairman and CEO from 1990-1993. Alex Trotman was Chairman and CEO from 1993-1998, and Jacques Nasser served at the helm from 1999-2001. Henry Ford's great-grandson, William Clay Ford Jr., is the company's current Chairman of the Board and was CEO until September 5, 2006, when he named Alan Mulally from Boeing as his successor. As of 2006, the Ford family owns about 5 percent of Ford's shares and controls about 40 percent of the voting power through a separate class of stock.[35]

 

In December 2006, Ford announced that it would mortgage all assets, including factories and equipment, office property, intellectual property (patents and trademarks), and its stakes in subsidiaries, to raise $23.4 billion in cash. The secured credit line is expected to finance product development during the restructuring through 2009, as the company expects to burn through $17 billion in cash before turning a profit. The action was unprecedented in the company's 103 year history.