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Bree's career in the military has had her in our DC area community for the last 4 years. She was recently promoted and reassigned to a new unit based in upstate New York! We honored her contributions not only to our local TG community but also to our military's TG community with a farewell dinner, a photo timeline presentation of many of Bree & my times together, a couple of nice speeches, and also awarded her with a lovely plaque with the inscription:
"To Lt. Col. Bree Fram U.S. Air Force
In recognition of your steadfast dedication and leadership in support of the Trans Military Service Members & our DC Area Trans Community.
Aim high and keep up the good fight."
Until next time, my dear friend!
My ensemble for the evening consists of my long sleeve black lycra spandex leotard from the Baltogs custom cut line by nydancewear.com, my black wet look lycra spandex side slit maxi-skirt with mesh insets from greatglam.com, my shiny black Platino Clean Cut 15 denier pantyhose from shapings.com worn over Hanes Alive Barely There support hose from onehanesplace.com and my black leather T-strap peep toe platform pumps with the 5" heels from venus.com.
To see more pix of me in other tight, sexy and revealing outfits click this link:www.flickr.com/photos/kaceycdpix/sets/72157623668202157/
To see more pix of me in other outfits from Great Glam click this link: www.flickr.com/photos/kaceycdpix/sets/72157621973539909/
To see more pix of me in wet look lycra spandex outfits click this link: www.flickr.com/photos/kaceycdpix/sets/72157625106117954
To see more pix of me in my Baltogs lycra spandex dancewear click this link: www.flickr.com/photos/kaceycdpix/sets/72157617535517907/
To see more pix of me out & about click this link: www.flickr.com/photos/kaceycdpix/sets/72157632318953102/
To see more pix of me showing off my legs click this link: www.flickr.com/photos/kaceycdpix/sets/72157623668202157/
To see more pix of me with friends and acquaintances click this link: www.flickr.com/photos/kaceycdpix/sets/72157622620508143/
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Berlin (/bərˈlɪn/, German: [bɛɐ̯ˈliːn] ( listen)) is the capital of Germany, and one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.5 million people,[4] Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union.[5] Located in northeastern Germany on the banks of Rivers Spree and Havel, it is the centre of the Berlin-Brandenburg Metropolitan Region, which has about six million residents from over 180 nations.[6][7][8][9] Due to its location in the European Plain, Berlin is influenced by a temperate seasonal climate. Around one-third of the city's area is composed of forests, parks, gardens, rivers and lakes.[10]
First documented in the 13th century, Berlin became the capital of the Margraviate of Brandenburg (1417-1701), the Kingdom of Prussia (1701–1918), the German Empire (1871–1918), the Weimar Republic (1919–1933) and the Third Reich (1933–1945).[11] Berlin in the 1920s was the third largest municipality in the world.[12] After World War II, the city was divided; East Berlin became the capital of East Germany while West Berlin became a de facto West German exclave, surrounded by the Berlin Wall (1961–1989).[13] Following German reunification in 1990, the city was once more designated as the capital of all Germany, hosting 158 foreign embassies.[14]
Berlin is a world city of culture, politics, media, and science.[15][16][17][18] Its economy is based on high-tech firms and the service sector, encompassing a diverse range of creative industries, research facilities, media corporations, and convention venues.[19][20] Berlin serves as a continental hub for air and rail traffic and has a highly complex public transportation network. The metropolis is a popular tourist destination.[21] Significant industries also include IT, pharmaceuticals, biomedical engineering, clean tech, biotechnology, construction, and electronics.
Modern Berlin is home to renowned universities, orchestras, museums, entertainment venues, and is host to many sporting events.[22] Its urban setting has made it a sought-after location for international film productions.[23] The city is well known for its festivals, diverse architecture, nightlife, contemporary arts, and a high quality of living.[24] Over the last decade Berlin has seen the emergence of a cosmopolitan entrepreneurial scene.[
History
Etymology
The origin of the name Berlin is uncertain. It may have its roots in the language of West Slavic inhabitants of the area of today's Berlin, and may be related to the Old Polabian stem berl-/birl- ("swamp").[26] Folk etymology connects the name to the German word for bear, Bär. A bear also appears in the coat of arms of the city.[
12th to 16th centuries
The earliest evidence of settlements in the area of today's Berlin are a wooden rod dated from approximately 1192[28] and leftovers of wooden houseparts dated to 1174 found in a 2012 digging in Berlin Mitte.[29] The first written records of towns in the area of present-day Berlin date from the late 12th century. Spandau is first mentioned in 1197 and Köpenick in 1209, although these areas did not join Berlin until 1920.[30] The central part of Berlin can be traced back to two towns. Cölln on the Fischerinsel is first mentioned in a 1237 document, and Berlin, across the Spree in what is now called the Nikolaiviertel, is referenced in a document from 1244.[28] The former (1237) is considered to be the founding date of the city.[31] The two towns over time formed close economic and social ties. In 1307 they formed an alliance with a common external policy, their internal administrations still being separated.[32][33]
In 1415, Frederick I became the elector of the Margraviate of Brandenburg, which he ruled until 1440.[34] During the 15th century his successors would establish Berlin-Cölln as capital of the margraviate, and subsequent members of the Hohenzollern family ruled until 1918 in Berlin, first as electors of Brandenburg, then as kings of Prussia, and eventually as German emperors. In 1443, Frederick II Irontooth started the construction of a new royal palace in the twin city Berlin-Cölln. The protests of the town citizens against the building culminated in 1448, in the "Berlin Indignation" ("Berliner Unwille").[35][36] This protest was not successful, however, and the citizenry lost many of its political and economic privileges. After the royal palace was finished in 1451, it gradually came into use. From 1470, with the new elector Albrecht III Achilles, Berlin-Cölln became the new royal residence.[33] Officially, the Berlin-Cölln palace became permanent residence of the Brandenburg electors of the Hohenzollerns from 1486, when John Cicero came to power.[37] Berlin-Cölln, however, had to give up its status as a free Hanseatic city. In 1539, the electors and the city officially became Lutheran.[
17th to 19th centuries
The Thirty Years' War between 1618 and 1648 devastated Berlin. One third of its houses were damaged or destroyed, and the city lost half of its population.[39] Frederick William, known as the "Great Elector", who had succeeded his father George William as ruler in 1640, initiated a policy of promoting immigration and religious tolerance.[40] With the Edict of Potsdam in 1685, Frederick William offered asylum to the French Huguenots.[41] By 1700, approximately 30 percent of Berlin's residents were French, because of the Huguenot immigration.[42] Many other immigrants came from Bohemia, Poland, and Salzburg.[43]
Since 1618, the Margraviate of Brandenburg had been in personal union with the Duchy of Prussia. In 1701, however, the dual state formed the Kingdom of Prussia, as Frederick III, Elector of Brandenburg now crowned himself as king Frederick I in Prussia. Berlin became the capital of the new Kingdom. This was a successful attempt to centralise the capital in the very outspread state, and it was the first time the city began to grow. In 1709 Berlin merged with the four cities of Cölln, Friedrichswerder, Friedrichstadt and Dorotheenstadt under the name Berlin, "Haupt- und Residenzstadt Berlin".[32]
In 1740, Frederick II, known as Frederick the Great (1740–1786), came to power.[44] Under the rule of Frederick II, Berlin became a center of the Enlightenment.[45] Following France's victory in the War of the Fourth Coalition, Napoleon Bonaparte marched into Berlin in 1806, but granted self-government to the city.[46] In 1815, the city became part of the new Province of Brandenburg.[47]
The Industrial Revolution transformed Berlin during the 19th century; the city's economy and population expanded dramatically, and it became the main railway hub and economic centre of Germany. Additional suburbs soon developed and increased the area and population of Berlin. In 1861, neighboring suburbs including Wedding, Moabit and several others were incorporated into Berlin.[48] In 1871, Berlin became capital of the newly founded German Empire.[49] In 1881, it became a city district separate from Brandenburg.[50]
20th to 21st centuries
In the early 20th century, Berlin had become a fertile ground for the German Expressionist movement.[51] In fields such as architecture, painting and cinema new forms of artistic styles were invented. At the end of World War I in 1918, a republic was proclaimed by Philipp Scheidemann at the Reichstag building. In 1920, the Greater Berlin Act incorporated dozens of suburban cities, villages, and estates around Berlin into an expanded city. The act increased the area of Berlin from 66 to 883 km2 (25 to 341 sq mi). The population almost doubled and Berlin had a population of around four million. During the Weimar era, Berlin underwent political unrest due to economic uncertainties, but also became a renowned center of the Roaring Twenties. The metropolis experienced its heyday as a major world capital and was known for its leadership roles in science, technology, the humanities, city planning, film, higher education, government, and industries. Albert Einstein rose to public prominence during his years in Berlin, being awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1921.
In 1933, Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party came to power. NSDAP rule effectively destroyed Berlin's Jewish community, which had numbered 160,000, representing one-third of all Jews in the country. Berlin's Jewish population fell to about 80,000 as a result of emigration between 1933 and 1939. After Kristallnacht in 1938, thousands of the city's persecuted groups were imprisoned in the nearby Sachsenhausen concentration camp or, starting in early 1943, were shipped to death camps, such as Auschwitz.[52] During World War II, large parts of Berlin were destroyed in the 1943–45 air raids and during the Battle of Berlin. Around 125,000 civilians were killed.[53] After the end of the war in Europe in 1945, Berlin received large numbers of refugees from the Eastern provinces. The victorious powers divided the city into four sectors, analogous to the occupation zones into which Germany was divided. The sectors of the Western Allies (the United States, the United Kingdom and France) formed West Berlin, while the Soviet sector formed East Berlin.[54]
All four Allies shared administrative responsibilities for Berlin. However, in 1948, when the Western Allies extended the currency reform in the Western zones of Germany to the three western sectors of Berlin, the Soviet Union imposed a blockade on the access routes to and from West Berlin, which lay entirely inside Soviet-controlled territory. The Berlin airlift, conducted by the three western Allies, overcame this blockade by supplying food and other supplies to the city from June 1948 to May 1949.[55] In 1949, the Federal Republic of Germany was founded in West Germany and eventually included all of the American, British, and French zones, excluding those three countries' zones in Berlin, while the Marxist-Leninist German Democratic Republic was proclaimed in East Germany. West Berlin officially remained an occupied city, but it politically was aligned with the Federal Republic of Germany despite West Berlin's geographic isolation. Airline service to West Berlin was granted only to American, British, and French airlines.
The founding of the two German states increased Cold War tensions. West Berlin was surrounded by East German territory, and East Germany proclaimed the Eastern part as its capital, a move that was not recognized by the western powers. East Berlin included most of the historic center of the city. The West German government established itself in Bonn.[56] In 1961, East Germany began the building of the Berlin Wall between East and West Berlin, and events escalated to a tank standoff at Checkpoint Charlie. West Berlin was now de facto a part of West Germany with a unique legal status, while East Berlin was de facto a part of East Germany. John F. Kennedy gave his "Ich bin ein Berliner" – speech in 1963 underlining the US support for the Western part of the city. Berlin was completely divided. Although it was possible for Westerners to pass from one to the other side through strictly controlled checkpoints, for most Easterners travel to West Berlin or West Germany was prohibited. In 1971, a Four-Power agreement guaranteed access to and from West Berlin by car or train through East Germany.[57]
In 1989, with the end of the Cold War and pressure from the East German population, the Berlin Wall fell on 9 November and was subsequently mostly demolished. Today, the East Side Gallery preserves a large portion of the Wall. On 3 October 1990, the two parts of Germany were reunified as the Federal Republic of Germany, and Berlin again became the official German capital. In 1991, the German Parliament, the Bundestag, voted to move the seat of the (West) German capital from Bonn to Berlin, which was completed in 1999. Berlin's 2001 administrative reform merged several districts. The number of boroughs was reduced from 23 to 12. In 2006, the FIFA World Cup Final was held in Berlin.
Geography
Topography
Berlin is situated in northeastern Germany, in an area of low-lying marshy woodlands with a mainly flat topography, part of the vast Northern European Plain which stretches all the way from northern France to western Russia. The Berliner Urstromtal (an ice age glacial valley), between the low Barnim Plateau to the north and the Teltow Plateau to the south, was formed by meltwater flowing from ice sheets at the end of the last Weichselian glaciation. The Spree follows this valley now. In Spandau, Berlin's westernmost borough, the Spree empties into the river Havel, which flows from north to south through western Berlin. The course of the Havel is more like a chain of lakes, the largest being the Tegeler See and Großer Wannsee. A series of lakes also feeds into the upper Spree, which flows through the Großer Müggelsee in eastern Berlin.[58]
Substantial parts of present-day Berlin extend onto the low plateaus on both sides of the Spree Valley. Large parts of the boroughs Reinickendorf and Pankow lie on the Barnim Plateau, while most of the boroughs of Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf, Steglitz-Zehlendorf, Tempelhof-Schöneberg, and Neukölln lie on the Teltow Plateau.
The borough of Spandau lies partly within the Berlin Glacial Valley and partly on the Nauen Plain, which stretches to the west of Berlin. The highest elevations in Berlin are the Teufelsberg and the Müggelberge in the city's outskirts, and in the center the Kreuzberg. While the latter measures 66 m (217 ft) above sea level, the former both have an elevation of about 115 m (377 ft). The Teufelsberg is in fact an artificial hill composed of a pile of rubble from the ruins of World War II.
Climate
Berlin has an Maritime temperate climate (Cfb) according to the Köppen climate classification system.[59] There are significant influences of mild continental climate due to its inland position, with frosts being common in winter and there being larger temperature differences between seasons than typical for many oceanic climates.
Summers are warm and sometimes humid with average high temperatures of 22–25 °C (72–77 °F) and lows of 12–14 °C (54–57 °F). Winters are cool with average high temperatures of 3 °C (37 °F) and lows of −2 to 0 °C (28 to 32 °F). Spring and autumn are generally chilly to mild. Berlin's built-up area creates a microclimate, with heat stored by the city's buildings. Temperatures can be 4 °C (7 °F) higher in the city than in the surrounding areas.[60]
Annual precipitation is 570 millimeters (22 in) with moderate rainfall throughout the year. Snowfall mainly occurs from December through March.
Cityscape
Berlin's history has left the city with a highly eclectic array of architecture and buildings. The city's appearance today is predominantly shaped by the key role it played in Germany's history in the 20th century. Each of the national governments based in Berlin — the Kingdom of Prussia, the 1871 German Empire, the Weimar Republic, Nazi Germany, East Germany, and now the reunified Germany — initiated ambitious (re-)construction programs, with each adding its own distinctive style to the city's architecture.
Berlin was devastated by bombing raids, fires and street battles during World War II, and many of the buildings that had remained after the war were demolished in the post-war period in both West and East Berlin. Much of this demolition was initiated by municipal architecture programs to build new residential or business quarters and main roads. Many ornaments of pre-war buildings were destroyed following modernist dogmas. While in both systems and in reunified Berlin, various important heritage monuments were also (partly) reconstructed, including the Forum Fridericianum with e.g., the State Opera (1955), Charlottenburg Palace (1957), the main monuments of the Gendarmenmarkt (1980s), Kommandantur (2003) and the project to reconstruct the baroque facades of the City Palace. A number of new buildings is inspired by historical predecessors or the general classical style of Berlin, such as Hotel Adlon.
Clusters of high-rise buildings emerge at e.g., Potsdamer Platz, City West and Alexanderplatz. Berlin has three of the top 40 tallest buildings in Germany.
Architecture
The Brandenburg Gate is an iconic landmark of Berlin and Germany. The Reichstag building is the traditional seat of the German Parliament, was remodeled by British architect Norman Foster in the 1990s and features a glass dome over the session area, which allows free public access to the parliamentary proceedings and magnificent views of the city.
The East Side Gallery is an open-air exhibition of art painted directly on the last existing portions of the Berlin Wall. It is the largest remaining evidence of the city's historical division.
The Gendarmenmarkt, a neoclassical square in Berlin the name of which derives from the headquarters of the famous Gens d'armes regiment located here in the 18th century, is bordered by two similarly designed cathedrals, the Französischer Dom with its observation platform and the Deutscher Dom. The Konzerthaus (Concert Hall), home of the Berlin Symphony Orchestra, stands between the two cathedrals.
The Museum Island in the River Spree houses five museums built from 1830 to 1930 and is a UNESCO World Heritage site. Restoration and the construction of a main entrance to all museums, as well as the reconstruction of the Stadtschloss is continuing.[65][66] Also located on the island and adjacent to the Lustgarten and palace is Berlin Cathedral, emperor William II's ambitious attempt to create a Protestant counterpart to St. Peter's Basilica in Rome. A large crypt houses the remains of some of the earlier Prussian royal family. St. Hedwig's Cathedral is Berlin's Roman Catholic cathedral.
Unter den Linden is a tree-lined east–west avenue from the Brandenburg Gate to the site of the former Berliner Stadtschloss, and was once Berlin's premier promenade. Many Classical buildings line the street and part of Humboldt University is located there. Friedrichstraße was Berlin's legendary street during the Golden Twenties. It combines 20th-century traditions with the modern architecture of today's Berlin.
Potsdamer Platz is an entire quarter built from scratch after 1995 after the Wall came down.[67] To the west of Potsdamer Platz is the Kulturforum, which houses the Gemäldegalerie, and is flanked by the Neue Nationalgalerie and the Berliner Philharmonie. The Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe, a Holocaust memorial, is situated to the north.[68]
The area around Hackescher Markt is home to the fashionable culture, with countless clothing outlets, clubs, bars, and galleries. This includes the Hackesche Höfe, a conglomeration of buildings around several courtyards, reconstructed around 1996. The nearby New Synagogue is the center of Jewish culture.
The Straße des 17. Juni, connecting the Brandenburg Gate and Ernst-Reuter-Platz, serves as the central East-West-Axis. Its name commemorates the uprisings in East Berlin of 17 June 1953. Approximately half-way from the Brandenburg Gate is the Großer Stern, a circular traffic island on which the Siegessäule (Victory Column) is situated. This monument, built to commemorate Prussia's victories, was relocated 1938–39 from its previous position in front of the Reichstag.
The Kurfürstendamm is home to some of Berlin's luxurious stores with the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church at its eastern end on Breitscheidplatz. The church was destroyed in the Second World War and left in ruins. Nearby on Tauentzienstraße is KaDeWe, claimed to be continental Europe's largest department store. The Rathaus Schöneberg, where John F. Kennedy made his famous "Ich bin ein Berliner!" speech, is situated in Tempelhof-Schöneberg.
West of the center, Schloss Bellevue is the residence of the German President. Schloss Charlottenburg, which was burnt out in the Second World War is the largest historical palace in Berlin.
The Funkturm Berlin is a 150 m (490 ft) tall lattice radio tower at the fair area, built between 1924 and 1926. It is the only observation tower which stands on insulators and has a restaurant 55 m (180 ft) and an observation deck 126 m (413 ft) above ground, which is reachable by a windowed elevator.
Demographics
On 31 December 2014, the city-state of Berlin had a population of 3,562,166 registered inhabitants[4] in an area of 891.85 km2 (344.35 sq mi).[69] The city's population density was 3,994 inhabitants per km2. Berlin is the second most populous city proper in the EU. The urban area of Berlin comprised about 4 million people making it the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union.[5] The metropolitan area of the Berlin-Brandenburg region was home to about 4.5 million in an area of 5,370 km2 (2,070 sq mi). In 2004, the Larger Urban Zone was home to about 5 million people in an area of 17,385 km2 (6,712 sq mi).[9] The entire Berlin-Brandenburg capital region has a population of 6 million.[70]
National and international migration into the city has a long history. In 1685, following the revocation of the Edict of Nantes in France, the city responded with the Edict of Potsdam, which guaranteed religious freedom and tax-free status to French Huguenot refugees for ten years. The Greater Berlin Act in 1920 incorporated many suburbs and surrounding cities of Berlin. It formed most of the territory that comprises modern Berlin and increased the population from 1.9 million to 4 million.
Active immigration and asylum politics in West Berlin triggered waves of immigration in the 1960s and 1970s. Currently, Berlin is home to about 200,000 Turks,[71] making it the largest Turkish community outside of Turkey. In the 1990s the Aussiedlergesetze enabled immigration to Germany of some residents from the former Soviet Union. Today ethnic Germans from countries of the former Soviet Union make up the largest portion of the Russian-speaking community.[72] The last decade experienced an influx from various Western countries and some African regions.[73] Young Germans, EU-Europeans and Israelis have settled in the city.[
International communities
In December 2013, 538,729 residents (15.3% of the population) were of foreign nationality, originating from over 180 different countries.[76] Another estimated 460,000 citizens in 2013 are descendants of international migrants and have either become naturalized German citizens or obtained citizenship by virtue of birth in Germany.[77] In 2008, about 25%–30% of the population was of foreign origin.[78] 45 percent of the residents under the age of 18 have foreign roots.[79] Berlin is estimated to have from 100,000 to 250,000 non-registered inhabitants.[80]
There are more than 25 non-indigenous communities with a population of at least 10,000 people, including Turkish, Polish, Russian, Lebanese, Palestinian, Serbian, Italian, Bosnian, Vietnamese, American, Romanian, Bulgarian, Chinese, Austrian, Ghanaian, Ukrainian, French, British, Spanish, Israeli, Thai, Iranian, Egyptian and Syrian communities.
The most-commonly-spoken foreign languages in Berlin are Turkish, English, Russian, Arabic, Polish, Kurdish, Vietnamese, Serbian, Croatian and French. Turkish, Arabic, Kurdish, Serbian and Croatian are heard more often in the western part, due to the large Middle Eastern and former-Yugoslavian communities. English, Vietnamese, Russian, and Polish have more native speakers in eastern Berlin.
Religion
More than 60% of Berlin residents have no registered religious affiliation.[82] The largest denominations in 2010 were the Protestant regional church body of the Evangelical Church of Berlin-Brandenburg-Silesian Upper Lusatia (EKBO) (a church of united administration comprising mostly Lutheran, and few Reformed and United Protestant congregations; EKBO is a member of the umbrellas Evangelical Church in Germany (EKD) and Union Evangelischer Kirchen (UEK)) with 18.7% of the population,[83] and the Roman Catholic Church with 9.1% of registered members.[83] About 2.7% of the population identify with other Christian denominations (mostly Eastern Orthodox)[84] and 8.1% are Muslims.[85] 0.9% of Berliners belong to other religions.[86] Approximately 80% of the 12,000 (0.3%) registered Jews now residing in Berlin[84] have come from the former Soviet Union.
Berlin is the seat of the Roman Catholic archbishop of Berlin and EKBO's elected chairperson is titled bishop of EKBO. Furthermore, Berlin is the seat of many Orthodox cathedrals, such as the Cathedral of St. Boris the Baptist, one of the two seats of the Bulgarian Orthodox Diocese of Western and Central Europe, and the Resurrection of Christ Cathedral of the Diocese of Berlin (Patriarchate of Moscow).
The faithful of the different religions and denominations maintain many places of worship in Berlin. The Independent Evangelical Lutheran Church has eight parishes of different sizes in Berlin.[87] There are 36 Baptist congregations (within Union of Evangelical Free Church Congregations in Germany), 29 New Apostolic Churches, 15 United Methodist churches, eight Free Evangelical Congregations, six congregations of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, an Old Catholic church, and an Anglican church in Berlin.
Berlin has 76 mosques (including three Ahmadiyya mosques), 11 synagogues, and two Buddhist temples, in addition to a number of humanist and atheist groups.
Government
City state
Since the reunification on 3 October 1990, Berlin has been one of the three city states in Germany among the present 16 states of Germany. The city and state parliament is the House of Representatives (Abgeordnetenhaus), which currently has 141 seats. Berlin's executive body is the Senate of Berlin (Senat von Berlin). The Senate of Berlin consists of the Governing Mayor (Regierender Bürgermeister) and up to eight senators holding ministerial positions, one of them holding the official title "Mayor" (Bürgermeister) as deputy to the Governing Mayor.
The Social Democratic Party (SPD) and The Left (Die Linke) took control of the city government after the 2001 state election and won another term in the 2006 state election.[88] Since the 2011 state election, there has been a coalition of the Social Democratic Party with the Christian Democratic Union, and for the first time ever, the Pirate Party won seats in a state parliament in Germany.
The Governing Mayor is simultaneously Lord Mayor of the city (Oberbürgermeister der Stadt) and Prime Minister of the Federal State (Ministerpräsident des Bundeslandes). The office of Berlin's Governing Mayor is in the Rotes Rathaus (Red City Hall). Since 2014 this office has been held by Michael Müller of the SPD.[89] On 26 August 2014, Wowereit announced his resignation as of 11 December 2014.[90]
The total annual state budget of Berlin in 2007 exceeded €20.5 ($28.7) billion including a budget surplus of €80 ($112) million.[91] The total budget included an estimated amount of €5.5 ($7.7) bn, which is directly financed by either the German government or the German Bundesländer.[
Boroughs
Berlin is subdivided into twelve boroughs (Bezirke). Each borough contains a number of localities (Ortsteile), which often have historic roots in older municipalities that predate the formation of Greater Berlin on 1 October 1920 and became urbanized and incorporated into the city. Many residents strongly identify with their localities or boroughs. At present Berlin consists of 96 localities, which are commonly made up of several city neighborhoods—called Kiez in the Berlin dialect—representing small residential areas.
Each borough is governed by a borough council (Bezirksamt) consisting of five councilors (Bezirksstadträte) including the borough mayor (Bezirksbürgermeister). The borough council is elected by the borough assembly (Bezirksverordnetenversammlung). The boroughs of Berlin are not independent municipalities. The power of borough administration is limited and subordinate to the Senate of Berlin. The borough mayors form the council of mayors (Rat der Bürgermeister), led by the city's governing mayor, which advises the senate. The localities have no local government bodies.
Sister cities
Berlin maintains official partnerships with 17 cities.[93] Town twinning between Berlin and other cities began with sister city Los Angeles in 1967. East Berlin's partnerships were canceled at the time of German reunification and later partially reestablished. West Berlin's partnerships had previously been restricted to the borough level. During the Cold War era, the partnerships had reflected the different power blocs, with West Berlin partnering with capitals in the West, and East Berlin mostly partnering with cities from the Warsaw Pact and its allies.
There are several joint projects with many other cities, such as Beirut, Belgrade, São Paulo, Copenhagen, Helsinki, Johannesburg, Mumbai, Oslo, Shanghai, Seoul, Sofia, Sydney, New York City and Vienna. Berlin participates in international city associations such as the Union of the Capitals of the European Union, Eurocities, Network of European Cities of Culture, Metropolis, Summit Conference of the World's Major Cities, and Conference of the World's Capital Cities. Berlin's official sister cities are:
Capital city
Berlin is the capital of the Federal Republic of Germany. The President of Germany, whose functions are mainly ceremonial under the German constitution, has his official residence in Schloss Bellevue.[97] Berlin is the seat of the German executive, housed in the Chancellery, the Bundeskanzleramt. Facing the Chancellery is the Bundestag, the German Parliament, housed in the renovated Reichstag building since the government moved back to Berlin in 1998. The Bundesrat ("federal council", performing the function of an upper house) is the representation of the Federal States (Bundesländer) of Germany and has its seat at the former Prussian House of Lords.
Though most of the ministries are seated in Berlin, some of them, as well as some minor departments, are seated in Bonn, the former capital of West Germany. Discussions to move the remaining branches continue.[98] The ministries and departments of Defence, Justice and Consumer Protection, Finance, Interior, Foreign, Economic Affairs and Energy, Labour and Social Affairs , Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth, Environment, Nature Conservation, Building and Nuclear Safety, Food and Agriculture, Economic Cooperation and Development, Health, Transport and Digital Infrastructure and Education and Research are based in the capital.
Berlin hosts 158 foreign embassies as well as the headquarters of many think tanks, trade unions, non-profit organizations, lobbying groups, and professional associations. Due to the influence and international partnerships of the Federal Republic of Germany as a state, the capital city has become a venue for German and European affairs. Frequent official visits, and diplomatic consultations among governmental representatives and national leaders are common in contemporary Berlin.
Economy
In 2013, the nominal GDP of the citystate Berlin experienced a growth rate of 1.2% (0.6% in Germany) and totaled €109.2 (~$142) billion.[99] Berlin's economy is dominated by the service sector, with around 80% of all companies doing business in services. The unemployment rate reached a 20-year low in June 2014 and stood at 11.0% .[100]
Important economic sectors in Berlin include life sciences, transportation, information and communication technologies, media and music, advertising and design, biotechnology, environmental services, construction, e-commerce, retail, hotel business, and medical engineering.[101]
Research and development have economic significance for the city. The metropolitan region ranks among the top-3 innovative locations in the EU.[102] The Science and Business Park in Adlershof is the largest technology park in Germany measured by revenue.[103] Within the Eurozone, Berlin has become a center for business relocation and international investments.[
Companies
Many German and international companies have business or service centers in the city. For some years Berlin has been recognized as a center of business founders in Europe.[105] Among the 10 largest employers in Berlin are the City-State of Berlin, Deutsche Bahn, the hospital provider Charité and Vivantes, the local public transport provider BVG, and Deutsche Telekom.
Daimler manufactures cars, and BMW builds motorcycles in Berlin. Bayer Health Care and Berlin Chemie are major pharmaceutical companies headquartered in the city. The second largest German airline Air Berlin is based there as well.[106]
Siemens, a Global 500 and DAX-listed company is partly headquartered in Berlin. The national railway operator Deutsche Bahn and the MDAX-listed firms Axel Springer SE and Zalando have their headquarters in the central districts.[107] Berlin has a cluster of rail technology companies and is the German headquarter or site to Bombardier Transportation,[108] Siemens Mobility,[109] Stadler Rail and Thales Transportation.[
Tourism and conventions
Berlin had 788 hotels with 134,399 beds in 2014.[111] The city recorded 28.7 million overnight hotel stays and 11.9 million hotel guests in 2014.[111] Tourism figures have more than doubled within the last ten years and Berlin has become the third most-visited city destination in Europe.
Berlin is among the top three congress cities in the world and home to Europe's biggest convention center, the Internationales Congress Centrum (ICC) at the Messe Berlin.[19] Several large-scale trade fairs like the consumer electronics trade fair IFA, the ILA Berlin Air Show, the Berlin Fashion Week (including the Bread and Butter tradeshow), the Green Week, the transport fair InnoTrans, the tourism fair ITB and the adult entertainment and erotic fair Venus are held annually in the city, attracting a significant number of business visitors.
Creative industries
Industries that do business in the creative arts and entertainment are an important and sizable sector of the economy of Berlin. The creative arts sector comprises music, film, advertising, architecture, art, design, fashion, performing arts, publishing, R&D, software,[112] TV, radio, and video games. Around 22,600 creative enterprises, predominantly SMEs, generated over 18,6 billion euro in revenue. Berlin's creative industries have contributed an estimated 20 percent of Berlin's gross domestic product in 2005.[
Media
Berlin is home to many international and regional television and radio stations.[114] The public broadcaster RBB has its headquarters in Berlin as well as the commercial broadcasters MTV Europe, VIVA, and N24. German international public broadcaster Deutsche Welle has its TV production unit in Berlin, and most national German broadcasters have a studio in the city including ZDF and RTL.
Berlin has Germany's largest number of daily newspapers, with numerous local broadsheets (Berliner Morgenpost, Berliner Zeitung, Der Tagesspiegel), and three major tabloids, as well as national dailies of varying sizes, each with a different political affiliation, such as Die Welt, Neues Deutschland, and Die Tageszeitung. The Exberliner, a monthly magazine, is Berlin's English-language periodical focusing on arts and entertainment. Berlin is also the headquarters of the two major German-language publishing houses Walter de Gruyter and Springer, each of which publish books, periodicals, and multimedia products.
Berlin is an important centre in the European and German film industry.[115] It is home to more than 1000 film and television production companies, 270 movie theaters, and around 300 national and international co-productions are filmed in the region every year.[102] The historic Babelsberg Studios and the production company UFA are located outside Berlin in Potsdam. The city is also home of the European Film Academy and the German Film Academy, and hosts the annual Berlin Film Festival. With around 500,000 admissions it is the largest publicly attended film festival in the world.
Infrastructure
Transport
Berlin's transport infrastructure is highly complex, providing a diverse range of urban mobility.[118] A total of 979 bridges cross 197 km (122 mi) of inner-city waterways. 5,422 km (3,369 mi) of roads run through Berlin, of which 77 km (48 mi) are motorways ("Autobahn").[119] In 2013, 1.344 million motor vehicles were registered in the city.[119] With 377 cars per 1000 residents in 2013 (570/1000 in Germany), Berlin as a Western global city has one of the lowest numbers of cars per capita.
Long-distance rail lines connect Berlin with all of the major cities of Germany and with many cities in neighboring European countries. Regional rail lines provide access to the surrounding regions of Brandenburg and to the Baltic Sea. The Berlin Hauptbahnhof is the largest grade-separated railway station in Europe.[120] Deutsche Bahn runs trains to domestic destinations like Hamburg, Munich, Cologne and others. It also runs an airport express rail service, as well as trains to several international destinations, e.g., Vienna, Prague, Zürich, Warsaw and Amsterdam.
Public transport
Airports
Flights departing from Berlin serve 163 destinations around the globe
Berlin has two commercial airports. Berlin Tegel Airport (TXL), which lies within the city limits, and Schönefeld Airport (SXF), which is situated just outside Berlin's south-eastern border in the state of Brandenburg. Both airports together handled 26.3 million passengers in 2013. In 2014, 67 airlines served 163 destinations in 50 countries from Berlin.[122] Tegel Airport is an important transfer hub for Air Berlin as well as a focus city for Lufthansa and Germanwings, whereas Schönefeld serves as an important destination for airlines like easyJet.
Berlin Brandenburg Airport (BER) will replace Tegel as single commercial airport of Berlin.[123] The new airport will integrate old Schönefeld (SXF) facilities and is scheduled to open not before 2017. Because of the rapid passenger growth at Berlin airports the capacities at the BER are already considered too small for the projected demand.
Cycling
Berlin is well known for its highly developed bicycle lane system.[124] It is estimated that Berlin has 710 bicycles per 1000 residents. Around 500,000 daily bike riders accounted for 13% of total traffic in 2009.[125] Cyclists have access to 620 km (385 mi) of bicycle paths including approximately 150 km (93 mi) of mandatory bicycle paths, 190 km (118 mi) (120 miles) of off-road bicycle routes, 60 km (37 mi) of bicycle lanes on roads, 70 km (43 mi) of shared bus lanes which are also open to cyclists, 100 km (62 mi) of combined pedestrian/bike paths and 50 km (31 mi) of marked bicycle lanes on roadside pavements (or sidewalks).[
Arriva London HV147 can be seen outside Bexleyheath town centre on route 301, heading westbound towards Woolwich. This vehicle at the time of when the picture was taken, had been wrapped in Elizabeth line livery, as a way to commemorate the opening of the line’s central section through London, four months beforehand.
Go North East's Volvo B5LH/Wright Eclipse Gemini 2 6070 NK62CZL has received its livery to promote the N21 Night Bus, and was pictured on Percy Street, Newcastle Upon Tyne, on an inbound Service 21 from Chester le Street prior to operating back to Durham, on October 15th 2017.
Standing on the street promoting the local pizza restaurant in a costume is one way to drum up business
"F.T.C. Is Said to Investigate Claims That Google Used Android to Promote Its Products" by CONOR DOUGHERTY via NYT t.co/WxLX3gigvX (via Twitter twitter.com/felipemassone/status/647460946684837888)
JetBlue Airways Airbus A320-232 N709JB taxis away from the Terminal 5 ramp at New York/Kennedy (JFK/KJFK) November 12, 2014. Special livery promoting FlyFi internet from Exede.
Peñafrancia Tours & Travel Transport Inc. 23
ACBS Araneta Center Bus Station,
Cubao, Quezon City
Bus X Benz 23
Promoting his fresh and hand cut in NL known as "patat" and in US as "French fries"
Rotterdam
Nederland
14 okt 2011
Promoting a health and fitness campaign at Milton Keynes was this ex Oxford Bus Company Plaxton Verde bodied Volvo B10M,it transfered to Wycombe bus,before its subsequent acquisition by Arriva the Shires.
French postcard by Editions 'Humour à la Carte", Paris, no. ST-5. Photo: Alfred Hitchcock promoting Family Plot (Alfred Hitchcock, 1976). Sent by mail in 1986.
British director Alfred Hitchcock (1899-1980) was known as 'The Master of Suspense'. He is one of the most influential and extensively studied filmmakers in the history of cinema. He had his first major success with The Lodger (1926), a silent thriller loosely based on Jack the Ripper. Hitchcock came to international attention with The Man Who Knew Too Much (1934), The 39 Steps (1935), and, most notably, The Lady Vanishes (1938). His first Hollywood film was the multi-Oscar-winning psychological thriller Rebecca (1940). Many classics followed including Spellbound (1945), Notorious (1946), Rear Window (1954), North by Northwest (1959) and The Birds (1963). In a career spanning six decades, he directed over 50 feature films which garnered a total of 46 Oscar nominations and 6 wins.
Alfred Joseph Hitchcock was born in Leytonstone, on the outskirts of east London, in 1899. He was the son of Emma Jane Whelan and East End greengrocer William Hitchcock. His parents were both of half English and half Irish ancestry. He had two older siblings, William and Eileen Hitchcock. Raised as a strict Catholic and attending Saint Ignatius College, a school run by Jesuits, Hitch had very much of a regular upbringing. In 1914, his father died. To support himself and his mother—his older siblings had left home by then—Hitchcock took a job in 1915 as an estimator for the Henley Telegraph and Cable Company. His interest in films began at around this time, frequently visiting the cinema and reading US trade journals. In a trade paper, he read that Famous Players-Lasky, the production arm of Paramount Pictures, was opening a studio in London. They were planning to film The Sorrows of Satan by Marie Corelli, so Hitch produced some drawings for the title cards and sent his work to the studio. They hired him, and in 1919 he began working for Islington Studios as a title-card designer. Hitchcock soon gained experience as a co-writer, art director, and production manager on at least 18 silent films. After Hugh Croise, the director for Always Tell Your Wife (1923) fell ill, Hitchcock and star and producer Seymour Hicks finished the film together. When Paramount pulled out of London in 1922, Hitchcock was hired as an assistant director by a new firm run in the same location by Michael Balcon, later known as Gainsborough Pictures. He began to collaborate with the editor and "script girl" Alma Reville, his future wife. He worked as an assistant to director Graham Cutts on several films, including The Blackguard (1924), which was produced at the Babelsberg Studios in Potsdam. There Hitchcock watched part of the making of F. W. Murnau's film Der letzte Mann/The Last Laugh (1924). He was impressed with Murnau's work and later used many of his techniques for the set design in his own productions. In the summer of 1925, Balcon asked Hitchcock to direct The Pleasure Garden (1925), starring Virginia Valli, a co-production of Gainsborough and the German firm Emelka. Reville, by then Hitchcock's fiancée, was assistant director-editor. In 1927, Hitchcock made his first trademark film, the thriller The Lodger: A Story of the London Fog (1927) starring Ivor Novello. The Lodger is about the hunt for a serial killer who, wearing a black cloak and carrying a black bag, is murdering young blonde women in London, and only on Tuesdays. The Lodger was a commercial and critical success in the UK. In the same year, Hitchcock married Alma Reville. They had one child, Patricia Hitchcock (1928). Reville became her husband's closest collaborator and wrote or co-wrote on many of his films. Hitchcock made the transition to sound film with his tenth film, Blackmail (1929), the first British 'talkie'. Blackmail began the Hitchcock tradition of using famous landmarks as a backdrop for suspense sequences, with the climax taking place on the dome of the British Museum. He used early sound recording as a special element of the film, stressing the word "knife" in a conversation with the woman (Anny Ondra) suspected of murder. It was followed by Murder! (1930). In 1933 Hitchcock was once again working for Michael Balcon at Gaumont-British on The Man Who Knew Too Much (1934). It was a success. His second, The 39 Steps (1935), with Robert Donat, made him a star in the USA. It also established the quintessential English 'Hitchcock blonde' (Madeleine Carroll) as the template for his succession of ice-cold, elegant leading ladies. His next major success was The Lady Vanishes (1938), with Margaret Lockwood and Michael Redgrave. The film saw Hitchcock receive the 1938 New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Director.[
David O. Selznick signed Hitchcock to a seven-year contract beginning in March 1939, and the Hitchcocks moved to Hollywood. He directed an adaptation of Daphne du Maurier's Rebecca (1940), starring Joan Fontaine and Laurence Olivier. Rebecca won the Oscar for Best Picture, although Hitchcock himself was only nominated as Best Director. Hitchcock's second American film was the thriller Foreign Correspondent (1940), set in Europe, and produced by Walter Wanger. It was nominated for Best Picture that year Suspicion (1941) was the first of four projects on which Cary Grant worked with Hitchcock, and it is one of the rare occasions that Grant was cast in a sinister role. In one scene Hitchcock placed a light inside a glass of milk, perhaps poisoned, that Grant is bringing to his wife, played by Joan Fontaine. The light makes sure that the audience's attention is on the glass. Fontaine won the Best Actress Oscar for her performance. Shadow of a Doubt (1943) was Hitchcock's personal favourite. Charlotte "Charlie" Newton (Teresa Wright) suspects her beloved uncle Charlie Oakley (Joseph Cotten) of being a serial killer. Hitchcock was again nominated for the Oscar for Best Director for Lifeboat (1944) and Spellbound (1945), but he never won the award. Spellbound (1945), starring Ingrid Bergman and Gregory Peck, explores psychoanalysis and features a dream sequence designed by Salvador Dalí. Notorious (1946) stars Ingrid Bergman and Cary Grant, both Hitchcock regulars, and features a plot about Nazis, uranium, and South America. After a brief lull of commercial success in the late 1940s, Hitchcock returned to form with Strangers on a Train (1951), based on the novel by Patricia Highsmith. In the film, two men casually meet, one of whom speculates on a foolproof method to murder. He suggests that two people, each wishing to do away with someone, should each perform the other's murder. Farley Granger played the innocent victim of the scheme, while boy-next-door" Robert Walker played the villain. I Confess (1953) was set in Quebec with Montgomery Clift as a Catholic priest. It was followed by three colour films starring Grace Kelly: the 3-D film Dial M for Murder (1954), Rear Window (1954), and To Catch a Thief (1955). From 1955 to 1965, Hitchcock was the host of the television series Alfred Hitchcock Presents. With his droll delivery, gallows humour and iconic image, the series made Hitchcock a celebrity. in his films, Hitchcock often used the "mistaken identity" theme, such as in The Wrong Man (1956), and North by Northwest (1959). In Vertigo (1958), James Stewart plays Scottie, a former police investigator suffering from acrophobia. He develops an obsession with a woman he has been hired to shadow (Kim Novak). His obsession leads to tragedy, and this time Hitchcock does not opt for a happy ending. Vertigo is one of his most personal and revealing films, dealing with the Pygmalion-like obsessions of a man who crafts a woman into the woman he desires. Psycho (1960) was Hitchcock's great shock masterpiece, mostly for its haunting performances by Janet Leigh and Anthony Perkins and its shower scene, and The Birds (1963) became the unintended forerunner to an onslaught of films about nature-gone-mad, and booth films were phenomenally popular. Film companies began to refer to his films as 'Alfred Hitchcock's': Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho (1960), Alfred Hitchcock's Frenzy (1972), and Alfred Hitchcock's Family Plot (1976). During the making of Frenzy (1972), Hitchcock's wife Alma suffered a paralysing stroke which made her unable to walk very well. In 1979, Hitchcock was knighted, making him Sir Alfred Hitchcock. A year later, in 1980, he died peacefully in his sleep due to renal failure. Hitchcock was survived by his wife and daughter. After the funeral, his body was cremated. His remains were scattered over the Pacific Ocean.
Sources: Bruce Eder (AllMovie), Wikipedia, and IMDb.
And, please check out our blog European Film Star Postcards.
Originally the line was promoted by the Keith & Dufftown Railway Company and most of it was opened in 1862. It later became part of the Great North of Scotland Railway. It carried both freight mainly associated with local distilleries and passengers enabling journeys through to Elgin and westwards up the Spey valley to Aviemore. In 1923 it became part of London & North Eastern Railway (LNER).
But improved roads, and increased car ownership led to a reduction in usage over the years and in May 1968 regular passenger services ceased. Freight services had ceased also by the early 1980s. Fortunately after that the track was not lifted and the line was still used by the occasional excursion such as the ‘Northern Belle’, an enterprising evening extension of ‘Nightrider’ services from Kings Cross. It was even graced by the passage of an Inter-City 125!
Those services ended in 1991 and two years later saw the formation of the Keith and Dufftown Railway Association whose aim was to restore the line between the two towns as a heritage railway. In 2001, just 10 years after BR bowed out, the KDRA began running its first passenger services over the full route.
A Promotional Image (Natural light portrait) promoting Ahmad Farzad's Recording Studio (King of the Jungle Productions - The-Studio-at-Vestavia -
with his chief engineer Steve Stanek). My son the one on the left! (Yes I am very old!)
From Over the mountain journal:
Upbeat about Their Business
February 7, 2012 By laura Leave a Comment
KJP owner Ahmad Farzad, left, and KJPhead engineer Steve Stanek
By Laura McAlister
Journal Editor
The outside of one of Vestavia Hills’ newest businesses is nothing out of the ordinary. But step inside and it’s clear that The Studio is different.
The Studio is home to a one-of-a-kind music studio, KJP, slated to officially open later this month. Ahmad A. Farzad is owner and, along with friend and business partner Steve Stanek, KJP’s head engineer.
The Studio is on Montgomery Highway in the former home of Frames and Fantasies. The space was completely gutted with three digital photography rooms added in the front for Ahmad’s sister Paris Farzad’s photography classes. KJP is housed in the back of the building.
Ahmad and Steve sought input from some of the music industry’s most respected producers to create a studio that would allow the best sound quality.
“Everything in here is mathematically and scientifically correct,” Ahmad said. “Everything was thought out. We weren’t just building a studio. This was designed with an artistic approach.”
Although music has always been Ahmad’s passion – he’s played in bands since he was 15 – it wasn’t always his career path.
After graduating from Vestavia Hills High School, he attended the University of Alabama for two years. During that time, four of his friends died.
“That’s when I realized I wasn’t doing what I wanted,” he said. “It seemed right that I pursue my passion. I applied to Berklee and got my degree in music business management.”
Ahmad graduated from the Berklee School of music with a degree in music business management. He worked in the music industry in New York City as a producer, learning from some of the best. He met Steve, who also was passionate about music but wasn’t in the business at the time.
Originally from Chicago, Steve wasn’t sure about moving to Alabama. But the idea of working with Ahmad and opening the recording studio quickly cast out any of his doubts.
“It’s a really special studio,” Steve said. “It took like three months and a couple Excel sheets just to get the wiring worked out, and I feel like we’ve really got a place that artists can pour their soul into.”
What they ended up with is a studio that allows for the best live sound, the business partners said.
The door leading into the recording studio is vacuum sealed and covered with Ceeulose fiber, as are the ceilings. The fiber, made from a mixture of newspaper and glue, is used to soundproof the space.
The studio has two major rooms: the live room, where performances take place, and the control room, where the recording and “critical audio decisions are made,” Ahmad said.
“We do the recording in one room, and then we have the control room,” Ahmad said. “We knew it had to be super honest. It’s got great sound. This is really art going on in here. Chances are, the room helps you sound better.”
The speakers in the recording studio are custom-built and enclosed in concrete weighing about 350 pounds.
Through Ahmad and Steve’s relationship with Black Lion Audio, a company that specializes in audio equipment and design for some of the industry’s top producers, they were able to have a specific set of converters custom-built that only KJP and three of the music industry top producers own.
“They sound wildly impressive and are incredibly rare,” Ahmad said. “Our set is extra specialized which makes it stand alone among its three other brother/sister units. Black Lion Audio are capturing the ears and hearts of users in every facet of the music industry.”
Steve and Ahmad wanted the studio not only to produce the best sound quality but also to be comfortable. The concrete floors are covered with Oriental rugs, and there’s even a couch and sitting area in the recording room.
Ahmad and Steve said they’re open to just about anybody recording in their studio, from serious performers to those who just want to have a little fun.
Although The Studio hasn’t officially opened, Ahmad said they are booking up fast, and he’s excited about what’s in store for them.
“This is just really one of the most exciting times in my life,” Ahmad said. “Every day is a blessing.”
“The Eye Moment photos by Nolan H. Rhodes”
“Theeyeofthemoment21@gmail.com”
“www.flickr.com/photos/the_eye_of_the_moment”
“Any users, found to replicate, reproduce, circulate, distribute, download, manipulate or otherwise use my images without my written consent will be in breach of copyright laws.”
[Boys wearing caps and holding banners about “Good Hope Hills” promote sales of lots in an area being developed in southeast Washington, DC]
[1924]
1 negative : glass ; 5 x 7 in. or smaller
Notes:
The photo was taken at 1406 H. Street NW, Washington, DC, the location of the sales office for lots in Good Hope Hills. Ads in the 1924 Evening Chronicle encourage visits to the neighborhood and a field day for boys in August.
Title and other identifying information from source: Flickr Commons project, 2020.
Date from negatives in same range.
Gift; Herbert A. French; 1947.
This glass negative might show streaks and other blemishes resulting from a natural deterioration in the original coatings.
Format:
Glass negatives.
Rights Info: No known restrictions on publication.
Repository: Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division, Washington, D.C. 20540 USA, hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/pp.print
Part Of: National Photo Company Collection (Library of Congress)
General information about the National Photo Company collection is available at hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/pp.npco
Higher resolution image is available (Persistent URL): hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/npcc.26021
Call Number: LC-F81- 31777
Sanaa and Mona Seif, sister of Alaa Abd El-Fattah, an imprisoned Egyptian-British democracy activist on hunger strike, talk to the press outside Britain's Foreign Office.
Alaa is over 200 days into his 100 calorie a day hunger strike in prison in Egypt. A candle-light vigil is planned for this Sunday 6 November at 4 pm opposite 10 Downing Street.
Alaa Abd El-Fattah has endured much of the last twelve years in some of the worst prison conditions anywhere in the world, on account of his brave work in promoting democracy in Egypt.
He was last arrested in September 2019 while attending Cairo's Dokki Police Station and in December last year was sentenced to five years imprisonment for "spreading false news undermining state security." More precisely, he had shared social media posts explaining the hell-hole reality of Egyptian prison conditions.
PROTEST OUTSIDE THE FOREIGN OFFICE
Alaa's two sisters, Mona and Sana'a Seif, are currently staging a protest in London's King Charles Street outside the British Foreign Office in the hope that the Egyptian government can be pressured to release him, as media attention begins to focus on the upcoming COP27 conference at Sharm El Sheikh on Egypt's Red Sea coast.
TORA PRISON - "A DAY HERE, IS LIKE A YEAR IN BELMARSH"
In April, Alaa began his hunger strike in a cell in one of the most secure sections of Cairo's sprawling and notorious Tora Prison - a maze of grim high concrete walls and watch towers, which strike fear into even the thousands of commuters who have to pass daily.
In 2012, one young Londoner confined to one of the least uncomfortable and most survivable wings of Tora prison, contrasted it with his own previous experience at Britain's high security Belmarsh. I can never forget his exact words. "A day here, is like a year at Belmarsh!" A little over 12 months later, he died of TB - the prison authorities had refused to listen to the pleas of his aunt, who fell on her knees during a rare visit, begging that he be admitted to the prison hospital.
ALAA'S HUNGER STRIKE CONTINUES AT WADI EL NATRUN PRISON
More than 200 days have passed since Alaa started his hunger strike. He has now been moved to the Wadi El Natrun prison complex in the desert north of Cairo, dubbed by inmates as the "Valley of Hell."
He may not survive much longer. However, as he holds British-Egyptian nationality, one would hope that the British government would be doing everything they could to secure his immediate release and it would be reasonable to suppose that the Foreign Office could get an immediate pledge in this regard, especially given that the British companies, including the likes of British Petroleum and BP, are the biggest investors in Egypt.
NO CONSULAR ACCESS
However, the British government have failed even to get him any consular access - think about that. That's an outrage. Even a convicted mass murderer, if British, would be entitled to consular access while in prison. That meeting would obviously not take place in his cell - but in a designated room in the prison or the highly supervised prison visiting area.
British men and women convicted of drug smuggling and other crimes in Egypt have received consular visits, so why not Alaa? The answer is because Alaa's crime is that he dared to tell the truth about Egypt, and the injustice both inside and outside its many prison walls. Nobody knows exactly how many political prisoners Egypt now has, but the number is estimated to be at least 60,000.
ALAA WAS ONE OF THE LEADERS OF THE MOST INSPIRATIONAL DEMOCRATIC REVOLT THE WORLD HAS EVER SEEN
Alaa Abd El-Fattah was one of the leaders of arguably the most inspirational democratic revolt the world has seen in the last hundred years. Although the first phase of the 2011 uprising in Egypt lasted just 18 days, and although it followed the toppling of the dictator Ben Ali in Tunisia - the streets and bridges around Tahrir Square became a deadly stage watched by the world, where protesters from every walk of life were pitted against Egypt's feared state security forces. Against all the odds, and at the cost of many lives, Egyptians refused to leave the square, sleeping in front of the tanks and fending off attacks from government militia.
The Egyptian people's initial success in toppling the dictator Mubarak led to further revolts not just across the Middle East (most notably in Libya, Bahrain, Yemen and Syria) - the highly organised Tahrir-Square sit-in provided the inspiration for strikes and workplace sit-ins against austerity across the United States and Europe and to the Occupy Movement of the same year. The people of Egypt showed that it does not matter how brutal, feared and authoritarian a government is, it can be toppled if people act collectively.
THE MILITARY BACKLASH
It's true that Egypt's flirtation with the path to greater freedom seemed to be only temporary - the Egyptian authorities deployed the usual divide and rule tactics - encouraging the less committed protesters to return home - and then rushed to elections without allowing time for genuinely democratic opposition parties to develop.
Mohamed Morsi of the Muslim Brotherhood won the presidential election in 2012 - the Brotherhood (contrary to the perception many people have here in the West) had genuinely progressive elements within it, but the chance for any transformative radical programme was prevented partly by the corruption and self-interest of some of the main political actors and partly by opposition to its democratic mandate from the deep state (the military, the Interior Ministry, State Security, the police etc.)
The army, seeing its chance, seized power in 2013, superficially in the name of the people, but in reality, to advance the interests of the generals. The new president, Abdel Fattah El-Sissi, moved quickly to crush all opposition, and ordering his security forces to attack Muslim Brotherhood supporters who had gathered in eastern Cairo at Rabaa al-Adaweya Square, killing at least 800 people - the bloodiest massacre of civilians in Egypt's modern history.
DON'T ALLOW EGYPT TO USE COP27 TO GREENWASH ITS REGIME - AND PLEASE SIGN THE PETITION TO SAVE ALAA
Now COP27 is scheduled to take place in Sharm El-Sheikh and Sisi has been given a golden opportunity to greenwash his murderous regime, which has also seen ever increasing levels inequality and corruption. While British representatives at COP27 will be given accommodation in the most luxurious five star hotels in Sharm El-Sheikh and fall asleep listening to the sound of the waves, another British citizen, Alaa Abdel El-Fatah is near death, on a painful hunger strike in the darkest of places - his dimly lit cell. The only thing he might hear at night is the desperate cry from some prisoner in another cell appealing for medical help which most likely never comes.
If we care for freedom, real democracy and justice, we can't allow the British Foreign Office to forget Alaa - especially if it's simply not to upset the highly profitable relationship British multinationals have with one of the world's most authoritarian and corrupt regimes - a relationship which only benefits the wealthiest of Egyptians.
If you live in London, please show your support at the protest at King Charles Street - and wherever you live please sign the petition -
www.change.org/p/help-free-my-brother-before-it-s-too-lat...
German postcard by Kolibri-Verlag G.m.b.H., Minden-Westf., no. 2330. Photo: Keystone.
Voluptuous American actress Mamie Van Doren (1931) was a sex symbol of the 1950s and 1960s. Van Doren starred in several exploitation films such as Untamed Youth (1957), loaded with rock 'n' roll and juvenile delinquency. Her onscreen wardrobe usually consisted of tight sweaters, low-cut blouses, form-fitting dresses, and daring swimsuits. Mamie and her colleague blonde bombshells Marilyn Monroe and Jayne Mansfield were known as 'The Three M's.'
Mamie Van Doren was born Joan Lucille Olander in Rowena, South Dakota, in 1931. She was the daughter of Warner Carl Olander and Lucille Harriet Bennett. In 1942 the family moved to Los Angeles. In early 1946, Van Doren began working as an usher at the Pantages Theatre in Hollywood. The following year, she had a bit part on an early television show. She also sang with Ted Fio Rito's band and entered several beauty contests. She was married for a brief time at seventeen when Van Doren and her first husband, Jack Newman, eloped to Santa Barbara. The marriage was dissolved quickly, upon her discovery of his abusive nature. In the summer of 1949, at age 18, she won the titles Miss Eight Ball and Miss Palm Springs. Van Doren was discovered by producer Howard Hughes the night she was crowned Miss Palm Springs. The pair dated for five years. Hughes provided her with a bit role in Jet Pilot at RKO Radio Pictures. Her line of dialogue inconsisted of one word, "Look!". The following year, 1951, she posed for famous pin-up girl artist Alberto Vargas, the painter of the glamorous Vargas Girls. His painting of Van Doren was on the July 1951 cover of Esquire magazine. Van Doren did a few more bit parts in RKO films, including His Kind of Woman (John Farrow, 1951) starring Robert Mitchum and Jane Russell. Van Doren then began working on the stage. She was a showgirl in New York in Monte Proser's nightclub version of Billion Dollar Baby. Songwriter Jimmy McHugh discovered her for his musicals, then decided she was too good for the chorus line and should have dramatic training. She studied with Ben Bard and Bliss-Hayden. While appearing in the role of Marie in a showcase production of Come Back, Little Sheba, Van Doren was seen by Phil Benjamin, a casting director at Universal International. In 1953, Van Doren signed a contract with Universal Studios. They had big plans for her, hoping she would bring the same kind of success that 20th Century Fox had with Marilyn Monroe. Van Doren, whose signing day coincided with the inauguration of President Eisenhower, was given the first name Mamie for Ike's wife, Mamie Eisenhower. Universal first cast Van Doren in a minor role as a singer in Forbidden (Rudolph Maté, 1953), starring Tony Curtis. Interested in Van Doren's allure, Universal then cast her again opposite Curtis in The All American (Jesse Hibbs, 1953), playing her first major role as Susie Ward, a wayward girl who is the man-trap at a campus beer joint. In Yankee Pasha (Joseph Pevney, 1954), starring Jeff Chandler and Rhonda Fleming, she played a slave girl, Lilith. In 1955, she had a supporting role in the musical Ain't Misbehavin' (Edward Buzzell, 1955) and starred in the crime-drama, Running Wild (Abner Biberman, 1955). Soon thereafter, Van Doren turned down a Broadway role in the play Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter?, and was replaced by newcomer Jayne Mansfield. In 1956, Van Doren appeared in the Western Star in the Dust (Charles F. Haas, 1956). Though Van Doren garnered prominent billing alongside John Agar and Richard Boone, she appears rather briefly, as the daughter of a ranch owner. By this time, Van Doren had grown tired of Universal, which was only casting her in non-breakthrough roles. Therefore, Van Doren began accepting bigger roles in better movies from other studios, such as Teacher's Pet (George Seaton, 1958) with Doris Day and Clark Gable. She appeared in some of the first movies to feature rock 'n' roll music, such as Untamed Youth (Howard W. Koch, 1957). The film was originally condemned by the Catholic Legion of Decency, but that only served to enhance the curiosity factor, resulting in it being a big moneymaker for the studio. Van Doren became identified with this rebellious style, and made some rock records. She went to star in several bad girl movies that later became cult films. These include Born Reckless (Howard W. Koch, 1958), High School Confidential (Jack Arnold, 1958), and The Beat Generation (Charles F. Haas, 1959). After Universal Studios chose not to renew her contract in 1959, Van Doren was now a free agent and had to struggle to find work.
Mamie Van Doren became known for her provocative roles. She was in prison for Girls Town (Charles F. Haas, 1959), which provoked censors with a shower scene where audiences could see Van Doren's naked back. As Eve in The Private Lives of Adam and Eve (Mickey Rooney, Albert Zugsmith, 1960) she wore only fig leaves, and in other films, like Vice Raid (Edward L. Cahn, 1960) audiences were clued in as to the nature of the films from the titles. Many of these productions were low-budget B-movies which sometimes gained a cult following for their high camp value. An example is Sex Kittens Go to College (Albert Zugsmith, 1960), which co-starred Tuesday Weld and Mijanou Bardot - Brigitte's sister. Mamie also appeared in foreign productions, such as the Italian crime comedy Le bellissime gambe di Sabrina/The Beautiful Legs of Sabrina (Camillo Mastrocinque, 1959) with Antonio Cifariello, and the Argentine film Una americana en Buenos Aires/The Blonde from Buenos Aires (George Cahan, 1961) with Jean-Pierre Aumont. Van Doren took some time off from her career and came back to the screen in 1964. That year she played in the German Western musical Freddy und das Lied der Prärie/In the Wild West (Sobey Martin, 1964), starring Freddy Quinn and Rik Battaglia. Tommy Noonan convinced Van Doren to appear in 3 Nuts in Search of a Bolt (Tommy Noonan, 1964). Van Doren had turned down Noonan's previous offer to star in Promises! Promises!, in which she would have to do nude scenes. She was replaced by Jayne Mansfield. In 3 Nuts in Search of a Bolt, Mamie did a beer-bath scene, but is not seen nude. She posed for Playboy to promote the film. Van Doren next appeared in The Las Vegas Hillbillys (Arthur C. Pierce, 1966) which co-starred Jayne Mansfield. It was the only time two of 'The Three M's' appeared together in a film. A sequel was titled Hillbillys in a Haunted House, but Van Doren turned this role down, and was replaced by Joi Lansing. She appeared in You've Got to Be Smart (Ellis Kadison, 1967), and the sci-fi film, Voyage to the Planet of Prehistoric Women (1968), directed by the young Peter Bogdanovich (as Derek Thomas). In this film astronauts land on Venus and encounter dangerous creatures and meet sexy Venusian women who like to sun-bathe in hip-hugging skin-tight pants and seashell brassieres. In 1968, she was offered the role of a murder victim in the independent horror film The Ice House as a replacement for Mansfield, who died the previous year. She turned the offer down, however, and was replaced by Sabrina. During the Vietnam War, she did tours for U.S. troops in Vietnam for three months in 1968, and again in 1970. Van Doren also developed a nightclub act and did live theater. She performed in stage productions of Gentlemen Prefer Blondes and Dames at Sea at the Drury Lane Theater, Chicago, and appeared in Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter? and The Tender Trap at the Arlington Park Theater. In the 1970s, Van Doren performed a nightclub act in Las Vegas as well. Van Doren had a supporting role in the Western The Arizona Kid (Luciano B. Carlos, 1970). Since then, Van Doren has appeared only in cameo appearances in low-budgeted films. To this date Van Doren's last film appearance was a cameo role in the comedy Slackers (Dewey Nicks, 2002). Van Doren's guest appearances on television include Jukebox Jury, What's My Line, The Bob Cummings Show, The Jack Benny Show, Fantasy Island, Burke's Law, Vega$, and L.A. Law. Van Doren released her autobiography, Playing the Field, in 1987 which brought much new attention and proved to be her biggest media splash in over 25 years. Since the book's publication she has often been interviewed and profiled and has occasionally returned to acting. Van Doren has been married five times. Her first marriage was to sportswear manufacturer Jack Newman whom she married and divorced in 1950. Her second marriage was to bandleader, composer and actor Ray Anthony whom she married in 1955. They had one son, Perry Ray Anthony (1956). The couple later divorced in 1961. When Van Doren's early 1960s, highly publicized, on-again off-again engagement to baseball player Bo Belinsky ended in 1964, she married baseball player Lee Meyers in 1966. They were divorced in 1967. Her fourth marriage was to businessman Ross McClintock in 1972. They met while working on President Nixon's reelection campaign; the marriage was annulled in 1973. Since 1979 she has been married to Thomas Dixon, an actor and dentist.
Sources: Wikipedia and IMDb.
Promoting their show "Grecian Idolatry" which I wanted to see but it was only on for a few days in week 3 and just too late in the evening
A painted rock promoting the recently held Catch the Ace - Beyond 21 lottery in Williamstown, Ontario, Canada.
Beyond 21 is a community based learning centre for adults with developmental disabilities.
Catch the Ace was a recent fund-raising drive, where the winner keeps 50% of the total money raised via raffle tickets, and the other 50% goes towards funding adults with developmental disabilities at The Hub for Beyond 21 Foundation, Cornwall, ON.
This rock, at the intersection of Glen Rd. and County Rd. 27 in Williamstown, is used to promote or advertise various events throughout the year. It is clearly an effective, low-cost method of doing so. Just using Google Street View, one can see it wishing 60th happy birthday to a woman named Karen, and also, viewed from another angle, a tribute to Canada's renowned Terry Fox (Terry Fox rocks).
This bus stop at the foot of the Canongate in Edinburgh has been equipped with an updated Real Time Passenger Information system which is being tested. The city and Lothian Buses introduced the city’s original RTPI system - branded BusTracker circa 2004 - but is well overdue for replacement.
To make this upload more interesting, I have added some Edinburgh transport chronology:-
Sedan chair makes first appearance in Edinburgh 1687
First Graving Dock at Leith 1720
Edinburgh to Queen’s Ferry Road designated as turnpike road 1751
London to Edinburgh mail coach journey advertised as “10 days in summer, 12 days in winter.” 1754
Ferry Road constructed on its present line 1758
The first North Bridge completed 1772
South Bridge built 1785-1788
First wet dock (East Dock) at Leith opened 1806
John Rennie’s Musselburgh New Bridge opened 1808
First steamboat, “Lady of the Lake”, on the Forth 1812
West Dock completed 1817
Junction Bridge in Leith built 1818
Regent or Regent’s Bridge carrying Waterloo Place over Calton Road completed 1819
Trinity Chain Pier opened 1821
First regular steamship service between Leith and London 1821
Union Canal opened 1822
Second Cramond Brig opened 1824
Leith Dock Commission established 1826
Telford’s Pathhead (or Lothian) Bridge over Tyne Water built 1827-1831
George IV Bridge built 1827-1836
The Mound completed 1830
Glenesk Viaduct over River N. Esk on Edinburgh & Dalkeith Railway completed 1831
Telford’s Dean Bridge completed 1832
Mail coach from London to Edinburgh took 42 hrs 23 minutes 1832
Horse drawn passenger service inaugurated on E&DR from St Leonards 1832
Edinburgh to Glasgow ‘swift’ passenger boats on Union and Forth & Clyde canals took 7 1/2 hrs between cities changing at Falkirk 1835
New Western Approach (later Johnston Terrace) opened 1836
Granton Pier, originally Victoria Jetty, opened 1838
Edinburgh & Glasgow Rly opened from Haymarket to Glasgow via Falkirk 1842
EL&NR opened from Scotland Street to Trinity 1842
Granton to Burntisland ferry service opens 1844
Rival schemes put forward for atmospheric railways between Edinburgh and Leith 1845
EL&GR opened from Warriston Jn to North Leith 1846
North British Railway opens to Berwick-upon-Tweed 1846
E&GR extended from Haymarket to Waverley 1847
Scotland Street tunnel and Canal Street station opened 1847
Musselburgh (town centre) station opened 1847
Last mail coach run from Edinburgh to London 1847
Caledonian Railway opened from Carlisle to Lothian Road station via Carstairs 1848
Passenger services on Union Canal abandoned 1848
Edinburgh & Glasgow Railway purchase the Union Canal 1849
Lothianbridge or Newbattle viaduct built 1849
First trains between Edinburgh and Hawick 1849
Edinburgh and Bathgate Railway opened 1849
Edinburgh and Northern Railway introduce train ferry service for freight wagons between Granton and Burntisland 1851
Victoria Dock at Leith opened 1852
West Pier at Leith opened 1852
Peebles Railway opened 1855
Melville Drive opened 1859
Cockburn Street built to improve access to Waverley from the Old Town 1859-1864
GNR, NER and NBR introduce common pool of passenger carriages (East Coast Joint Stock) on East Coast route 1861
NBR complete Waverley Route to Carlisle 1862
Winchburgh railway accident, 17 killed, 1862
East Coast companies introduce Special Scotch Express Edinburgh to London King’s Cross (later the Flying Scotsman) 1862
First John Menzies bookstall at Waverley 1862
The Prince of Wales Graving Dock opened 1863
Edinburgh & Glasgow Railway taken over by NBR 1865
NBR divert Granton trains via Abbeyhill Jcn and Leith Walk 1868
Ratho/Dalmeny branch railway (1866) extended to South Queensferry 1868
CR open Cleland and Midcalder cut off 1869
NBR open Abbeyhill and Junction Road stations 1869
Albert Dock opened 1869
Tramways Act 1870
CR replace Lothian Road station with new terminus slightly further north and rename it Princes Street 1870
Portobello Pier opened 1871
NBR start through trains to Glasgow via Bathgate 1871
First horse trams (Haymarket to Bernard Street (Leith) started by Edinburgh Street Tramways Co 1871
Penicuik Railway opened 1872
NBR introduce first sleeping car service in GB between Glasgow, Edinburgh and London 1873
Colinton New Bridge opened c.1874
Balerno branch railway opened 1874
Victoria Swing Bridge opened at Leith 1874
Tramway opened from Waterloo Place to Portobello 1875
Through trains to St Pancras via Waverley Route and Midland Railway’s new Settle and Carlisle Line 1876
NBR extend railway from South Queensferry to Port Edgar 1878
CR start passenger service Princes Street to Leith 1879
Edinburgh Dock opened 1881
Forth Bridge Railway Company formed by NBR/NER/GNR/MR 1881
Edinburgh Street Tramways Co trial steam tramway engines on Portobello route 1881/2
Forth Bridge construction begins 1883
Roads and Bridges Act ends turnpike roads system and tolls 1883
South Suburban railway opened 1884
Galloway Saloon Steam Packet company formed 1886
Galloway steamers build wooden pier at South Queensferry town harbour 1886
First issues of Murray’s monthly Edinburgh timetable diaries 1886
NBR open new and improved station at Portobello 1887
Belford Bridge opened 1887
NBR open Craiglockhart station 1887
First cable tram route (Edinburgh Northern Tramways Co, Hanover St to Goldenacre) 1888
Forth Bridge and connecting railways opened, also Aberdour station, 1890
Inverkeithing and North Queensferry stations relocated 1890
Fire at the (first) Princes Street station 1890
ENTCo open Stockbridge cable route from Frederick Street to Comely Bank 1890
CR propose railway under Princes Street and Calton Hill to Leith 1890
CR and NBR both open temporary Exhibition stations to serve Edinburgh Exhibition of the Arts, Sciences and Industries 1890
NBR open Easter Road and Piershill stations 1891
Waverley expansion 1892-1902
Lessee of Edinburgh tramways (exc Leith) changes to Edinburgh & District Tramways Co in 1894
Second Princes Street Station opened by CR 1894
CR open their Barnton branch from Craigleith to Cramond Brig 1894
NBR open resited Haymarket MPD west of Russell Road 1894/5
The new Haymarket (South) tunnel completed 1895
NBR open Powderhall station 1895
First motor car driven through Edinburgh 1896
The Alexandra Dry Dock completed 1896
Burgh of Portobello absorbed by Edinburgh 1896
Second (the present) North Bridge opened 1897
Edinburgh & District Tramways takeover the two Edinburgh Northern Tramways cable routes 1897
Booking Hall opened at Waverley 1897
NBR open second Calton Tunnel 1897
Turnhouse station opened 1897
New swing bridge opened at Bernard Street replacing the earlier bridge 1898
NBR open new “suburban station” at Waverley 1898
Norman MacDonald’s Edinburgh Autocar Company introduced motor wagonette service GPO to Haymarket 1899
Edinburgh & District Tramways start their first cable trams 1899
E&DT open Tollcross cable car depot and power station 1899
NBR acquires former Waterloo Hotel as head office 1899
Dalry Road station opened by CR 1900
Jeffrey Street footbridge over east end of Waverley opened 1900
First Sunday trams 1901
First trains to Gifford 1901
NBR open branch line to Corstorphine 1902
NBR open North British Station Hotel on Princes Street 1902
First pedestrian fatality as a result of being knocked down by motor vehicle in Edinburgh 1902
Bonnington Bridge built replacing 1812 structure 1902/3
NBR open Leith Central station 1903
Driving licences introduced 1903
CR open Princes Street Station Hotel 1903
Barntongate station renamed Davidson’s Mains 1903
Cramond Brig station renamed Barnton 1903
Musselburgh & District Electric Light & Traction Co. Ltd open tramway from Joppa to Levenhall 1904
Imperial Dock opened 1904
Bangour (Private) Railway opened 1905
First Leith Corporation electric trams 1905
Scottish Motor Traction Co Ltd starts first motor bus service Mound to Corstorphine 1906
Last horse tram (Tollcross to Colinton Rd) 1907
John Croall and Sons introduce first motor taxis in Edinburgh 1907
Last extension of cable tramway network in Edinburgh - the Broughton St to Canonmills line 1908
NBR open Newtongrange station 1908
NBR open temporary station at Balgreen to serve Scottish National Exhibition at Saughton Park 1908
Hailes Platform on CR Balerno branch opened 1908
Musselburgh tramway extended from Levenhall to Port Seton 1909
Leith Corporation Tramways extended to Granton 1909
EDT open electric tramway Ardmillan Tce to Slateford 1910
NBR introduce summer Lothian Coast Express from Glasgow Queen Street to Gullane/North Berwick/Dunbar 1912
NBR open Scotland’s first Control Centre, 1913
NBR open carriage sidings at Craigentinny 1914
Seton Mains Halt on ECML opened by NBR 1914
Ratho train crash kills 12, 1917
NBR temporarily close some suburban stations 1917
Powderhall station closed 1917
NBR open Rosyth Halt 1917
South Queensferry Halt opened 1919
Edinburgh Corporation start running trams directly 1919
Edinburgh Corporation Tramways establish HQ at 2 St. James Square 1919
Corporation starts first bus tours 1919
NBR take over working of the Queensferry Passage 1920
Edinburgh absorbs Cramond, Corstorphine, Colinton, Leith and Liberton, 1920
Corporation start first regular bus services 1920
SMT starts first services to Musselburgh and Tranent 1920
Saughton station closed 1921
SMT start pleasure cruises from Queensferry with two new motor yachts 1921
First ECT electric trams 1922
Tramway on Princes Street electrified 1922
ECT introduce first double deck buses (open top) 1922
Railway grouping 1923
Last cable trams (the Portobello route) withdrawn 1923
Edinburgh Corporation open Portobello Power Station 1923
ECT tracks at Joppa linked up with those of the Musselburgh company 1923
Marchmont Circle electric tram service starts 1924
Tramway extended from Seafield to King’s Road 1924
Five killed when two trains collide at Haymarket 1924
Murrayfield Stadium opened 1925
ECT open Gorgie tram depot 1925
LNER withdraw train service to Trinity and Granton 1925
George Street tramway opened 1925
First night bus services introduced by ECT 1925
Edinburgh Licensed Hackney Carriage Association 1925
Tramway extension opened to Colinton 1926
ECT open Central Garage in former Industrial Hall at Annandale Street 1926
SMT open booking and enquiry office at 45 Princes Street 1926
SMT commence through bus service to Glasgow 1926
Maybury Road opened 1927
LMS relaunch their premier Euston- Glasgow/Edinburgh service as the “Royal Scot” 1927
Edinburgh-Glasgow New Road built 1927-32
Edinburgh Corporation Tramways becomes Edinburgh Corporation Transport 1928
First traffic lights in city at Broughton St/York Pl junction 1928
Levenhall to Port Seton tramway abandoned 1928
LNER introduce third class sleeping cars 1928
LNER loco 4472 “Flying Scotsman” hauls first non stop King’s Cross to Edinburgh train service 1928
Tramway extended from Corstorphine to Drum Brae 1928
Thomson’s Tours start coach services to London 1928
SMT open New Street bus garage 1929
Railway companies invest in SMT 1929
Telford Road opened 1929
Last trains to South Queensferry Halt 1929
Tram accident at Liberton Brae 1929
LNER close Turnhouse, Winchburgh, Gogar, Kirkliston and Leith Walk stations 1930
ECT open tramway extension to Stenhouse 1930
Road Traffic Act 1930
SMT starts extended tours of several days 1931
Bowens of Musselburgh sell their bus services to SMT 1931
First edition of The Highway Code published 1931
Last trains to Aberlady and Gullane 1932
LNER withdraw passenger services from Glencorse branch 1933
ECT introduce first closed top double decker 1933
Moderne style Southern Motors garage at Causewayside c.1933
Two custom built car ferries introduced at Queensferry 1934
LNER open Balgreen Halt 1934
LMS open East Pilton Halt 1934
Driving tests introduced 1935
Tramway extended from Braids to Fairmilehead 1936
SMT concentrate departures at Saint Andrew Square 1936
Corporation tours stance opened at Waverley Bridge 1936
The Maybury Roadhouse opened 1936
Final tram extension to Maybury 1937
Veteran 58 yr old ferry, PS “William Muir” withdrawn from LNER Granton/Burntisland passage 1937
LNER Edinburgh to Glasgow train collides with another stationary train at Castlecary killing 35, 1937
LMS open House O’ Hill Halt on Barnton branch 1937
LNER introduce The Coronation streamlined express passenger train between King’s Cross and Edinburgh and vv 1937
LNER withdraw Granton/Burntisland ferry 1940
SMT bus inbound from Port Seton crashes head on into tramcar on Portobello Road, killing five bus passengers 1941
Dalkeith branch passenger service withdrawn 1942
Western breakwater at Leith completed 1942
Last trains to Colinton and Balerno 1943
ECT restarts city tours after the war 1946
First BEA flights to London (using Northolt) 1947
Last trains to ex-NBR North Leith station 1947
Forth Road Bridge Order approves construction of bridge 1947
ECT start Airport bus service (initially under contract to BEA) 1947
First International Festival of Music and Drama 1947
Peak year for tram passenger numbers (nearly 193m) 1947
Railways nationalised 1948
Washout of East Coast Main Line in Berwickshire 1948
SMT nationalised 1949
Last trains to Haddington 1949
Town planner Patrick Abercrombie publishes his vision for Edinburgh 1949
BEA move booking office and town terminal to 133 George Street 1950
Third car ferry introduced on Queensferry Passage 1950
New Hailes station closed 1950
BR open Easter Road Park Halt for arriving football specials 1950
Last trains to Barnton and Penicuik 1951
Last trains call at Drumshoreland, Curriehill, Ratho and Philpstoun 1951
SMT start hourly express coach service to Glasgow 1951
Northern Roadways start overnight service to London 1951
Forth Ferries run short lived car ferry service between Granton and Burntisland 1951/2
Corporation resolves to abandon tramways completely within three years 1952
Corporation permits external adverts on trams and buses 1952
Last passenger trains to Leith Central 1952
First international flights from Turnhouse Airport (to Dublin) 1952
Last trams to Stenhouse and Slateford 1953
ECT close Gorgie tram depot 1953
BR introduce summer weekly “Starlight Special” overnight trains Waverley to London Marylebone @ 70/- return 1953
BEA Edinburgh to London flights move from Northolt to Heathrow 1954
Last trams to Corstorphine, Portobello, Musselburgh and Levenhall 1954
Longstone bus garage opened by ECT 1955
Leith Dock Commission close Bernard Street swing bridge to navigation 1955
Millerhill station closed 1955
Withdrawal of Colinton trams 1955
British Transport Historical Records open office in Edinburgh 1955
Remaining Glasgow trains via Bathgate withdrawn 1956
Fourth car ferry joins Queensferry Passage 1956
New passenger terminal opened at Turnhouse Airport 1956
Last first generation electric trams 1956
First diesel trains to Glasgow 1957
ECT relocate head office from St. James Square to 14 Queen Street 1957
SOL open Saint Andrew Square Bus Station 1957
Many local rail services converted to diesel operations 1958
Jeffrey Street footbridge over east end of Waverley closed 1958
Construction of Forth Road Bridge begins 1958
Underground roadway heating system installed on The Mound 1959
BR introduce summer daytime car carrier service Waverley to London (Holloway) 1960
British Railways introduce diesel services Edinburgh to Fife 1960
East Fortune becomes temporary Edinburgh Airport for 4 months (96000 pax )owing to runway strengthening at Turnhouse 1961
SMT start The Transatlantic Express service to Prestwick 1961
The new Bernard Street concrete bridge opened 1961
Last trains to Bonnyrigg and Peebles 1962
Last trains to Leith North 1962
SOL rebuild and extend Musselburgh depot 1962
First parking meters introduced on George Street and Queen Street 1962
ECT open their new Marine Garage 1962
South Sub trains withdrawn 1962
BEA move sales office to 135 Princes Street 1962
Beeching Report published 1963
Loganair start first scheduled service Dundee to Edinburgh 1963
ECT open information bureau at top of Waverley Bridge 1964
Eastern Scottish fleetname introduced by SOL 1964/5
New A90 dual carriageway Cramond Brig to Queensferry 1964
Queensferry Passage closed 1964
Forth Road Bridge (cost £19.5m) opened, first direct buses to Fife 1964
Scotland’s first motorway - M90 Admiralty to Duloch in south Fife plus M823 spur bypassing Rosyth 1964
Castle Terrace multi-storey car park opened 1964
Abbeyhill, Piershill, Portobello and Joppa stations closed 1964
Musselburgh and Inveresk stations closed 1964
Kingsknowe station closed 1964
First modern rear engined bus bought by ECT 1965
British Rail brand name and double arrow logo launched 1965
Princes Street Station closed along with Merchiston 1965
BEA Vickers Vanguard on flight from Edinburgh crashes at Heathrow killing 36, 1965
BUA start InterJet service to Gatwick 1966
BR publish closure proposal for Waverley Route 1966
Driver-only double deck buses legalised 1966
SOL open combined depot/bus station in Dalkeith 1966
Motorail brand launched by BRB 1966
Edinburgh Corporation publish plans for six lane Inner Relief Road 1966
ECT close parcels service 1966
Chairlift opened at Hillend ski centre 1966
Half hourly train service Edinburgh to Glasgow QS via Falkirk 1966.
BR close St. Margaret’s MPD 1967
Last trains to Corstorphine 1967
Forth Ports Authority replaces Leith Dock Commission 1968
Taxi cooperative, Central Radio Taxis, founded 1968
Waverley Route to Carlisle closed 1969
BR close Divisional Manager’s office at Waterloo Place 1969
ECT introduce first double decker one man operated services 1969
Scottish Transport Group HQ set up at Carron House on George Street, Edinburgh 1969
Closure of North Berwick branch refused by MoT 1969
ECT close Tollcross garage 1969
M8 opened between Whitburn and Dechmont 1969
Direct railway route to Perth closed between Cowdenbeath and Bridge of Earn via Kinross Jcn 1970
ECT employ first female driver 1970
M8 eastern section opened between Dechmont and Newbridge 1970
M9 (later M90) Kirkliston spur opened 1970
Travel Centre opened at Waverley 1970
BAA take over Edinburgh Airport 1971
Scotland’s first motorway service area opened at Harthill on M8 at cost of £650,000, 1971
Push/Pull trains to Glasgow 1971
Kingsknowe Station reopened 1971
ECT expand info bureau at Waverley Bridge to become airport bus terminal 1971
Last passenger sailings from Leith to Orkney/Shetland 1971
Traffic lights installed on Princes Street 1972
First Open Day at ECT Shrubhill 1972
Last sailings Leith to Reykjavik and Copenhagen 1972
The old A9 between Turnhouse and Boathouse Bridge closed to allow construction of the airport’s new runway 1973
Rose Street (between Castle St and Frederick St) becomes first in city to be pedestrianised 1973
First section of Water of Leith Walkway opened between Slateford and Juniper Green using solum of ex-CR Balerno branch 1973
Civil Aviation Act 1971 merges BEA and BOAC as British Airways 1974
First bus lane in city (Earl Grey Street, northbound) 1974
West Approach Road opened 1974
Edinburgh boundary extended to take in Queensferry, Kirkliston, Newbridge, Ratho, Currie and Balerno 1975
Edinburgh City Transport becomes Lothian Regional Transport 1975
Air Anglia launch first Edinburgh to Amsterdam flights 1975
First Leith Street footbridge erected 1975
New runway opened at Edinburgh Airport 1976
British Airways introduce the Shuttle to Heathrow 1976
LRT introduces the Ridacard season ticket 1976
New power signal box opened at Waverley 1976
Lothian introduce Airlink brand for airport bus service 1976
First phase of Almondvale shopping centre opened at Livingston 1976
Solari split flap departure board installed at Waverley 1976
SBG launch blue and white livery and “Scottish” brand on London coaches 1976
New passenger terminal at Edinburgh Airport opened 1977
SPOKES (the Lothian cycle campaign) launched 1977
BR opens Craigentinny Train Maintenance Depot 1977
HST train services from King’s Cross to Edinburgh introduced 1978/9
Townsend Thoresen run shortlived experimental sailings between Leith and Kristiansand (Norway), autumn 1978
Penmanshiel Tunnel collapse on ECML between Berwick and Dunbar 1979
Transport museum at Shrubhill closed 1979
SOL open combined depot/bus station at Livingston 1979
LRT last use bus conductors 1980
Leith Walk ex-CR rail bridge removed 1980
Deregulation of express coach services 1980
Eastern Scottish introduce X14 Motorway Express to Glasgow 1981
Colinton bypass (3.5 miles) opened from Baberton to Fairmilehead 1981
Cotter Coachline service to London 1981
Lothian Regional Council buys disused railway routes in north Edinburgh 1981
British Rail launch low cost Nightrider train service King’s Cross to Edinburgh and Aberdeen 1982
Eastern Scottish end use of bus conductors 1982
“Maid of the Forth” cruises established at Queensferry 1982
“Innocent Railway” walkway/cycleway - first section opened from Duddingston Rd West to southern tunnel portal 1982
Midcalder station renamed Kirknewton 1982
Newton’s Travel launch “Fast Class” coach service to/from Inverness 1982
British Midland start Heathrow to Edinburgh service 1983
British Airways upgrade Heathrow services to “Super Shuttle” 1983
British Rail Scotland adopt Scotrail brand (22 Sept) 1983
Stagecoach start an Edinburgh-Glasgow service 1983
ECT tram 35 moved to Blackpool 1983
Henry Robb shipyard at Leith completes two IoW ferries for Sealink (the yard’s last orders) 1983
InterCity launch Highland Chieftain between King’s Cross and Inverness via Edinburgh (581 miles) 1984
Edinburgh-Glasgow train derails W of Polmont, 13 killed, 1984
Livingston South station opened 1984
South Gyle Station opened 1985
“Royal Scotsman” luxury tour train inaugurated 1985
Scottish Citylink Coaches Ltd formed 1985
Borders/East Lothian routes of Eastern Scottish pass to Lowland Scottish 1985
Edinburgh to Bathgate train service reopened 1986
ScotRail Operations Depot opened at Waverley 1986
ScotRail operate dmu shuttles between Waverley and Meadowbank Stadium during Commonwealth Games 1986
Bus services deregulated 1986
Lothian Regional Transport becomes Lothian Region Transport plc 1986
A1 Tranent and Musselburgh bypasses opened 1986
A199 Portobello bypass (Sir Harry Lauder Road) opened 1986
Eastern Scottish introduce City Sprinter minibuses 1986
Sighthill Bypass (3 miles) opened from Glasgow Road to Baberton 1986
SPOKES publish first edition of their Edinburgh cycle map 1987
Scott Russell Aqueduct built to carry Union Canal over the Edinburgh city bypass 1987
Wester Hailes and Curriehill stations opened /reopened 1987
Air UK replace BCal on Gatwick/Edinburgh route 1988
InterCity Sleepers concentrated on WCML and Euston 1988
Preserved Edinburgh tram 35 operates at the Glasgow Garden Festival 1988
New station opened at Musselburgh 1988
Burdiehouse Bypass from Fairmilehead to Straiton opened 1988
Millerhill Bypass from Sheriffhall to Old Craighall opened 1988
Innocent railway tunnel on E&DR opened to cyclists/pedestrians 1989
Guide Friday starts Edinburgh open top bus tour followed by LRT later same year with Edinburgh Classic Tour 1989
ScotRail start Fife Circle train services 1989
Guide Friday start their AirBus Express to airport 1989
Stagecoach sells express operations to National Express, initially rebranded Caledonian Express, 1989
Craig Park retail park opened on former Newcraighall Colliery site 1989
Gilmerton Bypass opened from Straiton to Sheriffhall 1989
Eastern Scottish privatised, revives SMT fleetname 1990
Lowland Scottish privatised 1990
Class 158 DMUs introduced by ScotRail on Edinburgh-Glasgow QS service 1990
Carstairs/Edinburgh link from WCML electrified 1991
Busway proposed from Edinburgh Airport to city centre 1991
East Coast Main Line electrification completed 1991
North Berwick train service electrified 1991
SBG sell Fife Scottish to Stagecoach 1991
Stagecoach Rail launched 1992
Class 158 DMU (158708/710) sets world speed record for BR for underfloor engine DMU, Glasgow QS-Edinburgh, 107mph/171 km/h 1992
Scottish Citylink purchased by National Express 1993
Underpass opened at Gogar roundabout 1993
Guide Friday start Deep Sea World Express to North Queensferry 1993
Gyle Centre opened 1993
CERT (City of Edinburgh Rapid Transit) bus rapid transit scheme proposed c.1993
GRT buys Eastern Scottish Omnibuses (SMT) 1994
ScotRail TOC created (still BRB owned) 1994
New station opened at Wallyford 1994
M8 extended from Newbridge to City Bypass 1995
BR withdraw Sleeper/Motorail to Plymouth 1995
LRT moves Head Office from Queen Street to Shrubhill 1995
Anglo-Scottish Sleeper train operation passes to ScotRail 1995
Scottish Vintage Bus Museum moves to Lathalmond 1995
Mock up of section of a light weight tram displayed at Leith and Parliament Square 1995
First EasyJet services from London Luton to Edinburgh 1995
GNER train operating company takes over ECML train services 1996
ScotRail introduce Caledonian Sleeper brand 1996
Pedicabs first operate in Edinburgh 1996
Eastbound traffic exc buses, taxis, cycles etc removed from Princes Street 1996
First carve up Eastern Scottish between Midland Bluebird and Lowland 1996
Virgin Trains start running CrossCountry and West Coast trains 1997
Underpass opened at Newbridge roundabout 1997
First merge Midland Bluebird and Lowland as First Edinburgh 1997
Last BR operations (2355 Glasgow/Edinburgh - Euston Sleeper 31 March) 1997
ScotRail privatised 1997
Priority bus lanes (“Greenways”) introduced on five arterial roads 1997
Dalgety Bay station opened 1998
The New Edinburgh Tramways Company formed to promote a Haymarket to Newhaven light weight tramway 1998
9 local authorities form voluntary South East Scotland Transport Partnership 1998
Low cost carrier Go starts Stansted/Edinburgh route 1998
Dunfermline Queen Margaret station opened 2000
GNER propose Parkway station at Musselburgh 2000
LRT becomes Lothian Buses 2000
LB becomes a City Sightseeing franchisee 2000
LB replace last Circle service 32 (Outer Circle) with 18 and 32 routes, 2000
First Edinburgh launch The Overground network in city 2000
Motorvator coach service Edinburgh to Glasgow started by Bruce Coaches and Long’s of Salsburgh 2000
St. Andrew Square bus station closed for redevelopment 2000
Ferrytoll P+R opened in Fife 2000
Cramond Ferry closed at time of foot and mouth restrictions 2000
National Rail website launched 2000
ConCERT consortium pull out of the CEC guided busway project 2001
Ocean Terminal Shopping Centre opened 2001
Forth Estuary Transport Authority replaces FRBJB 2001
Union Canal reopened through Wester Hailes 2001
Integrated multi-modal ticket launched by SESTRAN Traveltickets 2001
Ryanair launch first scheduled service from EDI (to Dublin) 2001
Brunstane and Newcraighall stations opened 2002
Transport Initiatives Edinburgh formed 2002
Rosyth/Zeebrugge ferry service started by Superfast Ferries 2002
LB acquire Mac Tours and Edinburgh ops of Guide Friday 2002
Lothian revamps night bus network 2002
1.6km of ECML realigned near Prestonpans owing to subsidence 2002
Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh relocates to Little France 2003
Edinburgh Bus Station opened 2003
Stagecoach start Yellow Taxibus service Dunfermline to Edinburgh 2003
Megabus started by Stagecoach 2003
Second Leith Street footbridge (the “bendy bridge”) erected 2003
Concorde’s last visit to EDI (G-BOAE) 2003
Edinburgh Park station opened 2003
First Group takeover ScotRail franchise 2004
Edinburgh Bus Tours introduce Majestic Tour 2004
West Edinburgh 1.5k guided busway opens 2004
‘Queen Mary 2’ makes first visit to Firth of Forth 2004
Continental start first daily transatlantic scheduled flight to New York/Newark 2004
Stagecoach buy the Motorvator Edinburgh Glasgow coach service 2004
Stagecoach gain 35% stake in Scottish Citylink and become managing partner 2005
Hermiston P+R opened 2005
NATS build new 57 metre high control tower at EDI 2005
Edinburgh congestion charge referendum 2005
Central Edinburgh Traffic Management Scheme 2005
SEStran becomes a statutory Regional Transport Partnership 2005
Transport Scotland (agency of Scottish Executive) begins operation 2006
Ingliston P+R opened 2006
Stagecoach launch Airdirect (later Jet 747) bus Inverkeithing to Edinburgh Airport in 2006
Forth Boat Tours founded 2006
Megabus start an Edinburgh to London service 2006
Former SMT depot/Head Office at New Street demolished 2006
Stagecoach run two week hovercraft trial between Portobello and KIrkcaldy 2007
Edinburgh Airport Rail Link cancelled by Scottish Govt 2007
First TransPennine Express replace Virgin CrossCountry on Manchester services 2007
Edinburgh Bus Tours start Bus and Boat Tour 2007
Lothian start taxibus service to/from Edinburgh Airport 2007
M9 spur (later M90) opened from Kirkliston to Queensferry 2007
Stagecoach East Scotland launch Express CityConnect brand for coach network 2007
National Express East Coast takes over InterCity East Coast franchise 2007
Tolls removed from Forth Road Bridge 2008
First Edinburgh renamed First Scotland East 2008
P&R sites opened at Sheriffhall and Straiton 2008
Wallyford P&R opened 2008
The Cunard liner QE2 makes last visit to Firth of Forth 2008
Norfolkline restart Rosyth/Zeebrugge ferry service 2009
Tramway construction begins on Princes Street 2009
The state owned East Coast train operating company replaced National Express East Coast 2009
Removal of last step entrance bus from Lothian fleet 2009
Airdrie/Bathgate railway reopened/ electrified 2010
ScotRail reintroduce local Edinburgh-Dunbar service supplementing Dunbar calls by long distance operators 2010
First trams delivered to their new home at Gogar Depot 2011
Waverley Steps rebuilt with canopy and escalators added 2012
British Airways takeover bmi British Midland 2012
Global Investment Partners buy Edinburgh Airport 2012
M90 intelligent transport system inc bus lane 2012
Citylinkair coach service Glasgow to Edinburgh Airport launched 2013
Haymarket Station modernised 2013
Virgin Little Red launch LHR/Edinburgh service 2013
Luxury Megabus Gold sleeper coach services introduced between London and Edinburgh/Aberdeen 2013
Edinburgh Trams Ltd and Transport for Edinburgh Ltd formed 2013
Modern tramway opened Airport to York Place 2014
Taxis and other motor vehicles banned from Edinburgh Waverley 2014
Virgin Trains East Coast replaces state owned East Coast on the ECML 2015
Abellio takeover ScotRail franchise 2015
Amey take over management of Forth Road Bri for Transport Scotland 2015
Bruce’s Coaches launch M8 CityXpress to/from Glasgow 2015
Serco now operating the new Caledonian Sleeper franchise 2015
Borders Railway to Tweedbank opened 2015
Four new stations in Midlothian on reopened Borders Railway at Shawfair, Eskbank, Newtongrange and Gorebridge 2015
UNESCO inscribes Forth Bridge on World Heritage Sites list 2015
Emergency closure of Forth Road Bridge, December 2015
City of Edinburgh Council starts rollout of 20mph speed limits on 80% of city streets. From 2016.
Edinburgh Gateway rail/tram interchange opened 2016
Lothian introduces new fleet for Edinburgh Bus Tours 2016
EastCoastbuses launched by Lothian 2016
Lothian launch Skylink service Leith to Edinburgh Airport 2017
Queensferry Crossing opened 2017
Forth Road Bridge becomes the public transport corridor 2017
Edinburgh to Glasgow train services via Falkirk High electrified 2017
Borders Buses launched 2017
Lothiancountry brand starts with route 43 to Queensferry 2017
44 week closure of Leith Street in connection with St. James redevelopment, from September 2017
ScotRail open Millerhill EMU depot 2018
Lothian launch Cruiselink X99 to/from Queensferry Hawes Pier 2018
DfT Operator of Last Resort (using LNER brand) replaces VTEC on ECML 2018
Transport for Edinburgh cycle hire scheme in association with Serco launched 2018
North Bridge refurbishment works 2018-2026
Lothiancountry start renewed expansion into West Lothian 2018
First start Bright Bus Tours 2019
Lothian introduce 100 seater ADL Enviro 400XLB tri - axle double deckers 2019
Lothian launch capped contactless payment system 2019
Edinburgh to Glasgow train services via Shotts electrified 2019
Lothian open TravelHub inc cafe at Shandwick Place 2019
LNER introduce “Azuma” service to Edinburgh 2019
Avanti West Coast take over InterCity West Coast franchise 2019
Covid-19 pandemic and lockdown. Only critical services provided 2020
Waverley Bridge largely pedestrianised 2020
Stagecoach introduce new livery schemes 2020
Ember Core start electric coach service to Dundee 2020
Plaxton Panorama double deck coaches introduced on Citylink 900 Edinburgh to Glasgow service 2020
Flixbus start overnight coach service to London 2021
First Group launch low cost rail subsidiary, Lumo, operating between Edinburgh and London King’s Cross 2021
York Place tramstop closed 2022
ScotRail nationalised 2022
McGill’s Buses take over First Scotland East and West Lothian services rebranded Eastern Scottish, 2022
Open top bus tours move to new base at Waterloo Place 2023
New east corridor at Waverley 2023
Flixbus start Edinburgh to Aberdeen service 2023
CAVForth autonomous bus service (operated by Stagecoach) launched between Ferrytoll P+R and Edinburgh Park station 2023
TransPennine Express nationalised 2023
Dumfries to Edinburgh bus service passes to Houston, Lockerbie 2023
The former Granton Gasworks station restored 2023
Trams extended from city centre to Leith and Newhaven 2023
Caledonian Sleeper nationalised 2023.
Edinburgh Tram Inquiry report published 2023
Low Emission Zone (LEZ) established in central Edinburgh 2023
McGill’s Scotland East pull out of West Lothian 2023
New station opened at East Linton 2023
McGill’s launch Bright Bus Airport Express 2024
Lothian Buses purchase Dunbar based Eve Coaches 2024
Regal Tour replaces Majestic Tour 2024
Flixbus launch Edinburgh- Glasgow service 2024
VINCI Airports acquire 50.01% of Edinburgh Airport, GIP retain remaining shareholding 2024
Bright Bus launch Bus and Boat Tour 2024
Airport buses move to Waverley Bridge 2024
Airport handles 15m passengers in year for first time 2024
Transport for Edinburgh reduced to shareholding shell company 2024
Roseburn to Union Canal footpath/cycleway opened 2024
Lothian drop Skylink brand 2025
McGill’s Bright Bus Tours adopt BigBus franchise 2025
Travel Centre relocates at Waverley 2025
ScotRail abolish peak fares 2025
Tram-Trains proposed for South Sub railway 2025
Transport Scotland confirm discontinuous electrification going ahead for Fife and Borders routes 2025
City council launches new bike share scheme with Voi 2025
Straiton P+R closed
Transport for Edinburgh Ltd changes name to Edinburgh Transport Holdings Ltd 2025
Megabus cease cross-Border operations 2025
16.98m pax use Edinburgh Airport in 2025
Citylink 900 Edinburgh-Glasgow peak frequency now up to every 12 minutes 2026
Promoting “The Magic of Christmas in Nottingham” in an all over black advertising livery is Nottingham City Transport 908 (YT61 GOU) working Route 17 standing outside Royal Centre, Nottingham, 15th November 2018. YT61 GOU is a Scania N230UD chassis fitted with an Optare H51/35F body, part of a batch of thirty two vehicles delivered in 2011
Swedish postcard by Förlag Torsten G. Ericson, Helsingborg, no. 3038. Photo: RKO Radio Films. Sent by mail in 1958.
Ella Raines (1920-1988) was an American film and television actress with green eyes and high cheekbones. She appeared in many A-pictures very quickly. In the early 1950s, she had her own TV series, Janet Dean, Registered Nurse (1954), and also had a short-lived recording career during that period.
Ella Raines was born Ella Wallace Raubes in 1920 near Snoqualmie Falls, Washington. She was the youngest of eight children, and her parents, Ernest N. Raines and Bird Zachary Raines owned a general store in the small town. Raines was interested in acting from a young age and appeared in school plays and local theatre productions. After graduating from high school, she enrolled at the University of Washington as a drama student and participated in many plays. In 1942, a few days after her graduation from the University of Washington, Raines married her high school sweetheart, United States Army Air Forces Major Kenneth William Trout. The couple divorced in 1945. Ella was appearing in a play when she was seen by film director Howard Hawks. She achieved stardom almost overnight in Hollywood when she was made the sole contract star of a $1-million new production company director Howard Hawks had formed in 1943 with the actor Charles Boyer, B-H Productions. She made her film debut in Corvette K-225 (Richard Rosson, Howard Hawks, 1943) as the love interest of Randolph Scott. Immediately following her debut, Raines was cast in the all-female war film Cry "Havoc" (Richard Thorpe, 1943) with Margaret Sullavan and Ann Sothern. Raines received critical acclaim for her work in Phantom Lady (Robert Siodmak,1944), which is now considered a classic Film Noir. Next, she played in another classic, the Preston Sturges satire Hail the Conquering Hero (1944) with Eddie Bracken. Very quickly, she appeared in more A pictures including the Western Tall in the Saddle (Edwin L. Marin, 1944) opposite John Wayne. Raines was now known for her talent, beauty, and versatility as an actress. She went on to star in two more thrillers with Siodmak, The Suspect (Robert Siodmak, 1944) starring Charles Laughton, and The Strange Affair of Uncle Harry (Robert Siodmak, 1945) with George Sanders.
Ella Raines often played strong-willed and intelligent women, and her performances were praised for their depth and complexity. After the war, she starred in a series of interesting Film Noirs, including Time Out of Mind (Robert Siodmak, 1947), The Web (Michael Gordon, 1947), Brute Force (Jules Dassin, 1947) starring Burt Lancaster, and the underrated Impact (Arthur Lubin, 1948) with Brian Donlevy and Charles Coburn. In 1948, Raines married Robin Olds, a famous fighter pilot, who eventually became promoted to United States Air Force Brigadier General. The couple had three children - their son, Robert Ernest Olds, was stillborn in 1958. Raines continued to work in film and television throughout the 1950s, appearing in several popular TV shows, including Climax! and Wagon Train. In 1954 and 1955, Ella Raines starred in the television series Janet Dean, Registered Nurse. None of her later pictures was nearly as successful as her earlier movies and her film career began to decline. She retired in 1956 after filming the British-made thriller The Man in the Road (Lance Comfort, 1956). She focused on her family and philanthropy work. She was actively involved in numerous charitable organisations, including the National Mental Health Association and the March of Dimes. She and her husband separated in 1975 and were divorced in 1976. In the mid-1970s, she returned to her alma mater to teach drama at the University of Washington in Seattle. Ella moved back to Hollywood and lived in Sherman Oaks until her death. She returned once to the screen for a guest role in the crime television series Matt Houston in 1984. Ella Raines passed away in 1988, in Sherman Oaks, California, from throat cancer. She was 67 years old. She was survived by two daughters, Christina Eloise Olds and Susan Olds Scott-Risner, and a granddaughter, Jennifer Newman. Raines left behind a legacy as a talented and versatile actress who made a significant contribution to the film industry during the Golden Age of Hollywood.
Sources: Bill Hafker (IMDb), Wikipedia (Dutch and English) and IMDb.
And, please check out our blog European Film Star Postcards.
. . . the natural make-up of the women is called Thanaka. It is a cream made out of the bark of specific trees. Thanaka cream has been used by Burmese women for over 2000 years. It has a fragrant scent somewhat similar to sandalwood. The creamy paste is applied to the face in attractive designs, the most common form being a circular patch on each cheek, nose, sometimes made stripey with the fingers known as thanaka bè gya, or patterned in the shape of a leaf, often also highlighting the bridge of the nose with it at the same time. It may be applied from head to toe (thanaka chi zoun gaung zoun). Apart from cosmetic beauty, thanaka also gives a cooling sensation and provides protection from sunburn. It is believed to help remove acne and promote smooth skin. It is also an anti-fungal. The active ingredients of thanaka are coumarin and marmesin.
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Yangon (Burmese: ရန်ကုန်, MLCTS rankun mrui, pronounced: [jàɴɡòʊɴ mjo̰]; formerly known as Rangoon, literally: "End of Strife") is the capital of the Yangon Region of Myanmar, also known as Burma. Yangon served as the capital of Myanmar until 2006, when the military government relocated the capital to the purpose-built city of Naypyidaw in central Myanmar. With over 7 million people, Yangon is Myanmar's largest city and is its most important commercial centre.
Yangon boasts the largest number of colonial-era buildings in the region, and has a unique colonial-era urban core that is remarkably intact. The colonial-era commercial core is centred around the Sule Pagoda, which reputed to be over 2,000 years old. The city is also home to the gilded Shwedagon Pagoda — Myanmar's most sacred Buddhist pagoda. The mausoleum of the last Mughal Emperor is located in Yangon, where he had been exiled following the Indian Mutiny of 1857.
Yangon suffers from deeply inadequate infrastructure, especially compared to other major cities in Southeast Asia. Though many historic residential and commercial buildings have been renovated throughout central Yangon, most satellite towns that ring the city continue to be profoundly impoverished and lack basic infrastructure.
ETYMOLOGY
Yangon (ရန်ကုန်) is a combination of the two words yan (ရန်) and koun (ကုန်), which mean "enemies" and "run out of", respectively. It is also translated as "End of Strife". "Rangoon" most likely comes from the British imitation of the pronunciation of "Yangon" in the Arakanese language, which is [rɔ̀ɴɡʊ́ɴ].
HISTORY
EARLY HISTORY
Yangon was founded as Dagon in the early 11th century (c. 1028–1043) by the Mon, who dominated Lower Burma at that time. Dagon was a small fishing village centred about the Shwedagon Pagoda. In 1755, King Alaungpaya conquered Dagon, renamed it "Yangon", and added settlements around Dagon. The British captured Yangon during the First Anglo-Burmese War (1824–26), but returned it to Burmese administration after the war. The city was destroyed by a fire in 1841.
COLONIAL RANGOON
The British seized Yangon and all of Lower Burma in the Second Anglo-Burmese War of 1852, and subsequently transformed Yangon into the commercial and political hub of British Burma. Yangon is also the place where the British sent Bahadur Shah II, the last Mughal emperor, to live after the Indian Rebellion of 1857. Based on the design by army engineer Lt. Alexander Fraser, the British constructed a new city on a grid plan on delta land, bounded to the east by the Pazundaung Creek and to the south and west by the Yangon River. Yangon became the capital of all British-ruled Burma after the British had captured Upper Burma in the Third Anglo-Burmese War of 1885. By the 1890s Yangon's increasing population and commerce gave birth to prosperous residential suburbs to the north of Royal Lake (Kandawgyi) and Inya Lake. The British also established hospitals including Rangoon General Hospital and colleges including Rangoon University.
Colonial Yangon, with its spacious parks and lakes and mix of modern buildings and traditional wooden architecture, was known as "the garden city of the East." By the early 20th century, Yangon had public services and infrastructure on par with London.
Before World War II, about 55% of Yangon's population of 500,000 was Indian or South Asian, and only about a third was Bamar (Burman). Karens, the Chinese, the Anglo-Burmese and others made up the rest.
After World War I, Yangon became the epicentre of Burmese independence movement, with leftist Rangoon University students leading the way. Three nationwide strikes against the British Empire in 1920, 1936 and 1938 all began in Yangon. Yangon was under Japanese occupation (1942–45), and incurred heavy damage during World War II. The city was retaken by the Allies in May 1945.
Yangon became the capital of Union of Burma on 4 January 1948 when the country regained independence from the British Empire.
CONTEMPORARY YANGON
Soon after Burma's independence in 1948, many colonial names of streets and parks were changed to more nationalistic Burmese names. In 1989, the current military junta changed the city's English name to "Yangon", along with many other changes in English transliteration of Burmese names. (The changes have not been accepted by many Burmese who consider the junta unfit to make such changes, nor by many publications, news bureaus including, most notably, the BBC and foreign nations including the United Kingdom and United States.)
Since independence, Yangon has expanded outwards. Successive governments have built satellite towns such as Thaketa, North Okkalapa and South Okkalapa in the 1950s to Hlaingthaya,
Shwepyitha and South Dagon in the 1980s. Today, Greater Yangon encompasses an area covering nearly 600 square kilometres.
During Ne Win's isolationist rule (1962–88), Yangon's infrastructure deteriorated through poor maintenance and did not keep up with its increasing population. In the 1990s, the current military government's more open market policies attracted domestic and foreign investment, bringing a modicum of modernity to the city's infrastructure. Some inner city residents were forcibly relocated to new satellite towns. Many colonial-period buildings were demolished to make way for high-rise hotels, office buildings, and shopping malls, leading the city government to place about 200 notable colonial-period buildings under the Yangon City Heritage List in 1996. Major building programs have resulted in six new bridges and five new highways linking the city to its industrial back country. Still, much of Yangon remains without basic municipal services such as 24-hour electricity and regular garbage collection.
Yangon has become much more indigenous Burmese in its ethnic make-up since independence. After independence, many South Asians and Anglo-Burmese left. Many more South Asians were forced to leave during the 1960s by Ne Win's xenophobic government. Nevertheless, sizable South Asian and Chinese communities still exist in Yangon. The Anglo-Burmese have effectively disappeared, having left the country or intermarried with other Burmese groups.
Yangon was the centre of major anti-government protests in 1974, 1988 and 2007. The 1988 People Power Uprising resulted in the deaths of hundreds, if not thousands of Burmese civilians, many in Yangoon where hundreds of thousands of people flooded into the streets of the then capital city. The Saffron Revolution saw mass shootings and the use of crematoria in Yangoon by the Burmese government to erase evidence of their crimes against monks, unarmed protesters, journalists and students.
The city's streets saw bloodshed each time as protesters were gunned down by the government.
In May 2008, Cyclone Nargis hit Yangon. While the city had few human casualties, three quarters of Yangon's industrial infrastructure was destroyed or damaged, with losses estimated at US$800 million.
In November 2005, the military government designated Naypyidaw, 320 kilometres north of Yangon, as the new administrative capital, and subsequently moved much of the government to the newly developed city. At any rate, Yangon remains the largest city, and the most important commercial centre of Myanmar.
GEOGRAPHY
Yangon is located in Lower Burma (Myanmar) at the convergence of the Yangon and Bago Rivers about 30 km away from the Gulf of Martaban at 16°48' North, 96°09' East (16.8, 96.15). Its standard time zone is UTC/GMT +6:30 hours.
CLIMATE
Yangon has a tropical monsoon climate under the Köppen climate classification system. The city features a lengthy wet season from May through October where a substantial amount of rainfall is received; and a dry season from November through April, where little rainfall is seen. It is primarily due to the heavy rainfall received during the rainy season that Yangon falls under the tropical monsoon climate category. During the course of the year 1961 to 1990s, average temperatures show little variance, with average highs ranging from 29 to 36 °C and average lows ranging from 18 to 25 °C.
CITYSCAPE
Until the mid-1990s, Yangon remained largely constrained to its traditional peninsula setting between the Bago, Yangon and Hlaing rivers. People moved in, but little of the city moved out. Maps from 1944 show little development north of Inya Lake and areas that are now layered in cement and stacked with houses were then virtual backwaters. Since the late 1980s, however, the city began a rapid spread north to where Yangon International airport now stands. But the result is a stretching tail on the city, with the downtown area well removed from its geographic centre. The city's area has steadily increased from 72.52 square kilometres in 1901 to 86.2 square kilometres in 1940 to 208.51 square kilometres in 1974, to 346.13 square kilometres in 1985, and to 598.75 square kilometres in 2008.
ARCHITECTURE
Downtown Yangon is known for its leafy avenues and fin-de-siècle architecture. The former British colonial capital has the highest number of colonial period buildings in south-east Asia. Downtown Yangon is still mainly made up of decaying colonial buildings. The former High Court, the former Secretariat buildings, the former St. Paul's English High School and the Strand Hotel are excellent examples of the bygone era. Most downtown buildings from this era are four-story mix-use (residential and commercial) buildings with 4.3 m ceilings, allowing for the construction of mezzanines. Despite their less-than-perfect conditions, the buildings remain highly sought after and most expensive in the city's property market.
In 1996, the Yangon City Development Committee created a Yangon City Heritage List of old buildings and structures in the city that cannot be modified or torn down without approval. In 2012, the city of Yangon imposed a 50-year moratorium on demolition of buildings older than 50 years. The Yangon Heritage Trust, an NGO started by Thant Myint-U, aims to create heritage areas in Downtown, and attract investors to renovate buildings for commercial use.
A latter day hallmark of Yangon is the eight-story apartment building. (In Yangon parlance, a building with no elevators (lifts) is called an apartment building and one with elevators is called a condominium. Condos which have to invest in a local power generator to ensure 24-hour electricity for the elevators are beyond the reach of most Yangonites.) Found throughout the city in various forms, eight-story apartment buildings provide relatively inexpensive housing for many Yangonites. The apartments are usually eight stories high (including the ground floor) mainly because city regulations, until February 2008, required that all buildings higher than 23 m or eight stories to install lifts. The current code calls for elevators in buildings higher than 19 m or six stories, likely ushering in the era of the six-story apartment building. Although most apartment buildings were built only within the last 20 years, they look much older and rundown due to shoddy construction and lack of proper maintenance.
Unlike other major Asian cities, Yangon does not have any skyscrapers. Aside from a few high-rise hotels and office towers, most high-rise buildings (usually 10 stories and up) are "condos" scattered across prosperous neighbourhoods north of downtown such as Bahan, Dagon, Kamayut and Mayangon. The tallest building in Yangon, Pyay Gardens, is a 25-story condo in the city's north.
Older satellite towns such as Thaketa, North Okkalapa and South Okkalapa are lined mostly with one to two story detached houses with access to the city's electricity grid. Newer satellite towns such as North Dagon and South Dagon are still essentially slums in a grid layout. The satellite towns - old or new - receive little or no municipal services.
ROAD LAYOUT
Downtown Yangon's road layout follows a grid pattern, based on four types of roads:
Broad 49-m wide roads running west to east
Broad 30-m wide roads running south to north
Two narrow 9.1-m wide streets running south to north
Mid-size 15-m wide streets running south to north
The east-west grid of central was laid out by British military engineers Fraser and Montgomerie after the Second Anglo-Burmese War. The city was later developed by the Public Works Department and Bengal Corps of Engineers. The pattern of south to north roads is as follows: one broad 30 m wide broad road, two narrow streets, one mid-size street, two more narrow streets, and then another 30 m wide broad road. This order is repeated from west to east. The narrow streets are numbered; the medium and broad roads are named.
For example, the 30 m Lanmadaw Road is followed by 9.1 m-wide 17th and 18th streets then the medium 15 m Sint-Oh-Dan Road, the 30-foot 19th and 20th streets, followed by another 30 m wide Latha Road, followed again by the two numbered small roads 21st and 22nd streets, and so on.
The roads running parallel west to east were the Strand Road, Merchant Road, Maha Bandula (née Dalhousie) Road, Anawrahta (Fraser) Road, and Bogyoke Aung San (Montgomerie) Road.
PARKS AND GARDENS
The largest and best maintained parks in Yangon are located around Shwedagon Pagoda. To the south-east of the gilded stupa is the most popular recreational area in the city – Kandawgyi Lake. The 61-ha lake is surrounded by the 45-ha Kandawgyi Nature Park, and the 28-ha Yangon Zoological Gardens, which consists of a zoo, an aquarium and an amusement park. West of the pagoda towards the former Hluttaw (Parliament) complex is the 53-ha People's Square and Park, (the former parading ground on important national days when Yangon was the capital.) A few miles north of the pagoda lies the 15-ha Inya Lake Park – a favorite hangout place of Yangon University students, and a well-known place of romance in Burmese popular culture.
Hlawga National Park and Allied War Memorial at the outskirts of the city are popular day-trip destinations with the well-to-do and tourists.
Yangon Book Plaza, the first and biggest book shop in Myanmar was opened on February 26, 2017 on the fifth floor of Than Zay Market in Lanmadaw Township, Yangon.
ADMINISTRATION
Yangon is administered by the Yangon City Development Committee (YCDC). YCDC also coordinates urban planning. The city is divided into four districts. The districts combined have a total of 33 townships. The current mayor of Yangon is Maung Maung Soe. Each township is administered by a committee of township leaders, who make decisions regarding city beautification and infrastructure. Myo-thit (lit. "New Towns", or satellite towns) are not within such jurisdictions.
TRANSPORT
Yangon is Burma's main domestic and international hub for air, rail, and ground transportation.
AIR
Yangon International Airport, located 19 km from the centre, is the country's main gateway for domestic and international air travel. The airport has three terminals, known as T1, T2 and T3 which is also known as Domestic. It has direct flights to regional cities in Asia – mainly, Doha, Dubai, Dhaka, Kolkata, Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Hong Kong, Tokyo, Beijing, Seoul, Guangzhou, Taipei, Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur, Kunming and Singapore. Although domestic airlines offer service to about twenty domestic locations, most flights are to tourist destinations such as Bagan, Mandalay, Heho and Ngapali, and to the capital Naypyidaw.
RAILWAYS
Yangon Central Railway Station is the main terminus of Myanmar Railways' 5,403-kilometre rail network whose reach covers Upper Myanmar (Naypyidaw, Mandalay, Shwebo), upcountry (Myitkyina), Shan hills (Taunggyi, Lashio) and the Taninthayi coast (Mawlamyaing, Dawei).
Yangon Circular Railway operates a 45.9-kilometre 39-station commuter rail network that connects Yangon's satellite towns. The system is heavily utilized by the local populace, selling about 150,000 tickets daily. The popularity of the commuter line has jumped since the government reduced petrol subsidies in August 2007.
BUSES AND CARS
Yangon has a 4,456-kilometre road network of all types (tar, concrete and dirt) in March 2011. Many of the roads are in poor condition and not wide enough to accommodate an increasing number of cars. The vast majority of Yangon residents cannot afford a car and rely on an extensive network of buses to get around. Over 300 public and private bus lines operate about 6,300 crowded buses around the city, carrying over 4.4 million passengers a day. All buses and 80% of the taxis in Yangon run on compressed natural gas (CNG), following the 2005 government decree to save money on imported petroleum. Highway buses to other cities depart from Dagon Ayeyar Highway Bus Terminal for Irrawaddy delta region and Aung Mingala Highway Bus Terminal for other parts of the country.
Motor transportation in Yangon is highly expensive for most of its citizens. As the government allows only a few thousand cars to be imported each year in a country with over 50 million people, car prices in Yangon (and in Burma) are among the highest in the world. In July 2008, the two most popular cars in Yangon, 1986/87 Nissan Sunny Super Saloon and 1988 Toyota Corolla SE Limited, cost the equivalent of about US$20,000 and US$29,000 respectively. A sports utility vehicle, imported for the equivalent of around US$50,000, goes for US$250,000. Illegally imported unregistered cars are cheaper – typically about half the price of registered cars. Nonetheless, car usage in Yangon is on the rise, a sign of rising incomes for some, and already causes much traffic congestion in highway-less Yangon's streets. In 2011, Yangon had about 300,000 registered motor vehicles in addition to an unknown number of unregistered ones.
Since 1970, cars have been driven on the right side of the road in Burma, as part of a military decree. However, as the government has not required left hand drive (LHD) cars to accompany the right side road rules, many cars on the road are still right hand drive (RHD) made for driving on the left side. Japanese used cars, which make up most of the country's imports, still arrive with RHD and are never converted to LHD. As a result, Burmese drivers have to rely on their passengers when passing other cars.
Within Yangon city limits, it is illegal to drive trishaws, bicycles, and motorcycles. Since February 2010, pickup truck bus lines have been forbidden to run in 6 townships of central Yangon, namely Latha, Lanmadaw, Pabedan, Kyauktada, Botahtaung and Pazundaung Townships. In May 2003, a ban on using car horns was implemented in six townships of Downtown Yangon to reduce noise pollution. In April 2004, the car horn ban was expanded to cover the entire city.
RIVER
Yangon's four main passenger jetties, all located on or near downtown waterfront, mainly serve local ferries across the river to Dala and Thanlyin, and regional ferries to the Irrawaddy delta. The 35-km Twante Canal was the quickest route from Yangon to the Irrawaddy delta until the 1990s when roads between Yangon and the Irrawaddy Division became usable year-round. While passenger ferries to the delta are still used, those to Upper Burma via the Irrawaddy river are now limited mostly to tourist river cruises.
DEMOGRAPHICS
Yangon is the most populous city by far in Burma although estimates of the size of its population vary widely. All population figures are estimates since no official census has been conducted in Burma since 1983. A UN estimate puts the population as 4.35 million in 2010 but a 2009 U.S. State Department estimate puts it at 5.5 million. The U.S. State Department's estimate is probably closer to the real number since the UN number is a straight-line projection, and does not appear to take the expansion of city limits in the past two decades into account. The city's population grew sharply after 1948 as many people (mainly, the indigenous Burmese) from other parts of the country moved into the newly built satellite towns of North Okkalapa, South Okkalapa, and Thaketa in the 1950s and East Dagon, North Dagon and South Dagon in the 1990s. Immigrants have founded their regional associations (such as Mandalay Association, Mawlamyaing Association, etc.) in Yangon for networking purposes. The government's decision to move the nation's administrative capital to Naypyidaw has drained an unknown number of civil servants away from Yangon.
Yangon is the most ethnically diverse city in the country. While Indians formed the slight majority prior to World War II, today, the majority of the population is of indigenous Bamar (Burman) descent. Large communities of Indians/South Asian Burmese and the Chinese Burmese exist especially in the traditional downtown neighborhoods. A large number of Rakhine and Karen also live in the city.
Burmese is the principal language of the city. English is by far the preferred second language of the educated class. In recent years, however, the prospect of overseas job opportunities has enticed
some to study other languages: Mandarin Chinese is most popular, followed by Japanese, and French.
RELIGIONS
The primary religions practiced in Yangon are Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, and Islam. Shwedagon Pagoda is a famous religious landmark in the city.
MEDIA
Yangon is the country's hub for the movie, music, advertising, newspaper and book publishing industries. All media is heavily regulated by the military government. Television broadcasting is off limits to the private sector. All media content must first be approved by the government's media censor board, Press Scrutiny and Registration Division.
Most television channels in the country are broadcast from Yangon. TV Myanmar and Myawaddy TV are the two main channels, providing Burmese-language programming in news and entertainment. Other special interest channels are MWD-1 and MWD-2, MRTV-3, the English-language channel that targets overseas audiences via satellite and via Internet, MRTV-4 and Channel 7 are with a focus on non-formal education programs and movies, and Movie 5, a pay-TV channel specializing in broadcasting foreign movies.
Yangon has three radio stations. Myanmar Radio National Service is the national radio service and broadcasts mostly in Burmese (and in English during specific times.) Pop culture oriented Yangon City FM and Mandalay City FM radio stations specialize in Burmese and English pop music, entertainment programs, live celebrity interviews, etc. New radio channels such as Shwe FM and Pyinsawaddy FM can also be tuned with the city area.
Nearly all print media and industries are based out of Yangon. All three national newspapers – two Burmese language dailies Myanma Alin (မြန်မာ့အလင်း) and Kyemon (ကြေးမုံ), and the English language The New Light of Myanmar — are published by the government. Semi-governmental The Myanmar Times weekly, published in Burmese and in English, is mainly geared for Yangon's expatriate community. Over twenty special interest journals and magazines covering sports, fashion, finance, crime, literature (but never politics) vie for the readership of the general populace.
Access to foreign media is extremely difficult. Satellite television in Yangon, and in Burma, is very expensive as the government imposes an annual registration fee of one million kyats. Certain foreign newspapers and periodicals such as the International Herald Tribune and the Straits Times can be found only in a few (mostly downtown) bookstores. Internet access in Yangon, which has the best telecommunication infrastructure in the country, is slow and erratic at best, and the Burmese government implements one of the world's most restrictive regimes of Internet control. International text messaging and voice messaging was permitted only in August 2008.
COMMUNICATION
Common facilities taken for granted elsewhere are luxury prized items in Yangon and Burma. The price of a GSM mobile phone was about K1.1 million in August 2008. In 2007, the country of 55 million had only 775,000 phone lines (including 275,000 mobile phones), and 400,000 computers. Even in Yangon, which has the best infrastructure, the estimated telephone penetration rate was only 6% at the end of 2004, and the official waiting time for a telephone line was 3.6 years. Most people cannot afford a computer and have to use the city's numerous Internet cafes to access a heavily restricted Internet, and a heavily censored local intranet. According to official statistics, in July 2010, the country had over 400,000 Internet users, with the vast majority hailing from just two cities, Yangon and Mandalay. Although Internet access was available in 42 cities across the country, the number of users outside the two main cities was just over 10,000.
LIFESTYLE
Yangon's property market is the most expensive in the country and beyond the reach of most Yangonites. Most rent outside the centre and few can afford to rent such apartments. (In 2008, rents for a typical 60 to 70 m2 apartments in the centre and vicinity range between K70,000 and K150,000 and those for high end condos between K200,000 and K500,000.)
Most men of all ages (and some women) spend their time at ubiquitous tea-shops, found in any corner or street of the city. Watching European football (mostly English Premier League with occasional La Liga, Serie A, Bundesliga) matches while sipping tea is a popular pastime among many Yangonites. The average person stays close to his or her residential neighbourhood. The well-to-do tend to visit shopping malls and parks on weekends. Some leave the city on weekends for Chaungtha and Ngwesaung beach resorts in Ayeyarwady Division.
Yangon is also home to many pagoda festivals (paya pwe), held during dry-season months (November – March). The most famous of all, the Shwedagon Pagoda Festival in March, attracts thousands of pilgrims from around the country.
Yangon's museums are the domain of tourists and rarely visited by the locals.
Most of Yangon's larger hotels offer some kind of nightlife entertainment, geared towards tourists and the well-to-do Burmese. Some hotels offer traditional Burmese performing arts shows complete with a traditional Burmese orchestra. The pub scene in larger hotels is more or less the same as elsewhere in Asia. Other options include karaoke bars and pub restaurants in Yangon Chinatown.
Due to the problems of high inflation, the lack of high denomination notes, and the fact that many of the population do not have access to checks, or credit or debit cards, it is common to see citizens carrying a considerable amount of cash. (The highest denomination of Burmese currency kyat is 10 000 (~US$10.)) Credit cards are only rarely used in the city, chiefly in the more lavish hotels. Credit cards are also accepted in the major supermarket and convenience store chains.
SPORTS
As the city has the best sporting facilities in the country, most national-level annual sporting tournaments such as track and field, football, volleyball, tennis and swimming are held in Yangon. The 40,000-seat Aung San Stadium and the 32,000-seat Thuwunna Stadium are the main venues for the highly popular annual State and Division football tournament. Until April 2009, the now defunct Myanmar Premier League, consisted of 16 Yangon-based clubs, played all its matches in Yangon stadiums, and attracted little interest from the general public or commercial success despite the enormous popularity of football in Burma. Most Yangonites prefer watching European football on satellite TV. Teams such as Manchester United, Liverpool, Chelsea, Real Madrid, Barcelona, Bayern Munich and Manchester City are among the favorite European teams among the Yangonites. It remains to be seen whether the Myanmar National League, the country's first professional football league, and its Yangon-based club Yangon United FC will attract a sufficient following in the country's most important media market.
Yangon is also home to annual the Myanmar Open golf tournament, and the Myanmar Open tennis tournament. The city hosted the 1961 and 1969 South East Asian Games. During colonial times, cricket was played mostly by British officials in the city. First-class cricket was played in the city in January 1927 when the touring Marylebone Cricket Club played Burma and the Rangoon Gymkhana. Two grounds were used to host these matches, the BAA Ground and the Gymkhana Ground. These matches mark the only time Burma and Rangoon Gymkhana have appeared in first-class cricket, and the only time first-class cricket has been played in Burma. After independence cricket all but died out in the country.
Yangon has a growing population of skateboarders, as documented in the films Altered Focus: Burma and Youth of Yangon. German non-profit organization Make Life Skate Life has received permission from the Yangon City Development Committee to construct a concrete skatepark at Thakin Mya park in downtown, and plans to complete the park in November 2015.
ECONOMY
Yangon is the country's main centre for trade, industry, real estate, media, entertainment and tourism. The city represents about one fifth of the national economy. According to official statistics for FY 2010–2011, the size of the economy of Yangon Region was 8.93 trillion kyats, or 23% of the national GDP.
The city is Lower Burma's main trading hub for all kinds of merchandise – from basic food stuffs to used cars although commerce continues to be hampered by the city's severely underdeveloped banking industry and communication infrastructure. Bayinnaung Market is the largest wholesale centre in the country for rice, beans and pulses, and other agricultural commodities. Much of the country's legal imports and exports go through Thilawa Port, the largest and busiest port in Burma. There is also a great deal of informal trade, especially in street markets that exist alongside street platforms of Downtown Yangon's townships. However, on 17 June 2011, the YCDC announced that street vendors, who had previously been allowed to legally open shop at 3 pm, would be prohibited from selling on the streets, and permitted to sell only in their townships of residence, presumably to clean up the city's image. Since 1 December 2009, high-density polyethylene plastic bags have been banned by city authorities.
Manufacturing accounts for a sizable share of employment. At least 14 light industrial zones ring Yangon, directly employing over 150,000 workers in 4,300 factories in early 2010. The city is the centre of country's garment industry which exported US$292 million in 2008/9 fiscal year. More than 80 percent of factory workers in Yangon work on a day-to-day basis. Most are young women between 15 and 27 years of age who come from the countryside in search of a better life. The manufacturing sector suffers from both structural problems (e.g. chronic power shortages) and political.
problems (e.g. economic sanctions). In 2008, Yangon's 2500 factories alone needed about 120 MW of power; yet, the entire city received only about 250 MW of the 530 MW needed. Chronic power shortages limit the factories' operating hours between 8 am and 6 pm.
Construction is a major source of employment. The construction industry has been negatively affected by the move of state apparatus and civil servants to Naypyidaw, new regulations introduced in August 2009 requiring builders to provide at least 12 parking spaces in every new high-rise building, and the general poor business climate. As of January 2010, the number of new high-rise building starts approved in 2009–2010 was only 334, compared to 582 in 2008–2009.
Tourism represents a major source of foreign currency for the city although by south-east Asian standards the number of foreign visitors to Yangon has always been quite low - about 250,000 before the Saffron Revolution in September 2007. The number of visitors dipped even further following the Saffron Revolution and Cyclone Nargis. The recent improvement in the country's political climate has attracted an increasing number of businessmen and tourists. Between 300,000 and 400,000 visitors that went through Yangon International in 2011. However, after years of underinvestment, Yangon's modest hotel infrastructure - only 3000 of the total 8000 hotel rooms in Yangon are "suitable for tourists" - is already bursting at seams, and will need to be expanded to handle additional visitors. As part of an urban development strategy, a hotel zone has been planned in Yangon's outskirts, encompassing government- and military-owned land in Mingaladon, Hlegu and Htaukkyant Townships.
EDUCATION
Yangon educational facilities has a very high number of qualified teachers but the state spending on education is among the lowest of the world. Around 2007 estimate by the London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies puts the spending for education at 0.5% of the national budget. The disparity in educational opportunities and achievement between rich and poor schools is quite stark even within the city. With little or no state support forthcoming, schools have to rely on forced "donations" and various fees from parents for nearly everything – school maintenance to teachers' salaries, forcing many poor students to drop out.
While many students in poor districts fail to reach high school, a handful of Yangon high schools in wealthier districts such as Dagon 1, Sanchaung 2, Kamayut 2, Bahan 2, Latha 2, and TTC provide the majority of students admitted to the most selective universities in the country, highlighting the extreme shallowness of talent pool in the country. The wealthy bypass the state education system altogether, sending their children to private English language instruction schools such as YIEC or more widely known as ISM, or abroad (typically Singapore or Australia) for university education. In 2014, international schools in Yangon cost at least US$8,000 a year.
There are over 20 universities and colleges in the city. While Yangon University remains the best known (its main campus is a part of popular Burmese culture e.g. literature, music, film, etc.), the nation's oldest university is now mostly a graduate school, deprived of undergraduate studies. Following the 1988 nationwide uprising, the military government has repeatedly closed universities, and has dispersed most of undergraduate student population to new universities in the suburbs such as Dagon University, the University of East Yangon and the University of West Yangon. Nonetheless many of the country's most selective universities are still in Yangon. Students from around the country still have to come to study in Yangon as some subjects are offered only at its universities. The University of Medicine 1, University of Medicine 2, Yangon Technological University, University of Computer Studies and Myanmar Maritime University are the most selective in the country.
HEALTH CARE
The general state of health care in Yangon is poor. According to a 2007 estimate, the military government spends 0.4% of the national budget on health care, and 40% to 60% on defense. By the government's own figures, it spends 849 kyats (US$0.85) per person. Although health care is nominally free, in reality, patients have to pay for medicine and treatment, even in public clinics and hospitals. Public hospitals including the flagship Yangon General Hospital lack many of the basic facilities and equipment.
Wealthier Yangonites still have access to country's best medical facilities and internationally qualified doctors. Only Yangon and Mandalay have any sizable number of doctors left as many Burmese doctors have emigrated. The well-to-do go to private clinics or hospitals like Pun Hlaing International Hospital and Bahosi Medical Clinic. Medical malpractice is widespread, even in private clinics and hospitals that serve the well-to-do. In 2009 and 2010, a spate of high-profile deaths brought out the severity of the problem, even for the relatively well off Yangonites. The wealthy do not rely on domestic hospitals and travel abroad, usually Bangkok or Singapore, for treatment.
WIKIPEDIA
Promoting men's health awareness, moustache adorned NR66 along with 2 Dash-9 sister units skirt around the rear of Dudley Park station and past the 6.5km peg on a beautiful winters afternoon.
promoting the growth of pot, firing on all cylinders, serving water for villagers, extending routes/pathways to many a willowedverse. The spirit of this place is can-do; (against invaders) it's got bamboo (sometimes a band flute), tunnels ramp sliding avenues. This ghetto/character can be a tattoo (cuz it has the skill of outdoing snafu)...
raising Fibromyalgia awareness
Check out Brooke's Flilckr page to see her amazing and incredibly inspirational work, and also her blog for more information on the cause, how you can contribute and share your images.
hmam
Rovingian Council - Spiritual Stabilization and Balance Rituals - Importance Of Colors - Genius Loci by Daniel Arrhakis (2026)
Rovingian Council - Spiritual Stabilization and Balance Rituals - Importance Of Colors - Genius Loci
Clothing and body paint function as a vibrational armor. When the Genius Loci—the soul or guardian spirit of a place—is disturbed, the ritualist cannot present themselves as just an ordinary individual; they need to "wear" the balance they wish to restore.
The colors in the clothing are not merely aesthetic, but resonance tools to act on these imbalances:
- White (Purity and Connection): Essential for neutralizing dense energies and restoring the original harmony of the place. It acts as a receptacle of light to attract spiritual guides and promote vibrational equality in the space.
- Blue (Spirituality and Calm): Used to calm tempestuous forces and restore the peace and personal balance necessary to deal with malevolent entities. Deep blue is linked to leadership and confidence, essential for those who "command" the ritual.
- Green (Healing and Ecology): The color of truth and regeneration. In ecological rituals, green promotes adaptation to the environment and the vitality of the body, serving as a direct bridge to the healing of the earth.
- Violet (Transmutation): Represents the balance between thought and feeling, being the ideal color to transform negative energies into positive ones and achieve deep meditative states.
- Orange is the result of the fusion between Red (fire, life force, instinct) and Yellow (light, intellect, clarity). In a vibrational armor, it acts as the Great Mediator.
The Point of Balance between Heaven and Earth
In the chakra system (which often informs the symbolism of ritual body painting), orange governs the Svadhisthana.
- The Function: Governs our relationships and our connection with others.
- The Ritual: By using orange before a disturbed genius loci, the ritualist is saying: "I recognize your connection with me; I re-establish our fluid and harmonious relationship."
Face painting, by concealing personal identity, prevents intimidating forces from attacking the practitioner's ego, allowing them to become a pure channel for the restoration of the Genius Loci.
Frequently, these colors and pigments are extracted from nature itself (such as bark and leaves), reinforcing the intrinsic connection with the ecosystem that one intends to protect.
Thus, the transformation into a "living statue" is not merely aesthetic; it is a depersonalization technique that allows the monk to:
- Serve as a Driver: Act as a lightning rod for environmental imbalance without his or her own psyche being corrupted.
- Absolute Neutrality: The covered face removes identity, allowing the local entity (the spirit of the place) to interact with a neutral force, rather than an intruder.
- Spiritual Protection: The complete concealment of the hands and face ensures that the monk cannot be "marked" or pursued by the anomaly after the ritual is complete. The facial paint is not merely decorative; it is a tactical tool.
In the presence of a genius loci, being recognized as a specific human being is a vulnerability. The paint acts as a "mask of the spirit," allowing the monk to interact with the entity on equal footing.
Sometimes, black patterns may be necessary for absorbing negativity and protection. Black acts as a shield that consumes shadows and the forces of stagnation, symbolizing the depth of the spiritual abyss.
________________________________________________________________________________________________
Conselho Rovingiano - Rituais de Estabilização e Equilíbrio Espiritual - A Importância das Cores - Genius Loci
As roupas e a pintura corporal funcionam como uma armadura vibracional. Quando o Genius Loci — a alma ou o espírito guardião de um lugar — é perturbado, o ritualista não pode apresentar-se como um indivíduo comum; precisa de "vestir" o equilíbrio que deseja repor.
As cores nas roupas não são meramente estéticas, mas ferramentas de ressonância para atuar sobre estes desequilíbrios:
- Branco (Pureza e Conexão): Essencial para neutralizar as energias densas e restaurar a harmonia original do local. Atua como um recetáculo de luz para atrair guias espirituais e promover a igualdade vibracional no espaço.
- Azul (Espiritualidade e Calma): Utilizado para acalmar as forças tempestuosas e restaurar a paz e o equilíbrio pessoal necessários para lidar com entidades malévolas. O azul profundo está ligado à liderança e à confiança, essenciais para aqueles que "comandam" o ritual.
- Verde (Cura e Ecologia): A cor da verdade e da regeneração. Nos rituais ecológicos, o verde promove a adaptação ao meio ambiente e a vitalidade do corpo, servindo de ponte direta para a cura da Terra.
- Violeta (Transmutação): Representa o equilíbrio entre o pensamento e o sentimento, sendo a cor ideal para transformar energias negativas em positivas e alcançar estados meditativos profundos.
- O Laranja é o resultado da fusão entre o Vermelho (fogo, força vital, instinto) e o Amarelo (luz, intelecto, clareza). Numa armadura vibracional, atua como o Grande Mediador.
O Ponto de Equilíbrio entre o Céu e a Terra
No sistema de chakras (que frequentemente influencia o simbolismo da pintura corporal ritualística), o laranja rege o Svadhisthana.
- A Função: Governa as nossas relações e a nossa ligação com os outros.
- O Ritual: Ao usar o laranja perante um genius loci perturbado, o ritualista está a dizer: "Reconheço a tua ligação comigo; restabeleço a nossa relação fluida e harmoniosa."
- A pintura facial, ao ocultar a identidade pessoal, impede que forças intimidatórias ataquem o ego do praticante, permitindo que este se torne um canal puro para a restauração do Genius Loci.
Frequentemente, estas cores e pigmentos são extraídos da própria natureza (como cascas e folhas), reforçando a ligação intrínseca com o ecossistema que se pretende proteger.
Assim a transformação numa "estátua viva" não é meramente estética; é uma técnica de despersonalização que permite ao monge:
- Servir como um condutor: Atuar como um para-raios para o desequilíbrio ambiental sem que a sua própria psique seja corrompida.
- Neutralidade absoluta: O rosto coberto remove a identidade, permitindo que a entidade local (o espírito do lugar) interaja com uma força neutra, em vez de um intruso.
- Proteção espiritual: O completo ocultamento das mãos e do rosto garante que o monge não possa ser "marcado" ou perseguido pela anomalia após a conclusão do ritual. A pintura facial não é meramente decorativa; é uma ferramenta tática.
Na presença de um genius loci, ser reconhecido como um ser humano específico é uma vulnerabilidade. A pintura atua como uma "máscara do espírito", permitindo ao monge interagir com a entidade em pé de igualdade.
Por vezes, podem ser necessários padrões pretos para absorver a negatividade e para proteção. O preto atua como um escudo que consome as sombras e as forças da estagnação, simbolizando a profundidade do abismo espiritual.
Everyman should help promote our tourists distinations spread out all over the shorelines and inland scenic places in most of the Philippines' 7,100 islands. We have underwater Gardens, Whale sanctuaries and mountain peaks for both local and foreign tourists coming over to our country.
We need to provide, however, assistance to the LGU in reminding visitors re safe travel measures, extend a bayanihan awarness and volunterism in keeping routes and trails particularly leading to Mountain peaks and natural garden parks clean and free of garbage
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Mindanao Tourist Destinations Local/Travel Website and Angelique Ross Kaamiño/TravelEscapade TRAVEL/Leisure Cebu/CdO/Butuanon
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