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According to the World Refugee Survey 2008, published by the US Committee for Refugees and Immigrants, Nepal hosted a population of refugees and asylum seekers in 2007 numbering approximately 130,000. Of this population, approximately 109,200 persons were from Bhutan and 20,500 from People's Republic of China. The government of Nepal restricted ethnic Nepalese expelled from Bhutan to seven camps in the Jhapa and Morang districts, and refugees were not permitted to work in most professions. At present, the United States is working towards resettling more than 60,000 of these refugees in the US.
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This girl name Maya age 17, she is the refugee who seek some job in Thailand, I have luck awhile by got her to housekeeper work, 2 months in last couple years. I love her as sister.
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Thoughtfully quote; Art Quote of the Day
A good painting has always been like a friend. It keeps us company, comforts and inspires.
Hedy Lamarr, I nodded:)
My photostream; www.darckr.com/username?username=11569107%40N06
Find out more about the project and see pictures taken by other photographers at 100 Strangers Flickr Group page
This photo was initially published in my local photo blog about the citizens of my area in Montréal. quartiersnord.photos/les-gens-the-people/
I met Guy at the entrance of the Jardin Ahuntsic, a beautiful community garden sloping up to the south of Sackville Street. He started cultivating a plot of this garden 2 years ago. His plantations are quite varied and growing well this year. Insofar as his dwelling place would allow it, he always had a small piece of land to cultivate. It's a habit that comes from his mother. As is often the case in the area, the soil here is clayey; a plant that grows well in it is the tomato. Guy chose the Florida cultivar.
I thought the places were few and that there were long waiting lists to get one in a community garden. He said he got his pretty quickly and has already seen some turnover. People without gardening experience make a first try and then give up. These are often people who do not measure the daily involvement necessary to maintain a vegetable garden. They buy ready-made plants, put them in the ground, go on vacation three weeks without seeking a caretaker and then return to find that everything has withered. For him, the garden is a daily haven after work in a green oasis.
Guy knows his way around in Greater Montreal. Growing up in the Mile End in Montreal, he lived in different districts of the city, then on the South Shore and the North Shore.
Production Manager in a printing shop in St-Laurent, he came to live in the Sault-au-Récollet district two years to be closer to his work. The fact that his children are well on their way in life after successfully completing their studies also favored his return to the city.
The company where he works is active in two sectors, general commercial printing and music publishing. It makes everything that is connected with the packaging and promotion of recorded music.
I wish him a good harvest.
Cette photo fait partie de mon projet 100 Strangers (100 inconnus). Apprenez en plus sur ce type de projet et voyez les photos d’autres photographes à 100 Strangers Flickr Group page
Cette photo a initialement été publiée sur mon blogue local dédié aux citoyens de mon quartier de Montréal quartiersnord.photos/les-gens-the-people/
J’ai rencontré Guy à l’entrée du Jardin Ahuntsic, un beau jardin en pente au sud de la rue Sackville. Il cultive une parcelle de ce jardin communautaire depuis 2 ans. Ses plantations sont assez variées et bien parties pour cette année. Dans la mesure où son lieu d’habitation le permettait, il a toujours eu un petit bout de terrain à cultiver. C’est une habitude qu’il tient de sa mère. Comme c’est souvent le cas dans le secteur, le sol étant argileux, une des plantes qui pousse bien est la tomate. Guy a choisi le cultivar Florida.
Je croyais que les places étaient rares et les listes d’attentes longues pour obtenir une place dans un jardin communautaire. Il m’a dit avoir obtenu sa place assez rapidement et avoir déjà constaté un certain roulement. Certaines personnes sans expérience font un premier essai puis abandonnent. Il s’agit souvent de gens qui ne mesurent pas l’implication quotidienne nécessaire à l’entretien d’un potager. Ils achètent des plants tout faits, les mettent en terre, partent en vacances trois semaines sans s’assurer de relève et constatent à leur retour que tout a dépéri. Pour lui, le potager est plutôt un havre de paix quotidien après le travail dans une oasis de verdure.
Guy connaît bien tous les milieux de vie du Grand Montréal. Ayant grandi dans le Mile-End à Montréal, il a habité dans différents quartiers de la ville, puis sur la Rive-sud et la Rive-Nord.
Directeur de production dans une imprimerie de St-Laurent, c’est pour se rapprocher de son travail qu’il est revenu habiter dans le district du Sault-au-Récollet il y a deux ans. Le fait que ses enfants soient bien partis dans la vie après avoir réussi de bonnes études a aussi favorisé son retour à la ville.
L’entreprise où il travaille œuvre dans deux secteurs soit, l’imprimerie commerciale générale et l’édition musicale. Elle fait de tout ce qui a rapport avec l’emballage et la promotion de musique enregistrée.
Je lui souhaite bonne récolte.
Plaque - 25 Drummond Place, Edinburgh
Sydney Goodsir Smith (26 October 1915 – 15 January 1975) was a New Zealand-born Scottish poet, artist, dramatist and novelist. He wrote poetry in literary Scots often referred to as Lallans (Lowlands dialect), and was a major figure of the Scottish Renaissance.
He was born in Wellington, New Zealand, the son of Prof Sydney Smith and his wife, Catherine Goodsir Gelenick.
He moved to Edinburgh with his family in 1928. He was educated at Malvern College. He went to Edinburgh University to study medicine, but abandoned that, and started to read history at Oriel College, Oxford; whence he was expelled, but managed to complete a degree. He also claimed to have studied art in Italy, wine in France and mountains in Bavaria.
His first poetry collection of many, Skail Wind, was published in 1941. Carotid Cornucopius (1947) was a comic novel about Edinburgh. His A Short Introduction to Scottish Literature, based on four broadcast talks, was published in 1951.[4] His play The Wallace formed part of the 1960 Edinburgh Festival.
Smith was also associated with the editorial board for the Lines Review magazine.
Under the Eildon tree (1948), a long poem in 24 parts, is considered by many his finest work; The Grace of God and the Meth-Drinker is a much-anthologised poem. Kynd Kittock's land (1964) was a commission of a poem to be televised by the BBC.
He died in the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh after a heart attack outside a newsagents on Dundas Street in Edinburgh and was buried in Dean Cemetery in the northern 20th century section, towards the north-west. His wife, Hazel Williamson, lies with him. [Wikipedia]
This was a photo I sold to Animal Planet. It was published in one of their "Most Extreme" books in 2007.
The female wasp of this species finds these huge tarantula's and use a very intricate dance to sting their underside to paralyze them. Once paralyzed, the wasp drags the tarantula to a pre-dug hole and drags it inside. Once inside, the wasp lays a single egg on the tarantula. When the egg hatches, the young grub (wasp) dines on the paralyzed tarantula until grown. It then emerges from the hole to begin the grizzly cycle all over again.
These wasps reportedly have one of the most painful stings in the insect world (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schmidt_Sting_Pain_Index). Fortunately, they don't seem as aggressive as their yellow-jacket and paper-wasp cousins.
Courageous Creativity - Flying Chicadee
PRETTY EXCITING!! I was just published as the featured photographer in this ezine.
issuu.com/flyingchickadee/docs/march_2015_print Every full-page photograph is one of mine, including the front and back covers.
Brochure published in 1966 to help buyers identify the changes to the Volkswagen over the past two decades. Of course, the real purpose was to show customers all the improvements that make buying a brand new one the best idea.
There are three parts, and the years are not in order.
File: 2020001-0018
Somewhere in Worcestershire, England, United Kingdom, on Thursday 7th May 2020, at 8pm.
Published with the parent’s permissions.
Notice: Geotags are removed, and the exact location will not be mentioned, for privacy and safety.
About this photograph.
During the Clap for Our Carers gesture on Thursday evening, those two girls and their family stepped outside, but instead of clapping, they showed their support for the NHS (National Health Service) with a live music performance.
As you can see in the photos, one of the girls is seen playing the violin while the other girl does the singing.
I have no idea what they were singing about, nor do I know what music they played. It looked like a slow singing, maybe classic music.
In the tighter framed photos, the man in the T-shirt with sunglasses, and leaning against a car is their father. In the wider shots, the woman on the other side of the road, seen taking photos, is their mother.
You may notice a few other people stepping out of their homes, to take part in the clapping as show of support, watching the live performance.
The viewpoint was from one of my bedroom windows, as I took the photos of what was going on. I later went to their house, to seek permissions from the parents if I wanted to publish the photos, and they agreed.
Why I took the photographs?
Starting in February of 2020, my oldest child moved out to live independent, while the other child lived with the mother, I was finally free to try to restart my photography career, and if needed by going freelance. But only about a month later, in March, the United Kingdom went into a national lockdown in order to combat against the rising cases of the coronavirus, which put my plans on hold.
It was at that time I decided to try to get serious with Flickr, having registered in 2015, but been inactive for almost 5 years until I restarted using it in 2020. I was trying to find photos to upload and all that.
On that day, a Thursday at 8pm, it was time for the usual every Thursday event, to step outside and clap in show of our support for our NHS. I find it much easier to go upstairs, open the window at the front of the house, lean out and clap. From this position I can see other people clapping.
This was when I saw the family stepping outside, and setting up their small performance. That was when I went to grab my Nikon, and started trying to take photojournalism style photos as my skills are rather somewhat rusty and I could do with some new practise.
After taking the photos, I had to go over to their home, and informed their parents that I do photography, and wanted to check with them if I could have permissions to post my photos on my various profiles (not just Flickr, but also other accounts like with Adobe, etc.) The father agreed to give me permissions. I also gave them as many copies of the photos too.
About the subject.
The Clap for Our Carers event was a social movement carried out every Thursdays between March to May in 2020, in the United Kingdom as a gesture of appreciation and show of support for Britain’s National Health Service (NHS).
The idea came from Europe, likely to be either Italy and/or Spain which had lockdowns before the UK did.
On Thursdays, people would either step outside their front doors, or lean outside their windows, and give a round of applause. But some people have been taken to banging pots and pans, or playing music.
The event was meant to show our support for doctors and nurses, along with other hospital staff, but later included our show for other key workers, health services, ambulance crews, delivery drivers, waste collectors, and any other key workers who have to work during the lockdown.
In the fight against the coronavirus known as Covid-19.
NOTICE: The Comment Box is NOT an advertising billboard for any Groups. You are free to comment for yourself, about the subject in the photo, about the photograph itself, or about any similar experience you had. If you want to promote the groups you are member of, do it in YOUR own photo pages.
SONY NEX-C3
OLYMPUS OM Zuiko MC Auto Macro 50mm F3.5
コムメリナ・エレクタ
Commelina erecta L., 1753
First published in Sp. Pl.: 41 (1753)
This species is accepted.
Confirmation Date: 12/29, 2024.
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Family: Commelinaceae (APG IV)
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Author:
Carl von Linnaeus (1707-1778)
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Publication:
Species Plantarum
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Collation:
1: 41
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Date of Publication:
1 May 1753
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The native range of this species is America, Tropical & S. Africa, Arabian Peninsula. It is a perennial or tuberous geophyte and grows primarily in the seasonally dry tropical biome. It is has environmental uses and social uses, as animal food and a medicine and for food.
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Native to:
Alabama, Angola, Argentina Northeast, Argentina Northwest, Arizona, Arkansas, Aruba, Bahamas, Belize, Benin, Bermuda, Bolivia, Botswana, Brazil North, Brazil Northeast, Brazil South, Brazil Southeast, Brazil West-Central, Burkina, Burundi, Cameroon, Cape Provinces, Cape Verde, Cayman Is., Central African Repu, Chad, Colombia, Colorado, Congo, Costa Rica, Cuba, Delaware, District of Columbia, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Ethiopia, Florida, Free State, French Guiana, Gambia, Georgia, Ghana, Guatemala, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Gulf of Guinea Is., Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Ivory Coast, Jamaica, Kansas, Kentucky, Kenya, KwaZulu-Natal, Leeward Is., Liberia, Louisiana, Malawi, Mali, Maryland, Mexico Central, Mexico Gulf, Mexico Northeast, Mexico Northwest, Mexico Southeast, Mexico Southwest, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Mozambique, Namibia, Nebraska, Netherlands Antilles, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Nicaragua, Niger, Nigeria, North Carolina, Northern Provinces, Oklahoma, Panamá, Paraguay, Pennsylvania, Peru, Puerto Rico, Rhode I., Rwanda, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Carolina, South Dakota, Southwest Caribbean, Sudan, Suriname, Swaziland, Tanzania, Tennessee, Texas, Togo, Trinidad-Tobago, Turks-Caicos Is., Uganda, Uruguay, Venezuela, Venezuelan Antilles, Virginia, West Virginia, Windward Is., Wisconsin, Wyoming, Yemen, Zaïre, Zimbabwe
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Introduced into:
Bangladesh, Chile Central, Japan, Palestine, Spain
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Annotation:
nom. & typ. cons. prop.
Type-Protolog
Locality:Habitat in Virginia
Type Specimens:
CTP: Herb. Dillenius 63 (OXF-Dill. HE_77-88)
Type discussion:Hassemer, G., D. Iamonico & L. A. Funez. 2018. (2631) Proposal to conserve the name Commelina erecta (Commelinaceae) with a conserved type. Taxon 67(4): 810.
LT: Dillenius, Hort. Eltham. t. 77, f. 88 (1732); ; LT designated by Clarke, Monogr. Phan. 3: ? (1881)
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Lifeform: Hemicr. or tuber geophyte
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Homotypic Names:
Commelina erecta L. var. typica Fernald, Rhodora 42: 438 (1940), not validly publ.
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Publications:
----------------
POWO follows these authorities in accepting this name:
Acevedo-Rodríguez, P. & Strong, M.T. (2005). Monocotyledons and Gymnosperms of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. Contributions from the United States National Herbarium 52: 1-415.
Akoègninou, A., van der Burg, W.J. & van der Maesen, L.J.G. (eds.) (2006). Flore Analytique du Bénin: 1-1034. Backhuys Publishers.
Brunel, J.F., Hiepo, P. & Scholz, H. (eds.) (1984). Flore Analytique du Togo Phanérogames: 1-751. GTZ, Eschborn.
Faden, R. (2012). Commelinaceae. Flora of Tropical East Africa: 1-244.
Figueiredo, E. & Smith, G.F. (2008). Plants of Angola. Strelitzia 22: 1-279. National Botanical Institute, Pretoria.
Gosline, G., Bidault, E., van der Burgt, X., Cahen, D., Challen, G., Condé, N., Couch, C., Couvreur, T.L.P., Dagallier, L.M.J., Darbyshire, I., Dawson, S., Doré, T.S., Goyder, D., Grall, A., Haba, P., Haba, P., Harris, D., Hind, D.J.N., Jongkind, & al. (2023). A Taxonomically-verified and Vouchered Checklist of the Vascular Plants of the Republic of Guinea. Nature, scientific data 10, Article number: 327: [1]-[12].
Govaerts, R. (1999). World Checklist of Seed Plants 3(1, 2a & 2b): 1-1532. MIM, Deurne.
Hassemer, G. (2018). Taxonomic and geographic notes on the neotropical Commelina (Commelinaceae). Webbia; Raccolta de Scritti Botanici 73: 23-53.
Hokche, O., Berry, P.E. & Huber, O. (eds.) (2008). Nuevo Catálogo de la Flora Vascular de Venezuela: 1-859. Fundación Instituto Botánico de Venezuela.
Idárraga-Piedrahita, A., Ortiz, R.D.C., Callejas Posada, R. & Merello, M. (eds.) (2011). Flora de Antioquia: Catálogo de las Plantas Vasculares 2: 1-939. Universidad de Antioquia, Medellín.
Jones, M. (1991). A checklist of Gambian plants: 1-33. Michael Jones, The Gambia College.
Knapp, W.M. & Naczi, R.F.C. (2021). Vascular plants of Maryland, USA. A comprehensive account of the state's botanical diversity. Smithsonian Contributions to Botany 113: 1-151.
López-Ferrari, A.R., Espejo-Serna, A. & Ceja-Romero, J. (2014). Flora de Veracruz 161: 1-127. Instituto Nacional de Investigaciones sobre Recursos Bióticos, Xalapa, Veracruz.
Nelson Sutherland, C.H. (2008). Catálogo de las plantes vasculares de Honduras. Espermatofitas: 1-1576. SERNA/Guaymuras, Tegucigalpa, Honduras.
Powell, A.M. & Worthington, R.D. (2018). Flowering plants of Trans-Pecos Texas and adjacent areas: 1-1444. BRIT Press.
Sarder, N.U. & Hassan, M.A. (eds.) (2018). Vascular flora of Chittagong and the Chittagong Hill Tracts 1: 1-897. Bangladesh National Herbarium, Dhaka.
Sita, P. & Moutsambote, J.-M. (2005). Catalogue des plantes vasculaires du Congo, ed. sept. 2005: 1-158. ORSTOM, Centre de Brazzaville.
Velayos, M., Aedo, C., Cabezas, F., de la Estrella, M., Barberá, P. & Fero, M. (eds.) (2014). Flora de Guinea Ecuatorial 11: 1-416. Consejo superior de investigaciones científicas, Real jardín botánico, Madrid.
Walderley, M.G.L., Shepherd, G.J., Melhem, T.S. & Giulietti, A.M. (eds.) (2005). Flora Fanerogâmica do Estado de São Paulo 4: 1-392. Instituto de Botânica, São Paulo.
de Moura Júnior, E.G. & al. (2015). Updated checklist of aquatic macrophytes from Northern Brazil. Acta Amazonica 45: 111-132.
von Raab-Straube, E. & Raus, T. (eds.) (2015). Euro+Med-Checklist notulae, 4. Willdenowia 45: 119-129.
----------------
Catálogo de Plantas y Líquenes de Colombia:
Bernal, R., Gradstein, S.R. & Celis, M. (eds.). 2015. Catálogo de plantas y líquenes de Colombia. Instituto de Ciencias Naturales, Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Bogotá. catalogoplantasdecolombia.unal.edu.co
Flora of West Tropical Africa
Fernald in Rnodora 42: 436-441 (1940)
J. K. Morton in J. Linn. Soc. 60: 183 (1967).
Sp. Pl. 41 (1753)
----------------
Kew Backbone Distributions:
Acevedo-Rodríguez, P. & Strong, M.T. (2012). Catalogue of seed plants of the West Indies. Smithsonian Contributions to Botany 98: 1-1192.
Boudet, G., Lebrun, J.P. & Demange, R. (1986). Catalogue des plantes vasculaires du Mali: 1-465. Etudes d'Elevage et de Médecine Vétérinaire des Pays Tropicaux.
Brunel, J.F., Hiepo, P. & Scholz, H. (eds.) (1984). Flore Analytique du Togo Phanérogames: 1-751. GTZ, Eschborn.
Faden, R. (2012). Commelinaceae. Flora of Tropical East Africa: 1-244.
Gonzalez, F., Nelson Diaz, J. & Lowry, P. (1995). Flora Illustrada de San Andrés y Providencia: 1-281. Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Instituto de Ciencias Naturales, Colombia.
Hokche, O., Berry, P.E. & Huber, O. (eds.) (2008). Nuevo Catálogo de la Flora Vascular de Venezuela: 1-859. Fundación Instituto Botánico de Venezuela.
Jones, M. (1991). A checklist of Gambian plants: 1-33. Michael Jones, The Gambia College.
Sarder, N.U. & Hassan, M.A. (eds.) (2018). Vascular flora of Chittagong and the Chittagong Hill Tracts 1: 1-897. Bangladesh National Herbarium, Dhaka.
Sita, P. & Moutsambote, J.-M. (2005). Catalogue des plantes vasculaires du Congo, ed. sept. 2005: 1-158. ORSTOM, Centre de Brazzaville.
de Moura Júnior, E.G. & al. (2015). Updated checklist of aquatic macrophytes from Northern Brazil. Acta Amazonica 45: 111-132.
von Raab-Straube, E. & Raus, T. (eds.) (2015). Euro+Med-Checklist notulae, 4. Willdenowia 45: 119-129.
----------------
Flora of Somalia:
Flora Somalia, Vol 4, (1995) Author: by R. B. Faden [updated by M. Thulin 2008]
----------------
Useful Plants and Fungi of Colombia:
Bernal, R., Gradstein, S.R., & Celis, M. (eds.). (2020). Catálogo de Plantas y Líquenes de Colombia. v1.1. Universidad Nacional de Colombia. Dataset/Checklist. doi.org/10.15472/7avdhn
Burkill HM. (1995). The useful plants of west tropical Africa, Vols. 1-3. The useful plants of west tropical Africa, Vols 1-3.
Diazgranados et al. (2021). Catalogue of plants of Colombia. Useful Plants and Fungi of Colombia project. In prep.
Diazgranados, M., Allkin, B., Black N., Cámara-Leret, R., Canteiro C., Carretero J., Eastwood R., Hargreaves S., Hudson A., Milliken W., Nesbitt, M., Ondo, I., Patmore, K., Pironon, S., Turner, R., Ulian, T. (2020). World Checklist of Useful Plant Species. Produced by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Knowledge Network for Biocomplexity.
FPI (2021). Food Plants International. fms.cmsvr.com/fmi/webd/Food_Plants_World?homeurl=https://...
GBIF.org (2021). GBIF species matching tool. www.gbif.org/tools/species-lookup
GRIN (2021). Germplasm Resources Information Network from the United States Department of Agriculture. www.ars-grin.gov
IUCN (2021). The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2021-2. www.iucnredlist.org.
Instituto de Investigación de Recursos Biológicos Alexander von Humbodlt (2014). Plantas alimenticias y medicinales nativas de Colombia. 2567 registros, aportados por: Castellanos, C. (Contacto del recurso), Valderrama, N. (Creador del recurso, Autor), Bernal, Y. (Autor), García, N. (Autor). i2d.humboldt.org.co/ceiba/resource.do?r=ls_colombia_magno...
Instituto de Investigación de Recursos Biológicos Alexander von Humboldt (2015). Listado de especies de Productos No Maderables del caribe colombiano. 366 registros, aportados por: Garcia, H. (Contacto del Recurso), López Camacho, R. (Creador del recurso), Espitia Palencia, L. (Proveedor del metadatos). Versión 2.0. i2d.humboldt.org.co/ceiba/resource.do?r=le_bst-caribe_pla...
Instituto de Investigación de Recursos Biológicos Alexander von Humboldt (2019). Lista de especies vedadas por la resolución 213 de 1977. 8256 especies. i2d.humboldt.org.co/ceiba/resource.do?r=le_plantasprioriz...
Instituto de Investigación de Recursos Biológicos Alexander von Humboldt. (2014). Plantas alimenticias y medicinales nativas de Colombia. 2567 registros, aportados por: Castellanos, C. (Contacto del recurso), Valderrama, N. (Creador del recurso, Autor), Bernal, Y. (Autor), García, N. (Autor). i2d.humboldt.org.co/ceiba/resource.do?r=ls_colombia_magno...
Medicinal Plant Names Services (MPNS) v.10 (2021); mpns.kew.org
PROTA (2021). Plants Resources of Tropical Africa. prota4u.org/database
Plants for malaria, plants for fever: Medicinal species in Latin America, a bibliographic survey: Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
Ulian, T., Sacandé, M., Hudson, A., & Mattana, E. (2017). Conservation of indigenous plants to support community livelihoods: the MGU–Useful Plants Project. Journal of Environmental Planning and Management 60:668-683.
Willis, K.J. (ed.) (2017). State of the World’s Plants 2017. Report. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
-----------------------------------
This name is Accepted by:
Brunel, J.F., Hiepo, P. & Scholz, H. (eds.) (1984). Flore Analytique du Togo Phanérogames: 1-751. GTZ, Eschborn.
Jones, M. (1991). A checklist of Gambian plants: 1-33. Michael Jones, The Gambia College.
Govaerts, R. (1999). World Checklist of Seed Plants 3(1, 2a & 2b): 1-1532. MIM, Deurne.
Sita, P. & Moutsambote, J.-M. (2005). Catalogue des plantes vasculaires du Congo , ed. sept. 2005: 1-158. ORSTOM, Centre de Brazzaville.
Walderley, M.G.L., Shepherd, G.J., Melhem, T.S. & Giulietti, A.M. (eds.) (2005). Flora Fanerogâmica do Estado de São Paulo 4: 1-392. Instituto de Botânica, São Paulo.
Acevedo-Rodríguez, P. & Strong, M.T. (2005). Monocotyledons and Gymnosperms of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. Contributions from the United States National Herbarium 52: 1-415.
Akoègninou, A., van der Burg, W.J. & van der Maesen, L.J.G. (eds.) (2006). Flore Analytique du Bénin: 1-1034. Backhuys Publishers.
Nelson Sutherland, C.H. (2008). Catálogo de las plantes vasculares de Honduras. Espermatofitas: 1-1576. SERNA/Guaymuras, Tegucigalpa, Honduras.
Hokche, O., Berry, P.E. & Huber, O. (eds.) (2008). Nuevo Catálogo de la Flora Vascular de Venezuela: 1-859. Fundación Instituto Botánico de Venezuela.
Figueiredo, E. & Smith, G.F. (2008). Plants of Angola. Strelitzia 22: 1-279. National Botanical Institute, Pretoria.
Idárraga-Piedrahita, A., Ortiz, R.D.C., Callejas Posada, R. & Merello, M. (eds.) (2011). Flora de Antioquia: Catálogo de las Plantas Vasculares 2: 1-939. Universidad de Antioquia, Medellín.
Faden, R. (2012). Commelinaceae. Flora of Tropical East Africa: 1-244.
López-Ferrari, A.R., Espejo-Serna, A. & Ceja-Romero, J. (2014). Flora de Veracruz 161: 1-127. Instituto Nacional de Investigaciones sobre Recursos Bióticos, Xalapa, Veracruz.
Velayos, M., Aedo, C., Cabezas, F., de la Estrella, M., Barberá, P. & Fero, M. (eds.) (2014). Flora de Guinea Ecuatorial 11: 1-416. Consejo superior de investigaciones científicas, Real jardín botánico, Madrid.
von Raab-Straube, E. & Raus, T. (eds.) (2015). Euro+Med-Checklist notulae, 4. Willdenowia 45: 119-129.
de Moura Júnior, E.G. & al. (2015). Updated checklist of aquatic macrophytes from Northern Brazil. Acta Amazonica 45: 111-132.
Sarder, N.U. & Hassan, M.A. (eds.) (2018). Vascular flora of Chittagong and the Chittagong Hill Tracts 1: 1-897. Bangladesh National Herbarium, Dhaka.
Hassemer, G. (2018). Taxonomic and geographic notes on the neotropical Commelina (Commelinaceae). Webbia; Raccolta de Scritti Botanici 73: 23-53.
-----------------------------------
A perennial plant that grows naturally in the central and southeastern parts of the USA. I have an individual of Texas ancestry.
Place it in a bright half-day shade that avoids the west sun, not in the shade.
The flowers bloom for a long time, with a flowering period of May to October. The cool autumn has a darker flower color, and the flower color is slightly lighter in the hot season when the temperature exceeds 30 degrees Celsius.
It is a perennial plant, and if managed indoors in winter, rhizomes will remain, and in spring it will sprout again and bloom from early summer to late autumn.
If possible, replant with new soil every year to divide the stock. The reason is that continuous cropping disorders are likely to occur.
As fertilizer, a proper amount of slow-release fertilizer is applied as the main fertilizer, or 1000 diluted liquid chemical fertilizer is given once a week.
美國中南部～東南部に自生する多年草～宿根草。テキサスの系統が手許にあります。
置き場所は、あまり日蔭ではなく西日の避けられる明るい半日蔭に置きます。
開花期間が5～10月くらいまでと、長く花が咲きます。涼しい秋のほうが濃い色の花色になり、気温が30度を超える暑い時期は花色はやや薄くなります。
多年草で冬は屋内で管理すると根茎が残り、春にはまた芽が出て初夏～晩秋に開花します。
出来れば毎年新しい用土で株分けを兼ねて植え替えを行います。連作障害が出やすいのがその理由です。
肥料は元肥として緩効性肥料を適量施肥するか、液体化学肥料の1000希釈液を週に一度与えています。
American postcard by Disney Enterprises / Pixar Animation Studios, 2005. Image: Pixar Animation Studios. Concept art by Tia Kratter and Nat McLaughlin for A Bug's Life (John Lasseter, 1998). From 'The Art of Pixar: 100 Collectible Postcards', published by Chronicle Books.
A Bug's Life (John Lasseter, 1998) is an American computer-animated film produced by Pixar Animation Studios and released by Buena Vista Distribution. It was the second film by Disney and Pixar. Written by Andrew Stanton, the film involves a misfit ant, Flik, who is looking for 'tough warriors' to save his colony from a protection racket run by Hopper's gang of grasshoppers. Unfortunately, the 'warriors' he brings back turn out to be an inept troupe of Circus Bugs.
An ant colony on an island is suppressed by a group of locusts, led by Hopper. Each year, they claim a part of the food supply. One of the ants is Flip, an outsider who prefers to work alone and is constantly trying to come up with new inventions. He is seen as an eccentric. On the day the locusts come again, Flip causes all the food he has collected to literally fall into the water. The locusts think that, because of the lack of food, the ants are trying to revolt. Hopper demands that the ants deliver a double supply of food before the end of autumn. Then he and his gang leave. While Flip is on trial for what he has done, he suggests going to town to find larger insects that can drive the locusts away. The ant council agrees as they would like to get rid of Flip. Flip reaches the insect city, a metropolis built of old boxes and other rubbish. In the same city, there is a circus. The artists of this circus are fired by their boss, P.T. Vlo, after a performance degenerated into chaos. Flip finds the fired insects and thinks they are the warriors he needs. The Bugs, in turn, think that Flip wants to hire them for their act. He takes them to the colony. On the island, the performers soon make themselves popular when they rescue the young ant Dot from a bird. The attack gives Flip the idea of chasing off the grasshoppers with a fake bird. On his instructions, the ants build this bird.
A Bug's Life was initially inspired by Aesop's fable 'The Ant and the Grasshopper'. The storyline originated from a lunchtime conversation between John Lasseter, Andrew Stanton, Pete Docter, and Joe Ranft, the studio's head story team; other films such as Monsters, Inc., Finding Nemo and WALL-E were also conceived at this lunch. Lasseter and his story team had already been drawn to the idea of insects serving as characters. Like toys, insects were within the reach of computer animation back then, due to their relatively simple surfaces. Production began shortly after the release of Toy Story (1995). The screenplay was penned by Stanton and comedy writers Donald McEnery and Bob Shaw from a story by Lasseter, Stanton, and Ranft. The ants in the film were redesigned to be more appealing, and Pixar's animation unit employed technical innovations in computer animation. Randy Newman composed the music for the film. During the production of A Bug's Life, a public feud erupted between DreamWorks' Jeffrey Katzenberg, and Pixar's Steve Jobs and John Lasseter. Katzenberg, former chairman of Disney's film division, had left the company in a bitter feud with CEO Michael Eisner. In response, he formed DreamWorks SKG with Steven Spielberg and David Geffen and planned to rival Disney in animation. After DreamWorks' acquisition of Pacific Data Images (PDI)—long Pixar's contemporary in computer animation—Lasseter and others at Pixar were dismayed to learn from the trade papers that PDI's first project at DreamWorks would be another ant film, to be called Antz. By this time, Pixar's project was well known within the animation community. Both Antz and A Bug's Life center on a young male ant, a drone with oddball tendencies that struggles to win a princess's hand by saving their society. Whereas A Bug's Life relied chiefly on visual gags, Antz was more verbal and revolved more around satire. The script of Antz was also heavy with adult references, whereas Pixar's film was more accessible to children. It was clear that Lasseter and Jobs believed that the idea was stolen by Katzenberg. Katzenberg had stayed in touch with Lasseter after the acrimonious Disney split, often calling to check up. In October 1995, when Katzenberg asked what they were doing next, Lasseter described what would become A Bug's Life in detail. When the trades indicated production on Antz, Lasseter, feeling betrayed, called Katzenberg and asked him bluntly if it were true, who in turn asked him where he had heard the rumor. Lasseter asked again, and Katzenberg admitted it was true. Lasseter raised his voice and would not believe Katzenberg's story that a development director had pitched him the idea long ago. Katzenberg claimed Antz came from a 1991 story pitch by Tim Johnson that was related to Katzenberg in October 1994. Lasseter grimly relayed the news to Pixar employees but kept morale high. Katzenberg moved the opening of Antz from spring 1999 to October 1998 to compete with Pixar's release. The film grossed $363.3 million worldwide, surpassing DreamWorks' Antz. Despite the successful box office performance of both Antz and A Bug's Life, tensions would remain high between Jobs and Katzenberg for many years.
A Bug's Life won in 1999 the Academy Award for Best Music and received positive reviews. Todd McCarthy of Variety wrote, "Lasseter and Pixar broke new technical and aesthetic ground in the animation field with Toy Story, and here they surpass it in both scope and complexity of movement while telling a story that overlaps Antz in numerous ways." Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave the film three and a half stars out of four, saying "I enjoyed too the use of animation to visualize a world that could not be seen in live-action and could not be created with special effects. Animation contains enormous promise for a new kind of storytelling, freed from reality and gravity, but although the Japanese have exploited that freedom, too many American feature cartoons follow the Disney formula of plucky young heroes and heroines and comic sidekicks. It's a formula that has produced wonderful movies. But the Pixar computer animation studio, a Disney co-producer, broke new ground with "Toy Story" in 1995, and now with "A Bug's Life," it runs free. The story, about an ant colony that frees itself from slavery to grasshoppers, is similar in some ways to the autumn's other big animated release, "Antz," but it's aimed at a broader audience and lacks the in-jokes." And at AllMovie, Matthew Doberman wrote: "A Bug's Life is a high point in animated family fare. It's the kind of film adults enjoy as much as, if not more than, their preschool offspring. Even the fake "outtakes" following the film are hilarious: like much of the film's humor, they aim for a surprising level of sophistication. The creators use animation not just to put a child-friendly face on some normally creepy critters, but to go where live-action can't, creating a world of shapes, colors, and sounds that couldn't be accomplished otherwise."
Sources: Roger Ebert (RogerEbert.com), Matthew Doberman (AllMovie), Wikipedia (Dutch and English), and IMDb.
December is Pixar month at EFSP!
Published in 1939 by Humphrey Milford and Oxford University Press and illustrated by Douglas Lionel Mays (1900-1991). Designed to introduce the young reader to the wonders of road transport. Mays was a prolific illustrator for Punch magazine - he also did many covers for John Bull magazine and illustrated the long series of Jennings books (prep school fiction for children).
I got published in the march edition of Digital Camera Magazine.
I got two cover shot's, this one and the one for the subscribers.
The first Ida Rentoul Outhwaite Children's Library Stained Glass Window, "Regatta" is taken from the story "Serana: The Bush Fairy", from the book "Fairyland", published by A. and C. Black in London in 1926. The original illustration was executed in pen and ink, so it is brought to colourful life in the pink, brown, green and golden yellow stained glass panel. Juvenile faeries, both male and female, naughty pixies and frogs ride down a river in everything from canoes to improvised vessels made of nutshells, cups and lily pads with paper sails. One of two water police frogs in the bottom right of the panel hooks a naughty pixie as he sails by with his silver topped cane, making the whole scene quite a chaotic one. The faerie girls all wear contemporary 1920s sun dresses, and have either fashionable Marcelle Wave or bobbed hairstyles, which is contrary to the little boy faerie, who seems to have what we may consider to be more traditional faerie garb. The faerie girl at the top right of the melee even has a 1920s stub handled parasol to shade her! The canoe rowed by a frog with two girl faeries in it also has a connection to 1920s modernity, with a Chinese lantern hanging from the stern of the boat: a common site on punts at the time.
The second Ida Rentoul Outhwaite Children's Library Stained Glass Window features the excerpt from a poem; "When the children go away, leaving earth's gray lonely places, God I know has room for play, in his gracious starry spaces". The hand-painted panel features three Australian native koalas in natty moss green sporting tweeds and red checks playing a round of golf (most fashionable in the 1920s) with three cheeky pixies as their caddies. One of the green tweed koalas smokes a pipe. The red check koala appears not only to have nearly hit one of his companion koalas with his club, but has sent his ball flying right into the nose of a pixie spectator. A rabbit, two laughing kookaburras and a goanna watch the scene with amusement; the kookaburras especially! Peeping from over the ridge, a Metroland 1920s clubhouse with a red tile roof, white walls and dormer windows can just be seen. Executed with a muted palate of mossy greens, reddish browns, pink and golden yellow, the colours of the Australian bush in summertime are truly captured in this pane. All the characters come from the book "Fairyland", published by A. and C. Black in London in 1926.
The third Ida Rentoul Outhwaite Children's Library Stained Glass Window features the excerpt from a poem; "While underneath in phantom shells, the fairy sailors go, and shining o'er the silent dells, the fairy beacons glow". It, and the painted panel above come from "Fairy Islands" from "Elves and Fairies" published by Thomas Lothian in Melbourne in 1910. The book illustration, much more Art Nouveau in influence than any of the others, is rich with night time blues. Yet the stained glass panel featuring six faeries riding down a river in nautilus shells beneath a silvery full moon, has highlights of pink and golden yellow. The girl faeries all wear Edwardian empire line dancing dresses, such as Isadora Duncan and Anna Pavlova wore, with belts of trailing yellow flowers. Whilst the water looks tranquil enough, the faeries are obviously moving swiftly down the river as their hair and dresses blow in the breeze, and the pink heath sprigs they carry all bend to the wind. The silhouettes of narrow gum trees stand against a full moon glimpsed between two steep banks.
In 1923 with Fitzroy still very much a working class area of Melbourne with pockets of poverty, the parish of St. Mark the Evangelist decided to address the need of the poor in the inner Melbourne suburb. Architects Gawler and Drummond were commissioned to design a two storey red brick Social Settlement Building. It was opened in 1926 by the Vicar of St. Mark the Evangelist, the Reverend Robert G. Nichols (known affectionately amongst the parish as Brother Bill). Known today as the Community Centre, the St. Mark the Evangelist Social Settlements Building looks out onto George Street and also across the St. Mark the Evangelist's forecourt. When it opened, the Social Settlement Building's facilities included a gymnasium, club rooms and children's library.
Opened in 1926, the children's library, which was situated in the corner room of the Social Settlements Building, is believed to be the first known free dedicated children's library in Victoria. The library was given to the children of Fitzroy by Mrs. T. Hackett, in memory of her late husband. The library contained over 3,000 books, as well as children's magazines and even comics. The Social Settlements Building was only erected because Brother Bill organised the commitment of £1,000.00 each from various wealthy businessmen and philanthropists around Melbourne. Mrs Hackett's contribution was the library of £1,000.00 worth of books. Another internationally famous resident of the neighbourhood, Australian children's book illustrator Ida Rentoul Outhwaite, then at the zenith of her career, was engaged by the relentless Brother Bill to create something for the library. Ida donated four stained glass windows each with a hand-painted panel executed by her, based upon illustrations from her books, most notably "Elves and Fairies" which was published to great acclaim in Australia and sold internationally in 1916 and "Fairyland" which had been published earlier that year. These four hand painted stained glass windows were equated to the value of £1,000.00, but are priceless today, as they are the only public works of Ida Rentoul Outhwaite ever commissioned that have been executed in this medium. Ida Rentoul Outhwaite was only ever commissioned to create one other public work; a series of four panels executed in watercolour with pencil underdrawing in 1910 for the Prince Henry Hospital's children's wards in Melbourne (now demolished). Of her panels, only two are believed still to be in existence, buried within the hospital archives. The four Ida Rentoul Outhwaite stained glass windows each depict faeries, pixies, Australian native animals and children, taken from her book illustrations. At the time of photographing, the windows - three overlooking George Street and one St. Mark the Evangelist's forecourt - were located in the community lounge, which served as a drop-in lounge and kitchen for Fitzroy's homeless and marginalised citizens. Today the space has been re-purposed as offices for the Anglicare staff who run the St. Mark's Community Centre, possibly as a way to protect the precious windows from coming to any harm. The only down-side to this is that they are not as easily accessed or viewed as when I photographed them, making my original visit to St. Mark the Evangalist in 2009 extremely fortuitous.
The Ida Rentoul Outhwaite Children's Library Stained Glass Windows are one of Australia's greatest hidden treasures, which seems apt when you consider that the pixies and faeries they depict are also often in hiding when we read about them in children's books and the faerie tales of our childhood. The fact that they are hidden, because it is necessary to enter a little-known and undistinguished building in order to see them, ensures their protection and survival. The windows are unique, not only because they are the only stained glass windows designed and hand-painted by Ida Rentoul Outhwaite, but because they are the earliest and only examples of stained glass art in Australia that deals with theme of childhood.
I am indebted to Peter Bourke who ran the St. Mark's Community Centre in 2009 for giving me the privilege of seeing these beautiful and rare windows created by one of my favourite children's book artists on a hot November afternoon, without me having made prior arrangements. I also appreciate him allowing me the opportunity to photograph them in great detail. I will always be grateful to him for such a wonderful and moving experience.
Ida Sherbourne Outhwaite (1888 - 1960) was an Australian children's book illustrator. She was born on the 9th of June 1888 in the inner Melbourne suburb of Carlton. She was the daughter of the of Presbyterian Reverend John Laurence Rentoul and his wife Annie Isobel. Her family was both literary and artistic, and as such, gifted Ida was encouraged from an early age to embrace her talent of drawing. Her elder sister, Annie Rattray Rentoul (1882 - 1978), was likewise encouraged to write, and both would later form a successful partnership. In 1903 six fairy stories written by Annie and illustrated by Ida were published in the ladies' journal "New Idea". The following year the Rentoul sisters collaborated on a book called "Mollie's Bunyip" which was received with instant success because it combined the idea of European faeries, witches and elves and the Australian bush. "Mollie's Staircase" followed in 1906. In 1908 the Rentoul sisters published their first substantial story book, "The Lady of the Blue Beads". On 9 December 1909 Ida married Arthur Grenbry Outhwaite (1875-1938), manager of the Perpetual Executors and Trustees Association of Australia Ltd. (Annie remained unmarried her entire life). After her marriage, Ida was known as Ida Rentoul Outhwaite, but did not publish anything substantial as she established her family and household until part way through the Great War. In 1916 she brought out her first coloured work; "Elves and Fairies", a de luxe edition produced entirely in Australia by Thomas Lothian. The success of the book, with its delicate watercolour plates, was due both to Ida's artistic talent and to the business acumen of her husband, who provided a £400.00 subsidy to ensure a high-quality production and consigned royalties to the Red Cross, thereby encouraging vice-regal patronage. "Elves and Fairies" is still her best known and loved work. Encouraged by her latest success, Ida travelled to Europe after hostilities ended and in 1920 exhibited in Paris and London. The critics compared her to other artists of the golden years of children's illustration such as Arthur Rackham and Edmund Dulac, thus sealing her international success. She signed a contract with British book publishers A. & C. Black who published five books for her over the next decade, including "The Enchanted Forest" (1921), with text by her husband, and, probably the most popular of all the Rentoul sisters' collaborations, "The Little Green Road to Fairyland" (1922). "The Fairyland of Ida Rentoul Outhwaite" (1926), another sumptuous volume, with text by her husband and sister, was less successful. A. & C. Black also produced a number of postcard series using her illustrations from "Elves and Fairies" as well as her other books published by them. In 1930 the last of her books published by A. & C. Black was released, but already times were changing, and the interest in Ida's work was rapidly fading. Angus & Robertson brought out two more books in 1933 and 1935 but they received relatively little attention. Her last two exhibitions, which between 1916 and 1928 were almost annual events, were held in 1933. The Second World War changed the world, and Ida and Annie's work was relegated to a bygone era, shunned and forgotten. Ida suffered the loss of both of her sons during the war, and she spent her last years sharing a flat in Caulfield with her sister, where, survived by her two daughters, she died on 25 June 1960. She did not live to see the resurgence of interest in her work some twenty-five years later, when in 1985, her picture of "The Little Witch" from "Elves and Fairies" was published on an Australian stamp, opening the fairy world of Ida Rentoul Outhwaite to a whole new generation of children and adults alike.
Published by Faber in 1969.
What are crocodile tears? This entertaining book explains in English, in French and in pictures.
News
Etna, the Forge of Hephaestus - Etna, la fucina di Efesto
by Francesco Pappalardo.
This is an excellent Photography book recently published by this great photographer and flickr friend cicciofarmaco.
This book is a collection of the most beautiful pictures of the Etna volcano paroxysmal eruptions of 2011. As you can see, Francesco has a natural talent in photography and his work is truly inspirational, so through this book you can live again the most spectacular and fascinating moments of the eruptions of the Etna volcano of 2011.
Buy this magnificent Photography book easily online through this link Etna, la fucina di Efesto. by Francesco Pappalardo and enjoy these historic events of nature forever.
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Mount Etna
Mount Etna, also known as Muncibeḍḍu in Sicilian and Mongibello in Italian, a combination of Latin mons and Arabic gibel, both meaning mountain) is an active stratovolcano on the east coast of Sicily, close to Messina and Catania. Its Arabic name was Jebel Utlamat (the Mountain of Fire). It is the second largest active volcano in Europe, currently standing 3,329 metres (10,922 ft) high, though this varies with summit eruptions; the mountain is 21 m (69 ft) lower now than it was in 1981. It is the highest mountain in Italy south of the Alps. Etna covers an area of 1,190 km² (460 sq mi) with a basal circumference of 140 km. This makes it by far the largest of the three active volcanoes in Italy, being about two and a half times the height of the next largest, Mount Vesuvius. Only Mount Teide in Tenerife surpasses it in the whole of the European region (though geographically Tenerife is an island of Africa).
Mount Etna is one of the most active volcanoes in the world and is in an almost constant state of eruption. It is also believed to be the world’s oldest active volcano. The fertile volcanic soils support extensive agriculture, with vineyards and orchards spread across the lower slopes of the mountain and the broad Plain of Catania to the south. Due to its history of recent activity and nearby population, Mount Etna has been designated a Decade Volcano by the United Nations.
Geological history
Volcanic activity at Etna began about half a million years ago, with eruptions occurring beneath the sea off the coastline of Sicily. 300,000 years ago, volcanism began occurring to the southwest of the present-day summit, before activity moved towards the present center 170,000 years ago. Eruptions at this time built up the first major volcanic edifice, forming a strato-volcano in alternating explosive and effusive eruptions. The growth of the mountain was occasionally interrupted by major eruptions leading to the collapse of the summit to form calderas.
Etna seen from Spot Satellite.
From about 35,000 to 15,000 years ago, Etna experienced some highly explosive eruptions, generating large pyroclastic flows which left extensive ignimbrite deposits. Ash from these eruptions has been found as far away as Rome, 800 km to the north.
A crater near the Torre del Filosofo, about 450 metres below Etna’s summit.
Thousands of years ago, the eastern flank of the mountain experienced a catastrophic collapse, generating an enormous landslide in an event similar to that seen in the 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens. The landslide left a large depression in the side of the volcano, known as ‘Valle del Bove’ (Valley of the Ox). Research published in 2006 suggests that this occurred around 6000 BC, and caused a huge tsunami which left its mark in several places in the eastern Mediterranean. It may have been the reason that the settlement of Atlit Yam (Israel), now below sea level, was suddenly abandoned around that time.
The steep walls of the Valley have suffered subsequent collapse on numerous occasions. The strata exposed in the valley walls provide an important and easily accessible record of Etna’s eruptive history.
The most recent collapse event at the summit of Etna is thought to have occurred about 2,000 years ago, forming what is known as the Piano Caldera. This caldera has been almost entirely filled by subsequent lava eruptions, but is still visible as a distinct break in the slope of the mountain near the base of the present-day summit cone.
Historical eruptions
Eruptions of Etna are not all the same. Some occur at the summit, where there are currently (as of 2008) four distinct craters – the Northeast Crater, the Voragine, the Bocca Nuova, and the Southeast Crater. Other eruptions occur on the flanks, where there are more than 300 vents, ranging in size from small holes in the ground to large craters hundreds of meters across. Summit eruptions can be highly explosive and are extremely spectacular, but are rarely threatening for the inhabited areas around the volcano. On the contrary, flank eruptions can occur down to a few hundred meters altitude, close to or even well within the populated areas. Numerous villages and small towns lie around or on cones of past flank eruptions. Since the year 1600 A.D., there have been at least 60 flank eruptions and countless summit eruptions; nearly half of these have occurred since the start of the 20th century, and the 3rd millennium has seen five flank eruptions of Etna so far, in 2001, 2002-2003, 2004-2005,2007 and 2008.
The first known record of an eruption at Etna is that of Diodorus Siculus.
The Roman poet Virgil gave what was probably a first-hand description of an eruption in the Aeneid:
“ Portus ab accessu ventorum immotus et ingens ipse; sed horrificis iuxta tonat Aetna ruinis; interdumque atram prorumpit ad aethera nubem, turbine fumantem piceo et candente favilla, attollitque globos flammarum et sidera lambit; interdum scopulos avolsaque viscera montis erigit eructans, liquefactaque saxa sub auras cum gemitu glomerat, fundoque exaestuat imo. (3.39)
“ A spreading bay is there, impregnable To all invading storms; and Aetna’s throat With roar of frightful ruin thunders nigh. Now to the realm of light it lifts a cloud Of pitch-black, whirling smoke, and fiery dust, Shooting out globes of flame, with monster tongues That lick the stars; now huge crags of itself, Out of the bowels of the mountain torn, Its maw disgorges, while the molten rock Rolls screaming skyward; from the nether deep The fathomless abyss makes ebb and flow.
In 396 BC, an eruption of Etna is said to have thwarted the Carthaginians in their attempt to advance on Syracuse during the First Sicilian War.
A particularly violent explosive (Plinian) summit eruption occurred in 122 BC, and caused heavy tephra falls to the southeast, including the town of Catania, where many roofs collapsed. To help with reconstruction and dealing with the devastating effects of the eruption, the Roman government exempted the population of Catania from paying taxes for ten years.
Recent eruptions
Etna’s 2002 eruption, photographed from the ISS.
Same, seen in a wider field.
Etna’s south east crater 2006 eruption, photographed from Torre del Filosofo.
Another large lava flow from an eruption in 1928 led to the first (and only) destruction of a population center since the 1669 eruption. The eruption started high on Etna’s northeast flank on 2 November, then new eruptive fissures opened at ever lower elevation down the flank of the volcano. The third and most vigorous of these fissures opened late on 4 November at unusually low elevation (1200 m above the sea-level), in a zone known as Ripe della Naca. The village of Mascali, lying downslope of the Ripe della Naca, was obliterated in just two days, with the lava destroying nearly every building. Only a church and a few surrounding buildings survived in the north part of the village, called Sant’Antonino or “il quartiere”. During the last days of the eruption, the flow interrupted the Messina-Catania railway line and destroyed the train station of Mascali. The event was used by Benito Mussolini’s Fascist regime for propaganda purposes, with the evacuation, aid and rebuilding operations being presented as models of fascist planning. Mascali was rebuilt on a new site, and its church contains the Italian fascist symbol of the torch, placed above the statue of Jesus Christ. In early November 2008, the town of Mascali commemorated the 80th anniversary of the eruption and destruction of the village with a number of public manifestations and conferences, where, amongst others, still living eyewitnesses of the eruptions recalled their impressions of that experience.
Other major 20th-century eruptions occurred in 1949, 1971, 1981, 1983 and 1991-1993. In 1971, lava buried the Etna Observatory (built in the late 19th century), destroyed the first generation of the Etna cable-car, and seriously threatened several small villages on Etna’s east flank. In March 1981, the town of Randazzo on the northwestern flank of Etna narrowly escaped from destruction by unusually fast-moving lava flows – that eruption was remarkably similar to the one of 1928 that destroyed Mascali. The 1991-1993 eruption saw the town of Zafferana threatened by a lava flow, but successful diversion efforts saved the town with the loss of only one building a few hundred metres from the town’s margin. Initially, such efforts consisted of the construction of earth barriers built perpendicularly to the flow direction; it was hoped that the eruption would stop before the artificial basins created behind the barriers would be completely filled. Instead, the eruption continued, and lava surmounted the barriers, heading directly toward Zafferana. It was then decided to use explosives near the source of the lava flow, to disrupt a very efficient lava tube system through which the lava traveled for up to 7 km without essentially losing heat and fluidity. The main explosion on 23 May 1992 destroyed the lava tube and forced the lava into a new artificial channel, far from Zafferana, and it would have taken months to re-establish a long lava tube. Shortly after the blasting, the rate of lava emission dropped and during the remainder of the eruption (until 30 March 1993) the lava never advanced close to the town again.
Following six years (1995-2001) of unusually intense activity at the four summit craters of Etna, the volcano produced its first flank eruption since 1991-1993 in July-August 2001. This eruption, which involved activity from seven distinct eruptive fissures mostly on the south slope of the volcano, was a mass-media eruption, because it occurred at the height of the tourist season and numerous reporters and journalists were already in Italy to cover the G8 summit in Genoa. It also occurred close to one of the tourist areas on the volcano, and thus was easily accessible. Part of the “Etna Sud” tourist area, including the arrival station of the Etna cable car, were damaged by this eruption, which otherwise was a rather modest-sized event for Etna standards.
In 2002-2003, a much larger eruption threw up a huge column of ash that could easily be seen from space and fell as far away as Libya, 600 km south across the Mediterranean Sea. Seismic activity in this eruption caused the eastern flanks of the volcano to slip by up to two metres, and many houses on the flanks of the volcano experienced structural damage. The eruption also completely destroyed the tourist station Piano Provenzana, on the northeastern flank of the volcano, and part of the tourist station “Etna Spud” around the Rifugio Sapienza on the south flank. Footage from the eruptions was recorded by Lucasfilm and integrated into the landscape of the planet Mustafar in the 2005 film Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith. The Rifugio Sapienza is near the site of a cable car station which had previously been destroyed in the 1983 eruption; it has now been rebuilt.
Etna’s Sept. 2007 eruption as seen from the southeast crater ridgeline.
Following a rather silent, slow and non-destructive lava outflow on the upper southeastern flank between September 2004 and March 2005, intense eruptions occurred at the Southeast Crater in July-December 2006. These were followed by four episodes of lava fountaining, again at the Southeast Crater, on 29 March, 11 April, 29 April and 7 May 2007. Ash emissions and Strombolian explosions started from a vent on the eastern side of the Southeast Crater in mid-August 2007.
House destroyed by lava on the slopes of Etna.
On 4 September 2007 Etna violently erupted at around 8:00 p.m. local time, spewing lava up to 400 m into the air along with strong winds that sent ash and smoke into the underlying towns. This Southeast Crater eruption was visible far into the plains of Sicily, ending the following morning between the hours of 5 to 7 am local time. Catania-Fontanarossa Airport shut down operations during the night for safety precautions. A similar paroxysm occurred during the night of 23-24 November 2007, lasting for 6 hours and causing ash and lapilli falls to the north of the volcano. Again, the source of the activity was the Southeast Crater. Following several months of rather minor activity from the Southeast Crater and flurries of seismic activity especially in the eastern sector of the mountain, a new powerful eruptive paroxysm occurred on the late afternoon of 10 May 2008. Due to bad weather, it was not possible to see much of the activity at the vent, but several branches of lava traveled down the eastern flank of the volcano, into the Valle del Bove depression. This latest paroxysm lasted about 4 hours, ending on the evening of 10 May 2008.
A new eruption started on the morning of 13 May 2008 immediately to the east of Etna’s summit craters, accompanied by a swarm of more than 200 earthquakes and significant ground deformation in the summit area. On the afternoon of the same day, a new eruptive fissure opened at about 2800 m above sea-level, with a number of vents displaying Strombolian activity and emission of lava flows toward the Valle del Bove. During the following 24 hours the lava traveled approximately 6 km to the east, but thereafter its advance slowed and stopped, the most distant lava fronts stagnating about 3 km from the nearest village, Milo. Ash emissions became more frequent between 16 and 18 May and produced small but spectacular clouds, whereas the rate of lava emission showed a gradual diminution. During late May and the first week of June, the activity continued at low levels, with lava flows advancing only a few hundred meters from the vents as of 4 June. Four days later, on 8 June, there was a considerable increase in the vigor of Strombolian activity and lava output rate. During the following week, lava flows advanced up to 5 km from the source vents. In June and July, the eruption continued with mild Strombolian activity from two vents at about 2800 m elevation, and lava advancing up to 4 km eastward, remaining confined to the Valle del Bove collapse depression. Activity in mid-July produced loud detonations that were well audible in numerous population centers around the volcano. In late-July, explosive activity waned, but lava emission continued at a fairly low rate, feeding short lava flows that advanced little more than 1 km.
On 13 November 2008, six months after its onset, the 2008 flank eruption of Etna was continuing, at a relatively low rate, and it thus became the longest of the four flank eruptions of Etna so far in the 3rd millennium. Previous eruptions, in 2001, 2002-2003, and 2004-2005 had lasted 3 weeks, 3 months, and 6 months, respectively.
Unusual characteristics
In the 1970s Etna erupted smoke rings, one of the first captured events of this type, which is extremely rare. This happened again in 2000.
Monte Etna
L'Etna (Mungibeddu o semplicemente 'a Muntagna in siciliano) è un vulcano attivo che si trova sulla costa orientale della Sicilia, tra Catania e Messina. È il vulcano attivo più alto del continente europeo[1] e uno dei maggiori al mondo. La sua altezza varia nel tempo a causa delle sue eruzioni, ma si aggira attualmente sui 3.340 m. s.l.m. Il suo diametro è di circa 45 chilometri.
Un tempo era noto anche come Mongibello.
Leggende
A proposito del dio Eolo, il re dei venti, si diceva che avesse imprigionato i venti sotto le caverne dell'Etna. Secondo il poeta Eschilo, il gigante Tifone fu confinato nell'Etna e fu motivo di eruzioni. Un altro gigante, Encelado, si ribellò contro gli dei, venne ucciso e fu bruciato nell'Etna. Su Efesto o Vulcano, dio del fuoco e della metallurgia e fabbro degli dei, venne detto di aver avuto la sua fucina sotto l'Etna e di aver domato il demone del fuoco Adranos e di averlo guidato fuori dalla montagna, mentre i Ciclopi vi tenevano un'officina di forgiatura nella quale producevano le saette usate come armi da Zeus. Si supponeva che il mondo dei morti greco, Tartaro, fosse situato sotto l'Etna.
Su Empedocle, un importante filosofo presocratico e uomo politico greco del V secolo a.C., venne detto che si buttò nel cratere del vulcano, anche se in realtà sembra che sia morto in Grecia. Si dice che quando l'Etna eruttò nel 252, un anno dopo il martirio di Santa Agata, il popolo di Catania prese il velo rosso della Santa, rimasto intatto dalle fiamme del suo martirio, e né invocò il nome. Si dice che a seguito di ciò l'eruzione finì e che per questo motivo i devoti invocano il suo nome contro il fuoco e lampi.
Secondo una leggenda inglese l'anima della regina Elisabetta I d'Inghilterra ora risiede nell'Etna, a causa di un patto che lei fece col diavolo in cambio del suo aiuto durante il suo regno.
Turismo e ambiente
Il territorio del vulcano è tutto un mondo di ambienti differenti per morfologia e tipologia. Coltivato fino ai mille metri s.l.m. e fortemente urbanizzato sui versanti est e sud si presenta selvaggio e brullo soprattutto dal lato ovest dove dai mille metri in poi predominano le "sciare", specie nella zona di Bronte. Poco urbanizzato, ma di aspetto più dolce il versante nord con il predominio dei boschi al di sopra di Linguaglossa. Il versante est è dominato dall'aspetto inquietante della Valle del Bove sui margini della quale si inerpicano i fitti boschi. Al di sopra dei 1000 m, in inverno, è presente la neve che spesso dura fin quasi all'estate. Questa è raggiungibile agevolmente dai versanti sud e nord. Di conseguenza sull'Etna si trovavano anche due stazioni sciistiche la cui particolarità è quella di poter sciare sulla neve potendo osservare il mare. Da quella Sud del Rifugio Sapienza, nel territorio di Nicolosi, è possibile ammirare tutto il golfo di Catania e la valle del Simeto. Nelle piste a Nord, quelle di Piano Provenzana in territorio di Linguaglossa, lo scenario che si apre d'innanzi comprende Taormina e le coste della Calabria. Le piste di Nicolosi sono state danneggiate dall'eruzione dell'estate del 2001, quando una colata lavica ha distrutto la stazione d'arrivo della funivia ed il centro servizi passando a pochi metri dallo stesso "Rifugio Sapienza". Le piste di Piano Provenzana sono state colpite dalla colata dell'Autunno del 2002.
L'Etna visto da sud in autunno
Negli anni settanta del XX secolo le piste del versante sud,Nicolosi, sono state protagoniste della "Tre giorni Internazionale dell'Etna" gara di sci alpino che vedeva alla partenza i grandi nomi dello sci alla fine delle gare della coppa del mondo. Poi con il passare degli anni e con l'avvento del professionismo esasperato in tutte le discipline sportive, questa gara non ha più avuto luogo.
L'Etna è anche meta ininterrotta delle visite di turisti interessati al vulcano e alle sue manifestazioni in virtù del fatto che è uno dei pochi vulcani attivi al mondo ad essere a portata di mano di chiunque avendo a supporto ogni tipo di mezzo di comunicazione per raggiungerlo. Sono presenti infatti anche guide specializzate e mezzi fuoristrada che in sicurezza portano fino ai crateri sommitali. Il circondario ha caratteristiche che ne rendono le terre ottime per produzioni agricole, grazie alla particolare fertilità dei detriti vulcanici. La zona abitata giunge fino ai 1000 m.s.l.m. mentre le zone coltivate e boschive vanno fin oltre i 1500 metri. Ampie parti delle sue pendici sono comprese nell'omonimo parco naturale che è meta di turisti amanti della natura e di un sano relax.
Volcan Etna
El Etna (37°45.304′N 14°59.715′E / 37.755067, 14.99525) es un volcán activo en la costa este de Sicilia, entre las provincias de Messina y Catania. Tiene alrededor de 3.322 metros de altura, aunque ésta varía debido a las constantes erupciones. La montaña es hoy en día 21,6 metros menor que en 1865. Es el mayor volcán activo de Europa y la montaña más alta de Italia al sur de los Alpes. El Etna cubre un área de 1.190 km2, con una circunferencia basal de 140 kilómetros.
Hasta inicios de s XX, por lo menos, era frecuente que la población siciliana llamara Gibellu a este célebre volcán; tal denominación local deriva de la presencia árabe en el lugar durante la edad media. En efecto, Gibellu o Gibello deriva de la palabra árabe جبل ŷébel (monte, montaña). Aún en 2005, se llama en Sicilia Gibello o Mongibelo a la montaña; quedando la denominación Etna para el cono volcánico.
En la mitología griega, el Etna era el volcán en cuyo interior se situaban las fraguas de Hefesto, que trabajaba en compañía de cíclopes y gigantes. El monstruoso Tifón yacía debajo de esta montaña, lo que causaba frecuentes terremotos y erupciones de humo y lava.
Su nombre derivaba de la ninfa Etna, hija del gigante Briareo y de Cimopolia, o de Urano y Gea, que se convirtió en la deidad de este famoso volcán. Por ello, fue la juez que resolvió la disputa sobre la posesión de Sicilia entre Deméter y Hefestos.
Uniéndose con éste último fue madre de los pálicos, los dos dioses de sendos géiseres famosos en la isla.
Haciendo abstracción de la mitología, el nombre deriva de la palabra cananea (o del fenicio) attanu (arder) y luego de la griega aithos (con el mismo significado de arder). Durante la ocupación árabe de Sicilia en la Edad Media, el Etna fue llamado Ŷébel Uhamat (Montaña de Fuego), pasando a ser llamado durante siglos por gran parte de los italianos con la palabra mixta (románica-arábiga): Mongibello.
El Etna es uno de los volcanes más activos del mundo, y está casi en constante erupción. Aunque en ocasiones puede ser muy destructivo, no está contemplado como un volcán particularmente peligroso y miles de personas viven en sus alrededores e incluso en sus faldas. La fertilidad de la tierra volcánica hace que la agricultura extensiva, con viñas y huertos, se extiende a lo largo de las laderas de la montaña. Debido a la reciente actividad volcánica y a su población, el Etna ha sido designado como uno de los 16 volcanes de la década por las Naciones Unidas.
etna vulcan vulcano volcan catania katane sicily sicilia italy italia europe europa eu nature landscape author michael castielli free license creative commons high resolution copyright patent wallpaper graphical design disegno new sky travel viaje viaggio trip vacation vacanze vacaciones holiday site webitalia italy wallpaper gnuckx castielli creative commons zero cc0 cc news notizie facebook bebo panoramio flickr google googleearth googlemaps maps high qualiy photo gallery picture pic pics geotag geotagged gps locale wiki wikipedia
Published: www.alluvium-journal.org/2019/12/16/contemporaneous-story...
Frankfurt Osthafen
One of my nine images just published for Hidden City Philadelphia''s 'Under World' photo essay/collaboration(with two other photo comrades) of life under the El In Kensington, Phila., PA
Character Creation
Steel is a superhero appearing in comic books published by DC Comics. He is a genius engineer who builds a mechanized suit of armor that mirrors Superman's powers. Steel initially seeks to replace Superman, who has been killed by Doomsday. After Superman is resurrected, he accepts Steel as an ally. Steel's sledgehammer and real name of John Henry Irons are references to the mythical railroad worker John Henry. He has a niece named Natasha Irons who is also a superhero with similar steel armor.
Publication history
First appearing in The Adventures of Superman #500 (June 1993), he is the second character known as Steel and was created by Louise Simonson and artist Jon Bogdanove.
The character is portrayed by Shaquille O'Neal in the 1997 film adaptation of the same name and Wolé Parks in the television series Superman & Lois. Additionally, Michael Dorn and Zeno Robinson have voiced the character in animation.
Modern Age: New Earth: Reign of the Supermen
After the death of Superman, Metropolis was without a protector watching over it. After several weeks without a Superman, new heroes appeared and declared themselves to be Superman. One was Eradicator, dubbed "the Last Son of Krypton," who looked the most like Superman but was merciless in his approach to crime-fighting. Also, Superboy tried to take up the mantle by getting the media on his side, but his youth and arrogance prevented him from being a true successor.
Also, Cyborg Superman claimed to be the real deal, and got the federal government to back his claims. After realizing the the weapons he used to design for a living were being manufactured and sold to street gangs and inspired by the example Superman set, John created a suit of armor to help him fight crime and stop the sale of his weapons.
Due to all of the new Supermen running around, the media focused on all of them, with the press giving John the title the "Man of Steel." Also, a local psychic told the media that he was the real Superman reincarnated in a robotic body. During his adventures, the Man of Steel ran into Superboy, and explained to him how a Superman should act. He also encountered Lex Luthor, who tried to get hire him. However, he turned Lex's offer down. He later ran into Lois Lane, who wanted to know if he really was Superman. He set her straight by telling him that he never claimed to be Superman. Though she realized he was not actually Superman, Lois believed he was most like the original.
Eventually, Steel found the location of the one distributing his weapons. When he went to confront them, he discovered that his ex-girlfriend and development partner, Angora Lapin a.k.a. White Rabbit was the distributor. Having pieced together the Man of Steel's identity, she offered him a chance to join her in her pursuits, but he promptly turned her down. To escape, she shot him with a Toastmaster and fled as he recovered.
While trying to track White rabbit down, he had a run-in with the Eradicator. After watching him kill a criminal he had apprehended, John told Eradicator that he could not be the real Superman. Upset at the notion, Eradicator attacked John until Lois arrived and stopped the two. However, Eradicator got upset again and flew Steel into orbit. The two landed in California and fought to a standstill. When Steel tells Eradicator that a Superman needs to have compassion, he calms down and leaves.
Unable to fly back to Metropolis, Steel hitches a ride on an airplane. When they land, White Rabbit and her men ambush him at the airport. He manages to fight them off, grab Angora, and force her to take him to the plant where she is producing the Toastmasters. However, the plant was rigged with traps that John manages to escape. He manages to get clear of the plant as it explodes, but Angora is still inside and is presumed dead. Despite the death of the supplier, John knows that there will still be Toastmasters may resurface on day.
The Return of Superman
After Coast City is destroyed, he investigates the destruction personally and runs into Cyborg Superman. He tells John that Eradicator was responsible, but Steel does not fully trust his account. After running into Lois Lane, also suspicious of the story, the notice a disturbance near the harbor, meeting Luthor and Supergirl on the scene. As Steel attacks the suit, Superboy arrives to to warn everyone that Cyborg Superman was truly responsible for the events in Coast City, and that he's coming for Metropolis next. At that moment, the real Superman comes from inside of the warsuit. Despite being powerless, he vows to stop Cyborg Superman's plans.
No one present, including John, believes he is the real Superman, but he nonetheless goes to the ruins of Coast City with Superman and Superboy. Once there, the group sees Engine City where Coast City used to be and manage to force their way inside, but Superboy leaves to stop a missile fired at Metropolis. Once inside, Supergirl appears, having been secretly tailing them at Superman's suggestion. While talking, Superman abbreviates his title from Man of Steel to simply Steel. The three encounter Mongul, who had just activated the jets inside the city in a bid to knock the Earth out of orbit.
While Superman and Supergirl fend off Mongul, Steel heads off to shut down the reactors powering the jets. Once there, Cyborg Superman uses his connection to the machinery to control and morph the room to stop him. Eventually, he takes over his armor, but before he can kill him, John flies the armor into the gear system, jamming it with his armor and disabling the jets.
Though John survives with minimal injuries, his armor is destroyed, leaving him defenseless when Cyborg Superman uses the landscape to try to kill him again. This time, Superboy arrives just in time to save him.After Superman regains his powers and defeats his Cyborg counterpart, everyone returns to Metropolis. With no armor, he continues trying to get toastmasters off the street with little success. After a talk with Superman, Steel decides to leave Metropolis and retire as Steel.
Steel: Returning Home
After his adventures in Metropolis, Steel decides to return to his hometown: Washington D.C. Having originally stayed away to avoid being pursued by his old bosses at Amertek, he decides to take the chance that they have lost interest in him and move back in with his family. Present to greet him at the bus station is his niece Natasha, who greets him by her childhood nickname "Uncle Hunk." While the two talk, a fight breaks out between the Central Avenue Sharks, who are using Toastmasters, and the East Streeters who rely on the strength enhancing drug Tar.
Though John tries to intervene, he is distracted by the sight of his nephew Jehmal in the fray, giving a Tar-Freak an opening to knock him out. When he recovers, he and Natasha head home, where John is greeted by the rest of the family; his grandparents Butter and Bess, his sister-in-law Blondell, her second son Paco, and her foster kids Tyke and Darlene.
While the Irons family is having dinner Jehmal arrives home late. John, remembering what happened that afternoon, asks Bess how he has been, but while they talk, and group of armored thugs working for Amertek appear and attack the family. John manages to take them out, but Butter takes a stray shot. Feeling guilty about bringing danger to his family, John uses his old armor and parts he salvaged from the thugs' armor to improve the suit and become Steel once again. Knowing that his mission would require him to operate outside the law, John keeps the "S" shield off his new armor to avoid dishonoring Superman.
Steel begins balancing investigating Amertek with stopping the constant gang skirmishes plaguing the neighborhood. During on fight, Steel sees Jehmal fighting, confirming his suspicions that he was in a gang. In response, he forces him to tell the rest of the family about it and quit the gang (he actually did not quit). Steel then finds the location of the place where the Toastmasters are sold by a member named Spiral. Steel interrupts the sale and manages to get a lead on the source of the weapons.
However, Spiral, afraid of being considered as a snitch, tricks the gang leader Cowboy into thinking Jehmal sold them out to Steel. The group then captures Jehmal and turns him over to the supplier of the weapons, Amalgam. Before Jehmal is killed, Steel arrives, having tracked Spiral again. As he battles Amalgam, Steel tells Amalgam that Jehmal was innocent. Steel manages to pin Amalgam down, but he assumes Spiral was his informant and kills him. Once the police arrive, Steel leaves, but thanks to something Amalgam said, John gets the idea to use the media to fight Amertek.
Later, John confront his former boss, Col. Weston about dealing the Toastmasters, but he feigns innocence, and john trusts him enough to leave. After breaking into Amertek to find incriminating evidence, a fight involving armored guards lead to the building being destroyed, but he manages to escape with a CD-ROM with the evidence he needed to take down Amertek. Weston uses the incident to paint Steel as a criminal in the eyes of the public. To further add to his troubles, he begins orchestrating on John directly and members of his family.
In a short period, John is attacked by a Tar-Freak at a funeral, Tyke loses the use of his legs after he and Jehmal are caught in a drive-by shooting, Natasha is hit by a car, and Blondell is mugged. Realizing he can't beat Amertek alone, he enlists Detective Shauna Beryl to use the a hard disk full of evidence he broke into Amertek for to take down Amertek. While she gets the information decrypted, John learns that Jehmal found out his gang was responsible for hurting his family. Seeking revenge, Jehmal steals a more powerful, potentially lethal version of Tar and uses it to confront Cowboy. Steel findd them and pins Jehmal down until the S-Tar wears off.
Worlds Collide
After getting Jehmal to the hospital, he then goes to Amertek intent on taking down Weston. The armored guards aren't enough to stop Steel from getting to Weston. He considers killing him, but Detective Beryl arrives to arrest him, and talks Steel down. John forces Weston to tell him who has Amertek selling weapons to gangs. Weston tells about a group in Metropolis led by a man named Hazard, before John hands him over to the police. He then heads to Metropolis to track down Black Ops.
When he arrives he find the city is still recovering from recent events. While searching for Amertek, he encounters Superboy, Rocket and Hardware, the latter two having been transported from their universe into the DC Universe. Steel put his search for Black Ops on hold to help stop their two universes from merging together.
War with Black Ops
When John continues investigating Black Ops, Hazards begins sending his team to attack Steel and further his agenda in Washington. Along the way, he deals with a super-powered serial killer and helps Maxima avoid being captured by an alien warlord. At the same time, his armor begins mysteriously teleporting on and off his body seemingly at random. His fight with Black Ops is interrupted again by the return of White Rabbit, who survived her last encounter with Steel and now plans to brainwash several Congressmen to help her monopolize gun sales in the country.
She sends one of her super-powered thugs to distract Steel and a visiting Superman while her plan came into fruition. However, Natasha was interning for a Congresswoman who was brainwashed, and tipped Steel off that something was wrong. While investigating, he met and befriended actor/British spy Double, and the two team up to stop Angora. While they shut down her plan and capture her crew, Angora herself escapes.
When he returns from fighting White rabbit, he finds out that Tyke has been kidnapped. He begins searching for him to no avail. At the same time, a hi-tech bounty hunter begins targeting Steel, and he finds out that someone is offering a money reward for his armor. He then gets a lead from Detective Beryl that leads him to a child-experimentation operation.
When Steel goes to shut the operation, the bounty hunter from before arrives for another round. After John shows him that his employer is exploiting children, he decides to help Steel free them instead of continue fighting, and tells Steel that Hazard was the one who put up the bounty and that he knows where Hazard's base is.
The two head out to take down Black Ops. They storm the base and take down most of the team, but Hazard and Split escape. However, he finds Tyke inside, but it turns out Tyke went with Hazard willingly because he had promised Tyke the use of his legs again. Though he is returned home safely, he now harbors a deep hatred for his uncle.
Underworld Unleashed
A few days after Tyke is returned home, Steel is helping contain a protest that evolved into a riot when a bomb goes off at a nearby mosque. While rescuing people trapped inside the building, he is attacked from behind. He turn around to find Metallo was the culprit. Remembering Metallo's weakness from his time in Metropolis, Steel manages to knock Metallo's head off.
However, when Neron was supercharging the powers of supervillians around the world, he gave Metallo the power to survive having his head knocked off and control any nearby metal to create a new body, which he does. Steel tries again, knocking his head into the Potomac. With no metal nearby, Steel is satisfied and returns to helping people in the mosque. However, the junk at the bottom of the river and a nearby patrol cruiser provide enough metal to create a bigger and better body. He then tries to absorb Steel's armor,but he can't.
The distraction gives Steel an opening to knock Metallo's head off again, and it conveniently lands at the feet of Lieutenant (formerly detective) Beryl. She then warns Steel about another bomb threat at a local hospital. Steel instructs her to take Metallo's head to S.T.A.R. Labs and races to find the bomb. After capturing the thugs who planted the bomb, they reveal that it is wired to blow if it is tampered with. With less than a minute on the timer, Steel flies as fast as he can to get the bomb to a less populated area.
On the way, he is stopped by Metallo, who managed to reform himself before he could be taken to Star. Steel tries to keep moving, but Metallo equipped himself with rockets, allowing him to follow. With no time to move the bomb, John tosses the bomb at Metallo, but he absorbs it instead. However, while the bomb casing was metal, the explosive was actually plastique, which he couldn't absorb. The bomb then goes off, destroying Metallo entirely. Steel survives the blast, but he passes out in midair.
The Superman Rescue
Before Steel can fall, Alpha Centurion catches him. He tells Steel that Superman has been kidnapped and he is assembling a rescue team to find him before the world realizes he is missing. Steel agrees to help, but wants to get this done as soon as possible before Washington falls apart.
Steel joins Supergirl, Superboy and the Eradicator on the Centurion's ship and head out into space. Superboy tells the others he does not trust the Centurion. These fears are realized when the Centurion abandons the rest to battle an alien platoon on an asteroid. Out-manned and stranded, Steel manages create a makeshift transport. Arriving on a nearby planet, the team is confronted by the Cyborg Superman, who takes them all down. He turns them over as prisoner of the Tribunal he is allied with.
While in custody, Steel discovers the Alpha Centurion is also a prisoner. Steel manages to teleport his armor to him an escape along with Supergirl and Eradicator. While Steel and Supergirl, both in disguise, go to a local bar to try and find information, Eradicator stays behind to try and rescue Superboy. Unfortunately, Steel and Supergirl are discovered and a bar fight breaks out. It ends quickly when the Cyborg turns up and recaptures them. For escaping, they are both sentenced to death.
Fortunately, the group is taken the same place as Superman. Together they manage to escape and rally behind Superman. Thanks to the Cyborg turning on the Tribunal. Superman leads them to confront the Tribunal itself, which ultimately decides to drop the charges against them rather than keep fighting. The group then returns to Earth.
On the way back, Superman thanks Steel for going so far for his sake, John believes that they did little to help, while he saved them and an entire planet. Superman disagrees, and asks him to hang out with him when they reach Metropolis home. Though grateful, John declines in order to get home in time for thanksgiving.
Ending Black Ops
When John returns from space, he parts ways with the squad and return to Washington. However, Tyke, still bitter over having been denied a chance to walk again, was searching for a way for it to be so. Thinking he had found an operation that could restore his legs in a local tabloid, Tyke sought a way to pay for such an operation. When he learned that federal agents were offering a reward for information on Steel's secret identity, Tyke tracked them down and told that Steel was John Henry Irons.
However, they only gave him a measly $20 for the information, meaning he sold out his uncle for nothing. Also, the agents were working with Hazard, meaning his enemy now know who he is. In response, Hazard sics a cyborg named Hardwire (who, ironically, was transformed by the same process Tyke thought would cure his paralysis) on Steel. When he gets there, he guns down the Irons family as they sit down for dinner. No one is killed, but a seriously wounded John is captured..
Hardwire takes John to the agents, but before they can take him, Hardwire turns on them. He grabs them all and flies them to the Washington Monument and blows the top off. When John recovers, his armor appears around him and the two fight. During the fight, Hardwire attaches explosives on himself, Steel, and the two agents, planning to kill himself and them. As they fight, the two agents are killed before the countdown even finishes. Unable to get Hardwire to disarm the devices, Steel teleports his armor off to save his life, so the bombs only kill Hardwire. When the police and the media arrive, John had no choice but to reveal his secret identity to the public.
After his declaration, John is blamed by the police for the destruction of the Monument and is arrested. However, Hazard sends Split to bring John to Hazard's base. Angered at all Hazard has done, he rushes him, but is suspended in the air by his telekinesis. When he asks him why he broke him out of holding, he responds that he is using the "breakout" to distract everyone with a manhunt and masks his agenda. That said, he prepares to kill John.
In a desperate gambit, John tries to summon his armor. He succeeds and fights off the Black Ops members. They reach a standstill when Steel takes Shellshock's twin sister Shellgame hostage. He manages to get her to reveal Hazard's plan; he is hacking into the Pentagon's computers to gain control of America's nuclear arsenal. Once he learns the truth, Hazard nearly kills him with his telekinesis, but Steel manages to teleport himself away along with his armor.
Steel reappears in the "White Zone" his armor goes to when it teleports. However, both he cannot remain there with his armor on, so he teleports back to Washington. However, he winds up in the air with a military chopper that immediately attacks him. As he recovers, Black Ops teleports in to renew their attack, and Steel retreats with the intent to expose Hazard's plan. Steel fends them off, but realizes he still needs to warn someone about Hazard's plan.
He then teleports back to the White Zone to come up with a new plan. When he does, he teleports to his old laboratory to find something he hid there long ago, hoping never to use it but keeping it just in case. The object he finds is the Annihilator, the most powerful weapon he ever designed. Deciding to wait before using it, he begins his plan to stop Hazard.
First, he posts the details of Hazard's plan on the internet, knowing the government would have to investigate. Shortly after, part of the Black Ops team arrives to fight at the same time the FBI arrives to arrest Steel. While Black Ops defeats the agents, Steel flies off again, but they quickly catch up again. They quickly overpower him. The tides tun when Natasha, haven ingested a vial of Tar, helps him out.
Together they fend Black Ops off, but the military arrives to stop them all. Black Ops teleports away, but the grab Natasha and offer her safety for his surrender. Unable to see a better option, Steel takes the Annihilator from it's hiding place and arms it, ready to take the fight to Hazard. After a quick test, he teleports to Black Ops base, ready to take them all down.
He gives the team one chance to free Natasha, but they refuse. He then begins fighting them, but avoids firing the Annihilator. The chaos gives Natasha time to free herself and the two fight Black Ops together. When the are cornered, Steel tries to teleport them both out, but he cannot teleport others with him.
Backed into a corner again, Steel begins using the Annihilator to destroy Hazard's computers, stopping him from hacking into the Pentagon. Hazard tries to immobilize him, but Steel keeps firing into the base, so Hazard has Split teleport them back outside. The fight continues, but Hazard pulls his team back after Steel accidentally hit three of his people with the Annihilator. The two go at it, but when the military intervenes, Steel uses the opening to defeat Hazard.
Once Hazard is detained, Steel learns of the consequences of his actions. While everyone is still alive Child Protective services reclaim Tyke and Darlene feeling that being around Steel is too dangerous. Later, John meets with the government, who claim that Hazard will be dealt with. However he was secretly allowed to go free and granted custody of Tyke. In order to keep the Annhilator out of the wrong hands, he leaves it in Hazard's base and triggers it's self-destruct.
Leaving D.C.
Now that Steel's identity is out, his family has no peace. They are harassed by neighbors and mobs of people, who feel he is too dangerous to have near their homes. Later, Natasha is kidnapped by Plasmus, who is trying to blackmail Steel into creating a suit for himself. Steel rescues her by building a suit with a trap for Plasmus inside.
Though Natasha is safe, John is still worried that he is endangering his family. Steel moves out (temporarily staying with his friend Dr. Amanda Quick) but the family is still harassed. His family is attacked by both Doctor Polaris and the Parasite, both arriving seeking the Annihilator. John Henry's beloved grandmother Bess is killed in the fight when she tries to attack Parasite. Deciding it is too dangerous for his family, he enlists Double to move them somewhere secret.
After teleporting into White Zone, he sees a nightmarish looking version of his armor. He quickly teleports again, ending up at Hazard's old lair. He discovers the three Black Ops member he killed were actually still alive. They corner him, as he teleported without his armor, but the armor has followed him to the lair.
John Henry works with the other three to try and fight off the armor. They try to flee, but the armor keeps finding them. Natasha, having run away to avoid being relocated, took some Tar and followed him there and tries to help. John Henry realizes that the armor is his dark side given form. Realizing this, Steel banishes the armor to the White Zone, seemingly for good. Later, John realizes Natasha is handling Bess's death poorly.
She spends several nights sleeping at the cemetery and then attacks John in a Tar fueled rage when he confronts here there. A blind gravedigger tells them that Bess's soul is not at rest because someone stole her wedding ring and she wants to be buried with it. Steel manages to track down the thief and the recover wedding ring. To return it, John and Natasha exhume Bess's body is exhumed and rebury her with the ring, letting her soul rest. John Henry and Natasha fix up their old home before leaving it and D.C. behind.
The Death of Steel
Irons suffered mortal wounds after releasing Doomsday from the JLA Watchtower to battle Imperiex. Superman was unable to turn away the Black Racer, a being that gathers souls and ushers them into the afterlife. This time, however, the Black Racer showed mercy and delivered Irons to Apokolips, where the evil Darkseid healed Iron's body. Darkseid placed Irons in the Entropy Aegis, a burned out Imperiex-probe altered by Apokoliptan science. This new armor was far superior to his old, but the upgrades made it more of a curse than a blessing. Darkseid was able to use the Entropy Aegis to control Steel and make him serve Apokolips.
Superman gathered the members of Team Superman and challenged Darkseid on the field of battle for the return of Steel. After his defeat Darkseid removed Steel from the armor only to reveal that he was returning him as he found him in a state of near death. Natasha Irons and a Multiverse displaced Supergirl were able to act quickly and save his life. Upon his return to Earth John allowed his niece, Natasha to take up the mantle of Steel while he recovered.
52 Weeks
During the year where Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman disappear, Steel was the active hero of Metropolis. Using a new armor he had to deal with his rebellious niece, Natasha, who wants to be a superhero, the mystery of Supernova, and Lex Luthor's Everyman Project. When Natasha tries to join the Teen Titans, he stops her by destroying her armor, and tells her to build her own armor if she wants it badly enough. As part of Luthor's conspiracy, John Henry was unknowingly given new powers: a steel coated skin than he could heat at will.
When Natasha found out, she was upset as he forbade her from participating. In response, she joins anyway and earns a spot on Lex's Infinity Inc. team. When Steel comes to get Natasha away from Lex, she attacks him and drives him away. However, when Natasha catches onto Luthor's plans, she tries relaying her findings but is caught. When John comes to help her, he finds Natasha's teammates opposing him. He easily tears through them, but the Teen Titans arrive to back him up.
Steel dispatches Everyman at the cost of his armor, but he reaches Luthor. However, that Luthor used the meta-gene therapy to give him powers like those of Superman. Steel fights him anyway but is overpowered. Thanks to Luthor being overwhelmed by his super-senses and Natasha finding a way to disable his powers, Steel comes out on top. Before he knocks him out, Steel reveals that the meta-gene therapy was toxic to the human body, and he would have died in six months if they hadn't intervened.
Infinity Inc.
Several months after the Everyman Project was shut down, John realized something was wrong with Natasha. Despite going to therapy to help with her state of mind, Natasha did not get better. When Natasha refused to continue therapy, he tried to talk to her about it. When he touched her though, Natasha turned into a cloud of mist that dissipated. Distraught, he asked Superman to search for her to no avail. After checking with other former Everyman project members Gerome and Erik, he is attacked by Kid Empty, another Everyman participant who feeds on the minds of others.
Before he can kill him, Natasha regains her solid form and drives him away. John realizes that everyone involved in the project is gaining new powers and deduces that their powers reflect their mental state, with Natasha's power reflecting her fear of abandonment. At the same time, Mercy Graves, trying to avoid being found by Luthor, who is in hiding after the Everyman Project fell apart, asks to run with him to avoid being caught. Skeptical that she has changed, he gives her a chance to prove herself.
After Jerome, Erik, and Natasha use their new powers to take down an Kid Empty, John decides to have them and their new friend Lucia reform Infinity Inc. to help them round up the the participants who gain new powers and show the world that the Everyman members are not all dangerous. While the team was in the field, John remained in touch with them from Steelworks to lend support.
After a few missions Steel answers a call from Superman who found a gruesome body of an Everyman teen in the Arctic. Eventually he and the team realizes that someone is capturing, experimenting on, and killing Everyman participants. When the teams gets a lead on the killer's location, Natasha opts not to tell Steel. Leaving alone, Natasha sent a voicemail telling John what they were up to. Rushing after them, Steel and Superman arrive to find a crater where the building the killer was hiding in used to be. Supermans asks if Steel is okay, and responds that he vows to find Natasha and the team again.
Reign of Doomsday
Steel resurfaces for a fight with Doomsday. With no other heroes around, Steel is left to fight Doomsday by himself. Natasha Irons tries to persuade her uncle not to fight Doomsday, but John insist and heads off into battle. John gave the fight all he had. John even managed to hit Doomsday with a direct hit from his hammer. Steel had hurled his hammer from a thousand feet away.
During the fight Doomsday evolves growing armor out his body and also possess the ability to fly. John manages to break away a piece of Doomsday's chest armor which allowed John to introduce nanonytes into Doomsday's body. The nanonytes were suppose to paralyze Doomsday for an hour until help arrived, but the effects only lasted a few seconds. John then gets pounded by Doomsday until he is knocked unconscious. We last see John being carried off by a flying Doomsday.
New 52
John Henry Irons debuted as a scientist working for Gen. Sam Lane for Metal-0 Project, an initiative to develop an armored super-soldier designed to stop the recently debuted Superman. But he quit when he saw how Luthor tortured the captured Superman, under Lane's license.
When Brainiac, calling himself the Collecter of Worlds, attacked Metropolis and take control of John Corben, Irons donned a Metal-0 suit prototype and stopped the controlled soldier with a PC virus of his own design.
Steel has been seen within the pages of Action Comics, during a back up storyline. In this story, Steel helps Superman to fight crime. Steel was then seen in Action Comics Annual helping Superman fend off the villain called Kryptonite Man. Steel defeats the villain and managed to make his powers defunct. He is later was seen in Australia, helping the poor and searching new ways to use his technologies in less aggressive scenarios.
He has joined The Reverse Suicide Squad with Power Girl, Unknown Soldier, and Warrant. The Thinker under the guise of Amanda Waller is leading them.
After Forever Evil, Steel joined the forces than were fighting against Doomsday, but he was affected by the toxic emanations from the monster. To stop the damage and prevent more infection, Steel added to his armor a film of liquid metal. He would join to Lana Lang in a search for Doomsday possessed Superman in space to help him but they discovered than in Superman absence, Brainiac attacked the earth again.
Currently he is in a relationship with Superwoman aka Lana Lang.
DC: Rebirth
As things begin to change in the DC Universe, Steel began a new initiative in Metropolis. Having started up Steelworks with Natasha and letting Lana move in with him while she starts a new job in Metropolis while operating as Steel. Using new armors, he fights alongside Natasha and Lana, now operating as Superwoman. When Ultrawoman takes over the city in a bid to steal Superwoman's powers, Steel helps lead and coordinate the efforts take the city back and defend the people from her army of female Bizarro clones.
Once Ultrawoman is defeated, John Henry has to help Lana, whose powers have begun killing her. Desperate to save his girlfriend, he enlists Superman's help, and he stays with her while she recovers. When she does, they discover that Lana has lost all of her powers. John tries to support her while she copes, but she pushes him away instead, though they later reconcile.
John Henry and Natasha then give Lana a power suit to help her continue as Superwoman. However, they discover that the last time Lana donned it, the suit was able to permanently copy her now lost powers. With Lana's problem resolved, the three return to fighting crime and rounding up the escaped metahuman prisoners.
Powers and Abilities
John Henry Irons possess no superhuman powers. He is an exceptionally gifted intellect that specializes in various fields of engineering. A genius of the highest order, he built a bullet proof suit of armor whose computerized pneumatic exoskeletal joints gave him superhuman strength.
In specific situations Steel had temporarily developed superpowers:
Teleportation: When under unexplained circumstances he was able to transport himself to a "white void zone".
Organic steel skin: During 52 Steel was injected with the formula of the Everyman Project by Lex Luthor and developed an invulnerable organic steel skin than he could super heat at will and throw as a projectile.
Weapons and Equipment - Armors
Steel had used different armors since his first appearance:
Man of Steel armor: Homemade armor created in homage to Superman.
Shieldless armor: Used after the return of Superman and from the time Steel fought against Hazard and AmerTek.
JLA armor: From the time he joined the JLA, and used a similar yet different "S" shield.
Faceless armor: Similar to the previous one, but with a faceless helmet instead his steal coated face.
Entropy Aegis armor: Forged in Apokolips, was instrumental to bring him back to life. However it was feeding of his soul, so he had to quit using it.
52 armor: Using after Infinity Crisis and during the year of absent of Superman, he used again the El house crest as his own symbol.
Metal-0 Prototype armor: In the New 52 continuity, this was his first armor. He used it to fight Metallo and the Kyptonite Man.
Shield Armor: Using against the Suicide Squad and Doomsday. He would later add a film of liquid steel.
Armor Systems
Helmet systems include broadband communications array, VDU readouts for environmental controls, and retractable one-way visor.
Life-support systems which recycle oxygen supply, remove waste, and convert perspiration to potable water.
Independent heating and freon-compressed air-conditioning units regulate internal temperatures.
Hydraulic servomotors along his exoskeletal joints increase strength and speed tenfold
Air-cooled cannons in his forearms gauntlet fire metal spikes and rubber projectiles. They function as the launching platform for concussive sonic grenades.
Segmented breakaway boots that can be jettisoned if necessary.
Micro-jet engine compressors controlled by Pressure sensitive toggles in his gloves.
Thrusters proved a wide range of airborne manoeuvrability.
Armor is composed of breathable fire-retardant nomex fabric.
Embedded solar cells help keep his armor fully charged.
His suit is made of a composite high-tensile steel alloy treated with micron-thick reflective sealant to shield against microwave and subatomic particle radiation.
Trivia : According to JLA 1000000, his Armor is going to last all the way to the 118th Century and be worn by Steel 7 in the 51st Century, Steelman of New Centurions in the 100th Century and Lancelot Grail, the Cosmic Knight in 118th Century
Hammer Abilities
Remote-controlled
Can alter trajectory or stop mid-throw
Polarizing inertial dampers within hammer increase inertia relative to distance hurled
Magnetically attaches to back of armor.
Segmented handle telescopes into locked position.
⚡ Happy 🎯 Heroclix 💫 Friday! 👽
_____________________________
A year of the shows and performers of the Bijou Planks Theater.
Secret Identity: Dr. John Henry Irons II
Publisher: DC
First appearance: The Adventures of Superman #500 (June 1993)
Created by: Louise Simonson (Writer)
Jon Bogdanove (Artist)
First appearance cover:
www.flickr.com/photos/paprihaven/51737806513/
This is Steel's first appearance, but his namesake, John Henry, appeared in BP 2019 Day 270!
Engraver Edward Paxman Brandard. Hand-coloured by John Skinner Prout. Published in Australia Illustrated from Drawings by Edwin Carton Booth.
W. L. Crowther Collection, Tasmanian Archive and Heritage Office: AUTAS001125643692
TAHO images may be freely used for research or private study purposes. They may also be shared on private websites or blogs. When using or sharing the images please ensure that a clear attribution is included.
For commercial use, please contact the Tasmanian Archive and Heritage Office
The Postcard
A postally unused postcard that was printed and published by J. Salmon Ltd. of Sevenoaks. The card, which has a divided back, was printed in England.
Note the sign for J. Lyons on the left of the photograph.
Selfridges, Oxford Street
The building with the flags is Selfridges.
Selfridges is a Grade II* listed retail premises on Oxford Street in London. It was designed by Daniel Burnham for Harry Gordon Selfridge, and opened in 1909.
Still the headquarters of Selfridge & Co. department stores, with 540,000 square feet (50,000 m2) of selling space, the store is the second largest retail premises in the UK, half as big as the biggest department store in Europe, Harrods.
Selfridges was named the world's best department store in 2010, and again in 2012.
Background to The Store
In 1906, Harry Gordon Selfridge travelled to England on holiday with his wife, Rose. Unimpressed with the quality of existing British retailers, he noticed that the large stores in London had not adopted the latest selling ideas that were being used in the United States.
Selfridge decided to invest £400,000 in building his own department store in what was then the unfashionable western end of Oxford Street, by slowly buying up a series of Georgian buildings which were on the desired block defined by the surrounding four streets: Somerset, Wigmore, Orchard and Duke.
Design and Construction of Selfridges
The building was designed by American architect Daniel Burnham, who was respected for his department store designs. He created Marshall Field's, Chicago, Filene's in Boston, Wanamaker's in Philadelphia, and Gimbels and Wanamaker's in New York City.
The building was an early example in the UK of the use of a steel frame, five stories high with three basement levels and a roof terrace, originally laid out to accommodate 100 departments.
American-trained Swedish structural engineer Sven Bylander was engaged to design the steel frame structure. As the building was one of the early examples of steel frame in the UK, Bylander had to first agree appropriate building regulations with the London County Council, requiring amendments to the London Building Act 1844.
Using as a basis the regulations which covered the similarly-designed London docklands warehouses, Bylander then agreed changes which enabled greater spans within lesser beam dimensions due to the use of steel over stone.
Bylander designed the entire supporting structure which was approved by the LCC in 1907, with a steel frame based on blue brick pile foundations, supporting a steel frame which holds all of the internal walls and the concrete floors.
Bylander had to include additional supported internal walls, as the LCC would not approve store areas above 450,000 cubic feet (13,000 m3) due to the then-approved fire safety regulations, many of which were removed 20 years later in light of new legislation.
Bylander submitted a 13-page fully illustrated account of the design of the building to Concrete and Constructional Engineering, which was published in 1909. The work of Burnham and Bylander with the LCC led to the passing of the LCC (General Powers) Act 1909, also called the Steel Frame Act, which gave the council the power to regulate the construction of reinforced concrete structures.
American architect Francis Swales, who trained at the École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts in Paris, was briefed to design the frontispiece. Aided by British architects R. Frank Atkinson and Thomas Smith Tait, the final design was highly influenced by John Burnet's 1904 extension to the British Museum.
The steel supporting columns are hidden behind Ionic columns, to create a façade which presents a visually uniform, classical, Beaux-Arts appearance.
The distinctive polychrome sculpture above the Oxford Street entrance is the work of British sculptor Gilbert Bayes.
The final frontage, through the use of cast iron window frames to a maximum size of 19 feet 4 inches (5.89 m) by 12 feet 0 inches (3.66 m), means that both the Oxford Street and Duke Street frontages are made up of more glass than stone or iron.
Construction of Selfridges
Opening on the 15th. March 1909, the store was built in phases. The first phase consisted of the nine-and-a-half bays closest to the Duke Street corner, a site of 250 feet (76 m) wide on Oxford Street by 175 feet (53 m) along Duke Street. The floor heights averaged 15 feet (4.6 m), and the initial structure contained nine passenger lifts, two service lifts and six staircases.
The main entrance and all of the bays to its left were added some 18 years after the store first opened, using a modified construction system. The complete building opened fully in 1928, and through the use of supporting spandrel steel panels, the scale of the glass panes within the main entrance could be greatly enlarged.
A scheme to erect a massive tower above the store post-World War I was never carried out. Harry Selfridge also proposed a subway link to Bond Street station, and renaming it "Selfridges"; however, contemporary opposition quashed the idea.
The final design of the building was completed in 1928, and although classical in visible style and frontage, it is modern in its steel frame construction.
In part due to new schools of architectural thought emerging apart from the classical schools, and in part due to the close proximity of World War I, the building is seen as the last of the great classical buildings undertaken within the UK.
Although the UK was late in adopting modern architecture only from the 1930's onwards, by the mid-20th. century many architects looked at Selfridges as if it were pre-historic in design, accepted just because Harry Gordon Selfridge wanted to advertise his business with a confident display of classicism in stone.
Selfridges in Operation
When it opened the new store employed 1,400 staff, thereby setting new standards for the retailing business.
At that time, women were beginning to enjoy the fruits of emancipation by wandering unescorted around London. A canny marketer, Selfridge promoted the radical notion of shopping for pleasure rather than necessity.
The store was extensively promoted through paid advertising. The shop floors were structured so that goods could be made more accessible to customers. There were elegant restaurants with modest prices, a library, reading and writing rooms, special reception rooms for French, German, American and "Colonial" customers, a First Aid Room, and a Silence Room, with soft lights, deep chairs, and double-glazing, all intended to keep customers in the store as long as possible.
Staff members were taught to be on hand to assist customers, but not too aggressively, and to sell the merchandise. Oliver Lyttleton observed that, when one called on Selfridge, he would have nothing on his desk except one's letter, smoothed and ironed.
Selfridge also managed to obtain from the GPO the privilege of having the number "1" as its own phone number, so anybody had to just dial 1 to be connected to Selfridge's operators.
The roof terrace hosted terraced gardens, cafes, a mini golf course and an all-girl gun club. The roof, with its views across London, was a common place for strolling after a shopping trip and was often used for fashion shows.
The Basements at Selfridges
There are two levels of basement beneath the lower-ground shop floor: the ‘sub’ and the ‘sub-sub’. Combined, these descend 60 metres (200 ft) below street level. These two areas are then split into two more areas: the dry sub and sub-sub, and their "wet" equivalents. The wet area is beneath the original nine-and-a-half bays closest to the Duke Street corner of the 1909 building. The "dry" is under the rear of the building, known as the SWOD after the surrounding four streets – Somerset, Wigmore, Orchard and Duke – that once enclosed it.
Selfridges in WWII
During World War II after the entry of the United States into the conflict, from 1942 the dry sub-sub SWOD was used by the United States Army. The building had one of the only secure telex lines, was safe from bombing, and was close to the US Embassy on Grosvenor Square.
Initially used by U.S. General Dwight D. Eisenhower, the commander of SHAEF, it later housed 50 soldiers from the 805th. Signal Service Company of the US Army Signal Corps, who installed a SIGSALY code-scrambling device connected to a similar terminal in the Pentagon building.
The first conference took place on the 15th. July 1943. Initial visitors included Prime Minister Winston Churchill, to enable secure communications with the President of the United States, although later extensions were installed to both 10 Downing Street and the Cabinet War Rooms.
Rumours persist of a tunnel built from Selfridges to the embassy so that personnel could move between the two in safety, with interrogation cells for prisoners hewn from the resultant uneven space available.
As with much of central London during World War II, Selfridges suffered serious damage on a number of occasions during the 57 nights of the London Blitz from the 7th. September 1940, and in 1941 and 1944. After the heavy bombing of the west end on the 17th./18th. September 1940 by a combined force of 268 Heinkel 111 and Dornier Do 17 bombers – after which the store's Art Deco lifts were out of service until post-WW2, and the signature window was shattered – Harry had the ground floor windows bricked-up.
The bomb on 17 April 1941 destroyed only the Palm Court Restaurant, venue for the rich and famous. However, at 11 pm on 6 December 1944, a V-2 rocket hit the Red Lion pub on the corner of Duke Street and Barrett Street. A canteen in the SWOD basement area (see above) was massively damaged, with eight American servicemen killed and 32 injured, as well as ten civilian deaths and seven injuries. In the main building, ruptured water mains threatened SIGSALY, and while the Food Hall was the only department that did not need cleaning, Selfridges’ shop-front Christmas tree displays were blown into Oxford Street.
By 2010, only three of the four major pre–World War II Oxford Street retailers—Selfridges, House of Fraser and John Lewis—survive in retail, while Bourne & Hollingsworth and Peter Robinson (acquired in 1946 by Burton's), are no longer trading. Selfridges is the only retailer still trading in the same building, which still bears the scars of war damage, while John Lewis has moved. Bourne & Hollingsworth was located in the now closed Plaza Shopping Centre at No 120, while Peter Robinson is now Niketown at No 200-236.
A Milne-Shaw seismograph was set up on the third floor in 1932, attached to one of the building's main stanchions, unaffected by traffic or shoppers. It recorded the Belgian earthquake of 11 June 1938 which was also felt in London. At the outbreak of war, the seismograph was moved from its original site near the Post Office to another part of the store. In 1947, the seismograph was given to the British Museum.
Bombing by the IRA
Parts of Selfridges were damaged in the Oxford Street bombing in 1974 committed by the Provisional Irish Republican Army. The IRA planted other bombs too - on 21 February 1976 inside the store, injuring five people; just outside the store on Oxford Street on 28 August 1975, injuring seven; and inside the store on 29 January 1977, setting the building ablaze and causing an injury.
The 2002 Restoration of Selfridges
While restoration work was carried out in 2002, the scaffold surround was used to carry the largest photographic artwork ever produced, 60 feet (18 m) tall by 900 feet (270 m) long and weighing two tons. Created by Sam Taylor-Wood, it showed a gathering of well-known pop and cultural figures of the time, including Sir Elton John.
In 2002, Selfridges was awarded the London Tourism Award for visitors' favourite London store. Selfridges was named world's best department store in 2010, and again in 2012. It claims to contain the UK's largest beauty department, and Europe's busiest doorway which siphons 250,000 people a week past the Louis Vuitton concession on to Oxford Street.
The Roof Terrace
The roof terrace reopened in July 2011, for a promotional event staged by Truvia as part of their UK launch.
In Summer 2012, Bompas & Parr designed an art installation themed as "The Big British Tea Party", which included a cake-themed 9-hole crazy golf course, accompanied by a Daylesford Organic sponsored tea house.
Selfridges' Windows
Selfridges' 27 Oxford Street windows have become synonymous with the brand, and to a certain degree have become as famous as the store and the Oxford Street location itself. The windows consistently attract tourists, designers and fashionistas alike to marvel at the current designs and styling and fashion trends.
Selfridges has a history of bold art initiatives when it comes to the window designs. When the building opened, Harry Selfridge initiated a "signature" window which was signed by all of the stars and famous people who came to shop at the store. This was cracked in the first bombing during the blitz, and was never restored.
Today, the visual merchandising team calculate that 20% of business-winning trade is from the windows. When Alannah Weston became Creative Director after the purchase by her family in 2003, she approached artist Alison Jackson to put her trademark Tony Blair and David Beckham lookalikes in the windows.
The resultant display brought traffic to a standstill, with the Metropolitan Police finally insisting they stop the project because it was clogging up Oxford Street.
Since 2002, the windows have been photographed by London photographer Andrew Meredith and published in magazines such as Vogue, Dwell, Icon, Frame Magazine, Creative Review, Hungarian Stylus Magazine, Design Week, Harper's Bazaar, New York Times, WGSN and much more including worldwide press, journals, blogs and published books all over the world.
Ownership of Selfridges
In 1951 the store was acquired by the Liverpool-based Lewis's chain of department stores, which was in turn taken over in 1965 by the Sears Group owned by Charles Clore. Expanded under the Sears group to include branches in Oxford, Manchester and Birmingham, in 2003 the chain was acquired by Canada's Galen Weston for £598 million.
Expansion of Selfridges
In 2011, the Weston family bought 388–396 Oxford Street, which is located immediately to the east of the Selfridges building across Duke Street, on which fashion chain French Connection has a lease until 2025.
In early 2012, Selfridges commissioned Italian architect Renzo Piano (responsible for London's The Shard skyscraper), to work on an extension to the 1909 department store. The project could feature a hotel as well as office space, or additional retail space.
In December 2012, Selfridges acquired the 100,000 square feet (9,300 m2) Nations House office building from Hermes, which is located immediately behind its Oxford Street store in Wigmore Street, for around £130m.
J. Salmon Ltd.
Alas, J. Salmon no longer produce postcards. Having churned out small coloured rectangles of card from its factory in Kent for more than 100 years, the company stopped publishing postcards in 2017.
The fifth-generation brothers who still ran the company sent a letter to their clients in the autumn of 2017, advising them that the presses would cease printing at the end of 2017, with their remaining stock being sold off throughout the following year.
The firm’s story began in 1880, when the original J. Salmon acquired a printing business on Sevenoaks high street, and produced a collection of twelve black and white scenes of the town.
In 1912, the business broke through into the big time by commissioning the artist Alfred Robert Quinton (1853 - 1934), who produced 2,300 scenes of British life for them up until his death.
From Redruth to King’s Lynn, his softly coloured, highly detailed watercolours of rosy milkmaids, bucolic pumphouses and picturesque harbour towns earned him a place in the hearts of the public, despite references to Alfred's 'chocolate-box art' by some art critics.
J. Salmon also produced photographs and cheery oils of seaside imagery captioned with a garrulous enthusiasm: “Eat More Chips!”, “Sun, Sand & Sea”, “We’re Going Camping!”
It commissioned the comic artist Reg Maurice (who often worked under the pseudonym Vera Paterson), to produce pictures of comically bulbous children with cutesy captions, alongside the usual stock images of British towns.
It was this century’s changing habits – and technology – that did for Salmon. Co-managing director Charles Salmon noted:
“People are going for shorter breaks,
not for a fortnight, so you’re back home
before your postcards have arrived."
He barely needed to say that Instagram and Facebook had made their product all but redundant, almost wiping out the entire industry in a decade.
Michelle Abadie, co-director of the John Hinde Collection, said:
“When I heard the news, I was
actually surprised they still existed."
John Hinde was once J Salmon’s biggest rival; it sold 50-60 million postcards a year at its peak in the 1960's, but it, too, shuttered four years previously. The licensing for its rich archive of images was sold off, and repurposed in art books.
However, in one sense, the death of the postcard is overstated. Like vinyl records, our fetish for the physical objects we left behind is already making its presence felt.
Michelle Abadie points out:
“If you go into Waterstones now, they
sell lots of postcards of book covers.
The idea itself isn’t dead – as a
decorative object, people still want
them.”
Published kioskderdemokratie.blogspot.com/2020/02/balkans-stefanos-...
February 2020
Published ETHNOS travel
www.ethnos.gr/travel/170107_nisyros-stin-panagia-spiliani...
August 2021
Artist of the week-Exploring the World Through the Lens of Stefanos Chronis: A Journey of Ethnography and Social Documentation
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August 2023
The machinery on Cockatoo Island is being restored by modern day super hero's known as Volunteers.
Lightpainting with friends in the Workshop at Cockatoo Island.
Published in Indonesia
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