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GBU-39 Small Diameter Bomb
Primary function: GPS/INS smart-guided 250-lb. standoff weapon. Dimensions: Length 5 ft. 9 in.; diameter 6.08 in.; wingspan 63.3 in. Range: More than 20 miles.
The monument comprises the remains of a stone circle together with an outlying pair of standing-stones, which probably date to the Bronze Age (c. 2300 - 800 BC). The circle is located on the fringes of Gors Fawr bog on the south side of the Preseli range. It comprises sixteen stones arranged in a circle of c. 22m in diameter. The five stones on the southeast are the largest and stand to c. 1m.in height, while the remainder are c. 0.3-06.m. in height. One on the southwest and another on the north have fallen, while others are tilted. The outlying standing stones are located c.120m to the north northeast of the circle; one is c. 1.8m high, the other, 13.5m to the north east c. 1.6m high.
The monument is of national importance for its potential to enhance our knowledge of prehistoric burial and ritual practices. The features are an important relic of a prehistoric funerary and ritual landscape and retain significant archaeological potential. There is a strong probability of the presence of both intact ritual and burial deposits, together with environmental and structural evidence. Stone circles are often part of a larger cluster of monuments and their importance can further enhanced by their group value.
The scheduled area comprises the remains described and areas around them within which related evidence may be expected to survive.
Pembrokeshire is a county in the south-west of Wales. It is bordered by Carmarthenshire to the east, Ceredigion to the northeast, and is otherwise surrounded by the sea.[note 1] Haverfordwest is the largest town and administrative headquarters of Pembrokeshire County Council.
The county is generally sparsely populated and rural, with an area of 200 square miles (520 km2) and a population of 123,400. After Haverfordwest, the largest settlements are Milford Haven (13,907), Pembroke Dock (9,753), and Pembroke (7,552). St Davids (1,841) is a city, the smallest by population in the UK. Welsh is spoken by 17.2 percent of the population, and for historic reasons is more widely spoken in the north of the county than in the south.
Pembrokeshire's coast is its most dramatic geographic feature, created by the complex geology of the area. It is a varied landscape which includes high sea cliffs, wide sandy beaches, the large natural harbour of Milford Haven, and several offshore islands which are home to seabird colonies. Most of it is protected by Pembrokeshire Coast National Park, and can be hiked on the 190-mile (310 km) Pembrokeshire Coast Path. The interior of Pembrokeshire is relatively flat and gently undulating, with the exception of the Preseli Mountains in the north.
There are many prehistoric sites in Pembrokeshire, particularly in the Preseli Mountains. During the Middle Ages several castles were built by the Normans, such as Pembroke and Cilgerran, and St David's Cathedral became an important pilgrimage site. During the Industrial Revolution the county remained relatively rural, with the exception of Milford Haven, which was developed as a port and Royal Navy dockyard. It is now the UK's third-largest port, primarily because of its two liquefied natural gas terminals. The economy of the county is now focused on agriculture, oil and gas, and tourism.
Human habitation of the region that is now Pembrokeshire extends back to between 125,000 and 70,000 years and there are numerous prehistoric sites such as Pentre Ifan, and neolithic remains (12,000 to 6,500 years ago), more of which were revealed in an aerial survey during the 2018 heatwave; in the same year, a 1st-century Celtic chariot burial was discovered, the first such find in Wales. There may have been dairy farming in Neolithic times.
There is little evidence of Roman occupation in what is now Pembrokeshire. Ptolemy's Geography, written c. 150, mentioned some coastal places, two of which have been identified as the River Teifi and what is now St Davids Head, but most Roman writers did not mention the area; there may have been a Roman settlement near St Davids and a road from Bath, but this comes from a 14th-century writer. Any evidence for villas or Roman building materials reported by mediaeval or later writers has not been verified, though some remains near Dale were tentatively identified as Roman in character by topographer Richard Fenton in his Historical Tour of 1810. Fenton stated that he had "...reason to be of opinion that they had not colonized Pembrokeshire till near the decline of their empire in Britain".
Part of a possible Roman road is noted by CADW near Llanddewi Velfrey, and another near Wiston. Wiston is also the location of the first Roman fort discovered in Pembrokeshire, investigated in 2013.
Some artefacts, including coins and weapons, have been found, but it is not clear whether these belonged to Romans or to a Romanised population. Welsh tradition has it that Magnus Maximus founded Haverfordwest, and took a large force of local men on campaign in Gaul in 383 which, together with the reduction of Roman forces in south Wales, left a defensive vacuum which was filled by incomers from Ireland.
Between 350 and 400, an Irish tribe known as the Déisi settled in the region known to the Romans as Demetae. The Déisi merged with the local Welsh, with the regional name underlying Demetae evolving into Dyfed, which existed as an independent petty kingdom from the 5th century. In 904, Hywel Dda married Elen (died 943), daughter of the king of Dyfed Llywarch ap Hyfaidd, and merged Dyfed with his own maternal inheritance of Seisyllwg, forming the new realm of Deheubarth ("southern district"). Between the Roman and Norman periods, the region was subjected to raids from Vikings, who established settlements and trading posts at Haverfordwest, Fishguard, Caldey Island and elsewhere.
Dyfed remained an integral province of Deheubarth, but this was contested by invading Normans and Flemings who arrived between 1067 and 1111. The region became known as Pembroke (sometimes archaic "Penbroke":), after the Norman castle built in the cantref of Penfro. In 1136, Prince Owain Gwynedd at Crug Mawr near Cardigan met and destroyed a 3,000-strong Norman/Flemish army and incorporated Deheubarth into Gwynedd. Norman/Flemish influence never fully recovered in West Wales. In 1138, the county of Pembrokeshire was named as a county palatine. Rhys ap Gruffydd, the son of Owain Gwynedd's daughter Gwenllian, re-established Welsh control over much of the region and threatened to retake all of Pembrokeshire, but died in 1197. After Deheubarth was split by a dynastic feud, Llywelyn the Great almost succeeded in retaking the region of Pembroke between 1216 and his death in 1240. In 1284 the Statute of Rhuddlan was enacted to introduce the English common law system to Wales, heralding 100 years of peace, but had little effect on those areas already established under the Marcher Lords, such as Cemais in the north of the county.
Henry Tudor, born at Pembroke Castle in 1457, landed an army in Pembrokeshire in 1485 and marched to Cardigan. Rallying support, he continued to Leicestershire and defeated the larger army of Richard III at the Battle of Bosworth Field. As Henry VII, he became the first monarch of the House of Tudor, which ruled England until 1603.
The Laws in Wales Act 1535 effectively abolished the powers of the Marcher Lords and divided the county into seven hundreds, roughly corresponding to the seven pre-Norman cantrefi of Dyfed. The hundreds were (clockwise from the northeast): Cilgerran, Cemais, Dewisland, Roose, Castlemartin, Narberth and Dungleddy and each was divided into civil parishes; a 1578 map in the British Library is the earliest known to show parishes and chapelries in Pembrokeshire. The Elizabethan era brought renewed prosperity to the county through an opening up of rural industries, including agriculture, mining and fishing, with exports to England and Ireland, though the formerly staple woollen industry had all but disappeared.
During the First English Civil War (1642–1646) the county gave strong support to the Roundheads (Parliamentarians), in contrast to the rest of Wales, which was staunchly Royalist. In spite of this, an incident in Pembrokeshire triggered the opening shots of the Second English Civil War when local units of the New Model Army mutinied. Oliver Cromwell defeated the uprising at the Siege of Pembroke in July 1648. On 13 August 1649, the Cromwellian conquest of Ireland began when New Model Army forces sailed from Milford Haven.
In 1720, Emmanuel Bowen described Pembrokeshire as having five market towns, 45 parishes and about 4,329 houses, with an area of 420,000 acres (1,700 km2). In 1791 a petition was presented to the House of Commons concerning the poor state of many of the county's roads, pointing out that repairs could not be made compulsory by the law as it stood. The petition was referred to committee. People applying for poor relief were often put to work mending roads. Workhouses were poorly documented. Under the Poor Laws, costs and provisions were kept to a minimum, but the emphasis was often on helping people to be self-employed. While the Poor Laws provided a significant means of support, there were many charitable and benefit societies. After the Battle of Fishguard, the failed French invasion of 1797, 500 French prisoners were held at Golden Hill Farm, Pembroke. From 1820 to 1878 one of the county's prisons, with a capacity of 86, was in the grounds of Haverfordwest Castle. In 1831, the area of the county was calculated to be 345,600 acres (1,399 km2) with a population of 81,424.
It was not until nearly the end of the 19th century that mains water was provided to rural south Pembrokeshire by means of a reservoir at Rosebush and cast iron water pipes throughout the district.
Throughout much of the 20th century (1911 to 1961) the population density in the county remained stable while it rose in England and Wales as a whole. There was considerable military activity in Pembrokeshire and offshore in the 20th century: a naval base at Milford Haven because German U-boats were active off the coast in World War I and, in World War II, military exercises in the Preseli Mountains and a number of military airfields. The wartime increase in air activity saw a number of aircraft accidents and fatalities, often due to unfamiliarity with the terrain. From 1943 to 1944, 5,000 soldiers from the United States Army's 110th Infantry Regiment were based in the county, preparing for D-Day. Military and industrial targets in the county were subjected to bombing during World War II. After the end of the war, German prisoners of war were accommodated in Pembrokeshire, the largest prison being at Haverfordwest, housing 600. The County of Pembroke War Memorial in Haverfordwest carries the names of 1,200 of those that perished in World War I.
In 1972, a second reservoir for south Pembrokeshire, at Llys y Fran, was completed.
Pembrokeshire's tourism portal is Visit Pembrokeshire, run by Pembrokeshire County Council. In 2015 4.3 million tourists visited the county, staying for an average of 5.24 days, spending £585 million; the tourism industry supported 11,834 jobs. Many of Pembrokeshire's beaches have won awards, including Poppit Sands and Newport Sands. In 2018, Pembrokeshire received the most coast awards in Wales, with 56 Blue Flag, Green Coast or Seaside Awards. In the 2019 Wales Coast Awards, 39 Pembrokeshire beaches were recognised, including 11 awarded Blue Flag status.
The Pembrokeshire coastline is a major draw to tourists; in 2011 National Geographic Traveller magazine voted the Pembrokeshire Coast the second best in the world and in 2015 the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park was listed among the top five parks in the world by a travel writer for the Huffington Post. Countryfile Magazine readers voted the Pembrokeshire Coast the top UK holiday destination in 2018, and in 2019 Consumers' Association members placed Tenby and St Davids in the top three best value beach destinations in Britain. With few large urban areas, Pembrokeshire is a "dark sky" destination. The many wrecks off the Pembrokeshire coast attract divers. The decade from 2012 saw significant, increasing numbers of Atlantic bluefin tuna, not seen since the 1960s, and now seen by some as an opportunity to encourage tourist sport fishing.
The county has a number of theme and animal parks (examples are Folly Farm Adventure Park and Zoo, Manor House Wildlife Park, Blue Lagoon Water Park and Oakwood Theme Park), museums and other visitor attractions including Castell Henllys reconstructed Iron Age fort, Tenby Lifeboat Station and Milford Haven's Torch Theatre. There are 21 marked cycle trails around the county.
Pembrokeshire Destination Management Plan for 2020 to 2025 sets out the scope and priorities to grow tourism in Pembrokeshire by increasing its value by 10 per cent in the five years, and to make Pembrokeshire a top five UK destination.
As the national sport of Wales, rugby union is widely played throughout the county at both town and village level. Haverfordwest RFC, founded in 1875, is a feeder club for Llanelli Scarlets. Village team Crymych RFC in 2014 plays in WRU Division One West. There are numerous football clubs in the county, playing in five leagues with Haverfordwest County A.F.C. competing in the Cymru Premier.
Triathlon event Ironman Wales has been held in Pembrokeshire since 2011, contributing £3.7 million to the local economy, and the county committed in 2017 to host the event for a further five years. Ras Beca, a mixed road, fell and cross country race attracting UK-wide competitors, has been held in the Preselis annually since 1977. The record of 32 minutes 5 seconds has stood since 1995. Pembrokeshire Harriers athletics club was formed in 2001 by the amalgamation of Cleddau Athletic Club (established 1970) and Preseli Harriers (1989) and is based in Haverfordwest.
The annual Tour of Pembrokeshire road-cycling event takes place over routes of optional length. The 4th Tour, in April 2015, attracted 1,600 riders including Olympic gold medallist Chris Boardman and there were 1,500 entrants to the 2016 event. Part of Route 47 of the Celtic Trail cycle route is in Pembrokeshire. The Llys y Fran Hillclimb is an annual event run by Swansea Motor Club, and there are several other county motoring events held each year.
Abereiddy's Blue Lagoon was the venue for a round of the Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series in 2012, 2013, and 2016; the Welsh Surfing Federation has held the Welsh National Surfing Championships at Freshwater West for several years, and Llys y Fran Country Park hosted the Welsh Dragonboat Championships from 2014 to 2017.
While not at major league level, cricket is played throughout the county and many villages such as Lamphey, Creselly, Llangwm, Llechryd and Crymych field teams in minor leagues under the umbrella of the Cricket Board of Wales.
Notable people
From mediaeval times, Rhys ap Gruffydd (c. 1132-1197), ruler of the kingdom of Deheubarth, was buried in St Davids Cathedral. and Gerald of Wales was born c. 1146 at Manorbier Castle. Henry Tudor (later Henry VII) was born in 1457 at Pembroke Castle.
The pirate Bartholomew Roberts (Black Bart) (Welsh: Barti Ddu) was born in Casnewydd Bach, between Fishguard and Haverfordwest in 1682.
In later military history, Jemima Nicholas, heroine of the so-called "last invasion of Britain" in 1797, was from Fishguard, Lieutenant General Sir Thomas Picton GCB, born in Haverfordwest, was killed at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815 and Private Thomas Collins is believed to be the only Pembrokeshire man that fought in the Battle of Rorke's Drift in 1879.
In the arts, siblings Gwen and Augustus John were both born in Pembrokeshire, as was the novelist Sarah Waters; singer Connie Fisher grew up in Pembrokeshire. The actor Christian Bale was born in Haverfordwest.
Stephen Crabb, a former Secretary of State for Work and Pensions and Secretary of State for Wales, was brought up in Pembrokeshire and is one of the county's two Members of Parliament, the other being Simon Hart,[90] who served as Secretary of State for Wales from 2019 to 2022.
This is a 300mm focal length LWIR reflector lens I recently acquired. Its primary reflector is about 270mm diameter and it absolutely DWARFS the Therm-App Pro with 35mm lens.
I’m having some teething troubles getting it to ‘talk’ to my Therm-App, which is not surprising given that it was designed to work with something quite different. But I have managed to get some kind of image out of it (a hand filling the screen at about 10m). I calculate that it’s probably the equivalent of a 1700mm focal length on a 35mm camera – very, very long!
Hopefully I’ll get to the bottom of this before too long. I’ll post updates as and when.
Restaurante Hacienda - Mama Nena - jackfruit - Cocina Campestre, Jarretaderas, Nayarit, Mexico.
The jackfruit (Artocarpus heterophyllus), also known as jack tree,[7] is a species of tree in the fig, mulberry, and breadfruit family (Moraceae) native to southwest India.[8][9][10]
The jackfruit tree is well-suited to tropicallowlands, and its fruit is the largest tree-borne fruit, reaching as much as 55 kg (120 lb) in weight, 90 cm (35 in) in length, and 50 cm (20 in) in diameter.[10][11] A mature jackfruit tree can produce about 100 to 200 fruits in a year. The jackfruit is a multiple fruit, composed of hundreds to thousands of individual flowers, and the fleshy petals are eaten.[10][12]
Jackfruit is commonly used in South and Southeast Asian cuisines.[13][14] The ripe and unripe fruit and seeds are consumed. The jackfruit tree is a widely cultivated throughout tropical regions of the world. It is the national fruit of Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, and the state fruit of the Indian states of Kerala and Tamil Nadu.
Etymology and history:
The word "jackfruit" comes from Portuguese jaca, which in turn is derived from the Malayalamlanguage term chakka (Malayalam chakka pazham).[12][15] When the Portuguese arrived in India at Kozhikode (Calicut) on the Malabar Coast(Kerala) in 1498, the Malayalam name chakka was recorded by Hendrik van Rheede (1678–1703) in the Hortus Malabaricus, vol. iii in Latin. Henry Yuletranslated the book in Jordanus Catalani's (f. 1321–1330) Mirabilia descripta: the wonders of the East.[16]
The common English name "jackfruit" was used by physician and naturalist Garcia de Orta in his 1563 book Colóquios dos simples e drogas da India.[17][18] Centuries later, botanist Ralph Randles Stewart suggested it was named after William Jack (1795–1822), a Scottish botanist who worked for the East India Company in Bengal, Sumatra, and Malaya.[19]
The jackfruit was domesticated independently in South Asia and Southeast Asia, as evidenced by the fact that the Southeast Asian names for the fruit are not derived from the Sanskrit roots. It was probably first domesticated by Austronesians in Java or the Malay Peninsula. The word for jackfruit in Proto-Western-Malayo-Polynesian is reconstructed as *laŋkaq. Modern cognates include Javanese, Malay, Balinese, and Cebuano nangka; Tagalog, Pangasinan, Bikol and Ilocano langka; Chamorro lanka or nanka; Kelabit nakan; Wolio nangke; Ibaloi dangka; and Lun Dayeh laka. Note, however, that the fruit was only recently introduced to Guam via Filipino settlers when both were part of the Spanish Empire.[20][21]
Botanical description:
Shape, trunk and leaves:
Artocarpus heterophyllus grows as an evergreen tree that has a relatively short trunk with a dense treetop. It easily reaches heights of 10 to 20 meters and trunk diameters of 30 to 80 centimeters. It sometimes forms buttress roots. The bark of the jackfruit tree is reddish-brown and smooth. In the event of injury to the bark, a milky juice is released.
The leaves are alternate and spirally arranged. They are gummy and thick and are divided into a petiole and a leaf blade. The petiole is 1 to 3 inches long. The leathery leaf blade is 7 to 15 inches long, and 3 to 7 inches wide and is oblong to ovate in shape.
In young trees, the leaf edges are irregularly lobed or split. On older trees, the leaves are rounded and dark green, with a smooth leaf margin. The leaf blade has a prominent main nerve and starting on each side six to eight lateral nerves. The stipules are egg-shaped at a length of 1.5 to 8 centimeters.
Flowers and fruit:
The inflorescences are formed on the trunk, branches or twigs (caulifloria). Jackfruit trees are monoecious, that is there are both female and male flowers on a tree. The inflorescences are pedunculated, cylindrical to ellipsoidal or pear-shaped, to about 10-12 centimeters long and 5-7 centimeters wide.
Inflorescences are initially completely enveloped in egg-shaped cover sheets which rapidly slough off.
The flowers are very small, there are several thousand flowers in an inflorescence, which sit on a fleshy rachis.[22] The male flowers are greenish, some flowers are sterile. The male flowers are hairy and the perianth ends with two 1 to 1.5 millimeters membrane. The individual and prominent stamens are straight with yellow, roundish anthers. After the pollen distribution, the stamens become ash-gray and fall off after a few days. Later all the male inflorescences also fall off. The greenish female flowers, with hairy and tubular perianth, have a fleshy flower-like base. The female flowers contain an ovary with a broad, capitate or rarely bilobed scar. The blooming time ranges from December until February or March.
The ellipsoidal to roundish fruit is a multiple fruit formed from the fusion of the ovaries of multiple flowers. The fruits grow on a long and thick stem on the trunk. They vary in size and ripen from an initially yellowish-greenish to yellow, and then at maturity to yellowish-brown. They possess a hard, gummy shell with small pimples surrounded with hard, hexagonal tubercles. The very large and variously shaped fruit have a length of 30 to 100 centimeters and a diameter of 15 to 50 centimeters and can weigh 10-25 kilograms or more.
The fruits consist of a fibrous, whitish core (rachis) about 5-10 centimeters thick. Radiating from this are many 10 centimeter long individual fruits. They are elliptical to egg-shaped, light brownish achenes with a length of about 3 centimeters and a diameter of 1.5 to 2 centimeters.
There may be about 100-500 seeds per fruit. The seed coat consists of a thin, waxy, parchment-like and easily removable testa (husk) and a brownish, membranous tegmen. The cotyledons are usually unequal in size, the endosperm is minimally present.[23]
The fruit matures during the rainy season from July to August. The bean-shaped achenes of the jackfruit are coated with a firm yellowish aril (seed coat, flesh), which has an intense sweet taste at maturity of the fruit. [3] The pulp is enveloped by many narrow strands of fiber (undeveloped perianth), which run between the hard shell and the core of the fruit and are firmly attached to it. When pruned, the inner part (core) secretes a very sticky, milky liquid, which can hardly be removed from the skin, even with soap and water. To clean the hands after "unwinding" the pulp an oil or other solvent is used. For example, street vendors in Tanzania, who sell the fruit in small segments, provide small bowls of kerosene for their customers to cleanse their sticky fingers.[citation needed]
An average fruit consists of 27% edible seed coat, 15% edible seeds, 20% white pulp (undeveloped perianth, rags) and bark and 10% core.
The number of chromosomes is 2n = 56.[24]
As food:
Ripe jackfruit is naturally sweet, with subtle flavoring.[10] It can be used to make a variety of dishes, including custards, cakes, or mixed with shaved ice as es teler in Indonesia or halo-halo in the Philippines. For the traditional breakfast dish in southern India, idlis, the fruit is used with rice as an ingredient and jackfruit leaves are used as a wrapping for steaming. Jackfruit dosas can be prepared by grinding jackfruit flesh along with the batter. Ripe jackfruit arils are sometimes seeded, fried, or freeze-dried and sold as jackfruit chips.
The seeds from ripe fruits are edible, and are said to have a milky, sweet taste often compared to Brazil nuts. They may be boiled, baked, or roasted. When roasted, the flavor of the seeds is comparable to chestnuts. Seeds are used as snacks (either by boiling or fire-roasting) or to make desserts. In Java, the seeds are commonly cooked and seasoned with salt as a snack. They are quite commonly used in curry in India in the form of a traditional lentil and vegetable mix curry.
Aroma:
Jackfruit has a distinctive sweet and fruity aroma. In a study of flavour volatiles in five jackfruit cultivars, the main volatile compounds detected were ethyl isovalerate, propyl isovalerate, butyl isovalerate, isobutyl isovalerate, 3-methylbutyl acetate, 1-butanol, and 2-methylbutan-1-ol.[25]
A fully ripe and unopened jackfruit is known to "emit a strong aroma", with the inside of the fruit described as smelling of pineapple and banana.[10] After roasting, the seeds may be used as a commercial alternative to chocolate aroma.[26]
Nutritional value:
The flesh of the jackfruit is starchy and fibrous and is a source of dietary fiber. The pulp is composed of 74% water, 23% carbohydrates, 2% protein, and 1% fat. In a 100-g portion, raw jackfruit provides 400 kJ (95 kcal) and is a rich source (20% or more of the Daily Value, DV) of vitamin B6 (25% DV). It contains moderate levels (10-19% DV) of vitamin C and potassium, with no other nutrients in significant content.
The jackfruit also provides a potential part of the solution for tropical countries facing problems with food security,[12] such as several countries of Africa.[27]
Culinary uses:
The flavor of the ripe fruit is comparable to a combination of apple, pineapple, mango, and banana.[10][13] Varieties are distinguished according to characteristics of the fruit flesh. In Indochina, the two varieties are the "hard" version (crunchier, drier, and less sweet, but fleshier), and the "soft" version (softer, moister, and much sweeter, with a darker gold-color flesh than the hard variety). Unripe jackfruit has a mild flavor and meat-like texture and is used in curry dishes with spices in many cuisines. The skin of unripe jackfruit must be peeled first, then the remaining jackfruit flesh is chopped in a labor-intensive process[28] into edible portions and cooked before serving.
The cuisines of many Asian countries use cooked young jackfruit.[13] In many cultures, jackfruit is boiled and used in curries as a staple food. The boiled young jackfruit is used in salads or as a vegetable in spicy curries and side dishes, and as fillings for cutlets and chops. It may be used by vegetarians as a substitute for meat such as pulled pork. It may be cooked with coconut milk and eaten alone or with meat, shrimp or smoked pork. In southern India, unripe jackfruit slices are deep-fried to make chips.
South Asia:
In Bangladesh, the fruit is consumed on its own. The unripe fruit is used in curry, and the seed is often dried and preserved to be later used in curry.[29] In India, two varieties of jackfruit predominate: muttomvarikka and sindoor. Muttomvarikka has a slightly hard inner flesh when ripe, while the inner flesh of the ripe sindoor fruit is soft.[30]
A sweet preparation called chakkavaratti (jackfruit jam) is made by seasoning pieces of muttomvarikka fruit flesh in jaggery, which can be preserved and used for many months. The fruits are either eaten alone or as a side to rice. The juice is extracted and either drunk straight or as a side. The juice is sometimes condensed and eaten as candies. The seeds are either boiled or roasted and eaten with salt and hot chilies. They are also used to make spicy side dishes with rice. Jackfruit may be ground and made into a paste, then spread over a mat and allowed to dry in the sun to create a natural chewy candy.
Southeast Asia:
In Indonesia and Malaysia, jackfruit is called nangka. The ripe fruit is usually sold separately and consumed on its own, or sliced and mixed with shaved ice as a sweet concoction dessert such as es campur and es teler. The ripe fruit might be dried and fried as kripiknangka, or jackfruit cracker. The seeds are boiled and consumed with salt, as it contains edible starchy content; this is called beton. Young (unripe) jackfruit is made into curry called gulai nangka or stewed called gudeg.
In the Philippines, jackfruit is called langka in Filipino and nangkà[31] in Cebuano. The unripe fruit is usually cooked in coconut milk and eaten with rice; this is called ginataang langka. The ripe fruit is often an ingredient in local desserts such as halo-halo and the Filipino turon. The ripe fruit, besides also being eaten raw as it is, is also preserved by storing in syrup or by drying. The seeds are also boiled before being eaten.
Thailand is a major producer of jackfruit, which are often cut, prepared, and canned in a sugary syrup (or frozen in bags or boxes without syrup) and exported overseas, frequently to North America and Europe.
In Vietnam, jackfruit is used to make jackfruit chè, a sweet dessert soup, similar to the Chinese derivative bubur cha cha. The Vietnamese also use jackfruit purée as part of pastry fillings or as a topping on xôi ngọt (a sweet version of sticky rice portions).
Jackfruits are found primarily in the eastern part of Taiwan. The fresh fruit can be eaten directly or preserved as dried fruit, candied fruit, or jam. It is also stir-fried or stewed with other vegetables and meat.
Americas:
In Brazil, three varieties are recognized: jaca-dura, or the "hard" variety, which has a firm flesh, and the largest fruits that can weigh between 15 and 40 kg each; jaca-mole, or the "soft" variety, which bears smaller fruits with a softer and sweeter flesh; and jaca-manteiga, or the "butter" variety, which bears sweet fruits whose flesh has a consistency intermediate between the "hard" and "soft" varieties.[32]
Africa:
From a tree planted for its shade in gardens, it became an ingredient for local recipes using different fruit segments. The seeds are boiled in water or roasted to remove toxic substances, and then roasted for a variety of desserts. The flesh of the unripe jackfruit is used to make a savory salty dish with smoked pork. The jackfruit arils are used to make jams or fruits in syrup, and can also be eaten raw.
Wood and manufacturing:
The golden yellow timber with good grain is used for building furniture and house construction in India. It is termite-proof and is superior to teak for building furniture. The wood of the jackfruit tree is important in Sri Lanka and is exported to Europe. Jackfruit wood is widely used in the manufacture of furniture, doors and windows, in roof construction,[10] and fish sauce barrels.[33]
The wood of the tree is used for the production of musical instruments. In Indonesia, hardwood from the trunk is carved out to form the barrels of drums used in the gamelan, and in the Philippines, its soft wood is made into the body of the kutiyapi, a type of boat lute. It is also used to make the body of the Indian string instrument veena and the drums mridangam, thimila, and kanjira.
Cultural significance:
The jackfruit has played a significant role in Indian agriculture for centuries. Archeological findings in India have revealed that jackfruit was cultivated in India 3000 to 6000 years ago.[34] It has also been widely cultivated in Southeast Asia.
The ornate wooden plank called avani palaka, made of the wood of the jackfruit tree, is used as the priest's seat during Hindu ceremonies in Kerala. In Vietnam, jackfruit wood is prized for the making of Buddhist statues in temples[35] The heartwood is used by Buddhist forest monastics in Southeast Asia as a dye, giving the robes of the monks in those traditions their distinctive light-brown color.[36]
Jackfruit is the national fruit of Bangladesh,[29] and the state fruit of the Indian states of Kerala and Tamil Nadu.[37][38]
Cultivation:
In terms of taking care of the plant, minimal pruning is required; cutting off dead branches from the interior of the tree is only sometimes needed.[10] In addition, twigs bearing fruit must be twisted or cut down to the trunk to induce growth for the next season.[10] Branches should be pruned every three to four years to maintain productivity.[10]
Some trees carry too many mediocre fruits and these are usually removed to allow the others to develop better to maturity.
Stingless bees such as Tetragonula iridipennis are jackfruit pollinators, so play an important role in jackfruit cultivation.[39]
Production and marketing:
Edit
In 2017, India produced 1.4 million tonnes of jackfruit, followed by Bangladesh, Thailand, and Indonesia.[40]
The marketing of jackfruit involves three groups: producers, traders, and middlemen, including wholesalers and retailers.[41] The marketing channels are rather complex. Large farms sell immature fruit to wholesalers, which helps cash flow and reduces risk, whereas medium-sized farms sell the fruit directly to local markets or retailers.
Commercial availability:
Outside of its countries of origin, fresh jackfruit can be found at food markets throughout Southeast Asia.[10][42] It is also extensively cultivated in the Brazilian coastal region, where it is sold in local markets. It is available canned in sugary syrup, or frozen, already prepared and cut. Jackfruit industries are established in Sri Lanka and Vietnam, where the fruit is processed into products such as flour, noodles, papad, and ice cream.[42] It is also canned and sold as a vegetable for export.
Outside of countries where it is grown, jackfruit can be obtained year-round, both canned or dried. Dried jackfruit chips are produced by various manufacturers.
Invasive species:
In Brazil, the jackfruit can become an invasive species as in Brazil's Tijuca Forest National Park in Rio de Janeiro. The Tijuca is mostly an artificial secondary forest, whose planting began during the mid-19th century; jackfruit trees have been a part of the park's flora since it was founded.
Recently, the species has expanded excessively, and its fruits, which naturally fall to the ground and open, are eagerly eaten by small mammals, such as the common marmoset and coati. The seeds are dispersed by these animals; this allows the jackfruit to compete for space with native tree species. Additionally the supply of jackfruit as a ready source of food has allowed the marmoset and coati populations to expand. Since both prey opportunistically on birds' eggs and nestlings, increases in marmoset or coati population are detrimental for local bird populations.
References:
Under its accepted name Artocarpus heterophyllus (then as heterophylla) this species was described in Encyclopédie Méthodique, Botanique 3: 209. (1789) by Jean-Baptiste Lamarck, from a specimen collected by botanist Philibert Commerson. Lamarck said of the fruit that it was coarse and difficult to digest. "Larmarck's original description of tejas". Retrieved 2012-11-23. On mange la chair de son fruit, ainsi que les noyaux qu'il contient; mais c'est un aliment grossier et difficile à digérer.
^ "Name - !Artocarpus heterophyllus Lam". Tropicos. Saint Louis, Missouri: Missouri Botanical Garden. Retrieved 2012-11-23.
^ "TPL, treatment of Artocarpus heterophyllus". The Plant List; Version 1. (published on the internet). Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and Missouri Botanical Garden. 2010. Retrieved 2012-11-23.
^ "Name – Artocarpus heterophyllus Lam. synonyms". Tropicos. Saint Louis, Missouri: Missouri Botanical Garden. Retrieved 2012-11-23.
^ "Artocarpus heterophyllus". Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN). Agricultural Research Service (ARS), United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). Retrieved 2012-11-23.
^ "Artocarpus heterophyllus Lam. — The Plant List". Theplantlist.org. 2012-03-23. Retrieved 2014-06-17.
^ "Artocarpus heterophyllus". Tropical Biology Association. October 2006. Archived from the original on 2012-08-15. Retrieved 2012-11-23.
^ Love, Ken; Paull, Robert E (June 2011). "Jackfruit" (PDF). College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources, University of Hawaii at Manoa.
^ Boning, Charles R. (2006). Florida's Best Fruiting Plants:Native and Exotic Trees, Shrubs, and Vines. Sarasota, Florida: Pineapple Press, Inc. p. 107.
^ a b c d e f g h i j k Morton, Julia. "Jackfruit". Center for New Crops & Plant Products, Purdue University Department of Horticulture and Landscape Architecture. Retrieved 19 April 2016.
^ "Jackfruit Fruit Facts". California Rare Fruit Growers, Inc. 1996. Retrieved 2012-11-23.
^ a b c Silver, Mark. "Here's The Scoop On Jackfruit, A Ginormous Fruit To Feed The World". NPR. Retrieved 19 April 2016.
^ a b c Janick, Jules; Paull, Robert E. The encyclopedia of fruit & nuts. p. 155.
^ The encyclopedia of fruit & nuts, By Jules Janick, Robert E. Paull, pp. 481–485
^ Pradeepkumar, T.; Jyothibhaskar, B. Suma; Satheesan, K. N. (2008). Prof. K. V. Peter, ed. Management of Horticultural Crops. Horticultural Science Series. 11. New Delhi, India: New India Publishing. p. 81. ISBN 978-81-89422-49-3. The English name jackfruit is derived from Portuguese jaca, which is derived from Malayalam chakka.
^ Friar Jordanus, 14th century, as translated from the Latin by Henry Yule (1863). Mirabilia descripta: the wonders of the East. Hakluyt Society. p. 13. Retrieved 2012-11-23.
^ Oxford English Dictionary, Second Edition, 1989, online edition
^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. Bartleby. 2000. Archived from the original on 2005-11-30.
^ Stewart, Ralph R. (1984). "How Did They Die?". Taxon. 33 (1): 48–52. doi:10.2307/1222028. JSTOR 1222028.
^ Blench, Roger= (2008). "A history of fruits on the Southeast Asian mainland" (PDF). In Osada, Toshiki; Uesugi, Akinori. Occasional Paper 4: Linguistics, Archaeology and the Human Past. Indus Project. pp. 115–137. ISBN 9784902325331.
^ Blust, Robert; Trussel, Stephen (2013). "The Austronesian Comparative Dictionary: A Work in Progress". Oceanic Linguistics. 52 (2): 493–523. doi:10.1353/ol.2013.0016.
^ D. KN G Pushpakumara: Floral and Fruit Morphology and Phenology of Artocarpus heterophyllus Lam. (Moraceae). In: Sri Lankan J. Agric. Sci. Vol. 43, 2006, pp. 82-106, online (PDF), on researchgate.net, accessed May 24, 2018.
^ N. Haq: Jackfruit Artocarpus heterophyllus. International Center for Underutilized Crops, 2006, ISBN 0-85432-785-1, p. 4-11, 72 f.
^ Artocarpus heterophyllus at Tropicos.org. In: IPCN Chromosome Reports . Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis.
^ Ong, B.T.; Nazimah, S.A.H.; Tan, C.P.; Mirhosseini, H.; Osman, A.; Hashim, D. Mat; Rusul, G. (August 2008). "Analysis of volatile compounds in five jackfruit (Artocarpus heterophyllus L.) cultivars using solid-phase microextraction (SPME) and gas chromatography-time-of-flight mass spectrometry (GC-TOFMS)". Journal of Food Composition and Analysis. 21 (5): 416–422. doi:10.1016/j.jfca.2008.03.002. Retrieved 2013-02-02.
^ Spada, Fernanda Papa; et al. (21 January 2017). "Optimization of Postharvest Conditions To Produce Chocolate Aroma from Jackfruit Seeds". Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry. 65 (6): 1196–1208. doi:10.1021/acs.jafc.6b04836. PMID 28110526.
^ Mwandambo, Pascal (11 March 2014). "Venture in rare jackfruit turns farmers' fortunes around". Standard Online. Standard Group Ltd. Retrieved 20 December 2016.
^ Gene Wu [@@GeneforTexas] (2018-08-21). "Look for this thread later when we do: "You don't know Jackfruit."" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
^ a b Matin, Abdul. "A poor man's fruit: Now a miracle food!". The Daily Star. Retrieved 2015-06-12.
^ Ashwini. A (2015). Morpho-Molecular Characterization of Jackfruit. Artocarpus heterophyllus. Kerala Agricultural University.
^ Wolff, John U. (1972). "Nangkà". A Dictionary of Cebuano Visayan. 2. p. 698.
^ General information Archived 2009-04-13 at the Wayback Machine, Department of Agriculture, State of Bahia
^ "Nam O fish sauce village". Danang Today. 2014-02-26. Retrieved 2015-09-22.
^ Preedy, Victor R.; Watson, Ronald Ross; Patel, Vinood B., eds. (2011). Nuts and Seeds in Health and Disease Prevention (1st ed.). Burlington, MA: Academic Press. p. 678. ISBN 978-0-12-375689-3.
^ "Gỗ mít nài". Nhagoviethung.com. Retrieved 2014-06-17.
^ Forest Monks and the Nation-state: An Anthropological and Historical Study in Northeast Thailand, J.L. Taylor 1993 p. 218
^ Subrahmanian, N.; Hikosaka, Shu; Samuel, G. John; Thiagarajan, P. (1997). Tamil social history. Institute of Asian Studies. p. 88. Retrieved 2010-03-23.
^ "Kerala's State fruit!". Retrieved 2018-03-17.
^ Kothai, S. (2015). "Environmental Impact on Stingless Bee Propolis (Tetragonula iridipennis) Reared from Two Different Regions of Tamilnadu — A Comparative Study". International Journal of ChemTech Research.
^ Benjamin Elisha Sawe (25 April 2017). "World Leaders In Jackfruit Production". WorldAtlas. Retrieved 23 May 2018.
^ Haq, Nazmul (2006). Jackfruit: Artocarpus heterophyllus (PDF). Southampton, UK: Southampton Centre for Underutilised Crops. p. 129. ISBN 978-0-85432-785-0. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-10-05.
^ a b Goldenberg, Suzanne (23 April 2014). "Jackfruit heralded as 'miracle' food crop". The Guardian, London, UK. Retrieved 17 October 2016.
(See links). Meteor Crater is a meteorite impact crater about 37 mi east of Flagstaff and 18 mi west of Winslow in the northern Arizona desert of the United States. It was designated a National Natural Landmark in November 1967.
Diameter: 0.737 miles
Depth: 560 feet
The size of the asteroid that produced the impact is uncertain—likely in the range of 100 to 170 feet (30 to 50 meters) across—but it had to be large enough to excavate 175 million metric tons of rock.
The crater was created about 50,000 years ago. The crater came to the attention of scientists after American settlers encountered it in the 19th century. In 1903, mining engineer and businessman Daniel M. Barringer suggested that the crater had been produced by the impact of a large iron-metallic meteorite. During the 1960s and 1970s, NASA astronauts trained in the crater to prepare for the Apollo missions to the Moon.
Meteor Crater - Wikipedia
Meteor Crater is a popular tourist attraction privately owned by the Barringer family through the Barringer Crater Company, with an admission fee charged to see the crater. The Meteor Crater Visitor Center on the north rim features interactive exhibits and displays about meteorites and asteroids, space, the Solar System, and comets. It features the American Astronaut Wall of Fame and such artifacts on display as an Apollo boilerplate command module (BP-29), a 1,406 lb meteorite found in the area, and meteorite specimens from Meteor Crater that can be touched. Formerly known as the Museum of Astrogeology, the Visitor Center includes a movie theater, a gift shop, and observation areas with views inside the rim of the crater. Guided tours of the rim are offered daily, weather permitting.
Meteor Crater. Interstate 40, Exit, 233, Winslow, AZ. 102121.
Large diameter auger going through the pavement and road base into the natural soils about 6 meters down
London Eye, seen from Westminster Bridge, Westminster, London
Some background information:
The London Eye is a giant Ferris wheel on the South Bank of the River Thames. The entire structure is 135 metres (443 feet) tall and the wheel has a diameter of 120 metres (394 feet).
It is the tallest Ferris wheel in Europe, and the most popular paid tourist attraction in the United Kingdom, visited by over 3.5 million people annually. When erected in 1999 it was the tallest Ferris wheel in the world, until surpassed first by the 160 m (520 feet) Star of Nanchang in 2006 and then the 165 m (541 feet) Singapore Flyer in 2008.
Supported by an A-frame on one side only, unlike the taller Nanchang and Singapore wheels, the Eye is described by its operators as "the world's tallest cantilevered observation wheel". It offered the highest public viewing point in the city until it was superseded by the 245-metre (804 feet) observation deck on the 72nd floor of The Shard, a skyscraper in the City of London, which opened to the public on 1st February 2013.
The London Eye or Millennium Wheel was officially called the British Airways London Eye and then the Merlin Entertainments London Eye. Since 20 January 2011, its official name is the EDF Energy London Eye, following a three-year sponsorship deal. It adjoins the western end of Jubilee Gardens on the South Bank of the River Thames between Westminster Bridge and Hungerford Bridge.
The wheel's 32 sealed and air-conditioned ovoidal passenger capsules are attached to the external circumference of the wheel and rotated by electric motors. Each of the 11-ton capsules represents one of the London Boroughs and holds up to 25 people, who are free to walk around inside the capsule, though seating is provided.
The wheel rotates at 26 cm (10 inch) per second (about 0.9 km/h or 0.6 mph) so that one revolution takes about 30 minutes. It does not usually stop to take on passengers; the rotation rate is slow enough to allow passengers to walk on and off the moving capsules at ground level. It is, however, stopped to allow disabled or elderly passengers time to embark and disembark safely.
The London Eye was formally opened by the then Prime Minister, Tony Blair, on 31st December 1999, although it was not opened to the public until 9th March 2000 because of technical problems. Since its opening it has become a major landmark cattycorner the Palace of Westminster.
Hast Du dies auch gespielt? Murmeln ------ A marble is a small spherical toy usually made from glass, clay, steel, or agate. These balls vary in size. Most commonly, they are about ½ inch (1.25 cm) in diameter, but they may range from less than ¼ inch (0.635 cm) to over 3 inches (7.75 cm), while some art glass marbles for display purposes are over 12 inches (30 cm) wide. Marbles can be used for a variety of games called marbles. They are often collected, both for nostalgia and for their aesthetic colors. In the North of England the objects and the game are called 'taws', with larger taws being called bottle washers after the use of a marble in Codd-neck bottles.Marbles originated in Harappan civilization in Pakistan near the river Indus. Various marbles of stone were found on excavation near Mohenjo-daro. Marbles are also often mentioned in Roman literature, and there are many examples of marbles from ancient Egypt. They were commonly made of clay, stone or glass and commonly referred to as a "Glass alley".
Ceramic marbles entered inexpensive mass production in the 1870s.
A German glassblower invented marble scissors in 1846, a device for making marbles.[1] The first mass-produced toy marbles (clay) made in the US were made in Akron, Ohio by S.C. Dyke, in the early 1890s. Some of the first US-produced glass marbles were also made in Akron, by James Harvey Leighton. In 1903, Martin Frederick Christensen—also of Akron, Ohio—made the first machine-made glass marbles on his patented machine. His company, The M.F. Christensen & Son Co., manufactured millions of toy and industrial glass marbles until they ceased operations in 1917. The next US company to enter the glass marble market was Akro Agate. This company was started by Akronites in 1911, but was located in Clarksburg, West Virginia. Today, there are only two American-based toy marble manufacturers: Jabo Vitro in Reno, Ohio, and Marble King, in Paden City, West Virginia.
Various games can be played with marbles; any such game can itself be called 'marbles' (cf. darts, skittles, bowls).
One game involves drawing a circle in sand, and players will take turns knocking other players' marbles out of the circle with their own marble. This game is called ringer. Other versions involve shooting marbles at target marbles or into holes in the ground (such as rolly or rolley hole). A larger-scale game of marbles might involve taking turns trying to hit an opponent's marble to win. A useful strategy is to throw a marble so that it lands in a protected, or difficult location if it should miss the target. As with many children's games, new rules are devised all the time, and each group is likely to have its own version, often customized to the environment. While the game of marbles was once ubiquitous and attracted widespread press to national tournaments, its popularity has dwindled in the television age.
Das Murmelspiel (auch Murmeln) ist ein in der ganzen Welt verbreitetes Kinderspiel mit runden Gegenständen.
In deutschsprachigen Ländern sind das Murmelspiel und die Murmel unter zahlreichen Namen bekannt: Bucker, Datzer, Dötze, Duxer, Glaser, Heuer, Klickern, Knicker, Marbeln, Marmeln, Märbeln, Schnellern, Schussern und Wetzel sind nur einige gängige davon.[2] Der Name Murmel kommt von Marmor, dem früher häufigsten Herstellungsmaterial. Die übrigen Namen beschreiben entweder das klackernde Geräusch der aneinanderstoßenden Kugeln oder die Art ihrer Bewegung.Funde aus babylonischer, römischer und germanischer Zeit belegen, dass das Murmelspiel bereits sehr alt ist. Die ältesten Murmeln datieren von 3000 vor Chr. Eine Anzahl runder Schmucksteine fand man als Beigabe im Grab eines ägyptischen Kindes in Nagada. Im Britischen Museum lagern Murmeln aus Kreta, die auf 2000 – 1700 vor Chr. datieren. Gefunden wurden sie in der Minoischen Ausgrabungsstätte beim Berg Petsofas in der Nähe von Palekastro.
Seit der Zeit um 1500 scheinen aufgrund archäologischer Funde die verschiedenen Spiele, die man mit Murmeln, Klickern oder Schussern spielen konnte, in Mitteleuropa an Beliebtheit deutlich zuzunehmen. Kugelgröße, Material und Farbigkeit der Murmeln wurden vielfach variiert: Neben unterschiedlichen Murmeln aus unglasierter oder weiß engobierter roter Irdenware, finden sich vor allem braune Faststeinzeugmurmeln oder seit der Mitte des 19. Jh. Murmeln aus Glas.[1]
Die Produktion von Glasmurmeln begann erst 1848 im thüringischen Ort Lauscha. Dort erfand der Glasbläser Christoph Simon Karl Greiner die so genannte Märbelschere. Märbel ist das itzgründische Wort für Murmel, das auch in das Hochdeutsche übernommen wurde. Im September 1848 erhielt Christoph Simon Karl Greiner die Konzession zur alleinigen Herstellung von Künstlichen Achat- und Edelstein-Kugeln. Die in allen möglichen Farben mit kunstvollen und geschwungenen Spiralmustern im Inneren der Glasmurmel hergestellten Kugeln werden auf traditionelle Weise durch Zugabe von Farbe oder farbigen Glasbändern und Schleifen zu dem entnommenen Glasposten hergestellt.
Die Spielvariationen und Regeln sind so zahlreich wie die Farben der kleinen Kugeln. Meist wird im Freien auf festem Erdboden gespielt. Dort ist es am einfachsten, mit dem Schuhabsatz ein etwa faustgroßes Loch zu fabrizieren und den lockeren Boden darum wieder festzustampfen oder die bei anderen Varianten üblichen Abwurflinien zu kennzeichnen. Für kleine Kinder gibt es auch Kugelbahnen (auch Murmel- oder Kullerbahnen genannt, wie etwa Cuboro) aus Kunststoff oder Holz.
More info:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marble_(toy)
or in German language:
de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murmelspiel
other languages available
A familiar, zigzag, W pattern in northern constellation Cassiopeia is traced by five bright stars in this colorful and broad mosaic. Stretching about 15 degrees across rich starfields, the celestial scene includes dark clouds, bright nebulae, and star clusters along the Milky Way. In yellow-orange hues Cassiopeia's alpha star Shedar is a standout though. The yellowish giant star is cooler than the Sun, over 40 times the solar diameter, and so luminous it shines brightly in Earth's night from 230 light-years away. A massive, rapidly rotating star at the center of the W, bright Gamma Cas is about 550 light-years distant. Bluish Gamma Cas is much hotter than the Sun. Its intense, invisible ultraviolet radiation ionizes hydrogen atoms in nearby interstellar clouds to produce visible red H-alpha emission as the atoms recombine with electrons. Of course, night skygazers in the Alpha Centauri star system would also see the recognizable outline traced by Cassiopeia's bright stars. But from their perspective a mere 4.3 light-years away they would see our Sun as a sixth bright star in Cassiopeia, extending the zigzag pattern just beyond the left edge of this frame. via NASA ift.tt/1VjfPz3
Past Times 51886
500 pieces, used and complete
18.5in diameter
As this is a double-sided puzzle I have only included 1x500pcs for my yearly piece count and one side for my puzzle count.
From the box base:
"Folding fans were introduced into Europe from the East in the 17th century. Early examples are rare, but hundreds of delicate fans from the 18th century have survived. Made from all kinds of materials, they can be dated by their shape and carved decoration, and from the style of their handpainted or printed designs. The subject matter found on fans changed during the 18th century. At first, classical and biblical themes were popular, but later, fashionable rococo fans were decorated with pastoral scenes of elegant men and women relaxing in the countryside."
When we bought this double-sided puzzle we didn't think we'd bought/completed it previously; once back home I did a quick check through my records and discovered we'd assembled it back in 2017. Or at least I thought we had until now... closer inspection indicates that, in fact, that was a different set of Rococo fans from the same distributor (Past Times), ref no. 1305.
That puzzle had a piece missing and another one badly damaged, this one was complete. We assembled one side and then turned it for a photo as we usually do for these double-sided puzzles. Beautiful images, slightly smaller-than-average pieces with a loose fit, overall a fun 'make'.
I noticed the same puzzle with a smarter box on sale at rarepuzzles.com for 28 euros!
2021 piece count: 76999
Puzzle 87
"IMAGINE PEACE badge" (2007)
by Yoko Ono
badges: 1 3/8 inches diameter
Private collection of Mikihiko Hori
" IMAGINE PEACE
Yoko Ono, among the earliest of artists working in the genre known
Conceptual Arts, has consistently employed the theme of peace
and used the medium of advertising in her work since the early 1960s.
Yoko Ono Imagine Peace Featuring John & Yoko's Year of Peace
explores these aspects of her work over the course of more than
forty years.
Three recent pieces - Imagine Peace (Map) (2003/2007); Onochord
(2003/2007); and Imagine Peace Tower (2006/2007) - offer gallery
visitors to an opportunity to participate individually and collectively
with the artist in the realization of work. Consider the world with
fresh eyes as you stamp the phrase "Imagine Peace" on the location
of your choice on maps provided for this purpose. Using postcards
provided send your wishes to the Imagine Peace
Tower in Reykjavik, where they will shine on with eternally more than
900,000 others. Or beam the message "I Love You" to one and all
using the Onochord flashlights. Take a flashlight and an Imagine
Peace button, the artist's gift to you, and carry the message out into the
world. As Ono has often observed, "the dream you dream alone is
just the dream, but the dream we dream together is reality."
The exhibition continues in nine locations with Imagine
Peace/Imaginate La Paz billboards across the San Antonio region.
YOKO ONO IMAGINE PEACE Featuring John & Yoko's Year of Peace is made
possible by the generosity by Bjom's Audio Video-Home Theater, Colleen
Casey and Tim Maloney, Clear Channel Outdoor, Rick Liberto, Smothers
Foundation, and Twin Sisters Bakery & Cafe. "
" John & Yoko's Year of Peace (1969 - 70)
Ono's Imagine Peace project carries conceptual and formal
strategies the artist had employer from the earliest years of her
career, not only in her seminal solo works, but in her collaborations
with John Lennon. In 1965, she created works specifically for the
advertising pages of The New York Arts Calendar. Picking up from
her Instructions for Paintings, a 1962 exhibition at Tokyo's Sogetsu Art
Center in which she exhibited written texts on the gallery walls
designed to inspire viewers to create the described images in their
minds, Ono created purely conceptual exhibitions with her
Is Real Gallery works.
The theme of peace is also evident in works sush as White Chess Set,
recreated here as Play It By Trust (Garden Set version) (1966/2007).
Lennon's songwriting during this period had shifted from more
conventional themes of romantic love to grander anthems for the
Flower Power generation. The Baetles' worldwide satellite broadcast
of Lennon's "All You Need Is Love" in the summer of 1967 featured a
parade of signs with the word "love" in multiple languages.
The couple's most famous collaborative works, the Bed-Ins (1969)
and the War Is Over! campaign (1969 - 1970), were conceived as
elements of a large peace advertising campaign. The Bed-Ins took
advantage of the inordinate amount of press attention the couple
received by inviting the world press to their honeymoon suite where
they talked about peace! Ono told Penthouse magazine's Charles
Childs: "Many other people who are rich are using their money for
something they want. They promote soap, use advertising
propaganda, what have you. We intend to do the same."
In December of 1969, they launched their War Is Over! campaign, a
project that included billboards and posters in 11 cities of the world
simply declaring "War Is Over! If You Want It. Happy Christmas from
John & Yoko." As with Ono's earliest instruction pieces, viewers were
invited to transform their dreams into reality. Ono has explained,
"All my work is a form of wishing." "
YOKO ONO: IMAGINE PEACE Featuring John & Yoko's Year of Peace
September 26th - October 28th, 2007
UTSA Art Gallery / Department of Art and Art History
The University of Texas at San Antonio
Attributed to Anton Ambros Egermann, 1863.
Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam.
Artwork type: goblet
Object numberBK-2002-1
Dimensions
diameter 18.4 cm, height 61.8 cm x diameter 19.5 cm
----------------------------------------
A lavishly enameled goblet like this one, commemorating a Carrousel of 1863, may seem garish to modern eyes—its gleaming green glass, heraldic arms, and florid ornament calling more attention to itself than good taste might allow. Yet this ornate vessel opens a portal into a vanished world: the courtly, hierarchical society of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and its German aristocratic satellites in the mid-19th century.
Each name and coat of arms represents a princely house or noble lineage whose members took part in a ceremonial equestrian pageant—part chivalric revival, part dynastic theater. In its exuberance and specificity, the goblet stands as a glittering fossil of the old order in the final decades before modernity, nationalism, and war swept much of it away.
🏇 What Is a Carrousel?
A carrousel—from the Italian carosello and French carrousel—was a ceremonial equestrian pageant popular in European aristocratic courts from the late Renaissance through the 18th century. It was not a children's amusement ride (that meaning came later), but rather a choreographed, stylized spectacle of horsemanship, aristocratic display, and courtly symbolism.
At its height, the carrousel functioned as a theatrical expression of chivalry: an elaborately staged event where noblemen (and sometimes women) performed mounted exercises in formation, often in costume, complete with heraldic regalia, allegorical themes, and richly decorated horses.
📅 Heyday and Historical Context
The carrousel reached its peak during the 17th and early 18th centuries, especially in the courts of:
Louis XIV of France, who staged the Grand Carrousel of 1662 in Paris to display Bourbon prestige
The Habsburg courts in Vienna and Prague
Italian and German principalities where court culture remained theatrical and ceremonial
These events often commemorated:
Dynastic marriages
Births of heirs
Victories or peace treaties
Coronations or major jubilees
Unlike the jousts of the medieval tournament, carrousels emphasized pageantry over combat.
Though riders might perform mock battles with lances or swords, the emphasis was on precision riding, symbolic tableaux, and visual splendor.
️ Typical Features of a Carrousel
Knights in costume, divided into teams or "quadrilles," often themed (e.g., Greeks vs. Romans, Sun vs. Moon)
Banners and coats of arms on riders and horses
Musical accompaniment, often specially composed
Choreographed figures, such as circles, crosses, or spirals executed on horseback
Mock combat or tilting at rings, but usually bloodless
An audience of courtiers, diplomats, and sometimes the public, watching from raised platforms
⚰️ Decline and Afterlife
By the mid-19th century, the carrousel had become an anachronistic nostalgia act: part romantic revival, part dynastic theater.
The Carrousel of 1863 commemorated on the goblet you’re studying belongs to this late phase—a last brilliant flourish of aristocratic display before the upheavals of nationalism, democratization, and war dismantled much of the courtly infrastructure that had sustained such events.
Yet even in its twilight, the carrousel retained its function: rehearsing a world of inherited rank, martial honor, and visual grandeur, even as that world quietly faded into the past.
In the early 1860s, Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria–Este—not to be confused with his more famous nephew whose assassination sparked World War I—emerged as the likely prime mover behind the revival of the aristocratic carrousel commemorated by the goblet dated 1863.
A scion of the Habsburg dynasty and a figure of great ceremonial influence, Franz Ferdinand was known for his devotion to court ritual, imperial pageantry, and dynastic pride. In an age increasingly dominated by industrial progress, liberal reforms, and middle-class assertiveness, the Archduke saw the carrousel not as a quaint reenactment but as a deliberate reaffirmation of aristocratic identity and values.
By organizing a carrousel—complete with heraldic blazonry, equestrian quadrilles, and the active participation of Europe’s highest nobility—Franz Ferdinand staged a living tableau of Habsburg continuity and chivalric order.
The 1863 Carrousel held in Vienna was a significant event, emblematic of the Austro-Hungarian Empire's aristocratic traditions. While specific newspaper articles from that time detailing the event are not readily accessible, such grand occasions were typically covered extensively in contemporary media. These reports often highlighted the opulence of the ceremonies, the distinguished participants, and the elaborate displays of horsemanship and pageantry. The Carrousel would have been portrayed as a testament to the enduring legacy and cultural sophistication of the empire's nobility.
The 1863 event coincided with a moment of growing instability within the empire: nationalist unrest in its Slavic territories, tensions with Prussia, and anxiety over the very legitimacy of a sprawling, multiethnic monarchy. In this context, the carrousel served both as spectacle and as symbolic resistance—a gesture that looked backward, not because it was blind to modernity, but because it sought to reaffirm the old order’s claim to permanence, elegance, and authority.
Here is a list of the individuals named on the 1863 Carrousel goblet, along with their titles, associated noble houses, the century each house originated, and whether the house is extant today:
1. Archduke Albrecht of Austria (Albrecht Erzherzog von Österreich)
Title: Archduke of Austria
House: Habsburg-Lorraine
Origin Century: 13th century
Extant Today: Yes
2. Princess Auersperg-Colloredo (Fürstin Auersperg Colloredo)
Title: Princess
House: Auersperg (originated in the 12th century) and Colloredo (originated in the 14th century)
Extant Today: Yes
3. Archduke Ludwig Viktor of Austria (Ludwig Viktor Erzherzog von Österreich)
Title: Archduke of Austria
House: Habsburg-Lorraine
Origin Century: 13th century
Extant Today: Yes
4. Countess Buquoy von Oettingen-Wallerstein (Gräfin Buquoy von Oettingen-Wallerstein)
Title: Countess
House: Buquoy (originated in the 13th century) and Oettingen-Wallerstein (originated in the 12th century)
Extant Today: Yes
5. Archduke Wilhelm of Austria (Wilhelm Erzherzog von Österreich)
Title: Archduke of Austria
House: Habsburg-Lorraine
Origin Century: 13th century
Extant Today: Yes
6. Princess Hohenlohe-Trautmansdorff (Prinzessin Hohenlohe Trautmansdorff)
Title: Princess
House: Hohenlohe (originated in the 12th century) and Trautmansdorff (originated in the 14th century)
Extant Today: Yes
7. Archduke Leopold of Austria (Leopold Erzherzog von Österreich)
Title: Archduke of Austria
House: Habsburg-Lorraine
Origin Century: 13th century
Extant Today: Yes
8. Baroness Stauffenberg-Lobkowicz (Baronin Stauffenberg Lobkowicz)
Title: Baroness
House: Stauffenberg (originated in the 13th century) and Lobkowicz (originated in the 14th century)
Extant Today: Yes
9. Prince Kinsky (Fürst Kinsky)
Title: Prince
House: Kinsky (originated in the 13th century)
Extant Today: Yes
10. Countess Claudine Hohenstein (Gräfin Claudine Hohenstein)
Title: Countess
House: Hohenstein (originated in the 13th century)
Extant Today: No
11. Prince Vincenz Auersperg (Fürst Vincenz Auersperg)
Title: Prince
House: Auersperg (originated in the 12th century)
Extant Today: Yes
12. Countess Amalie Hohenstein (Gräfin Amalie Hohenstein)
Title: Countess
House: Hohenstein (originated in the 13th century)
Extant Today: No
13. Prince Lamoral Thurn und Taxis (Prinz Lamoral Thurn und Taxis)
Title: Prince
House: Thurn und Taxis (originated in the 12th century)
Extant Today: Yes
14. Princess Eleonore Schwarzenberg-Liechtenstein (Fürstin Eleonore Schwarzenberg Liechtenstein)
Title: Princess
House: Schwarzenberg (originated in the 12th century) and Liechtenstein (originated in the 12th century)
Extant Today: Yes
These individuals represent some of the most prominent noble families of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and its German counterparts in the mid-19th century.
Their participation in the 1863 Carrousel reflects the enduring significance of aristocratic traditions and the display of heraldic lineage during a period of societal transformation.
Several of the noble families whose coats of arms adorn the 1863 Carrousel Goblet continue to exist today, maintaining varying degrees of public presence, titles, and heritage management roles. Most prominent among them is the House of Habsburg-Lorraine, once the ruling dynasty of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Its current head is Karl von Habsburg (b. 1961), grandson of Emperor Charles I, the last sovereign of the empire before its dissolution in 1918. Karl is active in cultural heritage protection and European affairs, continuing his family’s tradition of transnational leadership—albeit in a different key.
The House of Auersperg, an ancient Slovenian-Austrian princely family dating to the 12th century, is also still extant. It is presently headed by Prince Franz Josef von Auersperg, and retains historic titles and cultural visibility. The House of Colloredo-Mannsfeld, with roots in the Italian nobility and a significant presence in Bohemia since the 17th century, is led today by Prince Hieronymus von Colloredo-Mannsfeld (b. 1949), known for stewarding his family’s Czech estates and supporting public cultural initiatives.
Likewise, the House of Oettingen-Wallerstein, which originated in Swabia in the Middle Ages, still maintains its status. Its current head, Prince Carl-Eugen, represents one of the few noble families in Germany to have retained substantial cultural holdings. The House of Hohenlohe-Langenburg, which dates to the 12th century, is led today by Prince Philipp (b. 1970), a descendant of Queen Victoria who represents a blend of German aristocracy and British royal connection.
The House of Stauffenberg, made famous by Claus von Stauffenberg and the failed 1944 plot to assassinate Hitler, continues under Count Franz Schenk von Stauffenberg. Though not princely, the family remains symbolically potent and engaged in public discourse. The House of Lobkowicz, one of Bohemia’s most storied dynasties, is now represented by William Lobkowicz, an American-born descendant who repatriated to the Czech Republic after the fall of Communism and actively manages several palaces and a world-class art collection.
Other families represented on the goblet include the House of Kinsky, still present in Austria and the Czech Republic, and the House of Schwarzenberg, whose current head Karl von Schwarzenberg (b. 1937) served as Czech Minister of Foreign Affairs and was a 2013 presidential candidate. The House of Liechtenstein, uniquely among them, remains a reigning dynasty: Hans-Adam II is the sovereign Prince of Liechtenstein, with his son, Hereditary Prince Alois, serving as regent since 2004.
Finally, the House of Thurn und Taxis, famed for its control of early European postal services, is led by Prince Albert II (b. 1983), a media-shy but active manager of the family's Bavarian holdings and cultural legacy.
Together, these surviving houses offer a glimpse into the long continuity of Europe’s hereditary elites—many of whom, though dethroned politically, continue to shape cultural memory, manage historical properties, and maintain symbolic importance in the post-monarchical world. The Carrousel Goblet thus not only commemorates a moment of 19th-century aristocratic pageantry but also serves as a heraldic echo chamber for dynasties that, in surprising ways, are still with us.
The 1863 Carrousel goblet, attributed to Anton Ambros Egermann of Haida (now Nový Bor, Czech Republic), is a striking example of Bohemian glass artistry.
Standing at 61.8 cm tall, this green glass goblet is adorned with multicolored enamel-painted coats of arms representing noble families from Germany and the Austro-Hungarian Empire, commemorating a ceremonial equestrian event known as a carrousel.
🏭 Maker and Place of Origin
Anton Ambros Egermann (1814–1888) was the son of Friedrich Egermann, a renowned glass technologist who pioneered techniques such as red staining and lithyalin glass. Operating in Haida, a prominent center for glass production in Bohemia, Anton continued his father's legacy, producing high-quality enamelled glassware.
Bohemia emerged as a major center of glass production by the 17th century, and its prominence only grew in the centuries that followed. Several factors explain this ascendancy. The region's abundant natural resources were key: forests provided wood to fire glass furnaces, while nearby deposits of quartz, silica, and potash furnished the essential materials for high-quality glassmaking. This ready access to materials allowed for the establishment of numerous glassworks in remote areas, especially in the mountainous northern districts.
Equally important was the tradition of skilled craftsmanship and innovation that took root in Bohemia. Unlike the closely guarded secrets of Venetian glassmakers, Bohemian artisans developed and shared a wide range of decorative techniques—engraving, enameling, staining, and cutting—that made their work highly sought after across Europe. Egermann himself was central to this culture of innovation, introducing new methods such as red staining and lithyalin, which gave Bohemian glass a distinctive identity apart from its Italian and French competitors.
Bohemia's inclusion in the Habsburg Empire also played a crucial role. Imperial patronage and access to elite courts gave Bohemian glassmakers a ready market, while the empire’s internal trade networks helped distribute their products widely. By the 19th century, towns such as Haida (now Nový Bor) had become synonymous with fine glass, and manufacturers there proved especially adept at responding to changing fashions. They produced everything from ornate luxury wares to more affordable items for the rising bourgeoisie, cementing Bohemia’s status as a glassmaking powerhouse—a legacy that endures in Czech glassmaking today.
️ Materials and Techniques
The goblet was crafted from green glass and decorated using vitreous enamel—a technique involving the application of finely ground colored glass mixed with a binder onto the glass surface.
After painting, the piece was fired at a temperature sufficient to fuse the enamel to the glass without deforming the vessel. This method allowed for vibrant, durable, and intricate multicolored designs, showcasing the technical prowess of Bohemian glassmakers.
This type of object falls under the category of "carrousel goblets," ceremonial glassware produced to commemorate aristocratic equestrian events. Such goblets were typically owned by the nobility and high-ranking individuals who participated in or were associated with these events, serving both as souvenirs and symbols of status within the courtly culture of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
In summary, the 1863 Carrousel goblet exemplifies the intersection of artistry, tradition, and social hierarchy, reflecting the opulence and ceremonial customs of 19th-century European nobility.
The exact number of surviving 1863 Carrousel goblets attributed to Anton Ambros Egermann is not definitively documented.
However, given their commemorative nature and the prominence of the event they celebrate, it's plausible that multiple examples were produced and distributed among the participating nobility.
These goblets, adorned with enamel-painted coats of arms of noble families from Germany and the Austro-Hungarian Empire, served both as souvenirs and symbols of status within the courtly culture of the time.
While specific counts are unavailable, such pieces occasionally appear in museum collections and auctions, indicating that several have been preserved over time.
Postscript: Color Origins in the Carrousel Goblet
The rich green hue of the goblet’s glass body is most likely the result of adding iron oxide to the glass mixture. In low concentrations, iron oxide produces pale blue-green tints; in higher concentrations or under reducing (low-oxygen) conditions in the furnace, it yields a deeper, bottle-green color. This was a traditional and widely used method in Central European glassmaking. Occasionally, small amounts of chromium oxide could be added for more vivid or stable greens, though this was less common before the late 19th century.
The vibrant enamel colors painted onto the surface of the goblet were created by mixing finely ground colored glass (called frit) with metal oxides and a binding medium. These enamels were applied cold and then fired at relatively low temperatures to fuse them to the glass without melting the base vessel. The specific hues were produced using different metal oxides:
Cobalt oxide → deep blue
Copper oxide → green to turquoise
Iron oxide → browns, yellows, and warm reds
Antimony or tin oxide → white (as an opacifier)
Lead-tin yellow → bright yellow
Gold chloride → ruby red (rare and costly)
Manganese dioxide → purples or amethyst tints
The resulting palette could be remarkably bright and durable, allowing artisans to depict complex heraldic imagery and courtly finery in lasting detail. These enamel pigments were a testament to the technical sophistication of Bohemian glassmakers and their ability to merge artistry with chemistry.
An enameled glass goblet differs significantly from stained glass in both technique and purpose, despite both involving the coloration of glass.
Enameled glass is created by painting the surface of a finished glass object with finely ground colored glass powders—called enamels—mixed with a liquid binder. This decorative layer is then fired at a relatively low temperature, allowing the enamel to fuse onto the glass without melting the vessel itself. The result is a vividly colored, often opaque or semi-opaque design that sits on the surface of the glass. This technique was especially popular in luxury tableware and presentation objects, such as the Carrousel goblet, where coats of arms and pictorial scenes could be rendered in precise detail.
In contrast, stained glass refers to colored glass made by adding metallic oxides directly into the molten glass during its formation. Each color is inherent to a separate piece of glass, which is later cut into shapes and assembled into a panel using strips of lead called cames. Artists could add painted details—such as facial features or folds of fabric—using grisaille or silver stain, and these were then kiln-fired to fix the design. Stained glass was primarily used for architectural purposes, especially in the windows of churches and palaces, and was designed to be viewed with light shining through it. The resulting effect is luminous and atmospheric, often narrative in content.
The two techniques also differ in how they interact with light and wear over time. Enameled glass is meant to be viewed by reflected light, and because the decoration sits on the surface, it can wear away with use or abrasion. Stained glass, on the other hand, is inherently colored throughout the material and is typically far more stable over centuries, provided it is protected from environmental damage.
In essence, enameled glass was meant for personal use and close inspection, often as an object of aristocratic display, while stained glass served a more public and spiritual function, casting colored light and visual storytelling into sacred or grand secular spaces.
This text is a collaboration with Chat GPT
A Highly Important Fragmentary Attic Red-figure Calyx Krater, Signed by Euphronios
Terracotta, Late Archaic, ca. 510 B.C.E.
Diameter 21 11/16 in. (55.1 cm.); Height 17 ¾ in. (45.1 cm.)
With torus foot in two degrees, flaring body rising from the rounded cul, and offset rim with torus lip; side A: painted with the death of Kyknos in battle with Herakles, an episode from The Shield of Herakles attributed in antiquity to Hesiod, the Hero advancing from the left and piercing the right thigh of the fallen Kyknos with his spear, the feet of Artemis (?) at left, the goddess Athena, his protectress, striding before him and aiming her spear at Ares, god of war and father of Kyknos, the god advancing and aiming his spear at Athena, the goddess Aphrodite behind him; Herakles holding the Boeotian shield on his left arm, and wearing a lion-skin painted in brown-wash, and short chiton underneath, a red baldric over his shoulder, his sheathed sword bound at his waist, lions on the scabbard, Kyknos lying with his left leg contorted beneath him and supporting himself on his shield, his right hand grasping the hilt of his partially-unsheathed sword, his clenched teeth bared and eyes rolled up in agony, and wearing greaves, chiton, finely-detailed corselet with lions decorating the shoulder flaps, and Corinthian helmet with transverse crest, his long wavy beard and hair filled in with brown-wash, Athena clad in a long chiton, aegis with gorgoneion on the chest and serpents on the border, and Attic helmet with crenlulation at the base of the crest, Ares holding a Boeotian shield emblazoned with a gorgon head between two lions, and wearing greaves, chiton, corselet, and Corinthian helmet, Aphrodite clad in a chiton, himation with crenulated border, and red snake bracelet and diadem, Athena, Kyknos, Ares, and Aphrodite each identified by an adjacent inscription, an inscription translating Leagros is Beautiful between the legs of Herakles, the signature of Euphronios, Euphronios painted (this), between the heads of Athena and Ares; side B: fragments of a scene with athletes in the palaestra, from left a figure holding a pick, the foot of another figure, a youth playing an aulos, an athlete tightening the cords of his javelin, and the hand of another figure with javelin; tongues above the foot, the cul on Side A ornamented with a chain of festooned lotus blossoms and palmettes, and on Side B with palmettes facing right, palmette octofoils in the handle zones, palmettes linked by tendrils encircling the rim, the hair of Athena and Herkales rendered with raised dots, other details in red and brown wash.
This calyx krater, in grandeur of form, style, and subject, relates closely to the two relatively complete examples signed by Euphronios in the Louvre and The Metropolitan Museum of Art, the first painted with the combat between Herakles and Antaios, the second with the death of Sarpedon, a subject which he repeats, later in the narrative, on the kylix once in the Nelson Bunker Hunt collection. Among his other greatest works are the calyx krater in Berlin with revelers, the volute krater in Arezzo with Herakles fighting Amazons, and the cup in the Getty Museum with Ajax carrying the body of the dead Achilles.
It is highly unfortunate that the famed Euphronios krater was restituted to the Italian Republic where it will be seen by basically nobody. Perhaps the most famous work of Greek vase painting is now imprisoned in the Villa Giulia in Rome where no pictures are allowed and very few tourists visit. The Euphronios krater will now be lost to the art-loving population - it's best home was most certainly the Metropolitan Museum of Art but that has now been ruined by the "politically correct." Thankfully the Met was able to bring to enough of the art-loving population of the world - now it is a mere afterthought.
The Collection of Nelson Bunker Hunt, #5
Theophilus Crater is just over 68 miles (110km) in diameter, and 16,400 feet deep, 5000 meters (as per Kaguya data). The illuminated curved escarpment/cliff underneath the trio of craters is Rupes Altai and extends for approximately 298 miles (480 km) and forms the southern rim of the Nectaris Basin. The crater at the end of the escarpment is Piccolomini. (at the lower right edge of the image). Mare Nectaris is the larger smooth area along the right side of the image, and the 'horseshoe-shaped' crater on the southern end is Fracastorius.
Notice the "spider" feature inside of Catharina?
The estimated distance from top to bottom of the field of view is 550 miles (885 km)
This image is the best 25% of 3000 frames processed with Autostakkert. Registax 6 for wavelets, and Photoshop CC 2015 for final processing. Click on image to view in large format.
Telescope=Celestron CPC800 XLT
Camera=ASI120MC-S (no Barlow)
31 fps @ 1280 x 960 ROI, shutter 7.814ms.
Kaguya Flyover of Rupes Altai and Theophilus - www.youtube.com/watch?v=dJA-U6ICXeY
One of the largest necropolises in the world, with a diameter of approximately 8 kilometers, Makli Hill is supposed to be the burial place of some 125,000 Sufi saints. It is located on the outskirts of Thatta, the capital of lower Sind until the seventeenth century, in what is the southeastern province of present-day Pakistan.
Legends abound about its inception, but it is generally believed that the cemetery grew around the shrine of the fourteenth-century Sufi, Hamad Jamali. The tombs and gravestones spread over the cemetery are material documents marking the social and political history of Sind.
Imperial mausoleums are divided into two major groups, those from the Samma (1352–1520) and Tarkhan (1556–1592) periods. The tomb of the Samma king, Jam Nizam al-Din (reigned 1461–1509), is an impressive square structure built of sandstone and decorated with floral and geometric medallions. Similar to this is the mausoleum of Isa Khan Tarkhan II (d. 1651), a two-story stone building with majestic cupolas and balconies. In contrast to the syncretic architecture of these two monuments, which integrate Hindu and Islamic motifs, are mausoleums that clearly show the Central Asian roots of the later dynasty. An example is the tomb of Jan Beg Tarkhan (d. 1600), a typical octagonal brick structure whose dome is covered in blue and turquoise glazed tiles. Today, Makli Hill is a United Nations World Heritage Site that is visited by both pilgrims and tourists.
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Photographed in Algonquin Provincial Park, Ontario, Canada
The gossamer beauty of this supernova remnant is difficult to observe visually, but the camera sensor and a long exposure reveal the extent and colours of this famous object in the northern hemisphere summer sky.
From Wikipedia: "The Veil Nebula is a cloud of heated and ionized gas and dust in the constellation Cygnus. It constitutes the visible portions of the Cygnus Loop (radio source W78, or Sharpless 103), a large but relatively faint supernova remnant. The source supernova exploded some 5,000 to 8,000 years ago, and the remnants have since expanded to cover an area roughly 3 degrees in diameter (about 6 times the diameter, or 36 times the area, of the full moon). The distance to the nebula is not precisely known, but Far Ultraviolet Spectroscopic Explorer (FUSE) data supports a distance of about 1,470 light-years."
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Nikon D800 modified (red blocking filter removed) camera body on Stellarvue 102 mm (4") apochromatic refracting telescope:
www.stellarvue.com/stellarvue-svr102t-25sv-top-rated-4-ap...
This is what the equipment set-up looks like:
www.flickr.com/photos/97587627@N06/15210693339/in/set-721...
Hand guided, fifteen stacked frames, each one: ISO 5000, ~2 min. exposure at f/8 (with LENR - long exposure noise reduction)
Stacked in Registar; processed in Photoshop CS6
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High Roller is a 550-foot tall (167.6 m), 520-foot (158.5 m) diameter giant Ferris wheel on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada, US.
It opened to the public on March 31, 2014, and is the world's tallest Ferris wheel. It is 9 ft (2.7 m) taller than its predecessor, the 541-foot (165 m) Singapore Flyer, which held the record since it opened in 2008.
High Roller was announced in August 2011 as the centerpiece of Caesars Entertainment Corporation's $550 million The LINQ. Arup Engineering, which previously consulted on the Singapore Flyer, acted as the structural engineer.
The wheel rotates on a pair of custom-designed spherical roller bearings, each weighing approximately 19,400 lb (8,800 kg). Each bearing has an outer diameter of 7.55 feet (2.30 m), an inner bore of 5.25 feet (1.60 m), and a width of 2.07 feet (0.63 m).
The outer rim comprises 28 sections, each 56 feet (17 m) long, which were temporarily held in place during construction by a pair of 275-foot (84 m) radial struts, prior to being permanently secured by four cables.
The passenger cabins (or capsules) are mounted on the wheel's outboard rim and are individually rotated by electric motors to smoothly maintain a horizontal cabin floor throughout each full rotation. Preliminary designs anticipated 32 passenger cabins, each with a 40 passenger capacity—with the final design accommodating 28 40-person cabins and a total capacity of 1,120 passengers.
Each 225-square-foot (20.9 m2) cabin weighs approximately 44,000 pounds (20,000 kg), has a diameter of 22 feet (6.7 m), includes 300 square feet (28 m2) of glass, and is equipped with eight flat-screen televisions and an iPod dock.
At night the wheel is illuminated by a 2,000-LED system which can display a single solid color, differently colored sections, multiple colors moving around the rim, and custom displays for special events and holidays.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_Roller_(Ferris_wheel)
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Text_of_Creative_Commons_...
Object Details: Subject: M5 is a globular star cluster consisting of between 100,000 and 500,000 stars. With a diameter of about 165 light-years, it lies 24,500 light-years from Earth. Being approximately 12 billion years old it is one of the oldest globular clusters in the Milky Way (and also one of the largest). Located in the constellation of Serpens Caput, at magnitude 5.7, it is actually faintly visible to the naked eye under ideal conditions and is easily visible in binoculars in even reasonably dark skies.
Image Details: The attached is a relatively short stack of 25 one-minute exposures at ISO1600. The data was taken on the evenings of May 13 & 14, 2021 by Jay Edwards at the HomCav Observatory in Maine, NY using an 8-inch, f/7 Criterion newtonian reflector (which having been manufactured on May 14, 1970 celebrated it's 51st year of service that day). Connected to an unmodded Canon 700D (t5i) at prime focus, the camera was controlled by AstroPhotographyTool (APT).
Since I tend to shoot simultaneously using twin unmodded Canon 700D (t5i) DSLRs, I also took wide-field images using an 80mm f/6 carbon-fiber triplet apochromatic refractor (i.e. an Orion ED80T CF) connected to a Televue 0.8X field flattener / focal reducer and a twin identical unmodded Canon 700D; but have yet to examine those, nor the shots of M5 I took with both optical systems later each of those two evenings.
The 80mm was piggybacked on the 8-inch, along with an 80MM f/5 Celestron 'short-tube' doublet (for guiding) as well as a few other items (e.g. a CCD & wide-field camera lens, etc.). These optics were tracked using a Losmandy G-11 mount running a Gemini 2 control system and guided using PHD2 to control a ZWO ASI290MC planetary camera / auto-guider in the afore-mentioned 80mm doublet.
Processed using a combination of PixInsight and PaintShopPro, as presented here the image is nearly 'full frame', having only had the edges cropped slightly & it's vertical edges cropped to match an HD format. It was then re-sized down to HD resolution and the bit depth was lowered to 8 bits per channel.
Given the relatively short 25 minute exposure, I was fairly pleased with the result and am looking forward to seeing what the wide-field images may show, as well as the wide-field M3 shots I was lucky to catch those same evenings (a shot of M3 through the 8-inch taken those same evenings can be found at the link attached here -
www.flickr.com/photos/homcavobservatory/51200369117/
Although the majority of the stars in M5 formed about 12 billion years ago (by comparison our Sun is 'only' 5 billion years old), and given the fact that more massive stars consume their fuel at a much faster rate and therefore die out relatively quickly ending their lives in massive supernova explosions, this should have left M5 with only old low-mass stars. However the detection of a population of younger stars known as 'blue stragglers' indicates that they are a result of interactions such as stellar collisions - talk about spectacular fireworks ! ;)
Wishing all my fellow Americans a Happy Fourth Of July !!!
With a diameter of about 60,000 light-years, the Triangulum galaxy is the third largest member of the Local Group of galaxies. It may be a gravitationally bound companion of the Andromeda Galaxy. Triangulum may be home to 40 billion stars, compared to 400 billion for the Milky Way, and 1 trillion stars for Andromeda. The Triangulum Galaxy is a spiral galaxy approximately 3 million light-years from Earth in the constellation Triangulum. It is catalogued as Messier 33 or NGC 598, and is sometimes informally referred to as the Pinwheel Galaxy, a nickname it shares with Messier 101. The Triangulum Galaxy is the third-largest member of the Local Group of galaxies, which includes the Milky Way, the Andromeda Galaxy and about 44 other smaller galaxies. It is one of the most distant permanent objects that can be viewed with the naked eye.
The galaxy is the smallest spiral galaxy in the Local Group and it is believed to be a satellite of the Andromeda Galaxy due to their interactions, velocities and proximity to one another in the night sky.00 billion for the Milky Way, and 1 trillion stars for Andromeda.
The disk of Triangulum has an estimated mass of (3-6) × 109 solar masses, while the gas component is about 3.2 × 109 solar masses. Thus the combined mass of all baryonic matter in the galaxy may be 1010 solar masses. The contribution of the dark matter component out to a radius of 55×103 ly (17 kpc) is equivalent to about 5 × 1010 solar masses.[Wikipedia]
18 x 8 minute exposures at 400 ISO
7 x dark frames
9 x flat frames
21 x bias/offset frames (subtracted from flat frames only)
Guided with PHD
Processed in Nebulosity and Photoshop
Equipment
Celestron NexStar 127 SLT
GoTo AltAz mount with homemade wedge
Orion 50mm Mini Guide Scope
Wishing you all a good day!!
Can anyone ID this tiny flower (0,5cm diameter / found between the grass in my backyard)
"In my secret garden, I'm looking for the perfect flower
Waiting for my finest hour
In my secret garden, I still believe after all
I still believe and I fall
You plant the seed and I'll watch it grow
I wonder when I'll start to show
I wonder if I'll ever know
Where my place is
Where my face is
I know it's in here somewhere
I just wish I knew the color of my hair
I know the answer's hiding somewhere
In my secret garden, there's
Chorus:
A petal that isn't torn
A heart that will not harden
A place that I can be born
In my secret garden
A rose without a thorn
A lover without scorn
If I wait for the rain to kiss me and undress me
Will I look like a fool, wet and a mess
Will I still be thirsty
Will I pass the test
And if I look for the rainbow, will I see it
Or will it pass right by
'Cause I'm not supposed to see
'Cause the blind are never free
Even at my secret garden
There's a chance that I could harden
That's why I'll keep on looking, for
(chorus)
I still believe, I still believe
'Cause after all is said and done
I'm still alive
And the boots have come and trampled on me
And I'm still alive
'Cause the sun has kissed me, and caressed me
And I'm strong, and there's a chance
That I will grow, this I know
So I'm still looking for
chorus
Somewhere in fountain blue
Lies my secret garden"
Madonna
Secret Garden
Staggered fitment with reverse staggered diameter.
wheels:
Front: 19x11" ET38
Rear: 18x12.5" ET52
Tires:
Front: 285/30ZR-19 Continental ExtremeContact Sport XL
Rear: 335/30R-18 Toyo Proxes R888R SL
Cropton Castle consists of a much reduced motte (2) 20ft high x 50yds diameter (3) with a triangular bailey covering some three acres to the east (4). Mentioned in 1334 but ruinous by 1349. Within the bailey are well-defined foundation mounds of domestic buildings including a rectangular great hall with smaller apartments at each end (2) probably erected c1290-95 (4). (2-4)
As described. Published Survey (25") Revised. (5)
SE 7550 8929. Cropton Hall Garth: a motte and bailey castle including later medieval manor house, a medieval trackway and a pond. Scheduled RSM Number 20528. (6)
Listed by Cathcart King. (7)
This timber motte and bailey castle was built in the late 1080s or early 1090s by Robert de Stuteville. In circa 1290-5 it was replaced by the manor house. The latter continued to be inhabited until at least the 1600s, but the date of its abandonent for a plot within the village, is unknown.
The motte was erected on the tip of a spur; the circuit of its ditch was seemingly never completed and reliance for defence was instead placed on the steep natural scarps of the promontory and on the earthworks of the surrounding bailey. The soil for raising the motte must therefore have been derived from the defensive landscaping of the promontory to make the bailey, and this therefore presumes that the work on the two went hand in hand.
The whole of the promontory was evidently considered too large an area to defend, so its southern part was omitted from the bailey circuit and instead the edge of the bailey followed a more gentle scarp a little to the north. The main defensive element in the bailey circuit involved the artificial steepening of the natural slopes by cutting them back. An indentation (`A' on the survey) on its south side may indicate a change of plan. The natural defensive position meant that only part of the bailey was provided with an internal bank and external ditch. The entrance appears to have been on the east side, (C,D) but has been obscured by a later building platform.
The construction of the manor house clearly rendered the motte obsolete. This L-shaped building was positioned on an artificially raised platform which partly filled the old motte ditch; one larger room was presumably the hall. Other building sites within the bailey (H,J) and on is perimeter (E,F,G) may belong to this phase.
On abandonment, the manor house was robbed and the area reverted to pasture. Several small banks (P,R,L,M) overlying the ruinous building appear to have divided the promontory up into small compounds, possibly for stock.
The church, a chapel of ease until 1844, probably overlies the castle chapel. Incoherent undulations in the churchyard may suggest that the mediaeval village of Cropton once extended right up to the castle. (8)
Smith & Wesson 686 38 Special/357 Magnum with HK speed loaders throw shadows like tombstones.
Taken from Ammo.com:
The .357 Magnum – the first and most popular handgun magnum caliber – is a rimmed centerfire cartridge that has proven itself through more than 85 years of use by law enforcement and shooting enthusiasts throughout the United States and beyond.
Also referred to as the .357 S&W Magnum or the 9x33mmR, .357 Mag ammo features a .357 inch (9.1mm) diameter bullet in a casing that measures 1.29 inches in length. Together, the total length of the .357 Mag cartridge measures 1.59 inches. It’s loaded to a maximum pressure of 35,000 psi and has an average velocity of 1,090 feet per second (fps).
Today, .357 Magnum ammo is one of the world’s most popular high-velocity handgun cartridges. It offers shooters a flat trajectory, deep penetration, and superior knockdown power, making it effective for police forces, hunters, and target shooters.
Development of the .357 Magnum Bullet
According to Cartridges of the World, the .357 Magnum cartridge was developed in 1935, as an improvement to the .38 Special. It resulted from of a collaboration between the legendary Elmer Keith, gun writer Phil Sharpe, D.B. Wesson of Smith & Wesson, and Winchester firearms.
The need for a stronger handgun cartridge arose after World War I, when law enforcement needed ammunition that could penetrate vehicles and the newly emerging ballistic vests. Bootlegging was rampant during this time period, as was gangster activity, and police needed an efficient and effective way to fight against them.
The .38 Special, which was the common caliber carried by law enforcement and special forces at the time, was powerful, but barely reached the necessary velocity of 1,000 fps that was needed to get through vests and car doors.
The idea to elaborate on the .38 Special cartridge came from Keith, who was an avid gun enthusiast, loading experimenter, and handgun hunter. He’d been loading .38 Special ammo to a higher pressure and was involved in the creation of revolvers like the Smith & Wesson .38-44 Outdoorsman. These were heavy-framed .44 caliber frames, bored for the .38 Special.
These strong frames could withstand more power and pressure than those designed for the standard .38 Special and could handle the bigger bang. Based on this idea, the team started with the .38 and set out to make something bigger and better.
Design of the .357 Magnum
The final rendition of S&W and Winchester’s .357 Magnum bullets took the .38 Special casing and extended it by one-eighth. They kept the same .357 diameter bullet (the actual bullet size of the .38 Special) and packed a little more powder at a slightly higher pressure into the 357 shells.
This casing extension didn’t just give its creators more space for powder, it also made the .357 rounds impossible to fit into firearms chambered for the .38 Special, which most likely couldn’t withstand the power of firing the bullet.
The first cartridge held a 158 grain (gr) bullet and shot the semi-wadcutter load at over 1,500 fps out of a larger N-frame revolver with a 8 ⅜ inch barrel. To further test the .357 Magnum rounds and firearm, which would eventually become the S&W Model 27, Wesson took the revolver and ammo on a big game hunt in Wyoming during the fall of 1935. Proving the effectiveness of the cartridge, Wesson harvested antelope, moose, elk, and even a grizzly bear with the new firearm and cartridge.
The .357 Magnum revolver went into production and the first one to leave the factory with the serial number one, was given to J. Edgar Hoover. After its release, the .357 Mag spent 20 years with the title of the world’s most powerful handgun cartridge.
Uses for the .357 Magnum
After its initial production, the .357 Magnum proved itself a worthwhile cartridge. U.S. military personnel used this caliber from World War II through Vietnam. General George S. Patton, one particularly famous .357 Magnum shooter, carried two revolvers, one an ivory handled (not pearl) S&W .357 Magnum and the other an ivory handled single action .45 Long Colt.
For years, revolvers chambered for the .357 Magnum sat on the hips of police officers, security guards, and some of the U.S.’s special forces. Even today, decades after classic revolvers were replaced with semi-automatic pistols, short barreled .357 Mag revolvers still offer backup support to those who protect and serve.
The .357 Mag cartridge also become popular for hunting, silhouette shooting, and self defense, both against human perpetrators and dangerous game (if in the area of the largest predators, such as grizzlies, many suggest opting for a magnum cartridge of a larger caliber, such as the .44 Magnum, .41 Magnum, or .500 S&W, but with practice and accuracy, a .357 Mag can help).
Due to its aforementioned versatility, the .357 Magnum provides a full range of applications and offers just about everything a handgun owner needs for target shooting, protection, and hunting. Because of this, if someone wants to only own one firearm, many recommend it be a .357 Magnum revolver.
The .357 Magnum Revolver
Since its conception, a plethora of revolvers have been built to accommodate the .357 Magnum cartridge and a high demand for these firearms remains today. Not only do all major ammunition manufacturers produce .357 Magnum ammo, but all major firearms manufacturers also produce a weapon for this common caliber.
Over the last two to three decades, revolvers – as a whole – have fallen in popularity when compared to semi-automatics. Yet many would argue that revolvers are not only a viable option for most handgun needs, but they’re also better suited than semi-automatics.
Revolvers tend to be more resilient than semi-automatics and can often withstand rain, snow, sand, and neglect. They’re reliable firearms, less finicky than magazine-fed pistols and much less likely to misfire. And with fewer components and moving parts, revolvers are easier to clean and maintenance.
Combine these benefits with the power, trajectory, and accuracy of .357 Magnum ammunition, and it becomes evident why this cartridge and the firearms chambered for it are an American favorite.
Here are some of the most popular and best performing .357 Magnum revolvers made since the cartridge first hit the market.
Smith & Wesson Model 27: Smith & Wesson’s first revolver chambered for the .357 Mag would eventually become known as the Model 27. Designed on the N-frame, this classic piece features a six-shot wheel, four-inch barrel, and carbon steel frame with a blue finish.
Colt Python: Often referred to as one of the finest made revolvers in history, the Colt Python was marketed as a premium-grade on its release in 1955, and is still considered a premium firearm today. This iconic six-shot revolver is ergonomic and accurate, and came in multiple barrel lengths. Since Colt ceased production of the Python, the price of these .357 Mag revolvers have soared.
Smith & Wesson Model 19: Called the “answer to policemen's prayers,” the S&W Model 19 is a double action, six-shot wheelgun that started being produced in the 1950s. Designed on a K-frame, the Model 19 was lighter and more ergonomic than the Model 27, and S&W offered it in multiple sized barrels – from two and one-half to six inches. First called the Combat Magnum, the Model 19 was so popular, the revolver remained in production for 45 years (S&W ceased its manufacturing in 1999).
Ruger Blackhawk: The Ruger Blackhawk was first released in 1955, and this popular .357 Magnum revolver is still in production today. With a six-shot cylinder, this cowboy-style revolver is extremely customizable and affordable. Today, Ruger claims it as the most-advanced single action wheelgun ever made.
Taurus Model 608: For those who are looking for more than a six-shooter, the Taurus Model 608 is a .357 Magnum revolver with an eight-round cylinder and six and one-half inch barrel. This firearm features amazing accuracy, reduced muzzle flip, and the Taurus Security System that makes the revolver unable to fire without its key.
Chiappa Rhino 40DS: Modern and unconventional looking, the Chiappa Rhino 40DS features a four-inch barrel and options for both single and double action firing. This .357 Magnum revolver’s unique design and low bore axis give its shooter less recoil and muzzle flip. Combined with its adjustable fiber optic sites, it is the 21st-century’s revolver.
Charter Arms Mag Pug: For those looking for a .357 Magnum revolver for a concealed carry weapon, the Charter Arms Mag Pug provides a big bang in a little package. With a five-shot cylinder and just over a two-inch barrel, this compact .357 Mag wheelgun is truly compact. Made from stainless steel, it still features a full-sized grip, allowing its shooter comfort and control.
Ruger GP100 Match Champion: Competition shooters can find a favorite with the Ruger GP100 Match Champion. This .357 Magnum revolver is known for its simplicity and strength. WIth a triple-locking contoured six-shot cylinder, this revolver has competitive-level accuracy and fiber optic sites.
.357 Magnum Ammo Types
The .357 Magnum cartridge comes in a variety of types for different needs and goals. Some of the most common include:
Full metal jacket (FMJ): FMJ ammo features a lead bullet jacketed in a harder metal to help the bullet hold its shape.
Jacketed hollow point (JHP): JHP bullets feature a hollow point within the lead that causes the bullet to expand on impact.
Total metal jacket (TMJ): The TMJ bullet limits lead exposure, as the bullet is completely encased in a harder metal (where the FMJ has some exposed lead at the bottom of the bullet, inside the casing).
Soft point (SP): SP ammo uses a softer lead, which causes a slower expansion and deeper penetration. These cartridges are often used in handgun hunting.
Shooting a .38 Special vs. 357 Mag
Because the .357 Magnum and the .38 Special have the same size bullet and casing diameter, a handgun chambered to shoot a .357 Magnum cartridge can shoot a .38 Special. Yet a gun chambered for the .38 Special can’t shoot a .357 Magnum (and most won’t accept the .357 Mag, as it’s too long).
Using .38 Special ammo in a .357 Magnum revolver can bring a range of benefits. With less powder and pressure, the .38 Special cartridge reduces recoil and muzzle flip, making it easier to handle, especially for small-framed shooters or those with limited experience. The .38 Special rounds also tend to be less expensive than the more powerful 357 rounds, which may mean shooters practice more regularly.
Are There .357 Magnum Semi-Autos and Rifles?
The .357 Magnum is mostly found in revolvers, however, other firearm are chambered to this caliber. Marlin, Henry, and others have manufactured lever action rifles for the .357 Magnum, and Ruger introduced a bolt action rifle chambered for the cartridge as well.
Israeli Military Industries and Coonan have made semi-automatic pistols that fire the .357 Magnum, but these magazine-fed pistols haven’t gained in popularity for a few reasons. Due to the size of the cartridge, these pistols have a rather large grip that’s uncomfortable for many shooters. What’s more, the development of the 10mm resolved the need for a bigger, more powerful semi-auto round.
Although the .357 Magnum is now less popular among law enforcement agencies due to the advantages in performance and capacity offered by semi-automatic pistols, it’s still a valid hunting, self-defense, and plinking caliber. And with a wide range of .357 Magnum ammunition made by popular ammo companies like Hornady, Federal, and Magtech – all of which offer competitive 357 Magnum ammo prices – this cartridge is by no means obsolete. It’s versatile and can be shot in many firearms, ensuring that the first Magnum will continue to be one of the most popular on the market.
FAQ
What is 357 Magnum ammo?
When discussing ammo, .357 Magnum refers to a rimmed centerfire cartridge that is one of the most popular high-velocity handgun cartridges in the world. It was the first magnum caliber manufactured and has been used for over 85 years in law enforcement and for self defense, hunters, target shooters, and backyard plinkers.
What is the best .357 Magnum ammo?
The best .357 Mag ammo depends on the shooter’s specific needs. For range shooting, many opt for a full metal jacket (FMJ) round. These cartridges can be purchased in bulk, which makes them some of the cheapest .357 ammo available. For those interested in self defense, law enforcement, or even hunting, many recommend jacketed hollow points (JHP), which expand on impact, creating more stopping power and reducing the risk of overpenetration. Reputable brands that manufacture .357 Mag ammo include Hornady, Fiocchi, and Federal, among others.
What is the difference between 357 SIG and 357 Magnum ammo?
The .357 SIG was designed to mimic the .357 Mag stopping power and velocity and make it available in a magazine-fed, semi-automatic pistol, as the .357 Mag is considered a revolver round. The .357 Mag bullet is .002 inch longer in diameter than the SIG and when it comes to projectiles of the same weight and type, the Mag has slightly better performance. For instance, with a 125 grain FMJ bullet, the .357 Mag reaches a velocity of 1,450 fps and an energy force of 583 ft·lbs, while the .357 SIG reaches a velocity of 1,350 fps and a force of 506 ft·lbs.
What ammo is best for self-defense - 357 Magnum or 38 Special?
When it comes to self defense, both the .357 Mag and the .38 Special have plenty of benefits. These calibers share the same projectile diameter and .38 Special rounds can even be fired out of revolvers made for the .357 Mag. While that may make the Magnum the choice for many, the .38 Special does have benefits. The round is easier to handle, with less recoil and muzzle lift, making it a great option for female shooters, seniors, and those new to carrying concealed. Another benefit of the .38 Special is that the firearms chambered for the .38 Special are smaller and easier to conceal, as well as more manageable to fire then the .357 Mag.
Which is bigger - 9mm or 357 Magnum ammo?
When comparing the two ammunitions, the .357 Magnum is larger than the 9mm Parabellum. The .357 has a projectile with a slightly larger diameter than the 9mm (.357 inch vs .355 inch in the 9mm) and the overall total cartridge length is also bigger (1.59 inch vs. 1.169 inch). The .357 Mag reaches a higher velocity and has significantly more muzzle energy.
Which is more powerful - 357 Magnum or 45 ACP ammo?
The .357 Magnum is a more powerful round than the .45 ACP. The Magnum cartridge has an average velocity of 1,450 feet per second (fps), while the .45 Auto reaches an average velocity of 960 fps. The .357 Mag also reaches higher muzzle energy than the .45: 583 ft·lbs for the Magnum and 471 for the ACP.
357 Magnum Ballistics: Chart of Average 357 Magnum Ballistics
When it comes to ballistics, .357 Magnum ammo has some significant stats. It has double the velocity and three times the energy of the standard .38 Special cartridge. It also features a flat trajectory, deep penetration, and strong knockdown power.
According to ballistic specialists Ed Sanow and Evan Marshall, most factory jacketed hollow point (JHP) cartridges with a 125 gr bullet have 96 percent one-shot stops.
Note: This information comes from the manufacturer and is for informational purposes only. The actual ballistics obtained with your firearm can vary considerably from the advertised ballistics. Also, ballistics can vary from lot to lot with the same brand and type load.
357 Magnum Bullet WEIGHT
Muzzle VELOCITY (fps)
Muzzle ENERGY (ft. lbs.)
Mid-Range TRAJECTORY (in.)
Barrel Length (in.)
105 Grain
1650
n/a
n/a
n/a
385
n/a
n/a
n/a
n/a
110 Grain
1295
1095
975
410
290
230
0.8
3.5
4-V
125 Grain Medium Velocity
1220
1075
985
415
315
270
0.8
3.7
4-V
125 Grain JHP
1409
n/a
n/a
551
n/a
n/a
n/a
n/a
n/a
125 Grain
1450
1240
1090
585
425
330
0.6
2.8
4-V
125 Grain
1500
1312
1163
624
478
376
n/a
n/a
8"
125 Grain JHP
1600
n/a
n/a
771
n/a
n/a
n/a
n/a
n/a
140 Grain Multi-Ball
1155
830
665
420
215
135
1.2
6.4
4-V
140 Grain
1360
1195
1075
575
445
360
0.7
3
4-V
140 Grain FlexTip
1440
1274
1143
644
504
406
n/a
n/a
n/a
145 Grain
1290
1155
1060
535
430
360
0.8
3.5
4-V
150 Grain
1235
1105
1015
535
430
360
0.8
3.5
4-V
158 Grain
1235
1105
1015
535
430
360
0.8
3.5
4-V
158 Grain Cowboy
800
761
725
225
203
185
n/a
n/a
n/a
158 Grain JHP
1350
n/a
n/a
640
n/a
n/a
n/a
n/a
n/a
158 Grain Remington Maximum
1825
1590
1380
1170
885
670
0.4
1.7
10.5"
165 Grain
1290
1189
1108
610
518
450
0.7
3.1
8-3/8"
180 Grain
1145
1055
985
525
445
390
0.9
3.9
4-V
180 Grain
1180
1088
1020
557
473
416
0.8
3.6
8-V
180 Grain CorBon F.A.
1650
1512
1386
1088
913
767
1.66
0
n/a
200 Grain
1200
1123
1061
640
560
500
3.19
0
n/a
The “Coalsack Loop” is a 10 degree diameter ring of visible emission nebulosity centred on the Coal Sack dark cloud, which is seen in projection against the Loop’s centre. It was discovered only in 1998, and is very very faint and very rarely imaged
This image is a 12 panel mosaic- each panel consisting of an integration of 10 ten minute sub-exposures, or 100 minutes per panel
Total integration therefore represents 20 hours of data
For the full resolution image which allows panning and zooming in visit
www.gigapan.com/gigapans/230026#detail-sharegigapan.com/gigapans/230026#detail-share
Equipment
EQ6/ RedCat 51/Baader 7nm H alpha filter/QHY 183 MM
Software
NINA/ AstroPixel Processor/Photoshop CS6/ GraXpert/NoiseXterminator/Topaz AI/Starnet ++ v2/ Planning in Telescopius
Conditions
I started this project on May 6 but the weather has been so bad that i was able to only complete acquisition of 12 panels by mid July.
as a result data was collected under a wide range of conditions -moon, seeing and even light cloud, making processing a challenge
Processing notes
Stacked each pane separately as normal and then constructed a mosaic using the following settings:
Registration :
Mosaic
Scale stop : 15
Dynamic Distortion : ON
Normal Registration
Normalisation :
Advanced
Neutralise background : ON
Integration:
LNC 4 degrees , three iterations
MBB 20 %
used Graxpert for tackling gradients
both NoiseXpert and Topaz AI for noise reduction
starnet++ for star removal prior to processing the nebula
Blue stripes along the entire length, large diameter headlights :no doubt, it is a Dauphine 1093 sports version of this most sought after car from Billancourt. In addition, it comes from the collection of an unmitigated enthusiast of the Renault brand, Michel Hommell. After racing in the R8 Gordini Cup in the 1960s, he became the editor and publisher of well-known French automotive titles such as Échappement, Auto Hebdo and Auto Passion. Meanwhile, his passion for cars and old buildings led him to create the Manoir de l'Automobile, in the village of Lohéac, which houses a fine museum of automotive jewels.
Michel Hommell bought this 1093, which had been registered in Paris since 1982, in 1984, The car has undergone a complete refurbishment in the museum's workshop. Mechanicals benefited from special care including a crankshaft adjustment and a bearings replacement. It also features all specific accessories of the 1093 engine. The original gearbox has been changed to a four-speed transmission from the export version, and the cabin is fully compliant with the specifications of 1093, with a black dashboard for the 1963 model year, houndstooth and brown leatherette seats upholstery, a tachometer in place of the storage compartment left of the steering wheel... As car has hardly been used since its restoration, it will need a careful break-in before making the most of its qualities. In a very good condition, this car is today what an enthusiast could buy at that time at an authorized dealership.
Sale Retromobile 2016 by Artcurial Motorcars
5 Février 2016
Estimation € 30.000 - 40.000
Sold for € 42.912
Salon Retromobile 2016
Paris Expo - Porte de Versailles
Paris - France
Februari 2016
She is finally ready to fly. I think the fins are pretty bulletproof with the various epoxies and carbon-fiber overlap from fin tip-to-tip.
In the other hand is a new CTI motor case for the N1100 I plan to launch this weekend at BALLS. Assembling the off-center grains will take a bit of work for this one. It all goes well, it will burn for a long 12.5 seconds, taking the rocket supersonic as it climbs a vertical 5 miles.
The tubes look similar in size as the rocket is minimum diameter, which is essential for high-altitude performance.
I will be testing a new avionics package from G-Wiz. The flight computers, GPS and radio are integrated so that the setup of the rocket avionics, confirmation of GPS-lock, and real-time GPS downlink all connect to the Mac at the flight line. So no listening for beeps and chirps at the pad. And my son is excited to manage the base station where we’ll see the rocket as it flies overlaid on the satellite imagery of the launch area. And if all goes well, finding the rocket should be a breeze as we’ll have its GPS coordinates.
All-carbon rocket with aluminum tip on the Von Karman nose. Lettering from Stickershock23.
And I may try to strap on a small video-cam that will rip off during the climb and return by its own small chute.
+++ DISCLAIMER +++
Nothing you see here is real, even though the conversion or the presented background story might be based on historical facts. BEWARE!
Some background:
The Messerschmitt Me 262 F was a series of multi-purpose jet planes designed by Messerschmitt for the Luftwaffe that entered service during the final phase of the Second World War in Europe. The aircraft’s design was begun in the summer of 1943 under the project handle P.1099, intended as an improvement to the successful Messerschmitt Me 262 jet fighter and also as a replacement for the Arado Ar 234 bomber/reconnaissance aircraft. The primary focus was on more payload, being either usable for more fuel (since early jet engines had poor mileage and therefore range and endurance) or for weapons, including bombs in an internal bomb bay that would enable the aircraft to fulfil a similar tactical role as the British de Havilland Mosquito. Beyond this high-speed bomber (Schnellbomber) variant, the P.1099 would also be a suitable basis for a fast reconnaissance plane, interceptors and night fighters, and trainer versions were also planned.
The Messerschmitt P.1099 was a 12 m long, conventional-looking aircraft with a wingspan of 12.6 m. It had a much wider fuselage than the Messerschmitt Me 262. It had a circular shape with a diameter of 1.7m (5 ft 6¾ in) and the cockpit was now moved closer to the aircraft’s nose, above the front landing gear well. The baseline aircraft featured a side-by-side cockpit for a crew of two, even though different layouts were envisioned for the specialized variants, including single-seaters. To save development time and to use existing jigs and tools as much as possible, the P.1099 retained the wings and the tail section of the Me 262A-2a. Despite a higher total weight (the P.1099’ MTOW was about 3 tons higher), the planned powerplants were initially two uprated Junkers Jumo 004 turbojet engines, later to be replaced by more powerful Heinkel HeS 011 turbojets.
In January 1944 the P.1099 was accepted by the RLM and received, despite the aircraft’s different structure, the designation “Me 262 F”. The first variant, the Me 262 F-1 (internally designated P.1099A), was the baseline aircraft under the handle “Jäger I”, a jet-powered single seat daytime fighter. There were three planned versions, differing mainly in armament: Version F-1a was armed with four MK 108 30 mm cannon in the lower fuselage, comparable with the earlier Me 262 A fighter, just with more fuel and ammunition. Version F-1b carried two MK 103 30 mm cannon with longer range, firepower and ammunition supply, and Version F-1c was a heavy daytime fighter with two MK 108 and two MK 103 cannon in the nose.
In parallel the Me 262 F-2 was developed as a more heavily armed and armored variant, as a dedicated heavy bomber interceptor (“Pulkjäger” or “Zerstörer”) under the handle “Jäger II”. Again, three versions were foreseen: Version F-2a would be armed with a single MK 108 cannon and a heavy MK 112 55 mm cannon in the nose. Version F-2b was the same, but it was armed with a MK 114 50 mm cannon instead of the Mk 112. Both were single seaters with a heavily armored cockpit and canopy.
The F-2c was a more thoroughly modified two-seater version; it was armed with a single MG151/20 in a small nose turret, a pair of Mk 103 in the rear of the cockpit firing up- and backwards and two defensive MG 131 in remote-controlled FDL 151 barbettes in the tail. Due to the significant changes this model had the internal project designation P.1099B.
Another two-seater, the F-2d, remained very close to the original baseline aircraft with a crew of two in a side-by-side cockpit. This aircraft was armed with the standard four MK 108 in the nose, plus one launch rail under each wing for Ruhrstahl X-4 guided missiles, which were launched and steered by the second crewman via a wire connection with the mothership. This variant did not come to fruition, however, after the X-4 missile project had been cancelled in early 1945.
All P.1099 fighters also had hardpoints under the outer wings for racks with twelve 55mm R4M unguided air-to-air missiles each, a detail taken over from the Me 262 A, even though the fuel load had to be reduced to carry them. The radio equipment of all these versions would be a FuG 16, Peil G6, FuG 101 radio altimeter, FuBl 2 blind landing equipment, as well as the FuG 25a Erstling identification friend or foe transceiver.
Beyond these initial day fighter variants, further types based on the P.1099 airframe were envisioned, too. The F-3 was a dedicated night fighter version, developed in parallel to the Me 262 G. It was based on the F-2a heavy day fighter, but it carried a crew of two (the pilot and a rearward-facing radar operator) and was equipped with a FuG 240 “Berlin” radar set and a rotating dish antenna under a streamlined plywood cover in the nose. The armament consisted of four MK 108 under the nose, similar to the F-1a day fighter, plus two additional, upward-firing MK 108 cannon (“Schräge Musik”) in the rear fuselage.
Other proposed variants (with less priority, though) were the F-4 and the F-5, which were to become the basis for fast bombers and reconnaissance aircraft with only light defensive armament, typically only a pair of MG 131 in remote-controlled tail barbettes was to be carried. The F-4 resembled the baseline P.1099A, with two bomb bays in front of and behind the main landing gear wells and a crew of two seated side-by-side in a pressurized cockpit. Two MK 108 were carried in the nose, plus the MG 131 tail barbettes. The F-5 was similar but featured a glazed bomb aimer/navigator station in the nose instead of the MK 108’s and the glazing above the pilot’s station was reduced and asymmetrical. In both bomber variants the fuselage tanks were re-arranged to make room for a single SC 1.200 in the front bomb bay, but combinations of smaller bombs could be carried, too. Alternatively, mounts for up to three cameras or a 1.350 l auxiliary tank for extended range could be carried in the bays, too.
Initial flight tests of the Me 262 F in late 1944 showed severe directional instability: especially after fuel and ammunition had been depleted and the center of gravity shifted the aircraft tended to become nose-heavy and ditch down if it was not carefully monitored and trimmed by the pilot. To cope with this problem, the engine mounts were modified, so that the CoG was shifted back. Compared with the original Me 262 the engines were placed roughly 900 mm (35.5 in) further back under the wings. The emptying sequence of the fuselage tanks was also changed, and this mostly mended the problems. Another measure to mend the directional instability issues was the enlargement of the tail surfaces, even though later production aircraft frequently had smaller Me 262 A stabilizers fitted due to material shortages and simple lack of parts.- However, due to the higher weight the Me 262 F’s handling and agility were very limited – but most of its intended roles rather relied on speed, anyway, so that dogfights could be avoided.
From 1944 on the war situation worsened considerably, and production of the new Me 262 F superseded the A variant only on selected production lines. A disused mine complex under the Walpersberg mountain was adapted for the production of complete aircraft. These were hauled to the flat top of the hill where a runway had been cleared and flown out. Between 20 and 30 Me 262 Fs were built here until early 1946, primarily fighters, the underground factory being overrun by Allied troops before it could reach a meaningful output. Wings were produced in Germany's oldest motorway tunnel at Engelberg, to the west of Stuttgart. At B8 Bergkristall-Esche II, a vast network of tunnels was excavated beneath St. Georgen/Gusen, Austria, where fully equipped fuselages for the Me 262 at a planned monthly rate of 450 units on large assembly lines were to be produced from early 1945.
After the type’s introduction to frontline units in early 1945 further handling problems arose through the aircraft’ weight, resulting from its high wing load. Both starting and landing run were excessive, so that the number of airfields from which it could be operated was relatively small. No real short-term solution could be found without fully re-designing the wings, so that RATO bottles were frequently used to get a fully loaded Me 262 F up into the air from standard airfields. These were typically fitted to racks which were mounted under the fuselage, flanking the rear bomb bay.
The Me 262 F’s landing speed was dangerously high, too. A retrofittable brake parachute, housed in a simple tubular fairing under the tail, was developed to reduce the landing distance and save brakes, which frequently overheated and could set the landed aircraft aflame.
From the Me 262 F-2a “Pulkzerstörer I”, only a small number were built and eventually entered service. Its main armament, the MK 112, was a heavy German machine cannon produced by Rheinmetall-Borsig from 1945 on – in fact, the MK 112 was basically a scaled-up MK 108, a very compact weapon with relatively low weight. The MK 112 had a caliber of 55 mm and thus fired much larger shells than the 30 mm MK 108, but the rate of fire was significantly lower (300 rounds / min compared to about 600-660 rounds / min of the MK 108). This large-caliber gun was designed primarily to combat heavy bombers, its rate of fire would have been too slow for effective aerial battles with escort fighters – but the Me 262 F would not have been a dogfighter, anyway, so that the “hit-and-run” mission profile suited the aircraft well. Fire tests showed that a single MK 112 hit with mine grenades could destroy a bomber, and with a rate of fire of five shells per second this weapon could inflict considerably higher losses on the incoming streams of Allied bombers compared to other on-board weapons used on the German side. Only the unguided R4M missiles were as effective, but the MK 112 offered considerably higher accuracy and the opportunity to execute more than just a single attack run on an incoming bomber formation.
The MK 112 was mounted in the lower starboard section of the Me 262 F-2a’s nose, its barrel protruded more than 2 m (7 ft) from its nose. The gun’s drum magazine with sixty rounds partly took up the rear space of the cockpit behind the pilot and the gun mount even used up space of the weapon bay on port side, so that only a single MK 108 with 100 rounds as an additional weapon was mounted in the lower port side weapon bay.
Its sister, the Me 262 F-2b, remained on the drawing board, because its main weapon, the 50 mm MK 114 autocannon that had been derived from the 5 cm Pak 38 anti-tank gun, had turned out to be over-complicated, overweight and unreliable. A refined version was developed as the MK 214A, though, but after flight test from February 1945, but the weapon was not deployed operationally.
Only a handful Me 262 F-2a Pulkzerstörer were eventually fielded and operated before the end of hostilities – beyond the low production numbers the lack of fuel and loss of suitable airfields highly limited the aircraft’s potential. Probably less than ten were used by operational units, including JG 53 “Pik As”, in which they served alongside other interceptors, including other Me 262 variants. Typically, bomber formations were approached from the side of a bomber formation, where their silhouettes were widest, and while still out of range of the bombers' machine guns. This broadside-attack tactic was very effective, and the aircraft’s high speed allowed the interceptors to turn around 180° and make at least a second attack run from the opposite side, before the machines dashed off and returned to their bases.
General characteristics
Crew: One
Length: 14,32 m (46 ft 11 in) overall
12,00 m (39 ft 3¾ in) fuselage only, w/o brake parachute housing
Wingspan: 12,61 m (41 ft 3¾ in)
Height: 4,43 m (14 ft 6 in)
Wing area: 24,2 m² (236 sq ft)
Empty weight: 5.061 kg (11,148 lb)
Loaded weight: 8.762 kg (19,300 lb)
Max. take-off weight: 10.062 kg (22,163 lb)
Powerplant:
2× Junkers Jumo 004 C turbojets with 12 kN (2,697 lb st) each
Performance
Maximum speed: 930 km/h (577 mph, 505 kn)
Cruising speed: 805 km/h (500 mph, 438 kn) at 6.500 m (21,290 ft)
Range: 1.340 km (830 ml, 728 nm) at 6000 m with internal fuel only
Service ceiling: 11,450 m (37,570 ft)
Rate of climb: 18 m/s (3,540 ft/min) at max. weight
Armament:
1× 55 mm (1.96 in) MK 112 machine cannon with 60 rounds
1× 30 mm (1.18 in) MK 108 machine cannon with 100 rounds
Hardpoints under the outer wings for racks with twelve 55mm R4M unguided air-to-air missiles
The kit and its assembly:
This became a submission to the late 2021 “Gunships” group build at whatifmodellers.com – what would such a competition be without at least one gun-toting German Luft ’46 interceptor? The Messerschmitt P.1099 lent itself for such a build. Since 1996 Revell offers a 1:72 IP model kit of this paper aircraft, depicting more or less the two planned versions: a basic single-seat day fighter and a heavy two-seater Zerstörer, both based on the same basis.
This what-if model was based on Revell’s interpretation of the P.1099A, and the kit goes together well. Fit is very good, even though some designs are IMHO a bit dubious. The kit’s weakest point: Revell unfortunately missed the important detail of the modified engine nacelles: the kit comes with standard Me 262 wings and engines, but due to CoG reasons the P.1099 would have had its engines moved back by about 900 mm, as mentioned in the background. I corrected this on this build with some PSR – sounds simple, but since the nacelles are not expected to be stuck to the wings in their new position roughly 1 cm further back, some serious bodywork had to be done.
Otherwise the kit was basically built OOB. I just left away the inner wheels from the main landing gear because I found the twin wheels to be “too much” for this upgraded Me 262. The P.1099 might have been heavier than the Me 262, but…? And the wheels’ tractor-like tread design looks IMHO out of place, too, so that I replaced them with a pair of MiG-21 wheels, left over from a KP kit.
The cockpit was taken OOB, even though I have doubts concerning the canopy. And when you look at mockup pictures of the P.1099 you realize that cockpit access had been facilitated through a side door at starboard, similar to the D. H. Mosquito. The cockpit tub does not consider this hatch at all, and the engraved door on the fuselage (it’s actually there!) is so tiny that only a Halfling might use it?
Well, I stuck with it “as is” and just added a pilot figure (specifically from a Matchbox Hawker tempest, because it is one of the rare cases that you get a WWII pilot wearing an oxygen mask) and a “barrel” behind the bulbous pilot seat because there’s a lot of free space in this single seat variant that is otherwise occupied by a rear gunner in Revell’s P.1099B kit. I also have doubts concerning the kit’s canopy, since the original P.1099 had a cockpit for two seated side-by-side, with a canopy that resembled the D.H. Mosquito’s a lot. I am also not certain about the stabilizers – the kit comes with standard Me 262 parts, but trustworthy sources I consulted suggest that not only the fin had been enlarged (depicted well in Revell’s kit), but also the stabilizers? To improve this, I implanted a pair of modified stabilizers that came from a Heller PZL P.23 light bomber. Sounds odd, but they were a very good match in size, shape and thickness!
The only major modification concerns the armament, even though it became just a “graft-on” solution. On the lower left side, the upper gun port was PSRed away. On the right side I added a bulged fairing for the MK 112. It was sculpted from a Matchbox Saab J29 drop tank and blended into the hull with PSR. Protruding spent cases fairings were added for both guns. The MK 112 gun barrel is a resin piece, left over from a ModelTrans tank conversion set and actually depicts a German 55 mm gun, so that this became a perfect donor piece.
Since the airframe still looked rather clean and boring I finally added a pair of JATO bottle racks to the rear fuselage (scratched from styrene profile but left empty) and a brake parachute fairing under the fin, carved from a piece of sprue.
Furthermore, a display adapter was installed into the fuselage for in-flight pictures.
Painting and markings:
This became a challenge, because I wanted a rather unusual livery, neither a standard RLM 81/82/76 late-war combo nor an improvised-cammo-over-bare-metal finish. After some research I settled upon something that was actually carried by some He 177 bombers around 1944: a uniform RLM 74 (Graugrün, Humbrol 245) upper surface with “cloudy” mottles in RLM 76 (Humbrol 247). This appears like a winter camouflage, but it’s actually quite effective at medium altitude, esp. over a cloudy landscape. The original bombers had light blue (RLM 65) undersides, but for the P.1099 from a later period and as a fighter I rather used a darker shade of RLM76 in the form of Tamiya XF-23 (Light Blue). The model received a black ink washing and some post-panel-shading.
The cockpit interior became RLM 66 (Schwarzgrau, Humbrol 67) while the landing gear and the well were painted in uniform RLM 02 (I used Revell 45, a slightly more greenish tone), with wheel discs in RLM 66, too.
Unit markings became minimal and quite sober. I gave the aircraft a typical late-war “Reichsverteidigung” fuselage band, and in JG 53’s case it is plain black. The black band was deliberately chosen because it is a good, much darker contrast to the murky RLM 74, so that the latter appears lighter than it actually is, lowering the contrast to the RLM 76 spots.
The decals were puzzled together from various sources. As an aircraft of the 3rd group the unit’s ID color would be yellow, reflected in the tactical code and the fin tip. For some contrast and to emphasize the long gun barrel I gave it white and black stripes – as a security measure for ground handling. For some more variety I painted one air intake in very dark grey (Revell 06, Anthracite) and the other one in steel Metallizer, simulating replacement parts. The Balkenkreuze come from various sheets – I used simplified “low viz” versions all around. The undulating yellow bar for the 3rd group comes from a TL Modellbau sheet, while the yellow “4” came from a Fw 190 A sheet from Sky Models. A small “4” on the nose was added as a wacky detail, too, the “Pik As” unit markings came IIRC from a Hobby Boss Bf 109 sheet. Since they turned out to have poor contrast/opacity I only used a few stencils from the P.1099A sheet, but due to the disruptive paint scheme this is not apparent.
Finally, the model was sealed with a coat of matt acrylic varnish (Italeri) and a wire antenna, scratched from heated black sprue material, was added between cockpit and fin.
Well, this modified Messerschmitt P.1099A looks simple, but the modified engine nacelles as well as the gun fairing under the nose called for serious PSR. The result looks quite natural, though, and AFAIK this weapon configuration was actually on German drawing boards. However, I am not certain about the cockpit canopy and other details on Revell’s kit, reference information is contradictive.
The paint scheme looks good, even though it was lent from a heavy bomber, and the poor Humbrol enamels did not yield a finish that I had hoped for – the paintwork could certainly have been better, but the overall impression of a late-war Pulkzerstörer is O.K., and this eventually counts.
Beautiful 16" diameter Polar Jade disk (Nephrite Jade), 2.75" diameter center hole, Northern British Columbia, East of Juneau Alaska. I saw this disk at a couple of shows over the past year+ and continued to see it in my mind's eye until just before Christmas, when I decided that I really wanted to see it in my home. The ones that "got away" are the ones you didn't buy, but that reappear in your mind's eye through the years, visiting from time-to-time.... Worse than ghosts! Got this from Mike and Joan (RevelationsInStone.com), who specialize in beautiful Jade and have literally tons of it! .
Speak your prayers through the center and your words are purified and sped onward to heaven. (Or something like that...)
As often as I've tried even with five cameras and close to a fisheye lens, I've never been able to get a shot that does justice to these giants. There wasn't much sense in standing my 5 foot wife inside the 200 foot tree...but it was a fond memory.
The largest Sequoia is the "General Sherman," 30 feet in diameter, 250 feet tall, and approximately 3,000 years old. How do you capture that with an SX20 or C3000Z? Even the professional photo books of Sequoia we bought didn't do the trees justice. You just have to see it to believe it.
Just down the road from this stand of Sequoias is Crystal Caves. It's a one mile hike down to the caves and it's steep. There is also a nominal fee to get in. Between Sequoia and it's companion national park, Kings Canyon, is another set of caves, Boyton. It's privately own and poorly operated.
If you're interested in the politics of national parks a century ago, read about the three connected national parks - from south to north - Sequoia, Kings Canyon, and Yosemite.
Aston Martin DBS is a 6.0-litre V12 powered, race-bred, two-seater shaped by the aerodynamic demands of high performance, with an exquisite interior that marries beautifully hand-finished materials with the very latest in performance technology. Race-derived materials and components and Aston Martin’s unrivalled hand-build expertise makes the DBS a luxury sports car without equal.
Aston Martin DBS Specifications:
Body:
- Two-door coupe body style with 2+0 seating
- Bonded aluminium VH structure
- Aluminium, magnesium alloy and carbon-fibre composite body
- Extruded aluminium door side-impact beams
- High Intensity Discharge headlamps (dipped beam)
- Halogen projector headlamps (main beam)
- LED rear lamps and side repeaters
Engine:
- All-alloy, quad overhead camshaft, 48-valve, 5935 cc V12. Compression ratio 10.9:1
- Front-mid mounted engine, rear-wheel drive
- Fully catalysed stainless steel exhaust system with active bypass valves
Projected Performance figures:
- Maximum power: 380 kW (510 bhp/517 PS) @ 6500 rpm
- Maximum torque: 570 Nm (420 lb ft) @ 5750 rpm
- Maximum speed: 307 km/h (191 mph)
- Acceleration: 0-100 km/h (0-62 mph) in 4.3 seconds
Transmission:
- Rear-mid mounted, six-speed manual gearbox
- Alloy torque tube with carbon-fibre propeller shaft
- Limited-slip differential
- Final-drive ratio 3.71:1
Steering:
- Rack and pinion
- Servotronic speed-sensitive power-assisted steering
- 3.0 turns lock-to-lock
- Column tilt and reach adjustment
Wheels & Tyres
Wheels:
- Front: 8.5" x 20"
- Rear: 11" x 20"
Tyres:
Pirelli P Zero
- Front: 245/35
- Rear: 295/30
Suspension:
Front:
- Independent double wishbone incorporating anti-dive geometry
- Coil springs
- Anti-roll bar and monotube adaptive dampers
Rear:
- Independent double wishbones with anti-squat and anti-lift geometry
- Coil springs
- Anti-roll bar and monotube adaptive dampers
Adaptive Damping System (ADS) with Track mode
Brakes:
Front: Ventilated carbon ceramic discs, 398 mm diameter with six-piston calipers
Rear: Ventilated carbon ceramic discs, 360 mm diameter with four-piston calipers
Dynamic Stability control (DSC) with Track mode, including anti-lock braking system (ABS), electronic brakeforce distribution (EBD), emergency brake assist (EBA) and traction control.
Dimensions:
Length: 4721 mm
Width: 1905 mm excluding door mirrors, 2060 mm including door mirrors
Height: 1280 mm
Wheelbase: 2740 mm
Fuel tank capacity: 78 litres
Weight: 1695 kg
Interior:
- Semi-aniline leather and Alcantara interior
- Matrix alloy facia trim and Iridium Silver centre console finish
- Carbon-fibre door trims and door pulls
- Auto-dimming rear-view mirror & garage door opener (USA and Canada only)
- Sports seats with ten-way electric adjustment, including height, tilt and lumbar adjustment
- Memory seats & exterior mirrors (three positions)
- Dual-stage driver/passenger front airbags
- Side airbags (sports seats only)
- Heated seats (sports seats only)
- Heated rear screen
- Automatic temperature control
- Organic Electroluminescent (OEL) displays
- Trip computer
- Cruise control
- Hard Disk Drive (HDD) satellite navigation system*1,2
- Bluetooth telephone preparation*1
- Powerfold exterior mirrors
- Front and rear parking sensors
- Tyre-pressure monitoring*1
- Alarm and immobiliser
- Remote-control central door locking and boot release
- Battery disconnect switch
- Battery conditioner
- Tracking device (UK only)
- Boot-mounted umbrella
*1 Not available in all markets
*2 Includes Traffic Messaging Channel (TMC) in Continental Europe
In-car entertainment:
- Aston Martin 700 W premium audio system with Dolby® Pro Logic II®
- MP3 player connectivity
Optional Equipment:
- Lightweight seats with six-way adjustment, including front and rear height adjust (Does not include side airbags or heated seats feature. Not available in USA or Canada)
- 20" alloy wheels with graphite finish
- Satellite radio system (USA only)
- Piano Black facia trim and centre console finish
- Leather storage saddle
- Personalised sill plaques
- Auto-dimming interior rear-view mirror*1
- Auto-dimming interior rear-view mirror with garage door opener (Europe only)
- Alarm upgrade (volumetric and tilt sensor)
- Tracking device*3
- First-aid kit
- Ashtray and cigar lighter
*1 Not available in all markets
*3 Complies with UK Thatcham Category 5 requirements. Excludes subscription. Standard in UK.
The petals on this tiny weed flower are 1/8" wide, so these are some tiny tears. :)
The diameter of the entire flower is 5/16".
+++ DISCLAIMER +++
Nothing you see here is real, even though the conversion or the presented background story might be based historical facts. BEWARE!
Some background:
The "Entwicklung" tank series (= "development"), more commonly known as the E-Series, was a late-World War II attempt by Germany to produce a standardized series of tank designs. There were to be six standard designs in different weight classes, from which several specialized variants were to be developed. This intended to reverse the trend of extremely complex tank designs that had resulted in poor production rates and mechanical unreliability.
The E-series designs were simpler, cheaper to produce and more efficient than their predecessors; however, their design offered only modest improvements in armor and firepower over the designs they were intended to replace, such as the Jagdpanzer 38(t), Panther Ausf.G or Tiger II. However, the resulting high degree of standardization of German armored vehicles would also have made logistics and maintenance easier. Indeed, nearly all of the E-series vehicles — up through and including the E-75 — were intended to use what were essentially the Tiger II's eighty centimeter diameter, steel-rimmed road wheels for their suspension, meant to overlap each other (as on the later production Tiger I-E and Panther designs that also used them), even though in a much simplified fashion.
Compared with the earlier designs, the amount of drilling and machining involved in producing the Standardpanzer designs was reduced drastically, which would have made them quicker, easier and cheaper to produce, as would the proposed conical spring system, replacing their predecessors' torsion bar system which required a special steel alloy.
Focus of initial chassis and combat vehicle development was the E-50/75 Standardpanzer, designed by Adler, both being mostly identical and only differing in armor thickness, overall weight and running gear design to cope with the different weights.
There were also lighter chassis variants, though, including the light E-5 and E-10 for armored, tracked reconnaissance vehicles and the E-25. The E-25 designs, in the 25-50 tonnes weight class, were to be the replacements of all Panzer III and Panzer IV based designs, with Alkett, Argus and Adler, with involvement of Porsche. This family would include medium reconnaissance vehicles, medium Jagdpanzer and heavy Waffenträger, using five Tiger II style road wheels per side, combined with "slack-track" design. Track propulsion was switched to a rear drive sprocket, as a consequence of mating the engine and the gearbox into a tail-mounted, single and very compact power pack that made the voluminous and heavy power train through the hull obsolete. This allowed the gun mount to be directly attached to the hull floor, which lowered the overall silhouette, and the gained space offered more room for the crew’s operations as well as for ammunition storage.
The medium tank hunter received high priority and the project was called Jagdpanzer E-25/88 and ran under the inventory ordnance number "SdKfz. 198"; . It was to replace various Panzer IV tank hunters and the light "Hetzer" from 1945 onwards, which all either suffered from insufficient firepower, lack of mobility, or armor. Another tank the E-25/88 would replace was the excellent but complex and expensive Jagdpanther with its 8.8 cm Pak 43/3 or 43/4 L/71 cannon.
The Jagdpanzer E-25/88 was to eradicate all problems of the Panzer IV tank hunter family and combine the benefits from all former types, including the powerful 8.8cm PaK, which could take down any Allied tank around late 1944 at considerably distances. Even though the E-25 tank hunter was initially to be outfitted with the proven 7.5 cm/L70 gun from the Jagdpanzer IV and the Panther battle tank, it was surmised that this armament would not be enough for the enemy's next generation tanks.
Beyond its heavy armament, the new tank hunter was to offer good protection through armor and hull shape alike, as well as high mobility, while keeping overall weight at around 30 tons (the Jagdpanzer IV weighed roundabout 25 tons, while the much bigger Jagdpanther weighed 45 tons) and overall size smaller than the Jagdpanther.
Heavier tank hunters than the E-25/88, based of the new E-50 and E-75 chassis were under development in parallel, but they were all to carry heavier guns, including the 12.8 cm PaK and newly developed 10.5 cm and 13 cm cannons. An E-100 SPG on the drawing board (called "Krokodil") was to carry a 15 cm or even a 17.5 cm anti tank gun.
In late 1944, with the Allied invasion in the West and rising pressure from the East, anti tank and assault SPGs were direly needed and the rejuvenation of the German tank force was sped up in a hurry. As a consequence the Jagdpanzer E-25/88 was prematurely ushered into production before the medium E-25 chassis development had been fully completed.
As a stopgap solution, initial production tanks were outfitted with a Henschel running gear that dated back to the canceled VK20 and VK30 tank program, and these vehicles were later re-designated SdKfz. 198/1 (while the vehicles with the new/standardized running gear became the SdKfz. 198/2). However, its overlapped and interleaved roadwheel-based suspension system (called “Schachtellaufwerk”) was a considerable improvement against the Panzer IV design, even though it was more complex than the final E-25 system. Around 80 vehicles were produced with the Henschel suspension until production was switched to the simplified Alkett suspension based on the unified wheels of the bigger Einheitspanzer types.
The upper hull remained basically the same throughout production, though, and was based on proven principles. To accommodate the heavy-calibre gun, much as on previous unturreted tank destroyers, the glacis plate and sloped hull sides of the Jagdpanzer E-25/88 were extended up into an integral, turretless fixed casemate as part of the main hull itself, providing a relatively roomy interior. The Jagdpanzer E-25/88 had side armour of up to 60 mm, frontal and gun mantlet armour was 80mm. The E-25's engine was a Maybach HL 101 with 550 PS (539 hp, 341 kW), another recognizable improvement in comparison with its frequently underpowered predecessors. Maximum speed was up to 52 km/h (32 mph) on level ground, and the interleafed running gear allowed a smooth ride and high speed even in rough terrain - even though the complex design meant that the wheels could clog up easily with heavy mud or snow.
The gun was mounted in a central "Saukopf" mantlet, similar to the Jagdpanzer IV, and had a limited traverse of 11° to each side, with an elevation of −8° to +15°. 50 rounds for the main gun could be stowed. A single 7.92 mm MG-34 machine gun for frontal defence and against soft ground targets was carried in a ball mount on the right side of the front glacis plate, operated by the wireless operator. Another MG-34 was mounted in a remotely controlled turret on top of the hull, operated by the commander who sat under a cupola with seven periscopes for a good field of view. This machine gun was, in later production tanks, to be replaced by a 30mm MK 108 (actually a compact, belt-fed aircraft machine gun), but this was never carried out since MK 103 production was completely allocated to the Luftwaffe. The driver sat on the left. The gunner had a visual rangefinder and a periscope telescopic sight. The periscope - linked to the gun mount - was under an armored housing on the roof.
In service the vehicle was, due to its crouched silhouette, unofficially called "Dachs" (Badger), a name that was quickly adopted in official circles, too. The first vehicles reached Western front line units along the Rhine in March 1945. They proved to be very successful and popular with its crews, because the tank was agile, easy to handle and less cramped than most of its predecessors. Total production reached 250 vehicles until the end of hostilities, and many of the E-25/88s design features were later incorporated into the post WWII “Jagdpanzer Kanone” for the German Bundeswehr.
Specifications:
Crew: Five (commander, gunner, loader, radio operator, driver)
Weight: 31 tonnes (34.5 short tons)
Length: 6.98 metres (22 ft 10 in) (hull only)
9.93 metres (32 ft 6 1/2 in) incl. gun
Width: 3.20 metres (10 ft 6 in)
Height 2.48 metres (8 ft 1 1/2 in)
Ground clearance: 495 to 510 mm (1 ft 7.5 in to 1 ft 8.1 in)
Suspension: Torsion bar
Fuel capacity: 450 litres (120 US gal)
Armor:
10–80 mm (0.4 – 3.15 in)
Performance:
Speed
- Maximum, road: 52 km/h (32 mph)
- Sustained, road: 42 km/h (26 mph)
- Cross country: 16 to 25 km/h (9.5 to 15.5 mph)
Operational range: 210 km (130 mi)
Power/weight: 17,74 PS/tonne (16 hp/ton)
Engine:
V-12 Maybach Maybach HL 101 gasoline engine with 550 PS (539 hp, 341 kW)
Transmission:
ZF AK 7-200 with 7 forward 1 reverse gears
Armament:
1× 8.8 cm KwK 43/4 L/71 with 50 rounds
2× 7.92 mm MG 34 machine guns with a total of 5.200 rounds
(one in the casemate front and a remote-controlled gun on the commander's cupola)
The kit and its assembly:
It does not look spectacular, but this compact tank hunter is a major kitbashing, inspired by - but not necessarily an exact model of - the real but unrealized German E-25 Jagdpanzer project.
Things started with a leftover chassis from a Trumpeter "Sturer Emil" SPG with an early interleaf suspension design and a relatively long hull. I wanted to save it and incorporate it into a Heer '46 design, and soon the idea of a Jagdpanzer IV successor was born. Selling it as an E-25 design and incorporating a bigger gun was a logical step.
The build was very pragmatic. The lower hull with the wheel attachments was taken OOB, but it was shortened by 5mm. This was achieved by simply taking away a plug behind the last road wheel and in front of the sprocket wheel, which was moved from the front to the rear end.
While this sounds simple, the attachment points’ different diameters and the need for a sturdy construction (due to the kit’s vinyl tracks) posed quite a challenge. In the wake of this modification, the track’s support wheels were deleted, too, for the E-25’s simplified “slack track” layout. The tracks were shortened accordingly, and mounted/fixed with super glue (as one of the final steps after painting).
The upper hull comes basically from an Armorfast Jagdpanther, after several trials with a Jagdpanzer IV, a Brummbär and even a potentially scratched casemate. The Jagdpanther hull was reduced in height, though, and also slightly shortened, so that the new tank would be more compact than a Jagdpanther and also differ in the silhouette.
In order to change the look even more, the “Saukopf” gun mantlet from a Jagdpanzer IV/70 was implanted (even though with an 8,8cm barrel), as well as the vehicle’s protective shields for the motor deck. Overall hull width was adapted to the Sturer Emil tracks through mudguards.
The machine gun turret was scratched, and some other details changed or added, including some periscopes, a Panzer IV commander cupola and some equipment pieces on the mudguards.
Painting and markings:
This time, I wanted a disruptive scheme for this tank hunter, and adopted a rather simple livery for the E-25/88: a uniform RAL 6003 Olivgrün for the upper hull (appied with a rattle can, plus a hush with RAL 6011 on the upper surfaces), with a dense, irregular pattern of sand/yellow blotches - lighter than the authentic RAL 7028 Dunkelgelb, though (I have used Humbrol 103, Cream).
Wheels and the lower hull flanks (behind the running gear) were painted in RAL 7028 Dunkelgelb (RAL 8000, which comes pretty close, IMHO).
Similar schemes were, for instance, applied to some Ferdinand tank Hunters, operated in Italy and the Eastern Front, but also on Jagdpanthers at the Western front (e. g. in Belgium). The result reminds a bit of a Giraffe, or of the unique British "net" scheme applied to tanks on Malta.
On top of the basic paintwork, a dark brown washing was added and the edges further emphasized through dry-brushing with light grey and pale sand tones, plus some acrylic silver.
Once the wheels and tracks were fitted into place and the few decals applied, a coat of matt acrylic varnish was added. Finally, dust and dry mud were simulated with mixed pigments, applied with a soft brush onto wet stains of varnish.
This E-25 tank hunter model looks pretty conclusive, and at first glance it looks very German, because it incorporates many typical design features. But the more you look the more “unique” it looks, e. g. through the low Schachtellaufwerk, the lowered Jagdpanther upper hull and its combination with the Saukopf gun mantlet from the Jagdpanzer IV. It looks very purposeful, and the paint scheme appears to be very effective, too, blurring the outlines and details well.
+++ DISCLAIMER +++
Nothing you see here is real, even though the conversion or the presented background story might be based historical facts. BEWARE!
Some background:
The "Entwicklung" tank series (= "development"), more commonly known as the E-Series, was a late-World War II attempt by Germany to produce a standardized series of tank designs. There were to be six standard designs in different weight classes, from which several specialized variants were to be developed. This intended to reverse the trend of extremely complex tank designs that had resulted in poor production rates and mechanical unreliability.
The E-series designs were simpler, cheaper to produce and more efficient than their predecessors; however, their design offered only modest improvements in armor and firepower over the designs they were intended to replace, such as the Jagdpanzer 38(t), Panther Ausf. G or Tiger II. However, the resulting high degree of standardization of German armored vehicles would also have made logistics and maintenance easier. Indeed, nearly all E-series vehicles — up through and including the E-75 — were intended to use what were essentially the Tiger II's 80 cm (31½ in) diameter, steel-rimmed road wheels for their suspension, meant to overlap each other (as on the later production Tiger I-E and Panther designs that also used them), even though in a highly simplified fashion. For instance, while the E-50/75’s running gear resembled outwardly the Tiger II’s, the latter’s torsion bar suspension, which necessitated a complex hull with many openings, was replaced by very compact conical spring coil packages that each held a pair of interleaved road wheels – with the benefit that all suspension elements remained outside of the hull. This considerably simplified production and saved time as well as scarce material.
Focus of initial chassis and combat vehicle development was the E-50/75 Standardpanzer, designed by Adler. These were two mostly identical vehicles and only differed in armor thickness, overall weight and running gear design to cope with the different weights. While the E-50 was the standardized replacement for the medium PzKpfw. V “Panther” and the last operational PzKpfw. VI “Tiger”, with an operational weight of around 50 tons, the E-75 was intended to become the standard heavy tank in the 70 ton class, as a replacement for the Tiger II battle tank and the Jagdtiger SPG. They were to share many components, including the same Maybach HL 234 engine with up to 900 hp output and the drivetrain, as well as running gear elements and almost all peripheral equipment. Both E-50 and E-75 were built on the same production lines for ease of manufacture.
This universal tank chassis would, beyond the primary use for battle tanks, also become the basis for a wide range of specialized support vehicles like self-propelled artillery, assault guns, tank hunters and anti-aircraft weapon carriers, which would gradually replace and standardize the great variety of former support vehicles, dramatically optimizing maintenance and logistics.
The E-50/75 SPAAG sub-family itself was quite diversified and comprised a wide range of vehicles that mainly carried different turrets with the respective weaponry as well as air space surveillance, targeting and command equipment. The range of armament included not only guns of various calibers for short, medium and long range in armored and mostly fully enclosed turrets. There were furthermore armored launch ramps for anti-aircraft missiles, including the guided “Rheintochter”, “Wasserfall” or “Enzian” SAMs as well as batteries with unguided “Taifun” anti-aircraft missiles.
The most important vehicle among this new family was the Einheits-Flakpanzer E-50/55mm, even though its development was delayed and protracted. In May 1943, Oberleutnant Dipl. Ing von Glatter-Götz, responding to the orders of Inspectorate 6, initiated the development of a new series of Flakpanzers based on already existing chassis. The Panzer I and II were outdated or used for other purposes. The Panzer III tank chassis was earmarked for the production of the StuG III and thus not available. The Panzer IV and the Panzer V Panther were considered next. The Panzer IV tank chassis was already in use for several German modifications, so it was decided to use it for the Flakpanzer program, eventually leading to the light “Kugelblitz” SPAAG. The Panzer V Panther was considered in case even the Panzer IV chassis proved to be inadequate for the task, as an interim chassis for new turrets until the new tank generation, the “Einheitspanzer” or “E-Serie”, had become available. This would only happen in late 1945, though.
In the meantime several SPAAG proposals were made on the Panther basis, including the “Coelian” family of AA turrets with weapons like the 37 mm Flak 37 and the new 3.7 cm (L/77) Flak 341 twin gun, the Luftwaffe’s 30 mm MK 103 machine cannon and a new 55 mm autocannon, mounted in a fully closed turret on a medium to heavy tank chassis.
The new 55mm gun had its roots in a newly developed medium 50 mm gun, the Flak 41, which had been banned in 1942 to save resources and focus on existing anti-aircraft weapons. Nevertheless, the German field troops demanded such a weapon to finally be able to deal with Allied attack aircraft, esp. the Soviet Union’s armored Ilyushin Il-2 “Shturmovik”. Since the development of the Flak 41 had expressly been forbidden, Rheinmetall and Krupp set about building a completely new weapon with a bigger caliber for longer range and a heavier explosive shell that would fill the operational gap between the established 37 and 88 mm anti-aircraft guns.
This new gun project was handled under the alias "Gerät 58" and launched in early 1943. It gradually evolved in the course of the year with only little (if any) official support. In fact, it was rather a private venture that responded to the army’s needs, and it was already the attempt to anticipate a worsening war situation. For instance, all experiences made with the construction of the 37 mm Flak 43 with regards to the sheet metal stamping technology, which saved material as well as production time, were adopted for the Gerät 58, too. The result was – for its size – a relatively compact and foremost simple gun which, thanks to its low fire height and a modern design of the mount, showed very good shooting results.
Initial work was centered around a single-barrel field gun version. Its lower carriage consisted of a turntable to which the wheel racks of the special trailer 204 were attached to two spars. In the firing position, the carriage was set down as with all other anti-aircraft guns. Three small hydraulic supports were attached to the mount ring, on which the weapon could be fired in the driving position. The Krupp design had some problems but required 300 kg less raw materials to manufacture than the Rheinmetall design. However, when the prototypes were presented to Heeresamt authorities, the development of this very successful weapon was again prohibited in November 1943 as "not necessary".
In 1944, however, the lack of usable anti-aircraft weapon systems between the light and heavy flak guns was finally recognized, supported by the analysis of experiences from the Battle of Kursk during the last year. After revisions, three experimental guns (2 from Rheinmetall, one from Krupp) were tested in comparative shooting in mid-1944 at the Luftwaffe’s development center. A few shortcomings emerged and it was agreed to build a fourth experimental gun based on the Rheinmetall designs by the end of 1944. New trials began in February 1945 and were completed in April. By the time a twin mount for the Gerät 58 in a modified “Coelian” turret was also ready for trials, and tests with this weapon in the new Rheinmetall Einheits-Flakturm for the Einheitspanzer series started, too.
In these final forms the Gerät 58 was quickly cleared for production and service, and the weapon’s project designation was retained, even though “Flak 45” was also common. The autocannon had an overall length of 8,15 mm (26.7 ft) and weighed 2.990 kg (6,586 lb). The barrel length was 4,21 m (13 ¾ ft) for a bore of 77, and the weapon fired a HE/fragmentation shell (weighing 2.030 g/4 ½ lb) with a muzzle velocity of 1.050 m/sec /3,440 ft/sec). Recoil was 280 mm (11 in). Against aerial targets, the Gerät 58 had a maximum effective ceiling of 6,000 m (6,560 yards) and a practical rate of fire of 140 RPM. Armor-piercing rounds were able to penetrate 110 mm vertical hardened steel armor at 500 m or 70 mm at 2,000 m. The ammunition could be fed in from both sides and the spent cases were ejected downwards, so that the gun could be easily adapted to multiple mounts and to fully enclosed tank turrets. In the Rheinmetall turret the Gerät 58 received a manual magazine feed for each barrel that could store five rounds (plus one ready in the gun chamber) for short continuous bursts. These magazines were driven by gravity, though, and once expended, had to be reloaded manually. The ammunition supply in the Rheinmetall turret comprised 104 rounds in total.
In its operational form the Gerät 58/Rheinmetall turret combination introduced another novel feature: The rangefinding point on the gun had been dispensed with, but instead of this the most modern radio-based measuring devices were able to feed their data directly into the sighting device – what meant that the fire control input had to come from an external device in the form of electric impulses. In the case of the Gerät 58, this was the newly developed Kommandogerät 44, a very compact combined stereoscopic sight, coupled with an analogue range calculator. This replaced the traditional scope. Due to the weapon’s weight and bulk, all weapon orientation was carried out by means of hydraulic motors via a control column that were slaved to the gunner’s Kommandogerä, so that aiming and firing was semi-automatized. The gunner still had to use an optical scope to find and pinpoint the target, but the Kommandogerät translated this, together with additional information like range, temperature or wind shear, into electrical input for the guns that automatically corrected the weapon’s orientation and triggered them with a respective lead at an ideal moment.
Thanks to the Gerät 58’s innovative electronic input interface and its motorized controls, aiming and firing could also be slaved to an external director. This could be the bigger and more capable Kommandogerät 40 or the Sd.Kfz. 282 “Basilisk” mobile anti-aircraft radar. Furthermore, several anti-aircraft weapons could be guided and operated this way by a single command unit with improved sensors, for higher accuracy under any weather condition as well as for concentrated and more effective fire and an improved first shot hit probability
Due to the dire war situation and an urgent need for this formidable new anti-aircraft weapon, the Gerät 58 and its highly innovative periphery were immediately pushed into production. The first field guns reached the frontline units in September 1945, with mixed success. Due to parallel delays with the new E-50/75 chassis and material shortages, which highly limited the output of the new tanks from early 1945 on, the new Gerät 58, mounted together with the Kommandogerät 44 in the new Rheinmetall Einheits-Flakturm, were initially combined with other chassis, primarily revamped Panzer V battle tanks as well as some leftover heavy Tiger I tanks.
The first complete E-50/55mm SPAAGs reached the frontline units in March 1946, but since both chassis and weapons had been ushered into production and service, many teething troubles emerged and it would take until late 1946 that the Sd.Kfz. 191/3, how the new vehicle had officially been designated, had turned into an effective and reliable weapon system.
Specifications:
Crew: Six (commander, gunner, two loaders, driver, radio operator)
Weight: 56.5 tonnes (62.2 short tons)
Length: 7.27 m (23 ft 10 ¾ in), hull only
9.29 m (30 ft 5 in) with guns forward
Width: 3.88 m (12 ft 9 in)
Height 3.38 m (11 ft 1 in)
Ground clearance: 495 to 510 mm (1 ft 7.5 in to 1 ft 8.1 in)
Suspension: Conical spring
Fuel capacity: 720 liters (160 imp gal; 190 US gal)
Armor:
30 – 60 mm (1.2 – 2.4 in)
Performance:
Speed
- Maximum, road: 55 km/h (34 mph)
- Sustained, road: 45 km/h (28 mph)
- Cross country: 20 to 30 km/h (13 to 19 mph)
Operational range: 160 km (99 miles)
Power/weight: 16 PS/tonne (14.5 hp/ton)
Engine:
V-12 Maybach HL 234 gasoline engine with 900 PS (885 hp/650 kW)
Transmission:
ZF AK 7-200 with 7 forward 1 reverse gears
Armament:
2× 5,5 cm (2.17 in) L/77 Gerät 58 anti-aircraft cannon with 104 rounds
The kit and its assembly:
Finally I found the motivation to build a “standard” E-50 Flakpanzer to complete my growing German SPAAG collection. I had this kit stashed away for years, but never was in the right mood to tackle this OOB build of the ModelCollect kit. It’s s decent kit that comes with brass barrels for the 55 mm guns and a small PE sheet for grates on the engine cover and small bits like lugs and protectors for the hull crew’s periscopes. It’s finer than the similar Trumpeter kit and more friend – but this also comes at a price, because some molding solutions are quite doubtful, e. g. three(!) sprue attachment points for tiny and most delicate bits or placing sprue channels between the teeth of the sprocket wheels. WTF? As a bonus you get all the parts to build an E-75 chassis – for the E-50 you just leave a pair of wheels per side away.
The kit went together well, and I used all the PE options for this one. The only modification I made are dented and partly deleted armor mudguards, so that the tank looks less “uniform”.
Painting and markings:
Another variant of German late WWII standards, with roots in the “Hinterhalt” scheme. The paint scheme was inspired by a real Panther Ausf. D from the Eastern front in late 1943, which consists only of Dunkelgelb (RAL 7028) and Olivgrün (RAL 6003) in rather pale shades and in a kind of rough splinter pattern.
I interpreted the scheme as if the tank had been painted all-green and then the lighter color had been applied on top of that. Since no view for the upper surfaces were available, I assumed that this might have been a late-war “Sparanstrich” with only minimal use of the Dunkelgelb, so that hull and turret roof remained green – even though I added mottles in Dunkelgelb to them, as if sun was shining through the leaves of a tree, to better break up the vehicle’ outlines. Dunkelgelb was also added under the gun to reduce the contrast of the barrels against the sky when they are raised.
True to this concept, the model received initially an overall coat with modern RAL 6003 from the rattle can, plus a light coat of RAL 6011 (Resedagrün) on top to the upper surfaces as a shading and weathering measure – and for a rather pale look. The wheels were painted uniformly in the same way, too.
Once dry, the “wedges” on the more or less vertical surfaces were added with a brush, using a mix of Humbrol 121 and 72 for a pale and less yellowish interpretation of RAL 7028.
The kit received the usual washing with dark brown, highly thinned acrylic paint before the decals were applied – puzzled together from the scrap box. A dry brushing treatment with light olive green (Revell 45) followed, highlighting surface details and edges. More dust and dirt traces as well as some rust marks with watercolors followed, and then a coat of matt varnish.
Unfortunately. the kit’s tracks were molded in a yellowish sand color and had to be fully painted. Onto a black base coat, a cloudy mix of dark grey, red brown and iron acrylic paints was added. The many delicate tools on the tank’s hull are molded, and instead of trying to paint them I rubbed over them with graphite, leaving them with a dark metallic shine. Just some wooden handles were then painted with a reddish brown. The antennae were made from heated sprue material, and, finally, the tank’s lower areas were dusted with a greyish-brown mineral pigment mix, simulating dust and mud residue.
A quite simple build, since the kit was built straight OOB with no conversions at all. However, the Modellcollect E-50/75 model is still tricky and need some attention, the Trumpeter kit is easier (but also not as detailed). The result looks a bit odd, thanks to the pale paint scheme (pistache and vanilla?), but it’s something different from the usual standard “Hinterhalt” tri-color variations. And it’s certainly not the last semi-fictional German SPAAG…
Buckingham Fountain is a Chicago Landmark in the center of Grant Park, between Queen's Landing and Ida B. Wells Drive. Dedicated in 1927 and donated to the city by philanthropist Kate S. Buckingham, it is one of the largest fountains in the world. Built in a rococo wedding cake style and inspired by the Latona Fountain at the Palace of Versailles, its design allegorically represents nearby Lake Michigan. The fountain operates generally from mid-April to mid-October, with regular water shows and evening colored-light shows. During the winter, the fountain is decorated with festival lights.
The fountain area has been called Chicago's front door, since it is located in the center of Grant Park, the city's front yard near the intersection of Columbus Drive and Ida B. Wells Drive. The fountain itself represents Lake Michigan, with four sets of sea horses (two per set) symbolizing the four states—Illinois, Wisconsin, Michigan and Indiana—that border the lake. The fountain was designed by beaux arts architect Edward H. Bennett. The statues were created by the French sculptor Marcel F. Loyau. The design of the fountain was inspired by the Bassin de Latone and modeled after Latona Fountain at Versailles.
The fountain was donated to the city by Kate Sturges Buckingham in memory of her brother, Clarence Buckingham, and was constructed at a cost of $750,000. The fountain's official name is the Clarence Buckingham Memorial Fountain. Kate Buckingham also established the Buckingham Fountain Endowment Fund with an initial investment of $300,000 to pay for maintenance.[1] Buckingham Fountain was dedicated on August 26, 1927.
In August 2016, in a partnership with the City of Chicago, the Chicago Parks District and Everywhere Wireless, the Buckingham Fountain viewing area joined many Chicago beaches and the Museum Campus in providing free Wi-Fi to visitors.
Many tourists and Chicagoans visit the fountain each year. The fountain operates daily 8:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. from mid-April through mid-October, unless below freezing weather conditions dictate otherwise. Water shows occur every hour on-the-hour and last 20 minutes. During shows, the center jet shoots up vertically to 150 feet (46 m), and after dusk shows are choreographed with lights and music. The last show begins at 10:00 p.m. nightly.
The fountain is constructed of Georgia pink marble and contains 1.5 million U.S. gallons (5,700,000 L) of water. During a display, more than 14,000 U.S. gallons per minute (0.88 m3/s) are pushed through its 193 jets. The bottom pool of the fountain is 280 ft (85 m) in diameter, the lower basin is 103 ft (31 m), the middle basin is 60 ft (18 m) and the upper basin is 24 ft (7.3 m). The lip of the upper basin is 25 ft (7.6 m) above the water in the lower basin.
The fountain's pumps are controlled by a Honeywell computer which was previously located in Atlanta, Georgia, until the 1994 renovation when it was moved to the pump house of the fountain. The fountain's security system is monitored from Arlington Heights (a Chicago suburb).
In 1994, the fountain received a $2.8 million restoration to its three smallest basins which developed leaks due to Chicago's harsh winters.
The latest renovation project on Buckingham Fountain began in September 2008. This three-phase project will modernize aging internal systems in the fountain and restore deteriorated features. Funding is a combination from the Buckingham endowment, city and park district funds and a grant from the Lollapalooza music festival which is held annually near the fountain.
Phase I was dedicated April 3, 2009. This phase included permeable pavers to surround the fountain. This replaced the crushed stone that was used since the fountain was constructed. The pavers make a safer and smoother surface and complies with the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990.
Phase II began in the winter of 2009. This phase included the demolition of the fountain table, installation of extensive underdrainage system, new landscaping, site lighting, signs, site furnishings, sewer system, selective demolition within or adjacent to the fountain's outer basin, repairs of some existing cast-in-place concrete elements and installation of new cast-in-place elements. Work was not completed due to lack of funds and the Chicago Park District has not announced when it expects to finish this phase.
Phase III updates have not been scheduled until Phase II projects are completed. This phase will include the restoration of Buckingham Fountain and fountain table, the construction of a new equipment room with selective demolition, structural construction and repair, masonry restoration and repair, mechanical and electrical work, bronze restoration and repair and installation of site improvements and amenities.
Buckingham Fountain was featured in the title sequences of TV shows Married... with Children and Crime Story.
The fountain was the starting point for the television show The Amazing Race 6 in 2004 and was featured in a task 13 years later on The Amazing Race 29.
Buckingham Fountain features in the 1949 film noir film Undertow, as the protagonist's meeting place.
Buckingham Fountain is often incorrectly identified as the eastern terminus of historic U.S. Route 66 (the road to Southern California), but, although near, it was not the end point of that historic route. The original eastern terminus was nearby at the intersection of Jackson Boulevard and Michigan Avenue in downtown Chicago. In a later alignment, the terminus was moved east two blocks through Grant Park to the intersection of Jackson and Lake Shore Drive after the latter was designated as U.S. Route 41. It remained there until the eastern terminus of Interstate 55 was completed at Lake Shore Drive, and then that also became the eastern terminus of Route 66 until I-55 completely replaced the route in Illinois and Route 66 was decommissioned. Nevertheless, many people still associate Buckingham Fountain with the start of Route 66, even though it had not been built yet when the route opened on November 11, 1926 — whereas the Fountain of the Great Lakes in the South Garden of the Art Institute of Chicago, which has been near the intersection of Jackson and Michigan since 1913, actually preceded Route 66 by 13 years and Buckingham Fountain by 14 years. Because Jackson is now a one way street going east, the historic commemorative signs for Route 66 now show "End" at Jackson near Michigan, but "Begin" is moved one block north to Adams Street (in front of the Art Institute), which is a one-way going west.
Millennium Park is a public park located in the Loop community area of Chicago, operated by the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs. The park, opened in 2004 and intended to celebrate the third millennium, is a prominent civic center near the city's Lake Michigan shoreline that covers a 24.5-acre (9.9 ha) section of northwestern Grant Park. Featuring a variety of public art, outdoor spaces and venues, the park is bounded by Michigan Avenue, Randolph Street, Columbus Drive and East Monroe Drive. In 2017, Millennium Park was the top tourist destination in Chicago and in the Midwest, and placed among the top ten in the United States with 25 million annual visitors.
Planning of the park, situated in an area occupied by parkland, the Illinois Central rail yards, and parking lots, began in October 1997. Construction began in October 1998, and Millennium Park was opened in a ceremony on July 16, 2004, four years behind schedule. The three-day opening celebrations were attended by some 300,000 people and included an inaugural concert by the Grant Park Orchestra and Chorus. The park has received awards for its accessibility and green design. Millennium Park has free admission, and features the Jay Pritzker Pavilion, Cloud Gate, the Crown Fountain, the Lurie Garden, and various other attractions. The park is connected by the BP Pedestrian Bridge and the Nichols Bridgeway to other parts of Grant Park. Because the park sits atop parking garages, the commuter rail Millennium Station and rail lines, it is considered the world's largest rooftop garden. In 2015, the park became the location of the city's annual Christmas tree lighting.
Some observers consider Millennium Park the city's most important project since the World's Columbian Exposition of 1893. It far exceeded its originally proposed budget of $150 million. The final cost of $475 million was borne by Chicago taxpayers and private donors. The city paid $270 million; private donors paid the rest, and assumed roughly half of the financial responsibility for the cost overruns. The construction delays and cost overruns were attributed to poor planning, many design changes, and cronyism. Many critics have praised the completed park.
From 1852 until 1997, the Illinois Central Railroad owned a right of way between downtown Chicago and Lake Michigan, in the area that became Grant Park and used it for railroad tracks. In 1871, Union Base-Ball Grounds was built on part of the site that became Millennium Park; the Chicago White Stockings played home games there until the grounds were destroyed in the Great Chicago Fire. Lake Front Park, the White Stockings' new ball grounds, was built in 1878 with a short right field due to the railroad tracks. The grounds were improved and the seating capacity was doubled in 1883, but the team had to move after the season ended the next year, as the federal government had given the city the land "with the stipulation that no commercial venture could use it". Daniel Burnham planned Grant Park around the Illinois Central Railroad property in his 1909 Plan of Chicago. Between 1917 and 1953, a prominent semicircle of paired Greek Doric-style columns (called a peristyle) was placed in this area of Grant Park (partially recreated in the new Millennium Park). In 1997, when the city gained airspace rights over the tracks, it decided to build a parking facility over them in the northwestern corner of Grant Park. Eventually, the city realized that a grand civic amenity might lure private dollars in a way that a municipal improvement such as ordinary parking structure would not, and thus began the effort to create Millennium Park. The park was originally planned under the name Lakefront Millennium Park.
The park was conceived as a 16-acre (6.5 ha) landscape-covered bridge over an underground parking structure to be built on top of the Metra/Illinois Central Railroad tracks in Grant Park. The parks overall design was by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, and gradually additional architects and artists such as Frank Gehry and Thomas Beeby were incorporated into the plan. Sponsors were sought by invitation only.
In February 1999, the city announced it was negotiating with Frank Gehry to design a proscenium arch and orchestra enclosure for a bandshell, as well as a pedestrian bridge crossing Columbus Drive, and that it was seeking donors to cover his work. At the time, the Chicago Tribune dubbed Gehry "the hottest architect in the universe"[19] in reference to the acclaim for his Guggenheim Museum Bilbao, and they noted the designs would not include Mayor Richard M. Daley's trademarks, such as wrought iron and seasonal flower boxes. Millennium Park project manager Edward Uhlir said "Frank is just the cutting edge of the next century of architecture," and noted that no other architect was being sought. Gehry was approached several times by Skidmore architect Adrian Smith on behalf of the city. His hesitance and refusal to accept the commission was overcome by Cindy Pritzker, the philanthropist, who had developed a relationship with the architect when he won the Pritzker Prize in 1989. According to John H. Bryan, who led fund-raising for the park, Pritzker enticed Gehry in face-to-face discussions, using a $15 million funding commitment toward the bandshell's creation. Having Gehry get involved helped the city realize its vision of having modern themes in the park; upon rumors of his involvement the Chicago Sun-Times proclaimed "Perhaps the future has arrived", while the Chicago Tribune noted that "The most celebrated architect in the world may soon have a chance to bring Chicago into the 21st Century".
Plans for the park were officially announced in March 1998 and construction began in September of that year. Initial construction was under the auspices of the Chicago Department of Transportation, because the project bridges the railroad tracks. However, as the project grew and expanded, its broad variety of features and amenities outside the scope of the field of transportation placed it under the jurisdiction of the city's Public Buildings Commission.
In April 1999, the city announced that the Pritzker family had donated $15 million to fund Gehry's bandshell and an additional nine donors committed $10 million. The day of this announcement, Gehry agreed to the design request. In November, when his design was unveiled, Gehry said the bridge design was preliminary and not well-conceived because funding for it was not committed. The need to fund a bridge to span the eight-lane Columbus Drive was evident, but some planning for the park was delayed in anticipation of details on the redesign of Soldier Field. In January 2000, the city announced plans to expand the park to include features that became Cloud Gate, the Crown Fountain, the McDonald's Cycle Center, and the BP Pedestrian Bridge. Later that month, Gehry unveiled his new winding design for the bridge.
Mayor Daley's influence was key in getting corporate and individual sponsors to pay for much of the park. Bryan, the former chief executive officer (CEO) of Sara Lee Corporation who spearheaded the fundraising, says that sponsorship was by invitation and no one refused the opportunity to be a sponsor. One Time magazine writer describes the park as the crowning achievement for Mayor Daley, while another suggests the park's cost and time overages were examples of the city's mismanagement. The July 16–18, 2004, opening ceremony was sponsored by J.P. Morgan Chase & Co.
The community around Millennium Park has become one of the most fashionable and desired residential addresses in Chicago. In 2006, Forbes named the park's 60602 zip code as the hottest in terms of price appreciation in the country, with upscale buildings such as The Heritage at Millennium Park (130 N. Garland) leading the way for other buildings, such as Waterview Tower, The Legacy and Joffrey Tower. The median sale price for residential real estate was $710,000 in 2005 according to Forbes, also ranking it on the list of most expensive zip codes. The park has been credited with increasing residential real estate values by $100 per square foot ($1,076 per m2).
Millennium Park is a portion of the 319-acre (129.1 ha) Grant Park, known as the "front lawn" of downtown Chicago, and has four major artistic highlights: the Jay Pritzker Pavilion, Cloud Gate, the Crown Fountain, and the Lurie Garden. Millennium Park is successful as a public art venue in part due to the grand scale of each piece and the open spaces for display. A showcase for postmodern architecture, it also features the McCormick Tribune Ice Skating Rink, the BP Pedestrian Bridge, the Joan W. and Irving B. Harris Theater for Music and Dance, Wrigley Square, the McDonald's Cycle Center, the Exelon Pavilions, the AT&T Plaza, the Boeing Galleries, the Chase Promenade, and the Nichols Bridgeway.
Millennium Park is considered one of the largest green roofs in the world, having been constructed on top of a railroad yard and large parking garages. The park, which is known for being user friendly, has a very rigorous cleaning schedule with many areas being swept, wiped down or cleaned multiple times a day. Although the park was unveiled in July 2004, some features opened earlier, and upgrades continued for some time afterwards. Along with the cultural features above ground (described below) the park has its own 2218-space parking garage
Chicago is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388 in the 2020 census, it is the third-most populous city in the United States after New York City and Los Angeles. As the seat of Cook County, the second-most populous county in the U.S., Chicago is the center of the Chicago metropolitan area, which is often colloquially called "Chicagoland".
Located on the shore of Lake Michigan, Chicago was incorporated as a city in 1837 near a portage between the Great Lakes and the Mississippi River watershed. It grew rapidly in the mid-19th century. In 1871, the Great Chicago Fire destroyed several square miles and left more than 100,000 homeless, but Chicago's population continued to grow. Chicago made noted contributions to urban planning and architecture, such as the Chicago School, the development of the City Beautiful Movement, and the steel-framed skyscraper.
Chicago is an international hub for finance, culture, commerce, industry, education, technology, telecommunications, and transportation. It has the largest and most diverse derivatives market in the world, generating 20% of all volume in commodities and financial futures alone. O'Hare International Airport is routinely ranked among the world's top six busiest airports by passenger traffic, and the region is also the nation's railroad hub. The Chicago area has one of the highest gross domestic products (GDP) of any urban region in the world, generating $689 billion in 2018. Chicago's economy is diverse, with no single industry employing more than 14% of the workforce.
Chicago is a major tourist destination. Chicago's culture has contributed much to the visual arts, literature, film, theater, comedy (especially improvisational comedy), food, dance, and music (particularly jazz, blues, soul, hip-hop, gospel, and electronic dance music, including house music). Chicago is home to the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and the Lyric Opera of Chicago, while the Art Institute of Chicago provides an influential visual arts museum and art school. The Chicago area also hosts the University of Chicago, Northwestern University, and the University of Illinois Chicago, among other institutions of learning. Chicago has professional sports teams in each of the major professional leagues, including two Major League Baseball teams.
In the mid-18th century, the area was inhabited by the Potawatomi, an indigenous tribe who had succeeded the Miami and Sauk and Fox peoples in this region.
The first known permanent settler in Chicago was trader Jean Baptiste Point du Sable. Du Sable was of African descent, perhaps born in the French colony of Saint-Domingue (Haiti), and established the settlement in the 1780s. He is commonly known as the "Founder of Chicago."
In 1795, following the victory of the new United States in the Northwest Indian War, an area that was to be part of Chicago was turned over to the U.S. for a military post by native tribes in accordance with the Treaty of Greenville. In 1803, the U.S. Army constructed Fort Dearborn, which was destroyed during the War of 1812 in the Battle of Fort Dearborn by the Potawatomi before being later rebuilt.
After the War of 1812, the Ottawa, Ojibwe, and Potawatomi tribes ceded additional land to the United States in the 1816 Treaty of St. Louis. The Potawatomi were forcibly removed from their land after the 1833 Treaty of Chicago and sent west of the Mississippi River as part of the federal policy of Indian removal.
On August 12, 1833, the Town of Chicago was organized with a population of about 200. Within seven years it grew to more than 6,000 people. On June 15, 1835, the first public land sales began with Edmund Dick Taylor as Receiver of Public Monies. The City of Chicago was incorporated on Saturday, March 4, 1837, and for several decades was the world's fastest-growing city.
As the site of the Chicago Portage, the city became an important transportation hub between the eastern and western United States. Chicago's first railway, Galena and Chicago Union Railroad, and the Illinois and Michigan Canal opened in 1848. The canal allowed steamboats and sailing ships on the Great Lakes to connect to the Mississippi River.
A flourishing economy brought residents from rural communities and immigrants from abroad. Manufacturing and retail and finance sectors became dominant, influencing the American economy. The Chicago Board of Trade (established 1848) listed the first-ever standardized "exchange-traded" forward contracts, which were called futures contracts.
In the 1850s, Chicago gained national political prominence as the home of Senator Stephen Douglas, the champion of the Kansas–Nebraska Act and the "popular sovereignty" approach to the issue of the spread of slavery. These issues also helped propel another Illinoisan, Abraham Lincoln, to the national stage. Lincoln was nominated in Chicago for U.S. president at the 1860 Republican National Convention, which was held in a purpose-built auditorium called the Wigwam. He defeated Douglas in the general election, and this set the stage for the American Civil War.
To accommodate rapid population growth and demand for better sanitation, the city improved its infrastructure. In February 1856, Chicago's Common Council approved Chesbrough's plan to build the United States' first comprehensive sewerage system. The project raised much of central Chicago to a new grade with the use of jackscrews for raising buildings. While elevating Chicago, and at first improving the city's health, the untreated sewage and industrial waste now flowed into the Chicago River, and subsequently into Lake Michigan, polluting the city's primary freshwater source.
The city responded by tunneling two miles (3.2 km) out into Lake Michigan to newly built water cribs. In 1900, the problem of sewage contamination was largely resolved when the city completed a major engineering feat. It reversed the flow of the Chicago River so that the water flowed away from Lake Michigan rather than into it. This project began with the construction and improvement of the Illinois and Michigan Canal, and was completed with the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal that connects to the Illinois River, which flows into the Mississippi River.
In 1871, the Great Chicago Fire destroyed an area about 4 miles (6.4 km) long and 1-mile (1.6 km) wide, a large section of the city at the time. Much of the city, including railroads and stockyards, survived intact, and from the ruins of the previous wooden structures arose more modern constructions of steel and stone. These set a precedent for worldwide construction. During its rebuilding period, Chicago constructed the world's first skyscraper in 1885, using steel-skeleton construction.
The city grew significantly in size and population by incorporating many neighboring townships between 1851 and 1920, with the largest annexation happening in 1889, with five townships joining the city, including the Hyde Park Township, which now comprises most of the South Side of Chicago and the far southeast of Chicago, and the Jefferson Township, which now makes up most of Chicago's Northwest Side. The desire to join the city was driven by municipal services that the city could provide its residents.
Chicago's flourishing economy attracted huge numbers of new immigrants from Europe and migrants from the Eastern United States. Of the total population in 1900, more than 77% were either foreign-born or born in the United States of foreign parentage. Germans, Irish, Poles, Swedes, and Czechs made up nearly two-thirds of the foreign-born population (by 1900, whites were 98.1% of the city's population).
Labor conflicts followed the industrial boom and the rapid expansion of the labor pool, including the Haymarket affair on May 4, 1886, and in 1894 the Pullman Strike. Anarchist and socialist groups played prominent roles in creating very large and highly organized labor actions. Concern for social problems among Chicago's immigrant poor led Jane Addams and Ellen Gates Starr to found Hull House in 1889. Programs that were developed there became a model for the new field of social work.
During the 1870s and 1880s, Chicago attained national stature as the leader in the movement to improve public health. City laws and later, state laws that upgraded standards for the medical profession and fought urban epidemics of cholera, smallpox, and yellow fever were both passed and enforced. These laws became templates for public health reform in other cities and states.
The city established many large, well-landscaped municipal parks, which also included public sanitation facilities. The chief advocate for improving public health in Chicago was John H. Rauch, M.D. Rauch established a plan for Chicago's park system in 1866. He created Lincoln Park by closing a cemetery filled with shallow graves, and in 1867, in response to an outbreak of cholera he helped establish a new Chicago Board of Health. Ten years later, he became the secretary and then the president of the first Illinois State Board of Health, which carried out most of its activities in Chicago.
In the 1800s, Chicago became the nation's railroad hub, and by 1910 over 20 railroads operated passenger service out of six different downtown terminals. In 1883, Chicago's railway managers needed a general time convention, so they developed the standardized system of North American time zones. This system for telling time spread throughout the continent.
In 1893, Chicago hosted the World's Columbian Exposition on former marshland at the present location of Jackson Park. The Exposition drew 27.5 million visitors, and is considered the most influential world's fair in history. The University of Chicago, formerly at another location, moved to the same South Side location in 1892. The term "midway" for a fair or carnival referred originally to the Midway Plaisance, a strip of park land that still runs through the University of Chicago campus and connects the Washington and Jackson Parks.
During World War I and the 1920s there was a major expansion in industry. The availability of jobs attracted African Americans from the Southern United States. Between 1910 and 1930, the African American population of Chicago increased dramatically, from 44,103 to 233,903. This Great Migration had an immense cultural impact, called the Chicago Black Renaissance, part of the New Negro Movement, in art, literature, and music. Continuing racial tensions and violence, such as the Chicago race riot of 1919, also occurred.
The ratification of the 18th amendment to the Constitution in 1919 made the production and sale (including exportation) of alcoholic beverages illegal in the United States. This ushered in the beginning of what is known as the gangster era, a time that roughly spans from 1919 until 1933 when Prohibition was repealed. The 1920s saw gangsters, including Al Capone, Dion O'Banion, Bugs Moran and Tony Accardo battle law enforcement and each other on the streets of Chicago during the Prohibition era. Chicago was the location of the infamous St. Valentine's Day Massacre in 1929, when Al Capone sent men to gun down members of a rival gang, North Side, led by Bugs Moran.
Chicago was the first American city to have a homosexual-rights organization. The organization, formed in 1924, was called the Society for Human Rights. It produced the first American publication for homosexuals, Friendship and Freedom. Police and political pressure caused the organization to disband.
The Great Depression brought unprecedented suffering to Chicago, in no small part due to the city's heavy reliance on heavy industry. Notably, industrial areas on the south side and neighborhoods lining both branches of the Chicago River were devastated; by 1933 over 50% of industrial jobs in the city had been lost, and unemployment rates amongst blacks and Mexicans in the city were over 40%. The Republican political machine in Chicago was utterly destroyed by the economic crisis, and every mayor since 1931 has been a Democrat.
From 1928 to 1933, the city witnessed a tax revolt, and the city was unable to meet payroll or provide relief efforts. The fiscal crisis was resolved by 1933, and at the same time, federal relief funding began to flow into Chicago. Chicago was also a hotbed of labor activism, with Unemployed Councils contributing heavily in the early depression to create solidarity for the poor and demand relief; these organizations were created by socialist and communist groups. By 1935 the Workers Alliance of America begun organizing the poor, workers, the unemployed. In the spring of 1937 Republic Steel Works witnessed the Memorial Day massacre of 1937 in the neighborhood of East Side.
In 1933, Chicago Mayor Anton Cermak was fatally wounded in Miami, Florida, during a failed assassination attempt on President-elect Franklin D. Roosevelt. In 1933 and 1934, the city celebrated its centennial by hosting the Century of Progress International Exposition World's Fair. The theme of the fair was technological innovation over the century since Chicago's founding.
During World War II, the city of Chicago alone produced more steel than the United Kingdom every year from 1939 – 1945, and more than Nazi Germany from 1943 – 1945.
The Great Migration, which had been on pause due to the Depression, resumed at an even faster pace in the second wave, as hundreds of thousands of blacks from the South arrived in the city to work in the steel mills, railroads, and shipping yards.
On December 2, 1942, physicist Enrico Fermi conducted the world's first controlled nuclear reaction at the University of Chicago as part of the top-secret Manhattan Project. This led to the creation of the atomic bomb by the United States, which it used in World War II in 1945.
Mayor Richard J. Daley, a Democrat, was elected in 1955, in the era of machine politics. In 1956, the city conducted its last major expansion when it annexed the land under O'Hare airport, including a small portion of DuPage County.
By the 1960s, white residents in several neighborhoods left the city for the suburban areas – in many American cities, a process known as white flight – as Blacks continued to move beyond the Black Belt. While home loan discriminatory redlining against blacks continued, the real estate industry practiced what became known as blockbusting, completely changing the racial composition of whole neighborhoods. Structural changes in industry, such as globalization and job outsourcing, caused heavy job losses for lower-skilled workers. At its peak during the 1960s, some 250,000 workers were employed in the steel industry in Chicago, but the steel crisis of the 1970s and 1980s reduced this number to just 28,000 in 2015. In 1966, Martin Luther King Jr. and Albert Raby led the Chicago Freedom Movement, which culminated in agreements between Mayor Richard J. Daley and the movement leaders.
Two years later, the city hosted the tumultuous 1968 Democratic National Convention, which featured physical confrontations both inside and outside the convention hall, with anti-war protesters, journalists and bystanders being beaten by police. Major construction projects, including the Sears Tower (now known as the Willis Tower, which in 1974 became the world's tallest building), University of Illinois at Chicago, McCormick Place, and O'Hare International Airport, were undertaken during Richard J. Daley's tenure. In 1979, Jane Byrne, the city's first female mayor, was elected. She was notable for temporarily moving into the crime-ridden Cabrini-Green housing project and for leading Chicago's school system out of a financial crisis.
In 1983, Harold Washington became the first black mayor of Chicago. Washington's first term in office directed attention to poor and previously neglected minority neighborhoods. He was re‑elected in 1987 but died of a heart attack soon after. Washington was succeeded by 6th ward alderperson Eugene Sawyer, who was elected by the Chicago City Council and served until a special election.
Richard M. Daley, son of Richard J. Daley, was elected in 1989. His accomplishments included improvements to parks and creating incentives for sustainable development, as well as closing Meigs Field in the middle of the night and destroying the runways. After successfully running for re-election five times, and becoming Chicago's longest-serving mayor, Richard M. Daley declined to run for a seventh term.
In 1992, a construction accident near the Kinzie Street Bridge produced a breach connecting the Chicago River to a tunnel below, which was part of an abandoned freight tunnel system extending throughout the downtown Loop district. The tunnels filled with 250 million US gallons (1,000,000 m3) of water, affecting buildings throughout the district and forcing a shutdown of electrical power. The area was shut down for three days and some buildings did not reopen for weeks; losses were estimated at $1.95 billion.
On February 23, 2011, Rahm Emanuel, a former White House Chief of Staff and member of the House of Representatives, won the mayoral election. Emanuel was sworn in as mayor on May 16, 2011, and won re-election in 2015. Lori Lightfoot, the city's first African American woman mayor and its first openly LGBTQ mayor, was elected to succeed Emanuel as mayor in 2019. All three city-wide elective offices were held by women (and women of color) for the first time in Chicago history: in addition to Lightfoot, the city clerk was Anna Valencia and the city treasurer was Melissa Conyears-Ervin.
On May 15, 2023, Brandon Johnson assumed office as the 57th mayor of Chicago.
Illinois is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Great Lakes to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash and Ohio rivers to its south. Its largest metropolitan areas are Chicago and the Metro East region of Greater St. Louis. Other metropolitan areas include Peoria and Rockford, as well as Springfield, its capital, and Champaign-Urbana, home to the main campus of the state's flagship university. Of the fifty U.S. states, Illinois has the fifth-largest gross domestic product (GDP), the sixth-largest population, and the 25th-largest land area.
Illinois has a highly diverse economy, with the global city of Chicago in the northeast, major industrial and agricultural hubs in the north and center, and natural resources such as coal, timber, and petroleum in the south. Owing to its central location and favorable geography, the state is a major transportation hub: the Port of Chicago has access to the Atlantic Ocean through the Great Lakes and Saint Lawrence Seaway and to the Gulf of Mexico from the Mississippi River via the Illinois Waterway. Chicago has been the nation's railroad hub since the 1860s, and its O'Hare International Airport has been among the world's busiest airports for decades. Illinois has long been considered a microcosm of the United States and a bellwether in American culture, exemplified by the phrase Will it play in Peoria?.
Present-day Illinois was inhabited by various indigenous cultures for thousands of years, including the advanced civilization centered in the Cahokia region. The French were the first Europeans to arrive, settling near the Mississippi and Illinois River in the 17th century in the region they called Illinois Country, as part of the sprawling colony of New France. Following U.S. independence in 1783, American settlers began arriving from Kentucky via the Ohio River, and the population grew from south to north. Illinois was part of the United States' oldest territory, the Northwest Territory, and in 1818 it achieved statehood. The Erie Canal brought increased commercial activity in the Great Lakes, and the small settlement of Chicago became one of the fastest growing cities in the world, benefiting from its location as one of the few natural harbors in southwestern Lake Michigan. The invention of the self-scouring steel plow by Illinoisan John Deere turned the state's rich prairie into some of the world's most productive and valuable farmland, attracting immigrant farmers from Germany and Sweden. In the mid-19th century, the Illinois and Michigan Canal and a sprawling railroad network greatly facilitated trade, commerce, and settlement, making the state a transportation hub for the nation.
By 1900, the growth of industrial jobs in the northern cities and coal mining in the central and southern areas attracted immigrants from Eastern and Southern Europe. Illinois became one of America's most industrialized states and remains a major manufacturing center. The Great Migration from the South established a large community of African Americans, particularly in Chicago, who founded the city's famous jazz and blues cultures. Chicago became a leading cultural, economic, and population center and is today one of the world's major commercial centers; its metropolitan area, informally referred to as Chicagoland, holds about 65% of the state's 12.8 million residents.
Two World Heritage Sites are in Illinois, the ancient Cahokia Mounds, and part of the Wright architecture site. Major centers of learning include the University of Chicago, University of Illinois, and Northwestern University. A wide variety of protected areas seek to conserve Illinois' natural and cultural resources. Historically, three U.S. presidents have been elected while residents of Illinois: Abraham Lincoln, Ulysses S. Grant, and Barack Obama; additionally, Ronald Reagan was born and raised in the state. Illinois honors Lincoln with its official state slogan Land of Lincoln. The state is the site of the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum in Springfield and the future home of the Barack Obama Presidential Center in Chicago.
Chicago is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388 in the 2020 census, it is the third-most populous city in the United States after New York City and Los Angeles. As the seat of Cook County, the second-most populous county in the U.S., Chicago is the center of the Chicago metropolitan area, which is often colloquially called "Chicagoland".
Located on the shore of Lake Michigan, Chicago was incorporated as a city in 1837 near a portage between the Great Lakes and the Mississippi River watershed. It grew rapidly in the mid-19th century. In 1871, the Great Chicago Fire destroyed several square miles and left more than 100,000 homeless, but Chicago's population continued to grow. Chicago made noted contributions to urban planning and architecture, such as the Chicago School, the development of the City Beautiful Movement, and the steel-framed skyscraper.
Chicago is an international hub for finance, culture, commerce, industry, education, technology, telecommunications, and transportation. It has the largest and most diverse derivatives market in the world, generating 20% of all volume in commodities and financial futures alone. O'Hare International Airport is routinely ranked among the world's top six busiest airports by passenger traffic, and the region is also the nation's railroad hub. The Chicago area has one of the highest gross domestic products (GDP) of any urban region in the world, generating $689 billion in 2018. Chicago's economy is diverse, with no single industry employing more than 14% of the workforce.
Chicago is a major tourist destination. Chicago's culture has contributed much to the visual arts, literature, film, theater, comedy (especially improvisational comedy), food, dance, and music (particularly jazz, blues, soul, hip-hop, gospel, and electronic dance music, including house music). Chicago is home to the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and the Lyric Opera of Chicago, while the Art Institute of Chicago provides an influential visual arts museum and art school. The Chicago area also hosts the University of Chicago, Northwestern University, and the University of Illinois Chicago, among other institutions of learning. Chicago has professional sports teams in each of the major professional leagues, including two Major League Baseball teams.
In the mid-18th century, the area was inhabited by the Potawatomi, an indigenous tribe who had succeeded the Miami and Sauk and Fox peoples in this region.
The first known permanent settler in Chicago was trader Jean Baptiste Point du Sable. Du Sable was of African descent, perhaps born in the French colony of Saint-Domingue (Haiti), and established the settlement in the 1780s. He is commonly known as the "Founder of Chicago."
In 1795, following the victory of the new United States in the Northwest Indian War, an area that was to be part of Chicago was turned over to the U.S. for a military post by native tribes in accordance with the Treaty of Greenville. In 1803, the U.S. Army constructed Fort Dearborn, which was destroyed during the War of 1812 in the Battle of Fort Dearborn by the Potawatomi before being later rebuilt.
After the War of 1812, the Ottawa, Ojibwe, and Potawatomi tribes ceded additional land to the United States in the 1816 Treaty of St. Louis. The Potawatomi were forcibly removed from their land after the 1833 Treaty of Chicago and sent west of the Mississippi River as part of the federal policy of Indian removal.
On August 12, 1833, the Town of Chicago was organized with a population of about 200. Within seven years it grew to more than 6,000 people. On June 15, 1835, the first public land sales began with Edmund Dick Taylor as Receiver of Public Monies. The City of Chicago was incorporated on Saturday, March 4, 1837, and for several decades was the world's fastest-growing city.
As the site of the Chicago Portage, the city became an important transportation hub between the eastern and western United States. Chicago's first railway, Galena and Chicago Union Railroad, and the Illinois and Michigan Canal opened in 1848. The canal allowed steamboats and sailing ships on the Great Lakes to connect to the Mississippi River.
A flourishing economy brought residents from rural communities and immigrants from abroad. Manufacturing and retail and finance sectors became dominant, influencing the American economy. The Chicago Board of Trade (established 1848) listed the first-ever standardized "exchange-traded" forward contracts, which were called futures contracts.
In the 1850s, Chicago gained national political prominence as the home of Senator Stephen Douglas, the champion of the Kansas–Nebraska Act and the "popular sovereignty" approach to the issue of the spread of slavery. These issues also helped propel another Illinoisan, Abraham Lincoln, to the national stage. Lincoln was nominated in Chicago for U.S. president at the 1860 Republican National Convention, which was held in a purpose-built auditorium called the Wigwam. He defeated Douglas in the general election, and this set the stage for the American Civil War.
To accommodate rapid population growth and demand for better sanitation, the city improved its infrastructure. In February 1856, Chicago's Common Council approved Chesbrough's plan to build the United States' first comprehensive sewerage system. The project raised much of central Chicago to a new grade with the use of jackscrews for raising buildings. While elevating Chicago, and at first improving the city's health, the untreated sewage and industrial waste now flowed into the Chicago River, and subsequently into Lake Michigan, polluting the city's primary freshwater source.
The city responded by tunneling two miles (3.2 km) out into Lake Michigan to newly built water cribs. In 1900, the problem of sewage contamination was largely resolved when the city completed a major engineering feat. It reversed the flow of the Chicago River so that the water flowed away from Lake Michigan rather than into it. This project began with the construction and improvement of the Illinois and Michigan Canal, and was completed with the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal that connects to the Illinois River, which flows into the Mississippi River.
In 1871, the Great Chicago Fire destroyed an area about 4 miles (6.4 km) long and 1-mile (1.6 km) wide, a large section of the city at the time. Much of the city, including railroads and stockyards, survived intact, and from the ruins of the previous wooden structures arose more modern constructions of steel and stone. These set a precedent for worldwide construction. During its rebuilding period, Chicago constructed the world's first skyscraper in 1885, using steel-skeleton construction.
The city grew significantly in size and population by incorporating many neighboring townships between 1851 and 1920, with the largest annexation happening in 1889, with five townships joining the city, including the Hyde Park Township, which now comprises most of the South Side of Chicago and the far southeast of Chicago, and the Jefferson Township, which now makes up most of Chicago's Northwest Side. The desire to join the city was driven by municipal services that the city could provide its residents.
Chicago's flourishing economy attracted huge numbers of new immigrants from Europe and migrants from the Eastern United States. Of the total population in 1900, more than 77% were either foreign-born or born in the United States of foreign parentage. Germans, Irish, Poles, Swedes, and Czechs made up nearly two-thirds of the foreign-born population (by 1900, whites were 98.1% of the city's population).
Labor conflicts followed the industrial boom and the rapid expansion of the labor pool, including the Haymarket affair on May 4, 1886, and in 1894 the Pullman Strike. Anarchist and socialist groups played prominent roles in creating very large and highly organized labor actions. Concern for social problems among Chicago's immigrant poor led Jane Addams and Ellen Gates Starr to found Hull House in 1889. Programs that were developed there became a model for the new field of social work.
During the 1870s and 1880s, Chicago attained national stature as the leader in the movement to improve public health. City laws and later, state laws that upgraded standards for the medical profession and fought urban epidemics of cholera, smallpox, and yellow fever were both passed and enforced. These laws became templates for public health reform in other cities and states.
The city established many large, well-landscaped municipal parks, which also included public sanitation facilities. The chief advocate for improving public health in Chicago was John H. Rauch, M.D. Rauch established a plan for Chicago's park system in 1866. He created Lincoln Park by closing a cemetery filled with shallow graves, and in 1867, in response to an outbreak of cholera he helped establish a new Chicago Board of Health. Ten years later, he became the secretary and then the president of the first Illinois State Board of Health, which carried out most of its activities in Chicago.
In the 1800s, Chicago became the nation's railroad hub, and by 1910 over 20 railroads operated passenger service out of six different downtown terminals. In 1883, Chicago's railway managers needed a general time convention, so they developed the standardized system of North American time zones. This system for telling time spread throughout the continent.
In 1893, Chicago hosted the World's Columbian Exposition on former marshland at the present location of Jackson Park. The Exposition drew 27.5 million visitors, and is considered the most influential world's fair in history. The University of Chicago, formerly at another location, moved to the same South Side location in 1892. The term "midway" for a fair or carnival referred originally to the Midway Plaisance, a strip of park land that still runs through the University of Chicago campus and connects the Washington and Jackson Parks.
During World War I and the 1920s there was a major expansion in industry. The availability of jobs attracted African Americans from the Southern United States. Between 1910 and 1930, the African American population of Chicago increased dramatically, from 44,103 to 233,903. This Great Migration had an immense cultural impact, called the Chicago Black Renaissance, part of the New Negro Movement, in art, literature, and music. Continuing racial tensions and violence, such as the Chicago race riot of 1919, also occurred.
The ratification of the 18th amendment to the Constitution in 1919 made the production and sale (including exportation) of alcoholic beverages illegal in the United States. This ushered in the beginning of what is known as the gangster era, a time that roughly spans from 1919 until 1933 when Prohibition was repealed. The 1920s saw gangsters, including Al Capone, Dion O'Banion, Bugs Moran and Tony Accardo battle law enforcement and each other on the streets of Chicago during the Prohibition era. Chicago was the location of the infamous St. Valentine's Day Massacre in 1929, when Al Capone sent men to gun down members of a rival gang, North Side, led by Bugs Moran.
Chicago was the first American city to have a homosexual-rights organization. The organization, formed in 1924, was called the Society for Human Rights. It produced the first American publication for homosexuals, Friendship and Freedom. Police and political pressure caused the organization to disband.
The Great Depression brought unprecedented suffering to Chicago, in no small part due to the city's heavy reliance on heavy industry. Notably, industrial areas on the south side and neighborhoods lining both branches of the Chicago River were devastated; by 1933 over 50% of industrial jobs in the city had been lost, and unemployment rates amongst blacks and Mexicans in the city were over 40%. The Republican political machine in Chicago was utterly destroyed by the economic crisis, and every mayor since 1931 has been a Democrat.
From 1928 to 1933, the city witnessed a tax revolt, and the city was unable to meet payroll or provide relief efforts. The fiscal crisis was resolved by 1933, and at the same time, federal relief funding began to flow into Chicago. Chicago was also a hotbed of labor activism, with Unemployed Councils contributing heavily in the early depression to create solidarity for the poor and demand relief; these organizations were created by socialist and communist groups. By 1935 the Workers Alliance of America begun organizing the poor, workers, the unemployed. In the spring of 1937 Republic Steel Works witnessed the Memorial Day massacre of 1937 in the neighborhood of East Side.
In 1933, Chicago Mayor Anton Cermak was fatally wounded in Miami, Florida, during a failed assassination attempt on President-elect Franklin D. Roosevelt. In 1933 and 1934, the city celebrated its centennial by hosting the Century of Progress International Exposition World's Fair. The theme of the fair was technological innovation over the century since Chicago's founding.
During World War II, the city of Chicago alone produced more steel than the United Kingdom every year from 1939 – 1945, and more than Nazi Germany from 1943 – 1945.
The Great Migration, which had been on pause due to the Depression, resumed at an even faster pace in the second wave, as hundreds of thousands of blacks from the South arrived in the city to work in the steel mills, railroads, and shipping yards.
On December 2, 1942, physicist Enrico Fermi conducted the world's first controlled nuclear reaction at the University of Chicago as part of the top-secret Manhattan Project. This led to the creation of the atomic bomb by the United States, which it used in World War II in 1945.
Mayor Richard J. Daley, a Democrat, was elected in 1955, in the era of machine politics. In 1956, the city conducted its last major expansion when it annexed the land under O'Hare airport, including a small portion of DuPage County.
By the 1960s, white residents in several neighborhoods left the city for the suburban areas – in many American cities, a process known as white flight – as Blacks continued to move beyond the Black Belt. While home loan discriminatory redlining against blacks continued, the real estate industry practiced what became known as blockbusting, completely changing the racial composition of whole neighborhoods. Structural changes in industry, such as globalization and job outsourcing, caused heavy job losses for lower-skilled workers. At its peak during the 1960s, some 250,000 workers were employed in the steel industry in Chicago, but the steel crisis of the 1970s and 1980s reduced this number to just 28,000 in 2015. In 1966, Martin Luther King Jr. and Albert Raby led the Chicago Freedom Movement, which culminated in agreements between Mayor Richard J. Daley and the movement leaders.
Two years later, the city hosted the tumultuous 1968 Democratic National Convention, which featured physical confrontations both inside and outside the convention hall, with anti-war protesters, journalists and bystanders being beaten by police. Major construction projects, including the Sears Tower (now known as the Willis Tower, which in 1974 became the world's tallest building), University of Illinois at Chicago, McCormick Place, and O'Hare International Airport, were undertaken during Richard J. Daley's tenure. In 1979, Jane Byrne, the city's first female mayor, was elected. She was notable for temporarily moving into the crime-ridden Cabrini-Green housing project and for leading Chicago's school system out of a financial crisis.
In 1983, Harold Washington became the first black mayor of Chicago. Washington's first term in office directed attention to poor and previously neglected minority neighborhoods. He was re‑elected in 1987 but died of a heart attack soon after. Washington was succeeded by 6th ward alderperson Eugene Sawyer, who was elected by the Chicago City Council and served until a special election.
Richard M. Daley, son of Richard J. Daley, was elected in 1989. His accomplishments included improvements to parks and creating incentives for sustainable development, as well as closing Meigs Field in the middle of the night and destroying the runways. After successfully running for re-election five times, and becoming Chicago's longest-serving mayor, Richard M. Daley declined to run for a seventh term.
In 1992, a construction accident near the Kinzie Street Bridge produced a breach connecting the Chicago River to a tunnel below, which was part of an abandoned freight tunnel system extending throughout the downtown Loop district. The tunnels filled with 250 million US gallons (1,000,000 m3) of water, affecting buildings throughout the district and forcing a shutdown of electrical power. The area was shut down for three days and some buildings did not reopen for weeks; losses were estimated at $1.95 billion.
On February 23, 2011, Rahm Emanuel, a former White House Chief of Staff and member of the House of Representatives, won the mayoral election. Emanuel was sworn in as mayor on May 16, 2011, and won re-election in 2015. Lori Lightfoot, the city's first African American woman mayor and its first openly LGBTQ mayor, was elected to succeed Emanuel as mayor in 2019. All three city-wide elective offices were held by women (and women of color) for the first time in Chicago history: in addition to Lightfoot, the city clerk was Anna Valencia and the city treasurer was Melissa Conyears-Ervin.
On May 15, 2023, Brandon Johnson assumed office as the 57th mayor of Chicago.
Illinois is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Great Lakes to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash and Ohio rivers to its south. Its largest metropolitan areas are Chicago and the Metro East region of Greater St. Louis. Other metropolitan areas include Peoria and Rockford, as well as Springfield, its capital, and Champaign-Urbana, home to the main campus of the state's flagship university. Of the fifty U.S. states, Illinois has the fifth-largest gross domestic product (GDP), the sixth-largest population, and the 25th-largest land area.
Illinois has a highly diverse economy, with the global city of Chicago in the northeast, major industrial and agricultural hubs in the north and center, and natural resources such as coal, timber, and petroleum in the south. Owing to its central location and favorable geography, the state is a major transportation hub: the Port of Chicago has access to the Atlantic Ocean through the Great Lakes and Saint Lawrence Seaway and to the Gulf of Mexico from the Mississippi River via the Illinois Waterway. Chicago has been the nation's railroad hub since the 1860s, and its O'Hare International Airport has been among the world's busiest airports for decades. Illinois has long been considered a microcosm of the United States and a bellwether in American culture, exemplified by the phrase Will it play in Peoria?.
Present-day Illinois was inhabited by various indigenous cultures for thousands of years, including the advanced civilization centered in the Cahokia region. The French were the first Europeans to arrive, settling near the Mississippi and Illinois River in the 17th century in the region they called Illinois Country, as part of the sprawling colony of New France. Following U.S. independence in 1783, American settlers began arriving from Kentucky via the Ohio River, and the population grew from south to north. Illinois was part of the United States' oldest territory, the Northwest Territory, and in 1818 it achieved statehood. The Erie Canal brought increased commercial activity in the Great Lakes, and the small settlement of Chicago became one of the fastest growing cities in the world, benefiting from its location as one of the few natural harbors in southwestern Lake Michigan. The invention of the self-scouring steel plow by Illinoisan John Deere turned the state's rich prairie into some of the world's most productive and valuable farmland, attracting immigrant farmers from Germany and Sweden. In the mid-19th century, the Illinois and Michigan Canal and a sprawling railroad network greatly facilitated trade, commerce, and settlement, making the state a transportation hub for the nation.
By 1900, the growth of industrial jobs in the northern cities and coal mining in the central and southern areas attracted immigrants from Eastern and Southern Europe. Illinois became one of America's most industrialized states and remains a major manufacturing center. The Great Migration from the South established a large community of African Americans, particularly in Chicago, who founded the city's famous jazz and blues cultures. Chicago became a leading cultural, economic, and population center and is today one of the world's major commercial centers; its metropolitan area, informally referred to as Chicagoland, holds about 65% of the state's 12.8 million residents.
Two World Heritage Sites are in Illinois, the ancient Cahokia Mounds, and part of the Wright architecture site. Major centers of learning include the University of Chicago, University of Illinois, and Northwestern University. A wide variety of protected areas seek to conserve Illinois' natural and cultural resources. Historically, three U.S. presidents have been elected while residents of Illinois: Abraham Lincoln, Ulysses S. Grant, and Barack Obama; additionally, Ronald Reagan was born and raised in the state. Illinois honors Lincoln with its official state slogan Land of Lincoln. The state is the site of the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum in Springfield and the future home of the Barack Obama Presidential Center in Chicago.
Whiting, R. R.,, 1872-1944,, copyright claimant.
Section of Penn. R. R. tunnel under the Hudson River at N. Y. City, exhibited at World's Fair, St. Louis, Mo., 1904. Diameter 21 feet
Cincinnati, Ohio : Whiting View Company, c1904.
1 photographic print on stereo card : stereograph.
Notes:
No. 630.
Title from item.
Subjects:
Louisiana Purchase Exposition--(1904 :--Saint Louis, Mo.)
Exhibitions--Missouri--Saint Louis--1900-1910.
Railroad tunnels--1900-1910.
Format: Stereographs--1900-1910.
Photographic prints--1900-1910.
Rights Info: No known restrictions on publication.
Repository: Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division, Washington, D.C. 20540 USA, hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/pp.print
Higher resolution image is available (Persistent URL): hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/stereo.1s03676
Call Number: LOT 11041-5, no. 13