Good to catch up with some of the boys,shouts to spek,puns,nickos,tase and vosp...

Flamingos at Sunset, in #swakopmund , #namibia (c) Joel Santos. Taken with a #eos7dmarkii + #ef100400ii with an EF 1.4 Extender. #liveforthestory #canonportugal #canoneurope #travelphotographer #travelphotos #travelworld #storyteller #amazing_shots #amazing_shotz #amazingworld #africatravel #travelphotos #amazingnature

I extended the original cable from the business card USB drive, and routed it through a small piece of plastic, glued in place just inside the opening. This lets out just enough of the cable to plug into a hub or laptop, but prevents me pulling the wires all the way out.

Extended and narrowed hood.

Reviewing the Olympus MC14 1.4x Teleconverter for the 40-150mm f/2.8 lens over on the blog HERE. How does it affect the lens sharpness and such? Well, c'mon over and see.

strobism: 1ab800 through a diffused bd cam left fired via pw at min. power from about 5' away

In the wake of the second world war, there were two Zeiss-Ikons - one in East, and one in West Germany. Both introduced new SLR camera lines not long after the East/West division, the East German Contax S coming out in 1949 and the West German Contaflex I following in 1953. Both were innovative designs. The Contax S introduced the world to the eye-level pentaprism viewfinder, which would transform the SLR from a fringe curiosity into the dominant form of 35mm camera; the Contaflex was the first 35mm SLR to use a between-lens leaf shutter, and also featured a very bright, molded plastic Fresnel screen in the viewfinder. The Contaflex screen is clear and non-focusing in the outer field, only the central focus aid indicates focus. The leaf shutter system in the Contaflex also provides for an automatic diaphragm, which is wide open for viewing and opens to the selected aperture for exposure. The first focal-plane shutter SLR to have this feature internally incorporated was the Contax F, which came four years after the Contaflex I.

These are later models in each series: the Contaflex Prima on the left dates from 1959, the Contax F on the right from 1957. Despite a decade of separation and radically different design concepts, they still give the impression of a family resemblance.

New Haven Railroad electrical maintenance of way wire train repair crew is seen standing on an extended insulated deck flat car at Stamford, Connecticut 1968. Hopefully the power to the nearby catenary has been deactivated for the employees safety. In the snowy background is seen Highway I-95 and the downtown area of the city.

Bob Hughes captured this image on film.

Nijmegen, The Netherlands, 2016

.. referring to this one

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Since it's a long long time I don't have new picts to show you... I'm 'fishing' from my archives ;-)

2-door 6/7-wide truck, Seats two minifigs. A larger version of the 4200 Mining Truck.

Rolling down RWY 29 @ EGUN (RAF Mildenhall)

All my yard birds were on alert this afternoon when a large Red-Tailed Hawk briefly landed in a nearby tree.

Extended gondala car.

I've modded the carriages from the Lego Disney Train set, by using the 6 x 28 train base to extend them by 4 studs. Similar to my mods of the steam loco, this is intended as a simple mod rather than a full MOC. The bogies have also been lengthened by a stud.

Even with the belt fully extended, the truck is able to support the weight. Though there is quite a bit of sagging from the turntable.

I'll be adding some transparent supports to the boom when the motors are running to reduce friction.

Antwerp - Belgium

Angie and I drove 80 miles / 129Km to eat at Applewood Grill but instead ate at The Old Mill Restaurant

The Karpas Peninsula is a long, finger-like peninsula that is one of the most prominent geographical features of the island of Cyprus. Its farthest extent is Cape Apostolos Andreas, and its major population centre is the town of Rizokarpaso (Greek: Ριζοκάρπασο; Turkish: Dipkarpaz). The peninsula de facto forms the İskele District of Northern Cyprus, while de jure it lies in the Famagusta District of the Republic of Cyprus.

It covers an area of 898 km2, making up 27% of the territory of Northern Cyprus. It is much less densely populated than the average of Northern Cyprus, with a population density of 26 people per km2 in 2010. The town of Trikomo (İskele), the district capital, is considered to be the "gateway" and the geographical starting point of the peninsula, along with the neighboring village of Bogazi (Boğaz). Apart from Trikomo, the most important towns and municipalities in the area are Yialousa, Galateia, Rizokarpaso, Komi Kebir and Akanthou.

The peninsula hosts a number of historical sites such as Kantara Castle and Apostolos Andreas Monastery, as well as the ruins of Agia Trias Basilica and the ancient cities of Karpasia and Aphendrika among numerous others.

There are more than 46 sandy beaches in the peninsula, which are the primary Eastern Mediterranean nesting grounds for the loggerhead (Caretta caretta) and green sea turtles (Chelonia mydas). The Golden Beach is situated around 15 km from the town of Rizokarpaso and is considered one of the finest and most remote beaches of Cyprus. It is one of the least tourist-frequented beaches in the island. The Karpas Peninsula is home to the Karpas donkey, known as a symbol of Cyprus; there are campaigns carried out jointly by Turkish and Greek Cypriots to conserve the rare donkeys of the peninsula.

Most of the activities in the Karpas Peninsula are related to agriculture, fishing, hunting, and some to micro-tourism. Local farmers take advantage of this natural environment to grow different fruits and vegetables mostly as sub-subsistence farming (although for local commerce too). The region is mostly known for its karpuz (Turkish for "watermelon"). Several tourist businesses can be found in the town of Rizokarpaso. These are generally restaurants serving traditional Turkish-Cypriot Cuisine, including meze.

Due to its geographical position, the Karpas Peninsula is somewhat protected from human interference. This makes it a pristine natural environment, home to many inland and marine species. When hunting season starts, the Karpas's forests are a popular location to go hunting for partridges. Meanwhile, the coastal region, with its clear waters, moderate northern currents, and rocky bottom with cave-like structures, is home to two of the most highly valued fish species: the orfoz (dusky grouper) and lahos (Epinepheluses). The price per kilogram of each species ranges from 35-80 Turkish lira, depending on the location and the season. However, fishing rates in the Karpas region and most of North Cyprus dramatically decreased last century because of the use of dynamite. This is why the Zafer Burunu (the tip of the peninsula) is now a protected natural heritage area, where marine species are slowly recovering to healthy population parameters.

Northern Cyprus, officially the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), is a de facto state that comprises the northeastern portion of the island of Cyprus. It is recognised only by Turkey, and its territory is considered by all other states to be part of the Republic of Cyprus.

Northern Cyprus extends from the tip of the Karpass Peninsula in the northeast to Morphou Bay, Cape Kormakitis and its westernmost point, the Kokkina exclave in the west. Its southernmost point is the village of Louroujina. A buffer zone under the control of the United Nations stretches between Northern Cyprus and the rest of the island and divides Nicosia, the island's largest city and capital of both sides.

A coup d'état in 1974, performed as part of an attempt to annex the island to Greece, prompted the Turkish invasion of Cyprus. This resulted in the eviction of much of the north's Greek Cypriot population, the flight of Turkish Cypriots from the south, and the partitioning of the island, leading to a unilateral declaration of independence by the north in 1983. Due to its lack of recognition, Northern Cyprus is heavily dependent on Turkey for economic, political and military support.

Attempts to reach a solution to the Cyprus dispute have been unsuccessful. The Turkish Army maintains a large force in Northern Cyprus with the support and approval of the TRNC government, while the Republic of Cyprus, the European Union as a whole, and the international community regard it as an occupation force. This military presence has been denounced in several United Nations Security Council resolutions.

Northern Cyprus is a semi-presidential, democratic republic with a cultural heritage incorporating various influences and an economy that is dominated by the services sector. The economy has seen growth through the 2000s and 2010s, with the GNP per capita more than tripling in the 2000s, but is held back by an international embargo due to the official closure of the ports in Northern Cyprus by the Republic of Cyprus. The official language is Turkish, with a distinct local dialect being spoken. The vast majority of the population consists of Sunni Muslims, while religious attitudes are mostly moderate and secular. Northern Cyprus is an observer state of ECO and OIC under the name "Turkish Cypriot State", PACE under the name "Turkish Cypriot Community", and Organization of Turkic States with its own name.

Several distinct periods of Cypriot intercommunal violence involving the two main ethnic communities, Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots, marked mid-20th century Cyprus. These included the Cyprus Emergency of 1955–59 during British rule, the post-independence Cyprus crisis of 1963–64, and the Cyprus crisis of 1967. Hostilities culminated in the 1974 de facto division of the island along the Green Line following the Turkish invasion of Cyprus. The region has been relatively peaceful since then, but the Cyprus dispute has continued, with various attempts to solve it diplomatically having been generally unsuccessful.

Cyprus, an island lying in the eastern Mediterranean, hosted a population of Greeks and Turks (four-fifths and one-fifth, respectively), who lived under British rule in the late nineteenth-century and the first half of the twentieth-century. Christian Orthodox Church of Cyprus played a prominent political role among the Greek Cypriot community, a privilege that it acquired during the Ottoman Empire with the employment of the millet system, which gave the archbishop an unofficial ethnarch status.

The repeated rejections by the British of Greek Cypriot demands for enosis, union with Greece, led to armed resistance, organised by the National Organization of Cypriot Struggle, or EOKA. EOKA, led by the Greek-Cypriot commander George Grivas, systematically targeted British colonial authorities. One of the effects of EOKA's campaign was to alter the Turkish position from demanding full reincorporation into Turkey to a demand for taksim (partition). EOKA's mission and activities caused a "Cretan syndrome" (see Turkish Resistance Organisation) within the Turkish Cypriot community, as its members feared that they would be forced to leave the island in such a case as had been the case with Cretan Turks. As such, they preferred the continuation of British colonial rule and then taksim, the division of the island. Due to the Turkish Cypriots' support for the British, EOKA's leader, Georgios Grivas, declared them to be enemies. The fact that the Turks were a minority was, according to Nihat Erim, to be addressed by the transfer of thousands of Turks from mainland Turkey so that Greek Cypriots would cease to be the majority. When Erim visited Cyprus as the Turkish representative, he was advised by Field Marshal Sir John Harding, the then Governor of Cyprus, that Turkey should send educated Turks to settle in Cyprus.

Turkey actively promoted the idea that on the island of Cyprus two distinctive communities existed, and sidestepped its former claim that "the people of Cyprus were all Turkish subjects". In doing so, Turkey's aim to have self-determination of two to-be equal communities in effect led to de jure partition of the island.[citation needed] This could be justified to the international community against the will of the majority Greek population of the island. Dr. Fazil Küçük in 1954 had already proposed Cyprus be divided in two at the 35° parallel.

Lindley Dan, from Notre Dame University, spotted the roots of intercommunal violence to different visions among the two communities of Cyprus (enosis for Greek Cypriots, taksim for Turkish Cypriots). Also, Lindlay wrote that "the merging of church, schools/education, and politics in divisive and nationalistic ways" had played a crucial role in creation of havoc in Cyprus' history. Attalides Michael also pointed to the opposing nationalisms as the cause of the Cyprus problem.

By the mid-1950's, the "Cyprus is Turkish" party, movement, and slogan gained force in both Cyprus and Turkey. In a 1954 editorial, Turkish Cypriot leader Dr. Fazil Kuchuk expressed the sentiment that the Turkish youth had grown up with the idea that "as soon as Great Britain leaves the island, it will be taken over by the Turks", and that "Turkey cannot tolerate otherwise". This perspective contributed to the willingness of Turkish Cypriots to align themselves with the British, who started recruiting Turkish Cypriots into the police force that patrolled Cyprus to fight EOKA, a Greek Cypriot nationalist organisation that sought to rid the island of British rule.

EOKA targeted colonial authorities, including police, but Georgios Grivas, the leader of EOKA, did not initially wish to open up a new front by fighting Turkish Cypriots and reassured them that EOKA would not harm their people. In 1956, some Turkish Cypriot policemen were killed by EOKA members and this provoked some intercommunal violence in the spring and summer, but these attacks on policemen were not motivated by the fact that they were Turkish Cypriots.

However, in January 1957, Grivas changed his policy as his forces in the mountains became increasingly pressured by the British Crown forces. In order to divert the attention of the Crown forces, EOKA members started to target Turkish Cypriot policemen intentionally in the towns, so that Turkish Cypriots would riot against the Greek Cypriots and the security forces would have to be diverted to the towns to restore order. The killing of a Turkish Cypriot policeman on 19 January, when a power station was bombed, and the injury of three others, provoked three days of intercommunal violence in Nicosia. The two communities targeted each other in reprisals, at least one Greek Cypriot was killed and the British Army was deployed in the streets. Greek Cypriot stores were burned and their neighbourhoods attacked. Following the events, the Greek Cypriot leadership spread the propaganda that the riots had merely been an act of Turkish Cypriot aggression. Such events created chaos and drove the communities apart both in Cyprus and in Turkey.

On 22 October 1957 Sir Hugh Mackintosh Foot replaced Sir John Harding as the British Governor of Cyprus. Foot suggested five to seven years of self-government before any final decision. His plan rejected both enosis and taksim. The Turkish Cypriot response to this plan was a series of anti-British demonstrations in Nicosia on 27 and 28 January 1958 rejecting the proposed plan because the plan did not include partition. The British then withdrew the plan.

In 1957, Black Gang, a Turkish Cypriot pro-taksim paramilitary organisation, was formed to patrol a Turkish Cypriot enclave, the Tahtakale district of Nicosia, against activities of EOKA. The organisation later attempted to grow into a national scale, but failed to gain public support.

By 1958, signs of dissatisfaction with the British increased on both sides, with a group of Turkish Cypriots forming Volkan (later renamed to the Turkish Resistance Organisation) paramilitary group to promote partition and the annexation of Cyprus to Turkey as dictated by the Menderes plan. Volkan initially consisted of roughly 100 members, with the stated aim of raising awareness in Turkey of the Cyprus issue and courting military training and support for Turkish Cypriot fighters from the Turkish government.

In June 1958, the British Prime Minister, Harold Macmillan, was expected to propose a plan to resolve the Cyprus issue. In light of the new development, the Turks rioted in Nicosia to promote the idea that Greek and Turkish Cypriots could not live together and therefore any plan that did not include partition would not be viable. This violence was soon followed by bombing, Greek Cypriot deaths and looting of Greek Cypriot-owned shops and houses. Greek and Turkish Cypriots started to flee mixed population villages where they were a minority in search of safety. This was effectively the beginning of the segregation of the two communities. On 7 June 1958, a bomb exploded at the entrance of the Turkish Embassy in Cyprus. Following the bombing, Turkish Cypriots looted Greek Cypriot properties. On 26 June 1984, the Turkish Cypriot leader, Rauf Denktaş, admitted on British channel ITV that the bomb was placed by the Turks themselves in order to create tension. On 9 January 1995, Rauf Denktaş repeated his claim to the famous Turkish newspaper Milliyet in Turkey.

The crisis reached a climax on 12 June 1958, when eight Greeks, out of an armed group of thirty five arrested by soldiers of the Royal Horse Guards on suspicion of preparing an attack on the Turkish quarter of Skylloura, were killed in a suspected attack by Turkish Cypriot locals, near the village of Geunyeli, having been ordered to walk back to their village of Kondemenos.

After the EOKA campaign had begun, the British government successfully began to turn the Cyprus issue from a British colonial problem into a Greek-Turkish issue. British diplomacy exerted backstage influence on the Adnan Menderes government, with the aim of making Turkey active in Cyprus. For the British, the attempt had a twofold objective. The EOKA campaign would be silenced as quickly as possible, and Turkish Cypriots would not side with Greek Cypriots against the British colonial claims over the island, which would thus remain under the British. The Turkish Cypriot leadership visited Menderes to discuss the Cyprus issue. When asked how the Turkish Cypriots should respond to the Greek Cypriot claim of enosis, Menderes replied: "You should go to the British foreign minister and request the status quo be prolonged, Cyprus to remain as a British colony". When the Turkish Cypriots visited the British Foreign Secretary and requested for Cyprus to remain a colony, he replied: "You should not be asking for colonialism at this day and age, you should be asking for Cyprus be returned to Turkey, its former owner".

As Turkish Cypriots began to look to Turkey for protection, Greek Cypriots soon understood that enosis was extremely unlikely. The Greek Cypriot leader, Archbishop Makarios III, now set independence for the island as his objective.

Britain resolved to solve the dispute by creating an independent Cyprus. In 1959, all involved parties signed the Zurich Agreements: Britain, Turkey, Greece, and the Greek and Turkish Cypriot leaders, Makarios and Dr. Fazil Kucuk, respectively. The new constitution drew heavily on the ethnic composition of the island. The President would be a Greek Cypriot, and the Vice-President a Turkish Cypriot with an equal veto. The contribution to the public service would be set at a ratio of 70:30, and the Supreme Court would consist of an equal number of judges from both communities as well as an independent judge who was not Greek, Turkish or British. The Zurich Agreements were supplemented by a number of treaties. The Treaty of Guarantee stated that secession or union with any state was forbidden, and that Greece, Turkey and Britain would be given guarantor status to intervene if that was violated. The Treaty of Alliance allowed for two small Greek and Turkish military contingents to be stationed on the island, and the Treaty of Establishment gave Britain sovereignty over two bases in Akrotiri and Dhekelia.

On 15 August 1960, the Colony of Cyprus became fully independent as the Republic of Cyprus. The new republic remained within the Commonwealth of Nations.

The new constitution brought dissatisfaction to Greek Cypriots, who felt it to be highly unjust for them for historical, demographic and contributional reasons. Although 80% of the island's population were Greek Cypriots and these indigenous people had lived on the island for thousands of years and paid 94% of taxes, the new constitution was giving the 17% of the population that was Turkish Cypriots, who paid 6% of taxes, around 30% of government jobs and 40% of national security jobs.

Within three years tensions between the two communities in administrative affairs began to show. In particular disputes over separate municipalities and taxation created a deadlock in government. A constitutional court ruled in 1963 Makarios had failed to uphold article 173 of the constitution which called for the establishment of separate municipalities for Turkish Cypriots. Makarios subsequently declared his intention to ignore the judgement, resulting in the West German judge resigning from his position. Makarios proposed thirteen amendments to the constitution, which would have had the effect of resolving most of the issues in the Greek Cypriot favour. Under the proposals, the President and Vice-President would lose their veto, the separate municipalities as sought after by the Turkish Cypriots would be abandoned, the need for separate majorities by both communities in passing legislation would be discarded and the civil service contribution would be set at actual population ratios (82:18) instead of the slightly higher figure for Turkish Cypriots.

The intention behind the amendments has long been called into question. The Akritas plan, written in the height of the constitutional dispute by the Greek Cypriot interior minister Polycarpos Georkadjis, called for the removal of undesirable elements of the constitution so as to allow power-sharing to work. The plan envisaged a swift retaliatory attack on Turkish Cypriot strongholds should Turkish Cypriots resort to violence to resist the measures, stating "In the event of a planned or staged Turkish attack, it is imperative to overcome it by force in the shortest possible time, because if we succeed in gaining command of the situation (in one or two days), no outside, intervention would be either justified or possible." Whether Makarios's proposals were part of the Akritas plan is unclear, however it remains that sentiment towards enosis had not completely disappeared with independence. Makarios described independence as "a step on the road to enosis".[31] Preparations for conflict were not entirely absent from Turkish Cypriots either, with right wing elements still believing taksim (partition) the best safeguard against enosis.

Greek Cypriots however believe the amendments were a necessity stemming from a perceived attempt by Turkish Cypriots to frustrate the working of government. Turkish Cypriots saw it as a means to reduce their status within the state from one of co-founder to that of minority, seeing it as a first step towards enosis. The security situation deteriorated rapidly.

Main articles: Bloody Christmas (1963) and Battle of Tillyria

An armed conflict was triggered after December 21, 1963, a period remembered by Turkish Cypriots as Bloody Christmas, when a Greek Cypriot policemen that had been called to help deal with a taxi driver refusing officers already on the scene access to check the identification documents of his customers, took out his gun upon arrival and shot and killed the taxi driver and his partner. Eric Solsten summarised the events as follows: "a Greek Cypriot police patrol, ostensibly checking identification documents, stopped a Turkish Cypriot couple on the edge of the Turkish quarter. A hostile crowd gathered, shots were fired, and two Turkish Cypriots were killed."

In the morning after the shooting, crowds gathered in protest in Northern Nicosia, likely encouraged by the TMT, without incident. On the evening of the 22nd, gunfire broke out, communication lines to the Turkish neighbourhoods were cut, and the Greek Cypriot police occupied the nearby airport. On the 23rd, a ceasefire was negotiated, but did not hold. Fighting, including automatic weapons fire, between Greek and Turkish Cypriots and militias increased in Nicosia and Larnaca. A force of Greek Cypriot irregulars led by Nikos Sampson entered the Nicosia suburb of Omorphita and engaged in heavy firing on armed, as well as by some accounts unarmed, Turkish Cypriots. The Omorphita clash has been described by Turkish Cypriots as a massacre, while this view has generally not been acknowledged by Greek Cypriots.

Further ceasefires were arranged between the two sides, but also failed. By Christmas Eve, the 24th, Britain, Greece, and Turkey had joined talks, with all sides calling for a truce. On Christmas day, Turkish fighter jets overflew Nicosia in a show of support. Finally it was agreed to allow a force of 2,700 British soldiers to help enforce a ceasefire. In the next days, a "buffer zone" was created in Nicosia, and a British officer marked a line on a map with green ink, separating the two sides of the city, which was the beginning of the "Green Line". Fighting continued across the island for the next several weeks.

In total 364 Turkish Cypriots and 174 Greek Cypriots were killed during the violence. 25,000 Turkish Cypriots from 103-109 villages fled and were displaced into enclaves and thousands of Turkish Cypriot houses were ransacked or completely destroyed.

Contemporary newspapers also reported on the forceful exodus of the Turkish Cypriots from their homes. According to The Times in 1964, threats, shootings and attempts of arson were committed against the Turkish Cypriots to force them out of their homes. The Daily Express wrote that "25,000 Turks have already been forced to leave their homes". The Guardian reported a massacre of Turks at Limassol on 16 February 1964.

Turkey had by now readied its fleet and its fighter jets appeared over Nicosia. Turkey was dissuaded from direct involvement by the creation of a United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP) in 1964. Despite the negotiated ceasefire in Nicosia, attacks on the Turkish Cypriot persisted, particularly in Limassol. Concerned about the possibility of a Turkish invasion, Makarios undertook the creation of a Greek Cypriot conscript-based army called the "National Guard". A general from Greece took charge of the army, whilst a further 20,000 well-equipped officers and men were smuggled from Greece into Cyprus. Turkey threatened to intervene once more, but was prevented by a strongly worded letter from the American President Lyndon B. Johnson, anxious to avoid a conflict between NATO allies Greece and Turkey at the height of the Cold War.

Turkish Cypriots had by now established an important bridgehead at Kokkina, provided with arms, volunteers and materials from Turkey and abroad. Seeing this incursion of foreign weapons and troops as a major threat, the Cypriot government invited George Grivas to return from Greece as commander of the Greek troops on the island and launch a major attack on the bridgehead. Turkey retaliated by dispatching its fighter jets to bomb Greek positions, causing Makarios to threaten an attack on every Turkish Cypriot village on the island if the bombings did not cease. The conflict had now drawn in Greece and Turkey, with both countries amassing troops on their Thracian borders. Efforts at mediation by Dean Acheson, a former U.S. Secretary of State, and UN-appointed mediator Galo Plaza had failed, all the while the division of the two communities becoming more apparent. Greek Cypriot forces were estimated at some 30,000, including the National Guard and the large contingent from Greece. Defending the Turkish Cypriot enclaves was a force of approximately 5,000 irregulars, led by a Turkish colonel, but lacking the equipment and organisation of the Greek forces.

The Secretary-General of the United Nations in 1964, U Thant, reported the damage during the conflicts:

UNFICYP carried out a detailed survey of all damage to properties throughout the island during the disturbances; it shows that in 109 villages, most of them Turkish-Cypriot or mixed villages, 527 houses have been destroyed while 2,000 others have suffered damage from looting.

The situation worsened in 1967, when a military junta overthrew the democratically elected government of Greece, and began applying pressure on Makarios to achieve enosis. Makarios, not wishing to become part of a military dictatorship or trigger a Turkish invasion, began to distance himself from the goal of enosis. This caused tensions with the junta in Greece as well as George Grivas in Cyprus. Grivas's control over the National Guard and Greek contingent was seen as a threat to Makarios's position, who now feared a possible coup.[citation needed] The National Guard and Cyprus Police began patrolling the Turkish Cypriot enclaves of Ayios Theodoros and Kophinou, and on November 15 engaged in heavy fighting with the Turkish Cypriots.

By the time of his withdrawal 26 Turkish Cypriots had been killed. Turkey replied with an ultimatum demanding that Grivas be removed from the island, that the troops smuggled from Greece in excess of the limits of the Treaty of Alliance be removed, and that the economic blockades on the Turkish Cypriot enclaves be lifted. Grivas was recalled by the Athens Junta and the 12,000 Greek troops were withdrawn. Makarios now attempted to consolidate his position by reducing the number of National Guard troops, and by creating a paramilitary force loyal to Cypriot independence. In 1968, acknowledging that enosis was now all but impossible, Makarios stated, "A solution by necessity must be sought within the limits of what is feasible which does not always coincide with the limits of what is desirable."

After 1967 tensions between the Greek and Turkish Cypriots subsided. Instead, the main source of tension on the island came from factions within the Greek Cypriot community. Although Makarios had effectively abandoned enosis in favour of an 'attainable solution', many others continued to believe that the only legitimate political aspiration for Greek Cypriots was union with Greece.

On his arrival, Grivas began by establishing a nationalist paramilitary group known as the National Organization of Cypriot Fighters (Ethniki Organosis Kyprion Agoniston B or EOKA-B), drawing comparisons with the EOKA struggle for enosis under the British colonial administration of the 1950s.

The military junta in Athens saw Makarios as an obstacle. Makarios's failure to disband the National Guard, whose officer class was dominated by mainland Greeks, had meant the junta had practical control over the Cypriot military establishment, leaving Makarios isolated and a vulnerable target.

During the first Turkish invasion, Turkish troops invaded Cyprus territory on 20 July 1974, invoking its rights under the Treaty of Guarantee. This expansion of Turkish-occupied zone violated International Law as well as the Charter of the United Nations. Turkish troops managed to capture 3% of the island which was accompanied by the burning of the Turkish Cypriot quarter, as well as the raping and killing of women and children. A temporary cease-fire followed which was mitigated by the UN Security Council. Subsequently, the Greek military Junta collapsed on July 23, 1974, and peace talks commenced in which a democratic government was installed. The Resolution 353 was broken after Turkey attacked a second time and managed to get a hold of 37% of Cyprus territory. The Island of Cyprus was appointed a Buffer Zone by the United Nations, which divided the island into two zones through the 'Green Line' and put an end to the Turkish invasion. Although Turkey announced that the occupied areas of Cyprus to be called the Federated Turkish State in 1975, it is not legitimised on a worldwide political scale. The United Nations called for the international recognition of independence for the Republic of Cyprus in the Security Council Resolution 367.

In the years after the Turkish invasion of northern Cyprus one can observe a history of failed talks between the two parties. The 1983 declaration of the independent Turkish Republic of Cyprus resulted in a rise of inter-communal tensions and made it increasingly hard to find mutual understanding. With Cyprus' interest of a possible EU membership and a new UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan in 1997 new hopes arose for a fresh start. International involvement from sides of the US and UK, wanting a solution to the Cyprus dispute prior to the EU accession led to political pressures for new talks. The believe that an accession without a solution would threaten Greek-Turkish relations and acknowledge the partition of the island would direct the coming negotiations.

Over the course of two years a concrete plan, the Annan plan was formulated. In 2004 the fifth version agreed upon from both sides and with the endorsement of Turkey, US, UK and EU then was presented to the public and was given a referendum in both Cypriot communities to assure the legitimisation of the resolution. The Turkish Cypriots voted with 65% for the plan, however the Greek Cypriots voted with a 76% majority against. The Annan plan contained multiple important topics. Firstly it established a confederation of two separate states called the United Cyprus Republic. Both communities would have autonomous states combined under one unified government. The members of parliament would be chosen according to the percentage in population numbers to ensure a just involvement from both communities. The paper proposed a demilitarisation of the island over the next years. Furthermore it agreed upon a number of 45000 Turkish settlers that could remain on the island. These settlers became a very important issue concerning peace talks. Originally the Turkish government encouraged Turks to settle in Cyprus providing transfer and property, to establish a counterpart to the Greek Cypriot population due to their 1 to 5 minority. With the economic situation many Turkish-Cypriot decided to leave the island, however their departure is made up by incoming Turkish settlers leaving the population ratio between Turkish Cypriots and Greek Cypriots stable. However all these points where criticised and as seen in the vote rejected mainly by the Greek Cypriots. These name the dissolution of the „Republic of Cyprus", economic consequences of a reunion and the remaining Turkish settlers as reason. Many claim that the plan was indeed drawing more from Turkish-Cypriot demands then Greek-Cypriot interests. Taking in consideration that the US wanted to keep Turkey as a strategic partner in future Middle Eastern conflicts.

A week after the failed referendum the Republic of Cyprus joined the EU. In multiple instances the EU tried to promote trade with Northern Cyprus but without internationally recognised ports this spiked a grand debate. Both side endure their intention of negotiations, however without the prospect of any new compromises or agreements the UN is unwilling to start the process again. Since 2004 negotiations took place in numbers but without any results, both sides are strongly holding on to their position without an agreeable solution in sight that would suit both parties.

The Bighorn Mountains are a mountain range in northern Wyoming and southern Montana in the United States, forming a northwest-trending spur from the Rocky Mountains extending approximately 200 mi (320 km) northward on the Great Plains. They are separated from the Absaroka Range, which lie on the main branch of the Rockies to the west, by the Bighorn Basin. Much of the land is contained within the Bighorn National Forest.

The Bighorns were uplifted during the Laramide orogeny beginning approximately 70 million years ago. They consist of over 9,000 ft (2,700 m) of sedimentary rock strata laid down before mountain-building began: the predominantly marine and near-shore sedimentary layers range from the Cambrian through the Lower Cretaceous, and are often rich in fossils. There is an unconformity where Silurian strata were exposed to erosion and are missing. The granite bedrock below these sedimentary layers is now exposed along the crest of the Bighorns. The precambrian formations contain some of the oldest rocks in the world, at 3.25 billion years old. Following the uplift, large volumes of sediments, rich in early Tertiary fossils, were deposited in the adjoining basins. The ice ages of the Pleistocene led to extensive glaciation. Though many cirques, U-shaped valleys and glacial lakes can be found in the mountain range, the only remaining active glacier is the Cloud Peak Glacier, which is on the east slope of Cloud Peak.

Geologist N.H. Darton with the U.S. Geological Survey produced one of the earliest studies of geology in the area, drawn from field research from 1901-1905.

Despite extensive prospecting in the Bighorns, no major deposits of precious metals have been found to date. Brief gold rushes of placer deposits occurred at Bald Mountain City and Porcupine Creek, and in Big Goose Canyon. The lack of precious metals helped stave off development and settlement in the mountains, in contrast to the Colorado Rockies.

The Madison limestone aquifer provides a significant source of groundwater for the town of Dayton. Limestone karst formations throughout the range contain many fissures and cracks that have developed into extensive cave systems, including Tongue River Cave, and the caves adjacent to Medicine Mountain. The Natural Trap Cave on the west slope of the Bighorns contains numerous remains of prehistoric mammals.

The highest peaks within the Bighorns are located in Wyoming in the 1.12×106-acre (4,500 km2) Bighorn National Forest. Two peaks rise to over 13,000 feet (3,960 m): Cloud Peak (13,175 ft, 4013 m) and Black Tooth Mountain (13,005 ft, 3964 m). There are a dozen more that rise to over 12,000 feet (3,650 m). From the east the mountains present a vertical relief of over 8,000 feet (2,450 m), rising abruptly from the plains. Overall, the Bighorns are more rounded than their sister mountain ranges to the west.

The Cloud Peak Wilderness is the centerpiece of a roadless block of land around 189,000 acres in size. The Wilderness is surrounded by acreage of U.S National Forest as well as Bureau of Land Management, state, and some private land. Most of the Cloud Peak Wilderness is above the tree line; the National Forest lands surrounding it are lower in elevation and covered in coniferous forests. Mule deer, elk, moose, black bear, and mountain lion are found throughout the area.

Two more large roadless areas remained in the Bighorns as of 1992. It is unknown whether these areas have since been reduced in size by road-building and other development. Both areas straddle the Montana-Wyoming state line, in the northern part of the range. One area, north of U.S. Route 14A and containing the headwaters of the Little Bighorn River, is 155,000 acres of National Forest land. This little-known region features subalpine terrain cut by steep canyons. Pronghorn inhabit the area, as it includes a portion of the Great Plains. What little human use it receives is from hunters and fishermen. The second roadless area is located mainly on the Crow Indian Reservation in Montana; its 144,000 acres also includes 34,000 acres of Devil's Canyon on the Bighorn N.F. in Wyoming. In this part of the range, semidesert prairie is cut by steep canyons leading to Yellowtail Reservoir, and high, Douglas-fir cloaked ridges top out at over 9,000'. Colorful rock formations are common. Rocky Mountain juniper and limber pine are scattered on lower elevations, and wildlife includes pronghorn, rattlesnake, golden eagle, ferruginous hawk, and mule deer. The Crow Indians manage a wild bison herd on this portion of the Bighorns. The Crow lands are a sacred area, and thus are off-limits to non-tribal members.

The three highways traversing the Bighorns are designated Scenic Byways by the US Forest Service and the State of Wyoming. These include U.S. Routes 14, 14A, and 16.

The high elevation of the Bighorns results in condensation of air and significant yearly snowfall, creating a highland oasis of moisture towering over the otherwise arid plains that surround the range in all directions. The melting snow feeds many rivers through the summer months. The range is the location of the headwaters of the Little Bighorn, Tongue, and Powder rivers.

Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area consists of approximately 120,000 acres (490 km2) within the Bighorn Mountains. It includes Bighorn Lake, a reservoir damming the Bighorn River.

In 2015, a sudden, huge 'gash' was found in Wyoming's Big Horn Mountains. The Wyoming Geological Survey studied the area and determined that "The Crack" may be the result of an "apparent active landslide" in the southern end of the Big Horn Mountains.

The Bighorns provided important resources for ancestral indigenous people, including plants, migratory big game, rock shelters, tepee poles, and stone for tools. American Indian trails crisscrossed the range, while the canyons provided important winter shelters. Stone game blinds in the high country were used by pedestrian hunters to kill migratory big game animals with atlatl-propelled spears or bows. The northern Bighorns and the Tongue River drainage were formerly a significant summer range for migratory bison that wintered in either the Bighorn Basin and the Powder River/Tongue River/Little Bighorn River drainages. The southern Bighorns, particularly in the Middle Fork of the Powder River, contained an important American Indian trail adjacent to a bison migration corridor. The Wilson Price Hunt expedition of Astorians noted in 1811 that the bison dung was so dense in this area that it resembled a "continuous barnyard" for several miles. Hunt noticed Shoshone and Crow Indians in the area. The Medicine Wheel on the northern end of the Bighorns is an important sacred site built by ancestral tribes that is still used in present-day American Indian ceremonies.

Ancestors of the Shoshone Tribe likely had the longest continuous association with the Bighorns, potentially dating back 1,000 years or more. Stone artifacts found in the Absaroka Range farther west are known to have originated in the Bighorns, suggesting ancestral movement between the two ranges.

The Apsalooke or Crow tribe located in this region about 300–400 years ago after discovering the sacred tobacco plant growing in the Bighorn Mountains below Cloud Peak. This ended a multi-generational sojourn that began near Devils Lake, North Dakota, where a leader named No Vitals received a vision to seek the tobacco. The Crow chief Arapooish gave a speech in the 1830s showing that his people were fully aware of the migratory behaviors of bighorn sheep and deer, which spent summer on high-elevation summer range in the Bighorns and other mountain ranges.

Cheyenne, Arapaho, and Lakota use of the Bighorns region mostly dates to the period after 1800, when they made incursions into traditional Shoshone and Crow territory. Of the Cheyenne, Arapaho and Lakota, the Arapaho had longest history on the east slope of the Rocky Mountains in a region spanning from the Yellowstone River to the Arkansas River, which included the Bighorns. The Cheyenne and Lakota were originally agricultural tribes based on rivers of the Great Plains and the Midwest. By the 1860s and 1870s, the Lakota showed a knowledge of the ancestral trail systems in the Bighorn Mountains, particularly in incidents like the Sibley Fight

Wyoming is a landlocked state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It borders Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho to the west, Utah to the southwest, and Colorado to the south. With a population of 576,851 in 2020, Wyoming is the least populous state despite being the 10th largest by area, with the second-lowest population density after Alaska. The state capital and most populous city is Cheyenne, which had an estimated population of 63,957 in 2018.

Wyoming's western half consists mostly of the ranges and rangelands of the Rocky Mountains; its eastern half consists of high-elevation prairie, and is referred to as the High Plains. Wyoming's climate is semi-arid in some parts and continental in others, making it drier and windier overall than other states, with greater temperature extremes. The federal government owns just under half of Wyoming's land, generally protecting it for public uses. The state ranks sixth in the amount of land—-and fifth in the proportion of its land—-that is owned by the federal government. Its federal lands include two national parks (Grand Teton and Yellowstone), two national recreation areas, two national monuments, and several national forests, as well as historic sites, fish hatcheries, and wildlife refuges.

Indigenous peoples inhabited the region for thousands of years. Historic and currently federally recognized tribes include the Arapaho, Crow, Lakota, and Shoshone. Part of the land that is now Wyoming came under American sovereignty via the Louisiana Purchase, part via the Oregon Treaty, and, lastly, via the Mexican Cession. With the opening of the Oregon Trail, the Mormon Trail, and the California Trail, vast numbers of pioneers travelled through parts of the state that had once been traversed mainly by fur trappers, and this spurred the establishment of forts, such as Fort Laramie, that today serve as population centers. The Transcontinental Railroad supplanted the wagon trails in 1867 with a route through southern Wyoming, bringing new settlers and the establishment of founding towns, including the state capital of Cheyenne. On March 27, 1890, Wyoming became the union's 44th state.

Farming and ranching, and the attendant range wars, feature prominently in the state's history. Today, Wyoming's economy is largely based on tourism and the extraction of minerals such as coal, natural gas, oil, and trona. Its agricultural commodities include barley, hay, livestock, sugar beets, wheat, and wool.

Wyoming was the first state to allow women the right to vote (not counting New Jersey, which had allowed it until 1807), and the right to assume elected office, as well as the first state to elect a female governor. In honor of this part of its history, its most common nickname is "The Equality State" and its official state motto is "Equal Rights".[1] It is among the least religious states in the country,[15] and is known for having a political culture that leans towards libertarian conservatism.[16] The Republican presidential nominee has carried the state in every election since 1968.

There is evidence of prehistoric human habitation in the region known today as the U.S. state of Wyoming stretching back roughly 13,000 years. Stone projectile points associated with the Clovis, Folsom and Plano cultures have been discovered throughout Wyoming. Evidence from what is now Yellowstone National Park indicates the presence of vast continental trading networks since around 1,000 years ago.

The Union Pacific Railroad played a central role in the European colonization of the area. Wyoming would become a U.S. territory in 1868. It was the first state to grant women the right to vote in 1869 (although it was then still a territory). Wyoming would become a U.S. state on July 10, 1890, as the 44th state.

There is evidence of prehistoric human habitation in the region known today as the U.S. state of Wyoming stretching back roughly 13,000 years. Stone projectile points associated with the Clovis, Folsom and Plano cultures have been discovered throughout Wyoming. In the Big Horn Mountains there is a medicine wheel that has not yet been dated accurately due to disruption of the site prior to the two archaeological excavations of 1958 and 1978. However, the Big Horn Medicine Wheel's design of twenty-eight spokes is similar to the Majorville Medicine Wheel in Canada that has been dated at 3200 BCE (5200 years ago) by careful stratification of known artifact types. Throughout the Bighorn Mountains, south to Medicine Lodge Creek, artifacts of occupation date back 10,000 years. Large ceremonial blades chipped from obsidian rock formations in what is now Yellowstone National Park to the west of the Bighorns, have been found in the Hopewell burial mounds of Southern Ohio, indicative of vast continental trading networks since around 1000 years ago.[1] When White explorers first entered the region, they encountered numerous American Indian tribes including the Arapaho, Bannock, Blackfeet, Cheyenne, Crow, Gros Ventre, Kiowa, Nez Perce, Sioux, Shoshone and Ute.

Europeans may have ventured into the northern sections of the state in the 18th century. Most of the southern part of modern-day Wyoming was nominally claimed by Spain and Mexico until the 1830s, but they had no presence. John Colter, a member of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, was probably the first American to enter the region in 1807.[8] His reports of thermal activity in the Yellowstone area were considered at the time to be fictional. Robert Stuart and a party of five men returning from Astoria, Oregon discovered South Pass in 1812. The route was later followed by the Oregon Trail. In 1850, Jim Bridger located what is now known as Bridger Pass, which was later used by both the Union Pacific Railroad in 1868, and in the 20th century by Interstate 80. Bridger also explored the Yellowstone region and like Colter, most of his reports on that region of the state were considered at the time to be tall tales. During the early 19th century, fur trappers known as mountain men flocked to the mountains of western Wyoming in search of beaver. In 1824, the first mountain man rendezvous was held in Wyoming. The gatherings continued annually until 1840, with the majority of them held within Wyoming territory.

The route later known as the Oregon Trail was already in regular use by traders and explorers in the early 1830s. The trail snakes across Wyoming, entering the state on the eastern border near the present day town of Torrington following the North Platte River to the current town of Casper. It then crosses South Pass, and exits on the western side of the state near Cokeville. In 1847, Mormon emigrants blazed the Mormon Trail, which mirrors the Oregon Trail, but splits off at South Pass and continues south to Fort Bridger and into Utah. Over 350,000 emigrants followed these trails to destinations in Utah, California and Oregon between 1840 and 1859. In 1859, gold was discovered in Montana, drawing miners north along the Bozeman and Bridger trails through the Powder River Country and Big Horn Basin respectively.

The influx of emigrants and settlers into the state led to further encounters with the native people there, and settler military presence along the trails increased; military posts such as Fort Laramie were established. In 1851, representatives from the United States and American Indian nations signed the first Treaty of Fort Laramie in hopes of ensuring peace and the safety of settlers on the trails. While the 1850s were subsequently quiet, tensions rose again after settlers increasingly encroached upon lands promised to the tribes in the region. This was the case after settlers, in 1864, blazed the Bozeman Trail through the hunting grounds of the Powder River Country, which the United States had promised to the tribes in the 1851 treaty. As encounters between settlers and natives grew more serious in 1865, Major General Grenville M. Dodge ordered the first Powder River Expedition to attempt to quell the violence. The expedition ended in the Battle of the Tongue River against the Arapaho. In the following year, the fighting escalated into Red Cloud's War, which was the first major military conflict between the United States and the Wyoming Indian tribes. The second Treaty of Fort Laramie in 1868 ended the war by closing the Powder River Country to whites. Violation of this treaty by miners in the Black Hills led to the Black Hills War in 1876, which was fought mainly along the border of Wyoming and Montana.

In 1866, Nelson Story Sr. drove approximately 1000 head of Texas Longhorns to Montana through Wyoming along the Bozeman Trail—the first major cattle drive from Texas into Montana. The Wyoming Stock Growers Association is a historic American cattle organization created in 1873. The Association was started among Wyoming cattle ranchers to standardize and organize the cattle industry, but quickly grew into a political force that has been called "the de facto territorial government" of Wyoming's organization into early statehood, and wielded great influence throughout the Western United States. The association is still active to this day, but it is best known for its rich history and is perhaps most famous for its role in Wyoming's Johnson County War. In 1892 the Johnson County War, also known as the War on Powder River and the Wyoming Range War, took place in Johnson, Natrona and Converse County, Wyoming. It was fought between small settling ranchers against larger established ranchers in the Powder River Country and culminated in a lengthy shootout between local ranchers, a band of hired killers, and a sheriff's posse, eventually requiring the intervention of the United States Cavalry on the orders of President Benjamin Harrison. The events have since become a highly mythologized and symbolic story of the Wild West, and over the years variations of the storyline have come to include some of the west's most famous historical figures and gunslingers. The storyline and its variations have served as the basis for numerous popular novels, films, and television shows.

In 1870, roughly three-eights of Wyoming's population was foreign born, coming primarily from Ireland, Germany and England. The Union Pacific Railroad played a central role in the settlement of Wyoming. The land was good for cattle ranches, but without transportation it was too far for a cattle drive. The UP railroad companies had large land grants that were used to back the borrowings from New York and London that financed construction. UP was anxious to locate settlers upon the land as soon as possible, so there would be a steady outflow of cattle, and a steady inflow of manufactured items purchased by the ranchers. UP also built towns that were needed to service the railroad itself, with dining halls for passengers, construction crews, repair shops and housing for train crews. The towns attracted cattle drives and cowboys.

The UP reached the town of Cheyenne, which later became the state capital, in 1867. The railroad eventually spanned the entire state, boosting the population, and creating some of Wyoming's largest cities, such as Laramie, Rock Springs and Evanston. The railroad needed coal, which was discovered in quantity in the southwestern part of the state, especially around Rock Springs In 1885, a murderous riot known as the Rock Springs Massacre broke out when white miners drove out Chinese miners employed by the Union Pacific Coal Company in Rock Springs.

The name "Wyoming" was used by Representative J. M. Ashley of Ohio, who introduced the Ashley Bill to Congress to provide a "temporary government for the territory of Wyoming". The name was made famous by the 1809 poem Gertrude of Wyoming by Thomas Campbll. "Wyoming" is derived from the Delaware (Munsee) name xwé:wamənk, meaning "at the big river flat", originally applied to the Wyoming Valley in Pennsylvania.

After the arrival of the railroad, the population began to grow steadily in the Wyoming Territory, which was established on July 25, 1868. Unlike Colorado to the south, Wyoming never experienced a rapid population boom in the 19th century from any major mineral discoveries such as gold or silver.

Inclusion of women's suffrage in the Wyoming constitution was debated in the constitutional convention, but ultimately accepted. The constitution was mostly borrowed from those of other states, but also included an article making all the water in Wyoming property of the state. Wyoming overcame the obstacles of low population and of being the only territory in the U.S. giving women the right to vote, and the United States admitted Wyoming into the Union as the 44th state on July 10, 1890.

In 1869, Wyoming territory granted women the right to vote, becoming the first U.S. state to extend suffrage to women. Wyoming was also the home of many other firsts for U.S. women in politics. The first time women served on a jury was in Wyoming (Laramie in 1870). Wyoming had the first female court bailiff (Mary Atkinson, Laramie, in 1870), and the country's first female justice of the peace (Esther Hobart Morris, South Pass City, in 1870). Wyoming became the first state in the Union to elect a female governor, Nellie Tayloe Ross, who was elected in 1924 and took office in January 1925.

Following on the reports of men like Colter and Bridger, a number of organized expeditions were undertaken in northwestern Wyoming. The Cook–Folsom–Peterson Expedition in 1869 and the Washburn-Langford-Doane Expedition in 1870 confirmed the stories of the mountain men. In 1871, Ferdinand Vandeveer Hayden led a formal geological survey of the area, the result of which ultimately convinced Congress to set aside the region. Yellowstone National Park became the world's first National Park in 1872. In August 1886, the U.S. Army was given administration of the park. In 1917, administration of the park was transferred to the new National Park Service. Hundreds of structures have been built and are protected for their architectural and historical significance, and researchers have examined more than 1,000 archaeological sites. Most of Yellowstone National Park is located in Wyoming.

Wyoming is also home to the nation's first national monument (Devils Tower created in 1906), and the first national forest (Shoshone National Forest created in 1891).

The Homestead Act of 1862 attracted many new farmers and ranchers to Wyoming, where they congregated along the fertile banks of the rivers. Most of the land in Wyoming in the 2nd half of the 19th century was in the public domain and so was open for both homesteading and open range for grazing cattle. As individual ranchers moved into the state, they became at odds with the larger ranches for control of the range and water sources. Tensions rose to a boiling point in April 1892 as an armed conflict known as the Johnson County War, fought between the large cattle operators and smaller ranchers and homesteaders. The increased number of settlers also brought with them merchants, as well as outlaws. A number of notable outlaws of the time started their careers in Wyoming, including Butch Cassidy and Harry Longabaugh, both of whom were incarcerated in Wyoming as young men.[25] A remote area in Johnson County, Wyoming known as the Hole-in-the-Wall was a well known hideout for a loose association of outlaw gangs known as the Hole in the Wall Gang. It was used from the 1860s through the early 20th century by outlaws operating throughout Wyoming.

Precious metals were never discovered in great quantities, though a small amount of gold was discovered near South Pass prompting a small rush in the 1860s. Coal was discovered early and has been mined extensively through the state. Union Pacific Railroad ran several coal mines in the southern part of the state to supply the railroad. In 1885 tensions at a Union Pacific mine in Rock Springs resulted in the Rock Springs massacre, one of the largest race riots in U.S. history. Oil is also plentiful throughout the state. In 1924, irregularities over the allocation of naval reserves near Casper resulted in the Teapot Dome Scandal. Natural gas, bentonite and uranium have also been mined through the state's history.

One exception is the copper mines in Carbon County west of Encampment. The Ferris-Haggarty Mine Site supplied copper for the electrification of the world in the late 1800s and early 1900s.

After 1890, Wyoming pageants and parades, as well as school courses, increasingly told a nostalgic story of Wyoming as rooted in the frontier West. During the 1940s, Wyoming millionaire William R. Coe made large contributions to the American studies programs at Yale University and at the University of Wyoming. Coe wished to celebrate the values of the Western United States in order to meet the threat of communism.

Yumbulagang, about 11 km southwest of Tsetang, was built by the first Tibetan king, Nyatri Tsenpo, in the 2nd century AD , and was the first palace in Tibet. It became Songtsen Gampo and Princess Wencheng’s summer palace before Songtsen Gampo moved the capital to Lhasa. The palace was later transformed into a Gelugpa monastery during the time of the fifth Dalai Lama.

Princess Wencheng was Songtsen Gampo’s second concubine who was a niece of the Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty. She was married off to Tibet in a political marriage to keep peaceful relations between the Tang Dynasty and Tibet.

Small in scale, the three-storied monastery consists of towers, chapels, and halls. The monastery walls are painted with colorful murals . Sculptures of Nyatri Tsenpo, Songtsen Gampo, and his ministers and officials in traditional Tibetan dresses are enshrined there. Locals climb to the monastery to light butter lights in the hope that this practice will bring them good luck.

The views from the monastery over the Yarlung valley are great: fields, Tibetan villages, and mountains extending to the horizon.

The 10 years of extended drought in South Eastern Australia has meant that the Australian native trees - the eucalypts (gum trees), as drought tolerant as they are, have really suffered, and are very stressed, dropping branches and leaves, meaning that the animals dependent on them for food have had to spread out and move away.

This all means that for me the average number of wild koala sightings in the past 18 months has dropped from average 4- 6 per visit to Pound Bend (usually just visible as blobs, high in the tree tops) down to 1-2 per visit, and often no sightings at all.

So it is a great joy when I do chance upon a koala sighting such as this one!

I take great delight in these experiences.

This koala was in the bush, not in a Zoo or wildlife park. Warrandyte State Park, north east of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Its a beautiful park, with natural beauty of the Yarra River winding through forests of eucalyptus trees - a haven for koalas, kangaroos, posumms, lizards, and myriad numbers of bird life.

Its as if this koala was posing for me! It was actually smiling! Normally koalas get grumpy if you get this close.

Unbelievably I got soaked by lashing rain within minutes of these photos. It was so sunny I used a polarising filter for some of the shots. It was so windy, a rain storm swept over seemingly out of no-where.

The Koala (Phascolarctos cinereus) is a thickset arboreal marsupial herbivore native to Australia, and the only extant representative of the family Phascolarctidae.

The Koala is found all along the eastern coast of Australia from near Adelaide to the southern part of Cape York Peninsula, and as far into the hinterland as there is enough rainfall to support suitable forests. The Koalas of South Australia were largely exterminated during the early part of the 20th century, but the state has since been repopulated with Victorian stock. The Koala is not found in Tasmania or Western Australia.

The word "koala" comes from the Dharuk word gula] Closely related words appear in other Australian Aboriginal languages, including:

The Ngunnawal of the Canberra region also call it gula.

In the Blue Mountains of New South Wales, Aborigines called Koalas by the word Cullawines.

In the Murray Region, Aborigines called Koalas by the word Karbors.

Other Aboriginal names for Koalas include: Bangaroos, Koolewongs, Narnagoons and Cholos.

It is commonly said that the common name 'Koala' is an Aboriginal word meaning "no drink" although there is no evidence to support this. Koalas do drink water, but only rarely, due to their diet consisting of eucalypt leaves, which contain sufficient water to obviate the need for the Koala to descend to ground level to drink.

Although I have personally seen a large male koala drinking from the Yarra River, running through Pound Bend! I was astonished!

Early European settlers to Australia called the Koala the Native Bear, and the Koala is still sometimes called the Koala Bear, but it is not a member of the bear family. It is not even a placental mammal (which most mammals are) - it is a marsupial.

Southern individuals from the cooler climates are largest. A typical Victorian Koala has longer, thicker fur, is a darker, softer grey, often with chocolate-brown highlights on the back and forearms, and has a more prominently light-coloured ventral side and fluffy white ear tufts. Typical and New South Wales Koala weights are 12 kg for males and 8.5 kg for females. In tropical and sub-tropical Queensland, however, the Koala is smaller (at around 6.5 kg for an average male and just over 5 kg for an average female), a lighter, often rather scruffy grey in colour, and has shorter, thinner fur.

Pound Bend, Warradyte State Park, Victoria, Australia

Picture from the late Charles Wilson's Collection

Southwestern Ontario (roughly the peninsula that extends from London to Windsor) has some richly productive farmland. This charming farm is along Hwy. 8 near Tilbury. I took this photo on June 28, 2015 during a visit to the area.

View my collections on flickr here: Collections

Press "L" for a larger image on black.

The Yorkshire Dales National Park is a 2,178 km2 (841 sq mi) national park in England covering most of the Yorkshire Dales, with the notable exception of Nidderdale. Most of the park is in North Yorkshire, with a sizeable area in Cumbria and a small part in Lancashire. The park was designated in 1954, and extended in 2016. Over 95% of the land in the Park is under private ownership; there are over 1,000 farms in this area.

In late 2020, the park was named as an International Dark Sky Reserve. This honour confirms that the area has "low levels of light pollution with good conditions for astronomy".

Some 23,500 residents live in the park (as of 2017); a 2018 report estimated that the Park attracted over four million visitors per year. The economy consists primarily of tourism and agriculture.

The park is 50 miles (80 km) north-east of Manchester; Otley, Ilkley, Leeds and Bradford lie to the south, while Kendal is to the west, Darlington to the north-east and Harrogate to the south-east.

The national park does not include all of the Yorkshire Dales. Parts of the dales to the south and east of the national park are located in the Nidderdale Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The national park also includes the Howgill Fells and Orton Fells in the north west although they are not often considered part of the dales.

In 1947, the Hobhouse Report recommended the creation of the Yorkshire Dales National Park covering parts of the West Riding and North Riding of Yorkshire. The proposed National Park included most of the Yorkshire Dales, but not Nidderdale. Accordingly, Nidderdale was not included in the National Park when it was designated in 1954. In 1963 the then West Riding County Council proposed that Nidderdale should be added to the National Park, but the proposal met with opposition from the district councils which would have lost some of their powers to the county council.

Following the Local Government Act 1972 most of the area of the national park was transferred in 1974 to the new county of North Yorkshire. An area in the north west of the national park (Dentdale, Garsdale and the town of Sedbergh) was transferred from the West Riding of Yorkshire to the new county of Cumbria. In 1997 management of the national park passed from the county councils to the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority.

A westward extension of the park into Lancashire and Westmorland encompassed much of the area between the old boundaries of the park and the M6 motorway. This increased the area by nearly 24% and brought the park close to the towns of Kirkby Lonsdale, Kirkby Stephen and Appleby-in-Westmorland. The extension also includes the northern portion of the Howgill Fells and most of the Orton Fells. Before the expansion, the national park was solely in the historic county of Yorkshire, the expansion bringing in parts of historic Lancashire and Westmorland.

The area has a wide range of activities for visitors. For example, many people come to the Dales for walking or other exercise. Several long-distance routes cross the park, including the Pennine Way, the Dales Way, the Coast to Coast Walk and the Pennine Bridleway. Cycling is also popular and there are several cycleways.

The DalesBus service provides service in the Dales on certain days in summer, "including the Yorkshire Dales National Park and Nidderdale Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty". In summer, these buses supplement the other services that operate year-round in the Dales.

Tourism in the region declined due to restrictions necessitated by the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, and into 2021. Later in 2021, the volume of visits was expected to increase as a result of the 2020 TV series All Creatures Great and Small, largely filmed within the Dales. The first series aired in the UK in September 2020 and in the US in early 2021. One source stated that visits to Yorkshire Web sites had increased significantly by late September 2020. By early 2021, the Discover England Web sites, for example, were using the tag line "Discover All Creatures Great and Small in Yorkshire".

The Dales Countryside Museum is housed in the converted Hawes railway station in Wensleydale in the north of the area.The park also has five visitor centres. These are at:

Aysgarth Falls

Grassington

Hawes

Malham

Reeth

Other places and sights within the National Park include:

Bolton Castle

Clapham

Cautley Spout waterfall

Firbank Fell

Gaping Gill

Gayle Mill

Hardraw Force

Horton in Ribblesdale

Howgill Fells

Kisdon Force (waterfall) in Swaledale

Leck Fell

Malham Cove, Gordale Scar, Janet's Foss and Malham Tarn

Orton Fells

River Lune

Sedbergh

Settle

Settle and Carlisle Railway including the Ribblehead Viaduct

Wild Boar Fell

The Yorkshire Three Peaks (Ingleborough, Pen-y-ghent and Whernside)

North Yorkshire is a ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and the Humber and North East regions of England. It borders County Durham to the north, the North Sea to the east, the East Riding of Yorkshire to the south-east, South Yorkshire to the south, West Yorkshire to the south-west, and Cumbria and Lancashire to the west. Northallerton is the county town.

The county is the largest in England by land area, at 9,020 km2 (3,480 sq mi), and has a population of 1,158,816. The largest settlements are Middlesbrough (174,700) in the north-east and the city of York (152,841) in the south. Middlesbrough is part of the Teesside built-up area, which extends into County Durham and has a total population of 376,663. The remainder of the county is rural, and the largest towns are Harrogate (73,576) and Scarborough (61,749). For local government purposes the county comprises four unitary authority areas — York, Middlesbrough, Redcar and Cleveland, and North Yorkshire — and part of a fifth, Stockton-on-Tees.

The centre of the county contains a wide plain, called the Vale of Mowbray in the north and Vale of York in the south. The North York Moors lie to the east, and south of them the Vale of Pickering is separated from the main plain by the Howardian Hills. The west of the county contains the Yorkshire Dales, an extensive upland area which contains the source of the River Ouse/Ure and many of its tributaries, which together drain most of the county. The Dales also contain the county's highest point, Whernside, at 2,415 feet (736 m).

North Yorkshire non-metropolitan and ceremonial county was formed on 1 April 1974 as a result of the Local Government Act 1972. It covered most of the North Riding of Yorkshire, as well as northern parts of the West Riding of Yorkshire, northern and eastern East Riding of Yorkshire and the former county borough of York. Northallerton, as the former county town for the North Riding, became North Yorkshire's county town. In 1993 the county was placed wholly within the Yorkshire and the Humber region.

Some areas which were part of the former North Riding were in the county of Cleveland for twenty-two years (from 1974 to 1996) and were placed in the North East region from 1993. On 1 April 1996, these areas (Middlesbrough, Redcar and Cleveland and Stockton borough south of the River Tees) became part of the ceremonial county as separate unitary authorities. These areas remain within the North East England region.

Also on 1 April 1996, the City of York non-metropolitan district and parts of the non-metropolitan county (Haxby and nearby rural areas) became the City of York unitary authority.

On 1 April 2023, the non-metropolitan county became a unitary authority. This abolished eight councils and extended the powers of the county council to act as a district council.

The York and North Yorkshire Combined Authority held its first meeting on 22 January 2024, assumed its powers on 1 February 2024 and the first mayor is to be elected in May 2024.

The geology of North Yorkshire is closely reflected in its landscape. Within the county are the North York Moors and most of the Yorkshire Dales, two of eleven areas in England and Wales to be designated national parks. Between the North York Moors in the east and the Pennine Hills. The highest point is Whernside, on the Cumbrian border, at 2,415 feet (736 m). A distinctive hill to the far north east of the county is Roseberry Topping.

North Yorkshire contains several major rivers. The River Tees is the most northerly, forming part of the border between North Yorkshire and County Durham in its lower reaches and flowing east through Teesdale before reaching the North Sea near Redcar. The Yorkshire Dales are the source of many of the county's major rivers, including the Aire, Lune, Ribble, Swale, Ure, and Wharfe.[10] The Aire, Swale, and Wharfe are tributaries of the Ure/Ouse, which at 208 km (129 mi) long is the sixth-longest river in the United Kingdom. The river is called the Ure until it meets Ouse Gill beck just below the village of Great Ouseburn, where it becomes the Ouse and flows south before exiting the county near Goole and entering the Humber estuary. The North York Moors are the catchment for a number of rivers: the Leven which flows north into the Tees between Yarm and Ingleby Barwick; the Esk flows east directly into the North Sea at Whitby as well as the Rye (which later becomes the Derwent at Malton) flows south into the River Ouse at Goole.

North Yorkshire contains a small section of green belt in the south of the county, which surrounds the neighbouring metropolitan area of Leeds along the North and West Yorkshire borders. It extends to the east to cover small communities such as Huby, Kirkby Overblow, and Follifoot before covering the gap between the towns of Harrogate and Knaresborough, helping to keep those towns separate.

The belt adjoins the southernmost part of the Yorkshire Dales National Park, and the Nidderdale AONB. It extends into the western area of Selby district, reaching as far as Tadcaster and Balne. The belt was first drawn up from the 1950s.

The city of York has an independent surrounding belt area affording protections to several outlying settlements such as Haxby and Dunnington, and it too extends into the surrounding districts.

North Yorkshire has a temperate oceanic climate, like most of the UK. There are large climate variations within the county. The upper Pennines border on a Subarctic climate. The Vale of Mowbray has an almost Semi-arid climate. Overall, with the county being situated in the east, it receives below-average rainfall for the UK. Inside North Yorkshire, the upper Dales of the Pennines are one of the wettest parts of England, where in contrast the driest parts of the Vale of Mowbray are some of the driest areas in the UK.

Summer temperatures are above average, at 22 °C. Highs can regularly reach up to 28 °C, with over 30 °C reached in heat waves. Winter temperatures are below average, with average lows of 1 °C. Snow and Fog can be expected depending on location. The North York Moors and Pennines have snow lying for an average of between 45 and 75 days per year. Sunshine is most plentiful on the coast, receiving an average of 1,650 hours a year. It reduces further west in the county, with the Pennines receiving 1,250 hours a year.

The county borders multiple counties and districts:

County Durham's County Durham, Darlington, Stockton (north Tees) and Hartlepool;

East Riding of Yorkshire's East Riding of Yorkshire;

South Yorkshire's City of Doncaster;

West Yorkshire's City of Wakefield, City of Leeds and City of Bradford;

Lancashire's City of Lancaster, Ribble Valley and Pendle

Cumbria's Westmorland and Furness.

The City of York Council and North Yorkshire Council formed the York and North Yorkshire Combined Authority in February 2024. The elections for the first directly-elected mayor will take place in May 2024. Both North Yorkshire Council and the combined authority are governed from County Hall, Northallerton.

The Tees Valley Combined Authority was formed in 2016 by five unitary authorities; Middlesbrough, Redcar and Cleveland Borough both of North Yorkshire, Stockton-on-Tees Borough (Uniquely for England, split between North Yorkshire and County Durham), Hartlepool Borough and Darlington Borough of County Durham.

In large areas of North Yorkshire, agriculture is the primary source of employment. Approximately 85% of the county is considered to be "rural or super sparse".

Other sectors in 2019 included some manufacturing, the provision of accommodation and meals (primarily for tourists) which accounted for 19 per cent of all jobs. Food manufacturing employed 11 per cent of workers. A few people are involved in forestry and fishing in 2019. The average weekly earnings in 2018 were £531. Some 15% of workers declared themselves as self-employed. One report in late 2020 stated that "North Yorkshire has a relatively healthy and diverse economy which largely mirrors the national picture in terms of productivity and jobs.

Mineral extraction and power generation are also sectors of the economy, as is high technology.

Tourism is a significant contributor to the economy. A study of visitors between 2013 and 2015 indicated that the Borough of Scarborough, including Filey, Whitby and parts of the North York Moors National Park, received 1.4m trips per year on average. A 2016 report by the National Park, states the park area gets 7.93 million visitors annually, generating £647 million and supporting 10,900 full-time equivalent jobs.

The Yorkshire Dales have also attracted many visitors. In 2016, there were 3.8 million visits to the National Park including 0.48 million who stayed at least one night. The parks service estimates that this contributed £252 million to the economy and provided 3,583 full-time equivalent jobs. The wider Yorkshire Dales area received 9.7 million visitors who contributed £644 million to the economy. The North York Moors and Yorkshire Dales are among England's best known destinations.

York is a popular tourist destination. A 2014 report, based on 2012 data, stated that York alone receives 6.9 million visitors annually; they contribute £564 million to the economy and support over 19,000 jobs. In the 2017 Condé Nast Traveller survey of readers, York rated 12th among The 15 Best Cities in the UK for visitors. In a 2020 Condé Nast Traveller report, York rated as the sixth best among ten "urban destinations [in the UK] that scored the highest marks when it comes to ... nightlife, restaurants and friendliness".

During February 2020 to January 2021, the average property in North Yorkshire county sold for £240,000, up by £8100 over the previous 12 months. By comparison, the average for England and Wales was £314,000. In certain communities of North Yorkshire, however, house prices were higher than average for the county, as of early 2021: Harrogate (average value: £376,195), Knaresborough (£375,625), Tadcaster (£314,278), Leyburn (£309,165) and Ripon (£299,998), for example.

This is a chart of trend of regional gross value added for North Yorkshire at current basic prices with figures in millions of British pounds sterling.

Unemployment in the county was traditionally low in recent years, but the lockdowns and travel restrictions necessitated by the COVID-19 pandemic had a negative effect on the economy during much of 2020 and into 2021. The UK government said in early February 2021 that it was planning "unprecedented levels of support to help businesses [in the UK] survive the crisis". A report published on 1 March 2021 stated that the unemployment rate in North Yorkshire had "risen to the highest level in nearly 5 years – with under 25s often bearing the worst of job losses".

York experienced high unemployment during lockdown periods. One analysis (by the York and North Yorkshire Local Enterprise Partnership) predicted in August 2020 that "as many as 13,835 jobs in York will be lost in the scenario considered most likely, taking the city's unemployment rate to 14.5%". Some critics claimed that part of the problem was caused by "over-reliance on the booming tourism industry at the expense of a long-term economic plan". A report in mid June 2020 stated that unemployment had risen 114 per cent over the previous year because of restrictions imposed as a result of the pandemic.

Tourism in the county was expected to increase after the restrictions imposed due the pandemic are relaxed. One reason for the expected increase is the airing of All Creatures Great and Small, a TV series about the vet James Herriot, based on a successful series of books; it was largely filmed within the Yorkshire Dales National Park. The show aired in the UK in September 2020 and in the US in early 2021. One source stated that visits to Yorkshire websites had increased significantly by late September 2020.

The East Coast Main Line (ECML) bisects the county stopping at Northallerton,Thirsk and York. Passenger service companies in the area are London North Eastern Railway, Northern Rail, TransPennine Express and Grand Central.

LNER and Grand Central operate services to the capital on the ECML, Leeds Branch Line and the Northallerton–Eaglescliffe Line. LNER stop at York, Northallerton and on to County Durham or spur over to the Tees Valley Line for Thornaby and Middlesbrough. The operator also branch before the county for Leeds and run to Harrogate and Skipton. Grand Central stop at York, Thirsk Northallerton and Eaglescliffe then over to the Durham Coast Line in County Durham.

Northern operates the remaining lines in the county, including commuter services on the Harrogate Line, Airedale Line and York & Selby Lines, of which the former two are covered by the Metro ticketing area. Remaining branch lines operated by Northern include the Yorkshire Coast Line from Scarborough to Hull, York–Scarborough line via Malton, the Hull to York Line via Selby, the Tees Valley Line from Darlington to Saltburn via Middlesbrough and the Esk Valley Line from Middlesbrough to Whitby. Last but certainly not least, the Settle-Carlisle Line runs through the west of the county, with services again operated by Northern.

The county suffered badly under the Beeching cuts of the 1960s. Places such as Richmond, Ripon, Tadcaster, Helmsley, Pickering and the Wensleydale communities lost their passenger services. Notable lines closed were the Scarborough and Whitby Railway, Malton and Driffield Railway and the secondary main line between Northallerton and Harrogate via Ripon.

Heritage railways within North Yorkshire include: the North Yorkshire Moors Railway, between Pickering and Grosmont, which opened in 1973; the Derwent Valley Light Railway near York; and the Embsay and Bolton Abbey Steam Railway. The Wensleydale Railway, which started operating in 2003, runs services between Leeming Bar and Redmire along a former freight-only line. The medium-term aim is to operate into Northallerton station on the ECML, once an agreement can be reached with Network Rail. In the longer term, the aim is to reinstate the full line west via Hawes to Garsdale on the Settle-Carlisle line.

York railway station is the largest station in the county, with 11 platforms and is a major tourist attraction in its own right. The station is immediately adjacent to the National Railway Museum.

The main road through the county is the north–south A1(M), which has gradually been upgraded in sections to motorway status since the early 1990s. The only other motorways within the county are the short A66(M) near Darlington and a small stretch of the M62 motorway close to Eggborough. The other nationally maintained trunk routes are the A168/A19, A64, A66 and A174.

Long-distance coach services are operated by National Express and Megabus. Local bus service operators include Arriva Yorkshire, Stagecoach, Harrogate Bus Company, The Keighley Bus Company, Scarborough & District (East Yorkshire), Yorkshire Coastliner, First York and the local Dales & District.

There are no major airports in the county itself, but nearby airports include Teesside International (Darlington), Newcastle and Leeds Bradford.

The main campus of Teesside University is in Middlesbrough, while York contains the main campuses of the University of York and York St John University. There are also two secondary campuses in the county: CU Scarborough, a campus of Coventry University, and Queen's Campus, Durham University in Thornaby-on-Tees.

Colleges

Middlesbrough College's sixth-form

Askham Bryan College of agriculture, Askham Bryan and Middlesbrough

Craven College, Skipton

Middlesbrough College

The Northern School of Art, Middlesbrough

Prior Pursglove College

Redcar & Cleveland College

Scarborough Sixth Form College

Scarborough TEC

Selby College

Stockton Riverside College, Thornaby

York College

Places of interest

Ampleforth College

Beningbrough Hall –

Black Sheep Brewery

Bolton Castle –

Brimham Rocks –

Castle Howard and the Howardian Hills –

Catterick Garrison

Cleveland Hills

Drax Power Station

Duncombe Park – stately home

Eden Camp Museum –

Embsay & Bolton Abbey Steam Railway –

Eston Nab

Flamingo Land Theme Park and Zoo –

Helmsley Castle –

Ingleborough Cave – show cave

John Smith's Brewery

Jorvik Viking Centre –

Lightwater Valley –

Lund's Tower

Malham Cove

Middleham Castle –

Mother Shipton's Cave –

National Railway Museum –

North Yorkshire Moors Railway –

Ormesby Hall – Palladian Mansion

Richmond Castle –

Ripley Castle – Stately home and historic village

Riverside Stadium

Samuel Smith's Brewery

Shandy Hall – stately home

Skipton Castle –

Stanwick Iron Age Fortifications –

Studley Royal Park –

Stump Cross Caverns – show cave

Tees Transporter Bridge

Theakston Brewery

Thornborough Henges

Wainman's Pinnacle

Wharram Percy

York Castle Museum –

Yorkshire Air Museum –

The Yorkshire Arboretum

Al Green - Love and Happiness

www.youtube.com/watch?v=hsU6_eSG4k4

Extended night-exposure of elderly homeless woman outside hotel in Beijing, China

35mm Film

August 2015

Every time you get more than one tire off the ground, it's acceptable to shout "Woohoo!"

1:64 GreenLight Collectibles:

1991 Chevrolet S-10 Baja Extended Cab

All-Terrain Series 12

#1stPixOffRoad

Olympus OM-D E-M5 Mark II

Olympus M.14-42mm F3.5-5.6 II R

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Picture from the late Charles Wilson's Collection

Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Louis

St. Louis is the second-largest city in Missouri. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which extends into Illinois, had an estimated population of over 2.8 million, making it the largest metropolitan area in Missouri, the second-largest in Illinois, and the 20th-largest in the United States.

Before European settlement, the area was a regional center of Native American Mississippian culture. St. Louis was founded on February 14, 1764, by French fur traders Gilbert Antoine de St. Maxent, Pierre Laclède and Auguste Chouteau, who named it for Louis IX of France. In 1764, following France's defeat in the Seven Years' War, the area was ceded to Spain. In 1800, it was retroceded to France, which sold it three years later to the United States as part of the Louisiana Purchase; the city was then the point of embarkation for the Corps of Discovery on the Lewis and Clark Expedition. In the 19th century, St. Louis became a major port on the Mississippi River; from 1870 until the 1920 census, it was the fourth-largest city in the country. It separated from St. Louis County in 1877, becoming an independent city and limiting its political boundaries. In 1904, it hosted the Louisiana Purchase Exposition and the Summer Olympics.

A "Gamma" global city with a metropolitan GDP of more than $160 billion in 2017, metropolitan St. Louis has a diverse economy with strengths in the service, manufacturing, trade, transportation, and tourism industries. It is home to eight Fortune 500 companies. Major companies headquartered or with significant operations in the city include Ameren Corporation, Peabody Energy, Nestlé Purina PetCare, Anheuser-Busch, Wells Fargo Advisors, Stifel Financial, Spire, Inc., MilliporeSigma, FleishmanHillard, Square, Inc., U.S. Bank, Anthem BlueCross and Blue Shield, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, U.S. Department of Agriculture, National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, Centene Corporation, and Express Scripts.

Major research universities include Saint Louis University and Washington University in St. Louis. The Washington University Medical Center in the Central West End neighborhood hosts an agglomeration of medical and pharmaceutical institutions, including Barnes-Jewish Hospital.

St. Louis has four professional sports teams: the St. Louis Cardinals of Major League Baseball, the St. Louis Blues of the National Hockey League, St. Louis City SC of Major League Soccer, anticipated to begin play in 2023, and the St. Louis BattleHawks of the XFL. Among the city's notable sights is the 630-foot (192 m) Gateway Arch in Downtown St. Louis, the St. Louis Zoo, the Missouri Botanical Garden, the Saint Louis Art Museum, and Bellefontaine Cemetery and Arboretum.

Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Louis_Auto_Show

The St. Louis Auto Show is an auto show held annually in St. Louis, Missouri. The first St. Louis Auto Show was held in 1907 at Forest Park Highlands; it was first held indoors at the Willys-Overland Building on Locust Street in 1917. Since resumption of the show in 1983, it has been held annually at the America's Center convention center and, since its construction in 1996, at the adjacent Edward Jones Dome.

In the most recent show, which took place in January 2012, its exhibits featured more than 25 automobile and motorcycle brands, including Acura, Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, Chrysler, Dodge, Fiat, Ford, Harley Davidson, Honda, Hyundai, Jeep, Kia, Lexus, Lincoln, Mazda, Nissan, Scion, Subaru, Toyota, Volkswagen, and Volvo. The show also featured a collection of supercars sponsored by St. Louis Motorsports, Inc., including cars manufactured by Bentley, Lamborghini, Lotus, Maserati, and Rolls-Royce. The 2012 show also included three "ride-and-drive" experiences in which attendees were able to drive new vehicles, an environmentally friendly automobile section, and the Camp Jeep experience, in which attendees were able to participate in indoor, off-road driving.

Historically, the show has included a variety of concept cars; in 1990, the show featured the 12-cylinder Cadillac Solitaire and the pivoting-canopied Plymouth Slingshot. During the 1991 show, organizers brought three Deloreans used in the filming of Back to the Future and a pre-production model of the Dodge Viper. For 1996, the show included models of the Cadillac Catera, the Plymouth Prowler, and the Lamborghini Diablo. Also in 1996, the auto show became the first convention to use the Edward Jones Dome for convention space. The 2001 show featured a pre-production model of the Ford Thunderbird and the GMC Envoy, while the 2005 show included the Jeep Hurricane concept car.

Additional Foreign Language Tags:

(United States) "الولايات المتحدة" "Vereinigte Staaten" "アメリカ" "美国" "미국" "Estados Unidos" "États-Unis"

(Missouri) "ميزوري" "密苏里州" "मिसौरी" "ミズーリ" "미주리" "Миссури"

(St. Louis) "سانت لويس" "圣路易斯" "संत लुई" "セントルイス" "세인트루이스" "святой Луи"

© All rights reserved

Had to go back in the archives this morning to find a shot for some folks. Saw this one as I was running the file and thought I would share.

Look at me bigger.

(more information and pictures you can see by clicking on the link at the end of page!)

Stone penitentiary

Object ID: 32444 Steiner Landstrasse 4

The building of the prison was built in 1839-1843 as Redemptoristinnenkloster (Congregazione del Santissimo Redentore, Congregación del Santísimo Redentor, les Rédemptoristes, the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer - the female ones). After its cassation in 1848, it was adapted in 1852 for the present purpose and subsequently expanded several times. On the street side extends a long three storey wing with gaved central projection from the first quarter of the 20th Century. Adjacent to it, lies the by its narrow and tall chapel front accented, two-storey former convent. The three-bay chapel has Platzl vault (Bohemian vault) with vault and wall paintings from the construction period, which were partially destroyed. The three-storey jail house, built in 1870-1873, rises above a cross-shaped floor plan with short administration wing and three of a central octagon outgoing cell tracts. The walkways are designed as cast iron structures. A church from 1873 is located on the upper floors of the administration wing. This has a rectangular hall with coffered ceiling, a gallery and arched windows with simple ornamental panes. The equipment to which belong an aedikula, an organ and the original pews comes from the construction period. At the altarpiece an image of the Good Shepherd can be seen, which is denoted with C. Madjera 1873. Further facilities include a Baroque crucifix.

de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liste_der_denkmalgesch%C3%BCtzten_O...

(for further pictures please go to the link at the end of page!)

Krems an der Donau (Stein)

Community Krems at the Danube

www.krems.gv.at

History

Stein, copper engraving, Georg Matthäus Vischer, 1672

© IMAREAL, Austrian Academy of Sciences

The twin city of Krems-Stein in 1995 celebrating the 1000 year jubilee, is one of the oldest cities in Austria. The terrace formation, the favorable climate and location at the crossroads of the Danube trade route with the north-south connections from the Waldviertel (Wood district) and the wine district (Weinviertel) favored for thousands of years the colonization of the area and contributed essentially to the development as a center in the Danube region.

For a far into the early days reaching settlement tradition speak finds from the Paleolithic (Hundssteig, Wachtberg, 30000-25000 BC), from the Neolithic period (ceramic cultures), but also the special role of the region in the Early Bronze Age Unetice Culture (1800-1500 BC) as well as traces of the urn field culture of the late Bronze Age and the Hallstatt culture (800-400 BC). In the La Tène period settled here probably celticized groups, in the Roman period the area belonged since the beginning of the second Century to the sphere of influence of the Germanic Marcomanni. According to the biography of Saint Severin ("Vita Severini") the center of the Germanic Rugians in the second half of the 5th Century probably lay in the area of Krems-Stein, for the next century the cemetery in Unter-Rohrendorf proves the presence of the Lombards.

First time mentioned by name Krems is in a charter of Emperor Otto III of 9th August 995 as orientalis urbs que dicitur Chremisa - as a fortified place in the East which is named the Chremisa. The settlement then lay on the eastern border of the small Mark Ostarrîchi in close proximity to Moravia, but soon it grew beyond the castle district and developed in the 11th Century to a market settlement around the High market (Hoher Markt). Since 1014 Krems was due to a Royal donation (Königsschenkung) parish. The sister city of Stein is only in the second half of the 11th century (1072) named. Its center was the to parish Krems belonging Michael Church. Stone primarily was a toll and loading berth for salt, wine and grain. From skipper settlement arose a market and in the 12th Century a town settlement (since 1144). The character as a city of Krems is yet a little earlier for the year 1136 proven.

The position at the Danube the two cities had assigned their complementary functions: Stein lay directly at the stream and became toll and landing place for ships, had but due to the rising hillsides little space for large commercial and market places and construction activity. Krems, however, was cut by tributaries and floodplains from the main stream, but offered plenty of space for colonization and markets as well as the protection of a mighty castle.

Around 1150 Krems was the most important commercial center in the country. In the tower of the town castle of Krems at the steep slope of the High market between 1130-190 the first Babenberg coin, the Kremser penny, was minted. On the world map of the Arab scholar Idrisi Krems is named before Vienna, which only in subsequent time should surpass Krems. The city's growth ​​probably already in the first half of the 12th Century the relocation of the parish of St. Stephen's Church on woman mountain (Frauenberg - now Piaristenkirche) to the foot of the mountain made necessary where the new Vitus church became parish. End of the 12th Century Krems was surrounded by a city wall, 1196 the first city judge is testified. The city has been expanded several times and extended in the late Middle Ages from the Steiner Tor in the west to the Krems river in the east. The Dominican monastery, founded in 1236 was initially outside the city.

Stein evolved from the high terrace in the direction of Nicholas church, which in 1283 was elevated into the status of a parish. In the late Middle Ages, the area between Landstraße and the Danube was built-up and the city in the area of the in 1223/1224 founded Minorits monastery (consecration of the church in 1264) and between Reisperbach and Linzertor extended.

Both cities since the beginning of the 12th Century were princely and complemented each other as land and Danube trading venues. Their close relationship has led to a unique construction as a twin city. Both cities had a civic community with its own military and financial sovereignty, but had a common municipal law (1305) and a common municipal judge and later mayor (since 1416). 1463 Emperor Frederick III the two cities conferred a common coat of arms, the imperial double-headed eagle in gold on a black background. In addition to Krems-Stein only Wiener Neustadt and Vienna had the privilege to lead the double eagle. The union of the cities existed until 1849, after 90 years of independence of Stein, in 1939 took place the recent merger.

The economic boom in the late Middle Ages was based on the viticulture and trade with wine, salt and iron. In Stein shipping formed a significant economic factor. 1463 Stein received by the Emperor Frederick III the privilege to build a fixed bridge, the second oldest after Vienna in the area of the Austrian course of the Danube river.

From the richness and self-conciousness of the citizenship testifies the in 1265 built "Gozzoburg" of the mighty city judge Gozzo of Krems, a castle-like town house with loggia. The appearance of both cities is characterised of the numerous houses from the 15th and 16th century, which are designed with bay windows, sgraffito and paintings and as well as arcade courtyards inside. A characteristic of both cities are the since the High Middle Ages profable "vintage courtyards" of monasteries and bishoprics, which were used to store wine and served for the administration of the monastic possessions, such as the Passau courtyards, the Kremsmünstererhof or the Göttweigerhof. The Göttweigerhofkapelle (chapel) is equipped with valuable frescoes from the early 14th Century. About 1500 Krems through the work of the Augsburg artist Jörg Breu became a center of the Danube School.

Since the second half of the 16th Century Krems was mostly Protestant. The resistance of the citizens against the recatholicization in 1593 led to the loss of all privileges. It was not until 1615 as Emperor Matthias cancelled the harsh verdict and restored the independence of the city. A big part in the Catholic restoration played the in 1616 settled Jesuits who ran the school and by their theater performances became famous. In addition to the Jesuit college emerged in the time of the Counter-Reformation the Capuchin Monastery Und (1614) and the early Baroque new building of the Kremser parish church, in which renowned Italian artists took part.

The 17th Century due to the shift of international trade routes and the decline of the importance of the Danube trade brought an economic downturn. Severe damages the city suffered in 1645 by the Swedes, who besieged Krems, conquered and extended it to the main fortress, and by the reconquest a year later. It was only after 1700 as a upswing set in again, which found its expression in the Baroque style of the city. Employers for the resident artists or handicrafts were the big monasteries of the country. One of the most important painters of this period was Martin Johann Schmidt, the Kremser Schmidt, until his death (1801) in Stein maintaining a painting workshop.

In the second half of the 18th Century changed the ecclesiastical structures of the city. The since 1616 the Jesuits transmitted Frauenberg church was taken over by the Piarists in 1776 after the abolition of the Order (1773). 1783 the Dominican Monastery, 1796 the Minorit's monastery and the Capuchin monastery was abolished and profaned.

The biggest change of the cityscape since the Middle Ages took place in the 19th Century by the removal of the ramparts and the city gates. Remained except for remnants of the wall only the Steinertor (gate), which became the symbol of the city. Of the in the course of industrialization established factories of importance were the leather factory in Rehberg, the factory for the manufacturing of mats and rugs made ​​of coconut fibres in Stein and the first quartz millstone factory of Austria. Great reputation also enjoyed the organ builders Zachistal, Capek and Hradetzky and the Kremser bell founders, including Matthias Prininger, Ferdinand Vötterlechner and Johann Gottlieb Jenichen. In the last third of the century followed the connection to the railway network, 1909, the Donauuferbahn (railway line along the Danube) was opened.

After the Second World War - on 2nd April 1945, there was heavy bombing - succeeded the city to preserve the architectural heritage largely in its original state and to connect it with modernity. The successful revitalization already received international recognition, Krems in 1975, 1979 and 2009 was Europa Nostra award winner. The city with the "Art Mile" in Stein (Kunsthalle, Museum of Caricature and Artothek), the Danube Festival and numerous cultural events developed to one of the most important cultural centers in Lower Austria .

The art treasures of the city as well as tradition and the history of wine-growing presents the "museumkrems" in the former Dominican church. Which the in 1994 founded and in 1995 opened "Danube University", Krems became 13th Austrian university town and is since 2002 the seat of a University of Applied Sciences (International Management Center). With the since 1998 annually realized Wachau Marathon Krems itself also could established as a "sports city".

In the 1970s, the city once again experienced a major expansion. In 1972 joined the community of Hollenburg Krems. The once separating Danube became the connecting element between the urban north and the "orchard" in the south. Meanwhile, the "Southtown" became integral part of the city, but could maintain its rural character.

Krems has partnerships with cities in Denmark, Germany, France, Czech Republic and the USA.

www.gedaechtnisdeslandes.at/orte/action/show/controller/O...[ort]=1610

The Mezquita is one of the most mesmerising buildings I have ever visited.

It was a mosque, first constructed in the 10th century, probably on the site of a Visigothic place of worship.

At that time, Cordoba, the capital of the emirate of Al-Andalus, was one of the biggest and most cosmopolitan cities in Europe.

It was then extended by various Islamic rulers before having a Catholic cathedral built in the middle of it when Christians conquered the emirate.

Today it is officially a cathedral, though its architecture, inside and out, shows clearly that it was conceived and built as a mosque.

It is regarded as one of the most outstanding Islamic buildings in the world.

© M J Anahory. These images are protected by copyright. You cannot copy or republish this photo without written consent of the copyright holder. Any copyright infringements will be followed up with action legal or otherwise.

This nest was in sight of a public footpath. I used a 200mm lens plus 1.4 extender hand held on a cropped sensor camera EOS 60D.

Feel free to link people you recognize!!

Hamburg 2013.

Mulsanne

Het Loo Apeldoorn NL

Dutch practice Kaan Architecten has extended the Museum Paleis Het Loo in Apeldoorn, the Netherlands, concealing over 5,000 square meters of visitor spaces beneath a public courtyard and fountain. Originally built in 1686 as a royal hunting palace for King William III, the Baroque complex on the outskirts of Apeldoorn has served as a state museum since 1984, but was suffering from dated facilities and fittings and required asbestos removal. Winning the project through a public competition in 2016, Kaan Architecten sought to retain and continue the feeling of "grandeur" created by the existing buildings. This informed the studio's decision to conceal the extension underground. Following the symmetrical layout of the palace above, the cavernous interiors have been finished with pale marble, illuminated by skylights beneath a new fountain and a pool of water that creates a dappled light effect.

The underground extension keeps the symmetrical logic of the baroque composition and the palace's corps de logis [main block] as the basic floor plan. The newly transformed Paleis Het Loo now radiates the grandeur that befits one of the Netherlands' most renowned and frequented museums.

Rather than create a new entrance that would detract from the existing layout, Kaan Architecten positioned two entrances at the end of the palace's wings, where two entrance pavilions lead down into the underground extension. Once underground, a grand, skylit corridor lined with pale marble connects to an existing staircase to the north of the palace, flanked by a mixture of temporary and permanent exhibition spaces.

Although its architectural expression is restrained and elegant, the new building befits the grandeur and imagination associated with the term 'palace. Traces of the past remain visible in the subtle marble inlays on the walls where the old structure was hollowed out to create the lantern-like entry pavilions.

In the western wing, a raised gable form called the "Junior Palace" contains exhibits for children, leading around to a large restaurant in the former ballroom with new seating beneath large chandeliers. To the east, further permanent exhibition spaces lead to an independent building which contains offices for the museum staff, organised around a small courtyard. Throughout the project, a minimalist approach has been taken to the interiors, with pale wood flooring and white walls in the new gallery spaces, and simple furniture and white walls contrasting retained woodwork in the existing palace. Subtle textures are layered through alternating sandblasted, honed and polished marble, playfully brought to life by the reflection of natural light through the fountain.

Paleis Het Loo is a palace, built over three hundred years ago in the heart of the Netherlands. The sumptuously furnished interiors give an impression of how the Dutch royal family lived here for three centuries. The reconstructed gardens emanate the ambience of their seventeenth century origin with their fountains and elegantly box-lined parterres. The palace’s setting in one of Holland’s most beautiful nature areas makes a visit a real delight at any time of year. The palace museum is comprised of a main building, the Corps-de-Logis, flanked by two pavilions on either side which are connected to service wings around the Bassecourt or main courtyard.

Daveyston.

The Hundred of Nuriootpa which extended to the Daveyston district was declared in 1847. The first land owner was Eduard Hempel who took up 399 acres in 1854 at a cost of £1,250 i.e. £3 per acre. Hempel then subdivided his 399 acres into five part sections. Soon after Benjamin Davey bought 99 acres in 1857 and he built a flourmill on it before the town was created. His land, bought from the government, was across Greenock Creek on the eastern side of Greenock Road. Because of his mill the later town was called Daveyston. His cousin Edwin Davey went on to erect flourmills in Angaston, Penrice, Eudunda, Truro, Salisbury and Adelaide. Benjamin Davey stayed in Daveyston and leased his flourmill to H Kruger in the 1860s but his son owned it until 1875 when he sold it to his cousin Edwin Davey for £500.The mill closed permanently in 1879 and the fittings were dismantled and moved to the Davey flourmill at Eudunda. No town was ever formally surveyed but Hempel sold off lots of land along the creek. Hempel donated one plot in 1867 for a town school and the adjoining lot for the Lutheran Church. In the early days of settlement the Ngadjuri Aboriginal people used to camp along the creek by this land. They were known for being friendly and passive towards the white settlers. This land was gazetted as a government water reserve and the creek was dammed to provide water for bullock teams and the flourmill.

The town began with the Davey flourmill and the licensing of the Old Nain Hotel by Matthias Dienhoff also in 1857. The next development was a road to Freeling in 1863 as the railway from Adelaide to Kapunda had reached there in 1860 and an unofficial Post Office was established in 1863. The telegraph line from Adelaide to Blanchetown and on to NSW passed through Daveyston in 1864. A town school was built in stone in 1867 and opened in January 1868 with 35 children and Mr Forbitzky as the teacher. Eventually it became a state government school after 1875 and it closed in 1970. From the late 1850s Daveyston had Thomas Martin as the blacksmith followed by Charles to 1879. Others ran the blacksmith through to the 1920s. In 1872 the Matthias Dienhoff converted the Old Nain Hotel into a residence as a “new” Nain Hotel was erected nearby just north of the school with a parapet roof line. It was here that the Nuriootpa District Council rented a room for the Council. The red brick hotel was de-licensed in 1911 and operated as a temperance hotel. It closed in 1914 and became a private house and still stands in the town. The German farmers and residents applied to use the school room for their church services in 1870 but they soon erected their own stone church next to the school in 1878. Earlier Lutheran services were conducted in private homes from the late 1850s by Dr Muecke. The church closed in 1959 when it was purchased by the Education Department to add to the school grounds. But sadly it was demolished in 1963 to provide more school yard for the town. The first general store keeper in Daveyston was Duve von Julius. The town had the Nuriootpa District Council offices too from 1867. The first meetings were held in the Old Nain Hotel and a room was rented there as the Council Office until around 1880. A small Council office was built after 1880. The Council offices closed in 1909 although the Council had moved earlier to Freeling in 1905. For most of the period from 1864 to 1904 Daveyston had a resident book maker and shop. The first semi-official Post Office in Daveyston opened in 1917. But from 1930 the service was downgraded. Mail was delivered to a tiny galvanised iron shed adjacent to the general store thereafter until 1974. The tiny settlement is now bypassed by the main highway.

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-// Sgt. McGregor, August 2994 //-

We hit up the map room of the ship to plan out our locations with the UN Intelligence staff. I assigned out each of the teams, leaving what would ultimately be the most risky mission to my own team. I hesitated for a moment, realizing this would put Sophie in danger, but I would be right there with her. And also I didn't want to risk any of my men on something this risky.

It was a infiltration mission to a Hive World: a world so densely populated it is completely covered in city, a massive metropolis extending high above and below the surface. While they were heavily dependent on other planets and a huge civilian population to make them difficult to protect, they also had some of the most advanced defenses, shield systems, and massive enough generators to power their defenses and have surplus to power whatever you added/built on. They also had the biggest and most efficient factories. This was because other planets had high value on their land and resources that they didn't want wasted on factory space, however on Hive Worlds there was plenty of room for factories: they were experts on building on top of other buildings, the sky is the limit.

EC had its halls, barracks, and offices hidden amidst these Hive Worlds, where they had easiest access to the population in order to infect them with their beliefs. They also would be surrounded by civilians helping prevent major military action before the time was right. Now, however, they had already acted. The Hive Worlds were far less populated now, since the EC recruited many of the remaining civilians that had not already been enlisted by one side or the other during the war.

But there were still EC computers with valuable information there. We needed this information.

The UN Fleet Commander cast me a curious look when I said I would take that mission.

"You sure? We can always send a Special Forces troop. Its dangerous, lots of contacts and no way for us to support you once you are in."

I smiled.

"We can do it."

He paused.

"Then at least take your armor with you, you'll need it."

"No, the armadillo armor is too bulky, but we have some lighter cut down suits we might use."

"Then at least take better weapons, that Regulus won't help you much in there."

He reached for the map rooms emergency weapon cache, withdrawing a small crate.

"Shinobi Blaster pistols. Capable of semi or full auto fire. They are designed to be quiet, and blaster technology has advanced since that prototype you tested, this should be virtually recoil free. The gun also has our AIM, Advanced Insertion Module. A grappling hook under barrel attachment. Built for Hive World combat in mind, you have a lot of vertical travel space."

"Thank you sir, that will do perfect."

"There is enough in this crate for your whole squad and then some. You sure you don't want a few SF additions to your squad."

"No sir... I know who I want in my squad."

"Oh?"

I glanced over at Sophie. She caught my eye and knew what I meant.

"Call them up Sophie."

"Already on it."

She tapped at the room's COMM terminal.

"This is Sophie, Shadow Watch, I want to patched in the instance you here anything from Squad 450."

"450? Who? We use numerals for our squads ma'--"

"That is classified. You don't need to know who they are, just listen for either Squad 450 or Mikeal, whichever comes first. Is that clear?"

"Yes--"

"Good."

The Commander paused for a moment then spoke.

"I hope you know what you are doing McGregor. You have a green light to go. You have authorization for anything you need."

I saluted, although due to the current situation, my Shadow Watch command level rank did not require me to.

"Thank you sir."

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pastie.org/1157224

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Pink shark, Stratumsedijk, Eindhoven, The Netherlands.

Some six weeks ago, my sister Truus and I got the message that our father (94) went into the palliative phase. Since then I am staying at Truus's house and we visit my father. He's getting thinner and thinner and his wound is getting worse, but dad remains his positive and friendly self and won't pass away yet. So Truus and I make lang walks when we've visited him and she makes wonderful animal photos and I make my snapshots of the Spring in Eindhoven. Today I'm in Amsterdam to take care of my son Lucas and share these pictures with you.

And my thanks to Jan who keeps with his postcards the homefires at Truus, Bob and Jan too! burning!