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The Chesapeake Bay Bridge–Tunnel
The Chesapeake Bay Bridge–Tunnel (CBBT) is a 23-mile (37 km) bridge–tunnel crossing at the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay, the Hampton Roads harbor, and nearby mouths of the James and Elizabeth Rivers in the American state of Virginia. It connects Northampton County on the Delmarva Peninsula and Eastern Shore with Virginia Beach, Norfolk, Chesapeake, and Portsmouth on the Western Shore and South side / Tidewater which are part of the Hampton Roads metropolitan area of eight close cities around the harbor's shores and peninsula. The Bridge-Tunnel originally combined 12 miles (19 km) of trestle, two 1-mile-long (1.6 km) tunnels, four artificial islands, four high-level bridges, approximately 2 miles (3.2 km) of causeway, and 5.5 miles (8.9 km) of northeast and southwest approach roads—crossing the Chesapeake Bay and preserving traffic on the Thimble Shoals and Chesapeake dredged shipping channels leading to the Atlantic. It replaced vehicle ferry services that operated from South Hampton Roads and from the Virginia Peninsula since the 1930s. Financed by toll revenue bonds, the Bridge–Tunnel was opened on April 15, 1964,[1] and remains one of only ten bridge–tunnel systems in the world, three of which are located in the water dominated Hampton Roads area of Tidewater Virginia.
As of May 2018 the Chesapeake Bay Bridge–Tunnel has been crossed by more than 130 million vehicles.[2] The CBBT complex carries U.S. Route 13, the main north–south highway on Virginia's Eastern Shore on the Delmarva peninsula, and, as part of the East Coast's longstanding Ocean Highway, provides the only straight direct link along the East Coast and Atlantic Ocean, between the Eastern Shore and South Hampton Roads regions, as well as an alternate route to link the Northeast U.S.A. and points in between with Norfolk and further south to the Carolinas and Florida. The Bridge–Tunnel saves motorists 95 miles (153 km) and 1 1⁄2 hours on a trip between Virginia Beach/Norfolk and points north and east of the Chesapeake and Delaware Valley, River and Bay without going through the traffic congestion in the Baltimore–Washington Metropolitan Area further west in Maryland and Northern Virginia. The $15 toll is partially offset by some savings of highway tolls in Maryland and Delaware and avoiding often heavy traffic on north-south Interstate 95 (I-95) built in the 1960s and completed in the late 1970s and parallel older United States Route 1 (US-1) from the 1920s. From 1995 to 1999, at an additional cost of almost $200 million, the capacity of the above-water portion of bridges on the facility was increased and widened to four lanes. An upgrade of the two-lane tunnels is currently underway. [3] The crossing was officially named the Lucius J. Kellam Jr. Bridge–Tunnel in August 1987, 23 years after opening, honoring one of the civic leaders who had long worked for its development, construction and operation; it continues however to be best known as the Chesapeake Bay Bridge–Tunnel. The complex was built by and is operated by the Chesapeake Bay Bridge and Tunnel District, a political subdivision of the Commonwealth of Virginia governed by the Chesapeake Bay Bridge and Tunnel Commission and in cooperation with the state Department of Transportation. Costs are recovered through toll collections. In 2002, a Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission (JLARC) study commissioned by the Virginia General Assembly concluded that "given the inability of the state to fund future capital requirements of the CBBT, the District and Commission should be retained to operate and maintain the Bridge–Tunnel as a toll facility in perpetuity."
Occasionally because of similar names, the Bridge-Tunnel is often confused with the Chesapeake Bay Bridge (also known as the Governor William Preston Lane, Jr. Memorial Bridge) further north in Maryland crossing the middle portion of the Bay from Annapolis to Kent Island on the Maryland Eastern Shore of Delmarva. It was built with two lanes and a higher suspension segment in the middle from 1949 - 1952, with a second parallel wider span of three lanes in 1973. It is one of the longest and highest bridges in the world.
Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chesapeake_Bay_Bridge%E2%80%93Tunnel
Chesapeake Bay
-was formed nearly 12,000 years ago when glaciers melted and flooded the Susquehanna River valley;
-is—most historians believe—named after the Algonquin word chesepiooc, meaning "great shellfish bay;"
-is approximately 200 miles long, stretching from Havre de Grace, Maryland, to Norfolk, Virginia;
-has an average depth of 21 feet (the deepest part of the Bay, a.k.a. "The Hole," is 174 feet deep and located off of Bloody Point, southeast of
Annapolis, Maryland;
-ranges from 3.4 to 35 miles wide;
-holds more than 15 trillion gallons of water;
-supports 348 species of finfish and 173 species of shellfish;
-supports more than 3,600 species of plant and animal life, including 2,700 types of plants and more than 16 species of underwater grasses;
-is fed by 50 major tributaries (or streams and rivers) every day—the largest of these are the Susquehanna, Potomac, Rappahannock, York, and James;
-produces more than 500 millions pounds of seafood harvest each year.
Source: www.cbf.org/about-the-bay/chesapeake-bay-watershed-geogra...
Fisherman Island National Wildlife Refuge
Fisherman Island is the southernmost island on the Delmarva Peninsula chain of barrier islands. Located at the entrance to the Chesapeake Bay, the island is subject to great changes in its landscape from waves and runoff. It first formed about 200 to 250 years ago.
Fisherman Island National Wildlife Refuge is located within the United States Fish and Wildlife Service's Eastern Shore of Virginia National Wildlife Refuge, and is cut in half by the presence of U.S. Highway 13 and the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel. The refuge is closed to the public.
The island is the habitat to migratory waterfowl, shorebirds, and nesting waterbirds. In September 2003, the island was almost entirely flooded by Hurricane Isabel.
Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fisherman_Island_(Virginia)
Southern Railway steam locomotive # 4501 is being repaired, maintained and cleaned by crew members for the next days Railfan Excursion Train assignment at Salisbury, North Carolina, August 1985. The steam locomotive 4501 will lead a 17 car (mostly heavyweight passenger cars) Railfan Excursion Train, along with the help of three assisting diesel locomotives (2 - FP7A's & 1 - GP30), on a mountain rail trip through the famous loops to Asheville, NC, and then back on a return trip.
I still confidently maintain that this is one of the best Maisto Fresh Metal releases in years! I believe its now got a new green recolour though it could be sometime before that reaches European shores. They clearly went to a lot of effort to ensure this casting looked as good as it possibly could be taking into account strict cost parameters. Its money saving techniques might be obvious but they are clever and don't detract too much from the finished article.
Accurate in its proportions, well detailed and unlike so many other Fresh Metal releases this has wheels which aren't ugly, in fact they are actually very well suited to this vehicle.
Part of a 20 vehicle set found at E.Leclerc.
Mint and boxed.
“I will maintain and defend the sovereignty of the United States paramount to any and all allegiance, sovereignty, or fealty,” the more than 1,200 new cadets pledged at the end of their Reception Day June 29, 2021. The Class of 2025 is composed of 302 women, 504 minorities, 10 combat veterans and 16 international students. (U.S. Army photo by Tarnish Pride)
GZ-04XX O'ahu Class FAS
Class: Frame Assault Ship
Role: Mobile frame squad base/Power projection (Cata, Def, PD)
Builder: Dramstellar
IO size: Frigate
Longest side: 12 studs
Crew: 57. Captain, Executive Officer, 1st Lieutenant, 2nd Lieutenant, Pilot x3, Navigator x3, Chief Engineer, Engineering Crew x6, Maintainer x12, Comms Specialist x4, Doctor x1, Med Aide x3, Weapon's Officer, Gunner x4, Life Support x5, Catapult Crew x6, Fuels Technican x2, Intel Officer, Intel Analyst, Quartermaster
Mobile Frame Element: 12. Pilot x4, Crew Chief x4, Launch Officer, Recovery Crew x2, Flight Medic
The O'ahu class fast assault ship represents a technical challenge that, while at the time wasn't new by any means, was something few shipyards bothered to attempt and fewer still space defense forces attempted to maintain; a frigate not only capable of atmospheric entry and escape, but one that was also equipped with a mobile frame hangar and catapult for rapid battlefield deployment. Naturally mobile frame carriers had been around as long as there had been frames, and plenty of ships were capable of independently climbing up and down a gravity well safely... but to combine those two options into a size as small as a frigate while also intending it for the riggers of combat was truly a test of fortitude and wits for any production company, let alone a relative newcomer such as Dramstellar. Visually, the ship harkens more strongly to the earlier purely Dramstellar designs, but heavily incorporates advances learned and implemented in the Rampart class venture with which the O'ahu wouldn't have been possible. In fact, some would rumor that even with the technical know-how gained from the joint Northern Stars project the class's anti-grav skirt wings still shouldn't be sufficient to life the ship off planet as small and compact as they are, even going as far as to suggest that Dramstellar may have secretly attained Ijad gravity technology, possibility in the failed wreckage of the GZ spaceyards invasion. Whatever the case maybe, this frame assault ship can dive into a gravity bound battlefield and rapidly deploy a mobile frame squad while following close behind to prove resupply and counter-frame support. The O'ahu class is also the only GZ spaceyard produced frigate capable of extended solo deployments thanks to extensive fuel reserves and supply stores, although it will heavily rely on the strength of its frame squad for long range engagement and especially anti-ship combat. In a group scenario the class helps round out a task force's mobile frame companies, lending the weight of its squad to a full carrier's compliment. Depending on the makeup of a given task force the O'ahu class is equally comfortable holding back to help guard larger more important ships or as part of a detachment securing high value assets.
As a frame assault ship the most obvious feature of the O'ahu class is the catapult that launches its mobile frame squad. The ship's hangar is large enough to fit four frames in snug if tight quarters, but an alternate layout that forgoes the antigrav role could accommodate up to six frames. The frames are protected during launch by twin PDG turrets on either side of the ship, and which are mirrored by two more turrets that guard the rear of the ship. Notably the bottom rear of the ship lacks coverage, but this was an intentional compromise due to need for the ship to be able to land on the ground as well as the defensive nature of anti-grav skirt wings. While the skirt wings are intended to primarily provide lift in a gravity well, they have been modified to generate a gravitional shield to repulse attacks as needed. The exact nature of how the shield functions is extraordinarily close held, and is likely partly why fewer of the O'ahu class was produced by the GZ spaceyards than any other frigate sized ship, although the class pushes the limits of the mass and length of what is normally considered a frigate. In theory the ship could be upscaled into a capital ship with multiple catapults and full sized (and less esoterically powered) anti-grav skirt wings, but time would show that Dramstellar's shipwrights would want to take on a more interesting challenge.
In order to maintain its position as a top-tier fighting vehicle, the Challenger II had to be retrofitted with a series of upgrades chiefly concerned with battlefield awareness, survivability, and lethality; the resulting vehicle came to be known as the Challenger II [with] Enhanced Battle Package (EBP, or C2EBP to be more comprehensive). Electronically, the tank has been given new and more simplified comms, onboard computers/interfaces, and a series of soft-kill anti-missile components. The armament of the tank now consists of a new 130mm main cannon, two 12.7mm HMGs, and two 7.62mm MGs. Additionally, portions of the tank have been granted applique armor of a classified nature to further defend against hostile projectiles. Although the profile of the C2EBP is much taller than that of most tanks of the era, it's vigilance in conjunction with the capability to take and deliver heat means the Challenger II is still a viable battlefield contender.
This beautifully maintained barn is near Pullman, WA. Check out the partial rainbow on the left side. The barn was built in 1917 (to replace one which burned down due to kids playing with fire) and is 60' in diameter. The 12 sided barn, green horizontal siding, many windows, 12-segment high dome roof, large dormer, 12-sided louvered cupola, cement foundation, was restored by Bill Leonard in 2000-2001and painted the original color. There are three levels. The main floor was used to house dairy cows and work horses and the upper levels held feed and tools.
#AB_FAV_MEMORIES_🎠
My youngest son, from when he was a little boy had a huge interest in trucks, when I came back from the States and Canada, I always knew what to bring him, magazines on those monster trucks, beautifully painted and maintained, the centrefolds all ended up on his bedroom walls.
He studied, had a very good job, when he called me to say he was taking all the exams that would fulfil his dream.
He quit the job and became a truck driver!
For a number of years he drove International and mostly Arctic.
One of his routes was the UK, he’d call me out of the blue, I’d pack and go, once we did 6 countries in one go, England/Belgium/Holland/Germany/Denmark/Sweden.
Let’s not glamourize it, it’s not the scenic beauty of the countries that you take in, but motorway, not the most exciting, it is monotonous, you fly past all the wonderful names, and if you’re lucky sometimes you’ll see a glimmer in the distance.
It’s tough, stressful, under constant time pressure. The truck becomes your home for a week, except for the ferry crossings (on ferries they have their own quarters, restaurants, relaxing areas and sleeping cabins with shower, you'd BETTER be QUIET in those passages!
We had some wonderful times and adventures, great memories, lots of stories, all written....
Now he is married, they have a little girl. He’s given up THE life…
He drives a huge Mercedes with a trailer=a deep-loader to transport very heavy loads, like huge cranes and giant bulldozers.
This is the highest truck I was ever in, very comfortable, especially for the driver, a special hydraulic seat, airco, great music, sleeping accommodation and communication console.
They have to be in constant contact with base, because things change often by the minute.
All the mirrors are NOT luxury or bling!
I'll always be grateful for our 'trips' together, they were great times, he is a very responsible driver and I am proud of him!.
I discovered a 'hidden' world, around service stations, ports, parkings, we fly past them, but they are there... waiting, eating, resting, sleeping, doing their paper-work, looking up routes and addresses, phoning home... Everything in our world at some point was hauled in one of those trucks by one of those people!
They work hard for a living, but it’s a world within ours, almost a community.
And it is NOT glamorous at all, often boring, motorways in countries are all pretty much the same!
Look around you, in your home, anywhere, think of your food… what, at some point in time was not on the road, being transported in a truck?
I wish you a super day and thank you for your visit, M, (*_*)
For more: www.indigo2photography.com
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truck, lorrie, fun, portrait, trees, female, green, blond, horizontal, vertical, colour, Nikon , "Magda indigo"
Yep, it's one of those original British Leyland Range Rovers, this one sporting a colour scheme that looks an awful lot like Coronation Chicken (by the way, Coronation Chicken is absolutely delicious and I recommend it to everyone!)
Yes, believe it or not, the origin of the mighty Range Rover goes back to the communistic clumsiness of British Leyland, where, in one of their rare moments of genius, they realised the dream that a contemporary 4x4 could be married with the luxuries and styling of a regular saloon car!
The original concept of the Range Rover can be traced back to the groundbreaking original Land Rover of the 1940's, where upon its introduction in 1948 as an extended development of the American Willy's Jeep, the Land Rover had taken the world by storm and become the most desired 4x4 in the world. Light, practical, endlessly tunable and easy to maintain, the Land Rover was a hit across the globe, primarily in the colonies of the British Empire, taking people to remote regions that had once been only within the reach of a Horse or a Camel. Initially, a plan was made to create a saloon style version of the Land Rover in 1949 with the help of coachbuilder Tickford, dubbed the 'Land Rover Station-Wagon', but this was not exactly a success and sold only 700 examples before the car was withdrawn from production in 1951. The main features of the Station-Wagon were a wooden-framed body, seven seats, floor carpets, a heater, a one-piece windscreen and other car-like features, its hand-built nature kept prices high.
In 1954 Land Rover took another stab at the Station Wagon concept, only this time it was built in-house rather than outsourced to a different company. This version's primary market was for those who required an off-road vehicle with greater capacity, such as ambulances or even small buses in remote regions such as the Scottish Highlands. But even though this second incarnation of the Station Wagon was available with features such as an interior light, heater, door and floor trims and upgraded seats, the basic Land Rover roots of this car meant it was still tough and capable, but the firm suspension made its road performance somewhat mediocre.
In 1958, Land Rover took yet another stab with the Road Rover, a development of combining the Land Rover chassis and running gear with the internal furnishings and body of a regular saloon car. The intended audience of the Road Rover was again in the remote British Colonies of Africa and the Australian Outback, where the firm suspension would be useful on the long, uneven roads. By the 1960's however, developments across the pond in the United States were starting to rock Rover's boat, as the newly coined Sports Utility Vehicle (SUV) began to make progress. International Harvester released the Scout, and Ford the Bronco, offering a different blend of off and on-road ability from existing utility 4x4s such as the Land Rover and the Jeep, proving capable of good on-road comfort and speed while retaining more than adequate off-road ability for most private users. The Jeep Wagoneer proved the concept further, being both spacious and practical, but still with the raunchy off-road abilities to conquer the harsh American terrain.
Being frontline observers to this, Rover dealers in the United States looked on in horror as the American motor industry cornered the market for the SUV, and through frustration the president of Rover's USA division sent head office a Land Rover Series II 88 fitted with a Buick V8, designed for contemporary American pickup trucks, which offered far greater on-road performance and refinement than any Land Rover then in production.
Things came full circle though thanks to a man named Charles Spencer King, a former apprentice at Rolls Royce and one of the most prominent figures in the ownership of Rover and its transition to British Leyland. Taking over the development, he began the development program with the 100-inch Station Wagon project, taking the original concepts of the previous Road Rover and fitting it with coil springs after coming to the conclusion that only long-travel coil springs could provide the required blend of luxury car comfort and Land Rover's established off-road ability. His realisation of this apparently came when he drove a Rover P6 across rough scrubland adjacent to Land Rover's Solihull Factory, but was also helped by the fact that Land Rover purchased the coil springs from a Ford Bronco and began developing from those. Permanent 4WD was also necessary so as to provide both adequate handling and to reliably absorb the power that would be required by the vehicle if it was to be competitive, which came through in the form of a new transmission known as the Land Rover 101 Forward Control. The final piece to the puzzle though was the use of the Buick derived Rover V8, a strong, reliable, lightweight and endlessly tunable engine. In addition to the regular V8, the car was fitted with both a starting handle for emergencies, and carburettors to help continue to supply fuel at extreme angles.
The final design, launched in 1970 with bodywork styled largely by the engineering team rather than David Bache's styling division, was marketed as 'A Car For All Reasons'. In its original guise, the Range Rover was more capable off-road than the Land Rover but was much more comfortable, offering a top speed in excess of 100mph, a towing capacity of 3.5 tons, spacious accommodation for five people and groundbreaking features such as a four-speed, dual-range, permanent four-wheel-drive gearbox and hydraulic disc brakes on all wheels. The body was constructed, in keeping with other Rover products, of lightweight aluminium, and in its first incarnation was only available as a two-door utilitarian runabout, rather than the five-door luxury car we know today. This was rectified in 1981 when a 4-door version was made available, but this doesn't mean that the Range Rover wasn't a success before this change.
Upon its launch in June 1970, the Range Rover was lauded with critical acclaim, and Rover was praised for succeeding in marrying the practicalities of a modern 4x4 with the luxury capabilities of a standard road car. With a top speed of 95mph and a 0-60 acceleration of less than 15 seconds, performance was stated as being better than many family saloon cars of its era, and off-road performance was good, owing to its long suspension travel and high ground clearance. The bulky but practical design was also praised, with many considering it a piece of artwork, with one example being put on display in the Louvre in Paris! Early celebrity ownership also helped the sales quota, but not in the same way you'd expect today. Instead of Musicians and Movie Stars buying up stashes of Range Rovers like they do nowadays, people of established wealth such as Princess Diana and Government bodies became proud custodians of these mighty machines.
Problems however were quick to occur, as let's not forget, this was a British Leyland product. Reliability was a major issue, with strike cars being especially poor as many would leave the factory with vital components missing or not installed properly. To save costs, many pieces of the cars were carried over from other Leyland products, with switches and dials being donated from Austin Allegros, and the door handles coming direct from Morris Marinas. Name any of the faults endemic to British Leyland products of the time, and the Range Rover suffered from the same curse, be they mechanical, electric, cosmetic, or, worst of all, the demon rust!
But the Range Rover survived to see the 1980's despite its faults, and after the introduction of an extra set of doors it started to gain a true identity as the luxury motor of choice for the new money. With the additional 5-door layout, new variants such as the long wheelbase Vogue and the SE (Special Equipment) versions took many of the luxury items of the Jaguar XJ series such as leather seats and hazelnut wooden trim and placed them into the Range Rover. In the 1980s as well, special utility versions began to be developed, including a 6x6 Fire Tender for airfields and small airports, Ambulances for military bases and remote regions, and one special variant for his holiness the Pope, affectionately dubbed the Popemobile!
However, towards the late 1980's the Range Rover in its original incarnation was starting to look very much its age. The angular design was looking tired, and internally its utilitarian roots were in evidence. The dashboard was not much like that of a regular saloon car, but more a bus or a truck, with a huge steering wheel like that from a tractor, and was not particularly well equipped. Land Rover however intended to narrow the Range Rover's portfolio to the truly luxury market rather than having the low end versions which didn't sell as well due to their expense. In 1989 Land Rover launched the Discovery, which was similar in size to the Range Rover but cheaper and given a more family layout with seats and furnishings being carried over from the Austin Montego. To bring the Range Rover back into the front line of luxury motors for the 1990's, Rover Group (the descendant of British Leyland) put together a plan to design a new car under the chassis codenumber P38A (or just P38 for short). Four years of development and £300 million later, the car was launched to a whirlwind of critical acclaim. With a beautifully equipped interior, a more car-like design of dashboard and with a wider variety of luxury trim levels, including the personalised Autobiography editions, the P38 was the first of the mighty Range Rovers to appeal to the bling-bling generation.
This, however, left the original Range Rover out in the cold, and even though it was still a much loved part of the British motoring scene, the time had come for the original, dubbed the Range Rover Classic after launch of the P38. The last of the original Range Rovers slunk silently of the production line at Solihull in 1996, with production now fully based on the new P38, as well as to future developments such as the Freelander of 1997 and ongoing Discovery and Defender. Today original Range Rovers are somewhat easy to come by depending on where you look. In London you'll find a fair few (after all, these were the original Chelsea Tractors), but even in the country you'll bump into these things, especially around my home of Devon where the Range Rover/Land Rover products were perfect for the rugged Moorland terrain. Early British Leyland ones you'd be hard pressed to find, most rusting away in the 1980's, but the Rover Group ones of the 80's and 90's are by no means rare.
But even so, 45 years after the first Range Rover left the factory in Solihull, Range Rovers continue to be produced today, now in it's 4th Generation and available in more variations than ever before! Although British Leyland has long since died together with their many woeful products such as the Morris Marina and the Austin Allegro, the Range Rover is very much their legacy, the last of their original products to survive the strikes and bankruptcy, fighting off the fuel crisis and privatisation by the Thatcher Government, and then being split in 2000 by BMW and juggled between owners Ford and TATA Steel, and still being the luxury motorised toy of the modern day rich! :)
New Haven Railroad station and platform view, along with the order-board semaphore signal being repaired by signal maintainers at Falls Village, Connecticut, 5-10-1934. these are old times for sure with those very old cars in the scene. A well dressed man is standing in a station doorway. Somebody even has their laundry hung out to dry, and they must not be worried about steam locomotive soot.
This photo came from my New Haven Railroad photo collection and the photographers name was not provided. Any credit for this photo must be provided to the original photographer.
Copyright Disclaimer under Section 107 of the Copyright Act of 1976, allowance is made for “fair use” for the purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing. Non-profit, educational or personal use tips the balance in favor of fair use.
From the five space agencies that build and maintain the International Space Station to the mission control centres on Earth and the European, Japanese, American and Russian astronauts who fly to the space laboratory, international cooperation and knowhow is critical for a successful mission.
Here, ESA astronauts Alexander Gerst and Samantha Cristoforetti pose with their suited Russian colleagues Anton Shkaplerov and Maksim Surayev.
All four will leave Earth for the International Space Station this year. Alexander and Maxim are first up, on 28 May, while Samantha and Anton have their departure planned for 24 November. They will stay on the orbital outpost for around six months.
Credit: ESA
Photo Copyright 2012, dynamo.photography.
All rights reserved, no use without license
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
(Redirected from Hong kong)
Hong Kong, officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China, is an autonomous territory south to Mainland China and east to Macao in East Asia. With around 7.2 million Hong Kongers of various nationalities[note 2] in a territory of 1,104 km2, Hong Kong is the world's fourth most densely populated country or territory.
Hong Kong used to be a British colony with the perpetual cession of Hong Kong Island from the Qing Empire after the First Opium War (1839–42). The colony expanded to the Kowloon Peninsula in 1860 and acquired a 99-year lease of the New Territories from 1898. Hong Kong was later occupied by Japan during the Second World War until British control resumed in 1945. The Sino-British Joint Declaration signed between the United Kingdom and China in 1984 paved way for the transfer of sovereignty of Hong Kong in 1997, when it became a special administrative region (SAR) of the People's Republic of China with a high degree of autonomy.[15]
Under the principle of "one country, two systems",[16][17] Hong Kong maintains a separate political and economic system from China. Except in military defence and foreign affairs, Hong Kong maintains its independent executive, legislative and judiciary powers.[18] In addition, Hong Kong develops relations directly with foreign states and international organisations in a broad range of "appropriate fields".[19] Hong Kong involves in international organizations, such as the WTO[20] and the APEC [21], actively and independently.
Hong Kong is one of the world's most significant financial centres, with the highest Financial Development Index score and consistently ranks as the world's most competitive and freest economic entity.[22][23] As the world's 8th largest trading entity,[24] its legal tender, the Hong Kong dollar, is the world's 13th most traded currency.[25] As the world's most visited city,[26][27] Hong Kong's tertiary sector dominated economy is characterised by competitive simple taxation and supported by its independent judiciary system.[28] Even with one of the highest per capita incomes in the world, it suffers from severe income inequality.[29]
Nicknamed "Pearl of the Orient", Hong Kong is renowned for its deep natural harbour, which boasts the world's fifth busiest port with ready access by cargo ships, and its impressive skyline, with the most skyscrapers in the world.[30][31] It has a very high Human Development Index ranking and the world's longest life expectancy.[32][33] Over 90% of the population makes use of well-developed public transportation.[34][35] Seasonal air pollution with origins from neighbouring industrial areas of Mainland China, which adopts loose emissions standards, has resulted in a high level of atmospheric particulates in winter.[36][37][38]
Contents
1 Etymology
2 History
2.1 Prehistory
2.2 Imperial China
2.3 British Crown Colony: 1842–1941
2.4 Japanese occupation: 1941–45
2.5 Resumption of British rule and industrialisation: 1945–97
2.6 Handover and Special Administrative Region status
3 Governance
3.1 Structure of government
3.2 Electoral and political reforms
3.3 Legal system and judiciary
3.4 Foreign relations
3.5 Human rights
3.6 Regions and districts
3.7 Military
4 Geography and climate
5 Economy
5.1 Financial centre
5.2 International trading
5.3 Tourism and expatriation
5.4 Policy
5.5 Infrastructure
6 Demographics
6.1 Languages
6.2 Religion
6.3 Personal income
6.4 Education
6.5 Health
7 Culture
7.1 Sports
7.2 Architecture
7.3 Cityscape
7.4 Symbols
8 See also
9 Notes
10 References
10.1 Citations
10.2 Sources
11 Further reading
12 External links
Etymology
Hong Kong was officially recorded in the 1842 Treaty of Nanking to encompass the entirety of the island.[39]
The source of the romanised name "Hong Kong" is not known, but it is generally believed to be an early imprecise phonetic rendering of the pronunciation in spoken Cantonese 香港 (Cantonese Yale: Hēung Góng), which means "Fragrant Harbour" or "Incense Harbour".[13][14][40] Before 1842, the name referred to a small inlet—now Aberdeen Harbour (Chinese: 香港仔; Cantonese Yale: Hēunggóng jái), literally means "Little Hong Kong"—between Aberdeen Island and the southern coast of Hong Kong Island. Aberdeen was an initial point of contact between British sailors and local fishermen.[41]
Another theory is that the name would have been taken from Hong Kong's early inhabitants, the Tankas (水上人); it is equally probable that romanisation was done with a faithful execution of their speeches, i.e. hōng, not hēung in Cantonese.[42] Detailed and accurate romanisation systems for Cantonese were available and in use at the time.[43]
Fragrance may refer to the sweet taste of the harbour's fresh water estuarine influx of the Pearl River or to the incense from factories lining the coast of northern Kowloon. The incense was stored near Aberdeen Harbour for export before Hong Kong developed Victoria Harbour.[40]
The name had often been written as the single word Hongkong until the government adopted the current form in 1926.[44] Nevertheless, a number of century-old institutions still retain the single-word form, such as the Hongkong Post, Hongkong Electric and the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation.
As of 1997, its official name is the "Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China". This is the official title as mentioned in the Hong Kong Basic Law and the Hong Kong Government's website;[45] however, "Hong Kong Special Administrative Region" and "Hong Kong" are widely accepted.
Hong Kong has carried many nicknames. The most famous among those is the "Pearl of the Orient", which reflected the impressive nightscape of the city's light decorations on the skyscrapers along both sides of the Victoria Harbour. The territory is also known as "Asia's World City".
History
Main articles: History of Hong Kong and History of China
Prehistory
Main article: Prehistoric Hong Kong
Archaeological studies support human presence in the Chek Lap Kok area (now Hong Kong International Airport) from 35,000 to 39,000 years ago and on Sai Kung Peninsula from 6,000 years ago.[46][47][48]
Wong Tei Tung and Three Fathoms Cove are the earliest sites of human habitation in Hong Kong during the Paleolithic Period. It is believed that the Three Fathom Cove was a river-valley settlement and Wong Tei Tung was a lithic manufacturing site. Excavated Neolithic artefacts suggested cultural differences from the Longshan culture of northern China and settlement by the Che people, prior to the migration of the Baiyue to Hong Kong.[49][50] Eight petroglyphs, which dated to the Shang Dynasty (c. 1600 BC – 1066 BC) in China, were discovered on the surrounding islands.[51]
Imperial China
Main article: History of Hong Kong under Imperial China
In 214 BC, Qin Shi Huang, the first emperor of a centralised China, conquered the Baiyue tribes in Jiaozhi (modern-day Liangguang region and Vietnam) and incorporated the area of Hong Kong into his imperial China for the first time. Hong Kong proper was assigned to the Nanhai commandery (modern-day Nanhai District), near the commandery's capital city Panyu.[52][53][54]
After a brief period of centralisation and collapse of the Qin dynasty, the area of Hong Kong was consolidated under the Kingdom of Nanyue, founded by general Zhao Tuo in 204 BC.[55] When Nanyue lost the Han-Nanyue War in 111 BC, Hong Kong came under the Jiaozhi commandery of the Han dynasty. Archaeological evidence indicates an increase of population and flourish of salt production. The Lei Cheng Uk Han Tomb on the Kowloon Peninsula is believed to have been built as a burial site during the Han dynasty.[56]
From the Han dynasty to the early Tang dynasty, Hong Kong was a part of Bao'an County. In the Tang dynasty, modern-day Guangzhou (Canton) flourished as an international trading centre. In 736, the Emperor Xuanzong of Tang established a military stronghold in Tuen Mun to strengthen defence of the coastal area.[57] The nearby Lantau Island was a salt production centre and salt smuggler riots occasionally broke out against the government. In c. 1075, The first village school, Li Ying College, was established around 1075 AD in modern-day New Territories by the Northern Song dynasty.[58] During their war against the Mongols, the imperial court of Southern Song was briefly stationed at modern-day Kowloon City (the Sung Wong Toi site) before their ultimate defeat by the Mongols at the Battle of Yamen in 1279.[59] The Mongols then established their dynastic court and governed Hong Kong for 97 years.
From the mid-Tang dynasty to the early Ming dynasty (1368–1644), Hong Kong was a part of Dongguan County. During the Ming dynasty, the area was transferred to Xin'an County. The indigenous inhabitants at that time consisted of several ethnicities such as Punti, Hakka, Tanka and Hoklo.
European discovery
The earliest European visitor on record was Jorge Álvares, a Portuguese explorer, who arrived in 1513.[60][61] Having established a trading post in a site they called "Tamão" in Hong Kong waters, Portuguese merchants commenced with regular trading in southern China. Subsequent military clashes between China and Portugal, however, led to the expulsion of all Portuguese merchants from southern China.
Since the 14th century, the Ming court had enforced the maritime prohibition laws that strictly forbade all private maritime activities in order to prevent contact with foreigners by sea.[62] When the Manchu Qing dynasty took over China, Hong Kong was directly affected by the Great Clearance decree of the Kangxi Emperor, who ordered the evacuation of coastal areas of Guangdong from 1661 to 1669. Over 16,000 inhabitants of Xin'an County including those in Hong Kong were forced to migrate inland; only 1,648 of those who had evacuated subsequently returned.[63][64]
British Crown Colony: 1842–1941
A painter at work. John Thomson. Hong Kong, 1871. The Wellcome Collection, London
Main articles: British Hong Kong and History of Hong Kong (1800s–1930s)
In 1839, threats by the imperial court of Qing to sanction opium imports caused diplomatic friction with the British Empire. Tensions escalated into the First Opium War. The Qing admitted defeat when British forces captured Hong Kong Island on 20 January 1841. The island was initially ceded under the Convention of Chuenpi as part of a ceasefire agreement between Captain Charles Elliot and Governor Qishan. A dispute between high-ranking officials of both countries, however, led to the failure of the treaty's ratification. On 29 August 1842, Hong Kong Island was formally ceded in perpetuity to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland under the Treaty of Nanking.[65] The British officially established a Crown colony and founded the City of Victoria in the following year.[66]
The population of Hong Kong Island was 7,450 when the Union Flag raised over Possession Point on 26 January 1841. It mostly consisted of Tanka fishermen and Hakka charcoal burners, whose settlements scattered along several coastal hamlets. In the 1850s, a large number of Chinese immigrants crossed the then-free border to escape from the Taiping Rebellion. Other natural disasters, such as flooding, typhoons and famine in mainland China would play a role in establishing Hong Kong as a place for safe shelter.[67][68]
Further conflicts over the opium trade between Britain and Qing quickly escalated into the Second Opium War. Following the Anglo-French victory, the Crown Colony was expanded to include Kowloon Peninsula (south of Boundary Street) and Stonecutter's Island, both of which were ceded to the British in perpetuity under the Convention of Beijing in 1860.
In 1898, Britain obtained a 99-year lease from Qing under the Convention for the Extension of Hong Kong Territory, in which Hong Kong obtained a 99-year lease of Lantau Island, the area north of Boundary Street in Kowloon up to Shenzhen River and over 200 other outlying islands.[69][70][71]
Hong Kong soon became a major entrepôt thanks to its free port status, attracting new immigrants to settle from both China and Europe. The society, however, remained racially segregated and polarised under early British colonial policies. Despite the rise of a British-educated Chinese upper-class by the late-19th century, race laws such as the Peak Reservation Ordinance prevented ethnic Chinese in Hong Kong from acquiring houses in reserved areas such as Victoria Peak. At this time, the majority of the Chinese population in Hong Kong had no political representation in the British colonial government. The British governors did rely, however, on a small number of Chinese elites, including Sir Kai Ho and Robert Hotung, who served as ambassadors and mediators between the government and local population.
File:1937 Hong Kong VP8.webmPlay media
Hong Kong filmed in 1937
In 1904, the United Kingdom established the world's first border and immigration control; all residents of Hong Kong were given citizenship as Citizens of United Kingdom and Colonies (CUKC).
Hong Kong continued to experience modest growth during the first half of the 20th century. The University of Hong Kong was established in 1911 as the territory's first higher education institute. While there had been an exodus of 60,000 residents for fear of a German attack on the British colony during the First World War, Hong Kong remained unscathed. Its population increased from 530,000 in 1916 to 725,000 in 1925 and reached 1.6 million by 1941.[72]
In 1925, Cecil Clementi became the 17th Governor of Hong Kong. Fluent in Cantonese and without a need for translator, Clementi introduced the first ethnic Chinese, Shouson Chow, into the Executive Council as an unofficial member. Under Clementi's tenure, Kai Tak Airport entered operation as RAF Kai Tak and several aviation clubs. In 1937, the Second Sino-Japanese War broke out when the Japanese Empire expanded its territories from northeastern China into the mainland proper. To safeguard Hong Kong as a freeport, Governor Geoffry Northcote declared the Crown Colony as a neutral zone.
Japanese occupation: 1941–45
Main article: Japanese occupation of Hong Kong
The Cenotaph in Hong Kong commemorates those who died in service in the First World War and the Second World War.[73]
As part of its military campaign in Southeast Asia during Second World War, the Japanese army moved south from Guangzhou of mainland China and attacked Hong Kong in on 8 December 1941.[74] Crossing the border at Shenzhen River on 8 December, the Battle of Hong Kong lasted for 18 days when British and Canadian forces held onto Hong Kong Island. Unable to defend against intensifying Japanese air and land bombardments, they eventually surrendered control of Hong Kong on 25 December 1941. The Governor of Hong Kong was captured and taken as a prisoner of war. This day is regarded by the locals as "Black Christmas".[75]
During the Japanese occupation of Hong Kong, the Japanese army committed atrocities against civilians and POWs, such as the St. Stephen's College massacre. Local residents also suffered widespread food shortages, limited rationing and hyper-inflation arising from the forced exchange of currency from Hong Kong dollars to Japanese military banknotes. The initial ratio of 2:1 was gradually devalued to 4:1 and ownership of Hong Kong dollars was declared illegal and punishable by harsh torture. Due to starvation and forced deportation for slave labour to mainland China, the population of Hong Kong had dwindled from 1.6 million in 1941 to 600,000 in 1945, when the United Kingdom resumed control of the colony on 2 September 1945.[76]
Resumption of British rule and industrialisation: 1945–97
Main articles: British Hong Kong, 1950s in Hong Kong, 1960s in Hong Kong, 1970s in Hong Kong, 1980s in Hong Kong, and 1990s in Hong Kong
Flag of British Hong Kong from 1959 to 1997
Hong Kong's population recovered quickly after the war, as a wave of skilled migrants from the Republic of China moved in to seek refuge from the Chinese Civil War. When the Communist Party eventually took full control of mainland China in 1949, even more skilled migrants fled across the open border for fear of persecution.[69] Many newcomers, especially those who had been based in the major port cities of Shanghai and Guangzhou, established corporations and small- to medium-sized businesses and shifted their base operations to British Hong Kong.[69] The establishment of a socialist state in China (People's Republic of China) on 1 October 1949 caused the British colonial government to reconsider Hong Kong's open border to mainland China. In 1951, a boundary zone was demarked as a buffer zone against potential military attacks from communist China. Border posts along the north of Hong Kong began operation in 1953 to regulate the movement of people and goods into and out of the territory.
Stamp with portrait of Queen Elizabeth II, 1953
In the 1950s, Hong Kong became the first of the Four Asian Tiger economies under rapid industrialisation driven by textile exports, manufacturing industries and re-exports of goods to China. As the population grew, with labour costs remaining low, living standards began to rise steadily.[77] The construction of the Shek Kip Mei Estate in 1953 marked the beginning of the public housing estate programme to provide shelter for the less privileged and to cope with the influx of immigrants.
Under Sir Murray MacLehose, 25th Governor of Hong Kong (1971–82), a series of reforms improved the public services, environment, housing, welfare, education and infrastructure of Hong Kong. MacLehose was British Hong Kong's longest-serving governor and, by the end of his tenure, had become one of the most popular and well-known figures in the Crown Colony. MacLehose laid the foundation for Hong Kong to establish itself as a key global city in the 1980s and early 1990s.
A sky view of Hong Kong Island
An aerial view of the northern shore of Hong Kong Island in 1986
To resolve traffic congestion and to provide a more reliable means of crossing the Victoria Harbour, a rapid transit railway system (metro), the MTR, was planned from the 1970s onwards. The Island Line (Hong Kong Island), Kwun Tong Line (Kowloon Peninsula and East Kowloon) and Tsuen Wan Line (Kowloon and urban New Territories) opened in the early 1980s.[78]
In 1983, the Hong Kong dollar left its 16:1 peg with the Pound sterling and switched to the current US-HK Dollar peg. Hong Kong's competitiveness in manufacturing gradually declined due to rising labour and property costs, as well as new development in southern China under the Open Door Policy introduced in 1978 which opened up China to foreign business. Nevertheless, towards the early 1990s, Hong Kong had established itself as a global financial centre along with London and New York City, a regional hub for logistics and freight, one of the fastest-growing economies in Asia and the world's exemplar of Laissez-faire market policy.[79]
The Hong Kong question
In 1971, the Republic of China (Taiwan)'s permanent seat on the United Nations was transferred to the People's Republic of China (PRC), Hong Kong's status as a recognised colony became terminated in 1972 under the request of PRC. Facing the uncertain future of Hong Kong and expiry of land lease of New Territories beyond 1997, Governor MacLehose raised the question in the late 1970s.
The British Nationality Act 1981 reclassified Hong Kong into a British Dependent Territory amid the reorganisation of global territories of the British Empire. All residents of Hong Kong became British Dependent Territory Citizens (BDTC). Diplomatic negotiations began with China and eventually concluded with the 1984 Sino-British Joint Declaration. Both countries agreed to transfer Hong Kong's sovereignty to China on 1 July 1997, when Hong Kong would remain autonomous as a special administrative region and be able to retain its free-market economy, British common law through the Hong Kong Basic Law, independent representation in international organisations (e.g. WTO and WHO), treaty arrangements and policy-making except foreign diplomacy and military defence.
It stipulated that Hong Kong would retain its laws and be guaranteed a high degree of autonomy for at least 50 years after the transfer. The Hong Kong Basic Law, based on English law, would serve as the constitutional document after the transfer. It was ratified in 1990.[69] The expiry of the 1898 lease on the New Territories in 1997 created problems for business contracts, property leases and confidence among foreign investors.
Handover and Special Administrative Region status
Main articles: Transfer of sovereignty over Hong Kong and 2000s in Hong Kong
Transfer of sovereignty
Golden Bauhinia Square
On 1 July 1997, the transfer of sovereignty over Hong Kong from the United Kingdom to the People's Republic of China took place, officially marking the end of Hong Kong's 156 years under British colonial governance. As the largest remaining colony of the United Kingdom, the loss of Hong Kong effectively represented the end of the British Empire. This transfer of sovereignty made Hong Kong the first special administrative region of China. Tung Chee-Hwa, a pro-Beijing business tycoon, was elected Hong Kong's first Chief Executive by a selected electorate of 800 in a televised programme.
Structure of government
Hong Kong's current structure of governance inherits from the British model of colonial administration set up in the 1850s. The 1984 Sino-British Joint Declaration states that "Hong Kong should enjoy a high degree of autonomy in all areas except defence and foreign affairs" with reference to the underlying principle of one country, two systems.[note 3] This Declaration stipulates that Hong Kong maintains her capitalist economic system and guarantees the rights and freedoms of her people for at least 50 years after the 1997 handover. [note 4] Such guarantees are enshrined in the Hong Kong's Basic Law, the territory's constitutional document, which outlines the system of governance after 1997, albeit subject to interpretation by China's Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPCSC).[95][96]
Hong Kong's most senior leader, Chief Executive, is elected by a committee of 1,200 selected members (600 in 1997) and nominally appointed by the Government of China. The primary pillars of government are the Executive Council, Legislative Council, civil service and Judiciary.
Policy-making is initially discussed in the Executive Council, presided by the Chief Executive of Hong Kong, before passing to the Legislative Council for bill adoption. The Executive Council consists of 30 official/unofficial members appointed by the Chief Executive and one member among them acts as the convenor.[97][98]
The Legislative Council, set up in 1843, debates policies and motions before voting to adopt or rejecting bills. It has 70 members (originally 60) and 40 (originally 30) among them are directly elected by universal suffrage; the other 30 members are "functional constituencies" (indirectly) elected by a smaller electorate of corporate bodies or representatives of stipulated economic sectors as defined by the government. The Legislative Council is chaired by a president who acts as the speaker.[99][100]
In 1997, seating of the Legislative Council (also public services and election franchises) of Hong Kong modelled on the British system: Urban Council (Hong Kong and Kowloon) and District Council (New Territories and Outlying Islands). In 1999, this system has been reformed into 18 directly elected District Offices across 5 Legislative Council constituencies: Hong Kong Island (East/West), Kowloon and New Territories (East/West); the remaining outlying islands are divided across the aforementioned regions.
Hong Kong's Civil Service, created by the British colonial government, is a politically neutral body that implements government policies and provides public services. Senior civil servants are appointed based on meritocracy. The territory's police, firefighting and customs forces, as well as clerical officers across various government departments, make up the civil service.[101][102]
Last night I went out for one of my regular walks to check out Grimsby, Ontario’s downtown all decorated for Christmas. One of the women’s wear shops on Main Street had elected to display a mannequin wearing a necklace and a striped coat, both black-and-white themed. The one apparent concession to the Christmas season was the tiny, faintly pastel blue, feather-based tree beside the mannequin on the left. The sign says: ’Don’t let anyone or anything dull your sparkle’. At a time of year when colour dominates pretty much every window display, this certainly did stand out. Mission accomplished: sparkle maintained. Following on with the display theme, I opted to make this a monochrome/black-and-white image. - JW
Date Taken: 2020-12-23
Tech Details:
Taken using a tripod-mounted Olympus OM-D EM-5 fitted with an Olympus M Zuiko 14-42mm EZ 1:3.5-5.6 lens set to 14mm, Aperture Priority mode, Daylight WB, Matrix metering, ISO200, f/8.0, 1 sec. PP in free Open Source RAWTherapee from Olympus RAW/ORF source file: set final image width to be 8000px,slightly brighten by setting exposure compensation to EV+0.34, convert to B&W using the Channel Mixer and then reducing the red and green gamma correction slightly to get the tonal range to look closer to what I recalled, use the Tone Mapping tool at default settings, apply a little contrast in L-A-B mode, apply a little noise reduction, sharpen (edges only), save. PP in free Open Source GIMP: use the levels tool in auto mode to establish the base tonal range, fine tune the sharpening, save, scale image to 6000px wide, sharpen, save, add fine black-and-white frame, add bar and text on left, save, scale image to 2048 wide for posting online, sharpen slightly, save.
The site of Garendon Hall was formerly occupied by a Cistercian abbey, known as Garendon Abbey. Following World War II, the ever-increasing cost of running and maintaining the estate, failing finances and crippling inheritance taxes, and threats to the house's parkland from the urban sprawl of Loughborough and the construction of the M1 motorway, which would cut directly through the park, all contributed to the decision to demolish Garendon. In June 1964 the house was deliberately set on fire to provide practice and training for the local fire brigade. It was then reduced to rubble which was used in the construction of the M1 motorway.
Ambrose Phillipps (1707–1737) had been on the Grand Tour and would have seen the examples of Roman architecture extant in Rome during the 18th century. His Triumphal Arch at Garendon is modelled on the Arch of Titus, located on the Via Sacra and dating from the 1st century. Historic England suggest it is "perhaps the earliest example of an English building inspired directly from an Ancient Roman source." The Temple of Venus, like the arch, is based on a Roman example, in this case the Temple of Vesta at Tivoli. The building, constructed in ashlar, is circular with a peristyle of Ionic columns supported a domed roof. The roof is now of copper, the original lead covering having been stolen. The temple contained a statue of Venus but this is no longer in situ. Both the Grade I listed Arch and the Grade II* listed Temple are on the Heritage at Risk Register.
Photo Copyright 2017, dynamo.photography.
All rights reserved, no use without license
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
(Redirected from Hong kong)
Hong Kong, officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China, is an autonomous territory south to Mainland China and east to Macao in East Asia. With around 7.2 million Hong Kongers of various nationalities[note 2] in a territory of 1,104 km2, Hong Kong is the world's fourth most densely populated country or territory.
Hong Kong used to be a British colony with the perpetual cession of Hong Kong Island from the Qing Empire after the First Opium War (1839–42). The colony expanded to the Kowloon Peninsula in 1860 and acquired a 99-year lease of the New Territories from 1898. Hong Kong was later occupied by Japan during the Second World War until British control resumed in 1945. The Sino-British Joint Declaration signed between the United Kingdom and China in 1984 paved way for the transfer of sovereignty of Hong Kong in 1997, when it became a special administrative region (SAR) of the People's Republic of China with a high degree of autonomy.[15]
Under the principle of "one country, two systems",[16][17] Hong Kong maintains a separate political and economic system from China. Except in military defence and foreign affairs, Hong Kong maintains its independent executive, legislative and judiciary powers.[18] In addition, Hong Kong develops relations directly with foreign states and international organisations in a broad range of "appropriate fields".[19] Hong Kong involves in international organizations, such as the WTO[20] and the APEC [21], actively and independently.
Hong Kong is one of the world's most significant financial centres, with the highest Financial Development Index score and consistently ranks as the world's most competitive and freest economic entity.[22][23] As the world's 8th largest trading entity,[24] its legal tender, the Hong Kong dollar, is the world's 13th most traded currency.[25] As the world's most visited city,[26][27] Hong Kong's tertiary sector dominated economy is characterised by competitive simple taxation and supported by its independent judiciary system.[28] Even with one of the highest per capita incomes in the world, it suffers from severe income inequality.[29]
Nicknamed "Pearl of the Orient", Hong Kong is renowned for its deep natural harbour, which boasts the world's fifth busiest port with ready access by cargo ships, and its impressive skyline, with the most skyscrapers in the world.[30][31] It has a very high Human Development Index ranking and the world's longest life expectancy.[32][33] Over 90% of the population makes use of well-developed public transportation.[34][35] Seasonal air pollution with origins from neighbouring industrial areas of Mainland China, which adopts loose emissions standards, has resulted in a high level of atmospheric particulates in winter.[36][37][38]
Contents
1 Etymology
2 History
2.1 Prehistory
2.2 Imperial China
2.3 British Crown Colony: 1842–1941
2.4 Japanese occupation: 1941–45
2.5 Resumption of British rule and industrialisation: 1945–97
2.6 Handover and Special Administrative Region status
3 Governance
3.1 Structure of government
3.2 Electoral and political reforms
3.3 Legal system and judiciary
3.4 Foreign relations
3.5 Human rights
3.6 Regions and districts
3.7 Military
4 Geography and climate
5 Economy
5.1 Financial centre
5.2 International trading
5.3 Tourism and expatriation
5.4 Policy
5.5 Infrastructure
6 Demographics
6.1 Languages
6.2 Religion
6.3 Personal income
6.4 Education
6.5 Health
7 Culture
7.1 Sports
7.2 Architecture
7.3 Cityscape
7.4 Symbols
8 See also
9 Notes
10 References
10.1 Citations
10.2 Sources
11 Further reading
12 External links
Etymology
Hong Kong was officially recorded in the 1842 Treaty of Nanking to encompass the entirety of the island.[39]
The source of the romanised name "Hong Kong" is not known, but it is generally believed to be an early imprecise phonetic rendering of the pronunciation in spoken Cantonese 香港 (Cantonese Yale: Hēung Góng), which means "Fragrant Harbour" or "Incense Harbour".[13][14][40] Before 1842, the name referred to a small inlet—now Aberdeen Harbour (Chinese: 香港仔; Cantonese Yale: Hēunggóng jái), literally means "Little Hong Kong"—between Aberdeen Island and the southern coast of Hong Kong Island. Aberdeen was an initial point of contact between British sailors and local fishermen.[41]
Another theory is that the name would have been taken from Hong Kong's early inhabitants, the Tankas (水上人); it is equally probable that romanisation was done with a faithful execution of their speeches, i.e. hōng, not hēung in Cantonese.[42] Detailed and accurate romanisation systems for Cantonese were available and in use at the time.[43]
Fragrance may refer to the sweet taste of the harbour's fresh water estuarine influx of the Pearl River or to the incense from factories lining the coast of northern Kowloon. The incense was stored near Aberdeen Harbour for export before Hong Kong developed Victoria Harbour.[40]
The name had often been written as the single word Hongkong until the government adopted the current form in 1926.[44] Nevertheless, a number of century-old institutions still retain the single-word form, such as the Hongkong Post, Hongkong Electric and the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation.
As of 1997, its official name is the "Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China". This is the official title as mentioned in the Hong Kong Basic Law and the Hong Kong Government's website;[45] however, "Hong Kong Special Administrative Region" and "Hong Kong" are widely accepted.
Hong Kong has carried many nicknames. The most famous among those is the "Pearl of the Orient", which reflected the impressive nightscape of the city's light decorations on the skyscrapers along both sides of the Victoria Harbour. The territory is also known as "Asia's World City".
History
Main articles: History of Hong Kong and History of China
Prehistory
Main article: Prehistoric Hong Kong
Archaeological studies support human presence in the Chek Lap Kok area (now Hong Kong International Airport) from 35,000 to 39,000 years ago and on Sai Kung Peninsula from 6,000 years ago.[46][47][48]
Wong Tei Tung and Three Fathoms Cove are the earliest sites of human habitation in Hong Kong during the Paleolithic Period. It is believed that the Three Fathom Cove was a river-valley settlement and Wong Tei Tung was a lithic manufacturing site. Excavated Neolithic artefacts suggested cultural differences from the Longshan culture of northern China and settlement by the Che people, prior to the migration of the Baiyue to Hong Kong.[49][50] Eight petroglyphs, which dated to the Shang Dynasty (c. 1600 BC – 1066 BC) in China, were discovered on the surrounding islands.[51]
Imperial China
Main article: History of Hong Kong under Imperial China
In 214 BC, Qin Shi Huang, the first emperor of a centralised China, conquered the Baiyue tribes in Jiaozhi (modern-day Liangguang region and Vietnam) and incorporated the area of Hong Kong into his imperial China for the first time. Hong Kong proper was assigned to the Nanhai commandery (modern-day Nanhai District), near the commandery's capital city Panyu.[52][53][54]
After a brief period of centralisation and collapse of the Qin dynasty, the area of Hong Kong was consolidated under the Kingdom of Nanyue, founded by general Zhao Tuo in 204 BC.[55] When Nanyue lost the Han-Nanyue War in 111 BC, Hong Kong came under the Jiaozhi commandery of the Han dynasty. Archaeological evidence indicates an increase of population and flourish of salt production. The Lei Cheng Uk Han Tomb on the Kowloon Peninsula is believed to have been built as a burial site during the Han dynasty.[56]
From the Han dynasty to the early Tang dynasty, Hong Kong was a part of Bao'an County. In the Tang dynasty, modern-day Guangzhou (Canton) flourished as an international trading centre. In 736, the Emperor Xuanzong of Tang established a military stronghold in Tuen Mun to strengthen defence of the coastal area.[57] The nearby Lantau Island was a salt production centre and salt smuggler riots occasionally broke out against the government. In c. 1075, The first village school, Li Ying College, was established around 1075 AD in modern-day New Territories by the Northern Song dynasty.[58] During their war against the Mongols, the imperial court of Southern Song was briefly stationed at modern-day Kowloon City (the Sung Wong Toi site) before their ultimate defeat by the Mongols at the Battle of Yamen in 1279.[59] The Mongols then established their dynastic court and governed Hong Kong for 97 years.
From the mid-Tang dynasty to the early Ming dynasty (1368–1644), Hong Kong was a part of Dongguan County. During the Ming dynasty, the area was transferred to Xin'an County. The indigenous inhabitants at that time consisted of several ethnicities such as Punti, Hakka, Tanka and Hoklo.
European discovery
The earliest European visitor on record was Jorge Álvares, a Portuguese explorer, who arrived in 1513.[60][61] Having established a trading post in a site they called "Tamão" in Hong Kong waters, Portuguese merchants commenced with regular trading in southern China. Subsequent military clashes between China and Portugal, however, led to the expulsion of all Portuguese merchants from southern China.
Since the 14th century, the Ming court had enforced the maritime prohibition laws that strictly forbade all private maritime activities in order to prevent contact with foreigners by sea.[62] When the Manchu Qing dynasty took over China, Hong Kong was directly affected by the Great Clearance decree of the Kangxi Emperor, who ordered the evacuation of coastal areas of Guangdong from 1661 to 1669. Over 16,000 inhabitants of Xin'an County including those in Hong Kong were forced to migrate inland; only 1,648 of those who had evacuated subsequently returned.[63][64]
British Crown Colony: 1842–1941
A painter at work. John Thomson. Hong Kong, 1871. The Wellcome Collection, London
Main articles: British Hong Kong and History of Hong Kong (1800s–1930s)
In 1839, threats by the imperial court of Qing to sanction opium imports caused diplomatic friction with the British Empire. Tensions escalated into the First Opium War. The Qing admitted defeat when British forces captured Hong Kong Island on 20 January 1841. The island was initially ceded under the Convention of Chuenpi as part of a ceasefire agreement between Captain Charles Elliot and Governor Qishan. A dispute between high-ranking officials of both countries, however, led to the failure of the treaty's ratification. On 29 August 1842, Hong Kong Island was formally ceded in perpetuity to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland under the Treaty of Nanking.[65] The British officially established a Crown colony and founded the City of Victoria in the following year.[66]
The population of Hong Kong Island was 7,450 when the Union Flag raised over Possession Point on 26 January 1841. It mostly consisted of Tanka fishermen and Hakka charcoal burners, whose settlements scattered along several coastal hamlets. In the 1850s, a large number of Chinese immigrants crossed the then-free border to escape from the Taiping Rebellion. Other natural disasters, such as flooding, typhoons and famine in mainland China would play a role in establishing Hong Kong as a place for safe shelter.[67][68]
Further conflicts over the opium trade between Britain and Qing quickly escalated into the Second Opium War. Following the Anglo-French victory, the Crown Colony was expanded to include Kowloon Peninsula (south of Boundary Street) and Stonecutter's Island, both of which were ceded to the British in perpetuity under the Convention of Beijing in 1860.
In 1898, Britain obtained a 99-year lease from Qing under the Convention for the Extension of Hong Kong Territory, in which Hong Kong obtained a 99-year lease of Lantau Island, the area north of Boundary Street in Kowloon up to Shenzhen River and over 200 other outlying islands.[69][70][71]
Hong Kong soon became a major entrepôt thanks to its free port status, attracting new immigrants to settle from both China and Europe. The society, however, remained racially segregated and polarised under early British colonial policies. Despite the rise of a British-educated Chinese upper-class by the late-19th century, race laws such as the Peak Reservation Ordinance prevented ethnic Chinese in Hong Kong from acquiring houses in reserved areas such as Victoria Peak. At this time, the majority of the Chinese population in Hong Kong had no political representation in the British colonial government. The British governors did rely, however, on a small number of Chinese elites, including Sir Kai Ho and Robert Hotung, who served as ambassadors and mediators between the government and local population.
File:1937 Hong Kong VP8.webmPlay media
Hong Kong filmed in 1937
In 1904, the United Kingdom established the world's first border and immigration control; all residents of Hong Kong were given citizenship as Citizens of United Kingdom and Colonies (CUKC).
Hong Kong continued to experience modest growth during the first half of the 20th century. The University of Hong Kong was established in 1911 as the territory's first higher education institute. While there had been an exodus of 60,000 residents for fear of a German attack on the British colony during the First World War, Hong Kong remained unscathed. Its population increased from 530,000 in 1916 to 725,000 in 1925 and reached 1.6 million by 1941.[72]
In 1925, Cecil Clementi became the 17th Governor of Hong Kong. Fluent in Cantonese and without a need for translator, Clementi introduced the first ethnic Chinese, Shouson Chow, into the Executive Council as an unofficial member. Under Clementi's tenure, Kai Tak Airport entered operation as RAF Kai Tak and several aviation clubs. In 1937, the Second Sino-Japanese War broke out when the Japanese Empire expanded its territories from northeastern China into the mainland proper. To safeguard Hong Kong as a freeport, Governor Geoffry Northcote declared the Crown Colony as a neutral zone.
Japanese occupation: 1941–45
Main article: Japanese occupation of Hong Kong
The Cenotaph in Hong Kong commemorates those who died in service in the First World War and the Second World War.[73]
As part of its military campaign in Southeast Asia during Second World War, the Japanese army moved south from Guangzhou of mainland China and attacked Hong Kong in on 8 December 1941.[74] Crossing the border at Shenzhen River on 8 December, the Battle of Hong Kong lasted for 18 days when British and Canadian forces held onto Hong Kong Island. Unable to defend against intensifying Japanese air and land bombardments, they eventually surrendered control of Hong Kong on 25 December 1941. The Governor of Hong Kong was captured and taken as a prisoner of war. This day is regarded by the locals as "Black Christmas".[75]
During the Japanese occupation of Hong Kong, the Japanese army committed atrocities against civilians and POWs, such as the St. Stephen's College massacre. Local residents also suffered widespread food shortages, limited rationing and hyper-inflation arising from the forced exchange of currency from Hong Kong dollars to Japanese military banknotes. The initial ratio of 2:1 was gradually devalued to 4:1 and ownership of Hong Kong dollars was declared illegal and punishable by harsh torture. Due to starvation and forced deportation for slave labour to mainland China, the population of Hong Kong had dwindled from 1.6 million in 1941 to 600,000 in 1945, when the United Kingdom resumed control of the colony on 2 September 1945.[76]
Resumption of British rule and industrialisation: 1945–97
Main articles: British Hong Kong, 1950s in Hong Kong, 1960s in Hong Kong, 1970s in Hong Kong, 1980s in Hong Kong, and 1990s in Hong Kong
Flag of British Hong Kong from 1959 to 1997
Hong Kong's population recovered quickly after the war, as a wave of skilled migrants from the Republic of China moved in to seek refuge from the Chinese Civil War. When the Communist Party eventually took full control of mainland China in 1949, even more skilled migrants fled across the open border for fear of persecution.[69] Many newcomers, especially those who had been based in the major port cities of Shanghai and Guangzhou, established corporations and small- to medium-sized businesses and shifted their base operations to British Hong Kong.[69] The establishment of a socialist state in China (People's Republic of China) on 1 October 1949 caused the British colonial government to reconsider Hong Kong's open border to mainland China. In 1951, a boundary zone was demarked as a buffer zone against potential military attacks from communist China. Border posts along the north of Hong Kong began operation in 1953 to regulate the movement of people and goods into and out of the territory.
Stamp with portrait of Queen Elizabeth II, 1953
In the 1950s, Hong Kong became the first of the Four Asian Tiger economies under rapid industrialisation driven by textile exports, manufacturing industries and re-exports of goods to China. As the population grew, with labour costs remaining low, living standards began to rise steadily.[77] The construction of the Shek Kip Mei Estate in 1953 marked the beginning of the public housing estate programme to provide shelter for the less privileged and to cope with the influx of immigrants.
Under Sir Murray MacLehose, 25th Governor of Hong Kong (1971–82), a series of reforms improved the public services, environment, housing, welfare, education and infrastructure of Hong Kong. MacLehose was British Hong Kong's longest-serving governor and, by the end of his tenure, had become one of the most popular and well-known figures in the Crown Colony. MacLehose laid the foundation for Hong Kong to establish itself as a key global city in the 1980s and early 1990s.
A sky view of Hong Kong Island
An aerial view of the northern shore of Hong Kong Island in 1986
To resolve traffic congestion and to provide a more reliable means of crossing the Victoria Harbour, a rapid transit railway system (metro), the MTR, was planned from the 1970s onwards. The Island Line (Hong Kong Island), Kwun Tong Line (Kowloon Peninsula and East Kowloon) and Tsuen Wan Line (Kowloon and urban New Territories) opened in the early 1980s.[78]
In 1983, the Hong Kong dollar left its 16:1 peg with the Pound sterling and switched to the current US-HK Dollar peg. Hong Kong's competitiveness in manufacturing gradually declined due to rising labour and property costs, as well as new development in southern China under the Open Door Policy introduced in 1978 which opened up China to foreign business. Nevertheless, towards the early 1990s, Hong Kong had established itself as a global financial centre along with London and New York City, a regional hub for logistics and freight, one of the fastest-growing economies in Asia and the world's exemplar of Laissez-faire market policy.[79]
The Hong Kong question
In 1971, the Republic of China (Taiwan)'s permanent seat on the United Nations was transferred to the People's Republic of China (PRC), Hong Kong's status as a recognised colony became terminated in 1972 under the request of PRC. Facing the uncertain future of Hong Kong and expiry of land lease of New Territories beyond 1997, Governor MacLehose raised the question in the late 1970s.
The British Nationality Act 1981 reclassified Hong Kong into a British Dependent Territory amid the reorganisation of global territories of the British Empire. All residents of Hong Kong became British Dependent Territory Citizens (BDTC). Diplomatic negotiations began with China and eventually concluded with the 1984 Sino-British Joint Declaration. Both countries agreed to transfer Hong Kong's sovereignty to China on 1 July 1997, when Hong Kong would remain autonomous as a special administrative region and be able to retain its free-market economy, British common law through the Hong Kong Basic Law, independent representation in international organisations (e.g. WTO and WHO), treaty arrangements and policy-making except foreign diplomacy and military defence.
It stipulated that Hong Kong would retain its laws and be guaranteed a high degree of autonomy for at least 50 years after the transfer. The Hong Kong Basic Law, based on English law, would serve as the constitutional document after the transfer. It was ratified in 1990.[69] The expiry of the 1898 lease on the New Territories in 1997 created problems for business contracts, property leases and confidence among foreign investors.
Handover and Special Administrative Region status
Main articles: Transfer of sovereignty over Hong Kong and 2000s in Hong Kong
Transfer of sovereignty
Golden Bauhinia Square
On 1 July 1997, the transfer of sovereignty over Hong Kong from the United Kingdom to the People's Republic of China took place, officially marking the end of Hong Kong's 156 years under British colonial governance. As the largest remaining colony of the United Kingdom, the loss of Hong Kong effectively represented the end of the British Empire. This transfer of sovereignty made Hong Kong the first special administrative region of China. Tung Chee-Hwa, a pro-Beijing business tycoon, was elected Hong Kong's first Chief Executive by a selected electorate of 800 in a televised programme.
Structure of government
Hong Kong's current structure of governance inherits from the British model of colonial administration set up in the 1850s. The 1984 Sino-British Joint Declaration states that "Hong Kong should enjoy a high degree of autonomy in all areas except defence and foreign affairs" with reference to the underlying principle of one country, two systems.[note 3] This Declaration stipulates that Hong Kong maintains her capitalist economic system and guarantees the rights and freedoms of her people for at least 50 years after the 1997 handover. [note 4] Such guarantees are enshrined in the Hong Kong's Basic Law, the territory's constitutional document, which outlines the system of governance after 1997, albeit subject to interpretation by China's Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPCSC).[95][96]
Hong Kong's most senior leader, Chief Executive, is elected by a committee of 1,200 selected members (600 in 1997) and nominally appointed by the Government of China. The primary pillars of government are the Executive Council, Legislative Council, civil service and Judiciary.
Policy-making is initially discussed in the Executive Council, presided by the Chief Executive of Hong Kong, before passing to the Legislative Council for bill adoption. The Executive Council consists of 30 official/unofficial members appointed by the Chief Executive and one member among them acts as the convenor.[97][98]
The Legislative Council, set up in 1843, debates policies and motions before voting to adopt or rejecting bills. It has 70 members (originally 60) and 40 (originally 30) among them are directly elected by universal suffrage; the other 30 members are "functional constituencies" (indirectly) elected by a smaller electorate of corporate bodies or representatives of stipulated economic sectors as defined by the government. The Legislative Council is chaired by a president who acts as the speaker.[99][100]
In 1997, seating of the Legislative Council (also public services and election franchises) of Hong Kong modelled on the British system: Urban Council (Hong Kong and Kowloon) and District Council (New Territories and Outlying Islands). In 1999, this system has been reformed into 18 directly elected District Offices across 5 Legislative Council constituencies: Hong Kong Island (East/West), Kowloon and New Territories (East/West); the remaining outlying islands are divided across the aforementioned regions.
Hong Kong's Civil Service, created by the British colonial government, is a politically neutral body that implements government policies and provides public services. Senior civil servants are appointed based on meritocracy. The territory's police, firefighting and customs forces, as well as clerical officers across various government departments, make up the civil service.[101][102]
Maintaining the style, I decided to create a monochromatic tribute for each of the 6 colors with which the piece 64713 was made. Now it's the turn of the LGB color!
(the tan base, also present in the other dioramas, is only a support. Once I complete the display to expose them all, it will be hidden.)
Interested in maintaining a ready pool of trained Reservists, the USN assigned numerous Gato-class boats to various coastal and inland ports (even in Great Lakes ports like Cleveland, Detroit, and Chicago), where they served as a training platform during the Reservists' weekend drills. Twenty-eight Gato-class boats served in this capacity, some as late as 1971. In this role, the boats were rendered incapable of diving and had their propellers removed. They were used strictly as pier-side trainers.
Cleveland, OH
September 2016
FRA
14/6/15
Lufthansa's first 747-8, D-ABYA, heads out on another journey. The same reg was originally worn by Lufthansa's first 747 back in 1970.
The US Forest Service maintains beautiful walkways from which Shell Falls and Shell Canyon can be safely viewed. The enormous prominence in the distance is the dolomite and limestone "Copman's Tomb" originating in the Precambrian period of the Earth's history.
The site is staffed only between Memorial and Labor Days, but it's permissible (and advisable!) to walk around the vehicle gate to take in the views from the established walkways. (A Forest Service ranger happened by while we and others had done just that, so we had a chance to talk about the site, and all kinds of other stuff.)
Near Shell, Wyoming
Maintaining the style, I decided to create a monochromatic tribute for each of the 6 colors with which the piece 64713 was made. Now it's the turn of the Blue color!
(the tan base, also present in the other dioramas, is only a support. Once I complete the display to expose them all, it will be hidden.)
Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philadelphia
Philadelphia, commonly referred to as Philly, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the second-most populous city in the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Philadelphia is known for its extensive contributions to United States history, especially the American Revolution, and served as the nation's capital until 1800. It maintains contemporary influence in business and industry, culture, sports, and music. Philadelphia is the nation's sixth-most populous city with a population of 1,603,797 as of the 2020 census and is the urban core of the larger Delaware Valley (or Philadelphia metropolitan area), the nation's seventh-largest and one of the world's largest metropolitan regions consisting of 6.245 million residents in the metropolitan statistical area and 7.366 million residents in its combined statistical area.
Philadelphia was founded in 1682 by William Penn, an English Quaker and advocate of religious freedom. The city served as the capital of the Pennsylvania Colony during the British colonial era and went on to play a historic and vital role as the central meeting place for the nation's founding fathers whose plans and actions in Philadelphia ultimately inspired the American Revolution and the nation's independence following the Revolutionary War. Philadelphia hosted the First Continental Congress in 1774, preserved the Liberty Bell, and hosted the Second Continental Congress during which the founders signed the Declaration of Independence, which historian Joseph Ellis has described as "the most potent and consequential words in American history". Once the Revolutionary War commenced, the Battle of Germantown and the siege of Fort Mifflin were fought within Philadelphia's city limits. The U.S. Constitution was later ratified in Philadelphia at the Philadelphia Convention of 1787. Philadelphia remained the nation's largest city until 1790, when it was surpassed by New York City, and it served as the nation's first capital from May 10, 1775, until December 12, 1776, and on four subsequent occasions during and following the American Revolution, including from 1790 to 1800 during the construction of the new national capital of Washington, D.C.
With 18 four-year universities and colleges, Philadelphia is one of the nation's leading centers for higher education and academic research. As of 2018, the Philadelphia metropolitan area was the state's largest and nation's ninth-largest metropolitan economy with a gross metropolitan product of US$444.1 billion. The city is home to five Fortune 500 corporate headquarters as of 2022. As of 2023, metropolitan Philadelphia ranks among the top five U.S. venture capital centers, facilitated by its proximity to New York City's entrepreneurial and financial ecosystems. The Philadelphia Stock Exchange, owned by Nasdaq since 2008, is the nation's oldest stock exchange and a global leader in options trading. 30th Street Station, the city's primary rail station, is the third-busiest Amtrak hub in the nation, and the city's multimodal transport and logistics infrastructure, includes Philadelphia International Airport, and the rapidly-growing PhilaPort seaport. A migration pattern has been established from New York City to Philadelphia by residents opting for a large city with relative proximity and a lower cost of living.
Philadelphia is a national cultural center, hosting more outdoor sculptures and murals than any other city in the nation. Fairmount Park, when combined with adjacent Wissahickon Valley Park in the same watershed, is 2,052 acres (830 ha), representing one of the nation's largest and the world's 45th-largest urban park. The city is known for its arts, culture, cuisine, and colonial and Revolution-era history; in 2016, it attracted 42 million domestic tourists who spent $6.8 billion, representing $11 billion in economic impact to the city and its surrounding Pennsylvania counties.
With five professional sports teams and one of the nation's most loyal fan bases, Philadelphia is often ranked as the nation's best city for professional sports fans. The city has a culturally and philanthropically active LGBTQ+ community. Philadelphia also has played an immensely influential historic and ongoing role in the development and evolution of American music, especially R&B, soul, and rock.
Philadelphia is a city of many firsts, including the nation's first library (1731), hospital (1751), medical school (1765), national capital (1774), university (by some accounts) (1779), stock exchange (1790), zoo (1874), and business school (1881). Philadelphia contains 67 National Historic Landmarks, including Independence Hall. From the city's 17th century founding through the present, Philadelphia has been the birthplace or home to an extensive number of prominent and influential Americans. In 2021, Time magazine named Philadelphia one of the world's greatest 100 places.
Additional Foreign Language Tags:
(United States) "الولايات المتحدة" "Vereinigte Staaten" "アメリカ" "美国" "미국" "Estados Unidos" "États-Unis"
(Pennsylvania) "بنسلفانيا" "宾夕法尼亚州" "Pennsylvanie" "पेंसिल्वेनिया" "ペンシルベニア" "펜실베니아" "Пенсильвания" "Pensilvania"
(Philadelphia) "فيلادلفيا" "费城" "Philadelphie" "फिलाडेल्फिया" "フィラデルフィア" "필라델피아" "Филадельфия" "Filadelfia"
Tech. Sgt. Sam Pastor, a vehicle maintainer attached to the Laghman Provincial Reconstruction Team, fires the Mk 48 machine gun at the off-base firing range near Forward Operating Base Mehtar Lam, Afghanistan, Sept. 10, 2011. (U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Ryan Crane)
In this street, Eiffel meets a scientist with "bizarre paces", alchemist or reader of grimoires, a dressmaker's workshop, a gym (where he often went to maintain his sports fibre, he will draw the sword until more than 80 years old) and a wasteland (which was used as a depot for the supply of materials and materials...
THE BUILDERS: FERDINAND DE LESSEPS, GUSTAVE EIFFEL, FULCANELLI: Heliopolis explained: while reading this second part, we will enter the mythical Heliopolis which made the Master consecrate and carried to posterity these three initials F. C. H..Perhaps you were wondering why this pyramid shape, these three levels? Quite simply because Eiffel was brother the trowel and his tower represented an alchemical pyramid with the three levels of initiation of the blue lodges (Apprentice, companion and hierophant). It's easy to see. Is it useful to recall the ugliness of this modern construction, this big unsightly bolt in the middle of Paris? This did not stop her from becoming the world symbol of France! Now we know that he was Egyptologist, remains to make the link with a possible frankist ancestry... In fact Heliopolis was both a myth and a reality, as explained in the chapter devoted to the Lesseps circle, one of the founders of the famous cabaret "Le Chat Noir". In the second part, the intimate circle of friends of the Adept opens up to you and the actors put themselves in place for an ultimate representation under the enigmatic moustaches of the Black Cat. This book will allow you to get acquainted with the artistic and literary environment of the follower. There are many of them marching before you. Shadow theatre comes to life but who pulls the strings? What is this "high and secret diplomacy" evoked by Fulcanelli? These are many questions to which the author gives some answers because they were numerous outside of the disciple of Savignies to know to frequent the alchemist and you will be surprised to learn who belonged to this very closed circle whose center radiated from a mound with the sign of a moonlight... The walk to the star was in the program of the famous cabaret.
We find there the pieces of what René Daumal would have called "the Great Game". Indeed, the mystery that hangs over Fulcanelli is also the one that envelops, like a thick fog, the whole of French society in the 19th century and the early years of the 20th. And it was around this high place that the famous cabaret Montmartre "Le Chat Noir" was held that shadow theatre which ensured its fame. We revive this magical scene by studying the worldly, artistic and political environment of the Adept, inviting you to the tour of the "Grand Dukes" evoked in the Philosophical Mansions. Moreover, the fulcanelian literary mystery is inseparable from the strangeness that can be discovered in the respective works of his contemporaries. From Jules Verne, to Alfred Jarry or Anatole France, Raymond Roussel and more.... Despite those who have appropriated Culture, there has always been an underground culture, doubling the official one and making fun of it. François Villon's gouaille, the tip of Cyrano de Bergerac, Jonathan Swift's happy neighs (all quoted by Fulcanelli) are only variants of François Rabelais's hennaurm laughter, embroideries or borders composed on a single weave, a CANEVAS. There is no doubt that we are in the presence of a school - the solar Cabal - which has passed through the centuries because it took the precaution of coming forward hidden.Eye that sees everything at the top of the pyramid Eiffel Tower Templars and Alchemists. The Eiffel Tower under the skirt of The Iron Lady... Knights Templar produce sublime works... Esotericism secret secret secret pyramid and The Secret Eye of Horus Alchemist handle illuminati witchcraft enlightenment witches spiritualism channeling satan coincidence The alchemists. “Although the brotherhood of Alchemy appears to be relatively new, it is in reality the oldest continuous network on the planet, dating back many thousands of years, beginning when stones were first dressed. ..... On the other side of the crash scene is the Eiffel Tower, another gigantic obelisk in disguise.
The terrain today called Israel is apparently interlaced with ley or dragon lines of psychic power. This article attempts to highlight another one. Besides his crucifixion, the one place
where Jesus could be said to have been at gravest risk for his physical safety was the town of Nazareth. In fact, he refused to perform miracles there . This seems to be a unique act in his story, in his ministry, in his performance of impossible feats. This article attempts to come up with a reason for this or at least provide the reader with additional information to draw their own conclusions or do further research.Eiffel Tower links Babylon to No Miracle Nazareth
BACKGROUND ON ALCHEMIC EIFFEL TOWER:
1. The Eiffel Tower was the tallest building in the world for a while. It is 324 meters in height. It was designed by an Alchemist. The obvious connection to another tall building, the Tower of Babylon is obvious.
EXTRAPOLATION OF 324 meters to 32.4 Latitude N runs through Babil Province, Iraq.
2. Babil province, south of Baghdad is where the Kingdom of Babylon and the Tower of Eiffel.and the line of latitude 32.4 runs through this area
3. The line of latitude 32.4 N runs through the biblical town of Nazareth, where the term ,Jesus of Nazareth is derived from.
4. The name Nazareth means tower - perhaps watch tower -
***It is interesting to note that the 324 number coincides with The province of Babil of the once tallest building in the world, The Tower of Babylon, then the new tallest building in the world,
The Eiffel Tower AND the name of Nazareth, wherein Jesus did not perform miracles, was nearly murdered and finally expelled by its citizens. This is where the term "No man is a
prophet in his own country" comes from. So therefore, Jesus was reviled and was expelled from the City of the Watch Tower. According to Christian belief, his father , G-d , destroyed the previous city of the Tower , Babylon. Is this coincidence? It would appear unlikely.
CONCLUSION:
Today in Alchemic History Alexandre Gustave Eiffel is born in 1832. Alexandre Gustave Eiffel was French engineer. Eiffel was born Alexandre Gustave Bönickhausen on December 15th, 1832 in Côte-d'Or, France. Eiffel's family name was Bönickhausen, although the family generally used Eiffel. It was not until 1880 that Eiffel officially changed his name from Bönickhausen. Eiffel attended classes at the Lycée Royal and was educated by various family members in a variety of sciences. He was accepted to two notable schools in Paris finally deciding to go with École Centrale des Arts et Manufactures where he graduated with a degree in chemistry. If numbers could talk, they'd say the Eiffel Tower is the most terrifying radio transmission tower in the history of the world. A quick comb-through of the darker corners of the Internet reveals a few interesting facts about the Parisian treasure. The building is said to casts a shadow of exactly 412 meters in length ...
When Eiffel graduated, family squabbles prevented him from going to work for his uncle as he planned. Eventually he went to work for Charles Nepveu. When Nepveu sold his company, he made sure to find a place for Eiffel at Compagnie Belge de Matériels de Chemin de Fer the company which acquired Nepveu's. Nepveu gave Eiffel his first major project the Bordeaux bridge.
In 1865, Eiffel departed Compagnie Belge de Matériels de Chemin de Fer as the economy had gotten bad and the company was nearing collapse. After leaving the company he became an independent consulting engineer. In 1866 he received a contract from the Egyptian government for Eiffel to oversee the construction of 33 locomotives. The job was high in profit and undemanding. Eiffel was able to travel to Egypt and visit the Suez Canal. Eiffel at the same time did work for the Exposition Universelle of 1867 by designing arch girders. He also conducted experiments to determine the modulous elasticity of cast iron.
In 1866, Eiffel was able to borrow enough money to start his own company. Although he would take on a partner at one point and time and the company would change it's name several times it would remain in existence until well after Eiffel's passing. Eiffel with the company made many innovations in metal construction. They built and designed the Maria Pia Bridge in Portugal which was the first of it's kind. Instead of pylons going into the river bed, the bridge was supported by a massive iron arch that spanned 520ft.
In 1881, Eiffel was called in to assist in the building of the Statue of Liberty. He helped to create an inner framework which supported the outer copper. The statue was erected at Eiffel's ironworks in Paris before it was disassembled and shipped to the United States.
In 1886, Eiffel was given a contract for Astronomical Observatory in Nice. In it's construction they were able to set the some in a track that floated on magnesium chloride in water. The dome was the largest at the time.
In 1884, preparations were underway for the 1889 Exposition Universelle. Eiffel had been approached with a design for what would become known as the Eiffel Tower. Eiffel was unimpressed with the plans. It was until another architect added to the existing design that Eiffel decided that he would be interested in the plans. He bought out the patents for the design and made his bid to have the tower the center piece of the Exposition Universelle. There were several competitors for the distinction of being the centerpiece. A change was made to the requirements for the competition which made Eiffel's plan the only one that would fulfill all requirements. Although many were impressed with the design, many felt that the tower was going to detract from the monuments that already existed around Paris. The Eiffel Tower was only expected to last for 20 years and somewhat ironically has become a symbol of Paris. Later Eiffel, who formed a company to manage the tower put weather monitoring stations and used the tower for experiments involving air currents.
In 1888, Eiffel was contracted to work on a French Panama Canal. Unfortunately the company that contracted with Eiffel was discovered to be misusing funds intended for the project. Despite the fact that Eiffel was a contractor and was not involved in those dealings, he was accused as well. He was convicted initially and later acquitted on appeal.
Eiffel passed away December 27th, 1923.
Despite anecdotal indications to the contrary, there is no evidence that Eiffel was ever being a prominent well connected individual is generally why people want to put him as a member of the fraternity. It is also possibly because of his connection with the Statue of Liberty.
Set up by Aberdeen Corporation on the 10th January 1921 this old bus shelter has served as the Footdee Bus Terminus serving the fine folk of Fittie and visitors to the area for many many years, it had a lick of paint and re roofed back in 2015 , hence its maintained appearance .
Today it is only one of three such shelters set up by Aberdeen Corporation that still exist within the city.
Aberdeen City Council moved the terminus to the new beach retail park in 2010 hence the shelter now serves solely as a bus stop, and as a reminder of times gone by .
Footdee is an area of Aberdeen, Scotland known locally as "Fittie". It is an old fishing village at the east end of the harbour. The name is actually folk etymology. Far from being "Foot of the Dee/Fit o the Dee", it is actually a corruption of a former dedication to a "St Fothan".
The area has had a settlement as far back as the Medieval times and the first recorded reference to the area of Fittie was in the year 1398. This village was slightly further North than where Footdee is now located. It would have been near to where the St Clement's Church is located.
Footdee is a particularly interesting example of a planned housing development purpose-built to re-house Aberdeen's local fishing community. Laid out in 1809 by John Smith, then Superintendent Of The Town's Public Works. Smith went on to establish himself as one of Aberdeen's key architects. Occupying an isolated spit of land to the SE of Aberdeen's city centre, its regimented squares have been described as a cross between the neo-classical aspirations of Aberdeen and the close-knit fishing communities of the north-east.
The two squares of 'Fish Town' (known as Footdee), originally contained 28 single-storey thatched houses although this increased when the later Middle Row (circa 1837) and Pilot Square (circa 1855) were added. The entrances on each of the North and South squares were filled in the 1870s by William Smith (son of John and architect of Balmoral Castle). He also added additional storeys to the East and West sides of South Square creating a tenement feel. This was an attempt to ease crowding resulting from an influx of fishing families from other less prosperous areas and to help try to enforce the 'one-house-one-family' rule.
The Town Council decided to start selling the dwellings to occupiers in 1880, beginning a period of incremental development and reconstruction. Additional storeys and dormers were added piecemeal by the new owners as funds allowed. The result is one of individuality expressed within the constraints of a strictly formal plan and is a contributing factor to the special architectural and historical interest of Footdee as a whole.
Throughout the 19th century, 'tarry sheds' were added to the communal land within the squares opposite each dwelling and now every dwelling has its own shed. Originally constructed from drift wood and other found materials, the sheds have been built and rebuilt in an idiosyncratic manner over the years in a variety of materials with rendered brick now predominating slightly (2006). Some timber built sheds remain, predominantly on the North side of North Square.
North Square Mission Hall occupies the central area of the North Square, reflecting its significance as an integral part of village life. The building is plain, with simple detailing throughout, and as such, responds sympathetically to its setting and context. Known locally as 'the schoolie' the hall was built for general as well as religious purposes and continues to operate as a multi-purpose meeting space.
The entire Footdee village was added to the statutory list in 1967 as a single entity. The village was subsequently given Conservation Area status in 1968. At resurvey in 2006, each building within the Conservation Area was re-assessed separately. Key examples, demonstrating both individual architectural interest and representing the history and development of the village as a whole, were selected for listing.
On an 1828 map, the new housing squares were specifically labelled 'Fish Town'. 'Footdee' referred to the larger area from St. Clement's Church to 'Fish Town'. Later, the name 'Footdee' was erroneously used to refer specifically to the housing squares, with 'Fish Town' becoming forgotten.
On Tuesday 25 September 2012, Footdee became covered in foam from the sea after experiencing strong wind and rain conditions. The effect was like a blanket of snow and this made the UK national news.
Finn Slough Wetland & Heritage Society: Life on the Fraser
Finn Slough Heritage & Wetland Society was formed in September 1993 to preserve the natural environment and habitat at the Slough (pronounced "slew") and surrounding area. The group also aims to maintain the heritage values of the community and to protect the Slough from urban encroachment.
Finn Slough is one of the last tidal communities on the West Coast. We are working to live in harmony with the environment on a sleepy little backwater on the mighty Fraser River in Richmond, British Columbia, Canada. Originally established in the 1880’s by immigrant fishers from Finland, Finn Slough has been a fishing village for over a hundred years. Families have continuously occupied Finn Slough since then. The community swelled to 70 households in the 1940’s and 50’s but by the 1970’s the original settlers were dispersing. Non Finnish fishers and people who appreciated the Slough’s unspoiled historic appearance began to take their place. The Finns eventually stopped living at the waters edge and moved to more permanent homes within a few miles of the Slough. Today Finn Slough holds special status as it is the last working commercial fishing village on the Fraser River. Approximately 50 people live and work at the Slough with 18 households remaining. Here you will see gillnet fish boats, net mending floats and sheds belonging to fifth generation Finnish fishers.
The Slough is bounded on the Fraser River side by Gilmour Island and on the north by a dyke built to protect Richmond. Access to homes on the Gilmour Island side of the Slough is by a wooden draw-bridge, creating a definite sense of isolation from the nearby urban areas of Richmond and Vancouver. The unique and eclectic dwellings are neighborly and built on a human scale. They either float or are supported by pilings with the tidal waters of the Fraser river rising and falling beneath them. Some of these homes have been converted from old net sheds and some are the original scow houses used by the Finns. Our community is a good example of harmonious coexistence between nature and people in a semi-urban setting.
Recently local fishers have donated several historic buildings to the Heritage and Wetland Society for preservation. Included is a float containing a rare net-soaking tank made of cedar. It was used to keep linen gillnets from falling apart by soaking them in a Blue Stone (copper sulfate) solution. This was before the advent of nylon nets and environmental awareness. We are in the process of creating a living museum by restoring and maintaining these and other heritage features.
Al Mason, a resident here, has made an interesting trade with Gus Jacobson a Finnish fisher with long ties to Finn Slough. Al agreed to trade a working scale model (29.5 inches) of the EVA for the real thing (29.5 feet). Gus had been looking for a good home for the boat ever since he transferred the fishing license to his present gill-netter. This was because of a change in the fishing regulations when area fishing was set up on the West Coast. Al, a shipwright who has repaired EVA in the past, has had his eye on the boat for years and jumped at the chance to take ownership. The EVA is a twenty-eight foot wooden gill-netter built in 1937. This boat is powered by an original two cylinder “Easthope” engine. "Easthope" was a local company that manufactured some of the first gasoline engines used to power the West Coast fishing fleet and became a legend in the industry.
The entire area has been classified as "Red Zone", a designation reserved for the most valuable fish habitat. This has been assigned with the current community's presence taken into account. The actual space used by buildings is quite small compared to the natural wetlands. From 1880 to 1993 our community has quietly existed on the edge of the Fraser River without official status or land tenure. We are presently involved in a process to obtain Crown leases for our dwellings. At the moment of writing nothing has been resolved, however, the dialogue continues. The trade-off for obtaining leases will probably be the promise of upgrading the community services to more modern standards. One of the first improvements the residents made was to install composting toilets in order to reduce our impact on the ecosystem here. We are now working on a five year master plan to accomplish the remaining upgrades. The challenge we face is to upgrade without changing the character of Finn Slough, as it is the uniqueness of the place that has kept the community together.
www.finnslough.com/Old Site/Old home page.htm
FINN SLOUGH PETITION FAQ'S:
I had forgotten just how much stuff I had shot that day in addition to the IT Heritage Unit chase. I definitely shoot a lot more back then than I do now.
When summer rolls around, an increased number of work trains start to show up. One such train lead by BNSF power heads south on the ex-NYC side of the UP Springfield Sub at 25th Street in Granite City, IL,
-BNSF C44-9W #4479, SD70ACe #xxx7 leading power
-Southbound Maintenance of Way Train
-UP Springfield Sub, Track #2 (ex-MoPac/NYC), near MP X275
-25th Street Crossing, Granite City, IL
-June 20, 2015
IMG_9653_edited-1
Behind every SCAA paramedic is a team dedicated to maintaining a Scottish charity based air ambulance service.
Soldiers from 289th Military Police Company, 4th Battalion, 3d U.S. Infantry Regiment (The Old Guard), part of the Military District of Washington’s (MDW) Special Reaction Team (SRT), host tryouts for the elite team, at Fort A.P. Hill, Virginia, January 9, 2020. The highly-skilled Soldiers of MDW’s SRT stand ready to respond to contingency and combat operations by maintaining readiness and sharpening their skills for the defense of National Capital Region. (U.S. Army photos by Sgt. Nicholas T. Holmes)
Maintaining their regal dignity among the street rods, muscle cars and other American automobilia at today’s classic car show at Foxgrove Trail, Parrish FL, this pair of Bentley S1s date from the late-1950s.
This facility is run and maintained by NATS (National Air Traffic Service) and its purpose is to monitor the progress of mostly civilian airways traffic
For over 60 years, a San Francisco landmark has maintained his quiet vigil over our fair City by the Bay. Located at the corner of Post and Taylor Streets, the silent column with the pleasant smile is overlooked by most passersby. But he has a story to tell. His name…is Tiki Bob.
In 1955, Bob Bryant, a former manager of the nearby Trader Vic’s restaurant went out on his own, christening himself and his restaurant Tiki Bob. To complete the image, he needed a signature design that would become his bar’s logo and mascot. Enter Alec Yuill-Thornton, a San Francisco architect, illustrator, and jeweler who had created the whimsical illustrations for Trader Vic’s book, "Kitchen Kibitzer," a few years earlier. Alec created an image that was immediately iconic and found its way to a tiki mug that historians suggest may have been the very first. Tiki Bob adorned menus, matchbooks, and more, and quite literally held up the restaurant when his visage was sculpted into a supporting column out front.
Tiki Bob’s closed in 1983, yet Bob remained, bearing his load with a smile and without complaint. Each successive business painted him to suit their needs- once even in a tuxedo. Enthusiasts around the world took comfort knowing at least he was still there but yearned to one day see him restored to his former glory. “I am a 3rd generation San Francisco Bay Area native and for me - history matters,” says local preservationist Heather David. “The whimsical Tiki Bob mascot was so wildly popular that the image was picked up (and used) by other establishments across the country. For years, Bob has been hiding in plain sight, while his image sells original artwork, t-shirts, socks, etc. all over the world. Why would we not celebrate such an iconic, lasting, and happy image - something that originated here, in San Francisco?”
In August of 2019, a Bob-loving trio decided to make it right. Led by Heather M. David, muralist Donald Harvey, and San Francisco bar owner and author Martin Cate, the trio approached the current owners of the business Abed Rashdan and Hinda Alfayez about repainting Bob, and they graciously agreed to let Bob be restored to his original colors. Layers of paint were removed to find the original brown and color match it. Donald’s expertise in San Francisco murals was invaluable in restoring Bob to his former glory. And so, on December 14th, 2019, at long last, Bob is back. And his smile is perhaps just a bit bigger today.
So when you next find yourself in San Francisco, say hi to Bob. He always has a smile for new friends. And while you’re there, please stop into Honey Honey Café, try one of their great crepes, and let Abed and Hinda know how much you appreciate their support of San Francisco history and the joy that Bob brings to people around the world.
Honey Honey Café and Crepery (and Tiki Bob)
599 Post St.
San Francisco, CA 94102
www.honeyhoneycafeandcrepery.com/
#bobisback
The Château de Chambord in Chambord, Centre-Val de Loire, France, is one of the most recognisable châteaux in the world because of its very distinctive French Renaissance architecture which blends traditional French medieval forms with classical Renaissance structures. The building, which was never completed, was constructed by the king of France, Francis I.
Chambord is the largest château in the Loire Valley; it was built to serve as a hunting lodge for Francis I, who maintained his royal residences at the Château de Blois and Amboise. The original design of the Château de Chambord is attributed to Italian architect Domenico da Cortona; Leonardo da Vinci may also have been involved or influenced the design.
Chambord was altered considerably during the twenty-eight years of its construction (1519–1547), during which it was overseen on-site by Pierre Neveu. With the château nearing completion, Francis showed off his enormous symbol of wealth and power by hosting his old archrival, Emperor Charles V, at Chambord.
In 1792, in the wake of the French Revolution, some of the furnishings were sold and timber removed. For a time the building was left abandoned, though in the 19th century some attempts were made at restoration. During the Second World War, art works from the collections of the Louvre and the Château de Compiègne were moved to the Château de Chambord. The château is now open to the public, receiving 700,000 visitors in 2007. Flooding in June 2016 damaged the grounds but not the château itself.
Who designed the Château de Chambord is a matter of controversy. The original design is attributed, though with several doubts, to Domenico da Cortona, whose wooden model for the design survived long enough to be drawn by André Félibien in the 17th century. In the drawings of the model, the main staircase of the keep is shown with two straight, parallel flights of steps separated by a passage and is located in one of the arms of the cross. According to Jean-Guillaume, this Italian design was later replaced with the centrally located spiral staircase, which is similar to that at Blois, and a design more compatible with the French preference for spectacular grand staircases. However, "at the same time the result was also a triumph of the centralised layout—itself a wholly Italian element." In 1913 Marcel Reymond suggested that Leonardo da Vinci, a guest of Francis at Clos Lucé near Amboise, was responsible for the original design, which reflects Leonardo's plans for a château at Romorantin for the King's mother, and his interests in central planning and double-spiral staircases; the discussion has not yet concluded, although many scholars now agree that Leonardo was at least responsible for the design of the central staircase.
Archaeological findings by Jean-Sylvain Caillou & Dominic Hofbauer have established that the lack of symmetry of some façades derives from an original design, abandoned shortly after the construction began, and which ground plan was organised around the central staircase following a central gyratory symmetry. Such a rotative design has no equivalent in architecture at this period of history, and appears reminiscent of Leonardo da Vinci's works on hydraulic turbines or the helicopter. Had it been respected, it is believed that this unique building could have featured the quadruple-spiral open staircase, strangely described by John Evelyn and Andrea Palladio, although it was never built.
Regardless of who designed the château, on 6 September 1519 Francis de Pontbriand was ordered to begin construction of the Château de Chambord. The work was interrupted by the Italian War of 1521–1526, and work was slowed by dwindling royal funds and difficulties in laying the structure's foundations. By 1524, the walls were barely above ground level. Building resumed in September 1526, at which point 1,800 workers were employed in building the château. At the time of the death of King Francis I in 1547, the work had cost 444,070 livres.
The château was built to act as a hunting lodge for King Francis I; however, the king spent barely seven weeks there in total, that time consisting of short hunting visits. As the château had been constructed with the purpose of short stays, it was not practical to live in on a longer-term basis. The massive rooms, open windows and high ceilings meant heating was impractical. Similarly, as the château was not surrounded by a village or estate, there was no immediate source of food other than game. This meant that all food had to be brought with the group, typically numbering up to 2,000 people at a time.
As a result of all the above, the château was completely unfurnished during this period. All furniture, wall coverings, eating implements and so forth were brought specifically for each hunting trip, a major logistical exercise. It is for this reason that much furniture from the era was built to be disassembled to facilitate transportation. After Francis died of a heart attack in 1547, the château was not used for almost a century.
For more than 80 years after the death of King Francis I, French kings abandoned the château, allowing it to fall into decay. Finally, in 1639 King Louis XIII gave it to his brother, Gaston d'Orléans, who saved the château from ruin by carrying out much restoration work.
King Louis XIV had the great keep restored and furnished the royal apartments. The king then added a 1,200-horse stable, enabling him to use the château as a hunting lodge and a place to entertain a few weeks each year, for example Molière presented the premiere of his celebrated comedy, Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme here. Nonetheless, Louis XIV abandoned the château in 1685.
From 1725 to 1733, Stanislas Leszczyński (Stanislas I), the deposed King of Poland and the father-in-law of King Louis XV, lived at Chambord. In 1745, as a reward for valour, the king gave the château to Maurice de Saxe, Marshal of France who installed his military regiment there. Maurice de Saxe died in 1750, and once again the colossal château sat empty for many years.
In 1792, the Revolutionary government ordered the sale of the furnishings; the wall panellings were removed and even floors were taken up and sold for the value of their timber, and, according to M de la Saussaye, the panelled doors were burned to keep the rooms warm during the sales; the empty château was left abandoned until Napoleon Bonaparte gave it to his subordinate, Louis Alexandre Berthier. The château was subsequently purchased from his widow for the infant Duke of Bordeaux, Henri Charles Dieudonné (1820–1883) who took the title Comte de Chambord. A brief attempt at restoration and occupation was made by his grandfather King Charles X (1824–1830) but in 1830 both were exiled. In Outre-Mer: A Pilgrimage Beyond the Sea, published in the 1830s, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow remarked on the dilapidation that had set in: "all is mournful and deserted. The grass has overgrown the pavement of the courtyard, and the rude sculpture upon the walls is broken and defaced". During the Franco-Prussian War (1870–1871) the château was used as a field hospital.
The final attempt to make use of the colossus came from the Comte de Chambord, but after the Comte died in 1883, the château was left to his sister's heirs, the titular Dukes of Parma, then resident in Austria. First left to Robert, Duke of Parma, who died in 1907 and after him, Elias, Prince of Parma. Any attempts at restoration ended with the onset of World War I in 1914. The Château de Chambord was confiscated as enemy property in 1915, but the family of the Duke of Parma sued to recover it, and that suit was not settled until 1932; restoration work was not begun until a few years after World War II ended in 1945. The Château and surrounding areas, some 5,440 hectares (13,400 acres; 21.0 sq mi), have belonged to the French state since 1930.
In 1939, shortly before the outbreak of World War II, the art collections of the Louvre and Compiègne museums (including the Mona Lisa and Venus de Milo) were stored at the Château de Chambord. An American B-24 Liberator bomber crashed onto the château lawn on 22 June 1944. The image of the château has been widely used to sell commodities from chocolate to alcohol and from porcelain to alarm clocks; combined with the various written accounts of visitors, this made Chambord one of the best known examples of France's architectural history. Today, Chambord is a major tourist attraction, and in 2007 around 700,000 people visited the château.
After unusually heavy rainfall, Chambord was closed to the public from 1 to 6 June 2016. The river Cosson, a tributary of the Loire, flooded its banks and the château's moat. Drone photography documented some of the peak flooding. The French Patrimony Foundation described effects of the flooding on Chambord's 13,000-acre property. The 20-mile wall around the château was breached at several points, metal gates were torn from their framing, and roads were damaged. Also, trees were uprooted and certain electrical and fire protection systems were put out of order. However, the château itself and its collections reportedly were undamaged. The foundation observed that paradoxically the natural disaster affected Francis I's vision that Chambord appears to rise from the waters as if it were diverting the Loire. Repairs are expected to cost upwards of a quarter-million dollars.
The Château de Chambord has further influenced a number of architectural and decorative elements across Europe. Château de Chambord was the model for the reconstruction and new construction of the original Schwerin Palace between 1845 and 1857.
Yet in the later half of the 19th century, the château's style is seen proliferating across the United Kingdom, influencing the Founder's Building at Royal Holloway, University of London, designed by William Henry Crossland and the main building of Fettes College in Edinburgh, designed by David Bryce in 1870. Between 1874 and 1889, the country house in Buckinghamshire, Waddesdon Manor, was built with similar architectural frameworks as the Château de Chambord, disseminated via the architect Gabriel-Hippolyte Destailleur. For instance, the twin staircase towers, on the north façade, were inspired by the staircase tower at the Château.[36] However, following the theme of unparalleled luxury at Waddesdon, the windows of the towers at Waddesdon were glazed, unlike those of the staircase at Chambord, and were far more ornate.
Francis I (French: François Ier; Middle French: Francoys; 12 September 1494 – 31 March 1547) was King of France from 1515 until his death in 1547. He was the son of Charles, Count of Angoulême, and Louise of Savoy. He succeeded his first cousin once removed and father-in-law Louis XII, who died without a legitimate son.
A prodigious patron of the arts, he promoted the emergent French Renaissance by attracting many Italian artists to work for him, including Leonardo da Vinci, who brought the Mona Lisa, which Francis had acquired. Francis' reign saw important cultural changes with the growth of central power in France, the spread of humanism and Protestantism, and the beginning of French exploration of the New World. Jacques Cartier and others claimed lands in the Americas for France and paved the way for the expansion of the first French colonial empire.
For his role in the development and promotion of the French language, he became known as le Père et Restaurateur des Lettres (the 'Father and Restorer of Letters'). He was also known as François au Grand Nez ('Francis of the Large Nose'), the Grand Colas, and the Roi-Chevalier (the 'Knight-King').
In keeping with his predecessors, Francis continued the Italian Wars. The succession of his great rival Emperor Charles V to the Habsburg Netherlands and the throne of Spain, followed by his election as Holy Roman Emperor, led to France being geographically encircled by the Habsburg monarchy. In his struggle against Imperial hegemony, Francis sought the support of Henry VIII of England at the Field of the Cloth of Gold. When this was unsuccessful, he formed a Franco-Ottoman alliance with the Muslim sultan Suleiman the Magnificent, a controversial move for a Christian king at the time.
Early life and accession
Francis of Orléans was born on 12 September 1494 at the Château de Cognac in the town of Cognac, which at that time lay in the province of Saintonge, a part of the Duchy of Aquitaine. Today the town lies in the department of Charente.
Francis was the only son of Charles of Orléans, Count of Angoulême, and Louise of Savoy, and a great-great-grandson of King Charles V of France. His family was not expected to inherit the throne, as his third cousin King Charles VIII was still young at the time of his birth, as was his father's cousin the Duke of Orléans, later King Louis XII. However, Charles VIII died childless in 1498 and was succeeded by Louis XII, who himself had no male heir. The Salic Law prevented women from inheriting the throne. Therefore, the four-year-old Francis (who was already Count of Angoulême after the death of his own father two years earlier) became the heir presumptive to the throne of France in 1498 and was vested with the title of Duke of Valois.
In 1505, Louis XII, having fallen ill, ordered for his daughter Claude and Francis to be married immediately, but only through an assembly of nobles were the two engaged. Claude was heir presumptive to the Duchy of Brittany through her mother, Anne of Brittany. Following Anne's death, the marriage took place on 18 May 1514. On 1 January 1515, Louis died, and Francis inherited the throne. He was crowned King of France in the Cathedral of Reims on 25 January 1515, with Claude as his queen consort.
Reign
As Francis was receiving his education, ideas emerging from the Italian Renaissance were influential in France. Some of his tutors, such as François de Moulins de Rochefort (his Latin instructor, who later during the reign of Francis was named Grand Aumônier de France) and Christophe de Longueil (a Brabantian humanist), were attracted by these new ways of thinking and attempted to influence Francis. His academic education had been in arithmetic, geography, grammar, history, reading, spelling, and writing and he became proficient in Hebrew, Italian, Latin and Spanish. Francis came to learn chivalry, dancing, and music, and he loved archery, falconry, horseback riding, hunting, jousting, real tennis and wrestling. He ended up reading philosophy and theology and he was fascinated with art, literature, poetry and science. His mother, who had a high admiration for Italian Renaissance art, passed this interest on to her son. Although Francis did not receive a humanist education, he was more influenced by humanism than any previous French king.
Patron of the arts
By the time he ascended the throne in 1515, the Renaissance had arrived in France, and Francis became an enthusiastic patron of the arts. At the time of his accession, the royal palaces of France were ornamented with only a scattering of great paintings, and not a single sculpture, not ancient nor modern.
Francis patronized many great artists of his time, including Andrea del Sarto and Leonardo da Vinci; the latter of whom was persuaded to make France his home during his last years. While da Vinci painted very little during his years in France, he brought with him many of his greatest works, including the Mona Lisa (known in France as La Joconde), and these remained in France after his death. Other major artists to receive Francis' patronage included the goldsmith Benvenuto Cellini and the painters Rosso Fiorentino, Giulio Romano, and Primaticcio, all of whom were employed in decorating Francis' various palaces. He also invited architect Sebastiano Serlio, who enjoyed a fruitful late career in France. Francis also commissioned a number of agents in Italy to procure notable works of art and ship them to France.
Man of letters
Francis was also renowned as a man of letters. When he comes up in a conversation among characters in Baldassare Castiglione's Book of the Courtier, it is as the great hope to bring culture to the war-obsessed French nation. Not only did Francis support a number of major writers of the period, but he was also a poet himself, if not one of particular abilities. Francis worked diligently at improving the royal library. He appointed the great French humanist Guillaume Budé as chief librarian and began to expand the collection. Francis employed agents in Italy to look for rare books and manuscripts, just as he had agents looking for artworks. During his reign, the size of the library greatly increased. Not only did he expand the library, but there is also evidence that he read the books he bought for it, a much rarer event in the royal annals. Francis set an important precedent by opening his library to scholars from around the world in order to facilitate the diffusion of knowledge.
In 1537, Francis signed the Ordonnance de Montpellier, which decreed that his library be given a copy of every book to be sold in France. Francis' older sister, Marguerite, Queen of Navarre, was also an accomplished writer who produced the classic collection of short stories known as the Heptameron. Francis corresponded with the abbess and philosopher Claude de Bectoz, of whose letters he was so fond that he would carry them around and show them to the ladies of his court. Together with his sister, he visited her in Tarascon.
Construction
Francis poured vast amounts of money into new structures. He continued the work of his predecessors on the Château d'Amboise and also started renovations on the Château de Blois. Early in his reign, he began construction of the magnificent Château de Chambord, inspired by the architectural styles of the Italian Renaissance, and perhaps even designed by Leonardo da Vinci. Francis rebuilt the Louvre Palace, transforming it from a medieval fortress into a building of Renaissance splendour. He financed the building of a new City Hall (the Hôtel de Ville) for Paris in order to have control over the building's design. He constructed the Château de Madrid in the Bois de Boulogne and rebuilt the Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye. The largest of Francis' building projects was the reconstruction and expansion of the Château de Fontainebleau, which quickly became his favourite place of residence, as well as the residence of his official mistress, Anne, Duchess of Étampes.
Military action
Although the Italian Wars (1494–1559) came to dominate the reign of Francis I, which he constantly participate at the forefront as le Roi-Chevalier, the wars were not the sole focus of his policies. He merely continued the wars that he succeeded from his predecessors and that his heir and successor on the throne, Henry II of France, would inherit after Francis' death. Indeed, the Italian Wars had begun when Milan sent a plea to King Charles VIII of France for protection against the aggressive actions of the King of Naples. Militarily and diplomatically, the reign of Francis I was a mixed bag of success and failure. Francis I tried and failed to become Holy Roman Emperor at the Imperial election of 1519, primarily due to his adversary Charles having threatened the electors with violence. However, there were also temporary victories, such as in the portion of the Italian Wars called the War of the League of Cambrai (1508–1516) and, more specifically, to the final stage of that war, which history refers to simply as "Francis' First Italian War" (1515–1516), when Francis routed the combined forces of the Papal States and the Old Swiss Confederacy at Marignano on 13–15 September 1515. This grand victory at Marignano allowed Francis I to capture the Italian city-state of Duchy of Milan. However, in November 1521, during the Four Years' War (1521–1526) and facing the advancing Imperial forces of the Holy Roman Empire and open revolt within Milan, Francis I was forced to abandon Milan.
Much of the military activity of Francis's reign was focused on his sworn enemy, the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V. Francis and Charles maintained an intense personal rivalry. Charles, in fact, brashly dared to challenge Francis to single combat multiple times. In addition to the Holy Roman Empire, Charles personally ruled Spain, Austria, and a number of smaller possessions neighbouring France. He was thus a constant threat to Francis I's kingdom.
Francis I attempted to arrange an alliance with Henry VIII at the famous meeting at the Field of Cloth of Gold on 7 June 1520, but despite a lavish fortnight of diplomacy they failed to reach an agreement. Francis I and Henry VIII both shared the dreams of power and chivalric glory; however their relationship featured intense personal and dynastic rivalry. Francis I was driven by his intense eagerness to retake Milan, despite the strong opposition of other powers. Henry VIII was likewise determined to recapture northern France, which Francis I could not allow.
However, the situation was grave; Francis I had to face not only the whole might of Western Europe, but also the internal hostility in form of Charles III de Bourbon, a capable commander who fought alongside Francis I as his constable at the great battle of Marignano, but defected to Charles V after his conflict with Francis I's mother over inheritance of Bourbon estates. Despite all this, the Kingdom of France still held the balance of power in its favour. Nevertheless, the defeat suffered from the cataclystic battle of Pavia on 24 February 1525, during part of the continuing Italian Wars known as the Four Years' War upheaved the political ground of Europe. He was actually taken prisoner: Cesare Hercolani injured his horse, and Francis I himself was subsequently captured by Charles de Lannoy. Some claims he was captured by Diego Dávila, Alonso Pita da Veiga, and Juan de Urbieta, from Guipúzcoa. For this reason, Hercolani was named "Victor of the battle of Pavia". Zuppa alla Pavese was supposedly invented on the spot to feed the captive king after the battle.
Francis I was held captive morbidly in Madrid. In a letter to his mother, he wrote, "Of all things, nothing remains to me but honour and life, which is safe." This line has come down in history famously as "All is lost save honour." Francis I was compelled to make major concessions to Charles in the Treaty of Madrid (1526), signed on 14 January, before he was freed on 17 March. An ultimatum from Ottoman Sultan Suleiman to Charles additionally played a role in his release. Francis I was forced to surrender any claims to Naples and Milan in Italy. Francis I was forced to recognised the independence of the Duchy of Burgundy, which had been part of France since the death of Charles the Bold in 1477. And finally, Francis I was betrothed to Charles' sister Eleanor. Francis I returned to France in exchange for his two sons, Francis and Henry, Duke of Orléans, the future Henry II of France, but once he was free he revoked the forced concessions as his agreement with Charles was made under duress. He also proclaimed that the agreement was void because his sons were taken hostage with the implication that his word alone could not be trusted. Thus he firmly repudiated it. A renewed alliance with England enabled Francis to repudiate the treaty of Madrid.
Francis persevered in his rivalry against Charles and his intent to control Italy. By the mid-1520s, Pope Clement VII wished to liberate Italy from foreign domination, especially that of Charles, so he allied with Venice to form the League of Cognac. Francis joined the League in May 1526, in the War of the League of Cognac of 1526–30. Francis' allies proved weak, and the war was ended by the Treaty of Cambrai (1529; "the Peace of the Ladies", negotiated by Francis’ mother and Charles’ aunt).The two princes were released, and Francis married Eleanor.
On 24 July 1534, Francis, inspired by the Spanish tercios and the Roman legions, issued an edict to form seven infantry Légions of 6,000 troops each, of which 12,000 of 42,000 were arquebusiers, testifying to the growing importance of gunpowder. The force was a national standing army, where any soldier could be promoted on the basis of vacancies, were paid wages by grade and granted exemptions from the taille and other taxes up to 20 sous, a heavy burden on the state budget.
After the League of Cognac failed, Francis concluded a secret alliance with the Landgrave of Hesse on 27 January 1534. This was directed against Charles on the pretext of assisting the Duke of Württemberg to regain his traditional seat, from which Charles had removed him in 1519. Francis also obtained the help of the Ottoman Empire and after the death of Francesco II Sforza, ruler of Milan, renewed the contest in Italy in the Italian War of 1536–1538. This round of fighting, which had little result, was ended by the Truce of Nice. The agreement collapsed, however, which led to Francis' final attempt on Italy in the Italian War of 1542–1546. Francis I managed to hold off the forces of Charles and Henry VIII. Charles was forced to sign the Treaty of Crépy because of his financial difficulties and conflicts with the Schmalkaldic League.
Information From: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brooklyn_bridge
Brooklyn Bridge
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For other uses, see Brooklyn Bridge (disambiguation).
Brooklyn Bridge
Carries Motor vehicles (cars only)
Elevated trains (until 1944)
Streetcars (until 1950)
Pedestrians, and bicycles
Crosses East River
Locale New York City (Manhattan–Brooklyn)
Maintained by New York City Department of Transportation
Designer John Augustus Roebling
Design Suspension/Cable-stay Hybrid
Total length 5,989 feet (1825 m)[1]
Width 85 feet (26 m)
Longest span 1,595 feet 6 inches (486.3 m)
Clearance below 135 feet (41 m) at mid-span
Opened May 24, 1883
Toll Free both ways
Daily traffic 123,781 (2008)[2]
Coordinates 40°42′20″N 73°59′47″W / 40.70569°N 73.99639°W / 40.70569; -73.99639 (Brooklyn Bridge)Coordinates: 40°42′20″N 73°59′47″W / 40.70569°N 73.99639°W / 40.70569; -73.99639 (Brooklyn Bridge)
Brooklyn Bridge
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
U.S. National Historic Landmark
NYC Landmark
Built/Founded: 1883
Architectural style(s): Gothic
Added to NRHP: 1966[3]
Designated NHL: January 29, 1964[4]
NRHP Reference#: 75001237
The Brooklyn Bridge is one of the oldest suspension bridges in the United States. Completed in 1883, it connects the New York City boroughs of Manhattan and Brooklyn by spanning the East River. With a main span of 1,595.5 feet (486.3 m), it was the longest suspension bridge in the world from its opening until 1903, and the first steel-wire suspension bridge.
Originally referred to as the New York and Brooklyn Bridge, it was dubbed the Brooklyn Bridge in a January 25, 1867 letter to the editor of the Brooklyn Daily Eagle,[5] and formally so named by the city government in 1915. Since its opening, it has become an iconic part of the New York skyline. It was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1964[4][6][7] and a National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark in 1972.[8]
Contents [hide]
1 Construction
2 Pedestrian and vehicular access
2.1 Notable events
2.2 100th anniversary celebrations
2.3 125th anniversary celebrations
3 Cultural significance
4 References
5 Further reading
6 External links
[edit] Construction
The Brooklyn Bridge was initially designed by German immigrant John Augustus Roebling, who had previously designed and constructed shorter suspension bridges, such as Roebling's Delaware Aqueduct in Lackawaxen, Pennsylvania, and the John A. Roebling Suspension Bridge in Cincinnati, Ohio.
While conducting surveys for the bridge project, Roebling sustained a crush injury to his foot when a ferry pinned it against a piling. After amputation of his crushed toes he developed a tetanus infection which left him incapacitated and soon resulted in his death, not long after he had placed his 32 year-old son Washington Roebling in charge of the project.[9]
Washington Roebling also suffered a paralyzing injury as a result of decompression sickness shortly after the beginning of construction on January 3, 1870.[10] This condition, first called "caisson disease" by the project physician Dr. Andrew Smith, afflicted many of the workers working within the caissons.[11][12] After Roebling's debilitating condition left him unable to physically supervise the construction firsthand, his wife Emily Warren Roebling stepped in and provided the critical written link between her husband and the engineers on-site.[13] Under her husband's guidance, Emily had studied higher mathematics, the calculations of catenary curves, the strengths of materials, bridge specifications, and the intricacies of cable construction.[14][15][16] She spent the next 11 years assisting Washington Roebling helping to supervise the bridge's construction.
When iron probes underneath the caisson found the bedrock to be even deeper than expected, Roebling halted construction due to the increased risk of decompression sickness. He deemed the aggregate overlying the bedrock 30 feet (9 m) below it to be firm enough to support the tower base.[17]
The Brooklyn Bridge was completed thirteen years later and was opened for use on May 24, 1883. The opening ceremony was attended by several thousand people and many ships were present in the East Bay for the occasion. President Chester A. Arthur and New York Mayor Franklin Edson crossed the bridge to celebratory cannon fire and were greeted by Brooklyn Mayor Seth Low when they reached the Brooklyn-side tower. Arthur shook hands with Washington Roebling at the latter's home, after the ceremony. Roebling was unable to attend the ceremony (and in fact rarely visited the site again), but held a celebratory banquet at his house on the day of the bridge opening. Further festivity included the performance of a band, gunfire from ships, and a fireworks display.[18]
On that first day, a total of 1,800 vehicles and 150,300 people crossed what was then the only land passage between Manhattan and Brooklyn. Emily Warren Roebling was the first to cross the bridge. The bridge's main span over the East River is 1,595 feet 6 inches (486.3 m). The bridge cost $15.5 million to build and approximately 27 people died during its construction.[19]
One week after the opening, on May 30, 1883, a rumor that the Bridge was going to collapse caused a stampede, which crushed and killed at least twelve people.[20] On May 17, 1884, P. T. Barnum helped to squelch doubts about the bridge's stability—while publicizing his famous circus—when one of his most famous attractions, Jumbo, led a parade of 21 elephants over the Brooklyn Bridge.[21][22][23][24]
Plan of one tower for the Brooklyn Bridge, 1867At the time it opened, and for several years, it was the longest suspension bridge in the world—50% longer than any previously built — and it has become a treasured landmark. Since the 1980s, it has been floodlit at night to highlight its architectural features. The towers are built of limestone, granite, and Rosendale cement. Their architectural style is neo-Gothic, with characteristic pointed arches above the passageways through the stone towers. The paint scheme of the bridge is "Brooklyn Bridge Tan", although is has been argued that the original paint was "Rawlins Red".[25]
At the time the bridge was built, the aerodynamics of bridge building had not been worked out. Bridges were not tested in wind tunnels until the 1950s—well after the collapse of the original Tacoma Narrows Bridge (Galloping Gertie) in 1940. It is therefore fortunate that the open truss structure supporting the deck is by its nature less subject to aerodynamic problems. Roebling designed a bridge and truss system that was six times as strong as he thought it needed to be. Because of this, the Brooklyn Bridge is still standing when many of the bridges built around the same time have vanished into history and been replaced. This is also in spite of the substitution of inferior quality wire in the cabling supplied by the contractor J. Lloyd Haigh—by the time it was discovered, it was too late to replace the cabling that had already been constructed. Roebling determined that the poorer wire would leave the bridge four rather than six times as strong as necessary, so it was eventually allowed to stand, with the addition of 250 cables. Diagonal cables were installed from the towers to the deck, intended to stiffen the bridge. They turned out to be unnecessary, but were kept for their distinctive beauty.
After the collapse in 2007 of the I-35W highway bridge in the city of Minneapolis, increased public attention has been brought to bear on the condition of bridges across the US, and it has been reported that the Brooklyn Bridge approach ramps received a rating of "poor" at its last inspection.[26] According to a NYC Department of Transportation spokesman, "The poor rating it received does not mean it is unsafe. Poor means there are some components that have to be rehabilitated." A $725 million project to replace the approaches and repaint the bridge was scheduled to begin in 2009.[27]
The construction of the Brooklyn Bridge is detailed in the 1978 book The Great Bridge by David McCullough[13] and Brooklyn Bridge (1981), the first PBS documentary film ever made by Ken Burns.[28] Burns drew heavily on McCullough's book for the film and used him as narrator.[29] It is also described in Seven Wonders of the Industrial World, a BBC docudrama series with accompanying book.
[edit] Pedestrian and vehicular access
Cross section diagramAt various times, the bridge has carried horse-drawn and trolley traffic; at present, it has six lanes for motor vehicles, with a separate walkway along the centerline for pedestrians and bicycles. Due to the roadway's height (11 ft (3.4 m) posted) and weight (6,000 lb (2,700 kg) posted) restrictions, commercial vehicles and buses are prohibited from using this bridge. The two inside traffic lanes once carried elevated trains of the BMT from Brooklyn points to a terminal at Park Row via Sands Street. Streetcars ran on what are now the two center lanes (shared with other traffic) until the elevated lines stopped using the bridge in 1944, when they moved to the protected center tracks. In 1950 the streetcars also stopped running, and the bridge was rebuilt to carry six lanes of automobile traffic.
The Brooklyn Bridge is accessible from the Brooklyn entrances of Tillary/Adams Streets, Sands/Pearl Streets, and Exit 28B of the eastbound Brooklyn-Queens Expressway. In Manhattan, motor cars can enter from either direction of the FDR Drive, Park Row, Chambers/Centre Streets, and Pearl/Frankfort Streets. Pedestrian access to the bridge from the Brooklyn side is from either Tillary/Adams Streets (in between the auto entrance/exit), or a staircase on Prospect St between Cadman Plaza East and West. In Manhattan, the pedestrian walkway is accessible from the end of Centre Street, or through the unpaid south staircase of Brooklyn Bridge-City Hall IRT subway station.
View from the pedestrian walkway. The bridge's cable arrangement forms a distinct weblike pattern.The Brooklyn Bridge has a wide pedestrian walkway open to walkers and cyclists, in the center of the bridge and higher than the automobile lanes. While the bridge has always permitted the passage of pedestrians across its span, its role in allowing thousands to cross takes on a special importance in times of difficulty when usual means of crossing the East River have become unavailable.
During transit strikes by the Transport Workers Union in 1980 and 2005, the bridge was used by people commuting to work, with Mayors Koch and Bloomberg crossing the bridge as a gesture to the affected public.[30][31]
Following the 1965, 1977 and 2003 Blackouts and most famously after the September 11, 2001, attacks on the World Trade Center, the bridge was used by people in Manhattan to leave the city after subway service was suspended. The massive numbers of people on the bridge could not have been anticipated by the original designer, yet John Roebling designed it with three separate systems managing even unanticipated structural stresses. The bridge has a suspension system, a diagonal stay system, and a stiffening truss. "Roebling himself famously said if anything happens to one of [his] systems, 'The bridge may sag, but it will not fall.'"[32] The movement of large numbers of people on a bridge creates pedestrian oscillations or "sway" as the crowd lifts one foot after another, some falling inevitably in synchronized cadences. The natural sway motion of people walking causes small sideways oscillations in a bridge, which in turn cause people on the bridge to sway in step, increasing the amplitude of the bridge oscillations and continually reinforcing the effect. High-density traffic of this nature causes a bridge to appear to move erratically or "to wobble" as happened at opening of the London Millennium Footbridge in 2000.[33]
Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper c.1883[edit] Notable events
First jumper
The first person to jump from the bridge was Robert E. Odlum on May 19, 1885. He struck the water at an angle and died shortly thereafter from internal injuries.[34] Steve Brodie was the most famous jumper, or self-proclaimed jumper (in 1886).
Bungee jump
On June 1993, following 13 reconnoiters inside the metal structure, and with the help of a mountain guide, Thierry Devaux performed (illegally) eight acrobatic bungee jumps above the East River close to the Brooklyn pier, in the early morning. He used an electric winch between each acrobatic figure.[35]
1994 Brooklyn Bridge shooting
Main article: Brooklyn Bridge Shooting
On March 1, 1994, Lebanese-born Rashid Baz opened fire on a van carrying members of the Chabad-Lubavitch Orthodox Jewish Movement, striking sixteen-year-old student Ari Halberstam and three others traveling on the bridge.[36] Halberstam died five days later from his wounds. Baz was apparently acting out of revenge for the Hebron massacre of 29 Muslims by Baruch Goldstein that had taken place days earlier on February 25, 1994. Baz was convicted of murder and sentenced to a 141-year prison term. After initially classifying the murder as one committed out of road rage, the Justice Department reclassified the case in 2000 as a terrorist attack. The entrance ramp to the bridge on the Manhattan side was named the Ari Halberstam Memorial Ramp in memory of the victim.[37]
The 2003 plot
In 2003, truck driver Iyman Faris was sentenced to about 20 years in prison for providing material support to Al-Qaeda, after an earlier plot to destroy the bridge by cutting through its support wires with blowtorches was thwarted through information the National Security Agency uncovered through wiretapped phone conversations and interrogation of Al-Qaeda militants.[38]
2006 bunker discovery
In 2006, a Cold War era bunker was found by city workers near the East River shoreline of Manhattan's Lower East Side. The bunker, hidden within the masonry anchorage, still contained the emergency supplies that were being stored for a potential nuclear attack by the Soviet Union.[39]
[edit] 100th anniversary celebrations
The centennary celebrations on May 24, 1983, saw a cavalcade of cars crossing the bridge, led by President Ronald Reagan. A flotilla of ships visited the harbor, parades were held, and in the evening the sky over the bridge was illuminated by Grucci fireworks.[40] The Brooklyn Museum exhibited a selection of the original drawings made for the bridge's construction, some by Washington Roebling himself.
[edit] 125th anniversary celebrations
Beginning on May 22, 2008, festivities were held over a five-day period to celebrate the 125th anniversary of the opening of the Brooklyn Bridge. The events kicked off with a live performance of the Brooklyn Philharmonic in Empire–Fulton Ferry State Park, followed by special lighting of the bridge's towers and a fireworks display.[41] Other events held during the 125th anniversary celebrations, which coincided with the Memorial Day weekend, included a film series, historical walking tours, information tents, a series of lectures and readings, a bicycle tour of Brooklyn, a miniature golf course featuring Brooklyn icons, and other musical and dance performances.[42]
Just before the anniversary celebrations, the Telectroscope, which created a video link between New York and London, was installed on the Brooklyn side of the bridge. The installation lasted for a few weeks and permitted viewers in New York to see people looking into a matching telectroscope in front of London's Tower Bridge.[43] A newly renovated pedestrian connection to DUMBO was also unveiled before the anniversary celebrations.[44]
[edit] Cultural significance
Contemporaries marveled at what technology was capable of and the bridge became a symbol of the optimism of the time. John Perry Barlow wrote in the late 20th century of the "literal and genuinely religious leap of faith" embodied in the Brooklyn Bridge ... "the Brooklyn Bridge required of its builders faith in their ability to control technology."[45]
References to "selling the Brooklyn Bridge" abound in American culture, sometimes as examples of rural gullibility but more often in connection with an idea that strains credulity. For example, "If you believe that, I've got a bridge to sell you."[citation needed] References are often nowadays more oblique, such as "I could sell you some lovely riverside property in Brooklyn ...".[citation needed] George C. Parker and William McCloundy are two early 20th-century con-men who had (allegedly) successfully perpetrated this scam on unwitting tourists.[46] The 1949 Bugs Bunny cartoon Bowery Bugs is a joking reference to Bugs "selling" a story of the Brooklyn Bridge to a naive tourist.
In his second book The Bridge, Hart Crane begins with a poem entitled "Proem: To Brooklyn Bridge." The bridge was a source of inspiration for Crane and he owned different apartments specifically to have different views of the bridge.
[edit] References
^ "NYCDOT Bridges Information". New York City Department of Transportation. www.nyc.gov/html/dot/html/bridges/bridges.shtml#brooklyn. Retrieved 2008-08-23.
^ "New York City Bridge Traffic Volumes 2008" (PDF). New York City Department of Transportation. March 2010. p. 63. www.nyc.gov/html/dot/downloads/pdf/bridgetrafrpt08.pdf. Retrieved 2010-07-10.
^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. 2007-01-23. www.nr.nps.gov/.
^ a b "Brooklyn Bridge". National Historic Landmark summary listing. National Park Service. tps.cr.nps.gov/nhl/detail.cfm?ResourceId=376&Resource....
^ E.P.D. (January 25, 1867). "Bridging the East River – Another Project". The Brooklyn Daily Eagle: p. 2. www.brooklynpubliclibrary.org/eagle/. Retrieved 2007-11-26.
^ "The Brooklyn Bridge", February 24, 1975, by James B. Armstrong and S. Sydney Bradford "National Register of Historic Places Inventory-Nomination"]. National Park Service. 1975-02-24. pdfhost.focus.nps.gov/docs/NHLS/Text/66000523.pdf "The Brooklyn Bridge", February 24, 1975, by James B. Armstrong and S. Sydney Bradford].
^ The Brooklyn Bridge—Accompanying three photos, from 1975. "National Register of Historic Places Inventory-Nomination"]. National Park Service. 1975-02-24. pdfhost.focus.nps.gov/docs/NHLS/Photos/66000523.pdf The Brooklyn Bridge—Accompanying three photos, from 1975.].
^ "Brooklyn Bridge". ASCE Metropolitan Section. www.ascemetsection.org/content/view/339/872/. Retrieved 2010-06-30.
^ "THE BUILDING OF THE BRIDGE.; ITS COST AND THE DIFFICULTIES MET WITH-- DETAILS OF THE HISTORY OF A GREAT ENGINEERING TRIUMPH.". The New York Times. May 24, 1883. query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9F01E5DC1431E433A.... Retrieved 2009-10-27.
^ Butler WP (2004). "Caisson disease during the construction of the Eads and Brooklyn Bridges: A review". Undersea Hyperb Med 31 (4): 445–59. PMID 15686275. archive.rubicon-foundation.org/4028. Retrieved 2008-06-19.
^ Smith, Andrew Heermance (1886). The Physiological, Pathological and Therapeutical Effects of Compressed Air. Detroit: George S. Davis. books.google.com/?id=hLq981_A5bMC&printsec=frontcover.... Retrieved 2009-04-17.
^ Acott, Chris (1999). "A brief history of diving and decompression illness.". South Pacific Underwater Medicine Society journal 29 (2). ISSN 0813-1988. OCLC 16986801. archive.rubicon-foundation.org/6004. Retrieved 2009-04-17.
^ a b Amazon.com: The Great Bridge: The Epic Story of the Building of the Brooklyn Bridge: J'aime Drisdelle: Books
^ Weigold, Marilyn (1984). Silent Builder: Emily Warren Roebling and the Brooklyn Bridge. Associated Faculty Press.
^ McCullough, David (1983). The Great Bridge: The Epic Story of the Building of the Brooklyn Bridge. New York: Simon & Schuster. p. 421.
^ "Emily Warren Roebling". American Society of Civil Engineers. www.asce.org/PPLContent.aspx?id=2147487328. Retrieved 2010-06-30.
^ "GlassSteelandStone: Brooklyn Bridge-tower rests on sand". www.glasssteelandstone.com/BuildingDetail/435.php. Retrieved 2007-02-20.
^ Reeves, Thomas C. (1975). Gentleman Boss. New York: Alfred A. Knopf. pp. 359–360. ISBN 0-394-46095-2.
^ "Brooklyn Daily Eagle 1841–1902 Online". Archived from the original on 2007-11-14. web.archive.org/web/20071114135249/http://eagle.brooklynp.... Retrieved 2007-11-23.
^ "Dead on the New Bridge; Fatal Crush at the Western Approach". The New York Times. May 31, 1883. query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=980DE3DA1431E433A.... Retrieved 2010-02-20.
^ Bildner, Phil (2004). Twenty-One Elephants. New York: Simon & Schuster. ISBN 0689870116.
^ Prince, April Jones (2005). Twenty-One Elephants and Still Standing. Boston: Houghton Mifflin. ISBN 061844887X.
^ "P.T. Barnum – MSN Encarta". Archived from the original on 2009-10-31. www.webcitation.org/5kwQPajtQ.
^ Strausbaugh, John (November 9, 2007). "When Barnum Took Manhattan". The New York Times. www.nytimes.com/2007/11/09/arts/09expl.html. Retrieved 2008-09-21.
^ Gary Buiso, New York Post (May 25, 2010). "A True Cover Up. Brooklyn Bridge Paint Job Glosses over History". www.nypost.com/p/news/local/brooklyn/true_cover_up_brookl.... Retrieved October 23, 2010.
^ Chan, Sewell (August 2, 2007). "Brooklyn Bridge Is One of 3 With Poor Rating". The New York Times. cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/08/02/brooklyn-bridge-is-.... Retrieved 2007-09-10.
^ "Brooklyn Bridge called 'safe' – DOT says span is okay despite getting a 'poor' rating". Courier-Life Publications. www.baynewsbrooklyn.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=18685076&.... Retrieved 2007-08-12.
^ Burns, Ken. "Why I Decided to Make Brooklyn Bridge". Public Broadcasting Service. www.pbs.org/kenburns/brooklynbridge/about/. Retrieved 2010-02-20.
^ "Burns, Ken – U.S. Documentary Film Maker". The Museum of Broadcast Communications. www.museum.tv/eotvsection.php?entrycode=burnsken. Retrieved 2010-02-20.
^ Quindlen, Anna (April 2, 1980). "Koch Faces Day Ebulliently; He Looks Well Rested". The New York Times. select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F3061EFB395C1272.... Retrieved 2010-06-30.
^ Rutenberg, Jim (December 21, 2005). "On Foot, on Bridge and at City Hall, Bloomberg Is Irate". The New York Times. www.nytimes.com/2005/12/21/nyregion/nyregionspecial3/21ma.... Retrieved 2010-06-30.
^ Julavits, Robert (August 26, 2003). "Point of Collapse". The Village Voice. www.villagevoice.com/2003-08-26/news/point-of-collapse/. Retrieved 2010-02-20.
^ Steven Henry, Strogatz (2003). Sync: The Emerging Science of Spontaneous Order. New York: Hyperion. pp. 174–175, 312, 320. ISBN 0786868449.
^ "Odlum's Leap to Death". The New York Times: p. 1. May 20, 1885. query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=990DE4D91739E533A.... Retrieved 2008-04-15.
^ "Brooklyn Bridge". SunnyDream. www.sunnydream.info/index.php?page=brooklyn. Retrieved 2010-06-25.
^ Sexton, Joe (March 2, 1994). "4 Hasidic Youths Hurt in Brooklyn Bridge Shooting". The New York Times. www.nytimes.com/1994/03/02/nyregion/4-hasidic-youths-hurt.... Retrieved 2010-06-30.
^ "In Memoriam". Ari Halberstam Memorial Site. www.arihalberstam.com/in-memoriam/. Retrieved 2010-06-30.
^ "Iyman Faris". GlobalSecurity.org. www.globalsecurity.org/security/profiles/iyman_faris.htm. Retrieved 2010-06-30.
^ Lovgren, Stefan (March 24, 2006). "Cold War "Time Capsule" Found in Brooklyn Bridge". National Geographic. news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2006/03/0324_060324_broo.... Retrieved 2010-02-20.
^ NYC Roads. "The Brooklyn Bridge". www.nycroads.com/crossings/brooklyn/. Retrieved October 23, 2010.
^ Burke, Kerry; Hutchinson, Bill (May 23, 2008). "Brooklyn Bridge turns 125 with a bang". Daily News (New York). www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/brooklyn/2008/05/22/2008-05-.... Retrieved 2009-08-01.
^ "Brooklyn Bridge 125th Anniversary Celebration". ASCE Metropolitan Section. www.ascemetsection.org/content/view/121/830/. Retrieved 2009-08-01.
^ Ryzik, Melena (May 21, 2008). "Telescope Takes a Long View, to London". The New York Times. www.nytimes.com/2008/05/21/arts/design/21tele.html. Retrieved 2009-08-01.
^ Farmer, Ann (May 21, 2008). "This Way to Brooklyn, This Way". The New York Times. cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/05/21/welcome-to-dumbo-it.... Retrieved 2009-08-01.
^ Cultural Significance
^ Cohen, Gabriel (November 27, 2005). "For You, Half Price". The New York Times. www.nytimes.com/2005/11/27/nyregion/thecity/27brid.htm. Retrieved 2010-02-20.
[edit] Further reading
Cadbury, Deborah. (2004), Dreams of Iron and Steel. New York: HarperCollins. ISBN 0-00-716307-X
Haw, Richard. (2005). The Brooklyn Bridge: A Cultural History. New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press. ISBN 0-8135-3587-5
Haw, Richard. (2008). Art of the Brooklyn Bridge: A Visual History. New York: Routledge. ISBN 0-415-95386-3
McCullough, David. (1972). The Great Bridge. New York: Simon & Schuster. ISBN 0-671-21213-3
Strogatz, Steven. (2003). Sync: The Emerging Science of Spontaneous Order. New York: Hyperion books. 10-ISBN 0-7868-6844-9; 13-ISBN 978-0-7868-6844-5 (cloth) [2nd ed., Hyperion, 2004. 10-ISBN 0-7868-8721-4; 13-ISBN 978-0-7868-8721-7 (paper)]
Strogartz, Steven, Daniel M. Abrams, Allan McRobie, Bruno Eckhardt, and Edward Ott. et al. (2005). "Theoretical mechanics: Crowd synchrony on the Millennium Bridge," Nature, Vol. 438, pp, 43–44.link to Nature articleMillennium Bridge opening day video illustrating "crowd synchrony" oscillations
Trachtenberg, Alan. (1965). Brooklyn Bridge: Fact and Symbol. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. ISBN 0226811158 [2nd ed., 1979, ISBN 0-226-81115-8 (paper)]
[edit] External links
New York City portal
Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Brooklyn Bridge
360° Interactive panorama from the top of the Brooklyn Bridge
The Brooklyn Bridge: A Study in Greatness
NYCroads.com – Brooklyn Bridge
Transportation Alternatives Fiboro Bridges – Brooklyn Bridge
The story of Brooklyn Bridge – by CBS Forum
Panorama of Brooklyn Bridge 1899 – Extreme Photo Constructions
Structurae: Brooklyn Bridge
Great Buildings entry for the Brooklyn Bridge
American Society of Civil Engineers
Railroad Extra – Brooklyn Bridge and its Railway
Images of the Brooklyn Bridge from the Brooklyn Museum
Brooklyn Bridge Photo Gallery with a Flash VR 360 of the Brooklyn Bridge Pedestrian Walkway
Opening Ceremonies of the New York and Brooklyn Bridge, May 24, 1883 at Project Gutenberg
Brooklyn Bridge at Historical Marker Database
The Botanischer Garten der Ruhr-Universität Bochum (13 hectares), also known as the Botanischer Garten Bochum, is a botanical garden maintained by the Ruhr University Bochum. It is located at Universitätsstraße 150, Bochum, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, and open daily without charge.
The garden was founded in 1968 and subsequently has been continuously expanded and improved. It opened to the public in 1971, with later developments as follows: tropical house, 1976; desert house, 1988; Chinese garden, 1990; savannah houses, 2000.
The garden's fenced, outdoors area (13,000 m²) cultivates plants organized into geobotanical regions, including forests, coasts, meadows, prairies, and marshes from the Americas, Asia, and Europe. It also contains an alpine garden and succulent garden.
Its Chinese garden (1000 m²) was created from 1986-1990, and renovated in 2001, by skilled gardeners donated by the Tongji University in Shanghai as a sign of friendship. It is named Qian Yuan (Qian Garden), reflecting a memory of poet Tao Qian (365-427 AD), and laid out in the southern Chinese style. A pond covers half its area.
The garden's greenhouses (total area 3,500 m²) contain collections of succulent Euphorbia (350 species), other succulents, Cycadaceae, Canary Island plants, Eriocaulaceae (5 species), and alpine plants. They are organized as follows:
Tropical house (713 m², 17 meter height) - tropical jungle vegetation and useful plants, with a small stream, herbs, banana trees, coffee bushes, etc.
Desert house - dry tropical and subtropical plants from South America, Madagascar, and South Africa.
Savannah houses - sclerophyllous shrubs from the savannahs of South Africa and Australia with accompanying vegetation. Collections include many eucalyptus species, as well as Australian grass trees (Xanthorrhoea) and an arborescent Cussonia.
Alpine House (140 m²) - plants from high mountains
Aniés, Huesca (Spain).
ENGLISH
The photo (processed from RAW) is very bad because the high ISO, blindly manual focus, and to maintain the balance on tiptoes 30 seconds (holding the button) with the camera in a minitripod at the top of a mud wall. But it is the best one of those than I could do. What it is seen here it is just like one at naked eye watching towards the SE, after to have trained the eyes to see in the dark.
***
Orion (pronounced /ɒˈraɪən/), a constellation often referred to as The Hunter, is a prominent constellation, one of the largest and perhaps the best-known and most conspicuous in the sky. Its brilliant stars are found on the celestial equator and are visible throughout the world. Its three prominent "belt" stars - three stars of medium brightness in the mid-section of this constellation - make this constellation easy to spot and globally recognized. From mid-northern latitudes, Orion is visible in the evening from November to early May and in the morning from late July to November.
Greek mythology has several versions of the history of Orion, the gigantic hunter of primordial times. These end in different versions of his death: He challenged the gods, either by attempting to rape Artemis or by claiming that he could kill every wild animal on Earth. Some versions then say Artemis shot him with her arrows; but others say that Artemis or Earth produced a great Scorpion whom he could not defeat and which killed him. The gods raised him and the Scorpion to the skies, as Scorpio/Scorpius. Yet other stories say Orion was chasing the Pleiades.
The nearby constellations of Canis Major and Canis Minor are visualized in some myths as Orion's hunting dogs.
More info: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orion_(constellation)
-------------------------
CASTELLANO
La foto (procesada a partir de RAW) es muy mala por el ISO alto, enfoque manual a ciegas, y mantener el equilibrio de puntillas 30 segundos con la cámara (sujetando el botón) en un minitrípode en lo alto de una tapia. Pero es la mejor de las que pude hacer. Lo que se ve aquí es lo mismo que se veía a simple vista mirando hacia el SE, tras haber entrenado los ojos a ver en la oscuridad.
***
Orión, el Cazador, es una constelación prominente, quizás la mejor conocida del cielo. Sus estrellas brillantes y visibles desde ambos hemisferios en invierno hacen que esta constelación sea reconocida universalmente.
Orión se encuentra cerca de la constelación del río Eridanus y apoyado por sus dos perros de caza Canis Major y Canis Minor peleando con la constelación del Tauro.
Varias leyendas se cuentan de Orión y se contradicen entre sí. Una de ellas cuenta que Artemisa se había enamorado de Orión, lo cual despertó celos en Apolo, dios del sol y hermano gemelo de Artemisa, pues aquél tenía que cuidar de la castidad de ella. Un día Apolo, viendo a Orión a lo lejos, hizo una apuesta a su hermana desafiándola a que no podía asestarle una flecha a un animal (o a un punto brillante lejos en el océano, en otra versión) que se movía a lo lejos dentro de un bosque (o en lo lejano del mar). Artemisa lanzó su flecha y dio, como siempre, en el blanco. Cuando fue a ver su presa, se dio cuenta que había aniquilado a su amado Orión. Fueron tan grandes su tristeza, sus quejas y sus lamentos, que Zeus, padre de los dioses, colocó a Orión en el cielo para su consuelo. Se dice que un día Orión regresará para vengarse de Apolo y si no a él, a sus descendientes ya mortales y casarse con la descendiente de Artemisa.
En la mitología griega, Orión, el gran cazador, hijo de Poseidón (Dios del Mar) y Euríale, era conocido por librar al mundo de las bestias, y se decía que era tan alto que incluso podía cruzar el mar caminando por el lecho marino sin perder pie. Sin embargo, su poder, orgullo y prepotencia, le convirtieron en un ser presumido que afirmaba que nadie podría derrotarlo. Tal arrogancia despertó la ira de la Diosa Hera (o a Artemisa según otra versión), quien ordenó a Escorpión que lo mordiera en el talón para herirlo de muerte. Escorpión lo mordió y Orión le mató con su garrote. Desde entonces ambos son enemigos y ocupan posiciones diametralmente opuestas en la bóveda celeste: cuando Escorpión sale, Orión se oculta.
Otra leyenda cuenta que Orión acosaba a las Pléyades, hijas del titán Atlas, por lo que este se quejó a Zeus, el cual envió al toro Taurus para protegerlas. Como aún así Orión persistía en su acoso, Zeus envió a un Escorpión para ahuyentarlo, cosa que consiguió.
Orión está representado por un guerrero alzando su arco y cubriéndose del enemigo con un vellocino. A su lado se encuentran sus perros de caza: Canis Mayor y Canis Minor.
Más info: es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ori%c3%b3n_(constelaci%c3%b3n)
A ball bearing is a type of rolling-element bearing that uses balls to maintain the separation between the bearing races. The purpose of a ball bearing is to reduce rotational friction and support radial and axial loads. It achieves this by using at least two races to contain the balls and transmit the loads through the balls. In most applications, one race is stationary and the other is attached to the rotating assembly (e.g., a hub or shaft). As one of the bearing races rotates it causes the balls to rotate as well. Because the balls are rolling they have a much lower coefficient of friction than if two flat surfaces were sliding against each other.
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+++ DISCLAIMER +++
Nothing you see here is real, even though the conversion or the presented background story might be based on historical facts. BEWARE!
Some background:
The Cessna Model 336 and 337 “Skymaster” were American twin-engine civil utility aircraft built in a unique push-pull configuration. Their engines were mounted in the nose and rear of its pod-style fuselage. Twin booms extended aft of the wings to the vertical stabilizers, with the rear engine between them. The horizontal stabilizer was aft of the pusher propeller, mounted between and connecting the two booms.
The first Skymaster, Model 336, had fixed landing gear and initially flew on February 28, 1961. It went into production in May 1963 with 195 being produced through mid-1964. In February 1965, Cessna introduced the larger Model 337 Super Skymaster with more powerful engines, retractable landing gear, and a dorsal air scoop for the rear engine (the "Super" prefix was subsequently dropped from the name). In 1966, the turbocharged T337 was introduced, and in 1973, the pressurized P337G entered production.
The type was very prolific and Cessna built 2.993 Skymasters of all variants, including 513 military O-2 (nicknamed "Oscar Deuce") versions from 1967 onwards. The latter featured underwing ordnance hard points to hold unguided rockets, gun pods or flares, and served in the forward air control (FAC) role and psychological operations (PSYOPS) by the US military between 1967 and 2010. Production in America ended in 1982, but was continued by Reims in France, with the FTB337 STOL and the military FTMA “Milirole”.
Both civil and military Cessna 336/337 version had long service careers, and some were considerably modified for new operators and uses. Among the most drastic conversions was the Spectrum SA-550, built by Spectrum Aircraft Corporation of Van Nuys, California, in the mid-1980s: Spectrum took the 336/337 airframe and removed the front engine, lengthened the nose to maintain the center of gravity, and replaced the rear piston engine with a pusher turboprop which offered more power than the combined pair of original petrol engines. The Spectrum SA-550 conversion also came together with an optional modernization package that prolonged the airframes’ service life, so that modified machines could well serve on for 20 years or more.
This drastic conversion was executed for both military and civil operators. The best-known military SA-550s were six former USAF O-2A airframes, which had been transferred to the U.S. Navy in 1983 for use as range controllers with VA-122 at NAS Lemoore, California. These aircraft were operationally nicknamed “Pelican”, due to the characteristic new nose shape, and the name unofficially caught on.
However, the SA-550 package was only adopted sporadically by private operators, but it became quite popular among several major police and fire departments. Typical duties for these machines included border/drug patrol, surveillance/observation duties (e.g. traffic, forest fire) and special tasks, including drug interdiction as well for SAR missions and undercover operations like narcotics and serialized criminal investigations. Some SA-550s were accordingly modified and individually outfitted with suitable sensors, including IR/low light cameras, searchlights, and internal auxiliary tanks. None were armed, even though some aircraft featured underwing hardpoints for external extra tanks, flare dispensers for nocturnal operations or smoke charge dispensers for ground target marking to guide water bombers to hidden forest fires.
The type’s versatility, low noise level, high travel speed and good loitering time in the operational area at low speed proved to be vital assets for these public service operators and justified its relatively high maintenance costs. A handful of the modernized Spectrum SA-550 machines were still in active service after the Millennium, primarily in the USA.
General characteristics:
Crew: 1 + 3 passengers (up to 5 passengers possible in special seat configuration)
Length: 32 ft 6½ in (9.94 m)
Wingspan: 38 ft ¾ in (11.62 m)
Height: 9 ft 2 in (2.79 m)
Wing area: 201 sq ft (18.81 m²)
Aspect ratio: 7.18:1
Airfoil: NACA 2412 at root, NACA 2409 at tip
Empty weight: 2,655 lb (1,204 kg)
Max takeoff weight: 4,400 lb (1,996 kg)
Fuel capacity: 92 US gal (77 imp gal; 350 l) normal,
128 US gal (107 imp gal; 480 l) with auxiliary tank
in the cabin instead of two passenger seats
Powerplant:
1× Pratt & Whitney PT6A-27 turboprop engine, delivering 550 shp (410 kW) and
driving a four-blade McCauley fully-feathering, constant-speed propeller, 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) diameter
Performance:
Maximum speed: 199 mph (320 km/h, 173 kn) at sea level
Cruise speed: 144 mph (232 km/h, 125 kn) at 10,000 ft (3,000 m) (econ cruise)
Stall speed: 69 mph (111 km/h, 60 kn)
Range: 1421 mi (2.288 km, 1.243 nmi) at 10.000 ft (3.050 m) altitude and economy cruise
Service ceiling: 19,500 ft (5,900 m)
Rate of climb: 1,200 ft/min (6.1 m/s)
Takeoff distance to 50 ft (15m): 1,545 ft (471 m)
Landing distance from 50 ft (15m): 1,650 ft (500 m)
The kit and its assembly:
This build is the combination of ingredients that had already been stashed away for a long time, and the “Red Lights” Group Build at whatifmodellers.com in early 2021 was a good motivator and occasion to finally put everything together.
The basis is an ARII 1:72 Cessna T337 model kit – I had purchased it long ago with the expectation to create a military Skymaster from it, but I was confused by a fixed landing gear which would make it a 336? Well, without a further concrete plan the kit preliminarily landed in The Stash™…
However, the ARII model features the optional observation windows in the doors on the starboard side, in the form of a complete(!) fuselage half, so that it lends itself to a police or firefighter aircraft of some sort. This idea was furthermore fueled by a decal sheet that I had been given from a friend, left over from a 1:72 Italeri JetRanger, with three optional police helicopter markings.
The final creative element was the real-world “Pelican” conversion of six O-2As for the US Navy, as mentioned in the background above: the front engine was replaced with a longer nose and the engine configuration changed to a pusher-only aircraft with a single powerful turboprop engine. This looked so odd that I wanted to modify the ARII Cessna in a similar fashion, too, and all these factors came together in this model.
My Arii Cessna 337 kit is a re-boxing from 2009, but its origins date back to Eidai in 1972 and that’s just what you get: a vintage thing with some flash and sinkholes, raised (but fine) surface details and pretty crude seams with bulges and gaps. Some PSR is direly necessary, esp. the fit of the fuselage halves is cringeworthy. The clear parts were no source of joy, either; especially the windscreen turned out to be thick, very streaky (to a degree that I’d almost call it opaque!) and even not fully molded! The side glazing was also not very clear. I tried to improve the situation through polishing, but if the basis is already poor, there’s little you can do about it. Hrmpf.
However, the kit was built mostly OOB, including the extra O-2 glazing in the lower doors, but with some mods. One is a (barely visible) extra tank in the cabin’s rear, plus a pilot and an observer figure placed into the tight front seats. The extended “Pelican” nose was a lucky find – I was afraid that I had had to sculpt a nose from scratch with 2C putty. But I found a radome from a Hasegawa RA-5C, left over from a model I built in the Eighties and that has since long fallen apart. However, this nose fitted almost perfectly in size and shape, I just “blunted” the tip a little. Additionally, both the hull in front of the dashboard and the Vigilante radome were filled with as many lead beads as possible to keep the nose down.
The kit’s OOB spatted, fixed landing gear was retained – even though it is dubious for a Cessna 337, because this type had a fully retractable landing gear, and the model has the landing gear covers actually molded into the lower fuselage. On the other side, the Cessna 336’s fixed landing gear looks quite different, too! However, this is a what-if model, and a fixed landing gear might have been a measure to reduce maintenance costs?
The propeller was replaced with a resin four-blade aftermarket piece (from CMK, probably the best-fitting thing on this build!) on my standard metal axis/styrene tube adapter arrangement. The propeller belongs to a Shorts Tucano, but I think that it works well on the converted Cessna and its powerful pusher engine, even though in the real world, the SA-550 is AFAIK driven by a three-blade prop. For the different engine I also enlarged the dorsal air intake with a 1.5 mm piece of styrene sheet added on top of the molded original air scoop and added a pair of ventral exhaust stubs (scratched from sprue material).
Another addition is a pair of winglets, made from 0.5 mm styrene sheet – an upgrade which I found on several late Cessna 337s in various versions. They just add to the modernized look of the aircraft. For the intended observation role, a hemispherical fairing under the nose hides a 180° camera, and I added some antennae around the hull.
However, a final word concerning the model kit itself: nothing fits, be warned! While the kit is a simple affair and looks quite good in the box, assembling it turned out to be a nightmare, with flash, sinkholes, a brittle styrene and gaps everywhere. This includes the clear parts, which are pretty thick and blurry. The worst thing is the windscreen, which is not only EXTRA thick and EXTRA blurry, it was also not completely molded, with gaps on both sides. I tried to get it clearer through manual polishing, but the streaky blurs are integral – no hope for improvement unless you completely replace the parts! If I ever build a Cessna 337/O-2 again, I will give the Airfix kit a try, it can only be better…
Painting and markings:
The choice between the operator options from the JetRanger sheet was hard, it included Sweden and Italy, but I eventually settled for the LAPD because the livery looks cool and this police department not only operates helicopters, but also some fixed-wing aircraft.
I adapted the LAPD’s classic black-and-white police helicopter livery (Gloss White and Black, Humbrol 22 and 21, respectively) to the Cessna and extended it to the wings. At this point – already upset because of the poor fit of the hardware – disaster struck in the form of Humbrol’s 22 turning into a pinkish ivory upon curing! In the tin, the paint and its pigments looked pretty white and “clean”, and I assume that it’s the thinner that caused this change. What a crap! It’s probably the third tin with 22 that causes trouble, even though in different peculiarities!
The result was total rubbish, though, and I tried to rub the paint off as good as possible on the small model with its many windows, the fixed, delicate landing gear and the wing support struts. Then I overpainted the areas with Revell 301 (Semi-matt White). While this enamel yielded the intended pure white tone, the paint itself is rather gooey and not easy to work with, so that the overall finish turned out worse than desired. At least the black paint worked properly. The demarcations were created with black decal stripes (TL Modellbau), because the tiny model left little room for complex masking measures – and I did not risk any more painting accidents.
Since the aircraft would be kept shiny and clean, I just did a light black ink washing to emphasize surface details and did a light panel post-shading on the black areas, not for weathering but rather to accent surface structures. No further weathering was done (and necessary).
The markings/decals come – as mentioned above – from an Italeri 1:72 JetRanger, but they were augmented with some additional markings, e. g. grey walkways on the wings and “L-A-P-D” in large black letters under the wings, to distract from the poor finish of the white paint around them…
Finally, the kit was sealed overall with Italeri semi-gloss acrylic varnish, just with a matt anti-glare shield in front of the windscreen, which received thin white trim lines (generic decal stripes).
A challenging build due to the Arii kit’s rather poor basis, the massive rhinoplasty and the crisp paint scheme. However, I like the result – what-if models do not always have to be armed military vehicles, there’s potential in other genres, too. And this mono-engine “Pelican” Skymaster plays its role as a “flying eye” in police service credibly and well. However, this was my first and last Eidai kit…