Statue of Claudius as Jupiter.

A text, in english, from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia:

Tiberius Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus or Claudius I (August 1, 10 BC – October 13, AD 54) (Tiberius Claudius Drusus from birth to AD 4, then Tiberius Claudius Nero Germanicus from then until his accession) was the fourth Roman Emperor, the third of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, ruling from January 24, AD 41 to his death in AD 54. Born in Lugdunum in Gaul (modern-day Lyon, France), to Drusus and Antonia Minor, he was the first Roman Emperor to be born outside Italia.

Claudius was considered a rather unlikely man to become emperor. He was reportedly afflicted with some type of disability, and his family had virtually excluded him from public office until his consulship with his nephew Caligula in AD 37. This infirmity may have saved him from the fate of many other Roman nobles during the purges of Tiberius' and Caligula's reigns; potential enemies did not see him as a serious threat to them. His very survival led to his being declared emperor after Caligula's assassination, at which point he was the last adult male of his family.

Despite his lack of political experience, Claudius proved to be an able administrator and a great builder of public works. His reign saw an expansion of the empire, including the conquest of Britain. He took a personal interest in the law, presided at public trials, and issued up to twenty edicts a day; however, he was seen as vulnerable throughout his rule, particularly by the nobility. Claudius was constantly forced to shore up his position—resulting in the deaths of many senators. Claudius also suffered tragic setbacks in his personal life, one of which may have led to his murder. These events damaged his reputation among the ancient writers. More recent historians have revised this opinion.

See much more at the address en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Claudius .

A seguir, Texto, em português, da Wikipédia, a enciclopédia livre:

Tibério Cláudio César Augusto Germânico, em latim Tiberius Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus, 1 de Agosto, 10 a.C. — 13 de Outubro de 54) foi imperador de Roma entre 41 e 54. Seu nome de nascimento era Tibério Cláudio Nero César Druso , em latim Tiberius Claudius Nero Caesar Drusus. Era filho de Nero Cláudio Druso e Antónia Minor, neto de Livia Drusa, mulher de César Augusto, sobrinho de Tibério e irmão de Germânico. Nasceu em Lugdunum na Gália (actual Lyon, França), tornando-se assim o primeiro imperador nascido fora da península Itálica.

Desde a nascença que Cláudio sofreu de deficiências físicas que o tornaram coxo e com dificuldades de comunicação, visto que gaguejava fortemente. Talvez por isso, nunca foi levado a sério como possível general ou imperador e escapou à "limpeza" na família imperial romana efectuada pelos seus antecessores Tibério e Calígula. Era no entanto um homem muito culto a quem se deve o conhecimento actual da língua etrusca, segundo Suetônio Tranquilo.

Cláudio casou quatro vezes, com Plautia Urgulanilla, Aelia Paetina, Messalina e a sobrinha Agripina a jovem. Nenhum destes casamentos foi feliz. As duas primeiras mulheres foram repudiadas e Messalina foi executada por traição, adultério, libertinagem e acusação de conspiração. De Messalina, Cláudio teve os seus dois únicos filhos: Britânico e Octávia que haveria de casar com o irmão adoptivo, o imperador Nero.

Como habitual na época, o seu reinado não foi livre de assassínios e perseguição política, apesar do tom geral ser bastante mais calmo que o dos seus antecessores. Do ponto de vista económico, Roma recuperou depois dos excessos de Calígula, mesmo com os ambiciosos projectos iniciados pelo imperador. Entre estes, contam-se a expansão do porto de Óstia e a construção de várias obras públicas. Foi também com Cláudio que Roma conquistou as Ilhas Britânicas em 43, criando a província romana da Britânia, e a Mauritânia (no norte da África). Tomou parte na invasão da Britânia e acrescentou o título de Britannicus aos nomes de seu filho, para indicar a possessão romana da nova região.

O livro de Atos dos Apóstolos, escrito por Lucas, informa também que, devido a um decreto do imperador, os judeus foram expulsos de Roma:

"Encontrou ali um judeu chamado Áquila, que era da província do Ponto. Fazia pouco tempo que ele tinha chegado da Itália com Priscila, a sua esposa. Eles tinham saído de lá porque o imperador Cláudio havia mandado que todos os judeus fossem embora de Roma. Paulo foi visitá-los"

— Atos, 18:2

O mesmo livro previu um período de fome no reinado de Cláudio:

"E, levantando-se um deles, por nome Ágabo, dava a entender pelo Espírito, que haveria uma grande fome em todo o mundo, e isso aconteceu no tempo de Cláudio César."

— Atos, 11:28

Para o fim da vida, Cláudio tornou-se bastante permeável à influência de Agripina. Por sua indicação deserdou o seu próprio filho e nomeou o enteado Nero como sucessor. O facto de ter morrido de repente pouco depois desta troca de sucessor, levou e leva muitos historiadores a pensar na hipótese de assassinato.

Após Augusto, foi o primeiro imperador de Roma a ser divinizado.

Round Room, built by Michelangelo Simonetti in the late 18th century in a pure Neo-classical style. The dome is actually modelled on the Pantheon and has a diameter of 21.60 metres. A huge round monolithic porphyry basin stands in the middle of the room: it measures almost five metres across, comes from the Domus Aurea and was brought here in the late 18th century. A 2nd century Hercules in gilded bronze found near the Theatre of Pompey and a 3rd century mosaic from the Baths of Otricoli (region Umbria) are also fascinating.

Round Room, built by Michelangelo Simonetti in the late 18th century in a pure Neo-classical style. The dome is actually modelled on the Pantheon and has a diameter of 21.60 metres. A huge round monolithic porphyry basin stands in the middle of the room: it measures almost five metres across, comes from the Domus Aurea and was brought here in the late 18th century. A 2nd century Hercules in gilded bronze found near the Theatre of Pompey and a 3rd century mosaic from the Baths of Otricoli (region Umbria) are also fascinating.

The Museum Chiaramonti was founded by Pope Pio VII° Chiaramonti (1800-1823) and it is constituted by the Gallery Chiaramonti, the Lapidary Gallery and the New Wing.

The Museum Pio Clementino owes its name to Pope Clemente XIV° (1769-1775) and to his successor Pope Pio VI° (1775-1799) and it is formed by the Bathroom of the Apoxyomenos, the Octagonal courtyard of the Belvedere, the Bathroom of Apollo, of Laocoonte, of Hermes and from that of Perseo, the Room of the Animals, the Gallery of the Statues and the Busts, the Bathroom of the Masks, the Room of the Muses, the Round Room and the Room of the Greek Cross.

After entering the vatican and having bought the tickets you start this magic trip along the galleries of the XVIII century towards back to the centuries and you will end directly to the famous chapel frescoed by Michelangelo and Botticelli with Bible episodes.

Los Museos Vaticanos son las galerías y demás estancias de valor artístico propiedad de la Iglesia y accesibles al público en la Ciudad del Vaticano. Muestran obras de una extensa colección de la Iglesia Católica Romana. Su base fundacional fue la colección privada de Julio II, que fue elegido papa en el año 1503; más tarde otros papas han ido aumentando las extensas colecciones de que constan estos museos. Este conjunto museístico se compone de diferentes edificios de museos temáticos, edificios pontificios, galerías, monumentos y jardines. A este conjunto de edificios también pertenece la Biblioteca Vaticana, una de las mejores del mundo.

El origen de los museos vaticanos se configuró a partir de las obras de arte que de manera privada tenía el cardenal Giuliano della Rovere, que cuando fue escogido papa en 1503, con el nombre de Julio II, trasladó su colección al patio del Palacio Belvedere de Inocencio VIII en un gran jardín que se adornó con algunas esculturas, hoy conocido bajo el nombre de Patio Octógono: el Apolo de Belvedere, la Venus Feliz, el Río Nilo, el Río Tíber, la Ariadna dormida y el grupo de Laocoonte y sus hijos, escultura encontrada el 14 de enero de 1506 en la Domus Aurea de Nerón, en la colina romana del Esquilino; fue el arquitecto Giuliano da Sangallo el que identificó la escultura que la adquirió el papa Julio II. Se construyeron nuevos edificios y también pasadizos junto con galerías para unirlos con otros, anteriormente edificados; con el paso del tiempo y el acceso al poder de nuevos papas, se fueron desarrollando y ampliando hasta formar los actuales museos.

Los fondos de arte también fueron creciendo gracias a la tradición de las grandes familias italianas de formar colecciones, ya que estas familias eran las que tenían entre sus miembros cardenales que llegaban al pontificado. Por otro lado, las colecciones de obras de arte se enriquecieron y aumentaron gracias a todos los tesoros de las catacumbas romanas, las obras de la Basílica de San Pedro y de las de San Juan de Letrán, así como de todas las excavaciones arqueológicas realizadas en suelo romano, ya que los terrenos donde está situada la Ciudad del Vaticano, fueron ocupados por los etruscos y posteriormente por el Imperio Romano en tiempos de Augusto. En esta zona llamada Jardines de Nerón sufrió martirio san Pedro, y Constantino I el Grande, después de su conversión al cristianismo, hizo construir una basílica hacia el año 326.

La gran etapa constructiva del Vaticano se inició en 1447 con el papa Nicolás V que encargó al arquitecto Bernardo Rossellino el diseño de la nueva basílica de San Pedro y al pintor Fra Angelico la decoración de la capilla Nicolina; fue el fundador de la Biblioteca Vaticana. Sixto IV, en 1471, hizo construir una nueva capilla, la Sixtina, con la decoración pictórica de diversos artistas, entre ellos Sandro Botticelli y Pietro Perugino. En el antiguo palacio de Inocencio VIII, se construyó como acceso a las plantas superiores, desde un extremo del jardín de Belvedere, una rampa helicoidal diseñada por Donato Bramante, que la realizó en la época de Julio II ( hacia el 1505), con un punto de fuga único en la parte superior entre las columnas que son sucesivamente dóricas, jónicas y corintias, con una forma cilíndrica vacía, que van perdiendo grueso y aceleran la sensación de acceso. El papa Benedicto XIV en el año 1740, reorganizó las nuevas salas de los museos Sacro y Profano así como el gabinete de Medallas. Se crearon después los museos Pio-Clementino, proyectado por los papas Clemente XIV y su sucesor Pio VI durante la época de sus papados, comprendida entre los años 1769 y 1799.

La ilustración y los descubrimientos arqueológicos de Johann Joachim Winckelmann, nombrado conservador de las antigüedades romanas y bibliotecario del Vaticano en 1756, dieron como resultado un gran impulso para la exposición de las grandes colecciones que poseía el Vaticano; a partir de entonces y sin interrupción se hicieron trabajos de catalogación para la exposición pública de sus fondos. El siguiente papa, Pio VII, en 1800 encargó a Antonio Canova la organización del museo que lleva su nombre: Museo Chiaramonti, creando la primera sección de la pinacoteca. Fue en 1837 cuando Gregorio XVI inauguró el Museo Gregoriano Etrusco; poco después se fundó el Museo Gregoriano Egipcio (1839). Se fundó también en el Palacio de Letrán el Museo Gregoriano Profano (1844).

A partir de 1870, con el fin del Estado Pontificio, se reorganizó la exposición de las obras de arte en la Iglesia Católica y se tomaron nuevas medidas para afrontar los siguientes años, hasta que pasados 60 años comenzó a haber cambios significativos.

Pío XI en 1932 abrió la Pinacoteca, en la que expuso cuadros sustraídos por Napoleón con el Tratado de Tolentino (1797) y devueltos a raíz del Congreso de Viena (1815) y otras obras de la colección del Vaticano. Se fundó además el museo Misionero-Etnológico (Pío XI, 1927). Unas décadas después se trasladaron al Vaticano las antiguas colecciones lateranenses: los museos Gregoriano Profano y Pío Cristiano (1970) y el Museo Misionero-Etnológico (1973),con los nuevos criterios de renovación del Concilio Vaticano II, en 1973, se fundó la colección de Arte Religioso Moderno bajo el pontificado de Pablo VI así como también el Museo de las Carrozas.[7] También se reorganizaron los museos Gregoriano Egipcio (1989, 2000) y gregoriano Etrusco (1992, 1994, 1996). En esta reorganización se puede también incluir la creación del Museo Histórico, que posteriormente sería dividido en 1985, teniendo su sede en el Palacio de Letrán.

En febrero del año 2000 se inauguró la entrada monumental, en el fuerte norte de las murallas vaticanas, cerca de la antigua entrada realizada en 1932 por Giuseppe Momo con una escalera de caracol en rampa, cuya balaustrada fue diseñada por Antonio Maraini y que actualmente sirve de salida del museo.

The American Standard Building, formerly known as the American Radiator Building stands at 103 meters tall just south of Bryant Park. The 23-floor Art-Deco tower was designed Raymond Hood and John Howells from 1923-1924 for the American Radiator and Standard Sanitary Company.

The design broke from the Beaux Arts/classicism styles of the time, utilizing bold cubic massing that allowed verticality in light of the zoning laws of 1916 dictating setbacks for buildings above a certain height. The tower rises up fifteen stories before it begins a series of setbacks, creating a striking silhouette.

The most striking feature of Hood's design is the unusual black and gold color scheme--which served both practical and symbolic purposes. Although Hood denied the later, the building is especially dramatic when floodlighted at night, like a giant glowing coal--in effect, becoming an advertisement for the American Radiator Company. The black brickwork facing, said to symbolize coal, was selected to lessen the visual contrast between the walls and windows, giving the tower an effect of solidity and massiveness. The Gothic-style pinnacles and the terra-cotta friezes on the edges of the setbacks are coated with gold, symbolizing fire and flame.

The base is clad in bronze plating and black granite. The large plate glass windows of the ground floor showrooms are enframed by slender, bronze, ribbed shafts reminiscent of the Gothic style, but terminating in cubistic pinnacles. The windows are surmounted by a slender continuous modillioned bronze enframement. The main entrance, between the windows, is set within an arched opening and accented by bronze details of modified Gothic design. The second floor is surmounted by a modillioned cornice set on large intricate corbel blocks, displaying a series of carved allegories by Rene Paul Chambellan, symbolizing the transformation of matter into energy. The third story has a distinctive window bay treatment, flanked by indented brick pilasters surmounted by gold pinnacles and shielded by intricately detailed railings.

In 1998, the building was sold in Philip Pilevsky for $15 million. Three years afterwards, the American Radiator Building was converted into The Bryant Park Hotel with 130 rooms and a theater in basement.

The American Standard Building was designated a landmark by the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission in 1974.

For more details on the Empire State Building, see this picture. For more of my pictures of the Empire State Building, click here.

The Empire State Building was designated a landmark by the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission in 1981.

Empire State Building National Register #82001192

American Standard Building National Register #70002663

Schwalbe means swallow.

The 262 was the first jet to see action.

An amazing design that was 100mph faster than any Allied planes.

It suffered from many major problems and setbacks of different kinds in development, production and deployment.

When the small number finally entered service it was too little too late. It had no effect on the outcome of the war, and probably would have only extended the conflict a little longer if introduced earlier.

Devon had a severe headache and vomiting so he went to the hospital where they discovered a mass in his brain. They are giving him drugs to reduce the swelling and plan to begin radiation therapy as the Dr. said the chemo doesnt affect the brain. The other problem is where the tumor is located. The Dr. said it is serious but that he can be treated. OMG I am starting to get really scared.

This picture signifies a lot to me. Over the past few weeks, I've felt adrift within myself and the world. During this period of time, my perspectives, ambitions and ultimately my passion was questioned continuously. Being a person that thrives of passion, this was consequently a major setback in my motivation in life and sadly I found myself loathing in self pity.

But alas, I have risen past this void...At least I hope.

Hope all is well!

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www.facebook.com/alexthaophotography

Famed theatre architects Rapp & Rapp designed the dramatically massed skyscraper in 1926 at a cost of $13.5M as offices for Paramount Pictures, as a home for the Paramount Theater (since demolished) and as an advertisement for the Paramount Corporation. The building, at its completion the tallest structure on Broadway north of the Woolworth Building (33 stories), sits on the site of the previous Putnam Building, erected to commemorate the spot where Revolutionary War hero General Israel Putnam met General George Washington.

The motion picture company's trademark mountain encircled by five pointed stars is echoed in the fourteen setbacks creating a "para"mountain massing and its surmounting four faced clock, on which the hours are marked by five pointed stars. The setback below the clock faces is flanked by three-story scrolls, making the whole look like a gigantic desk clock. The clock is crowned by a glass glove that, when illuminated, is visible for miles. The globe and clock were painted black at the outset of World War II to maintain blackout conditions for fear of enemy invasion. The Globe and Clock tower were restored in 1996.

With its 3600-seat theater and fabulous Marquee and Arch, the Paramount introduced the likes of Gary Cooper, William Powell, Mae West, Fred Astaire, Bing Crosby and Claudette Colbert, through silent films and talkes to New York. Its stage was graced regularly by Benny Goodman, Jack Benny, Tommy Dorsey, Frank Sinatra, Jerry Lewis and Dean Martin to name a few. In the 1950's, the Theater became home to the Alan Freed Rock and Roll stage show. In 1956, Elvis Presley’s first movie, Love Me Tender, premiered here.

In 1964 the Paramount closed its doors. The theater space was converted to offices, the marquee wsa removed and the arch in-filled.

The clocks and globe were restored in 1997. In 2000, the World Wrestling Federation began construction of their entertainment complex, renovating the interior for a restaurant, nightclub and retail store at a cost of $38M. In 2001, at a cost $8MM, the original the marquee and arch were restored returning the facade to its original grandeur. In 2004, Hard Rock Cafe purchased the Paramount Hotel for $126.M and rebranded it the Hard Rock Hotel in 2007.

The Paramount Building was designated a landmark by the New York Landmarks Preservation Commission in 1982, and its interior was designated separately in 1987.

Frame:*black mountain cycles* mod zero

Headset:*cane creek* 110

Wheel:*shimano*105 hb-r7070 x *velocity* blunt ss

Tire:*panaracer* fire pro

Handle:*whisky* no.7 6f aluminum drop

Stem:*thomson* elite x4

Bartape:*fizik* terra tacky

Saddle:*selle italia* flite 1990

Seatpost:*thomson* elite setback

68003 and 68017 move back upto the station for an on time departure.

PLEASE, NO invitations or self promotions, THEY WILL BE DELETED. My photos are FREE to use, just give me credit and it would be nice if you let me know, thanks.

Lipizzan mares and foals.

The Piber Federal Stud is 555 hectares in size and approximately 250 horses are kept there, including 70 broodmares.

Only stallions from the Spanish Riding School are used as breeding stallions, and all six classic stallion bloodline families are used.

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The Piber Federal Stud Farm is dedicated to the breeding of Lipizzan horses, located at the village of Piber. It was founded in 1798, began breeding Lipizzan horses in 1920, and today is the primary breeding farm that produces the stallions used by the Spanish Riding School, where the best stallions of each generation are bred and brought for training and later public performance. One of Piber’s major objectives is "to uphold a substantial part of Austria’s cultural heritage and to preserve one of the best and most beautiful horse breeds in its original form."

The Lipizzan breed as a whole, suffered a setback when a viral epidemic hit the Piber Stud in 1983. Forty horses and eight percent of the expected foal crop were lost. Since then, the population at the farm has increased, with 100 mares as of 1994 and a foal crop of 56 born in 1993. In 1994, the pregnancy rate increased from 27% to 82% as the result of a new veterinary center.

The William and Mary men’s basketball team led from start to finish and pushed its home-court winning streak to 14 games with a 77-58 victory over Elon on Wednesday night at Kaplan Arena. W&M shot 49 percent from the floor, knocked down ten 3-pointers and connected on 17-of-20 from the free throw line in outdistancing Elon. W&M remained in first place in the CAA at 10-3 in league and 16-8 overall, while Elon dropped to 11-15 on the year and 3-10 in CAA play.

Omar Prewitt led the Tribe, scoring 18 of his game-high 19 points in the first half to go with seven rebounds, four assists and two blocked shots. Sean Sheldon picked up his first career double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds, while Marcus Thornton finished with 17 points and three assists.

The Tribe jumped out to an early advantage thanks in large part to the play of Prewitt and Sheldon. They combined for 24 of the Tribe’s opening 28 points as the Green and Gold opened up a double-digit advantage. W&M scored 11 of game’s first 13 points as four straight from Sheldon, including a pair of free throws, gave W&M the nine-point cushion.

Five straight from Elon closed the gap to 11-7 at the 13:51 mark, but W&M responded with and 8-2 run, including six from Prewitt. His 3-pointer from the left side extended the Tribe lead to 19-9. The Tribe lead remained in double digits, jumping to 30-15 on a Thornton setback jumper with four and a half minutes left in the half. The margin was 11 points following an Elijah Bryant jumper at the 3:20 mark, before the home team ripped off a 12-2 run to push its advantage over 20.

Connor Burchfield provided W&M with a huge lift off the bench, hitting back-to-back 3-pointers. A steal and fast break bucket from Thornton gave W&M a 17-point advantage and forced an Elon timeout. The Green and Gold run continued on a tough finish inside from Sheldon and a pair of Prewitt free throws, extending the lead to 42-21 with a minute left in the first half. W&M led by 19 at the intermission after shooting 51.7 percent (15-of-29), while limiting Elon to 36 percent (9-of-25) in the opening 20 minutes.

The visiting Phoenix scored eight of first 11 in the second half to draw within 14 points. Hamilton scored six straight points for Elon, including a steal and fast break lay-up to close the visitors to within 45-31 with 16:45 left.

After failing to hit a 3-pointer in the opening 20 minutes, Thornton knocked down back-to-back triples, including one of the step-back variety, to push the lead back to 18, 51-33, and the Phoenix never got closer than 15 points the rest of the way. His fast break lay-up off a Sheldon defensive rebound and look-ahead pass gave W&M a 60-40 lead with just under eight minutes remaining.

The cushion reached as many as 23 on a pair of occasions, including on Thornton’s third 3-pointer of the second half with 2:50 to play. From there, both teams emptied the bench and W&M picked up a 77-58 win, its 16th of the season. The 16 wins rank 10th in program history.

In a stark contrast from the earlier meeting this season, W&M limited Elon to just 3-of-22 (13.6 percent) from 3-point range, including only 1-of-14 from its top two scorers in Bryant and Tanner Samson. The Phoenix duo was 12-of-22 from long range and combined for 45 points in their home win over the Tribe in January. Elon finished the game shooting 40.3 percent (25-of-62) from the floor. Bryant led Elon with 15 points and 10 rebounds, but was just 5-of-15 from the field and 1-of-4 from 3-point range. Samson, who had 20 in the first meeting, finished with just two points and was 0-of-10 from 3-point range. Hamilton added 13 points, while Christian Hairston tallied 10 off the bench.

Playing without the services of guard Daniel Dixon, who was out due to injury, the Tribe received a number of contributions, especially from its freshman class. Rookie Oliver Tot garnered his first career start, finishing with three rebounds and two assists in a strong floor game. Greg Malinowski added six points, knocking down a pair of 3-pointers, to go along with two assists and fellow classmate Burchfield poured in six points on two 3-pointers. Tom Schalk added six points, four rebounds and a career-high three blocked shots off the bench.

W&M shot 49 percent (25-of-51) on the night, including a 10-of-24 (41.7 percent) effort from 3-point range. The Green and Gold continued its strong free throw shooting, connecting on 85 percent (17-of-20) from the charity stripe. The Tribe out rebounded Elon, 36-30, and dished out 14 assists on its 25 made field goals.

Red Weasel Media was sitting on the baseline to capture all of the high flying action.

Shooting from the hip has some setbacks, including losing your subject's head.

But this guy was so expressive with his body, that I felt it was still a keeper.

The beginning of 2024 has not been a good start to The Boeing Company after suffering a major setback following the accident involving an Alaska Airlines Being 737 MAX 9 on 5th January 2024, which saw the aircraft suffering a rapid decompression when the aft door plug blew out on climb out from Portland, Oregon. The resulting accident saw the US FAA issue an emergency airworthiness directive which were also implemented by other aviation agencies, and the eventual grounding of Boeing 737 MAX 9s featuring the plugged doors.

The investigation relating to Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 remains ongoing with the US NTSB being the lead investigators of the accident; however, information continues to come out relating to the accident and the wider issues surrounding Boeing and the use of subcontractors, in this case, Spirit AeroSystems who manufacture the Boeing 737 fuselages.

Since the accident, both Alaska Airlines and United Airlines, the biggest operators of the Boeing 737 MAX 9 at the time of writing noted loose bolts where the plug door assembly is located. Prior to the accident, there have issues relating to missing rivets from select Boeing 737 fuselages that were manufactured by Spirit AeroSystems leading to Boeing's Renton factory to delay deliveries for additional inspections to fuselages when they undergo final assembly.

The case of the incident airframe recently came to light and has been reported by the reputable The Air Current aviation news site; essentially this airframe was amongst the number of fuselages that were inspected by Boeing during final assembly which also saw the aft plug door being removed and incorrectly reinstalled following inspection and prior to delivery... At no time following delivery did Alaska Airlines inspect or remove the plug door during inauguration into traffic.

As airlines have continued to inspect the Boeing 737 MAX 9s and Boeing issuing guidance to resolve these issues, the US FAA have recently lifted the grounding of the Boeing 737 MAX 9s, on the proviso that they have been thoroughly inspected and there are no defects with the plug door. As of 25th January 2024, Copa Airlines were the first airline to reintroduce select Boeing 737 MAX 9s back into service, with Alaska Airlines expected to return their Boeing 737 MAX 9s into service as early as 26th January 2024, and United Airlines reintroducing theirs no later than 28th January 2024.

The grounding has caused further damage to Boeing's reputation, the company still grappling following the 2 previous Boeing 737 MAX 8 accidents in late-2018 and early-2019, the ongoing delayed certification of the Boeing 737 MAX 7, Boeing 737 MAX 10 and the Boeing 777X, as well as slow deliveries of the Boeing 787 following the restarting of their production. Airlines have gone on record to express their dissatisfaction with Boeing over recent issues. Alaska Airlines have also faced criticism for not inspecting the aircraft following delivery from Boeing, and the subject to joke in a sketch by Saturday Night Live.

The FAA as a result of the accident will increase oversight relating to the production of Boeing 737 MAX airframes, to ensure due diligence with quality control inspections; any increase in production rate to the narrow-body jet won't go-ahead unless meeting requirements by the FAA. This year will be make or break for Boeing...

Currently, Alaska Airlines operates 232 Boeing 737s, which includes which includes 11 Boeing 737-700s, 3 Boeing 737-700BDSFs, 59 Boeing 737-800s, 2 Boeing 737-800BCFs, 12 Boeing 737-900s, 79 Boeing 737-900ERs, one Boeing 737 MAX 8 and 65 Boeing 737 MAX 9s. Alaska Airlines have 14 Boeing 737 MAX 8s, 15 Boeing 737 MAX 9s and 102 Boeing 737 MAX 10s on-order.

November Nine Two Zero Alpha Kilo is one of 65 Boeing 737 MAX 9s operated by Alaska Airlines, delivered new to the carrier on 20th September 2021 and she is powered by 2 CFM International LEAP-1B28 engines.

Boeing 737-9 MAX N920AK powers out from Runway 25R at Los Angeles (LAX), California on AS1263 to Redmond Municipal-Roberts Field (RDM), Oregon.

....and it's alright to look down for a while.

But don't dwell on it; We have to move on

Self-faith is crucial.

Me, in one of my darkest (pardon the pun) moments.

Check out today's post on thegoldensieve.com

The rockiest limb of San Francisco.

If you've ever wanted to visit a heavily populated spot on a weekend and be nearly alone, I recommend Superbowl Sunday. It so happened that me and mine are no fans of the two teams which happened to make it to the big game - so we headed for the San Francisco coast. I had packed my camera to catch some shoreline views of Cliff House and other icons in the ruddy light of a great sunset when I realized I had left my memory card on the desk at home. Of course I didn't realize this until about five minutes after I had been shooting, all the while oblivious to my camera's warnings of "Demo Mode" after each shot. I guess we see what we want to see sometimes, or rather, we fail to see what we don't want to see; needless to say I felt quite foolish.

Despite this setback, I managed to find, tucked into the very bottom of a camera bag in my trunk, an older card that did the trick later in the evening. Now, the moon and Jupiter would have been just as brilliant, the cypress as dramatic a frame and the heavens the same saturated palette of purples, oranges and blues; but these sights would have been mine alone were it not for that small piece of plastic, copper and silicon tucked serendipitously into the nylon of my "hey-I'll-bring-my-camera-for-the-fun-of-it" bag. Instead, that bit of luck means I get to relive a piece of those moments in my photographs and share a piece of that good fortune with you!

While the rest of the world watched football, I took the footpath from the Great Highway, through tall, stately conifers to where the great tempest of the Pacific tears it's fringes to foam on the crags and sand of Land's End. I grew up near a city whose fresh water front was preserved through the foresight of a man named Burnham and moved near a city whose coastline is preserved through force of nature. No industry, no factory, no pier will gain purchase where the wind and surf turn granite to sand. So lucky are the people who have this magical spot where the Monterey Cypress frame Luna and Jove on a field of violet as the last rays of our star are refracted through the upper atmosphere. I had to act quickly and use a high ISO in order to catch the moon and Jupiter peeping through the windows made by the cypress branches.

Through the knotted trunks, the waning daystar left it's stain of amber upon the horizon and called a host of cargo vessels to slide past the rusty orange guardian of the San Francisco strait and steam toward the bosom of the great sea.

Cold, merciless and tumultuous - one might wonder why we hold onto that famous Magellanic appellation when we don't have his eponymous straits as comparison. But, no matter how fierce it may seem from the coast, one cannot help but be pacified upon seeing the crescent and her fellow travelers' scattered reflections on the cresting waves.

Some background:

The Nakajima A6M2-N (Navy Type 2 Interceptor/Fighter-Bomber) was a single-crew floatplane. The Allied reporting name for the aircraft was 'Rufe'.

The last A6M2-N in military service was a single example recovered by the French forces in Indochina after the end of World War II. It crashed shortly after being overhauled, though.

General characteristics:

Crew: 1 (Pilot)

Length: 10.10 m (33ft 1⅝ in)

Wingspan: 12.00 m (39 ft 4⅜ in)

Height: 4.30 m (14ft 1⅜ in)

Wing area: 22.44 m² (251.4 sq ft)

Empty weight: 1,912 kg (4,235 lb)

Loaded weight: 2,460 kg (5,423 lb)

Max. takeoff weight: 2,880 kg (6,349 lb)

Powerplant:

1× Nakajima NK1C Sakae 12 air cooled 14 cylinder radial engine,

delivering 950 hp (709 kW) at 4,200 m (13,800 ft)

Performance:

Maximum speed: 436 km/h (235 knots, 270.5 mph) at 5,000 m (16,400 ft)

Cruise speed: 296 km/h (160 knots, 184 mph)

Range: 1,782 km (963 nmi, 1,107 mi)

Service ceiling: 10,000 m (32,800 ft)

Climb rate: 6 min 43 s to 5,000 m (16,400 ft)

Armament:

2 × 7.7 mm Type 97 machine guns in forward fuselage

2 ×20 mm Type 99 cannons in outer wings

Underwing hardpoints for 2× 60 kg (132 lb) bombs

The kit and its assembly:

This is a real world model, despite the weird looks (see below), and an entry for the Arawasi blog's "Japanese Aircraft Online Model Contest 005 - Japanese Seaplanes & Flying Boats" contest in summer 2017. Even though whifs were allowed to enter, I used the opportunity to build a kit I had originally bought for a few bucks and stashed away in the donor bank: a vintage LS Model Nakajima A6M2-N.

The mould dates back to 1963(!), and the kit was re-issued several times, also under the ARII label. You get a tiny box, with only two sprues moulded in a pale baby blue, and the number of parts is minimal. It's truly vintage and pretty toylike at first sight. Consequently, you have to face some real old-school issues, e. g. moulded markings for the roundels on the wings, general mediocre fit of anything and lots of sinkholes and flash. Then there are toylike solutions like the single-piece propeller or separate, moveable ailerons with bulging joints.

The cockpit interior is non-existent, too: there's just a blank place for a dashboard (to be cut out from the printed BW instructions!), and a spindly pilot figure which is held in mid air by some pins. Furthermore, the kit was designed to take a small electric motor in the nose (sold separately) to drive the propeller. Wires, as well as respective internal ducts, and an AA battery holder are included.

Sounds scary? Well, maybe, if you just build it OOB. But all these flaws should not keep the ambitious modeler away because the LS Model kit is (still) a sound basis to start from, even though and by today's standards, it is certainly not a match-winner for a rivet counter-esque competition.

For its age and the typical solutions of its time, it is actually surprisingly good: you get very fine engraved surface details (more delicate than many contemporary moulds!), a pretty thin, three-piece clear (yet blurry) canopy and, as a bonus to the elevons, separate flaps – a unique detail I have never come across before! Proportions are IMHO good, even though the cowling looks a bit fishy and the engravings are rather soft and shallow. Anyway, on the exterior, there’s anything you can ask for to be found, and as another bonus the kit comes with a beaching trolley, which makes display and diorama fitting easier.

Thanks to the kit's simplicity, the build in itself was pretty straightforward and simple. Cleaning the parts and checking fit was the biggest issue. Upon gluing the old styrene showed signs of serious reaction to the dissolving effect of modern glue: it took ages for the material to cure and become hard again for further work!? Weird…

The many sinkholes and overall displacements were corrected with some NC putty/PSR, the protruding elevon/flap joints sanded away as good as possible, and due to the wobbly nature of the kit’s styrene I added blobs of 2C putty inside of the wing halves as stabilizers.

Some mods and improvements were made, though. After cleaning the OOB propeller from tons of flash the piece turned out to be pretty usable, and it was put on a metal axis. A styrene tube adapter was added behind the relatively flat engine dummy, so that the prop can spin freely – for the later beauty pics, because no CG effect beats IMHO the real thing.

A cockpit interior was created from scratch and donor parts, using the new Airfix A6M model's cockpit as benchmark. It’s not an exact replica, because not much would later be visible, but I wanted, as a minimum, “something” inside. A better pilot figure was used, too, and strapped to the new seat with thin strips of adhesive masking tape as seatbelts.

Under the wings, the hardpoints were simulated with some bits of styrene and wire as shackles, but left empty Under the stabilizer fin I added a lug(?), made from thin wire, too.

The elevons were fixed in place, the seams to the wings filled with white glue in order to conceal the gaps as good as possible. The movable flaps remained, though, adding life to the model. The dolly was also taken more or less OOB, since it fits well. I just improved it with some sinkhole fillings and some other details, including cushions on the float stabilizers, made from paper tissue soaked with thinned white glue, and a towing bar.

Painting and markings:

The reason why I settled for an A6M2-N is mostly the weird paint scheme which can be applied, while still being a real world model: a lilac livery!

As far as I could find out, the A6M2-Ns initially carried an all-over IJN Grey livery, which was later, in late 1942, modified with dark green upper sides for a better concealment on the ground, and the Hinomaru received white edges for better contrast.

Anyway, during the Aleutian campaign and more or less in between these two major standards, several aircraft must have received a special camouflage with lilac upper surfaces, and this model depicts such a machine, based on various profiles but no color picture as reliable reference.

The sources I consulted, as well as pictures of finished A6M2-N models, show a wide variety of shades and paint scheme layouts, though. Upper colors range from pale pink through more or less bright shades of purple to a pale, rusty-reddish brown (maybe primer?), while the undersides show a wide range of greys or even light blue. Some depictions of Aleutian A6M2-Ns as profile or model even show a uniform wraparound scheme! Choice is yours, obviously...

Because of the corny information basis, I did my personal interpretation of the subject. I based my livery more or less on a profile by Michele Marsan, published in Aerei Modelismo Anno XII (March 1991). The unit information was taken from there, too – the only source that would provide such a reference.

My idea behind the livery and the eventual finish was that the machine once was fully painted in IJN Grey. Then, the violet upper color was added in the field (for whatever reason?), resulting in a slightly shaggy look and with the light grey shining through here and there in areas of higher wear, e. g. at the leading edges, cockpit area and some seams.

Painting started with an initial coat of aluminum under the floats, around the cockpit and on the leading edges. Then the undersides and some areas of the upper surfaces were painted with IJN grey. The latter is an individual mix of Humbrol 90 (Beige Green/RAF Sky) and a bit of 155 (Olive Drab, FS 34087). On top of that I added a thin primer layer of mauve (mix of ModelMaster’s Napoleonic Violet and Neutral Grey, Humbrol 176) on the still vacant upper surfaces – both as a preparation for the later weathering treatments (see below).

The following, basic lilac tone comes from Humbrol’s long-gone "Authentics" enamel line. The tin is probably 30 years old, but the content is still alive (and still has a distinctive, sour stench…)! I cannot identify the tone anymore with certainty, but I guess that it is 'HJ 4: Mauve N 9', one of the line’s Japanese WWII tones which was later not carried over to the standard tones, still available today.

Anyway, the color is a dull, rather greyish violet, relatively dark (a bit like RAF Ocean Grey), and it fits well as a camouflage tone on this specific model. Since there’s no better alternative I could think of except for an individual mix or garish, off-the-rack pop art tones, I went with it.

After overall basic painting was done and thoroughly cured, weathering started with a careful wet sand paper treatment, removing the salt grain masks and revealing some of the lower IJN Grey and aluminum layers. While this appears messy, I found that the result looks more realistic than artificial weathering applied as paint effects on top of the basic paint.

The engine cowling was painted separately, with a mix of black and a little dark blue. The propeller received an aluminum spinner (Humbrol’s Matt Aluminum Metallizer), while the blades received aluminum front sides (Revell acrylics), and red brown (Humbrol 160) back sides. Two thin, red stripes decorate the propeller tips (Decals, left over from an AZ Model Ki-78, IIRC).

As a standard procedure, the kit received a light wash with thinned black ink, revealing the engraved panel lines, plus some post-shading in order to emphasize panels and add visual contrast and ‘drama’.

Decals and markings were improvised and come from the spares box, since I did not trust the vintage OOB decals - even though they are in so far nice that the sheet contains any major marking as well as a full set of letter so that an individual tail code could be created. Anyway, the model's real world benchmark did not carry any numeric or letter code, just Hinomaru in standard positions and a horizontal, white-and-red stripe on the fin.

The roundels actually belong to a JSDAF F-4EJ, some stencils come from a leftover Hobby Boss A6M sheet. The fin decoration was created with generic decal sheet material (TL Modellbau). Similar stuff was also used for the markings on the central float, as well as for the yellow ID markings on the inner wings' leading edges. I am just not certain whether the real aircraft carried them at all? But they were introduced with the new green upper surfaces in late 1942, so that they appear at least plausible. Another argument in this marking‘s favor is that it simply adds even more color to the model!

The cockpit interior was painted in a light khaki tone (a mix of Humbrol 159 and 94), while the flaps' interior was painted with Aodake Iro (an individual mix of acrylic aluminum and translucent teal paint). Lacking good reference material, the beaching trolley became IJA Green, with some good weathering with dry-brushed silver on the edges and traces of rust here and there (the latter created with artist acrylics.

Close to the (literal) finish line, some soot and oil stains were added with graphite and Tamiya's 'Smoke', and the kit finally received a coat of matt acrylic varnish (Italeri); to the varnish on the engine cover a bit of gloss varnish was added, for a sheen finish.

In the end, quite a challenging build. Not a winner, but …different. Concerning the LS Model kit as such, I must say that - despite its age of more than 50 years now - the A6M2-N model is still a worthwhile offer, if you invest some effort. Sure, there are certainly better 1:72 options available (e. g. the Hasegawa kit, its mould was created in 1995 and should be light years ahead concerning detail and fit. Not certain about the Revell/Frog and Jo-Han alternatives, though), but tackling this simple, vintage kit was fun in itself. And, based on what you get out of the little box, the result is not bad at all!

Beyond the technical aspects, I am also pleased with the visual result of the build. At first glance, this antiquity looks pretty convincing. And the disputable, strange lilac tone really makes this A6M2-N model …outstanding. Even though I still wonder what might have been the rationale behind this tone? The only thing I could imagine is a dedicated scheme for missions at dusk/dawn, similar to the pink RAF recce Spitfires in early WWII? It would be plausible, though, since the A6M2-Ns were tasked with nocturnal reconnoitre and ground attack missions.

After the latest setback, I'm starting to walk out of the village again and to one of my favourite places, Butterfly Lane.

Web_2024-07-16-7164222

Wikipedia

Neolithic

The region of present-day Portugal was inhabited by Neanderthals and then by Homo sapiens, who roamed the border-less region of the northern Iberian peninsula.[5] These were subsistence societies that, although they did not establish prosperous settlements, did establish organized societies. Neolithic Portugal experimented with domestication of herding animals, the raising of some cereal crops and pluvial or marine fishing.[5]

Early in the first millennium BC, several waves of Celts invaded Portugal from central Europe and inter-married with the local populations, forming different ethnic groups, with many tribes. Chief among these tribes were the Calaicians or Gallaeci of northern Portugal, the Lusitanians of central Portugal, the Celtici of Alentejo, and the Cynetes or Conii of the Algarve. Among the lesser tribes or sub-divisions were the Bracari, Coelerni, Equaesi, Grovii, Interamici, Leuni, Luanqui, Limici, Narbasi, Nemetati, Paesuri, Quaquerni, Seurbi, Tamagani, Tapoli, Turduli, Turduli Veteres, Turdulorum Oppida, Turodi, and Zoelae.

There were in the southern part the country, some small, semi-permanent commercial coastal settlements founded by Phoenicians-Carthaginians (such as Tavira, in the Algarve).

The Tartessian language from the southwest of the Iberian peninsula, which John T. Koch has claimed to be able to translate, has been accepted by philologists and other linguists as the first attested Celtic language.[6][7] From later 2011, Tartessian was classified as a Celtic language[8][9][10] based on linguistic arguments from John T. Koch.[6][11][12] Prior to later 2011, the linguistic mainstream continued to treat Tartessian as an unclassified language,[13][14] and Koch's view of the evolution of Celtic was not then generally accepted.

Roman Lusitania and Gallaecia

The first Roman invasion of the Iberian Peninsula occurred in 219 BC. Within 200 years, almost the entire peninsula had been annexed to the Roman Republic. The Carthaginians, Rome's adversary in the Punic Wars, were expelled from their coastal colonies.

The Roman conquest of what is now part of modern day Portugal took several decades: it started from the south, where the Romans found friendly natives, the Conii. It suffered a severe setback in 150 BC, when a rebellion began in the north. The Lusitanians and other native tribes, under the leadership of Viriathus, wrested control of all of the Portuguese land. Rome sent numerous legions and its best generals to Lusitania to quell the rebellion, but to no avail — the Lusitanians kept conquering territory. The Roman leaders decided to change their strategy. They bribed Viriathus's ambassador to kill his own leader. In 139 BC, Viriathus was assassinated, and the resistance was soon over.

Rome installed a colonial regime. During this period, Lusitania grew in prosperity and many of modern day Portugal's cities and towns were founded. The complete Romanization of Portugal, intensified during the rule of Augustus, took three centuries and was stronger in Southern Portugal, most of which were administrative dependencies of the Roman city of Pax Julia, currently known as Beja. The city was named Pax Julia in honour of Julius Caesar and to celebrate peace in Lusitania. Augustus renamed it Pax Augusta, but the early name prevailed. In 27 BC, Lusitania gained the status of Roman province. Later, a northern province of Lusitania was formed, known as Gallaecia, with capital in Bracara Augusta, today's Braga.

Numerous Roman sites are scattered around present-day Portugal, some urban remains are quite large, like Conimbriga and Mirobriga. Several works of engineering, such as baths, temples, bridges, roads, circus, theatres and layman's homes are preserved throughout the country. Coins, some of which coined in Portuguese land, sarcophagus and ceramics are numerous. Contemporary historians include Paulus Orosius (c. 375-418)[15] and Hydatius (c. 400–469), bishop of Aquae Flaviae, who reported on the final years of the roman rule and arrival of the Germanic tribes.

Germanic kingdoms (5th–7th centuries)

In the early 5th century, Germanic tribes invaded the peninsula, namely the Suevi, the Vandals (Silingi and Hasdingi) and their allies, the Sarmatian Alans. Only the kingdom of the Suevi (Quadi and Marcomanni) endured after the arrival of another wave of Germanic invaders, the Visigoths, who conquered all of the Iberian Peninsula and expelled or partially integrated the Vandals and the Alans. The Visigoths eventually conquered the Suevi kingdom and its capital city Bracara in 584–585.

The Germanic tribe of the Buri also accompanied the Suevi in their invasion of the Iberian Peninsula and colonization of Gallaecia (modern northern Portugal and Galicia). The Buri settled in the region between the rivers Cávado and Homem, in the area known as thereafter as Terras de Boiro or Terras de Bouro (Lands of the Buri).[16]

Other minor influences from this period include some 5th century vestiges of Alan settlement, which were found in Alenquer, Coimbra and even Lisbon.

Moorish Rules and the Reconquista (711–1249)

Landing near Algeciras in the spring of 711, the Islamic Moors (mainly Berbers with some Arabs) from North Africa invaded the Iberian Peninsula.,[18] destroying the Visigothic Kingdom. Many of the ousted Gothic nobles took refuge in the unconquered north Asturian highlands. From there they aimed to reconquer their lands from the Moors: this war of reconquest is known in Portuguese (and Spanish) as the Reconquista.

In 868, Count Vímara Peres reconquered and governed the region between the rivers Minho and Douro. The county was then known as Portucale (i.e., Portugal).

While it had its origins as a dependency of the Kingdom of León, Portugal occasionally gained de facto independence during weak Leonese reigns.

Portugal gained its first de jure independence (as the Kingdom of Galicia and Portugal) in 1065 under the rule of Garcia II. Because of feudal power struggles, Portuguese and Galician nobles rebelled. In 1072, the country rejoined León under Garcia II's brother Alfonso VI of León.

In 1095, Portugal separated almost completely from the Kingdom of Galicia. Its territories consisting largely of mountain, moorland and forest were bounded on the north by the Minho, on the south by the Mondego River.

Independence

At the end of the 11th century, the Burgundian knight Henry became count of Portugal and defended his independence, merging the County of Portucale and the County of Coimbra. Henry declared independence for Portugal while a civil war raged between León and Castile.

Henry died without achieving his aims. His son, Afonso Henriques, took control of the county. The city of Braga, the unofficial Catholic centre of the Iberian Peninsula, faced new competition from other regions. Lords of the cities of Coimbra and Porto (then Portucale) with Braga's clergy demanded the independence of the renewed county.

Portugal traces its national origin to 24 June 1128, with the Battle of São Mamede. Afonso proclaimed himself first Prince of Portugal and in 1139 the first King of Portugal. By 1143, with the assistance of a representative of the Holy See at the conference of Zamora, Portugal was formally recognized as independent, with the prince recognized as Dux Portucalensis. In 1179 Afonso I was declared, by the Pope, as king. After the Battle of São Mamede, the first capital of Portugal was Guimarães from which the first king ruled. Later, when Portugal was already officially independent, he ruled from Coimbra.

Affirmation of Portugal

From 1249 to 1250 the Algarve, the southernmost region, was finally re-conquered by Portugal from the Moors. In 1255 the capital shifted to Lisbon.[19] Neighboring Spain would not complete their Reconquista until 1492 almost 250 years later.[20]

Portugal's land-based boundaries have been notably stable in history. The border with Spain has remained almost unchanged since the 13th century. The Treaty of Windsor (1386) created an alliance between Portugal and England that remains in effect to this day. Since early times, fishing and overseas commerce have been the main economic activities. Henry the Navigator's interest in exploration together with some technological developments in navigation made Portugal's expansion possible and led to great advances in geographic, mathematical, scientific knowledge and technology, more specifically naval technology.

Naval exploration and Portuguese Empire (15th-16th centuries)

During the 15th and 16th centuries, Portugal was a leading European power, ranking with England, France and Spain in terms of economic, political, and cultural influence. Though not predominant in European affairs, Portugal did have an extensive colonial trading empire throughout the world backed by a powerful thalassocracy.

July 25, 1415 marked the beginning of the Portuguese Empire, when the Portuguese Armada departed to the rich trade Islamic centre of Ceuta in North Africa with King John I and his wife Phillipa of Lancaster and their sons Prince Duarte (future king), Prince Pedro, Prince Henry the Navigator (born in Porto in 1394) and Prince Afonso, and legendary Portuguese hero Nuno Álvares Pereira.[21] On August 21, 1415, Ceuta, the city on the coast of North Africa directly across from Gibraltar, was conquered by Portugal, and the long-lived Portuguese Empire was founded.[22]

The conquest of Ceuta had been helped by the fact that a major civil war had been engaging the Muslims of the Magrib (North Africa) since 1411.[23] This same civil war between the Muslims prevented a re-capture of Ceuta from the Portuguese, when Muhammad IX, the Left-Handed King of Granada, laid siege to Ceuta and attempted to coordinate the forces in Morocco and attempted to get aid and assistance for the effort from Tunis.[24] The Muslim attempt to retake Ceuta was ultimately unsuccessful and Ceuta remained the first part of the new Portuguese Empire.[25] However, further steps were taken that would soon expand the Portuguese Empire.

In 1418 two of the captains of Prince Henry the Navigator, João Gonçalves Zarco and Tristão Vaz Teixeira, were driven by a storm to an island which they called Porto Santo ("Holy Port") in gratitude for their rescue from the shipwreck. In 1419, João Gonçalves Zarco disembarked on Madeira Island. Uninhabited Madeira Island was colonized by the Portuguese in 1420.[26]

Between 1427 and 1431, most of the Azorean islands were discovered and these uninhabited islands were colonized by the Portuguese in 1445. A Portuguese expedition may have attempted to colonize the Canary Islands as early as 1336, but Castile objected to any claim by the Portuguese to the Canary Islands. Castile began its conquest of the Canaries in 1402. Castile expelled the last Portuguese from the Canary islands 1459. The Canary Islands would eventually be part of the Spanish Empire.[27]

In 1434, Gil Eanes turned the Cape Bojador, south of Morocco. The trip marked the beginning of the Portuguese exploration of Africa. Before the turn, very little information was known in Europe about what lay around the cape. At the end of the 13th century and the beginning of the 14th, those who tried to venture there became lost, which gave birth to legends of sea monsters. Some setbacks occurred: in 1436 the Canaries were officially recognized as Castilian by the Pope; earlier they were recognized as Portuguese. Also, in 1438 in a military expedition to Tangier, the Portuguese were defeated.

However, the Portuguese did not give up their exploratory efforts. In 1448, on a small island known as Arguim off the coast of Mauritania, an important castle was built, working as a feitoria, a trading post, for commerce with inland Africa. Some years before the first African gold was brought to Portugal, circumventing the Arab caravans that crossed the Sahara. Some time later, the caravels explored the Gulf of Guinea which lead to the discovery of several uninhabited islands: Cape Verde, Fernão Póo, São Tomé, Príncipe and Annobón.[28]

On November 13, 1460, Prince Henry the Navigator died.[29] He had been the leading patron of all maritime exploration by Portugal up to that time. Immediately following Henry's death, there was a lapse of further exploration. Henry's patronage of explorations had shown that profits could be made in trade which followed the exploration of new lands. Accordingly when exploration was commenced again private merchants led the way in attempting to stretch trade routes further down the African coast.[30]

In 1470s, Portuguese trading ships reached the Gold Coast.[31] In 1471, the Portuguese captured Tangier, after years of attempts. Eleven years later in 1482, the fortress of São Jorge da Mina in the town of Elmina on the Gold Coast in the Gulf of Guinea was built. (Setting sail aboard the fleet of ships taking the materials and building crews to Elmina on this trip in December 1481 was Christopher Columbus.) In 1483, Diogo Cão reached and explored the Congo River.

The New World

In 1484, Portugal officially rejected Christopher Columbus's idea of reaching India from the west, because it was seen as unreasonable. Some historians have claimed that the Portuguese had already performed fairly accurate calculations concerning the size of the world and therefore knew that sailing west to reach the Indies would require a far longer journey than navigating to the east. However, this continues to be debated. Thus began a long-lasting dispute which eventually resulted in the signing of the Treaty of Tordesillas with Spain in 1494. The treaty divided the (largely undiscovered) world equally between the Spanish and the Portuguese, along a north-south meridian line 370 leagues (1770 km/1100 miles) west of the Cape Verde islands, with all lands to the east belonging to Portugal and all lands to the west to Spain.

A remarkable achievement was the turning of the Cape of Good Hope by Bartolomeu Dias in 1487.[32] The richness of India was now accessible. Indeed the name of the cape stems from this promise of rich trade with the east. In 1489, the King of Bemobi gave his realms to the Portuguese king and became Christian. Between 1491 and 1494, Pêro de Barcelos and João Fernandes Lavrador explored North America. At the same time, Pêro da Covilhã reached Ethiopia by land. Vasco da Gama sailed for India, and arrived at Calicut on 20 May 1498, returning in glory to Portugal the next year.[33] The Monastery of Jerónimos was built, dedicated to the discovery of the route to India.

In the spring of 1500, Pedro Álvares Cabral set sail from Cape Verde with 13 ships and crews and a list of nobles that included Nicolau Coelho, Bartolomeu Dias and his brother Diogo, Duarte Pacheco Pereira (author of the Esmeraldo) along with various other nobles, nine chaplains and some 1,200 men.[34] From Cape Verde they sailed southwest across the Atlantic. On April 22, 1500, they caught sight of land in the distance.[35] They disembarked and claimed this new land for Portugal. This was the coast of what would later become the Portuguese colony of Brazil.[36]

However, the real goal of the expedition was to open sea trade to the empires of the east. Trade with the east had effectively been cut off since the fall of Constantinople in 1453. Accordingly, Cabral turned from exploring the coasts of the new land of Brazil and sailed to the southeast back across the Atlantic and around the Cape of Good Hope. Cabral reached Sofala on the east coast of Africa in July 1500.[37] Later in 1505, a Portuguese fort would be established here and the land around the fort would become the Portuguese colony of Mozambique.[38]

Then they sailed on to the east and landed in Calicut in India in September 1500.[39] Here they traded for pepper and, more significantly opened European sea trade with the empires of the east. No longer would the Islamic occupation of Constantinople form a barrier between Europe and the east.Ten years later in 1510, Afonso de Albuquerque after attempting and failing to capture and occupy Zamorin's Calicut militarily, conquered Goa on the west coast of India.[40]

João da Nova discovered Ascension in 1501 and Saint Helena in 1502; Tristão da Cunha was the first to sight the archipelago still known by his name 1506. In 1505, Francisco de Almeida was engaged to improve the Portuguese trade with the far east. Accordingly, he sailed to East Africa. Several small Islamic states along the coast of Mozambique, Kilwa, Brava and Mombasa were destroyed or became subjects or allies of Portugal.[41] Almeida then sailed on to Cochin, made peace with the ruler and built a stone fort there

The two million Portuguese people ruled a vast empire with many millions of inhabitants in the Americas, Africa, the Middle East and Asia. From 1514, the Portuguese had reached China and Japan. In the Indian Ocean and Arabian Sea, one of Cabral's ships discovered Madagascar (1501), which was partly explored by Tristão da Cunha (1507); Mauritius was discovered in 1507, Socotra occupied in 1506, and in the same year Lourenço de Almeida visited Ceylon.

In the Red Sea, Massawa was the most northerly point frequented by the Portuguese until 1541, when a fleet under Estevão da Gama penetrated as far as Suez. Hormuz, in the Persian Gulf, was seized by Afonso de Albuquerque in 1515, who also entered into diplomatic relations with Persia. In 1521, a force under Antonio Correia conquered Bahrain ushering in a period of almost 80 years of Portuguese rule of the Persian Gulf archipelago[43] (for further information see Bahrain as a Portuguese dominion).

On the Asiatic mainland the first trading stations were established by Pedro Álvares Cabral at Cochin and Calicut (1501); more important were the conquests of Goa (1510) and Malacca (1511) by Afonso de Albuquerque, and the acquisition of Diu (1535) by Martim Afonso de Sousa. East of Malacca Albuquerque sent Duarte Fernandes as envoy to Siam (now Thailand) in 1511, and dispatched to the Moluccas two expeditions (1512, 1514), which founded the Portuguese dominion in Maritime Southeast Asia.[44]

The Portuguese established their base in the Spice Islands on the island of Ambon.[45] Fernão Pires de Andrade visited Canton in 1517 and opened up trade with China, where in 1557 the Portuguese were permitted to occupy Macau. Japan, accidentally reached by three Portuguese traders in 1542, soon attracted large numbers of merchants and missionaries. In 1522 one of the ships in the expedition that Ferdinand Magellan organized in the Spanish service completed the first voyage around the world.

By the end of the 15th century, Portugal expelled some local Jews, along with those refugees that came from Castile and Aragon after 1492. In addition, many Jews were forcibly converted to Catholicism and remained as Conversos. Many Jews remained secretly Jewish, in danger of persecution by the Portuguese Inquisition. In 1506, 3,000 "New Christians" were massacred in Lisbon

Frame :*INDEPENDENT FABRICATION* gravel royal

Fork :*ENVE*

Headset :*CHRIS KING* inset7

Handlebar :*RITCHEY* venture max handlebar

Bar tape:*BROOKS* cambium rubber bar tape

Stem:*THOMSON* elite X4

Tire:*WTB* raddler

Brake:*PAUL* klamper flat mount disc calliper

Seat post:*THOMSON* elite setback

Seat Clamp :*DKG*

Jones, 1742-1803, came from a landowning family in Radnorshire, Wales. As a second son, a career in the clergy was expected of him, but, feeling art to be his true vocation, he rebelled. He succeeded in persuading the successful and well-connected landscape painter Richard Wilson, a fellow Welshman, to accept him as a student. Many of the works produced in Wilson’s studio at that time were derived from, or were strongly influenced by the painter’s recent travels through Italy. Jones was struck by the beauty of the landscapes he saw take shape around him, and formed a determination to see their originals for himself.

In the years that followed, Jones achieved some fitful success as a landscape artist in his own right. Almost from the beginning, there is a sharp distinction in style between the stiff formality of his public work, and the much freer and more relaxed manner of his preparatory sketches and other pieces painted for his own amusement. Of the latter, the landscape above, painted near his family home at Pencerrig, is a vibrant early example. By 1776, after suffering several setbacks, Jones was finally ready to prepare for his long-anticipated journey to Italy.

The Warwick Allerton - Chicago, a 25-story hotel, was the first building in the city to feature pronounced setbacks and towers resulting from the 1923 zoning law. It opened in 1924 at 701 N. Michigan Ave. The hotel originally had fourteen floors of small apartment-style rooms for men and six similar floors for women, with a total of 1,000 rooms. The Tip Top Tap operated from the top floor from the 1940s until 1961; the sign proclaiming its existence is still displayed on the building's exterior. Don McNeill moved his broadcast of Don McNeill's Breakfast Club to the hotel in 1963.

The Allerton Hotel was closed from August 1998 until May 1999 for a $40 million renovation. In November 2006, a partnership purchased the hotel from FelCor Lodging for $70 million. The new owners ended the affiliation with Crowne Plaza and, on February 2, 2007, renamed the property The Allerton Hotel. Further renovations were added. In March 2014, New York-based Warwick International Hotels purchased the Allerton and renamed it the Warwick Allerton – Chicago.

Frame:*black mountain cycles* mod zero

Headset:*cane creek* 110

Wheel:*shimano*105 hb-r7070 x *velocity* blunt ss

Tire:*panaracer* fire pro

Handle:*whisky* no.7 6f aluminum drop

Stem:*thomson* elite x4

Bartape:*fizik* terra tacky

Saddle:*selle italia* flite 1990

Seatpost:*thomson* elite setback

For more information on the American Standard Building, see this picture.

At the western gateway to the Bryant Park is the pink granite Josephine Shaw Lowell Memorial Fountain, designed by Charles Adams Platt and dedicated in 1912. This was the city's first public memorial dedicated to a woman. Lowell was a social worker and founder of the Charity Organization Society. Charles Adams Platt designed the fountain.

At the western gateway to the Bryant Park is the pink granite Josephine Shaw Lowell Memorial Fountain, designed by Charles Adams Platt and dedicated in 1912. This was the city's first public memorial dedicated to a woman. Lowell was a social worker and founder of the Charity Organization Society. Charles Adams Platt designed the fountain.

Bryant Park is 9.603 acres of public park bounded by Fifth Avenue, Sixth Avenue, 40th and 42nd Streets. The central building of the New York Public Library sits on the eastern end of the park.

While it was still a wilderness, New York's colonial governor Thomas Dongan designated this land as a public space in 1686. George Washington's troops crossed the area while retreating from the Battle of Long Island in 1776. Bryant Park was a potter's field from 1823 to 1840, when thousands of bodies were moved to Ward's Island.

The first park at this site opened in 1847 as Reservoir Square, named after its neighbor, the Croton Distributing Reservoir. In 1853, the Exhibition of the Industry of All Nations with the New York Crystal Palace, with thousands of exhibitors, took place in the park. The square was used for military drills during the American Civil War, and was the site of some of the New York Draft Riots of July 1863, when the Colored Orphan Asylum at Fifth Avenue and 43rd Street was burned down.

In 1884 Reservoir Square was renamed Bryant Park, to honor the New York Evening Post editor and abolitionist William Cullen Bryant and in 1899 construction of the New York Public Library building began. The construction of the Sixth Avenue Elevated railway in 1878 had cast a literal and metaphorical shadow over the park, and by the 1930s the park had fallen into disrepair. The park was re-designed in 1933-1934 as a Great Depression public works project under Robert Moses, featuring a great lawn, hedges and later an iron fence.

By the 1970s Bryant Park had been taken over by drug dealers, prostitutes and the homeless, earning the colloquial nickname "Needle Park." From 1979 to 1983, the parks advocacy group, The Parks Council, coordinated a large-scale improvement initiative. Their efforts were ultimately succeeded by the Bryant Park Corporation, founded in 1980, with a privately funded redesign and restoration in 1988 under the leadership of Daniel A. Biederman. The new Park opened in 1992 with a Parisian feel, an English style perennial border garden, and seating for up to 3,000. Several dining spots including Bryant Park Grill, Bryant Park Cafe and 'wichcraft opened to accomodate swelling lunchtime crowds. In the summer of 2002, the Bryant Park Wireless network was launched, allowing free WiFi access. In 2002, the Bryant Park Restoration Corporation founded Fetes de Noel, a European-style holiday market, and added The Pond at Bryant Park, a temporary ice skating rink, in 2005. Today the park hosts the biannual New York Fashion Week, HBO's Bryant Park Summer Film Festival and ABC's Good Morning America Concert Series, and the New York Yankees "Pinstripes in the Park" among many other events.

For more details on the American Standard Building, see this picture. The American Standard Building was designated a landmark by the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission in 1974.

New York Public Library and Bryant Park National Register #66000547

American Standard Building National Register #70002663 (1980)

The Starrett-Lehigh Building at 601 West 26th Street between Eleventh and Twelfth Avenues and between 26th and 27th Streets in Chelsea, Manhattan, New York City, is a full-block freight terminal, warehouse and office building. It was built in 1930–1 as a joint venture of the Starrett real-estate interests and the Lehigh Valley Railroad on a lot where the railroad had its previous freight terminal, and was designed by the firm of (Russell G.) Cory & (Walter M.) Cory, with Yasuo Matsui the associate architect and the firm of Purdy & Henderson the consulting engineers.

The building features large setbacks, polygonal corners, and alternating bands of steel strip windows, brickwork and concrete floorplates, creating a striking effect described by architectural critic Lewis Mumford in 1931: "the contrast between the long, continuous red-brick bands and the green-framed windows, with sapphire reflections or depths, is as sound a use of color as one can see about the city." The modernity of the building's design made it one of the few American structures not designed by a major architect cited in the 1932 "Modern Architecture: International Exhibition" show of the Museum of Modern Art.

The Starrett-Lehigh Building was named a New York City landmark in 1986, and is part of the West Chelsea Historic District, designated in 2008.

(Source: Wikipedia)

Taken by: Emiel Dekker (emield.myportfolio.com/)

OK kids. I fixed the chest so you can taste more of my chalky flava and the edge of red shadow on my cheek... better?

© Laura Kicey

via Instagram ift.tt/29Erebw

For Sliders Sunday. HSS!

For Macro Mondays. September 8, 2014 ~ Pale.

At our breakfast table this morning was this ethereal vision!

Taken at The Regency, Laguna Woods, California. © 2014 All Rights Reserved.

My images are not to be used, copied, edited, or blogged without my explicit permission.

Please!! NO Glittery Awards or Large Graphics...Buddy Icons are OK. Thank You!

HMM, my Flickr friends! Thanks so much for showing up and sharing! I have been able to get to some of you and leave a

comment. I'll get to more of you, slowly, a little at a time. My arm improves a little each day and I don't want a setback!

Actually my first drive in the Mazda Grand Am GT RX-8 and video from my second stint in the car. Note, this was the first front engine car I had raced in a long time and more happy with the motor behind me in a Porsche or Prototype true racing car.

Dempsey Racing and Mazda Motorsport racing director, Jim Jordan, did an amazing job, we had two cars, and we had a excellent team, a few setbacks but finished mid pack. I ran 4, 90 minute stints and the heat and noise was pretty intolerable.

the car itself is based on a tube-frame chassis jointly developed by SpeedSource and Riley Technologies, and powered by Mazda’s three-rotor 20B Renesis rotary engine. The 20B three-rotor engine is a big part of Mazda’s Grand Am GT RX-8 program and it’s based on the engine used in the RX-8 street car, with some added power of course.

With its small size and light weight, the rotary motor is sure to be top notch on the racing circuit. It can rev to over 9,000 rpm giving it the distinctive 20B rotary engine sound. When you hear one these, it sticks with you.

Mazda RX-8 specs.

Engine20B Three rotor rotary engine (1,950cc)

Max Power 425HP @ 8500RPM

Max Torque 285 ft-lbs. @ 7600

Max RPM 8800

Dry Sump Lubrication

Bosch 4.3 ECU

GearboxEmco Daytona Prototype

Six forward gears and one reverse

Ring and Pinion 10/35

BodyworkAll carbon fiber

73.5 inch width

174 inch length

SuspensionDymanic Suspension DSSV shocks

Front and Rear adjustable anti-roll bars

18x11 Racing Hart wheel front with 285/645-18 Pirelli Racing tire

18x11.5 Racing Hart wheel rear with 305/660-18 Pirelli Racing tire

BrakesDual master cylinders with balance bar

Four piston Alcon front and rear calipers

Cast iron vented Alcon rotors front and rear

Pagid racing brake pads

.surly krampus 29+ .specialized chisel 29" .chris king pink .nextie 35mm carbon .surly knard 3.0 .sram xx1 .absolut black 32t .shimano xt .enve setback .salsa liplock .fizik antares .enve stem .answer 20/20 .esi xtra chunky grips .avix x.0

Built in 1989, this 56-story 775-foot Postmodern Skyscraper, inspired by Art Deco architecture, was designed by Cesar Pelli & Associates and Kendall/Heaton Associates Inc. as the Norwest Tower, home to Norwest Bank, originally known as Northwestern National Bank. The building replaced the former Northwestern National Bank Building, which stood on the site from 1930 until 1982, when it was destroyed by a massive fire on Thanksgiving Day. The building is clad in Kasota limestone, and features strong vertical emphasis on the exterior with vertical bays of windows separated by glass spandrel panels, and features multiple setbacks as the building approaches the top of the roof, with a large, cylindrical rotunda on the 6th Street side with a circular glass skylight, and a shopping center in a podium to the west of the tower. The building later became home to offices for Wells Fargo Bank and became known as Wells Fargo Center following the merger of Wells Fargo and Norwest.

Built in 1990, this post-modern building is topped with several setbacks and a high decorative tower, making it one of the most distinctive of Toronto's tallest skyscrapers.

delaaaaaaays

Here is a beautiful edge on galaxy about 33 million light years away that I shot in November! I was still fine tuning my mount, so I used 60s exposures at ISO 1600 to minimize star trailing. Despite these setbacks, I think I got data that was good enough to reveal some nice details in the dust lanes! I'll definitely revisit this object in the future to do it justice, but for now I love this image. Galaxy season is incoming!! If you check my story, you'll see an annotated image where every blue circle is highlighting a galaxy in this field of view When I see how many galaxies are just in this small patch of sky and think about the scale of the universe, it just blows my mind. God's power to breath all this into existence with His word is incredible and clearly reveals His indescribable glory. I'm so thankful He allows me to share His creation with you all through my telescope. I hope y'all enjoy :)

–

Orion 8" Astrograph

iOptron CEM70

Skywatcher Quattro Coma Corrector

Stock Nikon D5500

ZWO ASI 120MM mini Guide Camera

ASIAIR Pro for acquisition

Processing in Pixinsight & Photoshop

Subs from 11/16/2020

138 x 60s lights @ ISO 1600

No Darks

20 Flats

100 Bias

Total Integration Time: 2.3 hrs

Built in 1928, this Gothic Revival-style skyscraper was designed by Herbert Hugh Riddle to house the Mather Stock Car Company and various office tenants, and has also been known as the Lincoln Building. The building is 42 stories and 521 feet (159 meters) tall, being among the tallest buildings in Chicago well into the mid-20th Century. The building is clad in white terra cotta, and consists of two sections, with a 24-story rectilinear conventional lower section that fills up the entire site, and a very distinctive octagonal 18-story tower above, which tapers as it rises. The building features decorative brass trim and storefronts at the base, with the window bays on the second, third, fourth, fifth, and sixth floors featuring decorative trim, including extruded pilasters, ornamented spandrels, niches housing lantern-style brass light fixtures, machicolations, faux juliet balconies, and large windows in the central bays. Above the sixth floor, the facade takes on more of a regular rhythm, with smaller one-over-one double-hung windows, recessed decorative spandrel panels, vertical piers between the windows, and decorative extruded terra cotta trim at the top. Above the roof of the lower section, the building features an octagonal tower with a very slender profile, which features large corner piers, recessed decorative spandrel panels, and setbacks at various floors that cluster together closer to the top, where each face of the tower is only two bays wide with a recessed arched panel above the windows on the highest floor, above which the building is crowned with a tapered octagonal cupola. The building is a contributing structure in the Michigan–Wacker Historic District, listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1978, and was designated a Chicago Landmark in 2001. Owing to the difficulty of renting the spaces in the slender tower, the building fell into decline in the latter half of the 20th Century, leading to deferred maintenance. In 2000, the original cupola was removed due to structural instability, and a proposal to truncate the building to 24 stories, removing the octagonal tower entirely, was considered. However, in lieu of demolishing the distinctive tower, the building was purchased by Masterworks Development Corporation, which undertook a restoration of the building’s facade, including placing a new cupola atop the tower in 2002, with the building’s interior being reconfigured for adaptive reuse as the River Hotel in the lower section, with the tower serving as the Club Quarters Chicago, which serves corporate clients.

Proxima Centauri - Planet B

Efforts to reach Proxima Centauri have been ongoing for years, with researchers making significant strides and facing considerable setbacks. Advancements in interplanetary travel, wormholes, and black hole studies have transformed fundamental aspects of life on Planet A. Now, we observe a completely different sky, with previously unseen and unrecognised stars visible to the naked eye. This phenomenon, while breathtaking, has sparked debate over whether it signifies progress or impending catastrophe. Albert Einstein's theories on curved space seem validated, yet there are unforeseen elements, even beyond Einstein's predictions, such as the emergence of temporary rifts in space-time that allow for instantaneous travel across vast distances. These rifts, while facilitating unprecedented exploration, also bring the risk of instability, potentially merging different points in the universe unpredictably. Moreover, the altered celestial visibility has led to the discovery of new planetary bodies with unusual gravitational effects, creating both opportunities for resource extraction and threats of cosmic collisions. These developments, blending wonder with danger, continually challenge our understanding of the universe and our place within it.

Introduction on Exoplanets

Exoplanets, or extrasolar planets, are planets that orbit stars outside our solar system. Since the confirmation of the first exoplanets in the early 1990s, the search for these distant worlds has become a key focus in the field of astronomy. To date, thousands of exoplanets have been discovered, varying immensely in size, composition, and orbit. They range from gas giants many times the size of Jupiter to small, rocky planets that may be akin to Earth.

These discoveries have been made using a variety of methods, including the transit method, where a planet's passage in front of its star causes a slight dimming detectable by telescopes, and the radial velocity method, which measures the star’s wobble due to the gravitational pull of an orbiting planet. These techniques have unveiled a rich tapestry of planetary systems vastly different from our own.

The nearest exoplanets are found in the habitable zone of Proxima Centauri, the closest known star to the Sun, approximately 4.24 light-years away. If humanity could develop a spacecraft capable of reaching 25% of the speed of light, a journey to Proxima Centauri would theoretically take about 17 years. Such a voyage would represent an unprecedented technological challenge, involving extreme durations and distances far beyond our current capabilities. Yet, as we face global environmental crises such as climate change and rising sea levels, the interest in potentially habitable exoplanets as a 'Plan B' continues to grow.

Traveling to the nearest exoplanet, Proxima Centauri, at a speed similar to that of the Space Shuttle (about 28,000 kilometers per hour) would take approximately 163,429 years. This highlights the immense distance to even the nearest stars outside our solar system and illustrates the significant challenges associated with interstellar travel using today's technology.

The nearest known exoplanet is Proxima Centauri b, which orbits the star Proxima Centauri. Proxima Centauri is the closest star to our solar system and is part of the larger star system known as Alpha Centauri, which also includes the brighter stars Alpha Centauri A and Alpha Centauri B.

Proxima Centauri b

Distance from Earth: About 4.24 light years.

Discovery: Proxima Centauri b was discovered in 2016 using the radial velocity method, which measures small changes in the star's speed caused by the gravitational pull of an orbiting planet.

Location in the Sky

Proxima Centauri is part of the constellation Centaurus, which is visible from the Southern Hemisphere. It is not visible from most Northern latitudes. The constellation Centaurus is far from the North Star, which is part of the constellation Ursa Minor, and therefore it is not directly related to or close to known Northern constellations.

To locate Proxima Centauri in the sky from the Southern Hemisphere:

Identify Alpha Centauri: This is one of the brightest stars in the Southern sky and serves as a guide to Proxima Centauri.

Use a telescope: Proxima Centauri is a red dwarf and is very faint, so it is not visible to the naked eye. With a telescope, it can be found near Alpha Centauri.

Poem

In the cosmos' wide embrace,

We spin, a lonely, pale blue face,

Yet out there, in the vast night sky,

Worlds beyond our sun do lie.

Whispered secrets of distant suns,

Of planets where no foot has run,

Across the stellar sea, we yearn,

For exoplanets, our hearts turn.

To Proxima’s gentle glow,

To lands where alien breezes blow,

Our dreams take flight on astral wings,

To where the starlight softly sings.

Haikus

Distant worlds circle,

Stars whispering in deep space,

Secrets held in light.

Exoplanet dreams,

Voyages across the stars,

New homes in the void.

Santa's Village

Route 25

East Dundee, Illinois.

Cook & Kane County, USA.

Barrington & Dundee Township

July 29, 2022

Santa's Village AZoosment Park

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Santa's Village Amusement & Water Park (formerly known as simply Santa's Village) is a theme park in East Dundee, Illinois. It was originally built by Glenn Holland, who also built two other Santa's Villages, in California; one located in San Bernardino County and the other in Santa Cruz County.

The Illinois park, the third to be built, was intended to be the flagship of a chain of Santa's Villages across the country. However, parks planned for Richmond, Virginia and Cherry Hill, New Jersey, were never built, and the park in East Dundee became the last of its kind.

The park operated as Santa's Village from 1959 until 2006, when it closed. Five years later, after extensive rehabilitation, the park reopened under new ownership. Renamed Santa's Village Azoosment Park because of the shared focus on both rides and animals, the Azoosment Park has nearly twenty rides and attractions, and hundreds of exotic and farm animals in an interactive environment.

For a short time in 1972 the park was named

Worlds of Fun.

To avert legal feuds with other parks with similar names, the name was changed again to Three Worlds of Santa's Village. In 2021, the park updated its name to Santa's Village Amusement & Water Park.

About the park

The buildings were modeled on what an average child might imagine Santa's Village would look like. When it opened, it was a very prominent theme park. Over the park's history more than 20 million people passed through the front gates.

Initially, rides were purchased individually with colored coins that allowed riders so much time on the attractions. Admission to the park was free. This was eventually abandoned for a one-price admission policy with access to all rides, a model that continued until the end of the park's life.

History

1959–2006

The park opened on May 30, 1959.One addition to the park, opened in 1963, was the "Polar Dome" which provided an ice skating and hockey venue under a forced-air supported dome. On November 28, 1966, a strong wind caused the "Polar Dome" to collapse. The dome was then replaced by a flat cedar roof, although the name of the venue was not changed.

During the 1960s, the park featured the Amphicar rides, which simply drove the riders about 100 feet (30 m) to the edge of a small lake, then out about another 100 feet, circled a pier and returned.

Three Worlds (1972–2006)

In 1972, the park was purchased by the Medina Investors, who renamed it Worlds of Fun. However, to preclude involvement in trademark-infringing lawsuits with amusement parks employing the exact name, they renamed it again to the Three Worlds of Santa's Village.

•Santa's World This was the original area and focal point of the park. It was located north of the Polar Dome. It had attractions such as Santa's House, where visitors could get a picture with Santa, the North Pole, a live theater, Frog Hopper, Balloon Ride, Snowball Ride, Giant Slide, Convoy, Train, and the Dragon Coaster.

•

•Old McDonald's Farm This replaced the Reindeer Barn and consolidated all of the roaming animals to one spot in the park. It had attractions such as the Pony Ride, Petting Zoo, and Animal Pens where the animals were stored at night. The animals were sold before the park closed in 2005.

•

•Coney Island This was the southern area of the park and last to be developed. It had many attractions such as Tilt-a-whirl, The Yo-yo, Himalaya, Galleon Ship, Bumble bee, and the Magic Show. This area is now occupied by Paintball Explosion.

In 1983, the park owners added Racing Rapids Action Park to the north end of Santa's Village.

Although the parks were connected, there were separate admission gates to either one. A combination ticket was available at either park that would permit visitors to enter both parks that day. Both parks had separate parking lots.

Water Park (1983–2006)

The water park Racing Rapids was the water park attached to the north side of Santa's Village AZoosment Park.When it opened, it was one of the first in the Midwest and the largest in Illinois. It was closed with the park in 2005 and has not reopened. In 2015, the water park was under demolition.

Closure (2006)

The unsuccessful launch of the "Typhoon" roller coaster, decreased attention to the aesthetics of the park, and a decline of patrons eventually prompted the corporation to sell. The sale did not proceed as smoothly as hoped and, with many setbacks and unmet deadlines, the park had to shut its doors.

In August 2006, the park announced its permanent closure. Most of the rides and fixtures were auctioned in October 2006.

Reopening (2011)

Paintball Explosion opened on half of the site of the original Santa's Village on April 30, 2011. Paintball Explosion converted the existing Polar Dome ice rink into an indoor paintball field. Paintball Explosion built six outdoor fields within the existing park, reusing many of the outdoor structures.

Azoosmentpark opened on May 27 on the other half of original Santa's Village property. They feature various attractions and rides, while also providing exotic pets on exhibit.

According to the park's website, it included two rides from the now-defunct Kiddieland Amusement Park.

Those rides are the Midge-O-Racers and the Kiddie Whip Ride. Some of the original Santa's Village rides have also been restored to working order. 2013 saw several new additions including a roller coaster.

Powis Castle (Welsh: Castell Powys) is a medieval castle, fortress and grand country house near Welshpool, in Powys, Wales. The seat of the Herbert family, earls of Powis, the castle is known for its formal gardens and for its interiors, the former having been described as "the most important", and the latter "the most magnificent", in the country. The castle and gardens are under the care of the National Trust. Powis Castle is a Grade I listed building, while its gardens have their own Grade I listing on the Cadw/ICOMOS Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in Wales.

The present castle was built in the 13th century. Unusually for a castle on the Marches, it was constructed by a Welsh prince, Gruffydd ap Gwenwynwyn, rather than by a Norman baron. Gruffydd was prince of the ancient Kingdom of Powys and maintained an alliance with the English king Edward I during the struggles of the later 13th century. He was able to secure the position of his son, Owain, although the kingdom itself was abolished by the Parliament of Shrewsbury in 1283. After his father's death, Owain was raised to the peerage as Owen de la Pole, 1st Lord of Powis. Following his own death c. 1293, and the death of his only son, he was succeeded by his daughter, Hawys Gadarn, "the Lady of Powis". Hawys married Sir John Charlton in 1309.

In the late 16th century the castle was purchased by Sir Edward Herbert, a younger son of William Herbert, 1st earl of Pembroke, beginning a connection between the family and the castle that continues today. The Herberts remained Roman Catholic until the 18th century and, although rising in the peerage to earls, marquesses and Jacobite dukes of Powis, suffered periods of imprisonment and exile. Despite these setbacks, they were able in the late 17th and early 18th centuries to transform Powis from a border fortress into an aristocratic country house, and surround it with one of the very few extant examples of a British Baroque garden.

In 1784 Henrietta Herbert married Edward Clive, eldest son of Clive of India, a match which replenished the much-depleted Herbert family fortune. In the early 20th century, George Herbert, 4th Earl of Powis, redeveloped the castle with the assistance of the architect George Frederick Bodley. Herbert’s wife, Violet, undertook work of equal importance in the garden, seeking to turn it into "one of the most beautiful, if not the most beautiful, in England and Wales". On the 4th Earl's death in 1952, his wife and his sons having predeceased him, the castle passed into the care of the National Trust.

History

First castles at Welshpool: 1111–1286

Unlike the castles at Conwy, Caernarfon, Harlech and nearby Montgomery, which were built by the English to subdue the Welsh, the castles at Welshpool were built by the Welsh princes of Powys Wenwynwyn as their dynastic seat.[1] In addition to the current site, two motte-and-bailey castles and a set of earthworks are located nearby.[2] The names Trallwg/Tallwm and Pola are used interchangeably in early primary sources, and it is unclear which of these sites is being referred to.[3]

The earliest reference dates from 1111, when Cadwgan ap Bleddyn is mentioned as having planned to construct a castle at Trallwng Llywelyn,[3] the oldest record of a native Welsh castle.[4] Domen Castell, a motte-and-bailey near the modern railway station, is considered the most likely site of Cadwgan's castle, although it is uncertain whether it was completed as he was assassinated the same year.[5] The first documentary account of an extant castle at Welshpool is a description of the successful 1196 siege by an English army, although the castle was retaken by the Welsh within the year.[5][6]

The earliest castle at the current site may have been a timber building constructed by Owain Cyfeiliog or his son, Gwenwynwyn (r. 1197–1216).[7] The present masonry structure contains 13th-century fabric,[8] most likely the work of Gruffydd ap Gwenwynwyn (r. 1241–1287) – although historians are uncertain when this took place.[a][10] In 1274, Gruffydd's "first castle" at Welshpool was destroyed by Llywelyn ap Gruffudd as punishment for his involvement in a scheme to assassinate Llywelyn.[b] The castle was documented again in 1286, when it was listed amongst Gruffydd's possessions as "la Pole Castr".[12] A detailed examination of Powis Castle's extant masonry carried out between 1987 and 1989 revealed early stonework incorporated into the later structure, putatively the remains of an early stone shell keep.[13] At the end of Edward I's conquest of Wales in 1282–83, the king permitted Gruffydd to rebuild his castle at Welshpool as a reward for his loyalty.[14]

Early history: 1286–1644

Edward Herbert, 1st Baron Herbert of Cherbury[c]

In 1286, four years after the conquest of Wales, Gruffydd's son, Owain ap Gruffydd ap Gwenwynwyn became the last hereditary prince of Powys when he renounced his royal title, and was granted the barony of de la Pole, (i.e. "of the Pool", a reference to Welshpool, formerly called just "Pool").[d][16][17] The ancient Kingdom of Powys had once included the counties of Montgomeryshire, much of Denbighshire, parts of Radnorshire and large areas of Shropshire, but by the 13th century had been reduced to two independent principalities – Powys Wenwynwyn and Powys Fadog – roughly equivalent to Montgomeryshire and South Denbighshire (plus Maelor Saesneg), respectively; Welshpool had become the capital of Powys Wenwynwyn, of which Owain had been heir. On the death of Owain, the castle passed to his daughter Hawys, who married Sir John Charlton.[17] The Charltons continued to live at Powis until the fifteenth century when two daughters, Joyce Tiptoft and Joan Grey inherited the castle and estates. Both were equally divided, each daughter and her husband living in a portion of the castle.[18]

In 1578 an illegitimate son of the last Baron Grey of Powis, began leasing the lordship and castle to a distant relative – Sir Edward Herbert (d. 1595), second son of Sir William Herbert, 1st Earl of Pembroke. Edward eventually bought the castle outright in 1587, beginning the connection between the Herberts and Powis Castle which continues today.[19] Sir Edward's wife was a Roman Catholic and the family's allegiance to Rome and to the Stuart kings was to shape its destiny for over a century.[16] Sir Edward began the transformation of Powis from a border fortress into an Elizabethan country house. The major remaining element of his work is the Long Gallery.[19]

Herbert's descendent William Herbert, 1st Baron Powis (c. 1573–1655), was a supporter of Charles I, and was granted the barony of Powis in 1629.[19] His loyalty during the English Civil War cost him his castle and his estates.[20] On 22 October 1644 Powis Castle was captured by Parliamentary troops and was not returned to the family until the restoration of Charles II in 1660.[21]

The Herberts: 1660–1800

The Hercules statue which stood originally in the Water Garden

On the restoration, the Herberts returned to Powis, and in 1674 William Herbert (c. 1626–1696) was created Earl of Powis (of the first creation). The state bedroom was installed in about 1665 and further improvements, including the construction of the Great Staircase followed in the 1670s. These developments were most probably carried out under the direction of William Winde, who may also have designed the terraced gardens. His employer, although restored to his estates, and raised in the peerage, was barred by his Catholic faith from high office under Charles II. On the accession of the King's brother, James in 1685, Herbert became one of the new king's chief ministers, and was again advanced in the peerage becoming Marquess of Powis in 1687, but fell at the Glorious Revolution of 1688 and followed James into exile in France.[e] William III granted the castle to his nephew, William Nassau de Zuylestein, 1st Earl of Rochford. Herbert died, still in exile, in 1696.[24]

Despite their 30-year exile, the Herberts were able to continue with developments at the castle and even to live there on an irregular basis, the Baroque water garden below the castle being completed at this time.[25] Their fortunes were also materially improved by the discovery of a lucrative lead mine on their Welsh estates.[24] The second Marquess, also William, was reinstated in 1722. On the death of his son, the third Marquess in 1748, the marquessate became extinct, while the castle and estates passed to a relative, Henry Herbert (c. 1703–1772), of Oakly Park in Shropshire, who was made 1st Earl of Powis (of the second creation) by George II.[26] Herbert married Barbara, the fifteen-year-old granddaughter of the 2nd Marquess, in 1751. Their eldest son, George Herbert, 2nd Earl of Powis (1755–1801), died unmarried and the earldom of the second creation became extinct.[f][27] Powis was much neglected during his tenure. John Byng, 5th Viscount Torrington, a diarist and traveller who chronicled his journeys into Wales in the 1780s and 1790s, described the castle in 1784, "In the gardens not even the fruit is attended to; the balustrades and terraces are falling down, and the horses graze on the parterres!!!"[28] The castle itself was in no better condition, a visitor in 1774 describing it as "in Neglect and Ruin".[27] Nonetheless, the potential of the site was recognised. George Lyttelton, the politician, poet and essayist, recorded his impressions in 1756, "About £3,000 laid out upon Powis Castle would make it the most august place in the Kingdom."[29]

The Clives and Herberts: 1801–1952

The Outer Courtyard with the Fame statue in the foreground

In 1784, Henry Herbert's daughter, Henrietta, married Edward Clive (1754–1839), the eldest son of Clive of India.[30] Clive had followed his father to India, and served as Governor of Madras. Henrietta's brother died in 1801, whereupon the title lapsed; in 1804, her husband was created first Earl of Powis (of the third creation). The Clive fortune paid for long overdue repairs to the castle, which were carried out by Sir Robert Smirke.[31][32] Their son, Edward (1785–1848), inherited his late uncle's Powis estates on his 21st birthday, taking the surname Herbert in compliance with his uncle's will.[30] Edward Herbert served in a range of administrations as an Anti-Catholic Tory, his speeches in the House of Commons being "cautious and pertinent, although marred by dull delivery". He died in 1848, following a shooting accident at Powis in which he was fatally injured by his second son.[33] No further major changes were made to the Powis estate during his time, or in the long tenure of his eldest son Edward Herbert, 3rd Earl of Powis (1818–1891), although the castle was well maintained. In honour of his great-grandfather, the earl was offered the viceroyalty of India by Benjamin Disraeli but declined, writing "Not worth considering. Powis" on the envelope containing the invitation.[34]

The final alterations to Powis Castle were undertaken at the beginning of the 20th century by George Frederick Bodley for George Charles Herbert, 4th Earl of Powis (1862–1952). The rooms designed by Bodley remain his only extant decorative scheme; the longevity of the 4th Earl, the deaths of his heirs, and his bequest of the castle to the National Trust saw the early 20th-century remodelling remain largely unaltered.[g][36] The 4th earl's wife, Violet (nee Lane-Fox), undertook the final transformation of the gardens of Powis Castle, which she felt had the potential to be "the most beautiful in England and Wales".[37] The Countess died following a car accident in 1929, and Lord Powis outlived both his sons, who died on active service, Percy from wounds received at the Battle of the Somme in 1916,[38] and Mervyn in a plane crash in 1943.[39] On his own death in 1952, he bequeathed the castle and gardens to the National Trust.[h][42]

The National Trust: 1952–present

The 4th earl was succeeded by his cousin, Edward Herbert, 5th Earl of Powis (1889–1974). Edward's heir was Christian Herbert, 6th Earl of Powis (1904–1988). He was succeeded by his cousin, George Herbert, 7th Earl of Powis (1925–1993),[42] who was in turn succeeded by his son, John, the 8th and current Earl.[43] The Herbert family continue to live in part of the castle, under an arrangement with the National Trust.[44] The Trust has undertaken a number of major works of restoration during its ownership, including the Marquess Gate,[45] the Grand Staircase,[46] and the sculpture of Fame in the Outer Courtyard.[i][47] The castle and its gardens receive around 200,000 visitors annually. Wikipedia

From: www.oldtimersmine.com/index.php?option=com_content&vi...

The Old Timers Mine and Museum opens a window on the fascinating history of opal mining in Coober Pedy, revealing not only the hard physical grind and the occasional bonanza that was mining in the early days, but also an intriguing mystery at the heart of the mine.

oldtimerThe original mine dates back to 1916, but the old miners, whoever they were, concealed its existence by back-filling the shafts. The mystery is why they never returned to dig out the opal that remained. Perhaps they went to the First World War and never came home again. It was not until 1968 that the hidden mine was discovered by Ron Gough when he was digging an extension to his underground home and broke through, exposing three large seams of good quality opal, as well as opalised seashells. These have been retained and can be seen by visitors today.

The museum shows how miners, usually working alone, would dig the shafts and blast holes and winch the dug soil up to the surface, all by hand, with only candles and carbine lamps for illumination. Ron Gough was one of these miners, and it was he who realized the potential for opening the mine as a tourist attraction, his dugout (his family’s underground home) was added, being set up as a display home to show what life was like living underground from the 1920s to the 1990s.

There were many setbacks, including, in the 70s, another miner pegging a claim and blasting away, reaching the bedroom before he was stopped by court order. However, delays were eventually windlass2overcome and, with the fortuitous discovery of opal worth $50,000 just when finances were desperate, the Old Timers Mine and Museum began operating on 7th July 1987. Since then it has never looked back. Now it is one of the premier tourist attractions in Coober Pedy, having won many tourist awards for its ingenious self-guided mine tours through this historical mine (with guides written in many languages), the demonstrations of opal mining machinery and the chance for visitors to find their own piece of opal by noodling through the left over mullock heaps. Polished opal and rock specimens and opal jewellery and souvenirs are, of course, on show in the gift shop. What makes this visit to the Old Timers Mine and Museum unique for many people is seeing how miners and their families lived and worked underground.

01/21/08

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Walking in the North Yorkshire Moors between Levisham and Newtondale Halt, North Yorkshire.

The North York Moors is a national park containing one of the largest expanses of heather moorland in the United Kingdom. It covers an area of 554 sq mi (1,430 km2), and has a population of 23,380. The North York Moors became a National Park in 1952, through the National Parks and Access to the Countryside Act of 1949.

The North York Moors National Park encompasses three main types of landscape, whose differences are clearly visible, and the coastal belt. There are predominantly green areas of pasture land, the purple and brown heather moorland, and woodland. The three kinds of scenery are the result of differences in the underlying geology and each supports different wildlife communities.

The area's economy is mainly founded on tourism and agriculture. For over a thousand years the basis of the economy in the North York Moors was agriculture. The rural scene, which attracts millions of visitors to the park each year, has been formed and maintained by generations of farmers. The 1996 Agricultural Census recorded a total workforce of 2,913 employed on 1,342 working farms. Sheep and cattle provide the prime source of farm income. The dale farms have rights to graze sheep on the open moor. The rights to moorland grazing are often essential to the economic viability of a farm. In recent years agriculture in Britain has suffered economic setbacks and the viability of hill farming has become questionable. A number of environmental schemes to improve farm incomes have been devised but the industry continues to decline.

Agricultural use of the moors is shared with grouse shooting as a means of gaining financial return from the vast expanse of heather. There is richer farmland across the southern limestone belt, where there are arable and mixed farms as well as the livestock farms. The main arable crops are barley, wheat, oilseed rape, potatoes, and sugar beets. There is also some intensive production of pigs and poultry.

The William and Mary men’s basketball team suffered an 80-66 setback to Drexel on Senior Day at Kaplan Arena. The Dragons used a 17-1 run to end the first half and 11 3-pointers to outdistance the Tribe. Prior to the game, W&M (18-11, 12-6 CAA) honored its four-member senior class of manager Brian Gelston, Tyler Johnson, Tom Schalk and Marcus Thornton. Despite the loss to the Dragons (11-18, 9-9 CAA), the Tribe still claimed a share of the CAA regular season championship.

Thornton led the way for the Tribe in his final game at Kaplan Arena, scoring 19 points and dishing

out six assists. He knocked down a trio of 3-pointers and in the process moved into the fifth on the CAA’s all-time 3-point field goals list. Terry Tarpey added his ninth double-double of the season with 12 points and 11 rebounds, while Daniel Dixon returned to action after missing five games and added 14 points, including a 4-of-7 effort from 3-point range.

After a slow start by both teams, W&M opened up a nine-point advantage thanks to an 11-0 run. Trailing 4-2, Tarpey scored on a fast-break lay-up off a dish from Omar Prewitt to knot things and start the run. Dixon knocked down a triple and Thornton drilled one of his own to give the home side a 13-4 lead with 11:20 remaining in the opening half.

Drexel responded with a 13-2 run to move back in front, highlighted by the play of Freddie Wilson. The Dragon senior drilled a trio of 3-pointers during the stretch as Drexel hit four straight shots. Wilson's third trifecta of the night at the eight-minute mark gave the visitors a 17-15 lead.

W&M pulled even at 20 on a Dixon 3-pointer at the 6:19 mark, but the remainder of the first half belonged to the Dragons. Drexel closed the opening 20 minutes on a 17-1 run to take a 16-point cushion to the locker room. Tavon Allen scored 11 of the Dragon’s final 20 points of the first half. He hit three straight 3-poitners during a stretch and connected on a pair of free throws with less than 30 seconds remaining for the final half-time margin to 37-21. It total, Drexel connected on 7-of-12 (58.3 percent) from 3-point range in the first 20 minutes.

W&M scored eight of the second half’s first 11 points to cut the gap to 40-29 on a Schalk lay-up off a feed from Thornton at the 16:47 mark. Drexel though responded with two straight 3-pointers to extend the margin to 17.

The Dragon’s advantage was 15, 54-39, with 10:23 left following two Tyshawn Myles free throws. A Thornton 3-pointer and two Tarpey free throws narrowed the gap to 10 with 9:34 remaining, but Wilson knocked down a big 3-pointer on the ensuing Drexel possession to stem the Tribe’s momentum.

W&M cut the gap to nine points on three occasions, but each time Drexel had an answer. Thornton’s patented step-back jumper at the 4:27 mark closed the Tribe within 64-55. The Dragons responded with six straight points, including the final four from the free throw line, to extend its lead back to 15, 70-55, and put the game out of reach.

Drexel finished shooting 49 percent (24-of-49) from the field, including an 11-of-21 effort (52.4) from 3-point range. The Dragons also did a number at the free throw line and on the glass. Drexel shot 80.8 percent (21-of-26) from the free throw line, including 17-of-22 (77.3 percent) in the second half.

Wilson and Allen turned in iron-man efforts, playing all 40 minutes and scoring 24 and 22 points, respectively. Wilson was 8-of-12 from the field and 6-of-9 from 3-point range, while Allen hit on 5-of-10 from long range. Rodney Williams just missed a double-double for Drexel with 18 points and nine rebounds.

The Tribe finished the game at 45.1 percent (23-of-51) from the field, including a 55.6-percent (15-of-27) clip in the second half. W&M hit 10 3-pointers for the 13th time this season, shooting 35.7 percent (10-of-28) from distance. The Green and Gold dished out 16 assists on 23 made field goals and only turned it over four times, which is tied for the third lowest total in school history.

Thanks to Elon's victory over UNCW on Saturday, W&M is the regular season champion and will be the No. 1 seed in the CAA Tournament, March 6-9, in Baltimore, for the first time in school history. The Tribe will face the winner of No. 8 Elon and No. 9 Towson at noon on Saturday, March 7.

Red Weasel Media RWM was there to capture the fast pace, back and forth action.

instagram.com/dis_satisfied

MARRABEL August 31

The ceremony of laying the foundation stone of the Loyal Marrabel Lodge Hall No 62, IOOF, Manchester Unity, was performed yesterday by the PGM of the Kapunda district, Brother G E Davis jun.

A large and representative gathering assembled. Brother Albert Stief called upon the Secretary (Brother G E Davis) to read the historical report of the lodge. The latter dealt extensively with the progress of it since its formation on September 1, 1864. Of the 13 foundation members, only one survives—Brother James Howlett—who was present at the ceremony.

The late PPGM Brother Joseph Downing, one of the recent directors of the order in South Australia, together with the late Brother Augustus Stief and Brother W Polkinghorne, assisted in forming the first committee, and initiated the 13 foundation members. During the 17 years of the lodge many difficulties and setbacks have occurred, but were surmounted with the aid of good officers, particularly the late secretary (Brother W. Polkinghorne), who filled that position for 39 years continuously, and the late Brother A Stief, who was always a ready and willing worker.

Mr S March presented Brother G E Davis with a trowel on behalf of the members of the Loyal Marrabel Lodge. PGM Brother G E Davis thanked the brethren for the honour conferred upon him and for their presentation. He congratulated the trustees on their management of affairs, which had led up to the erection of such a fine hall, and remarked that Mr W Cairns, of Riverton, was the architect, and Mr S March, of Kapunda, the contractor. He expressed the opinion that the hall would be a credit to them, an ornament to the town, and a monument to the Order of Oddfellows in South Australia. Mr Davis proceeded with the ceremony of laying the stone, and deposited documents, a daily paper, and some coins of the realm thereunder. He declared the stone well and truly laid.

Brothers J J Helleur, J T Matthews, J Windebank, and others congratulated the lodge on its progressive state…invited the assembly to adjourn to the hotel, where the toast, "Success to the hall” was honoured. [Ref: Observer Saturday 9-9-1911]

MARRABEL April 4

The Marrabel Oddfellows’ Hall was opened yesterday. The weather was fine, and residents and visitors from neighbouring towns assembled in strong force to participate in the celebrations.

A long programme was conducted to a successful issue. A procession of more than 100 Oddfellows marched from the old lodgeroom to the new hall. PPGM Brother A E Stief presided, and handed to Grand Master Brother F A Holmes, who performed the opening ceremony, a silver presentation key.

Grand Master Brother F A Holmes congratulated the Marrabel Lodge on its financial position, which enabled it to build such a fine hall.

PGM Brother G E Davis jun (Secretary) in presenting the report, stated that sick pay to the amount of £1,791: death benefits £960: surgeons' fees £2,250: and management expense, £1,518 had been paid out since the inauguration of the lodge. Thus through the agency of the Marrabel branch a total of £6,519 had been distributed.

The hall was erected and furnished at a cost of £1,700 and was opened free of debt.

A banquet was tendered to visiting Oddfellows, and various toasts were honoured

The public were entertained with various musical items in the main hall while the banquet was in progress in the lodgeroom.

In the evening the Olympic Star Picture Company showed to a packed house.

A ball terminated the proceedings. Brother H Traeger made an efficient MC. [Ref: Register Monday 8-4-1912]

*April 29 The Marrabel Quadrille Class

The Marrabel Quadrille Class opened their 1912 season on Saturday night with a very successful dance held in the Oddfellows' Hall. There were 29 couples present. Mr H C Traeger officiated as MC very efficiently, and Mr W Disher supplied the music. [Ref: Daily Herald 1-5-1912]

*Marrabel March 19

The Ceremony of opening the new bridge over the River Light was held this afternoon. The bridge, just completed, overcomes the previous frequent impassabilitv of the river, but the southern embankment is considered to have been limited a little in its construction.

Mr Young said that in the construction of this bridge a most awkward thing had to be considered, and that was the turn of the river just below the bridge. This turn had the effect of sending flood waters out across the road at one end of the bridge embankment. This matter required watching, and if in time it grew to be anything serious, the department would remedy it, probably by building the road a few feet higher for the distance necessary to throw the water back along the course of the river.

He particularly wanted to thank Mr H Wurst for allowing the Department to take earth from his property for the earthworks at the bridge, which fact in itself was a considerable saving to the Department owing to its easy accessibility to the job. He had much pleasure in asking Mrs O'Brien to perform the opening ceremony, and name the bridge, which was done amid cheers from the people assembled.

The assemblage then adjourned to the Oddfellows’ hall, where the function was continued in the form of a banquet. [Ref: Kapunda Herald 27-3-1914]

*The residents of Marrabel and the surrounding districts made a splendid response on Australia Day. The efforts of the general committee met with great success and exceeded all expectations. A thorough canvass of the district was made by a collecting committee, and more than £300 was collected previous to Australia Day. Friday's proceedings began with a combined procession of Marrabel, Hamilton, and Friedrichswalde school children, who marched from the Oddfellows' Hall to the public school, where they saluted the Union Jack.

A programme of sports was then carried out, old and young joining in, the festivities.

A public tea followed in the banqueting room of the hall and was well patronised. A social was held in the main hall in the evening.

A sale of the goods presented to the funds realized a substantial sum. A Commonwealth flag was sold on the Bugler system, and materially added to the funds.

The proceeds totalled £376, which is considered highly satisfactory for a small community. [Ref: Register 5-8-1915]

*A farewell social was tendered to Sgt Lloyd, and Privates C C Rowett and J Wilson in the Marrabel Oddfellows' Hall, on Saturday evening: Mr G E Davis ju., presided over a large gathering. A number of toasts were honoured. A wristlet watch was presented by Mr Kitchen to each of the soldiers. [Ref: Kapunda Herald 28-4-1916]

*On Wednesday evening, the 20th inst a public welcome was given in the Oddfellows' Hall to Pte J W Hildebrandt, who has returned from the front after nearly three years of active service abroad. The returned soldier was met at the Riverton station by his father (Mr August Hildebrandt), and sisters and brothers.

Pte Hildebrandt was one of the first men from this district to offer his services, and is the first to return. He has fought at Gallipoli, Egypt, and has been in the thick of the fighting in France, where he received a bullet wound in the knee, which put him out of action.

Pte Hildebrandt was welcomed home by Messrs F P Kitchen and W A Duncan, and was presented with a purse of money (24 guineas) by Mr A E Stief from the residents of Marrabel and district. [Ref: Kapunda Herald 1-3-1918]

*The first of a series of dances promoted by the Cheer Up Society was held in the Oddfellows' Hall on Wednesday evening of last week. There was a large gathering present. Admission was by gift of not less than 2/6 in value for trench comforts, and resulted in sufficient goods being collected to pack 16 7-lb parcels to the boys at the front, containing cakes, cigarettes, sweets, &c, and two large boxes of cake have been forwarded to the Cheer-Up Hut.

The supper was provided by the ladies. It is the intention of the society to hold dances once a month during the winter. [Ref: Kapunda Herald 10-5-1918]

*January 28

A large gathering assembled at the Oddfellow’ Hall on Monday evening when a farewell social was tendered the Rev Father Maher, who is being transferred to Gawler after a residence here extending over sixteen years.

Mr W A Duncan presided, Dr R McM Glynn, of Riverton, presented Father Maher with a purse of money from the residents of the district, also Miss Glynn (Father Maher’s housekeeper) with a Morris chair, and Mr Jack Little, who is in Father Maher's employ, with an envelope containing money. [Ref: Kapunda Herald 31-1-1919]

* November 1 — A welcome home social was tendered to Sister Amy Dorrington and Cpl Ben and Pte Leonard Girke, in the Oddfellows' Hall on Wednesday evening. There was a large gathering.

A guard of honour was formed by the school children, and the guests were welcomed home in an eloquent address by Mr F P Kitchen. Mr J G Wurst (Chairman of the Hamilton District Council) presented the returned sister and soldiers with a framed certificate from the District Council of Hamilton. The Rev Allen Webb, of Riverton, presented Sister Dorrington with a gold wristlet watch from her Marrabel friends. Sister Dorrington and Cpl and Pte Girke responded. [Ref: Register 4-11-1919]

* November 16

The English brides of Cpl Ben Girke and Pte Cecil Rowett were welcomed in the Oddfellows Hall last Tuesday afternoon by the residents of Marrabel and district.

A guard of honour was formed by the ladies, and the "Wedding march" and the National Anthem were played by Miss Rehder. The brides were greeted by the Rev Allan Webb, on behalf of the residents of the town and district. Afternoon tea was served in the main hall, and the tables were tastefully decorated. Wine and a wedding cake were presented by Mrs. Thomas Marlow. The toasts were proposed by Mr Webb, who was supported by Mr Robert Gill.

The bridegrooms, Cpl Girke and Pte Rowett responded for the brides, and Messrs J D Rowett and E Girke, senrs thanked the gathering for the cordial welcome tendered to their sons and wives. [Ref: Observer 29-11-1919]

*On Saturday last, in the presence of one of the largest crowds ever seen in Marrabel, the Soldiers' Memorial was unveiled by the "Soldiers Chum ", Mr Sammy Lunn, M.B.E.

In 1920 the Hamilton District Council appointed a committee, with Mr J G Wurst as chairman, and the district clerk (Mr A J Stief) as secretary, who raised money to purchase a block of ground adjoining the Marrabel Hall.

The work of erecting the monument was entrusted to Mr R W Tillett and he carried it out with great skill.

The Hon W Hannaford was proud and pleased to be present to honour the memory of the brave lads who fell fighting for King and Empire.

He was also proud of the nurses who had left Australia, and particularly two nurses, who held the highest distinction it was possible to attain. One of these, born and educated at Marrabel, Miss Louise Collis Dorrington, besides being awarded a number of French, Serbian, and American decorations, was lately awarded the diploma and medal of the Legion of Honour. [Ref: Advertiser 9-3-1922]

*April 2 The annual Roman Catholic picnic and sports were held in Mr Campion's paddock in fine weather today. The large attendance from all the surrounding districts was evidence of the popularity of the fixture.

Kapunda, Saddleworth, Riverton, Manoora, Auburn, Eudunda, and Robertstown sent their quotas, the result being a record attendance of approximately 1,090.

A grand ball and supper was given in the Oddfellows' Hall in the evening. [Ref: Observer 14-4-1923]