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Famiglia: Diptera
Nome Scientifico: Anthomyia pluvialis
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthomyiidae
Nikon D80 + Tamron SP AF 90mm F/2,8 Di MACRO 1:1 + extension tubes
Natural light, manual focus, no tripod, 3 shot focus stack freehand
© Sandro Vinci
All rights reserved.
6405
Visit: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peggys_Cove,_Nova_Scotia
Peggys Point Lighthouse (also known as Peggy's Cove Lighthouse) is in Peggys Cove and is an iconic Canadian image. It is one of the busiest tourist attractions in Nova Scotia and is a prime attraction on the Lighthouse Trail scenic drive. The lighthouse marks the eastern entrance of St. Margarets Bay and is officially known as the Peggys Point Lighthouse.
Peggys Cove is a classic red-and-white lighthouse still operated by the Canadian Coast Guard. The light station is situated on an extensive granite outcrop at Peggys Point, immediately south of the village and its cove. This lighthouse is one of the most-photographed structures in Atlantic Canada and one of the most recognizable lighthouses in the world.
Visitors may explore the granite outcrop on Peggys Point around the lighthouse; despite numerous signs warning of unpredictable surf (including one on a bronze plaque on the lighthouse itself), several visitors each year are swept off the rocks by waves, sometimes drowning.
Peggys Cove is 43 kilometers (26 miles) southwest of downtown Halifax and comprises one of the numerous small fishing communities located around the perimeter of the Chebucto Peninsula. The community is named after the cove of the same name, a name also shared with Peggy's Point, immediately to the east of the cove. The village marks the eastern point of St. Margaret's Bay.(Wikipedia)
Visit: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swissair_Flight_111
Swissair Flight 111
Swissair Flight 111 (SR111, SWR111) was a Swissair McDonnell Douglas MD-11 on a scheduled airline flight from John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York City, United States to Cointrin International Airport in Geneva, Switzerland. This flight was also a codeshare flight with Delta Air Lines.
On Wednesday, 2 September 1998, the aircraft used for the flight, registered HB-IWF, crashed into the Atlantic Ocean southwest of Halifax International Airport at the entrance to St. Margarets Bay, Nova Scotia. The crash site was 8 kilometres (5.0 mi) from shore, roughly equidistant from the tiny fishing and tourist communities of Peggys Cove and Bayswater. All 229 people on board died—the highest death toll of any aviation accident involving a McDonnell Douglas MD-11 and the second-highest of any air disaster to occur in Canada, after Arrow Air Flight 1285. This is one of only two hull losses of the passenger configured MD-11, along with China Airlines Flight 642.
The initial search and rescue response, crash recovery operation, and resulting investigation by the Government of Canada took over four years and cost CAD 57 million (at that time approximately US$38 million). The Transportation Safety Board of Canada's (TSB) official report of their investigation stated that flammable material used in the aircraft's structure allowed a fire to spread beyond the control of the crew, resulting in a loss of control and the crash of the aircraft.
Swissair Flight 111 was known as the "UN shuttle" due to its popularity with United Nations officials; the flight often carried business executives, scientists, and researchers
Aircraft
The aircraft, a McDonnell Douglas MD-11, serial number 48448 registered HB-IWF, was manufactured in 1991 and Swissair was its only operator. It bore the title of Vaud, in honor of the Swiss canton of the same name. The airframe had a total of 36,041 hours. The three engines were Pratt & Whitney 4462s. The cabin was configured with 241 seats (12 six-abreast first-, 49 seven-abreast business-, and 180 nine-abreast economy-class). First- and business-class seats were equipped with an in seat in-flight entertainment system, installed at some point after initial entry into service. (Wikipedia)
© Copyright
This photo and all those in my Photostream are protected by copyright. No one may reproduce, copy, transmit or manipulate them without my written permission.
Unterwegs in Schwerin mit :
The correct name is Grand Central Terminal (not Grand Central Station, which is the name of the U.S. Post Office station on Lexington Avenue).
Outside, above the main entrance, the clock is quite a piece of work, embedded in a sculpture where the Roman god Mercury is the main figure, but he's not alone: Minerva and Hercules are there to keep him company. French sculptor Jules-Félix Coutan was commissioned to create this statue that goes by a few names: Glory of Commerce, Progress with Mental and Physical Force, and even simply Transportation. Anyway, you can learn all about it here. It's a good read :)
O nome correcto é Grand Central Terminal (e não Grand Central Station, que é o nome da estação dos Correios dos EUA na Lexington Avenue).
No exterior, por cima da entrada principal, o relógio é uma obra de arte, incrustado numa escultura onde o deus romano Mercúrio é a figura principal, mas que não está sozinho: Minerva e Hércules também lá estão para lhe fazerem companhia. O escultor francês Jules-Félix Coutan foi contratado para criar esta estátua que tem vários nomes: Glória do Comércio, Progresso com Força Mental e Física, e até simplesmente Transporte. De qualquer forma, pode ficar a saber tudo sobre esta escultura aqui. É uma leitura interessante :)
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malam_Jabba#
Malam Jabba (also Maalam Jabba, Urdu: مالم جبہ) is a Hill Station in the Karakoram mountain range nearly 40 km from Saidu Sharif in Swat Valley, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. It is 314 km from Islamabad and 51 km from Saidu Sharif Airport.
Malam Jabba is home to the only ski resort in Pakistan.[1] The area also contains two Buddhist stupas and six monasteries that are scattered around the resort. The presence of the monuments at such a height indicates that the area has been inhabited for over 2000 years.
Two trekking trails are located near the Malam Jabba resort. The first passes through the Ghorband Valley and Shangla Top and starts about 18 km from the resort. The other trail passes through the Sabonev Valley and is about 17 km from the resort.
Malam Jabba ski resort
The Malam Jabba Ski Resort, owned by the Pakistani Tourism Development Corporation, had a ski slope of about 800 m with the highest point of the slope 2804 m (9200 ft) above sea level. Malam Jabba Ski Resort was the joint effort of the Pakistan government with its Austrian counterpart. The resort was equipped with modern facilities including roller/ice-skating rinks, chair lifts, skiing platforms, telephones and snow clearing equipment.[citation needed]
In late June 2008, the Malam Jabba Ski Resort was set on fire and destroyed after being closed for more than a year. Residents said a large portion of the resort had been reduced to ashes and the militants also damaged chairlifts and a tower belonging to the meteorological department. The Pakistani government had long since lost control over the administration and security of the valley and had abandoned the resort, laying off its employees there. This was due to the war in the Swat valley between government security forces and Taliban militias (who were likely relocating from nearby FATA and Afghanistan).[2] The Pakistani government accepted a Taliban truce in the Swat valley.[3] The Taliban started infiltrating armed members into the adjoining state of Buner and openly invited Osama bin Laden. In May 2009 however the army started an offensive against the Taliban and retook the town.[4] The ski hill at the resort has now been rebuilt and is fully operational.[5] The ski track has undergone reconstruction and rehabilitation.The hotel is still awaiting reconstruction.
Antwerp City Hall, at the Grote Markt, with the statue of the mythical roman soldier Silvius Brabo in the foreplan.
Legend says that Silvius Brabo defeated the giant Druon Antigoon, cut his hand and threw it in the Scheldt. The Belgian province of the Brabant is named after him.
Since then, the Brabant has been split in the Flemish Brabant and the Wallon Brabant... quite symptomatic of the situation of Belgium these days.
These are from the afternoon part of our Monument Valley tour which went to Mystery Valley, Navajo Tribal Park, Arizona.
Wiki's version for Our Daily Challenge topic 'Air' for one of the 4 Elements . Wiki likes to leap and has let me catch her mid-air quite a few times. These are in the album 'Wiki Leaps.'
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grasmere_(lake)
Grasmere is one of the smaller lakes of the English Lake District, in the county of Cumbria. It gives its name to the village of Grasmere, famously associated with the poet William Wordsworth, which lies immediately to the north of the lake.[1]
The lake is 1680yd (1540m) long and 700yd (640m) wide, covering an area of 0.24 mi² (0.62 km²). It has a maximum depth of 70 ft (21m) and an elevation above sea level of 208 ft (62m). The lake is both fed and drained by the River Rothay, which flows through the village before entering the lake, and then exits downstream into nearby Rydal Water, beyond which it continues into Windermere.[1][2]
The waters of the lake are leased by the Lowther Estate to the National Trust. The waters are navigable, with private boats allowed and rowing boats for hire, but powered boats are prohibited. The lake contains a single island, known as The Island.[1]
Since 2012 the lake's north-easterly inlet has been home to the Daffodil Hotel, which is overseen by the Harwood and Brady families.
Etymology
" 'The lake flanked by grass'; 'gres', 'mere'. Early spellings in 'Grys-', 'Gris(s)-' might suggest ON 'griss' 'young pig' as 1st el.[ement], but the weight of the evidence points to OE/ON 'gres' 'grass', with the modern form influenced by Standard English....The medial '-s(s)e-' may, as suggested by Ekwall in DEPN,[4] point to ON 'gres-saer' 'grass-lake' as the original name...".[5] Plus the element "'mere' OE, ModE 'lake, 'pool'".[6](OE is Old English up to c1100 A.D.; ON is Old Norse).
🌲 A gauche / To the left.
Cedrus Libani / Cédre Libanais
Atlantica « glauca »
Cèdre bleu de l’Atlas
fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cedrus_atlantica
🌳 A droite / To the right
Fagus atropunicea
Hêtre pourpre / Copper beech.
Europe centrale et occidentale
fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/H%C3%AAtre_commun
Translation / Traduction 🇬🇧 UK
Beech / Hêtre
Ville de roubaix / City: Roubaix
PARC BARBIEUX - Comité des Parcs et Jardins de France
www.parcsetjardins.fr/jardins/308-parc-barbieux
Parc Barbieux
www.roubaixxl.fr/barbieux-jardin-extraordinaire/
fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parc_Barbieux
Le Parc Barbieux dit le Beau Jardin
6395
Visit: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peggys_Cove,_Nova_Scotia
Peggys Point Lighthouse (also known as Peggy's Cove Lighthouse) is in Peggys Cove and is an iconic Canadian image. It is one of the busiest tourist attractions in Nova Scotia and is a prime attraction on the Lighthouse Trail scenic drive. The lighthouse marks the eastern entrance of St. Margarets Bay and is officially known as the Peggys Point Lighthouse.
Peggys Cove is a classic red-and-white lighthouse still operated by the Canadian Coast Guard. The light station is situated on an extensive granite outcrop at Peggys Point, immediately south of the village and its cove. This lighthouse is one of the most-photographed structures in Atlantic Canada and one of the most recognizable lighthouses in the world.
Visitors may explore the granite outcrop on Peggys Point around the lighthouse; despite numerous signs warning of unpredictable surf (including one on a bronze plaque on the lighthouse itself), several visitors each year are swept off the rocks by waves, sometimes drowning.
Peggys Cove is 43 kilometers (26 miles) southwest of downtown Halifax and comprises one of the numerous small fishing communities located around the perimeter of the Chebucto Peninsula. The community is named after the cove of the same name, a name also shared with Peggy's Point, immediately to the east of the cove. The village marks the eastern point of St. Margaret's Bay.(Wikipedia)
Visit: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swissair_Flight_111
Swissair Flight 111
Swissair Flight 111 (SR111, SWR111) was a Swissair McDonnell Douglas MD-11 on a scheduled airline flight from John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York City, United States to Cointrin International Airport in Geneva, Switzerland. This flight was also a codeshare flight with Delta Air Lines.
On Wednesday, 2 September 1998, the aircraft used for the flight, registered HB-IWF, crashed into the Atlantic Ocean southwest of Halifax International Airport at the entrance to St. Margarets Bay, Nova Scotia. The crash site was 8 kilometres (5.0 mi) from shore, roughly equidistant from the tiny fishing and tourist communities of Peggys Cove and Bayswater. All 229 people on board died—the highest death toll of any aviation accident involving a McDonnell Douglas MD-11 and the second-highest of any air disaster to occur in Canada, after Arrow Air Flight 1285. This is one of only two hull losses of the passenger configured MD-11, along with China Airlines Flight 642.
The initial search and rescue response, crash recovery operation, and resulting investigation by the Government of Canada took over four years and cost CAD 57 million (at that time approximately US$38 million). The Transportation Safety Board of Canada's (TSB) official report of their investigation stated that flammable material used in the aircraft's structure allowed a fire to spread beyond the control of the crew, resulting in a loss of control and the crash of the aircraft.
Swissair Flight 111 was known as the "UN shuttle" due to its popularity with United Nations officials; the flight often carried business executives, scientists, and researchers
Aircraft
The aircraft, a McDonnell Douglas MD-11, serial number 48448 registered HB-IWF, was manufactured in 1991 and Swissair was its only operator. It bore the title of Vaud, in honor of the Swiss canton of the same name. The airframe had a total of 36,041 hours. The three engines were Pratt & Whitney 4462s. The cabin was configured with 241 seats (12 six-abreast first-, 49 seven-abreast business-, and 180 nine-abreast economy-class). First- and business-class seats were equipped with an in seat in-flight entertainment system, installed at some point after initial entry into service. (Wikipedia)
© Copyright
This photo and all those in my Photostream are protected by copyright. No one may reproduce, copy, transmit or manipulate them without my written permission.
Fuente:http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palacio_de_Comunicaciones.
El Palacio de Comunicaciones (denominado también Palacio de Telecomunicaciones y desde 2011, Palacio de Cibeles) es un conjunto integrado por dos edificios de fachada blanca ubicados en uno de los centros del Madrid histórico. Se erigen en un lateral de la plaza de Cibeles y ocupan alrededor de 30 000 metros cuadrados de lo que fueron los antiguos Jardines del Buen Retiro.3 La elección del sitio generó cierta polémica en su época por privar a Madrid de un lugar de recreo.4 La primera piedra del edificio se colocó en el año 1907 y se inauguraría oficialmente el 14 de marzo de 1919, comenzando su funcionamiento como moderna central de distribución de correos, telégrafos y teléfonos. Tras algunas evoluciones arquitectónicas del exterior del edificio —como la ampliación en dos pisos hacia la calle y pasaje de Montalbán— ya en el año 2007 comenzó a albergar las dependencias municipales del Ayuntamiento de Madrid, trasladando sus dependencias desde la Casa de la Villa y Casa de Cisneros, ambas ubicadas en la Plaza de la Villa. Esta reforma de comienzos del siglo XXI en el edificio incluyó además un área cultural denominada "CentroCentro".
El conjunto es desde el punto de vista de la arquitectura española uno de los primeros ejemplos de arquitectura modernista, y más representativos, erigidos en el centro de Madrid.5 De fachada con evocaciones neoplaterescas y barroco salmantino.6 El edificio, mediante concurso municipal, fue diseñado por los jóvenes arquitectos españoles Antonio Palacios y Joaquín Otamendi como sede para la Sociedad de Correos y Telégrafos de España,7 estos fueron autores también de los proyectos del puente de Bilbao, casino de Madrid y puente de San Sebastián. Este trabajo fue el inicio de la fulgurante carrera constructiva de ambos arquitectos. Los motivos decorativos de la fachada y del interior fueron realizados por el escultor romántico Ángel García Díaz, colaborador habitual de Antonio Palacios.8 Uno de los objetivos del diseño era la construcción de «un edificio para el público».
Los edificios, tras su edificación y debido a su funcionamiento normal, fueron acusando poco a poco la modificaciones realizadas, con lo que se realizaron nuevas reformas realizadas para la mejora de los sistemas de comunicación. De esta forma se llevaron a cabo modificaciones en ambos edificios en la década de los 60, dirigidas por Alejandro de la Sota y trabajos de reparación y reformas realizadas entre 1980 y 1992 por Antonio de Sala-Navarro y Reverter. El declive del uso del correo postal a finales del siglo XX fue haciendo poco a poco mella en las funciones del conjunto de edificios, como consecuencia fue perdiendo protagonismo. En 1993 fue declarado Bien de Interés Cultural, con categoría de Monumento.9 A comienzos del siglo XXI se incorporó al patrimonio municipal y se convirtió en centro cultural y sede del Ayuntamiento de Madrid.
A vagrant to the UK in most seasons but totally unusual in winter!!!
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Purple_heron
The purple heron (Ardea purpurea) is a wide ranging species of wading bird in the heron family, Ardeidae. The scientific name comes from Latin ardea "heron", and purpureus, "coloured purple".[2] It breeds in Africa, central and southern Europe, and southern and eastern Asia. The Western Palearctic populations migrate between breeding and wintering habitats whereas the African and tropical-Asian populations are primarily sedentary, except for occasional dispersive movements.
It is similar in appearance to the more common grey heron but is slightly smaller, more slender and has darker plumage. It is also a more evasive bird, favouring densely vegetated habitats near water, particularly reed beds. It hunts for a range of prey including fish, rodents, frogs and insects, either stalking them or standing waiting in ambush.
Purple herons are colonial breeders and build a bulky nest out of dead reeds or sticks close to the water' edge among reeds or in dense vegetation. About five bluish-green eggs are laid and are incubated by both birds. The young hatch about four weeks later and fledge six weeks after that. The International Union for Conservation of Nature notes that the global population trend is downwards, largely because of the drainage of wetlands, but assesses the purple heron's conservation status as being of "least concern".
Description
The purple heron is a large bird, 78–97 cm (31–38 in) in length with a standing height from 70 to 94 cm (28 to 37 in) and a 120–152 cm (47–60 in) wingspan.[3][4] However, it is slender for its size, weighing only 0.5 to 1.35 kg (1.1 to 3.0 lb).[5] It is somewhat smaller than the grey heron, from which it can be distinguished by its darker reddish-brown plumage, and, in adults, its darker grey back. Adults have the forehead and the crown of the head black, with a dark stripe down the back of the neck that terminates in a slender, dangling crest. This is shorter than the crest of the grey heron and does not exceed 140 mm (5.5 in). The sides of the head and the neck are buffish chestnut, with dark streaks and lines down either side of the whole the neck. The mantle is oily brown and the upper scapular feathers are elongated but not the lower ones. The rest of the upper parts and the tail are brownish grey. The front of the neck is paler than the sides and there are some elongated feathers at the base of the neck which are streaked with white, chestnut and black. The breast is chestnut brown, with some blackening at the side, and the belly and under-tail coverts are black. The brownish-yellow beak is long, straight and powerful, and is brighter in colour in breeding adults. The iris is yellow and the legs are brown at the front and yellowish behind.[6]
The call is a harsh "frarnk", but is quieter and more high-pitched than that of the grey heron. It is generally a less noisy bird, though similar guttural sounds are heard emanating from the heronry. It is also less robust, and appears somewhat hollow-chested. Its head and neck are more slender and snake-like than the grey heron and its toes much longer. Unlike that bird, it often adopts a posture with its neck extending obliquely, and even nestlings tend to use this stance.[6]
Taxonomy
There are three or four subspecies:[7]
A. p. purpurea – Linnaeus, 1766: nominate, found in Africa, Europe north to the Netherlands, and southwestern Asia east to Kazakhstan.
A. p. bournei – de Naurois, 1966: Bourne's heron. Found in the Cape Verde Islands (included in purpurea by some authors, but treated as a distinct species Ardea bournei by some others).[8]
A. p. madagascariensis – van Oort, 1910: found in Madagascar.
A. p. manilensis – Meyen, 1834: found in Asia from Pakistan east to the Philippines and Indonesia, and north to Primorsky Krai, Russia.
Distribution and habitat
The purple heron has a mostly palaearctic distribution and breeds in Europe, Asia and Africa. The range of the western race extends from southern Spain and North Africa eastwards across southern and eastern Europe as far as Lake Balkhash in Kazakhstan, with a separate population in Pakistan. In Africa, the bird breeds in Senegal, down the east coast of Africa and in Madagascar. The eastern race extends from the Indian Subcontinent, eastwards to eastern China and the Philippines, and northwards to the basins of the Amur River and the Ussuri River at about 49°N. The southern race is restricted to Madagascar,[9] and a small population of purple herons on the Cape Verde Islands is regarded as a separate race by some authorities.[8]
Between August and October, birds of the western population migrate southwards to tropical Africa, returning northwards in March. A few birds are reported to overwinter in Baluchistan. Purple herons often overshoot their normal range on their return, and are vagrants to northern Europe including Britain. The eastern population is largely resident, though some birds from the northern part of the range fly southwards to Korea, Thailand and Malaysia. The African birds are resident.[9]
The purple heron inhabits marshes, lagoons and lakes surrounded by dense vegetation. It may frequent mangrove swamps on the coast but it usually chooses freshwater habitats, particularly locations with reed beds (Phragmites). It also visits mudflats, river banks, ditches and canals.[6] In the Cape Verde Islands, it is more likely to be seen in the open, on arid slopes.[9]
Behaviour
Flight is slow, with the neck retracted and the legs extending a long way behind the tail. This is characteristic of herons and bitterns, and distinguishes them from storks, cranes and spoonbills, which extend their necks in flight. It is a secretive bird, spending less time out in the open than the grey heron and tending to skulk in reed beds. Its long toes mean it can walk on floating vegetation, and it sometimes walks over bushes in the same way, not making any attempt to grip the branches. It seldom perches in trees, preferring more terrestrial sites to rest.[6]
It is most active at dawn and dusk, roosting with other birds in the middle of the day and at night, but increasing its diurnal activity while rearing young. It feeds in shallow water, grabbing its prey with its powerful beak. It will often wait motionless for prey, or slowly stalk its victim. The diet consists mainly of fish, small mammals and amphibians, but nestling birds, snakes, lizards, crustaceans, water snails, insects and spiders are also eaten. Terrestrial beetles are the commonest insect prey, followed by water beetles and aquatic larvae, with grasshoppers, dragonflies, bees and flies also being consumed.[6]
The purple heron usually breeds in colonies but sometimes the nests are solitary. It sometimes associates with other species such as the goliath heron (Ardea goliath) or grey heron at multi-species nesting colonies. The site chosen is generally in reed beds, canebrakes or low bushes close to large lakes or other extensive wetlands. It builds a bulky nest of dead reeds, sticks or whatever is available, carelessly pulling the material together. The eggs are bluish-green, averaging 56 by 45 mm (2.20 by 1.77 in). The clutch is usually four or five eggs, with occasionally seven or eight eggs being laid, though these large clutches may have resulted from two females laying in the same nest. The eggs are laid at intervals of three days, and incubation may begin with the first egg, or start when the clutch is complete. Both parents share the incubation, which lasts between 24 and 28 days, and the care of the young. When an adult brings food, its beak is dragged down by the chicks and it regurgitates food from the crop onto the nest, or the young may take food directly from the beak. The young fledge at about six weeks and become independent at two months. They then disperse widely.[6]
Status
There are estimated to be a total of between 270,000 and 570,000 purple herons in the world and the population is probably decreasing slowly. The International Union for Conservation of Nature has assessed its conservation status as being of "least concern because the rate of decline is insufficient to justify rating it in a more threatened category. The chief threat the bird faces is drainage and disturbance of its wetland habitats, particularly destruction of the reed beds.[1] The purple heron is one of the species to which the Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds (AEWA) applies.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eastern_Macedonia_and_Thrace
Eastern Macedonia and Thrace (Greek: Ανατολική Μακεδονία και Θράκη, formally Περιφέρεια Ανατολικής Μακεδονίας και Θράκης) is one of the thirteen administrative regions of Greece. It consists of the northeastern parts of the country, comprising the eastern part of the region of Greek Macedonia along with the region of Western Thrace, and the islands of Thasos and Samothrace.
Administration
Administrative history
The region of Eastern Macedonia and Thrace was established in the 1987 administrative reform. With the 2010 Kallikratis plan, its powers and authority were redefined and extended, with the preexisting region in many respects inheriting status and weight of the five now abolished prefectures, Drama, Evros, Kavala, Rhodope and Xanthi.
In this special case, the region of Eastern Macedonia and Thrace also succeeds the intermediate structure of the two super-prefectures of Drama-Kavala-Xanthi and of Rhodope-Evros into which the five prefectures had been grouped since 1994.
Current status
Capital of the region is Komotini, which by population is the fourth largest city, following Alexandroupoli, Kavala and Xanthi. The region is divided into the Macedonian regional units of Drama, Kavala and Thasos and the Thracian regional units of Xanthi, Rhodope and Evros, which coincide with the territory of the former prefectures, except for Thasos, which was part of the Kavala prefecture. Unlike the former prefectures, the regional units however have very limited administrative powers.
Along with Central Macedonia, the region is supervised by the Decentralized Administration of Macedonia and Thrace based at Thessaloniki.
Regional governor
The political post of the Regional governor (Περιφερειάρχης) was also created in the course of the Kallikratis reform and can be considered the successor of the former prefects. Current governor is the former Prefect of Xanthi, Giorgos Pavlidis (Nea Dimokratia), who was elected in the 2014 regional election succeeding the former Prefect of Rhodopi, Aris Giannakidis (PASOK).
Demographics
The region is home to Greece's main Muslim minority, made up mainly of Pomaks and Western Thrace Turks, whose presence dates to the Ottoman period. Unlike the Muslims of Greek Macedonia, Epirus, and elsewhere in northern Greece, they were exempted from the Greek-Turkish population exchange following the 1923 Treaty of Lausanne. According to the 1991 census, the Muslim minority numbered around 98,000 people or 29% of the population of Western Thrace, of which about half were Western Thrace Turks and the rest (35%) Pomaks and Muslim Romani people (15%).[2] In the 2014 European elections in Greece, 42,533 people from Eastern Macedonia and Thrace voted for the Party of Friendship, Equality and Peace, which represents what it regards as the Muslim minority in Greece. These Muslim minority populations are completely distinct from the Ottoman-era Greek Muslims, such as the Vallahades of western Greek Macedonia, who were almost entirely expatriated to Turkey as part of the 1923-24 Population exchange between Greece and Turkey.
Major Municipalities
Alexandroúpoli (Αλεξανδρούπολη) - 72,959 people
Dráma (Δράμα) - 56.062 people
Kavála (Καβάλα) - 70,501 people
Komotiní (Κομοτηνή) - 66,919 people
Xánthi (Ξάνθη) - 55.360 people
Major cities and towns
Alexandroupoli
Chrysoupoli
Didymoteicho
Drama
Eleftheroupoli
Feres
Kavala
Kimmeria
Komotini
Nea Orestiada
Prosotsani
Soufli
Xanthi
For Our Daily Challenge topic - 'Ritual.' Every morning early Wiki and I walk together down the street and into the field that surrounds where we live. We go at her speed and mostly I follow her and pause when she pauses, notice what see sees and every single day I see something new. We've been doing this for almost two years and there's a large set of photos in 'Walking With Wiki'
Today was the first time I laid down in the field to watch her. She thought it was all wrong and worried about me until I was up on my feet again.
my 352 nd image to make it into Explore. Many many thanks to everyone.
Galyat (Urdu: گلیات ) region, or hill tract, (also written Galliat and Galiyat)[1] is a narrow strip or area roughly 50–80 km north-east of Islamabad, Pakistan, extending on both sides of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa-Punjab border, between Abbottabad and Murree.[2] The word itself is derived from the plural of the Urdu word gali, which means an alley between two mountains on both sides of which there are valleys and it is not the highest point in the range. Many of the towns in the area have the word gali as part of their names, and are popular tourist resorts
Brief history and ethnology
The Galyat tracts were first 'discovered' by early British colonial officials, such as James Abbott (Indian Army officer), who ventured into these areas circa 1846-47.[4] The British found them climatically conducive to them and began to develop some of the sites in the range/tract as hill resorts, to escape the summer heat of the low-lands. Later on, after Partition/Independence of Pakistan in 1947, these were neglected for some time but eventually developed further from the 1960s onwards as popular resorts.
The main ethnic groups in the area are several tribes such as the Karlal and others.[5]
Localities in the Galyat
Ayubia (Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa)
Bara Gali (Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa)
Bhurban (Punjab)
Changla Gali (Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa)
Kooza Gali (Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa)
Charra Pani (Punjab)
Jhika Gali (Punjab)
Dunga Gali (Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa)
Ghora Gali (Punjab)
Khaira Gali (Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa)
Khanspur (Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa)
Murree (Punjab)
Nathia Gali (Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa)
Kala Bagh (Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa)
Thandiani (Khyber-Pukhtunkhwa)
Darwaza Ayubia (Khyber Pukhtunkhwa)
Toheed Abad (Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa)
Sea Holly /Mikołajek Nadmorski
pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miko%C5%82ajek_nadmorski
Wybrzeże Bałtyku posiada swój unikalny symbol – Mikołajek Nadmorski.
Niestety coraz trudniej jest zobaczyć go na żywo, bo jest rzadki i zagrożony wyginięciem. Niegdyś charakterystyczny kwiat mikołajka nagminnie zrywali turyści jako pamiątkę z wakacji.
Teraz sadzą go ekolodzy z Kosakowa.
W Polsce roślina ta objęta jest ścisłą ochroną. Na terenie Zatoki Gdańskiej jest chroniona już od 1902 roku.
O istocie walki o dalszy jego byt może świadczyć fakt, iż roślina jest jednym z ulubionych motywów haftu kaszubskiego szkoły puckiej i symbolem nadmorskiego wybrzeża.
W celu odtworzenia populacji mikołajka na terenie Kosakowa, Związek Międzygminny Zatoki Puckiej przy współpracy z Nadmorskim Parkiem Krajobrazowym realizuje projekt pt. „Reintrodukcja mikołajka nadmorskiego na historycznych stanowiskach na terenie Nadmorskiego Parku Krajobrazowego”. – Projekt ma na celu odtworzenie i wzmocnienie ginącej populacji mikołajka nadmorskiego na terenie parku, a także rozpowszechnienie wiedzy dotyczącej statusu ochronnego tego gatunku oraz zmniejszenie zainteresowania zrywaniem mikołajka na jego naturalnych siedliskach przez turystów.
Na efekty nasadzeń trzeba poczekać 2 lata. – Sadzonki mikołajka uzyskane zostały z namnożenia metodą in vitro z fragmentów 5 osobników mikołajka nadmorskiego o rodzimym genotypie, pozyskanych przy miejscowości Mechelinki, gdzie znajduje się największa populacja tej rośliny w rejonie Zatoki Gdańskiej. Nasadzenia zostały wykonane przy współudziale pracowników Nadmorskiego Parku Krajobrazowego.
♡ Legenda o Mikołajku ♡
Dawno temu, mieszkał nad morzem chłopiec o imieniu Mikołajek. Lubił psocić i dokuczać rybakom, poszukiwaczom bursztynu, nimfom z orszaku Goska (kaszubskiego Neptuna), a nawet jego żonie. Pewnego razu, kiedy królowa mórz zażywała kąpieli słonecznej, zabrał jej szaty i ukrył je w zaroślach. Rozgniewana królowa kazała ukarać Mikołajka, więc Gosk zmienił chłopca w piękną roślinę. Ludzie zrywając ją, zadają mu okropny ból. Klątwa będzie zdjęta, kiedy przez całe lato na całym wybrzeżu nikt nie zerwie nawet kawałeczka rośliny.
es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colonia_%28Alemania%29
de.wikipedia.org/wiki/K%C3%B6ln
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Copyright Notice
Please do not use my images without my permission This includes blogging them without my consent. All my photos are my copyright and may not be used or reproduced in any way without my express permission.
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if you're visiting paris on a budget, you're seeing a lot of the métro. if i'm not mistaken, this is the exit from tuileries... but not that you can really tell.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isle_of_Purbeck
The Isle of Purbeck, not a true island but a peninsula, is in the county of Dorset, England. It is bordered by the English Channel to the south and east, where steep cliffs fall to the sea; and by the marshy lands of the River Frome and Poole Harbour to the north. Its western boundary is less well defined, with some medieval sources placing it at Flower's Barrow above Worbarrow Bay.[1] The most southerly point is St Alban's Head (archaically St. Aldhelm's Head). It is suffering erosion problems along the coast.
The whole of the Isle of Purbeck lies within the local government district of Purbeck, which is named after it. However the district extends significantly further north and west than the traditional boundary of the Isle of Purbeck along the River Frome.
In terms of natural landscape areas, the southern part of the Isle of Purbeck and the coastal strip as far as Ringstead Bay in the west, have been designated as National Character Area 136 - South Purbeck by Natural England. To the north are the Dorset Heaths and to the west, the Weymouth Lowlands.[
Geology
The geology of the Isle is complex. It has a discordant coastline along the east and concordant coastline along the south. The northern part is Eocene clay (Barton Beds), including significant deposits of Purbeck Ball Clay. Where the land rises to the sea there are several parallel strata of Jurassic rocks, including Portland limestone and the Purbeck beds. The latter include Purbeck Marble, a particularly hard limestone that can be polished (though mineralogically, it is not marble). A ridge of Cretaceous chalk runs along the peninsula creating the Purbeck Hills, part of the Southern England Chalk Formation that includes Salisbury Plain, the Dorset Downs and the Isle of Wight. The cliffs here are some of the most spectacular in England, and of great geological interest, both for the rock types and variety of landforms, notably Lulworth Cove and Durdle Door, and the coast is part of the Jurassic Coast World Heritage Site because of the unique geology.
In the past quarrying of limestone was particularly concentrated around the western side of Swanage, the villages of Worth Matravers and Langton Matravers, and the cliffs along the coast between Swanage and St. Aldhelm's Head. The "caves" at Tilly Whim are former quarries, and Dancing Ledge, Seacombe and Winspit are other cliff-edge quarries. Stone was removed from the cliff quarries either by sea, or using horse carts to transport large blocks to Swanage. Many of England's most famous cathedrals are adorned with Purbeck marble, and much of London was rebuilt in Portland and Purbeck stone after the Great Fire of London.
By contrast, the principal ball clay workings were in the area between Corfe Castle and Wareham. Originally the clay was taken by pack horse to wharves on the River Frome and the south side of Poole Harbour. However in the first half of the 19th century the pack horses were replaced by horse-drawn tramways. With the coming of the railway from Wareham to Swanage, most ball clay was dispatched by rail, often to the Potteries district of Staffordshire.
Quarrying still takes place in Purbeck, with both Purbeck Ball Clay and limestones being transported from the area by road. There are now no functioning quarries of Purbeck Marble.
Wild flowers
The isle has the highest number of species of native and anciently introduced wild flowers of any area of comparable size in Britain.[3] This is largely due to the varied geology. The species most frequently sought is Early Spider Orchid (Ophrys sphegodes), which in Britain, is most common in Purbeck. Nearly 50,000 flowering spikes were counted in 2009. Late April is the best time, and the largest population is usually in the field to the west of Dancing Ledge. Smaller numbers can be seen on a shorter walk in Durlston Country Park. This orchid is the logo of the Dorset Wildlife Trust. Cowslip meadows (Primula veris and Primula deorum) are at their best shortly afterwards and Durlston Country Park has several large ones.
In early May several woods have carpets of Wild Garlic (Allium ursinum). King's Wood and Studland Wood, both owned by the National Trust, are good examples. At around the same time and later some Downs have carpets of yellow Horseshoe Vetch (Hippocrepis comosa) and blue Chalk Milkwort (Polygala calcarea). In late May the field near Old Harry Rocks has a carpet of yellow Kidney Vetch (Anthyllis vulneraria).
Blue and white flowers of Sheep's bit (Jasione montana) and pink and flowers of Sea Bindweed (Calystegia soldanella) lend colour to Studland dunes in June. Both Heath Spotted Orchid (Dactylorhiza maculata) and Southern Marsh Orchid (Dactylorhiza praetermissa) are frequent on Corfe Common that month, and Harebells (Campanula rotundifolia) and Purple Betony (Stachys officinalis) flowers add colour to the Common in July.
Dorset Heath (Erica ciliaris), the county flower, can be found in July and August in large numbers, especially on and around Hartland Moor, in damper parts of the heathland. Bog Asphodel (Narthecium ossifragum) gives displays of yellow flowers there in early July. Marsh Gentian (Gentiana pneumonanthe) is found less frequently in similar areas from mid August to mid September.[3]
Roman, Saxon and Norman
A number of Romano-British sites have been discovered and studied on the Isle of Purbeck, including a villa at Bucknowle Farm near Corfe Castle, excavated between 1976 and 1991.[4] The Kimmeridge shale of the isle was worked extensively during the Roman period, into jewellery, decorative panels and furniture.[5]
At the extreme southern tip of Purbeck is St Aldhelm's Chapel which is Norman work but built on a Pre-Conquest Christian site marked with a circular earthwork and some graves. In 1957 the body of a 13th century woman was found buried NNE of the chapel which suggests there may have been a hermitage in the area. In 2000 the whole chapel site was declared a Scheduled Ancient Monument. The precise function of the chapel building is disputed with suggestions that it may have been a religious retreat, a chantry for the souls of sailors who had drowned off St Aldhelm's Head or even a lighthouse or warning bell to warn sailors. Victorian restoration work of the chapel found signs that a beacon may have adorned the roof. The present cross on the roof is Victorian.
The town of Wareham retains its Saxon earth embankment wall and it churches have Saxon origins. One of these, St Martins-on-the-Walls was built in 1030 and today contains traces of medieval and later wall paintings.
At Corfe Castle village is the great castle which gives the village its modern name. The castle commands the strategic gap in the Purbeck Ridge. The present castle dates from after the Conquest of 1066 but this may replace Saxon work as the village was the place where Saxon King Edward the Martyr had been murdered in 978. The supposed place of his murder is traditionally on, or near, the castle mound. Corfe was one of the first English castles to be built in stone - at a time when earth and timber were the norm. This may have been due to the plentiful supply of good building stone in Purbeck.
Sir John Bankes bought the castle in 1635, and was the owner during the English Civil War. His wife, Lady Mary Bankes, led the defence of the castle when it was twice besieged by Parliamentarian forces. The first siege, in 1643, was unsuccessful, but by 1645 Corfe was one of the last remaining royalist strongholds in Southern England and fell to a siege ending in an assault. In March that year Corfe Castle was demolished ('slighted') on Parliament's orders. Owned by the National Trust, the castle is open to the public. It is protected as a Grade I listed building and a Scheduled Ancient Monument.
The isle
A large part of the district is now designated as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB), but a portion of the coast around Worbarrow Bay and the ghost village of Tyneham is still, after nearly 60 years, in the possession of the Ministry of Defence who use it as a training area. Lulworth Ranges are part of the Armoured Fighting Vehicles Gunnery School at Lulworth Camp. Tanks and other armoured vehicles are used in this area and shells are fired. Due to safety reasons, right of entry is only given when the army ranges are not in operation. Large red flags are flown and flashing warning lamps on Bindon Hill and St Alban's Head are lit when the ranges are in use.[6] At such times the entrance gates are locked and wardens patrol the area.
Other places of note are:
Swanage, at the eastern end of the peninsula, is a seaside resort. At one time it was linked by a branch railway line from Wareham; this was closed in 1972, but has now reopened as the Swanage Railway, a heritage railway.
Studland: This is a seaside village in its own sandy bay. Nearby, lying off-shore from The Foreland (also Handfast Point), are the chalk stacks named Old Harry Rocks: Old Harry and his Wife.
Poole Harbour is popular with yachtsmen; it contains Brownsea Island, the site of the first-ever Scout camp.
Corfe Castle is in the centre of the isle, with its picturesque village named after it.
Langton Matravers, which was once the home of several boys preparatory schools until 2007 when the Old Malthouse closed.
Kimmeridge Bay, with its fossil-rich Jurassic shale cliffs, and site of the oldest continually working oil well in the world.
Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuremberg
Nuremberg (German: Nürnberg) is the second-largest city of the German federal state of Bavaria after its capital of Munich, and its 511,628 (2016) inhabitants make it the 14th largest city of Germany. On the Pegnitz River (from its confluence with the Rednitz in Fürth onwards: Regnitz, a tributary of the River Main) and the Rhine–Main–Danube Canal, it lies in the Bavarian administrative region of Middle Franconia, and is the largest city and the unofficial capital of Franconia. Nuremberg forms a continuous conurbation with the neighbouring cities of Fürth, Erlangen and Schwabach with a total population of 787,976 (2016), while the larger Nuremberg Metropolitan Region has approximately 3.5 million inhabitants. The city lies about 170 kilometres (110 mi) north of Munich. It is the largest city in the East Franconian dialect area (colloquially: "Franconian"; German: Fränkisch).
There are many institutions of higher education in the city, most notably the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg (Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg), with 39,780 students (2017) Bavaria's third and Germany's 11th largest university with campuses in Erlangen and Nuremberg and a university hospital in Erlangen (Universitätsklinikum Erlangen); Technische Hochschule Nürnberg Georg Simon Ohm; and Hochschule für Musik Nürnberg. Nuremberg Airport (Flughafen Nürnberg „Albrecht Dürer“) is the second-busiest airport of Bavaria after Munich Airport, and the tenth-busiest airport of Germany.
Staatstheater Nürnberg is one of the five Bavarian state theatres, showing operas, operettas, musicals, and ballets (main venue: Nuremberg Opera House), plays (main venue: Schauspielhaus Nürnberg), as well as concerts (main venue: Meistersingerhalle). Its orchestra, Staatsphilharmonie Nürnberg, is Bavaria's second-largest opera orchestra after the Bavarian State Opera's Bavarian State Orchestra in Munich. Nuremberg is the birthplace of Albrecht Dürer and Johann Pachelbel.
Nuremberg was the site of major Nazi rallies, and it provided the site for the Nuremberg trials, which held to account many major Nazi officials.
Source: de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heilig-Geist-Spital_(N%C3%BCrnberg)
The Holy Spirit Hospital in Nuremberg (colloquially often short HeiGei) was the largest municipal facility for the care of the sick and (especially) in the old imperial city . It is known as a depository of imperial jewels , which were kept in Nuremberg from 1424 to 1796. The hospital was partly built over the bed of the Pegnitz . It was donated by Konrad Gross , the then richest Nuremberg citizens, as a soul device.
wiki - St Peter's Church, Lowick
Lowick is a charming village located in the East Northamptonshire district of England. It is known for its picturesque countryside, historical landmarks, and vibrant community. The village boasts a beautiful 13th-century church, a historic manor house, and a range of traditional cottages. Lowick has a strong sense of community with various local organizations, clubs, and events bringing people together. The village is surrounded by rolling hills, lush meadows, and ancient woodlands, offering ample opportunities for outdoor activities and relaxation.
Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bruges
Bruges (Dutch: Brugge; French: Bruges; German: Brügge) is the capital and largest city of the province of West Flanders in the Flemish Region of Belgium, in the northwest of the country.
The area of the whole city amounts to more than 13,840 hectares (138.4 sq km; 53.44 sq miles), including 1,075 hectares off the coast, at Zeebrugge (from Brugge aan zee, meaning "Bruges by the Sea"). The historic city centre is a prominent World Heritage Site of UNESCO. It is oval in shape and about 430 hectares in size. The city's total population is 117,073 (1 January 2008), of whom around 20,000 live in the city centre. The metropolitan area, including the outer commuter zone, covers an area of 616 km2 (238 sq mi) and has a total of 255,844 inhabitants as of 1 January 2008.
Along with a few other canal-based northern cities, such as Amsterdam, it is sometimes referred to as the Venice of the North. Bruges has a significant economic importance, thanks to its port, and was once one of the world's chief commercial cities. Bruges is well known as the seat of the College of Europe, a university institute for European studies.
Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belfry_of_Bruges
The Belfry of Bruges (Dutch: Belfort van Brugge) is a medieval bell tower in the centre of Bruges, Belgium. One of the city's most prominent symbols, the belfry formerly housed a treasury and the municipal archives, and served as an observation post for spotting fires and other danger. A narrow, steep staircase of 366 steps, accessible by the public for an entry fee, leads to the top of the 83 m (272 feet) high building, which leans 87 centimetres to the east.
To the sides and back of the tower stands the former market hall, a rectangular building only 44 m broad but 84 m deep, with an inner courtyard. The belfry, accordingly, is also known as the Halletoren (tower of the halls).
The belfry is a key component of the UNESCO world heritage site of the historic centre of Bruges.
The building is a central feature of the 2008 film In Bruges and is also mentioned in the novel Cloud Atlas.
Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Markt_(Bruges)
The Markt ("Market Square") of Bruges is located in the heart of the city and covers an area of about 1 hectare. Some historical highlights around the square include the 12th-century belfry and the West Flanders Provincial Court (originally the Waterhall, which in 1787 was demolished and replaced by a classicist building that from 1850 served as provincial court and after a fire in 1878 was rebuilt in a neo-Gothic style in 1887. In the center of the market stands the statue of Jan Breydel and Pieter de Coninck.
In 1995 the market was completely renovated. Parking in the square was removed and the area became mostly traffic-free, thus being more celebration friendly. The renovated market was reopened in 1996 with a concert by Helmut Lotti.
from wiki
The Gornergrat Kulm Hotel is a hotel and observatory located on the Gornergrat, at 3,120 metres above sea level. It can be reached from Zermatt via the Gornergrat railway, the terminus station being located 100 metres away. The hotel includes an observatory, two restaurants and a small shopping mall.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forest_of_Bowland
The Forest of Bowland, also known as the Bowland Fells, is an area of barren gritstone fells, deep valleys and peat moorland, mostly in north-east Lancashire, England. A small part lies in North Yorkshire, and much of the area was historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire. It has been designated an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) since 1964, and is used for grouse shooting, walking and cycling, though it is relatively unfrequented by tourists. One of the best known features of the area is Pendle Hill, which is separated from the main part of the Forest of Bowland AONB by the Ribble Valley.
13% of the AONB is designated a Site of Special Scientific Interest for its important areas of heather moorland and blanket bog. The area is nationally and internationally important for its upland bird populations – the hen harrier is the symbol of the AONB. There are over 500 listed buildings and 18 scheduled monuments within the AONB.
The name 'forest' is used in its traditional sense of 'a royal hunting ground', and much of the land still belongs to the British Crown as part of the Duchy of Lancaster. In the past wild boar, deer, wolves, wild cats and game roamed the forest.
Heather moorland on Clougha, in the north west of the Forest of Bowland, looking towards the Yorkshire three peaks
Bowland remains as the northwestern remainder of the ancient wilderness that once stretched over a huge part of England, encompassing the Forest of Bowland, Sherwood Forest (Nottinghamshire), the New Forest (Hampshire) and Savernake Forest (Wiltshire). While the Trough of Bowland (the valley and high pass connecting the Wyre (at Marshaw) and Langden Brook and dividing the upland core of Bowland into two main blocks) represents the area, to many, on account of its popularity, it is in fact only a small part of the wider Forest of Bowland area.
The hills on the western side of the Forest of Bowland attract walkers from Lancaster and the surrounding area. Overlooking Lancaster is Clougha Pike, the western-most hill. The hills form a large horseshoe shape with its open end facing west. Clockwise from Lancaster the hills are Clougha Pike (413 m), Grit Fell (468 m), Ward's Stone (561 m), Wolfhole Crag (527 m), White Hill (544 m), Whins Brow (476 m), Totridge (496 m), Parlick (432 m), Fair Snape Fell (510 m), Bleasdale Moor (429 m), and Hawthornthwaite fell (478 m).
The area is home to the geographic centre of Great Britain which is close to the Whitendale Hanging Stones, around 4 miles (6.4 km) north of Dunsop Bridge.
The Forest of Bowland is home to an annual challenge event: The Bowland Challenge where teams of walkers navigate around a series of grid references over a ten hour period. Proceeds of the event go to support Bowland Pennine Mountain Rescue Team.
Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Canyon
The Grand Canyon is a steep-sided canyon carved by the Colorado River in Arizona, United States. The Grand Canyon is 277 miles (446 km) long, up to 18 miles (29 km) wide and attains a depth of over a mile (6,093 feet or 1,857 meters).
The canyon and adjacent rim are contained within Grand Canyon National Park, the Kaibab National Forest, Grand Canyon–Parashant National Monument, the Hualapai Indian Reservation, the Havasupai Indian Reservation and the Navajo Nation. The surrounding area is contained within the Baaj Nwaavjo I'tah Kukveni – Ancestral Footprints of the Grand Canyon National Monument. President Theodore Roosevelt was a major proponent of the preservation of the Grand Canyon area and visited it on numerous occasions to hunt and enjoy the scenery.
Nearly two billion years of Earth's geological history have been exposed as the Colorado River and its tributaries cut their channels through layer after layer of rock while the Colorado Plateau was uplifted. While some aspects about the history of incision of the canyon are debated by geologists, several recent studies support the hypothesis that the Colorado River established its course through the area about 5 to 6 million years ago. Since that time, the Colorado River has driven the down-cutting of the tributaries and retreat of the cliffs, simultaneously deepening and widening the canyon.
For thousands of years, the area has been continuously inhabited by Native Americans, who built settlements within the canyon and its many caves. The Pueblo people considered the Grand Canyon a holy site, and made pilgrimages to it. The first European known to have viewed the Grand Canyon was García López de Cárdenas from Spain, who arrived in 1540.
Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Canyon_National_Park
Grand Canyon National Park is a national park of the United States located in northwestern Arizona, the 15th site to have been named as a national park. The park's central feature is the Grand Canyon, a gorge of the Colorado River, which is often considered one of the Wonders of the World. The park, which covers 1,217,262 acres (1,901.972 sq mi; 4,926.08 km2) of unincorporated area in Coconino and Mohave counties, received more than 4.7 million recreational visitors in 2023. The Grand Canyon was designated a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1979. The park celebrated its 100th anniversary on February 26, 2019.
Source: www.nps.gov/grca/index.htm
Entirely within the state of Arizona, the park encompasses 278 miles (447 km) of the Colorado River and adjacent uplands. Located on the ancestral homelands of 11 present day Tribal Communities, Grand Canyon is one of the most spectacular examples of erosion anywhere in the world—a mile deep canyon unmatched in the incomparable vistas it offers visitors from both north and south rims.
Additional Foreign Language Tags:
(United States) "الولايات المتحدة" "Vereinigte Staaten" "アメリカ" "米国" "美国" "미국" "Estados Unidos" "États-Unis" "ארצות הברית" "संयुक्त राज्य" "США"
(Arizona) "أريزونا" "亚利桑那州" "אריזונה" "एरिजोना" "アリゾナ州" "애리조나" "Аризона"
(Grand Canyon) "جراند كانيون" "大峡谷" "גרנד קניון" "ग्रांड कैन्यन" "グランドキャニオン" "그랜드 캐니언" "Гранд-Каньон" "Gran Cañón"
I am so happy to announce that one of my photos placed second position in the Wiki Loves Monuments in the United States photo contest.
Link: commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Commons:Wiki_Loves_Monuments_2...
From Wiki: Jökulsárgljúfur National Park is a former national park situated in the north of Iceland around the river Jökulsá á Fjöllum. It lies to the north of the Dettifoss waterfall. On 7 June 2008, it became a part of the larger Vatnajökull National Park. The area is of interest because of its chaotic canyon and volcanic mountains. Eight thousand years ago, a volcano erupted directly underneath the river and glacial ice. This caused explosions and chaotic flooding. The center of the park was Hljóðaklettar (rock of echoes). Rauðhólar (red mountain) is of interest because of its special colouring. Another sight is the canyon of Ásbyrgi to the north of the park which is formed like a horseshoe.
Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scott_Air_Force_Base
Scott Air Force Base (IATA: BLV, ICAO: KBLV, FAA LID: BLV) is a United States Air Force base in St. Clair County, Illinois, near Belleville and O'Fallon, 17 miles east-southeast of downtown St. Louis. Scott Field was one of thirty-two Air Service training camps established after the United States entered World War I in April 1917. It is headquarters of Air Mobility Command (AMC), and is also the headquarters of the U.S. Transportation Command, a Unified Combatant Command that coordinates transportation across all the services.
The base is operated by the 375th Air Mobility Wing (375 AMW) and is also home to the Air Force Reserve Command's 932d Airlift Wing (932 AW) and the Illinois Air National Guard's 126th Air Refueling Wing (126 ARW), the latter two units being operationally gained by AMC.
The base currently employs 13,000 people, 5,100 civilians with 5,500 active-duty Air Force, and an additional 2,400 Air National Guard and Reserve personnel. It was announced in June 2014 that two new cybersecurity squadrons will be added to the three currently on base.
Its airfield is also used by civilian aircraft, with civilian operations at the base referring to the facility as MidAmerica St. Louis Airport. MidAmerica has operated as a Joint Use Airport since beginning operations in November 1997. Allegiant Air, the only commercial airline with scheduled flights at the airport, pulled out of the airport on January 3, 2009, but now has multiple nonstop destinations.
Additional Foreign Language Tags:
(United States) "الولايات المتحدة" "Vereinigte Staaten" "アメリカ" "美国" "미국" "Estados Unidos" "États-Unis"
(Illinois) "الينوي" "伊利诺伊州" "इलिनोइस" "イリノイ" "일리노이" "Иллинойс"
(Scott Air Force Base) "قاعدة سكوت الجوية" "斯科特空军基地" "Base aérienne de Scott" "स्कॉट एयर फोर्स बेस" "スコット空軍基地" "스콧 공군 기지" "База ВВС Скотт" "Base de la Fuerza Aérea Scott"
D'après wiki:
"La Roche-aux-Fées est un dolmen. Son nom vient d'une légende prétendant que les pierres auraient été apportées par des fées
L'époque exacte de la construction est inconnue, mais se situerait hypothétiquement au Néolithique final (soit entre 3 000 et 2 500 ans av. J.-C.3).
Son orientation nord-nord-ouest – sud-sud-est est telle que le soleil se lève dans l'alignement de celui-ci lors du solstice d'hiver."
La Roche-aux-Fées is a dolmen. Its name comes from a legend claiming that the stones were brought by fairies
The exact time of construction is unknown, but would hypothetically be in the late Neolithic (between 3,000 and 2,500 BC).
Its north-north-west - south-south-east orientation is such that the sun rises in alignment with it during the winter solstice. "
Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Devils_Tower
Devils Tower (also known as Bear Lodge Butte) is a butte, possibly laccolithic, composed of igneous rock in the Bear Lodge Ranger District of the Black Hills, near Hulett and Sundance in Crook County, northeastern Wyoming, above the Belle Fourche River. It rises 1,267 feet (386 m) above the Belle Fourche River, standing 867 feet (265 m) from summit to base. The summit is 5,112 feet (1,559 m) above sea level.
Devils Tower was the first United States national monument, established on September 24, 1906 by President Theodore Roosevelt. The monument's boundary encloses an area of 1,347 acres (545 ha).
Source: www.nps.gov/deto/index.htm
Many People, Many Stories, One Place
The Tower is an astounding geologic feature that protrudes out of the prairie surrounding the Black Hills. It is considered sacred by Northern Plains Indians and indigenous people. Hundreds of parallel cracks make it one of the finest crack climbing areas in North America. Devils Tower entices us to learn more, explore more and define our place in the natural and cultural world.
Source: www.blackhillsbadlands.com/parks-monuments/devils-tower-n...
Devils Tower National Monument, a unique and striking geologic wonder steeped in Native American legend, is a modern-day national park and climbers' challenge. Devils Tower sits across the state line in northeast Wyoming. The Tower is a solitary, stump-shaped granite formation that looms 1,267 feet above the tree-lined Belle Fourche River Valley, like a skyscraper in the country. Once hidden below the earth’s surface, erosion has stripped away the softer rock layers revealing the Tower.
The two-square-mile park surrounding the tower was proclaimed the nation’s first national monument by President Theodore Roosevelt in 1906. The park is covered with pine forests, woodlands, and grasslands. While visiting the park you are bound to see deer, prairie dogs, and other wildlife. The mountain’s markings are the basis for Native American legend. One legend has it that a giant bear clawed the grooves into the mountainside while chasing several young Indian maidens. Known by several northern plains tribes as Bears Lodge, it is a sacred site of worship for many American Indians. Devils Tower is also remembered as the movie location for “Close Encounters of the Third Kind.”
The stone pillar is about 1,000 feet in diameter at the bottom and 275 feet at the top and that makes it the premier rock climbing challenge in the Black Hills. Hikers enjoy the Monument’s trails. The 1.25-mile Tower Trail encircles the base. This self-guided hike offers close-up views of the forest and wildlife, not to mention spectacular views of the Tower itself. The Red Beds Trail covers a much wider three-mile loop around the tower.
Source: travelwyoming.com/places-to-go/destinations/national-park...
While America’s first national monument garnered significant attention as the backdrop to the 1977 Stephen Spielberg movie, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, the tower is sacred to Northern Plains Indian tribes and the Black Hills region Kiowa Tribe. With oral storytelling and a history that dates back thousands of years, today, American Indian tribes continue to hold sacred ceremonies at the tower, including sweat lodges and sun dances. There is more to this monument than its rich history. You can stop at the visitor’s center to learn about one of the ranger-led programs, night sky viewing, hiking and even climbing to the top of Devils Tower. If one day isn’t enough to explore this unforgettable area, bring your camping gear to stay within the monument, or stay just outside or in accommodations at one of the nearby towns.
Additional Foreign Language Tags:
(United States) "الولايات المتحدة" "Vereinigte Staaten" "アメリカ" "美国" "미국" "Estados Unidos" "États-Unis"
(Wyoming) "وايومنغ" "怀俄明州" "व्योमिंग" "ワイオミング州" "와이오밍" "Вайоминг"
(Devils Tower National Monument) "النصب التذكاري الوطني لبرج الشياطين" "魔鬼塔国家纪念碑" "डेविल्स टॉवर राष्ट्रीय स्मारक" "デビルズタワー国定公園" "데빌스 타워 국립천연기념물" "Национальный монумент «Башня дьявола»" "Monumento Nacional Torre del Diablo"
Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Rushmore
Mount Rushmore National Memorial is a national memorial centered on a colossal sculpture carved into the granite face of Mount Rushmore (Lakota: Tȟuŋkášila Šákpe, or Six Grandfathers) in the Black Hills near Keystone, South Dakota, United States. Sculptor Gutzon Borglum created the sculpture's design and oversaw the project's execution from 1927 to 1941 with the help of his son, Lincoln Borglum. The sculpture features the 60-foot-tall (18 m) heads of four United States Presidents recommended by Borglum: George Washington (1732–1799), Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826), Theodore Roosevelt (1858–1919) and Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865). The four presidents were chosen to represent the nation's birth, growth, development and preservation, respectively. The memorial park covers 1,278 acres (2.00 sq mi; 5.17 km2) and the mountain itself has an elevation of 5,725 feet (1,745 m) above sea level.
The sculptor and tribal representatives settled on Mount Rushmore, which also has the advantage of facing southeast for maximum sun exposure. Doane Robinson wanted it to feature American West heroes, such as Lewis and Clark, their expedition guide Sacagawea, Oglala Lakota chief Red Cloud, Buffalo Bill Cody, and Oglala Lakota chief Crazy Horse. Borglum believed that the sculpture should have broader appeal and chose the four presidents.
Peter Norbeck, U.S. senator from South Dakota, sponsored the project and secured federal funding. Construction began in 1927 and the presidents' faces were completed between 1934 and 1939. After Gutzon Borglum died in March 1941, his son Lincoln took over as leader of the construction project. Each president was originally to be depicted from head to waist, but lack of funding forced construction to end on October 31, 1941.
Sometimes referred to as the "Shrine of Democracy", Mount Rushmore attracts more than two million visitors annually.
Source: www.blackhillsbadlands.com/parks-monuments/mount-rushmore...
Mount Rushmore National Memorial is a large-scale mountain sculpture by artist Gutzon Borglum. The figures of America's most prominent U.S. presidents--George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, and Theodore Roosevelt—represent 150 years of American history.
The Memorial is located near Keystone in the Black Hills of South Dakota, roughly 30 miles from Rapid City.
Each year, approximately three million tourists from all over the world visit Mount Rushmore to experience this patriotic site. Today, the wonder of the mountain reverberates through every visitor. The four "great faces" of the presidents tower 5,725 feet above sea level and are scaled to men who would stand 465 feet tall.
There are many amenities at the site including the Mount Rushmore Audio Tour, Lincoln Borglum Visitor Center & Museum, the Presidential Trail, Youth Exploration Area, Sculptor’s Studio, a parking garage with R.V. parking, pet exercise areas, , the Carvers Café, Memorial Ice Cream Shop, Gift Shop and the Mount Rushmore Bookstores.
Additional Foreign Language Tags:
(United States) "الولايات المتحدة" "Vereinigte Staaten" "アメリカ" "美国" "미국" "Estados Unidos" "États-Unis"
(South Dakota) "داكوتا الجنوبية" "南达科他州" "Dakota du Sud" "दक्षिण डकोटा" "サウスダコタ" "사우스다코타" "Южная Дакота" "Dakota del Sur"
(Mount Rushmore) "جبل رشمور" "拉什莫尔山" "Mont Rushmore" "माउंट रशमोर" "ラシュモア山" "러시모어 산" "Гора Рашмор" "Monte Rushmore"
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roe_deer
The European roe deer (Capreolus capreolus), also known as the western roe deer, chevreuil or just roe deer, is a Eurasian species of deer. It is relatively small, reddish and grey-brown, and well-adapted to cold environments. Roe deer are widespread in Europe, from the Mediterranean to Scandinavia, and from the British Isles to the Caucasus. It is distinct from the somewhat larger Siberian roe deer.
Etymology
English roe is from Old English raha, from Proto-Germanic *raikhon, cognate to Old Norse rá and German Reh. A fifth-century runic inscription on a roe deer ankle bone found in England (the "Caistor-by-Norwich astragalus") transliterates as raïhan, thought to refer to the deer itself. Ultimately, the word may be drawn from the Proto-Indo-European root *rei-, meaning "streaked" or "spotted." Another translation suggests that roe is an ancient word meaning the colour red.
Distribution and related species
The roe deer is distinct from the somewhat larger Siberian roe deer (Capreolus pygargus) that is found from the Ural Mountains to as far east as China and Siberia. The two species meet at the Caucasus Mountains, with the European species occupying the southern flank of the mountain ranges and adjacent Asia Minor and the Siberian species occupying the northern flank of the mountain ranges.
Within Europe, the European roe deer occurs in most areas, with the exception of northernmost Scandinavia (north of Narvik) and some of the islands, notably Iceland, Ireland, and the Mediterranean Sea islands; in the Mediterranean region it is largely confined to mountainous regions, and is absent or rare at low levels. Scottish roe deer were introduced to the Lissadell Estate in Co. Sligo in the Republic of Ireland around 1870 by Sir Henry Gore-Booth, Bt.[2] The Lissadell deer were noted for their occasional abnormal antlers and survived in that general area for about 50 years before they died out and there are not believed to be any roe deer currently extant in Ireland.
In England and Wales roe have experienced a substantial expansion in their range in the latter half of the 20th century and continuing into this century. This increase in population also appears to be impacting woodland ecosystems.[3] At the start of the 20th century they were almost extinct in Southern England but since then have hugely expanded their range for no apparent reason and possibly in some cases with human help. In 1884 there was an introduction of roe from Wurttemberg in Germany into the Thetford Chase area and these spread to populate most of Norfolk, Suffolk and substantial parts of Cambridgeshire. In southern England they started their expansion in Sussex (possibly from enclosed stock in Petworth Park) and from there soon spread into Surrey, Berkshire, Wiltshire, Hampshire and Dorset, and for the first half of the 20th century most roe in southern England were to be found in these counties. By the end of the 20th century they had repopulated much of Southern England and had expanded into Somerset, Devon, Oxfordshire, Gloucestershire, Warwickshire, Lincolnshire, South Yorkshire and had even spread into mid-Wales from the Ludlow area where an isolated population had appeared. At the same time the surviving population in Scotland and the Lake District had pushed further down beyond Yorkshire and Lancashire and into Derbyshire and Humberside. Now roe can be found in most of rural England except for the very far south western tip of Cornwall, south east Kent and the greater part of Staffordshire and Cheshire although the expansion is continuing to the extent that before the end of this century anywhere in the UK mainland that is suitable for roe may have a population. Not being a species that need large areas of woodland to survive urban roe are now a feature of several cities, notably Glasgow and Bristol, where in particular they favour cemeteries. In Wales they are less common but have been seen as far south west as Cardigan and as far north west as Bangor and they are reasonably well established in Powys and Monmouthshire.
German colonial administrators introduced roe deer to the island of Pohnpei in Micronesia. They are hunted by locals in very steep and heavily vegetated terrain. The meat is openly sold in markets and restaurants in Kolonia, the capital city of Pohnpei and the Federated States of Micronesia.
Physical appearance
The roe deer is a relatively small deer, with a body length of 95–135 cm (3.1–4.4 ft), a shoulder height of 65–75 cm (2.1–2.5 ft), and a weight of 15–35 kg (33–77 lb).[4] It has rather short, erect antlers and a reddish body with a grey face. Its hide is golden red in summer, darkening to brown or even black in winter, with lighter undersides and a white rump patch; the tail is very short (2–3 cm or 0.8–1.2 in), and barely visible. Only the males have antlers. The first and second set of antlers are unbranched and short (5–12 cm or 2.0–4.7 in), while older bucks in good conditions develop antlers up to 20–25 cm (8–10 in) long with two or three, rarely even four, points. When the male's antlers begin to regrow, they are covered in a thin layer of velvet-like fur which disappears later on after the hair's blood supply is lost. Males may speed up the process by rubbing their antlers on trees, so that their antlers are hard and stiff for the duels during the mating season. Unlike most cervids, roe deer begin regrowing antlers almost immediately after they are shed.
Habitat and diet
The roe deer is primarily crepuscular, or primarily active during the twilight, very quick and graceful, lives in woods although it may venture into grasslands and sparse forests. It feeds mainly on grass, leaves, berries and young shoots. It particularly likes very young, tender grass with a high moisture content, i.e., grass that has received rain the day before. Roe deer will not generally venture into a field that has had or has livestock (sheep, cattle) in it because the livestock make the grass unclean. A pioneer species commonly associated with biotic communities at an early stage of succession, during the Neolithic period in Europe the roe deer was abundant, taking advantage of areas of forest or woodland cleared by Neolithic farmers.[5]
Behaviour and life cycle
The roe deer attains a maximum life span (in the wild) of ten years. When alarmed, it will bark a sound much like a dog and flash out its white rump patch. Rump patches differ between the sexes, with the white rump patches heart-shaped on females and kidney-shaped on males. Males may also bark or make a low grunting noise. Females (does)make a high pitched "pheep" whine to attract males during the rut (breeding season)in July and August. Initially it is the female who goes looking for a mate and it is common for her to lure the buck back into her territory before mating. The roe deer is territorial, and whilst the territories of a male and a female might overlap, other roe deer of the same sex are excluded unless they are the doe's offspring of that year.
Reproduction
The polygamous roe deer males clash over territory in early summer and mate in early fall. During courtship, when the males chase the females, they often flatten the underbrush leaving behind areas of the forest in the shape of a figure eight called 'roe rings'. Males may also use their antlers to shovel around fallen foliage and dirt as a way of attracting a mate. Roebucks enter rutting inappetence during the July and August breeding season. Females are monoestrous and after delayed implantation usually give birth the following June, after a ten-month gestation period, typically to two spotted fawns of opposite sexes. The fawns remain hidden in long grass from predators until they are ready to join the rest of the herd; they are suckled by their mother several times a day for around three months. Roe deer adults will often abandon their young if they sense or smell that an animal or human has been near it. Young female roe deer can begin to reproduce when they are around 16 months old.
In popular culture
The world-famous deer Bambi (the eponymous character of the books Bambi, A Life in the Woods, and its sequel Bambi's Children, by Felix Salten) is originally a roe deer. It was only when the story was adapted into the animated feature film Bambi, by the Walt Disney Studios, was Bambi changed to a white-tailed deer. This change was made owing to the white-tail being a more familiar species to the mainstream US viewers. Consequently, the setting was also changed to a North American wilderness.[citation needed]
A roe deer is also said to have helped Genevieve of Brabant to get food for herself and her child after having had to leave their home due to malicious slander.
Wiki put the scrunched up wrapping paper in the chair with her bears. Jolly, jingle and crackle to you too. This fits nicely with Our Daily Challenge topic 'What are you doing today?'
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_Rigg
High Rigg is a small fell located in the English Lake District, approximately three miles southeast of the town of Keswick. It occupies an unusual position, surrounded on all sides by higher fells but not connected by any obvious ridge. This separation from its fellows ensures that it is a Marilyn.
Topography
High Rigg is strictly the continuation of the ridge running up the western shore of Thirlmere, whose high point is Raven Crag. This forms the watershed between the Shoulthwaite and Thirlmere/ Vale of St John systems. The depression between High Rigg and Raven Crag to the south — at only around 550 ft (170 m) — is at Smaithwaite, just south of the A591 Keswick to Ambleside road.
High Rigg resembles a model of the Lakeland Fells in miniature, complete with crags, intermediate tops, tarns and even a 'pass' crossing the ridge halfway along, complete with church. The northern and southern aspects of the fell are largely grassed and gently rolling, in contrast to the western and eastern flanks which are steep with numerous rocky outcroppings and cliffs.
Travelling south to north the main features are Wren Crag (1,020 ft), overlooking the Vale of St John, Yew Crag (1,000 ft) facing west and then two tops at 1,125 ft (343 m) and 1,171 ft (357 m) respectively. The ridge then falls to the 'pass' and St John's church, before rising again to Low Rigg (836 ft). Finally comes Tewet Tarn as the ridge falls away to the river Greta. Also known as Tewfit Tarn, this shallow pool stands on a shelf, overlooked by higher rocks.[1][2]
Geology
The geology of the ridge is complex with much small scale faulting. Gravel and scree overlay much of the fell which lies between two branches of the Coniston Fault, with the plagioclase-phyric andesite lavas of the Birker Fell Formation beneath. Low Rigg exhibits intrusions of microgranite to the surface.[3]
Summit and view
The summit has a cairn set on an outcrop and commands a fine view of the surrounding fells. The giants of Skiddaw and Blencathra dominate the view to the north, and Clough Head and the Helvellyn range the view east. Thirlmere is visible to the south and Bleaberry Fell to the west, over which the Scafell group can be seen on a clear day.[4][5]
Ascents
The hill may be climbed in a short twenty-minute walk from the Church of St John's in the Vale. It only involves about 120 m (400 ft) of climb and is one of the shortest ascents in the Lakes. Alternatively, a traverse of the fell's three mile (5 km) long ridge may be made, starting at Tewit Tarn and finishing near Shoulthwaite.[
Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Canyon
The Grand Canyon is a steep-sided canyon carved by the Colorado River in Arizona, United States. The Grand Canyon is 277 miles (446 km) long, up to 18 miles (29 km) wide and attains a depth of over a mile (6,093 feet or 1,857 meters).
The canyon and adjacent rim are contained within Grand Canyon National Park, the Kaibab National Forest, Grand Canyon–Parashant National Monument, the Hualapai Indian Reservation, the Havasupai Indian Reservation and the Navajo Nation. The surrounding area is contained within the Baaj Nwaavjo I'tah Kukveni – Ancestral Footprints of the Grand Canyon National Monument. President Theodore Roosevelt was a major proponent of the preservation of the Grand Canyon area and visited it on numerous occasions to hunt and enjoy the scenery.
Nearly two billion years of Earth's geological history have been exposed as the Colorado River and its tributaries cut their channels through layer after layer of rock while the Colorado Plateau was uplifted. While some aspects about the history of incision of the canyon are debated by geologists, several recent studies support the hypothesis that the Colorado River established its course through the area about 5 to 6 million years ago. Since that time, the Colorado River has driven the down-cutting of the tributaries and retreat of the cliffs, simultaneously deepening and widening the canyon.
For thousands of years, the area has been continuously inhabited by Native Americans, who built settlements within the canyon and its many caves. The Pueblo people considered the Grand Canyon a holy site, and made pilgrimages to it. The first European known to have viewed the Grand Canyon was García López de Cárdenas from Spain, who arrived in 1540.
Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Canyon_National_Park
Grand Canyon National Park is a national park of the United States located in northwestern Arizona, the 15th site to have been named as a national park. The park's central feature is the Grand Canyon, a gorge of the Colorado River, which is often considered one of the Wonders of the World. The park, which covers 1,217,262 acres (1,901.972 sq mi; 4,926.08 km2) of unincorporated area in Coconino and Mohave counties, received more than 4.7 million recreational visitors in 2023. The Grand Canyon was designated a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1979. The park celebrated its 100th anniversary on February 26, 2019.
Source: www.nps.gov/grca/index.htm
Entirely within the state of Arizona, the park encompasses 278 miles (447 km) of the Colorado River and adjacent uplands. Located on the ancestral homelands of 11 present day Tribal Communities, Grand Canyon is one of the most spectacular examples of erosion anywhere in the world—a mile deep canyon unmatched in the incomparable vistas it offers visitors from both north and south rims.
Additional Foreign Language Tags:
(United States) "الولايات المتحدة" "Vereinigte Staaten" "アメリカ" "米国" "美国" "미국" "Estados Unidos" "États-Unis" "ארצות הברית" "संयुक्त राज्य" "США"
(Arizona) "أريزونا" "亚利桑那州" "אריזונה" "एरिजोना" "アリゾナ州" "애리조나" "Аризона"
(Grand Canyon) "جراند كانيون" "大峡谷" "גרנד קניון" "ग्रांड कैन्यन" "グランドキャニオン" "그랜드 캐니언" "Гранд-Каньон" "Gran Cañón"
Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Canyon
The Grand Canyon is a steep-sided canyon carved by the Colorado River in Arizona, United States. The Grand Canyon is 277 miles (446 km) long, up to 18 miles (29 km) wide and attains a depth of over a mile (6,093 feet or 1,857 meters).
The canyon and adjacent rim are contained within Grand Canyon National Park, the Kaibab National Forest, Grand Canyon–Parashant National Monument, the Hualapai Indian Reservation, the Havasupai Indian Reservation and the Navajo Nation. The surrounding area is contained within the Baaj Nwaavjo I'tah Kukveni – Ancestral Footprints of the Grand Canyon National Monument. President Theodore Roosevelt was a major proponent of the preservation of the Grand Canyon area and visited it on numerous occasions to hunt and enjoy the scenery.
Nearly two billion years of Earth's geological history have been exposed as the Colorado River and its tributaries cut their channels through layer after layer of rock while the Colorado Plateau was uplifted. While some aspects about the history of incision of the canyon are debated by geologists, several recent studies support the hypothesis that the Colorado River established its course through the area about 5 to 6 million years ago. Since that time, the Colorado River has driven the down-cutting of the tributaries and retreat of the cliffs, simultaneously deepening and widening the canyon.
For thousands of years, the area has been continuously inhabited by Native Americans, who built settlements within the canyon and its many caves. The Pueblo people considered the Grand Canyon a holy site, and made pilgrimages to it. The first European known to have viewed the Grand Canyon was García López de Cárdenas from Spain, who arrived in 1540.
Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Canyon_National_Park
Grand Canyon National Park is a national park of the United States located in northwestern Arizona, the 15th site to have been named as a national park. The park's central feature is the Grand Canyon, a gorge of the Colorado River, which is often considered one of the Wonders of the World. The park, which covers 1,217,262 acres (1,901.972 sq mi; 4,926.08 km2) of unincorporated area in Coconino and Mohave counties, received more than 4.7 million recreational visitors in 2023. The Grand Canyon was designated a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1979. The park celebrated its 100th anniversary on February 26, 2019.
Source: www.nps.gov/grca/index.htm
Entirely within the state of Arizona, the park encompasses 278 miles (447 km) of the Colorado River and adjacent uplands. Located on the ancestral homelands of 11 present day Tribal Communities, Grand Canyon is one of the most spectacular examples of erosion anywhere in the world—a mile deep canyon unmatched in the incomparable vistas it offers visitors from both north and south rims.
Additional Foreign Language Tags:
(United States) "الولايات المتحدة" "Vereinigte Staaten" "アメリカ" "米国" "美国" "미국" "Estados Unidos" "États-Unis" "ארצות הברית" "संयुक्त राज्य" "США"
(Arizona) "أريزونا" "亚利桑那州" "אריזונה" "एरिजोना" "アリゾナ州" "애리조나" "Аризона"
(Grand Canyon) "جراند كانيون" "大峡谷" "גרנד קניון" "ग्रांड कैन्यन" "グランドキャニオン" "그랜드 캐니언" "Гранд-Каньон" "Gran Cañón"
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Purple_sunbird
The purple sunbird (Cinnyris asiaticus) is a small bird in the sunbird family found mainly in South and Southeast Asia but extending west into parts of the Arabian peninsula. Like other sunbirds they feed mainly on nectar, although they will also take insects, especially when feeding young. They have a fast and direct flight and can take nectar by hovering like a hummingbird but often perch at the base of flowers. The males can appear all black in harsh sunlight but the purple iridescence is visible on closer observation or under good light conditions. Females are olive above and yellowish below.
Description
This small sunbird has a relatively short bill, a dark and short square ended tail with distinctive sexual dimorphism. Less than 10 cm long they have a down-curved bill with brush-tipped tubular tongues that aid in nectar feeding. The male is glossy metallic bluish to purplish[2] black on the upper parts with the wings appearing dark brown. The breeding male also has underparts of the same purplish black, but non-breeding males may show a central streak of black on yellow underparts. (Birds in this eclipse plumage were once designated as a species, C. currucaria.[3]) In the breeding plumage, the male can be confused with the syntopic Loten's sunbird which has a long bill and a distinctive broad maroon band on the breast. Breeding males will sometimes show their yellow pectoral tufts in displays. There is a patch of bright blue on the shoulder of breeding males.[4] The maroon shine on the feathers of the collar around the neck is visible mainly during the breeding seasons.[5][6][7][8][9]
Females are olive brown above with a yellowish underside. There is a pale supercilium beyond the eye. There is a darkish eye stripe. The throat and breast are yellow, becoming pale towards the vent. The outer tail feathers are tipped in white both in the male and female.[4] The young are just like females in plumage, however, the males get black feathers as they become adults. They are seen in pairs or small groups and aggregations may be found in gardens with suitable flowers. They feed mainly on nectar but also take fruits and insects. Groups of as many as 40 to 50 individuals have sometimes been noted.
Distribution
The species is distributed widely from West Asia through the Indian subcontinent and into Southeast Asia. They are resident birds in most parts of their range and do not move large distances. They are found in thin forest and garden land, including those in dense urban areas.[4] Local movements are, however, noted especially in the drier parts of northwestern India and Pakistan where they are said to arrive in large numbers before summer.[11]
The nominate subspecies is distributed in India east of the desert region and south of the Himalayas extending to the west and south of India and Sri Lanka. They are found mainly on the plains but going up to 2400 m in southern India and up to 1700 m in the Himalayas. The race brevirostris is found in the dry zone from the Arabian Peninsula into Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan until the dry zone of Rajasthan and Gujarat. These may, however, winter south near Goa.[12] This form has a slight tinge of green in the pectoral yellow tufts.[5] The race intermedius extends from the border of Orissa and Andhra Pradesh[13] northwards into Bangladesh, Myanmar and Indochina.
The movements of these birds are not well understood. A male ringed in Bharatpur was recovered in Dehra Dun, 350 km north.[10]
Behaviour and ecology
These birds are very vociferous and will call and will join to mob owls or other predators. The song is rapid rattle followed by ringing, metallic notes. Other call notes include a "chwit" or "chwing!" notes. The primary breeding season is before the Monsoons, April to June in northern India and January to June in Sri Lanka.[4] While feeding they flick their wings.[3] They rarely hover at flowers and usually perch to forage for nectar. They are important pollinators of some plant species such as Butea monosperma,[14] Acacia,[15] Woodfordia[16][17] and Dendrophthoe.[18] but they sometimes steal nectar by slitting flowers such as Hamelia patens at the base.[19] They are known to feed on small berries such as those of Salvadora persica[20] and cultivated grapes.[21] Insects are sometimes caught by flycatching.[22]
In courtship displays the male raises his head, fans his tail and flutters with partly open wings that expose the pectoral tufts and sings before the female.[10] The nest is a pouch made of cobwebs, thin strips of vegetation, lichens and bark. The entrance hole on the side is often shaded by an overhanging projection. The nest is built almost entirely by the female. The nest material is not woven and most of it is held together by cobwebs. About five to ten days may be taken in the building of the nest. The inner cavity is expanded by the bird by opening its wing and turning around on the inside.[23] In Sri Lanka and in southern India, it sometimes builds its nest by modifying and lining the cobweb structures formed by colonial or 'social' spiders, Stegodyphus sarasinorum (Eresidae).[24][25] Two eggs are usually laid.[3][10] The nest is usually suspended from a low branch, often of thorny plants[26] but are sometimes built close to human habitations, attached to wires or other man-made objects[27][28] and even indoors in an unused toilet.[29][30][31] Only the female incubates the eggs which hatch after 15 to 17 days. Males assist in feeding the chicks[32] although females involve themselves to a greater extent, making more trips as the chicks get older.[33]
Sunbirds have been known to live for nearly 22 years in captivity.[3
Banff National Park
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banff_National_Park
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en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_Minnewanka
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Canadian Rocky Mountains Parks UNESCO World Heritage Site
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canadian_Rocky_Mountain_Parks_World...
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Nikon D300 + Nikon Nikkor 18-200mm 1:3.5-5.6 G ED-IF AF-S VR DX
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nikon_D300
www.dpreview.com/reviews/nikond300
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nikon_AF-S_DX_VR_Zoom-Nikkor_18-200...
_DSC2090 Anx2 1200w Q90 f25 f50
Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kansas_City,_Missouri
Kansas City (abbreviated KC or KCMO) is the largest city in Missouri by population and area. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 508,090 in 2020, making it the 36th most-populous city in the United States. It is the most populated municipality and historic core city of the Kansas City metropolitan area, which straddles the Kansas–Missouri state line and has a population of 2,392,035. Most of the city lies within Jackson County, with portions spilling into Clay, Cass, and Platte counties. Kansas City was founded in the 1830s as a port on the Missouri River at its confluence with the Kansas River coming in from the west. On June 1, 1850, the town of Kansas was incorporated; shortly after came the establishment of the Kansas Territory. Confusion between the two ensued, and the name Kansas City was assigned to distinguish them soon after.
Sitting on Missouri's western boundary with Kansas, with Downtown near the confluence of the Kansas and Missouri Rivers, the city encompasses about 319.03 square miles (826.3 km2), making it the 23rd largest city by total area in the United States. It serves as one of the two county seats of Jackson County, along with the major suburb of Independence. Other major suburbs include the Missouri cities of Blue Springs and Lee's Summit and the Kansas cities of Overland Park, Olathe, Lenexa, and Kansas City, Kansas.
The city is composed of several neighborhoods, including the River Market District in the north, the 18th and Vine District in the east, and the Country Club Plaza in the south. Celebrated cultural traditions include Kansas City jazz, theater, which was the center of the Vaudevillian Orpheum circuit in the 1920s, the Chiefs and Royals sports franchises, and famous cuisine based on Kansas City-style barbecue, Kansas City strip steak, and craft breweries.
Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kauffman_Center_for_the_Performing_...
The Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts is a performing arts center in downtown Kansas City, Missouri, USA, at 16th and Broadway, near the Power & Light District, the T-Mobile Center and the Crossroads Arts District. Its construction was a major part of the ongoing redevelopment of downtown Kansas City.
The Center was created as a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. Unlike some other major civic construction projects, no taxpayer funds went into its construction. The City of Kansas City contributed to and operates a parking garage adjacent to the Kauffman Center.
It is the performance home to the Kansas City Symphony, the Lyric Opera of Kansas City, and the Kansas City Ballet which in the past performed at the Lyric Theatre, eight blocks north of the center. The Kauffman Center houses two unique performance venues: Muriel Kauffman Theatre and Helzberg Hall.
According to its website, the Kauffman Center's mission is "to enrich the lives of communities throughout the region, country and world by offering extraordinary and diverse performing arts experiences". Not only do notable performances take place almost weekly, but the Center is a place where the KC community comes together and celebrates the city's rich arts culture. The Kauffman Center seeks to fulfill this mission by offering a wide selection of performances, and also by offering specific programs to connect with the youth in the Kansas City area.
Fado Coimbra
Wiki:
Man unterscheidet zwei verschiedene Typen der modernen portugiesischen Gitarre, ein Modell aus Coimbra und eines aus Lissabon. Das Modell aus Coimbra ist etwas größer und hat normalerweise eine Mensur von 470 mm gegenüber 440 mm bei dem aus Lissabon. Die Art der Verzierung sowie die Gestaltung von Kopf und Wirbeln sind unterschiedlich.
Die 12 Saiten sind in 6 Paaren zu je 2 Saiten angeordnet. Man unterscheidet zwei verschiedene Stimmungen des Instruments: die Lissabon-Stimmung ist (d'-d)-(a'-a)-(h'-h)-(e'-e')-(a'-a')-(h'-h'), die Coimbra-Stimmung ist einen Ton tiefer, (c'-c)-(g'-g)-(a'-a)-(d'-d')-(g'-g')-(a'-a').
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wentworth_Castle
Wentworth Castle is a grade I listed country house, the former seat of the Earls of Strafford, at Stainborough, near Barnsley in South Yorkshire, England. It is now home to the Northern College for Residential and Community Education.
An older house existed on the estate, then called Stainborough, when it was purchased by Thomas Wentworth, Baron Raby (later Earl of Strafford), in 1711. It was still called Stainborough in Jan Kip's engraved bird's-eye view of parterres and avenues, 1714, and in the first edition of Vitruvius Britannicus, 1715 (illustration, left). The name was changed in 1731. The original name survives in the form of Stainborough Castle, a sham ruin constructed as a garden folly (illustration below) on the estate.
The Estate has been in the care of the Wentworth Castle Heritage Trust since 2001 and is open to the public year round 7 days a week. The castle's gardens were restored in the early 21st century, and are also open to visitors.
History
The original house, known as the Cutler house, was constructed for Sir Gervase Cutler (born 1640) in 1670. Sir Gervase then sold the estate to Thomas Wentworth, later the 1st Earl of Strafford. The house was remodelled in two great campaigns, by two earls, in remarkably different styles, each time under unusual circumstances.
The first building campaign
The first building campaign to upgrade the original structure was initiated c.1711 by Thomas Wentworth, Baron Raby (1672-1739). He was the grandson of Sir William Wentworth, father of Thomas Wentworth, the attainted 1st Earl. Raby was himself created 1st Earl of Strafford (second creation) in 1711.
The estate of Wentworth Woodhouse, which he believed was his birthright, was scarcely six miles distant and was a constant bitter sting, for the Strafford fortune had passed from William Wentworth, 2nd Earl of Strafford, the childless son of the great earl, to his wife's nephew, Thomas Watson; only the barony of Raby had gone to a blood-relation. M.J. Charlesworth surmises that it was a feeling that what by right should have been his that motivated Wentworth's purchase of Stainborough Castle nearby and that his efforts to surpass the Watsons at Wentworth Woodhouse in splendour and taste motivated the man whom Jonathan Swift called "proud as Hell".[1]
Wentworth had been a soldier in the service of William III, who made him a colonel of dragoons. He was sent by Queen Anne as ambassador to Prussia in 1706-11 and on his return to Britain, the earldom was revived when he was created Viscount Wentworth and Earl of Strafford in the Peerage of Great Britain. He was then sent as a representative in the negotiations that led to the Treaty of Utrecht, and was brought before a commission of Parliament in the aftermath. With the death of Queen Anne, he and the Tories were permanently out of power. Wentworth, representing a clannish old family of Yorkshire, required a grand house consonant with the revived Wentworth fortunes, he spent his years of retirement completing it and enriching his landscape.
He had broken his tour of duty at Berlin to conclude the purchase of Stainborough in the summer of 1708, and returned to Berlin, armed with sufficient specifications of the site to engage the services of a military architect who had spent some years recently in England, Johann von Bodt. who provided the designs.[2] Wentworth was in Italy in 1709, buying paintings for the future house: "I have great credit by my pictures," he reported with satisfaction: "They are all designed for Yorkshire, and I hope to have a better collection there than Mr. Watson."[3] To display them a grand gallery would be required, for which James Gibbs must have provided the designs, since a contract for wainscoting "as desined by Mr Gibbs" survives among Wentworth papers in the British Library (Add. Mss 22329, folio 128). The Gallery was completed in 1724.[4] There are designs, probably by Bodt, for an elevation and a section showing the gallery at Wentworth Castle in the Victoria and Albert Museum (E.307-1937), in an album of mixed drawings which belonged to William Talman's son John.[5] the gallery extends one hundred and eighty feet, twenty-four feet wide, and thirty high, screened into three divisions by veined marble Corinthian columns with gilded capitals, and with corresponding pilasters against projecting piers: in the intervening spaces four marble copies of Roman sculptures on block plinths survived until the twentieth century.[6] Construction was sufficiently advanced by March–April 1714 that surviving correspondence between Strafford and William Thornton concerned the disposition of panes in the window sashes: the options were for windows four panes wide, as done in the best houses Thornton assured the earl, for which crown glass would do, or for larger panes, three panes across, which might requite plate glass: Strafford opted for the latter.[7] The results, directed largely by letter from a distance,[8] are unique in Britain. Sir Nikolaus Pevsner found the east range "of a palatial splendour uncommon in England."[9] The grand suite of parade rooms on the ground floor extended from the room at the north end with a ceiling allegory of Plenty to the south end, with one of a Fame.
Bodt's use of a giant order of pilasters on the front and other features, suggested to John Harris that Bodt, who had been in England in the 1690s, had had access to drawings by William Talman. Talman was the architect of Chatsworth, considered to be England's first truly Baroque house. Indeed there are similarities of design between Wentworth's east front and Chatsworth. Both have a distinctly Continental Baroque frontage. Wentworth has been described as "a remarkable and almost unique example of Franco-Prussian architecture in Georgian England".[10] The east front was built upon a raised terrace that descended to sweeps of gravelled ramps that flanked a grotto and extended in an axial vista framed by double allées of trees to a formal wrought iron gate, all seen in Jan Kip's view of 1714, which if it is not more plan than reality, includes patterned parterres to the west of the house and an exedra on rising ground behind, all features that appear again in Britannia Illustrata, (1730).[11] An engraving by Thomas Badeslade from about 1750 still shows the formal features centred on Bodt's façade, enclosed in gravel drives wide enough for a coach-and-four. The regular plantations of trees planted bosquet-fashion have matured: their edges are clipped, and straight rides pierce them.[12] All these were swept away by the second earl after mid-century, in favour of an open, rolling "naturalistic" landscape in the manner of Capability Brown.[13]
The first earl's landscape
Strafford planted avenues of trees in great quantity in this open countryside, and the sham castle folly (built from 1726 and inscribed "Rebuilt in 1730", now more ruinous than it was at first) that he placed at the highest site, "like an endorsement from the past"[14] and kept free of trees (illustration, left) missed by only a few years being the first sham castle in an English landscape garden.[15] For its central court where the four original towers were named for his four children, the earl commissioned his portrait statue in 1730 from Michael Rysbrack, whom James Gibbs had been the first to employ when he came to England;[16] the statue has been moved closer to the house.
A staunch Tory,[17] Lord Strafford remained in political obscurity during Walpole's Whig supremacy, for the remainder of his life. An obelisk was erected to the memory of Queen Anne in 1736, and a sitting room in the house was named "Queen Anne's Sitting Room" until modern times. Other landscape features were added, one after the other, with the result that today there are twenty-six listed structures in what remains of the parkland.
The second earl at Wentworth Castle
The first earl died in 1739 and his son succeeded him. William Wentworth, 2nd Earl of Strafford (1722-1791) rates an entry in Colvin's Biographical Dictionary of British Architects as the designer of the fine neo-Palladian range, built in 1759-64 (illustration, upper right). He married a daughter of the Duke of Argyll[18] and spent a year on the Grand Tour to improve his taste; he eschewed political life. At Wentworth Castle he had John Platt (1728–1810)[19] on the site as master mason and Charles Ross ( -1770/75) to draft the final drawings and act as "superintendent"; Ross was a carpenter and joiner of London who had worked under the Palladian architect and practiced architectural ammanuensis, Matthew Brettingham, at Strafford's London house, 5, St James's Square, in 1748-49. Ross's proven competency in London in London doubtless recommended him to the Earl for the building campaign in Yorkshire.[20] At Wentworth Castle it was generally understood, as Lord Verulam remarked in 1768, "'Lord Strafford himself is his own architect and contriver in everything."[21] Even in the London house, Walpole tells us, "he chose all the ornaments himself".
Horace Walpole singled out Wentworth Castle as a paragon for the perfect integration of the site, the landscape, even the harmony of the stone:
"If a model is sought of the most perfect taste in architecture, where grace softens dignity, and lightness attempers magnificence... where the position is the most happy, and even the colour of the stone the most harmonious; the virtuoso should be directed to the new front of Wentworth-castle:[22] the result of the same judgement that had before distributed so many beauties over that domain and called from wood, water, hills, prospects, and buildings, a compendium of picturesque nature, improved by the chastity of art."[23]
Later history
With the extinction of the earldom with the third earl in 1799, the huge family estates were divided into three, one third going to the descendants of each daughter of the 1st Earl. Wentworth Castle was left in trust for Lady Henrietta Vernon's grandson Frederick Vernon, (of Hilton Hall, Staffordshire) whose trustees were William, 4th Earl Fitzwilliam, and Walter Spencer Stanhope. Frederick Vernon added Wentworth to his surname and took charge of the estate in 1816. Between 1820 and 1840 the old chapel of St. James was replaced with the current building and the windows of the Baroque Wing were lowered on either side of the entrance hall. Frederick Vernon Wentworth also amalgamated two ground floor rooms to make what is now the blue room. In July of 1838 a freak hail storm badly damaged the cupola and windows of the house as well as all the greenhouses within the walled gardens, yet this pales into insignificance when compared with the nearby Huskar Colliery disaster where 26 child miners lost there lives due to flooding following the hail storm. In May of 1853 a freak snow storm also caused severe damage, particularly to the mature trees within the gardens, some of them rare species from America planted by the 1st and 2nd earls. Frederick Vernon Wentworth was succeeded by his son Thomas in 1885 who added the iron framed Conservatory and electric lighting by March of the following year. The Victorian Wing also dates from this decade and its construction allowed the Vernon-Wentworths to entertain the young Duke of Clarence and his entourage during the winters of 1887 and 1889. The estate was inherited by Thomas' eldest son Captain Bruce Canning Vernon Wentworth, M.P. for Brighton, in 1902. Preferring his Suffolk estates, the Captain put the most valuable of his Wentworth Castle house contents up for sale at auction with Christies after the First World War. The paintings sold at Christie's on 13 November 1919.[24] Bruce Vernon-Wentworth, who had no direct heirs, sold the house and its gardens to Barnsley Corporation in 1948, while the rest of his estates, in Yorkshire, Suffolk and Scotland were left to a distant cousin.[25] The remaining contents of Wentworth Castle were emptied at a house sale,[26] and the house became a teacher training college, the Wentworth Castle College of Education, until 1978. It was then used by Northern College.[27] It was featured in the Victoria and Albert Museum's exhibition "The Country House in Danger". The great landscape that Walpole praised in 1780 was described in 1986 as now "disturbed and ruinous", the second earl's sinuous river excavated in the 1730s reduced to a series of silty ponds,.[28]
Wentworth Castle is the only Grade I Listed Gardens and Parkland in South Yorkshire. The Wentworth Castle Heritage Trust was formed in 2002 as a charity with the aim “To undertake a phased programme of restoration and development works which will provide benefit to the general public by providing extensive access to the parkland and gardens and the built heritage, conserving these important heritage assets for future generations”. Today, the landscape is gradually being restored by the Trust. The restoration of the Rotunda was completed in 2010, the parkland has been returned to deer park. The restoration of the Serpentine will form a future project as funding allows.
The estate opened fully to visitors in 2007, following the completion of the first phase of restoration, which cost £15.2m.[29] The Gardens at Wentworth Castle and Stainborough Park are open 7 days a week year round (closed Christmas Day and Boxing Day). Information for visitors, groups and schools and the latest information on restoration progress is available from the Trust's website. Tours of the house are available by arrangement.
Wentworth Castle was featured on the BBC TV show Restoration in 2003, when a bid was made to restore the Grade II* Listed Victorian conservatory to its former glory, though it[30] did not win in the viewers' response. Subsequently, the Wentworth Castle Heritage Trust took the decision in 2005 to support the fragile structure further with a scaffold in order to prevent its total collapse. The Trust succeeded in raising the £3.7 million needed to restore the conservatory in 2011 and work began in 2012, with grants from English Heritage, the Country Houses Foundation, the Heritage Lottery Fund and the European Regional Development Fund. The Trust completed the restoration of its fragile Victorian glasshouse in October 2013 – 10 years after its first TV appearance the Restoration series. It was opened by the Mayor of Barnsley on 7 November 2013 and opened to the general public the following day.
Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hoover_Dam
Hoover Dam is a concrete arch-gravity dam in the Black Canyon of the Colorado River, on the border between the U.S. states of Nevada and Arizona. Constructed between 1931 and 1936, during the Great Depression, it was dedicated on September 30, 1935, by President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Its construction was the result of a massive effort involving thousands of workers, and cost over 100 lives. In bills passed by Congress during its construction, it was referred to as the Hoover Dam, after President Herbert Hoover, but was named Boulder Dam by the Roosevelt administration. In 1947, the name Hoover Dam was restored by Congress.
Since about 1900, the Black Canyon and nearby Boulder Canyon had been investigated for their potential to support a dam that would control floods, provide irrigation water, and produce hydroelectric power. In 1928, Congress authorized the project. The winning bid to build the dam was submitted by a consortium named Six Companies, Inc., which began construction in early 1931. Such a large concrete structure had never been built before, and some of the techniques used were unproven. The torrid summer weather and lack of facilities near the site also presented difficulties. Nevertheless, Six Companies turned the dam over to the federal government on March 1, 1936, more than two years ahead of schedule.
Hoover Dam impounds Lake Mead and is located near Boulder City, Nevada, a municipality originally constructed for workers on the construction project, about 30 mi (48 km) southeast of Las Vegas, Nevada. The dam's generators provide power for public and private utilities in Nevada, Arizona, and California. Hoover Dam is a major tourist attraction, with 7 million tourists a year. The heavily traveled U.S. Route 93 (US 93) ran along the dam's crest until October 2010, when the Hoover Dam Bypass opened.
Source: hoover.archives.gov/hoovers/hoover-dam
85 years after its completion, Hoover dam is still considered an engineering marvel. It is named in honor of President Herbert Hoover, who played a crucial role in its creation.
For many years, residents of the American southwest sought to tame the unpredictable Colorado River. Disastrous floods during the early 1900’s led residents of the area to look to the federal government for aid, and experiments with irrigation on a limited scale had shown that this arid region could be transformed into fertile cropland, if only the river could be controlled. The greatest obstacle to the construction of such a dam was the allocation of water rights among the seven states comprising the Colorado River drainage basin. Meetings were held in 1918, 1919 and 1920, but the states could not reach a consensus.
Herbert Hoover had visited the Lower Colorado region in the years before World War I and was familiar with its problems and the potential for development. Upon becoming Secretary of Commerce in 1921, Hoover proposed the construction of a dam on the Colorado River. In addition to flood control and irrigation, it would provide a dependable supply of water for Los Angeles and Southern California. The project would be self-supporting, recovering its cost through the sale of hydroelectric power generated by the dam.
In 1921, the state legislatures of the Colorado River basin authorized commissioners to negotiate an interstate agreement. Congress authorized President Harding to appoint a representative for the federal government to serve as chair of the Colorado River Commission and on December 17, 1921, Harding appointed Hoover to that role.
When the commission assembled in Santa Fe in November 1922, the seven states still disagreed over the fair distribution of water. The upstream states feared that the downstream states, with their rapidly developing agricultural and power demands, would quickly preempt rights to the water by the “first in time, first in right” doctrine. Hoover suggested a compromise that the water be divided between the upper and lower basins without individual state quotas. The resulting Colorado River Compact was signed on November 24, 1922. It split the river basin into upper and lower halves with the states within each region deciding amongst themselves how the water would be allocated.
A series of bills calling for Federal funding to build the dam were introduced by Congressman Phil D. Swing and Senator Hiram W. Johnson between 1922 and 1928, all of which were rejected. The last Swing-Johnson bill, titled the Boulder Canyon Project Act, was largely written by Hoover and Secretary of the Interior Hubert Work. Congress finally agreed, and the bill was signed into law on December 21, 1928 by President Coolidge. The dream was about to become reality.
On June 25, 1929, less than four months after his inauguration, President Herbert Hoover signed a proclamation declaring the Colorado River Compact effective at last. Appropriations were approved and construction began in 1930. The dam was dedicated in 1935 and the hydroelectric generators went online in 1937. In 1947, Congress officially "restored" Hoover's name to the dam, after FDR's Secretary of the Interior tried to remove it. Hoover Dam was built for a cost of $49 million (approximately $1 billion adjusted for inflation). The power plant and generators cost an additional $71 million, more than the cost of the dam itself. The sale of electrical power generated by the dam paid back its construction cost, with interest, by 1987.
Today the Hoover Dam controls the flooding of the Colorado River, irrigates more than 1.5 million acres of land, and provides water to more than 16 million people. Lake Mead supports recreational activities and provides habitats to fish and wildlife. Power generated by the dam provides energy to power over 500,000 homes. The Hoover Compromise still governs how the water is shared.
Additional Foreign Language Tags:
(United States) "الولايات المتحدة" "Vereinigte Staaten" "アメリカ" "美国" "미국" "Estados Unidos" "États-Unis"
(Nevada) "نيفادا" "内华达州" "नेवादा" "ネバダ" "네바다" "Невада"
(Arizona) "أريزونا" "亚利桑那州" "एरिजोना" "アリゾナ州" "애리조나" "Аризона"
(Hoover Dam) "سد هوفر" "胡佛水坝" "हूवर बांध" "フーバーダム" "후버 댐" "Гувера" "Presa Hoover"
Wiki
Prince Oscar of Sweden, Duke of Skåne (Oscar Carl Olof; born 2 March 2016) is a Swedish prince and the younger child and only son of Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden and her husband Prince Daniel. He is the fourth grandchild and second grandson of King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia. He is third in the line of succession to the Swedish throne, after his mother, and his sister Princess Estelle, Duchess of Östergötland.
Prince Oscar was christened on on 27 May 2016 at the Royal Chapel of Stockholm Palace in Stockholm, Sweden.[8] His godparents are Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark; Crown Princess Mette-Marit of Norway; his maternal aunt, Princess Madeleine of Sweden; his mother's cousin Oscar Magnuson; and his father's cousin Hans Åström.
From left
Hans Åström
Mette-Marit, Crown Princess of Norway
Frederik, Crown Prince of Denmark
Prince Oscar, Duke of Skåne
Victoria, Crown Princess of Sweden
Prince Daniel, Duke of Västergötland
Princess Estelle, Duchess of Östergötland
Princess Leonore, Duchess of Gotland
Princess Madeleine, Duchess of Hälsingland and Gästrikland
WIKI:
Portobello Road is a street in the Notting Hill district of the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in west London. It runs almost the length of Notting Hill from south to north, roughly parallel with Ladbroke Grove. On Saturdays it is home to Portobello Road Market, one of London's notable street markets, known for its second-hand clothes and antiques.[
Excerpt from en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hung_Hom_station:
Hung Hom (紅磡) is a passenger railway station in Hung Hom, Kowloon, Hong Kong. It is an interchange station between the East Rail line and the Tuen Ma line domestic services of the MTR network, as well as the southern terminus of cross-border through-trains to mainland China which has been discontinued. This station serves the southern terminus of the East Rail Line in early morning before the first northbound train from Admiralty arrives. As the station is located next to the Cross-Harbour Tunnel's northern portal, it is also served by many cross-harbour bus routes.
Opened as the new southern terminus of the Kowloon–Canton Railway (KCR) on 24 November 1975, the station was substantially expanded in the 1990s, at which time it was given its present name. The KCR British Section was also renamed KCR East Rail in order to differentiate it from the new KCR West Rail, which opened on 20 December 2003 and was extended to Hung Hom station on 16 August 2009.
As part of the Sha Tin to Central Link project, the East Rail line was extended across Victoria Harbour to Admiralty via a new immersed tube tunnel to the south of Hung Hom. The West Rail line was also extended via eastern Kowloon to connect to the former Ma On Shan line, with the combined line being renamed "Tuen Ma line".
Doha (Arabic: الدوحة, ad-Dawḥa or ad-Dōḥa, pronounced [adˈdawħa]) is the capital and most populous city of the State of Qatar. Doha has a population of 1,850,000 in the city proper with the population close to 2.4 million.[1] The city is located on the coast of the Persian Gulf in the east of the country. It is Qatar's fastest growing city, with over 80% of the nation's population living in Doha or its surrounding suburbs, and it is also the economic centre of the country.
Doha was founded in the 1820s as an offshoot of Al Bidda. It was officially declared as the country's capital in 1971, when Qatar gained independence from being a British Protectorate.[2] As the commercial capital of Qatar and one of the emergent financial centres in the Middle East, Doha is considered a world city by the Globalization and World Cities Research Network. Doha accommodates Education City, an area devoted to research and education.
The city was host to the first ministerial-level meeting of the Doha Development Round of World Trade Organization negotiations. It was also selected as host city of a number of sporting events, including the 2006 Asian Games, the 2011 Pan Arab Games and most of the games at the 2011 AFC Asian Cup. In December 2011, the World Petroleum Council held the 20th World Petroleum Conference in Doha.[3] Additionally, the city hosted the 2012 UNFCCC Climate Negotiations and is set to host a large number of the venues for the 2022 FIFA World Cup.[4] The city will also host the 140th Inter-Parliamentary Union Assembly in April 2019.
In May 2015, Doha was officially recognized as one of the New7Wonders Cities together with Vigan, La Paz, Durban, Havana, Beirut and Kuala Lumpur.