<p>Albulae Aquae  is a group of springs located 6 km West of Tivoli in Italy.</p><br>
<p>The springs&#39; water is bluish, strongly impregnated with sulphur and carbonate of lime, and rises at a temperature of about 24 &deg;C. The remains of a Roman thermal establishment exist near the principal spring, the so-called Lago della Regina, which is continually diminishing in size owing to deposits left by the water. Dedicatory inscriptions in honour of the waters have been found at the site.</p><br>
<p>It is mentioned briefly by many ancient authors, among them, Virgil, Vitruvius, Isidore of Seville, and Pliny the Elder who mentions it in his Historia Naturalis 31.6:</p><br>
<p>Iuxta Romam Albulae aquae volneribus medentur, egelidae hae,</p><br>
<p>sed Cutiliae in Sabinis gelidissimae suctu quodam corpora invadunt,</p><br>
<p>ut prope morsus videri possit, aptissimae stomacho, nervis, universo corpori.</p><br>
<p>The tepid waters of Albula, near Rome, have a healing effect upon wounds.</p><br>
<p>Those of Cutilia, again, in the Sabine territory, are intensely cold, and by a kind of suction penetrate</p><br>
<p>the body to such a degree as to have the effect of a mordent almost. They are remarkably beneficial for affections of the stomach, sinews, and all parts of the body, in fact.</p><br>
<p>Lake Lillian is a 36 acre freshwater lake in northern Highlands County, Florida. It is adjacent to the Avon Park Lakes Subdivision, north of the city of Avon Park. The slope of the lake drops quickly from the shoreline to a depth of about 45 ft.</p><br>
<p>This lake has no public access, as it is entirely surrounded by private property. On the northeast side is the now vacant Walker Memorial Hospital. On the southwest side is the local Seventh-day Adventist Church.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>On the northeast shore the Highlands Lake Hotel was built in the 1920s. It featured the hotel, a casino and an 18-hole golf course. The Great Depression of the 1930s forced the hotel out of business. A purchaser in 1936 planned to convert the property into a health resort, but nothing materialized, as the scheme was said to be fraudulent. In World War II the US government purchased the hotel and converted it into the Lodwick Aviation Military Academy. The Academy included a barracks built to the north of the old hotel. The barracks housed cadets training to be Army Air Corps pilots.</p><br>
<p>The Academy closed at the end of the war and in 1946 plans were begun to transform the old hotel into a hospital. The Seventh-Day Adventist Church was to own and operate the hospital. Charles Walker was the president of the organization instrumental in the effort. He died of a heart attack before the hospital could be opened in 1948.</p><br>
<p>The hospital opened as Walker Memorial Sanitarium and Hospital, in honor of Charles Walker. The name was shortened later to Walker Memorial Hospital. The hospital prospered and grew over the years. Satellite facilities were added in Lake Placid in 1982 and in Wauchula in 1992. The building was extensively remodelled, but the demands of the community overwhelmed the facility. As a result, the Adventists built Florida Hospital Heartland Medical Center in Sebring, which opened in 1997. The old Walker Hospital remained vacant, although at least two remodelling projects were considered. In 2004 the building was severely damaged by the triple blows of Hurricanes Charley, Frances and Jeanne. Another hurricane passed over the area in 2005.</p><br>
<p>In 2007, the old Walker Memorial Hospital was demolished, so the lakeside property could be used for a new commercial development. The new project was abandoned, because of poor economic conditions.</p><br>
<p>Little Lake Jackson is a 137 acre lake is located within the city of Sebring, Florida. It has a maximum depth of 30 ft. On the north side is USA Highway 27 and across from that is Lake Jackson.</p><br>
<p>The lake has no public access directly, although it is connected by a short canal to Lake Jackson, which has a public boat ramp. Activities on the lake include boating and fishing. A golf course overlooks the southwest side and various businesses adjoin it on the north, along US 27. A hotel, Inn on the Lakes, is on its north shore. Historic Harder Hall, partially renovated but abandoned because of the developer&#39;s financial problems, is on the northwest shore.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>In 1928 Harder Hall, a classic Spanish Style hotel and golf resort, was built on the shore of Little Lake Jackson. It was built in Sebring because the city was a stop on the railroad. In 1953 it was bought by Victor and David Jacobson and partners Larry Tennenbaum and Sam Levy. In 1954 Victor commissioned golf course architect Dick Wilson to transform the golf course into a championship layout. Among the major tournaments held at Harder Hall Hotel were the Haig & Haig, a PGA event played by both Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicholas. Other famous guests of the hotel were Paul Newman, Steve Mcqueen, Ali MacGraw and Mario Andretti. With head pro Ben Roman Victor started the first golf school in the world. Victor and Eva Jacobson also operated Harder Hall Golf and Tennis Camp at the hotel between 1967 and 1980. This was the first and last co-ed, teenage golf and tennis camp in a resort hotel ever and drew campers from all over the world. Victor operated this hotel until the 1981 when he sold it. The building has been abandoned ever since. Several renovation projects were started but halted. Several times Harder Hall barely escaped demolition. Currently the building is still unfinished. Harder Hall was purchased at auction by the City of Sebring in late July 2007.</p><br>
<p>Shandur Top  is located in Ghizer District, Gilgit-Baltistan, in the northmost political entity of Pakistan. It is often called the Roof of the World. The top is flat, a plateau and can be crossed between late April and early November. The grade is very gradual, and the area is crossed by plentiful small streams during summer. The boundary line between Ghizer District of Gilgit-Baltistan and Chitral district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in Pakistan.</p><br>
<p>During the annual Shandur Polo Festival, which is organized by the Ministry of tourism Gilgit-Baltistan and the Tourism Corporation of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (TCKP), there is a polo match played on Shandur Top between the teams of Chitral District and Gilgit District and Chitral District</p><br>
<p>The Shandur Pass is one of the major mountain passes of Chitral.</p><br>
<h2>Shandur Polo Festival</h2><br>
<p>The initiation of Polo in Shandur is credited to The balti raja of Skardu; Ali Sher Khan Anchan who built the polo ground of Shandur as well. Shandur invites visitors to experience a traditional polo tournament which since 1936 has been held annually in the first week of July between the local teams of Gilgit and Chitral. Organized and financed by the Tourism Corporation of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (TCKP), the tournament is held on Shandur Top, the highest polo ground in the world at 3,700 meters (the pass itself is at 3,800 meters). The festival also includes Folk music, dancing and a camping village is set up. The polo tournament is featured in the first episode of Himalaya with Michael Palin.</p><br>
<p>Various teams of Chitral and Gilgit-Baltistan have always played the game of polo closest to its original form. During the early 20th century, the British in neighboring India were the patrons of the game.</p><br>
<p>Free-styled mountain polo is arguably polo in its purest form. This version of the game played at Shandur-Top has attained legendary status and is of great interest to international and domestic adventure tourists alike. There are no umpires and there are no holds barred. The rules are: There are no rules!</p><br>
<p>In "The Roof of the World" Amin/Willets/Tetley write: "by comparison, an American Wild West rodeo might pass for choir practice."</p><br>
<p>As one player once mentioned: "You can ride head-on into the opponent, if you dare." in Pakistan</p><br>
<p>In order to decide the final teams to play at the Shandur Polo Festival preliminary matches are played both in Chitral and Gilgit, in which the best horses and players are chosen for the final games by the local juries. The festival begins on the 7th of July. During the course of the tournament A, B, C and D teams of Gilgit and Chitral battle it out on the polo field. Each team has six members with 2-4 reserve players in case of injury etc. The match duration is usually one hour. It is divided into two halves, with a 10 minutes interval. During intervals the locals enthrall the audiences with traditional and cultural performances. The game decided in favour of the team scoring more goals. The final is held on 9 July.</p><br>
<p>The field measures about 200 meters by 56 meters (normal polo field is about 270m by 150m), with 60 cm high stone walls running the length of the field on both sides instead of boards. As six players make up one side, the field can get fairly crowded. This has the advantage of slightly slowing down the pace, which, all things considered, is probably somewhat safety-enhancing.</p><br>
<p>Players rarely wear helmets, The horses&#39; legs often have no bandages, and mallets often have no grips or straps.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>In 1935 UK Administrator for Evelyn Hey Cobb ordered Niat Qabool Hayat Kakakhel nambardar of Ghizer to make a huge polo ground in Shandur. The polo ground was named "Mas Junali", because in the Khowar language ‘mas’ is the word for ‘moon’ and ‘junali’ is the word for ‘pologround’, and Cobb was fond of playing polo in the moonlight. Cobb was impressed by Kakakhail&#39;s resourcefulness and efficiency and wished to reward him for his service, but Kakakhail refused to accept any reward for his work. Instead, for the common benefit, Kakakhail asked Cobb to bring trout to stock the local streams. Cobb ordered live trout from England and dropped them into the River Ghizer. Due to this little service, Directorate of Fisheries had been established and hundreds of people got employed. Now the weight of those fishes in Hundarap Lake cross 24 kg and in Baha Lake Khukush Nallah, their weight crossed 40 kg.So Mas Junali became a source of relation between the people of Chitral District and Ghizer District. The Shandur Polo Festival opens a door step to the people of the world to enjoy their selves. Many of the people from entire world come here to watch polo match played between Chitral and Ghizer.</p><br>
<p>. At first it was a training game for cavalry units for the King&#39;s Guards or other Elite troops. To the warlike tribesmen who played polo with as many as 100 players to a side, it was a miniature battle. It became a Persian national game in the 6th century AD. From Persia, the game spread to Arabia, then to Tibet, China and Japan. In China, in the year 910, death of a favourite relative in a game prompted Emperor Apaochi to order beheading of all players.</p><br>
<p>Ali Sher Khan Anchan Maqpoun used to play Polo at Shandoor when Chitral was part of Maqpoun empire. Historically, polo being the king of games was played between small kingdoms, villages and rival groups of Gilgit Agency. From 1936 onwards polo tournaments were held annually at Shandur at the patronage of the British. The three-day Shandur Polo Festival has developed steadily in recent years into the massive celebration of mountain polo that it is today.</p><br>
<h2>Related articles</h2><br>
<p>Shandur valley</p><br>
<p>Shandur Polo Festival</p><br>
<p>River Gilgit</p><br>
<h2>Books</h2><br>
<p>The Gilgit Game by John Keay (1985)</p><br>
<p>The Kafirs of the Hindukush (1896) Sir George Scott Robertson.</p><br>
<p>To the Frontier (1984) Geoffrey Moorehouse, pp. 267–270. Hodder and Stoughton Ltd., Reat Britain. Reprint: Sceptre edition 1988.</p><br>
<p>Shandur, Durand&#39;s Boundary Line Violation" (2014) by Rai Sarfaraz Shah, Ex-MNA LC Gilgit-Baltistan</p><br>
<p>Inis Cathaigh or Scattery Island is an island in the Shannon Estuary, Ireland. It lies off the coast of Kilrush, County Clare. The island is home to a lighthouse, a ruined monastery, an Irish round tower and the remains of an artillery battery.</p><br>
<p>The Irish name Inis Cathaigh was formerly anglicised Iniscathy, which later became Iniscattery and finally Scattery. Most of the island is now owned by the Office of Public Works who run a small visitor centre and carry out repairs and maintenance on the island. It was bought by Dúchas in 1991</p><br>
<h2>Saint Senan</h2><br>
<p>St. Senan was born at Magh Lacha, Kilrush, County Clare, ca. 488 (died 1 March 560). His parents were named Erean and Comgella. His birth was prophetically announced by St. Patrick on his visit to the Uí Fidgenti (in County Limerick) As a boy Senan was placed under the guidance of an abbot named Cassidan, finishing his studies under St. Naul at Kilmanagh, County Kilkenny.</p><br>
<p>Senan commenced his missionary career by founding a church near Enniscorthy, in either 510 or 512. The parish is still known as Templeshannon (Teampul Senain). He then visited Cornwall, founding a church at Sennen&#39;s Cove, another was founded in Brittany (France) at Plouzane (church of Senan). He is also believed to have visited Menevia, Rome, and Tours. He returned to Ireland around 520.</p><br>
<p>Having founded churches at Inniscarra (County Cork), at Inisluinghe, at Deer Island, Inismore, and Mutton Island, he finally settled at Iniscathay, or Inis Cathaigh, County Clare. He was visited by Saints Ciarán and Brendan, and other holy men, who had heard of his sanctity and miracles. Inis Cathaigh became not only a famous abbey but the seat of a bishopric with St. Senan as its first bishop. This event may be dated as somewhere between 535 and 540. St. Senan&#39;s jurisdiction extended over the existing Baronies of Moyarta and Clonderalaw in Thomond, the Barony of Connelo, Limerick as well as a small portion of Kerry from the Feal to the Atlantic.</p><br>
<p>The legend of "St. Senanus and the Lady", as told in Tom Moores lyric, is founded on the fact that no woman was allowed to enter Inis Cathaigh; not even St. Senans sister, St. Cannera, was permitted to land there. Yet St. Senan founded two convents for nuns, and was actually on a visit to one of them when he died. Legend has it that when St. Cannera died, she willed it that she should be buried near Senan. To stay true to his own edicts, Senan waited until low tide to bury her in the inter-tidal zone, which was not officially part of the "island", thus fulfilling his sister&#39;s wish while not breaking his own rules. St. Senan was buried in the abbey church of Iniscathay on 8 March, on which day his feast is observed.</p><br>
<p>One of the earliest references to the Round Tower of Inniscathay is in the Irish life of St. Senan.</p><br>
<h2>Viking period</h2><br>
<p>Inis Cathaigh was a part of the Norse Kingdom of Limerick, which included not only Limerick itself but also several other bases in western and even northern Ireland.</p><br>
<p>Ivar of Limerick (last Norse king of the city), along with two of his sons, was slain on Inis Cathaigh by Brian Boru in 977.</p><br>
<h2>Ecclesiastical history</h2><br>
<p>Scattery Island Cathedral and monastery is an early Christian place of pilgrimage, where St Senan, Bishop and confessor, founded a monastery, in the Shannon estuary, 5 km southwest of Kilrush, County Clare, Ireland. There are the remains of his oratory and house and of seven rude churches or chapels, together with a round tower and a holy well still in repute. It is fortified and marked by a lighthouse.</p><br>
<p>At an early period the abbot-bishop of the monastery was considered to exercise authority over what later became the dioceses of Killaloe, Limerick and Ardfert.</p><br>
<p>After the Synod of Ráth Breasail in 1111 a canonical diocese of Inis Cathaig (the spelling then current) was established. This was absorbed by the Diocese of Killaloe in 1189, but was restored by Pope Innocent VI and continued as a separate see under Bishop Thomas (1358–68). In 1378 its possessions were divided, and the island remained a portion of the Diocese of Killaloe, being subsequently merged into the parish of Kilrush. However, there is mention of an Englishman, John Grene, as Bishop of Inis Cathaig in 1467.</p><br>
<p>Inis Cathaig is now listed among the titular sees of the Catholic Church.</p><br>
<p>Titular bishops of Inis Cathaig:</p><br>
<p>Thomas Jerome Welsh (1970-1974)</p><br>
<p>William Anthony Hughes (1974-1979)</p><br>
<p>John Edward Heaps (1981-2004)</p><br>
<p>Frank Joseph Caggiano (2006-2013)</p><br>
<h2>Artillery battery</h2><br>
<p>The artillery battery, located on the south of Scattery, was built during the Napoleonic Wars and is preserved quite well. The Shannon Estuary was one of 3 invasion places the French had considered along the west of Ireland. As such, different places along the estuary were considered for establishing a defence. Scattery Island is one of 6 batteries in the estuary. Scattery Island was chosen on the proposal of defected French general Charles-François du Périer Dumouriez. The battery forms a semi-circular D shape with a dry moat. There would have been 6 separate guns on the edge of this D shape. These could fire out over the estuary. Even though they by themselves would not have been powerful enough to stop an invasion they would have been able to cause a lot of damage to any enemy fleet.</p><br>
<h2>Demographics</h2><br>
<h2>Former residents</h2><br>
<p>In 1842, after the salvaging the Windsor Castle, Inis Cathaigh was home to Shannon Estuary Pilots and their families. The primary families of the island were the Brennan, Melican, Scanlan, McMahon, Costelloe, Hehir, Moran, and Griffin. The river pilots were highly skilled mariners.</p><br>
<p>The inhabitants of Scattery Island appear to have escaped the deaths and emigration associated within Kilrush and most of Ireland during the famine period. The total population of the island including the soldiers, actually increased from 65 in 1841 to 99 in 1851 and to 139 in 1861. The numbers of houses in this period increased from 9 in 1841 to 24 in 1861. The memorial inscriptions on the gravestones do not show any deaths of islanders during the period 1845 to 1850. It is thought that a combination of fishing, additional shipping due to famine exports to England, along with piloting provided good employment for the pilots and their families.</p><br>
<p>The last residents left in 1969.</p><br>
<h2>Annalistic references</h2><br>
<p>See Annals of Inisfallen (AI)</p><br>
<p>AI797.2 Ólchobar, son of Flann, abbot of Inis Cathaig, rested.</p><br>
<p>AI863.2 Repose of Aedán, abbot of Inis Cathaig.</p><br>
<p>AI901.1 Bissextile. Kl. Repose of Mael Brigte son of Brolach, abbot of Inis Cathaig.</p><br>
<p>AI958.3 Repose of Cinaed Ua Con Minn, bishop of Les Mór and Inis Cathaig.</p><br>
<p>AI974.2 The son of Aralt made a circuit of Ireland with a great company, and plundered Inis Cathaig, and brought Ímar from it into captivity.</p><br>
<p>AI974.4 Repose of Scandlán Ua hEirc, learned bishop and abbot of Inis Cathaig.</p><br>
<p>AI992.5 Repose of Cathal son of Ledbán, abbot of Inis Cathaig.</p><br>
<p>AI994.2 Repose of Fínnechta Ua Ciarucáin, vice-abbot of Inis Cathaig.</p><br>
<p>AI1024.7 Senchán, son of Flaithbertach, on his pilgrimage to Inis Cathaig.</p><br>
<p>AI1057.5 Inis Cathaig was plundered by the foreigners of the son of Mael na mBó, and a great slaughter on them.</p><br>
<p>AI1094.13 A great mortality of the men of Ireland, so that it is impossible to enumerate all the people that died. From that pestilence died: Ua Maíl Muine, abbot of Inis Cathaig</p><br>
<p>AI1101.2 A great hosting around Ireland by Muirchertach, son of Tairdelbach, and he destroyed Ailech and Cúil Rathain at Tuag Inbir, took the hostages of the Ulaid, and proceeded along Slige Midluachra. It was then a naval force came round... from(?) the north, and they destroyed Inis Cathaig, taking many valuables from it, and committed many other evil deeds.</p><br>
<p>AI1130.2 Mac Raith Ua Conchobuir, son of the king of Ciarraige Luachra, was treacherously slain in the termon of Inis Cathaig.</p><br>
<p>The Karakum Canal  in Turkmenistan is one of the largest irrigation and water supply canals in the world. Started in 1954, and completed in 1988, it is navigable over much of its 1,375 km length, and carries 13 km3 of water annually from the Amu-Darya River across the Karakum Desert in Turkmenistan. The canal opened up huge new tracts of land to agriculture, especially to cotton monoculture heavily promoted by the Soviet Union, and supplying Ashgabat with a major source of water. Unfortunately, the primitive construction of the canal allows almost 50 percent of the water to escape en route, creating lakes and ponds along the canal, and a rise in groundwater leading to widespread soil salinization problems. The canal is also a major factor leading to the Aral Sea environmental disaster.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>The current Karakum Canal was not the first major attempt to bring the Amu-Darya water to the Karakums. In the early 1950s, construction began on the Main Turkmen Canal (Главный Туркменский канал), which would start at a much more northerly location (near Nukus), and run southwest toward Krasnovodsk. The canal would have used around 25 percent of the Amu-Darya&#39;s water. The works were abandoned after the death of Joseph Stalin, the current Karakum Canal route being chosen instead.Nikolaĭ Gavrilovich Kharin, "Vegetation Degradation in Central Asia Under the Impact of Human Activities". Pp. 56-58.</p><br>
<p>Springer, 2002.</p><br>
<p>Reservoirs such as Hanhowuz Reservoir were created to help regulate it.</p><br>
<h2>Important cities</h2><br>
<p>Ashgabat</p><br>
<p>Bereket</p><br>
<p>Serdar</p><br>
<p>The Telemark Canal connects Skien to Dalen in southern Norway by linking several long lakes in the Skien watershed through a series of 18 locks.</p><br>
<p>It originally consisted of two canals. The Norsjø–Skien Canal, with locks in Skien and Løveid, was built in 1854–1861 and linked Skien with Norsjø lake. The longer Bandak–Nordsjø Canal was opened in 1892 by the Minister of Labour Hans Hein Theodor Nysom. It extended the canal from Norsjø lake through Flåvatn and Kviteseidvatn (Kviteseidvatnet) lakes to Bandak lake. In Europe, this canal was seen as "the eighth wonder" at the time it was finished. The Bandak–Nordsjø Canal was mainly built for transport of goods and passengers, log floating and to prevent flooding. Log floating is no longer practiced, due to the closing of Union, a local paper factory. An eastern section gives access from Norsjø lake to Notodden via Lake Heddalsvatnet.</p><br>
<p>The Telemark Canal consists of 18 locks, is 105 km long and has a total difference in elevation of 72 m.</p><br>
<p>The biggest staircase lock is Vrangfoss, which has five chambers and a lifting height of 23 m.</p><br>
<p>The riverboats Henrik Ibsen and Victoria travel with tourists from Skien to Dalen via Kviteseid. Victoria has traveled the Norsjø–Skien Canal since 1882, and the Bandak–Norsjø Canal since its opening.</p><br>
<p>The canal was selected as the millennium site for Telemark county.</p><br>
<h2>List of lock chambers</h2><br>
<p>There are 18 lock chambers at 8 different locations.</p><br>
<h2>Maximum traffic dimensions</h2><br>
<p>The Tangier American Legation is a building in the medina of Tangier, Morocco. The first American public property outside the United States, it commemorates the historic cultural and diplomatic relations between the United States and the Kingdom of Morocco. It is now officially called the Tangier American Legation Institute for Moroccan Studies, and is a cultural center, museum, and a research library, concentrating on Arabic language studies.</p><br>
<p>The legation was listed on the USA National Register of Historic Places on January 8, 1981. USA Secretary of the Interior James G. Watt subsequently designated it a National Historic Landmark on December 17, 1982. It was the first (and only) such listing or designation in a foreign country. The building has been listed on the USA Secretary of State&#39;s Register of Culturally Significant Property, a listing of State Department properties around the world that have particular cultural or historical significance.</p><br>
<h2>Diplomatic history</h2><br>
<p>The legation is an elaborate Moorish-style building of stuccoed masonry. This complex structure contains the two-story mud and stone building presented to the United States in 1821 by Sultan Moulay Suliman. The first property acquired abroad by the United States government, it housed the United States Legation and Consulate for 140 years, the longest period any building abroad has been occupied as a United States diplomatic post. It is symbolic of the 1786 Moroccan–American Treaty of Friendship, which is still in force today. The complex expanded over the years as the surrounding houses were bought up. During World War II it served as headquarters for United States intelligence agents.</p><br>
<p>After the move to Rabat as the diplomatic capital in 1956, when the country gained its independence, the Legation was abandoned as a diplomatic building. Over the years the United States government proceeded to use it as consul offices and Peace Corps offices, among other things. In time it became neglected and threatened with demolition.</p><br>
<h2>Present</h2><br>
<p>In 1976 a group of American citizens established a public, non-profit organization to save the Old American Legation (as it is known locally). Today the Tangier American Legation Museum Society rents the structure, which is still owned by the United States government.</p><br>
<p>The Tangier American Institute for Moroccan Studies is a museum and cultural center for the study of Morocco and Morocco–United States relations, and it has many paintings by Marguerite McBey and other artists. TALIMs historic building now includes an entire wing devoted to the expatriate writer and composer Paul Bowles. The museum also has a research library and conference room. TALIMs community outreach programs include Arabic literacy courses for women living in the Tangier medina. John Davison is the current museum director.</p><br>
<p>The Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta is an isolated mountain range separated from the Andes chain that runs through Colombia. Reaching an altitude of 5,700 m just 42 km from the Caribbean coast, the Sierra Nevada is one of the world&#39;s highest coastal ranges, being 250m shorter than the Saint Elias Mountains in Canada. The Sierra Nevada encompasses about 17,000 km&sup2; and serves as the source of 36 rivers. The range is in the Departments of Magdalena, Cesar and La Guajira.</p><br>
<p>The highest point of the Sierra Nevada group (and Colombia in general) may be either Pico Cristóbal Colón or Pico Simón Bolívar both in the municipalities of Santa Marta and Aracataca; it has yet to be determined which is higher. SRTM data and local topographic maps show that their true elevations are approximately 5,700 m, lower than the 5,775 m elevation that is often quoted.</p><br>
<p>The Sierra Nevada is a compact group, relatively small in area, and completely surrounded by lands with elevations below 200 m. Although it is associated with the Tropical Andes, the main backbone of the Andes cannot be reached from the Sierra Nevada without dropping below this level. This makes its highest point the world&#39;s fifth most prominent summit.</p><br>
<p>Several peaks in the Sierra Nevada are intervisible with Cerro Paramillo, a 3,730 m peak in Antioquia Department. This implies a theoretical direct line of sight of just over 500 km, reported to be the longest between any two points on the surface of the Earth.</p><br>
<h2>Climate</h2><br>
<p>It is calculated that the yearly average rainfall is 4,000 mm at elevations of 500 m to 1,500 m. The temperature varies between 0 °C and 27 °C.(32-81 °F)</p><br>
<h2>Biodiversity</h2><br>
<p>The tropical rainforest is made up of perennial trees, with a canopy reaching between 30 m to 40 m. There is a great variety and large populations of epiphytes and lianas, and more than 3,000 species of vascular plants are found in the area. The indigenous peoples made an alcoholic beverage from fruits of the palm Attalea maripa found at the lower elevations.</p><br>
<p>Of Colombia&#39;s 340 endemic species, 44 are found in the park, for example seven species of endemic hummingbirds. Of the 3,057 endangered species, 44 are found here. The area is home to 440 species of birds, including black-fronted wood-quail, king vulture, Andean condor, Santa Marta warbler and Santa Marta parakeet. Mammals found in the park include: tapir, cougar, jaguar, squirrel, Transandinomys talamancae, otter, and brocket deer.</p><br>
<p>The Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta is home to a number of ecoregions, which vary with elevation.</p><br>
<p>The Guajira-Barranquilla xeric scrub region lies near the Caribbean seacoast to the north of the range. The Sinú Valley dry forests cover the range&#39;s lower slopes, up to an elevation of 500 m.</p><br>
<p>The Santa Marta montane forests lie above 500 m to 800 m. The montane forests are separated from other moist forests by the lower-elevation dry forests and xeric shrublands, and have large numbers of endemic species. The montane forest ecoregion has several distinct plant communities, distinguished by altitude and rainfall; moist lowland forests cover the windward northern and western flanks of the range between 500 m and 900 m, and the drier eastern and southern flanks from 5,800 m to 1,000 m. Above 900 m is a transitional forest zone of smaller trees and palms. Cloud forests occur above 1,000 m; the Sub-Andean forests from 1,000 m to 2,500 m form a canopy 25 m to 35 m tall, while the higher-elevation Andean forests, between 2,500 m and 3,300 m, grow to 15 m to 20 m in height.</p><br>
<p>The Santa Marta Páramo, a high altitude belt of montane grasslands and shrublands interspersed with marshes and acid bogs, occupies the zone between 3,300 m and 5,000 m. The Santa Marta Páramo is the northernmost enclave of Páramo in South America, which occur along the Andes belt. Above 5,000 m meters lies the permanent snow cap.</p><br>
<h2>National Natural Park</h2><br>
<p>The Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta National Natural Park (Parque Nacional Natural Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta) is Colombia&#39;s second oldest national park, established in 1964. It is located in the Cordillera Oriental range, between the departments of La Guajira, Magdalena and Cesar, in the mountain range of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta. It is a sanctuary as well as a tourist attraction, because it offers different climate, terrain, flora and fauna environments, ranging from beaches to snowy mountain peaks. Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta National Natural Park is considered a unique place in the world due to its isolation from the Andes and its highest peak (5775 meters over sea level) is located just 42 km away from the sea.</p><br>
<p>All the water courses that originate in the national park drain to the Caribbean sea whether directly (e. g. rivers Ranchería, Don Diego, Palomino, Buritaca, Guachaca, Cañas, etc.) or through the Magdalena River system that includes the Ciénaga Grande de Santa Marta, (e. g., rivers Cesar, Ariguaní, Fundación, Frío, Aracataca, etc.). Roughly 1.2 million people are dependent upon the freshwater supplied by the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta rivers. There are currently about 30,000 indigenous people of the ethnic groups Koguis, Arhuacos, Kankuamos and Wiwa living in the area. This park is also home to the remnants of the Tairona Culture. In 1979 the park was designated a Biosphere reserve by UNESCO.</p><br>
<p>A 2013 report by the International Union for Conservation of Nature on the world&#39;s most irreplaceable protected areas identified the park as the most irreplaceable park in the world for threatened species.</p><br>
<h2>Geology</h2><br>
<p>It is composed of Cretaceous metamorphic rocks (predominantly schists and gneisses) and quartzdioritic intrusives of Tertiary age. The Quaternary of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta is mainly represented by colluvial-alluvial valley fill and by recent beach deposits. The coastlines of the northwestern part of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta are indented, reflecting the alternation of rocky headlands and deep, NNW trending tectonically controlled bays. The headlands are typically 100 to 150 m high plunging cliffs cut into schists and granites, whereas the embayments front alluvial valley deposits. The bay shores are typically steep, reflective beaches composed of very coarse sand to granules eroded from adjacent cliffs and alluvial deposits. Wide pocket beaches and tombolos are common along sectors with abundant rocky erosional remnants and stacks.</p><br>
<h2>Inhabitants</h2><br>
<p>The Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta is home to the remnants of the Native American Tairona Culture; Arhuacos, Koguis, Wiwas and Kankuamos, that live in Resguardos Indigenas (Indian reserves) located in the mid-highlands.</p><br>
<h3>Recent access problems</h3><br>
<p>For the last ten years, access to the highest summits has been very difficult, and this situation continues, although there is a documented ascent of Pico Cristóbal Colón in December 2015. The only safe and relatively straight forward access is from Santa Marta city to Cuchillo de San Lorenzo, but that is only to 2,800 m (although it provides excellent views of the peaks).</p><br>
<p>Yampi Sound is a part of the Indian Ocean off the coast of northwestern Australia, located between King Sound and Collier Bay. The islands of the Buccaneer Archipelago, located in the sound, contain rich silver and iron ore deposits. The high grade iron ore deposits has been mined in the Sound since the 1950s. A copper mine also operated at Coppermine Creek on the mainland side of the sound.</p><br>
<p>Many creeks discharge directly into the sound including Coppermine Creek, Crocodile Creek, Silvergull Creek and Dogleg Creek.</p><br>
<p>The traditional owners of the areas around the sound are the Umiida peoples.</p><br>
<p>The sound contains many islands of the Buccaneer Archipelago the largest being Koolan Island; others include: Cockatoo Island, Irvine Island, Bathurst Island, Finch Islands, Hidden Island, Baylis Islands and Iron Islands.</p><br>
<p>The sound was named in 1838 by Commander John Lort Stokes who named Yampee Point, Yampee being the local Indigenous peoples word for water.</p><br>
<p>During World War II, several raids were launched against the Japanese forces in Borneo and Java using Catalina Flying Boats by the Royal Australian Air Force from Cockatoo Island in Yampi Sound.</p><br>
<p>The Australian Defence Force has maintained a training facility at Yampi Sound since the 1970s.</p><br>
<p>The Blue Mountains are the longest mountain range in Jamaica. They include the island&#39;s highest point, Blue Mountain Peak, at 2256 m . From the summit, accessible via a walking track, both the north and south coasts of the island can be seen. On a clear day, the outline of the island of Cuba, 210 km away, can also be seen. The mountain range spans 4 parishes:</p><br>
<p>Portland, St.Thomas, St Mary and St.Andrew.</p><br>
<h2>Geography</h2><br>
<p>The Blue Mountains dominate the eastern third of Jamaica, while bordering the eastern parishes of Portland, St. Thomas, St. Mary and St. Andrew to the south. Part of the Blue Mountains is contained in the Blue and John Crow Mountains National Park established in 1992, which is maintained by the Jamaican government.</p><br>
<p>The Blue Mountains rise to its elevations from the coastal plain in the space of about 16 km, thus producing one of the steepest general gradients in the world. This forms cooling relief from the sweltering heat of the city of Kingston, visible below. Their summits rise and fall for 24 miles and span 14 miles at their widest point. The temperature decreases from around 27°C (80°F) at sea level to 5°C (40°F) at the Blue Mountain Peak, just 16 km inland.</p><br>
<h3>Rainfall</h3><br>
<p>The island&#39;s average rainfall is 1,960 mm per year. Where the higher elevations of the Blue Mountains catch the rain from moisture-laden winds it exceeds 5,080 mm per year with some areas recording totals of more than 7,620 mm.</p><br>
<h3>Climate data</h3><br>
<h3>Flora and fauna</h3><br>
<p>The Blue Mountains climatic diversity has led to the growth of diverse and lush vegetation including towering trees and more than 500 species of flowering plants.</p><br>
<p>The mountains are home to the world&#39;s second-largest butterfly and the largest in the Americas, the Homerus swallowtail. This is the most well-studied remaining population of the endangered butterfly. The Jamaican Coney (Geocapromys brownii), a type of rodent, and the Jamaican boa (Epicrates subflavus) are also found there.</p><br>
<h2>Jamaican coffee</h2><br>
<p>In past years when Jamaica&#39;s economy was dominated by plantation slavery, some slaves escaped to the mountains to live independently, where they were known as Maroons. Charles Town on the Buff Bay River, Moore Town, and Scotts Hall are contemporary Maroon communities in Portland Parish.</p><br>
<p>Today, the famous Jamaican Blue Mountain Coffee, which commands premium prices on world markets, is cultivated between 2,000 and 5,000 feet above sea level, while higher slopes are preserved as forest. Hagley Gap and Mavis Bank are farming communities located on Blue Mountain with Hagley Gap being closest to Blue Mountain Peak. Both towns rely upon the area&#39;s rich soil for growing coffee.</p><br>
<p>Shiretoko Peninsula is located on the easternmost portion of the Japanese island of Hokkaidō, protruding into the Sea of Okhotsk. It is separated from Kunashir Island of Russia by the Nemuro Strait. The name Shiretoko is derived from the Ainu word sir etok, meaning "the end of the Earth" or "the place where the Earth protrudes". The towns of Rausu and Shari are found on the peninsula.</p><br>
<p>The Shiretoko Peninsula was registered as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2005, in recognition of the peninsula being the southernmost point where sea ice usually forms in the Northern Hemisphere.</p><br>
<h2>Geography</h2><br>
<p>From Shiretoko Cape at the tip of the peninsula, a series of volcanoes run down the peninsula, including Mount Shiretoko, Mount Unabetsu, and Mount Iō. It is part of the Chishima volcanic zone. The highest peak is Mount Rausu. The peninsula is 70 km long and 25 km wide at its base. It covers some 123,000 hectare</p><br>
<p>The peninsula is bounded on the northwest side by the Sea of Okhotsk and the southeast side by the Pacific Ocean. To the east, Kunashiri Island runs parallel to the peninsula. The Kunashiri can be seen from Shiretoko Peninsula. Kunashiri has been occupied by Russia since September 1, 1945, and disputed by Japan.</p><br>
<p>The cold Oyashio Current flows south along the peninsula.</p><br>
<p>The volcanic zone has made several onsen possible, including Seseki Onsen and Iwaobetsu Onsen.</p><br>
<h3>List of peaks</h3><br>
<p>Mount Poromoi</p><br>
<p>Mount Shiretoko</p><br>
<p>Mount Dokkarimui</p><br>
<p>Mount Rusha</p><br>
<p>Mount Higashi</p><br>
<p>Mount Chienbetsu</p><br>
<p>Mount Minami</p><br>
<p>Mount Iō</p><br>
<p>Mount Okkabake</p><br>
<p>Mount Sashirui</p><br>
<p>Mount Rausu</p><br>
<p>Mount Chinnishibetsu</p><br>
<p>Mount Onnebetsu</p><br>
<p>Mount Unabetsu</p><br>
<p>Mount Shari</p><br>
<p>Mount Samakke Nupuri</p><br>
<p>Mount Shibetsu</p><br>
<h2>Climate</h2><br>
<p>The Oyashio Current has a profound impact on the weather of the peninsula. Shiretoko Peninsula has short summers and long winters. The current causes fog on the southeastern coast and sea ice in the winter. Snow covers the peaks from September to June, except the very highest peaks, which retain snow all summer long.</p><br>
<h2>Flora and fauna</h2><br>
<p>The Shiretoko Peninsula is home to many species of both conifers and broadleaf trees, including the acorn-bearing Quercus mongolica. Siberian dwarf pine trees grow above 1,000 m. Red foxes and sika deer also inhabit the area. There are a large number of Ussuri brown bears. The upper reaches of Mount Rausu, Mount Onnebetsu, and Mount Shari are the only known breeding areas of Arctic warblers in Hokkaidō. Sea eagles flourish here, and seals can be often seen on the coast.</p><br>
<p>Whale watching is a popular attraction for tourist. Thirteen or fourteen species of cetaceans have been recorded in the area.</p><br>
<p>Especially for orcas, or killer whales, the waters surrounding the peninsula are regarded as one of the most significant habitat areas in the northwestern Pacific. There was a notable mass stranding of twelve animals in February 2005. Nine animals died.</p><br>
<p>Shiretoko Peninsula is one of the few places where groups of male sperm whales and Bairds beaked whales can be spotted from the shore. Other frequently seen species include minke whales, Pacific white-sided dolphins, Dalls porpoises and harbour porpoises. A possible new form of giant beaked whale are using these areas as well.</p><br>
<p>Endangered populations of humpback whales and fin whales in the Sea of Okhotsk have started to recover in recent years. Some beluga whales, or white whales, that are thought to be vagrants from endangered population in the northern Sea of Okhotsk do occur, specifically a sub-adult individual that continuously appeared at the town of Shibetsu for several years in the 2000s.</p><br>
<p>North Pacific right whales, the most endangered of all the great whales, have been observed close to the shore mainly on the Sea of Okhotsk side of the peninsula. From June 21 to 23, 2015, the first ever sighting of a bowhead whale in the Japanese EEZ occurred (the first record of the species in the nation was of a catch record in Osaka Bay on June 23, 1969).</p><br>
<p>Several records from whaling days show blue whales to have been harpooned and landed at Abashiri port, though this species normally does not enter adjacent seas and are now thought to be almost extinct in Japan´s waters.</p><br>
<p>As a deep, productive water, some species of beaked whales favor the area including Cuviers beaked whales, Stejnegers beaked whales and others. Baird&#39;s beaked whales, the largest of this group, are most frequently observed close to shore. An unidentified form or subspecies of beaked whale is known to inhabit the waters off Shiretoko Peninsula and Abashiri.</p><br>
<p>Long-finned pilot whales which once inhabited the waters around Hokkaido are thought to have become extinct in the 12th century, but unconfirmed sighting of short-finned pilot whales have been reported in Nemuro Strait though the area is out of their normal range.</p><br>
<h2>Conservation efforts</h2><br>
<p>To protect the wild animals and pristine natural beauty of the Shiretoko Peninsula, in 1964 a great portion of the peninsula was designated Shiretoko National Park. Since then, the park has been subject to strict regulation as a nature preserve, and entering is prohibited.</p><br>
<p>The Adair County Courthouse is located in Stilwell, Oklahoma and is the central building for the county government for Adair County, Oklahoma. The current building is the fourth building in Stilwell to serve as the courthouse. From 1902 until 1908 a two-story wood-frame schoolhouse served as the courthouse. In 1908 a new brick building was built and was used until 1920 when a building of native stone was built. On December 30, 1929, the new stone building burned down. The current classically inspired, art deco building was built on the same site and was completed in 1930. The building was designed by J. J. Harrelson and was built out of limestone, steel, and concrete. The cornice has molded bas-relief figures of American Indians in full headdress. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1984. In 1992 a marble war memorial which contained the names of all Adair County residents killed in World War I, World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War was dedicated on the courthouse lawn.</p><br>
<p>Annobón is a small province of Equatorial Guinea consisting of the island of Annobón and its associated islets in the Gulf of Guinea and Atlantic Oceans Cameroon line. The provincial capital is San Antonio de Palé on the north side of the island; the other town is Mabana, formerly known as San Pedro. The roadstead is relatively safe, and some passing vessels take advantage of it in order to obtain water and fresh provisions, of which Annobon has offered an abundant supply. However, there is no regular shipping service to the rest of Equatorial Guinea, and ships call as infrequently as every few months. According to the 2015 census it had 5,232 inhabitants, a small population increase from the 5,008 registered by the 2001 census. The official language is Spanish but most of the inhabitants speak a creole form of Portuguese. The islands main industries are fishing and timbering.</p><br>
<h2>Name</h2><br>
<p>Annobón, also spelled Annabon and Anabon and formerly as Anno Bom and Annabona, derives its name from Ano Bom ( "Good Year"). It was named for the date of its discovery by the Portuguese on New Year&#39;s Day (Dia do Anno Bom) in 1473.</p><br>
<p>During the final years of the Nguema administration, the island was called Pigalu and Pagalu, from the Portuguese papagaio ("parrot").</p><br>
<h2>Geography</h2><br>
<p>Annobón is an extinct volcano about 220 mi west of Cape Lopez in Gabon and 110 mi southwest of São Tomé Island. The main island measures about 4 mi long by 2 mi wide, with an area of about 6+3/4 square miles, but a number of small rocky islets surround it, including Santarém to the south. Its central crater lake is named Lago A Pot and its highest peak is Quioveo, which rises 598 m. The island is characterized by a succession of lush valleys and steep mountains, covered with rich woods and luxuriant vegetation.</p><br>
<p>Annobón is often described as being "in the Gulf of Guinea", like the neighboring islands of São Tomé and Príncipe, but the formal boundary line for the Gulf of Guinea established by the International Hydrographic Organization actually runs north of it.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>The island was discovered by the Portuguese on January 1, 1473; it obtained its name from that date ("New Year"). It was apparently uninhabited until colonized under the Portuguese from 1474, primarily by Africans from Angola via São Tomé Island.</p><br>
<p>The island was passed to Spain by the 1778 Treaty of El Pardo. The treaty granted Spain control of the Portuguese islands of Annobón and Fernando Po (now Bioko) and the Guinea coast between the Niger and the Ogooué in exchange for Spanish acceptance of the Portuguese occupation of territories in Brazil west of the line established by the Treaty of Tordesillas. The Spanish colony thus formed would eventually be known as Spanish Guinea.</p><br>
<p>The island&#39;s populace was opposed to the arrangement and hostile toward the Spaniards. After the handover and when the Spanish flag was hoisted to affirm Spanish sovereignty, the islanders revolted against the newcomers, in part because they were considered heretical for placing dogs on their flag. (The actual design represents lions.) They expelled them according to a tradition of throwing witches to the sea. A state of anarchy ensued, leading to an arrangement by which the island was administered by a body of five natives, each of whom held the office of governor during the period that elapsed until ten ships landed at the island. This autonomous government continued, with the island claimed by both Spain and Portugal, until the authority of Spain was re-established in the latter part of the 19th century. The island briefly became part of the Elobey, Annobón, and Corisco colony until 1909.</p><br>
<p>The British erected a fort at "St Antony" in 1801, eventually legalized through a lease from the Spanish government in 1827. The base was used by the British to suppress the Atlantic slave trade.</p><br>
<p>During the final years of the administration of Francisco Macías Nguema, the first president of Equatorial Guinea, the island was called Pigalu or Pagalu. The population felt prejudice against them in Equatorial Guinea and some began advocating separatist movements. In 1993, the central government isolated the island, expelling foreigners including humanitarian organizations. The population rebelled and attacked the governor&#39;s residence. The government replied with two extrajudicial executions. International pressure eased hostilities, and political prisoners were released.</p><br>
<p>It was mostly due to this small island that Equatorial Guinea asked for observer status just after the CPLP (the Portuguese-speaking commonwealth) was formed in 1996, which led to a visit to Equatorial Guinea, in 1998, by the Portuguese foreign minister, Jaime Gama. Its historic, ethnographic, and religious identity is reflected in its provincial flag. In 2006, Equatorial Guinea achieved observer status with the hand of São Tomé and Príncipe, it kept lobbying to become a full member, contrary to international pressure that wanted to isolate the country due to human rights violations, becoming a full member in 2014 with the very active support of Portuguese-speaking Africa, with the Portuguese language being restored as an official language.</p><br>
<h2>Flora and fauna</h2><br>
<p>Originally, this small equatorial island 335 km from the Gabonese coast was uninhabited and had great biological diversity. With colonization, islanders used rafts or "cayucos" (canoe-like boats), and hunted humpback whales, whale calves, and other Cetaceans with harpoons near to the island.</p><br>
<p>Today the Annobón white-eye (Zosterops griseovirescens) and the Annobón paradise-flycatcher (Terpsiphone smithii) are endemic passeri (songbirds), as is the São Tomé Island or Malherbi pigeon (Columba malherbii). There are 29 species of bird on the island as well as 2 bat species (1 endemic); reptiles (5 species endemics): 1 snake, 3 geckos, 2 scincid lizards, 3 marine turtles; river fish: 18 species (1 endemic); mosquitoes, scorpions, and huge centipedes. Introduced domestic animals include: fish, guinea fowl, rats, dogs, and cats. The island has no indigenous mammalian predators. Sharks are found in the surrounding sea.</p><br>
<p>There are 208 species of vascular plant (of which 15% are endemic) including the "point up" baobab, ceiba (used for cayuco construction), ficus, ferns and tree ferns, and great moss masses.</p><br>
<h2>Administration</h2><br>
<p>The capital of the province is San Antonio de Palé (formerly St Antony). The island has three community councils (Consejos de Poblados): Anganchi, Aual, and Mabana.</p><br>
<h2>Demographics</h2><br>
<p>The islands inhabitants are of mixed Portuguese and Angolan descent, with some Spanish admixture. The early anti-Spanish sentiment, combined with the isolation from mainland Equatorial Guinea and the proximity of São Tomé and Príncipe—which is just 175 km from the island—has helped preserve the islands cultural ties with Portugal. Its culture is very similar to that of São Tomé and the Afro-Portuguese peoples throughout Africa.</p><br>
<p>The island had an estimated population of 3000 through most of the 19th century.</p><br>
<h2>Language</h2><br>
<p>The islands main language is a Portuguese creole known as the Annobonese language (Fá dAmbô) or Falar de Ano Bom (Portuguese for Annobon Speech). The Portuguese creole has vigorous use in Annobón. It is common in all domains except government and education where Spanish is used. Spanish is not much spoken in Annobón. Noncreolized Portuguese is used as liturgical language by local Catholics. In February 2012, Equatorial Guinea&#39;s foreign minister signed an agreement with the IILP (Instituto Internacional da Língua Portuguesa) on the promotion of Portuguese in Equatorial Guinea. The adoption of Portuguese followed the announcement on 13 July 2007 by the President of Equatorial Guinea and a 2010 Constitutional Law which established Portuguese as an official language of the Republic.</p><br>
<p>The Annobonese Juan Tomás Ávila Laurel is a writer who has issued reflections on his home island. He writes in Spanish.</p><br>
<h2>Economy</h2><br>
<p>Annobon is of strategic importance to Equatorial Guinea as through its ownership the Equatorial Guinean government claims to extensive maritime territory to the south of its neighbour, São Tomé and Príncipe (which itself lies to the south of Equatorial Guineas main land mass). Oil in the Gulf of Guinea represents more than 80% of Equatorial Guineas economy, though supplies from current reserves are predicted by some sources to run out before 2020. Although no drilling is currently taking place in São Tomé, there are estimated to be 34 barrels of oil within its marine borders. Equatorial Guinea claims the right to explore for and produce hydrocarbons in a huge area of sea surrounding Annobón that stretches from 1°N to almost 5°S, and from 2°E to 7°E; an area larger than the entire land and sea borders of the rest of Equatorial Guinea.</p><br>
<h2>Environment</h2><br>
<p>According to many different sources, there is evidence of large-scale dumping of toxic waste on the remote island of Annobon, at least during the 1980s and 1990s. The German edition of Der Spiegel on 28 August 2006 reported that the government of Equatorial Guinea sold permits to UK and US companies to bury 10 million metric tons of toxic waste and 7 million metric tons of radioactive waste on the island of Annobón. Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, president of Equatorial Guinea, supposedly receives 200 million US dollars per year for renewed permits, while the population of Annobón lives in extreme poverty. The report also showed evidence that the whole island&#39;s ecosystem is about to collapse due to the massive waste dumping.</p><br>
<p>Elafonisos  is a small Greek island between the Peloponnese and Kythira. It lies off the coast of Cape Malea and Vatika. The area of the island is 19 km².</p><br>
<p>The population is between 300 and 350 during the winter but increases dramatically in the summer months. During July and August the number of tourist visitors reach over 3,000 per day (bringing with them some 1,600 cars). Many people visit the island for its light coloured, sandy beaches. Among the most well known of its beaches are Sarakiniko, Fragos (Simos) and Panagias Nissia, all filled with blue-green waters.</p><br>
<p>Elafonisos is by far the largest inhabited island in the Peloponnese archipelago, and the only one that is a separate municipality. There are also some archaeological discoveries to explore on the island and in the surrounding waters. The main church of the community is Agios Spyridon (Greek: Άγιος Σπυρίδων), which is built on a tiny separate piece of land which is connected by a bridge over shallow waters to the rest of the island. The community&#39;s land area also includes 3 km² of the mainland consisting mainly of the famous Punta Beach.</p><br>
<p>On the nearby mainland, approximately 6.5 km east is Neapoli (Greek: Νεάπολη) of the municipality of Vatika. About 8.5 km south is Cape Frangos (Greek: Φράγκο) on the island of Kythira.</p><br>
<h2>Historical population</h2><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>In antiquity, Elafonisos did not constitute an island but a peninsula with the name "Onou Gnathos" (Greek: Όνου Γνάθος) (Donkey&#39;s Jawbone) according to Pausanias.Description of Greece book 3, chapter 22, section 10</p><br>
<p>"kalousi de Onou gnathon tên akran". (2.94), (1.97) and Strabo Geography (2.22), (2.71), (4.22), (4.28) Just off the coast of Elafonissos lies the archeological site of Pavlopetri, a sunken city dating back to the early 3rd millennium BC and thought to have been claimed by the sea around 1000 BC.</p><br>
<p>Biokovo is the second-highest mountain range in Croatia, located along the Dalmatian coast of the Adriatic Sea, between the rivers of Cetina and Neretva. It is sometimes referred to as Bijakova, especially among inhabitants of the eastern side of the mountain. Its highest peak is Sveti Jure , at 1762 m.a.s.l. It shows a typical karst landscape.</p><br>
<p>Atop the peak there is a powerful FM and DVB-T transmitter.</p><br>
<p>The 196 km of its area is protected as a nature park with over 1,500 plant and animal species, some of which are endemic.</p><br>
<p>Biokovo is one in a line of Dinaric Alps stretching along the Dalmatian coast - northwest of it is Mosor and southeast of it are Sutvid and Rilić. In the east, the Šibenik runs in parallel. When the weather is very clear, from the top of Biokovo it is possible to see Monte Gargano in Italy, which is 252 km away.</p><br>
<p>To aid the hikers, there is the Biokovo Nature Park Visitor Center in downtown Makarska. However, Biokovo can be perilous if hiking unprepared - tourists erroneously imagine peaks to be closer than they are and, oblivious to the danger, have been known to go hiking wearing flip-flops, without water, wearing shirts with military camouflage patterns making them harder to spot for search and rescue teams. From 1976 to 2007 24 hikers have died on Biokovo, while 37 had to be rescued.</p><br>
<p>Halki  is a Greek island and municipality in the Dodecanese archipelago in the Aegean Sea, some 6 km west of Rhodes. With an area of 28 km&sup2, it is the smallest inhabited island of the Dodecanese. It is part of the Rhodes regional unit. It has a permanent population of 330 , concentrated in the only village Emborio. The 2011 census showed a population of 478 inhabitants. The community is divided in two parts, Chorio  Χωριό and Emporio  Εμποριό.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>The island supported a much larger population but following emigration in the mid-20th century Chorio was almost completely abandoned. A sizable group of the residents moved to Tarpon Springs, Florida, establishing the Greek-American community there that continues to this day. A ruined medieval castle of the Knights of St. John overlooks the old town and the chapel contains some of the original frescoes.</p><br>
<p>List of Halki rulers:</p><br>
<h2>Municipality</h2><br>
<p>The Municipality of Chalki includes several uninhabited offshore islands, the largest of which is Alimia to the northeast, and has a total land area of 37.043 km². The island&#39;s primary industry is tourism, although fishing is also substantial. There is virtually no natural water supply on the island and rainfall is collected in large cisterns. Drinking water is brought in from Rhodes but there can be shortages during the summer months with the increased population. there is a desalination plant on the island and the water boat no longer comes every few days. However, bottled water still arrives.</p><br>
<h2>People</h2><br>
<p>Dimitris Kremastinos (born 1942), former Greek Minister of Health (1993–1996)</p><br>
<p>Lake Pátzcuaro  is a lake in the municipality of Pátzcuaro, Michoacán, Mexico.</p><br>
<p>Lake Pátzcuaro lies in an endorheic basin, which does not drain to the sea. A watershed area of 929 square kilometres drains into the lake, of which 126.4 are the water body. The Lake Pátzcuaro watershed extends 50 kilometres east-west and 33 kilometres from north to south. Lake Pátzcuaro lies at an elevation of 1,920 metres, and is the center of the basin and is surrounded by volcanic mountains with very steep slopes. It has an average depth of 5 metres and a maximum of 11. Its volume is approximately 580 million cubic metres.</p><br>
<p>The Lake Pátzcuaro basin is of volcanic origin. At times it has been part of an open and continuous hydrological system formed by Lake Cuitzeo, Pátzcuaro and Lake Zirahuén, which drained into the Lerma River. Today, like lakes Cuitzeo and Zirahuén, it is a closed basin, although ecologists consider it a sub-basin of the Lerma-Chapala basin.</p><br>
<h2>Wetlands</h2><br>
<p>The lake is surrounded by extensive wetlands. Cattails and other reedy vegetation are the dominant wetland vegetation, in dense stands over 2 meters tall. Typical wetland plant genera include Typha, Scirpus, Eleocharis, and Cyperus. The dominant species of aquatic vegetation are Potamogeton illinoensis, Scirpus pectinatus, tule (Typha latifolia), T. dominguensis, and Nymphaea mexicana.</p><br>
<p>The wetlands are extremely important for birds, both year-round inhabitants and migrating waterfowl. Close to 200 species inhabit the wetlands, including some endemic species such as the black-polled yellowthroat (Geothlypis speciosa). Two native species have not been observed recently; the yellow rail (Coturnicops noveboracensis) has not been seen since 1964 and may be locally extinct, and the endemic slender-billed grackle (Quiscalus palustris) is presumed extinct. The Lake Patzcuaro salamander (Ambystoma dumerilii) is endemic to the basin.</p><br>
<p>The lake and its surrounding wetlands have undergone significant environmental changes over the past 50 years. logging and agriculture in the surrounding watershed have contributed to siltation of the lake (1 cm / year - 1.2 million cubic meters / year), and water diversion for agriculture and urbanization has reduced the size of the lake by 40 square kilometers, and 2.6 meters in depth. Other threats include untreated sewage, the introduction of exotic species, and chemical pollution.</p><br>
<h2>Watershed</h2><br>
<p>In the watershed surrounding the wetlands, the natural terrestrial vegetation is composed of xeric scrub (1,920-2,100 m above sea level), pine and oak forests intertwined with xeric scrub (2,100-2,400 m) and by pure pine-oak forests in the higher peaks (2,400-2,900 m). The pine-oak forests are part of the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt pine-oak forests ecoregion.</p><br>
<p>In the last fifty years, human activity in the watershed has intensified. Farming and livestock ranching in the basin have significantly increased. Over 10,000 hectares of forest have been lost to logging, fires, fuelwood gathering, and clearance for farming and ranching.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>The Lake Pátzcuaro basin is home to the Purépecha people. Purépecha leaders established the basin as the heartland of the Tarascan state, which rivaled the Aztec Empire before the Spanish conquest. The towns of Ihuatzio, Tzintzuntzan and Pátzcuaro were important Purépecha centers.</p><br>
<h2>Islands in the lake</h2><br>
<p>Jaracuaro</p><br>
<p>Uranden - Small island.</p><br>
<p>Janitzio - Island with tourist facilities</p><br>
<p>Pacanda - The largest, flattest island. Cabanas for rent.</p><br>
<p>Yunuen - Small island</p><br>
<p>Tecuena - Sparsely populated island</p><br>
<h2>Major towns along the lake shore</h2><br>
<p>Pátzcuaro - Situated on the southeastern shore of Lake Patzcuaro</p><br>
<p>Erongarícuaro - Historic Purépecha site</p><br>
<p>Quiroga - Thriving market town</p><br>
<p>Tzintzuntzan - Market town with ruins nearby</p><br>
<h2>Minor towns along the lake shore</h2><br>
<p>Tocuaro - woodworking and maskmaking</p><br>
<p>Opongio - mezcal distillery</p><br>
<p>Puacuaro</p><br>
<p>Arocutin</p><br>
<p>Ihuatzio - ancient temple ruins called yacatas.</p><br>
<p>Santa Fe La Laguna - crafts</p><br>
<p>Cucuchuchu</p><br>
<p>Uricho</p><br>
<p>Napizaro</p><br>
<p>Erongarícuaro</p><br>
<h2>Nearby areas</h2><br>
<p>Lake Zirahuén</p><br>
<p>Santa Clara del Cobre</p><br>
<p>The Buffington Hotel is an historic hotel in Westville, Oklahoma, United States. The brick building was built in about 1910 and features an arcade of round-arch windows on the East and South facades. The hotel was the premiere hotel in Westville when the town was railway stop. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1984. The hotel has been greatly altered from its original form, including; the southeast breezeway having been bricked off and a room created and the second story bay windows covered in aluminum siding. The owner as of 2014 is a Westville man named Bud Rose. The hotel had been used as multi-unit housing until 2004, when Mr. Rose converted the entire downstairs into a personal residence. The upstairs twenty-one rooms are now vacant.</p><br>
<p>Second Presbyterian Church is a landmark Gothic Revival church located on South Michigan Avenue in Chicago, Illinois, United States. In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, some of Chicago’s most prominent families attended this church. It is renowned for its interior, completely redone in the Arts and Crafts style after a disastrous fire in 1900. The sanctuary is one of America’s best examples of an unaltered Arts and Crafts church interior, fully embodying that movement’s principles of simplicity, hand craftsmanship, and unity of design. It also boasts nine imposing Tiffany windows. The church was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1974 and later designated a Chicago Landmark on September 28, 1977. It was designated a National Historic Landmark in March 2013.</p><br>
<h2>History of the congregation</h2><br>
<p>Second Presbyterian Church organized in 1842 as an offshoot of the city’s first Presbyterian congregation, which had formed in 1833. From 1851 until 1871, the congregation worshipped in a church at the northeast corner of Wabash Avenue and Washington Street in downtown Chicago. Known as the spotted church because of the tar deposits in its limestone blocks, this building was designed by the noted eastern architect, James Renwick, Jr. Renwick later designed St. Patrick&#39;s Cathedral in New York City and the original building of the Smithsonian Institution. Already in the late 1860s, downtown Chicago was becoming more commercial and less residential, and Second Presbyterian’s leaders prepared plans to follow its membership to the near South Side. Just a few weeks before the Great Chicago Fire in October 1871, which destroyed the spotted church, the congregation had merged with another congregation and had relocated to the South Side.</p><br>
<p>Many wealthy Chicago residents attended Second Presbyterian, including members of the George Pullman, Silas B. Cobb, Timothy Blackstone, and George Armour families. These were men who moved to Chicago from New England or New York State in the mid-nineteenth century to make their fortunes and build a new metropolis on the prairie. Proud of their adopted city, they endowed cultural institutions like the Art Institute of Chicago and the University of Chicago. Robert Todd Lincoln, the president’s son, was also a church trustee. When the South Side emerged in the 1870s as the city’s premier residential neighborhood, the business elite built imposing houses on South Prairie Avenue, South Michigan Avenue, South Calumet Avenue and other streets.</p><br>
<h2>Original appearance of the church</h2><br>
<p>For its new building on South Michigan Avenue at 20th Street (now Cullerton), the congregation again turned to James Renwick. Renwick designed a church based on early English Gothic examples, with a high-pitched gable roof, a rose window in the east wall, and a corner bell tower. The exterior is clad in limestone with sandstone trim. Sculpture on the exterior is limited; the Four Evangelists and the head of Jesus appear on the entry wall on Michigan and gargoyles loom from the bell tower. The interior was also thoroughly Gothic, with pointed arches leading to the side aisles, slender iron columns supporting the balcony, and extensive stenciling adorning the walls. The sanctuary in the new building was dedicated in 1874.</p><br>
<p>In March 1900, fire gutted the sanctuary. The church turned to one of its members, Howard Van Doren Shaw, for the rebuilding. Shaw, 31 at the time, was a graduate of Yale University and the architecture program of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. After working briefly in the office of Chicago’s skyscraper pioneer William Le Baron Jenney, Shaw established his own practice. Shaw also had traveled extensively in Britain and was familiar with the work of Arts and Crafts architects like Philip Webb and C. F. A. Voysey.</p><br>
<h2>The remodeled interior</h2><br>
<p>Shaw, working with his friend, the painter Frederic Clay Bartlett, and several other designers and craftsmen, gave Second Presbyterian a sanctuary firmly rooted in Arts and Crafts principles. Abandoning the original neo-Gothic approach, Shaw lowered the pitch of the roof and moved the support columns closer to the side walls to visually increase the width of the space, and used warm stained oak and plaster panels throughout. He planned an auditorium-style sanctuary, with no central aisle. This was appropriate for a congregation that emphasized preaching and musical worship. For the same reason, the pews are gently curved, providing good sight lines to the pulpit. The decorative program of the interior is rich, but subdued, emphasizing brown, buff, dusky crimson, and dull gold.</p><br>
<p>The church’s figurative art, with dozens of angels in glass, wood, and plaster, and two brightly colored saints in the lobby windows, is perhaps surprising for a Presbyterian congregation. This congregation, however, was culturally sophisticated and well-traveled. Many members had seen the great cathedrals of Europe and wanted their home church to make an equivalent artistic statement.</p><br>
<p>In line with the Arts and Crafts ethos, Shaw and Bartlett designed every element of the new interior to work together to create a restful and harmonious whole. Attention was paid to every detail of pew carving, plaster casting, and fixture design. Leading Chicago area designers and craftsmen were employed for elements like the seven-armed electric candelabra flanking the pulpit (William Lau) and the four stately heralding angels standing atop the organ case (Beil & Mauch). Electric lighting was used throughout the sanctuary, and Shaw embraced the naked bulbs as design elements in the circular chandeliers and the fixtures hanging over the side aisles.</p><br>
<p>A number of recurring motifs tie the various interior elements together. The most obvious is that of the angel. Some 175 grace the interior, including the four heralding angels above the organ loft and those carved into the brackets from which the chandeliers hang. Another recurring motif is the grapevine, found in the pew ends, the light screen at the sanctuary’s rear, many of Bartlett’s murals, and the dull gold of the screen concealing the organ pipes. The Austin Organ Co. reworked the instrument in 1917 as its Opus 767, providing it with a two-manual console and ten ranks. The organ today has 43 ranks and 2,600 pipes.</p><br>
<p>Second Presbyterian Church occupies a prominent place in Chicago’s social and industrial history and its artistic heritage. Its glorious interior is now being seen by a wider audience after decades of semi-obscurity. Tours featuring the art and architecture of the building are offered on a regular schedule., organized in 2006, was formed to guide the accurate restoration of the building and to oversee tours and events.</p><br>
<h3>Murals</h3><br>
<p>Bartlett’s pre-Raphaelite murals are one of the glories of the sanctuary, and they were widely published after their completion. From a well-to-do Chicago family, Bartlett had studied painting at Munich’s Royal Academy and with masters in Paris. For Second Presbyterian, Bartlett sought inspiration in the work of medieval church painters. He consciously rejected the post-Renaissance artistic tradition, with its emphasis on perspective and verisimilitude. Bartlett preferred to focus on expressiveness and spirituality, which he found in the flat and serene figures painted on the walls of medieval Italian churches. Bartlett painted directly on the dry plaster of the sanctuary’s vertical walls. The paintings in the ceilings of the arches were done on canvas in his studio and then mounted in the church. Bartlett’s figures have bold outlines and sumptuous robes of muted blue, crimson, and green. He used gold leaf extensively and supplied relief to features like haloes with a plaster technique known as pargeting.</p><br>
<p>The majestic 40-foot-wide mural behind the altar represents the tree of life surmounted by a heavenly rainbow. Above that is a celestial orchestra in medieval robes. Bartlett’s care in blending decoration to the sanctuary’s architecture is evident; his rainbow echoes the curve of the ceiling. Bartlett’s work in the twelve bays of the balcony centers on the themes of praise, abundance, and sacred music. Texts from scripture are painted on the walls below the figures.</p><br>
<h3>Windows</h3><br>
<p>When the sanctuary was rededicated in 1901, many of its arched openings contained simple windows with small, stylized floral designs by Shaw and executed by the firm of Gianini and Hilgart. Soon the bays began to be filled with specially commissioned memorial windows. Now, only the last bay on the north side of the church displays Shaw’s work. Members of the congregation gave the other windows in memory of departed loved ones. Nine of the windows are by Louis Comfort Tiffany’s firm and display many of the innovative glass-working techniques that he pioneered. Tiffany looked to get artistic effects from the character of the glass itself rather than by painting on the glass. He used folded glass, confetti glass, striated glass, and multiple layers of glass. The windows portray a variety of Biblical scenes, landscapes, and ornamental designs. In the east end of the church is a boldly colored representation of the Ascension, designed by William Fair Kline. Below it are the five scourges or Arma Christi of Jesus. Other sanctuary windows were designed by Louis J. Millet and McCully & Miles.</p><br>
<p>The two Edward Burne-Jones windows in the lobby tie Second Presbyterian directly to the British Arts and Crafts Movement. Burne-Jones was a close associate of William Morris, founder of the Arts and Crafts in Britain. Morris and Co. crafted these two windows from the designs of Burne-Jones. The subjects are St. Margaret of Antioch, in robes of rich crimson, and St. Cecilia, in blue robes, a portable organ in her arms. These windows were displayed in the William Morris Memorial Room of Chicago’s Tobey Furniture Co. before being purchased by the Franklin Darius Gray family and made into memorials. Burne-Jones windows are rare in the United States; these are the only ones known outside of the East Coast.</p><br>
<p>Doughoregan Manor is a plantation house and estate located on Manor Lane west of Ellicott City, Maryland, United States. Established in the early 18th century as the seat of Maryland&#39;s prominent Carroll family, it was home to Charles Carroll, a signer of the United States Declaration of Independence, during the late 18th century. A portion of the estate, including the main house, was designated a National Historic Landmark on November 11, 1971. It remains in the Carroll family, and is not open to the public.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>Doughoregan Manor is a colonial manor house built in the early 18th century. The slave plantation was founded on 7,000 acres patented to Charles Carroll I as "Doughoreagan" (sometimes spelled Doororegan) named for a family estate in Ireland, in 1702, and expanded to 10,000 acres as "Doughoreagan Manor" in 1717. The Georgian brick plantation house, built by Charles Carroll II around 1727, was enlarged and remodeled in 1832 by Charles Carroll V in the Greek Revival style.</p><br>
<p>From 1766 to 1832, Doughoregan Manor was the country home of Charles Carroll of Carrollton, (Charles Carroll III) last surviving signer of the Declaration of Independence. He lies buried in the chapel attached to the north end of the mansion. Notable guests that have visited the manor include George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, John Hancock, Benjamin Franklin, James Monroe, and Marquis de Lafayette. In 1861, the manor became the home of John Lee Carroll, who became Governor of Maryland.</p><br>
<p>In its current configuration the Manor is a brick, two-storied, U-shaped building. The roof is in gabled sections, some with balustraded decks, and in the center is an octagonal cupola. The front center entrance has a one-story tetrastyle Doric portico and is similar to the rear portico. The chapel and kitchen are attached to the main block by hyphens.</p><br>
<p>The private chapel attached to the manor house was built at a time when the founding of Roman Catholic parish churches was prohibited in the colony. The chapel served as the primary meeting place for the local Catholic community until as late as 1855 when nearby parishes were founded. The chapel continued to be open to the public on Sunday mornings for Mass until the 1990s.</p><br>
<p>A vineyard was planted by Charles Carroll of Annapolis in 1770 with four types of grapes. The vineyard was maintained into 1796, becoming one of the longest surviving colonial vineyards. A postal office served the manor from 18 September 1876 to 31 August 1907. The manor became the site for the yearly Howard County Horse Show through the 1930s, attracting thousands. The "Manor Dairy" opened in 1962 providing milk and dairy products.</p><br>
<p>The Carroll family were enthusiastic horse breeders and raced thoroughbreds, competing with other well-to-do families at annual racing events, which also formed an important part of the social and political life of the colony. Charles Carroll of Annapoliss horse was beaten in 1743 by George Hume Steuarts "Dungannon" in the Annapolis Subscription Plate, established that year.</p><br>
<p>In 1830, Emily Caton MacTavish donated 253 acres to build St. Charles College, Maryland, After a fire in 1911, Carroll family heirs sued to sell the property and divide the proceeds among the family.</p><br>
<p>During the Civil war, the manor served as a hub for munitions for Southern supporters, also using nearby Mt. Pleasant as a substation. By 1931, the manor estate consisted of the mansion, overseer&#39;s house, horse stable, bank barn, 3 silos, corn house, 11 tenant houses, wash house, sheep house, coach house, brick barn and two barracks.</p><br>
<p>Members of the Carroll family still own and live in the manor, which sits at the center of an 892 acre of the original 13,361.5 acre estate. Land was divided among the heirs each generation, sold for subdivisions, with at least 2,800 acre owned by the family as late as 1971 and 2,400 acre by 1977. According to a newspaper article: "As one family member put it a few years ago, Only God, the Indians and the Carrolls have owned this land."</p><br>
<p>The estate and Manor Lane are closed to the public.</p><br>
<h2>Tax credits and development plans</h2><br>
<p>In 1971, the owner, Phillip Carroll, did not want to commit all 2,042 acres to landmark status, preferring to leave part of it for future development, so about 900 acres were designated landmark status, according to the National Register of Historic Places inventory sheet. However, with the 1976 Tax Reform Act, the owner changed his mind and requested the landmark status encompass all the acreage, which was granted.</p><br>
<p>The 30-year tax credit and Maryland Historical Trust&#39;s easement expired in 2007. In an attempt to keep the majority of the property in the hands of the Carroll family, they struck a deal in 2008 with Erickson Retirement Communities to sell 150 acres, but the deal fell through the following year. Camilla Carroll, co-owner of the estate, insisted that "...there is no money now to restore anything, and historic buildings are falling down as we speak."</p><br>
<p>The County Commissioners voted in 2010 to pay the Carroll family about 19 million dollars over twenty years to place 500 acres in Howard County&#39;s Agricultural Preservation program. The council approved paying to expand the public water and sewer system to the development and the Carrolls would donate 34 acres to expand a county park. 221 acres of Doughoregan Manor were rezoned to allow 325 single-family homes to be built on the north-east side of the property. Many neighbors were concerned with the plans and a petition was filed in circuit court for judicial review of the zoning decision.</p><br>
<p>In 2015, tax credits were awarded for work on an outbuilding at Doughoregan as one of the nine buildings listed in the 2015 Sustainable Communities Tax Credits of $10 million.</p><br>
<h2>Description</h2><br>
<p>The house was originally a -story brick house, about 30 feet deep and 66 feet wide, with a gambrel roof. A detached brick chapel stood to the north, while a brick kitchen stood to the south. The dependent buildings were incorporated into the main structure in the 1830s by Charles Carroll V, raising the main houses roof to make a two-story structure. The new roof was topped by a balustraded deck with an octagonal cupola. The front (east) facade gained a one-story portico with doric columns. A similar portico to the road was built with a room above, while a marble-floored veranda with iron columns extended to each side. The chapels roof was raised and it was joined to the main house by a two-story passage, as was the kitchen. The work resulted in a Palladian style five-part house extending almost 300 ft.</p><br>
<p>The house&#39;s interior has a center-hall plan, with the oak-paneled main hall extending the full depth (30 feet) of the house. Stairs are located in a small side hall on the north side. A library, large parlor, small parlor and dining room occupy the first floor, with bedrooms on the second.</p><br>
<p>Mont Cenis  is a massif  and pass  in Savoie , which forms the limit between the Cottian and Graian Alps.</p><br>
<h2>Route</h2><br>
<p>The pass connects Val-Cenis in France in the northwest with Susa in Italy in the southeast. In the Middle Ages, pilgrims passing through Moncenisio and Susa Valley came to Turin along a road called Via Francigena, with final destination Rome. It was one of the most used Alpine pass in from the Middle Ages to the nineteenth century. The pass was part of the border between the two countries from the annexion of Savoy to the third French Empire in 1861 until 1947 Treaty of Paris, but is now located completely in France. The treaty allowed Savoy to retrieve its historical and political boundaries. It has historically been part of Route nationale 6.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>A road over the pass was built between 1803 and 1810 by Napoleon. The Mont Cenis Pass Railway was opened alongside the road in 1868, but was dismantled in 1871, on the opening of the Fréjus Rail Tunnel. It was the first ever railway based on the Fell mountain railway system and was worked by English engine-drivers. The Fréjus Rail Tunnel acquired the alternative, and geographically incorrect, name of Mont Cenis Tunnel because the traffic which formerly used the Mont Cenis Pass was transferred to it.</p><br>
<p>This tunnel (highest point 1295 m / 4249 ft) is really 27.4 km 17 miles southwest of the pass, below the Col du Fréjus. From Chambéry the line runs up the Isère valley, but soon bears through that of the Arc or the Maurienne past Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne to Modane (98.2 km / 61 mi from Chambéry). The tunnel is 13 km in length, and leads to Bardonecchia, some way below which, at Oulx the line joins the road from the Col de Montgenèvre.</p><br>
<p>Thence the valley of the Dora Riparia is followed to Turin (103.8 km / 64.5 mi from Modane). The carriage road mounts the Arc valley for 25.7 km / 16 mi from Modane to Lanslebourg, whence it is 12.9 km / 8 mi to the hospice, a little way beyond the summit of the pass. The descent lies through the Cenis valley to Susa (49.9 km / 37 mi from Modane) where the road joins the railway.</p><br>
<p>To the southwest of the Mont Cenis is the Little Mont Cenis (2184.2 m / 7166 ft) which leads from the summit plateau (in Italy) of the main pass to the Etache valley on the French slope and so to Bramans in the Arc valley. This pass was crossed in 1689 by the Vaudois, and is believed by some authors to have been Hannibal&#39;s Pass.</p><br>
<h2>Name</h2><br>
<p>The term "Mont Cenis" could derive from mont des cendres ("mountain of ashes"). According to tradition, following a forest fire, a great quantity of ashes accumulated on the ground, thus the name. The path of ashes was found during the building work of the route.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>Being a pass in the Alps, the Mont Cenis was used in several notable incidents in history. One example is the descent of Constantine I to Italy, to fight against Maxentius. It was the site of a military victory by the French Army of the Alps, led by General-in-Chief Alex Dumas over Piedmontese forces in April 1794, a victory that enabled the French Army of Italy to invade and conquer the Italian peninsula. It was the principal route for crossing the Alps between France and Italy until the 19th century. It was also used as the main passage by which Charlemagne crossed with his army to invade Lombardy in 773, and later by Napoléon I.</p><br>
<p>When the Kingdom of Sardinia-Piedmont ceded Savoy to France, in 1860, the Mont Cenis became a frontier pass, and consequently a part of Savoy was left on the Italian side. It was therefore highly fortified as a protection against an invasion of the Val di Susa route towards Turin. In 1874-1880 the Italian Regio Esercito built three stone forts: Fort Cassa, Fort Varisello and Fort Roncia, supported by several batteries and fortifications, such as those at top of Mont Malamot. Two further armored batteries, La Court and Paradiso, were added in the early 20th century, while the Fascist government built here part of its underground Alpine Wall. All these fortifications are now in French territory after the boundaries revision in 1947 allowing Savoy to get its historical territory back.</p><br>
<h2>Bicycle racing history</h2><br>
<p>The pass of Mont Cenis has been featured 5 times in the Tour de France. It has been classified hors-catégorie (yielding the highest number of points in the King-of-the-Mountains classification) since 1999. For the 5 years that the pass was on the Tour, the following cyclists have crossed the pass in the lead:</p><br>
<p>1949 - Giuseppe Tacca, France</p><br>
<p>1956 - Federico Bahamontes, Spain</p><br>
<p>1961 - Emmanuel Busto, France</p><br>
<p>1992 - Claudio Chiappucci, Italy</p><br>
<p>1999 - Dimitri Konyshev, Russia</p><br>
<p>In the 2013 Giro d&#39;Italia, the pass was featured in the 15th stage on May 19, 2013.</p><br>
<h2>Points of interest</h2><br>
<p>Jardin botanique de Mont Cenis, an alpine botanical garden</p><br>
<p>Mount Davidson is the highest natural point in San Francisco, California, with an elevation of 928 ft. It is located near the geographical center of the city, south of Twin Peaks and Portola Drive and to the west of Diamond Heights and Glen Park. It dominates the southeastern view from most of Portola Drive. It is one of San Francisco&#39;s many hills and one of its original "Seven Hills".</p><br>
<p>Mount Davidson&#39;s most notable feature, aside from its height, is the 103 ft concrete cross situated on the crest of the hill. It is the site of a yearly prayer service, performed on Easter, when the cross is illuminated.</p><br>
<p>Mount Davidson Park tops the hill – excluding the land at the summit, which is privately owned. The parkland portion is located between Myra Way (east), Dalewood Way (southwest), and Juanita Way (north). Public transportation is provided by the 36 Teresita Muni line, which stops at the Dalewood Way and Myra Way entrance to the park.</p><br>
<p>The residential neighborhoods around Mount Davidson Park are Miraloma Park to the east and Westwood Highlands and Sherwood Forest to the southwest.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>Adolph Sutro purchased the land in 1881. Under his ownership, what was then called "Blue Mountain" was renamed "Mount Davidson," for George Davidson, a charter member of the Sierra Club. Sutros appraiser, A.S. Baldwin, bought this land from Sutros heirs in 1911, along with much of the land immediately north and south of Mount Davidson. Baldwin began plans for development of Forest Hill, St. Francis Wood, Westwood Park, Balboa Terrace, and Monterey Heights.</p><br>
<h2>The cross</h2><br>
<p>The first temporary cross was 40 ft high, and erected in 1923 for a service led by Dean J. Wilmer Gresham of Grace Cathedral. A second 87 ft high cross was built in 1924 and burned down in 1925. In 1929 a 75 ft high wood and stucco cross with lighting was built. The same year 20 acres at the top of Mount Davidson was purchased by the city of San Francisco for use as a park with funds donated by the Mount Davidson Conservation Committee, led by Mrs. Edmund N. “Madie” Brown. Arsonists burned down the third cross in 1931.</p><br>
<p>In 1933 Mayor Angelo Rossi, Governor and former Mayor "Sunny Jim" James Rolph, the Easter Sunrise Service Committee, and the Native Sons of the Golden West pledged to construct a permanent cross to commemorate the early California pioneers. The 103 ft high concrete and steel cross was completed the next year with President Franklin D. Roosevelt lighting the cross via telegraph from the White House on March 24, 1934 – eight days before Easter. Sunrise services are held at the cross every Easter and were broadcast nationwide by CBS from the 1940s through the 1970s. (According to longtime local columnist Herb Caen, the original plans in 1934 called for a cross 100 ft high, but there was “enough concrete on hand for an extra three feet – so on it went.”)</p><br>
<p>Director Don Siegel filmed a scene from the 1971 movie Dirty Harry at the cross. Harry enters the park from Lansdale Avenue, an entry close to the Muni bus stop, before confronting Scorpio at the base of the cross. According to Warner Bros. literature, Siegel was pleased to discover the huge cross at Mount Davidson Park. However, the height of the cross and foggy weather made filming difficult. Every night for a month cinematographer Bruce Surtees would ride a crane to the top of the cross only to be hampered by foggy weather. When the weather finally cleared the shot was made in one night.</p><br>
<p>The cross itself has been the subject of much debate among the residents of San Francisco as they have tried to weigh its religious role against its status as an historic landmark. In 1991 the American Civil Liberties Union, the American Jewish Congress, and Americans United for Separation of Church and State sued the city over its ownership of the cross. After a long legal battle and loss at the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, in 1997 the City auctioned 0.38 acre of land, including the cross, to the highest bidder.</p><br>
<p>The cross was purchased for $26,000 by The Council of Armenian American Organizations of Northern California which installed a bronze plaque at the base memorializing the victims of the 1915 Armenian genocide. On Armenian Independence Day September 23, 2007, it was discovered that the 160 lb plaque was missing. The original plaque was never found, and a replacement plaque was dedicated at a ceremony on April 20, 2008.</p><br>
<p>The Yasawa Group is an archipelago of about 20 volcanic islands in the Western Division of Fiji, with an approximate total area of 135 square kilometers.</p><br>
<h2>Geography</h2><br>
<p>The Yasawa volcanic group consists of six main islands and numerous smaller islets. The archipelago, which stretches in a north-easterly direction for more than 80 kilometers from a point 40 kilometers north-west of Lautoka, is volcanic in origin and very mountainous, with peaks ranging from 250 to 600 meters in height. The only safe passage for shipping is between Yasawa Island (the largest in the archipelago, about 22 kilometers long and less than a kilometer wide) and Round Island, 22 kilometers to the north-east.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>The British navigator William Bligh was the first European to sight the Yasawas in 1789, following the mutiny on the Bounty. Captain Barber in the HMS Arthur visited the islands in 1794, but they were not charted until 1840, when they were surveyed and charted by a United States expedition commanded by Charles Wilkes.</p><br>
<p>Throughout the 1800s, Tongan raiders bartered for, and sometimes stole, the sail mats for which the Yasawa was famous for. The islands were largely ignored by the wider world until World War II, when the United States military used them as communications outposts.</p><br>
<h2>Tourism, economy and culture</h2><br>
<p>Until 1987, it was the policy of the Fiji government that the Yasawa Group was closed to land-based tourism. There were limited cruise operations since the 1950s, but passengers had to stay aboard their ships. Local residents benefited little from the passengers presence. Since the Fijian government lifted the restrictions on land-based tourism in the Yasawa Group, a number of resorts have been established there. Due to its freehold real-estate status, three budget resorts were operating on Tavewa island since the early 1980s.</p><br>
<p>Areas of the Yasawas were the locales for both the 1949, and 1980 filming of the romance adventure film The Blue Lagoon, including the Sawa-i-lau caves, and the island Nanuya Levu (now called Turtle Island)</p><br>
<p>Tourism is growing in importance. Permission is required to visit all islands in the group except Tavewa. The home of the Tui Yasawa, the Paramount Chief of the Yasawa Islands, is at Yasawa-i-Rara, on Yasawa Island, but the largest village is Nabukeru.</p><br>
<h2>Getting to the Yasawas</h2><br>
<p>As one of the outer island chains, options to get to the Yasawa Islands are a bit more limited than some of the closer islands to Nadi and Denarau. Sea planes from local airlines (like Turtle Airways) make multiple flights to the Yasawa resorts per day, and charters are also available. Helicopter charters are also available or you can take the Yasawa Flyer, a catamaran.</p><br>
<p>The Liverpool Medical Institution is a historic medical organisation based in Liverpool, United Kingdom. Its building on the corner of Mount Pleasant and Hope Street was opened in 1837, but the site has been used as a medical library since 1779.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>The building is on the site of a former inn and a bowling green, which was the birthplace of the businessman and amateur scientist William Roscoe. In 1779 a group of local doctors created the Liverpool Medical Library. In 1833 the Liverpool Medical Society was formed. The two societies merged as the Liverpool Medical Institution, and commissioned Clark Rampling to design a building to house it. The building cost £4,000</p><br>
<p>The Liverpool Medical Institution is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade II* listed building.</p><br>
<h2>Architecture</h2><br>
<p>The building is constructed in stone, and presents a curved façade to Mount Pleasant and Hope Street. Its architectural style is Greek Revival. It has 16 bays. The lateral three bays on each side are recessed and have two storeys; the rest of the building is single-storied. The central seven bays form a recessed entrance behind six unfluted Ionic columns. Elsewhere the bays are divided by pilasters. The windows are sash windows. Along the top of the building is a cornice. Inside is a central hall, a lecture theatre, a library, a museum, and meeting rooms, all lit from above by glazed domes.</p><br>
<h2>Present day</h2><br>
<p>The Institution "exists to foster an environment for furthering medical and health education and knowledge". It organises lectures and social events, runs a library, and hosts meetings of the Liverpool Medical History Society, which was founded in 1984. It is a registered charity, and hosts the Mersey branches of the Royal College of Physicians and Royal College of General Practitioners of Great Britain. The Institution also contains an historic library, available to members and researchers, which includes an archive of rare medical books and manuscripts from the 16th century.</p><br>
<p>A portrait of Dr Richard Caton hangs in the Institution, who founded the forerunner to the Liverpool Medical Students Society, known as The Liverpool Royal Infirmary School of Medicine Debating Society (M.S.D.S.) in 1874.</p><br>
<p>Betar fortress  was an ancient, terraced farming village in the Judean highlands. The Betar fortress was the last standing Jewish fortress in the Bar Kokhba revolt of the 2nd century CE, destroyed by the Roman army of Emperor Hadrian in the year 135.</p><br>
<p>The site of historic Betar (also spelled Beitar or Bethar), next to the modern Palestinian village of Battir, southwest of Jerusalem, is known as Khirbet al-Yahud in Arabic (meaning "ruin of the Jews"). Today, the Israeli settlement and city Beitar Illit is also located nearby.</p><br>
<h2>Fall of Betar</h2><br>
<p>According to Jewish tradition, the fortress was breached and destroyed on the fast of Tisha Bav, the ninth day of the lunar month Av, a day of mourning for the destruction of the First and the Second Jewish Temple. The city was the stronghold of Bar Kokhba, the leader of the Jewish Revolt under Hadrian. Hadrian sent against the city several of his Roman legions to capture the city. According to historical records, the city was besieged for three and a half years before it finally fell, and its defenders (including children who were found in the city) were put to death. The horrendous scene after the citys capture could be best described as a massacre. A stone inscription bearing Latin characters and discovered near the city shows that the Fifth Macedonian Legion and the Eleventh Claudian Legion took part in the siege. The destruction of Betar in 135 put an end to the last great Jewish revolt against Rome, and effectively quashed any Jewish hopes for self-governance in that period. Accounts of the event in Talmudic and Midrashic writings thus reflect and amplify its importance in the Jewish psyche and oral tradition in the subsequent period. The best known is from the Babylonian Talmud, Gittin 57a-b:</p><br>
<p>"Through the shaft of a litter Bethar was destroyed." It was the custom when a boy was born to plant a cedar tree and when a girl was born to plant a pine tree, and when they married, the tree was cut down and a canopy made of the branches. One day the daughter of the Emperor was passing when the shaft of her litter broke, so they lopped some branches off a cedar tree and brought it to her. The Jews thereupon fell upon them and beat them. They reported to the Emperor that the Jews were rebelling, and he marched against them.</p><br>
<p>"He hath cut off in fierce anger all the horn of Israel." R. Zera said in the name of R. Abbahu who quoted R. Johanan: These are the eighty thousand battle trumpets which assembled in the city of Bethar, when it was taken and men, women and children were slain in it until their blood ran into the Great Sea. Do you think this was near? It was a whole mil away.</p><br>
<p>It has been taught: R. Eleazar the Great said: There are two streams in the valley of Yadaim, one running in one direction and one in another, and the Sages estimated that they ran with two parts water to one of blood.</p><br>
<p>In a Baraitha it has been taught: For seven years the gentiles fertilized their vineyards with the blood of Israel without using manure.</p><br>
<p>...Rab Judah reported Samuel as saying in the name of Rabban Simeon b. Gamaliel; What is signified by the verse, "Mine eye affecteth my soul, because of all the daughters of my city?" There were four hundred synagogues in the city of Bethar, and in every one were four hundred teachers of children, and each one had under him four hundred pupils, and when the enemy entered there they pierced them with their staves, and when the enemy prevailed and captured them, they wrapped them in their scrolls and burnt them with fire.</p><br>
<p>The Jerusalem Talmud relates that the number of slain was so enormous, that the Romans "went on killing until their horses were submerged in blood to their nostrils," and that the flow of blood overturned large stones in its course, and that when the flow of blood travelled along a riverine brook at a distance of 40 biblical miles to the Mediterranean sea, the red hue from the blood of the slain could still be seen in the sea at a distance of 4 biblical miles. Such hyperbolic speech was used only to emphasize the horrendous scene after the capture of the city, and the ensuing massacre of its inhabitants. The same account reports that the corpses were collected and used to make a hedge around the vineyard belonging to Hadrian, and which hedge stretched many long biblical miles and was as high as a man&#39;s stature.</p><br>
<p>Rabbi Yohanan has related the following account of the massacre: “The brains of three-hundred children were found upon one stone, along with three-hundred baskets of what remained of phylacteries (tefillin) were found in Betar, each and every one of which had the capacity to hold three measures (three seahs, or what is equivalent to about 28 liters). If you should come to take into account, you would find that they amounted to three-hundred measures.” Rabban Gamliel said: “Five-hundred schools were in Betar, while the smallest of them wasn’t less than three-hundred children. They used to say, ‘If the enemy should ever come upon us, with these metal pointers we’ll go forth and stab them.’ But since iniquities had caused, the enemy came in and wrapped up each and every child in his own book and burnt them together, and no one remained except me.”</p><br>
<p>Hadrian had prohibited their burial, and so all the bodies remained above ground. Miraculously, they did not decompose. Many years later Hadrian&#39;s successor, Antoninus (Pius), allowed the dead to be afforded a decent burial.</p><br>
<p>Kbal Spean   is an Angkorian era archaeological site on the southwest slopes of the Kulen Hills to the northeast of Angkor in Siem Reap District, Siem Reap Province, Cambodia. It is situated along a 150m stretch of the Stung Kbal Spean River, 25 km from the main Angkor group of monuments, which lie downstream.</p><br>
<p>The site consists of a series of stone rock relief carvings in sandstone formations of the river bed and banks. It is commonly known as the "Valley of a 1000 Lingas" or "The River of a Thousand Lingas". The motifs for stone carvings are mainly myriads of lingams (phallic symbol of Hindu god Shiva), depicted as neatly arranged bumps that cover the surface of a sandstone bed rock, and lingam-yoni designs. There are also various Hindu mythological motifs, including depictions of the gods Shiva, Vishnu, Brahma, Lakshmi, Rama, and Hanuman, as well as animals (cows and frogs).</p><br>
<h2>Geography</h2><br>
<p>Kbal Spean is described as "a spectacularly carved riverbed, set deep in the jungle to the northeast of Angkor". The river over which the bridge head exists is also known as Stung Kbal Spean, a tributary of the Siem Reap River that rises in the Kulein mountains north of Banteay Srei. The river bed cuts through sandstone formations, and the many architectural sculptures of Hindu mythology have been carved within the sandstone. The archaeological site occurs in a stretch of the river starting from 150 m upstream north of the bridge head to the falls downstream. The river, being sanctified by flowing over the religious sculptures, flows downstream, bifurcating into the Siem Reap River and Puok River, which eventually flows into the Tonlé Sap Lake after passing through the plains and the Angkor temple complex.</p><br>
<p>The archaeological site is in the western part of the Kulein mountains within the Phnom Kulen National Park. Approach is from the Banteay Srei temple by a road which is about 5 km from an army camp. Thereafter, it is a 40-minute walk through the forest for about 2 km uphill along a path before reaching the first site, a water fall, where the carved sculptures start appearing in the river bed.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>The carving of vestiges began with the reign of King Suryavarman I and ended with the reign of King Udayadityavarman II; these two kings ruled between the 11th and 12th centuries. The 1,000 lingas, but not other sculptures, are attributed to a minister of Suryavarman I during the 11th century, and these were carved by hermits who lived in the area. Inscriptions at the site testify to the fact that most of the sculpting was done during the reign of Udayadityavarman II. It is also mentioned that King Udayadityavarman II consecrated a golden ling here in 1059 AD. It is believed that the Siem Reap River flowing into Angkor is blessed by the sacred lingas over which it flows.</p><br>
<p>The archaeological site was discovered in 1969 by Jean Boulbet, an ethnologist, but further exploration was cut off due to the Cambodian Civil War. The site regained prominence for safe visits from 1989.</p><br>
<h2>Layout</h2><br>
<p>The bridge is a natural sandstone arch 50 km northeast of Siem Reap River. Just after the monsoon season, when the water level in the river starts dropping, the carvings are visible in a 150 m stretch upstream of the bridge and from the bridge downstream up to the falls. The 11th century carvings in this stretch of the river are a galaxy of gods, the trinity of Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva or Maheswara and celestial beings; several carvings of Vishnu with Lakshmi reclining on the serpent Ananta, Shiva with consort Uma, known as Umamaheswar Brahma on a lotus petal over a plant stem rising from the navel of Vishnu, Rama and Hanuman are the sculptures seen not only in the river bed but also on the river banks.</p><br>
<p>Sequentially, while walking along a path which skirts the eroded channel of the river-formed natural stone bridge, one can see a pair of Vishnu sculptures with Lakshmi seated at his feet in a reclining pose. Upstream of the bridge, there is a sculpture of Shiva and Uma mounted on the bull. Approximately 30 m downstream of the bridge, there are additional Vishnu sculptures. Further downstream up to the water fall and till the water pool are the Sahasra lingas in Sanskrit language with English equivalent name of "Thousand Lingas". The sculpted lingams in the coarse sandstone river bed outcrops are seen from about 6 m downstream of the bridge. According to the journalist Teppo Tukki of Phnom Penh Post who visited the site in 1995, the lingams, some of which date back to the 9th century, are about 25 cm square and 10 cm deep and lined in a perfect grid pattern. The river runs over them, covering them with 5 cm of pristine water. The holy objects are designed to create a “power path for the Khmer Kings”.</p><br>
<p>After the carvings, the river falls by 15 cm to a clear water pool. As it flows over the holy lingams, the river attains a sanctified status and passes through the temples that are downstream. The visible lingams are in a rectangular enclosure with a channel flowing out, which is interpreted to represent the yoni as the "female principle". Beyond these lingams, the river stretch of about 40 - includes a small rocky island and ends over a fall into a pool. In this stretch of the river, there are bas reliefs on the rock faces. It has been inferred that one of the bas reliefs in this stretch, the central figure, unrecognizably damaged, could be that of Shiva as an ascetic, similar to the bas relief seen in Angkor Wat temple. The meaning of the crocodile carving seen here has not been ascertained. Near to this location, a boulder has been carved as a frog. The pond, in a rectangular shape, filled with water at all times, has many "Reclining Vishnu" carvings on the walls, and here again, a pair of crocodiles are carved but with their tail held by women. The small island formed in this stretch of the river has carvings of Shiva and Uma mounted on a bull.</p><br>
<h2>Sculptures</h2><br>
<p>The sculptures carved in the river bed and banks depict many Hindu mythological scenes and symbols. There are also inscriptions which get exposed as the water level in the river decreases. The common theme of these sculptures emphasizes creation as defined in Hindu mythology in the form of Lord Vishnu lying on a serpent in a reclining repose on the ocean of milk in mediation, the lotus flower emerging from Vishnu’s navel which bears god Brahma, the creator. Following these sculptures seen carved on the banks of the river, the river flows through several sculpted reliefs of Shiva the destroyer shown in the universal symbol of the Linga; 1000 such lingas have been carved in the bed of the river which gives the name to the river valley formed by the river as “valley of 1000 lingas”. Vishnu is also carved to match the contours of the river bed and banks. A carving of Shiva with his consort Uma is also visible.</p><br>
<p>Though the sculptures have been vandalized and damaged, the carved idols still retain their original grandeur.</p><br>
<h2>Biodiversity</h2><br>
<p>Also situated within the Phnom Kulen National Park, and close to the river outfall, is the Angkor Centre for Conservation of Biodiversity where “trafficked animals are nursed back to health.”</p><br>
<p>Mount Makiling, or Mount Maquiling, is a dormant volcano located on the border of Laguna province and Batangas on the island of Luzon, Philippines. The mountain rises to an elevation of 1,090 m above mean sea level and is the highest feature of the Laguna Volcanic Field. The volcano has no recorded historic eruption but volcanism is still evident through geothermal features like mud spring and hot springs. South of the mountain is the Makiling-Banahaw Geothermal Plant. The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology  classifies the volcano as potentially active.</p><br>
<p>Mount Makiling is a state-owned forest reserve administered by the University of the Philippines Los Baños. Prior its transfer to the university, the mountain was the first national park of the Philippines. Mount Makiling National Park was established on February 23, 1933 by Proclamation No. 552. However, it was decommissioned as a national park on June 20, 1963 by Republic Act no. 3523 when it was transferred to the University for use in forestry education and information.</p><br>
<p>Now known as Mount Makiling Forest Reserve, it was declared an ASEAN Heritage Park in 2013.</p><br>
<h2>Legend</h2><br>
<p>Legends surrounding the mountain relates to Maria Makiling, which is said to be the guardian of the mountain. The contour of the mountain is said to be that of her in a reclining position.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>The following are the proclamations, republic acts, and executive orders relevant to the Makiling Forest Reserve (MFR):</p><br>
<p>Proclamation No. 106 (1910) - Makiling Forest Reserve was established with specific boundaries and placed under the Bureau of Forestry by Governor General W. Cameron Forbes to regulate the use of public forest and forest reserves in the Philippines; Makiling Forest Reserve was set aside for the purpose of establishing a forest school and for silvicultural studies.</p><br>
<p>Proclamation No. 60 (1920) - The reserved was renamed Makiling National Botanic Gardens and placed under the Bureau of Forestry by Proclamation NO. 60 issued by Governor General Francis B. Harrison primary for scientific studies on plants and animals.</p><br>
<p>Proclamation No. 552 (1933) - The reserved was renamed the Makiling National Park under the Bureau of Forestry issued by Governor-General Theodore Roosevelt, Jr. to serve as game refuge and for other purposes for the benefit and enjoyment of the people.</p><br>
<p>Proclamation No. 214 (1937) - Calamba Estate block was added to the Park for forest purposes issued by President Manuel L. Quezon.</p><br>
<p>Republic Act (RA) 826 (1952) - Transfer of the administration of the Makiling National Park form the Bureau of Forestry to the Commission of Parks and Wildlife in order to promote effectual planning, development, maintenance and conservation of all national parks, monuments and wildlife in the country.</p><br>
<p>Proclamation No. 692 (1960) - Administration of the Makiling National Park was transferred from the Commission of Parks and Wildlife to the University of the Philippines (UP) issued by President Carlos P. Garcia for forestry education and research purposes of the College of Forestry, subject to the condition that said land will be conserved and preserved as a national park.</p><br>
<p>Republic Act (RA) 3523 (1963) - The Makiling National park was disestablished and then ceded, transferred and conveyed to UP issued by Pres. Diosdado Macapagal to serve as the land resource for carrying out a program of public education and information in forestry, with end goal of promoting general public appreciation of forest values.</p><br>
<p>Executive Order (EO) 224 (1987) - Complete jurisdiction, control and regulation of watershed areas including the Makiling Forest Reserve was given to the National Power Corporation (NPC) issued by President Corazon C. Aquino in support of the country’s major program of energy development.</p><br>
<p>Republic Act (RA) 6967 (1990) - Administration of the Makiling Forest Reserve was finally transferred to UPLB by President Corazon C. Aquino primarily as a training laboratory for the advancement of scientific and technical knowledge on the preservation, conservation and development of forest, flora and fauna and natural resources.</p><br>
<p>Executive Order 121 (1994) - created a Presidential Commission on Laguna Lake and Mt. Makiling Development to address urgent problems affecting the resources and to formulate a master plan for the development of the lake and the reserve which are seen as integrated ecosystems.</p><br>
<h2>Places of interest</h2><br>
<p>Makiling National Scout Reservation, a campsite at the foot of Mount Makiling adjacent to U.P. Los Baños, which is being managed by the Boy Scouts of the Philippines this is the site of the 10th World Scout Jamboree in 1959 and 26th Asia-Pacific Regional Jamboree in 2009 and 2010.</p><br>
<p>Mud Springs, a place which was known as Natugnos, is widely accepted albeit erroneously as the volcanic crater of Mount Makiling</p><br>
<p>National Arts Center, a patch of land at the foot of Mount Makiling adjacent to U.P. Los Baños, which is being managed by the Cultural Center of the Philippines and the site of the Philippine High School for the Arts, a special school for young artist scholars</p><br>
<p>Pook ni Maria Makiling, an eco-tourism site adjacent to the Jamboree Site, National Arts Center and U.P. Los Baños</p><br>
<p>University of the Philippines, Los Baños</p><br>
<p>The CCF Mt. Makiling Recreation Center (known as MMRC), is a Christian recreation camp and retreat center owned by CCF and operated by RHI, located at Santo Tomas, Batangas on the slopes of Mt. Makiling. It is the prayer mountain and retreat center of Christ&#39;s Commission Fellowship.</p><br>
<h2>Geographical features</h2><br>
<h3>Rivers and creeks</h3><br>
<p>Munting River — Santo Tomas</p><br>
<p>Siam-Siam Creek — Calamba</p><br>
<p>Sipit Creek — Calamba</p><br>
<p>Pansipit Creek — Calamba</p><br>
<p>Pansol Creek — Calamba</p><br>
<p>Dampalit River — Los Baños</p><br>
<p>Saran Creek — Los Baños</p><br>
<p>Pili Creek — Los Baños</p><br>
<p>Molawin Creek — Los Baños</p><br>
<p>Maitim River — Bay</p><br>
<p>Calo River — Bay</p><br>
<h2>Hiking activity</h2><br>
<p>Mt. Makiling is a popular hiking destination. The two major trails begin at the UPLB College of Forestry and Brgy. San Miguel, Santo Tomas. The UPLB trail is more commonly used, taking 4–5 hours to reach the summit (Peak 2). This trail was closed in October 2007 due to trail damage wrought by Typhoon Xangsane on September 2006. The trail was closed again in December 2012 after two students were found drowned in a restricted area on the mountain. The trail was re-opened most recently in March 2013. The second trail, known as Maktrav, starts in Santo Tomas. This route is more difficult and requires 6–7 hours to reach the summit. Both trails are generally established and safe, although throughout the years there have been occasional reports of fatal accidents and injuries, especially on the Santo Tomas side. Climbers also frequently encounter leeches along the way.</p><br>
<h2>Bibliography</h2><br>
<p>(includes Makiling)</p><br>
<p>Andrott Island , also known as Androth Island, is a small inhabited island in the Union Territory of Lakshadweep, a group of 36 coral islands scattered in the Arabian Sea off the western coast of India</p><br>
<p>It has a distance of 2,006 km south of the city of Delhi.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>Andrott Island had been known as Divanduru in the past, a name that is found in some old French maps. It belongs to the Laccadive Islands subgroup, which had been historically a part of the Arakkal Kingdom.</p><br>
<p>Nowadays the island of Andrott is a protected territory and not a tourist destination.</p><br>
<h2>Geography</h2><br>
<p>Andrott Island is the nearest to the mainland from all the islands in the group and it is also the longest, as well as the biggest (area-wise) island.</p><br>
<p>It is located approximately 198 km from Kozhikode and 293 km from Kochi.</p><br>
<p>It has a lagoon area of 6.6 km&sup2;.</p><br>
<h2>Demographics</h2><br>
<p>Most of its inhabitants are Muslims and there is also a Hindu minority. The Saint Hasrat Ubaidullah, who is believed to have converted the Lakshadweep Islands to Islam, died here. His remains are entombed in the Jumah mosque.</p><br>
<p>The island also houses several Buddhist archaeological remains.</p><br>
<h2>Administration</h2><br>
<p>The island belongs to the township of Andrott of Andrott Tehsil.</p><br>
<h2>Climate</h2><br>
<h2>Image gallery</h2><br>
<p>Trappers Lake is a lake in the Flat Tops Wilderness Area, which is in the White River National Forest in Colorado, United States. The lake, at an elevation of approximately 9600 ft , is the source of the North Fork of the White River. It is located in Garfield County east of the town of Meeker and west of the town of Yampa. The lake is roughly a mile and a half  long and half a mile  wide reaching depths of 180 feet . It is surrounded by the Flat Tops Mountains, the most striking of which is the large semicircular Amphitheater which has a height of 1,650 ft . Trappers Lake is the second-largest natural lake in Colorado after Grand Lake.</p><br>
<p>There is a large camping area and lodge near the lake. Trappers Lake is an excellent fishing lake for cutthroat trout. All Cutthroat trout regardless of size must be released when caught, but you can keep Brook trout (according to signage around the lake as of June 2014). Only artificial flies and lures are permitted. No motorized boats are allowed. About 17,000 acres (69 km²) of forest surrounding the lake were burned by the Big Fish wildfire, started by lightning, in July 2002.</p><br>
<p>The area around the lake was put largely off limits to development in 1920, due to the recommendation of Arthur Carhart, hired by the Forest Service to make a survey for a road around the lake. It was the first such Forest Service property to be set aside in this manner. Because of this, some considered it the birthplace of the USA Wilderness Area system.</p><br>
<p>Fort Yellowstone was a USA Army fort, established in 1891 at Mammoth Hot Springs in Yellowstone National Park. Yellowstone was designated in 1872 but the Interior Department was unable to effectively manage the park. Administration was transferred to the War Department in August 1886 and General Philip Sheridan sent a company of cavalry to Mammoth Hot Springs to build a cavalry post. The army originally called the post Camp Sheridan in honor of General Sheridan but the name was changed to Fort Yellowstone in 1891 when construction of the permanent fort commenced. The army administered the park until 1918 when it was transferred to the newly created National Park Service. The facilities of Fort Yellowstone now comprise the Yellowstone National Park headquarters, the Horace Albright Visitor Center and staff accommodations.</p><br>
<p>Between the years 1891 and 1913, a total of 60 structures were erected at Fort Yellowstone, of which 35 were still in existence one hundred years later. The fort was built in two major construction waves. During the first construction period from 1891 to 1897, mainly wood-framed buildings in what has been referred to as "cottage style" were built. A few of them had Colonial Revival architectural elements. A second construction wave began in 1908 and concluded in 1913. These structures were primarily built from locally quarried sandstone. Many of the structures from the later construction period are now used as administrative offices, residences for National Park Service employees, museums and visitor center. Beyond the immediate confines of the fort, cabins were constructed for use by small detachments of army personnel while on patrol throughout the park.</p><br>
<p>Besides the buildings of Fort Yellowstone, the army left a legacy of policies and practices that served as precedents for the future National Park Service management of national parks. The army military commanders implemented backcountry patrols, wildlife protection and management, and protection of natural features. Army educational programs were later adopted by the National Park Service as part of their resource management. The army effectively implemented law enforcement priorities and developed a ranger force that provided for prosecution and punishment of those engaged in illegal activity in the national parks. The National Park Service carried over a version of the campaign hat worn by members of the army during the last years of their management of Yellowstone National Park for use by Park Rangers.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>More than 40 years before the creation of the National Park Service, Yellowstone National Park was established on March 1, 1872, as the worlds first national park. Between 1872 and 1886, the park was administered by the Interior Department and was managed by a civilian superintendent with limited resources or legal authority to maintain and protect the parks natural features and wildlife, or to deal with poaching, vandalism and other destructive activities. Over the next decade, special interest groups such as concessionaires, railroad and mining interests attempted to commercialize and privatize park lands.</p><br>
<p>In August 1886, Lieutenant General Philip Sheridan sent Company M, 1st USA Cavalry to the Park, where they established Camp Sheridan, named after General Sheridan, at Mammoth Hot Springs.</p><br>
<p>Congress appropriated funds for the establishment of a permanent fort in 1891, and the Interior Department allocated land just north of Camp Sheridan for permanent facilities. Camp Sheridan was renamed Fort Yellowstone on May 11, 1891. The army continued to use Fort Yellowstone until they turned over control of the park and the fort to the newly formed National Park Service in October 1918.</p><br>
<p>Fort Yellowstone was designated a National Historic Landmark on July 31, 2003. The fort, along with concessionaire facilities that were built after the National Park Service assumed management of the park, comprise what is collectively known as the Mammoth Hot Springs Historic District.</p><br>
<h2>Facilities</h2><br>
<p>Fort Yellowstone was constructed between 1891 and 1913 on the eastern edge of the Mammoth Hot Springs terraces, southeast of the present Mammoth Hotel, at a cost of approximately $700,000 ($16 million in 2013 dollars). By 1905, three more troops of cavalry had been added to the original Company M contingent of 50 soldiers, and during this period the fort facilities were almost continuously expanded to meet the requirements of park administration, ordinary cavalry training, and growing numbers of visitors.</p><br>
<p>The initial wave of construction between 1891–97 was representative of typical army posts of the period. Like other western military posts, the earliest buildings erected at Fort Yellowstone were constructed according to quartermaster general standardized plans. In design, they were of a generally spartan appearance with a few Colonial Revival style domestic elements, described by the army as "cottage style". The buildings were of one to two-and-a-half stories in height, and of frame construction with drop siding and stone foundations, with evenly spaced double-hung sash windows and prominent porches.</p><br>
<p>A second phase of building and upgrades started in 1908 which resulted in the prominent architecture visible at Fort Yellowstone in the 21st century. Built from locally quarried sandstone, these buildings defined Fort Yellowstone. The most prominent of the structures built in the later period is the Horace Albright Visitor Center which was originally the bachelor officers quarters (Bldg 1). Each historic building in the fort and the park was assigned an official number, with the original bachelor officers quarters being building number 1. Architects Reed and Stem and Robert Reamer along with the USA Army Office of the Chief Quartermaster, Department of Dakota participated in the design of many of the facilities. Engineer facilities and landscaping were designed by Captain Hiram M. Chittenden of the USA Corps of Engineers.</p><br>
<h3>Initial construction period 1891–1907</h3><br>
<p>The first building constructed at Fort Yellowstone was the guardhouse (Bldg 9) at the southwest corner of the fort. In 1891, visitors traveled the lower Mammoth road through what is now the main residential area for park personnel. The guardhouse was the first building they encountered in the Mammoth area and there was always a sentry on duty to check visitors entering the park. The building is now a private residence.</p><br>
<p>A number of significant buildings were added to the fort from 1893 to 1899 including a 10-bed hospital, quarters for hospital personnel (Bldg 14), and a large hay shed (Bldg 20) which were constructed in areas behind officers row in 1894. Of these structures, only the hospital quarters building remains and is now used as a private residence. The most significant building constructed in 1895 was the USA Commissioners office, which included a jail and residence for the USA Marshal (Bldg 49). The first commissioner was Judge John W. Meldrum who served the army and National Park Service until 1935 from this building. Located well west of the rest of the fort, this was the first stone building within the fort. It was a one-and-a-half-story rock-faced sandstone dwelling with gable-on-hip roof, through-the-cornice dormers and a full-width porch. The ground floor of the house contained the jail, office, and living quarters while bedrooms were situated on the second floor. The structure is used today as a private residence. The building was funded with the passage of the Lacey Act of 1894. Sponsored by USA Representative John F. Lacey, the Lacey Act was "An Act To protect the birds and animals in Yellowstone National Park, and to punish crimes in said park, and for other purposes."</p><br>
<p>Construction during this period also included two double officers quarters (Bldgs 4 and 5) which completed "officers row" in 1893. Two NCO quarters (Bldgs 31 and 32) were added to "soap-suds row" in 1897 and the distinctive cavalry barracks (Bldg 27), which now houses administrative offices, was constructed in 1899.</p><br>
<p>Captain Hiram M. Chittenden was the USA Army Corps of Engineers senior engineer in Yellowstone from 1899–1906. The Corps had been responsible for road and other infrastructure construction within the park since 1883. In 1901, in cooperation with Captain John Pitcher, Acting Park Superintendent, he began a series of projects to improve the quality of life at the fort. Chittenden had a reservoir built in 1901 to provide a consistent supply of water for irrigation, human consumption and fire fighting. The engineers oversaw a project during 1901 which cleared, manured and seeded the area immediately in front of officers&#39; row to create a grassy parade ground and seeded areas around the various buildings to reduce perennially dusty summer conditions. Fort Yellowstone transitioned from oil to electric lighting in 1902 after Chittenden completed a 100-kilowatt powerplant 300 yd east of the fort. The powerplant and reservoir no longer exist, but most of the grassy areas around Fort Yellowstone that Chittenden planned remain.</p><br>
<p>In 1903, Captain Chittenden oversaw the design and construction of the second stone building in Yellowstone, the engineers headquarters (Bldg 39), often called the "Pagoda" because of its design. This structure is in a prominent but isolated location just north of the fort.</p><br>
<p>Another prominent Yellowstone landmark, the Roosevelt Arch, was constructed in 1903 under the supervision of Chittenden. A north entrance station and gate near Gardiner, Montana, was first suggested by Captains Wilber Wilder and Oscar Brown in 1899. However it was not until 1903 that Chittenden and then-Acting Superintendent Major John Pitcher were able to gain approval for the arch. The ground breaking for the arch coincided with the two-week vacation visit of USA President Theodore Roosevelt to the park. Roosevelt was the only USA President to visit Yellowstone during the army era. On his last day in the park, April 24, 1903, Roosevelt participated in the cornerstone laying ceremony and the arch was completed later that year. In 1904, Major John Pitcher recommended the construction of several new buildings to accommodate the growing contingent of soldiers. The only structure approved was the new post exchange located just south of the double cavalry barracks. This striking Colonial Revival styled structure was completed in 1905, replacing a much smaller post exchange that had been built in 1894. It now functions as the National Park Service canteen.</p><br>
<h3>Later construction period 1908–1913</h3><br>
<p>The second wave of major construction started in 1908 when the largest structures in the fort were built, including the three-story double barracks (Bldg 36), which now houses the park superintendents office and is used as the modern park headquarters. Another large building was the bachelor officers quarters (Bldg 1), constructed immediately to the west, fronting the parade ground. This iconic building anchors the northwest corner of the main fort area and houses the Horace Albright Visitor Center, a museum, theater and the Yellowstone Association gift shop. Officers row was completed with the construction of a double captains quarters (Bldg 2) and a field officers quarters (Bldg 3) immediately south of the bachelor officers quarters. Cavalry stables (Bldgs 34 and 38), a double stable guardhouse and blacksmith shop (Bldg 37) were built behind these residences. All these buildings are used by the National Park Service as administrative offices, maintenance facilities or residences.</p><br>
<p>The increasing size of the army contingent required a more up-to-date guardhouse than the original. Acting Superintendents Major Benson and Colonel Brett wanted the new guardhouse to be constructed of stone. The War Department could not justify the expense, so in 1911 the guardhouse was built from concrete.</p><br>
<p>The last building constructed at Fort Yellowstone was the chapel, located just south of the original guardhouse. Army policy did not mandate that army forts provide places of worship. However, at the insistence of park superintendent Pitcher, USA Commissioner Meldrum and Wyoming state senator Francis E. Warren, Congress appropriated the funds for the construction of a chapel in 1909 and the building was finished in January 1913. On September 19, 1914, Katharine Piercy Edmunds and Captain Albert Ady King, 1st USA Cavalry, were the first couple to be married in the new chapel. Reverend Pritchard, an Episcopalian missionary, traveled to the fort from Emigrant, Montana to perform the ceremony.</p><br>
<h3>Remote facilities</h3><br>
<p>To provide shelter for small detachments of soldiers on overnight patrols, the army constructed soldier and snowshoe cabins in remote and isolated spots and at popular tourist locations. Most of these structures no longer exist, but similar, more modern cabins are maintained by the National Park Service throughout the park.</p><br>
<p>The first soldier cabins were built in 1886 as part of Camp Sheridan and all of these were later removed. Cabins were also built at the Lower Geyser Basin, Upper Geyser Basin, Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone, Riverside and at Soda Butte. As more outposts were needed over the years cabins were constructed at Lake Outlet (1887), Snake River (Polecat Creek), West Thumb and Riverside (1892), Mud Geyser (1895), Norris and Thumb Bay (1897), Lake (1899), Snake River (1902), Gardiner (1903), West Thumb, Syvan Pass and Soda Butte (1904), Tower (1907), Crevice Mountain (1912), Snake River (1914), and Aster Creek, Cabin Creek, Harebell, and Thorofare (1915). Snowshoe cabins in existence in 1899 included small structures at Astringent Creek, Bartlet, Boundary Creek, Coulter Creek, Hellroaring Creek, Lewis River, Park Point, Proposition, Trappers Creek, Trout Creek and Willow Creek. While none of the aforementioned structures are still in existence, four remote structures remain. They include the Buffalo Lake snowshoe cabin (Bldg 234) and the Norris and Bechler River soldier stations (Bldgs 111 and 231). The Norris soldier station currently houses the Museum of the National Park Ranger. Additionally, the Bechler River barn (Bldg 232) is still in existence.</p><br>
<h2>Historical significance of the USA Army in Yellowstone</h2><br>
<p>USA Army management of Yellowstone was so successful that by 1891 they were also managing Sequoia, Yosemite and Kings Canyon National Parks in California and Mackinac National Park in Michigan. The National Park Service later followed the precedents established by the army and incorporated them into their own management strategy. During its tenure at Yellowstone, the army developed regulations that put emphasis on protection of park resources, safety of visitors, and positive but effective visitor interaction. Under the watchful eyes of the army, the geothermal features, forests and wildlife of Yellowstone were protected from vandalism, fire and poaching. These practices were adopted by the National Park Service and continue as a foundation of National Park management policy. Proactive actions by the army in stopping poaching in the park led to the passing of the Lacey Act of 1894, which established legal protection for the wildlife and remedies for dealing with violators.</p><br>
<p>When Company M, 1st USA Cavalry arrived in Yellowstone, Captain Moses Harris, a Civil War Medal of Honor recipient, on his own authority and initiative, promulgated a set of rules that his staff enforced to protect park resources still adhered to in the 21st century:</p><br>
<p>Even though Harris and his soldiers vigilantly enforced the rules, arresting many violators, there was no legal authority for prosecution or punishment. All Harris could do was expel violators from the park.</p><br>
<p>Captain Harris, and his successor, Captain Frazier Augustus Boutelle, established a network of soldier and snowshoe cabins throughout the remote portions of the park. These cabins, strategically located about 10 mi apart, were used by detachments of soldiers throughout the year as they stayed watchful for wildfires, vandalism and poaching. The use of remote ranger cabins for patrolling the park is still practiced by Park Rangers. Captain Young, during his first tour as Acting Superintendent in 1897, established patrol cabin policies that are essentially still followed by Park Rangers. Young required that soldiers using a patrol cabin keep a daily log of activities, including game counts, visitor counts and weather observations. These logs were used to compile a monthly report sent to the headquarters at Fort Yellowstone. Young issued the following orders to all soldiers using the snowshoe cabins.</p><br>
<h3>Wildlife policies</h3><br>
<p>Of the many decisions made by Captain Boutelle in managing the park, his approach to fisheries had significant and lasting impact. Boutelle was an avid angler and recognized the angling potential in Yellowstone waters. In 1889 he suggested the USA Fish Commission consider stocking many of the fish-less lakes and streams in Yellowstone.</p><br>
<p>This suggestion was acted upon and in 1889 the first non-native fish were stocked into Yellowstone waters, a practice that continued until 1955 and helped create the angling experience Yellowstone National Park is renowned for.</p><br>
<p>In 1902, the population of bison in the park had declined to approximately 25 individual animals. Under the leadership of Captain Pitcher, the army began a program of importing plains bison from private domestic herds in Texas and Montana. Fenced enclosures were created at Mammoth and in the Lamar Valley. Areas were ploughed and planted with oats and timothy to feed the captive bison herds as well as the expanding elk herds. The bison enclosure in the Lamar Valley became known as the Lamar Buffalo Ranch. When the army left the park in 1918, the bison population was estimated to have increased to 400 individuals.</p><br>
<h3>Transition to the National Park Service</h3><br>
<p>After serving more than six years as the Acting Superintendent, Major John Pitcher was replaced by Lieutenant General Samuel B.M. Young (USA Army retired) in June 1907. Young was appointed by the Secretary of the Interior, James Rudolph Garfield as full superintendent of the park. Although Young was a senior officer, command of the troops at Fort Yellowstone was given to Major H. T. Allen. Youngs lasting contribution to Fort Yellowstones history was his proposal to replace the army with a force of Civilian Guards. Young, who had served as Acting Superintendent as a Captain in 1897 recognized the dysfunctional and complicated relationships between the War Department, Corps of Engineers and Interior Department which Congress knew was adversely impacting the successful administration of the park. Young&#39;s proposal was not acted upon, but it did set the stage for a decade of change that ultimately saw the creation of the National Park Service in 1916 as well as a Park Ranger force to protect the national parks.</p><br>
<p>Although the cavalry had been successful in protecting the park, by 1914 the average soldier was not cutout for the strenuous, diplomatic and tedious nature of the work, and the high level of training related to cavalry skills. World War I added further impetus to a transition back to civilian management, to relieve the army of a duty that could be performed by civilian rangers. In July 1914, the 1st Cavalry was withdrawn from Yellowstone and replaced with a composite unit of 200 cavalrymen from throughout the army, many of whom had served in Yellowstone previously.</p><br>
<p>Throughout 1915–16, the Interior Department was organizing itself to deal with the growing number of national parks and ultimately, Congress created the National Park Service on August 25, 1916. Prior to the establishment of the National Park Service, in July 1916 the War Department agreed to withdraw troops from Yellowstone as of October 1, 1916, which was the end of the park visitation season. At the same time, the War Department agreed to discharge a select number of the current volunteer cavalry contingent on September 29, 1916, so they could go to work for the National Park Service as Park Rangers.</p><br>
<p>Unfortunately, Congress failed to appropriate funds for the new National Park Service for 1917 and the ranger force was disbanded in the spring of 1917. Political pressure from the Montana Congressional delegation over the loss of economic revenue from the army presence resulted in the recall of the army and 450 soldiers from the 7th Cavalry Regiment were sent back to Fort Yellowstone to protect the park. Administrative control remained with the Interior Department under the supervision of Acting Superintendent Chester Allinson Lindsley, a long time civilian employee in the park. Relations between the army, the Corps of Engineers and the Interior Department continued to be contentious in 1917–1918 as disagreements over proposed construction, ownership of buildings and use of personnel persisted. In 1918, Director of the National Park Service Stephen Mather convinced Congress and the War Department that civilian control of the National Parks under the National Park Service was the right solution. On October 31, 1918, the army left Yellowstone for the last time.</p><br>
<h3>Legacy</h3><br>
<p>John Muir a foremost American naturalist and often called the "Father of the National Parks" once wrote: "Blessings on Uncle Sam&#39;s Soldiers. They have done the job well, and every pine tree is waving its arms for joy."</p><br>
<p>While Yellowstone was under army management, the activities, policies and procedures developed served as precedents for other national parks and subsequent actions by the National Park Service after its formation in 1916. The army solved a wide variety of problems and developed procedures covering a multitude of administrative issues. The military superintendents continued the evolution of park policies and conservation measures initiated by the first civilian administrators. They implemented backcountry patrols, access improvement, wildlife protection and management, protection of natural features, law enforcement and development of a ranger force. The army set precedents for future headquarters area development designs, visitor services such as educational outreach and interpretive tours. Their diligence in dealing with poachers led to legislation that provided for prosecution and punishment of illegal activity. That most of the precedents that the army established were incorporated later by the National Park Service is a lasting legacy of the important role the army played in USA national park history. Modern Park Ranger uniforms are legacies of army management of the park. Most iconically, the campaign hat, a flat-brow peaked hat worn by the cavalry in the last years of army management is nearly identical to the modern hats worn into the 21st century.</p><br>
<h2>Commanding officers</h2><br>
<p>The commanding officer of the Fort Yellowstone troop was designated as the Acting Superintendent of the park, reporting to both the army and the Interior Secretary. The following army officers served in this position at Fort Yellowstone.</p><br>
<p>Captain Moses Harris: August 20, 1886 – May 31, 1889</p><br>
<p>Captain Frazier Augustus Boutelle: June 1, 1889 – February 15, 1891</p><br>
<p>Captain George S. Anderson: February 15, 1891 – June 23, 1897</p><br>
<p>Captain Samuel B. M. Young: June 23, 1897 – November 15, 1897</p><br>
<p>Captain James B. Erwin: November 15, 1897 – March 15, 1899</p><br>
<p>Captain Wilber E. Wilder: March 15, 1899 – June 23, 1899</p><br>
<p>Captain Oscar J. Brown: June 23, 1899 – July 24, 1900</p><br>
<p>Captain George W. Goode: July 24, 1900 – May 8, 1901</p><br>
<p>Captain/Major John Pitcher: May 8, 1901 – June 1, 1907</p><br>
<p>Lt. General Samuel B. M. Young (retired): June 1, 1907 – November 28, 1908</p><br>
<p>Major H. T. Allen (Commander of troops)</p><br>
<p>Major Harry C. Benson: November 28, 1908 – September 30, 1910</p><br>
<p>Colonel Lloyd M. Brett: September 30, 1910 – October 15, 1916</p><br>
<h3>Units assigned</h3><br>
<p>Six different cavalry regiments were stationed off and on during army administration of Yellowstone.</p><br>
<p>1st Cavalry Regiment: 1886–1891, 1900–1902, 1911–1914</p><br>
<p>4th Cavalry Regiment: 1898–1899</p><br>
<p>5th Cavalry Regiment: 1909–1910</p><br>
<p>6th Cavalry Regiment: 1892–1897, 1906–1907</p><br>
<p>8th Cavalry Regiment: 1908</p><br>
<p>Yellowstone Park Detachment: 1915–1916</p><br>
<p>7th Cavalry Regiment: 1917–1918</p><br>
<p>Malbone is one of the oldest privately owned estates in Newport, Rhode Island. Located on Malbone Road, the estate has a history dating to the mid-18th century, but the present main was built in 1848-49. The estate once served as the country residence of Colonel Godfrey Malbone  of Virginia and Connecticut. Colonel Malbone made his fortune as a shipping merchant and slave trader, becoming one of the wealthiest men in Newport during the 1740s through privateering and the triangle trade. Malbone had built what Dr. Alexander Hamilton called one of the finest houses he had seen in the colonies, probably to a design by noted colonial architect Richard Munday.</p><br>
<p>Future President George Washington boarded and dined at Malbone in February 1756 when he visited his good friend Col. Malbone. In 1766, during the course of a gala dinner party, a chimney fire reduced the house to a pile of sandstone rubble. Reportedly Colonel Malbone, seeing no reason why the party should be interrupted, ordered dinner to be served outside, saying, "By God, if I have to lose my house, I shall not lose my dinner!"</p><br>
<p>A new house was built on this property, as the country villa of Mr. & Mrs. Jonathan Prescott Hall. Hall was an eminent New York lawyer and descendant of two signers of the Declaration of Independence.</p><br>
<p>In May 1848, the Halls commissioned Alexander Jackson Davis, a notable 19th-century New York architect, to design a house of pink sandstone with the ivy-covered ruin as its principal feature. The stone and brickwork before the front door is all that remains of the substantial country house built in 1741 by Malbone. Reconstruction was completed in 1849. In 1875, the house&#39;s interiors were remodeled under the supervision of noted local architect Dudley Newton. The home remained in the same family for over 130 years and served as the summer residence of the Morris family, a prominent family from New York, who held positions of social and political prominence in America and Newport since the 18th century.</p><br>
<p>Malbone Estate had some of the foremost gardens in North America during the 18th and 19th centuries. Situated on 17 acre and designed between 1848–1850 by the architectural theorist Andrew Jackson Downing, a prominent advocate of the Gothic revival style, the gardens consisted of gravel and brick pathways with borders of boxwoods, and artificial fish ponds lined with cobblestone. The grounds also include the largest private collection of beech trees in the Northeast, and had terraces displaying marble and bronze sculpture, a park of fine specimen trees and a lavish lower garden featuring marble pavilions, fountains, a sunken garden, and carriage house and garage.</p><br>
<p>In 1978, Malbone was bequeathed to the Preservation Society of Newport County by the Morris family, and is now privately owned by the Brede Family of Wellesley, Massachusetts. The property was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1976.</p><br>
<p>The Grand Circus Park Historic District contains the 5 acre Grand Circus Park in Downtown Detroit, Michigan that connects the theatre district with its financial district. It is bisected by Woodward Avenue, four blocks north of Campus Martius Park, and is roughly bounded by Clifford, John R. and Adams Streets. The district was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>A part of Augustus Woodwards plan to rebuild the city after the fire of 1805, the city established the park in 1850. Woodwards original plan called for the park to be a full circle, but after construction began, property owners north of Adams Street were reluctant to sell due to rising land values. The Detroit Opera House overlooks the eastern edge of the park and the grounds include statuary and large fountains. Near this historic site, General George Armstrong Custer delivered a eulogy for thousands gathered to mourn the death of President Abraham Lincoln. Architect Henry Bacon designed the Russell Alger Memorial Fountain (1921) in Grand Circus Park. Bacon&#39;s other projects include the Lincoln Memorial (1915–1922) in Washington, D.C. The fountain contains a classic Roman figure symbolizing Michigan by American sculptor Daniel French who sculpted the figure of Lincoln for the Memorial.</p><br>
<p>In 1957, the City of Detroit constructed a parking garage under the two halves of the park. The eastern portion houses space for 250 cars and the western portion accommodates 540.</p><br>
<p>The half-moon shaped park is divided down its center by Woodward Avenue, the city&#39;s main thoroughfare. The Alger Fountain anchors the eastern half and is capped on its north western edge with a statue of mayor William Cotter Maybury. Its western half is anchored by the Edison Fountain and capped on its north eastern edge with a statue of mayor Hazen Pingree.</p><br>
<p>The Maybury and Pingree monuments have been relocated several times. The Pingree statue was erected in 1904 near Woodward and Park Avenues facing south, while his rival, Maybury, occupied a site in the eastern half of the park facing Pingree across Woodward Avenue. After the 1957 garage construction, Pingree was returned to his original site while Maybury was placed at the north boundary of the park with his back to his foe. In the 1990s, both statues moved once again to their current locations.</p><br>
<p>Among the notable buildings encircling the park are the David Broderick Tower and David Whitney Building on the south, Kales Building, and Central United Methodist Church on the north, and Comerica Park and Detroit Opera House on the East.</p><br>
<h2>Development</h2><br>
<p>On November 12, 2007, Quicken Loans announced its development agreement with the city to move its headquarters to downtown Detroit, consolidating about 4,000 of its suburban employees in a move considered to be a high importance to city planners to reestablish the historic downtown. The construction sites reserved for development under the agreement include the location of the former Statler on Grand Circus Park and the former Hudson&#39;s location. (The western edge of the park was formerly home to the now demolished Statler and Tuller hotels). Grand Circus is serviced by a People Mover station.</p><br>
<h2>East necklace</h2><br>
<p>The Detroit Opera House is located at Broadway and Grand Circus. The east necklace of downtown links Grand Circus and the stadium area to Greektown along Broadway. The east neckace contains a sub-district sometimes called the Harmonie Park District, which has taken on the renowned legacy of Detroit&#39;s music from 1930s through the 1950s to the present. Near the Opera House, and emanating from Grand Circus along the east necklace are other venues including the Music Hall Center for the Performing Arts and the Gem Theatre and Century Club. The historic Harmonie Club and Harmonie Centre are located along Broadway. The Harmonie Park area ends near Gratiot and Randolph. The Detroit Athletic Club stands in view of center field at Comerica Park. Part of the east necklace, the area contains architecturally notable buildings planned for renovation as high-rise residential condominiums such as the Gothic Revival Metropolitan Building at 33 John R Street. The Hilton Garden Inn is also in the Harmonie Park area. The east necklace area is serviced by the People Mover at the Cadillac and Broadway Stations.</p><br>
<p>The Wagner Free Institute of Science is a natural history museum at 1700 West Montgomery Avenue in northern Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. Founded in 1855, it is a rare surviving example of a Victorian era scientific society, with a museum, research center, library, and educational facilities. Its buildings, developed between 1859 and 1901, present the collections of founder William Wagner in the style of the period, and have been designated a National Historic Landmark for their architecture and state of preservation.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>The Wagner Free Institute was founded in 1855 by William Wagner, a merchant, philanthropist, and gentleman scientist of the time, who sought to offer free educational courses to all who would seek to learn about the natural world. Wagner began offering free lectures on science at his home, Elm Grove, a colonial farm estate on the outskirts of Philadelphia in 1847. To illustrate the lectures he drew on a collection of specimens he had gathered since his boyhood. All of the classes were offered with an open admission policy that allowed women as well as men to attend. These lectures became so popular that by 1855 he moved them first to a public hall to accommodate the rapidly growing audience, and later to its permanent home designed by Philadelphia architect John McArthur, Jr., who would go on to design Philadelphia&#39;s City Hall.</p><br>
<p>Wagner continued to lecture and to lead the unique institution until his death in 1885. The Board of Trustees then appointed Joseph Leidy, a biologist of international reputation, to head its scientific and educational programs. Leidys appointment ushered in an active and productive era in which the Institutes mission and programs were greatly expanded. Leidys most lasting and significant contribution to the Institute was his reorganization of the Institutes museum. He greatly enlarged Wagners original collection by further field collection, purchases and other acquisitions. Leidy personally developed and supervised their reorganization into a systematic display in which specimens and cases were arranged according to Darwins theory of evolution, so that visitors moved from simpler to more complex organisms and through geologic time as they walked through the exhibition hall. This new display opened in 1891 and little has been altered since Leidy&#39;s time, making the Institute an exceptional example of a Victorian era science museum.</p><br>
<p>The Institute has continued to carry out Wagners initial goals of offering free science courses, while also functioning as a library, lecture hall and museum. Today, the Wagner Free Institute of Science is widely recognized as one of Philadelphias historical treasures. While preserving its historic building and collections for future generations to enjoy, the Institute also serves as a rich educational resource for programs on science, natural history, and the history of science from the 19th century to the present.</p><br>
<p>Fort Lyon, first named Fort Wise, has served in Colorado as a United States Army fort, a sanatorium, a neuropsychiatry facility, and a minimum security prison. The state closed the prison in 2011, and in early 2013 proposed to use the site as a rehabilitation center for homeless people. Then in late 2013 became a rehabilitative transitional housing facility for homeless people with some form of substance abuse problem. This is run by the Colorado Coalition for the Homeless and has been a developing program to current day.</p><br>
<p>The fort is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.</p><br>
<p>Part of the site, the Fort Lyon National Cemetery, which began burials in 1907, remains open.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>Fort Lyon was operated on the Colorado eastern plains until 1867. That year a new fort called Fort Lyon, and later Las Animas, Colorado, USA Naval Hospital and 5BN117, was built near the present-day town of Las Animas, Colorado. First named after Virginia governor Henry Wise, the fort was renamed in 1862 during the American Civil War. The US Army named it after General Nathaniel Lyon, who was killed in the Battle of Wilson&#39;s Creek near Springfield, Missouri in 1861.</p><br>
<p>Old Fort Lyon was notable as the staging post used by Colonel John Chivington in 1864 as he led an attack by the Third Colorado Cavalry and other forces on friendly Cheyenne and Arapaho camps that became known as the Sand Creek massacre. As witnesses and survivors emerged, the US Congress investigated, with a resulting national wave of public outrage about the slaughter and mutilation of up to 163 people, primarily women, children, and the elderly. The campground has been designated a National Historic Site.</p><br>
<p>In 1866 after flooding on the Arkansas River, the US Army established a new fort near Las Animas. The facility was completed in 1867. The USA Army used Fort Lyon until 1897, when they abandoned it after the end of the Indian Wars.</p><br>
<p>In 1906, the USA Navy opened a sanatorium there to treat sailors and marines with tuberculosis. The dry climate and rest by isolation at the fort were thought to be beneficial by contemporary treatment methods. On 22 June 1922, the Veteran&#39;s Bureau assumed operations. In 1930, administration of the hospital was transferred to the newly created Veterans Administration. Within three years, the VA designated Fort Lyon a neuropsychiatry facility.</p><br>
<p>In 2001 the hospital was closed and the facility was turned over to the state of Colorado for conversion to a minimum security prison. The prison was closed in 2011.</p><br>
<p>In September 2013, Governor John Hickenlooper announced that Fort Lyon had reopened as an isolated rehab facility for homeless people with substance abuse issues operated by the Colorado Coalition for the Homeless. As of November 2015, there were over 200 patients there.</p><br>
<p>Buldir Island  is a small island in the western Aleutian Islands of the U.S. state of Alaska. It lies midway between the Near Islands in the West and the Rat Islands in the East. It is the most westerly of the Aleutian Islands which formed as a result of volcanic activity in the late Quaternary or Recent times. The rocks from which the island formed are of two different ages with a considerable time gap. The rocks of the older dome are mainly olivine basalts and the younger dome consists of hornblende basalts and</p><br>
<p>basaltic andesites. That this island is younger than some of the neighboring islands is also suggested by the fact that there are fewer species of flowering plant on this island.</p><br>
<p>Buldir Island was first sighted on October 28, 1741 by Vitus Bering during his exploration of the region. The island is small, with an area of just 7.4482 square miles. It is 4.3 mi long and 2.5 mi wide. There was no human population reported by the 2000 census. The two major volcanoes on the island are the Buldir Volcano, which forms most of the island, and the East Cape Volcano, which forms the island&#39;s northeast section. Buldir Volcano is the taller, reaching 2,152 ft in height, the highest point on the island. The coastlines along the island are often tall steep cliffs.</p><br>
<p>The island is home to 21 species of breeding seabirds, making it the most diverse seabird colony in the Northern Hemisphere. The island&#39;s colonies include crested auklets and least auklets, as well as puffins, storm petrels and other species. It is one of only four locations in the world where red-legged kittiwakes breed.</p><br>
<p>Segula Island  is an island in the Rat Islands archipelago of the western Aleutian Islands, Alaska. It consists of a Holocene stratovolcano, called Segula Volcano.</p><br>
<p>Segula Island is three to four miles in diameter, and is located about 15 mi east of Kiska Island. The island supports a large auklet colony; one of only nine in the Aleutian Island chain.</p><br>
<h2>Climate</h2><br>
<p>Along with the other Rat Islands, Segula Island has a cool, wet, marine climate. Frequently, it snows from October to May off and on. The Rat Islands also lie in the path of major Pacific storms bringing winds of up to 100 mi per hour.</p><br>
<h2>Wildlife</h2><br>
<p>Segula hosts vegetation typical to the Aleutian Islands, largely moss, lichens, and heath, in addition to sedges, grass, fungi, various herbs, fern, and flowering plants such as Narcissus anemone, lupines, and orchids.</p><br>
<p>Hawadax Island  is an island in the Rat Islands archipelago of the western Aleutian Islands in the U.S. state of Alaska. The island was formerly known as Rat Island until May 2012 when it was renamed Hawadax Island, which is an Aleut name meaning "entry" and "welcome". The island has a land area of 10.3126 sq mi  and no permanent population. It is within the Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge. It is 9.3 mi in length and 3.1 mi in width.</p><br>
<p>The former name is the English translation of the name given to the islands by Captain Fyodor Petrovich Litke in 1827 when he visited the Aleutian Islands on a voyage around the world.</p><br>
<p>The Rat Islands are very earthquake-prone as they are on the boundary of the Pacific and North American tectonic plates. In 1965, there was a major earthquake with the magnitude 8.7 in the Rat Islands.</p><br>
<h2>Restoration</h2><br>
<p>The island was heavily infested with brown rats (Rattus norvegicus), which are considered a nuisance invasive species due to their negative impact on the population of ground-nesting wild birds.</p><br>
<p>The rats arrived on the island before 1780 due to a Japanese shipwreck. Since then, the rats had a devastating effect on local seabirds that have no natural defenses against the rats. Invasive rats are also present on 16 other islands in the Aleutian chain.</p><br>
<p>In 2007, the USA Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), which manages the refuge, was formulating plans to eradicate the rats. The eradication plan is modelled on a successful one to eliminate the Arctic fox from various Aleutian islands, where they were deliberately introduced for breeding.</p><br>
<p>In June 2009, the island was declared rat-free for the first time in 229 years, although the site will be continually monitored for another two years for confirmation. In the preceding autumn, helicopters dropped brodifacoum poison onto the island from buckets for a week, which eliminated the rat population. However, the associated nontarget mortality, i.e., the deaths of animals other than the rats, was significant. Some nontarget mortality was expected, but the actual quantity greatly exceeded what was predicted. The reported that more than 420 birds were killed as a result of the rat eradication program. Forty-six bald eagles died (exceeding the known population of 22 bald eagles on the island); toxicological analysis revealed lethal levels of brodifacoum in 12 of the 16 carcasses tested. Of the 320 glaucous-winged gull carcasses collected, toxicology tests implicated brodifacoum in 24 of the 34 tested. Fifty-four carcasses of another 25 bird species were found. The report found that the lead contractor which the FWS used, Island Conservation, had dropped more poisonous bait than they had proposed, including bait which was intended to be saved as a backup. The FWS asked the Ornithological Council to determine if Island Conservation had exceeded the limit of their poison quantities, but the council decided not to resolve any "legal questions"., the State of Alaska issued a Notice of Violation and is still investigating. Steve Delehanty, the manager of the Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge (which includes the island) said that, "It was a learning experience, and we made mistakes together." However, he also stated, "...if you do the math this was a rip-roaring conservation success."</p><br>
<p>The Silver Stream is a small river flowing close to the town of Mosgiel in Otago, New Zealand.</p><br>
<p>The Silver Stream, known in Māori as Whakaehu, rises in the Silverpeaks hills north of Dunedin, on the southern slope of Silver Peak itself, and flows initially southwards through a steep-sided forested valley before turning west at the eastern edge of the Taieri Plains at the foot of Three Mile Hill, close to Invermay Research Station. It continues in a southwesterly direction past the northern edge of Mosgiel, reaching the Taieri River two kilometres north of Allanton. Its total length is about 30 km.</p><br>
<p>The river has a history of flooding, but this has been remedied by the artificial raising of its banks, especially close to Mosgiel. In mid-2006, after heavy rain, the Silver Stream flooded at some points, but did not flood on the part of the bank running close to the town.</p><br>
<p>Bald Knob is the highest summit of Back Allegheny Mountain in Pocahontas County, West Virginia and is part of Cass Scenic Railroad State Park. At an altitude of 4,843 ft above sea level, Bald Knob is the third-highest point in West Virginia and the Allegheny Mountains.</p><br>
<h2>Description</h2><br>
<p>Bald Knob&#39;s elevation— only 21 ft lower than the highest point in the Alleghenies, Spruce Knob)—gives it a unique hemiboreal ecosystem. While the lower and middle elevations of the mountain are populated by oak, hickory, birch, beech and maple, the summit dome was historically dominated by red spruce.</p><br>
<p>Rowan, eastern hemlock, and balsam fir also occur above 4,000 ft, though they are not as common as the spruce.</p><br>
<p>The region was extensively logged from 1900 to 1960. Red spruce, being a valuable natural resource, attracted timber companies into the area. By 1940, the mountain had been stripped of nearly all virgin red spruce. The last harvest of red spruce and eastern hemlock on Bald Knob was in 1960. The summit was one of the last places logged by the Mower Lumber Company. Today, red spruce and other high elevation flora are making a comeback on the mountain; however, it will take many years for the area to fully recover.</p><br>
<h3>Access</h3><br>
<p>The mountaintop can be reached by hiking but is more commonly reached by riding the Cass Scenic Railroad, which transports visitors via old logging railroads to a 4,730 ft sub-peak approximately 1/4 mile north of Bald Knob.</p><br>
<h2>Climate</h2><br>
<p>Bald Knob generally experiences mild summers and cold winters. The summit and west facing slopes of the mountain receive an average of 60 in of precipitation per year and 180 in of snowfall. The annual record snowfall is over 300 in. Temperatures in the area have been known to reach -40 degrees Fahrenheit (-40 °C). Winter conditions can occur anytime from early October through early May. Snowfall has been observed in the higher elevations in every month except July. Federal troops observed snowfall on August 13, 1861 at nearby Fort Milroy. The last freeze usually occurs in May and the first freeze usually occurs in September; however, freezing temperatures can occur anytime throughout the year. Current weather conditions for both the summit and base of the mountain at the town of Cass are available below.</p><br>
<h2>Accessing Bald Knob</h2><br>
<p>While most of Back Allegheny Mountain is owned by Monongahela National Forest, the summit at Bald Knob itself is part of Cass Scenic Railroad State Park. Most visitors to Bald Knob come via train from Cass, but the site is also accessible by Forest Road 267B, which is closed to motorized vehicles most of the year. A two-mile hike from Odey Run can easily be walked or biked to arrive at Bald Knob. For safety reasons, hiking along the railroad grade itself is not permitted.</p><br>
<h2>Miscellaneous facts</h2><br>
<p>Bald Knob is one of only four mountain summits in West Virginia that rise above 4,800 feet, the other three being Spruce Knob, Thorny Flat, and an unnamed summit near Snowshoe, WV.</p><br>
<p>The south face of Bald Knob is the site of the headwaters of Leatherbark Run, West Virginia&#39;s highest stream.</p><br>
<p>Until 2001, Bald Knob was thought to be the second highest point in the state, but a survey conducted by Snowshoe Ski Resort using GPS technology concluded that Thorny Flat, the highpoint of Cheat Mountain, roughly five miles south of Bald Knob, was approximately six feet higher. Since then, at least one other summit on Cheat Mountain has been identified as being potentially a few feet higher than Bald Knob.</p><br>
<p>Bald Knob is the highest point reached by a standard gauge railroad east of the Mississippi River.</p><br>
<p>Lake Denton is a 66 acre lake in Highlands County in the USA state of Florida. It is between the cities of Avon Park and Sebring. Its maximum depth is 51 ft. Divers use the lake for recreation and training., run by Lake Denton Management Inc. is located on its shore. The property is located on is owned by.</p><br>
<p>Lake Denton has a public boat ramp, but no public swimming areas. In recent years, a conflict has arisen between those wanting to use the lake for boating and those wanting to use it for swimming. In summer 2005, the boat ramp was officially closed, temporarily, so people could use Lake Denton for swimming. The future will determine whether boating and swimming will both be allowed, depending on how the Highlands County Commission decides to respond to conflicts between area residents and lake visitors. It is now open for boaters, although the conflict over its recreational use has not been resolved.</p><br>
<p>Kutha, Cuthah, or Cutha  is an archaeological site in Babil Governorate, Iraq. Archaeological investigations have revealed remains of the Neo-Babylonian period and Kutha appears frequently in historical sources.</p><br>
<h2>History of archaeological research</h2><br>
<p>The first archaeologist to examine the site, George Rawlinson, noted a brick of king Nebuchadrezzar II of the Neo-Babylonian Empire mentioning the city of Kutha. The site was also visited by George Smith and by Edgar James Banks. Tell Ibrahim was excavated by Hormuzd Rassam in 1881, for four weeks. Little was discovered, mainly some inscribed bowls and a few tablets.</p><br>
<h2>Kutha and its environment</h2><br>
<p>Kutha lies on the right bank of the eastern branch of the Upper Euphrates, north of Nippur and around 25 mi northeast of Babylon. The site consists of two tells or settlement mounds. The larger main mound is 0.75 mi long and crescent-shaped. A smaller mound is located to the west. The two mounds, as is typical in the region, are separated by the dry bed of an ancient canal, the Shatt en-Nil.</p><br>
<h2>Kutha in textual sources</h2><br>
<p>According to the Tanakh, Cuthah was one of the five Syrian and Mesopotamian cities from which Sargon II, King of Assyria, brought settlers to take the places of the exiled Israelites. II Kings relates that these settlers were attacked by lions, and interpreting this to mean that their worship was not acceptable to the deity of the land, they asked Sargon to send someone to teach them, which he did.</p><br>
<p>The result was a mixture of religions and peoples, the latter being known as "Cuthim" in Hebrew and as "Samaritans" to the Greeks.</p><br>
<p>Kutha is also the name of the capital of the Sumerian underworld, Irkalla.</p><br>
<p>In the Assyrian inscriptions "Cutha" occurs on the Shalmaneser obelisk, line 82, in connection with Babylon. Shulgi (formerly read as Dungi), King of Ur III, built the temple of Nergal at Cuthah, which fell into ruins, so that Nebuchadnezzar II had to rebuild the "temple of the gods, and placed them in safety in the temple". This agrees with the Biblical statement that the men of Cuthah served Nergal. Josephus places Cuthah, which for him is the name of a river and of a district, in Persia, and Neubauer says that it is the name of a country near Kurdistan.</p><br>
<p>The so-called "Legend of the King of Cuthah", a fragmentary inscription of the Akkadian literary genre called narû, written as if it were transcribed from a royal stele, is in fact part of the "Cuthean Legend of Naram-Sin", not to be read as history, a copy of which found in the cuneiform library at Sultantepe, north of Harran.</p><br>
<p>Sumu-la-El, a king of the 1st Babylonian Dynasty, rebuilt the city walls of Kutha. The city was later defeated by Hammurabi of Babylon in the 39th year of his reign.</p><br>
<p>In The Last Pagans of Iraq: Ibn Waḥshiyya and His Nabatean Agriculture, Jaakko Hämeen-Anttila says:</p><br>
<p>"One might also mention the rather surprising story, traced back to Alì, the first Imam of the Shiites, where he is made to identify himself as “one of the Nabateans from Kùthà” (see Yàqùt,MujamIV: 488, s.v. Kùthà). It goes without saying that the story is apocryphal, but it shows that among the Shiites there were people ready to identify themselves with the Nabateans. Thus it comes as no surprise that especially in the so-called ghulàt movements (extremist Shiites) a lot of material surfaces that is derivable from Mesopotamian sources (cf. Hämeen-Anttila 2001), and the early Shiite strongholds were to a great extent in the area inhabited by Nabateans.</p><br>
<p>Of course, as also Yàqùt notes, the identification of Kùthà as the original home of the Shiites/Muslims testifies to the Abrahamic roots of Islam. Yet the identification of Kùthà, and by extension also Abraham, with the Nabateans is remarkable." (p. 35)</p><br>
<p>Logan Circle, also known as Logan Square, is an open-space park in Center City Philadelphias northwest quadrant and one of the five original planned squares laid out on the city grid. The circle itself exists within the original bounds of the square; the names Logan Square and Logan Circle are used interchangeably when referring to the park. Originally "Northwest Square" in William Penns 1684 plan for the city, the square was renamed in 1825 after Philadelphia statesman James Logan. The park is the focal point of the eponymous neighborhood. Logan Square was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1981.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>Prior to the 1800s the city developed along the Delaware River, leaving the area around Logan Square as untouched forest through the American Revolution. Over the next quarter century the square served as a pasture, execution grounds, and graveyard, and hosted a gallows until the hanging of William Gross in 1823. With aims of redirecting public attention away from its previous morbid use, Philadelphia leased the square to the Orphans Society from 1821 to 1830.</p><br>
<p>In 1842 an ordinance “made it an offense to drive or take into Logan, Penn, or Rittenhouse squares any ‘horse, cow, cart, wagon, carriage or wheelbarrow, except by permission, or place any wood, coal, rubbish, carrion, or offensive matter within either of the squares, or to climb on the trees, fences or gates... or to dig up the soil or injure the grass, or to run or walk over or lie on the same.’”By the 1840s Philadelphia had begun a restoration of the square from its former days as a graveyard, lining the walks with trees, planting greenery and shrubbery, and constructing a wooden fence allowing the square to resemble Penn&#39;s vision of an urban green space. During this period, the city limited access to Logan Square to homeowners with property connected to the square who paid for its upkeep; the city constructed a wrought iron fence around the square in 1852.</p><br>
<p>In 1864 the square was the site of the Great Sanitary Fair, a fundraising event in support of the United States Sanitary Commission to help raise money, support, and buy medicine for the Union troops during the American Civil War. President Abraham Lincoln visited the fair and donated forty-eight signed copied of the Emancipation Proclamation, which sold for $10 each. In 1881 the Pennsylvania Railroad constructed a viaduct that disconnected Logan Square and Rittenhouse Square, altering William Penn’s original plan of connectivity between the city&#39;s five squares. Before the 20th century the square was also used as a location for concerts and other community events.</p><br>
<p>Since the 1890&#39;s the city had envisioned constructing of a boulevard similar to the Parisian Champs-Élyséese and in 1907 the plans were approved. The square began to transform again: the original bounds of the square—18th Street to the East, 20th Street to the West, Race Street to the South and Vine Street to the North remain intact, and the square began to more closely resemble its appearance today, distinguished by its circle. Construction began in 1917 on a plan to connect Center City with Fairmount Park which later became a segment of Benjamin Franklin Parkway. It was designed by Jacques Gréber, a French landscape architect who converted Logan Square into a circle similar to the oval of the Place de la Concorde in Paris. Philadelphia even modeled its Free Library and Family Court Building after the twin buildings of the Hôtel de Crillon and the Hôtel de la Marine in Paris.</p><br>
<p>Among the sites in its immediate vicinity are the Swann Memorial Fountain at the center of the circle, Free Library of Philadelphia, the Academy of Natural Sciences, the Franklin Institute, Moore College of Art and Design, the Roman Catholic Cathedral-Basilica of Sts. Peter and Paul, and the Mormon Philadelphia Pennsylvania Temple.</p><br>
<p>The circle itself is the subject of the local band The Wonder Years song Logan Circle&#39; from their studio album The Upsides.</p><br>
<h3>Recent redevelopment</h3><br>
<p>In early 2005, The Pennsylvania Horticultural Society(PHS) began efforts to clean up and redevelop the park to make it more accessible and inviting to pedestrians. Most noticeably the large paulownia trees that featured prominently round the fountain were removed. City planners with PHS had determined that they had reached the end of their life span and had become an eyesore. They were replaced with similar trees grown especially for Logan Square at Longwood Gardens as part of a larger plan to improve the space. PHS planted lush perennial gardens around the fountain and adjacent parcels and maintain the gardens throughout the year.</p><br>
<p>The city undertook an extensive rehabilitation plan and by 2012 the city had refurbished the original squares with restoration and new greenery bringing the Parkway’s entertainment capabilities full-circle.</p><br>
<p>The city has expressed support of transitioning the circle back into a square, and increasing it&#39;s aesthetic nature as an urban green space.</p><br>
<h3>Events</h3><br>
<p>In 2016 it was the starting location for the Women&#39;s March on Philadelphia.</p><br>
<p>Pope John Paul II celebrated mass there in 1979.</p><br>
<p>To commemorate the end of every school year since the 1960s, the newly appointed Sophomores, Juniors, and Seniors of J. W. Hallahan Catholic Girls High School jump into the fountain. The event is the subject of much local media coverage throughout Philadelphia.</p><br>
<p>In April 2017 Logan Circle hosted the NFL Draft.</p><br>
<h2>In popular culture</h2><br>
<p>The band The Wonder Years has a song named after Logan Circle on their album The Upsides.</p><br>
<p>The emo band Algernon Cadwallader&#39;s song "Spit Fountain" references the statues in Swann Fountain.</p><br>
<p>Mont Rougemont  is part of the Monteregian Hills in southern Quebec. It is composed of igneous rock and hornfels. The summit stands 366 m above sea level. The mountain is mostly covered with sugar maple-dominated forest. Apple orchards and vineyards are cultivated on many of the lower slopes, and much of the fruit is used to make cider.</p><br>
<h2>Geology</h2><br>
<p>The igneous material is composed almost entirely of mafic and ultramafic rock such as gabbro and olivine-bearing pyroxenite. Mont Rougemont might be the deep extension of a vastly eroded ancient volcanic complex, which was probably active about 125 million years ago. The mountain was created when the North American Plate moved westward over the New England hotspot, along with the other mountains of the Monteregian Hills. It forms part of the vast Great Meteor hotspot track.</p><br>
<p>Mont Yamaska is part of the Monteregian Hills in southern Quebec. Its summit stands 411 m above sea level. This mountain is largely covered with deciduous forest dominated by sugar maple. Some apple orchards are raised on lower slopes.</p><br>
<h2>Geology</h2><br>
<p>Mont Yamaska is composed of igneous rock and hornfels. The igneous rock is mostly mafic with much gabbro, essexite, and a titanium-rich pyroxenite. Mont Yamaska might be the deep extension of a vastly eroded ancient volcanic complex, which was probably active about 125 million years ago. The mountain was created when the North American Plate moved westward over the New England hotspot, along with the other mountains of the Monteregian Hills that form part of the Great Meteor hotspot track.</p><br>
<p>Overtoun House is a 19th-century country house and estate in West Dunbartonshire, Scotland. Situated on a hill overlooking the River Clyde, it is 2 km north of the village of Milton and 3 km east of the town of Dumbarton. The house, an example of Scottish Baronial architecture, was built in the 1860s, and was donated to the people of Dumbarton in 1938. It was subsequently a maternity hospital, and now houses a Christian centre. The house is protected as a category A listed building, while the grounds are included in the Inventory of Gardens and Designed Landscapes in Scotland.</p><br>
<p>Overtoun Bridge, an arched approach bridge over the Overtoun Burn within the estate, has gained media attention because of the unusually large number of dogs that have reportedly leaped to their deaths there.</p><br>
<h2>Estate history</h2><br>
<h3>White family</h3><br>
<p>In 1859, James White, a retired lawyer and a co-owner of the J & J White Chemical Works in Rutherglen, bought Overtoun Farm with the purpose of building a mansion there. He intended for it to be a country retreat, and initially acquired 900 acre; he soon increased this to 2,000 acre. White hired the Glasgow-based architect James Smith (1808–1863) (father of the murder suspect Madeleine Smith) to design and construct the house. A farmhouse on the site was demolished to make way for the mansion. Overtoun House was built between 1860 and 1863, though Smith died before work was completed, and the house was completed by one of his partners. White&#39;s family began living in the mansion in 1862. It is recorded that the grounds were laid out by Mr C Kemp of Birkenhead, which is thought to refer to the landscape gardener Edward Kemp (1817–1891), who was superintendent of Birkenhead Park for Joseph Paxton.</p><br>
<p>In 1884 James White died, and his son John moved to the estate in 1891 after the death of his mother. John White wanted the house to be expanded further, so he came to an agreement in 1892 with a local pastor, Reverend Dixon Swan, the heir to the adjacent Garshake Farm lands. Under the deal, John White was able to lay out the West Drive and its lodge. The eastern and western sides of the estate were split by a waterfall on the Overtoun Burn. To connect the two sides, a road was built and the Overtoun Bridge erected to designs by Henry Milner, son of Edward Milner.</p><br>
<p>John White took the additional surname of Campbell, and was elevated to the peerage as Baron Overtoun in 1893. However, he died childless in 1908, and was succeeded by his nephew Dr Douglas White, a London-based General practitioner. Lady Overtoun continued to live in the house until 1931, after which Dr White, who seldom visited Scotland, gave the house to the people of Dumbarton in 1938.</p><br>
<h3>Later reuse</h3><br>
<p>During the Second World War Overtoun was turned into a convalescent home for injured soldiers and locals. The house remained mainly isolated, and it was not damaged by the bombings of the nearby Clydeside shipyards.</p><br>
<p>In 1947 Overtoun was turned into a maternity hospital. A fire destroyed part of the house in 1948, although there were no deaths, and the hospital remained in operation until 1 September 1970. By this time many of the garden structures, including a folly castle and the walled garden, had been demolished. In 1975 the British government decided to use the house as a base for its Quality of Life Experiment. From 1978 to 1983, a religious group, the Spire Fellowship, utilised the home, and from 1984 to 1994, the estate was used by a group named Youth with a Mission.</p><br>
<p>The house fell into abandonment soon after Youth with a Mission left the area, but in 2001 Pastor Bob Hill from Fort Worth, Texas, leased the property from West Dunbartonshire Council to use as a Christian centre for Scottish youth. The house was used in the 2012 film Cloud Atlas, where it doubled for the house of Vyvyan Ayrs in the 1936 segment, and Aurora House in the 2012 segment. "Regeneration", which was partially filmed in Overtoun House, is a 1997 film adaptation of the novel of the same name by Pat Barker.</p><br>
<p>In October 1994, a man named Kevin Moy threw his two-week-old son to his death from the bridge because he believed that his son was an incarnation of the Devil. He then attempted to commit suicide several times, first by attempting to jump off the bridge, later by slashing his wrists.</p><br>
<h2>Overtoun Bridge</h2><br>
<p>Overtoun Bridge is a category B listed structure over the Overtoun Burn on the approach road to the house.</p><br>
<p>Studies have shown that since the 1950s or 1960s numerous dogs have leapt from the bridge at the rate of about one dog per year. Dogs that leap over the bridge parapet fall 50 ft onto the waterfalls below. Some dogs that survived this drop were then taken back to the bridge, and jumped again. The only linking factors for this unexplained event are that dogs mostly jump from the same side of the bridge, in clear weather, and they are breeds with long snouts.</p><br>
<p>Yamdena  is the largest of the Tanimbar Islands in the Maluku Province of Indonesia. Saumlaki is the chief town, located on the south end of the island.</p><br>
<p>The island has a range of forested hills along its eastern coast, while its western coast is lower. The forests are inhabited by wild Water Buffalo.</p><br>
<p>The Yamdena language is spoken on and around the island. Christianity is the main religion, but ancestor worship is still practised. Handicrafts on the island include woodcarving, fine goldwork, Ikat weaving (mainly on nearby Selaru Island). In 1987 a new species of Bush Warbler was recorded on the island.</p><br>
<p>Megalith: In the village of Sangliat Dol there is an antique stone stairway that leads from the beach to a boat shaped stone platform.</p><br>
<p>There are several similar ones but less preserved sites on the island which originally represented the boats on which the inhabitants&#39; ancient ancestors arrived on the island.</p><br>
<h2>Transport</h2><br>
<p>Saumlaki is linked by air and sea to Langgur-Tual in the Kei Islands.</p><br>
<p>Moccasin Bend Archeological District is an archeological site in Chattanooga, Tennessee, that is part of the Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park unit. The National Park Service refers to it as one of the "most unique units found in the entire National Park Service." The area contains remnants of 12,000 years of continuous human habitation and therefore serves as a fascinating area with a rich history and unique cultural significance. For many years, there was little recognition of the historical significance of the area, and years of industrial development occurred on and around sites of archeological importance. After decades of campaigning by concerned citizens, private organizations, local officials, the, and finally a state representative, the area was officially recognized as a National Archeological District in 2003. Moccasin Bend is currently undergoing a process of renovation and restoration that will allow the area to fulfill the National Park Service’s mission of preserving “natural and cultural resources” for the “enjoyment, education, and inspiration of this and future generations.”</p><br>
<p>The 956 acre area is located directly across the Tennessee River from Lookout Mountain, site of an American Civil War battle. The archeological district is significant due to the prevalence of historic artifacts found within some of the most historically important Native American sites in the United States. Moccasin Bend was a part of the Trail of Tears and also played a vital role in the American Civil War. Moccasin Bend National Archeological District is a unique park with a complex and fascinating history.</p><br>
<h2>Moccasin Bend National Archeological District</h2><br>
<p>In 2003, with the help of USA Representative Zach Wamp, the Friends of Moccasin Bend, and community leaders, the Moccasin Bend National Archeological District was created as part of the Chickamauga National Military Park. This designation made Moccasin Bend the first and only National Archeological District in the entire National Park Service. The area of land known as Moccasin Bend is a 1,000 acre peninsula sitting on the edge of the Tennessee River. Most of the land on the peninsula became the property of the federal government, excluding the already existing facilities mentioned previously. This created a rather fragmented park with distinct and diverse parts. The core area of the District resides on the southern tip of the Bend. This area includes Civil War resources and important American Indian sites. Upon its adoption into the National Park Service, various projects began intended to survey the landscape, investigate sites of archeological significance, stabilize at risk areas, and explore potential opportunities to develop the land as a park. The Friends of Moccasin Bend, alongside the National Park Service, sought to implement such amenities as an interpretive center. Plans for this interpretive center are currently in the works.</p><br>
<p>Just as the creation of the park was relatively slow going, so has been the process of developing the Bend&#39;s park aspects. The fragmented nature of the park and its history of industrial and commercial use has made the transition into a thriving area of cultural and historical significance a challenge. In order to move forward with some of the proposed plans for development, there are areas of land that need to be acquired from their current landowners. This has proved to be a difficult task. Despite these challenges, efforts are still being made to continue progress at Moccasin Bend and strive towards the goal of a unique experience through facilitated preservation, protection, and interpretation of the area. These efforts are largely spearheaded by the While the Friends of Moccasin Bend and the National Park Service work with the city to move forward on the proposed plans, there are currently some limited recreational opportunities and amenities.</p><br>
<h3>Current Amenities</h3><br>
<p>While areas of the park continue to be developed, there are a few key areas that are currently accessible to the public and allow a glimpse into the unique landscape of Moccasin Bend. The National Archeological District includes a 10.5 acre meadow that has been designated the future site of an interpretive center. The area is located on Hamm Road, a crucial gateway that runs through Moccasin Bend. It is surrounded by industrial tracts of land and is not connected to any other NPS-owned areas. This site, unlike most other tracts of land within the National Archeological District, is unlikely to contain archeological resources. This feature made it the desired location for the pending interpretive center, which would include development such as a parking lot and restrooms. This site will serve as a vital access point for public visitors.</p><br>
<p>The is a 1.5 mile hiking trail located within the National Archeological District. This trail existed before the Bend&#39;s designation as part of a National Park. Prior to the federal governments acquisition of this land, the Blue Blazes Trail, established by members of the Sierra Club, was under city/county management. The trail is low lying and contains numerous wetlands, with numerous muddy patches throughout. Although efforts are being made to make walking through the muddy patches possible. Currently there are no interpretive signs along this trail, but there are numerous areas of historical significance nearby, including the site where multiple Paleo-era projectile points were found. There is public access to the trails through the trailhead, adjacent to a gravel lot.</p><br>
<p>is a 98 acre tract of land owned by the National Park Service. The area was the former site of Moccasin Bend Speedway and also contains portions of land that were part of the John Brown Reservation. The site is now home to a 1.2 mile roundtrip hike that traverses over a part of the tract that was used during the Trail of Tears. Additionally, this road was used to transport Union supplies during the Civil War in 1863. This trail is marked by interpretive signs explaining some of the historical and cultural significance of the route. This trail is also open to the public and can be accessed through a parking lot located on Moccasin Bend Road.</p><br>
<h3>Sites of Significance</h3><br>
<p>Moccasin Bend, as per its designation as a National Historic Landmark and its place on the National Register of Historic Places contains a plethora of sites with archeological, cultural, and historical significance. The primary significance of this area falls within the context of American Indian history and American Civil War history. The 12,000 years of human inhabitation have left a number of rare artifacts that contribute to this sites importance. The primary archeological site at Moccasin Bend is Hampton Place. This area contains two Late Mississippian towns that were perhaps visited by Spanish explorers, as revealed through the presence of Spanish artifacts. Prior to the Bend&#39;s designation as a National Archeological District, Hampton Place was heavily looted and vandalized, leaving little visible evidence of the once prominent archeological complex. Another important site within Moccasin Bend is the Mallards Dozen Site, an area that contains remnants of Middle Woodland civilization. Most of the archeological evidence contributing to this knowledge is not currently visible. However, portions of the site are accessible via the Blue Blazes Trail.</p><br>
<p>The Vulcan Site includes remains from the Archaic and Woodland periods. This includes a Late Archaic period house that is dated to 1335 B.C. considered to be one of the earliest family houses in the southeastern United States. Parts of the Vulcan Site are included in the Blue Blazes Trail as well as on the Moccasin Bend Golf Course. As with the other sites, the archeological site is not currently visible. The Woodland Mound Complex is located on the southern tip of Moccasin Bend and is within the confines of the Moccasin Bend Mental Health Institute. These mounds are attributed to burial practices of the Late Woodland period. Because of the mounds&#39; proximity to the mental health facility, access is limited.</p><br>
<p>As indicated by the presence of Browns Ferry Federal Road, John Brown, who operated Browns Ferry, the site of a historic Civil War Battle, Moccasin Bend was the site of his homestead. While this contributes to the historical significance of Moccasin Bend, few remnants remain of John Brown&#39;s inhabitance on Moccasin Bend. There are a number of other Civil War sites located on the southern tip of Stringers Ridge. These sites were occupied by the Union Army during 1863. The historic roads that mark this period of time are still useable today, and multiple sites can be observed from Stringers Ridge.</p><br>
<h2>Friends of Moccasin Bend National Park</h2><br>
<p>This organization was established in 1994 to serve as an advocacy group for the adoption of Moccasin Bend into the Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park. The organization was instrumental in leading to the creation of the park and continues to be actively involved in the parks management and policies. At the time of its creation, the plans for Moccasin Bends future were still very much up for debate. After the idea had been shut down for decades, the revitalized the idea of adding Moccasin Bend to the Chickamauga Chattanooga National Military Park. They conducted an economic impact report of making the area part of the National Park Service and concluded that it would have a positive economic impact on the city. The Friends continued to be advocates for establishing the area as part of a National Park. They reached out to state representatives and helped build support from the community.</p><br>
<p>In 2001, USA Representative Zach Wamp proposed HR 980, which called for the creation of Moccasin Bend National Archeological District as part of the Chickamauga National Military Park. The bill was finally passed in 2003. In 2004, the Archeological District was officially established after the state and local government donated 672 acres of public land to the federal government (the boundaries of the park excluded already existing facilities: Moccasin Bend Mental Health Institute, Moccasin Bend Golf Course, the WDEF radio tower, the Hamilton County firing range, and a model airplane facility). The Friends of Moccasin Bend National Park were instrumental in this process.</p><br>
<p>The organization, established a decade prior to the areas designation as a National Archeological District, remains active today. According to their website, they work alongside the National Park Service to develop "outstanding visitor experiences at one of Americas newest national park areas." In addition, they support the National Park Service in its endeavors towards "preservation, protection, and interpretation of the cultural, historical, and natural resources of the Moccasin Bend National Archeological District..." The Friends of Moccasin Bend, a non-profit organization, serves as the grass roots organizers, fund raisers, and overall advocates for the park. They ensure that the park is not lost in the shuffle of federal government bureaucracy, and continues to move forward as the valuable asset that it is to Chattanooga.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<h3>Paleo-Indian to Mississippian Periods (10500 BC – AD 1630)</h3><br>
<p>American Indians used this land as a place for a home as long as 12,000 years ago. During the Paleo-Indian Period (10500–8000 BC), Moccasin Bend served as a home for Paleo-Indians. These people evidently had a highly mobile hunting and gathering way of life. The artifact markers for this period include a variety of fluted, semi-fluted, and un-fluted lanceolate projectile points. The Paleo-Indian period corresponds to the end of the Pleistocene Era.</p><br>
<p>During the Woodland Period (700 BC – 1000 AD,) there were major changes evolving with the needs of the Indian people. The use of bow and arrows became the primary way of hunting and pottery became widely popular throughout the Indian tribes. From the Woodland Period, artifacts have been found on Moccasin Bend.</p><br>
<p>During the Mississippian Period (AD 1000–1630), the American Indians resided on Moccasin Bend in large villages enclosed by corn fields and other agricultural necessities. The Mississippian Period was also the time of interaction with the Spanish to the area, starting with Hernando de Soto&#39;s march through the area in 1540. Moccasin Bend was very important area of land at this time.</p><br>
<h3>American Indian and European contact to American colonial settlement and forced removal periods (AD 1513–1860)</h3><br>
<p>Early interactions between American-Indians of the Mississippian Period and European explorers such as Hernando de Soto were especially destructive for American-Indian populations. The establishment of French and British trading networks in these early settlements introduced firearms to Indians, which altered their economy. Indian communities began to emphasize hunting for hides as an economic resource, as hides were of great value to French and British settlers. During this time, Cherokee Indians only lightly used Moccasin Bend.</p><br>
<p>Another historical site across Moccasin Bend, possibly constructed in 1805, was the USA Federal Road, used to connect Georgia with Tennessee to the north by transiting through the Cherokee Nation. In 1838, the Cherokee Indians were forced out of their national area by the USA Government. Moccasin Bend was not part of the Cherokee Nation in 1838 but was crossed by two departing parties on the Trail of Tears.</p><br>
<h3>Civil War (1861–1865)</h3><br>
<p>Moccasin Bend also played a major role in the Civil War. The Union forces took control of west and middle Tennessee, leaving one important place they had not yet conquered. They took that in the Chattanooga Campaign. "According to Civil War historian, James McPherson, Chattanooga had great strategic value, for the only railroads linking the eastern and western parts of the Confederacy converged there in a gap carved through the Cumberland Mountains by the Tennessee River. Union forces could divide the eastern portion by penetrating into Georgia via Chattanooga.”</p><br>
<h3>Post–Civil War 19th century and early 20th century (1866–1925)</h3><br>
<p>After the Civil War, some farmers who had been dislocated returned to the land and re-established agricultural practices. Most of the land continued to be used for agriculture, but it was divided and sold to various farmers and individuals. In 1898, some individuals promoted a plan of creating a canal that ran across the Bend. The plan was eventually dropped because of its extremely high cost. In the early part of the 20th century, Moccasin Bend was investigated by numerous archeologists. They discovered a number of burial mounds and other artifacts. At this point in time, citizens in Chattanooga were only beginning to understand the impressive cultural and historical significance of the land.</p><br>
<h3>Early preservation efforts in 20th century (1926–1960)</h3><br>
<p>Prior to World War II, citizens of Lookout Mountain petitioned to have the city of Chattanooga purchase Moccasin Bend to be "as a park and pleasure resort for all the people of Chattanooga and Hamilton County." This was the first of many attempts to create a park on the land. However, the Great Depression and World War II soon directed attention elsewhere and the push for the creation of the park went on a temporary hiatus.</p><br>
<p>In 1944, the Chattanooga Chamber of Commerce established the Moccasin Bend Memorial Park Association for the purpose of developing a park that would be dedicated to military service men and women. Despite widespread support for the creation of this park, even going so far as to gain the approval of Governor Browning in 1951, the money necessary for the acquisition of land on Moccasin Bend was cut from the budget by Browning&#39;s successor, which effectively put a halt on the memorial park project. As the memorial park project died out, government officials and business leaders advocated for a plethora of other ideas. Some wanted the land to be used for a mental health facility. Others wanted the land to be used for industrial development. The Chattanooga Times supported the creation of both a mental health facility and a park. In 1957, as pressures to industrialize mounted, the Moccasin Bend Association was formed to promote preservation of the land. However, it appeared that most people at the time supported a broader, multiple use plan for the land. With this information in mind, Charles Dunn, superintendent of the Chickamauga Chattanooga National Military Park, presented his opinion that the federal government should seek to acquire the land and make it a National Park. However, the National Park Service believed that recent developments on the land detracted from the scenic and recreational value of the land that had originally led the NPS to be interested in the Bend. In 1960 a large chunk of the land was sold to Chattanooga and Hamilton County. This transaction meant that almost all of the land on the Bend was under public control. This was, according to a Chattanooga Times article, the end to the 25 year controversy over Moccasin Bend.</p><br>
<h3>Later preservation efforts in 20th century (1961–1993)</h3><br>
<p>In 1961, the Moccasin Bend Mental Health Institute was officially opened for service after approximately three years of construction. This development was a step backward for those who wished to preserve the land for its recreation uses. To combat this, in that same year the Moccasin Bend Association revived efforts to involve the National Park Service in the management of the land. As advocates for the creation of a park who opposed industrialization and development on the land sought out the NPS&#39;s assistance with increased urgency, the park superintendent at the time, John Cook, dismissed their claims, arguing that the Bend "has lost its historical significance and part of its natural beauty," which decreased its value as an asset for the National Park. His belief was that the land on Moccasin Bend was the responsibility of local individuals and governments.</p><br>
<p>As the chances of the National Park Services becoming involved in the area diminished, numerous development projects came to light. One particularly destructive project was the large scale dredging that took place at the future site of Chattanooga State Technical College.</p><br>
<p>During this project, archaeologists found a number of important artifacts that indicated the historic presence of Indian civilization on the land for thousands of years. Prominent supporters of the land attempted to use this as an opportunity to legitimize the land&#39;s national importance, but to no avail. The NPS remained uninterested in the matter. In 1965 was created. At the same time, the local government prepared to purchase some of the last remaining land that was available for industrial development. Various ideas were proposed as to how the land should be used, but development was frequently obstructed by continual discoveries of American Indian remains. These frequent discoveries led some people, particularly archeologists, to believe that Moccasin Bend needed to be placed on the National Register of Historic Places.</p><br>
<p>As conflicting views came to a head, the city and county governments, in partnership with the Lyndhurst Foundation, created the Moccasin Bend Task Force in 1982. The Moccasin Bend Task Force teamed up with the Chattanooga Regional Anthropological Association. These two groups both represented unique views, centered on a conflict between historical conservation versus preservation. They each recognized the cultural importance of the land and overall opposed industrial developments. The Anthropological Association was extremely active in excavation and archeology. The Task Force was concerned with the extent of archeological work being done and eventually asked for all artifacts found at Moccasin Bend to be returned. Meanwhile, Moccasin Bend had been nominated to become designated as a National Historic Landmark. This was approved in 1986. Three years later, the was established. Once the land was officially designated as having historic and cultural significance, involved parties began the task of outlining how the land should be monitored, protected, and preserved. In 1994, the Friends of Moccasin Bend National Park organization was established, marking a new era in efforts to protect and restore Moccasin Bend.</p><br>
<h2>Non-National Park landscape features</h2><br>
<p>After a tumultuous past regarding the best use of the land on Moccasin Bend, there are currently a wide range of activities and institutions that exist within the confines of Moccasin Bend. The area that is a part of the National Park Unit is technically part of the Northshore area of Chattanooga, but is disconnected from the heart of downtown. Much of the industries that entered the area during the second half of the twentieth century continue to operate. Manufacturers Road and Hamm Road, the central avenues leading to Moccasin Bend, are full of industry. A common complaint about Moccasin Bend as a recreation area is that its access is limited by the uninviting, polluted roadways that must be traveled to reach the park.</p><br>
<p>Aside from the plethora of industries in the area, the land on Moccasin Bend is used for a number of other amenities. The Moccasin Bend Mental Health Institute was established in 1961 and continues to be in operation, although some park advocates hope for the mental health facility to be phased out. Additionally, the Moccasin Bend Golf Course, also established in the 1960s, remains in use to this day, and contributes to the fragmented nature of the park.</p><br>
<h3>Moccasin Bend Mental Health Institute</h3><br>
<p>Moccasin Bend is the site of the Moccasin Bend Mental Health Institute, a psychiatric hospital established in 1961 by the Tennessee State Legislature. Local architect Mario Bianculli, considered "Chattanoogas First Modernist," designed the majority of the institutions five buildings. According to preliminary research done by the National Park Service, three of the five buildings at the facility appear to be unused. Some of the landscape around the perimeter of the facility is part of a federal government easement that runs the entire length of the riverbank upon which Moccasin Mental Health Institute is located. There are a number of American Indian mounds on part of the hospital property. However, because of hospital security measures, there is little to no public access to these sites.</p><br>
<h3>Moccasin Bend Golf Course</h3><br>
<p>The golf course is currently owned by Hamilton County and the City of Chattanooga and is managed by HMS Golf. It is an approximately 160 acre area of land, south of the Moccasin Bend Wastewater Treatment Facility and north of the. The National Park Service maintains a shoreline easement along the western boundary of the golf course. The creation of the course altered some of the landscape, and erosion is evident in a few areas. contains an area that is part of the Vulcan site, an important archaeological area. This fact must be considered in future management of the property.</p><br>
<p>The Moccasin Bend Wastewater Treatment Facility is in very close proximity to the golf course and is a 184-acre tract of land. This was developed in 1961 and remains in constant use today.</p><br>
<h3>Other features</h3><br>
<p>Due to the extensive delay in creating a National Park and protecting the land, there are an assortment of buildings, industries, and developed features within Moccasin Bend. The county firing range for law enforcement training is currently located on Moccasin Bend Road. The firing range includes a number of buildings and other structures. The area where the firing range is located sits within the 750 acre area of land that was donate by the city to the National Park Service. The Friends of Moccasin Bend National Park and other community advocates are currently in the process of convincing the city to relocate the firing range, allowing the National Park to establish a more continuous tract of land. There is currently one private residence along Moccasin Bend Road, and it is surrounded by the NPS-owned property. Also surrounded by NPS-owned property sit the WDEF radio towers. These radio towers are currently in operation.</p><br>
<p>The Siege and Battle of Corinth Sites are a National Historic Landmark District encompassing surviving elements of three significant American Civil War engagements in and near Corinth, Mississippi. Included are landscape and battlefield features of the Siege of Corinth , the Second Battle of Corinth , and the lesser Battle of Hatchie&#39;s Bridge on October 5, 1862. The district includes features located in both Alcorn County, Mississippi and Hardeman County, Tennessee, with some of the former preserved as part of Shiloh National Military Park. It was designated a landmark in 1991.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>The city of Corinth grew as a railroad town in the 1850s around the railroad crossing point of the Memphis and Charleston Railroad (opened 1857) and the Mobile and Ohio Railroad (opened 1861). This railroad junction, whose planning began in the mid-1850s, made Corinth a key economic junction point in the southern United States, and made it of critical military importance when the American Civil War broke out. Following the bloody Union victory at Shiloh in early April 1862, Confederate forces withdrew to Corinth, which they heavily fortified with earthworks and other defenses, in order to protect the critical railroad lines. The month-long Siege of Corinth followed, in which Union forces again compelled the Confederates to retreat. Confederate reinforcements from the west made an attempt to recapture Corinth in the Second Battle of Corinth, but were repulsed with significant casualties. During their retreat, the Confederates were attacked in the Battle of Hatchie&#39;s Bridge, near Pocahontas, Tennessee, by Union forces headed to support those at Corinth.</p><br>
<h2>Landmarked sites</h2><br>
<p>The landmark district includes a number of discontiguous resources associated with these military movements and actions. Most of these are located in or near Corinth, and include earthworks, rifle pits, and other defensive features erected both by the Confederates (before the siege) and also the Union (after its capture). A few buildings occupied by military commanders are included, as is the actual railroad junction that was the key element of interest.</p><br>
<p>The district includes the following separate areas:</p><br>
<p>First Phase Battle of Corinth, 157 acre</p><br>
<p>Battery F (previously listed), 1 acre</p><br>
<p>Battery Robinette (previously listed), 20 acre</p><br>
<p>Fish Pond House, 708 Kilpatrick Street</p><br>
<p>Curlee House, also known as "Veranda House", 705 Jackson Street (previously listed)</p><br>
<p>Oak Home, 808 Jackson Street</p><br>
<p>Duncan House, 810 Polk Street</p><br>
<p>Railroad Crossover, 1 acre</p><br>
<p>Confederate Earthworks between the Mobile and Ohio Railroad and the Purdy Road, 133 acre</p><br>
<p>Harper Road Union Earthworks (previously listed), 3 acre</p><br>
<p>Confederate Rifle Pit, less than 1 acre</p><br>
<p>Corinth National Cemetery (previously listed), 16 acre</p><br>
<p>Union Siege Line A: Maj. Gen. William T. Shermans and Brig. Gen. Thomas A. Davies Divisions, 105 acre.</p><br>
<p>Union Siege Line B: Army of the Tennessee (Brig. Gen. Thomas McKeans and Brig. Gen. T.W. Shermans Divisions); Army of the Ohio (Brig. Gen. T.J. Woods and William Nelsons Divisions), 36.5 acre</p><br>
<p>Union Siege Line C: Army of the Mississippi (Paine&#39;s Division), 6 acre</p><br>
<p>Davis Bridge (Battle of the Hatchie), a 5 acre area of the larger battlefield, which is also individually listed</p><br>
<p>The following National Register listings are also related to the military actions in some way, but are not part of the landmarked area:</p><br>
<p>Battle of Corinth, Confederate Assault Position on Shiloh Road, excluded from landmark due to a loss of integrity</p><br>
<p>Battery Williams, excluded from landmark due to a loss of integrity</p><br>
<p>Midtown Corinth Historic District, includes four buildings listed above: Duncan House, Oak Home, the Fish Pond House, and Veranda House (a.k.a. "Curlee House"))</p><br>
<p>The Marecchia  is a river in eastern Italy. In ancient times it was known as the Ariminus which was from the Greek Ariminos, Αρίμινος . The source of the river is near Monte dei Frati which is east of Pieve Santo Stefano and southwest of Badia Tedalda in the province of Arezzo in Tuscany. It flows northeast into the province of Pesaro and Urbino in the Marche and is the only river that runs through Montefeltro. While flowing through Montefeltro, the river flows through the exclave Santa Sofia Marecchia, which belongs to Badia Tedalda. The river then flows past Sant&#39;Agata Feltria and Novafeltria before crossing into the province of Rimini in Emilia–Romagna. At Torello, part of the commune of San Leo, it flows 1 km west of the Sammarinese territory Acquaviva and the San Marino River flows into it, but the Marecchia does not touch the San Marino border. Finally, the river flows past Verucchio and Santarcangelo di Romagna before flowing into the Adriatic Sea near Rimini.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>While on his way to fight the Gothic army, the Byzantine general Narses crossed the Marecchia on a pontoon after the leader of the Goths contesting his passage of the river was killed in a skirmish.</p><br>
