<p>Three Brothers, three separate mountains of the Mid North Coast region of New South Wales, Australia, are situated approximately 360 km north of Sydney.</p><br>
<h2>Location and features</h2><br>
<p>Collectively referred to as the Three Brothers, the mountains are three separate mountains named and located as follows:</p><br>
<p>North Brother: with an elevation of 476 m 31.642&deg;S latitude, 152.802&deg;E longitude</p><br>
<p>Middle Brother: with an elevation of 554 m 31.702&deg;S latitude, 152.678&deg;E longitude</p><br>
<p>South Brother: with an elevation of 487 m 31.745&deg;S latitude, 152.674&deg;E longitude</p><br>
<p>The South Brother lies within the Greater Taree local government area; while the Middle and North Brothers are located with the Port Macquarie-Hastings Council area,</p><br>
<p>The North and Middle Brothers have been declared national parks, named Dooragan National Park and Middle Brother National Park respectively.</p><br>
<p>The main radio and television transmitters for the Mid North Coast region are located on the summit of Middle Brother.</p><br>
<h2>Etymology</h2><br>
<p>The Australian Aboriginal local Birpai people tell a dreamtime story of three brothers who were killed by a witch called Widjirriejuggi and were buried where the mountains stand. The youngest of the three was Dooragan, that now carries the name for one of the national parks.</p><br>
<p>By amazing coincidence, when Captain James Cook passed the area on 12 May 1770 he named the mountains Three Brothers, since "these Hills bore some resemblance to each other".</p><br>
<p>Termessos  was a Pisidian city built at an altitude of more than 1000 metres at the south-west side of the mountain Solymos  in the Taurus Mountains . It lies 30 kilometres to the north-west of Antalya. It was founded on a natural platform on top of Güllük Dağı, soaring to a height of 1,665 metres from among the surrounding travertine mountains of Antalya.</p><br>
<p>Concealed by pine forests and with a peaceful and untouched appearance, the site has a more distinct and impressive atmosphere than many other ancient cities.</p><br>
<p>Termessos is one of the best preserved of the ancient cities of Turkey. The city was founded by the Solims who were mentioned by Homer in the Iliad in connection with the legend of Bellerophon.</p><br>
<p>Because of its natural and historical riches, the city has been included in a national park bearing its name, the Mount Güllük-Termessos National Park.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>The mythical founder of the city is Bellerophon.</p><br>
<p>What is known of Termessos history commences principally at the time that Alexander the Great surrounded the city in 333 BC; he likened the city to an eagles nest and in one of few cases, failed to conquer it. Arrian, one of the ancient historians who dealt with this event and recorded the strategic importance of Termessos, notes that even a small force could easily defend it due to the insurmountable natural barriers surrounding the city. The location of the city at the mountain pass from the Phrygian hinterland to the plains of Pamphylia is described by Arrian, Annals 1,26,6. Alexander wanted to go to Phrygia from Pamphylia, and according to Arrian, the road passed by Termessos. There are other passes much lower and easier to access, so why Alexander chose to ascend the steep Yenice pass is still a matter of dispute. It is even said that his hosts in Perge sent Alexander up the wrong path. Alexander wasted a lot of time and effort trying to force his way through the pass, which had been closed by the Termessians, and so, in anger he turned toward Termessos and surrounded it. Probably because he knew he could not capture the city, Alexander did not undertake an assault, but instead marched north and vented his fury on Sagalassos.</p><br>
<p>According to Strabo, the inhabitants of Termessos called themselves the Solymi and were a Pisidian people. Their name, as well as that given to the mountain on which they lived, was derived from Solymeus, an Anatolian god who in later times became identified with Zeus, giving rise there to the cult of Zeus Solymeus (Solim in Turkish). This name still exists as a surname in some people in Antalya region, providing evidence to their Solymi heritage. The coins of Termessos often depict this god and give his name.</p><br>
<p>The historian Diodorus has recorded in full detail another unforgettable incident in the history of Termessos. In 319 BC, after the death of Alexander, one of his generals, Antigonos Monophtalmos, proclaimed himself master of Asia Minor and set out to do battle with his rival Alcetas, whose base of support was Pisidia. His forces were made up of some 40,000 infantry, 7,000 cavalry, and included numerous elephants as well. Unable to vanquish these superior forces, Alcetas and his friends sought refuge in Termessos. The Termessians gave Alcetas their word that they would help him.</p><br>
<p>At this time, Antigonos came and set up camp in front of the city, seeking delivery of his rival. Not wanting their city to be dragged into disaster for the sake of a Macedonian foreigner, the elders of the city decided to hand Alcetas over to Antigonos. However, the youths of Termessos wanted to keep their word and refused to go along with the plan. The elders sent Antigonos an envoy to inform him of their intent to surrender Alcetas. According to a secret plan to continue the fight, the youth of Termessos managed to leave the city. Learning of his imminent capture and preferring death to being handed over to his enemy, Alcetas killed himself. The elders delivered his corpse to Antigonos. After subjecting the corpse to all manner of abuse for three days, Antigonos departed Pisidia leaving the corpse unburied. The youth, greatly resenting what had happened, recovered Alcetas&#39; corpse, buried it with full honours, and erected a beautiful monument to his memory.</p><br>
<p>Termessos was obviously not a port city, but its lands stretched south-east all the way to the Gulf of Attaleia (Antalya). Because the city possessed this link to the sea it was taken by the Ptolemies.</p><br>
<p>An inscription found in the Lycian city of Araxa yields important information about Termessos. According to this inscription, in the 2nd century BC, Termessos was at war for unknown reasons with the league of Lycian cities, and again in 189 BC found itself battling its Pisidian neighbour Isinda. At this same time we find the colony of Termessos Minor being founded 85 km in the south-south-west (Oinoanda) in the 2nd century BC. Termessos entered into friendly relations with Attalos II, king of Pergamon, the better to combat its ancient enemy Selge. Attalos II commemorated this friendship by building a two-storied stoa in Termessos.</p><br>
<p>Termessos was an ally of Rome, and so in 71 BC was granted independent status by the Roman Senate; according to this law its freedom and rights were guaranteed. This independence was maintained continuously for a long time, the only exception being an alliance with Amyntas king of Galatia (reigned 36-25 BC). This independence is documented also by the coins of Termessos, which bear the title "Autonomous".</p><br>
<p>The end of Termessos came when its aqueduct was crushed in an earthquake, destroying the water supply to the city. The city was abandoned (year unknown), which helps to explain its remarkable state of preservation today.</p><br>
<h2>The site as it exists today</h2><br>
<h3>Approach</h3><br>
<p>From the main road, a steep road leads up to the city. From this road one can see the famous Yenice pass, through which wound ancient road that the Termessians called "King Street" as well as Hellenistic period fortification walls, cisterns and many other remains. King Street, built in the 2nd century AD by contributions from the people of Termessos, passes through the city walls higher up and stretches in a straight line all the way to the centre of the city. In the walls to the east of the city gate are some extremely interesting inscriptions with augury by dice. Throughout the history of the Roman Empire, beliefs of this sort-in sorcery, magic, and superstition-were widespread. The Termessians were probably very interested in fortune telling. Inscriptions of this kind are usually four to five lines long and include numbers to be thrown with the dice, the name of the god wanted for soothsaying, and the nature of the prediction given in the counsels of that god.</p><br>
<h3>The main square</h3><br>
<p>The city Termessians where the principal official buildings are located lies on a flat area a little beyond the inner walls. The most striking of these structures is the agora, which has very special architectural characteristics. The ground floor of this open-air market place has been raised on stone blocks, and to its north-west five big cisterns have been hollowed out. The agora is surrounded on three sides by stoas. According to the inscription found on the two-storey stoa on the north-west, it was presented to Termessos by Attalos II, king of Pergamum (reigned 150-138 BC) as proof of his friendship. As for the north-eastern stoa, it was built by a wealthy Termessian named Osbaras, probably in imitation of the stoa of Attalos. The ruins lying to the north-east of the agora must belong to the gymnasium, but they are hard to make out among all the trees. The two-storey building consisted of an internal courtyard surrounded by vaulted rooms. The exterior is decorated with niches and other ornamentation of the Doric order. This structure dates from the 1st century AD.</p><br>
<h3>Theatre</h3><br>
<p>Immediately to the east of the agora lies the theatre. Commanding a view out over the Pamphylian plain, this building is no doubt the most eyecatching in all the Termessos plain. It displays most clearly the features of the Roman theatre, which preserved the Hellenistic period theatre plan. The Hellenistic cavea, or semicircular seating area, is divided in two by a diazoma. Above the diazoma rise eight tiers of seats, below it are sixteen, allowing for a seating capacity of some 4-5,000 spectators. A large arched entrance way connects the cavea with the agora. The southern parados was vaulted in Roman times, the northern has been left in its original open-air state. The stage building exhibits features characteristic of the 2nd century AD. A long narrow room is all that lies behind it. This is connected with the podium where the play took place, by five doors piercing the richly ornamented facade or scaenae frons. Under the stage lie five small rooms where wild animals were kept before being taken into the orchestra for combat.</p><br>
<p>As in other classical cities, an odeon lies about 100 metres from the theatre. This building, which looks like a small theatre, can be dated to the 1st century BC. It is well preserved all the way to roof level and exhibits the finest quality ashlar masonry. The upper storey is ornamented in the Doric order and coursed with square-cut blocks of stone, while the lower storey is unornamented and pierced by two doors. It is certain that the building was originally roofed, since it received its light from eleven large windows in the east and west walls. Just how this roof, which spanned 25 metres, was housed, has not been determined yet. Because the interior is full of earth and rubble at present, it is not possible to gauge either the building&#39;s seating arrangement or its capacity. Seating capacity was probably not larger than 600-700. Amid the rubble, pieces of coloured marble have been unearthed, giving rise to the possibility that the interior walls were decorated with mosaic. It is also possible that this elegant building served as the bouleuterion or council chamber.</p><br>
<h3>Temples</h3><br>
<p>Six temples of varying sizes and types have been accounted for at Termessos. Four of these are found near the odeon in an area that must have been sacred. The first of these temples is located directly at the back of the odeon and is constructed of truly splendid masonry. It has been proposed that this was temple of the city&#39;s chief god, Zeus Solymeus. What a pity, then, that apart from its five-metre-high cella walls, very little remains of this temple.</p><br>
<p>The second temple lies near the south-west corner of the odeon. It possesses a 5.50 × 5.50 metre cella and is of the prostylos type. According to an inscription found on the still complete entrance, this temple was dedicated to Artemis, and both the building and the cult statue inside were paid for by a woman named Aurelia Armasta and her husband using their own funds. To the other side of this entrance, a statue of this woman&#39;s uncle stands on an inscribed base. The temple can be dated on stylistic grounds to the end of the 2nd century AD.</p><br>
<p>To the east of the Artemis temple are the remains of a Doric temple. It is of the peripteral type, with six or eleven columns to a side; judging from the size of it, it must have been the largest temple in Termessos. From surviving reliefs and inscriptions, it too, is understood to have been dedicated to Artemis.</p><br>
<p>Further to the east, the ruins of another smaller temple lie on a rock-hewn terrace. The temple rose on a high podium, but to what god it was dedicated is not known at present. However, contrary to general rules of classical temple architecture, the entrance to this temple lies to the right, indicating that it may have belonged to a demi-god or hero. It can be dated to the beginning of the 3rd century AD.</p><br>
<p>As for the other two temples, they are located near the stoa of Attalos belong to the Corinthian order, and are of the prostylos type. Also dedicated to deities who are as yet unknown, these temples can be dated to the 2nd or 3rd century AD.</p><br>
<h3>Other parts of the city</h3><br>
<p>Of all the official and cult buildings to be found in this broad central area, one of the most interesting is in the form of a typical Roman period house. An inscription can be seen above the Doric order doorway along the west wall, which rises to a height of six metres. In this inscription the owner of the house is praised as the founder of the city. Doubtless, this house was not really that of the founder of Termessos. Maybe it was a little gift awarded the owner for extraordinary service rendered to the city. This type of house generally belonged to nobles and plutocrats. The main entrance gives onto a hall which leads through a second entrance to a central courtyard, or atrium. An impluvium or pool designed to catch rainwater lies in the middle of the courtyard. The atrium held an important place in the daily activities of houses such as this, and was also used as a reception room for guests. As such it was often ostentatiously decorated. The other rooms of the house were arranged around the atrium.</p><br>
<p>A street with wide, shop-lined porticoes ran north-south through the city. The space between the columns of the porticoes was often filled with statues of successful athletes, most of them wrestlers. The inscribed bases for these statues are still in place, and by reading them we can recreate the ancient splendour of this street.</p><br>
<h3>Cemeteries</h3><br>
<p>To the south, west and north of the city, mostly within the city walls, there are large cemeteries containing rock-cut tombs, one is supposed to have belonged to Alcetas himself. Unfortunately the tomb has been despoiled by treasure hunters. In the tomb itself a kind of lattice work was carved between the columns behind the kline; at the top there was probably an ornamental frieze. The left part of the tomb is decorated with the depiction of a mounted warrior dateable to the 4th century BC. it is known that the youth of Termessos, much affected by the death of General Alcetas, built a magnificent tomb for him, and the historian Diodoros records that Alcetas did battle with Antigonos while mounted on a horse. These coincidences suggest that this is indeed the tomb of Alcetas and that it is he who is depicted in the relief.</p><br>
<p>The sarcophagi, hidden for centuries among a dense growth of trees south-west of the city, transports one in an instant to the depths of history ceremony, the dead were placed in these sarcophagi along with their clothing, jewellery, and other rich accouterments. The bodies of the poor were buried in simple stone, clay, or wooden sarcophagi. Dateable to the 2nd and 3rd centuries AD, these sarcophagi generally rest on a high pedestal. In the family tombs of the wealthy on the other hand, the sarcophagi were placed inside a richly ornamented structure built in the shape of the deceased together with his lineage, or the names of those given permission to be buried alongside him. Thus the right of usage was officially guaranteed. In this manner the history of one specific tomb can be ascertained. In addition, one finds inscriptions calling on the fury of the gods to prevent the sarcophagi from being opened and to scare away grave robbers. The inscriptions also state the fines meted out to those who did not conform to these rules. These fines, ranging from 300 to 100,000 denarii and generally paid to the city treasury in the name of Zeus Solymeus, took the place of legal judgments.</p><br>
<p>Termessos, after a gradual decline, was finally abandoned in the 5th century. Some of the remains found there are the walls, the Hadrian&#39;s triumphal arch, the cisterns, the theater, the gymnasium, the agora, the odeon and the heroon. Among the tombs which are scattered far and wide can be seen those of Alcates, Agatemeros and the Lion decorated sarcophagi, which are extraordinary.</p><br>
<p>No excavations have as yet been undertaken at Termessos.</p><br>
<p>Ariassos  or Ariassus  was a town in Asia Minor built on a steep hillside about 50 kilometres inland from Attaleia .</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>The town was founded in the Hellenistic period in the 3rd century BC. It was mentioned (as Aarassos) in about 100 BC by Artemidorus Ephesius, who was quoted by Strabo a century later. The only further mentions are by Ptolemy in the 2nd century AD and in lists of Christian dioceses (Notitiae Episcopatuum).</p><br>
<p>It was part of Pisidia, and belonged originally to the Seleucid Empire. In 189 BC it passed to the hellenistic kingdom of Pergamum, the last king of which, Attalus III left his kingdom the Rome in 133 BC.</p><br>
<p>Under Octavian Augustus, Ariassos was made part of the Roman province of Galatia. In the ecclesiastical lists it appears in the late Roman province of Pamphylia Secunda, whose capital was Perge, hence also its bishopric&#39;s Metropolitan.</p><br>
<h3>Remains</h3><br>
<p>Coins minted at Ariassos are extant.</p><br>
<p>The ruins are mainly of Roman and Byzantine times, with few remains of the earlier Hellenistic period. The best preserved is that of the 3rd-century-AD triple-arched city entrance once surmounted by four statues. Other building include an extensive nymphaeum and baths, as well as a large domestic area. There is an abundance of funerary monuments.</p><br>
<h2>Bishopric</h2><br>
<p>The names of three bishops of the see of Ariassus are known: Pammenius (at the First Council of Constantinople in 381); Theophilus (at the Council of Chalcedon in 451); and Ioannes (signatory of a joint letter of the bishops of the province to Emperor Leo I the Thracian in 458).</p><br>
<h3>Titular see</h3><br>
<p>No longer a residential bishopric, Ariassus is today listed by the Catholic Church as a titular see.</p><br>
<p>Nominally restored as a Latin titular bishopric in 1911, it is vacant, having had the following incumbents, all of the lowest (episcopal) rank :</p><br>
<p>Jules-Joseph Moury, Society of African Missions (S.M.A.) (1911.01.17 – 1935.03.29)</p><br>
<p>Leoncio Fernández Galilea, Claretians (C.M.F.) (1935.06.18 – 1957.02.15)</p><br>
<p>Jean Fryns, C.S.Sp. (1957.04.12 – 1959.11.10)</p><br>
<p>Cesar Gerardo Vielmo Guerra, Servites (O.S.M.) (1959.12.19 – 1963.06.16)</p><br>
<p>Ignacio María de Orbegozo y Goicoechea (1963.10.29 – 1968.04.26)</p><br>
<p>Ariassos 3.jpg</p><br>
<p>Ariassos 4.jpg</p><br>
<p>Ariassos 5.jpg</p><br>
<p>Ariassos 7.jpg</p><br>
<p>Oak Hill Cemetery, located just north of downtown, is Birmingham, Alabama&#39;s oldest cemetery. Originally 21.5 acre on the estate of James M. Ware, it was already a burial ground by April 1869 when it served as the resting place for the infant daughter of future mayor Robert H. Henley. It was marked as "City Cemetery" on the original plats for Birmingham laid out by the Elyton Land Company and was formally sold to the city on December 29, 1873 for the sum of $1,073.50.</p><br>
<p>Most of the 10,000 or so burials at Oak Hill were interred before 1930, including nine of the ten landholders who founded the city, many early mayors, a Revolutionary soldier, numerous American Civil War veterans, and the first male child born in the city. Although few records exist from the time, most believe the "Potter&#39;s Field" section was also used as the final resting place for many victims of the 1873 cholera epidemic.</p><br>
<p>In 1889 Judge A. O. Lane purchased 200 acre on the southern slopes of Red Mountain (Birmingham, Alabama), now Lane Park, for the burial of paupers, thereby ending the use of Oak Hills "Potters Field". In 1928 the caretakers cottage near the center of the property, was removed to the southwest corner of the cemetery and a new "Pioneers Memorial Building" was constructed of Indiana limestone, designed by Miller & Martin Architects with William Kessler, landscape architect.</p><br>
<p>In 1977, Oak Hill Cemetery was added to the National Register of Historic Places. The Oak Hill Memorial Association keeps an office in the former caretaker&#39;s cottage and published a quarterly newsletter, the Oak Hill Pioneer, from Winter 1999 to Fall 2006, with articles about the history of the city in the context of the lives of those buried at Oak Hill.</p><br>
<h2>Notable burials</h2><br>
<p>William S. Mudd (1816–1884), builder of Arlington Antebellum Home & Gardens</p><br>
<p>Robert Henley, First mayor of Birmingham</p><br>
<p>Frank M. Dixon, Governor of Alabama</p><br>
<p>Louise Wooster, famed Madam</p><br>
<p>Mortimer Jordan, health care pioneer</p><br>
<p>William Hugh Smith, Governor of Alabama 1868–1870</p><br>
<p>Rucker Agee (1897–1985), banker and map collector</p><br>
<p>Edmund Rucker, Civil War general</p><br>
<p>Charles Linn, industrialist and financier</p><br>
<p>John T. Milner (1826–1898), railroad engineer, pioneer</p><br>
<p>Henry F. DeBardeleben (1840-1910), industrialist and developed Bessemer</p><br>
<p>Ellen Pratt DeBardeleben (1844-1894), daughter of Daniel Pratt</p><br>
<p>James Sloss, railroad magnate, founder of Sloss Furnaces</p><br>
<p>John William Tayloe (1831-1904), Confederate Army Major Jeff Davis Legion of Hamptons Division, Stuarts Calvalry, Army of Northern Virginia. Born Buena Vista Plantation son of George Plater Tayloe, grandson of John Tayloe III of The Octagon House, great grandson of John Tayloe II of Mount Airy. Architect of Hawthorne</p><br>
<p>Walter Henley, coal baron, banker, philanthropist</p><br>
<p>F. B. Yielding (1864–1948), founder of Yielding department store chain</p><br>
<p>Henry M. Caldwell, president of Elyton Land Company, owner of Peanut Depot building</p><br>
<p>Arthur H. Parker (1870–1939), educator, namesake of A. H. Parker High School</p><br>
<p>William E. B. Davis, pioneer gynecologist</p><br>
<p>Frank P. O&#39;Brien, manufacturer, mayor, industrialist, developer and opera-house owner</p><br>
<p>Fred Shuttlesworth (1922-2011), civil rights leader</p><br>
<p>Lake Swannanoa is a residential lake community located within Jefferson Township, in Morris County, New Jersey, United States. It is within the scenic Skylands Region and approximately 38 mi by road from New York City.</p><br>
<h2>Geology and hydrology</h2><br>
<p>The lake has two main sections, connected by a strait. The lake is an impoundment of Russia Brook, a tributary of the Rockaway River. There are also two ponds. There is an island in the north lake called Snake Island. A smaller island, Turtle Island, is indistinguishable from the shoreline at this time.</p><br>
<p>The lake has two man-made dams, one for each section of the lake. The south dam has a spillway and valve, the north dam has a large valve and overflow spillway. The dams were both rehabilitated in 1998 from the original Ringling-era fieldstone and concrete construction.</p><br>
<p>The south dam was upgraded in 2013 to meet requirements. This was as a direct result of an unusual meteorological event, the. This storm arrived and did not move for over a day, dumping 14 inches (official measurement, independent estimates say 16+ inches) of rain to a restricted area. The resultant flooding caused the main thoroughfare Berkshire Valley Road to become inundated, but did not cause either dam to fail. Excessive overflow caused some undermining of the dam structure which has since been corrected. The lake was previously under orders of the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) to maintain a water level of no greater than two and no less than three feet below spillway until the repair was completed.</p><br>
<p>Due to the large watershed, the lake both enjoys and is cursed with a high flow-through rate. The water in the lake is replaced approximately every 30–45 days. This allows for water refreshment, but makes aquatic weed treatment more challenging.</p><br>
<h2>Historical information</h2><br>
<p>Post-Native-American settlement, the area was mostly farmland.</p><br>
<h3>Alfred T. Ringling</h3><br>
<p>The property was consolidated, the lake enlarged (and two lakes combined), and a 28-room with auxiliary structures were built in the rustic neoclassical style to accommodate Ringling Brothers Circus impresario Alfred T. Ringling. The estate and its auxiliary structures served as winter quarters for the R.T. Richards Circus owned and operated by Ringlings son Richard T. Ringling. Geraldine Farrar sang for the famous guests of Mr. and Mrs. Alfred T. Ringling in the music room with its great organ and Tiffany stained glass window. Ringlings death in 1919 brought an end to this era.</p><br>
<p>The buildings are on the National Register of Historic Places. Although, the manor house has been privately owned by the St. Stanislaus Friary of the Polish Capuchins for many years, as of 2017, it is up for sale.</p><br>
<h3>Becoming Lake Swannanoa</h3><br>
<p>The Ringling estate was purchased by Arthur D. McAllister in 1925 and renamed Lake Swannanoa. Plans were created to develop a ritzy golf and country club, the original prospectus calling for elegant high society balls, and racial/ethnic restrictions. Due to the great depression this plan never came to fruition, so instead in the 1930s it was developed as a residential community by Ringling Estates Inc. Log cabin style houses were built on small lots as primarily summer homes, and were used as such throughout the 1950s. Although there are a few weekend residents today, most houses are now occupied full-time year-round. Many of the current houses are situated on multiple original lots.</p><br>
<p>The name Swannanoa is reported to be "derived from the Cherokee word Suwali-Nunna, meaning trail of the Suwali tribe," however the name was used in this case under the impression that the translation is actually "the beautiful trail." The street names within the development are all named after Native American tribes.</p><br>
<h2>Today</h2><br>
<p>Lake Swannanoa (the lake, beach, and shoreline property, not the entire development) is privately owned and operated by the Lake Swannanoa Homeowners Association formerly known as the Swannanoa Sentinal Society, a private non-profit corporation. Membership is by deeded covenant. There is a fee to join the covenant, and yearly dues are assessed. Access to and use of the lake and property is by permit and restricted to members in good standing.</p><br>
<p>Spy Pond, also known as Spie Pond in the 17th & 18th centuries, is a 103 acre kettle hole pond located near the heart of Arlington, Massachusetts, adjacent to the Minuteman Bikeway.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<h3>Geological history</h3><br>
<p>Fifty thousand years ago, the area of Arlington where Spy Pond now sits was covered a mile deep in ice by the Wisconsin Glacier. Fifteen thousand years ago, the ice began to recede, leaving depressions or "kettle holes" in its wake. Initially filled with water from the receding glacier itself and then by natural runoff, the kettle holes eventually formed small lakes and ponds throughout the area.</p><br>
<p>Spy Pond is now fed by a combination of groundwater and surface runoff from the surrounding area. Spy Pond currently has an average depth of 12 feet (3.7 m) and a maximum depth of 36 feet (11 m).</p><br>
<p>The pond has a two-acre (0.8 ha) island, Elizabeth Island, which was privately owned (but undeveloped) until 2010, when Arlington Land Trust (in collaboration with the Massachusetts Audubon Society) agreed to purchase the property and set it aside for conservation.</p><br>
<h3>Cultural history</h3><br>
<p>On April 19, 1775, Mother Batherick, an elderly woman who liked to gather dandelions by Spy Pond, managed to corral and take prisoner six Revolutionary War Redcoats who were fleeing their captured supply train.</p><br>
<p>In 1850, the Spy Pond Water Company began piping water to West Cambridge. The Spy Pond Water Company changed its name to the Arlington Lake Company when West Cambridge was renamed Arlington in 1867.</p><br>
<p>During the Civil War the Union Army conducted training at Camp Sheppard near Spy Pond and following the war civilian rifle matches were conducted by the Massachusetts Rifle Association from 1875 through 1876 before their move to Woburn, Massachusetts.</p><br>
<p>The 19th century also saw Spy Pond become an industrial center as entrepreneurs sought to harvest the benefits of this natural resource for export. Spy Pond became a source for ice in the winter, cut into huge blocks for shipping, and pure water for nearby Boston in the summer. Businesses shipped Spy Pond ice as far away as India, installing huge amounts of infrastructure and equipment in the Arlington area in the process. This led to the development of the local railroad and large-scale manufacture of ice tools.</p><br>
<p>In the 1970s, the Wetland Protection Act was passed classifying Spy Pond as a great pond under Massachusetts law. Despite this classification, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts uses Spy Pond for drainage from Route 2, resulting in what Cori Beckwith, administrator of the Arlington Conservation Commission, describes as a "slightly hazardous" sandbar and states that "its costly" to remove.</p><br>
<h2>Wildlife</h2><br>
<h3>Birds</h3><br>
<p>Bird enthusiasts have tracked the native and migratory bird populations of Spy Pond for a number of years. They report that almost one hundred and twenty species of birds make their home in and along its shores at some point in the year. This list includes 32 swimmers and 86 non-swimmers.</p><br>
<p>Among the bird population, Canada geese are the most notable and controversial residents.</p><br>
<h3>Fish</h3><br>
<p>Spy Pond was stocked with fish through the 1990s, but budget cuts have meant no stocking since then. The pond contains a variety of species, including American eel, bluegill, carp, largemouth bass, white perch, yellow perch, pumpkinseed, black crappie, white crappie, and tiger muskellunge. However, according to Rodney Zukowski, owner of Arlington Bait and Tackle, given the 10–12 year lifespan of tiger muskellunge and their inability to reproduce, it is believed Spy Pond no longer contains them, as the last stocking was over 15 years ago. Bucket biologists have illegally introduced northern pike in the last few years, some reaching more than 40 inches.</p><br>
<h3>Cryptid</h3><br>
<p>An old Spy Pond legend tells a tale of a Komodo Dragon purchased off the black market in 1990 and released onto Elizabeth Island in the middle of Spy Pond. Children of Arlington affectionately refer to this cryptid as "Lizzie" or "The Spy Pond Monster".</p><br>
<p>The Mahurangi River is a tidal estuary in northern New Zealand that widens into the Mahurangi Harbour before opening into the outer Hauraki Gulf. The Mahurangi Harbour is accessible by all craft and is a sheltered anchorage in all weathers with many small bays and islands. The river itself is extremely tidal and ranges in depth from below approximately 50 cm  at the channel entrance to approximately 150 cm  further upstream. At high water the river is accessible by larger craft.</p><br>
<p>In the past, the river was the main link between the town of Warkworth and the rest of civilisation. The historic Portland Cement Works opened in 1884 beside the river and many scows and steamers used it to export the cement. The cement works was closed down some years ago and the ruins remain on the banks of the river behind what has become a marina.</p><br>
<p>Warkworth was originally known as Brown&#39;s Mill, after the sawmill established by Brown on the banks of the Mahurangi, when the area was just a timber camp. The timber was transported by the river and often consisted of kauri spars, which were commonly exported. Sandstone from NSW was used as ballast and this was dropped at the mouth of the river, where large quantities can still be found. The kauri spars were then loaded for the return trip to Australia. Nationally endangered Southern Right Whales are known to come into the bay to rest or calve.</p><br>
<p>There are two boat yards on the Mahurangi river, the one by the ruins and one further upstream by Warkworth. These yards both offer haulout and hardstand options for both small and large craft. The township of Warkworth at the rivers head has a collection of small cafes, supermarkets, other stores and a post office. There is a moderately large wharf with a floating pontoon by the waters edge, although the river all but dries out here at low tide. The river itself has many small tributary streams which enter at different points along its length.</p><br>
<p>A series of waterfalls enhance the river in various places and the navigable portion of the Mahurangi river ends at the lower-most falls near western end of the village. Here the river has been dammed twice and had several bridges installed since the first in the late 1860s. In 1877 a tsunami from the 1877 Iquique earthquake elevated the tide by six feet in mere minutes. There are currently two bridges at this point: a concrete bridge installed in 1971, on which originally operated a tram and which is now a walking bridge, and a more recent bridge with two lanes for traffic.</p><br>
<p>Cypress Lake is a 2 acre swamp-like lake in the heart of the University of Louisiana at Lafayette campus that started as a prehistoric bison wallow. Today it is a unique university landmark that is a habitat for native irises, alligators, turtles, birds and fish, as well as a hangout for students and a point of interest for tourists visiting Lafayette, Louisiana. Cypress Lake is casually called "The Swamp," which is also the nickname of the Louisiana–Lafayette Ragin&#39; Cajuns stadium, named Cajun Field.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>UL (est. 1898) grew up around the pond. Initially the university fenced it in to use as a pig pen and feeding area for its instructional farm. In the early 1920s, the pig pen was drained to return the 63 cypress trees into the newly named Cypress Grove. The university used the grove as an open-air theater for Shakespearean productions, music and dance programs. Commencement exercises were held beneath the cypress canopy in 1935 for the first time and several subsequent years when the weather permitted.</p><br>
<p>In the early 1940s, some agriculture faculty members proposed converting the grove back into a pond, because they were concerned a lack of water could harm the cypress trees. A pump was installed, the pond was refilled, and Cypress Grove became Cypress Lake.</p><br>
<p>An oak tree located south of Cypress Lake has a plaque paying tribute to Edwin Stephens, the first president of the university, which was then called Southwestern Louisiana Industrial Institute.</p><br>
<h2>Alternate Theory</h2><br>
<p>An alternate theory exists to explain why the grove was converted back to a small lake. This one is counter to the theory that the trees needed water. Either could be correct.</p><br>
<p>The differing view is that the university created the lake as a precautionary measure during World War II. Two women with strong ties to the university, Maria Mario Mamalakis and Vesta Bourgeois, participated in the oral history project in which their memories of Cypress Lake were recorded in the mid-’80s.</p><br>
<p>“People didn’t realize that we were so near the gulf and had a lot of German submarines in the gulf area,” said Mamalakis, explaining why the university decided to create the lake. “It was a worry that we could even be bombed. It was Cypress Grove for many years, but they were afraid that we might need extra water in case of fire if a bomb had been dropped on campus.” Bourgeois concurred, adding that female students filled the swamp and conducted fire drills.</p><br>
<p>“They realized that if the Germans came to the gulf south of Abbeville they would bomb not us, but the vulnerable place, Baton Rouge,” Bourgeois explained. “If they had to come back with bombs (in their airplanes), they would not go back to the ship, but would drop them at some vulnerable place, and Southwestern would have been one.</p><br>
<p>“So they began preparing for this type thing, and they saw that there was no water. So they put water (in the grove), and we began teaching girls at the gym bucket brigades. So we had ladders, and an obstacle course for the girls to run, realizing that all of our men went into the service, and the others were in the National Guard or volunteers, so that the women would have to do these sorts of things. That’s how Cypress Grove was filled. Not many people knew that.”</p><br>
<p>Although the grove was a popular gathering place and was even used as a lovers&#39; lane, students accepted the swamp because it was part of the war effort, according to Bruce Turner, a UL Lafayette history professor and head of the special collections at Edith Garland Dupré Library.</p><br>
<p>“I’m sure if they made the case that it was being done for war preparedness, then for patriotic reasons, people would accept that,” Turner said. “It was right in the middle of World War II, and everyone was concerned. Everybody was willing to make sacrifices for the war.”</p><br>
<h2>Notable media references</h2><br>
<p>In 1962, Life magazine photographed students ice skating on the lake when it froze over.</p><br>
<p>In the late 1980s, Cypress Lake was a question on the game show Jeopardy! under a category of college landmarks.</p><br>
<h2>Sources</h2><br>
<p>Comal Springs are the largest concentration of naturally occurring freshwater springs in Texas. They are located in the city of New Braunfels and are the result of water percolating through the Edwards Aquifer formation.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>The springs were historically a magnet for the indigenous population of the region, often Tonkawas. The first Spanish explorer to visit the springs was Damián Massanet in 1691. The site was later home to a Spanish mission. Spanish settlers eventually called the site "Las Fontanas". The area has been home to a mixture of recreational and commercial endeavors, including Landa Park.</p><br>
<h2>Geology and natural history</h2><br>
<p>The Comal Springs are fed by the Edwards Aquifer, a large karst aquifer that runs through most of central Texas. The aquifer consists of porous, water-bearing limestone features which channel rainfall and surface runoff from the aquifer&#39;s recharge zone down to various discharge zones, including the springs.</p><br>
<p>The Comal Springs are home to a variety of unique plant and animal life. One notable example is the Fountain Darter (Etheostoma fonticola). In addition to the association of groundwater availability with this locale along the Balcones Fault, the area is also considered an ecological dividing line for occurrence of some species; for example, the California Fan Palm, Washingtonia filifera occurs only at or west of Comal Springs, i.e. Balcones Fault zone.</p><br>
<p>The Aropaoanui  river flows from the Lake Tūtira to the Pacific Ocean in the Northern Hawkes Bay. It has been described as one of the cleanest rivers in New Zealand by the Department of Conservation, and is fished for many species including trout and whitebait. The valley and bay into which the river flows are also known as Aropaoanui, as is the metal road which meets the Napier–Wairoa highway.</p><br>
<p>Aropaoanui is a Māori word which roughly translates to &#39;big smoke&#39;. In local myth, the area was named when the local tribe were roasting their captives on a fire after a victory in battle. The fatty pulp around the kidneys of their victims began to bubble, giving the impression that the victims were still alive, which terrified the tribespeople.</p><br>
<p>Pomona Island is the largest island within Lake Manapouri, in Fiordland National Park, in New Zealand&#39;s South Island. With an area of 262 hectare, it is the largest island to be found within any New Zealand lake.</p><br>
<p>The island is uninhabited, and lies close to the entrance to the lakes southern arm, 11 kilometres to the west of Manapouri township. To its north, the island is separated from the mainland by the 500 m wide Hurricane Passage. Pomona Island was named by surveyor James McKerrow in 1862 after the main island of Scotlands Orkney Islands.</p><br>
<h2>Natural history</h2><br>
<p>Forested areas of Fiordland National Park generally are dominated by beech and podocarp species with understory of numerous ferns and shrubs; Crown Fern, Blechnum discolor is an example of chief understory species. Pomona Island is within this area of forest characterisation, and is almost entirely covered in native bush, with the forest also containing kāmahi and rātā. Since the eradication of all introduced animal pests, the health of the island&#39;s flora and birdlife has increased noticeably.</p><br>
<p>Pomona Island, geologically a round-topped granite hill, has given its name to a mineral form known as Pomona Granite.</p><br>
<h2>Pomona Island Charitable Trust</h2><br>
<p>Pomona Island has its own Charitable Trust it was set up in July 2005 with the aim of restoring the largest inland island in New Zealand to its presumed natural state prior to the introduction of pests. The specific objectives of the Trust are to eradicate all mammalian pest species from Pomona Island ensuring a high quality of indigenous biodiversity on the island in terms of both flora and fauna. Also to reintroduce, through natural and assisted means, birdlife native to Fiordland within the Southwest New Zealand World Heritage Area and provide a safe habitat for endangered and threatened birds to breed thereby increasing the populations of individual species, to monitor conservation activities and their impact on the island&#39;s biodiversity.</p><br>
<p>Agnews Developmental Center was a psychiatric and medical care facility, located in Santa Clara, California.</p><br>
<p>In 1885, the center, originally known as "The Great Asylum for the Insane", was established as a facility for the care of the mentally ill. The main structure, a red brick edifice, was located on land near Agnew&#39;s Village, which later became part of Santa Clara. By the early twentieth century, Agnews boasted the largest institutional population in the South San Francisco Bay area, and was served by its own train station which stood at the west end of Palm Drive across Lafayette Street; the station building remained until vandalism and fire precipitated its demolition in the 1990s.</p><br>
<p>In 1926, the center was expanded to include a second campus about 2 mi to the east in San Jose (37&deg;24&prime;32&Prime;N latitude, 121&deg;55&prime;53&Prime;W longitude). Individuals with developmental disabilities were first admitted to a special rehabilitation program in 1965. Programs for the mentally ill were discontinued in 1972. Since then, the center has been used exclusively for the care and treatment of persons with developmental disabilities.</p><br>
<h2>Early years</h2><br>
<p>Prior to 1906, the Agnews State Hospital, constructed in 1885, was modeled after the Kirkbride Plan. This building was destroyed in the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, and Agnews became infamous as the site of the Santa Clara Valley&#39;s greatest loss of life resulting from the quake. The Daily Palo Alto reported: "The position of the people in Agnews is critical; a number of insane persons having escaped from the demolished asylum, are running at random about the country." 117 patients and staff were killed and buried in mass graves on the site. The main building and some others were irreparably damaged.</p><br>
<p>Following this disaster, Agnews was rebuilt in the Mediterranean Revival architecture styles of Mission Revival—Spanish Colonial Revival, in a layout resembling a college campus of two-story buildings. It re-opened circa 1911 as Agnews State Mental Hospital. The facility was a small self-contained town, including a multitude of construction trade "shops", a farm which raised pigs and vegetable crops, a steam generating power plant for heating the buildings by steam, and even a fire department.</p><br>
<h2>West campus closure leads to controversial sale</h2><br>
<p>The original west campus was closed in 1998 as part of a plan to reduce and eventually close the center. When the west campus closed, the use of the land was the subject of local controversy. In April 1997, it was announced the state would sell an 82.5 acre parcel of the campus to Sun Microsystems for its corporate headquarters and R&D campus. Some objected to the arranged sale of this prime public land to a profitable corporation at the peak of a local economic and real-estate boom, while others valued the presence of a prominent high-tech employer. Also at issue was the preservation of and public access to historic Agnews Developmental Center buildings. Sun agreed to restore four of the historic buildings (the auditorium, the clock tower, the superintendent&#39;s villa, and the administration building) and to keep some of the facilities available for public use. An outdoor exhibit open to the public displays information and photographs regarding the center and its history.</p><br>
<p>In addition to the Sun deal, the Rivermark master planned community was allocated 152 acre for a variety of residential, retail, public school, and open space uses.</p><br>
<p>The Agnews site was added to the National Register of Historic Places (under the name "Agnews Insane Asylum") on August 13, 1997.</p><br>
<p>Sun was acquired by Oracle Corporation in 2010; the campus continues to be used as an Oracle R&D facility and conference center.</p><br>
<h2>East campus closure</h2><br>
<p>In March 2009, the last patient moved out of the east campus and the residential facility was closed. The east campus provided outpatient clinic services through April 2011.</p><br>
<p>In July 2011, the Regional Project of the Bay Area and the Community State Staff Administration moved to Campbell and continued providing support to patients in the local area.</p><br>
<p>With the final sale of the land pending, the east campus was vacated and the land was turned over to the Department of General Services.</p><br>
<p>In July 2014, the City of San Jose and the Santa Clara Unified School District purchased the property from the State of California for $80 million with the intent to build a K-8, High School, and city park.</p><br>
<h2>In popular media</h2><br>
<p>The punk rock band Green Day recorded the music video for their 1994 song "Basket Case" at Agnews.</p><br>
<p>Raven&#39;s Ait is an ait  in the Thames between Surbiton, Kingston and Hampton Court Park in the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames, London, England, in the reach of the river above Teddington Lock. Raven&#39;s Ait is currently privately run as a catering facility and a conference and wedding venue.</p><br>
<h2>Geography</h2><br>
<p>Raven&#39;s Ait is a Thames ait in between Surbiton, Kingston and Hampton Court Park in the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames in the centre of the non-tidal reach above Teddington Lock.</p><br>
<p>Continuing southwards along Kingstons traditional High Street is Portsmouth Road alongside which the Queens Promenade that has narrow gardens which mark the end of a Riverside Path from Richmond to Grove Road, Surbiton.</p><br>
<p>Beside the promenade in front of the river by the ait is the Thames Sailing Club in Kingston. housing only their Thames A Class Raters. Access to the island is from Queen&#39;s Promenade, by ferry.</p><br>
<p>Level with the actual clubhouse upstream by the A307 is small area once a draw dock used for transporting goods to the area and the former fresh water works to the south. Seething Wells is the name for the locality of the borough from which the island has direct access.</p><br>
<h2>Post Industrial Revolution History</h2><br>
<p>In a long period to 1911 the island was home to Kingston Rowing Club, which is the same club as today, occupying a clubhouse at Canbury Gardens, founded in 1858.</p><br>
<p>Long owned or leased by The Navy League, then the charity responsible for the Sea Cadet Corps and the Girls Nautical Training Corps, Ravens Ait was the home of TS Neptune, a major sailing, canoeing and boating training establishment until The Navy League invested instead in TS Royalist a small Brig.</p><br>
<p>Until 1970 the buildings were the familiar wooden clad "Sea Cadet Blue", with very old style dormitories and a very naval discipline. In 1971 a major rebuilding operation started, with the entire accommodation except the superintendents house rebuilt by Haymills Construction. That rebuilding replaced all the old wooden buildings with todays island buildings, which became a conference and wedding centre. During the rebuilding a small number of activities were carried on downstream of Kingston upon Thames, at the Albany Park sailing base opposite The Royal Canoe Club, with instructors commuting daily by boat.</p><br>
<p>During the 1980s the Inner London Education Centre used these facilities as a youth and community workers training centre and a water sports activity facility.</p><br>
<p>The Ravens Ait Hall Management Company Ltd went into administration and closed in December 2008.</p><br>
<p>In early 2009 squatters occupied the island and facilities who had the declared aim of turning it into an eco conference centre, against whom an action in court was taken in March 2009. Eviction of these squatters took place on 1 May 2009 leading to mixed views from the local community. According to local media reports during their stay they had used as much electric power as would supply 45 homes However this was disputed by squatters who said that this was because before they arrived large industrial refrigerators and other appliances had been left running by the owners. The Council (local authority), who took the property back from the squatters, at least one newspaper has accused of failing to recycle office equipment and furniture and instead dumping it in landfill.</p><br>
<h2>Activities as a Navy League watersports venue</h2><br>
<p>Raven&#39;s Ait was accredited by the Royal Yachting Association and by the British Canoe Union to conduct training in their respective disciplines. It also provided a semi-permanent mooring for Sparkle, a catamaran designed by Angus Primrose to be sailed by persons of restricted physical ability and mobility.</p><br>
<h3>Motor boating skills</h3><br>
<p>The boats were almost all naval stock, diesel powered:</p><br>
<p>A 25-foot naval cutter (Twin-cylinder diesel), centre pseudo-cabin housing engine</p><br>
<p>Several "Viking" open tenders (single-cylinder air-cooled diesel) with poor handling</p><br>
<p>A Workboat with a cuddy, acquired from Haymills Construction after the rebuild, similar to the Vikings, but with better handling</p><br>
<p>"Number 8", a small clinker-built smart, stubby, open launch, about 16-foot LOA with relatively low freeboard (Single-cylinder Lister air-cooled diesel)</p><br>
<h3>Pulling (rowing)</h3><br>
<p>Basic pulling skills were taught, usually to Sea Cadets, either in the ASC or in one of a pair of admiralty whalers (a clinker built pulling boat of approximately 28 LOA, slim beam, designed for naval pulling races, but originally a practical ships boat).</p><br>
<h3>Sailing</h3><br>
<p>Boats were a mixture of typical naval stock and somewhat strengthened "ordinary" dinghies.</p><br>
<p>There were the following fleets:</p><br>
<p>ASCs - the "Admiralty Sailing Craft" 16 foot gaff rigged dinghy, sometimes known as the GRP16, moored alongside the island.</p><br>
<p>Bosuns, allegedly able to be swung out from Her Majesty&#39;s ships on a torpedo hoist in the middle of any ocean</p><br>
<p>Cadets, which were being phased out</p><br>
<p>Coypus, a redoubtable short, fat, slow gaff rigged dinghy</p><br>
<p>GP14s, heavily strengthened</p><br>
<p>Fireballs, kept at Island Barn Reservoir for trapeze training</p><br>
<p>Puffin Pacers, a light Jack Holt design made by Polycell Prout with a tendency to scoop up a large volume of water over the leeward quarter when hardening up.</p><br>
<h3>Schools which used Raven's Ait for watersports under the Navy League</h3><br>
<p>Epsom College</p><br>
<p>Stockwell Manor</p><br>
<p>Forest hill school</p><br>
<p>Sutton County Grammar School</p><br>
<p>Lake Millstatt  is a lake in Carinthia, Austria.</p><br>
<h2>Geography</h2><br>
<p>It is situated at 588 metres above the Adriatic (1,929 ft), north of the Drava Valley within the Gurktal Alps (Nock Mountains) range of the Central Eastern Alps, near the town of Spittal an der Drau. With a surface area of 13.3 km&sup2; Lake Millstatt is the second largest lake of Carinthia (after Lake Wörth), though with a depth of 142 m the most voluminous by far.</p><br>
<p>Its steep shore gives the lake a fjord-like character. The Millstätter Alpe mountains in the north up to 2,100 m protect it from cold winds, so the water temperature can reach 25 &deg;C in summer. The narrow and long surface stretches over 12 km from east to west. In the south the wooded Hochgosch plateau, with a breadth of 2 km and an elevation of 876 m, divides the lake from the parallel Drava Valley.</p><br>
<p>The name derives from the market town Millstatt on the northern shore. Other municipalities near the lake are Seeboden and Radenthein-Döbriach. The shaded southern shore, a protected area since 1970, is almost uninhabited.</p><br>
<h2>Geology</h2><br>
<p>The lake arose in the last glacial (Würm) period, about 20,000 years ago, when a northern offset of the Drava glacier melted in situ and left dead-ice with extended fluvial deposits at its western rim damming meltwater. The continuous erosive downcutting by the discharge of the kettle into the Lieser River over the following millennia created a trench that considerably lowered the water level.</p><br>
<p>The Millstatt area is part of the Austroalpine nappes, consisting of gneiss and schists with quartzite deposits, which arose by the metamorphism of sand and clay minerals, probably in the Ordovician period. Higher reaches comprise garnet schists including several amphibole occurrences.</p><br>
<h2>Limnology</h2><br>
<p>Numerous brooks flow into the lake, of which the Riegerbach near Döbriach is the biggest. At the western end of the lake the short Seebach stream leads the water into the Lieser river, which itself is a tributary of the Drava. The oligotrophic lake with its deep basin has a large hypolimnic volume and meromictic waters, which are clear and reach drinking water quality.</p><br>
<p>Fishery, especially for trout, had been a source of food and work for residents since ancient times. Today sport fishing and angling is quite common not only for trout but also for several genera of carps, for wels catfish, northern pike, zander, perch and the European eel.</p><br>
<h2>Transportation</h2><br>
<p>Lake Millstatt can be reached via the Spittal-Millstättersee station of the Tauern Railway line with passenger train service provided by the Austrian Federal Railways (ÖBB). The B98 Millstätter Straße highway runs along the northern shore of the lake, connecting it with the Tauern Autobahn (A10) motorway from Salzburg to Villach (part of the European route E55) at the Spittal/Millstätter See junction.</p><br>
<p>Since 1901 ship transport on the lake in summer is provided by the Millstättersee Shipping Company, which today runs four vessels.</p><br>
<p>Chira Island is a 3,000 hectare Costa Rican Pacific island located at the upper end of the Gulf of Nicoya, an extensive inlet of sea water that is the result of a geological fault that has caused the land to submerge, leaving exposed only the tops of what were formerly low hills. These are the various islands that dot the gulf, the largest of which being the Island of Chira - Costa Rica&#39;s second largest island. The Gulf of Nicoya separates Guanacaste from mainland Costa Rica and is fed by the Tempisque River. Chira Island lies just off San Pablo, Guanacaste.</p><br>
<p>Ecologically, Chira contains the most intact biodiversity of tropical dry forest flora in Costa Rica, if not Central America.</p><br>
<p>Six villages make up the bulk of the population of Chira Island, locate along the Northern edge of the island, from the West end to the East end. The eastern end of the island is dominated by mangrove swamps.</p><br>
<p>Approximately 3,000 people live on the island and the main economic activity is fishing, farming or work on the salt pans. These salt pans are popular with roseate spoonbills and other wading birds. Isla Chira is bisected by a large estuary to the east leading into a canal through vast mangrove swamps. There is only little accommodation on the island. From Puntarenas a daily boat goes to Isla Chira from the fish market. Hire-boats might be available in Pájaros or San Pablo.</p><br>
<p>Due to the reliance on marine resources and alternative industries being limited in number, significant pressure has been put on the island&#39;s natural resources. Due to this, a project has been developed to establish a bank of mollusks (Anadara tuberculosa and Anadara similis), a kind of oyster for artisan fishing, in order to create a commercially viable resource for long term economic development. Additionally attempts have been made to encourage various activities related with tourism, primarily using the Island&#39;s natural and geographical resources, such as the mangrove swamps and the Tempisque River, as well as the local culture.</p><br>
<p>Each year in June and July, there is a national bike race, as well as a running race, for those that want to explore the natural and unexplored beauty of the island.</p><br>
<p>Grisedale Pike is a fell in the Lake District, Cumbria, England situated 4.5 mi west of the town of Keswick in the north-western sector of the national park. At a height of 791 m  it is the 40th-highest Wainwright in the Lake District; it also qualifies as a Hewitt, Marilyn and Nuttall. Grisedale Pike presents a striking appearance when viewed from the east, particularly from the vicinity of Keswick. It possesses two subsidiary summits: one unnamed ; the other Hobcarton End.</p><br>
<h2>Topography</h2><br>
<p>Grisedale Pike is a large fell throwing down three long ridges to the valley floors and two shorter ones that link to the adjoining fell of Hopegill Head and the strategically important Coledale Hause which links the fell to the rest of the Coledale Fells. It is bounded to the south by the 2½-mile (4-kilometre) valley of Coledale and to the north by the Whinlatter Pass which carries the B5292 motor road. The village of Braithwaite sits at the foot of the long eastern ridge, and some of the northern slopes have been planted by the Forestry Commission, with the Hospital Plantation occupying much of the valley of Grisedale.</p><br>
<h2>Geology</h2><br>
<p>The ridge is composed of the laminated mudstone and siltstone of the Kirkstile Formation, typical of the Skiddaw group.</p><br>
<p>The Coledale side of the fell has been extensively mined, with the Force Crag mine being the last working lead mine in the Lake District before closing in 1990; it also produced zinc and barite. The mine has had many owners and been closed and reopened regularly since the early nineteenth century. The mine suffered a major collapse in 1990 which led to the owners, the New Coledale Mining Company, deciding to close it.</p><br>
<h2>Ascents</h2><br>
<p>The majority of ascents of Grisedale Pike usually start at the village of Braithwaite using a well blazed trail up the eastern ridge. An alternative ascent starts at a car park in Hospital Plantation near the top of the Whinlatter Pass and goes up the northern ridge taking in the “Nuttall” top of Hobcarton End before continuing to the summit. From the same starting point it is possible to climb the fell up the north eastern ridge following a ruined dry stone wall.</p><br>
<p>Grisedale Pike is often included in the circular walk called the Coledale Round, an 11-mile (17.5-kilometre) walk starting and finishing at Braithwaite. It includes the other fells of Hopegill Head, Eel Crag, Sail, Scar Crags and Causey Pike with over 1300 metres of ascent. The view from the top of the fell is comprehensive with the Cumbrian coast in view to the west and the Pennines seen in the distance to the east. Grisedale Pike has a subsidiary top, 800 metres to the south west of the main summit. It is unnamed on maps but has been given the name of Hobcarton Crag by writers: at 739 metres (2425 feet) it has Nuttall and Hewitt status.</p><br>
<h2>Summit</h2><br>
<p>A description of the view from west round clockwise, from this :</p><br>
<p>The hills near Belfast (about 180 km away) are visible over the sea to the west. In the north, the Southern Uplands of Scotland can be seen, including Merrick (62), White Coomb (58) and the closer Criffel (28). In the foreground to this is the Lord&#39;s Seat group (3).</p><br>
<p>The distant skyline continues over the Kielder Forest hills (55) to reach The Cheviot (75) before it is interrupted by the Skiddaw group (6) and Blencathra (8) with the Vale of Keswick and Bassenthwaite Lake in the foreground. The section of the Pennines containing Cross Fell (31) is visible.</p><br>
<p>The Helvellyn range (10) occupies the skyline to the east, fronted by the High Seat ridge (6), and in front of that, Catbells (3) and Causey Pike (2). Ingleborough (45) can be seen to the south-east. Then come the Langdale Pikes (11), the Coniston Fells (14), Bowfell (10) and Scafell Pike (10) with the Dale Head group (5) in front.</p><br>
<p>To the south-west the view is dominated by Crag Hill (1) and Grasmoor (2). A small portion of Wales (107) is visible to Crag Hill&#39;s left. To the west, above Hopegill Head (1), can be seen the Isle of Man (54) and Slieve Donard in Northern Ireland (112), the most distant peak visible.</p><br>
<p>The Cordillera de Guanacaste, also called Guanacaste Cordillera, are a volcanic mountain range in northern Costa Rica near the border with Nicaragua. The mountain range stretches 110 km from northwest to the southeast and contains mostly complex stratovolcanoes. The range forms part of the southern region of the Continental Divide, with the highest peak is the stratovolcano Miravalles at 2,028 m.</p><br>
<p>Rivers flowing from the range drain into the Caribbean Sea (Guacalito, Zapote) and the Pacific Ocean (Blanco, Tenorio, Martirio, Corobiá and San Lorenzo).</p><br>
<p>Protected areas located in the mountain range include Guanacaste National Park established in July 1991 and Area de Conservación Guanacaste World Heritage Site inscripted by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site in December 1999.</p><br>
<p>The range contains areas of ecological significance, as the Miravalles Forest Reserve, hills and canyons that can be seen from the lowlands of Guanacaste, areas rich with epiphytes, ferns and palms; and areas of geothermal activity, exploited for energy use. Geothermal energy exploited in Guanacaste account to 18% of Costa Rica&#39;s electricity and is also exported to Nicaragua and Panama.</p><br>
<p>Cordillera de Guanacaste is divided into two sections:</p><br>
<p>La Cordillera Volcánica - formed by a series of volcanic edifices that begin with the Orosi Volcano and ends with the Arenal Volcano.</p><br>
<p>La Sierra Minera - depressions located between Arenal and Tapezco.</p><br>
<h2>Notable peaks</h2><br>
<p>Miravalles Volcano - 2,028 m</p><br>
<p>Rincón de la Vieja Volcano - 1,916 m</p><br>
<p>Tenorio Volcano - 1,916 m</p><br>
<p>Orosí Volcano - 1,659 m</p><br>
<p>Arenal Volcano - 1,670 m</p><br>
<p>The Cordillera de Talamanca is a mountain range that lies on the border between Costa Rica and Panama. Much of the range and the area around it is included in the La Amistad International Park, which also is shared between the two countries.</p><br>
<p>This range in the south of Costa Rica stretches from southwest of San José to beyond the border with Panama and contains the highest peaks of Costa Rica and Panama, among them the Cerro Chirripó with 3,820 m, and the more accessible high peak of Cerro de la Muerte. Much of the Caribbean areas of the range are still unexplored.</p><br>
<h2>Exploration & classification</h2><br>
<p>The range is covered by the Talamancan montane forests to elevations of approximately 3000 m. Much of it is covered by rainforests. Above elevations of 1800 m these are dominated by huge oak trees (Quercus costaricensis). Above 3000 m, the forests transition to enclaves of sub-páramo, a sort of shrub and dwarf bamboo Chusquea dominated scrub, above 3,400 m this becomes Costa Rican páramo, a tropical alpine grassland. The sub-páramo and páramo vegetation are subject to regular frosts at night, temperatures at 3200 m reach –5 Celsius, the lowest recorded temperature is -9 Celsius. The region has been extensively studied by paleolimnologists to reconstruct the changes in climate, vegetation and fire frequencies (see also Sally P Horn).</p><br>
<p>The range is of global importance as it is a centre of endemism for many plant and animal groups and as an important habitat for many large mammals (Baird&#39;s Tapir, Puma, Jaguar) and birds that are now threatened in much of their range. An intended hydroelectricity project threatens the existence of the Tabasara Rain Frogs.</p><br>
<h2>National parks</h2><br>
<p>Several national parks and reservations are located in the Talamanca mountain range, including Chirripó National Park. The Cordillera de Talamanca and La Amistad national parks have been designated by UNESCO a World Heritage site It is also the first binational biosphere reserve. The two parks comprise 2,400 square km of land.</p><br>
<h2>Important elevations</h2><br>
<p>Cerro Chirripó - 3820 m (Costa Rica)</p><br>
<p>Cerro Ventisqueros - 3812 m (Costa Rica)</p><br>
<p>Cerro Terbi - 3760 m (Costa Rica)</p><br>
<p>Cerro Uran - 3600 m (Costa Rica)</p><br>
<p>Cerro Kamuk - 3554 m (Costa Rica)</p><br>
<p>Cerro de la Muerte - 3491 m (Costa Rica)</p><br>
<p>Volcán Barú - 3475 m(Panamá)</p><br>
<p>Cerro Fábrega - 3335 m (Panamá)</p><br>
<p>Cerro Itamut - 3293 m (Panamá)</p><br>
<p>Cerro Durika - 3280 m (Costa Rica)</p><br>
<p>Cerro Echandi - 3162 m (Costa Rica - Panamá)</p><br>
<p>Mount Bona is one of the major mountains of the Saint Elias Mountains in eastern Alaska, and is the fifth-highest independent peak in the United States. Mount Bona and its adjacent neighbor Mount Churchill are both large ice-covered stratovolcanoes. Bona has the distinction of being the highest volcano in the United States and the fourth-highest in North America, outranked only by the three highest Mexican volcanoes, Pico de Orizaba, Popocatépetl, and Iztaccíhuatl.</p><br>
<p>The mountain&#39;s massif is covered almost entirely by icefields and glaciers, and it is the principal source of ice for the Klutlan Glacier, which flows east for over 40 mi into the Yukon Territory of Canada. The mountain also contributes a large volume of ice to the north-flowing Russell Glacier system.</p><br>
<p>Mount Bona was named by Prince Luigi Amedeo, Duke of the Abruzzi in 1897, who saw the peak while making the first ascent of Mount Saint Elias about 80 mi to the southeast. He named it after the Bona, his racing yacht.</p><br>
<p>The mountain was first climbed in 1930 by Allen Carpé, Terris Moore, and Andrew Taylor, from the Russell Glacier on the west of the peak. The current standard route is the East Ridge; a climb of nearby Mount Churchill is a relatively easy addition via this route as well.</p><br>
<p>The Northumberland Islands are a scattered island chain off the eastern coast of Queensland, Australia.</p><br>
<h2>Geography</h2><br>
<p>The Northumberland Islards are to the south-east of the city of Mackay roughly between the latitudes 21°S and 22°S. All islands are of the continental type. The island group was named by James Cook during his historic voyage along Australia&#39;s eastern seaboard in 1770, after the First Duke of Northumberland, Hugh Percy. Both Cook and Matthew Flinders make note of the island group in their journals, Cook describing them as such:</p><br>
<p>The island group is remote, and apart from charter flights to Marble Island they are accessible only by private yacht.</p><br>
<p>The Northumberland Islands are further subdivided into smaller groups: the Bedwell Group, Beverley Group, Broad Sound Islands, Duke Islands, Flat Isles, Guardfish Cluster and Percy Group. The islands are listed below, with the geographical coordinates of the largest islands given. Only the major islands of each group are listed.</p><br>
<h2>Bedwell Group</h2><br>
<p>Name origin: Staff Commander E. P. Bedwell, surveyor</p><br>
<p>Calliope Island</p><br>
<p>Connor Islet</p><br>
<p>Innes Island</p><br>
<p>George Island</p><br>
<p>Poynter Island 21&deg;50&prime;S latitude, 149&deg;47&prime;E longitude</p><br>
<h2>Beverley Group</h2><br>
<p>Name origin: Unknown</p><br>
<p>Beverlac Island</p><br>
<p>Digby Island 21&deg;30&prime;S latitude, 149&deg;56&prime;E longitude</p><br>
<p>Double Island</p><br>
<p>Henderson Island</p><br>
<p>Hull Island</p><br>
<p>Keelan Island</p><br>
<p>Knight Island</p><br>
<p>Minster Island</p><br>
<p>Noel Island</p><br>
<p>Prudhoe Island 21&deg;19&prime;S latitude, 149&deg;41&prime;E longitude</p><br>
<h2>Broad Sound Islands</h2><br>
<p>Name origin: Situated at the mouth of Broad Sound, a vast inlet named by Cook in 1770</p><br>
<p>Long Island 22&deg;10&prime;S latitude, 149&deg;53&prime;E longitude</p><br>
<p>Quail Island22&deg;08&prime;S latitude, 149&deg;59&prime;E longitude</p><br>
<p>Tern Island</p><br>
<p>Wild Duck Island 22&deg;01&prime;S latitude, 149&deg;52&prime;E longitude</p><br>
<h2>Duke Islands</h2><br>
<p>Name origin: Unknown</p><br>
<p>Alnwick Island</p><br>
<p>Bamborough Island</p><br>
<p>Cheviot Island</p><br>
<p>Hexham Island 22&deg;02&prime;S latitude, 150&deg;22&prime;E longitude</p><br>
<p>High Peak Island 21&deg;57&prime;S latitude, 150&deg;41&prime;E longitude</p><br>
<p>Hunter Island</p><br>
<p>Marble Island 21&deg;59&prime;S latitude, 150&deg;11&prime;E longitude</p><br>
<p>Otterbourne Island</p><br>
<p>Shields Island</p><br>
<p>Steep Island</p><br>
<p>Tweed Island</p><br>
<p>Tynemouth Island</p><br>
<h2>Flat Isles</h2><br>
<p>Name origin: Named by Flinders in 1802 due to their height - Avoid Island is the highest at 33 metres above sea level</p><br>
<p>Aquila Island 21&deg;58&prime;S latitude, 149&deg;33&prime;E longitude</p><br>
<p>Avoid Island</p><br>
<p>Flock Pigeon Island 22&deg;08&prime;S latitude, 149&deg;34&prime;E longitude</p><br>
<p>Red Clay Island</p><br>
<h2>Guardfish Cluster</h2><br>
<p>Name origin: Unknown</p><br>
<p>Bluff Island</p><br>
<p>Curlew Island 21&deg;37&prime;S latitude, 149&deg;48&prime;E longitude</p><br>
<p>Tinonee Peak Island</p><br>
<h2>Percy Isles</h2><br>
<p>Name origin: Named by Flinders in 1802 after the Duke of Northumberland&#39;s family name</p><br>
<p>Hotspur Island</p><br>
<p>Middle Percy Island 21&deg;39&prime;S latitude, 150&deg;16&prime;E longitude</p><br>
<p>North East Island</p><br>
<p>Pine Islet</p><br>
<p>Pine Peak Island</p><br>
<p>South Percy Island21&deg;46&prime;S latitude, 150&deg;20&prime;E longitude</p><br>
<p>Sphinx Island</p><br>
<p>Walter Island</p><br>
<p>Mount Churchill is a volcano in the Saint Elias Mountains and the Wrangell Volcanic Field of eastern Alaska. Churchill and its higher neighbor Mount Bona about 2 mi to the southwest are both large ice-covered stratovolcanoes, with Churchill being the fourth highest volcano in the United States and the seventh highest in North America.</p><br>
<h2>Volcanic eruptions</h2><br>
<p>Mount Churchill is most noteworthy as the source of the White River Ash, deposited during two of the largest volcanic eruptions in North America during the past two millennia. This twin-lobed tephra deposit covers more than 130,000 square miles of eastern Alaska and northwestern Canada, with the northern lobe deposited 1900 years ago and extending over 250 mi and the larger eastern lobe about 1,250 years ago and stretching over 500 mi. The total volume of the ash exceeds 12 cumi, or roughly 50 times the volume of the 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens, and ash layers up to 2 ft thick can be seen just below the surface in many roadcuts along the Alaska Highway.</p><br>
<p>The extensive ash deposits in the lowlands near the White and Yukon Rivers were first recognized in 1883, but their source remained a mystery for the next century. Geologists in the 1960s traced the two lobes of the ash back into the Saint Elias Mountains, and postulated that the ash may have come from a vent now buried under the Klutlan Glacier, which flows east for over 40 mi from the Bona-Churchill massif into the Yukon Territory of Canada. More detailed studies in the 1990s by the USA Geological Survey finally produced the definitive answer. Aerial photos showed a 2.6 x elliptical, gently sloping, ice-filled depression at 14,500 ft just east of the present summit of Mount Churchill. This was identified as a caldera, which had formed by the collapse of the volcano&#39;s previous summit during the cataclysmic eruptions. The geological field work revealed thick young pumice deposits along the rim of the caldera which are mineralogically and chemically identical to the White River Ash.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>Mount Churchill was first climbed in 1951 by R. Gates and J. Lindberg, but the peak was merely an unnamed satellite of Mount Bona at the time.</p><br>
<p>The mountain was named in 1965 by the Alaska State Legislature for English statesman Winston Churchill.</p><br>
<p>In terms of elevation, it is a major North American peak, at well over 15,000 ft; however, in terms of topographic prominence or isolation, it is less significant, with less than a 1200-foot drop from its summit to the saddle with Bona. Churchill also lies on the northern, gentler side of the Bona massif, making it a less visually spectacular peak than some of the lower outliers of Bona such as University Peak or Aello Peak. The current standard climbing route is the South Ridge, usually as part of a climb of Mount Bona from the east starting from a ski-equipped bush plane landing at around 10,000 ft on the Klutlan Glacier.</p><br>
<p>San Gervasio is an archaeological site of the pre-Columbian Maya civilization, located in the northern third of the island of Cozumel off the northeastern coast of the Yucatán Peninsula, in what is now the Mexican state of Quintana Roo. San Gervasio&#39;s pre-Hispanic name was Tantun Cuzamil, Mayan for Flat Rock in the place of the Swallows. The ruins were once a hub of worship of the goddess Ix Chel, an aged deity of childbirth, fertility, medicine, and weaving. Pre-Columbian Maya women would try to travel to San Gervasio and make offerings at least once in their lives. In 1560, the Spanish historian, Diego Lopez de Cogolludo, wrote: "The pilgrims arrive at Cozumel for the fulfillment of their vows to offer their sacrifices, to ask help for their needs, and for the mistaken adoration of their false gods." The bishop of Yucatán, Diego de Landa, wrote in 1549 that the Maya "held Cozumel in the same veneration as we have for pilgrimages to Jerusalem and Rome, and so they used to go to visit and offer presents there, as we do to holy places; and if they did not go themselves, they always sent their offerings."</p><br>
<h2>Overview</h2><br>
<p>Although most of the stone structures at San Gervasio now lack their roofs and upper portions of their walls, archaeologists from Harvard and the University of Arizona compiled detailed plans of the remains in the early 1970s that allowed them to create reconstructed views of these buildings. Renderings of these reconstructions are illustrated in the guidebook offered for sale by the Cozumel Parks and Museum Foundation (FPMCQROO), an agency of the Mexican State of Quintana Roo and the agency responsible for the upkeep and maintenance of the State park that surrounds the National Monument of the ruins of San Gervasio, which is administered separately by the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH). More information about the archaeological park, including hours of operation, entrance fees, and directions are available on the FPMCQROO website CozumelParks.com</p><br>
<p>The park is a wildlife refuge and the local iguana population has become quite habituated to humans. Although other species of lizards abound, they are not so trusting. Likewise, the peccaries and coatis that are sometimes spotted as they pass through the ruins tend to keep a safe distance from the tourists.</p><br>
<p>The ruins cover 4 districts spread out over several square kilometers, but only certain parts of District 1 are open to the public. Most of the District 1 buildings that are accessible lie within or very near the District 1 Central Plaza Group.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>The first European to visit San Gervasio was Juan de Grijalva, who discovered the island for the Spanish in 1518. The second group of European visitors came with the Hernan Cortes expedition, which stopped by the island on the way to Veracruz in 1519. Both groups were received well by the Maya of Cozumel, and Cortez even wrote a letter for them to present to any Spaniards that came to the island in the future, stating that “there is no gold here and these are peaceful people.” The letter did not help much, however, when the Panfilo de Narvaez expedition arrived in 1520. Several of the expedition’s crewmembers were sick with smallpox. The sickness ran rampant across the island. There have been three mass graves discovered at San Gervasio where these smallpox victims were buried, along with their glass trade-beads given to them by the Spanish.</p><br>
<h2>Structures</h2><br>
<h3>Las Manitas</h3><br>
<p>Meaning: Little Hands</p><br>
<p>Constructed during: Terminal-Classic (1000-1200 AD)</p><br>
<p>Location: East of the District 1 Central Plaza</p><br>
<p>Las Manitas was the residence of the halach unik, or the Mayan ruler of Cozumel during the Terminal Classic Period. It has an outer room that was his residence and an inner sanctum that was his personal shrine. The name of the building comes from red-colored hand prints on the interior walls.</p><br>
<h3>Chi Chan Nah</h3><br>
<p>Meaning: Small House</p><br>
<p>Constructed during: Post Classic</p><br>
<p>Location: to the East of Las Manitas</p><br>
<p>This building was an oratorio, or chapel, used by the family of the halach uinik who lived in the nearby residence of Las Manitas (see above). It consisted of a large outer room with a small inner sanctum containing an altar. In the nearby altar platform (named La Tumba) to the west of Las Manitas, a single vaulted-roofed tomb was discovered in 1973, the only one of its kind found in San Gervasio.</p><br>
<h3>Ka'na Nah</h3><br>
<p>Meaning: Tall House</p><br>
<p>Constructed during: Post-Classic (1200-1650 AD)</p><br>
<p>Location: West of the District 1 Central Plaza</p><br>
<p>This pyramid is the largest single structure in San Gervasio. Due to certain architectural arrangements in the interior of the small room on the top, this structure may have been the temple of Ixchel described in 1552 by Francisco Lopez de Gomara, when he wrote of a temple "where they kept a very strange idol, very distinct from the others. The body of this great idol was hollow, made of baked clay and fastened to the wall with mortar, in back of which was something like a sacristy, where the priests had a small secret door cut into the side of the idol, into which one of them would enter, and from it speak to and answer those who came to worship and beg favors. With this trickery, simple men were made to believe whatever the god told them." In 1618, Diego Lopez de Cogolludo wrote that "they venerated the statue more than the others, sacrificing to it birds, dogs, their own blood, and even men."</p><br>
<h3>El Arco</h3><br>
<p>Meaning: The Arch</p><br>
<p>Constructed during: A reconstruction erected in the 1980s</p><br>
<p>Location: Northeast of District 1 Central Plaza</p><br>
<p>This arch is the main entrance from the north and west to San Gervasio’s District 1 Central Plaza Group. It is a simple arch about seven feet tall that straddles the main religious pathway (called a sacbe in Mayan, a word meaning "white road") running northeast from the plaza. It was reconstructed by INAH in the form of similar arches found at other sites on the east coast of Quintana Roo, such as El Cedral, located on the southern portion of Cozumel.</p><br>
<p>To the north of this arch, on the western edge of the religious pathway lies a small hole in the bedrock, similar to others that can be found throughout the ruins. These natural karst formations are called cenotes (from the Mayan word ‘’d&#39;zonot’’) and served as water sources for the inhabitants of San Gervasio.</p><br>
<h3>District 1 Central Plaza</h3><br>
<p>Meaning:</p><br>
<p>Constructed during: Post-Classic (1200-1650 AD)</p><br>
<p>Location: Northewest of the entrance to the ruins</p><br>
<p>The Plaza Group consists of 6 buildings arranged in a square around a central altar platform. Several of these buildings once had roofs made of timber and thatch, which have since rotted away. Others had roofs of wood beams and poured mortar, while a few had rooms constructed of corbeled arches. All were public buildings and included temples, oratories, altars, and a building used to house visitors who came to participate in religious events taking place in the plaza.</p><br>
<h3>Nohoch Nah</h3><br>
<p>Meaning: Big House</p><br>
<p>Constructed during: Terminal-Classic (1000-1200 AD) and Post-Classic (1200-1650 AD)</p><br>
<p>Location: North of the District 1 Central Plaza</p><br>
<p>With its intact roof, this is one of the best preserved buildings in San Gervasio. Inside, (closed off to the public, but visible through the doorway) the interior walls still show signs of a red, ochre and blue mural. This building was a temple dedicated to Ku’kul’kan, the feathered serpent god.</p><br>
<h3>Los Murcielagos</h3><br>
<p>Meaning: The Bats</p><br>
<p>Constructed during: Late-Classic (600-1000 AD)</p><br>
<p>Location: Northwest of District 1 Central Plaza</p><br>
<p>This compound is made up of several rooms and out-buildings situated on a platform and making up the residence of the halach uinik of Cozumel during the late Post-Classic Period.</p><br>
<h2>Sources</h2><br>
<p>The brochure provided by the park. The brochure includes the link.</p><br>
<p>Markers on sites at park.</p><br>
<p>The Aydar Lake  is part of the man-made Aydar-Arnasay system of lakes, which covers an area of 4,000 square kilometres . This system includes 3 brackish water lakes  located in the saline depressions of the south-eastern Kyzyl Kum . The lakes are the unintentional byproduct of Soviet planning.</p><br>
<h2>Contribution to the drying up of the Aral Sea</h2><br>
<p>This and many other "unintended" lakes, such as Sarygamysh Lake with the immense capacity of 70 cubic kilometers of water) on the lower Amu Darya, created by the negligent Soviet planners, deny the Aral Sea about 150 cubic kilometers of annual inflow of water, directly contributing to, if not actually causing the latter&#39;s drying up.</p><br>
<h2>History of creation</h2><br>
<p>Up to the middle of the last century, the Arnasay lowland remained a dry salt pan during most of the year. Only in Spring, in the lowlands, would the small, ephemeral Lake Tuzkan glisten briefly, disappearing in the hot weather.</p><br>
<p>In the early sixties the Syr Darya was dammed up. Simultaneously the Chardarya irrigation dam was constructed. Floodgates were provided in the dam for flood control, and when in 1969 a raging flood occurred, these were opened as the dams capacity was inadequate to cope with the flow. Between February 1969 and February 1970 almost 60% of the Syr Daryas average annual water flow (21 km³) was drained from the Chardarya Reservoir into the Arnasay lowland. In such a way new lakes were unintentionally created. Since 1969 the Aydar Lake has regularly received the waters of the Syr Darya River when they overflow the capacity of the Chardarya Reservoir. This has gradually filled up the natural cavity of Arnasay lowland to create the second largest lake in the region (after the remains of the Aral Sea).</p><br>
<p>In 2005 the Aydar Lake contained 44.3 cubic kilometers of water. Today the area of the Aydar Lake amounts 3,000 km&sup2;. It is nearly 250 km long and up to 15 km wide. The mineralization of the water in the Aydar Lake averages only 2 grams per liter (2,000 ppm).</p><br>
<p>Many sorts of fish including the Sazan (Cyprinus carpio), Pike perch (Stizostedion lucioperca), Bream (Abramis brama), Cat-fish (Silurus glanis), Hzereh (Aspius aspius), Chehon (Pelecus cultratus), Ophidian fish (Channa argus) were introduced to the lake, which nowadays works as a source of industrial fishing. The lake system provides between 760 and 2,000 tones of fish annually (according to statistical data between 1994 and 2001).</p><br>
<p>In addition to fauna common in the Kyzyl Kum, there are many kinds of water birds migrating from the Aral Sea that make their homes around the lake.</p><br>
<p>The Aydar Lake is located away from inhabited localities. At the present time, 345 families (approx. 1,760 people) reside near the lake.</p><br>
<p>The region of the Aydar Lake and adjoining Kyzylkum Desert is an area of great potential for fishing, yurting and camel-back riding tourist activities.</p><br>
<p>Maple Hill Cemetery is the oldest and largest cemetery in Huntsville, Alabama. Founded on two acres  in about the year 1822, it now encompasses nearly 100 acres  and contains over 80,000 burials. It was added to the Alabama Historical Commission&#39;s Historic Cemetery Register in 2008, and to the National Register of Historic Places in 2012. Its occupants include five governors of Alabama, five United States senators, and numerous other figures of local, state, and national note. It is located east of the Twickenham Historic District.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>The original two acres (8,000 m²) of the cemetery were sold to the city of Huntsville on September 14, 1822 by planter LeRoy Pope. Though early burials are difficult to document, there is substantial evidence that the land had been in use as a cemetery for some time prior to its official establishment. The oldest grave with marker intact is that of Mary Frances Atwood, infant daughter of William and Martha Caroline Atwood, who died September 17, 1820. Headstones are sparse in the oldest section, many having decayed over time and been discarded, and it is likely that many unmarked graves share a similarly early date.</p><br>
<p>The cemetery was expanded at some point after 1849 to include the two acres (8,000 m²) on which LeRoy Pope and his family were buried. There are some indications that this land, which had until then remained a part of the Pope estate, may already have been in use as a burial ground. Popes son-in-law John Williams Walker had died in 1823, Popes wife Judith in 1827, and Pope himself in 1844. It is known that the Popes maintained a private cemetery on their plantation, but it is unclear whether the Pope graves were moved to their present location following the sale of the Pope estate in 1849, or whether this property in fact contained the existing Pope cemetery. Several other monuments in this section suggest its use at least as early as 1844.</p><br>
<p>During the Civil War, Maple Hill Cemetery became the burial site of 187 unknown Confederate soldiers and an uncertain number of Union soldiers. Most of the Confederate soldiers, buried in the Confederate section on the north side of the cemetery, died early in the war of disease or accidents while training in camps close to Huntsville. Numerous Union troops who died during the federal occupation of Huntsville are believed to have been buried in unmarked graves throughout the oldest section of the cemetery. Most of these graves were apparently moved to Chattanooga National Cemetery in 1867.</p><br>
<p>In 1873, the cemetery was further expanded through the purchase from James J. Donegan of 12.45 acres (50,380 m²) that had previously been a part of the Pope estate. In this new addition were two sections consecrated for religious congregations, a Hebrew burial ground and a Catholic burial ground.</p><br>
<p>To accommodate increasing growth in Huntsville because of industrialization, the city purchased an additional 3.2 acres (13,000 m²) in 1881 from Morris and Henrietta Bernstein. In 1903, it purchased another 6.14 acres (24,800 m²) from Mary Y. McClelland of St. Louis, Missouri.</p><br>
<p>In 1901, the cemetery, which had until then been called only "the burying ground," was given its official name.</p><br>
<p>Automobile magnate Albert Russel Erskine made a substantial gift to the cemetery in 1918 of about 12 acres (49,000 m²). Erskine, a descendant of several prominent Huntsvillians buried in the cemetery, had acquired the land from a neighboring residential development, probably prompted by the death of his mother in 1915. On a circular plot in the center of the addition, Erskine constructed an imposing mausoleum to contain the remains of his parents, his wife, and himself. The cemetery&#39;s stone entrance and the wide road proceeding from it to the mausoleum were also funded by Erskine. Three additional properties, purchased in 1920, completed the Erskine Addition.</p><br>
<p>The purchase from James B. Stevens in 1924 of 59 acres (240,000 m²) on the east side of the cemetery more than tripled its size and gave it its present shape.</p><br>
<p>In 1987, a private company, Maple Hill Cemetery, Inc., developed a cemetery adjacent to the cemetery proper on land formerly used by the city of Huntsville for athletic fields.</p><br>
<p>In 2007, the city owned part of the cemetery had virtually run out of available plots and attempted to enlarge the cemetery by first removing playground equipment and picnic tables of an adjoining city park with a plan to create burial plots on the park land. This was met with extreme resistance from residents in nearby neighborhoods. The public outcry of city actions without the proper due process was enough to stop the encroachment into the park and neighborhoods.</p><br>
<h2>The Huntsville Meridian</h2><br>
<p>The Huntsville Meridian intersects Maple Hill Cemetery. Plotted in 1807 by surveyor Thomas Freeman, it is the longitudinal line from which all land in North Alabama was surveyed. Freeman died in 1821 and is buried in the cemetery. The tallest monument in the cemetery was erected on the meridian by another surveyor, Richard W. Anderson, "in memory of deceased relatives and to perpetuate the Huntsville Meridian."</p><br>
<h2>Notable burials</h2><br>
<h3>Governors of Alabama</h3><br>
<p>Thomas Bibb (1782–1839), served 1820 to 1821.</p><br>
<p>Clement Comer Clay (1789–1866), served 1835 to 1837; formerly a USA representative; later a USA senator.</p><br>
<p>Reuben Chapman (1799–1882), served 1847 to 1849; formerly a USA representative.</p><br>
<p>Robert M. Patton (1809–1885), served 1865 to 1868.</p><br>
<p>David P. Lewis (1820–1884), served 1872 to 1874.</p><br>
<h3>United States senators</h3><br>
<p>John Williams Walker (1783–1823), Alabama&#39;s first senator, served 1819 to 1822.</p><br>
<p>Clement Comer Clay (1789–1866), served 1837 to 1841; formerly a governor and USA representative.</p><br>
<p>Jeremiah Clemens (1814–1865), served 1849 to 1853.</p><br>
<p>Clement Claiborne Clay (1816–1882), served 1853 to 1861; later a Confederate States senator.</p><br>
<p>John J. Sparkman (1899–1985), served 1946 to 1979.</p><br>
<h3>United States representatives</h3><br>
<p>Clement Comer Clay (1789–1866), served 1829 to 1835; later a governor and USA senator.</p><br>
<p>Reuben Chapman (1799–1882), served 1835 to 1847; later a governor.</p><br>
<p>Peter Myndert Dox (1813–1891), served 1869 to 1873.</p><br>
<p>Joseph Humphrey Sloss (1826–1911), served 1871 to 1875.</p><br>
<p>William Willis Garth (1828–1912), served 1877 to 1879.</p><br>
<p>William M. Lowe (1842–1882), served 1879 to 1881 and 1882.</p><br>
<p>William N. Richardson (1839–1914), served 1900 to 1914.</p><br>
<p>Jabez Leftwich (1765–1855), served the state of Virginia 1821 to 1825.</p><br>
<p>Addison White (1824–1909), served the state of Kentucky 1851 to 1853.</p><br>
<p>Lowndes Henry Davis (1836–1920), served the state of Missouri 1879 to 1885.</p><br>
<h3>Confederate leaders</h3><br>
<p>Clement Claiborne Clay (1816–1882), Confederate States senator, 1862 to 1864; formerly a USA senator.</p><br>
<p>Nicholas Davis, Jr. (1825–1875), delegate to Alabama Secession Convention; deputy to Provisional Confederate Congress, April 1861 to 1862; lieutenant colonel in Confederate States Army.</p><br>
<p>Thomas Fearn (1789–1863), deputy to Provisional Confederate Congress (resigned after first session).</p><br>
<p>David P. Lewis (1820–1884), deputy to Provisional Confederate Congress (resigned after first session); later governor.</p><br>
<p>LeRoy Pope Walker (1817–1884), first Confederate States secretary of war, 1861; also a Confederate brigadier general.</p><br>
<p>Richard Wilde Walker (1823–1874), deputy to Provisional Confederate Congress, 1861 to 1862; Confederate States senator, 1864 to 1865.</p><br>
<h3>Military figures</h3><br>
<p>William T. H. Brooks (1821–1870), Union brigadier general.</p><br>
<p>Gilbert M. L. Johnson (1837–1871), Union brevet brigadier general.</p><br>
<p>Egbert J. Jones (d. 1861), colonel of the 4th Alabama Infantry Regiment, CSA, killed in the First Battle of Manassas.</p><br>
<p>Robert L. Spragins (d. 1964), Major general who commanded 71st and 44th Infantry Divisions in World War II.</p><br>
<p>LeRoy Pope Walker (1817–1884), Confederate brigadier general; formerly Confederate secretary of war.</p><br>
<h3>Other people</h3><br>
<p>Virginia Clay-Clopton (1823–1915), wife of Clement Claiborne Clay, memoirist and socialite.</p><br>
<p>Albert Russel Erskine (1871–1933), automobile magnate and president of Studebaker Motors.</p><br>
<p>Thomas Freeman (d. 1821), United States Surveyor General.</p><br>
<p>Priscilla Holmes Drake (1812-1892), woman suffragist</p><br>
<p>LeRoy Pope (1765–1844), early planter and "Father of Huntsville."</p><br>
<p>Konrad Dannenberg (1912–2009), German-American rocket pioneer and member of the German rocket team brought to the United States after World War II.</p><br>
<p>Parliament House, Hobart, located on Salamanca Place in Hobart, Tasmania, Australia, is the meeting place of the Parliament of Tasmania. The building was originally designed as a customs house but changed use in 1841 when Tasmania achieved self-government. The building served both purposes from 1841 to 1904, when the customs offices were relocated.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>The island of Tasmania (then known as Van Diemens Land) was claimed and subsequently settled by Great Britain in 1803. Initially, it was administered by the Governor of New South Wales, as part of that British Colony. In 1825 Tasmania became an independent British colony, administered separately from New South Wales, and the Legislative Council was formed as an appointed six man body to advise the Lieutenant Governor of Van Diemens Land who had sole governance of the colony. The council initially held their meetings in a room adjacent to the old Government House that was located near to the present site of Franklin Square, but by 1841 they relocated their meetings to the Long Room (now the Members&#39; Lounge) in the Customs House.</p><br>
<p>In 1850 the British Parliament enacted the Australian Colonies Government Act, which gave Van Diemens Land the right to elect its first representative government. The size of the Legislative Council was increased from six to 24. Eight members were appointed by the Governor, and 16 were elected by property owners. The new Legislative Council met for the first time in 1852, and by 1854 they had passed the Tasmanian Constitution Act, granting Van Diemens Land responsible self-government and a new bicameral parliament. In 1855 Queen Victoria granted Royal Assent and Van Diemens Land became a self-governing British Colony. The following year, 1856, one of the new parliaments first acts was to change the name of the colony from Van Diemen&#39;s Land to Tasmania.</p><br>
<p>In April 1856 renovations began to the Customs House to allow it to accommodate the new bicameral parliament, and on 2 December 1856 the first sessions of parliament were held, with the new House of Assembly sitting in the Long Room, and the Legislative Council moved to their new chamber at the opposite end of the building.</p><br>
<p>The bicameral Tasmanian parliament continued to govern Tasmania as an independent colony until 1 January 1901 when Tasmania joined with five other Australian colonies, and federated to become parts of the new Commonwealth of Australia. The Tasmanian colonial parliament then became the Tasmanian State Parliament, and has since continued to take responsibility for internal domestic issues such as education, healthcare, and policing.</p><br>
<h2>Construction</h2><br>
<p>Parliament House was originally designed as the Customs House in colonial Georgian architecture style by skilled convict architect John Lee Archer in 1830. The site for the building had originally been a market, but had been converted into timber yards in the 1820s. The site was reserved in 1832 for the building of a customs house due to its close location to the wharves of Sullivans Cove (the building was originally closer to the water&#39;s edge than it is today following further reclamation).</p><br>
<p>Between 1832 and 1840 golden honey coloured sandstone was quarried from locations in the Queens Domain and Salamanca Place (now the site of Salamanca Square), and a small railway was constructed to ferry the blocks to the construction site. Construction began in on 5 January 1835, and using mostly convict labour, the basement level had been completed by March 1836. By 1838 the second story had been added and the building was ready for staff of the Customs Department to move into on 1 September 1840.</p><br>
<p>By 1841 the building was operating as the colonys customs house. At that time, the Legislative Council, which had been formed in 1825, were meeting in a room adjacent to the old Government House, but the location was less than adequate for such meetings. It was proposed that the meetings should be held in the spacious new Long Room&#39; of the Customs House, and 19 June 1841, the first Legislative Council meeting was held within the building.</p><br>
<p>Following the establishment of responsible self-government in 1856, the building was renovated in April of that year in order to make provisions for housing the new bicameral parliament. The new House of Assembly met in the Long Room, where the Legislative Council had previously met, and the Legislative Council moved into a new ornate Chamber, where they still meet today.</p><br>
<p>The Customs Department finally moved out of the building altogether in 1904, moving to a new location in Davey Street next to the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery, leaving the building be solely occupied by the Parliament of Tasmania.</p><br>
<p>Between 1938 and 1940 Parliament House was again renovated to construct a new chamber for the House of Assembly, and convert the Long Room, where they had been meeting for the previous 82 years, into a Members Lounge. The new House of Assembly Chamber was formally opened on 14 May 1940, whilst Tasmania was involved in Australias World War II commitments. In December 1940 extensions were also added to the Legislative Council Chamber to create the Murray Street wing.</p><br>
<p>Further alterations were made to the building beginning in 1977. Member&#39;s offices, a Hansard office, Parliamentary Library and Museum, committee rooms, a dining room, reception area, interview rooms and other additional facilities were added, and a formal re-opening was held on 16 April 1980. The most recent alterations began in 1998 and are currently still underway (as of 2008), and are in the form of conservation work, and restoration of sections of the building to try and revert it to its original character.</p><br>
<p>The Royal coat of arms of the United Kingdom features prominently throughout Parliament House in stained-glass windows and engravings. This reflects Tasmania&#39;s former status as a British colony, and that the building was predominantly constructed during that time. Tasmania continued to utilise the Royal Arms on official documents until 1953, despite having adopted its own arms in 1919.</p><br>
<h2>Legislative Council</h2><br>
<p>The Legislative Council is the Upper House, and debates bills that have been passed to it for review having been already approved by the House of Assembly. Once the Legislative Council also approves a bill, it becomes an act of parliament, and is given to the Governor of Tasmania for royal assent, by which it is made into a law.</p><br>
<p>The Legislative Council is the older body of the two parts of the Tasmanian Government. Having first met in 1825, it has continued to act as part of Tasmanias government ever since. Originally a six-man advisory group of members appointed by the Lieutenant Governor of Van Diemens Land, it was expanded to 24 members (eight appointed, and 16 elected) in 1850, and was reduced to its current level of 15 members in 1856 upon the establishment of the current bicameral parliament. The Legislative Council is chaired by the President of the Tasmanian Legislative Council, who is currently Sue Smith, the only female chair of an Australian Upper House.</p><br>
<p>Elections for the Legislative Council are held every six years using a proportional representation system. The state is divided into 15 electoral divisions of the Legislative Council, with one member being elected from each electorate. The 15 members are referred to as Members of the Legislative Council (MLCs). Electoral divisions for the Legislative Council are: Apsley, Derwent, Elwick, Hobart, Huon, Launceston, Mersey, Montgomery, Murchison, Nelson, Pembroke, Rosevears, Rumney, Western Tiers, Windermere.</p><br>
<p>The Legislative Council originally met in a side room of the old Government House. When Parliament House opened as the Customs House in 1840, the council moved their meetings to the Long Room, where they stayed until the bicameral parliament was established in 1856. That year a special Legislative Council chamber was constructed. The Chamber is plushly decorated with a red decor, seating and carpet, and cedar wooden paneling along the walls. The wooden paneling and ceiling is spectacularly hand-stenciled. The President sits on a large chair at one of the chamber, and members are seated in two rows along either wall, facing each other. Seats to the right side of the President are known as the Presidents Reserve&#39;, and to the left is the Press Gallery. There is also a public gallery by which citizens may observe the Council in session. A Black Rod is present in the chamber as a symbol of royal authority for the Upper House. A large portrait of Queen Victoria by J. Prescott Knight RA, overlooks the chamber from a side wall, in honour of her granting responsible self-government to Tasmania.</p><br>
<p>Queen Elizabeth II, the Queen of Australia sat in the ornamental President&#39;s Chair, when she opened the Tasmania Parliament on 22 February 1954, the only occasion when the Tasmanian Parliament has been officially opened by its head of state.</p><br>
<h2>House of Assembly</h2><br>
<p>The Tasmanian House of Assembly was established in 1856 as part of Tasmania&#39;s adoption of responsible self-government. Tasmania chose to adopt the same system of government as in the United Kingdom, with a bicameral parliament. Whereas the Legislative Council mirrored the House of Lords in the United Kingdom by having appointed members, the House of Assembly mirrored the House of Commons in being an entirely elected body. This meant that whilst the Legislative Council became the Upper House, the House of Assembly became the Lower House, where new bills were to be drafted and first debated, before being passed upwards to the Legislative Council. This system still operates today.</p><br>
<p>Initially it consisted of 30 members from 24 electoral districts, with each district represented by one member, expect Hobart which had five members, and Launceston which had two members.</p><br>
<p>Upon federation, the House of Assembly was reduced to 30 members. The 24 previous electoral districts were replaced with five new federal districts of Braddon, Bass, Franklin, Lyons and Denison. Tasmania is the only Australian state which uses its federal electorates for its state lower house. Each electorate elects five members, creating the total of 25 members (since the 1998 downsizing of parliament). Members are known as Members of the House of Assembly (MHAs). They are elected using the Hare-Clark system for a period of four years.</p><br>
<p>When it was first formed in 1856, the House of Assembly met in the Long Room, which had just been vacated by the Legislative Council. In 1940 the current House of Assembly Chamber was constructed, and features a green decor, seating and carpet, with blackwood wooden paneling around the walls. The Speaker of the Tasmanian House of Assembly sits on an elevated chair at one end of the Chamber, whilst all of the members sit in a horseshoe seating arrangement facing him. Three clerks sit in front of the Speaker. Traditionally, the Premier of Tasmania, and the party which has formed government sit to the right of the Speaker, and the opposition party sit at the opposite end of the horseshoe. A ceremonial mace of authority is to be found to the Speaker&#39;s side. There is a public gallery overlooking the chamber by which citizens may come and observe their government in session.</p><br>
<p>Setonaikai National Park is a national park comprising areas of Japans Inland Sea and of ten bordering Prefectures. Designated a national park in 1934, it has since been expanded several times. It contains about 3,000 islands, including the well-known Itsukushima. As the park is formed of many non-contiguous areas, and covering a tiny proportion of the Inland Seas total extent, control and protection is problematic, with much of the wider area heavily industrialized.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>In 1934, when the park was designated as the first national park in Japan, the area was much smaller than the area is now. Sixteen years later, it was extended to almost the same size as now in order to include other famous places in the area. Also, the park is the biggest national park in Japan. In 1996, Itsukushima Shrine in the park which is located in Hiroshima prefecture was registered as a cultural site of world heritage by UNESCO. It is known as one of the three most scenic spots in Japan. But in the 1960s and 1970s, which was a period of rapid economic growth in Japan, industrialization contaminated the environment. For example, bank protection works, pollution of the discharge from chemical works, and farm cultivation led to environmental deterioration. These changes had an influence on an ecosystem and water pollution. Recently, the water has been improved because of a high-performance sewage disposal.</p><br>
<h2>Climate</h2><br>
<p>It is warm weather around the park throughout the year, so the climate is called a Mediterranean climate. Since the area is easily accessible by public transport, people have lived on the coast to work on the land, taking advantage of the warmth. Mandarin oranges and sweet potato are examples of special products in the area. Compared to the Mediterranean Sea, the Inland Sea has more minerals in the water, so there are plentiful plankton. The diversity of creatures is one of the fascinations in the park.</p><br>
<h2>Sites</h2><br>
<p>There are numerous sightseeing places in the national park. Kanmon Strait is one of them. It is located between Honshu and Kyushu. There is a suspension bridge called Kammon Strait Bridge across the strait. In 1973, when the bridge was opened for the public, it was the longest bridge (0.66 miles) in the East. Also, the Naruto whirlpools in Tokushima prefecture are tidal whirlpools in the Naruto Strait, a channel between Naruto and Awaji Island in Hyogo prefecture. The whirlpools, one of the prefecture’s major tourist attractions, are formed due to a narrow width (0.8 miles) of the strait and a water level of 5.6 feet between the Inland Sea and the Open Sea caused by the ebb and flow of the tide. It sometimes creates a whirlpool 100 feet in diameter.</p><br>
<h2>Facilities</h2><br>
<p>There are facilities where people can experience and learn about nature in the park. Mt. Rokko Nature Conservation Center and Mt. Rokko Guide House in Hyogo prefecture are places where people can find numerous natural specimens of Mt. Rokko. Wasuzan Business Center is located in Okayama prefecture. It stands on the top of Washuzan Mountain. It is also near Seto-ohashi Bridge which is a series of ten bridges between Okayama and Kagawa prefectures. The total length is 8.1 miles (13.1 km). From the center, people can see the panorama of the bridge and the Inland Sea. It is also possible to learn about the nature around the bridge and the history of the Inland Sea.</p><br>
<h2>Natural areas</h2><br>
<p>Islands: Awaji Island (part), Bōyo Islands, Ieshima, Miyajima, Naoshima, Shiwaku Islands, Shōdoshima, Tomogashima</p><br>
<p>Mountains: Mount Rokkō, Mount Maya, Mount Noro</p><br>
<p>Straits: Akashi Strait, Hōyo Strait, Kitan Strait, Naruto Strait, Kanmon Straits</p><br>
<p>Other: Naruto whirlpools</p><br>
<h2>Cultural sites</h2><br>
<p>Shrines: Itsukushima Jinja, Kotohira-gū, Mekari Shrine</p><br>
<p>Temples: Futago-ji, Yashima-ji</p><br>
<h2>Related municipalities</h2><br>
<p>The park crosses the borders of fifty-five cities, fourteen towns, and one village:</p><br>
<p>Ehime: Ikata, Imabari, Kamijima, Matsuyama, Ōzu, Saijō, Yawatahama</p><br>
<p>Fukuoka: Kitakyushu</p><br>
<p>Hiroshima: Etajima, Fukuyama, Hatsukaichi, Higashihiroshima, Hiroshima, Kure, Mihare, Onomichi, Ōsakikamijima, Ōtake, Saka, Takehara</p><br>
<p>Hyōgo: Aioi, Akashi, Akō, Ashiya, Awaji, Himeji, Kobe, Minamiawaji, Nishinomiya, Sumoto, Takarazuka, Tatsuno</p><br>
<p>Kagawa: Higashikagawa, Kan&#39;onji, Kotohira, Mannō, Marugame, Mitoyo, Naoshima, Sakaide, Sanuki, Shōdoshima, Tadotsu, Takamatsu, Tonoshō, Zentsūji</p><br>
<p>Ōita: Bungotakada, Himeshima, Kunisaki, Ōita</p><br>
<p>Okayama: Asakuchi, Bizen, Kasaoka, Kurashiki, Okayama, Setouchi, Tamano</p><br>
<p>Tokushima: Naruto</p><br>
<p>Wakayama: Wakayama</p><br>
<p>Yamaguchi: Hikari, Hirao, Hōfu, Iwakuni, Kaminoseki, Kudamatsu, Shimonoseki, Shūnan, Suō-Ōshima, Tabuse, Yanai</p><br>
<p>Kit Carson Peak is a high mountain summit of the Crestones in the Sangre de Cristo Range of the Rocky Mountains of North America. Officially designated Kit Carson Mountain, the 14,171 ft fourteener is located 8.4 km east by south  of the Town of Crestone in Saguache County, Colorado, United States. The name Kit Carson Mountain is used for both the massif with three summits , or to describe the main summit only. The mountain is named in honor of frontiersman Christopher Houston "Kit" Carson. The Crestones are a cluster of high summits in the Sangre de Cristo Range, comprising Crestone Peak, Crestone Needle, Kit Carson Peak, Challenger Point, Humboldt Peak, and Columbia Point. They are usually accessed from common trailheads.</p><br>
<h2>Recent history</h2><br>
<p>In January 2002, the Nature Conservancy announced the signing of a $31 million purchase agreement for the Baca Ranch. The purchase significantly expanded the Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve in 2004. As part of that complex transaction Kit Carson Mountain was transferred to the Sangre de Cristo Wilderness within the Rio Grande National Forest.</p><br>
<p>Kit Carson Mountain features complex terrain that has misled climbers in the past, contributing to deaths in the summer of 2006, 2010, and 2011.</p><br>
<p>In 2011, the United States Board on Geographic Names considered a proposal to rename the peak Mount Crestone, voting unanimously against it due to the potential confusion with nearby Crestone Peak and Crestone Needle. The proposal had been put forward in the name of political correctness because Carson had led a successful 1863-64 campaign to pacify Navajo Indians, who had increased raiding of settlements in New Mexico during the Civil War.</p><br>
<p>Incidentally, local residents for decades had called the mountain "Crestone Peak" (the official name of a neighboring peak), and never called it by "that other name".</p><br>
<h2>Climbing</h2><br>
<p>One popular route on Kit Carson Mountain climbs from the west side of the range, starting at</p><br>
<p>Willow Creek Trailhead (elevation: 8,900 ft). This route first climbs Challenger Point, just to the west of Kit Carson. Climbing from the saddle between Challenger Point to Kit Carson peak involves crossing a path commonly called Kit Carson Avenue. Total elevation gain for this route is 6,250 ft, in a 14 mi round-trip.</p><br>
<p>Kit Carson can also be reached from the east side of the Sangre de Cristos via the South Colony Lakes access. (A four-wheel drive road currently provides relatively a high elevation trailhead; however this road will be closed half way up on October 13, 2009.) This route starts by using part of the trail for Humboldt Peak, and then traverses a ridge and plateau toward Kit Carson. A sub-peak named Columbia Point (informally known as "Kat Carson") is climbed on the way to the main summit.</p><br>
<p>Kit Carson does not have any glaciers but it does have a semi-permanent ice patch on its rugged north face, which rarely melts even in the driest years (such as 2002 and 2006). During the summer Kit Carson and the neighboring peaks are hit with a diurnal cycle of thunder storms, which often form within a short time period; lightning occurs almost daily and has killed climbers as recently as 2003.</p><br>
<p>Fatalities also occur because climbers make the mistake of descending the couloir (gulley) between the summit and Challenger Point. Though the couloir looks like a short cut down, and starts off gently enough, it leads to ice fields, and on the edges it quickly becomes cliffed-out, with patches of scree and loose rock, ending in sheer and highly technical terrain. Search and Rescue teams regularly recover bodies from the bottom of the couloir. Bodies that do not make it to the bottom require highly specialized technical teams, not local to the area, and thus not as quickly available to respond.</p><br>
<h2>Historical names</h2><br>
<p>Frustum Peak</p><br>
<p>Haystack Baldy</p><br>
<p>Kit Carson Mountain – 1970</p><br>
<p>Kit Carson Peak</p><br>
<p>Humboldt Peak is a high mountain summit of the Crestones in the Sangre de Cristo Range of the Rocky Mountains of North America. The 14,070 ft fourteener is located in the Sangre de Cristo Wilderness of San Isabel National Forest, 19.2 km south-southwest  of the Town of Westcliffe in Custer County, Colorado, United States. The Crestones are a cluster of high summits in the Sangre de Cristo Range, comprising Crestone Peak, Crestone Needle, Kit Carson Peak, Challenger Point, Humboldt Peak, and Columbia Point.</p><br>
<h2>Climbing</h2><br>
<p>Humboldt Peak is the least challenging climb of the Crestones. The standard route on the peak is an exhausting hike along a trail, with rock scrambling (Class 2) near the summit. The trail climbs the peak from the South Colony Lakes basin, accessed from the east side of the range. This basin is a popular site that is also the base for most climbs of Crestone Peak and Crestone Needle. A very rugged four-wheel drive road follows the South Colony drainage to near the Lakes; however, this road will be closed halfway up on October 13, 2009. There is a lower parking lot for two-wheel drive access at the San Isabel National Forest boundary. The climb involves 4,464 ft of elevation gain in a 14 mi round trip when done from the two-wheel drive access point, but only 3,100 ft of gain in a 12 mile round trip from the current high-clearance four-wheel drive access point.</p><br>
<p>As of 8/30/2007, 2WD lot has been moved back. From here climb involves 5,200 ft of elevation gain in an 18 mi round trip. When hiking Humboldt be sure to stay right on the ridge because the left is the north face and drops steeply.</p><br>
<p>Challenger Point is a high mountain summit of the Crestones in the Sangre de Cristo Range of the Rocky Mountains of North America. The 14,087 ft fourteener is located 8.1 km east by south  of the Town of Crestone in Saguache County, Colorado, United States. The summit is on the northwest shoulder of Kit Carson Mountain, and is a subpeak of the latter. It was renamed in memory of the seven astronauts who died when the Space Shuttle Challenger disintegrated shortly after liftoff on January 28, 1986.</p><br>
<h2>The Memorial</h2><br>
<p>The proposal to name the summit Challenger Point was made by Colorado Springs resident Dennis Williams in 1986. The USGS Board of Geographic Names approved the application on April 9, 1987.</p><br>
<p>Local climber Alan Silverstein organized and led an expedition on the weekend of July 18, 1987 to place a 6 by memorial plaque on the summit.The plaque reads:</p><br>
<p>&#39;CHALLENGER POINT, 14080+</p><br>
<p>In Memory of the Crew of Shuttle Challenger</p><br>
<p>Seven who died accepting the risk,</p><br>
<p>expanding Mankind&#39;s horizons</p><br>
<p>January 28, 1986&emsp;&emsp;Ad Astra Per Aspera</p><br>
<p>The Latin phrase "Ad Astra Per Aspera" translates as "To the stars through adversity."</p><br>
<h2>Climbing</h2><br>
<p>Trailhead: Willow Creek Trailhead, 8,900 ft</p><br>
<p>Mount Williamson, at 14,379 ft, is the second highest mountain in both the Sierra Nevada range and the state of California. It is the sixth highest peak in the contiguous United States.</p><br>
<h2>Geography</h2><br>
<p>Williamson stands in the John Muir Wilderness of the Inyo National Forest. It is located approximately 6 mi north of Mount Whitney, the highest peak in the contiguous USA, and about 2.5 mi southeast of Shepherd Pass, the nearest trail access. The closest town is Independence, California, about 12 mi to the north-north-east. It lies about 1 mi east of the Sierra Crest, which forms the western edge of the Owens Valley. It is more remote than Whitney in terms of access; however, as it sits east of the crest, it is actually a bit closer to the Owens Valley floor than Whitney. For example, the drop from the summit to the forest edge is 8,000 ft in approximately 4 mi. This makes it an imposing mountain, and far less of a popular climb than its higher neighbor.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>The mountain is named for Lt. Robert Stockton Williamson (1825–1882), who conducted one of the Pacific Railroad Surveys in Southern California.</p><br>
<p>The first recorded ascent of Mount Williamson was made in 1884 by W. L. Hunter and C. Mulholland, by way of the Southeast Slopes Route. The first ascent of the West Side Route was made in 1896 by Bolton C. Brown and Lucy Brown. New routes continued to be put up on the harder faces at least through the 1980s.</p><br>
<h2>Climbing</h2><br>
<p>The standard ascent route is the West Side Route, accessed from Shepherd&#39;s Pass. From the pass, one travels across the Williamson Bowl, which lies between Mount Williamson and Mount Tyndall, part of the Sierra Crest. The bowl is home to five high alpine lakes. From the bowl, the route climbs gullies up the west face to the relatively broad summit plateau; this portion involves scrambling up to. Technically easier, but with a more difficult approach which can involve route finding and bushwhacking, is the Southeast Slopes Route, rising from George Creek. Other routes exist on the mountain, including a significant technical route on the North Rib (Grade IV, 5.7).</p><br>
<p>Climbing Mount Williamson is made more difficult by the lengthy and strenuous approach. Elevation gain from the trailhead is over 8,000 ft, and the trail to Shepherd&#39;s Pass alone is 11 mi.</p><br>
<p>Mount Williamson is in the California Bighorn Sheep Zoological Area and these rare animals can often be seen on the lower slopes during the winter when heavy snows drive the sheep down from their summer grazing areas. From 1981 until 2010 the California Bighorn Sheep Zoological Area was closed to access for much of the year, but late in 2010, the Inyo National Forest Service declined to renew the closure, opening the area to access year-round.</p><br>
<p>Hozomeen Mountain is a double-summited rock peak on the east side of Ross Lake in the North Cascades of Washington state. Despite its modest absolute elevation, it is notable for the large, steep drops from both of its summits to the surrounding terrain.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>The name "Hozomeen" is derived from Salish, a geographically broad language group of the indigenous bands of southern British Columbia and northern Washington State. The name appeared on a sketch map prepared for members of the first boundary survey of the 49th parallel, ca. 1857-1860, designating the name of the mountain. The map was drawn by Thiusoloc, one of surveyor and topographer Henry Custer&#39;s Salish guides, and like other geographic features labeled on the map, it recorded Salish place names. According to Annie York, a native Salish speaker, "Hozomeen" refers to "sharp, like a sharp knife." and links the name to the ca. 9,000 year long tradition of indigenous use of Hozomeen chert (a flint-like mineral) to make a variety of subsistence and hunting tools.</p><br>
<h3>Hozomeen North Peak</h3><br>
<p>(the main summit) was first climbed on September 6, 1904 by Sledge Tatum and George E. Loudon, Jr. of the Boundary Survey, from the northeast. Other routes exist on the South Ridge and Southwest Buttress. The north summit is Washington&#39;s fourth steepest peak, with an average angle from the summit of 38.86°</p><br>
<h3>Hozomeen South Peak</h3><br>
<p>elevation 8,003 ft, lies approximately 1 mi southeast of the higher North Peak. It was first climbed on May 30, 1947 by Fred Beckey, Melvin Marcus, Jerry O&#39;Neil, Ken Prestrud, Herb Staley, and Charles Welsh, via the Southwest Route. While lower than the North Peak, it has a north face which is "almost completely vertical for 1,000 feet." This makes it the steepest peak in Washington with an average steepness angle of 42.62° from the summit.</p><br>
<h3>Hozomeen South-west Peak</h3><br>
<p>7,471 ft Hozomeen South-west is a steep sub-peak, with only 511 ft of prominence, first climbed by John Dudra and Howard Rode in 1951. Easiest route is a peak rib and gully loose, two other routes exist. The peaks steepest side is the northwest face.</p><br>
<h3>Mentions in Media</h3><br>
<p>Hozomeen Mountain is also mentioned often in the latter portions of Jack Kerouacs 1958 novel The Dharma Bums and the beginning of his 1965 novel Desolation Angels when the protagonists are stationed at a fire lookout on nearby Desolation Peak. A rhyme in The Dharma Bums goes "Hozomeen, Hozomeen, the most mournful mountain Ive ever seen".</p><br>
<h3>Routes</h3><br>
<h4>Hozomeen North</h4><br>
<p>North Route,</p><br>
<p>Northeast Buttress, first ascent Sledge Tatum,and George E. Loudon Jr. September 6, 1904.</p><br>
<p>South Ridge,</p><br>
<p>Southwest Buttress, first ascent Dick Culbert, and Alice Purdey August 1968. Grade IV to hard to protect, very few successful ascents.</p><br>
<p>West Face Grade IV Very difficult to protect, considered one of the hardest routes.</p><br>
<h4>Hozomeen South</h4><br>
<p>Southwest Route, first ascent Fred Beckey, Melvin Marcus, Jerry O&#39;Neil, Ken Prestrud, Herb Staley, and Charles Welsh Grade III+</p><br>
<p>North Ridge, first ascent Fred Douglas, and Paul Starr labor day weekend 1974. Grade IV+</p><br>
<p>Southeast Buttress, first ascent Dave Adams, Don Goodman, Ken Johnson, and John petroske. Grade III</p><br>
<h4>Hozomeen South-west</h4><br>
<p>Southwest Route, first ascent John Dudra and Howard Rode in 1951.</p><br>
<p>South Ridge, first accent Dick Culbert, Gary Johncox, and Bill Sharpe 1958. Exposed</p><br>
<p>West buttress and face, first ascent Edmund Zenger, Juergen Oswald, Gernot Walter July 26, 1969. Exposed Grade III</p><br>
<p>The Fountain House is located in the borough of Doylestown, Pennsylvania, in the central commercial district. The four-story building is steeped in local history and is a major landmark of the Bucks County area. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1972.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>The Fountain House was one of seven taverns in pre-revolutionary Doylestown. It was constructed by William Doyle, the founder of Doylestown. The first part of the building was constructed in 1758. Owned by a Tory during the American Revolutionary War, it was seized by government authorities and sold at auction. Throughout the 19th century, The Fountain House hosted, in addition to a tavern, the first Doylestown post office, and a stagecoach line connecting Philadelphia and Easton. The Fountain House was entered into the National Register of Historic Places in 1972.</p><br>
<h2>Construction</h2><br>
<p>The Fountain House, built primarily in the Victorian style, has gone through a number of changes.</p><br>
<p>1758: Original stone structure built</p><br>
<p>1830: Third story added</p><br>
<p>1849: Two additional structures built on either side</p><br>
<p>1876: Gabled Roof replaced with Mansard Roof</p><br>
<p>1971: Restored</p><br>
<h2>Current occupants</h2><br>
<p>Currently, The Fountain House hosts several business occupants, primarily the Starbucks which occupies the entire first floor. Several law offices and apartments are located on the second and third floors. It is a major social gathering location in Doylestown. The town&#39;s Christmas Tree is placed in front of the building annually.</p><br>
<p>Lake Conway, a 6,700 acre lake in Arkansas, is the largest reservoir made by a game and fish commission in the United States. It is located just a few miles southeast of Conway, Arkansas.</p><br>
<h2>Overview</h2><br>
<p>Construction on Lake Conway began in 1948, with water fed by Stone Dam Creek, Palarm Creek, Panther Creek, Little Cypress Creek and Gold Creek. Lake Conway is on average 6 ft deep, and is 18 ft at the deepest.</p><br>
<p>Lake Conway Dam is an earthen structure still owned by the Arkansas Fish and Game Commission, 16 feet high and impounding a maximum capacity of 40,200 acre-feet.</p><br>
<p>The lake is approximately 8 mi in length, and has approximately 52 mi of shoreline. Lake Conway is a popular fishing destination. The lake is full of bass, catfish, bream and crappie. The Arkansas Game and Fish Commission maintains many free public areas on the lake, and boat rentals can be found on many commercial docks. The official name of the lake was changed in June 2011 to Craig D. Campbell Lake Conway Reservoir.</p><br>
<h2>Mythology</h2><br>
<p>Rumors abound regarding a large "skunk ape" or "Fouke Monster" like creature that inhabits the shallow waters, various islands and numerous inlets around Lake Conway. The Lake Conway Monster hysteria peaked in the 1970s and has declined since then. While no photographs are known to exist of the Lake Conway Monster, reports of large creatures in the lake and strange goings-ons are still reported to this day.</p><br>
<h2>Environmental Concerns</h2><br>
<p>On March 29, 2013 5,000 barrels of crude oil spilled from the Exxon Pegasus pipeline in Mayflower, Arkansas, putting the lake and wildlife at risk.</p><br>
<p>Fort Proctor is a ruined 19th century fort in St. Bernard Parish, Louisiana, USA. It is also known as Fort Beauregard or Beauregard&#39;s Castle . The fort is on the shore of Lake Borgne just north of the mouth of Bayou Yscloskey. At the time it was built in the 1850s, there was also an adjacent railroad port called "Proctorville".</p><br>
<p>The fort was intended to be part of the fortifications protecting water routes towards New Orleans. In 1814, the British Army had attacked New Orleans after their navy advanced up Lake Borgne and defeated a small flotilla of gunboats belonging to the New Orleans Squadron of the USA Navy, in the Battle of Lake Borgne.</p><br>
<p>Due to delays caused by hurricane damage, and then the outbreak of the American Civil War, the fort was never garrisoned. By the end of the Civil War, improvements in artillery had made the design of the fort obsolete.</p><br>
<p>In the 1940s and 1950s, before it was engulfed by Lake Borgne, the ruins of the fort were a popular gathering place for teenagers seeking a spot where they would not be supervised.</p><br>
<p>The construction of the Mississippi River-Gulf Outlet Canal in the 1960s cut off all land access to the fort site. It can be seen in the distance from Shell Beach, Louisiana. In 1978, it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It is now completely surrounded by water about one foot deep. Before Hurricane Katrina, there remained one small piece of dry land inside of the fort.</p><br>
<p>The Blue Hill Meteorological Observatory, also known as Great Blue Hill Weather Observatory, Blue Hill Weather Observatory, or simply the Blue Hill Observatory, in Milton, Massachusetts is the foremost structure associated with the history of weather observations in the United States. Located atop Great Blue Hill at the junction of Interstate 93 and Route 138 about south of Boston, Massachusetts, it is home to the oldest continuous weather record in North America, and was the location of the earliest kite soundings of the atmosphere in North America in the 1890s, as well as the development of the radiosonde in the 1930s.</p><br>
<p>Founded by Abbott Lawrence Rotch in 1884, the observatory took a leading role in the newly emerging science of meteorology and was the scene of many of the first scientific measurements of upper atmosphere weather conditions, using kites to carry weather instruments aloft. Knowledge of wind velocities, air temperature and relative humidity at various levels came into use as vital elements in weather prediction due to techniques developed at this site. By 1895 the observatory was the source of weather forecasts of remarkable accuracy. On October 8, 1896, a record of 8740 feet (2,665 m) was achieved for a weather kite. During the Great New England Hurricane of 1938, the observatory measured the strongest wind gust ever directly measured and recorded in a hurricane at 186 mph (299 km/h)."ANNIVERSARY OF GREAT NEW ENGLAND HURRICANE OF 1938</p><br>
<p>" http://www.bluehill.org/Data/2010/september/sep21.txt</p><br>
<p>The observatory remains active to this day, continuing to add to its data base of weather observations now more than one hundred years old, and stands as a monument to the science of meteorology in the United States.</p><br>
<p>The observatory offers meteorological science programs and is open to the public on weekends.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<h3>Site</h3><br>
<p>The Blue Hill Meteorological Observatory was founded by American meteorologist Abbott Lawrence Rotch (1861–1912) in 1884. By the time he graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1884, Rotch had conceived and carried into execution his plans for the erection of a meteorological observatory on the summit of the Great Blue Hill, ten miles south of Boston, Massachusetts in the Blue Hills Reservation, a 6,000-acre (24 km²) public park managed by the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation.</p><br>
<p>Rotch chose the site because the elevation of 635 feet was the highest point within ten miles of the Atlantic Ocean, on the East Coast south of central Maine. The Observatory was founded as a weather station and research facility. This location afforded early weather scientists a unique opportunity for recording extremes of weather and experimenting with weather-recording instruments.</p><br>
<p>The observatory building was completed by the end of 1884 and the first regular observations were begun on February 1, 1885. Rotch became the first director of the observatory and maintained it at his own expense until his death in 1912 when he bequeathed it to Harvard University with an endowment of $50,000.</p><br>
<h3>The building</h3><br>
<p>Construction of the observatory was started by Rotch in 1884 using his own private funds, and designed by architects Rotch & Tilden. The original structure consisted of a two-story circular tower and an adjoining housing unit which contained two bedrooms, a dining room and a kitchen. In 1889, a two-story east wing was added to provide additional working space for research, domestic chores, and the library. In 1902, a two-story west wing containing a new library was added to provide additional work space. A steel fire door and brick wall connect the library to the earlier masonry structure. A timbrel vault (18 by 35 ft) of cohesive tiles spans the library. The timbrel vault tile roof is believed to have been installed by the Guastavino Company using an extremely tenacious mortar developed by Rafael Guastavino, the founder of the firm.</p><br>
<p>Native stone, gathered from the summit of the Great Blue Hill, was used for the two-story tower, adjoining housing unit, and the east and west wings. Copper sheathing was used for roofing. A stone wall and iron fence were erected in 1905 to provide security for the building and instruments and privacy for the staff. The original stone tower eventually proved to be unsuitable. Wind-driven rain penetrated its walls, damaging the instruments and records. Vibration from the instruments on masts atop the tower contributed to the structural problems.</p><br>
<p>In 1908, the original tower was demolished and a new reinforced three-story late Gothic Revival concrete tower, 20 feet 6 inches wide and 32 feet 8 inches high was constructed in its place. The concrete construction of the tower was chosen specifically to provide the maximum amount of stability and durability in the event of high winds. The tower has a crenelated top and a cornice containing dentils. The windows are double-hung sash with a shallow recessed arch over the windows on the first and second floors.</p><br>
<p>The new tower provided the durable weather-resistant, vibration-free environment necessary for accurate instrument readings. The first floor of the tower contains the director&#39;s office. The weather bureau is on the second floor and a laboratory and access to the roof are found on the third floor. Various wind gauges and other meteorological recording instruments are attached to the roof of the tower. The observatory still retains barometers and other instrumentation dating from the late 19th century. These instruments are used to calibrate the modern instrumentation to preserve the accuracy and integrity of the data base dating back to 1885.</p><br>
<p>In 1962, a metal tower containing a siderostat for collecting the sun&#39;s rays and directing them by mirrors to an optical bench inside the observatory, was erected adjacent to the west wing for studies related to the upper atmosphere. This project was abandoned after a few years. This tower, with its mirrors still present, is no longer in use.</p><br>
<p>The observatory has been neglected for a number of years. Although the structure is generally weather-tight, due to both solid construction and a copper roof, the reinforced concrete tower is plagued by the elements. The frost-thaw cycle has caused some cracking and spalling of the concrete.</p><br>
<p>In 1980, the building was listed in the National Register of Historic Places as "Great Blue Hill Weather Observatory", as part of a multiple property nomination by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts entitled "Prehistoric and Historic Resources of the Blue Hills and Neponset River Reservations and Selected Adjacent Lands".</p><br>
<p>In 1981, the Metropolitan District Commission transferred responsibility for the observatory to the Blue Hill Weather Club, a local group of supporters, who plan to restore the observatory and establish a weather museum on the site. The observatory will be kept open to continue its record of continuous weather observations. The National Weather Service continues to operate an Automated Surface Observing System at the site.</p><br>
<p>A white marble stone containing a summary record of climatological data from 1885 to 1984 and dedicated to the memory of Abbott Lawrence Rotch is located on the front yard of the building.</p><br>
<p>It was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1989 with name "Blue Hill Meteorological Observatory".</p><br>
<h2>History of its operations</h2><br>
<p>Under Rotch&#39;s leadership, the Blue Hill Meteorological Observatory quickly became famous for its pioneering studies of the upper atmosphere. The study of cloud heights, directions and velocities that Rotch carried out at the Blue Hill Observatory made significant contributions to the knowledge of clouds in the early years of the 20th century.</p><br>
<p>Rotch continued to work at the Blue Hill Observatory until his death on April 7, 1912. Under the terms of his will, the observatory was given to Harvard University with an endowment of $50,000 for operating costs. Harvard operated the observatory until 1971 when it disassociated itself from the site. The Rotch endowment was kept by Harvard.</p><br>
<p>After 1912, the Blue Hill Meteorological Observatory continued to operate as an active meteorological observatory. Weather observations and recordings have continued to this day, providing modern meteorologists with a record of uninterrupted climatological observations that is unique in the world.</p><br>
<p>Since these recordings were obtained from the same site with virtually no environmental change, they provide an important index to climate change. This information is of special importance to students of climatic change, in an age where so many weather records are flawed by environmental and procedural changes, and by repeated moves of the observing site over a number of years. For this reason, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration designated the Blue Hill Observatory one of 26 International Benchmark stations within the United States.</p><br>
<p>During the 1950s, the site housed a research group that used radar to scan approaching thunder storms as far away as western New York State, as part of an inquiry into the causes of lightning. Findings by this group were instrumental in the development of the US weather radar program. The installation consisted of a steel tower supporting a second-hand military radar set, several Quonset huts and box trailers, surrounded by a chain-link fence. Group members were on call to monitor the radar whenever severe storms could be observed. Data were also collected from a network of amateur co-operative observers who corresponded by mail. This era coincided with the end of the long career of the famous Director of the Observatory, Dr. Charles Brooks, said to be one of the few who accurately forecast the path of the destructive Hurricane of September, 1938.</p><br>
<h2>Accomplishments</h2><br>
<p>Since 1885, the staff of the observatory and others have documented the scientific work completed at the Blue Hill Observatory in almost 900 scientific publications. The Observatory&#39;s first century is a distinguished history of contribution to the development of meteorology. Measurements at the observatory have continued on a daily basis since the day it first opened in 1885, making the observatory one of the oldest continually active weather and climate monitoring stations in the United States.</p><br>
<p>The Plaza Mayor  was built during Philip III&#39;s reign  and is a central plaza in the city of Madrid, Spain. It is located only a few Spanish blocks away from another famous plaza, the Puerta del Sol. The Plaza Mayor is rectangular in shape, measuring 129 x, and is surrounded by three-story residential buildings having 237 balconies facing the Plaza. It has a total of nine entrance ways. The Casa de la Panadería , serving municipal and cultural functions, dominates the Plaza Mayor.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>The origins of the Plaza go back to 1577 when Philip II asked Juan de Herrera, a renowned Classical architect, to discuss a plan to remodel the busy and chaotic area of the old Plaza del Arrabal. Juan de Herrera was the artist who designed the first project in 1560 to remodel the old Plaza del Arrabal but construction did not start until 1617, during Philip IIIs reign. The king asked Juan Gómez de Mora to continue with the project, and he finished the porticoes in 1619. Nevertheless, the Plaza Mayor as we know it today is the work of the architect Juan de Villanueva who was given the glorious, albeit difficult task of its reconstruction in 1790 after a series of enormous fires. Giambolognas equestrian statue of Philip III dates to 1616, but it was not placed in the centre of the square until 1848.</p><br>
<h2>Names</h2><br>
<p>The name of the plaza has changed over time. Originally it was called the "Plaza del Arrabal" but became known as the "Plaza Mayor".</p><br>
<p>In 1812, following a decree all the major plazas of Spain were renamed "Plaza de la Constitución", in honour of the Constitution of 1812. The plaza had this name until the restoration of the Borbón king in 1814 when it became known as the "Plaza Real". The plaza once again held the name "Plaza de la Constitución" in the periods from 1820 to 1823, 1833 to 1835, and 1840 to 1843.</p><br>
<p>In 1873, the name changed to "Plaza de la República", and then back to "Plaza de la Constitución" from the restoration of Alfonso XII in 1876 to the dictatorship of Primo de Rivera in 1922. A proclamation of the Second Spanish Republic gave the plaza the name of "Plaza de la Constitución" until the end of the Spanish Civil War when the plaza was renamed the "Plaza Mayor", the name it bears to date.</p><br>
<h2>Uses</h2><br>
<p>The Plaza Mayor has been the scene of multitudinous events, during the Spanish Inquisition were practicated the autos de fe against supposed heretics and the executions of those condemned to death. The Plaza Mayor also has a ring of old and traditional shops and cafes under its porticoes. Celebrations for San Isidro, patron saint of Madrid, are also held here. The Plaza Mayor is now a major tourist attraction, visited by thousands of tourists a year.</p><br>
<h2>Statue</h2><br>
<p>There is a bronze statue of King Philip III at the center of the square, created in 1616 by Jean Boulogne and Pietro Tacca.</p><br>
<p>Thalaiyar Falls, also known as Rat Tail Falls is located in the Batlagundu of Dindigul District,</p><br>
<p>Tamil Nadu State, South India. It is 975 ft tall and is the highest waterfall in Tamil Nadu, the sixth highest waterfall in India and the 267th highest in the world.</p><br>
<h2>Description</h2><br>
<p>On a clear day Rat Tail Falls is visible from the on the Batalugundu-Kodaikanal Ghat Road, 3.6 km away to the west. It appears across the valley as a long thin white strip of cascading water on a background of black rock cliff face that juts out of the foothills.</p><br>
<p>The very edge at the top of the Falls has a low concrete wall on either side concentrating the flow of water to focus the falls into a better rat tail shape. One can walk along the wall and get near the center of the falls. Just below one wall is a large flat rock about 5 ft wide. One can get down to the edge of the rock to look directly straight down to see a little river at the bottom continuing placidly through the forest. Looking back up to the side, one can watch the water in freefall, mostly silent. The noise of the crashing water below doesn&#39;t rise up. The only noise is the water pushing around the stone walls, and some smaller falls just upstream.</p><br>
<p>The river water coming to the falls, though 9 km downstream from Perumal Malai village and apparently clear, may be polluted, and visitors to the area are advised to avoid drinking it.</p><br>
<h2>Access</h2><br>
<p>Manjalar Reservoir- 2.1 km long (center) Manjalar River (right). Thalaiyar Falls are 2.8 km more to the right.</p><br>
<p>Rat Tail Falls is considered inaccessible to the general public, as there is no road to it. The top of the falls is a rewarding and challenging hike destination. Hikers should be cautious, as two Western tourists were died in 2006 when they fell from the top of the Falls.</p><br>
<p>It is possible to hike to the bottom of the falls in the dry season, beginning at the Manjalar Dam. This difficult hike proceeds along a path through Mango orchards and potato fields around the Manjalar Reservoir and up along the stream as far as a small shrine, dedicated to the Goddess Kamakshi. The legend is that Kamakshi was born here at the foot of the falls in a bamboo bush and hence she is called Moonkilanai Kamakshi. This place is called Amma Machhu, meaning in the middle of a grove of teak trees.</p><br>
<p>Beyond this point one must climb up along the stream, going up, over and around increasingly large boulders with difficulty, till arriving at the bottom of the falls, where there is a pool about 30 m by 60 m. The return hike is more difficult. The full hike there and back covers about 15 km and takes a full day.</p><br>
<p>Manjalar Dam is at the end of Manjalar Road about 5.5 km north from SH-36 at Devadanapatti town beginning along Kamatchi Amman temple road.</p><br>
<h2>External sources</h2><br>
<p>The Hunter Museum of American Art is an art museum in Chattanooga, Tennessee. The museum&#39;s collections include works representing the Hudson River School, 19th century genre painting, American Impressionism, the Ashcan School, early modernism, regionalism, and post World War II modern and contemporary art.</p><br>
<p>The building itself represents three distinct architectural stages: the original 1904 classical revival mansion designed by Abram Garfield, the son of president James A. Garfield, which has housed the museum since its opening in 1952, a brutalist addition built in 1975, and a 2005 addition designed by Randall Stout which now serves as the entrance to the museum.</p><br>
<h2>Location</h2><br>
<p>The museum is situated on an 80 ft bluff overlooking the Tennessee River and downtown Chattanooga. The Faxon House, built in 1904, was built where a Confederate battery had been fought. Once a prestigious address for Victorian houses, the area is now home to the Bluffview Art District. The museum sits on a bluff that overlooks the Walnut Street Bridge. The Ruth S. and A. William Holmberg Pedestrian Bridge provides a pedestrian-friendly connection to the nearby Walnut Street Bridge and riverfront attractions.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>The Hunter Museum is named after George Hunter, who inherited the Coca-Cola Bottling empire from his uncle Benjamin Thomas. Thomas was one of the entrepreneurs who created Chattanoogas Coca-Cola bottling empire. Their nephew, George Hunter, later joined Anne Thomas to create a philanthropic organization in Hunters memory named the Benwood Foundation. The foundations mission was to "promote religious, charitable, scientific, literary and educational activities for the advancement or well being of mankind". The centerpiece of the Benwood Foundations gifts to the community of Chattanooga is the Hunter Museum of American Art, originally known as the Ross Faxon House.</p><br>
<h2>Expansion</h2><br>
<p>In 2002 the Hunter Museum of American Art partnered with the City of Chattanooga, the Tennessee Aquarium and the Creative Discovery Museum to finish the 21st Century Waterfront Plan. "The Hunter Museum portion of the project included a $22 million expansion and renovation, designed by Randall Stout that was completed in 2005. The project included 28,000 square feet of new construction, 34,000 square feet of renovation, a new entrance, a temporary exhibition space, restoration of the mansion, the creation of an outdoor sculpture and a complete reinstallation of the Museum&#39;s permanent collection."</p><br>
<h2>Present day</h2><br>
<p>The Hunter Museum of American Art includes 100 years of architectures and the most complete collection of American art in the Southeast. The museum also travels nationally for exhibits and curated shows. "The collection spans from the colonial period to present day and covers a wide variety of media including painting, sculpture, contemporary studio glass, and crafts." In 2006 the museum received national recognition from the Innovative Design in Engineering and Architecture with Structural Steels awards program. "The award recognizes outstanding achievements in engineering and architecture on structural steel projects around the country. The Hunter Museum project earned Merit Award recognition in the category of Projects $15–$75 million." In June 2015, the Hunter Museum of Art announced on their official website that they had chosen a new executive director, Virginia Ann Sharber.</p><br>
<p>The Sarapiquí River, or Rio Sarapiquí, in Costa Rica is a tributary of the San Juan River and forms the eastern border of Sarapiquí Canton. The area around the river is mostly lowlands tropical rainforest, having lush vegetation with a large variety of plant, animal and insect life.</p><br>
<p>This river is navigable and is a local trading artery, and also supports fishing and tourism activity.</p><br>
<p>The river, which was previously called &#39;Siripiqui&#39;, is prone to flooding.</p><br>
<p>Around the river are plantations of coffee, sugar cane, bananas and cocoa trees.</p><br>
<p>The 2009 Costa Rica earthquake near Cinchona greatly affected the Sarapiqui River as many animals died.</p><br>
<p>Since the privatisation of electricity production in the country, the river has seen a number of hydroelectric dams being built along the watercourse.</p><br>
<p>The river is considered a national monument because of the vital service it provided in transporting arms, goods and soldiers in the 1856 war against the filibusters.</p><br>
<p>Talla Reservoir, located a mile from Tweedsmuir, Scottish Borders, Scotland, is an earth-work dam fed by Talla Water. The reservoir is supplemented by water from the nearby Fruid Reservoir. It was opened in 1899. To assist in bringing the materials for its construction, the Talla Railway was built.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>In the late 19th century engineers surveying for the Edinburgh and District Water Trust (EDWT) identified the area around the loch at Talla in the hills above Tweedsmuir in the Scottish Borders as an ideal site for a new reservoir to supply the increasing water demands of the expanding city of Edinburgh, 28 miles to the north. In the mid-1890s the land was secured from the Trustees of the Earl of Wemyss and March Estates for £20,000. Construction was by James Young & Sons.</p><br>
<p>On 29 September 1897 a stone-laying ceremony marked the start of construction of Victoria Lodge, at the southern terminus. The Lodge was built as the headquarters for the Trustees of the Edinburgh Water Company. A category B listed house in the Scots Renaissance style, it sits in its own private grounds overlooking the reservoir.</p><br>
<p>All materials for construction were lifted from there to the construction site by a ropeway, called a Blondin after the famous tightrope walker Charles Blondin. These included stone and aggregates from quarries in North Queensferry and Craigleith, pipes, valve gear and pumping equipment from central Scotland, as well as the clay, gravel and sand used in the dam embankment. Puddle clay, for the watertight barrier within the dam came from the Carluke area; this material was initially developed by James Brindley for canal lining. In total, over 100,000 tons of material were transported for the building of the reservoir, and at least 30 of the workmen (who were mostly Irish) died during construction and are buried at Tweedsmuir churchyard.</p><br>
<p>Construction work was virtually complete by late 1904 and Talla Water was diverted into the bed of the reservoir on 20 May 1905. The official opening ceremony on 28 September was carried out by Lady Cranston, wife of the Lord Provost.</p><br>
<h2>Sources</h2><br>
<p>Baltra Island, or Isla Baltra, is a small island of the Galápagos Islands. Also known as South Seymour , Baltra is a small flat island located near the center of the Galápagos. It was created by geological uplift. The island is very arid and vegetation consists of salt bushes, prickly pear cactus and palo santo trees.</p><br>
<h2>Airport</h2><br>
<p>During World War II Baltra was established as a United States Army Air Force base. Crews stationed at Baltra patrolled the eastern Pacific for enemy submarines and provided protection for the Panama Canal.</p><br>
<p>After the war the facilities were given to the government of Ecuador. Today the island continues as an official Ecuadorian military base. The foundations of buildings and other remains of the US base including the old airfield can still be seen on the island.</p><br>
<p>Until 1986, Seymour Airport was the only airport serving the Galápagos. Now there are two airports which receive flights from the continent, the other being the San Cristóbal Airport on San Cristóbal Island. Private planes flying to the islands must fly to Baltra as it is the only airport with overnight facilities for planes.</p><br>
<p>On arriving into Baltra, all visitors are transported by bus to one of two docks. The first dock is located in a small bay where the boats cruising the Galápagos await passengers. The second is a ferry dock which connects Baltra to the island of Santa Cruz via the Itabaca Channel.</p><br>
<p>Constructions for a larger, modernized airport began in 2011, and as of early 2013 it has started operation and the old buildings are being dismantled. The new airport is being run under a 15-year concession by, a subsidiary of the Argentinian group and has been promoted as "the first ecological airport worldwide" due to its reduced energy consumption for lighting and ventilation, rainwater recovery, waste recycling etc.</p><br>
<h2>Wildlife</h2><br>
<p>Baltra is currently not within the boundaries of the Galápagos National Park. The Galápagos Land Iguana is the subject of an active re-introduction campaign on the island; it became extinct on Baltra in 1954. However, in the early 1930s, Captain G. Allan Hancock had translocated a population of Galápagos Land Iguanas from Baltra to North Seymour Island, a smaller island just a few hundred metres north of Baltra. The iguanas survived and became the breeding stock for the successful Charles Darwin Research Station captive breeding program. During the 1980s iguanas from North Seymour were brought to the Darwin Research Station as part of this project and in the 1990s land iguanas were reintroduced to Baltra. As of 1997 scientists counted 97 iguanas living on Baltra, 13 of which were born on the islands. Currently it is not uncommon to see iguanas either crossing the mainroad or on the runway at the airport.</p><br>
<p>Genovesa Island, named after the Italian city of Genoa, in honor of Christopher Columbus,  is a shield volcano in the Galápagos Islands in the eastern Pacific Ocean. The island occupies about 14 km&sup2, and its maximum elevation is 64 m. The horse-shoe shaped island has a volcanic caldera whose wall has collapsed, forming the Great Darwin Bay, surrounded by cliffs. Lake Arcturus, filled with salt water, lies in the centre, and sediment within this crater lake is less than 6,000 years old. Although no historical eruptions are known from Genovesa, there are very young lava flows on the flanks of the volcano.</p><br>
<h2>Wildlife</h2><br>
<p>This island is known as Bird Island, because of the large and varied bird colonies which nest here. There are an abundance of frigatebirds and it is among the best place in the archipelago to see red-footed boobies, Nazca boobies, swallow-tailed gulls, storm petrels, tropicbirds, Darwin&#39;s finches, and Galápagos mockingbirds.</p><br>
<p>Prince Philip&#39;s Steps is an extraordinary steep path that leads through a seabird colony full of life, up to cliffs that are 25 m high. At the top, the trail continues inland, passing more seabird colonies in a thin palo santo forest. The trail also provides overviews of a rocky plain. Storm petrels here are different from any others in the world because they are active during the day. To avoid predators, they only return to their nest holes at night.</p><br>
<p>The smallest marine iguana in the archipelago lives here.</p><br>
<h2>Recreation</h2><br>
<p>In Darwin Bay there is the possibility to either dive along the inner wall or go to the outer wall, which is less protected. Another possibility is to dive from the outside of the volcano through the channel into the caldera.</p><br>
<p>Española Island  is part of the Galápagos Islands. The English named it Hood Island after Viscount Samuel Hood. It is located in the extreme southeast of the archipelago and is considered, along with Santa Fe, one of the oldest, at approximately four million years. A popular tourist stop, Isla Española is the most southerly island in the Galápagos Archipelago. The climate is very dry, like most of the Archipelago. But due to the flatness of the island, it is the driest of these islands, with only a few inches of rain per year.</p><br>
<p>It is about a 10- to 12-hour trip by boat from Isla Santa Cruz. Tourists come to see the waved albatrosses (from March to January, almost the entire world population breeds on the island) and the mating dances of blue-footed boobies on Española Island.</p><br>
<p>While Española Island is one of the oldest of the Galápagos Islands, this island is dying, slowly becoming a rocky, barren land with little or no vegetation. But this does give large bays, with sand and soft shingle which attracts a healthy number of Galápagos sea lions</p><br>
<p>Two spots are especially popular with visitors: Bahía Gardner, which has a lovely beach; and Punta Suárez, of interest because of its varied bird-life. This island has its own species of animals, such as the Española mockingbird, which has a longer and more curved beak than the one on the central islands; the Española lava lizard; the marine iguana of the subspecies venustissimus, which has red markings on its back; among others. Here there are also swallow-tailed gulls and other tropical birds.</p><br>
<h2>In popular culture</h2><br>
<p>American author Herman Melville mentions the island in his novella The Encantadas, or Enchanted Isles (1854).</p><br>
<p>The novel La iguana (1982) by Spanish writer Alberto Vázquez-Figueroa takes place in the island. The novel was later cinematized as Iguana by American film director Monte Hellman (1988).</p><br>
<p>Santa Fe Island , also called Barrington Island after admiral Samuel Barrington, is a small island of 24 km&sup2; which lies in the centre of the Galápagos archipelago, to the south east of Santa Cruz Island. Geologically it is one of the oldest, since volcanic rocks of about 4 million years old have been found. The vegetation of the island is characterized by brush, palo santo trees and stands of a large variety of the prickly pear cactus Opuntia echios.</p><br>
<p>In regard to animals, Santa Fe is home to two endemic species and two endemic subspecies: the Barrington land iguana (Conolophus pallidus), the Barrington leaf-toed gecko (Phyllodactylus barringtonensis), the Santa Fe marine iguana (Amblyrhynchus cristatus trillmichi ) and the Santa Fe rice rat (Aegialomys galapagoensis bauri ).</p><br>
<p>The visitor site is a wet landing located in Barrington Bay on the northeastern side of the island. Large numbers of sea lions are found on the beaches in the bay, occasionally hindering peregrination to the two trails leading from the beach.</p><br>
<p>The Embassy of the United States in Paris is the diplomatic mission of the United States in the French Republic. The embassy is the oldest diplomatic mission of the United States. Benjamin Franklin and some of the other Founding Fathers were the earliest United States Ambassadors to France. It is located at 2, on the northwest corner of the Place de la Concorde, in the 8th arrondissement.</p><br>
<h2>Buildings</h2><br>
<p>The USA State Department owns three buildings in Paris to support its diplomatic, consular, trade and cultural activities which are: the Embassy of the United States in Paris, the Hôtel de Pontalba also called Hôtel Rothschild (USA Ambassador’s residence), and the Hôtel Talleyrand. More details about the last two mansions can be found in the Secretary of State’s Register of Culturally Significant Properties.</p><br>
<h3>Chancery</h3><br>
<p>The four-story chancery, housing the ambassador&#39;s office, faces the Avenue Gabriel and the gardens of the Champs-Élysées; it is beside the Hôtel de Crillon. It was built in 1931, following the demolition of an existing structure. Designed by Delano & Aldrich &ndash; an American architectural firm based in New York City, New York &ndash; along with French architect Victor Laloux, the building has a façade that conforms with other buildings on the Place de la Concorde, as required by French law.</p><br>
<h3>Talleyrand building</h3><br>
<p>The so-called "Talleyrand building" at 2 rue Saint-Florentin formerly housed the American Embassy Consular Services, Public and Cultural Affairs offices, several other government agencies and the George C. Marshall Center. Most of these offices were moved to the embassy proper. It was then purchased by the banker James Mayer de Rothschild, whose family, owned it for over a century, until 1950, when it was acquired by the USA government.</p><br>
<h3>Ambassador's residence</h3><br>
<p>The nearby property at 41 rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré, known as the Hôtel de Pontalba, was built by Louis Visconti for the New Orleans–born Baroness Micaela Almonester de Pontalba between 1842 and 1855. Edmond James de Rothschild acquired the building in 1876. His estate sold it in 1948 to the USA government, and today it is the residence of the USA Ambassador to France.</p><br>
<h2>USA representatives in France</h2><br>
<p>As of 20 January 2009, fifty-three people had represented, in France, the interests of the United States (or individual states prior to the 1789 ratification of the USA Constitution) as envoy, minister plenipotentiary, minister, ambassador or chargé d&#39;affaires.</p><br>
<p>Chattanooga National Cemetery is a United States National Cemetery located near the center of the city of Chattanooga in Hamilton County, Tennessee. Administered by the United States Department of Veterans Affairs, it encompasses 120.9 acre, and as of 2014, had more than 50,000 interments.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>The cemetery was established in 1863, by an order from Major General George Henry Thomas after the Civil War Battles of Chattanooga, as a place to inter Union soldiers who fell in combat. 75 acre of land was initially appropriated from two local land owners, but later purchased. It became Chattanooga National Cemetery in 1867. By 1870 more than 12,000 interments had been made, most of whom were unknown. Many nearby battlefield burials were also reinterred in Chattanooga, including nearly 1,500 burials from the Battle of Chickamauga.</p><br>
<p>During World War I several German prisoners of war who died while in captivity were buried in Chattanooga National Cemetery. After the war, the German government paid to have other POWs disinterred from Hot Springs National Cemetery and moved to Chattanooga.</p><br>
<p>Chattanooga National Cemetery was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1996.</p><br>
<p>Originally the site was expected to close for new burials in 2015. However, due to a recent expansion project that will add the capacity for more than 5000 interments, the cemetery is now expected to be available for burials until 2045.</p><br>
<h2>Notable monuments</h2><br>
<p>A 40&#39; high memorial archway, constructed in 1868.</p><br>
<p>The Andrews Raiders Memorial, erected in 1890. It includes a bronze replica of the locomotive known as The General, stolen by Union partisan James J. Andrews and his men in the Great Locomotive Chase.</p><br>
<p>German World War I prisoner of war monument, erected by the German government in 1935.</p><br>
<h2>Notable interments</h2><br>
<p>Andrews Raiders</p><br>
<p>Medal of Honor recipients</p><br>
<p>* Private Samuel Robertson</p><br>
<p>* Sergeant Major Marion A. Ross</p><br>
<p>* Sergeant John M. Scott</p><br>
<p>* Private Samuel Slavens</p><br>
<p>Other Raiders</p><br>
<p>* James J. Andrews, leader of the raid (civilian)</p><br>
<p>* William H. Campbell, civilian member</p><br>
<p>* Private Philip G. Shadrack</p><br>
<p>* Private George D. Wilson</p><br>
<p>Medal of Honor recipients</p><br>
<p>Master Sergeant Ray E. Duke, for action in the Korean War. Also, recipient of Republic of Korea&#39;s version of the Medal of Honor (the Merit Taegug Medal)</p><br>
<p>Corporal Desmond Doss, for action in World War II, the first conscientious objector to be awarded the Medal of Honor.</p><br>
<p>Private William F. Zion, USMC, for action in the Boxer Rebellion</p><br>
<p>Other notables</p><br>
<p>Cal Ermer, Major League Baseball player and Marine Corps veteran.</p><br>
<p>William P. Sanders, Civil War Union Army officer.</p><br>
<p>Timothy R. Stanley, Brigadier General during the Civil War.</p><br>
<p>Sammy Strang, Major League Baseball player and United States Military Academy coach.</p><br>
<p>Other noteworthy interments</p><br>
<p>186 foreign prisoners of war from World War I and World War II.</p><br>
<p>One Canadian soldier of World War I.</p><br>
<p>City Point National Cemetery is a United States National Cemetery in the community of City Point within the city of Hopewell, Virginia. Administered by the United States Department of Veterans Affairs, it encompasses 6.7 acre, and as of the end of 2005, had 6,909 interments. It is managed by Hampton National Cemetery.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>During the Civil War, the area around City Point was a Union supply depot, established by General Ulysses S. Grant. Its proximity to the Confederate capitol of Richmond, Virginia made it an ideal staging place. The cemetery was established to reinter soldiers who were buried in the seven nearby hospital cemeteries and those from makeshift battlefield plots throughout the area.</p><br>
<p>City Point National Cemetery was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1995.</p><br>
<h2>Notable monuments</h2><br>
<p>The Army of the James Monument, a 20&#39; high white marble monument erected in 1865.</p><br>
<p>ʿAlam-Kūh  – Mount Alam – is a mountain in Alborz mountain range in north of Iran, Mazandaran Province, forming a peak of Takht-e Suleyman Massif. It is located in Kelardasht District of Mazandaran Province of Iran. With an elevation of 4,805 meters, it is the third highest peak in Iran after Mount Damavand and sabalan.</p><br>
<h2>Climbing history</h2><br>
<p>The first recorded ascent of the peak was made from Hazarchal over the south face by the German brothers Bornmüller during their six-month botanical exploration of the Alborz in 1902.</p><br>
<p>Douglas Busk, a British mountaineer, climbed Alam-Kuh via the east ridge in 1933 and again in 1934 from over the west ridge.</p><br>
<p>The 800 m high, steep granite north face provides some of the most difficult and interesting mountaineering routes in the country and the climbs rank alongside major climbing routes in the European Alps. In addition to local climbers, the north face attracts European climbing teams. The first known ascent from the north was by a German party (Gorter/Steinauer) in 1936 via the northwest ridge. Subsequently, French and Polish teams established other routes on the north face during the 1960s and 1970, these being multi-day routes of high alpine standard. A British team followed with a successful ascent in 1978. The first winter ascent of the north face was made by Mohammad Nouri in 1991.</p><br>
<h3>2004 earthquake</h3><br>
<p>Most of the fixed ropes were damaged severely during a major 6.3 magnitude earthquake and consequent rockfall in 2004. The mountain was closed to climbers for some months because the hazard of rockfall and loose cables.</p><br>
<h3>Terrain and approach</h3><br>
<p>The mountain range supports permanent snow and glaciers. Although the southern slopes of the range tend to be dry and barren, the northern valleys leading to the Caspian Sea (which offer the best approaches to the mountains) are wet and lush with vegetation.</p><br>
<h2>Location</h2><br>
<p>Hampton National Cemetery is a United States National Cemetery in the city of Hampton, Virginia. It encompasses 27.1 acre, and as of 2014, had over 30,000 interments. There are two separate parts to this facility. The original cemetery is called the “Hampton Section” and is located on Cemetery Road in Hampton, VA. It is on the western side of I-64. The new section which is called the “Phoebus Addition” or the “Phoebus Section” West County Street in Hampton, VA east of I-64. It is less than a mile from the original cemetery. Both sections of the Hampton National Cemetery are closed to new interments.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>The first burials took place in the cemetery in 1862, and were primarily Union soldiers who died in service or at the hospital at Fort Monroe. It became a National Cemetery in 1866. While primarily for Union soldiers, it also has the interments of 272 Confederate soldiers in their own section.</p><br>
<p>Hampton National Cemetery has the interred remains of World War II prisoners of war, 55 German and 5 Italian. It also has the remains of 28 sailors from the, which was sunk by off Cape Hatteras in 1942. A British sailor from the same war is buried here.</p><br>
<p>Hampton National Cemetery was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on February 26, 1996.</p><br>
<h2>Notable monuments</h2><br>
<p>The Union Soldiers Monument, a 65&#39; tall granite obelisk.</p><br>
<h2>Notable interments</h2><br>
<p>Medal of Honor recipients</p><br>
<p>Landsman Michael Cassidy (1837-1908), for action at the Battle of Mobile Bay, during the Civil War. Phoebus, Section B, Grave 9503.</p><br>
<p>Ordinary Seaman John Davis (1854–1903), for peacetime service aboard USS Trenton in 1881.</p><br>
<p>Coal Heaver James R. Garrison (1838-1908), for action at the Battle of Mobile Bay, during the Civil War. Phoebus, Section B, Grave 9523.</p><br>
<p>Sergeant Alfred B. Hilton (1842–1864), for action at the Battle of Chaffin&#39;s Farm, during the Civil War. Hampton, Section E, Grave 1231.</p><br>
<p>Ordinary Seaman Edward Maddin (1852–1925), for peacetime gallantry aboard the USS Franklin</p><br>
<p>First Sergeant Harry J. Mandy (1840–1904), for action at Front Royal, Virginia during the Civil War. Phoebus, Section C, Grave 8709.</p><br>
<p>First Lieutenant Ruppert L. Sargent (1938–1967), for action during the Vietnam War. Hampton Section F-I, Grave 7596.</p><br>
<p>Private Charles Veale (1838–1872), for action at the Battle of Chaffin&#39;s Farm, during the Civil War. Hampton, Section F, Grave 5097.</p><br>
<p>Coxswain David Warren, for action during the Civil War aboard USS Monticello. Phoebus, Section C, Grave 7972.</p><br>
<p>Other notable interments</p><br>
<p>Private Daniel A. Bean (1846–1864), first Union soldier from Brownfield, Maine to die in the Civil War.</p><br>
<p>Peter Weckbecker (1864–1935), Major League Baseball catcher</p><br>
<h2>U-85 Crew Members Buried at Hampton National Cemetery</h2><br>
<p>Little Charity Island is a small island in Saginaw Bay, Lake Huron. The 5.4-acre  island is located in Sims Township, Arenac County in the USA state of Michigan. Acquired by the USA Fish and Wildlife Service in 1999, it is administered by staff from the Seney National Wildlife Refuge as a unit of the Michigan Islands National Wildlife Refuge.</p><br>
<p>Little Charity Island is located in the middle of the bay, inland from its larger neighbor, Big Charity Island. It rises approximately halfway between "Point Lookout" to the northwest and "Sand Point" to the southeast. The island is home to some riparian tree life, and is home to colonial-nesting waterbirds, including double-crested cormorants. Many bay fishermen use the island as a navigation point.</p><br>
<p>Little Charity Island was once called Ile de Traverse, according to an 1839 map of Michigan. In the 19th century and early 20th century Little Charity was owned by Bay Port Fish Company, a commercial fishing company in Saginaw Bay, for its riparian water rights. After the 1940s, when Michigan law changed, the island was sold as were other islands in the bay.</p><br>
