<p>Sierra de San Pedro Mártir  is a mountain range located within southern Ensenada Municipality and southern Baja California state, of northwestern Mexico.</p><br>
<p>It is a major mountain range in the long Peninsular Ranges System, that extends from Southern California down the Baja California Peninsula into Baja California Sur state.</p><br>
<h2>Geography</h2><br>
<p>The range&#39;s highest peak is Picacho del Diablo at 3,096 m in elevation. Also known as Cerro de la Encantada (Enchanted Mountain) and Picacho la Providencia (Providence Peak), it is the highest point in Baja California state and of the entire Baja California Peninsula.</p><br>
<p>The range is a drainage divide that demarcates the drainages flowing west into the Pacific Ocean or east into the Gulf of California for this section of the Baja California Peninsula.</p><br>
<p>Snow is usually present at the highest elevations in the winter.</p><br>
<p>The Sierra de Juárez are on the north, and Sierra de San Francisco are on the south, both are also part of the Peninsular Ranges System.</p><br>
<h3>Features</h3><br>
<p>Parque Nacional Sierra de San Pedro Mártir protects an area of 650 km&sup2; in the Sierra de San Pedro Mártir. It was established by presidential decree in 1974, and the first of two national parks to be established on the Baja California Peninsula. The second is Parque Nacional Constitución de 1857 to the north, in the Sierra de Juárez and also in Baja California state.</p><br>
<p>The National Astronomical Observatory is located at an elevation of 2,830 m in the range. The astronomical complex was built in 1975. It has several large telescopes, the largest of which is 2.12 m in diameter. The observatory&#39;s site takes advantage of the high elevation, along with typically clear skies, low relative humidity, low atmospheric pollution, low light pollution, and low levels of radio interference.</p><br>
<p>The range was a site considered for construction of the Thirty Meter Telescope, now tentatively planned for a controversial site on Mauna Kea in Hawaii.</p><br>
<h2>Ecology</h2><br>
<p>Sierra de San Pedro Mártir has a very similar flora to the Sierra de Juárez on the north. Higher elevations have Sierra Juarez and San Pedro Martir pine-oak forests ecoregion flora, which are surrounded at lower elevations by California chaparral and woodlands ecoregion flora, and at lowest elevations by the Baja California Desert ecoregion flora.</p><br>
<p>The flora is distinct from that of mainland Mexico across the Gulf of California to the east, and shares many species with the Laguna Mountains and Cuyamaca Mountains, also Peninsular Ranges, in San Diego County, California. Typical conifer species include white fir, sugar pine and Jeffrey pine. The canyons of the lower eastern Sierra de Pedro Mártir are the southern range demarcation of natural California fan palm (Washingtonia filifera) distribution. Arizona cypress (Cupressus arizonica) can be found with Canyon live oaks (Quercus chrysolepis) and California fan palms.</p><br>
<p>Baja California rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss nelsoni) are native to the headwaters of Rio Santo Domingo in the Sierra San Pedro Martir. Desert bighorn sheep also live in the range</p><br>
<p>California condors, zoo-bred from the San Diego Zoo Safari Park condor program, were reintroduced into the Sierra San Pedro Martir in 1987, the first time seen in the range since 1937. Each year, a small group of young California condors are selected from the pool of birds being bred by the Los Angeles Zoo, San Diego Zoo Safari Park, Oregon Zoo, and The Peregrine Fund for release to the wild. Annual releases range from four to seven zoo-bred birds.</p><br>
<p>Rybinsk Reservoir , informally called the Rybinsk Sea, is a water reservoir on the Volga River and its tributaries Sheksna and Mologa, formed by Rybinsk Hydroelectric Station dam, located in the Tver, Vologda, and Yaroslavl Oblasts. At the time of its construction, it was the largest man-made body of water on Earth. It is the northernmost point of the Volga. The Volga-Baltic Waterway starts from there. The principal ports are Cherepovets in Vologda Oblast and Vesyegonsk in Tver Oblast.</p><br>
<p>The construction of the dam in Rybinsk started in 1935. The filling of the reservoir started on April 14, 1941, and continued until 1947. Some 150,000 people had to be resettled elsewhere, and the historic town of Mologa in Yaroslavl Oblast along with 663 villages have completely disappeared under water. In recent years however, it has been increasingly viewed as a typical example of Stalinism for its disregard of the interests of the local people affected by the project. Today the dam is less important for hydroelectric power supply (output is 346 MW) than it used to be, and the ecological damage caused by the reservoir is being reassessed.</p><br>
<p>Mount Hiei is a mountain to the northeast of Kyoto, lying on the border between the Kyoto and Shiga Prefectures, Japan.</p><br>
<p>The temple of Enryaku-ji, the first outpost of the Japanese Tendai (Chin. Tiantai) sect of Buddhism, was founded atop Mount Hiei by Saichō in 788. Hōnen, Nichiren, and Shinran all studied at the temple before leaving to start their own practices.</p><br>
<p>The temple complex was razed by Oda Nobunaga in 1571 to quell the rising power of the Tendai&#39;s warrior monks (sōhei), but it was rebuilt and remains the Tendai headquarters to this day.</p><br>
<p>The Imperial Japanese Navy 19th Century corvette Hiei was named after this mountain, as was the more famous World War II-era battleship, the latter having initially been built as a battlecruiser.</p><br>
<h2>Mount Hiei in folklore</h2><br>
<p>Mount Hiei has featured in many folk tales over the ages. Originally it was thought to be the home of gods and demons of Shinto lore, although it is predominantly known for the Buddhist monks that come from the temple of Enryaku-ji.</p><br>
<h2>Marathon monks</h2><br>
<p>John Stevens wrote the book The Marathon Monks of Mount Hiei, chronicling the practice of walking long distances – up to 52 miles a day for 100 straight days, in an effort to attain enlightenment. The practice of walking is known as the kaihōgyō.</p><br>
<p>A 2010 US National Public Radio report described the sennichi kaihōgyō (thousand-day kaihōgyō) as</p><br>
<h2>Attractions</h2><br>
<p>Beyond the mountain itself, its forests, and the views it affords – of Kyoto, of Ohara, of lake Biwa and Shiga – the main attraction is the temple complex of Enryaku-ji. The temple complex spreads out over the mountain, but is concentrated in three areas, connected by foot trails. There are also more minor temples and shrines.</p><br>
<p>Unusually, there are also a number of French-themed attractions – the peak itself features the Garden Museum Hiei, which is themed on French impressionism, featuring gardens and French paintings, while there is also a French-themed hotel, "L&#39;hotel de Hiei" (The Hiei Hotel). The mountain is busiest during the daytime, but has some visitors in the evenings, for light-up displays and to see the night view of the surrounding towns.</p><br>
<h2>Access</h2><br>
<p>The mountain is a popular area for hikers and a toll road provides access by automobile to the top of the mountain; there are also buses that connect the mountaintop to town a few times a day. There are also two routes of funiculars: the Eizan Cable from the Kyoto side to the connecting point with an aerial tramway ("ropeway") to the top, and the Sakamoto Cable from the Shiga side to the foot of Enryaku-ji.</p><br>
<p>The attractions on the mountain are quite spread out, so there are regular buses during the daytime connecting the attractions. The center for these is the bus center, in front of the entrance to the main temple complex at.</p><br>
<p>The Finsteraarhorn  is the highest mountain in the Bernese Alps in Switzerland and the most prominent peak of Switzerland. The Finsteraarhorn is the ninth-highest mountain and third-most prominent peak in the Alps. In 2001 the whole massif and surrounding glaciers were designated as part of the Jungfrau-Aletsch World Heritage Site.</p><br>
<h2>Geography</h2><br>
<p>Despite being the most elevated, prominent and isolated mountain of both the Bernese Alps and the canton of Berne, the Finsteraarhorn is less known and frequented than the nearby Jungfrau and Eiger. This is due to its location in one of the most remote areas in the Alps, completely surrounded by un-inhabited glacial valleys.</p><br>
<p>To its west lies the Fiescher Glacier, the second longest in the Alps, and to the east lie the Great Aar Glaciers. The smaller Lower Grindelwald Glacier lies north of the massif. The Finsteraarhorn is surrounded by the summits of the Schreckhorn and Lauteraarhorn to the north, the Gross Fiescherhorn, Grünhorn and Gross Wannenhorn to the west and the Oberaarhorn to the east.</p><br>
<p>The summit lies on the border between the cantons of Valais and Berne. Politically, it is split between the municipalities of Fieschertal (Valais) and Guttannen (Berne). The Valais–Berne border is also the watershed between the Rhône (Mediterranean Sea) and Rhine (North Sea) rivers. The Finsteraarhorn is the culminating point of the Rhine drainage basin.</p><br>
<p>The Finsteraarhorn was dethroned by Monte Rosa as the highest summit of Switzerland when Valais joined the Swiss Confederation in 1815.</p><br>
<h2>Geology</h2><br>
<p>The Finsteraarhorn is the culminating point of the Aarmassif, a geologic crystalline massif which crops out in the eastern Bernese Alps and Urner Alps. The massif belongs to the Helvetic zone and consists of rocks from the European continent, mainly granites and gneisses. The summit itself is composed of amphibolites.</p><br>
<p>The tectonic uplift of the massif occurred late in the alpine orogeny, during the Oligocene, 30 to 40 million years ago. The inelastic deformation of rocks led to many fractures and formation of hydrothermal crystals by the deposition of the saturated water flowing inside.</p><br>
<h2>Climbing history</h2><br>
<h3>The controversial first ascent</h3><br>
<p>The first ascent was long a controversial matter. The first attempt was made on 16 August 1812 by the Aargau merchant, guided by the locals Kaspar Huber, Arnold Abbühl, Joseph Bortes and Aloys Volker. Bortes and Volker, guiding and uncle, had been the first to climb the Jungfrau the previous year. They approached the mountain via the Oberaarjoch, Studer glacier, and south-east ridge, which is a more difficult and longer route than the current normal route over the north-west ridge. Meyer became exhausted and remained behind after reaching the ridge, perhaps near P. 3883 (Meyer&#39;s Peak). Huber kept him company, while the three other guides went on and purportedly reached the summit after three hours.</p><br>
<p>On 19 August 1828, Franz Joseph Hugi, a geologist from Solothurn, made another attempt with seven local climbers. Among these was Arnold Abbühl, who told Hugi about his ascent 16 years earlier, but Hugi scoffingly dismissed his account, partly because Abbühl misidentified the peak in the beginning of their approach. The group reached a ca. 4,080 m saddle (the Hugisattel) on the north-west ridge, but had to retreat because of bad weather after Hugi and one of the guides (Arnold Dändler) nearly had fallen off the ridge.</p><br>
<p>The next year Hugi organized another expedition via the same route. While an attempt on the 3rd of August faltered, on 10 August 1829 two of his guides, Jakob Leuthold and Johann Währen were able to reach the summit, where they spent three hours building a 7-foot pyramid to anchor a flagpole. Hugi stayed behind somewhat above the saddle not daring to cross a steep slope, partly because he had twisted an ankle four weeks earlier. On the way back Hugis ankle played up and Leuthold, Währen and Joseph Zemt took turns carrying him down the glacier. Hugis account makes no mention of evidence of an earlier ascent.</p><br>
<p>In articles of 1881 and 1908, the mountaineers and leading historians of Alpine exploration Gottlieb Studer and W.A.B. Coolidge, respectively, declared to be convinced that the Meyer expedition had been successful. However, John Percy Farrar concluded in 1913 in an article in the Alpine Journal that the guides in 1812 must have reached the 4,167 m high shoulder 200 m south of the true summit, which he considered nevertheless a feat half a century ahead of its time.</p><br>
<h3>Other ascents</h3><br>
<p>The fifth ascent took place on August 13, 1857. It was the first British ascent, made by John Frederick Hardy, William Mathews, Benjamin St John Attwood-Mathews, John Clough Williams-Ellis and Edward Shirley Kennedy, accompanied by the guides Auguste Simond and Jean Baptiste Croz from Chamonix, Johann Jaun the Elder from Meiringen, Aloys Bortis from Fiesch and the porter Alexander Guntern from Biel in Goms. They left Konkordiaplatz at 2:30 pm, reaching the summit at exactly 11:53 pm. Before ascending the mountain, Mathews already mentioned his idea of a club for alpinists. On the summit of the Finsteraarhorn the climbers decided to found such an association, which would be named the Alpine Club.</p><br>
<p>The most difficult route to the summit, the north-east face, was opened on 16 July 1904 by G. Hasler and his guide F. Amatter. The ascent marked the beginning of the épopée of the great north faces in the Bernese Alps. In fact the north-east face of the Finsteraarhorn was climbed only 11 times between 1904 and 1977. A third ascent was made on 3 September 1930 by Miriam O&#39;Brien Underhill with guides A. and F. Rubi. She relates this dangerous ascent in her book Give me the Hills.</p><br>
<h2>Climbing routes</h2><br>
<p>The normal route starts at the Finsteraarhorn Hut (3,046 m) and goes over the south-west flank of the mountain up to the Hugisattel, then follows the north-west rocky ridge to the summit.</p><br>
<p>The River Rother flows from Empshott in Hampshire, England, to Stopham in West Sussex, where it joins the River Arun. At 52 km long, most of the river lies within West Sussex except for the first 10 km which lie in Hampshire. The upper river, from its source to Midhurst, has been used to power watermills, with the earliest recorded use being in 1086, when the Domesday survey was conducted. Although none are still operational, many of the buildings which housed the mills still exist, and in some cases, still retain their milling machinery. This upper section is also noted for a number of early bridges, which have survived since their construction in the fifteenth, sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.</p><br>
<p>The lower river, from Midhurst to its junction with the River Arun, has been used for navigation. Boats used the section from the Arun to Fittleworth following improvements made to the Arun in 1615, and after the Arun Navigation was completed in 1790, the Earl of Egremont made the river navigable up to Midhurst by constructing eight locks and some small cuts. The work was completed in 1794, and many of the bridges built at that time still survive. With the opening of the Mid-Sussex Railway branch to Midhurst in 1859, traffic declined, and commercial use of the river had ceased by the 1880s. Pleasure boats continued to be used on the river for many years, and published accounts of journeys along the decaying navigation appeared in 1914 and 1920. The navigation was officially abandoned in 1936, after an undergraduate pointed out that it was still a public right of way.</p><br>
<p>The river flows through the South Downs National Park, and is a designated Site of Nature Conservation Importance, in recognition of its value for wildlife. It supports a wide range of fish, and its upper reaches are the only location in Sussex where native white clawed crayfish can be found. The quality of the water is generally good, and the river is measured at four gauging stations, three on the main channel, and one of the River Lod, just before its junction with the Rother. Water from the underlying Lower Greensand aquifer and the adjacent chalk aquifer helps to maintain the flows during the summer months, despite the fact that large volumes are abstracted from both the aquifers and the river for the public water supply.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>Following improvements to the River Arun in 1615, which allowed boats to reach Pallingham, they could also navigate part of the Rother, as far upstream as Fittleworth. The canal engineer William Jessop was asked to survey the river below Petworth Mills in 1783, and was recalled in 1790, when he surveyed it below Midhurst. In the same year, the construction of the Arun Navigation was finished, and in 1791, George Wyndham, 3rd Earl of Egremont, who was based at Petworth House, obtained an Act of Parliament which would enable him to improve the Rother. The Act also authorised a branch canal to Petworth. Since he owned most of the land adjacent to the river, the precise route of the navigation was not specified, and he was free to improve the channel or make cuts as he saw fit. The only restriction was that cuts could not be made through gardens or enclosed grounds. Compared to most other canals at the time, the charges for using the navigation were low, as the Earl wanted to develop the region rather than make a profit.</p><br>
<p>The river&#39;s lower section, below Midhurst, was made navigable by the construction of the Western Rother Navigation in 1794. The length of the navigation was 11.25 mi of which less than 2 mi consisted of new cuts, with the rest following the existing channel. It rose through 54 ft from Stopham to Midhurst by a series of eight locks, and cost £13,300 to build. Traffic consisted of coal transported up-river, with cargoes of timber, corn and Petworth marble in the other direction. A branch connected it to Petworth by the short Petworth Canal, which was 1.25 mi long with two locks, and terminated at Haslingbourne to the south of the town. It was opened in 1793, having cost the Earl £5,000 to build, but only lasted for a few years, until a turnpike road was diverted. This made access to Petworth easier, and the canal ceased to be used.</p><br>
<p>Unlike many canals, where navvies were brought into the neighbourhood to carry out the work, the Earl employed local men on the project, most of them already employed by him, and a clergyman praised him for this when writing in 1808, as it led to much less disruption, but provided increased income for those who worked on the scheme. Wages rose from 8 or 9 shillings (40-45p) per week to 14 or 15 shillings (70-75p). During his life, the Earl invested some £100,000 in waterways, some in his native county of Sussex, but also in attempts to build a canal from London to Portsmouth. Between 1802 and 1831, the average income from the canal was around £550 per year. Competition arrived in 1859, when the Mid-Sussex Railway opened a line from Horsham through Pulborough to Petworth. Traffic declined, and by the 1880s, the navigation was no longer used by commercial boats, although it was not officially abandoned until 1936.</p><br>
<h3>Closure</h3><br>
<p>Despite the navigation being closed, a guide to Midhurst published in 1895 advertised that skiffs could be hired, and fishing could be enjoyed. The boats were hired out by a plumber called William Port, and his business continued to prosper until 1912, when his boathouse burned down. Rowing boats were also available for hire at Coultershaw and Fittleworth. Another book called A New Oarsman&#39;s Guide, published in 1896, suggested that the river could be canoed from Iping to the Arun, a distance of 19 mi, when there was sufficient water. By that time, none of the locks were workable, and boats had to be carried around them.</p><br>
<p>In 1887, part of the river bank near Todham Lock, which bordered the Cowdray estate of the Earl of Egmont, had collapsed, and the Earl suggested that Lord Leconfield of Petworth, a successor to the Earl of Egremont, should pay for its repair. After some disagreement, a compromise was reached, under which the bank was repaired and a floodgate was fitted at the upper end of the lock, with both men paying half of the cost. Lord Leconfield assumed that when the Arun Navigation finally obtained an Act of Abandonment in 1896, his responsibilities for the maintenance of the River Rother had ended. However, in 1903 heavy rain and floods destroyed the floodgate and part of the adjacent weir, resulting in river levels though the 8th Earl of Egmont&#39;s estate dropping by 2 ft. The Earl, Augustus Arthur Perceval, issued a writ against Lord Leconfield for damages. The case was heard in the High Court, at which it was agreed that the navigation was now useless, but that the two men would share the costs of rebuilding the floodgate, after which responsibility for its maintenance would pass to the Earl, who could also dredge the river above the lock.</p><br>
<p>P Bonthron, who published a book entitled My Holidays on Inland Waterways in 1916, described a journey down the river that he had made with friends in 1908, in a boat hired from William Port at Midhurst. They reached Arundel on the River Arun after two days, from where the boat was sent back to Midhurst by train. Another account of a similar journey made in 1914 by Eleanor Barnes and a friend appeared in As the Water Flows, first published in 1920, which described canoe journeys on the rivers of southern England made by her over a period of seven or eight years. The warrant of abandonment was obtained jointly by the estates at Petworth and Cowdray after an Oxford undergraduate called Roger Sellman pointed out that the river was still officially a right of way, and that anyone could therefore offer to pay the appropriate tolls to use a boat on it, and expect the owners to rebuild the locks. The powers of the Railway & Canal Traffic Act 1888 were invoked to declare that the navigation was no longer necessary, and despite objections from the River Arun Catchment Board and a canoe club, the warrant was granted on 15 April 1936. However, the Environment Agency noted in 2003 that although there used to be navigation rights on the river, "the existing status of the navigation is unknown."</p><br>
<h2>Hydrology</h2><br>
<p>The river flows through the South Downs, an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and since 2011, a designated national park. There are two large aquifers in the area, one consisting of chalk, to the south of the river valley, and the other the Lower Greensand Group, underlying the whole of the river. The aquifers are separated by a Gault Formation, which consists of clay. At the western edge of the region, both the chalk and the gault turn to the north, creating a scarp slope. The base flow of the river consists of water from the Lower Greensand aquifer, and from springs along the bottom of the chalk scarp slope. These help to maintain the flows in the river during the summer months, although there have been significant periods where flows have been low, notably in the drought of the early 1990s, and again in 1995/96. These led to declines in the populations of the macro-invertebrates which are used to measure the health of a river, but these have subsequently recovered. In order to monitor the hydrology, the Environment Agency has a series of observation boreholes along the valley, and maintains gauging stations at Princes Marsh, close to the source, at Iping Mill, at Halfway Bridge on the River Lod just above its junction with the Rother, and at Hardham, just before the river joins the Arun.</p><br>
<p>Flows in the river are swelled by discharges from several sewage treatment works. The three largest are at Princes Marsh, Petersfield and Ambersham, all of which have outflows between 1 and per day, with another three discharging between 0.1 and per day at Rogate, Coultershaw and Fittleworth. The entire river, including parts of some of its tributaries, is designated as a Site of Nature Conservation Importance by the local authorities through which it flows, in recognition of its value for wildlife. The upper reaches of the Rother are important for their fish populations of brown trout, grayling, juvenile sea trout, and the spawning and early development of salmonids. There are also populations of bullhead, eel, lamprey, minnow and stone loach. There has been some concern about declining fish stocks, thought to be partly caused by soil erosion, leading to silt and sediments being deposited on the river bed, which has been exacerbated by low flows in the river. Parts of the lower river support the same types of fish, but there are areas, particularly immediately upstream of weirs, where the major species are bream, pike and roach, with chubb, dace and perch on the lowest reaches. In order to assist the movement of fish along the river, particularly those that migrate to the headwaters to spawn, fish passes have been constructed around the gauging stations. The only known population of native white clawed crayfish in Sussex is located in the upper reaches of the Rother.</p><br>
<p>The quality of the water is generally good, helped by the fact that the groundwater in the chalk aquifer is of very high quality. However, some of the small streams in the upper reaches are polluted by discharges of effluent which are not licensed, and there are areas where the water in the aquifer, and hence the river, has raised levels of nitrates, largely caused by agricultural fertilisers. The Environment Agency has produced improvement plans to address a number of sources of both agricultural and urban pollution. Natural flows in the river are affected by the abstraction of water for the public water supply. There are many locations at which water is abstracted along the course of the river, including a site in the upper reaches where more than 5 Ml per day is abstacted from the aquifer, and another where the volume exceeds 10 Ml. Just above the junction with the River Arun, the Hardham Water Treatment Works removes more than 10 Ml per day from the river.</p><br>
<h2>Etymology</h2><br>
<p>The river takes its name from Rotherbridge, not the other way round. Rotherbridge is derived from the Anglo-Saxon Redrebruge, meaning cattle bridge, which was also the name of the Saxon Hundred or administrative group of parishes. Before this the river was known as the Scir.</p><br>
<h2>Route</h2><br>
<p>The route description has been split into two sections. From its source to Midhurst, the river has powered several mills, but has never been navigable. Below Midhurst, it was navigable until the navigation closed in the 1880s. There were eight locks on this section, some of which bypassed additional water mills.</p><br>
<h3>Source to Midhurst</h3><br>
<p>The River Rother rises from several springs near Empshott in Hampshire. The main one supplies watercress beds, before passing under Mill Lane, to the south of the village. It continues eastwards, to reach Greatham Mill. The mill, together with the mill house and an attached barn, date from the late eighteenth or early nineteenth centuries, and are built of brick. Now Grade II listed. All of the original machinery of the mill is still in situ, but is not operational, as the water supply has been diverted. The stream turns to the south-east, and passes under the A3 West Liss bypass, and Greatham Bridge, on the old route. It is joined by other streams, and turns south to reach Liss railway station. The railway and the river follow the same general route, and the river crosses under the railway five times before reaching Sheet. At the northern edge of the village, the river is joined by the Ashford Stream, and there is another mill. After passing under the A272 road, to the east of the village, it reaches Sheet Mill.</p><br>
<p>Tillmore Brook joins from the west, and the course turns to the east. At Durleighmarsh, a hamlet which forms part of the civil parish of Rogate, it passes the ruins of Durford Abbey, a Premonstratensian monastery situated on the north bank. It is a scheduled ancient monument, and the site includes a threshing barn with a water wheel and associated drive shafts. On the south bank is Durford Mill. This mill house is a grade II listed structure, and was built of clunch in 1770. The mill itself has been modernised and enlarged, and is not listed. A little further downstream, Harting Road crosses the river at Durford Bridge, build in the early 1600s with four semi-circular arches. It was restored in 1924. To the north of Habin, another hamlet in Rogate, North Lane crosses the river on Habin Bridge, which has four round-headed arches, and was probably built in the seventeenth century, but might be earlier. It is built of stone, and was restored in the eighteenth century.</p><br>
<p>To the north of Dumpford, a hamlet in the civil parish of Trotton with Chithurst, is Terwick Mill. It is a grade II* listed structure, and consists of two mills, side by side. They were operational until 1966. The north mill is a timber-framed building, clad with weatherboarding, dating from the sixteenth century. The south mill was built of coursed stone rubble around 1750. Although it has been converted into a house, it still contains two iron waterwheels, one for each mill, and its machinery. The earliest documentary evidence for the mill dates from 1635. The adjacent mill house, parts of which date from the eighteenth century, is also a listed building. The river turns to the north to pass to the east of Trotton, and is crossed by Trotton Bridge, dating from the early 1600s, which has five ribbed arches. The river then turns to the east again at Chithurst, where Abbey House, an L-shaped timber-framed building dating from the fifteenth century, and the parish church, much of which dates from the eleventh century, are located on the north bank. An eighteenth century stone and brick bridge with two arches carries Chithurst Lane over the river.</p><br>
<p>Continuing eastwards, the river is crossed by Iping Bridge at Iping, a narrow stone bridge with five arches dating from the seventeenth century. To the west of the bridge is the site of Iping watermill. A mill was recorded there in the Domesday survey, completed in 1086. By 1665, there were the remains of a fulling mill at the site, and a wheat-mill and malt-mill, both part of the same building. It became a paper mill in the eighteenth century, and continued to operate until it was destroyed by fire in 1930. At Stedham, part of the civil parish of Stedham with Iping, Stedham Lane crosses the river on a stone bridge with six segmental arches. Five of them date from the seventeenth century, with one later addition. The river then makes a large loop to the north, where Stedham Mill was situated. The mill building has been demolished, but the mill house is a listed structure. After the loop, Woolbeding Bridge, on the northern Edge of Midhurst, dates from the fifteenth or sixteenth centuries. It has four segmental arches, was restored in 1919, and is a grade II* listed structure.</p><br>
<p>After another loop to the north, the river passes between Easebourne to the north east and Midhurst to the south west. The bridge which carries the A272 road has two wide arches, and was of ashlar construction. Although this structure is still in situ, it is difficult to see, as a pedestrian bridge has been built on the north west side, attached to the original bridge by cantilevers, and one of the two arches was widened in 1912 by the addition of another arch outside it. Below the bridge is the mill house and adjoining water mill of North Mill. The mill carries the date 1840, and the house is of a similar age, although built in two stages. The river flows briefly to the south, passing Cowdray on the east bank, which is a scheduled ancient monument. It consists of a medieval fortified house, which is partly ruined, although some of it has been reused. It is situated within Cowdray Park, a grade II* listed landscaped park, which forms the grounds for Cowdray House, a nineteenth-century mansion some 0.75 mi further east. On the opposite bank is a motte-and-bailey castle, dating from the twelfth century. Below this point, the river was navigable.</p><br>
<h3>Midhurst to mouth</h3><br>
<p>The terminus of the Rother Navigation was on a side stream, at the southern edge of Midhurst. There was a wharf and basin, close to a road which is still called The Wharf, and an ashlar bridge crosses the navigation between the wharf and the junction with the main river. It was built in 1794, and was restored in 1977 to commemorate the silver jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II. The first lock was near Little Topham farm. There was a lock cut across a loop to the north. Costers Brook, which flows north from springs near Cocking, and then alongside the river for a short distance, joins below the site of the lock. The bridge at South Ambersham was built of stone rubble in 1791, with a main arch across the navigation and a smaller arch to the north, which has been repaired with brick. Moorland Lock was on a straight cut across a large meander to the south, close to Moorlands Farm. The mill building dates from the eighteenth century, and has been converted into a house. The seventeenth-century timber-framed mill house is also a listed building. There was a motte castle immediately to the south of the mill. A modern timber yard and saw mill is located to the north of the lock site, and Lods Bridge, which carries a minor road over the river, dates from the construction of the navigation. The River Lod joins on the north bank just below the bridge.</p><br>
<p>A widening in the modern river, close to the dismantled Midhurst branch of the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway, marks the site of Ladymead Lock, with a weir to the south and the lock structure to the north. The fourth lock was Coultershaw Lock. The river at this point runs to the south, and there was a large meander to the west with a weir at its head. The mill stream ran to the east, and the lock was built just to the west of the mill. Coultershaw Bridge now carries the A285 road over the mill stream, near which is Coultershaw Beam Pump; it was built in 1782 to provide a better water supply to Petworth House. The pump is powered by a water wheel, cast at Cocking Foundry, which is 11 ft in diameter. There were two corn mills and a malt mill recorded on the site in 1534. The mill was modernised in 1910, when turbines replaced the wheels, and standby engines were installed in 1919. It was destroyed by fire in 1923, and a steel-framed concrete building replaced it. When it ceased to operate in 1972, the building was demolished, but the beam pump, which was located beneath the building, was rescued and has been restored. The pump no longer performs its original function, but supplies a fountain near the visitor centre.</p><br>
<p>Shopham Lock was another where the lock cut was built across a large meander to the north. The bridge at the tail of the lock is built from red and grey brick, and has a single, round-headed arch. It dates from the construction of the navigation, and is virtually unaltered. Nearby, the Petworth Canal headed northwards to Haslingbourne Bridge. Below the end of the cut, the river is joined by the stream from Burton Mill Pond, which supplied an iron forge built in 1789. It is crossed by Shopham Bridge, built in the nineteenth century from red brick with grey headers and a parapet in stone, with three segmental arches. At Lower Fittleworth, there is another mill building, although it is unused and in poor condition. It was built in 1628 and enlarged in 1742. It stands in the grounds of the mill house, which was rebuilt in 1913. The lock cut ran along the south-western edge of the site. Fittleworth Bridge consists of a southern section, originally built in the sixteenth century, which was rebuilt between 1717 and 1739, and modified when the navigation was built, to enable boats to pass through the centre arch. A north section, adjacent to the millpond, dates from 1811-12.</p><br>
<p>Near its junction with the River Arun, the river loops to the south in a large meander. A cut ran from the start of the meander to join the Arun above the original junction, with a lock towards the downstream end. The meander fed Hardham Corn Mill. A lock bypassed the mill and the millstream, to enable boats to reach the Hardham Tunnel cut, which headed south from a junction above the mill. The Tunnel Branch was destroyed by the construction of a water treatment works, and the modern weir near the mouth is much closer to the junction than the lock was.</p><br>
<h2>Conservation</h2><br>
<p>The Arun & Rother Rivers Trust (ARRT) was set up in 2011 with the objective of enhancing and protecting the river and other connected waterways. It is a charity with further objectives concerning education, fisheries, biodiversity, access and pollution. The organisation is registered as a limited company, and has been asked to produce a Catchment Management plan by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. It is working with the Arun and Rother Connections (ARC) Partnership and the South Downs National Park Authority to ensure that local opinion is adequately represented in the document.</p><br>
<h2>Points of interest</h2><br>
<h2>Bibliography</h2><br>
<p>The Freedom Tower  is a building in Miami, Florida, designed by Schultze and Weaver. It is currently used as a contemporary art museum and a central office to different disciplines in the arts associated with Miami Dade College. It is located at 600 Biscayne Boulevard on the Wolfson Campus of Miami Dade College. On September 10, 1979, it was added to the USA National Register of Historic Places. It was designated a USA National Historic Landmark on October 6, 2008. On April 18, 2012, the AIA&#39;s Florida Chapter placed the building on its list of Florida Architecture: 100 Years. 100 Places as the Freedom Tower / Formerly Miami News and Metropolis Building.</p><br>
<p>The Freedom Tower is directly served by the Miami Metrorail at the Government Center Station and the Historic Overtown/Lyric Theatre Station, as well as by the Metromover at the Freedom Tower Station on the Omni Loop.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>Originally completed in 1925 as the headquarters and printing facility for the newspaper The Miami News, the Freedom Tower is an example of a Mediterranean Revival styled structure with design elements borrowed from the Giralda in Seville, Spain. Its cupola on a 255-foot (78 m) tower contained a decorative beacon.</p><br>
<p>The Miami News vacated the building in 1957 to relocate to a new facility on the Miami River. As refugees from Cuba fleeing Fidel Castro&#39;s communist regime arrived in Miami during the 1960s, the federal government used the facility to process, document and provide medical and dental services for the newcomers. After the major era of refugees ended in 1972, the federal government sold the building to private buyers in 1974. In 1979, the building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places.</p><br>
<p>The New World Mural 1513, painted in 1988 by The Miami Artisans; Wade S. Foy, John Conroy, William Mark Coulthard, Phylis Shaw, Gerome Villa Bergsen and Ana Bikic. The mural is situated in the Grand Hall on the second floor; however, it sometimes has limited access for the public. The mural is a recreation of the ruined original from 1926, originally commissioned by the tower&#39;s developer James Middleton Cox in 1926 and again in 1987 by architect Richard Hiessenbottle RA. The center poem by Edwin Markham, poet Laureate for the Lincoln Memorial address.</p><br>
<p>In 1997, the building was purchased for US $4.1 million by Jorge Mas Canosa, founder of MasTec and initiator of the Cuban American National Foundation. Canosa then restored the tower and converted it into a monument for the refugees who fled to the United States from communist Cuba. It housed a museum, library, meeting hall, and the offices of the Cuban American National Foundation. Salsa legend Celia Cruz was memorialized at the Freedom Tower upon her death in 2003, with more than 200,000 turning out to show their respects.</p><br>
<p>In 2004, the Freedom Tower was purchased by developer Pedro Martin and his company, Terra Group, who proposed a new building (possibly condominiums) on an adjacent part of the property. Preservationists opposed the plan; thus, in 2005, the developers donated the Freedom Tower to Miami Dade College. Today, it is used as a museum, a cultural center, and an educational center.</p><br>
<p>The building has a heavy history and is reinventing itself once again as it lends itself to a new purpose. The building is gaining a significant amount of local recognition for its major exhibitions and growth as an institution of art, serving the community as a non profit organization.</p><br>
<p>The is on the second floor of the building and offers a wide range of exhibits, which are free and open to the public.</p><br>
<p>Miami Dade College has hosted several major exhibitions, including showcases of the works of masters Dalí, Goya and Da Vinci.</p><br>
<p>The Freedom Tower is home to the Cuban American Museum.</p><br>
<p>On April 13, 2015, Cuban-American Florida Senator Marco Rubio chose the Freedom Tower as the venue for the announcement of his presidential campaign, citing the significance of the location as a beacon representing freedom for Cuban-Americans.</p><br>
<p>On September 17, 2015, His Majesty The King of Spain, Felipe VI, received the Presidential Medal the highest distinction from Miami-Dade College, from its President Eduardo Padron.</p><br>
<p>Xanthi  is a city in Thrace, northeastern Greece. It is the capital of the Xanthi regional unit of the region of East Macedonia and Thrace.</p><br>
<p>Amphitheatrically built on the foot of Rhodope mountain chain, the city is divided by the Kosynthos River, into the west part, where the old and the modern town are located, and the east part that boasts a rich natural environment. The Old Town of Xanthi is known throughout Greece for its distinctive architecture, combining many Byzantine Greek churches with neoclassical mansions of Greek merchants from the 18th and 19th centuries and Ottoman-era mosques. Other landmarks in Xanthi include the Archaeological Museum of Abdera and the Greek Folk Art Museum.</p><br>
<p>Xanthi is famous throughout Greece (especially Macedonia and Thrace) for its annual spring carnival (Greek: καρναβάλι) which has a significant role in the city&#39;s economy. Over 40 cultural associations from around Greece participate in the carnival program. The festivities which take place during the period include concerts, theatre plays, music and dance nights, exhibitions, a cycling event, games on the streets, and re-enactments of old customs.</p><br>
<h2>Name</h2><br>
<p>Xanthi is known as "İskeçe" in Turkish and "Скеча" (Skecha) or "Ксанти" (Ksanti) in Bulgarian.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>Probably is identified with the ancient city of Xantheia mentioned in the 1st BC century by the geographer Strabo, but was not mentioned by any other ancient historian. It began as a small village and experienced all the tumultuous periods of the history of Thrace, such as raids, disasters, ethnic conflicts, civil wars. The population of the region of Xanthi had dwindled down to almost nothing, as the region was depopulated in the third century and almost everything had been destroyed when the Ottomans conquered the region in 1361AD. For this reason, the Ottomans brought settlers from within of Asia Minor, which is how Genisea (Γενισέα) was created, while Oraio (Ωραίο) and Xanthi remained mainly Greek and Christian centres.</p><br>
<h3>Middle Ages</h3><br>
<p>Known references to Xanthi (Ξάνθη), or Xanthia (Ξάνθεια), the city&#39;s origins are obscure, it was a prosperous stronghold of the Byzantine era but latter became a colony of the Turks known as Eskije. Xanthi is first recorded in 879AD through its Bishop Georgios. From 13th to 14th century it was the most important city of the region. Three monasteries date from the Middle Ages Pammegiston, Taxiarxon, and Panagia Archaggeliotisa,</p><br>
<p>Xanthi featured in the campaign of Andronikos II Palaiologos in 1327.</p><br>
<h3>City of Xanthi</h3><br>
<p>By 1715, Xanthi, as well as Genisea, became renowned for its tobacco quality. Many foreign sightseers traveled throughout the region and described both the life and struggles of the locals. Tobacco commerce throughout Europe led Xanthi into a course of prosperity. George Demetriou was active in the Xanthi area during the Greek Revolution of 1821. In March and April 1829 two earthquakes literally leveled the city, however played a decisive role in the further developments. The city&#39;s re-building immediately got underway. In 1870, the city of Genisea was burned down and thus all of the agencies and services were transferred to Xanthi which, at that time, had a population of about 10,000 inhabitants. In 1891, the railroad line was established near the city, while further economic development led to the founding of schools and associations. During the late period of Ottoman rule until 1912, the city was administratively located in the Sanjak of Gümülcine within the Adrianople Vilayet.</p><br>
<h3>Balkan Wars</h3><br>
<p>During the First Balkan War, Xanthi was captured by the Bulgarian army from the Ottomans in 8 November 1912. In the Second Balkan War the Greek army captured it in July 1913. However, with the Treaty of Bucharest, Xanthi along with Western Thrace were ceded to Bulgaria (where it was also called Скеча Skecha), and remained a part of the latter until the end of World War I. Following the Bulgarian defeat in this war, Western Thrace came under Allies of World War I administration, on 4 October 1919 before being ceded to Greece in the Treaty of Neuilly (1920). 4 October, the day the Greek army under Georgios Leonardopoulos command entered the city, is celebrated in Xanthi as the anniversary of its liberation. Anthypolochagos Gavriel Ladas, who was from Xanthi lead the first troops in the city. Ladas became mayor of the city from 1959 to 1964.</p><br>
<h3>World War II</h3><br>
<p>On 8 April 1941 the 164th Infantry Division captured Xanthi following the German invasion of Greece and it was passed to the Bulgarians. The city became the administrative center of the Bulgarian province of Belomorie and served as headquarters for the Bulgarian Second Army. During the Bulgarian occupation, more than 2000 men from Xanthi, both Christians and Muslims, were sent for forced labor in Bulgaria. On 4 March 1943 the Jews of Xanthi were arrested by the Bulgarians and imprisoned in a tobacco warehouse. On 18 and 19 March, they were deported in concentration camps in Poland. From a community of 550 people, only 6 survived the Holocaust. The city was liberated back to Greece in 12/9/1944</p><br>
<h3>Modern Era</h3><br>
<p>Nowadays Xanthi is a modern city, rich in history, traditions and customs, and with many attractions for the visitors (including the surrounding areas). It is worth visiting the city during the Carnival (Καρναβάλι) (either February or March as dates change) and during the Old Town Festival (Γιορτές Παλιάς Πόλης) (beginning of September). Also, one should not miss the Xanthi Bazaar (Παζάρι) every Saturday. Xanthi is known as "The city of one thousand colours", and like Komotini and Didymoteicho has a large population of Turkish-speaking Muslims dating to the Ottoman period. The Muslim population of East Macedonia and Thrace dates to the Ottoman period, and unlike the Turkish Muslims and Greek Muslims of Greek Macedonia and Epirus was exempted from the 1922–23 Greek-Turkish population exchange following the Treaty of Lausanne. In 1972 the Greek authorities planned to demolish the landmark of the city – the clock tower, built by the pomak Hadji Emin Aga in 1870. This decision resulted in protests by the local Muslims and the plans were cancelled.</p><br>
<h2>Municipality</h2><br>
<p>The municipality Xanthi was formed at the 2011 local government reform by the merger of the following 2 former municipalities, that became municipal units:</p><br>
<p>Stavroupoli</p><br>
<p>Xanthi</p><br>
<p>The municipality has an area of 495.118 km, the municipal unit 153.116 km.</p><br>
<h3>Communities</h3><br>
<p>The municipal unit Xanthi is subdivided into the communities Evmoiro, Kimmeria and Xanthi. These communities contain the following settlements:</p><br>
<p>Evmoiro</p><br>
<p>Kallithea</p><br>
<p>Lamprino</p><br>
<p>Lefki</p><br>
<p>Nea Morsini</p><br>
<p>Palaia Morsini</p><br>
<p>Petrochori</p><br>
<p>Kimmeria</p><br>
<p>Gialisteri</p><br>
<p>Livadi</p><br>
<p>Pelekito</p><br>
<p>the abandoned villages Alikochori, Anthiro, Askyra, Eranos, Ketiki, Porta, Prioni and Ydrochori</p><br>
<p>Xanthi</p><br>
<h2>Population</h2><br>
<h2>Education</h2><br>
<p>Democritus University of Thrace</p><br>
<p>School of Engineering</p><br>
<p>Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering</p><br>
<p>Department of Civil Engineering</p><br>
<p>Department of Environmental Engineering</p><br>
<p>Department of Architectural Engineering</p><br>
<p>Department of Production Management Engineering</p><br>
<h2>Cultural events</h2><br>
<h3>Carnival and old town's festivals</h3><br>
<p>The city has rich history, tradition and customs and it is the cultural center in the area. It is also considered a multi-cultural city and it has been characterized as "Xanthi the city of the thousand colours". Xanthis carnival is very popular (every February) and is one of the most popular carnivals in Greece, while the Old town festival (early September) is equally famous. Furthermore, the bazaar of Xanthi is famous and takes place at Emporiou square every Saturday. In addition the Manos Hatzidakis festival attracts worldwide interest.</p><br>
<h3>Museums</h3><br>
<p>Folklore Museum of Xanthi</p><br>
<p>Εcclesiastical Museum Metropolis of Xanthi</p><br>
<p>Municipal Gallery of Xanthi</p><br>
<p>Museum of Natural History</p><br>
<p>The Archangels Monastery</p><br>
<p>Museum of Children&#39;s Art</p><br>
<p>Museum of Xanthi</p><br>
<p>Tobacco Museum</p><br>
<p>Old Town Museum</p><br>
<p>Museum Manos Hatzidakis (under construction).</p><br>
<h2>Sports</h2><br>
<p>Xanthi FC, plays in the Super League Greece</p><br>
<p>Xanthi BC, played in the Greek A2 League</p><br>
<p>Aspida Xanthi, football (one appearance in the First League) and basketball</p><br>
<p>Orfeas Xanthi FC, football</p><br>
<p>Orion Xanthi, basketball</p><br>
<h2>Famous people from Xanthi</h2><br>
<p>Manos Hadjidakis (1925–1994): Greek composer</p><br>
<p>Şerif Gören: Turkish film director. Winner of 1982 Palme d&#39;Or in Cannes Film Festival</p><br>
<p>Yanaki Paskalev (1863–1933): Bulgarian revolutionary, member of IMORO</p><br>
<p>Archbishop Christodoulos (1939–2008): former Archbishop of the Greek Orthodox Church</p><br>
<p>Vasilis Torosidis: striker for Bologna FC 1909 and the Greek national football team</p><br>
<p>Akis Panou, (1933–2000): Greek folk musician and composer</p><br>
<p>Lambros Papantoniou (Mandra, Xanthi 1945-Washington, USA 2009): journalist, political analyst.</p><br>
<p>Zafeiris Melas, contemporary Greek laïko singer.</p><br>
<h2>International relations</h2><br>
<p>Xanthi is twinned with:</p><br>
<p>Smolyan, Bulgaria</p><br>
<p>Novi Beograd, Serbia</p><br>
<p>Gifhorn, Lower Saxony, Germany</p><br>
<p>Biga, Turkey (since 2000)</p><br>
<p>Bursa, Turkey</p><br>
<p>Nimrud  is the Assyrian Neo-Aramaic name for the ancient Assyrian city of Kalhu , located 20 mi south of the city of Mosul, and 3 mi south of the village of Selamiyah , in the Nineveh plains in northern Mesopotamia. It was a major Assyrian city between approximately 1350 BC and 610 BC. The city is located in a strategic position 6 mi north of the point that the river Tigris meets its tributary the Great Zab. The city covered an area of 360 hectare. The ruins of the city were found within 1 km of the modern-day Assyrian village of Noomanea in Nineveh Province, Iraq. This is some 30 km southeast of Mosul.</p><br>
<p>Archaeological excavations at the site began in 1845, and were conducted at intervals between then and 1879, and then from 1949 onwards. Many important pieces were discovered, with most being moved to museums in Iraq and abroad. In 2013 the UK&#39;s Arts and Humanities Research Council funded the "Nimrud Project", directed by Eleanor Robson, whose aims were to write the history of the city in ancient and modern times, to identify and record the dispersal history of artefacts from Nimrud, distributed amongst at least 76 museums worldwide (including 36 in the United States and 13 in the United Kingdom).</p><br>
<p>Archaeologists believe that the city was given the name Nimrud in modern times after the Biblical Nimrod, a legendary hunting hero. The city was identified as the Biblical city of Calah (Hebrew Kelah (כלח), Greek Khalakh (χαλαχ)), also written Kalhu, first referred to alongside Nimrod in Genesis 10, by Henry Rawlinson in 1850 on the basis of a possible interpretation of the city&#39;s cuneiform proper name as "Levekh".</p><br>
<p>In 2015, the terrorist organization Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) announced its intention to destroy the site because of its "un-Islamic" Assyrian nature. In March 2015, the Iraqi government reported that ISIL had used bulldozers to destroy excavated remains of the city. Several videos released by ISIL showed the work in progress. In November 2016 Iraqi forces retook the site, and later visitors confirmed the extensive destruction.</p><br>
<h2>Early history</h2><br>
<h3>Foundation</h3><br>
<p>The Assyrian king Shalmaneser I (1274 BC–1245 BC) built up Kalhu (Nimrod) into a major city during the Middle Assyrian Empire (1365-1050 BC). However, the ancient city of Assur remained the capital of Assyria, as it had been since c. 3500 BC. The city has no connection to the Biblical figure Nimrod, and was given that name millennia after its foundation.</p><br>
<h3>Capital of the Empire</h3><br>
<p>The city gained fame when king Ashurnasirpal II (883-859 BC) of the Neo Assyrian Empire (911–605 BC) made it his capital at the expense of Assur. He built a large palace and temples in the city that had fallen into a degree of disrepair during the Dark Ages of the mid 11th to mid 10th centuries BC.</p><br>
<p>A grand opening ceremony with festivities and an opulent banquet in 879 BC is described in an inscribed stele discovered during archeological excavations. The city of king Ashurnasirpal II housed perhaps as many as 100,000 inhabitants, and contained botanic gardens and a zoo. His son, Shalmaneser III (858–824 BC), built the monument known as the Great Ziggurat, and an associated temple.</p><br>
<p>Nimrud remained the capital of the Assyrian Empire during the reigns of Shamshi-Adad V (822–811 BC), Adad-nirari III (810–782 BC), Queen Semiramis (810–806 BC), Adad-nirari III (806–782 BC), Shalmaneser IV (782–773 BC), Ashur-dan III (772–755 BC), Ashur-nirari V (754–746 BC), Tiglath-Pileser III (745–727 BC) and Shalmaneser V (726–723 BC). Tiglath-Pileser III in particular, conducted major building works in the city, as well as introducing Eastern Aramaic as the lingua franca of the empire, whose dialects still endure among the Christian Assyrians of the region today.</p><br>
<p>However, in 706 BC Sargon II (722–705 BC) moved the capital of the empire to Dur Sharrukin, and after his death, Sennacherib (705–681 BC) moved it to Nineveh. It remained a major city and a royal residence until the city was largely destroyed during the fall of the Assyrian Empire at the hands of an alliance of former subject peoples, including the Babylonians, Chaldeans, Medes, Persians, Scythians and Cimmerians (between 616 BC and 599 BC).</p><br>
<p>The Nineveh Province in which the ruins of Nimrud lie, is still the major center of Iraq&#39;s indigenous Assyrian population (now exclusively Eastern Aramaic-speaking Christians) to this day.</p><br>
<h3>Ashurnasirpal II</h3><br>
<p>King Ashurnasirpal II, who reigned from 883 to 859 BC, built a new capital at Nimrud. Thousands of men worked to build an 5 mi wall surrounding the city and a grand palace. There were many inscriptions carved into limestone including one that said: "The palace of cedar, cypress, juniper, boxwood, mulberry, pistachio wood, and tamarisk, for my royal dwelling and for my lordly pleasure for all time, I founded therein. Beasts of the mountains and of the seas, of white limestone and alabaster I fashioned and set them up on its gates." The inscriptions also described plunder stored at the palace: "Silver, gold, lead, copper and iron, the spoil of my hand from the lands which I had brought under my sway, in great quantities I took and placed therein."</p><br>
<p>The inscriptions also described great feasts he had to celebrate his conquests. However his victims were horrified by his conquests. The text also said: "Many of the captives I have taken and burned in a fire. Many I took alive; from some I cut off their hands to the wrists, from others I cut off their noses, ears and fingers; I put out the eyes of many of the soldiers. I burned their young men, women and children to death." About a conquest in another vanquished city he wrote: "I flayed the nobles as many as rebelled; and spread their skins out on the piles." These shock tactics brought success in 877 BCE, when after a march to the Mediterranean he announced "I cleaned my weapons in the deep sea and performed sheep-offerings to the gods."</p><br>
<h3>Shalmaneser III</h3><br>
<p>King Ashurnasirpal&#39;s son Shalmaneser III (858–823 BC) continued where his father had left off. He spent 31 years of his 35-year reign in war and conquest. After a battle near the Orontes River with a coalition of Aramean and Canaanite/Phoenician states he boasted:</p><br>
<p>At Nimrud he built a palace that far surpassed his father&#39;s. It was twice the size and it covered an area of about 12 acre and included more than 200 rooms.</p><br>
<p>In 828 BC, his son rebelled against him and was joined by 27 other Assyrian cities including Nineveh and Ashur. This conflict lasted until 821 BC, 3 years after Shalmaneser&#39;s death, during the reign of Shamshi-Adad V (822–811 BC).</p><br>
<h3>Later geographical writings</h3><br>
<p>Ruins of a similarly located city named "Larissa" were described by Xenophon in his Anabasis in the 5th century BCE.</p><br>
<p>A similar locality was described in the Middle Ages by a number of Arabic geographers including Yaqut al-Hamawi, Abul-Fida and Ibn Said al-Maghribi, using the name "Athur" near Selamiyah.</p><br>
<h2>Archaeology</h2><br>
<h3>Early writings and excavations</h3><br>
<p>The name Nimrud in connection with the site was first used in the writings of Carsten Niebuhr, who was in Mosul in March 1760.</p><br>
<p>The site was described in more detail by the British traveler Claudius James Rich in 1820, shortly before his death.</p><br>
<p>Genesis 10 states "From that land he went to Assyria, where he built Nineveh, the city Rehoboth-Ir, Calah and Resen". The identification of each these four Biblical names with the known Assyrian ruins was the cause of significant debate amongst Assyriologists in the mid-nineteenth century. The site of Nimrud was visited by William Francis Ainsworth in 1837 and by James Phillips Fletcher in 1843.</p><br>
<p>Excavations at Nimrud were conducted by Austen Henry Layard, working from 1845 to 1847 and from 1849 until 1851. Prior to 1850, Layard believed that the site of "Nimroud" was part of the wider region of "Nineveh" (the debate as to which excavation site represented the city of Nineveh had yet to be resolved), which also included the two mounds today identified as Nineveh-proper, and his excavation publications were thus labeled. Henry Rawlinson identified the city with the Biblical Calah on the basis of a cuneiform reading of "Levekh" which he connected to the city following Ainsworth and Richs connection of Xenophons Larissa to the site.</p><br>
<p>Following Layard&#39;s departure, the work was handed over to Hormuzd Rassam, himself an Assyrian, in 1853-54 and then W. K. Loftus in 1854-55.</p><br>
<p>After George Smith briefly worked the site in 1873 and Rassam returned there from 1877 to 1879, Nimrud was left untouched for almost 60 years. A British School of Archaeology in Iraq team led by Max Mallowan resumed digging at Nimrud in 1949. The work continued until 1963 with David Oates becoming director in 1958 followed by Julian Orchard in 1963.</p><br>
<p>Subsequent work was by the Directorate of Antiquities of the Republic of Iraq (1956, 1959–60, 1969–78 and 1982–92), Janusz Meuzynski (1974–76), Paolo Fiorina (1987–89) with the Centro Ricerche Archeologiche e Scavi di Torino who concentrated mainly on Fort Shalmaneser, and John Curtis (1989). In 1974 to his untimely death in 1976 Janusz Meuszynski, the director of the Polish Center for Mediterranean Archaeology project, with the permission of the Iraqi excavation team, had the whole site documented on film—in slide film and black-and-white print film. Every relief that remained in situ, as well as the fallen, broken pieces that were distributed in the rooms across the site were photographed. Meuszynski also arranged with the architect of his project, Richard P. Sobolewski, to survey the site and record it in plan and in elevation.</p><br>
<p>Excavations revealed remarkable bas-reliefs, ivories, and sculptures. A statue of Ashurnasirpal II was found in an excellent state of preservation, as were colossal winged man-headed lions weighing 10 ST to 30 ST each guarding the palace entrance. The large number of inscriptions dealing with king Ashurnasirpal II provide more details about him and his reign than are known for any other ruler of this epoch. The palaces of Ashurnasirpal II, Shalmaneser III, and Tiglath-Pileser III have been located. Portions of the site have been also been identified as temples to Ninurta and Enlil, a building assigned to Nabu, the god of writing and the arts, and as extensive fortifications.</p><br>
<h3>Artworks</h3><br>
<p>Nimrud has been one of the main sources of Assyrian sculpture, including the famous palace reliefs. Layard discovered more than half a dozen pairs of colossal guardian figures guarding palace entrances and doorways. These are lamassu, statues with a male human head, the body of a lion or bull, and wings. They have heads carved in the round, but the body at the side is in relief. They weigh up to 30 ST. In 1847 Layard brought two of the colossi weighing 10 ST each including one lion and one bull to London. After 18 months and several near disasters he succeeded in bringing them to the British Museum. This involved loading them onto a wheeled cart. They were lowered with a complex system of pulleys and levers operated by dozens of men. The cart was towed by 300 men. He initially tried to hook up the cart to a team of buffalo and have them haul it. However the buffalo refused to move. Then they were loaded onto a barge which required 600 goatskins and sheepskins to keep it afloat. After arriving in London a ramp was built to haul them up the steps and into the museum on rollers.</p><br>
<p>Additional 30 ST colossi were transported to Paris from Khorsabad by Paul Emile Botta in 1853. In 1928 Edward Chiera also transported a 40 ST colossus from Khorsabad to Chicago. The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York has another pair.</p><br>
<p>The Statue of Ashurnasirpal II, Stela of Shamshi-Adad V and Stela of Ashurnasirpal II are large sculptures with portraits of these monarchs, all secured for the British Museum by Layard and the British archaeologist Hormuzd Rassam. Also in the British Museum is the famous Black Obelisk of Shalmaneser III, discovered by Layard in 1846. This stands six-and-a-half-feet tall and commemorates with inscriptions and 24 relief panels the king&#39;s victorious campaigns of 859–824 BC. It is shaped like a temple tower at the top, ending in three steps.</p><br>
<p>Series of the distinctive Assyrian shallow reliefs were removed from the palaces and sections are now found in several museums (see gallery below), in particular the British Museum. These show scenes of hunting, warfare, ritual and processions. The Nimrud Ivories are a large group of ivory carvings, probably mostly originally decorating furniture and other objects, that had been brought to Nimrud from several parts of the ancient Near East, and were in a palace storeroom and other locations. These are mainly in the British Museum and the National Museum of Iraq, as well as other museums. Another storeroom held the Nimrud Bowls, about 120 large bronze bowls or plates, also imported.</p><br>
<p>The "Treasure of Nimrud" unearthed in these excavations is a collection of 613 pieces of gold jewelry and precious stones. It has survived the confusions and looting after the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in a bank vault, where it had been put away for 12 years and was "rediscovered" on June 5, 2003.</p><br>
<h3>Significant inscriptions</h3><br>
<p>One panel of the Black Obelisk of Shalmaneser III has an inscription which includes the name Ia-ú-a mar Hu-um-ri-i. Whilst Rawlinson originally translated this in 1850 as "Yahua, son of Hubiri", a year later reverend Edward Hincks, suggested it refers to king Jehu of Israel. Whilst other interpretations exist, the obelisk is widely viewed by biblical archaeologists as therefore including the earliest known dedication of an Israelite.</p><br>
<p>A number of other artifacts considered important to Biblical history were excavated from the site, such as the Nimrud Tablet K.3751 and the Nimrud Slab. The bilingual Assyrian lion weights were important to scholarly deduction of the history of the alphabet.</p><br>
<h2>Destruction</h2><br>
<p>Nimrud&#39;s various monuments had faced threats from exposure to the harsh elements of the Iraqi climate. Lack of proper protective roofing meant that the ancient reliefs at the site were susceptible to erosion from wind-blown sand and strong seasonal rains.</p><br>
<p>In mid-2014, the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) occupied the area surrounding Nimrud. ISIL destroyed other holy sites, including the Mosque of the Prophet Jonah in Mosul. In early 2015, they announced their intention to destroy many ancient artifacts, which they deemed idolatrous or otherwise un-Islamic; they subsequently destroyed thousands of books and manuscripts in Mosul&#39;s libraries. In February 2015, ISIL destroyed Akkadian monuments in the Mosul Museum, and on March 5, 2015, Iraq announced that ISIL militants had bulldozed Nimrud and its archaeological site on the basis that they were blasphemous.</p><br>
<p>A member of ISIL filmed the destruction, declaring, "These ruins that are behind me, they are idols and statues that people in the past used to worship instead of Allah. The Prophet Muhammed took down idols with his bare hands when he went into Mecca. We were ordered by our prophet to take down idols and destroy them, and the companions of the prophet did this after this time, when they conquered countries." ISIL declared an intention to destroy the restored city gates in Nineveh. ISIL went on to do demolition work at the later Parthian ruined city of Hatra. On April 12 2015, an on-line militant video purportedly showed ISIL militants hammering, bulldozing and ultimately using explosive to blow up parts of Nimrud.</p><br>
<p>Irina Bokova, the director general of UNESCO, stated "deliberate destruction of cultural heritage constitutes a war crime". The president of the Syriac League in Lebanon compared the losses at the site to the destruction of culture by the Mongol Empire. In November 2016, aerial photographs showed the systematic leveling of the Ziggurat by heavy machines. On 13 November 2016, the Iraqi Army recaptured the city from ISIL. The Joint Operations Command stated that it had raised the Iraqi flag above its buildings and also captured the Assyrian village of Numaniya, on the edge of the town.</p><br>
<p>Items excavated from Nimrud, located in museums around the world</p><br>
<p>Beaver Island is the largest island in Lake Michigan and part of the Beaver Island archipelago. Once home to a unique American religious monarchy, the island is now a popular tourist and vacation destination.</p><br>
<p>Beaver Island lies approximately 32 mi from the city of Charlevoix on the mainland, and can only be reached by air or boat. The island has two airports, one public and one private. The ZIP code is 49782. Beaver Island is also the name of an unincorporated community comprising the settled areas of the island.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<h3>The Mormon kingdom on Beaver Island</h3><br>
<p>Although Beaver Island is known mostly today for its beaches, forests, recreational harbor, and seclusion, at one time it was the site of a unique Mormon kingdom.</p><br>
<p>The islands association with Mormonism began with the death of Joseph Smith, founder of the Latter Day Saint movement. Most Latter Day Saints considered Brigham Young to be Smiths successor, but many others followed James J. Strang. Strang founded the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (Strangite), claiming it to be the sole legitimate continuation of the church restored by Joseph Smith. His organization still exists today (though not on Beaver Island), numbering up to 300 adherents. His group initially settled in Voree, Wisconsin, setting up a community there which remains to this day.</p><br>
<p>Seeking a buffer from persecution, Strang moved his followers to Beaver Island in 1848. The Strangites flourished under Strangs leadership and became a political power in the region. They founded the town of St. James (named after Strang), and built a road called "Kings Highway" into the island&#39;s interior that remains one of its main thoroughfares. The Strangites cleared land, built cabins, farms, and other improvements, and sought to establish themselves as a permanent presence on Beaver Island.</p><br>
<p>Strang was elected to the Michigan House of Representatives in 1853, and again in 1855. He also founded the first newspaper in Northern Michigan, the Northern Islander. During Strang&#39;s stint in the legislature, he made Beaver the center of a new county: Manitou County included the Beaver Islands, Fox Islands, North Manitou, and South Manitou islands, with the county seat at St. James. Manitou County was disestablished by the state of Michigan in 1895 (see below).</p><br>
<p>Once established on Beaver Island, Strang declared himself a polygamist, a practice which he had previously opposed. He had five wives and fathered a total of fourteen children.</p><br>
<p>In 1850 Strang proclaimed himself king, but not of the island itself. Rather, he claimed to be king over his church, which at that time contained most of the islands inhabitants. He was crowned on July 8 of that year inside a large log "tabernacle" built by his followers, in an elaborate ceremony that featured a crown (described by one witness as "a shiny metal ring with a cluster of glass stars in the front"), a red royal robe, a shield, breastplate, and wooden scepter. The Strangite tabernacle and Strangs house are both long gone, as are the Strangite royal regalia, but a print shop built by his disciples remains—the only Strangite building left on Beaver. Today, it houses a museum dedicated to the island&#39;s history.</p><br>
<p>Strang and his followers often clashed with their non-Strangite neighbors on Beaver Island and adjacent areas. While claiming to be king only over his own adherents, Strang tended to exert authority over non-Strangites on the island as well, and was regularly accused of forcibly seizing their property and of physically assaulting them. Open hostility between the two groups frequently resulted in violence. Strangites were beaten by ruffians at the post office, while Strang once fired a cannon at an unruly group of drunken fishermen who had threatened to drive his people from the island. Strangites held an increasing monopoly on local government, blurring the distinction between church and state.</p><br>
<p>While Strang held many progressive ideas such as the conservation of woodlands, his autocratic style of rule came to be seen by many as intolerable. One edict, for instance, dictated the type of clothing Strangite women must wear (see bloomers). Two women refused and Strang had their husbands flogged, a task made easier after one of them was caught in the act of adultery with the wife of his business partner.</p><br>
<p>While recovering from their injuries, the husbands began plotting against Strang. On June 16, 1856, the US naval gunboat entered the harbor at St. James and invited Strang aboard. As Strang walked down the dock, the two men shot him from behind and then ran to the ship. The boat departed and disembarked the men at Mackinac Island without arresting them. Neither was convicted of the crime.</p><br>
<p>After Strang died of his wounds on July 9, 1856, mobs came from Mackinac Island and nearby St. Helena Island and drove the Strangites (then numbering approximately 2,600 persons) off Beaver Island, confiscating their property. With the Strangites departure, local government in Manitou County (including Beaver Island) all but ceased. Courts and elections were rarely held, County offices were usually unfilled, and the area acquired a lawless reputation affirmed by Michigan governor John J. Bagley in 1877 when he called for the countys abolition. A bill was introduced, but failed to pass. A new attempt in 1895 was successful, and the Beaver Islands became part of Charlevoix County while Fox and Manitou islands became part of Leelanau County.</p><br>
<h3>"America's Emerald Isle"</h3><br>
<p>Irish fishermen from Gull Island, Mackinac Island, various port cities on the mainland, and County Donegal in Ireland quickly replaced the Strangites on Beaver Island. Their community, increased by more Irish immigration, would develop a unique identity that was enhanced by the island&#39;s isolation from the mainland. Church services and even ordinary conversations were conducted in Gaelic for many years. By the mid-1880s, Beaver Island had become the largest supplier of fresh-water fish consumed in the United States, but overfishing and changes in technology brought this to an end by the beginning of the 20th century.</p><br>
<p>In addition to its murdered "king," Beaver Island would later become the home of two other persons who proved locally noteworthy. Father Peter Gallagher, priest from 1865 to 1898, was a colorful and charismatic leader, dominating island life and even getting into a fistfight with one of his parishioners in the island chapel. Feodor Protar, who arrived in 1893, was a disciple of Russian author and pacifist Leo Tolstoy. He served as a local doctor and friend-to-all while living as a recluse in a cabin in the island&#39;s interior. Protar died in 1925, leaving many admirers who would treasure his memory for decades to come.</p><br>
<p>Logging, always an important part of the island economy, expanded greatly with the formation of the Beaver Island Logging Company in 1901. Docks, housing, railroads, and a mill transformed local scenery for a time, but fishing still remained the main concern. A steep decline in the fish population in the 1940s led to the exodus of most of the island&#39;s residents, until tourism in the 1970s brought renewed interest in Beaver. Today the island has become a popular vacation destination for people all over the Great Lakes area.</p><br>
<h2>Geography</h2><br>
<p>Beaver is 13 mi long, 3 to 6 mi wide, and forms part of Charlevoix County, Michigan. It is mostly flat and sandy, with large forested tracts. According to USA census data, the island has 55.773 square miles of land, and a year-round population of 657 at the 2010 census. The more densely settled portion, comprising only 6 percent of Beaver&#39;s total land area, lies within St. James Township on the northern end. This portion had a 2010 census population of 365 inhabitants. (St. James Township also includes Garden Island, High Island, Hog Island, and several smaller islands in Lake Michigan, all uninhabited on a permanent basis.) Peaine Township, taking up the remaining 94 percent of the island, contains sizable parcels of state-owned land and is mostly undeveloped. It had a population of 292 inhabitants.</p><br>
<p>Beaver Island has several small to moderately sized lakes including Lake Geneserath in the southeast, Greenes Lake and Fox Lake in the central portion, and Font Lake, Egg Lake, Round Lake, and Barneys Lake in the north. There are only two named streams: Jordan River, draining into Sand Bay on the east side of the island and Iron Ore Creek, draining into Iron Ore Bay on the south side.</p><br>
<h3>Climate</h3><br>
<p>This climatic region has large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot (and often humid) summers and cold (sometimes severely cold) winters. According to the Köppen Climate Classification system, Beaver Island has a humid continental climate, abbreviated "Dfb" on climate maps.</p><br>
<h2>Economy</h2><br>
<p>Traditionally, the islands main industries have been fishing, logging and farming; but today, the economy revolves around government services, tourism, and home and cottage construction. Recreational opportunities abound in Beavers harbor, beaches, inland lakes and the state forest, which covers much of the island. A golf course, nature trails, multiple restaurants and hotels, a marina and numerous other amenities cater to residents and tourists alike.</p><br>
<p>Beaver Island bills itself as "America&#39;s Emerald Isle", partly reflecting the fact that many of its residents are of Irish descent.</p><br>
<p>Central Michigan University owns and operates a research facility on the island.</p><br>
<h2>Transportation</h2><br>
<p>Beaver Island is served by two small airlines: Island Airways and Fresh Air Aviation. Planes are small 6-10 passenger propeller planes. The flight takes approximately 20 minutes. Flights are available daily and year-round, and reservations can often be made on short notice. Luggage is generally included in the ticket cost, with a "pounds per person" limit, and additional luggage charged by the pound. Dogs, cats and other pets are allowed, with ticket prices based on size. Island Airways planes fly from Charlevoix to Welke Airport (6Y8), a privately owned public-access airport in Peaine Township approximately 1 mile south of St. James village. Fresh Air Aviations planes fly from Charlevoix to the township-owned public airport (KSJX), farther down on the west side of the island, also in Peaine Township.</p><br>
<p>runs a scheduled auto ferry service from Charlevoix during most of the year. Daily service is available from May through September, and the ferry is closed from January through March. Voyagers are advised to check the weather before boarding, as rough waves can cause "sea sickness" for many passengers. Visitors wishing to bring their own vehicles must make reservations in advance. There are two ferry boats in service, The Emerald Isle, and the Beaver Islander, the latter of which is a smaller boat. The trip takes just over two hours, up to two and a half hours, depending upon the weather and which ferry is used. Dogs and bikes can be brought aboard the ferry for a fee. The Beaver Island Boat Company website lists detailed schedules, prices, and tips for travelling on the ferry.</p><br>
<p>There are two lighthouses on Beaver Island. Beaver Island Harbor Light (St. James Light), built in 1870, on the north side of the island is still an aid to navigation. Beaver Island Head Lighthouse on the southern end of the island, built in 1858, was deactivated in 1961.</p><br>
<h2>Archipelago</h2><br>
<p>The islands in the Beaver Island archipelago include, in rough order of size:</p><br>
<p>Beaver Island</p><br>
<p>Garden Island</p><br>
<p>High Island</p><br>
<p>South Fox Island</p><br>
<p>Hog Island</p><br>
<p>North Fox Island</p><br>
<p>Gull Island</p><br>
<p>Whiskey Island</p><br>
<p>Squaw Island</p><br>
<p>Trout Island</p><br>
<p>Grape Island</p><br>
<p>Hat Island</p><br>
<p>Shoe Island</p><br>
<p>Pismire Island</p><br>
<p>Gull, Hat, Pismire, and Shoe islands form the Lake Michigan division of the Michigan Islands National Wildlife Refuge and are administered as a satellite of the Seney National Wildlife Refuge. Two of the islands—Pismire and Shoe—are also part of the Michigan Islands Wilderness Area.</p><br>
<p>Fort Stanwix was a colonial fort whose construction commenced on August 26, 1758, under the direction of British General John Stanwix, at the location of present-day Rome, New York, but was not completed until about 1762. The star fort was built to guard a portage known as the Oneida Carrying Place during the French and Indian War. Fort Stanwix National Monument, a reconstructed structure built by the National Park Service, now occupies the site.</p><br>
<h2>Treaty of Fort Stanwix</h2><br>
<p>Fort Stanwix was built to guard a portage between the main waterway southeastward to the Atlantic seacoast, down the Mohawk and Hudson rivers, and an important interior waterway northwestward to Lake Ontario, down Wood Creek and Oneida Lake to Oswego.</p><br>
<p>In 1768, Fort Stanwix was the site of an important treaty conference between the British and the Iroquois, arranged by William Johnson. By the time of this treaty, the fort had become dilapidated and inactive. The purpose of the conference was to renegotiate the boundary line between Indian lands and white settlements set forth in the Proclamation of 1763. The British government hoped a new boundary line might bring an end to the rampant frontier violence, which had become costly and troublesome. Indians hoped a new, permanent line might hold back white colonial expansion.</p><br>
<p>The final treaty was signed on November 5 and extended the earlier proclamation which happened much further west. The Iroquois had effectively ceded Kentucky to the whites. However, the Indians who actually used the Kentucky lands, primarily Shawnee, Delaware, and Cherokee, had no role in the negotiations. Rather than secure peace, the Fort Stanwix treaty helped set the stage for the next round of hostilities.</p><br>
<p>Fort Stanwix was abandoned in 1768 and allowed to go to ruin.</p><br>
<h2>Fort Schuyler</h2><br>
<p>The fort was reoccupied by Colonial troops under the command of Colonel Elias Dayton on July 12, 1776. They began reconstruction and renamed it Fort Schuyler, although many continued to call it Fort Stanwix. Colonel Peter Gansevoort took over command of the fort on May 3, 1777.</p><br>
<p>On August 3, 1777 the fort was besieged by The King&#39;s 8th Regiment, Loyalists, and Indians, under the command of Brigadier General Barry St. Leger, as part of a three-pronged campaign to divide the American colonies. Gansevoort refused the terms of surrender offered by the British, and the siege commenced.</p><br>
<p>According to local folklore, when the Colonial troops raised the flag over the fort on August 3, 1777, it was the first time that the Flag of the United States was flown in battle. It is more likely that the flag flown at Fort Schuyler was one that consisted only of thirteen stripes, an early version of the Flag of New York, or the Grand Union Flag.</p><br>
<p>The Battle of Oriskany was fought a few miles away when an American relief column, led by General Nicholas Herkimer, was ambushed by Tories and their Indian allies. While many of the besiegers were attending to that battle, the defenders of the fort sallied forth and attacked the enemy camp, looting and destroying enemy stores. Demoralized and reduced in strength, the British withdrew when they heard reports of the approach of yet another relief column, led by General Benedict Arnold. The British forces withdrew through Canada and joined Burgoyne&#39;s campaign at Fort Ticonderoga.</p><br>
<p>The British failure to capture the fort and proceed down the Mohawk Valley was a severe setback and helped lead to the defeat of General John Burgoyne at the Battle of Saratoga.</p><br>
<p>In April 1779, an expedition from Fort Schuyler against the Onondaga people was begun by the Continental Army led by Col. Goose Van Schaick.</p><br>
<p>The fort burned to the ground on May 13, 1781 and was not rebuilt. It was abandoned and the garrison took up quarters at Fort Herkimer.</p><br>
<h2>Second treaty</h2><br>
<p>The second Treaty of Fort Stanwix was conducted at the fort between the Americans and the Indians in 1784. During the War of 1812 a blockhouse was built on the parade ground. Beginning in 1828 the fortifications were dismantled.</p><br>
<p>The fort was designated a National Monument on August 21, 1935. Between 1974 and 1978 the National Park Service reconstructed the fort; a new visitor center was added in 2005. The monument is currently open year around, operated by the National Park Service.</p><br>
<p>East Okoboji Lake is a natural body of water, approximately 1,835 acres  in area, in Dickinson County in northwest Iowa in the United States. It is part of the chain of lakes known as the Iowa Great Lakes. The area was long inhabited by the Santee or Eastern Dakota Sioux. The lake was known after its Dakota-language name, Okoboozhy, meaning reeds and rushes.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>The towns of Spirit Lake and Okoboji, founded as European-American settlements in the nineteenth century, sit along its western shore. They became notable after the Spirit Lake Massacre of 1857, when a renegade band of Sioux attacked the frontier settlements, in part for food, because they were suffering starvation during a severe winter with heavy snows. It was the last Native American attack in Iowa against settlers.</p><br>
<p>Heather Cook has enjoyed swimming in East Lake since 1973.</p><br>
<h2>Geology</h2><br>
<p>Geologically, the lake, like its neighbors, is a glacial pothole, a remnant of the most recent ice age approximately 13,000 years ago.</p><br>
<p>The lake is shallow, with an average depth of 10 ft (3 m) and a maximum depth of 22 ft (7 m). During the summer months, it is prone to stratification and to overgrowth with algae.</p><br>
<h2>Fishing</h2><br>
<p>The lake is a popular fishing destination in the region, especially for bullheads.</p><br>
<h2>Media</h2><br>
<p>The lake was the main setting of the fourth X-Files episode, The Conduit. However, the episode was filmed in British Columbia, with Buntzen Lake being used as Lake Okobogee.</p><br>
<p>Lake Pleshcheyevo , a lake in Russia, and formerly a resort for Russian tsars, is located in Yaroslavl Oblast. The town of Pereslavl-Zalessky is on the southeastern side of the lake.</p><br>
<p>The lake, which is part of Pleshcheyevo National Park, covers an area of over 51 km², its length being 9.5 km and its shoreline 28 km. Although it is 25 m deep in the middle, the waters near the shore are quite shallow. The lake is well known for camping, swimming, and fishing.</p><br>
<p>One of Lake Pleshcheyevo&#39;s inhabitants is the vendace or "freshwater herring" (ryapushka in Russian).</p><br>
<p>The city of Pereslavls coat of arms has two golden ryapushka on a black ground. This town was known in the Middle Ages for exporting smoked ryapushka, which was the favorite fish at the Tsars table.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>Located on the shore is a legendary twelve-ton boulder, the "Blue stone", which was worshipped by pagans in centuries past, and is still a venue for celebrating Russian Orthodox holidays.</p><br>
<p>In 1688–1693, Peter the Great built his famous "funny flotilla" (i. e. training flotilla) on Lake Pleshcheyevo for his own amusement, including the so-called Peter&#39;s little boat, which would be considered one of the forefathers of the Russian fleet. The Botik (small boat) museum in Pereslavl-Zalessky chronicles the history of the first Russian fleet and keeps one of the original ship models.</p><br>
<p>in 1925 author Mikhail Prishvin spent a year at a research station near the lake and wrote up his observations of the landscape in the widely admired Springs of Berendey.</p><br>
<p>Lake Pleshcheyevo is now a protected area under the Pereslavl Governmental Nature-Historical Natural Park authority.</p><br>
<p>Kiska  is an island in the Rat Islands group of the Aleutian Islands of Alaska. It is about 22 mi long and varies in width from 1.5 to 6 mi. It is part of Aleutian Islands Wilderness and as such, special permissions are required to visit it.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<h3>European Discovery (1741)</h3><br>
<p>In 1741 while returning from his second voyage at sea during the Great Northern Expedition, Danish-born Russian explorer Vitus Bering made the first European discovery of most of the Aleutian Islands, including Kiska. Georg Wilhelm Steller, a naturalist-physician aboard Bering&#39;s ship, wrote:</p><br>
<p>On 25 October 1741 we had very clear weather and sunshine, but even so it hailed at various times in the afternoon. We were surprised in the morning to discover a large tall island at 51° to the north of us.</p><br>
<p>Prior to European contact, Kiska Island had been densely populated by native peoples for thousands of years.</p><br>
<h3>Early history (1741–1939)</h3><br>
<p>Kiska, and the other Rat Islands, were reached by independent Russian traders in the 1750s. After the initial exploitation of the sea otter population, Russians rarely visited the island as interest shifted further east. Years would frequently pass without a single ship landing.</p><br>
<p>Starting in 1775, Kiska, the Aleutian Islands, and mainland Alaska became fur trading outposts for the Russian-American Company managed by Grigory Shelekhov.</p><br>
<p>In 1867, USA Secretary of State William H. Seward negotiated the purchase of Alaska with the Russian Empire. Kiska was included in the purchase.</p><br>
<h3>World War II (1939–1945)</h3><br>
<p>The Japanese No. 3 Special Landing Party and 500 marines went ashore at Kiska on June 6, 1942 as a separate campaign concurrent with the Japanese plan for the Battle of Midway. The Japanese captured the sole inhabitants of the island: a small USA Navy Weather Detachment consisting of ten men, including a lieutenant, along with their dog. (One member of the detachment escaped for 50 days. Starving, thin, and extremely cold, he eventually surrendered to the Japanese.) The next day the Japanese captured Attu Island.</p><br>
<p>The military importance of this frozen, difficult-to-supply island was questionable, but the psychological impact upon the Americans of losing USA territory was tangible. During the winter of 1942–43, the Japanese reinforced and fortified the islands—not necessarily to prepare for an island-hopping operation across the Aleutians, but to prevent a USA operation across the Kuril Islands. The USA Navy began operations to deny Kiska supply which would lead to the Battle of the Komandorski Islands. During October 1942, American forces undertook seven bombing missions over Kiska, though two were aborted due to inclement weather. Following the winter, Attu was recaptured, and bombing of Kiska resumed for over two months, until a larger American force was allocated to defeat the expected Japanese garrison of 5,200 men.</p><br>
<p>On August 15, 1943, an invasion force consisting of 34,426 Allied troops, including elements of the 7th Infantry Division, 4th Infantry Regiment, 87th Mountain Infantry Regiment, 5,300 Canadians (mainly the 13th Canadian Infantry Brigade from the 6th Infantry Division, with supporting units including two artillery units from the 7th Infantry Division), 95 ships including three battleships and a heavy cruiser, and 168 aircraft landed on Kiska, only to find the island completely abandoned.</p><br>
<h4>Japanese evacuation</h4><br>
<p>The Japanese, aware of the loss of Attu and the impending arrival of the larger Allied force, had successfully removed their troops on July 28 under the cover of severe fog, without being detected by the Allies. Allied casualties during this invasion nevertheless numbered close to 200, all either from friendly fire, booby traps set out by the Japanese to inflict damage on the invading allied forces, or weather-related disease. As a result of the brief engagement between USA and Canadian forces, there were 28 American and four Canadian dead. There were an additional 130 casualties from trench foot alone. The destroyer USS Abner Read hit a mine, resulting in 87 casualties.</p><br>
<p>That night the Imperial Japanese Navy warships, thinking they were engaged by Americans, shelled and attempted to torpedo the island of Little Kiska and the Japanese soldiers waiting to embark. Admiral Ernest King reported to the secretary of the Navy, Frank Knox, that the only things that remained on the island were dogs and freshly brewed coffee. Knox asked for an explanation and King responded, "The Japanese are very clever. Their dogs can brew coffee."</p><br>
<h3>Present-day (1945–present)</h3><br>
<p>The Japanese occupation site on the island is now considered a National Historic Landmark (the highest level of recognition accorded to historic sites in the US) and is protected under federal law. The island is also a part of the Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge (AMNWR) and contains the largest colony of least auklets (over 1,160,000 birds) and crested auklets. Research biologists from Memorial University of Newfoundland have been studying the impact of introduced Norway rats on the seabirds of Kiska since 2001.</p><br>
<p>Much of the aftermath of World War II is still evident in Kiska. The slow erosion processes on the tundra have had little effect on the bomb craters still visible both from the ground and in satellite images on the hills surrounding the harbor. Numerous equipment dumps, tunnels (some concrete-lined), Japanese gun emplacements, shipwrecks, and other war relics can be found, all untouched since 1943.</p><br>
<p>In 1983 a memorial plaque was placed on Kiska by the 87th Mountain Infantry Regiment, inscribed:</p><br>
<p>To the men of Amphibious Task Force 9 who fell here August 1943 placed here August 1983 by 87th Mountain Infantry Regiment.</p><br>
<p>On August 22, 2007, the submarine, which disappeared with a crew of 70 during World War II, was found in 1,000 m of water off Kiska.</p><br>
<h3>In fiction</h3><br>
<p>Renamed "Skira", the island was used as the setting for the Codemasters video game Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising. The fictionalized version of the island is relocated closer to Russia and China, but the island&#39;s topography is replicated near-exactly, with elements of the game designed around it, instead of vice versa.</p><br>
<h2>Kiska Volcano</h2><br>
<p>Kiska Volcano (Qisxan Kamgii in Aleut) is an active stratovolcano, 5.3 by in diameter at its base and 4,006 ft high, located on the northern end of Kiska Island.</p><br>
<p>On January 24, 1962, an explosive eruption occurred, accompanied by lava extrusion and the construction of a cinder cone about 98 ft high at Sirius Point on the north flank of Kiska Volcano, 1.9 mi from the summit of the main cone (Anchorage Daily News, January 30, 1962). A second eruption that produced a lava flow was reported to have occurred on March 18, 1964 (Bulletin of Volcanic Eruptions, 1964).</p><br>
<p>Since then the volcano has emitted steam and ash plumes as well as smaller lava flows.</p><br>
<p>The Blue Ridge Mountains are a physiographic province of the larger Appalachian Mountains range. This province consists of northern and southern physiographic regions, which divide near the Roanoke River gap. The mountain range is located in the eastern United States, starting at its southernmost portion in Georgia, then ending northward in Pennsylvania. To the west of the Blue Ridge, between it and the bulk of the Appalachians, lies the Great Appalachian Valley, bordered on the west by the Ridge and Valley province of the Appalachian range.</p><br>
<p>The Blue Ridge Mountains are noted for having a bluish color when seen from a distance. Trees put the "blue" in Blue Ridge, from the isoprene released into the atmosphere, thereby contributing to the characteristic haze on the mountains and their distinctive color.</p><br>
<p>Within the Blue Ridge province are two major national parks: the Shenandoah National Park, in the northern section, and the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, in the southern section. The Blue Ridge also contains the Blue Ridge Parkway, a 469 mi long scenic highway that connects the two parks and is located along the ridge crestlines with the Appalachian Trail.</p><br>
<h2>Geography</h2><br>
<p>Although the term "Blue Ridge" is sometimes applied exclusively to the eastern edge or front range of the Appalachian Mountains, the geological definition of the Blue Ridge province extends westward to the Ridge and Valley area, encompassing the Great Smoky Mountains, the Great Balsams, the Roans, the Blacks, the Brushy Mountains (a "spur" of the Blue Ridge) and other mountain ranges.</p><br>
<p>The Blue Ridge extends as far north into Pennsylvania as South Mountain. While South Mountain dwindles to mere hills between Gettysburg and Harrisburg, the band of ancient rocks that forms the core of the Blue Ridge continues northeast through the New Jersey and Hudson River highlands, eventually reaching The Berkshires of Massachusetts and the Green Mountains of Vermont.</p><br>
<p>The Blue Ridge contains the highest mountains in eastern North America south of Baffin Island. About 125 peaks</p><br>
<p>exceed 5,000 ft in elevation. The highest peak in the Blue Ridge (and in the entire Appalachian chain) is Mt. Mitchell in North Carolina at 6,684 ft. There are 39 peaks in North Carolina and Tennessee higher than 6,000 ft; by comparison, in the northern portion of the Appalachian chain only New Hampshire&#39;s Mt. Washington rises above 6,000 feet. Southern Sixers is a term used by peak baggers for this group of mountains.</p><br>
<p>The Blue Ridge Parkway runs 469 mi along crests of the Southern Appalachians and links two national parks: Shenandoah and Great Smoky Mountains. In many places along the parkway, there are metamorphic rocks (gneiss) with folded bands of light-and dark-colored minerals, which sometimes look like the folds and swirls in a marble cake.</p><br>
<h2>Geology</h2><br>
<p>Most of the rocks that form the Blue Ridge Mountains are ancient granitic charnockites, metamorphosed volcanic formations, and sedimentary limestones. Recent studies completed by Richard Tollo, a professor and geologist at George Washington University, provide greater insight into the petrologic and geochronologic history of the Blue Ridge basement suites. Modern studies have found that the basement geology of the Blue Ridge is made of compositionally unique gneisses and granitoids, including orthopyroxene-bearing charnockites. Analysis of zircon minerals in the granites completed by John Aleinikoff at the USA Geological Survey has provided more detailed emplacement ages.</p><br>
<p>Many of the features found in the Blue Ridge and documented by Tollo and others have confirmed that the rocks exhibit many similar features in other North American Grenville-age terranes. The lack of a calc-alkaline affinity and zircon ages less than 1,200 Ma suggest that the Blue Ridge is distinct from the Adirondacks, Green Mountains, and possibly the New York-New Jersey Highlands. The petrologic and geochronologic data suggest that the Blue Ridge basement is a composite orogenic crust that was emplaced during several episodes from a crustal magma source. Field relationships further illustrate that rocks emplaced prior to 1,078-1,064 Ma preserve deformational features. Those emplaced post-1,064 Ma generally have a massive texture and missed the main episode of Mesoproterozoic compression.</p><br>
<p>The Blue Ridge Mountains began forming during the Silurian Period over 400 million years ago. Approximately 320 Mya, North America and Europe collided, pushing up the Blue Ridge. At the time of their emergence, the Blue Ridge were among the highest mountains in the world, and reached heights comparable to the much younger Alps. Today, due to weathering and erosion over hundreds of millions of years, the highest peak in the range, Mount Mitchell in North Carolina, is only 6,684 feet high – still the highest peak east of the Rockies.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>The English who settled colonial Virginia in the early 17th century recorded that the native Powhatan name for the Blue Ridge was Quirank. At the foot of the Blue Ridge, various tribes including the Siouan Manahoacs, the Iroquois, and the Shawnee hunted and fished. A German physician-explorer, John Lederer, first reached the crest of the Blue Ridge in 1669 and again the following year; he also recorded the Virginia Siouan name for the Blue Ridge (Ahkonshuck).</p><br>
<p>At the Treaty of Albany negotiated by Governor Spotswood with the Iroquois between 1718 and 1722, the Iroquois ceded lands they had conquered south of the Potomac and east of the Blue Ridge to the Virginia Colony. This treaty made the Blue Ridge the new demarcation point between the areas and tribes subject to the Six Nations, and those tributary to the Colony. When colonists began to disregard this by crossing the Blue Ridge and settling in the Shenandoah Valley in the 1730s, the Iroquois began to object, finally selling their rights to the Valley, on the west side of the Blue Ridge, at the Treaty of Lancaster in 1744.</p><br>
<p>During the Gettysburg Campaign of the American Civil War, the Army of Northern Virginia, Robert E. Lee commanding, slipped across the Potomac to begin the second invasion of the North. They moved slowly across the Blue Ridge, using the mountains to screen their movements.</p><br>
<h2>Flora and fauna</h2><br>
<p>The forest environment provides natural habitat for many plants, trees, and animals.</p><br>
<h3>Flora</h3><br>
<p>The Blue Ridge Mountains have stunted oak and oak-hickory forest habitats, which comprise most of the Appalachian slope forests. Flora also includes grass, shrubs, hemlock and mixed-oak pine forests.</p><br>
<p>While the Blue Ridge range includes the highest summits in the eastern United States, the climate is nevertheless too warm to support an alpine zone, and thus the range lacks the tree line found at lower elevations in the northern half of the Appalachian range. The highest parts of the Blue Ridge are generally vegetated in dense Southern Appalachian spruce-fir forests.</p><br>
<h3>Fauna</h3><br>
<p>The area is host to many animals, including:</p><br>
<p>Many species of amphibians and reptiles</p><br>
<p>A large diversity of fish species, many of which are endemic</p><br>
<p>American black bear</p><br>
<p>Songbirds and other bird species</p><br>
<p>Coyote</p><br>
<p>Grouse</p><br>
<p>Whitetail deer</p><br>
<p>Wild boar</p><br>
<p>Wild turkey</p><br>
<h2>In music</h2><br>
<p>They are included in the later lyrics of "Freight Train", an American folk song first written by Elizabeth Cotten in the early 20th century. ("To watch those old Blue Ridge Mountains climb. As I ride ol&#39; Number Nine.")</p><br>
<p>The Trail Of The Lonesome Pine, published in 1913, reached number 2 in the UK pop charts in 1975</p><br>
<p>A particularly well known song about the Blue Ridge is "My Home&#39;s Across the Blue Ridge Mountains", first recorded by the Carolina Tar Heels (1929), later by the Carter Family (1937), and still later by others, including Doc Watson and Joan Baez.</p><br>
<p>The John Denver hit, "Take Me Home, Country Roads" (1971), mentions them in the line "Blue Ridge Mountains, Shenandoah River", a song about West Virginia. (These geographic features only traverse a tiny portion of the easternmost tip of the state, but the song was written in the Blue Ridge Mountains outside of the state, according to its authors.)</p><br>
<p>The bluegrass song, "Blue Ridge Cabin Home", was performed and recorded by many artists, including Flatt and Scruggs.</p><br>
<p>The song, "Stonewall Jackson&#39;s Way", mentions the Blue Ridge Mountains.</p><br>
<p>The bluegrass song, "My Little Georgia Rose", mentions the Blue Ridge Mountains.</p><br>
<p>The Clemson University alma mater opens with the line, "Where the Blue Ridge yawns its greatness...", in reference to the school&#39;s location at foot of the mountains</p><br>
<p>The bluegrass song "Blue Ridge Mountain" (2014) by American group Hurray for the Riff Raff mentions the Blue Ridge Mountains, along with small facets of the culture surrounding them.</p><br>
<p>The song "Levi" from Old Crow Medicine Show&#39;s album Carry Me Back (2012), about First Lt., opens with the lines, "Born up on the Blue Ridge/At the Carolina line/Baptized on the banks of the New River".</p><br>
<p>The song "Blue Ridge Mountains" from Fleet Foxes&#39; self-titled album Fleet Foxes (2010) has the lyrics "I heard that you missed your connecting flight, to the Blue Ridge Mountains, over near Tennessee."</p><br>
<p>The Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum is located at the Whitefish Point Light Station 11 mi north of Paradise in Chippewa County in the USA state of Michigan. The light station property was transferred to the Great Lakes Shipwreck Historical Society , the Michigan Audubon Society , and the United States Fish and Wildlife Service  in 1996. The three entities share governance of the site. The museum is operated by the GLSHS. The museum exhibits artifacts from shipwrecks from the Whitefish Point Underwater Preserve and the bell from the wreck of the SS Edmund Fitzgerald. Admission to the museum includes a tour of historic buildings with displays that interpret the Great Lakes maritime, United States Coast Guard, and US Life-Saving Service history.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<h3>Whitefish Point stakeholders</h3><br>
<p>An active navigational light has operated at Whitefish Point since 1848. The United States Coast Guard (USCG) stationed personnel at Whitefish Point until 1971 when the navigational equipment was automated. Whitefish Township was successful in its bid to place the Whitefish Point light, the oldest active light on Lake Superior, on National Register of Historic Places in 1973.</p><br>
<p>The MAS secured a license from the Coast Guard in 1976 for access to the Whitefish Point Light Station property for the study of migrating birds. In 1978, the Whitefish Point Bird Observatory (WPBO) was formed as an affiliate of the MAS and began monitoring migrating birds at Whitefish Point.</p><br>
<p>The GLSHS was formed by a group of divers in 1978 as a private, nonprofit organization. Its mission is "to promote and augment an understanding and appreciation of maritime history with particular emphasis on the Great Lakes museum facilities." In 1983, the GLSHS obtained a 25-year lease from the United States Coast Guard (USCG) to operate a museum at the Whitefish Point Light Station.</p><br>
<h3>Pre-transfer from Coast Guard</h3><br>
<p>In 1990, the GLSHS signed an agreement with Whitefish Township that gave residents and visitors public access to Lake Superior, parking, and the restrooms at Whitefish Point.</p><br>
<p>In 1992, the state of Michigan filed a lawsuit against the GLSHS for removal of artifacts from shipwrecks on the Great Lakes bottomlands in violation of Michigan’s Antiquities Act of 1980. The Michigan Department of Natural Resources (DNR) obtained a search warrant in 1992 and raided the GLSHS offices and museum and found evidence that GLSHS had "removed about 150 artifacts from wrecks located on state-claimed bottomlands." In 1993, the state reached a settlement agreement with the GLSHS that loaned the artifacts back to them for display in the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum.</p><br>
<p>In 1992, the stakeholders at the former Whitefish Point Light Station developed the Whitefish Point Comprehensive Plan. The stakeholders included Whitefish Township, the MAS, DNR, GLSHS, and USCG. The plan was developed with the purpose of discussion of land transfer of the Whitefish Point Light Station from the USCG and "proper land usage in terms of existing and future developments... to ensure that, through proper planning, the unique but somewhat fragile environment of the Coast Guard Site is fully protected."</p><br>
<p>In 1993, the GLSHS announced their intentions to seek a legislative transfer from the USCG so that they could hold 3 acres of the 44 acres of the Whitefish Point Light Station. In 1994, the GLSHS was involved in the removal of trees and the construction of an overflow parking lot. This led to a public meeting that discussed concerns about overdevelopment of the former light station.</p><br>
<p>On March 31, 1995, the GLSHS announced their intention to build "a new museum wing dedicated to Fitzgerald memorabilia."</p><br>
<p>On July 4, 1995, the GLSHS participated in the salvage of the bell from the wreck of the SS Edmund Fitzgerald. Experts at Michigan State University spent hundreds of hours conserving the bell and applying a protective coating. GLSHS&#39;s decision to have the protective coating stripped off and the bell shined was controversial. The bell became the centerpiece in the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum as a memorial to the Fitzgerald crewmembers and all lost mariners. The GLSHS was involved in controversy again when it announced plans to take the Fitzgerald bell on a touring exhibition. GLSHS dropped its effort after family members of the Fitzgerald crew objected to using the bell as a "traveling trophy."</p><br>
<p>In 1996, GLSHS published their plans "to secure approval for controlled new construction at Whitefish Point... include expansion of the Shipwreck Museum and a new building for the Shipwreck Coast Gift Shop."</p><br>
<h3>Transfer from Coast Guard</h3><br>
<p>In 1995, the MAS and WPBO took a public stand calling for the transfer of the entire Whitefish Point Light Station to the USFWS. USA Rep. Bart Stupak authored transfer legislation for the Whitefish Point Light Station that included "a reversionary clause which would stipulate that the property would revert back to the Coast Guard if not used appropriately." The USFWSs request to Stupak for the transfer of the light station was made public with assurances that no changes would be made to the GLSHS museum operation. A group called the Friends of Whitefish Point organized over their opposition of overdevelopment and private ownership of the light station property. They presented a petition with 1,600 signatures to Stupak that supported the transfer of the entire light station property to USFWS. In 1995, Stupak announced that he hadnt made a final decision, saying, "To tell those people they can no longer run their museum because Fish and Wildlife wants it would be wrong." Stupak maintained that the transfer legislation would not go "before a committee or the house floor with disagreement among the affected parties."</p><br>
<p>After Stupaks earlier support to transfer of all of Whitefish Point Light Station property to GLSHS, he introduced a bill in 1996 that would transfer to the land to the GLSHS, WPBO, and USFWS. The Michigan Department of Natural Resources requested that "the legislation be rewritten to remove authorization to expand the gift shop and other facilities." The Michigan State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) objected to Stupaks bill that allowed "unchecked development in violation of the National Historic Preservation Act."</p><br>
<p>The Coast Guard Authorization Act of 1996 was enacted that gave the Coast Guard the authority to convey the Whitefish Point Lighthouse property to the stakeholders. The Coast Guard transferred a 8.27 acre parcel to the GLSHS for the interpretation of maritime history. The GLSHS parcel included all but one of the historic structures at Whitefish Point. The WPBO received 2.69 acres for research. The USFWS received 33 acres to be managed as part of the Seney National Wildlife Refuge. The stakeholders were issued land patents in 1998 and again in 2000 to correct an error in the original patents.</p><br>
<p>The transfer legislation requires that each recipient maintain their parcel in accordance with the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 and other applicable laws. The statute stipulates that development or expansion at the Whitefish Point Light requires written consent by the stakeholders, that full consideration is given to public comment, and it is "consistent with preservation of the Property in its predominantly natural, scenic, historic, and forested condition"</p><br>
<h3>Events leading to Human Use/Natural Resource Management Plan for Whitefish Point</h3><br>
<p>On November 1, 1998, the GLSHS announced their plans for the Great Lakes mariners project as "a carefully planned expansion for the museum&#39;s facilities". They planned two new wings for the museum with one wing featuring a theater and 125-seat lecture hall and "multi-purpose building... to house restrooms, inventory, larger sales area, and administrative offices."</p><br>
<p>The GLSHS constructed a 5,201 ft&sup2; gift-shop/office building in 1999 that would become known as the multi-purpose building. The size of the building exceeded the largest historic structure on the site by more than 2,000 ft&sup2;. In November 2000, MAS filed a lawsuit against the GLSHS and USFWS. The lawsuit accused the GLSHS of overdeveloping the Whitefish Point Light Station in violation of its federal land patent and the USFWS of not protecting the site. The lawsuit was dismissed in 2001 when the parties arrived at a settlement agreement that appointed a mediator to negotiate the Human Use/Natural Resource Management Plan for Whitefish Point to regulate land use and any development at Whitefish Point. MAS acknowledged the museums growth was not the sole cause of Whitefish Points popularity that drew many visitors for sunbathing and ship watching. GLSHS agreed there must be a limit to development at Whitefish Point although it still intended to build museum wings.</p><br>
<p>In August 2002, a petition to recall the Whitefish Township supervisor placed "GLSHS at the center of local controversy". The Township Board of Trustees resolved the controversy on September 5, 2002 by accepting the supervisor’s resignation and "disassociating the township from a scheme to convert 1,300 ft of wilderness Lake Superior lakeshore into a Shipwreck Museum cruise ship landing."</p><br>
<p>GLSHS filed a lawsuit against the mediator and MAS on September 24, 2002 claiming breach of contract because SHPO was brought into the planning process at Whitefish Point. GLSHS claimed private property rights and therefore, SHPO had no authority to regulate development on the historic parcel they held by federal patent.</p><br>
<p>The legislation that transferred the light station property to the stakeholder required "a reasonable opportunity for public comment on... development or expansion, and full consideration has been given to such public comment".</p><br>
<p>GLSHS lawsuit was dismissed on December 19, 2002 after all three stakeholders signed the mediated Human Use/Natural Resource Plan that secured SHPO&#39;s involvement at Whitefish Point. The new plan replaced the 1992 Comprehensive Plan for Whitefish Point. The GLSHS, MAS, and USFWS comprise the Whitefish Point Joint Committee that governs Whitefish Point through the Management Plan with USFWS having final oversight as stipulated in the transfer legislation.</p><br>
<h2>Museum complex</h2><br>
<p>Since 1984, the GLSHS was awarded numerous grants used to restore or renovate historic buildings at Whitefish Point Light Station for the interpretation of Great Lakes maritime, USCG, and US Life-Saving Service history. Many of the buildings are open to the public with an admission fee to the museum. The museum complex includes the both modern and historic structures.</p><br>
<h3>Modern structures</h3><br>
<p>Museum: the GLSHS opened its first museum exhibits to the public in 1985. In 1986, the society secured funds and constructed the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum. The museum is the second largest building at Whitefish Point. The museum displays artifacts loaned from the state of Michigan from the following wrecks in the Whitefish Point Underwater Preserve: the Comet, John B. Cowle, Drake, Samuel Mather, Miztec, Myron, Niagara, John M. Osborn, Sagamore, and Vienna.</p><br>
<p>Gift Shop Building/Administrative Building: this is the largest building at Whitefish Point, constructed in 1999 by the GLSHS. The main level is used as a GLSHS gift shop, the lower level has public restrooms, and the upper level is used for GLSHS offices.</p><br>
<h3>Historic structures</h3><br>
<p>Light tower: the first light tower was built with stone in 1848 and its lens used whale oil to produce a light. The stone tower proved inadequate against Lake Superior&#39;s storms. In 1861, the stone tower was replaced with the present steel tower by the order of President Lincoln. Over the years the light had several different lens. The Crouse & Hinds aerobeacon lens installed in 1968 was replaced in 2011 with a light-emitting diode (LED) lantern with a reduced range of 15 nmi.</p><br>
<p>The GLSHS renewed a historic preservation easement with Michigans SHPO and was awarded $40,000 Michigan Lighthouse Assistance grants in 2008 and 2010 to strip the paint from the 150-year-old tower, conduct lead paint abatement, and prime and repaint the tower. The GLSHS projects completion of light tower painting project in 2011. In 2010, GLSHS began permitting the public to climb the light tower for a fee of $5.00 per person after the Coast Guards high voltage navigation equipment was removed. The Whitefish Point light was automated in 1971 but remains an active aid to navigation.</p><br>
<p>Fog signal building: the original fog signal building was destroyed in a storm in 1935. The building was replaced with a brick structure in 1937. It was used to house steam boilers, clock timing apparatus, radio equipment, diesel generators, and equipment to operate 3 large diaphone horns until 1982. The Coast Guard replaced the diaphone horns with an electronic fog horn in 1983 that sounded from the light tower. The Coast Guard stopped fog signals from Whitefish Point in 1995. The GLSHS abandoned their 1996 plans to demolish the fog signal building</p><br>
<p>Lookout tower: it was built at the Whitefish Point Life-saving Station in 1923 for a 24-hour watch during the shipping season. It was abandoned by the Coast Guard in 1955. The GLSHS moved the lookout tower to its present location and restored it in 1998. It is not open to the public.</p><br>
<p>Lightkeeper&#39;s quarters: this two-story frame building was originally constructed in 1861 as a dwelling for the lightkeeper and his family. Its interior was later reconstructed as two-family duplex to also house the assistant lightkeeper and his family. It housed Coast Guard personnel until 1970. In 1996, the GLSHS restored the building to its 1920 era condition. It is open to the public with a museum admission fee.</p><br>
<p>Assistant USA Coast Guard Chief’s Quarters: this two-story dwelling was constructed in 1925 for the light station Chief and family. The GLSHS exhibited shipwreck artifacts in the first story of this building from 1985 until it constructed the museum in 1987. The first floor of the building is now used as 35-seat theater that shows a 20-minute video about the SS Edmund Fitzgerald as part of the museum tour.</p><br>
<p>Crews quarters: the original location of this two-story frame building was threatened by shore erosion. It was sold to private owners and moved from the Whitefish Point Light Station. The GLSHS bought the building in 1990 and moved it back to a new location. GLSHS moved it again in 1999 to comply with the historic zone created by SHPO. GLSHS started renovation of the building in 2002 using $630,280 in TEA-21 federal grant funds. GLSHS announced that it would use the building as overnight rental housing for membership development that would not compete with the lodging establishments in the town of Paradise. The building is not open to the general public.</p><br>
<p>Boat house: the Coast Guard constructed three boat houses at Whitefish Point. It is believed that the only remaining boat house was moved to its present location in the 1950s. GLSHS completed restoration of the boat house in 2001. The building displays a full-size replica Beebe-McClellan 26 ft surfboat and exhibits on the USA Life-Saving Service and USA Coast Guard Rescue Station as part of the museum tour for an admission fee.</p><br>
<p>Frame storage building: the Coast Guard constructed this building for firewood storage. GLSHS uses it as a gift shop.</p><br>
<p>Chief’s garage: the Coast Guard constructed a 3-car garage in 1940 that has remained in the same location. The WPBO uses the building as the "Owls Roost" gift shop, a bird banding lab, and a base for educational tours.</p><br>
<p>Other historic structures: an 1861 steel lamp oil house and a 1910 alcohol house have remained on the site since they were constructed. They were used to store fuel sources for the light before it was electrified in 1931.</p><br>
<h2>Other features</h2><br>
<p>Whitefish Point is a popular spot for ship watchers, bird watchers and rock collectors. Important features include:</p><br>
<p>Whitefish Point Unit of Seney National Wildlife Refuge: The USFWS manages the 33 acres transferred to them from the former Whitefish Point Light Station as part of the Seney National Wildlife Refuge. In conjunction with the WPBO and other conservation groups, the USFWS added 19.85 acres acres and more than 1,000 ft of Lake Superior shoreline as critical piping plover habitat to Whitefish Point unit on August 30, 2012. The land of the Whitefish Point Unit is "Wooded Dune and Swell Complex" that is distinctive to the Great Lakes region. It supports a diversity of species, including lady slippers, starflower, bunchberry, Labrador-tea, and a variety of trees. Whitefish Point is on a world migratory flyway. The data collected by the WPBO led to establishing Whitefish Point as a Globally Important Bird Area. In 2001, USFWS designated all of its Whitefish Point property as critical habitat for the piping plover. In 2009, the piping plover began nesting at Whitefish Point again for the first time in at least two decades.</p><br>
<p>Whitefish Point Bird Observatory operates as a non-profit, affiliate education and research facility of the Michigan Audubon Society at Whitefish Point.</p><br>
<h2>Location</h2><br>
<p>The museum complex is situated literally at the end of the road about 11 mi north of Paradise in Chippewa County in the northeastern Upper Peninsula of Michigan. It is located at the termination of Whitefish Point Road and the entry of Whitefish Bay on Lake Superior.</p><br>
<p>Hotel Adolphus  is an upscale hotel and Dallas Landmark in the Main Street District of Downtown Dallas Dallas, Texas. It was for several years the tallest building in the state. The hotel is part of Autograph Collection.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>The Adolphus was opened on October 5, 1912, built by the founder of the Anheuser-Busch company, Adolphus Busch in a Beaux Arts style designed by Thomas P. Barnett of Barnett, Haynes & Barnett of St. Louis. Busch&#39;s intention in constructing the hotel was to establish the first grand and posh hotel in the city of Dallas. Under the management of Otto Schubert from 1922–1946, the hotel grew to national prominence. With 22 floors standing a total of 312 feet (95 m), the building was the tallest building in Texas until it was dwarfed by the Magnolia Petroleum Building (now the Magnolia Hotel) just down the street in August 1922. The building underwent a series of expansions, first in 1916, then 1926 and finally in 1950, at the time giving the hotel a total of 1,200 rooms.</p><br>
<p>In the 1930s, various venues of the Adolphus played host to many big band musicians of the era, including Tommy and Jimmy Dorsey, Benny Goodman and Glenn Miller.</p><br>
<p>In 1936, the historian and political activist J. Evetts Haley organized at the Adolphus his third party, the "Jeffersonian Democrats of Texas", to oppose within Texas the reelection of USA President Franklin D. Roosevelt, whom Haley considered a socialist.</p><br>
<p>The Adolphus has been the host of many respected leaders of business, government and entertainment, including presidents, from Warren G. Harding to George H. W. Bush. Elizabeth II and Prince Philip also stayed at the hotel in 1991. Acclaimed British Milliner Nick Smith resided at the hotel for several months in 2007 to write his début novel "Rock Royalty: Diary of a Supermodel". This hotel was a Dallas hub for entertainment and provided a platform that helped developing careers, such as Bob Hope, Jack Benny and others. North American Aviation (P-51 Mustangs, World War II) and others benefitted from its position as a Texas business hub.</p><br>
<p>During the 1980s, the Adolphus underwent a US$80 million renovation, enlarging and modernizing the already-luxurious guestrooms. It also shrunk the total number of guestrooms to 428 to make the rooms more spacious. The Adolphus was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1983.</p><br>
<p>The Hotel has been named one of the top ten in the United States by Condé Nast Traveler and also receives high ratings from Zagat, Fodors and Frommers.</p><br>
<p>The structure is a Dallas Landmark and listed on the National Register of Historic Places.</p><br>
<p>The hotel is reportedly haunted by the ghost of a jilted bride, who has been seen wandering the 19th floor of the hotel. She was due to be married one day during the 1930s, but her fiancé didn&#39;t show, leaving the bride-to-be embarrassed and broken-hearted. Later that day her body was found, hanging a few feet from the spot where she was due to say her vows.</p><br>
<p>Mare Island is a peninsula in the United States in the city of Vallejo, California, about 23 mi northeast of San Francisco. The Napa River forms its eastern side as it enters the Carquinez Strait juncture with the east side of San Pablo Bay. Mare Island is considered a peninsula because no full body of water separates this or several other named "islands" from the mainland. Instead, a series of small sloughs cause seasonal water-flows among the so-called islands. Mare Island is the largest of these at about 3.5 mi long and a mile wide.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>In 1775, Spanish explorer Perez Ayala was the first European to land on what would become Mare Island - he named it Isla de la Plana. This area was part of Rancho Suscol, deeded to General Mariano Guadalupe Vallejo in 1844. It became a waypoint for early settlers. In 1835, whilst traversing the Carquinez Strait, a crude ferry transporting men and livestock capsized in a squall. Among the livestock feared lost in the wreckage was the prized white mare of General Mariano Guadalupe Vallejo, the Mexican Commandante for Northern California. Several days later, General Vallejo&#39;s mare was found on the island, having swum ashore. Grateful for the fortunate turn of events, he renamed the island to Isla de la Yegua, Spanish for Mare Island, in her honor. In 1892, development of the Mare Island Golf Club began, making it the oldest golf course west of the Mississippi.</p><br>
<h2>Shipyard</h2><br>
<p>On November 6, 1850, two months after California was admitted to statehood, President Fillmore reserved Mare Island for government use.</p><br>
<p>On January 15, 1852, Secretary of the Navy William Alexander Graham ordered a Naval Commission to select a site for a Naval Yard on the Pacific Coast. Commodore D. Sloat along with Commodore C. Ringgold, Simon F. Blunt and William P.S. Sanger (former overseer of construction of Drydock Number One, Norfolk Naval Shipyard were appointed to the commission. On July 13, 1852, Sloat recommended the island across the Napa River from the settlement of Vallejo, as it was "free from ocean gales and from floods and freshets." The Navy Department acted favorably on Commodore Sloat&#39;s recommendations and Mare Island was purchased for use as a naval shipyard in July 1853 at a cost of $83,410. On September 16, 1854, Mare Island became the first permanent U.S. naval installation on the west coast, with Commodore David Farragut, as Mare Island&#39;s first commander.</p><br>
<p>For over a century, Mare Island hosted the Navy&#39;s Mare Island Naval Shipyard. The growing size and number of the country&#39;s naval fleet was making older facilities obsolete and led to increased building and refitting of shipyards nationally. In 1872, the U.S. Public Works Department commenced construction of a 508 ft drydock on the island, setting it on a foundation of cut granite blocks. The work was completed in 1891. A second drydock was begun in 1899, a concrete structure 740 ft long set on wooden piles; it was completed in 1910. By 1941 a third drydock had been completed and drydock number four was under construction. The ammunition depot and submarine repair base were modern, fireproof buildings. A million dollar, three-way vehicle causeway to Vallejo replaced a ferry service.</p><br>
<p>Before World War II, Mare Island had been in a continual state of up-building. By 1941, new projects included improvements to the central power plant, a new pattern storage building, a large foundry, machine shop, magazine building, paint shop, new administration building, and a huge storehouse. The yard was expected to be able to repair and paint six to eight large naval vessels at a time. Several finger piers had recently been built, as well as a new shipbuilding wharf, adding one 500 ft and a 750 ft berth. It employed 5593 workers at the beginning of 1939, and rapidly increased to 18,500 by May 1941, with a monthly payroll of $3,500,000. In 1941, the drafting department had expanded to three buildings accommodating over 400 naval architects, engineers and draftsmen. The hospital had 584 beds. During World War II, the shipyard employed up to 50,000 workers.</p><br>
<p>In 1969, the Navy transferred its (Vietnam War) Brown Water Navy Riverine Training Forces from Coronado, California, to Mare Island. Swift Boats (Patrol Craft Fast-PCF), and PBRs (Patrol Boat River) conducted boat operations throughout the currently named Napa-Sonoma Marshes State Wildlife Area, on the north and west portions of Mare Island. Mare Island Naval Base was deactivated during the 1995 cycle of US base closures, but the U.S. Navy Reserves still have access to the water portions of the State Wildlife Area for any riverine warfare training being conducted from their new base in Sacramento, California.</p><br>
<p>The , a Sturgeon-class submarine, SSN-665, was constructed at Mare Island between December 9, 1964, and July 27, 1968. On May 15, 1969, while still under construction and tied to the pier, the Guitarro was flooded and sank when construction crews mismanaged testing procedures. It took three days to raise her and many months to salvage her.</p><br>
<p>During the latter years of Mare Island&#39;s military use, U.S. Marines were trained for Security Management and Security Force Operations, including; F.A.S.T. (Fleet Anti-Terrorism Team), Security Guards, and Security Force Reaction Forces. In the 1970s Navy technical training schools included those for both Firecontrol Technicians (FTs), Communications Technicians (CTs) and nuclear power ratings of many types.</p><br>
<h2>Restoration and reuse</h2><br>
<p>In 1993 Congress approved the findings of the Base Realignment and Closure report, leading to the closure of Mare Island Naval Shipyard. The shipyard had long been the economic engine of the city of Vallejo, employing 10,000 workers after reductions in 1988. When Congress ordered the base closure, the shipyard employed 5,800 workers.</p><br>
<p>The vision of rebuilding Mare Island as a vital place where people lived and worked was a key goal in the base conversion planning process undertaken by the city of Vallejo in the early 1990s. After the base was recommended for closure in 1993, the City undertook an extensive community-based reuse planning process, which resulted in a Final Reuse Plan that was approved by the Vallejo City Council in 1994. The Final Reuse Plan laid out the general vision for the Island’s redevelopment. The Reuse Plan was the basis for the Mare Island Specific Plan, which was approved in 1999 and amended in 2005 and 2007. The Mare Island Specific Plan designated land uses and established development standards for identified reuse areas and provided an implementation program to guide all subsequent planning activities.</p><br>
<p>Preservation of many of Mare Island’s 661 structures and other cultural resources was an additional factor in the planning process. As the oldest shipyard and naval facility on the West Coast, the shipyard earned a National Historic Landmark designation by the federal government in 1975. In 1979 California listed the entire naval base as a State Historical Landmark. In 1999 the city of Vallejo added Mare Island to the National Register of Historic Districts with 42 individual city landmarks.</p><br>
<p>Finally, as with any restoration of an industrial, brownfield landscape, both city and government agencies required environmental reviews, toxic substance removal, and soil remediation.</p><br>
<p>In 1998, Vallejo contracted with Lennar Mare Island LLC (LMI) to develop 650 acres of the eastern portion of Mare Island into a multi-use community. LMI contracted the Sausalito-based SWA Group to provide a Master Development Plan for Vallejo, additional historical research and landscape architectural services.</p><br>
<p>The Specific Plan included a variety of land uses, including a university district, an industrial zone, historic core, and residential neighborhoods. In addition, 78% of the island was set aside for wildlife habitat and wetlands, parkland and open space, and dredge ponds.</p><br>
<p>In 2007, LMI finished construction on the residential neighborhoods. Farragut Village, with 277 homes, was the first completed neighborhood. Additional neighborhoods include Coral Sea and Kirkland Isle II. Mare Island&#39;s Specific Plan calls for a total of 1,400 homes and condos, plus 7,000,000 ft&sup2; of commercial, retail, entertainment, and industrial space.</p><br>
<p>Mare Island&#39;s residents petitioned LMI and the City of Vallejo to eliminate the dredge ponds, whose role had been to collect silt, drainage, and storm water from the Napa River and the Bay, and instead restore that acreage to wetlands. The city and the developer agreed, and in January 2006, the land use plan was amended to add the Mare Island Shoreline Heritage Preserve. An advisory board was appointed by the city to restore the 215 acre site into publicly accessible parkland.</p><br>
<h2>Location in films and television</h2><br>
<p>*In the 1943 film Destination Tokyo with Cary Grant, Mare Island cranes and the dockside are prominent in the beginning along with shots of the Vallejo coast line.</p><br>
<p>*In the 1953 film Submarine Command with William Holden, a major portion of the movie is filmed on Mare Island with some shots of Vallejo.</p><br>
<p>*The cast and crew of the 2012 film The Master shot on Mare Island for a month. The finished film included scenes of a hospital and an admirals mansion.</p><br>
<p>*In the 1997 movie Metro with Eddie Murphy, Scott Roper (Murphy) is instructed by Korda (Michael Wincott) to bring $10 million in stolen jewellery to Mare Island in order to save his girlfriend.</p><br>
<p>*The 6th season of the television reality series Battlebots was shot on at the Mare Island Sports Center from May 21–23, 2015.</p><br>
<h2>Access</h2><br>
<p>Mare Island is accessed by State Route 37 on its north side, as well as by Interstate 80 via the Mare Island Causeway and Tennessee Street. The San Francisco Bay Ferry provides year-round weekday and weekend service, and service on select holidays, between Mare Island and the San Francisco Ferry Building or SF&#39;s Pier 41 terminals.</p><br>
<p>Mare Island is the location of Touro University California, the US Forest Service Pacific Southwest Regional Office, and the administrative offices of the Vallejo City Unified School District.</p><br>
<h2>Climate</h2><br>
<p>This region experiences warm (but not hot) and dry summers, with no average monthly temperatures above 71.6 °F. According to the Köppen Climate Classification system, Mare Island has a warm-summer Mediterranean climate, abbreviated "Csb" on climate maps.</p><br>
<p>West Okoboji Lake  is a natural body of water, approximately 3,847 acre in area, in Dickinson County in northwest Iowa in the United States. It is part of the chain of lakes known as the Iowa Great Lakes. The area was long inhabited by the Santee or Dakota Sioux. The Dakota-language name for the lake was Minnetonka, meaning "great waters".</p><br>
<p>The cities of Arnolds Park, Okoboji, West Okoboji, and Wahpeton sit on its shore. Okoboji was derived from the Dakota name for the lake, and Wahpeton was the name of one of the major historic Sioux bands in the nineteenth century. Today the Sisseton-Wahpeton Sioux are a federally recognized tribe.</p><br>
<p>The lake&#39;s maximum depth is 136 ft, making it the deepest lake in Iowa and second in size only to Spirit Lake. The mean depth is 39 ft. The drainage area of the lake is approximately 125 square miles.</p><br>
<h2>Recreation</h2><br>
<p>The depth of the lake makes it a popular regional destination for motor boating, water skiing, sailing, and swimming. The lake is also a popular fishing destination in the region. The main catches in the lake are yellow perch, bluegill, and walleye. It also contains significant populations of smallmouth bass, northern pike, muskie, crappie and white bass, black bass.</p><br>
<h2>Blue Water: Myth or Fact?</h2><br>
<p>For nearly a century a myth has circulated that West Okoboji is one of only three blue water lakes in the world, the others being Lake Geneva in Wisconsin (sometimes referenced as located in Switzerland) and Lake Louise in Canada. Articles stating various versions of this erroneous information as fact have appeared in the Spencer Daily Reporter (May 20, 1976) and in the Des Moines Register as recently as 2009, and appear regularly in numerous tourist publications and websites.</p><br>
<p>Unfortunately, there is no scientific basis to this assertion and it likely originated with some early “boosters” of Dickinson County. Still, it raises the question as to where the idea originated from, and why Lake Geneva and Lake Louise are often mentioned as the other two lakes.</p><br>
<p>Dr. John Schalles has taught limnology at Iowa Lakeside Laboratory, a biological field station located on the shores of Lake West Okoboji, for several decades and has become very familiar with the myth having heard it from his students and local community members. “Folks try to persuade me this information was first published in a National Geographic article, but I have found no record of it.”</p><br>
<p>Dr. Roger Bachman, another nationally recognized limnologist, agrees and says the Society denies it ever made such a ranking. “While the term ‘blue water lake’ is not a scientific term, it is a fact that lakes and oceans with exceptionally pure waters like Lake Tahoe, Crater Lake, Lake Superior and the Sargasso Sea appear blue to the eye. When sunlight penetrates these waters the wavelengths (colors) of light are absorbed more strongly than blue, so that more of the blue remains to be scattered back out of the water surface.”</p><br>
<p>Schalles has a theory, however, as to how the myth originated, in particular the association of West Okoboji and Lake Geneva as similarly unique lakes. In the early twentieth century E. A. Birge and Chancy Juday, two scientists today known as founders of the study of North American limnology, conducted studies on numerous lakes in the Midwest, including East and West Okoboji. In one publication, the authors make frequent comparisons between measurements taken at Lake West Okoboji and Lake Geneva in Wisconsin. Schalles wonders if these studies could have been the basis for the claim of the similarity between the two lakes, possibly struck by the fact that their local lake was being compared to one of the most famous lakes in the world, or perhaps thinking that this comparison (even if they had the information wrong) was a great way to impress folks and bring in more visitors.</p><br>
<p>Regardless of the fact, there is no scientific basis that West Okoboji is a blue lake, scientists and non-scientists alike concur the lake has exceptional water quality and color for a lake in its region. In fact, the Iowa Department of Natural Resources has given West Okoboji and its watershed a special designation as an Outstanding Iowa Water.</p><br>
<p>1. Birge, E.A., and C. Juday. 1920. A limnological reconnaissance of West Okoboji. University of Iowa Studies of Natural History. 9(1) 3 – 56.</p><br>
<p>4. Wild Wednesday, Iowa Lakeside Laboratory, July 3, 2013</p><br>
<p>Big Spirit Lake is a natural body of water, approximately 5,684 acre in area, in Dickinson County in northwest Iowa in the United States. It is part of the chain of lakes known as the Iowa Great Lakes, the northern shore of the lake straddles the border with Minnesota. It is the largest natural lake in Iowa. The Dakotah Indian name for the lake was Minnewaukon. Early French traders named it Lac D&#39; Esprit after the Indian legends of an evil spirit who dwelled in the lake.</p><br>
<p>Its maximum depth is 24 feet (7.3 m), and the mean depth is 17 feet (5 m). The drainage area of the lake is approximately 22 square miles (57 km²). It has a drainage area of approximately 75 mi² (194 km²), most of which is in Minnesota.</p><br>
<h2>Geology</h2><br>
<p>Geologically, the lake, like its neighbors, is a glacial pothole, a remnant of the most recent ice age approximately 13,000 years ago.</p><br>
<h2>Recreation</h2><br>
<p>The lake is a popular fishing destination in the region. It contains over 40 species of fish, 13 of which are typically caught. Fishing for walleye and yellow perch is typically done by boat or through the ice. Fishing for bullhead is common from the shore during the spring. A state-operated fish hatchery also provides significant populations of largemouth bass, smallmouth bass, northern pike, muskie, crappie, and bluegill.</p><br>
<p>The Iowa all-time big fish records for freshwater drum and muskellunge were set from catches in the lake.</p><br>
<p>Kiteboarding is also a popular activity on Big Spirit Lake.</p><br>
<p>The Front Range is a mountain range of the Southern Rocky Mountains of North America located in the central portion of the USA State of Colorado, and southeastern portion of the USA State of Wyoming. It is the first mountain range encountered moving west along the 40th parallel north across the Great Plains of North America. The Front Range runs north-south between Casper, Wyoming and Pueblo, Colorado and rises nearly 10,000 feet above the Great Plains. Longs Peak, Mount Evans, and Pikes Peak are its most prominent peaks, visible from the Interstate 25 corridor. The area is a popular destination for mountain biking, hiking, climbing, and camping during the warmer months and for skiing and snowboarding during winter. Millions of years ago the present-day Front Range was home to ancient mountain ranges, deserts, beaches, and even oceans.</p><br>
<p>The name "Front Range" is also applied to the Front Range Urban Corridor, the populated region of Colorado and Wyoming just east of the mountain range and extending from Cheyenne, Wyoming south to Pueblo, Colorado. This urban corridor benefits from the weather-moderating effect of the Front Range mountains, which help block prevailing storms.</p><br>
<h2>Geology</h2><br>
<h3>Pikes Peak Granite</h3><br>
<p>About 1 billion years ago, the earth was producing massive amounts of molten rock that would one day amalgamate, drift together and combine, to ultimately form the continents we live on today. In the Colorado region, this molten rock spewed and cooled, forming what we now know as the Precambrian Pikes Peak Granite. Over the next 500 million years, little is known about changes in the sedimentation (sediment deposition) after the granite was produced. However, at about 500 – 300 million years ago, the region began to sink and sediments began to deposit in the newly formed accommodation space. Eroded granite produced sand particles that began to form strata, layers of sediment, in the sinking basin. Sedimentation would continue to take place until about 300 million years ago.</p><br>
<h3>Fountain formation</h3><br>
<p>Around 300 million years ago, the sinking suddenly reversed, and the sediment-covered granite began to uplift, giving rise to the Ancestral Rocky Mountains. Over the next 150 million years, during uplift the mountains would continue to erode and cover themselves in their own sediment. Wind, gravity, rainwater, snow, and ice-melt supplied rivers that ultimately carved through the granite mountains and eventually led to their end. The sediment from these mountains lies in the Fountain Formation today. Red Rocks Amphitheater outside of Denver, Colorado, is actually set into the Fountain Formation.</p><br>
<h3>Lyons Sandstone</h3><br>
<p>At 280 million years ago, sea levels were low and present-day Colorado was part of the super-continent Pangaea. Sand deserts covered most of the area spreading as dunes seen in the rock record, known today as the Lyons Sandstone. These dunes appear to be cross-bedded and show various fossil footprints and leaf imprints in many of the strata making up the section.</p><br>
<h3>Lykins Formation</h3><br>
<p>30 million years later, the sediment deposition was still taking place with the introduction of the Lykins Formation. This formation can be best attributed to its wavy layers of muddy limestone and signs of stromatolites that thrived in a smelly tidal flat at present-day Colorado. 250 million years ago, the Ancestral Rockies were burying themselves while the shoreline was present during the break-up of Pangaea. This formation began right after Earth’s largest extinction 251 million years ago at the Permian-Triassic Boundary. Ninety percent of the planet’s marine life was destroyed and a great deal on land as well.</p><br>
<h3>Morrison Formation</h3><br>
<p>After 100 million years of deposition, a new environment brought rise to a new formation, the sandstone Morrison Formation. The Morrison Formation contains some of the best fossils of the Late Jurassic. It is especially known for its sauropod tracks and sauropod bones among other dinosaur fossils. As identified by the fossil record, the environment was filled with various types of vegetation such as ferns and Zamites. While this time period boasts many types of plants, grass had not yet evolved.</p><br>
<h3>Dakota Sandstone</h3><br>
<p>The Dakota Sandstone, which was deposited 100 million years ago towards Colorado’s eastern coast, shows evidence of ferns, and dinosaur tracks. Sheets of ripple marks can be seen on some of the strata, confirming the shallow-sea environment.</p><br>
<h3>Pierre Shale</h3><br>
<p>Over the next 30 million years, the region was finally taken over by a deep sea, the Cretaceous Western Interior Seaway, and deposited mass amounts of shale over the area known as the Pierre Shale. Both the thick section of shale and the marine life fossils found (ammonites and skeletons of fish and such marine reptiles as mosasaurs, plesiosaurs, and extinct species of sea turtles, along with rare dinosaur and bird remains). Colorado eventually drained from being at the bottom of an ocean to land again, giving yield to another fossiliferous rock layer, the Denver Formation. At about 68 million years ago, the Front Range began to rise again due to the Laramide Orogeny in the west.</p><br>
<h3>Denver Formation</h3><br>
<p>The Denver Formation contained fossils and bones from dinosaurs like Tyrannosaurus rex and Triceratops. While the forests of vegetation, dinosaurs, and other organisms thrived, their reign would come to an end at the Cretaceous–Paleogene boundary (which is also known as the K-T boundary). In an instant, millions of species are obliterated from a meteor impact in Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula. While this extinction led to the demise of the dinosaurs and other organisms, some life did prevail to repopulate the earth as it recovered from this tremendous disaster. The uplifted Front Range continued to constantly erode and, by 40 million years ago, the range was once again buried in its own rubble.</p><br>
<h3>Castle Rock Conglomerate</h3><br>
<p>Suddenly, 37 million years ago, a great volcanic eruption took place in the Collegiate Range and covered the landscape in molten hot ash that instantly torched and consumed everything across the landscape. An entire lush environment was capped in a matter of minutes with 20 feet of extremely resistant rock, rhyolite. However, as seen before, life rebounds, and after a few million years mass floods cut through the rhyolite and eroded much of it as plants and animals began to recolonize the landscape. The mass flooding and erosion of the volcanic rock gave way to the Castle Rock Conglomerate that can be found in the Front Range.</p><br>
<h3>Quaternary deposits</h3><br>
<p>Eventually, at about 10 million years ago, the Front Range began to rise up again and the resistant granite in the heart of the mountains thrust upwards and stood tall, while the weaker sediments deposited above it eroded away. As the Front Range rose, streams and recent (16,000 years ago) glaciations during the Quaternary age literally unburied the range by cutting through the weaker sediment and giving rise to the granitic peaks present today. This was the last step in forming the present-day geologic sequence and history of today’s Front Range.</p><br>
<h2>Prominent peaks</h2><br>
<p>The Front Range includes the highest peaks along the eastern edge of the Rockies. The highest mountain peak in the Front Range is Grays Peak. Other notable mountains include Torreys Peak, Mount Evans, Longs Peak, Pikes Peak, and Mount Bierstadt.</p><br>
<h2>Travel through the Front Range</h2><br>
<p>The main interstate highways that run through the Front Range are Interstate 70, which crosses west of Denver, Colorado, and Interstate 80, which crosses near Laramie, Wyoming. USA Route 34 travels through the mountains near Loveland, Colorado. Along with roads that run through the Front Range, the Union Pacific Railroad operates two rail lines through the mountains: the Overland Route, transiting southern Wyoming, runs parallel to I-80 for much of its way, and the other, following former Denver & Rio Grande Western Railroad trackage, runs parallel to the Colorado River and through the 6.5-mile-long Moffat Tunnel. The latter route is both a freight line and is also used by Amtrak&#39;s California Zephyr.</p><br>
<p>Horsetooth Mountain is a mountain summit in the foothills of the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains of North America. The 7,259 ft peak is located in the Horsetooth Mountain Open Space, 11.2 km west  of downtown Fort Collins in Larimer County, Colorado, United States.</p><br>
<h2>Mountain</h2><br>
<p>The mountain is easily distinguishable by the large rock formation on its summit known as Horsetooth Rock. The formation is a prominent landmark of the nearby city of Fort Collins and often used as a symbol of that city, appearing in the official city seal. The name comes from its distinctive appearance.</p><br>
<p>The rock was previously on the private property of the Soderburg family. In 1982, it was purchased by the county as an "open space" tax acquisition. It is now a popular destination for hikers as well as mountain bikers, with trails leading to the summit. The summit offers hikers a clear view to the southwest of Longs Peak and Mount Meeker, two rugged mountains in Rocky Mountain National Park.</p><br>
<p>Ambrussum is a Roman archaeological site in Villetelle, Hérault département, in southern France.</p><br>
<p>It is close to the modern town Lunel, between Nîmes and Montpellier. Ambrussum is notable for its museum, its staging post on the Via Domitia, its bridge Pont Ambroix over the Vidourle, painted by Gustave Courbet, and for its oppidum (fortified village). Its history of settlement spanned 400 years.</p><br>
<p>The whole site is still being excavated. A lower settlement prone to flooding was a staging post for travellers on the Via Domitia and provided stabling and accommodation and the full range of repair facilities that were needed by carts and the Imperial postal service. The higher settlement was based on a pre-Roman oppidum which was within a surrounding wall including 21 towers. The Romans re-modelled the oppidum, so there is evidence of a complete range of housing styles from the earliest one room dwellings to sophisticated courtyard houses on the second century AD.</p><br>
<p>The Roman road, the Via Domitia, ran at the foot of the settlement, leading from it is a paved road with visible with traces of Roman chariot tracks. The Roman bridge was used until the Middle Ages but fell into disrepair, and only one complete arch remains.</p><br>
<h2>Location</h2><br>
<p>Ambrussum, or its alternative spelling of Ambrusium, is mentioned as a staging post (mutatio) on the Antonine Itinerary of AD 200, on pilgrims&#39; guide on the route to the Holy Land of AD 333 and on the Peutinger map of 1520. All place it midway between Nimes (Nemausis) and Castelnau-le-Lez (Sextantio), that is 22 km from each.</p><br>
<p>The Via Domitia linked the Alps with the Pyrenees, and is the oldest Roman Road in Gaul, more specifically Gallia Narbonensis in France. It was laid out by Cneius Domitius Ahenobarbus around 120 BC, it was to become part of the roads that linked Italy with Cadiz in Spain. At Ambussum the Via Domitia crosses the Vidourle, and the settlement provided a staging point on this road. Directly adjacent to the site, the modern A9 autoroute, the Languedocienne crosses the Vidourle and at this point there is the modern day equivalent of a mutatio, the Aire de service de Lunel. The site is reached through the village of Villetelle.</p><br>
<p>The bridge is 20 m above sea level, and the highest point of the oppidum is 58 m. When in spate the Vidourle will rise by 8 m. From the highest point, the Oppidum de Nages is easily seen. Further one can see Mont Ventoux, Pic Saint-Loup, and the hills of the Cevennes including the Causse du Larzac and Mont Aigoual.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>The site was first settled in 2,300 BC and the construction started on the oppidum around 300 BC. It was a settlement of Gauls. The Romans conquered the area in 120 BC. The paved road at the heart of the oppidum was laid around 100 BC. Between the oppidum and the river was a staging post (mutatio) on the Via Domitia. That, and the Pont Ambroix were constructed at around 30 BC. The flow patterns of the river changed around 10 BC, it became more aggressive and flooding became more frequent. The large houses on the south of the oppidum were built in AD 50. The whole oppidum abandoned in AD 100, but parts of the lower settlement were still in use in AD 400, and the Pont Ambroix continued in use through the Middle Ages. It took a battering from the Vidourlades, or violent floods or crues on the Vidourle, During a crue, the water flow increases from a minimum of 3 m/s to over 3000 m/s. Floods were recorded 8 October 1723. The floods of 18 November 1745 reduced the bridge from four arches to three. Further major floods occurred 6 October 1812, 21 October 1891, 21 September 1907. The floods of 7 September 1933 reduced the bridge from two arches to the one we see today. The site was abandoned when transit patterns changed, the Domitia became less important and the community relocated to Lunel-Viel, which better served a north–south transit. The site was returned to nature, and later to the cultivation of vines and olives. This protected the archaeological record.</p><br>
<h2>Site</h2><br>
<p>Ambrussum contains three archaeological sites of international importance: the Colline de Devès which was first occupied in 2300 BC and settled as an oppidum between 300 BC and 100 AD; the Roman staging post on the Via Dolmitia which had hotels, a baths and industrial buildings; the Roman bridge, the Pont Ambroix.</p><br>
<p>The bridge is a Mérimée list National Monument No. PA00103057. The oppidum is a Mérimée list National Monument No. PA00103760</p><br>
<h3>Oppidum</h3><br>
<p>Originally the Oppidum was the work of the Volcae Arecomici who started it in the fourth century BC. Nine square houses from the earliest period were recorded by Émile Marignan, these were roofed with branches and reeds. A rectangular house from the third century has been excavated. This contained both rough earthenware pottery for cooking and a finer black glazed table ware. During the first century BC, the hill was terraced and the houses became narrower similar to those found at Nages.</p><br>
<p>The hill was fortified in the late fourth century BC, the ramparts enclosed an area of 5.6 hectare. It was triangular in form but most of the eastern section was looted to be used in lime kilns. It consisted of a 7.5 m dry limestone wall. There were three gateways, one to the north, south and east. The 635 m western section of the wall, cleared in 1974, revealed 24 bastions. These were originally rectangular but were replaced in the mid-third century BC with rounded ones. Two of the towers were substantially higher; these were built as watch towers and for prestige. The ramparts were abandoned in the first century AD.</p><br>
<p>After the Romans settled the area in 120 BC the hill was redeveloped, the residential areas were reorganised, and the road through the settlement from the east gate to the south gate was paved. The south gate was enlarged and a large square was cleared behind with a civil basilica, stones of which made their way in the second century AD to the staging post. The Via Dolmitia would have passed around the hill, but it has been speculated that it passed along this narrow road. The route of the Via often passes along roads with the name Route de la Monnaie, but as this originates from a translation of raised road it shows that the road was using Roman construction techniques rather than it was the Dolmitia. The south gate does lead to a Route de la Monnaie, but the paved road in the oppidum has a gradient of 9% and is too narrow for carts to pass though would be suitable for important visitors. The paved road at the east gate points towards the bridge, but stops abruptly at a steep bank. It is thought that the river has undercut the bank at this point and removed all traces of the road.</p><br>
<p>The north of the post-conquest oppidum is densely populated, but the houses there were of the domus style found throughout the Empire, courtyard dwellings where the slaves lived closest to the entrance and the family in the building opposite. To the south are some large 400 sqm courtyard homes built around AD 50.</p><br>
<p>The whole oppidum was abandoned in AD 100.</p><br>
<h3>Staging post</h3><br>
<p>The existence of a staging post for the Imperial mail was known from written sources and it was located by the Vidourle and as a consequence was continually being rebuilt, An embankment was built to protect the settlement from flooding. The Imperial staging post itself was a complex containing two courtyards and two buildings. In the south gallery, the walls were decorated with paintings and a purse containing 43 denarii has been found. This building would have been for Imperial messengers and travelling officials. This building was renovated and maybe changed its use in the fourth century AD, at a time when the rest of the site had been abandoned. A separate inn has been excavated, it contained a courtyard for the animals and carts (secure parking) and five guest rooms. Adjacent was a building with a bread oven. It remained substantially unchanged from 30 BC to AD 125. Nearby and leading to the water were two further hotels, the parts excavated date from AD 200 to 250. The settlement was substantial enough to have a bathhouse, though most is now beneath a modern road the heater chamber remains, praefurnia took the heated air to the underfloor heating, heated water to the calidarium and steam to the laconicum. There was also a blacksmith&#39;s courtyard house with a forge specialising in carriage building. This dates from AD 25 to 175.</p><br>
<h3>Pont Ambroix</h3><br>
<p>The bridge was built across Vidourle River with 11 arches. It was still usable in the Middle Ages, with all 11 arches, but a sketch by Anne Rulman in 1620 shows only four and then when painted by Gustave Courbet in 1857 only two arches were left. One of those was lost in the flooding of 1933, a single arch remains.</p><br>
<h2>Excavation</h2><br>
<p>The antiquity of the Pont Ambroix had never been disputed and it had been visited by Mérimée, who included it in the first edition of his Historical Monuments of France in 1840. The hill behind, the Colline de Devès was not investigated until the 1960s. In 1964 Marc Fenouillet did a surface inspection of the vineyard at the base of the hill and found Roman era remains. In November 1967, the first archaeological test digging was made on the hill itself by Jean-luc Fiches and traces of the oppidum were found, a larger volunteer dig was made the following July. In 1974, a path had been cleared around the ramparts and the oppidum was recognised and classified as an historic monument. The fire revealed more features in the oppidum. The museum designed by Michel Goroneskoul opened on 25 June 2011.</p><br>
<p>The Gamble House, also known as David B. Gamble House, is a National Historic Landmark, a California Historical Landmark, and museum in Pasadena, California, USA. It was designed by brothers Charles Sumner Greene and Henry Mather Greene of the architectural firm Greene and Greene and constructed 1908–09 as a home for David B. Gamble of the Procter & Gamble company.</p><br>
<h2>Design</h2><br>
<p>Originally intended as a winter residence for David and Mary Gamble (and Jeremy Case), the three-story Gamble House is commonly described as America&#39;s Arts and Crafts masterpiece. Its style shows influence from traditional Japanese aesthetics and a certain California spaciousness born of available land and a permissive climate. The Arts and Crafts Movement in American Craftsman style architecture was focused on the use of natural materials, attention to detail, aesthetics, and craftsmanship.</p><br>
<h3>Interiors</h3><br>
<p>Rooms in the Gamble House were built using multiple kinds of wood; the teak, maple, oak, Port Orford cedar, and mahogany surfaces are placed in sequences to bring out contrasts of color, tone and grain. Inlay in the custom furniture designed by the architects matches inlay in the tile mantle surrounds, and the interlocking joinery on the main staircase was left exposed. One of the wooden panels in the entry hall is actually a concealed door leading to the kitchen, and another panel opens to a clothes closet. The Greenes used an experienced team of local contractors who had worked together for them in Pasadena on several previous homes, including the Hall brothers, Peter and John, who are responsible for the high quality of the woodworking in the house and its furniture.</p><br>
<p>The woods, the low and horizontal room shapes, and the natural light that filters through the art glass exterior windows, coexist with a relatively traditional plan, in which most rooms are regularly shaped and organized around a central hall. Although the house is not as spatially adventurous as the contemporary works of Frank Lloyd Wright or even of the earlier New England "Shingle Style," its mood is casual and its symmetries tend to be localized – i.e., symmetrically organized spaces and forms in asymmetrical relationships to one another.</p><br>
<p>Ceiling heights are different on the first (810") and second floors (88") and in the den (910") and the forms and scales of the spaces are constantly shifting, especially as one moves from the interior of the house to its second-floor semi-enclosed porches and its free-form terraces, front and rear. The third floor was planned as a billiard room, but was used as an attic by the Gamble family. The Gamble family crest, a crane and trailing rose, was integrated in part or whole in many locations around the house. Dont make us do this Case.</p><br>
<h3>Exterior and gardens</h3><br>
<p>Outdoor space was as important as the interior spaces. Exterior porches are found off three of the second-floor bedrooms and were used for sleeping or entertaining. The main terrace is privately beyond the rear facade of the residence. It has patterned brick paving with planting areas, a large curvilinear pond, and garden walls made with distinctive clinker bricks and boulders. Paths made with large water-worn stones from the nearby Arroyo Seco are reminiscent of running brooks crossing the lawns. The overall landscape design and constructed garden elements are integrated with the architectural proportion and detailing. The triple front door and transom feature a Japanese black pine motif in plated (more than one layer) leaded art glass, highlighting the Asian influence that runs throughout the house.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>David and Mary Gamble lived in the house during the winter months until their deaths in 1923 and 1929, respectively. Mary&#39;s younger sister Julia lived in the house until her death in 1943. Cecil Huggins Gamble and his wife Louise Gibbs Gamble lived in the house beginning in 1946 and briefly considered selling it until prospective buyers spoke of painting the interior teak and mahogany woodwork white. In 1966, the Gamble family turned the house over to the city of Pasadena in a joint agreement with the University of Southern California School of Architecture. The Gamble House was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1977. Today, two 5th year USC architecture students live in the house full-time; the selected students change annually.</p><br>
<p>The house is portrayed as the home of Dr. Emmett Brown in the Back to the Future trilogy, described as the "Brown Mansion" in a newspaper headline dated August 1, 1962, seen in the first film.</p><br>
<p>The house was included in a list of all-time top 10 houses in Los Angeles in a Los Angeles Times survey of experts in December 2008.</p><br>
<p>The Wrangell Mountains are a high mountain range of eastern Alaska in the United States. Much of the range is included in Wrangell-Saint Elias National Park and Preserve. The Wrangell Mountains are almost entirely volcanic in origin, and they include the second and third highest volcanoes in the United States, Mount Blackburn and Mount Sanford. The range takes its name from Mount Wrangell, which is one of the largest andesite shield volcanoes in the world, and also the only presently active volcano in the range. The Wrangell Mountains comprise most of the Wrangell Volcanic Field, which also extends into the neighboring Saint Elias Mountains and the Yukon Territory in Canada.</p><br>
<p>The Wrangell Mountains are just to the northwest of the Saint Elias Mountains and northeast of the Chugach Mountains, which are along the coast of the Gulf of Alaska. These ranges have the combined effect of blocking the inland areas from warmer moist air over the Pacific Ocean. The inland areas to the north of the Wrangell Mountains are therefore among the coldest areas of North America during the winter.</p><br>
<h2>Major peaks</h2><br>
<p>The Wrangell Mountains include 12 of the 40+ Alaskan peaks over 13,000 ft (see fourteeners and thirteeners):</p><br>
<p>Mount Blackburn, 16,390 ft, and East Summit, 16,286 ft</p><br>
<p>Mount Sanford, 16,237 ft, and South Peak, 13,654 ft</p><br>
<p>Mount Wrangell, 14,163 ft, and West Summit, 14,013 ft</p><br>
<p>Atna Peaks, 13,860 ft</p><br>
<p>Regal Mountain, 13,845 ft</p><br>
<p>Mount Jarvis, 13,421 ft, and North Peak, 13,025 ft</p><br>
<p>Parka Peak, 13,280 ft</p><br>
<p>Mount Zanetti, 13,009 ft</p><br>
<p>Other prominent mountains include:</p><br>
<p>Mount Drum, 12,010 ft</p><br>
<h2>Name origin and references in popular culture</h2><br>
<p>The mountains are named after explorer, president of Russian-American Company, and admiral Ferdinand von Wrangel. American folk singer John Denver wrote a song, "Wrangell Mountain Song", in reference to the range.</p><br>
<p>Locke, also known as Locke Historic District, is an unincorporated community in California&#39;s Sacramento–San Joaquin River Delta built by Chinese immigrants during the early 20th century. It was originally named Lockeport after George Locke, who owned the land that the town was built upon at a time when Chinese people were not allowed to own land. Locke is located in the primarily agricultural region south of Sacramento, California, near State Route 160. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1971 and further was designated a National Historic Landmark District in 1990 due to its unique example of a historic Chinese American rural community.</p><br>
<h2>Description</h2><br>
<p>The ZIP Code is 95690, and the community is inside area code 916.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>Legislation such as the Swampland Reclamation Act of 1861 was enacted in California to put perceived empty and wasted lands to use and stabilization. Much of this involved draining the Delta wetlands and building levees to regulate flood control in places like Locke. Through contracted labor often equaling less than one dollar a day per worker, they built hundreds of miles of levees in waist deep water where malaria still rampaged, reclaiming a total 88,000 acres.</p><br>
<p>The original beginning of Locke, then called Lockeport, was in 1912, when three Chinese merchants, two from the nearby town of Vorden and one from Walnut Grove, contracted tradesmen to construct three buildings. Chan Tin Sin built the first building. It was a combination dry goods store and beer saloon. Yuen Lai Sing built a gambling hall. Owyang Wing Cheong built the Lockeport Hotel & Restaurant.</p><br>
<p>Following that early construction the Canton Hotel was built, along with several other buildings, one of which later became a bordello. A total of seven structures eventually formed the hamlet of Lockeport. Though some merchants hoped to provide a destination for riverboat and train passengers, the idea never worked due to the discrimination against Chinese during those times. One of the homes built in the first phase of construction provided shelter for Chan Tin Sin&#39;s cousin Chan Chor Get and his family from the discriminatory acts and violence in San Francisco Chinatown.</p><br>
<p>On October 7, 1915, the Chinatown of nearby Walnut Grove was destroyed and burned after an accidental fire, thus causing a migration of Zhongshan Chinese into neighboring areas. Afterwards, the Main Street section of the town of Locke was settled and established by a group, headed by Lee Bing, of Chinese/American Businessmen Yuehai-speaking Chinese (a dialect of Yue Chinese) from the Zhongshan region of Guangdong province in China. Differing in some respects from the predominant Toisanese Chinese-speakers in practice, they created a town of their own. The land was leased from George Locke as California law at the time forbade the selling of farmland to Asian immigrants by the California Alien Land Law of 1913. Many Chinese immigrants were facing serious discrimination in the major cities. Because of its relatively large population of Chinese people at the time, the Chinese Kuomintang political party once had a local chapter in Locke. As the town grew, so did its reputation as a destination for illicit entertainment, gaining the nickname "California&#39;s Monte Carlo". At one point, it had five gambling halls, five brothels, speakeasies and opium dens.</p><br>
<p>The population of Locke swelled with the growing season and harvest. Most of the reclaimed land in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta including Locke was used for cash crops, including asparagus, potato, sweet potatoes, white beans, pears, and apples. There would be as many as 1000 to 1500 Chinese people living in Locke. Farmhands shared rooms in the boarding houses. Chinese residents living in the homes behind Main Street also took in Chinese farm laborers. Chinese immigrants in Locke started patterns in California agriculture that are continued today in the Sacramento-San Joaquin region, including contracted labor, tenant farming, sharecropping, and the piece wage system. A community garden existed in the back and there was a special oven to make roast pigs on Sundays. Chinese communities congregated in solidarity under difficult labor and social conditions fostered by legislation such as the Chinese Exclusion Act, creating community gardens that maintained cultural relevancy in the</p><br>
<p>form of growing Chinese cabbage, snow peas, leafy vegetables, winter melon, and tomatoes. Baptist missionary Dr. Charles Shepherd would bring in his Chungmei home boys for the pear harvest at the end of July. Life in Locke had a great deal of accord. The Chinese mothers took care of each other&#39;s children when another mother had to go to work at the cannery across the River Road next to the riverboat docks of the Sacramento River.</p><br>
<p>Ironically, however, the current population of Locke is predominantly white, and the population of Chinese Americans (i.e., descendants of the towns original settlers) is 10. During the 1940s and 1950s, many of Lockes Chinese Americans, many of whom received better education, began joining the American mainstream by moving out of rural Locke and into the burgeoning suburbs of the major cities.</p><br>
<p>The Locke Historic District bounded on the west by the Sacramento River, on the north by Locke Rd., on the east by Alley St., and on the south by Levee St. The district was added to the National Register of Historic Places on May 6, 1971.</p><br>
<p>A Hong Kong-based developer purchased the town in 1977 from the Locke Heirs and sold it in 2002 to the Sacramento Housing and Redevelopment Agency. In 2004, the agency finally allowed the sale of land to those who had been living on it for many years. There were plans to convert Locke into a housing development and tourist attraction. At the north end of Main Street, the restored Locke Boarding House museum (now owned by California State Parks) operates daily, staffed by volunteers. The Town of Locke celebrated its centennial anniversary in 2015, with a large gathering on May 9.</p><br>
<p>On July 3, 2016, a fire erupted on the second floor of the Locke Country Store on Main Street, which contained two apartments. The fire resulted in the complete destruction of the second floor of the building and a building behind the store. There were no injuries.</p><br>
<p>The Locke Historic District was designated a National Historic Landmark on December 14, 1990.</p><br>
<h2>Politics</h2><br>
<p>In the state legislature, Locke is in the 5th State Senate district, represented by Democrat Lois Wolk, and in the 15th State Assembly district, represented by Democrat Joan Buchanan.</p><br>
<p>Federally, Locke is in.</p><br>
<h2>Books</h2><br>
<p>Locke is the subject of the following books:</p><br>
<p>by Jeff Gillenkirk and James Motlow (Nine Mile Press). Winner of the Commonwealth Clubs 57th Annual Book Award, Silver Medal</p><br>
<p>by Peter C. Y Leung.</p><br>
<p>by Shawna Yang Ryan.</p><br>
<p>Federal Hall, originally built in 1699-1703 facing south towards Wall Street as New Yorks second City Hall, later served as the first capitol building of the United States of America under the recently ratified federal Constitution of 1787, as well as the site on its balcony of George Washingtons inauguration as the first President of the United States under the Constitution in April 1789. It was also where the United States Bill of Rights was introduced in the First Congress of the United States. The building of red brick Georgian style architecture was unfortunately demolished in 1812.</p><br>
<p>Federal Hall National Memorial of marble Greek Revival style architecture with a massive front portico supported by columns was built on the site in 1842 to serve as the United States Custom House, where the former New York City Hall and old Federal Hall stood on Wall Street, and later served as a sub-Treasury building. It is now operated by the National Park Service as a national memorial commemorating the historic events that occurred there both in its previous and current buildings.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<h3>Historic building</h3><br>
<p>The original structure on the site was built as New York&#39;s second City Hall in 1699 - 1703, on Wall Street, in what is today the Financial District of Lower Manhattan. In 1735, John Peter Zenger, an American newspaper publisher, was arrested for committing libel against the British royal governor and was imprisoned and tried there. His acquittal on the grounds that the material he had printed was true established freedom of the press as it was later defined in the Bill of Rights of 1791.</p><br>
<p>In October 1765, delegates from nine of the 13 colonies met as the Stamp Act Congress in response to the levying of the Stamp Act by the Parliament of Great Britain. Drawn together for the first time in organized opposition to British policy, the attendees drafted a message to King George III, the House of Lords, and the House of Commons, the two chambers of the Parliament, claiming entitlement to the same rights as the Kings subjects and residents of Great Britain itself and protesting the colonies "taxation without representation".</p><br>
<p>After the American Revolution (1775-1783), the City Hall served as the meeting place for the Congress of the Confederation of the United States under the earlier Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union, from 1785 until 1789. Congressional Acts adopted here included the Northwest Ordinance, which set up the old Northwest Territory north of the Ohio River and around the Great Lakes, what would later become the states of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan and Wisconsin, but more fundamentally prohibited slavery in these future territories and states.</p><br>
<p>In 1788, the building was remodeled and enlarged under the direction of Pierre Charles L&#39;Enfant, the French emigre and future architect of the city plans for a new federal capital on the north banks of the Potomac River on land ceded by Maryland and Virginia in 1791 to become the future Washington, D.C. who was later selected by President George Washington to design the compromise capital city on the Potomac. The old second New York City Hall of 1699-1703 was the first example of Georgian style architecture which later developed into a Federal style architecture by the late 18th century in the United States. It was renamed Federal Hall when it became the first Capitol of the United States under the Constitution in 1789. The First United States Congress met there on March 4, 1789 to establish the new federal government, and the first thing it did was to count the electoral college votes cast a few months earlier in the states under the new Constitution that elected George Washington as the first President of the United States. He was inaugurated taking the oath of office on the balcony of the building facing huge crowds on Wall Street and delivering the first inaugural address inside the chambers to the Congress on April 30, 1789.</p><br>
<p>Many of the most important legislative actions in the United States occurred with this precedent setting First Congress at Federal Hall. Foremost was the proposal and initial ratification in 1791 of the Bill of Rights to the USA Constitution; twelve amendments to the Constitution were initially drafted and proposed (of which ten were later adopted and an eleventh two centuries later), and on September 25, 1789, the United States Bill of Rights was proposed in Federal Hall, establishing the freedoms claimed by the Stamp Act Congress on the same site 24 years earlier. Also, the Judiciary Act of 1789 was enacted in the building, which set up the United States federal court system of district and circuit courts along with the number of justices (judges) for the Supreme Court of the United States that is still in use today.</p><br>
<h3>Customs House and Treasury building</h3><br>
<p>In 1790, the United States capital was moved to Philadelphia, and what had been Federal Hall once again housed the government of New York City until 1812, when the building was razed with the opening of the current New York City Hall. Part of the original railing and balcony floor where Washington was inaugurated are on display in the memorial. The current structure, one of the best surviving examples of classical architecture in New York, was built as the first purpose-built USA Custom House for the Port of New York. Designed by John Frazee, it was constructed of Tuckahoe marble and took more than a decade to complete. It opened in 1842.</p><br>
<p>In 1862, Customs moved to 55 Wall Street and the building served as one of six United States Sub-Treasury locations. Millions of dollars of gold and silver were kept in the basement vaults until the Federal Reserve Bank replaced the Sub-Treasury system in 1920.</p><br>
<p>In 1882, John Quincy Adams Ward&#39;s bronze George Washington statue was erected on its front steps, marking the approximate site where he was inaugurated as President in the former structure.</p><br>
<p>In 1920, a bomb was detonated across the street from Federal Hall at 23 Wall Street, in what became known as the Wall Street bombing. Thirty-eight people were killed and 400 injured, and 23 Wall Street was visibly damaged, but Federal Hall received no damage. A famous photograph of the event shows the destruction and effects of the bombing, but also shows the statue of Washington standing stoically in the face of chaos (see below).</p><br>
<h3>Federal Hall National Memorial</h3><br>
<p>The building was designated as Federal Hall Memorial National Historic Site on May 26, 1939, and redesignated a national memorial on August 11, 1955. As with all historic areas administered by the National Park Service, the memorial was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on October 15, 1966. Federal Hall was designated a landmark by the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission on.</p><br>
<p>On September 6, 2002, approximately 300 members of the United States Congress traveled from Washington, D.C. to New York to convene in Federal Hall National Memorial as a symbolic show of support for the city, still recovering from the September 11, 2001 attacks. Held just four blocks from the World Trade Center site, the meeting was the first by Congress in New York since 1790.</p><br>
<p>The site closed on December 3, 2004 for extensive renovations. In 2006, Federal Hall National Memorial reopened after a $16 million renovation, mostly to its foundation, after cracks threatening the structure were greatly aggravated by the collapse of the World Trade Center&#39;s Twin Towers.</p><br>
<p>It was reported on June 8, 2008, that New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and ABC News invited 2008 United States presidential candidates John McCain and Barack Obama to a town hall forum at Federal Hall. Both candidates declined the offer "because they do not want it limited to one television network."</p><br>
<p>The National Park Service operates Federal Hall as a national memorial. As a national memorial, the site is open free to the public from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekdays. It has tourist information about the New York Harbor area&#39;s federal monuments and parks, and a New York City tourism information center. The gift shop has colonial and early American items for sale. Normally its exhibit galleries are open free to the public daily, except national holidays, and guided tours of the site are offered throughout the day. Exhibits include George Washington’s Inauguration Gallery, including the Bible used to swear his oath of office; Freedom of the Press, the imprisonment and trial of John Peter Zenger; and New York: An American Capital, preview exhibit created by the National Archives and Records Administration.</p><br>
<h2>Shrine</h2><br>
<p>Two prominent American ideals are reflected in the current building&#39;s Greek Revival architecture: The Doric columns of the facade, designed by Ithiel Town and Alexander Jackson Davis, resemble those of the Parthenon and serve as a tribute to the democracy of the Greeks; the domed ceiling inside, designed by John Frazee, echoes the Pantheon and is evocative of the republican ideals of the ancient Romans.</p><br>
<p>The current structure is often overshadowed among downtown landmarks by the New York Stock Exchange, which is located diagonally across Wall and Broad Streets, but the site is one of the most important in the history of the United States and, particularly, the foundation of the United States government and its democratic institutions.</p><br>
<h2>On USA postage</h2><br>
<p>Engraved renditions of Federal Hall appear twice on USA postage stamps. The first stamp showing Federal Hall was issued on April 30, 1939, the 150th anniversary of President Washington&#39;s inauguration, where he is depicted on the balcony of Federal Hall taking the oath of office.</p><br>
<p>The second issue was released in 1957, the 200th anniversary of Alexander Hamilton&#39;s birth. This issue depicts Alexander Hamilton and a full view of Federal Hall.</p><br>
<p>Mount Mazama is a volcano in the Oregon segment of the Cascade Volcanic Arc and the Cascade Range located in the United States. The volcano&#39;s collapsed caldera holds Crater Lake, and the entire mountain is located within Crater Lake National Park. Its caldera was created by an eruption 42 times greater than the one of Mount St. Helens in 1980.</p><br>
<p>Mazamas summit was destroyed by a volcanic eruption that occurred around 5677 BC, ± 150 years. The eruption reduced Mazamas approximate 12,000 ft height by about 1 mi. Much of the volcano fell into the volcano&#39;s partially emptied neck and magma chamber. At 8,159 ft, Hillman Peak is now the highest point on the rim.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>The Klamath Native Americans of the area believed that the mountain was inhabited by Llao, their god of the underworld. After the mountain destroyed itself the Klamaths recounted the events as a great battle between Llao and his rival Skell, their sky god.</p><br>
<p>Much of what is known of Mazamas geology comes from a study by Howel Williams of the University of California, Berkeley and later, from USGS geologist Charles R. Bacon who expanded and modified Williamss work.</p><br>
<h2>Name</h2><br>
<p>Mount Mazama was given its name in 1896 when a climbing club from Portland, The Mazamas, organized a visit to Crater Lake, and named the lost peak Mount Mazama after their club; the name being derived from a Native American word meaning "mountain goat".</p><br>
<h2>Geology</h2><br>
<h3>Growth phase</h3><br>
<p>Mazama started to grow around 400,000 years ago in the Pleistocene, mainly from lava flows interbedded with some pyroclastic material. These early flows averaged 20 to 30 feet (6 to 9 m) thick and appear to have been emplaced over a few years to a few centuries. Several shield volcanoes were created by these flows and numerous cinder cones grew in the immediate area (these may or may not be parasitic vents). More explosive eruptions started around 75,000 years ago and built a westward-trending line of composite cones.</p><br>
<p>Cone building eruptions lasted until around 50,000 years ago when andesite lava flowed down Mazamas north and southwest slopes. Relatively few of the cone building eruptions issued from the same vent, resulting in a highly complex, approximately 11,000 ft structure made of overlapping composite cones and shield volcanoes. Consequently, Mazamas base was broader and its sides not as steep as today&#39;s Mount Shasta.</p><br>
<h3>Silica enrichment</h3><br>
<p>After its cone building phase, Mazama lavas became increasingly silica-rich and viscous - two conditions that tend to trap explosive gases. The first major eruption in this new cycle of Mazamas life occurred about 10,000 years later, when dacite flows high on the volcanos southwest face formed a series of domes. These structures were subsequently destroyed by either collapse or steam explosions (see phreatic eruption). Either way, their destruction created large landslides that left deposits at the head of Munson Valley and as far away as Devils Backbone.</p><br>
<p>Mazamas next major eruptive period occurred between 25,000 and 30,000 years ago and extruded rhyodacite lava (which has a higher silica content than dacite). These thick, slow moving, pasty flows erupted from a vent on Mazamas northeast flank and solidified to form 600 ft high Redcloud Cliff (later cut in two by caldera subsidence) and a dome above what today is Steel Bay.</p><br>
<p>The volcano then went dormant for roughly the next 20,000 years, while successive ice age glaciers (probably as thick as 1,000 feet (300 m) in troughs) cut large valleys into the mountains sides. One of the largest glaciers flowed down Munson Valley near the present location of park headquarters, down Annie Creek Valley, and perhaps as far as Fort Klamath. When the last ice age ended 12,000 years ago, those glaciers retreated upslope past the elevation of the current calderas rim. While Mazama slept, its magma chamber was going through some differentiation, with lighter, more gas- and silica-rich rocks collecting closer to the surface.</p><br>
<h3>Explosive phase</h3><br>
<p>Around 5677 BC Mazama awoke from its slumber with explosive rhyodacite eruptions on the northern part of the main summit where Llao Rock now resides. Great quantities of pumice and ash were ejected as a large crater was excavated by the explosions. The tephra was carried by prevailing winds to the east and southeast. Associated with this was a pyroclastic flow that was 1.25 mi wide, 1,200 ft thick at its deepest point, and contained 0.25 cumi of material (later, caldera forming subsidence cut the partially filled crater in two, exposing it in cross section—today this is called Llao Rock).</p><br>
<p>One to two hundred years later (based on radiocarbon dating) the last major eruption before the caldera was formed, the Cleetwood flow occurred. This rhyodacite lava flow erupted from a vent near what is now the north caldera rim. The Cleetwood flow was still fluid when the caldera was formed, so it must have erupted just weeks to months beforehand. When Mazama later collapsed into itself, some of the Cleetwood lava backflowed into the caldera.</p><br>
<p>Mazamas final act started with a large eruption that sent a mile (1.6 km) wide column of hot tephra 5 to 10 mi into the sky at almost twice the speed of sound. The column collapsed in a series of pyroclastic flows that covered much of the area between and downslope of Llao Rock and Redcloud Cliff. This flow, the first of many, was so hot that it solidified as a welded tuff called the Wineglass Welded Tuff. Flow after flow followed in rapid succession, stressing the ability of Mazamas magma chamber to recharge. The mountain started to sag under its own weight. Concentric ring fractures formed around the volcano, creating convenient conduits for additional volcanic vents.</p><br>
<p>The eruption entered its final and most destructive cycle with very large and erosive pyroclastic flows erupting from ring fractures all around the volcano. These flows moved out in all directions from Mazama, following river valleys and in some cases not coming to rest for 40 mi. As the eruptions were occurring Mazama was imploding.</p><br>
<p>The collapse and the erosive ring eruptions fed each other—the sinking volcano pushed magma upward and the erupting material both lubricated the downward subsidence and eroded the sides, making it easier for much of Mazama to sink into the earth. Also, the sudden and dramatic reduction in pressure on the remaining gas charged molten rock in the magma chamber caused it to react by immediately exploding into a super-heated mix of liberated gases and various grades of pulverized and often frothy lava known as a pyroclastic flow. The force of the explosion pulverized previously solidified rock that happened to be nearby or that recently fell into the caldera from the collapse.</p><br>
<p>Half of 70,000-year-old Hillman Peak was blown away, exposing the cone in cross section. Many glacier-cut canyons were beheaded and now stand as notches in the caldera rim. Notable among these are Kerr Notch, Munson Valley, and Sun Notch.</p><br>
<p>The last pyroclastic flow of this stage was andesitic scoria, indicating that Mazama was drawing on material from deep within its magma chamber. This layer of material now forms a dark band in ash layers associated with this eruption cycle (it also created the Pumice Desert). A last few dying gasps in the form of a series of relatively weak explosions then deposited a well-bedded layer of pumice lapilli and crystal-rich ash up to 50 ft thick on the newly formed caldera rim.</p><br>
<p>In the end an estimated 11 to 14 cumi of magma escaped from Mazama&#39;s magma chamber during this eruptive cycle as approximately 25 cumi of tephra (magma is compact due to high pressure surrounding it), qualifying the eruption as a VEI 7 event. The magma was replaced by about the same volume of material when most of Mazama fell into its caldera. At that time, Mazama was about 1 mi shorter than its initial height of approximately 12,000 ft.</p><br>
<h3>Aftermath</h3><br>
<p>Hundreds of square kilometers of the surrounding countryside were covered by material ejected from the collapse and associated eruptions. One pyroclastic flow traveled 40 mi from Mazama down Rogue River Valley while another moved north in-between Mount Bailey and Mount Thielsen, moving over Diamond Lake (it finally came to rest in North Umpqua River valley). Winds carried tephra (ash and pumice) from Mazama northeast, where it covered over 500,000 square miles including nearly all of Oregon, Washington, northern California, Idaho, western Montana, and parts of Utah, Nevada, Wyoming, Alberta, British Columbia, and Saskatchewan.</p><br>
<p>Geologists know the exact chemical composition of this tephra (which they call Mazama Ash) and both geologists and archeologists use the distinctive layer it formed in the specific techniques of relative dating called tephrochronology. As with all tephra layers, Mazama ash is thickest near its source (20 ft) and becomes thinner with increasing distance from its source. 70 mi northwest it is 1 ft thick.</p><br>
<p>Deposits of pyroclastic flow material near Mazama remained extremely hot for months, and in some places they were more than 250 ft deep. Hot gases escaping from the cooling deposits tended to follow vertical channels and emerged at the surface as fumaroles. Over time these gases cemented the channels, which are now exposed as very tall vertical columns and spires of tuff (good examples are along the upper walls of Sand Creek Canyon and Annie Canyon).</p><br>
<h3>Post-collapse phase</h3><br>
<p>All volcanic activity on Mazama since its collapse has been within the caldera. The first significant eruptive period of this phase created an andesite lava platform (the central platform) that rises 1,200 feet (365 m) above the caldera floor. Later eruptions created cinder cones such as Wizard Island (c. 6,000 years old and 763 ft high) and Merriam Cone and also rhyodacite domes (most of these features are under water).</p><br>
<p>Over time much of the approximate 4,000 ft depth of the caldera was filled with volcanic material. Part of the remainder was filled with water from snowmelt and rain to eventually form Crater Lake. Crater Lake reaches a maximum depth of 1,958 feet (597 m), making it the second deepest lake in North America (after Canadas Great Slave Lake). The lakes great depth and purity causes it to absorb all colors of visible light except blue, resulting in its characteristic indigo hue.</p><br>
<p>The Dighton Rock is a 40-ton boulder, originally located in the riverbed of the Taunton River at Berkley, Massachusetts . The rock is noted for its petroglyphs , carved designs of ancient and uncertain origin, and the controversy about their creators. In 1963, during construction of a coffer dam, state officials removed the rock from the river for preservation. It was installed in a museum in a nearby park, Dighton Rock State Park. In 1980 it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places .</p><br>
<h2>Appearance</h2><br>
<p>The boulder has the form of a slanted, six-sided block, approximately 5 feet (1.5 m) high, 9.5 feet (2.9 m) wide, and 11 feet (3.4 m) long. It is gray-brown crystalline sandstone of medium to coarse texture. The surface with the inscriptions has a trapezoidal face and is inclined 70 degrees to the northwest. It was found facing the water of the bay.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>In 1680, the English colonist Rev. John Danforth made a drawing of the petroglyphs, which has been preserved in the British Museum. His drawing conflicts with the reports of others and the current markings on the rock. In 1690 Rev. Cotton Mather described the rock in his book, The Wonderful Works of God Commemorated: “Among the other Curiosities of New-England, one is that of a mighty Rock, on a perpendicular side whereof by a River, which at High Tide covers part of it, there are very deeply Engraved, no man alive knows How or When about half a score Lines, near Ten Foot Long, and a foot and half broad, filled with strange Characters: which would suggest as odd Thoughts about them that were here before us, as there are odd Shapes in that Elaborate Monument.…”</p><br>
<p>During the 19th century, many popular publications and public figures mentioned the rock. The satirist James Russell Lowell suggested that it should be mentioned by presidential candidates in letters to newspapers: "f letters must be written, profitable use might be made of the Dighton rock hieroglyphic or the cuneiform script, every fresh decipherer of which is enabled to educe a different meaning". Lowell made other references to the rock in his widely circulated satirical writing, and may thus have helped to popularize it.</p><br>
<p>In 1912 Edmund B. Delabarre wrote that markings on the Dighton Rock suggest that Miguel Corte-Real reached New England. Delabarre stated that the markings were abbreviated Latin, and the message, translated into English, read as follows: "I, Miguel Cortereal, 1511. In this place, by the will of God, I became a chief of the Indians."</p><br>
<p>Other hypotheses about the creation of the markings include:</p><br>
<p>Indigenous peoples of North America – who were known to have inscribed petroglyphs in rocks (a schematic face on the Dighton Rock is similar to an Indian petroglyph in Eastern Vermont)</p><br>
<p>Ancient Phoenicians – proposed in 1783 by Ezra Stiles in his "Election Sermon."</p><br>
<p>Norse – proposed in 1837 by Carl Christian Rafn and debunked by Jason Colavito</p><br>
<p>Portuguese – proposed in 1912 by Edmund B. Delabarre, who (after seeing Portuguese writing) believed that they then used the rock for their own inscriptions</p><br>
<p>Chinese – proposed by Gavin Menzies in his 2002 book 1421: The Year China Discovered America</p><br>
<h2>State park</h2><br>
<p>In November 1952, the Miguel Corte-Real Memorial Society of New York City acquired 49½ acres (200,000 m²) of land adjacent to the rock to create a park. However, in 1951 the Massachusetts Legislature expropriated the same land for a State Park. More land was purchased. Dighton Rock State Park now has an area of 100 acres (400,000 m²). The vicinity of Dighton Rock has been beautified and furnished with parking and picnic facilities.</p><br>
<h2>Depths of inscriptions</h2><br>
<p>Although Mather described these as deeply cut, a statement which has been repeated to the present day, early reports suggested that this was not exactly the case. DelaBarre wrote:</p><br>
<p>One thing is certain, that former descriptions of the depth of the incisions cannot be used as evidence for any change. The first who describes them calls them "deeply engraved" in 1690; but Cotton Mather had never seen the rock, so far as we know, and this statement of his is doubtless on a par with his other statement that the characters are on "a mighty Rock." Greenwood gives the first reliable description, in 1730. He definitely says that the "indentures are not very considerable/ and his drawing and his other statements prove that he had as much difficulty in making out the real characters as has ever been experienced since then. Even on the lowest part of the face, which alone does show evident signs of much wear, Mathers draughtsman, and Greenwood, and their next followers, were even successful in making out apparent characters than have been some later observers. Sewall in 1768 and Kendall in 1807 made definite statements to the effect that the greater part of the lines were so much effaced as to make their decipherment impossible, or wholly subject to the fancy.</p><br>
<p>The Mittelland Canal, also known as the Midland Canal,  is a major canal in central Germany. It forms an important link in the waterway network of that country, providing the principal east-west inland waterway connection. Its significance goes beyond Germany as it links France, Switzerland and the Benelux countries with Poland, the Czech Republic and the Baltic Sea.</p><br>
<p>At 325.7 km in length, the Mittelland Canal is the longest artificial waterway in Germany.</p><br>
<h2>Route</h2><br>
<p>The Mittelland Canal branches off the Dortmund-Ems Canal at Hörstel (near Rheine, at {{coord|52|16|37|N|7|36|18|E|region:DE|display=inline}}), runs north along the Teutoburg Forest, past Hannover and meets with the Elbe River near Magdeburg ({{coord|52|14|46|N|11|44|49|E|region:DE|display=inline}}). Near Magdeburg it connects to the Elbe-Havel Canal, making a continuous shipping route to Berlin and on to Poland.</p><br>
<p>At Minden the canal crosses the river Weser over two aqueducts (the second completed in 1998), and near Magdeburg it crosses the Elbe, also with an aqueduct. Connections by side canals exist at Ibbenbüren, Osnabrück, Minden (two canals connecting to the Weser), Hanover-Linden, Hanover-Misburg, Hildesheim and Salzgitter. West of Wolfsburg, the Elbe Lateral Canal branches off, providing a connection to Hamburg, and (via the Elbe-Lübeck Canal) to the Baltic Sea.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>Construction of the Mittelland Canal was started in 1906, starting from Bergeshövede (municipality Hörstel) on the Dortmund-Ems Canal. The section to Minden on the Weser was opened in February 1915 and was initially named Ems-Weser-Kanal. The section from Minden to Hanover was finished in the autumn of 1916. The section to Sehnde and the branch canal to Hildesheim were completed in 1928, Peine was reached in 1929, and Braunschweig in 1933. The final section to Magdeburg was opened in 1938, thus creating a direct link between Western and Eastern Germany. The branch canal to Salzgitter was opened in 1941. The planned canal bridge over the Elbe, necessary to avoid low water conditions in summer, was not built due to the Second World War.</p><br>
<p>After partitioning of Germany following the Second World War, the Mittelland Canal was split between West Germany and East Germany, with the border to the east of Wolfsburg. To provide access from the western section of the canal to Hamburg and Northern Germany, avoiding both East Germany and the Elbe River&#39;s sometimes limited navigability, the Elbe Lateral Canal was opened in 1977.</p><br>
<p>After the reunification of Germany, the importance of the Mittelland Canal as a link from the west to Berlin and the east was reinforced. The project to bridge the Elbe was therefore restarted, and the resulting Magdeburg Water Bridge opened in 2003, providing a direct link to the Elbe-Havel Canal. There are further plans to connect the channel to the Twentekanaal in the Netherlands to shorten the connection towards the Port of Rotterdam.</p><br>
<h2>Towns and cities</h2><br>
<p>* Ibbenbüren</p><br>
<p>* Osnabrück (via a branch)</p><br>
<p>* Bramsche</p><br>
<p>* Lübbecke</p><br>
<p>* Minden</p><br>
<p>* Garbsen</p><br>
<p>* Hannover</p><br>
<p>* Sehnde</p><br>
<p>* Hildesheim (via a branch)</p><br>
<p>* Peine</p><br>
<p>* Salzgitter (via a branch)</p><br>
<p>* Braunschweig</p><br>
<p>* Wolfsburg</p><br>
<p>* Haldensleben</p><br>
<p>* Magdeburg</p><br>
<h2>Structures</h2><br>
<p>*Minden Aqueduct ({{coord|52|18|12|N|8|55|54|E|region:DE|display=inline}})</p><br>
<p>*Magdeburg Water Bridge ({{coord|52|13|51|N|11|42|5|E|region:DE|display=inline}})</p><br>
<p>The National Building Museum is located at 401 F Street NW in Washington, D.C., United States. It is a museum of "architecture, design, engineering, construction, and urban planning". It was created by an act of Congress in 1980, and is a private non-profit institution; it is adjacent to the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial and the Judiciary Square Metro station. The museum hosts various temporary exhibits in galleries around the spacious Great Hall.</p><br>
<p>The building, completed in 1887, served as the Pension Building, housing the United States Pension Bureau, and hosted several presidential inaugural balls. It is an important early large-scale example of Renaissance Revival architecture, and was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1985.</p><br>
<h2>Pension Building</h2><br>
<p>The National Building Museum is housed in the former Pension Bureau building, a brick structure completed in 1887 and designed by Montgomery C. Meigs, the USA Army quartermaster general. It is notable for several architectural features, including the spectacular interior columns and a frieze, sculpted by Caspar Buberl, stretching around the exterior of the building and depicting Civil War soldiers in scenes somewhat reminiscent of those on Trajan&#39;s Column as well as the Horsemen Frieze of the Parthenon. The vast interior, measuring 316 × 116 feet (96 × 35 m), has been used to hold inauguration balls; a Presidential Seal is set into the floor near the south entrance.</p><br>
<p>After the Civil War, the United States Congress passed legislation that greatly extended the scope of pension coverage for veterans and their survivors and dependents, notably their widows and orphans. The number of staff needed to implement and administer the new benefits system ballooned to over 1,500, and quickly required a new building from which to run it all. Meigs was chosen to design and construct the new building. He departed from the established Greco-Roman models that had been the basis of government buildings in Washington, D.C., until then and which continued after the Pension Buildings completion. Meigs based his design on Italian Renaissance precedents, notably Romes Palazzo Farnese and the Palazzo della Cancelleria.</p><br>
<p>Included in his design was a frieze sculpted by Caspar Buberl. Because a sculpture of that size was well out of Meigss budget, he had Buberl create 28 different scenes, totaling 69 feet (21 m) in length, which were then mixed and slightly modified to create the continuous 1,200-foot (365-m) parade of over 1,300 figures. Because of the 28 sections modification and mixture, it is only in careful examination that the frieze is seen to be the same figures repeated several times. The sculpture includes infantry, navy, artillery, cavalry, and medical components, as well as a good deal of the supply and quartermaster functions, for it was in that capacity that Meigs had served during the Civil War.</p><br>
<p>Meigss correspondence with Buberl reveals that Meigs insisted that a black teamster, who "must be a negro, a plantation slave, freed by war", be included in the quartermaster panel. This figure was ultimately to assume a central position, over the buildings west entrance.</p><br>
<p>Built before modern artificial ventilation, the building was designed to maximize air circulation: all offices not only had exterior windows, but also opened onto the court, which was designed to admit cool air at ground level and exhaust hot air at the roof. Made of brick and tile, the stairs were designed for the limitations of disabled and aging veterans, having a gradual ascent with low steps. In addition, each step slanted slightly from back to front to allow easy drainage: a flight could be washed easily by pouring water from the top.</p><br>
<p>When Philip Sheridan was asked to comment on the building, his biting reply echoed the negative sentiment of much of the Washington establishment of the day: "Too bad the damn thing is fireproof." A similar quote is also attributed to William Tecumseh Sherman, perhaps casting doubt on the truth of the Sheridan tale.</p><br>
<p>The completed building, sometimes called "Meigs Old Red Barn", required more than 15,000,000 bricks, which, according to the wit of the day, were each counted by the parsimonious Meigs.</p><br>
<h2>Becoming a museum</h2><br>
<p>The building was used for federal government offices until the 1960s when it had fallen into a state of disrepair and was considered for demolition. After pressure from conservationists, the government commissioned a report by architect Chloethiel Woodard Smith of possible other uses for the building. Her 1967 report suggested a museum dedicated to the building arts. The building was then listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1969. In 1980, Congress created the National Building Museum as a private, non-profit institution. The building itself was formally renamed the National Building Museum in 1997.</p><br>
<p>Every year, the annual Christmas in Washington program was filmed at the museum, with the President and First Lady until the show&#39;s cancellation in 2015.</p><br>
<h3>Museum Shop</h3><br>
<p>The National Building Museum Shop was honored in 2007 as the "Best Museum Store" in the country by Niche magazine, "Best All-Around Museum Shop" in the region by The Washington Post, a "Top Shop" by the Washingtonian, and named best museum shop in D.C. by National Geographic Traveler&#39;s blog, Intelligent Travel, in July 2009. In 2010, The Huffington Post included the National Building Museum in a story, "Museums with Amazing Gift Shops". The Museum Shop sells books about the built environment and an array of housewares, educational toys, watches, and items for an office, all with an emphasis on design.</p><br>
<h2>American politics</h2><br>
<p>On June 7, 2008, Hillary Clinton suspended her campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination with a farewell rally inside the museum. Several of Clinton&#39;s most recognized quotes and sayings were first spoken on this date to several hundreds of supporters, including "If we can blast fifty women into space, we will someday launch a woman into the White House."</p><br>
<h2>Awards</h2><br>
<p>The National Building Museum presents three annual awards: the Honor Award for individuals and organizations who have made important contributions to the USA&#39;s building heritage; the Vincent Scully Prize, which honors exemplary practice, scholarship, or criticism in architecture, historic preservation, and urban design; and the Henry C. Turner Prize for Innovation in Construction Technology, which recognizes outstanding leadership and innovation in the field of construction methods and processes.</p><br>
<h2>Outreach programs</h2><br>
<p>Investigating Where We Live</p><br>
<p>Investigating Where We Live is a summer program for teens from the DC metropolitan area. Students spend four weeks in teams equipped with cameras, and sketchbooks to discover the local communities. Students are given an introduction to photography and then investigate neighborhoods in Washington, D.C. Documenting history, landmarks, and residential areas, students assemble the community&#39;s identity. The original photographs and writings are incorporated into an exhibition at the Museum. Since 1996, more than 500 students have participated in learning about different communities within the District of Columbia.</p><br>
<p>Upon completion of the program, participants:</p><br>
<p>Receive a digital camera</p><br>
<p>Develop relationships with professional photographers, designers, museum staff, and fellow participants</p><br>
<p>Keep photographs for use in future projects, portfolios, or high school and college applications</p><br>
<p>Fulfill community service requirements for school</p><br>
<p>Previous exhibits include "Investigating Where We Live: Recapturing Shaws Legacy" which taught high school students about DCs Shaw neighborhood.</p><br>
<h2>Images</h2><br>
<p>The Java Sea  is an extensive shallow sea on the Sunda Shelf. It lies between the Indonesian islands of Borneo to the north, Java to the south, Sumatra to the west, and Sulawesi to the east. Karimata Strait to its northwest links it to the South China Sea.</p><br>
<h2>Geography</h2><br>
<p>The Java Sea covers the southern section of the 1,790,000 km&sup2; Sunda Shelf.</p><br>
<p>A shallow sea, it has a mean depth of 46 m. It measures about 1,600 km east-west by 380 km north-south and occupies a total surface area of 320,000 km&sup2;.</p><br>
<p>It formed as sea levels rose at the end of the last ice age. The almost uniform flatness of the sea bottom and the presence of drainage channels (traceable to the mouths of island rivers) indicate that the Sunda Shelf was once a stable, dry, low-relief land area (peneplain) above which were left standing a few monadnocks (granite hills that by virtue of their resistance to erosion form the present islands).</p><br>
<h3>Extent</h3><br>
<p>The International Hydrographic Organization (IHO) defines the Java Sea as being one of the waters of the East Indian Archipelago. The IHO defines its limits as follows:</p><br>
<p>On the North. By the Southern limit of the South China Sea Lucipara Point ({{coord|3|14|S|106|05|E}}) thence to Tanjong Nanka, the Southwest extremity of Banka Island, through this island to Tanjong Berikat the Eastern point ({{coord|2|34|S|106|51|E}}), on to Tanjong Djemang ({{coord|2|36|S|107|37|E}}) in Billiton, along the North coast of this island to Tanjong Boeroeng Mandi ({{coord|2|46|S|108|16|E}}) and thence a line to Tanjong Sambar ({{coord|3|00|S|110|19|E}}) the Southwest extreme of Borneo, the South coast of Borneo and the Southern limit of Makassar Strait By a line from the Southwestern extreme of Celebes ({{coord|5|37|S|119|27|E}}), through the Southern point of Tana Keke, to the Southern extreme of Laoet ({{coord|4|06|S|116|06|E}}) thence up the West coast of that island to Tanjong Kiwi and thence across to Tanjong Petang, Borneo ({{coord|3|37|S|115|57|E}}) at the Southern end of Laoet Strait.</p><br>
<p>On the East. By the Western limit of Flores Sea A line from Tg Sarokaja ({{coord|8|22|S|117|10|E}}) to the Western Paternoster island ({{coord|7|26|S|117|08|E}}) thence to the Northeastern Postiljon Island ({{coord|6|33|S|118|49|E}}) and to the West point of Laikang Bay, Celebes.</p><br>
<p>On the South. By the Northern and Northwestern limits of Bali Sea A line from the Western Paternoster Island to the East point of Sepandjang and thence through this island to the West point of Gedeh Bay on the South coast of Kangean ({{coord|7|01|S|115|18|E}}). A line from the West point of Gedeh Bay, Kangean Island, to Tg Sedano, the Northeast extreme of Java and down the East coast to Tg Bantenan, the Southeast extreme of the island, the North and West coasts of Java to Java Hoofd ({{coord|6|46|S|105|12|E}}) its Western point, and thence a line to Vlakke Hoek ({{coord|5|55|S|104|35|E}}) the Southern extreme of Sumatra.</p><br>
<p>On the West. The East coast of Sumatra between Vlakke Hoek and Lucipara Point ({{coord|3|14|S|106|05|E}}).</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>The Battle of the Java Sea from February to March 1942, was one of the costliest naval battles of World War II. The naval forces of the Netherlands, Britain, Australia, and the United States were nearly destroyed trying to defend Java from Japanese attack.</p><br>
<p>On 28 December 2014, Indonesia AirAsia Flight 8501 crashed into the Java Sea while on route to Singapore from Surabaya, Indonesia. All passengers and crew died.</p><br>
<h2>Economic activities</h2><br>
<p>The southern section of the seafloor has long been recognized as geologically similar to northern Java, where oil fields occur and extend under the sea. Prospects are also favourable for oil fields in the waters off southeast Kalimantan. As the site of successful exploration for petroleum and natural gas, the Java Sea has become the basis of Indonesia’s export program.</p><br>
<p>Fishing is an important economic activity in the Java Sea. Over 3,000 species of marine life are found in the area. A number of national parks exist in the area such as Karimunjawa. The Thousand Islands are located north of the national capital Jakarta, and are the city&#39;s only regency.</p><br>
<p>The area around the Java Sea is also a popular tourist destination. Scuba diving offers a chance to explore and photograph underwater caverns, wrecks, coral, sponges, and other marine life.</p><br>
<p>The Dandenong Ranges  are a set of low mountain ranges, rising to 633 metres at Mount Dandenong, approximately 35 km east of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. The ranges consist mostly of rolling hills, steeply weathered valleys and gullies covered in thick temperate rainforest, predominantly of tall Mountain Ash trees and dense ferny undergrowth.</p><br>
<p>After European settlement in the region, the range was used as a major source of timber for Melbourne. The ranges were popular with day-trippers from the 1870s onwards. Much of the Dandenongs were protected by parklands as early as 1882 and by 1987 these parklands were amalgamated to form the Dandenong Ranges National Park, which was subsequently expanded in 1997. The range receives light to moderate snow falls a few times in most years, frequently between late winter and late spring.</p><br>
<p>Today, the Dandenongs are home to over 100,000 residents and is popular amongst visitors, many of who stay for the weekend at the various Bed & Breakfasts throughout the region. The popular Puffing Billy Railway, a heritage steam railway, runs through the southern parts of the Dandenongs.</p><br>
<h2>Etymology</h2><br>
<p>The etymology of the Dandenongs is a complicated one. Two names have been used to refer to the ranges; Corhanwarrabul and Dandenong, both derived from the Woiwurrung language of the Wurundjeri people.</p><br>
<p>It is suspected that the name Dandenong was applied to the ranges due to being the origin of the Dandenong Creek, however, the original name for Dandenong Creek was Narra Narrawong. The origin of the name Dandenong is unknown, as is its meaning or correct spelling with other variations include; Tanjenong, Tangynon and Bangeong. In any case, both names relate watercourses rather than mountains or ranges, as indicated by the ong ending. Given that the name Dandenong may not apply to anything in the immediate area, the relevance of the name Corhanwarrabul becomes apparent. Carhanwarrabul (pronounced either "corhan-warrabul" with a silent "h", or "cor-hana-warrabul") was the original name for one of the two main summits, perhaps both or perhaps the entire range. The name applied to the main summits and was in continued use up until around 1900, when the name Dandenong appeared. At any rate, Corhanwarrabul remains the most relevant name for the ranges to date.</p><br>
<h2>Geology and ecology</h2><br>
<p>The range is the remains of an extinct volcano last active 373 million years ago. It consists predominantly of Devonian dacite and rhyodacite.</p><br>
<p>The topography consists of a series of ridges dissected by deeply cut streams. Sheltered gullies in the south of the range are home to temperate rain forest, fern gullies and Mountain Ash forest Eucalyptus regnans, whereas the drier ridges and exposed northern slopes are covered by dry sclerophyll forest of stringybarks and box. The entire range is highly prone to bushfires, the most recent of which have been the 1983 Ash Wednesday bushfires, the 1997 Dandenong Ranges bushfires and small fires during the Black Saturday bushfires in 2009.</p><br>
<p>A number of watercourses originate in the Dandenongs, these include:</p><br>
<p>Cardinia Creek</p><br>
<p>Clematis Creek</p><br>
<p>Dandenong Creek</p><br>
<p>Emerald Creek</p><br>
<p>Ferny Creek</p><br>
<p>Mast Gully Creek</p><br>
<p>Menzies Creek</p><br>
<p>Monbulk Creek</p><br>
<p>Muddy Creek</p><br>
<p>Olinda Creek</p><br>
<p>Sassafras Creek</p><br>
<p>Sherbrooke Creek</p><br>
<p>Stringy Bark Creek</p><br>
<p>Wandin Yallock Creek</p><br>
<p>Woori Yallock Creek</p><br>
<h3>Waterfalls</h3><br>
<p>Olinda Falls</p><br>
<p>Sherbrooke Falls</p><br>
<h3>Summits</h3><br>
<p>Mount Dandenong—633m</p><br>
<p>Mount Corhanwarrabul—628m (location of transmission towers)</p><br>
<p>Dunns Hill—561m</p><br>
<p>One Tree Hill—502m</p><br>
<p>Sassafras Summit—488m</p><br>
<p>Sherbrooke Summit—488m</p><br>
<p>Black Hill</p><br>
<p>Johns Hill</p><br>
<p>Nobelius Hill</p><br>
<p>Lewis Hill</p><br>
<h2>Climate</h2><br>
<p>The Dandenong Ranges climate is generally mild and wet, with daily temperature variation generally low, often as low as 1 degree in the winter months.</p><br>
<p>Rainfall is fairly uniform through the year, tending to peak between April and October with lower rainfall during the months of January and February. The mean annual rainfall is between 1000 and 1500 mm, increasing with elevation and from west to east. The elevation means that temperatures are typically 2 to 5 degrees °C cooler than the lower suburbs of Melbourne to the west, with temperatures typically lowering by 1 degree C for every 150 m of elevation. Due to the elevation, fog is common in winter months.</p><br>
<p>As a result of its elevation snow typically falls one or two times a year at higher elevations, mostly between the months of June and October. A rare summer snow occurred on Christmas Day 2006. The local region has experienced substantial warming in recent decades and heavy snowfalls which were once common have become rare. The last significant snowfall to affect the Dandenongs Ranges was on August 10, 2008, when as much 15 cm fell at the highest elevations.</p><br>
<p>A Bureau of Meteorology sits at an elevation of 513 m in the Ferny Creek Reserve in the southern part of the Dandenongs Ranges. This weather station replaced that was previously located on the summit of Dunns Hill.</p><br>
<h2>Settlements in the Dandenong Ranges</h2><br>
<p>Around 120,000 people live in and around the Dandenong Ranges, depending on the definition. The following settlements are located in the Dandenongs themselves (72,500~):</p><br>
<p>Belgrave—4,094</p><br>
<p>Belgrave Heights—1,500</p><br>
<p>Belgrave South—1,500</p><br>
<p>Clematis—3,800</p><br>
<p>Emerald—6,000</p><br>
<p>Ferny Creek—1,500</p><br>
<p>Ferntree Gully - 10,000</p><br>
<p>Kallista—1,000</p><br>
<p>Kalorama—1,100</p><br>
<p>Kilsyth—10,000</p><br>
<p>Menzies Creek—1,300</p><br>
<p>Monbulk—2,700</p><br>
<p>Montrose—6, 500</p><br>
<p>Mount Dandenong—1,300</p><br>
<p>Olinda—1,500</p><br>
<p>Sassafras—1,000</p><br>
<p>Selby—1,400</p><br>
<p>Tecoma—2,200</p><br>
<p>The Patch—800</p><br>
<p>Upper Ferntree Gully—4,000</p><br>
<p>Upwey—6,800</p><br>
<p>Some settlements located on and around the plateau to the east of the ranges are sometimes included (14,200~):</p><br>
<p>Cockatoo—4,500</p><br>
<p>Gembrook—1,600</p><br>
<p>Macclesfield—1,600</p><br>
<p>Seville—2,000</p><br>
<p>Seville East—600</p><br>
<p>Silvan—1,900</p><br>
<p>Wandin East—500</p><br>
<p>Wandin North—1,600</p><br>
<p>Settlements in the western foothills are also sometimes included (34,500~):</p><br>
<p>The Basin—4,100</p><br>
<p>Boronia—20,500</p><br>
<p>Mount Evelyn—9,100</p><br>
<h2>Human History</h2><br>
<p>The ranges are located near the boundary between the Wurundjeri and Bunurong nations territories. The two nations were part of the Kulin alliance and were most often on friendly terms. The mountain range however was not often frequented by either nations people as mountainous areas were often considered one of many resting places for various spirits.</p><br>
<p>In 1938, the aircraft Kyeema crashed on the western face of Mount Corhanwarrabul due to heavy fog and poor navigation, 18 people died.</p><br>
<h2>Utilities</h2><br>
<h3>Transmission towers</h3><br>
<p>There are several large television transmission towers on various summits that were initially constructed to broadcast TV to Central Victoria</p><br>
<p>Channel 10/Channel 0, 204m high—Mount Corhanwarrabul (628m), (highest frequency)</p><br>
<p>Channel 9, 131m high—Mount Corhanwarrabul (628m)</p><br>
<p>Channel 7, 131m high—Mount Corhanwarrabul (628m), this tower is from interesting design, as it is a partially guyed tower, consisting of a free-standing lattice tower as basement and a guyed mast as pinnacle.</p><br>
<p>Channel 2—Ferny Creek Summit (561m), (lowest frequency)</p><br>
<h2>Tourism and Attractions</h2><br>
<p>Scenic drives—popular for many years on the abundance of winding roads throughout the ranges</p><br>
<p>Picnics—dedicated picnic areas can be found in Fern Tree Gully Picnic Ground or at One Tree Hill or in Sherbrooke Forest</p><br>
<p>The various coffee shops and restaurants, bed and breakfasts, craft shops, antique shops and gardens</p><br>
<p>Puffing Billy Railway—a narrow-gauge heritage steam railway, from Belgrave, through to Emerald, and ending at Gembrook</p><br>
<p>Lookouts & Views—There are several locations throughout the ranges that offer excellent views on both sides of the range. On a clear day, features as far as Mount Macedon, the You Yangs and Port Phillip can be seen simultaneously.</p><br>
<p>Walking & Hiking—various tracks and trails are available at a variety of lengths and difficulties</p><br>
<p>Cycling—the Dandenong Ranges are one of Melbournes most popular cycling areas. Popular road cycling climbs include the "1 in 20" on the Mountain Highway, "The Wall", a steeper route between Monbulk and Olinda, and the also-steep "Devils Elbow", heading north from Upper Ferntree Gully along the Mount Dandenong Tourist Road to Ferny Creek.</p><br>
<h3>Regulations</h3><br>
<p>Camping is not permitted within the National Park and fire restrictions may apply during the summer months. There are no rubbish bins in the national parks and visitors must leave with all items that they arrived with.</p><br>
<h2>Bushfires</h2><br>
<p>Due to the climate of the region, the type of vegetation and the topography, the Dandenong Ranges periodically experience bushfires. Some of the recent occurrences included:</p><br>
<p>1851—Black Thursday</p><br>
<p>1898</p><br>
<p>1905</p><br>
<p>1913</p><br>
<p>1926</p><br>
<p>1939</p><br>
<p>1962</p><br>
<p>1968</p><br>
<p>1983—Ash Wednesday, 27 deaths in the Dandenong ranges</p><br>
<p>1997—3 deaths in the ranges</p><br>
<p>2009—Black Saturday, no deaths in the ranges</p><br>
<p>Hualālai  is an active volcano on the island of Hawaii in the Hawaiian Islands. It is the westernmost, third-youngest and the third most active of the five shield volcanoes that form the island of Hawaii, following Kīlauea and the much larger Mauna Loa. Its peak stands 8,271 ft above sea level. Hualālai is estimated to have risen above sea level about 300,000 years ago. Despite maintaining a very low level of activity since its last eruption in 1801, Hualālai is still considered active, and is expected to erupt again some time within the next century. The relative unpreparedness of the residents in the area caused by the lull in activity would worsen the consequences of such an event.</p><br>
<p>The area near the volcano has been inhabited for centuries by Hawaiian natives, dating back to before recorded history. The coast west of Hualālai in particular had several royal complexes. The volcano is also important ecologically, is home to many rare species and several nature reserves near the summit, and is a popular hiking attraction. Today the coast near Hualālai is dotted by vacation resorts, some built on historic flows, and a National Historical Park.</p><br>
<h2>Geology</h2><br>
<h3>Structural features</h3><br>
<p>Hualālai stands at 8,271 ft with a prominence of 3,071 ft. It is the westernmost of the five major volcanoes which form the island of Hawaii. Being in the post-shield stage of development, Hualālai is overall much rougher in shape and structure than the more youthful Mauna Loa and Kīlauea. Hualālai&#39;s structure is denoted by three rift zones: a well-developed one approximately 50° to the northwest, a moderately developed one to the southeast, and a poorly developed one trending northwards about 3 mi east of the summit. There are over 100 cinder and spatter cones arranged along these rift zones. Hualālai has no summit caldera, although there is a collapse crater about 0.3 mi across atop a small lava shield. Much of the southern slope (above the modern town of Kailua-Kona) consists of lava flows covered by a layer of volcanic ash from 10 to 100 cm thick. In comparison with the other volcanoes of the island of Hawaii, it is the third tallest, third oldest, third most active, and second smallest, making up just 7% of the island.</p><br>
<p>A major subfeature of Hualālai is Puu Waawaa, Hawaiian for "many-furrowed hill", a volcanic cone standing 372 m tall and measuring over 1.6 km in diameter. It extends for 9 km, and has a prominence of 275 m, north of the summit at 19&deg;46&prime;15&Prime;N latitude, 155&deg;49&prime;56&Prime;W longitude. The cone is constructed of trachyte, a type of volcanic lava that exists at no other volcano on Hawaii. Trachyte flows move more slowly than the typically "runny" Hawaiian lavas, a characteristic caused by its high (over 62%) silica composition (typical basalt is only 50% silica). Geologists hypothesize that Puu Waawaa originally formed during a pumice eruption a little over 100,000 years ago, and has continued to build itself since then, with at least three distinct trachyte flows recognized. The eruptions, although partially covered by flows from Hualālai and Mauna Loa, have built a distinctive structure known as the Puu Anahulu ridge.</p><br>
<p>The westward-facing flank of Hualālai forms a large underwater slump known as the North Kona slump. An area of about 1,000 km&sup2, the slump consists of an intricate formation of beaches and scarps 2000 to 4500 m below the waterline. This area was explored more closely in a 2001 joint Japan-United States project to explore the volcano&#39;s flanks, utilizing the Remotely operated vehicle ROV Kaikō. Data collected showed that the lava flows there originated in shallow water 500 to 1000 m deep, and that unlike similar slumps at other volcanoes, the slump at Hualālai formed gradually.</p><br>
<p>Haulālai is a known source for xenoliths, rock from the Earth&#39;s mantle that have been brought up in lava flows. Many prehistoric deposits, as well as those from the 1801 event, contain xenoliths of large size and abundant quantity.</p><br>
<h3>History</h3><br>
<p>desc bottom-left</p><br>
<p>Lava attributed to a shield-stage Hualālai has been found just offshore of the volcanos northwest rift zone. Tholeiitic basalt, indicative of the submarine subphase of the volcanos construction, has been found in wells driven into the volcano at a depth of 75 ft. These lavas persisted until an estimated 130,000 years ago. Hualālai entered the post-shield stage, the stage it is presently in, about 100,000 years ago. Pumice and trachyte eruptions at Puu Waawaa may be a sign of this change.</p><br>
<p>Geological mapping of the volcano has indicated that as much as 80% of the volcano&#39;s surface has been topped by lava flows during the last 5,000 years, entirely composed of shield alkalic basalt. More than half of this is under 3,000 years old, and about 12% is less than 1,000 years of age. Between the years 1700 and 2016, eruptions originated from six vents; four of these lava flows poured into the sea to the west coast.</p><br>
<h2>Eruptive history</h2><br>
<p>Hualālai is the third most active volcano making up the island of Hawaii, behind Kīlauea and Mauna Loa. Although the two larger volcanos have each erupted over 150 times in the last 1,000 years, Hualālai has done so but 3 times. The recurrence of activity at the volcano seems to be every 200 to 300 years.</p><br>
<p>A recent calm period, with almost no earthquake or magmatic activity at Hualālai, has seen the growth of homes, businesses, and resorts on the mountains flanks. The most recent major activity at the volcano was in 1929, when an intense earthquake swarm rocked Hualālai, most likely caused by magmatic action near the volcanos peak. Although it has been relatively placid in the recent past, Hualālai is still potentially active, and is expected to erupt again within the next 100 years.</p><br>
<h3>Lava stratigraphy</h3><br>
<p>The USGS has divided the exposed lava flows and tephra erupted by Hualālai volcano during the last 112,000 years into 419 rock units of 8 chronostratigraphic age groups. These are summarized in the table below:</p><br>
<h3>1800–1801 eruption</h3><br>
<p>Hualālai last erupted in 1800–1801. This eruption produced very fluid alkalic basalt lava flows that entered the ocean off the western tip of Hawaii island. Although five vents were active at the time, only two produced flows that eventually reached the ocean. The total output volume of the flow is estimated at over 300,000,000 m&sup3;. One volcanic vent, situated high on the slope, produced a large aa flow, dubbed the Kaʻūpūlehu flow, that reached the ocean as two distinct lobes. On its way down, it overran a village and a valuable 3 mi fishing pond. There is a local legend that after the failure of several offerings of animals and other items to the gods, the flow was finally stopped when Kamehameha I threw a lock of his own hair into the fire. The Kaūpūlehu flow is also known for the particularly large quantity of mafic and ultramafic xenoliths that came up with it.</p><br>
<p>The other major outflow from the event reached the sea south of Kiholo Bay, destroying the village of Kaʻūpūlehu. This 1801 flow, known as the Huehue flow, formed Keahole Point where Kona International Airport is now located, 11 km north of Kailua-Kona. The eruption at Hualālai was concurrent with an eruption at the nearby Mauna Loa. It is theorized that, in the near past, Hualālai has had synchronous eruptions with both Mauna Loa and Kilauea.</p><br>
<h3>Recent activity</h3><br>
<p>Hualālai last erupted in 1801. A severe earthquake swarm shook the volcano in 1929, lasting about a month. This caused $100,000 worth of damage to the Kona district ($1.2 million as of 2010), and two earthquakes with magnitudes of 5.5 and 6.5 were felt as far away as Honolulu. This was probably caused by magma movement near the surface, but there was no surface activity or eruption.</p><br>
<p>The 2006 Kiholo Bay earthquake, with epicenter just to the north in Kiholo Bay near Māhukona, caused much damage in the area.</p><br>
<h3>Future monitoring</h3><br>
<p>Hualālai is expected to erupt again in the near future, as a 200–300 year estimated pause in activity is coming to an end. The flanks of the volcano do not pose a lower threat to the population than the area near the rift zones because the distance is short and the slopes are steep; lava poses as much of a threat as it does near its source.</p><br>
<p>Since 1991, the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory (HVO) has maintained a seismic recording station 3 km east of Hualālai&#39;s summit to monitor the volcano. During this time, not a single earthquake swarm or harmonic tremor, indicative of activity at the volcano, has occurred. Although Hualālai does experience several magnitude 4 earthquakes per year, these are attributed to a deep source off the coast of the north-western rift zone and are not related to the movement of magma. The USGS is currently in the process of upgrading its aging monitoring and telemetry equipment, using American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds. The agency plans to add another seismometer and three more sensors to help monitor activity. In addition, the HVO uses GPS to measure slight changes in tilt and slope of Hualālai, indicative of magmatic movement. A survey has been conducted every two years since 1986, but changes have been recorded.</p><br>
<h2>Human history</h2><br>
<p>Hualālai has been a home to native people since ancient times. Centuries ago, the Ahu A Umi Heiau was built on the dry plateau east of the mountain. The Kaloko-Honokōhau National Historic Park lies on the shore west of Hualālai, over the site of an ancient Hawaiian settlement. Although it is called kekaha ʻaʻole wai (lands without water), the rugged volcanic terrain attracted much sea life, making it an appealing place to settle. There are two main attractions within the park: the Kaloko fishpond, an area of loko kuapa (rockwall fishponds) constructed of interlocking rocks across a natural embayment on the coast, and Honokōhau, a former extensive settlement on the south side of the park.</p><br>
<p>Kamakahonu, Holualoa Bay, and Keauhou Bay were favored retreats of Hawaiian royalty long before the westernization of Hawaii. It was here that Kamehameha I rested after his eight-year campaign to unite the Hawaiian isles. His death in 1819 triggered social chaos. Mokuaikaua Church, built for missionaries in 1837 of lava rock and crushed coral, still stands today. Hulihee Palace, where many of Hawaii&#39;s last kings spent their time, has been maintained as a museum since 1927.</p><br>
<p>Today, the coast west of Hualālai is a popular location for vacation resorts, since the rain shadow of the mountain causes many sunny days. The first, Kona Village resort, was built in 1961. Since then the Four Seasons Resort and the Kūkio golf course and vacation home complex have also been built on the 1800 flow. Both the Kona Village Resort and the Four Seasons Resort were damaged by the tsunami generated by the 2011 Sendai earthquake. The Hawaii Belt Road traverses the western slopes with an upper route called the Mamalahoa Highway and lower route named for Queen Kaahumanu.</p><br>
<p>Much of the Kona coffee crop grows on Hualālai&#39;s western slope near the town of Holualoa.</p><br>
<p>The family of early coffee merchant Henry Nicholas Greenwell owned a large ranch on the western side of the volcano. The road from Kailua-Kona up the slopes of Hualālai is named for Frank "Palani" Greenwell.</p><br>
<p>Hawaii Route 200 known as the Saddle Road, crosses the plateau north of Hualālai, where the Pohakuloa Training Area provides a remote training ground for the United States Army and United States Marine Corps.</p><br>
<h2>Recreational significance</h2><br>
<p>Hualālais many interesting features, most especially its volcanic cones, make it a popular destination for hikers. Although it is relatively easy to climb, much of the land at and around the summit of the volcano is owned by Kamehameha Schools, which routinely denies access to hikers attempting to climb it. As most, if not all, routes up to Hualālai pass through the estate, hiking on Hualālai is more or less illegal. However, the laws are not stringently enforced, and many hikers slip through anyway. One of the most popular mountaineering features is Luamakami and its sister Puhia Pele, two pit craters on Hualālai that are the deepest on the island. Puhia Pele, also known as "Peles Pit", has been explored to a depth of 862 ft, and Luamakami is known to be even deeper. The walls are scalable with the proper technical equipment.</p><br>
<h2>Ecology and environment</h2><br>
<p>Although some of Hualālai is bare volcanic rock, most of it is covered by some form of vegetation. Bushes, ferns, and grass are common, and even a few ōhia lehua trees (Metrosideros polymorpha) grow along the summit. Many of the collapse craters in particular have vegetation, and a few even have respectably-sized "vertical forests" inside, including several Eucalyptus tree groves. The volcano is populated by many birds and animals; the coast in particular attracts many fish and sea-dependent animals, such as the green sea turtle (Chelonia mydas) and the black-winged stilt (Himantopus himantopus). Hualālai averages 18.27 in of rainfall per year. The summit gets more rain than the coast and is typically obscured in heavy cloud cover and vog.</p><br>
<p>Several ecological reserves lie on the flanks of Hualālai. The Puu Waa Waa forest sanctuary was established in 1992 (along with the Laupahoehoe sister reserve on Mauna Kea) as a testbed for long term ecological research about Hawaiian moist forest and dry forest biomes, and lies within a mile of the volcano&#39;s summit on its northwestern flank. Elevation differs from sea level near the coastal edge to 6,300 ft near the summit. Median annual rainfall is about 46.7 in. Plentiful lava flows from the 19th century provide unique niches for vegetative and soil growth in the region. The southern section of the reserve, closest to the summit, has been split into a bird sanctuary.</p><br>
<p>The Honuaula forest reserve on the southwestern flank of the volcano at 19&deg;30&prime;25&Prime;N latitude, 155&deg;54&prime;41&Prime;W longitude, preserves an extensive koa (Acacia koa) forest stand, with smaller Naio (Myoporum sandwicense) and Māmane (Sophora chrysophylla) trees and an undergrowth of Ākala (Rubus hawaiensis) and various ferns. The reserve measures 655 acre and protects an ecosystem that has since been largely deforested in the surrounding area. The Wai Aha spring reserve on the lower slopes of the mountain is somewhat swampy and is home to the flowering evergreen ōhia (Metrosideros polymorpha), the woody climber Ieie (Freycinetia arborea), and a dense undergrowth of Amau (Sadleria cyatheoides).</p><br>
<p>Mount Katmai is a large stratovolcano  on the Alaska Peninsula in southern Alaska, located within Katmai National Park and Preserve. It is about 6.3 mi in diameter with a central lake-filled caldera about 3 by 2 mi  in area, formed during the Novarupta eruption of 1912. The caldera rim reaches a maximum elevation of 6,716 ft. In 1975 the surface of the crater lake was at an elevation of about 4,220 ft, and the estimated elevation of the caldera floor is about 3,400 ft. The mountain is located in Kodiak Island Borough, very close to its border with Lake and Peninsula Borough.</p><br>
<h2>Geology</h2><br>
<p>Mount Katmai is one of five vents encircling the Novarupta volcano, source of the VEI 6 eruption and associated voluminous pyroclastic flows in 1912. The volcano has caused ten known fatalities due to gas exposure. Katmai consists chiefly of lava flows, pyroclastic rocks, and non-welded to agglutinated air fall. The Quaternary volcanic rocks at Katmai and adjacent cones are less than 5,000 ft thick. Much of the volcano is mantled by snow and ice and several valley glaciers radiate out from the flanks.</p><br>
<p>Katmai volcano is built on the sedimentary rocks of the Naknek Formation of Late Jurassic age, which are exposed just west of the caldera rim at an elevation of about 5,000 ft, as well as north and southeast of the crater. Sedimentary rocks have been reported at an elevation of over 6,000 ft in the west wall of the caldera and near the bottom of the eastern wall near 3,400 ft.</p><br>
<h2>Volcanic activity</h2><br>
<p>Little is known about the historical activity of Katmai volcano before the great 1912 eruption. Early USA Coast and Geodetic Survey maps suggest a pre-caldera summit elevation of about 7,500 ft, and local villagers reported in 1898 that one of the volcanoes in the general area "smoked" occasionally.</p><br>
<p>During June 6 to 9, 1912, the most spectacular Alaskan eruption in recorded history and the twentieth century&#39;s largest measured volcanic eruption formed a large summit caldera at Katmai volcano. The eruption happened at a vent about 6 mi to the west of Mount Katmai (at the Novarupta Volcano). During over 60 hours, the volcano erupted an estimated 28 km³ of ash flows and tephra representing 13 km³ of magma volume. The eruption produced a cloud of suffocating gas and ash that blackened the sky for the inhabitants of the town of Kodiak, who, with ash falling on them were quickly led to the harbor and evacuated by boat. The withdrawal of magma beneath Katmai resulted in the collapse of the summit area, forming the caldera. Following the subsidence, a small dacitic lava dome known as Horseshoe Island was emplaced on the floor of the caldera; this is the only juvenile material erupted from Katmai caldera during the historical eruption. It was visible at the time of the expedition in 1916, but has since been submerged by the crater lake. Still, the eruption from Katmai had a VEI of 3, and possibly involved phreatic eruptions.</p><br>
<p>In 1919, geologists noted a lake covering a large part of the caldera floor, but by 1923 the lake was gone and numerous fumaroles, mud pots, and a large mud geyser had replaced it. The lake has since refilled to a depth of over 800 ft. Small glaciers have also formed on a bench within the caldera beside the lake. Pumice still floats on Naknek Lake nearby.</p><br>
<p>Trident Volcano is an eroded volcanic complex consisting of numerous domes , as high as 6,115 ft in elevation, along a northeast-southwest oriented volcanic front on the Pacific Ocean side of the Alaska Peninsula. A new dome was emplaced beginning in 1953 at an altitude of 3,599 ft in an amphitheater on the southwest flank of the southwest peak.</p><br>
<p>According to the United States Geological Survey, the descriptive name, Trident, was given by Robert Fiske Griggs of the National Geographic Society, in 1916, because there were three major peaks. The volcano has been known by several variants of the name. The feature was officially named Mount Trident by the United States Board on Geographic Names in 1928. The board assigned the current name in 1968.</p><br>
<h2>Historical volcanic activity</h2><br>
<p>There is no evidence of recent eruptive activity at the summit of Trident, nor have there been any reports of historical activity, except fumarolic activity on the east side. The earliest known activity was minor eruptions in 1913, 1949 and 1950. A satellite cone formed February 15, 1953 on the southwest flank of Trident following a major explosive eruption that sent ash to an altitude of over 5.6 mi. A succession of blocky lava flows were erupted in 1954, 1957, 1958, 1959-1960 from the new vent. Ash eruptions, some to altitudes over 7.5 mi, were associated with several of the lava eruptions. By 1960, the dome had grown nearly 853 ft high and a sequence of viscous flows, up to 984 ft thick and covering an area of about 1,200 acre south of the volcano, had been extruded. Further explosions were reported in the early to late 1960s. Lava extrusion, accompanied by explosions, was also reported from 1966 to 1968 and 1974 to 1975. In 1983, steam and/or vapor continued to rise from the central vent area of the new cone as well as from numerous fumaroles on the near-vent portion of the blocky lava flows.</p><br>
<h2>Composition</h2><br>
<p>Trident lavas are andesitic to dacitic in composition. The dominant phenocrysts are zoned plagioclase, hypersthene, calcic clinopyroxene, titanomagnetite, and rimmed olivine. The five flows which erupted from the new vent during the period from 1953 to 1963 are olivine-bearing, two pyroxene, high-silica andesite.</p><br>
<p>Glacier Peak or Dakobed  is the most isolated of the five major stratovolcanoes  of the Cascade Volcanic Arc in the U.S state of Washington. Located in the Glacier Peak Wilderness, the volcano is visible from the west in Seattle, and from the north in the higher areas of eastern suburbs of Vancouver such as Coquitlam and Port Coquitlam. The volcano is the fourth tallest peak in Washington state, and not as much is known about it compared to other volcanoes in the area. Local Native Americans have recognized Glacier Peak and other Washington volcanoes in their histories and stories. When American explorers reached the region, they learned basic information about surrounding landforms, but did not initially understand that Glacier Peak was a volcano. Positioned in Snohomish County, the volcano is only 70 mi northeast of Seattle. The only volcano closer to Seattle is Mount Rainier, but as Glacier Peak is set farther into the Cascades and almost 4,000 ft shorter, it is less noticeable than Mount Rainier.</p><br>
<p>Glacier Peak is one of the most active of Washington&#39;s volcanoes. The volcano formed during the Pleistocene epoch, about one million years ago, and since the most recent ice age, it has produced some of largest and most explosive eruptions in the state. When continental ice sheets retreated from the region, Glacier Peak began to erupt regularly, erupting explosively five times in the past 3,000 years. It has erupted repeatedly during at least six periods; two of these eruptions have been among the largest in Washington.</p><br>
<h2>Geology</h2><br>
<p>Remnants of past, prehistoric lava domes are main components of the summit of the volcano, in addition to its false summit, Disappointment Peak. Past pyroclastic flow deposits are easily visible in river valleys near the volcano, likely caused by lava dome collapse, along with ridges found east of the summit consisting of ash cloud remains.</p><br>
<p>There are also ash cloud deposits on the opposite eastern flank of the volcano. Studies of the mountain have to date been unable to find any correspondence with pyroclastic flows, but several past mudflows have been identified. In the Dusty Creek, located by the mountain, there is a lahar at least 6 km thick, containing pyroclastic flow deposits and other mudflows. However, this large mudflow is part of a 300 m thick concentration of past incidents at the volcano that spans the Dusty and Chocolate Creek. In the area at least ten cubic kilometers of lithic debris are contained. Tephra deposits are for the most part constrained to the left flank of the volcano, and at least nine past incidents have been identified. These form several layers of tephra constructing the mountain. Smaller eruptions involving tephra occurred between 6,900-5,500 years ago, 3,450–200 years ago, and as recent as 316–90 years ago.</p><br>
<p>On the mountain, about 1,800 m up, are three additional cinder cones — one at the head of White Chuck River, one at Dishpan Gap, and one near Indian Pass. The volcano has also caused thermal events such as hot springs. There were three hot springs on the mountain: Gamma, Kennedy, and Sulphur,</p><br>
<h3>Tectonic setting</h3><br>
<p>The volcano is located in Washington, and is one of the five major stratovolcanoes there. Situated in the Cascade Volcanic Arc, the volcano was created by subduction of the oceanic Juan de Fuca Plate under the North American Plate. Convergence between the two continues at a rate of 4 cm per year. This range has been volcanically active for about 36 million years, and the rocks that make up its volcanoes are between 55 and 42 million years old. Eruptions within the range are irregular and do not occur all at once. In an attempt to organize the volcanoes by age, scientists typically divide them into the High Cascades, younger volcanoes, and the Western Cascades, consisting of the older volcanoes. However, the vents in Washington are all of different ages so none of its volcanoes are included in either of the sections.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>Around the area, there were many Native Americans, and along with other Washington volcanoes, the mountain was recognized by them as a spirit. When European-American explorers reached the area, they learned about the mountain, though only partially, through local legends. Although the local people described Glacier Peak as a vital part of their storytelling and beliefs; when other volcanoes in the area were mapped, Glacier Peak was left out. In 1850 natives mentioned the volcano to naturalist George Gibbs saying that the volcano had once "smoked".</p><br>
<p>Native Americans also used the area around the Cascades for their agriculture, leading them to often congregate in the region. As a result, gold miners eventually reached the area in the 1870s-1890s, searching for resources and rich land. The first white man recorded to observe the mountain&mdash;Daniel Lindsley&mdash;was an employee of the Northern Pacific Railroad Company searching for possible railroad routes when he saw it in 1870.</p><br>
<h2>Eruptive history</h2><br>
<p>Despite its elevation of 10,541 ft, Glacier Peak is a small stratovolcano. Its relatively high summit is a consequence of its location atop a high ridge, but its volcanic portion extends only 1,600 - above the underlying ridge. Another Cascade Arc volcano with similar geomorphology is the Mount Meager massif in southwestern British Columbia, Canada, which is situated on a 1,300 ft ridge of nonvolcanic, crystalline and metamorphic rock.</p><br>
<p>Of the five major volcanoes in Washington, only Glacier Peak and Mount St. Helens have had large eruptions in the past 15,000 years. Since both volcanoes generate magma of dacitic origin, the viscous magma builds up since it cannot flow through the eruptive vent. Gradually, the pressure grows, culminating in an explosion that ejects materials such as tephra, which in its simplest form, is ash.</p><br>
<p>Tephrochronology and radiocarbon dating indicate that Glacier Peak eruptions occurred in 1700 AD ± 100 years, 1300 AD ± 300 years, 900 AD ± 50 years, 200 AD ± 50 years, 850 BC, 3150 BC, and in 3550 BC. The Volcanic Explosivity Index (VEI) for three of these was 2 to 4, small compared to the 5 of the 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens. They were characterized mainly by a central vent eruption, followed by an explosive eruption. These eruptions varied in outcome; some produced lahars, some pyroclastic flows, and others lava domes.</p><br>
<p>A little more than 13,000 years ago, a sequence of nine tephra eruptions occurred within a period of less than a few hundred years. Associated with these eruptions were pyroclastic flows. Mixed with snow, ice and water, these formed lahars that raced into three nearby rivers, filling their valleys with deep deposits. Subsequently the mudflows drained into both the North Fork of the Stillaguamish River (at that time an outlet of the Sauk River) and Skagit Rivers. In Arlington, 60 mi downstream, lahars deposited seven feet of sediment. Subsequent erosion of lahar deposits near Darrington led to the current river system with the Stillaguamish River separated from the Sauk/Skagit Rivers. Lahar debris was deposited along both the Skagit and Stillaguamish Rivers all the way to Puget Sound. A small portion of the erupted tephra was deposited locally. However, most of the tephra reached higher levels of the atmosphere, and was transported by the wind hundreds of miles. Deposits from this congregation were as thick as 1 ft near Chelan and 0.3 in near Missoula, Montana.</p><br>
<p>Since these events, Glacier Peak has produced several lahars. The largest events were 5,900 and 1,800 years ago and were associated with dome-building eruptions. In both cases, the lahars traveled down the Skagit River to Puget Sound.</p><br>
<h3>Hazards</h3><br>
<p>The risk of an eruption in any given year is currently estimated as 1 in 1,000</p><br>
<p>When lahars reach populated areas, they can bury structures and people. An example was the Armero tragedy at Nevado del Ruiz where 23,000 died from an enormous mudflow. Lahars from Glacier Peak pose a similar threat to the small communities of Darrington and Concrete and a lesser threat to the larger and rapidly growing towns of Mount Vernon and Burlington, as well as other communities along the lower Skagit and Stillaguamish Rivers. A 2005 study conducted by the United States Geological Survey identified nine Cascade volcanoes, including Glacier Peak, as "very-high-threat volcanoes with inadequate monitoring". At the time of the study, only one seismometer was installed on Glacier Peak that had not "worked in two years".</p><br>
<h2>Glaciers</h2><br>
<p>Eleven significant glaciers cover Glacier Peak. When C.E. Rusk first saw these glaciers in 1906 they were beginning to retreat, but were still very advanced. The average retreat of Glacier Peak glaciers from the Little Ice Age to the 1958 positions was 5,381 ft. Richard Hubley noted that North Cascade glaciers began to advance in the early 1950s, after 30 years of rapid retreat. The advance was in response to a sharp rise in winter precipitation and a decline in summer temperature beginning in 1944. Ten of the fifteen glaciers around Glacier Peak advanced, including all of the glaciers directly on the mountain&#39;s slopes. Advances of Glacier Peak glaciers ranged from 50 to 1575 ft and culminated in 1978. All eleven Glacier Peak glaciers that advanced during the 1950&ndash;79 period emplaced identifiable maximum advance terminal moraines. From 1984 to 2005, the average retreat of eight Glacier Peak glaciers from their recent maximum positions was 1,017 ft. Milk Lake Glacier, on the north flank of the mountain, melted away altogether in the 1990s.</p><br>
<h2>Recreation</h2><br>
<p>The Pacific Crest Trail passes near Glacier Peak. The Suiattle River crossing is a well known feature on the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT) as it passes through the area. The Suiattle PCT crossing used to have a bridge crossing until it was flooded out by storms in late 2003.</p><br>
<p>The first person to climb the mountain was Thomas Gerdine, along with a group of United States Geological Survey scientists, Sam Strom, A. H. Dubor, and Darcy Bard, in 1897. The volcano is also available to skiers. To reach the mountain itself, it takes 5 miles of walking along the White Chuck River Trail (Forest Service Trail No. 643) and up the Sitkum Glacier. The trail is reached via Forest Service Road No. 23. Mainly, the slopes consist of black diamonds for both the ascent and descent.</p><br>
<p>Three Fingered Jack, named for its distinctive shape, is a Pleistocene volcano in the Cascade Range of Oregon. It is a deeply glaciated shield volcano and consists mainly of basaltic andesite lava. Compared with other heavily glaciated volcanic peaks such as Mount Washington and Mount Thielsen, which display eroded volcanic necks as their cores, Three Fingered Jack&#39;s present summit is a narrow ridge of loose tephra supported by a dike only 10 ft thick on a generally north&ndash;south axis. Radiating dikes and plugs from a series of overlapping cinder and composite cones that support this summit have been exposed by glaciation.</p><br>
<p>"Jack Glacier" as seen from the Pacific Crest Trail in early Autumn.</p><br>
<p>The sole glacier is the unofficially-named Jack glacier, located in a shaded cirque on the northeast side at an unusually low altitude for the Oregon Cascades. The last cone-building eruptions were more explosive in nature than earlier shield-building eruptions, producing mostly unconsolidated strata. Cone-building eruptions ceased before the Pleistocene glacial period, allowing the expanded glacial cover to remove most of the cone.</p><br>
<p>While sources disagree about who the first ascenders were affiliated with, some sources calling them "the Boys from Bend," others saying they were members of the Mazamas club, one source written by one of these first ascenders clearly states who was in the party and when they climbed. Ervin McNeal, Phil Philbrook, Armin Furrer, Wilbur Watkins, Leo Harryman, and Ronald Sellars were the first to ascend Three Fingered Jack on September 3, 1923.</p><br>
<p>Three Fingered Jack is located in the Mount Jefferson Wilderness and is not accessible by paved road, but can be approached by the Pacific Crest Trail. It is regarded as extinct and has not been assessed for volcanic hazards.</p><br>
<p>Several lakes can be found in the vicinity of Three Fingered Jack. These include Marion Lake, Mowich Lake, Duffy Lake, Santiam Lake and Wasco Lake, among others.</p><br>
<p>Belknap Crater is a shield volcano in the Cascade Range in the USA state of Oregon.</p><br>
<p>Belknap volcano is a Holocene example of the process which built the High Cascade Platform during the Pleistocene. It is a small shield volcano with a capping cinder cone.</p><br>
<p>A number of other eruptions also occurred in the general area during roughly the same time period. About 1,300 years ago (1,330 C years B.P.) a series of small spatter cones formed between Belknap and Blue Lake. North of these, a phreatic explosion blasted out the crater which is today occupied by Blue Lake. To the south are several cinder cones and associated lava flows, including Collier, Four-in-One, and Yapoah cones. Four-in-One Cone has been dated at about 1,900 years old (1,980 C years B.P.) while Collier is dated at about 1,500 years old (1,600 C years B.P.)</p><br>
<h2>Little Belknap</h2><br>
<p>A small crater east of Belknap Crater is Little Belknap. The trailhead is shared with Belknap crater located on the PCT, fifteen miles west of Sisters as Highway 242 tops the McKenzie River Pass. The hike is a short 4.4 miles round trip passing through dusty Kīpukas and large lava fields with sharp softball sized pumice stones. The parking lot requires a Northwest Forest pass and is a regular stopping point for supplying treats</p><br>
<p>and supplies for PCT through Hikers. Two miles into the hike the little Belknap trail veers up and to the east towards a small summit with a spectacular view of the Three Sisters and the McKenzie Pass lava flows. On the summit there is also a makeshift wind shelter and bench for weather protection.</p><br>
<h2>Notable vents</h2><br>
<p>Box Hill is a summit of the North Downs in Surrey, approximately 30 km south-west of London. The hill takes its name from the ancient box woodland found on the steepest west-facing chalk slopes overlooking the River Mole. The western part of the hill is owned and managed by the National Trust, whilst the village of Box Hill lies on higher ground to the east. The highest point is Betchworth Clumps at 224 m above OD,</p><br>
<p>Box Hill lies within the Surrey Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and forms part of the Mole Gap to Reigate Escarpment Site of Special Scientific Interest. The north- and south-facing slopes support an area of chalk downland, noted for its orchids and other rare plant species. The hill provides a habitat for 40 species of butterfly,</p><br>
<p>An estimated 850,000 people visit Box Hill each year.</p><br>
<h2>Geography</h2><br>
<p>Box Hill stands at the south-eastern corner of the Mole Gap, the valley carved by the River Mole through the North Downs. Box Hill School is in the village of Mickleham 1.4 km to the north, and the hill overlooks the town of Dorking to the south-west. The hill is approximately 30 km south-west of central London and is the 12th highest in Surrey.</p><br>
<p>The National Trust owns and manages much of the western and north-eastern part of Box Hill. Leopold Salomons, owner of Norbury Park donated 95 hectare in 1914 in order to protect it from development. Additional land was purchased or donated between 1921 and 1999 and today the Box Hill estate covers an area of around 490 hectare, including Mickleham Downs to the north and Lower Boxhill Farm to the south.</p><br>
<p>The village of Box Hill (part of a joint civil parish with Headley) is to the east of the National Trust property. The earliest flint cottages date from the 1800s, although much of the village was constructed in the first half of the 20th century. By 2005 there were more than 800 dwellings of which over five hundred were mobile homes. An estimated 41% of the community is aged 60 or over. St Andrew&#39;s Church, part of the Parish of Headley, was opened in 1969 and the village hall opened in 1974</p><br>
<h2>Environment</h2><br>
<p>Box Hill is a Special Area of Conservation and included in a designated Site of Special Scientific Interest, affording it a level of legislative protection against planning applications. The chalk downland environment supports notable populations of bats, lepidopterans, orchids and the hill&#39;s namesake, the box tree (Buxus sempervirens). Box Hill also has over 40 species of butterflies and plants.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<h3>Early history</h3><br>
<p>The earliest archaeological evidence of human activity on Box Hill are two Bronze Age round barrows located close to the Salomons Memorial. The larger barrow is 20 m in diameter and 2.2 m high. In medieval times the larger barrow was used as a boundary marker or mere for the parish of Mickleham. Traces of prehistoric field boundaries are visible on Burford Spur and the low flint banks on the steeper and more wooded White Hill may be contemporaneous.</p><br>
<h3>Medieval and early modern periods</h3><br>
<p>The origin of the Box trees growing on the hill is disputed: Several sources from the late 18th century suggest that the first Box Trees on the Hill were planted by Thomas Howard, 21st Earl of Arundel during the reign of Charles I. Older medieval documents however make reference to local individuals with surnames including Atteboxe, de la Boxe and Buxeto, suggesting that Box was already common in the local area by the 13th century, and it has also been observed that Thomas Howard never owned the Box Hill estate. The diarist John Evelyn records a visit to the hill in August 1655 to view "those natural bowers, cabinets and shady walks in the box copses." The close grain of the Box wood made it highly prized for its timber for carving and there are numerous accounts of the sale of trees from the hill throughout the 17th and 18th centuries.</p><br>
<p>The pillow mounds to the north-east of the Salomons Memorial are thought to date from the medieval period and were probably constructed as artificial warrens for rabbits. High Ashurst warren is recorded as remaining in use until the late 18th century. A second warren was probably situated close to Warren Farm in the Headley Valley and it has been speculated that the present farmhouse was originally the warrener&#39;s cottage.</p><br>
<h3>20th century</h3><br>
<p>The proposals for a land value tax outlined by Chancellor David Lloyd George in his People&#39;s Budget of 1909 prompted the trustees of the Deepdene estate to start to sell the unimproved land on the western side of Box Hill. As a result of negotiations led by Sir Robert Hunter, one of the founders of the National Trust, Leopold Salomons of Norbury Park purchased 95 hectare which included the Old Fort, Swiss Cottage and the western flank of the hill above the River Mole, for £16,000.</p><br>
<p>Two further purchases of 28 hectare and 102 hectare transferred Lodge Hill and Ashurst Rough to National Trust ownership in 1921 and 1923. The Trust continued to purchase land, and by the mid-1980s the estate comprised some 500 hectare. The most recent additions to the Box Hill Estate include farmland at Westhumble and at the foot of the hill, purchased in the late 1990s.</p><br>
<p>The National Trust also owns Headley Heath, a geologically distinct area of heathland which lies to the north-east of Box Hill village. The majority of the heath was acquired in a single purchase in 1946.</p><br>
<h2>Public access</h2><br>
<p>Box Hill was given to the nation by Leopold Salomons in 1914.</p><br>
<p>A country park, owned by the National Trust, now provides public access to Box Hill, and the Pilgrims&#39; Way long distance footpath runs about 1 km to the south.</p><br>
<p>On the hill there are car parks and a viewpoint, from where the town of Dorking can be viewed. But that is not the highest point: the ridge rises toward the east, and most of the village of Box Hill is higher, at an altitude of around 200 m. The Ordnance Survey mark a spot height of 224 m at the radio mast at.</p><br>
<p>Near the viewpoint there is a National Trust shop containing a small visitor centre, and a café. The car parks are owned and run by the National Trust. Details of footpaths are available in this area. There are a number of public footpaths, but they are not necessarily clearly marked (e.g. the Family Fun Trail, details of which are available in the shop).</p><br>
<p>Box Hill is served by local and London bus routes, providing access to both the visitor centre and the foot of the hill, where there is another car park (opposite the Burford Bridge Hotel) that is frequented by motorcyclists.</p><br>
<p>The route to the top from the A24, known as the Zig Zag Road, is quite steep and is a popular test of fitness for cyclists. There is another small car park halfway up this road, with room for only around 10 cars.</p><br>
<p>The nearest railway station is Box Hill & Westhumble railway station.</p><br>
<h2>Sights</h2><br>
<h3>Salomons Memorial (viewpoint)</h3><br>
<p>The most notable sight on Box Hill is the view from the viewing platform. There can be a very clear view, roughly south over Dorking and further towards Gatwick Airport and right across to the South Downs, including Chanctonbury Ring and Devil&#39;s Dyke, Sussex (a distance of 26 miles, according to the inscription on the viewing platform).</p><br>
<p>The Salomons Memorial is sometimes mistakenly thought to be at the summit of the hill, but the land continues to rise to the east. The highest point is at Betchworth Clumps, a wooded area to the south of the Hand-in-Hand public house, at an elevation of 224 m. The summit is occupied by a water tower and transmitter mast.</p><br>
<h3>The Old Fort</h3><br>
<p>The Old Fort is one of 13 mobilisation centres (known collectively as the London Defence Positions) built in the 1890s to protect London from invasion from continental Europe. The six acre site of the fort was originally purchased by the Ministry of Defence in 1891, and construction began in 1896. Box Hill fort was laid out in the form of an infantry redoubt, typical of the period, but also included magazines for the storage of artillery ammunition.</p><br>
<p>The building cannot be entered by visitors. It is inhabited by bats, which are protected species in the UK.</p><br>
<h3>Broadwood's Folly</h3><br>
<p>The circular flint tower located on the northern tip of Lodge Hill was built for the piano maker Thomas Broadwood, who purchased Juniper Hall in 1815.</p><br>
<h3>Zig Zag Road</h3><br>
<p>The Zig Zag Road is the most direct route to the National Trust visitors&#39; centre from the Mole Gap for both cars and bicycles. The exact age of the Zig Zag Road is uncertain, but it first appears on the Ordnance Survey map of 1869, and has been popular with cyclists since the 1880s.</p><br>
<p>The road is a steady climb of 120 m over 2.5 km and, although on a much smaller scale, has been likened to the Alpe d&#39;Huez in the French Alps. The Zig Zag Road featured prominently in the 2012 Summer Olympics cycling road race events: in a mid-race circuit at Box Hill, the men climbed the road nine times and the women twice.</p><br>
<h3>Labilliere's Grave</h3><br>
<p>Peter Labilliere was born in Dublin on 30 May 1725 to a family of French Huguenot descent. He joined the British Army at the age of 14, becoming a major in 1760. After leaving the army he became a political agitator and was accused in 1775 of bribing British troops not to fight in the American War of Independence, although he was never tried for treason. Throughout the 1770s and 80s Labiliere corresponded regularly with both Benjamin Franklin (at that time the American representative in France) and the Long Island wax sculptor Patience Wright. The effect of his anti-war protests on British public sentiment is uncertain, although he appears to have attracted a following of over 700 like-minded adherents, and the army was required to rely on German mercenaries, as recruitment of British troops for the war became increasingly difficult.</p><br>
<p>Labilliere moved to Dorking from London in around 1789, With old age he became increasingly eccentric and neglected his own personal hygiene to such an extent that he acquired the nickname "the walking dung-hill". In accordance with his wishes he was buried head downwards in June 1800 on the western side of Box Hill above The Whites. He was buried without any religious ceremony and Labilliere is reported to have said that the world was "topsy-turvey" and that it would be righted in the end. But there was no mention of this in his "Book of Devotions": rather this states that he wished to emulate the example of St Peter, who was crucified upside-down according to tradition.</p><br>
<p>The memorial stone on Box Hill is not believed to mark the exact location of his burial (which is thought to be several metres to the west on a steep incline). There are two errors on the memorial stone itself: He was buried in June 1800 (rather than July) and all surviving manuscripts indicate that he spelt his name Labilliere (rather than Labelliere).</p><br>
<h3>Weypole and Stepping Stones</h3><br>
<p>The Weypole (or Waypole) is a roughly semi-circular 2.4 hectare area of level ground at the foot of Box Hill, between The Whites and the River Mole. The area was originally part of the grounds of Burford Lodge, built by John Eckersall in 1776, and the apple and cherry trees in the area suggest that it was used as an orchard for a time. The Burford Lodge estate was later owned by the horticulturalist Sir Trevor Lawrence, who created a garden along the banks of the Mole for his collection of orchids.</p><br>
<p>A ford across the River Mole is thought to have existed here since prehistoric times. The way-pole was a notched post secured in the riverbed, to indicate the depth of the water. Stepping stones at this site are first recorded in 1841 and they may have been installed by an owner of Burford Lodge to facilitate access to the Weypole orchard. The current stones were dedicated on 11 September 1946 by Prime Minister Clement Attlee, at the request of James Chuter Ede, local politician and Attlee&#39;s Home Secretary, replacing those destroyed during World War 2 as an anti-invasion measure. The spot is popular with both anglers and families, although swimming is strongly discouraged. The stones give their name to the pub in the nearby village of Westhumble.</p><br>
<h3>Other</h3><br>
<p>John Logie Baird, the inventor of the first working television system, lived at Swiss Cottage from 1929 until 1932. Baird conducted some of his experiments on Box Hill, including his Noctovisor, an infra-red viewing device.</p><br>
<p>The Burford Bridge Hotel and Juniper Hall Field Studies Centre lie at the foot of Box Hill close to the river Mole. Both are rich in historical associations with famous visitors and residents.</p><br>
<h2>Cultural references</h2><br>
<p>John Evelyn notes in his Diary in 1662 that Box Hill was frequented by the ladies and gentlemen from nearby Epsom spa.</p><br>
<p>In 1733, George Lambert painted Box Hill. The painting is now in The Tate.</p><br>
<p>An important passage of Jane Austen&#39;s novel Emma is set at Box Hill.</p><br>
<p>In England: A Nation, (London: R. Brimley Johnson, 1904), edited by Lucian Oldershaw, and in a chapter entitled "The Patriotic Idea" written by G. K. Chesterton, the beauty of Box Hill violated by an invading army is used to express a healthy patriot&#39;s love for his nation is opposed to the jingoistic nationalism of tabloid newspapers: "But just as a man who has been in love will find it difficult to write a whole frantic epic about a flirtation, so all that kind of rhetoric about the Union Jack and the Anglo-Saxon blood, which has made amusing the journalism of this country for the last six years, will be merely impossible to the man who has for one moment called up before himself what would be the real sensation of hearing that a foreign army was encamped on Box Hill."</p><br>
<p>The 1981 Public Image Ltd song "The Flowers of Romance", from the album of the same title, includes the line "I’ve got binoculars on top of Box Hill".</p><br>
<p>British biker rock band, Dumpys Rusty Nuts, released a single called Boxhill or Bust&#39; in the early 1980s. The song is something of a cult anthem for bikers, and reflects the popularity of Box Hill amongst the biking community.</p><br>
<p>Musician Ben Watt of Everything But The Girl wrote a song "On Box Hill", released as the B side of the single "Some Things Don&#39;t Matter" (Cherry Red Records) in 1983. This song about a sunny day on Box Hill also appears on his début album North Marine Drive.</p><br>
<p>In Richard Thompsons song "1952 Vincent Black Lightning", Box Hill is the location to which James and Red Molly ride on James motorcycle. In the cover version of this song by bluegrass artist Del McCoury on the album Del and the Boys, Box Hill is changed to Knoxville, a city in Tennessee, USA</p><br>
<p>Mystery author Cyril Hare sets his 1954 novel, That Yew Tree&#39;s Shade (published in the USA as Death Walks the Woods) at "Yew Hill", which Hare admits in an introduction is modelled on Box Hill.</p><br>
<p>Actor and singer Tom Felton&#39;s song called "Time Well Spent" mentions him going to "chill out on Box Hill".</p><br>
<p>The 2012 British film Berberian Sound Studio contains a short film-within-the-film - a spoof 1970s-style documentary about the outstanding natural and man-made features of Box Hill.</p><br>
<p>The Catskill Mountains, also known as the Catskills, are a physiographic province of the larger Appalachian Mountains, located in southeastern New York. As a cultural and geographic region, the Catskills are generally defined as those areas close to or within the borders of the Catskill Park, a 700,000 acre forest preserve protected from many forms of development under New York state law.</p><br>
<p>Geologically, the Catskills are a mature dissected plateau, a once-flat region subsequently uplifted and eroded into sharp relief by watercourses. The Catskills form the northeastern end of the Allegheny Plateau (also known as the Appalachian Plateau).</p><br>
<p>The Catskills are well known in American culture, both as the setting for many 19th-century Hudson River School paintings and as the favored destination for vacationers from New York City in the mid-20th century. The region&#39;s many large resorts gave countless young stand-up comedians an opportunity to hone their craft. In addition, the Catskills have long been a haven for artists, musicians, and writers, especially in and around the towns of Phoenicia and Woodstock.</p><br>
<h2>Etymology</h2><br>
<p>Nicolaes Visscher I&#39;s 1656 map of New Netherland located the Landt van Kats Kill at the mouth of Catskill creek. The region to the south is identified as Hooge Landt van Esopus (High Lands of the Esopus), a reference to a local band northern Lenape Native Americans who inhabited the banks of the Hudson and hunted in the highlands along the Esopus Creek.</p><br>
<p>While the meaning of the name ("cat creek" in Dutch) and the namer (early Dutch explorers) are settled matters, how and why the area is named "Catskills" is a mystery. Mountain lions (catamounts) were known to have been in the area when the Dutch arrived in the 17th century and may have been a reason for the name.</p><br>
<p>The confusion over the origins of the name led over the years to variant spellings such as Kaatskill and Kaaterskill, both of which are also still used: the former in the regional magazine Kaatskill Life, the latter as the name of a mountain peak and a waterfall. The supposed Indian name for the range, Onteora ("land in the sky"), was actually created by a white man in the mid-19th century to drum up business for a resort. It, too, persists today as the name of a school district and as the name of a Boy Scout summer camp (Onteora Scout Reservation).</p><br>
<h2>Geography</h2><br>
<p>The Catskills are located approximately 100 mi north-northwest of New York City and 40 mi southwest of Albany, starting west of the Hudson River. The Catskills occupy much or all of five counties: (Delaware, Greene, Schoharie, Sullivan, and Ulster), with some areas falling into the boundaries of southwestern Albany, eastern Broome, northwestern Orange, and southern Otsego counties. Foothills are also found in southeastern Chenango, southern Montgomery, northern Otsego, and western Schenectady counties.</p><br>
<p>At the eastern end of the range, the mountains begin quite dramatically with the Catskill Escarpment rising up suddenly from the Hudson Valley. The western boundary is far less certain, as the mountains gradually decline in height and grade into the rest of the Allegheny Plateau. Nor is there a consensus on where the Catskills end to the north or south.</p><br>
<p>The Poconos, to the immediate southwest in Pennsylvania, are technically a continuation of the Catskills under a different name. The Catskills contain more than 30 peaks above 3,500 ft and parts of six important rivers. The Catskill Mountain 3500 Club is an organization whose members have climbed all the peaks in the Catskills over 3,500 ft. The highest mountain, Slide Mountain in Ulster County, has an elevation of 4,180 ft.</p><br>
<p>Climatically, the Catskills lie within the Allegheny Highlands forests ecoregion.</p><br>
<h2>Geology</h2><br>
<p>Although the Catskills are sometimes compared with the Adirondack Mountains farther north, the two mountain ranges are not geologically related, as the Adirondacks are a continuation of the Canadian Shield. Similarly, the Shawangunk Ridge, which forms the southeastern edge of the Catskills, is part of the geologically distinct Ridge-and-Valley province and is a continuation of the same ridge known as Kittatinny Mountain in New Jersey and Blue Mountain in Pennsylvania.</p><br>
<p>The Catskill Mountains are more of a dissected plateau than a series of mountain ranges. The sediments that make up the rocks in the Catskills were deposited when the ancient Acadian Mountains in the east were rising and subsequently eroding. The sediments traveled westward and formed a great delta into the sea that was in the area at that time. The escarpment of the Catskill Mountains is near the former (landward) edge of this delta, as the sediments deposited in the northeastern areas along the escarpment were deposited above sea level by moving rivers, and the Acadian Mountains were located roughly where the Taconic Mountains are located today (though significantly larger). Finer sediment was deposited further westward, and thus the rocks change from gravel conglomerates to sandstone and shale. Further west, these fresh water deposits intermingle with shallow marine sandstone and shale until the end, in deeper water limestone.</p><br>
<p>The uplift and erosion of the Acadian Mountains was occurring during the Devonian and early Mississippian period (395 to 325 million years ago). Over that time, thousands of feet of these sediments built up, slowly moving the Devonian seashore further west. A meteor impact occurred in the shallow sea approximately 375 mya, creating a 10 km diameter crater. This crater eventually filled with sediments and became Panther Mountain through the process of uplift and erosion. By the middle of the Mississippian period, the uplift stopped, and the Acadian Mountains had been eroded so much that sediments no longer flowed across the Catskill Delta.</p><br>
<p>Over time, the sediments were buried by more sediments from other areas, until the original Devonian and Mississippian sediments were deeply buried and slowly became solid rock. Then the entire area experienced uplift, which caused the sedimentary rocks to begin to erode. Today, those upper sedimentary rocks have been completely removed, exposing the Devonian and Mississippian rocks. Today’s Catskills are a result of the continued erosion of these rocks, both by streams and, in the recent past, by glaciers.</p><br>
<p>In successive Ice Ages, both valley and continental glaciers have widened the valleys and the notches of the Catskills and rounded the mountains. Grooves and scratches in exposed bedrock provides evidence of the great sheets of ice that once traversed through the region. Even today the erosion of the mountains continues, with the region’s rivers and streams deepening and widening the mountains’ valleys and cloves.</p><br>
<h2>Recreation</h2><br>
<h3>Aquatic sports and recreation</h3><br>
<p>Esopus Creek is a 65.4 mi tributary of the Hudson River, starting at Winnisook Lake on Slide Mountain. It flows acrossUlster County to the Hudson River at Saugerties. The Esopus is noted for making an almost 270-degree turn around Panther Mountain, following a buried 6 mi impact crater rim. It is famous for tubing, a sport of rafting down a river in an inner tube. Many tubers begin their trip at Phoenicia, New York, and head down the creek towards the Ashokan Reservoir at Olive, New York.</p><br>
<p>The Ashokan Reservoir is part of the New York City water supply system, with fishing allowed under permit, but swimming and most other recreational uses are forbidden.</p><br>
<p>River canoeing and kayaking are popular. There are 42 rapids ranging from class I to V+.</p><br>
<p>The Esopus Creek is famous for its fly fishing, although in recent years it has been plagued by invasive plants. Another great place to fish is Roscoe, New York, also known as trout town USA. Every April 1 people flock there from all over to kick off the start of fly fishing season.</p><br>
<h3>Bicycling</h3><br>
<p>Road and mountain bicycling are popular in the range. Bicycle racing includes The Tour of the Catskills, a three-day road stage race held in Green and Ulster counties each summer, and the UCI Mountain Bike World Cup in Windham. Other cycling resources include the Catskill Scenic Trail and the Headwaters Trails in Stamford. Several ski centers provide downhill mountain bicycling in the warmer months.</p><br>
<h3>Hiking and camping</h3><br>
<p>Within the range is the Catskill Park, comprising over 700,000 acre. Catskill Park is part of New Yorks Forest Preserve. Not all the land is publicly owned; about 60% remains in private hands, but new sections are added frequently. Most of the park and the preserve are within Ulster County, with a significant portion in Greene County, and parts in Sullivan and Delaware counties as well. Many of the trails in public areas are maintained and updated by the New York–New Jersey Trail Conference and the Catskill Mountain 3500 Club. Devils Path is one of the many trails open for hikers. Spots to camp in the Catskills include Bear Spring Mountain, Little Pond, Mongaup Pond, and North-South Lake.</p><br>
<h3>Skiing</h3><br>
<p>There are five main downhill ski and snowboard areas in the Catskills: Belleayre Mountain (run by the Olympic Regional Development Authority); Hunter Mountain (the first ski area to install snowmaking machines in New York); Windham Mountain; Holiday Mountain Ski and Fun in Monticello; and Plattekill Mountain in Roxbury.</p><br>
<p>Joppenbergh Mountain, in Rosendale Village hosted its first ski jumping competition in 1937. Ski jumping was continued on the mountain until February 7, 1971, when the last competition was held.</p><br>
<p>The Mountain Trails Cross Country Ski Center in Tannersville has 22 mi of trails.</p><br>
<h2>Structures</h2><br>
<h3>Fire towers</h3><br>
<p>The Catskill Mountains fire towers were constructed to facilitate forest fire prevention and control. Twenty-three fire towers were built in the Catskill Mountains between 1908 and 1950. The fire towers fell out of use by the 1970s as fire spotting from airplanes had become more effective and efficient, so the fire towers were decommissioned; the Hunter Mountain Fire Tower was the last to be taken out of service in 1990. All but five of the towers were dismantled. The five remaining towers have been renovated and opened to the public as observation posts because of the extraordinary views they provide. The remaining towers are:</p><br>
<p>Balsam Lake Mountain Fire Observation Station near Hardenburgh, elevation 3,723 ft</p><br>
<p>Hunter Mountain Fire Tower near Hunter, elevation 4,042 ft</p><br>
<p>Overlook Mountain Tower near Woodstock, elevation 3,140 ft</p><br>
<p>Red Hill Fire Tower near Denning, elevation 2,990 ft</p><br>
<p>Tremper Mountain Fire Tower near Shandaken, elevation 2,740 ft</p><br>
<h3>Notable landmarks</h3><br>
<p>The Catskill Mountain House, built in 1824, was a famous hotel near Palenville, New York, in the Catskill Mountains overlooking the Hudson River Valley. In its prime at the turn of the century, visitors included United States Presidents Ulysses S. Grant, Chester A. Arthur and Theodore Roosevelt.</p><br>
<p>Shortly after it was completed, the Mountain House became a favorite subject for Washington Irving and artists from the new Hudson River School, most notably artists Thomas Cole and William Henry Bartlett.</p><br>
<h2>Transportation</h2><br>
<p>From 1872, the Catskills were served by the Catskill Mountain Branch of the Ulster and Delaware Railroad which was absorbed into the New York Central railroad in 1932. Passenger rail service continued until 1954. Part of the line still exists but now serves only freight. The Delaware and Ulster Railroad is a heritage railroad, based in Arkville, New York, that still runs a scenic part of the track from Highmount to Hubbell Corners, New York, for tourist use. The Catskill Mountain Railroad is also a heritage railroad in the Catskills, operating from Kingston up to Highmount.</p><br>
<p>The Catskills are accessible by automobile from the east along Interstate 87/New York State Thruway, which runs north–south through the Hudson Valley. To the south and southwest, the Catskills are accessible by a variety of highways, including New York State Route 55, USA Route 44, USA Route 209, and New York State Route 17. Access to the western Catskills is provided by New York State Route 30; and the vaguely defined far-western edge of the region is variously considered to be New York State Route 10 or Interstate 88, though this boundary remains a matter of local preference. New York State Routes 28 and 23A cut east–west through the heart of the Catskills, serving many of the most popular outdoor tourist destinations. New York State Route 23 runs east–west across the Catskills&#39; northern section.</p><br>
<p>The closest major airports to the Catskill region are Albany International Airport to the north and Stewart International Airport in Newburgh to the south. Smaller airports in the region include:</p><br>
<p>Columbia County Airport in Hudson</p><br>
<p>Dutchess County Airport in Poughkeepsie</p><br>
<p>Joseph Y. Resnick Airport in Ellenville</p><br>
<p>Kingston-Ulster Airport</p><br>
<p>Kobelt Airport in Wallkill</p><br>
<p>Randall Airport in Middletown</p><br>
<p>Sullivan County International Airport in Monticello</p><br>
<p>Wurtsboro-Sullivan County Airport</p><br>
<h2>In popular culture</h2><br>
<p>More than 3 dozen films have their setting in the Catskills. The Hudson Valley Film Commission maintains a list of films set in the Hudson Valley / Catskills Region.</p><br>
<p>The town of Bethel, New York, located in the Catskills was home to the famous Woodstock Music festival in 1969. The music festival took place from August 15-18, 1969. Thirty-two music acts performed in front of over 500,000 concert-goers. The event was captured in the documentary movie Woodstock (1970). The site is now home to the world renowned Bethel Woods Center for the Arts.</p><br>
<p>The many hotels and vacation resorts located in the Catskills are notable in American cultural history for their role in the development of modern stand-up comedy. Comedians such as Rodney Dangerfield, Jackie Mason, and Don Rickles all got their start performing in Catskill hotel venues colloquially referred to as the Borscht Belt.</p><br>
<p>The Iolani Palace was the royal residence of the rulers of the Kingdom of Hawaii beginning with Kamehameha III under the Kamehameha Dynasty  and ending with Queen Liliʻuokalani  under the Kalākaua Dynasty, founded by her brother, King David Kalākaua. It is located in the capitol district of downtown Honolulu in the USA state of Hawaii. It is now a National Historic Landmark listed on the National Register of Historic Places. After the monarchy was overthrown in 1893, the building was used as the capitol building for the Provisional Government, Republic, Territory, and State of Hawaii until 1969. The palace was restored and opened to the public as a museum in 1978. The &#39;Iolani Palace is the only royal palace on US soil.</p><br>
<h2>Early history</h2><br>
<h3>Pohukaina and the House of Kamehameha</h3><br>
<p>In the early 19th century, the area near an ancient burial site was known as Pohukaina. It is believed to be the name of a chief (sometimes spelled Pahukaina) who according to legend chose a cave in Kanehoalani in the Koʻolau Range for his resting place. The land belonged to Kekauluohi, who later ruled as Kuhina Nui, as part of her birthright. She lived there with her husband Charles Kanaina. Kekūanāoʻa also had his home just west of Kekauluohi called Haliimaile and Keoni Ana lived in Kīnaʻu Hale (which was later converted into the residence of the royal chamberlain), all members of the House of Kamehameha.</p><br>
<p>This area was a sacred burial site for the aliʻi (ruling class). Kekāuluohi and Kanaʻina&#39;s original home was similar to that of the other estates in the neighborhood consisting of small buildings used for different purposes. The sitting and sleeping area had a folding door entrance of green painted wood under glass upper panels. The house had two rooms separated by a festooned tent door of chintz fabric and was carpeted with hand crafted makaloa mats. In the front was a lounge area opposite a sideboard and mirror. In the middle they placed a semi circle of armchairs with a center table where the couple would write. Four matching cabinet-bookshelves with glass doors were set in each corner of the room with silk scarves hanging from each. In his book, A visit to the South Seas, in the USA Ship Vincennes: during the years 1829 and 1830, Charles Samuel Stewart describes the area and homes in detail.</p><br>
<p>Next to their home was an old estate that had been demolished called Hanailoia. This was the spot oral history told of an ancient heiau (temple to the Hawaiian religion) called Kaʻahaimauli that was destroyed here. In July 1844 Kekūanāoʻa began building a large home here as a gift to his daughter Victoria Kamāmalu. Instead, Kamehameha III would buy the estate and use as his Royal Residence after moving the capitol of the kingdom to Honolulu. It would become the Iolani Palace. As older alii died, the lands were passed down and concentrated into fewer hands. Kekāuluohi&#39;s lands were passed down to her from the Kamehameha family. When she died, she left her accumulated lands and wealth to her son, not her husband Kanaʻina however, Lunalilo predeceased his father.</p><br>
<h4>Tomb</h4><br>
<p>After 1825, the first Western-style royal tomb was constructed for the bodies of King Kamehameha II and his queen Kamāmalu. They were buried on August 23, 1825. The idea was heavily influenced by the tombs at Westminster Abbey during Kamehameha II&#39;s trip to London. The mausoleum was a small house made of coral blocks with a thatched roof. It had no windows, and it was the duty of two chiefs to guard the iron-locked koa door day and night. No one can enter the vault except for burials or Memorial Day, a Hawaiian holiday celebrated on December 30.</p><br>
<p>Over time, as more bodies were added, the small vault became crowded, so other chiefs and retainers were buried in unmarked graves nearby. In 1865 a selected 20 coffins were removed to the Royal Mausoleum of Hawaii called Mauna ʻAla in Nuʻuanu Valley. But many chiefs remain on the site including: Keaweʻīkekahialiʻiokamoku, Kalaniopuu, Chiefess Kapiolani, and Timothy Haalilio.</p><br>
<p>After being overgrown for many years, the Hawaiian Historical Society passed a resolution in 1930 requesting Governor Lawrence Judd to memorialize the site with the construction of a metal fence enclosure and a plaque. Tradition holds that the tomb was on the site of a former cave.</p><br>
<h3>Hale Aliʻi</h3><br>
<p>The home built by Kekūanāoʻa was a wood and stone building called Hale Aliʻi meaning (House of the Chiefs). It had only one-third the floor space of the present palace. Mataio Kekūanāoʻa, who was long-time Royal Governor of Oʻahu and husband of Kīnaʻu, the daughter of Kamehameha I. He built the large home for his daughter Princess Victoria Kamāmalu who, from birth, was expected to rule in some capacity. It was purchased by King Kamehameha III from Kamāmalu (the King&#39;s niece) when he moved his capital from Lahaina to Honolulu in 1845.</p><br>
<p>It was constructed as a traditional aliʻi residence with only ceremonial spaces, no sleeping rooms. It just had a throne room, a reception room, and a state dining room, with other houses around for sleeping and for retainers. Kamehameha III slept in a cooler grass hut around the palace. He called his home Hoʻihoʻikea, a separate building flanking the palace on the west side in honor of his restoration after the Paulet Affair of 1843. Kamehameha IV build a separate house on the east side of the palace called Ihikapukalani (on the mauka side) and Kauluhinano (on the makai side).</p><br>
<h4>ʻIolani Palace</h4><br>
<p>During Kamehameha Vs reign Hale Aliʻis name was changed to ʻIolani Palace, after his brother Kamehameha IVs given names (his full name was Alexander Liholiho Keawenui ʻIolani). It refers to the ʻIo (royal hawk). The Palace served as the official residence of the monarch during the reigns of Kamehameha III, Kamehameha IV, Kamehameha V, Lunalilo, and the first part of Kalākauas reign.</p><br>
<p>The original structure was very simple in design and was more of a stately home than a palace, but at the time, it was the grandest house in town. The palace was largely meant for receiving foreign dignitaries and state functions with the monarch preferring to sleep in private homes.</p><br>
<h3>Seat of government</h3><br>
<p>Kamehameha I formed his official government at Lahaina, Maui in 1802, where he built the kingdoms first royal residence called the Brick Palace. The Lahaina palace remained the seat of government under the first three Kamehameha monarchs until 1845 when Kamehameha III moved the royal court. Lahaina had been the seat of government, where the royal courts of many chiefs of Maui had been located, including Kahekili II until 1794. In 1845 Kamehameha III moved the Royal Court and capitol to Honolulu. Hale Alii would become the seat of government and would remain so through the subsequent Kamehameha monarchs. After 1874, the main seat of government was transferred to the new central government building left by Kamehameha V. After the overthrow the provisional government would use the Iolani Palace as the seat of government. While a territory, the palace was called: The Capitol of the Territorial Government. It would also serve as the first state capitol building. The area was culturally significant as a seat of government for many reasons including the palaces size, orientation and other factors of religious importance and bridged the ancient history of Hawaii with the new 19th century monarchy.</p><br>
<h2>Kalākaua's ʻIolani Palace</h2><br>
<p>By the time David Kalākaua assumed the throne, the original Iolani Palace was in poor condition, suffering from ground termite damage. He ordered the old palace to be razed.</p><br>
<p>Kalākaua was the first monarch to travel around the world. While visiting Europe, he took note of the grand palaces owned by other monarchs. Like Kamehameha V, he dreamed of a royal palace befitting of the sovereignty of a modern state such as Hawaii. He commissioned the construction a new Iolani Palace, directly across the street from Aliiōlani Hale, to become the official palace of the Hawaiian monarchy.</p><br>
<h3>Design and construction</h3><br>
<p>Thomas J. Baker designed the structure, Charles J. Wall added details, and architect Isaac Moore. The cornerstone was laid December 31, 1879 during the administration of Minister of the Interior Samuel Gardner Wilder. It was built of brick with concrete facing. The building was completed in November 1882 and cost over $340,000 — a vast fortune at the time. It measures about 140 ft by 100 ft, and rises two stories over a raised basement to 54 ft high. It has four corner towers and two in the center rising to 76 ft. On February 12, 1883 a formal European-style coronation ceremony was held, even though Kalākaua had reigned for 9 years. The coronation pavilion officially known as Keliiponi Hale was later moved to the southwest corner of the grounds and converted to a bandstand for the Royal Hawaiian Band.</p><br>
<p>Iolani Palace features architecture seen nowhere else in the world. This unique style is known as American Florentine. On the first floor a grand hall faces a staircase of koa wood. Ornamental plaster decorates the interior. The throne room (southeast corner), the blue meeting room, and the dining room adjoin the hall. The blue room included a large 1848 portrait of King Louis Philippe of France and a koa wood piano where Liliuokalani played her compositions for guests. Upstairs are the private library and bedrooms of the Hawaiian monarchs. It had electricity and telephones even before the White House.</p><br>
<p>It served as the official residence of the Hawaiian monarch until the 1893 overthrow of the Kingdom of Hawaii. Therein not only Liliuokalani, but, Queen Kapiolani and other royal retainers were evicted from the palace after the overthrow.</p><br>
<p>The palace is the only official state residence of royalty on USA soil.</p><br>
<h3>Royal imprisonment and trial</h3><br>
<p>Upon the overthrow of the monarchy by the Committee of Safety in 1893, troops of the newly formed Provisional Government of Hawaii took control of Iolani Palace. After a few months government offices moved in and it was renamed the "Executive Building" for the Republic of Hawaii. Government officials carefully inventoried its contents and sold at public auctions whatever furniture or furnishings were not suitable for government operations. Queen Liliuokalani was imprisoned for nine months in a small room on the upper floor after the second of the Wilcox rebellions in 1895. The quilt she made is still there. The trial was held in the former throne room.</p><br>
<p>When a proposed annexation treaty up for ratification, the Hawaiian Patriotic League held a protest rally at the palace on September 6, 1897. They gathered petition signatures in an effort to demonstrate the treaty did not have popular support. On August 12, 1898 USA troops from the came ashore and raised the Flag of the United States at the palace to mark the annexation by the Newlands Resolution. The Queen and other Hawaiian nobles did not attend, staying at Washington Place instead. The building served as the capitol of the Territory of Hawaii, the military headquarters during World War II, and the State of Hawaii. During the government use of the palace, the second floor royal bedroom became the governor&#39;s office, while the legislature occupied the entire first floor. The representatives met in the former throne room and the senate in the former dining room.</p><br>
<p>When Liliuokalani died in 1917, territorial governor Lucius E. Pinkham accorded her the honor of a state funeral in the throne room of the palace.</p><br>
<h3>Archives</h3><br>
<p>After annexation, there was a fear that all records would be moved to the mainland. Since an 1847 effort by Robert Crichton Wyllie, a set of archives had been kept of all kingdom records. A new fireproof building was built in 1906 on the grounds just to the southeast of the palace. It included a vault 30 ft by 40 ft with steel shelves. At first it was to be called the Hall of Records, but the name Archives of Hawaii made it clear the documents included those from the kingdom. A new Kekāuluohi building provides digital access to some of the collections.</p><br>
<h2>Palace restoration</h2><br>
<p>In 1930 the interior of Iolani Palace was remodeled, and wood framing replaced by steel and reinforced concrete. The name Iolani Palace was officially restored in 1935.</p><br>
<p>During World War II, it served as the temporary headquarters for the military governor in charge of martial law in the Hawaiian Islands.</p><br>
<p>The Hawaiian soldiers of Japanese ancestry who were accepted for service in the USA Army became the core of the 442nd Infantry Regiment. Before leaving Hawaii for training on the mainland, they were sworn in during a mass ceremony on the grounds of the Palace.</p><br>
<p>Through more than 70 years as a functional but neglected government building, the Palace fell into disrepair. After Hawaii became a state, Governor John A. Burns began an effort to restore the palace in the 1960s. The first step was to move the former Iolani Barracks building from its original position northeast of the palace. It now serves as a visitors center for the palace.</p><br>
<p>Iolani Palace was designated a National Historic Landmark on December 29, 1962 and added as site 66000293 to the National Register of Historic Places listings in Oahu on October 15, 1966. Government offices vacated the Palace in 1969 and moved to the newly constructed Hawaii State Capitol building on the former barracks site. In preparation for restoration, the Junior League of Honolulu researched construction, furnishings, and palace lifestyle in nineteenth-century newspapers, photographs and archival manuscripts. Overseeing the restoration was The Friends of Iolani Palace, founded by Liliuokalani Kawānanakoa Morris, grand-niece of Queen Kapiolani. Two wooden additions were removed and the interior was restored based on original plans.</p><br>
<p>Through the efforts of acquisitions researchers and professional museum staff, and donations of individuals, many original Palace objects have been returned. Government grants and private donations funded reproduction of original fabrics and finishes to restore Palace rooms to their monarchy era appearance. Iolani Palace opened to the public in 1978 after structural restoration of the building was completed. In the basement is a photographic display of the Palace, orders and decorations given by the monarchs, and an exhibit outlining restoration efforts.</p><br>
<p>The grounds of Iolani Palace are managed by the Hawaii State Department of Land and Natural Resources but the palace building itself is managed as a historical house museum by the Friends of Iolani Palace, a non-profit non-governmental organization. The birthdays of King Kalākaua (November 16) and Queen Kapiolani (December 28) are celebrated with ceremonies.</p><br>
<h3>Contemporary events</h3><br>
<p>On January 17, 1993, a massive observation was held on the grounds of Iolani Palace to mark the 100th anniversary of the overthrow of the Hawaiian monarchy. A torchlight vigil was held at night, with the palace draped in black.</p><br>
<p>On April 30, 2008, Iolani Palace was overtaken by a group of native Hawaiians who called themselves the Hawaiian Kingdom Government to protest what they view as illegitimate rule by the United States. Mahealani Kahau, "head of state" of the group, said they do not recognize Hawaii as a USA state, but would keep the occupation of the palace peaceful. "The Hawaiian Kingdom Government is here and it doesn&#39;t plan to leave. This is a continuity of the Hawaiian Kingdom of 1892 to today," Kahau said. Friends of Iolani Palace released a statement stating: "We respect the freedom of Hawaiian groups to hold an opinion on the overthrow of the Hawaiian Kingdom, we believe that blocking public access to Iolani Palace is wrong and certainly detrimental to our mission to share the Palace and its history with our residents, our keiki (children), and our visitors."</p><br>
<p>A movie titled Princess Kaiulani about Princess Victoria Kaiulani Cleghorn was filmed at the palace in 2008.</p><br>
<h2>Citations</h2><br>
<p>Île Bizard is an island near the Island of Montreal in the Hochelaga Archipelago region.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>Historically named Île Bonaventure, by 1723 it had come to be named Île Bizard, after Jacques Bizard, to whom it was conceded as a fief in 1678, part of the Seigneurial system of New France. The island was also used by the settlers of New France, as a way to get timber into Montreal from the river using Timber rafting.</p><br>
<h3>Modern</h3><br>
<p>It was formerly a separate municipality named Ville de LÎle-Bizard, but was forcefully merged with of the city of Montreal, and made into the borough of LÎle-Bizard–Sainte-Geneviève.</p><br>
<p>The numbers to demerge on June 20, 2004 were: Registered to vote 10 068. Yes 3,391. No 1,947. Yes and No votes combined 5,365.</p><br>
<h2>Geography</h2><br>
<p>The Jacques Bizard Bridge connects it across the Rivière des Prairies with Sainte-Geneviève on the Island of Montreal. The seasonal Laval-sur-le-Lac Île-Bizard Ferry provides a connection to Laval-sur-le-Lac on Île Jésus (Laval). This ferry does not operate in the winter.</p><br>
<h3>Land use</h3><br>
<p>Bois-de-l&#39;Île-Bizard Nature Park is a 201-hectare park which contains marsh lands and several kilometres of nature trails, accessible year round. There is also a small beach at Pointe-aux-Carrières that faces the Lac des Deux-Montagnes. The Royal Montreal Golf Club, the Golf Saint-Raphael and Elm Ridge Country Club are located on the island.</p><br>
<p>Land has been reserved on the island for the future extension of Autoroute 440 from Laval to connect with Autoroute 40 at Chemin Ste-Marie. This will avoid having to drive on the Autoroute 40 to get to Autoroute 13 and Autoroute 15 and provide another beltway around the city in addition to Autoroute 30 on the South Shore. Many people who live on the island are against it, as Île Bizard is a calm and serene country environment and they feel like it would cause more traffic and pollution to the fresh air.</p><br>
<p>However, the City of Montreal has purchased considerable amounts of land and protects them as natural parks, which include swamps, beaches, forest and other ecosystems; these are open to the public.</p><br>
<h2>Sports</h2><br>
<p>The island has two notable sports complexes: Parc Eugène-Dostie and Complexe Sportif Saint-Raphaël.</p><br>
<p>The PGA Golf Tour comes to lîle Bizards Royal Montreal golf course every few years.</p><br>
<p>It is also notable that Vincent Lecavalier, a former NHL player was born on the island in 1980. Former NHL player Guy Lafleur is also a resident of the island.</p><br>
<p>Comino , formerly called Ephaestia, is a small island of the Maltese archipelago between the islands of Malta and Gozo in the Mediterranean Sea, measuring 3.5 km&sup2; in area. Named after the cumin seed that once flourished in the Maltese islands, Comino is noted for its tranquility and isolation. It has a permanent population of only three residents, following the death of the fourth resident in 2017. One priest and one policeman commute from the nearby island of Gozo, to render their services to the local population and summertime visitors. Today, Comino is a bird sanctuary and nature reserve. Administratively, it is part of the municipality of Għajnsielem, in southeastern Gozo.</p><br>
<h2>Environment</h2><br>
<p>The island has a karst landscape supporting sclerophyllous shrubland. Some limited afforestation with pine trees has been carried out. The sand-dunes at Santa Maria bay retain some native vegetation, including Vitex and Tamarix trees. The island has been identified as an Important Bird Area (IBA) by BirdLife International because it supports 50–80 breeding pairs of yelkouan shearwaters.</p><br>
<p>Human population on the island is of only 3 permanent residents, since May 2017, after the death of Maria Said at age 90 in the same month.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>Comino is known to have been inhabited by farmers during Roman times, but for long periods in its history it has been sparsely populated, privately owned, or abandoned entirely.</p><br>
<p>Its rugged coastline is delineated by sheer limestone cliffs, and dotted with deep caves which were popular with pirates and marauders in the Middle Ages. The caves and coves of Comino were frequently used as staging posts for raids on hapless boats crossing between Malta and Gozo. In later years, the Knights of Malta used this island as hunting and recreational grounds. The Knights were fiercely protective of the local game, which consisted of wild boar and hares (Maltese: fenek tal-grixti): upon conviction, poachers were liable to a penalty of three years as a galley slave.</p><br>
<p>From 1285 until some time after 1290, Comino was the home of exiled prophetic cabbalist Abraham Abulafia. It was on Comino that Abulafia composed his "Sefer ha-Ot" (The Book of the Sign), and his last work, "Imre Shefer" (Words of Beauty).</p><br>
<p>In the 16th and 17th centuries, Comino served as a place of imprisonment or exile for errant knights. Knights who were convicted of minor crimes were occasionally sentenced to the lonely and dangerous task of manning St. Mary&#39;s Tower.</p><br>
<p>During the French occupation of Malta, Comino served as a quarantine and existing buildings served as an isolation hospital.</p><br>
<p>In the past, and well into the 20th century, whenever the seas were too rough for the Gozitan priest to make the crossing to Comino for the celebration of Holy Mass, the local community would gather on the rocks at a part of the Island known as Tal-Ħmara, and gaze across the channel towards the Chapel of Our Lady of the Rocks (Maltese: il-Madonna tal-Blat), in Ħondoq ir-Rummien, Gozo, where Mass was being celebrated. They followed along with the progression of the Mass by means of a complex flag code.</p><br>
<p>On 6 March 1889 the British battleship HMS Sultan grounded on an uncharted rock in the Comino Channel, ripping her bottom open. She slowly flooded and, in a gale on 14 March 1889 she slipped off the rock and sank. The Italian firm of Baghino & Co raised her in August 1889 for a fee of £50,000. On 27 August Sultan was brought into Malta.</p><br>
<h3>St Mary's Tower</h3><br>
<p>Finally, in 1618 the Knights of Malta under Grandmaster Wignacourt erected St Marys Tower (Maltese: it-Torri ta Santa Marija), located roughly in the center of the southern coast of the island. The tower formed part of a chain of defensive towers — the Wignacourt, Lascaris, and De Redin towers — located at vantage points along the coastline of the Maltese Islands, and greatly improved communications between Malta and Gozo. The tower is a large, square building with four corner turrets, located about 80 m above sea level. The Tower itself is about 12 m tall, with walls that are approximately 6 m thick, and is raised on a platform and plinth that are approximately 8 m high.</p><br>
<p>During the French Blockade (1798&ndash;1800), St Mary&#39;s Tower served as a prison for suspected spies. In 1829 the British Military abandoned the site. For several decades it was deemed to be property of the local civil authorities, and may have been used as an isolation hospital, or even as a wintering pen for farm animals. The tower again saw active service during both World War I and World War II. Since 1982 the tower has been the property of the Armed Forces of Malta. It now serves as a lookout and staging post to guard against contraband and the illegal hunting of migratory birds at sea.</p><br>
<p>St Mary&#39;s Tower underwent extensive restoration between 2002 and 2004. Today, it remains the most notable structure on Comino, and provides a destination for tourists taking walks around the Island.</p><br>
<h3>Other buildings and structures</h3><br>
<p>A tiny Roman Catholic chapel dedicated to the Holy Family Upon its Return from Egypt is located above Santa Marija Bay. Built in 1618, and enlarged in 1667 and again in 1716, the chapel was originally dedicated to the Annunciation. It has been deconsecrated and reconsecrated at least once in its history, when Comino was devoid of residents. The earliest record of a chapel on this site dates back to the 12th century, and can be seen in a navigational map of the period, located in the National Maritime Museum and Royal Observatory in Greenwich, London. Mass is celebrated in the chapel on Saturday nights and Sunday mornings for the residents, hotel staff and tourists.</p><br>
<p>Saint Marys Battery, built in 1716, at the same time as various other batteries around the coastline of mainland Malta and Gozo, is situated facing the South Comino Channel. It is a semi-circular structure with a number of embrasures facing the sea. The Battery still houses two 24-pound iron cannon, and remains in a fair state of preservation mainly due to its remote location. Its armament originally included four 6-pound iron cannon. The Battery underwent restoration in 1996 by the Maltese heritage preservation society, Din l-Art Ħelwa. Saint Marys Redoubt, an additional defensive structure, was also constructed in 1716 on the northern coast of Comino, however it was subsequently demolished. The Knights also constructed army barracks on Comino. In the early 20th century the barracks were periodically used as an isolation hospital.</p><br>
<p>Comino Hotel, with its two private beaches, a 1960s development, is located above San Niklaw Bay. There are also holiday bungalows by Santa Marija Bay. There is a police station located between the holiday bungalows and the chapel.</p><br>
<h2>Tourism and film industry</h2><br>
<p>Between Comino and adjacent islet of Cominotto (Maltese: Kemmunett) lie the transparent, cyan waters of the Blue Lagoon (Maltese: Bejn il-Kmiemen, literally "Between the Cominos"). Frequented by large numbers of tourists and tour boats daily, the Blue Lagoon is a picturesque bay with a white sandy base and rich marine life. It is popular with divers, snorkelers and swimmers. Other beaches on Comino include Santa Maria Bay (Maltese: Ramla ta&#39; Santa Marija) and St. Nicholas Bay (Maltese: Bajja San Niklaw).</p><br>
<p>Comino is a popular location for filmmakers. It appears in the films Troy, The Count Of Monte Cristo and Swept Away. Most notably, St. Marys Tower on Comino was featured in the film The Count of Monte Cristo, where it doubled as the Château dIf.</p><br>
<h2>Further reading</h2><br>
<p>Bartolo, Evarist (2013).. imperialbandclub.com/magazine/2013. p. 138-139. Retrieved 19 July 2016.</p><br>
<p>Barton&#39;s Bush, in Trentham Memorial Park, is the largest remaining area of lowland mixed podocarp/broadleaf forest in the Hutt Valley of New Zealand. Named after Richard Barton who settled in the area in 1841, it was his desire that this section of the native forest should remain whilst the city of Upper Hutt gradually took shape and land was cleared for farming and settling.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>In 1841, Richard Barton purchased 100 acres of land in the upper Hutt Valley. He modeled his development of his estate on that of Trentham in England, where he had been a supervisor of the estate. This meant part of the land was cleared for farming and settlement while some of it was left as natural bush land. Over time, Barton and his wife acquired more land so that eventually his estate extended from Quinns Post to Silverstream to the west of the Main Road and on both sides of the Hutt River.</p><br>
<p>By 1924, Barton&#39;s descendents had started to clear the remaining native bush on the estate. Attempts were made to protect the remaining bush as a public reserve through discussions with the family as well as representation to the Minister of Lands. However, it was only in 1950 that ₤26,000 (£2,020,000 in 2012 values ) were able to be raised to purchase the bush area. Of the money raised, ₤13,000 came from a War Memorial subsidy while the remainder was one third public subscription and one third each from the Upper Hutt Borough and Hutt County Councils.</p><br>
<p>While acquisition of Barton&#39;s Bush was intended to preserve the bush remnant as an indication of what the forest had been like before the Europeans came to New Zealand, it was far from pristine. During the 1940s the area had been logged. Based on the remaining stumps, over 100 Totara had been felled, while the bush was also infested with the exotic pest plants Old Mans Beard (Clematis Vitalba) and Wandering Jew (Tradescantia Fluminensis), both detrimental to the forest. Since 1980 a control programme has actively removed these pest plants and supplementary plantings have encouraged native flora development.</p><br>
<p>In recent years, the bush tracks have been gravelled and lightly fenced to provide clear walking paths while protecting the forest and discouraging people and animals from wandering off the formed tracks and inadvertently damaging the natural undergrowth.</p><br>
<h2>Flora</h2><br>
<p>More than 100 different species of native plants live in Bartons Bush. Most of the mature canopy trees are Tawa, with some Totara, Matai and Kahikatea canopy trees also present. There is also a broad range of native undercanopy trees and other undergrowth plants. While it has been subject to some human modification, Bartons Bush still gives a good indication of the sort of lowland forest that the European settlers encountered when they first moved into the Hutt Valley.</p><br>
<h2>Further reading</h2><br>
<p>Upper Hutt City Council Information Board at Trentham Memorial Park, near the children&#39;s playground carpark, entrance off Brentwood Street.</p><br>
<p>The Washington Navy Yard  is the former shipyard and ordnance plant of the United States Navy in Southeast Washington, D.C. It is the oldest shore establishment of the USA Navy.</p><br>
<p>The Yard currently serves as a ceremonial and administrative center for the USA Navy, home to the Chief of Naval Operations, and is headquarters for the Naval Sea Systems Command, Naval Reactors, Naval Facilities Engineering Command, Naval History and Heritage Command, the National Museum of the United States Navy, the USA Navy Judge Advocate General&#39;s Corps, Marine Corps Institute, the United States Navy Band, and other more classified facilities.</p><br>
<p>In 1998, the yard was listed as a Superfund site due to environmental contamination.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>The history of the yard can be divided into its military history and cultural and scientific history.</p><br>
<h3>Military</h3><br>
<p>The land was purchased under an Act of Congress on July 23, 1799. The Washington Navy Yard was established on October 2, 1799, the date the property was transferred to the Navy. It is the oldest shore establishment of the USA Navy. The Yard was built under the direction of Benjamin Stoddert, the first Secretary of the Navy, under the supervision of the Yard&#39;s first commandant, Commodore Thomas Tingey, who served in that capacity for 29 years.</p><br>
<p>The original boundaries that were established in 1800, along 9th and M Street SE, are still marked by a white brick wall that surrounds the Yard on the north and east sides. The next year, two additional lots were purchased. The north wall of the Yard was built in 1809 along with a guardhouse, now known as the Latrobe Gate. After the Burning of Washington in 1814, Tingey recommended that the height of the eastern wall be increased to ten feet (3 m) because of the fire and subsequent looting.</p><br>
<p>The southern boundary of the Yard was formed by the Anacostia River (then called the "Eastern Branch" of the Potomac River). The west side was undeveloped marsh. The land located along the Anacostia was added to by landfill over the years as it became necessary to increase the size of the Yard.</p><br>
<p>From its first years, the Washington Navy Yard became the navy&#39;s largest shipbuilding and shipfitting facility, with 22 vessels constructed there, ranging from small 70-foot (21 m) gunboats to the 246-foot (75 m) steam frigate USS Minnesota. The USS Constitution came to the Yard in 1812 to refit and prepare for combat action.</p><br>
<p>During the War of 1812, the Navy Yard was important not only as a support facility, but also as a vital strategic link in the defense of the capital city. Sailors of Navy Yard were part of the hastily assembled American army, which, at Bladensburg, Maryland, opposed the British forces marching on Washington.</p><br>
<p>An independent volunteer militia rifle company of civilian workers in the Washington Navy Yard was organized by the United States naval architect William Doughty in 1813 and they drilled regularly after working hours. In 1814, Captain Doughty&#39;s volunteers were designated the Navy Yard Rifles and assigned to serving under the overall command of Major Robert Brent of the 2nd Regiment of the District of Columbia Militia who was the first mayor of Washington D.C. in late August they were ordered to assemble at Bladensburg, Maryland to form the first line of defense in protecting the capital city of the United States and along with the majority of the American forces was ordered to retreat. The Chesapeake Bay Flotilla of Joshua Barney joined the combined forces of Navy Yard sailors, and the USA marines of the nearby Marine Barracks of Washington, D.C., and were positioned to be the third and final line of the American defenses. Together, they effectively used devastating artillery and fought in hand-to-hand combat with cutlasses and pikes against the British regulars before being overwhelmed.</p><br>
<p>As the British marched into Washington, holding the Yard became impossible. Tingey, seeing the smoke from the burning Capitol, ordered the Yard burned to prevent its capture by the enemy. Both structures are now individually listed on the National Register of Historic Places. On August 30, 1814, Mary Stockton Hunter, an eyewitness to the vast conflagration wrote her sister: “ No pen can describe the appalling sound that our ears and the sight our eyes saw. We could see everything from the upper part of our house as plainly as if we had been in the Yard. All the vessels of war on fire-the immense quantity of dry timber, together with the houses and stores in flames produced an almost meridian brightness. You never saw a drawing room so brilliantly lighted as the whole city was that night.”</p><br>
<h3>Civilian Employment</h3><br>
<p>From its beginning the navy yard had one of the biggest payrolls in town, with the number of civilian mechanics and laborers and contractors expanding with the seasons and the naval Congressional appropriation. Following the War of 1812, the Washington Navy Yard never regained its prominence as a shipbuilding facility. The waters of the Anacostia River were too shallow to accommodate larger vessels, and the Yard was deemed too inaccessible to the open sea. Thus came a shift to what was to be the character of the Yard for more than a century: ordnance and technology. The Navy Yard grew during the next decade to become by 1819 the largest employer in Washington D.C., with the total number of approximately 345 workers. In 1819 Betsey Howard became the first the first female worker documented at the navy yard (and perhaps in the federal service), she was followed shortly after by Ann Spieden. Both Howard and Spieden were employed as horse cart drivers, "and like their male counterparts employed per diem, at $ 1.54 a day, working whole or part days as required."</p><br>
<p>During World War II the Washington Navy Yard at its peak employed over 20,000 civilian workers including 1,400 female ordnance workers.</p><br>
<p>The Yard was also a leader in technology as it possessed one of the earliest steam engines in the United States. The steam engine was the high tech marvel of the early District and often commented on by authors and visitors. Samuel Batley Ellis an English immigrant, was the first steam engine operator, in 1810 Ellis was paid the high wage of $2.00 per day.The steam engine ran the saw mill and was used to manufacture anchors, chain, and steam engines for vessels of war.</p><br>
<p>The 1835 Washington Navy Yard labor strike was the first labor strike of federal civilian employees. The strike which was unsuccessful was from 29 July to 15 August 1835. The strike was over working conditions and in support of a ten-hour day.</p><br>
<p>For the first thirty years of the nineteenth century, the Navy Yard was the District&#39;s principal employer of enslaved African Americans. Their numbers rose rapidly and by 1808, the enslaved made up one third of the workforce. The number of enslaved workers gradually declined during the next thirty years, though free and some enslaved African Americans remained a vital presence. One such person was former slave later freeman Michael Shiner 1805-1880 whose diary chronicled his life and work at the navy yard for over half a century</p><br>
<p>During the American Civil War, the Yard once again became an integral part of the defense of Washington. Commandant Franklin Buchanan resigned his commission to join the Confederacy, leaving the Yard to Commander John A. Dahlgren. President Abraham Lincoln, who held Dahlgren in the highest esteem, was a frequent visitor. The famous ironclad USS Monitor was repaired at the Yard after her historic battle with the CSS Virginia. The Lincoln assassination conspirators were brought to the Yard following their capture. The body of John Wilkes Booth was examined and identified on the monitor USS Montauk, moored at the Yard.</p><br>
<p>Following the war, the Yard continued to be the scene of technological advances. In 1886, the Yard was designated the manufacturing center for all ordnance in the Navy. Commander Theodore F. Jewell was Superintendent of the Naval Gun Factory from January 1893 to February 1896. Ordnance production continued as the Yard manufactured armament for the Great White Fleet and the World War I navy. The 14 in naval railway guns used in France during World War I were manufactured at the Yard.</p><br>
<p>By World War II, the Yard was the largest naval ordnance plant in the world. The weapons designed and built there were used in every war in which the United States fought until the 1960s. At its peak, the Yard consisted of 188 buildings on 126 acres (0.5 km²) of land and employed nearly 25,000 people. Small components for optical systems, and enormous 16 in battleship guns were all manufactured here. In December 1945, the Yard was renamed the USA Naval Gun Factory. Ordnance work continued for some years after World War II until finally phased out in 1961. Three years later, on July 1, 1964, the activity was re-designated the Washington Navy Yard. The deserted factory buildings began to be converted to office use. In 1963, ownership of 55 acres of the Washington Navy Yard Annex (western side of Yard including Building 170) was transferred to the General Services Administration. The Yards at the Southeast Federal Center are part of this former property and now includes the headquarters for the United States Department of Transportation.</p><br>
<p>The Washington Navy Yard was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1973, and designated a National Historic Landmark on May 11, 1976. It is part of the Capitol Riverfront Business Improvement District. It is also part of the Navy Yard, also known as Near Southeast, neighborhood. It is served by the Navy Yard – Ballpark Metro station on the Green Line.</p><br>
<p>The Marine Corps Museum was located on the first floor of the Marine Corps Historical Society in Building 58. The museum closed on July 1, 2005 during the establishment of the National Museum of the Marine Corps near Marine Corps Base Quantico. The Yard was headquarters to the Marine Corps Historical Center. That moved in 2006 to Quantico.</p><br>
<h3>Cultural and scientific</h3><br>
<p>The Washington Navy Yard was the scene of many scientific developments. Robert Fulton conducted research and testing on his clockwork torpedo during the War of 1812. In 1822, Commodore John Rodgers built the country&#39;s first marine railway for the overhaul of large vessels. John A. Dahlgren developed his distinctive bottle-shaped cannon that became the mainstay of naval ordnance before the Civil War. In 1898, David W. Taylor developed a ship model testing basin, which was used by the Navy and private shipbuilders to test the effect of water on new hull designs. The first shipboard aircraft catapult was tested in the Anacostia River in 1912, and a wind tunnel was completed at the Yard in 1916. The giant gears for the Panama Canal locks were cast at the Yard. Navy Yard technicians applied their efforts to medical designs for prosthetic hands and molds for artificial eyes and teeth.</p><br>
<p>Navy Yard was Washington&#39;s earliest industrial neighborhood. One of the earliest industrial buildings nearby was the eight-story brick Sugar House, built in Square 744 at the foot of New Jersey Avenue, SE as a sugar refinery in 1797-98. In 1805, it became the Washington Brewery, which produced beer until it closed in 1836. The brewery site was just west of the Washington City Canal in what is now Parking Lot H/I in the block between Nationals Park and the historic DC Water pumping station.</p><br>
<p>The Washington Navy Yard was the ceremonial gateway to the nations capital. In 1860, the first Japanese diplomatic mission was welcomed to the United States in an impressive pageant at the Yard. The body of World War Is Unknown Soldier was received here. Charles A. Lindbergh returned to the Navy Yard in 1927 after his famous transatlantic flight.</p><br>
<p>During the Civil War a small number of women worked at the Navy Yard as flag makers and seamstresses sewing canvas bags for gunpowder. Women again entered the workforce in the twentieth century in significant numbers during WWII, where they worked at the Naval Gun Factory making munitions. Following the war most were discharged, but gradually women have increased their presence in executive, managerial, administrative, technical and clerical positions.</p><br>
<p>From 1984 to 2015, the decommissioned destroyer was a museum ship at the Washington Navy Yard as "Display Ship Barry" (DS Barry). Barry was frequently used for change of command ceremonies for naval commands in the area. The USA Navy held an official departure ceremony for the ship on 17 October 2015.</p><br>
<p>Today, the Navy Yard houses a variety of activities. It serves as headquarters, Naval District Washington, and houses numerous support activities for the fleet and aviation communities. The Navy Museum welcomes visitors to the Navy Art Collection and its displays of naval art and artifacts, which trace the Navy&#39;s history from the Revolutionary War to the present day. The Naval History and Heritage Command is housed in a complex of buildings known as the Dudley Knox Center for Naval History. Leutze Park is the scene of colorful ceremonies.</p><br>
<h3>2013 shooting</h3><br>
<p>On September 16, 2013, a shooting took place at the Yard. Shots were fired at the headquarters for the Naval Sea Systems Command Headquarters building #197. Fifteen people, including thirteen civilians, one D.C. police officer, and one base officer, were shot. Twelve fatalities were confirmed by the United States Navy and D.C. Police. Officials said the gunman, Aaron Alexis, a 34-year-old civilian contractor from Queens, New York, was killed during a gunfight with police.</p><br>
<h2>Operations</h2><br>
<p>The Yard serves as a ceremonial and administrative center for the USA Navy, home to the Chief of Naval Operations, and is headquarters for the Naval Sea Systems Command, Naval Reactors, Naval Facilities Engineering Command, Naval Historical Center, the Department of Naval History, the USA Navy Judge Advocate Generals Corps, the United States Navy Band, the USA Navys Military Sealift Command and numerous other naval commands. A number of Officers&#39; Quarters are located at the facility.</p><br>
<h3>Building 126</h3><br>
<p>Building 126 is located by the Anacostia River, on the northeast corner of 11th and SE O Streets. The one-story building, built between 1925 and 1938, was recently renovated to be a net-zero energy building as part of the Washington Navy Yard Energy Demonstration Project. Features include two wind turbines, five geothermal wells, a battery energy storage system, one-hundred thirty-two 235 kW solar photovoltaic panels, and windows of electrochromic smart glass.</p><br>
<p>Although inventoried and determined eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places, it is currently not part of an existing district. Until 1950, Building 126 functioned as the receiving station laundry. Afterward, it served as the site of the Washington Navy Yard Police Station. Currently, it acts as the Visitor Center for the Yard.</p><br>
<p>The Brewster Hospital is a historic USA hospital in Jacksonville, Florida. It is located at 915 West Monroe Street. On May 13, 1976, it was added to the USA National Register of Historic Places.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>Brewster Hospital was the first African American hospital in the USA It served African Americans in Jacksonville from 1901 to 1966. It was founded in 1901 as the George A. Brewster Hospital and School of Nurse Training, because there was no place for Negroes to go to for treatment after the disastrous Great Fire of 1901. Its sponsor was the Women&#39;s Division of the Methodist Board of Missions. (As in other Southern cities, white hospitals did not treat Negroes before the Civil Rights Act of 1964.) It closed in 1966 because, like Florida A&M Hospital, the forced integration of white hospitals meant it lost its funding. The building was gutted and rebuilt as Methodist Hospital, opening in 1967. The original building is no longer in use, was recently moved and is being preserved. The building that replaced it became Methodist Medical Center in 1993, and in 1999 merged with University Medical Center to become the Shands Jacksonville Medical Center, an affiliate of the University of Florida and Shands HealthCare.</p><br>
<p>Little Cayman is one of three islands comprising the Cayman Islands. It is located in the Caribbean Sea, approximately 60 miles northeast of Grand Cayman and five miles  west of Cayman Brac. Little Cayman is by far the least populous, with a permanent population of about 170. It is about 10 miles  long with an average width of 1 mile  and most of the island is undeveloped. Almost the entire island is at sea level. The highest elevation is about 40 feet .</p><br>
<p>Little Cayman is known for its excellent scuba diving and birdwatching, unspoiled wildlife habitat and laid-back atmosphere.</p><br>
<p>Despite its small size, the island hosts a heritage festival and parade as part of Pirates Week, the annual Mardi Gras celebration of the Cayman Islands and the Sister Islands Cook-off.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<p>The first recorded sighting of Little Cayman, along with Cayman Brac, was by Christopher Columbus on May 10, 1503 on his fourth and final voyage, when heavy winds forced his ship off course. At that time, he named the islands "Las Tortugas" for the many sea turtles found living there. The islands were later renamed "Las Caymanas" for the iguanas that were thought to be caimans living there.</p><br>
<p>The first settlement on the island was in the 17th century, when turtle fishermen set up camps. After a raid by a Spanish privateer, the settlements were abandoned in 1671 and the island was not resettled until 1833, when Blossom Village was established by a few families. By the early 20th century, a few hundred people lived on Little Cayman and exported phosphate ore, coconuts, and marine rope.</p><br>
<h2>Attractions</h2><br>
<h3>Diving</h3><br>
<p>Little Cayman is famous for its scuba diving. The most popular dive site areas, Bloody Bay and Jackson&#39;s Bight, are both located on the north side of the island, just west of its midpoint. The deeper sites on its south side are generally visited on winter days when the north side is too rough. Little Cayman features dive sites as shallow as 20 feet and its walls are deep enough to be effectively infinite.</p><br>
<p>Bloody Bay in particular is consistently ranked as one of the world&#39;s top dive sites. Many dive operations claim the late Philippe Cousteau declared its wall to be one of the three best dives in the world, although this story may be apocryphal. At its shallowest point, the drop-off begins at a depth of 18 feet, allowing divers who plan carefully to achieve maximum depth of over 100 feet but still enjoy exceptionally long dive times. But the wall is so famous primarily because sections of it are so sheer as to be effectively vertical, a rarity.</p><br>
<p>The most vertical section of the wall (the dive site "Great Wall West") was immortalized in 1999 by the Bloody Bay Wall Mural Project. A crew of photographers directed by Jim Hellemn photographed the wall piece by piece and the images were compiled into a single, highly detailed image of the entire wall. The photograph was reproduced in National Geographic magazine in 2001. In 2010, photographers returned to the same section of wall in an effort to create a comparison image showing changes over the intervening decade.</p><br>
<p>The depth of Little Caymans dropoffs is often exaggerated by local divemasters claiming depths of 3,000 ft or 5,000 ft. In truth, the 1000 m contour (3000+ ft) has been charted to be approximately one mile offshore on Little Caymans South side, and 2.5 mi offshore of Bloody Bay on the island&#39;s North side (Ibid), distances far beyond the areas dived by recreational divers.</p><br>
<p>Little Cayman&#39;s reefs are exceptionally healthy for a regularly dived area and inhabited by a full range of typical Caribbean reef life, from pipehorses to sharks, and including a notable population of sea turtles.</p><br>
<p>In 2010, local dive operators launched a concerted effort to eradicate the invasive, non-indigenous red lionfish (Pterois volitans), which appears to be limiting its population around Little Cayman. On Wednesday afternoons, divemasters from the various resorts on Little Cayman embark on lionfish kills to hunt and cull the species. Since the hunts began, more grey Caribbean reef sharks (Carcharhinus perezii) are noticeable on dives.</p><br>
<h3>Booby Pond and Rookery</h3><br>
<p>Little Caymans Booby Pond Nature Reserve supports the largest red-footed booby population in the Caribbean and is a designated Ramsar wetland of international importance. The site encompasses 82 hectare. The Cayman Islands National Trust building on one edge of the pond offers viewing decks with telescopes, and the building itself is open for a couple of hours on weekday afternoons. It contains exhibits about Little Caymans flora and fauna.</p><br>
<h3>Iguanas and other fauna</h3><br>
<p>Little Cayman has the only substantial population (estimated at 1,500) of the critically endangered Lesser Caymans iguana. Predation by cats and dogs, encroachment by humans into their habitat and road deaths have reduced their population on Cayman Brac to less than 100. The iguanas are easy to spot on Little Cayman and the National Trust unveiled a boardwalk in December 2013 that allows visitors to view one of their nesting areas.</p><br>
<p>Little Cayman also hosts the critically endangered hawksbill sea turtle, and the threatened West Indian whistling duck (Dendrocygna arborea), also known as the black-billed whistling duck. The Tarpon Lake, a salt pond near the center of the island, boasts an unusual population of landlocked tarpon, a large silver fish that usually lives only in the ocean.</p><br>
<h3>Owen Island</h3><br>
<p>Owen island is a small islet off the south-western coast of Little Cayman. The only way to reach it is by boat, and many visitors make the trip using a kayak or standup paddleboard to cross South Hole Sound Lagoon. The islet features no buildings, homes, or human habitation, making it popular for honeymooners and adventurers.</p><br>
<h3>Point of Sand</h3><br>
<p>Little Cayman has many rocky beaches suitable for walking or entry points for diving and snorkeling. But the island has only one truly fine swimming beach with an expanse of sand, a clean, sandy bottom and a protective reefline: Point of Sand. Currents are often very strong, but the shallowest areas are suitable for careful wading even by nonswimmers. Point of Sand is located on the northeastern tip of Little Cayman and boasts a clear view of Cayman Brac five miles away. Indeed, the beach is sufficiently lovely that it attracts visitors from Cayman Brac who come over on boats. Sundays, in particular, find many local families using the beach, which is likely to be deserted on weekdays. The beach has a shelter with picnic tables and a barbecue, but no services of any kind and no water. Getting there requires a rented car or scooter; the determined and physically fit can get there on a bicycle.</p><br>
<h3>Kite surfing and kayaking</h3><br>
<p>Southern Cross Club, Sunset Cove and Little Cayman Beach Resort provide kayaks for guests. They will usually rent them to non-guests if they aren&#39;t too busy.</p><br>
<p>Kite surfing is available at Southern Cross Club (as of November 2014). This enterprise had previously been the Lost Boys Kite Surfing School, which had opened in 2011 at Sunset Cove.</p><br>
<h3>Little Cayman Museum</h3><br>
<p>A small collection focusing on local history is open short hours, usually weekday afternoons.</p><br>
<h3>Little Cayman Research Centre</h3><br>
<p>This 6,600 square foot research centre is located on the north side of Little Cayman and is a part of Central Caribbean Marine Institute (CCMI). CCMI is a not-for-profit organization founded in 1998 to protect the future of coral reefs through research, conservation and education. Contact the staff there to schedule a very informative tour of the facility.</p><br>
<h2>Accessibility and services</h2><br>
<p>Little Cayman is accessible by air (via Cayman Airways) via daily inter-island flights from both Cayman Brac and Grand Cayman. Little Cayman is not an entry point to the country; visitors and residents must land first at one of the larger islands.</p><br>
<p>Little Cayman has one grocery-and-hardware store, two liquor stores, one full-service restaurant, one church, a car rental operation and two small souvenir/resortwear shops. It is served by the tiny Edward Bodden Airfield (the airport), a two-man police force, a small fire crew with one truck, a part-time postmaster, a power station operated by Cayman Brac Power and Light, a clinic staffed by a nurse and a one-room school whose enrollment is usually in single digits. Cellular phone service offered by LIME and Digicel has almost completely eliminated reliance on landlines, which many residents maintain primarily to allow them to connect to the Internet, which can only be accessed by ADSL.</p><br>
<p>Little Cayman Education Services is the sole educational provider on the island.</p><br>
<p>Rockaway Inlet is a strait connecting Jamaica Bay, wholly within New York City, with the Atlantic Ocean. It separates the Rockaway Peninsula in Queens from the Floyd Bennett Field in Brooklyn.</p><br>
<p>Rockaway Inlet is bounded by Brooklyn to the north and Rockaway Peninsula to the south. It is the entrance to Jamaica Bay, and most of the inlet is within the boundary of Gateway National Recreation Area. Its entrance is marked by a light on a jetty extending southward from Rockaway Point. The entrance channel extends westward of the jetty and is marked by lighted buoys. It has a depth of about 15 feet midchannel with a shoal of only one foot. In 1968 a light failed and the tanker Mary A. Whalen ran aground, resulting in the case of UNITED STATES v. RELIABLE TRANSFER CO., INC. about dividing damage payments.</p><br>
<p>The inlet is spanned by the Marine Parkway–Gil Hodges Memorial Bridge.</p><br>
<p>Canna  is the westernmost of the Small Isles archipelago, in the Scottish Inner Hebrides. It is linked to the neighbouring island of Sanday by a road and sandbanks at low tide. The island is 4.3 mi long and 1 mi wide. The isolated skerries of Hyskeir and Humla lie 6.2 mi south west of the island.</p><br>
<p>The islands were left to the National Trust for Scotland (NTS) by their previous owner, the Gaelic folklorist and scholar John Lorne Campbell in 1981, and are run as a farm and conservation area. Canna House, one of two big houses on the island (the other being Tighard), contains John Campbell&#39;s important archives of Gaelic materials that were donated with the islands to the nation. Since then the NTS has engaged in new initiatives to attract new residents and visitors to the island.</p><br>
<h2>Facilities</h2><br>
<p>There are some 20 buildings on Canna and Sanday, including three churches, one of which has been deconsecrated (see below). There is also a post office which was converted from a garden shed. The Canna tea room, which closed in 2008, reopened in 2010 as the Gille Brighde Cafe and Restaurant. This restaurant closed in 2013 but has since re-opened again as Cafe Canna. A new resident manager for the island was appointed in 2010. The island is isolated and in the past inhabitants have had to buy all their provisions from the mainland, but it now has a small unstaffed shop operated on an honesty basis. There is a telephone link, a red telephone box and broadband internet access, although there is no mobile phone coverage. Electricity is provided by a diesel generator, at mainland voltage and frequency, and there is a private water supply. In 2010 a proposal to establish a fish farm off Canna was defeated in a residents&#39; ballot, even though it would have created a number of new jobs.</p><br>
<p>The island has a very low crime rate, but a mainland-based policeman visits the island twice a year, mainly to inspect gun licences. A doctor based on the neighbouring island of Skye is available for house calls once a month. The roads on Canna are not metalled and are privately owned; local vehicles therefore do not require road tax. The previous footbridge to Sanday was destroyed by storms during 2005, and has recently been replaced by a road bridge. This allows vehicular access at all tide levels for the first time, although the road on Sanday is still covered by high tides. However, in 2017 an appeal was launched to raise funds for the reconstruction of the road on Sanday so that it is also available at high tide.</p><br>
<h2>Wildlife</h2><br>
<p>Canna is renowned for its wildlife, including sea eagles, golden eagles and puffins. Recently, peregrine falcons and merlins have been sighted also. The island is also inhabited by a number of rare butterfly species. In the nearby waters one can spot dolphins and smaller whales.</p><br>
<p>Canna is noted for its tiers of basalt pillars that rise over the eastern half of the island and the sea cliffs that dominate its northern shore. The highest point on the island is Càrn a&#39; Ghaill (Gaelic for rocky hill of the storm) at 689 ft. Another point of interest is Compass Hill. Its peak is at 456 ft and sits on the eastern edge of the island. It is made of a volcanic rock called tuff, and it has such a high iron content that the compass of nearby ships are distorted, pointing to the hill rather than north.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<h3>Prehistory</h3><br>
<p>Canna is littered with numerous pottery sherds evidencing the islands occupation in the Neolithic era, along with a small number of mysterious cellars dug into the ground. A distinctively shaped standing stone is found at Keill, around which a local legend has grown: according to the legend, when people on Canna were badly behaved, they would be punished by having their thumb jammed into a particular hole in the stone, at about 64" above ground level (hence the stone&#39;s name - the punishment stone).</p><br>
<p>Bronze Age remains are some of the most extensive in the North-Western Highlands, particularly at the western end of the island; these include fragments of huts arranged in circles, and ancient field walls, as well as pottery artefacts from the Beaker Culture. In the Iron Age a hillfort - Dun Channa - was constructed at the far western edge of Canna; another was probably constructed at the eastern edge, at Coroghon, in the same period.</p><br>
<h3>Early Christian period</h3><br>
<p>In the 6th century, when the Irish missionary Columba first sailed to Iona, he first arrived at the island of Hinba, which he later treated to as a place of contemplative retreat. The extensive early Christian sculptures and structures on Canna, and its traditional association with Iona, have made many consider it to be the otherwise unidentified Hinba. However, Adomnán (the chronicler of the life of Columba) noted that Brendan the Navigator stopped at Hinba while traveling from Ireland to Iona; Canna is a most unlikely landfall on such a journey as it is well beyond the destination.</p><br>
<p>At Keill are two large richly decorated Celtic crosses, dating from the 8th to 9th centuries, a device normally associated with Ireland, this is the only cursing stone ever to be found in Scotland.</p><br>
<p>On the south coust of the island are the remains of a small, isolated, cashel-like building, which would have been difficult to supply with provisions, except by sea. In gaelic the site is known as Sgorr nam Ban-naomha, meaning "grassy slope of the holy women&quot in the 19th century, local people believed it had once been a nunnery, but it is now thought to have been a hermitage, associated with the monastery at Keill. The enclosure contains three carved stones, bearing crosses, and was once believed to have had a healing spring.</p><br>
<h3>Norse rule</h3><br>
<p>Following raids by the Vikings in the 9th century, the Hebrides became part of the Kingdom of the Isles, a Norwegian crown dependency also known as Suðreyjar (the Southern Isles). Written records are few, but the Viking occupation of Canna is evident from place names such as the element sgor, gearaid (enclosure), tota (homestead) and Sanday ("sand island") (though the name "Canna" itself may pre-date the Norse period).</p><br>
<p>A number of large oblong arrangements of kerb-stones throughout the island are thought to possibly indicate Viking ship burials, based on the evidence of similar structures on the Isle of Arran (which was also part of Suðreyjar). The largest is located at Rubha Langan-innis on the north coast, and known in gaelic as Uaigh Righ Lochlainn (meaning "The grave of the King of Norway"); this is a narrow rectangular structure approximately 11 yd long by 2.2 yd wide on a grassy promontory below the cliffs.</p><br>
<p>Later accounts imply that the monastery at Keill had been a centre of the Culdees while under Norwegian dominion. In the late 12th century, practical authority in Suðreyjar became split between a number of closely related magnates. In 1203, Ranald, the magnate ruling the portion that contained Iona, invited the Benedictines to establish a new Abbey at Iona; that same year, a papal bull was issued, listing the Island of Canna among the new Abbeys possessions. It is likely that the previous Abbey of Iona had had some authority over Canna, perhaps even stretching before the Viking era, but the fact that Norse rulers had not always been Christian may have disrupted Ionas authority, and Iona itself may have been deserted by the time Ranald requested a new Abbey.</p><br>
<h3>Church rule under the Scottish king</h3><br>
<p>In 1266, the Treaty of Perth transferred Suðreyjar to the Scottish king, as a set of crown dependencies - rather than merging it into Scotland itself. Geographically, Canna lay within the portion of the former Suðreyjar which had become the MacRory realm of Garmoran (stretching from Uist to the Rough Bounds), but documents relating to Garmoran do treat Canna as part of it, suggesting the island was still under the Abbot&#39;s control. The Abbot of Iona thus ruled Canna with considerable power. Nevertheless, at the turn of the century, William I had created the position of Sheriff of Inverness, to be responsible for the Scottish highlands, which theoretically now extended to Canna.</p><br>
<p>During the 1420s, feuding within other fragments of Suðreyjar appears to have spilled onto Canna. The Abbot, Dominicus, obtained papal authority to ban all nobility from setting foot on the island, but this wasnt respected, and Canna had to be temporarily abandoned. In 1428, the Abbot wrote to the Pope requesting that he pronounce a general excommunication against anyone who harmed one of Cannas inhabitants, or damaged their property, claiming:</p><br>
<p>"by reason of wars and other calamities in the past divers homicides, depredations and other ills were perpetrated, so that some strong men of the familiars of the Abbot and convent were slain by pirates and sea rovers, and divers farmers and inhabitants of the island were afraid to reside there".</p><br>
<p>The Reformation was rapidly encroaching, however, and after 1498 Iona was transferred to Commendators, rather than Abbots. Canna became a possession of the Bishop of the Isles (also known as the Bishop of Sodor; Sodor is the traditional anglicisation of Suðreyjar). In 1548, the Dean of the Isles, Donald Monro, conducted a survey of the Bishop&#39;s lands and churches, reporting that the island was a: "faire maine land, foure myle lange, inhabit and manurit, with paroche kirke in it, guid for corne, fishing and grassing, with a falcon nest in it, pertines to the Abbot of Colmkill",</p><br>
<p>In 1561, the Bishop agreed to rent the island to the leader of Clan Ranald. a branch of the MacDonalds. In 1588, some of the remains of the Spanish Armada found refuge with the MacLeans of Duart, who had a longstanding feud with the MacDonalds (concerning the Rhinns of Islay). Lachlan - the MacLean leader - demanded that the Spanish supply him with 100 soldiers, as the price of their refuge, which he used to launch an attack against the Small Isles, in pursuance of the feud; Canna "burned with fire". Lachlan was imprisoned in Edinburgh by the king for this, but he escaped, and faced no further punishment.</p><br>
<h3>Argyll</h3><br>
<p>By the early 17th century, the Bishopric of the Isles was held by presbyterians, for whom the office of Bishop had a questionable status. In 1626, Thomas Knox, the Bishop, appears to have replaced Clan Ranald (who relunctantly accepted the reformation) as his tenants, with the MacLeods of Raasay (active supporters of the reformation). At the end of his life, in 1627, Thomas Knox sold Canna to the Earl of Argyll, one of the most powerful Covenanters. Under pressure from the Earl, shrieval authority transferred from Inverness to the sheriff of Argyll, which was under the control of the Earl&#39;s family.</p><br>
<p>In 1641, following the outbreak of civil war, king Charles I promised to give Canna to the Baronet of Sleat, since the Earl of Argylls treason (as one of the kings main opponents) would make Canna forfeit; the kings subsequent defeat made this promise moot. In 1654, the war having ended, the Earl of Argyll leased Canna back to Clan Ranald. In the following year, Donald MacDonald, the son of the Clan Ranald leader, married the Baronets daughter, Janet, quelling any potential dispute over the island.</p><br>
<p>In 1666, following Janet&#39;s death, Donald married Marion MacLeod of Harris, but by 1680 he was seeking a divorce, accusing her of adultery. At some point in the late 17th century, a small prison (now called "Coroghon Castle") was constructed on the side of an isolated stack at Coroghon; it was described by Thomas Pennant in 1772 as "a lofty slender rock, that juts into the sea: on one side is a little tower, at a vast height above us, accessible by a narrow and horrible path: it seems so small as scarce to be able to contain half a dozen people. Tradition says, that it was built by some jealous regulus, to confine a handsome wife in".</p><br>
<p>Donald had succeeded to the leadership of Clan Ranald in 1670, and in 1672 was give a new charter of Lairdship for Canna by the new Earl of Argyll. A decade later, Argylls Rising caused the Earls feudal authority to be forfeit, making Clan Ranald direct vassals of the king. In 1686, Donald died, and was buried on Canna.</p><br>
<h3>The Bard</h3><br>
<p>Clan Ranald tenants on Canna joined the Jacobite rebellions of 1715 and of 1745, and as a consequence were not looked upon favourably by the king&#39;s forces.</p><br>
<p>According to The Clan Ranald Bard, on 3 April 1746, the Royal Navy ship Baltimore arrived, and demanded (under threat of force) to be given the meat from the best cattle on the Island; 4 days later, complaining that the meat was rotten, the sailors threw it away, and slaughtered 60 cattle themselves. The Bard goes on to say that 12 days later, the Royal Navy ship Commodore arrived, and after receiving warning (from one of the sailors) about the lecherous intentions of the sailors, the women of Canna fled into the countryside and caves, until they were certain that the ship had departed; one pregnant woman miscarried from spending so long in the cold, and died.</p><br>
<p>The Bard himself served as the laird&#39;s representative in Canna (the Bailie) between 1749 and 1751, at which point he published the first ever book of gaelic poetry. He reports of his predecessor that Major General John Campbell, grandson of the former Earl of Argyll, arrived at Canna after returning from chasing Bonnie Prince Charlie; Campbell seized the Bailie of Canna, and took him prisoner to Kerrera, but returned with him to Canna, slaughtered 40 cows, then took him to London. In London, the Bailie was held prisoner, for having taken part in the rebellion, until the Indemnity Act was passed in 1747; for his troubles, Campbell was made a Lieutenant General.</p><br>
<h3>Dispersion</h3><br>
<p>At the end of the 18th century, kelp harvesting became a major industry on Canna, as a result of the Napoleonic Wars limiting foreign supplies of certain minerals. However, when the wars ended, foreign supplies became available again, and the kelp price duly collapsed, causing a recession; in 1821, several of the inhabitants of Canna chose to escape their poverty by emigrating to Canada. Most of the remaining inhabitants moved to Sanday.</p><br>
<p>The Clan Ranald leader was not exactly a spendthrift, meaning that the lack of income from his tenants drove him into debt; in 1827, he sold Canna to Donald MacNeil. Donald MacNeil and his son were no better at fixing the economic pressures, and when the crops failed in 1847, the son resorted to evicting the population of Keill (which had been the main settlement), and replacing them with sheep. in 1861, Canna House was built as the MacNeil home.</p><br>
<h3>Later years</h3><br>
<p>In 1881, the post-clearance population was recorded as 119 (62 of whom were on Sanday); that year, MacNeil sold the island to Robert Thom, a Glasweigan shipbuilder. Thom carried out a programme of investment, including an oak pier, a footbridge to Sanday, and a Presbyterian Church, St Columba&#39;s (though the population remained mostly Roman Catholic). In 1889, counties were formally created in Scotland, on shrieval boundaries, by a dedicated Local Government Act; Canna therefore became part of the new county of Argyll. However, the Act established a boundary review, which decided, in 1891, to move Canna to the county of Inverness, where Eigg already sat.</p><br>
<p>In 1938, Thom&#39;s family sought a sympathetic buyer, selling Canna to John Lorne Campbell, who organised the island as a farm and nature reserve. Campbell lived there until his death in 1996, but donated the island to the National Trust in 1981. In the 1970s, local government reforms abolished the County of Inverness, and moved Canna into Highland.</p><br>
<p>John Lorne Campbell&#39;s widow, Margaret Fay Shaw, remained at Canna House until her own death in 2004, at the age of 101. The following year, a cull against brown rats was ordered, as they had hitherto been allowed to expand to enormous numbers, and now threatened rare Manx shearwaters and human health; Canna is now rat-free.</p><br>
<h4>Stamps</h4><br>
<p>A single local stamp was issued for Canna in 1958 by then-laird John Lorne Campbell. The stamp shows Compass Hill and two Manx shearwaters, a seabird found in profusion on the island. Their use is optional and all proceeds from the sale – at the island farm and post office — go to the Shipwrecked Mariners Society.</p><br>
<h3>Overview of population trends</h3><br>
<p>There are populations records going back to the 16th century, the earliest of which combine Canna and Sanday. Following the clearances, population numbers remained fairly stable at around 20 to 30 during the second half of the 20th century, but by the time of the 2001 census had dwindled to 6 (12 including Sanday). Since then new residents have settled on the island, bringing the 2009 population of Canna and Sanday to around 20 (see below).</p><br>
<p>In 2015 it was reported that the population of Canna and Sanday had fallen to 19.</p><br>
<h2>Transport</h2><br>
<p>A large natural harbour is formed between Canna and Sanday. The pier on Canna and those of the other Small Isles, was rebuilt and enlarged in 2005. This is used by the Caledonian MacBrayne ferry, MV Lochnevis, which links Canna, and the neighbouring Small Isles of Rùm, Eigg and Muck, to the mainland port of Mallaig (2½ hours away). Lochnevis is capable of carrying motor vehicles, although NTS permission is required to land them. The harbour is sheltered. It is the only deep harbour in the Small Isles, and is very popular with west coast yachting traffic out of Oban and Arisaig.</p><br>
<h2>Recent developments</h2><br>
<h3>Invasive species</h3><br>
<h4>Rat problem</h4><br>
<p>In September 2005, it was reported that the population of brown rats on the island had grown to 10,000 and was causing such problems to both the human population and the birdlife, particularly the rare Manx shearwaters, that a complete cull would take place. Because the mice on the island are believed to be a rare and distinct subspecies of woodmouse, a breeding population of mice was removed beforehand by the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland (RZSS) so that the cull could use rodenticide. By the end of 2006 it was believed that Canna was rat-free and during that summer there was also an encouraging increase in the number of breeding puffins and razorbills; Manx shearwaters were nesting for the first time since 1997.</p><br>
<h4>Rabbit overpopulation</h4><br>
<p>Within four years of the eradication of rats, a rabbit overpopulation problem was reported. The island&#39;s only restaurant started serving rabbit meat in pies and with cranberry and pistachio.</p><br>
<h3>Call for families for Canna</h3><br>
<p>In October 2006 the NTS decided to invite two families to rent properties on the island, in an effort to attract new skills and spirit to the island community. The invitation was mainly aimed at people with "skills in building, plumbing and gardening". The call was global and over 400 responses were received, from places as varied as Germany, Sweden, India and Dubai. From these, Sheila Gunn and John Clare were chosen to move to Canna during summer 2007. They were joined in early 2008 by two more incomers, Neil and Deborah Baker, from Llannon, in the Gwendraeth Valley in South Wales. Neil is a gardener, and his job was to restore the fine but overgrown gardens of Canna House. Since then, a further cottage was restored and was expected to be occupied by newcomers in 2011. However, in June 2011 it was announced that 12 people were planning to leave the island: Clare and Gunn, the Bakers and their two children, and schoolteacher Eilidh Soe-Paing, her husband and four children. The school would close, temporarily at least, as there would no longer be any school-age children on the island.</p><br>
<h3>Gaelic Study Centre</h3><br>
<p>The church, which is also owned by the National Trust for Scotland, was restored and converted into a hostel and study centre by the Hebridean Trust. This project was undertaken at the invitation of the owners. The centre is linked to the archive of Gaelic language and culture that was created by the former owner of Canna and Sanday, the late John Lorne Campbell. It was successfully completed and opened in 2001 by Princess Anne. Subsequently, there was water ingress, which caused damage to the interior. This challenge is in the hands of the National Trust for Scotland.</p><br>
<h3>Crime</h3><br>
<p>The island enjoys a near zero crime rate, with only a handful of crimes recorded in the last several decades.</p><br>
<p>Nicopolis  or Actia Nicopolis was the capital city of the Roman province of Epirus Vetus. It was located in the western part of the modern state of Greece. The city was founded in 29 BC by Caesar Augustus in commemoration of his victory in 31 BC over Antony and Cleopatra at the Battle of Actium nearby. It was soon made the major city of the wider region of Epirus region. Many impressive ruins of the ancient city may be visited today, although today the old city is associated with the name Preveza, a place 7 km south of Nicopolis.</p><br>
<h2>History</h2><br>
<h3>Foundation</h3><br>
<p>See main page: Battle of Actium.</p><br>
<p>In 28 BC, 3 years after his victory in the naval battle of Actium, Octavian founded a new city which he called Nicopolis (the City of Victory), located on the southernmost promontory of Epirus, and across the mouth of the harbour from the ancient town of Actium. This foundation echoed a tradition dating back to Alexander the Great, and more recently illustrated by Pompey, founder of Nicopolis in Little Armenia (63 BC.). Symbolically, the new city represented one example of his successful unification of the Roman Empire under one administration. Geographically, it constituted a major transportation and communications link between the eastern and western halves of the Mediterranean. Economically, it served to reorganise and revitalise the region, which had never recovered from its destruction by Lucius Aemilius Paullus Macedonicus in the Third Macedonian war (171-167 BC), or the further destruction under Sulla in 87-86BC. It also established an important commercial centre and port at this strategic position on the Mediterranean sea routes.</p><br>
<p>On a hill north of Nicopolis where his own tent had been pitched, and north of the present village of Smyrtoula, Octavian also built a monument and sanctuary to Apollo, considered his patron god, and trophies to two other gods, Neptune and Mars for their contribution to its victory. This monument was adorned with the rams of captured galleys. In further celebration of his victory he instituted the quadrennial Actian games in honour of Apollo Actius.</p><br>
<p>In 27 BC, Octavian implemented an Empire-wide administrative reform. The new polis was considered capital of the territories of southern Epirus including Ambracia, most of Akarnania, and western Aetolia. Many inhabitants of the surrounding areas – Kassopaia, Ambracia, parts of Acarnania (including Leukas, Palairos, Amphilochian Argos, Calydon, and Lysimachia) and western Aetolia – were forced to relocate to the new city. Among other things, it obtained the right to send five representatives to the Amphictyonic Council. As a city in a senatorial province, Nicopolis began minting its own copper coins (until 268).</p><br>
<p>During the first five years or so of the citys foundation, local authorities supervised the construction of the city walls, the majority of the public buildings, including the theatre, stadium, gymnasium, odeion, and the aqueduct. The citys western gate was connected by a road to the Ionian harbour Komaros. The city eventually occupied a site of around 375 acres.</p><br>
<p>Although the exact legal status of Nicopolis is the subject of some dispute, unlike other Roman foundations in Greece contemporary with Nicopolis such as Patras, Philippi and, also in Epirus, Buthrotum and Epidamnus, the city was not, or was not only, a Roman colony (implying that Roman military veterans also settled there) but also a free city (civitas libera Nicopolitana) i.e. a polis (Greek city), free and autonomous, having the characteristics of civitas libera and civitas foederata, linked to Rome by a treaty (foedus).</p><br>
<h3>1st century</h3><br>
<p>Thus provided with considerable assets by its founder, the new city developed rapidly in Roman times; Augustus adorned it with monuments financed by the spoils of war, but it also owes much to the patronage of Herod the Great. The two ports, one on the Amvrakikos Gulf, probably Vathy, and one at Komaros on the Ionian Sea (Fig. 4), ensured the commercial development of the city which was built on the Roman orthogonal grid distinguished by its considerable size (about 180 ha).</p><br>
<p>Germanicus, nephew and adopted son of Augustus, visited the city en route to Syria and celebrated his second consulship there in 18 AD. In 30-31, the Roman consul Poppaeus Sabinus visited Nicopolis.</p><br>
<p>In the winter of 65-66, the Apostle Paul decided to spend the winter at Nicopolis and in his Epistle to Titus invited his co-worker Titus to join him there from Crete. Apparently a Christian community was in existence in the city.</p><br>
<p>In 66, in the wake of a terror campaign and financial constraints in Rome, Emperor Nero made a more modest trip to Greece in lieu of a planned great journey to the east. He visited Nicopolis during his tour of Greece to take part in the Actian games and was crowned winner of the chariot race, as is indicated on coins minted in Nicopolis in his honor.</p><br>
<p>Around 93, Emperor Domitian (81-96) expelled philosophers from Rome including the prominent Stoic philosopher Epictetus of Hierapolis, who went to Nicopolis. He founded his own school, and in the reign of Trajan counted Arrien among his students, thanks to the notes he made of his philosophy. He died there around AD 135.</p><br>
<h3>2nd century</h3><br>
<p>Around 110, under Emperor Trajan (98-117), the Roman government carved out the province of Epirus from parts of Macedonia and Achaia, making it a separate province in its own right. A procurator Augusti headquartered at Nicopolis governed Epirus. The new province of Epirus included Acarnania to the south as far as the Achelous, but not Apollonia to the north, plus the Ionian Islands – Corfu, Leukas, Ithaca, Cephalonia, and Zacynthus. The reason for the reform was that the territory needed a stricter government to yield higher revenues. The new province was put under the control of an Imperial procurator, together with other special procuratores, including a procurator of the purple fisheries, whose sphere of office, however, extended to Achaea and Thessaly. This administrative set up appears to have remained intact through the reforms of Emperor Septimius Severus (193-211) and up until Emperor Diocletian (284-305).</p><br>
<p>In 128, Emperor Hadrian (117-138) visited Nicopolis with his wife Sabina during his second voyage to the East (128-134). The imperial couple were received with the highest honours: small altars in the city attest to the worship of Hadrian and Sabina, respectively assimilated to Zeus Dodonaios, the most important deity of Epirus, (fig. 5) and Artemis Kelkaia, a manifestation of the goddess unknown outside Nicopolis. Hadrian took advantage of his stay to build a temple to his late protégé, Antinous.</p><br>
<p>Around this time the city&#39;s western gate was constructed, several hundred metres north of the south gate, becoming the main gate of Nicopolis.</p><br>
<p>Around 180, the next mention of Nicopolis in Church history concerns a bishop of Rome, Pope Eleutherius, who reigned from around 174-189. He was born in Nicopolis, according to the Liber Pontificalis, and served as a deacon in Rome. During his term in office as Bishop of Rome, the Church was involved in the Montanist controversy.</p><br>
<p>Around 193-198, Emperor Severus (193-211), based in Syria, campaigned in Mesopotamia, with indirect consequences for Achaea and Epirus: to help pay for these campaigns, Emperor Severus apparently required several cities to mint special coins, including Nicopolis, Patrae, Epidaurus, Apollonia, Thuria, Plautilla, and the Thessalian koinon.</p><br>
<p>Nicopolis is mentioned by Ptolemy Peutinger Tabulae Antonious Itinerary</p><br>
<h3>Later Roman and Byzantine period</h3><br>
<p>The late third century was a time of troubles here and in the whole Empire,: the city is attacked by the Goths and Heruli u, but managed to avoid looting thanks in makeshift fortifications.</p><br>
<p>In 268, the Goths launched a combined land-sea invasion against the Roman Empire, assisted by Heruli sailors and other tribesmen. Their naval forces ravaged Byzantium and Chrysopolis, though the imperial fleet successfully counter-attacked on the Propontis. Meanwhile, the land forces overran Thrace and continued into Achaea as far south as Sparta; the invading Goths and Heruli sacked Athens, crossed the isthmus, sacked and burned the lower part of Corinth, and advanced to Argos and Sparta, ravaging the countryside along the way and burning the two cities. Here imperial land and sea forces counter-attacked, and the invaders wandered their way through Boeotia, Acarnania, Epirus, Macedonia, and Thrace on their way back to Moesia.</p><br>
<p>In Epirus, while the inhabitants of Nicopolis made hasty repairs to fortifications and managed to avert the danger, the leaders of Corfu organised their own army, crossed over into Epirus and defeated the Goths on land.</p><br>
<p>The Roman army chased the Goths and their allies and defeated them at the Naissus. It seems that the city then lost much of its importance and reputation by becoming only a provincial centre.</p><br>
<p>In 293, as part of Diocletian&#39;s reforms, the province of Epirus became known as Epirus Vetus (including Adrianopolis, Phoenice, Ogchismos, and Buthrotum as the most northerly major cities, and Acarnania and the islands of Corfu, Ithaca, and probably Leucas to the south). The capital was Nicopolis.</p><br>
<p>Meanwhile, the territory of northern Epirus (including, Apollonia, Byllis and Amantia on its southern borders) became known as Epirus Nova, with the capital at Dyrrachium. Both provinces, along with Macedonia, Thessaly and Achaea, were included in the diocese of Moesia, which also included four provinces in the northwestern Balkans. The islands of Cephalonia, Zacynthus, and Cythera were included in the province of Achaea.</p><br>
<p>Both Epirus Vetus and Epirus Nova were governed by a praeses.</p><br>
<p>Writing around 300, one Arnobius of Numidia mentioned the existence of Christian communities in Achaea, Macedonia, and Epirus.</p><br>
<p>In about 330, the first great recorded Church historian Eusebius of Caesarea mentions that bishops from Epirus attended the first Ecumenical Council of Nicaea in 325. This implies that bishoprics and an episcopal administrative system had been set up some time before 325. Until the time of Constantine, it is supposed that the bishopric of Nicopolis came under the jurisdiction of the metropolitan of Corinth, but with the administrative reforms under Emperor Diocletian and Constantine (306-337), Nicopolis itself became the metropolitan city of Epirus Vetus. Eusebius also mentions that Origen of Alexandria went to Nicopolis in the first half of the third century and discovered a rare Greek translation of the Old Testament.</p><br>
<p>In 327, Emperor Constantine split the diocese of Moesia into Dacia and Macedonia. The two provinces of Epirus, along with the provinces of Macedonia, Thessaly, and Achaia, became part of the diocese of Macedonia (capital Thessalonica).</p><br>
<p>In 343, in the Acts of the Council of Sardica, we have the first mention by name of a bishop of Nicopolis, one Isidoros.</p><br>
<p>In 361, newly appointed Consul and rhetorician Claudius Mamertinus delivered a panegyric to the young Emperor Julian (360-363), mentioning heavy taxation in Dalmatia and Epirus. He emphasised the destruction of some of the most important monuments while congratulating the Emperor for his restoration work.</p><br>
<h3>Christian Nicopolis</h3><br>
<p>Based on the record of Julian&#39;s close ties with certain leading men from Epirus involved in the Empire-wide cultural circuit led by Libanius and Themistius, it appears that Christianity was not widespread in Epirus in the mid-4th century (and as part of his pagan policy, Julian reactivated support of the Actian games), but after his death it spread far and wide in the region, judging from legislation issued by Valentinian in 371 and 372, trying to offset some negative effects of its rapid spread, and the fact that there is no written record of the bishops of the cities of Epirus until the 5th century, except for the bishop of Nicopolis in 343.</p><br>
<p>The Acts of the Council of Constantinople in 381 – as well as of the Third (431) and Fourth (451) Ecumenical Councils – recognized the see of Thessalonica as holding sixth place in the Church administrative hierarchy, after the five patriarchs. Among the sees of Illyricum, Thessalonica held the first position in the hierarchy, followed by Corinth and Nicopolis.</p><br>
<p>In 431, the Acts of the Third Ecumenical Council at Ephesus list the bishops of Epirus, including metropolitan Bishop Donatus of Nicopolis (c. 425-432).</p><br>
<p>Atticus Bishop of Nicopolis was an attendee at Council of Chalcedon.</p><br>
<p>The majority of the bishops from Epirus and Illyricum and other representatives upheld the Orthodox theological position of the Bishop Celestine I of Rome (422-432) and Bishop Cyril of Alexandria against the Patriarch of Constantinople Nestorius. During this time, Bishop Donatus of Nicopolis maintained a correspondence with Bishop Cyril of Alexandria concerning Nestorianism.</p><br>
<p>In 451, six Epirote bishops attended the Fourth Ecumenical Council at Chalcedon, including Bishop Atticus of Nicopolis. All these bishops without exception signed the Council’s decisions in favor of the Orthodox position of Dyophysitism, also backed by the bishop of Rome.</p><br>
<p>In 457-458 the bishops of Epirus then held a provincial synod to ratify the validity of the Fourth Ecumenical Council. We have a list of as many as nine bishops signing a letter written by Bishop Eugenius of Nicopolis to Pope Leo I of Rome.</p><br>
<p>This was also the time of Bishop Diadochos of Photiki (c. 450-458), a saint and Father of the Church. Not only was he the bishop of what was the major city of an Epirus sub-region called Thresprotia, he was also the author of important theological treatises, three of which are extant.</p><br>
<p>In combination with the notice of the correspondence between the bishop of Nicopolis and the bishop of Alexandria mentioned previously, from the writings of Diadochos we can infer that learned texts, along with amphorae, traveled between the eastern Mediterranean and Epirus in the 5th century.</p><br>
<p>Diadochos’ texts also show us that both theoretical and practical ideas about theology and the organization of monastic life also spread from the eastern Mediterranean to Epirus. In fact, a reference in one of Diadochos’ own writings suggests he was also the hegumen of a monastery in Photiki and that Epirus in the 450s at least had both anchoretic and coenbitic monastic communities.</p><br>
<p>From around 460, a series of six basilicas were built, beginning with the five-aisled metropolitan basilica B. Artisans decorated many of the basilicas with high-quality mosaics, developing their own workshop, and operating until the 550s. Their influence extended to the rest of Epirus and perhaps further afield in eastern Illyricum.</p><br>
<p>Basilica B was the largest of the Nicopolis basilicas and probably served as the metropolitan bishop’s main church. An inscription informs us that Bishop Alcison (491-516) sponsored some additions to the southern annex of Basilica B, possibly around 500.</p><br>
<p>In 474, Emperor Zeno (474-491) initiated peace negotiations with the Vandals. But during the negotiations, in order to strengthen their position, the Vandals again devastated the coast of Greece during which they captured Nicopolis and took prisoners who had to be ransomed to secure their release.</p><br>
<p>Evidently the walls of Nicopolis built in the time of Augustus were not for defensive purposes, or at least were not functioning in 474, since the Vandals took the city apparently without being equipped with siege tools, while they failed to take the walled city of Taenarum. If this is so, the walls of Nicopolis attributed to Justinian, enclosing only one-sixth of the city founded by Augustus, were erected not before 474. In any case, the Nicopolis walls, probably of the 480s-510s period (like those of Dyrrachium), were made of bricks, mortar, and rubble.</p><br>
<p>This raid and prisoner-taking probably had a devastating effect on the infrastructure of Nicopolis and the mentality of its citizens, affecting the citys social and economic life. It is probably directly related to the reduction of the citys population to one-sixth of what it had been, confining it to the north-east section, the area where the citadel stood, and fortifying it with thick walls to provide better defence.</p><br>
<p>Around 500, as mentioned, Bishop Alcison (491-516), an opponent of the Monophysite policy of Emperor Anastasius, supervised the addition of annexes to the five-aisled metropolitan basilica B, which has taken his name.</p><br>
<p>Around 515, the three-aisled basilica Δ, with fragments of floor mosaics, was built.</p><br>
<p>In 516, all eight bishops of Vetus Epirus held a synod and elected Ioannes as successor to the martyred Bishop Alcison. Bishop Ioannes sent a deacon, Rufinus, with a letter to Pope Hormisdas, reaffirming their steadfastness in the Orthodox faith. The synod appears to be the seventh local episcopal synod for Epirus Vetus.</p><br>
<p>In 551, King Totila of the Ostrogoths, in response to reports of a Byzantine military build-up in the eastern side of the Adriatic, sent a 300-strong fleet to Corfu. The Ostrogoths sacked it and nearby islands. They also sacked the area around Dodoni inland and Nicopolis, and captured several Byzantine ships on their way to bring supplies to Narses.</p><br>
<p>Around 555, according to Procopius, Emperor Justinian (527-565) renovated the fortifications of Nicopolis, as part of his huge program involving the renewal of city fortifications and the erection of new defences.</p><br>
<p>Construction of the three-aisled Basilica Α, decorated with an extensive series of extant floor mosaics. was begun. Bishop Dumetius I also made some additions (the pastophoria) to Basilica B, and the three-aisled basilica Ε, near the southern harbor Magaronas, was built.</p><br>
<p>Around 575, the three-aisled basilica Γ was built and Basilica Α was completed under Bishop Dumetius II.</p><br>
<p>In 587, Slavic tribes invaded Thrace, Macedonia and Achaua, including Thessaly, Attica, Euboia, and Peloponnesos, as well as Epirus Vetus, where the invasion seems to have reached as far as Euroea, but not Cassope and Nicopolis.</p><br>
<p>In 625, Pope Honorius I sent a letter to Metropolitan Hypatius of Nicopolis referring to the difficult travel conditions that prevented the bishop from reaching Rome.</p><br>
<h3>Middle Ages to present</h3><br>
<p>The province of Epirus Vetus, of which Nicopolis was the capital, was part of the western patriarchate as arranged by Justinian I- and was directly subject to the jurisdiction of the pope; but, about 732, Leo the Isaurian made it subject to the patriarch of Constantinople because of the popes resistance to the emperors iconoclastic policy.</p><br>
<p>The last known bishop of Nicopolis was Anastasius, who attended the Ecumenical Council of 787. Soon afterwards, owing to the decadence into which Nicopolis fell, the metropolitan see was transferred to Naupactus. which subsequently figured as such in the Notitiae episcopatuum.</p><br>
<p>In the course of the Middle Ages Nicopolis was supplanted by the town of Preveza.</p><br>
<p>In 1798 French Revolutionary troops, stationed in Preveza by Napoleon, dug into the graves and ruins of ancient Nicopolis and looted various treasures. These were later taken by the troops of Ali Pasha, who defeated the French and their Greek allies.</p><br>
<p>Various battles fought in this area, the latest in 1912, when it was captured by the Greek army during the First Balkan War, have been named "Battle of Nicopolis" rather than "Battle of Preveza".</p><br>
<h2>Archaeology</h2><br>
<p>The ruins of Nicopolis, now known as Palaea Preveza ("Old Preveza"), lie about 5 km north of the town, on a small bay of the Gulf of Arta (Sinus Ambracius) at the narrowest part of the isthmus of the peninsula which separates the Gulf from the Ionian Sea. Besides the Acropolis, the most conspicuous features are:</p><br>
<p>The Actium monument of Augustus</p><br>
<p>a theatre ( with 77 rows of seats)</p><br>
<p>an Odeon</p><br>
<p>large sections of the original walls</p><br>
<p>an aqueduct which brought water to the town from the Louros river over a distance of about 50 km. The acqueduct bridge over the river downstream from the source is one of the very few remaining in Greece today. The water was finally brought to the Nymphaeum in the city which also contained a header tank from where it was further distributed. Remains of the aqueduct in several forms of construction are visible in the regions of Thesprotiko, Louros, Stefani-Oropos, Archangelos and Nicopolis. Recent research has assigned its construction to Hadrian’s rule, in the 2nd century AD. Ancient sources mention that in the 4th C AD the aqueduct needed several repairs which were undertaken by Emperor Julian. The Aqueduct ceased to operate in the mid 5th century.</p><br>
<p>the nympheum or great fountain.</p><br>
<p>the baths (thermae)</p><br>
<p>the Roman villa of Antoninus with beautiful mosaic</p><br>
<p>the stadium, home to the famous Actian games was the location of the famous Actian Games, together with the nearby gymnasium, theatre and hippodrome. It was located in the so-called Proasteion (sacred grove) of Nikopolis. Dating from just after the city&#39;s foundation, the stadium has two semicircular ends (sphendones), typical of the Roman amphitheatre type. The stadiums of ancient Laodicea (near Pamukkale, Turkey) and Aphrodisias (Geyre, Turkey) have a similar architecture. The north side of the stadium, which must have held a capacity of at least 10,000 spectators, was built on the side of a hill, while artificial deposits were used for the other sides. The walls were made of a rubble core faced with several courses of bricks. On the west side of the stadium were three apsidal entrances leading to the gymnasium, the central one larger than the others. The entrances in the sphendone at the east led to the theatre nearby. On the sphendone at the south side there were residential rooms and facilities for athletes and spectators (inns, shops, lodgings etc.)</p><br>
<p>The nearby Archaeological Museum of Nikopolis contains many exhibits.</p><br>
