1.
Grand Prix motor racing
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Grand Prix motor racing has its roots in organised automobile racing that began in France as far back as 1894. It quickly evolved from a road race from one town to the next, to endurance tests for car. Grand Prix motor racing eventually evolved into formula racing, and Formula One can be seen as its direct descendant, each event of the Formula One World Championships is still called a Grand Prix, Formula One is referred to as Grand Prix racing. Motor racing was started in France, as a result of the enthusiasm with which the French public embraced the motor car. Manufacturers were enthusiastic due to the possibility of using motor racing as a window for their cars. The first motoring contest took place on July 22,1894 and was organised by a Paris newspaper, the Paris–Rouen rally was 126 km, from Porte Maillot in Paris, through the Bois de Boulogne, to Rouen. Count Jules-Albert de Dion was first into Rouen after 6 hours 48 minutes at an speed of 19 km/h. He finished 3 minutes 30 seconds ahead of Albert Lemaître, followed by Doriot, René Panhard, in 1900, James Gordon Bennett, Jr. the owner of the New York Herald and the International Herald Tribune, established the Gordon Bennett Cup. He hoped the creation of an event would drive automobile manufacturers to improve their cars. Each country was allowed to enter up to three cars, which had to be built in the country that they represented and entered by that countrys automotive governing body. International racing colours were established in this event, in the United States, William Kissam Vanderbilt II launched the Vanderbilt Cup at Long Island, New York in 1904. Some anglophone sources wrongly list a race called the Pau Grand Prix in 1901 and this may stem from a mistranslation of the contemporary French sources such as the magazine La France Auto of March 1901. The name of the 1901 event was the Circuit du Sud-Ouest, the Grand Prix du Palais d’Hiver was the name of the prizes awarded for the lesser classes. The Grand Prix de Pau was the name of the awarded for the Heavy class. Thus Maurice Farman was awarded the Grand Prix de Pau for his victory in the Circuit du Sud-Ouest driving a Panhard 24 hp. In L’Histoire de l’Automobile/Paris 1907 Pierre Souvestre described the 1901 event as, dans le Circuit du Sud-Ouest, à l’occasion du meeting de Pau. ” The only race at the time to carry the name Grand Prix was organised by the Automobile Club de France. The circuit used, which was based in Le Mans, was triangular in shape
2.
Europe
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Europe is a continent that comprises the westernmost part of Eurasia. Europe is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, yet the non-oceanic borders of Europe—a concept dating back to classical antiquity—are arbitrary. Europe covers about 10,180,000 square kilometres, or 2% of the Earths surface, politically, Europe is divided into about fifty sovereign states of which the Russian Federation is the largest and most populous, spanning 39% of the continent and comprising 15% of its population. Europe had a population of about 740 million as of 2015. Further from the sea, seasonal differences are more noticeable than close to the coast, Europe, in particular ancient Greece, was the birthplace of Western civilization. The fall of the Western Roman Empire, during the period, marked the end of ancient history. Renaissance humanism, exploration, art, and science led to the modern era, from the Age of Discovery onwards, Europe played a predominant role in global affairs. Between the 16th and 20th centuries, European powers controlled at times the Americas, most of Africa, Oceania. The Industrial Revolution, which began in Great Britain at the end of the 18th century, gave rise to economic, cultural, and social change in Western Europe. During the Cold War, Europe was divided along the Iron Curtain between NATO in the west and the Warsaw Pact in the east, until the revolutions of 1989 and fall of the Berlin Wall. In 1955, the Council of Europe was formed following a speech by Sir Winston Churchill and it includes all states except for Belarus, Kazakhstan and Vatican City. Further European integration by some states led to the formation of the European Union, the EU originated in Western Europe but has been expanding eastward since the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991. The European Anthem is Ode to Joy and states celebrate peace, in classical Greek mythology, Europa is the name of either a Phoenician princess or of a queen of Crete. The name contains the elements εὐρύς, wide, broad and ὤψ eye, broad has been an epithet of Earth herself in the reconstructed Proto-Indo-European religion and the poetry devoted to it. For the second part also the divine attributes of grey-eyed Athena or ox-eyed Hera. The same naming motive according to cartographic convention appears in Greek Ανατολή, Martin Litchfield West stated that phonologically, the match between Europas name and any form of the Semitic word is very poor. Next to these there is also a Proto-Indo-European root *h1regʷos, meaning darkness. Most major world languages use words derived from Eurṓpē or Europa to refer to the continent, in some Turkic languages the originally Persian name Frangistan is used casually in referring to much of Europe, besides official names such as Avrupa or Evropa
3.
North America
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North America is a continent entirely within the Northern Hemisphere and almost all within the Western Hemisphere. It can also be considered a subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the west and south by the Pacific Ocean, and to the southeast by South America and the Caribbean Sea. North America covers an area of about 24,709,000 square kilometers, about 16. 5% of the land area. North America is the third largest continent by area, following Asia and Africa, and the fourth by population after Asia, Africa, and Europe. In 2013, its population was estimated at nearly 565 million people in 23 independent states, or about 7. 5% of the worlds population, North America was reached by its first human populations during the last glacial period, via crossing the Bering land bridge. The so-called Paleo-Indian period is taken to have lasted until about 10,000 years ago, the Classic stage spans roughly the 6th to 13th centuries. The Pre-Columbian era ended with the migrations and the arrival of European settlers during the Age of Discovery. Present-day cultural and ethnic patterns reflect different kind of interactions between European colonists, indigenous peoples, African slaves and their descendants, European influences are strongest in the northern parts of the continent while indigenous and African influences are relatively stronger in the south. Because of the history of colonialism, most North Americans speak English, Spanish or French, the Americas are usually accepted as having been named after the Italian explorer Amerigo Vespucci by the German cartographers Martin Waldseemüller and Matthias Ringmann. Vespucci, who explored South America between 1497 and 1502, was the first European to suggest that the Americas were not the East Indies, but a different landmass previously unknown by Europeans. In 1507, Waldseemüller produced a map, in which he placed the word America on the continent of South America. He explained the rationale for the name in the accompanying book Cosmographiae Introductio, for Waldseemüller, no one should object to the naming of the land after its discoverer. He used the Latinized version of Vespuccis name, but in its feminine form America, following the examples of Europa, Asia and Africa. Later, other mapmakers extended the name America to the continent, In 1538. Some argue that the convention is to use the surname for naming discoveries except in the case of royalty, a minutely explored belief that has been advanced is that America was named for a Spanish sailor bearing the ancient Visigothic name of Amairick. Another is that the name is rooted in a Native American language, the term North America maintains various definitions in accordance with location and context. In Canadian English, North America may be used to refer to the United States, alternatively, usage sometimes includes Greenland and Mexico, as well as offshore islands
4.
Indianapolis 500
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The Indianapolis 500 is an automobile race held annually at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana, an enclave suburb of Indianapolis, Indiana. The event is held over Memorial Day weekend, which is typically the last weekend in May and it is contested as part of the Verizon IndyCar Series, the top level of American Championship Car racing, an open-wheel formula colloquially known as Indy Car Racing. The name of the race is often shortened to Indy 500, the event, billed as The Greatest Spectacle in Racing, is considered part of the Triple Crown of Motorsport, which comprises three of the most prestigious motorsports events in the world. The official attendance is not disclosed by Speedway management, but the permanent seating capacity is upwards of 250,000, the inaugural running was won by Ray Harroun in 1911. The race celebrated its 100th anniversary in 2011, and the 100th running was held in 2016, alexander Rossi is the defending champion. The most successful drivers are A. J. Foyt, Al Unser, the active driver with the most victories is Hélio Castroneves, with three. Rick Mears holds the record for most career pole positions with six, the most successful car owner is Roger Penske, owner of Team Penske, which has 16 total wins and 17 poles. For a list of races and winners, see List of Indianapolis 500 winners, the Indianapolis 500 is held annually at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, a 2.5 mile oval circuit. Drivers race 200 laps, counterclockwise around the circuit, for a distance of 500 miles, since its inception in 1911, the race has always been scheduled on or around Memorial Day. Since 1974, the race has been scheduled for the Sunday of Memorial Day weekend, practice and time trials are held in the two weeks leading up to the race. Traditionally, the field consists of 33 starters, aligned in a grid of eleven rows of three cars apiece. The event is contested by Indy cars, a formula of professional-level, single-seat, open cockpit, open-wheel, as of 2015, all entrants utilize 2.2 L V6, twin-turbocharged engines, tuned to produce a range of 550–700 horsepower. Chevrolet and Honda are the current engine manufacturers involved in the sport, firestone, which has a deep history in the sport, dating back to the first 500, is the exclusive tire provider. The race is the most prestigious event of the IndyCar calendar and it has been avouched to be the largest single-day sporting event in the entire world. Likewise, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway itself is regarded as the worlds largest sporting facility in terms of capacity, the total purse exceeded $13 million in 2011, with over $2.5 million awarded to the winner, making it one of the richest cash prize funds in sports. Due to safety issues, the race is not held in wet conditions, in the event of a rain delay, the race will be postponed until rain showers cease, and the track is sufficiently dried. If rain falls during the race, officials can end the race, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway complex was built in 1909 as a gravel-and-tar track and hosted a smattering of small events, including ones for motorcycles. The first long distance event, in conditions, was the 100-lap Prest-O-Lite Trophy in 1909
5.
French Grand Prix
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The French Grand Prix was a race held as part of Fédération Internationale de lAutomobiles annual Formula One automobile racing championships. It was one of the oldest motor races in the world and it ceased shortly after its centenary in 2008 with 86 races having been held, a victim of finances and unfavourable venues. It is also one of four races to have held as part of the three distinct Grand Prix championships. The power of original organiser, the Automobile Club de France, the Grand Prix name referred to the prize of 45,000 French francs to the race winner. The franc was pegged to the gold at 0.290 grams per franc, dieppe in particular was an extremely dangerous circuit-8 people in total were killed at the 3 French Grands Prix held at the 79 km circuit. The 1906 race was the first ever Grand Prix, which was an event that originated from the Gordon Bennett races that had started in 1899. This race was run on a 66-mile closed public road circuit starting at the western French town of Le Mans, through a series of villages and back again to Le Mans. Hungarian Ferenc Szisz won this very long 12-hour race on a Renault from Italian Felice Nazzaro in a Fiat, where laps on this took around an hour. The 1913 race was won by Georges Boillot on a one-off 19-mile circuit near Amiens in northern France, Amiens was another extremely deadly circuit-5 people were killed during its use during pre-race testing and the race weekend itself. The 1914 race, run on a 24-mile circuit near Lyon is perhaps the most legendary race of the pre-WWI racing era and this was a hard-fought battle between the French Peugeots and the German Mercedess. Although the Peugeots were fast and Boillot ended up leading for 12 of the 20 laps the Dunlop tires they used wore out badly compared to the Continentials that the Mercedes cars were using. Boillots four-minute lead was wiped out by Christian Lautenschlager in a Mercedes while he stopped an incredible eight times for tires. Although Boillot drove very hard to try to catch Christian Lautenschlager, he had to due to tire failure, and Mercedes finished 1-2-3. Bugatti made its debut at the 1922 race at a 8.3 mile one-off public road circuit near Strasbourg near the French-German border- which was close to Bugattis headquarters in Molsheim. It rained, and the circuit was in a dreadful condition. This race became a duel between Bugatti and Fiat- and Felice Nazzaro won in a Fiat, the 1923 race at another one-off circuit near Tours featured another new Bugatti- the Type 32. This car was dubbed the Tank, owing to its streamlined shape. This car was fast on the straights of this public road circuit-
6.
Lyon
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Lyon or Lyons is a city in east-central France, in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region, about 470 km from Paris and 320 km from Marseille. Inhabitants of the city are called Lyonnais, Lyon had a population of 506,615 in 2014 and is Frances third-largest city after Paris and Marseille. Lyon is the capital of the Metropolis of Lyon and the region of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, the metropolitan area of Lyon had a population of 2,237,676 in 2013, the second-largest in France after Paris. The city is known for its cuisine and gastronomy and historical and architectural landmarks and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, Lyon was historically an important area for the production and weaving of silk. It played a significant role in the history of cinema, Auguste, the city is also known for its famous light festival, Fête des Lumières, which occurs every 8 December and lasts for four days, earning Lyon the title of Capital of Lights. Economically, Lyon is a centre for banking, as well as for the chemical, pharmaceutical. The city contains a significant software industry with a focus on video games. Lyon hosts the headquarters of Interpol, Euronews, and International Agency for Research on Cancer. Lyon was ranked 19th globally and second in France for innovation in 2014 and it ranked second in France and 39th globally in Mercers 2015 liveability rankings. These refugees had been expelled from Vienne by the Allobroges and were now encamped at the confluence of the Saône and Rhône rivers, dio Cassius says this task was to keep the two men from joining Mark Antony and bringing their armies into the developing conflict. The Roman foundation was at Fourvière hill and was officially called Colonia Copia Felix Munatia, a name invoking prosperity, the city became increasingly referred to as Lugdunum. The earliest translation of this Gaulish place-name as Desired Mountain is offered by the 9th-century Endlicher Glossary, in contrast, some modern scholars have proposed a Gaulish hill-fort named Lugdunon, after the Celtic god Lugus, and dúnon. It then became the capital of Gaul, partly due to its convenient location at the convergence of two rivers, and quickly became the main city of Gaul. Two emperors were born in city, Claudius, whose speech is preserved in the Lyon Tablet in which he justifies the nomination of Gallic senators. Today, the archbishop of Lyon is still referred to as Primat des Gaules, the Christians in Lyon were martyred for their beliefs under the reigns of various Roman emperors, most notably Marcus Aurelius and Septimus Severus. Local saints from this period include Blandina, Pothinus, and Epipodius, in the second century AD, the great Christian bishop of Lyon was the Easterner, Irenaeus. Burgundian refugees fleeing the destruction of Worms by the Huns in 437 were re-settled by the commander of the west, Aëtius. This became the capital of the new Burgundian kingdom in 461, in 843, by the Treaty of Verdun, Lyon, with the country beyond the Saône, went to Lothair I
7.
Italian Grand Prix
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The Italian Grand Prix is one of the longest running events on the Formula One calendar. The Italian Grand Prix was also one of the inaugural Formula One championship races in 1950, every Formula One Italian Grand Prix since 1950 has been held at Monza except in 1980, when it was held at Imola. The Italian Grand Prix counted toward the European Championship from 1935 to 1938 and it was designated the European Grand Prix seven times between 1923 and 1967, when this title was an honorary designation given each year to one grand prix race in Europe. European motor racing pioneers Vincenzo Lancia and Felice Nazzaro laid the last two bricks at Monza, the circuit was 10 km long, with a flat banked section and a road circuit combined into one. It was fast, and always provided excitement, the 1923 race included one of Harry A. Millers rare European appearances with his single seat American Miller 122 driven by Count Louis Zborowski of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang fame. The 1928 race was the first of many tragedies that befell this venue, italians Emilio Materassi in a Talbot and Giulio Foresti in a Bugatti were battling around this fast circuit. As they came off the banking onto the side of the pit straight. It was the worst accident in racing history and would remain so until the 195524 Hours of Le Mans. The race was something of a race in those days. The great Nuvolari won again in a shortened 1932 race, this time held in early June, in 1933, with the race being held this time at the traditional timeframe of early September, disaster struck again. Three top drivers were killed during three heat races, Campari broke his neck and was killed instantly, and Borzacchini died later that day in a Monza hospital. Prior to the heat, there was a drivers meeting to discuss the oil patch. Blinded by the smoke and flames on him, he went up and flew off the banking- at the spot where Campari. The Polish driver, unable to put out the flames on his body which was fueled by the fuel from his wrecked Bugatti, Italian Luigi Fagioli was declared the winner of the event. Enzo Ferrari, who had close to Campari and Borzacchini. Today, racing historians conclude that the events of this marked a watershed. It was the end to the era of racing and the beginning of a harsher new age. Safety in those days was completely non-existent, spectators often stood very close to or even next to the track and they had no protection of any kind other than common sense
8.
Autodromo Nazionale Monza
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The Autodromo Nazionale Monza is a race track located near the city of Monza, north of Milan, in Italy. Built in 1922, it is the worlds third purpose-built motor racing circuit after those of Brooklands, the circuits biggest event is the Formula One Italian Grand Prix. With the exception of 1980, the race has been hosted there since the seriess inception, the circuit is generally flat, but has a gradual gradient from the second Lesmos to the Variante Ascari. Since both maximum power and minimal drag are keys for speed on the straights, only competitors with enough power or aerodynamic efficiency at their disposal are able to challenge for the top places. In addition to Formula One, the hosts a endurance event, the 1000 km Monza, which has been run as part of the World Sportscar Championship. Current major events are races of the World Touring Car Championship, the Monza circuit has been the site of many fatal accidents, especially in the early years of the Formula One world championship, and has claimed the lives of 52 drivers and 35 spectators. The first track was built from May to July 1922 by 3,500 workers, the initial form was a 3.4 square kilometres site with 10 kilometres of macadamised road – comprising a 4.5 kilometres loop track, and a 5.5 kilometres road track. The track was opened on 3 September 1922, with the maiden race the second Italian Grand Prix held on 10 September 1922. In 1928, the most serious Italian racing accident to date ended in the death of driver Emilio Materassi and 27 spectators at that years Grand Prix, the accident led to further Grand Prix races confinement to the high-speed loop until 1932. The 1933 race was marked by the deaths of three drivers and the Grand Prix layout was changed, with two chicanes added and the longer straights removed. There was major rebuilding in 1938–39, constructing new stands and entrances, resurfacing the track, moving portions of the track, the resulting layout gave a Grand Prix lap of 6.300 kilometres, in use until 1954. The outbreak of World War II meant racing at the track was suspended until 1948, Monza was renovated over a period of two months at the beginning of 1948 and a Grand Prix was held on 17 October 1948. In 1954, work began to revamp the circuit, resulting in a 5.750 kilometres course. The two circuits could be combined to re-create the former 10 kilometres long circuit, with cars running parallel on the main straight, the track infrastructure was also updated and improved to better accommodate the teams and spectators. The Automobile Club of Italy held 500-mile Race of Two Worlds exhibition competitions, intended to pit United States Auto Club IndyCars against European Formula One and sports cars. The races were held on the oval at the end of June in 1957 and 1958, ecurie Ecosses three Jaguar D-type sports cars used their Le Mans-specification tyres with no ill-effects, but were completely out paced. Two heats in 1957 were won by Jimmy Bryan in his Kuzma-Offenhauser Dean Van Lines Special, Formula One used the 10 kilometres high speed track in the 1955,1956,1960 and 1961 Grands Prix. Stirling Moss and Phil Hill both won twice in this period, with Hills win at Monza making him the first American to win a Formula One race
9.
European Grand Prix
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The European Grand Prix was a Formula One event that was introduced during the mid-1980s and was held regularly from 1999 until 2012. A recent host venue for this event was the Valencia Street Circuit in Valencia, Spain, the race was removed from the calendar in 2013. In 2016, the race returned, being run on a circuit in Baku, Azerbaijan. In earlier years, the European Grand Prix was not a race in its own right but just an honorific title, one of the national Grands Prix was also designated as the European Grand Prix. The first race to be so named was the 1923 Italian Grand Prix, held at Monza and won by Carlo Salamano in a Fiat and the last one was the 1977 British Grand Prix. Since its reintroduction, the European Grand Prix has usually held in a country in Europe that also holds a national Grand Prix in that same year. The European Grand Prix was created as a title by the AIACR. The first race to receive the title was the Italian Grand Prix, in 1923, after a hiatus in 1929, Spa received the last honorific title of the pre-WWII years, in 1930. All post-war honorific European Grands Prix were Formula One races except for the 1952 event, the Italian Grand Prix was named the European Grand Prix seven times, which was more than any other race. It received the three times in the 1920s. The event was created as a stop-gap. In 1983, the Formula One schedule originally featured a race near Flushing Meadows Park in New York City, when the race was cancelled three months before the event, track organizers at Brands Hatch were able to create a European Grand Prix at the track in its place. The success of the event, buoyed by a battle for the World Championship. Brands Hatch returned to host the European Grand Prix in 1985, in 1990, a wealthy Japanese businessman, Tomonori Tsurumaki, built the Nippon Autopolis with the idea of hosting a Formula One race. In 1992, plans were made to have an Asian Grand Prix in 1993 to replace the Mexican Grand Prix on the schedule, however, these plans failed to materialise. Instead, Bernie Ecclestone added a race at Donington Park to the schedule, the race was the brainchild of Tom Wheatcroft, who had been trying to bring F1 to the track since an abortive attempt to host the British Grand Prix in 1988. The first and so far only Formula One Grand Prix at Donington Park resulted in Ayrton Sennas victory in mixed wet, the European race would go the following season to Jerez in Spain. Brands Hatch was unable to host the European Grand Prix in 1984, so the European GP went to a redesigned and it was a far cry from the 14-mile Nürburgring that most were used to seeing, and was initially unpopular during Formula Ones return
10.
United States
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Forty-eight of the fifty states and the federal district are contiguous and located in North America between Canada and Mexico. The state of Alaska is in the northwest corner of North America, bordered by Canada to the east, the state of Hawaii is an archipelago in the mid-Pacific Ocean. The U. S. territories are scattered about the Pacific Ocean, the geography, climate and wildlife of the country are extremely diverse. At 3.8 million square miles and with over 324 million people, the United States is the worlds third- or fourth-largest country by area, third-largest by land area. It is one of the worlds most ethnically diverse and multicultural nations, paleo-Indians migrated from Asia to the North American mainland at least 15,000 years ago. European colonization began in the 16th century, the United States emerged from 13 British colonies along the East Coast. Numerous disputes between Great Britain and the following the Seven Years War led to the American Revolution. On July 4,1776, during the course of the American Revolutionary War, the war ended in 1783 with recognition of the independence of the United States by Great Britain, representing the first successful war of independence against a European power. The current constitution was adopted in 1788, after the Articles of Confederation, the first ten amendments, collectively named the Bill of Rights, were ratified in 1791 and designed to guarantee many fundamental civil liberties. During the second half of the 19th century, the American Civil War led to the end of slavery in the country. By the end of century, the United States extended into the Pacific Ocean. The Spanish–American War and World War I confirmed the status as a global military power. The end of the Cold War and the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 left the United States as the sole superpower. The U. S. is a member of the United Nations, World Bank, International Monetary Fund, Organization of American States. The United States is a developed country, with the worlds largest economy by nominal GDP. It ranks highly in several measures of performance, including average wage, human development, per capita GDP. While the U. S. economy is considered post-industrial, characterized by the dominance of services and knowledge economy, the United States is a prominent political and cultural force internationally, and a leader in scientific research and technological innovations. In 1507, the German cartographer Martin Waldseemüller produced a map on which he named the lands of the Western Hemisphere America after the Italian explorer and cartographer Amerigo Vespucci
11.
Indianapolis
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Indianapolis, is the capital and largest city of the U. S. state of Indiana and the seat of Marion County. It is in the East North Central region of the Midwestern United States, with an estimated population of 853,173 in 2015, Indianapolis is the second most populous city in the Midwest, after Chicago, and 14th largest in the U. S. The city is the economic and cultural center of the Indianapolis metropolitan area, home to 2 million people and its combined statistical area ranks 26th, with 2.4 million inhabitants. Indianapolis covers 372 square miles, making it the 16th largest city by area in the U. S. The city grew beyond the Mile Square, as completion of the National Road and advent of the railroad solidified the position as a manufacturing. Indianapolis is within a single-day drive of 70 percent of the nations population, Indianapolis has developed niche markets in amateur sports and auto racing. The city is perhaps best known for hosting the worlds largest single-day sporting event. The city is notable as headquarters for the American Legion and home to a significant collection of monuments dedicated to veterans and war dead, the most in the U. S. outside of Washington, D. C. Since the 1970 city-county consolidation, known as Unigov, local government administration has operated under the direction of an elected 25-member city-county council, Indianapolis is considered a high sufficiency global city. In 1816, the year Indiana gained statehood, the U. S. Congress donated four sections of land to establish a permanent seat of state government. Two years later, under the Treaty of St. Marys and this tract of land, which was called the New Purchase, included the site selected for the new state capital in 1820. The availability of new lands for purchase in central Indiana attracted settlers. Although many of these first European and American setters were Protestants, few African Americans lived in central Indiana before 1840. The first European Americans to permanently settle in the area that became Indianapolis were either the McCormick or Pogue families, on January 11,1820, the Indiana General Assembly authorized a committee to select a site in central Indiana for the new state capital. The state legislature approved the site, adopting the name Indianapolis on January 6,1821, in April, Alexander Ralston and Elias Pym Fordham were appointed to survey and design a town plan for the new settlement. Indianapolis became a seat of county government on December 31,1821, a combined county and town government continued until 1832, when Indianapolis incorporated as a town. Indianapolis became an incorporated city effective March 30,1847, Samuel Henderson, the citys first mayor, led the new city government, which included a seven-member city council. In 1853, voters approved a new city charter provided for an elected mayor
12.
Joe Boyer
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Joseph Boyer, Jr. was a co-winner of the 1924 Indianapolis 500. He was born on May 12,1890, in St. Louis, Missouri and grew up in Detroit, at the 1924 Indianapolis 500, Boyer participated in two different cars during the race. In his original entry, he qualified 4th, on the 109th lap he was relieved. His relief driver went on to race until lap 176, when the car crashed in turn 1, on lap 111, Boyer climbed into the car of Lora Lawrence Corum, driving relief for Corum. Boyer charged to the front of the field, and led the last 24 laps in Corums car, Corum and Boyer were scored as co-winners, the first time in Indy 500 history that designation had been assigned. He died on September 2,1924, from injuries sustained in a crash at Altoona Speedway in Tyrone, Pennsylvania the day before. Joe Boyer was my Great Uncle and he was the son of Benjamin Boyer and Anna Bodie. Benjamin owned Boyer Lake and sold the lake when it turned out to be rich in high quality iron ore, the man who bought it renamed it the Helen mine. Benjamin went on to search for gold after his wife died and farmed out the children to friends, Benjamin was Henry Fords best friend and owned the farm next to him. Benjamin went on to two large gold mines. His sons became wealthy and had their own businesses, the haunted shacks machine shops, a chemical company, a candy company, Joe Boyers auto repair shop. Joe Boyer funded Burrows adding machine invention, after winning the Indy 500, Joe Boyer did an exhibition race in Altoona, PA in the same year. The race took place on a board track, during the race Joe Boyer crashed. He sustained a head injury and his legs were pinned in the car. They removed his legs to him from the car. He hung in and died two weeks later
13.
Lora L. Corum
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Lora Lawrence Corum was co-winner of the 1924 Indianapolis 500. L. L. Corum was born on January 8,1899 in Jonesville, Indiana to Margaret Hannah Marquette and William Cecil Corum. During the 1924 Indianapolis 500 Corum, in place, was replaced by the more well-known Joe Boyer on lap 109 on orders of the head of the team after Boyers car developed trouble. While Corum received the money and was credited with the victory. Corum qualified for the 1928 Indianapolis 500, but suffered a crash during a run on the morning of the race. Corum left racing in 1933, but returned in 1938 as a mechanic and he died on March 7,1949 at age 50
14.
Duesenberg
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Duesenberg Motors Company was an American manufacturer of race cars and luxury automobiles. It was founded by brothers August and Frederick Duesenberg in 1913 in Saint Paul, Minnesota, the brothers moved their operations to Elizabeth, New Jersey in 1916 to manufacture engines for World War I. Cord added Duesenberg to his Auburn Automobile Company, with the market for expensive luxury cars severely undercut by the Depression, Duesenberg folded in 1937. In 1913, brothers Fred and Augie Duesenberg founded Duesenberg Motors Company, Inc. on University Avenue in St. Paul, Minnesota, to build engines, the brothers were self-taught engineers and built many experimental cars. Duesenberg cars were considered some of the best cars of the time, in 1914, Eddie Rickenbacker drove a Duesy to finish in 10th place at the Indianapolis 500, and Duesenberg won the race in 1924,1925, and 1927. The fledgling company sidestepped into aviation engine manufacturing when Colonel R. C. Bolling, the end of World War I stopped this project before it could ever mature. In 1921, Duesenberg provided the car for the Indy 500. In 1923, Jimmy Murphy became the first American to win the French Grand Prix when he drove a Duesenberg to victory at Le Mans. At the end of World War I, they ceased building aviation and marine engines in Elizabeth, New Jersey at the corner of Newark Avenue, was established in 1920 to begin production of passenger cars. The plant was located on a 17-acre site on West Washington street at Harding street until 1937, although the Duesenberg brothers were world-class engineers, they were neither good businessmen nor administrators, they were unable to sell all the units of their first passenger car, the Model A. This had the Duesenberg Straight-8 engine, the first mass-produced straight eight engine in the U. S, the Model A was a lighter and smaller vehicle than the competition. It was among the most powerful and the fastest cars of its time, among the celebrities who purchased this model were Tom Mix and Rudolph Valentino. The model experienced various delays going from prototype to production, deliveries to dealers did not start until December 1921. Sales lagged and the goal of building 100 Duesenbergs each month proved far too high, in 1922 no more than 150 cars were manufactured, and only 650 Model As were sold over a period of six years. The brothers continued to create excellent engines for cars, boats, on March 8,1920, these men became president and vice president of the Duesenberg Automobile and Motors Corporation of Indianapolis. Fred was chief engineer and Augie his assistant, and both were salaried as employees, van Zandt quit after a year, and business went from bad to worse in 1923. In 1924 the company went into receivership, but somehow it survived that year, in 1925, the firms name was changed to Duesenberg Motors Corporation and Fred assumed the title of president. Fred and August struggled to keep the company, but to no avail, Model X Duesenbergs are very rare
15.
France
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France, officially the French Republic, is a country with territory in western Europe and several overseas regions and territories. The European, or metropolitan, area of France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, Overseas France include French Guiana on the South American continent and several island territories in the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian oceans. France spans 643,801 square kilometres and had a population of almost 67 million people as of January 2017. It is a unitary republic with the capital in Paris. Other major urban centres include Marseille, Lyon, Lille, Nice, Toulouse, during the Iron Age, what is now metropolitan France was inhabited by the Gauls, a Celtic people. The area was annexed in 51 BC by Rome, which held Gaul until 486, France emerged as a major European power in the Late Middle Ages, with its victory in the Hundred Years War strengthening state-building and political centralisation. During the Renaissance, French culture flourished and a colonial empire was established. The 16th century was dominated by civil wars between Catholics and Protestants. France became Europes dominant cultural, political, and military power under Louis XIV, in the 19th century Napoleon took power and established the First French Empire, whose subsequent Napoleonic Wars shaped the course of continental Europe. Following the collapse of the Empire, France endured a succession of governments culminating with the establishment of the French Third Republic in 1870. Following liberation in 1944, a Fourth Republic was established and later dissolved in the course of the Algerian War, the Fifth Republic, led by Charles de Gaulle, was formed in 1958 and remains to this day. Algeria and nearly all the colonies became independent in the 1960s with minimal controversy and typically retained close economic. France has long been a centre of art, science. It hosts Europes fourth-largest number of cultural UNESCO World Heritage Sites and receives around 83 million foreign tourists annually, France is a developed country with the worlds sixth-largest economy by nominal GDP and ninth-largest by purchasing power parity. In terms of household wealth, it ranks fourth in the world. France performs well in international rankings of education, health care, life expectancy, France remains a great power in the world, being one of the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council with the power to veto and an official nuclear-weapon state. It is a member state of the European Union and the Eurozone. It is also a member of the Group of 7, North Atlantic Treaty Organization, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, the World Trade Organization, originally applied to the whole Frankish Empire, the name France comes from the Latin Francia, or country of the Franks
16.
Italy
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Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a unitary parliamentary republic in Europe. Located in the heart of the Mediterranean Sea, Italy shares open land borders with France, Switzerland, Austria, Slovenia, San Marino, Italy covers an area of 301,338 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate and Mediterranean climate. Due to its shape, it is referred to in Italy as lo Stivale. With 61 million inhabitants, it is the fourth most populous EU member state, the Italic tribe known as the Latins formed the Roman Kingdom, which eventually became a republic that conquered and assimilated other nearby civilisations. The legacy of the Roman Empire is widespread and can be observed in the distribution of civilian law, republican governments, Christianity. The Renaissance began in Italy and spread to the rest of Europe, bringing a renewed interest in humanism, science, exploration, Italian culture flourished at this time, producing famous scholars, artists and polymaths such as Leonardo da Vinci, Galileo, Michelangelo and Machiavelli. The weakened sovereigns soon fell victim to conquest by European powers such as France, Spain and Austria. Despite being one of the victors in World War I, Italy entered a period of economic crisis and social turmoil. The subsequent participation in World War II on the Axis side ended in defeat, economic destruction. Today, Italy has the third largest economy in the Eurozone and it has a very high level of human development and is ranked sixth in the world for life expectancy. The country plays a prominent role in regional and global economic, military, cultural and diplomatic affairs, as a reflection of its cultural wealth, Italy is home to 51 World Heritage Sites, the most in the world, and is the fifth most visited country. The assumptions on the etymology of the name Italia are very numerous, according to one of the more common explanations, the term Italia, from Latin, Italia, was borrowed through Greek from the Oscan Víteliú, meaning land of young cattle. The bull was a symbol of the southern Italic tribes and was often depicted goring the Roman wolf as a defiant symbol of free Italy during the Social War. Greek historian Dionysius of Halicarnassus states this account together with the legend that Italy was named after Italus, mentioned also by Aristotle and Thucydides. The name Italia originally applied only to a part of what is now Southern Italy – according to Antiochus of Syracuse, but by his time Oenotria and Italy had become synonymous, and the name also applied to most of Lucania as well. The Greeks gradually came to apply the name Italia to a larger region, excavations throughout Italy revealed a Neanderthal presence dating back to the Palaeolithic period, some 200,000 years ago, modern Humans arrived about 40,000 years ago. Other ancient Italian peoples of undetermined language families but of possible origins include the Rhaetian people and Cammuni. Also the Phoenicians established colonies on the coasts of Sardinia and Sicily, the Roman legacy has deeply influenced the Western civilisation, shaping most of the modern world
17.
Giuseppe Campari
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Cavaliere Giuseppe Campari was an Italian opera singer and Grand Prix motor racing driver. Born near the city of Lodi southwest of Milan, as a teenager he went to work for the Alfa Romeo automobile company, Camparis job eventually involved test driving factory cars and his skills and interest led to his participation in competitive hillclimbing events. In 1914 the 21-year-old rookie showed his abilities with a finish at the Targa Florio. His career was just getting going when World War I broke out, following the Armistice that ended the war, racing resumed and in 1920 Campari earned his first major race win and the first for the Alfa Romeo company when he drove to victory at Mugello in Tuscany. The 1925 racing season was less successful for Campari as he. Despite Maseratis strong performances, Campari claimed victory for Alfa Romeo in the 1927 Coppa Acerbo, the 1928 season saw Giuseppe Campari win his second consecutive Coppa Acerbo and his first at the Mille Miglia. He earned a second-place finish in the Targa Florio, a race he entered several times and although he finished near the top. Run in front of more than 100,000 spectators, Campari was hit in the eye by a small rock but was successfully treated in hospital. Campari also raced in the Tourist Trophy Races at the Ards course in Belfast where he finished second to Caracciolas Mercedes, in 1930, Tazio Nuvolari joined Campari on the Alfa Romeo team. That same year, Campari won his third Coppa Acerbo but for 1933 he became part of the Maserati team with Baconin Borzacchini, Campari won his second French Grand Prix driving for Maserati, but at age 41 was ready to retire at the end of the season. The Monza Grand Prix on September 10,1933 at the Autodromo Nazionale Monza in Monza, while leading the race, Campari was instantly killed when his car crashed after skidding in a sharp turn on a patch of leaked engine oil. Immediately behind him in place, team-mate Baconin Borzacchini tried unsuccessfully to avoid Camparis wrecked vehicle and was killed when his car veered off the track. Later on, when the race was restarted, the vehicle of Polish driver, Count Stanislas Czaykowski, crashed and caught on fire, burning him to death. In addition to his love of racing, Giuseppe Campari had two other passions, food, in great quantities that he liked to prepare himself. Blessed with a baritone voice from the depths of an expansive paunch, he took singing lessons
18.
Alfa Romeo
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Alfa Romeo Automobiles S. p. A. is an Italian car manufacturer, founded as A. L. F. A. on 24 June 1910, in Milan. The brand is known for sporty vehicles and has involved in car racing since 1911. The company was owned by Italian state holding company Istituto per la Ricostruzione Industriale between 1932 and 1986, when it became a part of the Fiat group, in February 2007, the Alfa Romeo brand became Alfa Romeo Automobiles S. p. A. A subsidiary of Fiat Group Automobiles, now Fiat Chrysler Automobiles Italy, the company that became Alfa Romeo was founded as Società Anonima Italiana Darracq in 1906 by the French automobile firm of Alexandre Darracq, with Italian investors. In late 1909, the Italian Darracq cars were selling slowly, on 24 June 1910, a new company was founded named A. L. F. A. Initially still in partnership with Darracq, the first non-Darracq car produced by the company was the 191024 HP, designed by Merosi. Ventured into motor racing, with drivers Franchini and Ronzoni competing in the 1911 Targa Florio with two 24-hp models. In August 1915, the company came under the direction of Neapolitan entrepreneur Nicola Romeo, in 1920, the name of the company was changed to Alfa Romeo with the Torpedo 20-30 HP the first car to be so badged. In 1921, the Banca Italiana di Sconto, which backed the Ing, Nicola Romeo & Co, went broke and the government needed to support the industrial companies involved, among which was Alfa Romeo, through the Consorzio per Sovvenzioni sui Valori Industriali. In 1925, the activities were separated from the Romeo company. In 1933, the ownership was reorganized under the banner of the Istituto per la Ricostruzione Industriale by Benito Mussolinis government. The company struggled to return to profitability after the Second World War, in 1954, it developed the Alfa Romeo Twin Cam engine, which would remain in production until 1994. Alfa Romeo has competed successfully in Grand Prix motor racing, Formula One, sportscar racing, touring car racing and it has competed both as a constructor and an engine supplier, via works entries, and private entries. The first racing car was made in 1913, three years after the foundation of the company, and Alfa Romeo won the world championship for Grand Prix cars in 1925. The company gained a name in motorsport, which gave a sporty image to the whole marque. Enzo Ferrari founded the Scuderia Ferrari racing team in 1929 as an Alfa Romeo racing team and it holds the worlds title of the most wins of any marque in the world. The companys name is a combination of the name, A. L. F. A. and the last name of entrepreneur Nicola Romeo. The company that became Alfa Romeo was founded as Società Anonima Italiana Darracq in 1906 by the French automobile firm of Alexandre Darracq, One of them, Cavaliere Ugo Stella, an aristocrat from Milan, became chairman of the SAID in 1909
19.
Antonio Ascari
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Antonio Ascari was an Italian Grand Prix motor racing champion. Antonio Ascari was born near Mantua, but in the Veneto region of Italy and he began racing cars at the top levels in Italy in 1919, using a modified 1914 Fiat. Along with Enzo Ferrari, he raced in the first Targa Florio held after the end of World War I in 1919 and his bad luck there continued in 1920 and 1921, but in 1922 he finished a strong fourth. Driving an Alfa Romeo for Vittorio Jano in April 1923, he narrowly lost the Targa Florio, finishing second to his Alfa Romeo teammate, however, the following month at the Cremona Circuit he drove to his first major Grand Prix victory. In 1924, he was again the winner at Cremona in the first race of the P2,1925 promised to be a great year for Antonio Ascari, his car dominating the competition at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps when he won the inaugural Belgian Grand Prix. He could even eat and drink slowly during a pit stop, the 36-year-old Ascari was killed while leading the 1925 French Grand Prix in an Alfa Romeo P2 in the first race at the new Autodrome de Montlhéry south of Paris. He crashed at the fast left handed corner on the straight that headed back to the section of the track. Antonio Ascari is interred in the Cimitero Monumentale in Milan, Antonio Ascari at Find a Grave
20.
Tazio Nuvolari
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Tazio Giorgio Nuvolari was an Italian racing driver. First he raced motorcycles and then he concentrated on cars and single-seaters. Resident in Mantua, he was known as Il Mantovano Volante, ferdinand Porsche called him the greatest driver of the past, the present, and the future. Nuvolari started racing motorcycles in 1920 at the age of 27, having raced cars as well as motorcycles from 1925 until 1930, he then concentrated on cars, and won the 1932 European Championship with the Alfa Romeo factory team, Alfa Corse. After Alfa Romeo officially withdrew from Grand Prix racing Nuvolari drove for Enzo Ferraris team, Scuderia Ferrari, who ran the Alfa Romeo cars semi-officially. In 1933 he won Le Mans in an Alfa Romeo as a member of Ferraris team, and it was the only time a non-German car won a European Championship race from 1935 to 1939. The relationship with Ferrari deteriorated during 1937, and Nuvolari raced an Auto Union in that years Swiss Grand Prix and he rejoined the Auto Union team for the 1938 season and stayed with them through 1939 until Grand Prix racing was put on hiatus by World War II. The only major European race he never won was the Czechoslovakian Grand Prix, when Nuvolari resumed racing after the war he was 54 and in poor health. In his final appearance in competition, driving a Cisitalia-Abarth Tipo 204A at a Palermo hillclimb on 10 April 1950, he won his class and he died in 1953 from a stroke. Nuvolari was born in Castel dArio near Mantua on 16 November 1892 to Arturo Nuvolari and his wife Elisa Zorzi. Nuvolari was married to Carolina Perina, and together they had two children, Giorgio, who died in 1937 aged 19 from myocarditis, and Alberto, Nuvolari obtained his license for motorcycle racing in 1915 at the age of 23. He served in the Italian army as a driver in World War I. He also raced cars, winning the Coppa Verona reliability trial in 1921, in 1925 he became the 350 cc European Motorcycling champion by winning the European Grand Prix. At the time, the European Grand Prix was considered the most important race of the motorcycling season and the winners in each category were designated European Champions. He won the Nations Grand Prix four times between 1925 and 1928, and the Lario Circuit race five times between 1925 and 1929, all in the 350 cc class on a Bianchi motorcycle and he crashed when the gearbox seized, and severely lacerated his back. He was not picked for the team, six days later, in bandages, with a cushion strapped to his stomach, and lifted onto his motorcycle by Bianchi mechanics for a push-start, he won the rain-soaked Nations Grand Prix at Monza. 1930 In 1930, Nuvolari won his first RAC Tourist Trophy, Motor racing legend has it that when one of the drivers broke the window of a butchers shop, Nuvolari drove onto the pavement and tried to grab a ham as he passed. According to Sammy Davis who met him there, Nuvolari enjoyed dark humour, for example, after he got a ticket for a journey home from the Sicilian Targa Florio he said to Enzo Ferrari, What a strange businessman you are
21.
Bianchi (company)
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Edoardo Bianchi S. p. A, commonly known as Bianchi is the worlds oldest bicycle-making company still in existence, having pioneered the use of equal-sized wheels with pneumatic rubber tires. The company was founded in Italy in 1885 and in addition to bicycles it produced motorcycles from 1897 to 1967, in 1955 the joint-venture Autobianchi was created together with Fiat and Pirelli for the manufacturing of cars – Autobianchi was subsequently sold to Fiat in 1969. Throughout its modern era, Bianchi has been associated with the Italian Giro dItalia and Tour de France winners, Fausto Coppi, Marco Pantani, Edoardo Bianchi, a 21-year-old medical instrument maker, started his bicycle-manufacturing business in a small shop at 7 Via Nirone, Milan in 1885. Bianchi pioneered the front-wheel caliper brake, since May 1997, the company has been part of Cycleurope Group, which is owned by the Swedish company of Grimaldi Industri AB. The Bianchi reputation began when the company sponsored Giovanni Tommasello, the winner of the Grand Prix de Paris sprint competition in 1899, fifteen years later it was making 45,000 bicycles,1,500 motorcycles and 1,000 cars a year. In 1935 Bianchi sponsored Costante Girardengo, one of the first Italian stars on the road and he won the race by two and a half minutes on a bicycle equipped with Universal brakes, Bianchi steel handlebars and stem, a Regina chain and a four-speed freewheel with shaped teeth. It also had Nisi rims, Campagnolo hubs and Pirelli tyres and it was made for sale only in 57 and 59 cm, smaller than the bike that Coppi used. A variation known as the Campione Del Mondo followed Coppis win in the 1953 world championship, riders of different eras have been associated with Bianchi including Felice Gimondi, who continues his association with the company. Recent riders include Danilo Di Luca, Mario Cipollini, Gianni Bugno, Laurent Fignon, Marco Pantani, Moreno Argentin, until 2007, Bianchi was a cosponsor of the UCI ProTour team, Liquigas. It did not supply teams from 1959 to 1964 nor from 1967 to 1972, in 2015, the latter became Team LottoNL-Jumbo and Bianchis only UCI Pro Continental sponsored road team. The most demanding rider may have been Pantani, sara Mercante, head of Bianchis research and development, said, Pantani had very specific ideas about what he wanted. He had 30 different frames a year from different angles. He changed his bike after every ride, id go and meet him during the Giro dItalia and the Tour and discuss improvements with him. Hed ask to have the geometry changed by, say, half a degree, hed want different angles for different races. Hes ask us to tweak the length of the top tube by a millimetre or by half a degree, Bianchi is currently headed up by CEO Bob Ippolito, who before joining Bianchi was the Executive Vice President and General Manager of Pacific Cycle, headquartered in Madison, Wisconsin. Bianchi bicycles are traditionally painted Celeste, a turquoise also known as Bianchi Green. Contradictory myths say Celeste is the colour of the Milan sky, the eye colour of a queen of Italy for whom Edoardo Bianchi made a bicycle. The shade has changed over the years, sometimes more blue, Bianchi USA is the United States division of Bianchi based in Hayward, California
22.
Targa Florio
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The Targa Florio was an open road endurance automobile race held in the mountains of Sicily near Palermo. Founded in 1906, it was the oldest sports car racing event, after 1973, it was a national sports car event until it was discontinued in 1977 due to safety concerns. It has since run as a rallying event, and is part of the Italian Rally Championship. The race was created in 1906 by the wealthy pioneer race driver and automobile enthusiast, Vincenzo Florio, alessandro Cagno won the inaugural 1906 race in nine hours, averaging 30 miles per hour. By the mid-1920s, the Targa Florio had become one of Europes most important races, Grand Prix races were still isolated events, not a series like todays F1. The wins of Mercedes in the 1920s made a big impression in Germany, especially that of German Christian Werner in 1924, rudolf Caracciola repeated a similar upset win at the Mille Miglia a couple of years later. In 1926, Eliska Junkova, one of the female drivers in Grand Prix motor racing history. In 1953, the FIA World Sportscar Championship was introduced, the Targa became part of it in 1955, when Mercedes had to win 1-2 with the Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR in order to beat Ferrari for the title. They had missed the first two of the 6 events, Buenos Aires and the 12 Hours of Sebring, where Ferrari, Jaguar, Maserati and Porsche scored. Mercedes appeared at and won in the Mille Miglia, then pulled out of Le Mans as a sign of respect for the victims of the 1955 Le Mans disaster, stirling Moss/Peter Collins and Juan Manuel Fangio/Karl Kling finished minutes ahead of the best Ferrari and secured the title. Several versions of the track were used and it started with a single lap of a 148 km circuit from 1906-1911 and 1931. From 1912 to 1914 a tour around the perimeter of Sicily was used, with a lap of 975 kilometres. The 148 km Grande circuit was shortened twice, the first time to 108 km, the version used from 1919-1930. From 1951-1958, the coastal island tour variant was used for a separate event called the Giro di Sicilia. The start and finish took place at Cerda, the second version of the track also went south through Caltavuturo and took a shortcut starting right before Castellana to Collesano via the town of Polizzi Generosa. There was a circuit called Favorita Park used from 1937-1940. To put that in perspective, most purpose built circuits have between 12 and 18 corners, and the longest purpose built circuit in the world, the 13-mile Nurburgring, has about 180 corners. Like a rally event, the cars were started one by one every 15 seconds for a time trial, as a start from a full grid was not possible on the tight
23.
Madonie
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The Madonie are one of the principal mountain ranges on the island of Sicily, located in southwestern Italy. The range is located within Palermo Province of Sicily and it is part of the Sicilian extension of the Apennine Mountains System that runs along the Italian Peninsula. The range includes the next highest elevation mountain summits of Sicily after Mount Etna, the highest peak of the range is Pizzo Carbonara at 1,979 metres, followed by neighboring Pizzo Antenna at 1,977 metres. The mountains were safeguarded in 1989 by the formation of the Madonie Regional Natural Park, Madonie Geopark is a member of the European Geoparks Network and the UNESCO Global Network of National Geoparks. Within the park there are outcrops of rocks which have been dated over a 200-million-year period. There is a range of fossils present within the mountains rocks. Buildings made from rocks in the Madonies towns often show visible fossils. The area was famous for the Circuito Piccolo delle Madonie, where the Targa Florio race was held from 1906 to 1977, mountain ranges of Sicily Protected areas of the Apennines —Official Madonie Regional Natural Park website —UNESCO. org, Madonie Natural Park
24.
Germany
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Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a federal parliamentary republic in central-western Europe. It includes 16 constituent states, covers an area of 357,021 square kilometres, with about 82 million inhabitants, Germany is the most populous member state of the European Union. After the United States, it is the second most popular destination in the world. Germanys capital and largest metropolis is Berlin, while its largest conurbation is the Ruhr, other major cities include Hamburg, Munich, Cologne, Frankfurt, Stuttgart, Düsseldorf and Leipzig. Various Germanic tribes have inhabited the northern parts of modern Germany since classical antiquity, a region named Germania was documented before 100 AD. During the Migration Period the Germanic tribes expanded southward, beginning in the 10th century, German territories formed a central part of the Holy Roman Empire. During the 16th century, northern German regions became the centre of the Protestant Reformation, in 1871, Germany became a nation state when most of the German states unified into the Prussian-dominated German Empire. After World War I and the German Revolution of 1918–1919, the Empire was replaced by the parliamentary Weimar Republic, the establishment of the national socialist dictatorship in 1933 led to World War II and the Holocaust. After a period of Allied occupation, two German states were founded, the Federal Republic of Germany and the German Democratic Republic, in 1990, the country was reunified. In the 21st century, Germany is a power and has the worlds fourth-largest economy by nominal GDP. As a global leader in industrial and technological sectors, it is both the worlds third-largest exporter and importer of goods. Germany is a country with a very high standard of living sustained by a skilled. It upholds a social security and universal health system, environmental protection. Germany was a member of the European Economic Community in 1957. It is part of the Schengen Area, and became a co-founder of the Eurozone in 1999, Germany is a member of the United Nations, NATO, the G8, the G20, and the OECD. The national military expenditure is the 9th highest in the world, the English word Germany derives from the Latin Germania, which came into use after Julius Caesar adopted it for the peoples east of the Rhine. This in turn descends from Proto-Germanic *þiudiskaz popular, derived from *þeudō, descended from Proto-Indo-European *tewtéh₂- people, the discovery of the Mauer 1 mandible shows that ancient humans were present in Germany at least 600,000 years ago. The oldest complete hunting weapons found anywhere in the world were discovered in a mine in Schöningen where three 380, 000-year-old wooden javelins were unearthed
25.
Mercedes-Benz in motorsport
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The two companies which were merged to form the Mercedes-Benz brand in 1926 had both already enjoyed success in the new sport of motor racing throughout their separate histories. A single Benz competed in the worlds first motor race, the 1894 Paris–Rouen, in 1914, just before the beginning of the First World War, the DMG Mercedes 35 hp won the French Grand Prix, finishing 1-2-3. Karl Benzs company, Benz & Cie. built the bird beaked, Blitzen Benz that set land speed records several times and that record gained that model the reputation of being faster than any other automobile — as well as any train or plane. They constructed many aerodynamically designed race cars, Benz was involved in Grand Prix motor racing from 1923, when the Benz Tropfenwagen was introduced to motorsport at the European Grand Prix at Monza. These, the brainchild of Benz chief engineer Hans Nibel, were inspired by the Rumpler Tropfenwagen and were intended to increase acceptance of mid-engined cars. They resembled the later Auto Unions, and used the virtually unchanged Rumpler chassis and they were fitted with a 1,991 cc DOHC inline six producing 80 hp and demonstrated impeccable roadholding at 90 mph and above. Despite a promising start, with a fourth and a fifth in their debut, financial difficulties led to a merger with Daimler. In the 1930s, the new joint company, Daimler-Benz, with their mighty Mercedes-Benz Silver Arrows, dominated Grand Prix racing in Europe together with its rival, the cars set speed records up to 435 km/h. The team was guided by the great Rennleiter Alfred Neubauer until the company ceased racing at the start of WWII, in 1954 Mercedes-Benz returned to what was now known as Formula One racing, using the technologically advanced Mercedes-Benz W196 which was run in both open-wheeled and streamlined forms. Juan Manuel Fangio, a previous champion transferred mid-season from Maserati to Mercedes-Benz for their debut at the French Grand Prix on 4 July 1954, the team had immediate success and recorded a 1-2 victory with Fangio and Karl Kling, as well as the fastest lap. Fangio went on to win three races in 1954, winning the Championship. The success continued into the 1955 season, where the car was used again. The teams drivers, Fangio and the young Stirling Moss, won 6 of the 9 rounds between them, and finished first and second in that years championship, following the 1955 Le Mans disaster, Mercedes-Benz withdrew from all factory-sponsored motorsport. In the one year that Sauber ran Mercedes badged engines they only managed to score twelve points,1995 saw the normally aspirated Mercedes-Benz-Ilmor F1-V10 move to the Woking based McLaren team, replacing Peugeot who moved to supplying their engines to the Jordan team. In a season dominated by the Renault powered Benetton B195s and Williams FW17s, outside Formula One, Mercedes-Benz had increased its shareholding in the Ilmor company in 1996 and took full control nine years later. They have continued to design and build engines for McLaren, in the opening race of the 1997 Formula One season, David Coulthard produced victory for McLaren and ushered in a new era of success for the British based squad. Coincidentally this was the first race in which McLaren had competed with a silver livery due to West replacing Marlboro, the colour drew inevitable comparisons to the Silver Arrows of a previous era, and the nickname was applied to the McLarens. This was a significant result in F1 racing, McLarens first victory for three seasons and the first win for Mercedes-Benz since Juan Manuel Fangios success at the 1955 Italian Grand Prix
26.
Perugia
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Perugia is the capital city of both the region of Umbria in central Italy, crossed by the river Tiber, and of the province of Perugia. The city is located about 164 kilometres north of Rome and 148 km south-east of Florence and it covers a high hilltop and part of the valleys around the area. The region of Umbria is bordered by Tuscany, Lazio, the history of Perugia goes back to the Etruscan period, Perugia was one of the main Etruscan cities. Perugia is also a cultural and artistic centre of Italy. The famous painter Pietro Vannucci, nicknamed Perugino, was a native of Città della Pieve and he decorated the local Sala del Cambio with a beautiful series of frescoes, eight of his pictures can also be admired in the National Gallery of Umbria. Perugino was the teacher of Raphael, the great Renaissance artist who produced five paintings in Perugia, another famous painter, Pinturicchio, lived in Perugia. Galeazzo Alessi is the most famous architect from Perugia, the citys symbol is the griffin, which can be seen in the form of plaques and statues on buildings around the city. Perugia was an Umbrian settlement but first appears in history as Perusia, one of the 12 confederate cities of Etruria. Fabius Pictors account, utilized by Livy, of the carried out against the Etruscan League by Fabius Maximus Rullianus in 310 or 309 BC. At that time a thirty-year indutiae was agreed upon, however, in 295 Perusia took part in the Third Samnite War and was reduced, with Volsinii and Arretium, a number of lead bullets used by slingers have been found in and around the city. Negotiations with the besieging forces fell to the bishop, Herculanus. Totila is said to have ordered the bishop to be flayed and beheaded, st. Herculanus later became the citys patron saint. In the Lombard period Perugia is spoken of as one of the cities of Tuscia. Peter, acknowledged the validity of the statement and recognised the established civic practices as having the force of law. However this dominant tendency was rather an anti-Germanic and Italian political strategy, midway through the 14th century Bartholus of Sassoferrato, who was a renowned jurist, asserted that Perugia was dependent upon neither imperial nor papal support. Civic peace was constantly disturbed in the 14th century by struggles between the party representing the people and the nobles. A citadel known as the Rocca Paolina, after the name of Pope Paul III, was built, in 1797, the city was conquered by French troops. On 4 February 1798, the Tiberina Republic was formed, with Perugia as capital, in 1799, the Tiberina Republic merged to the Roman Republic
27.
Itala
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Itala was a car manufacturer based in Turin, Italy from 1904-1934, started by Matteo Ceirano and five partners in 1903. T. A. R. / Rapid, SCAT, Itala and S. P. A, giovannis son Giovanni Ernesto was also influential, co-founding Ceirano Fabbrica Automobili and Fabrica Anonima Torinese Automobili. In 1888, after eight years apprenticeship at his fathers watch-making business, Giovanni Battista started building Welleyes bicycles, in October 1898 Giovanni Battista and Matteo co-founded Ceirano GB & C and started producing the Welleyes motor car in 1899. In July 1899 the plant and patents were sold to Giovanni Agnelli, in 1904 Matteo Ceirano left Ceirano GB & C to create his own brand - Itala. In 1906 Matteo left Itala to found S. P. A. with chief designer, in 1906 Giovanni founded SCAT in Turin. In 1919 Giovanni and Giovanni Ernesto co-founded Ceirano Fabbrica Automobili and in 1922 they took control of Fabrica Anonima Torinese Automobili, three cars were offered in the first year, an 18 hp, a 24 hp and a 50 hp. In 1905 they started making very large engined racing cars with a 14.8 Litre 5 cylinder model which won the Coppa Florio, in 1907 a 7,433 cc 35/45 hp model driven by Count Scipione Borghese won the Peking to Paris motor race by three weeks. These sporting successes helped sales dramatically, the continued to grow. The company experimented with a range of engines such as variable stroke, sleeve valve. During the war Itala built aeroplane engines but made a loss producing them, two Tipo 61s did take part in the 1928 Le Mans 24 hour race winning the 2 litre class. The company was bought by truck maker Officine Metallurgiche di Tortona in 1929, the remains of the company was sold to Fiat. A distinctive feature of the pre-World War I50 hp &90 hp models was their use of a rotary valve, each valve fed a pair of cylinders and was mounted alongside, rotating parallel to them. Four ports cast into the valve alternately connected ports to the cylinders through the side of the valve to the inlet and exhaust manifolds at bottom, leo Villa began his career as a racing mechanic working on these rotary valve engines for the driver Giulio Foresti. He met Malcolm Campbell, when in 1923, Campbell took over the Itala, seeing the publicity potential of racing them at Brooklands, Campbell also bought two of Forestis race-prepared cars. Foresti and Villa delivered them in person from Paris to Campbells house at Povey Cross, impressed by Campbells wealth and ambitions, Villa accepted an offer to become his permanent mechanic. Barzini, Luigi and L P De Castelvecchio, Peking to Paris 100th Anniversary Edition. Demontreville Press Inc,2007. ISBN0978956311 Clutton, Cecil, the 1907 &1908 Racing Italas. List of Italian companies List of automobile companies founded by the Ceirano brothers
28.
Ravenna
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Ravenna is the capital city of the Province of Ravenna, in the Emilia-Romagna region of Northern Italy. It was the city of the Western Roman Empire from 402 until that empire collapsed in 476. It then served as the capital of the Kingdom of the Ostrogoths until it was re-conquered in 540 by the Eastern Roman Empire. Afterwards, the city formed the centre of the Byzantine Exarchate of Ravenna until the invasion of the Lombards in 751, although an inland city, Ravenna is connected to the Adriatic Sea by the Candiano Canal. It is known for its well-preserved late Roman and Byzantine architecture, the origin of the name Ravenna is unclear, although it is believed the name is Etruscan. Some have speculated that ravenna is related to Rasenna, the term that the Etruscans used for themselves, the origins of Ravenna are uncertain. Ravenna consisted of houses built on piles on a series of islands in a marshy lagoon – a situation similar to Venice several centuries later. The Romans ignored it during their conquest of the Po River Delta, in 49 BC, it was the location where Julius Caesar gathered his forces before crossing the Rubicon. Later, after his battle against Mark Antony in 31 BC and this harbor, protected at first by its own walls, was an important station of the Roman Imperial Fleet. Nowadays the city is landlocked, but Ravenna remained an important seaport on the Adriatic until the early Middle Ages, during the German campaigns, Thusnelda, widow of Arminius, and Marbod, King of the Marcomanni, were confined at Ravenna. Ravenna greatly prospered under Roman rule, Emperor Trajan built a 70 km long aqueduct at the beginning of the 2nd century. During the Marcomannic Wars, Germanic settlers in Ravenna revolted and managed to seize possession of the city, for this reason, Marcus Aurelius decided not only against bringing more barbarians into Italy, but even banished those who had previously been brought there. In AD402, Emperor Honorius transferred the capital of the Western Roman Empire from Milan to Ravenna, at that time it was home to 50,000 people. However, in 409, King Alaric I of the Visigoths simply bypassed Ravenna, after many vicissitudes, Galla Placidia returned to Ravenna with her son, Emperor Valentinian III and the support of her nephew Theodosius II. The late 5th century saw the dissolution of Roman authority in the west, Odoacer ruled as King of Italy for 13 years, but in 489 the Eastern Emperor Zeno sent the Ostrogoth King Theoderic the Great to re-take the Italian peninsula. After losing the Battle of Verona, Odoacer retreated to Ravenna, Theoderic took Ravenna in 493, supposedly slew Odoacer with his own hands, and Ravenna became the capital of the Ostrogothic Kingdom of Italy. Both Odoacer and Theoderic and their followers were Arian Christians, but co-existed peacefully with the Latins, Ravennas Orthodox bishops carried out notable building projects, of which the sole surviving one is the Capella Arcivescovile. Theoderic allowed Roman citizens within his kingdom to be subject to Roman law, the Goths, meanwhile, lived under their own laws and customs
29.
Enzo Ferrari
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He was widely known as il Commendatore or il Drake. In his final years he was referred to as lIngegnere or il Grande Vecchio. Ferrari was born on 18 February 1898 in Modena, Italy and his birth certificate had recorded his birth date on 20 February because a heavy snowstorm had prevented his father from reporting the birth at the local registry office. He was the younger of two children to Alfredo and Adalgisa Ferrari, after his elder sibling Alfredo Junior, Alfredo Senior was the son of a grocer from Carpi and started a workshop fabricating metal parts at the family home. Enzo grew up with formal education. At the age of 10 he witnessed Felice Nazzaros win at the 1908 Circuit di Bologna, during World War I he served in the 3rd Mountain Artillery Regiment of the Italian Army. His father Alfredo, and his brother, Alfredo Jr. died in 1916 as a result of a widespread Italian flu outbreak. Ferrari became severely sick himself in the 1918 flu pandemic and was discharged from Italian service. Following the familys carpentry business collapse, Ferrari started searching for a job in the car industry and he unsuccessfully volunteered his services to FIAT in Turin, eventually settling for a job as test-driver for C. M. N. A car manufacturer in Milan, which rebuilt used truck bodies into small passenger cars, on November 23 of the same year, he took part in the Targa Florio but had to retire after his cars fuel tank developed a leak. The prancing horse emblem was created when Italian fighter pilot Francesco Baracca was shot down during World War I, Baracca gave Enzo Ferrari a necklace with the prancing horse on it prior to takeoff. Baracca was tragically shot down and killed, in memory of his death, Enzo Ferrari used the prancing horse to create the emblem that would become the world famous Ferrari shield. However the world first saw this emblem on an Alfa Romeo as Ferrari was still tied up with Alfa Romeo and it was not until 1947 that the shield was first seen on a Ferrari. This was the birth of Ferrari, in 1924 Ferrari won the Coppa Acerbo at Pescara, a success that encouraged Alfa Romeo to offer him a chance to race in much more prestigious competitions. Ferrari himself continued racing until 1932, before he left Alfa Romeo to found Scuderia Ferrari, despite the quality of the Scuderia drivers, the team struggled to compete with Auto Union and Mercedes. In 1937 Alfa Romeo decided to regain control of its racing division. Unhappy with the arrangement, Ferrari left and founded Auto-Avio Costruzioni, with the outbreak of World War II in 1943, Ferraris factory was forced to undertake war production for Mussolinis fascist government. Following Allied bombing of the factory, Ferrari relocated from Modena to Maranello, at the end of the conflict, Ferrari decided to start making cars bearing his name, and founded Ferrari S. p. A. in 1947
30.
Alfa Romeo in motorsport
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During its history, Alfa Romeo has competed successfully in many different categories of motorsport, including Grand Prix motor racing, Formula One, sportscar racing, touring car racing and rallies. They have competed both as a constructor and a supplier, via works entries and private entries. The first racing car was made in 1913, three years after the foundation of A. L. F. A, the 40-60HP had 6 liter straight-4 engine. Alfa Romeo quickly gained a name in motorsport and gave a sporty image to the whole marque. Alfa Romeo started motor racing almost immediately after it was founded, ventured into motor racing in 1911, with drivers Franchini and Ronzoni competing in the Targa Florio with two 24 HP models. The marques first success came in 1913 when Nino Franchini finished second in Parma-Poggio Berceto race with a 40-60HP, Giuseppe Merosi built a very advanced racing car in 1914, which was named Grand Prix. In 1920 Giuseppe Campari won the race at Mugello with a 40-60HP, a year later Giuseppe Campari won at Mugello again. Ugo Sivocci won the 1923 Targa Florio with an RL and Antonio Ascari took second, sivoccis car was painted with the green cloverleaf on a white background that was to become Alfas good luck token. In 1923 Vittorio Jano was lured to Alfa from Fiat, designing the motors that gave Alfa racing success into the late 1930s, in 1925 Alfa Romeo won the first Automobile World Championship in the history of automobile racing. Over 4 rounds the Alfa Romeo P2 won the European Grand Prix at Spa and the Italian Grand Prix at Monza, and hence incorporated the laurel wreath in their logo. For 1932 Jano produced the sensational P3 which won its first race driven by Tazio Nuvolari at the Italian Grand Prix,5 more Grands Prix that year were shared by Nuvolari and Rudolf Caracciola. Alfa Corse closed for 1933 and locked the cars in the factory, P3s then won six of the final 11 events of the season including the final 2 major Grands Prix in Italy and Spain. In 1934 Louis Chiron won the French Grand Prix in the P3 whilst the German Silver Arrows dominated the other 4 championship events, however the P3s won 18 of the 35 Grands Prix held throughout Europe. The P3 managed 16 victories in 1935, in the 1930s Tazio Nuvolari won the Mille Miglia in a 6C1750, crossing the finishing line after having incredibly overtaken Achille Varzi without lights. Alfa Romeos won the Targa Florio six times in row in the 1930s, and the Mille Miglia every year from 1928 to 1938 except for 1931. In 1935 Alfa Romeo won the German Grand Prix with Nuvolari, in 1938 Biondetti won the Mille Miglia in an 8C 2900B Corto Spider, thereafter referred to as the Mille Miglia model. Alfa Romeo participated in Formula One, both as a constructor and engine supplier, from 1950 to 1988. The works Alfa Romeo team dominated the first two years of the Formula One World Championship, using the pre-war Alfetta, but withdrew from Formula One at the end of 1951
31.
Polesine
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Polesine is a geographic and historic area in the north-east of Italy whose limits varied through centuries, it had also been known as Polesine of Rovigo for some time. Nowadays it corresponds with the province of Rovigo in the viewpoint of political geography, the eastern portion of Polesine corresponds to the delta of the Po, and it is constantly expanding eastward because of the detritus sediment phenomenon. Due to this amount of water it has to deal with. The biggest city is Rovigo, followed by Adria, other important centres are Porto Viro, Lendinara, Porto Tolle, Badia Polesine, Occhiobello and Taglio di Po. Important agricultural centres are Arquà Polesine, Loreo, Polesella and Lusia, Polesine is a Venetan term from medieval Latin pollìcinum or polìcinum meaning swamp or wetland, this is because this territory was a swamp when it was given the name. This happened after the disasters in the Venetan hydrography that followed the decline of the Roman Empire, polesines origins are connected with the myth of Phaeton, the young god who drowned with the Sun chariot in the river Eridano. The Adige river flowed more to the north than nowadays and the course of the Po river was more to the south. This means that in ancient times the area lying between the two rivers was much larger than the current area named Polesine. The Greeks founded Adria in the 12th -11th century BC on a channel of the Po, the channel was given the name Adria. The channel Adria was then recognized to be the course of the Mincio river. Etruscans and Venetians inhabited the area during the 6th and 5th centuries BC, etruscans and Romans decontaminated the area by digging canals for drainage. Some historians think that the battle of the Raudine Plain of 101 BC could be fought in this area. After the fall of Rome and the disasters in the hydrography of the whole Veneto, traditionally referred to as the breach at Cucca in 589, Adria and its port lost their significance. In the meantime Rovigo was founded and fortified later in the 10th century, in 1152, another disaster changed the hydrography of Polesine, a breach opened in the banks of the Po at Ficarolo and the new main course started flowing much closer to the Adige. All these areas established the Territory of Polesine inside the Domini di Terraferma of the Republic of Venice. The Este claimed again the possession of the whole Polesine during the war of the League of Cambrai, due to the large amount of water passing through Polesine, many floods happened during the centuries. 1951, two thirds of Polesine was flooded, compelling 150,000 people to evacuate the entire area, actual Polesine territory is, geologically speaking, of recent formation, created by drifts taken by rivers Po and Adige, and subsequently from human modifications. In fact, men reclaimed and decontaminated the area before embanking the biggest waterways, first origins goes up to the Pliocene epoch
32.
Cremona
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Cremona listen is a city and comune in northern Italy, situated in Lombardy, on the left bank of the Po River in the middle of the Pianura Padana. It is the capital of the province of Cremona and the seat of the local city, Cremona is first mentioned in history as a settlement of the Cenomani, a Gallic tribe that arrived in the Po valley around 400 BC. However, the name Cremona most likely back to earlier settlers and puzzled the ancients. In 218 BC the Romans established on that spot their first military outpost north of the Po river, Cremona and nearby Placentia, were founded in the same year, as bases for penetration into what became the Roman Province of Gallia Cisalpina. Cremona quickly grew into one of the largest towns in northern Italy, as it was on the road connecting Genoa to Aquileia. The famous poet Virgil, who went to school in Cremona, had to forfeit his ancestral farm, when the Lombards invaded much of Italy in the second half of the 6th century AD, Cremona remained a Byzantine stronghold as part of the Exarchate of Ravenna. The city expanded towards the north-west, with the creation of a great trenched camp outside the walls, in 603, it was conquered by the Lombard king Agilulf and again destroyed. Its territory was divided between the two duchies of Brescia and Bergamo, however, in 615 queen Theodelinda, a devout Roman Catholic intent on converting her people, had Cremona rebuilt and re-installed a bishop there. Control of the city fell increasingly to its bishop, who became a Holy Roman Empire vassal after Charlemagnes conquest of Italy, in this way, Cremona increased its power and its prosperity steadily and some of its bishops had important roles between the 10th and 11th centuries. Bishop Liutprand of Cremona was a member of the Imperial court under the Saxony dynasty and its economy was boosted by the creation of a river port out of the former Byzantine fortress. However, the two bishops Lambert and Ubaldo created discord with the citys people, Emperor Conrad II settled the quarrel by entering in Cremona in 1037 together with the young Pope Benedict IX. Under Henry IV, Cremona refused to pay the oppressive taxes requested by the Empire, according to a legend, the great gonfaloniere Giovanni Baldesio of Cremona faced the emperor himself in a duel. As Henry was knocked from his horse, the city was saved the annual payment of the 3 kg golden ball, which, for that year, was instead given to Berta, Giovannis girlfriend, as her dowry. The first historical news about a free Cremona is from 1093, as it entered into an alliance led by Mathilde of Canossa, together with Lodi, Milan. The conflict ended with the defeat of Henry IV and his famous humiliation of Canossa to Pope Urban II in 1098, Cremona gained the Insula Fulcheria, the area around the nearby city of Crema, as its territory. After that time, the new commune warred against nearby cities to enlarge its territory, in 1107 Cremona conquered Tortona, but four years later its army was defeated near Bressanoro. As in many northern Italian cities, the people were divided into two opposing parties, the Guelphs, who were stronger in the new city, and the Ghibellines, the parties were so irreconcilable that the former built a second Communal Palace, the still existing Palazzo Cittanova. When Frederick Barbarossa descended into Italy to assert his authority, Cremona sided with him in order to gain his support against Crema, the subsequent victory and its loyal imperial stance earned Cremona the right to create a mint for its own coinage in 1154
33.
Coppa Acerbo
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The Coppa Acerbo was an automobile race held in Italy, named after Tito Acerbo, the brother of Giacomo Acerbo, a prominent fascist politician. Following Italys defeat in World War II, and the consequent demise of fascism, the race was renamed the Circuito di Pescara, the race was run between 1924 and 1961 and over the years was held to a variety of vehicle class regulations and durations. In 1957 the Pescara Grand Prix formed a round of the Formula One World Championship, the Coppa Acerbo races were held over a 24–26 km circuit, beginning and ending at Pescara, on the Adriatic coast. The pit and paddock complex was located at the end of this straight, in an effort to slow competitor speeds past these pits the Pescara circuit became one of the first to have an artificial chicane installed, just before the pit lane. The Pescara circuit layout holds the record as the longest circuit to ever to host a Formula One World Championship event, with the Nürburgring Nordschleife coming second at about 23 km. Although never itself a Grande Epreuve, or later a constituent of the European Championship and these early races were dominated by home-grown cars and drivers, and Alfa Romeo in particular was almost unbeatable. The Milanese manufacturer won seven of the first nine races, only in 1926 were they beaten by the legendary Bugatti T35, germanys state-funded Silver Arrows of Mercedes-Benz and Auto Union would come to eclipse all their rivals for the subsequent five years. Perhaps fittingly it was Alfa Romeo, with their new 158 Alfetta car, in 1939 a Coppa Acerbo Song was published. After WWII the race remained suspended for a year during post-war rebuilding, when it was finally run again in 1947 the name of the race was changed, because of its fascist connections, and it became known as the Circuito di Pescara. For the first three years the race was run for sports cars and was a fairly minor constituent in the European racing calendar. Although, once again, not a World Championship event the race did attract many top-name teams, the 1950 race was won by future World Champion Juan Manuel Fangio driving for Alfa Romeo. The following year Ferrari did attend, and the race was won by Fangios Argentinian compatriot José Froilán González driving one of their 375 cars, when the World Championship switched to the slower Formula Two regulations, the organisers decided to abandon formula racing in favour of further sportscar events. During this period endurance sportscar racing was almost as prestigious as the top open-wheel series, the change of format did not hinder Ferraris chances of victory, however, and their cars and drivers took wins in both 1952 and 1953. The 1954 event was won by one of the most iconic Formula One cars of all time and this was to be the last race for two years, as in 1955, as a result of the disaster at the 24 hours of Le Mans, the race was cancelled. Sportscars returned once more in 1956, the 1957 Pescara Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race, held on 18 August 1957, at the Pescara Circuit. The race was the seventh, and penultimate round of the 1957 World Drivers Championship. The race, which was the only Formula One World Championship race at the track, is best remembered for being held at the longest ever circuit to stage a Formula One World Championship Grand Prix. In a field dominated by numerous Maserati 250F cars, reigning World Champion Fangio used his example to set a pole time of 9 minutes 44.6 seconds
34.
Pescara Circuit
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The Pescara Circuit was a 16.032 miles road race course near Pescara, Italy. The staggering length was the longest of any open-wheel championship event, the roads were both narrow and bumpy. Like many long circuits Pescara was extremely dangerous, the Pescara Circuit included two long straights between villages on the southwest-to-north and north-to-southeast legs, as well as demanding corners along the south leg. The highest point, at Spoltore, was 185 m above sea level, the first race took place in 1924 and non-Championship Formula One races followed in the early 1950s, with one official Formula One World Championship event in 1957. The Pescara Grand Prix drew in excess of 200,000 spectators, but the circuit was feared even by Enzo Ferrari- who did not send his cars to this race out of fear for his drivers safety. It was the first F1 circuit with a chicane, built in 1934 on the start-finish straight to reduce speed in the pits. The tracks last race was a four-hour World Sportscar Championship race in 1961, won by Lorenzo Bandini, after that race the circuit was permanently retired as a racing venue as it was impossible for the organizers to guarantee the safety of drivers and spectators. Etracksonline page on Pescara circuit Approximate circuit layout on Google Maps Approximate circuit layout on Motopaner
35.
Miramas
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For the village in New Caledonia see Miramas, Maré Miramas is a commune in the Bouches-du-Rhône department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte dAzur region in southern France. It is the second-largest commune in metropolitan Ouest-Provence and is located at the end of the Étang de Berre lagoon, adjacent to. The Circuit of Miramas is located within 2 km of the town, in 1926 it hosted the French Grand Prix which was won by Frenchman Jules Goux driving a Bugatti T39A. Gouz had been the first foreign winner at Indianapolis, today the racetrack is owned by BMW and used as a vehicle test track. Communes of the Bouches-du-Rhône department INSEE Official website Historic Purpose Built Grand Prix Circuits on Google Maps
36.
Argentina
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Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a federal republic in the southern half of South America. With a mainland area of 2,780,400 km2, Argentina is the eighth-largest country in the world, the second largest in Latin America, and the largest Spanish-speaking one. The country is subdivided into provinces and one autonomous city, Buenos Aires. The provinces and the capital have their own constitutions, but exist under a federal system, Argentina claims sovereignty over part of Antarctica, the Falkland Islands, and South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands. The earliest recorded presence in the area of modern-day Argentina dates back to the Paleolithic period. The country has its roots in Spanish colonization of the region during the 16th century, Argentina rose as the successor state of the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata, a Spanish overseas viceroyalty founded in 1776. The country thereafter enjoyed relative peace and stability, with waves of European immigration radically reshaping its cultural. The almost-unparalleled increase in prosperity led to Argentina becoming the seventh wealthiest developed nation in the world by the early 20th century, Argentina retains its historic status as a middle power in international affairs, and is a prominent regional power in the Southern Cone and Latin America. Argentina has the second largest economy in South America, the third-largest in Latin America and is a member of the G-15 and it is the country with the second highest Human Development Index in Latin America with a rating of very high. Because of its stability, market size and growing high-tech sector, the description of the country by the word Argentina has to be found on a Venice map in 1536. In English the name Argentina probably comes from the Spanish language, however the naming itself is not Spanish, Argentina means in Italian of silver, silver coloured, probably borrowed from the Old French adjective argentine of silver > silver coloured already mentioned in the 12th century. The French word argentine is the form of argentin and derives of argent silver with the suffix -in. The Italian naming Argentina for the country implies Argentina Terra land of silver or Argentina costa coast of silver, in Italian, the adjective or the proper noun is often used in an autonomous way as a substantive and replaces it and it is said lArgentina. The name Argentina was probably first given by the Venitian and Genoese navigators, in Spanish and Portuguese, the words for silver are respectively plata and prata and of silver is said plateado and prateado. Argentina was first associated with the silver mountains legend, widespread among the first European explorers of the La Plata Basin. The first written use of the name in Spanish can be traced to La Argentina, a 1602 poem by Martín del Barco Centenera describing the region, the 1826 constitution included the first use of the name Argentine Republic in legal documents. The name Argentine Confederation was also used and was formalized in the Argentine Constitution of 1853. In 1860 a presidential decree settled the name as Argentine Republic
37.
Sunbeam Motor Car Company
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Sunbeam Motor Car Company Limited was a British motor car manufacturer with its works at Moorfields in Blakenhall, a suburb of Wolverhampton in the county of Staffordshire —now West Midlands. Its Sunbeam name had been registered by John Marston in 1888 for his bicycle manufacturing business, Sunbeam motor car manufacture began in 1901. The motor business was sold to a newly incorporated Sunbeam Motor Car Company Limited in 1905 to separate it from Marstons pedal bicycle business—Sunbeam motorcycles were not made until 1912, in-house designer Coatalens enthusiasm for motor-racing — racing improves the breed — accumulated expertise with engines. Sunbeam manufactured their own aero engines during the First World War and 647 aircraft to the designs of other manufacturers, engines drew Sunbeam into Grand Prix racing and participation in the achievement of world land speed records. In spite of its cars and aero engines by 1934 a long period of very slow sales had incurred continuing losses. Sunbeam was unable to repay money borrowed for ten years in 1924 to fund the Grand Prix racing programme, there was a forced sale and Sunbeam was picked up by the Rootes brothers. Manufacture of Sunbeams now old-fashioned cars did not resume under the new owners, in 1954 they dropped the word Talbot leaving just Sunbeam. Sunbeams name continued to appear on new cars in 1982 under the ownership of Peugeot or Groupe PSA, John Marston, the London-educated son of a sometime mayor of Ludlow and landowner, had been apprenticed to Edward Perry, tinplate-works master and twice mayor of Wolverhampton. In 1859 aged 23 Marston bought two other manufacturers in Bilston, four miles away, and set himself up on his own account. On Perrys death Marston bought his Jeddo Works in Paul Street Wolverhampton, left Bilston, an avid cyclist in 1887 he established his Sunbeamland Cycle Factory in his Paul Street premises manufacturing and assembling pedal bicycles he branded Sunbeam. His Sunbeam trademark was registered in 1893, in 1895 a company, John Marston Limited, was incorporated and took ownership of John Marstons business. The Sunbeam trademark was registered for motor-cars in 1900, rugby-educated Thomas Cureton 1863—1921 began as his apprentice then became Marstons right-hand man in the cycle works and the cautious advocate of a motor-car venture. Their board of directors did not favour it but Marston and Cureton continued their project, between 1899 and 1901 Sunbeam produced a number of experimental cars driven about Wolverhampton but none was offered for sale. The first announcement of their new autocar was in the 22 September 1900 issue of The Autocar, dimensions, weight 10 cwt, overall measurements 84 inches by 57 inches. Described as a sociable it carried two passengers sitting close together facing the roadside from above a central belt-drive, to begin with they faced opposite roadsides. This layout provided propinquity while maintaining propriety and their driver at his tiller sat behind them his body facing the opposite roadside. Wheels were arranged in a diamond formation, the Sunbeam Mabley was a limited success, several hundred sold in 1901 and 1902 at £130. Listed in February 1904 its specification was, four cylinders 80 ×120 mm.1527 cc engine designed to run at 1,000 rpm, four-speed gearbox, in February 1904 the 12-horsepower car was given a six-cylinder 16-horsepower stablemate
38.
Coppa Ciano
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The Coppa Ciano was an automobile race held in Italy. Originally referred to as Coppa Montenero or Circuito Montenero, the Coppa Ciano name was officially in use between 1927 and 1939, during the years immediately following World War I several road circuits were created in Italy. These included the Montenero Circuit at Livorno, which became home for the annual Coppa Montenero from its inauguration in 1921, in the beginning it was only a local affair and the organizers quickly found themselves in financial troubles. In 1923 the event was taken over by the Automobile Club of Italy, in 1927, the Livorno-born politician Costanzo Ciano donated a victory trophy, the Coppa Ciano. At first, this was awarded to the victor in a sports car race. In 1929, however, the Coppa Ciano was merged into the main event, the driver Emilio Materassi won 4 years in a row 1925-1928 and earned the nickname King of Montenero. In the 1930s, Italian Hall of Fame driver Tazio Nuvolari won this race five times, in his 1936 victory he made his way through the field, beating the otherwise superior German cars. This victory was one of the leading to the Italian Grand Prix being held at the Montenero circuit in 1937, instead of the usual venue. The 1939 race was run to Voiturette regulations and became the last before World War II stopped all racing for many years, in 1947 the 20th and final edition of the Coppa Montenero was run, with 1500 cc unsupercharged cars. At that point, due to Costanzo Cianos connections with the now abolished Fascist regime, it was no longer called Coppa Ciano
39.
Circuito del Montenero
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The venue was best known as the home for the annual Circuito Montenero - Coppa Ciano and the 1937 Italian Grand Prix. The circuit was created in 1921 at the initiative of Paolo Fabbrini, on September 25 the same year, the first Coppa Montenero was held on an 18. In 1927, Livorno-born politician Costanzo Ciano donated the first Coppa Ciano trophy, like many other circuits of the era, Montenero had to change its layout several times over the years to accommodate the growing demands of racing technology. The last major Circuito Montenero - Coppa Ciano Grand Prix in 1939 also marks the end of the road course era. Safety concerns, increasingly unmanageable circuit demands, faster cars among other factors left shorter, one last Coppa Montenero was held in 1947 in an attempt to revive the circuit but proved to be financially unsuccessful. A minor sports car race in 1953 was the last event before the track was closed down for good, the mountain section of the circuit was dropped from 1936 to 1947 Circuit data for Fast Lap is inconsistent. Times given are for the completed race
Indianapolis 500
Joe Boyer
French Grand Prix
Giuseppe Campari
