The ADAC is an automobile association in Germany, founded on May 24, 1903, as German Motorbiker Association, given its present name in 1911. With more than 18 million members in May 2012, it is the largest automobile club in Europe, it is the largest motorcyclist association in the world, with 1.5 million members. Both the ADAC, its older rival AvD, are members of the FIA and the DMSB; the European Grand Prix, the former ADAC Eifelrennen, the 24 Hours Nürburgring and many other races are hosted by ADAC. The ADAC operates a large fleet of mobile mechanics in yellow cars that assist motorists in trouble - the Yellow Angels; the ADAC runs its own modification center whereby ordinary vans are turned into mobile garages in 55 man-hours. In addition to this, the ADAC provides 44 air ambulance helicopters for urgent medical rescues in Germany, strategically placed so that any location can be reached within 15 minutes. Air ambulance jets are used by the ADAC to rescue their members with a "PLUS" membership or customers who own an ADAC international travel insurance from any location worldwide in the case of accident or extreme sickness.

The ADAC offers its membership to non German residents, having signed contracts with automobile clubs worldwide. In the UK, it is possible to have breakdown recovery through the local AA while having an ADAC membership; the ADAC is publisher of the magazine with the largest distribution in ADAC Motorwelt. The magazine is distributed to ADAC members outside Germany, features articles of common interest to all participants of public traffic, such as product tests, safe driving tips and places to visit by car or motorbike. On June 3, 2008, the ADAC suspended its involvement with the FIA over the scandal surrounding Max Mosley and his subsequent retention as FIA president; the ADAC has reciprocal arrangements with a range of international affiliates, including The AA in the United Kingdom The AAA in the United States The RACE in Spain The ADAC was founded on 24 May 1903 in Stuttgart's Hotel Silber, as the Deutsche Motorradfahrer-Vereinigung, with an annual membership fee of six Marks. Following a name change in 1911 it became the Allgemeiner Deutscher Automobil-Club The Prussian Eagle, which for many years was the main feature of the ADAC badge was chosen as the organisation's symbol in appreciation of the support received from the German Kaiser, Prussia's hereditary king.

The ADAC break-down assistance service was launched in Germany in 1927. During the Nazi period, starting in 1934, all motorists' organizations and clubs were replaced by "Der Deutsche Automobil-Club e. V.", associated with the National Socialist Motor Corps. After the Second World War the ADAC was re-established in Bavaria in 1946, from 1948 it was permitted to operate in the other western occupied zones which in 1949 would become the Federal Republic of Germany. In 1954 Heinz Frölich became the first of 56 ADAC patrolmen, equipped with a motorbike-sidecar combination, on which the side car consisted of a large compartment filled with tools and parts for roadside repairs; these original ADAC "Gelbe Engel" used. At the end of 1962 ADAC announced the retirement of their motor-bike-sidecar combinations which would be replaced by 40 appropriately equipped Volkswagen Beetles. Equipment on the new cars included a flashing roof-light, repair tools, a radio-based communication device, compressed air canisters, a spade and broom set, a basic "doctor-kit" incorporating blood-plasma.

In 1974 the organisation had 3.8 million members at a time when there were 19.0 million passenger cars registered in Germany: by 1990 membership had risen to 10.2 million, with 35.5 million passenger cars registered in the country, so that ADAC membership has grown more than twice as fast as national car ownership. Growth rates during the ensuing twenty years were boosted by German reunification. May 2012 was when the organization welcomed its 18 millionth member, a further milestone being reached in May 2013 as the ADAC fitted out its 10,000th roadside assistance vehicle, a Volkswagen Touran, kitted out with several hundred different tools and replacement parts. ADAC is an active member for the European Road Assessment Program in Germany. ADAC publishes maps showing safety characteristics of German roads; these maps based on EuroRAP's Road Protection Score Protocol is a measure of how well a road protects road users in the event of an accident. Data on road characteristics is gathered by driving through road inspections using a specially equipped RPS inspection vehicle.

Trained assessors rate the safety features and hazards on the inspected road and use standardised formula to produce a safety star rating, comparable across Europe. ADAC undertakes road inspections on behalf of other EuroRAP members, including the Road Safety Foundation in the UK; the European Campaign for Safe Road Design is a partnership between 28 major European road safety stakeholders, calling for the EC to invest in safe road infrastructure initiatives which could cut deaths on European roads by 33% in less than a decade. ADAC is the campaign's partner in Germany. Breakdown Breakdown Cover European Campaign for Safe Road Design EuroRAP The dictionary definition of ADAC at Wiktionary ADAC official website Early documents and clippings about ADAC in the 20th Century Press Archives of the ZBW

Heal the Bay is a U. S. environmental advocacy non-profit organization based in California. The organization's focus is on protecting California's Santa Monica Bay, a region of the Pacific coast encompassed by Malibu's Point Dume on the north and the Palos Verdes Peninsula on the south. In broader terms, it supports efforts to preserve and protect all Southern California coastal waters and watersheds. Heal the Bay is a 501 non-profit organization, it has both full-time paid staff volunteers. It works with a number of partners in pursuing its goals. Heal the Bay was founded in 1985 by a group led by environmental activist Dorothy Green. Mark Gold became the president of the organization in 2006 and held the position until 2012; the current president and CEO is Shelley Luce, who took the post in April 2017. The organization has become a prominent advocate for the environment in California, is known for its annual report card ratings of the water quality at beaches along the Pacific coast, it was active in advocating for restrictions on plastic bags in California.

Heal the Bay supports public health and education outreach programs as well as sponsoring beach cleanup programs such as Coastal Cleanup Day, Adopt-a-Beach and Suits on the Sand in Los Angeles County, California. It operates Heal the Bay Aquarium, named the Santa Monica Pier Aquarium and known as the Ocean Discovery Center and was operated by UCLA until 2003. In 2003, then-California Assemblywoman Fran Pavley authored legislation that required the state to develop an environment-based curriculum to be offered to all California public schools; the bill was signed into law by then-Governor Gray Davis. The program it set in motion came to be known as the Environment Initiative. Heal the Bay publishes an annual Beach Report Card, which grades the water quality at popular beaches up and down the West Coast of the United States, it produces weekly and daily beach water quality grades online at beachreportcard.org and river quality grades at the River Report Card. Recent accomplishments include leading grassroots movements to pass plastic reduction policies like Straws-On-Request and Prop 67.

Heal the Bay launched an advocacy campaign to pass Measure W and fund the Safe, Clean Water Program. Hyperion sewage treatment plant Official website Heal the Bay Aquarium

Yongning is a town in the Yanqing District of Beijing. It has a long history as an economic and military center. A government initiative in the 2000s to rehabilitate the town has restored its architectural landmarks; as of 2018, it has one residential community and 36 villages under its administration. During the Ming dynasty it was an important military town, serving as the eastern command of the Xuanfu garrison area. There were 8,000 troops under the jurisdiction of Yongning town during that period. However, by the late Qing dynasty the town declined in importance. By the end of the Cultural Revolution in 1976, the cultural relics of the town's past were gone; the town has benefited from a government initiative in the 2000s to restore some of the glory of its condition during its Ming dynasty height. At the center of the town square is a tower. Yongning Catholic Church, a church tracing back to the Qing dynasty, stands today as a curious Gothic Revival architecture in contrast to the appearance of the rest of the town