1.
Pittsburgh
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Pittsburgh is a city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania in the United States, and is the county seat of Allegheny County. The city proper has a population of 304,391. The metropolitan population of 2,353,045 is the largest in both the Ohio Valley and Appalachia, the second-largest in Pennsylvania, and the 26th-largest in the U. S. The city features 30 skyscrapers, two inclines, a fortification and the Point State Park at the confluence of the rivers. Aside from steel, Pittsburgh has led in manufacturing of aluminum, glass, shipbuilding, petroleum, foods, sports, transportation, computing, autos, and electronics. For part of the 20th century, Pittsburgh was behind only New York and Chicago in corporate headquarters employment, Americas 1980s deindustrialization laid off area blue-collar workers and thousands of downtown white-collar workers when the longtime Pittsburgh-based world headquarters moved out. The area has served also as the federal agency headquarters for cyber defense, software engineering, robotics, energy research. The area is home to 68 colleges and universities, including research and development leaders Carnegie Mellon University, the region is a hub for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, sustainable energy, and energy extraction. Pittsburgh was named in 1758 by General John Forbes, in honor of British statesman William Pitt, 1st Earl of Chatham. The current pronunciation, which is unusual in English speaking countries, is almost certainly a result of a printing error in some copies of the City Charter of March 18,1816. The error was repeated commonly enough throughout the rest of the 19th century that the pronunciation was lost. After a public campaign the original spelling was restored by the United States Board on Geographic Names in 1911. The area of the Ohio headwaters was long inhabited by the Shawnee, the first known European to enter the region was the French explorer/trader Robert de La Salle from Quebec during his 1669 expedition down the Ohio River. European pioneers, primarily Dutch, followed in the early 18th century, Michael Bezallion was the first to describe the forks of the Ohio in a 1717 manuscript, and later that year European fur traders established area posts and settlements. In 1749, French soldiers from Quebec launched an expedition to the forks to unite Canada with French Louisiana via the rivers, during 1753–54, the British hastily built Fort Prince George before a larger French force drove them off. The French built Fort Duquesne based on LaSalles 1669 claims, the French and Indian War, the North American front of the Seven Years War, began with the future Pittsburgh as its center. British General Edward Braddock was dispatched with Major George Washington as his aide to take Fort Duquesne, the British and colonial force were defeated at Braddocks Field. General John Forbes finally took the forks in 1758, Forbes began construction on Fort Pitt, named after William Pitt the Elder while the settlement was named Pittsborough
2.
Indiana University of Pennsylvania
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Indiana University of Pennsylvania is a public research university in Indiana County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is one of the two largest universities in the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education and thus the fourth or fifth largest public university. As of fall 2016, the university enrolled 10,618 undergraduates and 2,235 postgraduates for an enrollment of 12,853 students. The university is 55 miles northeast of Pittsburgh and it is governed by a local Council of Trustees and the Board of Governors of the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education. IUP has branch campuses at Punxsutawney, Northpointe, and Monroeville, IUP is accredited by the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools, National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education, and Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business. IUP was conceived as Indiana Normal School, first chartered in 1871 by Indiana County investors, the school was created under the Normal School Act, which passed the Pennsylvania General Assembly on May 20,1875. Normal schools established under the act were to be private corporations in no way dependent upon the state treasury and they were to be state normal schools only in the sense of being officially recognized by the commonwealth. The school opened its doors in 1875 following the mold of the French Ecole Normale, all normal school events were held within a single building which also contained a laboratory school for model teaching. Control and ownership of the passed to the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania in 1920. In 1927, by authority of the Pennsylvania General Assembly, it became State Teachers College at Indiana, as its mission expanded, the name was changed again in 1959 to Indiana State College. In 1965, the institution achieved university status and became Indiana University of Pennsylvania, IUP offers over 140 undergraduate degree programs and 70 graduate degree programs under the direction of eight different colleges. Cook Honors College was founded to offer a seminar style, discourse-based liberal studies curriculum, IUPs 374-acre main campus is a mix of 62 old and new red brick structures. Its original building, a Victorian structure named John Sutton Hall once housed the entire school, today Sutton Hall is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It stands at the heart of campus—there was a fight to preserve it in 1974 when the administration scheduled it for demolition, ironically, today it houses many administrative offices and reception areas. Breezedale Alumni Center is also listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the Victorian mansion was once home to a Pennsylvania Supreme Court Justice. The campus boasts a planetarium, University Museum, black box theater, Hadley Union Building, extensive music library, stapleton Library boasts 900, 000-plus bound volumes and over 2 million microform units. At the heart of campus is the Oak Grove, many alumni recall this spot because of its centrality and the many events that occur there. In January 2000 former President Lawrence K. Pettit established a board to create the Allegheny Arboretum at IUP and this group works to furnish the Oak Grove with flora native to the region
3.
Georgetown University
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Georgetown University is a private research university in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D. C. the capital of the United States. Georgetowns main campus is located on a hill above the Potomac River, the campus is identifiable by its flagship Healy Hall, which is a National Historic Landmark. Georgetown offers degree programs in disciplines, enrolling an average of 7,500 undergraduate and 10,000 post-graduate students from more than 130 countries. The university is known for preparing leaders for careers in government. As of 2015, Georgetown produced more diplomats for the U. S, Foreign Service than any other school in the country, and has ranked second in the U. S. by the average number of graduates serving in the U. S. Congress. Georgetown is the oldest Catholic and Jesuit-affiliated institution of education in the United States. The Jesuits have participated in the academic life, both as scholars and as administrators, since 1805, however, the university has always been governed independently of the church. At present, the majority of Georgetown students are not Catholic, Georgetown is home to the countrys largest student-run business, as well as the largest student-run financial institution. Jesuit settlers from England founded the Province of Maryland in 1634, during most of the remainder of Marylands colonial period, Jesuits conducted Catholic schools clandestinely. It was not until after the end of the American Revolution that plans to establish a permanent Catholic institution for education in the United States were realized, Carroll began meetings of local clergy in 1783 near Annapolis, Maryland, where they orchestrated the development of a new university. On January 23,1789, Carroll finalized the purchase of the property in Georgetown on which Dahlgren Quadrangle was later built, future Congressman William Gaston was enrolled as the schools first student on November 22,1791, and instruction began on January 2,1792. During its early years, Georgetown College suffered from financial strain. The Maryland Society of Jesus began its restoration in 1805, and Jesuit affiliation, in the form of teachers and administrators, the school relied on private sources of funding and the limited profits from local lands which had been donated to the Jesuits. To raise money for Georgetown and other schools in 1838, Maryland Jesuits conducted a sale of some 272 slaves to two Deep South plantations from their six in Maryland, ending their slaveholding. In 1844, the received a corporate charter, under the name The President and Directors of Georgetown College. In response to the demand for an option for Roman Catholic students. The U. S. Civil War greatly affected Georgetown as 1,141 students and alumni enlisted in one army or the other, by the time of President Abraham Lincolns May 1861 visit to campus,1,400 troops were living in temporary quarters there. Due to the number of lives lost in the war, enrollment levels remained low until well after the war, only seven students graduated in 1869, down from over 300 in the previous decade
4.
Pittsburgh Steelers
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The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The Steelers compete in the National Football League, as a club of the leagues American Football Conference North division. Founded in 1933, the Steelers are the oldest franchise in the AFC, Pittsburgh has won more Super Bowl titles and hosted more conference championship games than any other NFL team. The Steelers have won 8 AFC championships, tied with the Denver Broncos and they share the record for most conference championship games played in with the San Francisco 49ers. The Steelers share the record for second most Super Bowl appearances with the Broncos, and Dallas Cowboys, the Steelers lost their most recent championship appearance, Super Bowl XLV, on February 6,2011. The Steelers were founded as the Pittsburgh Pirates on July 8,1933, by Art Rooney, taking its name from the baseball team of the same name. The ownership of the Steelers has remained within the Rooney family since its founding, the current owner is Arts son, Dan Rooney, who has given much control of the franchise to his son Art Rooney II. The Steelers enjoy a large, widespread fanbase nicknamed Steeler Nation, the Steelers currently play their home games at Heinz Field on Pittsburghs North Side in the North Shore neighborhood, which also hosts the University of Pittsburgh Panthers. Built in 2001, the stadium replaced Three Rivers Stadium which hosted the Steelers for 31 seasons, prior to Three Rivers, the Steelers had played their games in Pitt Stadium and Forbes Field. The Pittsburgh Steelers of the NFL first took to the field as the Pittsburgh Pirates on September 20,1933, through the 1930s, the Pirates never finished higher than second place in their division, or with a record better than.500. Prior to the 1940 season, the Pirates renamed themselves the Steelers, during World War II, the Steelers experienced player shortages. They twice merged with other NFL franchises to field a team, during the 1943 season, they merged with the Philadelphia Eagles forming the Phil-Pitt Eagles and were known as the Steagles. In 1944, they merged with the Chicago Cardinals and were known as Card-Pitt and this team finished 0–10, marking the only winless team in franchise history. The Steelers made the playoffs for the first time in 1947 and this forced a tie-breaking playoff game at Forbes Field, which the Steelers lost 21–0. The Steelers also received a $3 million relocation fee, which was a windfall for them, the Steelers history of bad luck changed with the hiring of coach Chuck Noll for the 1969 season. The Pittsburgh Steelers 1974 draft was their best ever, no team has ever drafted four future Hall of Famers in one year. They also enjoyed a regular season streak of 49 consecutive wins against teams that would finish with a record that year. The Steelers suffered a rash of injuries in the 1980 season, the 1981 season was no better, with an 8–8 showing
5.
Super Bowl
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The Super Bowl is the annual championship game of the National Football League. The game is the culmination to a season that begins in the late summer of the previous calendar year. Normally, Roman numerals are used to each game, rather than the year in which it is held. For example, Super Bowl I was played on January 15,1967, the single exception to this rule is Super Bowl 50, which was played on February 7,2016, following the 2015 regular season. The next game, Super Bowl LII, scheduled for February 4,2018, the game was created as part of a merger agreement between the NFL and its then-rival league, the American Football League. It was agreed that the two champion teams would play in the AFL–NFL World Championship Game until the merger was to officially begin in 1970. After the merger, each league was redesignated as a conference, currently, the National Football Conference leads the league with 26 wins to 25 wins for the American Football Conference. The Pittsburgh Steelers have the most Super Bowl championship titles, with six, the New England Patriots have the most Super Bowl appearances, with nine. The day on which the Super Bowl is played, now considered by some as an unofficial American national holiday, is called Super Bowl Sunday and it is the second-largest day for U. S. food consumption, after Thanksgiving Day. In addition, the Super Bowl has frequently been the most-watched American television broadcast of the year, in 2015, Super Bowl XLIX became the most-watched American television program in history with an average audience of 114. The NFL restricts the use of its Super Bowl trademark, it is called the Big Game or other generic terms by non-sponsoring corporations. As a result, watching and discussing the broadcasts commercials has become a significant aspect of the event, for four decades after its 1920 inception, the NFL successfully fended off several rival leagues. However, in 1960, it encountered its most serious competitor when the American Football League was formed. The AFL vied heavily with the NFL for both players and fans, but by the middle of the decade the strain of competition led to merger talks between the two leagues. Prior to the 1966 season, the NFL and AFL reached an agreement that was to take effect for the 1970 season. As part of the merger, the champions of the two agreed to meet in a world championship game for professional American football until the merger was effected. A bowl game is a college football game. Exploiting the Rose Bowl Games popularity, post-season college football contests were created for Miami, New Orleans, and El Paso, Texas in 1935, by the time the first Super Bowl was played, the term bowl for any major American football game was well established
6.
American football
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The offense must advance at least ten yards in four downs, or plays, or else they turn over the football to the opposing team, if they succeed, they are given a new set of four downs. Points are primarily scored by advancing the ball into the teams end zone for a touchdown or kicking the ball through the opponents goalposts for a field goal. The team with the most points at the end of a game wins, American football evolved in the United States, originating from the sports of association football and rugby football. The first game of American football was played on November 6,1869, during the latter half of the 1870s, colleges playing association football switched to the Rugby Union code, which allowed carrying the ball. American football as a whole is the most popular sport in the United States, Professional football and college football are the most popular forms of the game, with the other major levels being high school and youth football. As of 2012, nearly 1.1 million high school athletes and 70,000 college athletes play the sport in the United States annually, almost all of them men, in the United States, American football is referred to as football. The term football was established in the rulebook for the 1876 college football season. The terms gridiron or American football are favored in English-speaking countries where other codes of football are popular, such as the United Kingdom, Ireland, New Zealand, American football evolved from the sports of association football and rugby football. What is considered to be the first American football game was played on November 6,1869 between Rutgers and Princeton, two college teams, the game was played between two teams of 25 players each and used a round ball that could not be picked up or carried. It could, however, be kicked or batted with the feet, hands, head or sides, Rutgers won the game 6 goals to 4. Collegiate play continued for years in which matches were played using the rules of the host school. Representatives of Yale, Columbia, Princeton and Rutgers met on October 19,1873 to create a set of rules for all schools to adhere to. Teams were set at 20 players each, and fields of 400 by 250 feet were specified, Harvard abstained from the conference, as they favored a rugby-style game that allowed running with the ball. An 1875 Harvard-Yale game played under rugby-style rules was observed by two impressed Princeton athletes and these players introduced the sport to Princeton, a feat the Professional Football Researchers Association compared to selling refrigerators to Eskimos. Princeton, Harvard, Yale and Columbia then agreed to play using a form of rugby union rules with a modified scoring system. These schools formed the Intercollegiate Football Association, although Yale did not join until 1879, the introduction of the snap resulted in unexpected consequences. Prior to the snap, the strategy had been to punt if a scrum resulted in bad field position, however, a group of Princeton players realized that, as the snap was uncontested, they now could hold the ball indefinitely to prevent their opponent from scoring. In 1881, both teams in a game between Yale-Princeton used this strategy to maintain their undefeated records, each team held the ball, gaining no ground, for an entire half, resulting in a 0-0 tie
7.
Pro Football Hall of Fame
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The Pro Football Hall of Fame is the hall of fame for professional American football. As of 2017, there are a total of 310 members of the Hall of Fame, groundbreaking for the building was held on August 11,1962. The original building contained just two rooms, and 19,000 square feet of interior space, in April 1970, ground was broken for the first of many expansions. This first expansion cost $620,000, and was completed in May 1971, the size was increased to 34,000 square feet by adding another room. The pro shop opened with this expansion and this was also an important milestone for the Pro Football Hall of Fame, as yearly attendance passed the 200,000 mark for the first time. In November 1977, work began on another project, costing US$1,200,000. It was completed in November 1978, enlarging the shop and research library. The total size of the hall was now 50,500 square feet, the building remained largely unchanged until July 1993. The Hall then announced yet another expansion, costing US$9,200,000 and this expansion was completed in October 1995. The buildings size was increased to 82,307 square feet, the most notable addition was the GameDay Stadium, which shows an NFL Films production on a 20-foot by 42-foot Cinemascope screen. Through 2017, all inductees except one, played part of their professional career in the NFL. For CFL stars, there is a parallel Canadian Football Hall of Fame, only one player, the Chicago Bears have the most Hall of Famers among the leagues franchises with 32 enshrinees. Enshrinees are selected by a 46-person committee, largely made up of media members, each city that has a current NFL team sends one representative from the local media to the committee. A city with more than one franchise sends a representative for each franchise, there are also 13 at-large delegates, and one representative from the Pro Football Writers Association. Except for the PFWA representative, who is appointed to a term, all other appointments are open-ended and terminated only by death, incapacitation, retirement. To be eligible for the process, a player or coach must have been retired for at least five years. Any other contributor such as an owner or executive can be voted in at any time. Fans may nominate any player, coach or contributor by simply writing to the Pro Football Hall of Fame via letter or email
8.
Newry
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Newry is a city in Northern Ireland,34 miles from Belfast and 67 miles from Dublin. It had a population of 29,946 in 2011, Newry straddles counties Armagh and Down. Newry was founded in 1144 alongside a Cistercian monastery, although there are references to settlements in the area. It is one of Irelands oldest towns, the city is an entry to the Gap of the North, close to the border with the Republic of Ireland. It grew as a town and a garrison and became a port in 1742 when it was linked to Lough Neagh by the first summit-level canal built in Ireland or Great Britain. In 2002, as part of Queen Elizabeths Golden Jubilee celebrations, the name Newry is an anglicization of An Iúraigh, an oblique form of An Iúrach, which means the grove of yew trees. The modern Irish name for Newry is An tIúr, which means the yew tree, an tIúr is an shortening of Iúr Cinn Trá, yew tree at the head of the strand, which was formerly the most common Irish name for Newry. This relates to a story that Saint Patrick planted a yew tree there in the 5th century. The Irish name Cathair an Iúir appears on some signs around the city. In 820, the Danes made one of their earliest irruptions at Newry abbey, from whence they proceeded to Armagh, taking it by storm, todd James Henthorn tells us more in his 1867 Volume, where he tells us the abbey was attacked in 824. A small medieval town was in situ to the North and South of the abbey which was refounded in 1142 by King O Carroll of the Oriel on the request of Saint Malachi. The landing stage of the abbey was situated to the North of the college in Killmorey street, from early times it was the main pier. It stayed as such until the construction of the new canal took place, the abbey was later converted to a collegiate church in 1543, before being surrendered to the crown in 1548. The abbey is seen to be giving its earnings to the crown almost 200 years before this date and it is described as being one of the richest and largest in Ireland. The Vikings attacked the Abbey many time, slaughtering its occupants, the town was granted its first charter between 1157 by High King of Ireland Muirchertach Mac Lochlainn. In 1162 the monastery was attacked and burned to some degree, there is no evidence however as to how much of the abbey was burned in this attack stones dont burn so it was not completely destroyed as may be assumed. De Courcys lordship ensured a safe spell for the abbey after he had several castles in and around Newry. In 1539 an English mercenary, Nicholas Bagenal, fled to Ireland after murdering a man in Leek, Staffordshire, after some time in the employment of the O Neill he reached a high status, was granted a pardon in 1543, and became Marshal of the army
9.
County Down
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County Down is one of six counties that form Northern Ireland, situated in the northeast of the island of Ireland. Adjoined to the southeast shore of Lough Neagh, the county covers an area of 2,448 km² and has a population of about 531,665 and it is also one of the thirty-two traditional counties of Ireland and is within the province of Ulster. The county was archaically called Downshire and it borders County Antrim to the north, the Irish Sea to the east and south, County Armagh to the west, and County Louth across Carlingford Lough to the southwest. In the east of the county is Strangford Lough and the Ards Peninsula, the largest town is Bangor, on the northeast coast. Three other large towns and cities are on its border, Newry lies on the border with County Armagh, while Lisburn. Down contains both the southernmost point of Northern Ireland and the easternmost point of Ireland and it is currently one of only two counties of Ireland to have a majority of the population from a Protestant background, according to the 2001 census. The other is County Antrim to the north, during the Williamite War in Ireland the county was a centre of Protestant rebellion against the rule of the Catholic James II. After forming a force the Protestants were defeated by the Irish Army at the Break of Dromore and forced to retreat. Later the same year Marshal Schombergs large Williamite expedition arrived in Belfast Lough, after laying siege to Carrickfergus Schomberg marched south to Dundalk Camp, clearing County Down and much of the rest of East Ulster of Jacobite troops. Down contains two significant peninsulas, Ards Peninsula and Lecale peninsula, the county has a coastline along Belfast Lough to the north and Carlingford Lough to the south. Strangford Lough lies between the Ards Peninsula and the mainland, down also contains part of the shore of Lough Neagh. Smaller loughs include Lough Island Reavy, the River Lagan forms most of the border with County Antrim. The River Bann also flows through the areas of the county. Other rivers include the Clanrye and Quoile, there are several islands off the Down coast, Mew Island, Light House Island and the Copeland Islands, all of which lie to the north of the Ards Peninsula. Gunn Island lies off the Lecale coast, in addition there are a large number of small islands in Strangford Lough. County Down is where, in the words of the song by Percy French, The mountains of Mourne sweep down to the sea. Slieve Donard, at 849 m, is the highest peak in the Mournes, in Northern Ireland, another important peak is Slieve Croob, at 534 m, the source of the River Lagan. An area of County Down is known as the Brontë Homeland, after Patrick Brontë, father of Anne, Charlotte, Emily, Patrick Brontë was born in this region
10.
Great Famine (Ireland)
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The Great Famine or the Great Hunger was a period of mass starvation, disease, and emigration in Ireland between 1845 and 1852. It is sometimes referred to, mostly outside Ireland, as the Irish Potato Famine, during the famine, approximately one million people died and a million more emigrated from Ireland, causing the islands population to fall by between 20% and 25%. The proximate cause of famine was potato blight, which ravaged potato crops throughout Europe during the 1840s, the famine was a watershed in the history of Ireland, which was then part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. The famine and its effects permanently changed the demographic, political. For both the native Irish and those in the diaspora, the famine entered folk memory. Ireland sent 105 members of parliament to the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, between 1832 and 1859, 70% of Irish representatives were landowners or the sons of landowners. The laws had largely been reformed by 1793, and the Roman Catholic Relief Act 1829 allowed Irish Catholics to again sit in parliament, during the 18th century, the middleman system for managing landed property was introduced. Rent collection was left in the hands of the landlords agents and this assured the landlord of a regular income, and relieved them of direct responsibility, while leaving tenants open to exploitation by the middlemen. Catholics, the bulk of whom lived in conditions of poverty and insecurity despite Catholic emancipation in 1829, made up 80% of the population. At the top of the pyramid was the ascendancy class, the English and Anglo-Irish families who owned most of the land. Some of their estates were vast, for example, the Earl of Lucan owned over 60,000 acres, many of these landlords lived in England and were known as absentee landlords. The rent revenue—collected from impoverished tenants who were paid wages to raise crops. In 1843, the British Government considered that the question in Ireland was the root cause of disaffection in the country. They established a Royal Commission, chaired by the Earl of Devon, Daniel OConnell described this commission as perfectly one-sided, being composed of landlords, with no tenant representation. In February 1845, Devon reported, It would be impossible adequately to describe the privations which they habitually and silently endure, in many districts their only food is the potato, their only beverage water. Their cabins are seldom a protection against the weather, a bed or a blanket is a rare luxury. And nearly in all their pig and a manure heap constitute their only property, the Commission stated that bad relations between landlord and tenant were principally responsible. There was no loyalty, feudal tie, or mitigating tradition of paternalism as existed in England
11.
Montreal
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Montreal, officially Montréal, is the most populous municipality in the Canadian province of Quebec and the 2nd-most populous in Canada as a whole. Originally called Ville-Marie, or City of Mary, it is believed to be named after Mount Royal, the city has a distinct four-season continental climate, with warm-to-hot summers and cold, snowy winters. In 2016, Montreal had a population of 1,704,694, Montreals metropolitan area had a population of 4,098,927 and a population of 1,958,257 in the urban agglomeration, with all of the municipalities on the Island of Montreal included. Legally a French-speaking city,60. 5% of Montrealers speak French at home,21. 2% speak English and 19. 8% speak neither, Montreal is one of the most bilingual cities in Quebec and Canada, with 56% of the population able to speak both official languages. Montreal is the second-largest primarily French-speaking city in the world after Paris, historically the commercial capital of Canada, it was surpassed in population and economic strength by Toronto in the 1970s. It remains an important centre of commerce, aerospace, finance, pharmaceuticals, technology, design, education, culture, tourism, gaming, film, Montreal was also named a UNESCO City of Design. In 2009, Montreal was named North Americas leading host city for international events, according to the 2009 preliminary rankings of the International Congress. According to the 2015 Global Liveability Ranking by the Economist Intelligence Unit, in the 2017 edition of their Best Student Cities ranking, Quacquarelli Symonds ranked Montreal as the worlds best city to study abroad. Also, Montreal has 11 universities with 170,000 students enrolled, the Greater Montréal region has the highest number of university students per capita among all metropolitan areas in North America. It is the only Canadian city to have held the Summer Olympics, currently, the city hosts the Canadian Grand Prix of Formula One, the Montreal International Jazz Festival and the Just for Laughs festival. In 2012, Montreal was ranked as a Beta+ world city, in Kanien’kéha, or Mohawk language, the island is called Tiohtià, ke Tsi or Ka-wé-no-te. In Anishinaabemowin, or Ojibwe language, the land is called Mooniyaang, though the city was first named by French colonizers Ville Marie, or City of Mary, its current name comes from Mount Royal, the triple-peaked hill in the heart of the city. The most popular theory is that the name derives from Mont Réal, Cartiers 1535 diary entry, naming the mountain, according to the Commission de toponymie du Québec and the Geographical Names Board of Canada, Canadian place names have only one official form. Thus, Montreal is officially spelled with an accent over the e in both English and French. In practice, this is limited to governmental uses. English-speaking Montrealers, including English-language media, regularly omit the accent when writing in English, archaeological evidence demonstrates that First Nations native people occupied the island of Montreal as early as 4,000 years ago. By the year AD1000, they had started to cultivate maize, within a few hundred years, they had built fortified villages. Archeologists have found evidence of their habitation there and at locations in the valley since at least the 14th century
12.
Ebbw Vale
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Ebbw Vale is a town at the head of the valley formed by the Ebbw Fawr tributary of the Ebbw River in Wales. It is the largest town and the centre of Blaenau Gwent county borough. The Ebbw Vale and Brynmawr conurbation has a population of roughly 33,000 and it has direct access to the dualled A465T Heads of the Valleys trunk road and borders the Brecon Beacons National Park. There is evidence of early human activity in the area. Y Domen Fawr is a Bronze Age burial cairn above the town, in relatively modern times the area was a quiet uplands spot in rural Monmouthshire. With only about 120 inhabitants at the end of the 18th century, Ebbw Vale, Ebbw Vale Iron Works, later to become the Ebbw Vale Steelworks, opened in 1778, followed by the opening of a number of coal mines around 1790. Rails for the Stockton and Darlington Railway were manufactured at Ebbw Vale in 1829, at its height the steel works in Ebbw Vale was the largest in Europe, although attracting very little attention from German bombers during World War II. By the 1960s around 14,500 people were employed, the end of the century witnessed a massive collapse of the UK steel industry. A strike in 1980 was followed by closures and redundancies which resulted in the dismantling of many of the old plants, in 2002 only 450 were employed in the old industries, and by July of that year the final works closed. Today there are no steelworks or mines left in the area, Ebbw Vale is still recognised for its innovation and contribution to the development of Britain as an industrial nation. Ebbw Vale is recovering from a period of one of the highest unemployment rates in the United Kingdom, largely as a result of the decline of the mining, there are several industrial estates with some significant manufacturing facilities. In 2003 work began on demolishing and redeveloping the steelworks site, by 2015 the site was completely changed with a new hospital, college campus, school and leisure centre. Ebbw Vale first hosted the National Eisteddfod in 1958, the Welsh language was dominant in the area until the last quarter of the 19th century and remnants of the language persisted into the 1970s. The National Eisteddfod returned to Ebbw Vale in 2010, Aneurin Bevan, the father of the National Health Service, represented Ebbw Vale as a Labour Party Member of Parliament in Parliament from the 1929 general election. When he died in 1960, he was succeeded as MP by Michael Foot, the seat joined with the neighbouring Abertillery constituency to form Blaenau Gwent. The Ebbw Vale conurbation today runs in an almost unbroken housing street plan 3 miles or so from Beaufort in the North to Cwm in the South, there are significant areas of modern housing to the north and south of the town. In 1992 the Ebbw Vale Garden Festival was the last National Garden Festival and it was sited on the south side of the recently demolished steel works. The festival ran for five months between May and October 1992 attracting over 2 million visitors, the development cost around £18 million
Media related to Art Rooney (1901–1988) at Wikimedia Commons
