1.
Star Alliance
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Star Alliance is one of the worlds largest global airline alliances. Founded on 14 May 1997, its current CEO is Mark Schwab and its headquarters is in Frankfurt am Main, as of 7 August 2016, Star Alliance is the second largest global alliance by passenger count with 641.1 million, after SkyTeam and ahead of Oneworld. Its slogan is The Way The Earth Connects, the alliance has a two-tier rewards program, Silver and Gold, with incentives including priority boarding and upgrades. Like other airline alliances, Star Alliance airlines share airport terminals, on 14 May 1997, an agreement was announced forming Star Alliance from five airlines on three continents, Scandinavian Airlines, Thai Airways International, Air Canada, Lufthansa, and United Airlines. The alliance chose Young & Rubicam for advertising, with a budget of $25 million, the airlines shared the star logo from the beginning, with its five points representing the founding airlines. The alliance adopted its first slogan, The Airline Network for Earth, with its goal an alliance that will take passengers to major city on earth. The now defunct Brazilian airline VARIG joined the Star Alliance network on 22 October 1997, also joining were Ansett Australia and Air New Zealand, expanding Star Alliance to Australia and the Pacific. With the addition of the two carriers, the alliance served 720 destinations in 110 countries with a combined fleet of 1,650 aircraft. The next airline to join was All Nippon Airways, the groups second Asian airline, during the early 2000s, a number of airlines joined Star Alliance, the Austrian Airlines Group joined on 26 March 2000 and Singapore Airlines on 1 April. BMI and Mexicana Airlines joined on 1 July, bringing the membership to 13. The addition of BMI made London Heathrow the only European hub with two alliances, during the year, Emirates considered joining Star Alliance, but decided against it. That year the now-defunct BWIA West Indies Airways, which had entered an alliance with United Airlines, considered becoming a member, in 2000, the alliance also opened its first three business centers and announced the formation of an Alliance Management Team, the partnerships executive body. In September 2001, Ansett Australia left Star Alliance due to bankruptcy and that year, Star Alliance announced the appointment of a new CEO, Jaan Albrecht. Asiana Airlines joined the alliance on 1 March 2003, Spanair on 1 May, around this time, Mexicana Airlines left the alliance after deciding not to renew a codeshare agreement with United Airlines, later joining Oneworld. US Airways joined the alliance in May 2004, becoming its second US-based airline, in November Adria Airways, Blue1 and Croatia Airlines joined the alliance as its first three regional members. Although Star Alliance invited Lineas Aereas Azteca in 2005 to join in mid-2007, TAP Portugal joined on 14 March 2005, adding African destinations to the network. In April 2006 Swiss International Air Lines, the alliances sixth European airline, by May 2007, Star Alliances 10th anniversary, its members had a combined 16,000 daily departures to 855 destinations in 155 countries and served 406 million passengers annually. VARIG left the alliance on 31 January 2007, and the two Chinese airlines Air China and Shanghai Airlines joined on 12 December
2.
Avianca
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Avianca S. A. (acronym in Spanish for Aerovías del Continente Americano S. A. It is headquartered in Bogotá, D. C. with its hub at El Dorado International Airport. Avianca also comprises a group of seven Latin American airlines, whose operations are combined to function as one using a code sharing system. Avianca is the largest airline in Colombia and second largest in Latin America, Avianca together with its subsidiaries has the most extensive network of destinations in Latin America. It is wholly owned by Synergy Group S. A. a South American holding company established by Germán Efromovich and it is listed on the Colombia Stock Exchange. Avianca is the second oldest airline after KLM, and celebrated its 90th anniversary in 2009. It is the oldest airline in the Western Hemisphere and it became an official member of Star Alliance on 21 June 2012, after a process that lasted approximately 18 months from the initial announcement of their invitation to join the Alliance. The airline traces its history back to 5 December 1919, in the city of Barranquilla, the company accomplished their first flight between Barranquilla and the nearby town of Puerto Colombia using a Junkers F.13, transporting 57 pieces of mail. The flight was piloted by German Helmuth von Krohn and this and another aircraft of the same type were completely mechanically constructed monoplanes, the engines of which had to be modified to efficiently operate in the climate of the country. There were nine aircraft in the fleet with a range of 850 km which could carry up to four passengers. This new contract allowed SCADTA to thrive in a new frontier of aviation, by the mid-1920s, SCADTA started its first international routes that initially covered destinations in Venezuela and the United States. In 1924, the aircraft that both Ernesto Cortissoz and Helmuth von Krohn were flying crashed into an area known as Bocas de Ceniza in Barranquilla. In the early 1940s, Peter von Bauer sold his shares in the airline to the US-owned Pan American World Airways, five Colombians participated in this, Rafael María Palacio, Jacobo A. In 1946, Avianca began flights to Quito, Lima, Panama City, Miami, New York City and Europe, using Douglas DC-4s, in 1951, Avianca acquired Lockheed 749 Constellations and 1049 Super Constellations. In 1961, Avianca leased two Boeing 707 aircraft, to operate its routes and on 2 November 1961, it acquired its own Boeing 720s. In 1976, Avianca became the first Latin American airline to operate a Boeing 747. Three years later, it started operations with another 747, this time a 747 Combi, mixing cargo, in 1994, Avianca, the regional carrier SAM and the helicopter operator Helicol, merged, beginning Aviancas new system of operations. By 1996, Avianca Postal Services became Deprisa, which provided mail services
3.
Avianca El Salvador
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Avianca El Salvador, formerly Transportes Aereos del Continente Americano, simply known as TACA Airlines, is an airline owned by the Synergy Group based in El Salvador. As TACA, it was the carrier of El Salvador. As Avianca El Salvador, it is one of the seven nationally branded airlines in the Avianca Holdings group of Latin American airlines and this Airline has been in operation for 75 years. On October 7,2009, it was announced that TACA would merge with Avianca, TACA Airlines was the second-oldest continuously operating airline brand in Central America and the Caribbean after Cubana de Aviación. The airlines that made up TACA Airlines were, TACA International Airlines Aviateca Regional - Formerly Inter, TACA began operations with a single-engine Stinson plane. Since its beginnings, routes covered all the territory and its aircraft sported the XH Mexican registration. The idea of its founder was to establish one airline in each Latin-American country, such as Aerovias Brasil in Brazil and other TACAs in Mexico, Venezuela, later TACA was organized as an international company having its headquarters in San Salvador only under the name of TACA International Airlines. During the 1940s and 1950s, the airline began to acquire larger piston engine airliners including the Douglas DC-3, the Vickers Viscount turboprop passenger airliner followed in order to expand its route network around the Americas. On 28 December 1966, TACA Airlines entered the jet age when it inaugurated their first jet, the aircraft model was used until June 1,1988, when it was phased out in favor of the Boeing 737-200 aircraft. The Lockheed L-188 Electra four engine turboprop airliner was operated from 1976 by TACA Air Cargo including freight flights to Miami, Florida. Between 1940 and 1995, TACA bought the majority shares of the flag carrier airlines of Guatemala, Costa Rica, in the 1990s, TACA Airlines became the launch customer and principal users of the Airbus A320 model in Latin America. These aircraft were substitutes for the aging Boeing 737-200 and the 737-300/-400 series aircraft that were on the fleet, which were gradually retired until 1999. As a consequence, Tocumen airport became the Hub of the Americas and the integration of several Latin American airlines to the alliance, such as LACSA, Aviateca, the alliance ended in 1998 after the six-year period established in the agreement expired. With this new addition, Grupo TACA began to offer a network of routes throughout the Americas. In 2005, TACA Airlines was one of the members of the Mexican airline Volaris. In the same year, TACA became the first airline of Latin America to operate the largest version of the A320, also, it revealed a renovation in its corporate image. That same year, TACA became the user of the Brazilian Embraer E-190 in Latin America. In October 2009, it was announced that TACA Airlines would merge its assets in an alliance with Colombian airline Avianca, in which case each will maintain its own trademark
4.
Douglas DC-6
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The Douglas DC-6 is a piston-powered airliner and transport aircraft built by the Douglas Aircraft Company from 1946 to 1958. Originally intended as a military transport near the end of World War II, more than 700 were built and many still fly today in cargo, military, and wildfire control roles. The United States Army Air Forces commissioned the DC-6 project as the XC-112 in 1944, the Army Air Forces wanted a lengthened, pressurized version of the DC-4-based C-54 Skymaster transport with more powerful engines. By the time the prototype XC-112A flew on 15 February 1946 the war was over, the USAAF had rescinded its requirement, Douglas Aircraft modified the design into a civil transport 80 in longer than the DC-4. The civil DC-6 first flew on 29 June 1946, being retained by Douglas for testing, the first airline deliveries were to American Airlines and United Airlines on 24 November 1946. A series of inflight fires grounded the DC-6 fleet in 1947, the cause was found to be a fuel vent next to the cabin cooling turbine intake, all DC-6s were modified and the fleet was flying again after four months on the ground. In April 1949, United, American, Delta, National, United flew them to Hawaii, Braniff flew them to Rio de Janeiro, and Panagra flew Miami-Buenos Aires, KLM, SAS, and Sabena flew DC-6s across the Atlantic. BCPA DC-6s flew Sydney to Vancouver, and Philippine flew Manila to London, pan Am used DC-6Bs to start transatlantic tourist-class flights in 1952. These were the first DC-6Bs that could gross 107,000 lb, several European airlines followed with their own transatlantic services. The DC-6A/B/C subtypes could perhaps fly nonstop from the eastern US to Europe, the military version, similar to the DC-6A, was the USAF C-118 Liftmaster, the USN R6D version used the more powerful R-2800-CB-17 engines. These were later used on the commercial DC-6B to allow international flights, the R6D Navy version had Curtiss Electric constant-speed reversing propellers. The USAF and USN renewed their interest in the DC-6 during the Korean War, Harry Trumans first presidential aircraft was an Air Force short-fuselage DC-6 which was designated VC-118, and named The Independence. It is preserved in the National Museum of the United States Air Force at Dayton, total production of the DC-6 series was 704, including military versions. In the 1960s two DC-6s were used as platforms for educational television, based at Purdue University, in a program called the Midwest Program on Airborne Television Instruction. DC-6/7s surviving into the jet age were replaced in frontline intercontinental passenger service by the Boeing 707, basic prices of a new DC-6 in 1946–47 were around £210, 000–£230,000 and had risen to £310,000 by 1951. By 1960, used prices were around £175,000 per aircraft, prices for the DC-6A in 1957–58 were £460, 000–£480,000. By 1960, used prices were around £296,000, equivalent prices for the DC-6B in 1958 were around £500,000. Used prices in 1960 were around £227,000, from 1977 to 1990 five yellow-painted Douglas DC-6Bs were used as water bombers in France by the Sécurité Civile
5.
Miami International Airport
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Miami International Airport, also known as MIA and historically Wilcox Field, is the primary airport serving the Miami area, United States. It is South Floridas main airport for international flights. Miami International is also one of only eight U. S. airports to accommodate the Airbus A380 jumbo jet and it is a focus airport for Avianca, Frontier Airlines, and LATAM, both for passengers and cargo operations. Miami International Airport has passenger and cargo flights to cities throughout the Americas, Europe and Western Asia, as well as cargo flights to East Asia. In the past, it has been a hub for Braniff International Airways, Eastern Air Lines, Air Florida, the original National Airlines, the original Pan Am, United Airlines, Iberia and Fine Air. In 2011 the airport ranked first in the United States by percentage of international flights and second by volume of international passengers, in 2016,44,901,753 passengers traveled through the airport, making the airport the 23rd-busiest airport in the world by passenger traffic. The airport also ranks as the 10th busiest airport in the United States by annual passenger count and is the busiest airport in the state of Florida, the airport also handled more international cargo than any other airport in the United States. For the World War II and United States Air Force Reserve use of the airport, Pan American World Airways opened an expanded facility adjacent to City Airport, Pan American Field, in 1928. Pan American Field was built on 116 acres of land on 36th Street and was the only airport in the eastern United States that had port of entry facilities. Its runways were located around the threshold of todays Runway 26R, Eastern Airlines began to serve Pan American Field in 1931, followed by National Airlines in 1936. National used a terminal on the side of LeJeune Road from the airport. In 1945 the City of Miami established a Port Authority and raised bond revenue to purchase Pan American Field and it merged with the Army airfield south of the railroad in 1949 and expanded further in 1951 when the railroad line was moved south to make room. The old terminal on 36th Street was closed in 1959 when the passenger terminal opened. Nonstop flights to Chicago and Newark started in late 1946, but nonstops didnt reach west beyond St. Louis, nonstop transatlantic flights began in 1970. In the late 1970s and early 1980s Air Florida had a hub at MIA, Air Florida ceased operations in 1982 after the crash of Air Florida Flight 90. British Airways flew a Concorde triweekly between Miami and London via Washington, D. C. from 1984 to 1991, in the midst of Easterns turmoil American Airlines CEO Bob Crandall sought a new hub in order to utilize new aircraft which AA had on order. AA studies indicated that Delta Air Lines would provide strong competition on most routes from Easterns hub at Atlanta, American announced that it would establish a base at MIA in August 1988. The effort quickly proved futile, and American purchased the routes in a liquidation of Eastern which was completed in 1990, later in the 1990s, American transferred more employees and equipment to MIA from its failed domestic hubs at Nashville and Raleigh–Durham
6.
BAC One-Eleven
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The British Aircraft Corporation One-Eleven, also known as the BAC-111 or BAC 1-11, was a British short-range jet airliner used during the 1960s and 1970s. It was the second jet airliner to enter service, following the French Sud Aviation Caravelle. The aircraft was produced under license in Romania during the 1980s as the Rombac One-Eleven. The One-Eleven was intended to replace the earlier turboprop-powered Vickers Viscount on short-range routes, the One-Eleven made it to market ahead of rivals such as the Douglas DC-9-10, which gave it a temporary edge on the market. As of 2013, two remain in service as testbeds for Northrop-Grumman. Several aircraft manufacturers raced to release their own passenger jets, including those aimed at the short-haul market, in July 1956, British European Airways published a paper calling for a second generation jet airliner to operate beside their existing turboprop designs. This led to a variety of designs all of the major players in the British aerospace industry. Hunting Aircraft started design studies on a replacement for the successful Vickers Viscount. Around the same time, Vickers started a development of a 140-seat derivative of its VC10 project. Many other aviation firms had produced their own designs. In 1960 Hunting, under British government pressure, merged with Vickers-Armstrongs, Bristol, the newly formed BAC decided that the Hunting project had merit, but that there would be little market for a 30-seat jet airliner. The design was reworked into the BAC107, a 59-seat airliner powered by two 7,000 pounds-force Bristol Siddeley BS75 turbofan engines, BAC also continued development of the larger, 140-seat VC-11 development of the Vickers VC10 which it had inherited. Other competing internal projects, such as the Bristol Type 200, were abandoned following the absorption of Hunting into BAC. The revised design was redesignated the BAC111, with BAC abandoning the VC11 project to concentrate on the more promising One-Eleven, test flying was conducted by Squadron Leader Dave Glaser. On 9 May 1961 the One-Eleven was publicly launched when British United Airways placed the first order for ten One-Eleven 200s, on 20 October Braniff International Airways in the United States ordered six. Mohawk Airlines sent representatives to Europe seeking out a new aircraft to bring them into the jet era, other orders followed from Kuwait Airways for three, and Central African Airways for two. Braniff subsequently doubled their order to 12, while Aer Lingus ordered four, Western Airlines ordered ten aircraft but later cancelled. The CAB also stopped Frontier Airlines and Ozark Air Lines from ordering One-Elevens, although allowing Ozark to order the similar Douglas DC-9, the CAB had also unsuccessfully tried to block Mohawks orders
7.
Postage stamp
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Postage stamp may also refer to a formatting artifact in the display of film or video, Windowbox. A postage stamp is a piece of paper that is purchased and displayed on an item of mail as evidence of payment of postage. Typically, stamps are printed on special paper, show a national designation and a denomination on the front. They are sometimes a source of net profit to the issuing agency, stamps are usually rectangular, but triangles or other shapes are occasionally used. The stamp is affixed to an envelope or other postal cover the customer wishes to send, the item is then processed by the postal system, where a postmark, sometimes known as a cancellation mark, is usually applied in overlapping manner to stamp and cover. This procedure marks the stamp as used to prevent its reuse, in modern usage, postmarks generally indicate the date and point of origin of the mailing. The mailed item is delivered to the address the customer has applied to the envelope or parcel. Postage stamps have facilitated the delivery of mail since the 1840s, before then, ink and hand-stamps, usually made from wood or cork, were often used to frank the mail and confirm the payment of postage. The first adhesive postage stamp, commonly referred to as the Penny Black, was issued in the United Kingdom in 1840, there are varying accounts of the inventor or inventors of the stamp. The postage stamp resolved this issue in a simple and elegant manner, concurrently with the first stamps, the UK offered wrappers for mail. S. Postal service for priority or express mailing, the postage stamp afforded convenience for both the mailer and postal officials, more effectively recovered costs for the postal service, and ultimately resulted in a better, faster postal system. With the conveniences stamps offered, their use resulted in greatly increased mailings during the 19th and 20th centuries, as postage stamps with their engraved imagery began to appear on a widespread basis, historians and collectors began to take notice. The study of stamps and their use is referred to as philately. Stamp collecting can be both a hobby and a form of study and reference, as government-issued postage stamps. The postage for the item was prepaid by the use of a hand-stamp to frank the mailed item. Though this stamp was applied to a letter instead of a piece of paper it is considered by many historians as the worlds first postage stamp. Rowland Hill The Englishman Sir Rowland Hill began interest in postal reform in 1835, in 1836, a Member of Parliament, Robert Wallace, provided Hill with numerous books and documents, which Hill described as a half hundred weight of material. Hill commenced a study of these documents, leading him to the 1837 publication of a pamphlet entitled Post Office Reform its Importance
8.
Airbus A320 family
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The Airbus A320 family consists of short- to medium-range, narrow-body, commercial passenger twin-engine jet airliners manufactured by Airbus. The family includes the A318, A319, A320 and A321, the A320s are also named A320ceo after the introduction of the A320neo. Final assembly of the takes place in Toulouse, France. A plant in Tianjin, China, has also been producing aircraft for Chinese airlines since 2009, while a final facility in Mobile, Alabama, United States. The aircraft family can accommodate up to 220 passengers and has a range of 3,100 to 12,000 km, the first member of the A320 family—the A320—was launched in March 1984, first flew on 22 February 1987, and was first delivered in March 1988. The family was extended to include the A321, the A319, the A320 family pioneered the use of digital fly-by-wire flight control systems, as well as side-stick controls, in commercial aircraft. There has been a continuous improvement process since introduction, as of 28 February 2017, a total of 7,481 Airbus A320-family aircraft have been delivered, of which 7,157 are in service. In addition, another 5,580 airliners are on firm order and it ranked as the worlds fastest-selling jet airliner family according to records from 2005 to 2007, and as the best-selling single-generation aircraft programme. The A320 family has proved popular with airlines including low-cost carriers such as EasyJet, as of 28 February 2017, American Airlines was the largest operator of the Airbus A320 family aircraft, operating 384 aircraft. The aircraft family competes directly with the 737 and has competed with the 717,757, in December 2010, Airbus announced a new generation of the A320 family, the A320neo. The A320neo offers new, more efficient engines, combined with airframe improvements, the aircraft will deliver fuel savings of up to 15%. As of February 2017, a total of 5,063 A320neo family aircraft had been ordered by more than 70 airlines, the first A320neo was delivered to Lufthansa on 20 January 2016 and it entered service on 25 January 2016. From the moment of formation, Airbus had begun studies into derivatives of the Airbus A300B in support of this long-term goal, prior to the service introduction of the first Airbus airliners, engineers within Airbus had identified nine possible variations of the A300 known as A300B1 to B9. A 10th variation, conceived in 1973, later the first to be constructed, was designated the A300B10 and it was a smaller aircraft which would be developed into the long-range Airbus A310. Airbus then focused its efforts on the market, which was dominated by the 737. Plans from a number of European aircraft manufacturers called for a successor to the relatively successful BAC One-Eleven, germanys MBB, British Aircraft Corporation, Swedens Saab and Spains CASA worked on the EUROPLANE, a 180- to 200-seat aircraft. It was abandoned after intruding on A310 specifications, vFW-Fokker, Dornier and Hawker Siddeley worked on a number of 150-seat designs. Alongside BAe were MBB, Fokker-VFW and Aérospatiale, the design within the JET study that was carried forward was the JET2, which then became the Airbus S. A1/2/3 series, before settling on the A320 name for its launch in 1984
9.
Pan American World Airways
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It was also a founding member of the International Air Transport Association, the global airline industry association. Identified by its blue logo, the use of the word Clipper in aircraft names and call signs, and the white pilot uniform caps. In an era dominated by flag carriers that were wholly or majority government-owned, during most of the jet era, Pan Ams flagship terminal was the Worldport located at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York City. Arnold and Spaatz drew up the prospectus for Pan American when SCADTA hired a company in Delaware to obtain air mail contracts from the U. S. government. Pan American was able to obtain the U. S. mail delivery contract to Cuba and their operation had the all-important landing rights for Havana, having acquired American International Airways, a small airline established in 1926 by John K. Bevier as a service from Key West, Florida, to Havana. ACA met its deadline of having an air service operating by October 19,1927 by chartering a Fairchild FC-2 floatplane from a small Dominican Republic carrier. The Atlantic, Gulf, and Caribbean Airways company was established on October 11,1927 by New York City investment banker Richard Hoyt and this company merged with PAA and ACA on June 23,1928. Richard Hoyt was named as president of the new Aviation Corporation of the Americas, Trippe became operational head of Pan American Airways, the new companys principal operating subsidiary. The government further helped Pan Am by insulating it from its U. S. competitors, the airline expanded internationally, benefiting from a virtual monopoly on foreign routes. Trippe and his associates planned to extend Pan Ams network through all of Central, by the end of the year, Pan Am offered flights along the west coast of South America to Peru. Its Brazilian subsidiary NYRBA do Brasil was later renamed as Panair do Brasil, Pan Am also partnered with Grace Shipping Company in 1929 to form Pan American-Grace Airways, better known as Panagra, to gain a foothold to destinations in South America. The Aviation Corporation of the Americas changed its name to Pan American Airways Corporation in 1931, during the day, use of the compass while judging drift from sea currents was normal procedure, at night, all flight crews were trained to use celestial navigation. In bad weather, pilots used dead reckoning and timed turns, making landings at fogged-in harbors by landing out to sea. Many pilots had merchant marine certifications and radio licenses as well as pilot certificates, before World War II it was not unusual for a captain to make engine repairs at remote locations. Pan Ams mechanics and support staff were similarly trained, newly hired applicants were frequently paired with experienced flight mechanics in several areas of the company until they had achieved proficiency in all aircraft types. Many crews supported repair operations by flying in spare parts to planes stranded overseas, Pan Am started its South American routes with Consolidated Commodore and Sikorsky S-38 flying boats. The S-40, larger than the eight-passenger S-38, began flying for Pan Am in 1931, carrying the nicknames American Clipper, Southern Clipper, and Caribbean Clipper, they were the first of the series of 28 Clippers that symbolized Pan Am between 1931 and 1946
10.
Cayman Islands
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The Cayman Islands is a British Overseas Territory in the western Caribbean Sea. Its population is approximately 60,000, and its capital is George Town, the Cayman Islands are considered to be part of the geographic Western Caribbean Zone as well as the Greater Antilles. The territory is considered a major world offshore financial haven for many wealthy individuals. The Cayman Islands remained largely uninhabited until the 17th century, the first recorded permanent inhabitant of the Cayman Islands, Isaac Bodden, was born on Grand Cayman around 1661. He was the grandson of the original settler named Bodden who was one of Oliver Cromwells soldiers at the taking of Jamaica in 1655. England took formal control of the Cayman Islands, along with Jamaica, following several unsuccessful attempts at settlement, a permanent English-speaking population in the islands dates from the 1730s. With settlement, after the first royal land grant by the Governor of Jamaica in 1734, many were brought to the islands from Africa, this is evident today with the majority of native Caymanians being of African and English descent. The results of the first census taken in the islands in 1802 showed the population on Grand Cayman to be 933 with 545 of those inhabitants being enslaved, slavery was abolished in the Cayman Islands in 1833. At the time of abolition, there were over 950 Blacks of African ancestry enslaved by 116 white families of English ancestry. The islands continued to be governed as part of the Colony of Jamaica until 1962, the Cayman Islands historically have been a tax-exempt destination. On 8 February 1794, the Caymanians rescued the crews of a group of ten merchant ships, including HMS Convert, the ships had struck a reef and run aground during rough seas. Legend has it that King George III rewarded the island with a never to introduce taxes as compensation for their generosity. While this remains a legend, the story is not true. However, whatever the history, in practice the government of the Cayman Islands has always relied on indirect, the islands have never levied income tax, capital gains tax, or any wealth tax, making them a popular tax haven. On 11 September 2004 the island of Grand Cayman, which lies largely unprotected at sea level, was hit by Hurricane Ivan, an estimated 83% of the dwellings on the island were damaged including 4% requiring complete reconstruction. A reported 70% of all dwellings suffered severe damage from flooding or wind, another 26% sustained minor damage from partial roof removal, low levels of flooding, or impact with floating or wind driven hurricane debris. Power, water and communications were disrupted for months in areas as Ivan was the worst hurricane to hit the islands in 86 years. Grand Cayman began a rebuilding process and within two years its infrastructure was nearly returned to pre-hurricane status.23 years
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