Basel or Basle is a city in northwestern Switzerland on the river Rhine. Basel is Switzerland's third-most-populous city with about 180,000 inhabitants. Located where the Swiss and German borders meet, Basel has suburbs in France and Germany; as of 2016, the Swiss Basel agglomeration was the third-largest in Switzerland, with a population of 541,000 in 74 municipalities in Switzerland. The initiative Trinational Eurodistrict Basel of 62 suburban communes including municipalities in neighboring countries, counted 829,000 inhabitants in 2007; the official language of Basel is German, but the main spoken language is the local Basel German dialect. The city is known for its many internationally renowned museums, ranging from the Kunstmuseum, the first collection of art accessible to the public in Europe and the largest museum of art in the whole of Switzerland, to the Fondation Beyeler; the University of Basel, Switzerland's oldest university, the city's centuries-long commitment to humanism, have made Basel a safe haven at times of political unrest in other parts of Europe for such notable people as Erasmus of Rotterdam, the Holbein family, Friedrich Nietzsche, in the 20th century Hermann Hesse and Karl Jaspers.

The city of Basel is Switzerland's second-largest economic centre after the city of Zürich and has the highest GDP per capita in the country, ahead of the cantons of Zug and Geneva. In terms of value, over 94% of Basel City's goods exports are in the chemical and pharmaceutical sectors. With production facilities located in the neighboring Schweizerhalle, Basel accounts for 20% of Swiss exports and generates one third of the national product. Basel has been the seat of a Prince-Bishopric since the 11th century, joined the Swiss Confederacy in 1501; the city has been a commercial hub and an important cultural centre since the Renaissance, has emerged as a centre for the chemical and pharmaceutical industries in the 20th century. In 1897, Basel was chosen by Theodor Herzl as the location for the first World Zionist Congress, altogether the congress has been held there ten times over a time span of 50 years, more than in any other location; the city is home to the world headquarters of the Bank for International Settlements.

The name of the city is internationally well-known through institutions like the Basel Accords, Art Basel and FC Basel. In 2019 Basel, was ranked among the ten most liveable cities in the world by Mercer together with Zürich and Geneva. There are traces of a settlement at the Rhine knee from the early La Tène period. In the 2nd century BC, there was a village of the Raurici at the site of Basel-Gasfabrik, to the northwest of the Old City identical with the town of Arialbinnum mentioned on the Tabula Peutingeriana; the unfortified settlement was abandoned in the 1st century BC in favour of an oppidum on the site of Basel Minster in reaction to the Roman invasion of Gaul. In Roman Gaul, Augusta Raurica was established some 20 km from Basel as the regional administrative centre, while a castra was built on the site of the Celtic oppidum; the city of Basel grew around the castra. In AD 83, Basel was incorporated into the Roman province of Germania Superior. Roman control over the area deteriorated in the 3rd century, Basel became an outpost of the Provincia Maxima Sequanorum formed by Diocletian.

The Germanic confederation of the Alemanni attempted to cross the Rhine several times in the 4th century, but were repelled. However, in the great invasion of AD 406, the Alemanni appear to have crossed the Rhine river a final time and settling what is today Alsace and a large part of the Swiss Plateau. From that time, Basel has been an Alemannic settlement; the Duchy of Alemannia fell under Frankish rule in the 6th century, by the 7th century, the former bishopric of Augusta Raurica was re-established as the Bishopric of Basel. Based on the evidence of a third solidus with the inscription Basilia fit, Basel seems to have minted its own coins in the 7th century. Under bishop Haito, the first cathedral was built on the site of the Roman castle replaced by a Romanesque structure consecrated in 1019. At the partition of the Carolingian Empire, Basel was first given to West Francia, but it passed to East Francia with the treaty of Meerssen of 870; the city was plundered and destroyed by a Magyar invasion in 917.

The rebuilt city became part of Upper Burgundy, as such was incorporated into the Holy Roman Empire in 1032. From the donation by Rudolph III of Burgundy of the Moutier-Grandval Abbey and all its possessions to Bishop Adalbero II of Metz in 999 until the Reformation, Basel was ruled by prince-bishops. In 1019, the construction of the cathedral of Basel began under Holy Roman Emperor. In 1225–1226, a bridge, now known as the Middle Bridge, was constructed by Bishop Heinrich von Thun and Lesser Basel founded as a bridgehead to protect the bridge; the bridge was funded by Basel's Jewish community who had settled there a century earlier. For many centuries to come Basel possessed the only permanent bridge over the river "between Lake Constance and the sea"; the Bishop allowed the furriers to establish a guild in 1226. About 15 guilds were established in the 13th century, they increased the town's, hence the bishop's, reputatio

The 1956 United States presidential election in Florida was held on November 6, 1956, as part of the concurrent United States presidential election. Florida voters chose ten electors, or representatives to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president. Excepting the 1928 election when fierce anti-Catholicism and Prohibitionism caused Herbert Hoover to defeat the wet Catholic Al Smith, Florida since the end of Reconstruction had been a classic Southern one-party state dominated by the Democratic Party. Disfranchisement of African-Americans and many poor whites had eliminated the Republican Party – only nine Republicans were elected to the state legislature between 1890 and 1950 – while Democratic primaries were the sole competitive elections. Under the influence of Senator Claude Pepper, Florida abolished the poll tax in 1937, leading to steady increases in voter turnout during the following several elections. However, the following two elections would see a rapid trend away from Democratic hegemony towards Republican dominance in newer, more liberal South Florida.

The regions shifting towards the GOP in these two elections lacked a history of slave-based plantation farming, saw Eisenhower as more favourable to business than the Democratic Party. They had seen a large inflow of elderly migrants from the Northern states who were attracted by Florida's hot climate. Eisenhower was able to carry the Sunshine State by a double-digit margin in 1952, in spite of losing badly in the "Hoovercrat" pineywoods and Black Belt of the Panhandle; the 1956 election saw, in general, little change from trends established during the previous two elections, with the most significant exception being a marked trend towards Eisenhower amongst the small but increasing number of Negro voters in the state. Eisenhower, aided further by increased Northerner migration, won against his rematch opponent Adlai Stevenson II by 163,474 votes or 14.54%

Queen Mary's College is a sixth form college in Basingstoke, England. The college's name is from the former grammar school located in the northern part of Basingstoke and the college is located in the former school buildings of the Shrubbery All Girls secondary modern, which dates back to the early 1950s; as of the 1st of October, the college is now managed and run as an academy by the single academy trust North Hampshire Education Trust. The college was formed in 1972; the majority of the college's classrooms are housed in a single, two-storey, wide spread main building with a few smaller buildings and four temporary buildings providing most of the rest of the teaching space. However, three departments are predominantly housed away from the main college building. Physical Education are able to make use of the QM Sports Centre while ICT & Art are now housed in a completed £6m 3-storey teaching block. Science has been moved to a new multimillion-pound teaching block, completed during the part of 2009, with the first lessons taking place at the beginning of January 2010.

The building was opened by quantum physicist Jim Al-Khalili OCE on Friday 23 April 2010. Drama and Music are located in the Central Studio, which plays host to a number of shows and performances all year round. QM Sports Centre is located on the main college campus and, although open to the general public, is used by the college both as a sports centre and for educational reasons; the centre's main facilities are a 23 metres swimming pool. The centre itself incorporates a fitness centre and viewing gallery and makes use of the college's various football and artificial turfed pitches. Central Studio is a professional theatre located on the college campus. While the college's various departments use the facilities of Central Studio, including the bar, dance studio and recording facilities the building itself is used to host various professional productions and concerts. In 2009, Central Studio put on a production of'The Laramie Project', a play about an American youth, killed for his sexuality.

Westboro Church planned to picket outside the college in protest, but were banned from the UK as a precaution against inciting hatred. In 1978 Peter Cushing was present at the official opening of Central studio where students presented a number of theatrical and musical performances. Queen Mary's College offers AS and A-level courses in 40 different subjects, as well as several vocational courses and BTEC national diplomas; the college has 2400 students enrolled on full-time courses. It offers a range of Adult Education opportunities, has over 1000 students enrolled on part-time courses; the majority of students come from the Deane & Hart areas. Sarah Beeny Shelley Conn Monty Don E O Higgins Elizabeth Hurley Ramon Tikaram Tanita Tikaram Alex Thomson Kathy Smallwood-Cook Martin Bond Official website Central Studio QM Sports Centre 2003 Ofsted Report Queen Mary's College Student's Union website