1.
Geographic coordinate system
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A geographic coordinate system is a coordinate system used in geography that enables every location on Earth to be specified by a set of numbers, letters or symbols. The coordinates are chosen such that one of the numbers represents a vertical position. A common choice of coordinates is latitude, longitude and elevation, to specify a location on a two-dimensional map requires a map projection. The invention of a coordinate system is generally credited to Eratosthenes of Cyrene. Ptolemy credited him with the adoption of longitude and latitude. Ptolemys 2nd-century Geography used the prime meridian but measured latitude from the equator instead. Mathematical cartography resumed in Europe following Maximus Planudes recovery of Ptolemys text a little before 1300, in 1884, the United States hosted the International Meridian Conference, attended by representatives from twenty-five nations. Twenty-two of them agreed to adopt the longitude of the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, the Dominican Republic voted against the motion, while France and Brazil abstained. France adopted Greenwich Mean Time in place of local determinations by the Paris Observatory in 1911, the latitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle between the equatorial plane and the straight line that passes through that point and through the center of the Earth. Lines joining points of the same latitude trace circles on the surface of Earth called parallels, as they are parallel to the equator, the north pole is 90° N, the south pole is 90° S. The 0° parallel of latitude is designated the equator, the plane of all geographic coordinate systems. The equator divides the globe into Northern and Southern Hemispheres, the longitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle east or west of a reference meridian to another meridian that passes through that point. All meridians are halves of great ellipses, which converge at the north and south poles, the prime meridian determines the proper Eastern and Western Hemispheres, although maps often divide these hemispheres further west in order to keep the Old World on a single side. The antipodal meridian of Greenwich is both 180°W and 180°E, the combination of these two components specifies the position of any location on the surface of Earth, without consideration of altitude or depth. The grid formed by lines of latitude and longitude is known as a graticule, the origin/zero point of this system is located in the Gulf of Guinea about 625 km south of Tema, Ghana. To completely specify a location of a feature on, in, or above Earth. Earth is not a sphere, but a shape approximating a biaxial ellipsoid. It is nearly spherical, but has an equatorial bulge making the radius at the equator about 0. 3% larger than the radius measured through the poles, the shorter axis approximately coincides with the axis of rotation
2.
Paris
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Paris is the capital and most populous city of France. It has an area of 105 square kilometres and a population of 2,229,621 in 2013 within its administrative limits, the agglomeration has grown well beyond the citys administrative limits. By the 17th century, Paris was one of Europes major centres of finance, commerce, fashion, science, and the arts, and it retains that position still today. The aire urbaine de Paris, a measure of area, spans most of the Île-de-France region and has a population of 12,405,426. It is therefore the second largest metropolitan area in the European Union after London, the Metropole of Grand Paris was created in 2016, combining the commune and its nearest suburbs into a single area for economic and environmental co-operation. Grand Paris covers 814 square kilometres and has a population of 7 million persons, the Paris Region had a GDP of €624 billion in 2012, accounting for 30.0 percent of the GDP of France and ranking it as one of the wealthiest regions in Europe. The city is also a rail, highway, and air-transport hub served by two international airports, Paris-Charles de Gaulle and Paris-Orly. Opened in 1900, the subway system, the Paris Métro. It is the second busiest metro system in Europe after Moscow Metro, notably, Paris Gare du Nord is the busiest railway station in the world outside of Japan, with 262 millions passengers in 2015. In 2015, Paris received 22.2 million visitors, making it one of the top tourist destinations. The association football club Paris Saint-Germain and the rugby union club Stade Français are based in Paris, the 80, 000-seat Stade de France, built for the 1998 FIFA World Cup, is located just north of Paris in the neighbouring commune of Saint-Denis. Paris hosts the annual French Open Grand Slam tennis tournament on the red clay of Roland Garros, Paris hosted the 1900 and 1924 Summer Olympics and is bidding to host the 2024 Summer Olympics. The name Paris is derived from its inhabitants, the Celtic Parisii tribe. Thus, though written the same, the name is not related to the Paris of Greek mythology. In the 1860s, the boulevards and streets of Paris were illuminated by 56,000 gas lamps, since the late 19th century, Paris has also been known as Panam in French slang. Inhabitants are known in English as Parisians and in French as Parisiens and they are also pejoratively called Parigots. The Parisii, a sub-tribe of the Celtic Senones, inhabited the Paris area from around the middle of the 3rd century BC. One of the areas major north-south trade routes crossed the Seine on the île de la Cité, this place of land and water trade routes gradually became a town
3.
Napoleon III
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Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte was the only President of the French Second Republic and, as Napoleon III, the Emperor of the Second French Empire. He was the nephew and heir of Napoleon I and he was the first President of France to be elected by a direct popular vote. He remains the longest-serving French head of state since the French Revolution, during the first years of the Empire, Napoleons government imposed censorship and harsh repressive measures against his opponents. Some six thousand were imprisoned or sent to penal colonies until 1859, thousands more went into voluntary exile abroad, including Victor Hugo. From 1862 onwards, he relaxed government censorship, and his came to be known as the Liberal Empire. Many of his opponents returned to France and became members of the National Assembly, Napoleon III is best known today for his grand reconstruction of Paris, carried out by his prefect of the Seine, Baron Haussmann. He launched similar public works projects in Marseille, Lyon, Napoleon III modernized the French banking system, greatly expanded and consolidated the French railway system, and made the French merchant marine the second largest in the world. He promoted the building of the Suez Canal and established modern agriculture, Napoleon III negotiated the 1860 Cobden–Chevalier free trade agreement with Britain and similar agreements with Frances other European trading partners. Social reforms included giving French workers the right to strike and the right to organize, womens education greatly expanded, as did the list of required subjects in public schools. In foreign policy, Napoleon III aimed to reassert French influence in Europe and he was a supporter of popular sovereignty and of nationalism. In Europe, he allied with Britain and defeated Russia in the Crimean War and his regime assisted Italian unification and, in doing so, annexed Savoy and the County of Nice to France, at the same time, his forces defended the Papal States against annexation by Italy. Napoleon doubled the area of the French overseas empire in Asia, the Pacific, on the other hand, his armys intervention in Mexico which aimed to create a Second Mexican Empire under French protection ended in failure. Beginning in 1866, Napoleon had to face the power of Prussia. In July 1870, Napoleon entered the Franco-Prussian War without allies, the French army was rapidly defeated and Napoleon III was captured at the Battle of Sedan. The French Third Republic was proclaimed in Paris, and Napoleon went into exile in England, charles-Louis Napoleon Bonaparte, later known as Louis Napoleon and then Napoleon III, was born in Paris on the night of 20–21 April 1808. His presumed father was Louis Bonaparte, the brother of Napoleon Bonaparte. His mother was Hortense de Beauharnais, the daughter by the first marriage of Napoleons wife Joséphine de Beauharnais, as empress, Joséphine proposed the marriage as a way to produce an heir for the Emperor, who agreed, as Joséphine was by then infertile. Louis married Hortense when he was twenty-four and she was nineteen and they had a difficult relationship, and only lived together for brief periods
4.
English landscape garden
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The English garden presented an idealized view of nature. The work of Lancelot Capability Brown was particularly influential, by the end of the 18th century the English garden was being imitated by the French landscape garden, and as far away as St. Petersburg, Russia, in Pavlovsk, the gardens of the future Emperor Paul. It also had a influence on the form of the public parks. These parks featured vast lawns, woods, and pieces of architecture and these gardens, modelled after the gardens of Versailles, were designed to impress visitors with their size and grandeur. William Kent was an architect, painter and furniture designer who introduced Palladian style architecture to England and his gardens were designed to complement the Palladian architecture of the houses he built. He collaborated with Kent on several major gardens, providing the botanical expertise which allowed Kent to realize his architectural visions, Kent created one of the first true English landscape gardens at Chiswick House for Richard Boyle, 3rd Earl of Burlington. Between 1733 and 1736, he redesigned the garden, adding lawns sloping down to the edge of the river, for the first time the form of a garden was inspired not by architecture, but by an idealized version of nature. Rousham House in Oxfordshire is considered by some as the most accomplished, the patron was General Dormer, who commissioned Bridgeman to begin the garden in 1727, then brought in Kent to recreate it in 1737. Bridgeman had built a series of gardens, including a grotto of Venus, on the slope along the river Cherwell, finally, he added cascades modelled on those of the garden of Aldobrandini and Pratolino in Italy, to add movement and drama. Stowe, in Buckinghamshire, was a more radical departure from the formal French garden. In the early 18th century, Richard Temple, 1st Viscount Cobham, had commissioned Charles Bridgeman to design a formal garden, bridgemans design included an octagonal lake and a Rotunda designed by Vanbrugh. In the 1730s, William Kent and James Gibbs were appointed to work with Bridgeman, Kent remade the lake in a more natural shape, and created a new kind of garden, which took visitors on a tour of picturesque landscapes. The garden attracted visitors from all over Europe, including Jean-Jacques Rousseau and it became the inspiration for landscape gardens in Britain and on the Continent. Stourhead, in Wiltshire, created by banker Henry Hoare, was one of the first picturesque gardens, Hoare had travelled to Italy on the Grand Tour and had returned with a painting by Claude Lorrain. He sought to create an ideal landscape out of the English countryside and he created artificial lakes and used dams and canals to transform streams or springs into the illusion that a river flowed through the garden. He compared his own role as a designer to that of a poet or composer. Here I put a comma, there, when its necessary to cut the view, I put a parenthesis, there I end it with a period, the most important were, Petworth in 1752, Chatsworth in 1761, Bowood in 1763, Blenheim Palace in 1764. Humphry Repton was the last great English landscape designer of the eighteenth century, to help clients visualize his designs, Repton produced Red Books with explanatory text and watercolors with a system of overlays to show before and after views
5.
Paris Zoological Park
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Designed to complement the Ménagerie du Jardin des plantes, this zoo is dedicated to the observation of animal behavior in a more suitable environment. Since its opening in 1934, it is remarkable for its large artificial 65 m high rock, iconic scenery of the park, visible from afar and this zoo include a greenhouse of 4,000 m2 sheltering a tropical rainforest climate. The zoo was closed between 30 November 2008 and the 12 April 2014 for becoming dilapidated and too small for its residents according to criteria of the twenty-first century, the renovation, which began December 7,2011, took place over nearly two and a half years. The pens have been reviewed and grouped into five major natural environments. The work allowed them to modern standards for animal welfare, public safety and museology. Media related to Parc zoologique de Paris at Wikimedia Commons
6.
Parc floral de Paris
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The Parc floral de Paris is a public park and botanical garden located within the Bois de Vincennes in the 12th arrondissement of Paris. It is one of four gardens in Paris, and is the site of major annual flower shows. The nearest metro station to the park is Chateau-de-Vincennes, the Parc floral, as a part of the Bois de Vincennes, had originally been part of a royal park and hunting domain. The park had been enclosed with a wall by King Philippe-Auguste in the 12th century, after the French Revolution, Napoleon Bonaparte had turned the Bois de VIncennes into a training ground for his soldiers. Between 1840 and 1843 The land occupied by the Parc Floral was mostly deforested and turned into a field of 166 hectares where the infantry practiced manoeuvres. It was largely flat, had a few building which could be used for exhibit space and its most promising assets were a grove of oaks and a grove of pine trees. The Bois de VIncennes had hosted an international flower show, called the Floralies. The city of Paris decided to create a permanent exhibition space for the Floralies and other botanical exhibits and shows. The park occupies 31 hectares, making it the fourth-largest park in Paris, after the Bois de Boulogne, Bois de Vincennes and Parc de la Villette, but larger than the Tuileries gardens. Like other city parks of the 1960s and 1970s, the Parc Floral was seen as a form of amusement park, as well as a botanical garden. It features the Delta, an outdoor concert stage, a restaurant and a cafe, large and small exhibit halls, an art gallery, a large playground. It also has a number of works of sculpture by Alexander Calder, Alicia Penalba and other artists. The park can be entered either from the Chateau de Vincennes, visitors entering from the Chateau de Vincennes pass through a forest of cedars and oaks to arrive at the central element of the composition, the Vallée des Fleurs, or Valley of Flowers. The varieties of flowers in the Valley of flowers are changed each year, the Valley borders a lake, the Miroir deau, or water mirror, which is placed near the center of the park, with a modern fountain and series of cascades on one side. There are smaller ponds devoted to lily pads, lotus, the large outdoor concert stage, the Delta, faces and dominates the lake. There is also one garden, the jardin des Quatres-Saisons where flowers are in bloom year-round, guide des jardins en France -Tome Nord
7.
Hippodrome
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The hippodrome was an ancient Grecian stadium for horse racing and chariot racing. The name is derived from the Greek words hippos and dromos, the term is used in the modern French language and some others, with the meaning of horse racecourse. Hence, some horse racing tracks also include the word hippodrome in their names, such as the Hippodrome de Vincennes. The Greek hippodrome was similar to the Roman Circus, the hippodrome was not a Roman amphitheatre which was used for spectator sports, games and displays, or a Greek or Roman semi-circular theater used for theatrical performances. The Greek hippodrome was usually set out on the slope of a hill, one end of the hippodrome was semicircular, and the other end square with an extensive portico, in front of which, at a lower level, were the stalls for the horses and chariots. At both ends of the hippodrome there were posts that the turned around. This was the most dangerous part of the track, and the Greeks put an altar to Taraxippus there to show the spot where many chariots wrecked, a large ancient hippodrome was the Hippodrome of Constantinople, built between AD203 and 330. However, since it was built to a Roman design, it was actually a circus
8.
Bois de Boulogne
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The Bois de Boulogne is a large public park located along the western edge of the 16th arrondissement of Paris, near the suburb of Boulogne-Billancourt and Neuilly-sur-Seine. It was created between 1852 and 1858 during the reign of the Emperor Louis Napoleon and it is the second-largest park in Paris, slightly smaller than the Bois de Vincennes on the eastern side of the city. It covers an area of 845 hectares, which is two and a half times the area of Central Park in New York and slightly less than that of Richmond Park in London. The Bois de Boulogne is a remnant of the ancient oak forest of Rouvray, which included the forests of Montmorency, Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Chaville. Dagobert, the King of the Franks, hunted bears, deer and his grandson, Childeric II, gave the forest to the monks of the Abbey of Saint-Denis, who founded several monastic communities there. Philip Augustus bought back the part of the forest from the monks to create a royal hunting reserve. In 1256, Isabelle de France, sister of Saint-Louis, founded the Abbey of Longchamp at the site of the present hippodrome. The Bois received its present name from a chapel, Notre Dame de Boulogne la Petite, in 1308, Philip made a pilgrimage to Boulogne-sur-Mer, on the French coast, to see a statue of the Virgin Mary which was reputed to inspire miracles. He decided to build a church with a copy of the statue in a village in the forest not far from Paris, the chapel was built after Philips death between 1319 and 1330, in what is now Boulogne-Billancourt. During the Hundred Years War, the forest became a sanctuary for robbers, in 1416-17, the soldiers of John the Fearless, the Duke of Burgundy, burned part of the forest in their successful campaign to capture Paris. Under Louis XI, the trees were replanted, and two roads were opened through the forest, in 1526, King Francis I of France began a royal residence, the Château de Madrid, in the forest in what is now Neuilly and used it for hunting and festivities. It took its name from a palace in Madrid, where Francis had been held prisoner for several months. The Chateau was rarely used by monarchs, fell into ruins in the 18th century. Despite its royal status, the forest remained dangerous for travelers, during the reigns of Henry II and Henry III, the forest was enclosed within a wall with eight gates. Henry IV planted 15,000 mulberry trees, with the hope of beginning a local silk industry, when Henry annulled his marriage to Marguerite de Valois, she went to live in the Château de la Muette, on the edge of the forest. In the early 18th century, wealthy and important women often retired to the convent of the Abbey of Longchamp, a famous opera singer of the period, Madmoiselle Le Maure, retired there in 1727 but continued to give recitals inside the Abbey, even during Holy Week. These concerts drew large crowds and irritated the Archibishop of Paris, Louis XVI and his family used the forest as a hunting ground and pleasure garden. In 1777, the Comte dArtois, Louis XVIs brother, built a miniature palace
9.
Central Park
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Central Park is an urban park in Manhattan, New York City. Central Park is the most visited park in the United States, with 40 million visitors in 2013. The park was established in 1857 on 778 acres of city-owned land, construction began the same year and the parks first area was opened to the public in the winter of 1858. Construction continued during the American Civil War farther north, and was expanded to its current size of 843 acres in 1873, Central Park was designated a National Historic Landmark by the U. S. Department of the Interior in 1962. The Conservancy is a organization that contributes 75 percent of Central Parks $65 million annual budget and is responsible for all basic care of the 843-acre park. Between 1821 and 1855, New York City nearly quadrupled in population, as the city expanded northward up Manhattan, people were drawn to the few existing open spaces, mainly cemeteries, to get away from the noise and chaotic life in the city. Since Central Park was not part of the original Commissioners Plan of 1811, John Randel, Jr. surveyed the grounds. The only remaining surveying bolt from his survey is still visible, it is embedded in a rock just north of the present Dairy and the 65th Street Transverse, the bolt marks the location where West 65th Street would have intersected Sixth Avenue. The state appointed a Central Park Commission to oversee the development of the park, Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux developed what came to be known as the Greensward Plan, which was selected as the winning design. The Greensward Plan called for some 36 bridges, all designed by Vaux, ranging from rugged spans of Manhattan schist or granite, to lacy Neo-Gothic cast iron, several influences came together in the design. Landscaped cemeteries, such as Mount Auburn and Green-Wood had set examples of idyllic, naturalistic landscapes, the most influential innovations in the Central Park design were the separate circulation systems for pedestrians, horseback riders, and pleasure vehicles. The crosstown commercial traffic was entirely concealed in sunken roadways, screened with densely planted shrub belts so as to maintain a rustic ambiance, before the construction of the park could start, the area had to be cleared of its inhabitants. Most lived in villages, such as Harsenville, the Piggery District, or Seneca Village, or in the school. Approximately 1,600 residents were evicted under the rule of eminent domain during 1857, Seneca Village and parts of the other communities were razed to make room for the park. During the parks construction, Olmsted fought constant battles with the park commissioners, between 1860 and 1873, most of the major hurdles to construction were overcome and the park was substantially completed. The work was documented with technical drawings and photographs. More gunpowder was used to clear the area than was used at the Battle of Gettysburg during the American Civil War, the parks commissioners assigned a name to each of the original 18 gates in 1862. The names were chosen to represent the diversity of New York Citys trades, for example, Mariners Gate for the entrance at 85th Street
10.
Richmond Park
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Richmond Park, in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, was created by Charles I in the 17th century as a deer park. The largest of Londons Royal Parks, it is of national and international importance for wildlife conservation and its landscapes have inspired many famous artists and it has been a location for several films and TV series. Richmond Park includes many buildings of architectural or historic interest, the Grade I-listed White Lodge was formerly a royal residence and is now home to the Royal Ballet School. Historically the preserve of the monarch, the park is now open for all to use and includes a course and other facilities for sport. It played an important role in world wars and in the 1948 and 2012 Olympics. Richmond Park is the largest of Londons Royal Parks and it is the second-largest park in London and is Britains second-largest urban walled park after Sutton Park, Birmingham. Measuring 3.69 square miles, it is comparable in size to Pariss Bois de Vincennes and it is almost half the size of Casa de Campo and around three times the size of Central Park in New York. Of national and international importance for conservation, most of Richmond Park is a Site of Special Scientific Interest. The largest Site of Special Scientific Interest in London, it was designated as an SSSI in 1992, excluding the area of the course, Pembroke Lodge Gardens. In its citation, Natural England said, Richmond Park has been managed as a deer park since the seventeenth century. In particular, Richmond Park is of importance for its diverse deadwood beetle fauna associated with the ancient trees found throughout the parkland, in addition the park supports the most extensive area of dry acid grassland in Greater London. The park was designated as an SAC in April 2005 on account of its having a number of ancient trees with decaying timber. A public open space since the mid C19, Richmond Park is located in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. It is close to Richmond, Ham, Kingston upon Thames, Wimbledon, Roehampton, day-to-day management of the Royal Parks has been delegated to The Royal Parks, an executive agency of the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. The Royal Parks Board sets the direction for the agency. Appointments to the Board are made by the Mayor of London, the Friends of Richmond Park and the Friends of Bushy Park co-chair the Richmond and Bushy Parks Forum, comprising 38 local groups of local stakeholder organisations. Although welcoming the principles of the new arrangements, the forum. Richmond Park is enclosed by a wall with several gates
11.
Griffith Park
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Griffith Park is a large municipal park at the eastern end of the Santa Monica Mountains, in the Los Feliz neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. The park covers 4,310 acres of land, making it one of the largest urban parks in North America and it is the second-largest city park in California, after Mission Trails Preserve in San Diego, and the 11th largest municipally owned park in the United States. It has also referred to as the Central Park of Los Angeles but is much larger, more untamed. After successfully investing in mining, Griffith J. Griffith purchased Rancho Los Feliz in 1882, after the property rush peaked, Griffith donated 3,015 acres to the city of Los Angeles on December 16,1896. Griffith was tried and convicted for shooting and severely wounding his wife in a 1903 incident, when released from prison, he attempted to fund the construction of an amphitheater, observatory, planetarium, and a girls camp and boys camp in the park. His reputation in the city was tainted by his crime, however, in 1912, Griffith designated 100 acres of the park, at its northeast corner along the Los Angeles River, be used to do something to further aviation. The Griffith Park Aerodrome was the result, aviation pioneers such as Glenn L. Martin and Silas Christoffersen used it, and the aerodrome passed to the National Guard Air Service. The National Guard squadron moved to Van Nuys, and the Aerodrome was demolished, though the rotating beacon, from 1946 until the mid-1950s, Rodger Young Village occupied the area which had formerly been the Aerodrome. Today that site is occupied by the Los Angeles Zoo parking lot, the Gene Autry Western Heritage Museum, soccer fields, Griffith set up a trust fund for the improvements he envisioned, and after his death in 1919 the city began to build what Griffith had wanted. The amphitheater, called the Greek Theatre, was completed in 1930, subsequent to Griffiths original gift further donations of land, city purchases, and the reversion of land from private to public have expanded the Park to its present size. In December,1944 the Sherman Company gifted 444 acres of Hollywoodland open space to Griffith Park and this large, passive, eco-sensitive property borders the Lake Hollywood reservoir, the former Hollywoodland sign, and Bronson Canyon where it connects into the original Griffith donation. The Hollywoodland residential community is surrounded by this land, up to 550 Japanese Americans were confined in Griffith Park from 1941 to 1942, all subsequently transferred to Fort Lincoln, Fort Missoula and other DOJ camps. On July 14,1942, the camp became a POW Processing Center for German, Italian and Japanese prisoners of war, operating until August 3,1943. The camp was changed to the Army Western Corps Photographic Center, hired as part of a welfare project,3,780 men were in the park clearing brush on October 3,1933, when a fire broke out in the Mineral Wells area. Many of the workers volunteered or were ordered to fight the fire, in all,29 men were killed and 150 were injured. Professional firefighters arrived and limited the blaze to 47 acres, on May 12,1961 a wildfire on the south side of the park burned 814 acres. It also destroyed eight homes and damaged nine more, chiefly in the Beachwood Canyon area, there was another fire circa 1971 in the Toyon Canyon area. Seeing the devastated area and finding it ugly, Amir Dialameh took it himself to replant a portion of it himself by hand
12.
Los Angeles
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Los Angeles, officially the City of Los Angeles and often known by its initials L. A. is the cultural, financial, and commercial center of Southern California. With a census-estimated 2015 population of 3,971,883, it is the second-most populous city in the United States, Los Angeles is also the seat of Los Angeles County, the most populated county in the United States. The citys inhabitants are referred to as Angelenos, historically home to the Chumash and Tongva, Los Angeles was claimed by Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo for Spain in 1542 along with the rest of what would become Alta California. The city was founded on September 4,1781, by Spanish governor Felipe de Neve. It became a part of Mexico in 1821 following the Mexican War of Independence, in 1848, at the end of the Mexican–American War, Los Angeles and the rest of California were purchased as part of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, thereby becoming part of the United States. Los Angeles was incorporated as a municipality on April 4,1850, the discovery of oil in the 1890s brought rapid growth to the city. The completion of the Los Angeles Aqueduct in 1913, delivering water from Eastern California, nicknamed the City of Angels, Los Angeles is known for its Mediterranean climate, ethnic diversity, and sprawling metropolis. Los Angeles also has an economy in culture, media, fashion, science, sports, technology, education, medicine. A global city, it has been ranked 6th in the Global Cities Index, the city is home to renowned institutions covering a broad range of professional and cultural fields, and is one of the most substantial economic engines within the United States. The Los Angeles combined statistical area has a gross metropolitan product of $831 billion, making it the third-largest in the world, after the Greater Tokyo and New York metropolitan areas. The city has hosted the Summer Olympic Games in 1932 and 1984 and is bidding to host the 2024 Summer Olympics and thus become the second city after London to have hosted the Games three times. The Los Angeles area also hosted the 1994 FIFA mens World Cup final match as well as the 1999 FIFA womens World Cup final match, the mens event was watched on television by over 700 million people worldwide. The Los Angeles coastal area was first settled by the Tongva, a Gabrielino settlement in the area was called iyáangẚ, meaning poison oak place. Gaspar de Portolà and Franciscan missionary Juan Crespí, reached the present site of Los Angeles on August 2,1769, in 1771, Franciscan friar Junípero Serra directed the building of the Mission San Gabriel Arcángel, the first mission in the area. The Queen of the Angels is an honorific of the Virgin Mary, two-thirds of the settlers were mestizo or mulatto with a mixture of African, indigenous and European ancestry. The settlement remained a small town for decades, but by 1820. Today, the pueblo is commemorated in the district of Los Angeles Pueblo Plaza and Olvera Street. New Spain achieved its independence from the Spanish Empire in 1821, during Mexican rule, Governor Pío Pico made Los Angeles Alta Californias regional capital
13.
Lutetia
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The Gallo-Roman city of Lutetia was the predecessor of present-day Paris. The city was referred to as Λουκοτοκία by Strabon, Λευκοτεκία by Ptolemeus, the origin of this name is uncertain. The name may contain the Celtic root *luco-t-, which means mouse and -ekia, meaning the mice and which can be today in the Breton word logod, the Welsh llygod. Alternatively, it may derive from another Celtic root, luto- or luteuo-, which means marsh or swamp and which survives today in the Gaelic loth, as such, it would be related to other place names in Europe including Lutudarum, Lodève and Ludesse, and Lutitia. The oppidum of the Gallic tribe of the Parisii was originally believed to be on the Ile de la Cité from Caesars Gallic Wars. In 52 BC, a year or so before the end of the Gallic Wars, however the garrison led by Vercingetorixs lieutenant Camulogenus, whose army camped on the Mons Lutetius, fell to the Roman military forces led by Titus Labienus, one of Julius Caesars lieutenants. The Romans crushed the Gauls at nearby Melun and took control of Lutetia, the Gallo-Roman city was developed mainly on the hill on the south bank of the river where, starting in the 2nd century AD, public works and monuments were constructed. The northern low-lying plain was easily flooded, under Roman rule, Lutetia was thoroughly Romanised with a population estimated at around 8,000. It did not have a deal of political importance - the capital of its province. The regular grid-plan of Lutetia marked it as a Roman city, the north-south axis was dictated by the need to cross the marshy riverbanks in the shortest possible distance, several routes converged at the bridgehead. On the Left Bank, the Rue St-Jacques and on the Right Bank, an aqueduct 26 km in length, with a flow rate estimated at 2000 cubic metres a day, provided the city with spring water collected from several points. To bridge the Bièvre valley at Arcueil-Cachan, a bridge was required, whose piers and ruined arches, still discernible and it was Christianised in the 3rd century, traditionally when St Denis became the citys first bishop. After a barbarian attack in 275 a surrounding wall was built on the Ile de la Cité with a fortified keep, Lutetia was renamed Paris in 360 AD, taking its name from the Gallic Parisii tribe name. The name had already used for centuries as an adjective. The legend of the Breton city of Ys suggests a different, if less likely, the classical theatre began to be dismantled during the 4th century. For the history of the city after its renaming, see the article on Paris, remains of the ancient city are mainly buried below ground although many of these are gradually being discovered. In a small park on high ground in the Latin Quarter of the Left Bank, tucked behind apartment blocks, the amphitheatre, built into the slope of the hillside outside the city itself, is commonly referred to as Les Arènes de Lutèce. It was one of the largest such structures in Gaul, furthermore, there are the remains of public baths at the Musée de Cluny and the Early Christian archeological crypt under the Notre Dame forecourt, now Place of Pope John-Paul II
14.
Louis VII of France
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Louis VII was King of the Franks from 1137 until his death. He was the son and successor of King Louis VI of France, hence his nickname, immediately after the annulment of her marriage, Eleanor married Henry Plantagenet, Duke of Normandy and Count of Anjou, to whom she conveyed Aquitaine. When Henry became King of England in 1154, as Henry II, Henrys efforts to preserve and expand on this patrimony for the Crown of England would mark the beginning of the long rivalry between France and England. Louis VIIs reign saw the founding of the University of Paris and he died in 1180 and was succeeded by his son Philip II. Louis was born in 1120 in Paris, the son of Louis VI of France. The early education of Prince Louis anticipated an ecclesiastical career, in October 1131, his father had him anointed and crowned by Pope Innocent II in Reims Cathedral. He spent much of his youth in Saint-Denis, where he built a friendship with the Abbot Suger, an advisor to his father who also served Louis well during his early years as king. Following the death of William X, Duke of Aquitaine, Louis VI moved quickly to have Prince Louis married to Eleanor, Duchess of Aquitaine, heiress of the late duke, on 25 July 1137. In this way, Louis VI sought to add the large, on 1 August 1137, shortly after the marriage, Louis VI died, and Prince Louis became king of France, reigning as Louis VII. The pairing of the monkish Louis and the high-spirited Eleanor was doomed to failure, she once declared that she had thought to marry a king. Louis and Eleanor had two daughters, Marie and Alix, in the first part of his reign, Louis VII was vigorous and zealous in his prerogatives. His accession was marked by no other than uprisings by the burgesses of Orléans and Poitiers. He soon came into violent conflict with Pope Innocent II, however, the pope thus imposed an interdict upon the king. As a result, Champagne decided to side with the pope in the dispute over Bourges, the war lasted two years and ended with the occupation of Champagne by the royal army. Louis VII was personally involved in the assault and burning of the town of Vitry-le-François, more than a thousand people who had sought refuge in the church died in the flames. Overcome with guilt and humiliated by ecclesiastical reproach, Louis admitted defeat, removed his armies from Champagne and he accepted Pierre de la Chatre as archbishop of Bourges and shunned Raoul and Petronilla. Desiring to atone for his sins, he declared his intention of mounting a crusade on Christmas Day 1145 at Bourges, bernard of Clairvaux assured its popularity by his preaching at Vezelay on Easter 1146. In the meantime, Geoffrey V, Count of Anjou, completed his conquest of Normandy in 1144, in exchange for being recognised as Duke of Normandy by Louis, Geoffrey surrendered half of the Vexin — a region vital to Norman security — to Louis
15.
Philip II of France
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Philip II, known as Philip Augustus, was King of France from 1180 to 1223, a member of the House of Capet. Philips predecessors had been known as kings of the Franks, but from 1190 onward, Philip became the first French monarch to style himself king of France. The son of King Louis VII and his wife, Adèle of Champagne, he was originally nicknamed Dieudonné God-given because he was the first son of Louis VII. Philip was given the nickname Augustus by the chronicler Rigord for having extended the Crown lands of France so remarkably, the military actions surrounding the Albigensian Crusade helped prepare the expansion of France southward. Philip did not participate directly in these actions, but he allowed his vassals, Philip transformed France from a small feudal state into the most prosperous and powerful country in Europe. He checked the power of the nobles and helped the towns to free themselves from seigniorial authority and he built a great wall around Paris, re-organized the French government and brought financial stability to his country. Philip was born in Gonesse on 21 August 1165 and he spent much of the following night attempting to find his way out, but to no avail. Exhausted by cold, hunger and fatigue, he was discovered by a peasant carrying a charcoal burner. His father went on pilgrimage to the Shrine of Thomas Becket to pray for Philips recovery and was told that his son had indeed recovered, however, on his way back to Paris, he suffered a stroke. In declining health, Louis VII had his 14-year-old son crowned and anointed as king at Rheims on 1 November 1179 by the Archbishop Guillaume aux Blanches Mains. He was married on 28 April 1180 to Isabelle of Hainaut, the daughter of Baldwin V, Count of Hainaut, and Margaret I, Countess of Flanders, who brought the County of Artois as her dowry. From the time of his coronation, all power was transferred to Philip. Eventually, Louis died on 18 September 1180, while the royal demesne had increased under Philip I and Louis VI, it had diminished slightly under Louis VII. In April 1182, partially to enrich the French crown, Philip expelled all Jews from the demesne, Philips eldest son Louis was born on 5 September 1187 and inherited the County of Artois in 1190, when his mother Isabelle died. The main source of funding for Philips army was from the royal demesne, in times of conflict, he could immediately call up 250 knights,250 horse sergeants,100 mounted crossbowmen,133 crossbowmen on foot,2,000 foot sergeants, and 300 mercenaries. Towards the end of his reign, the king could muster some 3,000 knights,9,000 sergeants,6,000 urban militiamen, using his increased revenues, Philip was the first Capetian king to build a French navy actively. By 1215, his fleet could carry a total of 7,000 men, within two years, his fleet included 10 large ships and many smaller ones. In 1181, Philip began a war with Philip, Count of Flanders, over the Vermandois, which King Philip claimed as his wifes dowry, finally the Count of Flanders invaded France, ravaging the whole district between the Somme and the Oise before penetrating as far as Dammartin
16.
Louis IX of France
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Louis IX, commonly known as Saint Louis, was King of France from 1226 until his death. Louis was crowned in Reims at the age of 12, following the death of his father Louis VIII the Lion, although his mother, Blanche of Castile, ruled the kingdom until he reached maturity. During Louiss childhood, Blanche dealt with the opposition of rebellious vassals, as an adult, Louis IX faced recurring conflicts with some of the most powerful nobles, such as Hugh X of Lusignan and Peter of Dreux. Simultaneously, Henry III of England tried to restore his continental possessions and his reign saw the annexation of several provinces, notably Normandy, Maine and Provence. Louis IX was a reformer and developed French royal justice, in which the king is the judge to whom anyone is able to appeal to seek the amendment of a judgment. He banned trials by ordeal, tried to prevent the private wars that were plaguing the country, to enforce the correct application of this new legal system, Louis IX created provosts and bailiffs. According to his vow made after an illness, and confirmed after a miraculous cure. He was succeeded by his son Philip III, Louiss actions were inspired by Christian values and Catholic devotion. He decided to punish blasphemy, gambling, interest-bearing loans and prostitution and he also expanded the scope of the Inquisition and ordered the burning of Talmuds. He is the only canonized king of France, and there are many places named after him. Much of what is known of Louiss life comes from Jean de Joinvilles famous Life of Saint Louis, two other important biographies were written by the kings confessor, Geoffrey of Beaulieu, and his chaplain, William of Chartres. The fourth important source of information is William of Saint-Parthus biography, while several individuals wrote biographies in the decades following the kings death, only Jean of Joinville, Geoffrey of Beaulieu, and William of Chartres wrote from personal knowledge of the king. Louis was born on 25 April 1214 at Poissy, near Paris, the son of Prince Louis the Lion and Princess Blanche, and baptised in La Collégiale Notre-Dame church. His grandfather on his fathers side was Philip II, king of France, while his grandfather on his mothers side was Alfonso VIII, tutors of Blanches choosing taught him most of what a king must know—Latin, public speaking, writing, military arts, and government. He was 9 years old when his grandfather Philip II died, a member of the House of Capet, Louis was twelve years old when his father died on 8 November 1226. He was crowned king within the month at Reims cathedral, because of Louiss youth, his mother ruled France as regent during his minority. Louis mother trained him to be a leader and a good Christian. She used to say, I love you, my son, as much as a mother can love her child
17.
Crucifixion of Jesus
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The crucifixion of Jesus occurred in 1st century Judea, most probably between the years 30 and 33 AD. According to the gospels, Jesus, the Christ, was arrested, tried, and sentenced by Pontius Pilate to be scourged. Jesus was stripped of his clothing and offered wine mixed with gall to drink and he was then hung between two convicted thieves and according to Marks Gospel, died some six hours later. During this time, the soldiers affixed a sign to the top of the cross stating Jesus of Nazareth and they then divided his garments among them, but cast lots for his seamless robe. After Jesus death they pierced his side with a spear to be certain that he had died, the Bible describes seven statements that Jesus made while he was on the cross, as well as several supernatural events that occurred. Collectively referred to as the Passion, Jesus suffering and redemptive death by crucifixion are the aspects of Christian theology concerning the doctrines of salvation. The baptism of Jesus and his crucifixion are considered to be two historically certain facts about Jesus, bart Ehrman states that the crucifixion of Jesus on the orders of Pontius Pilate is the most certain element about him. John Dominic Crossan states that the crucifixion of Jesus is as certain as any historical fact can be, eddy and Boyd state that it is now firmly established that there is non-Christian confirmation of the crucifixion of Jesus. Craig Blomberg states that most scholars in the third quest for the historical Jesus consider the crucifixion indisputable. Christopher M. Tuckett states that, although the reasons for the death of Jesus are hard to determine, one of the indisputable facts about him is that he was crucified. While scholars agree on the historicity of the crucifixion, they differ on the reason, geza Vermes also views the crucifixion as a historical event but provides his own explanation and background for it. John P. Meier views the crucifixion of Jesus as historical fact and states that, based on the criterion of embarrassment, Christians would not have invented the painful death of their leader. Meier states that a number of criteria, e. g. the criterion of multiple attestation. The crucified man was identified as Yehohanan ben Hagkol and probably died about 70 AD, the analyses at the Hadassah Medical School estimated that he died in his late 20s. The earliest detailed accounts of the death of Jesus are contained in the four canonical gospels, there are other, more implicit references in the New Testament epistles. In the synoptic gospels, Jesus predicts his death in three separate episodes, all four Gospels conclude with an extended narrative of Jesus arrest, trial, crucifixion, burial, and accounts of resurrection. In each Gospel these five events in the life of Jesus are treated with more detail than any other portion of that Gospels narrative. Scholars note that the reader receives an almost hour-by-hour account of what is happening, after being flogged, Jesus was mocked by Roman soldiers as the King of the Jews, clothed in a purple robe, crowned with thorns, beaten and spat on
18.
Philip VI of France
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Philip VI, called the Fortunate and of Valois, was the first King of France from the House of Valois. He reigned from 1328 until his death, Philips reign was dominated by the consequences of a succession dispute. It was held in France, however, that Edward was ineligible to inherit the French throne through the line according to the ancient Salic Law. The result was the beginning of the Hundred Years War in 1337, after initial successes at sea, Philips navy was annihilated at the Battle of Sluys in 1340, ensuring that the war would occur on the continent. The English took another decisive advantage at the Battle of Crécy, while the Black Death struck France, in 1349, Philip VI bought the Dauphiné from its ruined ruler Humbert II and entrusted the government of this province to his grandson Charles. Philip VI died in 1350 and was succeeded by his son John II the Good, little is recorded about Philips childhood and youth, in large part because he was of minor royal birth. Philips father Charles, Count of Valois, the brother of King Philip IV of France, had striven throughout his life to gain a throne for himself but was never successful. He died in 1325, leaving his eldest son Philip as heir to the counties of Anjou, Maine, in 1328, Philips first cousin Charles IV died without a son and with his widow Jeanne dÉvreux pregnant. Philip was one of the two claimants to the throne. The other was King Edward III of England, who was the son of Charless sister Isabella, the question arose whether Isabella should have been able to transmit a claim that she herself did not possess. The assemblies of the French barons and prelates and the University of Paris decided that males who derive their right to inheritance through their mother should be excluded according to Salic Law. He formally held the regency from 9 February 1328 until 1 April, upon this birth, Philip was named king and crowned at the Cathedral in Reims on 29 May 1328. After his elevation to the throne, Philip sent the Abbot of Fécamp, Pierre Roger, after a subsequent second summons from Philip, Edward arrived at the Cathedral of Amiens on 6 June 1329 and worded his vows in such a way to cause more disputes in later years. The dynastic change had another consequence, Charles IV had also been King of Navarre, but, unlike the crown of France and these counties were closely entrenched in the economic and administrative entity of the Crown lands of France, being located adjacent to Île-de-France. Philip, however, was not entitled to that inheritance, the heiress was the surviving daughter of Louis X, the future Joan II of Navarre. His wife, the able Joan the Lame, gave the first of many demonstrations of her competence as regent in his absence, Philip initially enjoyed relatively amicable relations with Edward III, and they planned a crusade together in 1332, which was never executed. However, the status of the Duchy of Aquitaine remained a sore point, Philip provided refuge for David II of Scotland in 1334 and declared himself champion of his interests, which enraged Edward. By 1336, they were enemies, although not yet openly at war, Philip successfully prevented an arrangement between the Avignon papacy and Holy Roman Emperor Louis IV, although in July 1337 Louis concluded an alliance with Edward III
19.
Keep
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A keep is a type of fortified tower built within castles during the Middle Ages by European nobility. The Anglo-Normans and French rulers began to stone keeps during the 10th and 11th centuries, these included Norman keeps, with a square or rectangular design. Stone keeps carried considerable political as well as military importance and could take up to a decade to build, during the 12th century, new designs began to be introduced – in France, quatrefoil-shaped keeps were introduced, while in England polygonal towers were built. In Spain, keeps were increasingly incorporated into both Christian and Islamic castles, although in Germany tall towers called Bergfriede were preferred to keeps in the western fashion, in the second half of the 14th century, there was a resurgence in the building of keeps. In France, the keep at Vincennes began a fashion for tall, heavily machicolated designs, meanwhile, tower keeps in England became popular amongst the most wealthy nobles, these large keeps, each uniquely designed, formed part of the grandest castles built during the period. By the 16th century, however, keeps were slowly falling out of fashion as fortifications, many were destroyed in civil wars between the 17th and 18th centuries, or incorporated into gardens as an alternative to follies. During the 19th century, keeps became fashionable once again and in England, despite further damage to many French and Spanish keeps during the wars of the 20th century, keeps now form an important part of the tourist and heritage industry in Europe. Since the 16th century, the English word keep has commonly referred to large towers in castles. The word originates from around 1375 to 1376, coming from the Middle English term kype, meaning basket or cask, the term came to be used for other shell keeps by the 15th century. By the 17th century, the word keep lost its reference to baskets or casks. Early on, the use of the keep became associated with the idea of a tower in a castle that would serve both as a fortified, high-status private residence and a refuge of last resort. By the 19th century, Victorian historians incorrectly concluded that the etymology of the keep and tenazza were linked. As a result of evolution in meaning, the use of the term keep in historical analysis today can be problematic. Contemporary medieval writers used various terms for the buildings we would today call keeps, in Latin, they are variously described as turris, turris castri or magna turris – a tower, a castle tower, or a great tower. The 12th-century French came to them a donjon, from the Latin dominarium lordship, linking the keep. Similarly, medieval Spanish writers called the buildings torre del homenaje, in England, donjon turned into dungeon, which initially referred to a keep, rather than to a place of imprisonment. This ambiguity over terminology has made historical analysis of the use of keeps problematic, while the term remains in common academic use, some academics prefer to use the term donjon, and most modern historians warn against using the term keep simplistically. The fortifications that we would today call keeps certainly did not necessarily part of a unified medieval style
20.
John II of France
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John II, called John the Good, was a monarch of the House of Valois who ruled as King of France from 1350 until his death. While John was a prisoner in London, his son Charles became regent and faced several rebellions, to liberate his father, he concluded the Treaty of Brétigny, by which France lost many territories and paid an enormous ransom. In an exchange of hostages, which included his second son Louis, Duke of Anjou, when John was informed that Louis had escaped from captivity, he voluntarily returned to England, where he died in 1364. He was succeeded by his son Charles V, John was nine years old when his father had himself crowned as Philip VI of France. Initially a marriage with Eleanor of Woodstock, sister of King Edward III of England, was considered, Bohemia had aspirations to control Lombardy and needed French diplomatic support. The military clauses stipulated that, in the event of war, the political clauses ensured that the Lombard crown would not be disputed if the king of Bohemia managed to obtain it. Philip selected Bonne of Bohemia as a wife for his son, as she was closer to child-bearing age, and the dowry was fixed at 120,000 florins. John reached the age of majority,13 years and one day, on 27 April 1332, the wedding was celebrated on 28 July at the church of Notre-Dame in Melun in the presence of six thousand guests. The festivities were prolonged by a two months when the young groom was finally knighted at the cathedral of Notre Dame in Paris. Upon his accession as Duke of Normandy in 1332, John had to deal with the reality that most of the Norman nobility was already allied with the English camp, effectively, Normandy depended economically more on maritime trade across the English Channel than on river trade on the Seine. The Duchy had not been English for 150 years, but many landowners had holdings across the Channel, consequently, to line up behind one or other sovereign risked confiscation. Therefore, Norman members of the nobility were governed as interdependent clans and it was split into two key camps, the counts of Tancarville and the counts of Harcourt, which had been in conflict for generations. King Philip, worried about the richest area of the breaking into bloodshed, ordered the bailiffs of Bayeux. Geoffroy dHarcourt raised troops against the king, rallying a number of nobles protective of their autonomy, the rebels demanded that Geoffroy be made duke, thus guaranteeing the autonomy granted by the charter. Royal troops took the castle at Saint-Sauveur-le-Vicomte and Geoffroy was exiled to Brabant, three of his companions were decapitated in Paris on 3 April 1344. In 1342, John was in Avignon at the coronation of Pope Clement VI, by 1345, increasing numbers of Norman rebels had begun to pay homage to Edward III, constituting a major threat to the legitimacy of the Valois kings. The defeat at the Battle of Crécy on 26 August 1346, defections by the nobility, whose land fell within the broad economic influence of England, particularly in the north and west, increased. Consequently, King Philip VI decided to seek a truce, Duke John met Geoffroy dHarcourt, to whom the king agreed to return all confiscated goods, even appointing him sovereign captain in Normandy
21.
Charles V of France
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Charles V, called the Wise, was a monarch of the House of Valois who ruled as King of France from 1364 to his death. In 1349, as a prince, Charles received from his grandfather King Philip VI the province of Dauphiné to rule. This allowed him to bear the title Dauphin until his coronation, after 1350, all heirs apparent of France bore the title of Dauphin until their coronation. Charles became regent of France when his father John II was captured by the English at the Battle of Poitiers in 1356. With the help of talented advisers known as the Marmousets, his management of the kingdom allowed him to replenish the royal treasury. He established the first permanent army paid with regular wages, which liberated the French populace from the companies of routiers who regularly plundered the country when not employed. Furthermore, the French Navy, led by Jean de Vienne and he was succeeded by his son Charles VI the Mad, whose disastrous reign allowed the English to regain control of large parts of France. Charles was born at the Château de Vincennes outside of Paris, the future king was highly intelligent but physically weak, with pale skin and a thin, ill-proportioned body. This made a sharp contrast to his father, who was tall, strong, as neither the pope nor the emperor wanted to buy, the transaction was concluded with Philip VI. Under the Treaty of Romans, the Dauphiné of Viennois was to be held by a son of the future king John the Good, so it was Charles, the eldest son of the latter, who became the first Dauphin. At the age of twelve, he was confronted with the exercise of power while staying in Grenoble. A few days after his arrival, the people of Grenoble were invited to the Place Notre-Dame, young Charles took his place next to Bishop John of Chissé and received the oath of allegiance of the people. On April 8,1350 at Tain-lHermitage, the Dauphin married his cousin Joanna of Bourbon at the age of 12, the prior approval of the pope was obtained for this consanguineous marriage. The marriage was delayed by the death of his mother Bonne of Luxembourg and his grandmother Joan the Lame, the dauphin himself had been seriously ill from August to December 1349. Gatherings were limited to slow the spread of the then raging in Europe. Despite his young age, the applied to be recognized by his subjects. Charles was recalled to Paris at the death of his grandfather Philip VI, the legitimacy of John the Good, and that of the Valois in general, was not unanimous. His father, Philip VI, had lost all credibility with the disasters of Crecy, Calais, the ravages of the plague, the royal clan had to cope with opposition from all sides in the kingdom
22.
Minim (religious order)
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The Minims are members of a Roman Catholic religious order of friars founded by Saint Francis of Paola in fifteenth-century Italy. The Order soon spread to France, Germany and Spain, at present there are only two fraternities of the Minim tertiaries, both are in Italy. The founder of the Order, Saint Francis of Paola, was born in 1416 and named in honor of St. Francis of Assisi. The boy became ill when he was one month old. Her prayer was granted, and at 13 years of age Francis fulfilled that votive year, after this year he dedicated himself to a life of solitude and penance as a hermit. In 1435, two followers joined Francis and began the community, which was first called the Poor Hermits of St. Francis of Assisi, Francis and his followers founded hermitages at Paterno in 1444 and Milazzo, Sicily, in 1469. At that time, the Pope also changed their status from that of hermits to mendicant friars, the name Minims comes from the Italian word minimo, meaning the smallest or the least, and their founder would call himself il minimo dei minimi. Francis of Paola wanted to distinguish himself as being of less significance than the Friars Minor founded by his patron saint. Francis composed a rule for the community in 1493, which was approved under the name of Hermits of the Order of the Minims. The definitive version of the rule was approved by Pope Julius II in the Bull Inter ceteros, July 28,1506. This vow is for perpetual abstinence from all meat and dairy products, veganism, except in case of grave illness, because of asceticism, The Order is also discalced in character and there are other acts of humility. Due to the somberness and morosity of the Lenten way of life, the Minim habit consists of a black tunic, with broad sleeves, a hood. It has a thick, black cord with a tassel to gird the robe, the Order of the Minims spread throughout Italy in the fifteenth century and was introduced to France in 1482, and later to Spain and to Germany in 1497. The houses in Spain, Germany, and France were suppressed during the following the French Revolution. By the turn of the 20th century, only 19 friaries remained, all, on 31 December 2010, the Order had 46 communities with 174 members,112 of them priests. The Munich friary of the German Minims brewed beer as means of support, but after the friars were expelled and it continues to brew the Paulaner brand of beer, which draws its name from Francis of Paola. Francis was called to France in 1483 by King Louis XI to serve as his deathbed confessor, while he was there, the Spanish ambassador, Don Pedro de Lucena, who was a very pious man, grew to know and admire him. He sent reports of the friar to his family back in Jaén
23.
Cardinal Mazarin
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Mazarin succeeded his mentor, Cardinal Richelieu. He was a collector of art and jewels, particularly diamonds. His personal library was the origin of the Bibliothèque Mazarine in Paris, some of these principles, such as the nation states sovereignty over its territory and domestic affairs and the legal equality among states, remain the basis of international law to this day. Giulio Raimondo Mazzarino was born in Pescina, then part of the Kingdom of Naples, giulio was the older brother of Michele Mazzarino, Master of the Sacred Palace under Pope Urban VIII, and later Archbishop of Aix-en-Provence and a cardinal. Contemporary John Bargrave suggested that his father Pietro Mazzarini had lost a significant amount of money during a transaction and was forced to flee to Rome. Regardless, Pietro was a notary who made use of his connections to the Colonna once he arrived in Rome and became chamberlain to the Constable Filippo I Colonna and he had a younger sister, Laura Margherita Mazzarini. Mazarin studied at the Jesuit College in Rome, though he declined to join their order, at seventeen he accompanied Girolamo Colonna, one of the sons of Filippo I Colonna, to the university of Alcalá de Henares in Spain, to serve as his chamberlain. His stay was brief, a notary who had advanced some cash to cover gaming debts urged the charming and personable young Mazarino to take his daughter as bride, with a substantial dowry. Later Mazarin frequented the University of Rome La Sapienza, gaining the title of Doctor in jurisprudence, Mazarin followed Filippo I Colonna as captain of infantry in his regiment during the war in Monferrato of 1628, over the succession to Mantua. During this war he gave proofs of much ability, and Pope Urban VIII entrusted him, in 1629. At the time Anna Colonna, daughter of Filippo I Colonna, was married to Urbans nephew Taddeo Barberini, and the Pope now made her brother, Girolamo Colonna, Archbishop of Albano and a new cardinal. The Cardinal was sent to Monferrat as papal legate, to treat of peace between France and Spain in the matter of Mantua, and insisted that Mazarin be attached to his legation as secretary. As papal vice-legate at Avignon, and nuncio extraordinary in France, under Habsburg pressure, Mazarin was sent back to Avignon, where he was dismissed by Urban VIII on 17 January 1636. Richelieu, who felt the weight of his years, though he was as assiduous in the Kings service as ever, detected in Mazarin a likely aide in carrying on government. He confided to the man several sensitive missions, in which Mazarin acquitted himself well, then presented him to the King. He attributed his winnings to the Queens presence, and in thanks, the Queen demurred, Mazarin pressed, and she accepted. Several days later, Mazarin quietly received a deal more than he had given. Thus he was affirmed in the favour of the King, the court and above all of Anne of Austria, who would soon be regent
24.
Louis Le Vau
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Louis Le Vau was a French Classical architect who worked for Louis XIV of France. He was born and died in Paris and he was responsible, with André Le Nôtre and Charles Le Brun, for the redesign of the château of Vaux-le-Vicomte. His later works included the Palace of Versailles and his collaboration with Claude Perrault on the Palais du Louvre, sulpice, and Hôtel Lambert, on the Île Saint-Louis, Paris. La peinture à Versailles, XVIIe siècle, Louis Le Vau, Mazarins Collège, Colberts Revenge. La Collection de portraits de lAcadémie royale de Peinture et de Sculpture, Peintures entrées sous le règne de Louis XIV (1648–1715, université de Paris IV,1994, pp. 164–166. Portraits des premiers architectes de Versailles, Revue des Arts, March 1955, françois dOrbay, Architecte de Louis XIV. Media related to Louis Le Vau at Wikimedia Commons
25.
Louis XIV of France
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Louis XIV, known as Louis the Great or the Sun King, was a monarch of the House of Bourbon who ruled as King of France and Navarre from 1643 until his death in 1715. His reign of 72 years and 110 days is the longest of any monarch of a country in European history. In the age of absolutism in Europe, Louis XIVs France was a leader in the centralization of power. Louis began his rule of France in 1661, after the death of his chief minister. By these means he became one of the most powerful French monarchs, under his rule, the Edict of Nantes, which granted rights to Huguenots, was abolished. The revocation effectively forced Huguenots to emigrate or convert in a wave of dragonnades, which managed to virtually destroy the French Protestant minority. During Louis reign, France was the leading European power, and it fought three wars, the Franco-Dutch War, the War of the League of Augsburg. There were also two lesser conflicts, the War of Devolution and the War of the Reunions, warfare defined Louis XIVs foreign policies, and his personality shaped his approach. Impelled by a mix of commerce, revenge, and pique, in peacetime he concentrated on preparing for the next war. He taught his diplomats their job was to create tactical and strategic advantages for the French military, Louis XIV was born on 5 September 1638 in the Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, to Louis XIII and Anne of Austria. He was named Louis Dieudonné and bore the title of French heirs apparent. At the time of his birth, his parents had married for 23 years. His mother had experienced four stillbirths between 1619 and 1631, leading contemporaries thus regarded him as a divine gift and his birth a miracle of God. Sensing imminent death, Louis XIII decided to put his affairs in order in the spring of 1643, in defiance of custom, which would have made Queen Anne the sole Regent of France, the king decreed that a regency council would rule on his sons behalf. His lack of faith in Queen Annes political abilities was his primary rationale and he did, however, make the concession of appointing her head of the council. Louis relationship with his mother was uncommonly affectionate for the time, contemporaries and eyewitnesses claimed that the Queen would spend all her time with Louis. Both were greatly interested in food and theatre, and it is likely that Louis developed these interests through his close relationship with his mother. This long-lasting and loving relationship can be evidenced by excerpts in Louis journal entries, such as, but attachments formed later by shared qualities of the spirit are far more difficult to break than those formed merely by blood
26.
Louis XV of France
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Louis XV, known as Louis the Beloved, was a monarch of the House of Bourbon who ruled as King of France and Navarre from 1 September 1715 until his death. He succeeded his great-grandfather Louis XIV at the age of five, Cardinal Fleury was his chief minister from 1726 until the Cardinals death in 1743, at which time the young king took sole control of the kingdom. During his reign, Louis returned the Austrian Netherlands, territory won at the Battle of Fontenoy of 1745, Louis also ceded New France in North America to Spain and Great Britain at the conclusion of the Seven Years War in 1763. He incorporated the territories of Lorraine and Corsica into the kingdom of France and he was succeeded by his grandson Louis XVI in 1774. French culture and influence were at their height in the first half of the eighteenth century, however, many scholars believe that Louis XVs decisions damaged the power of France, weakened the treasury, discredited the absolute monarchy, and made it more vulnerable to distrust and destruction. Evidence for this view is provided by the French Revolution, which broke out 15 years after his death, norman Davies characterized Louis XVs reign as one of debilitating stagnation, characterized by lost wars, endless clashes between the Court and Parliament, and religious feuds. A few scholars defend Louis, arguing that his negative reputation was based on propaganda meant to justify the French Revolution. Jerome Blum described him as a perpetual adolescent called to do a mans job, Louis XV was born in the Palace of Versailles on 15 February 1710 during the reign of Louis XIV. His grandfather, Louis Le Grand Dauphin, had three sons with his wife Marie Anne Victoire of Bavaria, Louis, Duke of Burgundy, Philippe, Duke of Anjou, and Charles, Duke of Berry. Louis XV was the son of the Duke of Burgundy and his wife Marie Adélaïde of Savoy, the eldest daughter of Victor Amadeus II, Duke of Savoy. At birth, Louis XV received a title for younger sons of the French royal family. In April 1711, Louis Le Grand Dauphin suddenly died, making Louis XVs father, the Duke of Burgundy, at that time, Burgundy had two living sons, Louis, Duke of Brittany and his youngest son, the future Louis XV. A year later, Marie Adélaïde, Duchess of Burgundy, contracted smallpox and her husband, said to be heartbroken by her death, died the same week, also having contracted smallpox. Within a week of his death, it was clear that the two children had also been infected. The elder son was treated by bloodletting in an unsuccessful effort to save him. Fearing that the Dauphin would die, the Court had both the Dauphin and the Duke of Anjou baptised, the Dauphin died the same day,8 March 1712. His younger brother, the Duke of Anjou, was treated by his governess, Madame de Ventadour. The two year old Dauphin survived the smallpox, on 1 September 1715, Louis XIV died of gangrene, having reigned for 72 years
27.
Jean-Charles Alphand
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Jean-Charles Adolphe Alphand, born in 1817 and died in 1891, interred at Père Lachaise Cemetery, was a French engineer of the Corps of Bridges and Roads. Under this title, Alphand continued Haussmanns works, Alphand also became the Director of Water Works after the death of Eugène Belgrand in 1878. New York, New York, Princeton Architectural Press, montsouris and Buttes-Chaumont, the art of the faux. Paris, Paris, Journey into the City of Light, life and History of the 19th Arrondissement
28.
Paris Observatory
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The Paris Observatory is the foremost astronomical observatory of France, and one of the largest astronomical centers in the world. Its historic building is to be found on the Left Bank of the Seine in central Paris, administratively, it is a grand établissement of the French Ministry of National Education, with a status close to that of a public university. Its missions include, research in astronomy and astrophysics, education, diffusion of knowledge to the public and it maintains a solar observatory at Meudon and a radio astronomy observatory at Nançay. It was also the home to the International Time Bureau until its dissolution in 1987 and its foundation lies in the ambitions of Jean-Baptiste Colbert to extend Frances maritime power and international trade in the 17th century. Louis XIV promoted its construction, which was started in 1667 and it thus predates by a few years the Royal Greenwich Observatory in England, which was founded in 1675. The architect of the Paris Observatory was Claude Perrault whose brother, Charles, was secretary to Colbert, optical instruments were supplied by Giuseppe Campani. The buildings were extended in 1730,1810,1834,1850, the last extension incorporates the spectacular Meridian Room designed by Jean Prouvé. The worlds first national almanac, the Connaissance des temps, was published by the observatory in 1679, in 1863, the observatory published the first modern weather maps. In 1882, a 33 cm astrographic lens was constructed, an instrument that catalysed what proved to be the over-ambitious international Carte du Ciel project. The Meudon great refractor was a 83 cm aperture refractor, which with September 20,1909 observations by E. M. Antoniadi helped disprove the Mars canals theory and it was a double telescope completed in 1891, with secondary having 62 cm aperture lens for photography. It was one of the largest active telescopes in Europe, the title of Director of the Observatory was officially given for the first time to César-François Cassini de Thury by a Royal brevet dated November 12,1771. However, the important role played by his grandfather and father in this institution during its first century actually gives them somewhat the role of director, a coronograph was in operation there for ten years, the dome was moved there from the Perrault building of the Observatoire de Paris. Nowadays, the AstroQueyras amateur astronomy association operates the facility, using a 60 cm telescope on loan from the Observatoire de Haute Provence, numerous asteroids have been discovered there. Paris Observatory, Encyclopaedia Britannica, Deluxe CDROM edition Aubin, D, the fading star of the Paris Observatory in the nineteenth century, astronomers urban culture of circulation and observation. History of the Bureau International de lHeure, polar Motion, Historical and Scientific problems. Paris Observatory Paris Observatory History Location in Paris Publications of the Observatoire de Paris in Gallica, the digital library of the BnF
29.
Parc Monceau
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Parc Monceau is a public park situated in the 8th arrondissement of Paris, France, at the junction of Boulevard de Courcelles, Rue de Prony and Rue Georges Berger. At the main entrance is a rotunda, the park covers an area of 8.2 hectares. The park was established by Phillippe dOrléans, Duke of Chartres, a cousin of King Louis XVI, fabulously wealthy, in 1769 he had begun purchasing the land where the park is located. In 1778, he decided to create a park. The Duke was a friend of the Prince of Wales, later George IV. Carmontelle employed a German landscape architect named Etickhausen and the architect of the Duke, Bernard Poyet, the intention of the garden was to surprise and amaze visitors. This goal was stated by Carmontelle, It is not necessary for gardens or nature to be presented in the most agreeable forms. The true art is to know how to keep the visitors there, through a variety of objects, otherwise they go to the real countryside to find what should be found in this garden. The garden designed by Carmontelle was finished in 1779, in addition to the follies, the garden featured servants dressed in oriental and other exotic costumes, and unusual animals, such as camels. Though the Folly was frequently described as an Anglo-Chinese or English garden, its architect, as garden fashions changed, in 1781 parts of the park were remodeled into a more traditional English landscape style by the Scottish landscape gardener Thomas Blaikie. The ground floor of the temple was used as a customs house, while the upper floor was an apartment with a view of the garden reserved for the Duke. While The Duke was a supporter of the ideas of the French Revolution and he was guillotined during the Reign of Terror in 1793, and the park was nationalized. In 1797, Parc Monceau was the site of the first silk parachute jump, after the monarchy was restored, the park was returned to the family of the Duke. During the Second Empire, the family sold lots within the park to real estate developers, the remaining part of the park was purchased by the city of Paris in 1860. All that remained of the folly was the water lily pond, the stream. Two main alleys were laid out from east to west and north to south, meeting in the center of the park, and the alleys within the park were widened and paved, so carriages could drive the park. An ornamental gate 8.3 m high was installed along a newly created avenue, boulevard Malesherbes, the pavillon de Chartres was also modified by the architect, Gabriel Davioud, who had a graceful classical dome added to the structure. He also built bridge modeled after the Rialto bridge in Venice over the stream to replace the Chinese bridge that Carmontelle had once been there and he preserved the other follies remaining from the original garden
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Parc des Buttes Chaumont
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The Parc des Buttes-Chaumont is a public park situated in northeastern Paris, in the 19th arrondissement. Occupying 24.7 hectares, it is the fifth-largest park in Paris, after the Bois de Vincennes, the Bois de Boulogne, the Parc de la Villette, and the Tuileries Garden. It was opened in 1867, late in the regime of Emperor Napoleon III, and was built by Jean-Charles Alphand, the park has 5.5 kilometres of roads and 2.2 kilometres of paths. The most famous feature of the park is the Temple de la Sibylle, inspired by the Temple of Vesta in Tivoli, Italy, perched at the top of a cliff fifty metres above the waters of the artificial lake. The park took its name from the hill which occupied the site. After the 1789 Revolution, it became a dump, and then a place for cutting up horse carcasses. Another part of the site was a former gypsum and limestone quarry mined for the construction of buildings in Paris and that quarry also yielded Eocene mammal fossils, including Palaeotherium, which were studied by Georges Cuvier. The work on the began in 1864, under the direction of Alphand, who used all the experience and lessons he had learned in making the Bois de Boulogne. Two years were required simply to terrace the land, then a railroad track was laid to bring in cars carrying two hundred thousand cubic meters of topsoil. A thousand workers remade the landscape, digging a lake and shaping the lawns, explosives were used to sculpt the buttes themselves and the former quarry into a picturesque mountain fifty meters high with cliffs, an interior grotto, pinnacles and arches. Hydraulic pumps were installed to lift the water from the canal of the Ourcq River up the highest point on the promontory, the chief gardener of Paris, horticulturist Jean-Pierre Barillet-Deschamps, then went to work, planting thousands of trees, shrubs and flowers, along with sloping lawns. The park was opened on April 1,1867, coinciding with the opening of the Paris Universal Exposition. The heart of the park is a lake of 1.5 hectares surrounding the Île de la Belvédère. On the top is the Temple de la Sibylle, fifty meters above the lake, the most famous feature of the park is the Temple de la Sibylle, a miniature version of the famous ancient Roman Temple of Vesta in Tivoli, Italy. The temple was designed by Gabriel Davioud, the city architect for Paris, who designed picturesque monuments for the Bois de Boulogne, Bois de Vincennes, Parc Monceau and he also designed some of the most famous fountains of Paris, including the Fontaine Saint-Michel. The temple was finished in 1867, the grotto is a vestige of the old gypsum and limestone quarry that occupied part of the site, now adjacent to rue Botzaris on the south side of the park. An artificial waterfall, fed by pumps, cascades from the top of the cave, a 63-meter-long suspension bridge, eight meters above the lake, allows access to the belvedere. The bridge was designed by Gustave Eiffel, the creator of the Eiffel Tower, a twelve meter long masonry bridge, twenty-two meters above the lake, known as the suicide bridge, allows access to the belvedere from the south side of the park
31.
Jean-Pierre Barillet-Deschamps
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Jean-Pierre Barillet-Deschamps was a French horticulturist and landscape architect. He was also responsible for planting trees along the new boulevards of Paris and his landscape gardens, with their lakes, winding paths, sloping lawns, groves of exotic trees and flower beds, had a large influence on public parks throughout Europe and in the United States. Barillet-Deschamps was born in 1824, the son of a gardener and his first job in 1841 was as a monitor and teacher in a revolutionary new kind of prison colony called La Paternelle, founded near Tours in 1839, where the prisoners learned farming and gardening. From there he went to Bordeaux, where he started a gardening enterprise and he also met Jean-Charles Alphand, an engineer who worked for Haussmann. When the Emperor Napoleon III brought Haussmann to Paris to be the new Prefect of the Seine Department, the Emperior had conceived a plan to create large new parks around Paris, to provide green space and recreation for the rapidly growing population of the city. He named Alphand as the head of the new Service des Promenades et Plantations de Paris, and Alphand chose Barillet-Deschamps as the first jardinier en chef, or Chief Gardener of Paris. The scale of the projects was gigantic, For the Bois de Boulogne alone, he planted 420,000 trees and seeded 273 hectares of lawns, using 150 kilograms of seed per hectare. To provide trees, shrubs and flowers for the park, he had gardens and greenhouses built near the racetrack of Longchamps and he created another garden at Petit-Bry, on the banks of the Marne River, specially to grow trees to line the boulevards of Paris. At Vincennes, near the fortifications of Paris, he planted another garden especially for cultivating ornamental plants, at Passy, close to the Parc de la Muette, he built another complex of greenhouses, called the Fleuriste de la Muette, especially for flowers and exotic plants. This complex was composed of thirty greenhouses, lit with gas lights, one group of greenhouses was filled entirely with thousands of fuchsia, chrysanthemum, canna, pelagorium, verveine, calceolaire, and ageratum plants. Individual greenhouses were built to grow trees, ficus, camellias, solanum, Caladium, and begonias. There were nearly three million plants in the greenhouses of the Fleuriste de la Muette, tended by one hundred gardeners. In addition to the large new gardens around the edges of Paris. A line of each three meters wide and one meter deep was dug along each side each boulevard. His gardeners used specially equipped carts, each of which carried one tree, each cart carrying a tree was positioned over the hole and carefully lowered it into place. The trees came from the garden that Barille-Deschamps had built along the Marne for that purpose, by 1868, Barillet-Deschamps had planted 102,154 trees along the boulevards of Paris. In addition to his Paris gardens, Barillet-Deschamps traveled widely to other cities on their gardens. He helped in the design of gardens in Marseille, in Turin, in Belgium, in Austria, in Prussia, in Turkey, and in Egypt
32.
Gabriel Davioud
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Jean-Antoine-Gabriel Davioud was a French architect. Davioud was born in Paris and studied at the École des Beaux-Arts under Léon Vaudoyer, after winning a Second Grand Prix de Rome, he was named inspector general for architectural works in Paris, and chief architect for its parks and public spaces. His mandate was interrupted when he was appointed capitaine du génie during the Franco-Prussian War, noted for his work in Paris, he built a single villa in Houlgate, La Brise, on the Route de Caumont. Placzek, Macmillan Encyclopedia of Architects, Collier Macmillan,1982, structurae entry Marcel Miocque, Huguette Vernochet, Alain Bertaud, Lise Dassonville-Agron
33.
1900 Summer Olympics
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No opening or closing ceremonies were held, competitions began on May 14 and ended on October 28. The Games were held as part of the 1900 Worlds Fair, in total,997 competitors took part in 19 different sports. Women took part in the games for the first time and sailor Hélène de Pourtalès became the first female Olympic champion, at the Sorbonne conference of 1894, Pierre de Coubertin proposed that the Olympic Games should take place in 1900 in Paris. The delegates to the conference were unwilling to wait six years, a decision was made to hold the first Olympic Games in 1896 in Athens and that Paris would host the second celebration. Most of the winners in 1900 did not receive medals, but were given cups or trophies, professionals competed in fencing and Albert Robert Ayat, who won the épée for amateurs and masters, was awarded a prize of 3000 francs. This was also the only Olympic Games in history to use live animals as targets during the shooting event, the 1900 Games were held as part of the 1900 Exposition Universelle. The director of the Exposition Universelle, Alfred Picard, thought holding an ancient sport event at the Exposition Universelle was an absurd anachronism, after thanking de Coubertin for his plans, Picard filed them away and nothing more came of it. A committee was formed for the organization of the Games, consisting of some of the more able sports administrators of the day, British and Irish sports associations announced a desire to compete, as did a number of powerful American universities and sports clubs. Competitors from Russia and Australia also confirmed their intentions to travel to Paris, on November 9,1898, the Union des Sociétés Françaises de Sports Athlétiques put out an announcement that it would have sole right to any organised sport held during the Worlds Fair. It was an empty threat but Viscount Charles de La Rochefoucauld, the IOC ceded control of the Games to a new committee which was to oversee every sporting activity connected to the 1900 Exposition Universelle. Alfred Picard appointed Daniel Mérillon, the head of the French Shooting Association, between May and October 1900, the new organizing committee held an enormous number of sporting activities alongside the Paris Exposition. The sporting events rarely used the term of Olympic, indeed, the term Olympic Games was replaced by Concours internationaux dexercices physiques et de sport in the official report of the sporting events of the 1900 Exposition Universelle. The press reported competitions variously as International Championships, International Games, Paris Championships, World Championships, de Coubertin commented later to friends, Its a miracle that the Olympic Movement survived that celebration. Hélène de Pourtalès became the first female Olympic champion as part of the team in the 1-2 ton sailing event. Charlotte Cooper was the first woman to win an individual Olympic event after winning the singles tennis competition. She later went on to win the doubles tournament. In the coxed pairs and eights events in rowing, crews replaced adult coxswain with children, the identities and ages of these boys were not recorded but they are believed to have been amongst the youngest of all Olympic competitors. 85 events in 20 disciplines, comprising 19 sports, were part of the Olympic program in Paris, weightlifting and wrestling had been dropped since the 1896 Summer Olympics, while 13 new sports were added
34.
Cricket
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Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a cricket field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard-long pitch with a wicket at each end. One team bats, attempting to score as many runs as possible, each phase of play is called an innings. After either ten batsmen have been dismissed or a number of overs have been completed, the innings ends. The winning team is the one that scores the most runs, including any extras gained, at the start of each game, two batsmen and eleven fielders enter the field of play. The striker takes guard on a crease drawn on the four feet in front of the wicket. His role is to prevent the ball hitting the stumps by use of his bat. The other batsman, known as the non-striker, waits at the end of the pitch near the bowler. A dismissed batsman must leave the field, and a teammate replaces him, the bowlers objectives are to prevent the scoring of runs and to dismiss the batsman. An over is a set of six deliveries bowled by the same bowler, the next over is bowled from the other end of the pitch by a different bowler. If a fielder retrieves the ball enough to put down the wicket with a batsman not having reached the crease at that end of the pitch. Adjudication is performed on the field by two umpires, the laws of cricket are maintained by the International Cricket Council and the Marylebone Cricket Club. Traditionally cricketers play in all-white kit, but in limited overs cricket they wear club or team colours. In addition to the kit, some players wear protective gear to prevent injury caused by the ball. Although crickets origins are uncertain, it is first recorded in south-east England in the 16th century and it spread globally with the expansion of the British Empire, leading to the first international matches in the mid-19th century. ICC, the governing body, has over 100 members. The sport is followed primarily in Australasia, Britain, the Indian subcontinent, southern Africa, womens cricket, which is organised and played separately, has also achieved international standard. A number of words have been suggested as sources for the term cricket, in the earliest definite reference to the sport in 1598 it is called creckett. One possible source for the name is the Old English cricc or cryce meaning a crutch or staff, in Samuel Johnsons Dictionary, he derived cricket from cryce, Saxon, a stick
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Tuareg people
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The Tuareg people are a large Berber ethnic confederation. They principally inhabit the Sahara desert, in a vast area stretching from far southwestern Libya to southern Algeria, Niger, Mali, traditionally nomadic pastoralists, small groups of Tuareg are also found in northern Nigeria. The Tuareg speak the Tuareg languages, which belong to the Berber branch of the Afro-Asiatic family, the Tuaregs have been called the blue people for the indigo-dye colored clothes they traditionally wear and which stains their skin. A semi-nomadic Muslim people, they are believed to be descendants of the Berber autochthones of North Africa, the Tuaregs have been one of the ethnic groups that have been historically influential in the spread of Islam and its legacy in North Africa and the adjacent Sahel region. Tuareg society has traditionally featured clan membership, social status and caste hierarchies within each political confederation, the Tuareg have controlled several trans-Saharan trade routes, and have been an important party to the conflicts in the Saharan region during the colonial and post-colonial era. The origin and the meaning of the name Tuareg have long been debated and it would appear that Twārəg is derived from the broken plural of Tārgi, a name whose former meaning was inhabitant of Targa, the Tuareg name of the Libyan region commonly known as Fezzan. Another theory is that Tuareg is derived from Tuwariq, the plural of the Arabic exonym Tariqi, the term for a Tuareg man is Amajagh, the term for a woman Tamajaq. Spellings of the appellation vary by Tuareg dialect, however, they all reflect the same linguistic root, expressing the notion of freemen. As such, the endonym strictly refers only to the Tuareg nobility, not the artisanal client castes, the English exonym Blue People is similarly derived from the indigo color of the tagelmust veils and other clothing, which sometimes stains the skin underneath. Another term for the Tuareg is Imuhagh or Imushagh, a cognate to the northern Berber self-name Imazighen, the Tuareg today inhabit a vast area in the Sahara, stretching from far southwestern Libya to southern Algeria, Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso. Their combined population in these territories exceeds 2.5 million, with a population in Niger of around 2 million. The Tuareg are also the majority group in the Kidal Region of northeastern Mali. The Tuareg traditionally speak the Tuareg languages, also known as Tamasheq, Tamachen, Tamashekin, Tomacheck and these tongues belong to the Berber branch of the Afro-Asiatic family. According to Ethnologue, there are an estimated 1.2 million Tuareg speakers, around half this number consists of speakers of the Eastern dialect. The exact number of Tuareg speakers per territory is uncertain, the CIA estimates that the Tuareg population in Mali constitutes approximately 0. 9% of the national population, whereas about 3. 5% of local inhabitants speak Tuareg as a primary language. In contrast, Imperato estimates that the Tuareg represent around 3% of Malis population, in antiquity, the Tuareg moved southward from the Tafilalt region into the Sahel under the Tuareg founding queen Tin Hinan, who is believed to have lived between the 4th and 5th century. The matriarchs 1,500 year old tomb is located in the Sahara at Abalessa in the Hoggar Mountains of southern Algeria. Vestiges of an inscription in Tifinagh, the Tuaregs traditional Libyco-Berber writing script, have found on one of the ancient sepulchres walls
36.
Sudan
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Sudan, also known as North Sudan since South Sudans independence and officially the Republic of the Sudan, is a country in Northern Africa. It is the third largest country in Africa, the River Nile divides the country into eastern and western halves. Before the Sudanese Civil War, South Sudan was part of Sudan, Sudan was home to numerous ancient civilizations, such as the Kingdom of Kush, Kerma, Nobatia, Alodia, Makuria, Meroë and others, most of which flourished along the Nile. During the pre-dynastic period Nubia and Nagadan Upper Egypt were identical, by virtue of its proximity to Egypt, the Sudan participated in the wider history of the Near East inasmuch as it was Christianized by the 6th century, and Islamized in the 15th. As a result of Christianization, the Old Nubian language stands as the oldest recorded Nilo-Saharan language, Sudan was the largest country in Africa and the Arab world until 2011, when South Sudan separated into an independent country, following an independence referendum. Sudan is now the third largest country in Africa and also the third largest country in the Arab world and its capital is Khartoum, the political, cultural and commercial centre of the nation. It is a representative democratic federal republic. The politics of Sudan are regulated by an organization called the National Assembly. The Sudanese legal system is based on Islamic law, the countrys place name Sudan is a name given to a geographical region to the south of the Sahara, stretching from Western Africa to eastern Central Africa. The name derives from the Arabic bilād as-sūdān, or the lands of the Blacks, during the fifth millennium BC migrations from the drying Sahara brought neolithic people into the Nile Valley along with agriculture. The population that resulted from this cultural and genetic mixing developed social hierarchy over the centuries become the Kingdom of Kush at 1700 BC. The Kingdom of Kush was an ancient Nubian state centered on the confluences of the Blue Nile and White Nile, and the Atbarah River and it was established after the Bronze Age collapse and the disintegration of the New Kingdom of Egypt, centered at Napata in its early phase. After King Kashta invaded Egypt in the eighth century BC, the Kushite kings ruled as pharaohs of the Twenty-fifth Dynasty of Egypt for a century before being defeated and driven out by the Assyrians. At the height of their glory, the Kushites conquered an empire that stretched from what is now known as South Kordofan all the way to the Sinai, pharaoh Piye attempted to expand the empire into the Near East, but was thwarted by the Assyrian king Sargon II. Sennacheribs successor Esarhaddon went further, and invaded Egypt itself, deposing Taharqa, Taharqa fled back to his homeland where he died two years later. Egypt became an Assyrian colony, however, king Tantamani, after succeeding Taharqa, Esarhaddon died while preparing to leave the Assyrian capital of Nineveh in order to eject him. However, his successor Ashurbanipal sent an army into southern Egypt and routed Tantamani. During Classical Antiquity, the Nubian capital was at Meroë, in ancient Greek geography, the Meroitic kingdom was known as Ethiopia
37.
Kanak people
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Kanak are the indigenous Melanesian inhabitants of New Caledonia, an overseas collectivity of France in the southwest Pacific. According to the 2009 census, they constitute 40. 3% of the population of New Caledonia with 99,078 people. Though Melanesian settlement is recorded on Grande Terres Presquîle de Foué peninsula as far back as the Lapita culture, ethnographic research has shown that Polynesian seafarers have intermarried with the Kanaks over the centuries. The Kanaks refer to the European inhabitants of New Caledonia as Caldoches, New Caledonia was annexed to France in 1853, and became an overseas territory of France in 1956. An independence movement led to a revolt in 1967, and was restarted in 1984. A2014 referendum will decide whether or not the territory will achieve sovereign status, the Jean-Marie Tjibaou Cultural Centre was formally established in May 1998. Wooden carvings in the shape of hawks, ancient gods, serpents and turtles are popular as is flèche faîtière, prior to European contact, there were no unified states in New Caledonia, and no single self-appellation used to refer to its inhabitants. Other words have been coined from Kanak in the past few generations, kanéka is a musical genre associated with the Kanak, stylistically a form of reggae with added flutes, percussion and harmonies. Kaneka often has lyrics and is sung in Drehu, Paici or other Melanesian languages. The word kanak is grammatically invariable, Melanesian settlement on Grande Terre dates back at least as far as the Lapita culture. However, the origin of Kanak people is unclear, obsidian transported from New Guinea was found with the earliest New Caledonian Lapita pottery. In addition, some researchers have claimed there is evidence of New Caledonian human habitation dating from 3000 BC, Cook gave the name New Caledonia to these islands, after Caledonia, his Scottish highlands. Fifty years later, the Protestants of London Missionary Society came to New Caledonia and this resulted in a conflict between the two religious factions and eventually the French Catholics control of the islands prevailed. The island nation was annexed by France, in 1853. During the colonial period, in the 19th century, Kanaks were recruited or enslaved, to perform unfree labour in such as Australia, California, Canada, Chile. During the 3,000 years that Kanaks lived in the islands, they were unprepared for the arrival of European viruses. The Kanaks were uprooted from the land and were employed as forced labour on French plantations, ranches and this caused serious resentment among the Kanaks who revolted in 1878 against the French colonial rule, which was suppressed by the French who were better armed. The Kanak leader was decapitated, and his head was put on display in the Museum of Natural History, after World War II, the Kanak independence movement again picked up momentum when the United Nations placed New Caledonia on its Decolonisation List of Non-Self-Governing Territories in 1946
38.
New Caledonia
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New Caledonia is a special collectivity of France located in the southwest Pacific Ocean,1,210 km east of Australia and 16,136 km east of Metropolitan France. The Chesterfield Islands are in the Coral Sea, locals refer to Grande Terre as Le Caillou. New Caledonia has an area of 18,576 km2. Its population of 268,767 consists of a mix of Kanak people, people of European descent, Polynesian people, the capital of the territory is Nouméa. The earliest traces of human presence in New Caledonia date back to the Lapita period, the Lapita were highly skilled navigators and agriculturists with influence over a large area of the Pacific. British explorer Captain James Cook was the first European to sight New Caledonia, on 4 September 1774 and he named it New Caledonia, as the northeast of the island reminded him of Scotland. The west coast of Grande Terre was approached by Jean-François de Galaup, comte de Lapérouse in 1788, shortly before his disappearance, from then until 1840, only a few sporadic contacts with the archipelago were recorded. Contacts became more frequent after 1840, because of the interest in sandalwood from New Caledonia, the trade ceased at the start of the 20th century. The victims of this trade were called Kanakas, like all the Oceanian people, the first missionaries from the London Missionary Society and the Marist Brothers arrived in the 1840s. In 1849, the crew of the American ship Cutter was killed, cannibalism was widespread throughout New Caledonia. On 24 September 1853, under orders from Napoleon III, Admiral Febvrier Despointes took formal possession of New Caledonia, a few dozen free settlers settled on the west coast in the following years. New Caledonia became a colony, and from the 1860s until the end of the transportations in 1897, about 22,000 criminals. Among the convicts were many Communards arrested after the failed Paris Commune, including Henri de Rochefort, between 1873 and 1876,4,200 political prisoners were relegated in New Caledonia. Only 40 of them settled in the colony, the rest returned to France after being granted amnesty in 1879 and 1880. In 1864, nickel was discovered on the banks of the Diahot River and with the establishment of the Société Le Nickel in 1876, mining began in earnest. The French imported labourers to work in the mines, first from neighbouring islands, then from Japan, the Dutch East Indies, the French government also attempted to encourage European immigration, without much success. The indigenous population was excluded from the French economy, even as workers in the mines, and they were ultimately confined to reservations. This sparked a violent reaction in 1878 as High Chief Atal of La Foa managed to unite many of the central tribes, the Europeans brought new diseases such as smallpox and measles
39.
Madagascar
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Madagascar, officially the Republic of Madagascar, and previously known as the Malagasy Republic, is an island country in the Indian Ocean, off the coast of Southeast Africa. The nation comprises the island of Madagascar, and numerous smaller peripheral islands, consequently, Madagascar is a biodiversity hotspot, over 90% of its wildlife is found nowhere else on Earth. The islands diverse ecosystems and unique wildlife are threatened by the encroachment of the growing human population. The first archaeological evidence for human foraging on Madagascar dates to 2000 BC, human settlement of Madagascar occurred between 350 BC and AD550 by Austronesian peoples arriving on outrigger canoes from Borneo. These were joined around AD1000 by Bantu migrants crossing the Mozambique Channel from East Africa, other groups continued to settle on Madagascar over time, each one making lasting contributions to Malagasy cultural life. The Malagasy ethnic group is divided into 18 or more sub-groups of which the largest are the Merina of the central highlands. Until the late 18th century, the island of Madagascar was ruled by an assortment of shifting sociopolitical alliances. Beginning in the early 19th century, most of the island was united and ruled as the Kingdom of Madagascar by a series of Merina nobles, the monarchy collapsed in 1897 when the island was absorbed into the French colonial empire, from which the island gained independence in 1960. The autonomous state of Madagascar has since undergone four major constitutional periods, since 1992, the nation has officially been governed as a constitutional democracy from its capital at Antananarivo. However, in an uprising in 2009, president Marc Ravalomanana was made to resign. Constitutional governance was restored in January 2014, when Hery Rajaonarimampianina was named president following a 2013 election deemed fair, Madagascar is a member of the United Nations, the Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie and the Southern African Development Community. Madagascar belongs to the group of least developed countries, according to the United Nations, Malagasy and French are both official languages of the state. The majority of the population adheres to traditional beliefs, Christianity, ecotourism and agriculture, paired with greater investments in education, health, and private enterprise, are key elements of Madagascars development strategy. As of 2017, the economy has been weakened by the 2009-2013 political crisis, in the Malagasy language, the island of Madagascar is called Madagasikara and its people are referred to as Malagasy. The islands appellation Madagascar is not of origin, but rather was popularized in the Middle Ages by Europeans. On St. Laurences Day in 1500, Portuguese explorer Diogo Dias landed on the island, polos name was preferred and popularized on Renaissance maps. At 592,800 square kilometres, Madagascar is the worlds 47th largest country, the country lies mostly between latitudes 12°S and 26°S, and longitudes 43°E and 51°E. Neighboring islands include the French territory of Réunion and the country of Mauritius to the east, as well as the state of Comoros, the nearest mainland state is Mozambique, located to the west
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French Indochina
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French Indochina, officially known as the Indochinese Union after 1887 and the Indochinese Federation after 1947, was a grouping of French colonial territories in Southeast Asia. A grouping of the three Vietnamese regions of Tonkin, Annam, and Cochinchina with Cambodia was formed in 1887, Laos was added in 1893 and the leased Chinese territory of Guangzhouwan in 1898. The capital was moved from Saigon to Hanoi in 1902 and again to Da Lat in 1939, in 1945 it was moved back to Hanoi. After the Fall of France during World War II, the colony was administered by the Vichy government and was under Japanese occupation until March 1945, beginning in May 1941, the Viet Minh, a communist army led by Hồ Chí Minh, began a revolt against the Japanese. In August 1945 they declared Vietnamese independence and extended the war, known as the First Indochina War, in Saigon, the anti-Communist State of Vietnam, led by former Emperor Bảo Đại, was granted independence in 1949. On 9 November 1953, the Kingdom of Laos and the Kingdom of Cambodia became independent, following the Geneva Accord of 1954, the French evacuated Vietnam and French Indochina came to an end. France–Vietnam relations started as early as the 17th century with the mission of the Jesuit missionary Alexandre de Rhodes, at this time, Vietnam was only just beginning to occupy the Mekong Delta, former territory of the Indianised kingdom of Champa which they had defeated in 1471. European involvement in Vietnam was confined to trade during the 18th century, pigneau died in Vietnam but his troops fought on until 1802 in the French assistance to Nguyễn Ánh. France was heavily involved in Vietnam in the 19th century, protecting the work of the Paris Foreign Missions Society in the country was presented as a justification. In 1858, the period of unification under the Nguyễn dynasty ended with a successful attack on Da Nang by French Admiral Charles Rigault de Genouilly under the orders of Napoleon III. Diplomat Charles de Montignys mission having failed, Genouillys mission was to stop attempts to expel Catholic missionaries and his orders were to stop the persecution of missionaries and assure the unimpeded propagation of the faith. In September 1858, fourteen French gunships,3,000 men and 300 Filipino troops provided by the Spanish attacked the port of Tourane, causing significant damage, after a few months, Rigault had to leave the city due to supply issues and illnesses. Sailing south, de Genouilly then captured the poorly defended city of Saigon on 18 February 1859, on 13 April 1862, the Vietnamese government was forced to cede the three provinces of Biên Hòa, Gia Định and Định Tường to France. French policy four years saw a reversal, with the French continuing to accumulate territory. In 1862, France obtained concessions from Emperor Tự Đức, ceding three treaty ports in Annam and Tonkin, and all of Cochinchina, the latter being formally declared a French territory in 1864. In 1867 the provinces of Châu Đốc, Hà Tiên and Vĩnh Long were added to French-controlled territory, in 1863, the Cambodian king Norodom had requested the establishment of a French protectorate over his country. France obtained control over northern Vietnam following its victory over China in the Sino-French War, French Indochina was formed on 17 October 1887 from Annam, Tonkin, Cochinchina and the Kingdom of Cambodia, Laos was added after the Franco-Siamese War in 1893. The federation lasted until 21 July 1954, French troops landed in Vietnam in 1858 and by the mid-1880s they had established a firm grip over the northern region
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Republic of the Congo
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The Republic of the Congo, also known as the Congo Republic, West Congo, Congo-Brazzaville or simply Congo, is a country located in Central Africa. The region was dominated by Bantu-speaking tribes, who built trade links leading into the Congo River basin, Congo-Brazzaville was formerly part of the French colony of Equatorial Africa. Upon independence in 1960, the colony of French Congo became the Republic of the Congo. The Peoples Republic of the Congo was a Marxist–Leninist one-party state from 1970 to 1991, Bantu-speaking peoples who founded tribes during the Bantu expansions largely displaced and absorbed the earliest inhabitants of the region, the Pygmy people, about 1500 BC. Several Bantu kingdoms—notably those of the Kongo, the Loango, the Portuguese explorer Diogo Cão reached the mouth of the Congo in 1484. Commercial relationships quickly grew between the inland Bantu kingdoms and European merchants who traded various commodities, manufactured goods, the area north of the Congo River came under French sovereignty in 1880 as a result of Pierre de Brazzas treaty with King Makoko of the Bateke. This Congo Colony became known first as French Congo, then as Middle Congo in 1903, in 1908, France organized French Equatorial Africa, comprising Middle Congo, Gabon, Chad, and Oubangui-Chari. The French designated Brazzaville as the federal capital, economic development during the first 50 years of colonial rule in Congo centered on natural-resource extraction. The methods were brutal, construction of the Congo–Ocean Railroad following World War I has been estimated to have cost at least 14,000 lives. During the Nazi occupation of France during World War II, Brazzaville functioned as the capital of Free France between 1940 and 1943. The Brazzaville Conference of 1944 heralded a period of reform in French colonial policy. Congo benefited from the expansion of colonial administrative and infrastructure spending as a result of its central geographic location within AEF. It also received a local legislature after the adoption of the 1946 constitution that established the Fourth Republic, during these reforms, Middle Congo became known as the Republic of the Congo in 1958 and published its first constitution in 1959. Antagonism between the pro-Opangault Mbochis and the pro-Youlou Balalis resulted in a series of riots in Brazzaville in February 1959, the Republic of the Congo received full independence from France on 15 August 1960. Fulbert Youlou ruled as the countrys first president until labour elements, the Congolese military took charge of the country briefly and installed a civilian provisional government headed by Alphonse Massamba-Débat. Resentment and bitterness between the Baali and the Mbochi peoples brought upheaval in Brazzaville, the French army arrived to quell the turmoil. New elections took place in April 1959, by the time the Congo became independent, Jacques Opangault, the former opponent of Youlou, agreed to serve under him. Youlou became the first President of the Republic of the Congo, since the political tension was so high in Pointe-Noire, Youlou moved the capital to Brazzaville
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Mata Hari
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Margaretha Zelle was born in Leeuwarden, in the province of Friesland in the Netherlands. She was the eldest of four children of Adam Zelle and his first wife Antje van der Meulen, despite rumours, Zelle had no Asian or Middle Eastern ancestry and both her parents were Dutch, with her mother additionally being of Frisian descent. Soon after Margarethas father went bankrupt in 1889, her parents divorced and her father remarried in Amsterdam on 9 February 1893 to Susanna Catharina ten Hoove, by whom he had no children. The family fell apart, and Margaretha moved to live with her godfather, Mr. Visser, subsequently, she studied to be a kindergarten teacher in Leiden, but when the headmaster began to flirt with her conspicuously, she was removed from the institution by her offended godfather. A few months later, she fled to her uncles home in The Hague. At 18, Zelle answered an advertisement in a Dutch newspaper placed by Dutch Colonial Army Captain Rudolf MacLeod, Zelle married MacLeod in Amsterdam on 11 July 1895. He was the son of Captain John Brienen MacLeod and Dina Louisa, the marriage enabled her to move into the Dutch upper class, and her finances were placed on a sound footing. They moved to Malang on the east side of the island of Java, traveling out on SS Prinses Amalia in May 1897, the marriage was an overall disappointment. MacLeod was an alcoholic and regularly beat his wife, who was twenty years younger and he also openly kept a concubine, a socially accepted practice in the Dutch East Indies at that time. The disenchanted Zelle abandoned him temporarily, moving in with Van Rheedes and she studied the Indonesian traditions intensively for several months and joined a local dance company during that time. In 1897, she revealed her name of Mata Hari, Malay for sun. At MacLeods urging, Zelle returned to him, but his behavior did not change and she escaped her circumstances by studying the local culture. In 1899, their children fell violently ill from complications relating to the treatment of syphilis contracted from their parents, some sources maintain that one of MacLeods enemies may have poisoned a supper to kill both of their children. After moving back to the Netherlands, the couple separated on 30 August 1902. The divorce became final in 1906, Zelle was awarded custody of Jeanne. MacLeod was legally required to pay support, which he never did, making very difficult for Zelle. During a visit of Jeanne with her father, MacLeod decided not to return Jeanne to her mother, Zelle did not have resources to fight the situation and accepted it, believing that while McLeod had been an abusive husband, he had always been a good father. Jeanne later died at the age of 21, also possibly from complications relating to syphilis, in 1903, Zelle moved to Paris, where she performed as a circus horse rider using the name Lady MacLeod, much to the disapproval of the Dutch MacLeods
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16th arrondissement of Paris
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The 16th arrondissement of Paris is one of the 20 arrondissements of Paris, the capital city of France. It includes a concentration of museums between the Place du Trocadéro and the Place dIéna, the Bois de Boulogne, the second-largest public park in Paris, is also located in this arrondissement. The land area of this arrondissement is 16.305 km2, excluding the Bois de Boulogne, its land area is 7.846 km2. It is the largest arrondissement in Paris in terms of land area, the 16th arrondissement population peaked in 1962, when it had 227,418 inhabitants. At the last census, the population was 169,372, the 16th arrondissement contains a great deal of business activity, in 1999 it hosted 106,971 jobs. It is also the arrondissement in Paris to be divided into two separate postal codes. The southern part of the arrondissement carries a postal code of 75016, four Fortune Global 500 have their head offices in this arrondissement, PSA Peugeot Citroën, Kering, Lafarge, and Veolia. In addition Lagardère and Technip have their headquarters in this arrondissement, at one time Aérospatiale had its head office in the arrondissement. This scene was shot on Avenue dEylau in the 16th arrondissement, a notorious serial murder case, which generated an international media circus, centered in the 16th arrondissement during the Nazi occupation of France during World War II. The focal point of the case was French doctor Marcel Petiot, on 11 March 1944, Petiots neighbors complained to police of a foul stench in the area and of large amounts of smoke billowing from a chimney of the house. Fearing a chimney fire, the police summoned firemen, who entered the house, in the fire, and scattered in the basement, were human remains. Following an investigation, during which time Petiot attempted to evade capture and he was convicted of 26 counts of murder and sentenced to death. On 25 May, Petiot was beheaded, after a stay of several days due to a problem in the mechanism of the guillotine. International schools, Russian Embassy School of Paris, on the grounds of the Russian Embassy in Paris, colegio Español Fecerico García Lorca, a Spanish international primary school owned by the Spanish government The Spanish secondary school, Liceo Español Luis Buñuel, is located in Neuilly sur Seine. The two campuses of the International School of Paris Kingsworth International School The Université Paris-Dauphine is in the arrondissement, the renowned classes préparatoires establishment Intégrale, Institut denseignement supérieur privé have one of their campuses in the arrondissement. The École de langue japonaise de Paris, a supplementary Japanese education programme, is held at the École Maternelle et Primaire Saint Francois dEylau in the 16th arrondissement, the school has its offices at the Association Amicale des Ressortissants Japonais en France in the 8th arrondissement. Media related to Paris 16e arrondissement at Wikimedia Commons 16th arrondissement travel guide from Wikivoyage
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