1.
Water caltrop
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The water caltrop is any of three extant species of the genus Trapa, Trapa natans, T. bicornis and the endangered Trapa rossica. It is also known as water chestnut, buffalo nut, bat nut, devil pod, ling nut, lin kok, ling kio nut, or singhara. The species are floating annual aquatic plants, growing in slow-moving water up to 5 m deep, native to temperate parts of Eurasia. They bear ornately shaped fruits, which in the case of T. bicornis resemble the head of a bull or the silhouette of a flying bat, each fruit contains a single very large, starchy seed. T. natans and T. bicornis have been cultivated in China, the generic name Trapa is derived from the Latin word for thistle, calcitrappa, as also is another common name for the water caltrop. The Chinese name is língjiǎo, líng meaning caltrop and jiǎo meaning horn and this is often rendered as ling nut by English-speakers. In India, the plant has different regional names, such as singhada, pani-phal, or shingoda, Heikrak. This fruits Bengali name is Paniphal, the plants name in Japanese is hishi, a word meaning diamond- or lozenge-shaped. The water caltrops submerged stem reaches 12 to 15 ft in length and it has two types of leaves, finely divided, feather-like submerged leaves borne along the length of the stem, and undivided floating leaves borne in a rosette at the waters surface. The floating leaves have saw-tooth edges and are ovoid or triangular in shape, 2–3 cm long, on inflated petioles 5–9 cm long, four-petalled white flowers form in early summer and are insect-pollinated. The fruit is a nut with four 0. 5-in, barbed spines, seeds can remain viable up to 12 years, although most germinate within the first two years. The plant spreads by the rosettes and fruits detaching from the stem and floating to another area on currents or by clinging to objects. This plant should not be confused with the unrelated Eleocharis dulcis, Eleocharis is also an aquatic plant raised for food since ancient times in China. E. dulcis is a sedge, whose round, crisp-fleshed corms are common in Western-style Chinese food, the genus has an extensive fossil record, with numerous, distinctive species. Undisputed fossilized seeds have been found in Cenozoic strata starting from the Eocene throughout Europe, China, Water caltrop has been an important food for worship as prayer offerings since the Chinese Zhou Dynasty. The Rites of Zhou mentioned that a worshipper should use a basket containing dried water caltrops. The Chinese Herbal Medicine Summary indicates that water caltrop can help fever, in India and Pakistan, it is known as singhara or paniphal and is widely cultivated in freshwater lakes. The fruits are eaten raw or boiled, when the fruit has been dried, it is ground to a flour called singhare ka atta, used in many religious rituals and can be consumed as a phalahar on the Hindu fasting days, the navratas. It was possible to buy water chestnuts in markets all over Europe until 1880, in northern Italy, the nuts were offered roasted, much as sweet chestnuts are still sold today
2.
Tribulus terrestris
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Tribulus terrestris is an annual plant in the caltrop family widely distributed around the world, that is adapted to grow in dry climate locations in which few other plants can survive. It is a species in North America. Tribulus terrestris is a herbaceous perennial plant that grows as a summer annual in colder climates. It is native to temperate and tropical regions of the Old World in southern Europe, southern Asia, throughout Africa. It can thrive even in desert climates and poor soil, a network of fine rootlets arise from the taproot to take advantage of soil moisture, by which the plant can survive in very arid conditions. The stems radiate from the crown to a diameter of about 10 cm to over 1 m and they are usually prostrate, forming flat patches, though they may grow more upwards in shade or among taller plants. Stems branch from the crown and are densely hairy, leaves are opposite and pinnately compound. Densely hairy leaflets are opposite and up to 3 mm long, the flowers are 4–10 mm wide, with five lemon-yellow petals, five sepals, and ten stamens. In Southern California, it blooms from April through October, where it is invasive in waste places. A week after each flower blooms, it is followed by a fruit that falls apart into five nutlets or burs. The nutlets are hard and bear two to four spines,10 mm long and 4–6 mm broad point-to-point. These nutlets strikingly resemble goats or bulls heads, the horns are sharp enough to puncture bicycle tires, within each nutlet, seeds are stacked on top of each other, separated by a hard membrane. As an adaptation to dry climates, the largest seed germinates first, the spines of the nutlets point upward, where they stick into feet and fur of animals, and are thereby dispersed. This causes damage to domesticated livestock and degrades wool, the Greek word, τρίβολος meaning water-chestnut, translated into Latin as tribulos. The Latin name tribulus originally meant the caltrop, but in Classical times already the word meant this plant as well, the plant is widely naturalized in the Americas and also in Australia south of its native range. In some states in the United States, it is considered a noxious weed and it is a declared plant in South Australia. It has been reported that the seeds or nutlets have been used in homicidal weapons smeared with the juice of Acokanthera venenata in southern Africa, in Siddha medicine, Tribulus terrestris is known in Tamil as Nerunjil, yanai vanangi, thirikandam, siru nerunjil. This whole plant is used in the form of decoction to treat urinary infections, urolithiasis, dysmenorrhea
3.
Anti-personnel weapon
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An anti-personnel weapon is one primarily used to incapacitate people, as opposed to attacking structures or vehicles, or hunting game. There are also more exotic classes of weapons, such as bombs, chemicals, and biological weapons. As there is greater international criticism of them, they are rarely used. These are not generally referred to as anti-personnel weapons, but by their own names or group terms by which they are specifically banned, such weapons often create much collateral damage and may affect large numbers of civilians. Debate has arisen over whether some primarily anti-materiel weapons can be used as anti-personnel weapons, the Barrett M82 rifle, standardized by the U. S. military as the M107, fires a large-calibre.50 BMG round that will penetrate most commercial brick walls and concrete blocks. It is an anti-materiel rifle designated as a Special Application Sniper Rifle and designed for use against military equipment and it is used by many armies around the world both in regular forces and in special forces units. As it uses a.50 BMG round, this has led to debates in the U. S. armed forces about the legality of using such a large anti-materiel rifle round against a human. There have been persistent reports that some U. S. military personnel believe that the use of.50 BMG in an antipersonnel role is prohibited by the laws of war. The Raufoss Mk 211 is a.50 caliber multipurpose anti-matériel projectile produced by Nammo and it is commonly referred to as simply multipurpose or Raufoss, which refers to Nammos original parent company, Raufoss Ammunisjonsfabrikk in Raufoss, Norway, established in 1896. The Mk 211 name comes from the nomenclature Mk 211 Mod 0 used by the U. S. military for this round. It is a round for engaging helicopters, aircraft and lightly armored vehicles, as well as unarmored vehicles. The Mk 211 has about the destructive power as a standard 20mm round against such targets. The Mk 211 is a very popular.50 caliber sniper round used in the Barrett M82 rifle and it is also often used in heavy machine guns such as the M2 Browning. Due to its popularity several U. S. arms manufacturers produce the round under license from NAMMO Raufoss AS, there is also a tracer variant, the MK300, used in the Browning heavy machine gun. There has been debate over whether the Mk 211 projectile is legal to use against personnel. The International Committee of the Red Cross has sought to have the ammunition banned, due to concern over the incendiary and explosive components and their effect on personnel. Under the St. Petersburg Declaration of 1868 the military or naval use of explosive or incendiary projectiles with a mass of under 400 grams is forbidden. Very few nations were parties to the St. Petersburg Declaration, however, machine guns firing.50 cal/12. 7mm ammunition are heavy machine guns
4.
Tetrahedron
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In geometry, a tetrahedron, also known as a triangular pyramid, is a polyhedron composed of four triangular faces, six straight edges, and four vertex corners. The tetrahedron is the simplest of all the ordinary convex polyhedra, the tetrahedron is the three-dimensional case of the more general concept of a Euclidean simplex. The tetrahedron is one kind of pyramid, which is a polyhedron with a polygon base. In the case of a tetrahedron the base is a triangle, like all convex polyhedra, a tetrahedron can be folded from a single sheet of paper. For any tetrahedron there exists a sphere on which all four vertices lie, a regular tetrahedron is one in which all four faces are equilateral triangles. It is one of the five regular Platonic solids, which have known since antiquity. In a regular tetrahedron, not only are all its faces the same size and shape, regular tetrahedra alone do not tessellate, but if alternated with regular octahedra they form the alternated cubic honeycomb, which is a tessellation. The regular tetrahedron is self-dual, which means that its dual is another regular tetrahedron, the compound figure comprising two such dual tetrahedra form a stellated octahedron or stella octangula. This form has Coxeter diagram and Schläfli symbol h, the tetrahedron in this case has edge length 2√2. Inverting these coordinates generates the dual tetrahedron, and the together form the stellated octahedron. In other words, if C is the centroid of the base and this follows from the fact that the medians of a triangle intersect at its centroid, and this point divides each of them in two segments, one of which is twice as long as the other. The vertices of a cube can be grouped into two groups of four, each forming a regular tetrahedron, the symmetries of a regular tetrahedron correspond to half of those of a cube, those that map the tetrahedra to themselves, and not to each other. The tetrahedron is the only Platonic solid that is not mapped to itself by point inversion, the regular tetrahedron has 24 isometries, forming the symmetry group Td, isomorphic to the symmetric group, S4. The first corresponds to the A2 Coxeter plane, the two skew perpendicular opposite edges of a regular tetrahedron define a set of parallel planes. When one of these intersects the tetrahedron the resulting cross section is a rectangle. When the intersecting plane is one of the edges the rectangle is long. When halfway between the two edges the intersection is a square, the aspect ratio of the rectangle reverses as you pass this halfway point. For the midpoint square intersection the resulting boundary line traverses every face of the tetrahedron similarly, if the tetrahedron is bisected on this plane, both halves become wedges
5.
Horse
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The horse is one of two extant subspecies of Equus ferus. It is an ungulate mammal belonging to the taxonomic family Equidae. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 million years from a small multi-toed creature, Eohippus, into the large, humans began to domesticate horses around 4000 BC, and their domestication is believed to have been widespread by 3000 BC. Horses in the subspecies caballus are domesticated, although some domesticated populations live in the wild as feral horses. There is an extensive, specialized vocabulary used to describe equine-related concepts, covering everything from anatomy to life stages, size, colors, markings, breeds, locomotion, and behavior. Horses anatomy enables them to use of speed to escape predators and they have a well-developed sense of balance. Related to this need to flee from predators in the wild is an unusual trait, female horses, called mares, carry their young for approximately 11 months, and a young horse, called a foal, can stand and run shortly following birth. Most domesticated horses begin training under saddle or in harness between the ages of two and four and they reach full adult development by age five, and have an average lifespan of between 25 and 30 years. There are more than 300 breeds of horse in the world today, horses were historically used in warfare, from which a wide variety of riding and driving techniques developed, using many different styles of equipment and methods of control. Many products are derived from horses, including meat, milk, hide, hair, bone, humans provide domesticated horses with food, water and shelter, as well as attention from specialists such as veterinarians and farriers. Specific terms and specialized language are used to describe equine anatomy, different life stages, colors, depending on breed, management and environment, the modern domestic horse has a life expectancy of 25 to 30 years. Uncommonly, a few animals live into their 40s and, occasionally, the oldest verifiable record was Old Billy, a 19th-century horse that lived to the age of 62. In modern times, Sugar Puff, who had listed in Guinness World Records as the worlds oldest living pony. The exception is in endurance riding, where the age to compete is based on the animals actual calendar age. The following terminology is used to describe horses of various ages, Colt, a common terminology error is to call any young horse a colt, when the term actually only refers to young male horses. Filly, A female horse under the age of four, foal, A horse of either sex less than one year old. A nursing foal is sometimes called a suckling and a foal that has been weaned is called a weanling, most domesticated foals are weaned at five to seven months of age, although foals can be weaned at four months with no adverse physical effects. Gelding, A castrated male horse of any age, mare, A female horse four years old and older
6.
War elephant
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A war elephant is an elephant that is trained and guided by humans for combat. The war elephants main use was to charge the enemy, breaking their ranks, elephantry are military units with elephant-mounted troops. They were first employed in India, the spreading out across south-east Asia. Their most famous use in the West was by the Greek King Pyrrhus of Epirus and in significant numbers by the armies of Carthage, in the Mediterranean, improved tactics reduced the value of the elephant in battle, while their availability in the wild also decreased. The first elephant species to be tamed was the Asian elephant, Elephant taming - not full domestication, as they are still captured in the wild, rather than being bred in captivity - may have begun in any of three different places. The oldest evidence comes from the Indus Valley Civilization, around roughly 4500 BC, archaeological evidence for the presence of wild elephants in the Yellow River valley during the Shang Dynasty of China may suggest that they also used elephants in warfare. There is uncertainty as to when elephant warfare first began, the later stories of the Mahabharata and the Ramayana, dating from around the 4th century BC, do however mention elephant warfare, suggesting its introduction during the intervening period. The first confrontation between Europeans and the Persian war elephants occurred at Alexanders Battle of Gaugamela, where the Persians deployed fifteen elephants, by the time Alexander reached the borders of India five years later, he had a substantial number of elephants under his own command. The elephants caused many losses with their tusks fitted with spikes or by lifting the enemies with their trunks. Arrian described the subsequent fight. whenever the beasts could wheel around, they rushed forth against the ranks of infantry and demolished the phalanx of the Macedonians, dense as it was. The panicked and wounded elephants turned on the Indians themselves, the mahouts were armed with poisoned rods to kill the beasts but were slain by javelins and archers. Looking further east again, however, Alexander could see that the kings of the Nanda Empire, such a force was many times larger than the number of elephants employed by the Persians and Greeks, which probably discouraged Alexanders army and effectively halted their advance into India. On his return, Alexander established a force of elephants to guard his palace at Babylon, the successful military use of elephants spread further. Later in its history, the Seleucid Empire used elephants in its efforts to crush the Maccabean Revolt in Judea. The first use of war elephants in Europe was made in 318 BC by Polyperchon, one of Alexanders generals and he used 60 elephants brought from Asia with their mahouts. A veteran of Alexanders army, named Damis, helped the besieged Megalopolitians to defend themselves against the elephants and those elephants were subsequently taken by Cassander and transported, partly by sea, to other battle-fields in Greece. It is assumed that Cassander constructed the first elephant-transport sea-vessels, some of the elephants died of starvation in 316 BC in the besieged city of Pydna. Others of Polyperchons elephants were used in parts of Greece by Cassander
7.
Camel
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A camel is an even-toed ungulate within the genus Camelus, bearing distinctive fatty deposits known as humps on its back. Bactrian camels take their name from the historical Bactria region of Central Asia, the term camel is derived via Latin and Greek from Hebrew or Phoenician gāmāl. Most of the camels are dromedaries while Bactrian camels and wild Bactrian camels make up only 6% of the total camel population. Camel may also be used broadly to describe any of the seven camel-like mammals in the family Camelidae. The average life expectancy of a camel is 40 to 50 years, a full-grown adult camel stands 1.85 m at the shoulder and 2.15 m at the hump. Camels can run at up to 65 km/h in short bursts, Bactrian camels weigh 300 to 1,000 kg and dromedaries 300 to 600 kg. For instance, the speed for the one humped camel is about 40 km/hour while the two humped camel has around 27.2 km/hour. The male dromedary camel has in its throat an organ called a dulla and it resembles a long, swollen, pink tongue hanging out of the side of its mouth. Camels mate by having both male and female sitting on the ground, with the male mounting from behind, the male usually ejaculates three or four times within a single mating session. Camelids are the ungulates to mate in a sitting position. Camels do not directly store water in their humps as was commonly believed. In hot and dry environments, within 8 to 10 days only the dromedary camels might consume water which during this period the third of their bodys weight may be reduced due to the dehydration. When this tissue is metabolized, it more than one gram of water for every gram of fat processed. This fat metabolization, while releasing energy, causes water to evaporate from the lungs during respiration, overall, Camels have a series of physiological adaptations that allow them to withstand long periods of time without any external source of water. Unlike other mammals, their red cells are oval rather than circular in shape. Camels are able to withstand changes in temperature and water consumption that would kill most other animals. Their temperature ranges from 34 °C at dawn and steadily increases to 40 °C by sunset, in general, to compare between camels and the other livestock, camels lose only 1. Camels rarely sweat, even when ambient temperatures reach 49 °C, any sweat that does occur evaporates at the skin level rather than at the surface of their coat, the heat of vaporization therefore comes from body heat rather than ambient heat
8.
Tire
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A tire or tyre is a ring-shaped vehicle component that covers the wheels rim to protect it and enable better vehicle performance. Most tires, such as those for automobiles and bicycles, provide traction between the vehicle and the road providing a flexible cushion that absorbs shock. The materials of modern tires are synthetic rubber, natural rubber, fabric and wire, along with carbon black. They consist of a tread and a body, the tread provides traction while the body provides containment for a quantity of compressed air. Before rubber was developed, the first versions of tires were bands of metal fitted around wooden wheels to prevent wear and tear. Pneumatic tires are used on many types of vehicles, including cars, bicycles, motorcycles, buses, trucks, heavy equipment, and aircraft. Metal tires are used on locomotives and railcars, and solid rubber tires are still used in various non-automotive applications, such as some casters, carts, lawnmowers. The etymology of tire is that the word is a form of attire. The spelling tyre does not appear until the 1840s when the English began shrink fitting railway car wheels with malleable iron, nevertheless, traditional publishers continued using tire. The Times newspaper in Britain was still using tire as late as 1905, the spelling tyre began to be commonly used in the 19th century for pneumatic tires in the UK. However, over the course of the 20th century, tyre became established as the standard British spelling, the earliest tires were bands of leather, then iron, placed on wooden wheels, used on carts and wagons. The tire would be heated in a fire, placed over the wheel and quenched, causing the metal to contract. A skilled worker, known as a wheelwright, carried out this work, the outer ring served to tie the wheel segments together for use, providing also a wear-resistant surface to the perimeter of the wheel. The word tire thus emerged as a variant spelling to refer to the bands used to tie wheels. The first patent for what appears to be a standard pneumatic tire appeared in 1847 lodged by the Scottish inventor Robert William Thomson, however, this never went into production. The first practical pneumatic tire was made in 1888 on May Street, Belfast, by Scots-born John Boyd Dunlop and it was an effort to prevent the headaches of his 10-year-old son Johnnie, while riding his tricycle on rough pavements. His doctor, John, later Sir John Fagan, had prescribed cycling as an exercise for the boy, Fagan participated in designing the first pneumatic tires. In Dunlops tire patent specification dated 31 October 1888, his interest is only in its use in cycles, in September 1890, he was made aware of an earlier development but the company kept the information to itself
9.
Tribulus
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Tribulus is also a derivative Roman era name for the weapon known in English today as the caltrop, which bears strong resemblances with the plant today named Tribulus terrestris or puncture vine. Tribulus is a genus of plants found in warm regions. The best-known member is T. terrestris, a widespread weed, T. terrestris has been said to raise natural testosterone levels if taken as a supplement. There have been no studies that show a correlation between the use of tribulus and an increase in natural testosterone. Tribulus species are perennial, but some grow as annuals in colder climates, the leaves are opposite and compound. The flowers are perfect and insect-pollinated, with fivefold symmetry, the ovary is divided into locules that are in turn divided by false septa. Some species are cultivated as ornamental plants in warm regions, some, notably T. cistoides, T. longipetalus, T. terrestris, and T. zeyheri, are considered weeds. Tribulus omanense is the flower of Dubai. Thirteen species of Tribulus are accepted by The Plant List, but there are many still unresolved. Tribulus in BoDD – Botanical Dermatology Database Technical description of Zygophyllaceae from The Families of Flowering Plants, L. Watson and M. J. Dallwitz
10.
Zygophyllaceae
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Zygophyllaceae is a family of flowering plants that contain the bean-caper and caltrop. The family includes around 285 species in 22 genera, in the APG III system of classification, the families Zygophyllaceae and Krameriaceae compose the order Zygophyllales. In the previous version of their system, the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group had included the option of placing Krameria within Zygophyllaceae. Zygophyllaceae are divided into five subfamilies, a molecular phylogeny of the family was published in 2000. Phylogenies of groups within the family have also been published, a phylogeny of the southern African species of Zygophyllum was published in 2008. Peganum was in Zygophyllaceae before being moved to the newly created family Nitrariaceae, king Clone, a Creosote bush in California, may be the oldest living organism. Zygophyllaceae in L. Watson and M. J. Dallwitz, the families of flowering plants, descriptions, illustrations, identification, information retrieval. Family Zygophyllaceae Flowers in Israel Chilean Zygophyllaceae Chileflora
11.
Centaurea
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For the race horse, see Australasian Oaks or Storm Queen Stakes. Basket flower and spelling variants redirect here, in Australia, this usually means the unrelated plant Adenanthos obovatus. Centaurea is a genus of between 350 and 600 species of herbaceous flowering plants in the family Asteraceae. Members of the genus are found north of the equator, mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. Common names for this genus are centaury, centory, starthistles, knapweeds, centaureas and the more ambiguous bluets, the Plectocephalus group – possibly a distinct genus – is known as basketflowers. Cornflowers is used for a few species, but that more often specifically means C. cyanus. The common name centaury is sometimes used, although this refers to the unrelated plant genus Centaurium. Their leaves, spiny in some species, are deeply divided into elongated lobes at least in the plants lower part. The flowers are diverse in colour, ranging from blues, reds and yellows to any mixture of these. Often, the flowers are much darker or lighter than the ray flowers. Each pseudanthium sits atop a cup- or basket-like cluster of scaly bracts, many species, in particular those inhabiting more arid regions, have a long and strong taproot. Certain knapweeds have a tendency to dominate large stretches of landscape together with a few other plants, the common knapweed for example is plentiful in the mesotrophic grasslands of England and nearby regions. It is most prominently found in pastures or meadows dominated by cocks-foot as well as either of crested dogs-tail and false oat-grass. It is also found in mesotrophic grassland on rendzinas and similar calcareous soils in association with glaucous sedge, sheeps fescue. In these grasslands, greater knapweed is found more rarely by comparison, often in association with red fescue in addition to cocks-foot. Due to their habit of dominating ecosystems under good conditions, many Centaurea species can become invasive weeds in regions where they are not native, in parts of North America, diffuse knapweed, spotted knapweed and yellow starthistle cause severe problems in agriculture due to their uncontrolled spread. The seeds are transported by human traffic, in particular the tires of all-terrain vehicles. The two knapweeds are harmful mainly because they are strongly allelopathic, producing powerful toxins in their roots that stunt the growth of plants around them not adapted to this
12.
Centaurea calcitrapa
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Centaurea calcitrapa is a species of flowering plant known by several common names, including red star-thistle and purple starthistle. It is native to Europe but is found there, it is known across the globe as an introduced species. The species name comes from the word caltrop, a type of weapon covered in sharp spikes. In western Crete, Greece a local variety called gourounaki has its leaves eaten boiled by the locals, a south Italian variety of the species is also traditionally consumed by ethnic Albanians in the Vulture area. In the Arbëreshë communities in Lucania the young whorls of Centaurea calcitrapa are boiled and fried in mixtures with other weedy non cultivated greens and this an annual or Biennial plant growing erect to a maximum height of one to 1.3 metres. The stems are hairless and grooved and it sometimes takes the shape of a mound, and it is finely to densely hairy to spiny. The leaves are dotted with resin glands, the lowermost may reach a length of 20 centimeters and are deeply cut into lobes. The inflorescence contains a few flower heads, each is 1.5 to 2 centimeters long and oval in general shape. The phyllaries are green or straw-colored and tipped in tough, sharp yellow spines, the head contains many bright purple flowers. The fruit is an achene a few millimeters long which lacks a pappus and it flowers from July until September, and the seeds ripen from August to October. The Red Star-thistle has been identified as a Priority Species by the UK Biodiversity Action Plan and it is identified as vulnerable by the UNIC and is listed as Nationally Rare in the UK Red Data Book. There is no national or Sussex BAP for this species, syria, Lebanon, Palestine, Jordan, Egypt, Libya, Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco, Iraq. Centaurea aspera, known as rough star-thistle, the main difference is the bract appendages are palmately arranged. Centaurea solstitialis, known as star thistle. Differs in having yellow flowers palmately arranged, spiny bract appendages, USDA Plants Profile California Invasive Plant Council Photo gallery Species Profile- Purple Star Thistle, National Invasive Species Information Center, United States National Agricultural Library. Lists general information and resources for Purple Star Thistle
13.
Battle of Carrhae
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The Battle of Carrhae was fought in 53 BC between the Roman Republic and the Parthian Empire near the town of Carrhae. The Parthian Spahbod Surena decisively defeated a numerically superior Roman invasion force under the command of Marcus Licinius Crassus and it is commonly seen as one of the earliest and most important battles between the Roman and Parthian empires and one of the most crushing defeats in Roman history. Rejecting an offer from the Armenian King Artavasdes II to allow Crassus to invade Parthia via Armenia and his army clashed with Surenas force near Carrhae, a small town in modern-day Turkey. Despite being heavily outnumbered, Surenas cavalry completely outmaneuvered the Roman heavy infantry, Crassus himself was killed when truce negotiations turned violent. His death ended the First Triumvirate, the war in Parthia resulted from political arrangements intended to be mutually beneficial for Marcus Licinius Crassus, Pompeius Magnus, and Julius Caesar — the so-called First Triumvirate. In March and April 56 BC, meetings were held at Ravenna and Luca, in Caesars province of Cisalpine Gaul, to reaffirm the weakening alliance formed four years earlier. Pressure in various forms was brought to bear on the elections, money, influence through patronage and friendship, the faction secured the consulship and most, though not all, of the other offices sought. Legislation passed by the tribune Trebonius granted extended proconsulships of five years, matching that of Caesar in Gaul, the Spanish provinces would go to Pompeius, Crassus arranged to have Syria, with the transparent intention of going to war with Parthia. The notoriously wealthy Marcus Crassus was around sixty and hearing-impaired when he embarked on the Parthian invasion, greed is often regarded by the ancient sources, particularly his biographer Plutarch, as his major character fault and also his motive for going to war. Historian of Rome Erich Gruen believed that Crassuss purpose was to enrich the public treasury and his major military achievements had been the defeat of Spartacus in 71 and his victory at Battle of the Colline Gate for Sulla a decade earlier. Another factor in Crassuss decision to invade Parthia was the ease of the campaign. The Roman legions had easily crushed the numerically superior armies of other powers such as Pontus and Armenia. Cicero, however, suggests an additional factor, the ambitions of the talented Publius Crassus, upon his return to Rome as a highly decorated officer, Publius took steps to establish his own political career. Roman sources view the Battle of Carrhae not only as a calamity for Rome and a disgrace for Marcus Crassus, some Romans objected to the war against Parthia. Cicero calls it a war nulla causa, on the grounds that Parthia had a treaty with Rome, the tribune Ateius Capito put up strenuous opposition, and infamously conducted a public ritual of execration as Crassus prepared to depart. Despite protests and dire omens, Marcus Crassus left Rome on November 14,55 BC, Publius Crassus joined him in Syria during the winter of 54–53 BC, bringing with him the thousand Celtic cavalry troopers from Gaul who remained loyal to their young leader until death. Crassus arrived in Syria in late 55 BC and immediately set about using his wealth to raise an army. He assembled a force of seven legions, in addition he had about 4,000 light infantry, and 4,000 cavalry, including the 1,000 Gallic cavalry Publius had brought with him
14.
Ancient Rome
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In its many centuries of existence, the Roman state evolved from a monarchy to a classical republic and then to an increasingly autocratic empire. Through conquest and assimilation, it came to dominate the Mediterranean region and then Western Europe, Asia Minor, North Africa and it is often grouped into classical antiquity together with ancient Greece, and their similar cultures and societies are known as the Greco-Roman world. Ancient Roman civilisation has contributed to modern government, law, politics, engineering, art, literature, architecture, technology, warfare, religion, language and society. Rome professionalised and expanded its military and created a system of government called res publica, the inspiration for modern republics such as the United States and France. By the end of the Republic, Rome had conquered the lands around the Mediterranean and beyond, its domain extended from the Atlantic to Arabia, the Roman Empire emerged with the end of the Republic and the dictatorship of Augustus Caesar. 721 years of Roman-Persian Wars started in 92 BC with their first war against Parthia and it would become the longest conflict in human history, and have major lasting effects and consequences for both empires. Under Trajan, the Empire reached its territorial peak, Republican mores and traditions started to decline during the imperial period, with civil wars becoming a prelude common to the rise of a new emperor. Splinter states, such as the Palmyrene Empire, would divide the Empire during the crisis of the 3rd century. Plagued by internal instability and attacked by various migrating peoples, the part of the empire broke up into independent kingdoms in the 5th century. This splintering is a landmark historians use to divide the ancient period of history from the pre-medieval Dark Ages of Europe. King Numitor was deposed from his throne by his brother, Amulius, while Numitors daughter, Rhea Silvia, because Rhea Silvia was raped and impregnated by Mars, the Roman god of war, the twins were considered half-divine. The new king, Amulius, feared Romulus and Remus would take back the throne, a she-wolf saved and raised them, and when they were old enough, they returned the throne of Alba Longa to Numitor. Romulus became the source of the citys name, in order to attract people to the city, Rome became a sanctuary for the indigent, exiled, and unwanted. This caused a problem for Rome, which had a large workforce but was bereft of women, Romulus traveled to the neighboring towns and tribes and attempted to secure marriage rights, but as Rome was so full of undesirables they all refused. Legend says that the Latins invited the Sabines to a festival and stole their unmarried maidens, leading to the integration of the Latins, after a long time in rough seas, they landed at the banks of the Tiber River. Not long after they landed, the men wanted to take to the sea again, one woman, named Roma, suggested that the women burn the ships out at sea to prevent them from leaving. At first, the men were angry with Roma, but they realized that they were in the ideal place to settle. They named the settlement after the woman who torched their ships, the Roman poet Virgil recounted this legend in his classical epic poem the Aeneid
15.
Publius Flavius Vegetius Renatus
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Publius Flavius Vegetius Renatus, commonly referred to simply as Vegetius, was a writer of the Later Roman Empire. Nothing is known of his life or station beyond what he tells us in his two surviving works, Epitoma rei militaris, and the lesser-known Digesta Artis Mulomedicinae, a guide to veterinary medicine. This long held conclusion, that nothing is known nor ever will be, has recently been challenged, despite Eutropius location in Constantinople, the scholarly consensus is that Vegetius wrote in the Western Empire. Vegetius identifies himself in the opening of his work Epitoma rei militaris as a Christian, Vegetius epitome mainly focuses on military organization and how to react to certain occasions in war. As G. R. Watson observes, Vegetius Epitoma is the only ancient manual of Roman military institutions to have survived intact. Despite this, Watson doubts its value, for Vegetius was neither a historian nor a soldier, his work is a compilation carelessly constructed from material of all ages, a congeries of inconsistencies. These antiquarian sources, according to his own statement, were Cato the Elder, Cornelius Celsus, Frontinus, Paternus and the constitutions of Augustus, Trajan. The first book is a plea for reform, it vividly portrays the military decadence of the Late Roman Empire. Vegetius also describes in detail the training and equipment of the army of the early Empire. The third book contains a series of maxims, which were the foundation of military learning for every European commander from William the Silent to Frederick the Great. His book on siege-craft contains the best description of Late Empire, among other things, it shows details of the siege engine called the onager, which afterwards played a great part in sieges, until the development of modern cannonry. The fifth book gives an account of the materiel and personnel of the Roman navy, the author of the 1911 Encyclopaedia Britannica article states that In manuscript, Vegetius work had a great vogue from its first advent. Its rules of siegecraft were much studied in the Middle Ages, milner observes that it was one of the most popular Latin technical works from Antiquity, rivalling the elder Plinys Natural History in the number of surviving copies dating from before AD1300. It was translated into English, French, Italian, Catalan, Spanish, Czech, the first printed editions are ascribed to Utrecht, Cologne, Paris, Rome, and Pisa. A German translation by Ludwig Hohenwang appeared at Ulm in 1475, however, from that point Vegetius position as the premier military authority began to decline, as ancient historians such as Polybius became available. Stewechius opinion that the survival of Vegetius work led to the loss of his sources were more typical of the late Renaissance. While as late as the 18th century a soldier such as Marshal Puysegur based his own works on this model, in Milners words. Vegetius emphasizes the shortcomings of the Roman Army in his lifetime, to do this, he eulogises the army of the early Empire
16.
De re militari
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The extant text dates to the 5th century. He was concerned about selection of soldiers and recommended hard training of at least four months before the soldier was accepted into the ranks. The leader of the army had to care of the men under his command. De Re Militari became a guide in the Middle Ages. Even after the introduction of gunpowder to Europe, it was carried by general officers, friends and subordinates customarily presented embellished copies as gifts to leaders. It went on into the 18th and 19th centuries as a source of policy, in that sense De Re Militari is a projection of Roman civilization into modern times and a continuation of its influence on its cultural descendants. The author of De Re Militari was Publius Flavius Vegetius Renatus, the name of the work has a number of variants, including Epitoma Rei Militaris, but there are other problems with accepting it at face value as the verbatim work of Vegetius. Some of the manuscripts have a note that the text was revised for the 7th time in Constantinople in the consulate of Valentinian, Vegetius dates are not known, nor are the circumstances under which the work was revised. The year 450 is taken as the latest possible time the work could have been written, the initial date of the window is established by Vegetius own statement that he wrote covering the time usque ad tempus divi Gratiani, up to the time of the divine Gratian. As emperors did not become gods generally until they died, the statement sets the initial possible date at 383, if the earlier date is preferred, it is unlikely Vegetius did all seven revisions or even one of them. There is no reason to question his general authorship, however, the work is dedicated to a mysterious emperor, whose identity is unknown but whom Vegetius must have assumed to have been known to his intended readership. It may be that he wrote on behalf of military reform under the patronage of Theodosius I, in that case he would have been alive in the window 378-395, the dates of Theodosius reign. This article adopts that point of view and assigns a date of 390 to the work. Vegetius based his treatise on descriptions of Roman armies, especially those of the mid to late Republic, Watson observes, Vegetius Epitoma is the only ancient manual of Roman military institutions to have survived intact. Despite this, Watson is dubious of its value, for he was neither a historian nor a soldier, his work is a compilation carelessly constructed from material of all ages, a congeries of inconsistencies. These antiquarian sources, according to his own statement, were Cato the Elder, Cornelius Celsus, Frontinus, Paternus, Vegetius epitome mainly focuses on military organisation and how to react to certain occasions in war. The treatise is carefully laid out in subsections, Vegetius also describes in detail the organisation, training and equipment of the army of the early Empire. Portraying the military decadence of the Late Roman Empire, it is a plea for army reform, the second book, Secundus liber ueteris militiae continet morem, ad quem pedestris institui possit exercitus, contains traditional military practices with which infantry can be created
17.
Scythed chariot
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The scythed chariot was a war chariot with scythe blades mounted on each side, employed in ancient times. The scythed chariot was a war chariot. The blades extended horizontally for about 1 meter to each side of the wheels, serrated bronze blades for chariot wheels have also been excavated from Chou-era pre-imperial Chinese sites. Chariots with iron scythes were recorded in the Hebrew scriptures at both Joshua 17,16,18 and Judges 1,19, in reference to the Canaanites. The scythed chariot was pulled by a team of four horses, theoretically the scythed chariot would plow through infantry lines, cutting combatants in half or at least opening gaps in the line which could be exploited. It was difficult to get horses to charge into the phalanx formation of the Greek/Macedonian hoplites. The scythed chariot avoided this inherent problem for cavalry, by the cutting into the formation. A disciplined army could diverge as the chariot approached, and then re-form quickly behind it, war chariots had limited military capabilities. They were strictly a weapon and were best suited against infantry in open flat country where the charioteers had room to maneuver. Historical sources come from the side of such engagements i. e. the Greek. Here is one recorded encounter where scythed chariots were on the side, The soldiers had got into the habit of collecting their supplies carelessly. There was one occasion when Pharnabazus, with 2 scythed chariots and about 400 cavalry, when the Greeks saw him bearing down on them, they ran to join up with each other, about 700 altogether, but Pharnabazus did not waste time. Putting the chariots in front, and following them himself with the cavalry. The chariots dashing into the Greek ranks, broke up their formation. The rest fled and took refuge with Agesilaus, who happened to be close at hand with the hoplites, the only other example of their successful use seems to be when units of Mithradates VI of Pontus defeated a Bithynian force on the River Amnias in 89BC. Despite these shortcomings, scythed chariots were used with success by the Persians. They are last known to have used at the Battle of Zela in 47 BC. The Romans are reported to have defeated this weapon system, not necessarily at this battle and this is universally regarded as false
18.
Chariot
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A chariot is a type of carriage driven by a charioteer using primarily horses to provide rapid motive power. Chariots were used by armies as transport or mobile platforms, for hunting or for racing. The word chariot comes from the Latin carrus, itself a loanword from Gaulish, a chariot of war or one used in military parades was called a car. In ancient Rome and some other ancient Mediterranean civilizations, a required two horses, a triga three, and a quadriga four. The critical invention that allowed the construction of light, horse-drawn chariots was the spoked wheel, the earliest spoke-wheeled chariots date to ca.2000 BCE. The use of chariots peaked around 1300 BCE, Chariots had lost their military importance by the 1st century CE, but chariot races continued to be popular in Constantinople until the 6th century. The domestication of the horse was an important step toward civilization, an increasing amount of evidence supports the hypothesis that horses were domesticated in the Eurasian Steppes approximately 4000-3500 BCE. The invention of the used in transportation most likely took place in Europe. Evidence of wheeled vehicles appears from the mid 4th millennium BCE near-simultaneously in the Northern Caucasus, the earliest vehicles may have been ox carts. Starokorsunskaya kurgan in the Kuban region of Russia contains a grave of the Maikop Culture. The two solid wooden wheels from this kurgan have been dated to the half of the fourth millennium. Soon thereafter the number of burials in this Northern Caucasus region multiplied. As David Anthony writes in his book The Horse, the Wheel and Language, in Eastern Europe and it is a clay pot excavated in a Funnelbeaker settlement in Swietokrzyskie Voivodeship in Poland. The oldest securely dated real wheel-axle combination in Eastern Europe is the Ljubljana Marshes Wheel, horses were introduced to Transcaucasia at the time of the Kura-Araxes culture, beginning about 3300 BCE. Prior to that, horse bones were not found, during the Kura-Araxes period, horses seem to become rather widespread, with signs of domestication. It is widely believed that wheeled transport was invented in Mesopotamia, nevertheless, recent archaeological evidence seems to indicate otherwise, pointing to Neolithic Europe. At the same time, in Mesopotamia, some intriguing early pictograms of a sled that rests on wooden rollers or wheels have been found and they date from about the same time as the early wheel discoveries in Europe and may indicate knowledge of the wheel. The earliest depiction of vehicles in the context of warfare is on the Standard of Ur in southern Mesopotamia, the hybrids were used by the Eblaite, early Sumerian, Akkadian and Ur III armies
19.
Roman legion
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A Roman legion was the largest unit of the Roman army involving from 3000 men in early times to over 5200 men in imperial times, consisting of centuries as the basic units. Until the middle of the first century,10 cohorts made up a Roman Legion and this was later changed to nine cohorts of standard size and one cohort, the first cohort, of double strength. In the early Roman Kingdom the legion may have meant the entire Roman army but sources on this period are few, Legions also included a small ala or cavalry unit. By the third century AD, the legion was a smaller unit of about 1,000 to 1,500 men. In the fourth century AD, East Roman border guard legions may have even smaller. The Roman army, for most of the Imperial period, consisted mostly of auxiliaries rather than legions, because legions were not permanent units until the Marian reforms, and were instead created, used, and disbanded again, several hundred legions were named and numbered throughout Roman history. To date, about 50 have been identified, toward the end of the 2nd Century BC, Rome started to experience manpower shortages brought about by property and financial qualifications to join the army. In the time of Augustus, there were nearly 50 upon his succession but this was reduced to about 25–35 permanent standing legions, a legion consisted of several cohorts of heavy infantry known as legionaries. The recruitment of non-citizens was rare but appears to have occurred in times of great need, For example, Caesar appears to have recruited the Legio V Alaudae mostly from non-citizen Gauls. In the period before the raising of the legio and the years of the Roman Kingdom. These centuries were grouped together as required and answered to the leader who had hired or raised them, the roles of century leader, second in command and standard bearer are referenced in this early period. Much Roman history of the era is shrouded in legend, but it is believed that during the reign of Servius Tullius, the census was introduced. Joining the army was both a duty and a mark of Roman citizenship, during the entire pre-Marian period the wealthiest land owners performed the most years of military service. These individuals would have had the most to lose should the state have fallen. The first and wealthiest common class was armed in the fashion of the hoplite with spear, sword, helmet, breast plate and round shield, there were 82 centuries of these, Roman soldiers had to purchase their own equipment. The second and third class also acted as spearmen but were heavily armoured and carried a larger oval or rectangular shield. The fourth class could afford no armour, perhaps bearing a shield and armed with spear. All three of the latter made up about 26 centuries
20.
Jamestown, Virginia
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The Jamestown settlement in the Colony of Virginia was the first permanent English settlement in the Americas. William Kelso writes that Jamestown is where the British Empire began, Jamestown was established by the Virginia Company of London as James Fort on May 4,1607, and was considered permanent after brief abandonment in 1610. It followed several earlier failed attempts, including the Lost Colony of Roanoke, Jamestown served as the capital of the colony of Virginia for 83 years, from 1616 until 1699. The settlement was located within the country of Tsenacommacah, which was ruled by the Powhatan Confederacy, the natives initially welcomed and provided crucial provisions and support for the colonists, who were not agriculturally inclined. Relations with the newcomers soured fairly early on, leading to the annihilation of the Paspahegh in warfare within 3 years. Mortality at Jamestown itself was very high due to disease and starvation, the Second Supply also brought the first two European women to the settlement. They most likely worked in the fields as indentured servants. The modern conception of slavery in the future United States was formalized in 1640 and was entrenched in Virginia by 1660. In 1676, the town was burned during Bacons Rebellion. In 1699, the capital was relocated from Jamestown to what is today Williamsburg, after which Jamestown ceased to exist as a settlement, existing today only as an archaeological site. Today, Jamestown is one of three locations comprising the Historic Triangle of Colonial Virginia, along with Williamsburg and Yorktown, with two primary heritage sites, Historic Jamestowne, the archaeological site on Jamestown Island, is a cooperative effort by Jamestown National Historic Site and Preservation Virginia. Jamestown Settlement, a living history site, is operated by the Jamestown Yorktown Foundation. Spain, Portugal, and France moved quickly to establish a presence in the New World, the English did not attempt to found colonies until many decades after the explorations of John Cabot, and early efforts were failures—most notably the Roanoke Colony which vanished about 1590. Late in 1606, English entrepreneurs set sail with a charter from the London Company to establish a colony in the New World, the fleet consisted of the ships Susan Constant, Discovery, and Godspeed, all under the leadership of Captain Christopher Newport. They made a long voyage of four months, including a stop in Puerto Rico. The expedition made landfall on April 26,1607 at a place which they named Cape Henry, Captain Edward Maria Wingfield was elected president of the governing council on April 25,1607. On May 14, he selected a piece of land on a peninsula some 40 miles inland from the Atlantic Ocean as a prime location for a fortified settlement. Perhaps the most favorable fact about the location was that it was not inhabited by nearby Virginia Indian tribes, the island was swampy and isolated, and it offered limited space, was plagued by mosquitoes, and afforded only brackish tidal river water unsuitable for drinking
21.
Waraji
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Waraji are sandals made from straw rope that in the past were the standard footwear of the common people in Japan. Waraji were also worn by the class and foot soldiers during the feudal era of Japan. Traditionally the rope material was made of straw, however, waraji can be made out of various other materials such as hemp, stalks of myōga, palm fibers. Now they are worn by traditional Buddhist monks. Traditionally, the Japanese wear the waraji with their toes protruding slightly over the front edge, however, there are no set rules or guidelines on wearing waraji. How waraji are tied depends on the user, for instance, a monk ties the waraji differently from a farmer, a soldier ties it differently from a townsman, and so on
22.
Battle of Balaclava
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The Allies decided against an immediate assault on Sevastopol and instead prepared for a protracted siege. However, this committed the British to the defence of the right flank of the Allied siege operations. The battle began with a Russian artillery and infantry attack on the Ottoman redoubts that formed Balaclavas first line of defence, the Ottoman forces initially resisted the Russian assaults, but lacking support they were eventually forced to retreat. When the redoubts fell, the Russian cavalry moved to engage the second defensive line held by the Ottoman, the British and French fleets departed from the Bulgarian port of Varna on 5 September 1854, heading towards Kalamita Bay in the Crimea. By the 14th, the troops began to land, within four days the Allied force of 61,400 infantry,1,200 cavalry and 137 guns, was ashore. News of Menshikovs defeat was met with disbelief by Tsar Nicholas I in St. Petersburg – it seemed it would only be a matter of time before Sevastopol fell. It is frightful to think what might have happened, wrote Vice-Admiral Kornilov, had it not been for this error of the enemys. John Burgoyne, the British Armys most experienced engineer, advocated an attack on Sevastopol from the south which and this was a view shared by Saint-Arnaud who, having received his own intelligence of Russian reinforcements, had refused to agree to an attack from the north. Burgoynes proposed flank march required the Allies to go round the city to the east in order to attack the harbour from the south where the defences were weakest. Whilst Menshikov moved east, the Anglo-French-Turkish army, with the British in the vanguard, the heat was oppressive, the water sparse, and cholera rife, taking a heavy toll on the men including Saint-Arnaud who was already ill with cancer. The march had been a trial and was not without incident. By the 26th, however, Raglan had reached the village of Kadikoi and that same day Saint-Arnaud, now critically ill, surrendered his command to General Canrobert. The harbour at Balaclava was too small for both Allied armies to use, by rights the French, who had claimed the honour of holding the right of the line, should have occupied Balaclava whilst the British should have moved west to the ports of Kazatch and Kamiesh. The decision by Raglan was a bad mistake, and one for which the British Army was to pay a terrible price, for many, the only justification for the flank march was an immediate assault upon Sevastopol. George Cathcart, commander of the British 4th Division, pleaded with Raglan for instant action, I am sure I could walk into it, with scarcely the loss of a man, wrote Cathcart to Raglan on 28 September from the heights above the eastern approach to the city. We could leave our packs, and run into it even in open day … We see people walking about the streets in great consternation, but caution prevailed, and plans by Burgoyne for a formal siege, backed by Canrobert, were prepared. When Raglan told Cathcart that nothing would happen until the Allied siege trains had been landed, Cathcart could not hide his irritation, but my dear Lord Raglan, what the devil is there to knock down. Having decided upon which port they would occupy the Allies set about deploying their forces on the Chersonese Peninsula, the peninsula is bounded to the north by Sevastopol Harbour, at the head of which the River Chernaya flows from the south-east
23.
Yuan dynasty
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The Yuan dynasty, officially the Great Yuan, was the empire or ruling dynasty of China established by Kublai Khan, leader of the Mongolian Borjigin clan. His realm was, by point, isolated from the other khanates and controlled most of present-day China and its surrounding areas. Some of the Mongolian Emperors of the Yuan mastered the Chinese language, while others used their native language. The Yuan dynasty is considered both a successor to the Mongol Empire and an imperial Chinese dynasty and it was the khanate ruled by the successors of Möngke Khan after the division of the Mongol Empire. In official Chinese histories, the Yuan dynasty bore the Mandate of Heaven, following the Song dynasty, the dynasty was established by Kublai Khan, yet he placed his grandfather Genghis Khan on the imperial records as the official founder of the dynasty as Taizu. In addition to Emperor of China, Kublai Khan also claimed the title of Great Khan, supreme over the other khanates, the Chagatai, the Golden Horde. As such, the Yuan was also referred to as the Empire of the Great Khan. However, while the claim of supremacy by the Yuan emperors was at times recognized by the khans, their subservience was nominal. In 1271, Kublai Khan imposed the name Great Yuan, establishing the Yuan dynasty, dà Yuán is from the clause 大哉乾元 in the Commentaries on the Classic of Changes section regarding Qián. The counterpart in Mongolian language was Dai Ön Ulus, also rendered as Ikh Yuan Üls or Yekhe Yuan Ulus, in Mongolian, Dai Ön is often used in conjunction with the Yeke Mongghul Ulus, resulting in Dai Ön Yeke Mongghul Ulus, meaning Great Mongol State. Nevertheless, both terms can refer to the khanate within the Mongol Empire directly ruled by Great Khans before the actual establishment of the Yuan dynasty by Kublai Khan in 1271. Genghis Khan united the Mongol and Turkic tribes of the steppes and he and his successors expanded the Mongol empire across Asia. Under the reign of Genghis third son, Ögedei Khan, the Mongols destroyed the weakened Jin dynasty in 1234, Ögedei offered his nephew Kublai a position in Xingzhou, Hebei. Kublai was unable to read Chinese but had several Han Chinese teachers attached to him since his early years by his mother Sorghaghtani and he sought the counsel of Chinese Buddhist and Confucian advisers. Möngke Khan succeeded Ögedeis son, Güyük, as Great Khan in 1251 and he granted his brother Kublai control over Mongol held territories in China. Kublai built schools for Confucian scholars, issued paper money, revived Chinese rituals and he adopted as his capital city Kaiping in Inner Mongolia, later renamed Shangdu. Many Han Chinese and Khitan defected to the Mongols to fight against the Jin, two Han Chinese leaders, Shi Tianze, Liu Heima, and the Khitan Xiao Zhala defected and commanded the 3 Tumens in the Mongol army. Liu Heima and Shi Tianze served Ogödei Khan, Liu Heima and Shi Tianxiang led armies against Western Xia for the Mongols
24.
National Museum of China
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The National Museum of China flanks the eastern side of Tiananmen Square in Beijing, China. The museums mission is to educate about the arts and history of China and it is directed by the Ministry of Culture of the Peoples Republic of China. It is one of the largest museums in the world, the building was completed in 1959 as one of the Ten Great Buildings celebrating the ten-year anniversary of the founding of the Peoples Republic of China. It complements the opposing Great Hall of the People that was built at the same time, the structure sits on 6.5 hectares and has a frontal length of 313 metres, a height of four stories totaling 40 metres, and a width of 149 metres. The front displays eleven square pillars at its center and it has a total floor space of nearly 200,000 m2 to display. The renovations were designed by the German firm Gerkan, Marg, the museum, covering Chinese history from the Yuanmou Man of 1. However Yves Carcelle, Chairman and Chief executive officer of Louis Vuitton Malletier defended the exhibition by stating, I think before money, theres history,157 years of creativity and craftsmanship
25.
Tetrapod (structure)
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In coastal engineering, a tetrapod is a tetrahedral concrete structure used as armour unit on breakwaters. Earlier barrier material used in breakwaters, such as boulders and conventional concrete blocks, Tetrapods and similar structures are often numbered so any displacement that occurs can be monitored from photographs. The unit was developed in 1950 by Laboratoire Dauphinois dHydraulique in Grenoble. They are no longer protected by a patent, and are used all over the world. In Japan, the word tetrapod is often used as a name for wave-dissipating blocks including other types and shapes. Tetrapods and concrete have become a Japanese institution in modern times and their manufacture and dispersal create jobs for Japanese citizens and contracts for construction companies. It is estimated that nearly 50 percent of Japans 35,000 kilometer coastline has been covered or somehow altered by Tetrapods, artificial reef Breakwater Coastal management Coastal erosion Dolos KOLOS Ocean surface wave Seawall Xbloc Lagasse, P. F. Countermeasures to protect bridge piers from scour, Environmentally friendly coastal protection, proceedings of the NATO Advanced Research Workshop on Environmentally Friendly Coastal Protection Structures, Varna, Bulgaria, 25-27 May 2004. Tetrapodistas, Beauty beheld in huge concrete forms, loving and Loathing Japans Concrete Coasts, Where Tetrapods Reign
26.
Marine Drive, Mumbai
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Marine Drive is a 3. 6-kilometre-long boulevard in South Mumbai in the city of Mumbai. It is a C-shaped six-lane concrete road along the coast, which is a natural bay, the road links Nariman Point to Babulnath and Malabar Hill. Marine Drive is situated over reclaimed land facing west-south-west, a promenade lies parallel to this road. Marine Drive is also known as the Queens Necklace because, if viewed at night from a point anywhere along the drive. The official name for this road, though rarely used, is Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose Road, the promenade is lined with palm trees. At the northern end of Marine Drive is Chowpatty Beach and this is a popular beach famed for its Bhel puri. Many restaurants also line this stretch of the road, further down this road lies Walkeshwar, a wealthy neighbourhood of the city, also home to the Governor of Maharashtra. Most of the buildings which were built by wealthy Parsis sport an art deco look that was popular in the 1920s and 1930s, real estate prices along the esplanade are high. Many hotels dot the drive, most prominent among them being the 5-star Oberoi, The Intercontinental, Hotel Marine Plaza, Sea Green Hotel, Marine Drive is the preferred connecting road between the central business district located at Nariman Point and the rest of the city. Former singing superstar of 1950s Suraiya lived here in Krishna Mahal in the ground floor apartment from 1940s till her death on 31st January 2004, the house was first taken on rent by her mother Mumtaz Begum. Many other film stars, like Nargis, Raj Kapoor lived nearby in 1940s and 50s, in 2012, the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai announced that the entire road would be resurfaced,72 years after it was originally laid. Marine Drive has hosted the major events in recent times. IAF airshow, October 17,2004 Bombay Marathon 9 February 2004 — an international marathon, international Fleet Review 19 February 2001 — The worlds major navies took part in the IFR. Palm Beach Marg, Navi Mumbai Corniche, an area in many other cities worldwide
27.
Mumbai
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Mumbai is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the most populous city in India and the ninth most populous agglomeration in the world, Mumbai lies on the west coast of India and has a deep natural harbour. In 2008, Mumbai was named a world city. It is also the wealthiest city in India, and has the highest GDP of any city in South, West, Mumbai has the highest number of billionaires and millionaires among all cities in India. The seven islands that came to constitute Mumbai were home to communities of fishing colonies, during the mid-18th century, Bombay was reshaped by the Hornby Vellard project, which undertook reclamation of the area between the seven islands from the sea. Along with construction of roads and railways, the reclamation project, completed in 1845. Bombay in the 19th century was characterised by economic and educational development, during the early 20th century it became a strong base for the Indian independence movement. Upon Indias independence in 1947 the city was incorporated into Bombay State, in 1960, following the Samyukta Maharashtra movement, a new state of Maharashtra was created with Bombay as the capital. Mumbai is the financial, commercial and entertainment capital of India and it is also home to some of Indias premier scientific and nuclear institutes like BARC, NPCL, IREL, TIFR, AERB, AECI, and the Department of Atomic Energy. The city also houses Indias Hindi and Marathi film and television industry, Mumbais business opportunities, as well as its potential to offer a higher standard of living, attract migrants from all over India, making the city a melting pot of many communities and cultures. The oldest known names for the city are Kakamuchee and Galajunkja, in 1508, Portuguese writer Gaspar Correia used the name Bombaim, in his Lendas da Índia. This name possibly originated as the Old Portuguese phrase bom baim, meaning good little bay, in 1516, Portuguese explorer Duarte Barbosa used the name Tana-Maiambu, Tana appears to refer to the adjoining town of Thane and Maiambu to Mumbadevi. Other variations recorded in the 16th and the 17th centuries include, Mombayn, Bombay, Bombain, Bombaym, Monbaym, Mombaim, Mombaym, Bambaye, Bombaiim, Bombeye, Boon Bay, and Bon Bahia. After the English gained possession of the city in the 17th century, Ali Muhammad Khan, imperial diwan or revenue minister of the Gujarat province, in the Mirat-i-Ahmedi referred to the city as Manbai. By the late 20th century, the city was referred to as Mumbai or Mambai in the Indian statewise official languages of Marathi, Konkani, Gujarati, Kannada and Sindhi, the Government of India officially changed the English name to Mumbai in November 1995. According to Slate magazine, they argued that Bombay was a corrupted English version of Mumbai, Slate also said The push to rename Bombay was part of a larger movement to strengthen Marathi identity in the Maharashtra region. A resident of Mumbai is called mumbaikar in the Marathi language, the term has been in use for quite some time but it gained popularity after the official name change to Mumbai. Mumbai is built on what was once an archipelago of seven islands, Bombay Island, Parel, Mazagaon, Mahim, Colaba, Worli and it is not exactly known when these islands were first inhabited
28.
Punji stick
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The punji stick or punji stake is a type of booby trapped stake. It is a spike, made out of wood or bamboo. Punji sticks are usually deployed in substantial numbers, punji sticks would be placed in areas likely to be passed through by enemy troops. The presence of punji sticks may be camouflaged by natural undergrowth, crops, grass and they were often incorporated into various types of traps, for example, a camouflaged pit into which a man might fall. Sometimes a pit would be dug with punji sticks in the sides pointing downward at an angle, punji sticks were sometimes deployed in the preparation of an ambush. In the preparation of these stakes, the stake itself would be sharpened and, in cases, rubbed with toxic plants, frogs or even feces. Soldiers lying in wait for the enemy to pass would deploy punji sticks in the areas where the enemy might be expected to take cover, thus. The point of penetration was usually in the foot or lower leg area, in the Vietnam War, the Viet Cong would also use this method to force the wounded soldier to be transported by helicopter to a medical hospital for treatment. Punji sticks were used in Vietnam to complement various defenses. The term first appeared in the English language in the 1870s, NLF and PAVN strategy, organization and structure NLF and PAVN logistics and equipment NLF and PAVN battle tactics
29.
World War II
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World War II, also known as the Second World War, was a global war that lasted from 1939 to 1945, although related conflicts began earlier. It involved the vast majority of the worlds countries—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing alliances, the Allies and the Axis. It was the most widespread war in history, and directly involved more than 100 million people from over 30 countries. Marked by mass deaths of civilians, including the Holocaust and the bombing of industrial and population centres. These made World War II the deadliest conflict in human history, from late 1939 to early 1941, in a series of campaigns and treaties, Germany conquered or controlled much of continental Europe, and formed the Axis alliance with Italy and Japan. Under the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact of August 1939, Germany and the Soviet Union partitioned and annexed territories of their European neighbours, Poland, Finland, Romania and the Baltic states. In December 1941, Japan attacked the United States and European colonies in the Pacific Ocean, and quickly conquered much of the Western Pacific. The Axis advance halted in 1942 when Japan lost the critical Battle of Midway, near Hawaii, in 1944, the Western Allies invaded German-occupied France, while the Soviet Union regained all of its territorial losses and invaded Germany and its allies. During 1944 and 1945 the Japanese suffered major reverses in mainland Asia in South Central China and Burma, while the Allies crippled the Japanese Navy, thus ended the war in Asia, cementing the total victory of the Allies. World War II altered the political alignment and social structure of the world, the United Nations was established to foster international co-operation and prevent future conflicts. The victorious great powers—the United States, the Soviet Union, China, the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union and the United States emerged as rival superpowers, setting the stage for the Cold War, which lasted for the next 46 years. Meanwhile, the influence of European great powers waned, while the decolonisation of Asia, most countries whose industries had been damaged moved towards economic recovery. Political integration, especially in Europe, emerged as an effort to end pre-war enmities, the start of the war in Europe is generally held to be 1 September 1939, beginning with the German invasion of Poland, Britain and France declared war on Germany two days later. The dates for the beginning of war in the Pacific include the start of the Second Sino-Japanese War on 7 July 1937, or even the Japanese invasion of Manchuria on 19 September 1931. Others follow the British historian A. J. P. Taylor, who held that the Sino-Japanese War and war in Europe and its colonies occurred simultaneously and this article uses the conventional dating. Other starting dates sometimes used for World War II include the Italian invasion of Abyssinia on 3 October 1935. The British historian Antony Beevor views the beginning of World War II as the Battles of Khalkhin Gol fought between Japan and the forces of Mongolia and the Soviet Union from May to September 1939, the exact date of the wars end is also not universally agreed upon. It was generally accepted at the time that the war ended with the armistice of 14 August 1945, rather than the formal surrender of Japan
30.
Reinforced concrete
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The reinforcement is usually, though not necessarily, steel reinforcing bars and is usually embedded passively in the concrete before the concrete sets. Reinforcing schemes are designed to resist tensile stresses in particular regions of the concrete that might cause unacceptable cracking and/or structural failure. Modern reinforced concrete can contain varied reinforcing materials made of steel, Reinforced concrete may also be permanently stressed, so as to improve the behaviour of the final structure under working loads. In the United States, the most common methods of doing this are known as pre-tensioning and post-tensioning, durability in the concrete environment, irrespective of corrosion or sustained stress for example. François Coignet was a French industrialist of the century, a pioneer in the development of structural. Coignet was the first to use iron-reinforced concrete as a technique for constructing building structures, in 1853 Coignet built the first iron reinforced concrete structure, a four story house at 72 rue Charles Michels in the suburbs of Paris. Coignets descriptions of reinforcing concrete suggests that he did not do it for means of adding strength to the concrete, in 1854, English builder William B. Wilkinson reinforced the concrete roof and floors in the two-storey house he was constructing. His positioning of the reinforcement demonstrated that, unlike his predecessors, in 1877, Monier was granted another patent for a more advanced technique of reinforcing concrete columns and girders with iron rods placed in a grid pattern. Though Monier undoubtedly knew reinforcing concrete would improve its inner cohesion, before 1877 the use of concrete construction, though dating back to the Roman Empire and reintroduced in the mid to late 1800s, was not yet a proven scientific technology. His work played a role in the evolution of concrete construction as a proven. Without Hyatts work, more dangerous trial and error methods would have largely depended on for the advancement in the technology. G. A. Wayss was a German civil engineer and a pioneer of the iron, in 1879 Wayss bought the German rights to Moniers patents and in 1884 started the first commercial use for reinforced concrete in his firm Wayss & Freytag. Up until the 1890s Wayss and his firm greatly contributed to the advancement of Moniers system of reinforcing, ernest L. Ransome was an English-born engineer and early innovator of the reinforced concrete techniques in the end of the 19th century. With the knowledge of reinforced concrete developed during the previous 50 years, ransomes key innovation was to twist the reinforcing steel bar improving bonding with the concrete. Gaining increasing fame from his concrete constructed buildings Ransome was able to build two of the first reinforced concrete bridges in North America, one of the first concrete buildings constructed in the United States, was a private home, designed by William Ward in 1871. The home was designed to be fireproof for his wife, one of the first skyscrapers made with reinforced concrete was the 16-storey Ingalls Building in Cincinnati, constructed in 1904. Many different types of structures and components of structures can be built using reinforced concrete including slabs, walls, beams, columns, foundations, frames, Reinforced concrete can be classified as precast or cast-in-place concrete. Designing and implementing the most efficient floor system is key to creating optimal building structures, small changes in the design of a floor system can have significant impact on material costs, construction schedule, ultimate strength, operating costs, occupancy levels and end use of a building
31.
Anti-tank warfare
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Anti-tank warfare arose as a result of the need to develop technology and tactics to destroy tanks during World War I. Since the first tanks were developed by the Triple Entente in 1916 but not operated in battle until 1917, because tanks represent an enemys land greatest force projection, anti-tank warfare has been incorporated into the doctrine of nearly every combat service since. Most predominant anti-tank weapons at the start of World War II were the gun, anti-tank guns. Through the Cold War, The United States, Soviet Union, while previous technology was developed to protect crews of armored vehicles from projectiles and explosive damage, the possibility of radiation arose. In the NATO countries little if any development took place on defining a doctrine of how to use armed forces without the use of nuclear weapons. The solution they arrived at was maneuver warfare while massively increasing the number of anti-tank weapons and this led to the development of improved guided anti-tank missiles, though similar design work was being performed in Western Europe and the United States. Also being developed were new varieties of artillery munitions in the form of top-attack shells, helicopters could be used as well to rapidly deliver scattered anti-tank mines. Anti-tank warfare evolved as a countermeasure to the threat of the appearance on the battlefields of the Western Front of the First World War. The tank had been developed to negate the German system of trenches, however, there was no means of communication between the tanks crew and the accompanying infantry, or between the tanks participating in combat. Radios were not yet portable or robust enough to be mounted in a tank, attaching a field telephone to the rear would become a practice only during the next war. The early tanks were mechanically rudimentary, the 0. 23-to-0. 47-inch thick armor generally prevented penetration by small arms fire and shell fragments. However, even a near miss from field artillery or an impact from a mortar HE round easily disabled the tank, or destroyed it if the tank was ruptured. This was achieved by mounting a QF6 pounder Hotchkiss light 57 mm naval gun mounted in the hull barbettes, turrets were later introduced on medium and light tanks to react to ambushes during the advance. The tank, when it appeared on the Western Front in September 1916, was a surprise to the German troops. The French Army Staff was highly critical of the British Armys early fielding of the Mark I vehicles in small numbers because the French trials showed the armored vehicles to be highly unreliable. They judged that large numbers had to be employed to sustain an offensive despite losses to mechanical failure or vehicles being foundered in intractable no mans land terrain. These losses, coupled with those from enemy fire, later amounted to as high as 70% of the starters during some operations. Deploying small numbers of tanks would therefore cause the Allies to lose the element of surprise, because the German Army was the only force in need of anti-tank weapons, it was they that had to develop a viable technology to combat the tank
32.
Dragon's teeth (fortification)
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Dragons teeth are square-pyramidal fortifications of reinforced concrete first used during the Second World War to impede the movement of tanks and mechanised infantry. The idea was to slow down and channel tanks into killing zones where they could easily be disposed of by anti-tank weapons and they were employed extensively, particularly on the Siegfried Line. In practice, the use of engineers and specialist clearance vehicles enabled them to be disposed of relatively quickly. The obstacles could also simply be buried using bulldozers and dump trucks, Dragons teeth were used by several armies in the European Theatre. The Germans made extensive use of them in the Siegfried Line, typically, each tooth was 90 to 120 cm tall depending on the precise model. Land mines were laid between the individual teeth, and further obstacles constructed along the lines of teeth. Behind minefields were the dragons teeth and they rested on a concrete mat between ten and thirty meters wide, sunk in a meter or two into the ground. On top of the mat were the teeth themselves, truncated pyramids of reinforced concrete about a meter in height in the front row and they were staggered and spaced in such a manner that a tank could not drive through. The only way to take those pillboxes was for infantry to get behind them, but behind the first row of pillboxes and dragon’s teeth, there was a second, and often a third, and sometimes a fourth. Due to the numbers laid and their durable construction, many thousands of dragons teeth can still be seen today, especially in the remains of the Siegfried. Switzerland continues to maintain lines of teeth in certain strategic areas. In the military jargon these constructions are often referred to as Toblerone lines, Dragons teeth are also present in some areas along the Korean Demilitarized Zone borderline and were also used on the Eastern Side of the Berlin Wall. Bollard is another term for such a post, some countries, such as those formed after the breakup of Yugoslavia, have movable teeth, positioned at roadsides at strategic locations, which are to be lifted and placed on the roads. Some stages of Rallye Deutschland, the German round of the WRC rally championship, are run on roads belonging to the training ground at Baumholder. The roads are lined with teeth, known as hinkelsteins. They usually serve as obstacles to prevent tanks from leaving the roads, popular Science, June 1942, pp. 106–112. Field expedient tank traps constructed of logs, white Cliffs Underground - Dragons Teeth and Tank Traps around Englands south coast Dragons Teeth on Libyan border with Egypt ANTI-TANK OBSTACLES, ISLE OF GRAIN, KENT
33.
Tank
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A tank is an armoured fighting vehicle designed for front-line combat, with heavy firepower, strong armour, and tracks providing good battlefield maneuverability. The first tanks were designed to overcome the deadlock of trench warfare, now they are a mainstay of ground forces. Modern tanks are versatile mobile land weapon platforms, mounting a large-calibre cannon in a rotating gun turret. In both offensive and defensive roles, they are units that are capable of performing tasks which are required of armoured units on the battlefield. As a result of advances, tanks underwent tremendous shifts in capability in the years since their first appearance. Tanks in World War I were developed separately and simultaneously by Great Britain and this was a prototype of a new design that would become the British Armys Mark I tank, the first tank used in combat in September 1916 during the Battle of the Somme. The name tank was adopted by the British during the stages of their development. While the British and French built thousands of tanks in World War I, Germany was unconvinced of the tanks potential, Tanks of the interwar period evolved into the much larger and more powerful designs of World War II. Tanks in the Cold War were designed with these weapons in mind, improved engines, transmissions and suspensions allowed tanks of this period to grow larger. Aspects of gun technology changed significantly as well, with advances in shell design, during the Cold War, the main battle tank concept arose and became a key component of modern armies. Modern tanks seldom operate alone, as they are organized into combined arms units which involve the support of infantry and they are also usually supported by reconnaissance or ground-attack aircraft. The tank is the 20th century realization of an ancient concept, the internal combustion engine, armour plate, and continuous track were key innovations leading to the invention of the modern tank. Many sources imply that Leonardo da Vinci and H. G. Wells in some way foresaw or invented the tank, leonardos late 15th century drawings of what some describe as a tank show a man-powered, wheeled vehicle with cannons all around it. However the human crew would not have power to move it over larger distance. In the 15th century, Jan Žižka built armoured wagons containing cannons, the caterpillar track arose from attempts to improve the mobility of wheeled vehicles by spreading their weight, reducing ground pressure, and increasing their traction. Experiments can be traced back as far as the 17th century and it is frequently claimed that Richard Lovell Edgeworth created a caterpillar track. It is true that in 1770 he patented a machine, that should carry and lay down its own road and his own account in his autobiography is of a horse-drawn wooden carriage on eight retractable legs, capable of lifting itself over high walls. The description bears no similarity to a caterpillar track, armoured trains appeared in the mid-19th century, and various armoured steam and petrol-engined vehicles were also proposed
34.
Czech hedgehog
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The Czech hedgehog is a static anti-tank obstacle defense made of metal angle beams or I-beams. The hedgehog is very effective in keeping tanks from penetrating a line of defense, although Czech hedgehogs may provide some scant cover for infantry, infantry forces are generally much less effective against fortified defensive positions than mechanized units. The Czech hedgehogs name refers to its origin in Czechoslovakia, the Czech hedgehog was widely used during World War II by the Soviet Union in anti-tank defense. They were produced from any piece of metal and sometimes even wood. Czech hedgehogs were especially effective in combat, where a single hedgehog could block an entire street. Czech hedgehogs thus became a symbol of defense at all cost in the Soviet Union, hence, Czech hedgehogs were part of the defenses of the Atlantic Wall and are visible in many images of the Normandy invasion. A Czech hedgehog made to specifications could be constructed from any material capable of withstanding at least 60 tonnes-force, such parameters, however were hard to achieve in makeshift hedgehogs, thereby reducing their usefulness. Two arms of the hedgehog were connected in the factory, while the arm was connected on-site by M20 bolts. The arms were equipped with feet to prevent sinking into the ground. During the Normandy Invasion the Allies cut up sizable numbers of intact and wrecked hedgehogs, known as Rhino tanks, they proved very useful for clearing the hedgerows that made up the bocages across Normandy. Caltrop Cheval de frise, a frame covered with many long iron or wooden spikes used in medieval times to deter cavalry. A23992, Royal Navy Commandos at La Riviere preparing to demolish beach obstacles
35.
Landing craft
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Landing craft are boats and seagoing vessels used to convey a landing force from the sea to the shore during an amphibious assault. Most renowned are those used to storm the beaches of Normandy, the Mediterranean and this was the high point of the landing craft, with a significant number of different designs produced in large quantities by the United Kingdom and United States. Because of the need to run up onto a beach, World War II landing craft were flat-bottomed. This made them difficult to control and very uncomfortable in rough seas, the control point was normally at the extreme rear of the vessel, as were the engines. In all cases, they were known by a derived from the official name rather than by the full title. In the days of sail, the boats were used as landing craft. They transported 1,200 men in the first landing and took on board 600 men in less than 2 hours for the second landing, during World War I, the mass mobilization of troops equipped with rapid-fire weapons quickly rendered such boats obsolete. Initial landings during the Gallipoli campaign took place in unmodified rowing boats that were vulnerable to attack from the Turkish shore defenses. In February 1915, orders were placed for the design of purpose built landing craft, a design was created in four days resulting in an order for 200 X Lighters with a spoon-shaped bow to take shelving beaches and a drop down frontal ramp. The first use took place after they had been towed to the Aegean and performed successfully in the 6 August landing at Suvla Bay of IX Corps, commanded by Commander Edward Unwin. X Lighters, known to the soldiers as Beetles, carried about 500 men, displaced 135 tons and were based on London barges being 105 feet 6 inches long,21 feet wide, the engines mainly ran on heavy oil and ran at a speed of approximately 5 knots. The sides of the ships were bulletproof, and was designed with a ramp on the bow for disembarkation, a plan was devised to land British heavy tanks from pontoons in support of the Third Battle of Ypres, but this was abandoned. Despite this outlook, the British produced the Motor Landing Craft in 1920, the craft could put a medium tank directly onto a beach. From 1924, it was used with landing boats in annual exercises in amphibious landings, a prototype motor landing craft, designed by J. Samuel White of Cowes, was built and first sailed in 1926. It weighed 16 tons and had an appearance, having a square bow. To prevent fouling of the propellers in a craft destined to spend time in surf and possibly be beached, a crude waterjet propulsion system was devised by Whites designers. A Hotchkiss petrol engine drove a pump which produced a jet of water, pushing the craft ahead or astern. Speed was 5-6 knots and its capacity was good
36.
Warship
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A warship is a naval ship that is built and primarily intended for naval warfare. Usually they belong to the forces of a state. As well as being armed, warships are designed to damage and are usually faster. Unlike a merchant ship, which carries cargo, a warship typically carries weapons, ammunition. Warships usually belong to a navy, though they have also operated by individuals, cooperatives. In wartime, the distinction between warships and merchant ships is often blurred, in war, merchant ships are often armed and used as auxiliary warships, such as the Q-ships of the First World War and the armed merchant cruisers of the Second World War. Until the 17th century it was common for merchant ships to be pressed into naval service, until the threat of piracy subsided in the 19th century, it was normal practice to arm larger merchant ships such as galleons. Warships have also often used as troop carriers or supply ships. The development of catapults in the 4th century BC and the subsequent refinement of technology enabled the first fleets of artillery-equipped warships by the Hellenistic age. During late antiquity, ramming fell out of use and the galley tactics against other ships used during the Middle Ages until the late 16th century focused on boarding. Naval artillery was redeveloped in the 14th century, but cannon did not become common at sea until the guns were capable of being reloaded quickly enough to be reused in the same battle. The size of a required to carry a large number of cannons made oar-based propulsion impossible. The sailing man-of-war emerged during the 16th century, by the middle of the 17th century, warships were carrying increasing numbers of cannon on their broadsides and tactics evolved to bring each ships firepower to bear in a line of battle. The man-of-war now evolved into the ship of the line, in the 18th century, the frigate and sloop-of-war – too small to stand in the line of battle – evolved to convoy trade, scout for enemy ships and blockade enemy coasts. During the 19th century a revolution took place in the means of propulsion, naval armament. Marine steam engines were introduced, at first as an auxiliary force, the Crimean War gave a great stimulus to the development of guns. The introduction of explosive shells soon led to the introduction of iron, the first ironclad warships, the French Gloire and British Warrior, made wooden vessels obsolete. Metal soon entirely replaced wood as the material for warship construction
37.
Normandy landings
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The Normandy landings were the landing operations on Tuesday,6 June 1944 of the Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during World War II. The largest seaborne invasion in history, the operation began the liberation of German-occupied northwestern Europe from Nazi control, planning for the operation began in 1943. Adolf Hitler placed German Field Marshal Erwin Rommel in command of German forces, the amphibious landings were preceded by extensive aerial and naval bombardment and an airborne assault—the landing of 24,000 American, British, and Canadian airborne troops shortly after midnight. Allied infantry and armoured divisions began landing on the coast of France at 06,30, the target 50-mile stretch of the Normandy coast was divided into five sectors, Utah, Omaha, Gold, Juno, and Sword. Strong winds blew the landing craft east of their positions, particularly at Utah. Casualties were heaviest at Omaha, with its high cliffs, at Gold, Juno, and Sword, several fortified towns were cleared in house-to-house fighting, and two major gun emplacements at Gold were disabled, using specialised tanks. The Allies failed to any of their goals on the first day. Carentan, St. Lô, and Bayeux remained in German hands, and Caen, German casualties on D-Day have been estimated at 4,000 to 9,000 men. Allied casualties were at least 10,000, with 4,414 confirmed dead, museums, memorials, and war cemeteries in the area now host many visitors each year. Between 27 May and 4 June 1940, over 338,000 troops of the British Expeditionary Force, after the German Army invaded the Soviet Union in June 1941, the Soviet leader Joseph Stalin began pressing his allies for the creation of a second front in western Europe. In late May 1942 the Soviet Union and the United States made a joint announcement that a. full understanding was reached with regard to the urgent tasks of creating a front in Europe in 1942. Instead of a return to France, the Western Allies staged offensives in the Mediterranean Theatre of Operations. By mid-1943 the campaign in North Africa had been won, the Allies then launched the invasion of Sicily in July 1943, and subsequently invaded Italy in September the same year. By then, Soviet forces were on the offensive and had won a victory at the Battle of Stalingrad. The decision to undertake a cross-channel invasion within the year was taken at the Trident Conference in Washington in May 1943. Initial planning was constrained by the number of landing craft, most of which were already committed in the Mediterranean. At the Tehran Conference in November 1943, Roosevelt and Churchill promised Stalin that they would open the second front in May 1944. Four sites were considered for the landings, Brittany, the Cotentin Peninsula, Normandy, as Brittany and Cotentin are peninsulas, it would have been possible for the Germans to cut off the Allied advance at a relatively narrow isthmus, so these sites were rejected
38.
Breakwater (structure)
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Breakwaters are structures constructed on coasts as part of coastal defense or to protect an anchorage from the effects of both weather and longshore drift. Breakwaters reduce the intensity of wave action in inshore waters and thereby reduce coastal erosion or provide safe harbourage, Breakwaters may also be small structures designed to protect a gently sloping beach and put one to three hundred thousand feet onshore in relatively shallow water. An anchorage is only safe if ships anchored there are protected from the force of high winds, natural harbours are formed by such barriers as headlands or reefs. Artificial harbours can be created with the help of breakwaters, mobile harbours, such as the D-Day Mulberry harbours, were floated into position and acted as breakwaters. Some natural harbours, such as those in Plymouth Sound, Portland Harbour, the dissipation of energy and relative calm water created in the lee of the breakwaters often encourage accretion of sediment. However, this can lead to excessive salient build up, resulting in tombolo formation and this trapping of sediment can cause adverse effects down-drift of the breakwaters, leading to beach sediment starvation and increased erosion. This may then lead to further engineering protection being needed down-drift of the breakwater development, Breakwaters are subject to damage, and overtopping in severe storms events. Breakwaters can be constructed with one end linked to the shore, length of gap is largely governed by the interacting wavelengths. Breakwaters may be fixed or floating, and impermeable or permeable to allow sediment transfer shoreward of the structures. They usually consist of pieces of rock weighing up to 16 tonnes each. Their design is influenced by the angle of approach and other environmental parameters. Breakwater construction can be parallel or perpendicular to the coast. Of these three, the angle at which the breakwater is built is most important in the formation of salients. The angle at which the breakwater is built determines the new direction of the waves, a breakwater structure is designed to absorb the energy of the waves that hit it, either by using mass, or by using a revetment slope. In coastal engineering, a revetment is a land backed structure whilst a breakwater is a sea backed structure, caisson breakwaters typically have vertical sides and are usually erected where it is desirable to berth one or more vessels on the inner face of the breakwater. They use the mass of the caisson and the fill within it to resist the forces applied by waves hitting them. They are relatively expensive to construct in shallow water, but in deeper sites they can offer a significant saving over revetment breakwaters, rubble mound breakwaters use structural voids to dissipate the wave energy. Rock or concrete armour units on the outside of the structure absorb most of the energy, the slopes of the revetment are typically between 1,1 and 1,2, depending upon the materials used
39.
Spike strip
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A spike strip is a device used to impede or stop the movement of wheeled vehicles by puncturing their tires. Generally, the strip is composed of a collection of 35 to 75 mm long metal barbs, the barbs are designed to puncture and flatten tires when a vehicle is driven over them. The barbs may be hollow or solid, hollow barbs are designed to become embedded in the tires and allow air to escape at a steady pace in an attempt to reduce the risk of the driver crashing into oncoming traffic or the surroundings. In the United States, five officers were killed deploying spike strips in 2011 alone, dallas, Texas police are among those banned from using them, as a result of the hazards. Remotely deployable spike strips have been invented to reduce the danger to police officers deploying them, spike strips are also built into some parking barriers to control traffic flow. The private use of spike strips, cheaply constructed using a steel pipe. John Watkins, a member of New South Wales Legislative Assembly, stated they would be added to the New South Wales prohibited weapons list
40.
Office of Strategic Services
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The Office of Strategic Services was a wartime intelligence agency of the United States during World War II, and a predecessor of the modern Central Intelligence Agency. The OSS was formed as an agency of the Joint Chiefs of Staff to coordinate espionage activities behind enemy lines for all branches of the United States Armed Forces, other OSS functions included the use of propaganda, subversion, and post-war planning. It had no direction, coordination, or control. The US Army and US Navy had separate code-breaking departments, Signal Intelligence Service, the FBI was responsible for domestic security and anti-espionage operations. President Franklin D. Roosevelt was concerned about American intelligence deficiencies, Colonel Donovan was employed to evaluate the global military position to offer suggestions concerning American intelligence requirements because the U. S. did not have a central intelligence agency. Thereafter the organization was developed with British assistance, Donovan had responsibilities but no actual powers, until some months after Pearl Harbor, the bulk of OSS intelligence came from the UK. The British immediately made available their short-wave broadcasting capabilities to Europe, Africa, during the war, the OSS supplied policymakers with facts and estimates, but the OSS never had jurisdiction over all foreign intelligence activities. The FBI was left responsible for work in Latin America. At the height of its influence during World War II, the OSS employed almost 24,000 people, OSS officer Archimedes Patti played a central role in OSS operations in French Indochina and met frequently with Ho Chi Minh in 1945. One of the greatest accomplishments of the OSS during World War II was its penetration of Nazi Germany by OSS operatives, the OSS was responsible for training German and Austrian individuals for missions inside Germany. Some of these agents included exiled communists and Socialist party members, labor activists, anti-Nazi prisoners-of-war, the OSS also recruited and ran one of the wars most important spies, the German diplomat Fritz Kolbe. In 1943, the Office of Strategic Services set up operations in Istanbul, turkey, as a neutral country during the Second World War, was a place where both the Axis and Allied powers had spy networks. The railroads connecting central Asia with Europe as well as Turkeys close proximity to the Balkan states placed it at a crossroads of intelligence gathering, the goal of the OSS Istanbul operation called Project Net-1 was to infiltrate and extenuate subversive action in the old Ottoman and Austro-Hungarian Empires. Head of operations at OSS Istanbul was a banker from Chicago named Lanning Packy Macfarland who maintained the story as a banker for the American lend-lease program. Macfarland hired Alfred Schwarz, a Czechoslovakian engineer and businessman who came to be known as Dogwood, Dogwood in turn hired a personal assistant named Walter Arndt and established himself as an employee of the Istanbul Western Electrik Kompani. Through Schwartz and Arndt the OSS was able to infiltrate anti-fascist groups in Austria, Hungary, through this process information about the Nazi regime made its way to Macfarland and the OSS in Istanbul and eventually to Washington. While the OSS Dogwood-chain produced a lot of information, its reliability was increasingly questioned by British intelligence, eventually by May 1944 through collaboration between the OSS, British intelligence, Cairo and Washington the entire Dogwood-chain was found to be unreliable and dangerous. Planting phony information into the OSS was intended to misdirect the resources of the Allies, schwartzs Dogwood-chain, which was the largest American intelligence gathering tool in occupied territory, was shortly thereafter shut down
41.
World War I
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World War I, also known as the First World War, the Great War, or the War to End All Wars, was a global war originating in Europe that lasted from 28 July 1914 to 11 November 1918. More than 70 million military personnel, including 60 million Europeans, were mobilised in one of the largest wars in history and it was one of the deadliest conflicts in history, and paved the way for major political changes, including revolutions in many of the nations involved. The war drew in all the worlds great powers, assembled in two opposing alliances, the Allies versus the Central Powers of Germany and Austria-Hungary. These alliances were reorganised and expanded as more nations entered the war, Italy, Japan, the trigger for the war was the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, heir to the throne of Austria-Hungary, by Yugoslav nationalist Gavrilo Princip in Sarajevo on 28 June 1914. This set off a crisis when Austria-Hungary delivered an ultimatum to the Kingdom of Serbia. Within weeks, the powers were at war and the conflict soon spread around the world. On 25 July Russia began mobilisation and on 28 July, the Austro-Hungarians declared war on Serbia, Germany presented an ultimatum to Russia to demobilise, and when this was refused, declared war on Russia on 1 August. Germany then invaded neutral Belgium and Luxembourg before moving towards France, after the German march on Paris was halted, what became known as the Western Front settled into a battle of attrition, with a trench line that changed little until 1917. On the Eastern Front, the Russian army was successful against the Austro-Hungarians, in November 1914, the Ottoman Empire joined the Central Powers, opening fronts in the Caucasus, Mesopotamia and the Sinai. In 1915, Italy joined the Allies and Bulgaria joined the Central Powers, Romania joined the Allies in 1916, after a stunning German offensive along the Western Front in the spring of 1918, the Allies rallied and drove back the Germans in a series of successful offensives. By the end of the war or soon after, the German Empire, Russian Empire, Austro-Hungarian Empire, national borders were redrawn, with several independent nations restored or created, and Germanys colonies were parceled out among the victors. During the Paris Peace Conference of 1919, the Big Four imposed their terms in a series of treaties, the League of Nations was formed with the aim of preventing any repetition of such a conflict. This effort failed, and economic depression, renewed nationalism, weakened successor states, and feelings of humiliation eventually contributed to World War II. From the time of its start until the approach of World War II, at the time, it was also sometimes called the war to end war or the war to end all wars due to its then-unparalleled scale and devastation. In Canada, Macleans magazine in October 1914 wrote, Some wars name themselves, during the interwar period, the war was most often called the World War and the Great War in English-speaking countries. Will become the first world war in the sense of the word. These began in 1815, with the Holy Alliance between Prussia, Russia, and Austria, when Germany was united in 1871, Prussia became part of the new German nation. Soon after, in October 1873, German Chancellor Otto von Bismarck negotiated the League of the Three Emperors between the monarchs of Austria-Hungary, Russia and Germany
42.
Australian Light Horse
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Australian Light Horse were mounted troops with characteristics of both cavalry and mounted infantry, who served in the Second Boer War and World War I. During the inter-war years, a number of regiments were raised as part of Australias part-time military force and these units were gradually mechanised either before or during World War II, although only a small number undertook operational service during the war. The Australian Light Horse was established as the outcome of a debate that took place in military circles in Australia in the late 19th century concerning the future of mounted troops. The example of the Franco-Prussian War illustrated that the battlefield had become dominated by massed land armies supported by artillery, for Australia the reality was vast spaces with sparse populations making it difficult to consider anything that remotely looked like the European model. The 1890s were wracked by drought and depression ensuring that none of the states were able to afford anything, the Second Boer War provided the short term answer. While Australian forces fought against the Boers in South Africa, the Boer methodology of conducting war was considered to be the answer for Australian defence, volunteer Light Horse Regiments were established around Australia supported by the Rifle Club movement which provided semi trained reinforcements for the various formations. The prospect of an endless and strength-sapping guerrilla war was the key deterrent factor which relied heavily upon mobile soldiers, the plan envisaged two mounted divisions. By the outbreak of World War I, there were 23 light horse regiments within Australias part-time military force, a famous exception to this rule though was the charge of the 4th and 12th Light Horse Regiments at Beersheba on 31 October 1917. In 1918, some light horse regiments were equipped with sabres, however, unlike mounted infantry, the light horse also performed certain cavalry roles, such as scouting and screening, while mounted. The light horse were organised along cavalry rather than infantry lines, around a quarter of this nominal strength could be allotted to horse-holding duties when the regiment entered combat. A regiment was divided into three squadrons, designated A, B and C, and a divided into four troops. Each troop was divided into about 10 four-man sections, when dismounting for combat, one man from each section would take the reins of the other three mens horses and lead them out of the firing line where he would remain until called upon. Each regiment initially had a troop of two Maxim guns but during the Gallipoli Campaign, where the light horse served dismounted, this was increased to four guns, in turn, the troops received the Lewis Gun. This was replaced by the Hotchkiss M1909 Benét–Mercié machine gun in April 1917, eventually they arrived in such numbers as to allow each troop to have a Hotchkiss gun, which considerably added to the mobile firepower of a regiment. The Australian Waler horse was the mount for the light horsemen, as it was strong and hardy. This was facilitated by the horses being left behind in Egypt while the light horsemen went to Gallipoli, allowing them to gradually acclimatise. As Australias commitment to the war increased, the size of the light horse contingent was expanded, with a second and third light horse brigade being raised in late 1914 and early 1915. Eventually, the Australian Light Horse regiments were organised into five brigades, 1st Light Horse Brigade consisted of the 1st, 2nd, 2nd Light Horse Brigade consisted of the 5th, 6th, 7th Light Horse Regiments
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Special Operations Executive
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The Special Operations Executive was a British World War II organisation. Few people were aware of SOEs existence, to those who were part of it or liaised with it, it was sometimes referred to as the Baker Street Irregulars, after the location of its London headquarters. It was also known as Churchills Secret Army or the Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare, SOE operated in all countries or former countries occupied by or attacked by the Axis forces, except where demarcation lines were agreed with Britains principal Allies. It also made use of territory on occasion, or made plans and preparations in case neutral countries were attacked by the Axis. The organisation directly employed or controlled just over 13,000 people, after the war, the organisation was officially dissolved on 15 January 1946. A memorial to SOEs agents was unveiled on the Albert Embankment by Lambeth Palace in London in October 2009, the organisation was formed from the merger of three existing secret departments, which had been formed shortly before the outbreak of the Second World War. Immediately after Germany annexed Austria in March 1938, the Foreign Office created an organisation known as Department EH. In the autumn of the year, the War Office expanded an existing research department known as GS. GS was renamed MI in early 1939 and these three departments worked with few resources until the outbreak of war. There was much overlap between their activities and Section D and EH duplicated much of each others work, on the other hand, the heads of Section D and MI knew each other and shared information. They agreed a rough division of their activities, MI researched irregular operations which could be undertaken by regular uniformed troops, during the early months of the war, Section D was based first at St Ermins Hotel in Westminster and then the Metropole Hotel near Trafalgar Square. The Section attempted unsuccessfully to sabotage deliveries of vital materials to Germany from neutral countries by mining the Iron Gate on the River Danube. MI meanwhile produced pamphlets and technical handbooks for guerrilla leaders, on 13 June 1940, at the instigation of newly appointed Prime Minister Winston Churchill, Lord Hankey persuaded Section D and MI that their operations should be coordinated. On 1 July, a Cabinet level meeting arranged the formation of a single sabotage organisation, on 16 July, Hugh Dalton, the Minister of Economic Warfare, was appointed to take political responsibility for the new organisation. As Dalton was leaving Churchills study after being given his new task, the new organisation was formally created on 22 July. Dalton used the Irish Republican Army during the Irish war of Independence as a model for the organisation, Campbell Stuart left the organisation, and the flamboyant Major Grand was returned to the regular army. At his own request, Major Holland also left to take up an appointment in the Royal Engineers. However, Hollands former deputy at MI, Brigadier Colin Gubbins, one department of MI, MI R, which was involved in the development of weapons for irregular warfare, was not formally integrated into SOE but became an independent body codenamed MD1
44.
Strike action
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Strike action, also called labor strike, labour strike, or simply strike, is a work stoppage caused by the mass refusal of employees to work. A strike usually takes place in response to employee grievances, Strikes became common during the Industrial Revolution, when mass labor became important in factories and mines. In most countries, strike actions were made illegal, as factory owners had far more power than workers. Most Western countries partially legalized striking in the late 19th or early 20th centuries, Strikes are sometimes used to pressure governments to change policies. Notable examples are the 1980 Gdańsk Shipyard or 1981 Warning Strike, official publications have typically used the more neutral words work stoppage or industrial dispute. The first historically certain account of action was towards the end of the 20th dynasty. The artisans of the Royal Necropolis at Deir el-Medina walked off their jobs because they had not been paid, the Egyptian authorities raised the wages. An early predecessor of the strike may have been the secessio plebis in ancient Rome. In the Outline Of History, H. G. Wells characterized this event as the strike of the plebeians, the plebeians seem to have invented the strike. The strike action became a feature of the political landscape with the onset of the Industrial Revolution. For the first time in history, large numbers of people were members of the working class, they lived in cities. By the 1830s, when the Chartist movement was at its peak, in 1842 the demands for fairer wages and conditions across many different industries finally exploded into the first modern general strike. Instead of being a spontaneous uprising of the masses, the strike was politically motivated and was driven by an agenda to win concessions. Probably as much as half of the industrial work force were on strike at its peak – over 500,000 men. The local leadership marshalled a growing working class tradition to organize their followers to mount an articulate challenge to the capitalist. Friedrich Engels, an observer in London at the time, wrote, by its numbers, this class has become the most powerful in England, the English proletarian is only just becoming aware of his power, and the fruits of this awareness were the disturbances of last summer. Karl Marx has condemned the theory of Proudhon criminalizing strike action in his work The Poverty of Philosophy, in 1937 there were 4,740 strikes in the United States. This was the greatest strike wave in American labor history, the number of major strikes and lockouts in the U. S. fell by 97% from 381 in 1970 to 187 in 1980 to only 11 in 2010
45.
Caterpillar Inc.
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Caterpillar is a leading manufacturer of construction and mining equipment, diesel and natural gas engines, industrial gas turbines and diesel-electric locomotives. With more than US$89 billion in assets, Caterpillar was ranked one in its industry. In 2016 Caterpillar was ranked #59 on the Fortune 500 list, Caterpillar stock is a component of the Dow Jones Industrial Average. Caterpillar Inc. traces its origins to the 1925 merger of the Holt Manufacturing Company, Best Tractor Company, creating a new entity, the California-based Caterpillar Tractor Company. In 1986, the company re-organized itself as a Delaware corporation under the current name, Caterpillars headquarters are located in Peoria, Illinois, it announced in January 2017 that over the course of that year it would relocate its headquarters to Chicago. The company also licenses and markets a line of clothing and workwear boots under its Cat / Caterpillar name, Caterpillar machinery is recognizable by its trademark Caterpillar Yellow livery and the CAT logo. Benjamin Holt attempted to fix the problem by increasing the size and width of the wheels up to 7.5 feet tall and 6 feet wide, but this also made the tractors increasingly complex, expensive and difficult to maintain. Another solution considered was to lay a temporary plank road ahead of the tractor, but this was time-consuming, expensive. Holt thought of wrapping the planks around the wheels and he replaced the wheels on a 40 horsepower Holt steamer, No. 77, with a set of wooden tracks bolted to chains, on Thanksgiving Day, November 24,1904, he successfully tested the updated machine plowing the soggy delta land of Roberts Island. Company photographer Charles Clements was reported to have observed that the tractor crawled like a caterpillar, some sources, though, attribute this name to British soldiers in July 1907. Two years later Holt sold his first steam-powered tractor crawlers for US$5,500, each side featured a track frame measured 30 inches high by 42 inches wide and were 9 feet long. The tracks were 3 inches by 4 inches redwood slats, Holt received the first patent for a practical continuous track for use with a tractor on December 7,1907 for his improved Traction Engine. On February 2,1910, Holt opened up a plant in East Peoria, Illinois, there Pliny met farm implement dealer Murray Baker who knew of an empty factory that had been recently built to manufacture farm implements and steam traction engines. On October 25,1909, Pliny Holt purchased the factory, Holt incorporated it as the Holt Caterpillar Company, although he did not trademark the name Caterpillar until August 2,1910. Tractors were built in both Stockton and East Peoria, on January 31,2017, after more than 90 years of being headquartered in Peoria, Illinois, the company announced plans to move their headquarters from Peoria to Chicago, Illinois by the end of 2017. The upper echelon of executives, including newly installed CEO Jim Umpleby, will begin relocating later this year, about 300 employees will work in the new office at an as-yet undecided location once the transition is complete. The changes contributed to $2.3 billion in savings in 2016, Umpleby said that decline is a fundamental reason the companys Board of Directors opted to move global headquarters to an area where the global marketplace is in easier reach
46.
III Corps (United States)
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III Corps is a corps of the United States Army headquartered at Fort Hood, Texas. It is a formation of the United States Army Forces Command. Activated in World War I in France, III Corps oversaw US Army divisions as they repelled several major German offensives, the corps was deactivated following the end of the war. For the next 50 years, the corps was a key training element for the US Army as it sent troops overseas in support of the Cold War, the Korean War, the corps saw no combat deployments, however, until Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2004. III Corps was first organized on 16 May 1918 in France and it was designed as three of the four newly activated corps of the American Expeditionary Force, which at that time number over 1,000,000 men in 23 divisions. The corps took command of US forces training with the French Seventh Army at the time that IV Corps took command of US forces training with the French Eighth Army. In July, the corps was rushed to the Villers-Cotterêts area in preparation for the Third Battle of the Aisne, the first major Allied counteroffensive of the year. There, it was put under the French Tenth Army and given command of the 1st Division. However, the group arrived in the area too late to exercise tactical command. On 18 July, the attack was launched, with the force spearheading the French Tenth Armys assault on the ground south of Soissons. During this attack, the Corps also cut rail lines supplying the German Army, the first day of the attack was a success, but on the second day, the Germans were reinforced with heavier weapons and were able to blunt the attack, inflicting high casualties. The force was successful despite heavy casualties, and German forces were forced to retreat. S, troops continued to advance until September when they withdrew to form the new First United States Army. First Army formed up in preparation to advance in the Meuse-Argonne campaign and it consisted of over 600,000 men in I Corps, III Corps, and V Corps. III Corps took the Armys east flank, protecting it as the Army advanced to Montfaucon, then Cunel, the offensive was slow and hampered by inexperience of many of the divisions under the Armys command, though III Corps was effective in protecting its sector. They advanced through September and October, taking a few weeks for rest after the formation of Second United States Army, on 1 November, the First Army went on a general offensive, pushing north to the Meuse River and the Barricourt Ridge. It was successful, pushing German forces back and advancing to the river until the end of the war, around that time, the division received its shoulder sleeve insignia, approving it by telegram, though the insignia would not be officially authorized until 1922. The corps was demobilized in Neuwied, Germany at the close of hostilities, following the end of World War I, III Corps remained in Europe for several months before it returned to the United States. It was demobilized at Camp Sherman, Ohio, on 15 August 1927 the XXII Corps was activated in the United States
47.
Charge (heraldry)
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In heraldry, a charge is any emblem or device occupying the field of an escutcheon. This may be a design or a symbolic representation of a person, animal, plant. In French blazon, the ordinaries are called pièces while other charges are called meubles, while thousands of objects found in nature, mythology or technology have appeared in armory, there are several charges which have contributed to the distinctive flavour of heraldic design. Only these and a few other notable charges are discussed in this article, some heraldic writers distinguish, albeit arbitrarily, between honourable ordinaries and sub-ordinaries. While some authors hold that only nine charges are honourable ordinaries, the remainder are often termed sub-ordinaries, and narrower or smaller versions of the ordinaries are called diminutives. Apparently ceding the point for the moment, Fox-Davies lists the generally agreed-upon honourable ordinaries as the bend, fess, pale, pile, chevron, cross, saltire and chief. Boutell lists the chief, pale, bend, bend sinister, fess, bar, cross, saltire and cheveron as the honourable ordinaries. Thus, the chief, bend, pale, fess, chevron, cross and saltire appear to be the undisputed ordinaries, while authors disagree over the status of the pile, bar, inescutcheon, bordure and others. Several different figures are recognised as honourable ordinaries, each normally occupying about one-fifth to one-third of the field, the chief is the upper portion of the field. The bend runs from the left to the lower right, as \. The bend sinister runs from the right to the lower left. The pale, a stripe in the centre of the field. The fess is a horizontal stripe across the centre of the field. The chevron is a construction shaped like an inverted letter V, the cross is a geometric construction of two perpendicular lines or bands. It has hundreds of variants, most of which are common charges rather than ordinaries, the saltire is a diagonal cross, often called Saint Andrews cross. Most of the ordinaries have corresponding diminutives, narrower versions, most often mentioned when two or more appear in parallel, bendlets, pallets, bars, chevronels, in addition to those mentioned in the above section, other ordinaries exist. Some of these are variously called honourable ordinaries by different authors, the pall or pairle is shaped like the letter Y. The pile is a wedge issuing from the top of the field and its length and width vary widely
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Heraldry
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The beauty and pageantry of heraldic designs allowed them to survive the gradual abandonment of armour on the battlefield during the seventeenth century. Heraldry has been described poetically as the handmaid of history, the shorthand of history, in modern times, heraldry is used by individuals, public and private organizations, corporations, cities, towns, and regions to symbolize their heritage, achievements, and aspirations. Various symbols have been used to represent individuals or groups for thousands of years, similar emblems and devices are found in ancient Mesopotamian art of the same period, and the precursors of heraldic beasts such as the griffin can also be found. In the Bible, the Book of Numbers refers to the standards and ensigns of the children of Israel, the Greek and Latin writers frequently describe the shields and symbols of various heroes, and units of the Roman army were sometimes identified by distinctive markings on their shields. The Book of Saint Albans, compiled in 1486, declares that Christ himself was a gentleman of coat armour, the medieval heralds also devised arms for various knights and lords from history and literature. Notable examples include the toads attributed to Pharamond, the cross and martlets of Edward the Confessor, and the arms attributed to the Nine Worthies. These too are now regarded as an invention, rather than evidence of the antiquity of heraldry. The development of the modern heraldic language cannot be attributed to an individual, time. Yet no individual is depicted twice bearing the arms, nor are any of the descendants of the various persons depicted known to have borne devices resembling those in the tapestry. A Spanish manuscript from 1109 describes both plain and decorated shields, none of which appears to have been heraldic, in England, from the time of the Norman conquest, official documents had to be sealed. A notable example of an armorial seal is attached to a charter granted by Philip I, Count of Flanders. Seals from the part of the eleventh and early twelfth centuries show no evidence of heraldic symbolism. One of the earliest known examples of armory as it came to be practiced can be seen on the tomb of Geoffrey Plantagenet, Count of Anjou. An enamel, probably commissioned by Geoffreys widow between 1155 and 1160, depicts him carrying a shield decorated with six golden lions rampant. He wears a helmet adorned with another lion, and his cloak is lined in vair. A medieval chronicle states that Geoffrey was given a shield of this description when he was knighted by his father-in-law, Henry I, in 1128, but this account probably dates to about 1175. Since Henry was the son of Geoffrey Plantagenet, it seems reasonable to suppose that the adoption of lions as an emblem by Henry or his sons might have been inspired by Geoffreys shield. Richard is also credited with having originated the English crest of a lion statant and it is from this garment that the phrase coat of arms is derived
49.
Swedish language
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Swedish is a North Germanic language, spoken natively by more than 9 million people predominantly in Sweden and parts of Finland, where it has equal legal standing with Finnish. It is largely mutually intelligible with Norwegian and Danish, along with the other North Germanic languages, Swedish is a descendant of Old Norse, the common language of the Germanic peoples living in Scandinavia during the Viking Era. It is currently the largest of the North Germanic languages by number of speakers, Standard Swedish, spoken by most Swedes, is the national language that evolved from the Central Swedish dialects in the 19th century and was well established by the beginning of the 20th century. While distinct regional varieties descended from the rural dialects still exist. The standard word order is, as in most Germanic languages, V2, Swedish morphology is similar to English, that is, words have comparatively few inflections. There are two genders, no cases, and a distinction between plural and singular. Older analyses posit the cases nominative and genitive and there are remains of distinct accusative and dative forms as well. Adjectives are compared as in English, and are inflected according to gender, number. The definiteness of nouns is marked primarily through suffixes, complemented with separate definite and indefinite articles, the prosody features both stress and in most dialects tonal qualities. The language has a large vowel inventory. Swedish is also notable for the voiceless velar fricative, a highly variable consonant phoneme. Swedish is an Indo-European language belonging to the North Germanic branch of the Germanic languages, by many general criteria of mutual intelligibility, the Continental Scandinavian languages could very well be considered dialects of a common Scandinavian language. In the 8th century, the common Germanic language of Scandinavia, Proto-Norse, had some changes. This language began to undergo new changes that did not spread to all of Scandinavia, the dialects of Old East Norse that were spoken in Sweden are called Runic Swedish while the dialects of Denmark are referred to as Runic Danish. The dialects are described as runic because the body of text appears in the runic alphabet. Unlike Proto-Norse, which was written with the Elder Futhark alphabet, Old Norse was written with the Younger Futhark alphabet, from 1200 onwards, the dialects in Denmark began to diverge from those of Sweden. An early change that separated Runic Danish from the dialects of Old East Norse was the change of the diphthong æi to the monophthong é. This is reflected in runic inscriptions where the older read stain, there was also a change of au as in dauðr into a long open ø as in døðr dead
