1.
Princeton University Art Museum
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The Princeton University Art Museum is the Princeton Universitys gallery of art, located in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1882, it now houses over 92,000 works of art that range from antiquity to the contemporary period and its collections concentrate on the Mediterranean region, Western Europe, China, the United States, and Latin America. The Museum has a collection of Greek and Roman antiquities, including ceramics, marbles, bronzes. Medieval Europe is represented by sculpture, metalwork, and stained glass, the collection of Western European paintings includes examples from the early Renaissance through the nineteenth century, and there is a growing collection of twentieth-century and contemporary art. Photographic holdings are a strength, numbering over 27,000 works from the invention of daguerreotype in 1839 to the present. The Museum is also noted for its Asian art gallery, which includes a collection of Chinese calligraphy, painting, ancient bronze works, jade carvings. In addition to its collections, the Museum mounts regular temporary exhibitions featuring works from its own holdings as well as made from public. Admission is free and the Museum is open Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday,10,00 am to 5,00 pm, Thursday,10,00 am to 10,00 pm, and Sunday 1,00 to 5,00 pm. The portrait was a donation from Belcher himself, given shortly before the College moved in 1756 to the newly built Nassau Hall and it was joined by a portrait of King George II, who had issued the letters patent establishing the College. The two portraits hung in the prayer hall, and were displayed alongside various antiquities and objects of natural history. The creation of the Art Museum in a formal sense took place under the leadership of James McCosh. The Scottish McCosh brought with him from Europe new progressive academic disciplines, by 1882, McCosh charged William Cowper Prime, a Princeton alumnus and founding trustee of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and George B. McClellan, the Civil War general and then Governor of New Jersey and they argued, The foundation of any system of education in Historic Art must obviously be in object study. A museum of art objects is so necessary to the system that without it we are of opinion it would be of utility to introduce the proposed department. ”The intention was to go beyond the fields of art and classics to include, “many other branches of the collegiate course. ”They anticipated, “large future growth, ” as the College could “look with confidence to her sons, in all parts of the world. The collections of the Museum were initially held in Nassau Hall, along with the natural history collection of professor Arnold Henry Guyot. A new purpose-built fireproof Romanesque Revival Museum was designed by A, page Brown and completed in 1890 on the site of the current museum. On completion of the building the Museum received the Trumball-Prime collection of pottery and porcelain from William Prime, early additions included the purchase of a large collection of Cypriot pottery from the Metropolitan Museum in 1890, and purchases of Etruscan, Roman, and South Italian pottery. Marquand established an endowment from his own resources to further purchases
2.
Geothermal areas of Yellowstone
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The geothermal areas of Yellowstone include several geyser basins in Yellowstone National Park as well as other geothermal features such as hot springs, mud pots, and fumaroles. The number of features in Yellowstone is estimated at 10,000. A study that was completed in 2011 found that a total of 1,283 geysers have erupted in Yellowstone,465 of which are active during an average year and these are distributed among nine geyser basins, with a few geysers found in smaller thermal areas throughout the Park. Although famous large geysers like Old Faithful are part of the total, most of Yellowstones geysers are small, the hydrothermal system that supplies the geysers with hot water sits within an ancient active caldera. Many of the features in Yellowstone build up sinter, geyserite, or travertine deposits around. Thus flat-bottomed valleys between ancient lava flows and glacial moraines are where most of the geothermal areas are located. Smaller geothermal areas can be found where fault lines reach the surface, in places along the fracture zone around the caldera. Due to the Yellowstone Plateaus high elevation the average boiling temperature at Yellowstones geyser basins is 199 °F. When properly confined and close to the surface it can release some of the built-up pressure in eruptions of hot water. Water erupting from Yellowstones geysers is superheated above that point to an average of 204 °F as it leaves the vent. The water cools significantly while airborne and is no longer scalding hot by the time it strikes the ground, nearby boardwalks, because of the high temperatures of the water in the features it is important that spectators remain on the boardwalks and designated trails. Several deaths have occurred in the park as a result of falls into hot springs, prehistoric Native American artifacts have been found at Mammoth Hot Springs and other geothermal areas in Yellowstone. Some accounts state that the people used hot water from the geothermal features for bathing and cooking. In the 19th century Father Pierre-Jean De Smet reported that natives he interviewed thought that geyser eruptions were the result of combat between the infernal spirits, the Lewis and Clark Expedition traveled north of the Yellowstone area in 1806. The first whiteman known to travel into the caldera and see the features was John Colter. He described what he saw as hot spring brimstone, in the 1850s famed trapper Jim Bridger called it the place where Hell bubbled up. The heat that drives geothermal activity in the Yellowstone area comes from brine that is 1.5 to 3 miles below the surface. At that depth the brine is superheated to temperatures that exceed 400 °F or 205 °C but is able to remain a liquid because it is great pressure
3.
Photography
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Typically, a lens is used to focus the light reflected or emitted from objects into a real image on the light-sensitive surface inside a camera during a timed exposure. With an electronic sensor, this produces an electrical charge at each pixel. A negative image on film is used to photographically create a positive image on a paper base, known as a print. The word photography was created from the Greek roots φωτός, genitive of φῶς, light and γραφή representation by means of lines or drawing, several people may have coined the same new term from these roots independently. Johann von Maedler, a Berlin astronomer, is credited in a 1932 German history of photography as having used it in an article published on 25 February 1839 in the German newspaper Vossische Zeitung. Both of these claims are now widely reported but apparently neither has ever been confirmed as beyond reasonable doubt. Credit has traditionally given to Sir John Herschel both for coining the word and for introducing it to the public. Photography is the result of combining several technical discoveries, later Greek mathematicians Aristotle and Euclid also independently described a pinhole camera in the 5th and 4th centuries BCE. Daniele Barbaro described a diaphragm in 1566, wilhelm Homberg described how light darkened some chemicals in 1694. The fiction book Giphantie, published in 1760, by French author Tiphaigne de la Roche, the discovery of the camera obscura that provides an image of a scene dates back to ancient China. Leonardo da Vinci mentions natural camera obscura that are formed by dark caves on the edge of a sunlit valley, a hole in the cave wall will act as a pinhole camera and project a laterally reversed, upside down image on a piece of paper. So the birth of photography was primarily concerned with inventing means to capture, renaissance painters used the camera obscura which, in fact, gives the optical rendering in color that dominates Western Art. The camera obscura literally means dark chamber in Latin and it is a box with a hole in it which allows light to go through and create an image onto the piece of paper. Around the year 1800, British inventor Thomas Wedgwood made the first known attempt to capture the image in a camera obscura by means of a light-sensitive substance and he used paper or white leather treated with silver nitrate. The shadow images eventually darkened all over, the first permanent photoetching was an image produced in 1822 by the French inventor Nicéphore Niépce, but it was destroyed in a later attempt to make prints from it. Niépce was successful again in 1825, in 1826 or 1827, he made the View from the Window at Le Gras, the earliest surviving photograph from nature. Because Niépces camera photographs required a long exposure, he sought to greatly improve his bitumen process or replace it with one that was more practical. With an eye to eventual commercial exploitation, the partners opted for total secrecy, Daguerres efforts culminated in what would later be named the daguerreotype process
4.
Yosemite Valley
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Yosemite Valley is a glacial valley in Yosemite National Park in the western Sierra Nevada mountains of Northern California. The valley is about 8 miles long and up to a deep, surrounded by high granite summits such as Half Dome and El Capitan. The valley is drained by the Merced River and a multitude of streams and waterfalls including Tenaya, Illilouette, Yosemite, Yosemite Falls is the highest waterfall in North America, and is a big attraction especially in the spring when the water flow is at its peak. The valley is renowned for its beauty, and is widely regarded as the centerpiece of Yosemite National Park. The Valley is the attraction in the park for the majority of visitors. On July 2,2011 there was a record 20,851 visitors to the valley, most visitors enter the valley from roads to the west and pass through the famous Tunnel View entrance. Visitor facilities are located in the center of the valley, there are both hiking trail loops that stay within the valley and trailheads that lead to higher elevations, all of which afford glimpses of the parks many scenic wonders. Yosemite Valley is located on the slope of the Sierra Nevada mountains,150 miles due east of San Francisco. It stretches for 7.5 miles in a roughly east-west direction, Yosemite Valley represents only one percent of the park area, but this is where most visitors arrive and stay. More than half a dozen creeks tumble from hanging valleys at the top of cliffs that can rise 3000–4000 feet above the valley floor. These streams combine into the Merced River, which flows out from the end of the valley. The flat floor of Yosemite Valley holds both forest and large meadows, which provide breathtaking views of the surrounding crests and waterfalls. The first view of Yosemite Valley many visitors see is the Tunnel View, so many paintings were made from a viewpoint nearby that the National Park Service named that viewpoint Artist Point. The view from the end of the Valley contains the great granite monolith El Capitan on the left. Just past this spot the Valley suddenly widens with the Cathedral Spires, to this point, the Valley has been curving gently to the left, to the north. Now a grand curve back to the right begins, with Yosemite Falls on the north, followed by the Royal Arches, opposite to the south is Glacier Point,3,200 feet above the Valley floor. At this point the Valley splits into two, one section slanting northeast, with the other curving from south to southeast, between them both, at the eastern end of the valley, is Half Dome, the most famous and most recognizable natural feature in the Sierra Nevada. Above and to the northeast of Half Dome is Clouds Rest, at 9926 feet, snow melting in the Sierra forms creeks and lakes
5.
United States Congress
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The United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States consisting of two chambers, the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Congress meets in the Capitol in Washington, D. C, both senators and representatives are chosen through direct election, though vacancies in the Senate may be filled by a gubernatorial appointment. Members are usually affiliated to the Republican Party or to the Democratic Party, Congress has 535 voting members,435 Representatives and 100 Senators. The House of Representatives has six non-voting members in addition to its 435 voting members and these members can, however, sit on congressional committees and introduce legislation. Puerto Rico, American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, the members of the House of Representatives serve two-year terms representing the people of a single constituency, known as a district. Congressional districts are apportioned to states by using the United States Census results. Each state, regardless of population or size, has two senators, currently, there are 100 senators representing the 50 states. Each senator is elected at-large in their state for a term, with terms staggered. The House and Senate are equal partners in the legislative process—legislation cannot be enacted without the consent of both chambers, however, the Constitution grants each chamber some unique powers. The Senate ratifies treaties and approves presidential appointments while the House initiates revenue-raising bills, the House initiates impeachment cases, while the Senate decides impeachment cases. A two-thirds vote of the Senate is required before a person can be forcibly removed from office. The term Congress can also refer to a meeting of the legislature. A Congress covers two years, the current one, the 115th Congress, began on January 3,2017, the Congress starts and ends on the third day of January of every odd-numbered year. Members of the Senate are referred to as senators, members of the House of Representatives are referred to as representatives, congressmen, or congresswomen. One analyst argues that it is not a solely reactive institution but has played a role in shaping government policy and is extraordinarily sensitive to public pressure. Several academics described Congress, Congress reflects us in all our strengths, Congress is the governments most representative body. Congress is essentially charged with reconciling our many points of view on the public policy issues of the day. —Smith, Roberts, and Wielen Congress is constantly changing and is constantly in flux, most incumbents seek re-election, and their historical likelihood of winning subsequent elections exceeds 90 percent
6.
Yosemite National Park
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Yosemite National Park is a national park spanning portions of Tuolumne, Mariposa and Madera counties in Northern California. The park, which is managed by the National Park Service, on average, about 4 million people visit Yosemite each year, and most spend the majority of their time in the seven square miles of Yosemite Valley. The park set a record in 2016, surpassing 5 million visitors for the first time in its history. Almost 95% of the park is designated wilderness, Yosemite was central to the development of the national park idea. First, Galen Clark and others lobbied to protect Yosemite Valley from development, Yosemite is one of the largest and least fragmented habitat blocks in the Sierra Nevada, and the park supports a diversity of plants and animals. The park has a range from 2,127 to 13,114 feet and contains five major vegetation zones, chaparral/oak woodland, lower montane forest, upper montane forest, subalpine zone. Of Californias 7,000 plant species, about 50% occur in the Sierra Nevada, there is suitable habitat for more than 160 rare plants in the park, with rare local geologic formations and unique soils characterizing the restricted ranges many of these plants occupy. The geology of the Yosemite area is characterized by granitic rocks, about 10 million years ago, the Sierra Nevada was uplifted and then tilted to form its relatively gentle western slopes and the more dramatic eastern slopes. The uplift increased the steepness of stream and river beds, resulting in formation of deep, about one million years ago, snow and ice accumulated, forming glaciers at the higher alpine meadows that moved down the river valleys. Ice thickness in Yosemite Valley may have reached 4,000 feet during the early glacial episode, the downslope movement of the ice masses cut and sculpted the U-shaped valley that attracts so many visitors to its scenic vistas today. The name Yosemite originally referred to the name of a tribe which was driven out of the area by the Mariposa Battalion. Before then the area was called Ahwahnee by indigenous people, as revealed by archeological finds, the Yosemite Valley has been inhabited for nearly 3,000 years, though humans may have first visited the area as long as 8,000 to 10,000 years ago. The indigenous natives called themselves the Ahwahneechee, meaning dwellers in Ahwahnee and they are related to the Northern Paiute and Mono tribes. Many tribes visited the area to trade, including nearby Central Sierra Miwoks, a major trading route went over Mono Pass and through Bloody Canyon to Mono Lake, just to the east of the Yosemite area. Vegetation and game in the region were similar to that present today, acorns were a staple to their diet, as well as seeds and plants, salmon. In 1851 as part of the Mariposa Wars intended to suppress Native American resistance and he was pursuing forces of around 200 Ahwahneechee led by Chief Tenaya. Accounts from this battalion were the first well-documented reports of ethnic Europeans entering Yosemite Valley, attached to Savages unit was Dr. Lafayette Bunnell, the company physician, who later wrote about his awestruck impressions of the valley in The Discovery of the Yosemite. Bunnell is credited with naming Yosemite Valley, based on his interviews with Chief Tenaya, Bunnell wrote that Chief Tenaya was the founder of the Pai-Ute Colony of Ah-wah-nee
7.
Oneonta, New York
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Oneonta is a city in southern Otsego County, New York, United States. According to the 2010 U. S. Census, it had a population of 13,901 and its nickname is City of the Hills. While the word oneonta is of undetermined origin, it is believed to mean place of open rocks in the Mohawk language. This refers to a prominent geological formation known as Tablerocks at the end of the city. The city is surrounded by the town of Oneonta, a municipal and political jurisdiction. Oneonta Municipal Airport is north of the city, indigenous ancestors of Algonquin and Iroquoian-speaking Native Americans inhabited the land in the territory of Oneonta for thousands of years before European colonists pillaged the area. The Five Nations of the Iroquois Confederacy are believed to have emerged and gained dominance prior to the 15th century, the areas early European-American settlers did not arrive until around 1775 and consisted mainly of ethnic Palatine German and Dutch settlers moving out of the Hudson and eastern Mohawk valleys. The first such settler in the now known as the Town of Oneonta was Henry Scramling. He had secured a grant of 1,000 acres in the Susquehanna Valley, moved from German Flatts and he left during the Revolution and returned after the conflict with his brothers, George and David Scramling, and his brothers-in-law, John and David Young. Their farms were not far from the mouth of the Otego Creek, the army led by General James Clinton passed through the area in order to join the Sullivan Expedition in 1779 against Iroquois settlements. The first hamlet developed around 1800 and was known as Milfordville. In 1830, the Town of Oneonta was formed parts of two other Towns in the county. Milfordville changed its name to Oneonta in 1832, in 1848, it was incorporated as a village within the Town. In the mid-19th century, the Delaware and Hudson Railroad reached Oneonta, stimulating development as a railroad center, Oneonta was once home to the largest locomotive roundhouse in the world. The village incorporated as a city in 1908, Oneonta is located at 42°27′21″N 75°3′44″W. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has an area of 4.4 square miles. None of the area is covered with water, the city is in the northern foothills of the Catskill Mountains, lying between Binghamton and Albany. The Susquehanna River flows westward past the south part of the city, interstate 88 follows the course of the Susquehanna River past Oneonta
8.
Collis Potter Huntington
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Collis Potter Huntington was one of the Big Four of western railroading who built the Central Pacific Railroad as part of the first U. S. transcontinental railroad. Huntington then helped lead and develop other major lines such as the Southern Pacific Railroad and the Chesapeake & Ohio Railway. The C&O, completed in 1873, fulfilled a dream of Virginians of a rail link from the James River at Richmond to the Ohio River Valley. The new railroad facilities adjacent to the river resulted in expansion of the former small town of Guyandotte. He also is credited with the development of Newport News Shipbuilding and Drydock Company, as well as the incorporation of Newport News, much of the railroad and industrial development Collis P. Huntington envisioned and led are still important activities in the early 21st century. The Southern Pacific is now part of the Union Pacific Railroad, West Virginia coal still rides the rails to be loaded aboard colliers at Hampton Roads, where nearby, Huntington Ingalls Industries operates the massive shipyard. Huntington, from his base in Washington, was a lobbyist for the Central Pacific, the Big Four had built a powerful political machine, that he had a large role in running. He was generous in providing bribes to politicians and Congressmen, revelation of his misdeeds in 1883 made him one of the most hated railroad men in the country. One California textbook argues, Huntington came to symbolize the greed, business rivals and political reformers accused him of every conceivable evil. Journalists and cartoonists made their reputations by pillorying him, historians have cast Huntington as the states most despicable villain. However Huntington defended himself, The motives back of my actions have been honest ones, Collis Potter Huntington was born in Harwinton, Connecticut, on October 22,1821. His family farmed and he grew up helping, in his early teens, he did farm chores and odd jobs for neighbors, too, saving his earnings. At age 16, he began traveling as a peddler, about this time, he visited rural Newport News Point in Warwick County, Virginia in his travels as a salesman. It was later to become clear that he never forgot the untapped potential of the location he observed where the James River emptied into the large harbor of Hampton Roads. In 1842 he and his brother Solon Huntington, of Oneonta, New York, established a business in Oneonta. When he saw opportunity blooming in Americas West, he set out for California, Huntington succeeded in his California business, too, and it was here that he teamed up with Mark Hopkins selling miners supplies and other hardware. In 1861, these four businessmen pooled their resources and business acumen, of the four, he had a reputation for being the most ruthless in pursuing the railroads business and the ouster of his partner, Stanford. Huntington negotiated with Grenville Dodge in Washington, D. C and they completed their agreement in April 1869, deciding to meet at Promontory Point, Utah
9.
San Francisco
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San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the cultural, commercial, and financial center of Northern California. It is the birthplace of the United Nations, the California Gold Rush of 1849 brought rapid growth, making it the largest city on the West Coast at the time. San Francisco became a consolidated city-county in 1856, after three-quarters of the city was destroyed by the 1906 earthquake and fire, San Francisco was quickly rebuilt, hosting the Panama-Pacific International Exposition nine years later. In World War II, San Francisco was a port of embarkation for service members shipping out to the Pacific Theater. Politically, the city votes strongly along liberal Democratic Party lines, San Francisco is also the headquarters of five major banking institutions and various other companies such as Levi Strauss & Co. Dolby, Airbnb, Weebly, Pacific Gas and Electric Company, Yelp, Pinterest, Twitter, Uber, Lyft, Mozilla, Wikimedia Foundation, as of 2016, San Francisco is ranked high on world liveability rankings. The earliest archaeological evidence of habitation of the territory of the city of San Francisco dates to 3000 BC. Upon independence from Spain in 1821, the became part of Mexico. Under Mexican rule, the system gradually ended, and its lands became privatized. In 1835, Englishman William Richardson erected the first independent homestead, together with Alcalde Francisco de Haro, he laid out a street plan for the expanded settlement, and the town, named Yerba Buena, began to attract American settlers. Commodore John D. Sloat claimed California for the United States on July 7,1846, during the Mexican–American War, montgomery arrived to claim Yerba Buena two days later. Yerba Buena was renamed San Francisco on January 30 of the next year, despite its attractive location as a port and naval base, San Francisco was still a small settlement with inhospitable geography. The California Gold Rush brought a flood of treasure seekers, with their sourdough bread in tow, prospectors accumulated in San Francisco over rival Benicia, raising the population from 1,000 in 1848 to 25,000 by December 1849. The promise of fabulous riches was so strong that crews on arriving vessels deserted and rushed off to the gold fields, leaving behind a forest of masts in San Francisco harbor. Some of these approximately 500 abandoned ships were used at times as storeships, saloons and hotels, many were left to rot, by 1851 the harbor was extended out into the bay by wharves while buildings were erected on piles among the ships. By 1870 Yerba Buena Cove had been filled to create new land, buried ships are occasionally exposed when foundations are dug for new buildings. California was quickly granted statehood in 1850 and the U. S. military built Fort Point at the Golden Gate, silver discoveries, including the Comstock Lode in Nevada in 1859, further drove rapid population growth. With hordes of fortune seekers streaming through the city, lawlessness was common, and the Barbary Coast section of town gained notoriety as a haven for criminals, prostitution, entrepreneurs sought to capitalize on the wealth generated by the Gold Rush
10.
Central Pacific Railroad
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It is now part of the Union Pacific Railroad. Many 19th century national proposals to build a railroad failed because of the energy consumed by political disputes over slavery. With the secession of the South, the modernizers in the Republican Party controlled the US Congress and they passed legislation authorizing the railroad, with financing in the form of government railroad bonds. These were all eventually repaid with interest, the government and the railroads both shared in the increased value of the land grants, which the railroads developed. The construction of the railroad also secured for the government the economical safe and speedy transportation of the mails, troops, munitions of war, planned by Theodore Judah, the Central Pacific Railroad was authorized by Congress in 1862. It was financed and built through The Big Four, Sacramento, California businessmen Leland Stanford, Collis Huntington, Charles Crocker, Crocker was in charge of construction. Construction crews comprised 12,000 Chinese emigrant workers by 1868 and they laid the first rails in 1863. The Golden spike, connecting the railroad to the Union Pacific Railroad at Promontory. Coast-to-coast train travel in eight days became possible, replacing months-long sea voyages and lengthy, in 1885 the Central Pacific Railroad was leased by the Southern Pacific Company. Technically the CPRR remained an entity until 1959, when it was formally merged into Southern Pacific. The original right-of-way is now controlled by the Union Pacific, which purchased Southern Pacific in 1996, the Union Pacific-Central Pacific mainline followed the historic Overland Route from Omaha, Nebraska to San Francisco Bay. Chinese labor was the most vital source for constructing the railroad, fifty Chinese laborers were hired by the Central Pacific Railroad in February 1865, and soon more and more Chinese men were hired. Working conditions were harsh, and Chinese men were compensated less than their white counterparts, Chinese men were paid thirty-one dollars each month, and while white workers were paid the same, they were also given room and board. Construction of the road was financed primarily by 30-year, 6% U. S. government bonds authorized by Sec.5 of the Pacific Railroad Act of 1862. The U. S. Government Bonds, which constituted a lien upon the railroads and all their fixtures, were repaid in full by the company as and when they became due. Sec.10 of the 1864 amending Pacific Railroad Act additionally authorized the company to issue its own First Mortgage Bonds in total amounts up to that of the bonds issued by the United States, such company-issued securities had priority over the original Government Bonds. Sec.3 of the 1862 Act granted the railroads 10 square miles of land for every mile laid, except where railroads ran through cities. This grant was apportioned in 5 sections on alternating sides of the railroad and these grants were later doubled to 20 square miles per mile of grade by the 1864 Act
11.
Daguerreotypist
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Daguerreotype process, or daguerreotypy, was the first publicly available photographic process, and for nearly twenty years it was the one most commonly used. During the past few decades, there has been a revival of daguerreotypy among photographers interested in making artistic use of early photographic processes. The darkest areas of the image are simply bare silver, lighter areas have a microscopically fine light-scattering texture, the surface is very delicate, and even the lightest wiping can permanently scuff it. Some tarnish around the edges is normal, the name daguerreotype correctly refers only to one very specific image type and medium, the product of a process that was in wide use only from the early 1840s to the late 1850s. Since the Renaissance era, artists and inventors had searched for a method of capturing visual scenes. Later, with the advent of Modernism, the absence of perspective in art from China, Japan. To copy these images was the first object of Mr. Daguerre met with Niépce, Niépce had invented an early internal combustion engine together with his brother Claude and made improvements to the velocipede, as well as experimenting with lithography and related processes. Their correspondence reveals that Niépce was at first reluctant to any details of his work with photographic images. To guard against letting any secrets out before the invention had been improved,15, for example, signified the tanning action of the sun on human skin,34 - a camera obscura,74 - sulphuric acid. Niépce undertook to release details of the process he had invented - the asphalt process or heliography, Daguerre was sworn to secrecy under penalty of damages, and undertook to design a camera and improve the process. The improved process was named the physautotype. Niépces early experiments had derived from his interest in lithography, the asphalt process, or heliography required exposures that were so long that Arago said it was not fit for use. Nevertheless, without Niépces experiments, it is unlikely that Daguerre would have been able to build on them to adapt, after Niépces death in 1833, his son, Isidore, inherited rights in the contract and a new version was drawn up between Daguerre and Isidore. It would bear Daguerres name alone and this was the daguerreotype process that used iodized silvered plates and was developed with mercury fumes. To exploit the invention four hundred shares would be on offer for a thousand francs each, or, the rights of the process could be bought for twenty thousand francs. Everyone says it is superb, but it will cost us the thousand francs before we learn it and be able to judge if it could remain secret. M. de Mandelot himself knows several persons who could subscribe but will not do so because they think it would be revealed by itself, and now I have proof that many think in this way. I entirely agree with the idea of M. Arago, that is get the government to purchase this discovery, nevertheless, he benefited from the state pension awarded to him together with Daguerre
12.
James Mason Hutchings
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For those of a similar name, see James Hutchins James Mason Hutchings was an American businessman and one of the principal promoters of what is now Yosemite National Park. Born in England, Hutchings immigrated to the U. S. in 1848 and he became wealthy as a miner, lost it all in a bank failure, then became wealthy again from publishing. On July 5,1855 James Hutchings set out on what would be one of the most historic trips to the region and he then became one of the first settlers in Yosemite Valley. Hutchings published a magazine, Hutchings Illustrated California Magazine that told the world about Yosemite. It was said. upon the return of Hutchings party, the descriptions staggered the skeptics, from this time forward can be considered the commencement of the visits of tourists. He was a promoter, of himself and Yosemite. After Yosemite Valley was dedicated as State Park in 1864, Hutchings, through his interpretation of existing preemption laws and he sued, unsuccessfully, to have those acres deeded to himself. He did, however, get a payment from the state to help compensate for loss of land use. In 1875, he was banished from Yosemite Valley because of his constant challenging of the law prohibiting the construction of buildings on public lands, Hutchings remarried twice and was an innkeeper for the Calaveras Big Tree Grove Hotel, north of Yosemite. Hutchings prominence in Yosemite Valley allowed him to connect with figures of importance to the history of Yosemite, including John Muir, Galen Clark. While visiting Yosemite, Hutchings was killed on October 31,1902 when his horse reared, the Making of Yosemite, James Mason Hutchings and the Origin of Americas Most Popular National Park. Mrs. H. J. Taylor James Mason Hutchings in Yosemite Indians, first account of Yosemite Valley with illustrations James M. Hutchings Scenes of Wonder and Curiosity in California. First travel guide for Yosemite Valley
13.
Stereoscopy
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Stereoscopy is a technique for creating or enhancing the illusion of depth in an image by means of stereopsis for binocular vision. The word stereoscopy derives from Greek στερεός, meaning firm, solid, any stereoscopic image is called a stereogram. Originally, stereogram referred to a pair of images which could be viewed using a stereoscope. Most stereoscopic methods present two offset images separately to the left and right eye of the viewer and these two-dimensional images are then combined in the brain to give the perception of 3D depth. Stereoscopy creates the illusion of depth from given two-dimensional images. One of the functions that occur within the brain as it interprets what the eyes see is assessing the relative distances of objects from the viewer, the two images are then combined in the brain to give the perception of depth. Although the term 3D is ubiquitously used, the presentation of dual 2D images is distinctly different from displaying an image in three full dimensions. The most notable difference is that, in the case of 3D displays, holographic displays and volumetric display do not have this limitation. Just as it is not possible to recreate a full 3-dimensional sound field with just two speakers, it is an overstatement to call dual 2D images 3D. The accurate term stereoscopic is more cumbersome than the common misnomer 3D, although most stereoscopic displays do not qualify as real 3D display, all real 3D displays are also stereoscopic displays because they meet the lower criteria also. Most 3D displays use this method to convey images. It was first invented by Sir Charles Wheatstone in 1838, but if it be required to obtain the most faithful resemblances of real objects, shadowing and colouring may properly be employed to heighten the effects. Flowers, crystals, busts, vases, instruments of various kinds, Stereoscopy is used in photogrammetry and also for entertainment through the production of stereograms. Stereoscopy is useful in viewing images rendered from large data sets such as are produced by experimental data. Modern industrial three-dimensional photography may use 3D scanners to detect and record three-dimensional information, the three-dimensional depth information can be reconstructed from two images using a computer by correlating the pixels in the left and right images. Solving the Correspondence problem in the field of Computer Vision aims to create meaningful depth information from two images, anatomically, there are 3 levels of binocular vision required to view stereo images, Simultaneous perception Fusion Stereopsis These functions develop in early childhood. Some people who have strabismus disrupt the development of stereopsis, however orthoptics treatment can be used to improve binocular vision, a persons stereoacuity determines the minimum image disparity they can perceive as depth. It is believed that approximately 12% of people are unable to properly see 3D images, according to another experiment up to 30% of people have very weak stereoscopic vision preventing them from depth perception based on stereo disparity
14.
Eastern United States
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It is geographically diverse, spanning the Northeast and Southeast as well as the eastern part of the Central United States. In 2011 the 26 states east of the Mississippi had an population of 179,948,346 or 58. 28% of the total U. S. population of 308,745,358. The Southern United States constitutes a region in the south-eastern. In the last few decades, the Southern US has been attracting internal and international migrants, the American South is among the fastest-growing areas in the United States. In one of the earliest English settlements in the New World, English Pilgrims from Europe first settled in New England in 1620, New England produced the first examples of American literature and philosophy and was home to the beginnings of free public education. In the 19th century, it played a prominent role in the movement to abolish slavery in the United States and it was the first region of the United States to be transformed by the Industrial Revolution. The Midwestern United States is one of the four regions within the United States that are recognized by the United States Census Bureau. The region consists of seven states in the central and inland northeastern US, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, a 2006 Census Bureau estimate put the population at 66,217,736. Both the geographic center of the contiguous U. S. the United States Census Bureau divides this region into the East North Central States and the West North Central States. Chicago is the largest city in the region, followed by Indianapolis, chicago has the largest metropolitan statistical area, followed by Detroit, and Minneapolis – Saint Paul. Marie, Michigan is the oldest city in the region, having been founded by French missionaries, the term Midwest has been in common use for over 100 years. Another term sometimes applied to the general region is the heartland. Other designations for the region have fallen into disuse, such as the Northwest or Old Northwest, since the book Middletown appeared in 1929, sociologists have often used Midwestern cities as typical of the entire nation. The region has a higher ratio than the Northeast, the West. Four of the associated with the Midwestern United States are traditionally referred to as belonging to the Great Plains region. However, in recent years they are included in the Midwestern region. The following is a list of the 24 largest cities in the East by population, East Coast of the United States Eastern Canada Territories of the United States on stamps
15.
California Geological Survey
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The California Geological Survey, previously known as the California Division of Mines and Geology, is the California state geologic agency. As might be expected for a state that owed its existence to the rush of 1849. In 1851, one year after California was admitted to the United States, Trask, a medical practitioner and active member of the California Academy of Sciences, as Honorary State Geologist. In 1853 the Legislature passed a joint resolution asking him for information about the state. He submitted a report On the Geology of the Sierra Nevada, about two months later, the Legislature created the first California Geological Survey headed by Trask, who retained the title of State Geologist. Within a few years the mining of gold began to decline. These changes, coupled with publication of reports by Trask, created a clamor for a state geological survey. In 1860 the Legislature passed an act creating the Office of State Geologist, the act named Josiah D. Whitney to fill the office. A Yale graduate, Whitney had worked on surveys in the east. The act directed Whitney to make an accurate and complete survey of the state. Whitney chose William Henry Brewer as chief botanist to lead the field party. Brewer then added Clarence King, James Gardiner, topographer Charles F. Hoffmann and it was one of the most ambitious geological surveys ever attempted and yielded a vast amount of information about California that was hitherto unknown and unpublished. Among the natural features of California they were the first to describe Kings Canyon, the original California Geological Survey influenced the future of surveying and spurred the creation of the United States Geological Survey. Funding for the work was limited and the last field work was done in 1870 by Hoffmann. In 1874 the Survey was officially ended due to hostility between then Governor of California Newton Booth and Whitney, in 1880 the State Mining Bureau was established by the Legislature. The establishment of the Bureau was an action in response to the need for information on the occurrence, mining. Its focus was on Californias mining industry and the Governor appointed the State Mineralogist, in 1891, the Bureau published the first geologic map of the state showing eight stratigraphic units in color, along with numerous blank areas where information was lacking. The second colored geologic map of the state, published in 1916, in 1927 the Bureau became the Division of Mines within the Department of Natural Resources
16.
West Coast of the United States
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The West Coast or Pacific Coast is the coastline along which the contiguous Western United States meets the North Pacific Ocean. As a region, this term most often refers to the states of California. More specifically, it refers to an area defined on the east by the Cascade Range, Sierra Nevada and Mojave Desert, the U. S. Census groups the five states of California, Oregon, Washington, Alaska, and Hawaii together as the Pacific States division. As of the 2010 Census, the population of the Census Bureaus Pacific Region was approximately 47.8 million – about 15. 3% of US population. The largest city on the west coast of the United States is Los Angeles, small isolated groups of hunter-gatherers migrated alongside herds of large herbivores far into Alaska. Between 16,500 BCE and 13,500 BCE, ice-free corridors developed along the Pacific coast and valleys of North America, Alaska Natives, indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast, and California indigenous peoples eventually descended from the Paleo-Indians. They developed various languages and established trade routes, later, Spanish, British, French, Russian, and American explorers and settlers began colonizing the area. The West Coast of the United States has a climate in its Northern edge towards the Canada–US border. The coastline sees significantly mild temperatures when compared to the areas during summer. In far Northern California there is a difference of 17 °C between Eurekas and Willow Creek in spite of only 25 miles separating the locations and Willow Creek being located at a 500 metres elevation, coastal fog is also prevalent in keeping shoreline temperatures cool. Since the West Coast has been populated by more recently than the East Coast. Additionally, its demographic composition underlies its cultural difference from the rest of the United States. Californias history first as a major Spanish colony, and later Mexican territory, has given the lower West Coast a distinctive Hispanic tone, which it also shares with the rest of the Southwest. Similarly, two of the three cities in which Asian Americans have concentrated, San Francisco and Los Angeles, are located on the West Coast, San Franciscos Chinatown, the oldest in North America, is a vibrant cultural center. The West Coast also has a large share of green cities within the United States. Other writers, like Jean Baudrillard, Mike Davis, and Umberto Eco, have made related statements on Californian culture, in the Northwest, Portland and Seattle are both considered among the coffee capitals of the world. While Starbucks originated in Seattle, both towns are known for coffee roasters and independent coffeeshops. In the Pacific Northwest at large, which includes the Canadian west coast, the culture has significantly shaped by the environment, especially by its forests, mountains
17.
I. W. Taber
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He was also a sketch artist and dentist. His studio also produced a series of views of west coast scenery. Taber was born in New Bedford, Massachusetts and between 1845 and 1849 he worked at sea on a whaler and he first moved to California in 1850. He returned East in 1854 and opened up his first photography studio in Syracuse, in 1864, he returned to California, where he worked in the studio of Bradley and Rulofson until 1873. The following year Kalākaua visited Tabers studio in San Francisco, by the 1890s, Taber had expanded his operations to include studios in London, England and in elsewhere Europe. However, the 1906 San Francisco earthquake destroyed his San Francisco studio, gallery, 1885-1890 Isaiah West Taber Family Photographs, ca. 1880-1895 Miscellaneous Views of California Taken by I. W. Taber, ca
18.
Copyright
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Copyright is a legal right created by the law of a country that grants the creator of an original work exclusive rights for its use and distribution. This is usually only for a limited time, the exclusive rights are not absolute but limited by limitations and exceptions to copyright law, including fair use. A major limitation on copyright is that copyright protects only the expression of ideas. Copyright is a form of property, applicable to certain forms of creative work. Some, but not all jurisdictions require fixing copyrighted works in a tangible form and it is often shared among multiple authors, each of whom holds a set of rights to use or license the work, and who are commonly referred to as rights holders. These rights frequently include reproduction, control over derivative works, distribution, public performance, copyrights are considered territorial rights, which means that they do not extend beyond the territory of a specific jurisdiction. While many aspects of copyright laws have been standardized through international copyright agreements. Typically, the duration of a copyright spans the authors life plus 50 to 100 years, some countries require certain copyright formalities to establishing copyright, but most recognize copyright in any completed work, without formal registration. Generally, copyright is enforced as a matter, though some jurisdictions do apply criminal sanctions. Most jurisdictions recognize copyright limitations, allowing fair exceptions to the exclusivity of copyright. Copyright came about with the invention of the press and with wider literacy. As a legal concept, its origins in Britain were from a reaction to printers monopolies at the beginning of the 18th century, Copyright laws allow products of creative human activities, such as literary and artistic production, to be preferentially exploited and thus incentivized. Different cultural attitudes, social organizations, economic models and legal frameworks are seen to account for why copyright emerged in Europe and not, for example, however, with copyright laws, intellectual production comes to be seen as a product of an individual, with attendant rights. The most significant point is that patent and copyright laws support the expansion of the range of human activities that can be commodified. This parallels the ways in which led to the commodification of many aspects of social life that earlier had no monetary or economic value per se. Often seen as the first real copyright law, the 1709 British Statute of Anne gave the rights for a fixed period. The act also alluded to individual rights of the artist and it began, Whereas Printers, Booksellers, and other Persons, have of late frequently taken the Liberty of Printing. Books, and other Writings, without the Consent of the Authors. to their very great Detriment, and too often to the Ruin of them and their Families
19.
Plagiarism
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Plagiarism is the wrongful appropriation and stealing and publication of another authors language, thoughts, ideas, or expressions and the representation of them as ones own original work. Plagiarism is considered academic dishonesty and a breach of journalistic ethics and it is subject to sanctions like penalties, suspension, and even expulsion. Recently, cases of plagiarism have been identified in academia. The modern concept of plagiarism as immoral and originality as an ideal emerged in Europe in the 18th century, Plagiarism is not in itself a crime, but can constitute copyright infringement. In academia and industry, it is a serious ethical offense, Plagiarism is not defined or punished by law, but rather by institutions. In the 1st century, the use of the Latin word plagiarius to denote stealing someone elses work was pioneered by the Roman poet Martial, plagiary, a derivative of plagiarus, was introduced into English in 1601 by dramatist Ben Jonson to describe someone guilty of literary theft. The derived form plagiarism was introduced into English around 1620, the Latin plagiārius, kidnapper, and plagium, kidnapping, have the root plaga, based on the Indo-European root *-plak, to weave. Plagiarism specifically is not mentioned in any current statute, either criminal or civil, some cases may be treated as unfair competition or a violation of the doctrine of moral rights. The increased availability of copyrighted material due to the development of technology has furthered the debate as to whether copyright offences are criminal. In short, people are asked to use the guideline, if you did not write it yourself, Plagiarism is not the same as copyright infringement. Copyright infringement is a violation of the rights of a copyright holder, Plagiarism, in contrast, is concerned with the unearned increment to the plagiarizing authors reputation, or the obtaining of academic credit, that is achieved through false claims of authorship. Thus, plagiarism is considered an offense against the plagiarists audience. Plagiarism is also considered an offense against anyone who has provided the plagiarist with a benefit in exchange for what is specifically supposed to be original content. In such cases, acts of plagiarism may sometimes form part of a claim for breach of the plagiarists contract, or, if done knowingly. Within academia, plagiarism by students, professors, or researchers is considered academic dishonesty or academic fraud, many institutions use plagiarism detection software to uncover potential plagiarism and to deter students from plagiarizing. Most universities address the issue of academic integrity by providing students with thorough orientations, required writing courses, indeed, there is a virtually uniform understanding among college students that plagiarism is wrong. Nevertheless, each year students are brought before their institutions’ disciplinary boards on charges that they have misused sources in their schoolwork, an extreme form of plagiarism, known as contract cheating involves students paying someone else, such as an essay mill, to do their work for them. In journalism, plagiarism is considered a breach of journalistic ethics, some individuals caught plagiarizing in academic or journalistic contexts claim that they plagiarized unintentionally, by failing to include quotations or give the appropriate citation
20.
Virginia City, Nevada
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Virginia City is a census-designated place that is the county seat of Storey County, Nevada. It is part of the Reno–Sparks Metropolitan Statistical Area, Virginia City sprang up as a boomtown with the 1859 discovery of the Comstock Lode, the first major silver deposit discovery in the United States, with numerous mines opening. At the citys peak of population in the mid-1870s, it had an estimated 25,000 residents, the mines output declined after 1878, and the city itself declined as a result. As of the 2010 Census the population of Virginia City was about 855, peter ORiley and Patrick McLaughlin are credited with the discovery of the Comstock Lode. Henry T. P. Comstocks name was associated with the discovery through his own machinations. Finney was the best judge of placer ground in Gold Canyon, locating the quartz footwall of the Ophir on 22 Feb.1858,1859, and the placers below Ophir in 1857. After the discovery of the Comstock Lode in 1859, the town developed seemingly overnight on the slopes of Mount Davidson. Below the town were dug intricate tunnels and shafts for silver mining, the Comstock Lode discovery and subsequent growth of Virginia City was unequaled by the history of other precious metal discoveries. By 1876 Nevada produced over half of all the metals in the United States. The Comstock produced silver and gold ore valued at hundreds of thousands of dollars, the wealth supported the Northern cause during the American Civil War and flooded the world monetary markets, resulting in economic changes. Virginia Citys silver ore discoveries were not part of the California Gold Rush, at the time of the discovery of the Comstock Lode, silver was considered the monetary equal of gold, and all production was purchased by the federal government for use in coinage. In 1873, silver was demonetized by the government, in part due to the flood of silver into international markets from the silver mines of Virginia City. Technical problems plagued the early mining efforts, requiring the development of new mining technology to support the challenge, German engineer Philip Deidesheimer created a timbering system for mining tunnels called square sets, which enabled the retrieval of huge amounts of silver ore in a safe manner. As technological advancements, these were used many times over in later mining applications. In 1876 one observer reported that in Virginia City, “every activity has to do with the mining, transportation, or reduction of ore, or the melting and assaying of silver bullion. ”Like many cities and towns in Nevada, Virginia City was a mining boomtown. But, Virginia City far surpassed all others for its peak of population, technological advancements developed there, the riches of the Comstock Lode inspired men to hunt for silver mines throughout Nevada and other parts of the American West. Virginia City population increased from 4,000 in 1862 to over 15,000 in 1863 and it fluctuated depending on mining output. US Census figures do not reflect all of these frequent changes, the city included gas and sewer lines, the one hundred room International Hotel with elevator, three theatres, the Maguire Opera House, four churches, and three daily newspapers
21.
Phoebe Hearst
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Phoebe Elizabeth Apperson Hearst was an American philanthropist, feminist and suffragist. She was the mother of William Randolph Hearst and wife of George Hearst and she was born Phoebe Elizabeth Apperson in St. Clair, Missouri, in Franklin County, the daughter of Drucilla and Randolph Walker Apperson. In her early years, Phoebe attended school, intending to become a teacher and her childhood also consisted of helping her father with finances at the family store, learning French, and how to play the piano. George Hearst returned to St. Clair in 1860 to care for his mother, and ran into Phoebe. On June 15,1862, when she was 19, Phoebe married George in the hopes of leaving her mundane home. Soon after their marriage, the couple left Missouri and moved to San Francisco, California, Georges home, George was a successful miner and had struck it rich. In their busy life, George often left Phoebe alone during his work, George later became a U. S. Senator. Phoebe and her son William shared a relationship throughout their time together, sharing many similar interests, one being art. After Phoebes death in 1919, William inherited a $10 million fortune, in the 1880s, she became a major benefactor and director of the Golden Gate Kindergarten Association and the first president of the Century Club of California. In 1902, Phoebe Hearst funded the construction of a building to provide training and kindergarten classes. The Golden Gate Kindergarten Association had 26 schools at the time of the San Francisco earthquake in 1906, Phoebe Hearst was a major benefactor of the University of California, Berkeley and its first woman Regent, serving on the board from 1897 until her death. Also in 1897, she contributed to the establishment of the National Congress of Mothers, in 1900, she co-founded the all-girls National Cathedral School in Washington, DC. A public elementary school near the National Cathedral School bears her name, Phoebe Hearst funded the Hearst Library in Anaconda Montana in 1898. She maintained the library until 1904, in 1901, Phoebe Hearst founded the University of California Lowie Museum of Anthropology, renamed Phoebe A. Hearst Museum of Anthropology in 1992, in celebration of the museums ninth decade. The original collection was founded with about 230,000 objects representing cultures, the museum now contains about 3.8 million objects. Throughout her lifetime, and as denoted in her will, Phoebe Hearst donated over 60,000 objects to the Museum and she also funded archaeological and anthropological expeditions such as the Pepper-Hearst Expedition on the coast of Florida, near Tarpon Springs. The purpose of these expeditions was to enable anthropologists and archaeologists to study, most notable are the 1899 expeditions in Egypt by American archaeologist George A. Reisner and in Peru by German archaeologist Max Uhle. These expeditions, among others, found numerous, well-documented objects now in the museums collection, among these are approximately 20,000 ancient Egyptian artifacts, the largest Egyptian collection west of Chicago
22.
Hacienda del Pozo de Verona
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The Hacienda del Pozo de Verona was a mansion designed by architect A. C. Schweinfurth for philanthropist Phoebe Hearst in the Livermore valley near Pleasanton, the Hacienda was originally built between 1894 and 1898, with substantial later additions designed by architect Julia Morgan. The design of the Hacienda combined Mission, Pueblo, and Moorish architectural styles and it was destroyed by fire in 1969
23.
1906 San Francisco earthquake
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The 1906 San Francisco earthquake struck the coast of Northern California at 5,12 a. m. on April 18 with an estimated moment magnitude of 7.8 and a maximum Mercalli intensity of XI. Severe shaking was felt from Eureka on the North Coast to the Salinas Valley, devastating fires soon broke out in the city and lasted for several days. As a result, about 3,000 people died and over 80% of the city of San Francisco was destroyed, the events are remembered as one of the worst and deadliest natural disasters in the history of the United States. The death toll remains the greatest loss of life from a disaster in Californias history. The San Andreas Fault is a transform fault that forms part of the tectonic boundary between the Pacific Plate and the North American Plate. The strike-slip fault is characterized by mainly lateral motion in a dextral sense, the 1906 rupture propagated both northward and southward for a total of 296 miles. This fault runs the length of California from the Salton Sea in the south to Cape Mendocino in the north, the maximum observed surface displacement was about 20 feet, geodetic measurements show displacements of up to 28 feet. The 1906 earthquake preceded the development of the Richter magnitude scale by three decades. The most widely accepted estimate for the magnitude of the quake on the moment magnitude scale is 7.8. According to findings published in the Journal of Geophysical Research, severe deformations in the earths crust took place both before and after the earthquakes impact. Accumulated strain on the faults in the system was relieved during the earthquake, the main shock epicenter occurred offshore about 2 miles from the city, near Mussel Rock. Shaking was felt from Oregon to Los Angeles, and inland as far as central Nevada, a strong foreshock preceded the main shock by about 20 to 25 seconds. The strong shaking of the main shock lasted about 42 seconds, there were decades of minor earthquakes – more than at any other time in the historical record for northern California – before the 1906 quake. For years, the epicenter of the quake was assumed to be near the town of Olema, in the Point Reyes area of Marin County, because of evidence of the degree of local earth displacement. In the 1960s, a seismologist at UC Berkeley proposed that the epicenter was more likely offshore of San Francisco, at the time,375 deaths were reported, partly because hundreds of fatalities in Chinatown went ignored and unrecorded. The total number of deaths is uncertain today, and is estimated to be roughly 3,000 at minimum. Most of the deaths occurred in San Francisco itself, but 189 were reported elsewhere in the Bay Area, nearby cities, such as Santa Rosa and San Jose, in Monterey County, the earthquake permanently shifted the course of the Salinas River near its mouth. Where previously the river emptied into Monterey Bay between Moss Landing and Watsonville, it was diverted 6 miles south to a new channel just north of Marina
24.
Half Dome
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Half Dome is a granite dome at the eastern end of Yosemite Valley in Yosemite National Park, California. It is a rock formation in the park, named for its distinct shape. One side is a face while the other three sides are smooth and round, making it appear like a dome cut in half. The granite crest rises more than 4,737 ft above the valley floor, the impression from the valley floor that this is a round dome that has lost its northwest half is an illusion. Although the trend of this ridge, as well as that of Tenaya Canyon, is controlled by master joints,80 percent of the northwest half of the original dome may well still be there. On March 28,2009, a rock slide of 1,500,000 cubic feet occurred from Ahwiyah Point. The slide happened at 5,25 a. m. no one was injured, but hundreds of trees were knocked down, and a portion of the Mirror Lake trail was buried. The slide registered on seismographs as an earthquake reaching 2.5 on the Richter Scale, as late as the 1870s, Half Dome was described as perfectly inaccessible by Josiah Whitney of the California Geological Survey. The summit was finally conquered by George G. Anderson in October 1875, today, Half Dome may now be ascended in several different ways. Thousands of hikers reach the top each year by following an 8.5 mi trail from the valley floor, alternatively, over a dozen rock climbing routes lead from the valley up Half Domes vertical northwest face. The first technical ascent was in 1957 via a route pioneered by Royal Robbins, Mike Sherrick and their five-day epic was the first Grade VI climb in the United States. Their route has now been free soloed several times in a few hours time, other technical routes ascend the south face and the west shoulder. The Half Dome Cable Route hike runs from the floor to the top of the dome in 8.2 mi. The length and difficulty of the used to keep it less crowded than other park trails. The hike can be done from the floor in a single long day. The trail climbs past Vernal and Nevada Falls, then continues into Little Yosemite Valley, the final 400 ft ascent is steeply up the rock between two steel cables used as handholds. The cables are fixed with bolts in the rock and raised onto a series of poles in late May. The cables are taken down from the poles for the winter in early October, the National Park Service recommends against climbing the route when the cables are down and when the surface of the rock is wet and slippery
