1.
National Register of Historic Places
–
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States federal governments official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation. The passage of the National Historic Preservation Act in 1966 established the National Register, of the more than one million properties on the National Register,80,000 are listed individually. The remainder are contributing resources within historic districts, each year approximately 30,000 properties are added to the National Register as part of districts or by individual listings. For most of its history the National Register has been administered by the National Park Service and its goals are to help property owners and interest groups, such as the National Trust for Historic Preservation, coordinate, identify, and protect historic sites in the United States. While National Register listings are mostly symbolic, their recognition of significance provides some financial incentive to owners of listed properties, protection of the property is not guaranteed. During the nomination process, the property is evaluated in terms of the four criteria for inclusion on the National Register of Historic Places, the application of those criteria has been the subject of criticism by academics of history and preservation, as well as the public and politicians. Occasionally, historic sites outside the proper, but associated with the United States are also listed. Properties can be nominated in a variety of forms, including individual properties, historic districts, the Register categorizes general listings into one of five types of properties, district, site, structure, building, or object. National Register Historic Districts are defined geographical areas consisting of contributing and non-contributing properties, some properties are added automatically to the National Register when they become administered by the National Park Service. These include National Historic Landmarks, National Historic Sites, National Historical Parks, National Military Parks/Battlefields, National Memorials, on October 15,1966, the Historic Preservation Act created the National Register of Historic Places and the corresponding State Historic Preservation Offices. Initially, the National Register consisted of the National Historic Landmarks designated before the Registers creation, approval of the act, which was amended in 1980 and 1992, represented the first time the United States had a broad-based historic preservation policy. To administer the newly created National Register of Historic Places, the National Park Service of the U. S. Department of the Interior, hartzog, Jr. established an administrative division named the Office of Archeology and Historic Preservation. Hartzog charged OAHP with creating the National Register program mandated by the 1966 law, ernest Connally was the Offices first director. Within OAHP new divisions were created to deal with the National Register, the first official Keeper of the Register was William J. Murtagh, an architectural historian. During the Registers earliest years in the late 1960s and early 1970s, organization was lax and SHPOs were small, understaffed, and underfunded. A few years later in 1979, the NPS history programs affiliated with both the U. S. National Parks system and the National Register were categorized formally into two Assistant Directorates. Established were the Assistant Directorate for Archeology and Historic Preservation and the Assistant Directorate for Park Historic Preservation, from 1978 until 1981, the main agency for the National Register was the Heritage Conservation and Recreation Service of the United States Department of the Interior. In February 1983, the two assistant directorates were merged to promote efficiency and recognize the interdependency of their programs, jerry L. Rogers was selected to direct this newly merged associate directorate
2.
National Monument (United States)
–
Historically, some national monuments were managed by the War Department. National monuments can be so designated through the power of the Antiquities Act of 1906, President Theodore Roosevelt used the act to declare Devils Tower in Wyoming as the first national monument. The Antiquities Act of 1906 resulted from concerns about protecting mostly prehistoric Native American ruins, the Act authorized permits for legitimate archaeological investigations and penalties for taking or destroying antiquities without permission. Among the next three monuments he proclaimed in 1906 was Petrified Forest in Arizona, another natural feature, in 1908, Roosevelt used the act to proclaim more than 800,000 acres of the Grand Canyon as a national monument. In 1918, President Woodrow Wilson proclaimed Katmai National Monument in Alaska, Katmai was later enlarged to nearly 2,800,000 acres by subsequent Antiquities Act proclamations and for many years was the largest national park system unit. Petrified Forest, Grand Canyon, and Katmai were among the national monuments later converted to national parks by Congress. Substantial opposition did not materialize until 1943, when President Franklin D. Roosevelt proclaimed Jackson Hole National Monument in Wyoming. He did this to accept a donation of lands acquired by John D. Rockefeller, roosevelts proclamation unleashed a storm of criticism about use of the Antiquities Act to circumvent Congress. A bill abolishing Jackson Hole National Monument passed Congress but was vetoed by Roosevelt, the proclamation authority was not used again anywhere until 1996, when President Bill Clinton proclaimed the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument in Utah. This action was unpopular in Utah, and bills were introduced to further restrict the presidents authority. To date, none of them have been enacted, presidents have used the Antiquities Acts proclamation authority not only to create new national monuments but to enlarge existing ones. For example, Franklin D. Roosevelt significantly enlarged Dinosaur National Monument in 1938, lyndon B. Johnson added Ellis Island to Statue of Liberty National Monument in 1965, and Jimmy Carter made major additions to Glacier Bay and Katmai National Monuments in 1978. Marine National Monument List of U. S. National Forests List of areas in the National Park System of the United States List of U. S
3.
New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission
–
The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission is the New York City agency charged with administering the citys Landmarks Preservation Law. It is the largest municipal preservation agency in the nation, according to the Landmarks Preservation Law, a building must be at least thirty years old before the Commission can declare it a landmark. City law also allows for the Commissions decision to be overturned if an appeal is filed within 90 days, the goal of New York Citys landmarks law is to preserve the aesthetically and historically important buildings, structures, and other objects that make up the New York City vista. These regulations are designed to allow property owners to continue to use and maintain their properties. The commission preserves not only significant buildings, but the overall historical sense of place of neighborhoods that are designated as historic districts. The Commission helps preserve the Citys landmark properties by regulating changes to their significant features, the role of the Commission has evolved over time, especially with the changing real estate market in New York City. The Landmarks Preservation Commissions first public hearing occurred in September,1965 over the future of the Astor Library on Lafayette Street in Manhattan, the building was designated a New York City Landmark. Subsequently, the building was reused as The Public Theater. Twenty-five years later, the Commission was cited by David Dinkins as having preserved New York Citys municipal identity and this success is believed to be due, in part, to the general acceptance of the commission by the citys developers. The Commission was headquartered in the Mutual Reserve Building from 1967 to 1980, and later the Old New York Evening Post Building from 1980 to 1987. As of April 16,2014, there are more than 31,000 landmark properties in New York City, the total number of protected sites includes 1,332 individual landmarks,115 interior landmarks and 10 scenic landmarks. Some of these are also National Historic Landmarks sites, and many are National Registered Historic Places, one of the most prominent decisions in which the Commission was involved was the preservation of the Grand Central Terminal with the assistance of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis. This success is cited as significant due to the Commissions origins following the destruction of Pennsylvania Station. In 1989, the Commission designated the Ladies Mile Historic District, the next year marked the first time in the Commissions history that a proposed landmark, the Guggenheim Museum, received a unanimous vote by the Commission members. One of the most controversial properties was 2 Columbus Circle, which remained at the center of a discussion over its future for a number of years. Cultural landmarks, such as Greenwich Villages Stonewall Inn, are recognized as not for their architecture. A commission-designated historic district for the South Street Seaport has been active since 1977 and was extended on July 11,1989 and this group included the Historic Districts Council, the Save Our Seaport community group, the New Amsterdam Market, and the Metropolitan Waterfront Alliance. They had encouraged others to write letters to the Landmarks Preservation Commission to support formal designation or district protection, however, in 2013, the Landmarks Preservation Commission declined to hold a hearing to consider this landmark designation or to expand the district
4.
Heritage Documentation Programs
–
These programs were established to document historic places in the United States. Records consist of measured drawings, archival photographs, and written reports, in 1933, NPS established the Historic American Buildings Survey following a proposal by Charles E. Peterson, a young landscape architect in the agency. It was founded as a constructive program for architects, draftsmen. Guided by field instructions from Washington, D. C. the first HABS recorders were tasked with documenting a representative sampling of Americas architectural heritage, by creating an archive of historic architecture, HABS provided a database of primary source material and documentation for the then-fledgling historic preservation movement. Earlier private projects included the White Pine Series of Architectural Monographs, notable HABS photographers include Jack Boucher, who worked for the project for over 40 years. The Historic American Engineering Record program was founded on January 10,1969, by NPS, HAER documents historic mechanical and engineering artifacts. Since the advent of HAER, the program is typically called HABS/HAER. Today much of the work of HABS/HAER is done by student teams during the summer, eric DeLony headed HAER from 1971 to 2003. In October 2000, NPS and the American Society of Landscape Architects established a sister program, a predecessor, the Historic American Landscape and Garden Project, recorded historic Massachusetts gardens between 1935 and 1940. That project was funded by the Works Progress Administration, but was administered by HABS, the permanent collection of HABS/HAER/HALS are housed at the Library of Congress, which was established in 1790 as the replacement reference library of the United States Congress. It has since expanded to serve as the National Library of the United States, U. S. publishers are required to deposit a copy of every copyrighted and published work, book monograph. As a branch of the United States Government, its works are in the public domain in the US. Many images, drawings, and documents are available through the Prints and Photographs Online Catalog, including proposed, demolished, and existing structures, locales, projects, and designs. Jack Boucher, former HABS/HAER photographer Jet Lowe, former HAER photographer National Register of Historic Places HAER,30 Years of Recording Our Technological Heritage, IA, The Journal of the Society for Industrial Archeology. Documenting Complexity, The Historic American Engineering Record and Americas Technological History, IA, The Journal of the Society for Industrial Archeology. National Park Service−NPS, official Heritage Documentation Programs website
5.
The Battery (Manhattan)
–
Battery Park is a 25-acre public park located at the Battery, the southern tip of Manhattan Island in New York City, facing New York Harbor. The area and park are named for the batteries that were positioned there in the citys early years to protect the settlement behind them. The southern shoreline of Manhattan Island had long known as The Battery since the 17th century when the area was part of the Dutch Settlement of New Amsterdam. At the time, a battery there served to protect the seaward approaches to the town. The relatively modern park was created by landfill starting from 1855. Skyscrapers now occupy most of the land, stopping abruptly where the park begins. While the Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel and Battery Park Underpass were under construction from 1940–52, peter Minuit Plaza was built in 1955, the East Coast Memorial was dedicated in 1963. Battery Park was included within a group of historic waterfront sites designated Harbor Park, by the government of New York State, the Battery Park Conservancy, founded in 1994 by still-current President Warrie Price, has undertaken and funded the restoration and improvement of the once shop-worn park. In 2015, the New York City Department of Parks and the Battery Conservancy announced that the park would revert to its historic name, at the other end of the park is Battery Gardens restaurant, next to the United States Coast Guard Battery Building. Along the waterfront, Statue Cruises offers ferries to the Statue of Liberty, the park is also the site of the East Coast Memorial which commemorates U. S. servicemen who died in coastal waters of the western Atlantic Ocean during World War II, and several other memorials. Castle Clinton, named for mayor DeWitt Clinton, now lies within the park, originally called the West Battery, it was built as a fort just prior to the War of 1812. It became property of the city after the war and was renamed Castle Clinton, when Leased by the city, it became a popular promenade and beer garden. Later roofed over, it one of the premier theatrical venues in the United States. The people who gathered at Battery Park to see a clipper ship get underway came partly to hear the sailors sing their sea songs, which originated early in the nineteenth century, with the Negro stevedores at Mobile and New Orleans. The migration of the citys elite uptown increased concurrently with the mass European emigration of the middle 19th century, as immigrants settled the Battery area, the location was less favorable to theater patrons and Castle Garden was closed. The structure was made into the worlds first immigration depot, processing millions of immigrants beginning in 1855, almost 40 years before its successor, Ellis Island. This period coincided with immigration waves resulting from Irelands Great Famine, the structure then housed the New York Aquarium from 1896 to 1941, when it was threatened with destruction under transportation planner Robert Mosess plans. Made a National Monument in 1946 and restored in 1975, it is known by its original name
6.
Manhattan
–
Manhattan is the most densely populated borough of New York City, its economic and administrative center, and the citys historical birthplace. The borough is coextensive with New York County, founded on November 1,1683, Manhattan is often described as the cultural and financial capital of the world and hosts the United Nations Headquarters. Many multinational media conglomerates are based in the borough and it is historically documented to have been purchased by Dutch colonists from Native Americans in 1626 for 60 guilders which equals US$1062 today. New York County is the United States second-smallest county by land area, on business days, the influx of commuters increases that number to over 3.9 million, or more than 170,000 people per square mile. Manhattan has the third-largest population of New York Citys five boroughs, after Brooklyn and Queens, the City of New York was founded at the southern tip of Manhattan, and the borough houses New York City Hall, the seat of the citys government. The name Manhattan derives from the word Manna-hata, as written in the 1609 logbook of Robert Juet, a 1610 map depicts the name as Manna-hata, twice, on both the west and east sides of the Mauritius River. The word Manhattan has been translated as island of hills from the Lenape language. The United States Postal Service prefers that mail addressed to Manhattan use New York, NY rather than Manhattan, the area that is now Manhattan was long inhabited by the Lenape Native Americans. In 1524, Florentine explorer Giovanni da Verrazzano – sailing in service of King Francis I of France – was the first European to visit the area that would become New York City. It was not until the voyage of Henry Hudson, an Englishman who worked for the Dutch East India Company, a permanent European presence in New Netherland began in 1624 with the founding of a Dutch fur trading settlement on Governors Island. In 1625, construction was started on the citadel of Fort Amsterdam on Manhattan Island, later called New Amsterdam, the 1625 establishment of Fort Amsterdam at the southern tip of Manhattan Island is recognized as the birth of New York City. In 1846, New York historian John Romeyn Brodhead converted the figure of Fl 60 to US$23, variable-rate myth being a contradiction in terms, the purchase price remains forever frozen at twenty-four dollars, as Edwin G. Burrows and Mike Wallace remarked in their history of New York. Sixty guilders in 1626 was valued at approximately $1,000 in 2006, based on the price of silver, Straight Dope author Cecil Adams calculated an equivalent of $72 in 1992. In 1647, Peter Stuyvesant was appointed as the last Dutch Director General of the colony, New Amsterdam was formally incorporated as a city on February 2,1653. In 1664, the English conquered New Netherland and renamed it New York after the English Duke of York and Albany, the Dutch Republic regained it in August 1673 with a fleet of 21 ships, renaming the city New Orange. Manhattan was at the heart of the New York Campaign, a series of battles in the early American Revolutionary War. The Continental Army was forced to abandon Manhattan after the Battle of Fort Washington on November 16,1776. The city, greatly damaged by the Great Fire of New York during the campaign, became the British political, British occupation lasted until November 25,1783, when George Washington returned to Manhattan, as the last British forces left the city
7.
New York City
–
The City of New York, often called New York City or simply New York, is the most populous city in the United States. With an estimated 2015 population of 8,550,405 distributed over an area of about 302.6 square miles. Located at the tip of the state of New York. Home to the headquarters of the United Nations, New York is an important center for international diplomacy and has described as the cultural and financial capital of the world. Situated on one of the worlds largest natural harbors, New York City consists of five boroughs, the five boroughs – Brooklyn, Queens, Manhattan, The Bronx, and Staten Island – were consolidated into a single city in 1898. In 2013, the MSA produced a gross metropolitan product of nearly US$1.39 trillion, in 2012, the CSA generated a GMP of over US$1.55 trillion. NYCs MSA and CSA GDP are higher than all but 11 and 12 countries, New York City traces its origin to its 1624 founding in Lower Manhattan as a trading post by colonists of the Dutch Republic and was named New Amsterdam in 1626. The city and its surroundings came under English control in 1664 and were renamed New York after King Charles II of England granted the lands to his brother, New York served as the capital of the United States from 1785 until 1790. It has been the countrys largest city since 1790, the Statue of Liberty greeted millions of immigrants as they came to the Americas by ship in the late 19th and early 20th centuries and is a symbol of the United States and its democracy. In the 21st century, New York has emerged as a node of creativity and entrepreneurship, social tolerance. Several sources have ranked New York the most photographed city in the world, the names of many of the citys bridges, tapered skyscrapers, and parks are known around the world. Manhattans real estate market is among the most expensive in the world, Manhattans Chinatown incorporates the highest concentration of Chinese people in the Western Hemisphere, with multiple signature Chinatowns developing across the city. Providing continuous 24/7 service, the New York City Subway is one of the most extensive metro systems worldwide, with 472 stations in operation. Over 120 colleges and universities are located in New York City, including Columbia University, New York University, and Rockefeller University, during the Wisconsinan glaciation, the New York City region was situated at the edge of a large ice sheet over 1,000 feet in depth. The ice sheet scraped away large amounts of soil, leaving the bedrock that serves as the foundation for much of New York City today. Later on, movement of the ice sheet would contribute to the separation of what are now Long Island and Staten Island. The first documented visit by a European was in 1524 by Giovanni da Verrazzano, a Florentine explorer in the service of the French crown and he claimed the area for France and named it Nouvelle Angoulême. Heavy ice kept him from further exploration, and he returned to Spain in August and he proceeded to sail up what the Dutch would name the North River, named first by Hudson as the Mauritius after Maurice, Prince of Orange
8.
Geographic coordinate system
–
A geographic coordinate system is a coordinate system used in geography that enables every location on Earth to be specified by a set of numbers, letters or symbols. The coordinates are chosen such that one of the numbers represents a vertical position. A common choice of coordinates is latitude, longitude and elevation, to specify a location on a two-dimensional map requires a map projection. The invention of a coordinate system is generally credited to Eratosthenes of Cyrene. Ptolemy credited him with the adoption of longitude and latitude. Ptolemys 2nd-century Geography used the prime meridian but measured latitude from the equator instead. Mathematical cartography resumed in Europe following Maximus Planudes recovery of Ptolemys text a little before 1300, in 1884, the United States hosted the International Meridian Conference, attended by representatives from twenty-five nations. Twenty-two of them agreed to adopt the longitude of the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, the Dominican Republic voted against the motion, while France and Brazil abstained. France adopted Greenwich Mean Time in place of local determinations by the Paris Observatory in 1911, the latitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle between the equatorial plane and the straight line that passes through that point and through the center of the Earth. Lines joining points of the same latitude trace circles on the surface of Earth called parallels, as they are parallel to the equator, the north pole is 90° N, the south pole is 90° S. The 0° parallel of latitude is designated the equator, the plane of all geographic coordinate systems. The equator divides the globe into Northern and Southern Hemispheres, the longitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle east or west of a reference meridian to another meridian that passes through that point. All meridians are halves of great ellipses, which converge at the north and south poles, the prime meridian determines the proper Eastern and Western Hemispheres, although maps often divide these hemispheres further west in order to keep the Old World on a single side. The antipodal meridian of Greenwich is both 180°W and 180°E, the combination of these two components specifies the position of any location on the surface of Earth, without consideration of altitude or depth. The grid formed by lines of latitude and longitude is known as a graticule, the origin/zero point of this system is located in the Gulf of Guinea about 625 km south of Tema, Ghana. To completely specify a location of a feature on, in, or above Earth. Earth is not a sphere, but a shape approximating a biaxial ellipsoid. It is nearly spherical, but has an equatorial bulge making the radius at the equator about 0. 3% larger than the radius measured through the poles, the shorter axis approximately coincides with the axis of rotation
9.
Sandstone
–
Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized minerals or rock grains. Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar because these are the most common minerals in the Earths crust, like sand, sandstone may be any color, but the most common colors are tan, brown, yellow, red, grey, pink, white, and black. Since sandstone beds often form highly visible cliffs and other topographic features, quartz-bearing sandstone is converted into quartzite through heating and pressure, usually related to tectonic compression within orogenic belts. They are formed from cemented grains that may either be fragments of a rock or be mono-minerallic crystals. The cements binding these grains together are typically calcite, clays, grain sizes in sands are defined within the range of 0.0625 mm to 2 mm. The formation of sandstone involves two principal stages, first, a layer or layers of sand accumulates as the result of sedimentation, either from water or from air. Typically, sedimentation occurs by the settling out from suspension. The most common cementing materials are silica and calcium carbonate, which are derived either from dissolution or from alteration of the sand after it was buried. Colours will usually be tan or yellow, a predominant additional colourant in the southwestern United States is iron oxide, which imparts reddish tints ranging from pink to dark red, with additional manganese imparting a purplish hue. Red sandstones are seen in the Southwest and West of Britain, as well as central Europe. The regularity of the latter favours use as a source for masonry, either as a building material or as a facing stone. These physical properties allow the grains to survive multiple recycling events. Quartz grains evolve from rock, which are felsic in origin. Feldspathic framework grains are commonly the second most abundant mineral in sandstones, Feldspar can be divided into two smaller subdivisions, alkali feldspars and plagioclase feldspars. The different types of feldspar can be distinguished under a petrographic microscope, below is a description of the different types of feldspar. Alkali feldspar is a group of minerals in which the composition of the mineral can range from KAlSi3O8 to NaAlSi3O8. Plagioclase feldspar is a group of solid solution minerals that range in composition from NaAlSi3O8 to CaAl2Si2O8. Lithic framework grains are pieces of ancient source rock that have yet to weather away to individual mineral grains, accessory minerals are all other mineral grains in a sandstone, commonly these minerals make up just a small percentage of the grains in a sandstone
10.
Fortification
–
Fortifications are military constructions or buildings designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and also used to solidify rule in a region during peace time. Humans have constructed defensive works for many thousands of years, in a variety of increasingly complex designs, the term is derived from the Latin fortis and facere. From very early history to modern times, walls have been a necessity for cities to survive in a changing world of invasion. Some settlements in the Indus Valley Civilization were the first small cities to be fortified, in ancient Greece, large stone walls had been built in Mycenaean Greece, such as the ancient site of Mycenae. A Greek Phrourion was a collection of buildings used as a military garrison. These construction mainly served the purpose of a tower, to guard certain roads, passes. Though smaller than a fortress, they acted as a border guard rather than a real strongpoint to watch. The art of setting out a camp or constructing a fortification traditionally has been called castramentation since the time of the Roman legions. Fortification is usually divided into two branches, permanent fortification and field fortification, there is also an intermediate branch known as semi-permanent fortification. Castles are fortifications which are regarded as being distinct from the fort or fortress in that they are a residence of a monarch or noble. Roman forts and hill forts were the antecedents of castles in Europe. The Early Middle Ages saw the creation of towns built around castles. Medieval-style fortifications were made obsolete by the arrival of cannons in the 14th century. Fortifications in the age of black powder evolved into much lower structures with greater use of ditches and earth ramparts that would absorb, Walls exposed to direct cannon fire were very vulnerable, so were sunk into ditches fronted by earth slopes. The arrival of explosive shells in the 19th century led to yet another stage in the evolution of fortification, steel-and-concrete fortifications were common during the 19th and early 20th centuries. However the advances in warfare since World War I have made large-scale fortifications obsolete in most situations. Demilitarized zones along borders are arguably another type of fortification, although a passive kind, many military installations are known as forts, although they are not always fortified. Larger forts may be called fortresses, smaller ones were known as fortalices
11.
History of immigration to the United States
–
The history of immigration to the United States details the movement of people to the United States starting with the first European settlements from around 1600. Beginning around this time, British and other Europeans settled primarily on the east coast, Later Africans were imported as slaves. The United States experienced successive waves of immigration, particularly from Europe, Immigrants sometimes paid the cost of transoceanic transportation by becoming indentured servants after their arrival in the New World. Later, immigration rules became more restrictive, the ending of numerical restrictions occurred in 1965, recently, cheap air travel has increased immigration from Asia and Latin America. Attitudes toward new immigrants have cycled between favorable and hostile since the 1790s, in 1607 the first successful English colony settled in Jamestown, Virginia. Once tobacco was found to be a cash crop, many plantations were established along the Chesapeake Bay in Virginia. It brought Northern European immigrants, primarily of British, German, the British ruled from the mid-17th century and were by far the largest group of arrivals, remaining within the British Empire. Over 90% of these immigrants became farmers. Large numbers of men and women came alone as indentured servants. Their passage was paid by employers in the colonies who needed help on the farms or in shops, indentured servants were provided food, housing, clothing and training but did not receive wages. At the end of the indenture they were free to marry, seeking religious freedom in the New World, one hundred English Pilgrims established a small settlement near Plymouth, Massachusetts in 1620. The earliest New English colonies, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, large scale immigration to this region ended before 1700, though a small but steady trickle of later arrivals continued. The New English colonists were the most urban and educated of all their contemporaries and they started the first university, Harvard, in 1635 to train their ministers. They mostly settled in villages for mutual support and common religious activity. Shipbuilding, commerce, agriculture, and fishing were their source of income. New Englands healthy climate, small villages, and abundant food supply resulted in the lowest death rate. The Eastern and Northern frontier around the initial New England settlements was mainly settled by the descendants of the original New Englanders, Immigration to the New England colonies after 1640 and the start of the English Civil War decreased to less than 1% in nearly all years prior to 1845. The rapid growth of the New England colonies was almost entirely due to the birth rate
12.
Ellis Island
–
Ellis Island, in Upper New York Bay, was the gateway for over 12 million immigrants to the United States as the nations busiest immigrant inspection station for over sixty years from 1892 until 1954. The island was expanded with land reclamation between 1892 and 1934. Before that, the smaller original island was the site of Fort Gibson. The island was part of the Statue of Liberty National Monument in 1965. Long considered part of New York state, a 1998 United States Supreme Court decision found that most of the island is in New Jersey. The south side of the island, home to the Ellis Island Immigrant Hospital, is closed to the general public and the object of restoration efforts spearheaded by Save Ellis Island. Ellis Island is located in Upper New York Bay, east of Liberty State Park and north of Liberty Island, in Jersey City, New Jersey, with a small section that is part of New York City. Largely created through land reclamation, the island has an area of 27.5 acres. The 2. 74-acre natural island and contiguous areas comprise the 3.3 acres that are part of New York, the entire island has been owned and administered by the U. S. federal government since 1808 and has been operated by the National Park Service since 1965. Since September 11,2001, the island is guarded by patrols of the United States Park Police Marine Patrol Unit, public access is by ferry from either Communipaw Terminal in Liberty State Park or from Battery Park at the southern tip of Manhattan. The ferry operator, Hornblower Cruises and Events, also service to the nearby Statue of Liberty. A bridge built for transporting materials and personnel during restoration projects connects Ellis Island with Liberty State Park, proposals made in 1995 to use it or replace it with a new bridge for pedestrians were opposed by the city of New York and the private ferry operator at that time. Much of the island, including the south side, has been closed to the general public since 1954. The renovated area on the side was again closed to the public after Hurricane Sandy in October 2012. The island was re-opened to the public and the museum partially re-opened on October 28,2013, there were several islands which were not completely submerged at high tide. Three of them were given the name Oyster Islands by the settlers of New Netherland, the oyster beds would remain a major source of food for nearly three centuries. During the colonial period Little Oyster Island was known as Dyres, in the 1760s, after some pirates were hanged from one of the islands scrubby trees, it became known as Gibbet Island. It was acquired by Samuel Ellis, a colonial New Yorker and merchant possibly from Wales, in 1785 he unsuccessfully attempted to sell the island, TO BE SOLD By Samuel Ellis, no
13.
Beer garden
–
A beer garden is an outdoor area in which beer and local food are served, typically at shared tables. Common entertainment include music, song, and games, enjoyed in an atmosphere of Gemütlichkeit, Beer gardens originated in Munich, the capital of the German state of Bavaria, in the 19th century, and remain common in Southern Germany. Beer garden popularity is increasing worldwide in the 21st century and it is unknown which Munich brewery opened the first Bavarian Biergärten, but it was likely one of Munichs big six, Löwenbräu, Hofbräuhaus, Augustinerbräu, Paulaner, Hacker-Pschorr and Spaten. What is known is that developed in the then Kingdom of Bavaria in the 19th century. The cool seasons were chosen to minimize the risk of fire when boiling mashed grain into wort, numerous conflagrations had occurred, resulting in the prohibition of brewing during the summer months. In response, large breweries dug cellars in the banks of the River Isar to keep their beer cool during storage, Beer cellars for consuming beer on premises naturally followed. To further reduce the temperature during the warm seasons, 19th century brewers covered the river banks with gravel. Soon after that, serving beer in a pleasant shaded setting emerged. Simple tables and benches were set up among the trees, creating the beer garden we know today. Food service followed, aggrieving smaller breweries that found it difficult to compete and they petitioned Maximilian I to forbid it. In compromise, beer gardens allowed their patrons to bring their own food, as a rule of thumb, beer gardens offer clothed tablesets, whose guests must buy food from the house. If you bring your own food, you must use the bare table sets, with the advent of widespread lagering in the later 19th century, beer gardens grew more popular than ever. Maximilians decree is no longer in force, and many beer gardens serve food, usually common Bavarian fare such as Radi, Brezn, Obatzda, halbes Hendl, Haxn, and Steckerlfisch. Equally important to the garden is an atmosphere of Gemütlichkeit, conveying a feeling of warmth, friendliness. Reinforced by shared tables, it is accompanied by music, song. The term beer garden has become a term for open-air establishments where beer is served. The characteristics of a beer garden include trees, wooden benches, a gravel bed. Some modern beer gardens use plastic chairs, fast food, the largest traditional beer garden in the world is the Hirschgarten in Munich, which seats 8,000
14.
Convention center
–
A convention center is a large building that is designed to hold a convention, where individuals and groups gather to promote and share common interests. Convention centers typically offer sufficient floor area to several thousand attendees. Very large venues, suitable for trade shows, are sometimes known as exhibition centres. Convention centers typically have at least one auditorium and may also contain concert halls, lecture halls, meeting rooms, some large resort area hotels include a convention center
15.
Theatre
–
The performers may communicate this experience to the audience through combinations of gesture, speech, song, music, and dance. Elements of art, such as painted scenery and stagecraft such as lighting are used to enhance the physicality, presence, the specific place of the performance is also named by the word theatre as derived from the Ancient Greek θέατρον, itself from θεάομαι. Modern theatre, broadly defined, includes performances of plays and musical theatre, there are connections between theatre and the art forms of ballet, opera and various other forms. The city-state of Athens is where western theatre originated, participation in the city-states many festivals—and mandatory attendance at the City Dionysia as an audience member in particular—was an important part of citizenship. The Greeks also developed the concepts of dramatic criticism and theatre architecture, Actors were either amateur or at best semi-professional. The theatre of ancient Greece consisted of three types of drama, tragedy, comedy, and the satyr play, the origins of theatre in ancient Greece, according to Aristotle, the first theoretician of theatre, are to be found in the festivals that honoured Dionysus. The performances were given in semi-circular auditoria cut into hillsides, capable of seating 10, the stage consisted of a dancing floor, dressing room and scene-building area. Since the words were the most important part, good acoustics, the actors wore masks appropriate to the characters they represented, and each might play several parts. Athenian tragedy—the oldest surviving form of tragedy—is a type of dance-drama that formed an important part of the culture of the city-state. Having emerged sometime during the 6th century BCE, it flowered during the 5th century BCE, no tragedies from the 6th century BCE and only 32 of the more than a thousand that were performed in during the 5th century BCE have survived. We have complete texts extant by Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides, the origins of tragedy remain obscure, though by the 5th century BCE it was institution alised in competitions held as part of festivities celebrating Dionysus. As contestants in the City Dionysias competition playwrights were required to present a tetralogy of plays, the performance of tragedies at the City Dionysia may have begun as early as 534 BCE, official records begin from 501 BCE, when the satyr play was introduced. More than 130 years later, the philosopher Aristotle analysed 5th-century Athenian tragedy in the oldest surviving work of dramatic theory—his Poetics, Athenian comedy is conventionally divided into three periods, Old Comedy, Middle Comedy, and New Comedy. Old Comedy survives today largely in the form of the surviving plays of Aristophanes. New Comedy is known primarily from the papyrus fragments of Menander. Aristotle defined comedy as a representation of people that involves some kind of blunder or ugliness that does not cause pain or disaster. In addition to the categories of comedy and tragedy at the City Dionysia, finding its origins in rural, agricultural rituals dedicated to Dionysus, the satyr play eventually found its way to Athens in its most well-known form. Satyrs themselves were tied to the god Dionysus as his loyal companions, often engaging in drunken revelry
16.
Public aquarium
–
A public aquarium is the aquatic counterpart of a zoo, which houses living aquatic animal and plant specimens for public viewing. Most public aquariums feature tanks larger than those kept by home aquarists, since the first public aquariums were built in the mid-19th century, they have become popular and their numbers have increased. Most modern accredited aquariums stress conservation issues and educating the public, the first public aquarium was opened in London Zoo in May 1853, the Fish House, as it came to be known, was constructed much like a greenhouse. P. T. Barnum quickly followed in 1856 with the first American aquarium as part of his established Barnums American Museum, in 1859, the Aquarial Gardens were founded in Boston. The old Berlin Aquarium opened in 1869, the building site was to be Unter den Linden, in the centre of town, not at the Berlin Zoo. The aquariums first director, Alfred Brehm, former director of the Hamburg Zoo from 1863 to 1866, with its emphasis on education, the public aquarium was designed like a grotto, part of it made of natural rock. The Geologische Grotte depicted the strata of the earths crust, the grotto also featured birds and pools for seals. The Aquarium Unter den Linden was a three-story building, machinery and water tanks were on the ground floor, aquarium basins for the fish on the first floor. Because of Brehms special interest in birds, a huge aviary, the Artis aquarium at Amsterdam Zoo was constructed inside a Victorian building in 1882, and was renovated in 1997. At the end of the 19th century the Artis aquarium was considered state-of-the-art, prior to its closing on September 30,2013, the oldest American aquarium was the National Aquarium in Washington, D. C. founded in 1873. This was followed by the opening of public aquariums, San Francisco, Woods Hole, New York, La Jolla, Honolulu, Detroit, Philadelphia, San Francisco. For many years, the Shedd Aquarium was the largest aquarium in the United States until the Georgia Aquarium in Atlanta opened 2005, the first Japanese public aquarium, a small freshwater aquarium, was opened at the Ueno Zoo in 1882. In 2005, the Georgia Aquarium, with more than 8 million U. S. gallons of marine and fresh water, the aquariums notable specimens include whale sharks and beluga whales. Modern aquarium tanks can hold millions of litres of water and can house large species, including dolphins and this is accomplished through thick, clear acrylic glass windows. Aquatic and semiaquatic mammals, including otters, and seals are cared for at aquariums. Some establishments, such as the Oregon Coast Aquarium or the Monterey Bay Aquarium, have aquatic aviaries, modern aquariums also include land animals and plants that spend time in or near the water. For marketing purposes, many aquariums promote special exhibits, in addition to their permanent collections, some have aquatic versions of a petting zoo. The Monterey Bay Aquarium has a tank filled with common types of rays which visitors are encouraged to touch
17.
Fort Amsterdam
–
The construction of the fort marked the official founding date of New York City as recognized by the Seal of New York City. In October 1683 what would become the first session of the New York legislature convened at the fort, guns at the fort formed the original battery, nearby Battery Park is named for this feature. The forts site is now occupied by the Alexander Hamilton U. S, custom House, which houses the George Gustav Heye Center, part of the National Museum of the American Indian. Fort Amsterdam was designed by Cryn Fredericks, chief engineer of the New Netherland colony, seventeenth-century Dutch forts all followed a similar design. Probably originally intended as a standard star-shaped fort, Fort Amsterdam had four sides with a bastion at each corner to protect the walls. The fort was built of hard-packed earth or rubble as earthworks would absorb cannon fire without collapsing as stone walls might, much of the construction was probably done by enslaved Africans held by the Dutch West India Company. The fort was constructed at the tip of Manhattan Island, at the junction of the East. Building commenced in 1625 under the direction of Willem Verhulst, the director of the New Netherland colony. The elevation of the site was somewhat higher than today. The fort stood on a hill that sloped down to Pearl Street, at the time, Manhattan was only lightly settled, as most of the Dutch West India Company operations were upriver along the Hudson in order to conduct trading operation for beaver pelts. According to John Romeyn Brodhead, while the fort was under construction, when they reached the Kolck, a pond near what is now Chinatown, they were set upon by three farmhands, and one of the two adults was killed. When the young boy who was with them grew older, he took his revenge for the murder of his uncle, which act served as a pretext for Kiefts War. The fort was the nucleus of the New Amsterdam settlement with a mission of protecting New Netherland colony operations in the Hudson River against attack from the English, although its main function was military, it also served as the center of trading activity. It contained a barracks, the church, a house for the West India Company director, troops from the fort used the triangle between the Heerestraat and what came to be known as Whitehall Street for marching drills. It is sometimes asserted that around 1620, the Dutch East India Company contacted the English architect Inigo Jones asking him to design a fortification for the harbor. Jones responded in a letter with a plan for a fortification made of stone and lime and surrounded by a moat. Jones advised the company against constructing a fort out of haste. The involvement of Jones cannot be corroborated with reliable documentary evidence, in autumn 1664, four English warships with several hundred soldiers onboard arrived in New Amsterdam’s harbor and demanded the Dutch surrender
18.
New Amsterdam
–
New Amsterdam was a 17th-century Dutch settlement established at the southern tip of Manhattan Island, which served as the seat of the colonial government in New Netherland. The factorij became a settlement outside of Fort Amsterdam, situated on the strategic, fortifiable southern tip of the island of Manhattan, the fort was meant to defend the Dutch West India Companys fur trade operations in the North River. In 1624 it became an extension of the Dutch Republic and was designated as the capital of the province in 1625. New Amsterdam was renamed New York on September 8,1664, in honor of the then Duke of York, Hudson named the river the Mauritius River. He was covertly attempting to find the Northwest Passage for the Dutch East India Company, instead, he brought back news about the possibility of exploitation of beaver by the Dutch who sent commercial, private missions to the area the following years. At the time, beaver pelts were prized in Europe. A by-product of the trade in beaver pelts was castoreum—the secretion of the animals anal glands—which was used for its medicinal properties and for perfumes. The expeditions by Adriaen Block and Hendrick Christiaensen in 1611,1612,1613 and 1614 resulted in the surveying and charting of the region from the 38th parallel to the 45th parallel. On their 1614 map, which gave them a trade monopoly under a patent of the States General. It also showed the first year-round trading presence in New Netherland, Fort Nassau, which would be replaced in 1624 by Fort Orange and he was the first recorded non-Native American inhabitant of what would eventually become New York City. The territory of New Netherland was originally a private, profit-making commercial enterprise focusing on cementing alliances, surveying and exploration of the region was conducted as a prelude to an anticipated official settlement by the Dutch Republic, which occurred in 1624. In 1620 the Pilgrims attempted to sail to the Hudson River from England, however, the Mayflower reached Cape Cod on November 9,1620, after a voyage of 64 days. For a variety of reasons, primarily a shortage of supplies, the Mayflower could not proceed to the Hudson River, here American Indian hunters supplied them with pelts in exchange for European-made trade goods and wampum, which was soon being made by the Dutch on Long Island. In 1621 the Dutch West India Company was founded, between 1621 and 1623, orders were given to the private, commercial traders to vacate the territory, thus opening up the territory to Dutch settlers and company traders. It also allowed the laws and ordinances of the states of Holland to apply, previously, during the private, commercial period, only the law of the ship had applied. A fort and sawmill were erected at Nut Island. The latter was constructed by Franchoys Fezard, and was taken apart for iron in 1648, the threat of attack from other European colonial powers prompted the directors of the Dutch West India Company to formulate a plan to protect the entrance to the Hudson River. By the end of 1625, the site had been staked out directly south of Bowling Green on the site of the present U. S, the Mohawk-Mahican War in the Hudson Valley led the company to relocate even more settlers to the vicinity of the new Fort Amsterdam
19.
Jonathan Williams (engineer)
–
Jonathan Williams, American businessman, military figure, politician and writer. He became Chief of Engineers of the Army Corps of Engineers, was the first superintendent of United States Military Academy, Williams was born in Boston, Massachusetts and attended Harvard University. S. Back in the United States, he joined the American Philosophical Society in 1788, president John Adams appointed Williams a major in the Corps of Artillerists and Engineers in February 1801. President Thomas Jefferson upon approval made him the Armys Inspector of Fortifications and he vacated his Superintendent position in 1803 but was reappointed in 1805. In 1802, the investor Richard Woodhull purchased 13 acres in north Brooklyn and named the area Williamsburgh, after Williams, from 1807 to 1811 Williams designed and completed construction of Castle Williams and Castle Clinton in New York Harbor. Castle Williams was the first casemated battery in the United States, Military Philosophical Society and gave it its motto, Science in War is the Guarantee of Peace. He resigned from the Army in July 1812 because the Secretary of War, William Eustis, refused to give him command of Castle Williams, at that time, New York State placed him in charge of construction of fortifications for New York City. He died of gout in Philadelphia before the Congress assembled, United States Army Corps of Engineers This article contains public domain text from Colonel Jonathan Williams. Portraits and Profiles of Chief Engineers, biographical Directory of the United States Congress. The Political Graveyard Jonathan Williams at Find a Grave US Army Corps of Engineers – brief biography
20.
Artificial island
–
An artificial island or man-made island is an island that has been constructed by people rather than formed by natural means. Artificial islands may vary in size from small islets reclaimed solely to support a single pillar of a building or structure, early artificial islands included floating structures in still waters, or wooden or megalithic structures erected in shallow waters. The largest artificial island, René-Levasseur Island, was formed by flooding of two adjacent reservoirs, the people of Langa Langa Lagoon and Lau Lagoon in Malaita, Solomon Islands built about 60 artificial islands on the reef including Funaafou, Sulufou and Adaege. The people of Lau Lagoon build islands on the reef as these provided protection against attack from the people who lived in the centre of Malaita and these islands were formed literally one rock at a time. A family would take their canoe out to the reef which protects the lagoon and then dive for rocks, bring them to the surface and then return to the selected site and drop the rocks into the water. Living on the reef was also healthier as the mosquitoes, which infested the coastal swamps, were not found on the reef islands, the Lau people continue to live on the reef islands. Many artificial islands have built in urban harbors to provide either a site deliberately isolated from the city or just spare real estate otherwise unobtainable in a crowded metropolis. An example of the first case is Dejima, created in the bay of Nagasaki in Japans Edo period as a center for European merchants. During the isolationist era, Dutch people were banned from Nagasaki. One of the most well-known artificial islands is the Île Notre-Dame in Montreal, the Venetian Islands in Miami Beach, Florida, in Biscayne Bay added valuable new real estate during the Florida land boom of the 1920s. When the bubble that the developers were riding burst, the bay was left scarred with the remnants of their failed project, the concrete pilings from the project still stand as another development boom roared around them,80 years later. In 1969, the Flevopolder in the Netherlands was finished, as part of the Zuiderzee Works and it has a total land surface of 970 km², which makes it by far the largest artificial island by land reclamation in the world. The island consists of two polders Eastern Flevoland and Southern Flevoland, together with the Noordoostpolder, which includes some small former islands like Urk, the polders form Flevoland, the 12th province of the Netherlands that almost entirely consists of reclaimed land. The Pearl-Qatar is in the north of the Qatari Capital Doha, home to a range of residential, commercial, qanat Quartier is designed to be a Virtual Venice in the Middle East. Dubai is home to several artificial island projects and they include the Palm Islands projects, and The World, The Universe and the Dubai Waterfront. Of all these, only the Palm Jumeirah is complete and inhabited so far, also, the Burj Al Arab is on its own artificial island. The Universe, Palm Jebel Ali, Dubai Waterfront, and Palm Deira are on hold, China has conducted a land reclamation project which had built at least seven artificial islands in the South China Sea totaling 2000 acres in size by mid 2015. One artificial island built on Fiery Cross Reef near the Spratly Islands is now the site of a barracks, lookout tower
21.
Castle Williams
–
It is a prominent landmark in New York Harbor. Together with Fort Jay, it is managed by the National Park Service as part of Governors Island National Monument and its pioneering design consisted of multiple levels of enclosed or fortified gun enplacements. It established a prototype for American coastal fortification design for the rest of the 19th century, the nearly circular fortification,40 feet high and 210 feet in diameter, was constructed of sandstone walls 7 to 8 feet thick. Each of its four levels had 13 casements that could each hold 26 cannons of varied caliber, after 1865 it became a low-security military prison that was also used as quarters for recruits and transient troops. By the 1880s, the castle, with its pitted and crumbling walls, was considered to be an aging and obsolete fortification. Improvements that included the installation of heating and plumbing were most likely made in 1895 when Castle Williams was designated one of the U. S. Armys ten military prisons. The castle was fitted up as a prison in 1903. It was most likely wired for electricity when it became available on the island in 1904, the angled gate walls were remodeled in 1912-13 to create a two-story guardhouse, using stones from two demolished magazines within the courtyard. Castle Williams became the Atlantic Branch of the Fort Leavenworth Disciplinary Barracks in 1915, expansion of the plumbing system occurred in 1916, and complete renovation of the plumbing, central heating, and electrical systems was carried out in the 1930s. The floors and roof were reinforced with steel in the 1930s. Extensive renovations were carried out in 1947-48 that gave the courtyard an industrial appearance, concrete balconies enclosed with steel sashes replaced existing wooden galleries, and a three-story brick addition enclosed a steel stair. Concrete floors and brick partitions were installed in the casemates of the second tier, the U. S. Coast Guard arrived on Governors Island in 1966 and initially considered demolishing the castle. Instead it became a community center that provided a nursery, meeting rooms for scouts and clubs, a shop, art studios, a photography laboratory. When the Governors Island Coast Guard base closed in 1997, the General Services Administration stabilized the building with replacement windows, in 2003, Castle Williams and the neighboring fortification, Fort Jay, were transferred to the National Park Service under the administration of the Governors Island National Monument. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, bibliography Hightower, Barbara, Higgins, Blanche, Governors Island, National Register of Historic Places Inventory-Nomination, Washington, D. C. National Park Service, U. S. Department of the Interior, p.47 Castle Williams on Historic American Buildings Survey Kerr, Philip, Field Grey, USA, G. P. Putnams Sons, pp. 30–37, ISBN 978-0-399-15741-7 Stillwell, Paul, Oral History Interview, Admiral James S. Gracey, annapolis, Maryland, United States Naval Institute, p.193 Notes Media related to Castle Williams at Wikimedia Commons Explore Castle Williams - National Park Service
22.
Governors Island
–
It is part of the borough of Manhattan in New York City. The National Park Service administers a portion of the north of the island as the Governors Island National Monument. The island is accessed by ferries from Brooklyn and Manhattan, the islands current name, made official in 1784, stems from the British colonial era, when the colonial assembly reserved the island for the exclusive use of New Yorks royal governors. In 1776, during the American Revolutionary War, Continental Army troops raised defensive works on the island, from 1783 to 1966, the island was a United States Army post, and from 1966 to 1996 the island served as a major United States Coast Guard installation. About 103 acres of fill was added to the island by 1912, in 1524, Giovanni da Verrazzano saw the island, becoming the first European to do so. It was then called Paggank by the Native Americans, in May 1624, Noten Eylandt was the landing place of the first settlers in New Netherland. In 1633, the director of New Netherland, Wouter van Twiller. Later he operated a farm on the island, New Netherland was conditionally ceded to the English in 1664, and the English renamed the settlement New York in June 1665. By 1674, the British had total control of the island. The harbor defenses on the continued to be improved over the summer. The Continental Army forces collapsed after being flanked and eventually withdrew from Brooklyn and from Governors Island as well, from September 2 to 14, the new British garrison would engage volleys with Washingtons guns on the battery in front of Fort George in Manhattan. The fort, along with the rest of New York City, was held by the British for the rest of the war until Evacuation Day at the end of the war in 1783. At the end of the Revolution, the island, as a holding of the Crown, came into ownership by the state of New York. Noten Island was renamed Governors Island in 1784 as the island, the Governors House survives as the oldest structure on the island. By the late 1790s, the Quasi-War with France prompted a national program of harbor fortifications and the state of New York began improvements as a credit for its Revolutionary War debt. The first, Fort Jay, was built in 1794 by the state of New York on the site of the earlier Revolutionary War earthworks, a sandstone and brick gate house topped with a sculpture of an eagle dates to that time and is the oldest structure on the island. The second major fortification, Castle Williams, was based on a design by Colonel Jonathan Williams, construction started in 1807 and substantially completed in November 1811. Located on a shoal extending from the northwest corner of the island, it was inspired by then-modern French thinking on fortifications
23.
United Kingdom
–
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom or Britain, is a sovereign country in western Europe. Lying off the north-western coast of the European mainland, the United Kingdom includes the island of Great Britain, Northern Ireland is the only part of the United Kingdom that shares a land border with another sovereign state—the Republic of Ireland. The Irish Sea lies between Great Britain and Ireland, with an area of 242,500 square kilometres, the United Kingdom is the 78th-largest sovereign state in the world and the 11th-largest in Europe. It is also the 21st-most populous country, with an estimated 65.1 million inhabitants, together, this makes it the fourth-most densely populated country in the European Union. The United Kingdom is a monarchy with a parliamentary system of governance. The monarch is Queen Elizabeth II, who has reigned since 6 February 1952, other major urban areas in the United Kingdom include the regions of Birmingham, Leeds, Glasgow, Liverpool and Manchester. The United Kingdom consists of four countries—England, Scotland, Wales, the last three have devolved administrations, each with varying powers, based in their capitals, Edinburgh, Cardiff and Belfast, respectively. The relationships among the countries of the UK have changed over time, Wales was annexed by the Kingdom of England under the Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542. A treaty between England and Scotland resulted in 1707 in a unified Kingdom of Great Britain, which merged in 1801 with the Kingdom of Ireland to form the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. Five-sixths of Ireland seceded from the UK in 1922, leaving the present formulation of the United Kingdom of Great Britain, there are fourteen British Overseas Territories. These are the remnants of the British Empire which, at its height in the 1920s, British influence can be observed in the language, culture and legal systems of many of its former colonies. The United Kingdom is a country and has the worlds fifth-largest economy by nominal GDP. The UK is considered to have an economy and is categorised as very high in the Human Development Index. It was the worlds first industrialised country and the worlds foremost power during the 19th, the UK remains a great power with considerable economic, cultural, military, scientific and political influence internationally. It is a nuclear weapons state and its military expenditure ranks fourth or fifth in the world. The UK has been a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council since its first session in 1946 and it has been a leading member state of the EU and its predecessor, the European Economic Community, since 1973. However, on 23 June 2016, a referendum on the UKs membership of the EU resulted in a decision to leave. The Acts of Union 1800 united the Kingdom of Great Britain, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have devolved self-government
24.
War of 1812
–
Historians in the United States and Canada see it as a war in its own right, but the British often see it as a minor theatre of the Napoleonic Wars. By the wars end in early 1815, the key issues had been resolved, the view was shared in much of New England and for that reason the war was widely referred to there as Mr. Madison’s War. As a result, the primary British war goal was to defend their North American colonies, the war was fought in three theatres. Second, land and naval battles were fought on the U. S. –Canadian frontier, Third, large-scale battles were fought in the Southern United States and Gulf Coast. With the majority of its land and naval forces tied down in Europe fighting the Napoleonic Wars, early victories over poorly-led U. S. armies demonstrated that the conquest of the Canadas would prove more difficult than anticipated. Despite this, the U. S. was able to inflict serious defeats on Britains Native American allies, both governments were eager for a return to normality and peace negotiations began in Ghent in August 1814. This brought an Era of Good Feelings in which partisan animosity nearly vanished in the face of strengthened American nationalism, the war was also a major turning point in the development of the U. S. military, with militia being increasingly replaced by a more professional force. The U. S. also acquired permanent ownership of Spains Mobile District, the government of Canada declared a three-year commemoration of the War of 1812 in 2012, intended to offer historical lessons and celebrate 200 years of peace across the border. At the conclusion of the commemorations in 2014, a new national War of 1812 Monument was unveiled in Ottawa. The war is remembered in Britain primarily as a footnote in the much larger Napoleonic Wars occurring in Europe, historians have long debated the relative weight of the multiple reasons underlying the origins of the War of 1812. This section summarizes several contributing factors which resulted in the declaration of war by the United States, as Risjord notes, a powerful motivation for the Americans was the desire to uphold national honour in the face of what they considered to be British insults such as the Chesapeake–Leopard Affair. The approaching conflict was about violations of American rights, but it was also vindication of American identity. Americans at the time and historians since often called it the United States Second War of Independence, in 1807, Britain introduced a series of trade restrictions via a series of Orders in Council to impede neutral trade with France, with which Britain was at war. The United States contested these restrictions as illegal under international law, the American merchant marine had come close to doubling between 1802 and 1810, making it by far the largest neutral fleet. Britain was the largest trading partner, receiving 80% of U. S. cotton, the British public and press were resentful of the growing mercantile and commercial competition. The United States view was that Britains restrictions violated its right to trade with others, during the Napoleonic Wars, the Royal Navy expanded to 176 ships of the line and 600 ships overall, requiring 140,000 sailors to man. The United States believed that British deserters had a right to become U. S. citizens and this meant that in addition to recovering naval deserters, it considered any United States citizens who were born British liable for impressment. Aggravating the situation was the reluctance of the United States to issue formal naturalization papers and it was estimated by the Admiralty that there were 11,000 naturalized sailors on United States ships in 1805
25.
Land reclamation
–
Land reclamation, usually known as reclamation, and also known as land fill, is the process of creating new land from ocean, riverbeds, or lake beds. The land reclaimed is known as ground or land fill. In a number of jurisdictions, including parts of the United States. In Alberta, Canada, for example, reclamation is defined by the government as The process of reconverting disturbed land to its former or other productive uses. In Oceania it is referred to as land rehabilitation. Land reclamation can be achieved with a number of different methods, the most simple method involves simply filling the area with large amounts of heavy rock and/or cement, then filling with clay and dirt until the desired height is reached. The process is called infilling and the used to fill the space is generically called infill. Draining of submerged wetlands is often used to land for agricultural use. Deep cement mixing is used typically in situations in which the material displaced by either dredging or draining may be contaminated, the creation of new land was for the need of human activities. Notable examples include, Much of the coastlines of Mumbai, India and it took over 150 years to join the original seven islands of Mumbai. Much of the coastlines of Mainland China, Hong Kong, North Korea and it is estimated that nearly 65% of tidal flats around the Yellow Sea have been reclaimed. Inland lowlands in the Yangtze valley, China, including the areas of important cities like Shanghai, Much of the coastline of Karachi, Pakistan. A part of the Hamad International Airport in Qatar, around 36 square kilometres, the entire island of The Pearl-Qatar situated in West Bay, Qatar. The city-state of Singapore, where land is in supply, is also famous for its efforts on land reclamation. The Palm Islands, The World and hotel Burj al-Arab off Dubai in the United Arab Emirates The Yas Island in Abu Dhabi and it is one of the six divisions of Malé City. The Eko Atlantic in Lagos, Nigeria, mexico City, the chinampas are a famous example. Parts of Panama City urban and street development are based on reclaimed land, aeroparque Jorge Newbery, in Buenos Aires, Argentina One of the earliest large scale projects was the Beemster Polder in the Netherlands, realized in 1612 adding 70 square kilometres of land. In Hong Kong the Praya Reclamation Scheme added 20 to 24 hectares of land in 1890 during the phase of construction
26.
Jenny Lind
–
Johanna Maria Lind, better known as Jenny Lind, was a Swedish opera singer, often known as the Swedish Nightingale. She was a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Music from 1840, Lind became famous after her performance in Der Freischütz in Sweden in 1838. Within a few years, she had suffered damage. She was in demand in opera roles throughout Sweden and northern Europe during the 1840s. After two acclaimed seasons in London, she announced her retirement from opera at the age of 29, in 1850, Lind went to America at the invitation of the showman P. T. Barnum. She gave 93 large-scale concerts for him and then continued to tour under her own management and she earned more than $350,000 from these concerts, donating the proceeds to charities, principally the endowment of free schools in Sweden. With her new husband, Otto Goldschmidt, she returned to Europe in 1852 where she had three children and gave occasional concerts over the two decades, settling in England in 1855. From 1882, for years, she was a professor of singing at the Royal College of Music in London. Born in Klara, in central Stockholm, Lind was the daughter of Niclas Jonas Lind, a bookkeeper, and Anne-Marie Fellborg. Linds mother had divorced her first husband for adultery but, for religious reasons, Linds parents married when she was fourteen. Linds mother ran a day school for girls out of her home, when Lind was about nine years old, her singing was overheard by the maid of Mademoiselle Lundberg, the principal dancer at the Royal Swedish Opera. Lind began to sing onstage when she was ten and she had a vocal crisis at the age of 12 and had to stop singing for a time, but recovered. Her first great role was Agathe in Webers Der Freischütz in 1838 at the Royal Swedish Opera, at age 20 she was a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Music and court singer to the King of Sweden and Norway. Her voice became seriously damaged by overuse and untrained singing technique, so damaged was her voice that he insisted that she should not sing at all for three months, to allow her vocal cords to recover, before he started to teach her a secure vocal technique. After Lind had been with García for a year, the composer Giacomo Meyerbeer, an early and faithful admirer of her talent, arranged an audition for her at the Opéra in Paris, but she was rejected. The biographer Francis Rogers concludes that Lind strongly resented the rebuff, Lind returned to the Royal Swedish Opera, greatly improved as a singer by Garcías training. She toured Denmark where, in 1843, Hans Christian Andersen met, although the two became good friends, she did not reciprocate his romantic feelings. She is believed to have inspired three of his tales, Beneath the Pillar, The Angel and The Nightingale
27.
Currier and Ives
–
Currier and Ives was a successful American printmaking firm headed by Nathaniel Currier and James Merritt Ives based in New York City from 1834 to 1907. The prolific firm produced prints from paintings by artists as black. Nathaniel Currier was born in Roxbury, Massachusetts on March 27,1813 and his parents Nathaniel and Hannah Currier were distant cousins who lived a humble and spartan life. Nathaniel worked a series of odd jobs to support the family and, at fifteen, he started became a lifelong career when he apprenticed in the Boston lithography shop of William. In 1833 at age twenty, he moved to Philadelphia to do work for M. E. D. Brown, an engraver and printer. Curriers early lithographs were issued under the name of Stodart & Currier, the two men specialized in job printing and made a variety of print products, including music manuscripts. Currier became dissatisfied with the economic return of their business venture. He set up alone, working as N. Currier, Lithographer until 1856. In 1835, he created a lithograph that illustrated a fire sweeping through New York Citys business district, the print of the Merchants Exchange sold thousands of copies in four days. He quickly gained a reputation as an accomplished lithographer, in 1840, he produced Awful Conflagration of the Steam Boat Lexington, which was so successful that he was given a weekly insert in the New York Sun. In this year, Curriers firm began to shift its focus from job printing to independent print publishing, the name Currier & Ives first appeared in 1857, when Currier invited the companys bookkeeper and accountant James Merritt Ives to become his partner. Ives was born on March 5,1824 in New York City and she was the sister-in-law of Nathaniels brother Charles Currier, and it was Charles who recommended Ives to his brother. Nathaniel Currier soon noticed Ivess dedication to his business, and his artistic knowledge, the younger man quickly became the general manager of the firm, handling the financial side of the business by modernizing the bookkeeping, reorganizing inventory, and streamlining the print process. Ives also helped Currier interview potential artists and craftsmen, in 1857, Currier made Ives a full partner. The firm Currier and Ives described itself as Publishers of Cheap, at least 7,500 lithographs were published in the firms 72 years of operation. Artists produced two to three new images every week for 64 years, producing more than a million prints by hand-colored lithography. For the original drawings, Currier & Ives employed or used the work of celebrated artists of the day including James E. Buttersworth, Charles R. Parsons, George Inness, Thomas Nast
28.
New York Aquarium
–
The New York Aquarium is the oldest continually operating aquarium in the United States, having opened in Castle Garden in Battery Park, Manhattan in 1896. Since 1957, it has located on the boardwalk in Coney Island. The aquarium is operated by the Wildlife Conservation Society as part of its system of four zoos and one aquarium. It is accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums, as part of WCS, the Aquariums mission is to save wildlife and wild places worldwide through science, conservation action, education, and inspiring people to value nature. The facility occupies 14 acres and boasts 266 species of aquatic wildlife and its mission is to raise public awareness about issues facing the ocean and its inhabitants with special exhibits, public events and research. The New York Aquarium opened on December 10,1896, at Castle Garden in Battery Park and its first director was the respected fish expert, Dr. Tarleton Hoffman Bean. He was also part of creating many more similar wild life Organizations/Aquariums/Protected areas, on October 31,1902, the Aquarium was adopted into the care of what was then the New York Zoological Society. At the time, the Aquarium housed only 150 specimens of wildlife, a towering figure in New York Zoological Society and New York Aquarium history, Townsend served as the Aquariums director for 30 years. Townsends work with whaling bans, Galápagos tortoise conservation and the development of technology are on par with the work of William Temple Hornaday. Many of the Aquarium’s sea creatures were temporarily housed at the Bronx Zoo until the new aquarium was built after World War II, on June 6,1957, the Aquarium opened its doors at its new location in Coney Island, Brooklyn. A notable director of the Aquarium was James Arthur Oliver, who was director from 1970 until 1976, Oliver also held directorships at the Bronx Zoo and the American Museum of Natural History during his career - the only person to have been director of all three institutions. The aquarium kept an orca briefly in 1968 and a narwhal in 1969, the aquariums beluga whales were transferred to the Georgia Aquarium in 2007 as part of a breeding program. In September 2011, the aquarium named its new electric eel Wattson, the New York Aquarium was significantly damaged by Hurricane Sandy in October 2012 which severely flooded the facility and shut down power. A small group of WCS staff who remained onsite during the hurricane were able to save 90 percent of the animals in the collection. A massive new expansion comprising its extensive addition, Ocean Wonders, Sharks. has broken ground in January 2014 and this expansion was originally scheduled to break ground in October 2012, and open in 2015, but construction was delayed by Hurricane Sandy. Charles Haskins Townsend served as Director from 1902 to 1937, ida May Mellen worked at the New York Aquarium from 1916 to 1929
29.
Mayor of New York City
–
The Mayor of the City of New York is head of the executive branch of New York Citys government. The mayors office administers all city services, public property, police and fire protection, most public agencies, the budget overseen by the mayors office is the largest municipal budget in the United States at $70 billion a year. The city employs 325,000 people, spends about $21 billion to more than 1.1 million students, levies $27 billion in taxes. The mayors office is located in New York City Hall, it has jurisdiction over all five boroughs of New York City, Manhattan, Brooklyn, the mayor appoints a large number of officials, including commissioners who head city departments, and his deputy mayors. The mayors regulations are compiled in title 43 of the New York City Rules, according to current law, the mayor is limited to two consecutive four-year terms in office. It was changed two to three terms on October 23,2008, when the New York City Council voted 29–22 in favor of passing the term limit extension into law. However, in 2010, a referendum reverting the limit to two terms passed overwhelmingly, the current mayor is Democrat Bill de Blasio, who was elected on November 5,2013. In 1665, Governor Richard Nicolls appointed Thomas Willett as the first mayor of New York, for 156 years, the mayor was appointed and had limited power. Between 1783 and 1821 the mayor was appointed by the Council of Appointments in which the governor had the loudest voice. In 1821 the Common Council, which included elected members, gained the authority to choose the mayor, an amendment to the New York State Constitution in 1834 provided for the direct popular election of the mayor. Cornelius W. Lawrence, a Democrat, was elected that year, gracie Mansion has been the official residence of the mayor since Fiorello La Guardias administration in 1942. Its main floor is open to the public and serves as a small museum, the mayor is entitled to a salary of $225,000, but early 21st century mayor Michael Bloomberg, the 16th-richest man in the world, declined the salary and instead was paid $1 yearly. Bloomberg had a net worth of $33 billion as of 2014. In 2000 direct control of the public school system was transferred to the mayors office. In 2003 the reorganization established the New York City Department of Education, tammany Hall, which evolved from an organization of craftsmen into a Democratic political machine, gained control of Democratic Party nominations in the state and city in 1861. It played a role in New York City politics into the 1960s and was a dominant player from the mayoral victory of Fernando Wood in 1854 through the era of Robert Wagner. The mayor of New York City may appoint several deputy mayors to help oversee major offices within the branch of the city government. The powers and duties, and even the number of deputy mayors, are not defined by the City Charter, the post was created by Fiorello La Guardia to handle ceremonial events that the mayor was too busy to attend
30.
DeWitt Clinton
–
DeWitt Clinton was an American politician and naturalist who served as a United States Senator and was the sixth Governor of New York. In this last capacity, he was responsible for the construction of the Erie Canal. Clinton was the leader of New Yorks Peoples Party and was a rival of Martin Van Buren. Clinton believed that improvements could transform American life, drive economic growth. He heavily influenced the development of New York State and the United States, DeWitt Clinton was born on March 2,1769, the second son born to James Clinton and his wife Mary DeWitt. He began his education at Princeton University, and then transferred to Kings College, Kings was renamed Columbia University, and Clinton was the first to graduate under the schools new name. He was the brother of George Clinton, Jr. who served in Congress, the half-brother of James G. Clinton, who served in Congress. He became the secretary to his uncle George Clinton, who was governor of New York. Soon after, he became a member of the Democratic-Republican Party and he was a member of the New York State Assembly in 1798, and of the New York State Senate from the Southern District in 1798–1802 and 1806–1811. He was a delegate to the New York State Constitutional Convention in 1801 and he was a member of the Council of Appointments in 1801–1802 and 1806–1807. He won election by the New York State Legislature to the U. S. Senate seat left vacant by the resignation of John Armstrong, Jr. and served from February 9,1802 to November 4,1803. He resigned, unhappy with living conditions in newly built Washington and he served as Mayor from 1803 to 1807,1808 to 1810, and 1811 to 1815. While serving as Mayor, he organized the New-York Historical Society in 1804 and was its president and he also helped re-organize the American Academy of the Fine Arts in 1808, and served as its president between 1813 and 1817. He was a Regent of the University of the State of New York from 1808 to 1825, Clinton was also elected a member of the American Antiquarian Society in 1814, and served as its vice president from 1821 to 1828. In 1816 he was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts, from 1810 to 1824, he was a member of the Erie Canal Commission. He was among the first members, appointed in 1810, who projected and surveyed the route to be taken, after 1816, he became the driving force during the construction of the canal. In 1811, the death of John Broome left a vacancy in the office of Lieutenant Governor of New York. In a special election, Clinton defeated the Federalist Nicholas Fish, Clintons uncle, George Clinton, had attempted to challenge James Madison for the presidency in 1808, but was chosen as the partys vice presidential nominee instead
31.
Governor of New York
–
The Governor of the State of New York is the chief executive of the U. S. state of New York. The governor is the head of the branch of New Yorks state government. The current governor is Andrew Cuomo, a Democrat, Cuomo won the November 2010 gubernatorial election and was sworn in as the 56th governor of the state of New York on January 1,2011. Cuomo was re-elected on November 5,2014, defeating his Republican challenger Robert Astorino, unlike the other government departments that compose the executive branch of government, the governor is themselves head of the state Executive Department. The officeholder is afforded the courtesy style of His/Her Excellency while in office, the governor of New York is often considered a potential candidate for President. Ten governors have been major-party candidates for president, and four, Martin Van Buren, Grover Cleveland, Theodore Roosevelt, six New York governors have gone on to serve as vice president. Additionally two Governors of New York, John Jay and Charles Evans Hughes, have served as Chief Justice of the United States, the office of Governor was established by the first New York State Constitution in 1777 to coincide with the calendar year. An 1874 amendment extended the term of office back to three years, but the 1894 constitution again reduced it to two years, the most recent constitution of 1938 extended the term to the current four years. The state constitution has provided since 1777 for the election of a lieutenant governor, originally, in the event of the death, resignation or impeachment of the governor, or absence from the state, the lieutenant governor would take on the governors duties and powers. Since the 1938 constitution, the lieutenant governor becomes governor upon such vacancy in the office. Although no provision exists in the constitution for it, precedent set in 2009 allows the governor to appoint a lieutenant governor should a vacancy occur, should the president pro tempore be unable to fulfill the duties, the speaker of the assembly is next in the line of succession. The lieutenant governor is elected on the ticket as the governor
32.
United States Army
–
The United States Armed Forces are the federal armed forces of the United States. They consist of the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, from the time of its inception, the military played a decisive role in the history of the United States. A sense of unity and identity was forged as a result of victory in the First Barbary War. Even so, the Founders were suspicious of a permanent military force and it played an important role in the American Civil War, where leading generals on both sides were picked from members of the United States military. Not until the outbreak of World War II did a standing army become officially established. The National Security Act of 1947, adopted following World War II and during the Cold Wars onset, the U. S. military is one of the largest militaries in terms of number of personnel. It draws its personnel from a pool of paid volunteers. As of 2016, the United States spends about $580.3 billion annually to fund its military forces, put together, the United States constitutes roughly 40 percent of the worlds military expenditures. For the period 2010–14, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute found that the United States was the worlds largest exporter of major arms, the United States was also the worlds eighth largest importer of major weapons for the same period. The history of the U. S. military dates to 1775 and these forces demobilized in 1784 after the Treaty of Paris ended the War for Independence. All three services trace their origins to the founding of the Continental Army, the Continental Navy, the United States President is the U. S. militarys commander-in-chief. Rising tensions at various times with Britain and France and the ensuing Quasi-War and War of 1812 quickened the development of the U. S. Navy, the reserve branches formed a military strategic reserve during the Cold War, to be called into service in case of war. Time magazines Mark Thompson has suggested that with the War on Terror, Command over the armed forces is established in the United States Constitution. The sole power of command is vested in the President by Article II as Commander-in-Chief, the Constitution also allows for the creation of executive Departments headed principal officers whose opinion the President can require. This allowance in the Constitution formed the basis for creation of the Department of Defense in 1947 by the National Security Act, the Defense Department is headed by the Secretary of Defense, who is a civilian and member of the Cabinet. The Defense Secretary is second in the chain of command, just below the President. Together, the President and the Secretary of Defense comprise the National Command Authority, to coordinate military strategy with political affairs, the President has a National Security Council headed by the National Security Advisor. The collective body has only power to the President
33.
Promenade
–
An esplanade or promenade is a long, open, level area, usually next to a river or large body of water, where people may walk. The original meaning of esplanade was a large, open, level area outside fortress or city walls to provide fields of fire for the fortress guns. In modern usage the space allows people to walk for recreational purposes, esplanades are often on sea fronts, esplanades became popular in Victorian times when it was fashionable to visit seaside resorts. A promenade, often abbreviated to Prom, was an area where people - couples and families especially - would go to walk for a while in order to be seen, in North America, esplanade has another meaning, being also a median dividing a roadway or boulevard. Sometimes they are just strips of grass, or some may have gardens, some roadway esplanades may be used as parks with a walking/jogging trail and benches. Esplanade and promenade are used interchangeably. The derivation of promenade indicates a place intended for walking, though many modern promenades and esplanades also allow bicycles. Some esplanades also include large boulevards or avenues where cars are permitted, a similar term with the same meaning in the eastern coastal region of Spain is rambla, but more widely referred to as paseo marítimo, paseo or explanada in the Hispanic world. C
34.
Restaurant
–
A restaurant, or an eatery, is a business which prepares and serves food and drinks to customers in exchange for money. Meals are generally served and eaten on the premises, but many also offer take-out and food delivery services. In Western countries, most mid- to high-range restaurants serve alcoholic beverages such as beer, wine, some restaurants serve all the major meals, such as breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Other restaurants may serve a single meal or they may serve two meals or even a kids meal. Restaurants may be classified or distinguished in different ways. The primary factors are usually the food itself, the cuisine and/or the style of offering, beyond this, restaurants may differentiate themselves on factors including speed, formality, location, cost, service, or novelty themes. In the former case, customers usually wear casual clothing, in the latter case, depending on culture and local traditions, customers might wear semi-casual, semi-formal or formal wear. Typically, at mid- to high-priced restaurants, customers sit at tables, their orders are taken by a waiter, after eating, the customers then pay the bill. Another restaurant approach which uses few waiters is the buffet restaurant, customers serve food onto their own plates and then pay at the end of the meal. Buffet restaurants typically still have waiters to serve drinks and alcoholic beverages, fast food restaurants are also considered a restaurant. The travelling public has long been catered for with ships messes and railway restaurant cars which are, in effect, many railways, the world over, also cater for the needs of travellers by providing railway refreshment rooms, a form of restaurant, at railway stations. In the 2000s, a number of travelling restaurants, specifically designed for tourists, have been created and these can be found on trams, boats, buses, etc. A restaurants proprietor is called a restaurateur /ˌrɛstərəˈtɜːr/, like restaurant, professional cooks are called chefs, with there being various finer distinctions. Most restaurant will have various waiting staff to serve food, beverages and alcoholic drinks, including busboys who remove used dishes and cutlery. In finer restaurants, this may include a host or hostess, a maître dhôtel to welcome customers and to them. A new route to becoming a restauranter, rather than working ones way up through the stages, is to operate a food truck, once a sufficient following has been obtained, a permanent restaurant site can be opened. This trend has become common in the UK and the US, a chefs table is a table located in the kitchen of a restaurant, reserved for VIPs and special guests. Patrons may be served a themed tasting menu prepared and served by the head chef, Restaurants can require a minimum party and charge a higher flat fee
35.
Opera house
–
An opera house is a theatre building used for opera performances that consists of a stage, an orchestra pit, audience seating, and backstage facilities for costumes and set building. While some venues are constructed specifically for operas, other houses are part of larger performing arts centers. In contrast, there was no house in London when Henry Purcell was composing. Early United States opera houses served a variety of functions in towns and cities, hosting community dances, fairs, plays, with the rise of bourgeois and capitalist social forms in the 19th century, European culture moved away from its patronage system to a publicly supported system. In the 2000s, most opera and theatre companies raise funds from a combination of government and institutional grants, ticket sales, the Teatro San Carlo in Naples introduces the plant horseshoe, the oldest in the world, a model for the Italian theater. On this model were built following theaters of Italy and Europe, among others, the theater of the Palace of Caserta. Given the popularity of opera in 18th and 19th century Europe, opera houses are large, with generally more than 1,000 seats. Modern opera houses of the century such as New Yorks Metropolitan Opera. Many operas are better suited to being presented in smaller theatres, in a traditional opera house, the auditorium is U-shaped, with the length of the sides determining the audience capacity. Around this are tiers of balconies, and often, nearer to the stage, are boxes and this is especially true of Wagners Bayreuth Festspielhaus where the pit is almost completely covered. The size of an opera orchestra varies, but for some operas, oratorios and other works, it may be large, for some romantic period works. Similarly, an opera may have a large cast of characters, chorus, dancers, therefore, a major opera house will have extensive dressing room facilities. Opera houses often have on-premises set and costume building shops and facilities for storage of costumes, make-up, masks, and stage properties, major opera houses throughout the world often have highly mechanized stages, with large stage elevators permitting heavy sets to be changed rapidly. At the Metropolitan Opera, for instance, sets are changed during the action, as the audience watches. This occurs in the Mets productions of such as Aida. Much the same happened in the remodeling of Milans La Scala opera house between 2002 and 2004, since the 1990s, however, many opera houses have begun using a subtle form of sound reinforcement called acoustic enhancement. Often, operas are presented in their languages, which may be different from the first language of the audience. For example, a Wagnerian opera presented in London may be in German, therefore, since the 1980s modern opera houses have assisted the audience by providing translated supertitles, projections of the words above or near to the stage
36.
Theater (structure)
–
A theater, theatre or playhouse, is a structure where theatrical works or plays are performed, or other performances such as musical concerts may be produced. While a theater is not required for performance, a theater serves to define the performance and audience spaces, the facility is traditionally organized to provide support areas for performers, the technical crew and the audience members. There are as many types of theaters as there are types of performance, theaters may be built specifically for a certain types of productions, they may serve for more general performance needs or they may be adapted or converted for use as a theater. They may range from open-air amphitheaters to ornate, cathedral-like structures to simple, some theaters may have a fixed acting area, while some theaters, such as black box theaters, may not, allowing the director and designers to construct an acting area suitable for the production. The most important of these areas is the acting space generally known as the stage, in some theaters, specifically proscenium theaters, arena theaters and amphitheaters, this area is permanent part of the structure. In a blackbox theater the area is undefined so that each theater may adapt specifically to a production. In addition to these spaces, there may be offstage spaces as well. These include wings on either side of a stage where props, sets. A Prompters box may be found backstage, in an amphitheater, an area behind the stage may be designated for such uses while a blackbox theater may have spaces outside of the actual theater designated for such uses. Often a theater will incorporate other spaces intended for the performers, a booth facing the stage may be incorporated into the house where lighting and sound personnel may view the show and run their respective instruments. Other rooms in the building may be used for dressing rooms, rehearsal rooms, spaces for constructing sets, props and costumes, as well as storage. There are usually two main entrances, one at the front, used by the audience, that leads into the back of the audience, the second is called the stage door, and it is accessible from backstage. This is the means by which the cast and crew enter and exit the theater and this term can also be used to refer to going to a lot of shows or living in a big theater city, such as New York or Chicago. All theaters provide a space for an audience, the audience is usually separated from the performers by the proscenium arch. In proscenium theaters and amphitheaters, the arch, like the stage, is a permanent feature of the structure. This area is known as the auditorium or the house, the word parterre is sometimes used to refer to a particular subset of this area. In North American usage this is usually the rear seating block beneath the gallery whereas in Britain it can mean either the area in front near the orchestra pit, the term can also refer to the side stalls in some usages. Derived from the gardening term parterre, the usage refers to the pattern of both the seats of an auditorium and of the planted beds seen in garden construction
37.
Soprano
–
A soprano is a type of classical female singing voice and has the highest vocal range of all voice types. The sopranos vocal range is from approximately middle C =261 Hz to high A =880 Hz in choral music, in four-part chorale style harmony, the soprano takes the highest part, which usually encompasses the melody. The soprano voice type is divided into the coloratura, soubrette, lyric, spinto. The lyric soprano is the most common female singing voice, the word soprano comes from the Italian word sopra, as the soprano is the highest pitch human voice, often given to the leading female roles in operas. The term soprano is also based on the Latin word superius which, like soprano, the word superius was especially used in choral and other multi-part vocal music between the 13th and 16th centuries. The soprano has the highest vocal range of all voice types, a soprano and a mezzo-soprano have a similar range, but their tessituras will lie in different parts of that range. The low extreme for sopranos is roughly A3 or B♭3, within opera, the lowest demanded note for sopranos is F3. Often low notes in higher voices will project less, lack timbre, however, rarely is a soprano simply unable to sing a low note in a song within a soprano role. The high extreme, at a minimum, for non-coloratura sopranos is soprano C, a couple of roles have optional E♭6s, as well. In the coloratura repertoire several roles call for E♭6 on up to F6, in rare cases, some coloratura roles go as high as G6 or G♯6, such as Mozarts concert aria Popoli di Tessaglia. Or the title role of Jules Massenets opera Esclarmonde, while not necessarily within the tessitura, a good soprano will be able to sing her top notes full-throated, with timbre and dynamic control. In opera, the tessitura, vocal weight, and timbre of voices, a singers tessitura is where the voice has the best timbre, easy volume, and most comfort. Within the soprano voice type category are five generally recognized subcategories, coloratura soprano, soubrette, lyric soprano, spinto soprano, the coloratura soprano may be a lyric coloratura or a dramatic coloratura. The lyric coloratura soprano is a very agile light voice with a high upper extension capable of fast vocal coloratura, Light coloraturas have a range of approximately middle C to high F with some coloratura sopranos being able to sing somewhat higher or lower. Dramatic coloraturas have a range of approximately low B to high F with some coloratura sopranos being able to sing higher or lower. In classical music and opera, a soubrette soprano refers to both a type and a particular type of opera role. A soubrette voice is light with a bright, sweet timbre, a tessitura in the mid-range, the soubrette voice is not a weak voice, for it must carry over an orchestra without a microphone like all voices in opera. The voice, however, has a lighter weight than other soprano voices with a brighter timbre
38.
Lola Montez
–
She used her influence to institute liberal reforms. At the start of the Revolutions of 1848 in the German states and she proceeded to the United States via Switzerland, France and London, returning to her work as an entertainer and lecturer. Lolas mother, Eliza Oliver was the child of Charles Silver Oliver, in December 1818, Ensign Edward Gilbert met Eliza Oliver when he arrived with the 25th Regiment. They were married on 29 April 1820, and Lola was born the following February, the young family made their residence at King House in Boyle, County Roscommon, until early 1823, when they journeyed to Liverpool, thence departing for India on 14 March. As with many aspects of her life, discrepant reports of the birth of Eliza Gilbert have been published. For many years, it was accepted that she was born in the city of Limerick, as she claimed, possibly on 23 June 1818. However, when her baptismal certificate came to light in the late 1990s, it was established that Eliza Rosanna Gilbert was actually born in Grange, County Sligo, on 17 February 1821. She was baptized at St Peters Church in Liverpool on 16 February 1823, shortly after their arrival in India, Edward Gilbert died of cholera. Her mother, who was now 19, married another officer, Lieutenant Patrick Craigie, Craigie quickly came to care for a young Eliza, but her spoiled and half-wild ways concerned him greatly. Eventually, it was agreed she would be sent back to Britain to attend school, staying with Craigies father in Montrose, Scotland, but the queer, wayward little Indian girl quickly became known as a mischief-maker. On one occasion, she stuck flowers into the wig of a man during a church service, on another. At the age of ten, Eliza was moved on again – this time to Sunderland, England, when her stepfathers older sister, Catherine Rae, set up a boarding school in Monkwearmouth with her husband, Eliza joined them to continue her education. Elizas determination and temper were to become her trademarks and her stay in Sunderland lasted only a year, as she was then transferred to Bath for a more sophisticated education. In 1837, 16-year-old Eliza eloped with Lieutenant Thomas James, the couple separated five years later, in Calcutta, and she became a professional dancer under a stage name. She had her London debut as Lola Montez, the Spanish dancer in June 1843, the resulting notoriety hampered her career in England and she departed for the continent. At this time, she was almost certainly accepting favours from a few wealthy men, in 1844, Lola made a personally disappointing Parisian stage début as a dancer in Fromental Halévys opera, Le lazzarone. She met and had an affair with Franz Liszt, who introduced her to the circle of George Sand, in Paris she would meet Alexandre Dujarier, owner of the newspaper with the highest circulation in France, and also the newspapers drama critic. Through their romance Montez revitalized her career as a dancer, later on, after the two had their first quarrel over Lolas attendance to a party, Dujarier would attend the party and then in a drunken state offend Jean-Bapiste Rosemond de Beauvallon
39.
Louis-Antoine Jullien
–
Louis-Antoine Jullien was a French conductor and composer of light music. His father was Antonio Jullien, a violinist and he served in the army and studied at the Paris Conservatoire. His fondness for showmanship and the forms of music cost him his position in the school. He lived in Paris between 1826 and 1838, and there conducted the band of the Jardin Turc, but he was compelled to leave to escape his creditors, and came to live in London, where he formed a good orchestra and conducted bands and orchestras at promenade concerts. Subsequently he travelled to Netherlands, Scotland, Ireland and America with his orchestra, playing a mix of light popular music. His was an important role in presenting music to the public. For many years he was a figure in the world of popular music in England. He was in America until 1854, when he returned to London for a time, ultimately he went back to Paris. Chisholm, Hugh, ed. Jullien, Louis Antoine, Louis Jullien, Musique, Spectacle et Folie au XIXe Siècle by Michel Faul Louis Jullien site
40.
Gaetano Donizetti
–
Domenico Gaetano Maria Donizetti was an Italian composer. Along with Gioachino Rossini and Vincenzo Bellini, Donizetti was a composer of the bel canto opera style during the first half of the nineteenth century. Donizettis close association with the bel canto style was undoubtedly an influence on composers such as Giuseppe Verdi. Donizetti was born in Bergamo in Lombardy, there he received detailed training in the arts of fugue and counterpoint. Over the course of his career, Donizetti wrote almost 70 operas, in all, Naples presented 51 of Donizettis operas. Before 1830, success came primarily with his operas, the serious ones failing to attract significant audiences. However, his first notable success came with an opera seria, Zoraida di Granata, significant historical dramas did appear and became successful, they included Lucia di Lammermoor given in Naples in 1835, and one of the most successful Neapolitan operas, Roberto Devereux in 1837. Up to that point, all of his operas had been set to Italian libretti, Donizetti found himself increasingly chafing against the censorial limitations which existed in Italy. From about 1836, he interested in working in Paris. The first opera was a French version of the then-unperformed Poliuto which, two new operas were also given in Paris at that time. As the 1840s progressed, Donizetti moved regularly between Naples, Rome, Paris, and Vienna continuing to compose and stage his own operas as well as those of other composers, but from around 1843, severe illness began to take hold and to limit his activities. Eventually, by early 1846 he was obliged to be confined to an institution for the ill and, by late 1847, friends had him moved back to Bergamo. The youngest of three sons, Donizetti was born in 1797 in Bergamos Borgo Canale quarter located just outside the city walls and his family was very poor and had no tradition of music, his father Andrea being the caretaker of the town pawnshop. Simone Mayr, a German composer of internationally successful operas, had become maestro di cappella at Bergamos principal church in 1802, in 1807, Andrea Donizetti attempted to enroll both his sons, but the elder, Giuseppe, was considered too old. He remained there for nine years, until 1815, however, as Donizetti scholar William Ashbrook notes, in 1809 he was threatened with having to leave because his voice was changing. In 1810 he applied for and was accepted by the art school, the Academia Carrara. Then, in 1811, Mayr once again intervened, as Ashbrook states, this was nothing less than Mayrs argument that Donizetti be allowed to continue his musical studies. The piece was performed on 13 September 1811 and included the character stating the following, Ah, by Bacchus
41.
Marino Faliero (opera)
–
Marino Faliero is a tragedia lirica, or tragic opera, in three acts by Gaetano Donizetti. Giovanni Emanuele Bidéra wrote the Italian libretto, with revisions by Agostino Ruffini and it is inspired by Lord Byrons drama Marino Faliero and based on the life of Marino Faliero, the Venetian Doge. Rossini had influenced the management of the Théâtre-Italien to commission works by the outstanding Italian composers of the day—Donizetti, both wrote operas for that house in Paris, Bellinis contribution being the hugely-successful I puritani. Donizettis opera, which premiered on 12 March 1835 was not nearly as much of a success, however, it marked Donizettis first opera to have its premiere in Paris. Marino Faliero suffers from the critical cliché that it wasnt a success in its Paris début run, the other accepted problems are, the soprano lacks primacy and an aria di sortita, the score is mediocre Donizetti, and its eventual historical eclipse proves its lack of intrinsic merit. Perhaps too many critics like Donizetti in a box, as if all his operas must operate in the same way, Marino stresses a baritone, as does later Verdi. Marino presented Paris with a very different from I puritani. While I puritani intoxicates the ear with tonal bouquets, Donizettis opera is the difficult work in the best sense. One remembers that Violettas Amami, Alfredo is directly quoted from the opening of Donizettis Pia de Tolomei, • The Paris Premiere, Paris critics at the time of the premiere evinced much admiration. The famous illustrated Paris magazine Le Charivari reported on March 15,1835, In sum, Marino Faliero is a beautiful and grand success equal to that of the Puritans by Bellini. Revue du théâtre wrote, On Thursday Marino Faliero was applauded as it merited, the legendary impresario Alessandro Lanari wrote excitedly from Florence to Donizetti about the first Italian production, at the Teatro Alfieri,1836, “Furore. Your Marino Faliero was judged to be your masterpiece”, Marino Faliero was presented in London at Covent Garden on 14 May 1835 and at the Teatro Alfieri in Florence in 1836. Its first appearance in the US took place at the St. Charles Theater in New Orleans on 22 February 1842. However, after several prohibitions from September 1839 onward, the opera was not presented until 3 September 1848, after three complete performances, it disappeared from the repertory. Place, Venice Time,1355 Elena, the wife of Marin Faliero, Steno then insults Israele Bertucci, the chief of the Venetian Arsenal in front of his workers. Steno is punished for these offenses, but Faliero is infuriated by the leniency of the punishment, Israele convinces Faliero to join a conspiracy against the Council of Forty, of which Steno is a member. Meanwhile, Elena is in love with Falieros friend Fernando, who wants to leave the city to save her from dishonour, during a masked ball, Fernando challenges Steno to a duel for having insulted Elena once again. When Fernando is found dying in the place where the conspirators were to meet, the conspiracy collapses following a betrayal by one of its members and the Doge is condemned to death
42.
Giuseppe Verdi
–
Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi was an Italian opera composer. Verdi was born near Busseto to a family of moderate means. Verdi came to dominate the Italian opera scene after the era of Bellini, Donizetti and Rossini, whose works influenced him. In his early operas Verdi demonstrated a sympathy with the Risorgimento movement which sought the unification of Italy and he also participated briefly as an elected politician. He surprised the world by returning, after his success with the opera Aida. The baptismal register, prepared on 11 October 1813, lists his parents Carlo, additionally, it lists Verdi as being born yesterday, but since days were often considered to begin at sunset, this could have meant either 9 or 10 October. Verdi himself, following his mother, always celebrated his birthday on 9 October, Verdi had a younger sister, Giuseppa, who died aged 17 in 1833. From the age of four, Verdi was given lessons in Latin and Italian by the village schoolmaster, Baistrocchi. After learning to play the organ, he showed so much interest in music that his parents provided him with a spinet. Verdis gift for music was apparent by 1820–21 when he began his association with the local church, serving in the choir, acting as an altar boy for a while. After Baistrocchis death, Verdi, at the age of eight, Carlo Verdi was energetic in furthering his sons education. something which Verdi tended to hide in later life. He picture emerges of youthful precocity eagerly nurtured by a father and of a sustained, sophisticated. Verdi returned to Busseto regularly to play the organ on Sundays, at age 11, Verdi received schooling in Italian, Latin, the humanities, and rhetoric. By the time he was 12, he began lessons with Ferdinando Provesi, maestro di cappella at San Bartolomeo, director of the music school. This information comes from the Autobiographical Sketch which Verdi dictated to the publisher Giulio Ricordi late in life, in 1879, written, understandably, with the benefit of hindsight, it is not always reliable when dealing with issues more contentious than those of his childhood. The other director of the Philharmonic Society was Antonio Barezzi, a grocer and distiller. The young Verdi did not immediately become involved with the Philharmonic, by June 1827, he had graduated with honours from the Ginnasio and was able to focus solely on music under Provesi. By 1829–30, Verdi had established himself as a leader of the Philharmonic, none of us could rival him reported the secretary of the organisation, Giuseppe Demaldè
43.
Luisa Miller
–
Luisa Miller is an opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Salvadore Cammarano, based on the play Kabale und Liebe by the German dramatist Friedrich von Schiller. Verdis initial idea for a new opera – for which he had a going back over several years – was rejected by the Teatro San Carlo in Naples. He attempted to negotiate his way out of obligation and. It was from there that he wrote the music and traveled to Naples for rehearsals, the first performance was given on 8 December 1849. This was Verdis 15th opera and it is regarded as the beginning of the middle period. In August 1848, Verdi had written to the Naples opera house cancelling his contract of three years previous, in which he had agreed to write an opera for them and his inability to continue to develop the project came as a blow. Therefore, he sent a synopsis of Luisa Miller to Verdi on 14 May 1849, Verdis reply to Cammarano on 17 May outlines some of his concerns, these revolved around the shift of some elements and the addition of a duet for Walter and Wurm. As Budden notes, the one of these points on which Verdi got his way was the new duet. With the idea of Luisa Miller agreed upon, from Paris Verdi approached the Naples management, trying to obtain a delay or, at least, to allow the new opera to be presented in his absence. It was from Busseto that Verdi then began work on the score of this opera, in October he left for Naples, accompanied by Antonio Barezzi, whom he continued to refer to as his father-in-law. In fact, he never did, in spite of having initially written Un ballo in maschera for that house, in Italy following the premiere, Luisa was given in Rome in 1850 and in Venice, Florence and Milan again up to 1852. The US premiere was staged by the Caroline Richings Company at the Walnut Street Theatre in Philadelphia on 27 October 1852 with Caroline Richings in the title role and this was followed on 3 June 1858 by the first UK presentation at Her Majestys Theatre in London. According to the performance database Operabase, the opera has been given a total of 69 performances of 12 productions throughout the beginning from 1 January 2011. While not part of the repertory, Luisa Miller has been given on a relatively frequent basis over the last 40 years. Following its initial six performances during the 1929/30 season at the Metropolitan Opera in New York, the Luisa was Montserrat Caballé, the Rodolfo Richard Tucker, the Miller Sherrill Milnes, the Walter Giorgio Tozzi, and the Wurm Ezio Flagello. A recording of the 17 February 1968 performance exists, during the 1960s, the opera was given in November 1965 at the Teatro Verdi di Trieste with the Luisa sung by Elena Souliotis. She repeated the role in 1966 at the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, bruno Bartoletti conducted May 1968 performances at the Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires. Many performances were given by different companies in the 1970s
44.
South Street Seaport
–
The South Street Seaport is a historic area in the New York City borough of Manhattan, centered where Fulton Street meets the East River, and adjacent to the Financial District. The Seaport is a historic district, and is distinct from the neighboring Financial District. It features some of the oldest architecture in downtown Manhattan, the first pier in the area appeared in 1625, when the Dutch West India Company founded an outpost here. With the influx of the first settlers, the area was quickly developed, one of the first and busiest streets in the area was todays Pearl Street, so named for a variety of coastal pearl shells. Due to its location, Pearl Street quickly gained popularity among traders, the East River was eventually narrowed. By the second half of the 17th century, the pier was extended to Water Street, then to Front Street, the pier was well reputed, as it was protected from westerly winds and ice of the Hudson River. In 1728, the Schermerhorn Family established trade with the city of Charleston, subsequently, rice and indigo came from Charleston. At the time, the port was also the point of delivery of goods from England. In 1776, during the American Revolutionary War, the British occupied the port, in 1783, many traders returned to England, and most port enterprises collapsed. The port quickly recovered from the post-war crisis, from 1797 until the middle of 19th century, New York had the countrys largest system of maritime trade. From 1815 to 1860 the port was called the Port of New York and this operation marked the beginning of trade relations between the newly formed United States and the Qing Empire. On January 5,1818, the 424-ton transatlantic packet James Monroe sailed from Liverpool, opening the first regular trans-Atlantic voyage route, shipping on this route continued until 1878. Commercially successful transatlantic traffic has led to the creation of competing companies. Transportation significantly contributed to the establishment of the New York one of the centers of world trade, one of the largest companies in the South Street Seaport area was the Fulton Fish Market, opened in 1822. In 2005, it was moved to the area of Hunts Point, in November 1825, the Erie Canal, located upstate, was opened. The canal, connecting New York to the western United States, however, for this reason, along with the beginning of the shipping era, there was a need to lengthen the piers and deepen the port. On the night of December 17,1835 a large fire in New York City destroyed 17 blocks, at its peak, the port hosted many commercial enterprises, institutions, ship-chandlers, workshops, boarding houses, saloons, and brothels. However, by the 1880s, the port began to be depleted of resources, space for the development of businesses was diminishing
45.
New York (state)
–
New York is a state in the northeastern United States, and is the 27th-most extensive, fourth-most populous, and seventh-most densely populated U. S. state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south and Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Vermont to the east. With an estimated population of 8.55 million in 2015, New York City is the most populous city in the United States, the New York Metropolitan Area is one of the most populous urban agglomerations in the world. New York City makes up over 40% of the population of New York State, two-thirds of the states population lives in the New York City Metropolitan Area, and nearly 40% lives on Long Island. Both the state and New York City were named for the 17th-century Duke of York, the next four most populous cities in the state are Buffalo, Rochester, Yonkers, and Syracuse, while the state capital is Albany. New York has a diverse geography and these more mountainous regions are bisected by two major river valleys—the north-south Hudson River Valley and the east-west Mohawk River Valley, which forms the core of the Erie Canal. Western New York is considered part of the Great Lakes Region and straddles Lake Ontario, between the two lakes lies Niagara Falls. The central part of the state is dominated by the Finger Lakes, New York had been inhabited by tribes of Algonquian and Iroquoian-speaking Native Americans for several hundred years by the time the earliest Europeans came to New York. The first Europeans to arrive were French colonists and Jesuit missionaries who arrived southward from settlements at Montreal for trade, the British annexed the colony from the Dutch in 1664. The borders of the British colony, the Province of New York, were similar to those of the present-day state, New York is home to the Statue of Liberty, a symbol of the United States and its ideals of freedom, democracy, and opportunity. In the 21st century, New York has emerged as a node of creativity and entrepreneurship, social tolerance. On April 17,1524 Verrazanno entered New York Bay, by way of the now called the Narrows into the northern bay which he named Santa Margherita. Verrazzano described it as a vast coastline with a delta in which every kind of ship could pass and he adds. This vast sheet of water swarmed with native boats and he landed on the tip of Manhattan and possibly on the furthest point of Long Island. Verrazannos stay was interrupted by a storm which pushed him north towards Marthas Vineyard, in 1540 French traders from New France built a chateau on Castle Island, within present-day Albany, due to flooding, it was abandoned the next year. In 1614, the Dutch under the command of Hendrick Corstiaensen, rebuilt the French chateau, Fort Nassau was the first Dutch settlement in North America, and was located along the Hudson River, also within present-day Albany. The small fort served as a trading post and warehouse, located on the Hudson River flood plain, the rudimentary fort was washed away by flooding in 1617, and abandoned for good after Fort Orange was built nearby in 1623. Henry Hudsons 1609 voyage marked the beginning of European involvement with the area, sailing for the Dutch East India Company and looking for a passage to Asia, he entered the Upper New York Bay on September 11 of that year
46.
Federal government of the United States
–
The Federal Government of the United States is the national government of the United States, a republic in North America, composed of 50 states, one district, Washington, D. C. and several territories. The federal government is composed of three branches, legislative, executive, and judicial, whose powers are vested by the U. S. Constitution in the Congress, the President, and the courts, including the Supreme Court. The powers and duties of these branches are defined by acts of Congress. The full name of the republic is United States of America, no other name appears in the Constitution, and this is the name that appears on money, in treaties, and in legal cases to which it is a party. The terms Government of the United States of America or United States Government are often used in documents to represent the federal government as distinct from the states collectively. In casual conversation or writing, the term Federal Government is often used, the terms Federal and National in government agency or program names generally indicate affiliation with the federal government. Because the seat of government is in Washington, D. C, Washington is commonly used as a metonym for the federal government. The outline of the government of the United States is laid out in the Constitution, the government was formed in 1789, making the United States one of the worlds first, if not the first, modern national constitutional republics. The United States government is based on the principles of federalism and republicanism, some make the case for expansive federal powers while others argue for a more limited role for the central government in relation to individuals, the states or other recognized entities. For example, while the legislative has the power to create law, the President nominates judges to the nations highest judiciary authority, but those nominees must be approved by Congress. The Supreme Court, in its turn, has the power to invalidate as unconstitutional any law passed by the Congress and these and other examples are examined in more detail in the text below. The United States Congress is the branch of the federal government. It is bicameral, comprising the House of Representatives and the Senate, the House currently consists of 435 voting members, each of whom represents a congressional district. The number of each state has in the House is based on each states population as determined in the most recent United States Census. All 435 representatives serve a two-year term, each state receives a minimum of one representative in the House. There is no limit on the number of terms a representative may serve, in addition to the 435 voting members, there are six non-voting members, consisting of five delegates and one resident commissioner. In contrast, the Senate is made up of two senators from each state, regardless of population, there are currently 100 senators, who each serve six-year terms
