1.
Communes of France
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The commune is a level of administrative division in the French Republic. French communes are roughly equivalent to civil townships incorporated municipalities in the United States or Gemeinden in Germany, the United Kingdom has no exact equivalent, as communes resemble districts in urban areas, but are closer to parishes in rural areas where districts are much larger. Communes are based on historical geographic communities or villages and have received significant powers of governance to manage the populations, the communes are the fourth-level administrative divisions of France. A French commune may be a city of 2.2 million inhabitants like Paris, communes typically are based on pre-existing villages and facilitate local governance. All communes have names, but not all named geographic areas or groups of people residing together are communes, a commune is a town, city, or municipality. Use of commune in English is a habit, and one that might be corrected. There is nothing in commune in French that is different from town in English. The French word commune appeared in the 12th century, from Medieval Latin communia, as of January 2015, there were 36,681 communes in France,36,552 of them in metropolitan France and 129 of them overseas. This is a higher total than that of any other European country. The whole territory of the French Republic is divided into communes and this is unlike some other countries, such as the United States, where unincorporated areas directly governed by a county or a higher authority can be found. There are only a few exceptions, COM of Saint-Martin and it was previously a commune inside the Guadeloupe région. The commune structure was abolished when Saint-Martin became an overseas collectivity on 22 February 2007, COM of Wallis and Futuna, which still is divided according to the three traditional chiefdoms. It was previously a commune inside the Guadeloupe region, the commune structure was abolished when Saint-Barthélemy became an overseas collectivity on 22 February 2007.88 square kilometres. The median area of metropolitan Frances communes at the 1999 census was even smaller, the median area is a better measure of the area of a typical French commune. This median area is smaller than that of most European countries. In Italy, the area of communes is 22 km2, in Belgium it is 40 km2, in Spain it is 35 km2, and in Germany. Switzerland and the Länder of Rhineland-Palatinate, Schleswig-Holstein, and Thuringia in Germany were the places in Europe where the communes had a smaller median area than in France. The communes of Frances overseas départements such as Réunion and French Guiana are large by French standards and they usually group into the same commune several villages or towns, often with sizeable distances among them
2.
Geographic coordinate system
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A geographic coordinate system is a coordinate system used in geography that enables every location on Earth to be specified by a set of numbers, letters or symbols. The coordinates are chosen such that one of the numbers represents a vertical position. A common choice of coordinates is latitude, longitude and elevation, to specify a location on a two-dimensional map requires a map projection. The invention of a coordinate system is generally credited to Eratosthenes of Cyrene. Ptolemy credited him with the adoption of longitude and latitude. Ptolemys 2nd-century Geography used the prime meridian but measured latitude from the equator instead. Mathematical cartography resumed in Europe following Maximus Planudes recovery of Ptolemys text a little before 1300, in 1884, the United States hosted the International Meridian Conference, attended by representatives from twenty-five nations. Twenty-two of them agreed to adopt the longitude of the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, the Dominican Republic voted against the motion, while France and Brazil abstained. France adopted Greenwich Mean Time in place of local determinations by the Paris Observatory in 1911, the latitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle between the equatorial plane and the straight line that passes through that point and through the center of the Earth. Lines joining points of the same latitude trace circles on the surface of Earth called parallels, as they are parallel to the equator, the north pole is 90° N, the south pole is 90° S. The 0° parallel of latitude is designated the equator, the plane of all geographic coordinate systems. The equator divides the globe into Northern and Southern Hemispheres, the longitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle east or west of a reference meridian to another meridian that passes through that point. All meridians are halves of great ellipses, which converge at the north and south poles, the prime meridian determines the proper Eastern and Western Hemispheres, although maps often divide these hemispheres further west in order to keep the Old World on a single side. The antipodal meridian of Greenwich is both 180°W and 180°E, the combination of these two components specifies the position of any location on the surface of Earth, without consideration of altitude or depth. The grid formed by lines of latitude and longitude is known as a graticule, the origin/zero point of this system is located in the Gulf of Guinea about 625 km south of Tema, Ghana. To completely specify a location of a feature on, in, or above Earth. Earth is not a sphere, but a shape approximating a biaxial ellipsoid. It is nearly spherical, but has an equatorial bulge making the radius at the equator about 0. 3% larger than the radius measured through the poles, the shorter axis approximately coincides with the axis of rotation
3.
France
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France, officially the French Republic, is a country with territory in western Europe and several overseas regions and territories. The European, or metropolitan, area of France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, Overseas France include French Guiana on the South American continent and several island territories in the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian oceans. France spans 643,801 square kilometres and had a population of almost 67 million people as of January 2017. It is a unitary republic with the capital in Paris. Other major urban centres include Marseille, Lyon, Lille, Nice, Toulouse, during the Iron Age, what is now metropolitan France was inhabited by the Gauls, a Celtic people. The area was annexed in 51 BC by Rome, which held Gaul until 486, France emerged as a major European power in the Late Middle Ages, with its victory in the Hundred Years War strengthening state-building and political centralisation. During the Renaissance, French culture flourished and a colonial empire was established. The 16th century was dominated by civil wars between Catholics and Protestants. France became Europes dominant cultural, political, and military power under Louis XIV, in the 19th century Napoleon took power and established the First French Empire, whose subsequent Napoleonic Wars shaped the course of continental Europe. Following the collapse of the Empire, France endured a succession of governments culminating with the establishment of the French Third Republic in 1870. Following liberation in 1944, a Fourth Republic was established and later dissolved in the course of the Algerian War, the Fifth Republic, led by Charles de Gaulle, was formed in 1958 and remains to this day. Algeria and nearly all the colonies became independent in the 1960s with minimal controversy and typically retained close economic. France has long been a centre of art, science. It hosts Europes fourth-largest number of cultural UNESCO World Heritage Sites and receives around 83 million foreign tourists annually, France is a developed country with the worlds sixth-largest economy by nominal GDP and ninth-largest by purchasing power parity. In terms of household wealth, it ranks fourth in the world. France performs well in international rankings of education, health care, life expectancy, France remains a great power in the world, being one of the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council with the power to veto and an official nuclear-weapon state. It is a member state of the European Union and the Eurozone. It is also a member of the Group of 7, North Atlantic Treaty Organization, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, the World Trade Organization, originally applied to the whole Frankish Empire, the name France comes from the Latin Francia, or country of the Franks
4.
Regions of France
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France is divided into 18 administrative regions, including 13 metropolitan regions and 5 overseas regions. The current legal concept of region was adopted in 1982, the term région was officially created by the Law of Decentralisation, which also gave regions their legal status. The first direct elections for representatives took place on 16 March 1986. In 2016, the number of regions was reduced from 27 to 18 through amalgamation, in 2014, the French parliament passed a law reducing the number of metropolitan regions from 22 to 13 with effect from 1 January 2016. However, the region of Upper and Lower Normandy is simply called Normandy. Permanent names were to be proposed by the new regional councils by 1 July 2016, the legislation defining the new regions also allowed the Centre region to officially change its name to Centre-Val de Loire with effect from January 2015. Two regions, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes and Bourgogne-Franche-Comté, opted to retain their interim names, between 1982 and 2015, there were 22 regions in Metropolitan France. Before 2011, there were four regions, in 2011 Mayotte became the fifth. Regions lack separate legislative authority and therefore cannot write their own statutory law and they levy their own taxes and, in return, receive a decreasing part of their budget from the central government, which gives them a portion of the taxes it levies. They also have considerable budgets managed by a council made up of representatives voted into office in regional elections. A regions primary responsibility is to build and furnish high schools, in March 2004, the French central government unveiled a controversial plan to transfer regulation of certain categories of non-teaching school staff to the regional authorities. Critics of this plan contended that tax revenue was insufficient to pay for the costs. In addition, regions have considerable power over infrastructural spending, e. g. education, public transit, universities and research. This has meant that the heads of regions such as Île-de-France or Rhône-Alpes can be high-profile positions. Number of regions controlled by each coalition since 1986, Overseas region is a recent designation, given to the overseas departments that have similar powers to those of the regions of metropolitan France. Radio France Internationale in English Overseas regions Ministère de lOutre-Mer some explanations about the past and current developments of DOMs and TOMs
5.
Departments of France
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In the administrative divisions of France, the department is one of the three levels of government below the national level, between the administrative regions and the commune. There are 96 departments in metropolitan France and 5 overseas departments, each department is administered by an elected body called a departmental council. From 1800 to April 2015, they were called general councils, the departments were created in 1791 as a rational replacement of Ancien Régime provinces with a view to strengthen national unity, the title department is used to mean a part of a larger whole. Almost all of them were named after geographical features rather than after historical or cultural territories which could have their own loyalties. The earliest known suggestion of it is from 1764 in the writings of dArgenson and they have inspired similar divisions in many countries, some of them former French colonies. Most French departments are assigned a number, the Official Geographical Code. Some overseas departments have a three-digit number, the number is used, for example, in the postal code, and was until recently used for all vehicle registration plates. For example, inhabitants of Loiret might refer to their department as the 45 and this reform project has since been abandoned. The first French territorial departments were proposed in 1665 by Marc-René dArgenson to serve as administrative areas purely for the Ponts et Chaussées infrastructure administration, before the French Revolution, France gained territory gradually through the annexation of a mosaic of independent entities. By the close of the Ancien Régime, it was organised into provinces, during the period of the Revolution, these were dissolved, partly in order to weaken old loyalties. Their boundaries served two purposes, Boundaries were chosen to break up Frances historical regions in an attempt to erase cultural differences, Boundaries were set so that every settlement in the country was within a days ride of the capital of the department. This was a security measure, intended to keep the national territory under close control. This measure was directly inspired by the Great Terror, during which the government had lost control of rural areas far from any centre of government. The old nomenclature was carefully avoided in naming the new departments, most were named after an areas principal river or other physical features. Even Paris was in the department of Seine, the number of departments, initially 83, was increased to 130 by 1809 with the territorial gains of the Republic and of the First French Empire. Following Napoleons defeats in 1814-1815, the Congress of Vienna returned France to its pre-war size, in 1860, France acquired the County of Nice and Savoy, which led to the creation of three new departments. Two were added from the new Savoyard territory, while the department of Alpes-Maritimes was created from Nice, the 89 departments were given numbers based on their alphabetical order. The department of Bas-Rhin and parts of Meurthe, Moselle, Vosges and Haut-Rhin were ceded to the German Empire in 1871, following Frances defeat in the Franco-Prussian War
6.
Haute-Savoie
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Haute-Savoie is a department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of south-eastern France, bordering both Switzerland and Italy. To the north is Lake Geneva and Switzerland, to the south and southeast are the Mont Blanc, the French entrance to the Mont Blanc Tunnel to Italy is in Haute-Savoie. It is noted for winter sports, the first Winter Olympic Games were held at Chamonix in 1924, before 1860, the territory occupied by modern Haute-Savoie and the adjoining department of Savoie had been part of the Kingdom of Sardinia since the Treaty of Utrecht in 1713. Annexation of the region by France was formalized in the Treaty of Turin on March 24,1860, from November 1942 to September 1943, Haute-Savoie was subjected to military occupation by Fascist Italy. The Maquis des Glières operated from Haute-Savoie, Haute-Savoie comprises four arrondissements, divided into 294 communes and 17 cantons. Haute-Savoie has the largest range of elevations of all the departments in France, the lowest point is 250 metres in the Rhône River Valley, some of the worlds best-known ski resorts are in Haute-Savoie. Its mountainous terrain makes mountain passes important to trade and economic life, some of the most important are the Col de la Forclaz and the Mont Blanc Tunnel, linking Chamonix to Courmayeur in the Aosta Valley. As of 1996,178,624 hectares of Haute-Savoie is forested, compared to 34.4 percent for the Rhone-Alpes region and 27.1 percent for France as a whole. Of the forested area 141,063 hectares is managed for timber and other forest products, national nature reserves are designated by the French government as areas where an outstanding natural heritage is present in both rare and typical areas in terms of species and geology. Management is charged to local organizations, with direction and evaluation focusing on protection for future generations. Lake Annecy is an attraction, along with the town of Évian-les-Bains, perhaps the best-known town on the French shore of Lake Geneva. Haute-Savoie is entirely within the watershed of the Rhone, there were 4,450 farmers in 1999,4,800 farmers and over 1,700 full-time farm employees at the end of 2006. In 1999, crop production was valued at €71.5 million, dairy production is a large part of the Haute-Savoie economy, earning €117.2 million in 2006 and representing 74 percent of the net animal-product worth. The average expenditure per capita in 2006 was €21,706, with the 2004–2007 rise of the euro, Swiss customer traffic decreased five or six percent. At the end of 2006, traditional small businesses represented 84 percent of businesses and 40 percent of retail space,4,301 companies were established in 2004 in Haute-Savoie, nearly 80 percent in the service sector, with a high percentage offering service to individuals. This accounted for 21.6 percent of new businesses, the most active sectors were real estate, construction, business services and the food industry. In 1999, Haute-Savoie had 2,779 industrial companies producing 13.60 percent of all business income. T, firms engaged in screw-cutting are major employers in the department. While the automotive industry is the client, firms also service the electronics, household-appliance
7.
Daylight saving time
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Daylight saving time is the practice of advancing clocks during summer months by one hour so that evening daylight lasts an hour longer, while sacrificing normal sunrise times. Typically, regions that use Daylight Savings Time adjust clocks forward one hour close to the start of spring, American inventor and politician Benjamin Franklin proposed a form of daylight time in 1784. New Zealander George Hudson proposed the idea of saving in 1895. The German Empire and Austria-Hungary organized the first nationwide implementation, starting on April 30,1916, many countries have used it at various times since then, particularly since the energy crisis of the 1970s. The practice has both advocates and critics, DST clock shifts sometimes complicate timekeeping and can disrupt travel, billing, record keeping, medical devices, heavy equipment, and sleep patterns. Computer software often adjusts clocks automatically, but policy changes by various jurisdictions of DST dates, industrialized societies generally follow a clock-based schedule for daily activities that do not change throughout the course of the year. The time of day that individuals begin and end work or school, North and south of the tropics daylight lasts longer in summer and shorter in winter, with the effect becoming greater as one moves away from the tropics. However, they will have one hour of daylight at the start of each day. Supporters have also argued that DST decreases energy consumption by reducing the need for lighting and heating, DST is also of little use for locations near the equator, because these regions see only a small variation in daylight in the course of the year. After ancient times, equal-length civil hours eventually supplanted unequal, so civil time no longer varies by season, unequal hours are still used in a few traditional settings, such as some monasteries of Mount Athos and all Jewish ceremonies. This 1784 satire proposed taxing window shutters, rationing candles, and waking the public by ringing church bells, despite common misconception, Franklin did not actually propose DST, 18th-century Europe did not even keep precise schedules. However, this changed as rail transport and communication networks came to require a standardization of time unknown in Franklins day. Modern DST was first proposed by the New Zealand entomologist George Hudson, whose shift work job gave him time to collect insects. An avid golfer, he also disliked cutting short his round at dusk and his solution was to advance the clock during the summer months, a proposal he published two years later. The proposal was taken up by the Liberal Member of Parliament Robert Pearce, a select committee was set up to examine the issue, but Pearces bill did not become law, and several other bills failed in the following years. Willett lobbied for the proposal in the UK until his death in 1915, william Sword Frost, mayor of Orillia, Ontario, introduced daylight saving time in the municipality during his tenure from 1911 to 1912. Starting on April 30,1916, the German Empire and its World War I ally Austria-Hungary were the first to use DST as a way to conserve coal during wartime, Britain, most of its allies, and many European neutrals soon followed suit. Russia and a few other countries waited until the year
8.
Central European Summer Time
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It corresponds to UTC + two hours. Other names which have been applied to Central European Summer Time are Middle European Summer Time, Central European Daylight Saving Time, and Bravo Time. Since 1996 European Summer Time has been observed between 1,00 UTC on the last Sunday of March and 1,00 on the last Sunday of October, the following countries and territories use Central European Summer Time. In addition, Libya used CEST during the years 1951–1959, 1982–1989, 1996–1997, European Summer Time Other countries and territories in UTC+2 time zone Other names of UTC+2 time zone
9.
1924 Winter Olympics
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The 1924 Winter Olympics, officially known as the I Olympic Winter Games, were a winter multi-sport event which was held in 1924 in Chamonix, France. The Games were organized by the French Olympic Committee, and were in retrospect designated by the International Olympic Committee as the I Olympic Winter Games. Although Figure Skating had been an Olympic event in both London and Antwerp, and Ice Hockey had been an event in Antwerp, the sports had always been limited by the season. The first gold medal awarded in the Olympic Winter games was won by Charles Jewtraw of the United States in the 500-meter speed skate, sonja Henie, at just eleven years old, skates in the ladies figure skating competition. Although she finishes last, she becomes popular with fans, finding himself in a unique situation, the figure skater Gillis Grafström is the first one ever to successfully defend his Summer Olympics title at the Winter Olympics. The Canadian ice-hockey team finished their round with 3 wins, scoring a total of 85 goals against Switzerland, Czechoslovakia. Finding themselves in the same situation Gillis Grafström, the Canadian ice-hockey team is the last ever to defend its Summer Olympics title at the Winter Olympics. Canada would dominate ice hockey in early Olympic competition, winning six of the first seven gold medals awarded. For the first time in the history of the modern Olympics and this feat would later occur at the next Winter Olympics in St. Moritz where Switzerland won only a single bronze medal, the lowest ever output by a host nation at an Olympics. Later host nations to finish without gold medals included Canada at the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal and 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary, in 1974 the final individual medal of Chamonix 1924 was presented. Anders Haugen, who then had been recorded as finishing fourth in the ski jumping event. After fifty years an error had been discovered in the score of Thorleif Haug, in 2006, the IOC retroactively awarded medals to the 1924 curling teams. The IOC decided that curling was officially part of the program, Medals were awarded in 16 events contested in 5 sports. Many sources do not list curling and the patrol, or list them as demonstration events. However, no designation was made in 1924. In February 2006 the International Olympic Committee ruled that curling was a part of the Olympic program. Germany was banned from competing in the games, and instead hosted a series of games called Deutsche Kampfspiele, estonian speed skater Christfried Burmeister was also in the list of participants but the message about his withdrawal wasnt sent to the organizers. Official Report of both Summer and Winter games, M. Avé, Comité Olympique Français, les Jeux de la VIIIe Olympiade Paris 1924 – Rapport Officiel
10.
Aiguilles Rouges
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The Aiguilles Rouges are a crystalline mountainous massif of the French Prealps, opposite the Mont Blanc Massif. The colour of the iron rich gneiss mountains gives the range its name, the highest summit is the Aiguille du Belvédère at 2,965 metres. At the southern end of the range, Le Brévent at 2,525 metres is accessible by a car in the Planpraz. Unlike the massif of the Mont Blanc, the Aiguilles Rouges have no significant glaciers, the southwest face abounds in vegetation which developed from a multitude of biotopes. Amongst the typical flora hikers can discover include sundews, martagons, in order to protect this biodiversity, the Aiguilles Rouges National Nature Reserve was created in 1974 covering 3,279 ha. The Aiguilles Rouges offer a view of all the peaks of Chamonix, the glaciers of Mont Blanc. The French artist Samivel is known for his paintings of some of these splendid views, the highest point in this range is named Belvédère because it offers a 360° panoramic view of all the mountains surrounding the Aiguilles Rouges. The mountain path running from Planpraz to the Col des Montets via La Flégère, the eastern part of the range has numerous mountain lakes, of which the most remarkable is Lac Blanc at the foot of the Aiguille Belvédère. The range is home to the principal climbing crags of Chamonix and he also mentions them in his novel From Russia, with Love. ASTERS, organization in charge of the management of the Aiguilles Rouges Natural Reserve Association des Amis des Réserves Naturelles des Aiguilles Rouges
11.
Aiguille du Midi
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The Aiguille du Midi is a mountain in the Mont Blanc massif within the French Alps. It is a popular tourist destination and can be directly accessed by cable car from Chamonix. It receives half a million visits a year and puts visitors as close to Mont Blanc as they can without having any mountaineering experience and it still holds the record as the highest vertical ascent cable car in the world, from 1,035 m to 3842 m. There are two sections, from Chamonix to Plan de lAiguille at 2,317 m and then directly, without any support pillar, the span of the second section is 2,867 m measured directly, but only 2,500 m measured horizontally. Thus it remains the second longest span width, measured directly, the cable car travels from Chamonix to the top of the Aiguille du Midi – an altitude gain of over 2,800 m – in 20 minutes, costing around €57 for an adult-ticket from Chamonix and back. The Aiguille summit contains a viewing platform, a café. Even in summer, temperatures in the viewing areas can reach -10 °C. Because of the danger, tourists are unable to leave the facilities on the Midis summit. However, mountaineers and skiers are able to pass through a tunnel to reach the steep, in December 2013, a glass skywalk called Step into the Void opened at the top of the Aiguille du Midi peak. The view is 1035 meters straight down, and one can see Mont Blanc to the south, a further tourist development currently under construction is Le Pipe – a tubular walkway that will completely circle the summit. During summer months only, the Vallée Blanche Cable Car crosses peak-to-peak from Aiguille du Midi to Pointe Helbronner at the Italian side of the Mont Blanc Massif. Pointe Helbronner is served by cable car, Skyway Monte Bianco. This makes it possible to travel by air from Chamonix, France to Courmayeur and it is very popular, and therefore busy, and is often used as an alpine training climb as it requires all-round mountaineering skills. Graded at PD+ to AD, the round-trip can easily be completed from Chamonix in one day, Mont Blanc du Tacul Usually done from the Cosmiques Hut, but fit parties sometimes take the first morning telepherique and descend from the Midi. Alternatively it can be combined with a return to the cable car station via an ascent of the Cosmiques ridge. The Traverse of Mont Blanc, also known in French as La Voie des Trois Mont Blancs or just La Traversée, is a long route, graded at PD+ which starts from the Cosmiques Hut. This popular route is exposed to danger than the Gouter Route. The account should be treated as apocryphal as, by definition, the sun would reliably be seen from the church to pass over at noon only if the mountain were due south
12.
Mont Blanc
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Mont Blanc or Monte Bianco, both meaning White Mountain, is the highest mountain in the Alps and the highest in Europe west of Russia after the Caucasus peaks. It rises 4,808 m above sea level and is ranked 11th in the world in topographic prominence, the mountain lies in a range called the Graian Alps, between the regions of Aosta Valley, Italy, and Savoie and Haute-Savoie, France. The location of the summit is on the line between the valleys of Ferret and Veny in Italy and the valleys of Montjoie, and Arve in France. The Mont Blanc massif is popular for mountaineering, hiking, skiing, the three towns and their communes which surround Mont Blanc are Courmayeur in Aosta Valley, Italy, and Saint-Gervais-les-Bains and Chamonix in Haute-Savoie, France. The latter town was the site of the first Winter Olympics, a cable car ascends and crosses the mountain range from Courmayeur to Chamonix, through the Col du Géant. The 11.6 km Mont Blanc Tunnel, constructed between 1957 and 1965, runs beneath the mountain and is a major transport route. The first recorded ascent of Mont Blanc was on 8 August 1786 by Jacques Balmat and this climb, initiated by Horace-Bénédict de Saussure, who gave a reward for the successful ascent, traditionally marks the start of modern mountaineering. The first woman to reach the summit was Marie Paradis in 1808, nowadays the summit is ascended by an average of 20,000 mountaineer-tourists each year. It could be considered an easy, yet arduous, ascent for someone who is well-trained and acclimatized to the altitude, from lAiguille du Midi, Mont Blanc seems quite close, being 1,000 m higher. Some routes require knowledge of mountaineering, a guide. All routes are long and arduous, involving delicate passages and the hazard of rock-fall or avalanche, climbers may also suffer altitude sickness, occasionally life threatening, particularly if they do not acclimatize to it. Since the French Revolution, the issue of the ownership of the summit has been debated, from 1416 to 1792, the entire mountain was within the Duchy of Savoy. In 1723 the Duke of Savoy, Victor Amadeus II, acquired the Kingdom of Sardinia, the resulting state of Sardinia was to become preeminent in the Italian unification. In September 1792, the French revolutionary Army of the Alps under Anne-Pierre de Montesquiou-Fézensac seized Savoy without much resistance, in a treaty of 15 May 1796, Victor Amadeus III of Sardinia was forced to cede Savoy and Nice to France. This act further states that the border should be visible from the town of Chamonix, however, neither the peak of the Mont Blanc is visible from Courmayeur nor the peak of the Mont Blanc de Courmayeur is visible from Chamonix because part of the mountains lower down obscure them. After the Napoleonic Wars, the Congress of Vienna restored the King of Sardinia in Savoy, Nice and Piedmont, his traditional territories, forty-five years later, after the Second Italian War of Independence, it was replaced by a new legal act. This act was signed in Turin on 24 March 1860 by Napoleon III and Victor Emmanuel II of Savoy, a demarcation agreement, signed on 7 March 1861, defined the new border. With the formation of Italy, for the first time Mont Blanc was located on the border of France, the 1860 act and attached maps are still legally valid for both the French and Italian governments
13.
Saint-Gervais-les-Bains
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Saint-Gervais-les-Bains is a commune in the Haute-Savoie department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in south-eastern France. The village is best known for tourism, and has been a holiday destination because of its beauty. It has 450 km of ski pistes, reputed to be the third largest domain exclusively in France, in 1892, two hundred people were killed when a water pocket in a glacier above the town suddenly burst open, causing destructive flooding. The wider administrative area of the commune of St Gervais encompasses several separate villages, in winter, the main draw is of course snow sports, and the resort has a multi-national client base. The main railway station for Saint-Gervais is the Gare de Saint-Gervais-les-Bains-Le Fayet, the fabulous and historic Mont Blanc Tramway departs from Le Fayet station and reaches the Nid dAigle station at the Bionnassay glacier at an altitude of 2372 m. The Saint-Gervais–Vallorcine railway departs from Le Fayet station and takes you to Chamonix, the French ski jumper Marie Hoyau is a native of St. Gervais. On 11 July 1892, a lake burst out of the Tête Rousse Glacier on the slopes of the mountains above the town. It flooded the valley, razed the hamlet of Bionnay, and reached St Gervais and Le Fayet, in 2010 the rediscovery of a large water pocket deep within the glacier caused alarm, and to this day has the potential to threatened another outburst flood. Melt-water pumping, formal evacuation plans and installation of an alarm system in 2013 have all been implemented to reduce the threat to life. Communes of the Haute-Savoie department Tourism Office website Official site of the commune INSEE Saint-Gervais Village at Google Cultural Institute
14.
Backcountry skiing
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Backcountry skiing, also called off-piste or out-of-area, is skiing in the backcountry on unmarked or unpatrolled areas either inside or outside a ski resorts boundaries. This contrasts with alpine skiing which is typically done on groomed trails benefiting from a ski patrol, unlike ski touring, backcountry skiing can include the use of ski lifts including snowcats and helicopters. Recent improvements in equipment have increased the popularity of the sport, the terms backcountry and off-piste refer to where the skiing is being done, while terms like ski touring, ski mountaineering, telemark, and extreme skiing describe what type of skiing is being done. Terms for backcountry skiing exist according to how the terrain is accessed, backcountry can include the following, Frontcountry, off-trail within ski area boundaries where ski lifts and emergency services are close at hand. Slackcountry, terrain outside of the ski area boundary that is accessed from a lift without having to use skins or bootpack, usually this also includes area with access back to the lift as well. For purists, this could also include where people use a car as a shuttle, sidecountry, terrain outside marked ski area boundaries yet accessible via ski lift. Typically sidecountry requires the skier to hike, skin, or climb within ski area boundaries to reach or return from the sidecountry area, backcountry, skiing in remote areas not within ski area boundaries. Backcountry and off-piste skiing can be due to avalanche, exhaustion, weather, cliffs, rock fall. Avalanches result in one fatality per month in the United States. In Europe and Canada off-piste skiing is permitted at ski resorts. In the United States off-piste skiing may or may not be, many ski resorts prohibit it outright and some simply post warning signs that skiers are leaving the patrolled ski area boundaries
15.
Jacques Balmat
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Jacques Balmat, called le Mont Blanc was a mountaineer, a Savoyard mountain guide, born in the Chamonix valley in Savoy, at this time part of the Kingdom of Sardinia. A chamois hunter and collector of crystals, Balmat completed the first ascent of Mont Blanc with physician Michel-Gabriel Paccard on 8 August 1786, for this feat, King Victor Amadeus III gave him the honorary title le Mont Blanc. Balmat and Paccards ascent of Mont Blanc was an accomplishment in the early history of mountaineering. The fortunate weather and a moon alone ensured their return alive, eric Shipton wrote Theirs was an astounding achievement of courage and determination, one of the greatest in the annals of mountaineering. It was accomplished by men who were not only on unexplored ground, after the successful ascent, Balmat collected the reward offered 25 years before by Horace-Bénédict de Saussure to the first man who could climb Mont Blanc. On 3 August 1787 he assisted de Saussure himself to reach the summit with a party of about 17 people, during the Napoleonic Wars, Savoy fell under French control, and Citizen Jacques Balmat became a member of the council of the commune. He led an attempt to introduce Merino sheep into the Chamonix valley. Milner describes Balmats story as cloudily romantic and largely fictional and quotes four analysts of mountaineering history who discovered errors in Balmats version of events, Shipton describes Balmat as boastful and conceited and that in character, he was both vain and mean. Success went to his head, and he began to amplify his part in the exploit. Balmat died by falling off of a cliff while prospecting for gold in the Sixt valley in 1834
16.
Order of Saint Benedict
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Each community within the order maintains its own autonomy, while the order itself represents their mutual interests. Internationally, the order is governed by the Benedictine Confederation, a body, established in 1883 by Pope Leo XIIIs Brief Summum semper, individuals whose communities are members of the order generally add the initials OSB after their names. The monastery at Subiaco in Italy, established by Saint Benedict of Nursia circa 529, was the first of the monasteries he founded. He later founded the Abbey of Monte Cassino, there is no evidence, however, that he intended to found an order and the Rule of Saint Benedict presupposes the autonomy of each community. It was from the monastery of St. Andrew in Rome that Augustine, the prior, at various stopping places during the journey, the monks left behind them traditions concerning their rule and form of life, and probably also some copies of the Rule. Lérins Abbey, for instance, founded by Honoratus in 375, probably received its first knowledge of the Benedictine Rule from the visit of St. Augustine, in Gaul and Switzerland, it supplemented the much stricter Irish or Celtic Rule introduced by Columbanus and others. In many monasteries it eventually displaced the earlier codes. Largely through the work of Benedict of Aniane, it became the rule of choice for monasteries throughout the Carolingian empire, Monastic scriptoria flourished from the ninth through the twelfth centuries. Sacred Scripture was always at the heart of every monastic scriptorium, as a general rule those of the monks who possessed skill as writers made this their chief, if not their sole active work. In the Middle Ages monasteries were founded by the nobility. Cluny Abbey was founded by William I, Duke of Aquitaine in 910, the abbey was noted for its strict adherence to the Rule of St. Benedict. The abbot of Cluny was the superior of all the daughter houses, one of the earliest reforms of Benedictine practice was that initiated in 980 by Romuald, who founded the Camaldolese community. The English Benedictine Congregation is the oldest of the nineteen Benedictine congregations, Augustine of Canterbury and his monks established the first English Benedictine monastery at Canterbury soon after their arrival in 597. Many of the sees of England were founded and governed by the Benedictines. Monasteries served as hospitals and places of refuge for the weak, the monks studied the healing properties of plants and minerals to alleviate the sufferings of the sick. Germany was evangelized by English Benedictines, willibrord and Boniface preached there in the seventh and eighth centuries and founded several abbeys. In the English Reformation, all monasteries were dissolved and their lands confiscated by the Crown, during the 19th century they were able to return to England, including to Selby Abbey in Yorkshire, one of the few great monastic churches to survive the Dissolution. St. Mildreds Priory, on the Isle of Thanet, Kent, was built in 1027 on the site of an abbey founded in 670 by the daughter of the first Christian King of Kent, currently the priory is home to a community of Benedictine nuns
17.
Sacra di San Michele
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The abbey, which for much of its history came under Benedictine rule, is now entrusted to the Rosminians. A special regional law acknowledges it as the Symbolic monument of the Piedmont region, the book The Name of the Rose was inspired by this monumental abbey. According to some historians, in Roman times a military stronghold existed on the current location of the abbey, later, after the fall of the Western Roman Empire, the Lombards built a fortress here against the Frankish invasions. Little is known of the years of the abbey. The oldest extant account is that of a monk, William and he sets the foundation of the abbey in 966, but, in another passage, the same monk maintains that the construction began under the pontificate of Sylvester II. What is certain is that what is now the crypt was built in the late 10th century, as attested by the Byzantine influence in the niches, columns, in the following years a small edifice was added, which could house a small community of monks and some pilgrims. During Easter in 1098, St Anselm, archbishop of Canterbury, visited the monastery to see his nephew Anselm, the younger Anselm would go on to serve as abbot of St Saba in Rome and Bury St Edmunds in England. Abbot Ermengardo had a new large,26 m-high basement built from the foot of the hill to its peak, on which a new church was added, the monastery fell into decline and was finally suppressed in 1622 by Pope Gregory XV. It remained abandoned until 1835, when King Charles Albert and the Pope asked Antonio Rosmini to restore and it is currently under the care of the Rosminians. The church is located atop a rocky base and towers above the valley. The church façade leads to a staircase, the Scalone dei Morti, flanked by arches, niches and tombs in which, until recent times, at the top of the 243 steps is the marble Porta dello Zodiaco, a masterwork of 12th century sculpture. The church itself is accessed by a Romanesque portal in grey and green stone, the church has a nave and two aisles, and features elements of both Gothic and Romanesque architecture. On the left wall is a fresco portraying the Annunciation. The complex includes the ruins of the 12th-15th centuries monastery, which had five floors and it ends with the Torre della BellAlda The so-called Monks Sepulchre is probably the remains of a chapel reproducing, in its octagonal plan, the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem
18.
Turin
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Turin is a city and an important business and cultural centre in northern Italy, capital of the Piedmont region and was the first capital city of Italy. The city is located mainly on the bank of the Po River, in front of Susa Valley and surrounded by the western Alpine arch. The population of the city proper is 892,649 while the population of the area is estimated by Eurostat to be 1.7 million inhabitants. The Turin metropolitan area is estimated by the OECD to have a population of 2.2 million, in 1997 a part of the historical center of Torino was inscribed in the World Heritage List under the name Residences of the Royal House of Savoy. Turin is well known for its Renaissance, Baroque, Rococo, Neo-classical, many of Turins public squares, castles, gardens and elegant palazzi such as Palazzo Madama, were built between the 16th and 18th centuries. This was after the capital of the Duchy of Savoy was moved to Turin from Chambery as part of the urban expansion, the city used to be a major European political center. Turin was Italys first capital city in 1861 and home to the House of Savoy, from 1563, it was the capital of the Duchy of Savoy, then of the Kingdom of Sardinia ruled by the Royal House of Savoy and finally the first capital of the unified Italy. Turin is sometimes called the cradle of Italian liberty for having been the birthplace and home of notable politicians and people who contributed to the Risorgimento, such as Cavour. The city currently hosts some of Italys best universities, colleges, academies, lycea and gymnasia, such as the University of Turin, founded in the 15th century, in addition, the city is home to museums such as the Museo Egizio and the Mole Antonelliana. Turins attractions make it one of the worlds top 250 tourist destinations, Turin is ranked third in Italy, after Milan and Rome, for economic strength. With a GDP of $58 billion, Turin is the worlds 78th richest city by purchasing power, as of 2010, the city has been ranked by GaWC as a Gamma World city. Turin is also home to much of the Italian automotive industry, the Taurini were an ancient Celto-Ligurian Alpine people, who occupied the upper valley of the Po River, in the center of modern Piedmont. In 218 BC, they were attacked by Hannibal as he was allied with their long-standing enemies, the Taurini chief town was captured by Hannibals forces after a three-day siege. As a people they are mentioned in history. It is believed that a Roman colony was established in 27 BC under the name of Castra Taurinorum, both Livy and Strabo mention the Taurinis country as including one of the passes of the Alps, which points to a wider use of the name in earlier times. In the 1st century BC, the Romans created a military camp, the typical Roman street grid can still be seen in the modern city, especially in the neighborhood known as the Quadrilatero Romano. Via Garibaldi traces the path of the Roman citys decumanus which began at the Porta Decumani. The Porta Palatina, on the side of the current city centre, is still preserved in a park near the Cathedral
19.
Sallanches
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Sallanches is a commune in the Haute-Savoie department of France with a resident population of over 16,000. Located close to the Mont Blanc massif, many visitors pass through the city en route to other well-known alps towns such as Chamonix, Sallanches is also one of the cities of the Arve Valley, made popular by the presence of many high-tech industries. Over 300 stores are located in Sallanches, making this city a commercial hub, Sallanches is mentioned in American author Willa Cathers 1935 novel Lucy Gayheart. Spaichingen, Germany, since 1970 Communes of the Haute-Savoie department Sallanches Aerodrome INSEE Official Sallanches website
20.
Geneva
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Geneva is the second most populous city in Switzerland and is the most populous city of Romandy, the French-speaking part of Switzerland. Situated where the Rhône exits Lake Geneva, it is the capital of the Republic, the municipality has a population of 198,072, and the canton has 484,736 residents. In 2014, the compact agglomération du Grand Genève had 946,000 inhabitants in 212 communities in both Switzerland and France, within Swiss territory, the commuter area named Métropole lémanique contains a population of 1.25 million. This area is essentially spread east from Geneva towards the Riviera area and north-east towards Yverdon-les-Bains, Geneva is the city that hosts the highest number of international organizations in the world. It is also the place where the Geneva Conventions were signed, Geneva was ranked as the worlds ninth most important financial centre for competitiveness by the Global Financial Centres Index, ahead of Frankfurt, and third in Europe behind London and Zürich. A2009 survey by Mercer found that Geneva has the third-highest quality of life of any city in the world, the city has been referred to as the worlds most compact metropolis and the Peace Capital. In 2009 and 2011, Geneva was ranked as, respectively, the city was mentioned in Latin texts, by Caesar, with the spelling Genava, probably from a Celtic toponym *genawa- from the stem *genu-, in the sense of a bending river or estuary. The medieval county of Geneva in Middle Latin was known as pagus major Genevensis or Comitatus Genevensis, the name takes various forms in modern languages, Geneva /dʒᵻˈniːvə/ in English, French, Genève, German, Genf, Italian, Ginevra, and Romansh, Genevra. The city in origin shares its name, *genawa estuary, with the Italian port city of Genoa, Geneva was an Allobrogian border town, fortified against the Helvetii tribe, when the Romans took it in 121 BC. It became Christian under the Late Roman Empire, and acquired its first bishop in the 5th century, having been connected to the bishopric of Vienne in the 4th. In the Middle Ages, Geneva was ruled by a count under the Holy Roman Empire until the late 14th century, around this time the House of Savoy came to dominate the city. In the 15th century, a republican government emerged with the creation of the Grand Council. In 1541, with Protestantism in the ascendancy, John Calvin, by the 18th century, however, Geneva had come under the influence of Catholic France, which cultivated the city as its own. France also tended to be at odds with the ordinary townsfolk, in 1798, revolutionary France under the Directory annexed Geneva. At the end of the Napoleonic Wars, on 1 June 1814, in 1907, the separation of Church and State was adopted. Geneva flourished in the 19th and 20th centuries, becoming the seat of international organizations. Geneva is located at 46°12 North, 6°09 East, at the end of Lake Geneva. It is surrounded by two chains, the Alps and the Jura
21.
Francis de Sales
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Francis de Sales, CO OM OFM Cap. was a Bishop of Geneva and is honored as a saint in the Anglican and Catholic church. He became noted for his faith and his gentle approach to the religious divisions in his land resulting from the Protestant Reformation. He is known also for his writings on the topic of spiritual direction and spiritual formation, particularly the Introduction to the Devout Life and the Treatise on the Love of God. Francis de Sales was born on 21 August 1567 in the Château de Sales into the noble Sales family of the Duchy of Savoy, in what is today Thorens-Glières, Haute-Savoie and his father was François de Sales, Lord of Boisy, Sales, and Novel. His mother was Françoise de Sionnaz, the child of prominent magistrate, Melchior de Sionnaz. He was baptized Francis Bonaventura, after two great Franciscan saints and his father wanted him, the first of his six sons, to attend the best schools in preparation for a career as a magistrate. He therefore enjoyed an education in the nearby town of La Roche-sur-Foron and at the age of eight. In 1583, De Sales went to the Collège de Clermont in Paris, then a Jesuit institution, to study rhetoric, as a nobleman, he was accompanied by his own servant and by a priest tutor, Abbe Deage. To please his father, he took lessons in the pursuits of riding, dancing. In 1584 Francis de Sales attended a discussion about predestination. A personal crisis of despair resulted and this conviction lasted through December 1586. His great despair made him ill and even bedridden for a time. He consecrated himself to the Blessed Virgin Mary, and decided to dedicate his life to God with a vow of chastity and he then became a tertiary of the Minim Order. Sales ultimately concluded that God had good in store for him, because God is love and this faithful devotion to the God of love not only expelled his doubts but also influenced the rest of his life and his teachings. His way of teaching Catholic spirituality is often referred to as the Way of Divine Love, or the Devout Life, taken from a book he wrote of a similar name, Introduction to the Devout Life. In 1588 Sales completed his studies at Collège de Clermont and enrolled at University of Padua in Italy and he took Antonio Possevino, a priest in Society of Jesus, as his spiritual director. There he made up his mind about becoming a priest, in one incident, he rode a horse, and his sword fell to the ground and crossed another sword, making the sign of the Christian cross. In 1592, de Sales received his doctorate in law and theology and he made a pilgrimage to Loreto, Italy, famous for its Basilica della Santa Casa and then returned home to Savoy
22.
Richard Pococke
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Richard Pococke was an English prelate and anthropologist. He was the Bishop of Ossory and Meath, both dioceses of the Church of Ireland, however, he is best known for his travel writings and diaries. Pococke was born in Southampton and educated at Corpus Christi College, Oxford and his father was the Reverend Richard Pococke and his mother was Elizabeth Milles, the daughter of Rev. Isaac Milles the younger, son of Rev. Isaac Milles. His parents were married on 26 April 1698, Pocockes uncle, Thomas Milles, was a professor of Greek. He was also related to Edward Pococke, the English Orientalist. Rev. Jeremiah II Milles was a first cousin and his family connections meant he advanced rapidly in the church, becoming vicar-general of the Diocese of Waterford and Lismore. He seems to have spent far more time travelling than attending to his duties as a churchman, the first was to France and Italy and the second was to the Low Countries, Germany, Austria, Poland and Hungary. Milles was recalled in 1737 to attend his uncle, the Bishop of Waterford & Lismore, detailed accounts of their travels survive in a collection of letters written to Pocockes mother and their mutual uncle, the bishop, as well as in a number of note-books. From 1737-41 he visited the Near East, visiting Egypt, Palestine, Lebanon & Syria, Asia Minor and these travels were later published in his Description of the East of 1743 and 1745, works which were praised by Edward Gibbon. The complete collection of written to his mother from his Eastern voyage is now in print. During the years 1747-60, Pococke made a number of tours around parts of Ireland. The longest of these occurred in 1752, when he travelled to just over half of Irelands counties. He kept a record of this tour, but did not publish it and it ended up in the library of Trinity College, Dublin. Eventually, in 1891, an edition of Pocockes 1752 tour was published by George Thomas Stokes. He was made bishop successively of Ossory, Elphin and of Meath in 1765 and he spent many of his later years in travel throughout Britain and Ireland, publishing accounts of many of his journeys. He died of apoplexy during a visitation at Charleville Castle, near Tullamore, County Offaly, Ireland, on his death, many of his manuscripts were given to the British Library. He was buried at Ardbraccan, County Meath, Ireland, works by Richard Pococke in Internet Archive A Description of the East and Some other Countries, Vol. I, Observations on Egypt, W. Boyer, London,1743. Part 2, Observations on the islands of the Archipelago, Asia Minor, Thrace, Greece and we have a loss in not having Dr. Pococke here this Christmas, as we expected
23.
Mer de Glace
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The Mer de Glace is a valley glacier located on the northern slopes of the Mont Blanc massif, in the French Alps. I can no otherwise convey to you an image of this body of ice, broken into irregular ridges and deep chasms than by comparing it to waves instantaneously frozen in the midst of a violent storm. The former is fed by the Glacier du Talefre, whilst the latter is, in turn, fed by the Glacier des Periardes, the vast Glacier du Géant, the Glacier du Tacul supplies much more ice than the Glacier de Leschaux. It flows for a distance of 12 kilometres, covering an area of 32 square kilometres in the central third of the Mont Blanc massif. From the Aiguille du Tacul, the Mer de Glace flows north-north-west between Aiguille du Moine on the east and Trélaporte on the west and it descends below Montenvers, at which point it is approximately 0.5 km wide, and descends to approximately 1,500 metres. The glacier was once visible from Chamonix but has been shrinking backwards. The glacier lies above the Chamonix valley, and was the first place in the region to have a ready-made tourist attraction. Like all glaciers, the Mer de Glace is in balance between two phenomena, accumulation, notably due to snowfall, and ablation, essentially due to summer melting. The Mer de Glace flows continuously under the effect of its own weight, causing crevasses, seracs or pockets of water to form and its speed, although not perceptible to the naked eye, is considerable. From more than 120 metres a year in its part, the Mer de Glace moves about 90 metres per year in the region of Montenvers. The pressure within the ice is known to reach at least 30 atmospheres, when the tension in the ice increases as the slope increases, the glacier is unable to deform and crevasses appear. These are notably transversal and, when there is intense crevasse activity on the steepest terrain, crevasses are of variable depth, depending on their position, and may be as deep as fifty metres. Seracs always form in the places, namely the steepest sections over which the glacier flows. As crevasses open and seracs tumble downstream, the supply of ice is renewed by the constant flow from upstream. Broad banding patterns, visible on the surface of the Mer de Glace, are known as ogives, or Forbes bands, in the 18th and 19th centuries the glacier descended all the way down to the hamlet of LesBos, where it was known as Glacier des Bois. The position of its front end fluctuated over the years but its extent was in the mid-19th century. Sub glacial waters from the Mer de Glace are used seasonally by EDF for the generation of hydroelectricity, tunnels bored under the glacier collect water from the base of the glacier and channel it down to a hydropower plant in the valley. This water is discharged into the Arveyron further downstream
24.
Friendly society
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A friendly society is a mutual association for the purposes of insurance, pensions, savings or cooperative banking. It is an organization or benefit society composed of a body of people who join together for a common financial or social purpose. Before modern insurance, and the state, friendly societies provided financial and social services to individuals, often according to their religious, political. These societies are still widespread in parts of the developing world. Before the development of government and employer health insurance and other financial services. Many of these still exist. The current position of the mutual benefit society in Europe is well described in a report from 2012, healthcare mutuals worldwide are coming together in Association Internationale de la Mutualité, a Brussels-based association of healthcare mutuals. In other countries friendly societies have no legal status, which makes that they have to comply to the same rules. In some cases, especially in America, members paid a regular membership fee. If members became sick, they would receive an allowance to help meet their financial obligations. The society might have a doctor whom the member could consult for free, members of the lodge would visit to provide emotional and other support. When members died, their funeral would be paid for and the members of their lodge might attend in ceremonial dress—often, Friendly societies might also organize social functions such as dances, and some had sports teams for members. They occasionally became involved in issues that were of interest to their members. Others were purely financial, with little or no social side, the first mutual savings bank, founded in Scotland in 1810, was called the Savings and Friendly Society. Credit unions and other types of organization are modern equivalents, Friendly Society Brasses were the emblems of village friendly societies or clubs common in the west of England between the late 18th and early 20th centuries. The use of brasses as emblems was particularly prevalent in Somerset, Female friendly societies were a common form of friendly society in England during the 19th century e. g. the York Female Friendly Society, founded in 1788. The societies were more common in areas of the country where larger proportions of the population were in employment. In Ireland, friendly societies are registered with the Registrar of Friendly Societies under the Friendly Societies Acts 1896–2014
25.
Winter Olympic Games
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The Winter Olympic Games is a major international sporting event that occurs once every four years. Unlike the Summer Olympics, the Winter Olympics feature sports practised on snow, the first Winter Olympics, the 1924 Winter Olympics, was held in Chamonix, France. The original five sports were bobsleigh, curling, ice hockey, Nordic skiing, the Games were held every four years from 1924 until 1936, after which they were interrupted by World War II. The Olympics resumed in 1948 and was held every four years. The Winter Games have evolved since its inception, others have been discontinued and later reintroduced, or have been permanently discontinued. Still others, such as speed skiing, bandy and skijoring, were demonstration sports, the rise of television as a global medium for communication enhanced the profile of the Games. It created a stream, via the sale of broadcast rights and advertising. This allowed outside interests, such as companies and corporate sponsors. The IOC has had to address several criticisms, internal scandals, nations have used the Winter Games to showcase the claimed superiority of their political systems. The Winter Olympics has been hosted on three continents by eleven different countries, the Games have been held in the United States four times, in France three times, and in Austria, Canada, Japan, Italy, Norway, and Switzerland twice. Also, the Games have been held in Germany, Yugoslavia, the IOC has selected Pyeongchang, South Korea, to host the 2018 Winter Olympics and Beijing, China, to host the 2022 Winter Olympics. Twelve countries – Austria, Canada, Finland, France, Great Britain, Hungary, Italy, Norway, Poland, Sweden, Switzerland and the United States – have sent athletes to every Winter Olympic Games. Six of those – Austria, Canada, Finland, Norway, Sweden and the United States – have earned medals at every Winter Olympic Games, Norway leads in terms of number of gold medals and overall number of medals. Germany and Japan have been banned at times from competing in the Games, the Olympic Charter limits winter sports to those. Which are practised on snow or ice, since 1992 a number of new sports have been added to the Olympic programme, which include short track speed skating, snowboarding, freestyle and moguls skiing. The addition of events has broadened the appeal of the Winter Olympics beyond Europe. While European powers such as Norway and Germany still dominate the traditional Winter Olympic sports, countries such as South Korea, Australia, the results are more parity in the national medal tables, more interest in the Winter Olympics and higher global television ratings. Figure skating events were held at the 1908 and 1920 Summer Olympics. ^ Note 2, a mens ice hockey tournament was held at the 1920 Summer Olympics. ^ Note 3
26.
World War II
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World War II, also known as the Second World War, was a global war that lasted from 1939 to 1945, although related conflicts began earlier. It involved the vast majority of the worlds countries—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing alliances, the Allies and the Axis. It was the most widespread war in history, and directly involved more than 100 million people from over 30 countries. Marked by mass deaths of civilians, including the Holocaust and the bombing of industrial and population centres. These made World War II the deadliest conflict in human history, from late 1939 to early 1941, in a series of campaigns and treaties, Germany conquered or controlled much of continental Europe, and formed the Axis alliance with Italy and Japan. Under the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact of August 1939, Germany and the Soviet Union partitioned and annexed territories of their European neighbours, Poland, Finland, Romania and the Baltic states. In December 1941, Japan attacked the United States and European colonies in the Pacific Ocean, and quickly conquered much of the Western Pacific. The Axis advance halted in 1942 when Japan lost the critical Battle of Midway, near Hawaii, in 1944, the Western Allies invaded German-occupied France, while the Soviet Union regained all of its territorial losses and invaded Germany and its allies. During 1944 and 1945 the Japanese suffered major reverses in mainland Asia in South Central China and Burma, while the Allies crippled the Japanese Navy, thus ended the war in Asia, cementing the total victory of the Allies. World War II altered the political alignment and social structure of the world, the United Nations was established to foster international co-operation and prevent future conflicts. The victorious great powers—the United States, the Soviet Union, China, the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union and the United States emerged as rival superpowers, setting the stage for the Cold War, which lasted for the next 46 years. Meanwhile, the influence of European great powers waned, while the decolonisation of Asia, most countries whose industries had been damaged moved towards economic recovery. Political integration, especially in Europe, emerged as an effort to end pre-war enmities, the start of the war in Europe is generally held to be 1 September 1939, beginning with the German invasion of Poland, Britain and France declared war on Germany two days later. The dates for the beginning of war in the Pacific include the start of the Second Sino-Japanese War on 7 July 1937, or even the Japanese invasion of Manchuria on 19 September 1931. Others follow the British historian A. J. P. Taylor, who held that the Sino-Japanese War and war in Europe and its colonies occurred simultaneously and this article uses the conventional dating. Other starting dates sometimes used for World War II include the Italian invasion of Abyssinia on 3 October 1935. The British historian Antony Beevor views the beginning of World War II as the Battles of Khalkhin Gol fought between Japan and the forces of Mongolia and the Soviet Union from May to September 1939, the exact date of the wars end is also not universally agreed upon. It was generally accepted at the time that the war ended with the armistice of 14 August 1945, rather than the formal surrender of Japan
27.
Righteous Among the Nations
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Righteous Among the Nations is an honorific used by the State of Israel to describe non-Jews who risked their lives during the Holocaust to save Jews from extermination by the Nazis. The term originates with the concept of righteous gentiles, a used in rabbinic Judaism to refer to non-Jews, called ger toshav. When Yad Vashem, the Shoah Martyrs and Heroes Remembrance Authority, was established in 1953 by the Knesset, the Righteous were defined as non-Jews who risked their lives to save Jews during the Holocaust. Since 1963, a commission headed by a justice of the Supreme Court of Israel has been charged with the duty of awarding the honorary title Righteous among the Nations, the award has been given without regard to the social rank of the helper. The awards are distributed to the rescuers or their next-of-kin during ceremonies in Israel and these ceremonies are attended by local government representatives and are given wide media coverage. Anyone who has recognized as Righteous is entitled to apply to Yad Vashem for the certificate. If the person is no longer alive, their next of kin is entitled to request that commemorative citizenship be conferred on the Righteous who has died. In total,26,513 men and women from 51 countries have been recognized, Yad Vashems policy is to pursue the program for as long as petitions for this title are received and are supported by evidence that meets the criteria. Recipients who choose to live in the state of Israel are entitled to an equal to the average national wage and free health care. At least 130 Righteous Gentiles have settled in Israel and they were welcomed by Israeli authorities, and were granted citizenship. In the mid-1980s, they entitled to special pensions. Some of them settled in British Mandatory Palestine before Israels establishment shortly after World War II, or in the years of the new state of Israel. Those who came earlier often spoke fluent Hebrew and have now integrated into Israeli society, the Righteous are honored with a feast day on the liturgical calendar of the Episcopal Church in the US on 16 July. A Righteous from Italy, Edward Focherini, was beatified by the Catholic Church on 15 June 2013, in 2015, Lithuanias first street sign honoring a Righteous Among the Nations was unveiled in Vilnius. The street is named Simaites Street, after Ona Šimaitė, she was a Vilnius University librarian who helped and rescued Jewish people in the Vilna Ghetto, as of January 1,2016, the award has been made to 26,120 people. Righteous Gentiles of the Holocaust, Genocide and Moral Obligation, David P. Gushee, ISBN 1-55778-821-9, the Lexicon of the Righteous Among the Nations, Yad Vashem, Jerusalem. To Save a Life, Stories of Holocaust Rescue, Land-Weber, Ellen, ISBN 0-252-02515-6, the Seven Laws of Noah, Lichtenstein, Aaron, New York, The Rabbi Jacob Joseph School Press,1981, ASIN B00071QH6S. The Image of the Non-Jew in Judaism, Novak, David, ISBN 0-88946-975-X, New York and Toronto, the Path of the Righteous, Gentile Rescuers of Jews During the Holocaust, Paldiel, Mordecai, ISBN 0-88125-376-6, KTAV Publishing House, Inc
28.
Les-Praz-de-Chamonix
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Les-Praz-de-Chamonix is a mountain village in the French Alps, part of the commune of Chamonix. Les Praz is located in the middle of the valley of Chamonix and it is connected to Switzerland by the pass over the Col des Montets, and the Col de la Forclaz to Martigny in the Rhône valley. Les Praz is the point for the cable car up to La Flégère. Peaks on the west side of the include the Aiguilles Rouges. On the east side, the sky is dominated by the Aiguille du Dru and to the south by Mont Blanc
29.
Humid continental climate
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Precipitation is usually well distributed through the year. Some climatologists prefer to use the 0 °C isotherm as it is commonly used. In addition, the location in question must not be semi-arid or arid, humid continental climates tend to be found between latitudes 40° N and 60° N, within the central and northeastern portions of North America, Europe, and Asia. They are much less commonly found in the Southern Hemisphere due to the ocean area at that latitude. More extreme humid continental climates found in southern Siberia and the American Midwest combine hotter summer maxima, climatological averages are used to determine which locations are within a certain climate regime. The World Meteorological Organization has defined this average as through a 30 year period, the version from 1936 utilized a mean temperature of the coldest month of below −3 °C and there must be at least four months whose mean temperatures are at or above 10 °C. In Europe, the −3 °C average temperature isotherm was near the extent of winter snowpack. Many climatologists in the U. S. prefer to use 0 °C as the standard because they feel it better reflects consistency in regional landscapes, the 10 °C average temperature was found to be the minimum temperature necessary for the tree growth. Large temperature ranges are common within this climate zone, in addition, the location in question must not be semi-arid or arid. This is from an update to the climate regime definition introduced by Trewartha & Horn in 1980, despite the 1980 update, climate regimes are essentially the same within the Southern Hemisphere. The largest changes are seen in North America, Europe, under Köppen, the following variants of this climate are possible. The climate regime uses a three letter code, beginning with the letter D. Otherwise, The second letter f , s , A dry summer — the driest summer month has at most 30 millimetres of rainfall and has at most 1⁄3 the precipitation of the wettest winter month. W , A dry winter — the driest winter month has at most one‑tenth of the found in the wettest summer month. The third letter a , Warmest month averages above 22 °C b , Does not meet the requirements for a, within North America, moisture within this climate regime is supplied by the Gulf of Mexico and adjacent western subtropical Atlantic. Snowfall occurs in all areas with a continental climate and in many such places is more common than rain during the height of winter. In places with sufficient wintertime precipitation, the cover is often deep. Most summer rainfall occurs during thunderstorms, and in North America, though humidity levels are often high in locations with humid continental climates, the humid designation means that the climate is not dry enough to be classified as semi-arid or arid. By definition, forests thrive within this climate, biomes within this climate regime include temperate woodlands, temperate grasslands, temperate deciduous, temperature evergreen forests, and coniferous forests
30.
Snow
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Snowstorms organize and develop by feeding on sources of atmospheric moisture and cold air. Snowflakes nucleate around particles in the atmosphere by attracting supercooled water droplets, snowflakes take on a variety of shapes, basic among these are platelets, needles, columns and rime. As snow accumulates into a snowpack, it may blow into drifts, over time, accumulated snow metamorphoses, by sintering, sublimation and freeze-thaw. Where the climate is cold enough for year-to-year accumulation, a glacier may form, otherwise, snow typically melts seasonally, causing runoff into streams and rivers and recharging groundwater. Major snow-prone areas include the regions, the upper half of the Northern Hemisphere and mountainous regions worldwide with sufficient moisture. In the Southern Hemisphere, snow is confined primarily to mountainous areas, Snow affects ecosystems, as well, by providing an insulating layer during winter under which plants and animals are able to survive the cold. Snow develops in clouds that themselves are part of a weather system. The physics of snow crystal development in clouds results from a set of variables that include moisture content. The resulting shapes of the falling and fallen crystals can be classified into a number of shapes and combinations. Occasionally, some plate-like, dendritic and stellar-shaped snowflakes can form under clear sky with a cold temperature inversion present. Two additional and locally productive sources of snow are lake-effect storms and elevation effects, miid-latitude cyclones are low pressure areas which are capable of producing anything from cloudiness and mild snow storms to heavy blizzards. During a hemispheres fall, winter, and spring, the atmosphere over continents can be cold enough through the depth of the troposphere to cause snowfall, in the Northern Hemisphere, the northern side of the low pressure area produces the most snow. For the southern mid-latitudes, the side of a cyclone that produces the most snow is the southern side, a cold front, the leading edge of a cooler mass of air, can produce frontal snowsqualls—an intense frontal convective line, when temperature is near freezing at the surface. The strong convection that develops has enough moisture to produce whiteout conditions at places which line passes over as the wind causes intense blowing snow. This type of snowsquall generally lasts less than 30 minutes at any point along its path, in cases where there is a large amount of vertical growth and mixing the squall may develop embedded cumulonimbus clouds resulting in lightning and thunder which is dubbed thundersnow. A warm front can produce snow for a period, as warm, moist air overrides below-freezing air, often, snow transitions to rain in the warm sector behind the front. The same effect occurs over bodies of salt water, when it is termed ocean-effect or bay-effect snow. The effect is enhanced when the air mass is uplifted by the orographic influence of higher elevations on the downwind shores
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Chamonix travel guide from Wikivoyage
"Chamonix". Encyclopædia Britannica. 5 (11th ed.). 1911.
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