1.
Cast iron
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Cast iron is a group of iron-carbon alloys with a carbon content greater than 2%. Its usefulness derives from its low melting temperature. Carbon ranging from 1. 8–4 wt%, and silicon 1–3 wt% are the main alloying elements of cast iron, Iron alloys with less carbon content are known as steel. While this technically makes the Fe–C–Si system ternary, the principle of cast iron solidification can be understood from the simpler binary iron–carbon phase diagram, cast iron tends to be brittle, except for malleable cast irons. It is resistant to destruction and weakening by oxidation, the earliest cast iron artefacts date to the 5th century BC, and were discovered by archaeologists in what is now Jiangsu in China. Cast iron was used in ancient China for warfare, agriculture, during the 15th century, cast iron became utilized for artillery in Burgundy, France, and in England during the Reformation. The first cast iron bridge was built during the 1770s by Abraham Darby III, cast iron is also used in the construction of buildings. Cast iron is made by re-melting pig iron, often along with quantities of iron, steel, limestone, carbon. Phosphorus and sulfur may be burnt out of the iron, but this also burns out the carbon. Depending on the application, carbon and silicon content are adjusted to the desired levels, other elements are then added to the melt before the final form is produced by casting. Cast iron is melted in a special type of blast furnace known as a cupola. After melting is complete, the molten cast iron is poured into a furnace or ladle. Cast irons properties are changed by adding various alloying elements, or alloyants, next to carbon, silicon is the most important alloyant because it forces carbon out of solution. A low percentage of silicon allows carbon to remain in solution forming iron carbide, a high percentage of silicon forces carbon out of solution forming graphite and the production of grey cast iron. Other alloying agents, manganese, chromium, molybdenum, titanium and vanadium counteracts silicon, promotes the retention of carbon, nickel and copper increase strength, and machinability, but do not change the amount of graphite formed. The carbon in the form of graphite results in an iron, reduces shrinkage, lowers strength. Sulfur, largely a contaminant when present, forms iron sulfide, the problem with sulfur is that it makes molten cast iron viscous, which causes defects. To counter the effects of sulfur, manganese is added because the two form into manganese sulfide instead of iron sulfide, the manganese sulfide is lighter than the melt so it tends to float out of the melt and into the slag
2.
Dragon
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A dragon is a legendary creature, typically scaled or fire-spewing and with serpentine, reptilian or avian traits, that features in the myths of many cultures around world. The two most well-known cultural traditions of dragon are The European dragon, derived from European folk traditions and ultimately related to Balkans, most are depicted as reptilian creatures with animal-level intelligence, and are uniquely six-limbed. The Chinese dragon, with counterparts in Japan, Korea and other East Asian, most are depicted as serpentine creatures with above-average intelligence, and are quadrupeds. The two traditions may have evolved separately, but have influenced each other to a certain extent, the English word dragon and Latin word draco derives from Greek δράκων, dragon, serpent of huge size, water-snake. The Greek and Latin term referred to any great serpent, not necessarily mythological, a dragon is a mythological representation of a reptile. In antiquity, dragons were mostly envisaged as serpents, but since the Middle Ages, it has become common to them with legs. Dragons are usually shown in modern times with a body like a huge lizard, the European dragon has bat-like wings growing from its back. A dragon-like creature with wings but only a pair of legs is known as a wyvern. The association of the serpent with a monstrous opponent overcome by a deity has its roots in the mythology of the Ancient Near East, including Canaanite, Hittite. Humbaba, the fire-breathing dragon-fanged beast first described in the Epic of Gilgamesh, is described as a dragon with Gilgamesh playing the part of dragon-slayer. The folk-lore motif of the dragon guarding gold may have come from earlier Bronze Age customs of introducing serpents to village granaries to deter rats or mice. Although dragons occur in many legends around the world, different cultures have varying stories about monsters that have been grouped together under the dragon label, some dragons are said to breathe fire or to be poisonous, such as in the Old English poem Beowulf. They are commonly portrayed as serpentine or reptilian, hatching from eggs and they are sometimes portrayed as hoarding treasure. Some myths portray them with a row of dorsal spines, European dragons are more often winged, while Chinese dragons resemble large snakes. Dragons can have a number of legs, none, two, four, or more when it comes to early European literature. Dragons are often held to have spiritual significance in various religions. In many Asian cultures, dragons were, and in some still are, revered as representative of the primal forces of nature, religion. They are associated with wisdom—often said to be wiser than humans—and longevity and they are commonly said to possess some form of magic or other supernatural power, and are often associated with wells, rain, and rivers
3.
City of London
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The City of London is a city and county within London. It constituted most of London from its settlement by the Romans in the 1st century AD to the Middle Ages, the City is now only a tiny part of the metropolis of London, though it remains a notable part of central London. Administratively, it one of the 33 local authority districts of Greater London, however, the City of London is not a London borough. The City of London is widely referred to simply as the City and is colloquially known as the Square Mile. Both of these terms are often used as metonyms for the United Kingdoms trading and financial services industries. The name London is now used for a far wider area than just the City. London most often denotes the sprawling London metropolis, or the 32 London boroughs and this wider usage of London is documented as far back as 1888, when the County of London was created. The local authority for the City, namely the City of London Corporation, is unique in the UK and has some unusual responsibilities for a local council and it is also unusual in having responsibilities and ownerships beyond its boundaries. The Corporation is headed by the Lord Mayor of the City of London, the current Lord Mayor, as of November 2016, is Andrew Parmley. The City is a business and financial centre. Throughout the 19th century, the City was the primary business centre. London came top in the Worldwide Centres of Commerce Index, published in 2008, the insurance industry is focused around the eastern side of the City, around Lloyds building. A secondary financial district exists outside of the City, at Canary Wharf,2.5 miles to the east, the City has a resident population of about 7,000 but over 300,000 people commute to and work there, mainly in the financial services sector. It used to be held that Londinium was first established by merchants as a trading port on the tidal Thames in around 47 AD. However, this date is only supposition, many historians now believe London was founded some time before the Roman conquest of Britain in 43 AD. They base this notion on evidence provided by both archaeology and Welsh literary legend, archaeologists have claimed that as much as half of the best British Iron Age art and metalwork discovered in Britain has been found in the London area. One of the most prominent examples is the famously horned Waterloo Helmet dredged from the Thames in the early 1860s and now exhibited at the British Museum. Also, according to an ancient Welsh legend, a king named Lud son of Heli substantially enlarged and improved a pre-existing settlement at London which afterwards came to be renamed after him, the same tradition relates how this Lud son of Heli was later buried at Ludgate
4.
Coat of arms of the City of London
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The coat of arms of the City of London is the official coat of arms of the City of London, which is one of a number of cities and boroughs in Greater London. The blazon of the arms is as follows, Arms, Argent a cross gules, crest, On a wreath argent and gules a dragons sinister wing argent charged on the underside with a cross throughout gules. Supporters, On either side a dragon argent charged on the undersides of the wings with a cross throughout gules, the coat of arms is anciently recorded at the College of Arms. It was in use in 1381, forming part of the design of a new mayoralty seal taken into use on 17 April of that year, the arms consist of a silver shield bearing a red cross with a red upright sword in the first quarter. They combine the emblems of the saints of England and London. The 1381 arms replaced an earlier shield, found on a charter of 1319, the sword is often erroneously supposed to commemorate the killing of Peasants Revolt leader Wat Tyler by Lord Mayor of London William Walworth. However the arms were in use some months before Tylers death, the crest and supporters came into use in the 17th century, but were used without authority until 30 April 1957, when they were confirmed and granted by letters patent from the College of Arms. The crest is a dragons wing bearing the cross of St George, a primitive form of the crest first appeared in 1539 on the reverse of a new common seal. This showed a fan-like object bearing a cross, over time this evolved into a dragons wing, and was shown as such in 1633 when it appeared above the citys coat of arms in the frontispiece to the fourth edition of John Stows Survey of London. The wing is specified as a left wing, i. e. its proper left wing. It has been speculated that the use of a peers helmet relates to the use of the honorific prefix The Right Honourable by the Lord Mayor, the helm was confirmed in 1957. On the seal of 1381 two lions were shown supporting the arms, however, by 1609 the present supporters, two silver dragons bearing red crosses upon their wings, had been adopted. The dragons were probably suggested by the legend of Saint George, the Latin motto of the City is Domine dirige nos, which translates as Lord, direct us. It appears to have adopted in the 17th Century, as the earliest record of it is in 1633. A banner of the arms is flown as a flag of the City, coat of arms of London County Council
5.
Portland stone
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Portland stone is a limestone from the Tithonian stage of the Jurassic period quarried on the Isle of Portland, Dorset. The quarries consist of beds of white-grey limestone separated by chert beds and it has been used extensively as a building stone throughout the British Isles, notably in major public buildings in London such as St Pauls Cathedral and Buckingham Palace. It is also exported to many countries—Portland stone is used in the United Nations headquarters building in New York City, Portland stone formed in a marine environment, on the floor of a shallow, warm, sub-tropical sea probably near land. When seawater is warmed by the sun, its capacity to hold dissolved gas is reduced, calcium and bicarbonate ions within the water are then able to combine, to form calcium carbonate as a precipitate. The process of lime scale build up in a kettle in hard water areas is similar, calcium carbonate is the principal constituent of most limestones. Billions of minute crystals of precipitated calcium carbonate accumulated forming lime mud which covered the sea floor, small particles of sand or organic detritus, such as shell fragments, formed a nucleus, which became coated with layers of calcite as they were rolled around in the muddy micrite. The calcite gradually accumulated around the fragments of shell in concentric layers and this process is similar to the way in which a snowball grows in size as it is rolled around in the snow. Over time, countless billions of these balls, known as ooids or ooliths, became partially cemented together by more calcite and this is one of the reasons why Portland stone is so favoured as a monumental and architectural stone. Dr Geoff Townson conducted three years research on the Portlandian, being the first to describe the patch-reef facies. Stone has been quarried on Portland since Roman times and was being shipped to London in the 14th century, Extraction as an industry began in the early 17th century, with shipments to London for Inigo Jones Banqueting House. Wrens choice of Portland for the new St Pauls Cathedral was a great boost for the quarries, the island was connected by railway to the rest of the country from 1865. Albion Stone PLC has been quarrying and mining Portland stone since 1984, Portland Stone Firms Ltd have been quarrying Portland stone since 1994. Jordans is part of the Inmosthay Quarry in the centre of the Island, the quarry has been worked since the late 19th century. Albion Stone leases the section from The Crown Estate and purchased the northern part of the site in 2006. The majority of the southern reserves lie under the grounds of the cricket club. To avoid disturbing the site at surface level, the company has applied and received permission to extract the stone using mining rather than quarrying techniques, the reserves to the north will be quarried using the diamond bladed cutting machines, hydro bags and wire saws to shape the blocks. Albion Stone PLC now extract all their stone through mining which dramatically reduces the impact on the environment, jordans Mine is currently the biggest mine on Portland. Bowers Quarry has been operational since the late 18th century and it has been leased from The Crown Estate since 1979 and in 2002 it became the site of the first Portland stone mine by Albion Stone PLC
6.
Temple, London
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The Royal Courts of Justice are just to the north and Temple tube station is located to the west in the City of Westminster. The wider Temple area is bound by the River Thames to the south, Surrey Street to the west, Strand and Fleet Street to the north. It contains many chambers, solicitors offices, as well as some notable legal institutions such as the Employment Appeal Tribunal. The International Institute for Strategic Studies has its headquarters at Arundel House, the name is recorded in the 12th century as Novum Templum, meaning New Temple. It is named after a church belonging to the Knights Templar, the Old Temple was located in Holborn. The name is shared with Inner Temple, Middle Temple, Temple Church, the Temple was originally the precinct of the Knights Templar whose Temple Church was named in honour of Solomons Temple in Jerusalem. The Knights had two halls, whose modern successors are the Middle Temple Hall and the Inner Temple Hall, only the Inner Temple Hall preserves elements of the medieval hall on the site, however. Upon the dissolution of the Knights Templar in 1312, the pope granted their possessions to the Knights Hospitaller. On Hughs death in 1326 the Inner Temple passed first to the mayor of London and then in 1333 to one William de Langford, in 1337 the Knights petitioned the king, now Edward III, to rectify the grant of consecrated land to a layman. Langford continued to hold Middle Temple at a reduced rent, in 1346, Langfords lease having by then expired, the Knights Hospitaller leased both Middle and Inner Temples to lawyers from St Georges Inn and Thavies Inn respectively. However lawyers had already occupied the Temple since 1320, when it belonged to the Earl of Lancaster, when the Knights Hospitaller were dissolved by Henry VIII in the Reformation, the barristers remained as tenants of the Crown, for an annual rent of £10 for each society. Their current tenure dates from a charter granted to them by James I in 1608, originally a grant of fee farm, the reversion was purchased from Charles II, finally giving the lawyers absolute title. The area of the Temple was increased when the River Thames was embanked by the Victoria Embankment, the original bank of the river can clearly be seen in a drop in ground level, for example in the Inner Temple Gardens or the stairs at the bottom of Essex Street. The area suffered damage due to enemy air raids in World War II and many of the buildings. Temple Church itself was badly damaged and had to be rebuilt. Nonetheless the Temple is rich with Grade I listed buildings, the core of the district lies in the City of London and consists of two Inns of Court, Inner Temple and Middle Temple. The Temple Church is roughly central to two inns and is governed by both of them. The Inns each have their own gardens, dining halls, libraries and administrative offices, most of the land is, however, taken up by buildings in which barristers practise from sets of rooms known as chambers
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