A dry dock is a narrow basin or vessel that can be flooded to allow a load to be floated in drained to allow that load to come to rest on a dry platform. Dry docks are used for the construction and repair of ships and other watercraft; the Greek author Athenaeus of Naucratis reports that the dry dock was invented in Ptolemaic Egypt in the reign of Ptolemy IV Philopator on the occasion of the launch of the enormous Tessarakonteres rowing ship: But after that a Phoenician devised a new method of launching it, having dug a trench under it, equal to the ship itself in length, which he dug close to the harbour. And in the trench he built props of solid stone five cubits deep, across them he laid beams crosswise, running the whole width of the trench, at four cubits' distance from one another, it has been calculated that a dock for a vessel of such a size might have had a volume of 750,000 gallons of water. In Roman times, a shipyard at Narni, still studied, may have served as a dry dock; the use of dry docks in China goes at least as far back the 10th century A.

D. In 1088, Song Dynasty scientist and statesman Shen Kuo wrote in his Dream Pool Essays: At the beginning of the dynasty the two Che provinces presented two dragon ships each more than 200 ft. in length. The upper works included several decks with palatial cabins and saloons, containing thrones and couches all ready for imperial tours of inspection. After many years, their hulls decayed and needed repairs, but the work was impossible as long as they were afloat. So in the Hsi-Ning reign period a palace official Huang Huai-Hsin suggested a plan. A large basin was excavated at the north end of the Chin-ming Lake capable of containing the dragon ships, in it heavy crosswise beams were laid down upon a foundation of pillars. So that the basin filled with water, after which the ships were towed in above the beams; the water was pumped out by wheels so that the ships rested quite in the air. When the repairs were complete, the water was let in again; the beams and pillars were taken away, the whole basin covered over with a great roof so as to form a hangar in which the ships could be protected from the elements and avoid the damage caused by undue exposure.

The first early modern European and oldest surviving dry dock still in use was commissioned by Henry VII of England at HMNB Portsmouth in 1495. This dry dock holds the world's oldest commissioned warship, HMS Victory; the earliest description of a floating dock comes from a small Italian book printed in Venice in 1560, called Descrittione dell'artifitiosa machina. In the booklet, an unknown author asks for the privilege of using a new method for the salvaging of a grounded ship and proceeds to describe and illustrate his approach; the included woodcut shows a ship flanked by two large floating trestles, forming a roof above the vessel. The ship is pulled in an upright position by a number of ropes attached to the superstructure; the Saint-Nazaire's Chantiers de l'Atlantique owns one of the biggest in the world: 1,200 by 60 metres. The largest graving dock of the Mediterranean as of 2009 is at the Hellenic Shipyards S. A.. The Alfredo da Silva Dry Dock in Almada, was closed in 2000; the largest roofed dry dock is at the German Meyer Werft Shipyard in Papenburg, Germany, it is 504 m long, 125 m wide and stands 75 m tall.

Harland and Wolff Heavy Industries in Belfast, Northern Ireland, is the site of a large dry dock 556 by 93 metres. The massive cranes are named after the Biblical figures Goliath. Dry Dock 12 at Newport News Shipbuilding at 662 by 76 metres is the largest dry dock in the USA; the largest floating-dock in North America is named The Vigorous. It is operated by Vigor Industries in Portland, OR, in the Swan Island industrial area along the Willamette River. A graving dock is the traditional form of dry dock, it is narrow basin made of earthen berms and concrete, closed by gates or by a caisson. When open, a vessel is floated in and the water pumped out, leaving the craft supported on blocks; the keel blocks as well as the bilge block are placed on the floor of the dock in accordance with the "docking plan" of the ship. Routine use of dry docks is for the "graving" i.e. the cleaning, removal of barnacles and rust, re-painting of ships' hulls. Some fine-tuning of the ship's position can be done by divers while there is still some water left to manoeuvre it about.

It is important that supporting blocks conform to the structural members so that the ship is not damaged when its weight is supported by the blocks. Some anti-submarine warfare warships have protruding sonar domes, requiring that the hull of the ship be supported several metres from the bottom of the drydock. Once the remainder of the water is pumped out, the ship can be inspected or serviced; when work on the ship is finished, water is allowed to re-enter the dry dock and the ship is refloated. Modern graving docks are box-shaped, to accommodate the newer, boxier ship designs, whe

Marshal Cândido Mariano da Silva Rondon was a Brazilian military officer most famous for his telegraph commission and exploration of Mato Grosso and the Western Amazon Basin, as well as his lifelong support for indigenous Brazilians. He was the first director of Brazil's Indian Protection Service or SPI and supported the creation of the Xingu National Park; the Brazilian state of Rondônia is named after him. Cândido Mariano da Silva was born on 5 May 1865 in a small village in Mato Grosso state, his father, Cândido Mariano da Silva, Sr. was of Portuguese and Guaná ancestry, died of smallpox in 1864, prior to Rondon's birth. His mother, Claudina Freitas Evangelista, was descended from the Terena and Bororo indigenous peoples, she died two years after giving birth to Rondon. He was raised by his grandparents until their death, by his uncle, Manuel Rodrigues da Silva Rondon, from whom he took the name Rondon. After finishing high school at the age of 16, he taught elementary school for two years, joined the Brazilian army.

He enrolled in the 3rd Regiment of Horse Artillery in 1881. Among other studies, he studied Mathematics and Physical and Natural Sciences of the Superior School of War. On joining the military, he graduated in 1888 as a second lieutenant, he was involved with the Republican coup that overthrew Pedro II, the last Emperor of Brazil. The republican government was worried about the western region of Brazil isolated from the great centers and in border regions. In 1890, he was commissioned as an army engineer with the Telegraphic commission, helped build the first telegraph line across the state of Mato Grosso; this telegraph line was finished in 1895, afterwards, Rondon started construction on a road that led from Rio de Janeiro to Cuiabá, the capital of Mato Grosso. Until this roadway was complete, the only way between these two cities was by river transport. During this time, he married his wife, Francisca Xavier. Together, they had 7 children. From 1900 to 1906, Rondon was in charge of laying telegraph line from Brazil to Peru.

During this time he opened up new territory, was in contact with the warlike Bororo of western Brazil. He was so successful in pacifying the Bororo. Throughout his life, Rondon laid over 4,000 miles of telegraph line through the jungles of Brazil. Marshall Rondon was honored with the title "Patron of the Communications Corps of the Brazilian Army", by Decree No. 51,960, of 26 April 1963. After the Roosevelt-Rondon Scientific Expedition of 1914, Rondon worked until 1919 mapping the state of Mato Grosso. During this time he discovered some more rivers, made contact with several indigenous tribes. In 1919, he became chief of the Brazilian Corps of Engineers, the head of the Telegraphic Commission. In 1924 and 1925, he led army forces against a rebellion in the state of São Paulo. From 1927 to 1930, Rondon was put in charge of surveying all of the borders between Brazil and its neighbors. In 1930, he was interrupted by the Revolution of 1930, he resigned from his position as head of SPI. During 1934–1938, he was in charge of a Diplomatic Mission, to mediate a dispute between Colombia and Peru over the town of Leticia.

In 1939, he resumed his directorship of SPI, expanded the service to new territories of Brazil. In the 1950s he supported the Villas Boas brothers' campaign, which faced strong opposition from the government and the ranchers of Mato Grosso and led to the establishment of the first Brazilian National Park for indigenous people along the Xingu River in 1961. On 5 May 1955, the date of his 90th birthday, he was awarded the title of Marshal of the Brazilian Army, granted by the National Congress. In 1957, he was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize by the Explorers Club of New York, he died in 1958 in Rio de Janeiro at the age of 92. Cândido Rondon headed up a large-scale military operation to expand telegraph lines into the Brazilian Amazon, this group has been called “The Rondon Commission.” Rondon was, by this time, a devout follower of positivist beliefs and he believed his purpose was to unite all peoples of Brazil through his work in the commission. He had an unrelenting belief that progress should be made as as possible and that indigenous peoples needed to be incorporated into society as as possible to achieve this.

Rondon showed concern as to how these indigenous groups were incorporated into modern society and he made it his mission to “guide” them to a more “civilized” life in what he viewed as a peaceful manner. However, some critics believe that Rondon's concern about indigenous groups and unification was fraudulent; these critics posit that this mission was a military operation with a state focus on seizing and defining borders for defense purposes along with creating new opportunities for colonization and economic expansion. They believe this undermines the view that Rondon was a hero of unification and pacification towards uncontacted or independent indigenous tribes; the Rondon Commission was successful in its goal to open up the Amazon to economic development. Many new settlements appeared along the telegraph lines. New settlers desired a piece of this land for farming and ranching, but one side effect was the displacement of indigenous tribes like the Bororo; as a result of Rondon's competence in constructing telegraph lines, he was put in charge of extending the telegraph line from Mato Grosso to the Amazon.

In the course of constructing the line, he charted the Juruena river and, in addition, he made peaceful contact with the N

Zastron Commando was a light infantry regiment of the South African Army. It formed part of the South African Army Infantry Formation as well as the South African Territorial Reserve. By 1902 all Commando remnants disarmed. By 1912, however previous Commando members could join shooting associations. By 1940, such commandos were under control of the National Reserve of Volunteers; these commandos were formally reactivated by 1948. During this era the Commando was used for area force protection and cordones as well as stock theft control assistance to the rural police. By 1997 Rouxville Commando was amalgamated with Zastron Commando; this unit, along with all other Commando units was disbanded after a decision by South African President Thabo Mbeki to disband all Commando Units. The Commando system was phased out between 2003 and 2008 "because of the role it played in the apartheid era", according to the Minister of Safety and Security Charles Nqakula. South African Commando System

The Surna is a river in Trøndelag and Møre og Romsdal counties in Norway. It runs from Rindal Municipality to Surnadal Municipality; the 45-kilometre long river begins near Øvre Rindal at the confluence of the rivers Tiåa and Lomunda. The river flows west and empties into the Surnadalsfjorden at the village of Surnadalsøra. Several smaller rivers flow into the Surna from the Trollheimen mountains to the south; the Foldsjøen and Gråsjøen reservoirs along the Folda River flow into the Surna. The river is a good fishing river; the Brandåa, Kysinga hydroelectric power stations operate on tributaries of the river. List of rivers in Norway

Torstein Dahle is a Norwegian politician and economist. He represents Red Party in the city council of Bergen. Dahle was born in Oslo. At age 14 Dahle joined Lambertseter Youth Conservatives, he attended Oslo Commerce School. After moving to Bergen in 1966 he was joined AKP in the early 1970s. Since its foundation in 2007 Dahle was leader of the Red Party, he was leader of the Red Party's predecessor, Red Electoral Alliance, from 2003 to 2007, he was succeeded by Turid Thomassen in 2010. He was a founding member of Red Electoral Alliance and Workers' Communist Party in 1973, but left the latter in 1997. On 23 July 2007 he became subject to media attention when he said that the Taliban and other Afghan rebels had the full right of fighting the Norwegian soldiers of the International Security Assistance Force force stationed in Afghanistan; the attention occurred only days with the death of a Norwegian army officer in the Logar Province as a Norwegian military unit came under hostile fire. He commented that he did not support the death of Norwegian military personnel.

Dahle is homosexual since the late 1960s

The 2019 AFLX tournament was the second Australian Football League pre-season series of matches, played under the laws of AFLX, a variation of Australian rules football. The tournament took place on 22 February 2019 at Melbourne's Marvel Stadium; the league abandoned the format adopted for the inaugural series which featured all 18 AFL clubs, instead appointed four high-profile players as captain of their respective teams. Geelong midfielder and Brownlow Medallist Patrick Dangerfield captained the Bolts, Fremantle captain and fellow Brownlow winner Nat Fyfe captained the Flyers, Adelaide forward Eddie Betts captained the Deadlys and Richmond forward and three-time Coleman Medallist Jack Riewoldt captained the Rampage; the teams had 14 players each, with six on the bench. A new rule was added to the competition where teams could nominate one of their players on the field to be the Gatorade Game Changer for the last five minutes of the game; the Game Changer had the ability to score double the points of any other player.

1.^ Replaced Robbie Gray who withdrew due to injury. 2.^ Replaced Chad Wingard who withdrew due to injury. 3.^ Replaced Joel Hamling who withdrew due to injury. 4.^ Replaced Steven May who withdrew due to injury. 5.^ Replaced Jeremy Cameron who withdrew due to injury. A draft of 48 selections was broadcast on Wednesday 6 February by Network Seven and Fox Footy after being held in secret the previous day; the draft featured 12 selections by each captain with a snake draft order determined by random draw on the night of the draft. No more than four players from each AFL club, inclusive of the pre-selected captains and vice-captains, were eligible to play in the tournament. Official website