1.
Evangeline Lilly
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Nicole Evangeline Lilly is a Canadian actress and author. She won a Screen Actors Guild Award and received a Golden Globe nomination for her role as Kate Austen in the ABC series Lost and she is also best known for her roles as Tauriel in The Hobbit, Hope van Dyne in Ant-Man and Connie James in The Hurt Locker. Lilly was born in Fort Saskatchewan, Alberta, and raised in British Columbia by her mother and her father and her father was raised in Nigeria, as her paternal grandparents were missionaries in Africa. Lilly has English and Irish ancestry, one of her grandmothers was an English war bride, Lilly graduated from W. J. Mouat Secondary School in Abbotsford, British Columbia, where she played soccer and was vice-president of the student council. While in college, she worked as a waitress, did oil changes and grease jobs on big rig trucks and she grew up Christian and her faith influenced her decision to take part in a three-week mission trip to the Philippines when she was 18. Her interest in causes and global development led her to major in International Relations at the University of British Columbia. Lillys acting career began when she was discovered by a Ford Modeling Agency agent while walking the streets of Kelowna and she took the agents business card but did not immediately pursue acting. She eventually called and the agency landed her several roles in commercials and non-speaking parts in the TV shows Smallville, Lilly was encouraged to audition for Lost by a friend and she did not expect to get cast. Around 75 women auditioned for the part of Kate Austen, writer and co-creator Damon Lindelof said that he and executive producer and co-creator J. J. Abrams were fast-forwarding through a tape, and he saw her and said, Thats the girl. The character almost had to be recast, as Lilly had trouble acquiring a visa to enter the United States. Her application was accepted after nearly 20 tries and she arrived in Hawaii for filming one day late. Lost ran for six seasons from 2004 to 2010, Lilly appeared in 108 of the shows 121 episodes, and her character, Kate Austen, was the shows female lead. Entertainment Weekly voted Lilly one of its Breakout Stars of 2004, in 2006, she was nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Lead Actress-Drama. Robert Bianco of USA Today praised Lillys performance in the episode Eggtown, in 2007, Lillys portrayal was voted #1 Sexiest Woman on Television by TV Guide and made FHMs Top Sexiest. Evangeline was voted one of People Magazines 50 Most Beautiful People, after shooting the final episode of Lost, Lilly said she was considering taking a break from acting to focus on her charity and humanitarian efforts. She told Vulture, I consider acting a day job — its not my dream and she says she uses her high-profile roles to further her humanitarian efforts, not to achieve stardom. In 2008, Lilly appeared in the Academy Award-winning film The Hurt Locker and she and the rest of the cast won the Gotham Award for Best Ensemble Cast and the Washington D. C. Area Film Critics Association Award for Best Ensemble, Lilly followed this role with a leading part in psychological thriller film Afterwards
2.
Netflix
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Netflix is an American entertainment company founded by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph on August 29,1997, in Scotts Valley, California. It specializes in and provides streaming media and video-on-demand online and DVD by mail, in 2013, Netflix expanded into film and television production, as well as online distribution. As of 2017 the company has its headquarters in Los Gatos, Netflixs initial business model included DVD sales and rental, although Hastings jettisoned DVD sales about a year after Netflixs founding to focus on the DVD rental by mail business. In 2007, Netflix expanded its business with the introduction of streaming media, while retaining the DVD, Netflix entered the content-production industry in 2013, debuting its first series, House of Cards. It has greatly expanded the production of film and television series since then, offering Netflix Original content through its online library of films. Netflix released an estimated 126 original series or films in 2016, in January 2017, Netflix reported having over 93 million subscribers worldwide, including more than 49 million in the United States. Netflix was founded on August 29,1997, in Scotts Valley, California, by Marc Randolph, Randolph worked as marketing director for Hastings company, Pure Atria Corporation. Randolph was a co-founder of MicroWarehouse, a mail order company. Hastings, a computer scientist and mathematician, sold Pure Atria to Rational Software Corporation in 1997 for $700 million in what was then the richest acquisition in Silicon Valley history. Hastings, Randolphs mother and Integrity QA founder Steve Kahn invested $2.5 million in cash for Netflix. Randolph admired the fledgling e-commerce company Amazon and wanted to find a category of portable items to sell over the internet using a similar model. He and Hastings considered and rejected VHS tapes as too expensive to stock and too delicate to ship. When they heard about DVDs, which were available in only a few markets in 1997, when the disc arrived intact, they decided to take on the $16 billion home video sales and rental industry. Netflix introduced the monthly subscription concept in September 1999, and then dropped the model in early 2000. Since that time, the company has built its reputation on the model of flat-fee unlimited rentals without due dates, late fees, shipping and handling fees. In 2000, Netflix offered to be acquired by Blockbuster for $50 million, Netflix initiated an initial public offering on May 29,2002, selling 5.5 million shares of common stock at the price of US$15.00 per share. On June 14,2002, the company sold an additional 825,000 shares of stock at the same price. After incurring substantial losses during its first few years, Netflix posted its first profit during fiscal year 2003, in 2005,35,000 different films were available, and Netflix shipped 1 million DVDs out every day
3.
Los Angeles
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Los Angeles, officially the City of Los Angeles and often known by its initials L. A. is the cultural, financial, and commercial center of Southern California. With a census-estimated 2015 population of 3,971,883, it is the second-most populous city in the United States, Los Angeles is also the seat of Los Angeles County, the most populated county in the United States. The citys inhabitants are referred to as Angelenos, historically home to the Chumash and Tongva, Los Angeles was claimed by Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo for Spain in 1542 along with the rest of what would become Alta California. The city was founded on September 4,1781, by Spanish governor Felipe de Neve. It became a part of Mexico in 1821 following the Mexican War of Independence, in 1848, at the end of the Mexican–American War, Los Angeles and the rest of California were purchased as part of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, thereby becoming part of the United States. Los Angeles was incorporated as a municipality on April 4,1850, the discovery of oil in the 1890s brought rapid growth to the city. The completion of the Los Angeles Aqueduct in 1913, delivering water from Eastern California, nicknamed the City of Angels, Los Angeles is known for its Mediterranean climate, ethnic diversity, and sprawling metropolis. Los Angeles also has an economy in culture, media, fashion, science, sports, technology, education, medicine. A global city, it has been ranked 6th in the Global Cities Index, the city is home to renowned institutions covering a broad range of professional and cultural fields, and is one of the most substantial economic engines within the United States. The Los Angeles combined statistical area has a gross metropolitan product of $831 billion, making it the third-largest in the world, after the Greater Tokyo and New York metropolitan areas. The city has hosted the Summer Olympic Games in 1932 and 1984 and is bidding to host the 2024 Summer Olympics and thus become the second city after London to have hosted the Games three times. The Los Angeles area also hosted the 1994 FIFA mens World Cup final match as well as the 1999 FIFA womens World Cup final match, the mens event was watched on television by over 700 million people worldwide. The Los Angeles coastal area was first settled by the Tongva, a Gabrielino settlement in the area was called iyáangẚ, meaning poison oak place. Gaspar de Portolà and Franciscan missionary Juan Crespí, reached the present site of Los Angeles on August 2,1769, in 1771, Franciscan friar Junípero Serra directed the building of the Mission San Gabriel Arcángel, the first mission in the area. The Queen of the Angels is an honorific of the Virgin Mary, two-thirds of the settlers were mestizo or mulatto with a mixture of African, indigenous and European ancestry. The settlement remained a small town for decades, but by 1820. Today, the pueblo is commemorated in the district of Los Angeles Pueblo Plaza and Olvera Street. New Spain achieved its independence from the Spanish Empire in 1821, during Mexican rule, Governor Pío Pico made Los Angeles Alta Californias regional capital
4.
Mount Whitney
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Mount Whitney is the highest summit in the contiguous United States and the Sierra Nevada, with an elevation of 14,505 feet. The west slope of the mountain is in Sequoia National Park, the east slope is in the Inyo National Forest in Inyo County. The summit of Whitney is on the Sierra Crest and the Great Basin Divide and it lies near many of the highest peaks of the Sierra Nevada. The peak rises dramatically above the Owens Valley, sitting 10,778 feet or just over two miles above the town of Lone Pine 15 miles to the east, in the Owens Valley. It rises more gradually on the west side, lying only about 3,000 feet above the John Muir Trail at Guitar Lake, the mountain is partially dome-shaped, with its famously jagged ridges extending to the sides. Mount Whitney is above the line and has an alpine climate. Very few plants grow near the summit, one example is the Skypilot, the only animals are transient, such as the butterfly Parnassius phoebus and the gray-crowned rosy finch. The mountain is the highest point on the Great Basin Divide, waterways on the west side of the peak flow into Whitney Creek, which flows into the Kern River. The Kern River terminates in the Tulare Basin, during very wet years, water overflows from the Tulare Basin into the San Joaquin River which flows to the Pacific Ocean. From the east, water from Mount Whitney flows to Lone Pine Creek, which joins the Owens River, which in turn terminates at Owens Lake, the estimated elevation of the summit of Mount Whitney has changed over the years. The technology of elevation measurement has become refined and, more importantly. The peak was commonly said to be at 14,494 ft, an older plaque on the summit reads elevation 14,496.811 feet but this was estimated using the older vertical datum from 1929. Since then the shape of the Earth has been estimated more accurately, using a new vertical datum established in 1988 the benchmark is now estimated to be at 14,505 ft. The rise is caused by a fault system that runs along the eastern base of the Sierra. Thus, the granite that forms Mount Whitney is the same as the granite that forms the Alabama Hills, the raising of Whitney is due to the same geological forces that cause the Basin and Range Province, the crust of much of the intermontane west is slowly being stretched. The granite that forms Mount Whitney is part of the Sierra Nevada batholith, in Cretaceous time, masses of molten rock that originated from subduction rose underneath what is now Whitney and solidified underground to form large expanses of granite. In July 1864, the members of the California Geological Survey named the peak after Josiah Whitney, during the same expedition, geologist Clarence King attempted to climb Whitney from its west side, but stopped just short. In 1871, King returned to climb what he believed to be Whitney, upon learning of his mistake in 1873, King finally completed his own first ascent of Whitney, but did so a month too late to claim the first recorded ascent
5.
Aconcagua
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Aconcagua is the highest mountain outside Asia, at 6,961 metres, and by extension the highest point in both the Western Hemisphere and the Southern Hemisphere. It is located in the Andes mountain range, in the Mendoza Province, Argentina, and lies 112 kilometres northwest of its capital, the summit is also located about 5 kilometers from San Juan Province and 15 kilometers from the international border with Chile. The mountain itself lies entirely within Argentina and immediately east of Argentinas border with Chile and its nearest higher neighbor is Tirich Mir in the Hindu Kush,16,520 kilometres away. It is one of the Seven Summits, Aconcagua is bounded by the Valle de las Vacas to the north and east and the Valle de los Horcones Inferior to the west and south. The mountain and its surroundings are part of the Aconcagua Provincial Park, the mountain has a number of glaciers. The largest glacier is the Ventisquero Horcones Inferior at about 10 kilometers long, two other large glacier systems are the Ventisquero de las Vacas Sur and Glaciar Este/Ventisquero Relinchos system at about 5 kilometers long. The most well-known is the north-eastern or Polish Glacier, as it is a route of ascent. The mountain was created by the subduction of the Nazca Plate beneath the South American Plate during the geologically recent Andean orogeny, in mountaineering terms, Aconcagua is technically an easy mountain if approached from the north, via the normal route. Aconcagua is arguably the highest non-technical mountain in the world, since the route does not absolutely require ropes, axes. Although the effects of altitude are severe, the use of oxygen is not common. Altitude sickness will affect most climbers to some extent, depending on the degree of acclimatization, even if the normal climb is technically easy, multiple casualties occur every year on this mountain. Given the weather conditions close to the summit, cold weather injuries are very common, the third most popular route is by the Polish Glacier itself. No hard records are kept about Aconcagua ascents, but the Provincial Park reports a rate of about 60% of climbers who attempt the mountain. About 75% of climbers are foreigners and 25% are Argentinean, among foreigners, the United States leads in number of climbers, followed by Germany and the UK. About 54% of climbers ascend the Normal Route, 43% up the Polish Glacier Route, the routes to the peak from the south and south-west ridges are more demanding and the south face climb is considered quite difficult. The camp sites on the route are listed below. Puente del Inca,2,740 metres, A small village on the main road, Confluencia,3,380 metres, A camp site a few hours into the national park. Plaza de Mulas,4,370 metres, Base camp, there are several meal tents, showers and internet access
6.
Mount Rainier
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Mount Rainier, Mount Tacoma, or Mount Tahoma is the highest mountain of the Cascade Range of the Pacific Northwest, and the highest mountain in the U. S. state of Washington. It is an active stratovolcano located 54 miles south-southeast of Seattle. Because of its amount of glacial ice, Mt.7 million living in its metropolitan area. Mount Rainier was first known by the Native Americans as Talol, one hypothesis of the word origin is, in the Lushootseed language spoken by the Puyallup people. Another hypothesis is that Tacoma means larger than Mount Baker in Lushootseed, Ta, larger, plus Koma, other names originally used include Tahoma, Tacobeh, and Pooskaus. The current name was given by George Vancouver, who named it in honor of his friend, the map of the Lewis and Clark expedition of 1804-1806 refers to it as Mt. Regniere. Tacoma was preferred in the city of Tacoma, in 1890, the United States Board on Geographic Names declared that the mountain would be known as Rainier. Following this in 1897, the Pacific Forest Reserve became the Mount Rainier Forest Reserve, despite this, there was still a movement to change the mountains name to Tacoma and Congress was still considering a resolution to change the name as late as 1924. After the 2015 restoration of the original name Denali to Mount McKinley in Alaska, Mount Rainier is the highest mountain in Washington and the Cascade Range. This peak is located just east of Eatonville and just southeast of Seattle, Mount Rainier is ranked third of the 128 ultra-prominent mountain peaks of the United States. Mount Rainier has a prominence of 13,210 ft, which is greater than that of K2. On clear days it dominates the horizon in most of the Seattle-Tacoma metropolitan area to such an extent that locals sometimes refer to it simply as the Mountain. On days of exceptional clarity, it can also be seen from as far away as Corvallis, Oregon and Victoria, with 26 major glaciers and 36 sq mi of permanent snowfields and glaciers, Mount Rainier is the most heavily glaciated peak in the lower 48 states. The summit is topped by two volcanic craters, each more than 1,000 ft in diameter, with the larger east crater overlapping the west crater, the Carbon, Puyallup, Mowich, Nisqually, and Cowlitz Rivers begin at eponymous glaciers of Mount Rainier. The sources of the White River are Winthrop, Emmons, the broad top of Mount Rainier contains three named summits. The highest is called the Columbia Crest, the second highest summit is Point Success,14,158 ft, at the southern edge of the summit plateau, atop the ridge known as Success Cleaver. It has a prominence of about 138 ft, so it is not considered a separate peak. The lowest of the three summits is Liberty Cap,14,112 ft, at the edge, which overlooks Liberty Ridge, the Sunset Amphitheater
