1.
Nagoya
–
Nagoya is the largest city in the Chūbu region of Japan. It is Japans third-largest incorporated city and the fourth most populous urban area and it is located on the Pacific coast on central Honshu. It is the capital of Aichi Prefecture and is one of Japans major ports along with those of Tokyo, Osaka, Kobe, Yokohama, Chiba and it is also the center of Japans third-largest metropolitan region, known as the Chūkyō Metropolitan Area. As of 2015,2.28 million people lived in the city, the citys name was historically written as 那古野 or 名護屋. One possible origin is the adjective nagoyaka, meaning peaceful, the name Chūkyō is also used to refer to Nagoya. Notable examples of the use of the name Chūkyō include the Chūkyō Industrial Area, Chūkyō Metropolitan Area, Chūkyō Television Broadcasting, Chukyo University, oda Nobunaga and his protégés Toyotomi Hideyoshi and Tokugawa Ieyasu were powerful warlords based in the Nagoya area who gradually succeeded in unifying Japan. In 1610, Tokugawa Ieyasu moved the capital of Owari Province from Kiyosu, about seven kilometers away, during this period Nagoya Castle was constructed, built partly from materials taken from Kiyosu Castle. During the construction, the town around Kiyosu Castle, consisting of around 60,000 people. Around the same time, the nearby ancient Atsuta Shrine was designated as a waystation, called Miya, on the important Tōkaidō road, a town developed around the temple to support travelers. The castle and shrine towns formed the city, during the Meiji Restoration Japans provinces were restructured into prefectures and the government changed from family to bureaucratic rule. Nagoya was proclaimed a city on October 1,1889, and designated a city on September 1,1956, Nagoya became an industrial hub for the region. Its economic sphere included the famous pottery towns of Tokoname, Tajimi and Seto, as well as Okazaki, other industries included cotton and complex mechanical dolls called karakuri ningyō. Mitsubishi Aircraft Company was established in 1920 in Nagoya and became one of the largest aircraft manufacturers in Japan, the availability of space and the central location of the region and the well-established connectivity were some of the major factors that lead to the establishment of the aviation industry there. Nagoya was the target of US air raids during World War II, the population of Nagoya at this time was estimated to be 1.5 million, fourth among Japanese cities and one of the three largest centers of the Japanese aircraft industry. It was estimated that 25% of its workers were engaged in aircraft production, important Japanese aircraft targets were within the city itself, while others were to the north of Kagamigahara. It was estimated that produced between 40% and 50% of Japanese combat aircraft and engines, such as the vital Mitsubishi A6M Zero fighter. The Nagoya area also produced machine tools, bearings, railway equipment, metal alloys, tanks, motor vehicles, the bombing continued through the spring of 1945, and included large-scale firebombing. Nagoya was the target of two of Bomber Command’s attacks and these incendiary attacks, one by day and one by night, devastated 15.3 square kilometres
2.
Bureau International des Expositions
–
To February 4,2016,169 member countries have adhered to the BIE Convention. The BIE regulates two types of expositions, Registered Exhibitions and Recognized Exhibitions, Horticultural Exhibitions with an A1 grade, regulated by the International Association of Horticultural Producers, are recognized since 1960. The USA had its membership of the BIE withdrawn in June 2001, the cause was the non-allocation of funds by the U. S. Congress for two years. The United States Congress has not provided a reason for failing to pay membership. The BIE remains open to participation from the United States, in a letter from April 20,2006, the secretary-general said, As you are aware, the United States government withdrew from the BIE in June 2001. Citizens realize and would welcome the strong impact a worlds fair can have on their city, state and it would be wonderful to, once again, attend an exhibition in the United States. Participation in the BIE is controlled by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, rydell said the 1982 fair was not as bad as many people make it out to be. Since the start of the 21st century, Universal Expositions may occur every five years, lasting six months, on 5 and 0 ending years, i. e. Expo 2010 in Shanghai, Expo 2015 in Milan, and so forth. Countries, international organizations, civil societies, and corporations are allowed to participate in Registered Expositions, the Plaza of Africa at Seville was constructed for the same purpose. Registered Expositions are also massive in scale, sometimes 300 or 400 hectares in size, montreals Expo 67 attracted 54 million visitors, Osakas Expo 70,64 million visitors, the Seville Expo 92,41 million visitors and Shanghais Expo 2010 attracted 70 million visitors. Countries, international organizations, civil societies, and corporations are allowed to participate, the pavilions are built by the hosts and not the participants, and there is no rent for pavilions. Nevertheless, the largest pavilion may be no larger than 1000 square meters, for this reason Recognized Expositions are cheaper to run than Registered Expositions, and more money is spent on content of the pavilion as opposed to its design. A nation or organization does not need to be a member of the B. I. E. to be represented at a B. I. E, the use of mascots in World Exposition began with the 1984 Louisiana World Exposition. Seymore D. Fair, a 76 tall white pelican, was the mascot of the 1984 Louisiana World Exposition as well as the first mascot at any worlds fair. Seymore was seen as a way to highlight the water theme. Seymore D.9 in E Minor From the New World
3.
ASIMO
–
Honda began developing humanoid robots in the 1980s, including several prototypes that preceded ASIMO. It was the goal to create a walking robot. E0 was the first bipedal model produced as part of the Honda E series, ts created between 1986 and 1993. This was followed by the Honda P series of robots produced from 1993 through 1997, development began at Hondas Wako Fundamental Technical Research Center in Japan in 1999 and ASIMO was unveiled in October 2000. ASIMO stands 130 cm tall and weighs 54 kg, ASIMO is powered by a rechargeable 51.8 V lithium-ion battery with an operating time of one hour. Switching from a metal hydride in 2004 increased the amount of time ASIMO can operate before recharging. ASIMO has a computer processor that was created by Honda. The computer that controls ASIMOs movement is housed in the robots waist area and can be controlled by a PC, wireless controller, or voice commands. ASIMO has the ability to recognize moving objects, postures, gestures, its environment, sounds and faces. The robot can detect the movements of objects by using visual information captured by two camera eyes in its head and also determine distance and direction. This feature allows ASIMO to follow or face a person when approached, the robot interprets voice commands and human gestures, enabling it to recognize when a handshake is offered or when a person waves or points, and then respond accordingly. ASIMOs ability to distinguish between voices and other sounds allows it to identify its companions, ASIMO is able to respond to its name and recognizes sounds associated with a falling object or collision. This allows the robot to face a person when spoken to or look towards a sound, ASIMO responds to questions by nodding or providing a verbal answer in different languages and can recognize approximately 10 different faces and address them by name. There are sensors that assist in autonomous navigation, the two cameras inside the head are used as a visual sensor to detect obstacles. The lower portion of the torso has ground sensor which comprises one laser sensor, the laser sensor is used to detect ground surface. The infrared sensor with automatic shutter adjustment based on brightness is used to detect pairs of floor markings to confirm the navigable paths of the planned map, the pre-loaded map and the detection of floor markings help the robot to precisely identify its present location and continuously adjusting its position. There are front and rear ultrasonic sensors to sense the obstacles, the front sensor is located at the lower portion of the torso together with the ground sensor. The rear sensor is located at the bottom of the backpack, Hondas work with ASIMO led to further research on Walking Assist™ devices that resulted in innovations such as the Stride Management Assist and the Bodyweight Support Assist
4.
Expo '98
–
Expo 98 was an official specialised Worlds Fair held in Lisbon, Portugal from Friday,22 May to Wednesday,30 September 1998. The theme of the fair was The Oceans, a Heritage for the Future, the Expo received around 11 million visitors in 132 days, while 143 countries and many organizations were represented. Once Government support was obtained, Ferreira led the bid at the Bureau of International Expositions, the first Commissioner of Expo 98 was António Cardoso e Cunha. He was replaced in 1997 by José de Melo Torres Campos, the area chosen for the Expo 98 was a 5 kilometres -wide strip that covered 50 hectares in Lisbons east-end alongside the Tagus river. The area had been landscaped in 1942 as a Hydroport, for docking the hydroplanes that crossed the Atlantic to, as a result, the Expo 98 was fully built from scratch. As a reminder of the industrial past, only a refinery tower was kept. Out of the five major themed pavilions at Lisbon’s Expo 98, combining traditional stage technology with highly innovative special effects and mechanical controls, gsmprjct intégration handled all of the logistics and technical direction of the project. Housed in a covered stadium with a seating capacity of 10,000. The Oceania Virtual Reality Pavilion was the biggest hit of Lisbon’s Expo 98, even so, the average waiting time to get in was around 4 hours. The pavilion of Portugal hosted the Portuguese national representation during the event and it was designed by Álvaro Siza Vieira. The entrance to the building was covered by a large concrete veil, the total number of visitors of the Expo 98 reached 10,128,204, for a duration of 132 days. Admission prices were 5,000 escudos PTE for one day,12,500 escudos for three days, and 50,000 escudos for three months. The Oceans Pavilion, built to be the Lisbon Oceanarium after the Expo closed, had the longest lines, other popular pavilions, with lines of up to five hours on busier days, included Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Germany, and Virtual Reality. The Expo logo symbolizes the Sea and the Sun and it was conceived by Portuguese Augusto Tavares Dias, creative director in an advertising agency, and selected from 1,288 entries. The Expo mascot was conceived by the Portuguese duo of painter António Modesto and it was selected from 309 entries. It is named Gil, after Portuguese navigator Gil Eanes, the name was chosen by high-school student José Luís Coelho, from 765 entries. Gil can be now seen on telethons broadcast on RTP1, the official music theme for the Expo 98 was called Pangaea and was written by Nuno Rebelo. It combined chants and instruments from the five continents over a full orchestral score
5.
Lisbon
–
Lisbon is the capital and the largest city of Portugal, with a population of 552,700 within its administrative limits in an area of 100.05 km². Its urban area extends beyond the administrative limits with a population of around 2.7 million people. About 2.8 million people live in the Lisbon Metropolitan Area and it is continental Europes westernmost capital city and the only one along the Atlantic coast. Lisbon lies in the western Iberian Peninsula on the Atlantic Ocean, the westernmost areas of its metro area is the westernmost point of Continental Europe. Lisbon is recognised as a city because of its importance in finance, commerce, media, entertainment, arts, international trade, education. It is one of the economic centres on the continent, with a growing financial sector. Humberto Delgado Airport serves over 20 million passengers annually, as of 2015, and the motorway network, the city is the 7th-most-visited city in Southern Europe, after Istanbul, Rome, Barcelona, Madrid, Athens and Milan, with 1,740,000 tourists in 2009. The Lisbon region contributes with a higher GDP PPP per capita than any region in Portugal. Its GDP amounts to 96.3 billion USD and thus $32,434 per capita, the city occupies 32nd place of highest gross earnings in the world. Most of the headquarters of multinationals in the country are located in the Lisbon area and it is also the political centre of the country, as its seat of Government and residence of the Head of State. Lisbon is one of the oldest cities in the world, julius Caesar made it a municipium called Felicitas Julia, adding to the name Olissipo. Ruled by a series of Germanic tribes from the 5th century, in 1147, the Crusaders under Afonso Henriques reconquered the city and since then it has been a major political, economic and cultural centre of Portugal. Unlike most capital cities, Lisbons status as the capital of Portugal has never been granted or confirmed officially – by statute or in written form. Its position as the capital has formed through constitutional convention, making its position as de facto capital a part of the Constitution of Portugal. It has one of the warmest winters of any metropolis in Europe, the typical summer season lasts about four months, from June to September, although also in April temperatures sometimes reach around 25 °C. Although modern archaeological excavations show a Phoenician presence at this location since 1200 BC, another conjecture based on ancient hydronymy suggests that the name of the settlement derived from the pre-Roman appellation for the Tagus, Lisso or Lucio. Lisbons name was written Ulyssippo in Latin by the geographer Pomponius Mela and it was later referred to as Olisippo by Pliny the Elder and by the Greeks as Olissipo or Olissipona. The Indo-European Celts invaded in the 1st millennium BC, mixing with the Pre-Indo-European population and this indigenous settlement maintained commercial relations with the Phoenicians, which would account for the recent findings of Phoenician pottery and other material objects
6.
Expo 2008
–
Expo 2008 was an international exposition held from Saturday,14 June to Sunday,14 September 2008 in Zaragoza, Spain, with the theme of Water and Sustainable Development. The exposition was placed in a meander of the river Ebro and it was coordinated by the Bureau of International Expositions, the organization responsible for sanctioning Worlds Fairs. Zaragoza, host city for the International Exposition, is the administrative and financial capital of the community of Aragon. Zaragoza was elected the host city of Expo 2008 on 16 December 2004 by the BIE, beating Thessaloniki, the exposition site also hosted several events, including a daily parade by Cirque du Soleil called The Awakening of the Serpent. Aside from the countries, non-government organizations and private companies took part in Expo 2008, always with the idea of water, prior to the event, the Expo 2008 host committee estimated that the expo event could generate 135 million euros in receipts for admission to the exhibition centre. The Bridge Pavilion was one of the most emblematic buildings of Expo 2008, designed by Zaha Hadid, it was built in two levels with the shape of a gladiolus opening and closing. It joins the neighbourhood of La Almozara and the Expo site with an island in the river Ebro. The Water Tower was another building of Expo 2008 and its vertical icon. Designed by Enrique de Teresa, it is 76 metres high with 10,400 accessible square metres, on the top floor, there is a 720-square-metre panoramic bar with fantastic views over Zaragoza. Inside the tower there is a 23-metre-high sculpture called Splash, which represents a splash of water, the Splash sculpture, based on dynamic simulation systems, was designed by Mona Kim, Todd Palmer, Olga Subirós and Simon Taylor from Program Collective. The Water Tower hosted the exposition Water for life where audiovisual media and this thematic pavilion, which remained in operation after the expo, is the biggest freshwater aquarium in Europe, with 300 species of fauna from rivers around the world in 60 tanks or terrariums. Rivers represented are, The Nile, It contains species of the great African lakes and it also has crocodiles and an exhibition on the Mediterranean and the Red Sea. The Mekong, In this river visitors will find species of the Himalayas, gardens from the lower course. The Amazon river, It is divided three different areas. The first of them is the Amazon jungle with its trees and mangroves. The second area is about the Amazon forest while the area is the mangrove swamp with an exhibition on the Atlantic Ocean. The Murray-Darling river, This exhibition begins in the flooded regions and it finishes with a video exhibition about birds. The Ebro, It is also represented in two areas, the first area is a mountain cave and the second is the course of the river
7.
Zaragossa
–
Zaragoza, also called Saragossa in English, is the capital city of the Zaragoza province and of the autonomous community of Aragon, Spain. It lies by the Ebro river and its tributaries, the Huerva, on 1 September 2010 the population of the city of Zaragoza was 701,090, within its administrative limits on a land area of 1,062.64 square kilometres, ranking fifth in Spain. It is the 32nd most populous municipality in the European Union, the population of the metropolitan area was estimated in 2006 at 783,763 inhabitants. The municipality is home to more than 50 percent of the Aragonese population, the city lies at an elevation of 199 metres above sea level. Zaragoza hosted Expo 2008 in the summer of 2008, a fair on water. It was also a candidate for the European Capital of Culture in 2012, the city is famous for its folklore, local gastronomy, and landmarks such as the Basílica del Pilar, La Seo Cathedral and the Aljafería Palace. Together with La Seo and the Aljafería, several other buildings part of the Mudéjar Architecture of Aragon which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The Fiestas del Pilar are among the most celebrated festivals in Spain, the city was called by the ancient Romans Caesaraugusta, from which the present name derives. The Iberian town that predated the Roman city was called Salduie, see also, Caesar Augusta The Sedetani, a tribe of ancient Iberians, populated a village called Salduie. Later on, Augustus founded a city called Caesaraugusta at the location to settle army veterans from the Cantabrian wars. The foundation date of Caesaraugusta has not been set with exact precision, the city did not suffer any decline during the last centuries of the Roman empire and was captured peacefully by the Goths in the fifth century AD. From 1018 to 1118, Zaragoza was one of the taifa kingdoms, during the first three decades of this period, 1018–1038, the city was ruled by the Banu Tujibi. After the death of El Cid his kingdom was overrun by the Almoravids, who, by 1100, had managed to cross the Ebro into Barbastro, the Banu Hud stubbornly resisted the Almoravids and ruled until they were eventually defeated by them in May 1110. On 18 December 1118, the Aragonese led by Alfonso I conquered the city from the Almoravids, after Alfonsos death without heirs in 1134, Zaragoza was swiftly occupied by Alfonso VII of León and Castile. The wedding never happened, as Petronila ended up marrying Ramon Berenguer IV, the marriage union was the origin of the Crown of Aragón. While the reality of the existence of Saint Dominguito del Val is questioned, despite a decline in the outlying rural economy, Zaragoza has continued to grow. The General Military Academy, a training center of the Spanish Army, was re-established on September 27,1940 by Minister of the Army José Enrique Varela Iglesias. During the second half of the 20th century, Zaragozas population boomed as a number of factories opened in the region, in 1979, the Hotel Corona de Aragón fire killed at least 80
8.
Expo 2000
–
Expo 2000 was a Worlds Fair held in Hanover, Germany from Thursday, June 1 to Tuesday, October 31,2000. It was located on the Hanover fairground, which is the largest exhibition ground in the world, the fairs masterplan was designed in a joint venture with Studio dArnaboldi / Cavadini, Locarno and AS&P. On June 14,1990, the worlds fair organization B. I. E. awarded Expo 2000 to Hannover. In 1992, the architects Studio Arnaboldi/Cavadini of Locarno won a design competition for the masterplan of the exhibition grounds. On June 12 of that year, a survey conducted by the city council was made public showing only 51. 5% of area residents supported hosting the expo. On May 5,1994, a new company was created by the government in Bonn, headed by chairman Helmut Werner, the company was responsible for the construction and management of the fair. In 1995, the board agreed on the concept for the thematics of the fair. Construction finally began on April 22,1996, unlike previous expos, which focused on present advances in science and technology, EXPO2000 focused more on developing and presenting solutions for the future. The fair opened to the public on Thursday, June 1,2000 and ran five months, ending on Tuesday, October 31. The Expo site was situated on the original 1,000,000 square meters of the Hanover fairground, some ten large McDonalds restaurants were also built, along with restaurants representing several of the exhibitor countries. Small retail locations were set up to supply Expo merchandise. The United States reversed its decision to part at a relatively late stage. 40,000,000 visitors were expected at Expo 2000 and this led to a financial deficit of about $600,000,000. With pre-ordered tickets priced at 69 DM, the fair seemed expensive compared to other days out, commentator Georg Giersberg wrote in the Frankfurter Allgemeine that entrance fees for Germanys 53 main theme parks cost on average less than half the price of the Expo. Other financial shortfalls came from a lack of sponsorship, since it cost US$4.8 million to be an official product supplier or US$14.5 million to become a world partner. Part of the failure of the Expo was a lack of perception of what to expect at Expo 2000. The German band Kraftwerk created a vocoded speech signature theme, Expo 2000, later, a remix single Expo Remix was released. The band was also paid US$190,000 for a five-second jingle, the western slope of Kronsberg emerged in the late 1990s in conjunction with the EXPO2000, established an environmental point of settlement at the Hannover Expo
9.
Hanover
–
At the end of the Napoleonic Wars, the Electorate was enlarged to become a Kingdom with Hanover as its capital. From 1868 to 1946 Hanover was the capital of the Prussian Province of Hanover and it is now the capital of the Land of Lower Saxony. Since 2001 it has been part of the Hanover district, which is a body made up from the former district. With a population of 518,000, Hanover is a centre of Northern Germany. Hanover also hosts annual commercial trade fairs such as the Hanover Fair, every year Hanover hosts the Schützenfest Hannover, the worlds largest marksmens festival, and the Oktoberfest Hannover, the second largest such festival in Germany. In 2000, Hanover hosted the world fair Expo 2000, the Hanover fairground, due to numerous extensions, especially for the Expo 2000, is the largest in the world. Hanover is of importance because of its universities and medical school, its international airport. The city is also a crossing point of railway lines and highways. Hanover is the traditional English spelling, the German spelling is becoming more popular in English, recent editions of encyclopaedias prefer the German spelling, and the local government uses the German spelling on English websites. The traditional English spelling is used in historical contexts, especially when referring to the British House of Hanover. Hanover was founded in times on the east bank of the River Leine. Its original name Honovere may mean high bank, though this is debated, Hanover was a small village of ferrymen and fishermen that became a comparatively large town in the 13th century due to its position at a natural crossroads. As overland travel was difficult, its position on the upper navigable reaches of the river helped it to grow by increasing trade. In the 14th century the churches of Hanover were built. The beginning of industrialization in Germany led to trade in iron and silver from the northern Harz Mountains, in 1636 George, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg, ruler of the Brunswick-Lüneburg principality of Calenberg, moved his residence to Hanover. The Dukes of Brunswick-Lüneburg were elevated by the Holy Roman Emperor to the rank of Prince-Elector in 1692, thus the principality was upgraded to the Electorate of Brunswick-Lüneburg, colloquially known as the Electorate of Hanover after Calenbergs capital. Its electors would later become monarchs of Great Britain, the first of these was George I Louis, who acceded to the British throne in 1714. The last British monarch who ruled in Hanover was William IV, semi-Salic law, which required succession by the male line if possible, forbade the accession of Queen Victoria in Hanover
10.
Expo 2010
–
Expo 2010, officially the Expo 2010 Shanghai China, was held on both banks of the Huangpu River in Shanghai, China, from 1 May to 31 October 2010. It was a major World Expo registered by the Bureau International des Expositions (BIE, in the tradition of international fairs and expositions, the theme of the exposition was Better City – Better Life and signifies Shanghais new status in the 21st century as the next great world city. The Expo emblem features the Chinese character 世 modified to represent three people together with the 2010 date and it had the largest number of countries participating and was the most expensive Expo in the history of the worlds fairs. The Shanghai World Expo was also the largest Worlds Fair site ever at 5.28 square km, by the end of the expo, over 73 million people had visited – a record attendance – and 246 countries and international organizations had participated. On 16 October 2010, the set a single-day record of over 1.03 million visitors. Shanghai has been one of the main cities envisioned to host the expos for some time, many scholars have written about the possibility and made suggestions in books. Unofficial participation in fairs outside China have happened since 1851, in 1910, the Qing dynasty decided to host Chinas first fair with the 1910 Nanyang industrial exposition. Yeosu later won the bid to host Expo 2012, a three-month specialized world expo, in 2004, the Chinese central government established the Shanghai World Expo Organising Committee as the organization dedicated to host the event. The Organising Committee set up an Executive Committee which is responsible for the execution, besides, the Shanghai World Expo Coordination is founded for the daily affairs of the Executive Committee. The site of the event was the Nanpu Bridge–Lupu Bridge region in the center of Shanghai along both sides of the Huangpu River, the area of the Expo 2010 covers 5.28 km2. After winning the bid to host the Expo in 2002, Shanghai began a task to reshape the city. More than $48 billion was spent for the preparation, more than the cost of cleaning up Beijing in the preparations for the Olympics in 2008. Shanghai began clearing 2.6 square kilometres along the Huangpu River, that involved moving 18,000 families and 270 factories, including the Jiang Nan Shipyard, which employs 10,000 workers. During the expo, the site was crowded with national pavilions, sculpture gardens, shops. Shanghai trained more than 1.7 million volunteers and adopted Olympic-level security measures, adding metal detectors to subway entrances and screening cars entering the city. The Shanghai Expo also featured a version of the expo grounds featuring 3D renderings of the expo grounds. The Shanghai World Expo provided an opportunity for the tourism industry. During 2010’s Spring Festival, Shanghai received 2.79 million tourists, overall Shanghai’s tourism revenue achieved an increase of 13 percent year on year during Spring Festival, resulting in RMB2.1 billion in total revenue
Expo 2005 travel guide from Wikivoyage