1.
Taiwan
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Taiwan, officially the Republic of China, is a state in East Asia. Neighbours include China to the west, Japan to the northeast, Taiwan is the most populous state that is not a member of the United Nations, and the one with the largest economy. The island of Taiwan, also known as Formosa, was inhabited by Taiwanese aborigines before the 17th century. After a brief rule by the Kingdom of Tungning, the island was annexed by the Qing dynasty, the Qing ceded Taiwan to Japan in 1895 after the Sino-Japanese War. While Taiwan was under Japanese rule, the Republic of China was established on the mainland in 1912 after the fall of the Qing dynasty, following the Japanese surrender to the Allies in 1945, the ROC took control of Taiwan. However, the resumption of the Chinese Civil War led to the ROCs loss of the mainland to the Communists, and the flight of the ROC government to Taiwan in 1949. As a founding member of the United Nations, the ROC continued to represent China at the United Nations until 1971, in the early 1960s, Taiwan entered a period of rapid economic growth and industrialization, creating a stable industrial economy. In the 1980s and early 1990s, it changed from a one-party military dictatorship dominated by the Kuomintang to a multi-party democracy with universal suffrage, Taiwan is the 22nd-largest economy in the world, and its high-tech industry plays a key role in the global economy. It is ranked highly in terms of freedom of the press, health care, public education, economic freedom, the PRC has consistently claimed sovereignty over Taiwan and asserted the ROC is no longer in legitimate existence. Under its One-China Policy the PRC refused diplomatic relations with any country that recognizes the ROC, the PRC has threatened the use of military force in response to any formal declaration of independence by Taiwan or if PRC leaders decide that peaceful unification is no longer possible. There are various names for the island of Taiwan in use today, the former name Formosa dates from 1542, when Portuguese sailors sighted the main island of Taiwan and named it Ilha Formosa, which means beautiful island. The name Formosa eventually replaced all others in European literature and was in use in English in the early 20th century. This name was adopted into the Chinese vernacular as the name of the sandbar. The modern word Taiwan is derived from this usage, which is seen in forms in Chinese historical records. Use of the current Chinese name was formalized as early as 1684 with the establishment of Taiwan Prefecture, through its rapid development, the entire Formosan mainland eventually became known as Taiwan. The official name of the state is the Republic of China and it was a member of the United Nations representing China until 1971, when it lost its seat to the Peoples Republic of China. Over subsequent decades, the Republic of China has become known as Taiwan. In some contexts, especially ones from the ROC government
2.
Taiwanese aborigines
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Taiwanese aborigines is the term commonly applied to the indigenous peoples of Taiwan, who number more than 530,000 and constitute nearly 2. 3% of the islands population. Recent research suggests their ancestors may have been living on Taiwan for approximately 8,000 years in isolation before a major Han immigration began in the 17th century. The issue of an ethnic identity unconnected to the Asian mainland has become one thread in the discourse regarding the status of Taiwan. For centuries, Taiwans aboriginal inhabitants experienced economic competition and military conflict with a series of colonizing newcomers, for example, of the approximately 26 known languages of the Taiwanese aborigines, at least ten are now extinct, five are moribund, and several are to some degree endangered. These languages are of historical significance, since most historical linguists consider Taiwan to be the original homeland of the Austronesian language family. Taiwans Austronesian speakers were distributed over much of the islands rugged central mountain range and were concentrated in villages along the alluvial plains. The bulk of contemporary Taiwanese aborigines now live in the mountains, the indigenous peoples of Taiwan face economic and social barriers, including a high unemployment rate and substandard education. Since the early 1980s, many groups have been actively seeking a higher degree of political self-determination. The revival of pride is expressed in many ways by aborigines. Efforts are under way in indigenous communities to revive traditional cultural practices, the Austronesian Cultural Festival in Taitung City is one means by which tribe members promote aboriginal culture. For most of their history, Taiwanese aborigines have been defined by the agents of different Confucian, Christian. Taxonomies imposed by colonizing forces divided the aborigines into named subgroups and these divisions did not always correspond to distinctions drawn by the aborigines themselves. This designation reflected the idea that anyone could be civilized/tamed by adopting Confucian social norms. During Japanese rule, anthropologists from Japan maintained the binary classification, the Musha incident of 1930 led to many changes in aboriginal policy, and the Japanese government began referring to them as Takasago-zoku. The latter group included the Atayal, Bunun, Tsou, Saisiat, Paiwan, Puyuma, the Yami and Rukai were added later, for a total of nine recognized tribes. The KMT later adopted the use of all the earlier Japanese groupings except Peipo, the current recognized aborigines are all regarded as Gaoshan, though the divisions are not and have never been based strictly on geographical location. The Amis, Saisiat, Tao and Kavalan are all traditionally Eastern Plains cultures, the distinction between Pingpu and Gaoshan people continues to affect Taiwans policies regarding indigenous peoples, and their ability to participate effectively in government. The earliest detailed records, dating from the Dutch arrival in 1624, between these villages there was frequent trade, intermarriage, warfare and alliances against common enemies
3.
Amusement park
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An amusement park or theme park is a group of entertainment attractions, rides, and other events in a location for the enjoyment of large numbers of people. Theme parks, a type of amusement park, are usually much more intricately themed to a certain subject or group of subjects than normal amusement parks. Amusement parks evolved from European fairs and pleasure gardens, which were created for peoples recreation, Worlds fairs and expositions were another influence on the development of the amusement park industry. In common language, the theme park and amusement park are often synonymous. However, a park can be regarded as a distinct style of amusement park. A theme park has landscaping, buildings, and attractions that are based on one or more specific themes or stories. The amusement park evolved from three earlier traditions, the oldest being the periodic fair of the Middle Ages - one of the earliest was the Bartholomew Fair in England, the worlds oldest amusement park appeared in the Continent. Bakken at Klampenborg, north of Copenhagen, Denmark, opened in 1583, a wave of innovation in the 1860s and 1870s created mechanical rides, such as the steam-powered carousel, and its derivatives. This inaugurated the era of the modern funfair ride, as the classes were increasingly able to spend their surplus wages on entertainment. The second influence was the pleasure garden, one of the earliest gardens was the Vauxhall Gardens, founded in 1661 in London. By the late 18th century, the site had a fee for its many attractions. It regularly drew crowds, with its paths being noted for romantic assignations, tightrope walkers, hot air balloon ascents, concerts. Although the gardens were designed for the elites, they soon became places of great social diversity. Public firework displays were put on at Marylebone Gardens, and Cremorne Gardens offered music, dancing, prater in Vienna, Austria, was opened in 1766. The concept of a park for amusement was further developed with the beginning of the worlds fairs. The first World fair began in 1851 with the construction of the landmark Crystal Palace in London, the purpose of the exposition was to celebrate the industrial achievement of the nations of the world and it was designed to educate and entertain the visitors. American cities and business saw the worlds fair as a way of demonstrating economic. The Worlds Columbian Exposition of 1893 in Chicago, Illinois was an precursor to the modern amusement park
4.
Bell tower
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A bell tower is a tower that contains one or more bells, or that is designed to hold bells even if it has none. Church bell towers often incorporate clocks, and secular towers usually do, the Italian term campanile, deriving from the word campana meaning bell, is synonymous with bell tower, though in English usage Campanile tends to be used to refer to a free standing bell tower. A bell tower may also in some traditions be called a belfry, though this term may refer specifically to the substructure that houses the bells. The tallest free-standing bell tower in the world, approximately 110 m high, is the Joseph Chamberlain Memorial Clock Tower, located at the University of Birmingham, bells are rung from a tower to enable them to be heard at a distance. Church bells can signify the time for worshippers to go to church for a communal service and they are also rung on special occasions such as a wedding, or a funeral service. In some religious traditions they are used within the liturgy of the service to signify to people that a particular part of the service has been reached. A bell tower may have a bell, or a collection of bells which are tuned to a common scale. They may be stationary and chimed, rung randomly by swinging through a small arc and they may house a carillon or chimes, in which the bells are sounded by hammers connected via cables to a keyboard. These can be found in churches and secular buildings in Europe and America including college. A variety of electronic devices exist to simulate the sound of bells, some churches have an exconjuratory in the bell tower, a space where ceremonies were conducted to ward off weather-related calamities, like storms and excessive rain. The main bell tower of the Cathedral of Murcia has four, in addition, most Christian denominations ring church bells to call the faithful to worship, signalling the start of a mass or service of worship. The Christian tradition of the ringing of bells from a belltower is analogous to Islamic tradition of the adhan from a minaret. In AD400, Paulinus of Nola introduced church bells into the Christian Church, by the 11th century, bells housed in belltowers became commonplace. Historic bell towers exist throughout Europe, the Irish round towers are thought to have functioned in part as bell towers. Famous medieval European examples include Bruges, Ypres, Ghent, perhaps the most famous European free-standing bell tower, however, is the so-called Leaning Tower of Pisa, which is the campanile of the Duomo di Pisa in Pisa, Italy. In 1999 thirty-two Belgian belfries were added to the UNESCOs list of World Heritage Sites, in 2005 this list was extended with one Belgian and twenty-three Northern French belfries and is since known as Belfries of Belgium and France. In the Middle Ages, cities sometimes kept their important documents in belfries, not all are on a large scale, the bell tower of Katúň, in Slovakia, is typical of the many more modest structures that were once common in country areas. Archaic wooden bell towers survive adjoining churches in Lithuania and as well as in parts of Poland
5.
Blueprint
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A blueprint is a reproduction of a technical drawing, documenting an architecture or an engineering design, using a contact print process on light-sensitive sheets. Introduced in the 19th century, the process allowed rapid and accurate reproduction of documents used in construction, the blue-print process was characterized by light-colored lines on a blue background, a negative of the original. The process was unable to color or shades of grey. Various base materials have been used for blueprints, paper was a common choice, for more durable prints linen was sometimes used, but with time, the linen prints would shrink slightly. To combat this problem, printing on imitation vellum and, later, polyester film was implemented, the process has been largely displaced by the diazo whiteprint process and by large-format xerographic photocopiers, so reproduced drawings are usually called prints or just drawings. The term blueprint is also used formally to refer to any floor plan. In 1861, Alphonse Louis Poitevin, a French chemist, found that ferro-gallate in gum is light sensitive, light turns this to an insoluble permanent blue. A coating of this chemical on a paper or other base may be used to reproduce an image from a translucent document, the ferro-gallate is coated onto a paper from aqueous solution and dried. In darkness, it is stable for up to three days and it is clamped under glass and a light transmitting document in a daylight exposure frame which is similar to a picture frame. The frame is put out into daylight requiring a minute or two under a sun or about ten times this under an overcast sky. Where ultra-violet light is transmitted the coating converts to a blue or black dye. The image can be seen forming, when a strong image is seen the frame is brought indoors and the unconverted coating, under the original image, is washed away. The result is a copy of the image with the clear background area rendered dark blue. The contact printing process has the advantage that no optical system is required. A further advantage is that the document will have the same scale as the original. Since the paper is soaked in liquid during processing, a change of scale can occur. Engineering drawings often are marked to remind users not to rely on the scale of reproductions, other blueprint processes based on photosensitive ferric compounds have been used. The best known is probably a process using ammonium ferric citrate, in this procedure, a distinctly blue compound is formed and the process is also known as cyanotype
6.
Living history
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Living history is an activity that incorporates historical tools, activities and dress into an interactive presentation that seeks to give observers and participants a sense of stepping back in time. Although it does not necessarily seek to reenact a specific event in history, living history is similar to, Living history approach to gain authenticity is less about replaying a certain event according to a planned script as in other reenactment fields. List, himself a right wing neopagan, asked his staff of landlords and he also asked to have any visitors redressed in costumes and described rituals to signify in-game and out-game status to enhance the immersion experience. E. g. the role of the garment is of interest till today, the term living history describes the performance of bringing history to life for the general public in a rather freewheeling manner. The players are confined in their actions, but often have to stay at a certain place or building. The line between amateur and professional presentations at living history museums can be blurred, same as the border to Live action role-playing games. Such events do not necessarily include a battle but aim at portraying the life. This often includes both military and civilian impressions, occasionally, storytelling or acting sketches take place to involve or explain the everyday life or military activity to the viewing public. More common are craft and cooking demonstrations, song and leisure activities, combat training or duels can also be encountered even when larger combat demonstrations are not present. In the United States, The National Park Service land, NPS policy does not allow for battle reenactments on NPS property, there are exceptions i. e. Saylors Creek, Gettysburg. So e. g. the Peter and Paul festival in Bretten, the Landshut Wedding or the Schloss Kaltenberg knights tournament. The majority of combat reenactment groups are battlefield reenactment groups, some of which have become isolated to some degree because of a focus on authenticity. Events with the professional reenactment-group Ulfhednar lead to a controversy in German archaeology, the German Polish living history group was supported by large museums and scholars and, since 2000 has largely coined the image of early history in Germany and international. Among others, a paper with the programmatic title Under the crocheted Swastika, Germanic Living History and that sort of second hand living history is as well part of western Germany folklore and tries for a high level of authenticity. Activities may be confined to wearing period dress and perhaps explaining relevant historical information, while many museums allow their staff to move in and out of character to better answer visitor questions, some encourage their staff to stay in role at all times. Living history portrayal often involves demonstrating everyday activities such as cooking, cleaning, medical care, or particular skills, considerable research is often applied to identifying authentic techniques and often recreating replica tools and equipment. Historical reenactment groups often attempt to organize such displays in an encampment or display area at an event, during the 1990s, reenactment groups, primarily American Civil War groups, began to show interest in this style of interpretation and began using it at their reenactments. Living history can be a used to bridge the gap between school and daily life to educate people on historical topics
7.
Suspended roller coaster
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A suspended roller coaster is a type of steel roller coaster in which the car hangs from the bottom of the rolling stock by a pivoting fulcrum or hinge assembly. This allows the car and riders to swing side to side as the races along the track. Due to the designs, these roller coasters cannot invert riders. One of the earliest suspended roller coasters was known as Bisbys Spiral Airship, built in Long Beach, riders on Bisbys Spiral Airship rode in square gondolas suspended from the track above, which were then carried via lift hill to the top of a tower. The gondolas then rolled down the track, which spiraled down the back to the loading platform. The attraction operated at least until the mid 1910s, in 1975, German aircraft manufacturer Messerschmidt debuted Alpenflug at the annual Oktoberfest fair in Munich, Germany. Featuring multi-car trains and a 2700-foot twisting, spiraling layout, Alpenflug was a hit during the 16-day fair, the first permanent modern suspended roller coaster was The Bat at Kings Island. Built by Arrow Development, The Bat opened April 21,1981, the problems included, excessive stress on the support springs due to the unbanked curved track sections and stress on the wheels because the brakes were mounted at bottom of the swinging cars. Kings Islands USD $3.8 million ride closed in 1983 and was scheduled for demolition. The Bats former site is now occupied by the Arrow designed looping coaster Vortex, Arrow-Huss refined its suspended roller coaster designs, culminating in the debut of The Big Bad Wolf at Busch Gardens Williamsburg and XLR-8 at Six Flags Astroworld in 1984. Other manufacturers have also constructed their variations on the roller coaster. Before contacting Arrow-Huss for The Big Bad Wolf, Busch Gardens contacted Anton Schwarzkopf to design a suspended coaster, however, Schwarzkopf went bankrupt, completing only a model and the footers of the actual coaster. Dutch designer Vekoma manufactured a model dubbed Swinging Turns, of which three copies were constructed. Vekoma offers both Arrow-style traditional car designs as well as floorless cars where the riders feet dangle, similar to Vekomas inverted coasters, in 2001, Vampire at Chessington World of Adventures was modified to use Vekomas floorless trains. Caripro, another based in The Netherlands, manufactured twelve suspended roller coasters
8.
Log flume (ride)
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Log flumes are amusement rides consisting of a water flume and artificial hollow logs or boats. Passengers sit in the logs, which are propelled along the flume by the flow of water, the ride usually culminates with a rapid descent and splashdown into a body of water, which may happen more than once. It provides people with a way to get wet and cool off on a hot summer day, with certain seating sections usually being splashed with more water for a more exciting. Most log flume rides have a height restriction, Log flumes are a variant of the chute rides and old mill rides that were popular in the United States in the early 20th century. Shoot the Chute rides continue to be built today, both of these types of rides took rather simple approaches to handling water flow. It was not until Karl Bacon of Arrow Development got involved and studied hydrodynamics that the use of flow in an amusement ride was fully exploited. The first modern day log flume amusement ride constructed by Arrow was El Aserradero at Six Flags Over Texas in Arlington, Texas, the Mill Race, Arrow Log Flume number two, opened just a few weeks later at Cedar Point. Log flumes proved to be popular and quickly became staples at amusement. The ride was so popular that some parks started adding second flume rides to help reduce the long lines, Cedar Point added Shoot the Rapids in 1967, and Six Flags Over Texas and Six Flags Over Georgia both added second flumes in 1968. When Six Flags Over Mid America opened in 1971, it featured twin flumes, in the 1960s and early 1970s Arrow had a monopoly on the log flume business, producing over 50 flumes by 1979. In 1976, the French company Reverchon Industries started building flumes, other manufacturers eventually followed with Intamin building its first log flume in 1986 and Mack Rides in 1987. Log flumes are generally out in the open, though some may contain enclosed or tunneled sections, the flume is usually made of fiberglass, concrete or galvanized steel. In a typical course, the boatful of riders floats through a section of channel upon leaving the station. A second lifthill then culminates with a drop and a splashdown finale. The amount of splash can be controlled by using rubber belting of differing widths, to increase the chance of being soaked, the flume can be designed to be turbulent, or to run underneath waterfalls. Water cannons aimed along the path are sometimes installed alongside the flume, additionally, the exit path from the ride may cross over or go near to the flume, such that departing riders are drenched by the boat currently en route. One of the first elaborately-themed flumes was Timber Mountain Log Ride at Knotts Berry Farm, originally built as a concession run by Hurlbut Amusement Company, most of the ride is inside a manmade mountain. Bud Hurlbut and his right-hand man Harry Suker did all of the theming for the ride, upon his retirement, Hurlbut sold the ride to Knotts Berry Farm where it is still in operation
9.
Gondola lift
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A gondola lift, as opposed to a cable car, is a means of cable transport and type of aerial lift which is supported and propelled by cables from above. It consists of a loop of cable that is strung between two stations, sometimes over intermediate supporting towers. The cable is driven by a bullwheel in a terminal, which is connected to an engine or electric motor. They are often considered continuous systems since they feature a haul rope which moves and circulates around two terminal stations. Depending on the combination of cables used for support and/or haulage and the type of grip, the capacity, cost, because of the proliferation of such systems in the Alpine regions of Europe, the French language name of Télécabine is also used in an English language context. Gondola lifts should not be confused with cable cars or the US aerial tramways as the latter solely operates with fixed grips and simply shuttles back and forth between two end terminals. In some systems the passenger cabins, which can hold between two and 8 people, are connected to the cable by means of spring-loaded grips. These grips allow the cabin to be detached from the cable and slowed down in the terminals, to allow passengers to board. Doors are almost always automatic and controlled by a lever on the roof or on the undercarriage that is pushed up or down, cabins are driven through the terminals either by rotating tires, or by a chain system. To be accelerated to and decelerated from line speed, cabins are driven along by progressively swifter rotating tires until they reach line or terminal speed, on older installations, gondolas are accelerated manually by an operator. Gondola lifts can have intermediate stops that allow for uploading and downloading on the lift, examples of a lift with three stops instead of the standard two are the Village Gondola and the Excalibur Gondolas at Whistler Blackcomb. In 1986, Doppelmayr built the worlds first eight-passenger gondola at Steamboat Ski Resort, such a system is called Pulse Cabin because usually more than one cabin are loaded at a time before the trip begins. Another type of lift is the bi-cable gondola, which has one other stationary cable, besides the main haul rope. One of the famous examples of this type of lift include the Ngong Ping Cable Car in Hong Kong, the Singapore Cable Car. This system has the advantage that the stationary cables strength and properties can be tailored to each span, there are also tri-cable gondolas that have two stationary cables that support the cabins. They differ from cable cars in that the latter consist only of one or two usually larger cabins, moving up and down, not circulating, bi and tri cable systems provide greater lateral stability allowing the system to operate in higher cross-winds. Open-air gondolas, or cabriolet as commonly called, are uncommon and are quite primitive because they are exposed to the elements. Their cabins are usually hollow cylinder, open from chest height up, with a floor and they are usually used as village gondolas and for short distances
10.
Disneyland
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Disneyland Park, originally Disneyland, is the first of two theme parks built at the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, California, opened on July 17,1955. It is the theme park designed and built under the direct supervision of Walt Disney. It was originally the attraction on the property, its name was changed to Disneyland Park to distinguish it from the expanding complex in the 1990s. Walt Disney came up with the concept of Disneyland after visiting various amusement parks with his daughters in the 1930s and 1940s. He initially envisioned building a tourist attraction adjacent to his studios in Burbank to entertain fans who wished to visit, however, after hiring a consultant to help him determine an appropriate site for his project, Disney bought a 160-acre site near Anaheim in 1953. Construction began in 1954 and the park was unveiled during a televised press event on the ABC Television Network on July 17,1955. Opened in 2001, Disney California Adventure Park was built on the site of Disneylands original parking lot, Disneyland has a larger cumulative attendance than any other theme park in the world, with over 650 million guests since it opened. In 2013, the park hosted approximately 16.2 million guests, according to a March 2005 Disney report,65,700 jobs are supported by the Disneyland Resort, including about 20,000 direct Disney employees and 3,800 third-party employees. To all who come to this place, Welcome. Here age relives fond memories of the past, and here youth may savor the challenge and promise of the future. Disneyland is dedicated to the ideals, the dreams, and the facts that have created America, with the hope that it will be a source of joy. The concept for Disneyland began when Walt Disney was visiting Griffith Park in Los Angeles with his daughters Diane and Sharon. While watching them ride the merry-go-round, he came up with the idea of a place where adults and their children could go and have fun together and he may have also been influenced by his fathers memories of the Worlds Columbian Exposition of 1893 in Chicago. Another likely influence was Benton Harbor, Michigans nationally famous House of Davids Eden Springs Park, Disney visited the park and ultimately bought one of the older miniature trains originally used there, the colony had the largest miniature railway setup in the world at the time. His ideas evolved to a play park with a boat ride. The initial concept, the Mickey Mouse Park, started with an 8-acre plot across Riverside Drive and his designers began working on concepts, though the project grew much larger than the land could hold. Disney hired Harrison Price from Stanford Research Institute to gauge the proper area to locate the theme based on the areas potential growth. Based on Prices analysis, Disney acquired 160 acres of groves and walnut trees in Anaheim
11.
Cherry blossom
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A cherry blossom is the flower of any of several trees of genus Prunus, particularly the Japanese cherry, Prunus serrulata, which is called sakura after the Japanese. Currently it is distributed, especially in the temperate zone of the Northern Hemisphere including Japan, China, Korea, Europe, West Siberia, India, Canada. Along with the chrysanthemum, the blossom is considered the national flower of Japan. Many of the varieties that have cultivated for ornamental use do not produce fruit. Edible cherries generally come from cultivars of the related species Prunus avium, Cherry blossom are also closely related to other Prunus trees such as the almond, peach, plum and apricot and more distantly to apples, pears and roses. Hanami is the practice of picnicking under a blooming sakura or ume tree. The custom is said to have started during the Nara Period when it was ume blossoms that people admired in the beginning, but by the Heian Period, cherry blossoms came to attract more attention and hanami was synonymous with sakura. From then on, in both waka and haiku, flowers meant cherry blossoms, the custom was originally limited to the elite of the Imperial Court, but soon spread to samurai society and, by the Edo period, to the common people as well. Tokugawa Yoshimune planted areas of cherry trees to encourage this. Under the sakura trees, people had lunch and drank sake in cheerful feasts, the blossoming begins in Okinawa in January and typically reaches Kyoto and Tokyo at the end of March or the beginning of April. It proceeds into areas at the altitudes and northward, arriving in Hokkaidō a few weeks later. Japanese pay close attention to these forecasts and turn out in numbers at parks, shrines. Hanami festivals celebrate the beauty of the blossom and for many are a chance to relax. The custom of hanami dates back centuries in Japan. The eighth-century chronicle Nihon Shoki records hanami festivals being held as early as the third century AD, most Japanese schools and public buildings have cherry blossom trees outside of them. Since the fiscal and school year both begin in April, in parts of Honshū, the first day of work or school coincides with the cherry blossom season. The Japan Cherry Blossom Association developed a list of Japans Top 100 Cherry Blossom Spots with at least one location in every prefecture, the association of the cherry blossom with mono no aware dates back to 18th-century scholar Motoori Norinaga. There is at least one popular song, originally meant for the shakuhachi, titled Sakura
12.
Facebook
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Facebook is an American for-profit corporation and an online social media and social networking service based in Menlo Park, California. Facebook gradually added support for students at other universities. Since 2006, anyone age 13 and older has been allowed to become a user of Facebook, though variations exist in the minimum age requirement. The Facebook name comes from the face book directories often given to United States university students, Facebook may be accessed by a large range of desktops, laptops, tablet computers, and smartphones over the Internet and mobile networks. After registering to use the site, users can create a user profile indicating their name, occupation, schools attended and so on. Additionally, users may join common-interest user groups organized by workplace, school, hobbies or other topics, in groups, editors can pin posts to top. Additionally, users can complain about or block unpleasant people, because of the large volume of data that users submit to the service, Facebook has come under scrutiny for its privacy policies. Facebook makes most of its revenue from advertisements which appear onscreen, Facebook, Inc. held its initial public offering in February 2012, and began selling stock to the public three months later, reaching an original peak market capitalization of $104 billion. On July 13,2015, Facebook became the fastest company in the Standard & Poors 500 Index to reach a market cap of $250 billion, Facebook has more than 1.86 billion monthly active users as of December 31,2016. As of April 2016, Facebook was the most popular social networking site in the world, Facebook classifies users from the ages of 13 to 18 as minors and therefore sets their profiles to share content with friends only. Zuckerberg wrote a program called Facemash on October 28,2003 while attending Harvard University as a sophomore, to accomplish this, Zuckerberg hacked into protected areas of Harvards computer network and copied private dormitory ID images. Facemash attracted 450 visitors and 22,000 photo-views in its first four hours online, the site was quickly forwarded to several campus group list-servers, but was shut down a few days later by the Harvard administration. Zuckerberg faced expulsion and was charged by the administration with breach of security, violating copyrights, Zuckerberg expanded on this initial project that semester by creating a social study tool ahead of an art history final exam. He uploaded 500 Augustan images to a website, each of which was featured with a corresponding comments section and he shared the site with his classmates, and people started sharing notes. The following semester, Zuckerberg began writing code for a new website in January 2004 and he said that he was inspired by an editorial about the Facemash incident in The Harvard Crimson. On February 4,2004, Zuckerberg launched Thefacebook, originally located at thefacebook. com. com and they claimed that he was instead using their ideas to build a competing product. The three complained to The Harvard Crimson and the newspaper began an investigation and they later filed a lawsuit against Zuckerberg, subsequently settling in 2008 for 1.2 million shares. Membership was initially restricted to students of Harvard College, within the first month, eduardo Saverin, Dustin Moskovitz, Andrew McCollum, and Chris Hughes joined Zuckerberg to help promote the website
