Fukuoka is the capital city of Fukuoka Prefecture, situated on the northern shore of the Japanese island of Kyushu. It is the most populous city on the island, followed by Kitakyushu, it is the largest city and metropolitan area west of Keihanshin. The city was designated on April 1972, by government ordinance. Greater Fukuoka, with a population of 2.5 million people, is part of the industrialized Fukuoka–Kitakyushu zone. As of 2015, Fukuoka is Japan's sixth largest city. In July 2011, Fukuoka surpassed the population of Kyoto. Since the founding of Kyoto in 794, this marks the first time that a city west of the Kinki region has a larger population than Kyoto. In ancient times, the area near Fukuoka, the Chikushi region, was thought by some historians to have been more influential than the Yamato region. Exchanges from the continent and the Northern Kyushu area date as far back as Old Stone Age, it has been thought. Several Kofun exist. Fukuoka was sometimes called the Port of Dazaifu, 15 km southeast from Fukuoka.

Dazaifu was an administrative capital in 663 A. D. but a historian proposed. Ancient texts, such as the Kojiki and archaeology confirm this was a critical place in the founding of Japan; some scholars claim that it was the first place outsiders and the Imperial Family set foot, but like many early Japan origin theories, it remains contested. Central Fukuoka is sometimes still referred as Hakata, the name of the central ward. In 923, the Hakozaki-gū in Fukuoka was transferred from Daibu-gū in Daibu, 16 km northeast from Dazaifu, the origin of Usa Shrine and established as a branch of the Usa Shrine at Fukuoka. In Ooho, 15 km south from Dazaifu, there are remains of a big ward office with a temple, because in ancient East Asia, an emperor must have three great ministries. In fact, there is a record in Chinese literature that a king of Japan sent a letter in 478 to ask the Chinese emperor's approval for employing three ministries. In addition, remains of the Korokan were found in Fukuoka underneath a part of the ruins of Fukuoka Castle.

Kublai Khan of the Mongol Empire turned his attention towards Japan starting in 1268, exerting a new external pressure on Japan with which it had no experience. Kublai Khan first sent an envoy to Japan to make the Shogunate acknowledge Khan's suzerainty; the Kamakura shogunate refused. Mongolia sent envoys thereafter, each time urging the Shogunate to accept their proposal, but to no avail. In 1274, Kublai Khan mounted an invasion of the northern part of Kyushu with a fleet of 900 ships and 33,000 troops, including troops from Goryeo on the Korean Peninsula; this initial invasion was compromised by a combination of incompetence and severe storms. After the invasion attempt of 1274, Japanese samurai built a stone barrier 20 km in length bordering the coast of Hakata Bay in what is now the city of Fukuoka; the wall, 2–3 metres in height and having a base width of 3 metres, was constructed between 1276 and 1277, was excavated in the 1930s. Kublai sent another envoy to Japan in 1279. At that time, Hōjō Tokimune of the Hōjō clan was the Eighth Regent.

Not only did he decline the offer, but he beheaded the five Mongolian emissaries after summoning them to Kamakura. Infuriated, Kublai organized another attack on Fukuoka Prefecture in 1281, mobilizing 140,000 soldiers and 4,000 ships; the Japanese defenders, numbering around 40,000, were no match for the Mongols and the invasion force made it as far as Dazaifu, 15 km south of the city of Fukuoka. However, the Japanese were again aided by severe weather, this time by a typhoon that struck a crushing blow to the Mongolian troops, thwarting the invasion, it was this typhoon that came to be called the Kamikaze, was the origin of the term Kamikaze used to indicate suicide attacks by military aviators of the Empire of Japan against Allied naval vessels during World War II. Fukuoka was the residence of the powerful daimyō of Chikuzen Province, played an important part in the medieval history of Japan; the renowned temple of Tokugawa Ieyasu in the district was destroyed by fire during the Boshin War of 1868.

The modern city was formed on April 1, 1889, with the merger of the former cities of Hakata and Fukuoka. Hakata was the port and merchant district, was more associated with the area's culture and remains the main commercial area today. On the other hand, the Fukuoka area was home to many samurai, its name has been used since Kuroda Nagamasa, the first daimyō of Chikuzen Province, named it after his birthplace in Okayama Prefecture and the "old Fukuoka" is the main shopping area, now called Tenjin; when Hakata and Fukuoka decided to merge, a meeting was held to decide the name for the new city. Hakata was chosen, but a group of samurai crashed the meeting and forced those present to choose Fukuoka as the name for the merged city. However, Hakata is still used to refer to the Hakata area of the city and, most famously, to refer to the city's train station, Hakata Station, dialect, Hakata-ben. 1903: Fukuoka Medical College, a campus associated with Kyoto Imperial University, is founded. In 1911, the college is established as a separate entity.

1910: Fukuoka streetcar service begins. 1929: Flights commence along the Fukuoka-Osaka-Tokyo route. 1945: Fukuoka was firebombed on June 19, with the attack destroying 21.5 percent of the city's urban area. 1947: First Fukuoka Marathon. 1

Bagan Serai is a mukim in Kerian District, Malaysia. It is located 52 km southeast of the capital city of the neighbouring state of Penang; as such, the town is part of Greater Penang, Malaysia's second largest conurbation, with the town's logistical needs being served by Penang's well-developed transportation infrastructure. Bagan Serai is an important collecting and processing location for the paddy plantation of the Kerian scheme. Bagan Serai is the name of the parliamentary constituency in which the town is located; the word “Bagan” in Malay means a jetty or a place of landing for some business activities, “Serai” means lemon grass, a herb used in Malay food, which used to be mass-produced here. Through the hearsay from old generations, Bagan Serai used to be a busy pier for trading activities, because of the rivers that flows through this small town straight to the sea, making it a strategic location for trading activities and suitable landing spot for goods. A different version as to how Bagan Serai got its name can be found at the website "Glimpses".

Most of Malay residents here were migrated from Banjarmasin, Indonesia which in local dialects is called Banjar language. They have a distinct dialect with most of it non intelligible to native Malay language speakers, but as all Malaysians, they do speak standard Malay language. Shops are owned by Chinese-Malaysian descendants. Significant amounts of Indian-Malaysians work as rubber tappers in rubber estates. Banjar-Malay-Malaysians and "Malay" descendants work in agricultural activity which in Bagan Serai predominantly is paddy fields and palm oil. Bagan Serai is one of 8 sub-districts of Kerian district which included Parit Buntar, Bagan Tiang, Tanjung Piandang, Kuala Kurau, Bagan Serai, Gunong Semanggol and Selinsing, it is under the administration of Majlis Daerah Kerian. Public transport is managed by a private company called The Red Omnibus; the town has a main bus stand which located at the New Town of Bagan Serai and close to Main Market of Bagan Serai. The bus stand provides taxi services.

Bus to the center of town from peripheral areas runs daily every 30 minutes. Express buses goes from Bagan Serai to various towns and cities including Kuala Lumpur, Kulim, Alor Setar, Ipoh. There is a train station in the town. Prior to the Ipoh-Padang Besar Electrified Double Tracking Project, the Bagan Serai railway station was upgraded. Yearly, Bagan Serai has colder climate than other parts of Malaysia due to its location near the Straits of Malacca and away from the equator. Taiping is located near and southern to Bagan Serai, the wettest place in Malaysia. No specific temperature data and precipitation are aired daily in television for Bagan Serai, thus town people use Ipoh data for Bagan Serai. However, they are not true as they may be correlated with Georgetown, Penang data. Https://web.archive.org/web/20110807210145/http://mdkerian.gov.my/web/guest/home

The Roman Catholic St. Mary's Cathedral Basilica of the Assumption in Covington, Kentucky, is a minor basilica in the United States. Construction of the cathedral began under the Diocese of Covington's third bishop, Camillus Paul Maes, in 1895 to replace an 1834 frame church, inadequate for the growing congregation. Pope Pius XII elevated the cathedral to the rank of minor basilica December 8, 1953; the sanctuary was designed by Detroit architect Leon Coquard and is inspired by the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris. Services were first held in 1901 with the Madison Avenue façade, designed by local architect David Davis, added between 1908 and 1910; the structure is constructed of Bedford stone and the roofs are covered with red ludovici tile. It measures 194 ft × 144 ft and the nave reaches a height of 81 ft; the cathedral project terminated in 1915, though it remains incomplete to this day with the planned 52 ft towers unbuilt. The restoration of the Cathedral earned a 2002 Preservation Award from the Cincinnati Preservation Association.

For the interior restoration, Conrad Schmitt Studios cleaned the stone ribs and walls. Studio artists restored plaster and select faux stone painting; the interior was modeled after St. Denis in France, it contains murals by Covington native Frank Duveneck with the high altar carved from Carrara marble with floors of Rosata and Breche marble. The north transept is said to contain the world's largest handmade church stained glass window, at 67 ft × 24 ft, it depicts the Ecumenical Council of Ephesus in 431 AD. The cathedral houses three pipe organs; the south transept gallery holds the pipe organ designed and built in 1933 for the cathedral by Henry Willis III during his tenure at the Wicks Organ Company of Highland, Illinois. A three-manual console with 43 ranks of pipes, Aultz-Kersting Organ renovated and enlarged this instrument in 1982 to four-manuals with 65 ranks; the west gallery, below the rose window, is occupied by the two-manual organ built for St. Joseph Roman Catholic Church in Covington, Kentucky, in 1858 by Mathais Schwab of Cincinnati, Ohio.

When the St. Joseph building was razed in 1970, the Schwab organ was moved to St Mary's; the Schwab organ was altered to fit the new location, but retains most of its original components, including its mechanical key and stop actions, ivory keyboards and faux-grained casework. It contains 21 ranks. In 2002, the cathedral purchased a one-manual, 20-rank portable organ for use in various parts of the sanctuary. List of Catholic cathedrals in the United States List of cathedrals in the United States Official Cathedral Site Roman Catholic Diocese of Covington Official Site Interactive panoramas of the Basilica Schwab organ Wicks organ

The Forest of Mercia lies within the northernmost boundary of the more ancient and well-known Forest of Arden which covered the area when it formed part of the Kingdom of Mercia, is one of twelve community forests established close to major towns and cities across England. It covers an area of 92 square miles, is focused around the town of Cannock in South Staffordshire. Community forests are part of an environmental improvement programme set up in 1990 by the Countryside Commission, operated by local partnerships that include local communities, local councils, Natural England and the Forestry Commission, they were set up to help regenerate communities, renew established woodland areas by planting new trees, improving green spaces and creating new walkways and cycle paths. In the Forest of Mercia's case, the partnership includes Lichfield District Council, South Staffordshire Council, Staffordshire County Council and Walsall Metropolitan Borough Council, the forest is managed from a purpose built Innovation Centre at Chasewater, near Burntwood

The Kandawmin Garden Mausolea comprise a mausoleum complex in Yangon, Myanmar. The site contains four mausolea of Burmese national figures and is located near the southern gate of Shwedagon Pagoda; the successive Burmese military governments feared that the mausolea might become a meeting place for democracy activists and they fell into a state of neglect. The former military regime omitted them from the Yangon City Heritage List because they are symbols of national liberty and considered a threat to its status and power; the site contains mausolea of queen consort of the last king of Myanmar. The mausoleum was built in memory of Supayalat, queen consort of the last king of Myanmar, Thibaw Min, daughter of King Mindon, she was sent into exile in India in 1885 and allowed to return to Rangoon in 1919. She died six years in 1925—shortly before her 66th birthday; the colonial government declared a national holiday on the day of her funeral, but denied the royal family’s request to bury her in Mandalay Palace for fear that it would promote nationalism.

Her funeral was held with pomp and ceremony as befitted a Burmese queen, shielded under eight white royal umbrellas, attended by 90 Buddhist monks and the British Governor Sir Harcourt Butler with a guard of honour of the Mounted Police complete with a 30 gun salute. Supayalat lies buried between the mausolea of U Thant, it is a Burmese pavilion with a seven tiered roof. The mausoleum was built in memory of Thakin Kodaw Hmaing, one of the greatest Burmese poets and political leaders, he died on 23 July 1964 and his mausoleum was built near the Mausoleum of Queen Supayalat. The mausoleum was built in memory of the third Secretary-General of the United Nations. U Thant died of lung cancer on 25 November 1974 and his body was brought home from New York City to Rangoon on 1 December 1974. After the government violently crushed the protests in funeral and coffin snatch, he was buried besides the Mausoleum of Queen Supayalat; the mausoleum was built in memory of Khin Kyi, wife of Aung San, Father of the Nation of modern-day Myanmar, mother of Aung San Suu Kyi.

She died in Yangon on 28 December 1988, after suffering a severe stroke. Her funeral, held on 2 January 1989, was attended by over 200,000 people, despite the presence of military trucks which intervened to try to prevent the gathering; the mausoleum of Khin Kyi lies to the south of the Mausoleum of Queen Supalayat. In December 1974, the government refused to hold a state funeral U Thant and a series of protests and riots took place in Yangon known as U Thant funeral crisis; the government declared martial law and violently crushed the protests. On 23 March 1976, university students used the 100th anniversary of Thakin Kodaw Hmaing’s birth to gather at his mausoleum. More than 100 students were arrested during the peaceful anti-government demonstration. Since Thakin Kodaw Hmaing had become anathema to the military regime, his writings had been censored and mention of his name banned from time to time

John Clerk, Lord Eldin FRSE FSA was a Scottish judge based in Edinburgh. He was the eldest son of Susannah Adam, the sister of John Adam and Robert Adam, John Clerk of Eldin, he was born in April 1757 in Edinburgh. Though intended for the Indian Civil Service, he was apprenticed to a Writer to the Signet. After serving his articles he practised for a year or two as an accountant, was admitted a member of the Faculty of Advocates on 3 December 1785, he had an extensive practice at the bar. A keen Whig, on 11 March 1806 he was appointed Solicitor General for Scotland in the Grenville administration, an office which he held during the year that the ministry lasted, his practice at the bar had been for some time falling off, his health had begun to fail, when, on 10 November 1823, he was appointed an ordinary Lord of Session in place of William Bannatyne, Lord Bannatyne. Assuming the title of Lord Eldin, he took his seat on the bench 22 November. After five years of judicial work he resigned in 1828, was succeeded by John Fullerton, Lord Fullerton.

His father, his uncle George and himself were friends of the geologist James Hutton. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh in 1784. Clerk died unmarried at his house at 16 Picardy Place, Edinburgh, on 30 May 1832, he was buried with his ancestors in the Eldin vault in the Old Kirk of Lasswade, just south of Edinburgh. His collection of pictures and prints was sold by auction at his house in March 1833. Attribution This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Barker, George Fisher Russell. "Clerk, John". In Stephen, Leslie. Dictionary of National Biography. 11. London: Smith, Elder & Co. pp. 42–43. Media related to John Clerk, Lord Eldin at Wikimedia Commons