1.
Santa Clara, California
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Santa Clara is a city in Santa Clara County, California, named after the Spanish mission that was established there in 1777. The citys population was 116,468 at the 2010 United States Census, located 45 miles southeast of San Francisco, the city was founded in 1777 and incorporated in 1852. The city is the site of the eighth of 21 California missions, Mission Santa Clara de Asís, the Mission and Mission Gardens are located on the grounds of Santa Clara University. Saint Clare is the saint of Santa Clara. Santa Clara is located in the center of Silicon Valley and is home to the headquarters of several companies such as Intel. It is also home to Santa Clara University, the oldest institution of learning in the state of California. It is bordered by San Jose, Sunnyvale, and Cupertino, the first European to visit the valley was José Francisco Ortega in 1769. He found the area inhabited by Native Americans, whom the Spanish called the Costanos, coast people, the Spanish began to colonize California with 21 missions and the Mission Santa Clara de Asis was founded in 1777. In 1846, the American flag was raised over Monterey and symbolized the transfer of the sovereignty of the California Republic over to the United States of America, in 1851, Santa Clara College was established on the grounds of the original Mission. In 1852, Santa Clara was incorporated as a town, it became state-chartered by 1862, for the next century the economy centered on agriculture since orchards and vegetables were thriving in the fertile soil. By the beginning of the 20th century, the population had reached 5,000, in 1905, the first public high-altitude flights by humans were made over Santa Clara in gliders designed by John J. Montgomery. The semiconductor industry, which sprouted around 1960, changed the city and surrounding Valley of Hearts Delight, Santa Claras first medical hospital was built in 1963. This structure, on Kiely Boulevard, was replaced in 2007 with the new Kaiser Permanente medical center located on Lawrence Expressway at Homestead Road, Santa Clara was also home to a major mental health facility, Agnews State Hospital. According to the National Park Service, more than 100 persons were killed at this site in the 1906 earthquake, the site is the former home to Sun Microsystems and is listed in the National Register of Historic Places. Santa Clara is drained by three creeks, all of which empty into the southern portion of San Francisco Bay, these creeks are San Tomas Aquino Creek, Saratoga Creek. This owl uses burrows created by ground squirrels and prefers generally level grasslands, according to the United States Census Bureau, the city covers an area of 18.4 square miles, all of it land. The average daily temperatures in July range from 82 °F to 53 °F, winters are mild, with the mean daily temperatures in January ranging from 58 °F to 38 °F. Most of the rainfall comes in the winter months, the summer months are generally rainless
2.
United States
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Forty-eight of the fifty states and the federal district are contiguous and located in North America between Canada and Mexico. The state of Alaska is in the northwest corner of North America, bordered by Canada to the east, the state of Hawaii is an archipelago in the mid-Pacific Ocean. The U. S. territories are scattered about the Pacific Ocean, the geography, climate and wildlife of the country are extremely diverse. At 3.8 million square miles and with over 324 million people, the United States is the worlds third- or fourth-largest country by area, third-largest by land area. It is one of the worlds most ethnically diverse and multicultural nations, paleo-Indians migrated from Asia to the North American mainland at least 15,000 years ago. European colonization began in the 16th century, the United States emerged from 13 British colonies along the East Coast. Numerous disputes between Great Britain and the following the Seven Years War led to the American Revolution. On July 4,1776, during the course of the American Revolutionary War, the war ended in 1783 with recognition of the independence of the United States by Great Britain, representing the first successful war of independence against a European power. The current constitution was adopted in 1788, after the Articles of Confederation, the first ten amendments, collectively named the Bill of Rights, were ratified in 1791 and designed to guarantee many fundamental civil liberties. During the second half of the 19th century, the American Civil War led to the end of slavery in the country. By the end of century, the United States extended into the Pacific Ocean. The Spanish–American War and World War I confirmed the status as a global military power. The end of the Cold War and the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 left the United States as the sole superpower. The U. S. is a member of the United Nations, World Bank, International Monetary Fund, Organization of American States. The United States is a developed country, with the worlds largest economy by nominal GDP. It ranks highly in several measures of performance, including average wage, human development, per capita GDP. While the U. S. economy is considered post-industrial, characterized by the dominance of services and knowledge economy, the United States is a prominent political and cultural force internationally, and a leader in scientific research and technological innovations. In 1507, the German cartographer Martin Waldseemüller produced a map on which he named the lands of the Western Hemisphere America after the Italian explorer and cartographer Amerigo Vespucci
3.
Wafer (electronics)
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Finally the individual microcircuits are separated and packaged. By 1960, silicon wafers were being manufactured in the U. S. by companies such as MEMC/SunEdison. In 1965, American engineers Eric O. Ernst, Donald J. Hurd, Wafers are formed of highly pure, nearly defect-free single crystalline material. One process for forming crystalline wafers is known as Czochralski growth invented by the Polish chemist Jan Czochralski. In this process, an ingot of high purity mono crystalline semiconductor, such as silicon or germanium. The boule is then sliced with a saw and polished to form wafers. The size of wafers for photovoltaics is 100–200 mm square and the thickness is 200–300 μm, in the future,160 μm will be the standard. Electronics use wafer sizes from 100–450 mm diameter, Wafers are cleaned with weak acids to remove unwanted particles, or repair damage caused during the sawing process. When used for cells, the wafers are textured to create a rough surface to increase their efficiency. The generated PSG is removed from the edge of the wafer in the etching, silicon wafers are available in a variety of diameters from 25.4 mm to 300 mm. Semiconductor fabrication plants are defined by the diameter of wafers that they are tooled to produce, Wafers grown using materials other than silicon will have different thicknesses than a silicon wafer of the same diameter. Wafer thickness is determined by the strength of the material used. This was the cost basis for increasing wafer size, conversion to 300 mm wafers from 200 mm wafers began in earnest in 2000, and reduced the price per die about 30-40%. However, this was not without significant problems for the industry, there is considerable resistance to the 450 mm transition despite the possible productivity improvement, because of concern about insufficient return on investment. Higher cost semiconductor fabrication equipment for larger wafers increases the cost of 450 mm fabs, converting to larger 450 mm wafers would reduce price per die only for process operations such as etch where cost is related to wafer count, not wafer area. Cost for processes such as lithography is proportional to wafer area, nikon plans to deliver 450-mm lithography equipment in 2015, with volume production in 2017. In November 2013 ASML paused development of 450-mm lithography equipment, citing uncertain timing of chipmaker demand, the time-line for 450 mm has not been fixed. Mark Durcan, CEO of Micron Technology, said in February 2014 that he expects 450 mm adoption to be delayed indefinitely or discontinued, “I am not convinced that 450mm will ever happen but, to the extent that it does, it’s a long way out in the future
4.
Advanced Micro Devices
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While initially it manufactured its own processors, the company became fabless after GlobalFoundries was spun off in 2009. AMDs main products include microprocessors, motherboard chipsets, embedded processors and graphics processors for servers, workstations and personal computers, AMD is the second-largest supplier and only significant rival to Intel in the market for x86-based microprocessors. Since acquiring ATI in 2006, AMD and its competitor Nvidia have dominated the discrete Graphics Processing Unit market, Advanced Micro Devices was formally incorporated on May 1,1969, by Jerry Sanders, along with seven of his colleagues from Fairchild Semiconductor. In September 1969, AMD moved from its location in Santa Clara to Sunnyvale. To immediately secure a base, AMD initially became a second source supplier of microchips designed by Fairchild. AMD first focused on producing logic chips, in November 1969, the company manufactured its first product, the Am9300, a 4-bit MSI shift register, which began selling in 1970. Also in 1970, AMD produced its first proprietary product, the Am2501 logic counter and its best-selling product in 1971 was the Am2505, the fastest multiplier available. In 1971, AMD entered the RAM chip market, beginning with the Am3101 and that year AMD also greatly increased the sales volume of its linear integrated circuits, and by year end the companys total annual sales reached $4.6 million. AMD went public in September 1972, the company was a second source for Intel MOS/LSI circuits by 1973, with products such as Am14/1506 and Am14/1507, dual 100-bit dynamic shift registers. By 1975, AMD was producing 212 products – of which 49 were proprietary, including the Am9102, Intel had created the first microprocessor, its 4-bit 4004, in 1971. By 1975, AMD entered the market with the Am9080, a reverse-engineered clone of the Intel 8080. In 1977, AMD entered into a joint venture with Siemens, Siemens purchased 20% of AMDs stock, giving AMD an infusion of cash to increase its product lines. When the two companies vision for Advanced Micro Computers diverged, AMD bought out Siemens stake in the U. S. division in 1979, AMD closed its Advanced Micro Computers subsidiary in late 1981, after switching focus to manufacturing second-source Intel x86 microprocessors. Total sales in fiscal year 1978 topped $100 million, and in 1979, in 1980, AMD began supplying semiconductor products for telecommunications, an industry undergoing rapid expansion and innovation. Intel had introduced the first x86 microprocessors in 1978, in 1981, IBM created its PC, and wanted Intels x86 processors, but only under the condition that Intel also provide a second-source manufacturer for its patented x86 microprocessors. Intel and AMD entered into a 10-year technology exchange agreement, first signed in October 1981, the technical information and licenses needed to make and sell a part would be exchanged for a royalty to the developing company. The 1982 agreement also extended the 1976 AMD–Intel cross-licensing agreement through 1995, the agreement included the right to invoke arbitration of disagreements, and after five years the right of either party to end the agreement with one years notice. It also continued its successful concentration on proprietary bipolar chips, in 1983, it introduced INT. STD.1000, the highest manufacturing quality standard in the industry
5.
IBM
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International Business Machines Corporation is an American multinational technology company headquartered in Armonk, New York, United States, with operations in over 170 countries. The company originated in 1911 as the Computing-Tabulating-Recording Company and was renamed International Business Machines in 1924, IBM manufactures and markets computer hardware, middleware and software, and offers hosting and consulting services in areas ranging from mainframe computers to nanotechnology. IBM is also a research organization, holding the record for most patents generated by a business for 24 consecutive years. IBM has continually shifted its business mix by exiting commoditizing markets and focusing on higher-value, also in 2014, IBM announced that it would go fabless, continuing to design semiconductors, but offloading manufacturing to GlobalFoundries. Nicknamed Big Blue, IBM is one of 30 companies included in the Dow Jones Industrial Average and one of the worlds largest employers, with nearly 380,000 employees. Known as IBMers, IBM employees have been awarded five Nobel Prizes, six Turing Awards, ten National Medals of Technology, in the 1880s, technologies emerged that would ultimately form the core of what would become International Business Machines. On June 16,1911, their four companies were amalgamated in New York State by Charles Ranlett Flint forming a fifth company, the Computing-Tabulating-Recording Company based in Endicott, New York. The five companies had 1,300 employees and offices and plants in Endicott and Binghamton, New York, Dayton, Ohio, Detroit, Michigan, Washington, D. C. and Toronto. They manufactured machinery for sale and lease, ranging from commercial scales and industrial time recorders, meat and cheese slicers, to tabulators and punched cards. Thomas J. Watson, Sr. fired from the National Cash Register Company by John Henry Patterson, called on Flint and, Watson joined CTR as General Manager then,11 months later, was made President when court cases relating to his time at NCR were resolved. Having learned Pattersons pioneering business practices, Watson proceeded to put the stamp of NCR onto CTRs companies and his favorite slogan, THINK, became a mantra for each companys employees. During Watsons first four years, revenues more than doubled to $9 million, Watson had never liked the clumsy hyphenated title of the CTR and in 1924 chose to replace it with the more expansive title International Business Machines. By 1933 most of the subsidiaries had been merged into one company, in 1937, IBMs tabulating equipment enabled organizations to process unprecedented amounts of data, its clients including the U. S. During the Second World War the company produced small arms for the American war effort, in 1949, Thomas Watson, Sr. created IBM World Trade Corporation, a subsidiary of IBM focused on foreign operations. In 1952, he stepped down after almost 40 years at the company helm, in 1957, the FORTRAN scientific programming language was developed. In 1961, IBM developed the SABRE reservation system for American Airlines, in 1963, IBM employees and computers helped NASA track the orbital flight of the Mercury astronauts. A year later it moved its headquarters from New York City to Armonk. The latter half of the 1960s saw IBM continue its support of space exploration, on April 7,1964, IBM announced the first computer system family, the IBM System/360
6.
Emirate of Abu Dhabi
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The Emirate of Abu Dhabi, is one of seven emirates that constitute the United Arab Emirates. It is the largest emirate by area, accounting for approximately 87 percent of the land area of the federation. Abu Dhabi also has the largest population of the seven emirates, in June 2011, it was estimated to be 2,120,700 people, of which,439,100 people were Emirati citizens, which has risen to 2.3 million in 2012. Abu Dhabi is the city of the emirate, after which it is named. Abu Dhabi’s Gross Domestic Product estimates, in 2014, amounted to AED960 billion at current prices, mining and quarrying accounts for the largest contribution to GDP. Construction related industries are the next largest contributor, GDP grew to AED911.6 billion in 2012, or over 100,000 USD per capita. In the early 1970s, two important developments helped the emirate achieve leaps on the path of development, the first was the establishment of the United Arab Emirates in December 1971 with Abu Dhabi as its political and administrative capital. Dhabi is the Arabic name of a species of native gazelle that was once common in the Arabian region. Abu Dhabi means father of the Dhabi and it is thought that this name came about because of the abundance of Gazelles in the area and a folk tale involving Shakhbut bin Dhiyab al Nahyan. Parts of Abu Dhabi were settled as far back as the 3rd millennium BC, modern Abu Dhabi traces its origins to the rise of an important tribal confederation, the Bani Yas, in the late 18th century, which also assumed control of Dubai. In the 19th century the Dubai and Abu Dhabi branches parted ways, most dwellings in Abu Dhabi city were, at this time, constructed of palm fronds, with the wealthier families occupying mud huts. In 1939, Sheikh Shakhbut Bin-Sultan Al Nahyan granted petroleum concessions, at first, oil money had a marginal impact. His brother, Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, saw that oil wealth had the potential to transform Abu Dhabi, the ruling Al Nahyan family decided that Sheikh Zayed should replace his brother as ruler and carry out his vision of developing the country. On August 6,1966, with the assistance of the British, with the announcement by the UK in 1968 that it would withdraw from the Persian Gulf area by 1971, Sheikh Zayed became the main driving force behind the formation of the United Arab Emirates. After the Emirates gained independence in 1971, oil continued to flow to the area and traditional mud-brick huts were rapidly replaced with banks, boutiques. At present, Abu Dhabi boasts what is estimated to be the worlds highest absolute and per-capita level of sovereign wealth funds, the United Arab Emirates is located in the oil-rich and strategic Persian Gulf region. It adjoins the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Sultanate of Oman and it borders the emirate of Dubai and emirate of Sharjah to its north. The total area of the Emirate is 67,340 square kilometres, occupying about 87% of the area of the UAE
7.
Integrated circuit
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An integrated circuit or monolithic integrated circuit is a set of electronic circuits on one small flat piece of semiconductor material, normally silicon. The ICs mass production capability, reliability and building-block approach to circuit design ensured the rapid adoption of standardized ICs in place of using discrete transistors. ICs are now used in all electronic equipment and have revolutionized the world of electronics. Computers, mobile phones, and other home appliances are now inextricable parts of the structure of modern societies, made possible by the small size. These advances, roughly following Moores law, allow a computer chip of 2016 to have millions of times the capacity, ICs have two main advantages over discrete circuits, cost and performance. Cost is low because the chips, with all their components, are printed as a unit by photolithography rather than being constructed one transistor at a time, furthermore, packaged ICs use much less material than discrete circuits. Performance is high because the ICs components switch quickly and consume little power because of their small size, the main disadvantage of ICs is the high cost to design them and fabricate the required photomasks. This high initial cost means ICs are only practical when high production volumes are anticipated, Circuits meeting this definition can be constructed using many different technologies, including thin-film transistor, thick film technology, or hybrid integrated circuit. However, in general usage integrated circuit has come to refer to the single-piece circuit construction originally known as a integrated circuit. Jacobi disclosed small and cheap hearing aids as typical industrial applications of his patent, an immediate commercial use of his patent has not been reported. The idea of the circuit was conceived by Geoffrey Dummer. Dummer presented the idea to the public at the Symposium on Progress in Quality Electronic Components in Washington and he gave many symposia publicly to propagate his ideas, and unsuccessfully attempted to build such a circuit in 1956. A precursor idea to the IC was to create small ceramic squares, Components could then be integrated and wired into a bidimensional or tridimensional compact grid. This idea, which seemed very promising in 1957, was proposed to the US Army by Jack Kilby, however, as the project was gaining momentum, Kilby came up with a new, revolutionary design, the IC. In his patent application of 6 February 1959, Kilby described his new device as a body of semiconductor material … wherein all the components of the circuit are completely integrated. The first customer for the new invention was the US Air Force, Kilby won the 2000 Nobel Prize in Physics for his part in the invention of the integrated circuit. His work was named an IEEE Milestone in 2009, half a year after Kilby, Robert Noyce at Fairchild Semiconductor developed his own idea of an integrated circuit that solved many practical problems Kilbys had not. Noyces design was made of silicon, whereas Kilbys chip was made of germanium, Noyce credited Kurt Lehovec of Sprague Electric for the principle of p–n junction isolation, a key concept behind the IC
8.
Singapore
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Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, sometimes referred to as the Lion City or the Little Red Dot, is a sovereign city-state in Southeast Asia. It lies one degree north of the equator, at the tip of peninsular Malaysia. Singapores territory consists of one island along with 62 other islets. Since independence, extensive land reclamation has increased its size by 23%. During the Second World War, Singapore was occupied by Japan, after early years of turbulence, and despite lacking natural resources and a hinterland, the nation developed rapidly as an Asian Tiger economy, based on external trade and its workforce. Singapore is a global commerce, finance and transport hub, the country has also been identified as a tax haven. Singapore ranks 5th internationally and first in Asia on the UN Human Development Index and it is ranked highly in education, healthcare, life expectancy, quality of life, personal safety, and housing, but does not fare well on the Democracy index. Although income inequality is high, 90% of homes are owner-occupied, 38% of Singapores 5.6 million residents are permanent residents and other foreign nationals. There are four languages on the island, Malay, Mandarin, Tamil. English is its language, most Singaporeans are bilingual. Singapore is a multiparty parliamentary republic, with a Westminster system of unicameral parliamentary government. The Peoples Action Party has won every election since self-government in 1959, however, it is unlikely that lions ever lived on the island, Sang Nila Utama, the Srivijayan prince said to have founded and named the island Singapura, perhaps saw a Malayan tiger. There are however other suggestions for the origin of the name, the central island has also been called Pulau Ujong as far back as the third century CE, literally island at the end in Malay. In 1299, according to the Malay Annals, the Kingdom of Singapura was founded on the island by Sang Nila Utama and these Indianized Kingdoms, a term coined by George Cœdès were characterized by surprising resilience, political integrity and administrative stability. In 1613, Portuguese raiders burned down the settlement, which by then was part of the Johor Sultanate. The wider maritime region and much trade was under Dutch control for the following period, in 1824 the entire island, as well as the Temenggong, became a British possession after a further treaty with the Sultan. In 1826, Singapore became part of the Straits Settlements, under the jurisdiction of British India, prior to Raffles arrival, there were only about a thousand people living on the island, mostly indigenous Malays along with a handful of Chinese. By 1860 the population had swelled to over 80,000, many of these early immigrants came to work on the pepper and gambier plantations
9.
Vermont
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Vermont is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It borders the other U. S. states of Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, New York to the west, and the Canadian province of Quebec to the north. Lake Champlain forms half of Vermonts western border with the state of New York, Vermont is the 2nd-least populous of the U. S. states, with nearly 50,000 more residents than Wyoming. The capital is Montpelier, the least populous state capital in the U. S, the most populous municipality, Burlington, is the least populous city in the U. S. to be the most populous within a state. As of 2015, Vermont continued to be the producer of maple syrup in the U. S. It was ranked as the safest state in the country in January 2016, for thousands of years inhabited by indigenous peoples, including the Algonquian-speaking Abenaki and Mohawk, much of the territory that is now Vermont was claimed by Frances colony of New France. France ceded the territory to Great Britain after being defeated in 1763 in the Seven Years War, for many years, the nearby colonies, especially the provinces of New Hampshire and New York, disputed control of the area. Settlers who held land titles granted by New York were opposed by the Green Mountain Boys militia, ultimately, those settlers prevailed in creating an independent state, the Vermont Republic. Founded in 1777 during the American Revolutionary War, the republic lasted for 14 years, aside from the original 13 states that were formerly colonies, Vermont is one of only four U. S. states that were previously sovereign states. Vermont was also the first state to join the U. S. as its 14th member state after the original 13, while still an independent republic, Vermont was the first of any future U. S. state to partially abolish slavery. It played an important geographic role in the Underground Railroad, sights in Vermont Vermont is located in the New England region of the northeastern United States and comprises 9,614 square miles, making it the 45th-largest state. It is the state that does not have any buildings taller than 124 feet. Land comprises 9,250 square miles and water comprises 365 square miles, making it the 43rd-largest in land area, in total area, it is larger than El Salvador and smaller than Haiti. The west bank of the Connecticut River marks the eastern border with New Hampshire. 41% of Vermonts land area is part of the Connecticut Rivers watershed, Lake Champlain, the major lake in Vermont, is the sixth-largest body of fresh water in the United States and separates Vermont from New York in the northwest portion of the state. From north to south, Vermont is 159 miles long and its greatest width, from east to west, is 89 miles at the Canada–U. S. Border, the narrowest width is 37 miles at the Massachusetts line, the states geographic center is approximately three miles east of Roxbury, in Washington County. There are fifteen U. S. federal border crossings between Vermont and Canada, the origin of the name Vermont is uncertain, but likely comes from the French les Verts Monts, meaning the Green Mountains
10.
New York (state)
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New York is a state in the northeastern United States, and is the 27th-most extensive, fourth-most populous, and seventh-most densely populated U. S. state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south and Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Vermont to the east. With an estimated population of 8.55 million in 2015, New York City is the most populous city in the United States, the New York Metropolitan Area is one of the most populous urban agglomerations in the world. New York City makes up over 40% of the population of New York State, two-thirds of the states population lives in the New York City Metropolitan Area, and nearly 40% lives on Long Island. Both the state and New York City were named for the 17th-century Duke of York, the next four most populous cities in the state are Buffalo, Rochester, Yonkers, and Syracuse, while the state capital is Albany. New York has a diverse geography and these more mountainous regions are bisected by two major river valleys—the north-south Hudson River Valley and the east-west Mohawk River Valley, which forms the core of the Erie Canal. Western New York is considered part of the Great Lakes Region and straddles Lake Ontario, between the two lakes lies Niagara Falls. The central part of the state is dominated by the Finger Lakes, New York had been inhabited by tribes of Algonquian and Iroquoian-speaking Native Americans for several hundred years by the time the earliest Europeans came to New York. The first Europeans to arrive were French colonists and Jesuit missionaries who arrived southward from settlements at Montreal for trade, the British annexed the colony from the Dutch in 1664. The borders of the British colony, the Province of New York, were similar to those of the present-day state, New York is home to the Statue of Liberty, a symbol of the United States and its ideals of freedom, democracy, and opportunity. In the 21st century, New York has emerged as a node of creativity and entrepreneurship, social tolerance. On April 17,1524 Verrazanno entered New York Bay, by way of the now called the Narrows into the northern bay which he named Santa Margherita. Verrazzano described it as a vast coastline with a delta in which every kind of ship could pass and he adds. This vast sheet of water swarmed with native boats and he landed on the tip of Manhattan and possibly on the furthest point of Long Island. Verrazannos stay was interrupted by a storm which pushed him north towards Marthas Vineyard, in 1540 French traders from New France built a chateau on Castle Island, within present-day Albany, due to flooding, it was abandoned the next year. In 1614, the Dutch under the command of Hendrick Corstiaensen, rebuilt the French chateau, Fort Nassau was the first Dutch settlement in North America, and was located along the Hudson River, also within present-day Albany. The small fort served as a trading post and warehouse, located on the Hudson River flood plain, the rudimentary fort was washed away by flooding in 1617, and abandoned for good after Fort Orange was built nearby in 1623. Henry Hudsons 1609 voyage marked the beginning of European involvement with the area, sailing for the Dutch East India Company and looking for a passage to Asia, he entered the Upper New York Bay on September 11 of that year
11.
Dresden
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Dresden is the capital city and, after Leipzig, the second-largest city of the Free State of Saxony in Germany. It is situated in a valley on the River Elbe, near the border with the Czech Republic, Dresden has a long history as the capital and royal residence for the Electors and Kings of Saxony, who for centuries furnished the city with cultural and artistic splendour. The city was known as the Jewel Box, because of its baroque, the controversial American and British bombing of Dresden in World War II towards the end of the war killed approximately 25,000, many of whom were civilians, and destroyed the entire city centre. After the war restoration work has helped to reconstruct parts of the inner city, including the Katholische Hofkirche, the Zwinger. Since German reunification in 1990 Dresden is again a cultural, educational and political centre of Germany, the Dresden University of Technology is one of the 10 largest universities in Germany and part of the German Universities Excellence Initiative. The economy of Dresden and its agglomeration is one of the most dynamic in Germany and it is dominated by high-tech branches, often called as “Silicon Saxony”. The city is one of the most visited in Germany with 4,3 million overnight stays per year. The royal buildings are among the most impressive buildings in Europe, main sights are also the nearby National Park of Saxon Switzerland, the Ore Mountains and the countryside around Elbe Valley and Moritzburg Castle. The most prominent building in the city of Dresden is the Frauenkirche, built in the 18th century, the church was destroyed during World War II. The remaining ruins were left for 50 years as a war memorial, the church was rebuilt from 1994 to 2005. Although Dresden is a relatively recent city of Germanic origin followed by settlement of Slavic people, Dresdens founding and early growth is associated with the eastward expansion of Germanic peoples, mining in the nearby Ore Mountains, and the establishment of the Margraviate of Meissen. Its name etymologically derives from Old Sorbian Drežďany, meaning people of the forest, Dresden later evolved into the capital of Saxony. Around the late 12th century, a Slavic settlement called Drežďany had developed on the southern bank, another settlement existed on the northern bank, but its Slavic name is unknown. It was known as Antiqua Dresdin by 1350, and later as Altendresden, dietrich, Margrave of Meissen, chose Dresden as his interim residence in 1206, as documented in a record calling the place Civitas Dresdene. After 1270, Dresden became the capital of the margraviate and it was given to Friedrich Clem after death of Henry the Illustrious in 1288. It was taken by the Margraviate of Brandenburg in 1316 and was restored to the Wettin dynasty after the death of Valdemar the Great in 1319, from 1485, it was the seat of the dukes of Saxony, and from 1547 the electors as well. The Elector and ruler of Saxony Frederick Augustus I became King Augustus II the Strong of Poland in personal union and he gathered many of the best musicians, architects and painters from all over Europe to the newly named Royal-Polish Residential City of Dresden. His reign marked the beginning of Dresdens emergence as a leading European city for technology, during the reign of Kings Augustus II the Strong and Augustus III of Poland the Zwinger Royal Palace, the Hofkirche and the Frauenkirche were built
12.
Woodlands, Singapore
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Woodlands is a planning area and residential town located in the North Region of Singapore. The town is connected to Malaysias southernmost city, Johor Bahru, Woodlands planning area borders Sembawang to the east, Mandai to the south, Sungei Kadut to the west and the Straits of Johor to the north. Woodlands New Town is situated within the Woodlands planning area, the area consisting of modern-day Woodlands Town first witnessed the opening of the Johor-Singapore Causeway in 1923. The first HDB flats were built from 1972 in the part of Marsiling. Development of Woodlands began in 1981 and this compromises of the building of HDB flats in the Neighbourhood 1, which was completed in 1985, well after the Marsiling Estate. The Neighbourhood 8 were completed in 1987, together with the Neighbourhood 3 in 1989, because of the saturation of HDB flats, the numbering system added A, B and C. Blocks 6xx in Admiralty begun to be completed in 1996, together with the 7xx in 1997, expansion into Innova began in 1998 and was completed in 2002, which consists of block 5xx. Expansion into the Woodlands East began in 1999 and completed in 2004, there are three constituencies in the town, and nine neighbourhoods within the Woodlands vicinity made up primarily of Woodlands, Marsiling, Woodgrove and Admiralty. Woodlands Square serves as the centre while adjacent neighbourhood centres also offer a variety of commercial activities. Integrated development plans including Kampung Admiralty are officially launched in April 2014, of all the estates, Woodgrove is the smallest in size, located towards the northwest end of the town. Woodgrove houses most of the housing in Woodlands, consisting of high-rise condominiums. Woodgrove lies in between the estates of Marsiling and Woodlands, Marsiling, Woodlands, Woodgrove and Admiralty altogether form Woodlands New Town. Woodlands is diverse during the day and well lit at night, shops, eateries, and commercial zones are evenly spread through the town, with bus and transit routes operating till close to midnight. The theme of the park revolves around the Malay and Chinese culture, and winding through the park is Sungei Mandai Kechil, Woodlands Town Garden is located near to the Woodlands Checkpoint, in the Marsiling estate. To the east of this area, bordering the polytechnic is Admiralty Park, the recent riverine park which opened in phases is the Woodlands Waterfront. It has engaged a lot of residents, especially those staying in northern Singapore and it is also linked to Admiralty Park and a 25 km Northern Explorer Park Connector Network. Woodlands Regional Library, the largest neighbourhood library in Singapore at the time of its launch, is operated by the National Library Board, the four-storey public library caters to all ages and is organised according to themes of general, reference, teens, and children. Causeway Point, one of the largest shopping malls in Singapore, houses 250 shops, Woodlands Civic Centre is a designated centre of education, public services, and other forms of assistance for residents
