1.
United States Postal Service
–
The United States Postal Service, is an independent agency of the United States federal government responsible for providing postal service in the United States. It is one of the few government agencies explicitly authorized by the United States Constitution, Mail traces its roots to 1775 during the Second Continental Congress, where Benjamin Franklin was appointed the first postmaster general. The USPS as of February 2015 has 617,254 active employees, the USPS is the operator of the largest civilian vehicle fleet in the world. The USPS is legally obligated to serve all Americans, regardless of geography, at uniform price, the USPS has exclusive access to letter boxes marked U. S. The USPS lost $5.5 billion in fiscal year 2014 and $5.1 billion in 2015, in the early years of the North American colonies, many attempts were made to initiate a postal service. These early attempts were of small scale and usually involved a colony, Massachusetts Bay Colony for example, for example, informal independently-run postal routes operated in Boston as early as 1639, with a Boston to New York City service starting in 1672. A central postal organization came to the colonies in 1691, when Thomas Neale received a 21-year grant from the British Crown for a North American Postal Service, the patent included the exclusive right to establish and collect a formal postal tax on official documents of all kinds. The tax was repealed a year later, Neale appointed Andrew Hamilton, Governor of New Jersey, as his deputy postmaster. The first postal service in America commenced in February 1692, rates of postage were fixed and authorized, and measures were taken to establish a post office in each town in Virginia. Massachusetts and the other colonies soon passed laws, and a very imperfect post office system was established. Neales patent expired in 1710, when Parliament extended the English postal system to the colonies, the chief office was established in New York City, where letters were conveyed by regular packets across the Atlantic. Before the Revolution, there was only a trickle of business or governmental correspondence between the colonies, most of the mail went back and forth to counting houses and government offices in London. The Revolution made Philadelphia, the seat of the Continental Congress, News, new laws, political intelligence, and military orders circulated with a new urgency, and a postal system was necessary. Journalists took the lead, securing post office legislation that allowed them to reach their subscribers at very low cost, overthrowing the London-oriented imperial postal service in 1774-1775, printers enlisted merchants and the new political leadership, and created a new postal system. The United States Post Office was created on July 26,1775, the official post office was created in 1792 as the Post Office Department. It was based on the Constitutional authority empowering Congress To establish post offices, the 1792 law provided for a greatly expanded postal network, and served editors by charging newspapers an extremely low rate. The law guaranteed the sanctity of personal correspondence, and provided the country with low-cost access to information on public affairs. Rufus Easton was appointed by Thomas Jefferson first postmaster of St. Louis under the recommendation of Postmaster General Gideon Granger, Rufus Easton was the first postmaster and built the first post office west of the Mississippi
United States Postal Service
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~
Benjamin Franklin ~
George Washington ~ The First U.S. Postage Stamps Issued 1847 The first stamp issues were authorized by an act of Congress and approved on March 3, 1847. The earliest known use of the Franklin 5¢ is July 7, 1847, while the earliest known use of the Washington 10¢ is July 2, 1847. Remaining in postal circulation for only a few years, these issues were declared invalid for postage on July 1, 1851.
United States Postal Service
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The full eagle logo, used in various versions from 1970 to 1993
United States Postal Service
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Historic
Mineral Wells, Texas post office built between 1911 and 1913
United States Postal Service
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USPS service delivery truck
2.
Carson City, Nevada
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Carson City, officially the Consolidated Municipality of Carson City, is an independent city and the capital of the US state of Nevada, named after the mountain man Kit Carson. As of the 2010 census, the population was 55,274, the majority of the population of the town lives in Eagle Valley, on the eastern edge of the Carson Range, a branch of the Sierra Nevada, about 30 miles south of Reno. The town originated as a stopover for California bound emigrants, but developed into a city with the Comstock Lode, a silver strike in the mountains to the northeast. The city has served as the capital of Nevada since statehood in 1864 and for much of its history was a hub for the Virginia and Truckee Railroad, prior to 1969, Carson City was the county seat of Ormsby County. In 1969, the county was abolished, and its territory was merged with Carson City to form the Consolidated Municipality of Carson City, with the consolidation, the city limits today extend west across the Sierra Nevada to the California state line in the middle of Lake Tahoe. Like other independent cities in the United States, it is treated as a county-equivalent for census purposes, the first European Americans to arrive in what is known as Eagle Valley were John C. Frémont and his party in January 1843. Fremont named the river flowing through the valley Carson River in honor of Kit Carson, prior to the Fremont expedition, the Washoe people inhabited the valley and surrounding areas. Settlers named the area Washoe in reference to the tribe, by 1851 the Eagle Station ranch located along the Carson River served as a trading post and stopover for travelers on the California Trails Carson Branch which ran through Eagle Valley. The valley and trading post received their name from an eagle that was hunted and killed by one of the early settlers and was featured on a wall inside the post. As the area was part of the Utah Territory, it was governed from Salt Lake City, early settlers bristled at the control exerted by Mormon-influenced officials and desired the creation of the Nevada territory. A vigilante group of settlers, headed by Abraham Curry. In 1858, Abraham Curry bought Eagle Station and thereafter renamed the settlement Carson City, as Curry and several other partners had Eagle Valley surveyed for development. Curry had decided for himself that Carson City would someday serve as the capital city, following the discovery of gold and silver in 1859 on the nearby Comstock Lode, Carson Citys population began to rise. Curry built the Warm Springs Hotel a mile to the east of the center of town, as such, Carson City bested Virginia City and American Flat. Curry loaned the Warm Springs Hotel to the territorial Legislature as a meeting hall, the Legislature named Carson City to be the seat of Ormsby County and selected the hotel as the territorial prison with Curry serving as its first warden. Today the property serves as part of the state prison. When Nevada became a state in 1864 during the American Civil War, Carson Citys development was no longer dependent on the mining industry and instead became a thriving commercial center
Carson City, Nevada
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Carson City Mint at night
Carson City, Nevada
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Illustration of Carson City in 1877
Carson City, Nevada
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Secret Harbor Beach, Lake Tahoe
Carson City, Nevada
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Looking south on
US 395, just south of
US 50 in
Douglas County near Carson City
3.
Grumman
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The Grumman Aircraft Engineering Corporation, later Grumman Aerospace Corporation, was a leading 20th century U. S. producer of military and civilian aircraft. Founded on December 6,1929, by Leroy Grumman and partners, factory in Baldwin on Long Island, New York. All of the early Grumman employees were former Loening employees, the company was named for Grumman because he was its largest investor. The company filed as a business on December 5,1929, keeping busy by welding aluminum tubing for truck frames, the company eagerly pursued contracts with the US Navy. Grumman designed the first practical floats with a landing gear for the Navy. The first Grumman aircraft was also for the Navy, the Grumman FF-1 and this was followed by a number of other successful designs. Grumman ranked 22nd among United States corporations in the value of wartime production contracts, Grummans first jet aircraft was the F9F Panther, it was followed by the upgraded F9F/F-9 Cougar, and the less well known F-11 Tiger in the 1950s. The companys big postwar successes came in the 1960s with the A-6 Intruder and E-2 Hawkeye and in the 1970s with the Grumman EA-6B Prowler, Grumman products were prominent in the film Top Gun and numerous World War II naval and Marine Corps aviation films. The U. S. Navy still employs the Hawkeye as part of Carrier Air Wings on board aircraft carriers, Grumman was the chief contractor on the Apollo Lunar Module that landed men on the moon. The firm received the contract on November 7,1962, as the Apollo program neared its end, Grumman was one of the main competitors for the contract to design and build the Space Shuttle, but lost to Rockwell International. The company ended up involved in the program nonetheless, as a subcontractor to Rockwell, providing the wings. In 1969 the company changed its name to Grumman Aerospace Corporation, the company built the Grumman Long Life Vehicle, a light transport mail truck designed for and used by the United States Postal Service. The LLV entered service in 1986, Gulfstream business jets continue to be currently manufactured by Gulfstream Aerospace which is a wholly owned subsidiary of General Dynamics. For much of the Cold War period Grumman was the largest corporate employer on Long Island, Grummans products were considered so reliable and ruggedly built that the company was often referred to as the Grumman Iron Works. At its peak in 1986 it employed 23,000 people on Long Island, a portion of the airport property has been used for the Grumman Memorial Park. Northrop Grummans remaining business at the Bethpage campus is the Battle Management and Engagement Systems Division, under the Grumman Olson brand it made the P-600 and P-6800 step vans for UPS. Grumman manufactured fire engines under the name Firecat and aerial tower trucks under the Aerialcat name, the company entered the fire apparatus business in 1976 with its purchase of Howe Fire Apparatus and ended operations in 1992. Grumman canoes were developed in 1944 as World War II was winding down, Company executive William Hoffman used the companys aircraft aluminum to replace the traditional wood design
Grumman
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Grumman Historical Marker
Grumman
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Grumman Corporation
Grumman
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Apollo Spacecraft: Apollo Lunar Module Diagram
Grumman
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F-14 Tomcat at Grumman Memorial Park,
Calverton, New York
4.
Montgomery, Pennsylvania
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Montgomery is a borough in Lycoming County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 1,695 at the 2000 census and it is part of the Williamsport, Pennsylvania Metropolitan Statistical Area. Montgomery was incorporated as a borough by the Pennsylvania General Assembly on March 27,1887 from part of Clinton Township, the history of the settlement of Montgomery begins in 1783 when John Lawson established a homestead there. Nicholas Shaffer built a gristmill in Montgomery in 1795, a sawmill and a wool carding mill were other early industries found on Black Hole Creek which flows through Montgomery. P. M. Barber was the first person to come to Montgomery and he opened a distillery in 1859 and later a planing mill in 1869 on the site of the distillery. Barber with his partners, A. B. Henderson, Jesse Rank, the name Montgomery stems from another name for the same post office, Montgomery Station. Montgomery is located at 41°10′17″N 76°52′33″W, Montgomery lies along the West Branch of the Susquehanna River, about six miles to the southwest of the borough of Muncy, and eight-and-a-half miles southeast of the city of Williamsport. It borders Clinton Township on sides not bordered by the river, as the crow flies, Lycoming County is about 130 miles northwest of Philadelphia and 165 miles east-northeast of Pittsburgh. According to the United States Census Bureau, the borough has an area of 0.6 square miles.0.5 square miles of it is land and 0.04 square miles of it is water. As of the census of 2000, there were 1,695 people,628 households, the population density was 3,117.2 people per square mile. There were 680 housing units at a density of 1,250.6 per square mile. The racial makeup of the borough was 98. 05% White,0. 53% African American,0. 35% Native American,0. 35% Asian,0. 29% from other races, hispanic or Latino of any race were 1. 12% of the population. 20. 7% of all households were made up of individuals, the average household size was 2.70 and the average family size was 3.12. In the borough the population was out, with 31. 2% under the age of 18,8. 0% from 18 to 24,31. 9% from 25 to 44,18. 1% from 45 to 64. The median age was 32 years, for every 100 females there were 87.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 86.3 males, the median income for a household in the borough was $33,846, and the median income for a family was $38,641. Males had an income of $27,500 versus $20,648 for females. The per capita income for the borough was $13,763, about 8. 6% of families and 11. 8% of the population were below the poverty line, including 18. 0% of those under age 18 and 5. 3% of those age 65 or over
Montgomery, Pennsylvania
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Rail line in Montgomery
Montgomery, Pennsylvania
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Pennsylvania Route 54 east in Montgomery, Pennsylvania
5.
Car classification
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Governments and private organizations have developed car classification schemes that are used for innumerable purposes including regulation, description and categorization, among others. This article details commonly used classification schemes in use worldwide, vehicles can be categorized in numerous ways. Regulatory agencies may also establish a vehicle classification system for determining a tax amount, in the United Kingdom, a vehicle is taxed according to the vehicles construction, engine, weight, type of fuel and emissions, as well as the purpose for which it is used. Other jurisdictions may determine vehicle tax based upon environmental principles, such as the user pays principle, another standard for road vehicles of all types that is used internationally, is ISO 3833-1977. In the United States, since 2010 the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety uses a scheme it has developed that takes into account a combination of both shadow and weight. The United States Federal Highway Administration has developed a scheme used for automatically calculating road use tolls. There are two categories depending on whether the vehicle carries passengers or commodities. Vehicles that carry commodities are further subdivided by number of axles and number of units, the United States Environmental Protection Agency has developed a classification scheme used to compare fuel economy among similar vehicles. Passenger vehicles are classified based on a total interior passenger. Trucks are classified based upon their gross vehicle weight rating, heavy duty vehicles are not included within the EPA scheme. A similar set of classes is used by the Canadian EPA, in Australia, the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries publishes its own classifications. This is a table listing several different methods of vehicle classification. Straddling the boundary between car and motorbike, these vehicles have engines under 1.0 litre, typically only two passengers, and are sometimes unorthodox in construction. Some microcars are three-wheelers, while the majority have four wheels, microcars were popular in post-war Europe, where their appearance led them to be called Bubble cars. More recent microcars are often electric powered, the size of ultracompact cars will be less than minicars, but have engine greater than 50cc displacement and able to transport 1 or 2 persons. Ultracompact cars cannot use standard, because of strict safety standards for minicars. The regulation about running capacity and safety performance of cars will be published in early autumn. Today, there are smaller than ultracompact cars, called category-1 motorized vehicles which it has 50cc displacement or less
Car classification
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Aixam
Car classification
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Citroën C1
Car classification
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Renault Clio IV
Car classification
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Ford Focus (International)
6.
Engine
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An engine or motor is a machine designed to convert one form of energy into mechanical energy. Heat engines burn a fuel to heat, which is then used to create a force. Electric motors convert electrical energy into motion, pneumatic motors use compressed air. In biological systems, molecular motors, like myosins in muscles, use energy to create forces. The word engine derives from Old French engin, from the Latin ingenium–the root of the word ingenious. Pre-industrial weapons of war, such as catapults, trebuchets and battering rams, were called siege engines, the word gin, as in cotton gin, is short for engine. Most mechanical devices invented during the revolution were described as engines—the steam engine being a notable example. However, the steam engines, such as those by Thomas Savery, were not mechanical engines. In this manner, an engine in its original form was merely a water pump. Devices converting heat energy into motion are commonly referred to simply as engines, examples of engines which exert a torque include the familiar automobile gasoline and diesel engines, as well as turboshafts. Examples of engines which produce thrust include turbofans and rockets, the term motor derives from the Latin verb moto which means to set in motion, or maintain motion. Thus a motor is a device that imparts motion, motor and engine later came to be used largely interchangeably in casual discourse. However, technically, the two words have different meanings, however, rocketry uses the term rocket motor, even though they consume fuel. A heat engine may also serve as a prime mover—a component that transforms the flow or changes in pressure of a fluid into mechanical energy. An automobile powered by a combustion engine may make use of various motors and pumps. Another way of looking at it is that a motor receives power from an external source, simple machines, such as the club and oar, are prehistoric. More complex engines using human power, animal power, water power, wind power and these were used in cranes and aboard ships in Ancient Greece, as well as in mines, water pumps and siege engines in Ancient Rome. The writers of those times, including Vitruvius, Frontinus and Pliny the Elder, treat these engines as commonplace, by the 1st century AD, cattle and horses were used in mills, driving machines similar to those powered by humans in earlier times
Engine
–
A V6
internal combustion engine from a
Mercedes car
Engine
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Two 1949 photographs pertaining the
straight-eight engine of a
Rolls-Royce Phantom IV.
Engine
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Boulton & Watt engine of 1788
7.
GM Iron Duke engine
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The Iron Duke Pontiac engine VIN code A is a 2.5 L I4 piston engine. All Iron Dukes were built by Pontiac beginning in 1977 and ending in 1993, after this time, the GM2.2 L OHV 4-cylinder replaced it across the entire lineup of vehicles that offered it. This engine is not to be confused with the Chevrolet 153. 8L bellhousing bolt pattern was phased in, cylinder head design had the intake manifold mounted on the passenger side, and the exhaust manifold on the driver side. This 151 was also used by American Motors starting in 1980, as the engine option in the RWD Spirit and Concord. The AWD Eagle carried the 151 as standard equipment for 1981 and it was also available in economy model Jeep CJs. AMC replaced the Iron Duke 2. 5L I4 with a 150cid Inline-4 derived from their own six, the LS8 was a 151 cu in I4 engine produced for 1979. The LX6 was a 151 cu in I4 engine produced from 1977 to 1978, the LX8 was a 151 cu in I4 engine produced from 1979 to 1980. This version introduced a cylinder head. These engines were 151 cu in I4 engines produced from 1974 to 1992 for Chevrolet Opala and they used only the conventional cylinder heads from the earlier North American models, like the Chevy Novas. Cross-flow cylinder heads were added in mid-1979, leading people to refer to this version as the crossflow, Iron Dukes were fitted with fuel injection in 1982. This version was christened the Tech IV, though Car and Driver later ridiculed it as the low-Tech IV, power output remained at 90 hp. This was replaced by a head with 9.0,1 compression ratio in 1984 for a 2 hp gain. Other additions for 1985 included roller lifters, improved bearings, several significant changes were made in 1987. This revision to the increased power to 98 hp. In 1988, a shaft was added to smooth engine vibrations. Up to this point, the engine incorporated a dogbone upper front engine mount secured to the cowling of the vehicles hood latch, further improvements in later years included new pistons, rods, crankshaft, and an in-pan oiling system. The most powerful variant of the Tech IV raised the rev limit to 5500rpm, the Tech IV uses the same bellhousing pattern as the 2.8 L 60-Degree V6. Over the years, the Tech IV engine has proved to be a workhorse for owners when not pushed to its limits
GM Iron Duke engine
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Tech 4
8.
Transmission (mechanics)
–
A transmission is a machine in a power transmission system, which provides controlled application of the power. Often the term refers simply to the gearbox that uses gears and gear trains to provide speed. In British English, the term refers to the whole drivetrain, including clutch, gearbox, prop shaft, differential. In American English, however, the term more specifically to the gearbox alone. The most common use is in vehicles, where the transmission adapts the output of the internal combustion engine to the drive wheels. Such engines need to operate at a high rotational speed, which is inappropriate for starting, stopping. The transmission reduces the engine speed to the slower wheel speed. Transmissions are also used on bicycles, fixed machines. Often, a transmission has multiple gear ratios with the ability to switch between them as speed varies and this switching may be done manually or automatically. Directional control may also be provided, single-ratio transmissions also exist, which simply change the speed and torque of motor output. The output of the transmission is transmitted via the driveshaft to one or more differentials, while a differential may also provide gear reduction, its primary purpose is to permit the wheels at either end of an axle to rotate at different speeds as it changes the direction of rotation. Conventional gear/belt transmissions are not the mechanism for speed/torque adaptation. Alternative mechanisms include torque converters and power transformation, automatic transmissions use a valve body to shift gears using fluid pressures in conjunction with an ecm. Early transmissions included the right-angle drives and other gearing in windmills, horse-powered devices, and steam engines, in support of pumping, milling, most modern gearboxes are used to increase torque while reducing the speed of a prime mover output shaft. This means that the shaft of a gearbox rotates at a slower rate than the input shaft. A gearbox can be set up to do the opposite and provide an increase in speed with a reduction of torque. Some of the simplest gearboxes merely change the rotational direction of power transmission. Many typical automobile transmissions include the ability to select one of several gear ratios, in this case, most of the gear ratios are used to slow down the output speed of the engine and increase torque
Transmission (mechanics)
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Gears from a five-speed + reverse gearbox from the 1600 Volkswagen Golf (2009).
Transmission (mechanics)
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The main gearbox and rotor of a
Bristol Sycamore helicopter
Transmission (mechanics)
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Tractor transmission with 16 forward and 8 backward gears
Transmission (mechanics)
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Amphicar gearbox cutaway w/optional shift for water going propellers
9.
Wheelbase
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In both road and rail vehicles, the wheelbase is the distance between the centers of the front and rear wheels. For road vehicles with more than two axles, the wheelbase is defined as the distance between the axle and the centerpoint of the driving axle group. In the case of a truck, the wheelbase would be the distance between the steering axle and a point midway between the two rear axles. The wheelbase of a vehicle equals the distance between its front and rear wheels, at equilibrium, the total torque of the forces acting on a vehicle is zero. So, for example, when a truck is loaded, its center of gravity shifts rearward, the amount the vehicle sinks will depend on counter acting forces like the size of the tires, tire pressure, and the stiffness of the suspension. If the vehicle is accelerating or decelerating, extra torque is placed on the rear or front tire respectively, so, as is common experience, when the vehicle accelerates, the rear usually sinks and the front rises depending on the suspension. Likewise, when braking the front noses down and the rear rises, because of the effect the wheelbase has on the weight distribution of the vehicle, wheelbase dimensions are crucial to the balance and steering. For example, a car with a greater weight load on the rear tends to understeer due to the lack of the load on the front tires. This is why it is crucial, when towing a single-axle caravan, likewise, a car may oversteer or even spin out if there is too much force on the front tires and not enough on the rear tires. Also, when turning there is lateral torque placed upon the tires which imparts a turning force that depends upon the length of the distances from the CM. Wheelbases provide the basis for one of the most common vehicle size class systems, some luxury vehicles are offered with long-wheelbase variants to increase the spaciousness and therefore the luxury of the vehicle. Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Tony Blair was given a version of the Rover 75 for official use. In contrast, coupé varieties of vehicles such as the Honda Accord are usually built on shorter wheelbases than the sedans they are derived from. The wheelbase on many commercially available bicycles and motorcycles is so short, relative to the height of their centers of mass, in skateboarding the word wheelbase is used for the distance between the two inner pairs of mounting holes on the deck. This is different from the distance between the centers of the two wheel pairs. A reason for this use is that decks are sold with prefabricated holes. It is therefore easier to use the holes for measuring and describing this characteristic of the deck. A common misconception is that the choice of wheelbase is influenced by the height of the skateboarder, however, the length of the deck would then be a better candidate, because the wheelbase affects characteristics useful in different speeds or terrains regardless of the height of the skateboarder
Wheelbase
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Wheelbase (measured between rotational centers of wheels)
10.
Jeep DJ
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The Dispatcher Jeep, or DJ, was a two-wheel-drive variant of the CJ series. Production started in 1955 by Willys which was renamed Kaiser Jeep in 1963, in 1970, American Motors purchased Kaiser’s money-losing Jeep operations establishing AM General, a wholly owned subsidiary, that built this model through 1983. It was also the light duty automobile to have front drum brakes. The DJ-3A was introduced in 1955 and it used the body style of the older CJ-3A, along with the L-134 engine. Unlike the CJ-3A, it came with either a column shift or floor shift three-speed Borg-Warner T-96 manual transmission and it was offered with many different body options including a soft top, hard top, or even a full van body. This model gained popularity as a fun car at resorts in Hawaii, Mexico and it was finished in pink, green, or blue and trimmed with matching white striped fabric, as well as with fringe on its top. In fall of 1959, a model called the Jeep Surrey was introduced in the US market. The primary target market were resort hotels and vacation centers and it also served as a low-cost rental vehicle for their guests. The Surrey came with a striped fabric top, as well as a matching fabric cover for what was advertised as a Continental tire mount. The DJ-3A was replaced by the right hand drive DJ-5 Dispatcher 100 in 1965 and it was based on the CJ-5 and used the Hurricane and Dauntless engines. A 20-inch longer wheelbase DJ-6 model was built from 1965 to 1973 alongside the CJ-6, the DJ-5A was introduced in 1967, beginning the lettering system indicating changes within the series. The DJ-5A used a standard CJ front end, with a four-cylinder Chevrolet Nova 153 cu in engine, in 1971, this was changed to a unique five-slot grille without turn signals that was used only on postal Jeeps. The 1971 model actually has the grille extend past the front of the hood edge and this allowed more room for the AMC Straight-6 engine and radiator. While resembling the CJ series, these were built as an enclosed, rear-wheel drive vehicle, with sliding doors. Most models only had the seat and a mail tray where the second seat would normally be located. Most models were equipped with a limited slip differential and a heavy-duty steering gearbox. AM General used a variety of powerplants during production, DJ production was ended in 1984 with the DJ-5M, which used the 150 cu in AMC Straight-4 engine. American Motors experimented with electric vehicles and starting in 1974 mass-produced the DJ-5E, the U. S. Postal Service purchased 352 vehicles for the use in cities with serious air pollution
Jeep DJ
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Jeep DJ
Jeep DJ
–
1965 Surrey Gala
Jeep DJ
–
1964 Surrey Gala
11.
United States of America
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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
United States of America
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Native Americans meeting with Europeans, 1764
United States of America
–
Flag
United States of America
–
The signing of the
Mayflower Compact, 1620.
United States of America
–
The
Declaration of Independence: the
Committee of Five presenting their draft to the
Second Continental Congress in 1776
12.
Mail truck
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A mail truck, mail van, or mail lorry is a delivery vehicle that is used to distribute mail. In shape, the Post-office van is like a prison-van, in colour it is a mixture of black and red. Something of the hearse also mingles in its composition, and something of the omnibus, some of these vans were of the Brougham type. In the 1880s the General Post Office began hiring larger enclosed box vans from McNamara & Company and these vans had elliptical spring front suspension, semi-elliptical spring rear suspension, a double driving seat, and mail coach style headlamps. These were frequently called mail coaches, although unlike actual mail coaches they carried no passengers, at least six regular long-distance, i. e. not just to and from local railway stations, mail van services out of London existed in the late 19th century. A London-to-Chatham mail van service ran until the summer of 1908, during World War II such horse-drawn McNamara mail vans were reintroduced, because of petrol rationing, but only for local work. These vans were drawn by a horse, had pneumatic tyres. A few of them were still in service in the early 1950s, horse-drawn mail vans were replaced by automotive mail vans. For example, over almost two decades the U. K, General Post Office purchased 50,000 Morris Minor light commercial vehicles for use as either mail vans or telephone engineer vans. These Morris Minor vans became a sight, and at least one survived until 1982 to sport the livery of British Telecom. The GPO vehicles were special order vehicles, and not quite the same as the commercial Morris Minor LCVs, the early series vans had one seat, no heater, and headlamps fitted to the front of the vehicle on rubber wings. Later series adhered closely to conventional LCV norms, but differences remained. The Series III GPO Morris Minor van, for example, had a Yale lock on the drivers door, similarly, in the United States automotive mail vans used by the United States Postal Service were modified commercial vehicles. In total,400 such mail vans were built on the 1929 Model A chassis,400 on the 1929 Model AA chassis,1,000 on the 1931 Model A chassis, and 2,500 on the 1931 Model AA chassis. One such 1931 Ford Model A mail van can be exhibited in the National Postal Museum in Washington. The first door to door mail truck was manufactured by the Twin Coach Company of Kent, Ohio, the mail van used by the USPS for local deliveries since the late-1980s is the Grumman LLV. LLV stands for Long Life Vehicle and this is a custom-made mail van manufactured by Grumman Corporation, whose US$1.1 billion contract with the USPS was for 99,150 vehicles in 1986. They were originally intended to last for 24 years, three times the lifetime of the mail vans that they replaced, production of the LLV began in April 1987 in Grummans plant in Montgomery, Pennsylvania
Mail truck
–
USPS service delivery truck in a
residential area of
San Francisco, California
Mail truck
–
Canada Post large van
Mail truck
–
Canada Post LLV
Mail truck
–
Hong Kong Post Speedpost van
13.
Chevrolet S-10 Blazer
–
See also Chevrolet Blazer The Chevrolet Blazer and the similar GMC S-15 Jimmy are mid-size SUVs from Chevrolet and GMC respectively. Production began alongside the larger K5 Blazer and Jimmy in 1982, in the United States retail sales of two-door Blazer models ceased in 2004, all other models were sold until April 20,2005. In the Canadian market, four-door models of the Blazer and Jimmy were sold until the 2004 model year, however, the Blazer continues to be produced. Upon the introduction of the S-10 pickup truck in 1982 to replace the Isuzu-based Chevrolet LUV, styling cues were based on the first generation K5 Blazer and Jimmy, the S-series Blazer and Jimmy did not feature removable hardtops like their full-size counterparts. Notably, the new, smaller Blazer and Jimmy were only offered in a two-door bodystyle, base power was provided by GMs 2.0 L OHV four-cylinder engine, producing 83 hp. A2.8 L,110 hp V6 was offered as an option, the 1. 9-,2. 0- and 2. 2-liter diesel were dropped after 1985, replaced by the larger 2. 5-liter engine. The V6 was refitted with a fuel injection system for 1986 in order to improve performance. Jeep replaced the Cherokees 2.8 V6 with a new, to keep competitive, the Blazer and Jimmy received a new 4.3 L V6 option in 1988, based on the ubiquitous Chevrolet Small-Block V8 engine, producing a respectable 150 hp. Power output was increased to 160 hp in 1989, the 2. 8L was discontinued in 1990 for the Blazer and Jimmy where the 4. 3L became the de facto base motor, and a 5-speed manual transmission was added to the option list, replacing the Borg-Warner T5. In March 1990, 4-door versions of the S-10 Blazer and Jimmy were introduced as a 1991 model, the 4-door had a 6. 5in longer wheelbase and a one-piece front grille with a painted black insert. This new grille also did away with the separate metal filler panel under the grille, since the grille is taller, early production models between March and August 1990 were initially available as a four-wheel drive only, 2WD versions commenced production around Summer 1990. This came just months ahead of the introduction of the Ford Explorer, snowflake alloy wheels were introduced, either painted charcoal gray or argent silver. The upscale Oldsmobile Bravada appeared the year featuring an All-Wheel-Drive package called Smart-Trak. 1992 models were similar to 1991s - the only way to tell the difference is the back glass. The interior was a carryover from 1991 with the exception of the center console, also, the S-15 name was dropped from the Jimmy. The S10 Blazer also introduced an upscale Tahoe trim package, the Tahoe LT, the Tahoe LT had its own exterior décor with faded lower body lines on the lower rockers along with Tahoe LT badges - this also included an overhead console and keyless remote door locks). 1992 was the first model year where the S10 Blazer and Jimmy offered an NP233 electronic transfer case for as a drive train option. The fuel lines, which were routed on the side frame rail to the TBI fuel injectors, were redesigned where the fuel inlets entered the rear of the engine
Chevrolet S-10 Blazer
–
Chevrolet Blazer/GMC Jimmy
Chevrolet S-10 Blazer
–
First generation
Chevrolet S-10 Blazer
–
GMC S-15 Jimmy 2-door
Chevrolet S-10 Blazer
–
1983–1990 Chevrolet S-10 Blazer 2-door
14.
General Motors Corporation
–
With global headquarters at the Renaissance Center in Detroit, Michigan, United States, GM manufactures cars and trucks in 35 countries. In 2008,8.35 million GM cars and trucks were sold globally under various brands, current auto brands are Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, GMC, Holden, and Wuling. Former GM automotive brands include McLaughlin, Oakland, Oldsmobile, Pontiac, Hummer, Saab, Saturn, Vauxhall, the company was founded by William C. Durant on September 16,1908 as a holding company. The company was the largest automobile manufacturer from 1931 through 2007, in addition to brands selling assembled vehicles, GM also has had various automotive-component and non-automotive brands, many of which it divested in the 1980s through 2000s. General Motors produces vehicles in 37 countries under twelve brands, Chevrolet, Buick, GMC, Cadillac, Holden, HSV, Opel, Vauxhall, Wuling, Baojun, Jie Fang, and Ravon. The current company, General Motors Company LLC, was formed in 2009 following the bankruptcy of General Motors Corporation, the new company purchased the majority of the assets of the old GM, including the brand General Motors. In addition to its twelve brands, General Motors also holds a 20% stake in IMM, General Motors employs 212,000 people and does business in more than 140 countries. General Motors is divided into five segments, GM North America, Opel Group, GM International Operations, GM South America. General Motors led global vehicle sales for 77 consecutive years from 1931 through 2007, longer any other automaker. General Motors acts in most countries outside the U. S. via wholly owned subsidiaries, GMs OnStar subsidiary provides vehicle safety, security and information services. In 2009, General Motors shed several brands, closing Saturn, Pontiac, and Hummer, in 2010, the reorganized GM made an initial public offering that was one of the worlds top five largest IPOs to date, and returned to profitability later that year. General Motors Corporation was formed on September 16,1908, in Flint, Michigan, GMs co-founder was Charles Stewart Mott, whose carriage company was merged into Buick prior to GMs creation. Over the years, Mott became the largest single stockholder in GM, and spent his life with his Mott Foundation, GM acquired Oldsmobile later that year. In 1909, Durant brought in Cadillac, Elmore, Oakland, also in 1909, GM acquired the Reliance Motor Truck Company of Owosso, Michigan, and the Rapid Motor Vehicle Company of Pontiac, Michigan, the predecessors of GMC Truck. Durant, along with R. S. McLaughlin, lost control of GM in 1910 to a bankers trust, because of the amount of debt taken on in its acquisitions. The next year, Durant started the Chevrolet Motor Car Company in the U. S. and in Canada in 1915, Durant took back control of the company after one of the most dramatic proxy wars in American business history. Durant then reorganized General Motors Company into General Motors Corporation in 1916, merging Chevrolet with GM, shortly thereafter, he again lost control, this time for good, after the new vehicle market collapsed. These facilities were added to the factories that were exclusive to Cadillac, Buick, Oldsmobile, Oakland
General Motors Corporation
–
The
GM Renaissance Center in
Detroit, Michigan.
General Motors Corporation
–
General Motors Company
General Motors Corporation
–
The longest-lived continuous automobile nameplate still in production in the world is the
Chevrolet Suburban [
citation needed]
General Motors Corporation
–
GM World Headquarters in Detroit
15.
Dashboard
–
A dashboard is a control panel located directly ahead of a vehicles driver, displaying instrumentation and controls for the vehicles operation. However, as car design evolved to position the motor in front of the driver, in 1937, Chrysler, Dodge, DeSoto, and Plymouth cars came with a safety dashboard that was flat, raised above knee height, and had all the controls mounted flush. Padded dashboards were advocated in the 1930s by car safety pioneer Claire L. Straith, in 1948, the Tucker became the first car with a padded dashboard. One of the safety enhancements of the 1970s was the adoption of padded dashboards. The padding is commonly polyurethane foam, while the surface is commonly either polyvinyl chloride or leather in the case of luxury models, in the early and mid-1990s, airbags became a standard feature of steering wheels and dashboards. Sunlight could cause a bright glare on the chrome, particularly for a convertible. With the advent of the VFD, LED and LCD in consumer electronics, some manufacturers used instruments with digital readouts to make their cars appear more up to date, but this has faded from practice. Some cars use a display to project the speed of the car onto the windscreen in imitation of fighter aircraft. In recent years, spurred on by the growing use of dash kits. One prominent example of this is the Chevrolet Sonic which offers both exterior and interior cosmetic upgrades, in addition to OEM dashboard trim and upgrades a number of companies offer domed polyurethane or vinyl applique dash trim accent kits or dash kits. Manufacturers such as BMW, Honda, Toyota and Mercedes-Benz have included fuel-economy gauges in some instrument clusters, the ammeter was the gauge of choice for monitoring the state of the charging system until the 1970s. Later it was replaced by the voltmeter
Dashboard
–
The dashboard of a
Bentley Continental GTC car
Dashboard
–
A
Suzuki Hayabusa motorcycle dash
Dashboard
–
Dashboard instruments displaying various car and engine conditions
Dashboard
–
Stylised dashboard from a 1980s
Lancia Beta
16.
Chevrolet S-10
–
The Chevrolet S-10 is a compact pickup truck that is produced by Chevrolet. It was the first compact pickup of the big three American automakers, when it was first introduced in 1982, the GMC version was known as the S-15 and later renamed the GMC Sonoma. A high-performance version was released in 1991 and given the name of GMC Syclone, the pickup was also sold by Isuzu as the Hombre from 1996 through 2000, but only in North America. There was also an SUV version, the Chevrolet S-10 Blazer/GMC S-15 Jimmy, an electric version was leased as a fleet vehicle in 1997 and 1998. Together, these pickups are referred to as the S-series. In North America, the S-series was replaced by the Chevrolet Colorado, GMC Canyon, the S-Series ended production in Brazil in 2012, being replaced by the Chevrolet Colorado, but still with the name S-10. The first compact truck from the big three automakers was the rebadged Isuzu KB sold since 1972 as the Chevrolet LUV, the 1973 Arab oil embargo forced GM to consider designing a domestically produced compact pickup truck. As usual, parts from other GM chassis lines were incorporated, the first S-series pickups were introduced in 1982. The base engine was a 1. 9L Isuzu 4 cylinder shared with the LUV, the Chevrolet and GMC models were identical apart from the grille, tailgate and assorted insignia. An extended cab and Insta-Trac four-wheel drive were added the year along with two new engines - a 2. 0L sourced from the J-platform automobiles along with an Isuzu 2. 2L diesel). Track width was similar to the former GM H-body subcompacts, the sport utility S-10 Blazer and S-15 Jimmy debuted in 1983, GM was the second to introduce compact sport utilities, behind Jeep but ahead of Ford. This occurred again where 4-door variants were introduced in March 1990 as 1991 models alongside the badge-engineered Oldsmobile Bravada. The OHV-derived 2.2 L diesel engine and 1.9 L SOHC gas engine, a much-welcomed 4.3 L V6 was added for 1988, and anti-lock brakes came the next year. The GMC S-15 became the GMC Sonoma in 1991, and the Sierra trim packages were dropped to avoid confusion with the new GMC Sierra full-size pickup, the GMC Syclone also appeared that year. The Sonoma GT bowed in 1992, added to this was the 4.3 L V6 Vortec W code engine. This generations last year was 1993, the Vortec has a balance shaft, roller lifters, different heads, and Central Port Injection. The 1992 and 1993 engine came in either a 195 hp or 205 hp rating, the trucks came in 3 colors, Midnight Black, Apple Red and Frost White. Extra cost Baja options included, a cargo-net end-gate, aluminum outlaw wheels, in 1991 the S10 Bajas came with special BAJA embroidered red and grey bucket seats and unique red door panel trim
Chevrolet S-10
–
Chevrolet S-10
Chevrolet S-10
–
First generation
Chevrolet S-10
–
1991-1993 GMC Sonoma ST extended cab
Chevrolet S-10
–
1982–1990 Chevrolet S-10 single cab
17.
Canada Post
–
Canada Post Corporation, known more simply as Canada Post, is the crown corporation which functions as the countrys primary postal operator. Originally known as Royal Mail Canada, rebranding was done to the “Canada Post” name in the late 1960s, on October 16,1981, the Canada Post Corporation Act came into effect. This abolished the Post Office Department and created the present day Crown corporation which provides postal service, the act aimed to set a new direction for the postal service by ensuring the postal services financial security and independence. Canada Post provided service to more than 15.8 million addresses and delivered almost 9 billion items in 2015, Delivery takes place via traditional to the door service by 25,000 letter carriers, through a 13,000 vehicle fleet. There are more than 6,200 post offices across the country, in terms of area serviced, Canada Post delivers to a larger area than the postal service of any other nation, including Russia. As of 2004, nearly 843,000 rural Canadian customers received residential mail delivery services, Canada Post operates as a group of companies called The Canada Post Group. It employs approximately 64,000 full and part-time employees to deliver a range of delivery, logistics. The Corporation holds an interest in Purolator Courier, Innovapost, Progistix-Solutions, in 2000, Canada Post created a company called Epost, allowed customers to receive their bill online for free. Canada Post is the Federal Identity Program name, the legal name is Canada Post Corporation in English and Société canadienne des postes in French. On August 3,1527 in St. Johns, Newfoundland, while in St. Johns, John Rut wrote a letter to King Henry VIII about his findings and planned voyage. Mail delivery within Canada first started in 1693 when the Portuguese born Pedro da Silva was paid to deliver mail between Quebec City and Montreal, official postal services began in 1775, under the control of the British Government up to 1851. The first postage stamp went into circulation in Canada that same year and it was not until 1867 when the newly formed Dominion of Canada created the Post Office Department as a federal government department headed by a Cabinet minister, the Postmaster General of Canada. The Act took effect April 1,1868, providing postal service throughout the newly established country. Prior to rural mail delivery, many Canadians living outside major cities, on 10 October 1908, the first free rural mail delivery service was instituted in Canada. The extension of residential mail delivery services to all rural Canadian residents was an achievement for the Post Office Department. The Post Office Department was a pioneer of airmail delivery, with the first airmail flight taking place on June 24,1918. They had with them the first bag of mail to be delivered by air in Canada, wind and rain buffetted the small plane and forced it to make refuelling stops at Kingston and Deseronto. Finally, at 4,55 p. m. Peck, the flight had been arranged by a civilian organization, the Aerial League of the British Empire, to demonstrate that aviation was the way of the future
Canada Post
–
Canada Post
LLV, seen in
Montreal,
Quebec.
Canada Post
–
Through the 1960s, the Royal Mail brand was replaced,
Canada Post
–
by Canada Post.
Canada Post
–
Vancouver Canada Post Office during the
2010 Winter Olympics.
18.
Montreal
–
Montreal, officially Montréal, is the most populous municipality in the Canadian province of Quebec and the 2nd-most populous in Canada as a whole. Originally called Ville-Marie, or City of Mary, it is believed to be named after Mount Royal, the city has a distinct four-season continental climate, with warm-to-hot summers and cold, snowy winters. In 2016, Montreal had a population of 1,704,694, Montreals metropolitan area had a population of 4,098,927 and a population of 1,958,257 in the urban agglomeration, with all of the municipalities on the Island of Montreal included. Legally a French-speaking city,60. 5% of Montrealers speak French at home,21. 2% speak English and 19. 8% speak neither, Montreal is one of the most bilingual cities in Quebec and Canada, with 56% of the population able to speak both official languages. Montreal is the second-largest primarily French-speaking city in the world after Paris, historically the commercial capital of Canada, it was surpassed in population and economic strength by Toronto in the 1970s. It remains an important centre of commerce, aerospace, finance, pharmaceuticals, technology, design, education, culture, tourism, gaming, film, Montreal was also named a UNESCO City of Design. In 2009, Montreal was named North Americas leading host city for international events, according to the 2009 preliminary rankings of the International Congress. According to the 2015 Global Liveability Ranking by the Economist Intelligence Unit, in the 2017 edition of their Best Student Cities ranking, Quacquarelli Symonds ranked Montreal as the worlds best city to study abroad. Also, Montreal has 11 universities with 170,000 students enrolled, the Greater Montréal region has the highest number of university students per capita among all metropolitan areas in North America. It is the only Canadian city to have held the Summer Olympics, currently, the city hosts the Canadian Grand Prix of Formula One, the Montreal International Jazz Festival and the Just for Laughs festival. In 2012, Montreal was ranked as a Beta+ world city, in Kanien’kéha, or Mohawk language, the island is called Tiohtià, ke Tsi or Ka-wé-no-te. In Anishinaabemowin, or Ojibwe language, the land is called Mooniyaang, though the city was first named by French colonizers Ville Marie, or City of Mary, its current name comes from Mount Royal, the triple-peaked hill in the heart of the city. The most popular theory is that the name derives from Mont Réal, Cartiers 1535 diary entry, naming the mountain, according to the Commission de toponymie du Québec and the Geographical Names Board of Canada, Canadian place names have only one official form. Thus, Montreal is officially spelled with an accent over the e in both English and French. In practice, this is limited to governmental uses. English-speaking Montrealers, including English-language media, regularly omit the accent when writing in English, archaeological evidence demonstrates that First Nations native people occupied the island of Montreal as early as 4,000 years ago. By the year AD1000, they had started to cultivate maize, within a few hundred years, they had built fortified villages. Archeologists have found evidence of their habitation there and at locations in the valley since at least the 14th century
Montreal
–
Clockwise from top:
Downtown Montreal as seen from the
Champlain Bridge;
McGill University;
Saint Joseph's Oratory; the
Old Montreal featuring the
Montreal Clock Tower and the
Jacques Cartier Bridge during the
Montreal Fireworks Festival; a view of the
Notre-Dame Basilica from
Place d'Armes; and the
Olympic Stadium.
Montreal
–
The Montreal Harbour in 1889.
Montreal
–
Saint Jacques Street (formerly St. James Street), in 1910
Montreal
–
Bonsecours Market in autumn.
19.
Quebec
–
Quebec is the second-most populous province of Canada and the only one to have a predominantly French-speaking population, with French as the sole provincial official language. Quebec is Canadas largest province by area and its second-largest administrative division and it also shares maritime borders with Nunavut, Prince Edward Island, and Nova Scotia. Quebec is Canadas second-most populous province, after Ontario, most inhabitants live in urban areas near the Saint Lawrence River between Montreal and Quebec City, the capital. Approximately half of Quebec residents live in the Greater Montreal Area, the Nord-du-Québec region, occupying the northern half of the province, is sparsely populated and inhabited primarily by Aboriginal peoples. Even in central Quebec at comparatively southerly latitudes winters are severe in inland areas, Quebec independence debates have played a large role in the politics of the province. Parti Québécois governments held referendums on sovereignty in 1980 and 1995, in 2006, the House of Commons of Canada passed a symbolic motion recognizing the Québécois as a nation within a united Canada. These many industries have all contributed to helping Quebec become an economically influential province within Canada, early variations in the spelling of the name included Québecq and Kébec. French explorer Samuel de Champlain chose the name Québec in 1608 for the colonial outpost he would use as the seat for the French colony of New France. The province is sometimes referred to as La belle province, the Province of Quebec was founded in the Royal Proclamation of 1763 after the Treaty of Paris formally transferred the French colony of Canada to Britain after the Seven Years War. The proclamation restricted the province to an area along the banks of the Saint Lawrence River, the Treaty of Versailles ceded territories south of the Great Lakes to the United States. After the Constitutional Act of 1791, the territory was divided between Lower Canada and Upper Canada, with each being granted an elected legislative assembly, in 1840, these become Canada East and Canada West after the British Parliament unified Upper and Lower Canada into the Province of Canada. This territory was redivided into the Provinces of Quebec and Ontario at Confederation in 1867, each became one of the first four provinces. In 1898, the Canadian Parliament passed the first Quebec Boundary Extension Act that expanded the provincial boundaries northward to include the lands of the aboriginal peoples. This was followed by the addition of the District of Ungava through the Quebec Boundaries Extension Act of 1912 that added the northernmost lands of the Inuit to create the modern Province of Quebec. In 1927, the border between Quebec and Newfoundland and Labrador was established by the British Judicial Committee of the Privy Council. Located in the part of Canada, and part of Central Canada. Its topography is very different from one region to another due to the composition of the ground, the climate. The Saint Lawrence Lowland and the Canadian Shield are the two main regions, and are radically different
Quebec
–
The arrival of
Samuel de Champlain, the father of
New France, on the site of
Quebec City.
Quebec
–
Flag
Quebec
–
Michel's falls on
Ashuapmushuan River in
Saint-Félicien,
Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean.
Quebec
–
View of
Jacques-Cartier River from Andante mountain.
20.
Mail
–
The mail or post is a system for physically transporting documents and other small packages, or, the postcards, letters, and parcels themselves. A postal service can be private or public, though many governments place restrictions on private systems, since the mid-19th century national postal systems have generally been established as government monopolies with a fee on the article prepaid. Proof of payment is often in the form of adhesive postage stamps, modern private postal systems are typically distinguished from national postal agencies by the names courier or delivery service. Postal authorities often have other than transporting letters. In some countries, a postal, telegraph and telephone service oversees the system, in addition to telephone. Some countries postal systems allow for savings accounts and handle applications for passports, the Universal Postal Union, established in 1874, includes 192 member countries and sets the rules for international mail exchanges. The word mail comes from the Medieval English word male, referring to a bag or pack. It was spelled that way until the 17th century, and is distinct from the word male, the French have a similar word, malle for a trunk or large box, and mála is the Irish term for a bag. In the 17th century, the mail began to appear as a reference for a bag that contained letters. Over the next hundred years the word began to be applied strictly to the letters themselves. The U. S. Postal Service delivers the mail, the term email first appeared in the 1970s. The term snail-mail is a retronym to distinguish it from the quicker email, various dates have been given for its first use. Post is derived from Medieval French poste, which stems from the past participle of the Latin verb ponere. The practice of communication by written documents carried by an intermediary from one person or place to another almost certainly dates back nearly to the invention of writing, however, development of formal postal systems occurred much later. The earliest surviving piece of mail is also Egyptian, dating to 255 BC, the first credible claim for the development of a real postal system comes from Ancient Persia, but the point of invention remains in question. He also negotiated with neighbouring countries to do the same and had built from the city of Post in Western Iran all the way up to the city of Hakha in the East. Other writers credit his successor Darius I of Persia, other sources claim much earlier dates for an Assyrian postal system, with credit given to Hammurabi and Sargon II. Mail may not have been the mission of this postal service
Mail
–
Postal wagons at the postal sorting facility in
Sion, Switzerland. Mail between regional cities is transported by rail, to be delivered by postal bus, vans and cycles at a local level.
Mail
–
Many early post systems consisted of fixed courier routes. Here, a post house on a postal route in the 19th century
Finland
Mail
–
The use of the
Scinde Dawk adhesive stamps to signify the prepayment of postage began on 1 July 1852 in the
Scinde /
Sindh district, as part of a comprehensive reform of the district's postal system.
Mail
–
Early stamps of
India were
watermarked with an elephant's head.
21.
Letter box
–
A letter box, letterbox, letter plate, letter hole, mail slot or mailbox is a receptacle for receiving incoming mail at a private residence or business. For the opposite purpose of collecting outgoing mail, a post box is used instead. This style is almost universal in British homes and offices, most are covered by a flap or seal on the outside for weatherproofing. The flap may be closed by gravity, or sprung to prevent it opening and closing noisily in the wind, some letterboxes also have a second flap on the inside to provide further protection from the elements. There may also be a cage or box mounted on the inside of the door to receive the delivered mail. Mail slots are limited to receiving incoming mail, as most have no provision for securing and protecting outgoing mail for pickup by the mail carrier, wall-mounted or attached mailboxes may also be used in place of mail slots, usually located close to the front door of the residence. They are known as full-service mailboxes when they have provisions for securing outgoing as well as incoming mail, attached wall-mounted mailboxes are still used in older urban and suburban neighbourhoods in North America. They are especially common in urban and suburban areas of Canada, attached mailboxes are less common in newer urban and suburban developments and in rural areas of the United States, where curbside delivery or delivery to a community mail station is generally used. Rural and some areas of North America may utilize curbside mailboxes. In the US and Canada, rural curbside mailboxes may be grouped together at property boundaries or road/driveway intersections. A number of designs of letterboxes and mailboxes have been patented, various privacy, theft-protection, vandalism resistance and corrosion-resistance test requirements This Standard is voluntary. Although the Standard was due for a review after 5 years in 2007, this did not happen. In April 2013 the amended Standard BS EN13724,2013 was finally published, however, the essential amendments were not included again and the interests of security, energy saving and wellbeing of the public were not addressed. Wall-mounted mailboxes equipped with a slot must have a slot opening measurement not less than 13.5 cm by 4 cm and the slot located on or near the top of the box. The signal device must rise above the mailbox and be visible at a distance, the US Post Office has established guidelines for mail recipients, including mail slot or mailbox size, location, and identification requirements. In 1978, seven years after the establishment of the restructured US Postal Service, currently, US curbside mailboxes are classified as Traditional, Contemporary, or Locking. Traditional or Contemporary non-locking curbside mailboxes are approved in three sizes - No,3, measured by minimum interior dimensions. The largest acceptable curbside mailbox is the No,3, which measures 22.81 inches long,11 inches wide, and 15 inches in height at the peak
Letter box
–
A mail slot letterbox, located in the middle of the door.
Letter box
–
A cast-iron mail slot letter box
Letter box
–
An attached or wall-mount letterbox.
Letter box
–
Community letter box station in France
22.
Left-hand drive
–
This is so fundamental to traffic flow that it is sometimes referred to as the rule of the road. About two-thirds of the population use RHT, with the remaining 76 countries and territories using LHT. Countries that use LHT account for about a sixth of the worlds area, in the early 1900s some countries including Canada, Spain, and Brazil had different rules in different parts of the country. During the 1900s many countries standardised within their jurisdictions, and changed from LHT to RHT, in 1919,104 of the worlds territories were LHT and an equal number were RHT. From 1919 to 1986,34 of the LHT territories switched to RHT, many of the countries with LHT are former British colonies in the Caribbean, Southern Africa, Southeast Asia, Australia, and New Zealand. Japan, Thailand, Nepal, Bhutan, Mozambique, Suriname, East Timor, in Europe, only four countries still drive on the left, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Malta, and Cyprus, all of which are islands. Nearly all countries use one side or the other throughout their entire territory, most exceptions are due to historical considerations and involve islands with no road connection to the main part of a country. China is RHT except the Special Administrative Regions of China of Hong Kong, the United States is RHT except the United States Virgin Islands. The United Kingdom is LHT, but its overseas territories of Gibraltar, according to the International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea, water traffic is RHT. For aircraft the US Federal Aviation Regulations provide for passing on the right, light rail vehicles generally operate on the same side as other road traffic in the country. Many countries use RHT for automobiles but LHT for trains, often because of the influence of the British on early railway systems, in some countries rail traffic remained LHT after automobile traffic switched to RHT, for example in China, Brazil, and Argentina. However, France, Belgium, and Switzerland have used RHT for automobiles since their introduction, there is no technical reason to prefer one side over the other. Ancient Greek, Egyptian, and Roman troops kept to the left when marching, in 1998, archaeologists found a well-preserved double track leading to a Roman quarry near Swindon. The first reference in English law to an order for LHT was in 1756, northcote Parkinson, believed that ancient travellers on horseback or on foot generally kept to the left, since most people were right handed. If two men riding on horseback were to start a fight, each would edge toward the left, in the year 1300, Pope Boniface VIII directed pilgrims to keep left. In the late 1700s, traffic in the United States was RHT based on use of large freight wagons pulled by several pairs of horses. The wagons had no seat, so a postilion sat on the left rear horse. Seated on the left, the driver preferred that other wagons pass him on the left so that he could be sure to keep clear of the wheels of oncoming wagons, in France, traditionally foot traffic had kept right, while carriage traffic kept left
Left-hand drive
–
A sign on
Australia 's
Great Ocean Road reminding foreign motorists to keep left. Such signs are placed at the exit of parking areas associated with scenic views, where other road traffic may at times be sparse.
Left-hand drive
–
Right-hand traffic
Left-hand drive
–
One of many road signs in the British county of
Kent placed on the right-hand side of the road.
Left-hand drive
–
The change of traffic directions at the Laos–Thai border takes place on Lao territory just off the
Thai–Lao Friendship Bridge.
23.
Curb (road)
–
A curb, or kerb, is the edge where a raised sidewalk or road median/central reservation meets a street or other roadway. Previously, small wooden bollards had been put up to demarcate the area of the reserved for pedestrian use. The Corporation was also responsible for the regular upkeep of the roads, including their cleaning and repair. With the introduction of macadam roads in the early 19th-century, curbs became ubiquitous in the streets of London, curbs may fulfill any or several of a number of functions. They separate the road from the roadside, and discourage drivers from parking or driving on sidewalks and they also provide structural support to the pavement edge. Curbs can be used to channel water from rain or melted snow. There is also an aspect, in that curbs look formal. Since curbs add to the cost of a road, they are limited to urban and suburban areas. Curbs are not universally used, however, even in urban settings, in low-speed environments, curbs are effective at channeling motor vehicle traffic. On higher speed roads, curbs should not be used because they can destabilize vehicles that strike them, a high-speed vehicle that hits a curb may actually turn towards the sidewalk, rather than be directed away from it. A vehicle that strikes a curb can be tripped into a crash or vaulted into the air. The vehicle could be vaulted over a barrier into the object the barrier is intended to shield. This is a reason why they are used on rural or high speed roads. Where curb is used with a barrier, the barrier should either be close to or well behind the curb. Depending on the area and the distance between the travel lane and the edge of pavement, a line can be used to indicate the outside edge of the road. Retroreflective road marking material can also be applied to the curb itself to make it more conspicuous, there are a number of types of curb, categorized by shape, material, height, and whether the curb is combined with a gutter. Most curb is constructed separately from the pavement, and the gutter is formed at the joint between the roadway and the curb, combined curb and gutter has a concrete curb and gutter cast together in one piece. Integral curb is curbing constructed integrally as a part of a concrete pavement, curbs often have a vertical or nearly-vertical face, also called barrier, non-mountable, or insurmountable curb
Curb (road)
–
Curb,
gutter, and
storm drain
Curb (road)
–
East India House,
Leadenhall Street, London, 1766. The sidewalk was separated from the main street by six bollards in front of the building. By the late 18th century, this method had largely been supplanted by the use of curbs.
Curb (road)
–
Metal forms before the concrete is poured and finished by hand
Curb (road)
–
Old sidewalk with granite curb in
Kutná Hora
24.
Post box
–
A post box is a physical box into which members of the public can deposit outgoing mail intended for collection by the agents of a countrys postal service. The term post box can also refer to a letter box for incoming mail. In 1653, the first post boxes are believed to have been installed in, by 1829, post boxes were in use throughout France. The first public post boxes in Poland were installed in Warsaw in 1842, a post box originally installed in the wall of the Wakefield Post Office is dated 1809 and believed to be the oldest example in Britain. It is now on display at the new Wakefield Museum, in the British Isles, the first red pillar post boxes were erected in Jersey in 1852. Roadside wall boxes first appeared in 1857 as an alternative to pillar boxes. In 1853 the first pillar box in the United Kingdom was installed at Botchergate, in 1856, Richard Redgrave of the Department of Science and Art designed an ornate pillar box for use in London and other large cities. In 1859 the design was improved, and this became the first National Standard pillar box, green was adopted as the standard colour for the early Victorian post boxes. Between 1866 and 1879 the hexagonal Penfold post box became the design for pillar boxes. The first boxes to be painted red were in London in July 1874, in 2012 to celebrate Olympic gold medals for Team GB, selected boxes are painted gold. One has been vandalised briefly with graffiti, one has been painted in the wrong town. The first public letter boxes in Russia appeared in 1848 in St. Petersburg and they were made of wood and iron. Because these boxes were lightweight and easy to steal, they disappeared frequently, later boxes were made of cast iron, the post box arrived in the late 19th century Hong Kong and were made of wood. In the 1890s, metal pillar box appeared in Hong Kong, from the 1890s to 1997 the boxes were painted red and after 1997 were painted green. The United States Post Office Department began installing public mail collection boxes in the 1850s outside post offices and on street corners in large Eastern cities. U. S. collection boxes were designed to be hung or supported. By the 1880s, these boxes were made of heavy cast iron to deter theft or vandalism. As mail volume grew, the Post Office Department gradually replaced pillar mailboxes with larger free-standing models, Mail collection box was first suggested in 1894, following the successful use of such designs in Canada, and quickly became a fixture on U. S. city street corners
Post box
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Postbox of the
Russian Post in Moscow.
Post box
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A British Lamp Box post box of the 1940 pattern at
Denvilles,
Havant, Hampshire.
Post box
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First Paris street letter box from c.1850
Post box
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A public (though unconventional) post box in Japan shaped as tea caddy
25.
Turning radius
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The turning radius of a vehicle is the radius of the smallest circular turn that the vehicle is capable of making. The term turning radius is a term that has become popular automotive jargon. In the jargon sense, it is used to mean the full diameter of the smallest circle. The less ambiguous term turning circle avoids the mistaken jargon use of the word radius, as an example, Motor Trend refers to a curb-to-curb turning circle of a 2008 Cadillac CTS as 35.5 feet. But the terminology is not yet settled, autoChannel. com refers to turning radius of the same car as 35.5 feet. It is often used as a generalized term rather than a numerical figure, for example, a vehicle with a very small turning circle may be described as having a tight turning radius. Two different measurements can be quoted for a vehicle, a curb or curb-to-curb turning circle will show the straight-line distance from one side of the circle to the other, through the center. The name curb-to-curb indicates that a street would have to be this wide before this car can make a u-turn and not hit a street curb with a wheel. If you took the street curb and built it higher, as high as the car, the name wall or wall-to-wall turning circle denotes how far apart the two walls would have to be to allow a u-turn without scraping the walls. One can find these two ways of measuring the turning circle used in auto specifications, for example, a van might be listed as having a circle of 12. 1/12.4. In this case the vehicle is referred to as a turning radius vehicle. Aeroplanes Watercraft Wheeled vehicles Breakover angle Minimum railway curve radius Overhang U-turn Grounds Maintenance Magazine Article about Zero Radius Lawn Mowers
Turning radius
–
Turning radius of a passenger car - wall-to-wall radius at the top, taking the
front overhang into consideration, and curb-to-curb radius at the bottom.
26.
License plates
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A vehicle registration plate, also known as a number plate or a license plate, is metal or plastic plate attached to a motor vehicle or trailer for official identification purposes. The registration identifier is a numeric or alphanumeric ID that uniquely identifies the owner within the issuing regions database. The first two letters indicate the state to which the vehicle is registered, the next two digit numbers are the sequential number of a district. Due to heavy volume of vehicle registration, the numbers were given to the RTO offices of registration as well, the third part indicates the year of registration of the vehicle and is a 4 digit number unique to each plate. In some countries, the identifier is unique within the entire country, whether the identifier is associated with a vehicle or a person also varies by issuing agency. In the vast majority of jurisdictions, the government holds a monopoly on the manufacturing of vehicle registration plates for that jurisdiction. Thus, it is illegal for private citizens to make and affix their own plates. Alternately, the government will merely assign plate numbers, and it is the owners responsibility to find an approved private supplier to make a plate with that number. In some jurisdictions, plates will be assigned to that particular vehicle for its lifetime. If the vehicle is destroyed or exported to a different country. Other jurisdictions follow a policy, meaning that when a vehicle is sold the seller removes the current plate from the vehicle. Buyers must either obtain new plates or attach plates they already hold, as well as register their vehicles under the buyers name, a person who sells a car and then purchases a new one can apply to have the old plates put onto the new car. One who sells a car and does not buy a new one may, depending on the laws involved, have to turn the old plates in or destroy them. Some jurisdictions permit the registration of the vehicle with personal plates, in some jurisdictions, plates require periodic replacement, often associated with a design change of the plate itself. Vehicle owners may or may not have the option to keep their original plate number, alternately, or additionally, vehicle owners have to replace a small decal on the plate or use a decal on the windshield to indicate the expiration date of the vehicle registration. Plates are usually fixed directly to a vehicle or to a frame that is fixed to the vehicle. Sometimes, the plate frames contain advertisements inserted by the service centre or the dealership from which the vehicle was purchased. Vehicle owners can also purchase customized frames to replace the original frames, in some jurisdictions licence plate frames are illegal
License plates
–
Some
jurisdictions license non-traditional vehicles, such as
golf carts, particularly on on-road vehicles, such as this one in
Put-in-Bay, Ohio.
License plates
–
Burkina passenger plate
License plates
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Burkina Faso Gendarmerie plate
License plates
–
Botswana plate
27.
Minivans
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A minivan is a vehicle designed primarily for passengers, with two or three rows of seating accessed via large doors. In international markets, the minivan is classified as multi-purpose vehicle or people carrier, in North America, the term minivan derives from the size comparison to traditional full-size vans. Full-size vans derived their underpinnings upon full-size pickup trucks, while the first generation of minivans sold in North America derived from either compact pickup trucks or passenger cars. Predecessors include the 1936 Stout Scarab, which featured a removable table, the DKW Schnellaster, manufactured from 1949 to 1962 was one of the first vehicles to feature the characteristics of modern minivans. In 1950, the Volkswagen Type 2 adapted a bus-shaped body to the compact Volkswagen Beetle, Fiat built a similar vehicle, the 1956 Multipla based on the Fiat 600 with the same cab over engine and door layout. In 1972, designers at Ford Motor Company developed the Ford Carousel prototype as a variant of the redesign of the 1975 Ford E-Series. The vehicle was never produced, due to the fuel crisis. Nearly a decade later, the concept was revisited by designers, in the late 1970s Chrysler began a six-year development program to design a small affordable van that looked and handled more like a car. The automaker introduced the first modern minivans in 1983, the front-wheel-drive Dodge Caravan, in Taiwan, the Taiwanese market features the Luxgen M7. BYD M6 is the choice of minivan in China. The Japanese market has had the Mazda Bongo since 1966 and more recently includes the Toyota Alphard, the Nissan Elgrand, in South Korea, minivans include the Kia Carnival and SsangYong Rodius. The Buick GL8 is produced and sold since 2000 in China under the Buick brand name by SAIC-GM, for the 1984 model year, the Chrysler minivans arrived on the market to great success. The minivan replaced the station wagon as the passenger car of choice in the US. In 1987 Chrysler introduced the extended-length minivans, the Chrysler Town & Country debuted in 1990. The term minivan came into use in North America in contrast to full-size vans, the minivans market share peaked in 2000 with sales of 1.4 million units in US. This shrank to half a million in 2013. In 2014, sales of minivans in America increased 6% over 2013, the remaining 6% of the segment is shared largely by the Ford Transit Connect, Kia Sedona, Mazda 5, and Nissan Quest. Toyota, former models included the Van/Wagon from 1984 to 1989, General Motors, former models included the Chevrolet Astro/GMC Safari from 1985 to 2005, a rear-wheel drive minivan based on light trucks
Minivans
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2011
Toyota Sienna
Minivans
–
2015
Nissan Elgrand
Minivans
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Volkswagen T1 Transporter, one of the ancestors of the modern minivan (1954 model shown)
Minivans
–
2014 Mercedes V-Class
28.
Ford Motor Company
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The Ford Motor Company is an American multinational automaker headquartered in Dearborn, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit. It was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16,1903, the company sells automobiles and commercial vehicles under the Ford brand and most luxury cars under the Lincoln brand. Ford also owns Brazilian SUV manufacturer, Troller, and Australian performance car manufacturer FPV, in the past, it has also produced tractors and automotive components. Ford owns an 8% stake in Aston Martin of the United Kingdom, and it also has a number of joint-ventures, one in China, one in Taiwan, one in Thailand, one in Turkey, and one in Russia. It is listed on the New York Stock Exchange and is controlled by the Ford family, Fords former UK subsidiaries Jaguar and Land Rover, acquired in 1989 and 2000 respectively, were sold to Tata Motors in March 2008. Ford owned the Swedish automaker Volvo from 1999 to 2010, in 2011, Ford discontinued the Mercury brand, under which it had marketed entry-level luxury cars in the United States, Canada, Mexico, and the Middle East since 1938. During the financial crisis at the beginning of the 21st century, it was close to bankruptcy, Ford is the second-largest U. S. -based automaker and the fifth-largest in the world based on 2015 vehicle production. At the end of 2010, Ford was the fifth largest automaker in Europe, Ford is the eighth-ranked overall American-based company in the 2010 Fortune 500 list, based on global revenues in 2009 of $118.3 billion. In 2008, Ford produced 5.532 million automobiles and employed about 213,000 employees at around 90 plants, the company went public in 1956 but the Ford family, through special Class B shares, still retain 40 percent voting rights. The Ford Motor Company was launched in a factory in 1903 with $28,000 in cash from twelve investors, most notably John. During its early years, the company produced just a few cars a day at its factory on Mack Avenue and later its factory on Piquette Avenue in Detroit, Michigan. Groups of two or three men worked on car, assembling it from parts made mostly by supplier companies contracting for Ford. Henry Ford was 39 years old when he founded the Ford Motor Company and it has been in continuous family control for over 100 years and is one of the largest family-controlled companies in the world. The first gasoline powered automobile had been created in 1885 by the German inventor Carl Benz, between 1903 and 1908, Ford produced the Models A, B, C, F, K, N, R, and S. Hundreds or a few thousand of most of these were sold per year, in 1908, Ford introduced the mass-produced Model T, which totalled millions sold over nearly 20 years. In 1927, Ford replaced the T with the Model A, Ford launched the first low-priced car with a V8 engine in 1932. In an attempt to compete with General Motors mid-priced Pontiac, Oldsmobile, Henry Ford purchased the Lincoln Motor Company in 1922, in order to compete with such brands as Cadillac and Packard for the luxury segment of the automobile market. The creation of a laboratory in Dearborn, Michigan in 1951, doing unfettered basic research
Ford Motor Company
–
The
Ford World Headquarters in Dearborn, Michigan, also known as the Glass House
Ford Motor Company
–
Henry Ford (ca. 1919)
Ford Motor Company
–
A 1910
Model T, photographed in
Salt Lake City
Ford Motor Company
–
William Clay Ford, Jr., great-grandson of Henry Ford, serves as the
executive chairman at the board of Ford Motor Company.
29.
Ford Transit Connect
–
The Ford Transit Connect is a compact panel van developed by Ford Europe and derived from the Ford Focus. The first generation was designed by Peter Horbury and introduced in 2002 to replace the older Ford Escort and Fiesta-based Courier van ranges and it has been imported to the North American market since the 2010 model year. In North America, the Transit Connect does not have a predecessor, the closest vehicle to its size was the standard-length Ford Aerostar cargo van. The Ford Tourneo Connect, a leisure activity vehicle, is a Transit Connect with side windows, all Transit Connects bound for the United States are imported in this configuration to avoid the 25% chicken tax on imported light trucks. In 2013, US Customs told Ford that they must stop this practice of importing vans disguised as passenger cars, the Transit Connect was introduced in Europe in October 2002 as the replacement for sedan delivery vans based on the Escort and the Fiesta. Production of the Escort in Europe ceased in 2000, whilst the Fiesta Courier was also planned to be discontinued when the fifth generation Fiesta entered production in 2002, Ford elected not to develop a direct sedan delivery version of the Focus, instead pursuing a purpose built design. Rather than adapting an existing bodystyle into a van, the Transit Connect was designed with sliding side doors, the Transit Connect was assembled by Otosan in an all-new production facility at Gölcük, near Kocaeli, Turkey. After September 2009, additional production began in Craiova, Romania, the Ford Transit Connect was awarded Van of the Year 2004 by Professional Van and Light Truck Magazine. In its first year on the North American market, the Transit Connect was awarded North American Truck of the Year 2010 at the North American International Auto Show, since mid-2009, the Transit Connect has been imported to the United States and Canada. First shown in the United States at the 2008 Chicago Auto Show, the 2. 0L Duratec DOHC I-4 gasoline engine has 136hp @6300rpm, and 128 lb. -ft. of torque @4750 rpm. It specifies minimum 87 octane gasoline and fuel economy is 21 mpg city/27 mpg hwy and 23 mpg combined, an electric version followed in 2011, converted by Azure Dynamics Corporation at a U. S. facility. The Transit Connect Wagon was the first Ford minivan since the 2007 discontinuation of the Freestar, in the U. S. 0L I4 engine, automatic transmission, front-wheel-drive, and air conditioning. XLT, Power windows, power locks, four speakers. This model appealed very much to families, the second generation Transit Connect was introduced on 6 September 2012 in Amsterdam, Netherlands. In its first redesign since its 2002 introduction, the 2014 Transit Connect adopts many features of the Kinetic Design language, a major design change is an optional rear liftgate in addition to the double rear doors preferred by people in wheel chairs and delivery companies. The Transit Connect will include the new feature called MyKey. MyKey owner controls let the vehicle owner program different keys to different vehicle features, such as top speed. Aside from Otosans plant in Turkey, production now takes place at Valencia
Ford Transit Connect
–
2014-2015 Transit Connect in Germany
Ford Transit Connect
–
Post-facelift model
Ford Transit Connect
–
Ford Transit Connect (second pre-facelift
Ford Transit Connect
–
Ford Transit Connect rear (pre-facelift)
30.
Snow
–
Snowstorms organize and develop by feeding on sources of atmospheric moisture and cold air. Snowflakes nucleate around particles in the atmosphere by attracting supercooled water droplets, snowflakes take on a variety of shapes, basic among these are platelets, needles, columns and rime. As snow accumulates into a snowpack, it may blow into drifts, over time, accumulated snow metamorphoses, by sintering, sublimation and freeze-thaw. Where the climate is cold enough for year-to-year accumulation, a glacier may form, otherwise, snow typically melts seasonally, causing runoff into streams and rivers and recharging groundwater. Major snow-prone areas include the regions, the upper half of the Northern Hemisphere and mountainous regions worldwide with sufficient moisture. In the Southern Hemisphere, snow is confined primarily to mountainous areas, Snow affects ecosystems, as well, by providing an insulating layer during winter under which plants and animals are able to survive the cold. Snow develops in clouds that themselves are part of a weather system. The physics of snow crystal development in clouds results from a set of variables that include moisture content. The resulting shapes of the falling and fallen crystals can be classified into a number of shapes and combinations. Occasionally, some plate-like, dendritic and stellar-shaped snowflakes can form under clear sky with a cold temperature inversion present. Two additional and locally productive sources of snow are lake-effect storms and elevation effects, miid-latitude cyclones are low pressure areas which are capable of producing anything from cloudiness and mild snow storms to heavy blizzards. During a hemispheres fall, winter, and spring, the atmosphere over continents can be cold enough through the depth of the troposphere to cause snowfall, in the Northern Hemisphere, the northern side of the low pressure area produces the most snow. For the southern mid-latitudes, the side of a cyclone that produces the most snow is the southern side, a cold front, the leading edge of a cooler mass of air, can produce frontal snowsqualls—an intense frontal convective line, when temperature is near freezing at the surface. The strong convection that develops has enough moisture to produce whiteout conditions at places which line passes over as the wind causes intense blowing snow. This type of snowsquall generally lasts less than 30 minutes at any point along its path, in cases where there is a large amount of vertical growth and mixing the squall may develop embedded cumulonimbus clouds resulting in lightning and thunder which is dubbed thundersnow. A warm front can produce snow for a period, as warm, moist air overrides below-freezing air, often, snow transitions to rain in the warm sector behind the front. The same effect occurs over bodies of salt water, when it is termed ocean-effect or bay-effect snow. The effect is enhanced when the air mass is uplifted by the orographic influence of higher elevations on the downwind shores
Snow
–
Snow on the
Carpathian Mountains, Romania
Snow
–
Snow on the mountains of
Southern California
Snow
–
Satellite photo of sea-effect snow bands near the
Korean Peninsula
Snow
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Road and trees covered in snow,
Bârnova
