1.
Havana Bay (novel)
–
Havana Bay is a crime novel by Martin Cruz Smith, set in Cuba. It is the novel to feature Investigator Arkady Renko. He is in a state of mind when anonymously summoned to Havana to help an old acquaintance out of some unspecified trouble. By the time he arrives, however, the good Colonel Pribluda, the novel begins with Arkady at the tip of Havana Bay as the sun begins to rise on what promises to be a hot one in Cuba. The Cuban militia has what they believe is a dead Russian, along the way, of course, there are the inevitable gruesome killings, abakua ceremonies and attacks upon his person as well
2.
Havana
–
Havana is the capital city, largest city, province, major port, and leading commercial centre of Cuba. The city extends mostly westward and southward from the bay, which is entered through a narrow inlet, the sluggish Almendares River traverses the city from south to north, entering the Straits of Florida a few miles west of the bay. King Philip II of Spain granted Havana the title of City in 1592, walls as well as forts were built to protect the old city. The sinking of the U. S. battleship Maine in Havanas harbor in 1898 was the cause of the Spanish–American War. Contemporary Havana can essentially be described as three cities in one, Old Havana, Vedado and the suburban districts. The city is the center of the Cuban government, and home to various ministries, headquarters of businesses, the current mayor is Marta Hernández of the Communist Party of Cuba. In 2009, the city/province had the third highest income in the country, the city attracts over a million tourists annually, the Official Census for Havana reports that in 2010 the city was visited by 1,176,627 international tourists, a 20% increase from 2005. Old Havana was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1982, the city is also noted for its history, culture, architecture and monuments. As typical of Cuba, Havana also features a tropical climate, in May 2015, Havana was officially recognized as one of the New7Wonders Cities together with Vigan, Doha, La Paz, Durban, Beirut, and Kuala Lumpur. Most native settlements became the site of Spanish colonial cities retaining their original Taíno names, an alternate theory is that Habana is derived from the Middle Dutch word havene, referring to a harbour, etymologically related to the English word haven. All attempts to found a city on Cubas south coast failed, however, an early map of Cuba drawn in 1514 places the town at the mouth of this river. The town that became Havana finally originated adjacent to what was then called Puerto de Carenas, the quality of this natural bay, which now hosts Havanas harbor, warranted this change of location. Pánfilo de Narváez gave Havana – the sixth town founded by the Spanish on Cuba – its name, the name combines San Cristóbal, patron saint of Havana. Shortly after the founding of Cubas first cities, the served as little more than a base for the Conquista of other lands. Havana began as a port, and suffered regular attacks by buccaneers, pirates. The first attack and resultant burning of the city was by the French corsair Jacques de Sores in 1555, ships from all over the New World carried products first to Havana, in order to be taken by the fleet to Spain. The thousands of ships gathered in the bay also fueled Havanas agriculture and manufacture, since they had to be supplied with food, water. On December 20,1592, King Philip II of Spain granted Havana the title of City, later on, the city would be officially designated as Key to the New World and Rampart of the West Indies by the Spanish Crown
3.
Cuba
–
Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is a country comprising the island of Cuba as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located in the northern Caribbean where the Caribbean Sea, the Gulf of Mexico, and it is south of both the U. S. state of Florida and the Bahamas, west of Haiti, and north of Jamaica. Havana is the largest city and capital, other cities include Santiago de Cuba. Cuba is the largest island in the Caribbean, with an area of 109,884 square kilometres, prior to Spanish colonization in the late 15th century, Cuba was inhabited by Amerindian tribes. It remained a colony of Spain until the Spanish–American War of 1898, as a fragile republic, Cuba attempted to strengthen its democratic system, but mounting political radicalization and social strife culminated in the dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista in 1952. Further unrest and instability led to Batistas ousting in January 1959 by the July 26 Movement, since 1965, the state has been governed by the Communist Party of Cuba. A point of contention during the Cold War between the Soviet Union and the United States, a nuclear war broke out during the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962. Culturally, Cuba is considered part of Latin America, Cuba is a Marxist–Leninist one-party republic, where the role of the vanguard Communist Party is enshrined in the Constitution. Independent observers have accused the Cuban government of human rights abuses. It is one of the worlds last planned economies and its economy is dominated by the exports of sugar, tobacco, coffee, according to the Human Development Index, Cuba is described as a country with high human development and is ranked the eighth highest in North America. It also ranks highly in some metrics of national performance, including health care, the name Cuba comes from the Taíno language. The exact meaning of the name is unclear but it may be translated either as where fertile land is abundant, authors who believe that Christopher Columbus was Portuguese state that Cuba was named by Columbus for the town of Cuba in the district of Beja in Portugal. Before the arrival of the Spanish, Cuba was inhabited by three distinct tribes of indigenous peoples of the Americas, the Taíno, the Guanajatabey, and the Ciboney people. The ancestors of the Ciboney migrated from the mainland of South America, the Taíno arrived from Hispanola sometime in the 3rd century A. D. When Columbus arrived they were the dominant culture in Cuba, having a population of 150,000. The name Cuba comes from the native Taíno language and it is derived from either coabana meaning great place, or from cubao meaning where fertile land is abundant. The Taíno were farmers, while the Ciboney were farmers as well as fishers and hunter-gatherers, Columbus claimed the island for the new Kingdom of Spain and named it Isla Juana after Juan, Prince of Asturias. In 1511, the first Spanish settlement was founded by Diego Velázquez de Cuéllar at Baracoa, other towns soon followed, including San Cristobal de la Habana, founded in 1515, which later became the capital
4.
Guantanamo Bay Naval Base
–
The base is on the shore of Guantánamo Bay at the southeastern end of Cuba. It is the oldest overseas U. S. Naval Base, since 2002, the naval base has contained a military prison, the Guantanamo Bay detention camp, for unlawful combatants captured in Afghanistan, Iraq, and other places during the War on Terror. Cases of torture of prisoners, and their denial of protection under the Geneva Conventions, have been condemned internationally. S. Coast Guard Aviation Detachment Guantanamo Bay U. S. GTMO-5, GTMO-6 and GTMO-7, besides servicemen, the base houses a large number of civilian contractors working for the military. These contractors are largely imported from Jamaica and Philippines, and are thought to constitute up to 40% of the bases population, on 30 April 1494, Christopher Columbus, on his second voyage, arrived and spent the night. The place where Columbus landed is now known as Fishermans Point, Columbus declared the bay Puerto Grande. The bay and surrounding areas came under British control during the War of Jenkins Ear, prior to British occupation, the bay was referred to as Walthenham Harbor. The British renamed the bay Cumberland Bay, the British retreated from the area after a failed attempt to march to Santiago de Cuba. During the Spanish–American War, the U. S. fleet attacking Santiago secured Guantánamos harbor for protection during the season of 1898. The Marines landed at Guantanamo Bay with naval support, and American and Cuban forces routed the defending Spanish troops, the war ended with the Treaty of Paris of 1898, in which Spain formally relinquished control of Cuba. Although the war was over, the US maintained a military presence on the island. In 1901 the US government passed the Platt Amendment as part of an Army Appropriations Bill, the Constitution took effect in 1902, and land for a naval base at Guantanamo Bay was granted to the United States the following year. The 1903 lease agreement was executed in two parts, the second agreement, signed five months later in July 1903, established the amount of USD$2,000 to be paid to Cuba annually by the US. The lease amount was changed in 1933 to $3676.50, payments have been sent annually, but only one lease payment has been cashed since the Cuban Revolution. Fidel Castro claimed that this check was deposited due to confusion in 1959, during World War II, the base was set up to use a nondescript number for postal operations. The base used the Fleet Post Office, Atlantic, in New York City, until the 1953–59 revolution, thousands of Cubans commuted daily from outside the base to jobs within. In mid-1958, vehicular traffic was stopped, workers were required to walk through the several gates. Public Works Center buses were pressed into service almost overnight to carry the tides of workers to and from the gate
5.
United States
–
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
6.
Cienfuegos
–
Cienfuegos, capital of Cienfuegos Province, is a city on the southern coast of Cuba. It is located about 250 km from Havana and has a population of 150,000, the city is dubbed La Perla del Sur. Cienfuegos literally translates to one hundred fires—cien meaning one hundred, fuegos meaning fires, the area where the city lies was identified as Cacicazgo de Jagua by early Spanish conquistadors. It was originally settled by Taino indigenous people, Cacicazgo translates from the Taino language as chiefdom. Cacicazgo de Jagua was therefore the chiefdom of Chief Jagua, the city was later settled by French immigrants from Bordeaux and Louisiana led by Don Louis de Clouet on April 22,1819. The settlers named the city Fernandina de Jagua in honor of King Ferdinand VII of Spain, the settlement successively became a town in 1829, renamed for José Cienfuegos, Captain General of Cuba, and a city in 1880. Many of the streets in old town reflect French origins in their names, Bouyón, DClouet, Hourruitiner, Gacel, and Griffo, for instance. Its advantageous trading location on the historically eponymous Bay of Jagua was used by the Cuban sugar oligarchy when a railroad was built between both cities between 1853 and 1860. During the Cuban Revolution, the city saw an uprising against Fulgencio Batista and was bombed in retaliation on September 5,1957, in 1969 and 1970, Soviet naval vessels visited the city. This appeared to be in violation of the Kennedy-Khrushchev agreements of 1962, however, there was no notice given by the United States and no confrontation ensued. In 2005, Hurricane Dennis made its landfall near Cienfuegos at about 1, 00PM AST with winds of 232 km/h. Near the entrance to Cienfuegos Bay is Castillo de Jagua, an erected in 1745 for protection against Caribbean pirates. Cienfuegos, one of the seaports of Cuba, is a center of the sugar trade as well as coffee. While sugarcane is the crop, local farmers also grow coffee. In 2004, the municipality of Cienfuegos had a population of 163,824, with a total area of 333 km2, it has a population density of 492. 0/km2. According to the Köppen Climate Classification system, Cienfuegos has a savanna climate. The downtown area contains 6 buildings from 1819–50,327 buildings from 1851–1900, there is no other place in the Caribbean which contains such a remarkable cluster of Neoclassical structures. Cienfuegos fields a team in the Cuban National Series, the Cienfuegos Elefantes, since joining the league in 1977–78, the best finish the Camaroneros have achieved is a 3rd place showing in the 2010–11 Cuban National Series
7.
Matanzas
–
Matanzas is the capital of the Cuban province of Matanzas. Matanzas is called the City of Bridges, for the seventeen bridges that cross the three rivers that traverse the city, for this reason it was referred to as the Venice of Cuba. It was also called La Atenas de Cuba for its poets, Matanzas is known as the birthplace of the music and dance traditions danzón and rumba. Matanzas was founded in 1693 as San Carlos y San Severino de Matanzas and this followed a royal decree issued on September 25,1690, which decreed that the bay and port of Matanzas be settled by 30 families from the Canary Islands. Matanzas was one of the regions that saw development of sugar plantations during the colonial era. Consequently, many African slaves were imported to support the sugar industry, for example, in 1792 there were 1900 slaves in Matanzas, roughly 30% of its population. In 1817, the population of Matanzas had grown to 10,773. By 1841,53,331 slaves made up 62. 7% of the population of Matanzas, census figures for 1859 put the Matanzas slave population at 104,519. Matanzas was the site of slave insurrections and plots, including the infamous Escalera conspiracy. Due to the number of both slaves and, importantly, free Afro-Cubans in Matanzas, the retention of African traditions is especially strong there. In 1898, Matanzas became the location of the first action in the Spanish–American War, the city was bombarded by American Navy vessels on April 25,1898, just after the beginning of the war. The Spanish soldiers had no boats, so they enlisted the help of native fishermen, however, once they reached the middle of the river, the fishermen flipped the boats, and due to the Spanish soldiers heavy metal armor, most of them drowned. Only two women—one said to be the beautiful María de Estrada—survived, the result of being taken by a Cacique, De Estrada is said to have later escaped the power of the Cacique and married Pedro Sánchez Farfán in the city of Trinidad. The city is located on the shore of the island of Cuba. The bay cuts deep in the island, and three rivers flow in the bay inside city limits, to the south-east, the landscape rises into a hill called Pan de Matanzas, divided from the Atlantic coast by the Yumuri Valley and a coastal ridge. The city of Matanzas is divided into three neighborhoods, Versalles, Matanzas, and Pueblo Nuevo, transportation Matanzas is served by Juan Gualberto Gómez Airport,15 km east of the city. The city has two railway stations, the main station is on the main line from Havana to Santiago de Cuba. The electrified Hershey train operates by a different route to Havana from a station in the barrio of Versalles
8.
Manzanillo, Cuba
–
Manzanillo is a municipality and city in the Granma Province of Cuba. By population, it is the 14th largest Cuban city and the most populated one not being a provincial seat and it is a port city in the Granma Province in eastern Cuba on the Gulf of Guacanayabo, near the delta of the Cauto River. Its access is limited by the reefs of Cayo Perla. It was the site of four battles during the Spanish American War, the settlement was sacked by the French in 1792, and in the following year a fort was built for its protection. In 1833 it received an ayuntamiento and in 1837, for its “loyalty” in not following the lead of Santiago in proclaiming the Spanish Constitution, in 1827 the port was opened to commerce, national and foreign. The agriculture is based on raising coffee, sugar, rice, fruit and tobacco crops, as well as honey, the industry is composed of sawmills, fish-canning, molasses plants, as well as some cigars and leather goods factories. Zinc and copper deposits are present in the municipality, in 2004, the municipality of Manzanillo had a population of 130,789. With a total area of 498 km2, it has a density of 262. 6/km2. Manzanillo is also home of the science faculty of the University of Granma. Bartolomé Masó, military and patriot Joaquin Ferrer, painter Sierra Maestra Airport Municipalities of Cuba List of cities in Cuba Media related to Manzanillo at Wikimedia Commons
9.
Santiago de Cuba
–
Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city of Cuba and capital city of Santiago de Cuba Province in the south-eastern area of the island, some 870 km south-east of the Cuban capital of Havana. Historically Santiago de Cuba has long been the second most important city on the island after Havana and it is on a bay connected to the Caribbean Sea and is an important sea port. In 2004 the city of Santiago de Cuba had a population of about 509,143 people, Santiago de Cuba was the fifth village founded by Spanish conquistador Diego Velázquez de Cuéllar on July 25,1515. In 1516 the settlement was destroyed by fire, and was immediately rebuilt and this was the starting point of the expeditions led by Juan de Grijalba and Hernán Cortés to the coasts of Mexico in 1518, and in 1538 by Hernando de Sotos expedition to Florida. The first cathedral was built in the city in 1528, from 1522 until 1589 Santiago was the capital of the Spanish colony of Cuba. The city was plundered by French forces in 1553, and by British forces under Christopher Myngs in 1662, the city experienced an influx of French and British immigrants in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, many coming from Haiti after the Haitian slave revolt of 1791. This added to the citys cultural mix, already rich with Spanish. It was also the location where Spanish troops faced their main defeat at San Juan Hill on July 1,1898, after capturing the surrounding hills, General William Rufus Shafter laid siege to the city. Spain later surrendered to the United States after Admiral William T. Sampson destroyed the Spanish Atlantic fleet just outside Santiagos harbor on July 3,1898, Cuban poet, writer, and national hero, José Martí, is buried in Cementerio Santa Efigenia. Pope Francis visited Cuba in 2015, Santiago was also the home of the revolutionary hero, Frank País. On July 26,1953, the Cuban Revolution began with an armed attack on the Moncada Barracks by a small contingent of rebels led by Fidel Castro. Shortly after this incident, País began talking with students and young working people informally. This developed into highly organized cells coordinating a large scale urban resistance that became instrumental in the success of the Cuban Revolution, País group prepared carefully, accruing weapons, collecting money, collecting medical supplies. They published a newsletter that reported news that criticized the government. In the summer of 1955, País organization merged with Castros July 26 Movement, País became the leader of the new organization in Oriente province, though two years later he was betrayed to the police and was shot after his capture. On January 1,1959, Fidel Castro proclaimed the victory of the Cuban Revolution from a balcony on Santiago de Cubas city hall, Santiago de Cuba was the hometown of poet José María Heredia. It is the birthplace of the world-famous Bacardi Brand, which was started by Facundo Bacardi Masso in 1862 and it now houses a museum that displays the extensive art collection of the Bacardí family. Santiago de Cuba is well known for its cultural life, some of Cubas most famous musicians, including Compay Segundo, Ibrahim Ferrer and Eliades Ochoa and trova composer Ñico Saquito were born in the city or in one of the villages surrounding it
10.
Old Havana
–
Old Havana is the city-center and one of the 15 municipalities forming Havana, Cuba. It has the second highest population density in the city and contains the core of the city of Havana. The positions of the original Havana city walls are the boundaries of Old Havana. Old Havana is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, Havana Vieja was founded by the Spanish in 1519 in the natural harbor of the Bay of Havana. It became a point for the treasure laden Spanish Galleons on the crossing between the New World and the Old World. In the 17th century it was one of the shipbuilding centers. The city was built in baroque and neoclassic style, many buildings have fallen in ruin in the later half of the 20th century, but a number are being restored. The narrow streets of Old Havana contain many buildings, accounting for perhaps as many as one-third of the approximately 3,000 buildings found in Old Havana and it is the ancient city formed from the port, the official center and the Plaza de Armas. In 1555 Old Havana was destroyed and burned by the French corsair Jacques de Sores, the pirate had taken Havana easily, plundering the city and burning much of it to the ground. After limiting the scarce defenders, De Sores left without obtaining the wealth that he was hoping to find in Havana. The city remained devastated and set on fire, since the incident, the Spanish brought soldiers and started building fortresses and walls to protect the city. Castillo de la Real Fuerza was the first fortress built, initiated in 1558, Old Havana resembles Cadiz and Tenerife. Alejo Carpentier called it de las columnas, but it could also be named for the gateways, the revoco, the deterioration and the rescue, the intimacy, the shade, the cool, the courtyards. In her there are all the big ancient monuments, the forts, the convents and churches, the palaces, the alleys, the arcade, the human density. The Cuban State has undertaken efforts to preserve and to restore Old Havana through the efforts of the Office of the Historian of the City. The Malecón is the avenue runs along the seawall at the northern shore of Havana. The Paseo del Prado, Havana is the street forms the western edge of Old Havana. Castillo del Morro, picturesque fortress guarding the entrance to Havana bay, the construction of the castle Los Tres Reyes del Morro owed to the step along in Havana of the English pirate Sir Francis Drake
11.
Castillo de la Real Fuerza
–
The Castillo de la Real Fuerza is a star fort on the western side of the harbour in Havana, Cuba, set back from the entrance, and bordering the Plaza de Armas. Originally built to defend against attack by pirates, it suffered from a strategic position. The fort is considered to be the oldest stone fort in the Americas, a previous fort, the Fuerza Vieja, was badly damaged in 1555 during an attack on Havana by the French privateer Jacques de Sores and eventually was demolished in 1582. In 1558 Bartolomé Sánchez, an appointed by King Philip II of Spain, began work on the new fort. The Fuerza Vieja was set back from the harbour, but the new fort was planned to be closer to the harbour to give it a strategic position. The ironworks were established in 1558, but the first stones were not laid until 1562, construction was delayed due to complaints from local residents forced to relocate to make way for the building and from disagreements between Sánchez and the Governor of Havana. The fort was not completed until 1577, with slaves and French prisoners providing most of the labour, built of limestone quarried from the Havana shoreline, the fortification incorporated thick sloping walls, a moat and drawbridge. The governor, Francisco Carreño, ordered the addition an upper storey as barracks and a store, but on completion. Instead Juan de Tejeda adopted it as the residence of the Governor of Havana, subsequent governors made changes to the building. The façade of the fortress was demolished in 1851 to allow O’Reilly Street to go all the way to the docks, and prevent the fort from overshadowing El Templete and she spent many years scanning the horizon for signs of his returning ship. The fort was home to the National Archive from 1899 and the National Library from 1938 up until 1957, after the Cuban Revolution in 1959, the fort housed the offices of the National Commission of Monuments and the Centre of Preservation, Restoration and Museology. The fort served briefly as the Museum of Arms, but the conditions within the fortress were not conducive to the preservation of the displays. In 1977, on the 400th anniversary of completion, the building was inaugurated as a museum and used to display exhibitions of Cuban contemporary, in 1990, it became the National Museum of Cuban Ceramics. In 2010, Castillo de la Real Fuerza reopened as Cuba’s premier maritime museum, the museum features a huge four-metre model of the Santisima Trinidad located on the main floor with a large interactive touch screen in Spanish, French, and English. The exhibit describes life aboard an 18th-century ship-of-the-line, the original ship was launched into Havana Bay on 2 March 1769 and was the largest ship in the world in the 18th century, with 140 cannons on four gun decks. She was one of four Cuban-built ships at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805, downstairs you will find ancient navigational instruments, underwater archaeological artifacts, and gold and silver from the colonial era. Also note the original weathervane, La Giraldilla, while her replica moves in the breeze on the top of the fortress tower, which also commands a fantastic view of the city. The second level of the museum hosts many historic and contemporary models of ships with links to Cuba and is also a good location for viewing the harbour
12.
Castillo San Salvador de la Punta
–
San Salvador de la Punta Fortress is a fortress in the bay of Havana, Cuba. La Punta, just like El Morro was designed to protect the entrance to the Havana Bay that became an important, the nonstop landings of corsairs in the area endangered the harbor and the town. That was why in 1559 it was resolved to post lookouts at La Punta, in 1582 the king Felipe II, convinced that it was necessary to reinforce fortresses and fleets, ordered the creation of a fortress system in several places of America having its center in Havana. To fulfill the task Juan de Tejeda was appointed governor of the island and he brought along the Italian engineer Juan Bautista Antonelli, who has been considered the most renowned professional to practice in 16th century Cuba. The works began by 1590 and went on slowly, in 1595 a hurricane severely damaged the fortress, among other reasons, due to the thinness of its walls that were then more solidly rebuilt. By 1602 there was such a delay in the work that the engineer decided to make the fortress into a keep holding some 10 to 12 artillery pieces. Finally, as the years went by it was taken apart, in 1630, due to the short distance between La Punta and El Morro and to increase the protection of the bay, a heavy copper chain was laid between them. This chain can be appreciated in some of the engravings of that time, in 1762 as a consequence of the fighting during the British expedition against Cuba, the English superiority took its toll on all the fortresses. The safety curtains and bastions of La Punta castle were destroyed during the invasion, at this time a chain branching out in several directions and held by heavy wood beams was laid. Its ends were tied to guns set-in at La Punta and El Morro, some fragments of this piece still remain. Later on, with the Spanish were back in power, a new governor arrived, in the 19th century some changes, such as the 4 esplanades built to accommodate a corresponding number of artillery pieces, were added at La Punta. In 1851 the Spanish executed most of the prisoners of La Punta included Venezuelan adventurer Narciso López after an attempt to liberate Cuba that caused outrage in the United States. The castle, in 1997, was under a work of restoration. Thanks to this work canons that were engraved in the rocks, the park that surrounds it, paved with striking red ceramic tiles, is a memento of the San Antonio, a Spanish ship foundered in front of the castle with a heavy load. Some of the cargo was recovered from the flotsam and now gives the area just outside the building a special, forts and Castles of the Caribbean Islands
13.
Battle of Havana (1762)
–
The Battle of Havana was a military action from March to August 1762, as part of the Seven Years War. British forces besieged and captured the city of Havana, which at the time was an important Spanish naval base in the Caribbean, Havana was subsequently returned to Spain under the 1763 Treaty of Paris that formally ended the war. Before involving his country in the raging in Europe and across the world. For the defence of Cuba, he appointed Juan de Prado as commander-in-chief, de Prado arrived at Havana in February 1761 and began work to improve the fortifications of the city. In June 1761, a flotilla of seven ships of the line under the command of Admiral Gutierre de Hevia arrived at Havana, transporting two regular infantry regiments totalling some 1,000 men. However, yellow fever quickly reduced the forces, and by the time of the siege, they had been reduced to 3,850 soldiers,5,000 sailors. It could easily accommodate up to 100 ships of the line, a 180 m wide and 800 m long entrance channel gave access to the harbour, and Havana housed important shipyards capable of building first-rate Man-of-war ships. Two strong fortresses defended the entrance channel, on the side of the channel stood the very strong Castillo de los Tres Reyes del Morro on the rocky Cavannos Ridge. It had 64 heavy guns and was garrisoned by 700 men, the south side was defended by the Castillo de San Salvador de la Punta. The channel could also be blocked by a chain extending from El Morro to La Punta. Havana itself lay on the side along the channel and was surrounded by a wall 5 kilometres long. Havana was considered impregnable, and hadnt been taken since the French pirates in the 16th century, when war broke out with Spain plans were made in Great Britain for an amphibious attack on Havana. The expedition was under the command of George Keppel, 3rd Earl of Albemarle and this plan also called for Jeffrey Amherst to embark 4,000 men from America to join Keppel and to assemble another force of 8,000 men for an attack on Louisiana. Rear Admiral George Rodneys squadron, amounting to 8 ships of the line joined the expedition bringing the total number of ships of the line to 15. On 23 May the expedition, now off the northwest corner of Saint-Domingue, was reinforced by Sir James Douglas squadron from Port Royal. On 6 June the British force came into sight of Havana, immediately,12 British ships of the line were sent to the mouth of the entrance channel to block in the Spanish fleet. The British planned to begin the operations by the reduction of the Morro fortress, on the side of the channel. The commanding position of this fort over the city would then force the Spanish commander to surrender, most of the shot and powder of the fleet as well as its best guns were also transferred to these two fortresses
14.
USS Maine (ACR-1)
–
USS Maine is an American naval ship that sank in Havana Harbor during the Cuban revolt against Spain, an event that became a major political issue in the United States. Commissioned in 1895, this was the first United States Navy ship to be named after the state of Maine, originally classified as an armored cruiser, she was built in response to the Brazilian battleship Riachuelo and the increase of naval forces in Latin America. She dispensed with full masts thanks to the reliability of steam engines by the time of her construction. Despite these advances, Maine was out of date by the time she entered service, due to her protracted construction period and changes in the role of ships of her type, naval tactics and technology. It took nine years to complete, and nearly three years for the armor plating alone, the general use of steel in warship construction precluded the use of ramming without danger to the attacking vessel. The potential for blast damage from firing end on or cross-deck discouraged en échelon gun placement, the changing role of the armored cruiser from a small, heavily armored substitute for the battleship to a fast, lightly armored commerce raider also hastened her obsolescence. Despite these disadvantages, Maine was seen as an advance in American warship design, Maine is best known for her loss in Havana Harbor on the evening of 15 February 1898. Sent to protect U. S. interests during the Cuban revolt against Spain, she exploded suddenly, without warning, the cause and responsibility for her sinking remained unclear after a board of inquiry investigated. Nevertheless, popular opinion in the U. S. fanned by inflammatory articles printed in the press by William Randolph Hearst and Joseph Pulitzer. Became a rallying cry for action, which came with the Spanish–American War later that year, while the sinking of Maine was not a direct cause for action, it served as a catalyst, accelerating the approach to a diplomatic impasse between the U. S. and Spain. The cause of Maines sinking remains a subject of speculation, in 1898, an investigation of the explosion was carried out by a naval board appointed under the McKinley Administration. The consensus of the board was that Maine was destroyed by an explosion from a mine. However, the validity of this investigation has been challenged, George W. Melville, a chief engineer in the Navy, proposed that a more likely cause for the sinking was from a magazine explosion within the vessel. The Navys leading ordnance expert, Philip R. Alger, took this further by suggesting that the magazines were ignited by a spontaneous fire in a coal bunker. The coal used in Maine was bituminous coal, which is known for releasing firedamp, there is stronger evidence that the explosion of Maine was caused by an internal coal fire which ignited the magazines. This was a cause of the explosion, rather than the initial hypothesis of a mine. The ship lay at the bottom of the harbor until 1911, a cofferdam was then built around the wreck. The hull was patched up until the ship was afloat, then towed to sea, the Maine now lies on the sea-bed 3,600 feet below the surface
15.
Gulf of Mexico
–
The Gulf of Mexico is an ocean basin largely surrounded by the North American continent. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United States, on the southwest and south by Mexico, and on the southeast by Cuba. The U. S. states of Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas border the Gulf on the north, Atlantic and Pacific coasts, or sometimes the south coast, in juxtaposition to the Great Lakes region being the north coast. One of the seven main areas is the Gulf of Mexico basin. The Gulf of Mexico formed approximately 300 million years ago as a result of plate tectonics, the Gulfs basin is roughly oval and is approximately 810 nautical miles wide and floored by sedimentary rocks and recent sediments. It is connected to part of the Atlantic Ocean through the Florida Straits between the U. S. and Cuba, and with the Caribbean Sea via the Yucatan Channel between Mexico and Cuba, with the narrow connection to the Atlantic, the Gulf experiences very small tidal ranges. The size of the Gulf basin is approximately 1.6 million km2, almost half of the basin is shallow continental shelf waters. The basin contains a volume of roughly 2,500 quadrillion liters, the consensus among geologists who have studied the geology of the Gulf of Mexico, is that prior to the Late Triassic, the Gulf of Mexico did not exist. It was created by the collision of plates that formed Pangea. As interpreted by Roy Van Arsdale and Randel T. Cox, geologists and other Earth scientists agree in general that the present Gulf of Mexico basin originated in Late Triassic time as the result of rifting within Pangea. The rifting was associated with zones of weakness within Pangea, including sutures where the Laurentia, South American, first, there was a Late Triassic-Early Jurassic phase of rifting during which rift valleys formed and filled with continental red beds. Second, as rifting progressed through Early and Middle Jurassic time and it was at this time that tectonics first created a connection to the Pacific Ocean across central Mexico and later eastward to the Atlantic Ocean. This flooded the basin created by rifting and crustal thinning to create the Gulf of Mexico. While the Gulf of Mexico was a basin, the subsiding transitional crust was blanketed by the widespread deposition of Louann Salt. Initially, during the Late Jurassic, continued rifting widened the Gulf of Mexico and progressed to the point that sea-floor spreading, at this point, sufficient circulation with the Atlantic Ocean was established that the deposition of Louann Salt ceased. During the Late Jurassic through Early Cretaceous, the occupied by the Gulf of Mexico experienced a period of cooling. The subsidence was the result of a combination of stretching, cooling. Initially, the combination of stretching and cooling caused about 5–7 km of tectonic subsidence of the central thin transitional
16.
Central Intelligence Agency
–
As one of the principal members of the U. S. Intelligence Community, the CIA reports to the Director of National Intelligence and is focused on providing intelligence for the President. Though it is not the only U. S. government agency specializing in HUMINT and it exerts foreign political influence through its tactical divisions, such as the Special Activities Division. Despite transferring some of its powers to the DNI, the CIA has grown in size as a result of the September 11 attacks. In 2013, The Washington Post reported that in fiscal year 2010, the CIA has increasingly expanded its roles, including covert paramilitary operations. One of its largest divisions, the Information Operations Center, has shifted focus from counter-terrorism to offensive cyber-operations, when the CIA was created, its purpose was to create a clearinghouse for foreign policy intelligence and analysis. Today its primary purpose is to collect, analyze, evaluate, and disseminate foreign intelligence, warning/informing American leaders of important overseas events, with Pakistan described as an intractable target. Counterintelligence, with China, Russia, Iran, Cuba, the Executive Office also supports the U. S. military by providing it with information it gathers, receiving information from military intelligence organizations, and cooperates on field activities. The Executive Director is in charge of the day to day operation of the CIA, each branch of the military service has its own Director. The Directorate has four regional groups, six groups for transnational issues. There is a dedicated to Iraq, regional analytical offices covering the Near East and South Asia, Russia and Europe, and the Asian Pacific, Latin American. The Directorate of Operations is responsible for collecting intelligence. The name reflects its role as the coordinator of intelligence activities between other elements of the wider U. S. intelligence community with their own HUMINT operations. This Directorate was created in an attempt to end years of rivalry over influence, philosophy, in spite of this, the Department of Defense recently organized its own global clandestine intelligence service, the Defense Clandestine Service, under the Defense Intelligence Agency. This Directorate is known to be organized by regions and issues. The Directorate of Science & Technology was established to research, create, many of its innovations were transferred to other intelligence organizations, or, as they became more overt, to the military services. For example, the development of the U-2 high-altitude reconnaissance aircraft was done in cooperation with the United States Air Force, the U-2s original mission was clandestine imagery intelligence over denied areas such as the Soviet Union. It was subsequently provided with signals intelligence and measurement and signature intelligence capabilities, subsequently, NPIC was transferred to the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency
17.
Fidel Castro
–
Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz was a Cuban revolutionary and politician who governed the Republic of Cuba as Prime Minister from 1959 to 1976 and then as President from 1976 to 2008. Politically a Marxist–Leninist and Cuban nationalist, he served as the First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba from 1961 until 2011. Under his administration, Cuba became a one-party socialist state, industry and business were nationalized, born in Birán, Oriente as the son of a wealthy Spanish farmer, Castro adopted leftist anti-imperialist politics while studying law at the University of Havana. After a years imprisonment, he traveled to Mexico where he formed a revolutionary group, returning to Cuba, Castro took a key role in the Cuban Revolution by leading the Movement in a guerrilla war against Batistas forces from the Sierra Maestra. After Batistas overthrow in 1959, Castro assumed military and political power as Cubas Prime Minister, adopting a Marxist–Leninist model of development, Castro converted Cuba into a one-party, socialist state under Communist Party rule, the first in the Western Hemisphere. Policies introducing central economic planning and expanding healthcare and education were accompanied by control of the press. These actions, coupled with Castros leadership of the Non-Aligned Movement from 1979 to 1983 and Cubas medical internationalism, following the Soviet Unions dissolution in 1991, Castro led Cuba into its Special Period and embraced environmentalist and anti-globalization ideas. In the 2000s he forged alliances in the Latin American pink tide—namely with Hugo Chávezs Venezuela—and signed Cuba up to the Bolivarian Alliance for the Americas, in 2006 he transferred his responsibilities to Vice-President Raúl Castro, who was elected to the presidency by the National Assembly in 2008. Castro is a world figure. His supporters view him as a champion of socialism and anti-imperialism whose revolutionary regime advanced economic, critics view him as a dictator whose administration oversaw human-rights abuses, the exodus of a large number of Cubans, and the impoverishment of the countrys economy. He was decorated with various awards and significantly influenced various individuals. In 1960 Castro was bestowed with the Grand Slam Silver Trophy in the prestigious Ernest Hemingway International Billfishing Tournament after he caught a sailfish, Castro was born out of wedlock at his fathers farm on August 13,1926. His father, Ángel Castro y Argiz, was a migrant to Cuba from Galicia, aged six, Castro was sent to live with his teacher in Santiago de Cuba, before being baptized into the Roman Catholic Church at the age of eight. Being baptized enabled Castro to attend the La Salle boarding school in Santiago, in 1945 he transferred to the more prestigious Jesuit-run El Colegio de Belén in Havana. Although Castro took an interest in history, geography and debating at Belén, he did not excel academically, in 1945, Castro began studying law at the University of Havana. Admitting he was illiterate, he became embroiled in student activism. In 1947, Castro joined the Party of the Cuban People, a charismatic figure, Chibás advocated social justice, honest government, and political freedom, while his party exposed corruption and demanded reform. Though Chibás came third in the 1948 general election, Castro remained committed to working on his behalf, in later years anti-Castro dissidents accused him of committing gang-related assassinations at the time, but these remain unproven
18.
Brook Watson
–
Sir Brook Watson, 1st Baronet was a British merchant, soldier, and later Lord Mayor of London. Watson was the son of John Watson and Sarah Watson. Born in Plymouth, Devon in 1735, he was orphaned in 1741 and sent to live with his aunt and uncle in Boston and his uncle was a merchant who traded in the West Indies. Before the age of 14, Watson had expressed his interest in the sea, while swimming alone in Havana harbour, Cuba in 1749, the 14-year-old Watson was attacked by a shark. The shark attacked twice before Watson was rescued, the first time, the shark removed flesh from below the calf of Watson’s right leg, the second time, it bit off his right foot at the ankle. Watson was rescued by his shipmates, but his leg had to be amputated below the knee, Watson recuperated in a Cuban hospital and recovered within three months. On his return to Boston, Watson found that his uncle was bankrupt and he took a job under Captain John Huston on a schooner that supplied provisions to the British army at Fort Lawrence, Nova Scotia. At Fort Lawrence he came to the notice of Robert Monckton, three years later he was sent to supervise the expulsion of the Acadians from the Baie Verte area. He worked with the English trader Joseph Slayter, and in 1758 he was commissary under General James Wolfe at the Siege of Louisbourg and he was known as the wooden-legged commissary. In 1759 Watson went to London to continue his mercantile career, Watson became a successful merchant, engaging in business in London, Montreal and Boston, amongst other places. In 1763 he obtained, with others, a grant from the government of Nova Scotia of the county of Cumberland. Watson was a member of the committee of the Corporation of Lloyds of London in 1772. He combined his mercantile affairs with government business, in November 1775 Watson accompanied the American prisoner Ethan Allen on a voyage from Canada to England. Watson was examined by the House of Commons in 1775, when Lord Norths bill to cut off the fisheries of New England was before parliament, in 1782 he acted as Commissary General to the army commanded in North America by Sir Guy Carleton. After this he returned to London, where he was elected to serve as an Alderman of the City, Watson served as a Member of Parliament for the City of London from 1784 until 1793. He was also Sheriff of London and Middlesex in 1785, Watson was agent for New Brunswick in London from 1786 until 1794, and Commissary-General to the Duke of York from 1793 to 1795. He was Lord Mayor of London in 1796, from 1798 until 1806 he was Commissary-General of England. Watson was also a director of the Bank of England, whatever the circumstances of their meeting, Watson commissioned Copley to produce the work, known as Watson and the Shark which was completed in 1778
19.
Regla
–
Regla is one of the 15 municipalities or boroughs in the city of Havana, Cuba. The town is a commercial and industrial suburb with shipyards and it is known for its rich colonial history, being the home town of Chacón, Guaracheros de Regla and the traditional Virgen de Regla Santería celebrations. It formed during the period around the hermitage of Nuestra Señora de Regla and was officially founded in 1687. In 1755 the population of Regla was 164,789 in 1778 and it is an historic known fact that the first speech with political pro-independence overtones delivered by National Apostle José Martí was delivered in the Lyceum of Regla. During the struggle against dictator Fulgencio Batista, due to the opposition to Batista. The young men Leonardo Lopez, Filiberto Torres, Luis Lorenzo Gonzalez, Marcos Gonzalez, Manuel Lopez Guenaga, Elio Serrano, German Roche, Pedro Valdes, Jose Luis Cabrera, all of them belonged to the Movimiento 26 de Julio. Motorized police reinforcements took Regla and surrounded the cemetery and shot at close range, the police took prisoners, and many escaped, including Juan Alborna, but with a hand injury that was cured by his girlfriend Noemi Vidal. It was practically a popular uprising, but in 1960 Juan Alborna Salado became dissident. In 2004, the municipality of Regla had a population of 44,431, with an area of 9 km2, it had a population density of 4,936. 8/km2. Regla is divided into Barrios or Colonias, including Reparto Modelo, La Colonia, La Loma and La Colina Lenin. Corsico, Italy, since 2003 Richmond, California, USA Jose Canseco List of cities in Cuba Municipalities of Cuba Media related to Regla at Wikimedia Commons Unofficial Regla Sister City Web Site
20.
Casablanca, Havana
–
Casablanca is a ward of the city of Havana, the capital of Cuba, belonging to the municipal borough of Regla. It is situated to the east of the entrance to Havana Harbor, in 1762, the year of the capture of Havana by the British, a suburb of this name already existed. In 1846 it had 894 inhabitants and 120 houses, in 1858 its population had already reached 1,061 persons. A frequent ferry links Casablanca with the dock at the foot of Santa Clara street in Old Havana and this is also the western terminus of the Hershey Electric Railway. Media related to Casablanca at Wikimedia Commons Casablanca history
21.
Royal Dutch Shell
–
Royal Dutch Shell plc, commonly known as Shell, is a British–Dutch multinational oil and gas company headquartered in the Netherlands and incorporated in the United Kingdom. It is one of the six oil and gas supermajors and the sixth-largest company in the world measured by 2016 revenues. Shell was first in the 2013 Fortune Global 500 list of the worlds largest companies and it also has renewable energy activities in the form of biofuels and wind. Shell has operations in over 70 countries, produces around 3.7 million barrels of oil equivalent per day and has 44,000 service stations worldwide, as of 31 December 2014, Shell had total proved reserves of 13.7 billion barrels of oil equivalent. Shell Oil Company, its subsidiary in the United States, is one of its largest businesses. Shell holds 50% of Raízen, a joint venture with Cosan, which is the third-largest Brazil-based energy company by revenues, Shell was formed in 1907 through the amalgamation of the Royal Dutch Petroleum Company of the Netherlands and the Shell Transport and Trading Company of the United Kingdom. Shell first entered the industry in 1929. In 1970 Shell acquired the mining company Billiton, which it sold in 1994. In recent decades gas exploration and production has become an important part of Shells business. Shell acquired BG Group in 2016, making it the worlds largest producer of liquefied natural gas, Shell has a primary listing on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE100 Index. It has secondary listings on Euronext Amsterdam and the New York Stock Exchange, as of January 2013, Shells largest shareholder was Capital Research Global Investors with 9. 85% ahead of BlackRock in second with 6. 89%. Shells logo, known as the pecten, is one of the most familiar commercial symbols in the world and it was a move largely driven by the need to compete globally with Standard Oil. The Shell Transport and Trading Company was a British company, founded in 1897 by Marcus Samuel, 1st Viscount Bearsted, and his brother Samuel Samuel. Their father had owned a company in Houndsditch, London. For various reasons, the new firm operated as a company, whereby the merging companies maintained their legal existence. The terms of the merger gave 60 percent ownership of the new group to the Dutch arm and 40 percent to the British, national patriotic sensibilities would not permit a full-scale merger or takeover of either of the two companies. The Dutch company, Koninklijke Nederlandsche Petroleum Maatschappij at The Hague, was in charge of production, the British Anglo-Saxon Petroleum Company was based in London, to direct the transport and storage of the products. During the First World War, Shell was the supplier of fuel to the British Expeditionary Force
22.
Caribbean Sea
–
The Caribbean Sea is a sea of the Atlantic Ocean in the tropics of the Western Hemisphere. The entire area of the Caribbean Sea, the islands of the West Indies. The Caribbean Sea is one of the largest seas and has an area of about 2,754,000 km2, the seas deepest point is the Cayman Trough, between the Cayman Islands and Jamaica, at 7,686 m below sea level. The Caribbean coastline has many gulfs and bays, the Gulf of Gonâve, Gulf of Venezuela, Gulf of Darién, Golfo de los Mosquitos, Gulf of Paria, the Caribbean Sea has the worlds second biggest barrier reef, the Mesoamerican Barrier Reef. It runs 1,000 km along the coasts of Mexico, Belize, Guatemala, the name Caribbean derives from the Caribs, one of the regions dominant Native American groups at the time of European contact during the late 15th century. During the first century of development, Spanish dominance in the region remained undisputed, from the 16th century, Europeans visiting the Caribbean region identified the South Sea as opposed to the North Sea. The Caribbean Sea had been unknown to the populations of Eurasia until 1492, at that time the Western Hemisphere in general was unknown to Europeans. Following the discovery of the islands by Columbus, the area was colonised by several Western cultures. As of 2015 the area is home to 22 island territories, the International Hydrographic Organization defines the limits of the Caribbean Sea as follows, On the North. In the Windward Channel – a line joining Caleta Point and Pearl Point in Haïti, in the Mona Passage – a line joining Cape Engano and the extreme of Agujereada in Puerto Rico. From Galera Point through Trinidad to Galeota Point and thence to Baja Point in Venezuela, note that, although Barbados is an island on the same continental shelf, it is considered to be in the Atlantic Ocean rather than the Caribbean Sea. The Caribbean Sea is an oceanic sea largely situated on the Caribbean Plate, the Caribbean Sea is separated from the ocean by several island arcs of various ages. The youngest stretches from the Lesser Antilles to the Virgin Islands to the north east of Trinidad, the larger islands in the northern part of the sea Cuba, Hispaniola, Jamaica and Puerto Rico lie on an older island arc. The geological age of the Caribbean Sea is estimated to be between 160 and 180 million years and was formed by a fracture that split the supercontinent called Pangea in the Mesozoic Era. It is assumed the proto-caribbean basin existed in the Devonian period, in the early Carboniferous movement of Gondwana to the north and its convergence with the Euramerica basin decreased in size. The next stage of the Caribbean Seas formation began in the Triassic, powerful rifting led to the formation of narrow troughs, stretching from modern Newfoundland to the west coast of the Gulf of Mexico which formed siliciclastic sedimentary rocks. In the early Jurassic due to powerful marine transgression, water broke into the present area of the Gulf of Mexico creating a vast shallow pool, the emergence of deep basins in the Caribbean occurred during the Middle Jurassic rifting. The emergence of these marked the beginning of the Atlantic Ocean
23.
Morro Castle (fortress)
–
Morro Castle, named after the three biblical Magi, is a fortress guarding the entrance to Havana bay in Havana, Cuba. The Morro fortress in Havana shares its name with structures in Santiago de Cuba, in this case, the Spanish morro means a rock which is very visible from the sea and therefore serves as a navigational landmark. Perched on the promontory on the side of the harbor from Old Havana. Built initially in 1589 in response to raids on Havana harbor and it first saw action in 1762, while under the command of Luis Vicente de Velasco e Isla. The British expedition against Cuba under Lord Albemarle landed in Cojimar to the east of Havana, the fort fell when the British successfully mined one of its bastions. When the British handed the island back in 1763 to Spain, inside the gates is an exhibition on the lighthouses of Cuba – El Morro once housed a school for lighthouse keepers. There was actually a watchtower here until the British blew it up during their successful siege in 1762, the Faro Castillo del Morro lighthouse was added in 1846. The cannons around the fort are now badly rusted, but the walls are well preserved, the fort has central barracks up to four stories high. A small underwater archeology exhibition is located here. Noteworthy are the old latrines and their chute into the sea, the current harbor masters office is still housed in the fortress. A plaque dedicated by the ambassador of the United Kingdom commemorates the 1762 siege, a small turret at the end of the wall offers views of the sea crashing onto the rocks 20 meters below, and of the huge dry moat. The opposite side of the moat holds more modern guns and cannons, La Bateria de Velasco, Morro Castle can be seen in the background of John Singleton Copleys oil painting Watson and the Shark. Morro Castle appears in the movie The Ghost Breakers, in the background as Bob Hope, the climactic scenes from The Big Boodle starring Errol Flynn were shot at Morro Castle in pre-Castro Cuba. During his life, the Castro regime imprisoned the Cuban poet, the film version of Arenass autobiography, Before Night Falls, starring Javier Bardem, features scenes set in El Morro Castle prison. The Cuban writer José Antonio Echeverría published his novel, Antonelli. An historical novel in the tradition of Walter Scott, Antonelli describes the love triangle among Antonelli, a Spanish soldier, Morro Castle is the setting for many of the books events, including its tragic finale. Morro Castle appears in the Havana level of the PlayStation game Driver 2 and it appears also in the video game Assassins Creed IV
24.
Havana Suburban Railway
–
The Havana Suburban Railway is a passenger rail network serving the city of Havana, capital of Cuba, and its suburbs. Owned by the national company Ferrocarriles de Cuba, it represents the only rail system of the Caribbean island. Outside Havana, the network serves some towns of its area in Artemisa. A little part of Matanzas Province is served by the electrified line of Cuba. Plans for the construction of a transit network in Havana was studied in 1921. Other plans for a subway, based on Russian networks, were studied in the late 1970s and 1980s, after the 1991 dissolution of the Soviet Union and the consequent lack of funds of Cuban government, the proposal for a Havana Metro was abandoned. The network consists of 8 lines, departing from the 3 terminal stations of Havana, Central, Tulipán, note, the stations marked with Hv are located in the city of Havana. The network has limited use as transport and is primarily conceived to serve the suburbs. The price is very cheap and is subsidized by the state, train frequency is low and varies between 2 and 5 daily departures per route and convoys are composed of 2 or 3 cars and diesel locomotives on some routes. Several stations are linked to the MetroBus, a bus network, as of 2012, the Cuban government was making efforts to revitalize the rail network and expand the service. Havana MetroBus Media related to Havana Suburban Railway at Wikimedia Commons
25.
Hershey Electric Railway
–
There are a number of intermediate halts and a station and depot at the town of Camilo Cienfuegos, better known by its pre-revolutionary name of Hershey. The railway is the surviving electric line in Cuba. The railway was built by The Hershey Company to transport sugar to the port of Havana, the original electric interurban cars were bought from the J. G. Brill Company, but these were replaced by cars from the Ferrocarrils de la Generalitat de Catalunya in the 1990s. There are usually three trains per day, each way between Havana Casablanca and Matanzas, meeting at Hershey Station, the midpoint, the early morning and later afternoon trains allow commuters to go to work at the end-points, the mid-day provides supplementary service. The end-to-end time is approximately 3 1/2 hours, the service can be irregular and journeys may be truncated without prior notice. The main stops are at Guanabo, Hershey, San Mateo, Jibaco, Canasi, San Antonio and Matanzas, there are also other stops with small platforms and there can be numerous intermediate halts at road crossings serviced on demand. There are four branches from the line in current use, running to Playas del Este, Jaruco, Bainoa. There is local passenger service from Callé7 Station in Hershey to San Antonio de Rio Blanco and Jaruco, there may also still be local passenger service from Hershey Station to Caraballo on the Bainoa branch. These are rarely used since 2000, but in the months, diesel hauled excursion trains run from Havanas La Coubre station to Playas del Este. Other branches exists but have not been used in recent years, the branch to the Havana Club dark rum factory in Santa Cruz del Norte is no longer electrified and tank cars of molasses are delivered by diesel locomotives running out of Matanzas. The maintenance facility is in Hershey, near the Callé7 platforms, apparently one or more Brill cars are stored there for occasional tourist use, along with a GE steeple cab locomotive and a tower car to maintain the overhead catenary lines. Line voltage is 1200 volts DC, ties are concrete, rails are jointed and power poles wooden, usually on the south side. To minimize construction costs, the scenic roadbed tends to follow the contours of the land, the line serves communities and regions roughly midway between the Carretera Central and coastal Via Blanca highways, between Havana and Matanzas. These areas would otherwise have no transportation and poor road service. Havana Suburban Railway Media related to Hershey Electric Railway at Wikimedia Commons Article and pictures about Hershey Railway
26.
Havana Central railway station
–
Havana Central, is the main railway terminal in Havana and the largest railway station in Cuba, is the hub of the rail system in the country. It is considered a National monument for its architectural and historical values and is, along with the stations of Santiago, Camagüey and Santa Clara, the eclectic architecture building has four floors and a mezzanine. On the main facade, there are two towers on Belgica Avenue representing the Coat of arms of Cuba and Havana, respectively. The stations platforms are one kilometer long and a total area of 14,000 square meters. By 1910, the 71-year-old Villanueva Railway Station, the first of Havana, had exceeded its capacity due to increasing urban development and population of the city. On July 20,1910, the Congress of Cuba authorized to build the new station on the Arsenal public grounds instead of the Villanueva Station private grounds. The value of the old grounds and buildings was about US$3.7 million at the time. This resulted in heated debates in the Congress, the confrontation culminated in a duel to death on December 9,1910, where Congressman Moleón died. Two years later, on November 30,1912, the new Central Railway Station was opened on the arsenal grounds. Central Railway Station has a network of suburban, interurban and long-distance rail lines, the railways are nationalised and run by the FFCC. Rail service connects the Central Rail Station to various Cuban provinces, Santiago de Cuba is the busiest route from the Central Station, some 836 kilometres apart by rail. In 2000 the Union de Ferrocarriles de Cuba bought French first class airconditioned coaches, fast trains line 1 and 2, between and Santiago de Cuba, use comfortable stainless-steel air-conditioned coaches bought from French Railways and now known as the Tren Francés. It runs daily at peak periods of the year, and on second day at other times of the year. These coaches were used on the premier Trans Europ Express service between Paris, Brussels and Amsterdam before being replaced with high speed Thalys trains. They were shipped to the Cuban Railways System in 2001 and it offers two classes of seating, basic leatherette especial and quite luxurious primera especial. Camagüey railway station Havana Suburban Railway National Railways of Cuba Santa Clara railway station Santiago de Cuba railway station Havana Central railway station on EcuRed Google
27.
Faro Castillo del Morro
–
Faro Castillo del Morro is a lighthouse located in Havana, Cuba. It was built in 1845 on the ramparts of the Castillo de los Tres Reyes Magos del Morro, the lighthouse has a height of 25 metres, a focal height of 44 metres and displays two white flashes every 15 seconds. List of lighthouses in Cuba Rowlett, Russ, university of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
28.
Geographic coordinate system
–
A geographic coordinate system is a coordinate system used in geography that enables every location on Earth to be specified by a set of numbers, letters or symbols. The coordinates are chosen such that one of the numbers represents a vertical position. A common choice of coordinates is latitude, longitude and elevation, to specify a location on a two-dimensional map requires a map projection. The invention of a coordinate system is generally credited to Eratosthenes of Cyrene. Ptolemy credited him with the adoption of longitude and latitude. Ptolemys 2nd-century Geography used the prime meridian but measured latitude from the equator instead. Mathematical cartography resumed in Europe following Maximus Planudes recovery of Ptolemys text a little before 1300, in 1884, the United States hosted the International Meridian Conference, attended by representatives from twenty-five nations. Twenty-two of them agreed to adopt the longitude of the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, the Dominican Republic voted against the motion, while France and Brazil abstained. France adopted Greenwich Mean Time in place of local determinations by the Paris Observatory in 1911, the latitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle between the equatorial plane and the straight line that passes through that point and through the center of the Earth. Lines joining points of the same latitude trace circles on the surface of Earth called parallels, as they are parallel to the equator, the north pole is 90° N, the south pole is 90° S. The 0° parallel of latitude is designated the equator, the plane of all geographic coordinate systems. The equator divides the globe into Northern and Southern Hemispheres, the longitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle east or west of a reference meridian to another meridian that passes through that point. All meridians are halves of great ellipses, which converge at the north and south poles, the prime meridian determines the proper Eastern and Western Hemispheres, although maps often divide these hemispheres further west in order to keep the Old World on a single side. The antipodal meridian of Greenwich is both 180°W and 180°E, the combination of these two components specifies the position of any location on the surface of Earth, without consideration of altitude or depth. The grid formed by lines of latitude and longitude is known as a graticule, the origin/zero point of this system is located in the Gulf of Guinea about 625 km south of Tema, Ghana. To completely specify a location of a feature on, in, or above Earth. Earth is not a sphere, but a shape approximating a biaxial ellipsoid. It is nearly spherical, but has an equatorial bulge making the radius at the equator about 0. 3% larger than the radius measured through the poles, the shorter axis approximately coincides with the axis of rotation
