1.
Geographic coordinate system
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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
2.
Piccadilly
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Piccadilly is a road in the City of Westminster, London to the south of Mayfair, between Hyde Park Corner in the west and Piccadilly Circus in the east. It is part of the A4 road that connects central London to Hammersmith, Earls Court, Heathrow Airport, St Jamess is to the south of the eastern section, while the western section is built up only on the northern side. At just under 1 mile in length, Piccadilly is one of the widest and straightest streets in central London, Piccadilly has been a main road since at least medieval times, and in the middle ages was known as the road to Reading or the way from Colnbrook. Around 1611 or 1612, a Robert Baker acquired land in the area, shortly after purchasing the land, he enclosed it and erected several dwellings, including his home, Pikadilly Hall. Some of the most notable homes in London were built on the northern side of the street during this period, including Clarendon House. Berkeley House, constructed around the time as Clarendon House, was destroyed by a fire in 1733 and rebuilt as Devonshire House in 1737 by William Cavendish. It was later used as the headquarters for the Whig party. Burlington House has since been home to several noted societies, including the Royal Academy of Arts, the Geological Society of London, several members of the Rothschild family had mansions at the western end of the street. St Jamess Church was consecrated in 1684 and the area became St James Parish. The Old White Horse Cellar, at No,155, was one of the most famous coaching inns in England by the late-18th century, by which time the street had become a favourable location for booksellers. The Bath Hotel emerged around 1790, and Walsingham House was built in 1887, both the Bath and the Walsingham were purchased and demolished when the prestigious Ritz Hotel was built on the site in 1906. Piccadilly Circus station, at the east end of the street, was designed by Charles Holden and it was the first underground station to have no above-ground premises, the station is only accessible by subways from street level. The clothing store Simpsons was established at 203 -206 Piccadilly by Alec Simpson in 1936, during the 20th century, Piccadilly became known as a place to acquire heroin, and was notorious in the 1960s as the centre of Londons illegal drug trade. Today, Piccadilly is regarded as one of Londons principal shopping streets and its landmarks include the Ritz, Park Lane, Athenaeum and Intercontinental hotels, Fortnum & Mason, the Royal Academy, the RAF Club, Hatchards, the Embassy of Japan and the High Commission of Malta. Piccadilly has inspired works of fiction, including Oscar Wildes The Importance of Being Earnest. It is one of a group of squares on the London Monopoly board, the street has been part of a main road for centuries although there is no evidence that it was part of a Roman Road, unlike Oxford Street further north. In the Middle Ages it was known as the road to Reading or the way from Colnbrook, during the Tudor period, relatively settled conditions made expansion beyond Londons city walls a safer venture. Property speculation became an enterprise and developments grew so rapidly that the threat of disease
3.
Hyde Park, London
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Hyde Park is one of the largest parks in London and one of its Royal Parks. The park is divided by the Serpentine and the Long Water, the park is contiguous with Kensington Gardens, which are often assumed to be part of Hyde Park, Kensington Gardens has been separate since 1728, when Queen Caroline divided them. To the southeast, outside the park, is Hyde Park Corner, during daylight, the two parks merge seamlessly into each other, but Kensington Gardens closes at dusk, and Hyde Park remains open throughout the year from 5 a. m. until midnight. The Great Exhibition of 1851 was held in the park, for which the Crystal Palace, the park became a traditional location for mass demonstrations. The Chartists, the Reform League, the suffragettes, and the Stop the War Coalition have all held protests there, many protesters on the Liberty and Livelihood March in 2002 started their march from Hyde Park. Hyde Park is also a ward of the City of Westminster, the population of the ward at the 2011 Census was 12,462. Hyde Park was created for hunting by Henry Vlll in 1536, Charles I created the Ring, and in 1637 he opened the park to the general public. In 1652, during the Interregnum, Parliament ordered the then 620-acre park to be sold for ready money and it realised £17,000 with an additional £765 6s 2d for the resident deer. In 1689, when William III moved his residence to Kensington Palace on the far side of Hyde Park, public transport entering London from the west runs parallel to the Kings private road along Kensington Gore, just outside the park. In the late 1800s, the row was used by the wealthy for horseback rides, the first coherent landscaping was undertaken by Charles Bridgeman for Queen Caroline, under the supervision of Charles Withers, the Surveyor-General of Woods and Forests, who took some credit. It was completed in 1733 at a cost to the public purse of £20,000, the 2nd Viscount Weymouth was made Ranger of Hyde Park in 1739 and shortly after began digging the Serpentine lakes at Longleat. The Serpentine is divided from the Long Water by a bridge designed by George Rennie, one of the most important events to take place in the park was the Great Exhibition of 1851. The Crystal Palace was constructed on the side of the park. The public did not want the building to remain after the closure of the exhibition and he had it moved to Sydenham Hill in South London. At the age of twenty-five, Decimus Burton was commissioned by the Office of Woods and he laid out the paths and driveways and designed a series of lodges, the Screen/Gate at Hyde Park Corner and the Wellington Arch. The Screen and the Arch originally formed a single composition, designed to provide a transition between Hyde Park and Green Park, although the arch was later moved. An early description reports, It consists of a screen of handsome fluted Ionic columns, the extent of the whole frontage is about 107 ft. The two side gateways, in their elevations, present two insulated Ionic columns, flanked by antae, all these entrances are finished by a blocking, the sides of the central one being decorated with a beautiful frieze, representing a naval and military triumphal procession
4.
Decimus Burton
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Decimus Burton FRS FRSA FSA FRIBA was one of the foremost English architects of the 19th century. He was an exponent of the Greek revival, Georgian. He also worked on Buckingham Palace, where he was responsible for the removal of Nashs Marble Arch facing the building to its present site and his siblings included James Burton and Henry Burton. Decimus was the 10th child of the property developer James Burton and Elizabeth Westley, of Loughton, Essex, daughter of John and Mary Westley. On his fathers side, his grandparents were Rev. James Haliburton and Margaret Eliott, daughter of Sir William Eliott, 2nd Baronet and aunt of George Augustus Eliott. Decimus was descended from John Haliburton, from whom Sir Walter Scott and he was a cousin of the American judge and author Thomas Chandler Haliburton and thence of the lawyer and anthropologist Robert Grant Haliburton and Arthur Lawrence Haliburton, 1st Baron Haliburton. Decimus spent his years in his father’s mansion, Mabledon House, in Kent. Decimus left Tonbridge School in 1816, due to his fathers social standing, he was able to enter the Royal Academy Schools directly, in 1817, without having been articled to an architect. Here he was taught by Sir John Soane, for whom his brother, Decimus then trained with his father, during which time he receive drawing lessons from George Maddox. Decimus was exceptionally learned, as the diversity of his library, part of which was auctioned by his nieces, the sale catalogue listed 347 separate lots, some of which ran into many volumes. L. L. Buffon and Bernard Germain de Lacépède, alongside these, topographical views and surveys of cities and counties pepper the collection. There were also some texts, including volumes by Charles Percier and Jean-Baptiste Rondelet, a complete set of Giovanni Battista Piranesis works. This goes some way towards explaining the formal character of his architecture. Decimus was an exponent of the Greek revival style of architecture, although, uniquely. In his later career, he designed buildings in the Gothic revival style, the ‘old English’ style. Decimus was one of the first architects to consider the implications of architecture on the creation of urban environments in which they featured. Evidence given by Burton to two parliamentary select committees shows the diversity of his experience and, by virtue of his being asked, the esteem in which his opinion was held by contemporaries. Burtons evidence to the committee of the House of Commons
5.
Apsley House
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Apsley House, also known as Number One, London, is the London townhouse of the Dukes of Wellington. It stands alone at Hyde Park Corner, on the south-east corner of Hyde Park and it is a Grade I listed building. It is sometimes referred to as the Wellington Museum, the house is now run by English Heritage and is open to the public as a museum and art gallery, exhibiting 83 paintings from the Spanish royal collection. The 9th Duke of Wellington retains the use of part of the buildings and it is perhaps the only preserved example of an English aristocratic town house from its period. The practice has been to maintain the rooms as far as possible in the original style and it contains the 1st Dukes collection of paintings, porcelain, the silver centrepiece made for the Duke in Portugal, c. It was set up for a time in the Louvre and was bought by the Government for Wellington in 1816, Apsley House stands at the site of an old lodge that belonged to the crown. During the Interregnum newer buildings were erected between what is now Old Regent Street and Hyde Park Corner, in the 1600s after the Restoration they were leased by James Hamilton and renewed by Elizabeth his widow in 1692 on a 99-year lease. Immediately before Apsley House was built the site was occupied by a called the Hercules Pillars. The house was built in red brick by Robert Adam between 1771 and 1778 for Lord Apsley, the Lord Chancellor, who gave the house its name. Some Adam interiors survive, the semi-circular Staircase, the Drawing Room with its end. The house was given the nickname of Number One, London. It was originally part of a line of great houses on Piccadilly, demolished to widen Park Lane, its official address remains 149 Piccadilly. The second phase, started after Wellington had become Prime Minister in 1828, included a new staircase, the red-brick exterior was clad in Bath stone, and a pedimented portico added. Wyatts original estimate for the work was £23,000, the Waterloo Gallery is, of course, named after the Dukes famous victory over Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo. A special banquet is still served annually to celebrate the date –18 June 1815, the Dukes equestrian statue can be seen across the busy road, cloaked and watchful, the plinth guarded at each corner by an infantryman. This statue was cast from guns captured at the battle, the family apartments are now on the north side of the house, concentrated on the second floor. The notable collection of 200 paintings includes 83 paintings which were acquired by the first Duke after the Battle of Vitoria, in 1813, in nowadays Vitoria-Gasteiz. The paintings were in Joseph Bonapartes baggage train and were part of what was called the biggest loot in history, Lord Maryborough, brother of the duke, catalogued 165 of the finest paintings to have arrived to the duke of Wellingtons residence from Vitoria-Gasteiz
6.
London
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London /ˈlʌndən/ is the capital and most populous city of England and the United Kingdom. Standing on the River Thames in the south east of the island of Great Britain and it was founded by the Romans, who named it Londinium. Londons ancient core, the City of London, largely retains its 1. 12-square-mile medieval boundaries. London is a global city in the arts, commerce, education, entertainment, fashion, finance, healthcare, media, professional services, research and development, tourism. It is crowned as the worlds largest financial centre and has the fifth- or sixth-largest metropolitan area GDP in the world, London is a world cultural capital. It is the worlds most-visited city as measured by international arrivals and has the worlds largest city airport system measured by passenger traffic, London is the worlds leading investment destination, hosting more international retailers and ultra high-net-worth individuals than any other city. Londons universities form the largest concentration of education institutes in Europe. In 2012, London became the first city to have hosted the modern Summer Olympic Games three times, London has a diverse range of people and cultures, and more than 300 languages are spoken in the region. Its estimated mid-2015 municipal population was 8,673,713, the largest of any city in the European Union, Londons urban area is the second most populous in the EU, after Paris, with 9,787,426 inhabitants at the 2011 census. The citys metropolitan area is the most populous in the EU with 13,879,757 inhabitants, the city-region therefore has a similar land area and population to that of the New York metropolitan area. London was the worlds most populous city from around 1831 to 1925, Other famous landmarks include Buckingham Palace, the London Eye, Piccadilly Circus, St Pauls Cathedral, Tower Bridge, Trafalgar Square, and The Shard. The London Underground is the oldest underground railway network in the world, the etymology of London is uncertain. It is an ancient name, found in sources from the 2nd century and it is recorded c.121 as Londinium, which points to Romano-British origin, and hand-written Roman tablets recovered in the city originating from AD 65/70-80 include the word Londinio. The earliest attempted explanation, now disregarded, is attributed to Geoffrey of Monmouth in Historia Regum Britanniae and this had it that the name originated from a supposed King Lud, who had allegedly taken over the city and named it Kaerlud. From 1898, it was accepted that the name was of Celtic origin and meant place belonging to a man called *Londinos. The ultimate difficulty lies in reconciling the Latin form Londinium with the modern Welsh Llundain, which should demand a form *lōndinion, from earlier *loundiniom. The possibility cannot be ruled out that the Welsh name was borrowed back in from English at a later date, and thus cannot be used as a basis from which to reconstruct the original name. Until 1889, the name London officially applied only to the City of London, two recent discoveries indicate probable very early settlements near the Thames in the London area
7.
Junction (road)
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Roads began as a means of linking locations of interest, towns, forts and geographic features such as river fords. Where roads met outside of a settlement, these junctions often led to a new settlement. Scotch Corner is an example of such a location, in the United Kingdom and other countries, the practice of giving names to junctions emerged, to help travellers find their way. Junctions took the name of a prominent nearby business or a point of interest, as road networks increased in density and traffic flows followed suit, managing the flow of traffic across the junction became of increasing importance, to minimize delays and improve safety. The first innovation was to add traffic control devices, such as stop signs, next came lane controls that limited what each lane of traffic was allowed to do while crossing. Turns across oncoming traffic might be prohibited, or allowed only when oncoming and crossing traffic was stopped and this was followed by specialized junction designs that incorporated information about traffic volumes, speeds, driver intent and many other factors. The most basic distinction among junction types is whether or not the cross at the same or different elevations. More expensive, grade-separated interchanges generally offer higher throughput at higher cost, single-grade intersections are lower cost and lower throughput. Each main type comes in many variants, at interchanges, roads pass above or below each other, using grade separation and slip roads. The terms motorway junction and highway junction typically refer to this layout and they can be further subdivided into those with and without signal controls. Signalized interchanges include such diamond designs as the diamond, Michigan urban diamond, three-level diamond. Others include center-turn overpass, contraflow left, single loop, autobahnkreuz, short form kreuz, and abbreviated as AK, is a four-way interchange on the German autobahn network. Autobahndreieck, short form dreieck, and abbreviated as AD, is an interchange on the German autobahn network. They also can be subdivided into those with and without signal controls. Non-signalized designs include unsignalized variations on continuous-flow 3 and 4-leg, median u-turn and superstreet, along with Maryland T/J, roundabout, intersections generally must manage pedestrian as well as vehicle traffic. Pedestrian aids include crosswalks, pedestrian-directed traffic signals and over/underpasses, walk lights may be accompanied by audio signals to aid the visually impaired. Medians can offer pedestrian islands, allowing pedestrians to divide their crossings into a segment for each traffic direction. Bicycle traffic can be accommodated with bike lanes in the roadway or bikeways that are separated from the roadway
8.
Park Lane
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Park Lane is a major road in the City of Westminster, in Central London. It is part of the London Inner Ring Road and runs from Hyde Park Corner in the south to Marble Arch in the north and it separates Hyde Park to the west from Mayfair to the east. The road has a number of important properties and hotels and has been one of the most sought after streets in London. The road was originally a country lane on the boundary of Hyde Park. Aristocratic properties appeared during the late 18th century, including Breadalbene House, Somerset House, notable residents included the 1st Duke of Westminsters residence at Grosvenor House, the Dukes of Somerset at Somerset House and the British Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli at No.93. Other historic properties include Dorchester House, Brook House and Dudley House, flats and shops began appearing on the road, including penthouse flats. A number of properties on the road today are owned by some of the wealthiest businessmen from the Middle East, current residents include business mogul Mohamed Al-Fayed and former council leader Dame Shirley Porter. The road has suffered traffic congestion since the mid 19th century. Improved crossings for cyclists appeared in the early 21st century, despite the changes, property prices along the road are still among the highest in London. Its prestigious status has been commemorated by being the second-most expensive property square on the London Monopoly board, Park Lane is about 0.7 miles long, and runs north from Hyde Park Corner to Marble Arch, along the eastern flank of Hyde Park. The road is a route, classified A4202. The street is one of the key bus corridors in Central London. It is used by London bus routes 2,10,13,16,36,73,74,137,148,414,436 and night bus routes N16, N73, N74 and N137. The nearest tube stations are Hyde Park Corner on the Piccadilly line near the southern end. What is now Park Lane was originally a track running along farm boundaries, when Hyde Park was opened in the 16th century, the lane ran north-south along eastern boundary from Piccadilly to Marble Arch. Tyburn Lane took its name from the former Tyburn village which had declined in the 14th century, the Tyburn gallows, or Tyburn Tree, at the end of what is now Park Lane, was Londons primary public place of execution until 1783. In 1741, the Kensington Turnpike Trust took over its maintenance, Breadalbene House was built on the street in 1776. The politician and entrepreneur Richard Sharp, also known as Conversation Sharp, in the 1760s, Londonderry House, on the corner of Park Lane and Hertford Street, was bought by the Sixth Earl of Holdernesse
9.
Constitution Hill, London
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Constitution Hill is a road in the City of Westminster in London. It connects the end of The Mall with Hyde Park Corner. The term Hill is something of a misnomer, there is barely a detectable slope, an old lane on this route was enhanced in connection with the development of Buckingham Palace in the 1820s. It formed a route from the palace to Hyde Park. It is now closed to traffic on Sundays, the road obtained its name in the 17th century from King Charles IIs habit of taking constitutional walks there. In Strypes Map,1720, it is marked Road to Kensington, in John Smiths map of 1724, it is called Constitution Hill. It was the scene of three assassination attempts against Queen Victoria—in 1840,1842 and 1849. In 1850, the former Conservative Prime Minister Sir Robert Peel was thrown from his horse on Constitution Hill by the gate into Green Park, he suffered a fatal injury and died three days later. Wellington Arch at Hyde Park Corner was originally the culmination of the route, there is a recent war memorial to Commonwealth soldiers near the top of Constitution Hill, just before Hyde Park Corner, the memorial is known as the Memorial Gates. Large concrete lamp posts were installed in Constitution Hill in the 1960s, but thanks to the swift intervention of comedian and enthusiastic environmentalist Spike Milligan, they were removed within days and the old gas lamps are still there. There are other streets called Constitution Hill, for example in Birmingham, Commonwealth Gates War Memorial Images of Constitution Hill, London
