1.
Ticker symbol
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A ticker symbol or stock symbol is an abbreviation used to uniquely identify publicly traded shares of a particular stock on a particular stock market. A stock symbol may consist of letters, numbers or a combination of both, ticker symbol refers to the symbols that were printed on the ticker tape of a ticker tape machine. Stock symbols are unique identifiers assigned to each security traded on a particular market, for example, AAPL is for Apple Inc. OODH is for Orion DHC, Inc. and HD is for Home Depot, a stock symbol can consist of letters, numbers, or a combination of both, and is a way to uniquely identify that stock. The symbols were kept as short as possible to reduce the number of characters that had to be printed on the ticker tape, the allocation of symbols and formatting convention is specific to each stock exchange. In the US, for example, stock tickers are typically between 1 and 4 letters and represent the name where possible. In Europe, most exchanges use three-letter codes, for example Dutch consumer goods company Unilever traded on the Amsterdam Euronext exchange has the symbol UNA, while in Asia, numbers are often used as stock tickers to avoid issues for international investors when using non-Latin scripts. For example, the bank HSBCs stock traded on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange has the ticker symbol 0005, symbols sometimes change to reflect mergers. Prior to the 1999 merger with Mobil Oil, Exxon used a spelling of the company XON as its ticker symbol. The symbol of the firm after the merger was XOM, symbols are sometimes reused, in the US the single-letter symbols are particularly sought after as vanity symbols. For example, since Mar 2008 Visa Inc. has used the symbol V that had previously used by Vivendi which had delisted. To fully qualify a stock, both the ticker and the exchange or country of listing needs to be known, on many systems both must be specified to uniquely identify the security. This is often done by appending the location or exchange code to the ticker, although stock tickers identify a security, they are exchange dependent, generally limited to stocks and can change. These limitations have led to the development of other codes in financial markets to identify securities for settlement purposes, the most prevalent of these is the International Securities Identifying Number. An ISIN uniquely identifies a security and its structure is defined in ISO6166, Securities for which ISINs are issued include bonds, commercial paper, stocks, and warrants. The ISIN identifies the security, not the exchange on which it trades, for instance, Daimler AG stock trades on twenty-two different stock exchanges worldwide, and is priced in five different currencies, it has the same ISIN on each, though not the same ticker symbol. ISIN cannot specify a particular trade in this case, and another identifier, following the introduction of the Sequence trading platform in 1996, EPICs were renamed Tradable Instrument Display Mnemonics, but they are still widely referred to as EPICs. Stocks can also be identified using their SEDOL number or their ISIN, in the United States, modern letter-only ticker symbols were developed by Standard & Poors to bring a national standard to investing
2.
NASDAQ
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The Nasdaq Stock Market is an American stock exchange. It is the second-largest exchange in the world by market capitalization, the exchange platform is owned by Nasdaq, Inc. which also owns the Nasdaq Nordic and Nasdaq Baltic stock market network and several other US stock and options exchanges. When it was founded, NASDAQ stood for the acronym of National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations, NASDAQ was founded in 1971 by the National Association of Securities Dealers, which divested itself of NASDAQ in a series of sales in 2000 and 2001. The Nasdaq Stock Market is owned and operated by Nasdaq, Inc. the stocks of which were listed on its own stock exchange marketing July 2,2002, when the Nasdaq Stock Market began trading on February 8,1971, it was the worlds first electronic stock market. At first, it was merely a system and did not provide a way to perform electronic trades. The Nasdaq Stock Market helped lower the spread but was unpopular among brokerages which made much of their money on the spread. As late as 1987, the NASDAQ exchange was still referred to as OTC in media. Over the years, the Nasdaq Stock Market became more of a market by adding trade and volume reporting. The Nasdaq Stock Market attracted new companies such as Microsoft, Apple, Cisco, Oracle and Dell. Its main index is the NASDAQ Composite, which has published since its inception. In 1992, the Nasdaq Stock Market joined with the London Stock Exchange to form the first intercontinental linkage of securities markets, the National Association of Securities Dealers spun off the Nasdaq Stock Market in 2000 to form a publicly traded company. In 2006, the status of the Nasdaq Stock Market was changed from a market to a licensed national securities exchange. In 2007, Nasdaq merged with OMX, an exchange operator in the Nordic countries, expanded its global footprint. NASDAQ OMX could be looking to acquire the American exchanges cash equities business, at the time, NYSE Euronext’s market value was $9.75 billion. Nasdaq was valued at $5.78 billion, while ICE was valued at $9.45 billion. Late in the month, Nasdaq was reported to be considering asking either ICE or the Chicago Mercantile Exchange to join in what would probably have to be, if it proceeded, an $11–12 billion counterbid. The European Association of Securities Dealers Automatic Quotation System was founded as a European equivalent to the Nasdaq Stock Market and it was purchased by NASDAQ in 2001 and became NASDAQ Europe. Operations were shut down, however, as a result of the burst of the dot-com bubble, in 2007, NASDAQ Europe was revived as Equiduct, and is currently operating under Börse Berlin
3.
Gambling
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Gambling is the wagering of money or something of value on an event with an uncertain outcome with the primary intent of winning money or material goods. Gambling thus requires three elements be present, consideration, chance and prize, the term gaming in this context typically refers to instances in which the activity has been specifically permitted by law. However, this distinction is not universally observed in the English-speaking world, for instance, in the United Kingdom, the regulator of gambling activities is called the Gambling Commission. Gambling is also an international commercial activity, with the legal gambling market totaling an estimated $335 billion in 2009. In other forms, gambling can be conducted with materials which have a value, many popular games played in modern casinos originate from Europe and China. Games such as craps, baccarat, roulette, and blackjack originate from different areas of Europe, a version of keno, an ancient Chinese lottery game, is played in casinos around the world. In addition, pai gow poker, a hybrid between pai gow and poker is also played, many jurisdictions, local as well as national, either ban gambling or heavily control it by licensing the vendors. Such regulation generally leads to gambling tourism and illegal gambling in the areas where it is not allowed, there is generally legislation requiring that the odds in gaming devices are statistically random, to prevent manufacturers from making some high-payoff results impossible. Since these high-payoffs have very low probability, a bias can quite easily be missed unless the odds are checked carefully. Most jurisdictions that allow gambling require participants to be above a certain age, in some jurisdictions, the gambling age differs depending on the type of gambling. For example, in many American states one must be over 21 to enter a casino, E. g. Nonetheless, both insurance and gambling contracts are typically considered aleatory contracts under most legal systems, though they are subject to different types of regulation. Under common law, particularly English Law, a contract may not give a casino bona fide purchaser status. For case law on recovery of gambling losses where the loser had stolen the funds see Rights of owner of money as against one who won it in gambling transaction from thief. This was a plot point in a Perry Mason novel, The Case of the Singing Skirt. Religious perspectives on gambling have been mixed, ancient Hindu poems like the Gamblers Lament and the Mahabharata testify to the popularity of gambling among ancient Indians. However, the text Arthashastra recommends taxation and control of gambling, ancient Jewish authorities frowned on gambling, even disqualifying professional gamblers from testifying in court. For these social and religious reasons, most legal jurisdictions limit gambling, in at least one case, the same bishop opposing a casino has sold land to be used for its construction. Although different interpretations of law exist in the Muslim world
4.
Creve Coeur, Missouri
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Creve Coeur /ˈkriːv ˈkʊər/ is a city located in west St. Louis County, Missouri, United States, in Greater St. Louis. The population was 17,833 at the 2010 census, Creve Coeur borders and shares a ZIP code with the neighboring city of Town and Country. It is home to the headquarters of Monsanto, the name crève cœur is said to derive from Creve Coeur Lake. When the area was acquired by the United States through the Louisiana Purchase in 1803, during the American Civil War, men from the area served on both sides of the conflict, but most residents were southern sympathizers. Creve Coeur was incorporated in 1949, although there are cabins that are more than 200 years old in the community, it grew primarily as a stopping point along Olive Boulevard between University City and Creve Coeur Lake. It expanded faster following construction of Interstate 270 and U. S. Route 40, the lake and its associated park of the same name, which was the first county park in St. Louis County, is now part of Maryland Heights to the north of Creve Coeur. Creve Coeur is located at 38°40′2″N 90°26′33″W, according to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 10.27 square miles, all of it land. The City of Creve Coeur’s Charter was adopted in 1976, providing for a Council-City Administrator form of government, the Mayor is elected by the voters while the City Council consists of eight members. The Mayor is elected at large for a three-year term, the City Administrator is hired by the City Council and is responsible for the day-to-day operations of the city. Creve Coeur has 104 government employees, the city is located in the 2nd Congressional District, 7th and 24th State Senate District, and 82nd and 87th State Representative Districts. The City of Creve Coeur’s Standard & Poor bond rating is AAA, the city’s Police Department is accredited through the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies, Inc. Ranked 3rd in highest assessed value in St. Louis County the median income for a household in the city was $94,852, males had a median income of $65,106 versus $39,102 for females. The per capita income for the city was $59,496, about 1. 8% of families and 2. 9% of the population were below the poverty line, including 1. 8% of those under age 18 and 2. 7% of those age 65 or over. As of the census of 2010, there were 17,833 people,7,654 households, the population density was 1,736.4 inhabitants per square mile. There were 8,433 housing units at a density of 821.1 per square mile. The racial makeup of the city was 79. 9% White,7. 2% African American,0. 2% Native American,10. 1% Asian,0. 7% from other races, hispanic or Latino of any race were 2. 6% of the population. 32. 8% of all households were made up of individuals and 12. 4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older, the average household size was 2.26 and the average family size was 2.91. The median age in the city was 44.3 years
5.
Missouri
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Missouri is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States, achieving statehood in 1821. With over six million residents, it is the eighteenth most populous state, the largest urban areas are St. Louis, Kansas City, Springfield, and Columbia. The capitol is in Jefferson City on the Missouri River, the state is the twenty-first most extensive by area and is geographically diverse. The Northern Plains were once covered by glaciers, then tallgrass prairie, in the South are the Ozarks, a forested highland, providing timber, minerals, and recreation. The Mississippi River forms the border of the state, eventually flowing into the swampy Missouri Bootheel. Humans have inhabited the land now known as Missouri for at least 12,000 years, the Mississippian culture built cities and mounds, before declining in the 1300s. When European explorers arrived in the 1600s they encountered the Osage, the French established Louisiana, a part of New France, and founded Ste. Genevieve in 1735 and St. Louis in 1764, after a brief period of Spanish rule, the United States acquired the Louisiana Purchase in 1803. Americans from the Upland South, including enslaved African Americans, rushed into the new Missouri Territory, many from Virginia, Kentucky, and Tennessee settled in the Boonslick area of Mid-Missouri. Soon after, heavy German immigration formed the Missouri Rhineland, Missouri played a central role in the westward expansion of the United States, as memorialized by the Gateway Arch. The Pony Express, Oregon Trail, Santa Fe Trail, as a border state, Missouris role in the American Civil War was complex and there were many conflicts within. After the war, both Greater St. Louis and the Kansas City metropolitan area became centers of industrialization and business, today, the state is divided into 114 counties and the independent city of St. Louis. Missouris culture blends elements from the Midwestern and Southern United States, the musical styles of ragtime, Kansas City jazz, and St. Louis Blues, developed in Missouri. The well-known Kansas City-style barbecue, and lesser known St. Louis-style barbecue can be found across the state, St. Louis is also a major center of beer brewing, Anheuser-Busch is the largest producer in the world. Missouri wine is produced in the nearby Missouri Rhineland and Ozarks, Missouris alcohol laws are among the most permissive in the United States. Outside of the large cities popular tourist destinations include the Lake of the Ozarks, U. S. President Harry S. Truman is from Missouri. Other well known Missourians include Mark Twain, Walt Disney, Chuck Berry, some of the largest companies based in the state include Express Scripts, Monsanto, Emerson Electric, Edward Jones, and OReilly Auto Parts. Missouri has been called the Mother of the West and the Cave State, however, Missouris most famous nickname is the Show Me State, the state is named for the Missouri River, which was named after the indigenous Missouri Indians, a Siouan-language tribe
6.
United States
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Forty-eight of the fifty states and the federal district are contiguous and located in North America between Canada and Mexico. The state of Alaska is in the northwest corner of North America, bordered by Canada to the east, the state of Hawaii is an archipelago in the mid-Pacific Ocean. The U. S. territories are scattered about the Pacific Ocean, the geography, climate and wildlife of the country are extremely diverse. At 3.8 million square miles and with over 324 million people, the United States is the worlds third- or fourth-largest country by area, third-largest by land area. It is one of the worlds most ethnically diverse and multicultural nations, paleo-Indians migrated from Asia to the North American mainland at least 15,000 years ago. European colonization began in the 16th century, the United States emerged from 13 British colonies along the East Coast. Numerous disputes between Great Britain and the following the Seven Years War led to the American Revolution. On July 4,1776, during the course of the American Revolutionary War, the war ended in 1783 with recognition of the independence of the United States by Great Britain, representing the first successful war of independence against a European power. The current constitution was adopted in 1788, after the Articles of Confederation, the first ten amendments, collectively named the Bill of Rights, were ratified in 1791 and designed to guarantee many fundamental civil liberties. During the second half of the 19th century, the American Civil War led to the end of slavery in the country. By the end of century, the United States extended into the Pacific Ocean. The Spanish–American War and World War I confirmed the status as a global military power. The end of the Cold War and the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 left the United States as the sole superpower. The U. S. is a member of the United Nations, World Bank, International Monetary Fund, Organization of American States. The United States is a developed country, with the worlds largest economy by nominal GDP. It ranks highly in several measures of performance, including average wage, human development, per capita GDP. While the U. S. economy is considered post-industrial, characterized by the dominance of services and knowledge economy, the United States is a prominent political and cultural force internationally, and a leader in scientific research and technological innovations. In 1507, the German cartographer Martin Waldseemüller produced a map on which he named the lands of the Western Hemisphere America after the Italian explorer and cartographer Amerigo Vespucci
7.
Earnings before interest and taxes
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In accounting and finance, earnings before interest and taxes, is a measure of a firms profit that includes all expenses except interest and income tax expenses. It is the difference between operating revenues and operating expenses, when a firm does not have non-operating income, then operating income is sometimes used as a synonym for EBIT and operating profit. To calculate EBIT, expenses are subtracted from revenues, net income is later obtained by subtracting interest and taxes from the result
8.
Net income
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In business, net income is an entitys income minus cost of goods sold, expenses and taxes for an accounting period. In the context of the presentation of financial statements, the IFRS Foundation defines net income as synonymous with profit, net income is a distinct accounting concept from profit but the same as net profit. Net income can also be calculated by adding a companys operating income to non-operating income, net income can be distributed among holders of common stock as a dividend or held by the firm as an addition to retained earnings. As profit and earnings are used synonymously for income, net earnings, often, the term income is substituted for net income, yet this is not preferred due to the possible ambiguity. Net income is called the bottom line because it is typically found on the last line of a companys income statement. The items deducted will typically include tax expense, financing expense, likewise, preferred stock dividends will be subtracted too, though they are not an expense. For a merchandising company, subtracted costs may be the cost of goods sold, sales discounts, for a product company advertising, manufacturing, and design and development costs are included
9.
Asset
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In financial accounting, an asset is an economic resource. Anything tangible or intangible that can be owned or controlled to produce value, simply stated, assets represent value of ownership that can be converted into cash. The balance sheet of a firm records the value of the assets owned by that firm. It covers money and other valuables belonging to an individual or to a business, one can classify assets into two major asset classes, tangible assets and intangible assets. Tangible assets contain various subclasses, including current assets and fixed assets, current assets include inventory, while fixed assets include such items as buildings and equipment. Intangible assets are resources and rights that have a value to the firm because they give the firm some kind of advantage in the marketplace. Examples of intangible assets include goodwill, copyrights, trademarks, patents and computer programs, an asset is a resource controlled by the entity as a result of past events and from which future economic benefits are expected to flow to the entity. One of the most widely accepted accounting definitions of asset is the one used by the International Accounting Standards Board, employees are not considered assets like machinery is, even though they can generate future economic benefits. This is because an entity does not have sufficient control over its employees to satisfy the Frameworks definition of an asset, similarly, in economics an asset is any form in which wealth can be held. The accounting equation is the structure of the balance sheet. It relates assets, liabilities, and owners equity, Assets = Liabilities + Capital Liabilities = Assets − Capital Equity = Assets − Liabilities Assets are listed on the balance sheet. On a companys balance sheet certain divisions are required by generally accepted accounting principles, Assets can be divided into e. g. current assets and fixed assets, often with further subdivisions such as cash, receivables and inventory. Assets are formally controlled and managed within larger organizations via the use of asset tracking tools and these monitor the purchasing, upgrading, servicing, licensing, disposal etc. of both physical and non-physical assets. Current assets are cash and other assets expected to be converted to cash or consumed either in a year or in the operating cycle and these assets are continually turned over in the course of a business during normal business activity. There are 5 major items included into current assets, Cash and cash equivalents – it is the most liquid asset, which includes currency, deposit accounts, short-term investments – include securities bought and held for sale in the near future to generate income on short-term price differences. Receivables – usually reported as net of allowance for non-collectable accounts, inventory – trading these assets is a normal business of a company. The inventory value reported on the sheet is usually the historical cost or fair market value. This is known as the lower of cost or market rule, prepaid expenses – these are expenses paid in cash and recorded as assets before they are used or consumed
10.
Equity (finance)
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In accounting, equity is the difference between the value of the assets and the value of the liabilities of something owed. Equity can be negative if liabilities exceeds assets, shareholders equity represents the equity of a company as divided among shareholders of common or preferred stock. Negative shareholders equity is often referred to as a shareholders deficit, alternatively, equity can also refer to the capital stock of a corporation. The value of the stock depends on the future economic prospects. For a company in liquidation proceedings, the equity is that which remains after all liabilities have been paid, when starting a business, the owners fund the business to finance various operations. Throughout the businesss existence, the equity of the business will be the difference between its assets and debt liabilities, this is the accounting equation, when a business liquidates during bankruptcy, the proceeds from the assets are used to reimburse creditors. The creditors are ranked by priority, with secured creditors being paid first, other creditors being paid next, owners equity is this remaining or residual claim against assets, which is paid only after all other creditors are paid. In such cases where even creditors could not get money to pay their bills. In financial accounting, owners equity consists of the net assets of an entity, net assets is the difference between the total assets and total liabilities. Equity appears on the sheet, one of the four primary financial statements. The assets of an entity can be tangible and intangible items. Intangible assets include such as brand names, copyrights or goodwill. Tangible assets include land, equipment, and cash, issue of new equity in which the firm obtains new capital increases the total shareholders equity. Share repurchases, in which a firm returns money to investors, reducing on the side its financial assets. For practical purposes, share repurchasing is similar to a dividend payment, rather than giving money to all shareholders immediately in the form of a dividend payment, a share repurchase reduces the number of shares outstanding. Dividends paid out to preferred stock owners are considered an expense to be subtracted from net income, sometimes assets bought and held in other countries get translated back into the reporting currency at different exchange rates, resulting in a changed value. When the owners are shareholders, the interest can be called shareholders equity, the remains the same. If all shareholders are in one and the class, they share equally in ownership equity from all perspectives
11.
Greater St. Louis
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Greater St. Louis is the metropolitan area that completely surrounds and includes the independent city of St. Louis. It includes parts of both the U. S. states of Missouri and Illinois, the city core is on the border to Illinois and collectively the two regions form the combined metropolitan area. St. Louis is the largest metro area in Missouri, and is the second largest in Illinois, St. Louis County is independent of the city of St. Louis and their two populations are generally tabulated separately. Depending on the counties included in the area, it can refer to the St. Louis, MO-IL metropolitan statistical area or the St. Louis-St. Charles-Farmington, MO-IL combined statistical area. The CSA includes all of the MSA listed above and the Farmington, MO micropolitan statistical area, which includes Washington and St. Francois Counties. The CSA was the 19th largest in the United States in 2015, with a population of 2,916,447, while the MSA was the 20th largest in the country that year with a population of 2,811,588. The region is home to nine Fortune 500 companies, Express Scripts, Emerson Electric, Monsanto, Reinsurance Group of America, Centene, Peabody Energy, Ameren, Graybar Electric, the area received the All-America City Award in 2008. The nearby Hannibal–Quincy micropolitan areas are not located within the metropolitan. According to the 2010 United States Census, in Greater St. Louis there were 2,787,701 people living in 1,143,001 households, of which 748,892 households were families. In 2010,98.2 percent of Greater St. Louis was of one race,72,797 residents or 2.5 percent were Hispanic or Latino Americans of any race. As of 2010, the age for Greater St. Louis is 38.2. As of 2010, Greater St. Louis included 1,264,680 housing units,3.3 percent or 41,884 units were vacant and not for sale or rent. Of the occupied housing units,70.6 percent or 807,431 were owner-occupied with 2,075,622 occupants,29.4 percent or 335,570 units were rented with 739,749 occupants. In 2010, the income for a household in the St. Louis metro was $50,900. Transportation in Greater St. Louis includes road, rail, parts of Greater St. Louis also support a public transportation network that includes bus and light rail service. Education in Greater St. Louis is provided by more than two dozen public school districts, independent private schools, parochial schools, and several public library systems, Greater St. Louis also is home to more than thirty colleges and universities. Several Missouri state parks in the region and parks owned by St. Louis County are larger than 1,000 acres, while one park in the city of St. Louis, Forest Park, the 2014 Gross Metropolitan Product of St. Louis was $145.958 billion. That makes St. Louis the 21st highest GMP in the United States, Greater St. Louis has more than 1.3 million non-farm workers, representing roughly 15 percent of the non-farm workforce of Missouri and Illinois combined
12.
Casino
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A casino is a facility which houses and accommodates certain types of gambling activities. The industry that deals in casinos is called the gaming industry, casinos are most commonly built near or combined with hotels, restaurants, retail shopping, cruise ships or other tourist attractions. There is much debate whether or not the social and economic consequences of casino gambling outweigh the initial revenue that may be generated. Some casinos are also known for hosting live entertainment events, such as comedy, concerts. The term casino is a confusing linguistic false friend for translators, Casino is of Italian origin, the root casa originally meant a small country villa, summerhouse, or social club. In modern-day Italian, the term designates a bordello, while the gambling house is spelled casinò with an accent. Not all casinos were used for gaming, the Copenhagen Casino was a theatre, known for the mass public meetings often held in its hall during the 1848 Revolution, which made Denmark a constitutional monarchy. Until 1937, it was a well-known Danish theatre, the Hanko Casino in Hanko, Finland—one of that towns most conspicuous landmarks—was never used for gambling. Rather, it was a hall for the Russian nobility which frequented this spa resort in the late 19th century and is now used as a restaurant. In military and non-military usage in German and Spanish, a casino or kasino is an officers mess, in Italian—the source-language of the word—a casino is either a brothel, a mess, or a noisy environment, while a gaming house is called a casinò. The precise origin of gambling is unknown and it is generally believed that gambling in some form or another has been seen in almost every society in history. From the Ancient Greeks and Romans to Napoleons France and Elizabethan England and it was closed in 1774 as the city government felt it was impoverishing the local gentry. In American history, early gambling establishments were known as saloons, the creation and importance of saloons was greatly influenced by four major cities, New Orleans, St. Louis, Chicago and San Francisco. It was in the saloons that travelers could find people to talk to, drink with, during the early 20th century in America, gambling became outlawed and banned by state legislation and social reformers of the time. However, in 1931, gambling was legalized throughout the state of Nevada, Americas first legalized casinos were set up in those places. In 1976 New Jersey allowed gambling in Atlantic City, now Americas second largest gambling city, most jurisdictions worldwide have a minimum gambling age. Customers gamble by playing games of chance, in cases with an element of skill, such as craps, roulette, baccarat, blackjack. Most games played have mathematically determined odds that ensure the house has at all times an overall advantage over the players and this can be expressed more precisely by the notion of expected value, which is uniformly negative
13.
Slot machine
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A slot machine, informally fruit machine, puggy, the slots, poker machine or simply slot, is a casino gambling machine with three or more reels which spin when a button is pushed. Many modern machines are equipped with a legacy lever in addition to the button. Slot machines include a currency detector that validates the money inserted to play, the machine pays off according to patterns of symbols visible on the front of the machine when it stops. Modern computer technology has resulted in variations on the slot machine concept, Slot machines are the most popular gambling method in casinos and constitute about 70 percent of the average US casinos income. The slot machine term derives from the slots on the machine for inserting and retrieving coins, fruit machine comes from the traditional fruit images on the spinning reels, such as lemons and cherries. Sittman and Pitt of Brooklyn, New York, U. S. developed a machine in 1891 which was a precursor to the modern slot machine. It contained five drums holding a total of 50 card faces and was based on poker and this machine proved extremely popular and soon many bars in the city had one or more of the machines. Players would insert a nickel and pull a lever, which would spin the drums and the cards they held, the player hoping for a good poker hand. To make the better for the house, two cards were typically removed from the deck, the ten of spades and the jack of hearts. The drums could also be rearranged to further reduce a players chance of winning, the bell gave the machine its name. Three bells in a row produced the biggest payoff, ten nickels, Liberty Bell was a huge success and spawned a thriving mechanical gaming device industry. Even when the use of these devices was banned in his home state after a few years. The Liberty Bell machine was so popular that it was copied by many slot machine manufacturers, thus in 1907, manufacturer Herbert Mills from Chicago produced a slot machine called the Operator Bell. By 1908 lots of bell machines were installed in most cigar stores, saloons, bowling alleys, brothels, early machines, including an 1899 Liberty Bell, are now part of the Nevada State Museums Fey Collection. Other early machines, such as the trade stimulator, gave out winnings in the form of fruit-flavoured chewing gums with pictures of the flavours as symbols on the reels, the popular cherry and melon symbols derive from this machine. The BAR symbol now common in slot machines was derived from a logo of the Bell-Fruit Gum Company. In these cases, a mint vending machine was declared to be a device because by chance the machine would occasionally give the next user a number of tokens exchangeable for more candy. Despite the fact that the result of the next use would be displayed on the machine, the courts ruled that he appealed to the players propensity to gamble
14.
New York Stock Exchange
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The New York Stock Exchange, is an American stock exchange located at 11 Wall Street, Lower Manhattan, New York City, New York. It is by far the worlds largest stock exchange by market capitalization of its companies at US$19.3 trillion as of June 2016. The average daily trading value was approximately US$169 billion in 2013, the NYSE trading floor is located at 11 Wall Street and is composed of 21 rooms used for the facilitation of trading. A fifth trading room, located at 30 Broad Street, was closed in February 2007, the main building and the 11 Wall Street building were designated National Historic Landmarks in 1978. The NYSE is owned by Intercontinental Exchange, an American holding company that it also lists, previously, it was part of NYSE Euronext, which was formed by the NYSEs 2007 merger with Euronext. NYSE and Euronext now operate as divisions of Intercontinental Exchange, the NYSE has been the subject of several lawsuits regarding fraud or breach of duty and in 2004 was sued by its former CEO for breach of contract and defamation. The earliest recorded organization of securities trading in New York among brokers directly dealing with each other can be traced to the Buttonwood Agreement, previously securities exchange had been intermediated by the auctioneers who also conducted more mundane auctions of commodities such as wheat and tobacco. In 1817 the stockbrokers of New York operating under the Buttonwood Agreement instituted new reforms, after sending a delegation to Philadelphia to observe the organization of their board of brokers, restrictions on manipulative trading were adopted as well as formal organs of governance. Several locations were used between 1817 and 1865, when the present location was adopted, the invention of the electrical telegraph consolidated markets, and New Yorks market rose to dominance over Philadelphia after weathering some market panics better than other alternatives. The Civil War greatly stimulated speculative securities trading in New York, by 1869 membership had to be capped, and has been sporadically increased since. The latter half of the century saw rapid growth in securities trading. Securities trade in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries was prone to panics. The Stock Exchange Luncheon Club was situated on the floor from 1898 until its closure in 2006. The main building, located at 18 Broad Street, between the corners of Wall Street and Exchange Place, was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1978, as was the 11 Wall Street building. The NYSE announced its plans to merge with Archipelago on April 21,2005, NYSEs governing board voted to merge with rival Archipelago on December 6,2005, and became a for-profit, public company. It began trading under the name NYSE Group on March 8,2006, Wall Street is the leading US money center for international financial activities and the foremost US location for the conduct of wholesale financial services. It comprises a matrix of wholesale financial sectors, financial markets, financial institutions, the principal sectors are securities industry, commercial banking, asset management, and insurance. Prior to the acquisition of NYSE Euronext by the ICE in 2013, Marsh Carter was the Chairman of the NYSE, presently, the chairman is Jeffrey Sprecher
15.
Quad Cities
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The Quad Cities is a region of four counties in northwest Illinois and Southeastern Iowa. The urban core consists of four cities, Davenport and Bettendorf in Iowa. These cities are the center of the Quad Cities Metropolitan Area, which as of 2013 had an estimate of 383,781. At the time of European encounter, it was a home and principal trading place of the Sauk, Saukenuk was the principal village of the Sauk tribe and birthplace of its 19th-century war chief, Black Hawk. In 1832, Sauk chief Keokuk and General Winfield Scott signed a treaty in Davenport after the US defeated the Sauk, the treaty resulted in the Native Americans ceding six million acres of land to the United States in exchange for a much smaller reservation elsewhere. Black Hawk State Historic Site in Rock Island preserves part of historic Saukenuk and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the history of urban settlements in the Quad-Cities was stimulated by riverboat traffic. For 14 miles between LeClaire, Iowa, and Rock Island, the Mississippi River flowed across a series of finger-like rock projections protruding from either bank and these rapids were difficult for steamboats to traverse. As demand for river-based transportation increased along the upper Mississippi, the navigability of the river throughout the Rock Island Rapids became a greater concern, over time, a minor industry grew up in the area to meet the steamboats needs. Today, the rocks are submerged six feet underwater by a formed by two locks and dams. As the Industrial Revolution developed in the United States, many enterprising industrialists looked to the Mississippi River as a source of water power. The combination of energy and easy access to river transportation attracted entrepreneurs, in 1848, John Deere moved his plough business to Moline. His business was incorporated as Deere & Company in 1868, Deere & Company is the largest employer today in the Quad Cities. The first railroad built across the Mississippi River connected Davenport. It was built by the Rock Island Railroad Company, and replaced the seasonal ferry service. Steamboaters saw the nationwide railroads as a threat to their business, on May 6,1856, just weeks after completion of the bridge, an angry steamboater crashed the Effie Afton into it. John Hurd, the owner of the Effie Afton, filed a lawsuit against the Rock Island Railroad Company, the Rock Island Railroad Company selected Abraham Lincoln as their trial lawyer and won after he took the case to the US Supreme Court. Phillip Suiter was one of his expert witnesses and it was a pivotal trial in Lincolns career. After the civil war, the region began to gain a common identity, the river towns that were thoughtfully planned and competently led flourished, while other settlements, usually get-rich-quick schemes for speculators, failed to pan out
16.
Bettendorf, Iowa
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Bettendorf is a city in Scott County, Iowa, United States. Bettendorf is the fifteenth largest city in the U. S. state of Iowa and it is part of the Davenport-Moline-Rock Island, IA-IL Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 33,217 at the 2010 census, and was estimated to be 35,505 by July 2015, Bettendorf is one of the Quad Cities, along with neighboring Davenport and the Illinois cities of Moline, East Moline and Rock Island. The Quad Cities has an estimate of 382,630. In 2011, Bettendorf was named U. S. 95th Best Town by CNNMoney, Bettendorf lies in the original Wisconsin Territory, which the United States bought from the Sac and Fox Indians after defeating them in the Black Hawk War. The territory was ceded in the Black Hawk Purchase of 1832, the first European-American settlers established a village they called Lilienthal, after an early tavern and dance hall. The village of Gilbert developed alongside Lilienthal in 1858, honoring Elias Gilbert, at that time, the residents were predominantly German immigrants and worked as farmers, skilled laborers, and small business owners. The two villages combined to become the town of Gilbert. Circa 1900, the town gave William and Joseph Bettendorf 70 acres of riverfront land on the condition that they move their iron wagon business from Davenport to Gilbert. In the late 1940s, Aluminum Company of America chose Riverdale, the huge mill, and the attendant developments from it, created thousands of jobs and greatly increased growth in Bettendorfs population, which has continued to the present day. The first modern-day riverboat casinos in the United States were launched in Bettendorf on April 1,1991 by local businessman Bernard Goldstein and he went on to found the Isle of Capri Casinos. Goldstein and his family also operate Alter Companies, which is a scrap metal, barge. The Quad Cities Waterfront Convention Center opened by the casino and hotel in 2009 and it is owned by the city and operated by the Isle of Capri. Beginning in 2012, a portion of downtown Bettendorfs buildings are being torn down to make way for the new I-74 Bridge project. Bettendorf is located at 41°33′0″N 90°29′37″W, according to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 22.36 square miles, of which,21.22 square miles is land and 1.14 square miles is water. As of the 2010 census there were 33,217 people,13,681 households, the population density was 1,565.4 inhabitants per square mile. There were 14,437 housing units at a density of 680.3 per square mile. The racial makeup of the city was 91. 9% White,2. 2% African American,0. 2% Native American,3. 1% Asian,0. 1% Pacific Islander,0. 7% from other races, and 1. 8% from two or more races
17.
Riverboat casino
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A riverboat casino is a type of casino on a riverboat found in several states in the United States with frontage on the Mississippi River and its tributaries, or along the Gulf Coast. Paddlewheel riverboats had long used on the Mississippi River and its tributaries to transport passengers. After railroads largely superseded them, in the 20th century, they were frequently used for entertainment excursions, sometimes for several hours. They were often a way for people to escape the heat of the town, as well as to live music. Gambling was also common on the riverboats, in card games, in some areas, gambling was allowed only when the ship was sailing, as in the traditional excursions. They were approved in states with frontage along the Mississippi and its tributaries, including Illinois, Indiana, Louisiana, Mississippi, as an example, in 1994 Missouri voters approved amending the state constitution to allow games of chance on the Mississippi and Missouri rivers. By 1998, according to the state Gaming Commission, just three of the 16 operations comprising Missouris $652-million riverboat gambling industry clearly on the river channel. The state supreme court had ruled that boats had to be solely over, several casinos had been located on riverboats located in a moat or an area with water adjacent to a navigable waterway, leading them to be referred to as boats in moats. The state legislatures were unwilling to give up the revenues generated by gambling, over time, they allowed gaming casinos to be built on stilts but they still had to be over navigable water. They permitted such casinos to be built on land within certain geographic limits from a navigable waterway, most of Mississippis Gulf Coast riverboat casinos have been rebuilt since the hurricane. Partial listing of permanently moored casinos, DeJong and Lebet, Inc. Naval Architects and Marine Designers
18.
Biloxi, Mississippi
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Biloxi, officially the City of Biloxi, is a city in Harrison County, Mississippi. The 2010 United States Census recorded the population as 44,054, along with the adjoining city of Gulfport, Biloxi is a county seat of Harrison County. The city is part of the Gulfport-Biloxi metropolitan area and the Gulfport-Biloxi-Pascagoula, pre-Katrina, Biloxi was the third largest city in Mississippi behind Jackson and Gulfport. Post-Katrina, the population of Biloxi decreased, and it became the fifth largest city in the state, being surpassed by Hattiesburg, the beachfront of Biloxi lies directly on the Mississippi Sound, with barrier islands scattered off the coast and into the Gulf of Mexico. Keesler Air Force Base lies within the city and is home to the 81st Training Wing, the name of Biloxi in French was Bilocci, on maps dated circa year 1710/1725 the name was sometimes translated into English as Fort Bilocci. In 1720, the capital of French Louisiana was moved to Biloxi from Mobile. French Louisiana was known in French as La Louisiane in colonial times, at that same time, Louisiana west of the Mississippi, including New Orleans, was ceded to Spain as part of the Treaty of Fontainebleau. British rule persisted from 1763 to 1779, followed by Spanish rule from 1779 to 1810, despite this, the character of Biloxi remained mostly French. In 1811, Biloxi came under United States of America control as part of the Mississippi Territory, Mississippi, and Biloxi with it, were then admitted to the union in 1817. It became a resort, with the advantages of close proximity to New Orleans. Summer homes were built by farmers and commercial figures. Hotels and rental cottages came into existence to serve those who could not afford their own homes, one of Biloxis most known features has been the Biloxi Lighthouse, which was built in Baltimore and then shipped south and completed in May 1848. In the early stages of the Civil War, Ship Island was captured by Union forces, no major battles were fought in the area, and Biloxi did not suffer direct damage from the war. Some local Union sentiment could be discerned following the wars conclusion, in the postbellum period, Biloxi again emerged as a vacation spot. Its popularity as a destination increased with railroad access, in 1881, the first cannery was built in the town, leading to others soon joining the location. Biloxi grew again, and as different ethnic groups came to work in the seafood factories, during World War II, the United States Army Air Forces built Keesler Field, now Keesler Air Force Base, which became a major basic training site and site for aircraft maintenance. The Biloxi economy boomed as a result, again bringing more diverse groups to the area, by 1958, the first Jewish synagogue had been built in the town. Biloxis casino history dates back to a period in the 1940s, open gambling ended during the 1950s
19.
Lady Luck Gaming
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Lady Luck Gaming Corp. was a gaming company based in Las Vegas, Nevada, that developed and operated casinos in the Midwestern and Southern United States. It was acquired by Isle of Capri Casinos in 2000, in 1991, Andrew Tompkins, founder of the Lady Luck Hotel & Casino in downtown Las Vegas, wanted to expand locally, but found property in Las Vegas and Laughlin too expensive. Instead, he joined many other gaming industry figures in looking to Midwestern and Southern states that were beginning to legalize riverboat casinos. He revealed plans for a casino in Natchez, Mississippi, in August 1991, under the terms of Tompkinss deal with the Gold Coins owners, American Casino Group Inc. was formed in February 1993 to hold the Lady Luck gaming ventures, except for the Las Vegas property. The companys name was changed to Lady Luck Gaming in July, Lady Luck embarked on a strategy of moving into new gaming jurisdictions quickly with modest investments, planning to open riverboat casinos with no hotels or other extensive land-based facilities. In May 1993, the company entered into an agreement with developer Charles Lambert, Lambert and Tompkins planned to renovate the historic Capitol House Hotel, which they bought in November for $2 million, for use as a terminal for a casino boat. After failing in legal maneuvers to dislodge one of the two licenses, though, Lady Luck sold out its share of the project to Lambert in September 1994. By June 1993, three more casinos were in the process in Mississippi, in Tunica, Gulfport. The Lady Luck Tunica in Mhoon Landing opened in September at a cost of $29 million, Lady Luck Gaming planned its initial public offering for August 1993, but postponed it because of the effect the Great Mississippi and Missouri Rivers Flood could have on riverboat gaming stocks. The offering was completed the next month, the company in August 1993 proposed a $56-million hotel and casino in Jefferson County, Missouri, just outside Kimmswick. The project stalled as the Missouri Gaming Commission adopted an approach to distributing the states limited set of gaming licenses. The license was approved in 2000, after Isle of Capri had acquired Lady Luck. The same month, Lady Luck proposed a $210-million hotel and riverboat casino in Lawrenceburg, Indiana, within weeks of the Cape Girardeau rejection, Lady Luck moved on to nearby Scott City, proposing a $63-million hotel-casino. The plan won the endorsement of the city council, but was stalled by the Gaming Commissions deliberative pace, no licensing decision had been made by the time of the companys acquisition. The Tunica casino closed after less than a year due to declining attendance, and the barge was relocated to Coahoma County, an entertainment pavilion and a second barge, the Country Casino, were opened at the site in May 1996. An accompanying 120-room hotel across the bridge in Helena, Arkansas was acquired two months later, and the 314-room Country Hotel opened on-site in 1999, another casino, the Lady Luck Olympia, was planned for Robinsonville, closer to Memphis. Bally moved its casino barge from Mhoon Landing to the Robinsonville site and opened it as Ballys Saloon in December 1995, Lady Luck Bettendorf opened the following April. A hotel was added in August 1998, both projects were abandoned by the end of the year
20.
Lula, Mississippi
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Lula is a town in Coahoma County, Mississippi, United States. The population was 298 at the 2010 census, down from 370 in 2000, Lula is located near the northern border of Coahoma County at 34°27′13″N 90°28′41″W. U. S. Route 49 passes southwest of the town, US49 leads northwest 10 miles to Helena, Arkansas, while US61 leads north 18 miles to Tunica. Southbound, the two join and lead to Clarksdale, the Coahoma county seat,20 miles south of Lula. According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has an area of 0.39 square miles. As of the census of 2000, there were 370 people,134 households, the population density was 888.3 people per square mile. There were 142 housing units at a density of 340.9 per square mile. The racial makeup of the town was 77. 30% African American,19. 73% White,1. 89% Asian,35. 1% of all households were made up of individuals and 24. 6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.76 and the family size was 3.58. In the town, the population was out with 30. 8% under the age of 18,9. 5% from 18 to 24,22. 7% from 25 to 44,16. 8% from 45 to 64. The median age was 33 years, for every 100 females there were 93.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 85.5 males, the median income for a household in the town was $23,125, and the median income for a family was $33,295. Males had an income of $26,944 versus $19,318 for females. The per capita income for the town was $12,008, about 35. 6% of families and 39. 3% of the population were below the poverty line, including 59. 1% of those under age 18 and 39. 2% of those age 65 or over. The town of Lula is served by the Coahoma County School District, public schools include Sherard Elementary School, Friars Point Elementary School, Lyon Elementary School, Jonestown Elementary, and Coahoma County High. On April 26,2011, a tornado - part of the April 25–28,2011 tornado outbreak - traveled from Elaine, Arkansas, the tornado was classified as an EF-0, with estimated wind speeds of 75 mph. The tornados path of destruction was 200 yards wide and the tornado travelled a path of 21.5 miles along Highway 61, the tornado ripped the roof off a church near Lula. Rex Armistead, former member of Mississippi State Sovereignty Commission Unita Blackwell, civil rights activist Ransom A. Myers, marine biologist Bertha Lee Pate, blues singer Sam Carr, blues drummer
21.
Natchez, Mississippi
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Natchez is the county seat and only city of Adams County, Mississippi, United States. Natchez has a population of 15,792. Located on the Mississippi River across from Vidalia in Concordia Parish, Louisiana, Natchez was a prominent city in the antebellum years and it is some 90 miles southwest of Jackson, the capital of Mississippi, which is located near the center of the state. It is about 85 miles north of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Natchez is the 25th-largest city in the state. The city was named for the Natchez tribe of Native Americans, established by French colonists in 1716, Natchez is one of the oldest and most important European settlements in the lower Mississippi River Valley. After the French lost the French and Indian War, they ceded Natchez and it predates Jackson by more than a century, the latter replaced Natchez as the capital in 1822, as it was more centrally located in the developing state. In U. S. history, Natchez is recognized particularly for its role in the development of the Old Southwest during the first half of the nineteenth century and it was the southern terminus of the historic Natchez Trace, with the northern terminus being Nashville, Tennessee. After unloading their cargoes in Natchez or New Orleans, many pilots, the Natchez Trace also played an important role during the War of 1812. Today the modern Natchez Trace Parkway, which commemorates this route, in the middle of the nineteenth century, the city attracted wealthy Southern planters as residents, who built mansions to fit their ambitions. Natchez became the port from which these crops were exported. Many of the built by planters before 1860 survive and form a major part of the citys architecture. Agriculture remained the economic base for the region until well into the twentieth century. Later in the 20th century, many local industries closed in a restructuring that sharply reduced the number of jobs in the area, despite its status as a popular destination for heritage tourism because of well-preserved antebellum architecture, Natchez has had a general decline in population since 1960. It remains the city of the Natchez, MS–LA Micropolitan Statistical Area. Natchez is located at 31°3316 latitude, 91°2315 longitude, according to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 13.9 square miles, of which 13.2 square miles are land and 0.6 square miles is water. Natchez has a subtropical climate under the Köppen climate classification system. As of the census of 2000, there were 18,464 people,7,591 households, the population density was 1,398.3 people per square mile. There were 8,479 housing units at a density of 642.1 per square mile
22.
Marquette, Iowa
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Marquette is a city in Clayton County, Iowa, United States. The population was 375 at the 2010 census, down from 421 at the 2000 census, Marquette is located directly across from Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin, and the two cities are connected by U. S. Highway 18, which crosses the river on the Marquette-Joliet Bridge. Effigy Mounds National Monument and the Yellow River State Forest are a few miles to the north, the city of McGregor, Iowa is located just to the south. Marquette itself was incorporated as North McGregor in 1874. Along with McGregor, the city became a hub on the railroad, as grain from throughout Iowa. Marquette subsequently became home to a rail yard, which even as late as 1920 was the busiest in Iowa. Not too long afterwards, the railroads declined, the last passenger train stopped in Marquette in 1960. Today the city is a tourist destination, the Isle of Capri riverboat casino is located there. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has an area of 1.81 square miles. As of the census of 2010, there were 375 people,182 households, the population density was 215.5 inhabitants per square mile. There were 216 housing units at a density of 124.1 per square mile. The racial makeup of the city was 98. 7% White,0. 8% Native American,0. 3% Asian, hispanic or Latino of any race were 0. 5% of the population. 35. 2% of all households were made up of individuals and 13. 7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older, the average household size was 2.06 and the average family size was 2.60. The median age in the city was 46.6 years. 19. 2% of residents were under the age of 18, 6% were between the ages of 18 and 24,23. 7% were from 25 to 44,30. 2% were from 45 to 64, and 20. 8% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the city was 49. 9% male and 50. 1% female, as of the census of 2000, there were 421 people,194 households, and 108 families residing in the city. The population density was 345.2 people per square mile, there were 222 housing units at an average density of 182.0 per square mile. The racial makeup of the city was 98. 57% White,0. 48% African American and 0. 95% Native American, hispanic or Latino of any race were 0. 71% of the population
23.
Downtown Grand
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The Downtown Grand Las Vegas, formerly the Lady Luck Hotel & Casino, is a hotel and casino in Downtown Las Vegas, Nevada, owned by the CIM Group and operated by Fifth Street Gaming. The Downtown Grand is the centerpiece of Downtown3rd, a new neighborhood, the East Tower is connected to the ground level casino. The property is served by a parking garage and features several restaurants. These popular establishments include Freedom Beat, Triple George Grill, Sidebar, in 2000 the Lady Luck was acquired by Isle of Capri. On June,2002 it was purchased by Steadfast AMX who turned two floors into timeshares, on May 13,2005 it was purchased by the Henry Brent Company for $24 million. On May 16,2005 plans were announced for a renovation and expansion of the property to begin early in 2006. On February 11,2006 the hotel and casino, but not the timeshares, closed for remodeling, on June 12,2007 the casino was purchased by the CIM Group for over $100 million. CIM Group is a transformational urban real estate and infrastructure investment firm founded in 1994 with over $11.9 billion in assets under management, in July 2008 the city was investigating rezoning the nearby land containing the transit center to unrestricted gaming. When the transit center is relocated, the land would be available for development, mayor Oscar Goodman applauded the attempt to re-invigorate the plans to renovate the Lady Luck. For the past several years I have seen a rotting corpse, the Lady Luck structure has been a blight. As of July 2009, Las Vegas mayor Oscar Goodman once again said in a meeting that The Lady Luck is a disaster. CIM has until late December 2009 to start a $100 million renovation of the Lady Luck or the company could lose out on the offer to hand over land around the proposed nearby Mob Museum. On July 23,2009, some demolition work started on a 4-story concrete building adjacent to the main resort and this work was completed in accordance with the citys request for CIM Group to raze the condemned structure. On March 15,2010, CIM Group made an agreement with City Officials to have the completed by December 31,2011. There is the potential that the hotel/casino will reopen in 2012,5 years after its originally scheduled reopening in 2007, in October 2011, plans were announced to rename the Lady Luck to the Downtown Grand. The new Downtown Grand opened on October 27,2013 and it is a boutique hotel and casino with 25,000 square feet of casino space,629 newly remodeled hotel rooms,9 bars & restaurants and a 35,000 square foot urban rooftop pool retreat called Citrus
24.
Hurricane Katrina
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Hurricane Katrina was the costliest natural disaster and one of the five deadliest hurricanes in the history of the United States. The storm is ranked as the third most intense United States landfalling tropical cyclone. Overall, at least 1,245 people died in the hurricane and subsequent floods, total property damage was estimated at $108 billion, roughly four times the damage wrought by Hurricane Andrew in 1992 in the United States. Early the following day, the new depression intensified into Tropical Storm Katrina, the cyclone headed generally westward toward Florida and strengthened into a hurricane only two hours before making landfall at Hallandale Beach and Aventura on August 25. After very briefly weakening to a storm, Katrina emerged into the Gulf of Mexico on August 26. The storm caused severe destruction along the Gulf coast from central Florida to Texas, much of it due to the storm surge, severe property damage occurred in coastal areas, such as Mississippi beachfront towns, over 90 percent of these were flooded. Boats and casino barges rammed buildings, pushing cars and houses inland, over fifty breaches in New Orleanss hurricane surge protection were the cause of the majority of the death and destruction during Katrina on August 29,2005. Eventually 80% of the city and large tracts of neighboring parishes became flooded, according to a modeling exercise conducted by the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers, two-thirds of the deaths in Greater New Orleans were due to levee and floodwall failure. All of the studies concluded that the USACE, the designers and builders of the levee system as mandated by the Flood Control Act of 1965, is responsible. This is mainly due to a decision to use shorter steel sheet pilings in an effort to save money, exactly ten years after Katrina, J. Many other government officials were criticized for their responses, especially New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin, Louisiana Governor Kathleen Blanco, several agencies including the United States Coast Guard, National Hurricane Center, and National Weather Service were commended for their actions. They provided accurate hurricane weather tracking forecasts with sufficient lead time, Hurricane Katrina formed as Tropical Depression Twelve over the southeastern Bahamas on August 23,2005, as the result of an interaction of a tropical wave and the remains of Tropical Depression Ten. It strengthened into Tropical Storm Katrina on the morning of August 24, the tropical storm moved towards Florida, and became a hurricane only two hours before making landfall between Hallandale Beach and Aventura on the morning of August 25. The storm weakened over land, but it regained hurricane status about one hour after entering the Gulf of Mexico, on August 27, the storm reached Category 3 intensity on the Saffir-Simpson hurricane wind scale, becoming the third major hurricane of the season. An eyewall replacement cycle disrupted the intensification, but caused the storm to nearly double in size, the storm rapidly intensified after entering the Gulf, growing from a Category 3 hurricane to a Category 5 hurricane in just nine hours. This rapid growth was due to the movement over the unusually warm waters of the Loop Current. Katrina attained Category 5 status on the morning of August 28 and reached its peak strength at 1800 UTC that day, with sustained winds of 175 mph. However, this record was broken by Hurricane Rita
25.
Hurricane Rita
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Hurricane Rita was the fourth-most intense Atlantic hurricane ever recorded and the most intense tropical cyclone ever observed in the Gulf of Mexico. Rita formed near The Bahamas from a wave on September 18 that originally developed off the coast of West Africa. It moved westward, and after passing through the Florida Straits, moving west-northwest, it rapidly intensified to reach peak winds of 180 mph, achieving Category 5 status on September 21st. Rapidly weakening over land, Rita degenerated into a large area over the lower Mississippi Valley by September 26th. Parishes in Southwest Louisiana and counties in Southeast Texas where Rita made landfall suffered from catastrophic-to-severe flooding, according to an October 25,2005 Disaster Center report,4,526 single-family dwellings were destroyed in Orange and Jefferson counties located in Southeast Texas. Major damage was sustained by 14,256 additional single-family dwellings, mobile homes and apartments also sustained significant damage or total destruction. In all, nine Texas counties and five Louisiana Parishes were declared disaster areas after the storm, electric service was disrupted in some areas of both Texas and Louisiana for several weeks. Texas reported the most deaths from the hurricane, where 113 deaths were reported,107 of which were associated with the evacuation of the Houston metropolitan area, moderate to severe damage was reported across the lower Mississippi Valley. Rainfall from the storm and its associated remnants extended from Louisiana to Michigan, rainfall peaked at 16.00 in in Central Louisiana. Several tornadoes were also associated with the hurricane and its subsequent remnants, throughout the path of Rita, damage totaled about $12 billion. As many as 120 deaths in four U. S. states were directly related to the hurricane, on September 7,2005, a tropical wave emerged off the west coast of Africa and moved westward into the Atlantic Ocean. Failing to produce organized, deep convection, the disturbance was not monitored by the National Hurricane Center for tropical cyclogenesis. Convection associated with the system increased briefly late on September 13 before dissipating shortly thereafter, at roughly the same time, a remnant surface trough had developed from a dissipating stationary front and began to drift westward north of the Lesser Antilles. Meanwhile, the wave slowly became better organized and was first noted in the NHCs Tropical Weather Outlooks on September 15 while northeast of Puerto Rico. The wave merged with the surface trough two days later, triggering an increase in activity and organization. At the time, the disturbance, classified as Tropical Depression Eighteen, was roughly 80 mi east of Grand Turk Island in the Turks, as a result, the tropical storm was named Rita. Once the upper-level low weakened, Ritas center of circulation reformed to the north, consequently, the tropical storm resumed its previous strengthening trend as it was steered westward across The Bahamas along the south periphery of a ridge. Upon entering the Straits of Florida on September 20, Rita strengthened into a Category 1 hurricane by 1200 UTC, six hours later, Rita intensified further into Category 2 before subsequently passing approximately 45 mi south of Key West, Florida
26.
Pittsburgh
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Pittsburgh is a city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania in the United States, and is the county seat of Allegheny County. The city proper has a population of 304,391. The metropolitan population of 2,353,045 is the largest in both the Ohio Valley and Appalachia, the second-largest in Pennsylvania, and the 26th-largest in the U. S. The city features 30 skyscrapers, two inclines, a fortification and the Point State Park at the confluence of the rivers. Aside from steel, Pittsburgh has led in manufacturing of aluminum, glass, shipbuilding, petroleum, foods, sports, transportation, computing, autos, and electronics. For part of the 20th century, Pittsburgh was behind only New York and Chicago in corporate headquarters employment, Americas 1980s deindustrialization laid off area blue-collar workers and thousands of downtown white-collar workers when the longtime Pittsburgh-based world headquarters moved out. The area has served also as the federal agency headquarters for cyber defense, software engineering, robotics, energy research. The area is home to 68 colleges and universities, including research and development leaders Carnegie Mellon University, the region is a hub for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, sustainable energy, and energy extraction. Pittsburgh was named in 1758 by General John Forbes, in honor of British statesman William Pitt, 1st Earl of Chatham. The current pronunciation, which is unusual in English speaking countries, is almost certainly a result of a printing error in some copies of the City Charter of March 18,1816. The error was repeated commonly enough throughout the rest of the 19th century that the pronunciation was lost. After a public campaign the original spelling was restored by the United States Board on Geographic Names in 1911. The area of the Ohio headwaters was long inhabited by the Shawnee, the first known European to enter the region was the French explorer/trader Robert de La Salle from Quebec during his 1669 expedition down the Ohio River. European pioneers, primarily Dutch, followed in the early 18th century, Michael Bezallion was the first to describe the forks of the Ohio in a 1717 manuscript, and later that year European fur traders established area posts and settlements. In 1749, French soldiers from Quebec launched an expedition to the forks to unite Canada with French Louisiana via the rivers, during 1753–54, the British hastily built Fort Prince George before a larger French force drove them off. The French built Fort Duquesne based on LaSalles 1669 claims, the French and Indian War, the North American front of the Seven Years War, began with the future Pittsburgh as its center. British General Edward Braddock was dispatched with Major George Washington as his aide to take Fort Duquesne, the British and colonial force were defeated at Braddocks Field. General John Forbes finally took the forks in 1758, Forbes began construction on Fort Pitt, named after William Pitt the Elder while the settlement was named Pittsborough
27.
Pittsburgh Penguins
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The Pittsburgh Penguins are a professional ice hockey team based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. They are members of the Metropolitan Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League, the franchise was founded in 1967 as one of the first expansion teams during the leagues original expansion from six to twelve teams. The Penguins played in the Civic Arena, also known to Pittsburgh fans as The Igloo and they moved into their new arena, PPG Paints Arena, to begin the 2010–11 NHL season. They have qualified for five Stanley Cup Finals, winning the Stanley Cup four times – in 1991,1992,2009, and 2016. Before the Penguins, Pittsburgh had been the home of the NHLs Pirates from 1925 to 1930, in the spring of 1965, Jack McGregor, a state senator from Kittanning, began lobbying campaign contributors and community leaders to bring an NHL franchise back to Pittsburgh. The group focused on leveraging the NHL as an urban renewal tool for Pittsburgh. The senator formed a group of investors that included H. J. Heinz Company heir H. J. Heinz III, Pittsburgh Steelers owner Art Rooney. Norris, owner of the Chicago Black Hawks, and his brother Bruce Norris, the effort was successful, and on February 8,1966, the National Hockey League awarded an expansion team to Pittsburgh for the 1967–68 season. The Penguins paid $2.5 million for their entry and $750,000 more for start-up costs, the Civic Arenas capacity was then boosted from 10,732 to 12,500 to meet the NHL requirements for expansion. The Pens also paid a bill to settle with the Detroit Red Wings. The investor group named McGregor president and chief officer. A contest was held where 700 of 26,000 entries picked Penguins as the nickname for the team, mark Peters had the winning entry, a logo was chosen that had a penguin in front of a triangle, which symbolized the Golden Triangle of downtown Pittsburgh. The Pens, along with the rest of the teams, were hampered by restrictive rules which kept most major talent with the existing Original Six teams. Beyond aging sniper Andy Bathgate, All-Star defenseman Leo Boivin and Ranger veteran Earl Ingarfield, a number of the players had played for the Hornets the previous season, Bathgate, wingers Val Fonteyne and Ab McDonald, and goaltenders Hank Bassen and Joe Daley. George Sullivan was named the coach for the clubs first two seasons, and McDonald was named the teams first captain. On October 11,1967, league president Clarence Campbell and McGregor jointly dropped the ceremonial first puck of the Penguins opening home game against the Montreal Canadiens. On October 21,1967, they became the first team from the class to beat an Original Six team. However, the Penguins went 27–34–13 and finished in place in the West Division, missing the playoffs
28.
Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board
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The PGCB does not oversee games of chance in the Commonwealth such as the Pennsylvania Lottery or other permitted games of chance at clubs and non-profit organizations. The board consists of seven voting members, three of which are appointed by the Governor of Pennsylvania and four of which are appointed by the leadership of the Pennsylvania General Assembly. By statute, the State Treasurer, Secretary of Revenue, jeffrey Coy Gregory Fajt Richard G. Jewell Keith R. McCall William H. Ryan, Jr. Gary Allan Sojka Among other duties, the Board operates a slot-machine testing center. Located above the Boards Harrisburg office, the center was established in September 2008, each month, Pennsylvania casinos and slot-machine operators give the Board a list of the payouts on each of their machines, how often and how much they pay per average play. Board employees at the center test various models of machine to measure their payouts. This information is not passed on to the public, the PGCB also set up an Office of Compulsive and Problem Gambling devoted to understanding and alleviating the devastating effects of pathological gambling. Under PGCB’s regulations, gambling facilities in the state must submit and have approved a plan before starting gambling operations. The PGCBs funding is from sources, none directly from taxpayers. The Gaming Act also requires a role in gaming oversight by the State Police, Department of Revenue and Attorney General, the board is authorized to issue up to 14 licenses for slot machine operations. Seven licenses may be issued to existing horse race tracks, or racinos, five licenses may be issued to stand-alone casinos, in 2017, the board will be authorized to award a third resort license. All casinos can have up to 5,000 machines, except the resort licensees, the Act also mandated that two of the five stand-alone casinos be located in Philadelphia, one in Pittsburgh, and the remaining two at-large. As of May 2010,13 of the licenses have been awarded, one license for a racino has not been awarded. In addition, casinos in Pennsylvania began operating table games in July 2010, stand-alone and racinos may have up to 250 table games, while resort casinos are limited to a maximum of 50 table games. Table games legislation increased the number of slots that resort casinos may have, on December 20,2006, the board voted to grant six permanent casino licenses for existing horse racing facilities. The board previously voted to grant these locations temporary licenses on September 27,2006, a proposed racino, Lawrence Downs, has proposed a facility in Mahoning Township, near the Ohio border. This is on the site as a previous applicant, Valley View Downs. On the same day, the board voted to grant five permanent casino licenses for stand-alone casinos. Because of the number of slot machines in Pennsylvania, the revenue per machine is much higher than it is in Nevada
29.
PPG Paints Arena
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Construction was completed on August 1,2010, and the arena opened in time for the 2010–11 NHL season. It replaced the Penguins former arena, Civic Arena, which was completed in 1961, a ceremonial ground-breaking was held on August 14,2008. The arena is the first Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design gold-certified arena in both the NHL and AFL. Soon after the arena opened in 2010 it was named Best New Major Concert Venue in the Pollstar Concert Industry Awards, the arena was originally named Consol Energy Center after Consol Energy purchased the naming rights in December 2008. The current name comes from Pittsburgh-based PPG Industries, who purchased naming rights in October 2016, the Lemieux Group explored options to build a replacement for Pittsburgh Civic Arena, the oldest arena in the NHL, since its purchase of the Penguins in 1999. In an attempt not to use public funding, the Penguins filed for a license under the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board. The Penguins were granted the license, though the decision of which company would receive approval was the Gaming Control Boards decision. The Lemieux Group reached an agreement with Isle of Capri Casinos, other casinos, including Majestic Star Casino and Forest City Enterprises, also agreed to partially contribute to the arenas funding. The casino experienced financial difficulty, which could have led to taxpayers financing the entire project, however, on August 14,2008 the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board selected Neil Bluhm to take ownership of the casinos, which pulled the casinos out of risk of bankruptcy. The arenas funding plan was agreed upon by Penguins owner Mario Lemieux, Pittsburgh mayor Luke Ravenstahl, and Pennsylvania governor Ed Rendell on March 13,2007, after much negotiation. During negotiations, the Penguins explored moving the franchise to Kansas City or Las Vegas, Lemieux later stated that relocating the franchise was never a possibility, but instead it was a negotiation tactic to help the team get funding for the arena from both state and local officials. The arena was scheduled to open for the 2009–10 NHL season, however. The arena was expected to cost approximately $290 million, but rose to $321 million due to increased cost of steel, the Penguins agreed to pay $3.8 million per year toward construction, with an additional $400,000 per year toward capital improvements. After $31 million cost rise, the Penguins pledged an additional $15.5 million, while the State and Sports and Exhibition Authority split the difference. In September 2009, the State contributed an additional $5.08 million from the Pennsylvania Gaming Economic Development, more than a dozen buildings were razed in order to create room for the new arena. On April 8,2008, Populous presented design renderings to the Pittsburgh City Planning Commission, local architect Rob Pfaffmann went so far as to say, If I put a Home Depot sign on that, it looks like a Home Depot. Populous returned on May 6 with new plans, which were approved by the City Planning Commission. The Penguins have contacted the Pittsburgh Technology Council, which includes 1,400 businesses, the arenas capacity will be 18,087 for hockey, in honor of Sidney Crosbys number 87, and 19,000 for basketball games
30.
Caruthersville, Missouri
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Caruthersville is a city in and the county seat of Pemiscot County, Missouri, United States, located along the Mississippi River in the Bootheel region of the states far southeast. The population was 6,168, according to the 2010 Census, Caruthersville lies in Missouris Bootheel on the Mississippi River. The word Pemiscot comes from the word pemiskaw, meaning liquid mud in the Fox language, Mississippi waters have frequently flooded the flatlands, creating fertile alluvial land valued for farming. Settling the floodplain has resulted in problems for residents, as there are regular floods despite elaborate constructed systems of levees. Native Americans inhabited the land of the Caruthersville area for thousands of years before European settlement, the Mississippian culture built huge earthwork mounds throughout the Mississippi Valley. One such earthwork remains in this county, rising 270 feet above sea level about four miles southwest of Caruthersville and it stands in contrast to the surrounding delta-like plain. In 1857 John Hardeman Walker and G. W. Bushey laid out, the town was named for Samuel Caruthers, who first represented the area in the US Congress. The City of Caruthersville was incorporated on May 18,1874, the first few decades of the towns growth can be documented through Sanborn Maps, which recorded building ownership, materials, and use. This act authorized taxes for the purpose of building, repairing, protecting, in February 1969, construction began on a bridge across the Mississippi at Caruthersville. Completed in 1976 and connecting with Dyersburg, Tennessee, it is the bridge to cross the Mississippi River between Cairo, Illinois and Memphis, Tennessee. It is a cantilever bridge carrying Interstate 155 and U. S. Route 412. During the night of April 2,2006, 60% of Caruthersville was severely damaged or destroyed by a string of tornadoes passed through the Midwestern United States. At least two persons were confirmed killed in Pemiscot County as a result of the tornado, according to the emergency management director from a nearby county, as many as 1,500 people were displaced by the storm, which struck the southwest side of the city. As reported by Caruthersvilles mayor, Diane Sayre, there were no confirmed fatalities within city limits, several churches, landmarks, and schools were destroyed or severely damaged, including St. There were no deaths in Caruthersville, Mayor Rick Davis died in a house fire on July 24,2014. Davis is the mayor in a row to die in office. The previous mayor, Diane Sayre, also died in office, as did the next acting Mayor Pro Tem, Caruthersville is located at 36°11′5″N 89°39′41″W. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has an area of 5.24 square miles
31.
Pompano Park
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Pompano Park and Poker, more commonly known simply as Pompano Park, is a standardbred harness racing track located in Pompano Beach, Florida. The track operates its live racing meet for ten months out of every year. Pompano Park is owned by Isle of Capri Casinos, the track has been converted into a racino called The Isle, complete with slot machines. It currently offers live poker games, under betting limitations imposed by Florida law, Pompano Park has long been a major donor to Our Fathers House Soup Kitchen in Pompano Beach. List of casinos in Florida Pompano Park web site Racing information for Pompano Park ]
32.
Pompano Beach, Florida
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Pompano Beach /ˌpɒmpənoʊ ˈbiːtʃ/ is a city in Broward County, Florida, United States, along the coast of the Atlantic Ocean just to the north of Fort Lauderdale. The nearby Hillsboro Inlet forms part of the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway, as of the 2010 census the citys population was 99,845, with an estimated population of 102,984 as of 2012. It is a city of the Miami metropolitan area, which was home to an estimated 6,012,331 people at the 2015 census. Pompano Beach is currently in the middle of a redevelopment process to revitalize its beachfront, the city has also been listed as one of the top real estate markets, being featured in CNN, Money and the Wall Street Journal as one of the countrys top vacation home markets. Pompano Beach Airpark, located within the city, is the home of the Goodyear Blimp Spirit of Innovation and its name is derived from the Florida pompano, a fish found off the Atlantic coast. The first train arrived in the small Pompano settlement on February 22,1896 and it is said that Sheen gave the community its name after jotting down on his survey of the area the name of the fish he had for dinner. The coming of the led to development farther west from the coast. In 1906 Pompano became the southernmost settlement in newly created Palm Beach County and that year, the Hillsboro Lighthouse was completed on the beach. On July 3,1908, a new municipality was incorporated in what was then Dade County, John R. Mizell was elected the first mayor. In 1915, Broward County was established, with a boundary at the Hillsboro Canal. Thus, within eight years, Pompano had been in three counties, Pompano Beach experienced significant growth during the Florida land boom of the 1920s. In 1940, the U. S. Supreme Court disallowed forced confessions in Chambers v. Florida, following the population boom due to World War II, in 1947 the City of Pompano merged with the newly formed municipality on the beach and became the City of Pompano Beach. In 1950, the population of the city reached 5,682, like most of southeast Florida, Pompano Beach experienced great growth in the late 20th century as many people moved there from northern parts of the United States. A substantial seasonal population also spends its winters in the area, the city of Pompano Beach celebrated its centennial in 2008. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has an area of 25.4 square miles, of which 24.0 square miles is land and 1.4 square miles. Pompano Beach is in northeastern Broward County along the Atlantic Ocean and it includes about 3 miles of beachfront, extending from the intersection of State Road A1A and Terra Mar Drive to the Hillsboro Inlet. As of 2010, there were 55,885 households, of which 24. 5% were vacant,38. 6% of all households were made up of individuals and 17. 1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.13 and the family size was 2.85
33.
Waterloo, Iowa
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Waterloo is a city in and the county seat of Black Hawk County, Iowa, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census the population decreased by 0. 5% to 68,406, Waterloo is part of the Waterloo – Cedar Falls Metropolitan Statistical Area, and is the more populous of the two cities. Waterloo was originally known as Prairie Rapids Crossing, the town was established, according to the original researcher as reported by staff of the Grout Museum in Waterloo, near two Meskwaki American tribal seasonal camps alongside the Cedar River. It was first settled in 1845 when George and Mary Melrose Hanna and they were followed by the Virden and Mullan families in 1846. Evidence of these earliest families can still be found in the street names Hanna Blvd, on December 8,1845 the Iowa State Register and Waterloo Herald was the first newspaper published in Waterloo. The name Waterloo supplanted the original name, Prairie Rapids Crossing, since the signed petition did not include the name of the proposed post office location, Mullan was charged with selecting the name when he submitted the petition. Tradition has it that as he flipped through a list of other post offices in the United States, the name struck his fancy, and on December 29,1851, a post office was established under that name. The town was called the same, and Mullan served as the first postmaster from December 29,1851 until August 11,1854. There were two extended periods of growth over the next 115 years. From 1895 to 1915, the population increased from 8,490 to 33,097, from 1925 to 1960, population increased from 36,771 to 71,755. The 1895 to 1915 period was a time of the growth in manufacturing, rail transportation. During this period the Waterloo Gasoline Traction Engine Company moved to Waterloo and shortly after, another major employer throughout the first two-thirds of the 20th century was the Illinois Central Railroad. Among the others was the brass era automobile manufacturer, the Maytag-Mason Motor Company. On June 7,1934, bank robber Tommy Carroll had a shoot-out with the FBI when he, accidentally parking next to a police car and wasting time dropping his gun and picking it back up, Carroll was forced to flee into an alley where he was shot. Carroll was then taken to Allen Memorial Hospital in Waterloo, where he died shortly after, Waterloo suffered particularly in the agricultural recession of the 1980s, due to the major employers at the time being heavily rooted in agriculture. In particular, John Deere, the areas largest employer, cut 10,000 jobs, and it is estimated Waterloo lost 14% of its population during this time. Today the city enjoys a broader base, as city leaders have sought to diversify the industrial and commercial mix. Deere remains a presence in the city, but employs only roughly one-third the number of people it did at its peak
34.
Vicksburg, Mississippi
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Vicksburg is the only city and county seat of Warren County, Mississippi, United States. It is located 234 miles northwest of New Orleans on the Mississippi and Yazoo rivers, and 40 miles due west of Jackson and it is located on the Mississippi River across from the state of Louisiana. The city has increased in population since 1900, when 14,834 people lived here, the population was 26,407 at the 2000 census. In 2010, it was designated as the city of a Micropolitan Statistical Area with a total population of 49,644. This MSA includes all of Warren County, the area which is now Vicksburg was long occupied by the Natchez Native Americans as part of their historical territory along the Mississippi. The Natchez spoke a language isolate not related to the Muskogean languages of the major tribes in the area. Before the Natchez, other cultures had occupied this strategic area for thousands of years. The first Europeans who settled the area were French colonists, who built Fort-Saint-Pierre in 1719 on the bluffs overlooking the Yazoo River at present-day Redwood. They conducted fur trading with the Natchez and others and started plantations, on 29 November 1729, the Natchez attacked the fort and plantations in and around the present-day city of Natchez. They killed several hundred settlers, including the Jesuit missionary Father Paul Du Poisson, as was the custom, they took a number of women and children as captives. The Natchez War was a disaster for French Louisiana, and the population of the Natchez District never recovered. But, aided by the Choctaw, traditional enemies of the Natchez, the French defeated and scattered the Natchez and their allies, the Choctaw Nation took over the area by right of conquest and inhabited it for several decades. Under pressure from the US government, in 1801 the Choctaw agreed to cede nearly 2,000,000 acres of land to the US under the terms of the Treaty of Fort Adams. The treaty was the first of a series that led to the removal in 1830 of most of the Choctaw to Indian Territory west of the Mississippi River. Some Choctaw remained in Mississippi, citing article XIV of the Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek, they became citizens of the state and they struggled to maintain their culture against the pressure of the binary slave society, which classified people as only white or black. In 1790, the Spanish founded a military outpost on the site, when the Americans took possession in 1798 following the American Revolutionary War and a treaty with Spain, they changed the name to Walnut Hills. The small village was incorporated in 1825 as Vicksburg, named after Newitt Vick and they captured and hanged five gamblers who had shot and killed a local doctor. The historian Joshua D. Rothman calls this event the deadliest outbreak of violence in the slave states between the Southampton Insurrection and the Civil War
35.
Bally Technologies
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Bally Technologies, Inc. is a manufacturer of slot machines and other gaming technology based in Enterprise, Nevada. It is owned by Scientific Games Corporation, the company was founded in 1968 as Advanced Patent Technology. It eventually changed its name to Alliance Gaming and acquired, in 1996, Bally Gaming International, in 2006, the entire company adopted the Bally name. Scientific Games acquired the company in 2014, today, Bally constitute one of the four brands of Scientific Games, along with SG, WMS and Shuffle Master. Advanced Patent Technology was founded in 1968 by Jack Solomon and Alvin Snapper, entrepreneurs who held patents in fields including medicine, optics, the companys stock was publicly offered the next year. Its first 12 years were spent in the development stage, an obstacle arose in July 1980 in the form of an SEC investigation, alleging inadequate financial disclosure and sale of unregistered stock. Under scrutiny from the Nevada Gaming Commission, Solomon was forced to step down as chairman, a management shake-up in the wake of the SEC probe saw C. Richard Iannone installed as president in 1981. According to Iannone, he was told the company wont last six months, the company changed its name to Gaming and Technology Inc. in March 1983 to better reflect its focus. The Colorado Belle, described as unprofitable, was sold the year to Circus Circus Enterprises for $4 million. On January 1,1985, the merged with Omega Enterprises. Gaming & Technology acquired Omegas assets, and Omegas shareholders received 72. 5% of the companys stock, one of Omegas owners, Alfred Wilms, was named CEO of the combined company. By 1986, machine sales were in a slump, and slot route operations accounted for 80 percent of the revenue, so the Cal Omega plant in Carlsbad. The company changed its name again in 1988, to United Gaming Inc. acknowledging United Coin as its principal asset, in 1989, United outlined a plan to become a major casino operator. It opened a $40 million line of credit to finance the construction of five mini-casinos, Wilms pumped more money into the company, investing $10 million in June 1990 to raise his ownership stake to 54 percent. The company began restructuring its operations in summer 1990 and it abandoned the Double Eagle project after its development partner ran into financing difficulty, and withdrew from the Chaparral project because of its own financing problems. By the winter, it was missing payments to its creditors, United closed Miss Lucys Casino in February 1992. In 1992, United Gaming expanded to Louisiana, where video poker had been legalized the year before, in August, it began operation of 600 machines at two race tracks, the New Orleans Fair Grounds and Jefferson Downs, and their eight off-track betting parlors. United also planned to install 1,000 machines at bars, Wilms owned 62 percent of the company, but agreed to give up control to Kirkland, allowing them to name 4 of the 7 directors, in exchange for the investment
36.
Nemacolin Woodlands Resort
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Nemacolin Woodlands Resort is a four seasons resort in Farmington, Fayette County, Pennsylvania. The resort is owned by Maggie Hardy Magerko, president of the 84 Lumber Company, pittsburgh, Pennsylvania industrialist Willard Rockwell established a private game reserve on what is now Nemacolin Woodlands and named this property Nemacolin Trails Hunting Reserve in 1968. The Rockwells invited friends and business associates to hunt and fish on the hundreds of acres populated by silver fox, bear, a hunting lodge was constructed along with a golf course and airstrip. Lakes Louise and Carol were also added and Beaver Creek was developed and stocked into a fishing stream. In 1979, the property was sold to Cordelia Scaife May, as Hardy recounts, I left the auction without that piece of property for fishing because I bought the main parcel and was out of money. Hardy and his daughter, Maggie, promptly set about transforming the property into its present state – a 2,000 acre world-class resort, in 2002, Hardy transferred full ownership of the resort to his daughter, Maggie Hardy Magerko, who still serves as President and Owner. In 2007, Nemacolins boutique hotel, Falling Rock, received AAA Five Diamond status, Falling Rock is the only hotel in Western Pennsylvania to receive AAAs highest honor, and has retained five diamond status though 2015. Joe Hardy promptly set about developing Nemacolin Woodlands into a world-class resort, in the time since Hardy purchased the resort, major changes have been made to the former hunting club. Now sitting on 2,000 acres, the major additions have been made to the resort,1987 – The Tudor-style Lodge was expanded. 1988 – The Woodlands Golf Academy was established,1989 – The Links Townhomes were added. 1995 – Mystic Rock golf course is added and Mystic Mountain ski area at the Adventure Center opened, paradise Pool and Heritage Court Shoppes were added. 1997 – The Chateau Lafayette hotel – including 124 rooms, the Cigar Bar, Hardy & Hayes Jewelers,1999 – The Nemacolin Field Club opened, offering guided fly fishing trips and a 140-acre Shooting Academy. 2002 – Mr. Hardy’s daughter, Maggie Hardy Magerko, became the President,2004 – The Frank Lloyd Wright inspired boutique hotel, Falling Rock, opened, hosting Aqueous restaurant, Amber Bar, and the Mystic Rock Pro-Shop. 2006 – Wildlife habitats were built, bringing a variety of wildlife to the resort. The Golden Trout restaurant was renovated and transformed into Autumn,2012 - The Sundial Ski Lodge was destroyed by fire on February 12,2012. In July 2012, construction began on the new Sundial Lodge,2013 – Lady Luck Casino Nemacolin, operated and managed by Isle of Capri Casinos, Inc, opens its doors July 1,2013. 2014 – On April 10, the Holistic Healing Center at Horizon Point opened,2015 – Nemacolin’s $30 million resort-wide renovation project is completed. Earthwork begins on a new 9-hole, Pete Dye designed addition to Mystic Rock Golf Course, Nemacolin Woodlands became host to PGA Tour event the 84 Lumber Classic in 2003
37.
Landry's, Inc.
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Landrys, Inc. is an American, privately owned, multi-brand dining/hospitality/entertainment/gaming corporation. Headquartered in Houston, Texas, Landrys, Inc. owns and operates more than 500 restaurant/hotel/casino/entertainment destinations in 35 states, the company also owns and operates numerous international locations. Landrys, Inc. is owned entirely by President & CEO Tilman J. Fertitta, a partner in the companys first Landrys Seafood. A year later, Fertitta helped open Willie Gs, a restaurant in Houston. In 1986, Fertitta gained controlling interests in both restaurants and he became CEO and took the company public in 1993, with a valuation of $30 million. Under the leadership of Fertitta, the company expanded, in 2010, already being the majority shareholder, Fertitta acquired all outstanding shares of company stock, gaining sole control and ownership. By 2011, the value had risen to more than $1.7 billion. Throughout the 1990s, Landrys, Inc. expanded, developing and acquiring restaurant, entertainment, hospitality, in 1994, Landrys, Inc. acquired Joes Crab Shack. In 2006, Landrys, Inc. sold Joes Crab Shack, during the decade, the company acquired a number of other restaurants, including The Crab House and Cadillac Bar. In 2004, Landrys, Inc. partnered with the City of Galveston to open a 140,000 square foot convention center, in 2003, the company acquired the adjacent Holiday Inn Resort Galveston – On the Beach. In 2004, the adjacent Hilton Galveston Island Resort was acquired, in total, the San Luis Resort includes 700 guest rooms,10 restaurants, and 200,000 square feet of event space. The companys hospitality division also includes The Westin Houston Downtown in Downtown Houston, in 1998, the company developed the 35-acre Kemah Boardwalk, with a hotel, a marina, more than 10 restaurants, and dozens of midway games, amusement rides, and attractions. After 2000, Landrys, Inc. continued to grow, in 2000, the company acquired Rainforest Cafe, a collection of jungle-inspired restaurants and retail villages. In 2002, the company acquired three national restaurants, including Saltgrass Steak House, Chart House, and Muer Restaurants, a series of seafood restaurants, a train carries guests into a tunnel running through a 250, 000-gallon shark tank. Other Aquarium restaurants have opened in Denver, Nashville. In 2005, the company acquired Golden Nugget Hotel & Casinos, with locations in Las Vegas and Laughlin, Landrys, Inc. has since opened two additional locations in Atlantic City, New Jersey, and Biloxi, Mississippi. A fifth location opened in Lake Charles, Louisiana, in 2014, in 2010, Landrys, Inc. acquired three new restaurants. Bubba Gump Shrimp Company, a collection of restaurants, is themed on the hit movie Forrest Gump
38.
Black Hawk, Colorado
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The City of Black Hawk is a Home Rule Municipality in Gilpin County, Colorado, United States. The city population was 118 at the 2010 United States Census, the tiny city is an historic mining settlement founded in 1859 during the Pikes Peak Gold Rush. Black Hawk is a part of the Denver-Aurora-Lakewood, CO Metropolitan Statistical Area, Black Hawk is located adjacent to Central City, another historic mining settlement in Gregory Gulch. The two cities form the federally designated Central City/Black Hawk National Historic District, the area flourished during the mining boom of the late 19th century following the construction of mills and a railroad link to Golden. The town declined during the 20th century, but has revived in recent years after the 1991 establishment of casino gambling following a statewide initiative in 1990. In early 2010, the Black Hawk city council passed a law banning the riding of bicycles in the town, drawing a reaction from bicycle advocacy groups, the ban was overturned by the Colorado Supreme Court in 2013. The town is located along the fork of Clear Creek. Black Hawk was established in 1859, in May 1859 the discovery of gold in Gregory Gulch by its namesake, John H. Gregory, brought thousands of prospectors and miners into the area, combing the hills for more gold veins. The Bobtail lode was discovered the following month, nathaniel P. Hill built Colorados first successful ore smelter in Black Hawk in 1868. Hills smelter could recover gold from the ores, an achievement that saved hardrock mining in Black Hawk, Central City. Black Hawks advantageous location on North Clear Creek made it the center of ore processing for the area, the Colorado Central Railroad extended its line to the town in 1872. A restored depot and locomotive are on display on the east side of downtown, Black Hawk was also served by the two-foot-gauge Gilpin Tramway which climbed from Black Hawk to the mines above Central City. Many historic buildings in the town have been restored following the opening of the casinos in 1991, the town has been in heated competition for gambling revenue with its neighbor Central City since casinos opened in both towns in 1991. Development of the area down Clear Creek from the historic Black Hawk townsite lining State Highway 119 has flourished. Gamblers from Denver pass the Blackhawk casinos before they arrive at Central City, the Central City Parkway opened November 19,2004. However, Black Hawk continues to have three times the number of casinos, and generates more than seven times the revenue that Central City does. Tax from the gambling revenue provides funding for the State Historical Fund, administered by the Colorado Office of Archaeology and Historic Preservation. In February 2013, the Colorado Supreme Court overturned a ban on bicycle traffic through Black Hawk
39.
Cape Girardeau, Missouri
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Cape Girardeau is a city in Cape Girardeau and Scott counties in the U. S. state of Missouri. It is located approximately 115 miles southeast of St. Louis and 175 miles north of Memphis, as of the 2010 U. S. Census, the citys population was 37,941, making it the 16th-largest city in Missouri, and the largest city in Southeast Missouri. An emerging college town, it is the home of Southeast Missouri State University, the city is named after Jean Baptiste de Girardot, who established a temporary trading post in the area around 1733. He was a French soldier stationed at Kaskaskia between 1704–1720 in the French colony of La Louisiane, the Cape in the city name referred to a rock promontory overlooking the Mississippi River, it was later destroyed by railroad construction. As early as 1765, a bend in the Mississippi River, genevieve, had been referred to as Cape Girardot or Girardeau. Also in 1793, Baron Carondelet granted land near Cape Girardeau to the Black Bob Band of the Hathawekela Shawnee, the Band became known as the Cape Girardeau Shawnee. They successfully resisted removal to Indian Territory with the rest of the Shawnee tribe until 1833, in 1799, American settlers founded the first English school west of the Mississippi River in Cape Girardeau at a landmark called Mount Tabor, named by the settlers for the Biblical Mount Tabor. The town of Cape Girardeau was incorporated in 1808, prior to Missouri statehood and it was reincorporated as a city in 1843. During the Civil War, the city was the site of the Battle of Cape Girardeau on April 26,1863, the Union and Confederate armies engaged in a minor four-hour skirmish, each sustaining casualties generally believed to be in the low double-digits. For years travelers had to use ferries to cross the Mississippi River from Cape Girardeau, in September 1928 a bridge was completed between Missouri and Illinois. Built to accommodate cars, it was 20 feet wide under standards of the time, the Old Federal Courthouse, located at Broadway and Fountain Streets and built in the late 1940s, was the subject of a U. S. Supreme Court case when it was being developed. In United States v. Carmack,329 U. S.230, in December 2003, the Old Bridge was succeeded by a new four-lane cable-stay bridge crossing the Mississippi River at Cape Girardeau. Its official name is The Bill Emerson Memorial Bridge, honoring former U. S. Rep. Bill Emerson The two towers of the bridge reach a height of approximately 91 meters. The Old Bridge was completed in September 1928 to replace a ferry and was only 20 feet wide, the Old Bridge was demolished after the Emerson Bridge opened. The City of Cape Girardeau was recognized in January 2008 by First Lady Laura Bush as a Preserve America Community for its work in surveying and protecting historic buildings, as well as. The city is known to some as The City of Roses because of a 9-mile stretch of highway that was lined with dozens of rose bushes. Although there used to be many prominent rose gardens around the community, the city is also known as Cape Girardeau, Where the River Turns a Thousand Tales, due to the history of the town and the Mississippi River. Numerous murals commemorate the citys history, the largest is the Mississippi River Tales Mural, located on the citys downtown floodwall
40.
Boonville, Missouri
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Boonville is a city in Cooper County, Missouri, USA. The population was 8,319 at the 2010 census and it is the county seat of Cooper County. The city was the site of an early in the American Civil War on July 17,1861. The area has been called Boones Lick and the route from the lick to St. Charles/St, Louis, Missouri is called the Boones Lick Trail. The eastern terminus near Boonville at Franklin, Missouri is considered the start of the Santa Fe Trail. The first pioneers were Hannah and Stephen Cole, who settled in 1810, during skirmishes with Native Americans in the War of 1812 they moved to a fort on the north side of the Missouri River. That fort subsequently became the first county seat of Howard County, after the war, the town was formally laid out in 1817 by Asa Morgan and Charles Lucas. Boonville was named the county seat in 1818, the Cooper County Jail was built in 1848 and remained in place until 1979 with a claim that it was the longest-serving jail in Missouri history. In 1855, Thespian Hall opened and now claims to be the oldest continuously running theatre west of the Allegheny Mountains, more than 400 buildings are listed on National Register of Historic Places listings in Cooper County, Missouri. The city was a target because of its location on the Missouri Pacific Railroad. The track was taken over by the Missouri–Kansas–Texas Railroad. In the 1980s, the section that traversed the town was converted to parkland. Today, the Katy Trail is the longest rails to trails system in the United States, in 2008, Anheuser-Busch InBev opened the Warm Springs Ranch west of Boonville as the primary breeding farm for the Budweiser Clydesdales. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has an area of 7.21 square miles. As of the census of 2010, there were 8,319 people,2,918 households, the population density was 1,207.4 inhabitants per square mile. There were 3,294 housing units at a density of 478.1 per square mile. The racial makeup of the city was 83. 1% White,13. 3% African American,0. 4% Native American,0. 6% Asian,0. 3% from other races, hispanic or Latino of any race were 1. 9% of the population. 32. 4% of all households were made up of individuals and 13. 7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older, the average household size was 2.35 and the average family size was 2.94
41.
Kansas City, Missouri
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Kansas City is the largest city in Missouri and the sixth largest city in the Midwest. According to the U. S. Census Bureau, the city had an population of 475,378 in 2015. It is the city of the Kansas City metropolitan area. Kansas City was founded in the 1830s as a Missouri River port at its confluence with the Kansas River coming in from the west, on June 1,1850 the town of Kansas was incorporated, shortly after came the establishment of the Kansas Territory. Confusion between the two ensued and the name Kansas City was assigned to them soon thereafter. Most of the city lies within Jackson County, but portions spill into Clay, Cass, along with Independence, it serves as one of the two county seats for Jackson County. Major suburbs include the Missouri cities of Independence and Lees Summit and the Kansas cities of Overland Park, Olathe, and Kansas City. The city is composed of neighborhoods, including the River Market District in the north, the 18th and Vine District in the east. Kansas City is also known for its cuisine, its craft breweries, Kansas City, Missouri was officially incorporated as a town on June 1,1850, and as a city on March 28,1853. The territory straddling the border between Missouri and Kansas at the confluence of the Kansas and Missouri rivers was considered a place to build settlements. The Antioch Christian Church, Dr. James Compton House, the first documented European visitor to Kansas City was Étienne de Veniard, Sieur de Bourgmont, who was also the first European to explore the lower Missouri River. Criticized for his response to the Native American attack on Fort Détroit, Bourgmont lived with a Native American wife in a village about 90 miles east near Brunswick, Missouri, where he illegally traded furs. In the documents, he describes the junction of the Grande Riv des Cansez and Missouri River, French cartographer Guillaume Delisle used the descriptions to make the areas first reasonably accurate map. The Spanish took over the region in the Treaty of Paris in 1763, the French continued their fur trade under Spanish license. After the 1804 Louisiana Purchase, Lewis and Clark visited the confluence of the Kansas and Missouri rivers, in 1831, a group of Mormons from New York settled in what would become the city. They built the first school within Kansas Citys current boundaries, but were forced out by mob violence in 1833, in 1833 John McCoy established West Port along the Santa Fe Trail,3 miles away from the river. In 1834 McCoy established Westport Landing on a bend in the Missouri to serve as a point for West Port. Soon after, the Kansas Town Company, a group of investors, began to settle the area, in 1850, the landing area was incorporated as the Town of Kansas
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Lake Charles, Louisiana
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Lake Charles is the fifth-largest incorporated city in the U. S. state of Louisiana, located on Lake Charles, Prien Lake, and the Calcasieu River. Founded in 1861 in Calcasieu Parish, it is an industrial, cultural. As of the 2010 census, the population was 71,993, Lake Charles is the principal city of the Lake Charles Metropolitan Statistical Area, having a population of 202,040. It is the principal city of the Lake Charles-Jennings Combined Statistical Area. The 2010 population of the area of Southwest Louisiana was 292,619. It is considered a significant center of petrochemical refining, gaming, tourism. Because of the lakes and waterways throughout the city, metropolitan Lake Charles is often referred to as the Lake Area, on March 7,1861, Lake Charles was officially incorporated as the town of Charleston, Louisiana. Six years after the city was incorporated, dissatisfaction over the name Charleston arose, on March 16,1867, in 1910, a fire, known as the Great Fire of 1910, devastated much of the city. However, Lake Charles soon rebuilt itself and continued to grow, the Charleston Hotel was completed in 1929, during the administration of Mayor Henry J. Geary. During and after World War II, Lake Charles experienced industrial growth with the onset of the petrochemical refining industries, the city grew to a high of some 75,000 people in the early 1980s, but with local economic recession, the population declined. With the advent of the gaming, manufacturing, and aviation maintenance industries, Lake Charles, located on a level plain about 30 miles from the Gulf of Mexico, has an elevation of 13 feet, and is located on the banks of the Calcasieu River in southwestern Louisiana. It borders both Lake Charles and Prien Lake, Contraband Bayou, Henderson Bayou, and English Bayou flow through the city. Oak trees and pine trees dot the landscape, as the industry, once the main economic engine of the area. The Calcasieu Ship Channel, which allows large ocean-going vessels to sail up from the Gulf, also borders the city. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has an area of 44.8 square miles, of which 42.0 square miles is land and 2.7 square miles. The average relative humidity in Lake Charles is 90% in the morning, as of the 2010 census, the population was 71,993. In 2010, the density was 1,711.8 people per square mile. The racial makeup of the city was 47% White, 47% African American,0. 4% Native American,1. 7% Asian,0. 47% from other races,2. 1% from two or more races
