1.
Ferris wheel
–
Some of the largest modern Ferris wheels have cars mounted on the outside of the rim, with electric motors to independently rotate each car to keep it upright. These wheels are sometimes referred to as wheels and their cars referred to as capsules. The original Ferris Wheel was designed and constructed by George Washington Gale Ferris Jr. as a landmark for the 1893 Worlds Columbian Exposition in Chicago. The generic term Ferris wheel is now used for all such structures, since the original 1893 Chicago Ferris wheel there have been nine worlds tallest-ever Ferris wheels. The current record holder is the 167. 6-metre High Roller in Las Vegas, US, pleasure wheels, whose passengers rode in chairs suspended from large wooden rings turned by strong men, may have originated in 17th-century Bulgaria. A Frenchman, Antonio Manguino, introduced the idea to America in 1848, a much earlier description of a Ferris-type wheel can be seen in The Death of Arthur, a volume of the Vulgate Cycle dating from around 1220. The text describes King Arthur in a dream being approached by Fortuna, the following year he was granted the first U. S. patent for a Roundabout. George Washington Gale Ferris Jr. rode on Somers wheel in Atlantic City prior to designing his wheel for the Worlds Columbian Exposition, the original Ferris Wheel, sometimes also referred to as the Chicago Wheel, was designed and constructed by George Washington Gale Ferris Jr. With a height of 80.4 metres it was the largest attraction at the Worlds Columbian Exposition in Chicago, Illinois and it was intended to rival the 324-metre Eiffel Tower, the centerpiece of the 1889 Paris Exposition. Ferris was a graduate of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and a Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and he began his career in the railroad industry and then pursued an interest in bridge building. Ferris understood the growing need for steel and founded G. W. G. Ferris & Co. in Pittsburgh, a firm that tested and inspected metals for railroads, the wheel rotated on a 71-ton,45. There were 36 cars, each fitted with 40 revolving chairs and able to accommodate up to 60 people, the Exposition ended in October 1893, and the wheel closed in April 1894 and was dismantled and stored until the following year. It was then rebuilt on Chicagos North Side, near Lincoln Park and this prompted William D. Boyce, then a local resident, to file a Circuit Court action against the owners of the wheel to have it removed, but without success. The Wiener Riesenrad is an example of nineteenth-century Ferris wheels. A demolition permit for the Riesenrad was issued in 1916, but due to a lack of funds with which to carry out the destruction, following the demolition of the 100-metre Grande Roue de Paris in 1920, the Riesenrad became the worlds tallest extant Ferris wheel. Still in operation today, it is one of Viennas most popular tourist attractions, chronology of worlds tallest-ever wheels 1893, the original Ferris Wheel was 80.4 metres tall. Built for the Worlds Columbian Exposition in Chicago, Illinois, it was moved to St. Louis, Missouri, in 1904 for the Louisiana Purchase Exposition, and demolished there in 1906
2.
London Borough of Lambeth
–
Lambeth is a London borough in south London, England, which forms part of Inner London. Its name was recorded in 1062 as Lambehitha and in 1255 as Lambeth, Lambeth was part of the large, ancient parish of Lambeth St Mary, the site of the archepiscopal Lambeth Palace, in the hundred of Brixton in the county of Surrey. It was an elongated north-south parish with 2 miles of River Thames frontage opposite the cities of London, Lambeth became part of the Metropolitan Police District in 1829. It remained a parish for Poor Law purposes after the Poor Law Amendment Act 1834, until 1889, Surrey included the present-day London borough of Lambeth. Young was commissioned to make recommendations to the government on the shape of the future London boroughs. However, Wandsworths suggestion to merge Lambeth with the Metropolitan Borough of Battersea was rejected by both councils involved, in 1979, the administration of Edward Knight organised the boroughs first public demonstration against the Thatcher government. In 1985 Knights Labour administration was subjected to rate-capping, with its budget restricted by the government, Knight and most of the Labour councillors protested by refusing to propose budgets. As a result of the protest,32 councillors were ordered to repay interest lost by the due to budgeting delays and were disqualified from office. In 1991, Joan Twelves administration failed to collect the poll tax, the following year, Twelves and 12 other councillors were suspended from the local Labour Party by regional officials for advocating non-payment of the poll tax and other radical ideas. Twelves equally-militant deputy leader at this time was John Harrison, from 1978 to 2002 the council comprised 64 members, elected from 20 three-member and two two-member wards. Before this, the council had 60 members elected from 20 three-member wards, just before the 2010 election, its political balance was 37 Labour members,18 Liberal Democrats, seven Conservatives and one Green, giving Labour an eleven-member majority. In the 2010 Lambeth Council election, Labour gained seats and the Liberal Democrats, Conservatives, in 2014 the Liberal Democrats lost their seats, Conservatives were reduced to three and the Greens to one. Labour, gaining seats from the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats, had 59 seats, in the 2016 European Union referendum, Lambeth at 78. 62% had the highest share of Remain vote in the United Kingdom, second to Gibraltars 95. 9%. Lambeth is a long, thin borough, about 3 miles wide and 7 miles long, Brixton is its civic centre, and there are other town centres. The largest shopping areas are Streatham, Brixton, Vauxhall, Clapham, in the northern part of the borough are the central London districts of the South Bank, Vauxhall and Lambeth, in the south are the suburbs of Gipsy Hill, Streatham, West Dulwich and West Norwood. Vauxhall and South Lambeth are central districts in the process of redevelopment with high-density business, Streatham is between suburban London and inner-city Brixton, with the suburban and developed areas of Streatham, Streatham Hill and Streatham Vale. Despite the boroughs population density, Lambeth has open spaces, along and around the South Bank, a tourist area has developed around the former Greater London Council headquarters of County Hall and the Southbank Centre and National Theatre. Also on the river is the London Eye and Shell Centre, nearby is St Thomas Hospital, Lambeth Palace and the Florence Nightingale Museum
3.
United Kingdom
–
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom or Britain, is a sovereign country in western Europe. Lying off the north-western coast of the European mainland, the United Kingdom includes the island of Great Britain, Northern Ireland is the only part of the United Kingdom that shares a land border with another sovereign state—the Republic of Ireland. The Irish Sea lies between Great Britain and Ireland, with an area of 242,500 square kilometres, the United Kingdom is the 78th-largest sovereign state in the world and the 11th-largest in Europe. It is also the 21st-most populous country, with an estimated 65.1 million inhabitants, together, this makes it the fourth-most densely populated country in the European Union. The United Kingdom is a monarchy with a parliamentary system of governance. The monarch is Queen Elizabeth II, who has reigned since 6 February 1952, other major urban areas in the United Kingdom include the regions of Birmingham, Leeds, Glasgow, Liverpool and Manchester. The United Kingdom consists of four countries—England, Scotland, Wales, the last three have devolved administrations, each with varying powers, based in their capitals, Edinburgh, Cardiff and Belfast, respectively. The relationships among the countries of the UK have changed over time, Wales was annexed by the Kingdom of England under the Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542. A treaty between England and Scotland resulted in 1707 in a unified Kingdom of Great Britain, which merged in 1801 with the Kingdom of Ireland to form the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. Five-sixths of Ireland seceded from the UK in 1922, leaving the present formulation of the United Kingdom of Great Britain, there are fourteen British Overseas Territories. These are the remnants of the British Empire which, at its height in the 1920s, British influence can be observed in the language, culture and legal systems of many of its former colonies. The United Kingdom is a country and has the worlds fifth-largest economy by nominal GDP. The UK is considered to have an economy and is categorised as very high in the Human Development Index. It was the worlds first industrialised country and the worlds foremost power during the 19th, the UK remains a great power with considerable economic, cultural, military, scientific and political influence internationally. It is a nuclear weapons state and its military expenditure ranks fourth or fifth in the world. The UK has been a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council since its first session in 1946 and it has been a leading member state of the EU and its predecessor, the European Economic Community, since 1973. However, on 23 June 2016, a referendum on the UKs membership of the EU resulted in a decision to leave. The Acts of Union 1800 united the Kingdom of Great Britain, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have devolved self-government
4.
Geographic coordinate system
–
A geographic coordinate system is a coordinate system used in geography that enables every location on Earth to be specified by a set of numbers, letters or symbols. The coordinates are chosen such that one of the numbers represents a vertical position. A common choice of coordinates is latitude, longitude and elevation, to specify a location on a two-dimensional map requires a map projection. The invention of a coordinate system is generally credited to Eratosthenes of Cyrene. Ptolemy credited him with the adoption of longitude and latitude. Ptolemys 2nd-century Geography used the prime meridian but measured latitude from the equator instead. Mathematical cartography resumed in Europe following Maximus Planudes recovery of Ptolemys text a little before 1300, in 1884, the United States hosted the International Meridian Conference, attended by representatives from twenty-five nations. Twenty-two of them agreed to adopt the longitude of the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, the Dominican Republic voted against the motion, while France and Brazil abstained. France adopted Greenwich Mean Time in place of local determinations by the Paris Observatory in 1911, the latitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle between the equatorial plane and the straight line that passes through that point and through the center of the Earth. Lines joining points of the same latitude trace circles on the surface of Earth called parallels, as they are parallel to the equator, the north pole is 90° N, the south pole is 90° S. The 0° parallel of latitude is designated the equator, the plane of all geographic coordinate systems. The equator divides the globe into Northern and Southern Hemispheres, the longitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle east or west of a reference meridian to another meridian that passes through that point. All meridians are halves of great ellipses, which converge at the north and south poles, the prime meridian determines the proper Eastern and Western Hemispheres, although maps often divide these hemispheres further west in order to keep the Old World on a single side. The antipodal meridian of Greenwich is both 180°W and 180°E, the combination of these two components specifies the position of any location on the surface of Earth, without consideration of altitude or depth. The grid formed by lines of latitude and longitude is known as a graticule, the origin/zero point of this system is located in the Gulf of Guinea about 625 km south of Tema, Ghana. To completely specify a location of a feature on, in, or above Earth. Earth is not a sphere, but a shape approximating a biaxial ellipsoid. It is nearly spherical, but has an equatorial bulge making the radius at the equator about 0. 3% larger than the radius measured through the poles, the shorter axis approximately coincides with the axis of rotation
5.
Merlin Entertainments
–
Merlin Entertainments is a British-based company headquartered in Poole, Dorset, which operates 127 attractions,19 hotels and 7 holiday villages in 24 countries. Apax sold the company to another investor, Hermes Private Equity. When the Legoland theme parks came up for sale, Varney wanted to buy it but Hermes did not want to invest more capital, Blackstone negotiated to buy control of Legoland for about £250 million, then merged it with Merlin. As part of the deal, KIRKBI AS, the investment arm of LEGO owners, under The Blackstone Group in 2006, Merlin went on to buy Gardaland, an Italian theme park. Early in 2007 Merlin also purchased The Tussauds Group, owner of the Madame Tussauds celebrity wax attractions, after the Tussauds acquisition, Dubai International Capital held 20% of Merlin Entertainment. Although the attraction sites are owned by Leslau, the attractions themselves are to be operated by Merlin, chessington World of Adventures was not included in the deal due to being the most profitable. On 15 January 2010, Merlin Entertainments bought a defunct Winter Haven, Florida-based theme park, Cypress Gardens, and reopened it as Legoland Florida theme park. The sale would include Sydney Aquarium, Sydney Wildlife World, Oceanworld Manly, Sydney Tower, on 3 March 2011, the deal was finalised. Merlin had planned to go public in early 2010, but market turbulence postponed those plans, instead, Blackstone sold 20% of the company to the private equity firm CVC Capital Partners, reducing Blackstones holding to 34%. CVC acquired another 8% from the Dubai investment fund which is no longer involved with the company, KIRKBI, a Danish family trust that owns LEGO, also increased its stake, emerging as the largest shareholder, with 36%. CVC paid a price that valued Merlin at £2.25 billion – more than six times what Merlin, Blackstones investment was by that point worth more than three and a half times what it had paid. On 8 November 2013 Merlin floated 30% of the company on the London Stock Exchange valuing the private equity-backed company at almost £3. 4bn, in October 2013 mental health campaigners accused Merlins Thorpe Park attraction of putting profit before the welfare of those with mental illness. Its Halloween attractions included mazes which draw on classic horror film content including one called The Asylum, the attraction was contrasted unfavourably in some media, Twitter and by mental health campaigners who believed The Asylum perpetrated stigmatising and damaging images of mental illness. Thorpe Park issued a statement indicating the subject would be reviewed, on 2 June 2015 two carriages on The Smiler ride at The Alton Towers Resort collided. One of the cars was empty, and the car contained 16 people. Merlin issued a statement that the incident was under investigation, on 19 March 2016, The Smiler reopened to the public after 9 months. The investigation found that the crash was, according to Merlin Entertainments, in February 2016, Merlin purchased a 15% shareholding in Big Bus Tours
6.
Arup Group
–
The firm has over 14,000 staff based in 92 offices across 42 countries, and is present in Africa, the Americas, Australasia, East Asia, Europe and the Middle East. Arup has participated in projects in over 160 countries, Arup is owned by trusts, the beneficiaries of which are Arups past and present employees, who receive a share of the firms operating profit each year. The firm was founded in London in 1946, as the Ove N. Arup Consulting Engineers by Ove Arup and he set out to build a firm where professionals of diverse disciplines could work together to produce projects of greater quality than was achievable by them working in isolation. In 1963, together with the architect Philip Dowson, Arup Associates was formed, in 1970, the firm reformed as Ove Arup & Partners. It is best known for its work for the built environment. Projects to which it has contributed include the Sydney Opera House,3, Nevada, USA Druk White Lotus School was built to survive the Ladakhi weather. Kingdom Centre, The third tallest skyscraper in Saudi Arabia, and the second tallest in Riyadh and this group continues to work under the banner of Arup Associates following a streamlining of the Arup brand. Many of Arups modern stadia are designed with a contemporary, distinctive edge, the most notable stadium projects led by Arup remain the City of Manchester Stadium, Allianz Arena, Beijing National Stadium, Donbass Arena and the Singapore Sports Hub. Arups multidisciplinary sports venue design and engineering scope on the Singapore Sports Hub won the 2013 World Architecture Festival Award in the Future Projects, the Casa da Música, Oporto, designed by Arup and Office for Metropolitan Architecture was nominated for the 2007 Stirling Prize. Arup was awarded the Worldaware Award for Innovation for its Vawtex air system in Harare International School, Arup Fire has won the Fire Safety Engineering Design award four times since its creation in 2001. The 2001 inaugural award was won for Arups contribution to the Eden Project in Cornwall, UK, in 2004, the design for Londons City Hall was appointed joint winner. In 2005, the Temple Mills Eurostar Depot won, the 2006 winning entry was for Amethyst House, a nine-storey building with an atrium from the ground to the top, in Manchester, UK. Arup was also awarded Royal Town Planning Institute Consultancy of the award in 2008. Mike Glover is the recipient of the 2008 Institution of Structural Engineers Gold Medal, the Evelyn Grace Academy, London designed by Zaha Hadid Architects and Arup won the prestigious RIBA Stirling Prize 2011. Arup was named Tunnel Design Firm of the Year at the 2012 ITA AITES International Tunnelling Awards, Arup Fellow is a lifelong honorary title awarded to selected honorary individuals in the firm. It acknowledges the highest design and technical achievements of people, not only within the firm and they are considered role models who possess world-class expertise who put theory into effective practice. Sir Ove Nyquist Arup, structural engineer and philosopher, founder of the company, recipient of the RIBA Royal Gold Medal for Architecture 1966, peter Dunican, structural engineer, first chairman of Ove Arup Partnership, and President of the Institution of Structural Engineers in 1977 and 1978. Sir Jack Zunz, civil engineer, and principal designer of the Sydney Opera House
7.
South Bank
–
The South Bank is an entertainment and commercial district of Central London, England, next to the River Thames opposite the City of Westminster. It forms a narrow, unequal strip of land within the London Borough of Lambeth. As with most central London districts its edges evolve and are informally defined however its central area is bounded by Westminster Bridge, both the County Hall and the Shell Centre contain major residential parts. South Bank is 800 metres southeast of Charing Cross, the pedestrianised embankment is The Queens Walk which is part of the Albert Embankment built not only for public drainage but to raise the whole tract of land and prevent flooding. In 1951 the Festival of Britain redefined the area as a place for arts and it now forms a significant tourist district in central London, stretching from the Blackfriars Bridge in the east to Westminster Bridge in the west. A series of central London bridges connect the area to the bank of the Thames Golden Jubilee. During the Middle Ages this area developed as a place of entertainment outside the regulation of the City of London on the north bank. By the 18th century the more genteel entertainment of the gardens had developed. The shallow bank and mud flats were ideal locations for industry and docks, there was a shift in use when the London County Council required a new County Hall, which was built between 1917 and 1922 on the south bank near North Lambeths Lower Marsh. The construction of County Hall returned the first section of frontage to public use. This was extended eastwards in 1951 when the Festival of Britain caused a considerable area to be redeveloped and it was renamed South Bank as part of promoting the Festival. The South Bank stretches two miles along the southern bank of the River Thames. The western section is in the Bishops ward of the London Borough of Lambeth, there are significant amounts of public open space along the riverside. Between the London Studios and the Oxo Tower lies Bernie Spain Gardens, named after Bernadette Spain, the South Bank is a significant arts and entertainment district. The Southbank Centre comprises the Royal Festival Hall, the Queen Elizabeth Hall, the Royal National Theatre, the London IMAX super cinema and BFI Southbank adjoin to the east, but are not strictly part of the centre. County Hall is non-administrative and has converted into The London Marriott Hotel County Hall, Sea Life London Aquarium. It contains the Jubilee Gardens, home to the Udderbelly Festival for 15 weeks in the summer, the OXO Tower Wharf is towards the eastern end of South Bank, and houses Gallery@Oxo, shops and boutiques, and the OXO Tower Restaurant run by Harvey Nichols. The London Studios, the home of ITV faces the Thames
8.
River Thames
–
The River Thames is a river that flows through southern England, most notably through London. At 215 miles, it is the longest river entirely in England and it also flows through Oxford, Reading, Henley-on-Thames and Windsor. The lower reaches of the river are called the Tideway, derived from its tidal reach up to Teddington Lock. It rises at Thames Head in Gloucestershire, and flows into the North Sea via the Thames Estuary, the Thames drains the whole of Greater London. Its tidal section, reaching up to Teddington Lock, includes most of its London stretch and has a rise, in Scotland, the Tay achieves more than double the average discharge from a drainage basin that is 60% smaller. Along its course are 45 navigation locks with accompanying weirs and its catchment area covers a large part of South Eastern and a small part of Western England and the river is fed by 38 named tributaries. The river contains over 80 islands, in 2010, the Thames won the largest environmental award in the world – the $350,000 International Riverprize. The Thames, from Middle English Temese, is derived from the Brittonic Celtic name for the river, Tamesas, recorded in Latin as Tamesis and yielding modern Welsh Tafwys Thames. It has also suggested that it is not of Celtic origin. A place by the river, rather than the river itself, indirect evidence for the antiquity of the name Thames is provided by a Roman potsherd found at Oxford, bearing the inscription Tamesubugus fecit. It is believed that Tamesubugus name was derived from that of the river, tamese was referred to as a place, not a river in the Ravenna Cosmography. The rivers name has always pronounced with a simple t /t/, the Middle English spelling was typically Temese. A similar spelling from 1210, Tamisiam, is found in the Magna Carta, the Thames through Oxford is sometimes called the Isis. Ordnance Survey maps still label the Thames as River Thames or Isis down to Dorchester, richard Coates suggests that while the river was as a whole called the Thames, part of it, where it was too wide to ford, was called *lowonida. An alternative, and simpler proposal, is that London may also be a Germanic word, for merchant seamen, the Thames has long been just the London River. Londoners often refer to it simply as the river in such as south of the river. Thames Valley Police is a body that takes its name from the river. The marks of human activity, in cases dating back to Pre-Roman Britain, are visible at various points along the river
9.
Star of Nanchang
–
The Star of Nanchang is a 160-metre tall giant Ferris wheel located in the eastern Chinese city of Nanchang, the capital of Jiangxi Province. The Star of Nanchang opened for business in May 2006, having cost 57 million yuan to build, formerly the worlds tallest Ferris wheel, it was succeeded by the 165-metre Singapore Flyer which officially opened to the public on March 1,2008. The Star of Nanchang has 60 enclosed air-conditioned gondolas, each carrying up to 8 passengers, a single rotation takes approximately 30 minutes, the slow rotation speed allows passengers to embark and disembark without the wheel having to stop turning. Shanghai Amusement Machine Engineering Co - the builder of the wheel
10.
Singapore Flyer
–
The Singapore Flyer is a giant Ferris wheel in Singapore. Described by its operators as a wheel, it opened in 2008. It carried its first paying passengers on 11 February, opened to the public on 1 March and it has 28 air-conditioned capsules, each able to accommodate 28 passengers, and incorporates a three-storey terminal building. The previous record holder, the Star of Nanchang, in Jiangxi, China, is 160 m tall, the Singapore Flyer was first conceived in the early 2000s by Patrick MacMahon of Melchers Project Management, a subsidiary of German company Melchers. A new company, Singapore Flyer Pte Ltd, was formed as the developer, with Melchers Project Management holding a 75% stake, the land was to be rent-free during the construction phase of the project. In July 2003, Jones Lang LaSalle was appointed as the real estate advisor, takenaka and Mitsubishi were selected as the main contractors, and Arup as the structural engineer. Early designs showed a 169 m tall wheel similar to the London Eye, the developers pointed out that the design was not finalised and was merely for conceptualisation purposes, though the final project changed little from the early designs. Subsequently, the project was to grind almost to a halt when the developer faced difficulties in sourcing funds to build the wheel, by September 2005, the project was revived when funds were successfully sourced from two German banks. Collin William Page, a subsidiary of ABN AMRO, was to provide equity to a maximum of S$100 million, with this injection of S$240 million, the largest single foreign investment in the Singaporean entertainment industry, construction was slated to begin by the end of the month. The stakeholders then were AAA Equity Holdings, Melchers Project Management, in August 2007, Florian Bollen, Singapore Flyer Pte Ltd chairman, raised his stake in the Singapore Flyer from 60% to 90% through acquisition of Melchers Project Managements 30% stake. The deal was done via AAA Equity Holdings, an investment vehicle headed by Bollen. Orient & Pacific Management, which spearheaded the development management. The development has a building area of approximately 16,000 m2. The Flyers 28 air-conditioned capsules are mounted outboard of the rim of the wheel structure, each capsule has a floor area of 26 m2 and is capable of holding 28 passengers, or up to five wheelchairs and 15 other visitors when booked in advance for use by disabled guests. The wheel initially rotated in a direction when viewed from Marina Centre. Wheelchair ramps and lifts, handicapped toilets, and a parking lot for the disabled are also provided. The groundbreaking ceremony was held on 27 September 2005, with Mah Bow Tan, Minister for National Development, the spindle was fitted on 13 December 2006, and the outer rim was completed on 9 April 2007. Installation of the passenger capsules began on 3 August 2007 and was completed on 2 October 2007, during Chinese New Year, corporate inaugural flights were held from 11 to 13 February, tickets for which sold out for S$8,888, an auspicious number in Chinese culture
11.
High Roller (Ferris wheel)
–
High Roller is a 550-foot tall, 520-foot diameter giant Ferris wheel on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada, United States of America. It is owned and operated by Caesars Entertainment Corporation and it opened to the public on March 31,2014, and is currently the worlds tallest Ferris wheel. It is 9 ft taller than its predecessor, the 541-foot Singapore Flyer, High Roller was announced in August 2011 as the centerpiece of Caesars Entertainment Corporations $550 million The LINQ. Arup Engineering, which previously consulted on the Singapore Flyer, acted as the structural engineer, the wheel rotates on a pair of custom-designed spherical roller bearings, each weighing approximately 19,400 lb. Each bearing has an diameter of 7.55 feet, an inner bore of 5.25 feet. The passenger cabins are mounted on the wheels rim and are individually rotated by electric motors to smoothly maintain a horizontal cabin floor throughout each full rotation. Preliminary designs anticipated 32 passenger cabins, each with a 40-passenger capacity —with the final design accommodating 28 40-person cabins and a total capacity of 1,120 passengers. Each 225-square-foot cabin weighs approximately 44,000 pounds, has a diameter of 22 feet, includes 300 square feet of glass, and is equipped with eight flat-screen televisions and an iPod dock. Located on Las Vegas Boulevard, across from Caesars Palace, construction was scheduled to begin in September 2011 with a late 2013 completion. The outer rim of the wheel was completed on September 9,2013, the first passenger cabin was delivered and installed in November 2013 and the final cabin was installed the following month. After preliminary testing, High Rollers lighting system was illuminated at sunset on February 28,2014, High Roller opened to the public at 4 p. m. EST on March 31,2014. Tickets were originally expected to cost less than $20 per ride, when High Roller opened to the public in March 2014, tickets for a single 30-minute ride, the time taken for the entire wheel to rotate once, cost $24.95 and $34.95. Other ticket options included a $59.95 Express Pass, allowing the holder to skip the line and ride any time. Both the New York Wheel, in the United States, erection of the main support structure is due to begin early in 2017, and it is expected to open in April 2018. The 210 m Ain Dubai was announced in February 2013, with construction to begin in June 2013, construction eventually began almost two years behind schedule in May 2015. Erection of the support structure was completed in 2016 and it is now expected to open in 2017
12.
Las Vegas Strip
–
The Las Vegas Strip is a stretch of South Las Vegas Boulevard in Clark County, Nevada, known for its concentration of resort hotels and casinos. The Strip is approximately 4.2 miles in length, located south of the Las Vegas city limits in the unincorporated towns of Paradise. However, the Strip is often referred to as being in Las Vegas, most of the Strip has been designated an All-American Road, and is considered a scenic route at night. Many of the largest hotel, casino, and resort properties in the world are located on the Las Vegas Strip, fourteen of the worlds 25 largest hotels by room count are on the Strip, with a total of over 62,000 rooms. One of the most visible aspects of Las Vegas cityscape is its use of dramatic architecture, historically, the casinos that were not in Downtown Las Vegas along Fremont Street were limited to outside of the city limits on Las Vegas Boulevard. In 1959 the Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas sign was constructed exactly 4.5 miles outside of the city limits, the sign is today about 0.4 miles south of the southernmost entrance to Mandalay Bay. In the strictest sense, the Strip refers only to the stretch of Las Vegas Boulevard that is roughly between Sahara Avenue and Russell Road, a distance of 4.2 miles. However, the term is used to refer not only to the road but also to the various casinos and resorts that line the road. The traditional definition considers the Strips northern terminus as the SLS, Mandalay Bay, located just north of Russell Road, is the southernmost resort considered to be on the Strip. Because of the number and size of the resorts, the Resort Corridor can be quite wide, Interstate 15 runs roughly parallel and 0.5 to 0.8 miles to the west of Las Vegas Boulevard for the entire length of the Strip. Paradise Road runs to the east in a fashion. The eastern side of the Strip is bounded by McCarran International Airport south of Tropicana Avenue, north of this point, the Resort Corridor can be considered to extend as far east as Paradise Road, although some consider Koval Lane as a less inclusive boundary. Interstate 15 is sometimes considered the edge of the Resort Corridor from Interstate 215 to Spring Mountain Road. North of this point, Industrial Road serves as the western edge, the famous Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas sign is located in the median just south of Russell Road, across from the now-demolished Klondike Hotel & Casino. Marketing for these casinos usually states that they are on southern Las Vegas Boulevard and not Strip properties. The first casino to be built on Highway 91 was the Pair-o-Dice Club in 1931 and that casino stood for almost 20 years before being destroyed by a fire in 1960. Its success spawned a second hotel on what would become the Strip, the funding for many projects was provided through the American National Insurance Company, which was based in the then notorious gambling empire of Galveston, Texas. Las Vegas Boulevard South was previously called Arrowhead Highway, or Los Angeles Highway, the Strip was named by Los Angeles police officer and businessman Guy McAfee, after his hometowns Sunset Strip
13.
A-frame
–
An A-frame is a basic structure designed to bear a load in a lightweight economical manner. The simplest form of an A-frame is two similarly sized beams, arranged in a 45-degree or less angle, attached at the top and these materials are often wooden or steel beams attached at the top by rope, welding, gluing, or riveting. Because they have two legs, A-frames are usually set up in rows so that they can have good stability. A saw horse is an example of this structure. Some beam engines use an A-frame Media related to A-frame beam engines at Wikimedia Commons
14.
Cantilever
–
A cantilever is a rigid structural element, such as a beam or a plate, anchored at only one end to a support from which it is protruding. Cantilevers can also be constructed with trusses or slabs, when subjected to a structural load, the cantilever carries the load to the support where it is forced against by a moment and shear stress. Cantilevers are widely found in construction, notably in cantilever bridges and balconies, in cantilever bridges the cantilevers are usually built as pairs, with each cantilever used to support one end of a central section. The Forth Bridge in Scotland is an example of a truss bridge. A cantilever in a timber framed building is called a jetty or forebay. In the southern United States a historic barn type is the barn of log construction. Temporary cantilevers are used in construction. The partially constructed structure creates a cantilever, but the structure does not act as a cantilever. This is very helpful when temporary supports, or falsework, cannot be used to support the structure while it is being built. So some truss arch bridges are built each side as cantilevers until the spans reach each other and are then jacked apart to stress them in compression before final joining. Nearly all cable-stayed bridges are built using cantilevers as this is one of their chief advantages, many box girder bridges are built segmentally, or in short pieces. This type of construction lends itself well to balanced cantilever construction where the bridge is built in both directions from a single support and these structures are highly based on torque and rotational equilibrium. In an architectural application, Frank Lloyd Wrights Fallingwater used cantilevers to project large balconies, the East Stand at Elland Road Stadium in Leeds was, when completed, the largest cantilever stand in the world holding 17,000 spectators. The roof built over the stands at Old Trafford Football Ground uses a cantilever so that no supports will block views of the field, the old, now demolished Miami Stadium had a similar roof over the spectator area. The largest cantilever in Europe is located at St James Park in Newcastle-Upon-Tyne, less obvious examples of cantilevers are free-standing radio towers without guy-wires, and chimneys, which resist being blown over by the wind through cantilever action at their base. Another use of the cantilever is in fixed-wing aircraft design, pioneered by Hugo Junkers in 1915, early aircraft wings typically bore their loads by using two wings in a biplane configuration braced with wires and struts. They were similar to bridges, having been developed by Octave Chanute. The wings were braced with crossed wires so they would stay parallel, the cables and struts generated considerable drag, and there was constant experimentation for ways to eliminate them
15.
The Shard
–
Standing 309.7 metres high, the Shard is the tallest building in the United Kingdom, the fourth-tallest building in Europe and the 107th-tallest building in the world. It is also the second-tallest free-standing structure in the United Kingdom, the Shards construction began in March 2009, it was topped out on 30 March 2012 and inaugurated on 6 July 2012. Practical completion was achieved in November 2012, the towers privately operated observation deck, The View from The Shard, was opened to the public on 1 February 2013. The glass-clad pyramidal tower has 72 habitable floors, with a gallery and open-air observation deck on the 72nd floor. It was designed by the Italian architect Renzo Piano and replaced Southwark Towers, the Shard was developed by Sellar Property Group on behalf of LBQ Ltd and is jointly owned by Sellar Property and the State of Qatar. Sellar flew to Berlin in the spring of 2000 to meet the Italian architect Renzo Piano for lunch, the inquiry took place in April and May 2003, and on 19 November 2003, the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister announced that planning consent had been approved. The government stated that, Mr Prescott would only approve skyscrapers of exceptional design, for a building of this size to be acceptable, the quality of its design is critical. He is satisfied that the tower is of the highest architectural quality. This enabled them to pay off the costs incurred and to buy out the Southwark Towers occupational lease from the buildings tenants. Vacant possession of the site was secured a year later, after PricewaterhouseCoopers completed the relocation of their operations, in September 2007, preparations for the demolition of Southwark Towers began. However, later that month, turbulence in the financial markets reportedly put the Shards construction in jeopardy. In November 2007, building contractor Mace was awarded the contract to build the Shard for a price of no more than £350 million. However, this increased to almost £435 million in October 2008. In April 2008, demolition of Southwark Towers was visibly under way, and by October, the building had been reduced in height. The demolition was completed in early 2009, and site preparation began for the construction of the Shard, in late 2007, the gathering uncertainty in the global financial markets sparked concerns about the viability of the Shard. However, in January 2008, Sellar announced that it had secured funding from a consortium of Qatari investors, the consortium included Qatar National Bank, QInvest, Qatari Islamic Bank and the Qatari property developer Barwa Real Estate, as well as Sellar Property. The deal involved a buyout of the Halabi and CLS Holdings stakes, the new owners promised to provide the first tranche of finance, allowing construction of the tower to begin. In 2009, the State of Qatar consolidated its ownership of London Bridge Quarter, including the Shard, London Bridge Quarter is today jointly owned by the State of Qatar and Sellar Property
16.
Dome of Discovery
–
The Dome of Discovery was a temporary exhibition building designed by architect Ralph Tubbs for the Festival of Britain celebrations which took place on Londons South Bank in 1951. The consulting engineers were Freeman Fox & Partners, in particular Oleg Kerensky, like the adjacent Skylon, the dome became an iconic structure for the public and helped popularise modern design and architectural style in a Britain still suffering through post-war austerity. As twin icons, the forms of the Skylon and Dome of Discovery were related to those of the Trylon, controversially, after the Festival closed, the dome was demolished and its materials sold as scrap. The site was cleared for reuse, and is now the location of the Jubilee Gardens, the dome had a diameter of 365 feet and stood 93 feet tall, making it at the time the largest dome in the world. It had an escalator as its dramatic entrance, with the dome itself made out of aluminum. Construction was contracted to Horseley Ironworks of Tipton, with fabrication partly sub-contracted to Structural and Mechanical Development Engineers Ltd of Slough. It was erected by Horseley on a designed and prepared by Costain Group from concrete and aluminium in a modernist style. The theme of the exhibition in the Dome of Discovery was British initiative in exploration, some of the metal fragments were then turned into a series of commemorative paper-knives and artefacts. The inscriptions on the paper-knife read 600 and Made from the aluminium alloy roof sheets which covered the Dome of Discovery at the Festival of Britain, South Bank. The Dome, Skylon and 10 other buildings on the site, were dismantled by George Cohen and Sons, Skylon Millennium Dome Dome of Discovery under construction, Museum of London Picture Library. Festival of Britain — A Tour of the Dome of Discovery
17.
Westminster Bridge
–
Westminster Bridge is a road-and-foot-traffic bridge over the River Thames in London, linking Westminster on the west side and Lambeth on the east side. The bridge is painted green, the same colour as the leather seats in the House of Commons which is on the side of the Palace of Westminster nearest to the bridge. This is in contrast to Lambeth Bridge, which is red, in 2005–2007, it underwent a complete refurbishment, including replacing the iron fascias and repainting the whole bridge. It links the Palace of Westminster on the west side of the river with County Hall, the next bridge downstream is the Hungerford footbridge and upstream is Lambeth Bridge. Westminster Bridge was designated a Grade II* listed structure in 1981, for over 600 years, the nearest bridge to London Bridge was at Kingston. A bridge at Westminster was proposed in 1664, but opposed by the Corporation of London, despite further opposition in 1722, and after a new timber bridge was built at Putney in 1729, the scheme received parliamentary approval in 1736. Financed by private capital, lotteries and grants, Westminster Bridge was built between 1739–1750, under the supervision of the Swiss engineer Charles Labelye, the City of London responded to Westminster Bridge by removing the buildings on London Bridge and widening it in 1760–63. The City also commenced work on the Blackfriars Bridge, which opened in 1769, other bridges from that time include Kew Bridge, Battersea Bridge, and Richmond Bridge. The bridge was required for traffic from the expanding West End to the developing South London as well as to south coast ports, without the bridge, traffic from the West End would have to negotiate the congested routes to London Bridge such as the Strand and New Oxford Street. Roads south of the river were also improved, including the junction at the Elephant & Castle in Southwark, by the mid–19th century the bridge was subsiding badly and expensive to maintain. The current bridge was designed by Thomas Page and opened on 24 May 1862, with a length of 820 feet and a width of 85 feet, it is a seven-arch, cast-iron bridge with Gothic detailing by Charles Barry. It is the oldest road bridge across the Thames in central London, on 22 March 2017, a terrorist attack started on the bridge and continued into Bridge Street and Old Palace Yard. Five people - three pedestrians, one officer, and the attacker - died as a result of the incident. A colleague of the officer was armed and shot the attacker, more than 50 people were injured. An investigation is ongoing by the Metropolitan Police, in the 2002 British horror film 28 Days Later, the protagonist awakes from a coma to find London deserted and walks over an eerily empty Westminster Bridge whilst looking for signs of life. Westminster Bridge is the start and finish point for the Bridges Handicap Race, william Wordsworth wrote the sonnet Composed upon Westminster Bridge, September 3,1802. In the finale of the 24th James Bond film Spectre, Blofelds helicopter crashes into Westminster Bridge, Westminster Bridge at Structurae Westminster Bridge at Structurae Interactive Panorama, Westminster Bridge
18.
Hungerford Bridge and Golden Jubilee Bridges
–
The Hungerford Bridge crosses the River Thames in London, and lies between Waterloo Bridge and Westminster Bridge. The north end of the bridge is Charing Cross railway station, and is near Embankment Pier, the south end is near Waterloo station, County Hall, the Royal Festival Hall, and the London Eye. Each pedestrian bridge has steps and lift access, the first Hungerford Bridge, designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel, opened in 1845 as a suspension footbridge. It was named after the then Hungerford Market, because it went from the South Bank to Hungerford Market on the side of the Thames. In 1859 the original bridge was bought by the railway company extending the South Eastern Railway into the newly opened Charing Cross railway station. The railway company replaced the bridge with a structure designed by Sir John Hawkshaw, comprising nine spans made of wrought iron lattice girders. The chains from the old bridge were re-used in Bristols Clifton Suspension Bridge, the buttress on the South Bank side still has the entrances and steps from the original steamer pier Brunel built on to the footbridge. Walkways were added on each side, with the one later being removed when the railway was widened. Another walkway was added in 1951 when an Army Bailey bridge was constructed for the Festival of Britain. In 1980 a temporary walkway was erected on the side while the downstream railway bridge. It is one of three bridges in London to combine pedestrian and rail use, the others being Fulham Railway Bridge. The footbridge gained a reputation for being narrow, dilapidated and dangerous, in the mid-1990s a decision was made to replace the footbridge with new structures on either side of the existing railway bridge, and a competition was held in 1996 for a new design. It was felt, especially following the Marchioness disaster, that these should be clad in concrete at water level, the Golden Jubilee Bridges achieved this protection at no cost to Railtrack. The concept design for the new footbridges was won by architects Lifschutz Davidson Sandilands, detailed design of the two bridges was carried out by consulting engineers Gifford, now Ramboll UK. Despite extensive surveys of the riverbed, London Underground was unwilling to accept these risks and preliminary works were stopped in 2000. The design was modified so that the structure on the north side. Excavation near the lines was carried out when the tube was closed. The two new 4-metre wide footbridges were completed in 2002 and they were named the Golden Jubilee Bridges, in honour of the fiftieth anniversary of Queen Elizabeth IIs accession, although in practice they are still referred to as the Hungerford Footbridges
19.
County Hall, London
–
County Hall is a building in London that was the headquarters of London County Council and later the Greater London Council. The building is on the South Bank of the River Thames, with Westminster Bridge being next to it and it faces west toward the City of Westminster and is close to the Palace of Westminster. The nearest London Underground stations are Waterloo and Westminster, today, County Hall is the site of businesses and attractions, including the London Sea Life Aquarium, London Dungeon and a Namco Station amusement arcade. The London Eye is next to County Hall, and its centre is inside the building. There is also a suite of rooms which was home to the Saatchi Gallery from 2003 to 2006. Other parts of the house two hotels, several restaurants, and some flats. Various spaces are available for hire for functions, including the chamber at the heart of the building. Until January 2010 the Dali Universe was also in the building but this has now closed, confirmed in early 2014, the building will become the home of the new Merlin Entertainments attraction and was opening in July 2015. The area is home to three other Merlin Entertainments attractions. In 2016 London event venue company etc. venues announced plans to open a conference, based on the 4th floor overlooking the Thames, which opened in January 2017. The main six storey building was designed by Ralph Knott and it is faced in Portland stone in an Edwardian Baroque style. The construction, which was undertaken by Holland, Hannen & Cubitts, started in 1911, the North and South blocks, which were built by Higgs and Hill, were added between 1936 and 1939. The Island block was not completed until 1974, for 64 years County Hall served as the headquarters of local government for London. During the 1980s the then powerful Labour-controlled GLC led by Ken Livingstone was locked in conflict with the Conservative government of Margaret Thatcher. Since the Parliament buildings were just across the river from County Hall, when the government of Margaret Thatcher abolished the GLC in 1986, County Hall lost its role as the seat of Londons government. Today, the majority of the building, including the fourth and fifth floors. Another small section of the building is occupied as a Premier Inn, the County Hall Island Block, an annex of the main building, was demolished in 2006 to make way for a hotel, the Park Plaza Westminster Bridge. The building, also known as No 1 Westminster Bridge Road, had been disused since 1986 and had become a derelict eyesore, a blue plaque commemorates the LCC, GLC and the Inner London Education Authority at County Hall
20.
Earl's Court
–
The Earls Court Exhibition Centre was one of the countrys largest indoor arenas and a popular concert venue until its closure in 2014. Earls Court was once an area, covered with green fields. The Saxon Thegn Edwin held the lordship of the prior to the Norman conquest. By circa 1095, his tenure had been converted, and he held Kensington directly of the crown, a church had been constructed there by 1104. The earls held their manorial court where Old Manor Yard is now, Earls Court Farm is visible on Greenwoods map of London dated 1827. The construction of the Metropolitan District Railway station in 1865–69 was a catalyst for development, in the quarter century after 1867, Earls Court was transformed into a densely populated suburb with 1,200 houses and two churches. The Earls Court ward had a population of 9,659 according to the 2001 census, following the Second World War a number of Polish immigrants settled in the Earls Court area leading to Earls Court Road being dubbed the Danzig Corridor. During the late 1960s a large transient population of Australian and New Zealand travellers began to use Earls Court as a UK hub and over time it gained the name Kangaroo Valley. It was at the one of the cheapest areas close to central London. The area was, for a time, the place to buy. This moved off in the direction of the New North Road in the 1980s, the name Kangaroo Valley lingers on in the usage of older expatriate Australasians and Australasian visitors, as does the alternative nickname Kangaroo Court. The change in the population is largely owed to rocketing property prices. The scale of change is illustrated by the divide between the eastern and western areas of Earls Court. Despite fighting fiercely for the centre it has, according to Dave Hill in The Guardian. Howard Carter, English archaeologist, Egyptologist and primary discoverer of the tomb of Tutankhamun, benjamin Britten, English composer, conductor, violist and pianist, lived at 173 Cromwell Road. Edwin Arnold, English poet and journalist, lived at 31 Bolton Gardens, alfred Hitchcock, English filmmaker and producer, lived at 153 Cromwell Road. Dame Ellen Terry, leading Shakespearian stage actress in Britain in the 1880s and 1890s, Sir William Orpen, Irish portrait painter, lived at 8 South Bolton Gardens. Norman Lockyer, English scientist and astronomer credited with discovering the gas helium, hattie Jacques an English comedy actress of stage, radio and screen including the Carry On films, lived at 67 Eardley Crescent
21.
Imperial Austrian Exhibition
–
The Imperial Austrian Exhibition worlds fair was held at Earls Court in London in 1906. It opened on 20 June and closed on 6 October, there was also an Austrian restaurant. The exhibition was the last use of the Great Wheel, a 94. 5-metre tall Ferris wheel which was the worlds tallest from its opening in 1895 until 1900, general Land Centennial Exhibition Franco-British Exhibition Japan–British Exhibition
22.
Interserve
–
Interserve plc is a multinational support services and construction company based in the UK, with a revenue of £3.2 billion in 2015 and a workforce of more than 80,000 people worldwide. The company is headquartered in Reading, Berkshire and is listed on the London Stock Exchange. Interserve traces its origins to 1884, when the London and Tilbury Lighterage Company Limited was formed to transfer goods by sailing barge to and from ships on the River Thames, London, England. A lighterage is the fee paid for the use of a Lighter, a large, open, flat bottomed barge, at the time London was the busiest port in the world. This new venture was complementary to the business, utilising the barges already owned by the company, together with their knowledge of the river. The company’s move into dredging therefore protected its commercial interest against the threat to lightering. However, for the time being lightering still thrived and the New Zealand based Ashburton Guardian reported in 1890 that the Company was a pioneer in the transshipment of frozen meat. As the Company grew, so did its profile and it came to be featured in the pages of The Engineer. This contract is noteworthy as it comprised, at commencement, an undertaking to form a new river bed to divert the course of the river, as well as removing islands. A total of 10 million cubic metres of material was to be dredged as part of these £1,000,000.00 works.5 miles long in the Buenos Aires province, during this period the company also carried out dredging projects in Canada, Egypt and Denmark. A number of the vessels were requisitioned for war duties during World War I where they took part in various military campaigns including in the Dardanelles, Archangel. Lightering gradually declined due to the increase of traffic. As in World War I, many of the fleet of tugs were requisitioned for active service during World War II. These initially came under the control of the Royal Navy examination service, although the company had disposed of its lighterage fleet, it retained craft for its dredging activities. In 1964 the Port of London Authority dredging contract ended,76 years after it was first awarded, in 1965 the remaining fleet of dredging vessels was sold to Westminster Dredging Company Limited. The company, by then named Tilbury Contracting Group Limited, applied for admission of its shares onto the London Stock Exchange and trading commenced on 12 October 1966. In 1991 Tilbury acquired RM Douglas, another construction and civil engineering business, although both groups had a UK-wide presence, the rationale of the acquisition was that the two companies complemented each other. This expanded the coverage of the company to the Middle East
23.
Town and Country Planning Act 1990
–
The Town and Country Planning Act 1990 is an act of the United Kingdom Parliament regulating the development of land in England and Wales. It is a part of English land law in that it concerns town. Repealed in parts by the Planning and Compensation Act 1991, it is now complemented by the Planning. This is subject to sections 2 and 9. and is subject to Sch, subsection 1 deals with mineral planning authorities. The exercise of functions in Wales is subject to Schedule 1A and this section is subject to sections 4A to 8. Section 2 allows the Secretary of State to join council planning authorities into joint planning boards, the Mayor may also become the planning authority for a connected application for Listed Building, Conservation Area or hazardous substances consent if he so considers. Under section 2C the Mayor of London after granting outline permission and he may also do this for connected applications he grants subject to subsequent approval. Section 2D enables secondary legislation related to the Mayors planning powers, Section 2E passes the function from the LPA to the Mayor of agreeing a Planning Obligation related to a direction above after that time. The Mayor must consult the LPA before agreeing to one and both the LPA and Mayor may enforce it, the Mayor must publish a procedural document for this. Section 3 retains the advisory joint planning committee for Greater London, Section 5 makes similar provision as 4A for the Broads Authority for land in that area. However, only for the purposes of Chapter I of Part VIII, Section 6 makes similar provision as 4A for Enterprise Zone Authorities for land in that area for such functions as a statutory Order may prescribe. Section 9 creates the power to make consequential and supplementary provision about authorities for land in area for such functions as a statutory order may prescribe. Part II is now repealed and replaced by the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004 and it used to concern larger scale Development Plans, in particular Unitary Development Plans in metropolitan areas including London and, for non-metropolitan areas, Structure Plans and Local Plans. This was seen necessary to ensure that development did not run contrary to the communitys interest. Section 59 states that The Secretary of State shall by, provide for the granting of planning permission. It relates to money paid by developers to local planning authorities in order to offset the costs of the effects of development. For example, if a developer were to build 100 new houses, there would be effects on local schools, in that situation, there might be a Section 106 agreement as part of the granting of planning permission. The agreement might also entail provisions about production of social housing, the developer might agree to make a contribution towards the provision of new schools or traffic calming on local roads
24.
Bicycle wheel
–
A bicycle wheel is a wheel, most commonly a wire wheel, designed for a bicycle. A pair is called a wheelset, especially in the context of ready built off the shelf performance-oriented wheels. Bicycle wheels are designed to fit into the frame and fork via dropouts. The first bicycle wheels followed the traditions of building, a wooden hub, a fixed steel axle, wooden spokes. A typical modern wheel has a hub, wire tension spokes. A hub is the part of a bicycle wheel. It consists of an axle, bearings and a hub shell, the hub shell typically has two machined metal flanges to which spokes can be attached. Hub shells can be one-piece with press-in cartridge or free bearings or, in the case of older designs, the axle is attached to dropouts on the fork or the frame. The axle can attach using a, Quick release - a lever and skewer that pass through a hollow axle designed to allow for installation, nut - the axle is threaded and protrudes past the sides of the fork/frame. Bolt - the axle has a hole with threads cut into it, thru axle - a removable axle with a threaded end that is inserted through a hole in one fork leg, through the hub, and then screwed into the other fork leg. Some axles have integrated cam levers that compress axle elements against the leg to lock it in place. Diameters for front thru axles include 20 mm,15 mm, most thru axles are found on mountain bikes, although some cyclocross and road bikes are using them. Thru axles repeatable locate the wheel in the fork or frame, unlike other axle systems, the thru axle is specific to the fork or frame, not the hub. Hubs/wheels do not include axles, and the axle is generally supplied with the fork or frame, female axle - hollow center axle, typically 14,15,17, or 20 mm in diameter made of chromoly and aluminum, with two bolts thread into on either side. This design can be stronger than traditional axles, which are commonly only 8 mm,9 mm,9.5 mm. Modern bicycles have adopted standard axle spacing, the hubs of front wheels are generally 100 mm wide fork spacing, road wheels with freehubs generally have a 130 mm wide rear wheel hub. Mountain bikes have adopted a 135 mm rear hub width, which allows clearance to mount a brake disc on the hub or to decrease the wheel dish for a more durable wheel, freeride and downhill are available with 150 mm spacing. The bearings allow the hub shell to rotate freely about the axle, most bicycle hubs use steel or ceramic ball bearings
25.
Light-emitting diode
–
A light-emitting diode is a two-lead semiconductor light source. It is a p–n junction diode, which emits light when activated, when a suitable voltage is applied to the leads, electrons are able to recombine with electron holes within the device, releasing energy in the form of photons. This effect is called electroluminescence, and the color of the light is determined by the band gap of the semiconductor. LEDs are typically small and integrated optical components may be used to shape the radiation pattern, appearing as practical electronic components in 1962, the earliest LEDs emitted low-intensity infrared light. Infrared LEDs are still used as transmitting elements in remote-control circuits. The first visible-light LEDs were also of low intensity and limited to red, modern LEDs are available across the visible, ultraviolet, and infrared wavelengths, with very high brightness. Early LEDs were often used as indicator lamps for electronic devices and they were soon packaged into numeric readouts in the form of seven-segment displays and were commonly seen in digital clocks. Recent developments in LEDs permit them to be used in environmental, LEDs have allowed new displays and sensors to be developed, while their high switching rates are also used in advanced communications technology. LEDs have many advantages over incandescent light sources including lower energy consumption, longer lifetime, improved physical robustness, smaller size, and faster switching. Light-emitting diodes are now used in applications as diverse as aviation lighting, automotive headlamps, advertising, general lighting, traffic signals, camera flashes, as of 2017, LED lights home room lighting are as cheap or cheaper than compact fluorescent lamp sources of comparable output. They are also more energy efficient and, arguably, have fewer environmental concerns linked to their disposal. Electroluminescence as a phenomenon was discovered in 1907 by the British experimenter H. J. Round of Marconi Labs, using a crystal of silicon carbide, russian inventor Oleg Losev reported creation of the first LED in 1927. His research was distributed in Soviet, German and British scientific journals, rubin Braunstein of the Radio Corporation of America reported on infrared emission from gallium arsenide and other semiconductor alloys in 1955. Braunstein observed infrared emission generated by simple diode structures using gallium antimonide, GaAs, indium phosphide, in 1957, Braunstein further demonstrated that the rudimentary devices could be used for non-radio communication across a short distance. As noted by Kroemer Braunstein …had set up a simple optical communications link, the emitted light was detected by a PbS diode some distance away. This signal was fed into an amplifier and played back by a loudspeaker. Intercepting the beam stopped the music and we had a great deal of fun playing with this setup. This setup presaged the use of LEDs for optical communication applications, by October 1961, they had demonstrated efficient light emission and signal coupling between a GaAs p-n junction light emitter and an electrically-isolated semiconductor photodetector
26.
Philips
–
Koninklijke Philips N. V. is a Dutch technology company headquartered in Amsterdam with primary divisions focused in the areas of electronics, healthcare and lighting. It was founded in Eindhoven in 1891, by Gerard Philips and it is one of the largest electronics companies in the world and employs around 105,000 people across more than 60 countries. Philips is organized into three divisions, Philips Consumer Lifestyle, Philips Healthcare and Philips Lighting. As of 2012, Philips was the largest manufacturer of lighting in the world measured by applicable revenues, Philips said it would seek damages for breach of contract in the US$200-million sale. In April 2016, the International Court of Arbitration ruled in favour of Philips, Philips has a primary listing on the Euronext Amsterdam stock exchange and is a component of the Euro Stoxx 50 stock market index. It has a listing on the New York Stock Exchange. The Philips Company was founded in 1891, by Gerard Philips and this first factory has been adapted and is used as a museum. In 1895, after a difficult first few years and near bankruptcy, though he had earned a degree in engineering, Anton started work as a sales representative, soon, however, he began to contribute many important business ideas. After Gerard and Anton Philips changed their business by founding the Philips corporation. In the 1920s, the company started to other products. In 1939, they introduced their electric razor, the Philishave, the Chapel is a radio with built-in loudspeaker, which was designed during the early 1930s. On 11 March 1927, Philips went on the air with shortwave radio station PCJJ which was joined in 1929 by sister station PHOHI, PHOHI broadcast in Dutch to the Dutch East Indies while PCJJ broadcast in English, Spanish and German to the rest of the world. The international program on Sundays commenced in 1928, with host Eddie Startz hosting the Happy Station show, broadcasts from the Netherlands were interrupted by the German invasion in May 1940. The Germans commandeered the transmitters in Huizen to use for pro-Nazi broadcasts, some originating from Germany, Philips Radio was absorbed shortly after liberation when its two shortwave stations were nationalised in 1947 and renamed Radio Netherlands Worldwide, the Dutch International Service. Some PCJ programs, such as Happy Station, continued on the new station, by the late 1940s, the Type 10 was ready to be handed over to Philips subsidiary Johan de Witt in Dordrecht to be produced and incorporated into a generator set as originally planned. The result, rated at 180/200 W electrical output from a bore, approximately 150 of these sets were eventually produced. However, they filed a number of patents and amassed a wealth of information. The first Philips shaver was introduced in the 1930s, and was simply called “The Philishave”, in the USA, it was called the “Norelco”, which remains a part of their product line today
27.
Color gel
–
Modern gels are thin sheets of polycarbonate or polyester, placed in front of a lighting fixture in the path of the beam. Gels have a life, especially in saturated colors and shorter wavelength. The color will fade or even melt, depending upon the absorption of the color. In permanent installations and some uses, colored glass filters or dichroic filters are being used. The main drawbacks are additional expense and a limited selection. In Shakesperean theater, red wine was used in a container as a light filter. In later days, colored water or silk was used to light in the theater. Later, a gelatin base became the material of choice, gelatin gel was available at least until 1979. The name gel has continued to be used to the present day, gelatin based color media had no melting point, and the color was cast in the media as opposed to being coated on the surface, both important properties for color media. It would, however, char at high temperature and became brittle once heated, by 1945 more heat-tolerant self-extinguishing acetate-based through-dyed materials were being manufactured. In the States Roscolene was also developed to deal with higher output light sources. The acetate-based material was replaced by polycarbonates like Roscolar and polyester based filters and these materials have superior heat tolerance when compared to acetate-based gels. Many were transparent film with a surface coating, the first dyed polyester gels were introduced by Berkey-Colortran in 1969 as Gelatran, the original deep dyed polyester. The Gelatran process is used today to produce GAMColor and Roscolux. Other color manufacturers, such as Lee Filters and Apollo Design Technology use a surface applied dye, almost every color manufacturer today uses either polycarbonate or polyester to manufacture their gels. Even todays gels can burn out easily, rendering them useless, to help combat this, a high temperature material, can be used to help prolong the life in high-heat output lighting instruments. In the 1930s Strand Electric of Floral Street, London provided the first numbering system for their swatches and with their agents in New York, remnants of this original filter color system exist in the color swatches of today. In the theater, gels are typically available in single 20x 24 sheets, the size originates from the gelatin days, it is the same as a standard bakers sheet, which was used to cast the sheets
28.
Enerpac
–
The Enerpac business is a division of Actuant, a $1.5 billion diversified global manufacturing company, and is headquartered in Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin. Enerpac primarily plays in the high-pressure hydraulics market with locations in North and South America, Europe, Africa, Russia, the Middle East, Asia, Australia, the business has 28 offices in 22 different countries and over 1,000 employees. Enerpac produces and globally distributes high-pressure hydraulic products, the business focuses on the design of products, from small cylinders to computer-operated lifting & positioning systems. Historian John Gurda authored “The Drive To Lead, ” a history of Actuant, Enerpac combines hydraulics, steel fabrication, and electronic control with engineering and application knowledge, in design and manufacturing
29.
Poma
–
Poma has installed about 7800 devices for 750 customers worldwide. Pomas only major competitor is the Doppelmayr Garaventa Group which is based in Austria, italys Leitner was historically another competitor until 2000 when Leitners parent company became the majority owner of Poma. Poma and Leitner remain independent, but formed a partnership which includes the combined purchase of raw materials. The majority of Pomas lifts are used in ski areas in Europe and Asia, they have also installed installations in amusement parks, scenic locations, and industrial transportation applications. In some areas Poma lift is used as a term for a platter lift. In 1936, Jean Pomagalski installed their first ski lift on the Eclose Trail in lAlpe dHuez in France, in 1947, he founded Pomagalski S. A. in Fontaine, France. The first Poma chairlifts were built in 1958 in France and the United States,1967 brought the first detachable gondolas built by Poma. The corporate headquarters and the shops are still in Fontaine. Poma currently employs approximately 750 people worldwide, early Poma chairlifts were installed at Squaw Valley, California for the 1960 Winter Olympics. Pomas fixed grip chairlifts have proven throughout the world. Pomas first two-seater fixed grip chairlift was constructed in 1958, following this, the three-seater chairlift was introduced in 1973. This was followed by four-seater, and more recently six seater fixed grip chairlifts, the Alpha chairlift terminal was introduced in 1982 and continues to be popular today. Prior to the Alpha terminal, Delta terminals were used and this type of terminal was such a great success that even presently a majority can still be seen operating worldwide. Poma introduced detachable chairlifts in 1972 in Pralognan-la-Vanoise and Saint-Lary, in 1982, Poma built a detachable chairlifts with an operating speed of 5 m/s - which, at the time, was the fastest in the world. In 1991, Poma unveiled their Omega detachable terminal which was more compact than previous terminals, the company built its first six-passenger detachable chairlift in 1993 and its first eight-passenger lift was constructed in Méribel, France in the year 2000. Also in 2000, the replaced the Omega line of detachable terminals with the new Phoenix model. In addition, Poma also have now introduced the Multix terminals in their detachable chairlifts, Poma built its first detachable gondolas in Val dIsere and Queenstown in 1966, and then, its first automatic gondolas in Chalmazel, Les Menuires in 1967. It built the worlds first six-passenger gondola in 1973, also in France in Villard-de-Lans, the worlds first ten-passenger gondola was built by the company in 1984, followed by the worlds first 16-passenger version in 1988
30.
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
–
The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom is the head of Her Majestys Government in the United Kingdom. The prime minister and Cabinet are collectively accountable for their policies and actions to the Monarch, to Parliament, to their political party, the office is one of the Great Offices of State. The current prime minister, Theresa May, leader of the Conservative Party, was appointed by the Queen on 13 July 2016. The position of Prime Minister was not created, it evolved slowly and erratically over three hundred years due to acts of Parliament, political developments, and accidents of history. The office is therefore best understood from a historical perspective, the origins of the position are found in constitutional changes that occurred during the Revolutionary Settlement and the resulting shift of political power from the Sovereign to Parliament. The political position of Prime Minister was enhanced by the development of political parties, the introduction of mass communication. By the start of the 20th century the modern premiership had emerged, prior to 1902, the prime minister sometimes came from the House of Lords, provided that his government could form a majority in the Commons. However as the power of the aristocracy waned during the 19th century the convention developed that the Prime Minister should always sit in the lower house. As leader of the House of Commons, the Prime Ministers authority was further enhanced by the Parliament Act of 1911 which marginalised the influence of the House of Lords in the law-making process. The Prime Minister is ex officio also First Lord of the Treasury, certain privileges, such as residency of 10 Downing Street, are accorded to Prime Ministers by virtue of their position as First Lord of the Treasury. As the Head of Her Majestys Government the modern Prime Minister leads the Cabinet, in addition the Prime Minister leads a major political party and generally commands a majority in the House of Commons. As such the incumbent wields both legislative and executive powers, under the British system there is a unity of powers rather than separation. In the House of Commons, the Prime Minister guides the process with the goal of enacting the legislative agenda of their political party. The Prime Minister also acts as the face and voice of Her Majestys Government. The British system of government is based on an uncodified constitution, in 1928, Prime Minister H. H. Asquith described this characteristic of the British constitution in his memoirs, In this country we live. Our constitutional practices do not derive their validity and sanction from any Bill which has received the assent of the King, Lords. They rest on usage, custom, convention, often of slow growth in their early stages, not always uniform, the relationships between the Prime Minister and the Sovereign, Parliament and Cabinet are defined largely by these unwritten conventions of the constitution. Many of the Prime Ministers executive and legislative powers are actually royal prerogatives which are still vested in the Sovereign
31.
Tony Blair
–
Anthony Charles Lynton Blair is a British politician who served as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2007 and the Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007. From 1983 to 2007, Blair was the MP for Sedgefield, under Blairs leadership, the party used the phrase New Labour, to distance it from previous Labour policies and the traditional conception of socialism. Critics of Blair denounced him for having the Labour Party abandon genuine socialism, in May 1997, the Labour Party won a landslide general election victory, the largest in its history, allowing Blair, at 43 years old, to become the youngest Prime Minister since 1812. In September 1997, Blair attained early personal popularity, receiving a 93% public approval rating, the Labour Party went on to win two more elections under his leadership, in 2001, in which it won another landslide victory, and in 2005, with a reduced majority. In the first years of the New Labour government, Blairs government introduced the National Minimum Wage Act, Human Rights Act, Blairs government also devolved power, establishing the Scottish Parliament, the National Assembly for Wales, and the Northern Ireland Assembly. In Northern Ireland, Blair was involved in the 1998 Good Friday Agreement, Blair has faced strong criticism for his role in the invasion of Iraq, including calls for having him tried for war crimes and waging a war of aggression. In 2016, the Iraq Inquiry strongly criticised his actions and described the invasion of Iraq as unjustified, Blair also intervened militarily in Kosovo and Sierra Leone. Blair was succeeded as the leader of the Labour Party and as Prime Minister by Gordon Brown in June 2007. On the day that Blair resigned as Prime Minister, he was appointed the official Special Envoy of the Quartet on the Middle East and he now runs a consultancy business and has set up various foundations in his own name, including the Tony Blair Faith Foundation. Anthony Charles Lynton Blair was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, on 6 May 1953 and he was the second son of Leo and Hazel Blair. Leo Blair was the son of two entertainers and adopted as a baby by Glasgow shipyard worker James Blair and his wife. Hazel Corscadden was the daughter of George Corscadden, a butcher, in 1923 he returned to Ballyshannon, County Donegal. In Ballyshannon Corscaddens wife, Sarah Margaret, gave birth above the grocery shop to Blairs mother. Blair has one brother, Sir William Blair, a High Court judge. Blairs first home was with his family at Paisley Terrace in the Willowbrae area of Edinburgh, during this period, his father worked as a junior tax inspector whilst also studying for a law degree from the University of Edinburgh. Blairs first relocation was when he was 19 months old, at the end of 1954 Blairs parents and their two sons moved from Paisley Terrace to Adelaide, South Australia. His father lectured in law at the University of Adelaide and it was when in Australia that Blairs sister Sarah was born. The Blairs lived in the suburb of Dulwich close to the university, the family returned to the UK in summer 1958
32.
Oval
–
An oval is a closed curve in a plane which loosely resembles the outline of an egg. The term is not very specific, but in areas it is given a more precise definition. In common English, the term is used in a broader sense, the three-dimensional version of an oval is called an ovoid. The term oval when used to describe curves in geometry is not well-defined, many distinct curves are commonly called ovals or are said to have an oval shape. Generally, to be called an oval, a plane curve should resemble the outline of an egg or an ellipse, the adjectives ovoidal and ovate mean having the characteristic of being an ovoid, and are often used as synonyms for egg-shaped. In the theory of planes, an oval is a set of n +1 points in a projective plane of order n. An ovoid in the projective geometry PG is a set of q2 +1 points such that no three points are collinear. At each point of an all the tangent lines to the ovoid lie in a single plane. The shape of an egg is approximated by long half of a spheroid, joined to a short half of a roughly spherical ellipsoid. These are joined at the equator and sharing a principal axis of rotational symmetry, although the term egg-shaped usually implies a lack of reflection symmetry across the equatorial plane, it may also refer to true prolate ellipsoids. It can also be used to describe the 2-dimensional figure that, if revolved around its major axis, in technical drawing, an oval is a figure constructed from two pairs of arcs, with two different radii. The arcs are joined at a point in which lines tangential to both joining arcs lie on the line, thus making the joint smooth. Any point of an oval belongs to an arc with a constant radius, but in an ellipse, in common speech, oval means a shape rather like an egg or an ellipse, which may be two-dimensional or three-dimensional. It also often refers to a figure that resembles two semicircles joined by a rectangle, like a cricket infield, speed skating rink or an athletics track, however, this is more correctly called a stadium or archaically, an oblong. Sometimes, it can refer to any rectangle with rounded corners. The shape lends its name to many well-known places, ellipse Stadium Vesica piscis – a pointed oval
33.
London boroughs
–
London boroughs are 32 of the 33 local authority districts of the Greater London administrative area and are each governed by a London borough council. The London boroughs were all created at the time as Greater London on 1 April 1965 by the London Government Act 1963 and are a type of local government district. Twelve were designated as Inner London boroughs and twenty as Outer London boroughs, London boroughs have populations of around 150,000 to 300,000. Inner London boroughs tend to be smaller, in population and area, and more densely populated than Outer London boroughs. The London boroughs were created by combining groups of local government units. A review undertaken between 1987 and 1992 led to a number of small alterations in borough boundaries. London borough councils provide the majority of government services, in contrast to the strategic Greater London Authority. The councils were first elected in 1964 and acted as shadow authorities until 1 April 1965, each borough is divided into electoral wards, subject to periodic review, for the purpose of electing councillors. Council elections take place four years, with the most recent elections in 2014. The political make-up of London borough councils is dominated by the Conservative, Labour, twenty-eight councils follow the leader and cabinet model of executive governance, with directly elected mayors in Hackney, Lewisham, Newham, and Tower Hamlets. The City of London is instead governed by the City of London Corporation, from the mid-1930s, the Greater London area comprised four types of local government authorities. There were county boroughs, municipal boroughs, urban districts and metropolitan boroughs, the large county boroughs provided all local government services and held the powers usually invested in county councils. The municipal borough and urban district authorities had fewer powers, reform of London local government sought to regularise this arrangement. The Royal Commission on Local Government in Greater London was established in 1957 and it proposed 52 Greater London Boroughs with a population range of 100,000 to 250,000. This was made up of a mixture of existing units. In December 1961 the government proposed that there would be 34 boroughs rather than 52, the proposed number was further reduced to 32 in 1962. On 1 April 1965, the 32 London boroughs and Greater London were created by the London Government Act 1963,12 boroughs in the former County of London area were designated Inner London boroughs and the 20 others were designated Outer London boroughs. The City of London continued to be administered by the City of London Corporation, elections were held on 7 May 1964, with the new councils acting as shadow authorities before coming into their powers the following year
34.
Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II
–
The coronation of Queen Elizabeth II as monarch of the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Pakistan and Ceylon took place on 2 June 1953 at Westminster Abbey. The coronation took place more than a year later because of the tradition that holding such a festival is inappropriate during the period of mourning follows the death of a monarch. Celebrations took place across the Commonwealth realm and a medal was issued. It was the first British coronation to be televised, much of the physical preparations and decorations along the route were under the responsibility of David Eccles, Minister of Works. Eccles described his role and that of the Earl Marshal thus, laurent said at the time, in my view the Coronation is the official enthronement of the Sovereign as Sovereign of the U. K. We are happy to attend and witness the Coronation of the Sovereign of the U. K. the Coronation Commission announced in June 1952 that the coronation would take place one year later, on 2 June. Elizabeths grandmother Queen Mary died on 24 March 1953, having stated in her will that her death should not affect the planning of the coronation and the event went ahead as scheduled. Elizabeth, meanwhile, rehearsed for the day with her maids of honour, a sheet used in place of the velvet train. Elizabeth took part in two full rehearsals at Westminster Abbey, on 22 and 29 May, though other sources assert that the Queen attended either several rehearsals or one, the Duchess of Norfolk usually stood in for the Queen at rehearsals. The Coronation ceremony of Elizabeth II followed a pattern to the coronations of the kings and queens before her, being held in Westminster Abbey. However, for the new Queen, several parts of the ceremony were markedly different, the coronation of the Queen was the first ever to be televised, and was also the worlds first major international event to be broadcast on television. The event was filmed in colour, separately from the BBCs black. At Goose Bay, Labrador, the film was transferred to a Royal Canadian Air Force CF-100 jet fighter for the trip to Montreal. In all, three voyages were made as the coronation proceeded. The first royal coach left Buckingham Palace and moved down the Mall and it was followed by the Irish State Coach carrying Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother, who wore the circlet of her crown bearing the Koh-i-Noor diamond. Queen Elizabeth II proceeded through London from Buckingham Palace, through Trafalgar Square,10,000 service personnel from across the Commonwealth and Empire marched in a procession that was two miles long and took 45 minutes to pass any given point. A further 15,800 lined the route, the parade was led by Colonel Burrows of the War Office staff and four regimental bands. Then came the colonial contingents, then troops from the Commonwealth realms, followed by the Royal Air Force, the British Army, the Royal Navy and finally the Household Brigade
35.
British Airways
–
British Airways, often shortened to BA, is the flag carrier and the largest airline in the United Kingdom based on fleet size. When measured by passengers carried, it is second-largest in the United Kingdom behind easyJet, the airline is based in Waterside near its main hub at London Heathrow Airport. On 31 March 1974, all four companies were merged to form British Airways, after almost 13 years as a state company, British Airways was privatised in February 1987 as part of a wider privatisation plan by the Conservative government. The carrier soon expanded with the acquisition of British Caledonian in 1987, followed by Dan-Air in 1992, British Airways is a founding member of the Oneworld airline alliance, along with American Airlines, Cathay Pacific, Qantas, and the now defunct Canadian Airlines. The alliance has since grown to become the third-largest, after SkyTeam, IAG is listed on the London Stock Exchange and in the FTSE100 Index. A long-time Boeing customer, British Airways ordered 59 Airbus A320 family aircraft in August 1998, in 2007 it purchased 12 Airbus A380s and 24 Boeing 787 Dreamliners, marking the start of its long-haul fleet replacement. The centrepiece of the airlines fleet is the Boeing 777. British Airways is the largest operator of the Boeing 747-400, with 51 registered to the airline, on 1 September 1972 the management service functions of both BOAC and BEA were combined under the newly formed British Airways Group. British Airways was established as an airline on 31 March 1974 by the dissolution of BOAC, British Airways and Air France operated the supersonic airliner Aerospatiale-BAC Concorde, and the worlds first supersonic passenger service flew in January 1976 from London Heathrow to Bahrain. Services to the US began on 24 May 1976 with a flight to Washington Dulles airport, service to Singapore was established in co-operation with Singapore Airlines as a continuation of the flight to Bahrain. The final commercial Concorde flight was BA002 from New York JFK to London Heathrow on 24 October 2003, in 1981 the airline was instructed to prepare for privatisation by the Conservative Thatcher government. Sir John King, later Lord King, was appointed chairman, while many other large airlines struggled, King was credited with transforming British Airways into one of the most profitable air carriers in the world. The flag carrier was privatised and was floated on the London Stock Exchange in February 1987, British Airways effected the takeover of the UKs second airline, British Caledonian, in July of that same year. The formation of Richard Bransons Virgin Atlantic Airways in 1984 created a competitor for BA and this campaign included allegations of poaching Virgin Atlantic customers, tampering with private files belonging to Virgin and undermining Virgins reputation in the City. As a result of the case BA management apologised unreservedly, Lord King stepped down as chairman in 1993 and was replaced by his deputy, Colin Marshall, while Bob Ayling took over as CEO. Virgin filed an action in the US that same year regarding BAs domination of the trans-Atlantic routes. In 1992 British Airways expanded through the acquisition of the financially troubled Dan-Air, British Asia Airways, a subsidiary based in Taiwan, was formed in March 1993 to operate between London and Taipei. That same month BA purchased a 25% stake in the Australian airline Qantas and, with the acquisition of Brymon Airways in May, in September 1998, British Airways, along with American Airlines, Cathay Pacific, Qantas, and Canadian Airlines, formed the Oneworld airline alliance
36.
The Blackstone Group
–
The Blackstone Group L. P. is an American multinational private equity, alternative asset management and financial services firm based in New York City. As the largest alternative investment firm in the world, Blackstone specializes in equity, credit. Blackstone was founded in 1985 as a mergers and acquisitions boutique by Peter G. Peterson and Stephen A. Schwarzman, over the course of two decades, Blackstone has evolved into one of the worlds largest private equity investment firms. In 2007, Blackstone completed a $4 billion initial public offering to become one of the first major private equity firms to list shares in its management company on a public exchange. Hamilton E. James is the current president, chief operating officer, as of 2011, Blackstone is the worlds fifth-largest private equity firm by committed capital, focusing primarily on leveraged buyouts of more mature companies. The firm also invests through minority investments, corporate partnerships, and industry consolidations, the firm focuses on friendly investments in large capitalization companies. Blackstones private equity business employs approximately 120 investment employees in New York City, London, Menlo Park, California, Mumbai, Hong Kong, in 2009 Blackstone purchased Busch Entertainment. In 2012, Blackstone acquired a controlling interest in Utah-based Vivint, Inc. a home automation, security, former notable investments include Universal Studios Parks, which was sold to Comcast. The real estate business has raised approximately $28 billion for a variety of vehicles, including six US-focused funds. Blackstone also raised a real estate special situations fund focusing on non-controlling debt, the special situations fund invests directly in real estate as well as private and publicly traded real estate-related securities. The purchase and subsequent profitable IPO of Southern Cross led to controversy in the UK, part of the purchase involved splitting the business into a property company, NHP, and a care home business, which Blackstone claimed would become the leading company in the elderly care market. In May 2011, Southern Cross, now independent, was almost bankrupt and it denied blame, although Blackstone was widely accused in the media for selling on the company with an unsustainable business model and crippled with an impossible sale and leaseback strategy. After the subprime mortgage crisis, Blackstone Group LP has bought more than $5.5 billion single-family homes for rent, to be sold when the prices rise. Blackstone has agreed to sell a selection of Northern California office buildings for the sum of $3.5 billion, in 1990, Blackstone created a fund of hedge funds business to manage the internal assets for Blackstone and its senior managers. Over the years, this evolved into Blackstones marketable alternative asset management segment. Among the investments included in this segment are funds of funds, mezzanine funds, senior debt vehicles, proprietary hedge funds. The combination of Blackstone and GSO created one of the largest credit platforms in the asset management business. GSO was founded in 2005 by Bennett Goodman, Tripp Smith, the GSO team had previously managed the leveraged finance businesses at Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette and later Credit Suisse First Boston, after the acquisition of DLJ
