1.
Neoclassical architecture
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Neoclassical architecture is an architectural style produced by the neoclassical movement that began in the mid-18th century. In its purest form, it is a style derived from the architecture of classical antiquity, the Vitruvian principles. In form, Neoclassical architecture emphasizes the wall rather than chiaroscuro, Neoclassical architecture is still designed today, but may be labelled New Classical Architecture for contemporary buildings. In Central and Eastern Europe, the style is referred to as Classicism. Many early 19th-century neoclassical architects were influenced by the drawings and projects of Étienne-Louis Boullée, the many graphite drawings of Boullée and his students depict spare geometrical architecture that emulates the eternality of the universe. There are links between Boullées ideas and Edmund Burkes conception of the sublime, the baroque style had never truly been to the English taste. The most popular was the four-volume Vitruvius Britannicus by Colen Campbell, the book contained architectural prints of famous British buildings that had been inspired by the great architects from Vitruvius to Palladio. At first the book featured the work of Inigo Jones. Palladian architecture became well established in 18th-century Britain, at the forefront of the new school of design was the aristocratic architect earl, Richard Boyle, 3rd Earl of Burlington, in 1729, he and William Kent, designed Chiswick House. This House was a reinterpretation of Palladios Villa Capra, but purified of 16th century elements and this severe lack of ornamentation was to be a feature of the Palladianism. In 1734 William Kent and Lord Burlington designed one of Englands finest examples of Palladian architecture with Holkham Hall in Norfolk, the main block of this house followed Palladios dictates quite closely, but Palladios low, often detached, wings of farm buildings were elevated in significance. This classicising vein was also detectable, to a degree, in the Late Baroque architecture in Paris. This shift was even visible in Rome at the redesigned façade for S, by the mid 18th century, the movement broadened to incorporate a greater range of Classical influences, including those from Ancient Greece. The shift to neoclassical architecture is conventionally dated to the 1750s, in France, the movement was propelled by a generation of French art students trained in Rome, and was influenced by the writings of Johann Joachim Winckelmann. The style was adopted by progressive circles in other countries such as Sweden. A second neoclassic wave, more severe, more studied and more consciously archaeological, is associated with the height of the Napoleonic Empire, in France, the first phase of neoclassicism was expressed in the Louis XVI style, and the second in the styles called Directoire or Empire. The Scottish architect Charles Cameron created palatial Italianate interiors for the German-born Catherine II the Great in St. Petersburg, indoors, neoclassicism made a discovery of the genuine classic interior, inspired by the rediscoveries at Pompeii and Herculaneum. These had begun in the late 1740s, but only achieved an audience in the 1760s
2.
Elkins Park, Pennsylvania
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Elkins Park is an unincorporated community in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, United States, a close-in suburb of Philadelphia. It is split between Cheltenham and Abington Townships in the suburbs of the city, which it borders along Cheltenham Avenue roughly 6 miles from downtown, an affluent community, it is the home of Lynnewood Hall, a 110-room, derelict Gilded Age mansion. Beth Sholom Synagogue, the synagogue designed by Frank Lloyd Wright Elkins Estate. It is represented by Brendan F. Boyle in Pennsylvanias 13th congressional district, the Jenkintown and Melrose Park stations are also found near the neighborhood of Elkins Park, and are served by the same regional rail lines. SEPTA bus routes 28,55,70 and 77 also provide service to Elkins Park, toward the western end of Elkins Park is Pennsylvania Route 611. In Elkins Park, Pennsylvania Route 73 runs along Township Line Road, Roberts, co-founder of Comcast, father of current Comcast chief executive officer, Brian L. Roberts Jeffrey Solow, classical cellist and academic Peter A. B. Widener, head of a wealthy and historically prominent family Harry Elkins Widener, during the shows second season, Bettys father has a series of strokes, and is taken to Elkins Park Hospital in the script. This would have actually been the former Rolling Hill Hospital, which opened in 1953, and is now known as Mossrehab and Einstein at Elkins Park, part of the Einstein Healthcare Network
3.
Geographic coordinate system
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A geographic coordinate system is a coordinate system used in geography that enables every location on Earth to be specified by a set of numbers, letters or symbols. The coordinates are chosen such that one of the numbers represents a vertical position. A common choice of coordinates is latitude, longitude and elevation, to specify a location on a two-dimensional map requires a map projection. The invention of a coordinate system is generally credited to Eratosthenes of Cyrene. Ptolemy credited him with the adoption of longitude and latitude. Ptolemys 2nd-century Geography used the prime meridian but measured latitude from the equator instead. Mathematical cartography resumed in Europe following Maximus Planudes recovery of Ptolemys text a little before 1300, in 1884, the United States hosted the International Meridian Conference, attended by representatives from twenty-five nations. Twenty-two of them agreed to adopt the longitude of the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, the Dominican Republic voted against the motion, while France and Brazil abstained. France adopted Greenwich Mean Time in place of local determinations by the Paris Observatory in 1911, the latitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle between the equatorial plane and the straight line that passes through that point and through the center of the Earth. Lines joining points of the same latitude trace circles on the surface of Earth called parallels, as they are parallel to the equator, the north pole is 90° N, the south pole is 90° S. The 0° parallel of latitude is designated the equator, the plane of all geographic coordinate systems. The equator divides the globe into Northern and Southern Hemispheres, the longitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle east or west of a reference meridian to another meridian that passes through that point. All meridians are halves of great ellipses, which converge at the north and south poles, the prime meridian determines the proper Eastern and Western Hemispheres, although maps often divide these hemispheres further west in order to keep the Old World on a single side. The antipodal meridian of Greenwich is both 180°W and 180°E, the combination of these two components specifies the position of any location on the surface of Earth, without consideration of altitude or depth. The grid formed by lines of latitude and longitude is known as a graticule, the origin/zero point of this system is located in the Gulf of Guinea about 625 km south of Tema, Ghana. To completely specify a location of a feature on, in, or above Earth. Earth is not a sphere, but a shape approximating a biaxial ellipsoid. It is nearly spherical, but has an equatorial bulge making the radius at the equator about 0. 3% larger than the radius measured through the poles, the shorter axis approximately coincides with the axis of rotation
4.
Peter Arrell Browne Widener
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Peter Arrell Browne Widener was an American art collector, businessman, and head of the Widener family of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. A merchant who supplied meat to the Union Army during the United States Civil War, Widener grew to prominence in the city and by 1871 had become Philadelphia City Treasurer. He and his Philadelphia business partner William L. Elkins invested in public systems in other major cities with businessmen such as Charles Tyson Yerkes. Widener used the wealth accumulated from that business to become a founding organizer of U. S. Steel. He is considered to have been among the 100 wealthiest Americans, Widener was named after Peter Arrell Browne, a noted lawyer in 19th-century Philadelphia. In 1858, he married Hannah Josephine Dunton, and they had three sons, Harry, George and Joseph, in 1900 he completed Lynnewood Hall in Elkins Park, Pennsylvania, a 110-room Georgian-style mansion designed by Horace Trumbauer. Widener was an art collector, with a collection that included more than a dozen paintings by Rembrandt as well as works by then-new artists Édouard Manet. Wideners son, George Dunton Widener, and grandson, Harry Elkins Widener, Widener died at Lynnewood Hall at the age of 80 on November 6,1915, after having suffered from poor health for three years. Rhône v. Peter A. B. Widener Widener University Article on Widener and Widener Mansion in Philadelphia, Peter Arrell Browne Widener at Find a Grave
5.
Horace Trumbauer
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Horace Trumbauer was a prominent American architect of the Gilded Age, known for designing residential manors for the wealthy. Later in his career he also designed hotels, office buildings, Trumbauers massive palaces flattered the egos of his robber baron clients, but were dismissed by his professional peers. His work made him a man, but his buildings rarely received positive critical recognition. Today, however, he is hailed as one of Americas premier architects, Trumbauer was born in Philadelphia, the son of a salesman. He completed a 6-year apprenticeship with G. W. and W. D. Hewitt and he did some work for developers Wendell and Smith, designing homes for middle-class planned communities, including the Overbrook Farms and Wayne Estate developments. Trumbauers first major commission was Grey Towers Castle, designed for the sugar magnate William Welsh Harrison, Widener, whose 110-room Georgian-revival palace, Lynnewood Hall, launched Trumbauers successful career. Built with a gift from Eleanor Elkins Widener, the library is a memorial to her son, Harry, Class of 1907, in 1903, he married Sara Thomson Williams and became stepfather to Agnes Helena. Architectural Record published a survey of his work in 1904, in 1906, Trumbauer hired Julian Abele, the first African-American graduate of the University of Pennsylvania Architecture Department, and promoted him to chief designer in 1909. Trumbauers later buildings are attributed to Abele, but this is speculation. With the exception of the chapel at Duke University, Abele never claimed credit for any of the buildings designed during Trumbauers lifetime. The commission for the Philadelphia Museum of Art was shared between Trumbauers firm and Zantzinger, Borie and Medary, Trumbauer architect Howell Lewis Shay is credited with the buildings plan and massing, although the perspective drawings appear to be in Abeles hand. When it opened in 1928, the building was criticized as being vastly overscaled and nicknamed the great Greek garage. But, perched on Fairmount Hill and terminating the axis of the Benjamin Franklin Parkway, in 1933, Trumbauer was commissioned to build an ornate Anti-Regime French style mansion for Herbert Nathan Straus, the youngest son of Macys founder Isidor Straus. Built in limestone with intricate carvings on the façade, the mansion is now the largest private residence in Manhattan and it is currently owned by financier Jeffrey Epstein and the Jeffrey Epstein VI Foundation. The mansion exemplifies the classic but opulent style requested of industry barons of that time, despite tremendous success and his apparent ability to impress wealthy clients, Trumbauer suffered from overwhelming shyness and a sense of inferiority about his lack of formal education. He had a number of commissions until the Great Depression, and he died of cirrhosis of the liver in 1938, and is buried in West Laurel Hill Cemetery, Bala Cynwyd, Pennsylvania. Part of Wendell & Smiths Wayne Estate development, Grey Towers Castle, Glenside, PA Chelten House, Elkins Park, PA Lynnewood Hall, Elkins Park, PA John C. Bell House, Rittenhouse Square Elstowe Manor, Elkins Park, PA Edward C, mrs. Dixon was Eleanor Widener, the mansions name is hers spelled backward
6.
Elkins Park
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Elkins Park is an unincorporated community in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, United States, a close-in suburb of Philadelphia. It is split between Cheltenham and Abington Townships in the suburbs of the city, which it borders along Cheltenham Avenue roughly 6 miles from downtown, an affluent community, it is the home of Lynnewood Hall, a 110-room, derelict Gilded Age mansion. Beth Sholom Synagogue, the synagogue designed by Frank Lloyd Wright Elkins Estate. It is represented by Brendan F. Boyle in Pennsylvanias 13th congressional district, the Jenkintown and Melrose Park stations are also found near the neighborhood of Elkins Park, and are served by the same regional rail lines. SEPTA bus routes 28,55,70 and 77 also provide service to Elkins Park, toward the western end of Elkins Park is Pennsylvania Route 611. In Elkins Park, Pennsylvania Route 73 runs along Township Line Road, Roberts, co-founder of Comcast, father of current Comcast chief executive officer, Brian L. Roberts Jeffrey Solow, classical cellist and academic Peter A. B. Widener, head of a wealthy and historically prominent family Harry Elkins Widener, during the shows second season, Bettys father has a series of strokes, and is taken to Elkins Park Hospital in the script. This would have actually been the former Rolling Hill Hospital, which opened in 1953, and is now known as Mossrehab and Einstein at Elkins Park, part of the Einstein Healthcare Network
7.
Montgomery County, Pennsylvania
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Montgomery County, locally also referred to as Montco, is a county located in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Montgomery County is very diverse, ranging from farms and open land in Upper Hanover to densely populated streets in Cheltenham. Montgomery County is included in the Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD Metropolitan Statistical Area and it is a suburban county northwest of Philadelphia, and marks part of the regions northern border with the Lehigh Valley region of the state to the north. In 2010, it was the 51st wealthiest county in the country, in 2008, it was named the 9th Best Place to Raise a Family by Forbes. The county was created on September 10,1784, out of land originally part of Philadelphia County, the first courthouse was housed in the Barley Sheaf Inn. Early histories of the county indicate the origin of the name as uncertain. According to the U. S. Census Bureau, the county has an area of 487 square miles. About 4. 3% of the population were Hispanic or Latino, as of the census of 2000,750,097 people,286,098 households, and 197,693 families resided in the county. The population density was 1,553 people per square mile, the 297,434 housing units averaged 238 units/km². The racial makeup of the county was 86. 46% White,7. 46% Black or African American,0. 11% Native American,4. 02% Asian,0. 03% Pacific Islander,0. 75% from other races, and 1. 16% from two or more races. About 2. 04% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race,17. 5% were of German,16. 7% Irish,14. 3% Italian,6. 5% English, and 5. 0% Polish ancestry according to 2000 United States Census. Around 90. 5% spoke English,2. 0% Spanish,1. 1% Korean, Historically, much of western Montgomery County is part of the Pennsylvania Dutch Country, with a great many descendants of German-speaking settlers from the 18th century. Montgomery County is home to large and growing African American, Korean American, Puerto-Rican American, Mexican American, the county has the second-largest foreign-born population in the region. About 25. 60% of all households were made up of individuals, the average household size was 2.54 and the average family size was 3.09. In the county, the population was distributed as 24. 10% under the age of 18,7. 10% from 18 to 24,30. 50% from 25 to 44,23. 40% from 45 to 64, the median age was 38 years. For every 100 females, there were 93.60 males, for every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 90.00 males. The median income for a household in the county was $60,829, males had a median income of $48,698 versus $35,089 for females. The per capita income for the county was $30,898, about 2. 80% of families and 4. 40% of the population were below the poverty line, including 4. 60% of those under age 18 and 5. 10% of those age 65 or over
8.
Gilded Age
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The Gilded Age in United States history is the late 19th century, from the 1870s to about 1900. The early half of the Gilded Age roughly coincided with the portion of the Victorian era in Britain. It began as the US Reconstruction Era ended in 1877, the Gilded Age was an era of rapid economic growth, especially in the North and West. As American wages were higher than those in Europe, especially for skilled workers. The rapid expansion of industrialization led to real wage growth of 60% between 1860 and 1890, spread across the ever-increasing labor force, the average annual wage per industrial worker rose from $380 in 1880 to $564 in 1890, a gain of 48%. Railroads were the growth industry, with the factory system, mining. Immigration from Europe and the eastern states led to the growth of the West. Labor unions became important in the rapidly growing industrial cities. Two major nationwide depressions—the Panic of 1873 and the Panic of 1893—interrupted growth, the South after the Civil War remained economically devastated, its economy became increasingly tied to cotton and tobacco production, which suffered from low prices. With the end of the Reconstruction era in 1877, African-American people in the South were stripped of political power, the political landscape was notable in that despite some corruption, turnout was very high and national elections saw two evenly matched parties. The dominant issues were cultural, and economic, with the rapid growth of cities, political machines increasingly took control of urban politics. In business, massive, powerful and wealthy trusts formed, unions crusaded for the 8-hour working day and the abolition of child labor, middle class reformers demanded civil service reform, prohibition, and womens suffrage. Local governments across the North and West built public schools chiefly at the elementary level, the numerous religious denominations were growing in membership and wealth, the Catholics moving to the largest totals. They all expanded their missionary activity to the world arena, Catholics and Lutherans set up parochial schools and the larger denominations set up numerous colleges, hospitals and charities. Many of the problems faced by society, especially the poor, the term Gilded age was applied to the era by historians in the 1920s, who took the term from one of Mark Twains lesser known novels, The Gilded Age, A Tale of Today. The book satirized the promised golden age after the American Civil War, in the 1920s and 30s Gilded Age became a designated period in American history, with the term applied to the post Civil War period up to 1900. For them, Gilded Age was a term used to describe a time of materialistic excesses combined with extreme poverty. The early half of the Gilded Age roughly coincided with the portion of the Victorian era in Britain
9.
Philadelphia
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In 1682, William Penn, an English Quaker, founded the city to serve as capital of the Pennsylvania Colony. Philadelphia was one of the capitals in the Revolutionary War. In the 19th century, Philadelphia became an industrial center. It became a destination for African-Americans in the Great Migration. The areas many universities and colleges make Philadelphia a top international study destination, as the city has evolved into an educational, with a gross domestic product of $388 billion, Philadelphia ranks ninth among world cities and fourth in the nation. Philadelphia is the center of activity in Pennsylvania and is home to seven Fortune 1000 companies. The Philadelphia skyline is growing, with a market of almost 81,900 commercial properties in 2016 including several prominent skyscrapers. The city is known for its arts, culture, and rich history, Philadelphia has more outdoor sculptures and murals than any other American city. Fairmount Park, when combined with the adjacent Wissahickon Valley Park in the watershed, is one of the largest contiguous urban park areas in the United States. The 67 National Historic Landmarks in the city helped account for the $10 billion generated by tourism, Philadelphia is the only World Heritage City in the United States. Before Europeans arrived, the Philadelphia area was home to the Lenape Indians in the village of Shackamaxon, the Lenape are a Native American tribe and First Nations band government. They are also called Delaware Indians and their territory was along the Delaware River watershed, western Long Island. Most Lenape were pushed out of their Delaware homeland during the 18th century by expanding European colonies, Lenape communities were weakened by newly introduced diseases, mainly smallpox, and violent conflict with Europeans. Iroquois people occasionally fought the Lenape, surviving Lenape moved west into the upper Ohio River basin. The American Revolutionary War and United States independence pushed them further west, in the 1860s, the United States government sent most Lenape remaining in the eastern United States to the Indian Territory under the Indian removal policy. In the 21st century, most Lenape now reside in the US state of Oklahoma, with communities living also in Wisconsin, Ontario. The Dutch considered the entire Delaware River valley to be part of their New Netherland colony, in 1638, Swedish settlers led by renegade Dutch established the colony of New Sweden at Fort Christina and quickly spread out in the valley. In 1644, New Sweden supported the Susquehannocks in their defeat of the English colony of Maryland
10.
Joseph E. Widener
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Joseph Early Widener was a wealthy American art collector who was a founding benefactor of the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D. C. A major figure in Thoroughbred horse racing, he was head of New Yorks Belmont Park and builder of Miami, Widener was born in Philadelphia, the second son of the extremely wealthy transportation and real estate magnate Peter A. B. Joseph Widener attended Harvard University, and for a time studied architecture at the University of Pennsylvania. Joseph Widener used his wealth to pursue his interest in Thoroughbred horse racing on a large scale. In 1901, thirty-year-old Joseph Widener began purchasing Thoroughbred horses to compete in flat racing and steeplechase events. Racing Hall of Fame horse trainer, J. Howard Lewis, for the next four decades they combined to race fourteen Champions, two in flat racing and twelve Steeplechase Champions. Wideners steeplechase horses won important races including three editions of the American Grand National with Relluf, Arc Light, and Bushranger. His steeplechasers Bushranger and Fairmount were both elected to the U. S, following the death of August Belmont, Jr. Joseph Widener and friends W. Averell Harriman and George Herbert Walker, purchased much of Belmonts Thoroughbred breeding stock. For his Elmendorf Farm breeding operation, Widener acquired Belmonts very important sire Fair Play and the broodmare Mahubah, the parents of Man o War. He also purchased a son of Fair Play named Chance Shot who would go on to win the 1927 Belmont Stakes, Widener had a life-size statue of Fair Play erected by his grave at Elmendorf Farm. As part of the selloff of the August Belmont, Jr, in 1930, he imported the stallion Sickle from Lord Derby in England who came to visit the U. S. that year and was Wideners guest at the 1930 Kentucky Derby. A son of the important sire Phalaris, Sickle would produce 45 Graded stakes race winners. Following Chance Shots win in the 1927 Belmont Stakes, Wideners racing stable won the two more times with Hurryoff in 1933 and with a son of Chance Shot in 1934 named Peace Chance. He also had five horses compete in the Kentucky Derby with his best finishes a second place earned by Osmand in 1927, Joseph Wideners father had had business interests in France and like other wealthy elite Americans of that era, maintained a place in fashionable Paris. In addition to racing horses in the United States, Widener also kept a stable of Thoroughbreds in France. Competing in French grass racing, his horses won the 1923 and 1926 editions of the Prix La Rochette and the 1923,1924, Widener also owned English Hackney horses who competed at various shows. He married Ella Pancoast with whom he had two children, Peter A. B, designed by Horace Trumbauer and Jacques Greber, the mansion, along with its extensive and important art collection, was part of the huge fortune he inherited. In poor health for years, Joseph Early Widener died at his Lynnewood Hall estate in 1943 and was interred in the West Laurel Hill Cemetery in Philadelphia
