1.
International Phonetic Alphabet
–
The International Phonetic Alphabet is an alphabetic system of phonetic notation based primarily on the Latin alphabet. It was devised by the International Phonetic Association as a representation of the sounds of spoken language. The IPA is used by lexicographers, foreign students and teachers, linguists, speech-language pathologists, singers, actors, constructed language creators. The IPA is designed to represent only those qualities of speech that are part of language, phones, phonemes, intonation. IPA symbols are composed of one or more elements of two types, letters and diacritics. For example, the sound of the English letter ⟨t⟩ may be transcribed in IPA with a letter, or with a letter plus diacritics. Often, slashes are used to signal broad or phonemic transcription, thus, /t/ is less specific than, occasionally letters or diacritics are added, removed, or modified by the International Phonetic Association. As of the most recent change in 2005, there are 107 letters,52 diacritics and these are shown in the current IPA chart, posted below in this article and at the website of the IPA. In 1886, a group of French and British language teachers, led by the French linguist Paul Passy, for example, the sound was originally represented with the letter ⟨c⟩ in English, but with the digraph ⟨ch⟩ in French. However, in 1888, the alphabet was revised so as to be uniform across languages, the idea of making the IPA was first suggested by Otto Jespersen in a letter to Paul Passy. It was developed by Alexander John Ellis, Henry Sweet, Daniel Jones, since its creation, the IPA has undergone a number of revisions. After major revisions and expansions in 1900 and 1932, the IPA remained unchanged until the International Phonetic Association Kiel Convention in 1989, a minor revision took place in 1993 with the addition of four letters for mid central vowels and the removal of letters for voiceless implosives. The alphabet was last revised in May 2005 with the addition of a letter for a labiodental flap, apart from the addition and removal of symbols, changes to the IPA have consisted largely in renaming symbols and categories and in modifying typefaces. Extensions to the International Phonetic Alphabet for speech pathology were created in 1990, the general principle of the IPA is to provide one letter for each distinctive sound, although this practice is not followed if the sound itself is complex. There are no letters that have context-dependent sound values, as do hard, finally, the IPA does not usually have separate letters for two sounds if no known language makes a distinction between them, a property known as selectiveness. These are organized into a chart, the chart displayed here is the chart as posted at the website of the IPA. The letters chosen for the IPA are meant to harmonize with the Latin alphabet, for this reason, most letters are either Latin or Greek, or modifications thereof. Some letters are neither, for example, the letter denoting the glottal stop, ⟨ʔ⟩, has the form of a question mark
2.
Specials (Unicode block)
–
Specials is a short Unicode block allocated at the very end of the Basic Multilingual Plane, at U+FFF0–FFFF. Of these 16 codepoints, five are assigned as of Unicode 9, U+FFFD � REPLACEMENT CHARACTER used to replace an unknown, unrecognized or unrepresentable character U+FFFE <noncharacter-FFFE> not a character. FFFE and FFFF are not unassigned in the sense. They can be used to guess a texts encoding scheme, since any text containing these is by not a correctly encoded Unicode text. The replacement character � is a found in the Unicode standard at codepoint U+FFFD in the Specials table. It is used to indicate problems when a system is unable to render a stream of data to a correct symbol and it is usually seen when the data is invalid and does not match any character, Consider a text file containing the German word für in the ISO-8859-1 encoding. This file is now opened with an editor that assumes the input is UTF-8. The first and last byte are valid UTF-8 encodings of ASCII, therefore, a text editor could replace this byte with the replacement character symbol to produce a valid string of Unicode code points. The whole string now displays like this, f�r, a poorly implemented text editor might save the replacement in UTF-8 form, the text file data will then look like this, 0x66 0xEF 0xBF 0xBD 0x72, which will be displayed in ISO-8859-1 as f�r. Since the replacement is the same for all errors this makes it impossible to recover the original character, a better design is to preserve the original bytes, including the error, and only convert to the replacement when displaying the text. This will allow the text editor to save the original byte sequence and it has become increasingly common for software to interpret invalid UTF-8 by guessing the bytes are in another byte-based encoding such as ISO-8859-1. This allows correct display of both valid and invalid UTF-8 pasted together, Unicode control characters UTF-8 Mojibake Unicodes Specials table Decodeunicodes entry for the replacement character
3.
Unicode
–
Unicode is a computing industry standard for the consistent encoding, representation, and handling of text expressed in most of the worlds writing systems. As of June 2016, the most recent version is Unicode 9.0, the standard is maintained by the Unicode Consortium. Unicodes success at unifying character sets has led to its widespread, the standard has been implemented in many recent technologies, including modern operating systems, XML, Java, and the. NET Framework. Unicode can be implemented by different character encodings, the most commonly used encodings are UTF-8, UTF-16 and the now-obsolete UCS-2. UTF-8 uses one byte for any ASCII character, all of which have the same values in both UTF-8 and ASCII encoding, and up to four bytes for other characters. UCS-2 uses a 16-bit code unit for each character but cannot encode every character in the current Unicode standard, UTF-16 extends UCS-2, using one 16-bit unit for the characters that were representable in UCS-2 and two 16-bit units to handle each of the additional characters. Many traditional character encodings share a common problem in that they allow bilingual computer processing, Unicode, in intent, encodes the underlying characters—graphemes and grapheme-like units—rather than the variant glyphs for such characters. In the case of Chinese characters, this leads to controversies over distinguishing the underlying character from its variant glyphs. In text processing, Unicode takes the role of providing a unique code point—a number, in other words, Unicode represents a character in an abstract way and leaves the visual rendering to other software, such as a web browser or word processor. This simple aim becomes complicated, however, because of concessions made by Unicodes designers in the hope of encouraging a more rapid adoption of Unicode, the first 256 code points were made identical to the content of ISO-8859-1 so as to make it trivial to convert existing western text. For other examples, see duplicate characters in Unicode and he explained that he name Unicode is intended to suggest a unique, unified, universal encoding. In this document, entitled Unicode 88, Becker outlined a 16-bit character model, Unicode could be roughly described as wide-body ASCII that has been stretched to 16 bits to encompass the characters of all the worlds living languages. In a properly engineered design,16 bits per character are more than sufficient for this purpose, Unicode aims in the first instance at the characters published in modern text, whose number is undoubtedly far below 214 =16,384. By the end of 1990, most of the work on mapping existing character encoding standards had been completed, the Unicode Consortium was incorporated in California on January 3,1991, and in October 1991, the first volume of the Unicode standard was published. The second volume, covering Han ideographs, was published in June 1992, in 1996, a surrogate character mechanism was implemented in Unicode 2.0, so that Unicode was no longer restricted to 16 bits. The Microsoft TrueType specification version 1.0 from 1992 used the name Apple Unicode instead of Unicode for the Platform ID in the naming table, Unicode defines a codespace of 1,114,112 code points in the range 0hex to 10FFFFhex. Normally a Unicode code point is referred to by writing U+ followed by its hexadecimal number, for code points in the Basic Multilingual Plane, four digits are used, for code points outside the BMP, five or six digits are used, as required. Code points in Planes 1 through 16 are accessed as surrogate pairs in UTF-16, within each plane, characters are allocated within named blocks of related characters
4.
Canadian Open (tennis)
–
The Canadian Open is an annual tennis tournament held in Canada. The mens competition is a Masters 1000 event on the Association of Tennis Professionals tour, the womens competition is a Premier 5 tournament on the Womens Tennis Association tour. The competition is played on hard courts, the events alternate from year to year between the cities of Montreal and Toronto. Since 1980 in odd-numbered years the tournament is held in Montreal, while the womens tournament is held in Toronto. Before 2011, they were held during separate weeks in the July–August period, the Toronto tournament is held at the Aviva Centre and the Montreal tournament is held at the Uniprix Stadium. The current singles champions as of the 2016 tournament are Novak Djokovic, the mens tournament began in 1881, and was held at the Toronto Lawn Tennis Club, while the womens competition was first held in 1892. Of the major tournaments in the world today, only Wimbledon. Prior to 1968 the tournament was known as the Canadian National Championships, between 1970 and 1989 it was a major event of the Grand Prix Tennis Tour as part of the Grand Prix Super Series. The tournament was sponsored for a number of years by tobacco brands, in the 1970s, Rothmans International was the chief sponsor, followed by Players Limited in the 1980s, and then Du Maurier from 1997–2000. Federal legislation, however, then came into effect that banned tobacco advertising, Rogers took over as the new presenting sponsor. The event was played on clay until 1979 when it switched permanently to hard courts, similarly 1982 was the first year in which the womens tournament was played in Montreal. In 1989, two Canadian male tennis players, Grant Connell and Andrew Sznajder, reached the quarterfinals of the event and they were eliminated by Ivan Lendl and Andre Agassi during that round. Lendl went on to defeat Agassi in the semi-finals and John McEnroe in the finals of that edition, Lendl has been the tournaments most successful singles player, reaching the final nine times and winning the title in 1980,1981,1983,1987,1988, and 1989. In 1995, Andre Agassi and Pete Sampras met in the final, agassis tournament win helped him regain the number-one ranking, which he lost to Sampras after they played each other again at the US Open. In 2004, the tournament became part of the US Open Series, the womens tournament was moved to just before the US Open grand slam tournament. Consequently, top players such as Venus and Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova often withdrew from the tournament at the last minute to rest for the upcoming US Open, consequently,19 of the top 20 female players took part in the 2009 Rogers Cup draw. The ATP mandates participation for the tournament, as a 1000-level series event. Beginning in 2011, the mens and womens Rogers Cup tournaments were held during the same week, the corresponding rounds of the mens and womens matches are held on the same day, though a couple hours apart to avoid broadcast conflicts
5.
Croatia
–
Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a sovereign state between Central Europe, Southeast Europe, and the Mediterranean. Its capital city is Zagreb, which one of the countrys primary subdivisions. Croatia covers 56,594 square kilometres and has diverse, mostly continental, Croatias Adriatic Sea coast contains more than a thousand islands. The countrys population is 4.28 million, most of whom are Croats, the Croats arrived in the area of present-day Croatia during the early part of the 7th century AD. They organised the state into two duchies by the 9th century, tomislav became the first king by 925, elevating Croatia to the status of a kingdom. The Kingdom of Croatia retained its sovereignty for nearly two centuries, reaching its peak during the rule of Kings Petar Krešimir IV and Dmitar Zvonimir, Croatia entered a personal union with Hungary in 1102. In 1527, faced with Ottoman conquest, the Croatian Parliament elected Ferdinand I of the House of Habsburg to the Croatian throne. In 1918, after World War I, Croatia was included in the unrecognized State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs which seceded from Austria-Hungary, a fascist Croatian puppet state backed by Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany existed during World War II. After the war, Croatia became a member and a federal constituent of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. On 25 June 1991 Croatia declared independence, which came wholly into effect on 8 October of the same year, the Croatian War of Independence was fought successfully during the four years following the declaration. A unitary state, Croatia is a republic governed under a parliamentary system, the International Monetary Fund classified Croatia as an emerging and developing economy, and the World Bank identified it as a high-income economy. Croatia is a member of the European Union, United Nations, the Council of Europe, NATO, the World Trade Organization, the service sector dominates Croatias economy, followed by the industrial sector and agriculture. Tourism is a significant source of revenue during the summer, with Croatia ranked the 18th most popular tourist destination in the world, the state controls a part of the economy, with substantial government expenditure. The European Union is Croatias most important trading partner, since 2000, the Croatian government constantly invests in infrastructure, especially transport routes and facilities along the Pan-European corridors. Internal sources produce a significant portion of energy in Croatia, the rest is imported, the origin of the name is uncertain, but is thought to be a Gothic or Indo-Aryan term assigned to a Slavic tribe. The oldest preserved record of the Croatian ethnonym *xъrvatъ is of variable stem, the first attestation of the Latin term is attributed to a charter of Duke Trpimir from the year 852. The original is lost, and just a 1568 copy is preserved—leading to doubts over the authenticity of the claim, the oldest preserved stone inscription is the 9th-century Branimir Inscription, where Duke Branimir is styled as Dux Cruatorvm. The inscription is not believed to be dated accurately, but is likely to be from during the period of 879–892, the area known as Croatia today was inhabited throughout the prehistoric period
6.
New York City
–
The City of New York, often called New York City or simply New York, is the most populous city in the United States. With an estimated 2015 population of 8,550,405 distributed over an area of about 302.6 square miles. Located at the tip of the state of New York. Home to the headquarters of the United Nations, New York is an important center for international diplomacy and has described as the cultural and financial capital of the world. Situated on one of the worlds largest natural harbors, New York City consists of five boroughs, the five boroughs – Brooklyn, Queens, Manhattan, The Bronx, and Staten Island – were consolidated into a single city in 1898. In 2013, the MSA produced a gross metropolitan product of nearly US$1.39 trillion, in 2012, the CSA generated a GMP of over US$1.55 trillion. NYCs MSA and CSA GDP are higher than all but 11 and 12 countries, New York City traces its origin to its 1624 founding in Lower Manhattan as a trading post by colonists of the Dutch Republic and was named New Amsterdam in 1626. The city and its surroundings came under English control in 1664 and were renamed New York after King Charles II of England granted the lands to his brother, New York served as the capital of the United States from 1785 until 1790. It has been the countrys largest city since 1790, the Statue of Liberty greeted millions of immigrants as they came to the Americas by ship in the late 19th and early 20th centuries and is a symbol of the United States and its democracy. In the 21st century, New York has emerged as a node of creativity and entrepreneurship, social tolerance. Several sources have ranked New York the most photographed city in the world, the names of many of the citys bridges, tapered skyscrapers, and parks are known around the world. Manhattans real estate market is among the most expensive in the world, Manhattans Chinatown incorporates the highest concentration of Chinese people in the Western Hemisphere, with multiple signature Chinatowns developing across the city. Providing continuous 24/7 service, the New York City Subway is one of the most extensive metro systems worldwide, with 472 stations in operation. Over 120 colleges and universities are located in New York City, including Columbia University, New York University, and Rockefeller University, during the Wisconsinan glaciation, the New York City region was situated at the edge of a large ice sheet over 1,000 feet in depth. The ice sheet scraped away large amounts of soil, leaving the bedrock that serves as the foundation for much of New York City today. Later on, movement of the ice sheet would contribute to the separation of what are now Long Island and Staten Island. The first documented visit by a European was in 1524 by Giovanni da Verrazzano, a Florentine explorer in the service of the French crown and he claimed the area for France and named it Nouvelle Angoulême. Heavy ice kept him from further exploration, and he returned to Spain in August and he proceeded to sail up what the Dutch would name the North River, named first by Hudson as the Mauritius after Maurice, Prince of Orange
7.
New York (state)
–
New York is a state in the northeastern United States, and is the 27th-most extensive, fourth-most populous, and seventh-most densely populated U. S. state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south and Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Vermont to the east. With an estimated population of 8.55 million in 2015, New York City is the most populous city in the United States, the New York Metropolitan Area is one of the most populous urban agglomerations in the world. New York City makes up over 40% of the population of New York State, two-thirds of the states population lives in the New York City Metropolitan Area, and nearly 40% lives on Long Island. Both the state and New York City were named for the 17th-century Duke of York, the next four most populous cities in the state are Buffalo, Rochester, Yonkers, and Syracuse, while the state capital is Albany. New York has a diverse geography and these more mountainous regions are bisected by two major river valleys—the north-south Hudson River Valley and the east-west Mohawk River Valley, which forms the core of the Erie Canal. Western New York is considered part of the Great Lakes Region and straddles Lake Ontario, between the two lakes lies Niagara Falls. The central part of the state is dominated by the Finger Lakes, New York had been inhabited by tribes of Algonquian and Iroquoian-speaking Native Americans for several hundred years by the time the earliest Europeans came to New York. The first Europeans to arrive were French colonists and Jesuit missionaries who arrived southward from settlements at Montreal for trade, the British annexed the colony from the Dutch in 1664. The borders of the British colony, the Province of New York, were similar to those of the present-day state, New York is home to the Statue of Liberty, a symbol of the United States and its ideals of freedom, democracy, and opportunity. In the 21st century, New York has emerged as a node of creativity and entrepreneurship, social tolerance. On April 17,1524 Verrazanno entered New York Bay, by way of the now called the Narrows into the northern bay which he named Santa Margherita. Verrazzano described it as a vast coastline with a delta in which every kind of ship could pass and he adds. This vast sheet of water swarmed with native boats and he landed on the tip of Manhattan and possibly on the furthest point of Long Island. Verrazannos stay was interrupted by a storm which pushed him north towards Marthas Vineyard, in 1540 French traders from New France built a chateau on Castle Island, within present-day Albany, due to flooding, it was abandoned the next year. In 1614, the Dutch under the command of Hendrick Corstiaensen, rebuilt the French chateau, Fort Nassau was the first Dutch settlement in North America, and was located along the Hudson River, also within present-day Albany. The small fort served as a trading post and warehouse, located on the Hudson River flood plain, the rudimentary fort was washed away by flooding in 1617, and abandoned for good after Fort Orange was built nearby in 1623. Henry Hudsons 1609 voyage marked the beginning of European involvement with the area, sailing for the Dutch East India Company and looking for a passage to Asia, he entered the Upper New York Bay on September 11 of that year
8.
Split, Croatia
–
Split is the second-largest city of Croatia and the largest city of the region of Dalmatia. It lies on the shore of the Adriatic Sea, centered on the Roman Palace of the Emperor Diocletian. Spread over a peninsula and its surroundings, Splits greater area includes the neighboring seaside towns as well. An intraregional transport hub and popular tourist destination, the city is a link to numerous Adriatic islands, Split is one of the oldest cities in the area. Split became a Byzantine city, to gradually drift into the sphere of the Byzantine vassal, the Republic of Venice. For much of the High and Late Middle Ages, Split enjoyed autonomy as a free city, Venice eventually prevailed and during the early modern period Split remained a Venetian city, a heavily fortified outpost surrounded by Ottoman territory. Eventually, its hinterland was won from the Ottomans in the Morean War of 1699, and in 1797, as Venice fell to Napoleon, the Treaty of Campo Formio rendered the city to the Habsburg Monarchy. In 1805, the Peace of Pressburg added it to the Napoleonic Kingdom of Italy, during World War II, the city was annexed by Italy, then liberated by the Partisans after the Italian capitulation in 1943. It was then re-occupied by Germany, which granted it to its puppet Independent State of Croatia, the city was liberated again by the Partisans in 1944, and was included in the post-war Federal Yugoslavia, as part of its republic of Croatia. In 1991 Croatia seceded from Yugoslavia amid the Croatian War of Independence, the city draws its name from the spiny broom, a common shrub in the area, after which the Greek colony of Aspálathos or Spálathos was named. The Serbo-Croatian term became Split or Spljet, while the Italian-language version, Spalato, in the late 19th century, the Croatian name increasingly came to prominence, and officially replaced Spalato in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia after World War I. For a significant period, the origin of the name was thought to be related to the Latin word for palace. Various theories were developed, such as the notion that the name derives from S. Palatium, the erroneous palace etymologies were notably due to Byzantine Emperor Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus, and were later mentioned by Thomas the Archdeacon. The city, however, is several centuries older than the palace and it was a colony of the polis of Issa, the modern-day town of Vis on the island of the same name. Issa, itself a colony of the Sicilian city of Syracuse, had acquired sovereignty and started founding its own colonies in 367 BCE, the exact year the city was founded is not known, but its estimated to have been in the 3rd or 2nd century BCE. The Greek settlement lived off trade with the surrounding Illyrian tribes, in time, the Roman Republic became the dominant power in the region, conquering the Illyrians in the Illyrian Wars of 229 and 219 BCE. Upon establishing permanent rule, the Romans founded the Province of Dalmatia, the city of Salona, only a short distance from Spálathos, became the capital of the province and evolved into a significant city in the Roman state. The history of Spálathos becomes obscure for a while at this point, being overshadowed by that of nearby Salona, the Roman Emperor Diocletian reformed the government in the late Roman Empire and established the Tetrarchy
9.
Socialist Republic of Croatia
–
The Socialist Republic of Croatia was a constituent republic of Yugoslavia. By its constitution, modern-day Croatia is its direct continuation, along with five other Yugoslav republics, it was formed during World War II and became a socialist republic after the war. It had four full official names during its 48-year existence, by territory and population, it was the second largest republic in Yugoslavia, after the Socialist Republic of Serbia. In 1990, the government dismantled the communist single-party system of government, the newly elected government of Franjo Tuđman moved the republic towards independence, formally seceding from Yugoslavia in 1991 and thereby contributing to its dissolution. Croatia became part of the Yugoslav federation in 1943 after the Second Session of the AVNOJ and through the resolutions of the ZAVNOH and it was officially founded as the Federal State of Croatia on May 9,1944, at the 3rd session of the ZAVNOH. On November 29,1945, the Democratic Federal Yugoslavia became the Federal Peoples Republic of Yugoslavia, accordingly, the Federal State of Croatia became Peoples Republic of Croatia. On April 7,1963, the Federal Peoples Republic of Yugoslavia was renamed into the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, Yugoslavia gradually abandoned Stalinism after the Tito-Stalin split in 1948. In 1963 the Peoples Republic of Croatia also accordingly became the Socialist Republic of Croatia, the country was re-constituted upon the breakup of Yugoslavia as the Republic of Croatia on June 25,1991. In the first years of the war, Yugoslav Partisans in Croatia did not have support of Croats, the majority of partisans on the territory of Croatia were Croatian Serbs. However, in 1943 Croats started to join partisans in larger numbers, on the territory of the Independent State of Croatia, 75-80% of partisans were ethnic Serbs. In 1943, number of Croat partisans in Croatia increased, so in 1944 they composed 61% of partisans on the territory of Croatia, on 13 June 1943 in Otočac, Lika, Croatian partisans founded the ZAVNOH, a legislative body of future Croatian republic within the Yugoslavia. Its first president was Vladimir Nazor, Partisans of Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina did not have such autonomy. Because of partisan victories and increased territory held by partisans, AVNOJ decided to hold the second session in Jajce at the end of November 1943, at that session, the Yugoslav communist leadership decided to reestablish Yugoslavia as federal state. Not long after, the Communist Party started to prosecute those who opposed the communist one-party system, on January 30,1946, the Constituent Assembly made the Constitution of the Federal Peoples Republic of Yugoslavia. SR Croatia was the last of the republics to make its constitution, the Constitution of the Socialist Republic of Croatia was made on January 18,1947. In their constitutions, all republics have been deprieved of gaining independence, republics had only formal autonomy, in reality, communist Yugoslavia was a centralized state, based on the Soviet model. The governments of the republics were only part of the mechanism in approval of Politburos decisions, in post-war Yugoslavia, communists had a struggle for power with the opposition that supported King Peter. The Croatian Peasant Party, part of the opposition, had divided into three branches, one supporting the Ustaše, the supporting the communists and the third supporting Vladko Maček
10.
United States dollar
–
The United States dollar is the official currency of the United States and its insular territories per the United States Constitution. It is divided into 100 smaller cent units, the circulating paper money consists of Federal Reserve Notes that are denominated in United States dollars. The U. S. dollar was originally commodity money of silver as enacted by the Coinage Act of 1792 which determined the dollar to be 371 4/16 grain pure or 416 grain standard silver, the currency most used in international transactions, it is the worlds primary reserve currency. Several countries use it as their currency, and in many others it is the de facto currency. Besides the United States, it is used as the sole currency in two British Overseas Territories in the Caribbean, the British Virgin Islands and Turks and Caicos Islands. A few countries use the Federal Reserve Notes for paper money, while the country mints its own coins, or also accepts U. S. coins that can be used as payment in U. S. dollars. After Nixon shock of 1971, USD became fiat currency, Article I, Section 8 of the U. S. Constitution provides that the Congress has the power To coin money, laws implementing this power are currently codified at 31 U. S. C. Section 5112 prescribes the forms in which the United States dollars should be issued and these coins are both designated in Section 5112 as legal tender in payment of debts. The Sacagawea dollar is one example of the copper alloy dollar, the pure silver dollar is known as the American Silver Eagle. Section 5112 also provides for the minting and issuance of other coins and these other coins are more fully described in Coins of the United States dollar. The Constitution provides that a regular Statement and Account of the Receipts and that provision of the Constitution is made specific by Section 331 of Title 31 of the United States Code. The sums of money reported in the Statements are currently being expressed in U. S. dollars, the U. S. dollar may therefore be described as the unit of account of the United States. The word dollar is one of the words in the first paragraph of Section 9 of Article I of the Constitution, there, dollars is a reference to the Spanish milled dollar, a coin that had a monetary value of 8 Spanish units of currency, or reales. In 1792 the U. S. Congress passed a Coinage Act, Section 20 of the act provided, That the money of account of the United States shall be expressed in dollars, or units. And that all accounts in the offices and all proceedings in the courts of the United States shall be kept and had in conformity to this regulation. In other words, this act designated the United States dollar as the unit of currency of the United States, unlike the Spanish milled dollar the U. S. dollar is based upon a decimal system of values. Both one-dollar coins and notes are produced today, although the form is significantly more common
11.
Australian Open
–
The Australian Open is a major tennis tournament held annually over the last fortnight of January in Melbourne, Australia. First held in 1905, the tournament is chronologically the first of the four Grand Slam tennis events of the year – the other three being the French Open, Wimbledon and the US Open. It features mens and womens singles, mens, womens and mixed doubles and juniors championships, as well as wheelchair, legends, the Australian Open typically has high attendances, rivalling and occasionally exceeding the US Open. The tournament holds the record for the highest attendance at a Grand Slam event, the Australian Open is managed by Tennis Australia, formerly the Lawn Tennis Association of Australia, and was first played at the Warehousemans Cricket Ground in Melbourne in November 1905. This facility is now known as the Albert Reserve Tennis Centre, the tournament was first known as the Australasian Championships and then became the Australian Championships in 1927 and the Australian Open in 1969. Since 1905, the Australian Open has been staged in five Australian and two New Zealand cities, Melbourne, Sydney, Adelaide, Brisbane, Perth, Christchurch and Hastings. Though started in 1905, the tournament was not designated as being a championship until 1924. The tournament committee changed the structure of the tournament to include seeding at that time, in 1972, it was decided to stage the tournament in Melbourne each year because it attracted the biggest patronage of any Australian city. The tournament was played at the Kooyong Lawn Tennis Club from 1972 until the move to the new Melbourne Park complex in 1988, the new facilities at Melbourne Park were envisaged to meet the demands of a tournament that had outgrown Kooyongs capacity. The move to Melbourne Park was an success, with a 90 percent increase in attendance in 1988 on the previous year at Kooyong. Because of Australias geographic remoteness, very few foreign players entered this tournament in the early 20th century, in the 1920s, the trip by ship from Europe to Australia took about 45 days. The first tennis players who came by boats were the US Davis Cup players in November 1946, even inside the country, many players could not travel easily. When the tournament was held in Perth, no one from Victoria or New South Wales crossed by train, in Christchurch in 1906, of a small field of 10 players, only two Australians attended and the tournament was won by a New Zealander. The first tournaments of the Australasian Championships suffered from the competition of the other Australasian tournaments, before 1905, all Australian states and New Zealand had their own championships, the first organised in 1880 in Melbourne and called the Championship of the Colony of Victoria. In those years, the best two players – Australian Norman Brookes and New Zealander Anthony Wilding – almost did not play this tournament, Brookes came once and won in 1911, and Wilding entered and won the competition twice. Their meetings in the Victorian Championships helped to determine the best Australasian players, even when the Australasian Championships were held in Hastings, New Zealand, in 1912, Wilding, though three times Wimbledon champion, did not come back to his home country. It was a problem for all players of the era. Brookes went to Europe only three times, where he reached the Wimbledon Challenge Round once and then won Wimbledon twice
12.
French Open
–
The French Open, often referred to as Roland Garros, is a major tennis tournament held over two weeks between late May and early June at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France. Roland Garros is the only Grand Slam event held on clay, French spelling rules dictate that in the name of a place or event named after a person, the elements of the name are joined together with a hyphen. Therefore, the names of the stadium and the tournament are hyphenated as Roland-Garros, in 1891 the Championnat de France, which is commonly referred to in English as the French Championships, was begun. It was only open to players who were members of French clubs. The first winner was a Briton—H, the first womens singles tournament, with four entries, was held in 1897. The mixed doubles event was added in 1902 and the doubles in 1907. This French club members only tournament was played until 1924, using four different venues during that period, Île de Puteaux, in Puteaux, the Racing Club de France, played on clay. For one year,1909, it was played at the Société Athlétique de la Villa Primrose in Bordeaux, Tennis Club de Paris, at Auteuil, Paris, played on clay. Another tournament, the World Hard Court Championships, is considered the precursor to the French Open as it was open to international competitors. Winners of this tournament included world no, 1s such as Tony Wilding from New Zealand and Bill Tilden from the US. In 1924 there was no World Hard Court Championships due to tennis being played at the Paris Olympic Games, in 1925, the French Championships became open to all amateurs internationally and was designated a major championship by the ILTF. It was held at the Stade Français in Saint-Cloud in 1925 and 1927, in 1926 the Racing Club de France hosted the event in Paris, site of the previous French club members only Championship, also on clay. In 1928, the Roland Garros stadium was opened and the event has held there ever since. After the Mousquetaires or Philadelphia Four won the Davis Cup on American soil in 1927, the Stade de France had offered the tennis authorities three hectares of land with the condition that the new stadium must be named after the World War I pilot, Roland Garros. The new Stade de Roland Garros, and its Center Court hosted that Davis Cup challenge, during World War II the tournament was held from 1941 through 1945 on the same grounds but these editions are not recognized by the French governing body, Fédération Française de Tennis. From 1946 through 1947, the French Championships were held after Wimbledon, in 1968, the French Championships became the first Grand Slam tournament to go open, allowing both amateurs and professionals to compete. Since 1981, new prizes have been presented, the Prix Orange, the Prix Citron, in another novelty, since 2006 the tournament has begun on a Sunday, featuring 12 singles matches played on the three main courts. Additionally, on the eve of the opening, the traditional Benny Berthet exhibition day takes place
13.
The Championships, Wimbledon
–
The Championships, Wimbledon, commonly known simply as Wimbledon, is the oldest tennis tournament in the world, and is widely considered the most prestigious. It has been held at the All England Club in Wimbledon, London, Wimbledon is one of the four Grand Slam tennis tournaments, the others being the Australian Open, the French Open and the US Open. Since the Australian Open shifted to hardcourt in 1988, Wimbledon is the only major still played on grass. The tournament takes place two weeks in late June and early July, culminating with the Ladies and Gentlemens Singles Final. Five major, junior, and invitational events are each year. Wimbledon traditions include a dress code for competitors and Royal patronage. The tournament is notable for the absence of sponsor advertising around the courts. In 2009, Wimbledons Centre Court was fitted with a roof to lessen the loss of playing time due to rain. The All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club is a club founded on 23 July 1868. Its first ground was off Worple Road, Wimbledon, in 1876, lawn tennis, a game devised by Major Walter Clopton Wingfield a year or so earlier and originally given the name Sphairistikè, was added to the activities of the club. In spring 1877, the club was renamed The All England Croquet and Lawn Tennis Club, a new code of laws, replacing the code administered by the Marylebone Cricket Club, was drawn up for the event. Todays rules are similar except for such as the height of the net and posts. The inaugural 1877 Wimbledon Championship started on 9 July 1877 and the Gentlemens Singles was the event held. It was won by Spencer Gore, an old Harrovian rackets player, about 200 spectators paid one shilling each to watch the final. The lawns at the ground were arranged so that the court was in the middle with the others arranged around it. The name was retained when the Club moved in 1922 to the present site in Church Road, however, in 1980 four new courts were brought into commission on the north side of the ground, which meant the Centre Court was once more correctly defined. The opening of the new No.1 Court in 1997 emphasised the description, by 1882, activity at the club was almost exclusively confined to lawn tennis and that year the word croquet was dropped from the title. However, for reasons it was restored in 1899
14.
US Open (tennis)
–
The United States Open Tennis Championships is a hardcourt tennis tournament. The tournament is the version of one of the oldest tennis championships in the world. The US Open is held annually, starting on the last Monday in August, the main tournament consists of five event championships, mens and womens singles, mens and womens doubles, and mixed doubles, with additional tournaments for senior, junior, and wheelchair players. Since 1978, the tournament has played on acrylic hard courts at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows–Corona Park, Queens. The US Open is owned and organized by the United States Tennis Association, net proceeds from ticket sales, sponsorships, and television deals are used to promote the development of tennis in the United States. The US Open is the only Grand Slam that employs tiebreakers in every set of a match, the first edition was won by Richard Sears, who went on to win seven consecutive singles titles. In the first years of the U. S. National Championship only men competed and this was followed by the introduction of the U. S. Womens National Doubles Championship in 1899 and the U. S. The womens tournament used a system from 1888 through 1918. This view was opposed by another group of players which included eight former national singles champions, the contentious issue was brought to a vote at the annual USNLTA meeting on February 5,1915 and with 128 votes in favor and 119 against it was decided to relocate. From 1921 through 1923, the tournament was played at the Germantown Cricket Club in Philadelphia and it returned to Forest Hills in 1924 following the completion of the newly constructed 14,000 seat concrete Forest Hills Stadium. Though regarded unofficially by many as a major championship beforehand, the tournament was officially designated as one of the tournaments by the ILTF commencing in 1924. At the 1922 U. S. National Championships the draw for the first time included seeded players in order to avoid leading players drawing against each other in the early rounds. Open era The open era began in 1968 when all five events were merged into the US Open, the 1968 combined tournament was open to professionals for the first time. That year,96 men and 63 women entered the event, from 1970 to 1974 the US Open used a best-of-nine point, sudden death tiebreaker before moving to the ITF best-of-twelve point system. In 1973 the US Open became the first Grand Slam tournament to award equal prize money to men and women with that years singles champions John Newcombe, another US Open innovation came in 1975 when floodlights enabled night play for the first time. In 1978 the tournament moved from the West Side Tennis Club, Forest Hills, Queens to the larger USTA National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows, Queens, three miles to the north. In the process, the tournament switched the court surface from clay, jimmy Connors is the only individual to have won US Open singles titles on all three surfaces, while Chris Evert is the only woman to win on two surfaces. The US Open is the only Grand Slam tournament that has played every year since its inception
15.
ATP Finals
–
The ATP World Tour Finals is the second highest tier of mens tennis tournament after the four Grand Slam tournaments. It is held annually in November at the O2 Arena in London, the ATP World Tour Finals are the season-ending championships of the Association of Tennis Professionals World Tour, featuring the top eight singles players and doubles teams of the ATP Rankings. The tournament was first held in 1970, roger Federer holds the record for the most singles titles, with six, while Peter Fleming and John McEnroe hold record with 7 titles in doubles. In the current tournament, winners are awarded up to 1500 rankings points, the event is the fourth evolution of a championship which began in 1970. It was originally known as the Masters Grand Prix and was part of the Grand Prix Tennis Circuit and it was organised by the International Lawn Tennis Federation ITF. It ran alongside the competing WCT Finals the other season ending championships for the rival World Championship Tennis Tour, the Masters was a year-end showpiece event between the best players on the mens tour, but did not count for any world ranking points. In 1990, the Association of Tennis Professionals took over the running of the mens tour, World ranking points were now at stake, with an undefeated champion earning the same number of points they would for winning one of the four Grand Slam events. In December 1999, the ATP and ITF agreed to discontinue the two events and create a new jointly-owned event called the Tennis Masters Cup. As with the Masters Grand Prix and the ATP Tour World Championships, however, player who is ranked number eight in the ATP Champions Race world rankings does not have a guaranteed spot. If two players outside the top eight win Grand Slam events, the higher placed player in the world takes the final spot in the Tennis Masters Cup. In 2009 the Masters was renamed to the ATP World Tour Finals, in 2012 the organisers extended the contract by two years up to 2015. In 2015 the contract was extended again for three years up to 2018. For many years, the event was held as a separate tournament the week after the singles competition. There are eight players or teams, and playing is mandatory except for injury or other good cause. Qualification is as follows, the top seven players in the ATP rankings up to two grand slam winners ranked between 8 and 20 the next players in the ATP rankings, until the quota of eight is reached. The ATP World Tour Finals currently rewards the following points and prize money, there is also an appearance fee of $179,000 singles, and $88,000 per doubles team. The two alternates are paid $100,000 and $34,000, an undefeated champion would earn the maximum 1,500 points, and $2,391,000 in singles or $455,000 in doubles. In addition, prizes include the Barclays ATP Singles and Doubles World Tour Finals Trophies, unlike all other singles events on the mens tour, the ATP World Tour Finals is not a straightforward knock-out tournament. Eight players are divided into two groups of four and play three matches each against the other players in their group
16.
Tennis at the Summer Olympics
–
After two appearances as a demonstration sport in 1968 and 1984, it returned as a full medal sport at the 1988 Summer Olympics and has been played at every edition of the Games since then. In 1896,1900,1904,1988, and 1992, in all other years, a playoff match for the bronze medal was staged. A player who wins an Olympic gold medal and all four Grand Slam events is said to have won a Golden Slam, the playing surface of the court varies between Olympic Games. It has been on court for every game since 1984 except for the 1992 Olympics. The changing playing surface gives certain players different advantages and disadvantages not seen in most other Olympic sports, = demonstration event List of Olympic venues in tennis Tennis at the Mediterranean Games Tennis at the Pan American Games List of Olympic medalists in tennis Olympic Tennis Event website
17.
Davis Cup
–
The Davis Cup is the premier international team event in mens tennis. It is run by the International Tennis Federation and is contested annually between teams from competing countries in a knock-out format and it is described by the organisers as the World Cup of Tennis, and the winners are referred to as the World Champion team. The competition began in 1900 as a challenge between Great Britain and the United States, by 2016,135 nations entered teams into the competition. The most successful countries over the history of the tournament are the United States, the present champions are Argentina who beat Croatia to win the title for the first time in 2016. The womens equivalent of the Davis Cup is the Fed Cup, Australia, the Czech Republic, and the United States are the only countries to have held both Davis Cup and Fed Cup titles in the same year. The Hopman Cup, a competition for mixed teams, carries less prestige. The tournament was conceived in 1899 by four members of the Harvard University tennis team who wished to challenge the British to a tennis competition and they in turn commissioned a classically styled design from William B. Durgins of Concord, New Hampshire, crafted by the Englishman Rowland Rhodes, Davis went on to become a prominent politician in the United States in the 1920s, serving as US Secretary of War from 1925 to 1929 and as Governor-General of the Philippines from 1929 to 1932. The first match, between the United States and Britain, was held at the Longwood Cricket Club in Boston, the American team, of which Dwight Davis was a part, surprised the British by winning the first three matches. The following year the two countries did not compete, but the US won the match in 1902 and Britain won the four matches. By 1905 the tournament expanded to include Belgium, Austria, France, and Australasia, the tournament was initially titled the International Lawn Tennis Challenge although it soon became known as the Davis Cup, after Dwight Davis trophy. The Davis Cup competition was played as a challenge cup. All teams competed against one another for the right to face the previous champion in the final round. Beginning in 1923, the teams were split into two zones, the America Zone and the Europe Zone. The winners of the two met in the Inter-Zonal Zone to decide which national team would challenge the defending champion for the cup. In 1955 a third zone, the Eastern Zone, was added, because there were three zones, the winner of one of the three zones received a bye in the first round of the INZ challenger rounds. In 1966, the Europe Zone was split into two zones, Europe Zone A and Europe Zone B, so the winners of the four competed in the INZ challenger rounds. From 1950 to 1967, Australia dominated the competition, winning the Cup 15 times in 18 years
18.
Tennis at the 2004 Summer Olympics
–
Tennis at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens took place on ten separate courts at the Olympic Tennis Centre. The surface was hardcourt, specifically DecoTurf,172 players competed in 4 events. 2004 saw more of the top ranked players appearing, as this tournament saw world ranking points allocated to the players for the first time, martina Navratilova made her first appearance at the Olympic Games where she partnered with Lisa Raymond in the ladies doubles event. Venus Williams was defending her title in the singles as was Daniel Nestor in the mens doubles although with a different partner. 2004 Summer Olympics official report Volume 2
19.
Tennis
–
Tennis is a racket sport that can be played individually against a single opponent or between two teams of two players each. Each player uses a racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over or around a net. The object of the game is to play the ball in such a way that the opponent is not able to play a valid return, the player who is unable to return the ball will not gain a point, while the opposite player will. Tennis is an Olympic sport and is played at all levels of society, the sport can be played by anyone who can hold a racket, including wheelchair users. The modern game of tennis originated in Birmingham, England, in the late 19th century as lawn tennis and it had close connections both to various field games such as croquet and bowls as well as to the older racket sport of real tennis. The rules of tennis have changed little since the 1890s, two exceptions are that from 1908 to 1961 the server had to keep one foot on the ground at all times, and the adoption of the tiebreak in the 1970s. Tennis is played by millions of players and is also a popular worldwide spectator sport. Historians believe that the ancient origin lay in 12th century northern France. Louis X of France was a player of jeu de paume, which evolved into real tennis. Louis was unhappy with playing tennis outdoors and accordingly had indoor, in due course this design spread across royal palaces all over Europe. Because of the accounts of his death, Louis X is historys first tennis player known by name. Another of the enthusiasts of the game was King Charles V of France. It wasnt until the 16th century that rackets came into use, and the game began to be called tennis, from the French term tenez, an interjection used as a call from the server to his opponent. It was popular in England and France, although the game was played indoors where the ball could be hit off the wall. Henry VIII of England was a big fan of this game, during the 18th century and early 19th century, as real tennis declined, new racket sports emerged in England. This in turn led to the codification of rules for many sports, including lawn tennis, most football codes, lawn bowls. In 1872, along with two doctors, they founded the worlds first tennis club in Leamington Spa. Evans, turfgrass agronomist, Sports historians all agree that deserves much of the credit for the development of modern tennis, according to Honor Godfrey, museum curator at Wimbledon, Wingfield popularized this game enormously
20.
2006 ATP Tour
–
The ATP Tour is the elite tour for professional tennis organized by the Association of Tennis Professionals. The ATP Tour includes the four Grand Slam tournaments, the Tennis Masters Cup, the ATP Masters Series, the International Series Gold, the ATP Tour is the elite tour for professional tennis organised by the ATP. The ATP Tour includes the four Grand Slam tournaments, the Tennis Masters Cup, the ATP Masters Series, the International Series Gold and he also won 17 ATP Masters Series titles, and was part of a winning Davis Cup team in 1990 and 1992. Agassi was troubled by personal issues during the mid-to-late 1990s and sank to world no.141 in 1997, agassi, however, returned to world no.1 in 1999 and enjoyed the most successful run of his career over the next four years. He played his last match at the US Open against Benjamin Becker in August, ZIM Wayne Black He turned professional in 1994 and reached his career-high doubles ranking of no.4 in 2005. He won the Australian Open in 2005 and the US Open in 2001 and he played his last career match at Wimbledon partnering Jeff Coetzee. ESP Albert Costa He turned professional in 1993 and reached a ranking of world no.6. He won the French Open in 2002 and was a quarterfinalist at the Australian Open and he won 12 career ATP titles. He played his last career match in Barcelona in April against Dominik Hrbatý, SWE Thomas Enqvist He turned professional in 1991 and reached his career-high ranking of no.4 in 1999. He was a finalist at the Australian Open in 1999, losing to Yevgeny Kafelnikov, and he was also a semifinalist at the year-end championships. He played his last match in Luxemburg in November 2005 against George Bastl, FRA Nicolas Escudé He turned professional in 1995 and reached his career-high ranking of no.17 in 2000. He reached the semifinals of the Australian Open in 1998 and the quarterfinals at Wimbledon and he earned four career singles titles. In doubles, he reached his career-high ranking of no.35 in 2003, CZE Cyril Suk He turned professional in 1988 and reached his career-high doubles ranking of world no.7 in 1994. He earned a total of 32 career doubles titles and he won the mixed doubles at the French Open in 1991 and Wimbledon in 1996 and 1997, and reached the final at the Australian Open in 1998 and the US Open in 1995. His last match was in Vienna in October partnering Oliver Marach, list of male tennis players Tennis Masters Series Tennis Masters Cup 2006 WTA Tour
21.
Croatia Davis Cup team
–
The Croatia Davis Cup team represents Croatia in Davis Cup tennis competition and is governed by the Croatian Tennis Association. It is captained by Željko Krajan, Croatia won the Davis Cup once, in 2005, and was runner-up in in 2016. Croatia competed in its first Davis Cup in 1993 in Europe/Africa Group I semifinals beating Zimbabwe 3-2, in 1994 Croatia beat Portugal 4-0 in qualification round thus ensuring its first time appearance in World Group in 1995. Croatia lost in its debut from Germany and failed to qualify in the World Group again until 2002 where they beat Germany, in 2005 Croatia won its first Davis Cup over Slovakia as the first unseeded nation to win the title. Croatia reached semifinals in 2009 but lost to Czech Republic 4-1, in 2016 Croatia reached the finals for the second time, again as unseeded nation, but lost to Argentina. The following players were called up for the 2017 Davis Cup World Group first round match against Spain in February 2017, here is the list of all match-ups since 1993, when Croatia started competing as a separate nation. com
22.
2004 Summer Olympics
–
10,625 athletes competed, some 600 more than expected, accompanied by 5,501 team officials from 201 countries. There were 301 medal events in 28 different sports, Athens 2004 marked the first time since the 1996 Summer Olympics that all countries with a National Olympic Committee were in attendance. 2004 marked the return of the games to the city where they began, a new medal obverse was introduced at these Games, replacing the design by Giuseppe Cassioli that had been used since the 1928 Games. This rectified the long lasting mistake of using a depiction of the Roman Colosseum rather than a Greek venue, the new design features the Panathenaic Stadium. The cost of the 2004 Athens Summer Games has been cited as a contributor to the Greek government-debt crisis, some of the venues lie vacant and rotting, while others are in use, the Independent newspaper reports as many as 21 out of 22 are unused. The final medal tally was led by the United States, followed by China, several World and Olympics records were broken during the games. Several concerns were raised over the preparations of the Games and these included excessive budget overruns, infrastructural compromise, the games were deemed generally successful with the rising standard of competition amongst nations across the world. Athens was chosen as the host city during the 106th IOC Session held in Lausanne on 5 September 1997, Athens had lost its bid to organize the 1996 Summer Olympics to Atlanta nearly seven years before on 18 September 1990, during the 96th IOC Session in Tokyo. 1996 coincided with the 100th Anniversary of the first modern Olympics, under the direction of Gianna Angelopoulos-Daskalaki, Athens pursued another bid, this time for the right to host the Summer Olympics in 2004. After leading all voting rounds, Athens easily defeated Rome in the 5th, cape Town, Stockholm, and Buenos Aires, the three other cities that made the IOC shortlist, were eliminated in prior rounds of voting. Six other cities submitted applications, but their bids were dropped by the IOC in 1996 and these cities were Istanbul, Lille, Rio de Janeiro, San Juan, Seville, Saint Petersburg and Cali. The 2004 Summer Olympic Games cost the Government of Greece €8.954 billion to stage, the Athens 2004 Organizing Committee, responsible for the preparation and organisation of the games, concluded its operations as a company in 2005 with a surplus of €130.6 million. ATHOC contributed €123.6 million of the surplus to the Greek State to cover other related expenditures of the Greek State in organizing of the games, as a result, ATHOC reported in its official published accounts a net profit of €7 million. The State’s contribution to the total ATHOC budget was 8% of its expenditure against an originally anticipated 14%, the overall revenue of ATHOC, including income from tickets, sponsors, broadcasting rights, merchandise sales etc. totalled €2,098.4 million. The largest percentage of income came from broadcasting rights. The overall expenditure of ATHOC was €1,967.8 million. e, the large projects required for the upgrade of the country’s infrastructure, including sports infrastructure, roads, airports, hospitals, power grid etc. This cost, however, is not directly attributable to the organisation of the Games. Such infrastructure projects are considered by all standards as fixed asset investments that stay with the hosting country for decades after the Games
23.
Grand Slam (tennis)
–
The Grand Slam tournaments, also called majors, are the four most important annual tennis events. They offer the most ranking points, prize money, public and media attention, the greatest strength and size of field, and greater number of best of sets for men. The Grand Slam itinerary consists of the Australian Open in mid January, the French Open in May and June, Wimbledon in June and July, each tournament is played over a period of two weeks. The Australian and United States tournaments are played on courts, the French on clay. Wimbledon is the oldest, founded in 1877, followed by the US in 1881, the French in 1891, however, of these four, only Wimbledon was a major before 1924/25, the time when all four became designated Grand Slam tournaments. In doubles, one team may accomplish a Grand Slam playing together or one player may achieve it with different partners, the term Grand Slam without qualification refers to winning the four majors in a single calendar year. Winning the gold medal at the Summer Olympic Games in addition to the four majors in a one year is known as a Golden Grand Slam or more commonly the Golden Slam. Also, winning the Year-End Championship in the period is known as a Super Slam. Together, all four Majors in all three disciplines are called a set of Grand Slam titles. No male or female player has won all events in one calendar year. The term slam for winning all of the tricks in the whist family card games is attested early in the 17th century. Grand slam for all of the tricks, in contrast to small slam or little slam for all but one and this use was inherited by contract bridge, a modern development of whist defined in 1925 that became very popular in Britain and America by 1930. Grand slam has been used in golf since 1930, when Bobby Jones won the four major championships, before that time only three events, Wimbledon, the World Hard Court Championships and the World Covered Court Championships were considered the premier international tennis events by the ILTF. Tony Wilding of New Zealand won all three of those majors in one year –1913. It has been possible to complete a Grand Slam in most years, phil Dent has pointed out that skipping Grand Slam tournaments—especially the Australian Open—was not unusual then, before counting Grand Slam titles became the norm. Nevertheless, except for the 1969 and 1971 tournaments, many of the best players missed this championship until 1982, because of the remoteness, the inconvenient dates, the tournament was won by Arthur Ashe. The first definitive Grand Slam, of the current four majors, was accomplished when Don Budge won all four mens singles Majors in 1938, to date,17 players have completed a Grand Slam, though only six in the most prestigious singles titles. The four Junior disciplines, boys and girls singles and doubles, Players are only eligible from age 13 to 18, with 18-year-olds likely to hold a physical advantage
24.
Roger Federer
–
Roger Federer is a Swiss professional tennis player who is currently ranked world No.4 by the Association of Tennis Professionals. Many players and analysts have called him the greatest tennis player of all time, Federer turned professional in 1998 and was continuously ranked in the top 10 from October 2002 to November 2016. Federer has won 18 Grand Slam singles titles, the most in history for a tennis player. In majors, Federer has won seven Wimbledon titles, five Australian Open titles, five US Open titles and he is among the eight men to capture a career Grand Slam. He has reached a record 28 mens singles Grand Slam finals, Federers ATP tournament records include winning a record six ATP World Tour Finals and playing in the finals at all nine ATP Masters 1000 tournaments. He also won the Olympic gold medal in doubles with his compatriot Stan Wawrinka at the 2008 Summer Olympic Games, representing Switzerland, he was a part of the 2014 winning Davis Cup team. He was named the Laureus World Sportsman of the Year for a four consecutive years from 2005 to 2008. Federer was born at the Basel Cantonal Hospital in Basel, Switzerland, Federer has one sibling, his older sister Diana, who is the mother of a set of twins. He holds both Swiss and South African citizenship, Federer was raised as a Roman Catholic and met Pope Benedict XVI while playing the 2006 Internazionali BNL dItalia tournament in Rome. Like all male Swiss citizens, Federer was subject to military service in the Swiss Armed Forces. However, in 2003 he was ruled unsuitable and was not required to fulfil his military obligation. Instead, he served in the protection force and was required to pay 3% of his taxable income as an alternative. He grew up supporting F. C. Basel and the Swiss National Football Team, Federer also credits the range of sports he played as a child—he also played badminton and basketball—for his hand-eye coordination. Federer is married to former Womens Tennis Association player Mirka Vavrinec and he met her while both were competing for Switzerland in the 2000 Sydney Olympics. Vavrinec retired from the tour in 2002 because of a foot injury and they were married at Wenkenhof Villa in Riehen near Basel on 11 April 2009, surrounded by a small group of close friends and family. In July 2009, Mirka gave birth to twin girls, Myla Rose. The Federers had another set of twins in 2014, this time boys whom they named Leo and Lennart, in 2003, he established the Roger Federer Foundation to help disadvantaged children and to promote their access to education and sports. In 2005, he auctioned his racquet from his US Open championship to aid victims of Hurricane Katrina, at the 2005 Pacific Life Open in Indian Wells, Federer arranged an exhibition involving several top players from the ATP and WTA tour called Rally for Relief
25.
2004 Wimbledon Championships
–
The 2004 Wimbledon Championships were held between 21 June and 4 July 2004. Roger Federer was successful in his defence, defeating Andy Roddick in the final to win his second Wimbledon title. In the juniors, Gaël Monfils won his third consecutive Grand Slam title in the boys competition, list of the 2004 Wimbledon Champions, Roger Federer defeated Andy Roddick, 4–6, 7–5, 7–6, 6–4 It was Federers sixth title of the year, and his 17th overall. It was his third career Grand Slam title, and his 2nd at Wimbledon, maria Sharapova defeated Serena Williams, 6–1, 6–4 It was Sharapovas second title of the year, and her fourth overall. It was her first career Grand Slam title
26.
University of Split
–
The University of Split is a university located in Split, Croatia. It was founded in 1974. and is organized in 13 faculties and 124 faculty programmes, as of 2009, a total of approximately 40,000 students have graduated, and a total of 337 doctoral degrees have been awarded. University of Split is a member of EUA - European University Association, currently a new Campus is being built, which was supposed to be finished in 2014 but the economy crisis slowed it down so delays are to be expected. It will house all of the faculties, a student center with a sports hall, sporting grounds. There are new additions to the programs like pharmacy, forensics. The School of Medicine in Split started a Medicine program in English in the school year 2011/12, the programs curriculum is governed by the Bologna Process. The Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering and Naval Architecture is a faculty of the University of Split, FESB is one of the largest constituents of the University of Split and largest technical faculty outside of Zagreb, capital of Republic of Croatia. The faculty was established in 1960 as an autonomous and independent organization within the University of Zagreb. In 1971 the Faculty was renamed as the Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, since 1974 the Faculty has been a constituent part of the University of Split. The Faculty, as one of the founders of the University, the four-year Mechanical Engineering programme of study with its own curriculum was finally completed in 1976. The first phase in the construction of the new Faculty building was completed in 1980 at the university campus, the Faculty now has at its disposal almost 30,000 m2 of space with 19 classrooms,11 computer laboratories and 95 research and teaching laboratories. The Faculty has a division of organizational units for teaching and scientific research, administrative. The Department as an organizational unit participates in organizing and carrying out teaching, scientific. A Medicine program in English language started in the school year 2011/12, each year 50 students from the whole world are being enrolled. The Curriculum is governed by the Bologna Process, in addition students have the possibility to write the U. S. and Canadian medical licensing exams. List of colleges and universities Split Education in Croatia Official Website Official Website
27.
Zagreb
–
Zagreb is the capital and the largest city of Croatia. It is located in the northwest of the country, along the Sava river, Zagreb lies at an elevation of approximately 122 m above sea level. In the last official census of 2011 the population of the City of Zagreb was 792,875, the wider Zagreb metropolitan area includes the City of Zagreb and the separate Zagreb County bringing the total metropolitan area population up to 1,237,887. It is the biggest metropolitan area in Croatia, and the one with a population of over one million. Zagreb is a city with a history dating from the Roman times to the present day. The oldest settlement located in the vicinity of the city was the Roman Andautonia, the name Zagreb is recorded in 1134, in reference to the foundation of the settlement at Kaptol in 1094. Zagreb became a royal town in 1242. In 1851 Zagreb had its first mayor, Janko Kamauf, and in 1945 it was made the capital of Croatia when the demographic boom, the city extends over 30 kilometres east-west and around 20 kilometres north-south. The transport connections, concentration of industry, scientific, and research institutions, Zagreb is the seat of the central government, administrative bodies, and almost all government ministries. Almost all of the largest Croatian companies, media, and scientific institutions have their headquarters in the city and it is a city known for its diverse economy, high quality of living, museums, sporting, and entertainment events. Its main branches of economy are high-tech industries and the service sector, the etymology of the name Zagreb is unclear. It was used of the city only from 1852, but it had been in use as the name of the Zagreb dioecese since the 12th century. The name is first recorded in a charter by Ostrogon archbishop Felician, dated 1134, the older form of the name is Zagrab, the modern Croatian form Zagreb is first recorded in a 1689 map by Nicolas Sanson. An even older form is reflected in Hungarian Zabrag, for this, Desy proposes the etymology of Chabrag, a well-attested hypocorism of the name Cyprian. The same form is reflected in a number of Hungarian toponyms, the name Agram was used in German in the Habsburg period, this name has been classified as probably of Roman origin but according to Desy it could be an Austrian German reanalysis of *Zugram. In Middle Latin and Modern Latin, Zagreb is known as Agranum, in Croatian folk etymology, the name of the city has been derived from either the verb za-grab-, meaning to scoop or to dig. One folk legend illustrating this derivation ties the name to a drought of the early 14th century, in another legend, a city governor is thirsty and orders a girl named Manda to scoop water from Manduševac well, using the imperative, zagrabi, Mando. The oldest settlement located near todays Zagreb was a Roman town of Andautonia, now Šćitarjevo, Gradec and Kaptol were united in 1851 by ban Josip Jelačić, who was credited for this, with the naming the main city square, Ban Jelačić Square in his honour
28.
Columbia Law School
–
Columbia Law School is a professional graduate school of Columbia University, a member of the Ivy League. It is widely regarded as one of the most prestigious law schools in the world and has always ranked in the top five by U. S. News. Columbia is especially known for its strength in corporate law. Columbia Law School was founded in 1858 as the Columbia College Law School and was known for its legal scholarship dating back to the 18th century. Cabinet members and Presidential advisers, U. S. Senators, Representatives, and Governors, according to Columbia Law Schools 2013 ABA-required disclosures, 95% of the Class of 2013 obtained full-time, long-term, JD-required employment nine months after graduation. The law school was ranked #1 of all law schools nation-wide by the National Law Journal in terms of sending the highest percentage of 2015 graduates to the largest 100 law firms in the US, the teaching of law at Columbia reaches back to the 18th century. Columbia College appointed its first professor of law, James Kent, the lectures of Chancellor Kent in the course of four years had developed into the first two volumes of his Commentaries, the second volume being published November 1827. Kent did not, however, succeed in establishing a law school or department in the College, thus, the formal instruction of law as a course of study did not commence until the middle of the 19th century. The Columbia College Law School, as it was officially called, was founded in 1858. The first law school building was a Gothic Revival structure located on Columbias Madison Avenue campus, thereafter, the college became Columbia University and moved north to the neighborhood of Morningside Heights. As Columbia Law Professor Theodore Dwight observed, at its founding the demand for a course of study in law was still speculative. No institution resembling a law school had existed in New York. Legal education was, however, at a low ebb. The clerks in the law offices were left almost wholly to themselves, frequently they were not even acquainted with the lawyers with whom, by a convenient fiction, they were supposed to be studying. In general, the examinations were purely perfunctory, a politician of influence was not readily turned away. Few studied law as a science, many followed it as a trade or as a convenient ladder whereby to rise in a political career, indeed, Columbia Law School was one of the few law schools established in the United States before the Civil War. Jay was fortunate to have attentive supervision because the quality and time of learning the law varied greatly within the profession, the original course of study to obtain a degree consisted of just two years, rather than the modern standard of three. The first lecture in the Law School was delivered on Monday, Nov 1,1858, by Mr. Dwight and it was an introductory lecture, afterwards printed
29.
Credit Suisse
–
Credit Suisse Group is a Swiss multinational financial services holding company, headquartered in Zürich, that operates the Credit Suisse Bank and other financial services investments. Credit Suisse was founded by Alfred Escher in 1856 under the name Schweizerische Kreditanstalt in order to fund the development of Switzerlands rail system and it issued loans that helped create Switzerlands electrical grid and the European rail system. It also helped develop the countrys currency system and funded entrepreneurship, in the 1900s Credit Suisse began shifting to retail banking in response to the elevation of the middle-class and the growing popularity of savings accounts. Credit Suisse partnered with First Boston in 1978, after a large failed loan put First Boston under financial stress, Credit Suisse bought a controlling share of the bank in 1988. In the 1990s, Credit Suisse acquired the Winterthur Group, Swiss Volksbank, Swiss American Securities Inc. in the year 2000, it added the U. S. investment firm Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette. The company restructured itself in 2002,2004 and 2006 and it was one of the least affected banks during the global financial crisis, but afterwards began shrinking its investment business, executing layoffs and cutting costs. During the period between 2008 and 2012, Germany, Brazil, and the United States began a series of investigations into the use of Credit Suisse accounts for tax evasion. In May 2014, the company pleaded guilty to decades of conspiring to help US citizens avoid taxes, in 2014, Credit Suisse had 888.2 USD Bn of assets under management according to the Scorpio Partnership. Credit Suisse Group AG is organized as a company registered in Zürich that operates as a holding company. It owns the Credit Suisse bank and other interests in the services business. Credit Suisse is governed by a board of directors, its shareholders, the Board of Directors organize the Annual General Meeting of Shareholders while investors with large stakes in the company determine the agenda. Shareholders elect auditors for one-year terms, approve the report and other financial statements. The Board sets Credit Suisses business strategies and approves its compensation principles based on guidance from the compensation committee and it also has the authority to create committees that delegate specific management functions. Credit Suisse has two divisions, Private Banking & Wealth Management and Investment Banking, a Shared Services department provides support functions like risk management, legal, IT and marketing to all areas. Operations are divided into four regions, Switzerland, Europe, the Middle East and Africa, the Americas, Credit Suisse Private Banking has wealth management, corporate and institutional businesses. Credit Suisse Investment Banking handles securities, investment research, trading, prime brokerage, Credit Suisse Asset Management sells investment classes, alternative investments, real-estate, equities, fixed income products and other financial products. Escher founded Credit Suisse in 1856 primarily to provide funding to railway projects. Escher aimed to start the company with three million shares and instead sold 218 million shares in three days, in its first year of operation,25 percent of the banks revenues was from the Swiss Northeastern Railway, which was being built by Eschers company, Nordostbahn
30.
Andy Roddick
–
Andrew Stephen Andy Roddick is an American former professional tennis player. He became a Grand Slam singles champion, and world number one, despite several more years as one of the worlds best players that would remain his only Grand Slam triumph. He is the most recent North American male player to win a Grand Slam singles event, the most recent to reach the top ranking, and the most recent to claim the year-end world No.1. Roddick reached four other Grand Slam finals, losing to Roger Federer every time, Roddick was ranked in the top 10 for 9 consecutive years between 2002 and 2010, at years end, and won five Masters Series in that period. He is married to Brooklyn Decker, a former Sports Illustrated swimwear model, on August 30,2012, during the 2012 US Open and on his 30th birthday, Roddick announced that he would retire after the tournament. Following a fourth-round defeat by Juan Martín del Potro, Roddick retired from the sport with the aim of focusing on his foundation, in 2015, Roddick played for the Austin Aces in World Team Tennis. This was his eighth season in World Team Tennis and the team he has played for. Roddick was born in Omaha, Nebraska, the son of Blanche, a teacher, and Jerry Roddick. Roddick has two brothers, Lawrence and John, who were both promising tennis players at a young age. Roddick played varsity basketball in school alongside his future Davis Cup teammate Mardy Fish. During that time period, he trained with Venus and Serena Williams. His tennis idol growing up was Andre Agassi, Roddick considered quitting competitive tennis at the age of 17, when he had a losing streak in the juniors. His coach, Tarik Benhabiles, talked him into giving tennis four more months of undivided attention, Roddick finished as the No.6 junior in the U. S. in 1999, and as the No.1 junior in the world in 2000. He won six world junior titles and seven world junior doubles titles. In March in Miami, in the first round Roddick had his first ATP level victory as he beat World No.41 Fernando Vicente of Spain, 6–4, 6–0. In August in Washington, D. C. he beat World No.30 Fabrice Santoro of France, 4–6, Roddick played the Banana Bowl in the city of São Paulo and won, beating Joachim Johansson in the final. Roddick also won the Australian Junior Open, defeating Mario Ančić in the final, in 2001, Roddick defeated former French Open champion Michael Chang in five sets in the second round of the tournament, despite the fact that clay was Roddicks worst surface. During the following Wimbledon, he showed potential by taking a set from eventual winner Goran Ivanišević
![[]](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/1a/Parentesi_Quadre.svg/30px-Parentesi_Quadre.svg.png){kind=small}
Croatia
Mahesh Bhupathi
Michaël Llodra
Jan Hernych
Thomas Johansson
Andy Ram
Diego Ayala &
Julian Knowle
Florian Mayer &
Kenneth Carlsen
Nenad Zimonjić
Rafael Nadal
Aleksandar Kitinov &
Roger Federer
Yevgeny Kafelnikov
Tim Henman