James Gordon Bennett Jr.
James Gordon Bennett Jr. was publisher of the New York Herald, founded by his father, James Gordon Bennett Sr. who emigrated from Scotland. He was known as Gordon Bennett to distinguish him from his father. Among his many sports-related accomplishments he organized both the first polo match and the first tennis match in the United States, he won the first trans-oceanic yacht race, he sponsored explorers including Henry Morton Stanley's trip to Africa to find David Livingstone, the ill-fated USS Jeannette attempt on the North Pole. Bennett was born on May 10, 1841, in New York City to James Gordon Bennett Sr. the founder and publisher of the New York Herald. He was the only son in the family, he grew up in France, attended the Ecole Polytechnique. In 1861, he returned to the United States, enlisted in the Union Navy. In 1867, under his father's tutelage, he founded The Evening Telegram, an entertainment and gossip paper that became the New York World-Telegram. On January 1, 1867, the elder Bennett turned control of the Herald over to him.
Bennett raised the paper's profile on the world stage when he provided the financial backing for the 1869 expedition by Henry Morton Stanley into Africa to find David Livingstone in exchange for the Herald having the exclusive account of Stanley's progress. In 1872, he commissioned a Manhattan building design from Arthur D. Gilman, who popularized Second Empire and cast-iron facades; the building still exists, on Nassau Street. Though he sold it in 1889 and it was expanded over the following five years, it continues to be known as The Bennett Building, it was built on a site occupied by the Herald's offices and printing plant, the Herald moved back into it. In 1890, he commissioned a new Herald building at Sixth and Broadway, completed in 1895. In 1880, Bennett established international editions of his newspaper in London. In 1883, he partnered with John W. Mackay to found the Commercial Cable Company, it provided an additional large income to Bennett. Bennett, like many of his social class, indulged in the "good life": yachts, opulent private railroad cars, lavish mansions.
He was the youngest Commodore of the New York Yacht Club. In 1861, Bennett volunteered his newly built schooner yacht, for the U. S. Revenue Marine Service during the Civil War. At the same time, Bennett was commissioned as a third lieutenant in the Revenue Marine Service and assigned to the U. S. Marine Revenue schooner Henrietta beginning in June 1861, she patrolled Long Island until February 1862 when she was sent to South Carolina. On March 3, 1862, Bennett commanded the Henrietta as part of the fleet which captured Fernandina, Florida. Bennett and the Henrietta returned to civilian life in New York in May 1862. In 1866, on a bet, he won the first trans-oceanic yacht race; the race was between the Vesta, the Fleetwing and the Henrietta. Each yachtsman put up $30,000 in the winner-take-all wager, they started off of Sandy Hook, New Jersey, on 11 December 1866 amid high westerly winds and raced to The Needles, the furthest westerly point on the Isle of Wight, famous for its lighthouse. Bennett's Henrietta won with a time of 21 hours, 55 minutes.
He entertained guests aboard his steam-yacht "Namouna." American expatriate artist Julius LeBlanc Stewart painted several works set on the yacht. However, he scandalized society with his flamboyant and sometimes erratic behavior. In 1877, he left New York for Europe after an incident that ended his engagement to socialite Caroline May. According to various accounts, he arrived late and drunk to a party at the May family mansion urinated into a fireplace in full view of his hosts. Bennett's controversial reputation has been thought to have inspired, in the United Kingdom, the phrase "Gordon Bennett" as an expression of incredulity. Settling in Paris, he launched the Paris edition of the New York Herald, named The Paris Herald, the forerunner of the International Herald Tribune, he backed George W. De Long's voyage to the North Pole on the USS Jeannette via the Bering Strait; the ill-fated expedition led to the deaths from starvation of DeLong and 19 of his crew, a tragedy that only increased the paper's circulation.
He was a co-founder of the Commercial Cable Company, a venture to break the Transatlantic cable monopoly held by Jay Gould. Bennett returned to the United States and organized the first polo match in the United States at Dickel's Riding Academy at 39th Street and Fifth Avenue in New York City, he would help found the Westchester Polo Club in the first polo club in America. He established the Gordon Bennett Cup for international yachting and the Gordon Bennett Cup for automobile races. In 1906, he funded the Gordon Bennett Cup in ballooning. In 1909, Bennett offered a trophy for the fastest speed on a closed circuit for airplanes; the 1909 race in Rheims, France was won by Glenn Curtiss for two circuits of a 10 km rectangular course at an average speed of 46.5 miles per hour. From 1896 to 1914, the champion of Paris, USFSA football, received a trophy offered by Gordon Bennett, he did not marry until he was 73. His wife was Maud Potter, widow of George de Reuter, son of Julius Paul Reuter, founder of Reuters news agency.
He died on May 14, 1918, in Beaulieu-sur-Mer, Alpes-Maritimes, France
Jersey Shore
The Jersey Shore is the coastal region of the U. S. state of New Jersey. Geographically, the term encompasses about 141 miles of oceanfront bordering the Atlantic Ocean, from Perth Amboy in the north to Cape May Point in the south; the region includes Middlesex, Ocean and Cape May counties. Many New Jersey residents refer to it as "The Shore", as in to go or have done something "down the shore". While there is no defined border between North Jersey and South Jersey, the Raritan River, Manasquan River, or I-195 are mentioned as the border, as such, most of the shore region is located in South Jersey. Famous for its many boardwalks with arcades, amusement parks, water parks boasting hundreds of rides and attractions, the Jersey Shore is a popular vacation spot with residents of New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania. Certain shore communities are popular with visitors from the nearby states of Maryland and Virginia, as well as the Canadian province of Quebec. Due to New Jersey's peninsular geography, both sunrise and sunset are visible over water from different points on the Jersey Shore.
Hurricane Sandy in 2012 devastated much of the northern part of the region, spawned the demolition and rebuilding of entire neighborhoods, with reinvention on a physically and financially elevated and economically upscale level. The Jersey Shore is lined with over 40 different towns and communities, each with a different character and flavor. Many cater extensively to summer tourists, others are full-year residential communities, while some are a mix of both; the towns listed below are ordered north to south. Perth Amboy, along with neighboring South Amboy across the Raritan River, make up The Amboys. Perth Amboy was a resort town in the 19th century and early 20th century, located on the northern edge of the Raritan Bayshore. Since the early 1990s Perth Amboy has seen redevelopment. Small businesses have started to open up, helped by the city's designation as an urban enterprise zone; the waterfront has seen a rebirth, with new parks, a new promenade and an expansion of the marina complimenting the old Victorian homes along the bay.
Local attractions include Kearny Cottage. The Raritan Yacht Club, in is one of the oldest yacht clubs in the United States. Laurence Harbor looks directly upon Staten Island's southern shore; the railroad, which no longer has a station in Laurence Harbor, divides the community into eastern and western sections, the former being locally referred to as'The Front'. Cliffwood Beach borders Laurence Harbor when traveling south. Morgan is named after the 1703 family that had 645 acres here and were cousins of the infamous pirate captain Henry Morgan. Morgan is located one mile to the northwest, across the Cheesequake Creek and the Morgan Bridge on New Jersey Route 35; the Morgan Draw carries the North Jersey Coast Line. Laurence Harbor is home to Old Bridge Waterfront Park, which consists of a new boardwalk, completed in 2002; the beachfront was redone through a joint venture by Old Bridge Township, New Jersey and Middlesex County Parks Department. It extends one mile from the Old Bridge Police substation south, to the Aberdeen Township neighborhood of Cliffwood Beach, runs parallel with New Jersey Route 35.
This area is popular for fishing as three jetties extend into Raritan Bay and are in excellent condition recently redone in the past ten years. The park's boardwalk is popular for jogging and dog walking. At the northern parking lot of the park, there is bay beach swimming access along with a bathroom and showers. Keansburg was a popular early 20th century summertime destination for tourists from New York City, who would cross the Raritan Bay on steamboats to escape the city heat. Hurricane Donna wiped out much of the waterfront area in 1960, a number of fires in the 1980s destroyed many of the town's main attractions, including the Dance Hall Auditorium, the Keansburg Bowling Alley and the Casino Theater; the Keansburg Amusement Park, founded in 1904, started a massive expansion project in 1995. Upgrades were made to the park and an adjacent water park, Runaway Rapids, was constructed Atlantic Highlands, which overlooks where the Atlantic Ocean and Raritan Bay meet at Sandy Hook, contains Mount Mitchill, the highest point on the eastern seaboard south of Maine, rising 266 feet above sea level.
The Manhattan skyline can be seen from its shoreline. Pleasure and commuter boats sail from its harbor, built from 1938 through 1940, it is the largest on the East Coast, home to 715 craft including the high-speed SeaStreak ferry service to New York City, introduced in 1986. Sandy Hook is a long, narrow undeveloped barrier spit, most of, owned and managed by the National Park Service as a unit of the Gateway National Recreation Area; the eastern, ocean-facing shoreline consists of various public and fishing beaches, considered among the finest in New Jersey and a popular destination for recreation in summer when seasonal SeaStreak ferries bring beachgoers. Sandy Hook's Gunnison Beach is one of the largest clothing optional beaches on the East Coast; the northern end of the peninsula is home to the Sandy Hook Lighthouse, the Marine Academy of Science a
Oceanport, New Jersey
Oceanport is a borough in Monmouth County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the borough's population was 5,832, reflecting an increase of 25 from the 5,807 counted in the 2000 Census, which had in turn declined by 339 from the 6,146 counted in the 1990 Census. Oceanport was formed as a borough by an act of the New Jersey Legislature on April 6, 1920, from portions of Eatontown Township, based on the results of a referendum held on May 11, 1920. New Jersey Monthly magazine ranked Oceanport as its 4th best place to live in its 2008 rankings of the "Best Places To Live" in New Jersey. According to the United States Census Bureau, the borough had a total area of 3.798 square miles, including 3.180 square miles of land and 0.618 square miles of water. The borough borders the Monmouth County municipalities of Little Silver to the northwest, Long Branch to the east, Eatontown to the southwest and West Long Branch to the southeast, it shares a water border to the northeast with Monmouth Beach and forms a peninsula, jutting into the Shrewsbury River.
Unincorporated communities and place names within the borough include Elkwood Park, Fort Monmouth, Gooseneck Point, Port-au-peck and Sands Point. As of the 2010 United States Census, there were 5,832 people, 2,227 households, 1,596.759 families residing in the borough. The population density was 1,833.7 per square mile. There were 2,390 housing units at an average density of 751.5 per square mile. The racial makeup of the borough was 93.36% White, 3.00% Black or African American, 0.05% Native American, 1.59% Asian, 0.00% Pacific Islander, 0.67% from other races, 1.32% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 4.05% of the population. There were 2,227 households out of which 31.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 59.7% were married couples living together, 9.1% had a female householder with no husband present, 28.3% were non-families. 24.6% of all households were made up of individuals, 12.1% had someone living alone, 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.59 and the average family size was 3.12.
In the borough, the population was spread out with 23.4% under the age of 18, 6.7% from 18 to 24, 21.0% from 25 to 44, 32.8% from 45 to 64, 16.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 44.4 years. For every 100 females there were 96.6 males. For every 100 females ages 18 and older there were 93.5 males. The Census Bureau's 2006-2010 American Community Survey showed that median household income was $89,208 and the median family income was $108,958. Males had a median income of $60,038 versus $49,415 for females; the per capita income for the borough was $52,252. About 3.1% of families and 4.2% of the population were below the poverty line, including 10.2% of those under age 18 and 2.5% of those age 65 or over. As of the 2000 United States Census there were 5,807 people, 2,043 households, 1,554 families residing in the borough; the population density was 1,802.1 people per square mile. There were 2,114 housing units at an average density of 656.0 per square mile. The racial makeup of the borough was 95.71% White, 1.96% African American, 0.07% Native American, 0.79% Asian, 0.02% Pacific Islander, 0.55% from other races, 0.90% from two or more races.
Hispanic or Latino of any race were 2.07% of the population. There were 2,043 households out of which 35.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 66.0% were married couples living together, 8.4% had a female householder with no husband present, 23.9% were non-families. 21.7% of all households were made up of individuals and 10.7% had someone living alone, 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.71 and the average family size was 3.18. In the borough the population was spread out with 24.5% under the age of 18, 8.4% from 18 to 24, 25.5% from 25 to 44, 27.4% from 45 to 64, 14.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females, there were 98.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 96.0 males. The median income for a household in the borough was $71,458, the median income for a family was $85,038. Males had a median income of $57,955 versus $39,718 for females; the per capita income for the borough was $33,356. About 1.8% of families and 2.7% of the population were below the poverty line, including 2.1% of those under age 18 and 3.5% of those age 65 or over.
Monmouth Park, a thoroughbred horse race track, is home to the annual Haskell Invitational Handicap. The choice to put the track in this small community in 1946 was made because of its prime location at the shore and its accessibility for New Yorkers and North Jersey folk who make up the majority of the track crowd; the Haskell Invitational Stakes, which next to the Triple Crown is horse racing's biggest event, takes place each year in August. In October 2007, Oceanport's Monmouth Park hosted the Breeders' Cup, attracting nearly 70,000 fans over the two days of the event. Monmouth Park implemented a stormwater collection system in 2010, after the track had been fined by the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection for polluting the Branchport Creek section of the Shrewsbury River with fecal contamination that washed off from the areas surrounding the track after rainstorms; as of Summer 2014, parts of the Shrewsbury River in Oceanport remain posted by the Monmouth County Health Department with "Polluted Water - Avoid Contact" signs due to continued release of horse waste by Monmouth Park Racetrack.
The communi
New York metropolitan area
The New York metropolitan area is the largest metropolitan area in the world by urban landmass, at 4,495 sq mi. The metropolitan area includes New York City, Long Island, the Mid and Lower Hudson Valley in the state of New York; the New York metropolitan area remains, by a significant margin, the most populous in the United States, as defined by both the Metropolitan Statistical Area and the Combined Statistical Area. It is the tenth largest in the world; the New York metropolitan area continues to be the premier gateway for legal immigration to the United States, with the largest foreign-born population of any metropolitan region in the world. The MSA covers 6,720 sq mi, while the CSA area is 13,318 sq mi, encompassing an ethnically and geographically diverse region; the New York metropolitan area's population is larger than that of the state of New York, the metropolitan airspace accommodated over 130 million passengers in 2016. As a center of many industries, including finance, international trade and traditional media, real estate, fashion, tourism, biotechnology and manufacturing, the New York City metropolitan region is one of the most important economic regions in the world.
In 2012, the New York metropolitan area was home to seven of the 25 wealthiest counties in the United States by median household income, according to the American Community Survey. According to Forbes, in 2014, the New York City metropolitan area was home to eight of the top ten ZIP codes in the United States by median housing price, with six in Manhattan alone; the New York Metropolitan Area houses five of the top ten richest places in America, according to Bloomberg. These are Scarsdale, NY; the New York metropolitan region's higher education network comprises hundreds of colleges and universities, including Columbia University, Princeton University, Yale University, which are ranked among the top 3 universities in the United States and top 10 in the world. Institutions such as New York University, Rockefeller University, the Cornell Tech campus of Cornell University additionally have been ranked among the top 40 in the world; the U. S. Office of Management and Budget utilizes two definitions of the area: the Metropolitan Statistical Area and the Combined Statistical Area.
The MSA definition is titled the New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ-PA Metropolitan Statistical Area, includes a population of 20.3 million people by 2017 Census estimates 1 in 16 Americans and nearly 7 million more than the second-place Los Angeles metropolitan area in the United States. The MSA is further subdivided into four metropolitan divisions; the 26-county MSA includes 12 counties in New York State. The largest urbanized area in the United States is at the heart of the metropolitan area, the New York–Newark, NY–NJ–CT Urbanized Area; the counties and county groupings constituting the New York metropolitan area are listed below, with 2012 population estimates: New York–Newark–Jersey City, NY–NJ–PA Metropolitan Statistical Area New York–Jersey City–White Plains, NY–NJ Metropolitan Division Kings County, NY Queens County, NY New York County, NY Bronx County, NY Richmond County, NY Westchester County, NY Bergen County, NJ Hudson County, NJ Middlesex County, NJ Monmouth County, NJ Ocean County, NJ Passaic County, NJ Rockland County, NY Orange County, NY Nassau County–Suffolk County, NY Metropolitan Division Suffolk County Nassau County Dutchess County-Putnam County, NY Metropolitan Division Putnam County Dutchess County Newark, NJ–PA Metropolitan Division Essex County, NJ Union County, NJ Morris County, NJ Somerset County, NJ Sussex County, NJ Hunterdon County, NJ Pike County, PA Combined statistical areas group together adjacent core-based statistical areas with a high degree of economic interconnection.
The New York–Newark, NY–NJ–CT–PA Combined Statistical Area had an estimated population of 23.7 million as of 2014. About one out of every fifteen Americans resides in this region, which includes ten additional counties in New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania; this area, less the Pennsylvania portion, is referred to as the tri-state area and less the tri-state region. The New York City television designated market area includes Pike County, included in the CSA. In addition to the New York–Newark–Jersey City, NY–NJ–PA metropolitan statistical areas, the following core-based statistical areas are included in the New York–Newark, NY–NJ–CT–PA CSA: Bridgeport–Stamford–Norw
Blue Grotto (Capri)
The Blue Grotto is a sea cave on the coast of the island of Capri, southern Italy. Sunlight, passing through an underwater cavity and shining through the seawater, creates a blue reflection that illuminates the cavern; the cave extends some 50 metres into the cliff at the surface, is about 150 metres deep, with a sandy bottom. The cave is 25 metres wide; the entry is two metres wide and one metre high at low tide, making safe access possible only when tides are low and the sea is calm. To enter the grotto, visitors must lie flat on the bottom of a small four-person rowboat; the oarsman uses a metal chain attached to the cave walls to guide the boat inside the grotto. Swimming in the grotto is forbidden; the Blue Grotto is one of several sea caves worldwide, flooded with a brilliant blue or emerald light. The quality and nature of the colour in each is determined its unique combination of depth, water clarity, light source. In the case of the Blue Grotto, the light comes from two sources: the narrow arched entranceway, an aperture ten times as large directly below it, separated by a band of rock between one and two meters tall.
Because it is farther from the surface much less light passes through the lower opening, but its depth and size allow it to be the grotto water's primary source of illumination. As light passes through the water into the cave, red reflections are filtered out and only blue light enters the cave. Objects placed in the water of the grotto famously appear silver; this is caused by tiny bubbles, which cover the outside of the object when they are placed underwater. The bubbles cause the light to refract differently than it does from the surrounding water and gives off the silver effect. In part because of the dazzling effect of the light from the above-water opening, it is impossible for a visitor, in one of the rowboats to identify the shape of the larger hole, the outline of the bar that separates the two holes, or the nature of the light-source, other than a general awareness that the light is coming up from underneath, that the water in the cave is more light-filled than the air. A visitor who places a hand in the water can see it "glow" eerily in this light.
During Roman times, the grotto was used as the personal swimming hole of Emperor Tiberius as well as a marine temple. Tiberius moved from the Roman capital to the island of Capri in 27 AD. During Tiberius' reign, the grotto was decorated with several statues as well as resting areas around the edge of the cave. Three statues of the Roman sea gods Neptune and Triton were recovered from the floor of the grotto in 1964 and are now on display at a museum in Anacapri. Seven bases of statues were recovered from the grotto floor in 2009; this suggests. The cave was described by the Roman historian Pliny the Elder as being populated with Triton "playing on a shell"; the now missing arms on the recovered Triton statue – depicted with a conch shell, suggest that the statues recovered in 1964 are the same statues Pliny the Elder saw in the 1st century AD. According to reconstructions of the original Blue Grotto, a swarm of Triton statues headed by a Neptune statue may have stood in the walls of the cave.
The environmentalist association Marevivo aims to restore the Blue Grotto to its ancient glory by placing identical copies of the statues where they stood in the grotto. This project is being carried out in collaboration with the archaeological superintendence of Pompeii. At the back of the main cave of the Blue Grotto, three connecting passageways lead to the Sala dei Nomi, or "Room of Names", named for the graffiti signatures left by visitors over the centuries. Two more passages lead deeper into the cliffs on the side of island, it was thought. However, the passages are natural that narrow and end further along. During the 18th century, the grotto was known to the locals as Gradola, after the nearby landing place of Gradola, it was avoided by islanders because it was said to be inhabited by witches and monsters. The grotto was "rediscovered" by the public in 1826, with the visit of German writer August Kopisch and his friend Ernst Fries, who were taken to the grotto by local fisherman Angelo Ferraro.
In 1826, German writer August Kopisch and his friend Ernst Fries, a German painter, visited the cave and recorded their visit in the Kopisch's Entdeckung der blauen Grotte auf der Insel Capri in 1838. In 1842 Danish choreographer August Bournonville set the second act of his ballet Napoli in the Blue Grotto. In this fantastic tale, the demon who rules the Blue Grotto, transforms the ballet's heroine, into a Naiad. Mark Twain visited the Blue Grotto in 1869 and recorded his thoughts in his book The Innocents Abroad; the grotto is highlighted in the 1953 Newbery Honor book Red Sails to Capri by Ann Weil. In Alberto Moravia's 1954 novel Il disprezzo, a vision appears to the protagonist when, under heavy mental stress, he visits the cave alone. List of caves List of caves in Italy Modra špilja on island of Biševo, Croatia Blue Grotto, a group of sea caverns on the south coast of Malta Grotta Azzurra The Virtual Cave: Seacaves
Capri
Capri is an island located in the Tyrrhenian Sea off the Sorrentine Peninsula, on the south side of the Gulf of Naples in the Campania region of Italy. The main town Capri, located on the island shares the name, it has been a resort since the time of the Roman Republic. Some of the main features of the island include the Marina Piccola, the Belvedere of Tragara, the limestone crags called sea stacks that project above the sea, the town of Anacapri, the Blue Grotto,the ruins of the Imperial Roman villas, the various towns surrounding the Island of Capri including Positano, Ravello, Sorrento and Naples. Capri is part of the region of Metropolitan City of Naples; the town of Capri is the island's main population centre. The island has Marina Piccola and Marina Grande; the separate comune of Anacapri is located high on the hills to the west. The etymology of the name Capri is unclear, but it could derive from Latin capreae. Fossils of wild boars have been discovered, lending credence to the "kapros" etymology.
There is the possibility that the name derives from an Etruscan word for "rocky", though any historical Etruscan rule of the island is disputed. Capri is a large and sandstone rock; the sides of the island are perpendicular cliffs and the surface of the island is composed of more cliffs. The voters of the island elect representatives for the two municipalities on the island; the chosen representatives choose two mayors to govern with them. The island has been inhabited since early times. Evidence of human settlement was discovered during the Roman era; the emperor ordered these to be displayed in the garden of the Sea Palace. Modern excavations have shown that human presence on the island can be dated to the Neolithic and the Bronze Age. Augustus developed Capri. In his Aeneid, Virgil states that the island had been populated by the Greek people of Teleboi, coming from the Ionian Islands. Strabo says that "in ancient times in Capri there were two towns reduced to one." Tacitus records. Ruins of one at Tragara could still be seen in the 19th century.
Augustus' successor Tiberius built a series of villas at Capri, the most famous of, the Villa Jovis, one of the best-preserved Roman villas in Italy. In 27 AD, Tiberius permanently moved to Capri, running the Empire from there until his death in 37 AD. In 182 AD, Emperor Commodus banished his sister Lucilla to Capri, she was executed shortly afterwards. After the end of the Western Roman Empire, Capri returned to the status of a dominion of Naples, suffered various attacks and ravages by pirates. In 866 Emperor Louis II gave the island to Amalfi. In 987 Pope John XV consecrated the first bishop of Capri, when Capri, Scala and Lettere were made dioceses to serve as suffragans of Amalfi, which thereby became a metropolitan see. Capri continued to be a residential diocese until 1818, when the island became part of the archdiocese of Sorrento. No longer a residential bishopric, Capreae in Latin, is today listed by the Catholic Church as a titular see. In 1496, Frederick IV of Naples established legal and administrative parity between the settlements of Capri and Anacapri.
The pirate raids reached their peak during the reign of Charles V: the famous Turkish admirals Barbarossa Hayreddin Pasha and Turgut Reis captured the island for the Ottoman Empire, in 1535 and 1553 respectively. The first recorded tourist to visit the island was French antiques dealer Jean-Jacques Bouchard in the 17th century, his diary, found in 1850, is an important information source about Capri. French troops under Napoleon occupied Capri in January 1806; the British ousted the French in the following May, after which Capri was turned into a powerful naval base, but the building program caused heavy damage to the archaeological sites. The French reconquered Capri in 1808, remained there until the end of the Napoleonic era, when Capri was returned to the Bourbon ruling house of Naples; the natural scientist Ignazio Cerio catalogued Capri's fauna during the 19th century. His work was continued by his son and engineer Edwin Cerio, who wrote several books on life in Capri in the 20th century.
Prior to the First World War the island was popular with wealthy gay men. John Ellingham Brooks and Somerset Maugham shared a villa there. Norman Douglas, Friedrich Alfred Krupp, Jacques d'Adelswärd-Fersen, Christian Wilhelm Allers, Emil von Behring, Curzio Malaparte, Axel Munthe, Maxim Gorky are all reported to have owned a villa there, or to have stayed there for more than three months. Swedish Queen Victoria stayed there because Axel Munthe was her doctor. Rose O'Neill, the American illustrator and creator of the Kewpie, owned the Villa Narcissus owned by the famous Beaux-Arts painter Charles Caryl Coleman. Dame Gracie Fields had a villa and restaurant on the island and is buried there. Mariah Carey owns a villa on the island. In 1908, Lenin was hosted by Maxim Gorky, the Russian author, at his house near the Giardini Aug
Thoroughbred
The Thoroughbred is a horse breed best known for its use in horse racing. Although the word thoroughbred is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thoroughbred breed. Thoroughbreds are considered "hot-blooded" horses that are known for their agility and spirit; the Thoroughbred as it is known today was developed in 17th- and 18th-century England, when native mares were crossbred with imported Oriental stallions of Arabian and Turkoman breeding. All modern Thoroughbreds can trace their pedigrees to three stallions imported into England in the 17th century and 18th century and to a larger number of foundation mares of English breeding. During the 18th and 19th centuries, the Thoroughbred breed spread throughout the world. Millions of Thoroughbreds exist today, around 100,000 foals are registered each year worldwide. Thoroughbreds are used for racing, but are bred for other riding disciplines such as show jumping, combined training, dressage and fox hunting.
They are commonly crossbred to create new breeds or to improve existing ones, have been influential in the creation of the Quarter Horse, Anglo-Arabian, various warmblood breeds. Thoroughbred racehorses perform with maximum exertion, which has resulted in high accident rates and health problems such as bleeding from the lungs. Other health concerns include low fertility, abnormally small hearts and a small hoof-to-body-mass ratio. There are several theories for the reasons behind the prevalence of accidents and health problems in the Thoroughbred breed, research is ongoing; the typical Thoroughbred ranges from 15.2 to 17.0 hands high. They are most bay, dark bay or brown, black, or gray. Less common colors recognized in the United States include palomino. White is rare, but is a recognized color separate from gray; the face and lower legs may be marked with white, but white will not appear on the body. Coat patterns that have more than one color on the body, such as Pinto or Appaloosa, are not recognized by mainstream breed registries.
Good-quality Thoroughbreds have a well-chiseled head on a long neck, high withers, a deep chest, a short back, good depth of hindquarters, a lean body, long legs. Thoroughbreds are classified among the "hot-blooded" breeds, which are animals bred for agility and speed and are considered spirited and bold. Thoroughbreds born in the Northern Hemisphere are considered a year older on the first of January each year; these artificial dates have been set to enable the standardization of races and other competitions for horses in certain age groups. The Thoroughbred is a distinct breed of horse, although people sometimes refer to a purebred horse of any breed as a thoroughbred; the term for any horse or other animal derived from a single breed line is purebred. While the term came into general use because the English Thoroughbred's General Stud Book was one of the first breed registries created, in modern usage horse breeders consider it incorrect to refer to any animal as a thoroughbred except for horses belonging to the Thoroughbred breed.
Nonetheless, breeders of other species of purebred animals may use the two terms interchangeably, though thoroughbred is less used for describing purebred animals of other species. The term is a proper noun referring to this specific breed, though not capitalized in non-specialist publications, outside the US. For example, the Australian Stud Book, The New York Times, the BBC do not capitalize the word. Flat racing existed in England by at least 1174, when four-mile races took place at Smithfield, in London. Racing continued at fairs and markets throughout the Middle Ages and into the reign of King James I of England, it was that handicapping, a system of adding weight to attempt to equalize a horse's chances of winning as well as improved training procedures, began to be used. During the reigns of Charles II, William III, George I, the foundation of the Thoroughbred was laid; the term "thro-bred" to describe horses was first used in 1713. Under Charles II, a keen racegoer and owner, Anne, royal support was given to racing and the breeding of race horses.
With royal support, horse racing became popular with the public, by 1727, a newspaper devoted to racing, the Racing Calendar, was founded. Devoted to the sport, it recorded race results and advertised upcoming meets. All modern Thoroughbreds trace back to three stallions imported into England from the Middle East in the late 17th and early 18th centuries: the Byerley Turk, the Darley Arabian, the Godolphin Arabian. Other stallions of oriental breeding were less influential, but still made noteworthy contributions to the breed; these included the Alcock's Arabian, D'Arcy's White Turk, Leedes Arabian, Curwen's Bay Barb. Another was the Brownlow Turk, among other attributes, is thought to be responsible for the gray coat color in Thoroughbreds. In all, about 160 stallions of Oriental breeding have been traced in the historical record as contributing to the creation of the Thoroughbred; the addition of horses of Eastern bloodlines, whether Arabian, Barb, or Turk, to the native English mares led to the creation of the General Stud Book in 1791 and the practice of official registration of horses.
According to Peter Willett, about 50% of the foundation stallions appear to have been of Arabian bloodlines, wit
