The Bahamas
The Bahamas, known officially as the Commonwealth of the Bahamas, is an archipelagic state within the Lucayan Archipelago. The capital is Nassau on the island of New Providence, the designation of the Bahamas can refer either to the country or to the larger island chain that it shares with the Turks and Caicos Islands. As stated in the mandate/manifesto of the Royal Bahamas Defence Force, the Bahamas is the site of Columbus first landfall in the New World in 1492. At that time, the islands were inhabited by the Lucayan, although the Spanish never colonised the Bahamas, they shipped the native Lucayans to slavery in Hispaniola. The islands were mostly deserted from 1513 until 1648, when English colonists from Bermuda settled on the island of Eleuthera, the Bahamas became a British Crown colony in 1718, when the British clamped down on piracy. After the American War of Independence, the Crown resettled thousands of American Loyalists in the Bahamas, they brought their slaves with them, Africans constituted the majority of the population from this period.
Slavery in the Bahamas was abolished in 1834, Today the descendants of slaves and free Africans make up nearly 90% of the population, issues related to the slavery years are part of society. The Bahamas became an independent Commonwealth realm in 1973, retaining Queen Elizabeth II as its monarch, in terms of gross domestic product per capita, the Bahamas is one of the richest countries in the Americas, with an economy based on tourism and finance. The name Bahamas is derived from either the Taino ba ha ma, alternatively, it may originate from Guanahani, a local name of unclear meaning. In English, the Bahamas is one of two countries whose self-standing short name begins with the word the, along with The Gambia. Taino people moved into the uninhabited southern Bahamas from Hispaniola and Cuba around the 11th century and they came to be known as the Lucayan people. An estimated 30,000 Lucayan inhabited the Bahamas at the time of Christopher Columbus arrival in 1492, Columbuss first landfall in the New World was on an island he named San Salvador.
Some researchers believe this site to be present-day San Salvador Island, an alternative theory holds that Columbus landed to the southeast on Samana Cay, according to calculations made in 1986 by National Geographic writer and editor Joseph Judge, based on Columbuss log. Evidence in support of this remains inconclusive, on the landfall island, Columbus made first contact with the Lucayan and exchanged goods with them. The Spanish forced much of the Lucayan population to Hispaniola for use as forced labour, the slaves suffered from harsh conditions and most died from contracting diseases to which they had no immunity, half of the Taino died from smallpox alone. The population of the Bahamas was severely diminished, in 1648, the Eleutherian Adventurers, led by William Sayle, migrated from Bermuda. These English Puritans established the first permanent European settlement on an island which they named Eleuthera—the name derives from the Greek word for freedom and they settled New Providence, naming it Sayles Island after one of their leaders.
To survive, the settlers salvaged goods from wrecks, in 1670 King Charles II granted the islands to the Lords Proprietors of the Carolinas in North America
Alexander Graham Bell
Alexander Graham Bell was a Scottish-born scientist, inventor and innovator who is credited with patenting the first practical telephone. Bells father and brother had all been associated with work on elocution and speech and his research on hearing and speech further led him to experiment with hearing devices which eventually culminated in Bell being awarded the first U. S. patent for the telephone in 1876. Bell considered his most famous invention an intrusion on his work as a scientist. Many other inventions marked Bells life, including groundbreaking work in optical telecommunications and aeronautics. Although Bell was not one of the 33 founders of the National Geographic Society, he had a influence on the magazine while serving as the second president from January 7,1898. Alexander Bell was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, on March 3,1847, the family home was at 16 South Charlotte Street, and has a stone inscription marking it as Alexander Graham Bells birthplace. He had two brothers, Melville James Bell and Edward Charles Bell, both of whom would die of tuberculosis and his father was Professor Alexander Melville Bell, a phonetician, and his mother was Eliza Grace.
Born as just Alexander Bell, at age 10, he made a plea to his father to have a name like his two brothers. To close relatives and friends he remained Aleck, as a child, young Bell displayed a natural curiosity about his world, resulting in gathering botanical specimens as well as experimenting even at an early age. His best friend was Ben Herdman, a neighbour whose family operated a flour mill, young Bell asked what needed to be done at the mill. In return, Bens father John Herdman gave both boys the run of a workshop in which to invent. From his early years, Bell showed a sensitive nature and a talent for art, with no formal training, he mastered the piano and became the familys pianist. Despite being normally quiet and introspective, he revelled in mimicry and he developed a technique of speaking in clear, modulated tones directly into his mothers forehead wherein she would hear him with reasonable clarity. Bells preoccupation with his mothers deafness led him to study acoustics and his family was long associated with the teaching of elocution, his grandfather, Alexander Bell, in London, his uncle in Dublin, and his father, in Edinburgh, were all elocutionists.
His father published a variety of works on the subject, several of which are well known, especially his The Standard Elocutionist. The Standard Elocutionist appeared in 168 British editions and sold over a quarter of a million copies in the United States alone, in this treatise, his father explains his methods of how to instruct deaf-mutes to articulate words and read other peoples lip movements to decipher meaning. Bells father taught him and his brothers not only to write Visible Speech but to any symbol. Bell became so proficient that he became a part of his fathers public demonstrations, as a young child, like his brothers, received his early schooling at home from his father
Ushuaia
Ushuaia is the capital of Tierra del Fuego, Antártida e Islas del Atlántico Sur Province, Argentina. It is commonly regarded as the southernmost city in the world, Ushuaia is located in a wide bay on the southern coast of Isla Grande de Tierra del Fuego, bounded on the north by the Martial mountain range, and on the south by the Beagle Channel. It is the municipality in the Department of Ushuaia, which has an area of 9,390 km2. It was founded October 12 of 1884 by Augusto Lasserre and is located on the shores of the Beagle Channel surrounded by the range of the Martial Glacier. Besides being a center, it is a light industrial port. The word Ushuaia comes from the language and waia. The act of creation of the Subprefecture, in 1884, cites the name Oshovia, the name is often pronounced u-sua-ia / uswa ja /, an exception to the orthographic rules of Castilian, since the form s syllables with the following u in spite of the h. Considering that an erroneous pronunciation could be given Usuaía, it is worth to clarify that the word Ushuaia has no tilde, and that the prosodic accent is in the first a.
Shield The municipality carried out a contest for the election of the image of the City Shield, approving by decree nº28, in 1971, the design of Vicente Gómez. Motto Ushuaia, end of the world, beginning of everything The Selk’nam Indians, called the Ona, the southern group of the Selk’nam, the Yaghan, occupied what is now Ushuaia, living in continual conflict with the northern inhabitants of the island. Ushuaia was founded informally by British missionaries, following previous British surveys, the British ship HMS Beagle, under the command of Captain Robert FitzRoy, first reached the channel on January 29,1833, during its maiden voyage surveying Tierra del Fuego. The city was named by early British missionaries using the native Yámana name for the area. Much of the history of the city and its hinterland is described in Lucas Bridges’s book Uttermost Part of the Earth. The name Ushuaia first appears in letters and reports of the South American Mission Society in England, the British missionary Waite Hockin Stirling became the first European to live in Ushuaia when he stayed with the Yámana people between 18 January and mid-September 1869.
In 1870 more British missionaries arrived to establish a small settlement, the following year the first marriage was performed. During 1872,36 baptisms and 7 marriages and the first European birth in Tierra del Fuego were registered, the first house constructed in Ushuaia was a pre-assembled 3 room home prepared in the Falkland Islands in 1870 for Reverend Thomas Bridges. One room was for the Bridges family, a second was for a Yámana married couple, while the third served as the chapel, during 1873, Juan and Clara Lawrence, the first Argentine citizens to visit Ushuaia, arrived to teach school. But only after the Boundary treaty of 1881 between Chile and Argentina did formal efforts get under way to establish the township and its prison, during the 1880s, many gold prospectors came to Ushuaia following rumors of large gold fields, which proved to be false
Manoeuvring thruster
A bow thruster or stern thruster is a transversal propulsion device built into, or mounted to, either the bow or stern, of a ship or boat, to make it more maneuverable. A stern thruster is of the principle, fitted at the stern. Large ships might have multiple bow thrusters and stern thrusters, large vessels usually have one or more tunnel thrusters built into the bow, below the waterline. An impeller in the tunnel can create thrust in either direction which makes the ship turn, most tunnel thrusters are driven by electric motors, but some are hydraulically powered. These bow thrusters, known as thrusters, may allow the ship to dock without the assistance of tugboats. Ships equipped with tunnel thrusters typically have a sign marked above the waterline over each thruster on both sides, as a big cross in a red circle. Tunnel thrusters increase the resistance to forward motion through the water. Ship operators should take care to prevent fouling of the tunnel, during vessel design, it is important to determine whether tunnel emergence above the water surface is commonplace in heavy seas.
Tunnel emergence hurts thruster performance, and may damage the thruster, instead of a tunnel thruster, boats from 30 to 80 feet in length may have an externally mounted bow thruster. Externally mounted bow thrusters have one or more propellers driven by a reversible electric motor which provides thrust in either direction. The added control provided by a bow thruster helps the captain to avoid accidents while docking, a waterjet thruster is a special type of bow thruster that utilizes a pumping device instead of a conventional propeller. The water is discharged through specially designed nozzles which increase the velocity of the exiting jet, waterjets generally have the advantage of smaller hull penetrations for an equivalent size thruster. Additionally, the exit velocity of the discharged water increases the relative efficiency as speeds of advance, or currents, increase. Some waterjet bow thrusters can be configured to forward and aft auxiliary propulsion
National Geographic Kids
National Geographic Kids is the child-focused brand of National Geographic Partners. National Geographic Kids magazine and Little Kids magazine are photo-driven publications and are available on newsstands or by subscription in print, the award-winning website natgeokids. com excites kids about the planet through games, contests, photos and blogs about cultures and destinations. National Geographic Kids Books is the leading nonfiction publisher with as many as 125 nonfiction titles each year, National Geographic Kids games and apps engage kids to learn through play, the online virtual animal world of Animal Jam and the Weird But True app being a few examples. National Geographic Kids is a magazine published by National Geographic Partners. The magazine is headquartered in Washington DC, the publication, which launched in 1975 as National Geographic World, adopted its current name in 2001. Designed for kids ages 6 to 14, Nat Geo Kids features stories about animals, technology, archaeology and pop culture, plus jokes, games, it’s the only children’s magazine with a scientific organization at its core.
National Geographic Kids puts out ten issues a year, and has 1.2 million subscribers and 4 million readers in the United States, the magazine has won several awards, including Folio Eddie and Parent’s Choice awards. Popular departments in the include, Weird But True Amazing Animals Cool Inventions Bet You Didn’t Know Guinness World Records Destination Space Wild Vacation All About Money. National Geographic Little Kids is a children’s preschool magazine published by National Geographic Partners, National Geographic Little Kids puts out six issues a year, and has a circulation of 370,000. The magazine has won the Parents’ Choice Gold Award every year its been published, National Geographic Kids Books is the leading children’s nonfiction publisher and the only publisher with the world’s leading scientific and research organization at its core. By giving kids access to National Geographic scientists, explorers and experts, the children’s books reflect the organization’s larger purpose, to inspire kids to learn about the planet and empower them to make it a better place.
Nat Geo Kids has a history of producing high-quality books for the classroom, library. Genres include illustrated reference, photography, guidebooks, subjects include history, nature, healthy living and travel. PreK–12 books align with and support the Common Core State Standards, Next Generation Science Standards, National Geographic Kids books are published in 32 languages around the world. Colorful graphics, beautiful photography, and rich content are hallmarks of Nat Geo Kids products, National Geographic Kids video content ranges from reality shows starring tweens and teens to fun, animated series and animal documentaries and shorts. These smart and engaging non-fiction videos inspire curiosity, promote learning about how the world works, short form video series include,50 Birds,50 States Amazing Animals Awesome Animals Mission Animal Rescue Moment of Real or Fake. National Geographic Kids videos can be found on the National Geographic Kids website, YouTube, NabiTab, MishMosh, ToonsTV, and Animal Jam.
A television bloc under the name Nat Geo Kids is licensed to broadcast exclusive children-focused National Geographic programs dubbed to Arabic on Majid TV in the MENA region
Ecuador
Ecuador includes the Galápagos Islands in the Pacific, about 1,000 kilometres west of the mainland. What is now Ecuador was home to a variety of Amerindian groups that were incorporated into the Inca Empire during the 15th century. The territory was colonized by Spain during the 16th century, achieving independence in 1820 as part of Gran Colombia, Spanish is the official language and is spoken by a majority of the population, though 13 Amerindian languages are recognized, including Quichua and Shuar. The capital city is Quito, while the largest city is Guayaquil, in reflection of the countrys rich cultural heritage, the historical center of Quito was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1978. Cuenca, the third-largest city, was declared a World Heritage Site in 1999 as an outstanding example of a planned. Ecuador has an economy that is highly dependent on commodities, namely petroleum. The country is classified as a medium-income country, Ecuador is a democratic presidential republic. The new constitution of 2008 is the first in the world to recognize legally enforceable Rights of Nature, Ecuador is known for its rich ecology, hosting many endemic plants and animals, such as those of the Galápagos Islands.
It is one of 17 megadiverse countries in the world, various peoples had settled in the area of the future Ecuador before the arrival of the Incas. They developed different languages while emerging as unique ethnic groups, even though their languages were unrelated, these groups developed similar groups of cultures, each based in different environments. Over time these groups began to interact and intermingle with each other so that groups of families in one area became one community or tribe, with a similar language and culture. Many civilizations arose in Ecuador, such as the Valdivia Culture and Machalilla Culture on the coast, the Quitus, each civilization developed its own distinctive architecture and religious interests. Eventually, through wars and marriage alliances of their leaders, a group of nations formed confederations, one region consolidated under a confederation called the Shyris, which exercised organized trading and bartering between the different regions. Its political and military came under the rule of the Duchicela blood-line.
The native confederations that gave them the most problems were deported to distant areas of Peru, similarly, a number of loyal Inca subjects from Peru and Bolivia were brought to Ecuador to prevent rebellion. Thus, the region of highland Ecuador became part of the Inca Empire in 1463 sharing the same language, in contrast, when the Incas made incursions into coastal Ecuador and the eastern Amazon jungles of Ecuador, they found both the environment and indigenous people more hostile. Moreover, when the Incas tried to subdue them, these indigenous people withdrew to the interior, as a result, Inca expansion into the Amazon basin and the Pacific coast of Ecuador was hampered. The indigenous people of the Amazon jungle and coastal Ecuador remained relatively autonomous until the Spanish soldiers, the Amazonian people and the Cayapas of Coastal Ecuador were the only groups to resist Inca and Spanish domination, maintaining their language and culture well into the 21st century
Cruise ship
Transportation is not the only purpose of cruising, particularly on cruises that return passengers to their originating port, with the ports of call usually in a specified region of a continent. There are even cruises to nowhere or nowhere voyages where the ship makes 2–3 night round trips without any ports of call, by contrast, dedicated transport oriented ocean liners do line voyages and typically transport passengers from one point to another, rather than on round trips. The gradual evolution of passenger ship design from ocean liners to cruise ships has seen passenger cabins shifted from inside the hull to the superstructure with private verandas, the distinction between ocean liners and cruise ships has blurred, particularly with respect to deployment. Larger cruise ships have engaged in longer trips such as transoceanic voyages which may not return to the port for months. Some former ocean liners operate as cruise ships, such as Marco Polo, the only dedicated transatlantic ocean liner in operation as a liner of December 2013 is Queen Mary 2 of the Cunard fleet.
The industrys rapid growth has seen nine or more newly built ships catering to a North American clientele added every year since 2001, smaller markets, such as the Asia-Pacific region, are generally serviced by older ships. These are displaced by new ships in the growth areas. The worlds largest cruise ship is currently Royal Caribbean Internationals Harmony of the Seas beating her sister ships by about 2.15 meters, the birth of leisure cruising began with the formation of the Peninsular & Oriental Steam Navigation Company in 1822. The company started out as a line with routes between England and the Iberian Peninsula, adopting the name Peninsular Steam Navigation Company. It won its first contract to deliver mail in 1837, in 1840, it began mail delivery to Alexandria, via Gibraltar and Malta. The company was incorporated by Royal Charter the same year, becoming the Peninsular, P&O first introduced passenger cruising services in 1844, advertising sea tours to destinations such as Gibraltar and Athens, sailing from Southampton.
The forerunner of modern cruise holidays, these voyages were the first of their kind, the company introduced round trips to destinations such as Alexandria and Constantinople. It underwent a period of expansion in the latter half of the 19th century, commissioning larger. Some sources mention Francesco I, flying the flag of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies and she was built in 1831 and sailed from Naples in early June 1833, preceded by an advertising campaign. The cruise ship was boarded by nobles and royal princes from all over Europe, however, it was restricted to the aristocracy of Europe and was not a commercial endeavour. Christian Wilhelm Allers published an account of it as Backschisch. The first vessel built exclusively for cruising, was Prinzessin Victoria Luise of Germany, designed by Albert Ballin. The ship was completed in 1900, the practice of luxury cruising made steady inroads on the more established market for transatlantic crossings
Gary Knell
He joined National Geographic as chief executive in January 2014. He has been a member of the Societys board of trustees since April 2013 and has served on the board of governors of the National Geographic Education Foundation since November 2003, from 2011 to 2013 he was president and CEO of National Public Radio NPR. Prior to that he served as CEO of Sesame Workshop from 2000–2011. Knell graduated from Grant High School in Los Angeles, while at UCLA, he worked on the schools newspaper, the Daily Bruin. Knells media career spans three decades. Before joining National Geographic as president and CEO in January 2014, Knell served as president and he led NPRs worldwide media operations, which include partnerships with 900 public radio stations. A strong advocate of innovation, he was a key driver in leveraging new technologies to advance NPRs core mission, Knell was CEO of Sesame Workshop for 12 years before joining NPR in 2011. He joined the company in 1989 and assumed the role of COO in 1998 before moving into the CEO role in 2000, during his tenure at Sesame, the organization expanded its revenue base and global recognition.
Knell was instrumental in focusing the organization on Sesame Streets worldwide mission, including the creation of groundbreaking co-productions in South Africa, Northern Ireland and Egypt. Prior to joining Sesame Workshop, Knell was managing director of Manager Media International, a print and multimedia publishing company based in Bangkok, Hong Kong, Knell is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. He serves on the boards of Heidrick & Struggles and Common Sense Media as well as the boards of the Military Child Education Coalition. He is an adviser to the Annenberg School of Communications at USC, Knell received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science from UCLA, where he served as Editorial Director of the UCLA Daily Bruin and was a stringer for the Associated Press. He received a JD from Loyola University School of Law in Los Angeles, Knell is married to Kim Larson, a non-profit fund raiser, and they have four children
Deadweight tonnage
Deadweight tonnage or tons deadweight is a measure of how much mass a ship is carrying or can safely carry, it does not include the weight of the ship. DWT is the sum of the weights of cargo, fresh water, ballast water, passengers, DWT is often used to specify a ships maximum permissible deadweight, although it may denote the actual DWT of a ship not loaded to capacity. Deadweight tonnage is a measure of a weight carrying capacity. It should not be confused with displacement which includes the ships own weight, nor other volume or capacity measures such as gross tonnage or net tonnage
National Geographic Adventure (magazine)
National Geographic Adventure was a magazine started in 1999 by the National Geographic Society in the United States. The first issue was published in Spring 1999, regular publication of the magazine ended in December 2009, and the name was reused for a biannual newsstand publication. The last issue was December 2009/January 2010, the magazine covered adventure travel, environmental issues, natural science, and other topics related to the outdoors. Next Weekend, that featured good weekend trips from all across the U. S, where Next, that featured vacation destinations across the world Annually, a slate of adventurers were named National Geographic Adventure Adventurer of the Year, in a variety of categories. For example, the December 2008/January 2009 issue named Fourteen people who dreamed big, pushed their limits, john Rasmus served as the editor-in-chief of the magazine from its inception to its closure
Bridge (nautical)
The bridge of a ship is the room or platform from which the ship can be commanded. When a ship is underway the bridge is manned by an OOW aided usually by an AB acting as lookout. During critical maneuvers the captain will be on the bridge supported, perhaps, by an OOW as a set of hands. Wheelhouses are the small enclosed parts of a bridge that historically held the ships wheel, ships bridges do not have a separate wheelhouse, the term wheelhouse or pilothouse is used nowadays to refer to the smaller bridges of small vessels, such as tugs. Traditionally, sailing ships were commanded from the quarterdeck, aft of the mainmast, with the arrival of paddle steamers, engineers required a platform from which they could inspect the paddle wheels and where the captains view would not be obstructed by the paddle houses. A raised walkway, literally a bridge, connecting the houses was therefore provided. When the screw propeller superseded the paddle wheel, the bridge was retained, helm orders would be passed to an enclosed wheel house, where the coxswain or helmsman operated the ships wheel.
Engine commands would be relayed to the engineer in the room by an engine order telegraph that displayed the captains orders on a dial. The engineer would ensure that the combination of steam pressure. Iron, and steel, ships required a compass platform and this was usually a tower, where a magnetic compass could be sited far away as possible from the ferrous interference of the hulk of the ship. Depending upon the design and layout of a ship, all of these terms can be variously interchangeable, larger ships, particularly warships, often had a number of different bridges. A navigation bridge would be used for the conning of the ship. A separate admirals bridge could be provided in flagships, where the admiral could exercise control over his fleet without interfering with the Captains tactical command of the vessel. In older warships, an armored conning tower was often provided. Modern advances in remote control equipment have seen progressive transfer of the control of the ship to the bridge.
The wheel and throttles can be operated directly from the bridge, aboard modern warships it is common that actual commanding is carried out on the bridge while weapon systems are controlled from a room usually deep inside the vessel. This enables a redundant setup in which the vessel is able to fight in case one of the command instances has been hit or destroyed. On a commercial vessel, the bridge will contain the equipment necessary to navigate a vessel on passage
