1.
Sylmar, Los Angeles
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Sylmar is a neighborhood in the San Fernando Valley region of Los Angeles, California. Historically, known for its profusion of olive orchards, Sylmar can trace its past to the 18th century, in 1890, olive production was begun in a systematic manner. The Sylmar climate was considered healthy, and so a sanitarium was established. There are fourteen public and eight private schools within Sylmar. The population of the Sylmar area was roughly 3,500 in 1940,10,000 in 1950,31,000 in 1962,40,000 in 1972,41,922 in 1980 and 53,392 in 1986. By 2000, a wave of immigrants and working poor had enveloped Sylmar, Pacoima, Arleta and Sun Valley, resulting in a housing shortage for lower-income people. The 2000 U. S. census counted 69,499 residents in the 12. 46-square-mile Sylmar neighborhood—or 5,579 people per square mile, in 2008, the city estimated that the population had increased to 79,614. In 2009, the Sylmar Chamber of Commerce estimated that the population was approximately 90,000 residents, in 1980 Sylmar was predominantly white, the ethnic breakdown being 58% white and 36% Latino. Twenty years later, in 2000, the neighborhood was considered moderately diverse ethnically within Los Angeles, with a relatively high percentage of Latinos. The breakdown in 2000 was Latinos,69. 8%, whites,20. 7%, blacks,4. 1%, Asians,3. 4%, and others,2. 0%. Mexico and El Salvador were the most common places of birth for the 36. 7% of the residents who were born abroad—an average figure for Los Angeles, in 2000 the median age for residents was 28, considered young for city and county neighborhoods. In 2000, renters occupied 29. 2% of the housing stock, the average household size of 3.6 people was considered high for Los Angeles. The percentage of married women was among the countys highest, there were 3,607 veterans, or 7. 7% of the population, average for the city of Los Angeles and the county. The median yearly income in 2008 dollars was $65,783. San Fernando became a city in 1874, leading to the naming of the land surrounding San Fernando as Morningside. In 1893 the area was named Sylmar, around 2000, some local residents proposed a plan to rename the northwest portion of the district as Rancho Cascades. Sylmar has been nicknamed The Top of Los Angeles, one observer recalled that the land had been a mass of ill-looking chapparal and chemisal before it was planted with olives. Experts were brought from France to supervise the work, calling themselves the Los Angeles Olive Growers Association, they built a packing plant and sold olives under the Tyler Olives label, later changing to the Sylmar Packing label
2.
Geographic coordinate system
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A geographic coordinate system is a coordinate system used in geography that enables every location on Earth to be specified by a set of numbers, letters or symbols. The coordinates are chosen such that one of the numbers represents a vertical position. A common choice of coordinates is latitude, longitude and elevation, to specify a location on a two-dimensional map requires a map projection. The invention of a coordinate system is generally credited to Eratosthenes of Cyrene. Ptolemy credited him with the adoption of longitude and latitude. Ptolemys 2nd-century Geography used the prime meridian but measured latitude from the equator instead. Mathematical cartography resumed in Europe following Maximus Planudes recovery of Ptolemys text a little before 1300, in 1884, the United States hosted the International Meridian Conference, attended by representatives from twenty-five nations. Twenty-two of them agreed to adopt the longitude of the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, the Dominican Republic voted against the motion, while France and Brazil abstained. France adopted Greenwich Mean Time in place of local determinations by the Paris Observatory in 1911, the latitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle between the equatorial plane and the straight line that passes through that point and through the center of the Earth. Lines joining points of the same latitude trace circles on the surface of Earth called parallels, as they are parallel to the equator, the north pole is 90° N, the south pole is 90° S. The 0° parallel of latitude is designated the equator, the plane of all geographic coordinate systems. The equator divides the globe into Northern and Southern Hemispheres, the longitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle east or west of a reference meridian to another meridian that passes through that point. All meridians are halves of great ellipses, which converge at the north and south poles, the prime meridian determines the proper Eastern and Western Hemispheres, although maps often divide these hemispheres further west in order to keep the Old World on a single side. The antipodal meridian of Greenwich is both 180°W and 180°E, the combination of these two components specifies the position of any location on the surface of Earth, without consideration of altitude or depth. The grid formed by lines of latitude and longitude is known as a graticule, the origin/zero point of this system is located in the Gulf of Guinea about 625 km south of Tema, Ghana. To completely specify a location of a feature on, in, or above Earth. Earth is not a sphere, but a shape approximating a biaxial ellipsoid. It is nearly spherical, but has an equatorial bulge making the radius at the equator about 0. 3% larger than the radius measured through the poles, the shorter axis approximately coincides with the axis of rotation
3.
De Dion-Bouton
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De Dion-Bouton was a French automobile manufacturer and railcar manufacturer operating from 1883 to 1932. The company was founded by the Marquis Jules-Albert de Dion, Georges Bouton, the company was formed after de Dion in 1881 saw a toy locomotive in a store window and asked the toymakers to build another. Engineers Bouton and Trépardoux had been eking a living on scientific toys at a shop in the Passage de Léon, Trépardoux had long dreamed of building a steam car, but neither could afford it. De Dion, already inspired by steam and with money, agreed. This became the De Dion-Bouton automobile company, the worlds largest automobile manufacturer for a time, becoming known for their quality, reliability. Before 1883 was over they had set up shop in larger premises in the Passage de Léon, Paris, tried and dropped steam engines for boats, and produced a steam car. With the boiler and engine mounted at the front, driving the front wheels by belts and steering with the rear and they built a second, La Marquise, the next year, with a more conventional steering and rear-wheel drive, capable of seating four. The Marquis de Dion entered one of these in an 1887 trial, Europes first motoring competition, the brainchild of one M. Fossier of cycling magazine Le Vélocipède. Evidently, the promotion was insufficient, for the De Dion was the entrant, but it completed the course, with de Dion at the tiller. This must be taken with care, the first official land speed record. The vehicle survives, in condition, and has been a regular entry in the London to Brighton Veteran Car Run. Following this singular success, the company offered steam tricycles with boilers between the front wheels and two-cylinder engines and they were built in small numbers, evidently a favorite of young playboys. They were later joined by a tractor, able to pull trailers. On July 22,1894, Paris–Rouen race, it averaged 18.7 km/h over the 126 km route, two more cars were made in 1885 followed by a series of lightweight two-cylinder tricars, which from 1892 had Michelin pneumatic tyres. The company manufactured steam buses and trucks until 1904, trepardoux, staunchly supporting steam, resigned in 1894 as the company turned to internal combustion vehicles. The steam car remained in more or less unchanged for ten years more. By 1889, de Dion was becoming convinced the future lay in the combustion engine. After Trépardoux resigned in 1894, the company became De Dion, Bouton et Compagnie, for 1895, Bouton created a new 137 cc one-cylinder engine with trembler coil ignition
4.
Cord (automobile)
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Cord was the brand name of an American automobile company from Connersville, Indiana, manufactured by the Auburn Automobile Company from 1929 to 1932 and again in 1936 and 1937. The Cord Corporation was founded and run by E. L. Cord as a company for his many transportation interests. Cord was noted for its technology and streamlined designs. Cord had a philosophy to build truly different, innovative cars, believing they would sell well. This did not always work well in practice, Cord innovations include front-wheel drive on the L-29 and hidden headlamps on the 810 and 812. Hidden headlamps did not become common as a feature until the 1960s. The early Oldsmobile Toronados, whose GM stylists later stated they were trying to capture the feel of the Cords design, servo shifting was accomplished through a bendix electro-vacuum pre-selector mechanism. This was the first American front-wheel drive car to be offered to the public, beating the Ruxton automobile by several months, in 1929. The brainchild of former Miller engineer Carl Van Ranst, its drive system borrowed from the Indianapolis 500-dominating racers, using the same de Dion layout and this allowed it to be much lower than competing cars. Both stock cars and special bodies built on the Cord chassis by American and European coachbuilders won prizes in contests worldwide, still, the styling was lovely, and despite the 137.5 in wheelbase and steering demanding fully four turns lock-to-lock, handling was reportedly superb. Priced around US$3,000, it was competitive with Cadillac, Marmon, Lincoln, Packard, Franklin, and Stutz and it could not outrun the Great Depression, and by 1932, it was discontinued, with just 4,400 sold. Wheelbase was 137.5 and the height of the sedan was 61, the Model 810/812 are probably the best-known of the companys products. Styled by Gordon M. Buehrig, they featured front-wheel drive and independent front suspension, powered by a 4,739 cc Lycoming V8 of the same 125 hp horsepower as the L-29, the 810 had a four-speed electrically-selected semi-automatic transmission, among other innovative features. The car caused a sensation at the New York Auto Show in November 1935, orders were taken at the show with Cord promising Christmas delivery, expecting production of 1,000 per month. Production delays pushed the delivery date to February 1936. This proved optimistic, the first production vehicles were not delivered until April, in all, Cord managed to sell only 1,174 of the new 810 in its first model year. The car is known for the flat front nose with a louvered grille design. The front was so similar in look to a coffin, the car was often called Coffin Nose, early reliability problems, including slipping out of gear and vapor lock, cooled initial enthusiasm, and the dealer base shrank rapidly
5.
Du Pont Motors
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Du Pont Motors was founded by E. Paul du Pont to produce marine engines for the Allied nations in World War I. After the war, the Du Pont Motor Company produced extremely high-end automobiles, the cars were manufactured in Wilmington, Delaware. E. Paul du Ponts resources allowed him to hire quality automotive, the companys first product, the Model A, was introduced at the 1919 International Salon at the Commodore Hotel in New York City. The Model G was introduced in 1928 with a 5.3 liter side-valve straight eight engine of 125 hp, between 1919 and 1931, Du Pont produced only some 537 automobiles, most of which no longer exist. They were compared to such cars as Packard, Cadillac and even Duesenberg. Customers included Mary Pickford, Douglas Fairbanks, Will Rogers and Jack Dempsey, the company went bankrupt in 1932 and merged into the Indian Motorcycle Company when E. Paul du Pont purchased the Indian Company. Du Pont family Indian List of defunct United States automobile manufacturers History of the automobile
6.
Irene Dunne
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Irene Dunne was an American film actress and singer of the 1930s, 1940s and early 1950s. Dunne was nominated five times for the Academy Award for Best Actress, for her performances in Cimarron, Theodora Goes Wild, The Awful Truth, Love Affair, in 1985, Dunne was given Kennedy Center Honors for her services to the arts. Born in Louisville, Kentucky, to Joseph John Dunn, an inspector for the United States government, and Adelaide Henry. Irene Dunne would later write, No triumph of either my stage or screen career has ever rivalled the excitement of trips down the Mississippi on the boats with my father. She was fourteen when her father died on April 6,1913 and she saved all of his letters and often remembered and lived by what he told her the night before he died, Happiness is never an accident. It is the prize we get when we choose wisely from lifes great stores, following her fathers death, Irene, her mother, and her younger brother Charles moved to her mothers hometown of Madison, Indiana. Dunnes mother taught her to play the piano as a small girl. According to Dunne, Music was as natural as breathing in our house, Dunne was raised as a devout Roman Catholic. Nicknamed Dunnie, she took piano and voice lessons, sang in local churches, Dunne earned a diploma to teach art, but took a chance on a contest and won a prestigious scholarship to the Chicago Musical College, where she graduated in 1926. With a soprano voice, she had hopes of becoming an opera singer, Irene, after adding an e to her surname, turned to musical theater. She toured several cities in 1921–22 playing the lead role in the popular play Irene. The following year, Dunne played a season of opera in Atlanta. Though in her own words Dunne created no great furor, by 1929 she had a successful Broadway career playing leading roles, grateful to be at center stage rather than in the chorus line. On July 16,1927, Dunne married Francis Griffin, a New York dentist, despite differing opinions and battles that raged furiously, Dunne eventually agreed to marry him and leave the theater. She was discovered by Hollywood while starring with the company of Show Boat in 1929. She signed a contract with RKO and appeared in her first movie in 1930, Leathernecking, already in her thirties when she made her first film, she would be in competition with younger actresses for roles, and found it advantageous to evade questions that would reveal her age. Her publicists encouraged the belief that she was born in 1901 or 1904, Dunne moved to Hollywood with her mother and brother and maintained a long-distance marriage with her husband in New York until he joined her in California in 1936. That year, she re-created her role as Magnolia in what is considered the film version of the famous musical Show Boat
7.
Packard
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Packard was an American luxury automobile marque built by the Packard Motor Car Company of Detroit, Michigan, United States, and later by the Studebaker-Packard Corporation of South Bend, Indiana. The first Packard automobiles were produced in 1899, and the last in 1958, with one of the last concept cars built in 1956, henry Bourne Joy, a member of one of Detroits oldest and wealthiest families, bought a Packard. Impressed by its reliability, he visited the Packards and soon enlisted a group of investors—including Truman Handy Newberry, on October 2,1902, this group refinanced and renamed the New York and Ohio Automobile Company as the Packard Motor Car Company, with James Packard as president. Alger later served as vice president, Packard moved operations to Detroit soon after, and Joy became general manager. An original Packard, reputedly the first manufactured, was donated by a grateful James Packard to his alma mater, Lehigh University, another is on display at the Packard Museum in Warren, Ohio. In the beginning, all Packards had a single-cylinder engine until 1903, Packard produced its Twin Six model series of 12-cylinder cars from 1915 to 1923. The marque developed a following among wealthy purchasers both in the United States and abroad, competing with European marques like Rolls-Royce and Mercedes Benz, the 3,500, 000-square-foot Packard plant on East Grand Boulevard in Detroit was located on over 40 acres of land. Its skilled craftsmen practiced over 80 trades, the dilapidated plant still stands, despite repeated fires. The factory is in proximity to the current General Motors Detroit/Hamtramck Assembly. Architect Kahn also designed the Packard Proving Grounds at Utica, Michigan, from this beginning, through and beyond the 1930s, Packard-built vehicles were perceived as highly competitive among high-priced luxury American automobiles. The company was referred to as being one of the Three Ps of American motordom royalty, along with Pierce-Arrow of Buffalo, New York and Peerless of Cleveland. For most of its history, Packard was guided by its President and General Manager James Alvan Macauley, inducted into the Automobile Hall of Fame, Macauley made Packard the number one designer and producer of luxury automobiles in the United States. The marque was also highly competitive abroad, with markets in 61 countries, gross income for the company was $21,889,000 in 1928. Macauley was also responsible for the iconic Packard slogan, Ask the Man Who Owns One, in the 1920s, Packard exported more cars than any other in its price class, and in 1930, sold almost twice as many abroad as any other marque priced over $2000. In 1931,10 Packards were owned by Japans royal family, between 1924 and 1930, Packard was also the top-selling luxury brand. In addition to excellent luxury cars, Packard built trucks, a Packard truck carrying a three-ton load drove from New York City to San Francisco between 8 July and 24 August 1912. The same year, Packard had service depots in 104 cities, the Packard Motor Corporation Building at Philadelphia, also designed by Albert Kahn, was built in 1910-1911. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1980, by 1931, Packards were also being produced in Canada
8.
Duesenberg
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Duesenberg Motors Company was an American manufacturer of race cars and luxury automobiles. It was founded by brothers August and Frederick Duesenberg in 1913 in Saint Paul, Minnesota, the brothers moved their operations to Elizabeth, New Jersey in 1916 to manufacture engines for World War I. Cord added Duesenberg to his Auburn Automobile Company, with the market for expensive luxury cars severely undercut by the Depression, Duesenberg folded in 1937. In 1913, brothers Fred and Augie Duesenberg founded Duesenberg Motors Company, Inc. on University Avenue in St. Paul, Minnesota, to build engines, the brothers were self-taught engineers and built many experimental cars. Duesenberg cars were considered some of the best cars of the time, in 1914, Eddie Rickenbacker drove a Duesy to finish in 10th place at the Indianapolis 500, and Duesenberg won the race in 1924,1925, and 1927. The fledgling company sidestepped into aviation engine manufacturing when Colonel R. C. Bolling, the end of World War I stopped this project before it could ever mature. In 1921, Duesenberg provided the car for the Indy 500. In 1923, Jimmy Murphy became the first American to win the French Grand Prix when he drove a Duesenberg to victory at Le Mans. At the end of World War I, they ceased building aviation and marine engines in Elizabeth, New Jersey at the corner of Newark Avenue, was established in 1920 to begin production of passenger cars. The plant was located on a 17-acre site on West Washington street at Harding street until 1937, although the Duesenberg brothers were world-class engineers, they were neither good businessmen nor administrators, they were unable to sell all the units of their first passenger car, the Model A. This had the Duesenberg Straight-8 engine, the first mass-produced straight eight engine in the U. S, the Model A was a lighter and smaller vehicle than the competition. It was among the most powerful and the fastest cars of its time, among the celebrities who purchased this model were Tom Mix and Rudolph Valentino. The model experienced various delays going from prototype to production, deliveries to dealers did not start until December 1921. Sales lagged and the goal of building 100 Duesenbergs each month proved far too high, in 1922 no more than 150 cars were manufactured, and only 650 Model As were sold over a period of six years. The brothers continued to create excellent engines for cars, boats, on March 8,1920, these men became president and vice president of the Duesenberg Automobile and Motors Corporation of Indianapolis. Fred was chief engineer and Augie his assistant, and both were salaried as employees, van Zandt quit after a year, and business went from bad to worse in 1923. In 1924 the company went into receivership, but somehow it survived that year, in 1925, the firms name was changed to Duesenberg Motors Corporation and Fred assumed the title of president. Fred and August struggled to keep the company, but to no avail, Model X Duesenbergs are very rare
9.
California
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California is the most populous state in the United States and the third most extensive by area. Located on the western coast of the U. S, California is bordered by the other U. S. states of Oregon, Nevada, and Arizona and shares an international border with the Mexican state of Baja California. Los Angeles is Californias most populous city, and the second largest after New York City. The Los Angeles Area and the San Francisco Bay Area are the nations second- and fifth-most populous urban regions, California also has the nations most populous county, Los Angeles County, and its largest county by area, San Bernardino County. The Central Valley, an agricultural area, dominates the states center. What is now California was first settled by various Native American tribes before being explored by a number of European expeditions during the 16th and 17th centuries, the Spanish Empire then claimed it as part of Alta California in their New Spain colony. The area became a part of Mexico in 1821 following its war for independence. The western portion of Alta California then was organized as the State of California, the California Gold Rush starting in 1848 led to dramatic social and demographic changes, with large-scale emigration from the east and abroad with an accompanying economic boom. If it were a country, California would be the 6th largest economy in the world, fifty-eight percent of the states economy is centered on finance, government, real estate services, technology, and professional, scientific and technical business services. Although it accounts for only 1.5 percent of the states economy, the story of Calafia is recorded in a 1510 work The Adventures of Esplandián, written as a sequel to Amadis de Gaula by Spanish adventure writer Garci Rodríguez de Montalvo. The kingdom of Queen Calafia, according to Montalvo, was said to be a land inhabited by griffins and other strange beasts. This conventional wisdom that California was an island, with maps drawn to reflect this belief, shortened forms of the states name include CA, Cal. Calif. and US-CA. Settled by successive waves of arrivals during the last 10,000 years, various estimates of the native population range from 100,000 to 300,000. The Indigenous peoples of California included more than 70 distinct groups of Native Americans, ranging from large, settled populations living on the coast to groups in the interior. California groups also were diverse in their organization with bands, tribes, villages. Trade, intermarriage and military alliances fostered many social and economic relationships among the diverse groups, the first European effort to explore the coast as far north as the Russian River was a Spanish sailing expedition, led by Portuguese captain Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo, in 1542. Some 37 years later English explorer Francis Drake also explored and claimed a portion of the California coast in 1579. Spanish traders made unintended visits with the Manila galleons on their trips from the Philippines beginning in 1565
10.
Autoweek
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Autoweek is an American fortnightly automotive enthusiast publication based in Detroit, Michigan. It was first published in 1958 and in 1977 the publication was purchased by Crain Communications Inc, the magazine covers auto racing, auto shows, vehicle trends, reviews and automotive lifestyle stories. It is also available via autoweek. com and on the iPad, the Autoweek Media Group also includes an Autoweek iPhone and iPad app. Autoweek began publication in 1958 as a bi-weekly motorsports newsletter, titled Competition Press, one of the editors involved with the creation of the magazine was professional racer Denise McCluggage. In 1964, distribution was changed to weekly, the title was changed to Competition Press & Autoweek, the name was shortened to Autoweek in 1975. In 1977, the paper was purchased by Crain Communications, Inc. in 1988, Leon Mandel was named Publisher, a position he held until November,2001. Leon’s son, Dutch Mandel, joined Autoweek in 1997 and as of 2012 is the magazine’s Editorial Director, distribution frequency was changed from weekly to fortnightly in 2009. In January 1,2013, shopautoweek. com merged with autoweek. com, at its launch Autoweek aimed to provide information for car and racing enthusiasts that was not readily available through other media outlets. The publication gave thorough coverage of major and minor races, as well as auto shows, auto racing coverage included full grids, qualifying times, speeds, and tires, for both amateur and professional races. As television and cable began increasing motorsports coverage during the 1970s, 1980s, as of 2012, in addition to covering auto racing and auto shows, Autoweek covers vehicle trends, reviews and automotive lifestyle stories. Autoweeks Vinsetta Garage is a show that ran from January 3,2012 on Discovery Channels Velocity TV until December that year. The show was hosted by Courtney Hansen and guests included automotive executives, musicians, race car drivers, the shows name came from the Vinsetta Garage, which opened in 1919 and is located on Woodward Avenue in Berkley, about 20 miles north of Detroit. Constructed when Woodward Avenue was still a road, the garage began as a gas station that serviced horse-drawn carriages. Later the garage took on the role of car repair shop. After 91 years, its doors were closed in 2010 and it was being converted into a restaurant
Media related to Nethercutt Collection at Wikimedia Commons