1.
NASA
–
President Dwight D. Eisenhower established NASA in 1958 with a distinctly civilian orientation encouraging peaceful applications in space science. The National Aeronautics and Space Act was passed on July 29,1958, disestablishing NASAs predecessor, the new agency became operational on October 1,1958. Since that time, most US space exploration efforts have led by NASA, including the Apollo Moon landing missions, the Skylab space station. Currently, NASA is supporting the International Space Station and is overseeing the development of the Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle, the agency is also responsible for the Launch Services Program which provides oversight of launch operations and countdown management for unmanned NASA launches. NASA shares data with various national and international such as from the Greenhouse Gases Observing Satellite. Since 2011, NASA has been criticized for low cost efficiency, from 1946, the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics had been experimenting with rocket planes such as the supersonic Bell X-1. In the early 1950s, there was challenge to launch a satellite for the International Geophysical Year. An effort for this was the American Project Vanguard, after the Soviet launch of the worlds first artificial satellite on October 4,1957, the attention of the United States turned toward its own fledgling space efforts. This led to an agreement that a new federal agency based on NACA was needed to conduct all non-military activity in space. The Advanced Research Projects Agency was created in February 1958 to develop technology for military application. On July 29,1958, Eisenhower signed the National Aeronautics and Space Act, a NASA seal was approved by President Eisenhower in 1959. Elements of the Army Ballistic Missile Agency and the United States Naval Research Laboratory were incorporated into NASA, earlier research efforts within the US Air Force and many of ARPAs early space programs were also transferred to NASA. In December 1958, NASA gained control of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, NASA has conducted many manned and unmanned spaceflight programs throughout its history. Some missions include both manned and unmanned aspects, such as the Galileo probe, which was deployed by astronauts in Earth orbit before being sent unmanned to Jupiter, the experimental rocket-powered aircraft programs started by NACA were extended by NASA as support for manned spaceflight. This was followed by a space capsule program, and in turn by a two-man capsule program. This goal was met in 1969 by the Apollo program, however, reduction of the perceived threat and changing political priorities almost immediately caused the termination of most of these plans. NASA turned its attention to an Apollo-derived temporary space laboratory, to date, NASA has launched a total of 166 manned space missions on rockets, and thirteen X-15 rocket flights above the USAF definition of spaceflight altitude,260,000 feet. The X-15 was an NACA experimental rocket-powered hypersonic research aircraft, developed in conjunction with the US Air Force, the design featured a slender fuselage with fairings along the side containing fuel and early computerized control systems
NASA
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1963 photo showing Dr. William H. Pickering, (center) JPL Director, President John F. Kennedy, (right). NASA Administrator James Webb in background. They are discussing the
Mariner program, with a model presented.
NASA
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Seal of NASA
NASA
–
At launch control for the May 28, 1964,
Saturn I SA-6 launch.
Wernher von Braun is at center.
NASA
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Mercury-Atlas 6 launch on February 20, 1962
2.
Vancouver Island
–
Vancouver Island is in the northeastern Pacific Ocean, just off the coast of Canada. It is part of the Canadian province of British Columbia, the island is 460 kilometres in length,100 kilometres in width at its widest point, and 32,134 km2 in area. It is the largest island on the West Coast of North America and this area has one of the warmest climates in Canada, and since the mid-1990s has been mild enough in a few areas to grow subtropical Mediterranean crops such as olives and lemons. Vancouver Island has a population of 759,366 according to the Canada 2011 Census, nearly half of that figure live in the metropolitan area of Greater Victoria. Other notable cities and towns on Vancouver Island include Nanaimo, Port Alberni, Parksville, Courtenay, and Campbell River. Victoria, the city of British Columbia, is located on the island. Vancouver Island has been the homeland to many indigenous peoples for thousands of years, the island was explored by British and Spanish expeditions in the late 18th century. Quadras name was dropped from the name. It is one of several North American locations named after George Vancouver, Vancouver Island is the worlds 43rd largest island, Canadas 11th largest island, and Canadas second most populous island after the Island of Montreal. It is the largest Pacific island anywhere east of New Zealand, Vancouver Island has been the homeland to many indigenous peoples for thousands of years. The groupings, by language, are the Kwakwakawakw, Nuu-chah-nulth and their cultures are connected to the natural resources abundant in the area. The Kwakwakawakw today number about 5,500, who live in British Columbia on northern Vancouver Island and they are also known as Kwakiutl in English, from one of their tribes, but they prefer their autonym Kwakwakawakw. Their indigenous language, part of the Wakashan family, is Kwakwala, the name Kwakwakawakw means speakers of Kwakwala. The language is now spoken by less than 5% of the population—about 250 people, today 17 separate tribes make up the Kwakwakawakw. Some Kwakwakawakw groups are now extinct, Kwakwala is a Northern Wakashan language, a grouping shared with Haisla, Heiltsuk and Wuikyala. The Nuu-chah-nulth are indigenous peoples in Canada and their traditional home is on the west coast of Vancouver Island. The Nuu-chah-nulth speak a Southern Wakashan language and are related to the Makah of the Olympic Peninsula, Washington State. The Coast Salish are the largest of the southern groups and they are a loose grouping of many tribes with numerous distinct cultures and languages
Vancouver Island
–
Vancouver Island is separated from mainland British Columbia by the Strait of Georgia and Queen Charlotte Strait, and from Washington by the Juan De Fuca Strait.
Vancouver Island
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Vancouver Island
Vancouver Island
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A Kwakwaka'wakw wedding ceremony in 1914
Vancouver Island
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Dionisio Alcalá Galiano was the first European to circumnavigate Vancouver Island
3.
John Webber
–
John Webber RA was an English artist who accompanied Captain Cook on his third Pacific expedition. He is best known for his images of Australasia, Hawaii, Webber was born in London, educated in Bern and studied painting at Paris. His father was Abraham Wäber, a Swiss sculptor who had moved to London, Webber served as official artist on James Cooks third voyage of discovery around the Pacific aboard HMS Resolution. At Adventure Bay in January 1777 he did drawings of A Man of Van Diemens Land and he also did many drawings of scenes in New Zealand and the South Sea islands. On this voyage, during which Cook lost his life in a fight in Hawaii, Webber became the first European artist to make contact with Hawaii and he made numerous watercolor landscapes of the islands of Kauai and Hawaii, and also portrayed many of the Hawaiian people. In April 1778, Captain Cooks ships Resolution and Discovery anchored at Ship Cove, now known as Nootka Sound, Vancouver Island, the crew took observations and recorded encounters with the local people. Webber made watercolour landscapes including Resolution and Discovery in Ship Cove,1778 and his drawings and paintings were engraved for British Admiraltys account of the expedition, which was published in 1784. Back in England in 1780 Webber exhibited around 50 works at Royal Academy exhibitions between 1784 and 1792, and was elected an associate of the Royal Academy in 1785, most of his work were landscapes. Sometimes figures were included as in A Party from H. M. S, Resolution shooting sea horses, which was shown at the academy in 1784, and his The Death of Captain Cook became well known through an engraving of it. Another version of this picture is in the William Dixson gallery at Sydney and his Young Woman of the Sandwich Islands is in San Antonio Museum of Art. Biography at the Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online
John Webber
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John Webber
John Webber
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'A Chief of the Sandwich Islands' (oil), 1787
John Webber
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'Abbey Mill, Shrewsbury' (oil)
John Webber
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Kealakekua Bay and the Village Kowroaa, 1779 ink wash and watercolor by John Webber,
Honolulu Museum of Art
4.
Sound (geography)
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In geography, a sound is a large sea or ocean inlet larger than a bay, deeper than a bight, and wider than a fjord, or a narrow sea or ocean channel between two bodies of land. There is little consistency in the use of sound in English-language place names, a sound is often formed by the seas flooding a river valley. This produces a long inlet where the sloping valley hillsides descend to sea-level, the Marlborough Sounds in New Zealand are a good example of this type of formation. Sometimes a sound is produced by a glaciers carving out a valley on a coast then receding, the glacier produces a sound that often has steep, near vertical sides that extend deep under water. The sea floor is flat and deeper at the landward end than the seaward end. This type of sound is more properly termed a fjord, the sounds in Fiordland, New Zealand, have been formed this way. A sound generally connotes a protected anchorage, in the more general northern European usage, a sound is a strait or the most narrow part of a strait. In Scandinavia and around the Baltic Sea, there are more than a hundred straits named Sund and it is also a colloquial short name, among others, for Plymouth Sound, England. Pamlico Sound is a lagoon that lies between North Carolina and its barrier beaches, the Outer Banks, in a similar situation. The Mississippi Sound separates the Gulf of Mexico from the mainland, along much of the coasts of Alabama. On the West Coast, Puget Sound, by contrast, is an arm of the ocean. The term sound is derived from the Anglo-Saxon or Old Norse word sund, the word sund is already documented in Old Norse and Old English as meaning gap. This suggests a relation to verbs meaning to separate, such as absondern and aussondern, söndra, sondre, as well as the English noun sin, German Sünde, English has also the adjective asunder and the noun sundry, and Swedish has the adjective sönder. In Swedish and in both Norwegian languages, sund is the term for any strait. In Swedish and Nynorsk, it is part of names worldwide, such as in Swedish Berings sund and Gibraltar sund. The Malampaya Natural Gas Project is named after this area because it is close to it, george Sound in Appalachicola Bay, Florida St
Sound (geography)
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The Aldersund in
Helgeland (Norway) separates the island of
Aldra (left side) from the continent.
Sound (geography)
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View over the
Øresund (English: The Sound), from
Helsingborg,
Sweden
Sound (geography)
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Puget Sound, as seen from the
Space Needle
Sound (geography)
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A
live oak on
Knotts Island, North Carolina, overlooks the
Currituck Sound.
5.
Pacific Ocean
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The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of the Earths oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south and is bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, the Mariana Trench in the western North Pacific is the deepest point in the world, reaching a depth of 10,911 metres. Both the center of the Water Hemisphere and the Western Hemisphere are in the Pacific Ocean, the oceans current name was coined by Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan during the Spanish circumnavigation of the world in 1521, as he encountered favourable winds on reaching the ocean. He called it Mar Pacífico, which in both Portuguese and Spanish means peaceful sea, important human migrations occurred in the Pacific in prehistoric times. Long-distance trade developed all along the coast from Mozambique to Japan, trade, and therefore knowledge, extended to the Indonesian islands but apparently not Australia. By at least 878 when there was a significant Islamic settlement in Canton much of trade was controlled by Arabs or Muslims. In 219 BC Xu Fu sailed out into the Pacific searching for the elixir of immortality, from 1404 to 1433 Zheng He led expeditions into the Indian Ocean. The east side of the ocean was discovered by Spanish explorer Vasco Núñez de Balboa in 1513 after his expedition crossed the Isthmus of Panama and he named it Mar del Sur because the ocean was to the south of the coast of the isthmus where he first observed the Pacific. Later, Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan sailed the Pacific East to West on a Castilian expedition of world circumnavigation starting in 1519, Magellan called the ocean Pacífico because, after sailing through the stormy seas off Cape Horn, the expedition found calm waters. The ocean was often called the Sea of Magellan in his honor until the eighteenth century, sailing around and east of the Moluccas, between 1525 and 1527, Portuguese expeditions discovered the Caroline Islands, the Aru Islands, and Papua New Guinea. In 1542–43 the Portuguese also reached Japan, in 1564, five Spanish ships consisting of 379 explorers crossed the ocean from Mexico led by Miguel López de Legazpi and sailed to the Philippines and Mariana Islands. The Manila galleons operated for two and a half centuries linking Manila and Acapulco, in one of the longest trade routes in history, Spanish expeditions also discovered Tuvalu, the Marquesas, the Cook Islands, the Solomon Islands, and the Admiralty Islands in the South Pacific. In the 16th and 17th century Spain considered the Pacific Ocean a Mare clausum—a sea closed to other naval powers, as the only known entrance from the Atlantic the Strait of Magellan was at times patrolled by fleets sent to prevent entrance of non-Spanish ships. On the western end of the Pacific Ocean the Dutch threatened the Spanish Philippines, Spain also sent expeditions to the Pacific Northwest reaching Vancouver Island in southern Canada, and Alaska. The French explored and settled Polynesia, and the British made three voyages with James Cook to the South Pacific and Australia, Hawaii, and the North American Pacific Northwest, one of the earliest voyages of scientific exploration was organized by Spain in the Malaspina Expedition of 1789–1794. It sailed vast areas of the Pacific, from Cape Horn to Alaska, Guam and the Philippines, New Zealand, Australia, and the South Pacific. Growing imperialism during the 19th century resulted in the occupation of much of Oceania by other European powers, and later, Japan, in Oceania, France got a leading position as imperial power after making Tahiti and New Caledonia protectorates in 1842 and 1853 respectively. After navy visits to Easter Island in 1875 and 1887, Chilean navy officer Policarpo Toro managed to negotiate an incorporation of the island into Chile with native Rapanui in 1888, by occupying Easter Island, Chile joined the imperial nations
Pacific Ocean
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Maris Pacifici by
Ortelius (1589). One of the first printed maps to show the Pacific Ocean; see also
Waldseemüller map (1507).
Pacific Ocean
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The Pacific Ocean
Pacific Ocean
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USS
Lexington under air attack on 8 May 1942 during the
Battle of the Coral Sea
Pacific Ocean
–
Map of the Pacific Ocean during European Exploration, circa 1702–1707.
6.
Provinces and territories of Canada
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Canadas geography is divided into administrative divisions known as provinces and territories that are responsible for delivery of sub-national governance. Over its history, Canadas international borders have changed several times, the ten provinces are Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, Ontario, Prince Edward Island, Quebec, and Saskatchewan. Several of the provinces were former British colonies, Quebec was originally a French colony, the three territories are Northwest Territories, Nunavut, and Yukon, which govern the rest of the area of the former British North America. Together, the provinces and territories make up the worlds second-largest country by area, the powers flowing from the Constitution Act are divided between the federal government and the provincial governments to exercise exclusively. In modern Canadian constitutional theory, the provinces are considered to be co-sovereign divisions, the territories are not sovereign, but simply part of the federal realm, and have a commissioner who represents the federal government. Notes, There are three territories in Canada, unlike the provinces, the territories of Canada have no inherent sovereignty and have only those powers delegated to them by the federal government. They include all of mainland Canada north of latitude 60° north and west of Hudson Bay, the following table lists the territories in order of precedence. Prior to Confederation, Ontario and Quebec were united as the Province of Canada, over the following years, Manitoba, British Columbia, and Prince Edward Island were added as provinces. The Hudsons Bay Company controlled large swathes of western Canada referred to as Ruperts Land and the North-Western Territory until 1870, subsequently, the area was re-organized into the province of Manitoba and the Northwest Territories. The remaining Arctic islands were transferred by Britain to Canada in 1880,1898 saw the Yukon Territory, later renamed simply as Yukon, carved from the parts of the Northwest Territories surrounding the Klondike gold fields. On September 1,1905, a portion of the Northwest Territories south of the 60th parallel north became the provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan. In 1912, the boundaries of Quebec, Ontario and Manitoba were expanded northward, Manitobas to the 60° parallel, Ontarios to Hudson Bay, in 1907, Newfoundland acquired dominion status. In the middle of the Great Depression in Canada with Newfoundland facing a period of economic crisis. In 2001, it was officially renamed Newfoundland and Labrador, in 1903, the Alaska Panhandle Dispute fixed British Columbias northwestern boundary. This was one of two provinces in Canadian history to have its size reduced. In 1999, Nunavut was created from the portion of the Northwest Territories. Yukon lies in the portion of The North, while Nunavut is in the east. All three territories combined are the most sparsely populated region in Canada, covering 3,921,739 km2 in land area and they are often referred to as a single region, The North, for organisational and economic purposes
Provinces and territories of Canada
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"
O Canada we stand on guard for thee" Stained Glass, Yeo Hall,
Royal Military College of Canada features arms of the Canadian provinces and territories (1965)
Provinces and territories of Canada
–
Alberta Legislature Building
Provinces and territories of Canada
–
British Columbia Parliament Buildings
Provinces and territories of Canada
–
Manitoba Legislative Building
7.
British Columbia
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British Columbia is the westernmost province of Canada, with a population of more than four million people located between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. British Columbia is also a component of the Pacific Northwest and the Cascadia bioregion, along with the U. S. states of Idaho, Oregon, Washington and Alaska. The first British settlement in the area was Fort Victoria, established in 1843, subsequently, on the mainland, the Colony of British Columbia was founded by Richard Clement Moody and the Royal Engineers, Columbia Detachment, in response to the Fraser Canyon Gold Rush. Port Moody is named after him, in 1866, Vancouver Island became part of the colony of British Columbia, and Victoria became the united colonys capital. In 1871, British Columbia became the province of Canada. Its Latin motto is Splendor sine occasu, the capital of British Columbia remains Victoria, the fifteenth-largest metropolitan region in Canada, named for the Queen who created the original European colonies. The largest city is Vancouver, the third-largest metropolitan area in Canada, the largest in Western Canada, in October 2013, British Columbia had an estimated population of 4,606,371. British Columbia evolved from British possessions that were established in what is now British Columbia by 1871, First Nations, the original inhabitants of the land, have a history of at least 10,000 years in the area. Today there are few treaties and the question of Aboriginal Title, notably, the Tsilhqotin Nation has established Aboriginal title to a portion of their territory, as a result of the recent Supreme Court of Canada decision. BCs economy is diverse, with service producing industries accounting for the largest portion of the provinces GDP and it is the endpoint of transcontinental railways, and the site of major Pacific ports that enable international trade. Though less than 5% of its vast 944,735 km2 land is arable and its climate encourages outdoor recreation and tourism, though its economic mainstay has long been resource extraction, principally logging, farming, and mining. Vancouver, the provinces largest city and metropolitan area, also serves as the headquarters of many western-based natural resource companies and it also benefits from a strong housing market and a per capita income well above the national average. The Northern Interior region has a climate with very cold winters. The climate of Vancouver is by far the mildest winter climate of the major Canadian cities, the provinces name was chosen by Queen Victoria, when the Colony of British Columbia, i. e. the Mainland, became a British colony in 1858. The current southern border of British Columbia was established by the 1846 Oregon Treaty, British Columbias land area is 944,735 square kilometres. British Columbias rugged coastline stretches for more than 27,000 kilometres and it is the only province in Canada that borders the Pacific Ocean. British Columbias capital is Victoria, located at the tip of Vancouver Island. Only a narrow strip of the Island, from Campbell River to Victoria, is significantly populated, much of the western part of Vancouver Island and the rest of the coast is covered by thick, tall and sometimes impenetrable temperate rainforest
British Columbia
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Strait of Georgia, near
Vancouver.
British Columbia
–
Flag
British Columbia
–
The Okanagan region has a climate suitable to vineyards.
British Columbia
–
Mount Robson,
Canadian Rockies, BC
8.
James Cook
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Captain James Cook FRS RN was a British explorer, navigator, cartographer, and captain in the Royal Navy. Cook joined the British merchant navy as a teenager and joined the Royal Navy in 1755 and he saw action in the Seven Years War, and subsequently surveyed and mapped much of the entrance to the Saint Lawrence River during the siege of Quebec. This helped bring Cook to the attention of the Admiralty and Royal Society, in three voyages Cook sailed thousands of miles across largely uncharted areas of the globe. He mapped lands from New Zealand to Hawaii in the Pacific Ocean in greater detail, as he progressed on his voyages of discovery he surveyed and named features, and recorded islands and coastlines on European maps for the first time. He displayed a combination of seamanship, superior surveying and cartographic skills, physical courage, Cook was attacked and killed while attempting to kidnap the native chief of Hawaii during his third exploratory voyage in the Pacific in 1779. He left a legacy of scientific and geographical knowledge which was to influence his successors well into the 20th century, and numerous memorials worldwide have been dedicated to him. James Cook was born on 7 November 1728 in the village of Marton in Yorkshire and baptised on 14 November in the church of St Cuthbert. He was the second of eight children of James Cook, a Scottish farm labourer from Ednam in Roxburghshire, in 1736, his family moved to Airey Holme farm at Great Ayton, where his fathers employer, Thomas Skottowe, paid for him to attend the local school. In 1741, after five years schooling, he work for his father. For leisure, he would climb a hill, Roseberry Topping, enjoying the opportunity for solitude. Cooks Cottage, his parents last home, which he is likely to have visited, is now in Melbourne, having moved from England and reassembled, brick by brick. In 1745, when he was 16, Cook moved 20 miles to the village of Staithes. Historians have speculated that this is where Cook first felt the lure of the sea while gazing out of the shop window. After 18 months, not proving suitable for work, Cook travelled to the nearby port town of Whitby to be introduced to friends of Sandersons, John. The Walkers, who were Quakers, were prominent local ship-owners in the coal trade and their house is now the Captain Cook Memorial Museum. Cook was taken on as a merchant navy apprentice in their fleet of vessels. His first assignment was aboard the collier Freelove, and he spent several years on this and various other coasters, sailing between the Tyne and London. As part of his apprenticeship, Cook applied himself to the study of algebra, geometry, trigonometry, navigation and his three-year apprenticeship completed, Cook began working on trading ships in the Baltic Sea
James Cook
–
James Cook, portrait by
Nathaniel Dance-Holland, c. 1775,
National Maritime Museum,
Greenwich
James Cook
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Portrait of Mrs. Elizabeth Cook by William Henderson, dated 1830.
James Cook
–
James Cook's 1775 chart of
Newfoundland
James Cook
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Endeavour replica in
Cooktown, Queensland harbour — anchored where the original Endeavour was beached for seven weeks in 1770.
9.
Nuu-chah-nulth people
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The Nuu-chah-nulth, also formerly referred to as the Nootka, Nutka, Aht, Nuuchahnulth or Tahkaht, are one of the Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast in Canada. The term Nuu-chah-nulth is used to describe fifteen related tribes whose traditional home is on the west coast of Vancouver Island, the Nuu-chah-nulth are related to the Kwakwakawakw, the Haisla, and the Nitinaht. The Nuu-chah-nulth language is part of the Wakashan language group, the Makah people in northwest Washington were historically also Wakashan speakers. When James Cook first encountered the villagers at Yuquot in 1778, Cook interpreted this as the natives name for the inlet—now called Nootka Sound. The term was applied to the indigenous inhabitants of the area. In 1978 the tribes of western Vancouver Island chose the term Nuu-chah-nulth and this was the culmination of the 1967 alliance forged among these tribes in order to present a unified political voice to the levels of government and European-Canadian society. The Makah of northwest Washington, located on the Olympic Peninsula in their own reservation, are related to the Nuu-chah-nulth. The Nuu-chah-nulth were among the first Pacific peoples north of California to encounter Europeans, competition between Spain and the United Kingdom over control of Nootka Sound led to a bitter international dispute around 1790, called the Nootka Crisis. It was settled under the Nootka Conventions of the 1790s, when Spain agreed to abandon its claims to the North Pacific coast. Negotiations to settle the dispute were handled under the aegis and hospitality of Maquinna, a few years later, Maquinna and his warriors captured the American trading ship Boston in March 1803. He and his men killed the captain and all the crew, after gaining release, John R. Jewitt wrote a classic captivity narrative about his nearly 3 years with the Nuu-chah-nulth and his reluctant assimilation to their society. This 1815 book is entitled Narrative of the Adventures and Sufferings of John R, in 1811 the trading ship Tonquin was blown up in Clayoquot Sound. Tla-o-qui-aht and his warriors had attacked the ship in revenge for an insult by the ships captain, the captain and almost all the crew were killed and the ship abandoned. The next day warriors reboarded the empty ship to salvage it, however, a hiding crew member set fire to the ships magazine and the resulting explosion killed many natives. Only one crew member, a pilot / interpreter hired from the nearby Quinault nation, from earliest contact with European explorers up until 1830, more than 90% of the Nuu-chah-nulth died as a result of infectious disease epidemics, particularly malaria and smallpox. Europeans carried these endemic diseases but the First Nations had no immunity to them, the high rate of deaths added to the social disruption and cultural turmoil resulting from contact with Westerners. In the early 20th century, the population was estimated at 3,500, total population for the 13 tribes in the Nuuchahnulth nation is 8,147, according to the Nuuchahnulth Tribal Council Indian Registry of February 2006. The Ditidaht First Nation, while politically and culturally affiliated with the Nuu-chah-nulth, are referred to
Nuu-chah-nulth people
–
Three Nuu-chah-nulth children in
Yuquot, 1930s
Nuu-chah-nulth people
–
Nootka eagle mask with moveable wings, Ethnological Museum, Berlin, Germany
Nuu-chah-nulth people
–
A Nuu-chah-nulth woman selling baskets in Nootka Sound in the 1930s
Nuu-chah-nulth people
–
Nuu-chah-nulth basket about two inches wide
10.
Maquinna
–
For the underwater mud volcano, see Maquinna. Maquinna was the chief of the Nuu-chah-nulth people of Nootka Sound and his people are today known as the Mowachaht and reside today with their kin, the Muchalaht, at Gold River, British Columbia, Canada. Maquinna was a chief whose summer coastal village, Yuquot, became the first important anchorage in the European jockeying for power. Yuquot became known as Friendly Cove after the British explorer Captain James Cook visited in 1778, Cook did not record the name of the chief of Yuquot, who may not have been Maquinna in 1778, even though writers have often assumed it was. Imperial Spain had sent two voyages to the region before Cooks visit, including Juan Pérez, who in 1774 had anchored in or near the entrance of Nootka Sound. In 1788, John Meares explored Nootka Sound and the coasts and claimed to have bought some land from Maquinna. In 1789, Esteban José Martínez of the Spanish Navy occupied and claimed Nootka Sound for Spain and he built Fort San Miguel and a settlement called Santa Cruz de Nuca. Ensuing events led to Martínezs seizure of the British subject James Colnett and several British ships, the Spanish settlement and fort were abandoned at the end of 1789 and rebuilt one year later, in 1790, by Francisco de Eliza and Pere dAlberní i Teixidor. Both were abandoned in 1795 after the third Nootka Convention came into force, Maquinna and his people reoccupied their coastal village. The title by which he is described, Hyas Tyee, which was to find its way into the vocabulary of the Chinook Jargon, is the same as used for king. Maquinna also had an army of 300–400 men, callicum expressed his anger at the Spanish seizure of British ships in 1789 and was shot dead by Esteban José Martínez or one of Martínezs sailors. Maquinna is notable also for having kept European slaves on a number of occasions. The most notable account is told in the writings of John R. Jewitt, one of two slaves kept for years after the crew of the ship Boston was massacred by Maquinna. A Narrative of the Adventures and Sufferings of John R. Jewitt refers to Maquinna throughout as king, Jewitt learned the language of the people and was accordingly treated very well by Maquinna during his years in Nootka. He was able to directly from Maquinna that the ship Boston was taken in response to several depredations committed by earlier American. The one slave who had not tried to escape was eventually sold to Chief Wickaninnish, Biography at the Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online, by Robin Fisher On-line original edition of The Adventures and Sufferings of John R. P. V
Maquinna
–
Callicum and Maquinna from the Italian translation of
John Meares ' Voyages (Naples 1796)
Maquinna
–
Chief Maquinna, Mowachaht Chief
11.
Spanish Navy
–
The Spanish Navy, is the maritime branch of the Spanish Armed Forces and one of the oldest active naval forces in the world. Reform under the Bourbon dynasty improved its logistical and military capacity in the 18th century, currently, the Spanish Armada is the third largest navy in Europe, after the British Royal Navy and the French Navy, and the sixth in the world ranking. The main bases of the Spanish Navy are located in Rota, Ferrol, San Fernando, the roots of the modern Spanish navy date back to before the unification of Spain. By the late Middle Ages, the two kingdoms that would later combine to form Spain, Aragon and Castile, had developed powerful fleets. Aragon possessed the third largest navy in the late medieval Mediterranean, although its capabilities were exceeded by those of Venice, in 1402, a Castilian expedition led by Juan de Bethencourt conquered the Canary Islands for Henry III of Castile. In the 15th century, Castile entered into a race of exploration with Portugal, in 1492, two caravels and a carrack, commanded by Christopher Columbus, arrived in America, on an expedition that sought a westward oceanic passage across the Atlantic, to the Far East. This began the era of trade routes, pioneered by the Spanish in the seas to the west of Europe. The navy also carried explorers to the North American mainland, including Juan Ponce de León and Álvarez de Pineda, in 1519, Spain sent out the first expedition of world circumnavigation in history, which was put in the charge of the Portuguese Commander Ferdinand Magellan. Following the death of Magellan in the Philippines, the expedition was completed under the command of Juan Sebastián Elcano in 1522, for two and a half centuries, the Manila galleons operated across the Pacific linking Manila and Acapulco. Until the early 17th century, the Pacific Ocean, aside from the Marianas and Caroline Islands, several naval expeditions also discovered the Tuvalu archipelago, the Marquesas, the Solomon Islands and New Guinea in the South Pacific. In the quest for Terra Australis, Spanish explorers in the 17th century also discovered the Pitcairn, most significantly, from 1565 Spanish fleets explored and colonised the Philippine archipelago, the Spanish East Indies. This arrangement continued until superseded by the decline of galley warfare during the 17th century, most notable of these attacks was the Battle of Gibraltar in 1607, in which a Dutch squadron destroyed a fleet of galleons at anchor in the confines of the bay. This naval war took on a dimension with actions in the Caribbean. In the 1580s, the conflict in the Netherlands drew England into war with Spain, the effort to neutralise this threat led to a disastrous attempt to invade England in 1588. This defeat led to a reform of fleet operations, the navy at this time was not a single operation but consisted of various fleets, made up mainly of armed merchantmen with escorts of royal ships. The Armada fiasco marked a point in naval warfare, where gunnery was now more important than ramming and boarding. During the 1590s, the expansion of these allowed a great increase in the overseas trade and massive increase in the importation of luxuries. Port defences at Cadiz were upgraded and all attempts to repeat the attack in the following centuries would fail, meanwhile, Spanish ships were able to step up operations in the English Channel, the North Sea and towards Ireland
Spanish Navy
–
Battle of La Rochelle, 1372.
Spanish Navy
–
Emblem of the Spanish Navy
Spanish Navy
–
Battle of Lepanto, 1571.
Spanish Navy
12.
Fur
–
Fur is used in reference to the hair of non-human mammals, particularly those with extensive body hair coverage that is generally soft and thick, as opposed to the stiffer bristles on most pigs. The term pelage – first known use in English c.1828 – is sometimes used to refer to the hair of an animal as a complete coat. Fur is also used to refer to animal pelts which have been processed into leather with the still attached. The words fur or furry are also used, more casually, to refer to hair-like growths or formations, particularly when the subject being referred to exhibits a dense coat of fine, soft hairs. If layered, rather than grown as a coat, it may consist of short down hairs, long guard hairs. Mammals with reduced amounts of fur are called naked, as with the naked mole-rat, or hairless. An animal with commercially valuable fur is known within the fur industry as a furbearer and its principal function is thermoregulation, it maintains a layer of dry air next to the skin and repels water, thus providing thermal insulation. Guard hair — the top consisting of longer, generally coarser. The distal ends of the guard hairs provide the externally visible layer of the coat of most mammals with well-developed fur and this layer of the coat displays the most marked pigmentation and gloss, including coat patterns adapted to display or camouflage. It is also adapted to shedding water and blocking sunlight, protecting the undercoat and skin from external factors such as rain, many animals, such as domestic cats, erect their guard hairs as part of their threat display when agitated. Mammals with well-developed down and guard hairs also usually have numbers of awn hairs. These begin their growth much as guard hairs do, but change their mode of growth and this portion of the hair is called awn. The rest of the growth is thin and wavy, much like down hair, in many species of mammals, the awn hairs comprise the bulk of the visible coat. Hair is one of the characteristics of mammals, however. These are often called naked or hairless, some mammals naturally have reduced amounts of fur. Some semiaquatic or aquatic mammals such as cetaceans, pinnipeds and hippopotamuses have evolved hairlessness, the naked mole-rat has evolved hairlessness, perhaps as an adaptation to their subterranean life-style. Two of the largest extant mammals, the elephant and the rhinoceros, are largely hairless. The hairless bat is mostly hairless but does have short bristly hairs around its neck, on its front toes, most hairless animals cannot go in the sun for long periods of time, or stay in the cold for too long
Fur
–
Opossum fur
Fur
–
Fur
mosaic with portrait of
Emperor Franz Joseph
Fur
–
Down, awn and guard hairs of a domestic tabby cat
Fur
–
Computer-generated wet fur
13.
Abalone
–
Abalone is a common name for any of a group of small to very large sea snails, marine gastropod molluscs in the family Haliotidae. Other common names are ear shells, sea ears, and muttonfish or muttonshells in Australia, ormer in Great Britain, perlemoen in South Africa and their taxonomy puts them in the family Haliotidae which contains only one genus, Haliotis, which once contained six subgenera. These subgenera have become alternate representations of Haliotis, the number of species recognized worldwide ranges between 30 and 130 with over 230 species-level taxa described. The most comprehensive treatment of the family considers 56 species valid, the shells of abalones have a low, open spiral structure, and are characterized by several open respiratory pores in a row near the shells outer edge. The flesh of abalones is widely considered to be a desirable food, Abalone vary in size from 20 millimetres to 200 millimetres while Haliotis rufescens is the largest of the genus at 12 inches. The shell of abalones is convex, rounded to oval in shape, the shell of the majority of species has a small, flat spire and two to three whorls. The last whorl, known as the whorl, is auriform, meaning that the shell resembles an ear. Haliotis asinina has a different shape, as it is more elongated and distended. The shell of Haliotis cracherodii cracherodii is also unusual as it has a form, is imperforate, shows an exserted spire. A mantle cleft in the shell impresses a groove in the shell and these holes are respiratory apertures for venting water from the gills and for releasing sperm and eggs into the water column. They make up what is known as the selenizone which forms as the shell grows and this series of 8 to 38 holes is near the anterior margin. Only a small number are generally open, the older holes are gradually sealed up as the shell grows and new holes form. Each species has a number of open holes, between four and ten, in the selenizone. The aperture of the shell is wide and nacreous. The exterior of the shell is striated and dull, the color of the shell is very variable from species to species which may reflect the animals diet. The iridescent nacre that lines the inside of the shell varies in color from white, to pink, red and green-red to deep blue. The animal has fimbriated head-lobes and side-lobes which are fimbriated and cirrated, the radula has small median teeth, and the lateral teeth are single and beam-like. There are about 70 uncini, with denticulated hooks, the first four very large, the rounded foot is very large in comparison to most molluscs
Abalone
Abalone
–
The
iridescent surface inside a
red abalone shell from
Northern California (the adjacent coin is 18mm in diameter)
Abalone
–
Abalone with a live sponge on its shell in
Póvoa de Varzim,
Portugal
Abalone
–
An abalone farm
14.
California
–
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
California
–
A forest of redwood trees in
Redwood National Park
California
–
Flag
California
–
Mount Shasta
California
–
Aerial view of the
California Central Valley
15.
Santa Cruz de Nuca
–
Santa Cruz de Nuca, was a Spanish settlement and the first European colony in British Columbia. The colony was established in 1789 and existed until 1795 when it was abandoned following the Nootka Crisis that almost led to war between Britain and Spain, the colony was protected by the adjacent Fort San Miguel. Santa Cruz de Nuca was the only Spanish settlement in what is now Canada, Yuquot was the summer home of Chief Maquinna and the Mowachaht/Muchalaht people for generations, housing approximately 1,500 natives in 20 traditional wooden longhouses. Captain James Cooks visit to Nootka Sound in 1778 was the second known European sighting of Yuquot after Juan José Pérez Hernández in 1774. Likewise, the exploration of the northwest coast by James Cook of the British Navy, to protect and strengthen its claim, New Spain sent a number of expeditions to the Pacific Northwest between 1774 and 1793. In 1788, John Meares, an English navigator and explorer sailing under falsified papers, sailed from China and explored Nootka Sound and the neighbouring coasts. He, among other claims subsequently discredited by George Vancouver in 1792, claimed to have some land from a local chief named Maquinna. In 1789, the Spanish commander Esteban José Martínez led an expedition that arrived at Nootka Sound on May 5,1789 and this territory was already considered as part of New Spain by the Spanish due to the previous explorations of the region. On May 15,1789 Martínez chose the location of his fortification, work progressed so that on May 26 they were able to place their artillery followed by the construction of barracks and a powder storeroom. The new Santa Cruz de Nuca settlement included houses and a hospital, during the summer of 1789 a number of fur trading vessels, British and American, arrived at Nootka. The American captains headed warnings and left, on June 24,1789 a salvo was fired from the new fort and the Spanish ships in what Martínez considered an official act of possession of Nootka Harbour. On July 29,1789 new orders arrived from Viceroy Flores directing Martínez to abandon Fort San Miguel, the artillery from the fort was loaded back aboard the Princesa and he left Friendly Cove on October 30,1789. The fort was dismantled, but anticipating a reoccupation, Martínez buried crates of bricks, Martínez arrived at Nootka Sound on May 5,1789. He found three ships already there, two were American, the Columbia Rediviva and the Lady Washington, which had wintered at Nootka Sound. The British ship was the Iphigenia and it was seized and its captain, William Douglas, arrested. After a few days Martínez released Douglas and his ship and ordered him to leave, on June 8, the North West America, under Robert Funter, arrived at Nootka Sound and was seized by Martínez. The sloop was renamed Santa Gertrudis la Magna and used for exploring the region, José María Narváez was given command and sailed far into the Strait of Juan de Fuca. Martínez later claimed that Funter had abandoned the vessel, on June 24, in front of the British and Americans present at Nootka Sound, Martínez performed a formal act of sovereignty, taking possession of the entire northwest coast for Spain
Santa Cruz de Nuca
–
Reconstruction of Fort San Miguel and Santa Cruz de Nuca.
Santa Cruz de Nuca
–
Spanish colonization of the Americas
Santa Cruz de Nuca
–
Friendly Cove,
Nootka Sound. Volume I, plate VII from: A Voyage of Discovery to the North Pacific Ocean and Round the World by
George Vancouver.
Santa Cruz de Nuca
–
Three Nuu-chah-nulth children in Yuquot, 1930s
16.
Royal Navy
–
The Royal Navy is the United Kingdoms naval warfare force. Although warships were used by the English kings from the medieval period. The modern Royal Navy traces its origins to the early 16th century, from the middle decades of the 17th century and through the 18th century, the Royal Navy vied with the Dutch Navy and later with the French Navy for maritime supremacy. From the mid 18th century it was the worlds most powerful navy until surpassed by the United States Navy during the Second World War. The Royal Navy played a key part in establishing the British Empire as the world power during the 19th. Due to this historical prominence, it is common, even among non-Britons, following World War I, the Royal Navy was significantly reduced in size, although at the onset of the Second World War it was still the worlds largest. By the end of the war, however, the United States Navy had emerged as the worlds largest, during the Cold War, the Royal Navy transformed into a primarily anti-submarine force, hunting for Soviet submarines, mostly active in the GIUK gap. The Royal Navy is part of Her Majestys Naval Service, which includes the Royal Marines. The professional head of the Naval Service is the First Sea Lord, the Defence Council delegates management of the Naval Service to the Admiralty Board, chaired by the Secretary of State for Defence. The strength of the fleet of the Kingdom of England was an important element in the power in the 10th century. English naval power declined as a result of the Norman conquest. Medieval fleets, in England as elsewhere, were almost entirely composed of merchant ships enlisted into service in time of war. Englands naval organisation was haphazard and the mobilisation of fleets when war broke out was slow, early in the war French plans for an invasion of England failed when Edward III of England destroyed the French fleet in the Battle of Sluys in 1340. Major fighting was confined to French soil and Englands naval capabilities sufficed to transport armies and supplies safely to their continental destinations. Such raids halted finally only with the occupation of northern France by Henry V. Henry VII deserves a large share of credit in the establishment of a standing navy and he embarked on a program of building ships larger than heretofore. He also invested in dockyards, and commissioned the oldest surviving dry dock in 1495 at Portsmouth, a standing Navy Royal, with its own secretariat, dockyards and a permanent core of purpose-built warships, emerged during the reign of Henry VIII. Under Elizabeth I England became involved in a war with Spain, the new regimes introduction of Navigation Acts, providing that all merchant shipping to and from England or her colonies should be carried out by English ships, led to war with the Dutch Republic. In the early stages of this First Anglo-Dutch War, the superiority of the large, heavily armed English ships was offset by superior Dutch tactical organisation and the fighting was inconclusive
Royal Navy
–
Royal Navy
Royal Navy
–
The
Battle of Sluys as depicted in
Froissart's Chronicles; late 14th century
Royal Navy
–
A late 16th century painting of the
Spanish Armada in battle with English warships
Royal Navy
–
The Dutch
Raid on the Medway in 1667 during the Second Anglo–Dutch War
17.
Yuquot, British Columbia
–
Yuquot, or Friendly Cove, is a small settlement of around 25 people, located on Nootka Island in Nootka Sound, just west of Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada. It was the home of Chief Maquinna and the Mowachaht/Muchalaht people for generations. The name means Wind comes from all directions in Nuu-chah-nulth, the community is located within the Strathcona Regional District but like all Indian Reserve communities is not governed by nor represented in the regional district. The Mowchaht/Muchalaht First Nations are rather part of the Nuu-chah-nulth Tribal Council, the Canadian government declared Friendly Cove a National Historic Site in 1923, with recognition of the significance of the First Nations history following in 1997. Captain James Cooks visit to Nootka Sound in 1778 was the first known European sighting of Yuquot, Yuquot was also the scene of the Nootka Incident, which nearly led to war between Spain and Britain. Negotiations in Europe calmed the situation and led to the first Nootka Convention, each nation sent a commissioner to Nootka Sound in order to carry out the terms of the Nootka Convention and related diplomatic issues. Arriving in 1792, George Vancouver was commissioner for Britain and Juan Francisco de la Bodega y Quadra for Spain, Quadra also served as the commandant of the Spanish settlement at Yuquot, hosting Vancouver and his crew. Quadra and Vancouver had to engage in diplomatic negotiations due to the Nootka Conventions vagueness, in addition both commissioners had been given incomplete, differing, and confused instructions by their governments. They negotiated for months but in the end failed to reach an agreement, the matter was sent back to the British and Spanish governments. The primary problem was a interpretation of the Nootka Convention. Vancouvers position, as instructed, was that the entire Spanish settlement was to be turned over to him, john R. Jewitts memoirs form an important record of Yuquot at that period. History of the west coast of North America Yuquot
Yuquot, British Columbia
–
Three Nuu-chah-nulth children in Yuquot, 1930s
18.
Asia
–
Asia covers an area of 44,579,000 square kilometres, about 30% of Earths total land area and 8. 7% of the Earths total surface area. The continent, which has long been home to the majority of the population, was the site of many of the first civilizations. Asia is notable for not only its large size and population. In general terms, Asia is bounded on the east by the Pacific Ocean, on the south by the Indian Ocean, the western boundary with Europe is a historical and cultural construct, as there is no clear physical and geographical separation between them. The most commonly accepted boundaries place Asia to the east of the Suez Canal, the Ural River, and the Ural Mountains, and south of the Caucasus Mountains, China and India alternated in being the largest economies in the world from 1 to 1800 A. D. The accidental discovery of America by Columbus in search for India demonstrates this deep fascination, the Silk Road became the main East-West trading route in the Asian hitherland while the Straits of Malacca stood as a major sea route. Asia has exhibited economic dynamism as well as robust population growth during the 20th century, given its size and diversity, the concept of Asia—a name dating back to classical antiquity—may actually have more to do with human geography than physical geography. Asia varies greatly across and within its regions with regard to ethnic groups, cultures, environments, economics, historical ties, the boundary between Asia and Africa is the Red Sea, the Gulf of Suez, and the Suez Canal. This makes Egypt a transcontinental country, with the Sinai peninsula in Asia, the border between Asia and Europe was historically defined by European academics. In Sweden, five years after Peters death, in 1730 Philip Johan von Strahlenberg published a new atlas proposing the Urals as the border of Asia, the Russians were enthusiastic about the concept, which allowed them to keep their European identity in geography. Tatishchev announced that he had proposed the idea to von Strahlenberg, the latter had suggested the Emba River as the lower boundary. Over the next century various proposals were made until the Ural River prevailed in the mid-19th century, the border had been moved perforce from the Black Sea to the Caspian Sea into which the Ural River projects. The border between the Black Sea and the Caspian is usually placed along the crest of the Caucasus Mountains, the border between Asia and the loosely defined region of Oceania is usually placed somewhere in the Malay Archipelago. The terms Southeast Asia and Oceania, devised in the 19th century, have had several different geographic meanings since their inception. The chief factor in determining which islands of the Malay Archipelago are Asian has been the location of the possessions of the various empires there. Lewis and Wigen assert, The narrowing of Southeast Asia to its present boundaries was thus a gradual process, Asia is larger and more culturally diverse than Europe. It does not exactly correspond to the borders of its various types of constituents. From the time of Herodotus a minority of geographers have rejected the three-continent system on the grounds there is no or is no substantial physical separation between them
Asia
–
Two-point equidistant projection of Asia and surrounding landmasses.
Asia
–
Asia
Asia
–
The racial diversity of Asia's peoples,
Nordisk familjebok (1904)
Asia
–
Ptolemy's Asia
19.
Portugal
–
Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. It is the westernmost country of mainland Europe, to the west and south it is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean and to the east and north by Spain. The Portugal–Spain border is 1,214 kilometres long and considered the longest uninterrupted border within the European Union, the republic also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of the Azores and Madeira, both autonomous regions with their own regional governments. The territory of modern Portugal has been settled, invaded. The Pre-Celts, Celts, Carthaginians and the Romans were followed by the invasions of the Visigothic, in 711 the Iberian Peninsula was invaded by the Moors, making Portugal part of Muslim Al Andalus. Portugal was born as result of the Christian Reconquista, and in 1139, Afonso Henriques was proclaimed King of Portugal, in the 15th and 16th centuries, Portugal established the first global empire, becoming one of the worlds major economic, political and military powers. Portugal monopolized the trade during this time, and the Portuguese Empire expanded with military campaigns led in Asia. After the 1910 revolution deposed the monarchy, the democratic but unstable Portuguese First Republic was established, democracy was restored after the Portuguese Colonial War and the Carnation Revolution in 1974. Shortly after, independence was granted to almost all its overseas territories, Portugal has left a profound cultural and architectural influence across the globe and a legacy of over 250 million Portuguese speakers today. Portugal is a country with a high-income advanced economy and a high living standard. It is the 5th most peaceful country in the world, maintaining a unitary semi-presidential republican form of government and it has the 18th highest Social Progress in the world, putting it ahead of other Western European countries like France, Spain and Italy. Portugal is a pioneer when it comes to drug decriminalization, as the nation decriminalized the possession of all drugs for use in 2001. The early history of Portugal is shared with the rest of the Iberian Peninsula located in South Western Europe, the name of Portugal derives from the joined Romano-Celtic name Portus Cale. Other influences include some 5th-century vestiges of Alan settlements, which were found in Alenquer, Coimbra, the region of present-day Portugal was inhabited by Neanderthals and then by Homo sapiens, who roamed the border-less region of the northern Iberian peninsula. These were subsistence societies that, although they did not establish prosperous settlements, neolithic Portugal experimented with domestication of herding animals, the raising of some cereal crops and fluvial or marine fishing. Chief among these tribes were the Calaicians or Gallaeci of Northern Portugal, the Lusitanians of central Portugal, the Celtici of Alentejo, a few small, semi-permanent, commercial coastal settlements were also founded in the Algarve region by Phoenicians-Carthaginians. Romans first invaded the Iberian Peninsula in 219 BC, during the last days of Julius Caesar, almost the entire peninsula had been annexed to the Roman Republic. The Carthaginians, Romes adversary in the Punic Wars, were expelled from their coastal colonies and it suffered a severe setback in 150 BC, when a rebellion began in the north
Portugal
–
Citânia de Briteiros, in the
Minho Province, is the best preserved
Iron Age and
Castro culture site in Portugal.
Portugal
–
Flag
Portugal
–
The
Roman Temple of Évora, in the
Alentejo, is a symbol of
Lusitania, Roman rule in Portugal.
Portugal
–
Monument in Porto to
Vimara Peres, first ruler of the County of Portugal
20.
Russians
–
Russians are an East Slavic ethnic group native to Eastern Europe. The majority of Russians inhabit the state of Russia, while notable minorities exist in Ukraine, Kazakhstan. A large Russian diaspora exists all over the world, with numbers in the United States, Germany, Israel. Russians are the most numerous group in Europe. They are predominantly Orthodox Christians by religion, the Russian language is official in Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan, and also spoken as a secondary language in many former Soviet states. There are two Russian words which are translated into English as Russians. One is русские, which most often means ethnic Russians, another is россияне, which means citizens of Russia. The former word refers to ethnic Russians, regardless of what country they live in, under certain circumstances this term may or may not extend to denote members of other Russian-speaking ethnic groups from Russia, or from the former Soviet Union. The latter word refers to all people holding citizenship of Russia, regardless of their ethnicity, translations into other languages often do not distinguish these two groups. The name of the Russians derives from the Rus people, the name Rus would then have the same origin as the Finnish and Estonian names for Sweden, Ruotsi and Rootsi. According to other theories the name Rus is derived from Proto-Slavic *roud-s-ь, the modern Russians formed from two groups of East Slavic tribes, Northern and Southern. The tribes involved included the Krivichs, Ilmen Slavs, Radimichs, Vyatiches, genetic studies show that modern Russians do not differ significantly from Belarusians and Ukrainians. Some ethnographers, like Zelenin, affirm that Russians are more similar to Belarusians, such Uralic peoples included the Merya and the Muromians. Outside archaeological remains, little is known about the predecessors to Russians in general prior to 859 AD when the Primary Chronicle starts its records and it is thought that by 600 AD, the Slavs had split linguistically into southern, western, and eastern branches. Later, both Belarusians and South Russians formed on this ethnic linguistic ground, the same Slavic ethnic population also settled the present-day Tver Oblast and the region of Beloozero. With the Uralic substratum, they formed the tribes of the Krivichs, in 2010, the worlds Russian population was 129 million people of which 86% were in Russia,11. 5% in the CIS and Baltic countries, with a further 2. 5% living in other countries. Roughly 111 million ethnic Russians live in Russia, 80% of whom live in the European part of Russia, ethnic Russians historically migrated throughout the area of former Russian Empire and Soviet Union, sometimes encouraged to re-settle in borderlands by the Tsarist and later Soviet government. On some occasions ethnic Russian communities, such as Lipovans who settled in the Danube delta or Doukhobors in Canada, after the Russian Revolution and Russian Civil War starting in 1917, many Russians were forced to leave their homeland fleeing the Bolshevik regime, and millions became refugees
Russians
–
Three generations of a Russian family, ca. 1910
Russians
–
East Slavic tribes and peoples, 8th-9th century
Russians
–
Russia's Arctic coastline from the
White Sea to the
Bering Strait had been explored and settled by
Pomors, Russian settlers from
Novgorod
Russians
–
Terek Cossacks of the north
Caucasus guarded the southern frontier
21.
Fur trading
–
The fur trade is a worldwide industry dealing in the acquisition and sale of animal fur. Since the establishment of a world fur market in the modern period, furs of boreal, polar. Historically the trade stimulated the exploration and colonization of Siberia, northern North America, today the importance of the fur trade has diminished, it is based on pelts produced at fur farms and regulated fur-bearer trapping, but has become controversial. Animal rights organizations oppose the fur trade, citing that animals are brutally killed, Fur has been replaced in some clothing by synthetic imitations, for example, as in ruffs on hoods of parkas. Before the European colonization of the Americas, Russia was a supplier of fur pelts to Western Europe. Its trade developed in the Early Middle Ages, first through exchanges at posts around the Baltic, the main trading market destination was the German city of Leipzig. Originally, Russia exported raw furs, consisting in most cases of the pelts of martens, beavers, wolves, foxes, squirrels and hares. Between the 16th and 18th centuries, Russians began to settle in Siberia, in a search for the prized sea otter pelts, first used in China, and later for the northern fur seal, the Russian Empire expanded into North America, notably Alaska. From the 17th through the half of the 19th century. The fur trade played a role in the development of Siberia, the Russian Far East. As recognition of the importance of the trade to the Siberian economy, the sable is a symbol of the Ural Sverdlovsk Oblast. Fur was relied on to make clothing, a critical consideration prior to the organization of coal distribution for heating. Portugal and Spain played major roles in fur trading after the 15th century with their business in fur hats and they began by establishing trading posts along the Volga and Vychegda river networks and requiring the Komi people to give them furs as tribute. Novgorod, the chief fur-trade center prospered as the easternmost trading post of the Hanseatic League, Novgorodians expanded farther east and north, coming into contact with the Pechora people of the Pechora River valley and the Yugra people residing near the Urals. Both of these native tribes offered more resistance than the Komi, as Muscovy gained more power in the 15th century and proceeded in the gathering of the Russian lands, the Muscovite state began to rival the Novgorodians in the North. During the 15th century Moscow began subjugating many native tribes, one strategy involved exploiting antagonisms between tribes, notably the Komi and Yugra, by recruiting men of one tribe to fight in an army against the other tribe. Campaigns against native tribes in Siberia remained insignificant until they began on a larger scale in 1483 and 1499. Besides the Novgorodians and the indigenes, Muscovites also had to contend with the various Muslim Tatar khanates to the east of Muscovy, at this point the phrase ruler of Obdor, Konda, and all Siberian lands became part of the title of the Tsar in Moscow
Fur trading
–
Fur trade in
Nizhny Novgorod (before 1906)
Fur trading
–
A fur trader in
Fort Chipewyan,
Northwest Territories in the 1890s
Fur trading
–
Fur
muff manufacturer's 1949 advertisement
Fur trading
–
Cossacks collecting yasak in Siberia
22.
Alaska
–
Alaska is a U. S. state located in the northwest extremity of North America. To the north are the Chukchi and Beaufort seas–the southern parts of the Arctic Ocean, the Pacific Ocean lies to the south and southwest. Alaska is the largest state in the United States by area, the 3rd least populous, approximately half of Alaskas residents live within the Anchorage metropolitan area. Alaskas economy is dominated by the fishing, natural gas, military bases and tourism are also a significant part of the economy. The United States purchased Alaska from the Russian Empire on March 30,1867, the area went through several administrative changes before becoming organized as a territory on May 11,1912. It was admitted as the 49th state of the U. S. on January 3,1959, the name Alaska was introduced in the Russian colonial period when it was used to refer to the peninsula. It was derived from an Aleut, or Unangam idiom, which refers to the mainland of Alaska. Literally, it means object to which the action of the sea is directed, Alaska is the northernmost and westernmost state in the United States and has the most easterly longitude in the United States because the Aleutian Islands extend into the Eastern Hemisphere. Alaska is the only non-contiguous U. S. state on continental North America and it is technically part of the continental U. S. but is sometimes not included in colloquial use, Alaska is not part of the contiguous U. S. often called the Lower 48. The capital city, Juneau, is situated on the mainland of the North American continent but is not connected by road to the rest of the North American highway system. Alaskas territorial waters touch Russias territorial waters in the Bering Strait, as the Russian Big Diomede Island, Alaska has a longer coastline than all the other U. S. states combined. Alaska is the largest state in the United States by total area at 663,268 square miles, over twice the size of Texas, Alaska is larger than all but 18 sovereign countries. Counting territorial waters, Alaska is larger than the area of the next three largest states, Texas, California, and Montana. It is also larger than the area of the 22 smallest U. S. states. Also referred to as the Panhandle or Inside Passage, this is the region of Alaska closest to the rest of the United States, as such, this was where most of the initial non-indigenous settlement occurred in the years following the Alaska Purchase. The region is dominated by the Alexander Archipelago as well as the Tongass National Forest and it contains the state capital Juneau, the former capital Sitka, and Ketchikan, at one time Alaskas largest city. The Alaska Marine Highway provides a vital transportation link throughout the area. The Interior is the largest region of Alaska, much of it is uninhabited wilderness, Fairbanks is the only large city in the region
Alaska
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Denali is the highest peak in North America.
Alaska
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Flag
Alaska
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Grizzly bear fishing for
salmon at
Brooks Falls, part of
Katmai National Park and Preserve.
Alaska
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Augustine Volcano erupting on January 12, 2006
23.
Pacific Northwest
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The Pacific Northwest, sometimes referred to as Cascadia, is a geographic region in western North America bounded by the Pacific Ocean to the west and loosely, by the Rocky Mountains on the east. Though no agreed boundary exists, a common conception includes the U. S. states of Oregon and Washington and the Canadian province of British Columbia. Broader conceptions reach north into Alaska and Yukon, south into far northern California and east to the Continental Divide, thus including Idaho, Western Montana, narrower conceptions may be limited to the northwestern US or to the coastal areas west of the Cascade and Coast mountains. The variety of definitions can be attributed to partially overlapping commonalities of the history, geography, society. The Northwest Coast is the region of the Pacific Northwest. The term Pacific Northwest should not be confused with the Northwest Territory or the Northwest Territories of Canada. The border — in two sections, along the 49th parallel south of British Columbia and the Alaska Panhandle west of northern British Columbia — has had an effect on the region. According to Canadian historian Ken Coates, the border has not merely influenced the Pacific Northwest—rather, definitions of the Pacific Northwest region vary, and there is no commonly agreed-upon boundary, even among Pacific Northwesterners. A common conception of the Pacific Northwest includes the U. S. states of Oregon and Washington as well as the Canadian province of British Columbia. Broader definitions of the region may include the U. S. state of Alaska, the Canadian territory of Yukon, the portion of the state of California. Definitions based on the historic Oregon Country reach east to the Continental Divide, thus including all of Idaho and parts of western Montana. Sometimes the Pacific Northwest is defined as being the Northwestern United States, often these definitions are made by government agencies whose scope is limited to the United States. Some definitions include, in addition to Washington, Oregon, Idaho and British Columbia, Southeast Alaska, western Montana, the coast of northern California, the Pacific Northwest has been occupied by a diverse array of indigenous peoples for millennia. The Pacific Coast is seen by scholars as a major coastal migration route in the settlement of the Americas by late Pleistocene peoples moving from northeast Asia into the Americas. Other evidence for human occupation dating back as much as 14,500 years ago is emerging from Paisley Caves in south-central Oregon, however, despite such research, the coastal migration hypothesis is still subject to considerable debate. Due in part to the richness of Pacific Northwest Coast and river fisheries, in the interior of the Pacific Northwest, the indigenous peoples, at the time of European contact, had a diversity of cultures and societies. Some areas were home to mobile and egalitarian societies, others, especially along major rivers such as the Columbia and Fraser, had very complex, affluent, sedentary societies rivaling those of the coast. In British Columbia and Southeast Alaska, the Tlingit and Haida erected large, throughout the Pacific Northwest, thousands of indigenous people live, and some continue to practice their rich cultural traditions, organizing their societies around cedar and salmon
Pacific Northwest
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The Pacific Northwest from
outer space.
Pacific Northwest
Pacific Northwest
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US Navy Admiral
Charles Wilkes ' 1841 Map of the
Oregon Territory from "Narrative of the United States Exploring Expedition." Philadelphia: 1845
Pacific Northwest
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CenturyLink Field, home of Seattle Seahawks and Sounders FC
24.
Iron
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Iron is a chemical element with symbol Fe and atomic number 26. It is a metal in the first transition series and it is by mass the most common element on Earth, forming much of Earths outer and inner core. It is the fourth most common element in the Earths crust, like the other group 8 elements, ruthenium and osmium, iron exists in a wide range of oxidation states, −2 to +6, although +2 and +3 are the most common. Elemental iron occurs in meteoroids and other low oxygen environments, but is reactive to oxygen, fresh iron surfaces appear lustrous silvery-gray, but oxidize in normal air to give hydrated iron oxides, commonly known as rust. Unlike the metals that form passivating oxide layers, iron oxides occupy more volume than the metal and thus flake off, Iron metal has been used since ancient times, although copper alloys, which have lower melting temperatures, were used even earlier in human history. Pure iron is soft, but is unobtainable by smelting because it is significantly hardened and strengthened by impurities, in particular carbon. A certain proportion of carbon steel, which may be up to 1000 times harder than pure iron. Crude iron metal is produced in blast furnaces, where ore is reduced by coke to pig iron, further refinement with oxygen reduces the carbon content to the correct proportion to make steel. Steels and iron alloys formed with metals are by far the most common industrial metals because they have a great range of desirable properties. Iron chemical compounds have many uses, Iron oxide mixed with aluminium powder can be ignited to create a thermite reaction, used in welding and purifying ores. Iron forms binary compounds with the halogens and the chalcogens, among its organometallic compounds is ferrocene, the first sandwich compound discovered. Iron plays an important role in biology, forming complexes with oxygen in hemoglobin and myoglobin. Iron is also the metal at the site of many important redox enzymes dealing with cellular respiration and oxidation and reduction in plants. A human male of average height has about 4 grams of iron in his body and this iron is distributed throughout the body in hemoglobin, tissues, muscles, bone marrow, blood proteins, enzymes, ferritin, hemosiderin, and transport in plasma. The mechanical properties of iron and its alloys can be evaluated using a variety of tests, including the Brinell test, Rockwell test, the data on iron is so consistent that it is often used to calibrate measurements or to compare tests. An increase in the content will cause a significant increase in the hardness. Maximum hardness of 65 Rc is achieved with a 0. 6% carbon content, because of the softness of iron, it is much easier to work with than its heavier congeners ruthenium and osmium. Because of its significance for planetary cores, the properties of iron at high pressures and temperatures have also been studied extensively
Iron
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Iron, 26 Fe
Iron
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Spectral lines of iron
Iron
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Iron meteorites, similar in composition to the Earth's inner- and outer core
Iron
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Hydrated
iron(III) chloride, also known as ferric chloride
25.
Maritime Fur Trade
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The furs were mostly sold in China in exchange for tea, silks, porcelain, and other Chinese goods, which were then sold in Europe and the United States. The maritime fur trade was pioneered by Russians, working east from Kamchatka along the Aleutian Islands to the southern coast of Alaska, British and Americans entered during the 1780s, focusing on what is now the coast of British Columbia. The trade boomed around the beginning of the 19th century, a long period of decline began in the 1810s. As the sea otter population was depleted, the fur trade diversified and transformed, tapping new markets and commodities, while continuing to focus on the Northwest Coast. It lasted until the middle to late 19th century, Russians controlled most of the coast of what is now Alaska during the entire era. The coast south of Alaska endured fierce competition between, and among, British and American trading vessels, the British were the first to operate in the southern sector, but were unable to compete against the Americans, who dominated from the 1790s to the 1830s. The British Hudsons Bay Company entered the coast trade in the 1820s with the intention of driving the Americans away and this was accomplished by about 1840. In its late period, the fur trade was largely conducted by the British Hudsons Bay Company. Historically, the fur trade was not known by that name. The term North West was rarely spelled as the single word Northwest, a triangular trade network emerged linking the Pacific Northwest coast, China, the Hawaiian Islands, Britain, and the United States. The trade had an effect on the indigenous people of the Pacific Northwest coast, especially the Aleut, Sugpiaq, Tlingit, Haida, Nuu-chah-nulth. A rapid increase of wealth occurred among the Northwest Coast natives, along with increased warfare, potlatching, slaving, however, the indigenous culture was not overwhelmed by rapid change, but actually flourished. Native Hawaiian society was similarly affected by the influx of Western wealth and technology. The wealth generated by the fur trade was invested in industrial development. The sea otter was the most hunted during the Maritime Fur Trade during the 17th and 18th centuries, Sea otters possess a thicker fur than any other mammal, and the sea otters habit of grooming their coat prevents molting. The reason for their exploitation was due to dark and silver tipped fur. The popularity and demand in fashion of sea otter pelts in China was one of the reasons why it was hunted to the point of disappearance and these mammals of the Pacific are currently listed as Threatened under the Canadian Species at Risk Act. Sea otter distribution extends from the north of Japan all the way to the vicinity of Cedros Island, the species stayed approximately within the arc of the Northern Pacific until the pressure of the maritime trade forced them to move north
Maritime Fur Trade
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Modern and historical ranges of
sea otter subspecies
Maritime Fur Trade
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The North West Coast during the maritime fur trade era, about 1790 to 1840
Maritime Fur Trade
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The settlement of Grigory Shelikhov on Kodiak Island
Maritime Fur Trade
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Captain
James Cook
26.
Nootka Crisis
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Spain seized some British commercial ships engaged in the fur trade in an uncolonized coastline area to which Spain claimed ownership. Britain rejected the Spanish claims and used its superior naval power to threaten a war. Spain, a rapidly fading military power, was unable to depend upon its longtime ally, France, Nootka Sound is a network of inlets on the west coast of Vancouver Island, today part of Canadas British Columbia. The crisis revolved around sovereignty claims and rights of navigation and trade, between 1774 and 1789, Spain sent several expeditions to the Pacific Northwest to reassert its long-held navigation and territorial claims to the area. By 1776, these expeditions had reached as far north as Bucareli Bay, territorial rights were asserted according to acts of sovereignty - customary of the time. However, some later, several British fur-trading vessels entered the area which Spain had laid claim to. A complex series of events led to these British vessels being seized by the Spanish Navy at Nootka Sound, when the news reached Europe, Britain requested compensation, and the Spanish government refused. Both sides prepared for war and sought assistance from allies, the crisis was resolved peacefully but with difficulty through a set of three agreements, known collectively as the Nootka Conventions. British subjects were then enabled to trade up to ten leagues from parts of the coast already occupied by Spain, Spain surrendered to Britain many of its trade and territorial claims in the Pacific, ending a two hundred-year monopoly on Asian-Pacific trade. The outcome was a victory for mercantile interests of Britain and opened the way to British expansion in the Pacific, Spain no longer played a role north of California and transferred its historic claims to the United States in the Adams–Onís Treaty of 1819. The events at Nootka Sound, apart from the international crisis, are sometimes called the Nootka Incident, the Nootka Sound Incident. The larger Nootka Crisis is known variously by names such as the Nootka Sound Crisis, the Nootka Sound Controversy, the Great Spanish Armament, northwestern North America was little explored by European ships before the mid-18th century. But by the end of the several nations were vying for control of the region, including Britain, Spain, Russia. For centuries Spain had claimed the entire Pacific coast of North and South America and this claim was based on a number of events. This was further defined in the 1494 Treaty of Tordesillas, as the years went by new criteria for determining sovereignty evolved in European international law, including prior discovery and effective occupation. Spain made claims of discovery for the northwest coast of North America through voyages of Cabrillo in 1542, Ferrer in 1543. Before the early 17th century, these voyages had not reached north of the 44th parallel and these voyages, intended to ascertain the Russian threat and to establish prior discovery claims, were supplemented by the effective settlement of Alta California. Starting in 1774, Spanish expeditions were sent to northern Canada and Alaska to reassert Spains claims, by 1775 Spanish exploration had reached Bucareli Bay including the mouth of the Columbia River between present-day Oregon and Washington, and Sitka Sound
Nootka Crisis
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Friendly Cove
Nootka Crisis
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Location of
Nootka Sound on
Vancouver Island
27.
Spanish expeditions to the Pacific Northwest
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Spanish claims to Alaska and the West Coast of North America date to the papal bull of 1493, and the Treaty of Tordesillas. In 1513, this claim was reinforced by Spanish explorer Vasco Núñez de Balboa, the first European to sight the Pacific Ocean, Spain only started to colonize the claimed territory north of present-day Mexico in the 18th century, when it settled the northern coast of Las Californias. Starting in the century, Spains rights began to be challenged by British. During this period in history, a nations claims or rights to a certain territory were legitimized by exploration, the first voyage was that of Juan José Pérez Hernández of the frigate Santiago. Although intending to reach Alaska, the turned back at Haida Gwaii. Pérez and his crew of 86 were the first Europeans to visit the Pacific Northwest, accompanying Heceta was the schooner Sonora, alias Felicidad, initially under the command of Juan Manuel de Ayala. Ayala took command of the packet boat San Carlos, alias Toysón de Oro, also sailing with the expedition, after its commander, Miguel Manrique. Heceta than gave Bogeda y Quadra command of the Sonora, Francisco Antonio Mourelle served as Bodega y Quadras pilot and the two forged a strong and enduring friendship. The three vessels sailed together as far as Monterey Bay in Alta California, ayalas mission was to explore the Golden Gate strait while Heceta and Bodega y Quadra continued north. Ayala and the crew of the San Carlos became the first Europeans known to enter San Francisco Bay, the Santiago and Sonora continued sailing north together as far as Point Grenville, named Punta de los Martires by Heceta in response to an attack by the local Quinault Indians. The vessels parted company on the evening of July 29,1775, scurvy had so weakened the crew of the Santiago that Heceta decided to return to San Blas. On the way south he discovered the mouth of the Columbia River between present day Oregon and Washington, Juan Pérez, who was serving as Hecetas pilot, died during the voyage south. During the return voyage south Bodega y Quadra discovered, named, during Bodega y Quadras voyage numerous acts of sovereignty were performed. Many place names were given, including Puerto de Bucareli, Puerto de los Remedios, a third voyage took place in 1779 under the command of Ignacio de Arteaga with two armed corvettes, the Favorita under Arteaga, and the Princesa under Bodega y Quadra. With Arteaga on the Favorita was second officer Fernando Quiros y Miranda, surgeon Juan Garcia, pilot Jose Camacho, with Bodega y Quadra on the Princesa was second officer Francisco Antonio Mourelle, surgeon Mariano Nunez Esquivel, pilot Jose Canizares, and second pilot Juan Bautista Aguirre. The expeditions objective was to evaluate the Russian penetration of Alaska, search for a Northwest Passage, Spain had learned about Cooks 1778 explorations along the coast of the Pacific Northwest. Arteaga and Bodega y Quadra did not find Cook, who had killed in Hawaii in February 1779. During the voyage Arteaga and Bodega y Quadra carefully surveyed Bucareli Bay then headed north to Port Etches on Hinchinbrook Island and they entered Prince William Sound and reached a latitude of 61°, the most northern point obtained by the Spanish explorations of Alaska
Spanish expeditions to the Pacific Northwest
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Capitán de Navío
Juan Francisco de la Bodega y Quadra, circa 1785.
Spanish expeditions to the Pacific Northwest
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Spanish colonization of the Americas
Spanish expeditions to the Pacific Northwest
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Areas of Alaska and British Columbia Explored by Spain
28.
Sir Joseph Banks
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Sir Joseph Banks, 1st Baronet, GCB, PRS was a British naturalist, botanist and patron of the natural sciences. Banks made his name on the 1766 natural history expedition to Newfoundland and he took part in Captain James Cooks first great voyage, visiting Brazil, Tahiti, and, after 6 months in New Zealand, Australia, returning to immediate fame. He held the position of President of the Royal Society for over 41 years and he advised King George III on the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, and by sending botanists around the world to collect plants, he made Kew the worlds leading botanical gardens. He is credited with introducing the eucalyptus, acacia, and the named after him, Banksia. Approximately 80 species of plants bear his name and he was the leading founder of the African Association and a member of the Society of Dilettanti which helped to establish the Royal Academy. Banks was born on Argyle Street in London to William Banks, a wealthy Lincolnshire country squire and member of the House of Commons and he had a younger sister, Sarah Sophia Banks, born in 1744. Banks was educated at Harrow School from the age of 9 and at Eton College from 1756, as a boy, Banks enjoyed exploring the Lincolnshire countryside and developed a keen interest in nature, history and botany. When he was 17, he was inoculated with smallpox, but he became ill, in late 1760, he was enrolled as a gentleman-commoner at the University of Oxford. At Oxford, he matriculated at Christ Church, where his studies were focused on natural history rather than the classical curriculum. Determined to receive instruction, he paid the Cambridge botanist Israel Lyons to deliver a series of lectures at Oxford in 1764. Banks left Oxford for Chelsea in December 1763 and he continued to attend the university until 1764, but left that year without taking a degree. He began to make friends among the men of his day and to correspond with Carl Linnaeus. As Bankss influence increased, he became an adviser to King George III and urged the monarch to support voyages of discovery to new lands and he became a Freemason sometime before 1769. He made his name by publishing the first Linnean descriptions of the plants and animals of Newfoundland and his diary, describing his expedition to Newfoundland, was rediscovered recently in the Royal Geographical Society of South Australia. Banks also documented 34 species of birds, including the great auk, on 7 May, he noted a large number of penguins swimming around the ship on the Grand Banks, and a specimen he collected in Chateau Bay, Labrador, was later identified as the great auk. Banks was appointed to a joint Royal Navy/Royal Society scientific expedition to the south Pacific Ocean on HMS Endeavour and this was the first of James Cooks voyages of discovery in that region. Banks funded seven others to him, the Swedish naturalist Daniel Solander. The voyage went to Brazil, where Banks made the first scientific description of a now common garden plant, bougainvillea, and to other parts of South America
Sir Joseph Banks
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Sir Joseph Banks, as painted by
Sir Joshua Reynolds in 1773
Sir Joseph Banks
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Signature
Sir Joseph Banks
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A 1757 portrait of Banks with a botanical illustration. Unknown artist, but attributed to
Lemuel Francis Abbott or
Johann Zoffany
Sir Joseph Banks
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Satire on Banks titled "The Botanic Macaroni", by
Matthew Darly, 1772. A
macaroni was a pejorative term used for a follower of exaggerated continental fashion in the 18th century
29.
Fort San Miguel
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Fort San Miguel was a Spanish fortification at Yuquot on Nootka Island, just west of north-central Vancouver Island. It protected the Spanish settlement, called Santa Cruz de Nuca and it was first built by Esteban José Martínez in 1789 but dismantled in October of that year. It was then rebuilt and enlarged in 1790 then Nootka Sound was reoccupied by Francisco de Eliza, the fort was essentially an artillery land battery for the defence of the harbour and buildings. The Spanish settlement, called Santa Cruz de Nuca, was the first colony in British Columbia, on May 15,1789 Martínez chose the location of his fortification at the entrance of Friendly Cove on Hog Island. Work progressed so that on May 26 they were able to place their artillery followed by the construction of barracks, on June 24,1789 a salvo was fired from the new fort and the Spanish ships in what Martínez considered an official act of possession of Nootka Harbour. On July 29,1789 new orders arrived from Viceroy Flores directing Martínez to abandon the station, the artillery from the fort was loaded back aboard the Princesa and he left Friendly Cove on October 30,1789. The fort was dismantled, but anticipating a reoccupation, Martínez buried crates of bricks and they sailed to Nootka with the Francisco de Eliza expedition. The construction of the battery was difficult and it was built on top of a rocky island—tall but small. Embrasures had to be built to support the guns and it then took four days to emplace eight large cannons. Later, six smaller cannons were also emplaced, the battery did not have enough space for the remaining eight large cannon Eliza had brought, so they were stored ashore. The Spanish soldiers left the fort in 1792, in 1795 it was finally abandoned under the terms of the third Nootka Convention. Before being occupied by Spain the site had been the Mowachaht summer village of Yuquot and it was reoccupied by the Mowachaht under Chief Maquinna. Remnants of the Spanish post, including its garden, were still visible when John R. Jewitt. 1844 map of Friendly Cove by Eugene Duflot De Mofras, showing San Miguel Island, Barry Lawrence Ruderman Antique Maps
Fort San Miguel
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Reconstruction of Fort San Miguel.
30.
John Meares
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John Meares was a navigator, explorer, and maritime fur trader, best known for his role in the Nootka Crisis, which brought Britain and Spain to the brink of war. Meares father was Charles Meares, formerly an attorney of great eminence, in 1771, Meares joined the Royal Navy as a captains servant and was commissioned a lieutenant in 1778. The East India Company held a monopoly on British trade in the Pacific and required all British traders to be licensed with the company, Meares did not license his ships with the East India Company and instead tried to conceal the illegal activity by using the flag of Portugal. Meares registered his ships in Macau, a Portuguese colony in China, non-British ships were not required to have licences from the East India Company. He sailed from Calcutta on 12 March 1786, in the Nootka and he spent the winter of 1786-1787 in Prince William Sound with poor provisions, his men suffered from the weather and scurvy. Twenty three of his men died of scurvy and the ten were saved only by the timely arrival of Captain George Dixon. Meares gave Dixon his bond never to trade in the Northwest again, showing no gratitude to Dixon, Meares proceeded to sue him for allegedly overcharging him for the supplies that saved his life. In 1788, Meares started a new expedition with two vessels and more false papers, the ships sailed under the Portuguese flag and were given Portuguese names, the Felice Adventurero, captained by Meares, and the Iphigenia Nubiana, under William Douglas. The names are spelled in various ways, such as Feliz Aventureira and they sailed from China on 22 January 1788 and arrived at Nootka Sound, on Vancouver Island, in May. Using Nootka Sound as a base of operations he spent the summer trading for furs along the coasts of present-day British Columbia and these claims would become a key point in Britains position during the Nootka Crisis. Spain strongly disputed both claims, and the facts of the matter have never been fully established. Maquinna himself later called Meares a liar and denied selling him any land, the land and building aside, there is no doubt that Mearess men, and a group of Chinese workers they brought, built the sloop North West America. It was launched in September 1788, the first non-indigenous vessel built in the Pacific Northwest, in September Meares left, sailing the Felice Adventurero to China. The Iphigenia Nubiana and North West America wintered in the Hawaiian Islands, while on the island of Kauai, Meares picked up a Hawaiian chief or prince of Attooi by the name of Tianna, whom he took aboard his ship. He took Tianna to Guangzhou, China, where Meares found a Hawaiian women by the name of Winée, eventually, Meares returned Tianna to his homeland but Winée died of illness on the voyage home. Winée and Tianna are considered the two first Hawaiians to have traveled abroad, later, Meares gained possession of Barkleys nautical gear and his journal. During the winter of 1788-89 Meares was in Guangzhou, China, plans were made for more ships to sail to the Pacific Northwest in 1789, including the Princess Royal, under Thomas Hudson, and the Argonaut under James Colnett. The consolidation of the fur trading companies of Meares and the Etches resulted in James Colnett being given the overall command, Meares instructed Colnett to establish a permanent fur trading post at Nootka Sound based on the foothold accomplished by Meares the year before
John Meares
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Lieutenant John Meares. From an engraving after the picture by W. Beechey in Meares' Voyages.
John Meares
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The launch of the North-West America at Nootka Sound, 1788
