1.
Geographic coordinate system
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A geographic coordinate system is a coordinate system used in geography that enables every location on Earth to be specified by a set of numbers, letters or symbols. The coordinates are chosen such that one of the numbers represents a vertical position. A common choice of coordinates is latitude, longitude and elevation, to specify a location on a two-dimensional map requires a map projection. The invention of a coordinate system is generally credited to Eratosthenes of Cyrene. Ptolemy credited him with the adoption of longitude and latitude. Ptolemys 2nd-century Geography used the prime meridian but measured latitude from the equator instead. Mathematical cartography resumed in Europe following Maximus Planudes recovery of Ptolemys text a little before 1300, in 1884, the United States hosted the International Meridian Conference, attended by representatives from twenty-five nations. Twenty-two of them agreed to adopt the longitude of the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, the Dominican Republic voted against the motion, while France and Brazil abstained. France adopted Greenwich Mean Time in place of local determinations by the Paris Observatory in 1911, the latitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle between the equatorial plane and the straight line that passes through that point and through the center of the Earth. Lines joining points of the same latitude trace circles on the surface of Earth called parallels, as they are parallel to the equator, the north pole is 90° N, the south pole is 90° S. The 0° parallel of latitude is designated the equator, the plane of all geographic coordinate systems. The equator divides the globe into Northern and Southern Hemispheres, the longitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle east or west of a reference meridian to another meridian that passes through that point. All meridians are halves of great ellipses, which converge at the north and south poles, the prime meridian determines the proper Eastern and Western Hemispheres, although maps often divide these hemispheres further west in order to keep the Old World on a single side. The antipodal meridian of Greenwich is both 180°W and 180°E, the combination of these two components specifies the position of any location on the surface of Earth, without consideration of altitude or depth. The grid formed by lines of latitude and longitude is known as a graticule, the origin/zero point of this system is located in the Gulf of Guinea about 625 km south of Tema, Ghana. To completely specify a location of a feature on, in, or above Earth. Earth is not a sphere, but a shape approximating a biaxial ellipsoid. It is nearly spherical, but has an equatorial bulge making the radius at the equator about 0. 3% larger than the radius measured through the poles, the shorter axis approximately coincides with the axis of rotation
2.
St James's Square
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St Jamess Square is the only square in the exclusive St Jamess district of the City of Westminster. It has predominantly Georgian and Neo-Georgian architecture and a garden in the centre, for its first two hundred or so years it was one of the three or four most fashionable residential address in London. Also based in the square is the premises of the think tank Chatham House, a principal feature of the square is an equestrian statue of William III erected in 1808. Jamess Square and some closely adjacent parts of the field to the earls trustees, the location was convenient for the royal palaces of Whitehall and St James. The houses on the east, north and west sides of the square were soon developed, in the 1720s seven dukes and seven earls were in residence. The east, north and western sides of the square contained some of the most desirable houses in London, at first glance they do not appear much different from most other houses in the fashionable parts of the West End, but this is deceptive. The windows were more widely spaced than most, the ceilings were high, some of the houses had fine interiors by leading architects such as Matthew Brettingham, Robert Adam and John Soane. The southern side of the square was much more modest, the plots were just sixty feet deep and an average of 22 feet wide. They originally faced Pall Mall and had Pall Mall numbers, the residents of these houses were not eligible to be trustees of the trust which administered the square or even to use the central garden. The idea of buying them out, demolishing their houses and leaving the open to the Pall Mall was raised more than once. Things began to change by the 1830s with the arrival of club-houses, and in 1844 The Builder commented that the square was losing caste, by 1857 the square contained a bank, an insurance society, two government offices, the London Library, two lodging-houses and three clubs. However, some of the continued to be occupied by the fashionable. The Libyan embassy in St Jamess Square was the site of the 1984 Libyan Embassy Siege, according to a news report of the time, A police officer has been killed and ten people injured after shots were fired from the Libyan Peoples Bureau in central London. WPC Yvonne Fletcher had been helping control a demonstration outside the embassy when automatic gunfire came from outside. She received a stomach wound and some of the demonstrators were also severely injured. WPC Fletcher,25, died soon afterwards at Westminster Hospital, the numbering starts with Number 1 to the north of Charles Street on the eastern side of the square and proceeds anti-clockwise as far as Number 21. The Army and Navy Clubs clubhouse occupies the sites of Number 22, a smaller adjacent house which may have had a George Street number. Norfolk House at the end of the square is Number 31
3.
City of Westminster
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The City of Westminster is an Inner London borough which also holds city status. It occupies much of the area of Greater London including most of the West End. It is to the west of and adjoining the ancient City of London, directly to the east of the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea and it was created with the 1965 establishment of Greater London. Upon creation, Westminster was awarded city status, which had previously held by the smaller Metropolitan Borough of Westminster. Aside from a number of parks and open spaces, the population density of the district is high. Many sites commonly associated with London are in the borough, including St. Jamess Palace, Buckingham Palace, the Houses of Parliament, much of the borough is residential, and in 2008 it was estimated to have a population of 236,000. The local authority is Westminster City Council, the current Westminster coat of arms were given to the city by an official grant on September 2,1964. Westminster had other arms before, which had an identical to the chief in the present arms. The symbols in the two thirds of the shield stand for former municipalities now merged with the city, Paddington. The original arms had a portcullis as the charge, which now forms the crest. The origins of the City of Westminster pre-date the Norman Conquest of England, in the mid-11th Century king Edward the Confessor began the construction of an abbey at Westminster, only the foundations of which survive today. For centuries Westminster and the City of London were geographically quite distinct, Westminster briefly became a city in 1540 when Henry VIII created the short-lived Diocese of Westminster. Following the dissolution of Westminster Abbey, a court of burgesses was formed in 1585 to govern the Westminster area, Jamess, Strand, Westminster, Pimlico, Belgravia, and Hyde Park. The Westminster Metropolitan Borough was itself the result of an amalgamation which took place in 1900. Sir John Hunt O. B. E was the First Town Clerk of the City of Westminster, the boundaries of the City of Westminster today, as well as those of the other London boroughs, have remained more or less unchanged since the Act of 1963. On 22 March 2017, a terrorist attack took place on Westminster Bridge, Bridge Street and Old Palace Yard, five people - three pedestrians, one police officer, and the attacker - died as a result of the incident. More than 50 people were injured, an investigation is ongoing by the Metropolitan Police. The city is divided into 20 wards, each electing three councillors, Westminster City Council is currently composed of 44 Conservative Party members and 16 Labour Party members
4.
Thomas Howard, 8th Duke of Norfolk
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Thomas Howard, 8th Duke of Norfolk, Earl Marshal was an English peer and politician. He was the son of Lord Thomas Howard and Mary Elizabeth Savile, upon the death of his uncle Henry Howard, 7th Duke of Norfolk, he inherited the titles of 17th Baron Furnivall and 8th Duke of Norfolk. He married Maria Shireburn, daughter of Sir Nicholas Shireburn, 1st and last Bt. of Stonyhurst Hall, on 26 May 1709, when she was age 16 and a half, with a fortune of more than £30,000. At the time of the Jacobite Rising of 1715 he used his influence to secure the acquittal of his brother Edward on the charge of high treason. The Duke himself was arrested on 29 October 1722 under suspicion of involvement in a Jacobite plot and his wife, refused permission to visit, prevailed upon the Earl of Carlisle to act as surety for his bail in May 1723. Howard was Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of England from 1729-30 and his marriage is said to have been unhappy, and his wife, a staunch Catholic and Jacobite, separated from him when he—in her words—truckled to the Usurper. The Duke died childless on 23 December 1732 at age 49, upon his death, the title passed to his brother Edward
5.
Frederick, Prince of Wales
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Frederick Lewis, Prince of Wales, KG was heir apparent to the British throne from 1727 until his death. He was the eldest but estranged son of King George II and Caroline of Ansbach, under the Act of Settlement passed by the English Parliament in 1701, Frederick was high in line of succession to the British throne. He moved to Great Britain following the accession of his father and he predeceased his father, however, and upon the latters death on 25 October 1760, the throne passed to Prince Fredericks eldest son, George III. The Elector was the son of Sophia of Hanover, granddaughter of James VI and I and first cousin and heiress-presumptive to the English Queen Anne. However, Sophia died before Anne at age 83 in June 1714, which elevated the Elector to heir-presumptive, Queen Anne died on 1 August the same year and this made Fredericks father the new Prince of Wales and first-in-line to the British throne and Frederick himself second-in-line. Fredericks other godfather was his grand-uncle Frederick I, King in Prussia, Frederick was nicknamed Griff within the family. He was left in the care of his grand-uncle Ernest Augustus, Prince-Bishop of Osnabrück, in 1722, Frederick was inoculated against smallpox by Charles Maitland on the instructions of his mother Caroline. The latter two titles have been interpreted differently since – the ofs are omitted and Snaudon rendered as Snowdon, Frederick arrived in England in 1728 as a grown man, the year after his father had become King George II. By then, George and Caroline had had several younger children, the long separation damaged their relationship, and they would never be close. He was not permitted to go to Great Britain until after his father took the throne as George II on 11 June 1727, Frederick had continued to be known as Prince Friedrich Ludwig of Hanover even after his father had been created Prince of Wales. In 1728, Frederick was finally brought to Britain and was created Prince of Wales on 8 January 1729. He served as the tenth Chancellor of the University of Dublin from 1728 to 1751, and he sponsored a court of opposition politicians. Frederick and his group supported the Opera of the Nobility in Lincolns Inn Fields as a rival to Handels royally sponsored opera at the Kings Theatre in the Haymarket. He enjoyed the natural sciences and the arts, and became a thorn in the side of his parents, Hervey and Frederick wrote a theatrical comedy together which was staged at the Drury Lane Theatre in October 1731. It was panned by the critics, and even the theatres manager thought it so bad that it was unlikely to play out even the first night and he had soldiers stationed in the audience to maintain order, and when the play flopped the audience was given their money back. Hervey and Frederick also shared a mistress, Anne Vane, who had a son called FitzFrederick Vane in June 1732, either of them or William Stanhope, 1st Earl of Harrington, another of her lovers, could have been the father. Jealousy between them may have contributed to a breach, and their friendship ended, Hervey later wrote bitterly that Frederick was false. Never having the least hesitation in telling any lie that served his present purpose, a permanent result of Fredericks patronage of the arts is Rule, Britannia
6.
Princess Augusta of Saxe-Gotha
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Princess Augusta of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg was Princess of Wales between 1736 and 1751, and Dowager Princess of Wales thereafter. She was one of only four Princesses of Wales who never became queen consort, Princess Augustas eldest son succeeded as George III of the United Kingdom in 1760, as her husband, Frederick, Prince of Wales, had died nine years earlier. Princess Augusta was born in Gotha to Frederick II, Duke of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg and her paternal grandfather was Frederick I, Duke of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg, eldest surviving son of Ernest I, Duke of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg. In 1736, it was proposed that she marry 29-year-old Frederick, Prince of Wales, eldest son of King George II of Great Britain, originally, Frederick was intended to marry the eldest daughter of the King of Prussia. A marriage alliance between Great Britain and Prussia had been an ambition for many years, Frederick simply replied that he accepted any bride his father would decide for him. His motive in seeking a marriage was to obtain an additional allowance from Parliament in order to be financially independent of his father. Augusta did not speak French or English, and it was suggested that she be given lessons before the wedding, but her mother did not consider it necessary as the British royal family were from Germany. She arrived in Britain, speaking virtually no English, for a ceremony which took place almost immediately, on 8 May 1736, at the Chapel Royal in St Jamess Palace. Augusta of Saxe-Gotha left Hellevoetsluis 17 April 1736 and arrived at Greenwich on the royal yacht William and Mary on the 25th, where she was welcomed by her groom. On 27 April 1736, she was escorted to St Jamess Palace, London, when she was introduced to the royal family, she made a favorable impression on the king and queen by throwing herself on the floor before them in a gesture of submission. During the first year of marriage, Augusta could be playing with her doll in the windows of her residence, until her sister-in-law, Princess Caroline. Augusta and Frederick had nine children, the last born after Fredericks death, Frederick once stated that he would never allow himself to be influenced by his consort as his father was, and he thus never made Augusta his confidante. He did, however, instruct her to act in accordance with his wishes in his feud with his parents, when Augustas first pregnancy was announced, the queen stated that she would be sure to witness to birth, to be assured that the pregnancy was indeed genuine. She reportedly wished the succession to pass to her second son, the delivery was traumatic, St James palace was not ready to receive them, no bed was prepared, no sheets could be found, and Augusta was forced to give birth on a tablecloth. After the reconciliation, the couple became less isolated from high society, Augusta made a good impression in society life, where she was described as pretty, elegant and as a considered hostess. On 2 March 1751, Frederick unexpectedly died, making Augusta a widow and she was then the mother of eight children, expecting shortly to be the mother of a ninth, and she was brought reluctantly to knowledge that their father was no more. By this the world lost some rare supplementary chapters to the Cronique Scandaleuse, the king reportedly did not show much feeling upon the death of his son and the funeral was simple. This caused a controversy and opposition from William, Duke of Cumberland, the role of designated regent became irrelevant when her son came of age upon his eighteenth birthday in 1756
7.
George III of the United Kingdom
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He was concurrently Duke and prince-elector of Brunswick-Lüneburg in the Holy Roman Empire until his promotion to King of Hanover on 12 October 1814. He was the third British monarch of the House of Hanover, early in his reign, Great Britain defeated France in the Seven Years War, becoming the dominant European power in North America and India. However, many of Britains American colonies were soon lost in the American War of Independence, further wars against revolutionary and Napoleonic France from 1793 concluded in the defeat of Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815. In the later part of his life, George III had recurrent, although it has since been suggested that he had the blood disease porphyria, the cause of his illness remains unknown. After a final relapse in 1810, a regency was established, on George IIIs death, the Prince Regent succeeded his father as George IV. Historical analysis of George IIIs life has gone through a kaleidoscope of changing views that have depended heavily on the prejudices of his biographers and the sources available to them. Until it was reassessed in the half of the 20th century, his reputation in the United States was one of a tyrant. George was born in London at Norfolk House and he was the grandson of King George II, and the eldest son of Frederick, Prince of Wales, and Augusta of Saxe-Gotha. As Prince George was born two months prematurely and he was unlikely to survive, he was baptised the same day by Thomas Secker. One month later, he was baptised at Norfolk House. His godparents were the King of Sweden, his uncle the Duke of Saxe-Gotha, George grew into a healthy but reserved and shy child. The family moved to Leicester Square, where George and his younger brother Prince Edward, Duke of York, Family letters show that he could read and write in both English and German, as well as comment on political events of the time, by the age of eight. He was the first British monarch to study science systematically and his religious education was wholly Anglican. At age 10 George took part in a production of Joseph Addisons play Cato and said in the new prologue, What. It may with truth be said, A boy in England born, historian Romney Sedgwick argued that these lines appear to be the source of the only historical phrase with which he is associated. Georges grandfather, King George II, disliked the Prince of Wales, however, in 1751 the Prince of Wales died unexpectedly from a lung injury, and George became heir apparent to the throne. He inherited one of his fathers titles and became the Duke of Edinburgh, now more interested in his grandson, three weeks later the King created George Prince of Wales. Georges mother, now the Dowager Princess of Wales, preferred to keep George at home where she could imbue him with her moral values
8.
Leicester Square
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Leicester Square is a pedestrianised square in the West End of London, England. It was laid out in 1670 and is named after the contemporary Leicester House, itself named after Robert Sidney, the square was originally a gentrified residential area, with tenants including Frederick, Prince of Wales and artists William Hogarth and Joshua Reynolds. It became more down-market in the late 18th century as Leicester House was demolished and retail developments took place, several major theatres were established in the 19th century, which were converted to cinemas towards the middle of the next. The square remains a popular tourist attraction, including hosting events for the Chinese New Year, the square has always had a park in its centre, which was originally Lammas land. The parks fortunes have varied over the centuries, reaching near dilapidation in the century after changing ownership several times. It was restored under the direction of Albert Grant, which included the construction of four new statues, the square was extensively refurbished and remodelled for the 2012 London Olympics, costing more than £15m and taking over 17 months to complete. The square lies within an area bound by Lisle Street, to the north, Charing Cross Road, to the east, Orange Street, to the south, and Whitcomb Street, to the west. It is within the City of Westminster, north of Trafalgar Square, east of Piccadilly Circus, west of Covent Garden, the nearest tube station is Leicester Square tube station, which opened in 1906. London bus routes 24,29 and 176 run on nearby Charing Cross Road, the land where Leicester Square now lies once belonged to the Abbot and Convent of Westminster Abbey and the Beaumont family. In 1536, Henry VIII took control of 3 acres of land around the square, the square is named after Robert Sidney, 2nd Earl of Leicester, who purchased this land in 1630. By 1635, he had himself a large house, Leicester House. The area in front of the house was enclosed, depriving inhabitants of St Martin in the Fields parish of their right to use the previously common land. The parishioners appealed to King Charles I, and he appointed three members of the council to arbitrate. Lord Leicester was ordered to keep part of his land open for the parishioners, the square was laid out to the south of Leicester House and developed in the 1670s. The area was originally residential, with properties laid out in a similar style to nearby Pall Mall. In 1687, the part of the square became part of the new parish of St Anne. The Jocelyn Sidney, 7th Earl of Leicester took ownership of the property in 1728 and it was briefly the residence of Frederick, Prince of Wales from 1742 until Leicesters death the following year. The poet Matthew Prior lived at what is now No.21 around 1700, the magistrate Thomas de Veil, later to found Bow Street Magistrates Court, lived at No 40 between 1729 and 1737, this location is now the Odeon West End
9.
World War II
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World War II, also known as the Second World War, was a global war that lasted from 1939 to 1945, although related conflicts began earlier. It involved the vast majority of the worlds countries—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing alliances, the Allies and the Axis. It was the most widespread war in history, and directly involved more than 100 million people from over 30 countries. Marked by mass deaths of civilians, including the Holocaust and the bombing of industrial and population centres. These made World War II the deadliest conflict in human history, from late 1939 to early 1941, in a series of campaigns and treaties, Germany conquered or controlled much of continental Europe, and formed the Axis alliance with Italy and Japan. Under the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact of August 1939, Germany and the Soviet Union partitioned and annexed territories of their European neighbours, Poland, Finland, Romania and the Baltic states. In December 1941, Japan attacked the United States and European colonies in the Pacific Ocean, and quickly conquered much of the Western Pacific. The Axis advance halted in 1942 when Japan lost the critical Battle of Midway, near Hawaii, in 1944, the Western Allies invaded German-occupied France, while the Soviet Union regained all of its territorial losses and invaded Germany and its allies. During 1944 and 1945 the Japanese suffered major reverses in mainland Asia in South Central China and Burma, while the Allies crippled the Japanese Navy, thus ended the war in Asia, cementing the total victory of the Allies. World War II altered the political alignment and social structure of the world, the United Nations was established to foster international co-operation and prevent future conflicts. The victorious great powers—the United States, the Soviet Union, China, the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union and the United States emerged as rival superpowers, setting the stage for the Cold War, which lasted for the next 46 years. Meanwhile, the influence of European great powers waned, while the decolonisation of Asia, most countries whose industries had been damaged moved towards economic recovery. Political integration, especially in Europe, emerged as an effort to end pre-war enmities, the start of the war in Europe is generally held to be 1 September 1939, beginning with the German invasion of Poland, Britain and France declared war on Germany two days later. The dates for the beginning of war in the Pacific include the start of the Second Sino-Japanese War on 7 July 1937, or even the Japanese invasion of Manchuria on 19 September 1931. Others follow the British historian A. J. P. Taylor, who held that the Sino-Japanese War and war in Europe and its colonies occurred simultaneously and this article uses the conventional dating. Other starting dates sometimes used for World War II include the Italian invasion of Abyssinia on 3 October 1935. The British historian Antony Beevor views the beginning of World War II as the Battles of Khalkhin Gol fought between Japan and the forces of Mongolia and the Soviet Union from May to September 1939, the exact date of the wars end is also not universally agreed upon. It was generally accepted at the time that the war ended with the armistice of 14 August 1945, rather than the formal surrender of Japan
