1.
New South Wales
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New South Wales is a state on the east coast of Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria to the south and it has a coast line with the Tasman Sea on its east side. The Australian Capital Territory is an enclave within the state, New South Wales state capital is Sydney, which is also Australias most populous city. In March 2014, the population of New South Wales was 7.5 million. Just under two-thirds of the population,4.67 million. Inhabitants of New South Wales are referred to as New South Welshmen, the Colony of New South Wales was founded as a penal colony in 1788. It originally comprised a more than half of the Australian mainland with its western boundary set at 129th meridian east in 1825, in addition, the colony also included the island territories of New Zealand, Van Diemens Land, Lord Howe Island, and Norfolk Island. During the 19th century, most of the area was detached to form separate British colonies that eventually became New Zealand. However, the Swan River Colony has never administered as part of New South Wales. Lord Howe Island remains part of New South Wales, while Norfolk Island has become a federal Territory, as have the now known as the Australian Capital Territory. The prior inhabitants of New South Wales were the Aboriginal tribes who arrived in Australia about 40,000 to 60,000 years ago, before European settlement there were an estimated 250,000 Aboriginal people in the region. The Wodi Wodi people are the custodians of the Illawarra region of South Sydney. The Bundjalung people are the custodians of parts of the northern coastal areas. The European discovery of New South Wales was made by Captain James Cook during his 1770 survey along the eastern coast of the Dutch-named continent of New Holland. In his original journal covering the survey, in triplicate to satisfy Admiralty Orders, Cook first named the land New Wales, however, in the copy held by the Admiralty, he revised the wording to New South Wales. After years of chaos and anarchy after the overthrow of Governor William Bligh, macquaries legacy is still evident today. During the 19th century, large areas were separated to form the British colonies of Tasmania, South Australia, Victoria. Responsible government was granted to the New South Wales colony in 1855, following the Treaty of Waitangi, William Hobson declared British sovereignty over New Zealand in 1840
2.
Polo
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Polo is a team sport played on horseback. The objective is to score goals against an opposing team, players score by driving a small white plastic or wooden ball into the opposing teams goal using a long-handled mallet. The traditional sport of polo is played on a grass field up to 300 by 160 yards, each polo team consists of four riders and their mounts. Field polo is played with a plastic ball which has replaced the wooden version of the ball in much of the sport. In arena polo, only three players are required per team and the game involves more maneuvering and shorter plays at lower speeds due to space limitations of arenas. Arena polo is played with a small air-filled ball, similar to a small football, the modern game lasts roughly two hours and is divided into periods called chukkas. Polo is played professionally in 16 countries and it was formerly an Olympic sport. Its invention is dated variously from the 6th century BC to the 1st century AD, Persian Emperor Shapur II learnt to play polo when he was seven years old in 316 AD. The game was learnt by the neighbouring Byzantine Empire at an early date, a tzykanisterion was built by emperor Theodosius II inside the Great Palace of Constantinople. Emperor Basil I excelled at it, Emperor Alexander died from exhaustion while playing, naqsh-i Jahan Square in Isfahan is a polo field which was built by king Abbas I in the 17th century. Qutubuddin Aibak, the Turkic slave from Central Asia who later became the Sultan of Delhi in Northern India, ruled as a Sultan for only four years, from 1206 to 1210, but died accidentally in 1210. While he was playing a game of polo on horseback, his horse fell and he was buried near the Anarkali bazaar in Lahore. Aibaks son Aram died in 1211 CE, so Shams-ud-din Iltutmish, another ex-slave of Turkic ancestry who was married to Aibaks daughter, after the Muslim conquests to the Ayyubid and Mameluke dynasties of Egypt and the Levant, their elites favoured it above all other sports. Notable sultans such as Saladin and Baybars were known to play it, Polo sticks were features on the Mameluke precursor to modern day playing cards. Valuable for training cavalry, the game was played from Constantinople to Japan by the Middle Ages. It is known in the East as the Game of Kings, the name polo is said to have been derived from the Balti word pulu, meaning ball. The modern game of polo is derived from Manipur, India and it was the anglicised form of the last, referring to the wooden ball that was used, which was adopted by the sport in its slow spread to the west. The first polo club was established in the town of Silchar in Assam, India, the origins of the game in Manipur are traced to early precursors of Sagol Kangjei. This was one of three forms of hockey in Manipur, the ones being field hockey and wrestling-hockey
3.
Lacrosse
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Lacrosse is a contact team sport played between two teams using a small rubber ball and a long-handled stick called a crosse or lacrosse stick. The mens version is considered as a sport, with slashes and intense checks to the stick. The head of the stick is strung with loose mesh designed to catch. There are many different ways to put mesh on the head of the stick, also known as stringing the stick. Offensively, the objective of the game is to score by shooting the ball into a goal past the goalie, using the lacrosse stick to catch, cradle. Defensively, the objective is to keep the team from scoring and to gain the ball through the use of stick checking. The sport has four types, mens field lacrosse, womens lacrosse. The sport consists of four positions, midfield, attack, defense, long stick middies only play defense and come off of the field on offense. As a result of its origins, it is traditionally a Northeastern US, or east coast sport, but in recent years has grown into the South, Midwest. Lacrosse may have developed as early as 1100 AD among indigenous peoples on the North American continent. By the seventeenth century, it was well-established and it was documented by Jesuit missionary priests in the territory of present-day Canada. The game has many modifications since that time. In the traditional aboriginal Canadian version, each consisted of about 100 to 1,000 men on a field that stretched from about 500 m to 3 km long. These games lasted from sunup to sundown for two to three days straight and these games were played as part of ceremonial ritual, a kind of symbolic warfare, to give thanks to the Creator or Master. Lacrosse played a significant role in the community and religious life of tribes across the continent for many years, early lacrosse was characterized by deep spiritual involvement, befitting the spirit of combat in which it was undertaken. Those who took part did so in the role of warriors, with the goal of bringing glory and honor to themselves, the game was said to be played for the Creator or was referred to as The Creators Game. The French Jesuit missionary Jean de Brébeuf saw Iroquois tribesmen play the game during 1637 in present-day New York and he was one of the first Europeans to write about the game. The name seems to be originated from the French term for field hockey, a crosse in French is any stick curved at its end In 1855, William George Beers, a Canadian dentist, founded the Montreal Lacrosse Club
4.
Australian Stock Horse
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The Australian Stock Horse, has been especially bred for Australian conditions. It is a breed of horse noted for endurance, agility. Its ancestry dates to the arrival of the first horses in Australia, brought from Europe, Africa and it is used today in a wide variety of disciplines, and is still valued as a working horse by stockmen throughout Australia. The roots of the Australian Stock Horse date back to the earliest importation of nine horses to Australia, some of the original horse breeds in these early imports included the Thoroughbred, Cape of Good Hope Horse, Arabian, Timor Pony and Welsh Mountain pony. Horses in Australia were bred for their stamina and strength, with weaker animals culled, in the 1830s, additional Thoroughbreds were imported into Australia to improve the local strains, and the mid-20th century saw infusions from the American Quarter Horse. The Australian Stock Horse and the Waler horse come from similar roots, the station horse that was an ancestor of both breeds was used by the Australian Army in the First World War and was renowned for its toughness and endurance. However, the modern Australian Stock Horse differs from the Waler horse in that it is not as big, some of the heaviest animals were also required pull water carts and carriages. However, the characteristics of toughness and endurance remain with the Australian Stock Horse of today, many of these people bred stock horses using bloodlines tracing back to native stock, along with some Arabians, Thoroughbreds, and a few ponies of outstanding merit. Most of the early ASH registrations were of horses bred with bloodlines that excelled at both campdrafting and cattle work in the rugged Great Dividing Range, initially, horses were inspected for registration by three classifiers who assessed them for conformation, breeding and athletic ability. The best were accepted for inclusion in the Stud Book, some were approved for the appendix. These included horses bred from stock, Saladin, Cecil and his son Radium, Medlow. The others were Thoroughbreds, Rivoli, Commandant, Panzer, Midstream, Young Valais, Gibbergunyah, Bushfire, Silvius, since then Rivoli Ray, Blue Moon Mystic, Eliotts Creek Cadet, Warrenbri Romeo and some American Quarter Horses have also had a large influence on the breed. The use of Quarter Horse bloodlines is somewhat controversial, with some preferring to stay with older lines. Those who wish to bring in outside blood are required to pay high fees to the Society. The Australian Stock Horse is bred for intelligence, courage, toughness, the horse will be sound, agile and quick moving with a sure-footed walk. It will have a calm, responsive temperament, height ranges from 14 to 16.2 hands. The ideal Australian Stock Horse is well proportioned in all respects according to its size, desired traits include a finely cut, expressive head with large eye and a broad forehead. The neck is long, arched, with head well set on, the withers should be well defined
5.
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
6.
Kingston Vale
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Kingston Vale is a district in the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames in the south west of London. It is an area between Richmond Park, Wimbledon Common and Coombe Hill. The main road is the A308 which is a route for traffic passing to. Many of the roads are cul-de-sacs. The area was known as Kingston Bottom up until the middle of the 19th Century, the earliest record of the change from Kingston Bottom to Kingston Vale occurs in the 1861 Census Returns, where the area is referred to as Kingston Vale Hamlet. By the time of the 1891 Census, the area is described as a civil parish, Kingston Vale is located north east of Kingston on the A308, the village straddles both the A308 and the A3 London - Portsmouth Road. The closest junction of the A3 is the Robin Hood Roundabout, bus connections are also available within a short walk of the stations at Kingston, New Malden, Surbiton, Tolworth and Barnes. The nearest Tube station is Putney Bridge station on the District line, an indirect connection with South Wimbledon station on the Northern line is also possible, via New Malden, Coombe Lane or Kingston. Kingston Vale benefits from a primary school, the Robin Hood Primary School. The Village Hall plays host to the Oranges and Lemons Nursery School, whilst a Montessori nursery school, for education in Kingston Vale see the main Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames article. The first church in the area was built in 1839 and became the centre of its own Parish in 1847 and it is an Anglican church within the Deanery of Kingston and the Archdiocese of Southwark. In addition to its religious functions, the acts as a focal point for community activities in Kingston Vale, which are held within the Village Hall. These include social clubs, dancing and table tennis, as well as providing facilities for local associations and for two local nursery schools. Every year the Church holds a fete and a fireworks night event. The Parish Office manages the booking of four halls, which are used for parties, there are no known facilities for other faiths within the village of Kingston Vale. A guide to the places of worship in the Royal Borough of Kingston-upon-Thames can be found via the Kingston Inter-Faith Forum, the site is also home to the annual National Schools Rugby Sevens Tournament. It has a local amenity group - the Kingston Vale Residents Association. This is a body which deals with matters such as planning, conservation, transport, environment
7.
London
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London /ˈlʌndən/ is the capital and most populous city of England and the United Kingdom. Standing on the River Thames in the south east of the island of Great Britain and it was founded by the Romans, who named it Londinium. Londons ancient core, the City of London, largely retains its 1. 12-square-mile medieval boundaries. London is a global city in the arts, commerce, education, entertainment, fashion, finance, healthcare, media, professional services, research and development, tourism. It is crowned as the worlds largest financial centre and has the fifth- or sixth-largest metropolitan area GDP in the world, London is a world cultural capital. It is the worlds most-visited city as measured by international arrivals and has the worlds largest city airport system measured by passenger traffic, London is the worlds leading investment destination, hosting more international retailers and ultra high-net-worth individuals than any other city. Londons universities form the largest concentration of education institutes in Europe. In 2012, London became the first city to have hosted the modern Summer Olympic Games three times, London has a diverse range of people and cultures, and more than 300 languages are spoken in the region. Its estimated mid-2015 municipal population was 8,673,713, the largest of any city in the European Union, Londons urban area is the second most populous in the EU, after Paris, with 9,787,426 inhabitants at the 2011 census. The citys metropolitan area is the most populous in the EU with 13,879,757 inhabitants, the city-region therefore has a similar land area and population to that of the New York metropolitan area. London was the worlds most populous city from around 1831 to 1925, Other famous landmarks include Buckingham Palace, the London Eye, Piccadilly Circus, St Pauls Cathedral, Tower Bridge, Trafalgar Square, and The Shard. The London Underground is the oldest underground railway network in the world, the etymology of London is uncertain. It is an ancient name, found in sources from the 2nd century and it is recorded c.121 as Londinium, which points to Romano-British origin, and hand-written Roman tablets recovered in the city originating from AD 65/70-80 include the word Londinio. The earliest attempted explanation, now disregarded, is attributed to Geoffrey of Monmouth in Historia Regum Britanniae and this had it that the name originated from a supposed King Lud, who had allegedly taken over the city and named it Kaerlud. From 1898, it was accepted that the name was of Celtic origin and meant place belonging to a man called *Londinos. The ultimate difficulty lies in reconciling the Latin form Londinium with the modern Welsh Llundain, which should demand a form *lōndinion, from earlier *loundiniom. The possibility cannot be ruled out that the Welsh name was borrowed back in from English at a later date, and thus cannot be used as a basis from which to reconstruct the original name. Until 1889, the name London officially applied only to the City of London, two recent discoveries indicate probable very early settlements near the Thames in the London area
8.
Sydney
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Sydney /ˈsɪdni/ is the state capital of New South Wales and the most populous city in Australia and Oceania. Located on Australias east coast, the metropolis surrounds the worlds largest natural harbour, residents of Sydney are known as Sydneysiders. The Sydney area has been inhabited by indigenous Australians for at least 30,000 years, the first British settlers, led by Captain Arthur Phillip, arrived in 1788 to found Sydney as a penal colony, the first European settlement in Australia. Since convict transportation ended in the century, the city has transformed from a colonial outpost into a major global cultural. As at June 2016 Sydneys estimated population was 5,005,358, in the 2011 census,34 percent of the population reported having been born overseas, representing many different nationalities and making Sydney one of the most multicultural cities in the world. There are more than 250 different languages spoken in Sydney and about one-third of residents speak a language other than English at home and it is classified as an Alpha+ World City by the Globalization and World Cities Research Network, indicating its influence in the region and throughout the world. Ranked eleventh in the world for economic opportunity, Sydney has a market economy with strengths in finance, manufacturing. Its gross regional product was $337 billion in 2013, the largest in Australia, there is a significant concentration of foreign banks and multinational corporations in Sydney and the city is promoted as one of Asia Pacifics leading financial hubs. Its natural features include Sydney Harbour, the Royal National Park, man-made attractions such as the Sydney Opera House, Sydney Tower and the Sydney Harbour Bridge are also well known to international visitors. The first people to inhabit the now known as Sydney were indigenous Australians having migrated from northern Australia. Radiocarbon dating suggests human activity first started to occur in the Sydney area from around 30,735 years ago, the earliest British settlers called them Eora people. Eora is the term the indigenous used to explain their origins upon first contact with the British. Its literal meaning is from this place, prior to the arrival of the British there were 4,000 to 8,000 native people in Sydney from as many as 29 different clans. Sydney Cove from Port Jackson to Petersham was inhabited by the Cadigal clan, the principal language groups were Darug, Guringai, and Dharawal. The earliest Europeans to visit the area noted that the people were conducting activities such as camping and fishing, using trees for bark and food, collecting shells. Development has destroyed much of the citys history including that of the first inhabitants, there continues to be examples of rock art and engravings located in the protected Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park. The first meeting between the people and the British occurred on 29 April 1770 when Lieutenant James Cook landed at Botany Bay on the Kurnell Peninsula. He noted in his journal that they were confused and somewhat hostile towards the foreign visitors, Cook was on a mission of exploration and was not commissioned to start a settlement
9.
Ingleburn, New South Wales
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Ingleburn is a suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia 44 kilometres south-west of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of City of Campbelltown. It is part of the Macarthur region, Ingleburn is located approximately halfway between the two commercial centres of Liverpool and Cambelltown. The land in the Ingleburn area was inhabited by the Tharawal people prior to the arrival of settlers from the First Fleet in 1788. The first land grants in the area were made in 1809 to William Hall, William Neale, Joshua Alliot and Timothy Loughlin, as such, the area became known as Soldier Flat. In 1869, a platform was built on the old Neale grant. However, in 1881 the Macquarie Fields estate subdivided to become the new village of Macquarie Fields, the fact that the station was a long way from the village caused confusion so a new name was sought for the station and Ingleburn was chosen in 1883. One theory has it was named after a house formerly owned by Mary Ruse. Other records indicate it was named after a British town although the town hasnt been identified. Ingleburn is Scottish for bend in the river, referring to the significant bend in the nearby Georges River, the village of Ingleburn was established in 1885 when the land owned by a developer called FitzStubbs was subdivided. A public school was opened in 1887, Ingleburn Post Office opened on 15 November 1886. By 1896, the town was large enough to have its own municipal council, town improvements such as street lights and water did not arrive until after World War I. In 1948 the Council was merged with the City of Campbelltown Council, in 1969, a large area west of the railway line was rezoned to become an industrial estate. Protests from local saw the plan halted temporarily but within ten years. More housing subdivisions were made on the outskirts of town in the 1970s including Housing Commission developments, Ingleburn is the home of television playout centre MediaHub, a facility established through a joint partnership with WIN Television and ABC Television. Apart from the two networks, it also houses HD-ready playout for Prime7, Imparja Television, and Fox International channels, Ingleburn is home to the heritage-listed Ingleburn railway station. The station is serviced by the Airport, Inner West & South Line, bus services to and from Ingleburn are provided by Interline bus service. Ingleburn has many themes for the naming of streets, Ingleburn North Public School Ingleburn Public School Ingleburn High School Sackville Street Public School Holy Family Primary School. Milton Park, shared by the boundaries of Ingleburn and Macquarie Fields is a venue for football and softball teams
10.
Walcha, New South Wales
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Walcha is a town at the south-eastern edge of the Northern Tablelands, New South Wales, Australia. The town serves as the seat of Walcha Shire, Walcha is located 425 kilometres by road from Sydney at the intersection of the Oxley Highway and Thunderbolts Way. The Apsley River passes through the town to tumble over the Apsley Falls before joining the Macleay River further on, originally the river caused flooding in the town prior to a levee bank being constructed and saving the town from more floods. At the 2011 census, Walcha had a population of 1,482 people, the Main North railway line is located some distance away, at a separate village called Walcha Road which serves as the railhead. This is served by the daily NSW TrainLink Xplorer service between Sydney and Armidale, the railway line was built at Walcha Road, because it was the closest point they could get to the town, due to the steep climb over the Great Dividing Range. The area is thought to have been occupied by the Danggadi Aborigines prior to European settlement, in 1818, John Oxley became the first white person to discover the area and the falls which were later to be named Apsley Falls. Hamilton Collins Sempill was the first settler in the New England area when he took up the Wolka run in 1832, other early runs around the district were Bergen-op-Zoom, Ohio, Europambela, Surveyor’s Creek, Emu Creek, Ingalba, Orandumbie, Tiara and Winterbourne. A severe depression from 1841 to 1843, and low demand for wool created hardship for many of early settlers. In 1848 Walcha run is recorded as being 64,000 acres, during 1854 Walcha was sold to Rundle and Dangar who held the mortgage for Jamison and Connal. Later John Fletcher acquired Walcha and moved from Branga Plains to Oorundumby, after being sold in 1905, Oorundumby was resumed for soldier settlement in 1947 and subdivided into 22 holdings. A ‘wool’ road to Port Macquarie was under construction in 1842 for the transportation of wool from New England to the coast, Walcha Post Office opened on 1 July 1850. The mail arrived from Macdonald River, Walcha was gazetted as a village site in 1852, when town allotments were sold, with annual sales following. At that time there was a shop, a general store. A Roman Catholic chapel was erected in 1854, a station and the first Presbyterian church was built in 1857. In 1861 the population was recorded at 355 and the Anglican church was built in 1862 of stone taken from the homestead, Villa Walcha. The old church has fine stained-glass windows which bear tribute to some of the towns pioneers, the population dropped in the 1860s but the town soon began to grow for two reasons, firstly, red cedar getters were active in the areas rainforests by about 1870. Gold was discovered near Walcha in the 1870s at Glen Morrison, Tia, The Cells River, antimony, copper, graphite, manganese, silver and high quality slate was also mined in the district. On 5 April 1878 Walcha was proclaimed a town, when it was gazetted, the boundaries defined, a rail link to Sydney and Uralla opened at Walcha Road in 1882
