The New York Times
The New York Times is an American newspaper based in New York City with worldwide influence and readership. Founded in 1851, the paper has won more than any other newspaper; the Times is ranked 17th in the world by circulation and 2nd in the U. S; the paper is owned by The New York Times Company, publicly traded and is controlled by the Sulzberger family through a dual-class share structure. It has been owned by the family since 1896. G. Sulzberger, the paper's publisher, his father, Arthur Ochs Sulzberger Jr. the company's chairman, are the fourth and fifth generation of the family to helm the paper. Nicknamed "The Gray Lady", the Times has long been regarded within the industry as a national "newspaper of record"; the paper's motto, "All the News That's Fit to Print", appears in the upper left-hand corner of the front page. Since the mid-1970s, The New York Times has expanded its layout and organization, adding special weekly sections on various topics supplementing the regular news, editorials and features.
Since 2008, the Times has been organized into the following sections: News, Editorials/Opinions-Columns/Op-Ed, New York, Sports of The Times, Science, Home and other features. On Sunday, the Times is supplemented by the Sunday Review, The New York Times Book Review, The New York Times Magazine and T: The New York Times Style Magazine; the Times stayed with the broadsheet full-page set-up and an eight-column format for several years after most papers switched to six, was one of the last newspapers to adopt color photography on the front page. The New York Times was founded as the New-York Daily Times on September 18, 1851. Founded by journalist and politician Henry Jarvis Raymond and former banker George Jones, the Times was published by Raymond, Jones & Company. Early investors in the company included Edwin B. Morgan, Christopher Morgan, Edward B. Wesley. Sold for a penny, the inaugural edition attempted to address various speculations on its purpose and positions that preceded its release: We shall be Conservative, in all cases where we think Conservatism essential to the public good.
We do not believe that everything in Society is either right or wrong. In 1852, the newspaper started a western division, The Times of California, which arrived whenever a mail boat from New York docked in California. However, the effort failed. On September 14, 1857, the newspaper shortened its name to The New-York Times. On April 21, 1861, The New York Times began publishing a Sunday edition to offer daily coverage of the Civil War. One of the earliest public controversies it was involved with was the Mortara Affair, the subject of twenty editorials in the Times alone; the main office of The New York Times was attacked during the New York City Draft Riots. The riots, sparked by the beginning of drafting for the Union Army, began on July 13, 1863. On "Newspaper Row", across from City Hall, Henry Raymond stopped the rioters with Gatling guns, early machine guns, one of which he manned himself; the mob diverted, instead attacking the headquarters of abolitionist publisher Horace Greeley's New York Tribune until being forced to flee by the Brooklyn City Police, who had crossed the East River to help the Manhattan authorities.
In 1869, Henry Raymond died, George Jones took over as publisher. The newspaper's influence grew in 1870 and 1871, when it published a series of exposés on William Tweed, leader of the city's Democratic Party—popularly known as "Tammany Hall" —that led to the end of the Tweed Ring's domination of New York's City Hall. Tweed had offered The New York Times five million dollars to not publish the story. In the 1880s, The New York Times transitioned from supporting Republican Party candidates in its editorials to becoming more politically independent and analytical. In 1884, the paper supported Democrat Grover Cleveland in his first presidential campaign. While this move cost The New York Times a portion of its readership among its more progressive and Republican readers, the paper regained most of its lost ground within a few years. After George Jones died in 1891, Charles Ransom Miller and other New York Times editors raised $1 million dollars to buy the Times, printing it under the New York Times Publishing Company.
However, the newspaper was financially crippled by the Panic of 1893, by 1896, the newspaper had a circulation of less than 9,000, was losing $1,000 a day. That year, Adolph Ochs, the publisher of the Chattanooga Times, gained a controlling interest in the company for $75,000. Shortly after assuming control of the paper, Ochs coined the paper's slogan, "All The News That's Fit To Print"; the slogan has appeared in the paper since September 1896, has been printed in a box in the upper left hand corner of the front page since early 1897. The slogan was a jab at competing papers, such as Joseph Pulitzer's New York World and William Randolph Hearst's New York Journal, which were known for a lurid and inaccurate reporting of facts and opinions, described by the end of the century as "yellow journalism". Under Ochs' guidance, aided by Carr
Inline skates
Inline skates are a type of roller skate used for inline skating. Unlike quad skates, which have two front and two rear wheels, inline skates have two to five wheels arranged in a single line; some those for recreation, have a rubber "stop" or "brake" block attached to the rear of one or both of the skates so that the skater can slow down or stop by leaning back on the foot with the brake skate. The modern style of inline skates was developed as a substitute for ice skates, for use by a Russian athlete training on solid ground for Olympic long track speed skating events. Life magazine published a photo of American skater Eric Heiden, training for the 1980 Olympics, using such skates on a Wisconsin road. During the late 1980s and early 1990s, Inc. a company founded by Scott and Brennan Olson in Minneapolis, Minnesota promoted inline skating through the registered trademark Rollerblade. John Joseph Merlin experimented with single- to many-rowed devices worn on feet in 1760. Inline skates, skates designed to work like ice skates during periods of warm weather, were invented by Louis Legrange of France in 1849.
Legrange designed the skates for an opera. The skates were unsuccessful as the wearer could not turn nor could they stop. At some point between 1895 and 1899 the UK engineering company D. Napier & Son made Ritter "road skates", which had two comparatively large wheels and back, on each skate; the first U. S. patent for modern in-line skates, designed to behave like ice runners with individually sprung and cushioned wheels, was granted under patent number US 2644692 in July, 1953 to Ernest Kahlert of Santa Ana, CA. They were described in the April 1950 issue of "Popular Mechanics" and again in the April 1954 issue of "Popular Science" in the section called "New Ideas from the Inventors." Inline skates appear in the 1962 Russian film Koroleva benzokolonki at 9m23s. In Canada in 1972, Mountain Dew attempted to sell Mettoy's product the "Skeeler", an inline skate, developed for Russian hockey players and speed skaters. In 1978 the German branch of SKF presented the "Speedy"-System, but the product was taken in less than one year from the market, as the managment do no wanted a consumer product in the portfolio of the company.
The first commercially available inline skate for this form of Rollerskating is in 1987 by Rollerblade. In 1996, Jason Lewis completed the first solo crossing of the USA on inline skates, part of Expedition 360, a successful attempt to circumnavigate the globe using only human power. En route he was hit by a car in Colorado. After nine months he completed the journey from Fort Lauderdale to San Francisco. In 2012, Kacie Fischer became the first woman, the fastest person, to inline skate across the United States. A skate is composed of a boot, worn on the foot. To the boot is attached a frame, which holds the wheels in place. Bearings allow the wheels to rotate around an axle; the rubber brake attaches to the frame of the right foot. There are different types of inline skates for different types of skating such as aggressive skating, speed skating, inline hockey and artistic inline skating; those differ in the boots and wheels that are used. For most skating a high boot is used, which provides more ankle support and is easier to skate in for beginners.
Speed skaters use a carbon fiber boot which provides greater support with a lower cut allowing more ankle flexion. For recreational skating a soft boot is used for greater comfort, but many other disciplines prefer a harder boot, either to protect the foot against impact or for better control of the skate; the boot may contain shock absorbent padding for comfort. Downhill skaters use boots that are heat-molded to the shape of the foot, with a foam liner. Most aggressive skates use a hard/soft boot for increased support. Typical recreational skates use frames built out of high-grade polyurethane. Low-end department or toy store skate frames may be composed of other types of plastic. Speed skate frames are built out of carbon fiber or extruded aluminum, magnesium, or pressed aluminium, folded into a frame. Carbon fiber frames are expensive but more flexible, making for a smoother ride at the expense of worse power transfer between the leg and the wheels. In general, carbon fiber frames weigh about 160–180 grams.
High-end carbon fiber frames with a monocoque construction have been introduced. They offer the same level of stiffness as aluminum frames while weighing only around 130g. Aluminum can weigh from 170 to 240 grams. Frame length ranges from 2 wheel framed freestyle wheels to around 230 mm for short-framed four wheel skates, up to about 325 mm for a five-wheel racing frame. Ball bearings allow the wheels to rotate and smoothly. Bearings are rated on the ABEC scale, a measure of the manufactured precision tolerance, ranging from 1 to 9 in odd numbers; the ABEC standards were intended for high-speed machinery, not skating applications, do not account for the quality of steel used, important for how long bearings last. While higher rated bearings are better in overall quality, whether they automatically translate to more speed is questionable. Since at least 2007, Rollerblade brand amongst others have begun using their own rating system. For instance, Rollerblade brand is using a SG1 to SG9 rating system, whereas TwinCam brand is using its own "ILQ" (InLi
Korfball
Korfball is a ball sport, with similarities to netball and basketball. It is played by two teams of four males in each team; the objective is to throw a ball into a bottomless basket, mounted on a 3.5 m high pole. The sport was invented by Dutch school teacher Nico Broekhuysen in 1902. In the Netherlands, there are over 90,000 people playing korfball; the sport is very popular in Belgium and Taiwan, is played in nearly 70 countries. In 1902 Nico Broekhuysen, a Dutch school teacher from Amsterdam, was sent to Nääs, a town in Sweden, to follow an educational course about teaching gymnastics to children; this is where he was introduced to the Swedish game'ringboll'. In ringboll one could score points by throwing the ball through a ring, attached to a 3 m pole. Men and women played together, the field was divided into three zones. Players could not leave their zone. Broekhuysen was inspired and when he returned to Amsterdam he decided to teach his students a similar game, he replaced the ring with a basket, so it was easier to see if a player had scored or not.
Broekhuysen simplified the rules so children could understand and play it. Korfball was born; the main idea was the same as ringboll. The oldest still existing korfball club to never have merged with any other club is a Dutch korfball club H. K. C. ALO from The Hague, Netherlands. H. K. C. ALO was founded on 1 February 1906. At first, there was considerable controversy about the sport, because the players were of both sexes. Several sports journalists refused to pay the slightest attention to the new sport. Korfball players were accused of being immoral; the sportswear was criticized, because the women were showing bare knees and ankles. Yet korfball was featured as a demonstration sport in the Summer Olympics of 1920 and 1928; the International Korfball Federation was founded in 1933 in Belgium. Korfball is played in 69 countries including: United States, England, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, Czech Republic, Poland, Serbia, South Africa, India, The Netherlands, Nigeria, Ghana, Germany, Turkey, Hong Kong, Pakistan, Sweden, the Philippines, Italy, Spain and Romania.
It is growing in popularity in the UK and in a unique reference to the sport, is featured in a song by the band Half Man Half Biscuit entitled "Joy in Leeuwarden" on their 2011 album 90 Bisodol. Korfball has been played in the World Games since 1985. IKF World Korfball Championships have been held every four years since 1978; the leading nations are The Netherlands, Chinese Taipei, Belgium. Hong Kong hosted its first international tournament, the IKF Asia Oceania Korfball Championship in 2006. New Zealand hosted the IKF Asia Oceania Youth Korfball Championships in 2007. Korfball is played inside in winter and outdoors in autumn; the size of the indoor court is 20 m. The court is divided into halves called zones. In each zone is a 3.5 m tall post with a basket at the top. This is positioned two-thirds of the back of the zone. A korfball team consists of eight players. An international korfball match consists of four periods, with the length varying depending on the competition, but between 7 and 10 minutes, with a 1-minute break between period 1, 2, 3 and 4.
At half time - after period 2 - the break is 5 minutes. Four players of each team are in one zone and the other four are in the other zone. Within each zone, a player may only defend a member of the opposite team of the same gender. At the beginning of the match, one team chooses one-half of the court; that half will be their defending zone, with'their' basket in it. Players score by throwing the ball through the opponents' basket. After two goals, the teams change zones: defenders become attackers become defenders. In between those zone-changes, attackers can not set foot on their defending vice versa. At half-time teams swap halves; the rules prevent physical strength dominating the game. Blocking and holding are not allowed, as well as kicking the ball. Once a player has the ball, one cannot dribble, run or walk with it, one can move one foot as long as the foot the player landed on when they caught the ball stays in the same spot; therefore and efficient teamwork is required, because players need each other to keep the ball moving, throwing the ball to each other.
A player may not attempt to score when defended, which occurs when the defender is in between the opponent and the basket, is facing his/her opponent, is within arm's length and attempting to block the ball. This rule encourages fast movement while limiting the impact of players' height compared to their opponents; the national teams competition organized by the International World Games Association has been played every four years since 1981. The national teams competition organized by the International Korfball Federation has been played every four years since 1978. 2008 Kaohsiung, Taiwan – Winner: Netherlands 2012 Barcelona, Spain – Winner: Netherlands 2016 Olomouc, Czech Republic – Winner: Netherlands IKF promotes four continental championships: European Korfball Championship, All-Africa Korfball Championship, Pan-American Korfball Championship and Asia-Oceania Korfball Championship. Every year the IKF organises the Europ
Fédération Internationale de Roller Sports
The Fédération Internationale de Roller Sports was the world governing body for roller sports, including skateboarding, rink hockey, inline hockey, speed skating, inline alpine, roller derby, roller freestyle, inline freestyle and artistic roller skating. It was established in April 1924 in Montreux, Switzerland by two Swiss sportsmen, Fred Renkewitz and Otto Myer, who had close connections to the International Olympic Committee; the FIRS gathered more than 100 national federations, including countries from every continent and they are affiliated with the International Skating Union. Park terrain skateboarding will become an Olympic sport in 2020. A proposal to dissolve the federation and merge with the International Skateboarding Federation to form a new body known as World Skate was ratified in September 2017; the FIRS aimed to foster the Roller Sports participation on a global scale. Its areas of responsibility were as follows: Administration and Regulations Organizing international competitions Developing the movement worldwide PromotingThe authority of FIRS was recognized by the following organizations: International Olympic Committee General Association of International Sports Federations International World Games Association Pan American Sports Organization FIRS recognized the following continental confederations: Africa - African Confederation of Sports of Roller Skating Europe - Confédération Européenne de Roller Skating Asia - Confederation of Asia Roller Sports Oceania - Oceania Confederation of Roller Sports The Americas - Confederación Panamericana de Roller Sports Each continental confederation comprises or recognizes, in turn, various national governing bodies and associations.
Skating is considered to be one of the most complete physical exercises that exist and enjoys huge popularity on a world level. According to the latest estimations, there are more than 40 million habitual users of recreational skates throughout the world. Club CompetitionsRink hockey World Club Championship Roller Hockey Intercontinental CupNational Teams CompetitionsFIRS Roller Hockey World Cup FIRS Women's Roller Hockey World Cup FIRS Roller Hockey World Cup U-20 Men's Roller Derby World Cup and Women's Roller Derby World Cup organized by Blood & Thunder magazine, not FIRS. Association of IOC Recognised International Sports Federations FIRS web site
Bandy
Bandy is a team winter sport played on ice, in which skaters use sticks to direct a ball into the opposing team's goal. The sport is considered a form of hockey and has a common background with association football, ice hockey and field hockey. Like football, the game is played in halves of 45 minutes each, there are eleven players on each team, the bandy field is about the same size as a football pitch, it is played on ice like ice hockey, but like field hockey, players use bowed sticks and a small ball. A variant of bandy, rink bandy, is played to the same rules but on a field the size of an ice hockey rink, with ice hockey goal cages and with six players on each team, or five in USA Rink Bandy League. Traditional eleven-a-side bandy and rink bandy are recognized by the International Olympic Committee. More informal varieties exist, like seven-a-side bandy with sized goal cages but without corner strokes; those rules were applied at Davos Cup in 2016. Rink bandy has in turn led to the creation of the sport rinkball.
Bandy is the predecessor of floorball, invented when people started playing with plastic bandy-shaped sticks and lightweight balls when running on the floors of indoor gym halls. Based on the number of participating athletes, bandy is the world's second-most participated winter sport after ice hockey. Bandy is ranked as the number two winter sport in terms of tickets sold per day of competitions at the sport's world championship. However, compared with the seven Winter Olympic sports, bandy's popularity among other winter sports across the globe is considered by the International Olympic Committee to have a, "gap between popularity and participation and global audiences", a roadblock to future Olympic inclusion; the earliest origin of the sport is debated. Though many Russians see their old countrymen as the creators of the sport – reflected by the unofficial title for bandy, "Russian hockey" – Russia and Holland each had sports or pastimes which can be seen as forerunners of the present sport.
English bandy developed as a winter sport in the Fens of East Anglia. Large expanses of ice would form on the flooded meadows or shallow washes in cold winters, skating has been a tradition. Members of the Bury Fen Bandy Club published rules of the game in 1882, introduced it into other countries; the first international match took place in 1891 between Bury Fen and the Haarlemsche Hockey & Bandy Club from the Netherlands. The same year, the National Bandy Association was started in England; the match dubbed "the original bandy match", was held in 1875 at The Crystal Palace in London. However, at the time, the game was called "hockey on the ice" as it was considered an ice variant of field hockey; the first national bandy league was started in Sweden in 1902. Bandy was played at the Nordic Games in Stockholm and Kristiania in 1901, 1903, 1905 and between Swedish and Russian teams at similar games in Helsinki in 1907. A European championship was held in 1913 with eight countries participating. In modern times, Russia has held a top position in the bandy area, both as a founding nation of the International Federation in 1955 and fielding the most successful team in the World Championships.
The highest altitude where bandy has been played is in the capital of the Tajik autonomous province of Gorno-Badakhshan, Khorugh. As a precursor to ice hockey bandy has influenced its development and history – in European and former Soviet countries. While modern ice hockey was created in Canada, a game more similar to bandy was played after British soldiers introduced the game in the late 19th century. At the same time as modern ice hockey rules were formalized in British North America, bandy rules were formulated in Europe. A cross between English and Russian bandy rules developed, with the football-inspired English rules dominant, together with the Russian low border along most of the two sidelines, this is the basis of the present sport since the 1950s. Before Canadians introduced ice hockey into Europe in the early 20th century, "hockey" was another name for bandy, still is in parts of Russia and Kazakhstan. With football and bandy being dominant sports in parts of Europe, it was common for sports clubs to have bandy and football sections, with athletes playing both sports at different times of the year.
Some examples are English Nottingham Forest Football and Bandy Club and Norwegian Strømsgodset IF and Mjøndalen IF, with the latter still having an active bandy section. In Sweden, most football clubs which were active during the first half of the 20th Century played bandy; as the season for each sport increased in time, it was not as easy for the players to engage in both sports, so some clubs came to concentrate on one or the other. Many old clubs still have both sports on their program. Both bandy and ice hockey were played in Europe during the 20th century in Sweden and Norway. Ice hockey became more popular than bandy in most of Europe because it had become an Olympic sport, while bandy had not. Athletes in Europe who had played bandy switched to ice hockey in the 1920s to compete in the Olympics; the smaller ice fields needed for ice hockey made its rinks easier to maintain in countries with short winters. On the other hand, ice hockey was not played in the Soviet Union until the 1950s when the USSR wanted to compete internationally.
The typical European style of ice hockey, with flowing, less physical play, represents a heritage of bandy. The sp
Roller hockey
Roller hockey is a form of hockey played on a dry surface using wheeled skates. Most professional inline hockey games take place on an outdoor sport court. Otherwise, any dry surface can be used to host a game a roller rink, macadam, or cement; the term "Roller hockey" is used interchangeably to refer to three variant forms chiefly differentiated by the equipment used. There is traditional "Roller hockey", played with quad skates and a ball, "Inline hockey", played with inline skates and puck and "Skater hockey", played with quad skates or inline skates and plastic ball. Combined, roller hockey is played in nearly 60 countries worldwide. Roller hockey is played on both quad skates and inline skates, have different rules and equipment, involve different types of skating but share the category and name of roller hockey. Roller hockey is played using traditional quad roller skates, affording greater maneuverability to the player - this results in games filled with fancy footwork, tight maneuvering, is more similar to football or basketball.
The stick is less the same as in bandy and shinty. Roller hockey bears close resemblance to ice hockey and is played on inline skates, uses an ice hockey stick and includes a lot of fast "racing back and forth" action. Inline hockey goalies use a glove called a catcher to catch shots made on goal, a flat square, mitt called a blocker, used to deflect shots on goal; the Quad hockey goalie uses a flat batting glove that provides rebound characteristics when blocking a shot on goal. Quad hockey is a variation of roller hockey. Roller hockey is the overarching name for a rollersport that has existed long before inline skates were "re-invented" in the 70s. Roller hockey has been played on quad skates, in sixty countries worldwide and so has many names worldwide. Sometimes the sport is called Quad Hockey, Hóquei em Patins, Rollhockey, International Style Ball hockey, Rink hockey, Hockey Su Pista, Hoquei sobre Patins, Hockey sobre Patines, Rulleskøjtehockey, Rullbandy and Hardball hockey, depending on which region of the world it is played.
Roller hockey was a demonstration rollersport in the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona. Inline hockey is a variation of roller hockey similar to ice hockey, from which it is derived, it is referred to by many names worldwide, including Ball Hockey, Inline hockey, Roller hockey, Longstick hockey, Deck hockey, Road hockey, Street hockey and Skater hockey depending on which region of the world in which it is played. Like ice hockey, inline hockey is a contact sport therefore, it is similar to ice hockey in that teamwork and aggressiveness are needed. Excepting the use of inline roller skates in lieu of ice skates, the equipment of inline roller hockey is similar to that of ice hockey; the game is played by two teams, consisting of four skaters and one goalie, on a dry rink divided into two halves by a center line, with one net at each end of the rink. When played more informally, the game takes place on a smooth asphalt surface outdoors; the game is played in three 15-minute periods or if it is higher standard it's played 20-minutes in each of the three periods.
The game rules differ from ice hockey in a few simple ways: there is no icing and it is played in a 4 on 4 player format instead of 5 on 5. Speaking, only competitive-level inline hockey is bound by the governing body's rules. Recreational hockey leagues may make modifications to certain aspects of the rules to suit local requirements. Roller hockey is a growing sport in Britain with teams cropping up all over the country; the fact that it can be played on any dry surface means that it can be played in any leisure center. Most competitive youth hockey teams play in tournaments; the tournaments vary depending on location, but a typical bracket system is used. Teams travel to different locations around their state, sometimes going out of state. There are inner state tournaments and out of state tournaments. There are national tournaments competitive teams compete for; the World Skate is the international association that organize the biggest roller hockey world championship. Over twenty national teams participate in these two events.
There are other tournaments located in the U. S but played by players all around the world. Narch and Statewars are two Nationwide tournaments of every skill age group. In skater hockey, the sport is governed in Europe by the International Inline-Skater hockey Federation. Many of the same brands that make ice hockey equipment make roller hockey skates including Bauer, Mission and many more. There are some brands that specialize in roller hockey like el Leon de Oro, Alkali and Mission. Other rink hockey brands include Reno, TVD, Meneghini and Azemad. Hockey Floor hockey Floorball Inline hockey International Roller Sports Federation Roller hockey Roller hockey Roller hockey at the 1992 Summer Olympics Roller Hockey International Street Hockey USA Roller Sports Mundo do Hóquei
Barcelona
Barcelona is a city in Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within city limits, its urban area extends to numerous neighbouring municipalities within the Province of Barcelona and is home to around 4.8 million people, making it the sixth most populous urban area in the European Union after Paris, Madrid, the Ruhr area and Milan. It is one of the largest metropolises on the Mediterranean Sea, located on the coast between the mouths of the rivers Llobregat and Besòs, bounded to the west by the Serra de Collserola mountain range, the tallest peak of, 512 metres high. Founded as a Roman city, in the Middle Ages Barcelona became the capital of the County of Barcelona. After merging with the Kingdom of Aragon, Barcelona continued to be an important city in the Crown of Aragon as an economic and administrative centre of this Crown and the capital of the Principality of Catalonia.
Barcelona has a rich cultural heritage and is today an important cultural centre and a major tourist destination. Renowned are the architectural works of Antoni Gaudí and Lluís Domènech i Montaner, which have been designated UNESCO World Heritage Sites; the headquarters of the Union for the Mediterranean are located in Barcelona. The city is known for hosting the 1992 Summer Olympics as well as world-class conferences and expositions and many international sport tournaments. Barcelona is one of the world's leading tourist, trade fair and cultural centres, its influence in commerce, entertainment, fashion and the arts all contribute to its status as one of the world's major global cities, it is a major cultural and economic centre in southwestern Europe, 24th in the world and a financial centre. In 2008 it was the fourth most economically powerful city by GDP in the European Union and 35th in the world with GDP amounting to €177 billion. In 2012 Barcelona had a GDP of $170 billion. In 2009 the city was ranked one of the world's most successful as a city brand.
In the same year the city was ranked Europe's fourth best city for business and fastest improving European city, with growth improved by 17% per year, the city has been experiencing strong and renewed growth for the past three years. Since 2011 Barcelona has been a leading smart city in Europe. Barcelona is a transport hub, with the Port of Barcelona being one of Europe's principal seaports and busiest European passenger port, an international airport, Barcelona–El Prat Airport, which handles over 50 million passengers per year, an extensive motorway network, a high-speed rail line with a link to France and the rest of Europe; the name Barcelona comes from the ancient Iberian Barkeno, attested in an ancient coin inscription found on the right side of the coin in Iberian script as, in ancient Greek sources as Βαρκινών, Barkinṓn. Some older sources suggest that the city may have been named after the Carthaginian general Hamilcar Barca, supposed to have founded the city in the 3rd century BC, but there is no evidence that Barcelona was a Carthaginian settlement, or that its name in antiquity, had any connection with the Barcid family of Hamilcar.
During the Middle Ages, the city was variously known as Barchinona, Barçalona and Barchenona. Internationally, Barcelona's name is wrongly abbreviated to'Barça'. However, this name refers only to the football club; the common abbreviated form used by locals is Barna. Another common abbreviation is'BCN', the IATA airport code of the Barcelona-El Prat Airport; the city is referred to as the Ciutat Comtal in Catalan, Ciudad Condal in Spanish, owing to its past as the seat of the Count of Barcelona. The origin of the earliest settlement at the site of present-day Barcelona is unclear; the ruins of an early settlement have been found, including different tombs and dwellings dating to earlier than 5000 BC. The founding of Barcelona is the subject of two different legends; the first attributes the founding of the city to the mythological Hercules. The second legend attributes the foundation of the city directly to the historical Carthaginian general, Hamilcar Barca, father of Hannibal, who named the city Barcino after his family in the 3rd century BC, but there is no historical or linguistic evidence that this is true.
In about 15 BC, the Romans redrew the town as a castrum centred on the "Mons Taber", a little hill near the contemporary city hall. Under the Romans, it was a colony with the surname of Faventia, or, in full, Colonia Faventia Julia Augusta Pia Barcino or Colonia Julia Augusta Faventia Paterna Barcino. Pomponius Mela mentions it among the small towns of the district as it was eclipsed by its neighbour Tarraco, but it may be gathered from writers that it grew in wealth and consequence, favoured as it was with a beautiful situation and an excellent harbour, it enjoyed immunity from imperial burdens. The city minted its own coins. Important Roman vestiges are displayed in Plaça del Rei underground, as a part of the Barcelona City History Museum; some remaining fragments of the Roman walls have been incorporated into the cathedral. The cathedral known as the Basilica La Seu, is said to have been founded in 343; the city
