Beloit, Wisconsin
Beloit is a city in Rock County, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 36,966. Twelve men in Colebrook, New Hampshire created the "New England Emigrating Company" in October 1836 and sent Dr. Horace White to find a suitable region of Wisconsin in which to settle; the level fields and the water power of Turtle Creek and the "unlimited gravel" in the area around what is now Beloit fixed the site of the intended village and farms. White purchased the land. At the same time as the Colebrook settlers, six families from Bedford, New Hampshire arrived and settled in the region, they said. The village was platted in 1838 and was planned with wide streets which built on the New England model. Beloit was named New Albany in 1837 by its founder, Caleb Blodgett; the name was changed to Beloit in 1838. The name Beloit was coined to be reminiscent of Detroit. Beloit lays claim to such inventions as the speedometer, Korn Kurls, John Francis Appleby's twine binder. Korn Kurls, which resemble Cheetos, was the original puffed cheese snack.
Beloit's 1889 Water Tower Place began demolition in 1935, halted because of the cost. A historic pump station is located nearby; the Fairbanks Flats were built in 1917 to house the rush of African Americans moving to the area from the Southern United States. Pearsons Hall of Science was designed by the architectural firm Burnham and Root for Beloit College to use as a science center; the Lathrop-Munn Cobblestone House was built for politician John Hackett. Downtown Beloit is the historic economic and social center of the community. Located north of the confluence of the Rock River and Turtle Creek, the downtown is anchored by a core of historic buildings and the Ironworks office and industrial campus. Beloit's riverfront park system Riverside Park, extends north of the downtown along the east bank toward the Town of Beloit. Downtown Beloit is one of two inaugural members of the Wisconsin Main Street designation. Beloit was served by the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad, better known as the Milwaukee Road, the Chicago & North Western Railroad.
In its 1980 bankruptcy, the Milwaukee Road disposed of the Southwestern Line. The Union Pacific Railroad, which took over the C&NW, operates in Beloit today over a remnant of the former Milwaukee Road, providing a rail connection to Fairbanks-Morse Engine; the Canadian Pacific Railway operates other trackage in Beloit. The city had an electric interurban railroad. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 17.70 square miles, of which 17.37 square miles is land and 0.33 square miles is water. Location: 42°30′30″N 89°01′54″W; the city is adjacent to the Town of Beloit, Town of Turtle, the Illinois municipality of South Beloit. Most of Beloit's development is occurring on the east side, adjacent to Interstates 39/90 and Interstate 43, where the city annexed rural land for the extensive Beloit Gateway Industrial Park, as well as in the newly revitalized downtown located along the Rock River; as of the census of 2010, there were 36,966 people, 13,781 households, 8,867 families residing in the city.
The population density was 2,128.2 inhabitants per square mile. There were 15,177 housing units at an average density of 873.7 per square mile. The racial makeup of the city was 68.9% White, 15.1% African American, 0.4% Native American, 1.1% Asian, 10.0% from other races, 4.4% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 17.1% of the population. There were 13,781 households of which 36.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 39.6% were married couples living together, 18.3% had a female householder with no husband present, 6.4% had a male householder with no wife present, 35.7% were non-families. 29.4% of all households were made up of individuals and 11.2% had someone living alone, 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.57 and the average family size was 3.16. The median age in the city was 33.1 years. 27.1% of residents were under the age of 18. The gender makeup of the city was 47.9% male and 52.1% female. Beloit is represented by Janis Ringhand and Stephen Nass in the Wisconsin State Senate, Amy Loudenbeck and Mark Spreitzer in the Wisconsin State Assembly, Mark Pocan in the United States House of Representatives, Ron Johnson and Tammy Baldwin in the United States Senate.
Beloit has a council-manager system of government, with seven council members, each elected for two year terms. Four members are elected in years and three in odd years. City council elections are held annually in April; the city council establishes policies for the city and appoints a city manager to implement those policies. The current city manager, Lori S. Curtis Luther, was appointed on June 1, 2015. Industries with headquarters in Beloit include ABC Supply Company, Bio-Systems International, Broaster Company, Fairbanks-Morse Engines, Murmac Paint Manufacturing, PlayMonster, Regal Beloit. Downtown Beloit is a dense cluster of small shops and boutiques; the area has been recognized for increased renewal since the 1990s. Upscale downtown condominiums and hotels were introduced post-2000 with the construction of the Hotel Hilton Apartments, the Beloit Inn, Heritage View, the Phoenix Project. From the 1990s to 2011, downtown Beloit received direct public and private investment totaling more than $75 million.
In 2011, Beloit was a Great American Main Street A
Egg
The egg is the organic vessel containing the zygote in which an embryo develops until it can survive on its own. An egg results from fertilization of an egg cell. Most arthropods and mollusks lay eggs, although some, such as scorpions do not. Reptile eggs, bird eggs, monotreme eggs are laid out of water, are surrounded by a protective shell, either flexible or inflexible. Eggs laid on land or in nests are kept within a warm and favorable temperature range while the embryo grows; when the embryo is adequately developed it hatches, i.e. breaks out of the egg's shell. Some embryos have a temporary egg tooth they use to pip, or break the eggshell or covering; the largest recorded egg is from a whale shark, was 30 cm × 14 cm × 9 cm in size. Whale shark eggs hatch within the mother. At 1.5 kg and up to 17.8 cm × 14 cm, the ostrich egg is the largest egg of any living bird, though the extinct elephant bird and some dinosaurs laid larger eggs. The bee hummingbird produces the smallest known bird egg; some eggs laid by reptiles and most fish, amphibians and other invertebrates can be smaller.
Reproductive structures similar to the egg in other kingdoms are termed "spores," or in spermatophytes "seeds," or in gametophytes "egg cells". Several major groups of animals have distinguishable eggs; the most common reproductive strategy for fish is known as oviparity, in which the female lays undeveloped eggs that are externally fertilized by a male. Large numbers of eggs are laid at one time and the eggs are left to develop without parental care; when the larvae hatch from the egg, they carry the remains of the yolk in a yolk sac which continues to nourish the larvae for a few days as they learn how to swim. Once the yolk is consumed, there is a critical point after which they must learn how to hunt and feed or they will die. A few fish, notably the rays and most sharks use ovoviviparity in which the eggs are fertilized and develop internally; however the larvae still grow inside the egg consuming the egg's yolk and without any direct nourishment from the mother. The mother gives birth to mature young.
In certain instances, the physically most developed offspring will devour its smaller siblings for further nutrition while still within the mother's body. This is known as intrauterine cannibalism. In certain scenarios, some fish such as the hammerhead shark and reef shark are viviparous, with the egg being fertilized and developed internally, but with the mother providing direct nourishment; the eggs of fish and amphibians are jellylike. Cartilagenous fish eggs are fertilized internally and exhibit a wide variety of both internal and external embryonic development. Most fish species spawn eggs that are fertilized externally with the male inseminating the eggs after the female lays them; these eggs would dry out in the air. Air-breathing amphibians lay their eggs in water, or in protective foam as with the Coast foam-nest treefrog, Chiromantis xerampelina. Bird eggs are incubated for a time that varies according to the species. Average clutch sizes range from one to about 17; some birds lay eggs when not fertilized.
The default color of vertebrate eggs is the white of the calcium carbonate from which the shells are made, but some birds passerines, produce colored eggs. The pigment biliverdin and its zinc chelate give a green or blue ground color, protoporphyrin produces reds and browns as a ground color or as spotting. Non-passerines have white eggs, except in some ground-nesting groups such as the Charadriiformes and nightjars, where camouflage is necessary, some parasitic cuckoos which have to match the passerine host's egg. Most passerines, in contrast, lay colored eggs if there is no need of cryptic colors; however some have suggested that the protoporphyrin markings on passerine eggs act to reduce brittleness by acting as a solid state lubricant. If there is insufficient calcium available in the local soil, the egg shell may be thin in a circle around the broad end. Protoporphyrin speckling compensates for this, increases inversely to the amount of calcium in the soil. For the same reason eggs in a clutch are more spotted than early ones as the female's store of calcium is depleted.
The color of individual eggs is genetically influenced, appears to be inherited through the mother only, suggesting that the gene responsible for pigmentation is on the sex determining W chromosome. It used to be thought that color was applied to the shell before laying, but this research shows that coloration is an integral part of the development of the shell, with the same protein responsible for depositing calcium carbonate, or protoporphyrins when there is a lack of that mineral. In species such as the common guillemot, which nest in large groups, each female's eggs have different markings, making it easier for females to identify their own eggs on the crowded cliff ledges on which they breed. Bird eggshells are diverse. For example: cormorant eggs are rough and chalky tinamou eggs are shiny duck eggs are oily and waterproof cassowary eggs are pittedTiny pores in bird eggshells allow the embryo to breathe; the domestic
Gobi Desert
The Gobi Desert is a large desert or brushland region in Asia. It covers parts of Northern and Northeastern China, of southern Mongolia; the desert basins of the Gobi are bounded by the Altai Mountains and the grasslands and steppes of Mongolia on the north, by the Taklamakan Desert to the west, by the Hexi Corridor and Tibetan Plateau to the southwest, by the North China Plain to the southeast. The Gobi is notable in history as part of the great Mongol Empire, as the location of several important cities along the Silk Road; the Gobi is a rain shadow desert, formed by the Tibetan Plateau blocking precipitation from the Indian Ocean reaching the Gobi territory. The Gobi measures over 1,600 km from 800 km from north to south; the desert is widest in the west, along the line joining the Lop Nor. It occupies an arc of land 1,295,000 km2 in area as of 2007. Much of the Gobi has exposed bare rock. In its broadest definition, the Gobi includes the long stretch of desert extending from the foot of the Pamirs to the Greater Khingan Mountains, 116°-118° east, on the border of Manchuria.
A large area on the east side of the Greater Khingan range, between the upper waters of the Songhua and the upper waters of the Liao-ho, is reckoned to belong to the Gobi by conventional usage. Some geographers and ecologists prefer to regard the western area of the Gobi region: the basin of the Tarim in Xinjiang and the desert basin of Lop Nor and Hami, as forming a separate and independent desert, called the Taklamakan Desert. Archeologists and paleontologists have done excavations in the Nemegt Basin in the northwestern part of the Gobi Desert, noted for its fossil treasures, including early mammals, dinosaur eggs, prehistoric stone implements, some 100,000 years old; the Gobi is overall a cold desert, with frost and snow occurring on its dunes. Besides being quite far north, it is located on a plateau 910–1,520 metres above sea level, which contributes to its low temperatures. An average of 194 millimetres of rain falls annually in the Gobi. Additional moisture reaches parts of the Gobi in winter as snow is blown by the wind from the Siberian Steppes.
These winds may cause the Gobi to reach −40 °C in winter to 45 °C in summer. However, the climate of the Gobi is one of great extremes, combined with rapid changes of temperature of as much as 35 °C; these can occur not within 24 hours. In southern Mongolia, the temperature has been recorded as low as −32.8 °C. In contrast, in Alxa, Inner Mongolia, it rises as high as 37 °C in July. Average winter minimums are a frigid −21 °C, while summertime maximums are a warm 27 °C. Most of the precipitation falls during the summer. Although the southeast monsoons reach the southeast parts of the Gobi, the area throughout this region is characterized by extreme dryness during the winter, when the Siberian anticyclone is at its strongest; the southern and central parts of the Gobi Desert have variable plant growth due to this monsoon activity. The more northern areas of the Gobi are cold and dry, making it unable to support much plant growth. Hence, the icy snowstorms of spring and early summer plus early January.
The Gobi Desert is the source including the first dinosaur eggs. Despite the harsh conditions, these deserts and the surrounding regions sustain many animals, including black-tailed gazelles, marbled polecats, wild Bactrian camels, Mongolian wild ass and sandplovers, they are visited by snow leopards, brown bears, wolves. Lizards are well-adapted to the climate of the Gobi Desert, with 30 species distributed across its southern Mongolian border; the most common vegetation in the Gobi desert are shrubs adapted to drought. These shrubs included gray sparrow's saltwort, gray sagebrush, low grasses such as needle grass and bridlegrass. Due to livestock grazing, the amount of shrubs in the desert has decreased. Several large nature reserves have been established in the Gobi, including Gobi Gurvansaikhan National Park, Great Gobi A and Great Gobi B Strictly Protected Area; the area is vulnerable to trampling by livestock and off-road vehicles. In Mongolia, grasslands have been degraded by goats, which are raised by nomadic herders as source of cashmere wool.
Large copper deposits are being mined by Rio Tinto Group. The mine remains controversial. There was significant opposition in Mongolia's parliament to the terms under which the mine will proceed, some are calling for the terms to be renegotiated; the contention revolves around the question of whether negotiations were fair and whether Rio Tinto will pay adequate taxes on the revenues it derives from the mine (an agreement was reached whereby the operation will be exempt from windfall tax. The Gobi Desert is expanding at an alarming rate, in a process known as desertification; the expansion is rapid on the southern edge into China, which has seen 3,600 km2 (1,390
Marksman
A marksman is a person, skilled in precision shooting using projectile weapons to shoot at high-value targets at longer-than-usual ranges. In popular and historical usage, "sharpshooter" and "marksman" are considered synonyms. Within the shooting sports and military usages today, however and marksman refer to distinctly different levels of skill, which are never conflated. In the US Army, "marksman" is a rating below "sharpshooter" and "expert". Four levels of skill are recognized today in both military and civilian shooting circles: unqualified, marksman and expert. Marksmanship badges for the three qualified levels are awarded to both civilian and military shooters who attain proficiency in shooting higher than "unqualified"; the main difference between military marksmen and snipers is that marksmen are considered an organic part of a fireteam of soldiers and are never expected to operate independently, whereas snipers work alone or in small teams with independent mission objectives. Snipers are often tasked with responsibilities other than delivering long-range fire — conducting reconnaissance and directing coordinates for artillery fire or air strikes.
Within the military, marksmen are sometimes attached to an infantry fireteam or squad where they support the squad by providing accurate long-range shots at valuable targets as needed, thus extending the effective tactical reach of the fireteam or squad. In the Middle Ages, in the first use of the term'marksman' was given to the royal archers, or bowmen, of a palace guard, an elite group of troops chosen to guard a royal palace or the royalty; this was around the 10th century, although records of some 9th century English Kings show the listings of groups of marksmen chosen for their militaries. In the Australian Army, marksmanship is recognized by the award of one of three skill-at-arms badges. The'Skill at Arms Badge' consists of a representation of crossed.303 Short Magazine Lee–Enfield rifles and is awarded for achieving a prescribed standard of shooting skill. This must be repeated within twelve months for the badge to be awarded in perpetuity to the recipient. The'Sniper's Badge' is similar in design but incorporates the letter'S' into the design and is awarded to soldiers who qualify on the Army Sniper's Course.
The'Army Top 20 Badge' consists of crossed.303 SMLE rifles upon a laurel wreath and is awarded to the final 20 competitors in the annual Champion Shot for the Army. The winner of this competition is awarded the Champion Shots Medal. Only one badge may be worn. In the British Armed Forces, "marksman" is traditionally the highest shooting rating and holders may wear a crossed rifles badge on the lower sleeve. From Army Operational Shooting Policy for the Annual Personal Weapons Test Combat Infantryman:Marksman. To qualify for Marksman all practices are to be completed and the firer must achieve a score of 55 or more of the total Highest Possible Score for the entire shoot. Soldiers achieving a non-marksman passing score are NOT permitted to re-shoot practices in order to qualify for Marksman. Infantry soldiers who qualify as Marksmen during the Combat Infantryman's Course are entitled to retain the award on joining their units. Soldiers who qualify as Marksmen are entitled to wear the Marksman badge for one year before they must requalify.
In the United States Army and Marine Corps, the marksmanship of the soldiers is ranked based on their skill: marksman-sharpshooter-expert. Holders of each level wear qualification badges below their ribbons with bars for the weapons they qualify in. In the United States Navy and the United States Coast Guard, full-sized medals are only issued at the expert level. Both services award separate medals for rifle proficiency; the United States Air Force gives just a ribbon for qualifying at the expert level, although a bronze star can be earned if the wearer qualifies on both of these types of small arms. Within the United States military, a marksman in the U. S. Army is referred to as "Squad Designated Marksman", a marksman in the Marines is called a "Designated Marksman"; the United States Army emphasizes the fireteam concept: according to US Army Field Manual 3-21.8 a typical United States Army fireteam consists of four soldiers. In the context of a Stryker Brigade Combat Team's Infantry Rifle Companies, one man from each fireteam in a rifle squad is either the Squad Anti-armor Specialist, armed with the FGM-148 Javelin, or the Squad Designated Marksman, who carries the M4 carbine and M14 rifle.
In both cases this specialized function replaces the basic rifleman position in the fireteam. As with other Commonwealth armies, the Marksman in the Canadian Army is a shooting achievement recognized by a badge bearing the monarch's crown and crossed.303 Lee–Enfield No. 4, Mk I rifles. On operations within the Canadian Infantry Battalion, rifle company designated marksman can be assigned; this is not to be confused with Canadian snipers, who attain a high level of marksmanship and fieldcraft through in a grueling selection course and must achieve a recce qualification and marksman before being considered for the basic sniper course. The Indian Army uses a locally manufactured licensed variant of the SVD Dragunov in the Designated Marksman role as part of each infantry platoon; the Dragunov is used in conjunction with the INSAS family of weapons to give flexibility and striking power at sh
Tibet
Tibet is a historical region covering much of the Tibetan Plateau in Inner Asia. It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan people as well as some other ethnic groups such as Monpa, Qiang and Lhoba peoples and is now inhabited by considerable numbers of Han Chinese and Hui people. Tibet is the highest region on Earth, with an average elevation of 5,000 metres; the highest elevation in Tibet is Mount Everest, Earth's highest mountain, rising 8,848 m above sea level. The Tibetan Empire emerged in the 7th century, but with the fall of the empire the region soon divided into a variety of territories; the bulk of western and central Tibet was at least nominally unified under a series of Tibetan governments in Lhasa, Shigatse, or nearby locations. Thus Tibet remained a suzerainty of the Mongol and Chinese rulers in Nanjing and Beijing, with reasonable autonomy given to the Tibetan leaders; the eastern regions of Kham and Amdo maintained a more decentralized indigenous political structure, being divided among a number of small principalities and tribal groups, while often falling more directly under Chinese rule after the Battle of Chamdo.
The current borders of Tibet were established in the 18th century. Following the Xinhai Revolution against the Qing dynasty in 1912, Qing soldiers were disarmed and escorted out of Tibet Area; the region subsequently declared its independence in 1913 without recognition by the subsequent Chinese Republican government. Lhasa took control of the western part of Xikang, China; the region maintained its autonomy until 1951 when, following the Battle of Chamdo, Tibet became incorporated into the People's Republic of China, the previous Tibetan government was abolished in 1959 after a failed uprising. Today, China governs western and central Tibet as the Tibet Autonomous Region while the eastern areas are now ethnic autonomous prefectures within Sichuan and other neighbouring provinces. There are tensions regarding dissident groups that are active in exile. Tibetan activists in Tibet have been arrested or tortured; the economy of Tibet is dominated by subsistence agriculture, though tourism has become a growing industry in recent decades.
The dominant religion in Tibet is Tibetan Buddhism. Tibetan Buddhism is a primary influence on the art and festivals of the region. Tibetan architecture reflects Indian influences. Staple foods in Tibet are roasted barley, yak meat, butter tea; the Tibetan name for their land, Bod བོད་, means "Tibet" or "Tibetan Plateau", although it meant the central region around Lhasa, now known in Tibetan as Ü. The Standard Tibetan pronunciation of Bod, is transcribed Bhö in Tournadre Phonetic Transcription, Bö in the THL Simplified Phonetic Transcription and Poi in Tibetan pinyin; some scholars believe the first written reference to Bod "Tibet" was the ancient Bautai people recorded in the Egyptian Greek works Periplus of the Erythraean Sea and Geographia, itself from the Sanskrit form Bhauṭṭa of the Indian geographical tradition. The modern Standard Chinese exonym for the ethnic Tibetan region is Zangqu, which derives by metonymy from the Tsang region around Shigatse plus the addition of a Chinese suffix, 区 qū, which means "area, region, ward".
Tibetan people and culture, regardless of where they are from, are referred to as Zang although the geographical term Xīzàng is limited to the Tibet Autonomous Region. The term Xīzàng was coined during the Qing dynasty in the reign of the Jiaqing Emperor through the addition of a prefix meaning "west" to Zang; the best-known medieval Chinese name for Tibet is Tubo. This name first appears in Chinese characters as 土番 in the 7th century and as 吐蕃 in the 10th-century. In the Middle Chinese spoken during that period, as reconstructed by William H. Baxter, 土番 was pronounced thux-phjon and 吐蕃 was pronounced thux-pjon. Other pre-modern Chinese names for Tibet include Wusiguo, Wusizang and Tanggute. American Tibetologist Elliot Sperling has argued in favor of a recent tendency by some authors writing in Chinese to revive the term Tubote for modern use in place of Xizang, on the grounds that Tubote more includes the entire Tibetan plateau rather than the Tibet Autonomous Region; the English word Tibet or Thibet dates back to the 18th century.
Historical linguists agree that "Tibet" names in European languages are loanwords from Semitic Ṭībat orTūbātt, itself deriving from Turkic Töbäd, literally: "The Heights". Linguists classify the Tibetan language as a Tibeto-Burman language of the Sino-Tibetan language family although the boundaries between'Tibetan' and certain other Himalayan languages can be unclear. According to
Dodge
Dodge is an American brand of automobile manufactured by FCA US LLC, based in Auburn Hills, Michigan. Dodge vehicles include performance cars, though for much of its existence Dodge was Chrysler's mid-priced brand above Plymouth. Founded as the Dodge Brothers Company machine shop by brothers Horace Elgin Dodge and John Francis Dodge in the early 1900s, Dodge was a supplier of parts and assemblies for Detroit-based automakers and began building complete automobiles under the "Dodge Brothers" brand in 1914, predating the founding of Chrysler Corporation; the factory was located in Hamtramck and was called the Dodge Main factory from 1910 until its closing in January 1980. The Dodge brothers both died in 1920, the company was sold by their families to Dillon, Read & Co. in 1925 before being sold to Chrysler in 1928. Dodge vehicles consisted of trucks and full-sized passenger cars through the 1970s, though it made memorable compact cars and midsize cars; the 1973 oil crisis and its subsequent impact on the American automobile industry led Chrysler to develop the K platform of compact to midsize cars for the 1981 model year.
The K platform and its derivatives are credited with reviving Chrysler's business in the 1980s. The Dodge brand has withstood the multiple ownership changes at Chrysler from 1998 to 2009, including its short-lived merger with Daimler-Benz AG from 1998 to 2007, its subsequent sale to Cerberus Capital Management, its 2009 bailout by the United States government, its subsequent Chapter 11 bankruptcy and acquisition by Fiat. In 2011, Dodge and Dodge's Viper were separated. Dodge said that the Dodge Viper would be an SRT product and Ram will be a manufacturer. In 2014, SRT was merged back into Dodge; that year, Chrysler Group was renamed FCA US LLC, corresponding with the merger of Fiat S.p. A. and Chrysler Group into the single corporate structure of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles. Horace and John Dodge founded the Dodge Brothers Company in Detroit in 1900, found work manufacturing precision engine and chassis components for the city's growing number of automobile firms. Chief among these customers were the established Olds Motor Vehicle Company and the new Ford Motor Company.
Henry Ford selected the Dodge brothers to supply a wide range of components for his original Model A that included the complete chassis. The first machine shop where the brothers worked as parts suppliers for Olds and Ford was located at the Boydell Building on Beaubien Street at Lafayette; this location was replaced by a larger facility at Hastings Street and Monroe Avenue, now a parking garage for the Greektown Casino Hotel. By 1910 the Dodge Main factory was built in Hamtramck, where it remained until 1979; the Dodge Brothers Motor Company was established in 1913 and by 1914, John and Horace designed and debuted the first car of their own – the four-cylinder Dodge Model 30/35 touring car. Marketed as a more upscale competitor to the ubiquitous Ford Model T, it pioneered or made standard many features taken for granted like all-steel body construction as the vast majority of cars worldwide still used wood-framing under steel panels). Once the Dodge brothers produced their own car, John Dodge was once quoted as saying, "Someday, people who own a Ford are going to want an automobile".
As a result of this, the brothers' well-earned reputation for the highest quality truck and motor parts they made for other successful vehicles, Dodge Brothers cars were ranked at second place for U. S. sales as early as 1916. That same year, Henry Ford decided to stop paying stock dividends to finance the construction of his new River Rouge complex, the Dodges filed a suit to protect their annual stock earnings of one million dollars, leading Ford to buy out his shareholders. In 1916, the Dodge Brothers vehicles won acclaim for their durability in military service. First with the U. S. Army's Pancho Villa Expedition, during the 1910s U. S. Mexico Border War — the U. S. military's first operation to use truck convoys. General "Blackjack" Pershing procured a fleet of 150 to 250 Dodge Brothers vehicles for the Mexico campaign. Touring cars were used as reconnaissance vehicles. One notable instance was in May when the 6th Infantry received a reported sighting of Julio Cárdenas, one of Villa's most trusted subordinates.
Lt. George S. Patton led ten soldiers and two civilian guides in three Dodge Model 30 touring cars to conduct America's first motorised military raid at a ranch house in San Miguelito, Sonora. During the ensuing firefight the party killed three men. Patton's men tied the bodies to the hoods of the Dodges, returning to headquarters in Dublán and an excited reception from US newspapermen. Subsequently, some 12,800 Dodge cars and light trucks were used in World War I — over 8,000 touring cars, as well as 2,600 commercial vehicles, such as screen-side trucks and panel vans — serving as ambulances and repair trucks. Dodge remained the United States military's primary supplier of light wheeled vehicles, until the
Beijing
Beijing romanized as Peking, is the capital of the People's Republic of China, the world's third most populous city proper, most populous capital city. The city, located in northern China, is governed as a municipality under the direct administration of central government with 16 urban and rural districts. Beijing Municipality is surrounded by Hebei Province with the exception of neighboring Tianjin Municipality to the southeast. Beijing is an important world capital and global power city, one of the world's leading centers for politics and business, education, culture and technology, architecture and diplomacy. A megacity, Beijing is the second largest Chinese city by urban population after Shanghai and is the nation's political and educational center, it is home to the headquarters of most of China's largest state-owned companies and houses the largest number of Fortune Global 500 companies in the world, as well as the world's four biggest financial institutions. It is a major hub for the national highway, expressway and high-speed rail networks.
The Beijing Capital International Airport has been the second busiest in the world by passenger traffic since 2010, and, as of 2016, the city's subway network is the busiest and second longest in the world. Combining both modern and traditional architecture, Beijing is one of the oldest cities in the world, with a rich history dating back three millennia; as the last of the Four Great Ancient Capitals of China, Beijing has been the political center of the country for most of the past eight centuries, was the largest city in the world by population for much of the second millennium A. D. Encyclopædia Britannica notes that "few cities in the world have served for so long as the political headquarters and cultural center of an area as immense as China." With mountains surrounding the inland city on three sides, in addition to the old inner and outer city walls, Beijing was strategically poised and developed to be the residence of the emperor and thus was the perfect location for the imperial capital.
The city is renowned for its opulent palaces, parks, tombs and gates. It has seven UNESCO World Heritage Sites—the Forbidden City, Temple of Heaven, Summer Palace, Ming Tombs and parts of the Great Wall and the Grand Canal— all tourist locations. Siheyuans, the city's traditional housing style, hutongs, the narrow alleys between siheyuans, are major tourist attractions and are common in urban Beijing. Many of Beijing's 91 universities rank among the best in China, such as the Peking University and Tsinghua University. Beijing CBD is a center for Beijing's economic expansion, with the ongoing or completed construction of multiple skyscrapers. Beijing's Zhongguancun area is known as China's Silicon Valley and a center of innovation and technology entrepreneurship. Over the past 3,000 years, the city of Beijing has had numerous other names; the name Beijing, which means "Northern Capital", was applied to the city in 1403 during the Ming dynasty to distinguish the city from Nanjing. The English spelling is based on the pinyin romanization of the two characters as they are pronounced in Standard Mandarin.
An older English spelling, Peking, is the postal romanization of the same two characters as they are pronounced in Chinese dialects spoken in the southern port towns first visited by European traders and missionaries. Those dialects preserve the Middle Chinese pronunciation of 京 as kjaeng, prior to a phonetic shift in the northern dialects to the modern pronunciation. Although Peking is no longer the common name for the city, some of the city's older locations and facilities, such as Beijing Capital International Airport, with IATA Code PEK, Peking University, still use the former romanization; the single Chinese character abbreviation for Beijing is 京, which appears on automobile license plates in the city. The official Latin alphabet abbreviation for Beijing is "BJ"; the earliest traces of human habitation in the Beijing municipality were found in the caves of Dragon Bone Hill near the village of Zhoukoudian in Fangshan District, where Peking Man lived. Homo erectus fossils from the caves date to 230,000 to 250,000 years ago.
Paleolithic Homo sapiens lived there more about 27,000 years ago. Archaeologists have found neolithic settlements throughout the municipality, including in Wangfujing, located in downtown Beijing; the first walled city in Beijing was Jicheng, the capital city of the state of Ji and was built in 1045 BC. Within modern Beijing, Jicheng was located around the present Guang'anmen area in the south of Xicheng District; this settlement was conquered by the state of Yan and made its capital. After the First Emperor unified China, Jicheng became a prefectural capital for the region. During the Three Kingdoms period, it was held by Gongsun Zan and Yuan Shao before falling to the Wei Kingdom of Cao Cao; the AD 3rd-century Western Jin demoted the town, placing the prefectural seat in neighboring Zhuozhou. During the Sixteen Kingdoms period when northern China was conquered and divided by the Wu Hu, Jicheng was the capital of the Xianbei Former Yan Kingdom. After China was reunified during the Sui dynasty, Jicheng known as Zhuojun, became the northern terminus of the Grand Canal.
Under the Tang dynasty, Jicheng as Youzhou, served as a military frontier command center. During the An-Shi Rebellion and again amidst the turmoil of the late Tang, local military commanders founded their own shor
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