Sofia is the capital and largest city of Bulgaria. The city is at the foot of Vitosha mountain in the western part of the country. Being in the centre of the Balkans, it is midway between the Black Sea and the Adriatic Sea, closest to the Aegean Sea. Sofia is the 13th largest city in the European Union; the city is surrounded by mountains, such as Mount Vitosha by the southern side, Lyulin by the western side, the Balkan Mountains by the north, which makes it the second highest European capital after Madrid. The city is built on the Iskar river, has many mineral springs, such as the Sofia Central Mineral Baths. Sofia has a humid continental climate. Sofia has been described as the'triangle of religious tolerance'; this is due to the fact that three colossal temples of the three world major religions - Christianity and Judaism, reside inside the borders of the city, which are the Sveta Nedelya Church, Banya Bashi Mosque and Sofia Synagogue. Being Bulgaria's primate city, Sofia is a hometown of many of the major local universities, cultural institutions and commercial companies.
Sofia is one of the top ten best places for start-up businesses in the world in information technologies. Sofia was Europe's most affordable capital to visit in 2013. In 1979, the Boyana Church in Sofia was included onto the World Heritage List, it was deconstructed in the Second Bulgarian Empire, holding a lot of symbolic heritage to the Bulgarian Orthodox Church. With its cultural significance in Eastern Europe, Sofia is home to the National Opera and Ballet of Bulgaria, the National Palace of Culture, the Vasil Levski National Stadium, the Ivan Vazov National Theatre, the National Archaeological Museum, the Serdica Amphitheatre; the Museum of Socialist Art includes a lot of sculptures and posters that educate visitors about the lifestyle in communist Bulgaria. The population of Sofia declined down from 70,000 in the late 18th century, through 19,000 in 1870, to 11,649 in 1878 and began increasing. Sofia hosts some 1.23 million residents within a territory of 492 km2, a concentration of 17.5% of the country population within the 200th percentile of the country territory.
The urban area of Sofia hosts some 1.54 million residents within 5723 km², which comprises Sofia City Province and parts of Sofia Province and Pernik Province, representing 5.16% of the country territory. The metropolitan area of Sofia is based upon one hour of car travel time, stretches internationally and includes Dimitrovgrad in Serbia. Unlike most European metropolitan areas, it is not to be defined as a functional metropolitan area, but is of the type with "limited variety of functions"; the metropolitan region of Sofia is inhabited by a population of 1.68 million and is made up of the whole provinces Sofia City and Pernik, comprising more than 10,000 km². For the longest time the city possessed a Thracian name, derived from the tribe Serdi, who were either of Thracian, Celtic, or mixed Thracian-Celtic origin; the emperor Marcus Ulpius Traianus gave the city the combinative name of Ulpia Serdica. It seems that the first written mention of Serdica was made during his reign and the last mention was in the 19th century in a Bulgarian text.
Other names given to Sofia, such as Serdonpolis and Triaditza, were mentioned by Byzantine Greek sources or coins. The Slavic name Sredets, related to "middle" and to the city's earliest name, first appeared on paper in an 11th-century text; the city was called Atralisa by the Arab traveller Idrisi and Strelisa, Stralitsa or Stralitsion by the Crusaders. The name Sofia comes from the Saint Sofia Church, as opposed to the prevailing Slavic origin of Bulgarian cities and towns; the origin is in the Greek word sophia "wisdom". The earliest works where this latest name is registered are the duplicate of the Gospel of Serdica, in a dialogue between two salesmen from Dubrovnik around 1359, in the 14th-century Vitosha Charter of Bulgarian tsar Ivan Shishman and in a Ragusan merchant's notes of 1376. In these documents the city is called Sofia, but at the same time the region and the city's inhabitants are still called Sredecheski, which continued until the 20th century; the Ottomans came to favour the name Sofya.
In 1879 there was a dispute about what the name of the new Bulgarian capital should be, when the citizens created a committee of famous people, insisting for the Slavic name. A compromise arose, officialisation of Sofia for the nationwide institutions, while legitimating the title Sredets for the administrative and church institutions, before the latter was abandoned through the years. Sofia City Province has an area of 1344 km2, while the surrounding and much bigger Sofia Province is 7,059 km2. Sofia's development as a significant settlement owes much to its central position in the Balkans, it is situated in western Bulgaria, at the northern foot of the Vitosha mountain, in the Sofia Valley, surrounded by the Balkan mountains to the north. The valley has an average altitude of 550 metres. Unlike most European capitals, Sofia does not straddle any large river, but is surrounded by comparatively high mountains on all sides. Three mountain passes lead to the city, which have been key roads since antiquity, Vitosha being the watershed between Black and Aegean Seas.
A number of shallow rivers cross the city, inclu
The Democratic-Republican Party, better known at the time as the Republican Party and various other names, was an American political party founded by Thomas Jefferson and James Madison in the early 1790s that championed republicanism, political equality, expansionism. The party became dominant after the 1800 elections as the opposing Federalist Party collapsed; the Democratic-Republicans splintered during the 1824 presidential election. One faction of the Democratic-Republicans coalesced into the modern Democratic Party, while the other faction formed the core of the Whig Party; the Democratic-Republican Party originated as a faction in Congress that opposed the centralizing policies of Alexander Hamilton, who served as Secretary of the Treasury under President George Washington. The Democratic-Republicans and the opposing Federalist Party each became more cohesive during Washington's second term as a result of the debate over the Jay Treaty. Though he was defeated by Federalist John Adams in the 1796 presidential election and his Democratic-Republican allies came into power following the 1800 elections.
As president, Jefferson presided over a reduction in the national debt and government spending, completed the Louisiana Purchase with France. Madison succeeded Jefferson as president in 1809 and led the country during the largely-inconclusive War of 1812 with Britain. After the war and his congressional allies established the Second Bank of the United States and implemented protective tariffs, marking a move away from the party's earlier emphasis on states' rights and a strict construction of the United States Constitution; the Federalists collapsed after 1815. Lacking an effective opposition, the Democratic-Republicans split into groups after the 1824 presidential election. Jackson's faction coalesced into the Democratic Party, while supporters of Adams became known as the National Republican Party, which itself merged into the Whig Party. Democratic-Republicans were committed to the principles of republicanism, which they feared were threatened by the supposed monarchical tendencies of the Federalists.
During the 1790s, the party opposed Federalist programs, including the national bank. After the War of 1812, Madison and many other party leaders came to accept the need for a national bank and federally-funded infrastructure projects. In foreign affairs, the party advocated western expansion and tended to favor France over Britain, though the party's pro-French stance faded after Napoleon took power; the Democratic-Republicans were strongest in the South and the western frontier, weakest in New England. In the 1788–89 presidential election, the first such election following the ratification of the United States Constitution in 1788, George Washington won the votes of every member of the Electoral College, his unanimous victory in part reflected the fact that no formal political parties had formed at the national level in the United States prior to 1789, though the country had been broadly polarized between the Federalists, who supported ratification of the Constitution, the Anti-Federalists, who opposed ratification.
Washington selected Thomas Jefferson as Secretary of State and Alexander Hamilton as Secretary of the Treasury, he relied on James Madison as a key adviser and ally in Congress. Hamilton implemented an expansive economic program, establishing the First Bank of the United States, convincing Congress to assume the debts of state governments. Hamilton pursued his programs in the belief that they would foster a stable country, his policies engendered an opposition, chiefly concentrated in the Southern United States, that objected to Hamilton's anglophilia and accused him of unduly favoring well-connected wealthy Northern merchants and speculators. Madison emerged as the leader of the congressional opposition while Jefferson, who declined to publicly criticize Hamilton while both served in Washington's Cabinet, worked behind the scenes to stymie Hamilton's programs. Jefferson and Madison established the National Gazette, a newspaper which recast national politics not as a battle between Federalists and Anti-Federalists, but as a debate between aristocrats and republicans.
In the 1792 election, Washington ran unopposed for president, but Jefferson and Madison backed New York Governor George Clinton's unsuccessful attempt to unseat Vice President John Adams. Political leaders on both sides were reluctant to label their respective faction as a political party, but distinct and consistent voting blocs emerged in Congress by the end of 1793. Jefferson's followers became known as the Republicans and Hamilton's followers became known as the Federalists. While economic policies were the original motivating factor in the growing partisan split, foreign policy became a factor as Hamilton's followers soured on the French Revolution and Jefferson's allies continued to favor it. In 1793, after Britain entered the French Revolutionary Wars, several Democratic-Republican Societies were formed in opposition to Hamilton's economic policies and in support of France. Partisan tensions escalated as a result of the Whiskey Rebellion and Washington's subsequent denunciation of the Democratic-Republican Societies, a group of local political societies that favored democracy and supported the Democratic-Republican Party.
The ratification of the Jay Treaty further inflamed partisan warfare, resulting in a hardening of the divisions between the Federalists and the Democratic-Republicans. By 1795–96, election campaigns—federal and local—
James Hiram McLaughlin was a wrestling champion in the United States in the 19th century. He is considered the first American professional wrestling champion, along with William Muldoon, was one of the two key people to establish and popularize professional wrestling in the United States; the 6-foot-1 McLaughlin weighed between 215 and 265 pounds, depending on whether he'd kept himself in fighting shape. He was born in New York. McLaughlin was known for his superior Irish-style "collar-and-elbow" standing skills, in which throwing an opponent was the aim. However, he excelled at the rougher, undisciplined catch-as-catch-can style, prominent, three opponents are known to have died as a result of wrestling McLaughlin. Newspaper accounts of the time are sometimes exaggerated, in the late 19th century, numerous fans and reporters regarded the burgeoning sport's credibility with skepticism. However, contemporary reports of McLaughlin's earnings, including the side bets that were several multiples of his official pay, indicate that he was phenomenally well-compensated.
Adjusting for inflation, it is possible. McLaughlin's wrestling career began in earnest with a few matches just before the U. S. Civil War, his first was in 1859 against the irascible Hiram McKee. Though half McKee's age, McLaughlin may have outweighed his opponent, who he pinned; when McKee angrily demanded a rematch, McLaughlin lost his temper and threw McKee to the ground, fracturing McKee's leg. McKee fought for the Union Army during the war, while continuing to pursue wrestling, a popular pastime among the troops. After defeating Louis Ainsworth in 1866 or 1867, McLaughlin declared himself to be the collar-and-elbow champion of America. After losing a bout to Homer Lane in 1868, the public still regarded McLaughlin's claim to the title. In March 1870, a tournament was held, is believed to have been wholly legitimate. McLaughlin emerged as the winner, was awarded a belt with a gold buckle, which he would put at stake in matches. In the tournament final, McLaughlin was safely ahead in a match against Barney Smith, but the referee declined to end the match.
McLaughlin ended the match by either slamming Smith on his head or off the stage, delivering an impact which led to Smith's mental incapacitation and eventual death from cranial trauma. The remorseful McLaughlin gave his tournament winnings to Smith's widow, saying "I forgot I was so wicked strong." McLaughlin defended his golden belt for the next year, before announcing his retirement in mid-1871. Despite remaining inactive for nearly four years, he was considered the reigning champion, his next match came in February 1875, with a decisive win over Mike Whalen in which he collected $2,500 for the match itself, another $15,000 by betting on himself, more than half a million dollars in today's money. McLaughlin did not fight again for a year, winning a January 1876 rematch against Joe Benjamin, who he'd beaten five years earlier, he fought several times that year, including a win against James H. Martin, but the year took its toll on McLaughlin's opponents. Dutch Hogan died after wrestling McLaughlin, Charles Meier was paralyzed.
It was at this point that McLaughlin publicly declared his intention to restrict his future fights to collar-and-elbow rules, rather than the anything-goes style that led to those in-ring tragedies. In December 1876, McLaughlin injured his heel in an exhibition tune-up match, leaving him at a disadvantage for a title match against James Owens a few weeks later; that bout lasted more than five hours, with McLaughlin protecting his injured foot, Owens being reluctant to press the advantage against the larger and stronger McLaughlin. Owens won the title in two straight falls. McLaughlin spent a few months healing before winning three matches in the spring retired again. McLaughlin gained a substantial amount of weight during his sabbatical, but was lured out of retirement in November 1878 against the formidable John McMahon. McLaughlin defeated McMahon in a rematch three weeks and a third contest the following March resulted in a draw. Four years at the end of 1882, McLaughlin beat Canadian champion Edras Lambert.
In 1884, he reentered the competition with a series of bouts. In January, he beat top star H. M. Dufur to capture his third collar-and-elbow championship. In March, he lost to Duncan C. Ross beat Ross three weeks then lost a rematch to Dufur three weeks after that. A month in June, he defeated Dufur for his fourth title, before relinquishing it to Dufur at the end of July. Wrestling reporter/historian Dave Meltzer believes the back-and-forth results and the shortened time between the matches suggests that the sequence and outcomes of these matches were most deliberately prearranged by the wrestlers to excite public interest, maximize the payout. Four months McLaughlin split a pair of matches with William Muldoon in November and December. Muldoon won the rematch, assumed McLaughlin's spot as the nation's preeminent wrestling star; the second Muldoon match marked the effective end of McLaughlin's professional career and title hopes. However, in 1901, McLaughlin emerged in the Yukon Territory as part of a threesome of wrestlers, travelling from town to town pretending to confront and challenge one another over the "real" championship.
The other wrestlers future star Frank Gotch and Joe Carroll, used pseudonyms, but McLaughlin's name was still a draw after forty years. Their alleged antipathy in