Thaddeus Leavitt was a Suffield, merchant who invented an improved upon version of the cotton gin, as well as joining with seven other Connecticut men to purchase most of the three-million-plus acres of the Western Reserve lands in Ohio from the government of Connecticut, land on which some of his family settled, founding Leavittsburg and settling in Trumbull County, Ohio. Leavitt served on a commission in the early nineteenth century to settle boundary disputes between Massachusetts and Connecticut, was a director of one of Connecticut's first banks, was a shipowner whose vessels traded throughout the Atlantic. Leavitt kept a journal in which he noted everything from the weather to'cures' for various ailments to the adoption of the United States Constitution. Thaddeus Leavitt, Esq. was born September 9, 1750 in Suffield to farmer and carpenter John Leavitt and his wife Abiah Kent. Thaddeus Leavitt married Elizabeth King, daughter of Ensign William King of Suffield and his wife Lucy Hatheway.

A piece of French furniture was emblazoned with a brass plaque to commemorate the couple's marriage, given to them by Leavitt's new King in-laws. Leavitt became an early Suffield merchant and Justice of the Peace, was known as'Squire Leavitt.' He ran a store in Suffield, from an early age began investing in the shipping business. Leavitt was one of Hartford County's leading citizens, became wealthy in his dealings as a merchant and shipowner, his ships traded as far afield as the West Indies and other farflung destinations, the entrepreneurial Leavitt acted as both importer and exporter. Thanks to his increasing wealth, Leavitt built the home known in Suffield as the Harmon House on High Street. Leavitt's business interests extended as far as Spain, he used the profits from his lucrative trading to join seven other prominent Connecticut men in purchasing the Western Reserve lands from the state of Connecticut, which the state had offered for sale in exchange for funds paid into the state's treasury for educational purposes.

Thaddeus Leavitt Esq. and Suffield businessmen Oliver Phelps, Gideon Granger, Luther Loomis and Asahel Hatheway owned between them one-quarter of all the lands assigned to Connecticut in the Western Reserve. Investing in the Connecticut Land Company were other of the state's most powerful men. Another investor in the new western lands was Leavitt family relation Oliver Ellsworth, the Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court, former United States Senator from Connecticut and a chief framer of the United States Constitution.. One of the first settlers of the Western Reserve was John Leavitt, brother of Thaddeus and founder of a family who went on to become prominent Ohio citizens. In 1803 Leavitt was among several Connecticut citizens chosen to resolve a dispute between the states of Connecticut and Massachusetts concerning the border between the two states.. Leavitt was one of a succession of trustees ordered to resolve the ongoing conflict between the two New England states. Leavitt's appointment to the border commission flowed from his mercantile interests in the region.

In 1805, he joined with several citizens of Connecticut and Massachusetts to form a company designated by the legislature as "The Proprietors of the Springfield Bridge". The corporation's aim was building a bridge over the Connecticut River linking West Springfield and Springfield, Massachusetts. Within the state of Connecticut, Leavitt's interests came to embrace the state's burgeoning development, he served as one of the earliest directors of the newly-incorporated Hartford Bank. Merchant Leavitt had his fingers in the state's agricultural economy, serving on the committee of the Hartford County Agricultural Society. Unusually for an early merchant, pressed for time, Leavitt kept a long-running diary about events in Suffield and the vicinity. In its pages, Leavitt noted many of the day-to-day occurrences in Suffield, including an entry from December 1, 1802, on a cure for whooping cough. Leavitt took note of the raising of a new Meeting house, on February 8, 1788, he made this entry: "We this day have certain Inteligence from the state convention Boston Massachusetts that they have adopted the Feaderal Constitution by a Majority in favr of it of 19--passd 5th Inst."

Thaddeus Leavitt and his wife Elizabeth had two children who married Loomis siblings: a son, Thaddeus Leavitt Jr. who married Jemima Loomis of Suffield. Descendants of Thaddeus Leavitt Jr. who became a Suffield merchant, include his grandsons, the three Hunt brothers: architect Richard Morris Hunt. Thaddeus Leavitt Esq. A longtime stalwart of Connecticut's Democratic party, is buried in the Old Burying Ground of the First Congregational Church of Suffield known as the First Church of Christ, established in 1698. Hunt family of Vermont John Leavitt Oliver Ellsworth Henry Leavitt Ellsworth Richard Morris Hunt William Morris Hunt Leavit

Bellavista is a railway station on the Monte Generoso railway, a rack railway that connects Capolago with the summit of Monte Generoso in the Swiss canton of Ticino. Bellavista is the principal intermediate station on the line, at one time the junction point for the Tramway Bellavista; the station has an additional siding. It is the principle intermediate station, the normal passing point of uphill and downhill trains; the station incorporates a popular station buffet, a picnic area, a children's play area. The environs of the station are wooded, include views over Lake Lugano and the city of Lugano; the station is served by the following passenger trains: There is road access from Mendrisio to Bellavista, the highest point on the mountain with such access. A hiking trail links Bellavista to the summit. In 1867, well before the railway opened, Carlo Pasta built a hotel near to the current location of the Bellavista station. In 1891, shortly after the line opened, a 0.4-kilometre long tramway was opened to link the station with the hotel.

The line was built to 600 mm gauge, used a single, horse-drawn, tramcar. Sources differ with both 1913 and 1938 being quoted; the lean-to shed behind Bellavista station building, in which the line's tramcar was kept, can still be seen, as can parts of the trackbed. The hotel has since been demolished, is now a picnic site. Media related to Bellavista railway station at Wikimedia Commons

Tashiding Monastery is a Buddhist monastery of the Nyingma sect of Tibetan Buddhism in Western Sikkim, northeastern India. It is located on top of the hill rising between the Rathong chu and the Rangeet River, 40 kilometres from Gyalshing and 19 kilometres to the south east of Yuksam. Tashiding is the nearest town to the Tashiding Monastery, the most sacred and holiest monasteries in Sikkim. Tashiding means "The Devoted Central Glory" and the monastery by this name was founded in 1641 by Ngadak Sempa Chempo Phunshok Rigzing who belonged to the Nyingma sect of Tibetan Buddhism. Ngadak was one of the three wise men who held the consecration ceremony crowning the first King of Sikkim at Yuksom, it was extended and renovated in 1717 during the reign of the third Chogyal Chakdor Namgyal.'Bhumchu Ceremony' or festival is a popular religious festival, held on the 14th and 15th day of the first month of Tibetan Calendar. The Tashiding Monastery is part of Buddhist religious pilgrimage circuit starting with the first monastery at Yuksam in Sikkim known as the Dubdi Monastery, Norbugang Chorten, Pemayangtse Monastery, the Rabdentse ruins, the Sanga Choeling Monastery, the Khecheopalri Lake.

There are several legends linked to the most revered monastery and the Bhumchu festival, held here. According to one local legend Guru Padmasambhava shot an arrow into the air to select the place. Where the arrow he shot landed, he sat in meditation and that site became the site of the Tashiding Monastery. Another legend relates to the three monks, it is said that the three monks saw an unusual divine phenomenon of bright light shining on top of the Kanchendzonga mountain, which reflected to a site near the place where the present Tashiding Monastery has been built. Concurrently, a scented smell of incense followed by all pervading divine music was noted; the first Chogyal who visited the site subsequent to hearing this unusual event, erected a small chorten at the site and named it as Thongwa-Rang-Grol. Legend further glorifies the site stating that a mere sight of it "confers self-emancipation". Another absorbing legend is related to the celebration of the Bhumchu festival at Tashiding Monastery.

The legend is traced to the tantric art. Guru Padmasambhava, while teaching the tantric system of "Mahakarunika Avalokiteshvara Sadhana and initiation on emancipation from the cycle of mundane existence" to the King Trisong Duetsen, prince Murub Tsenpo, Yeshe Tsogyal and Verotsana in Tibet, sanctified the same holy vase with holy water, now kept in Tashiding Monastery and revered during the Bhumchu festival; this vase is made of five types prized jewels, divine soil and holy water said to have been gathered by Padmasambhava from religious centres in India and Zahor. The vase was made by the wrathful deity Damchen Gar-bgag and sanctified by Guru Padmasambhava himself by performing the "Sadhana of Yidam Chuchig Zhal". On this occasion, heavenly deities appeared in the sky and thereafter merged into the holy water contained in the vase; the vase overflowed and the water dispersed in "all directions in the form of rays." This ritual was followed by an earthquake, considered an auspicious sign. The divine moment witnessed the presence of the four guardian divinities namely, "the Gyalchen Dezhi/Cutur – Maharajika of Dharma and the gods of the thirty-three heavens who showered flowers from the sky."

The event was witnessed by devotees and Padmasmabhava distributed the holy water from the vase to all assembled people, which spiritually benefited one and all. The vase was hidden as a treasure under the care of the divine deities. However, the vase was rediscovered and passed through the hands of several holy men and placed at Tashiding by Terton Ngdag Sampachenpo. During the reign of the first ruler of Sikkim, Phuntshog Namgyal, the Terton recited the holy hymn "Om Mani Padme Hum" five billions when several unique events were witnessed in Sikkim. After the religious ceremony the vase with the water has been kept on display in a small chamber in the Monastery under the custody of the Chogyal himself, opened once a year during the Bhumchu festival; this monastery located at an altitude of 1465 m is built on top of a heart shaped hill or helmet shaped hill above the confluence of the Rathong Chu and Rangeet rivers, with the Mt. Kanchendzonga providing the scenic back drop, it is about 16 km from 40 km from Gezing via Legship.

The monastery is considered the spiritual centre of Sikkim since it is encircled by many important monasteries in Sikkim in all directions such as: the Dubdi Monastery 23 km away on its northern direction, the Khecheopalri Lake on the northwest, the Pemayangtse monastery on the west, the Shiva temple at Legship on the south, the Mongbrue gompa and Ravangla Bön monastery on the southeast, the Ravangla Gelug monastery on the east, the Karma Kagyud Ralang Monastery on the northeast. Gulia summarising the importance of this monastery has said: For tashiding one can say "seeing is believing." The monastery is illustrious, geographically well located, aesthetically beautiful, spiritually divine – a place where nature and spirituality dwell together, urging the human race to be ecologically upright. Geographically the Monastery and the Tashiding town are surrounded by four divine caves located in four cardinal directions; the four caves where Buddhist saints meditated are: On the East is the Sharchog Bephug, on the South is the Khandozangphu, in the West is Dechenpug cave and on the North is the Lhari Nyingphug.

The main deity deified in the monastery is Tashiding and hence the monastery is known as'Dak

Pöls-Oberkurzheim is a municipality since 2015 in the Murtal District of Styria, Austria. The municipality, Pöls-Oberkurzheim, was created as part of the Styria municipal structural reform, at the end of 2014, by merging the former market town Pöls with the municipality Oberkurzheim; the municipality territory includes the following 21 sections: The municipality consists of the six Katastralgemeinden Allerheiligen, Oberkurzheim, Pöls, Thalheim and Unterzeiring. The municipality formed, together with Pusterwald and Pölstal, the tourism agency "Region Pölstal"; the base is in the town Pölstal. Pfarrkirche Allerheiligen in Pöls

The Commission of Inquiry on War Criminals in Canada referred to as the Deschênes Commission, was established by the government of Canada in February 1985 to investigate claims that Canada had become a haven for Nazi war criminals. Headed by retired Quebec Superior Court judge Jules Deschênes, the commission delivered its report in December 1986 after two years of hearings. In 1985, Prime Minister Brian Mulroney ordered an investigation into the presence of Nazi war criminals in Canada after a member of Parliament claimed infamous Nazi doctor Joseph Mengele might be in the country; the establishment of the commission put the Canadian Jewish community at odds with the Baltic- and Ukrainian-Canadian communities. The Baltic and Ukrainian groups objected to the use of evidence from the Soviet Union and other Iron Curtain countries, and objected to the selective mandate of the Commission, which made no effort to investigate the presence of a small number of Soviet war criminals - veterans of the NKVD, SMERSH and KGB - who were identified as being in Canada.

The commission compiled a list of 774 potential war criminals in Canada. 341 of them never landed or resided in Canada, 21 had landed in Canada but had left for another country, 86 had died in Canada, 4 could not be located. The commission found prima facie evidence against 20 individuals. Late in 1986, the commission turned the names of the 20 people over to the government with recommendations on how to proceed in each case; the commission recommended changes to criminal and citizenship law. In June 1987, the House of Commons passed legislation that allowed for the prosecution of foreign war crimes in Canadian courts and the deportation of naturalized war criminals. Canadian prosecutors pressed charges against at least four men on allegations of participation in Holocaust war crimes. One case ended in acquittal. Since 1998, courts have found that six men, all Ukrainian, misrepresented their wartime activities and could have their citizenship revoked; this was not done because the evidence was insufficient.

Another seven people subject to deportation or citizenship-revocation procedures have died. Rimini List The actual report of the Commission of Inquiry on War Criminals is available on-line at http://publications.gc.ca/site/eng/471452/publication.html Grant Purves, "War Criminals: The Deschênes Commission", 1998. B'nai B'rith Canada, "Traditional holding pattern on Nazi-era cases has made Canada a magnet for modern day war criminals, says B’nai Brith," August 18, 2006. David Matas, "Seeking Global Justice,". Gloria Galloway, "Deportation calls mount against elderly Nazi'enablers,'" The Globe and Mail 30 Jan. 2007. Wasyl Veryha. Along the Roads of World War II. War Criminals in Canada? Roman Serbyn. Alleged War Criminals, the Canadian Media, the Ukrainian Community

Resort architecture or Bäder architecture is an architectural style, characteristic of spas and seaside resorts on the German Baltic coast. The style evolved since the foundation of Heiligendamm in 1793, flourished around the year 1870, when resorts were connected to big cities via railway lines; until today, many buildings on the German coasts are built in the style or feature distinct elements of resort architecture. Single free-standing mansions featuring resort architecture are called Bädervilla, translating as Resort Mansion or Spa Villa; the architecture of inland health spas in Central Europe, in Thuringia, the Czech Republic or Switzerland for instance, is referred to as spa architecture. The architectural style of resort architecture was developed since the foundation of Heiligendamm in Mecklenburg in 1793, the first continental European seaside resort, as a style mixture that should appeal to the upper class, like the aristocracy and businessmen of Europe; the style received a boost with the railway lines connecting the booming seaside resorts of Germany to European metropolitan areas in the late 19th and early 20th century.

It can be a variation of several styles with new elements, including historicism and Art Nouveau, for instance. It is characterised by two to four storey buildings whose façades are decorated with balconies and verandas. In larger villas there are central avants-corps. Arched or rectangular windows predominate flanked by half-columns or blind pilasters. Triangular gables and also curved gables or small turrets close off the ends of the attics. What is special about this form of architecture is its basic composition in classical styles that are freely combined and which may be mixed with art nouveau ornamentation, for instance on the capitals; the most common colour is white, why the health spas are described as "white pearls". As a result, the rare examples in colour, for example, painted in Bordeaux red, olive green, beige or blue, set amongst their white counterparts, are striking. Overall the buildings appear rather delicate and are built of wood with a core of stone. Among the best-known examples today are those found on the Baltic coast on the island of Rügen, for instance in Sellin, Binz or Göhren.

Heiligendamm near Bad Doberan is the oldest German seaside spa. Entire ensembles in white with coloured buildings are found in the parish of Heringsdorf on the island of Usedom; as well as in Kühlungsborn. One of the oldest buildings featuring the resort style was built by Georg Bernhard von Bülow in 1845 in Heringsdorf, Villa Achterkerke. One of the art-historically most important buildings, is the Villa Oechsler in Heringsdorf, built in 1883 by Antonio Salviati; the Wolgaster Holzbau company was internationally known for their chalet-inspired resort architecture wooden mansions. They were the first in the world to build prefabricated houses in the 19th century, in places such as Ahlbeck, Bansin and Heringsdorf. Most important coastal areas with seaside resorts in Germany: Baltic Sea: islands of Fehmarn, Hiddensee, Rügen, Usedom. Notable examples of resort architecture are to be found in seaside spas all along the Baltic coast in these regions. Juodkrantė Klaipėda Neringa Nida Palanga Dziwnów Łeba Kamień Pomorski Kołobrzeg Międzyzdroje Mielno Sopot Świnoujście Ustka Ustronie Morskie Władysławowo Jantarny Rybachy Svetlogorsk Zelenogradsk Baile Herculane Borsec Buziaș Govora Sinaia Slanic Moldova Sovata Susanne Grötz, Ursula Quecke: Balnea.

Architekturgeschichte des Bades. Jonas Verlag für Kunst und Literatur, Marburg 2006, ISBN 3-89445-363-X. Reno Stutz, Thomas Grundner: Bäderarchitektur in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. Hinstorff, Rostock 2004, ISBN 3-356-01033-6. Wolfgang Schneider, Torsten Seegert: Pommersche Bäderarchitektur. Entstehung und Entwicklung. Ostseebad Binz. Heimat-Bild-Verlag, Gifhorn 2003, ISBN 3-9810092-0-7. Wilhelm Hüls, Ulf Böttcher: Bäderarchitektur. Hinstorff Verlag, Rostock 1998, ISBN 3-356-00791-2. Seaside Resorts in MV - 200 years of bathing culture "Bäderarchitektur in Ahlbeck, Heringsdorf und Bansin". Eigenbetrieb Kaiserbäder Insel Usedom. Retrieved 2009-06-07. "euromaxx - Serie: Inselgeschichten 04 - Rügen". Deutsche Welle TV. Retrieved 2009-06-07