The University of California, Davis, is a public research university and land-grant university adjacent to Davis, California. It is part of the University of California system and has the third-largest enrollment in the system after UCLA and UC Berkeley; the institution was founded as a branch in 1905 and became its own separate entity in 1959. It has been labeled one of the "Public Ivies", a publicly funded university considered to provide a quality of education comparable to those of the Ivy League; the university is classified as a comprehensive doctoral research university with a medical program, high research activity. The UC Davis faculty includes 23 members of the National Academy of Sciences, 30 members of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, 17 members of the American Law Institute, 14 members of the Institute of Medicine, 14 members of the National Academy of Engineering. Among other honors, university faculty and researchers have won the Nobel Peace Prize, Presidential Medal of Freedom, Pulitzer Prize, MacArthur Fellowship, National Medal of Science, Blue Planet Prize, Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers, World Food Prize.

Founded as an agricultural campus, the university has expanded over the past century to include graduate and professional programs in medicine, veterinary medicine, education and business management, in addition to 90 research programs offered by UC Davis Graduate Studies. The UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine is the largest in the United States and has been ranked first in the world for five consecutive years. UC Davis offers certificates and courses, including online classes, for adults and non-traditional learners through its Division of Continuing and Professional Education; the UC Davis Aggies athletic teams compete in the NCAA Division I level in the Big West Conference as well as the Big Sky Conference and the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation. In its first year of full Division I status, 11 UC Davis teams qualified for NCAA post-season competition. In 1905, the California legislature passed the University Farm Bill, which called for the establishment of a farm school for the University of California.

The commission took a year to select a site for the campus, a tiny town known as Davisville. UC Davis opened its doors as the "University Farm" to 40 degree students from UC Berkeley in January 1909; the Farm was established as the result of the vision and perseverance of Peter J. Shields, secretary of the State Agricultural Society; the Peter J. Shields Library at UC Davis was named in his honor. Shields began to champion the cause of a University Farm to teach agriculture after learning that California students were going to out-of-state universities to pursue such education. After two failed bills, a law authorizing the creation of a University Farm was passed on March 18, 1905. Yolo County, home to some of California's prime farmland, was chosen as the site. A committee appointed by the Regents purchased land near Davisville in 1906; the Regents took control of the property in September 1906 and constructed four buildings in 1907. Short courses were first offered in 1908 and a three-year non-degree program set up in 1909.

In 1911, the first class graduated from the University Farm. The Farm accepted its first female students in 1914 from Berkeley; the three-year non-degree program continued until 1923. At that time, a two-year non-degree program began, continuing until 1958. In 1922, a four-year undergraduate general academic program was established, with the first class graduating in 1926. Renamed in 1922 as the Northern Branch of the College of Agriculture, and, in 1938, as the College of Agriculture at Davis, the institution continued growing at a breakneck pace: in 1916 the Farm's 314 students occupied the original 778 acres campus. By 1951 it had expanded to a size of 3,000 acres. In 1959, the campus was declared by the Regents of the University of California as the seventh general campus in the University of California system. Davis' Graduate Division was established in 1961 followed by the College of Engineering in 1962; the law school opened for classes in fall 1966, the School of Medicine began instruction in fall 1968.

In a period of increasing activism, a Native American studies program was started in 1969, one of the first at a major university. During a protest against tuition hikes on November 18, 2011, a campus police officer, Lieutenant John Pike, used pepper spray on a group of seated demonstrators when they refused to disperse, another officer pepper sprayed demonstrators at Pike's direction; the incident drew international attention and led to further demonstrations, a formal investigation, Pike's departure in July 2012. Documents released in 2016 through a public records request showed that the university had spent at least $175,000 to attempt to "scrub the Internet of negative postings" about the incident, in efforts that started in 2013. California newspaper The Sacramento Bee obtained a document outlining the public relations strategy, which stated: "Nevins and Associates is prepared to create and execute an online branding campaign designed to clean up the negative attention the University of California and Chancellor Katehi have received related to the events that transpired in November 2011".

The strategy included an "aggressive and comprehensive online campaign to eliminate the negative search results" intended to

The Chesapeake and Ohio Canal used 11 navigable aqueducts to carry the canal over rivers and streams that were too wide for a culvert to contain. Aqueducts, like locks and other masonry structures, were called "works of art" by the canal board of directors. In addition to these 11 aqueducts, there was the Alexandria Aqueduct, which connected the C&O Canal with Alexandria and the Broad Run Trunk Aqueduct, made of wood, was a double culvert, never listed in company records as an aqueduct; the aqueducts of the C&O, unlike the Roman aqueducts, were built with inferior materials and cement, did not have a long life expectancy. The trash from the floods did the most harm to the aqueducts; the Seneca Aqueduct, located in Montgomery County, Maryland included a lock built in. The aqueduct traverses Seneca Creek and was built from 1829 to 1832, it collapsed in 1971 due to flooding. There was a stone cutting mill just at this point, on the upstream side, it cut stone from Marble Quarry, Cedar Point Quarry, as well as the quarries of Seneca sandstone.

It was powered by canal water diverted into a mill race to a turbine. This aqueduct was the site of an incident in 1897 when the passenger steam packet boat leaving the aqueduct collided with a freight boat loaded with watermelons. There were no injuries to the passengers when the boat sank, but the local people collected free watermelons floating in the turning basin just above the aqueduct; this "unofficial" aqueduct crosses Broad Run in Montgomery County. It was two stone culverts 16 feet long, listed as Culvert #44½. Construction began in 1829, on section 53, after several contractors worked on it, was completed in 1833, it washed out in 1846. A wooden trunk was put in to keep navigation open, it deteriorated until it could not be repaired, was rebuilt 1856. Troops burned it during the American Civil War, it was replaced again; the wood rotted and had to be replaced. Although it was an aqueduct, the company records still listed it as a culvert; the Monocacy Aqueduct in Frederick County, Maryland is the longest aqueduct on the canal, crossing the Monocacy River.

It was completed in May 1833. It is 516 feet long, with seven 54 feet arches, it was begun in March 1829 and finished in April 1833. Quartz sandstone came from nearby Sugar Loaf Mountain; some stone was boated down the river, the rest by a wagon tramway, having oak rails covered with iron straps. The Catoctin Aqueduct crosses Catoctin Creek in Frederick County; this aqueduct, completed in 1834, was called the "Crooked Aqueduct" because of the sharp turns before and after it on the canal. Recklessness among boatmen resulted in accidents. In March 1870, the board ordered that all boats should slow down 50 yards from the aqueduct, stationed a watchman to ensure compliance, as well as printing handbills to that effect. Boatmen called this creek "Jug Creek."It was made of granite from Ellicott Mills, Maryland. Since it uses two different kinds of arches: elliptical in the center, Roman on the side, the two stresses do not balance each other, are prone to failure. Cited as the worst built structure on the canal, during construction the west pier was torn down and rebuilt.

Leaking since 1859, it sagged badly in 1926 collapsing in October 31, 1973. Between 2007 and 2010, funds were raised for restoring the aqueduct. In 2010 the National Park Service awarded a $3.93 million contract to Corman Construction to carry out the restoration work. 459 original stones from the aqueduct were found and used in the restoration, the aqueduct was reopened on October 15, 2011. The Antietam Creek aqueduct, on section 126, was begun in 1832 and completed in April 1835. Media related to Antietam Creek Aqueduct at Wikimedia Commons The Conococheague Creek Aqueduct was contracted to Michael Byrne in 1832. Work started in 1833, was completed in November 1835 at a cost of $43,283.78. It is at the 99.80 mile mark. This aqueduct, made of local limestone, was damaged during the Civil War by Mosby's Raiders; the stonework wall "went out" three times: 1865, 1887, in 1920. On April 20, 1920, when the wall went out, boat #73 was returning to Cumberland after dropping off coal in Williamsport; the boat bounced off the wall, Captain Myers said that he saw the aqueduct wall shudder, shouted to his stepson to release the mules.

The wall collapsed, Captain Myers was able to jump to safety before the boat fell through the break into the creek. All survived the accident; the NPS began a restoration project in August 2017 to restore the Conococheague aqueduct and surrounding areas to operating condition resembling that of the 1920s. They plan to rewater the section of the canal after finishing this project; the projected cost is $9 million. Media related to Conococheague Creek Aqueduct at Wikimedia Commons The Licking Creek Aqueduct on section 222 was begun in 1835. In 1837 the contract was reassigned when the original contractor, died, it was completed in May 1938 at the cost of $48,023.85. This is the shortest aqueduct, 50 feet long. Construction on the Tonoloway Creek Aqueduct began in 1835 and was completed in April 1839; this aqueduct is an incomplete Roman arch. Like many other aqueducts, this one has a waste weir as part of the masonry; the Sideling Hill Creek Aqueduct was begun in 1837. was completed in Spring 1850. Th

Local elections were held in Sri Lanka on 8 August 2009 for two local councils in the north of the country: Jaffna Municipal Council and Vavuniya Urban Council. They were the first elections held in the country since the government declared victory in the 26-year-old civil war on 18 May 2009, they were the first local elections held in the Northern Province in more than 11 years. Both towns had been under government control for many years; the government won the Jaffna Municipal Council contest by securing 13 of the 23 seats. The Tamil National Alliance won the Vavuniya Urban Council contest by securing 5 of the 11 seats. Turnout was low in Jaffna but it was better in Vavuniya. On 25 May 2009 the government announced that local elections would be held in Vavuniya. Nominations took place between 18 June 2009 and 25 June 2009. After the nominations closed the Sri Lankan Department of Election announced that the elections would take place on 8 August 2009, the same day as the Uva Provincial Council elections.

The TNA has said that the elections are being held too early, with so many of the electorate displaced. It expected the Jaffna elections to be violent and the results to be rigged, just like the 2008 Eastern Provincial Council elections; the United National Party and the People’s Action for Free and Fair Election have called on the election authorities to bring in foreign election observers. Veerasingham Anandasangaree, president of the Tamil United Liberation Front, has accused a Tamil government minister of "terrorising the residents of Jaffna in the run-up to the Municipal Council elections", it is believed that the minister Anandasangaree was referring to is Douglas Devananda, leader of the paramilitary Eelam People's Democratic Party. The UNP has accused the government of obstructing the UNP's campaign in Vavuniya, it says the government is preventing its free movement and has complained to the Election Department. The UNP has accused armed supporters of the EPDP of threatening its candidates.

It has said. In the early hours of 25 June 2009 armed men attacked newspaper delivery men and burnt thousands of copies of three Tamil language newspapers in Jaffna; the newspapers had refused to print a statement attacking the Tamil Tigers from a shadowy group calling itself the "Tamil Front Protecting the Country". The group telephoned the Thinakkural after the attack and warned that the newspapers would continue to be confiscated and torched until the statement was published; the newspaper published the statement under duress on 26 June 2009. On 27 June 2009 the group issued further threats against the Uthayan, this time ordering all its staff to resign by 30 June 2009 or face death. On 4 July 2009 two men were shot and killed by unidentified gunmen in the Parathipuram area of Vavuniya; the dead men were identified as 39-year-old Nadaraja Ramesh Kantha, principal of Parathipuram Tamil Mixed School, 31-year-old Gunarathnam Peter Ruben. The last election for Jaffna MC was held on 29 January 1998.

The following six alliances / parties / independent groups' nominations were accepted by the Sri Lankan Department of Election: Tamil National Alliance Tamil United Liberation Front United National Party United People's Freedom Alliance Independent Group 1 Independent Group 2 A total of 174 candidates competed for the 23 seats available on the council. The nominations of the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress and an independent group were rejected by the Sri Lankan Department of Election; the SLMC appealed on 3 July the courts rejected the appeal. There were 10,000 Muslim refugees from Jaffna living in other districts. Of these 7,104 applied to vote in the Jaffna elections. With the elimination of the SLMC and the UNP not fielding any Muslim candidates, most of the Muslims would most have voted for the United People's Freedom Alliance. Extraordinarily there were no applications by Tamil refugees to vote in the Jaffna elections. There are hundreds of thousands of Tamil refugees from the Jaffna peninsula living in other parts of the country, either in refugee camps or with relatives.

Many of these are from the Jaffna municipality area. Veteran politician Veerasingham Anandasangaree is a candidate to become Mayor of Jaffna. Anandasangaree was a TNA Member of Parliament but left the TNA when it started taking a pro-Tamil Tiger stance. Since he has reconstituted the TULF, a constituent party of the TNA, as a separate political party and formed alliances with government-backed anti-Tamil Tigers paramilitary groups, such as the People's Liberation Organisation of Tamil Eelam, in order to fight elections against the TNA. Most TULF members however remain within the TNA; the government took control of the Jaffna Municipal Council after securing 13 of the 23 seats. The following candidates were elected: The EPDP has nominated Patkunam Yogeswary to be Mayor and Thurairajah Illango to be Deputy Mayor; the last election for Vavuniya UC was held on 1 March 1994. The following nine alliances / parties / independent groups' nominations were accepted by the Sri Lankan Department of Election: Democratic People's Liberation Front Sri Lanka Muslim Congress Sri Lanka Progressive Front Tamil National Alliance United National Party United People's Freedom Alliance Independent Group 1 Independent Group 2 Independent Group 3A total of 135 candidates competed for the 11 seats available on the council.

The TULF filed a separate nomination but this was rejected by the Sri Lankan Department of Election. The Tamil National Alliance secured 5 of the 11 sea