1.
John Trumbull
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John Trumbull was an American artist during the period of the American Revolutionary War and was notable for his historical paintings. His Declaration of Independence was used on the reverse of the two-dollar bill, Trumbull was born in Lebanon, Connecticut, in 1756, to Jonathan Trumbull and his wife Faith Trumbull. His father served as Governor of Connecticut from 1769 to 1784, both sides of his family were descended from early Puritan settlers in the state. The young Trumbull entered the 1771 junior class at Harvard College at age fifteen, due to a childhood accident, Trumbull lost use of one eye, which may have influenced his detailed painting style. As a soldier in the American Revolutionary War, Trumbull rendered a service at Boston by sketching plans of the British works. He witnessed the Battle of Bunker Hill and he was appointed second personal aide to General George Washington, and in June 1776, deputy adjutant-general to General Horatio Gates. He resigned from the army in 1777 after a dispute over the dating of his officer commission, in 1780 he traveled to London, where he studied under Benjamin West. At Wests suggestion, Trumbull painted small pictures of the War of Independence and he painted about 250 in his lifetime. On September 23,1780, British agent Major John André was captured by Continental troops in North America, after news reached Great Britain, outrage flared and Trumbull was arrested, as having been an officer in the Continental Army of similar rank to André. He was imprisoned for seven months in Londons Tothill Fields Bridewell, after being released, Trumbull returned to the United States. In 1784, following the British recognition of the United States independence, while working in his studio, Trumbull painted Battle of Bunker Hill and Death of General Montgomery in the Attack on Quebec. Both works are now in the Yale University Art Gallery, in 1785 Trumbull went to Paris, where he made portrait sketches of French officers for the Surrender of Lord Cornwallis. With the assistance of Thomas Jefferson, serving there as the US minister, while in Paris, Trumbull is credited with having introduced Jefferson to the Italian painter Maria Cosway, they became lifelong intimate friends. Trumbulls painting became widely known due to an engraving of it by Asher Brown Durand. All now hang in rotunda of the United States Capitol, congress reportedly authorized only funds sufficient to purchase these four paintings. Trumbulls The Sortie Made by the Garrison of Gibraltar,1789, in 1831 Trumbull sold a series of 28 paintings and 60 miniature portraits to Yale University for an annuity of $1,000. This is by far the largest single collection of his works, the collection was originally housed in a neoclassical art gallery designed by Trumbull on Yales Old Campus, along with portraits by other artists. His portraits include full lengths of General Washington and George Clinton, New York also bought his full-length paintings of Alexander Hamilton and John Jay
2.
Oil painting
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Oil painting is the process of painting with pigments with a medium of drying oil as the binder. Commonly used drying oils include linseed oil, poppy seed oil, walnut oil, the choice of oil imparts a range of properties to the oil paint, such as the amount of yellowing or drying time. Certain differences, depending on the oil, are visible in the sheen of the paints. An artist might use different oils in the same painting depending on specific pigments and effects desired. The paints themselves also develop a particular consistency depending on the medium, the oil may be boiled with a resin, such as pine resin or frankincense, to create a varnish prized for its body and gloss. Its practice may have migrated westward during the Middle Ages, Oil paint eventually became the principal medium used for creating artworks as its advantages became widely known. In recent years, water miscible oil paint has come to prominence and, to some extent, water-soluble paints contain an emulsifier that allows them to be thinned with water rather than paint thinner, and allows very fast drying times when compared with traditional oils. Traditional oil painting techniques often begin with the artist sketching the subject onto the canvas with charcoal or thinned paint, Oil paint is usually mixed with linseed oil, artist grade mineral spirits, or other solvents to make the paint thinner, faster or slower-drying. A basic rule of oil paint application is fat over lean and this means that each additional layer of paint should contain more oil than the layer below to allow proper drying. If each additional layer contains less oil, the painting will crack. This rule does not ensure permanence, it is the quality and type of oil leads to a strong. There are many media that can be used with the oil, including cold wax, resins. These aspects of the paint are closely related to the capacity of oil paint. Traditionally, paint was transferred to the surface using paintbrushes. Oil paint remains wet longer than other types of artists materials, enabling the artist to change the color. At times, the painter might even remove a layer of paint. This can be done with a rag and some turpentine for a time while the paint is wet, Oil paint dries by oxidation, not evaporation, and is usually dry to the touch within a span of two weeks. It is generally dry enough to be varnished in six months to a year, art conservators do not consider an oil painting completely dry until it is 60 to 80 years old
3.
George Washington
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George Washington was an American politician and soldier who served as the first President of the United States from 1789 to 1797 and was one of the Founding Fathers of the United States. He served as Commander-in-Chief of the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War and he is popularly considered the driving force behind the nations establishment and came to be known as the father of the country, both during his lifetime and to this day. Washington was widely admired for his leadership qualities and was unanimously elected president by the Electoral College in the first two national elections. Washingtons incumbency established many precedents still in use today, such as the system, the inaugural address. His retirement from office two terms established a tradition that lasted until 1940 when Franklin Delano Roosevelt won an unprecedented third term. The 22nd Amendment now limits the president to two elected terms and he was born into the provincial gentry of Colonial Virginia to a family of wealthy planters who owned tobacco plantations and slaves, which he inherited. In his youth, he became an officer in the colonial militia during the first stages of the French. In 1775, the Second Continental Congress commissioned him as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army in the American Revolution, in that command, Washington forced the British out of Boston in 1776 but was defeated and nearly captured later that year when he lost New York City. After crossing the Delaware River in the middle of winter, he defeated the British in two battles, retook New Jersey, and restored momentum to the Patriot cause and his strategy enabled Continental forces to capture two major British armies at Saratoga in 1777 and Yorktown in 1781. In battle, however, Washington was repeatedly outmaneuvered by British generals with larger armies, after victory had been finalized in 1783, Washington resigned as commander-in-chief rather than seize power, proving his opposition to dictatorship and his commitment to American republicanism. Washington presided over the Constitutional Convention in 1787, which devised a new form of government for the United States. Following his election as president in 1789, he worked to unify rival factions in the fledgling nation and he supported Alexander Hamiltons programs to satisfy all debts, federal and state, established a permanent seat of government, implemented an effective tax system, and created a national bank. In avoiding war with Great Britain, he guaranteed a decade of peace and profitable trade by securing the Jay Treaty in 1795 and he remained non-partisan, never joining the Federalist Party, although he largely supported its policies. Washingtons Farewell Address was a primer on civic virtue, warning against partisanship, sectionalism. He retired from the presidency in 1797, returning to his home, upon his death, Washington was eulogized as first in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of his countrymen by Representative Henry Lee III of Virginia. He was revered in life and in death, scholarly and public polling consistently ranks him among the top three presidents in American history and he has been depicted and remembered in monuments, public works, currency, and other dedications to the present day. He was born on February 11,1731, according to the Julian calendar, the Gregorian calendar was adopted within the British Empire in 1752, and it renders a birth date of February 22,1732. Washington was of primarily English gentry descent, especially from Sulgrave and his great-grandfather John Washington emigrated to Virginia in 1656 and began accumulating land and slaves, as did his son Lawrence and his grandson, Georges father Augustine
4.
North River (Hudson River)
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North River is an alternate name for the southernmost portion of the Hudson River in the vicinity of New York City and northeastern New Jersey in the United States. The colonial name for the entire Hudson was given to it by the Dutch in the seventeenth century. However it still retains currency as an alternate or additional name among local mariners and others as well as appearing on some nautical charts and maps. The term is used for infrastructure on and under the river, such as the North River piers, North River Tunnels, the names for the lower portion of the river appear to have remained interchangeable for centuries. In 1909, construction of two projects was under way, one was called the North River Tunnels, the other. The origin of the name North River is generally attributed to the Dutch, in describing the major rivers in the New Netherland colony, they called what is now the Hudson the North River, the Connecticut the Fresh River, and the Delaware the South River. Another theory is that the North River and East River were so named for the direction of travel they permitted once having entered the Upper New York Bay. In 1808 the Secretary of the Treasury, Albert Gallatin, issued his report of proposed locations for transportation and communication internal improvements of national importance and this peculiarity distinguishes the North River from all the other bays and rivers of the United States. The tide in no other ascends higher than the ridge or comes within thirty miles of the Blue Ridge or eastern chain of mountains. In the North River it breaks through the Blue Ridge at West Point, a few miles above Troy, and the head of the tide, the Hudson from the north and the Mohawk from the west unite their waters and form the North River. The Hudson in its course upwards approaches the waters of Lake Champlain, hagstrom Maps, formerly the leading mapmaker in the New York metropolitan area, has labeled all or part of the Hudson adjacent to Manhattan as North River on several of its maps. On a 2000 map of Northern Approaches to New York City, Piers along the Hudson shore of Manhattan were formerly used for shipping and berthing ocean-going ships. In shipping notices, they were designated as, for example, Pier 14, most of the piers that once existed in lower Manhattan fell into disuse or were destroyed in the last half of the 20th century, although a number have been adapted to new uses. As with the river, the name North River piers has largely supplanted by Hudson River piers, or just by a pier and number. The remaining piers are Pier A at the Battery and piers ranging from Pier 25 at North Moore Street to Pier 99 at 59th Street, many of these piers and the waterfront between them are part of the Hudson River Park which stretches from 59th Street to the Battery. Several piers are being rebuilt as part of the park project, Piers above Pier 40 have addresses approximately that of Manhattans numbered streets plus 40 – thus, for example North River Pier 86 is at West 46th Street. Pier A is a national and New York City landmark. The building on the dates to 1886, and was used by the citys Department of Docks, Harbor Police
5.
New York (state)
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New York is a state in the northeastern United States, and is the 27th-most extensive, fourth-most populous, and seventh-most densely populated U. S. state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south and Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Vermont to the east. With an estimated population of 8.55 million in 2015, New York City is the most populous city in the United States, the New York Metropolitan Area is one of the most populous urban agglomerations in the world. New York City makes up over 40% of the population of New York State, two-thirds of the states population lives in the New York City Metropolitan Area, and nearly 40% lives on Long Island. Both the state and New York City were named for the 17th-century Duke of York, the next four most populous cities in the state are Buffalo, Rochester, Yonkers, and Syracuse, while the state capital is Albany. New York has a diverse geography and these more mountainous regions are bisected by two major river valleys—the north-south Hudson River Valley and the east-west Mohawk River Valley, which forms the core of the Erie Canal. Western New York is considered part of the Great Lakes Region and straddles Lake Ontario, between the two lakes lies Niagara Falls. The central part of the state is dominated by the Finger Lakes, New York had been inhabited by tribes of Algonquian and Iroquoian-speaking Native Americans for several hundred years by the time the earliest Europeans came to New York. The first Europeans to arrive were French colonists and Jesuit missionaries who arrived southward from settlements at Montreal for trade, the British annexed the colony from the Dutch in 1664. The borders of the British colony, the Province of New York, were similar to those of the present-day state, New York is home to the Statue of Liberty, a symbol of the United States and its ideals of freedom, democracy, and opportunity. In the 21st century, New York has emerged as a node of creativity and entrepreneurship, social tolerance. On April 17,1524 Verrazanno entered New York Bay, by way of the now called the Narrows into the northern bay which he named Santa Margherita. Verrazzano described it as a vast coastline with a delta in which every kind of ship could pass and he adds. This vast sheet of water swarmed with native boats and he landed on the tip of Manhattan and possibly on the furthest point of Long Island. Verrazannos stay was interrupted by a storm which pushed him north towards Marthas Vineyard, in 1540 French traders from New France built a chateau on Castle Island, within present-day Albany, due to flooding, it was abandoned the next year. In 1614, the Dutch under the command of Hendrick Corstiaensen, rebuilt the French chateau, Fort Nassau was the first Dutch settlement in North America, and was located along the Hudson River, also within present-day Albany. The small fort served as a trading post and warehouse, located on the Hudson River flood plain, the rudimentary fort was washed away by flooding in 1617, and abandoned for good after Fort Orange was built nearby in 1623. Henry Hudsons 1609 voyage marked the beginning of European involvement with the area, sailing for the Dutch East India Company and looking for a passage to Asia, he entered the Upper New York Bay on September 11 of that year
6.
American Revolutionary War
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From about 1765 the American Revolution had led to increasing philosophical and political differences between Great Britain and its American colonies. The war represented a culmination of these differences in armed conflict between Patriots and the authority which they increasingly resisted. This resistance became particularly widespread in the New England Colonies, especially in the Province of Massachusetts Bay. On December 16,1773, Massachusetts members of the Patriot group Sons of Liberty destroyed a shipment of tea in Boston Harbor in an event that became known as the Boston Tea Party. Named the Coercive Acts by Parliament, these became known as the Intolerable Acts in America. The Massachusetts colonists responded with the Suffolk Resolves, establishing a government that removed control of the province from the Crown outside of Boston. Twelve colonies formed a Continental Congress to coordinate their resistance, and established committees, British attempts to seize the munitions of Massachusetts colonists in April 1775 led to the first open combat between Crown forces and Massachusetts militia, the Battles of Lexington and Concord. Militia forces proceeded to besiege the British forces in Boston, forcing them to evacuate the city in March 1776, the Continental Congress appointed George Washington to take command of the militia. Concurrent to the Boston campaign, an American attempt to invade Quebec, on July 2,1776, the Continental Congress formally voted for independence, issuing its Declaration on July 4. Sir William Howe began a British counterattack, focussing on recapturing New York City, Howe outmaneuvered and defeated Washington, leaving American confidence at a low ebb. Washington captured a Hessian force at Trenton and drove the British out of New Jersey, in 1777 the British sent a new army under John Burgoyne to move south from Canada and to isolate the New England colonies. However, instead of assisting Burgoyne, Howe took his army on a campaign against the revolutionary capital of Philadelphia. Burgoyne outran his supplies, was surrounded and surrendered at Saratoga in October 1777, the British defeat in the Saratoga Campaign had drastic consequences. Giving up on the North, the British decided to salvage their former colonies in the South, British forces under Lieutenant-General Charles Cornwallis seized Georgia and South Carolina, capturing an American army at Charleston, South Carolina. British strategy depended upon an uprising of large numbers of armed Loyalists, in 1779 Spain joined the war as an ally of France under the Pacte de Famille, intending to capture Gibraltar and British colonies in the Caribbean. Britain declared war on the Dutch Republic in December 1780, in 1781, after the British and their allies had suffered two decisive defeats at Kings Mountain and Cowpens, Cornwallis retreated to Virginia, intending on evacuation. A decisive French naval victory in September deprived the British of an escape route, a joint Franco-American army led by Count Rochambeau and Washington, laid siege to the British forces at Yorktown. With no sign of relief and the situation untenable, Cornwallis surrendered in October 1781, Whigs in Britain had long opposed the pro-war Tory majority in Parliament, but the defeat at Yorktown gave the Whigs the upper hand
7.
Martha Washington
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Martha Washington was the wife of George Washington, the first president of the United States. Although the title was not coined until after her death, Martha Washington is considered to be the first First Lady of the United States, during her lifetime she was often referred to as Lady Washington. Widowed at 25, she had four children with her first husband Daniel Parke Custis, two of her children by Custis survived to young adulthood. She brought great wealth to her marriage to Washington, which enabled him to buy land and she also brought nearly 100 dower slaves for her use during her lifetime, they and their descendants reverted to her first husbands estate at her death and were inherited by his heirs. She and Washington did not have children together but they did rear her two children by Daniel Parke Custis, including son John Jacky Parke Custis, as well as helped both of their extended families. Martha Dandridge was born on June 2,1731 on her parents plantation Chestnut Grove in the British colony, Province of Virginia. She was the oldest daughter of John Dandridge, a Virginia planter and immigrant from England, by his wife Frances Jones, who was of American birth and English, Welsh, and French descent. Martha had three brothers and four sisters, John, William, Bartholomew, Anna Marie Fanny Bassett, Frances Dandridge, Elizabeth Aylet Henley, Marthas father may also have fathered an out-of-wedlock half-brother to Martha named Ralph Dandridge, who was probably white. They had four children together, Daniel, Frances, John, Daniel and Frances died in childhood. The other two children, John Parke Custis and Martha Parke Custis, survived to young adulthood, in all, she was left in custody of some 17,500 acres of land and 300 slaves, apart from other investments and cash. According to her biographist, she ran the five plantations left to her when her first husband died. Martha Dandridge Custis, age 27, and George Washington, age nearly 27, married on January 6,1759, as a man who lived and owned property in the area, Washington likely knew both Martha and Daniel Parke Custis for some time before Daniels death. During March 1758 he visited her twice at White House, the time he came away with either an engagement of marriage or at least her promise to think about his proposal. At the time, she was also being courted by the planter Charles Carter, Washingtons suit was of blue and silver cloth with red trimming and gold knee buckles. The bride wore purple silk shoes with spangled buckles, which are displayed at Mount Vernon. The couple honeymooned at White House for several weeks before setting up house at Washingtons Mount Vernon estate and they appeared to have had a solid marriage. Martha and George Washington had no children together, but they raised Marthas two surviving children and her daughter, nicknamed Patsy, died as a teenager during an epileptic seizure, classed as SUDEP. John Parke Jacky Custis returned from college to comfort his mother, Custis later married and had children, he served as an aide to Washington during the siege of Yorktown in 1781 during the American Revolutionary War
8.
New York City
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The City of New York, often called New York City or simply New York, is the most populous city in the United States. With an estimated 2015 population of 8,550,405 distributed over an area of about 302.6 square miles. Located at the tip of the state of New York. Home to the headquarters of the United Nations, New York is an important center for international diplomacy and has described as the cultural and financial capital of the world. Situated on one of the worlds largest natural harbors, New York City consists of five boroughs, the five boroughs – Brooklyn, Queens, Manhattan, The Bronx, and Staten Island – were consolidated into a single city in 1898. In 2013, the MSA produced a gross metropolitan product of nearly US$1.39 trillion, in 2012, the CSA generated a GMP of over US$1.55 trillion. NYCs MSA and CSA GDP are higher than all but 11 and 12 countries, New York City traces its origin to its 1624 founding in Lower Manhattan as a trading post by colonists of the Dutch Republic and was named New Amsterdam in 1626. The city and its surroundings came under English control in 1664 and were renamed New York after King Charles II of England granted the lands to his brother, New York served as the capital of the United States from 1785 until 1790. It has been the countrys largest city since 1790, the Statue of Liberty greeted millions of immigrants as they came to the Americas by ship in the late 19th and early 20th centuries and is a symbol of the United States and its democracy. In the 21st century, New York has emerged as a node of creativity and entrepreneurship, social tolerance. Several sources have ranked New York the most photographed city in the world, the names of many of the citys bridges, tapered skyscrapers, and parks are known around the world. Manhattans real estate market is among the most expensive in the world, Manhattans Chinatown incorporates the highest concentration of Chinese people in the Western Hemisphere, with multiple signature Chinatowns developing across the city. Providing continuous 24/7 service, the New York City Subway is one of the most extensive metro systems worldwide, with 472 stations in operation. Over 120 colleges and universities are located in New York City, including Columbia University, New York University, and Rockefeller University, during the Wisconsinan glaciation, the New York City region was situated at the edge of a large ice sheet over 1,000 feet in depth. The ice sheet scraped away large amounts of soil, leaving the bedrock that serves as the foundation for much of New York City today. Later on, movement of the ice sheet would contribute to the separation of what are now Long Island and Staten Island. The first documented visit by a European was in 1524 by Giovanni da Verrazzano, a Florentine explorer in the service of the French crown and he claimed the area for France and named it Nouvelle Angoulême. Heavy ice kept him from further exploration, and he returned to Spain in August and he proceeded to sail up what the Dutch would name the North River, named first by Hudson as the Mauritius after Maurice, Prince of Orange
9.
Evacuation Day (New York)
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Evacuation Day on November 25 marks the day in 1783 when British troops departed from New York on Manhattan Island, after the end of the American Revolutionary War. The shot fell short of the shore. They headed north for Westchester County, fought an action at White Plains. For the remainder of the American Revolutionary War, much of what is now Greater New York was under British control, david Mathews was Mayor of New York during the British occupation. Many of the civilians who continued to reside in town were Loyalists, the region became central to the development of a patriot intelligence network, including the spy Nathan Hale. On September 21,1776, the city suffered a fire of uncertain origin after the evacuation of Washingtons Continental Army at the beginning of the British Army occupation. With hundreds of destroyed, many residents had to live in makeshift housing built from old ships. These men are memorialized, and many of their remains are interred, at the Prison Ship Martyrs Monument in Fort Greene Park, more than 29,000 Loyalists refugees were eventually evacuated from the city. Carleton gave a final date of 12 noon on November 25,1783. Following the departure of the British, the city was secured by Colonial troops under the command of General Henry Knox, entry into the city by General George Washington was delayed until after a British flag which had been spotted still flying had been removed. A British Union Jack was nailed on a flagpole in the Battery Park at the tip of Manhattan as a final act of defiance. Even after Evacuation Day, some British troops still remained in frontier forts in territory that the Treaty of Paris assigned to the United States. Britain would continue to some of these Old Northwest forts in the Great Lakes area until 1794 and the signing of Jays Treaty. Later, Washington headed south, being cheered and fêted on his way at many stops in New Jersey and Pennsylvania. By December 23, he arrived in Annapolis, Maryland, where the Confederation Congress was then meeting at the Maryland State House to consider the terms of the Treaty of Paris and he then retired to his plantation home, Mount Vernon, in Virginia. On Evacuation Day 1790, the Veteran Corps of Artillery of the State of New York was founded, on Evacuation Day 1811, the newly completed Castle Clinton was dedicated with the firing of its first gun salute. On Evacuation Day 1830, thirty thousand New Yorkers gathered on a march to Washington Square Park in celebration of that years July Revolution in France, the importance of the commemoration was waning in 1844, with the approach of the Mexican-American War of 1846–1848. However, the dedication of the monument to William J. Worth and that year, Thursday fell on November 26
10.
New York City Hall
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New York City Hall, the seat of New York City government, is located at the center of City Hall Park in the Civic Center area of Lower Manhattan, between Broadway, Park Row, and Chambers Street. Constructed from 1803 to 1812, New York City Hall is a National Historic Landmark and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, both its exterior and interior are designated New York City landmarks. New Amsterdams first City Hall was built by the Dutch in the 17th century near 73 Pearl Street, the citys second City Hall, built in 1700, stood on Wall and Nassau Streets. That building was renamed Federal Hall after New York became the first official capital of the United States after the Revolutionary War. Plans for building a new City Hall were discussed by the New York City Council as early as 1776, the Council chose a site at the old Common at the northern limits of the City, now City Hall Park. City Hall was originally an area for the first almhouse in 1653, in 1736, there was a financed almhouse for those who were fit to work, for the unfit, and those that were like criminals but were paupers. In 1802 the City held a competition for a new City Hall, mangin was also the architect of the landmark St. Patricks Old Cathedral on Mulberry Street. McComb, whose father had worked on the old City Hall, was a New Yorker and he would supervise the construction of the building, and designed the architectural detailing as well. Also, many architects were in favor of Greek Revival style and created Brooklyn City Hall, the cornerstone of the new City Hall was laid in 1803. Construction was delayed after the City Council objected that the design was too extravagant, labor disputes and an outbreak of yellow fever further slowed construction. The building was not dedicated until 1811, and opened officially in 1812, the Outer Room is adjacent to the traditional Mayors office, which is a small space on the northwest corner of the first floor. The Ceremonial Room is where the mayor would meet officials and hold small group meetings, there are 108 paintings from the late 18th century through the 20th. The New York Times declared it almost unrivaled as an ensemble, among the collection is John Trumbull’s 1805 portrait of Alexander Hamilton, the source of the face on the United States ten-dollar bill. There were significant efforts to restore the paintings in the 1920s and 1940s, in 2006 a new restoration campaign began for 47 paintings identified by the Art Commission as highest in priority. On July 23,2003 at 2,08 p. m, City Hall was the scene of a rare political assassination. Othniel Askew, a rival of City Councilman James E. Davis. Askew shot Davis twice, fatally wounding him, a police officer on the floor of the chamber then fatally shot Askew. Askew and Davis had entered the building together without passing through a metal detector, as a result of the security breach, then-Mayor Michael Bloomberg revised security policy to require that everyone entering the building pass through metal detectors without exception
11.
Buff (colour)
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Buff is the pale yellow-brown colour of the un-dyed leather of several animals. As an RYB quaternary colour, it is the colour produced by an equal mix of the tertiary colours citron. The first recorded use of the buff to describe a colour was in the London Gazette of 1686. Such buff leather was suitable for buffing or serving as a buffer between polished objects and it is not clear which bovine buffalo referred to, but it may not have been any of the animals called buffalo today. In the buff, today meaning naked, originally applied to English soldiers wearing the buff leather tunic that was their uniform until the 17th century, the naked signification is due to the perception that skin is buff-coloured. Sand, rock, and loess tend to be buff in many areas, because buff is effective in camouflage, it is often naturally selected. In areas where raw materials are available, buff walls. Unless bleached or dyed, paper products, such as Manila paper, Buff envelopes are used extensively in commercial mailings. Buff paper is sometimes favoured by artists seeking a neutral background colour for drawings, Buff domesticated animals and plants have been created, including dogs, cats, and poultry. The word buff is used in written standards of several breeds, in 16th and 17th century European cultures, buff waistcoats, were considered proper casual wear. In the 17th century, the colour of formal dress boot uppers was often described as buff. Clothing depicted on John Bull, a personification of Britain in general and England in particular, in political cartoons. Bulls buff waistcoats, topcoats, trousers and boot uppers were typical of sixteenth-, Buff is a traditional European military uniform colour. Buff has good camouflage qualities as sand, soil, and dry vegetation are buff in many areas, the term Buff coat refers to a part of 17th-century European military uniforms. Such coats were intended to protect the wearer, and the strongest and finest leathers tend to be buff, so the term buff coats came to refer to all such coats, the Royal East Kent Regiment was nicknamed The Buffs from the colour of their waistcoats. Popularised by Rudyard Kipling in his 1888 work Soldiers Three, has its origins during 2nd Battalions garrison duties in Malta. Adjutant Cotter, not wanting to be shown up in front of his regiment, the 21st Royal Fusiliers, spurred his men on with the words, Steady. The uniform of American Continental Army was buff and blue, Buff is the traditional colour of the U. S. Army Quartermaster Corps