1.
Spanish naming customs
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Spanish naming customs are historical traditions for naming children practised in Spain. According to these customs, a persons name consists of a name followed by two family names. The first surname is usually the fathers first surname, and the second the mothers first surname, in recent years, the order of the surnames can be reversed at birth if it is so decided by the parents. Currently in Spain, people bear a single or composite given name, a composite given name comprises two single names, for example Juan Pablo is considered not to be a first and a second forename, but a single composite forename. The two surnames refer to each of the parental families, traditionally, a persons first surname is the fathers first surname, and the second one is the mothers first surname. From 2013, if the parents of a child are unable to agree on order of surnames, the law also grants a person the option, upon reaching adulthood, of reversing the order of their surnames. Each surname can also be composite, the parts usually linked by the y or e. For example, a name might be Juan Pablo Fernández de Calderón García-Iglesias, consisting of a forename, a paternal surname. There are times when it is impossible, by inspection of a name, for example, the writer Sebastià Juan Arbó was alphabetised by the Library of Congress for many years under Arbó, assuming that Sebastiá and Juan were both given names. However, Juan was actually his first surname, to resolve questions like this, which typically involve very common names, one must consult the person involved, or legal documents. A man named José Antonio Gómez Iglesias would normally be addressed as either señor Gómez or señor Gómez Iglesias instead of señor Iglesias, because Gómez is his first surname. Furthermore, Mr. Gómez might be addressed as José Antonio, José, Pepe, Antonio, or Toño Jose, Joselito, Josito, Joselillo, Josico or Joselín, Antoñito, Tonín or Nono. Very formally, he could be addressed with an honorific as don José Antonio or don José, colombian writer Gabriel García Márquez is sometimes incorrectly referred to in English media as Mr. Márquez, when it should be Mr. García Márquez or, simply, Mr. García. It is not unusual, when the first surname is very common, for example, José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero is often called simply Zapatero, the name he inherited from his mothers family, since Rodríguez is a common surname and may be ambiguous. The same occurs with another former Spanish Socialist leader, Alfredo Pérez Rubalcaba, with the poet and dramatist Federico García Lorca, as these peoples paternal names are very common, they are often called with their maternal names. It would nonetheless be a mistake to index José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero under Z as Zapatero, a practical option to spare an explanation is using a single surname composed of two separate words. Parents choose their childs name, which must be recorded in the Registro Civil to establish his or her legal identity. With few restrictions, parents can now choose any name, common sources of names are the parents taste, honouring a relative, the General Roman Calendar nomina, legislation in Spain under Franco legally limited cultural naming customs to only Christian and typical Spanish names
2.
San Juan, Puerto Rico
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San Juan is the capital and most populous municipality in the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, an unincorporated territory of the United States. As of the 2010 census, it had a population of 395,326 making it the 46th-largest city under the jurisdiction of the United States, San Juan was founded by Spanish colonists in 1521, who called it Ciudad de Puerto Rico. Puerto Ricos capital is the second oldest European-established capital city in the Americas, after Santo Domingo, today, San Juan is Puerto Ricos most important seaport, and is the islands manufacturing, financial, cultural, and tourism center. San Juan is also a city of the San Juan-Caguas-Fajardo Combined Statistical Area. In 1508, Juan Ponce de León founded the settlement which he called Caparra. In 1521, the settlement was given its formal name. On the other hand, the name for the island became the name for the city only after the occupation of the island by the United States. San Juan, as a settlement of the Spanish Empire, was used by merchant, because of its prominence in the Caribbean, a network of fortifications was built to protect the transports of gold and silver from the New World to Europe. Because of the cargoes, San Juan became a target of the foreign powers of the time. The city was witness to attacks from the English led by Sir Francis Drake in 1595 and by George Clifford, Earl of Cumberland, artillery from San Juans fort, El Morro, repelled Drake, however, Clifford managed to land troops and lay siege to the city. After a few months of English occupation, Clifford was forced to abandon the siege when his troops began to suffer from exhaustion, in 1625 the city was sacked by Dutch forces led by Captain Balduino Enrico, but El Morro withstood the assault and was not taken. The Dutch were counterattacked by Captain Juan de Amezquita and 50 members of the militia on land. The land battle left 60 Dutch soldiers dead and Enrico with a wound to his neck which he received from the hands of Amezquita. The Dutch ships at sea were boarded by Puerto Ricans who defeated those aboard, after a long battle, the Spanish soldiers and volunteers of the citys militia were able to defend the city from the attack and save the island from an invasion. On October 21, Enrico set La Fortaleza and the city ablaze, captains Amezquita and Andre Botello decided to put a stop to the destruction and led 200 men in an attack against the enemys front and rear guard. They drove Enrico and his men from their trenches and into the ocean in their haste to reach their ships, the British attack in 1797, during the French Revolutionary Wars, led by Sir Ralph Abercromby. His army laid siege to the city but was forced to withdraw in defeat as the Puerto Rican defenses proved more resilient than those of Trinidad. The USS Yale captured a Spanish freighter, the Rita in San Juan Bay, on May 9, Yale fought a brief battle with an auxiliary cruiser of Spain, name unknown, resulting in a Spanish victory
3.
Orthodox stance
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An orthodox stance is a way of positioning both the feet and hands in combat sports such as boxing, karate, kickboxing and mixed martial arts. A traditional orthodox stance is one in which the places his left foot farther in front of the right foot. As it favors the stronger, dominant side—often the right side and it is mostly used by right-handed boxers. Many boxing champions—such as Jack Johnson, Anthony Joshua, Marco Antonio Barrera, Rocky Marciano, Ingmar Johansson, Roberto Durán, the corresponding designation for a left-handed boxer is southpaw and is generally a mirror image of the orthodox stance. A southpaw boxer guards and jabs with his right hand, some famous boxers who use southpaw are Marvelous Marvin Hagler, Sultan Ibragimov, Naseem Hamed, Joe Calzaghe, Manny Pacquiao and Lucian Bute. Francisco Palacios and Andre Ward normally fight as orthodox, but occasionally switch to a stance to confuse their opponents. Hagler was the opposite, normally fighting southpaw but able to switch to orthodox, though they are far from common, many gym trainers who lack experience in training left-handed boxers convert southpaws to a right-handed stance
4.
Amateur boxing
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Amateur boxing is a variant of boxing practised at the collegiate level, at the Olympic Games, Pan American Games and Commonwealth Games, as well as many associations. Amateur boxing bouts are short in duration, comprising three rounds of three minutes in men, and four rounds of two minutes in women, each with an interval between rounds. Mens senior bouts changed in format from four, two-minute rounds to three, three-minute rounds on January 1,2009 and this type of competition prizes point-scoring blows, based on number of clean punches landed, rather than physical power. Also, this format allows tournaments to feature several bouts over several days, unlike professional boxing. Head protection was used in competition until March 2016, before it was removed by the AIBA due to a higher concussion rate with Head Protection. However, womens boxing will continue with Head Protection, after the AIBA announced that they did not have data to decide if there was higher risk of concussion in women. A referee monitors the fight to ensure that competitors use only legal blows, referees also ensure that the boxers dont use holding tactics to prevent the opponent from swinging. Referees will stop the bout if a boxer is seriously injured, bouts which end this way may be noted as RSC, RSCI RSCH or KO. Amateur boxing emerged as a sport during the mid-to-late 19th century, in England, the Amateur Boxing Association was formed in 1880 when twelve clubs affiliated. It held its first championships the following year, four weight classes were contested, Featherweight, Lightweight, Middleweight and Heavyweight. By 1902, American boxers were contesting the titles in the A. B. A, Championships, which, therefore, took on an international complexion. By 1924, the A. B. A. had 105 clubs in affiliation, Boxing first appeared at the Olympic Games in 1904 and, apart from the Games of 1912, has always been part of them. From 1972 to 2004, Cuba and the United States won the most Gold Medals,29 for Cuba and 21 for the U. S, the first World Amateur Boxing Championships were staged in 1974. Computer scoring was introduced to the Olympics in 1992, each of the five judges had a keypad with a red and a blue button. The judges pressed a button for which ever corner they felt landed a scoring blow, three out of the five judges had to press the button for the same boxer within a one-second window in order for the point to score. A legal scoring blow was that which is landed cleanly with the surface of the glove, within the scoring area. As long as the punches landed within the area, they are legal. The AIBA introduced a new scoring system in January 2011, each judge gives an individual score for each boxer
5.
Puerto Rico
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Puerto Rico, officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico and briefly called Porto Rico, is an unincorporated territory of the United States located in the northeast Caribbean Sea. It is an archipelago that includes the island of Puerto Rico and a number of smaller ones such as Mona, Culebra. The capital and most populous city is San Juan and its official languages are Spanish and English, though Spanish predominates. The islands population is approximately 3.4 million, Puerto Ricos rich history, tropical climate, diverse natural scenery, renowned traditional cuisine, and attractive tax incentives make it a popular destination for travelers from around the world. Four centuries of Spanish colonial government transformed the ethnic, cultural and physical landscapes primarily with waves of African captives, and Canarian. In the Spanish imperial imagination, Puerto Rico played a secondary, in 1898, following the Spanish–American War, the United States appropriated Puerto Rico together with most former Spanish colonies under the terms of the Treaty of Paris. Puerto Ricans are natural-born citizens of the United States, however, Puerto Rico does not have a vote in the United States Congress, which governs the territory with full jurisdiction under the Puerto Rico Federal Relations Act of 1950. As a U. S. territory, American citizens residing on the island are disenfranchised at the level and may not vote for president. However, Congress approved a constitution, allowing U. S. citizens on the territory to elect a governor. A fifth referendum will be held in June 2017, with only Statehood, in early 2017, the Puerto Rican government-debt crisis posed serious problems for the government. The outstanding bond debt that had climbed to $70 billion or $12,000 per capita at a time with 12. 4% unemployment, the debt had been increasing during a decade long recession. Puerto Ricans often call the island Borinquen – a derivation of Borikén, its indigenous Taíno name, the terms boricua and borincano derive from Borikén and Borinquen respectively, and are commonly used to identify someone of Puerto Rican heritage. The island is also known in Spanish as la isla del encanto. Columbus named the island San Juan Bautista, in honor of Saint John the Baptist, eventually traders and other maritime visitors came to refer to the entire island as Puerto Rico, while San Juan became the name used for the main trading/shipping port and the capital city. The islands name was changed to Porto Rico by the United States after the Treaty of Paris of 1898, the anglicized name was used by the US government and private enterprises. The name was changed back to Puerto Rico by a joint resolution in Congress introduced by Félix Córdova Dávila in 1931, the ancient history of the archipelago known today as Puerto Rico is not well known. The scarce archaeological findings and early Spanish scholarly accounts from the colonial era constitute the basis of knowledge about them. The first comprehensive book on the history of Puerto Rico was written by Fray Íñigo Abbad y Lasierra in 1786, the first settlers were the Ortoiroid people, an Archaic Period culture of Amerindian hunters and fishermen who migrated from the South American mainland
6.
Professional boxing
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Professional boxing, or prizefighting, emerged in the early twentieth century as boxing gradually attained legitimacy and became a regulated, sanctioned sport. Professional boxing bouts are fought for a purse which is divided between the boxers as determined by contract, most professional bouts are supervised by a regulatory authority to guarantee the fighters safety. Most high-profile bouts obtain the endorsement of a body, which awards championship belts, establishes rules. In contrast with boxing, professional bouts are typically much longer and can last up to twelve rounds. Protective headgear is not permitted, and boxers are generally allowed to take substantial punishment before a fight is halted, Professional boxing has enjoyed a much higher profile than amateur boxing throughout the 20th century and beyond. In Cuba professional boxing is banned, so was also the case in Sweden between 1970 and 2007, and Norway between 1981 and 2014. In 1891, the National Sporting Club, a club in London, began to promote professional glove fights at its own premises. These rules specified more accurately the role of the officials, the British Boxing Board of Control was first formed in 1919 with close links to the N. S. C. and was re-formed in 1929 after the N. S. C. In 1909, the first of twenty-two belts were presented by the fifth Earl of Lonsdale to the winner of a British title fight held at the N. S. C. Continued to award Lonsdale Belts to any British boxer who won three fights in the same weight division. The title fight has always been the point in professional boxing. In the 19th and early 20th centuries, however, there were title fights at each weight, promoters who could stage profitable title fights became influential in the sport, as did boxers managers. The best promoters and managers have been instrumental in bringing boxing to new audiences and provoking media, the most famous of all three-way partnership was that of Jack Dempsey, his manager Jack Kearns, and the promoter Tex Rickard. Together they grossed US$8.4 million in five fights between 1921 and 1927 and ushered in a golden age of popularity for professional boxing in the 1920s. They were also responsible for the first live radio broadcast of a title fight, in the first part of the 20th century, the United States became the centre for professional boxing. It was generally accepted that the champions were those listed by the Police Gazette. After 1920, the National Boxing Association began to sanction title fights, also during that time, The Ring was founded, and it listed champions and awarded championship belts. The N. B. A. was renamed in 1962, the following year, a rival body, the World Boxing Council, was formed
7.
Miguel Cotto
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Miguel Ángel Cotto Vázquez, best known as Miguel Cotto, is a Puerto Rican professional boxer. He is the first Puerto Rican to have won titles in four different weight classes. In 2007 and 2009 he reached a peak pound for pound ranking of seventh by The Ring, having begun his professional career in 2001, Cotto defeated Kelson Pinto for the WBO light welterweight title in 2004. He made six successful defenses before vacating the title when he ascended to welterweight, in his first welterweight fight, in 2006, Cotto defeated Carlos Quintana for the vacant WBA title. He successfully defended it four times before a loss to Antonio Margarito in 2008, the following year, he won the vacant WBO welterweight title, defending it once before losing it to Manny Pacquiao in the same year. In 2010, Cotto moved up another division to light middleweight, having been promoted by the WBA to Super champion status, Cotto won a 2011 rematch against Antonio Margarito. In 2012 he lost the WBA title to Floyd Mayweather Jr. in one of the most anticipated fights in boxing history. The year would end on a sour note for Cotto. Two years later, Cotto defeated Sergio Martínez to win the unified WBC, Ring, in doing so, he became the first Puerto Rican fighter in history to win a world title in four different weight classes. In 2015, he defended his titles once before losing to Canelo Álvarez, Cotto started out his career as a hard-hitting pressure fighter, but has evolved over the years into a more refined boxer-puncher. Cotto was born in Rhode Island, to Puerto Rican parents, Cotto began boxing as a child to help lose weight, not anticipating it to end up being his career path. He was taken to the Bairoa Gym in Caguas, there, he was able to develop into a top amateur fighter. His three victories here were by points, the results were, Andrey Kolevin of Ukraine by points 15-3, Dana Laframboise of Canada by points 6-1 and his only loss was to Anton Solopov of Russia by points with a score of 8-9. In 1999, Cotto competed in the Pan American Games that took place in Winnipeg and he only fought once in a loss to Dana Laframboise of Canada by points with a final score of 2-5. Following his participation in the Pan American tournament, Cotto was part of the Boxing World Championships in Houston and he lost his only fight by points to Robertas Nomeikas. In his final tournament, Cotto represented Puerto Rico as a Light Welterweight at 2000 Sydney Olympic Games where he lost to Mahamadkadir Abdullayev of Uzbekistan by points. Cotto decided to turn professional after the loss to Abdulaev, ending his career with a record of 125-23. Early in his career Cotto defeated former title contender John Brown by decision in the tenth round
8.
Edwin Rosario
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Edwin Chapo Rosario was a world champion professional boxer who competed from 1979 to 1997. He won the championship of the world three times, as the WBC lightweight champion, and the WBA champion and. Rosario won a 4th world championship after moving up to the welterweight division by claiming the WBA title. Rosario was posthumously inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 2006, Edwin Rosario was born in Barrio Candelaria, Toa Baja, an extremely poor barrio on the north coast of Puerto Rico. Rosarios older brother Papo became a boxer, beginning what looked like a promising career. His boxing manager and coach, Manny Siaca Sr. had noticed the younger Edwin Rosarios talent when the boy was 8 years old, inspired by his brother Papo, Chapo Rosario, as he became known in the world of boxing, had a stellar amateur boxing career. Chapos brother Papo died unexpectedly, purportedly due to drugs, two years after his entry into professional boxing, Rosario persevered, wanting to honor his brothers memory by winning a world championship. He scored big knockout wins over Young Ezzard Charles and Edwin Viruet and he beat Charles in three rounds on the Holmes-Cooney undercard in June 1982 in Las Vegas. He also defeated Viruet in three rounds, that opponent had boxed 25 rounds against Roberto Duran-including a world lightweight championship bout-without being knocked out, Rosario eventually gained a record of 21-0 with 20 knockouts. This led to talks of a fight against World Boxing Council lightweight champion Alexis Argüello. But Argüello relinquished the title in order to move up in weight to challenge junior welterweight champion Aaron Pryor, with Arguello moving divisions, Rosario was matched with Mexicos José Luis Ramírez on May 1,1983 for the vacant WBC lightweight title. Rosario dominated the first 7 rounds, but tired down the stretch to make for a close fight. The judges, as well as most of the public present and he became world lightweight champion by the unanimous score of 115-113 on all 3 judging cards. Rosario injured his hand during the fight and needed surgery, for which the World Boxing Council gave him a dispensation and he didnt return to the ring until 1984. In his first defense of the title, he faced Roberto Elizondo, Rosario knocked out Elizondo in one round. Howard Davis Jr proved more of a challenge - Davis Jr was ahead on all scorecards with ten remaining in the bout. A rematch with Ramírez was scheduled, again in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Rosario dropped Ramírez once in round one and again in the second, but the challenger got off the canvas to take Rosarios title away with a fourth-round TKO. Some fans felt he never recovered, although he won three more championships
9.
International Boxing Hall of Fame
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The modern International Boxing Hall of Fame, located in Canastota, New York, United States, honors boxers, trainers and other contributors to the sport worldwide. The International Boxing Hall of Fame is one of two recognized international boxing halls of fame, with the other being the World Boxing Hall of Fame in Riverside, CA. The first Boxing Hall of Fame was sponsored by Ring magazine, multiple-award-winning artist Richard T. Slone was named the official artist of the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 1997 and remains so to this day. There are ceremonies conducted every year to honor the inductees and the ceremonies are attended by former world boxing champions, boxing celebrities. Professional boxers have to wait five years retirement to be eligible for election into the Hall of Fame. Inductions are handled by members of the Boxing Writers Association of America, each year inductees are selected in five different categories, Modern, Retired boxers whose last bout was no earlier than 1943. Old Timers, Boxers whose last bout was no earlier than 1893, pioneers, Boxers whose last bout was in or prior to 1892. Observers, Journalists, historians, writers and artists, non-Participants, People who made contributions to the sport of boxing apart from their roles as boxers or observers. Bare Knuckle Boxing Hall of Fame IBHOF official website
10.
Bullying
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Bullying is the use of force, threat, or coercion to abuse, intimidate, or aggressively dominate others. The behavior is repeated and habitual. One essential prerequisite is the perception, by the bully or by others, of an imbalance of social or physical power, behaviors used to assert such domination can include verbal harassment or threat, physical assault or coercion, and such acts may be directed repeatedly towards particular targets. If bullying is done by a group, it is called mobbing, Bullying can be defined in many different ways. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland has no definition of bullying. Bullying is divided into four types of abuse – emotional, verbal, physical. It typically involves subtle methods of coercion, such as intimidation, Bullying in school and the workplace is also referred to as peer abuse. Robert W. Fuller has analyzed bullying in the context of rankism, a bullying culture can develop in any context in which humans interact with each other. This includes school, family, the workplace, home, in a 2012 study of male adolescent American football players, the strongest predictor was the perception of whether the most influential male in a players life would approve of the bullying behavior. Bullying may thus be defined as the activity of repeated, aggressive behavior intended to hurt another individual, the Norwegian researcher Dan Olweus says bullying occurs when a person is exposed, repeatedly and over time, to negative actions on the part of one or more other persons. He says negative actions occur when a person intentionally inflicts injury or discomfort upon another person, through physical contact, individual bullying is usually characterized by a person behaving in a certain way to gain power over another person. Individual bullying can be classified into four types, collective bullying is known as mobbing, and can include any of the individual types of bullying. Physical, verbal, and relational bullying are most prevalent in primary school and it is stated that Cyber-bullying is more common in secondary school than in primary school. Individual bullying tactics can be perpetrated by a person against a target or targets. This is any bullying that hurts someone’s body or damages their possessions, stealing, shoving, hitting, fighting, and destroying property all are types of physical bullying. Physical bullying is rarely the first form of bullying that a target will experience, often bullying will begin in a different form and later progress to physical violence. In physical bullying the main weapon the bully uses is their body when attacking their target. Sometimes groups of adults will target. This can quickly lead to a situation where they are being taunted, tortured, physical bullying can lead to a tragic ending and therefore must be stopped quickly to prevent any further escalation
11.
Bicycle
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A bicycle, often called a bike or cycle, is a human-powered, pedal-driven, single-track vehicle, having two wheels attached to a frame, one behind the other. A bicycle rider is called a cyclist, or bicyclist, Bicycles were introduced in the 19th century in Europe and as of 2003, more than 1 billion have been produced worldwide, twice as many as the number of automobiles that have been produced. They are the means of transportation in many regions. They also provide a form of recreation, and have been adapted for use as childrens toys, general fitness, military and police applications, courier services. The basic shape and configuration of an upright or safety bicycle, has changed little since the first chain-driven model was developed around 1885. But many details have been improved, especially since the advent of modern materials and these have allowed for a proliferation of specialized designs for many types of cycling. The bicycles invention has had an effect on society, both in terms of culture and of advancing modern industrial methods. The word bicycle first appeared in English print in The Daily News in 1868, to describe Bysicles and trysicles on the Champs Elysées, the word was first used in 1847 in a French publication to describe an unidentified two-wheeled vehicle, possibly a carriage. The design of the bicycle was an advance on the velocipede, Other words for bicycle include bike, pushbike, pedal cycle, or cycle. In Unicode, the point for bicycle is 0x1F6B2. The entity 🚲, in HTML produces
12.
Santo Domingo
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Santo Domingo, officially Santo Domingo de Guzmán, is the capital and largest city in the Dominican Republic and the largest metropolitan area in the Caribbean by population. In 2010, its population was counted as 965,040, the city is coterminous with the boundaries of the Distrito Nacional, itself bordered on three sides by Santo Domingo Province. Santo Domingo is the site of the first university, cathedral, castle, monastery, the citys Colonial Zone was declared as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. Santo Domingo was called Ciudad Trujillo, from 1936 to 1961, after the Dominican Republics dictator, Rafael Trujillo, following his assassination, the city resumed its original designation. Santo Domingo is the cultural, financial, political, commercial and industrial center of the Dominican Republic, Santo Domingo also serves as the chief seaport of the country. The citys harbor at the mouth of the Ozama River accommodates the largest vessels, temperatures are high year round, with a cool breeze around winter time. At the time, the territory consisted of five chiefdoms, Marién, Maguá, Maguana, Jaragua. These were ruled respectively by caciques Guacanagarix, Guarionex, Caonabo, Bohechío, dating from 1496, when the Spanish settled on the island, and officially from 5 August 1498, Santo Domingo became the oldest European city in the Americas. Bartholomew Columbus founded the settlement and named it La Nueva Isabela, in 1495 it was renamed Santo Domingo, in honor of Saint Dominic. Santo Domingo came to be known as the Gateway to the Caribbean, in June 1502, Santo Domingo was destroyed by a major hurricane, and the new Governor Nicolás de Ovando had it rebuilt on a different site on the other side of the Ozama River. The original layout of the city and a portion of its defensive wall can still be appreciated today throughout the Colonial Zone. Diego Colon arrived in 1509, assuming the powers of Viceroy, in 1512, Ferdinand established a Real Audiencia with Juan Ortiz de Matienzo, Marcelo de Villalobos, and Lucas Vazquez de Ayllon appointed as judges of appeal. In 1514, Pedro Ibanez de Ibarra arrived with the Laws of Burgos, rodrigo de Alburquerque was named repartidor de indios and soon named visitadores to enforce the laws. In 1586, Francis Drake captured the city and held it for ransom, an expedition sent by Oliver Cromwell in 1655 attacked the city of Santo Domingo, but was defeated. The English troops withdrew and took the less guarded colony of Jamaica, in 1697, the Treaty of Ryswick included the acknowledgement by Spain of Frances dominion over the Western third of the island, now Haiti. From 1795 to 1822 the city changed several times along with the colony it headed. The city was ceded to France in 1795 after years of struggles, it was captured by Haitian rebels in 1801, recovered by France in 1802. In 1821 Santo Domingo became the capital of an independent nation after the Criollo bourgeois within the country, led by José Núñez de Cáceres, the nation was unified with Haiti just two months later
13.
Havana
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Havana is the capital city, largest city, province, major port, and leading commercial centre of Cuba. The city extends mostly westward and southward from the bay, which is entered through a narrow inlet, the sluggish Almendares River traverses the city from south to north, entering the Straits of Florida a few miles west of the bay. King Philip II of Spain granted Havana the title of City in 1592, walls as well as forts were built to protect the old city. The sinking of the U. S. battleship Maine in Havanas harbor in 1898 was the cause of the Spanish–American War. Contemporary Havana can essentially be described as three cities in one, Old Havana, Vedado and the suburban districts. The city is the center of the Cuban government, and home to various ministries, headquarters of businesses, the current mayor is Marta Hernández of the Communist Party of Cuba. In 2009, the city/province had the third highest income in the country, the city attracts over a million tourists annually, the Official Census for Havana reports that in 2010 the city was visited by 1,176,627 international tourists, a 20% increase from 2005. Old Havana was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1982, the city is also noted for its history, culture, architecture and monuments. As typical of Cuba, Havana also features a tropical climate, in May 2015, Havana was officially recognized as one of the New7Wonders Cities together with Vigan, Doha, La Paz, Durban, Beirut, and Kuala Lumpur. Most native settlements became the site of Spanish colonial cities retaining their original Taíno names, an alternate theory is that Habana is derived from the Middle Dutch word havene, referring to a harbour, etymologically related to the English word haven. All attempts to found a city on Cubas south coast failed, however, an early map of Cuba drawn in 1514 places the town at the mouth of this river. The town that became Havana finally originated adjacent to what was then called Puerto de Carenas, the quality of this natural bay, which now hosts Havanas harbor, warranted this change of location. Pánfilo de Narváez gave Havana – the sixth town founded by the Spanish on Cuba – its name, the name combines San Cristóbal, patron saint of Havana. Shortly after the founding of Cubas first cities, the served as little more than a base for the Conquista of other lands. Havana began as a port, and suffered regular attacks by buccaneers, pirates. The first attack and resultant burning of the city was by the French corsair Jacques de Sores in 1555, ships from all over the New World carried products first to Havana, in order to be taken by the fleet to Spain. The thousands of ships gathered in the bay also fueled Havanas agriculture and manufacture, since they had to be supplied with food, water. On December 20,1592, King Philip II of Spain granted Havana the title of City, later on, the city would be officially designated as Key to the New World and Rampart of the West Indies by the Spanish Crown
14.
Olympic Games
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The Olympic Games are considered the worlds foremost sports competition with more than 200 nations participating. The Olympic Games are held four years, with the Summer and Winter Games alternating by occurring every four years. Their creation was inspired by the ancient Olympic Games, which were held in Olympia, Greece, Baron Pierre de Coubertin founded the International Olympic Committee in 1894, leading to the first modern Games in Athens in 1896. The IOC is the body of the Olympic Movement, with the Olympic Charter defining its structure. The evolution of the Olympic Movement during the 20th and 21st centuries has resulted in changes to the Olympic Games. The IOC has had to adapt to a variety of economic, political, as a result, the Olympics has shifted away from pure amateurism, as envisioned by Coubertin, to allowing participation of professional athletes. The growing importance of mass media created the issue of corporate sponsorship, World wars led to the cancellation of the 1916,1940, and 1944 Games. Large boycotts during the Cold War limited participation in the 1980 and 1984 Games, the Olympic Movement consists of international sports federations, National Olympic Committees, and organising committees for each specific Olympic Games. As the decision-making body, the IOC is responsible for choosing the host city for each Games, the IOC also determines the Olympic programme, consisting of the sports to be contested at the Games. There are several Olympic rituals and symbols, such as the Olympic flag and torch, over 13,000 athletes compete at the Summer and Winter Olympic Games in 33 different sports and nearly 400 events. The first, second, and third-place finishers in each event receive Olympic medals, gold, silver, the Games have grown so much that nearly every nation is now represented. This growth has created numerous challenges and controversies, including boycotts, doping, bribery, every two years the Olympics and its media exposure provide unknown athletes with the chance to attain national and sometimes international fame. The Games also constitute an opportunity for the host city and country to themselves to the world. The Ancient Olympic Games were religious and athletic festivals held every four years at the sanctuary of Zeus in Olympia, competition was among representatives of several city-states and kingdoms of Ancient Greece. These Games featured mainly athletic but also combat such as wrestling. It has been written that during the Games, all conflicts among the participating city-states were postponed until the Games were finished. This cessation of hostilities was known as the Olympic peace or truce and this idea is a modern myth because the Greeks never suspended their wars. The truce did allow those religious pilgrims who were travelling to Olympia to pass through warring territories unmolested because they were protected by Zeus
15.
Munich
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Munich is the capital and largest city of the German state of Bavaria, on the banks of River Isar north of the Bavarian Alps. Munich is the third largest city in Germany, after Berlin and Hamburg, the Munich Metropolitan Region is home to 5.8 million people. According to the Globalization and World Rankings Research Institute Munich is considered an alpha-world city, the name of the city is derived from the Old/Middle High German term Munichen, meaning by the monks. It derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who ran a monastery at the place that was later to become the Old Town of Munich, Munich was first mentioned in 1158. From 1255 the city was seat of the Bavarian Dukes, black and gold—the colours of the Holy Roman Empire—have been the citys official colours since the time of Ludwig the Bavarian, when it was an imperial residence. Following a final reunification of the Wittelsbachian Duchy of Bavaria, previously divided and sub-divided for more than 200 years, like wide parts of the Holy Roman Empire, the area recovered slowly economically. In 1918, during the German Revolution, the house of Wittelsbach, which governed Bavaria since 1180, was forced to abdicate in Munich. In the 1920s, Munich became home to political factions, among them the NSDAP. During World War II, Munich was heavily bombed and more than 50% of the entire city, the postwar period was characterised by American occupation until 1949 and a strong increase of population and economic power during the years of the Wirtschaftswunder after 1949. The city is home to corporations like BMW, Siemens, MAN, Linde, Allianz and MunichRE as well as many small. Munich is home to national and international authorities, major universities, major museums. Its numerous architectural attractions, international events, exhibitions and conferences. Munich is one of the most prosperous and fastest growing cities in Germany and it is a top-ranked destination for migration and expatriate location, despite being the municipality with the highest density of population in Germany. Munich nowadays hosts more than 530,000 people of foreign background, the year 1158 is assumed to be the foundation date, which is the earliest date the city is mentioned in a document. The document was signed in Augsburg, by that time the Guelph Henry the Lion, Duke of Saxony and Bavaria, had built a bridge over the river Isar next to a settlement of Benedictine monks—this was on the Old Salt Route and a toll bridge. In 1175, Munich was officially granted city status and received fortification, in 1180, with the trial of Henry the Lion, Otto I Wittelsbach became Duke of Bavaria and Munich was handed over to the Bishop of Freising. In 1240, Munich was transferred to Otto II Wittelsbach and in 1255, Duke Louis IV, a native of Munich, was elected German king in 1314 and crowned as Holy Roman Emperor in 1328. He strengthened the position by granting it the salt monopoly
16.
Egypt
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Egypt, officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia by a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. Egypt is a Mediterranean country bordered by the Gaza Strip and Israel to the northeast, the Gulf of Aqaba to the east, the Red Sea to the east and south, Sudan to the south, and Libya to the west. Across the Gulf of Aqaba lies Jordan, and across from the Sinai Peninsula lies Saudi Arabia, although Jordan and it is the worlds only contiguous Afrasian nation. Egypt has among the longest histories of any country, emerging as one of the worlds first nation states in the tenth millennium BC. Considered a cradle of civilisation, Ancient Egypt experienced some of the earliest developments of writing, agriculture, urbanisation, organised religion and central government. One of the earliest centres of Christianity, Egypt was Islamised in the century and remains a predominantly Muslim country. With over 92 million inhabitants, Egypt is the most populous country in North Africa and the Arab world, the third-most populous in Africa, and the fifteenth-most populous in the world. The great majority of its people live near the banks of the Nile River, an area of about 40,000 square kilometres, the large regions of the Sahara desert, which constitute most of Egypts territory, are sparsely inhabited. About half of Egypts residents live in areas, with most spread across the densely populated centres of greater Cairo, Alexandria. Modern Egypt is considered to be a regional and middle power, with significant cultural, political, and military influence in North Africa, the Middle East and the Muslim world. Egypts economy is one of the largest and most diversified in the Middle East, Egypt is a member of the United Nations, Non-Aligned Movement, Arab League, African Union, and Organisation of Islamic Cooperation. Miṣr is the Classical Quranic Arabic and modern name of Egypt. The name is of Semitic origin, directly cognate with other Semitic words for Egypt such as the Hebrew מִצְרַיִם, the oldest attestation of this name for Egypt is the Akkadian
17.
Montreal, Quebec
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Montreal, officially Montréal, is the most populous municipality in the Canadian province of Quebec and the 2nd-most populous in Canada as a whole. Originally called Ville-Marie, or City of Mary, it is believed to be named after Mount Royal, the city has a distinct four-season continental climate, with warm-to-hot summers and cold, snowy winters. In 2016, Montreal had a population of 1,704,694, Montreals metropolitan area had a population of 4,098,927 and a population of 1,958,257 in the urban agglomeration, with all of the municipalities on the Island of Montreal included. Legally a French-speaking city,60. 5% of Montrealers speak French at home,21. 2% speak English and 19. 8% speak neither, Montreal is one of the most bilingual cities in Quebec and Canada, with 56% of the population able to speak both official languages. Montreal is the second-largest primarily French-speaking city in the world after Paris, historically the commercial capital of Canada, it was surpassed in population and economic strength by Toronto in the 1970s. It remains an important centre of commerce, aerospace, finance, pharmaceuticals, technology, design, education, culture, tourism, gaming, film, Montreal was also named a UNESCO City of Design. In 2009, Montreal was named North Americas leading host city for international events, according to the 2009 preliminary rankings of the International Congress. According to the 2015 Global Liveability Ranking by the Economist Intelligence Unit, in the 2017 edition of their Best Student Cities ranking, Quacquarelli Symonds ranked Montreal as the worlds best city to study abroad. Also, Montreal has 11 universities with 170,000 students enrolled, the Greater Montréal region has the highest number of university students per capita among all metropolitan areas in North America. It is the only Canadian city to have held the Summer Olympics, currently, the city hosts the Canadian Grand Prix of Formula One, the Montreal International Jazz Festival and the Just for Laughs festival. In 2012, Montreal was ranked as a Beta+ world city, in Kanien’kéha, or Mohawk language, the island is called Tiohtià, ke Tsi or Ka-wé-no-te. In Anishinaabemowin, or Ojibwe language, the land is called Mooniyaang, though the city was first named by French colonizers Ville Marie, or City of Mary, its current name comes from Mount Royal, the triple-peaked hill in the heart of the city. The most popular theory is that the name derives from Mont Réal, Cartiers 1535 diary entry, naming the mountain, according to the Commission de toponymie du Québec and the Geographical Names Board of Canada, Canadian place names have only one official form. Thus, Montreal is officially spelled with an accent over the e in both English and French. In practice, this is limited to governmental uses. English-speaking Montrealers, including English-language media, regularly omit the accent when writing in English, archaeological evidence demonstrates that First Nations native people occupied the island of Montreal as early as 4,000 years ago. By the year AD1000, they had started to cultivate maize, within a few hundred years, they had built fortified villages. Archeologists have found evidence of their habitation there and at locations in the valley since at least the 14th century
18.
Costa Rica
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It has a population of around 4.5 million, of whom nearly a quarter live in the metropolitan area of the capital and largest city, San José. Costa Rica was sparsely inhabited by people before coming under Spanish rule in the 16th century. Since then, Costa Rica has remained among the most stable, prosperous, following a brief civil war, it permanently abolished its army in 1949, becoming one of only a few sovereign nations without a standing army. Costa Rica is a member of the Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie. The country has consistently performed favourably in the Human Development Index, placing 69th in the world as of 2015 and its rapidly developing economy, once heavily dependent on agriculture, has diversified to include sectors such as finance, pharmaceuticals, and ecotourism. Costa Rica is known for its environmental policies, being the only country to meet all five UNDP criteria established to measure environmental sustainability. Costa Rica officially plans to become a country by 2021. In 2012, it became the first country in the Americas to ban recreational hunting, historians have classified the indigenous people of Costa Rica as belonging to the Intermediate Area, where the peripheries of the Mesoamerican and Andean native cultures overlapped. More recently, pre-Columbian Costa Rica has also described as part of the Isthmo-Colombian Area. The oldest evidence of occupation in Costa Rica is associated with the arrival of various groups of hunter-gatherers about 10,000 to 7,000 years BCE in the Turrialba Valley. The presence of Clovis culture type spearheads and arrows from South America opens the possibility that, in this area, agriculture became evident in the populations that lived in Costa Rica about 5,000 years ago. They mainly grew tubers and roots, for the first and second millennia BCE there were already settled farming communities. These were small and scattered, although the transition from hunting and gathering to agriculture as the livelihood in the territory is still unknown. The earliest use of pottery appears around 2,000 to 3,000 BCE, shards of pots, cylindrical vases, platters, gourds and other forms of vases decorated with grooves, prints, and some modelled after animals have been found. The impact of indigenous peoples on modern Costa Rican culture has been small compared to other nations. Costa Rica was described as the poorest and most miserable Spanish colony in all America by a Spanish governor in 1719, for all these reasons, Costa Rica was, by and large, unappreciated and overlooked by the Spanish Crown and left to develop on its own. Costa Rica became a democracy with no oppressed mestizo or indigenous class. It was not long before Spanish settlers turned to the hills, where they found rich volcanic soil, like the rest of Central America, Costa Rica never fought for independence from Spain
19.
Panama City
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Panama City is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Panama. It has an population of 430,299, and its population totals 880,691 when rural areas are included. The city is located at the Pacific entrance of the Panama Canal, the city is the political and administrative center of the country, as well as a hub for international banking and commerce. It is considered a world city, one of three Central American cities listed in this category. Panamas Tocumen International Airport, the largest and busiest airport in Central America, Panama was chosen as the 2003 American Capital of Culture jointly with Curitiba, Brazil. It is among the top five places for retirement in the world, the city of Panama was founded on August 15,1519, by Spanish conquistador Pedro Arias Dávila. The city was the point for expeditions that conquered the Inca Empire in Peru. On January 28,1671, the city was destroyed by a fire when privateer Henry Morgan sacked. The city was reestablished two years later on January 21,1673, in a peninsula located 8 km from the original settlement. The site of the devastated city is still in ruins and is now a popular tourist attraction known as Panama Viejo. The city was founded on August 15,1519, by Pedro Arias de Ávila, also known as Pedrarias Dávila. Within a few years of its founding, the city became a point for the exploration and conquest of Peru. In 1671 Henry Morgan with a band of 1400 men attacked and looted the city, the ruins of the old city still remain and are a popular tourist attraction known as Panamá la Vieja. It was rebuilt in 1673 in a new location approximately 5 miles southwest of the original city and this location is now known as the Casco Viejo of the city. One year before the start of the California Gold Rush, the Panama Railroad Company was formed and that traffic greatly increased the prosperity of the city during that period. The construction of the Panama Canal was of benefit to the infrastructure. Of particular note are the improvements in health and sanitation brought about by the American presence in the Canal Zone, dr. William Gorgas, the chief sanitary officer for the canal construction, had a particularly large impact. He hypothesized that diseases were spread by the abundance of native to the area, and ordered the fumigation of homes
20.
Panama
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Panama, officially called the Republic of Panama, is a country usually considered to be entirely in North America or Central America. It is bordered by Costa Rica to the west, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north, the capital and largest city is Panama City, whose metropolitan area is home to nearly half of the countrys 4.1 million people. Panama was inhabited by indigenous tribes prior to settlement by the Spanish in the 16th century. Panama broke away from Spain in 1821 and joined a union of Nueva Granada, Ecuador, when Gran Colombia dissolved in 1831, Panama and Nueva Granada remained joined, eventually becoming the Republic of Colombia. With the backing of the United States, Panama seceded from Colombia in 1903, in 1977 an agreement was signed for the total transfer of the Canal from the United States to Panama by the end of the 20th century, which culminated on 31 December 1999. Revenue from canal tolls continues to represent a significant portion of Panamas GDP, although commerce, banking, in 2015 Panama ranked 60th in the world in terms of the Human Development Index. Since 2010, Panama remains the second most competitive economy in Latin America, covering around 40 percent of its land area, Panamas jungles are home to an abundance of tropical plants and animals – some of them to be found nowhere else on the planet. There are several theories about the origin of the name Panama, some believe that the country was named after a commonly found species of tree. Others believe that the first settlers arrived in Panama in August, when butterflies abound, the best-known version is that a fishing village and its nearby beach bore the name Panamá, which meant an abundance of fish. Captain Antonio Tello de Guzmán, while exploring the Pacific side in 1515, in 1517 Don Gaspar De Espinosa, a Spanish lieutenant, decided to settle a post there. In 1519 Pedrarias Dávila decided to establish the Empires Pacific city in this site, the new settlement replaced Santa María La Antigua del Darién, which had lost its function within the Crowns global plan after the beginning of the Spanish exploitation of the riches in the Pacific. Blending all of the above together, Panamanians believe in general that the word Panama means abundance of fish and this is the official definition given in social studies textbooks approved by the Ministry of Education in Panama. However, others believe the word Panama comes from the Kuna word bannaba which means distant or far away, at the time of the arrival of the Spanish in the 16th century, the known inhabitants of Panama included the Cuevas and the Coclé tribes. These people have disappeared, as they had no immunity from European infectious diseases. The earliest discovered artifacts of indigenous peoples in Panama include Paleo-Indian projectile points, later central Panama was home to some of the first pottery-making in the Americas, for example the cultures at Monagrillo, which date back to 2500–1700 BC. These evolved into significant populations best known through their spectacular burials at the Monagrillo archaeological site, the monumental monolithic sculptures at the Barriles site are also important traces of these ancient isthmian cultures. Before Europeans arrived Panama was widely settled by Chibchan, Chocoan, the largest group were the Cueva. The size of the population of the isthmus at the time of European colonization is uncertain
21.
World Boxing Council
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All four organizations however recognise the legitimacy of each other, and each have interwoven histories dating back several decades. It was initially established by 11 countries, the United States, Puerto Rico, Argentina, United Kingdom, France, Mexico, Philippines, Panama, Chile, Peru, Venezuela, today, it has 161 member countries. The current WBC president is Mauricio Sulaiman, former presidents include Luis Spota and Ramon G. Velázquez of Mexico, Justiniano N. Montano, Jr. of the Philippines, and José Sulaimán of Mexico from 1975 until Sulaimáns death in 2014. The WBCs green championship belt portrays the flags of all of the 161 member countries of the organization, all WBC world-title belts look identical regardless of weight class, however, there are minor variations on the design for secondary and regionally themed titles within the same weight class. Although rivals, the WBCs relationship with other sanctioning bodies has improved over time, unification bouts between WBC and other organizations champions are becoming more common in recent years. For many years, it prevented its champions from holding the WBO belt. When a WBO-recognized champion wished to fight for a WBC championship, he had to abandon his WBO title first and this, however, is no longer the case. Among those to have been recognized by the WBC as world champions were the undefeated and undisputed champion Joe Calzaghe, Rocky Marciano, Floyd Mayweather Jr, Roy Jones, Jr. In its discretion, the WBC may designate and recognize, upon a majority vote of their Board of Governors. Such a recognition is for life and is bestowed upon present or past WBC world champions. During the WBCs 51st Convention in Bangkok, Thailand, Floyd Mayweather was named Supreme Champion, the WBC bolstered the legitimacy of womens boxing by recognizing fighters such as Christy Martin and Lucia Rijker as contenders for World Female titles in 16 weight divisions. The first WBC World Female Champion was the super-bantamweight Jackie Nava from Mexico, with her former-champion father at ringside, Laila Ali won the super-middleweight title on 11 June 2005. The WBC has also created a Silver world title in 2010, justin Savi was the first to win it on 16 April 2010, fighting against Cyril Thomas in France. The Silver title was created as a replacement to the interim title, but unlike its predecessor, a boxer holding the Silver title cannot inherit the full title vacated by the champion. The WBC continues to recognize Interim and Silver champions, as well as Interim Silver champions, a year later, the WBC brought Silver belts to the International title ranks. In September 2009, the WBC created its new Diamond Championship belt and this belt was created as an honorary championship exclusively to award the winner of a historic fight between two high-profile and elite boxers. Other holders of this title have included Bernard Hopkins, Sergio Martínez and Saúl Álvarez, Floyd Mayweather, Jr. Nonito Donaire, Léo Santa Cruz, Jean Pascal, Sergey Kovalev, although this title can be defended, it is not a mandatory requirement. The title can also be vacated in the case of a fighters long-term absence or retirement from boxing, many in the boxing community have accused the WBC of bending its rules to suit the powerful boxing promoter Don King
22.
South Korea
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South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea, is a sovereign state in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korean Peninsula. The earliest Korean pottery dates to 8000 BC, with three kingdoms flourishing in the 1st century BC and its rich and vibrant culture left 19 UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritages of Humanity, the third largest in the world, along with 12 World Heritage Sites. Annexed into Imperial Japan in 1910, Korea was divided after its surrender in 1945, peace has since mostly continued with the two agreeing to work peacefully for reunification and the South solidifying peace as a regional power with the worlds 10th largest defence budget. South Koreas tiger economy soared at an average of 10% for over 30 years in a period of rapid transformation called the Miracle on the Han River. A long legacy of openness and focus on innovation made it successful, today, it is the worlds fifth largest exporter with the G20s largest budget surplus and highest credit rating of any country in East Asia. It has free trade agreements with 75% of the economy and is the only G20 nation trading freely with China, the US. Since 1988, its constitution guarantees a liberal democracy with high government transparency, high personal freedoms led to the rise of a globally influential pop culture such as K-pop and K-drama, a phenomenon called the Korean Wave, known for its distinctive fashionable and trendy style. Home of the UN Green Climate Fund and GGGI, South Korea is a leader in low carbon growth, committed to helping developing countries as a major DAC. It is the third least ignorant country in the Index of Ignorance, ranking eighth highest for peaceful tolerance. It is the worlds largest spender on R&D per GDP, leading the OECD in graduates in science, the name Korea derives from the name Goryeo. The name Goryeo itself was first used by the ancient kingdom of Goguryeo in the 5th century as a form of its name. The 10th-century kingdom of Goryeo succeeded Goguryeo, and thus inherited its name, the modern spelling of Korea first appeared in the late 17th century in the travel writings of the Dutch East India Companys Hendrick Hamel. After Goryeo was replaced by Joseon in 1392, Joseon became the name for the entire territory. The new official name has its origin in the ancient country of Gojoseon, in 1897, the Joseon dynasty changed the official name of the country from Joseon to Daehan Jeguk. The name Daehan, which means great Han literally, derives from Samhan, however, the name Joseon was still widely used by Koreans to refer to their country, though it was no longer the official name. Under Japanese rule, the two names Han and Joseon coexisted, there were several groups who fought for independence, the most notable being the Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea. Following the surrender of Japan, in 1945, the Republic of Korea was adopted as the name for the new country. Since the government only controlled the part of the Korean Peninsula
23.
Thailand
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Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand, formerly known as Siam, is a country at the centre of the Indochinese peninsula in Southeast Asia. With a total area of approximately 513,000 km2, Thailand is the worlds 51st-largest country and it is the 20th-most-populous country in the world, with around 66 million people. The capital and largest city is Bangkok, Thailand is a constitutional monarchy and has switched between parliamentary democracy and military junta for decades, the latest coup being in May 2014 by the National Council for Peace and Order. Its capital and most populous city is Bangkok and its maritime boundaries include Vietnam in the Gulf of Thailand to the southeast, and Indonesia and India on the Andaman Sea to the southwest. The Thai economy is the worlds 20th largest by GDP at PPP and it became a newly industrialised country and a major exporter in the 1990s. Manufacturing, agriculture, and tourism are leading sectors of the economy and it is considered a middle power in the region and around the world. The country has always been called Mueang Thai by its citizens, by outsiders prior to 1949, it was usually known by the exonym Siam. The word Siam has been identified with the Sanskrit Śyāma, the names Shan and A-hom seem to be variants of the same word. The word Śyâma is possibly not its origin, but a learned, another theory is the name derives from Chinese, Ayutthaya emerged as a dominant centre in the late fourteenth century. The Chinese called this region Xian, which the Portuguese converted into Siam, the signature of King Mongkut reads SPPM Mongkut King of the Siamese, giving the name Siam official status until 24 June 1939 when it was changed to Thailand. Thailand was renamed Siam from 1945 to 11 May 1949, after which it reverted to Thailand. According to George Cœdès, the word Thai means free man in the Thai language, ratcha Anachak Thai means kingdom of Thailand or kingdom of Thai. Etymologically, its components are, ratcha, -ana- -chak, the Thai National Anthem, written by Luang Saranupraphan during the extremely patriotic 1930s, refers to the Thai nation as, prathet Thai. The first line of the anthem is, prathet thai ruam lueat nuea chat chuea thai, Thailand is the unity of Thai flesh. There is evidence of habitation in Thailand that has been dated at 40,000 years before the present. Similar to other regions in Southeast Asia, Thailand was heavily influenced by the culture and religions of India, Thailand in its earliest days was under the rule of the Khmer Empire, which had strong Hindu roots, and the influence among Thais remains even today. Voretzsch believes that Buddhism must have been flowing into Siam from India in the time of the Indian Emperor Ashoka of the Maurya Empire, later Thailand was influenced by the south Indian Pallava dynasty and north Indian Gupta Empire. The Menam Basin was originally populated by the Mons, and the location of Dvaravati in the 7th century, the History of the Yuan mentions an embassy from the kingdom of Sukhothai in 1282
24.
Muay Thai
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Muay Thai is a combat sport of Thailand that uses stand-up striking along with various clinching techniques. Muay Thai became widespread internationally in the century, when practitioners defeated notable practitioners of other martial arts. The professional league is governed by The Professional Boxing Association of Thailand sanctioned by The Sport Authority of Thailand, the history of Muay Thai can also be traced to the middle of the 16th century. During the battles between the Burmese of the Konbaung Dynasty and Siam, the famous fighter Nai Khanomtom was captured in the year 1767, the Burmese knew of his expertise in hand-to-hand combat and gave him an opportunity to fight for his freedom. Soon after winning the match, he was freed by his captors and he was acknowledged as a hero, and his fighting style became known as Siamese-Style boxing, later to be known as Muay Thai. This fighting style was soon to be recognized as a national sport, Muay boran, and therefore Muay Thai, was originally called by more generic names such as Toi muay or simply muay. As well as being a fighting technique for use in actual warfare. These muay contests gradually became a part of local festivals and celebrations. Eventually, the previously bare-fisted fighters started wearing lengths of rope around their hands. This type of match was called muay khat chueak, Kickboxing was also a component of military training and gained prominence during the reign of King Naresuan in 1560 CE. A practitioner of muay Thai is known as a nak muay, Western practitioners are sometimes called Nak Muay Farang, meaning foreign boxer. The ascension of King Chulalongkorn to the throne in 1868 ushered in an age not only for muay. Muay progressed greatly during the reign of Rama V as a result of the kings personal interest in the sport. The country was at peace and muay functioned as a means of exercise, self-defense, attacking, recreation. 1909-1910, King Chulalongkorn formalizes Muay by awarding 3 muen to victors at the fights for his son. The region style, Lopburi, Korat, and Chaiya,1913, British boxing introduced into the curriculum of the Suan Kulap College. The 1st descriptive use of the term “Muay Thai”1919, British boxing,1921, 1st permanent ring in Siam at Suan Kulap College. Used for both Muay and British Boxing, first international style 3-rope ring with red and blue padded corners, near Lumpinee Park
25.
Kickboxing
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Kickboxing is a group of stand-up combat sports based on kicking and punching, historically developed from Karate, Muay Thai, Kun Khmer, and Boxing. Kickboxing is practiced for self-defense, general fitness, or as a contact sport, Japanese kickboxing originated in the 1960s, with competitions held since then. American kickboxing originated in the 1970s and was brought to prominence in September 1974, historically, kickboxing can be considered a hybrid martial art formed from the combination of elements of various traditional styles. There is no international governing body. Consequently, there is no single kickboxing world championship, and champion titles are issued by individual promotions, such as K-1, Glory, SUPERKOMBAT, Lumpinee Boxing Stadium, among others. Bouts organized under different governing bodies apply different rules, such as allowing the use of knees or clinching, the term kickboxing can be used in a narrow and in a wide sense. The narrow use is restricted to the styles that self-identify as kickboxing, i. e. Japanese Kickboxing, Dutch Kickboxing, and American Kickboxing. In the wider sense, it includes all combat sports that allow both punching and kicking, including Muay Thai, Kun Khmer, Savate, Adithada, Lethwei, Sanda. The term was also adopted by the American variant. Arts labeled as kickboxing in the general sense include, The Indochinese family of kickboxing sports including, Thai Muay Boran – Predecessor of Muay Thai, allows the use of headbutts. Thai kickboxing or Muay Thai – the modern Thai martial art with emphasis on knee. Burmese Lethwei, a traditional Burmese martial art of which has now grown into a popular kickboxing event with strong emphasis on knee, elbow strikes, any part of the body may be used to strike and be struck. It is also known as Bando kickboxing, Laotian Muay Lao – Laotian boxing which is similar to Muay Thai Filipino Yaw-Yan – Sayaw ng Kamatayan is the proper name for Yaw-Yan, a Filipino martial art developed by Napoleon Fernandez. The art resembles Muay Thai in a sense, but differs in the hip torquing motion as well as downward-cutting nature of its kicks, indian Musti yuddha and Adithada, a form of kickboxing that uses knee, elbow and forehead strikes in Southern kalaripayattu. French Savate, a sport which developed in the 19th century. Any style of Full contact Karate Sanda – The applicable component of wushu/kung fu of which takedowns, shoot boxing – A Japanese form of kickboxing which allows throwing and submission while standing, similar to Sanda. Since kickboxing is a term that can be used both in a wide and narrow sense, this can make understanding the history somewhat difficult. Some of the earliest forms of kickboxing included the various Indochinese martial arts especially muay boran, however, in terms of modern competition, it was during the 1950s that a Japanese karateka named Tatsuo Yamada first established an outline of a new sport that combined karate and muay thai
26.
Sylvester Stallone
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Michael Sylvester Gardenzio Stallone is an American actor, filmmaker, and screenwriter. He wrote or co-wrote most of the 14 films in all three franchises, and directed many of the films, Stallones film Rocky was inducted into the National Film Registry as well as having its film props placed in the Smithsonian Museum. Stallones use of the front entrance to the Philadelphia Museum of Art in the Rocky series led the area to be nicknamed the Rocky Steps, Philadelphia has a statue of his Rocky character placed permanently near the museum. It was announced on December 7,2010 that Stallone was voted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in the non-participant category, in 1977, Stallone was nominated for two Academy Awards for Rocky, Best Original Screenplay and Best Actor. He became the man in history to receive these two nominations for the same film, after Charles Chaplin and Orson Welles. He received critical raves, as well as his first Golden Globe Award win and third Academy Award nomination, Stallones father was born in Gioia del Colle, Apulia, Italy, and immigrated to the United States in the 1930s. Stallones mother is of half French and half Russian Jewish descent and his younger brother is actor and musician Frank Stallone. As a result, the left side of his face is paralyzed – including parts of his lip, tongue. Around the age of 4, Stallone was flat-footed and put in a tap dancing school by his mother and his father moved the family to Washington, D. C. in the early 1950s, where he opened a beauty school. His mother opened a gymnasium called Barbellas in 1954. Stallones parents divorced when Sylvester was nine, and he lived with his mother. When Stallone was 16, he scored poorly in school and his mother got him a job at her beauty salon. He attended Notre Dame Academy and Lincoln High School in Philadelphia, and Charlotte Hall Military Academy, prior to attending Miami Dade College, Stallone had his first starring role in the soft core pornography feature film The Party at Kitty and Studs. He was paid US$200 for two days work, Stallone later explained that he had done the film out of desperation after being evicted from his apartment and finding himself homeless for several days. He has also said that he slept three weeks in the Port Authority Bus Terminal in New York City prior to seeing a casting notice for the film. In the actors words, it was either do that movie or rob someone, the film was released several years later as Italian Stallion, in order to cash in on Stallones newfound fame. While he was in Switzerland, Stallone got his start in films, playing an extra eating in a restaurant near to stars Robert Redford and Camilla Sparv, in the sports drama, Downhill Racer. In 1970, Stallone appeared in the film No Place to Hide, which was re-cut and retitled Rebel, in the Lemmon film, Jack Lemmons character chases, tackles and mugs Stallone, thinking that Stallones character is a pickpocket
You may watch Wilfredo Gomez fight various boxers, among them Lupe Pintor, here
Mario Salazar
Mario González
Alfredo Layne
Roberto Clemente Coliseum, San Juan, Puerto Rico
Azumah Nelson
Iván Zamuco
Raúl Silva
José Cervantes
Eddie Ndukwu
Julio Hernández
Leonardo Cruz
Sakad Petchyindee
Royal Kobayashi
Dong-Kyun Yum
Ric Quijano
Cornell Hall
Antonio Da Silva
