1.
San Diego Zoo
–
The San Diego Zoo is a zoo in Balboa Park, San Diego, California, housing over 3,700 animals of more than 650 species and subspecies. The San Diego Zoo was a pioneer in the concept of open-air and it is one of the few zoos in the world that houses and successfully breeds the giant panda. In 2013, the zoo added a new Koalafornia Adventure exhibit,2017 will see the opening of Africa Rocks. San Diego Zoo Global also operates the San Diego Zoo Safari Park, the San Diego Zoo grew out of exotic animal exhibitions abandoned after the 1915 Panama-California Exposition. Dr. Harry M. Wegeforth founded the Zoological Society of San Diego, meeting October 2,1916 and he served as president of the society until 1941. A permanent tract of land in Balboa Park was set aside in August 1921, on the advice of the city attorney, it was agreed that the city would own all the animals, the zoo began to move in the following year. In addition to the animals from the Exposition, the zoo acquired a menagerie from the defunct Wonderland Amusement Park, ellen Browning Scripps financed a fence around the zoo so that it could begin charging an entrance fee to offset costs. The publication ZooNooz commenced in early 1925, Animal collector Frank Buck went to work as director for the San Diego Zoo on June 13,1923, signed to a three-year contract by Wegeforth. William T. Hornaday, director of the Bronx Zoo, had recommended Buck for the job, but Buck quickly clashed with the strong-willed Wegeforth and left the zoo after three months to return to animal collecting. She served as zoo director from 1925 until 1953, for most of that time she was the only female zoo director in the world. She was succeeded as director by Dr. Charles Schroeder, the San Diego Zoo was a pioneer in building cageless exhibits. Wegeforth was determined to create moated exhibits from the start, until the 1960s, admission for children under 16 was free regardless of whether they were accompanied by a paying adult. The zoos Center for Reproduction of Endangered Species was founded in 1975 at the urging of Kurt Benirschke, CRES was renamed the division of Conservation and Research for Endangered Species in 2005 to better reflect its mission. In 2009 CRES was significantly expanded to become the Institute for Conservation Research, an orangutan named Ken Allen was reported in several newspapers in the summer of 1985 for repeatedly escaping from the supposedly escape-proof orangutan enclosure. The worlds only albino koala in a facility was born September 1,1997, at the San Diego Zoo and was named Onya-Birri. The San Diego Zoo has the largest number of koalas outside of Australia, in 2014, a colony of African penguins arrived for the first time in the zoo since 1979. They will be moved into Africa Rocks when it opens sometime in 2017, in 2016, Baba, the last pangolin on display in North America, died at the zoo. In early 2015, two Wolf guenons monkeyed around outside of their Ituri Forest enclosure, one of the monkeys neared a fence line off of Route 163, but was brought back to safety without injury
2.
Dallas Zoo
–
Dallas Zoo is a 106-acre zoo located 3 miles south of downtown Dallas, Texas, in Marsalis Park. Established in 1888, it is the oldest and largest zoological park in Texas and is managed by the non-profit Dallas Zoological Society and it is home to over 2,000 animals representing 406 species. It is a member of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums. Since 2009, when the Dallas City Council voted unanimously to turn the zoo over to private management under the DZS, attendance, in 2015, the zoo achieved an all-time annual attendance record of 1,000, 000+ visitors. The Dallas Zoological Society is supported by over 25,510 membership households, the zoo was established in 1888. The zoos first purchase was two deer and two lions for $60 from a private seller in Colorado City, Colorado. The animals were placed in pens and put on display in City Park, in the 1890s, the Dallas City Council approved funding for the zoo and more animals were purchased and added to the zoos collection. The zoo called City Park home until 1910, when it was relocated to Fair Park, in 1912, the zoo moved to 36 acres in Marsalis Park which the city had purchased in 1909, from which it has expanded to its current size. Under the leadership of Zoo Commissioner William H. Atwell, the zoo acquired many animals as well as exhibits. In the 1920s, a special Zoo Commission was created by the city, in the Depression Era of the 1930s, the facilities at the zoo underwent extensive renovation funded by the Works Progress Administration. The Dallas Zoological Society was established in 1955 to support the zoo, by the 1960s, the zoo was a popular and profitable attraction. In 1966, the zoo displayed over five hundred species of animals, however, by the 1980s, attitudes began to change from the profit driven display of animals toward science and the humane treatment of animals strongly advocated by the AZA. More emphasis was put on saving endangered species and breeding animals in captivity, the Dallas Zoo cooperated with this program and was accredited in 1985. Around the same time, Zoo Director Warren J. Iliff proposed an addition to be known as the Wilds of Africa, herbert W. Reimer, a New York architect, designed the Wilds of Africa with a zoogeographic grouping of African animals. In addition to a trail, he further envisioned a slow moving monorail that visitors could ride. Two bond measures, amounting to $30.4 million, brought the expansion from the board in 1983 to its opening in June 1990. On June 14,1996, rail and bus service arrived at the zoo, Dallas Zoo station opened on the first phase of the Red Line. The connection to DART made getting to the zoo significantly more convenient than ever before, in 1997, the 19, 000-square-foot Kimberly-Clark Chimpanzee Forest exhibit opened to the public
3.
Animal
–
Animals are multicellular, eukaryotic organisms of the kingdom Animalia. The animal kingdom emerged as a clade within Apoikozoa as the group to the choanoflagellates. Animals are motile, meaning they can move spontaneously and independently at some point in their lives and their body plan eventually becomes fixed as they develop, although some undergo a process of metamorphosis later in their lives. All animals are heterotrophs, they must ingest other organisms or their products for sustenance, most known animal phyla appeared in the fossil record as marine species during the Cambrian explosion, about 542 million years ago. Animals can be divided broadly into vertebrates and invertebrates, vertebrates have a backbone or spine, and amount to less than five percent of all described animal species. They include fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals, the remaining animals are the invertebrates, which lack a backbone. These include molluscs, arthropods, annelids, nematodes, flatworms, cnidarians, ctenophores, the study of animals is called zoology. The word animal comes from the Latin animalis, meaning having breath, the biological definition of the word refers to all members of the kingdom Animalia, encompassing creatures as diverse as sponges, jellyfish, insects, and humans. Aristotle divided the world between animals and plants, and this was followed by Carl Linnaeus, in the first hierarchical classification. In Linnaeuss original scheme, the animals were one of three kingdoms, divided into the classes of Vermes, Insecta, Pisces, Amphibia, Aves, and Mammalia. Since then the last four have all been subsumed into a single phylum, in 1874, Ernst Haeckel divided the animal kingdom into two subkingdoms, Metazoa and Protozoa. The protozoa were later moved to the kingdom Protista, leaving only the metazoa, thus Metazoa is now considered a synonym of Animalia. Animals have several characteristics that set apart from other living things. Animals are eukaryotic and multicellular, which separates them from bacteria and they are heterotrophic, generally digesting food in an internal chamber, which separates them from plants and algae. They are also distinguished from plants, algae, and fungi by lacking cell walls. All animals are motile, if only at life stages. In most animals, embryos pass through a stage, which is a characteristic exclusive to animals. With a few exceptions, most notably the sponges and Placozoa and these include muscles, which are able to contract and control locomotion, and nerve tissues, which send and process signals
4.
Zoology
–
The term is derived from Ancient Greek ζῷον, zōion, i. e. animal and λόγος, logos, i. e. knowledge, study. The history of zoology traces the study of the kingdom from ancient to modern times. This ancient work was developed in the Middle Ages by Muslim physicians. During the Renaissance and early period, zoological thought was revolutionized in Europe by a renewed interest in empiricism. Microscopy revealed the unknown world of microorganisms, laying the groundwork for cell theory. The growing importance of natural theology, partly a response to the rise of mechanical philosophy, over the 18th and 19th centuries, zoology became an increasingly professional scientific discipline. Naturalists began to reject essentialism and consider the importance of extinction, cell theory provided a new perspective on the fundamental basis of life. These developments, as well as the results from embryology and paleontology, were synthesized in Charles Darwins theory of evolution by natural selection. In 1859, Darwin placed the theory of evolution on a new footing, by his discovery of a process by which organic evolution can occur. Darwin gave new direction to morphology and physiology, by uniting them in a biological theory. The end of the 19th century saw the fall of spontaneous generation, cell biology studies the structural and physiological properties of cells, including their behavior, interactions, and environment. This is done on both the microscopic and molecular levels, for single-celled organisms such as bacteria as well as the cells in multicellular organisms such as humans. Understanding the structure and function of cells is fundamental to all of the biological sciences, the similarities and differences between cell types are particularly relevant to molecular biology. Anatomy considers the forms of macroscopic structures such as organs and organ systems and it focuses on how organs and organ systems work together in the bodies of humans and animals, in addition to how they work independently. Anatomy and cell biology are two studies that are related, and can be categorized under structural studies. Physiology studies the mechanical, physical, and biochemical processes of living organisms by attempting to understand how all of the function as a whole. The theme of structure to function is central to biology, for example, what is learned about the physiology of yeast cells can also apply to human cells. The field of animal physiology extends the tools and methods of physiology to non-human species
5.
Greek language
–
Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages, native to Greece and other parts of the Eastern Mediterranean. It has the longest documented history of any living language, spanning 34 centuries of written records and its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the major part of its history, other systems, such as Linear B and the Cypriot syllabary, were used previously. The alphabet arose from the Phoenician script and was in turn the basis of the Latin, Cyrillic, Armenian, Coptic, Gothic and many other writing systems. Together with the Latin texts and traditions of the Roman world, during antiquity, Greek was a widely spoken lingua franca in the Mediterranean world and many places beyond. It would eventually become the official parlance of the Byzantine Empire, the language is spoken by at least 13.2 million people today in Greece, Cyprus, Italy, Albania, Turkey, and the Greek diaspora. Greek roots are used to coin new words for other languages, Greek. Greek has been spoken in the Balkan peninsula since around the 3rd millennium BC, the earliest written evidence is a Linear B clay tablet found in Messenia that dates to between 1450 and 1350 BC, making Greek the worlds oldest recorded living language. Among the Indo-European languages, its date of earliest written attestation is matched only by the now extinct Anatolian languages, the Greek language is conventionally divided into the following periods, Proto-Greek, the unrecorded but assumed last ancestor of all known varieties of Greek. The unity of Proto-Greek would have ended as Hellenic migrants entered the Greek peninsula sometime in the Neolithic era or the Bronze Age, Mycenaean Greek, the language of the Mycenaean civilisation. It is recorded in the Linear B script on tablets dating from the 15th century BC onwards, Ancient Greek, in its various dialects, the language of the Archaic and Classical periods of the ancient Greek civilisation. It was widely known throughout the Roman Empire, after the Roman conquest of Greece, an unofficial bilingualism of Greek and Latin was established in the city of Rome and Koine Greek became a first or second language in the Roman Empire. The origin of Christianity can also be traced through Koine Greek, Medieval Greek, also known as Byzantine Greek, the continuation of Koine Greek in Byzantine Greece, up to the demise of the Byzantine Empire in the 15th century. Much of the written Greek that was used as the language of the Byzantine Empire was an eclectic middle-ground variety based on the tradition of written Koine. Modern Greek, Stemming from Medieval Greek, Modern Greek usages can be traced in the Byzantine period and it is the language used by the modern Greeks, and, apart from Standard Modern Greek, there are several dialects of it. In the modern era, the Greek language entered a state of diglossia, the historical unity and continuing identity between the various stages of the Greek language is often emphasised. Greek speakers today still tend to regard literary works of ancient Greek as part of their own rather than a foreign language and it is also often stated that the historical changes have been relatively slight compared with some other languages. According to one estimation, Homeric Greek is probably closer to demotic than 12-century Middle English is to modern spoken English, Greek is spoken by about 13 million people, mainly in Greece, Albania and Cyprus, but also worldwide by the large Greek diaspora. Greek is the language of Greece, where it is spoken by almost the entire population
6.
London Zoological Gardens
–
London Zoo is the worlds oldest scientific zoo. It was opened in London on April 27,1828, and was intended to be used as a collection for scientific study. In 1832 the animals of the Tower of London menagerie were transferred to the zoos collection and it was eventually opened to the public in 1847. Today it houses a collection of 698 species of animals, with 20,166 individuals, the zoo is sometimes called Regents Zoo. The Society also has a spacious site at ZSL Whipsnade Zoo in Bedfordshire to which the larger animals such as elephants. As well as being the first scientific zoo, ZSL London Zoo also opened the first Reptile house, first public Aquarium, first insect house, ZSL receives no state funding and relies on Fellows and Friends memberships, entrance fees and sponsorship to generate income. After his death the third Marquis of Lansdowne took over the project, the zoo opened in April 1828 to fellows of the Society, providing access to species such as Arabian oryx, greater kudus, orangutan and the now extinct quagga and thylacine. The Society was granted a Royal Charter in 1829 by King George IV and he set about a major reorganisation of the buildings and enclosures of the zoo, bringing many of the animals out into the open, where many thrived. This was an inspired by Hamburg Zoo, and led to newer designs to many of the buildings. Mitchell also envisaged a new 600-acre park to the north of London, in 1931 Whipsnade Wild Animal Park opened, becoming the worlds first open zoological park. The first woman to be a curator at the London Zoo was Evelyn Cheesman, in 1962, Caroline, an Arabian oryx, was lent to Phoenix Zoo, Arizona in the worlds first international co-operative breeding programme. Today the zoo participates in breeding programmes for over 130 species, at the beginning of the 1990s, the zoo had almost 7,000 animals, the nearest any other collection came to in Britain was Chester Zoo, with just under 3,500 animals. Many of the species in London Zoo could not be anywhere else in the country, such as the wombat. Although this vast collection was part of the appeal, it may also have been one of the main causes of its financial problems. This contributed to the zoo being faced with closure in the 1980s, due to the public change of attitude to animals kept in captivity and unsuitably cramped space, the zoo also suffered dwindling visitor numbers. One benefit of the swell of support was the development of volunteer staff. Employed by both Education and Animal care, these volunteers give one day a week to assist the running of London Zoo and can be recognised by their red pullovers. On September 27,1940, high explosive bombs damaged the Rodent house, the Civet house, the office, the propagating sheds, the North Gate
7.
United States
–
Forty-eight of the fifty states and the federal district are contiguous and located in North America between Canada and Mexico. The state of Alaska is in the northwest corner of North America, bordered by Canada to the east, the state of Hawaii is an archipelago in the mid-Pacific Ocean. The U. S. territories are scattered about the Pacific Ocean, the geography, climate and wildlife of the country are extremely diverse. At 3.8 million square miles and with over 324 million people, the United States is the worlds third- or fourth-largest country by area, third-largest by land area. It is one of the worlds most ethnically diverse and multicultural nations, paleo-Indians migrated from Asia to the North American mainland at least 15,000 years ago. European colonization began in the 16th century, the United States emerged from 13 British colonies along the East Coast. Numerous disputes between Great Britain and the following the Seven Years War led to the American Revolution. On July 4,1776, during the course of the American Revolutionary War, the war ended in 1783 with recognition of the independence of the United States by Great Britain, representing the first successful war of independence against a European power. The current constitution was adopted in 1788, after the Articles of Confederation, the first ten amendments, collectively named the Bill of Rights, were ratified in 1791 and designed to guarantee many fundamental civil liberties. During the second half of the 19th century, the American Civil War led to the end of slavery in the country. By the end of century, the United States extended into the Pacific Ocean. The Spanish–American War and World War I confirmed the status as a global military power. The end of the Cold War and the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 left the United States as the sole superpower. The U. S. is a member of the United Nations, World Bank, International Monetary Fund, Organization of American States. The United States is a developed country, with the worlds largest economy by nominal GDP. It ranks highly in several measures of performance, including average wage, human development, per capita GDP. While the U. S. economy is considered post-industrial, characterized by the dominance of services and knowledge economy, the United States is a prominent political and cultural force internationally, and a leader in scientific research and technological innovations. In 1507, the German cartographer Martin Waldseemüller produced a map on which he named the lands of the Western Hemisphere America after the Italian explorer and cartographer Amerigo Vespucci
8.
London Zoo
–
London Zoo is the worlds oldest scientific zoo. It was opened in London on April 27,1828, and was intended to be used as a collection for scientific study. In 1832 the animals of the Tower of London menagerie were transferred to the zoos collection and it was eventually opened to the public in 1847. Today it houses a collection of 698 species of animals, with 20,166 individuals, the zoo is sometimes called Regents Zoo. The Society also has a spacious site at ZSL Whipsnade Zoo in Bedfordshire to which the larger animals such as elephants. As well as being the first scientific zoo, ZSL London Zoo also opened the first Reptile house, first public Aquarium, first insect house, ZSL receives no state funding and relies on Fellows and Friends memberships, entrance fees and sponsorship to generate income. After his death the third Marquis of Lansdowne took over the project, the zoo opened in April 1828 to fellows of the Society, providing access to species such as Arabian oryx, greater kudus, orangutan and the now extinct quagga and thylacine. The Society was granted a Royal Charter in 1829 by King George IV and he set about a major reorganisation of the buildings and enclosures of the zoo, bringing many of the animals out into the open, where many thrived. This was an inspired by Hamburg Zoo, and led to newer designs to many of the buildings. Mitchell also envisaged a new 600-acre park to the north of London, in 1931 Whipsnade Wild Animal Park opened, becoming the worlds first open zoological park. The first woman to be a curator at the London Zoo was Evelyn Cheesman, in 1962, Caroline, an Arabian oryx, was lent to Phoenix Zoo, Arizona in the worlds first international co-operative breeding programme. Today the zoo participates in breeding programmes for over 130 species, at the beginning of the 1990s, the zoo had almost 7,000 animals, the nearest any other collection came to in Britain was Chester Zoo, with just under 3,500 animals. Many of the species in London Zoo could not be anywhere else in the country, such as the wombat. Although this vast collection was part of the appeal, it may also have been one of the main causes of its financial problems. This contributed to the zoo being faced with closure in the 1980s, due to the public change of attitude to animals kept in captivity and unsuitably cramped space, the zoo also suffered dwindling visitor numbers. One benefit of the swell of support was the development of volunteer staff. Employed by both Education and Animal care, these volunteers give one day a week to assist the running of London Zoo and can be recognised by their red pullovers. On September 27,1940, high explosive bombs damaged the Rodent house, the Civet house, the office, the propagating sheds, the North Gate
9.
Menagerie
–
A menagerie is a collection of captive animals, frequently exotic, kept for display, or the place where such a collection is kept, a precursor to the modern zoological garden. The term was first used in seventeenth century France in reference to the management of household or domestic stock, later, it came to be used primarily in reference to aristocratic or royal animal collections. The French-language Methodical Encyclopaedia of 1782 defines a menagerie as an establishment of luxury, later on, the term referred also to travelling animal collections that exhibited wild animals at fairs across Europe and the Americas. A menagerie was mostly connected with an aristocratic or royal court and was situated within a garden or park of a palace. These aristocrats wanted to illustrate their power and wealth, because animals, alive and active, were less common, more difficult to acquire. During the Middle Ages, several sovereigns across Europe maintained menageries at their royal courts, an early example is that of the Emperor Charlemagne in the 8th century. Charlemagne received exotic animals for his collection as gifts from rulers of Africa, in 797, the caliph of Baghdad, Harun al-Rashid, presented Charlemagne with an Asian elephant named Abul-Abbas. The pachyderm arrived on July 1,802 to the Emperors residence in Aachen, William the Conqueror had a small royal menagerie. At his manor, Woodstock, he began a collection of exotic animals, around the year 1100 his son, Henry I, enclosed Woodstock and enlarged the collection. The most prominent animal collection in medieval England was the Tower Menagerie in London that began as early as 1204 and it was established by King John, who reigned in England from 1199–1216, and is known to have held lions and bears. Henry III received a gift in 1235 of three leopards from Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor. The most spectacular arrivals in the years were a white bear. In 1264, the animals were moved to the Bulwark, which was renamed the Lion Tower and this building was constituted by rows of cages with arched entrances, enclosed behind grilles. They were set in two storeys, and it appears that the animals used the upper cages during the day and were moved to the lower storey at night, the menagerie was opened to the public during the reign of Elizabeth I in the 16th century. During the 18th century, the price of admission was three half-pence, or the supply of a cat or dog to be fed to the lions, animals recorded here at the end of the 18th century included lions, tigers, hyaenas and bears. Most of the animals were transferred in 1831 to the newly opened London Zoo at Regents Park, the Tower Menagerie was finally closed in 1835, on the orders of the Duke of Wellington. The Tower Menagerie in London can be considered to have been the royal menagerie of England for six centuries. In the first half of the century, Emperor Frederick II had three permanent menageries in Italy, at Melfi in Basilicata, at Lucera in Apulia and at Palermo in Sicily
10.
Bristol Zoo
–
Bristol Zoo is a zoo in the city of Bristol in South West England. Among species now on view at Bristol which are rare or absent in other UK zoos are Livingstones fruit bats and successful breeding groups of western lowland gorillas, the lakes islands are home to gorillas, tamarins, marmosets, gibbons and pelicans. Seal and Penguin Coasts is an attraction at the zoo, opened in 1999, it allows South American fur seals. The two pools contain 145,000 imperial gallons of water, with waves, waterfalls, rocks. The exhibit has a net over the top to allow Inca terns. Explorers Creek opened in May 2009 and features three areas – a water area, a tropical bird house and a walk-through lorikeet feeding area. Gorilla Island is home to a family of western lowland gorillas, as well as an indoor house which is also home to okapis, they have a large island which they share with the De Brazzas monkeys from Monkey Jungle. The gorillas are herbivores, and are not aggressive, however the keepers do not enter their island home because it is the zoos policy to keep the animals captive environment as similar as possible to that of their natural African forest habitat. The Terrace is one of the oldest parts of the zoo, by exchanging night and day, the animals can be observed during daylight hours. The lights allow a transition from night to day and vice versa. Twilight world is split into four zones, the Desert, the Rainforest, the Cave, the Reptile House houses a collection of reptiles and amphibians. The house itself is heated and gives a sense of the heat of the rainforest, there are three sections to the house, Desert, Rainforest and the Rearing Room where visitors can view the raising of reptiles and amphibian and also learn about the zoos conservation work. Outside, but still considered part of the house, is a giant tortoise and rhinoceros iguana enclosure where the animals have access to a heated indoor house. The Aquarium has around 70 species of fish, the aquarium has three sections, The Amazon River, Africa and the coral reef. On the outside of the building there is a water sculpture, there are several exhibits of conservation significance on view. Notably, there is a display of endangered cichlids from Lake Barombi Mbo in Cameroon, bug World, the zoos collection of invertebrates, includes species such as Partula snails, stick and leaf insects, corals and peacock mantis shrimp. Other displays include tarantulas, black widow spiders, giant millipedes, honey bees, leaf-cutting ants, zona Brazil includes a tropical house that has Amazon tree boas and tarantulas. The two monkey enclosures house Geoffreys marmosets, black lion tamarins and titi monkeys, outside, there are aviaries for red-tailed amazon parrots, an enclosure for golden lion tamarins and three linked paddocks for tapirs and capybaras
11.
Alfred Vance
–
Alfred Peek Stevens, best known by his stage name of Alfred Vance, was a 19th-century English music hall singer. Vance was born in London in 1839 and he worked initially as a solicitors clerk, before appearing in music halls. His first solo appearance was at the South London Palace in 1864 and his act, initially as a Cockney singer, evolved into comedy. He was also known as The Great Vance, and Alfred Grenville, Vance was a great rival of George Leybourne, writer of Champagne Charlie. Vance wrote and performed Cliquot in response, Vance ended the feud with the song Beautiful Beer. Their style introduced a new genre to the hall, known as lion comique. Vances popular song Walking in the Zoo has been cited by Desmond Morris as the earliest known use in the UK of the term O. K. in its current sense. The chorus of Vances song begins with the line Walking in the zoo is the O. K. thing to do and it is also one of the first uses of the term zoo in place of the full name of zoological garden. The song refers specifically to the Zoological Gardens at Regents Park, another song of the 1860s was The King of Trumps. The cover depicts a playing card for the King of Trumps in colour with parts of other cards in each corner, Vance died on 26 December 1888 while performing on the stage of the Sun Music Hall, Knightsbridge. He is buried in Nunhead Cemetery, although his headstone no longer exists, the Brokin arted Butler The Chickaleery Cove Carrie A country life for me Covent garden in the morning Dick Murphy of T. C. D. Oxford Companion to Popular Music by Peter Grimmond - ISBN 0-19-280004-3
12.
Halifax, Nova Scotia
–
Halifax, legally known as the Halifax Regional Municipality, is the capital of the province of Nova Scotia, Canada. The municipality had a population of 403,131 in 2016, the regional municipality consists of four former municipalities that were amalgamated in 1996, Halifax, Dartmouth, Bedford, and the Municipality of Halifax County. Halifax is an economic centre in Atlantic Canada with a large concentration of government services. Agriculture, fishing, mining, forestry and natural gas extraction are major resource found in the rural areas of the municipality. Additionally, Halifax has consistently placed in the top 10 for business friendliness of North and South American cities, the first permanent European settlement in the region was on the Halifax Peninsula. The establishment of the Town of Halifax, named after the 2nd Earl of Halifax, the establishment of Halifax marked the beginning of Father Le Loutres War. The war began when Edward Cornwallis arrived to establish Halifax with 13 transports, by unilaterally establishing Halifax the British were violating earlier treaties with the Mikmaq, which were signed after Father Rales War. Cornwallis brought along 1,176 settlers and their families, St. Margarets Bay was first settled by French-speaking Foreign Protestants at French Village, Nova Scotia who migrated from Lunenburg, Nova Scotia during the American Revolution. The resulting explosion, the Halifax Explosion, devastated the Richmond District of Halifax, killing approximately 2,000 people, the blast was the largest artificial explosion before the development of nuclear weapons. Significant aid came from Boston, strengthening the bond between the two coastal cities, the municipal boundary thus now includes all of Halifax County except for several First Nation reserves. Since amalgamation, the region has officially been known as the Halifax Regional Municipality, on April 15,2014, the regional council approved the implementation of a new branding campaign for the region developed by the local firm Revolve Marketing. The campaign would see the region referred to in promotional materials simply as Halifax, mayor Mike Savage defended the decision, stating, Im a Westphal guy, Im a Dartmouth man, but Halifax is my city, we’re all part of Halifax. Because when I go and travel on behalf of this municipality, metropolitan Halifax is a term used to describe the urban concentration surrounding Halifax Harbour, including the Halifax Peninsula, the core of Dartmouth, and the Bedford-Sackville areas. It is the Statistics Canada population centre of Halifax, the dense urban core is centred on the Halifax Peninsula and the area of Dartmouth inside of the Circumferential Highway. The suburban area stretches into areas known as Mainland Halifax to the west, Cole Harbour to the east and this urban area is the most populous on Canadas Atlantic coast, and the second largest coastal population centre in the country after Vancouver, British Columbia. Halifax currently accounts for 40% of Nova Scotias population, and 15% of that of Atlantic Canada, Halifaxs urban core is home to a number of regional landmark buildings and retains significant historic buildings and districts. The downtowns office towers are overlooked by the fortress of Citadel Hill with its iconic Halifax Town Clock, Dalhousie Universitys campus is often featured in films and documentaries. Dartmouth also has its share of historic neighbourhoods and this has resulted in some modern high rises being built at unusual angles or locations
13.
National Zoological Park (United States)
–
The National Zoological Park, commonly known as the National Zoo, is one of the oldest zoos in the United States. It is part of the Smithsonian Institution and does not charge for admission, founded in 1889, its mission is to provide engaging experiences with animals and create and share knowledge to save wildlife and habitats. The National Zoo has two campuses, the first is an 163-acre urban park located in Northwest Washington, D. C. that is 20 minutes from the National Mall by Metro. The other campus is the 3, 200-acre Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute in Front Royal, on this land, there are 180 species of trees,850 species of woody shrubs and herbaceous plants,40 species of grasses, and 36 different species of bamboo. The SCBI is a facility devoted to training wildlife professionals in conservation biology and to propagating rare species through natural means. The National Zoo is accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums, altogether, the two facilities host about 1,800 animals of 300 different species. About one-fifth of them are endangered or threatened, most species are on exhibit at the Zoos Rock Creek Park campus. The best known residents are the giant pandas, but the zoo is home to birds, great apes, big cats, Asian elephants, insects, amphibians, reptiles, aquatic animals, small mammals. The SCBI facility houses between 30 and 40 endangered species at any time depending on research needs and recommendations from the zoo. The zoo was one of the first to establish a research program. Because it is a part of the Smithsonian Institution, the National Zoo receives federal appropriations for operating expenses, a new master plan for the park was introduced in 2008 to upgrade the parks exhibits and layout. The National Zoo is open day of the year except for December 25. The zoo first started as the National Museums Department of Living Animals in 1886, by an act of Congress in 1889, for the advancement of science and the instruction and recreation of the people the National Zoo was created. In 1890, it became a part of the Smithsonian Institution, william Temple Hornaday was the curator of all 185 animals when the park was first opened. Together, they designed a new zoo to animals for the public and to serve as a refuge for wildlife, such as bison and beaver. For the first 50 years, the National Zoo, like most zoos around the world, the number of many species in the wild began to decline drastically because of human activities. In 1899, the Kansas frontiersman Charles Buffalo Jones captured a bighorn sheep for the zoo, the fate of animals and plants became a pressing concern. Many of these species were favorite zoo animals, such as elephants and tigers, hence the staff began to concentrate on the long-term management, in the mid-1950s, the zoo hired its first full-time permanent veterinarian, reflecting a priority placed on professional health care for the animals
14.
Bronx Zoo
–
The Bronx Zoo is a zoo located in the Bronx, a borough of New York City, within Bronx Park. It is the largest metropolitan zoo in the United States and among the largest in the world, on average, the zoo has 2.15 million visitors each year and is world-renowned for its large and diverse animal collection, and its award-winning exhibitions. It comprises 265 acres of lands and naturalistic habitats, through which the Bronx River flows. The zoo is part of a system of four zoos and one aquarium managed by the Wildlife Conservation Society. Credit for this belonged chiefly to Club members Madison Grant and C. Grant LaFarge, the zoo opened its doors to the public on November 8,1899, featuring 843 animals in 22 exhibits. The first zoo director was William Temple Hornaday, who had 30 years of service at the zoo, Heins & LaFarge designed the original permanent buildings as a series of Beaux-Arts pavilions grouped around the large circular sea lion pool. In 1934, the Rainey Memorial Gates, designed by noted sculptor Paul Manship, were dedicated as a memorial to noted big game hunter Paul James Rainey, the gates were listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1972. The Rockefeller Fountain, that adorns the gardens just inside the Fordham Road Gate, was once a famous landmark in Como. Originally built by Biagio Catella in 1872, it stood in the square by the lakeside. It was bought by William Rockefeller in 1902 for 3,500 lire, in 1968, the fountain was designated an official New York City landmark, and is one of the few local monuments to be honored in this way. The New York Zoological Societys seal was designed by famed wildlife-artist Charles R. Knight, the seal depicted a rams head and an eagle to reflect the societys interest in preserving North American wildlife. While no longer in use, the seal can still be found on the lawn in the center of Astor Court. On December 17,1902, the zoo one of the seven zoos outside of Australia. The first animal was a male obtained from famous German animal dealer, the animal died on August 15,1908. The zoo received a male on January 26,1912, from the Beaumaris Zoo in Tasmania. The zoo received their final two animals from Sydney animal dealer, Ellis S. Joseph, the first was an unsexed individual who arrived on November 7,1916, in poor condition and died seven days later. The second and final animal was a female purchased from the Beaumaris Zoo by Joseph for £25 and then was resold to the zoo, arriving on July 14,1917. On a visit, the director of the Melbourne Zoo, Mr. Le Souef, said upon seeing the animal, I advise you to take excellent care of that specimen, for when it is gone, the species soon will be extinct
15.
Wildlife Conservation Society
–
WCS was founded in 1895 as the New York Zoological Society and currently works to conserve more than two million square miles of wild places around the world. The organization is led by President and CEO Cristián Samper, former Director of the Smithsonian Institutions National Museum of Natural History, based at the Bronx Zoo, WCS maintains approximately 500 field conservation projects in 65 countries, with 200 PhD scientists on staff. It manages four New York City wildlife parks in addition to the Bronx Zoo, together these parks receive 4 million visitors per year. All of the New York City facilities are accredited by the Association of Zoos, the Wildlife Conservation Society was originally chartered by the state of New York on April 26,1895. Then known as the New York Zoological Society, the organization embraced a mandate to advance wildlife conservation, promote the study of zoology and its name was changed to the Wildlife Conservation Society in 1993. Among the founders of WCS were Andrew H. Theodore Roosevelt, members of the Boone and Crockett Club, the Bronx Zoo was designed along the lines of other cultural institutions in New York City, such as the American Museum of Natural History. The city provided the land for the new zoo and some funding for buildings, WCS raised most of the funds for construction and operations from private donors, and selected the scientific and administrative personnel. In 1897 Hornaday also hired field researcher Andrew J. Stone to survey the condition of wildlife in the territory of Alaska, on the basis of these studies, Hornaday led the campaign for new laws to protect the wildlife there and the United States as a whole. In 1901, a herd of American Bison were gathered in a 20-acre meadow just off what is now the Pelham Parkway roadway. Starting in 1905, Hornaday led a campaign to reintroduce the almost extinct bison to government sponsored refuges. Hornaday, Theodore Roosevelt and others formed the American Bison Society in 1905, the Bronx Zoo sent 15 bison to Wichita Reserve in 1907 and additional bison in later years. The saving of this uniquely American symbol is one of the success stories in the history of wildlife conservation. Hornaday campaigned for protection throughout his thirty years as director of the Bronx Zoo. William Beebe, the first curator of birds at the Bronx Zoo and his research on wild pheasants took him to Asia from 1908 to 1911 and resulted in a series of books on pheasants. Beebes field work also resulted in the creation of the Society’s Department of Tropical Research, the bathysphere is currently displayed at the New York Aquarium. The war years marked the arrival of Henry Fairfield Osborn, Jr as NYZS president, a best selling writer on conservation and son of WCS founder Henry Fairfield Osborn, Osborn soon embraced changes that signaled new thinking in the organization. After World War II, under the leadership of Osborn, the extended its programs in field biology. In 1946 WCS helped found the Jackson Hole Wildlife Park, which part of Grand Teton National Park in 1962
16.
Tower of London
–
The Tower of London, officially Her Majestys Royal Palace and Fortress of the Tower of London, is a historic castle located on the north bank of the River Thames in central London. It lies within the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, separated from the edge of the square mile of the City of London by the open space known as Tower Hill. It was founded towards the end of 1066 as part of the Norman Conquest of England. The White Tower, which gives the castle its name, was built by William the Conqueror in 1078 and was a resented symbol of oppression. The castle was used as a prison from 1100 until 1952, a grand palace early in its history, it served as a royal residence. As a whole, the Tower is a complex of buildings set within two concentric rings of defensive walls and a moat. There were several phases of expansion, mainly under Kings Richard the Lionheart, Henry III, the general layout established by the late 13th century remains despite later activity on the site. The Tower of London has played a prominent role in English history and it was besieged several times, and controlling it has been important to controlling the country. The Tower has served variously as an armoury, a treasury, a menagerie, the home of the Royal Mint, a record office. From the early 14th century until the reign of Charles II, in the absence of the monarch, the Constable of the Tower is in charge of the castle. This was a powerful and trusted position in the medieval period, in the late 15th century, the castle was the prison of the Princes in the Tower. Under the Tudors, the Tower became used less as a royal residence and this use has led to the phrase sent to the Tower. Executions were more commonly held on the notorious Tower Hill to the north of the castle, in the latter half of the 19th century, institutions such as the Royal Mint moved out of the castle to other locations, leaving many buildings empty. Anthony Salvin and John Taylor took the opportunity to restore the Tower to what was felt to be its medieval appearance, in the First and Second World Wars, the Tower was again used as a prison and witnessed the executions of 12 men for espionage. After the Second World War, damage caused during the Blitz was repaired, today, the Tower of London is one of the countrys most popular tourist attractions. Under the ceremonial charge of the Constable of the Tower, it is cared for by the charity Historic Royal Palaces and is protected as a World Heritage Site. The Tower was orientated with its strongest and most impressive defences overlooking Saxon London and it would have visually dominated the surrounding area and stood out to traffic on the River Thames. The castle is made up of three wards, or enclosures, the innermost ward contains the White Tower and is the earliest phase of the castle
17.
England
–
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west, the Irish Sea lies northwest of England and the Celtic Sea lies to the southwest. England is separated from continental Europe by the North Sea to the east, the country covers five-eighths of the island of Great Britain in its centre and south, and includes over 100 smaller islands such as the Isles of Scilly, and the Isle of Wight. England became a state in the 10th century, and since the Age of Discovery. The Industrial Revolution began in 18th-century England, transforming its society into the worlds first industrialised nation, Englands terrain mostly comprises low hills and plains, especially in central and southern England. However, there are uplands in the north and in the southwest, the capital is London, which is the largest metropolitan area in both the United Kingdom and the European Union. In 1801, Great Britain was united with the Kingdom of Ireland through another Act of Union to become the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. In 1922 the Irish Free State seceded from the United Kingdom, leading to the latter being renamed the United Kingdom of Great Britain, the name England is derived from the Old English name Englaland, which means land of the Angles. The Angles were one of the Germanic tribes that settled in Great Britain during the Early Middle Ages, the Angles came from the Angeln peninsula in the Bay of Kiel area of the Baltic Sea. The earliest recorded use of the term, as Engla londe, is in the ninth century translation into Old English of Bedes Ecclesiastical History of the English People. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, its spelling was first used in 1538. The earliest attested reference to the Angles occurs in the 1st-century work by Tacitus, Germania, the etymology of the tribal name itself is disputed by scholars, it has been suggested that it derives from the shape of the Angeln peninsula, an angular shape. An alternative name for England is Albion, the name Albion originally referred to the entire island of Great Britain. The nominally earliest record of the name appears in the Aristotelian Corpus, specifically the 4th century BC De Mundo, in it are two very large islands called Britannia, these are Albion and Ierne. But modern scholarly consensus ascribes De Mundo not to Aristotle but to Pseudo-Aristotle, the word Albion or insula Albionum has two possible origins. Albion is now applied to England in a poetic capacity. Another romantic name for England is Loegria, related to the Welsh word for England, Lloegr, the earliest known evidence of human presence in the area now known as England was that of Homo antecessor, dating to approximately 780,000 years ago. The oldest proto-human bones discovered in England date from 500,000 years ago, Modern humans are known to have inhabited the area during the Upper Paleolithic period, though permanent settlements were only established within the last 6,000 years
18.
British Library
–
The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom and the second largest library in the world by number of items catalogued. It holds well over 150 million items from many countries, as a legal deposit library, the British Library receives copies of all books produced in the United Kingdom and Ireland, including a significant proportion of overseas titles distributed in the UK. The Library is a public body sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media. The Librarys collections include around 14 million books, along with holdings of manuscripts. In addition to receiving a copy of every publication produced in the UK and Ireland, the Library adds some three million items every year occupying 9.6 kilometres of new shelf space. Prior to 1973, the Library was part of the British Museum, the Euston Road building is classified as a Grade I listed building, of exceptional interest for its architecture and history. The British Library was created on 1 July 1973 as a result of the British Library Act 1972. Prior to this, the library was part of the British Museum. In 1983, the Library absorbed the National Sound Archive, which holds many sound and video recordings, with over a million discs, the core of the Librarys historical collections is based on a series of donations and acquisitions from the 18th century, known as the foundation collections. From 1997 to 2009 the main collection was housed in this new building. Construction work on the Newspaper Storage Building was completed in 2013, the collection has now been split between the St Pancras and Boston Spa sites. The British Library Document Supply Service and the Librarys Document Supply Collection is based on the site in Boston Spa. Collections housed in Yorkshire, comprising low-use material and the newspaper and Document Supply collections, the Library previously had a book storage depot in Woolwich, south-east London, which is no longer in use. The new library was designed specially for the purpose by the architect Colin St John Wilson, facing Euston Road is a large piazza that includes pieces of public art, such as large sculptures by Eduardo Paolozzi and Antony Gormley. It is the largest public building constructed in the United Kingdom in the 20th century, in December 2009 a new storage building at Boston Spa was opened by Rosie Winterton. The building was Grade I listed on 1 August 2015, in England, Legal Deposit can be traced back to at least 1610. The other five libraries are, the Bodleian Library at Oxford, the University Library at Cambridge, the Trinity College Library at Dublin, in 2003 the Ipswich MP Chris Mole introduced a Private Members Bill which became the Legal Deposit Libraries Act 2003. The Act extends United Kingdom legal deposit requirements to electronic documents, such as CD-ROMs, the Library also holds the Asia, Pacific and Africa Collections which include the India Office Records and materials in the languages of Asia and of north and north-east Africa
19.
Nekhen
–
Nekhen /ˈnɛkən/ or Hierakonpolis was the religious and political capital of Upper Egypt at the end of prehistoric Egypt and probably also during the Early Dynastic Period. Some authors suggest occupation dates that should begin thousands of years earlier, Nekhen was the center of the cult of a hawk deity, Horus of Nekhen, which raised in this city one of the most ancient Egyptian temples. It retained its importance as the center for this divine patron of the kings long after the site had otherwise declined. The first settlement at Nekhen dates from either the predynastic Amratian culture or perhaps during the late Badari culture, at its height from about 3400 BC, Nekhen had at least 5000 and possibly as many as 10,000 inhabitants. The ruins of the city originally were excavated toward the end of the century by the English archaeologists James Quibell. Quibell and Green discovered the Main Deposit, a foundation deposit beneath the temple, Quibell was originally trained under Flinders Petrie, the father of modern Egyptology. However, he failed to follow Petries methods and the temple was a site to excavate to begin with, so his excavation was poorly conducted. Specifically, the context of the items therein is poorly recorded and often the reports of Quibell. The most famous artifact commonly associated with the deposit, the Narmer Palette, is now thought to have probably not been in the main deposit at all. Quibells report made in 1900 put the palette in the deposit, Greens version is substantiated by earlier field notes, so it is now the accepted record of events. The main deposit dates to the early Old Kingdom, but the style of the objects in the deposit indicate that they were from Naqada III and were moved into the deposit at a later date. The other important item in the deposit clearly dates to the late prehistoric and this object, the Scorpion Macehead, depicts a king known only by the ideogram for scorpion, now called Scorpion II, participating in what seems to be a ritual irrigation ceremony. Renee Friedman representing the University of California, Berkeley and the British Museum until Barbara Adamss death in 2001, the structure at Nekhen with the misnomer fort is a massive mud-brick enclosure built by Pharaoh Khasekhemwy of the Second Dynasty. It appears to be similar in structure and purpose as the constructed at Abydos. The true function of these structures is unknown, but they seem to be related to the rituals of kingship, the ritual structure was built on a prehistoric cemetery. The excavations there, as well as the work of later brick robbers, have undermined the walls. For two years, during 2005 and 2006, the led by Friedman was attempting to stabilize the existing structure. Other discoveries at Nekhen include Tomb 100, the oldest tomb with painted decoration on its plaster walls, the sepulchre is thought to date to the Gerzeh culture
20.
Egypt
–
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
21.
Hippopotamus
–
The common hippopotamus, or hippo, is a large, mostly herbivorous mammal in sub-Saharan Africa, and one of only two extant species in the family Hippopotamidae, the other being the pygmy hippopotamus. The name comes from the ancient Greek for river horse, after the elephant and rhinoceros, the common hippopotamus is the third-largest type of land mammal and the heaviest extant artiodactyl. The common ancestor of whales and hippos split from other even-toed ungulates around 60 million years ago, the earliest known hippopotamus fossils, belonging to the genus Kenyapotamus in Africa, date to around 16 million years ago. Despite its stocky shape and short legs, it is capable of running 30 km/h over short distances, the hippopotamus is a highly aggressive and unpredictable animal and is ranked among the most dangerous animals in Africa. Nevertheless, they are threatened by habitat loss and poaching for their meat. The common hippopotamus is semiaquatic, inhabiting rivers, lakes and mangrove swamps, during the day, they remain cool by staying in the water or mud, reproduction and childbirth both occur in water. They emerge at dusk to graze on grasses, while hippopotamuses rest near each other in the water, grazing is a solitary activity and hippos are not territorial on land. The Latin word hippopotamus is derived from the ancient Greek ἱπποπόταμος, hippopotamos, from ἵππος, hippos, horse, in English, the plural is hippopotamuses, but hippopotami is also used, hippos can be used as a short plural. Hippopotamuses are gregarious, living in groups of up to thirty animals, a group is called a pod, herd, dale, or bloat. The hippopotamus is the genus of the family Hippopotamidae. The pygmy hippopotamus belongs to a different genus in Hippopotamidae, either Choeropsis or Hexaprotodon, Hippopotamidae are sometimes known as hippopotamids. Sometimes, the subfamily Hippopotaminae is used, further, some taxonomists group hippopotamuses and anthracotheres in the superfamily Anthracotheroidea. Hippopotamidae are classified along with other even-toed ungulates in the order Artiodactyla, other artiodactyls include camels, cattle, deer and pigs, although hippopotamuses are not closely related to these groups. Genetic analyses have tested the existence of three of these putative subspecies, a study examining mitochondrial DNA from skin biopsies taken from 13 sampling locations, considered genetic diversity and structure among hippo populations across the continent. The authors found low, but significant, genetic differentiation among H. a. amphibius, H. a. capensis, neither H. a. tschadensis nor H. a. constrictus has been tested. Until 1909, naturalists grouped hippos with pigs, based on molar patterns, the common ancestor of hippos and whales branched off from Ruminantia and the rest of the even-toed ungulates, the cetacean and hippo lineages split soon afterwards. The most recent theory of the origins of Hippopotamidae suggests that hippos and this hypothesized ancestral group likely split into two branches around 54 million years ago. All branches of the anthracotheres, except that which evolved into Hippopotamidae, merycopotamus, Libycosaurus and all hippopotamids can be considered to form a clade, with Libycosaurus being more closely related to hippos
22.
Hartebeest
–
The hartebeest, also known as kongoni, is an African antelope, first described by the German zoologist Peter Simon Pallas in 1766. Eight subspecies have been described, including two considered to be independent species. A large antelope, the hartebeest stands just over 1 m at the shoulder, the weight ranges from 100 to 200 kg. It has a particularly elongated forehead and oddly shaped horns, short neck and its legs, which often have black markings, are unusually long. The coat is short and shiny. Coat colour varies by the subspecies, from the brown of the western hartebeest to the chocolate brown of the Swaynes hartebeest. Both sexes of all subspecies have horns, with those of females being more slender, horns can reach lengths of 45–70 cm. Apart from its face, the large chest and the sharply sloping back differentiate the hartebeest from other antelopes. Gregarious animals, hartebeest form herds of 20 to 300 individuals and they are very alert and non-aggressive. They are primarily grazers, with their diets consisting mainly of grasses, mating in hartebeest takes place throughout the year with one or two peaks, and depends upon the subspecies and local factors. Both males and females reach maturity at one to two years of age. Gestation is eight to nine months long, after which a single calf is born, births usually peak in the dry season. The lifespan is 12 to 15 years, inhabiting dry savannas and wooded grasslands, hartebeest often move to more arid places after rainfall. They have been reported from altitudes on Mount Kenya up to 4,000 m, the hartebeest was formerly widespread in Africa, but populations have undergone drastic decline due to habitat destruction, hunting, human settlement, and competition with livestock for food. Each of the eight subspecies of the hartebeest has a different conservation status, the Bubal hartebeest was declared extinct by the International Union for Conservation of Nature in 1994. While the populations of the red hartebeest are on the rise, the hartebeest is extinct in Algeria, Egypt, Lesotho, Libya, Morocco, Somalia, and Tunisia, but has been introduced into Swaziland and Zimbabwe. It is a game animal due to its highly regarded meat. The vernacular name hartebeest could have originated from the obsolete Afrikaans word hertebeest, the name was given by the Boers, based on the resemblance of the antelope to deer
23.
Elephant
–
Elephants are large mammals of the family Elephantidae and the order Proboscidea. Three species are recognised, the African bush elephant, the African forest elephant, Elephants are scattered throughout sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia, and Southeast Asia. Elephantidae is the surviving family of the order Proboscidea, other, now extinct, members of the order include deinotheres, gomphotheres, mammoths. Male African elephants are the largest extant terrestrial animals and can reach a height of 4 m, all elephants have several distinctive features, the most notable of which is a long trunk or proboscis, used for many purposes, particularly breathing, lifting water, and grasping objects. Their incisors grow into tusks, which can serve as weapons and as tools for moving objects, Elephants large ear flaps help to control their body temperature. Their pillar-like legs can carry their great weight, African elephants have larger ears and concave backs while Asian elephants have smaller ears and convex or level backs. Elephants are herbivorous and can be found in different habitats including savannahs, forests, deserts and they prefer to stay near water. They are considered to be keystone species due to their impact on their environments, other animals tend to keep their distance from elephants while predators, such as lions, tigers, hyenas, and wild dogs, usually target only young elephants. Females tend to live in groups, which can consist of one female with her calves or several related females with offspring. The groups are led by a known as the matriarch. Elephants have a society in which multiple family groups come together to socialise. Males leave their family groups when they reach puberty and may live alone or with other males, calves are the centre of attention in their family groups and rely on their mothers for as long as three years. Elephants can live up to 70 years in the wild and they communicate by touch, sight, smell, and sound, elephants use infrasound, and seismic communication over long distances. Elephant intelligence has been compared with that of primates and cetaceans and they appear to have self-awareness and show empathy for dying or dead individuals of their kind. African elephants are listed as vulnerable by the International Union for Conservation of Nature while the Asian elephant is classed as endangered, one of the biggest threats to elephant populations is the ivory trade, as the animals are poached for their ivory tusks. Other threats to elephants include habitat destruction and conflicts with local people. Elephants are used as working animals in Asia, in the past, they were used in war, today, they are often controversially put on display in zoos, or exploited for entertainment in circuses. Elephants are highly recognisable and have featured in art, folklore, religion, literature
24.
Baboon
–
Baboons are African and Arabian Old World monkeys belonging to the genus Papio, part of the subfamily Cercopithecinae. The five species are some of the largest non-hominoid members of the order, only the mandrill. Previously, the closely related gelada and the two species of genus Mandrillus were grouped in the genus, and these Old World monkeys are still often referred to as baboons in everyday speech. They range in size and weight depending on species, the Guinea baboon is 50 cm and weighs only 14 kg, while the largest chacma baboon can be 120 cm and weigh 40 kg. Five species of Papio are commonly recognized, although there is disagreement about whether they are really full species or subspecies. They are P. ursinus, P. papio, P. hamadryas, P. anubis, many authors distinguish P. hamadryas as a full species, but regard all the others as subspecies of P. cynocephalus and refer to them collectively as savanna baboons. However, recent morphological and genetic studies of Papio show the hamadryas baboon to be closely related to the northern baboon species than to the southern species. In 2015 researchers found the oldest baboon fossil dating 2 million years ago, the traditional five-form classification probably under-represents the variation within Papio. However, current knowledge of the morphological, genetic, and behavioral diversity within Papio is too poor to make any final and these calluses are nerveless, hairless pads of skin that provide for the sitting comfort of the baboon. All baboon species exhibit pronounced sexual dimorphism, usually in size, males of the hamadryas baboon species also have large white manes. Baboons are terrestrial and are found in savannah, open woodland. Their diets are omnivorous, but mostly herbivorous, yet they eat insects and occasionally prey on fish, trout and salmon if available, shellfish, hares, birds, vervet monkeys and they are foragers and are active at irregular times throughout the day and night. They can raid human dwellings, and in South Africa, they have known to prey on sheep. Baboons in captivity have been known to live up to 45 years, baboons are able to acquire orthographic processing skills, which form part of the ability to read. Their principal predators are Nile crocodiles, lions, spotted and striped hyenas, leopards and they are considered a difficult prey for the leopard, though, which is mostly a threat to young baboons. Large males will often confront them by flashing their eyelids, showing their teeth by yawning, screeching, making gestures, although they are not a prey species, baboons have been killed by the black mamba. This usually occurs when a baboon accidentally rouses the snake, most baboons live in hierarchical troops. Group sizes vary between five and 250 animals, depending on circumstances, especially species and time of year
25.
Wildcat
–
The wildcat is a small cat native to most of Africa, Europe, and Southwest and Central Asia into India, western China, and Mongolia. Because of its range it is assessed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List since 2002. However, crossbreeding of wildcat and domestic cat occurs in particular in Europe and is considered a threat for the preservation of the wild species. The wildcat shows a degree of geographic variation. Whereas the Asiatic wildcat is spotted, the African wildcat is striped, has short sandy-grey fur, banded legs, red-backed ears. The European wildcat is striped, has long fur and a tail with a rounded tip. The wildcat is the ancestor of the domestic cat, genetic, morphological and archaeological evidence suggests that domestication of Old-World wildcats began approximately 7500 years BCE in the Fertile Crescent region of the Near East. Until 2007, twenty-two subspecies of wildcat were recognised, since publication of results of a phylogeographical analysis, only five subspecific groups have been suggested, including the Chinese mountain cat. In 1778, Johann von Schreber described the European wildcat using the scientific name Felis silvestris, in subsequent decades, several naturalists and explorers described wildcats from European, African and Asian countries. As of 2005,22 subspecies were recognised by Mammal Species of the World and they were divided into three groups, Forest wildcats. The domestic cat is thought to have derived from this group, the subspecies jordansi, reyi, cretensis, and the European and North African populations of lybica represent transitional forms between the forest and bay wildcat groups. Based on results of an analysis, scientists proposed in 2007 to recognise the five subspecies F. s. lybica, F. s. ornata, F. s. silvestris, F. s. cafra. The first four are recognised by International Union for Conservation of Nature as subspecies of F. silvestris, the wildcats direct ancestor was Felis lunensis, or Martellis wildcat, which lived in Europe as early as the late Pliocene. Fossil remains of the wildcat are common in deposits dating from the last ice age. At some point during the Late Pleistocene, the migrated from Europe into the Middle East. Within possibly 10,000 years, the wildcat spread eastwards into Asia. The wildcats closest living relatives are the cat, the Chinese mountain cat, the jungle cat. As a whole, the wildcat represents a less specialised form than the sand cat
26.
Middle Assyrian Empire
–
By the reign of Eriba-Adad I Mitanni influence over Assyria was on the wane. A pro-Assyria faction appeared at the royal Mitanni court, Eriba-Adad I had thus finally broken Mitanni influence over Assyria, and in turn had now made Assyria an influence over Mitanni affairs. Ashur-uballit I succeeded the throne of Assyria in 1365 BC, and proved to be a fierce, ambitious, Assyrian pressure from the southeast and Hittite pressure from the north-west, enabled Ashur-uballit I to break Mitanni power. This marriage led to results for Babylonia, as the Kassite faction at court murdered the half Assyrian Babylonian king. Assur-uballit I promptly invaded Babylonia to avenge his son-in-law, entering Babylon, Ashur-uballit I then attacked and defeated Mattiwaza, the Mitanni king, despite attempts by the Hittite king Suppiluliumas, now fearful of growing Assyrian power, to help the Mitanni. The lands of the Mitanni and Hurrians were duly appropriated by Assyria, making it a large and he described himself as a Great-King in letters to the Hittite kings. The successor of Enlil-nirari, Arik-den-ili, consolidated Assyrian power, and successfully campaigned in the Zagros Mountains to the east, subjugating the Lullubi, in Syria, he defeated Semitic tribes of the so-called Ahlamu group, who were possibly predecessors of the Arameans or an Aramean tribe. He then moved into north eastern Asia Minor, conquering Shupria, adad-nirari I made further gains to the south, annexing Babylonian territory and forcing the Kassite rulers of Babylon into accepting a new frontier agreement in Assyrias favor. Adad-niraris inscriptions are more detailed than any of his predecessors and he declares that the gods of Mesopotamia called him to war, a statement used by most subsequent Assyrian kings. He referred to himself again as Sharru Rabi and conducted extensive building projects in Ashur, in 1274 BC, Shalmaneser I ascended the throne. He proved to be a warrior king. He then attacked the Mitanni-Hurrians, defeating both King Shattuara and his Hittite and Aramaean allies, finally destroying the Hurri-Mitanni kingdom in the process. Shalmaneser I installed an Assyrian prince, Ilu-ippada as ruler of Mitanni, with Assyrian governors such as Meli-sah, the Hittites, having failed to save Mitanni, allied with Babylon in an unsuccessful economic war against Assyria for many years. Like his father, Shalmaneser was a builder and he further expanded the city of Kalhu at the juncture of the Tigris. Shalmanesers son and successor, Tukulti-Ninurta I, won a victory against the Hittites and their king Tudhaliya IV at the Battle of Nihriya. He then conquered Babylonia, taking Kashtiliash IV as a captive and ruled there himself as king for seven years, taking on the old title King of Sumer and Akkad first used by Sargon of Akkad. Tukulti-Ninurta I thus became the first Akkadian speaking native Mesopotamian to rule the state of Babylonia, its founders having been foreign Amorites, Tukulti-Ninurta petitioned the god Shamash before beginning his counter offensive. He then proclaimed king of Karduniash, king of Sumer and Akkad, king of Sippar and Babylon, king of Tilmun
27.
Emperor of China
–
The emperor was also referred to as the Son of Heaven, a title that predates the Qin unification and recognized as the ruler of all under heaven. In practice not every Emperor held supreme power in China, although this was usually the case, Emperors from the same family are classified in historical periods known as dynasties. During the Yuan and Qing dynasties China was ruled by ethnic Mongols, the orthodox historical view sees these as non-native dynasties that became sinicized, though some recent scholars argue that the interaction between politics and ethnicity was far more complex. Nevertheless, in both cases these rulers claimed the Mandate of Heaven to assume the role of traditional Confucian emperors in order to rule over China proper and he called himself Shi Huangdi, the First Emperor. In the 3rd century BC, the two titles had not previously been used together, on that account, some modern scholars translate the title as thearch. On occasion, the father of the emperor was still alive. Such an emperor was titled the Tai Shang Huang, the Grand Imperial Sire, the practice was initiated by the First Emperor, who gave the title as a posthumous name to his own father. Liu Bang, who established the Han dynasty, was the first to become emperor while his father yet lived and it was said he granted the title during his fathers life because he would not be bowed to by his own father, a commoner. Owing to political fragmentation, over the centuries, it has not been uncommon to have numerous claimants to the title of Emperor of All China, the Chinese political concept of the Mandate of Heaven essentially legitimized those claimants who emerged victorious. Thus, Kublai Khan was simultaneously Khagan of the Mongols and Emperor of China, on one count, from the Qin dynasty to the Qing dynasty, there were 557 emperors including the rulers of minor states. The Emperors words were considered sacred edicts and his written proclamations directives from above, in theory, the Emperors orders were to be obeyed immediately. He was elevated above all commoners, nobility and members of the Imperial family, addresses to the Emperor were always to be formal and self-deprecatory, even by the closest of family members. In practice, however, the power of the emperor varied between different emperors and different dynasties and these emperors ruled as absolute monarchs throughout their reign, maintaining a centralized grip on the country. During the Song dynasty, the power was significantly overshadowed by the power of the chancellor. The emperors position, unless deposed in a rebellion, was always hereditary, as a result, many emperors ascended the throne while still children. During these minorities, the Empress Dowager would possess significant power, where Empresses Dowager were too weak to assume power, court officials often seized control. Court eunuchs had a significant role in the structure, as emperors often relied on a few of them as confidants. In a few places, eunuchs wielded vast power, one of the most powerful eunuchs in Chinese history was Wei Zhongxian during the Ming dynasty, occasionally, other nobles seized power as regents
28.
King Wen of Zhou
–
King Wen of Zhou was king of Zhou during the late Shang dynasty in ancient China. Although it was his son Wu who conquered the Shang following the Battle of Muye, a large number of the hymns of the Classic of Poetry are praises to the legacy of King Wen. Some consider him the first epic hero of Chinese history, born Ji Chang, Wen was the son of Tai Ren and Ji Jili, the king of a small state along the Wei River in present-day Shaanxi. His father was betrayed and executed by the Shang king Wen Ding in the late 12th century BC and he married Tai Si and had at least ten sons. At one point, King Zhou of Shang, fearing Wens growing power and his second son, King Wu, followed his fathers wishes and crushed the Shang at Muye, creating the imperial Zhou dynasty. A burial mound in Zhouling town, Xianyang, Shaanxi was once thought to be the resting place of King Wen. In the Qing dynasty the tomb was fitted with a headstone bearing Wens name and incorporated into a complex in his honor. Nearby tombs were thought to be those of Wens successors King Wu, modern archeology has since concluded that the five tombs are not old enough to be from the Zhou dynasty, and are more likely to be those of Han dynasty royals. The true location of King Wens tomb is unknown, although it is likely to be in the Xianyang-Xian area. Many of the older odes from the Classic of Poetry are hymns in praise of King Wen, King Wen is also credited with having stacked the eight trigrams in their various permutations to create the sixty-four hexagrams of the I Ching. He is also said to have written the judgments which are appended to each hexagram, the most commonly used sequence of the 64 hexagrams is attributed to him and is usually referred to as the King Wen sequence. In 196 BC, Han Gaozu gave King Wen the title Greatest of All Kings, Ci Hai Bian Ji Wei Yuan Hui. Shanghai Ci Shu Chu Ban She,1979 Wu, K. C
29.
Solomon
–
Solomon, also called Jedidiah, was, according to the Bible, Quran, hadith and Hidden Words a fabulously wealthy and wise king of Israel and a son of David, the previous king of Israel. The conventional dates of Solomons reign are circa 970 to 931 BC and he is described as the third king of the United Monarchy, which would break apart into the northern Kingdom of Israel and the southern Kingdom of Judah shortly after his death. Following the split, his descendants ruled over Judah alone. According to the Talmud, Solomon is one of the 48 prophets, in the Quran, he is considered a major prophet, and Muslims generally refer to him by the Arabic variant Sulayman, son of David. Solomon was, according to the Quran, a king of ancient Israel as well as the son of David, the Hebrew Bible credits him as the builder of the First Temple in Jerusalem. It portrays him as great in wisdom, wealth, and power any of the previous kings of the country. His sins included idolatry, marrying foreign women, and ultimately turning away from Yahweh, Solomon is the subject of many other later references and legends, most notably in the 1st-century apocryphal work known as the Testament of Solomon. Solomon was born in Jerusalem, the second child of David and his wife Bathsheba. The first child, a son conceived adulterously during Uriahs lifetime, had died before Solomon was conceived as a punishment on account of the death of Uriah by Davids order. Solomon had three named full brothers through Bathsheba, Nathan, Shammua, and Shobab, besides six known older half-brothers through as many mothers, according to the First Book of Kings, when David was old, he could not get warm. So they sought a young woman throughout all the territory of Israel, and found Abishag the Shunammite. The young woman was very beautiful, and she was of service to the king and attended to him, while David was in this state, court factions were maneuvering for power. Solomon greatly expanded his military strength, especially the cavalry and chariot arms and he founded numerous colonies, some of which doubled as trading posts and military outposts. Trade relationships were a focus of his administration, Solomon is considered the most wealthy of the Israelite kings named in the Bible. Solomon also built the First Temple, beginning in the year of his reign. Solomon was the Biblical king most famous for his wisdom, in 1 Kings he sacrificed to God and prayed for wisdom. God personally answered his prayer, promising him great wisdom because he did not ask for self-serving rewards like long life or the death of his enemies. Perhaps the best known story of his wisdom is the Judgment of Solomon, Solomon easily resolved the dispute by commanding the child to be cut in half and shared between the two
30.
Kingdom of Israel (united monarchy)
–
The United Monarchy is the name given to the Israelite kingdom of Israel and Judah, during the reigns of Saul, David and Solomon, as depicted in the Hebrew Bible. This is traditionally dated between 1050 and 930 BCE, modern historians are divided on the historicity of the United Monarchy as described in the Bible. There is no evidence of a united Kingdom of Judah. According to standard source criticism, a number of source texts were spliced together to produce the current books of Samuel. The most prominent in the parts of the first book are the pro-monarchical source. In identifying these two sources, two separate accounts can be reconstructed, the anti-monarchical source describes Samuel to have thoroughly routed the Philistines, yet begrudgingly accepting that the people demanded a ruler, and thus appointing Saul by cleromancy. Textual critics also point to disparities in the account of Davids rise to power as indicative of separate threads being merged later to create an age of a united monarchy. David is thought by scholars to have been a ruler in Judah while Israel, comparatively immense, modern archaeology also supports this view. Most scholars believe the Books of Samuel exhibit too many anachronisms to have been a contemporary account, for example, there is mention of later armor, use of camels, cavalry, and iron picks and axes. According to the Book of Judges, the Israelite tribes previously lived as a confederation under ad hoc charismatic leaders called Judges. Abimelech was the first to be declared king by the men of Shechem and the house of Millo, and reigned over Israel for three years before he was killed during the Battle of Thebez. The Bible treats the notion of kingship as having been an anathema at the time, it being seen as one man put in a position of reverence and power, which in their faith was reserved for God. According to the Second Book of Samuel, due to his disobedience to God, Sauls reign was curtailed, the Masoretic Text says that Saul ruled for only two years. The Bible portrays Saul as having died in battle against the Philistines, Sauls heir, Ishbaal, took over rulership of Israel but, according to Samuel, ruled for only two years before he was assassinated. David, who had become king of Judah only, ended the conspiracy, a number of textual critics and biblical scholars have suggested that David was actually responsible for the assassination, and Davids innocence was a later invention to legitimize his actions. Israel rebels, according to Samuel, and appoints Davids son Absalom as their new king, the Bible then describes Israel as taking over Judah and ultimately forcing David into exile east of the Jordan. This section of the text, and the bulk of the remainder of the Books of Samuel, is thought by textual critics to belong to a single large source known as the Court History of David. Israel and Judah are portrayed in this source as quite distinct kingdoms, eventually, according to the Book of Samuel, David launches a counter-attack, and wins, although with the loss of Absalom
31.
Semiramis
–
Semiramis was the legendary wife of King Nimrod, and Ninus later on, succeeding him to the throne of Assyria. The indigenous Assyrians of Iraq, northeast Syria, southeast Turkey, the name of Semiramis came to be applied to various monuments in Western Asia and Asia Minor, the origin of which was forgotten or unknown. Nearly every stupendous work of antiquity by the Euphrates or in Iran seems to have ultimately been ascribed to her, herodotus ascribes to her the artificial banks that confined the Euphrates and knows her name as borne by a gate of Babylon. After her husbands death, she served as regent from 811–806 BC for her son, according to the legend as related by Diodorus, Semiramis was of noble parents, the daughter of the fish-goddess Derketo of Ascalon in Assyria and a mortal. Derketo abandoned her at birth and drowned herself, doves fed the child until Simmas, the royal shepherd, found and raised her. Semiramis then married Onnes or Menones, one of Ninus generals, when Onnes refused to exchange his wife for the kings daughter, Ninus threatened to put out his eyes unless he at once acceded to his commands. Onnes, out of fear of the king, and out of doomed passion for his wife, fell into a kind of frenzy and madness, Semiramis and Ninus had a son named Ninyas. After King Ninus conquered Asia, including the Bactrians, he was wounded by an arrow. Semiramis then masqueraded as her son and tricked her late husbands army into following her instructions because they thought these came from their new ruler, after Ninuss death she reigned as queen regnant for 42 years, conquering much of Asia. Semiramis restored ancient Babylon and protected it with a brick wall that completely surrounded the city. Then she built several palaces in Persia, including Ecbatana, Diodorus also attributes the Behistun inscription to her, now known to have been done under Darius I of Persia. She not only reigned Asia effectively but also added Libya and Aethiopia to the empire and she then went to war with king Stabrobates of India, having her artisans create an army of false elephants to deceive the Indians into thinking she had acquired real elephants. This succeeded at first, but then she was wounded in the counterattack and she is also credited with inventing the chastity belt. Armenian tradition portrays her as a homewrecker and a harlot, one of the most popular legends in Armenian tradition involves Semiramis and an Armenian king, Ara the Beautiful. In the 20th century, the poet Nairi Zarian retold the story of Ara the Beautiful and Shamiram, according to the legend, Semiramis had heard about the fame of the handsome Armenian king Ara, and she lusted after his image. Semiramis was enamored with Aras vigorous physical power and so sought to consummate with him and she asked Ara to marry her, but he refused, upon hearing this, she gathered the armies of Assyria and marched against Armenia. During the battle Ara was slain by Semiramis, to avoid continuous warfare with the Armenians, Semiramis, reputed to be a sorceress, took his body and prayed to the gods to raise Ara from the dead. When the Armenians advanced to avenge their leader, she disguised one of her lovers as Ara and spread the rumor that the gods had brought Ara back to life, although many different versions of the legend exist, they agree that Ara never came back to life
32.
Ashurbanipal
–
Ashurbanipal, also spelled Assurbanipal or Ashshurbanipal, was an Assyrian king, the son of Esarhaddon and the last strong king of the Neo-Assyrian Empire. He is famed for amassing a significant collection of documents for his royal palace at Nineveh. This collection, known as the Library of Ashurbanipal, is now housed at the British Museum, in the Hebrew Bible he is called Asenappar. Ashurbanipal was born toward the end of a 1500-year period of Assyrian ascendancy and his father, Esarhaddon, the youngest son of Sennacherib, had become heir when the crown prince, Ashur-nadin-shumi, was deposed by rebels from his position as vassal for Babylon. Esarhaddon was the son not of Sennacheribs queen, Tashmetum-sharrat, but of the palace woman Zakutu, there are some suggestions Zakutu may have been an Israelite or Aramean concubine, while others point to her family origins being in the northern Assyrian city of Harran. The only queen known for Esarhaddon was Ashur-hamat, who died in 672 BC, Ashurbanipal grew up in the small palace called Bit Reduti, built by his grandfather Sennacherib when he was crown prince in the northern quadrant of Nineveh. In 694 BC, Sennacherib had completed the Palace Without Rival at the southwest corner of the acropolis, the House of Succession had become the palace of Esarhaddon, the crown prince. In this house, Ashurbanipals grandfather was assassinated by uncles identified only from the account as Adrammelech, Abimlech. From this conspiracy, Esarhaddon emerged as king in 681 BC and he proceeded to rebuild as his residence the Bit Masharti. The House of Succession was left to his mother and the younger children, the names of five brothers and one sister are known. Sin-iddin-apli, the crown prince, died prior to 672 BC. According to legend, Ashurbanipal was the only Assyrian king who learned how to read, Ashurbanipal succeeded his father Esarhaddon 681-669 BC as king of Assyria and ruler of the Assyrian Empire in 668 BC. Esarhaddon had prepared for the accession of his son by imposing a treaty upon his Persian, Median and Parthian subjects. He had also rebuilt Babylon and set up another of his sons Shamash-shum-ukin to rule there, despite being a popular king among his subjects, he was also known for his cruelty to his enemies. Some pictures depict him putting a dog chain through the jaw of a defeated Arab king, Ashurbanipal inherited from Esarhaddon not only the throne of the empire but also the ongoing war in Egypt with Kush/Nubia. His father had ended Egyptian interference in the Near East, destroyed the Kushite Empire, driven the Kushites/Nubians from Egypt, however the Nubians still had ambitions to regain control of Egypt and resurrect their empire. Ashurbanipal sent an army against them in 667 BC that defeated the Nubian king Taharqa, near Memphis, at the same time some Egyptian vassals rebelled and were also defeated. All of the vanquished leaders save one were sent to Nineveh, only Necho I, the native Egyptian Prince of Sais, convinced the Assyrians of his loyalty and was sent back to become the Assyrian puppet Pharaoh of Egypt
33.
Assyria
–
Assyria was a major Mesopotamian East Semitic-speaking kingdom and empire of the ancient Near East and the Levant. Centered on the Tigris in Upper Mesopotamia, the Assyrians came to rule powerful empires at several times. Assyria is named after its capital, the ancient city of Aššur. In the 25th and 24th centuries BC, Assyrian kings were pastoral leaders, Assyria can also refer to the geographic region or heartland where Assyria, its empires and the Assyrian people were centered. The indigenous modern Eastern Aramaic-speaking Assyrian Christian ethnic minority in northern Iraq, north east Syria, southeast Turkey, in prehistoric times, the region that was to become known as Assyria was home to a Neanderthal culture such as has been found at the Shanidar Cave. The earliest Neolithic sites in Assyria were the Jarmo culture c.7100 BC and Tell Hassuna, during the 3rd millennium BC, a very intimate cultural symbiosis developed between the Sumerians and the Akkadians throughout Mesopotamia, which included widespread bilingualism. The influence of Sumerian on Akkadian, and vice versa, is evident in all areas, from lexical borrowing on a scale, to syntactic, morphological. This has prompted scholars to refer to Sumerian and Akkadian in the third millennium BC as a sprachbund and it is highly likely that the city was named in honour of its patron Assyrian god with the same name. The city of Aššur, together with a number of other Assyrian cities, however it is likely that they were initially Sumerian-dominated administrative centres. In the late 26th century BC, Eannatum of Lagash, then the dominant Sumerian ruler in Mesopotamia, similarly, in c. the early 25th century BC, Lugal-Anne-Mundu the king of the Sumerian state of Adab lists Subartu as paying tribute to him. Of the early history of the kingdom of Assyria, little is known, in the Assyrian King List, the earliest king recorded was Tudiya. According to Georges Roux he would have lived in the mid 25th century BC, Tudiya was succeeded on the list by Adamu, the first known reference to the Semitic name Adam and then a further thirteen rulers. The earliest kings, such as Tudiya, who are recorded as kings who lived in tents, were independent semi-nomadic pastoralist rulers and these kings at some point became fully urbanised and founded the city state of Ashur in the mid 21st century BC. During the Akkadian Empire, the Assyrians, like all the Mesopotamian Semites, became subject to the dynasty of the city state of Akkad, the Akkadian Empire founded by Sargon the Great claimed to encompass the surrounding four quarters. Assyrian rulers were subject to Sargon and his successors, and the city of Ashur became an administrative center of the Empire. On those tablets, Assyrian traders in Burushanda implored the help of their ruler, Sargon the Great, the name Hatti itself even appears in later accounts of his grandson, Naram-Sin, campaigning in Anatolia. Assyrian and Akkadian traders spread the use of writing in the form of the Mesopotamian cuneiform script to Asia Minor, the Akkadian Empire was destroyed by economic decline and internal civil war, followed by attacks from barbarian Gutian people in 2154 BC. The rulers of Assyria during the period between c.2154 BC and 2112 BC once again fully independent, as the Gutians are only known to have administered southern Mesopotamia
34.
Nebuchadnezzar II
–
Nebuchadnezzar II was a Chaldean king of the Neo-Babylonian Empire, who reigned c.605 BCE – c.562 BCE. Both the construction of the Hanging Gardens of Babylon and the destruction of Jerusalems temple are ascribed to him and he is featured in the Book of Daniel and is mentioned in several other books of the Bible. The Akkadian name,
35.
Babylonia
–
Babylonia was an ancient Akkadian-speaking state and cultural area based in central-southern Mesopotamia. A small Amorite-ruled state emerged in 1894 BC, which contained at this time the city of Babylon. Babylon greatly expanded during the reign of Hammurabi in the first half of the 18th century BC, during the reign of Hammurabi and afterwards, Babylonia was called Māt Akkadī the country of Akkad in the Akkadian language. It was often involved in rivalry with its older fellow Akkadian-speaking state of Assyria in northern Mesopotamia and it retained the Sumerian language for religious use, but by the time Babylon was founded, this was no longer a spoken language, having been wholly subsumed by Akkadian. The earliest mention of the city of Babylon can be found in a tablet from the reign of Sargon of Akkad. During the 3rd millennium BC, a cultural symbiosis occurred between Sumerian and Akkadian-speakers, which included widespread bilingualism. The influence of Sumerian on Akkadian and vice versa is evident in all areas, from lexical borrowing on a scale, to syntactic, morphological. This has prompted scholars to refer to Sumerian and Akkadian in the millennium as a sprachbund. Traditionally, the religious center of all Mesopotamia was the city of Nippur. The empire eventually disintegrated due to decline, climate change and civil war. Sumer rose up again with the Third Dynasty of Ur in the late 22nd century BC and they also seem to have gained ascendancy over most of the territory of the Akkadian kings of Assyria in northern Mesopotamia for a time. The states of the south were unable to stem the Amorite advance, King Ilu-shuma of the Old Assyrian Empire in a known inscription describes his exploits to the south as follows, The freedom of the Akkadians and their children I established. I established their freedom from the border of the marshes and Ur and Nippur, Awal, past scholars originally extrapolated from this text that it means he defeated the invading Amorites to the south, but there is no explicit record of that. More recently, the text has been taken to mean that Asshur supplied the south with copper from Anatolia and these policies were continued by his successors Erishum I and Ikunum. During the first centuries of what is called the Amorite period and his reign was concerned with establishing statehood amongst a sea of other minor city states and kingdoms in the region. However Sumuabum appears never to have bothered to give himself the title of King of Babylon, suggesting that Babylon itself was only a minor town or city. He was followed by Sumu-la-El, Sabium, Apil-Sin, each of whom ruled in the same manner as Sumuabum. Sin-Muballit was the first of these Amorite rulers to be regarded officially as a king of Babylon, the Elamites occupied huge swathes of southern Mesopotamia, and the early Amorite rulers were largely held in vassalage to Elam
36.
Alexander the Great
–
Alexander III of Macedon, commonly known as Alexander the Great, was a king of the Ancient Greek kingdom of Macedon and a member of the Argead dynasty. He was born in Pella in 356 BC and succeeded his father Philip II to the throne at the age of twenty and he was undefeated in battle and is widely considered one of historys most successful military commanders. During his youth, Alexander was tutored by Aristotle until the age of 16, after Philips assassination in 336 BC, he succeeded his father to the throne and inherited a strong kingdom and an experienced army. Alexander was awarded the generalship of Greece and used this authority to launch his fathers Panhellenic project to lead the Greeks in the conquest of Persia, in 334 BC, he invaded the Achaemenid Empire and began a series of campaigns that lasted ten years. Following the conquest of Anatolia, Alexander broke the power of Persia in a series of battles, most notably the battles of Issus. He subsequently overthrew Persian King Darius III and conquered the Achaemenid Empire in its entirety, at that point, his empire stretched from the Adriatic Sea to the Indus River. He sought to reach the ends of the world and the Great Outer Sea and invaded India in 326 BC and he eventually turned back at the demand of his homesick troops. Alexander died in Babylon in 323 BC, the city that he planned to establish as his capital, without executing a series of planned campaigns that would have begun with an invasion of Arabia. In the years following his death, a series of civil wars tore his empire apart, resulting in the establishment of several states ruled by the Diadochi, Alexanders surviving generals, Alexanders legacy includes the cultural diffusion which his conquests engendered, such as Greco-Buddhism. He founded some twenty cities that bore his name, most notably Alexandria in Egypt, Alexander became legendary as a classical hero in the mold of Achilles, and he features prominently in the history and mythic traditions of both Greek and non-Greek cultures. He became the measure against which military leaders compared themselves, and he is often ranked among the most influential people in human history. He was the son of the king of Macedon, Philip II, and his wife, Olympias. Although Philip had seven or eight wives, Olympias was his wife for some time. Several legends surround Alexanders birth and childhood, sometime after the wedding, Philip is said to have seen himself, in a dream, securing his wifes womb with a seal engraved with a lions image. Plutarch offered a variety of interpretations of dreams, that Olympias was pregnant before her marriage, indicated by the sealing of her womb. On the day Alexander was born, Philip was preparing a siege on the city of Potidea on the peninsula of Chalcidice. That same day, Philip received news that his general Parmenion had defeated the combined Illyrian and Paeonian armies, and it was also said that on this day, the Temple of Artemis in Ephesus, one of the Seven Wonders of the World, burnt down. This led Hegesias of Magnesia to say that it had burnt down because Artemis was away, such legends may have emerged when Alexander was king, and possibly at his own instigation, to show that he was superhuman and destined for greatness from conception
37.
William Edward Hartpole Lecky
–
William Edward Hartpole Lecky OM was an Irish historian and political theorist. His major work was an eight-volume History of England during the Eighteenth Century, born at Newtown Park, near Dublin, he was the eldest son of John Hartpole Lecky, a landowner. In 1860, Lecky published anonymously a small book entitled The Religious Tendencies of the Age, two surveys followed, A History of the Rise and Influence of Rationalism in Europe, and A History of European Morals from Augustus to Charlemagne. The latter aroused criticism, with its opening dissertation on the history of morals. In the cabinet edition of 1892, in 12 volumes, A History of Ireland in the Eighteenth Century is separated out, a volume of Poems was less successful. In 1896, he published two volumes entitled Democracy and Liberty, in which he considered modern democracy, in The Map of Life Lecky discussed in a popular style ethical problems of everyday life. In 1897, he was made a councillor, and among the coronation honours in 1902. His university honours included the degree of LL. D. from Dublin, St Andrews and Glasgow, the degree of D. C. L. from Oxford, in 1894 he was elected corresponding member of the Institute of France. He contributed occasionally to periodical literature, and two of his addresses, The Political Value of History and The Empire, its Value and its Growth, were published. He married in 1871 Elizabeth, baroness de Dedem, daughter of baron de Dedem, a general in the Dutch service and she contributed articles, chiefly on historical and political subjects, to various reviews. In 1904, money for a memorial was raised by subscription, a volume of Leckys Historical and Political Essays was published posthumously. The Lecky Chair of History at Trinity College, Dublin, was endowed by his widow in 1913, in 1978, part of the colleges humanities library complex was named in his honour. New York, D. Appleton and Company,1,3, and 5 Bond Street). Includes all chapters, Preface, Bibliography,1 History of the Rise and Influence of the Spirit of Rationalism in Europe, vol.2
38.
Bear
–
Bears are carnivoran mammals of the family Ursidae. Bears are classified as caniforms, or doglike carnivorans, although only eight species of bears are extant, they are widespread, appearing in a wide variety of habitats throughout the Northern Hemisphere and partially in the Southern Hemisphere. Bears are found on the continents of North America, South America, Europe, common characteristics of modern bears include large bodies with stocky legs, long snouts, small rounded ears, shaggy hair, plantigrade paws with five nonretractile claws, and short tails. While the polar bear is mostly carnivorous, and the giant panda feeds almost entirely on bamboo, with the exception of courting individuals and mothers with their young, bears are typically solitary animals. They may be diurnal or nocturnal and have an excellent sense of smell, despite their heavy build and awkward gait, they are adept runners, climbers, and swimmers. Bears use shelters, such as caves and logs, as their dens, most species occupy their dens during the winter for a period of hibernation. Bears have been hunted since prehistoric times for their meat and fur, they have used for bear-baiting and other forms of entertainment. With their powerful physical presence, they play a prominent role in the arts, mythology, in modern times, bears have come under pressure through encroachment on their habitats and illegal trade in bear parts, including the Asian bile bear market. The IUCN lists six species as vulnerable or endangered, and even least concern species. The poaching and international trade of these most threatened populations are prohibited, Bear taxon names such as Ursidae and Ursus come from Latin Ursus/Ursa, he-bear/she-bear. The female first name Ursula, originally derived from a Christian saints name, in Switzerland, the male first name Urs is especially popular, while the name of the canton and city of Bern is derived from Bär, German for bear. The Germanic name Bernard means bear-brave, bear-hardy, or bold bear, the Old English name Beowulf is a kenning, bee-wolf, for bear, in turn meaning a brave warrior. The family Ursidae is one of nine families in the suborder Caniformia, or doglike carnivorans, Bears closest living relatives are the pinnipeds, canids, and musteloids. Modern bears comprise eight species in three subfamilies, Ailuropodinae, Tremarctinae, and Ursinae, the earliest members of Ursidae belong to the extinct subfamily Amphicynodontinae, including Parictis and the slightly younger Allocyon, both from North America. These animals looked very different from bears, being small and raccoon-like in overall appearance. Parictis does not appear in Eurasia and Africa until the Miocene, european genera morphologically are very similar to Allocyon, and to the much younger American Kolponomos, are known from the Oligocene, including Amphicticeps and Amphicynodon. The raccoon-sized, dog-like Cephalogale is the member of the subfamily Hemicyoninae. The subfamily includes the younger genera Phoberocyon, and Plithocyon, a Cephalogale-like species gave rise to the genus Ursavus during the early Oligocene, this genus proliferated into many species in Asia and is ancestral to all living bears
39.
Bull
–
A bull is an intact adult male of the species Bos taurus. Usage of these terms varies considerably with area and dialect, colloquially, people unfamiliar with cattle may refer to both castrated and intact animals as bulls. A wild, young, unmarked bull is known as a micky in Australia, improper or late castration on a bull results in it becoming a coarse steer, also known as a stag in Australia, Canada and New Zealand. In some countries an incompletely castrated male is also as a rig or ridgling. The word bull also denotes the males of other bovines, including bison and water buffalo as well as other species of large animals including elephants, camels, elk, moose. Bulls are much more muscular than cows, with bones, larger feet, a very muscular neck. These features assist bulls in fighting for domination over a herd, the hair is generally shorter on the body, but on the neck and head there is often a mane of curlier, wooly hair. Bulls are usually about the height as cows or a little taller. In horned cattle the horns of bulls tend to be thicker and somewhat shorter than those of cows, and in many breeds they curve outwards in a flat arc rather than upwards in a lyre shape. It is not true, as is believed, that bulls have horns and cows do not. Bulls become fertile at about seven months of age, given the small amount of erectile tissue, there is little enlargement after erection. The penis is quite rigid when non-erect, and becomes more rigid during erection. Protrusion is not affected much by erection, but more by relaxation of the retractor penis muscle, Bulls are occasionally affected by a condition known as corkscrew penis. The penis of a bull is about 3–4 cm in diameter. The bulls glans penis has a rounded and elongated shape, a common misconception widely repeated in depictions of bull behavior is that the color red angers bulls, inciting them to charge. In fact, like most mammals, cattle are red-green color blind, in bullfighting, it is the movement of the matadors cape, and not the color, which provokes a reaction in the bull. Other than the few bulls needed for breeding, the vast majority of cattle are slaughtered for meat before the age of three years. Most of these animals are castrated as calves to reduce aggressive behavior and prevent unwanted mating
40.
Caligula
–
Caligula, properly Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus Germanicus was Roman emperor from AD 37–41. Born Gaius Julius Caesar Germanicus, Caligula was a member of the house of rulers known as the Julio-Claudian dynasty. Caligulas biological father was Germanicus, and he was the great-nephew, the young Gaius earned the nickname Caligula from his fathers soldiers while accompanying him during his campaigns in Germania. When Germanicus died at Antioch in AD19, his wife Agrippina the Elder returned with her six children to Rome, the conflict eventually led to the destruction of her family, with Caligula as the sole male survivor. Untouched by the intrigues, Caligula accepted the invitation to join the Emperor in AD31 on the island of Capri. With the death of Tiberius in AD37, Caligula succeeded his grand uncle, there are few surviving sources about the reign of Emperor Caligula, although he is described as a noble and moderate ruler during the first six months of his reign. After this, the focus upon his cruelty, sadism, extravagance. He directed much of his attention to construction projects and luxurious dwellings for himself. During his reign, the empire annexed the Kingdom of Mauretania as a province, in early AD41, Caligula was assassinated as a result of a conspiracy by officers of the Praetorian Guard, senators, and courtiers. Gaius Julius Caesar was born in Antium on 31 August 12 AD, Gaius had two older brothers, Nero and Drusus, as well as three younger sisters, Agrippina the Younger, Julia Drusilla and Julia Livilla. He was also a nephew of Claudius, Germanicus younger brother, Agrippina the Elder was the daughter of Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa and Julia the Elder. She was a granddaughter of Augustus and Scribonia on her mothers side, through Agrippina, Augustus was the maternal great-grandfather of Gaius. As a boy of just two or three, Gaius accompanied his father, Germanicus, on campaigns in the north of Germania, the soldiers were amused that Gaius was dressed in a miniature soldiers outfit, including boots and armour. He was soon given his nickname Caligula, meaning little boot in Latin, Gaius, though, reportedly grew to dislike this nickname. Suetonius claims that Germanicus was poisoned in Syria by an agent of Tiberius, after the death of his father, Caligula lived with his mother until her relations with Tiberius deteriorated. Tiberius would not allow Agrippina to remarry for fear her husband would be a rival, Agrippina and Caligulas brother, Nero, were banished in 29 AD on charges of treason. The adolescent Caligula was then sent to live with his great-grandmother Livia, after her death, he was sent to live with his grandmother Antonia. In 30 AD, his brother, Drusus Caesar, was imprisoned on charges of treason, Suetonius writes that after the banishment of his mother and brothers, Caligula and his sisters were nothing more than prisoners of Tiberius under the close watch of soldiers
41.
Nero
–
Nero was Roman Emperor from 54 to 68, and the last in the Julio-Claudian dynasty. Nero was adopted by his great-uncle Claudius to become his heir and successor, during his reign, the redoubtable general Corbulo conducted a successful war and negotiated peace with the Parthian Empire. His general Suetonius Paulinus crushed a revolt in Britain, Nero annexed the Bosporan Kingdom to the empire and may have begun the First Jewish–Roman War. In 64 AD, most of Rome was destroyed in the Great Fire of Rome, Suetonius, writing a generation later, claims that many Romans believed Nero himself had started the fire, in order to clear land for his planned palatial complex, the Domus Aurea. In 68, the rebellion of Vindex in Gaul and later the acclamation of Galba in Hispania drove Nero from the throne, facing a false report of being denounced as a public enemy who was to be executed, he committed suicide on 9 June 68. His death ended the Julio-Claudian dynasty, sparking a period of civil wars known as the Year of the Four Emperors. Neros rule is often associated with tyranny and extravagance and he is known for many executions, including that of his mother, and the probable murder by poison of his stepbrother Britannicus. Nero was rumored to have had captured Christians dipped in oil and this view is based on the writings of Tacitus, Suetonius and Cassius Dio, the main surviving sources for Neros reign, but a few sources paint Nero in a more favourable light. Some sources, including some mentioned above, portray him as an emperor who was popular with the common Roman people, some modern historians question the reliability of ancient sources when reporting on Neros tyrannical acts. Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus, Nero, was born on 15 December 37 in Antium and he was the only son of Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus and Agrippina the Younger, sister of Emperor Caligula. Neros father, Gnaeus, was the son of Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus, Gnaeus was thus the grandson of Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus and probably Aemilia Lepida on his fathers side, and the grandson of Mark Antony and Octavia Minor on his mothers side. Thus, Nero had as his paternal grandmother Antonia Major, through Octavia, Nero was the great-nephew of Caesar Augustus. Neros father had employed as a praetor and was a member of Caligulas staff when the latter travelled to the East. Neros father was described by Suetonius as a murderer and a cheat who was charged by Emperor Tiberius with treason, adultery, Tiberius died, allowing him to escape these charges. Neros father died of edema in 39 when Nero was two, Neros mother was Agrippina the Younger, a great-granddaughter of Caesar Augustus and his wife Scribonia through their daughter Julia the Elder and her husband Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa. Agrippinas father, Germanicus, was a grandson of Augustuss wife, Livia, on one side and Mark Antony, Germanicus mother Antonia Minor was a daughter of Octavia Minor and Mark Antony. Germanicus was also the son of Tiberius. Agrippina poisoned her second husband Passienus Crispus, so many ancient historians also accuse her of murdering her third husband, the emperor Claudius
42.
Tiger
–
The tiger is the largest cat species, most recognisable for their pattern of dark vertical stripes on reddish-orange fur with a lighter underside. The species is classified in the genus Panthera with the lion, leopard, jaguar, Tigers are apex predators, primarily preying on ungulates such as deer and bovids. They are territorial and generally solitary but social animals, often requiring large contiguous areas of habitat that support their prey requirements and this, coupled with the fact that they are indigenous to some of the more densely populated places on Earth, has caused significant conflicts with humans. Tigers once ranged widely across eastern Eurasia, from the Black Sea in the west, to the Indian Ocean in the south, today, they range from the Siberian taiga to open grasslands and tropical mangrove swamps. The remaining six tiger subspecies have been classified as endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, a 2016 global census estimated the population of wild tigers at approximately 3,890 individuals. Major reasons for decline include habitat destruction, habitat fragmentation. The extent of area occupied by tigers is estimated at less than 1,184,911 km2, in 2016, wildlife conservation group at WWF declared that worlds count of wild tigers has risen for the first time in a century. Tigers are among the most recognisable and popular of the charismatic megafauna. They have featured prominently in ancient mythology and folklore, and continue to be depicted in modern films and they appear on many flags, coats of arms, and as mascots for sporting teams. The tiger is the animal of Bangladesh, India, Malaysia. In 1758, Linnaeus described the tiger in his work Systema Naturae, in 1929, the British taxonomist Reginald Innes Pocock subordinated the species under the genus Panthera using the scientific name Panthera tigris. The derivation from Greek pan- and ther may be folk etymology, the specific epithet, tigris, as well as the common name, tiger, come from the Middle English tigre and the Old English tigras, both used for the animal. These derive from the Old French tigre, itself a derivative of the Latin word tigris and the Greek word tigris. The original source may have been the Persian tigra meaning pointed or sharp, the tigers closest living relatives were previously thought to be the lion, leopard and jaguar, all of which are classified under the genus Panthera. The oldest remains of an extinct relative, called Panthera zdanskyi or the Longdan tiger, have been found in the Gansu province of northwestern China. This species is considered to be a taxon to the extant tiger and lived about 2 million years ago. It was smaller than the tiger, being the size of a jaguar. Despite being considered more primitive, the Longdan tiger was functionally and possibly ecologically similar to its modern cousin, as Panthera zdanskyi lived in northwestern China, that may have been where the tiger lineage originated
43.
Colosseum
–
The Colosseum or Coliseum, also known as the Flavian Amphitheatre, is an oval amphitheatre in the centre of the city of Rome, Italy. Built of concrete and sand, it is the largest amphitheatre ever built, the Colosseum is situated just east of the Roman Forum. Construction began under the emperor Vespasian in AD72, and was completed in AD80 under his successor, further modifications were made during the reign of Domitian. These three emperors are known as the Flavian dynasty, and the amphitheatre was named in Latin for its association with their family name, the building ceased to be used for entertainment in the early medieval era. It was later reused for purposes as housing, workshops, quarters for a religious order, a fortress, a quarry. Although partially ruined because of damage caused by earthquakes and stone-robbers, the Colosseum is also depicted on the Italian version of the five-cent euro coin. The Colosseums original Latin name was Amphitheatrum Flavium, often anglicized as Flavian Amphitheatre, the building was constructed by emperors of the Flavian dynasty, following the reign of Nero. This name is used in modern English, but generally the structure is better known as the Colosseum. The name Colosseum has long believed to be derived from a colossal statue of Nero nearby. This statue was later remodeled by Neros successors into the likeness of Helios or Apollo, Neros head was also replaced several times with the heads of succeeding emperors. Despite its pagan links, the statue remained standing well into the era and was credited with magical powers. It came to be seen as an symbol of the permanence of Rome. This is often mistranslated to refer to the Colosseum rather than the Colossus, however, at the time that the Pseudo-Bede wrote, the masculine noun coliseus was applied to the statue rather than to what was still known as the Flavian amphitheatre. The Colossus did eventually fall, possibly being pulled down to reuse its bronze, by the year 1000 the name Colosseum had been coined to refer to the amphitheatre. The statue itself was forgotten and only its base survives. The name further evolved to Coliseum during the Middle Ages, in Italy, the amphitheatre is still known as il Colosseo, and other Romance languages have come to use similar forms such as Coloseumul, le Colisée, el Coliseo and o Coliseu. The site chosen was an area on the floor of a low valley between the Caelian, Esquiline and Palatine Hills, through which a canalised stream ran. By the 2nd century BC the area was densely inhabited and it was devastated by the Great Fire of Rome in AD64, following which Nero seized much of the area to add to his personal domain
44.
Titus
–
Titus was Roman emperor from 79 to 81. A member of the Flavian dynasty, Titus succeeded his father Vespasian upon his death, prior to becoming Emperor, Titus gained renown as a military commander, serving under his father in Judea during the First Jewish–Roman War. The campaign came to a halt with the death of emperor Nero in 68. When Vespasian was declared Emperor on 1 July 69, Titus was left in charge of ending the Jewish rebellion, in 70, he besieged and captured Jerusalem, and destroyed the city and the Second Temple. For this achievement Titus was awarded a triumph, the Arch of Titus commemorates his victory to this day. Under the rule of his father, Titus gained notoriety in Rome serving as prefect of the Praetorian Guard, despite concerns over his character, Titus ruled to great acclaim following the death of Vespasian in 79, and was considered a good emperor by Suetonius and other contemporary historians. As emperor, he is best known for completing the Colosseum, after barely two years in office, Titus died of a fever on 13 September 81. He was deified by the Roman Senate and succeeded by his younger brother Domitian, Titus was born in Rome, probably on 30 December 39 AD, as the eldest son of Titus Flavius Vespasianus—commonly known as Vespasian—and Domitilla the Elder. He had one sister, Domitilla the Younger, and one younger brother, Titus Flavius Domitianus. One such family was the gens Flavia, which rose from obscurity to prominence in just four generations, acquiring wealth. Tituss great-grandfather, Titus Flavius Petro, had served as a centurion under Pompey during Caesars civil war and his military career ended in disgrace when he fled the battlefield at the Battle of Pharsalus in 48 BC. Nevertheless, Petro managed to improve his status by marrying the extremely wealthy Tertulla, whose fortune guaranteed the upwards mobility of Petros son Titus Flavius Sabinus I, Sabinus himself amassed further wealth and possible equestrian status through his services as tax collector in Asia and banker in Helvetia. By marrying Vespasia Polla he allied himself to the prestigious patrician gens Vespasia, ensuring the elevation of his sons Titus Flavius Sabinus II. The political career of Vespasian included the offices of quaestor, aedile and praetor, and culminated with a consulship in 51, as a military commander, he gained early renown by participating in the Roman invasion of Britain in 43. The story was told that Titus was reclining next to Britannicus, the night he was murdered. Further details on his education are scarce, but it seems he showed promise in the military arts and was a skilled poet. From c.57 to 59 he was a tribune in Germania. He also served in Britannia, perhaps arriving c.60 with reinforcements needed after the revolt of Boudica, in c.63 he returned to Rome and married Arrecina Tertulla, daughter of a former Prefect of the Praetorian Guard
45.
Trajan
–
Trajan was Roman emperor from 98 to 117 AD. Born in the city of Italica in the province of Hispania Baetica, Trajans non-patrician family was of Italian, Trajan rose to prominence during the reign of emperor Domitian. Serving as a legatus legionis in Hispania Tarraconensis, in 89 Trajan supported Domitian against a revolt on the Rhine led by Antonius Saturninus, in September 96, Domitian was succeeded by Marcus Cocceius Nerva, an old and childless senator who proved to be unpopular with the army. After a brief and tumultuous year in power, culminating in a revolt by members of the Praetorian Guard, Nerva was compelled to adopt the more popular Trajan as his heir and he died on 27 January 98 and was succeeded by his adopted son without incident. Early in his reign, he annexed the Nabataean Kingdom, creating the province of Arabia Petraea and his conquest of Dacia enriched the empire greatly, as the new province possessed many valuable gold mines. However, its position north of the Danube made it susceptible to attack on three sides, and it was later abandoned by Emperor Aurelian. Trajans war against the Parthian Empire ended with the sack of the capital Ctesiphon and his campaigns expanded the Roman Empire to its greatest territorial extent. In late 117, while sailing back to Rome, Trajan fell ill and he was deified by the Senate and his ashes were laid to rest under Trajans Column. He was succeeded by his adopted son Hadrian, as an emperor, Trajans reputation has endured – he is one of the few rulers whose reputation has survived nineteen centuries. Every new emperor after him was honoured by the Senate with the wish felicior Augusto, among medieval Christian theologians, Trajan was considered a virtuous pagan. As far as ancient literary sources are concerned, an extant continuous account of Trajans reign does not exist, only fragments remain of the Getiká, a book by Trajans personal physician Titos Statilios Kriton. The Parthiká, a 17-volume account of the Parthian Wars written by Arrian, has met a similar fate, book 68 in Cassius Dios Roman History, which survives mostly as Byzantine abridgments and epitomes, is the main source for the political history of Trajans rule. Besides this, Pliny the Youngers Panegyricus and Dio of Prusas orations are the best surviving contemporary sources and it is certain that much of text of the letters that appear in this collection over Trajans signature was written and/or edited by Trajans Imperial secretary, his ab epistulis. Therefore, discussion of Trajan and his rule in modern historiography cannot avoid speculation, as well as recourse to sources such as archaeology. Marcus Ulpius Traianus was born on 18 September 53 AD in the Roman province of Hispania Baetica, Trajans birthplace of Italica was founded as a Roman military colony in 206 BC, though it is unknown when the Ulpii arrived there. Trajan was the son of Marcia, a Roman noblewoman and sister-in-law of the second Flavian Emperor Titus, and Marcus Ulpius Traianus, Marcus Ulpius Traianus the elder served Vespasian in the First Jewish-Roman War, commanding the Legio X Fretensis. Trajan himself was just one of many well-known Ulpii in a line that continued long after his own death and his elder sister was Ulpia Marciana, and his niece was Salonina Matidia. The patria of the Ulpii was Italica, in Spanish Baetica, as a young man, he rose through the ranks of the Roman army, serving in some of the most contested parts of the Empires frontier
46.
Lion
–
The lion is one of the big cats in the genus Panthera and a member of the family Felidae. The commonly used term African lion collectively denotes the several subspecies in Africa, with some males exceeding 250 kg in weight, it is the second-largest living cat after the tiger. Wild lions currently exist in sub-Saharan Africa and in India, in ancient historic times, their range was in most of Africa, including North Africa, and across Eurasia from Greece and southeastern Europe to India. Lion populations are untenable outside designated reserves and national parks, although the cause of the decline is not fully understood, habitat loss and conflicts with humans are the greatest causes of concern. Within Africa, the West African lion population is particularly endangered, in the wild, males seldom live longer than 10 to 14 years, as injuries sustained from continual fighting with rival males greatly reduce their longevity. In captivity they can more than 20 years. They typically inhabit savanna and grassland, although they may take to bush, Lions are unusually social compared to other cats. A pride of lions consists of related females and offspring and a number of adult males. Groups of female lions typically hunt together, preying mostly on large ungulates, Lions are apex and keystone predators, although they are also expert scavengers obtaining over 50 percent of their food by scavenging as opportunity allows. While lions do not typically hunt humans, some have, sleeping mainly during the day, lions are active primarily at night, although sometimes at twilight. Highly distinctive, the lion is easily recognised by its mane. It has been depicted in sculptures, in paintings, on national flags. Lions have been kept in menageries since the time of the Roman Empire, Zoos are cooperating worldwide in breeding programs for the endangered Asiatic subspecies. The lions name, similar in many Romance languages, is derived from the Latin leo, the Hebrew word לָבִיא may also be related. It was one of the originally described by Linnaeus, who gave it the name Felis leo, in his eighteenth-century work. The lions closest relatives are the species of the genus Panthera, the tiger, the snow leopard, the jaguar. P. leo evolved in Africa between 1 million and 800,000 years ago, before spreading throughout the Holarctic region and it appeared in the fossil record in Europe for the first time 700,000 years ago with the subspecies Panthera leo fossilis at Isernia in Italy. From this lion derived the later cave lion, which appeared about 300,000 years ago, Lions died out in northern Eurasia at the end of the last glaciation, about 10,000 years ago, this may have been secondary to the extinction of Pleistocene megafauna
.jpg)
Media related to Zoos at Wikimedia Commons
