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Tram

Tram

:For other meanings of tram, see tram (disambiguation). tram (disambiguation), Finland]] Finland. It delivers parts to the Transparent Factory]] A tram (tramcar, trolley, or streetcar) is a railborne vehicle, lighter than a train, designed for the transport of passengers (and/or, very occasionally, freight) within, close to, or between villages, towns and/or cities. Trams are distinguished from other forms of railway systems in that they travel wholly or partly along tracks laid down in streets, usually on track reserved for the tram system. A cable car is a special type of tram. Tram systems are common throughout Europe and were common throughout the western world in the early 20th century. Although they disappeared from many cities for many years in the mid 20th century, in recent years they have made a comeback. The terms "tram" and "tramway" were originally Scots and Northern English words for the type of truck used in coal mines and the tracks on which these trucks ran — probably derived from a North Sea Germanic word of unknown origin meaning the "beam or shaft of a barrow or sledge", also "a barrow or truck body". The sense of "streetcar" is first recorded in 1860.

History

1860]] Appearing in the first half of the 19th century, trams were at first pulled by horses. 19th century The first trams, known as streetcars or horsecars, were built in the US, and developed from city stagecoach lines and omnibus lines that picked up and dropped off passengers on a regular route and without the need to be pre-hired. These first lines operated in Baltimore, Maryland in 1828, in 1832 on the New York and Harlem Railroad in New York City, and in 1834 in New Orleans. At first the rails protruded above street level, causing accidents and major trouble for pedestrians. They were supplanted in 1852 by grooved rails, invented by Alphonse Loubat. The first tram in France was inaugurated in 1853 for the World's Fair, where a test line was presented along the Cours de la Reine, in the 8th arrondissement. Trams were first regularly used in Europe in Sarajevo, starting in 1885. These streetcars were an animal railway, usually using horses and sometimes mules to haul the cars, usually two as a team. Rarely other animals were tried, including humans in emergencies. One of the advantages over earlier forms of transit was the low rolling resistance of metal wheels on steel rails, allowing the animals to haul a greater load for a given effort. Problems included the fact that any given animal could only work so many hours on a given day, had to be housed, groomed, fed and cared for day in and day out, and produced prodigious amounts of manure, which the streetcar company was charged with disposing of. Since a typical horse pulled a car for perhaps a dozen miles a day and worked for four or five hours, many system needed ten or more horses in stable for each horsecar. New York City had the last regular horsecar lines in the U.S., closing in 1914. A mule-powered line in Celaya, Mexico operated until 1956. Horse-drawn trams still operate in Douglas, Isle of Man. Isle of Man in the United States]] The tram developed after that in numerous cities of Europe (London, Berlin, Paris, etc.). Faster and more comfortable than the omnibus, trams had a high cost of operation because they were pulled by horses. That is why mechanical drives were rapidly developed: with steam power in 1873, and electrical after 1881, when Siemens AG presented the electric drive at the International Electricity Exhibition in Paris. The convenience and economy of electricity resulted in its rapid adoption once the technical problems of production and transmission of electricity were solved. The first electric tram opened in Berlin in 1881.

Cable pulled cars

Main article: Cable car (railway) The next type of streetcar was the cable car, which sought to reduce labor costs and the hardship on animals. Cable cars are pulled along a rail track by a continuously moving cable running at a constant speed on which individual cars stop and start by releasing and gripping this cable as required. The power to move the cable is provided at a site away from the actual operation. The first cable car line in the United States was tested in San Francisco, California in 1873. Cable cars suffered from high infrastructure costs, since a vast and expensive system of cables, pulleys, stationary engines and vault structures between the rails had to be provided. They also require strength and skill to operate, to avoid obstructions and other cable cars. The cable had to be dropped at particular locations and the cars coast, for example when crossing another cable line. After the development of electrically-powered streetcars, the more costly cable car systems declined rapidly. Cable cars were especially useful in hilly cities, partially explaining their survival in San Francisco, though the most extensive cable system in the U.S. was in Chicago, Illinois, a flat city. The San Francisco cable cars continue to perform a regular transportation function, in addition to being a tourist attraction.

Electric trams (trolley cars)

San Francisco cable cars successfully demonstrated his new system on the hills in 1888]] Electric-powered trams (trolley cars, so called for the trolley pole used to gather power from an unshielded overhead wire), were first successfully tested in service in Richmond, Virginia in 1888, in an installation by Frank J. Sprague. There were earlier commercial installations of electric streetcars, including one in Berlin, Germany, as early as 1881 by Werner von Siemens and the company that still bears his name, and also one in St. Petersburg, Russia, invented and tested by Fiodor A. Pirotskiy in 1880. Another was by John Joseph Wright, brother of the famous mining entrepreneur Whitaker Wright, in Toronto in 1883. The earlier installations, however, proved difficult and/or unreliable. Siemens' line, for example, provided power through a live rail and a return rail, like a model train setup, limiting the voltage that could be used, and providing unwanted excitement to people and animals crossing the tracks. Siemens later designed his own method of current collection, this time from an overhead wire, called the bow collector. Once this had been developed his cars became equal to, if not better, than any of Sprague's cars. Since Sprague's installation was the first to prove successful in all conditions, he is credited with being the inventor of the trolley car. A rare but significant variant of the trolley car was the conduit car, which drew its power from an underground third rail.

Golden Age

third rail]] Trams experienced a rapid expansion at the start of the 20th century until the period between the two world wars. There was a rapid increase in the number of lines and increase in the number of riders: indeed, it became the primary mode of urban transportation. Horse-drawn transport virtually disappeared in all European, American and Indian cities by 1910. Buses were still in a development phase at this time, gaining in mechanical reliability, but remaining behind compared to the benefits offered by trams; the automobile was still reserved for the well-to-do.

A temporary disappearance from many cities

In several countries the advent of personal motor vehicles caused the rapid disappearance of the tram from most western and Asian countries by the end of the 1950s. The technical progress of the bus rendered it more reliable, and it became a serious competitor to the tram because it did not require the construction of costly infrastructure. In many cases buses also provided a smoother ride and a faster journey than the older trams. For example, the tram network survived in Budapest but for a considerable period of time bus fares were higher to recognise the superior quality of the buses. Governments thus put investment principally into bus networks. Indeed, infrastructure for roads and highways meant for the automobile were perceived as a mark of progress. The priority given to roads is illustrated in the proposal of French president Georges Pompidou who declared in 1971 that "the city must adapt to the car". Tram networks were no longer maintained or modernized, a state of affairs that served to discredit them in the eyes of the public. Old lines, considered archaic, were then bit by bit replaced by buses. Tram networks disappeared almost completely from North America, France, the UK, India, Turkey, Spain and South Africa. On the other hand, they were maintained or modernized in Switzerland, Germany, Croatia, Poland, Finland, Romania, Austria, Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands, Scandinavia, and Japan. In France and the UK, only the networks in Lille, Saint-Etienne, Marseille, and Blackpool survive from this period, but they are each reduced to a single line. Australian tram networks disappeared by the 1970s, with the exception of the extensive system in Melbourne and the Glenelg line in Adelaide.

Return to grace

The priority given to personal vehicles and notably to the automobile led to a loss in quality of life, particularly in large cities where smog, traffic congestion, sound pollution and parking became problematic. Acknowledging this, some authorities saw fit to redefine their transport policies. The bus had shown its limits on account of its low capacity and its difficult coexistence with automobile traffic, which made it slow both on the road and commercially. Subways required a heavy investment and presented problems in terms of subterranean spaces that required constant security. For subways, the investment was mainly in underground construction, which made it impossible in some cities (with underground water reserves, archaeological remains, etc.). Subway construction thus was not a universal panacea. The advantages of the tram thus became more visible. At the end of the 1970s, some governments studied, and then built new tram lines. In France, Nantes and Grenoble lead the way in terms of the modern tram, and new systems were inaugurated in 1985 and 1988. In 1994 Strasbourg opened a system with novel British-built trams, specified by the city, with the goal of breaking with the archaic conceptual image that was held by the public. The public, who realized with each installation of tram lines their benefits in urban flexibility and redistribution and the reduction in downtown automobile traffic, encouraged numerous city governments to so equip their streets. Many cities already equipped with trams have extended their lines and built new ones. A great example of this shift in ideology is the city of Munich, which began replacing its tram network with a rapid transit a few years before the 1972 Summer Olympics. When the metro network was finished in the 1990s the city began to tear out the tram network (which had become rather old and decrepit), but now faced opposition from many citizens who enjoyed the enhanced mobility of the mixed network - the metro lines deviate from the tram lines to a significant degree. New rolling stock was purchased and the system was modernized, and a new line was proposed in 2003.

Technical developments

Later, cable cars were attached to a moving cable underneath the road. The cable would be pulled by a steam engine at a powerhouse. The Monongahela and Duquesne Inclines in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA, have some of the appearance of trams, but are more accurately funiculars. Modern trams generally use overhead electric cables, from which they draw current through a pantograph, a bow collector (less commonly) or the now-rare trolley pole (the first is most common and used on most new tram designs). The first operational electric street railway was started in Scranton, Pennsylvania, but the first large-scale electric street railway system was built in Richmond, Virginia in January, 1888. By 1890 over 100 such systems had been begun or were planned. There are other methods of powering electric trams, sometimes preferred for aesthetic reasons since poles and overhead wires are not required. The old tram systems in London, Manhattan (New York City), and Washington D.C. used live rails, like those on third-rail electrified railways, but in a conduit underneath the road, from which they drew power through a plough. Washington's was the last of these to close, in 1962. Today, no commercial tramway uses this system. More recently, a modern equivalent has been developed which allows for the safe installation of a third rail on city streets, which is known as surface current collection or ground level power supply; the main example of this is the new tramway in Bordeaux. In narrow situations double-track tram lines sometimes reduce to single track, or, to avoid switches, have the tracks interlaced, e.g. in the Leidsestraat in Amsterdam on three short stretches (see [http://adres.asp4all.nl/asp/get.asp?map_width=474&map_height=396&view=&laag=AmsterdamLite_Alleen_Kaart.mwf&xdl=Stadsplattegrond&xsl=Layout&straat=DAM&huisnummer=1&postcode_n=1012&postcode_a=JS&x_coord=121399&y_coord=487379&panning=true&point=&minx=120658.02971199994&maxx=120741.37028799993&miny=486378.4868480003&maxy=486448.11315200035&zoom=333 map detail]); this is known as interlaced or gauntlet track. Traditionally trams had high floors, requiring passengers to climb several steps in order to board, but since the 1990s this design has been largely replaced by low-floor trams, or occasionally by high-floor trams with level boarding platforms, as in Manchester's Metrolink and some parts of Cologne's network, which allow passengers in wheelchairs or with perambulators to access vehicles more easily. perambulator]]

Tram-train

Tram-train operation uses vehicles such as the Flexity Link and Regio-Citadis which are suited for use on urban tram lines, but also meet the necessary indication, power, and resistance requirements to be certified for operation on main line railways. This allows passengers to travel from suburban areas into city-centre destinations without having to change from a train to a tram when they arrive at the central station. It has been primarily developed in Germanic countries, in particular Germany and Switzerland. Karlsruhe is a notable pioneer of the tram-train. This system should be brought into service in the Paris area in 2005.

Pros and cons of tram systems

Advantages

- The initial investment is high, but it remains affordable for a medium-sized city. A kilometre of tram generally costs only a third of the investment for a kilometre of underground metro line, since no boring is needed, but the public roads must be rebuilt to incorporate the rails and also cable lines must be installed.
- Elevated systems such as the monorail and the light metro require a special urbanism with large avenues and buildings in which to integrate the stations. It is also very difficult to compare their prices.
- The infrastructure needed by the trams usually requires an extension of the pedestrian sectors.
- Unlike buses, but like trolleybuses, (electric) trams give off no exhaust emissions at point of use.

Disadvantages

trolleybus
- The initial cost is larger when compared with the bus, which is usually preferred by smaller cities
- Average speed is lower than in metros (but stops are more frequent than metro stations), unless long lengths of reserved track are involved (if most of the route is off-street then it is called light rail) (maximum around 7,000 passengers/hour, compared to 12,000 passengers/hour for the metro)
- Trams can dangerous for the cyclists, because they share the same roadway with the trams, however this and problems with parked cars are avoided by building tracks and platforms in the middle of the road.
- occupies urban space above ground and it needs modifications to traffic flow

Regional variations

Western Europe

metro, Spain]] In the Netherlands many local railways were referred to as trams, even where the steam locomotives did not have enclosed motion. In Belgium an extensive system of tram-like local railways called Vicinal or Buurtspoor lines had a greater route kilometre length than the main-line railway system. The only survivors of the Vicinal system are the Kusttram (which almost reaches France at one end and the Netherlands at the other - it's the longest line in the world) and two lines near Charleroi. Regular tram networks exists in Antwerp, Ghent and Brussels, and are very popular. France has several tram networks in major cities: in Paris suburban, in Lyon, in Nantes (Nantes has the largest French network). Recently the tram has seen a huge revival with many experiments like trolleybuses masquerading as trams in Nancy or hidden wires as in Bordeaux as the municipalities find it a quick fix to the traffic problems. In the United Kingdom, tram systems were widely dismantled in the 1950s, and after the closure of Glasgow's extensive network in 1962 only Blackpool's survived (see Blackpool tramway), although a funicular line continued to operate up the Great Orme in Llandudno. However in recent years new light rail lines have been opened in Manchester (Metrolink), Sheffield (Supertram), the West Midlands (Midland Metro), Croydon (Tramlink) and Nottingham (NET), with several others under consideration (including the proposed three-line Edinburgh Tram Network) and extensions planned for many existing systems. The Irish capital Dublin recently opened the first two lines of a new tram system known as Luas, the Irish-language word for "speed". The Norwegian capital Oslo has an extensive network, as does the Swedish city of Gothenburg. In Finland, there have been three cities with trams: Helsinki, Turku and Viipuri. Of these, only Helsinki still has trams. In Italy electric trams have run from the last years of 19th century (the first horse-drawn line opened between Milan and Monza in the 1840s). The first electric line was opened in Milan in 1893. Today Milan has 21 tramlines totalling 286.8 km. Rome (7 lines), Turin (10 lines), Naples (2 lines), Messina (1 line), Florence (3 line), Trieste (1 line), and L'Aquila (1 line) also have tramways. Other cities are building new tramlines: Bergamo (1 line of 12.6 km), Cagliari (1 line of 7 km), Modena (2 lines of 16.5 km), Palermo (3 lines of 16.6 km), Sassari (1 line of 7 km) and Verona (1 line of 11.3 km).

Central and Eastern Europe

Verona.]] All countries of the former Soviet Bloc, excluding Lithuania, have extensive tram infrastructure. Industrial freight use of city tram lines was a widespread practice during the Communist era but has since mostly disappeared, as factories left the urban areas. Another factor is an increasing replacement of trams with trolleybuses as cities face a rapid increase in traffic and such replacement often allows to increase road size. One of the exceptions is Warsaw, Poland, where the last trolleybus line was closed in the year 1995 due to high maintenance costs, and replaced with more efficient trams. Czech ČKD Tatra and the Hungarian Ganz factories were notable manufacturers of trams. The busiest traditional city tram line in the world is still route 4/6 in Budapest, Hungary, where 50-meter long trains run at 60 to 90 second intervals at peak time and are usually packed with people. A part of this route is the same as where electric trams made their world first run in 1887. Most vehicles are still of high-floor type, in fact many of them are old ones. Low floor hi-tech trams are only starting to infiltrate Central European lines due to their high price and high maintenance costs.

North America

Low floor] Note that in North America, trams are generally known as streetcars, while the term tram is more likely to be understood as a rubber-tired mock streetcar, an aerial tramway or a people-mover. Many North American cities abandoned their streetcar systems in the mid-twentieth century, due to the popularity of the automobile and government policies favoring it. However, traditional systems survived in Boston (MBTA Green Line), Newark, New Orleans, Philadelphia (Subway-Surface Lines, Pittsburgh, San Francisco, and Toronto. This survival was aided by the introduction of the modern PCC car in the 1940s and 1950s in all these cities except New Orleans. New light rail systems have since opened in many other cities, starting with the ground-breaking system in San Diego, and now including Baltimore, Buffalo, Denver, Hoboken, Los Angeles, Minneapolis, Ottawa, Portland, Sacramento, St Louis, Salt Lake City, San Jose, and Vancouver. Additionally, all the surviving PCC operators have replaced their PCC cars with light rail vehicles, although restored vintage PCC cars are still in regular operation on San Francisco's F Market line, a line popular among tourists. This line recently underwent an expansion to the Fisherman's Wharf area and a second line along the Embarcadero to the east is in the planning stages. Another trend originating in North America is the introduction of newly built heritage streetcar lines using original or replica historic equipment, a trend which is now spreading elsewhere in the world. Examples in North America include San Pedro, California, Little Rock, Memphis, Tampa, Seattle, Charlotte, North Carolina, the new Canal Street line in New Orleans, and the reintroduction of the historic Girard Street line in Philadelphia.

Asia

Philadelphia Asia has had relatively few tram systems, with the notable exception of Japan. Many Japanese cities have tram systems. Among them are Sapporo and Hakodate in Hokkaido; Tokyo, Kamakura, Kyoto, Osaka, and Hiroshima on Honshu; Matsuyama and Kochi on Shikoku; and Fukuoka, Nagasaki, Kumamoto, and Kagoshima on Kyushu. Some extend into neighboring communities. Hong Kong still possesses the Hong Kong Tramway, a traditional English-style double-decker tramway with street running, along the north shore of Hong Kong Island. More recently the KCRC Light Rail system has opened in the north west New Territories. Despite its name, the Peak Tram is actually a funicular railway. The Philippines once had a tram network in Manila, but it was destroyed during World War II. The system has been replaced with the LRT and MRT. In India, Kolkata (Calcutta) has a tram network. Chennai (Madras), Kanpur and Mumbai (Bombay) were the other three which had a network but were dismantled. The only cities in mainland China with a tram network are the seaside resort of Dalian in Liaoning, which as of 2003 had three working lines, Anshan in Liaoning and Changchun in Jilin. The last trams ran in Shanghai in the mid-1960s.

Australasia

In Australasia, trams are used extensively only in Melbourne, all other major cities having largely dismantled their networks by the mid 20th century.

Melbourne tram network

:Main article: Trams in Melbourne Melbourne has one of the world's most extensive tram systems. Trams in Melbourne In Melbourne, in addition to newer types of trams in use such as the Citadis and the Combino and the middle-aged A, B and Z class trams, older W-class trams remain in service and are a popular tourist attraction. W-class trams are used exclusively on the free City Circle tram route, and also in use on some regular routes. A total of 53 W-class trams remain in regular service, with the oldest in service tram dating from 1939.

Other cities with trams

Amongst other Australian cities, Sydney closed a once-extensive tram system in the 1950s but has since opened a new light rail line. Adelaide also closed its urban tram network, but has retained an express tram line linking the city centre with the seaside suburb of Glenelg. In 2005 there are plans to extend the line into North Adelaide and the main railway station. The smaller cities of Bendigo (Victoria) and Ballarat (Victoria) have retained small parts of their tramway operations. These have become major tourist attractions. Tourist trams also operate in Victor Harbor (South Australia) and Portland (Victoria) but have not had continuous service. Christchurch in New Zealand has recently constructed a new city-centre heritage line, using historic cars. Tram museums operate in many cities.

New tram proposals

Perth and Brisbane both have proposals to implement light rails systems in their respective CBDs. In Brisbane's case, several proposals have been made and each has been knocked back, but with the recent introduction of integrated ticketing under the TransLink scheme and expansive Queensland Government transport infrastructure plans, the most recent proposal may go ahead. Calls also are in place for the Gold Coast, just south of Brisbane, to solve their major traffic problems. Proposals also exist to extend the Sydney and Adelaide systems beyond one line each.

Historical facts

The Tasmanian city of Hobart was the first city in the Southern Hemisphere to operate a successful electric tramway system, installed in 1893, and the only Australian city to use the European-style 'bow collector', instead of Frank Sprague's trolley pole system. Another first for Hobart was its use of electric double-decker trams, the first city outside Europe to do so.

Africa

Hobart Hobart Tram systems were and are less prevalent in Africa. However, in Egypt both Cairo and Alexandria have historic and still extant tram systems and in South Africa tram services existed in cities like Johannesburg and Pretoria. In Cairo, the urban tramway network is now defunct, but the express tramway linking it with Heliopolis is still in operation, as is the relatively new tram system in the satellite town of Helwan 25km to the south. In Alexandria, both the urban tramway network and the express tramway system serving the eastern suburbs are still in operation. The urban system operates yellow cars, included some acquired second-hand from Copenhagen, on largely street track. The express tramway operates 3-car trains of blue cars, including some double-deck cars, on largely reserved track.

Streetcars in North America

History

Copenhagen's Green Line in Boston]] In Canada, most cities once had a streetcar system, but today Toronto's TTC is the only traditional operator of streetcars, and maintains the most extensive system in North America (in terms of total track length, number of cars, and ridership). New systems have been built in Edmonton, Alberta and Calgary, Alberta. The first lines built in the United States (and indeed the world) were in 1832 from New York City to Harlem by the New York and Harlem Railroad, and in 1834 in New Orleans. Most U.S. streetcar systems were removed by the 1950s as a result of the popularity of the automobile and government policies in favor of it. Contrary to popular belief, there was no conspiracy between GM and other automobile interests in removing the streetcar systems. Who removed them were the streetcar companies who over time replaced their streetcars for buses due to economic reasons, and the alleged novelity of buses.

Surviving systems

Not all streetcars systems were removed; the San Francisco cable cars are the most famous example in the United States. More conventional streetcar operations survived complete abandonment in Boston, Newark, New Orleans, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, and San Francisco in the United States, together with Toronto in Canada. All of these systems have received new equipment. Some of these cities have also rehabilitated lines, and Newark, New Orleans, and San Francisco have added trackage in recent years. In Toronto, the city has added two new lines in recent years, and is activly upgrading its other lines. Further expansion is planned in combination with the city's plans for the rejuvenation of its waterfront. More recently a number of cities in North America have built new light rail systems which operate partially in the right-of-way of city streets. These systems could be called trams by Europeans and Australians but are generally not known by that name within the US, where the term light rail is generally applied. Edmonton, Alberta was the location of one of the earliest of these new systems, which substantially utilised European technology, and was soon followed by similar installations in San Diego, California and Calgary, Alberta (see Edmonton Transit System, San Diego Trolley, and C-Train). In 2001, Portland, Oregon became the first city in North America to build a new streetcar system since the heyday of the PCC. The Portland Streetcar serves as a downtown circulator between the central city core, the trendy Pearl District and Northwest Portland, Portland State University, and a new mixed-use development along the Willamette River shoreline.

Heritage streetcar systems

Willamette River still running in Oberbozen, South Tyrol, Italy.]] Heritage streetcar systems are used in public transit service, combining light rail efficiency with America's nostalgia interests. Proponents claim that using a simple, reliable form of transit from 50 or 100 years ago can bring history to life for 21st century Americans. Systems are operating successfully in over 20 U.S. cities,and are in planning or construction stages in 40 more. Heritage systems currently operate in Little Rock, Arkansas, Memphis, Tennessee, Tampa, Florida, Kenosha, Wisconsin, and New Orleans, Louisiana are among the larger. Vancouver, Canada also has a heritage streetcar system that will be expanded to cover the south downtown area. Over 50 years after the Tennessee Williams play A Streetcar Named Desire opened on Broadway, the revival of streetcar operations in New Orleans is credited by many to the worldwide fame gained by the streetcars made by the Perley A. Thomas Car Works. These cars were operating on the system's Desire route in the 1947 play and later movie of the same name. Some of the original cars have been carefully restored locally and continue to operate in 2004.

External links

- [http://www.zeljeznice.net/galerija/categories.php?cat_id=89 Pictures of trams in Croatia] (HR)
- [http://www.lucajuventino.altervista.org/tram/ Trams in Turin] (IT)
- [http://www.geocities.com/alextracks/ Trams in Alexandria] (EG)
- [http://tramwaje-warszawskie.pol.pl/ Trams in Warsaw, Poland] (PL)
- [http://www.tram-ffo.de/ Tram of Frankfurt (Oder), Germany] (DE)
- [http://www.lrta.org/ Light Rail Transit Association] (GB)
- [http://lightrail.com/ Light Rail Central] (US/CA)
- [http://www.lightrailnow.org/ Light Rail Now advocacy] (US)
- [http://www.lightrail.nl/ Light Rail Netherlands] (NL)
- [http://www.xs4all.nl/%7erajvdb/lra/ Light Rail Atlas "Holland's Light Rail-pages for a world audience"] (NL) varying content in multiple languages
- [http://www.lostnewyorkcity.com/buildingphotos/Plate-51-b.html The Cable Building] Broadway Cable car line (US/NY)
- [http://villamosok.hu/ Trams in Hungary] (HU)
- [http://www.streetcar.org Market Street Railway] (US/CA)
- [http://public-transport.net Tram in Europe] (EU, Europe)
- [http://www.tramwajewcieszynie.prv.pl History of trams in Cieszyn, Poland] (PL)
- [http://www.dctrolley.org/ National Capital Trolley Museum] (US/MD)
- [http://www.heritagetrolley.org/existNewOrleans.htm APTA Heritage Trolley Systems New Orleans page]
- [http://www.wehmingen.de/ German National Tramway Collection, Hannover Tramway Museum Wehmingen](DE)
- [http://www.tramway.co.uk/ British National Tramway Museum, Crich](GB)
- [http://college.hmco.com/history/readerscomp/rcah/html/ah_072005_theelectrics.htm Reader's Companion to American History, Public Transportation: The Electric Streetcar]
- [http://www.tramways.freeserve.co.uk/ Tramway Information] Including TLRS and Festival of Model Tramways
- [http://mysite.wanadoo-members.co.uk/tramways/Articles/Compair.htm Compressed Air Trams]
- [http://www.mashke.org/kievtram/en/ In Memory of Kiev Trams]
- [http://www.mlyniec.gda.pl/~mach/index.html Trams in Poland; site in Polish and English] Category:Passenger equipment Category:Street railways Category:Electric railways Category:Electric vehicles ko:노면전차 ja:路面電車

Tram (disambiguation)

Tram (or trams) may mean:
- tram (tramcar, trolley, or streetcar), a railborne vehicle
- TRAM, the Leningrad Workers' Youth Theatre
- Transit Museum Society (TRAMS), an organization located in Vancouver, Canada

FinlanD

Finland.

Transparent Factory

Transparent Factory is the English name of an automobile production plant owned by German carmaker Volkswagen and opened in 2002. The original German name is Gläserne Manufaktur (glass manufacture). The main purpose of the factory is the assembly of Volkswagen's luxury sedan, the Phaeton, and future Bentley models. The Transparent Factory is situated in the city center of Dresden, the 800-year-old German baroque city known for its arts and craftsmanship. It stands at the former location of the convention center. The factory’s walls are made almost competely of glass. Its floors are covered entirely in Canadian maple. And its layout is visitor-friendly, set up to receive 250 tourists per day. There are no smokestacks, no loud noises, and no toxic byproducts. The transparent factory handles final assembly only. All the smelly, noisy operations, such as stamping and welding and then painting the steel body, take place in Zwickau. Painted bodies arrive at the factory by truck. The other 1200 parts and 34 preassembled components are shipped to a remote logistics center and are transferred from there to the factory via trams that run on Dresden’s public transport tracks.

External link

- [http://www.glaesernemanufaktur.de Gläserne Manufaktur] Category:Dresden

Cable car (railway)

A cable car or cable railway is a mass transit system using rail cars that are propelled by a continuously moving cable running at a constant speed. Individual cars stop and start by releasing and gripping this cable as required. Cable cars are sometimes confused with funiculars, where the cars are permanently attached to the cable.

Operation

The cable is itself powered by a stationary motor or engine situated in a cable house or power house. The speed at which it moves is relatively constant, although affected by the current load. The cable car begins moving when a clamping device, called a grip, is connected to the moving cable. Conversely the car is stopped by detaching it from the cable and applying the brakes. This gripping and ungripping action may be manual, as was the case in all early cable car systems, or automatic, as is the case in some recent cable operated people mover type systems. Gripping must be an even and gradual process in order to avoid bringing the car to cable speed too quickly and unacceptably jarring the passengers. In the case of manual systems, the grip resembles a very large pair of pliers, and considerable strength and skill are required to operate the car. As many early cable car operators discovered the hard way, if the grip is not applied properly, it can damage the cable, or even worse, become entangled in the cable. In the latter case, the cable car may not be able to stop and can wreak havoc along its route until the cable house realizes what is going on and halts the cable. One claimed advantage of the cable car is its relative energy efficiency, because of the economy of centrally-located power stations, and the ability for cars going down hill to transfer energy to cars going up. However this advantage is not unique to cable cars, as electric cars fitted with regenerative braking offer the same advantages, and in any case they must be offset against the cost of moving the cable.

History

Though there may have been earlier attempts to pull cars by endless ropes, the first cable car installation in operation was the West Side and Yonkers Patent Railway in New York, which ran from 1 July 1868 to 1870. The cable technology used in this elevated railway involved collar-equipped cables and claw-equipped cars, and proved cumbersome. The line was closed and rebuilt, and reopened with steam locomotives. steam locomotives The first cable cars to use grips were those of the Clay Street Hill Railroad, which later became part of the San Francisco cable car system. This building of this line was promoted by Andrew Smith Hallidie with design work by William Eppelsheimer, and it was first tested in 1873. The success of these grips ensured that this line became the model for other cable car transit systems, and this model is often known as the Hallidie Cable Car. In 1881 the Dunedin cable tramway system opened in Dunedin, New Zealand and became the first such system outside San Francisco. For Dunedin, George Smith Duncan further developed the Hallidie model, introducing the pull curve and the slot brake; the former was a way to pull cars through a curve, since Dunedin's curves were too steep to allow coasting, while the latter forced a wedge down into the cable slot to stop the car. Both of these innovations were generally adopted by other cities, including San Francisco. Cable cars rapidly spread to other cities, although the major attraction for most was the ability to displace horse-drawn (or other animal-drawn) systems rather than the ability to climb hills. Many people at the time viewed horse-drawn transit as unnecessarily cruel, and the fact that a typical horse could work only four or five hours per day necessitated the maintenance of large stables of draft animals that had to be fed (typically 30 lb (14 kg) of feed each day), housed, groomed, medicated and rested. Thus for a period economics worked in favour of cable cars even in relatively flat cities. For example, the Chicago City Railway, also designed by Eppelsheimer, opened in Chicago, Illinois in 1882 and went on to become the largest and most profitable cable car system. As with many cities, the problem in flat Chicago was not one of grades but of transportation capacity. This caused a different approach to the combination of grip car and trailer. Rather than using a grip car and single trailer, as many cities did, or combining the grip and trailer into a single car, like San Francisco's California Cars, Chicago used grip cars to pull trains of up to three trailers. In 1883 the New York and Brooklyn Bridge Railway was opened, which had a most curious feature: though it was a cable car system, it used steam locomotives to get the cars into and out of the terminals. After 1896 the system changed to one where a motor car was added to each train to manoeuvre at the terminals, while en route the trains were still propelled by the cable. On 25 September 1883 a test of a cable car system was held by Liverpool United in Kirkdale. This was the first cable car system in Europe, but Liverpool United decided against implementing it. Other cable car systems were implemented in Europe, though, among which was the Glasgow District Subway, the first underground cable car system, in 1896. (London's first deep-level tube railway, the City & South London Railway, had earlier also been built for cable haulage but had been converted to electric traction before opening in 1890.) A few more cable car systems were built in the United Kingdom, Portugal and France, but European cities, having much more curves in their streets, were less suitable for cable cars than American cities. Though some new cable car systems were still being built, by 1890 the cheaper to construct and simpler to operate electrically-powered trolley or tram started to become the norm, and eventually started to replace existing cable car systems. For a while hybrid cable/electric systems operated, for example in Chicago where electric cars had to be pulled by grip cars through the loop area, due to the lack of trolley wires there. Eventually, San Francisco became the only street-running manually-operated system to survive - Dunedin, the second city with such cars, was also the second-last city to operate them, closing down in 1957. In the last decades of the 20th century cable cars have seen a limited revival as automatic people movers. They are completely computer controlled and can be switched easily from one continuous loop to another. They are normally used in resort areas, airports and huge hospital centers. The biggest manufacturer is Poma-Otis, a company formed by the merger of the cable car interests of the POMA ski lift company and the Otis elevator company - they can almost be considered to be horizontal elevators. Most of these cable car systems operate above ground on supported guideways, but some have sections that go underground.

Relation to Funiculars

A cable car is superficially very similar to a funicular but differs from such a system in that its cars are not permanently attached to the cable and can stop independently, whereas a funicular has cars that are permanently attached to the propulsion cable, which is itself stopped and started. A cable car cannot climb as steep a grade as a funicular, but many more cars can be operated with a single cable, making it more flexible, and allowing a higher capacity. During the rush hour on San Francisco's Market Street Railway, a car would leave the terminal every 15 seconds. A hybrid cable car/funicular line once existed in the form of the Wellington Cable Car, in the New Zealand city of Wellington. This line had both a continuous loop haulage cable that the cars gripped using a cable car gripper, and a balance cable permanently attached to both cars over an undriven pulley at the top of the line. The descending car gripped the haulage cable and was pulled downhill, in turn pulling the ascending car (which remained ungripped) uphill by the balance cable. This line was rebuilt in 1979 and is now a standard funicular, although confusingly it retains its old cable car name.

Cities currently operating cable cars

- Laon, France has a completely automatic Poma-Otis cable car system, called Poma 2000
- San Francisco, California is well known for the San Francisco cable car system and is now the city which has the oldest and biggest cable car system in permanent operation. It uses a modified version of the Hallidie system, with most later improvements added to it.

Cities previously operating cable cars

Australia

Australia
- Melbourne(1885–1940)
- Sydney (1886–1905)

France

- Paris

New Zealand

- Dunedin)(1881–1957)
- Wellington (1902–1979)

Portugal

- Lisbon

United Kingdom

- Birmingham
- Edinburgh (1899–1923))
- Glasgow (1896–1935)
- Liverpool (trial in 1883)
- London (1884–1909, connecting Archway with Highgate, the first cable car in regular operation in Europe)
- Matlock (1893–1927)

Isle of Man

- Douglas (1896–1929)

United States

United States, 1897]]
- Baltimore, Maryland
- Binghamton, New York (trial in 1885)
- Brooklyn, New York
- Butte, Montana (1889–1897)
- Chicago, Illinois (1882–1906)
- Cincinnati, Ohio
- Cleveland, Ohio
- [Denver, Colorado
- Grand Rapids, Michigan
- Hoboken, New Jersey (1886–1892)
- Kansas City, Missouri
- Los Angeles, California (1885–1902, the Second Street Cable Railway and others)
- New York, New York
- Newark, New Jersey (1888–1889)
- Oakland, California (1886–1899)
- Omaha, Nebraska
- Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
- Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
- Portland, Oregon (1890–1904)
- Providence, Rhode Island
- Seattle, Washington
- St Louis, Missouri
- St Paul, Minnesota
- San Diego, California (1890–1892)
- Seattle, Washington (1888–1940)
- Sioux City, Iowa
- Spokane, Washington
- Tacoma, Washington (1891–1938)
- Washington, D.C.

Sources

- Of Cables and Grips: The Cable Cars of San Francisco, by Robert Callwell and Walter Rice, published by Friends of the Cable Car Museum, first edition, 2000.

External links

Information
- [http://www.cablecarmuseum.com Cable Car Museum]
- [http://www.cable-car-guy.com Cable Car Guy]
- [http://www.lostnewyorkcity.com/buildingphotos/Plate-51-b.html The Cable Building] (New York City) Broadway Cable car line. Patents
- -- Railroad track
- -- Endless wire ropeway Category:Transportation Category:Rail transport ja:ケーブルカー

Scots language

Scots or Lallans (Eng: Lowlands), often called Lowland Scots to distinguish it from the Scottish Gaelic language of the highlands, is a West Germanic language used in Scotland, parts of Northern Ireland, and border areas of the Republic of Ireland, where it is known in official circles as Ulster Scots or Ullans but by speakers simply as Scotch or Scots. Native speakers refer to the language as Scots, Braid Scots (Eng: Broad Scots), or simply Oor ain leid (Eng: Our own language).

Origin of the term Scots

Up to the 15th century (and beyond) Scottis (modern form: Scots) referred to the Scottish Gaelic language (a Celtic language and tongue of the ancient Scots, introduced from Ireland by the 4th century). (Scots are mentioned in reference to northern Britain by Ammianus Marcellinus (XX.1) and other 4th century Roman writers.) Speakers of the Anglic language now called Scots, previously known as Inglis, would later call Gaelic Erse (meaning Irish), and then adopt Scottis as a name for their own language. The Gaelic of modern Scotland is now usually referred to as Scottish Gaelic or, sometimes, Scots Gaelic. It is still spoken by some in the western Highlands and Islands (especially the Hebrides) and Erse is regarded, understandably, as a pejorative.

Origins

:Main article: History of the Scots language The Scots language descends from the northern form of the Northumbrian dialect of Middle English, which itself descended from the Northumbrian dialect of Anglo-Saxon. Besides Gaelic influence (see below), influential were Dutch and Middle Low German through trade with, and immigration from, the low countries; as well as Romance via ecclesiastical and legal Latin, Anglo-Norman and, later, Parisian French owing to the Auld Alliance. Anglic speakers were actually established in Lothian by the 7th century. During the 12th and 13th centuries, Norman landowners and their retainers, were invited to settle by the king. It is probable that many of their retainers spoke Middle English, although probably French was more common. Most of the evidence suggests that English spread into Scotland via the burgh, proto-urban institutions which were first established by King David I. Incoming burghers were mainly English (especially from Northumbria, and the Earldom of Huntingdon), Flemish and French. Although the military aristocracy employed French and Gaelic, these small urban communties appear to have been using English as something more than a lingua franca by the end of the 13th century. English appeared in Scotland for the first time in literary form in the mid-14th century, when its form unsurprisingly differed little from other English dialects. As a consequence of the outcome of the Wars of Independence though, the English of Lothian who lived under the King of Scots had to accept Scottish identity. The growth in prestige of English in the 14th century, and the complementary decline of French in Scotland, made English the prestige language of most of eastern Scotland. Moreover, by the late 15th century, perceptions of the difference with the language spoken further south arose; and English-speaking "Scots" started to call their language "Scottis." The first known instance of this was by an unknown man in 1494. It was thus that the language took its name. Scots has loan words resulting from contact with Gaelic. These loan words are mainly for geographical and cultural features, such as clan and loch ('lake'). Many Scots words have become part of English: flit, 'to move home', greed, eerie, cuddle, clan, stob, 'a post'.

Status

1494]] Whether the varieties of Scots are dialects of English or constitute a separate language in their own right is often disputed. Before the Treaty of Union 1707, when Scotland and England joined to form the (United) Kingdom of Great Britain, there is ample evidence that Scots was widely held to be a language other than English [http://www.scots-online.org/airticles/eurlang.htm]. The British government now accepts Scots as a regional language and has recognised it as such under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. Evidence for its existence as a separate language lies in the extensive body of Scots literature, in independent—if somewhat fluid—orthographic conventions and in its former use as the official language of the original Scottish Parliament. Since Scotland retained distinct political, legal, and religious systems after the Union, many Scots terms passed into Scottish English. For instance, libel and slander, separate in English law, are bundled together as defamation in Scots law. Since the Union, perceptional and language change (see below) have resulted in Scots being regarded as a group of English dialects or at best a group of dialects closely related to English. There is no institutionalised standard literary form. During the second half of the 20th century, enthusiasts developed regularised cross-dialect forms following on some historical orthographic conventions, but these have had little impact. In the written Scots language, local loyalties usually prevail, and the written form is usually Standard English adapted to represent the local pronunciation. No education takes place through the medium of Scots, though English lessons may cover it superficially. This is often not much more than reading some Scots literature and observing local dialect. Much of the material used is often little more than Standard English disguised as Scots, which has upset both proponents of Standard English and [http://news.scotsman.com/archive.cfm?id=150582004 proponents of Scots] alike. One example of the educational establishment's approach to Scots is "Write a poem in Scots. (It is important not to be worried about spelling in this – write as you hear the sounds in your head.)" [http://www.ltscotland.org.uk/5to14/specialfocus/scots/ideas/index.asp] whereas guidelines for English require teaching pupils to be "writing fluently and legibly with accurate spelling and punctuation." [http://www.ltscotland.org.uk/5to14/htmlunrevisedguidelines/Pages/englang/main/elng1003.htm]. On the one hand, this can be seen as revealing the institutionalised disregard for the idea of treating Scots as a language on par with English. On the other hand, it can be be seen as a teaching method to get around the fact that the pupils, the teachers, and the teachers parents alike have been taught in school that Scots is 'bad spelling' and thus, that pupils will self-censor any Scots that they do know. Scots can also be studied at university level. Nowhere in the education system is the objective to produce people able to read, write, and speak Scots as an autonomous alternative to English, thus confirming its de facto status as a series of local dialects of English. The use of Scots in the media is scant and is usually reserved for niches where local dialect is deemed acceptable, e.g. comedy, Burns Night, or representations of traditions and times gone by. Serious use for news, encyclopaedias, documentaries, etc. rarely occurs in Scots, although the Scottish Parliament website offers some information in it. Official attitudes vary widely, as may be seen by contrasting the sober [http://www.bbc.co.uk/northernireland/learning/history/stateapart/agreement/culture/ulsterscots1.shtml BBC Ulster] and the patronising and anachronistic [http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/alabaster/A139033 BBC Scotland] approaches. It is often held that had Scotland remained independent Scots would have remained and been regarded as a separate language from English. This has happened in Spain and Portugal where two independent countries developed standardised languages. Portuguese originating from a common Galician-Portuguese language, which itself originated from a common Ibero-Romance language shared with Castilian Spanish. On the other hand a situation similar to that of Swiss German and standard German might have occurred. Equally the present situation might have occurred where the social elites and the upwardly mobile adopted Standard English causing institutional language shift. A model of Language revival to which many enthusiasts aspire, is that of the Catalan language in areas spanning parts of Spain, France, Andorra and Italy, particularly as regards the situation of Catalan in Catalonia itself.

Language Change

After the Union of Scotland and England the issue of language became topical and foremost was the question of whether Scottish people should speak English or Scots. Gaelic was never considered an option; at the time it was mostly relegated to the Highlands and Islands. Scots became considered to have a substratal relationship to English as opposed to an adstratal relationship. On one hand well-off Scots took to learning English through such activities as those of the Irishman Thomas Sheridan (father of Richard Sheridan) who in 1761 gave a series of lectures on English elocution. Charging a guinea at a time (about £65 in today's money), they were attended by over 300 men and he was made a freeman of the City of Edinburgh. On the other hand the education system also became increasingly geared to teaching English though this was initially impaired by the teachers' and students' lack of knowledge of English pronunciation through lack of contact with English speakers. Aspects of English grammar and lexis could be accessed through printed texts. By the 1840s the Scottish Education Department's language policy was that Scots had no value "...it is not the language of 'educated' people anywhere, and could not be described as a suitable medium of education or culture". Students of course reverted back to Scots outside the classroom but the reversion was not complete. What occurred and has been occurring ever since is a process of language attrition whereby successive generations have adopted more and more features from English, a process that has accelerated rapidly since wide-spread access to mass media in English and increased population mobility became available after the Second World War. It has recently taken on the nature of wholesale language shift . These processes are often erroneously referred to as language change, convergence or merger. A rather more positive take on this is that rather than reject English culture the Scots mastered and conquered it, becoming bilingual and writing some of the greatest works of the time such as Adam Smith's Wealth of Nations in what was still a foreign language. However, most younger Scots today see a Scottish accent, that is, Scottish English, as a sufficient marker of their Scottishness and are generally not interested in retaining bilingualism in a language they consider old-fashioned, parochial, or simply uncool. Residual features of Scots (often regarded as slang) in the speech of the young urban working class are often derogatorily referred to as Ned speak.

Literature

Among the earliest Scots literature is Barbour's Brus (fourteenth century). Whyntoun's Kronykil and Blind Harry's Wallace (fifteenth century) From the fifteenth century much literature based around the Royal Court in Edinburgh and the University of St Andrews was produced by writers such as Henryson, Dunbar, Douglas and David Lyndsay. The Complaynt of Scotland was an early printed work in Scots. After the seventeenth century, anglicisation increased, though Scots was still spoken by the vast majority of the population. At the time, many of the oral ballads from the borders and the North East were written down. Writers of the period were Robert Sempill, Robert Sempill the younger, Francis Sempill, Lady Wardlaw and Lady Grizel Baillie. In the eighteenth century, writers such as Ramsay, Fergusson, Burns and Scott continued to use Scots. Scott introduced vernacular dialogue to his novels. Following their example, such well-known authors as Robert Louis Stevenson, William Alexander, George MacDonald and J.M. Barrie also wrote in Scots or used it in dialogue. In the early twentieth century, a renaissance in the use of Scots occurred, its most vocal figure being Hugh MacDiarmid. Other contemporaries were Douglas Young, Sidney Goodsir Smith, Robert Garioch and Robert McLellan. However, the revival was largely limited to verse and other literature. In 1983 W.L. Lorimer's magnificent translation of the New Testament from the original Greek was published. Highly anglicised Scots is often used in contemporary fiction, for example, the Edinburgh dialect of Scots in Trainspotting by Irvine Welsh (later made into a motion picture of the same name, though with language allegedly anglicised even more to make it suitable for an international audience). But'n'Ben A-Go-Go by Matthew Fitt is a cyberpunk novel written entirely in what [http://www.scots-online.org/grammar Wir Ain Leid] (Our Own Language) calls "General Scots". Like all cyberpunk work, it contains imaginative neologisms.

Dialects

There are at least five Scots dialects:
- Northern Scots, spoken north of Dundee, often split into North Northern, Mid Northern—also known as North East Scots and affectionately referred to as "the Doric"—and South Northern.
- Central Scots, spoken from Fife and Perthshire to the Lothians and Wigtownshire, often split into North East and South East Central, West Central and South West Central Scots.
- South Scots, spoken in the border areas.
- Insular Scots, spoken in the Orkney Islands and Shetland Islands
- Ulster Scots, spoken by the descendants of Scottish settlers as well as those of Irish descent in Northern Ireland and County Donegal in the Irish Republic, and sometimes described by the neologism "Ullans", a conflation of Ulster and Lallans. However, in a recent article, Caroline Macafee, editor of The Concise Ulster Dictionary, stated that Ulster Scots was "clearly a dialect of Central Scots". As well as the main dialects, Edinburgh, Dundee and Glasgow (see Glasgow patter) have local variations on an anglicised form of Central Scots. In Aberdeen, Mid Northern Scots is spoken.

Pronunciation

Many writers now strictly avoid apostrophes where they supposedly represent "missing" English letters. Such letters were never actually missing in Scots. For example, in the twelfth century, Barbour spelt the Scots cognate of 'taken' as tane. Since there has been no k in the word for over 700 years, representing its omission with an apostrophe seems pointless. The current spelling is usually taen. The following is more a guide for readers. How the spellings are applied in practice is beyond the scope of such a short description. Phonetics are in IPA.

Consonants

Most consonants are usually pronounced much as in English but:
- c: or , much as in English.
- ch: , also gh. Medial 'cht' may be in Northern dialects. loch (Lake), nicht (night), dochter (daughter), dreich (dreary), etc.
- ch: word initial or where it follows 'r' . airch (arch), mairch (march), etc.
- gn: . In Northern dialects may occur.
- kn: . In Northern dialects or may occur. knap (talk), knee, knowe (knoll), etc.
- ng: is always .
- nch: usually . brainch (branch), dunch (push), etc.
- r: or is always pronounced.
- s or se: or .
- t: may be a glottal stop between vowels or word final. In Ulster dentalised pronunciations may also occur, also for 'd'.
- th: or much as is English. Initial 'th' in thing, think and thank, etc. may be .
- wh: usually , older . Northern dialects also have .
- wr: more often but may be in Northern dialects. wrack (wreck), wrang (wrong), write, wrocht (worked), etc.
- z: or , may occur in some words as a substitute for the older yogh (). For example: brulzie (broil), gaberlunzie (a beggar) and the name Menzies, etc.

Silent letters

- The word final 'd' in nd and ld: but often pronounced in derived forms. Sometimes simply 'n' and 'l' or 'n'' and 'l''. auld (old), haund (hand), etc.
- 't' in medial cht: ('ch' = ) and st and before final en. fochten (fought), thristle (thistle) also 't' in aften (often), etc.
- 't' in word final ct and pt but often pronounced in derived forms. respect, accept, etc.

Vowels

In Scots, vowel length is usually conditioned by the Scots vowel length rule. Words which differ only slightly in pronunciation from Scots English are generally spelled as in English. Other words may be spelt the same but differ in pronunciation, for example: aunt, swap, want and wash with , bull, full v. and pull with , bind, find and wind v., etc. with .
- The unstressed vowel may be represented by any vowel letter.
- a: usually but in south west and Ulster dialects often . Note final a in awa (away), twa (two) and wha (who) may also be or or depending on dialect.
- au, aw and sometimes a, a' or aa: or in Southern, Central and Ulster dialects but in Northern dialects. The cluster 'auld' may also be in Ulster. aw (all), cauld (cold), braw (handsome), faw (fall), snaw (snow), etc.
- ae, ai, a(consonant)e: . Often before . In Northern dialects the vowel in the cluster -'ane' is often . brae (slope), saip (soap), hale (whole), ane (one), ance (once), bane (bone), etc.
- ea, ei, ie: or depending on dialect. may occur before . Root final this may be in Southern dialects. In the far north may occur. deid (dead), heid (head), meat (food), clear, speir (enquire), sea, etc.
- ee, e(Consonant)e: . Root final this may be in Southern dialects. ee (eye), een (eyes), steek (shut), here, etc.
- e: . bed, het (heated), yett (gate), etc.
- eu: or depending on dialect. Sometimes erroneously 'oo', 'u(consonant)e', 'u' or 'ui'. beuk (book), ceuk (cook), eneuch (enough), leuk (look), teuk (took), etc.
- ew: . In Northern dialects a root final 'ew' may be . few, new, etc.
- i: , but often varies between and especially after 'w' and 'wh'. also occurs in Ulster before voiceless consonants. big, fit (foot), wid (wood), etc.
- i(consonant)e, y(consonant)e, ey: or . 'ay' is usually but in ay (yes) and aye (always). In Dundee it is noticeably .
- o: but often .
- oa: .
- ow, owe (root final), seldom ou: . Before 'k' vocalisation to may occur especially in western and Ulster dialects. bowk (retch), bowe (bow), howe (hollow), knowe (knoll), cowp (overturn), yowe (ewe), etc.
- ou, oo, u(consonant)e: . Root final may occur in Southern dialects. cou (cow), broun (brown), hoose (house), moose (mouse) etc.
- u: . but, cut, etc.
- ui, also u(consonant)e, oo: in conservative dialects. In parts of Fife, Dundee and north Antrim . In Northern dialects usually but after and and also before in some areas eg. fuird (ford). Mid Down and Donegal dialects have . In central and north Down dialects when short and when long. buird (board), buit (boot), cuit (ankle), fluir (floor), guid (good), schuil (school), etc. In central dialects uise v. and uiss n. (use) are and .

Suffixes

- Negative na: or depending on dialect. Also 'nae' or 'y' eg. canna (can't), dinna (don't) and maunna (mustn't).
- fu (ful): or depending on dialect. Also 'fu'', 'fie', 'fy', 'fae' and 'fa'.
- The word ending ae: or depending on dialect. Also 'a', 'ow' or 'y', for example: arrae (arrow), barrae (barrow) and windae (window), etc.

Some grammar features

Not all of these are exclusive to Scots and may also occur in other Anglic varieties.

The definite article

The is used before the names of seasons, days of the week, many nouns, diseases, trades, occupations, sciences and academic subjects. It is also often used in place of the indefinite article and instead of a possessive pronoun: the hairst (autumn), the Wadensday (wednesday), awa til the kirk (off to church), the nou (at the moment), the day (today), the haingles (influenza), the Laitin (Latin), The deuk ett the bit breid (The duck ate a piece of bread), the wife (my wife) etc.

Nouns

Nouns usually form their plural in -(e)s but some irregular plurals occur: ee/een (eye/eyes), cauf/caur (calf/calves), horse/horse (horse/horses), cou/kye (cow/cows), shae/shuin (shoe/shoes). Nouns of measure and quantity unchanged in the plural fower fit (four feet), twa mile (two miles), five pund (five pounds), three hunderwecht (three hundredweight). Regular plurals include laifs (loaves), leafs (leaves), shelfs (shelves) and wifes (wives), etc.

Diminutives

Diminutives in -ie, burnie small burn (brook), feardie/feartie (frightened person, coward), gamie (gamekeeper), kiltie (kilted soldier), postie (postman), wifie (woman), rhodie (rhododendron), and also in -ock, bittock (little bit), playock (toy, plaything), sourock (sorrel) and Northern –ag, bairnag (little) bairn (child), Cheordag (Geordie), -ockie, hooseockie (small house), wifeockie (little woman), both influenced by the Scottish Gaelic diminutive -ag (-óg in Irish Gaelic).

Modal verbs

The modal verbs mey (may), ocht tae (ought to), and sall (shall), are no longer used much in Scots but occurred historically and are still found in anglicised literary Scots. Can, shoud (should), and will are the preferred Scots forms. Scots employs double modal constructions He'll no can come the day (He won't be able to come today), A micht coud come the morn (I may be able to come tomorrow), A uised tae coud dae it, but no nou (I could do it once, but not now).

Present tense of verbs

The present tense of verbs ends in -s in all persons and numbers except when a single personal pronoun is next to the verb, Thay say he's ower wee, Thaim that says he's ower wee, Thir lassies says he's ower wee (They say he's too small), etc. Thay're comin an aw but Five o thaim's comin, The lassies? Thay've went but Ma brakes haes went. Thaim that comes first is serred first (Those who come first are served first). The trees growes green in the simmer (The trees grow green in summer). Wis 'was' may replace war 'were', but not conversely: You war/wis thare.

Past tense of verbs

The regular past form of the verb is -(i)t or -(e)d, according to the preceding consonant or vowel hurtit, skelpit (smacked), Mendit, kent/kenned (knew/known), cleant/cleaned, scrieved (scribbled), telt/tauld (told), dee'd (died). Some verbs have distinctive forms: greet/grat/grutten (weep/wept), fesh/fuish/fuishen (fetch/fetched), lauch/leuch/lauchen~leuchen (laugh/laughed), thrash/thruish/thrashen~thruishen (thresh/threshed), wash/wuish/washen~wuishen (wash/washed), gae/gaed/gane (go/went/gone), gie/gied/gien (give/gave/given), pit/pat/pitten (put/put/put/), git/gat/gotten (get/got/got(ten)), ride/rade/ridden (ride/rode/ridden), drive/drave/driven~dreen (drive/drove/driven), write/wrat(e)/written (write/wrote/written), bind/band/bund (bind/bound/bound), find/fand/fund (find/found/found), fecht/focht/fochten (fight/fought), bake/bakit~beuk/baken (bake/baked), tak(e)/teuk/taen (take/took/taken), chuse/chusit/chusit (choose/chose/chosen).

Word order

Scots prefers the word order He turnt oot the licht to 'He turned the light out' and Gie me it to 'Give it to me'. Certain verbs are often used progressively He wis thinkin he wad tell her, He wis wantin tae tell her. Verbs of motion may be dropped before an adverb or adverbial phrase of motion A'm awa tae ma bed, That's me awa hame, A'll intae the hoose an see him.

Ordinal numbers

Ordinal numbers ending in -t seicont, fowert, fift, saxt—(second, fourth, fifth, sixth) etc. first, Thrid/third—(first, third).

Adverbs

Adverbs are usually of the same form as the verb root or adjective especially after verbs. Haein a real guid day (Having a really good day). She's awfu fauchelt (She's awfully tired).
Adverbs are also formed with -s, -lies, lins, gate(s)and wey(s) -wey, whiles (at times), mebbes (perhaps), brawlies (splendidly), geylies (pretty well), aiblins (perhaps), airselins (backwards), hauflins (partly), hidlins (secretly), maistlins (almost), awgates (always, everywhere), ilkagate (everywhere), onygate (anyhow), ilkawey (everywhere), onywey(s) (anyhow, anywhere), endweys (straight ahead), whit wey (how, why).

Subordinate clauses

Verbless subordinate clauses introduced by an and expressing surprise or indignation She haed tae walk the hale lenth o the road an her sieven month pregnant, He telt me tae rin an me wi ma sair leg (and me with my sore leg).

Negation

Negation occurs by using the adverb no, in the North East nae, as in A'm no comin (I'm not coming), or by using the suffix -na (pronunciation depending on dialect), as in A dinna ken (I don't know), Thay canna come (They can't come), We coudna hae telt him (We couldn't have told him), and A hivna seen her (I haven't seen her). The usage with no is preferred to that with -na with contractable auxiliary verbs like -ll for will, or in yes no questions with any auxiliary He'll no come and Did he no come?

Relative pronoun

The relative pronoun is that ('at is an alternative form borrowed from Norse but can also be arrived at by contraction) for all persons and numbers, but may be left out Thare's no mony fowk (that) leeves in that glen (There aren't many people who live in that glen). The anglicised forms wha, wham, whase 'who, whom, whose', and the older whilk 'which' are literary affectations; whilk is only used after a statement He said he'd tint it, whilk wis no whit we wantit tae hear. The possessive is formed by adding s or by using an appropriate pronoun The wifie that's hoose gat burnt, the wumman that her dochter gat mairit; the men that thair boat wis tint. A third adjective/adverb yon/yonder, thon/thonder indicating something at some distance D'ye see yon/thon hoose ower yonder/thonder? Also thae (those) and thir (these), the plurals of this and that. In Northern Scots this and that are also used where "these" and "those" would be in Standard English.
References

- Aitken, A.J. (1977) How to Pronounce Older Scots in Bards and Makars. Glasgow, Glasgow University Press.
- Aitken, A. J. (1987) The Nuttis Schell: Essays on the Scots Language. Aberdeen, Aberdeen University Press. ISBN 0080345301
- Caldwell, S.J.G. (1974) The Pronoun in Early Scots. Helsinki, Société Néophilique.
- Corbett, John; McClure, Derrick; Stuart-Smith, Jane (Editors)(2003) The Edinburgh Companion to Scots. Edinburgh, Edinburgh University Press. ISBN 0748615962
- Eagle, Andy (2005) Wir Ain Leid. Scots-Online. Available in full at http://www.scots-online.org/airticles/WirAinLeid.pdf
- Jones, Charles (1997) The Edinburgh History of the Scots Language. Edinburgh, University of Edinburgh Press. ISBN 0748607544
- Jones, Charles (1995) A Language Suppressed: The pronunciation of the Scots language in the 18th century. Edinburgh, John Donald. ISBN 0-85976-427-3
- Kingsmore, Rona K. (1995) Ulster Scots Speech: A Sociolinguistic Study. University of Alabama Press. ISBN 0817307117
- McClure, J. Derrick (1997) Why Scots Matters. Edinburgh, Saltire Society. ISBN 0854110712
- Niven, Liz; Jackson, Robin (Eds.) (1998) The Scots Language: its place in education. Watergaw Publications. ISBN 0952997851
- Robertson, T.A.; Graham, J.J. (1991) Grammar and Use of the Shetland Dialect. Lerwick, The Shetland Times Ltd.
- Ross, David; Smith, Gavin D. (Editors)(1999) Scots-English, English-Scots Practical Dictionary. New York, Hippocrene Books. ISBN 0781807794
- Scottish National Dictionary Association (1999) Concise Scots Dictionary . Edinburgh, Polygon. ISBN 1902930010
- Scottish National Dictionary Association (1999) Scots Thesaurus. Edinburgh, Polygon. ISBN 1902930037
- Warrack, Alexander (Editor)(1911) Chambers Scots Dictionary. Chambers.
- Yound, C.P.L. (2004) Scots Grammar. Scotsgate. Available in full at http://www.scotsgate.com/scotsgate01.pdf
See also

- Scottish literature
- Scottish Corpus of Texts and Speech
- Languages in the United Kingdom
External links

- [http://www.dsl.ac.uk/dsl/ The Scots Language Dictionary]
- [http://www.scots-online.org/grammar/pronunci.htm#cairt Dialect Map]
- [http://www.scots-online.org/grammar Scots-online]
- [http://www.lallans.co.uk/ The Scots Language Society]
- [http://www.sldl.org.uk/ Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd.]
- [http://www.scotstext.org/ ScotsteXt]—books, poems and texts in Scots
- [http://rasteri.sytes.net/~jmtait/but/wan/index.htm A Tait Wanchancie.]
- [http://www.scots-online.org/airticles/phonetics.htm SAMPA for Scots]
- [http://www.ltscotland.org.uk/5to14/specialfocus/scots/index.asp Scots in Schools]
- [http://www.englang.ed.ac.uk/scots.html Scots at University]
- [http://www.stooryduster.co.uk/ Scottish words - illustrated]
- [http://www.scottishcorpus.ac.uk/ Scottish Corpus of Texts & Speech] - Multimedia corpus of Scots and Scottish English nb:Skotsk språk

1860

1860 is the leap year starting on Sunday.

Events

January

- January 2 - The discovery of the planet Vulcan was announced at a meeting of the Académie des Sciences in Paris.

March

- March 6 - Abraham Lincoln speaks against slavery in New Haven, Connecticut

April

- April 3 - The Pony Express begins its first run from Saint Joseph, Missouri to Sacramento, California.
- April 4 – New uprising in Palermo

May

- May 1 - A chondrite type meteorite fell to earth in Muskingum County, Ohio near the town of New Concord.
- May 5 - Giuseppe Garibaldi and his troops depart from Questa on the Expedition of the Thousand
- May 8 - In New Granada (modern-day Colombia) southern state of Cauca secedes from the central government in protest of the suggestion of increase of presidential powers. Magdalena and Bolivar join it
- May 9 - The Constitutional Union Party holds its convention and nominates John Bell for President of the United States.
- May 15 - Battle of Catalafimi; troops under Giuseppe Garibaldi defeat the army of Naples in Sicily, during the Second Italian independence war.
- May 18 - Abraham Lincoln is selected as the US presidential candidate for the Republican party.
- May 27 - Garibaldi's forces take Palermo, the capital of Sicily.

June

- June 24 - First nursing school, based on the ideas of Florence Nightingale, is opened in St. Thomas Infirmary in England.

July

- July 2 - Vladivostok, Russia is founded.
- July 9 - Mírzá 'Alí-Muhammad was executed by a firing squad in Tabriz, Persia for claiming to be a prophet.
- July 11 - Mutsuhito becomes Crown Prince of Japan.
- July 19 - Ioan Dimitrovich Kasatkin becomes an Eastern Orthodox monk under the name Nikolai.
- July 20 - The forces of Giuseppe Garibaldi defeat royal Neapolitan forces at the Battle of Milazzo, near Messina. Nearly all of Sicily was now under Garibaldi's control.
- July 24 - Monk Nikolai Kasatkin appointed as deacon.
- July 25 - Deacon Nikolai Kasatkin appointed as priest.

August

- August 22 - Assisted by the British navy, the troops of Giuseppe Garibaldi cross from Sicily to the Italian mainland

September

- September 7 - Lady Elgin is accidentally rammed and sunk in Lake Michigan, hundreds drown.
- September 7 - Giuseppe Garibaldi's forces capture Naples.
- September 10 - Piedmontese forces invade the Papal States hoping to link up with Garibaldi in Naples
- September 18 - Battle of Castelfidardo. The Piedmontese decisively defeat the Papal forces, allowing them to continue their march into Neapolitan territory

October

- John Hanning Speke and James Augustus Grant leave Zanzibar to search for source of the Nile.
- October 1 - The Battle of the Volturno
- October 5 - Austria, Britain, France, Prussia and the Ottoman Empire form a commission to investigate causes of clashes between Maronites and Druzes in Lebanon earlier in the year
- October 19 - New Maori revolt begins in New Zealand
- October 26 - Battle of the Volturno. Garibaldi again defeats the Neapolitan forces, advancing on Gaeta, the last remaining Neapolitan strong-point.
- October 26 - Giuseppe Garibaldi gives Naples to the king Victor Emmanuel II.

November

- November 3 - The combined forces of Giuseppe Garibaldi and King Victor Emmanuel II besiege King Francis II of the Two Sicilies in Gaeta, his last remaining stronghold.
- November 6 - U.S. presidential election, 1860: Abraham Lincoln beats John C. Breckinridge and is elected as the 16th President of the United States, the first Republican to hold that office.

December

- December 20 - South Carolina becomes the first state to secede from the Union.
- December 29 - The world's first ocean-going (all) iron-hulled and armoured battleship, the (British) HMS Warrior is launched.

Unknown Dates

- Victor Emmanuel, King of Sardinia seizes the whole of the Papal States besides Rome (see Vatican City) and unites Italy.
- Robert Wilhelm Bunsen discovers caesium and rubidium (see Discovery of the chemical elements)
- Buenos Aires leader Bartolomé Mitre subverts Argentine Confederation and begins to establish a new centralist government with the help of Uruguayan Colorado party leader Venancio Flores
- Augustana College is founded in Rock Island, Illinois, United States by Swedish immigrants.

Births

January-April

- January 11 - Marie Bashkirtseff, Russian artist (d. 1884)
- January 25 - Charles Curtis, Vice President of the United States (d. 1936)
- January 29 - William Jacob Baer, American painter (d. 1941)
- January 29- Anton Chekhov, Russian writer (d. 1904)
- February 11 - Rachilde, French author (d. 1953)
- February 29 - Herman Hollerith, American businessman and inventor (d. 1929)
- March 2 - Susanna M. Salter, first woman mayor in the United States (d. 1961)
- March 5 - Sam Thompson, baseball player (d. 1922)
- March 13 - Hugo Wolf, Austrian composer (d. 1903)
- March 19 - William Jennings Bryan, American politician (d. 1925)
- March 22 - Alfred Ploetz, German physician, biologist, and eugenicist (d. 1940)
- March 27 - Frank Frost Abbott, American classical scholar (d. 1924)

May-August

- May 2 - Theodor Herzl, founder of modern political Zionism (d. 1904)
- May 9 - J. M. Barrie, Scottish author (d. 1937)
- May 20 - Eduard Buchner, German chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1917)
- May 21 - Willem Einthoven, Dutch inventor, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (d. 1927)
- May 25 - James McKeen Cattell, American psychologist (d. 1944)
- May 29 - Isaac Albéniz, Spanish composer (d. 1909)
- June 20 - Jack Worrall, Australian cricketer, footballer, and coach (d. 1937)
- July 3 - Charlotte Perkins Gilman, American feminist (d. 1935)
- July 7 - Gustav Mahler, Austrian composer (d. 1911)
- July 19 - Lizzie Borden, American murder suspect (d. 1927)
- August 3 - W.K. Dickson, Scottish inventor (d. 1935)
- August 7 - Alan Leo, British astrologer (d. 1917)
- August 16 - Jules Laforgue, French poet (d. 1887)

September-December

- September 5 - Andrew Volstead, American politician (d. 1947)
- September 6 - Jane Addams, American social worker, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (d. 1935)
- September 13 - John J. Pershing, American general (d. 1948)
- November 1 - Boies Penrose, United States Senator from Pennsylvania (d. 1921)
- November 6 - Ignacy Jan Paderewski, Polish pianist and composer (d. 1941)
- November 23 - Billy the Kid, American gunfighter (d. 1881)
- November 23 - Hjalmar Branting, Prime Minister of Sweden, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (d. 1925)
- December 7 - Joseph Cook, sixth Prime Minister of Australia (d. 1947)
- December 15 - Niels Ryberg Finsen, Danish physician, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (d. 1904)
- John Coughlin, American politician (d. 1938)
- Frederick George Jackson, British Arctic explorer (d. 1938)
- Albert Giraud, Belgian poet (d. 1929)
- Lancelot Speed, British illustrator (d. 1931)

Deaths

- January 27 - János Bolyai, Hungarian mathematician (b. 1802)
- January 27 - Thomas Brisbane, Scottish astronomer (b. 1883)
- January 29 - Stephanie de Beauharnais, Grand Duchess of Baden (b. 1789)
- February 20 - Henry Drummond, Canadian poet (b. 1851)
- March 17 - Anna Jameson, German author
- March 25 - James Braid, Scottish surgeon (b. 1795)
- May 12 - Sir Charles Barry, English architect (b. 1795)
- May 16 - Anne Isabella Milbanke, wife of George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron (b. 1792)
- July 1 - Charles Goodyear, American inventor (b. 1800)
- October 31 - Thomas Cochrane, 10th Earl of Dundonald, British admiral (b. 1775)
- December 14 - George Hamilton-Gordon, 4th earl of Aberdeen (b. 1784) Category:1860s Category:1860 ko:1860년 ms:1860 simple:1860 th:พ.ศ. 2403

19th century

:Alternative meaning: Nineteenth Century (periodical) The 19th century lasted from 1801 to 1900 in the Gregorian calendar (using the Common Era system of year numbering). Historians sometimes define a "Nineteenth Century" historical era stretching from 1815 (The Congress of Vienna) to 1914 (The outbreak of the First World War).

Europe

For Europe, the period is marked with revolution, social upheaval, and the emergence of a united conservatism from the monarchs of Europe in response to the emerging republican firestorm spreading from revolutionary France. There were many revolutions in Europe in 1848. Furthermore, the later end of the century was dominated by what many call the New Imperialism, which was the rapid aquisition of colonies worldwide by European powers, most noteworthy is the Scramble for Africa. Many countries in Europe underwent an Industrial Revolution, especially Britain and Germany, that spread elsewhere by the end of the century, with factories and railway lines built all over the continent. The start of the 19th century there was a struggle between France and Britain and their allies for control of Europe and the world during the Napoleonic Wars, with Napoleon being finally defeated at Waterloo in 1815. During the rest of the century, the British empire became the largest and most powerful empire in history, during the period known as the Pax Britannica.

Americas

In the Americas, the United States slowly grew economically, militarily, and politically, but nevertheless faced dramatic changes domestically, best seen in the Civil War, the end of slavery, and the expansion across the American continent known as Manifest Destiny. Industrially, America will explode following the Civil War, and would eventually begin expansion outward across the Pacific Ocean and in Latin America.

Other countries

For the rest of the world, there were few places not influenced by the West in some fashion, whether through colonialism, imperialism, or war. European powers gained increasing influence in China, where Qing control had weakened, and wars were fought by the western powers against China, such as the first and the second Opium wars and Sino-French War. Japan, which was forcibly opened to Western trade, began a rapid industrialisation. Africa which was largely free from European control at the start of the century, was almost completely dominated by Europe at the end of it, with the Scramble for Africa in the 1880s and 1890s. Large European settlement, especially British, of colonies such as Australia, New Zealand and the Cape Colony continued during the nineteenth century.

Events

- 1801: The Kingdom of Great Britain and the Kingdom of Ireland merge to form the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.
- 1803: The United States buys out France's territorial claims in North America via the Louisiana Purchase.
- 1804-06: Americans Meriwether Lewis and William Clark lead an expedition to the Pacific Coast and back.
- 1805-48: Muhammad Ali modernizes Egypt.
- 1806: Holy Roman Empire dissolved as a consequence of the Treaty of Lunéville.
- 1809: Napoleon strips the Teutonic Knights of their last holdings in Bad Mergentheim.
- 1813-1917: The contest between the British Empire and Imperial Russia for control of Central Asia is referred to as the Great Game.
- 1815: Congress of Vienna redraws the European map.
- 1815: Napoleon's defeat at Waterloo brings a conclusion to the Napoleonic Wars and marks the beginning of a Pax Britannica which lasts until 1870.
- 1816: Year Without a Summer
- 1816-28: Shaka's Zulu kingdom becomes the largest in Southern Africa.
- 1819: The modern city of Singapore is established by the British East India Company.
- 1820: Liberia founded by the American Colonization Society for freed American slaves.
- 1830: France invades and occupies Algeria.
- 1830: The Belgian Revolution in the United Kingdom of the Netherlands led to the creation of Belgium.
- 1833: Slavery Abolition Act bans slavery throughout the British Empire.
- 1834: Spanish Inquisition officially ends.
- 1835-36: The Texas Revolution in Mexico resulted in the short-lived Republic of Texas.
- 1837-1901: Queen Victoria's reign is considered the apex of the British Empire and is referred to as the Victorian era.
- 1845-49: Irish Potato Famine
- 1848: The Communist Manifesto published.
- 1848: Revolutions of 1848 in Europe
- 1848-58: California Gold Rush
- 1850: The Little Ice Age ends around this time.
- 1851-60s: Victorian gold rush in Australia
- 1851-64: The Taiping Rebellion in China
- 1854: The Convention of Kanagawa formally ends Japan's policy of Sakoku.
- 1855: Bessemer process enables steel to be mass produced.
- 1856: World's first oil refinery in Romania
- 1857-58: Indian rebellion of 1857
- 1859: The Origin of Species published.
- 1864-67: French intervention in Mexico
- 1865-77: Reconstruction in the United States
- 1866: Successful transatlantic telegraph cable follows an earlier attempt in 1858.
- 1866: Creation of the North German Confederation and the Austrian-Hungarian Dual Monarchy.
- 1866-69: Meiji Restoration in Japan
- 1867: The United States purchased Alaska from Russia.
- 1867: Canadian Confederation formed.
- 1869: First Transcontinental Railroad completed in United States.
- 1869: The Suez Canal opens linking the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea.
- 1870-71: Unifications of Germany and Italy.
- 1871-1914: Second Industrial Revolution
- 1870s-90s: Long Depression in Western Europe and North America
- 1872: Yellowstone National Park created.
- 1874: The British East India Company is dissolved.
- 1877: Great Railroad Strike in the United States may have been the world's first nationwide labor strike.
- 1877-78: The Balkans are freed from the Ottoman Empire after another Russo-Turkish War.
- 1878: First commercial telephone exchange in New Haven, Connecticut.
- 1880-1902: Great Britain conquers Dutch settlers in South Africa in two Boer Wars.
- 1882: First electrical power plant and grid in Manhattan.
- 1884-85: The Berlin Conference signals the start of the European Scramble for Africa. Attending nations also agree to ban trade in slaves.
- 1885: Unification of Bulgaria
- 1890: The Wounded Knee Massacre is the last battle in the American Indian Wars.
- 1894-95: After the First Sino-Japanese War, China cedes Taiwan to Japan and grants Japan a free hand in Korea.
- 1895-1896: Ethiopia defeated Italy in the First Italo-Abyssinian War.
- 1896: Olympic games revived in Athens.
- 1896: Klondike Gold Rush in Canada
- 1898: The United States gains control of Cuba, Puerto Rico, and the Philippines after the Spanish-American War.
- 1898-1900: The Boxer Rebellion in China is suppressed by an Eight-Nation Alliance.

Wars

List of wars 1800–1899
- 1799-1815: Napoleonic Wars.
- 1801-15: Barbary Wars between the United States and the Barbary States of North Africa.
- 1806-12: Russo-Turkish War
- 1810-21: Mexican War of Independence.
- 1810s-20s: South American Wars of Independence.
- 1812-15: War of 1812 between the United States and Great Britain.
- 1821-32: Greek War of Independence.
- 1828-29: Russo-Turkish War, 1828-1829
- 1833-76: Carlist Wars in Spain.
- 1839-60: After two Opium Wars, Great Britain, France, the United States and Russia gain many concessions from China.
- 1854-56: Crimean War between Great Britain, France, the Ottoman Empire and Russia.
- 1861-65: American Civil War between the Union and seceding Confederacy.
- 1866: Austro-Prussian War.
- 1877-78: Russo-Turkish War.
- 1879: Anglo-Zulu War in South Africa.
- 1879-84: War of the Pacific between Peru, Bolivia and Chile.
- 1880-81: First Boer War.
- 1894-95: First Sino-Japanese War.
- 1895-96: First Italo-Abyssinian War.
- 1899-13: The Philippine-American War.

Significant people

- Gilbert and Sullivan, playwright, composer
- William Gilbert Grace, English cricketer
- Baron Haussmann, civic planner
- Sándor Körösi Csoma, explorer of the Tibetan culture
- Fitz Hugh Ludlow, writer and explorer
- Florence Nightingale, nursing pioneer
- Ignaz Semmelweis, founder of hygiene
- Dr. John Snow, the founder of epidemiology
- F R Spofforth, Australian cricketer

Science

- Henri Becquerel, physicist
- Charles Darwin, biologist
- Thomas Alva Edison, inventor
- Michael Faraday, scientist
- Gottlob Frege, mathematician, logician and philosopher
- Carl Friedrich Gauss, mathematician, physicist, astronomer
- James Clerk Maxwell, Scottish physicist
- Gregor Mendel, biologist
- Louis Pasteur, biologist
- Nikola Tesla, inventor
- Amedeo Avogadro, physicist
- Johann Jakob Balmer, mathematician, physicist
- Pierre Curie, physicist
- Christian Doppler, physicist, mathematician

Philosophy and Religion

- Bahá'u'lláh, Persian religious leader and founder of Bahá'í Faith
- Báb, Persian prophet and founder of Bábísm
- Nikolai of Japan, religious leader who introduced Eastern Orthodoxy into Japan.
- Mikhail Bakunin, anarchist
- Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, philosopher
- Søren Kierkegaard, philosopher
- Karl Marx, political philosopher and economist
- John Stuart Mill, philosopher
- Friedrich Nietzsche, philosopher
- Joseph Smith, Jr., religious leader, founder of Mormonism
- Ramakrishna Paramahamsa, Hindu mystic
- Arthur Schopenhauer, philosopher
- Claude Henri de Rouvroy, Comte de Saint-Simon, founder of French socialism
- Brigham Young, Mormon religious leader
- William Morris, social reformer

Politics

- Otto von Bismarck, German chancellor
- Napoleon Bonaparte, French general, first consul and emperor
- Guiseppe Garibaldi, unifier of Italy and Piedmontese soldier
- Ulysses S. Grant, U.S. general and president
- Theodor Herzl, founder of modern political Zionism
- Andrew Jackson, U.S. general and president
- Thomas Jefferson, American statesman, philosopher, and president
- Lajos Kossuth, Hungarian governor; leader of the war of independence
- Hong Xiuquan, revolutionary, self-proclaimed Son of God
- Benjamin Disraeli, novelist and politician
- Libertadores, Latin American liberators
- Robert E. Lee, Confederate general
- Abraham Lincoln, U.S. president; led the nation during the Civil War
- Mutsuhito, Japanese emperor
- István Széchenyi, aristocrat, leader of the Hungarian reform movement
- Queen Victoria, British monarch
- Klemens von Metternich, Austrian Chancellor

Inventions, discoveries, introductions

List of 19th century inventions
- Department stores
- Electromagnetism
- Epidemiology
- Mail order businesses
- Philology
- Postage stamps
- Public busses
- Subway
- The invention of the telegraph connected the world like never before, leading to quicker communication and interaction.
- One of the more devestating technologies emerging from this period is the machine gun, first used during the Civil War (considered the first modern war)

Decades and years

Category:19th century Category:Centuries Category:Romanticism als:19. Jahrhundert zh-min-nan:19 sè-kí ko:19세기 ja:19世紀 simple:19th century th:คริสต์ศตวรรษที่ 19

City

:For alternate meanings see city (disambiguation) A city is an urban area that is differentiated from a town, village, or hamlet by size, population density, importance, or legal status.

Introduction

In most parts of the world, cities are generally substantial and nearly always have an urban core, but in the United States many incorporated areas which have a very modest population, or a suburban or even mostly rural character, are designated as cities. City can also be a synonym for "downtown" or a "city centre". A city usually consists of residential, industrial and business areas together with administrative functions which may relate to a wider geographical area. A large share of a city's area is primarily taken up by housing, which is then supported by infrastructure such roads, streets and often public transport routes such as a subway or a metro rail system. Lakes and rivers may be the only undeveloped areas within the city. The study of cities is covered extensively in human geography. "The city is a human habitat that allows people to form relations with others at various levels of intimacy while remaining entirely anonymous." (This definition was the subject of an exhibition at the Israeli pavilion at the 2000 Venice Biennale of architecture)

The difference between towns and cities

The difference between towns and cities is differently understood in different parts of the English speaking world. There is no one standard international definition of a city: the term may be used either for a town possessing city status; for an urban locality exceeding an arbitrary population size; for a town dominating other towns with particular regional economic or administrative significance. Although city can refer to an agglomeration including suburban and satellite areas, the term is not appropriate for a conurbation (cluster) of distinct urban places, nor for a wider metropolitan area including more than one city, each acting as a focus for parts of the area. In the United Kingdom, a city is a town which has been known as a city since time immemorial, or which has received city status by royal charter — which is normally granted on the basis of size, importance or royal connection (traditional pointers have been whether the town has a cathedral or a university). Some cathedral cities, for example St. David's in Wales, are quite small, and may not be known as cities in common parlance. (See the City status in the United Kingdom.) A similar system existed in the medieval Low Countries where a landlord would grant settlements certain privileges (city rights) that settlements without city rights didn't have. This include the privilege to put up city walls, hold markets or set up a judicial court. In Australia and New Zealand, city is used to refer both to units of local government, and as a synonym for urban area. For instance the [http://www.southperth.wa.gov.au City of South Perth] is part of the urban area known as Perth, commonly described as a city. On the other hand, Gisborne in New Zealand is known as the first city to see the sun, despite being administered by a district council, not a city council. An interesting phenomenon in American English is the generalisation of the term city to all settlements. Britons may be bemused by forms with fields headed, not Town and Postal code, but City and ZIP, even though the person needing to fill it in could be living in a city, a town without city status, or even a village or hamlet. In turn, many Americans often talk of "City Halls" when referring to town halls in quite small European towns and villages. Strangely, even though Americans are well aware that "village" means something smaller than a town, the word has often been co-opted by enterprising developers to make their projects sound welcoming and friendly. The result are so-called villages with 20 and 30-story high-rises, like Westwood Village in Los Angeles.

Geography

Westwood Village, of around 1550. The city is completely surrounded by a city wall and defensive canal. The square shape is inspired by Jerusalem.]] The geographies of cities, both physical and human, are diverse. Often cities will either be coastal and have a harbour or be situated near a river giving economic advantage. Water transports on rivers and oceans were (and in most cases still are) cheaper and more efficient than road transport over long distances. Older European cities often have historically intact central areas where the streets are jumbled together, seemingly without a structural plan. This quality is a legacy of earlier unplanned or organic development, and is often perceived by today's tourists to be picturesque. Modern city planning has seen many different schemes for how a city should look. The most commonly seen pattern is the grid, almost a rule in parts of the United States, and used for thousands of years in China. Derry was the first ever planned city in Ireland, begun in 1613, with the walls being completed 5 years later in 1618. The central diamond within a walled city with four gates was thought to be a good design for defence. The grid pattern chosen was subsequently much copied in the colonies of British North America [http://worldfacts.us/UK-Londonderry.htm]. However, the grid has been used for a long time in history. The Greeks gave their colonies around the Mediterranian often with a grid. One of the best examples around is the city of Priene. This city even had it's different districts. Much like modern city planning today. Also in de Medival times we see a preference for lineair planning. Good examples are the cities establish in the south of France by various rulers. And city expantions in old Dutch and Flanders cities. Other forms may include a radial structure in which main roads converge on a central point, often the effect of successive growth over long time with concentric traces of town walls and citadels - recently supplemented by ring-roads that take traffic around the edge of a town. Many Dutch cities are structured that way: a central square surrounded by a concentric canals. Every city expansion would imply a new circle (canals + town walls). In cities like Amsterdam and Haarlem this pattern is still clearly visible.

History of cities

Towns and cities have a long history, although opinions vary on whether any particular ancient settlement can be considered to be a city. The first true towns are sometimes considered to be large settlements where the inhabitants were no longer simply farmers of the surrounding area, but began to take on specialized occupations, and where to trade, food storage and power was centralized. Societies that live in cities are often called civilizations. By this definition, the first towns we know of were located in Mesopotamia, such as Ur, and along the Nile, the Indus Valley Civilization and China. Before this time it was rare for settlements to reach significant size, although there were exceptions such as Jericho, Çatalhöyük and Mehrgarh. The growth of ancient and medieval empires led to ever greater capital cities and seats of provincial administration, with ancient Rome, its eastern successor Constantinople and successive Chinese and later Indian capitals approaching or exceeding the half-million population level. It is estimated that ancient Rome population exceeded one million people by the end of the last century BCE, which is considered the only city to reach that number until the Industrial Revolution, however, Alexandria population was close to one million at the same time. Similar large administrative, commercial, industrial and ceremonial centres emerged in other areas, though on a smaller scale. During the European Middle Ages, a town was as much a political entity as a collection of houses. City residence brought freedom from customary rural obligations to lord and community: "Stadtluft macht frei" ("City air makes you free") was a saying in Germany. In Continental Europe cities with a legislature of their own wasn't unheard of, the laws for towns as a rule other than for the countryside, the lord of a town often being another than for surrounding land. In the Holy Roman Empire (i.e. medieval Germany and Italy) some cities had no other lord than the emperor. In exceptional cases like Venice, Genoa or Lübeck, cities themselves became powerful states, sometimes taking surrounding areas under their control or establishing extensive maritime empires. Similar phenomena existed elsewhere, as in the case of Sakai, which enjoyed a considerable autonomy in late medieval Japan. Most towns remained far smaller places, so that in 1500 only some two dozen places in the world contained more than 100,000 inhabitants: as late as 1700 there were fewer than forty, a figure which would rise thereafter to 300 in 1900. A small city of the early modern period might contain as few as 10,000 inhabitants, a town far fewer still. While the city-states, or poleis, of the Mediterranean and Baltic Sea languished from the 16th century, Europe's larger capitals benefited from the growth of commerce following the emergence of an Atlantic economy fuelled by the silver of Peru. By the 18th century, London and Paris rivalled the well-developed regionally-traditional capital cities of Baghdad, Beijing, Istanbul, Kyoto and Venice. The growth of modern industry from the late 18th century onward led to massive urbanization and the rise of new great cities, first in Europe and then in other regions, as new opportunities brought huge numbers of migrants from rural communities into urban areas. In the Great Depression of the 1930s cities were hard hit by unemployment, especially those with a base in heavy industry. Today the world's population is about half urban, with millions still streaming annually into the growing cities of Asia, Africa and Latin America.

Modern conceptions

Traditional approach

A universal linear approach to cities has been in place and accepted for a long time. As this approach falls short of explaining a number of aspects of city life, such as the diversity between cities, new ways have been sought. Influenced by post-structuralist thinking a new approach was born: using spatial thinking it is possible to not only fill the gaps, but indeed replace the old completely. Three characteristics have been identified as defining a city: the number of people to area (density), the networks of the city, as well as a particular way of life. None of these characteristics alone is enough to make a place a city. Until recently cities were almost exclusively viewed as part of a single, linear line of development. Starting with the Greek city-state, this linear approach placed each city somewhere, and it was believed that it was only a matter of time until the next stage along the prescript path of advancement was reached. For each stage an exemplar was identified. Step by step from Athens onwards to Venice and London, Los Angeles seemed to be the ultimate stage of a postmodern city. Such an approach regarded a city as a single static entity, which could be studied disconnected in time and space. This leads to a theoretical framework with little connection to real cities, but these were simply seen as less clear examples. In spite of apparent shortcomings, this approach is still very commonplace in respected and popular publications.

Shortcomings

Despite its wide acceptance this traditional approach to cities had serious shortcomings. Firstly, leaving the latest stage aside, it was completely eurocentric. It was believed that every city in the world could be compared with a past stage in the history of one European city. Secondly, there was no real explanation when and how changes occurred, how another stage in the line of development was achieved. There seemed no need to follow the changes of one city, but instead attention was turned to another exemplar. Thirdly, the disconnected view of cities is problematic. It implies that history, culture and connections of a place do not influence a place, which is questionable. Some thinkers argue that a history ignoring connections is necessary incomplete. Fourthly, the traditional approach failed to define what makes a city. It is unclear why one place is regarded as a city while another one is not. Lewis Mumford argued in 1937 for a social dimension, describing cities as geographical plexuses. Finally, viewing cities as a single body misses modern conceptions that there is more than one story to a place. The city of an aristocrat will surely differ from that of a slave. This also reflects a shift away from one single history of the powerful élites (often referred to as city élites) to a multidimensional perception of history. The notion of city rhythms has been introduced to highlight the different aspects of city life... The term city can be used to mean either an area of contiguous urbanization or a particular municipality (an [http://www.demographia.com/db-world-muni.htm area within the political borders of an incorporated municipality]). There is a substantial variation in municipalities around the world. The largest municipality, Chongqing, is approximately the same size as the state of Indiana and contains much more rural territory than continuous urbanization. In most cases, however, the continuous urbanization popularly thought of as the city extends well beyond the boundaries of the core incorporated city.

Modern approach

As a modern approach to cities, urban thinking analyzes various issues that arise in urban areas. It focuses largely upon connections and internal divisions which helps create a better understanding of the dynamics of cities. Using such spatial thinking, it is possible to understand various aspects for which the traditional approach did not provide an adequate explanation. One important aspect of spatial thinking is looking at the connections of a city. Such connections allow one to understand the unique character of a place. Rather than treating all cities the same, places are seen as interconnected through networks of culture, economics, trade or history. So while London and Tokyo are economically linked through stock markets, Graz and Stockholm are linked via the Cultural Capital of Europe. These networks overlap and are concentrated in cities. Arguably this concentration of networks creates a unique feeling of a place. Such networks, however, do not only link cities with cities, but also a city to its surroundings. The notion of a city footprint reflects the idea that a city on its own is not sustainable: it depends on produce from its surroundings, it needs trade links and other connections for economic viability. Looking at networks, it becomes possible to explain the rise and fall of cities. This has to do with the changing importance of connections and is maybe best illustrated with the arrival of Spanish colonizers in America. Within a short time, connections to Madrid became more important than connections to the former centre Tenochtitlán. The concentration of networks in cities can be used as an explanation of urbanization. It is the access to certain networks that attracts people. As various networks spatially run together in a confined area, people gather in cities. At the same time, this concentration of people means the introduction of new networks, such as social links, increasing the creation of new possibilities within cities. Urban social movements are a direct result of this possibility of making new connections. It is this openness to new connections that makes cities both attractive and to a certain degree unpredictable. Another important aspect of modern urban thinking is looking at the divisions within a city. This internal differentiation is linked to the external connections of a city. As places of meeting histories, cities are hybrid and heterogeneous. Hybrid they are as the connections which link places are bilateral, involving giving and taking in both directions. Heterogeneous they are because of the dynamism of cities. New encounters are ongoing processes where social relations and differences are constantly negotiated and shaped, reflecting the unequal power involved. Neither the internal differentiations nor the connections and networks of a place on their own define a city. Internal divisions are caused by external links, while at the same time connections to the outside open up the possibility of new social divisions. Divisions and connections in every city are intertwined, and only by considering both aspects of spatial thinking the complexity of cities is approachable. Immigration illustrates this interconnection of external networks and internal divisions well. The networks concentrated in the core of the city attract immigrants. As they immigrate, the newcomers bring along their histories, bringing new networks or enforcing existing ones. At the same time, their history offers opportunities to identify with or likewise exclude. Division and connection come hand in hand. Rather than attempting to eradicate such tensions and contradictions in the theoretical framework, modern urban thinking – influenced by poststructuralist thought – accounts for both sides. Static universal bodies are replaced by multidimensional networks, allowing for fluidity and dynamism.

Global cities

A global city, also known as a world city, is a prominent centre of trade, banking, finance, innovations, and markets. The term "global city", as opposed to megacity, was coined by Saskia Sassen in a seminal 1991 work. Whereas "megacity" refers to any city of enormous size, a global city is one of enormous power or influence. Global cities, according to Sassen, have more in common with each other than with other cities in their host nations. Bangkok, Beijing, Brussels, Chicago, Hong Kong, Johannesburg, London, Moscow, Mumbai, New York, Los Angeles, Paris, São Paulo, Seoul, Shanghai, Singapore, Sydney, Tokyo, and Toronto are commonly referred to as global cities, however, the term is also applied to other cities. The notion of global cities regards the power of cities as contained within cities. The city is seen as a container where skills and resources are concentrated. The more successful city is able to concentrate more of these skills and resources. This makes the city itself more powerful in terms that it can influence what is happening around the world. Following this view of cities, it is possible to rank the world's cities hierarchically (John Friedmann and Goetz Wolff, "World City Formation: An Agenda for Research and Action," International Journal of Urban and Regional Research 6, no. 3 (1982): 319.). Critics of the notion point out to the different realms of power. The term global city narrowly focuses on economics. Cities like Rome are powerful in religious terms. Additionally, it has been questioned whether the city itself can be regarded as an actor. In 1995 Kanter argued that successful cities can be identified by three elements. To be successful, a city needs to have good thinkers (concepts), good makers (competence) or good traders (connections). The interplay of these three elements, Kanter argued, means that good cities are not planned but managed.

Environmental effects

Modern cities are known for creating their own microclimates. This is due to the large clustering of hard surfaces that heat up in sunlight and that channel rainwater into underground ducts. As a result, city weather is often windier and cloudier than the weather in the surrounding countryside. Conversely, because these effects make cities warmer (urban heat shield or urban heat islands) than the surrounding area, tornadoes tend to go around cities. Additionally towns can cause significant downstream weather effects. Garbage and sewage are two major problems for cities, as is air pollution coming from internal combustion engines (see public transport). The impact of cities on places elsewhere, be it hinterlands or places far away, is considered in the notion of city footprinting (ecological footprint).

Inner city

Main article: Inner city In the United States, United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland, the term "inner city" is sometimes used with the connotation of being an area, perhaps a ghetto, where people are less educated and wealthy and where there is more crime. These connotations are less common in other Western countries, as deprived areas are located in varying parts of other Western cities. In fact, with the gentrification of some formerly run-down central city areas the reverse connotation can apply - in Australia the term "outer suburban" applied to a person implies a lack of sophistication. For instance, in Paris the inner city is the richest part of the metropolitan area, where housing is the most expensive, and where elites and high-income individuals dwell. The United States, in particular, suffers from a culture of anti-urbanism that some say dates back as far as Thomas Jefferson who wrote that "The mobs of great cities add just so much to the support of pure government as sores do to the strength of the human body." On the businessmen who brought manufacturing industry into cities and hence increased the population density necessary to supply the workforce, he wrote "the manufactures of the great cities... have begotten a depravity of morals, a dependence and corruption, which renders them an undesirable accession to a country whose morals are sound." Modern anti-urban attitudes are to be found in America in the form of a planning profession that continues to develop land on a low-density suburban basis, where access to amenities, work and shopping is provided almost exclusively by car rather than on foot. However, there is a growing movement in North America called "New Urbanism" that calls for a return to traditional city planning methods where mixed-use zoning allows people to walk from one type of land-use to another. The idea is that housing, shopping, office space, and leisure facilities are all provided within walking distance of each other, thus reducing the demand for road-space and also improving the efficiency and effectiveness of mass transit.

References

- Toynbee, Arnold (ed), Cities of Destiny, New York: McGraw-Hill, 1967. Pan historical/geographical essays, many images. Starts with "Athens", ends with "The Coming World City-Ecumenopolis".

External links

- [http://www.populationdata.net/palmaresvilles.html All 1M+ major urban areas]
- [http://www.p.lodz.pl/I35/personal/jw37/EUROPE/europe.html Place Names of Europe]
- [http://www.tageo.com/index.htm Place Names of the world - Index of 2M cities]
- [http://www.nationmaster.com/graph-T/geo_lar_cit&int=-1&b_ac=1 Most populous city of each country]
- [http://www.world-gazetteer.com/st/statb.htm For all countries, number of cities per size category]
- [http://www.nationmaster.com/graph-T/geo_lar_cit_pop_cap&int=-1 For each country, part of its population that lives in its most populous city] (with some odd figures due to the comparison of data of different years)
- [http://www.nlc.org/nlc_org/site/ The National League of Cities] (United States)
- [http://www.innercitypress.org Inner City Press] (Weekly publication on cities, United States)
- [http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/cgi-local/DHI/dhi.cgi?id=dv1-52 Dictionary of the History of ideas:] The City
- [http://www.morganquitno.com/cit05list.htm Morgan Quinto's 11th Annual America's Safest (and Most Dangerous) Cities]
- [http://www.skyscraperpage.com A friendly website designed by skyscraper enthusiasts featuring diagrams and descriptions of the buildings of cities around the world.]
- [http://www.bifurcaciones.cl bifurcaciones.cl, urban cultural studies journal]
- [http://worldheritage-forum.net/de/ Worldheritage-Forum] Weblog and Informationen on UNESCO World Heritage topics (with focus on cities) Category:Urban studies and planning Category:Cities ja:都市 ja:市 nb:By simple:city th:เมือง

Bus

:This article is about the form of transport. See computer bus or electrical bus for the use of the term in computing and electronics respectively, the bank of the united states (the B.U.S.), or places like Bus, Pas-de-Calais and Bus-Saint-Rémy. Bus-Saint-Rémy competition. Other cities felt they could not compete against Honolulu.]] A bus is a large, motorized, wheeled vehicle intended to carry numerous persons in addition to the driver. The name is a shortened version of omnibus, which means "for everyone".

History

The omnibus, the first organized public transit system, may have originated in Nantes, France in 1826, when a retired army officer who had built public baths on the city's edge set up a short stage line between the center of town and his baths. When he discovered that passengers were just as interested in getting off at intermediate points as in patronizing his baths, he shifted the stage line's focus. His new voiture omnibus ("carriage for all") combined the functions of the hired hackney carriage with the stagecoach that travelled a predetermined route from inn to inn, carrying passengers and mail. His omnibus featured wooden benches that ran down the sides of the vehicle; entry was from the rear. Whether by direct emulation, or because the idea was in the air, by 1832 the idea had been copied in Paris, Bordeaux and Lyons. A London newspaper reported in July 4, 1829 that “the new vehicle, called the omnibus, commenced running this morning from Paddington to the City”. This bus service was operated by George Shillibeer. In New York, omnibus service began in the same year, when Abraham Brower, an entrepreneur who had organized volunteer fire companies, established a route along Broadway starting at Bowling Green. Other American cities soon followed suit: Philadelphia in 1831, Boston in 1835 and Baltimore in 1844. In most cases, the city governments granted a private company—generally a small stableman already in the livery or freight-hauling business—an exclusive franchise to operate public coaches along a specified route. In return, the company agreed to maintain certain minimum levels of service—though one of these standards was not upholstery. The New York omnibus quickly moved into the urban consciousness. In 1831, New Yorker Washington Irving remarked of Britain's Reform Act (finally passed in 1832): "The great reform omnibus moves but slowly." Reform Act).]] The omnibus had many repercussions for society, particularly in that it encouraged urbanization. Socially, the omnibus put city-dwellers, even if for only half an hour, into previously-unheard-of physical intimacy with strangers, squeezing them together knee-to-knee (illustration, left). Only the very poor remained excluded. A new division in urban society now came to the fore, dividing those who kept carriages from those who did not. The idea of the "carriage trade", the folk who never set foot in the streets, who had goods brought out from the shops for their appraisal, has its origins in the omnibus crush. urbanization] The omnibus also extended the reach of the North Atlantic post-Georgian, post-Federal city. The walk from the former village of Paddington to the business heart of London in the "City" was a brisk one for a young man in good condition. The omnibus offered the nearer suburbs more access to the inner city. More intense urbanization was to follow. Within a very few years, the New York omnibus had a rival in the streetcar: the first streetcar ran along The Bowery, which offered the excellent improvement in amenity of riding on smooth iron rails rather than clattering over granite setts, called "Belgian blocks". The new streetcars were financed by John Mason, a wealthy banker, and built by an Irish contractor, John Stephenson. The streetcars would become even more centrally important than the omnibus in the future of urbanization. When motorized transport proved successful after ca 1905, a motorized omnibus was for a time sometimes called an autobus.

Types

granite granite]] granite granite granite]] granite
- Coach / Motorcoach
- Double-decker bus
- Articulated bus
- Low-floor
- Midibus
- Minibus
- Trolleybus
- Gyrobus
- Guided bus
- Shuttle bus
- School bus

Manufacture and Manufacturers

See :Category:Bus manufacturers and :Category:Busses.

Bus line operators

See: List of bus companies.

Types of bus service

Buses are an intrinsic part of everyday life, and play an important part in the social fabric of many countries.

Intercity travel

Intercity bus services have become an important travel connection to smaller towns and rural areas in the United States that do not have airports or train service. A new phenomenon in intercity bus travel has been the Chinatown bus.

Tourism

Some places have buses that resemble streetcars in order to attract tourists or otherwise look nice (see right). A similar phenomenon is Duck Tours, which uses DUKWs converted into buses/cruise boats for tour purposes.

Buses in a social context

Desegregation busing

In some areas of the United States, a forced busing system has been used to achieve racial desegregation of public schools. Under a busing plan, children do not necessarily go to the nearest school geographically, but to such a school where there is an appropriate mix of racial diversity.

Buses and segregation

Bus services were also a focal point in the American Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 1960s in the United States. In the period after the American Civil War ended in 1865, racial segregation in public accommodations, including public transport such as rail and bus services, was enforced through Black Codes and Jim Crow laws. These were made to prevent African-Americans from doing things that a white person could do. For instance, Jim Crow laws required bus drivers to enforce separate seating sections. These laws and enforcement varied among communities and states. In 1955, after a long day of work, Rosa Parks, a black seamstress, was arrested in Montgomery, Alabama for refusing to give up her seat to a white man on a public bus, bringing attention to the injustice of differential and degrading treatment based solely upon race. This incident, boycotts of bus services, other protests, and court challenges led a U.S. Supreme Court ruling banning segregation on public buses and helped lead the U.S. Congress to the pass the landmark 1964 Civil Rights Act which clarified the unconstitutionality of public racial segregation laws.

Miscellaneous

The usual plural of bus is "buses". "Busses" is sometimes used, but is also the plural of "buss", a dialectal word for "kiss" or a type of boat. In 1955, after a long day of work, Rosa Parks, a black seamstress, was arrested in Montgomery, Alabama for refusing to give up her seat to a white man on a public bus, bringing attention to the injustice of differential and degrading treatment based solely upon race. This incident, boycotts of bus services, other protests, and court challenges led a U.S. Supreme Court ruling banning segregation on public buses and helped lead the U.S. Congress to the pass the landmark 1964 Civil Rights Act which clarified the unconstitutionality of public racial segregation laws. The bus involved in the Rosa Parks incident has been found and restored and is now on display at the Henry Ford Museum near Detroit Michigan.

External links

- [http://www.natransit.com Hobby site about buses and trains in North America]
- [http://www.busesintl.com/May_2003.htm Busway programs in the Netherlands, bi-articulated bus]
- [http://www.quinion.com/words/articles/omnibus.htm "A word for all: the odd history of "omnibus""]
- [http://www.public-transport.net Buses in Europe]
- [http://www.barraclou.com/bus Barraclou.com - Bus]

References

- Category:Bus transport Category:Passenger equipment zh-min-nan:Kong-chhia ko:버스 ja:バス (交通機関) simple:Bus

1828

1828 was a leap year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar).

Events

- January 4 - The Vicomte de Martignac succeeds the Comte de Villèle as Prime Minister of France.
- January 22 - The Duke of Wellington succeeds Lord Goderich as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. He repeals the Test Act, emancipating all Catholics, and introduces the Roman Catholic Relief Act the following year.
- April 26 - Russia declares war on Turkey, in support of the Greek struggle for independence.
- May 26 - Mysterious foundling Kaspar Hauser is discovered wandering the streets of Nuremberg, Germany.
- June 23 - King Miguel I of Portugal overthrows his niece Queen Maria II of Portugal, beginning the Liberal Wars.
- August 9 - The Egyptians evacuate Greece, practically ending hostilities there.
- August 27 - The Russians defeat the Turks at Akhaltzikke.
- August 27 – Brazil and Argentina recognize the independence of Uruguay.
- September 13 - Robbers break into the vault of the Bank of Australasia in Sydney, Australia and take off with a loot of various nominations - first bank robbery in Australia.
- September 29 – Police force of Sir Robert Peel starts in London - 101 uniformed officers and 5 civil servants.
- October 25 - St Katharine Docks opened in London.
- December 3 - U.S. presidential election, 1828: Challenger Andrew Jackson beats incumbent John Quincy Adams and is elected President of the United States.
- December 17 - Trial of the case of the body snatchers William Burke and William Hare begins.
- Urea becomes the first organic compound to be artificially synthesised, by Friedrich Wöhler (see Biochemistry)
- White comedian Thomas D. Rice introduces blackface and the song "Jim Crow" to American audiences.
- Henri Ollivier becomes the first Onion Johnny in England.
- Russia captures Eastern Armenia from Persia.

Births

- February 8 - Jules Verne, French author (d. 1905)
- March 18 - William Randal Cremer, English politician and pacifist, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (d. 1908)
- March 20 - Henrik Ibsen, Norwegian playwright (d. 1906)
- May 8 - Jean Henri Dunant, Swiss founder of the Red Cross, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (d. 1910)
- May 12 - Dante Gabriel Rossetti, English poet and painter (d. 1882)
- August 17 - Maria Deraismes, French feminist (d. 1894)
- September 9 (N.S.); August 28 (O.S.) - Leo Tolstoy, Russian writer (d. 1910)

Exact month/day of birth unknown

- Clinton B. Fisk, American temperance movement leader (d. 1890)

Deaths

- April 16 - Francisco Goya, Spanish painter (b. 1746)
- May 8 - Mauro Giuliani, Italian composer (b. 1781)
- May 16 - William Congreve, British rocket pioneer (b. 1772)
- July 15 - Jean Antoine Houdon, French sculptor (b. 1741)
- November 5 - Sophie Marie Dorothea of Württemberg, Empress of Paul I of Russia (b. 1759)
- November 19 - Franz Schubert, Austrian composer (b. 1797)
- December 22 - William Hyde Wollaston, English chemist (b. 1766)
- December 22 - Rachel Donelson Robards Jackson, wife of U.S. President Andrew Jackson (b. 1767)
- Charles Manners-Sutton, Archbishop of Canterbury (b. 1755) Category:1828 ko:1828년 simple:1828

1832

1832 was a leap year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar).

Events

- February 12 - Ecuador annexes the Galapagos Islands
- February 12 – serious cholera epidemic begins in London from the East London. It is declared officially over in early May but deaths continue. At least 3000 victims
- March 24 - In Hiram, Ohio a group of men beat, tarred and feathered Mormon leader Joseph Smith, Jr.
- April 6 - The Black Hawk War begins
- May 7 - The Treaty of London creates an independent Kingdom of Greece. Otto of Wittelsbach, Prince of Bavaria is chosen King.
- May 11 - Greece is recognized as a sovereign nation - Treaty of Constantinople ends the Greek War of Independence next July
- May 27 - War between the Ottoman Empire and Egypt. The Egyptians, aided by Maronites, seize Acre after a seven-month siege
- May 30 - In the German town of Hambach, a demonstration for civil liberties and against the sectionalism that has prevailed in Germany since the Thirty Years War ends with no result.
- June 4 - The Great Reform Bill becomes law in the U.K.
- June 5 - anti-monarchist riot briefly breaks out in Paris
- June 15 - Seizure of Damascus by Egyptian forces
- July 4 - University of Durham founded, the first in England since 1209.
- July 9 - Republic of Indian Stream comes into its brief existence (until 1835)
- July 10 - President Andrew Jackson vetoes a bill that would re-charter the Second Bank of the United States.
- July 24 - Benjamin Bonneville leads the first wagon train across the Rocky Mountains by using Wyoming's South Pass.
- October 8 - Washington Irving and Henry Leavitt Ellsworth arrive at Fort Gibson, I.T. in the late morning hours. They left the fort on October 10, with a small company of Rangers who escorted them to the camp of Captain Jesse Bean who was waiting for them near the Arkansas River. Thus began one of the first steps in the United States effort to remove the Indians from their homes on the east coast in what would become known as the "Trail of Tears" some six years later.
- November - Andrew Jackson defeats Henry Clay in the U.S. presidential election
- December - Skull and Bones secret society of Yale University established.
- December 21 - Battle of Konya. The Egyptians defeat the main Ottoman army in Central Anatolia.
- December 28 - John C. Calhoun becomes the first Vice President of the United States to resign.
- Cholera epidemic in France
- In July and August there is a cholera epidemic in New York City

Births

- January 6 - Gustave Doré, French painter and sculptor (d. 1883)
- January 13 - Horatio Alger, Jr., American Unitarian minister and author (d. 1899)
- January 23 - Edouard Manet, French painter (d. 1883)
- January 27 - Lewis Carroll, English author (d. 1898)
- April 19 - José Echegaray y Eizaguirre, Spanish writer, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1916)
- May 14 - Charles Peace, British criminal (d. 1879)
- May 28 - Tony Pastor, American vaudeville and theater impresario (d. 1908)
- June 17 - Sir William Crookes, English chemist and physicist (d. 1919)
- July 6 - Emperor Maximilian I of Mexico (d. 1867)
- October 2 - Edward Burnett Tylor, English anthropologist (d. 1917)
- August 8 - King Georg I of Saxony (d. 1904)
- November 29 - Louisa May Alcott, American author (d. 1888)
- December 8 - Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson, Norwegian author, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1910)
- December 15 - Gustave Eiffel, French engineer (d. 1923)

Deaths

- March 4 - Jean-François Champollion, French Egyptologist (b. 1790)
- March 10 - Muzio Clementi, Italian composer (b. 1752)
- March 13 - Samuel Eells, Founder of Alpha Delta Phi Fraternity (b. 1810)
- March 22 - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, German writer (b. 1749)
- May 13 - Georges Cuvier, French zoologist (b. 1769)
- June 6 - Jeremy Bentham, English philosopher (b. 1748)
- June 23 - James Hall, Scottish geologist (b. 1761)
- September 2 - Franz Xaver, Baron von Zach, Austrian scientific editor and astronomer (b. 1754)
- September 21 - Sir Walter Scott, Scottish writer (b. 1771)
- November 14 - Charles Carroll of Carrollton, Declaration of Independence signer and U.S. Senator (b. 1737) Category:1832 ko:1832년 ms:1832 simple:1832

New York and Harlem Railroad

; the only railroad in Manhattan is the New York and Harlem Railroad.]] The New York and Harlem Railroad (now the Metro-North Railroad Harlem Line) was one of the first railroads in the United States, and possibly the first street railway, running north from Lower Manhattan to and beyond Harlem. The line was later truncated at Grand Central Terminal, with the rest becoming part of the Fourth Avenue Horse Car Line. The line became part of the New York Central Railroad system, with trackage rights granted to the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad into Manhattan. It is now part of the Metro-North Railroad system, and the only Manhattan trackage of that system.

History

The company was incorporated on April 25, 1831 as the New York and Haerlem Railroad Company, to link New York City with Harlem (specifically, the "power to construct a single or double railroad or way from any point on the northern boundaries of Twenty-third Street to any point on the Harlem River by the power and force of steam or of any mechanical or other power or any combination of them." The first section, along The Bowery from Prince Street north to 14th Street, opened on November 26, 1832. After that, the following sections opened:
- June 10, 1833 - north along Fourth Avenue to 32nd Street
- May 9, 1834 - north along Fourth Avenue to Yorkville, including the Murray Hill Tunnel
- October 26, 1837 - north along Fourth Avenue to Harlem, including the Yorkville Tunnel
- May 4, 1839 - south along The Bowery, Broome Street and Centre Street to City Hall at Centre Street and Park Row
- September 3, 1842 - north to Williamsbridge
- December 1, 1844 - north to White Plains
- June 1, 1847 - north to Croton Falls
- December 31, 1848 - north to Dover Plains
- January 19, 1852 - north to Chatham Four Corners with a connection to the Albany and West Stockbridge Railroad, and trackage rights northwest to Albany
- November 26, 1852 - south along Park Row to Astor House at Park Row and Broadway A branch was built to Port Morris for freight. Horses were used at first, but this was changed to steam north of 23rd Street. It was soon bought by Cornelius Vanderbilt. The New York City Common Council passed an ordinance on December 27, 1854, to take effect in 18 months, barring the NY&H from using steam power south of 42nd Street, due to complains by abutters. Before that, the steam locomotives had run to 32nd Street. When the ordinance took effect, the NY&H had not done anything. After much debate, including an injunction issued preventing the city from enforcing the ordinance, the courts struck down the injunction on July 30, 1858. Between 1847 and 1856, a track was built in Grand Street between Centre Street and The Bowery (along with one block on The Bowery) for northbound trains. Southbound trains continued to use the old route. Grand Central Depot opened just north of 42nd Street in October 1871, and intercity passenger trains from the north were ended there. Freight trains continued to operate along the tracks south of Grand Central, as did streetcars (still turning off at 42nd). On April 1, 1873, the NY&H leased its freight lines to the New York Central and Hudson River Railroad, but the horse car line south of Grand Central remained separate. This eventually became the New York Central Railroad and then part of Penn Central and Conrail. Metro-North Railroad took over the line in 1983.

The streetcar line

In 1864 or 1865, a branch was added for trains between downtown and the 34th Street Ferry, running along 32nd Street, Lexington Avenue and 34th Street. This was the start of separate horse car service, running between Astor House and the ferry. On July 2, 1870, horse cars started to run not only to the 34th Street Ferry but to 73rd Street via Madison Avenue. These trains ran through the Murray Hill Tunnel and turned west on 42nd before going north on Madison (northbound cars used Vanderbilt Avenue to 44th Street). The line was soon extended to 86th Street and then to Harlem. The first electric streetcar open to passengers in New York City, a Julien electric traction car, was run on September 17, 1888 on the line to 86th Street. The line went back to using horses for a time, but switched to an underground third rail in 1897. On July 1, 1896, the Metropolitan Street Railway leased the streetcar lines. The New York City Railway, which leased the Metropolitan, went bankrupt in 1908 (?), and was sold to receivers, who gave the Fourth Avenue line back to the Metropolitan Street Railway for operation on July 31, 1908. The lease was terminated on January 31, 1920, and operation was returned to the NY&H. On October 10, 1932, it was leased again, this time to the New York Railways Corporation, with the right to bustitute the lines. The stockholders voted to do this on February 19, 1934. An approximation of the route is now traveled by MTA New York City Transit's M1 bus. The Murray Hill Tunnel now carries two lanes of roadway, but not the buses.

External links

- [http://piercehaviland.com/rail/harlem.html The Harlem Line]
- 1863 [http://www.sonofthesouth.net/leefoundation/civil-war/1863/july/harlem-railway-affair.htm Harlem Railway] Speculation Affair

References

- [http://www.earlpleasants.com/search_1.asp Railroad History Database]
- Steam Below Forty-second-street, New York Times July 2, 1856 page 8
- Railroad is King, New York Times, September 24, 1856 page 2
- The Harlem Railroad Compant vs. The City and Police Commissioners, New York Times July 31, 1858 page 4
- General News, New York Times December 15, 1863 page 4
- Our City Railroads, New York Times December 26, 1865 page 8
- Madison Avenue Railway, New York Times July 3, 1870 page 5
- Local News in Brief, New York Times November 1, 1871 page 8
- New York's First Electric Car, New York Times September 18, 1888 page 8
- Quicker Surface Transit, New York Times December 6, 1896 page 16
- New York & Harlem Intact for Century, New York Times May 25, 1930 page 39 Category:Defunct railroad companies of the United States Category:New York railroads Category:New York Central Railroad Category:New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad category:Transportation in New York City Category:Manhattan streetcar lines Category:Railroads transferred to Conrail

1834

1834 was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar).

Events

- January 1 - Abolition of customs charges at borders within Germany.
- January 3 - The government of Mexico imprisons Stephen F. Austin in Mexico City
- January 13 - John Mason Cook, whom JMC Air is named after was born.
- January 25 - Hillsborough County was created by Florida's territorial legislature.
- March 6 - York, Upper Canada is incorporated as Toronto.
- March 18 - The Tolpuddle Martyrs, six Dorset farm labourers, are sentenced to be transported to a penal colony for forming a trade union
- March 28 - The United States Senate censures President Andrew Jackson for his actions in defunding the Second Bank of the United States
- June 7 - Greek independence general Theodoros Kolokotronis is sentenced to death for treason for resisting the rule of Otto of Greece (he is released next year)
- June 14 - Isaac Fischer, Jr. patents sandpaper
- July 16 - William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne succeeds Earl Grey as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
- July 24 - End of the Liberal Wars in Portugal
- August 1 - Slavery abolished in the British Empire
- August 14 - Poor Law Amendment Act states that no able-bodied British man can receive assistance unless he enters a workhouse
- August 15 - South Australia Act allows for the creation of a colony there
- October 16 - Much of the Palace of Westminster is destroyed by fire
- November 11 - The rare 1804 silver dollar coin is struck by the United States Mint
- November 24 - George Sand begins her journal to Alfred de Musset.
- December 10 - Sir Robert Peel succeeds Lord Melbourne as Prime Minister of the U.K.
- Abolition of slavery comes into effect in British Empire
- Failed pro-republic uprising in Piedmont – one of the activists is Giuseppe Garibaldi
- New Poor Law in England
- Last hanging in chains upon a gibbet in England - James Cook for murder
- Spanish Inquisition, which began in the 13th century, was suppressed.
- British East India Company monopoly on China trade ended
- Sixth Kaffir War; severe clashes between white settlers and Bantu peoples in Cape Colony. Dutch speaking settlers colonize area north of Orange River
- The Hansom cab is patented
- Louis Braille perfects his Braille system
- The Exchequer was abolished as a revenue collecting department of the British government.
- Worcester Academy is founded as the Worcester County Manual Labor High School.
- Indian Trade and Intercourse Act renewed

Births

- January 7 - Johann Philipp Reis, German physicist and inventor (d. 1874)
- February 8 - Dmitri Mendeleev, Russian chemist (d. 1907)
- February 9 - Felix Dahn, German author (d. 1912)
- February 16 - Ernst Haeckel, German zoologist and philosopher (d. 1919)
- March 16 - James Hector, Scottish geologist (d. 1907)
- March 17 - Gottlieb Daimler, German engineer and inventor (d. 1900)
- March 20 - Charles W. Eliot, American President of Harvard University (d. 1926)
- March 23 - Julius Reubke, German composer (d. 1858).
- March 24 - William Morris, English poet and artist (d. 1896)
- March 24 - John Wesley Powell, American explorer (d. 1902)
- April 1 - Big Jim Fisk, American entrepreneur (d. 1872)
- April 2 - Frédéric Bartholdi, French sculptor (d. 1904)
- May 23 - Carl Heinrich Bloch, Danish sculptor (d. 1890)
- June 19 - Charles Spurgeon, English Baptist preacher (d. 1892)
- July 10 - James McNeill Whistler, American painter and etcher (d. 1903)
- July 19 - Edgar Degas, French painter (d. 1917)
- August 4 - John Venn, British mathematician (d. 1923)
- August 22 - Samuel Pierpont Langley, American astronomer, physicist, and aeronautics pioneer (d. 1906)
- August 31 - Amilcare Ponchielli, Italian composer (d. 1886)
- October 8 - Walter Kittredge, American composer (d. 1905)

Deaths

- January 17 - Giovanni Aldini, Italian physicist (b. 1762)
- February 2 - Lorenzo Dow, American minister (b. 1777)
- February 12 - Friedrich Schleiermacher, German theologian (b. 1768)
- March 2 - José Cecilo del Valle, first President of Central America (b. 1780)
- April 10 - John 'Merino' MacArthur, Australian farmer (b. 1767)
- April 11 - John 'Mad Jack' Fuller, English philanthropist and patron of the arts and sciences (b. 1757)
- May 20 - Marquis de la Fayette, French nobleman and soldier (b. 1757)
- July 12 - David Douglas, Scottish botanist (b. 1799)
- July 14 - Edmond Charles Genêt, French ambassador to the United States during the French Revolution (b. 1763)
- July 25 - Samuel Taylor Coleridge, English writer (b. 1772)
- August 7 - Joseph Marie Jacquard, French inventor (b. 1752)
- August 17 - Husein Gradaščević, Bosniak rebel leader (b. 1802)
- September 2 - Thomas Telford, Scottish engineer (b. 1757)
- September 9 - James Weddell, Antarctic explorer (b. 1787)
- September 16 - William Blackwood, English writer (b. 1776)
- September 24 - Pedro I of Brazil (b. 1798)
- October 8 - François-Adrien Boieldieu, French composer (b. 1775)
- October 11 - William John Napier, 9th Lord Napier, British Navy officer, politician and diplomat (b. 1786)
- December 23 - Thomas Malthus, English economist and political philosopher (b. 1766)
- December 27 - Charles Lamb, English essayist (b. 1775) Category:1834 ko:1834년 ms:1834 simple:1834 th:พ.ศ. 2377

New Orleans

:For information on the events of Hurricane Katrina, see effect of Hurricane Katrina on New Orleans. New Orleans (local pronunciations: , , or ) (French: La Nouvelle-Orléans, pronounced Image:ltspkr.png in standard French accent) is a major U.S. port city and historically the largest city in the U.S. state of Louisiana. It is located in southeastern Louisiana along the Mississippi River, just south of Lake Pontchartrain, and is coextensive with Orleans Parish.

Overview

The city was devastated by Hurricane Katrina and the subsequent civil engineering failure which resulted in massive flooding in August 2005. As of mid December 2005, efforts continue to aid survivors, clean up debris, and restore infrastructure. While most of the city has reopened to residents and areas which suffered moderate damage have substantially resumed functioning, other parts of town most severely damaged such as some neighborhoods of the 9th Ward are open only during daylight hours for residents to salvage items from their formerly flooded homes. New Orleans is a Southern city known for its multicultural heritage (especially French, Spanish and African American influences) and its music and cuisine. It is a world-famous tourist destination thanks to its many festivals and celebrations; the most notable annual events are Mardi Gras ("Fat Tuesday"), Jazz Fest,Voodoo Fest, Southern Decadence, and college football's Sugar Bowl. The most recent U.S. census put New Orleans's population at 484,674 and the population of Greater New Orleans at 1,337,726. Due to the evacuation of the city before and in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, the population as of late 2005 is significantly less; a Time Magazine article with a publication date of 28 November 2005 (written weeks before) estimated the city's population at about 100,000. But now that the city's population is trickling back in to see if they will be able to repair their homes or move someplace else. The population, as of December 12th, is estimated at about 140,000 New Orleans was founded by the French in 1718 and has played an important role in the history of the United States. The city was named in honor of Philip II, Duke of Orléans, who was regent and ruler of France when the city was founded. This is comparable to the naming of New York City in honor of James, Duke of York, heir to the throne of England. It is a major port city due to its location near the Gulf of Mexico and along the Mississippi River, making it a hub for goods which travel to and from Latin America. The petroleum industry is also of great importance to the New Orleans economy; many oil rigs are located in the Gulf. The Port of South Louisiana (which includes the port of N.O.) is based in the New Orleans metropolitan area and is the fourth largest port in the world in terms of raw tonnage, and among the largest U.S. ports for several major commodities, including cement and coffee. The city's several nicknames describe various characteristics of the city, including the "Crescent City" (describing its shape around the Mississippi River), "The Big Easy" (a reference by musicians to the relative ease of finding work in the city), and "The City that Care Forgot" (associated with the easy going, carefree nature of many of the local residents). The city's unofficial motto, "Laissez les bons temps rouler" ("Let the good times roll") describes the party-like attitude of many residents. The city's name is often abbreviated NOLA. Residents of the city are referred to as New Orleanians.

History

Main article: History of New Orleans

Colonial era

History of New Orleans The place was first discovered by Spanish conqueror Alonso Alvarez de Pineda in 1518 along with the Mississippi River, which was named "Espiritu Santo" river. New Orleans was founded in 1718 by the French as La Nouvelle-Orléans, under the direction of Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville. The site was selected because it was a rare bit of natural high ground along the flood-prone banks of the lower Mississippi, and was adjacent to a Native American trading route and portage between the Mississippi and Lake Pontchartrain via Bayou St. John (known to natives as Bayou Choupique). A community of French fur trappers and traders had existed along the bayou (in what is now the middle of New Orleans) for at least a decade before the official founding of the city. Nouvelle-Orléans became the capital of French Louisiana in 1722, replacing Biloxi. In 1763, the colony was ceded to the Spanish Empire and remained under Spanish control for 40 years. The Great Fire of 1788 destroyed many of the existing structures in the city (800 houses were destroyed), which were made of wood. As a result of this, and a subsequent fire in 1795 (another 200 houses destroyed), much of 18th century architecture still present in the French Quarter was built under Spanish rule and demonstrates Spanish colonial characteristics, wood was replaced with bricks. The three most impressive buildings of New Orleans come from the Spanish times: St. Louis Cathedral, the Cabildo and the Presbytere. In 1795, Spain granted the United States "Right of Deposit" in New Orleans, allowing Americans to use the city's port facilities. Louisiana reverted to French control in 1801 after Napoleon re-acquired the territory from Spain by treaty. But in 1803, Napoleon sold Louisiana (which then included portions of more than a dozen present-day states) to the United States in the Louisiana Purchase. At this time the city of New Orleans had a population of about 10,000.

19th century

In its early days it was noted for its cosmopolitan polyglot population and mixture of cultures. The city grew rapidly, with influxes of Americans, French and Creole French, many of the latter fleeing from the revolution in Haiti. During the War of 1812 the British sent a force to try to conquer the city, but they were defeated by forces led by Andrew Jackson some miles down river from the city at Chalmette, Louisiana on January 8, 1815 (commonly known as the Battle of New Orleans). Battle of New Orleans The population of the city doubled in the 1830s, and by 1840 the city's population was around 102,000, fourth-largest in the U.S, the largest city away from the Atlantic seaboard, as well as the largest in the South after Baltimore. However, population growth was at times plagued by yellow fever epidemics, such as the great scourge of 1853 that killed nearly 10,000 people in New Orleans. New Orleans was the capital of the state of Louisiana until 1849, then again from 1865 to 1880. As a principal port it had a leading role in the slave trade, while at the same time having North America's largest community of free persons of color. Early in the American Civil War it was captured by the Union (by David Farragut -son of Spanish emigrants- later named the first US Navy Vice-Admiral) without a battle, and hence was spared the destruction suffered by many other cities of the American South. It was the first captured city in the American South. It retains a historical flavor with a wealth of 19th century structures far beyond the early colonial city boundaries of the French Quarter. The city hosted the 1884 World's Fair, called the World Cotton Centennial. An important attraction in the late 19th and early 20th centuries was the famous red light district called Storyville.

20th century

Storyville Storyville Storyville Much of the city is located below sea level between the Mississippi River and Lake Pontchartrain, so the city is surrounded by levees. Until the early 20th century, construction was largely limited to the slightly higher ground along old natural river levees and bayous, since much of the rest of the land was swampy and subject to frequent flooding. This gave the 19th century city the shape of a crescent along a bend of the Mississippi, the origin of the nickname The Crescent City. In the 1910s engineer and inventor A. Baldwin Wood enacted his ambitious plan to drain the city, including large pumps of his own design which are still used. All rain water must be pumped up to the canals which drain into Lake Pontchartrain. Wood's pumps and drainage allowed the city to expand greatly in area. However, pumping of groundwater from underneath the city has resulted in subsidence. The subsidence greatly increased the flood risk, should the levees be breached or precipitation be in excess of pumping capacity (as was the case in 2005 in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina). There were many warnings in the late 20th century that a major hurricane or a Mississippi flood could create a lake in the central city as much as 9 m (30 ft) deep, which could take months to pump dry.This warning was augmented by vestigial fears from Hurricane Betsy, and the lasting stories of the Army Corps of Engineers blasting the flooding levees, drowning the poorer neighborhoods of the lower ninth Ward. The Holy Cross Neighborhood Association, (HCNA) respresenting a substantial group of the aforementioned lower ninth ward, created a lobby against the Army Corps of Engineers furthering work on the levees which might endanger the neighborhoods. The HCNA sent Jamal Morelli, activist and New Orleans artist, to respresent them in Washington, D.C. Jamal Morelli's struggle for the neighborhood was successful in protecting the lower ninth ward. (2000-2004) In 1905 Yellow Fever was reported in the city, which had suffered under repeated epidemics of the disease in the previous century. As the role of mosquitos in spreading the disease was newly understood, the city embarked on a massive campain to drain, screen, or oil all cisterns and standing water (breeding ground for mosquitos) in the city and educate the public on their vital role in preventing mosquitos. The effort was a success and the disease was stopped before reaching epidemic proportions. President Theodore Roosevelt visited the city to demonstrate the safety of New Orleans. The city has had no cases of Yellow Fever since. New Orleans was hit by major storms in the 1909 Atlantic hurricane season and the 1915 Atlantic hurricane season. In the 1920s an effort to "modernize" the look of the city removed the old cast-iron balconies from Canal Street, the city's commercial hub. In the 1960s another "modernization" effort replaced the Canal Streetcar Line with buses. Both of these moves came to be regarded as mistakes long after the fact, and the streetcars returned to a portion of Canal Street at the end of the 1990s, and construction to restore the entire line was completed in April 2004. The suburbs saw great growth in the second half of the 20th century; the largest suburb today is Metairie, which borders New Orleans to the west. Metairie is not incorporated and is a part of Jefferson Parish. Much of the city flooded in September of 1947 due to the 1947 Fort Lauderdale Hurricane. In 1965 the city was damaged by Hurricane Betsy, with catastrophic flooding of the city's Lower 9th Ward. While long one of the USA's most-visited cities, tourism boomed in the last quarter of the 20th century, becoming a major force in the local economy. Areas of the French Quarter and Central Business District which were long oriented towards local residential and business uses switched to largely catering to the domestic and international tourist industry. A century after the Cotton Centennial Exhibition, New Orleans hosted another World's Fair, the 1984 Louisiana World Exposition. The city experienced severe flooding in the May 8th 1995 Louisiana Flood when heavy rains suddenly dumped over a foot of water on parts of town faster than the pumps could remove the water.

21st Century (Hurricane Katrina)

May 8th 1995 Louisiana Flood :Main article: Effect of Hurricane Katrina on New Orleans The city suffered from the effects of Hurricane Katrina, which made landfall on August 29, 2005 on the gulf coast near the city. Mayor Nagin issued a mandatory evacuation of the entire city, the first such order ever issued in New Orleans. Many residents chose to stay or were stranded in the city by a lack of available transportation. The eye of the storm passed within 10 to 15 miles of New Orleans, bringing strong winds that downed trees, shattered windows, and hurled debris around the area. Heavy rains and flooding immediately affected the eastern areas of the city. The situation worsened on August 30 when levees along three canals which drain into were breached. These canals were the 17th Street Canal, the Industrial Canal, and the London Avenue Canal. As much as 80% of the city, much of which is below sea level, flooded, with water reaching a depth of 25 feet (7.6 meters) in some areas. As of November 2005, The Times Picayune article states that there are in addition to those 1,050 confirmed deaths 5,000 missing residents of the city. Early estimates of the cost of physical damage from the storm have exceeded 100 billion USD. Subsequent investigations showed that the levee failures which flooded the majority of the city were the result of what has been called "the largest civil engineering disaster in the history of the United States" [http://www.nola.com/news/t-p/frontpage/index.ssf?/base/news-4/1133336859287360.xml] The city government declared the city off-limits to residents while clean-up efforts began and warned that those remaining could be removed by force, for their health and safety. On September 15, several of the suburban towns started allowing residents to return. The mayor announced a "phased repopulation" plan to start bringing residents of the city back in the next two weeks. Concern about the fragility of the city's flood defences and transportation caused repopulation efforts to be postponed due to Hurricane Rita. [http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/09/15/katrina.impact/index.html]. New Orleans' Lower Ninth Ward was reflooded when a storm surge from Rita overcame one of the repaired levees on the Industrial Canal [http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,1280,-5300327,00.html]. By October 1, parts of the city accounting for about one-third of the population of New Orleans had been reopened, including the French Quarter.[http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/10/01/katrina.recovery.ap/index.html] As of October 1, only 5% of the city remained underwater.

Geography and climate

October 1 New Orleans is located at (29.964722, -90.070556) on the banks of the Mississippi River, approximately 100 miles upriver from the Gulf of Mexico at 30.07°N, 89.93°W. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 907.0 km² (350.2 mi²). 467.6 km² (180.6 mi²) of it is land and 439.4 km² (169.7 mi²) of it is water. The total area is 48.45% water. The city is located in the Mississippi Alluvial Plain, between the Mississippi River in the south and Lake Pontchartrain in the north. The area along the river is characterized by ridges and hollows. Fields atop the ridges along the river are referred to as the "frontlands." The land contour slopes away from the frontlands to the "backlands", comprised of clay and silt. The Mississippi Delta, at the mouth of the Mississippi River, covers about 13,000 square miles (about 1/4 of Louisiana) and consists of silt deposited by the river, and is the most fertile area of Louisiana. The city of New Orleans actually contains the lowest point in the state of Louisiana, and one of the lowest points in the United States, after Death Valley and the Salton Sea. Much of the city is actually located between 1 and 10 feet (0.3 to 3 m) below sea level, and as such, is very prone to flooding. Some 45% of the city is above sea level; these higher areas were developed before 1900; the lowest areas only being developed more recently. Rainwater is continually pumped out of the city and into Lake Pontchartrain across a series of canals lined by levees and dikes. Before the 20th century pumping system, if it rains more than 1 inch, or more recently if there is a major storm surge, such as that caused by a hurricane, greater flooding can occur. Because of the city's high water table most of the cemeteries in the city use above ground crypts as opposed to underground burial. The New Orleans Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA), the 39th largest in the United States, includes the Louisiana parishes of Orleans (contiguous with the city of New Orleans), Jefferson, Plaquemines, St. Bernard, St. Charles, St. John the Baptist, and St. Tammany.

Cityscape

St. Tammany The Central Business District of New Orleans is located immediately north and west of the Mississippi River, and is historically called the "American Quarter." Most streets in this area fan out from a central point in the city. Major streets of the area include Canal Street and Poydras St. The term "downtown" refers to those parts of town that are downriver from the central business district. "Uptown" refers to those parts of town that are upriver from the central business district. Parts of the city that are located downtown include the world famous French Quarter (most noted as the central tourist district, with its array of shops, bars, and nightclubs along Bourbon Street), Storyville (now defunct), Treme, Faubourg Marigny, Bywater, the 7th Ward, and the Lower 9th Ward. Parts of the city that are located uptown include the Garden District, the Irish Channel, the University District, Carrollton, Gert Town, Fontainebleau, and Broadmoor. Other major districts within the city include Bayou St. John, Mid City, Gentilly, Lakeview, Lakefront, New Orleans East, The upper 9th Ward and Algiers. Parishes located adjacent to the city of New Orleans include St. Tammany Parish to the northeast, St. Bernard Parish to the south, Plaquemines Parish to the southwest, and Jefferson Parish to the west. Jefferson Parish

Climate

The climate of New Orleans is subtropical, with mild winters and hot, humid summers. In January, morning lows average around 43 °F (6°C), and daily highs around 62°F (17°C). In July, lows average 74°F (23°C), and highs average 91°F (33°C). The lowest recorded temperature was 11.0°F (-11.6°C) on December 23, 1989. The highest recorded temperature was 102.0°F (38.9°C) on August 22, 1980. The average precipitation is 59.74 inches (1520 mm) annually. On rare occasions, snow will fall. Most recently, a trace of snow fell on Christmas in 2004, during the 2004 Christmas Eve Snowstorm. On December 25, a combination of rain, sleet, and snow fell on the city, leaving some bridges icy. Before that, the last white Christmas was in 1954, and brought 4.5 inches (110 mm). The last significant snowfall in New Orleans fell on December 22, 1989, when most of the city received 1 or 2 inches of snow.

People and culture

Demographics

:Note: Though many of those evacuated from New Orleans from circumstances relating to Hurricane Katrina have yet to return, the evacuees remain residents of the city. While medium-to-long term changes in population may be drastic, there is no way, short of speculation, to account for these effects. The U. S. Census figures presented here are the most recent; and verifiable. As of the census of 2000, there were 484,674 people, 188,251 households, and 112,950 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,036.4/km² (2,684.3/mi²). There were 215,091 housing units at an average density of 459.9/km² (1,191.3/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 67.25% African American, 28.05% White, 0.20% Native American, 2.26% Asian, 0.02% Pacific Islander, 0.93% from other races, and 1.28% from two or more races. 3.06% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. The population of Greater New Orleans stood at 1,337,726 in 2000, placing it 35 amongst United States metropolitan areas. These population statistics are based on legal residents of the city. But due to the enourmous annual tourist flow, the amount of people inside the city at a given time, such as Mardi Gras season, tends to exceed these numbers sometimes by the hundreds of thousands. There were 188,251 households out of which 29.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 30.8% were married couples living together, 24.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 40.0% were non-families. 33.2% of all households were made up of individuals and 9.7% have someone living alone who is 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.48 and the average family size was 3.23. In the city the population was spread out with 26.7% under the age of 18, 11.4% from 18 to 24, 29.3% from 25 to 44, 20.9% from 45 to 64, and 11.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 33 years. For every 100 females there were 88.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 83.3 males. The median income for a household in the city was $27,133, and the median income for a family was $32,338. Males had a median income of $30,862 versus $23,768 for females. The per capita income for the city was $17,258. 27.9% of the population and 23.7% of families were below the poverty line. Out of the total population, 40.3% of those under the age of 18 and 19.3% of those 65 and older were living below the poverty line. New Orleans is well known for its Creole culture and the persistence of Voodoo practice by a few of its residents, as well as for its music, food, architecture, and spirit of celebration.

Pronunciation

New Orleans is usually pronounced by locals as "Noo Or-lins," or "Noo Aw-lins." The pronunciation "N'Awlins" is not generally used by locals but has been popularized by the tourist trade. The distinctive local accent, sometimes identified as Yat, is unlike either Cajun or the stereotypical Southern accent so often misportrayed by film and television actors. It does, like earlier Southern Englishes, feature frequent deletion of post-vocalic "r". It is similar to a New York "Brooklynese" accent to people unfamiliar with it. There are many theories to how the accent came to be, but it likely results from New Orleans' geographic isolation by water, and the fact that New Orleans was a major port of entry into the United States throughout the 19th century. Many of the immigrant groups who reside in Brooklyn also reside in New Orleans, with Irish, Italians, and Germans being among the largest groups. The prestige associated with being from New Orleans by many residents is likely a factor in the linguistic assimilation of the ethnically divergent population. This distinctive accent is dying out generation by generation in the city (but remains very strong in the surrounding Parishes). As with many sociolinguistic artifacts, it is usually attested much more strongly by older members of the population. Also notable are lexical items specific to the city, such as "lagniappe" (pronounced LAN-yap) meaning "a little something extra," "makin' groceries" for grocery shopping, or "neutral ground" for a street median.

Media

The major daily newspaper is the New Orleans Times-Picayune, publishing since 1837. Other alternative weekly publications include the [http://www.louisianaweekly.com/ Louisiana Weekly] and the [http://www.bestofneworleans.com/ Gambit Weekly]. Greater New Orleans is well served by television and radio. The market is the 43rd largest Designated Market Area (DMA) in the U.S., serving 672,150 homes and 0.610% of the U.S. Major television network affiliates serving the area include WWL 4 (CBS), WGNO 26 (ABC), WDSU 6 (NBC), WVUE 8 (FOX), WNOL 38 (WB), WUPL 54 (UPN), and WPXL 49 (PAX). PBS stations include WYES 12 and WLAE 32. WHNO 20 also operates as an independent station in the area.

Museums and other attractions

WHNO Greater New Orleans has many major attractions, from the world-renowned Bourbon Street and the French Quarter's notorious nightlife, St. Charles Avenue (home of Tulane and Loyola Universities), and many stately 19th century mansions. Favorite tourist scenes in New Orleans include the French Quarter (known locally as "the Quarter"), which dates from the French and Spanish eras and is bounded by the Mississippi River and Rampart Street, Canal Street and Esplanade Ave. The French Quarter contains many popular hotels, bars, and nightclubs, most notably around Bourbon Street. Other notable tourist attractions in the quarter include Jackson Square, St. Louis Cathedral, the French Market (including the Café du Monde, famous for café au lait and beignets), and Preservation Hall. Also located near the French Quarter is the old New Orleans Mint, formerly a branch of the United States Mint, now operates as a museum. The National D-Day Museum is a relatively new museum (opened on June 6, 2000) dedicated to providing information and materials related to the allied invasion of Normandy, France. The Natchez is an authentic steamboat with a calliope tours the Mississippi twice daily. Art museums in the city include the New Orleans Museum of Art (NOMA) and the Ogden Museum of Southern Art. The Audubon Park and the Audubon Zoo are also located in the city of New Orleans. New Orleans is also noted for its many beautiful cemeteries. Some notable cemeteries in the city include Saint Louis Cemetery and Metairie Cemetery. The city is also world-famous for its food. Specialties include beignets, square-shaped fried pastries that are sometimes called French doughnuts (served with coffee and chicory "au lait"); Po'boy and Italian Muffaletta sandwiches; Gulf oysters on the half-shell and other seafoods; etouffee, jambalaya, gumbo, and other Creole dishes; and the Monday evening favorite of red beans and rice. (Louis Armstrong often signed his letters, "red beans and ricely yours.") Significant gardens include Longue Vue House and Gardens and the New Orleans Botanical Garden.

Annual cultural events and fairs

See also: New Orleans Mardi Gras New Orleans Mardi Gras Greater New Orleans is home to numerous year-around celebrations, including Mardi Gras, New Year's Eve celebrations, and the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival. New Orleans' most famous celebration is its Carnival Season. The Carnival season is often known (especially by out-of-towners) by the name of the last and biggest day, Mardi Gras (literally, "Fat Tuesday"), held just before the beginning of the Catholic liturgical season of Lent. Mardi Gras celebrations include parades and floats; participants toss strings of cheap colorful beads and doubloons to the crowds. The Mardi Gras season is kicked off with the only parade allowed through the French Quarter (Vieux Carré, translated Old Square), a walking parade aptly named Krewe du Vieux. The largest of the city's many musical festivals is the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival. Commonly referred to simply as, "Jazz Fest", it is one of the largest music festivals in the nation, and features crowds coming from all over the world to experience music, food, arts, and crafts. Despite the name, it features not only jazz but a large variety of music, including both native Louisiana music and nationally-known popular music artists.

Music

New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival.]] New Orleans has always been a significant center for music with its intertwined European, Latin American, and African-American cultures. The city engendered jazz with its brass bands. Decades later it was home to a distinctive brand of rhythm and blues that contributed greatly to the growth of rock and roll. Its general atmosphere of Dionysian art has also resulted in chaotic artists such as Crash Worship, Liquiddrone, and Jamal Morelli. In addition, the nearby countryside is the home of Cajun music, Zydeco music, and Delta blues. The city also created its own spin on the old tradition of military brass band funerals; traditional New Orleans funerals with music feature sad music (mostly dirges and hymns) on the way to the cemetery and happy music (hot jazz) on the way back. Such traditional musical funerals still take place when a local musician, a member of a club, krewe, or benevolent society, or a noted dignitary has passed. Until the 1990s most locals preferred to call these "funerals with music," but out of town visitors have long dubbed them "jazz funerals." Younger bands, especially those based in the Treme neighborhood, have embraced the term and now have funerals featuring only jazz music.

Sports

Treme The city is the home to several professional, major league sports teams, including the New Orleans Saints of the National Football League and the New Orleans Hornets of the National Basketball Association (moved from Charlotte, North Carolina at the start of the 2002–2003 season). The Saints play in the Louisiana Superdome, and the Hornets play in the adjacent New Orleans Arena. Due to the effects of Hurricane Katrina on New Orleans, including damage both to the exterior and the interior of the Louisiana Superdome, the New Orleans Saints will have to play their "home" games in Baton Rouge and San Antonio, Texas. The football season began just a week after the storm hit, and the Saints played their first "home" game against the Giants at Giants Stadium. After that, they traveled to San Antonio to play in the Alamodome for their "home" game against Buffalo. Next the Saints will remain in San Antonio to play their opponent Atlanta. For the October 30 game the Saints will travel to Baton Rouge, where they will play in LSU's Tiger Stadium. The Saints will play the next three "home" games in Baton Rouge. The final game of the Saints' season will be played in San Antonio. All in all the Saints will play a total of three "home" games in San Antonio, and four "home" games in Baton Rouge. The Hornets will play 35 "home" games at the Ford Center in Oklahoma City,Oklahoma, with the remaining 6 to be played in Baton Rouge or, if possible, in New Orleans. The city also has an Arena Football League team, the New Orleans VooDoo, owned by the Saints' owner, Tom Benson. The New Orleans Zephyrs, AAA minor league baseball team plays in adjacent Metairie. They are currently affiliated with the Washington Nationals. The city also hosts two college football bowl games annually: the New Orleans Bowl and the Sugar Bowl. Historically, many teams have been formerly located in the city, including the New Orleans Pelicans baseball team (1887–1959), the New Orleans Breakers of the United States Football League, the New Orleans Night of the Arena Football League (1991–1992), and the New Orleans Brass ice hockey team (1997–2003). Former basketball teams were the New Orleans Buccaneers (c. 1967–1970), and the New Orleans Jazz (1974–1980) which became the Utah Jazz.

Economy

Utah Jazz New Orleans is an industrial and distribution center, and a major U.S. seaport. It is one of the busiest seaports in not only the United States, but also the world. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers built the Mississippi River-Gulf Outlet Canal in the mid 20th century to accommodate New Orleans' barge traffic. Like Houston, New Orleans is located in proximity to the Gulf of Mexico and the many oil rigs lying just offshore. There are a substantial number of energy companies that have their regional headquarters in the city, including BP, Chevron, ConocoPhillips, and Shell Oil Company. The city is also home to one Fortune 500 company, Entergy Corporation, an electric power provider. The federal government has a significant presence in the area. The NASA Michoud Assembly Facility is located in the eastern portion of Orleans Parish. Lockheed-Martin also has a large manufacturing facility located in the Greater New Orleans area that produces external fuel tanks for space shuttles. Other companies with a significant presence or base in New Orleans include BellSouth, Hibernia Corp., IBM, Navtech, Harrah's (downtown casino), Popeye's Fried Chicken, and Zatarain's. The Port of New Orleans handles about 145 million short tons (132 million tonnes) of cargo a year and is the largest faction of the Port of South Louisiana, the latter being the largest and busiest shipping port in the western hemisphere and the 4th busiest in the world. About 5,000 ships from nearly 60 nations dock at the Port of New Orleans annually. The chief exports are grain and other foods from the Midwestern United States and petroleum products. The leading imports include chemicals, cocoa beans, coffee, and petroleum. The port handles more trade with Latin America than does any other U.S. gateway, including Miami. New Orleans is also a busy port for barges. The barges use the nation's two main inland waterways, the Mississippi River and the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway, which meet at New Orleans. The port of New Orleans handles about 50,000 barges yearly. There are also two ferries that cross the river near the Garden district and the French Quarter. These ferries are free of charge to pedestrians, but motorists pay a $1 fee to cross on them. New Orleans is also one of the most visited cities in the United States, and tourism is a major staple in the area's economy. The city's colorful Carnival celebrations during the pre-Lenten season, centered on the French Quarter, draw particularly large crowds. Other major tourist events and attractions in the city include Mardi Gras, the Sugar Bowl, the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, and Southern Decadence (one of the largest annual Gay/Lesbian celebrations in the nation).

Infrastructure

Government

New Orleans has a mayor-council government. The city council consists of five councilmembers that are elected by district and two at large councilmembers. Mayor C. Ray Nagin, Jr. was elected in May 2002. The New Orleans Police Department provides professional police services to the public in order to maintain order and protect life and property. The Orleans Parish civil sheriff's employees serve (deliver) papers involving lawsuits. The Criminal Sheriff's department maintains the parish prison system. The city of New Orleans and the parish of Orleans operate as a merged city-county government. Before the city of New Orleans became co-extensive with Orleans Parish, Orleans Parish was home to numerous smaller communities. Some of these communities within Orleans Parish have historically had separate identities from the city of New Orleans, such as Irish Bayou and Carrollton. Algiers, Louisiana was a separate city through 1870. As soon as Algiers became a part of New Orleans, Orleans Parish ceased being separate from the city of New Orleans.

Schools

New Orleans Public Schools, the city's school district, is one of the area's largest school districts. NOPS contains approximately 100 individual schools. The Greater New Orleans area has approximately 200 parochial schools. Several institutions of higher education also exist within the city, including University of New Orleans, Tulane University, Loyola University New Orleans, Dillard University, Southern University at New Orleans, Xavier University of Louisiana, Louisiana State University Medical School, and Our Lady of Holy Cross College. Other schools include Delgado Community College, Nunez Community College, Culinary Institute of New Orleans, Herzing College, Commonwealth University, and New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary.

Transportation

The metropolitan area is served by Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport , located approximately nine miles west of the city in the city of Kenner. It serves millions of passengers on approximately 300 nonstop flights per day to or from destinations throughout the United States, Canada, Latin America, and the Caribbean. The airport also handles a significant amount of charter operations from Europe. The airport also serves as a nonstop gateway to Mexico for Federal Express. Within the city itself is Lakefront Airport, a small, general aviation airport, as well as the New Orleans Downtown Heliport, located on the roof of the Louisiana Superdome's parking garage. There are also several regional airports located throughout the metropolitan area. The city is also served by rail via Amtrak. The New Orleans Union Passenger Terminal is the central rail depot, and it is served by three trains: the Crescent to New York City, the City of New Orleans to Chicago, Illinois, and the Sunset Limited from Orlando to Los Angeles. In addition, the city is served by six Class I freight railroads. The Union Pacific and Burlington Northern Santa Fe railroads approach the city from the west, the Norfolk Southern and CSX from the east, and the Canadian National and Kansas City Southern from the north. Public transportation in the city is operated by New Orleans Regional Transit Authority ("RTA"). In addition to the many bus routes connecting the city and suburban areas, there are three active streetcar lines moved by electric motors powered by DC wires overhead. The St. Charles line (green cars, formerly connecting New Orleans with the then independent suburb of Carrollton) is the oldest continuously operating streetcar line in New Orleans and a historic landmark. The Riverfront line (also known as the Ladies in Red since the cars are painted red) runs parallel to the river from Canal Street through the French Quarter to the Convention Center above Julia Street in the Arts District. The Canal Street line uses the Riverfront line tracks from Esplanade Street to Canal Street, then branches off down Canal Street and ends at the cemeteries at City Park Avenue with a spur running from the intersection of Canal and Carrollton Avenue to the entrance of City Park at Esplanade near the entrance to the New Orleans Museum of Art. The city's streetcars were also featured in the Tennessee Williams play, A Streetcar Named Desire. The streetcar line to Desire Street became a bus line in 1948, but may be restored as a light rail streetcar line. The roads in the city are arranged in a radial grid pattern, emanating out to various parts of town from a central point in the Central Business District. I-10 travels east-west through the city, and goes very close to the Central Business District, taking traffic west towards Baton Rouge, Louisiana and east-northeast to Slidell, Louisiana. The "Highrise" carry I-10 across the Industrial Canal. Further east, the Interstate connects New Orleans East with Slidell across an arm of Lake Pontchartrain, known as the "Twin Spans"; these causeways were severely damaged by Hurricane Katrina; by October single lanes in each direction had been reopened on the eastbound span. The westbound span is scheduled to be repaired by January 2006. The bridges are to be replaced with a new six-lane bridge in 2006. As I-10 heads south from Metairie towards the Central Business District, it is called the Pontchartrain Expressway. I-610 connects I-10 and travels through the northern central part of the city. US 90 leaves the Central Business District and goes west through the city's Uptown neighborhood and crosses the Missisisppi River at the Huey P. Long Bridge near the suburb of Jefferson. I-10 is also connected to I-12, north of Lake Pontchartrain, via the Lake Pontchartrain Causeway, consisting of two parallel bridges, which are also the longest in the world. The interstate highways serving New Orleans were laid out in the middle of the 20th century, a time when a larger proportion of Gulf of Mexico freight traffic passed through New Orleans. I-10 goes west to Houston and beyond and east to Mobile and Florida, with I-59 and I-55 heading northward to Birmingham and Jackson, respectively. Later, I-12 created a shortcut that avoided

Rails

Rails is one of a number of things:
- The word "rails" is a plural of the world "rail", which has a disambiguation of its own.
- For the group of birds called rails, see Rallidae.
- Ruby on Rails is a web framework for the Ruby programming language.
- Railroad-related periodicals

Alphonse Loubat

Alphonse Loubat invented the grooved rail in 1852. The grooved rail is used for tramways.

1853

1853 was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar).

Events

- January 19 - Giuseppe Verdi's opera Il Trovatore premieres in Rome
- January 21 - Russell L. Hawes patents the envelope folding machine
- January 29 - Napoleon III marries the Spanish Countess Eugènie at the Tuileries
- March 4 – Inauguration of US president Franklin Pierce
- June 7 - Franklin College of Lancaster, Pennsylvania merges with Marshall College of Mercersburg, Pennsylvania to form Franklin and Marshall College in Lancaster
- July 8 - U.S. Commodore Matthew Perry arrives in Edo Bay with a request for a trade treaty
- July 25 Outlaw and bandit Joaquin Murietta is killed.
- August 12 – New Zealand acquires self-government
- August 24 - Potato chips first prepared.
- November 3 - Troops of William Walker capture La Paz in Baja California and declare (short-lived) Republic of Lower California
- November 15 - Maria II of Portugal is succeeded by her son Pedro
- November 30 - Crimean War: Battle of Sinop - The Russian fleet destroys the Turkish fleet.
- December 30 - Gadsden Purchase: The United States buys land from Mexico to facilitate railroad building in the Southwest
- Yellow fever kills 7790 in New Orleans
- Alexander Wood invents the hypodermic syringe
- Argentina adopts federal constitution - Buenos Aires opposes that
- Donald McKay builds the Great Republic, the world's biggest sailing ship, which at 4,500 tons was too large to be successful
- Isambard Kingdom Brunel began work on the Great Eastern passenger steamer
- Start of Crimean War
- Independent Santa Cruz Maya of Eastern Yucatan recognized as an independent nation by British Empire
- Iesada succeeds Ieoshi as Japanese Shogun
- Beginning of the Late Tokugawa shogunate, the last part of the Edo period in Japan.
- Stephen Foster writes "My Old Kentucky Home."
- The University of Florida establilshed
- James Beckwourth discovers Beckwourth Pass.

Births

- January 28 - José Martí, Cuban revolutionary (d. 1895)
- February 6 - Ignacij Klemenčič, Slovenian physicist (d. 1901)
- March 14 - Ferdinand Hodler, Swiss painter (d. 1918)
- March 30 - Vincent van Gogh, Dutch painter (d. 1890)
- May 28 - Carl Larsson, Swedish painter (d. 1919)
- June 3 - William Flinders Petrie, English Egyptologist (d. 1942)
- July 5 - Cecil Rhodes, English businessman (d. 1902)
- July 18- Hendrik Lorentz, Dutch physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1928)
- September 2 - Wilhelm Ostwald, German chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1932)
- September 16 - Albrecht Kossel, German physician, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (d. 1927)
- September 21 - Heike Kamerlingh Onnes, Dutch physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1926)

Deaths

- January 16 - Matteo Carcassi, Italian composer (b. 1792)
- March 17 - Christian Doppler, Austrian mathematician (b. 1803)
- April 28 - Ludwig Tieck, German writer (b. 1773)
- November 15 - Maria II of Portugal (b. 1819) Category:1853 ko:1853년 simple:1853

VIIIe arrondissement

The 8^e arrondissement is one of the 20 arrondissements of Paris, France. It is located on the Right Bank.
- Area: 3.881 km² (1.498 sq. miles, or 959 acres)
- Population:

Year (of French censuses)	Population	Density (inh. per km²)
1891 (peak of population)	107,485	27,695
1962	74,577	19,216
1968	67,897	17,495
1975	52,999	13,656
1982	46,403	11,956
1990	40,814	10,516
1999	39,314	10,130

Places in the arrondissement include

- Église de la Madeleine
- Élysée Palace
- Théâtre des Champs-Élysées
- Grand Palais
- Petit Palais
- Hôtel de Crillon
- Gare Saint-Lazare
- Pont Alexandre III

Streets and squares

- Champs-Élysées
- Place de l'Étoile with the Arc de Triomphe (partial)
- Place de la Concorde
- Rue du Faubourg Saint Honoré
- Boulevard Haussmann (also in the IXe arrondissement)

External link

- [http://wikitravel.org/en/Paris/8th_arrondissement WikiTravel Page] 08e arrondissement

Sarajevo

Sarajevo is the capital and largest city of Bosnia and Herzegovina, located at 43°52'N and 18°25'E. According to a 1991 census, its population was 429,672; currently estimated at around 400,000. The city is considered one of the most important cities in the Balkans and has had a long and rich history ever since it was founded by the Ottomans in 1461. It was the site of the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, which sparked World War I; more recently Sarajevo has hosted the 1984 Winter Olympics and was besieged during the Yugoslav wars in the 1990s. Sarajevo is part of Canton Sarajevo, one of the ten Cantons in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The river Miljacka runs through the city.

Geography and climate

Geography

Miljacka Sarajevo is located close to the geometric center of the triangularly-shaped Bosnia and Herzegovina, and covers some 142 km²(88.2 mi²) of land. The core of the city is built in the Sarajevo valley (Also translated as Sarajevo field), a small depression 500 meters above sea level nestled in between the surrounding mountains. Although much of the city itself is relatively flat, some of the outskirts and far eastern parts are hilly. Neighborhoods in the old town in particular are well known for their steep streets and landscape. The river Miljacka flows through the city from east to west and is one of the city's chief geographic features. The source of the river Bosna, Vrelo Bosne is found on the city's outskirts near Ilidža and is one of the most well known natural landmarks in the country. The city is surrounded by five major mountains. They are part of the Dinaric Alps mountain range that winds through Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Serbia and Montenegro. The mountains are popular tourist attractions for hiking and skiing. In alphabetical order they are:
- Bjelašnica: 2067 meters (6782 ft), southwest
- Igman: 1502 meters (4928 ft), southwest
- Jahorina: 1913 meters (6276 ft), southeast
- Trebević: 1627 meters (5338 ft), southeast
- Treskavica: 2088 meters (6950 ft), north Sarajevo itself is part of Bosnia proper, known for its mountainous and heavily forested landscape. Natural disasters pose little threat in the region, although small earthquakes have been known to occur.

Climate

earthquakes Sarajevo has a continental climate, lying between the climate zones of central Europe to the North and the Mediterranean to the South. Sarajevo experiences warm summers, with temperatures of 35 °C (95 °F) not being uncommon, and cold winters, when snow is guaranteed due to the city's high altitude. Sarajevo has three major weather stations. They are located on Bjelašnica mountain, Butmir, and in the city itself. The warmest month of the year is July, when the average temperature is about 19 °C (66 °F), although August's average temperature is only a degree lower. The coldest month of the year is January when the average temperature is -1 °C (30 °F). The average year-round temperature is 10 °C (45 °F). Sarajevo receives about 905 mm (36 inches) of precipitation a year. The rainiest month is October when the city receives 89.4 mm (3.5 in) of rainfall. The dryest is February when the city gets only 61.4 mm (2.4 in) of precipitation. Average air pressure at the city's elevation is 942.3 millibars, and this varies little throughout the year.

History

millibar Main article: History of Sarajevo The area of present day Sarajevo has a long and rich history dating back to the Stone age, when the Butmir Culture flourished in the area. However, little material evidence of this is available, mostly due to later construction. Several Illyrian settlements existed in the area before it was conquered by Rome in 9 CE. During Roman times, a town named Aquae Sulphurae existed on the location of present day Ilidža, a Sarajevo suburb to the southwest of the city. The year usually mentioned as the city's founding is 1461, when the first Ottoman governor of Bosnia, Isa-beg Ishaković, transformed this village cluster into a city and a state capital by building a number of key objects, including a mosque, a closed marketplace, a public bath, a hostel and the Governor's palace (Saray) which gave the city its present name (see also: Etymology of Sarajevo). Sarajevo flourished in the 16th century when its greatest donor and builder Gazi Husrev-beg built most of what is now the old city. In a raid led by Prince Eugene of Savoy in 1697 against the Ottoman Empire, Sarajevo was burned down and leveled. The city was later rebuilt, but never fully recovered from the destruction. The capital of Bosnia was transferred to Travnik. In 1878, Bosnia was occupied by Austria-Hungary, and Sarajevo was quickly brought up to the standards of the industrial age. In the event that triggered World War I, Franz Ferdinand, Archduke of Austria and his wife were assassinated in Sarajevo on 28 June, 1914. Following the war, in the kingdom of Yugoslavia, Sarajevo was the capital of the Drinska banovina, one of the country's chief provinces. After World War II, Sarajevo grew rapidly as it became an important regional industrial center in Yugoslavia. Modern city blocks were built west of the old city, adding to Sarajevo's architectural uniqueness. The peak of city growth occurred in the early 1980s, when Sarajevo hosted the 1984 Winter Olympics. On April 6, 1992, Sarajevo was surrounded by forces of Bosnian Serbs. The warfare that lasted until October 1995 resulted in large scale destruction and dramatic population shifts (see Siege of Sarajevo for details). Reconstruction of Sarajevo started as soon as the war ended, in 1995. By 2003, most of the city had been rebuilt, with only a few remaining visible ruins in the city centre. Modern office buildings and skyscrapers have since been constructed throughout the city.

Government

skyscraper In terms of politics, Sarajevo is the most important city in Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is the capital of the entire country, as well as the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina sub-entity. Sarajevo is also the obvious center of politics for the Sarajevo Canton. It is comprised of four different municipalities and is one of the few cities in the country with a separate city government. Sarajevo is the location of numerous other important political structures, such as dozens of foreign embassies. City government is split into the traditional three branches of democratic government.

Executive branch

The city government’s executive branch (Bosnian:"Gradska Uprava") consists of the mayor, his cabinet, and numerous city organizations that help in the governing of the city. The mayor is the chief of city politics, and has two deputies, along with a number of advisers in the cabinet. The role of the executive branch in city government is outlined in the city constitution. The current mayor of Sarajevo is Muhidin Hamamdžić, from the Social Democratic Party of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The city deputy mayors are Željko Komšić and Slavo Vlaški, who belong to the Party for Bosnia and Herzegovina and the SDP respectively. They are joined by a secretary and a number of advisors. To help the mayor carry out the executive duties of the city, the executive branch also consists of several city services, or "organizations". They are the "City Service for General Management" (Gradska služba za opću upravu), "City Service for the Finances" (Gradska služba finansija), "City Service for Local Employment" (Gradska služba za lokalno poslovanje), "City Service for Urban Planning" (Gradska služba za urbano planiranje), and the "City Service for Communal Works" (Gradska služba za komunalne poslove).

Legislative branch

The main legislative body of the city of Sarajevo is the Gradsko Vijeće, or City Council. Councilmen are elected by municipality according to population, with Novi Grad municipality receiving the most seats in the city council and Stari Grad municipality the least. The council is headed by the council speaker, two deputies, and a secretary, and consists of 24 members. Currently, of these 28, 15 belong to the SDP, 7 to Za BiH, 5 to SDA, and 1 to the HDZ. The president of the City Council is Mira Jadrić-Winterhalter, and deputies are Emin Svrakić and Vladimir Zubić.

Judicial branch

As the center of Canton Sarajevo, the city is also the center of judicial procedures for the area, based on the post-transitional judicial system for the country as outlined by the High Representative and his plans for the “High Judicial and Prosecutorial Councils” of Bosnia and Herzegovina in 2002. The BiH Constitutional Court is also located in Sarajevo, consisting of nine members. Four of these are selected by the house of representatives of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, two by Republika Srpska's national assembly, and three foreign members are selected by the president of the European Court of Human Rights. The supreme court of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the Cantonal court of Sarajevo Canton are also located in Sarajevo. Sarajevo is also the center of law training and education for the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Demographics

Main article: Demographics of Sarajevo Since no official census has been taken since 1991, the exact population of Sarajevo cannot be known. However, the latest estimates from the Sarajevo Canton government, dating from December 2002, are generally thought to be fairly accurate. They put the total population of the city of Sarajevo at 297,399 residents and the number of people in the greater Sarajevo region at 401,118. A more recent estimate for the greater Sarajevo area has the population in mid-2004 at 401,687. According to the official government statistics, Sarajevo's population density is 2470.1 per square kilometer. The most densely populated part of Sarajevo is in the municipality Novo Sarajevo (7524.5 inhabitants per square kilometer), while the least densely populated is the Stari Grad municipality (742.5 inhabitants per square kilometer). The largest ethnic group in Sarajevo are the Bosniaks; with more than 230,000 people, this group makes up 77.4 percent of the city. The second-largest group are the Serbs, of which there are some 35,000 (12 percent of the city). Croats are the third largest group, with a population of 22,380 (7.5 percent of the total). 9,283 people (3.1 percent of overall population) are classified as others. They most likely consist of Sephardic Jews, and Roma, along with a small number of foreign workers (mostly of Chinese and African backgrounds).

Economy

Africa Main article: Economy of Sarajevo Sarajevo is economically one of the strongest regions of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Like many other major cities, its economy is largely based on industries such as manufacturing and tourism. As the center of various levels of area politics, many Sarajevo citizens also work in government. A number of local and international companies are present in the city and contribute to its economic health. Sarajevo's manufacturing deals with a wide array of products. This includes production of foods and beverages, textiles, furniture, automobiles, pharmaceuticals, and metalworking. Sarajevo companies also produce unique brands of alcohol, and cigarettes. A variety of important economic institutions are to be found in Sarajevo. The central bank of Bosnia and Herzegovina is found in the city, as are numerous other independent banks. Overall 19 different banks have their headquarters in Sarajevo. The city also holds the Sarajevo Exchange of securities, the Institute for accounting and auditing of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Board for securities of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the Register of valuable papers of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Some major companies based in Sarajevo include Air Bosna (currently operating as BH Airlines), BH Telecom, Bosmal, Bosnalijek, CBS Bank, Dnevni Avaz, Energopetrol, Oslobodenje, Fabrika Duhana Sarajevo (Sarajevo Tobacco Factory), Sarajevska Pivara (Sarajevo Brewery), and Unioninvest. Foreign companies with a foothold in the Sarajevo region include Harris Communications, Brown & Root, Škoda Auto, and most notably, Coca Cola. The Bosnian-Malaysian firm Bosmal is also situated in the city.

Communications and media

Coca Cola Main article: Communications and Media of Sarajevo As the capital and largest city of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Sarajevo is naturally the main center of the country's media. Most of the country's major television channels are based in the city, as are the most popular newspapers and magazines. Newspapers are the most popular and most well established forms of media. The two most popular and credible daily newspapers are the Oslobodenje and the Dnevni Avaz, The buildings of both of these are adjacent to each other, situated in Novi Grad municipality. Television is very popular in Sarajevo, even though for most people the number of channels is somewhat limited. Satellites allow for a number of foreign channels to be watched, but the most popular are the local news stations based in the city. FTV is the television of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina entity, while there is also a national radio-television system named Public Broadcast Service of Bosnia and Herzegovina. A Sarajevo Cantonal channel is also available. Many small independent radio stations exist, although the majority listen to the more established ones such as Radio M, Radio Grad, eFM Student Radio and RSG. RSG, Radio Stari Grad (Radio Old Town) is the most popular of these. Radio Free Europe can still be heard, and several American and West European stations are available for listening as well. Also popular is Radio 202, affiliated with FTV.

Divisions of Sarajevo

Radio Free Europe Radio Free Europe Sarajevo, the city and surrounding region, are split into several divisions themselves. These can be official or unofficial, with or without actual political power. The most important division of the City of Sarajevo are its four Municipalities. Municipalities are the fourth level of political authority in Bosnia and Herzegovina after state, entity, and canton. The Bosnian word for them is "Općina". They are, Centar (Center), Novi Grad (New City), Novo Sarajevo (New Sarajevo), and Stari Grad (Old Town). Like the city at large, all of the Municipalities have their own regional government, including a foreman, councils, and various Municipality services. The role of these Municipality governments is not as significant as that of other Municipalities in Bosnia and Herzegovina due to the existence of the Sarajevo city government. Sarajevo's Municipalities are further split into "local communities" (Bosnian, Mjesne zajednice). Local communities have a small role in city government and are intended as a way for ordinary citizens to get involved in city government. They are based around key city neighborhoods. Sarajevo also has several suburbs. They are essentially the 5 Municipalities of Canton Sarajevo that are not included in Sarajevo's official city limits. They are, in alphabetical order, Hadžići, Ilidža, Ilijaš, Trnovo, and Vogošća. Of these the cities of Ilidža and Vogošća, found in the Municipalities of the same name, can be considered the most important. Ilidža is the chief suburb of Sarajevo, located just west of Novi Grad Municipality. According to the latest estimates, Ilidža's population is slightly under 50,000. Sarajevo International Airport is found next to the city. The secondary suburb, Vogošća is located about 6 kilometers north of the city center and has a population of around 9,000. Vogošća has traditionally been an important industrial center.

People

Vogošća The people of Sarajevo are known as “Sarayliyas” (spelled Sarajlije in local languages). Sarayliyas are known for being very proud and patriotic of their city. The song by popular singer Kemal Monteno, “Sarajevo Ljubavi Moja” (Sarajevo Love of Mine) has come to somewhat epitomize this feeling among the people, and to this day remains something of an unofficial anthem for the city (alongside with "Kad ja pođoh na Benbašu"). If one were to describe the stereotypes of Sarayliyas in one word, it would be cosmopolitan. Sarayliyas are known for being modern cultured city dwellers. Bosnians from outside Sarajevo are thought to have the sense that Sarajevo receives too much attention, but this is more of a sibling rivalry than an actual dislike for Sarajevo and its people. Within the city itself, the people of the various Municipalities have somewhat taken up the stereotypes of the regions they live in. Sarajevo is also known for having a very communal feel, despite its large population. Sarajevo has had a number of famous citizens over the years (see also: Famous Sarayliyas). They include an Academy Award winner, two Nobel Prize winners, legendary musicians, novelists, and politicians. Sarajevo has also produced presidents for three countries.

Tourism

Tourism is one of Sarajevo's major industries, and is constantly growing now with stability in the region. Sarajevo's mountain ranges and Olympic facilities make it an ideal location for winter sports. Another reason for Sarajevo's popularity among tourists is its 600 years of accumulated history, which have been impacted by both Western and Eastern empires. Ever since the 1984 Winter Olympics, Sarajevo has been a popular tourist attraction (save for the war years in the early 1990s). Indeed, even long before that Sarajevo was a popular stop for travelers in the Ottoman and Austria-Hungarian empires, and is mentioned in traveling books from all sides of Europe and the Middle East. One of the first structures built in the city was an inn. Sarajevo overall has some 50 major hotels, along with numerous smaller motels and hospitality businesses. A variety of travel agencies in the city can help organize a visit. The most famous hotel in Sarajevo is the Holiday Inn, whose distinctive color and location has made it something of a city icon. Various types of tourism are popular in Sarajevo. War tourism focuses on the war years, and the famous spots of the siege of Sarajevo. Some are interested specifically in the historical aspects of the city, while thousands come for the area's nature. Summer is the busiest season for Sarajevo tourism, as thousands of tourists visit from foreign countries. Many of these are from the neighboring Balkan states, while a very large number are former residents who fled the city during the war. Sarajevo is full of interesting and notable structures that tourists find attractive. Some notable examples include the mountains Igman and Bjelašnica, Vrelo Bosne park, the Sarajevo cathedral, and the Gazi Husrev-Beg Mosque among others (See also: Sites of interest in Sarajevo).

Transportation

Geographic and historical factors have combined to make Sarajevo a very small city for its population. Due to this and a lack of parking structures, it is very difficult to find places for parking. This is especially true in the summer months when the number of people in Sarajevo is significantly higher due to the number of tourists. Sarajevo makes up for this with its traditional old world city planning, which allows for pedestrians to easily walk to wherever they need to go. Bicycling is also practiced, but is not very common. Public transportation is very common and has a long tradition in Sarajevo. The chief methods of this are tramways, trolleys, and buses. Tramways in fact, were first introduced to Europe in Sarajevo in 1894 by Austro-Hungarian officials. The Sarajevo tramway is 16 kilometers long. Overall in Sarajevo there are 7 tramway lines, 4 trolley lines, and 9 bus routes. Most of these run east-west, and are found on the northern bank of the Miljacka. These disproportions however are merely due to the city's layout and practical reasons. During the last years of Yugoslavia, a subway was planned as well but never implemented. subway The railroad has always been very important in Sarajevo. The main Sarajevo railroad station is located in the north central part of the city. From there railroad tracks head west before branching off in different directions. The railroad for years was crucial to the industry of the part of town it ran through. This has left a lasting impression on the region, ranging from stereotypes to soccer teams. Historically, Sarajevo was a very important center of the railroad industry in Southeastern Europe, although it has been greatly hurt by the war. Sarajevo International Airport (intl. code SJJ) is located just a few kilometers southwest of the city. During the war the airport was used for United Nations flights and humanitarian relief. Since the Dayton Accord in 1996, the airport has welcomed a thriving commercial flight business which inlcudes flights by B&H Airlines, Austrian Airlines, Alitalia, Aero Flight, Lufthansa, Jat Airways, and others. The two main streets within Sarajevo are "Titova" (Tito's) street and "Zmaj od Bosne" (Dragon of Bosnia) street. Most traffic out of the city is directed to the west, as that is where most important cities in Bosnia and Herzegovina are located. Also, the Republika Sprska is directly to the east, and most people have little desire to go there. A highway that connects Sarajevo with Budapest and central Europe is being modernized, but presently it is at some spots little more than a paved countryside road. The speed limit at most parts is 60 or 80 km/h.

Culture

Budapest Budapest Main article: Culture of Sarajevo Sarajevo’s extensive culture is represented in various ways. Historically, Sarajevo was home to several famous Bosnian poets and thinkers during the times of the Ottoman Empire. Nobel Prize winner Vladimir Prelog is from the city, as was academy award winning director Danis Tanović. Nobel Prize winner Ivo Andrić spent much of his life in Sarajevo. Contemporary poet, Semezdin Mehmedinović wrote Sarajevo Blues from inside the city during the siege of Sarajevo in 1992. Sarajevo is also home to a number of cultural institutions, dedicated to maintaining the city's culture. The notable Bosniak institute is housed in an impressive building in central Sarajevo, and features various interesting exhibits dealing with the city's and country's culture and history. Also notable are the International Center for Kids and Youth in New Sarajevo Municipality, and the Center for Sarajevo Culture. Theatres are also an important part of Sarajevo culture. The first great Sarajevo theatre was the national theatre of Bosnia and Herzegovina, built in 1919 and surviving to this day. Prior to that, plays were often held in parks or at the large houses of wealthy families. The first Bosnian opera was held in Sarajevo in 2003. Sarajevo also houses the Sarajevo Youth Theatre. The most famous in all of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the National Museum of Bosnia and Herzegovina, is located in central Sarajevo. It was established in 1888, from an idea dating back to the first half of the 19th century. The Sarajevo Haggadah is held there. While in Sarajevo one can also visit the Ars Aevi Museum of Contemporary Art, the Historical Museum of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Museum of the City of Sarajevo, and the Bosnian and Herzegovinian Museum of Literature. There existed an impressive Olympic museum dedicated to the 84 games but it was destroyed in the warfare. In the past, Sarajevo held several famous libraries. Notably Gazi Husrev-Beg's, and the national library. Unfortunately Serbian ultranationalists purposely fired upon the national library with incendiary shells and it was destroyed. An effort is underway to rebuild the library and replace what was lost. An impressive new modern "Gazi Husrev-Beg's" library is also being built. The Sarajevo Film Festival, which has been going on since 1995, has become the premier film festival in the Balkans. Largely due to its size and the success and popularity of cinema in Bosnia, the event has gained considerable importance and often attracts foreign celebrities. The Sarajevo Winter Festival and Sarajevo Jazz Festival are also well-known, as are the Bašćaršija Nights, a month-long showcase of local culture, music, and dance. The pop and rock musicians from Sarajevo made a major mark on the popular music of the whole of former Yugoslavia, and form the so-called Sarajevo school of pop rock.

Sports

One of the most famous things about Sarajevo is that it was the location of the 1984 Winter Olympics. However, sports and sporting events played an important part in Sarajevo life well before the city hosted the games. For instance, one of the city's best-loved sports is football. The two best football clubs, FK Sarajevo and NK Željezničar, both have a long tradition of competing in European and international cups and tournaments. There are also football clubs in Sarajevo like for example FK Olimpik and others but these clubs are less famous and don't have as long and proud traditions. Another is basketball. The basketball club KK Bosna Sarajevo won the European championship in 1979. The chess club Bosna Sarajevo has been a championship team since the 1980s. Sarajevo often holds international events and competitions in various other sports as well, such as tennis and kickboxing. In 2009, Sarajevo will host the Special Olympic winter games.

Education

Education has a long tradition in Sarajevo. The first university in Sarajevo was a school of Sufi philosophy established by Gazi Husrev-beg in 1531. Over the years, numerous other religious schools were established as well. The Sarajevo library, in its prime, was in the same category as the Madrassa of Beyazid II. The annexation of Bosnia by Austria-Hungary introduced Sarajevo to Western education. The first high school in Sarajevo was established in 1887. Starting in the 1940s, numerous modern faculties were added to the University of Sarajevo for a wide variety of professions ranging from economics to forestry. Sarajevo today also has 46 elementary schools (Grades 1-8), and 19 high schools (Grades 9-12). The University of Sarajevo includes faculties for medicine, law, agriculture, technical services, philosophy, and economics.

External links

- [http://www.jahu.net/ Search Bosnia and Hercegovina]
- [http://www.freewebtown.com/uherope Uherope - Travel Tips to Sarajevo and more]
- [http://www.relaxtours.com/ponuda_en.html Relax Tours: Tourism & Travel Agency in Sarajevo (In English)]
- [http://sarajevo.moj-grad.com Sarajevo, MOJ GRAD! – "Sarajevo, My City!" online city guide and web portal (in Bosnian)]
- [http://www.sarajevo.ba/ Official Sarajevo city government site (in Bosnian)]
- [http://www.sarajevo-airport.ba/ Sarajevo International Airport (in Bosnian and English)]
- [http://www.sarajevo-tourism.com/bos/default.wbsp Tourism Association of Sarajevo (in Bosnian and English)]
- [http://sarajevo.usembassy.gov/ The United States Embassy in Sarajevo]
- [http://www.britishembassy.ba/ The British Embassy in Sarajevo]
- [http://www.embassyworld.com/embassy/Bosnia/Bosnia5.html Embassy Listings for Bosnia and Herzegovina (Embassies of Other Nations to Bosnia and Herzegovina without Websites)]
- [http://www.sarajevo-x.com Sarajevo X portal]
- [http://www.saray.net Saray Portal]
- [http://digital-bosnia.deviantart.com/favourites/ Artwork and Photography of talented artists from Sarajevo and rest of Bosnia and Herzegovina]
- [http://navigator.ba/maps/sarajevo/dispmap.php Interactive Map of Sarajevo]
- [http://www.hadzici.net The Official Web Site of Hadzici Municipality Sarajevo]
- [http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=43.838984,18.340302&spn=0.119744,0.234180&t=k&hl=en Satellite picture by Google Maps]

References

- Official website of the city of Sarajevo [http://www.sarajevo.ba]
- Valerijan, Žujo; Imamović, Mustafa; Ćurovac, Muhamed (1997). Sarajevo. Sarajevo: Svjetlost
- Prstojević, Miroslav (1992). Zaboravljeno Sarajevo (Forgotten Sarajevo). Sarajevo: Ideja
- Maniscalco, Fabio (1997). Sarajevo. Itinerari artistici perduti (Sarajevo. Artistic Itineraries Lost). Naples : Guida Category:Capitals in Europe Category:Cities and towns in Bosnia and Herzegovina Category:Host cities of the Winter Olympic Games ko:사라예보 ja:サラエボ

1885

1885 is a common year starting on Thursday.

Events

January

- January 4 - The first successful appendectomy is performed by Dr. William W. Grant on Mary Gartside.
- January 20 - L.A. Thompson patents the roller coaster.
- January 26 - Troops loyal to the Mahdi conquer Khartoum

February

- February 5 - King Léopold II of Belgium establishes the Congo Free State as a personal possession.
- February 9 - The first Japanese arrive in Hawaii.
- February 18 - Mark Twain's Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is published for the first time.
- February 21 - US president Chester A. Arthur dedicates the Washington Monument
- February 23 - British executioner fails to hang John Lee, sentenced of the murder of Emma Keyse. Sentence is commuted to life imprisonment
- February 26 - Final Act of the Berlin Conference regulates European colonisation and trade in Africa.

March

- March-May - North-West Rebellion took place and was put down in Canada.
- March 3 - A subsidiary of the American Bell Telephone Company, American Telephone and Telegraph (AT&T), is incorporated in New York.
- March 4 - Grover Cleveland replaces Chester A. Arthur as President of the United States.
- March 14 - W.S. Gilbert and Arthur Sullivan's The Mikado opens at the Savoy Theatre.
- March 26 - The Times reports that "A lady well-known in literary and scientific circles" has been cremated by the Cremation Society in Woking, Surrey. Jeannette C. Pickersgill was the first person to be officially cremated in the United Kingdom
- March 30 - Pandjeh Incident - Russian force routs Afghan troops and drive them across the Pul-iKhishti bridge
- March 31 - The United Kingdom establishes a protectorate over Bechuanaland.

May

- May 2
- Good Housekeeping magazine goes on sale for the first time.
- Cree and Assiniboine warriors won the Battle of Cut Knife, their largest victory over Canadian forces during the North-West Rebellion.
- The Congo Free State is established by King Léopold II of Belgium.
- May 9-12 - Canadian government forces inflict decisive defeat on Métis rebels at the Battle of Batoche.

June

- June 17 - The Statue of Liberty arrives in New York Harbor.
- June 24 - Randolph Churchill becomes Secretary of State for India

July

- July 6 - Louis Pasteur successfully tests his vaccine against rabies. The patient is Joseph Meister; a boy who was bitten by a rabid dog.
- July 20 - Professional football legalized in Britain

September

- September 2 - In Rock Springs, Wyoming, 150 white miners attack their Chinese coworkers, killing 28, wounding 15, and forcing several hundred more out of town.
- September 6 - Eastern Rumelia declares its union with Bulgaria. The Unification of Bulgaria is accomplished.
- September 18 - Union of Eastern Rumelia with Bulgaria proclaimed at Plovdiv.
- September 30 - A British force abolishes the Boer republic of Stellaland and adds it to British Bechuanaland.

November

- November 7 - Canadian Pacific Railway finished: In Craigellachie, British Columbia, construction ends on a railway extending across Canada. Prime Minister John A. Macdonald considered the project to be vital to Canada.
- November 11 - George S. Patton, Jr. Born in San Gabriel, California.
- November 14-28 - Serbo-Bulgarian War: Serbia declares war against Bulgaria but is defeated in Battle of Slivnitsa on November 17-19.
- November 16 - Canadian rebel leader of the Métis, Louis Riel is executed for high treason.

December

- December 1 - The US Patent Office acknowledges this date as the day Dr Pepper was served for the very first time; the exact date of Dr Pepper's invention is unknown.
- December 28 - 72 Indian lawyers, academicians and journalists gather in Bombay to form the Congress Party

Unknown Dates

- Creation of the first genuine bicycle, the Rover, by John K Starley.
- John Boyd Dunlop invents the pneumatic tire.
- Cholera epidemic in Spain – one of the victims is the king Alfonso XII
- Third Burmese War begins
- Sitting Bull joins Buffalo Bill
- Nikola Tesla sells a number of his patents to George Westinghouse
- William Stanley, Jr. builds the first practical alternating current transformer device, the induction coil.
- Local anesthetic
- First skyscraper – Home Insurance Building in Chicago, Illinois, USA (10 floors)
- Bicycle Playing Cards first produced

Births

- January 6 - Florence Turner, American actress (d. 1946)
- January 8 - John Curtin, Prime Minister of Australia (d. 1945)
- January 11 - Alice Paul, American women's rights activist (d. 1977)
- January 21 - Umberto Nobile, Italian politician and airship designer (d. 1978)
- January 27 - Jerome Kern, American composer (d. 1945)
- January 27 - Eduard Künnecke, German composer (d. 1953)
- January 29 - Leadbelly, American musician (d. 1949)
- February 7 - Sinclair Lewis, American writer, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1951)
- February 9 - Alban Berg, Austrian composer (d. 1935)
- February 13 - Bess Truman, First Lady of the United States (d. 1982)
- February 15 - Princess Alice of Battenberg (d. 1969)
- February 21 - Sacha Guitry, Russian-born dramatist, writer, director, and actor (d. 1957)
- February 24 - Chester Nimitz, U.S. admiral (d. 1966)
- February 24 - Stanisław Ignacy Witkiewicz, Polish writer and painter (d. 1939)
- March 6 - Ring Lardner, American writer (d. 1933)
- March 11 - Sir Malcolm Campbell, English land and water racer (d. 1948)
- March 14 - Raoul Lufbery, World War I American pilot (d. 1918)
- March 31 - Pascin, Bulgarian painter (d. 1930)
- April 1 - Wallace Beery, American actor (d. 1949)
- April 3 - Allan Dwan, Canadian-born film director (d. 1981)
- April 4 - Arthur Murray, American dancer (d. 1991)
- May 2 - Hedda Hopper, American columnist (d. 1966)
- May 7 - George 'Gabby' Hayes, American actor (d. 1969)
- May 14 - Otto Klemperer, German conductor (d. 1973)
- May 21 - Oscar A.C. Lund, Swedish film actor, director, and writer (d. 1963)
- May 22 - Toyoda Soemu, Japanese admiral (d. 1957)
- June 9 - John Edensor Littlewood, British mathematician (d. 1977)
- June 14 - E. L. Grant Watson, writer, anthropologist, and biologist (d. 1970)
- June 22 - Milan Vidmar, Slovenian electrical engineer and chess player (d. 1962)
- July 4 - Louis B. Mayer, American film producer (d. 1957)
- July 14 - King Sisavang Vong, King of Laos (d. 1959)
- July 28 - Monte Attell, American boxer (d. 1960)
- August 1 - George de Hevesy, Hungarian chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1966)
- September 11 - D.H. Lawrence, English author (d. 1930)
- September 22 - Ben Chifley, Prime Minister of Australia (d. 1951)
- October 3 - Sophie Treadwell, American playwright and journalist

Horse

The Horse (Equus caballus) is a sizeable ungulate mammal, one of the seven modern species of the genus Equus. It has long played an important role in transport, whether ridden or used for pulling vehicles. They are also used for food. Though horses may have been domesticated in one isolated locale in 4500 BC, the unequivocal date of (1) domestication and (2) use as a means of transport dates to no earlier than circa 2000 BC, evidenced by the Sintashta chariot burials (see Domestication of the horse). Nevertheless, a close cousin of the horse, the donkey, was likely domesticated and used for transport circa 3000 BC (see discussions at Donkey and [http://nefertiti.iwebland.com/timelines/topics/means_of_transportation.htm]). Until the mid 20th century, armies used horses extensively in warfare: soldiers still call the groups of machines that now take the place of the horse on the battlefield "cavalry" units, sometimes keeping traditional names (Lord Strathcona's Horse, et cetera).

Domestication of the horse and surviving wild species

The earliest evidence for the domestication of the horse comes from Central Asia and dates to about 4,000 BCE. Competing theories exist about the time and place of domestication. However, wild species continued into historic times, including the Forest Horse, Equus caballus silvaticus (also called the Diluvial Horse); it is thought to have evolved into Equus caballus germanicus, and may have contributed to the development of the heavy horses of northern Europe, such as the Ardennais. The Tarpan, Equus caballus gmelini, became extinct in 1880. Its genetic line is lost, but a substitute has been recreated by "breeding back", crossing living domesticated horses that had features selected as primitive, thanks to the efforts of the brothers Lutz Heck (director of the Berlin zoo) and Heinz Heck (director of Tierpark Munich Hellabrunn). The resulting animal is more properly called the Wild Polish Horse or Konik. Konik] Only one true wild-horse species survives: Przewalski's Horse, Equus caballus przewalskii, a rare Asian species. Mongolians know it as the taki, while the Kirghiz people call it a kirtag. Wild populations exist in Mongolia; see: http://www.treemail.nl/takh/.

Wild vs. feral horses

One can distinguish between wild animals, whose ancestors have never undergone domestication, and feral animals, who had domesticated ancestors but who now live in the wild. Several populations of feral horses exist, including those in the West of the United States and Canada (often called "mustangs") and in parts of Australia (called brumbies) and in New Zealand (called "Kaimanawa horses"). These feral horses may provide useful insights into the behavior of their ancestral wild horses. The Icelandic horse (pony-sized but called a horse) provides an opportunity to compare contemporary and historical breed appearances and behaviour. Introduced by the Vikings into Iceland, Icelandic horses did not subsequently undergo the intensive selective breeding that took place in the rest of Europe from the middle ages onwards, and so they consequently bear a closer resemblance to pre-medieval breeds. The Icelandic horse has a four-beat gait called the "tölt", which equates to the rack exhibited by several American gaited breeds.

Other equids

Other members of the horse family include zebras, donkeys, and hemionids. The Donkey, Burro or Domestic Ass, Equus asinus, like the horse, has many breeds. A mule is a hybrid of a male ass and a mare and is infertile. A hinny is the less common hybrid of a female ass and a stallion. Recently breeders have begun crossing various species of zebra with mares or female asses to produce "zebra mules"—zorses and zonkeys (also called zedonks). This will probably remain a novelty hybrid as these individuals tend to inherit some of the nervous, difficult nature of their zebra parent. Full species list:
- Domesticated Horse (Equus caballus)
- Tarpan (Equus caballus gmelini)
- Przewalski's Horse (Equus caballus przewalskii)
- Donkey (Equus asinus)
- Onager (Equus hemionus)
- Kiang (Equus kiang)
- Mountain Zebra (Equus zebra)
- Plains Zebra (Equus quagga)
- Grevy's Zebra (Equus grevyi)

Evolution

All equids are part of the family Equidae, which dates back more than 50 million years. One of the first species was the tiny Hyracotherium. In the course of the million years, the horses evolved from leaf-eating forest-dwellers into grass-eating fast-running inhabitants of the open plains. The Evolution of the Horse lead to a reduction of the number of toes: from 5 per foot, to 3 per foot, to only 1 toe per foot. The genus Equus, to which all living equids belong, evolved a few million years ago. Examples of extinct horse genera include: Propalaeotherium, Mesohippus, Miohippus, Orohippus, Pliohippus, Anchitherium, Merychippus, Parahippus, Hipparion and Hippidion.

Natural History of the horse

Hippidion] In nature, horses function as prey animals. They have a natural tendency to flee from danger, though they will fight if cornered. Their eyes lie to the side of the head, giving them a wide view while grazing (slightly less than 180 degrees to each side, overlapped in front and leaving a blind spot in the rear). Even domesticated horses startle easily and must, for the safety of riders, undergo careful introductions to strange objects and situations. Horses live in family groups in primarily grassland habitats. These normally consist of a mature stallion, his harem of about one to ten mares, and the mares' offspring. Once young males reach breeding age and begin to attempt to breed with mares or to challenge the herd stallion, the latter drives them out of the herd to form "bachelor bands" with other young stallions. Usually not until a stallion reaches 7 or 8 years old does he stand a real chance of acquiring mares, eventually becoming, if successful in the attempt, a "band stallion", i.e. having a harem of his own, having separated female equids from another stallion's band. harem An alpha mare dictates the direction in which a family herd travels, while the stallion brings up the rear, "herding" his family. Recently, researchers have observed that a form of democracy appears to exist among horses. For instance, if the majority of the herd wants to stop and eat, the whole herd follows suit and stops.

Specialized vocabulary

The English-speaking world measures the height of horses in hands. One hand is defined in British law as 101.6 mm and is derived from a previous definition of 4 inches. Adult horses can range in size from 5 hands (0.5 m) (a very small miniature horse or falabella) to over 19 hands (1.8 m). By convention, 15.2 hh means 15 hands, 2 inches (1.57 m) in height, measured at the highest point of the withers. Usually, size alone marks the difference between horses and ponies. The threshold is 14.2 hh (1.47 m) for an adult. Below the threshold it is a pony, above the threshold it is a horse. Thus normal variations can mean that a horse stallion and horse mare can become the parents of an adult pony. However, a distinct set of characteristic pony traits, developed in northwest Europe and further evolved in the British Isles, muddies the issue of whether we use the word "pony" to describe a size or a type. Many people consider the Shetland pony as the archetypical pony, with its proportions very different from horses. Several small breeds appear as "horses" or "ponies" interchangeably, including the Icelandic, Fjord, and Caspian. Breeders of miniature horses favor that name because they strive to reproduce horse-like conformation in a very small size, even though their animals undeniably descend from ponies.

Words for gaits

All horses move naturally in four basic gaits, the walk, trot, canter/lope ("canter" in English riding, "lope" in Western), and the gallop.
- the walk - a "four beat" lateral gait in which a horse must have three feet on the ground and only one foot in the air at any time. The walking horse will lift first a hind leg, then the foreleg on the same side, then the remaining hind leg, then the foreleg on the same side. To get a horse into walk from halt, one must gently squeeze the sides of the horse and release the pressure on the reins. To get a horse to walk from trot, one must take sitting trot and gently apply pressure on the reins.
- the trot/jog - a "two beat" diagonal gait in which a foreleg and opposite hindleg (often called "diagonals") touch the ground at the same time. In this gait, each leg bears weight separately, making it ideal to check for lameness or for stiffness in the joints. To get a horse to trot fom walk you must soften your reins and apply more pressure with the leg. There are two types of trot a rider can do. Rising trot, where the rider stands up slightly in the saddle each time the horses outside front leg goes forward, and sitting trot, where the rider sits in the saddle and goes with the horse's movement.
- the canter/lope - A "three beat" gait in which a foreleg and opposite hindleg strike the ground together, and the other two legs strike separately. A cantering horse will first stride off with the outside hind leg, then then inside hind and outside fore together, then the inside front leg, and finally a period of suspension in which all four legs are off the ground. the rhythm should be 1-2-3, 1-2-3, etc. When cantering in a straight line, it does not usually matter which foreleg (or leading leg) goes first, but both leads should receive equal practice time, as otherwise the horse may become "one-sided" or develop a reluctance to canter on a specific lead. In the arena, the horse should canter on the inside lead. In making a fairly tight turn, the inside leg (the one nearest to the center of the turn) should lead, as this prevents the horse from "falling in". to get a horse to canter on the correct leg from trot, one must go into sitting trot, place their outside leg slightly behind the girth and squeeze with the inside leg. To get a horse to canter from gallop, one must alter the position of the body slightly back in the saddle, then you must place the outside leg behind the girth to allow the horse to canter on the correct leg, and apply pressure on the reins. Also called "lope" when riding in a Western show class. The canter is not a natural gait, but a restrained form of a gallop. Shetland pony
- the gallop - Another "four beat" gait which follows a similar progression to the canter, except the two paired legs land separately, the hind leg landing slightly before the foreleg. The gallop also involves having a leading leg. In turning at a very rapid rate, it is even more important that the horse use the appropriate lead, leading with the left leg if making a left turn, and the right leg if making a right turn, since the faster the turn the more the horse needs to lean into the turn. Horses that usually are galloped in a straight line need to be caused to alternate leads so that they do not suffer a muscular imbalance and subsequent difficulty making turns in one direction or the other. To get a horse into gallop, the rider must alter their position so they are slightly more forward in the saddle, then they should allow the horse to head and gently kick the horse's sides. The gallop is usually used in races or fox hunting. However, one would not gallop a horse during training in a ring or enclosed area, due to the fact that the horse may slip in attempting to gallop in such an area. Although a race track is an enclosed area, it is designed for a horse to gallop around, without being too enclosed which may cause the horse to slip while turning. Some horses have other gaits other than the most common three above. These horses are called Gaited Horses.
- tölt or tolt is a four beat running walk and can be ridden at any speed, from slow dancing steps to the speed of a galloping horse. This beat is natural to the Icelandic breed.
- pace is a lateral two-beat gait more commonly used in racing. In the pace, the legs move in lateral pairs, in a two beat gait, similar to the trot (however, in a trot, the legs move in diagonal pairs). In most countries pacers are raced in front of a sulky, an open mouthed two-wheeled vehicle drawn by one horse. These horses are commonly called "pacers" because of their unique gait.
- corto, largo, fino are the smooth four-beat gaits performed by Paso Finos. Similar natural four-beat gaits are found in breeds such as the Peruvian Paso. The corto occurs naturally, and is similar to the trot in speed. The largo is extended and high-speed, and the fino is very collected. This is the gait emphasized in high-level competition. Trainers have developed various artificial gaits for reasons such as appearance, and to improve the riding or driving quality. For details, see Horse gaits. Cited: Sly, Debbie. "The Practical Rider's Handbook". London: Lorenz Books, 1997.

Words relating to horses

You can view an entire equine dictionary at: [http://ultimatehorsesite.com/dictionary/dictionary.html The Horse Dictionary]
- Bronco - a wild, untamed horse, typically used in reference to the American mustang.
- Brumby - a wild or untrained Australian horse
- Charger - a medieval war horse
- cob - any horse of a short-legged, stout variety, with short legs, and a compact body, neck and back
- colt - an unaltered male horse from birth till the age of 4.
- destrier - a heavy, strong medieval war horse
- draught horse - heavy, muscular beast of burden
- filly - female horse from birth till the age of 4.
- foal - infant horse of either sex
- garron - small and disdained horse
- gelding - a castrated male horse of any age
- God dog - how the Apaches referred to horses
- green - a term used to describe an inexperienced horse
- hack - (noun) a horse for hire, or adapted to general work, used for driving or riding. Although the word sometimes means an old, worn out horse, it is also used to signify an extremely elegant horse used for riding on social occasions ("park hack", "hunter hack" etc.) (verb)- to ride a horse for pleasure, not as training
- hackney - a specific breed of flashy, elegant driving pony
- Hand - a unit of measuring used frequently to measure a horses height. One hand is equal to 4 inches (appox. 10 cm)
- horse - adult equine of either sex over 14.2 hh (58 inches, 1.47 m)
- jennet - a small horse, particularly a Spanish one
- mare - adult female horse
- mustang - a feral horse found in the western plains of North America
- nag - small horse or pony used for riding (uncomplimentary term)
- palfrey - a smooth gaited type, a riding horse, a woman's horse
- pony - equine 14.2 hh or less (58 inches, 1.47 metres)
- School Horse/Pony- A horse owned by a riding academy
- shelt or shelty - a Shetland pony
- stallion - adult, male horse that is able to produce offspring
- weanling - a young horse that has just been weaned from their mother (usually 6 months or a little older)
- yearling - male or female horse two years old In horse racing the definitions of colt, filly, mare, and horse differ from those given above. Thoroughbred racing defines a colt as a male horse less than five years old and a filly as a female horse less than five years old; harness racing defines colts and fillies as less than four years old. Horses older than colts and fillies become known as horses and mares respectively.

Words relating to horse anatomy

harness racing ; withers: the highest point of the shoulder seen best with horse standing square and head slightly lowered. The tops of the two shoulder blades and the space between them define the withers. ; mane and forelock: long and relatively coarse hair growing from the dorsal ridge of the neck, lying on either the left or right side of the neck, and the continuation of that hair on the top of the head, where it generally hangs forward. (See illustration.) ; Dock: the point where the tail connects to the rear of the horse. ; Flank: Where the hind legs and the stomach of the horse meet. ; Pastern: The connection between the coronet and the fetlock. ; Fetlock: Resembles the ankle of the horse. ; Coronet: The part of the hoof that connects the hoof to the pastern. ; Cannon: Resembles the shin of the horse. ; Muzzle: the chin, mouth, and nostrils make up the muzzle on the horse's face. ; Crest: the point on the neck where the mane grows out of. ; Poll: the portion of the horse's neck right behind the ears. ; Hock: Hindlimb equivalent to the Heel, the main joint on the hind leg. ; Stifle: corresponds to the elbow of a horse, except on the hind limb. ; Gaskin: also known as the "second thigh," the large muscle on the hind leg, just above the hock, below the stifle. ; Jowl: the cheek bone under the horses ear on both sides Chestnut: on the inside of every leg

Horse coat colors and markings

withers Horses exhibit a diverse array of coat colors and distinctive markings, and a specialized vocabulary has evolved to describe them. In fact, one will often refer to a horse in the field by his or her coat color rather than by breed or by gender. Coat colors include:
- Appaloosa - a breed of horse with spots, any color mixed with white. There are different patterns: blanket- white blanket that typically starts around or behind withers with dark spots mostly over the hips, snowflake - solid with white spots over hips, and leopard - which is white with dark spots over all the coat. A true Appaloosa is actually a breed, not a color.
- Bay- From light brown to very dark brown with black mane and tail with black points. Three types - Dark bay, blood bay, light bay and just bay.
- Black- There are two types of black, fading black and jet black. Ordinary black horses will fade to a rusty brownish color if the horse is exposed to sunlight on a regular basis. Jet black is a blue-black shade that is fadeproof. Black foals are usually born a mousy grey color. As their foal coat begins to shed out, their black color will show through,but jet black foals are born jet black. Usually for a horse to be considered black it must be completely black with no brown at all, only white markings.
- Brown - A bay without any black points.
- Buckskin- A bay horse with a gene that 'dilutes' the coat colour to a yellow, cream, or gold while keeping the black points (mane, tail, ears, legs).
- Chestnut- A reddish body color with no black.
- Cremello - A chestnut horse with two dilute genes that washes out almost all colour. Often called pseudo albinos, they have blue eyes. There are no true albino horses.
- Dun - Yellowish brown with a dorsal stripe along the back and occasionally zebra stripings on the legs.
- Fleabitten - refers to usually red hairs flecked in the coat of a gray horse.
- Gray - A horse with black skin and clear hairs. Gray horses can be born any color, and eventually most will turn gray or white with age. If you would define the horse as white it is still grey unless it is albino. Some gray horses that are very light must wear sunscreen.
- Grulla- A black horse with a dun gene. It is often a grayish/silver colored horse with dark dun factors.
- Pinto - a multi-colored horse with large patches of brown, white, and/or black and white. Piebald is black and white, while Skewbald is white and brown. Specific patterns such as tobiano, overo, and tovero refer to the orientation of white on the body.
- Paint - In 1962, the American Paint Horse Association began to recognize pinto horses with known Quarter Horse and/or Thoroughbred bloodlines as a separate breed. Today, Paint horses are the world's fifth most popular breed. Also palomino paint - palomino with white.
- Palomino-chesnut horse that has one cream dilute gene that turns the horse to a golden, yellow, or tan shade with a flaxen (white) mane and tail. Often cited as being a color "within three shades of a newly minted coin", palominos actually come in all shades from extremely light, to deep chocolate.
- Perlino - Exactly like a cremello but a bay horse with two dilute genes.
- Roan - a color pattern that causes white hairs to be sprinkled over the horse's body color. Red roans are chesnut and white hairs, blue roans are black/bay with white hairs. Roan can happen on any body color; for example, there are palomino roans and dun roans. Roans are distinguishable from greys because roans typically do not change colour in their lifetimes, unlike gray that gradually gets lighter as a horse ages. Roans also have solid colored heads that do not lighten.
- Splash - a genetically controlled horse coat variation.
- Tobiano - a genetic trait among horses which produces a characteristic white pattern in the coat.
- White - Any non-albino white horse is called a gray, even though they appear white. All white, may be the result of overlapping pinto, appaloosa, or sabino markings. Rarely there are true white horses born and are documented to have a dominant white gene (see Gray (horse) for a discussion of these). These horses have normal eye colour, and they stay white for life. Markings include: On the face:
- Star
- Snip
- Stripe
- Blaze
- White Face (sometimes called Bald Face) On the legs:
- Coronet
- Pastern
- Sock
- Stocking Elsewhere:
- Cowlicks (hair whorls)--can occur on any part of the animal, but are mainly seen on the forehead and neck. For horse color and marking genetics see Equine coat color genetics. Another good resource for horse color is: [http://ultimatehorsesite.com/colors/index.html Horse color, markings, and genetics]. Another that has numerous photographs of various colors and markings is [http://equinecolor.com/ Equine color].

The origin of modern horse breeds

Equine coat color genetics]] Horses come in various sizes and shapes. The draft breeds can top 20 hands (80 inches, 2 metres) while the smallest miniature horses can stand as low as 5.2 hands (22 inches, 0.56 metres). The Patagonian Fallabella, usually considered the smallest horse in the world, compares in size to a German Shepherd Dog. Several schools of thought exist to explain how this range of size and shape came about. These schools grew up reasoning from the type of dentition and from the horses' outward appearance. One school, which we can call the "Four Foundations", suggests that the modern horse evolved from two types of early domesticated pony and two types of early domesticated horse; the differences between these types account for the differences in type of the modern breeds. A second school -- the "Single Foundation" -- holds only one breed of horse underwent domestication, and it diverged in form after domestication through human selective breeding (or in the case of feral horses, through ecological pressures). Finally, certain geneticists have started evaluating the DNA and mitochondrial DNA to construct family trees. See: Domestication of the horse

Breeds, studbooks, purebreds and landraces

Domestication of the horse The idea of a "purebred" animal gained importance in Europe during the 19th century but selective breeding has occurred almost everywhere man has kept horses. The Arabs had a reputation for breeding their prize mares to only the most worthy stallions, and kept extensive pedigrees of their "asil" (purebred) horses. During the late middle ages the Carthusian monks of southern Spain, themselves forbidden to ride, bred horses which nobles throughout Europe prized; the lineage survives to this day in the Andalusian horse or caballo de pura raza español. The modern landscape of breed designation presents a complicated picture. Some breeds have closed studbooks; a registered Thoroughbred, Arabian, or Quarter Horse must have two registered parents of the same breed, and no other criteria for registration apply. Other breeds tolerate limited infusions from other breeds—the modern Appaloosa for instance must have at least one Appaloosa parent but may also have a Quarter Horse, Thoroughbred, or Arabian parent and must also exhibit spotted coloration to gain full registration. Still other breeds, such as most of the warmblood sporthorses, require individual judging of an individual animal's quality before registration or breeding approval. Breed registries also differ as to their acceptance or rejection of breeding technology. For example, all Thoroughbred registries require that a registered Thoroughbred be a product of a natural mating. A foal born of two Thoroughbred parents, but by means of artificial insemination, is barred from the Thoroughbred studbook. Some other breed registries allow artificial insemination, embryo transfer, or both.

Hotbloods, warmbloods, and coldbloods

The Arabian horses, whether originating on the Arabian peninsula or from the European studs (breeding establishments) of the 18th and 19th centuries, gained the title of "hotbloods", for their fiery temperaments. The Thoroughbred is also included in the "hotblood" category. The slow, heavy draft horses class as "coldbloods", as they usually possess a quite calm temperament. The term "warmbloods" covers everything else, but the term also specifically refers to the European breeds, such as the Hanoverian, that have dominated dressage and show jumping since the 1950s. True hotbloods usually offer greater riding challenges than other horses, especially the coldblood. They show more excitability, and often more dominance; and the longer you ride them, the more excited they become, instead of merely getting tired (although any breed of horse can succumb to fatigue). The list of horse breeds provides a partial alphabetical list of breeds of horse extant today, plus a discussion of rare breeds' conservation.

Horses in sport today

Racing in all its forms

Humans have always had a desire to know which horse (or horses) could move the fastest, horse-racing has ancient roots. Today, several categories of racing exist:

Races subject to formal gambling

Under saddle: # Thoroughbred flat racing; (under the aegis of the Jockey Club in the United Kingdom and the Jockey Club of North America) # Thoroughbred National Hunt racing or steeplechasing in the UK # Quarter Horse Racing--mostly in the United States, and sanctioned there by the American Quarter Horse Association. # Appaloosa Horse Racing # Arabian Horse Racing In harness: # The United States Trotting Association organizes harness Racing in the United States (although the horses may also pace) # Harness Racing in Europe, New Zealand and Australia

Amateur races without gambling

# Endurance riding, a sport in which the Arabian dominates at the top level, has become very popular in the United States and in Europe. The American Endurance Ride Conference organizes the sport in North America. Endurance races take place over a given, measured distance and the horses have an even start. Races begin at 20 miles and peak at 100 miles. Note especially the Tevis Cup. # Ride and Tie (in North America, organized by Ride and Tie Association). Ride and Tie involves three equal partners: two humans and one horse. The humans alternately run and ride. Thoroughbreds have a pre-eminent reputation as a racing breed, but Arabians, Quarter Horses, and Appaloosas also race on the flat in the United States. Quarter Horses traditionally raced for a quarter mile, hence the name. Steeplechasing involves racing on a track where the horses also jump over obstacles. It occurs most commonly in the United Kingdom. Standardbred trotters and pacers race in harness with a sulky or racing bike. In France they also race under saddle.

Show Sports

The traditional competitions of Europe

The three following count as Olympic disciplines:
- Dressage ("training" in French) involves the progressive training of the horse to a high level of impulsion, collection, and obedience. Competitive dressage has the goal of showing the horse carrying out, on request, the natural movements that it performs without thinking while running loose. One dressage master has defined it as "returning the freedom of the horse while carrying the rider."
- Show jumping comprises a timed event judged on the ability of the horse and rider to jump over a series of obstacles, in a given order and with the fewest refusals or knockdowns of portions of the obstacles. At the Grand Prix level fences may reach a height of as much as 6 feet.
- Eventing, combined training, horse trials, "the Military," or "the complete test" as its French name translates, puts together the obedience of dressage with the athletic ability of show jumping, the fitness demands of a long endurance phase (a.k.a. "roads and tracks") and the "cross-country" jumping phase. In the last-named, the horses jump over fixed obstacles, unlike show jumping, where the majority of the obstacles will fall down or apart if hit by the horse.

Found in the United States

- Huntseat riding as a show discipline derived from English foxhunting and from the natural desire for people to prove that the superiority of their mount. In the modern show ring hunters show "on the flat" at the walk, trot, and canter, and "over fences". For equitation, see below. Hunter classes in various divisions and fence heights demonstrate the horse's ability to jump smoothly and safely. A winning show hunter has very good conformation, a smooth jumping style (with tightly-folded front legs), a good length of stride, and an appealing manner.
- Saddleseat (also known as Park or English Pleasure riding), a uniquely American discipline, developed to show to best advantage the extravagantly animated movement of high-stepping gaited breeds such as the American Saddle Horse and the Tennessee Walker. Riders also commonly show Arabians and Morgans saddleseat in the United States.
- Equitation refers to those classes where judges assess the rider, not the performance of the horse. Equitation classes occur in the Huntseat, Saddleseat, and Western disciplines.

Western riding

Dressage, jumping and cross-country offer forms of what Americans refer to as 'English riding'. Western riding evolved stylistically from traditions brought to the Americas by the Spanish, and its skills stem from the working needs of the cowboy in the American West. A main differentiating factor comes from the need of the cowboy to rope cattle with a lariat (or lasso). The cowboy must control the horse with one hand and use the lariat with the other hand. That means that horses must learn to neck rein, that is, to respond to light pressure of the slack rein against the horse's neck. Once the cowboy has twirled the lariat and thrown its loop over a cow's head, he must snub the rope to the horn of his saddle. For roping calves, the horse learns to pull back against the calf, which falls to the ground, while the cowboy dismounts and ties the calf's feet together so that he can be brand it, treat it for disease, and so on. Working with half-wild cattle, frequently in terrain where one cannot see what lurks behind the next bush, means the ever-present very great danger of becoming unseated in an accident miles from home and friends. These multiple work needs mean that cowboys require different tack, most notably a curb bit (usually with longer bars than an English equitation curb or pelham bit would have) which works by leverage, long split reins (the ends of which can serve as an impromptu quirt) and a special kind of saddle. The Western saddle has a very much more substantial frame (traditionally made of wood) to absorb the shock of roping, a prominent pommel surmounted by a horn (a big knob for snubbing the lasso after roping an animal), and, frequently, tapaderos ("taps") covering the front of the stirrups to prevent the cowboy's foot from slipping through the stirrup in an accident and resulting in a frightened horse dragging him behind it. The cowboy's boots, which have high heels of an uncommon shape, also feature a specific design to prevent the cowboy's foot from slipping through the stirrup. Technically, fewer differences between 'English' and Western riding exist than most people think. The outfit of the competition Western rider differs from that of the dressage or 'English' rider. In dressage all riders wear the same to prevent distraction from the riding itself. But show -- in the form of outfit (and silver ornaments on saddle and tack) -- forms part of Western riding. The riders must wear cowboy boots, jeans, a shirt with long sleeves, and a cowboy hat. Riders can choose any color, and optionally accoutrements such as bolo ties, belt buckles, and (shiny) spurs. Competitions exist in the following forms:
- Western pleasure - the rider must show the horse in walk, jog (a slow, controlled trot), trot and lope (a slow, controlled canter). The horse must remain under control, with the rider directing minimal force through the reins and otherwise using minimal interference.
- Reining - considered by some the "dressage" of the western riding world, reining requires horse and rider to perform a precise pattern consisting of canter circles, rapid "spins" (a particularly athletic turn on the haunches), and the sliding stop (executed from a full gallop).
- Cutting: more than any other, this event highlights the "cow sense" prized in stock breeds such as the Quarter horse. The horse and rider select and separate a calf out of a small group. The calf then tries to return to its herdmates; the rider loosens the reins and leaves it entirely to the horse to keep the calf separated, a job the best horses do with relish, savvy, and style. A jury awards points to the cutter.
- Team penning: a popular timed event in which a team of 3 riders must select 3 to 5 marked steers out of a herd and drive them into a small pen. The catch: the riders cannot close the gate to the pen till they have corralled all the cattle (and only the intended cattle) inside.
- Trail class: in this event, the rider has to maneuver the horse through an obstacle course in a ring. Speed is not important, but total control of the horse is. The horses have to move sideways, make 90 degree turns while moving backwards, a fence has to be opened and/or closed while mounted, and more such maneuvers relevant to everyday ranch or trail riding tasks are demonstrated.
- Barrel racing and pole bending: the timed speed/agility events of rodeo. In a barrel race, horse and rider gallop around a cloverleaf pattern of barrels, making agile turns without knocking the barrels over. In pole bending, horse and rider gallop the length of a line of six upright poles, turn sharply and weave through the poles, turn again and weave back, and gallop back to the start.
- Halter class: here the horse is shown with only a halter and without a rider, but with a handler controlling the horse from the ground using a leadrope. The standard position of the handler is on the left side with the shoulder near the horse's eye. The horse is taken through a short pattern where the horse and handler must demonstrate control during walk, jog and turns. In regular halter class, judges will put emphasis on the performance and build of the horse when awarding points, in 'showmanship at halter' the performance of the handler and horse are both judged equally. Clothing of the handler and the halters tend to be more flashy in this discipline. Halter class is particularly popular with younger riders who do not yet have the skill or confidence to partake in other forms.
- Steer wrestling: Europe does not allow this activity because of animal welfare concerns, but it occurs in the United States of America, usually at rodeo events. While riding, the rider jumps off his horse onto a steer and 'wrestles' it to the ground.
- Roping: also banned in Europe. In calf roping, the rider has to catch a running calf by the neck with a lasso, stop the animal in its tracks, rapidy dismount the horse and immobilize the calf by tying three of its legs together. In team roping, one horse and rider lassos a running steer's horns, while another horse and rider lassos the steer's two hind legs.
- Bronc riding (riding a bucking "wild" horse for a timed duration) counts as a separate event, not considered part of Western riding as such. It consists of bareback bronc riding and of saddle bronc riding.

Other horse sports

- Bullfighting (rejoneo)
- Cavalry (sport)
- Charreada, the highest form of Mexican horsemanship based on a mixture of Spanish and Native traditions.
- Fox hunting
- Horse hacking
- Horse show
- Jousting
- Hunter Pacing, a sport where a trained rider rides a trail at speeds based on its condition and then people compete to ride closest to that perfect time. Hunter paces are usually held in a series. Hunter paces are usually a few miles long.
- Polo, a team game played on horseback, involves riders using a long-handled mallet to drive a ball on the ground into the opposing team's goal while the opposing team defends their goal.
- Rapa das bestas
- Reining
- Rodeo
- Dressage
- Show Jumping
- Cross Country Jumping, a jumping course that contains logs, and natural obstacles mostly. The common clothes worn are usually brighter colors and less conservative.
- 3-Day Eventing- a competition where you are judged on your total score from a day of dressage, stadium jumping and cross country
- Polocrosse
- Campdrafting
- Vaulting (gymnastics and dance on horseback)
- Steeplechase

Criticism of horses in sport

Most animal rights groups such as the [http://www.hsus.org Humane Society of the United States] and People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, which advocate against animal ownership, denounce wilder horse "sports", with claims of cruelty. Horse racing and rodeo are targets of such groups because they view them as abusive. It is difficult for average people (or even experts) to differentiate between controlled stunts and actual abuse. Rodeo and racing professionals deny these claims. Both sides provide contradictory evidence. One problem is a disagreement about terms like abuse. Rodeos claim that an injured horse is less profitable than a healthy horse. Activists claim rodeos turn a blind eye to minor injuries which do not impair performance. They also cite psychological harm, poor living conditions, forced-breeding, and the killing of unprofitable horses as forms of abuse. Horse professionals state these practices are not cruel and are unavoidable with modern horse ownership, and deny their views are influenced by the money they make. Both groups agree that 'genuine abuse' should be ended within the industry.

Miscellaneous

Weight

Light horses such as Arabians, Morgan Horses, Quarter Horses, and Thoroughbreds weigh up to 1300lbs (about 590kg). "Heavy" or draft horses such as Clydesdale, Draft, Percherons, and Shire horses weigh up to 2000lbs (about 907kg).

Saddling and mounting

The common European practice and tradition of saddling and mounting the horse from the lefthand side is often said to originate from the need to avoid inadvertantly striking the horse with a carried sword in the process. However, several other explanations are equally plausible.

Zodiac

The horse features in the 12-year cycle of animals which appear in the Chinese zodiac related to the Chinese calendar. According to Chinese folklore, each animal is associated with certain personality traits, and those born in the year of the horse are: intelligent, independent and free-spirited. See: Horse (Zodiac).

Horse meat

:Main article: horse meat Horse meat has been used as food for animals and humans throughout the ages. Although consumption by humans is considered abhorrent by some people in the United Kingdom, the US and Australia, it is eaten in many other parts of the world and is an export industry in the USA. Mare's milk is used by peoples with large horse-herds, such as the Mongols. They may let it ferment to produce kumys. However, mares produce a much lower yield of milk than do cows.

References

- Book of Horses: A Complete Medical Reference Guide for Horses and Foals, edited by Mordecai Siegal. (By members of the faculty and staff, University of California, Davis, School of Veterinary Medicine.) Harper Collins, 1996.
- Illustrated Atlas of Clinical Equine Anatomy and Common Disorders of the Horse, by Ronald J. Riegal, D.V.M. and Susan E. Hakola, B.S., R.N., C.M.I. Equistar Publications, Ltd., 1996.

External links

- [http://www.imh.org/imh/exh1.html "International Museum of the Horse"] for a brief overview of horse history from 55 million B.C. to present
- [http://www.zoo-munich.de/text.php?page=103242&v=100003 Breeding and reintroduction program of the Przewalski's horse at Zoo Hellabrunn Munich]
- [http://www.wildhorseadvertising.com/ Wild Horse Advertising] - Horse Industry Marketing.
- [http://ultimatehorsesite.com/ The ULTIMATE Horse Site - Horse Articles, Health, Care, Info]
- [http://www.ansi.okstate.edu/breeds/horses/Horses-w.htm Breeds of horses] - Encyclopaedic dictionary from Oakland State University
- [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/4618571.stm New insight into horse evolution]
- [http://www.equestrianmag.com EquestrianMag.com The online magazine for Horse Enthusiasts.]
- [http://www.horse-diseases.com/ Horse Diseases] - Information about common horse diseases
- [http://www.annettewinter.com A discussion of Natural Horsemanship - the humane approach to horse training]
- [http://www.animalmagazineonline.com/featured.php?article=27 Guidelines for feeding horses] - Informative guide to feeding horses
- [http://dreamviewfarm.com/genetics.html Horse Coat Color Genetics]
- [http://www.usenet-replayer.com/webrings/animal-horse.html Pictures of horses] published on USENET stored with a search function
- [http://ultimatehorsesite.com/horseboard Horse Message Board]
- [http://www.awionline.org/pubs/Quarterly/spring2001/horsemeat.htm Article on slaughter of horses for meat]
- [http://www.equineonline.net/ Equine Online]- Equestrian articles including buying, selling & riding horses in UK & France
- [http://www.everythingequus.com/ Everything Equus] - Equestrian articles including buying, selling & riding horses in USA
- [http://www.wildhorseandburro.blm.gov/ Bureau of Land Management National Wild Horse and Burro Program] - Wild Horse and Burro Adoption
- [http://www.ohorse.com/ O Horse Tack Shops and Stables Directory] - Extensive directory of horse websites, organized by region
- [http://www.equineonline.net/forum/index.php Horse Talk Forum] - Friendly forum for horse lovers in UK & France
- [http://www.horsesforum.net/forums/ Horses Forum.net - Where horse lovers talk!]

Racing & Sport External Links

- The American Quarter Horse Association [http://www.aqha.com] - The official website for the largest equestrian organization in the world, with over 300,000 international members.
- [http://www.jockeyclub.com/about_tjc.asp Jockey Club of North America]
- [http://www.ustrotting.com/ United States Trotting Association]
- [http://www.aerc.org/ American Endurance Ride Conference]
- [http://www.rideandtie.org/ Ride and Tie Association]
- [http://www.aqha.com/racing/index.html Quarter Horse Racing]
- [http://www.yabusame.jp/english/index.html Takeda-school Kyubadou Yabusame<--horseback archery]
- [http://www.britishopenshowjumping.com/ The British Open Show Jumping Championships] - Top class international Show Jumping
- [http://hoys.co.uk/ The Horse of the Year Show] - This is Britain's show of Champions
- [http://www.americanvaulting.org/ The American Vaulting Association] - Equestrian Vaulting
- [http://www.natrc.org/ The North American Trail Ride Conference] - Competitive Trail Riding Category:Livestock Category:Transportation ko:말 (동물) ja:ウマ

Animal

:For the Muppet Show character, see Animal (Muppet). For the professional wrestler, see Joseph Laurinaitis.

- Porifera (sponges)
- Ctenophora (comb jellies)
- Cnidaria (coral, jellyfish, anenomes)
- Placozoa (trichoplax)
- Subregnum Bilateria (bilateral symmetry)
- Acoelomorpha (basal)
- Orthonectida (flatworms, echinoderms, etc.)
- Rhombozoa (dicyemids)
- Myxozoa (slime animals)
- Superphylum Deuterostomia (blastopore becomes anus)
- Chordata (vertebrates, etc.)
- Hemichordata (acorn worms)
- Echinodermata (starfish, urchins)
- Chaetognatha (arrow worms)
- Superphylum Ecdysozoa (shed exoskeleton)
- Kinorhyncha (mud dragons)
- Loricifera
- Priapulida (priapulid worms)
- Nematoda (roundworms)
- Nematomorpha (horsehair worms)
- Onychophora (velvet worms)
- Tardigrada (water bears)
- Arthropoda (insects, etc.)
- Superphylum Platyzoa
- Platyhelminthes (flatworms)
- Gastrotricha (gastrotrichs)
- Rotifera (rotifers)
- Acanthocephala (acanthocephalans)
- Gnathostomulida (jaw worms)
- Micrognathozoa (limnognathia)
- Cycliophora (pandora)
- Superphylum Lophotrochozoa (trochophore larvae / lophophores)
- Sipuncula (peanut worms)
- Nemertea (ribbon worms)
- Phoronida (horseshoe worms)
- Ectoprocta (moss animals)
- Entoprocta (goblet worms)
- Brachiopoda (brachipods)
- Mollusca (mollusks)
- Annelida (segmented worms) Animals are a major group of organisms, classified as the kingdom Animalia or Metazoa. In general they are multicellular, capable of locomotion and responsive to their environment, and feed by consuming other organisms. Their body plan becomes fixed as they develop, usually early on in their development as embryos, although some undergo a process of metamorphosis later on. Along with sponges, gastropods, emus, dolphins and all other animals, Homo sapiens sapiens meet all the criteria above for membership in the group of organisms known as animals and they do not meet the criteria of the other groups. Some humans often consider themselves separate from animals, not on the grounds of biology, but through the use of "other contexts". Whilst self-delusion may be a unique characteristic of the human species it is not cause for exclusion from the Kingdom Animalia. The name animal comes from the Latin word animal, of which animalia is the plural, and ultimately from anima, meaning vital breath or soul.

Characteristics

Aristotle divided the living world between animals and plants, and this was followed by Carolus Linnaeus in the first hierarchical classification. Since then biologists have begun emphasizing evolutionary relationships, and so these groups have been restricted somewhat. For instance, microscopic protozoa were originally considered animals because they move, but are now treated separately. Kingdom Animalia has several characteristics that set it apart from other living things. First, animals are eukaryotic. This separates them from the Kingdom Monera. Second, animals are multicellular, which separates them from Kingdom Protista. Third, they are heterotrophic, setting them apart from Kingdom Plantae and several plant-like protists. Finally, Kingdom Animalia consists of organisms without cell walls, which makes it unique compared to Kingdom Plantae, algae, and Kingdom Fungi.

Structure

With a few exceptions, most notably the sponges (Phylum Porifera), animals have bodies differentiated into separate tissues. These include muscles, which are able to contract and control locomotion, and a nervous system, which sends and processes signals. There is also typically an internal digestive chamber, with one or two openings. Animals with this sort of organization are called metazoans, or eumetazoans when the former is used for animals in general. All animals have eukaryotic cells, surrounded by a characteristic extracellular matrix composed of collagen and elastic glycoproteins. This may be calcified to form structures like shells, bones, and spicules. During development it forms a relatively flexible framework upon which cells can move about and be reorganized, making complex structures possible. In contrast, other multicellular organisms like plants and fungi have cells held in place by cell walls, so develop by progressive growth. Also, unique to animal cells are the following intercellular junctions: tight junctions, gap junctions, and desmosomes.

Reproduction and development

Nearly all animals undergo some form of sexual reproduction. Adults are diploid or occasionally polyploid. They have a few specialized reproductive cells, which undergo meiosis to produce smaller motile spermatozoa or larger non-motile ova. These fuse to form zygotes, which develop into new individuals. Many animals are also capable of asexual reproduction. This may take place through parthenogenesis, where fertile eggs are produced without mating, or in some cases through fragmentation. A zygote initially develops into a hollow sphere, called a blastula, which undergoes rearrangement and differentiation. In sponges, blastula larvae swim to a new location and develop into a new sponge. In most other groups, the blastula undergoes more complicated rearrangement. It first invaginates to form a gastrula with a digestive chamber, and two separate germ layers - an external ectoderm and an internal endoderm. In most cases, a mesoderm also develops between them. These germ layers then differentiate to form tissues and organs. Animals grow by indirectly using the energy of sunlight. Plants use this energy to turn air into simple sugars using a process known as photosynthesis. These sugars are then used as the building blocks which allow the plant to grow. When animals eat these plants (or eat other animals which have eaten plants), the sugars produced by the plant are used by the animal. They are either used directly to help the animal grow, or broken down, releasing stored solar energy, and giving the animal the energy required for motion. This process is known as glycolysis.

Origin and fossil record

Animals are generally considered to have evolved from flagellate protozoa. Their closest living relatives are the choanoflagellates, collared flagellates that have the same structure as certain sponge cells do. Molecular studies place them in a supergroup called the opisthokonts, which also include the fungi and a few small parasitic protists. The name comes from the posterior location of the flagellum in motile cells, such as most animal sperm, whereas other eukaryotes tend to have anterior flagella. The first fossils that might represent animals appear towards the end of the Precambrian, around 600 million years ago, and are known as the Vendian biota. These are difficult to relate to later fossils, however. Some may represent precursors of modern phyla, but they may be separate groups, and it is possible they are not really animals at all. Aside from them, most animal phyla with known phyla make a more or less simultaneous appearance during the Cambrian period, about 570 million years ago. It is still disputed whether this event, called the Cambrian explosion, represents a rapid divergence between different groups or a change in conditions that made fossilization possible.

Groups of animals

The sponges (Porifera) diverged from other animals early. As mentioned, they lack the complex organization found in most other phyla. Their cells are differentiated, but not organized into distinct tissues. Sponges are sessile and typically feed by drawing in water through pores all over the body, which is supported by a skeleton typically divided into spicules. The extinct Archaeocyatha, which have fused skeletons, may represent sponges or a separate phylum. Among the eumetazoan phyla, two are radially symmetric and have digestive chambers with a single opening, which serves as both the mouth and the anus. These are the Cnidaria, which include anemones, corals, and jellyfish, and the Ctenophora or comb jellies. Both have distinct tissues, but they are not organized into organs. There are only two main germ layers, the ectoderm and endoderm, with only scattered cells between them. As such, these animals are sometimes called diploblastic. The tiny phylum Placozoa is similar, but individuals do not have a permanent digestive chamber. The remaining animals form a monophyletic group called the Bilateria. For the most part, they are bilaterally symmetric, and often have a specialized head with feeding and sensory organs. The body is triploblastic, i.e. all three germ layers are well-developed, and tissues form distinct organs. The digestive chamber has two openings, a mouth and an anus, and there is also an internal body cavity called a coelom or pseudocoelom. There are exceptions to each of these characteristics, however - for instance adult echinoderms are radially symmetric, and certain parasitic worms have extremely simplified body structures. Genetic studies have considerably changed our understanding of the relationships within the Bilateria. Most appear to belong to four major lineages: # Deuterostomes # Ecdysozoa # Platyzoa # Lophotrochozoa In addition to these, there are a few small groups of bilaterians with relatively similar structure that appear to have diverged before these major groups. These include the Acoelomorpha, Rhombozoa, and Orthonectida. The Myxozoa, single-celled parasites that were originally considered Protozoa, are now believed to have developed from the Bilateria as well.

Deuterostomes

Deuterostomes differ from the other Bilateria, called protostomes, in several ways. In both cases there is a complete digestive tract. However, in protostomes the initial opening (the archenteron) develops into the mouth, and an anus forms separately. In deuterostomes this is reversed. In most protostomes cells simply fill in the interior of the gastrula to form the mesoderm, called schizocoelous development, but in deuterostomes it forms through evagination of the endoderm, called enterocoelic pouching. Deuterostomes also have a dorsal, rather than a ventral, nerve chord and their embryos undergo different cleavage. All this suggests the deuterostomes and protostomes are separate, monophyletic lineages. The main phyla of deuterostomes are the Echinodermata and Chordata. The former are radially symmetric and exclusively marine, such as sea stars, sea urchins, and sea cucumbers. The latter are dominated by the vertebrates, animals with backbones. These include fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals. In addition to these, the deuterostomes also include the Hemichordata or acorn worms. Although they are not especially prominent today, the important fossil graptolites may belong to this group. The Chaetognatha or arrow worms may also be deuterostomes, but this is less certain.

Ecdysozoa

The Ecdysozoa are protostomes, named after the common trait of growth by moulting or ecdysis. The largest animal phylum belongs here, the Arthropoda, including insects, spiders, crabs, and their kin. All these organisms have a body divided into repeating segments, typically with paired appendages. Two smaller phyla, the Onychophora and Tardigrada, are close relatives of the arthropods and share these traits. The ecdysozoans also include the Nematoda or roundworms, the second largest animal phylum. Roundworms are typically microscopic, and occur in nearly every environment where there is water. A number are important parasites. Smaller phyla related to them are the Nematomorpha or horsehair worms, which are visible to the unaided eye, and the Kinorhyncha, Priapulida, and Loricifera, which are all microscopic. These groups have a reduced coelom, called a pseudocoelom. The remaining two groups of protostomes are sometimes grouped together as the Spiralia, since in both embryos develop with spiral cleavage.

Platyzoa

The Platyzoa include the phylum Platyhelminthes, the flatworms. These were originally considered some of the most primitive Bilateria, but it now appears they developed from more complex ancestors. A number of parasites are included in this group, such as the flukes and tapeworms. Flatworms lack a coelom, as do their closest relatives, the microscopic Gastrotricha. The other platyzoan phyla are microscopic and pseudocoelomate. The most prominent are the Rotifera or rotifers, which are common in aqueous environments. They also include the Acanthocephala or spiny-headed worms, the Gnathostomulida, Micrognathozoa, and possibly the Cycliophora. These groups share the presence of complex jaws, from which they are called the Gnathifera.

Lophotrochozoa

The Lophotrochozoa include two of the most successful animal phyla, the Mollusca and Annelida. The former includes animals such as snails, clams, and squids, and the latter comprises the segmented worms, such as earthworms and leeches. These two groups have long been considered close relatives because of the common presence of trochophore larvae, but the annelids were considered closer to the arthropods, because they are both segmented. Now this is generally considered convergent evolution, owing to many morphological and genetic differences between the two phyla. The Lophotrochozoa also include the Nemertea or ribbon worms, the Sipuncula, and several phyla that have a fan of cilia around the mouth, called a lophophore. These were traditionally grouped together as the lophophorates, but it now appears they are paraphyletic, some closer to the Nemertea and some to the Mollusca and Annelida. They include the Brachiopoda or lamp shells, which are prominent in the fossil record, the Entoprocta, the Phoronida, and possibly the Ectoprocta or moss animals.

History of classification

In Linnaeus' 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, the Chordata, whereas the various other forms have been separated out. The above lists represent our current understanding of the group, though there is some variation from source to source.

Usage of the word animal

In everyday usage animal refers to any member of the animal kingdom that is not a human being, and sometimes excludes insects (although including such arthropods as crabs). This confusion stems primarily from the familiarity with zoo animals, farm animals and pets, not from an analytical distinction between insects, humans and the rest of the animal kingdom.

Examples

Some well-known types of animals, listed by their common names:
- alpaca, ant, antelope, badger, bat, bear, bee, beetle, bird, bison, butterfly, cat, chicken, cockroach, coral, cow, deer, dinosaur, dog, dolphin, earthworm, elephant, elk, fish, fly, fox, frog, giraffe, goat, gorilla, hippopotamus, horse, human, iguana, jellyfish, kangaroo, lion, lizard, llama, lynx, monkey, mouse, nightingale, octopus, owl, ox, parrot, penguin, pig, quail, rabbit, rat, rhinoceros, salamander, scorpion, seahorse, shark, sheep, sloth, snake, spider, squid, starfish, tiger, turtle, urial, vole, whale, wolf, yak, zebra

References

External links

- [http://www.animool.com/animals/index.jsp Animals Search Engine]
- [http://www.wikianimals.com wikianimals.com] - Documenting the animal kingdom
- [http://tolweb.org/tree?group=Animals&contgroup=Eukaryotes Tree of Life]
- [http://www.arkive.org A Multimedia Database of Various UK or Endangered Species]
- [http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~wakefield/animals.html Animals and Birds Names] - Large table of words: animal, collective, male, female, young, & home
- [http://www273.pair.com/med/words/animal_adjectives.htm English Animal Adjectives]
- [http://www.georgetown.edu/faculty/ballc/animals/animals.html Sounds of the World's Animals] - animal sounds in many languages
- [http://www.findsounds.com/ FindSounds - Search the Web for Sounds] - sound files including animal sound files
- [http://www.australianfauna.com/ Australian Animals]
- [http://www.animalreviews.com AnimalReviews] - animals reviewed and evaluated
- [http://animals.timduru.org/ The animal photo archive] - Photos of animals
- [http://www.wildlife-photo.org Photo gallery of animals pictures from the entire world.]
- [http://www.wildlife-photo.org/birds_list.htm Birds Name Check List in Latin, English, Russian and Hebrew.]
- [http://www.wildanimalsonline.com Wild Animals Online] - an online encyclopedia of wild animals - facts, photos Category:Animals zh-min-nan:Tōng-bu̍t ko:동물 ms:Haiwan ja:動物 simple:Animal th:สัตว์

Human

Humans or human beings define themselves in biological, social, and spiritual terms. Biologically, humans are classified as the species Homo sapiens (Latin for "wise man" or "thinking man"): a bipedal primate of the superfamily Hominoidea, together with the other apes: chimpanzees, gorillas, orangutans, and gibbons. Humans have an erect body carriage that frees their upper limbs for manipulating objects and a highly developed brain capable of abstract reasoning, speech, language, and introspection. Bipedal locomotion appears to have evolved before the development of a large brain. The origins of bipedal locomotion and of its role in the evolution of the human brain are topics of ongoing research. The human mind has several distinct attributes. It is responsible for complex behaviour, especially language. Curiosity and observation have led to a variety of explanations for consciousness and the relation between mind and body. Psychology attempts to study behaviour from a scientific point of view. Religious perspectives emphasise a soul, qi or atman as the essence of being, and are often characterised by the belief in and worship of God, gods, spirits, or other people. Philosophy, especially philosophy of mind, attempts to fathom the depths of each of these perspectives. Art, music and literature are often used in expressing these concepts and feelings. Like all primates, humans are inherently social. They create complex social structures composed of co-operating and competing groups. These range from nations and states down to families. Seeking to understand and manipulate the world around them has led to the development of technology and science. Artifacts, beliefs, myths, rituals, values, and social norms have all helped to form humanity's culture.

Terminology

In general, the word "people" is a collective or plural term for any specific group of individual persons. However, when used to refer to a group of humans possessing a common ethnic, cultural or national unitary characteristic or identity, "people" is a singular count noun, and as such takes an "s" in the plural (examples: "the English-speaking peoples of the world", "the indigenous peoples of Brazil"). ethnic Juvenile males are called boys, adult males men, juvenile females girls, and adult females women. Humans are commonly referred to as persons or people, and collectively as Man (capital M), mankind, humankind, humanity, or the human race. Until the 20th century, "human" was only used adjectivally ("pertaining to mankind"). Nominal use of "human" (plural "humans") is short for "human being", and not considered good style in traditional English grammar. As an adjective, "human" is used neutrally (as in "human race"), but "human" and especially "humane" may also emphasise positive aspects of human nature, and can be synonymous with "benevolent" (versus "inhumane"; cf. humanitarian). A distinction is maintained in philosophy and law between the notions "human being", or "man", and "person". The former refers to the species, while the latter refers to a rational agent (see, for example, John Locke's Essay concerning Human Understanding II 27 and Immanuel Kant's Introduction to the Metaphysic of Morals). The term "person" is thus used of non-human animals, and could be used of a mythical being, an artificial intelligence, or an extraterrestrial. An important question in theology and the philosophy of religion concerns whether God is a person. In Latin, "humanus" is the adjectival form of the noun "homo", translated as "man" (to include males and females). The Old English word "man" could also have this generic meaning, as demonstrated by such compounds as "wifman" ("female person") → "wiman" → "woman". For the etymology of "man" see mannaz.

Biology

Anatomy and physiology

mannaz] Humans exhibit fully bipedal locomotion. This leaves the forelimbs available for manipulating objects using opposable thumbs. Humans vary substantially around the mean height and mean weight. Some of this variation is explained by locality and historical factors. Although body size is largely determined by genes, it is also significantly influenced by diet and exercise. The mean height of a North American adult female is 162 centimetres (5 feet 4 inches) and the mean weight is 62 kilograms (137 pounds). North American adult males are typically larger: 175 centimetres (5 feet 9 inches) and 78 kilograms (172 pounds). Human skin appears to be relatively hairless in comparison to other primates; however, most humans have a larger number of hairs on their body than a chimpanzee. The main difference is that human hairs are shorter, finer, and less coloured then the average chimpanzee's, thus rendering them harder to see. The colour of human hair and skin is determined by the presence of coloured pigments called melanins. Most researchers believe that skin darkening was an adaptation that evolved as a defence against UV solar radiation; melanin is an effective sunblock. The skin colour of contemporary humans can range from very dark brown to very pale pink. It is geographically stratified and in general correlates with the environmental level of UV. Human skin and hair colour is controlled in part by the MC1R gene. For example, the red hair and pale skin of some Europeans is the result of mutations in MC1R. Human skin has a capacity to darken (sun tanning) in response to UV exposure. Variation in the ability to sun tan is also controlled in part by MC1R. sun tanning] Because humans are bipedal, the pelvic region and spinal column tend to become worn, creating locomotion difficulties in old age. The individual need for regular intake of food and drink is prominently reflected in human culture, and has led to the development of food science. Failure to obtain food leads to hunger and eventually starvation, while failure to obtain water leads to dehydration and thirst. Both starvation and dehydration cause death if not alleviated. In modern times, obesity amongst humans has increased to almost epidemic proportions, leading to health complications and increased mortality in some developed countries, and is becoming problematic elsewhere. The average sleep requirement is between seven and eight hours a day for an adult and nine to ten hours for a child. Elderly people usually sleep for six to seven hours. It is common, however, in modern societies for people to get less sleep than they need, leading to a state of sleep deprivation. The human body is subject to an ageing process and to illness. Medicine is the science that explores methods of preserving bodily health.

Life cycle

health] The human life cycle is similar to that of other placental mammals. New human life develops from conception. An egg is usually fertilised inside the female by sperm from the male through sexual intercourse, though in vitro fertilisation methods are also used. The fertilised egg is called a zygote. The zygote divides inside the female's uterus to become an embryo which over a period of thirty-eight weeks becomes the fetus. At birth, the fully grown fetus is expelled from the female's body and breathes independently as a baby for the first time. At this point, most modern cultures recognise the baby as a person entitled to the full protection of the law, though some jurisdictions extend personhood to human fetuses while they remain in the uterus. Compared with that of other species, human childbirth is relatively complicated. Painful labours lasting twenty-four hours or more are not uncommon, and may result in injury to the child or the death of the mother, although the chances of a successful labour increased significantly during the twentieth century in wealthier countries. Natural childbirth remains an arguably more dangerous ordeal in remote, underdeveloped regions of the world, though the women who live in these regions have argued that their natural childbirth methods are safer and less traumatic for mother and child. Natural childbirth Human children are born after a nine-month gestation period, with typically 3–4 kilograms (6–9 pounds) in weight and 50–60 centimetres (20–24 inches) in height in developed countries. [http://www.childinfo.org/eddb/lbw] Helpless at birth, they continue to grow for some years, typically reaching sexual maturity at twelve to fifteen years of age. Boys continue growing for some time after this, reaching their maximum height around the age of eighteen. These values vary too, depending on genes and environment. The human lifespan can be split into a number of stages: infancy, childhood, adolescence, young adulthood, maturity and old age, though the lengths of these stages, especially the later ones, are not fixed. There are striking differences in life expectancy around the world. The developed world is quickly getting older, with the median age around 40 years (highest in Monaco at 45.1 years), while in the developing world, the median age is 15–20 years (the lowest in Uganda at 14.8 years). Life expectancy at birth is 77.2 years in the U.S. as of 2001. [http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/lifexpec.htm] The expected life span at birth in Singapore is 84.29 years for a female and 78.96 years for a male, while in Botswana, due largely to AIDS, it is 30.99 years for a male and 30.53 years for a female. One in five Europeans, but one in twenty Africans, is 60 years or older, according to The World Factbook. [http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook] African.]] The number of centenarians in the world was estimated by the United Nations [http://www.un.org/ageing/note5713.doc.htm] at 210,000 in 2002. The maximum life span for humans is thought to be over 120 years. Worldwide, there are 81 men aged 60 or over for every 100 women, and among the oldest, there are 53 men for every 100 women. The philosophical questions of when human personhood begins and whether it persists after death are the subject of considerable debate. The prospect of death may cause unease or fear. People who are near death sometimes have a near-death experience, in which they have visions. Burial ceremonies are characteristic of human societies, often inspired by beliefs in an afterlife. Institutions of inheritance or ancestor worship may extend an individual's presence beyond his physical lifespan (see immortality).

Genetics

Humans are a eukaryotic species. Each diploid cell has two sets of 23 chromosomes, each set received from one parent. There are 22 pairs of autosomes and one pair of sex chromosomes. At present estimate, humans have approximately 20,000–25,000 genes and share 95% of their DNA with their closest living evolutionary relatives, the two species of chimpanzees. [http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=12368483] Like other mammals, humans have an XY sex determination system, so that females have the sex chromosomes XX and males have XY. The X chromosome is larger and carries many genes not on the Y chromosome, which means that recessive diseases associated with X-linked genes affect men more often than women. For example, genes that control the clotting of blood reside on the X chromosome. Women have a blood-clotting gene on each X chromosome so that one normal blood-clotting gene can compensate for a flaw in the gene on the other X chromosome. But men are hemizygous for the blood-clotting gene, since there is no gene on the Y chromosome to control blood clotting. As a result, men will suffer from haemophilia more often than women.

Race and ethnicity

haemophilia, Black, White (Hispanic), and Asian. Top row males, bottom row females.]] Humans often categorise themselves and others in terms of race or ethnicity. In the United States, racial categories are primarily based on language and ethnicity, although biological qualities, such as skin colour, blood type, facial features, ancestry, and other genetic variances are also key factors. Self identification with an ethnic group is usually based on kinship and descent, as well as presumed advantage. When race and ethnicity lead to variant treatment it is thought to impact social identity, giving rise to the theory of identity politics. Although most humans recognise that variances occur within a species, it is often a point of dispute as to what these differences entail, and if discrimination based on race (racism) is acceptable in the early twenty-first century. Race and intelligence, scientific racism, xenophobia and ethnocentrism are just a few of the many basis' for such practices.

Habitat

The view most widely accepted by the anthropological community is that the human species originated in the African savanna between 100 and 200 thousand years BCE, colonised the rest of the Old World and Oceania by 40,000 years BCE, and finally colonised the Americas by 10,000 years BCE. Homo sapiens displaced groups such as Neanderthals and Homo floresiensis through more successful reproduction and competition for resources, and/or extermination. (See Human evolution, Vagina gentium, and Environment of Evolutionary Adaptedness.) Technology has allowed humans to colonise all of the continents and adapt to all climates. Within the last few decades, humans have been able to explore Antarctica, the ocean depths, and space, although long-term habitation of these environments are not yet possible. Humans, with a population of about six thousand million, are one of the most numerous mammals on Earth. Most humans (61%) live in the Asian region. The vast majority of the remainder live in the Americas (14%), Africa (13%) and Europe (12%), with 5% in Oceania. (See list of countries by population and list of countries by population density.) list of countries by population density (The arctic is at the centre of the map and the numbers are millennia before present).]] The original human lifestyle is hunting-gathering, which is adapted to the savanna. Other human lifestyles are nomadism (often linked to animal herding) and permanent settlements made possible by the development of agriculture. Humans have a great capacity for altering their habitats by various methods, such as agriculture, irrigation, urban planning, construction, transport, and manufacturing goods. Permanent human settlements are dependent on proximity to water and, depending on the lifestyle, other natural resources such as fertile land for growing crops and grazing livestock, or seasonally by populations of prey. With the advent of large-scale trade and transport infrastructure, immediate proximity to these resources has become unnecessary, and in many places these factors are no longer the driving force behind growth and decline of population. Human habitation within closed ecological systems in hostile environments (Antarctica, outer space) is expensive, typically limited in duration, and restricted to scientific, military, or industrial expeditions. Life in space has been very sporadic, with a maximum of thirteen humans in space at any given time, starting with Yuri Gagarin's space flight in 1961. Between 1969 and 1974, up to two humans at a time spent brief intervals on the Moon. As of 2005, no other celestial body has been visited by human beings, although there has been a continuous human presence in space since the launch of the initial crew to inhabit the International Space Station on October 31, 2000.

Population

2000 From 1800 to 2000, the human population increased from one to six billion. It is expected to crest at around ten billion during the 21st century. In 2004, around 2.5 billion out of 6.3 billion people lived in urban centres, and this is expected to rise during the 21st century. Problems for humans living in cities include various forms of pollution, crime, and poverty, especially in inner city and suburban slums. Geneticists Lynn Jorde and Henry Harpending of the University of Utah have concluded that the variation in the total stock of human DNA is minute compared to that of other species; and that around 74,000 years ago, human population was reduced to a small number of breeding pairs, possibly as small as 1000, resulting in a very small residual gene pool. Various reasons for this bottleneck have been postulated, the most popular, called the Toba catastrophe theory, being the eruption of a volcano at Lake Toba.

Human evolution

The study of human evolution encompasses many scientific disciplines, but most notably physical anthropology and genetics. The term "human", in the context of human evolution, refers to the genus Homo, but studies of human evolution usually include other hominids and hominines, such as the australopithecines. Biologically, humans are defined as hominids of the species Homo sapiens, of which the only extant subspecies is Homo sapiens sapiens (Latin for "very wise man"); Homo sapiens idaltu (roughly translated as "elderly wise man") is the extinct subspecies. Modern humans are usually considered the only surviving species in the genus Homo, although some argue that the two species of chimpanzees should be reclassified from Pan troglodytes (Common Chimpanzee) and Pan paniscus (Bonobo/Pygmy Chimpanzee) to Homo troglodytes and Homo paniscus respectively, given that they share a recent ancestor with man. [http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2003/05/0520_030520_chimpanzees.html] Full genome sequencing resulted in these conclusions: "After 6 [million] years of separate evolution, the differences between chimp and human are just 10 times greater than those between two unrelated people and 10 times less than those between rats and mice." [http://news.ft.com/cms/s/43445728-1a44-11da-b279-00000e2511c8.html Chimp and human DNA is 96% identical] It has been estimated that the human lineage diverged from that of chimpanzees about five million years ago, and from gorillas about eight million years ago. However, in 2001 a hominine skull approximately seven million years old, classified as Sahelanthropus tchadensis, was discovered in Chad and seems to indicate an earlier divergence. Two prominent scientific theories of the origins of contemporary humans exist. They concern the relationship between modern humans and other hominids: The single-origin or "out of Africa" hypothesis proposes that modern humans evolved in Africa and later replaced hominids in other parts of the world. The multiregional hypothesis proposes that modern humans evolved at least in part from independent hominid populations. Human evolution is characterised by a number of important physiological trends:
- expansion of the brain cavity and brain itself, which is typically 1,400 cm³ in volume, over twice that of a chimpanzee or gorilla. The pattern of human postnatal brain growth differs from that of other apes (heterochrony), allowing for an extended period of social learning in juvenile humans. Physical anthropologists argue that a reorganisation of the structure of the brain is more important than cranial expansion itself;
- canine tooth reduction;
- bipedal locomotion;
- descent of the larynx, which makes speech possible. Humans are classified as Homo sapiens sapiens. A camp of physical anthropologists see neanderthalensis as a subspecies and classify the neanderthals as Homo sapiens neanderthalensis. A second camp of physical anthropologists see the neanderthals as a distinct species diverging from the modern human lineage over 500,000 years ago. Under this classification, neaderthals are Homo neanderthalensis. Recent DNA analysis suggests that neanderthalensis were not a subspecies. How these trends are related and what their role is in the evolution of complex social organisation and culture are matters of ongoing debate. larynx]]

Intelligence

Most humans consider their species to be the most intelligent in the animal kingdom. Certainly, humans are the only technologically advanced animal. Along with the brain's internal complexity, the brain to body mass ratio is generally assumed to be a good indicator of relative intelligence. Humans have the second highest ratio, with the tree shrew having the highest [http://www.hindustantimes.com/news/181_935198,00300006.htm], and the bottlenose dolphin very similar to humans. The human ability to abstract may be unparalleled in the animal kingdom. Human beings are one of five species to pass the mirror test — which tests whether an animal recognises its reflection as an image of itself — along with chimpanzees or bonobos, orangutans, and dolphins. Human beings under the age of four usually fail the test.

Culture

dolphin]] Culture is defined here as a set of distinctive material, intellectual, emotional, and spiritual features of a social group, including art, literature, lifestyles, value systems, traditions, rituals, and beliefs. Culture consists of at least three elements: values, social norms, and artifacts. A culture's values define what it holds to be important. Norms are expectations of how people ought to behave. Artifacts — things, or material culture — derive from the culture's values and norms together with its understanding of the way the world functions.

Origins

Essentially every culture has its characteristic origin beliefs. Creationism or creation theology is the belief that humans, the Earth, the universe and the multiverse were created by a supreme being or deity. The event itself may be seen either as an act of creation (ex nihilo) or the emergence of order from preexisting chaos (demiurge). Many who hold "creation" beliefs consider such belief to be a part of religious faith, and hence compatible with, or otherwise unaffected by scientific views while others maintain the scientific data is compatible with creationism. Proponents of evolutionary creationism may claim that understood scientific mechanisms are simply aspects of supreme creation. Otherwise, science-oriented believers may consider the scriptural account of creation as simply a metaphor.

Language

metaphor, Chinese, Korean, Hebrew and Greek]] Values, norms and technology are dependent on the capacity for humans to share ideas. The faculty of speech may be a defining feature of humanity, probably predating phylogenetic separation of the modern population. (See Proto-World language, Origins of language.) Language is central to the communication between humans. Some scientists argue that non-human animals are able to use some form of language too, and that non-human primates are able to learn human sign language [http://www.mnsu.edu/emuseum/cultural/language/chimpanzee.html] [http://www.msubillings.edu/asc/PDF-WritingLab/3-Minute%20Spr05/APA%20sample%20paper.pdf] (pdf). Language is central to the sense of identity that unites cultures and ethnicities. The invention of writing systems some 5000 years ago, allowing the preservation of speech, was a major step in cultural evolution. Language, especially written language, is sometimes thought to have supernatural status or powers. (See Magic, Mantra, Vac.) The science of linguistics describes the structure of language and the relationship between languages. There are estimated to be some 6,000 different languages, including sign languages, used today.

Music

Music is a natural intuitive phenomenon operating in the three worlds of time, pitch, and energy, and under the three distinct and interrelated organisation structures of rhythm, harmony, and melody. Composing, improvising and performing music are all art forms. Listening to music is perhaps the most common form of entertainment, while learning and understanding it are popular disciplines. There are a wide variety of music genres and ethnic musics.

Emotion and sexuality

Human emotion has a significant influence on, or can even be said to control, human behaviour. Emotional experiences perceived as pleasant, like love, admiration, or joy, contrast with those perceived as unpleasant, like hate, envy, or sorrow. There is often a distinction seen between refined emotions, which are socially learned, and survival oriented emotions, which are thought to be innate. Human exploration of emotions as separate from other neurological phenomena is worth note, particularly in those cultures were emotion is considered separate from physiological state. In some cultural medical theories, to provide an example, emotion is considered so synonymous with certain forms of physical health that no difference is thought to exist. The Stoics believed excessive emotion was harmful, while some Sufi teachers (in particular, the poet and astronomer Omar Khayyám) felt certain extreme emotions could yield a conceptual perfection, what is often translated as ecstasy. ecstasy"]] In modern scientific thought, certain refined emotions are considered to be a complex neural trait of many domesticated and a few non-domesticated mammals, developed commonly in reaction to superior survival mechanisms and intelligent interaction with each other and the environment; as such, refined emotion is not in all cases as discrete and separate from natural neural function as was once assumed. Still, when humans function in civilised tandem, it has been noted that uninhibited acting on extreme emotion can lead to social disorder and crime. Human sexuality, besides ensuring reproduction, has important social functions, creating physical intimacy, bonds and hierarchies among individuals, and that may be directed to spiritual transcendence, and/or to the enjoyment of activity involving sexual gratification. Sexual desire, libido, is experienced as a bodily urge, often accompanied by strong emotions, both positive (such as love or ecstasy) and negative (such as jealousy). As with other human self-descriptions, humans propose it is high intelligence and complex societies of humans that have produced the most complex sexual behaviors of any animal. Human sexual choices are usually made in reference to cultural norms, which vary widely. Restrictions are largely determined by religious beliefs.

Body image

norms, Japan]]The physical appearance of the human body is central to culture and art. In every human culture, people adorn their bodies with tattoos, cosmetics, clothing, and jewellery. Hairstyles and hair colour also have important cultural implications. The perception of an individual as physically beautiful or ugly can have profound implications for their lives. This is particularly true of women, whose external appearance is highly valued in most, if not all, human societies. Anthropologists believe this to be an important factor in the development of personality and social relations in particular physical attractiveness. There is a relatively low sexual dimorphism between human males and females in comparison with other mammals.

Trade and economics

sexual dimorphism.]] Trade is the voluntary exchange of goods, services, or both, and a form of economics. A mechanism that allows trade is called a market. The original form of trade was barter, the direct exchange of goods and services. Modern traders instead generally negotiate through a medium of exchange, such as money. As a result, buying can be separated from selling, or earning. The invention of money (and later credit, paper money and non-physical money) greatly simplified and promoted trade. Trade exists for many reasons. Due to specialisation and division of labor, most people concentrate on a small aspect of manufacturing or service, trading their labour for products. Trade exists between regions because different regions have an absolute or comparative advantage in the production of some tradable commodity, or because different regions' size allows for the benefits of mass production. As such, trade between locations benefits both locations. Economics is a social science that studies the production, distribution, trade and consumption of goods and services. Economics, which focuses on measurable variables, is broadly divided into two main branches: microeconomics, which deals with individual agents, such as households and businesses, and macroeconomics, which considers the economy as a whole, in which case it considers aggregate supply and demand for money, capital and commodities. Aspects receiving particular attention in economics are resource allocation, production, distribution, trade, and competition. Economic logic is increasingly applied to any problem that involves choice under scarcity or determining economic value. Mainstream economics focuses on how prices reflect supply and demand, and uses equations to predict consequences of decisions.

Artifacts, technology, and science

supply and demand.]] Human cultures are both characterised and differentiated by the objects that they make and use. Archaeology attempts to tell the story of past or lost cultures in part by close examination of the artifacts they produced. Early humans left stone tools, pottery and jewellery that are particular to various regions and times. Improvements in technology are passed from one culture to another. For instance, the cultivation of crops arose in several different locations, but quickly spread to be an almost ubiquitous feature of human life. Similarly, advances in weapons, architecture and metallurgy are quickly disseminated. Such techniques can be passed on by oral tradition. The development of writing, itself a type of artifact, made it possible to pass information from generation to generation and from region to region with greater accuracy. Together, these developments made possible the commencement of civilisation and urbanisation, with their inherently complex social arrangements. Eventually this led to the institutionalisation of the development of new technology, and the associated understanding of the way the world functions. This science now forms a central part of human culture. In recent times, physics and astrophysics have come to play a central role in shaping what is now known as physical cosmology, that is, the understanding of the universe through scientific observation and experiment. This discipline, which focuses on the universe as it exists on the largest scales and at the earliest times, begins by arguing for the big bang, a sort of cosmic explosion from which the universe itself is said to have erupted ~13.7 ± 0.2 billion (10⁹) years ago. After its violent beginnings and until its very end, scientists then propose that the entire history of the universe has been an orderly progression governed by physical laws.

Mind

physical laws Consciousness is a state of mind, said to possess qualities such as, self-awareness, sentience, sapience, and the ability to perceive the relationship between oneself and one's environment. The way in which the world is experienced is the subject of much debate and research in philosophy of mind, psychology, brain biology, neurology, and cognitive science. Humans (and often others as well) are variously said to possess consciousness, self-awareness, and a mind, the fruition of being our senses and perceptions. Each of us has a subjective view of existence, the passage of time, and free will. There are many debates about the extent to which the mind constructs or experiences the outer world, and regarding the definitions and validity of many of the terms used above. Cognitive scientist Daniel Dennett, for example, argues that there is no such thing as a narrative centre called mind, but that instead there is simply a collection of sensory inputs and outputs: different kinds of software running in parallel (Dennett, 1991).

Psychology and human ethology

Psychology (Classical Greek: psyche = "soul" or "mind", logos = "study of") is the study of behaviour, mind and thought and the neurological basis for them. Psychoanalysis, the examination of the subconscious was, devised by Sigmund Freud and expanded and refined by the Swiss psychiatrist Carl Gustav Jung (initially one of Freud's followers and friends) and others. Carl Gustav Jung Freud divided the mind into the id (an individual's basic needs and instincts), the superego (personal and cultural values and norms), and the ego (the central, organising self, whose job it is to satisfy the id but not upset the superego). [http://allpsych.com/psychology101/ego.html] C. G. Jung founded the school of analytical psychology and introduced the notion of the collective unconscious, a term taken from philosophy and used by Jung to describe symbols or archetypes that he believed might be common to all cultures. There are also the Conscious, Subconscious, and Superconsciousness, a related but not identical set of categories. The behaviour and mental processes of animals (human and non-human) can be described through animal cognition, ethology, and comparative psychology as well. Human ecology is an academic discipline that investigates how humans and human societies interact with their environment, nature and the human social environment.

Philosophy

social environment in detail from Raphael's School of Athens]] Philosophy is a discipline or field of study involving the investigation, analysis, and development of ideas at a general, abstract, or fundamental level. It is the discipline searching for a general understanding of values and reality by chiefly speculative rather than observational means comprising as its core logic, ontology or metaphysics, epistemology, and axiology which includes the branches of ethics and aesthetics. The term covers a very wide range of approaches, and is also used to refer to a worldview, to a perspective on an issue, or to the positions argued for by a particular philosopher or school of philosophy. Metaphysics is a branch of philosophy concerned with the study of "first principles" and "being" (ontology). Problems that were not originally considered metaphysical have been added to metaphysics. Other problems that were considered metaphysical problems for centuries are now typically relegated to their own separate subheadings in philosophy, such as philosophy of religion, philosophy of mind, philosophy of perception, philosophy of language, and philosophy of science. In rare cases subjects of metaphysical research have been found to be entirely physical and natural. The mind is the term most commonly used to describe the higher functions of the human brain, particularly those of which humans are subjectively conscious, such as personality, thought, reason, memory, intelligence and emotion. Other species of animals share some of these mental capacities, and it is also used in relation to supernatural beings, as in the expression "the mind of God." The term is used here only in relation to humans. There are many Philosophies of mind, the most common relating to the nature of being, and ones way of being, or purpose. Adi Shankara in the East proposed Advaita Vedanta, a popular argument for monism (the metaphysical view that all is of one essential essence, substance or energy). Another type of monism is physicalism or Russian: Гиагинский райо́н) is one of the 7 districts of Adygeya, a republic of the Russian Federation. The area of the district is 790 km². Its administrative center is Giaginskaya (стани́ца Гиагинская) stanitsa (village). As of 2001, the population of the district was 34,700.

Administrative division

Giaginsky District is subdivided into 5 rural okrugs:
- Ayryumovsky (Айрю́мовский)
- Dondukovsky (Дондуко́вский)
- Giaginsky (Гиагинский)
- Kelermessky (Келермесский)
- Sergiyevsky (Се́ргиевский)

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