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1488463	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agroforestry	Agroforestry	Severe famines across the African Sahel in the 1970s and 1980s led to a global response, and stopping desertification became a top priority. Conventional methods of raising exotic and indigenous tree species in nurseries were used. Despite investing millions of dollars and thousands of hours of labour, there was little overall impact. Conventional approaches to reforestation in such harsh environments faced insurmountable problems and were costly and labour-intensive. Once planted out, drought, sand storms, pests, competition from weeds and destruction by people and animals negated efforts. Low levels of community ownership were another inhibiting factor. Existing indigenous vegetation was generally dismissed as 'useless bush', and it was often cleared to make way for exotic species. Exotics were planted in fields containing living and sprouting stumps of indigenous vegetation, the presence of which was barely acknowledged, let alone seen as important. This was an enormous oversight. In fact, these living tree stumps are so numerous they constitute a vast 'underground forest' just waiting for some care to grow and provide multiple benefits at little or no cost. Each stump can produce between 10 and 30 stems each. During the process of traditional land preparation, farmers saw the stems as weeds and slashed and burnt them before sowing their food crops. The net result was a barren landscape for much of the year with few mature trees remaining. To the casual observer, the land was turning to desert. Most concluded that there were no trees present and that the only way to reverse the problem was through tree planting. Meanwhile, established indigenous trees continued to disappear at an alarming rate. In Niger, from the 1930s until 1993, forestry laws took tree ownership and responsibility for the care of trees out of the hands of the people. Reforestation through conventional tree planting seemed to be the only way to address desertification at the time.	3.125
1488463	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agroforestry	Agroforestry	History In the early-1980s, in the Maradi region of the Republic of Niger, the missionary organisation, Serving in Mission (SIM), was unsuccessfully attempting to reforest the surrounding districts using conventional means. In 1983, SIM began experimenting and promoting FMNR amongst about 10 farmers. During the famine of 1984, a food-for-work program was introduced that saw some 70,000 people exposed to FMNR and its practice on around 12,500 hectares of farmland. From 1985 to 1999, FMNR continued to be promoted locally and nationally as exchange visits and training days were organised for various NGOs, government foresters, Peace Corps volunteers, and farmer and civil society groups. Additionally, SIM project staff and farmers visited numerous locations across Niger to provide training. By 2004 it was ascertained that FMNR was being practised on over five million hectares or 50 percent of Niger's farmland – an average reforestation rate of 250,000 hectares per year over a 20-year period. This transformation prompted a Senior Fellow of the World Resources Institute, Chris Reij, to comment that "this is probably the largest positive environmental transformation in the Sahel and perhaps all of Africa". In 2004, World Vision Australia and World Vision Ethiopia initiated a forestry-based carbon sequestration project as a potential means to stimulate community development while engaging in environmental restoration. A partnership with the World Bank, the Humbo Community-based Natural Regeneration Project involved the regeneration of 2,728 hectares of degraded native forests. This brought social, economic and ecological benefits to the participating communities. Within two years, communities were collecting wild fruits, firewood, and fodder, and reported that wildlife had begun to return and erosion and flooding had been reduced. In addition, the communities are now receiving payments for the sale of carbon credits through the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) of the Kyoto Protocol.	2.875
1488463	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agroforestry	Agroforestry	Following the success of the Humbo project, FMNR spread to the Tigray region of northern Ethiopia where 20,000 hectares have been set aside for regeneration, including 10 hectare FMNR model sites for research and demonstration in each of 34 sub-districts. The Government of Ethiopia has committed to reforest 15 million hectares of degraded land using FMNR as part of a climate change and renewable energy plan to become carbon neutral by 2025. In Talensi, northern Ghana, FMNR is being practiced on 2,000–3,000 hectares and new projects are introducing FMNR into three new districts. In the Kaffrine and Diourbel regions of Senegal, FMNR has spread across 50,000 hectares in four years. World Vision is also promoting FMNR in Indonesia, Myanmar and East Timor. There are also examples of both independently promoted and spontaneous FMNR movements occurring. In Burkina Faso, for example, an increasing part of the country is being transformed into agro-forestry parkland. And in Mali, an ageing agro-forestry parkland of about six million hectares is showing signs of regeneration. Key principles FMNR depends on the existence of living tree stumps or roots in crop fields, grazing pastures, woodlands or forests. Each season bushy growth will sprout from the stumps/roots often appearing like small shrubs. Continuous grazing by livestock, regular burning and/or regular harvesting for fuel wood results in these 'shrubs' never attaining tree stature. On farmland, standard practice has been for farmers to slash this regrowth in preparation for planting crops, but with a little attention this growth can be turned into a valuable resource without jeopardising crop yields.	2.734375
1488463	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agroforestry	Agroforestry	For each stump, a decision is made as to how many stems will be chosen to grow. The tallest and straightest stems are selected and the remaining stems culled. Best results are obtained when the farmer returns regularly to prune any unwanted new stems and side branches as they appear. Farmers can then grow other crops between and around the trees. When farmers want wood they can cut the stem(s) they want and leave the rest to continue growing. The remaining stems will increase in size and value each year, and will continue to protect the environment. Each time a stem is harvested, a younger stem is selected to replace it. Various naturally occurring tree species can be used which may also provide berries, fruits and nuts or have medicinal qualities. In Niger, commonly used species include: Strychnos spinosa, Balanites aegyptiaca, Boscia senegalensis, Ziziphus spp., Annona senegalensis, Poupartia birrea and Faidherbia albida. However, the most important determinants are whatever species are locally available, their ability to re-sprout after cutting, and the value local people place on those species. Faidherbia albida, also known as the 'fertiliser tree', is popular for intercropping across the Sahel as it fixes nitrogen into the soil, provides fodder for livestock, and shade for crops and livestock. By shedding its leaves in the wet season, Faidherbia provides beneficial light shade to crops when high temperatures would otherwise damage crops or retard growth. Leaf fall contributes useful nutrients and organic matter to the soil. The practice of FMNR is not confined to croplands. It is being practised on grazing land and in degraded communal forests as well. When there are no living stumps, seeds of naturally occurring species are used. In reality, there is no fixed way of practising FMNR and farmers are free to choose which species they will leave, the density of trees they prefer, and the timing and method of pruning. In practice	3.03125
1488463	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agroforestry	Agroforestry	Benefits FMNR can restore degraded farmlands, pastures and forests by increasing the quantity and value of woody vegetation, by increasing biodiversity and by improving soil structure and fertility through leaf litter and nutrient cycling. The reforestation also retards wind and water erosion; it creates windbreaks which decrease soil moisture evaporation, and protects crops and livestock against searing winds and temperatures. Often, dried up springs reappear and the water table rises towards historic levels; insect eating predators including insects, spiders and birds return, helping to keep crop pests in check; the trees can be a source of edible berries and nuts; and over time the biodiversity of plant and animal life is increased. FMNR can be used to combat deforestation and desertification and can also be an important tool in maintaining the integrity and productivity of land that is not yet degraded. Trials, long-running programs and anecdotal data indicate that FMNR can at least double crop yields on low fertility soils. In the Sahel, high numbers of livestock and an eight month dry season can mean that pastures are completely depleted before the rains commence. However, with the presence of trees, grazing animals can make it through the dry season by feeding on tree leaves and seed pods of some species, at a time when no other fodder is available. In northeast Ghana, more grass became available with the introduction of FMNR because communities worked together to prevent bush fires from destroying their trees. Well designed and executed FMNR projects can act as catalysts to empower communities as they negotiate land ownership or user rights for the trees in their care. This assists with self-organisation, and with the development of new agriculture-based micro-enterprises (e.g., selling firewood, timber and handcrafts made from timber or woven grasses).	2.953125
1488463	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agroforestry	Agroforestry	Key success factors and constraints While there are numerous accounts of the uptake and spread of FMNR independent of aid and development agencies, the following factors have been found to be beneficial for its introduction and spread: Awareness creation of FMNR's potential. Capacity building through workshops and exchange visits. Awareness of the devastating effects of deforestation. The adoption of FMNR is more likely when communities acknowledge their situation and the need to take action. This perception of need can be supported by education. An FMNR champion/facilitator from within the community who encourages, challenges and trains peers. This is critical during the first three to five years, and continues to be important for up to 10 years. Regular site visits also ensure early detection and remedial action on resistance and threats to FMNR through deliberate damage to trees and theft. The buy-in of all stakeholders including their agreement on any by-laws created for FMNR and the consequences for infringements. Stakeholders include FMNR practitioners, local, regional and national government departments of agriculture and forestry, men, women, youth, marginalised groups (including nomadic herders), cultivators and commercial interests. Stakeholder buy-in is also important to create a critical mass of FMNR adopters in order to change social attitudes from a position of apathy or active participation in deforestation to one of proactive sustainable tree management through FMNR. Government support through the creation of favourable policies, positive reinforcement of actions facilitating the spread of FMNR, and disincentives for actions working against the spread of FMNR. FMNR practitioners need to be confident that they will benefit from their labours (either private or community ownership of trees, or legally binding user rights).	2.578125
1488463	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agroforestry	Agroforestry	Brown et al. suggest that the two main reasons why FMNR has spread so widely in Niger are attitudinal change by the community of what constitutes good land management practices, and farmers' ownership of trees. Farmers need the assurance that they will benefit from their labour. Giving farmers either outright ownership of the trees they protect, or tree-user rights, has made it possible for large-scale farmer-led reforestation to take place. Current and future directions Over nearly 30 years, FMNR has changed the farming landscape in some of the poorest countries in the world, including parts of Niger, Burkina Faso, Mali, and Senegal, providing subsistence farmers with the methods necessary to become more food secure and resilient against severe weather events. The 2011–2012 food crisis in East Africa gave a stark reminder of the importance of addressing root causes of hunger. In the 2011 State of the World Report, Bunch concludes that four major factors – lack of sustainable fertile land, loss of traditional fallowing, cost of fertiliser and climate change – are coming together all at once in a sort of "perfect storm" that will almost surely result in an African famine of unprecedented proportions, probably within the next four to five years. It will most heavily affect the lowland, semi-arid to sub-humid areas of Africa (including the Sahel, parts of eastern Africa, plus a band from Malawi across to Angola and Namibia); and unless the world does something dramatic, 10 to 30 million people could die from famine between 2015 and 2020. Restoration of degraded land through FMNR is one way of addressing these major contributors to hunger.	2.703125
1488473	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International%20Law%20Commission	International Law Commission	The International Law Commission (ILC) is a body of experts responsible for helping develop and codify international law. It is composed of 34 individuals recognized for their expertise and qualifications in international law, who are elected by the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) every five years. The ideological roots of the ILC originated as early as the 19th century when the Congress of Vienna in Europe developed several international rules and principles to regulate conduct among its members. Following several attempts to develop and rationalize international law in the early 20th century, the ILC was formed in 1947 by the UNGA pursuant to the Charter of the United Nations, which calls on the Assembly to help develop and systematize international law. The Commission held its first session in 1949, with its initial work influenced by the Second World War and subsequent concerns about international crimes such as genocide and acts of aggression. The ILC has since held annual sessions at the U.N. Office at Geneva to discuss and debate various topics in international law and develop international legal principles accordingly. It is responsible for several foundational developments in international law, including the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties, which establishes a framework for forming and interpreting treaties, and the International Criminal Court, the first permanent tribunal tasked with adjudicating offenses such as genocide and crimes against humanity.	2.6875
1488473	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International%20Law%20Commission	International Law Commission	On November 21, 1947, the UN General Assembly passed Resolution 174, which provided for the creation of an "International Law Commission" in order to fulfill the obligations of the Charter. To the resolution was attached the statute of the Commission, which defined its purposes as: Promoting the codification of international law. Solving problems within both public and private international law. Working procedures for the Commission were elaborated in articles 16-26. Under the leadership of Sir Michael Wood, the ILC undertook an authoritative effort to codify customary international law. The ILC produced the Conclusions on Identification of Customary International Law (ILC Conclusions), which seeks to clarify the process by which to identify customary international law. Working procedures of the ILC The work of the Commission is regulated by its statute, which was initially approved by the General Assembly on November 21, 1947, and amended on December 12, 1950, December 3, 1955, and November 18, 1981. It consists of 34 members (originally 15) who all must be experts on international law, elected to the position by the General Assembly from a list of candidates nominated by governments of member states in the UN. Members act as individuals and not as officials representing their respective states.	2.296875
1488483	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panbiogeography	Panbiogeography	Panbiogeography, originally proposed by the French-Italian scholar Léon Croizat (1894–1982) in 1958, is a cartographical approach to biogeography that plots distributions of a particular taxon or group of taxa on maps, and connects the disjunct distribution areas or collection localities together with lines called tracks , regarding vicariance as the primary mechanism for the distribution of organisms rather than dispersal. While Panbiogeography influenced development of modern biogeography, the ideas in their original form are not considered mainstream biogeographical theory, and the theory was described in 2007 as "almost moribund". Tracks A track is a representation of the spatial form of a species distribution and can give insights into the spatial processes that generated that distribution. Crossing of an ocean or sea basin or any other major tectonic structure (e.g. a fault zone) by an individual track constitutes a baseline. Individual tracks are superimposed, and if they coincide according to a specified criterion (e.g. shared baselines or compatible track geometries), the resulting summary lines are considered generalized (or standard) tracks. Generalized tracks suggest the pre-existence of ancestral biotas, which subsequently become fragmented by tectonic and/or climate change. The area where two or more generalized tracks intersect is called node. It means that different ancestral biotic and geological fragments interrelate in space/time, as a consequence of terrain collision, docking, or suturing, thus constituting a composite area. A concentration of numerical, genetical or morphological diversity within a taxon in a given area constitutes a main massing. Panbiogeography was first conceived by Croizat and further applied by researchers in New Zealand and Latin America. Panbiogeography provides a method for analyzing the geographic (spatial) structure of distributions in order to generate predictions about the evolution of species and other taxa in space and time.	2.625
1488495	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilson-Wodrow-Mytinger%20House	Wilson-Wodrow-Mytinger House	The area surrounding present-day Romney remained sparsely populated by European settlers until the middle of the 18th century, when tensions with Native Americans began to subside. Around this time, Lord Fairfax wanted to have the lands of his Northern Neck Proprietary used and enticed European settlers to move there. His initiative led to the establishment of population centers, such as Romney. After Lord Fairfax settled at Greenway Court, he oversaw the sale and settling of his proprietary lands. One of his surveyors, George Washington, stated that a sizable number of people were residing near present-day Romney by 1748. County records indicate that Lord Fairfax began selling land within present-day Hampshire County in 1749. However, the lot's first occupant or builder is unknown. By 1754, Hampshire County was formed from parts of Frederick and Augusta counties. Gravel Lane, the present-day street where the Wilson-Wodrow-Mytinger House is located, follows an old trail used by Native Americans prior to the arrival of European settlers. Gravel Lane was Romney's original main street, and according to the Federal Writers' Project in its Historic Romney 1762–1937 (1937), Gravel Lane "is the most historic lane in the town—and perhaps in the Northern Neck". Wilson family The earliest known person to own Lot Number 48, where the Wilson-Wodrow-Mytinger House is located, was Hugh Murphy. In 1763, Colonel George William Wilson received a patent to Lot Number 48 from Lord Fairfax and purchased it from Murphy. Wilson arrived in Romney between 1761 and 1763. According to George Washington's report to the House of Burgesses in 1764, Wilson served as a major in the Hampshire County militia during the French and Indian War, for which Washington praised him for his earnestness and courage. Wilson's residency in Romney was brief, and he relocated to Pennsylvania between 1764 and 1768.	2.703125
1488495	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilson-Wodrow-Mytinger%20House	Wilson-Wodrow-Mytinger House	On October 9, 1770, George Washington purportedly stayed the night in an old log house at the northeastern corner of Lot Number 48. This was his final visit to Romney. In his diary, Washington wrote: Wilson became a justice of the peace for newly established Bedford County, Pennsylvania, in 1771. He was involved in the Pennsylvania–Virginia boundary dispute, and was also selected by the Pennsylvanian faction at Fort Pitt to supervise the election of delegates to the constitutional convention from Pennsylvania. Wilson encouraged support for the American Revolution and became the lieutenant colonel of the 8th Pennsylvania Regiment during the American Revolutionary War. He died from an illness during the regiment's march to join Washington in New Jersey in January 1777. Wilson's daughter Mary Ann married Andrew Wodrow, and following Wilson's death, the Wilson-Wodrow-Mytinger House passed to his son-in-law Wodrow. Wodrow family Andrew Wodrow was born in 1752 in Scotland. He immigrated to the Colony of Virginia in 1768, and during the 1770s, Wodrow established and expanded a thriving import business in Fredericksburg. Following the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War, he abandoned his business rather than import and sell goods from the Kingdom of Great Britain. Wodrow was then appointed to serve in the political post of clerk for the Revolutionary Committee for King George County on May 6, 1775. He arrived in Hampshire County near or after the end of the American Revolutionary War, and in 1782, he became clerk of court for Hampshire County. Although he was the third officeholder as clerk of court, Wodrow was the first clerk to reside in Hampshire County.	2.328125
1488495	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilson-Wodrow-Mytinger%20House	Wilson-Wodrow-Mytinger House	Mytinger family Tobias Mytinger acquired the property in 1861. Mytinger was active in the community affairs of Romney. He was elected a town councilman in 1874 and 1884; appointed to a committee in 1875 to assess repairs needed for the Hampshire County Courthouse; and elected to the Romney District Board of Education in 1879. Mytinger died in January 1908, and his wife Martha Virginia Mytinger continued to reside at the property until her death in January 1912. The house remained under the ownership of the Mytinger family until 1959. At the time of the property's 1959 sale, much of the complex structures' original building materials and architectural details remained extant, although in a state of deterioration. Modern conveniences, including electricity, plumbing, and a central heating system, had not been installed. Williams family and restoration Manning H. Williams purchased the house from the Mytinger family in 1959. Efforts to restore the Wilson-Wodrow-Mytinger House complex began in 1962 while it was under the ownership of Williams. The restoration project began with the clerk's office in June 1962. During its restoration, the structure's wooden floors, stairs, doors, woodwork, and most of its plaster were retained. Replicas of the second-story windows were fabricated, and old glass was collected from around the area and placed in their wooden sashes. Some of the structure's weatherboards were also replaced, and then the exterior of the clerk's office was painted white. Electric heating was installed, and insulation was added between the walls. During the renovation, contractors made a concerted effort to match the original or period paint colors when painting the structure's walls and woodwork.	2.03125
1488495	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilson-Wodrow-Mytinger%20House	Wilson-Wodrow-Mytinger House	The rear (northern) structure of the house dates from around 1750, and is thought to be the oldest extant building on the property and in Romney. It is believed to have been a kitchen for most of its existence. The kitchen structure is one and one-half stories in height and measures by . Constructed of hand-hewn logs, its exterior is sheathed in white-painted, beaded weatherboard siding, and its gable roof is topped by red cedar (Juniperus virginiana) roof shingles. The kitchen structure is accessible by an entryway on its southern façade, connected to the adjacent residential structure of the house by a covered porch. A large stone chimney dominates the kitchen structure's northern side, directly opposite the entryway on its southern side. One six-over-three-light wooden sash window is set in the center of the building's long sides on the ground floor, and two four-light wooden sash windows are in the southern gable opposite the fireplace to provide light to the upper story. An enclosed staircase provides access to the upper story and is opposite the fireplace side of the building. The interior walls of the kitchen structure are painted white.	2.015625
1488495	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilson-Wodrow-Mytinger%20House	Wilson-Wodrow-Mytinger House	The residential structure consists of four rooms: two each traversing the ground level and upper level lengthwise. The front room on both the ground and upper levels is long and narrow. The double chimneys on the structure's western side allow for fireplaces in all four rooms. The western fireplace walls in all four rooms are enveloped by raised wooden paneling. The raised wooden paneling of the western walls is modest in design and includes a chimney pent closet flanking the left side of the segmental-arched fireplace in all four rooms. The fireplace opening is framed by a bolection molding; however, the fireplace lacks a mantel shelf. A cavetto cornice molding spans the length of the raised wooden paneling. Except for the fireplace wall, the interior walls of the ground-floor rooms are made of painted plaster, and the second-floor rooms' walls are made of painted flush boards. The structure's upper level is accessed by an enclosed staircase along the eastern wall of the larger rear rooms opposite the paneled fireplace walls. According to Pitts and Harding, the architectural style and construction pattern of the residential structure were similar to buildings in Tidewater Maryland, built in the period before 1730. They stated that regardless of the structure's origin, it would have been "an expensive and pretentious structure" for the Romney area during that period. The half-timber construction, the brick nogging, the double brick chimneys with a connecting chimney pent, and the medieval floor plan are architectural features not usually associated with present-day West Virginia. The residential structure may have been built for either Lord Fairfax or his land agent. However, it is not known whether the kitchen structure was an existing pioneer home or a contemporary kitchen.	2.203125
1488495	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilson-Wodrow-Mytinger%20House	Wilson-Wodrow-Mytinger House	Clerk's office (1780s) The largest and most imposing structure contributing to the Wilson-Wodrow-Mytinger House complex is the two and one-half-story "clerk's office". This building is the oldest extant public office building in the state of West Virginia. Built of wooden frame construction, it measures by , with its southern gable facing perpendicular toward Gravel Lane and its main entryway positioned on the structure's western (front) elevation. Both the rear (eastern) and front (western) façades are three bays wide, with nine-over-nine-light wooden sash windows in the ground-floor bays, and six-over-six-light wooden sash windows in the second-floor bays. The symmetry of the front façade's windows is interrupted by the main entryway in the most southern of the three bays, which is spaced slightly further to the right of the above bay. The structure's main façade is adjoined with a one-story shed-roofed porch supported by chamfered wooden columns. On the structure's eastern façade, the six bays are symmetrically placed with three six-over-six-light wooden sash windows in the second story and three nine-over-nine-light wooden sash windows in the ground floor.	2.109375
1488501	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steppenwolf%20Theatre%20Company	Steppenwolf Theatre Company	Steppenwolf Theatre Company is a Chicago theater company founded in 1974 by Terry Kinney, Jeff Perry, and Gary Sinise in the Immaculate Conception grade school in Highland Park, Illinois and is now located in Chicago's Lincoln Park neighborhood on Halsted Street. The theatre's name comes from Hermann Hesse's novel Steppenwolf, which original member Rick Argosh was reading during the company's inaugural production of Paul Zindel's play, And Miss Reardon Drinks a Little, in 1974. After occupying several theatres in Chicago, in 1991, it moved into its own purpose-built complex with three performing spaces, the largest seating 550. A recipient of the Regional Tony Award, several of its productions have transferred to Broadway. History Founding The name Steppenwolf Theatre Company was first used in 1974 at a Unitarian church on Half Day Road in Deerfield. The company presented And Miss Reardon Drinks a Little by Paul Zindel, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead by Tom Stoppard, and The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams, with Rick Argosh directing, and Grease by Jim Jacobs and Warren Casey, with Gary Sinise directing. The founding members are Terry Kinney, Jeff Perry, and Gary Sinise. The founders recruited six additional members: H. E. Baccus, Nancy Evans, Moira Harris, John Malkovich, Laurie Metcalf, and Alan Wilder. 1975–1990 In 1975, Steppenwolf incorporated as a nonprofit organization, saving money by taking the name of a failed theatre company that had already incorporated. In the summer of 1976, Steppenwolf took up residence in a vacant basement space of the Immaculate Conception Catholic Church in Highland Park, Illinois and produced its first full season of plays.	1.921875
1488553	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Society%20for%20Classical%20Studies	Society for Classical Studies	Activities Through its divisions of Research, Education, Publications, Professional Matters, and Program, the Society conducts a variety of activities to support and disseminate knowledge of the ancient Greek and Roman worlds. For example, it operates a Placement Service, gathers statistical information about the demographics of classicists, hears complaints of violations of professional ethics, provides advice and funding for major research projects (such as the Barrington Atlas of the Greek and Roman World), and publishes monographs, textbooks and software. The Outreach Division produces a newsletter, Amphora, for non-specialists, and the electronic newsletter The Dionysiac, which gives information about performances of classical plays and other events related to ancient performance. Scholars Many notable scholars have served as executives of the APA and SCS, including Basil Lanneau Gildersleeve, William Watson Goodwin, Herbert Weir Smyth, Paul Shorey, Lily Ross Taylor, Berthold Ullman, Thomas Robert Shannon Broughton, Gerald Else, Helen F. North, Bernard Knox, Charles Segal, Emily Vermeule, and Shelley Haley.	2.078125
1488582	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warzone%202100	Warzone 2100	Warzone 2100 is an open-source real-time strategy and real-time tactics hybrid computer game, originally developed by Pumpkin Studios and published by Eidos Interactive. It was originally released in 1999 for Microsoft Windows and PlayStation, and is now also available for macOS, FreeBSD, AmigaOS 4, AROS, MorphOS, Linux, NetBSD and OpenBSD. While was developed and released as a proprietary commercial video game, on December 6, 2004, the source code and most of its data was released under the GNU GPL-2.0-or-later; the rest of the data followed on June 10, 2008. Synopsis Setting In the late 21st century, the world's civilizations are wiped out by a series of nuclear strikes, seemingly caused by a massive malfunction of the new NASDA (North American Strategic Defense Agency) strategic defense system. While most of the survivors form scavenger bands to survive, the player is a member of a group named "The Project", that is more organised and seeks to rebuild civilization using pre-war technology. Plot The game begins with The Project sending three teams (Alpha, Beta, and Gamma) to gather technology that would help with reconstruction; the player assumes command of Team Alpha in Arizona. While gathering pre-war "artifacts", the Project fends off attacks from an organization called the New Paradigm, another major survivalist organisation, which is more advanced than the player's forces. Later however, it is discovered that a self-aware computer virus named 'Nexus' is actually controlling the New Paradigm. After the player defeats the New Paradigm, they are assigned to Team Beta, which is based in Chicago and under attack by a faction called 'The Collective'. Again, the player starts out less advanced than 'The Collective' and it is discovered that Nexus is controlling this faction too. At the end of the campaign, Nexus launches nuclear missiles at Alpha and Beta bases, prompting the player to abandon the facility and move to the Gamma base.	1.992188
1488618	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gary%20Goldman	Gary Goldman	Gary Wayne Goldman (born November 17, 1944) is an American film producer, director, animator, writer and voice actor. He is known for working on films with Don Bluth such as All Dogs Go to Heaven for his directorial debut, Anastasia, An American Tail, and The Land Before Time. He was an animator at Disney before working at Sullivan Bluth Studios with Bluth. Early life Goldman was born in Oakland, California and raised in Watsonville, California. As a youth, Goldman was active in sports, an infielder in baseball and quarterback in high school football, he studied piano and enjoyed model-making and drawing. Before devoting himself entirely to the arts, he served as an electronics technician in the United States Air Force from 1962 to 1967, assigned duties in Japan and Germany. He received his Associate of Arts Degree in 1969 from Cabrillo College, and he graduated in December 1971 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Life Drawing and Art History from the University of Hawaii. Career Disney Goldman began his career in animation when he joined Walt Disney Productions in February 1972. His first assignment was as an in-betweener to legendary Disney animator Frank Thomas on the film Robin Hood. He then worked alongside Don Bluth, as an animator, on Winnie the Pooh and Tigger Too! and The Rescuers before serving as directing animator on Pete's Dragon and The Small One.	2
1488618	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gary%20Goldman	Gary Goldman	In an effort to accelerate their skills in preparation for leadership assignments within the Disney organization, Goldman and Bluth began to purchase used animation equipment and probe every aspect of animated production, at Don Bluth's home. United by the common goal of restoring the lost techniques of classical animation, Goldman and Bluth, along with animator John Pomeroy, produced, directed and animated the classically animated 27-minute, filmed-featurette Banjo the Woodpile Cat. Their enthusiasm attracted many other artists at Disney, who came by the garage to contribute their time and artistry to the project. It took four years, working nights and weekends in Bluth's garage. In December 1979, the film was shown at the Egyptian theater in Hollywood and the Peppertree theater in Northridge. It received the National Film Advisory Board Award for Excellence, and the Golden Scroll Award from the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films. Using what they learned on their project, they attempted to implement their techniques on projects at Disney. Banjo the Woodpile Cat was later shown on ABC Television (June 1982), as a prime time special. Post-Disney Divided by disagreements over story and production values, Goldman, along with Bluth and Pomeroy, resigned from Walt Disney Productions to establish their independent animation studio, Don Bluth Productions, in 1979. The departure was highly publicized and the trio was dubbed "Disney Defectors" by news reporters.	2.390625
1488618	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gary%20Goldman	Gary Goldman	Since leaving Disney, the team produced several feature films, starting with The Secret of NIMH, which won the Saturn Award for "Best Animated Feature" from the Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Film Academy. In late 1982, composer Jerry Goldsmith introduced them to director Steven Spielberg. Their first collaboration with Spielberg, which began production in January 1985, An American Tail, was released in November 1986 and ushered in a new era of success for the full-length animated feature, becoming the highest-grossing animated film up to that time. Goldman was a producer on the highly successful animated laser disc interactive video games Dragon's Lair, Space Ace and Dragon's Lair II: Time Warp. Dragon's Lair received the Inkpot Award for the "First Interactive Laser Disc Arcade Game" and an Arkie Award for the "Best Arcade Audio/Visuals". Financial difficulties with their distributor cut them off from financing and forced them to seek protection from bankruptcy in 1984. It was at this time that they met mergers and acquisitions expert, Morris Sullivan, who set up a corporation, Sullivan Studios to allow the trio to continue while the bankruptcy courts slowly settled their company's case against its distributor. In 1986, Sullivan moved Goldman, Bluth & Pomeroy, and the entire operation, including 87 employees and their families to Dublin, Ireland, at the invitation of IDA Ireland. Their third feature film, The Land Before Time, was their first production created primarily in Ireland. Sullivan transferred much of the ownership of the Dublin studio to the three animators and renamed the company Sullivan Bluth Studios. The company produced six feature films from 1986 until 1994. Sullivan retired in 1991 and the company was renamed Don Bluth Entertainment, Ireland, Ltd.	2.0625
1488637	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New%20York%20Air	New York Air	The 1981 Air Traffic Controllers strike badly affected New York Air's operations and its finances. The strike led to long flight delays, encouraging passengers to avoid flying. In order to ease delays, the Federal Aviation Administration reduced the number of available slots in Northeastern airports, forcing airlines to cut flights. Larger airlines were able to counter this by using larger aircraft, such as Eastern's decision to operate 260-seat Airbus A300s on its shuttle flights. This meant that Eastern could still carry the same number of passengers per day despite the slot reductions, reducing the damage to its income. Due to New York Air's small fleet, it was unable to follow a similar tactic, and its shuttle service was heavily damaged by the slot restrictions. This, as well as Eastern's larger aircraft flooding the market, led to New York Air ending its Boston service after less than a year in operation. To maintain a presence in Boston, the airline established a hub at Logan Airport, offering service to Baltimore and Orlando. However, these services proved to be unprofitable, and the Boston hub was closed by the end of 1982. Services to Cleveland, Cincinnati and Louisville had also been cut due to competition from larger airlines such as Eastern and United. To keep the airline afloat, Texas Air provided a $10 million cash injection, and banks provided $15 million in revolving credit. Another $15 million was obtained through the sale of 1.8 million shares. To keep the company going through winter 1981, the airline sought another $10–15 million from its banks.	2.359375
1488637	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New%20York%20Air	New York Air	In July 1985, New York Air announced it would open a hub at Washington Dulles Airport. Construction began on a $3.6 million concourse to handle the expanded number of flights, which featured an 'Apple Club' restaurant. By the end of 1985, New York Air had 35 flights a day from Dulles, and eventually made the airport its main operational focus. The airline also continued expanding its Boston and LaGuardia operations with seasonal service to Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket. Merger with Continental Beginning in 1986, Texas Air started co-ordinating the operations of all of its subsidiaries. New York Air began code-sharing with other Texas Air subsidiaries, such as on Continental Airlines' services into Dulles. This then led to a co-operation between Continental and New York Air, branded as the 'New York Air/Continental Team'. Also in 1988, Texas Air sold New York Air's shuttle service to Pan Am, in order to gain government approval for its planned takeover of Eastern Airlines. NYA then shifted its LGA to BOS and DCA flights to Newark. This led to the closure of New York Air's LaGuardia hub, which it had operated since the airline's 1980 launch. In January 1987, Texas Air announced its intention to merge New York Air, along with fellow subsidiaries Frontier Airlines and People Express Airlines, into Continental. According to Lorenzo, the merger was necessary in order to ensure both Continental and Texas Air had 'the strength and size to compete in tomorrow's air travel market', and also made Continental the third largest airline in the US. New York Air's operations ceased on February 1, 1987 and its aircraft were subsequently repainted with 'Continental's New York Air' titles before gradually being repainted into the full Continental livery.	1.9375
1488664	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boston%20Social%20Forum	Boston Social Forum	[the Boston Social Forum] was called to help progressive activists to begin to answer some very basic questions: What kind of future do we want for Boston? For our region? For our nation? For the world? What is our vision of a better society? Through a series of workshops, cultural events, plenary sessions, and giant convocations of the entire forum, we encouraged progressive organizations of all kinds to showcase their best analysis of the present, and their best ideas for the future, across the breadth of human knowledge—politics, economics, science and technology, culture and faith—in the context of corporate globalization. The goals of the event were simple: encourage various social movements to exchange information, network with one another, form new alliances, and push our movements forward a bit more towards the next stage of our development. We wanted to do our part to help progressives seize the high ground of ideas in this society, and then, having captured people's imaginations, move forward to become a more significant political force. Like their counterparts at sibling social forums, the Boston Social Forum organizers subscribed to the idea that the corporate-driven neoliberal ideology of runaway capitalism in the economic realm coupled with growing restrictions on democracy in the political realm were quite literally destroying the planet (at least for human life. . .). They also believed that the left-wing has important ideas in politics, economics, science and technology, culture and faith that could help save the planet, and build a human-centered, democratic and ecological society that will be capable of taking our species to the next phase of our evolution.	1.914063
1488680	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Young%20Avengers	Young Avengers	The Young Avengers are the names of two superhero teams appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by Allan Heinberg and Jim Cheung, the first team appeared in Young Avengers #1 (April 2005). The Young Avengers team features numerous adolescent characters who typically have connections to established members of Marvel's primary superhero team, the Avengers. Young Avengers follows the events of the 2004–2005 "Avengers Disassembled" storyline. The four founding members of the team are gathered as a result of the Vision's plan for the reformation of the Avengers in the event the team disbanded. In the series, newspapers refer to the young heroes as "super-powered fanboys" and label them the "Young Avengers", a name the team members initially dislike but that sticks nonetheless. Publication history The first team appeared in Young Avengers #1 (April 2005), created by Allan Heinberg and Jim Cheung. Marvel's 1940s forerunner, Timely Comics, had an unrelated character, Young Avenger, who debuted in USA Comics #1 (August 1941). The Young Avengers were originally featured in several notable Marvel crossover series, including the Civil War and The Children's Crusade events, before the series was relaunched in January 2013 as part of the Marvel NOW! rebranding by writer Kieron Gillen and artist Jamie McKelvie. In 2019, Rio de Janeiro mayor Marcelo Crivella ordered Avengers: Children's Crusade to be censored as various instances of homosexuality such as the relationship between Hulkling and Wiccan were displayed. Crivella said the content was "improper for children". Writer Kieron Gillen was disappointed about the changes. The organizers of the Bienal do Livro book fair, where the comic was being sold, repudiated the mayor's decision and decided not to remove the book from sales. On September 6, Avengers: Children's Crusade sold out at the event. Fictional team biography	2.8125
1488680	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Young%20Avengers	Young Avengers	The Young Avengers appear in the 2010–2012 miniseries, Avengers: The Children's Crusade, written by Allan Heinberg and illustrated by Jim Cheung. In the series, Magneto learned that the Young Avengers were going to search for the still missing Scarlet Witch, and that Wiccan and Speed may be the reincarnations of Wanda's children. Magneto meets them, stating that he wants Wiccan and Speed to finally know him as their grandfather, and helps them find Wanda. The Avengers attempt to stop Magneto and fight him unsuccessfully, before Wiccan teleports Magneto and the Young Avengers to Wundagore Mountain. There they encounter Quicksilver, who attempts to kill his father. However, they discover that this Scarlet Witch is actually a Doombot in disguise, prompting the Young Avengers and Magneto to journey to Latveria, with the Avengers, Quicksilver and Wonder Man following behind them. Wiccan eventually finds the real Wanda, apparently devoid of her powers, amnesiac and engaged to be married to Doctor Doom. Wolverine tries to kill Wanda, but is prevented from doing so by the reappearance of Iron Lad. Doom also states that Wanda is depowered. Iron Lad and the Young Avengers escape with Wanda into the timestream and land in the past when the resurrected Jack of Hearts destroys the Avengers Mansion. The team escapes the explosion and involuntarily returns to the present due to Wanda, who has remembered everything. As an unexpected side effect, the life of Scott Lang is also saved.	2.25
1488680	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Young%20Avengers	Young Avengers	Thus the team again disbanded, after Hawkeye, America Chavez, and Noh-Varr joined West Coast Avengers, Wiccan and Speed focusing their relationships with Hulkling and Prodigy respectively. Members Development and production Prior to co-creating Young Avengers, Allan Heinberg was a writer and producer for The O.C., a teen drama television series. Heinberg was approached by Marvel about developing a comic book series for the company after giving an interview with the magazine Wizard, where he discussed the influence of comic books on The O.C. and the series' depiction of them. Young Avengers would become the first comic book that Heinberg would author. Owing to Heinberg's scheduling commitments as a television writer, the series was conceived as a 12-issue limited series rather than an ongoing series, which Heinberg likened to creating a season of a television series. Jim Cheung was the only artist considered for the series, with Heinberg praising his ability to illustrate "big, widescreen, comic book action scenes, as well as intimate, emotional character scenes".	1.960938
1488707	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slipware	Slipware	Slipware is pottery identified by its primary decorating process where slip is placed onto the leather-hard (semi-hardened) clay body surface before firing by dipping, painting or splashing. Slip is an aqueous suspension of a clay body, which is a mixture of clays and other minerals such as quartz, feldspar and mica. The slip placed onto a wet or leather-hard clay body surface by a variety of techniques including dipping, painting, piping or splashing. Principal techniques include slip painting, where the slip is treated like paint and used to create a design with brushes or other implements, and slip trailing, where the slip, usually rather thick, is dripped, piped or trailed onto the body, typically from some device like the piping bag used to decorate cakes. The French term for slip is barbotine, and this term may be used for both techniques, but usually from different periods. Often only pottery where the slip creates patterns or images will be described as slipware, as opposed to the many types where a plain slip is applied to the whole body, for example most fine wares in Ancient Roman pottery, such as African red slip ware (note: "slip ware" not "slipware"). Decorative slips may be a different colour than the underlying clay body or offer other decorative qualities. Selectively applying layers of colored slips can create the effect of a painted ceramic, such as in the black-figure or red-figure pottery styles of Ancient Greek pottery. Slip decoration is an ancient technique in Chinese pottery also, used to cover whole vessels over 4,000 years ago.	2.859375
1488752	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San%20Francisco%20Board%20of%20Supervisors	San Francisco Board of Supervisors	The San Francisco Board of Supervisors is the legislative body within the government of the City and County of San Francisco in the U.S. state of California. Government and politics The City and County of San Francisco is a consolidated city-county, being simultaneously a charter city and charter county with a consolidated government, a status it has had since 1856. Since it is the only such consolidation in California, it is therefore the only California city with a mayor who is also the county executive, and a county board of supervisors that also acts as the city council. Whereas the overall annual budget of the city and county is about $9 billion as of 2016, various legal restrictions and voter-imposed set-asides mean that the Board of Supervisors can allocate only about $20 million directly without constraints, according to its president's chief of staff. Salaries Members of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors are paid $163,878 per year, as of fiscal year 2023-24. Election There are 11 members of the Board of Supervisors, each representing a geographic district (see below). The current board president is Rafael Mandelman, who represents District 8. How the Board of Supervisors should be elected has been a matter of contention in recent San Francisco history. Throughout the United States, almost all cities and counties with populations in excess of 200,000 divide the jurisdiction into electoral districts to achieve a geographical distribution of members from across the community. But San Francisco, notwithstanding a population of over 700,000, was often an exception.	2.5
1488752	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San%20Francisco%20Board%20of%20Supervisors	San Francisco Board of Supervisors	Prior to 1977 and again from 1980 through 2000, the Board of Supervisors was chosen in at-large elections, with all candidates appearing together on the ballot. The person who received the most votes was elected President of the Board of Supervisors, and the next four or five (depending on how many seats were up for election) were elected to seats on the board. District elections were enacted by Proposition T in November 1976. The first district-based elections in 1977 resulted in a radical change to the composition of the Board, including the election of Harvey Milk, only the third openly gay or lesbian individual (and the first gay man) elected to public office in the United States. (Previously in 1961, José Sarria's run for the Board had made him the first openly gay candidate for public office in the United States.) Following the assassinations of Supervisor Milk and Mayor George Moscone a year later by former Supervisor Dan White, district elections were deemed divisive and San Francisco returned to at-large elections until the current system was implemented in 2000. District elections were repealed by Proposition A in August 1980 by a vote of 50.58% Yes to 49.42% No. An attempt was made to reinstate district elections in November 1980 with Proposition N but it failed by a vote of 48.42% Yes to 51.58% No. District elections were reinstated by Proposition G in November 1996, taking effect in 2000 with a November runoff. Runoffs were eliminated and replaced with instant-runoff voting with Proposition A in March 2002, taking effect in 2004. Under the current system, supervisors are elected district to four-year terms. The City Charter provides a term limit of two successive four-year terms and requires supervisors to be out of office for four years after the expiration of their second successive term before rejoining the Board, through election or appointment, again. A partial term counts as a full term if the supervisor is appointed and/or elected to serve more than two years of it.	2.3125
1488752	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San%20Francisco%20Board%20of%20Supervisors	San Francisco Board of Supervisors	The terms are staggered so that only half of the 11-member board is elected every two years, thereby providing continuity. Supervisors representing odd-numbered districts are elected every fourth year counted from 2000. Supervisors representing even-numbered districts were elected to transitional two-year terms in 2000, thereafter to be elected every fourth year beginning 2002. Terms of office begin on the January 8 following the regular election for each seat. Each supervisor is required to live in their district, and although elections are held on a non-partisan basis without party labels on the ballot, as of 2018 all 11 supervisors are known to be members of the Democratic Party. The most recent supervisorial elections were held on November 8, 2022. The President of the Board of Supervisors, under the new system, is elected by the members of the Board from among their number. This is typically done at the first meeting of the new session commencing after the general election, or when a vacancy in the office arises. Districts Members of the Board of Supervisors are elected from 11 single-member districts. The districts cover the following neighborhoods, approximately.	2.453125
1488756	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Safi%2C%20Malta	Safi, Malta	Safi () is a village in the Southern Region of Malta, bordering Żurrieq and Kirkop. It has a population of 2,126 people as of March 2014. The formation of the village, as known today, goes back to the Punic-Roman period: the Ta' Ġawhar Tower, a round Punic-Roman tower in the village, was probably built at the time of the Punic Wars. The village of Ħal Safi is surrounded by four other major villages. Farmers and peasants used to interact on their way back home from work. After a niche was erected, people began to settle, a new village started to form and expanded over the years. In 1417, the village was already recorded as being named Ħal Safi. According to 1419 records of the Standing Army (id-Dejma), between eighty and ninety people were considered as village residents. The job occupations of the period were based on primary economic functions, mainly rearing animals and agriculture. The origin of the village's name is uncertain. Some historians believe that the name derived from the pure () air of the area, others insist it is due to its similarity to the City of Safi in Morocco, and others say the name came about since none of the residents were contaminated during an epidemic infection that hit vast zones in Malta. The coat-of-arms, a horizontal light-blue stripe on a silver background, and the motto, Sine Macula, emphasize the meaning of the village. Declaration of the village as a parish For several years Ħal Safi formed part of Bir Miftuħ. However, the residents were not happy with this, mostly because of the distance between the two villages. Instead they wished to at least form part of Żurrieq, which was much nearer. In 1575 when Monsignor Pietro Dusina visited Ħal Safi, the residents put their wish forward, but nothing came out of it.	2.125
1488756	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Safi%2C%20Malta	Safi, Malta	At last, in 1592, Bishop Gargallo decided to separate Ħal Safi, Imqabba and Ħal Kirkop from Bir Miftuħ. He amalgamated the three villages into one Parish. Father Carl Taliana from Luqa was appointed as its Parish Priest. Ħal Safi residents were still not satisfied because they had to walk long distances when visiting the church dedicated to Saint James at Ħal Kirkop for the celebration of sacraments such as Holy Communion and Funerals. When Ħal Safi residents got to know that a new church was going to be built at Ħal Kirkop, they were not keen on donating money for the project. In 1598, a delegation of twelve men from Ħal Safi paid a visit to Bishop Gargallo. In the name of all Ħal Safi residents, they filed a petition requesting that the village of two hundred and ten residents become a Parish. This time the Bishop accepted their request. So, in April 1598, a contract to this effect was drawn up in front of Notary Debono. According to the agreement, Ħal Safi residents had to pay the Parish Priest an annual sum of money, precisely on the feast of the Conversion of Saint Paul. The administration of this new Parish was assigned to Dun Gwann Mizzi. After three months, Dun Gwann Mizzi was appointed Parish Priest of Imqabba. Dun Mattew Xiriha was put in his stead on a temporary basis. In those years, there were five chapels in Ħal Safi. The largest one, which was dedicated to Saint Paul, was chosen to serve as the Parish Church. As a commemoration of the foundation of the Parish, a church bell was bought. An image of Saint Peter and another one of Saint Paul together with the following inscription "Sancte Paule Ora Pro Nobis" were engraved in it. The other four chapels were dedicated to: St. Agatha, the Assumption of the Virgin Mary, and two to the Birth of the Virgin Mary. The only one still in existence is that dedicated to the Assumption of the Virgin Mary, which was re-built in 1761.	2.21875
1488756	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Safi%2C%20Malta	Safi, Malta	In the 80’s a playing field adjacent to the school was inaugurated, later refurbished with synthetic turf in 2000. In 1986, a public health clinic started to operate in Saint George Street. Moreover, the number of houses and consequently the number of residents is always increasing. In fact, from latest statistics, the population of Ħal Safi has reached one thousand and eight hundred persons. Furthermore, the number of retail outlets multiplied in the last few years. The most two common surnames in the village are Busuttil and Zammit. The climax of the social life is the celebration of the village festa, celebrated through the last week of August. The patron Saint of Ħal Safi is St. Paul. Like most villages, Ħal Safi residents had nobody representing them in central government. Since 1994, Ħal Safi has had its own Local Council which contributed in no small way to increasing the number of projects created for the benefit of Ħal Safi residents, prominently Neil Eric Zammit. There are few social clubs which happen to be frequented by the locals in the early evening hours. Passing through Ħal Safi one can remark the lack of social activity where the empty tranquil roads are often associated to a Gozitan village. St. Paul's Band (L-Għaqda Mużikali San Pawl) was formed in 1989, and it falls under the auspices of St. Paul's Club, Ħal Safi. Zones in Ħal Safi Il-Għadir Misraħ Ħlantun Ta' Amparell Tal-Karwija Tal-Ibraġ Ta' Mnejqiet Ta' Sant' Agata Wara l-Ġnien	2.078125
1488789	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North%20Sydney%20Oval	North Sydney Oval	North Sydney Oval (Also known as “Bear Park” by North Sydney Bears fans) is a multi-use sporting facility in North Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, owned and operated by North Sydney Council. First used as a cricket ground in 1867, it is also used for Australian rules football, rugby league, rugby union and soccer. History Development The first cricket pitch was laid on 6 December 1867, making it one of the oldest cricket grounds in Australia. A simple pavilion overlooking the cricket ground was the first structure at the oval, built in 1879 and replaced in 1909. This was replaced by another pavilion which in turn was replaced by what is now the Duncan Thompson Stand in 1929. The venue was renovated in 1931 due to complaints that the surface was 'like concrete' and that the ground was liable to cause serious injury to players. Nonetheless, as late as the 1980s, the ground was sometimes referred to as "Concrete Park". In 1935, the timber fence was replaced by a high brick wall and concrete terrace seating 1,200 people was built. Major renovations were undertaken in the 1980s. The old grandstand was named after North Sydney Bears player Duncan Thompson. New stands were built and named after cricketers Bill O'Reilly, Charlie Macartney and Mollie Dive. In 1983, the venerable Bob Stand was moved to North Sydney Oval from the Sydney Cricket Ground. The hill became known as the Doug Walters Stand. Drainage and irrigation systems were installed and the pitch was re-laid in 1989. In 1992, the oval won a Sydney Cricket Association award for "Ground of the Year". North Sydney Oval first trialed the technology in 1998, when cricket wicket technology was in its early stages. Since then, the technology has improved substantially and is used by many premier sporting stadiums including Sydney Showground Stadium, Adelaide Oval and the MCG. In 2015 it was announced that North Sydney Oval would be receiving an upgrade. The upgrades will continue until the year 2019/2020. Usage	2.375
1488789	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North%20Sydney%20Oval	North Sydney Oval	Rugby league North Sydney Oval has been the home ground of the North Sydney Bears since their inception in 1908. The first top grade rugby league match to be played at the oval came in round 1 of the 1910 NSWRL season where North Sydney defeated Glebe 13-9 in front of 3000 spectators. The club currently plays in the NSW Cup and still attracts spectators to home games at the oval. Only two grounds have hosted more first grade rugby league matches. In 2004, South Sydney experimented with playing two home games at the ground. The first match between Souths and Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles attracted 14,855 spectators. Legendary North Sydney, New South Wales and Australian winger Ken Irvine, who played 176 games and scored 633 points for the Bears (171 tries, 59 goals and 1 field goal) between 1958 and 1970 before transferring to Manly from 1971–73 before retiring, has the scoreboard at the oval named in his honour. The last first grade game North Sydney played here was on August 22, 1999 against Melbourne. North Sydney won the match 24-20. The last first grade game played at the oval was on May 21, 2005 when South Sydney played a home match here against the New Zealand Warriors. The Warriors went on to win the game 34-16. As part of the Central Coast Bears' bid to enter the NRL in 2006, North Sydney planned to play one home game a year against Manly if their bid was successful. In 2018, North Sydney Oval hosted the inaugural State of Origin women's match where New South Wales defeated Queensland 16-10. Also in 2018, North Sydney Oval was featured in a Channel 9 game for the first time since 1999 when Norths played against the Western Suburbs Magpies.	1.953125
1488809	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moonie%20Highway	Moonie Highway	The Moonie Highway is a state highway of Queensland, Australia. Part of State Route 49, it leaves the Warrego Highway at Dalby and runs for over 290 km until it reaches St George. From there, State Route 49 continues west as the Balonne Highway. From Dalby, it continues north-east as the Bunya Highway. The highway serves agricultural settlements as well as oil and gas fields. Route description The Moonie Highway is part of two of the many practicable routes from the south-east of Queensland to the south-east of South Australia. It is also on the shortest route to St George and Cunnamulla from any locality on or near the Queensland coast from Bundaberg to Coolangatta. Dalby to Moonie The highway leaves Dalby via Nicholson and Loudoun Streets. After about 7.8 km it crosses Myall Creek just south of its junction with the Condamine River. After a further 1.7 km it crosses the Condamine. It runs through rich farming land until it reaches the locality of Kumbarilla near the intersection with the Surat Developmental Road. Kumbarilla is located on a ridge (Kumbarilla Ridge) which divides the Surat Basin from the Clarence-Moreton Basin to the east. The road then passes by and through the Kumbarilla State Forest, an area of about 86,000 hectares of native bushland. It then passes through the Waar Waar State Forest and more farmland before reaching the Leichhardt Highway at Moonie. Moonie to St George From Moonie the highway passes through more farmland, passing the timbered area of Southwood National Park. It then passes through Currajong State Forest and Kinkora State Forest before reaching Westmar. From Westmar it passes through more farmland, and also Ula Ula State Forest and Alton National Park. It ends at the Carnarvon Highway, about 9.1 km from the centre of St George.	2.0625
1488819	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rodrigo%20Granda%20affair	Rodrigo Granda affair	Diplomatic tensions This event set off a series of diplomatic tensions, with Colombia questioning Venezuela's lack of cooperation in law enforcement actions against guerrillas in its territory, the United States supporting Colombia's position and outright accusing Venezuela of harboring these guerrillas, Venezuela accusing Colombia of violating its sovereignty, and the FARC accusing Venezuela of doing too little to protect its members. Venezuela demanded an apology from Colombia, recalled its ambassador for consultations, and suspended bilateral (government-to-government) commercial agreements. Individuals and enterprises in both countries suffered, but Colombian border regions were especially affected by the crisis. On 15 February 2005, Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez and Colombian President Álvaro Uribe held a summit meeting that they both said resolved the diplomatic tensions. Both presidents stated that their nations and governments would henceforth avoid discussing similar issues through the media, and instead they would communicate directly through official diplomatic channels, in order to cooperate more effectively in matters of their mutual interest. They both credited Cuba, Peru, and Brazil for helping with mediation, while Chávez blamed the United States for precipitating the crisis and trying to prevent its resolution. Commercial relations and agreements were fully restored.	2.0625
1488821	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Girls%20Preparatory%20School	Girls Preparatory School	Partnerships in the Community (PIC) A broad spectrum of community organizations and components of local governments are part of PIC: East Side Elementary School and Chattanooga Girls Leadership Academy; City of Chattanooga Office of Multicultural Affairs and the Northside Neighborhood House; Habitat for Humanity of the Greater Chattanooga Area and the Chattanooga Area Food Bank. Tucker River Fellows At the retirement of former longtime headmaster Randy Tucker, the GPS Board of Trustees and friends of the school joined to honor his tenure with the establishment of the Tucker Fellows Program, a two-year student study of the Tennessee River. The mission of the program, which began in the summer before the 2014–15 school year, is to prepare future leaders to have an effect on the conservation of the Tennessee River. Fellows, selected prior to their freshman year, spend part of the summer and following academic year engaged in interdisciplinary scholarship and experiential learning about the many issues impacting their local watershed as well as learning about the historical, ecological, political, economic and aesthetic significance of the Tennessee River. During the second year in the program, fellows focus on leadership skills while continuing to learn about the river and watershed. They read and discuss the works of current and historic environmental thinkers. They choose a focus and work with local experts, scientific literature, and policy to become more knowledgeable about their chosen topic. They then collect, analyze, and publish data. Throughout the program, fellows become familiar with the various entities that implement, enforce, and monitor watershed policy. By the end of the program, fellows propose solutions to watershed problems and become lifelong advocates for clean, healthy watersheds in the Chattanooga area and beyond. Traditions GPS upholds many traditions that are celebrated throughout the school year, with many including community service opportunities.	2.390625
1488821	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Girls%20Preparatory%20School	Girls Preparatory School	May Day While most traditions are school-wide, some focus on certain grades. One such tradition is May Day, a pageant that combines the old traditions of a May Day from the Renaissance and a debutante pageant. The senior class is presented in colorful dresses, one by one, with a May Court and May Queen introduced separately; the May Queen is the last presented. The May Queen and Court are nominated by the senior class and then chosen by the student body and faculty based upon personality and embodiment of a true GPS girl. After the class is introduced, festivities are held on the school's front lawn, and seniors, guests, and the student body watch as different grades dance to music chosen to match that year's theme. All dances are usually done barefoot. The last dance is the May Pole ceremony, in which sophomores wrap three traditional May Poles for the Queen to walk under, ending the ceremony. Senior Chapel Talks Another tradition is that of senior Chapel Talks. Each senior gives a three- to seven-minute talk about a subject of her choosing to her peers and invited guests during a schoolwide assembly, also called Chapel, which occurs several times a week. Cat-Rat Another highly celebrated tradition is that of Cat-Rat, a pairing of a senior with a new sixth-grader. In this tradition the senior Cat acts as a mentor and friend to the sixth grader, her Rat. Cats decorate their Rats’ lockers prior to the start of school, and the revealing of the newly decorated locker is a key part of the Cat-Rat Reveal (which also takes place just before the start of school). In addition, during the Cat-Rat Reveal, the sixth grade Rats take part in a random drawing which determines the order of their Cats’ Chapel Talks. Several parties, activities, and celebrations help the girls get to know each other better and allow the senior girl to guide the younger student through her school year. The long-standing tradition has been known to bond students as friends and even business partners well into adulthood.	2.828125
1488821	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Girls%20Preparatory%20School	Girls Preparatory School	Rivalry Week One week out of every fall semester is reserved for celebrating the friendship between GPS and McCallie and the schools' rivalry with Baylor. The week begins on Monday and includes many activities, both coordinate with McCallie and within GPS, including a car drop, a bonfire, and several pep rallies. The week concludes with the Friday night annual McCallie-Baylor football game, attended by students, alumni, and their families, and has been widely televised. Rivalry Week began when Baylor was an all-male school, and members of McCallie and Baylor would visit the GPS campus to "win favor" with the GPS students. For example, a McCallie student might leave a blue ribbon on one girl's locker, while a Baylor student could leave a red rose. This contest aimed to have the most GPS students in one school's stands at the McCallie-Baylor football game. When Baylor became co-ed in the 1980s, GPS and Baylor began a rivalry of their own, partnering with McCallie to win the most athletic events against Baylor over the course of the week. Most varsity athletic teams scrimmage or play against Baylor during Rivalry Week, including the Crew team, the Soccer team, and the Lacrosse team. One unofficial custom that many students participate in is attaching a McCallie flag (usually a white sheet with an M spray painted on), to the back of one's vehicle, then driving around the city, especially near Baylor or the other schools. Baylor students may then chase these vehicles, often with knives and paintball guns, aiming to stop the car flying the flag and either steal or mutilate the flag. This can lead to high-speed chases and other dangerous behaviors, and students are strongly encouraged by the administrations of all three schools to avoid any and all such illegal activities related to Rivalry Week. Rivalry Week is one of the most beloved coordinate programs enjoyed by GPS students.	2.109375
1488861	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malalane	Malalane	Malalane, alternatively rendered Malelane, is a farming town in Mpumalanga, South Africa situated on the N4 national highway. The farms in the region produce sugarcane, subtropical fruit and winter vegetables. The town was proclaimed in 1949 after which it was named. The origin of the name is disputed but was corrupted from the Swazi. Either the expression "eMlalani" which means place of the palms, or the expression "lala" which means to sleep is accepted origins of the name. The town started as the first rest-stop between Lourenço Marques and Pretoria. As of July 2007 the town was officially renamed from "Malelane" to "Malalane" as part of the government's renaming scheme by the South African Geographical Names Council. History In the area surrounding Malalane is an ancient hematite mine, at Dumaneni, one of the oldest mines in the world - dating back to 46 000 and 28 500 years ago during the Middle Stone Age. One of Malalane's earliest colonists was Captain GJ (Mkonto) Elphick. After having fought in the Anglo-Boer War (1899–1902), Elphick bought the old Malalane farm and successfully planted tomatoes, cotton, mangos, oranges and pawpaws. Elphick also pioneered the commercial aspect of Malalane by opening the first store in the vicinity. Despite Elphick's operations, the Onderberg area was predominantly a bush area and formed part of The Kruger Shooting Concession. Leopard, lion and buffalo were often shot as a sport. In 1926 the area was proclaimed as The Kruger National Park and hunting was stopped. The effect of this was minimal as visitors to the area now visited to see the game instead of hunting it. With the formation of the national park a barbed wire fence was erected. This had little effect on the agricultural sector of the region except that animals were now more controlled and were limited in roaming onto farmers crops, although larger game such as buffalo and elephant still strayed onto farms.	2.390625
1488861	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malalane	Malalane	In 1942 the government of the Transvaal commissioned a dirt road through the area for military use, that was later tarred. The road increased traffic through the area, however this had little effect on the local economy as the traffic was primarily passing through to Lourenço Marques (now Maputo). The odd traveller may have stopped at a local shop, with little impact on trade in general. In 1963 the fence bordering the Kruger National Park was upgraded to meet international standards and was proclaimed proficient against the threat of foot and mouth disease in the park. The migration of larger game was severely restricted. Elephant, buffalo, lion and hippo now had extremely limited access to crops and farmers could invest more into their produce as the threat of them being destroyed by wild animals was minimal. Cattle were a popular choice as the threat of them being eaten by predators was now much less than before. 1965 saw the upgrade of the foot and mouth fence. It was electrified and known as the "Snyman fence". It also saw the construction of the Transvaal Suiker Beperk (TSB) sugar mill near the Malalane entrance of the Kruger National Park. Naturally this had the effect of mass planting of sugar cane in the area. The area soon began to flourish and was characterised by good sugar production and tourism. The mill still runs to this day and serves local farmers. The military road was upgraded again to meet the needs of the area but also to service Eskom operations in the area. This meant easier access for tourists to enter the region and to travel to Mozambique, also, goods could now be transported more easily.	2.6875
1488862	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CMS%20College%20Kottayam	CMS College Kottayam	Managing Council The CSI Madhya Kerala Diocese is in charge of CMS College Kottayam. The Managing Council is made up of thirteen individuals. All significant decisions relating to the college's governance are made by the Council, which convenes no fewer than four times annually. Departments and courses The college offers different undergraduate and postgraduate courses and aims at imparting education to the undergraduates of lower- and middle-class people of Kottayam and its adjoining areas. The college now has 17 Undergraduate and 18 postgraduate departments. There are six research centres in the college. Research work leading to the degree of Doctor of Philosophy is conducted in the departments of Botany, Zoology, Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry, English, and Commerce. Science Science faculty consists of the departments of Chemistry, Physics, Mathematics, Statistics, Computer Application, Botany, Zoology, Biotechnology, Home Science, and Economics. Arts & Commerce Arts and Commerce faculty consists of departments of Malayalam, English, Hindi, History, Political Science, Philosophy, Physical Education, Sociology, and Commerce (Finance & Accounting). Accreditation In 1999 the college was accredited by the National Assessment and Accreditation Council with five-star status. In 2004 the University Grants Commission accorded it the status of College with Potential for Excellence. In 2009, the CMS English department celebrated the Golden Jubilee of the introduction of a postgraduate programme.	2.015625
1488888	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cabin%20pressurization	Cabin pressurization	Cabin pressurization is a process in which conditioned air is pumped into the cabin of an aircraft or spacecraft in order to create a safe and comfortable environment for humans flying at high altitudes. For aircraft, this air is usually bled off from the gas turbine engines at the compressor stage, and for spacecraft, it is carried in high-pressure, often cryogenic, tanks. The air is cooled, humidified, and mixed with recirculated air by one or more environmental control systems before it is distributed to the cabin. The first experimental pressurization systems saw use during the 1920s and 1930s. In the 1940s, the first commercial aircraft with a pressurized cabin entered service. The practice would become widespread a decade later, particularly with the introduction of the British de Havilland Comet jetliner in 1949. However, two catastrophic failures in 1954 temporarily grounded the Comet worldwide. These failures were investigated and found to be caused by a combination of progressive metal fatigue and aircraft skin stresses caused from pressurization. Improved testing involved multiple full-scale pressurization cycle tests of the entire fuselage in a water tank, and the key engineering principles learned were applied to the design of subsequent jet airliners. Certain aircraft have unusual pressurization needs. For example, the supersonic airliner Concorde had a particularly high pressure differential due to flying at unusually high altitude: up to while maintaining a cabin altitude of . This increased airframe weight and saw the use of smaller cabin windows intended to slow the decompression rate if a depressurization event occurred. The Aloha Airlines Flight 243 incident in 1988, involving a Boeing 737-200 that suffered catastrophic cabin failure mid-flight, was primarily caused by the aircraft's continued operation despite having accumulated more than twice the number of flight cycles that the airframe was designed to endure.	2.96875
1488888	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cabin%20pressurization	Cabin pressurization	Hypoxia The lower partial pressure of oxygen at high altitude reduces the alveolar oxygen tension in the lungs and subsequently in the brain, leading to sluggish thinking, dimmed vision, loss of consciousness, and ultimately death: In some individuals, particularly those with heart or lung disease, symptoms may begin as low as , although most passengers can tolerate altitudes of without ill effect. At this altitude, there is about 25% less oxygen than there is at sea level. Hypoxia may be addressed by the administration of supplemental oxygen, either through an oxygen mask or through a nasal cannula. Without pressurization, sufficient oxygen can be delivered up to an altitude of about . This is because a person who is used to living at sea level needs about partial oxygen pressure to function normally and that pressure can be maintained up to about by increasing the mole fraction of oxygen in the air that is being breathed. At , the ambient air pressure falls to about 0.2 bar, at which maintaining a minimum partial pressure of oxygen of 0.2 bar requires breathing 100% oxygen using an oxygen mask. Emergency oxygen supply masks in the passenger compartment of airliners do not need to be pressure-demand masks because most flights stay below . Above that altitude the partial pressure of oxygen will fall below 0.2 bar even at 100% oxygen and some degree of cabin pressurization or rapid descent will be essential to avoid the risk of hypoxia. Altitude sickness	2.78125
1488888	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cabin%20pressurization	Cabin pressurization	Hyperventilation, the body's most common response to hypoxia, does help to partially restore the partial pressure of oxygen in the blood, but it also causes carbon dioxide (CO2) to out-gas, raising the blood pH and inducing alkalosis. Passengers may experience fatigue, nausea, headaches, sleeplessness, and (on extended flights) even pulmonary edema. These are the same symptoms that mountain climbers experience, but the limited duration of powered flight makes the development of pulmonary oedema unlikely. Altitude sickness may be controlled by a full pressure suit with helmet and faceplate, which completely envelops the body in a pressurized environment; however, this is impractical for commercial passengers. Decompression sickness The low partial pressure of gases, principally nitrogen (N2) but including all other gases, may cause dissolved gases in the bloodstream to precipitate out, resulting in gas embolism, or bubbles in the bloodstream. The mechanism is the same as that of compressed-air divers on ascent from depth. Symptoms may include the early symptoms of "the bends"—tiredness, forgetfulness, headache, stroke, thrombosis, and subcutaneous itching—but rarely the full symptoms thereof. Decompression sickness may also be controlled by a full-pressure suit as for altitude sickness. Barotrauma As the aircraft climbs or descends, passengers may experience discomfort or acute pain as gases trapped within their bodies expand or contract. The most common problems occur with air trapped in the middle ear (aerotitis) or paranasal sinuses by a blocked Eustachian tube or sinuses. Pain may also be experienced in the gastrointestinal tract or even the teeth (barodontalgia). Usually these are not severe enough to cause actual trauma but can result in soreness in the ear that persists after the flight and can exacerbate or precipitate pre-existing medical conditions, such as pneumothorax.	2.25
1488888	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cabin%20pressurization	Cabin pressurization	The part of the bleed air that is directed to the ECS is then expanded to bring it to cabin pressure, which cools it. A final, suitable temperature is then achieved by adding back heat from the hot compressed air via a heat exchanger and air cycle machine known as a PAC (Pressurization and Air Conditioning) system. In some larger airliners, hot trim air can be added downstream of air-conditioned air coming from the packs if it is needed to warm a section of the cabin that is colder than others. At least two engines provide compressed bleed air for all the plane's pneumatic systems, to provide full redundancy. Compressed air is also obtained from the auxiliary power unit (APU), if fitted, in the event of an emergency and for cabin air supply on the ground before the main engines are started. Most modern commercial aircraft today have fully redundant, duplicated electronic controllers for maintaining pressurization along with a manual back-up control system. All exhaust air is dumped to atmosphere via an outflow valve, usually at the rear of the fuselage. This valve controls the cabin pressure and also acts as a safety relief valve, in addition to other safety relief valves. If the automatic pressure controllers fail, the pilot can manually control the cabin pressure valve, according to the backup emergency procedure checklist. The automatic controller normally maintains the proper cabin pressure altitude by constantly adjusting the outflow valve position so that the cabin altitude is as low as practical without exceeding the maximum pressure differential limit on the fuselage. The pressure differential varies between aircraft types, typical values are between and . At , the cabin pressure would be automatically maintained at about , ( lower than Mexico City), which is about of atmosphere pressure.	2.453125
1488888	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cabin%20pressurization	Cabin pressurization	Some aircraft, such as the Boeing 787 Dreamliner, have re-introduced electric compressors previously used on piston-engined airliners to provide pressurization. The use of electric compressors increases the electrical generation load on the engines and introduces a number of stages of energy transfer; therefore, it is unclear whether this increases the overall efficiency of the aircraft air handling system. They do, however, remove the danger of chemical contamination of the cabin, simplify engine design, avert the need to run high pressure pipework around the aircraft, and provide greater design flexibility. Unplanned decompression Unplanned loss of cabin pressure at altitude/in space is rare but has resulted in a number of fatal accidents. Failures range from sudden, catastrophic loss of airframe integrity (explosive decompression) to slow leaks or equipment malfunctions that allow cabin pressure to drop. Any failure of cabin pressurization above requires an emergency descent to or the closest to that while maintaining the minimum sector altitude (MSA), and the deployment of an oxygen mask for each seat. The oxygen systems have sufficient oxygen for all on board and give the pilots adequate time to descend to below . Without emergency oxygen, hypoxia may lead to loss of consciousness and a subsequent loss of control of the aircraft. Modern airliners include a pressurized pure oxygen tank in the cockpit, giving the pilots more time to bring the aircraft to a safe altitude. The time of useful consciousness varies according to altitude. As the pressure falls the cabin air temperature may also plummet to the ambient outside temperature with a danger of hypothermia or frostbite. For airliners that need to fly over terrain that does not allow reaching the safe altitude within a maximum of 30 minutes, pressurized oxygen bottles are mandatory since the chemical oxygen generators fitted to most planes cannot supply sufficient oxygen.	2.625
1488888	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cabin%20pressurization	Cabin pressurization	The first airliner to enter commercial service with a pressurized cabin was the Boeing 307 Stratoliner, built in 1938, prior to World War II, though only ten were produced before the war interrupted production. The 307's "pressure compartment was from the nose of the aircraft to a pressure bulkhead in the aft just forward of the horizontal stabilizer." World War II was a catalyst for aircraft development. Initially, the piston aircraft of World War II, though they often flew at very high altitudes, were not pressurized and relied on oxygen masks. This became impractical with the development of larger bombers where crew were required to move about the cabin. The first bomber built with a pressurised cabin for high altitude use was the Vickers Wellington Mark VI in 1941 but the RAF changed policy and instead of acting as Pathfinders the aircraft were used for other purposes. The US Boeing B-29 Superfortress long range strategic bomber was first into bomb service. The control system for this was designed by Garrett AiResearch Manufacturing Company, drawing in part on licensing of patents held by Boeing for the Stratoliner. Post-war piston airliners such as the Lockheed Constellation (1943) made the technology more common in civilian service. The piston-engined airliners generally relied on electrical compressors to provide pressurized cabin air. Engine supercharging and cabin pressurization enabled aircraft like the Douglas DC-6, the Douglas DC-7, and the Constellation to have certified service ceilings from . Designing a pressurized fuselage to cope with that altitude range was within the engineering and metallurgical knowledge of that time. The introduction of jet airliners required a significant increase in cruise altitudes to the range, where jet engines are more fuel efficient. That increase in cruise altitudes required far more rigorous engineering of the fuselage, and in the beginning not all the engineering problems were fully understood.	2.578125
1488888	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cabin%20pressurization	Cabin pressurization	The critical engineering principles concerning metal fatigue learned from the Comet 1 program were applied directly to the design of the Boeing 707 (1957) and all subsequent jet airliners. For example, detailed routine inspection processes were introduced, in addition to thorough visual inspections of the outer skin, mandatory structural sampling was routinely conducted by operators; the need to inspect areas not easily viewable by the naked eye led to the introduction of widespread radiography examination in aviation; this also had the advantage of detecting cracks and flaws too small to be seen otherwise. Another visibly noticeable legacy of the Comet disasters is the oval windows on every jet airliner; the metal fatigue cracks that destroyed the Comets were initiated by the small radius corners on the Comet 1's almost square windows. The Comet fuselage was redesigned and the Comet 4 (1958) went on to become a successful airliner, pioneering the first transatlantic jet service, but the program never really recovered from these disasters and was overtaken by the Boeing 707. Even following the Comet disasters, there were several subsequent catastrophic fatigue failures attributed to cabin pressurisation. Perhaps the most prominent example was Aloha Airlines Flight 243, involving a Boeing 737-200. In this case, the principal cause was the continued operation of the specific aircraft despite having accumulated 35,496 flight hours prior to the accident, those hours included over 89,680 flight cycles (takeoffs and landings), owing to its use on short flights; this amounted to more than twice the number of flight cycles that the airframe was designed to endure. Aloha 243 was able to land despite the substantial damage inflicted by the decompression, which had resulted in the loss of one member of the cabin crew; the incident had far-reaching effects on aviation safety policies and led to changes in operating procedures.	2.59375
1488888	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cabin%20pressurization	Cabin pressurization	The supersonic airliner Concorde had to deal with particularly high pressure differentials because it flew at unusually high altitude (up to ) and maintained a cabin altitude of . Despite this, its cabin altitude was intentionally maintained at . This combination, while providing for increasing comfort, necessitated making Concorde a significantly heavier aircraft, which in turn contributed to the relatively high cost of a flight. Unusually, Concorde was provisioned with smaller cabin windows than most other commercial passenger aircraft in order to slow the rate of decompression in the event of a window seal failing. The high cruising altitude also required the use of high pressure oxygen and demand valves at the emergency masks unlike the continuous-flow masks used in conventional airliners. The FAA, which enforces minimum emergency descent rates for aircraft, determined that, in relation to Concorde's higher operating altitude, the best response to a pressure loss incident would be to perform a rapid descent.	2.5
1488888	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cabin%20pressurization	Cabin pressurization	The designed operating cabin altitude for new aircraft is falling and this is expected to reduce any remaining physiological problems. Both the Boeing 787 Dreamliner and the Airbus A350 XWB airliners have made such modifications for increased passenger comfort. The 787's internal cabin pressure is the equivalent of altitude resulting in a higher pressure than for the altitude of older conventional aircraft; according to a joint study performed by Boeing and Oklahoma State University, such a level significantly improves comfort levels. Airbus has stated that the A350 XWB provides for a typical cabin altitude at or below , along with a cabin atmosphere of 20% humidity and an airflow management system that adapts cabin airflow to passenger load with draught-free air circulation. The adoption of composite fuselages eliminates the threat posed by metal fatigue that would have been exacerbated by the higher cabin pressures being adopted by modern airliners, it also eliminates the risk of corrosion from the use of greater humidity levels.	2.390625
1488890	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White%20River%2C%20Mpumalanga	White River, Mpumalanga	White River () is a small holiday and farming town situated just north of Mbombela in Mpumalanga, South Africa. The farms in the region produce tropical fruits, macadamia nuts, vegetables, flowers and timber. As of 2011, White River had a population of 16,639. History Early history Archaeological evidence from surrounding areas suggests people have lived on the land that later became White River for thousands of years. Remains of settlements from the 6th-century point to Iron Age African agricultural and livestock-keeping societies that lived in the area. The Plaston site, east of White River, shows evidence of communities in the area from circa 620 CE. Numerous Khoe-San rock painting sites nearby are indicative of even longer human settlement. By the early 19th century, the area was inhabited by Eastern Sotho (MaPulana, Kutswa and Pai) societies and later Swazi chieftaincies. What was known as the Emanzimhlope River, a tributary of the Crocodile River flowed through the region. Emanzimhlope translates to 'White Waters' in siSwati. According to Surplus People Project report, White River was known as Nyavaland by Africans who lived in the area before white settlement. Colonial Era Malaria and animal trypanosomiasis pervasive in the lowveld in the 19th century meant that white settlers initially avoided year-round settlement in the White River area. Boer traders, hunters and farmers from settlements in the highveld only came down to the area in the winter. The first year round settlement in the White River area was an isolated farm only in 1873 by Bill Sanderson a Scottish gold prospector, hunter and trader. Only after the 1890s African rinderpest epizootic, which wiped out trypanosomiasis, did white settlers begin to settle in the White River area. By claiming especially the most agriculturally productive, wettest areas with the best climates as their own, they dispossessed Africans of land that they had lived on for generations.	2.625
1488890	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White%20River%2C%20Mpumalanga	White River, Mpumalanga	In 1905, after the South African War, Lord Alfred Milner (British administrator of the Transvaal) demarcated land along the Emanzimhlope river for settlement by British settlers, mainly demobilised British Anglo-Boer War soldiers. Milner tasked soldier Tom Lawrence to allocate land to the settlers. Lawrence became the first manager of the new settlement, with the longest street in the town still named after him. Initially, the colonial administration provided settlers with farming equipment and a weekly salary until they began to make an income from their tobacco, citrus, maize and other vegetable crops. Farmers were heavily subsidized until 1907 and the building of a 25 kilometer long irrigation canal improved prospects for some. However, the scheme largely failed and many settlers gave up farming when their contracts ended. In 1911, the Union government sold the farms at White River for a significant loss to a syndicate that planted scale citrus farms on the land. After WWI, the settlement scheme expanded as the land was sold at discounted rates to demobilised white soldiers. In 1923, a tiny plot of land on the edge of White River was designated as a "location" for black wage workers and their families. The rest of White River was reserved for white settlers. In the mid 1960s, the Lowvelder newspaper reported that while the white residential areas of White River expanded significantly in the following decades, the black location remained confined to just 15 hectares, although the population of the community had expanded to over 3000 people.	2.765625
1488890	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White%20River%2C%20Mpumalanga	White River, Mpumalanga	Apartheid Era Under the Apartheid era Group Areas Act, White River was designated a white area. The aparthied state and white farmers forcibly resettled thousands of Black people living in White River and as labour tenants on surrounding farms were to African reserves and towns like Bushbuckridge, Peinaar and Kabokweni. These removals accelerated especially under policies of separate development in the 1960s and 1970s. In 1968, the Bantu Affairs Department forcibly removed 3000 people from the White River location to a newly established township at Ngodini. Many people in these resettled township communities commuted daily between what became the bantustan of KaNgwane to White River and other towns segregated as white. White River was the base for the Whiteriver Commando, an infantry regiment of the South African Army. Region White River lies 20 km north of Mbombela, and 46 km south of Hazyview, not far from the border with Kruger National Park. It is 15 km west-north-west of the Kruger Mpumalanga International Airport. The town includes a residential, commercial, and industrial areas while agricultural holdings are on the outskirts of the town. The town features a library, municipal buildings, car dealerships, filling stations, lodges and hotels, churches, a mosque, a police station, and retail centers. It is a popular holiday destination for those looking to visit the Crocodile River Valley, Panorama and Lowveld Legogote Tourism Routes and the Kruger National Park. The town itself has a reputation for its arts and crafts. The Casterbridge Lifestyle Centre situated on the outskirts of the city is a popular tourist stop. Once a mango plantation, the centre now has a cinema, a vintage motor museum and restaurants and hosts art exhibitions, plays and concerts. Government White River is in the Mbombela A Municipal Zone, falling under Ward 30 and is governed by the Democratic Alliance (DA), South Africa's official opposition party. Agriculture	2.53125
1488902	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Huancavelica	Huancavelica	Huancavelica () or Wankawillka in Quechua is a city in Peru. It is the capital of the department of Huancavelica and according to the 2017 census had a population of 49,570 people. The city was established on August 5, 1572 by the Viceroy of Peru Francisco de Toledo. Indigenous peoples represent a major percentage of the population. It has an approximate altitude of 3,676 meters; the climate is cold and dry between the months of February and August with a rainy season between September and January. It is considered one of the poorest cities in Peru. Geography The Huancavelica area features a rough geography with highly varied elevation, from 1,950 metres in the valleys to more than 5,000 metres on its snow-covered summits. These mountains contain metallic deposits. They consist of the western chain of the Andes, which includes the Chunta mountain range, formed by a series of hills, the most prominent of which are: Sitaq (5,328m), Wamanrasu (5,298m) and Altar (5,268m). Among the rivers of the region there are the Mantaro, the Pampas, the Huarpa and the Churcampa. The Mantaro River penetrates Huancavelica, forming Tayacaja's Peninsula. Another river that shapes the relief is the Pampas River which is born in the lakes of the high mountains of Huancavelica, Chuqlluqucha and Urququcha. Geology The principal ore mineral is cinnabar, which occurs within the Cretaceous Gran Farallón sandstones, and fractures found in the Jurassic Pucara and Cretaceous Machay limestones and igneous rocks. Other sulfide minerals occurring with these deposits include pyrite, arsenopyrite and realgar. Caving became top to bottom in 1806 in order to avoid several disasters in previous years. The most infamous one being the Marroquin caving in 1786, which took the lives of over two hundred Indians. Most of the quicksilver was produced from 1571 until 1790, amounting to more than 1,400,000 flasks.	2.765625
1488902	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Huancavelica	Huancavelica	History At the time of Spanish conquest, Huancavelica was known as the Wankawillka region or "sacred stone". The city itself was established on August 5, 1572 by viceroy Francisco de Toledo. The community has expanded throughout the region. The deposits of Huancavelica were disclosed in 1564, or 1566, by the Indian Nahuincopa to his master Jerónimo Luis de Cabrera. The Spanish Crown appropriated them in 1570 and operated them until Peruvian independence in 1821. Considered the "greatest jewel in the crown", they eliminated the need to ship mercury from Almadén. A miners guild, Gremio de Mineros, administered the mines from 1577 until 1782. Production stopped from 1813 through 1835. In 1915 E.E. Fernandini took over ownership. The area was the most prolific source of mercury in Spanish America, and as such was vital to the mining operations of the Spanish colonial era. Mercury was necessary to extract silver from the ores produced in the silver mines of Peru, as well as those of Potosí in Upper Peru (now Bolivia), using amalgamation processes such as the patio process or pan amalgamation. Mercury was so essential that mercury consumption was the basis upon which the tax on precious metals, known as the quinto real ("royal fifth"), was levied. The extraction of the quicksilver in the socavones (tunnels) was extremely difficult. Every day before the miners came down, a mass for the dead was celebrated. Due to the need of numerous hand-workers and the high rate of mortality, the Viceroy of Peru Francisco de Toledo resumed and improved the pre-Columbian mandatory service of the mita. The allotted concession were rectangular, about 67x33m. Miners were divided in carreteros and barreteros. Due to the discovery and then the extraction of the azogue (mercury) in a hill close to the actual location of the city, the Santa Barbara mine became famous in the new world and its activity led to the Viceroy of Peru, Francisco de Toledo, to establish the city in 1572 with the name of Villa Rica de Oropesa.	2.734375
1488902	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Huancavelica	Huancavelica	Health The city has one hospital; the Hospital General, that serves the city and the nearby towns. Close to the hospital there is a clinic; the Policlinico EsSalud. Mercury, lead, and arsenic contamination owing to centuries of quicksilver mining in the city's surrounding expose approximately 19,000 of Huancavelica's residents to severe health threats. Exposure to these toxics has been linked to neuropsychological damage, kidney damage, fertility problems, and cancer, amongst others. Pregnant mothers, foetuses, and children are most at risk of health implications from mercury exposure. Places of interest The city has monuments from the colonial era, most of them are churches in a number of eight, located in different parts of the city, of which the most important is the cathedral located at the main square. Another important site is the former Santa Barbara mine, located about three km. from the city on an ancient road that was famous during colonial times for the extraction of mercury. The main sporting stadium is the IPD Stadium of Huancavelica. At 3,676 meters above sea level, it is one of the highest sporting stadiums in the world and has a capacity of 2,500 spectators. Notable residents Patricia Benavides (born 1969) - Lawyer, Peru's attorney general since June 2022	2.421875
1488918	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tulane%20Stadium	Tulane Stadium	ZZ Top played Tulane Stadium during its Worldwide Texas Tour July 17, 1976. Fans rioted and threw objects at police officers, prompting Tulane to ban any future concerts on campus, a ban which has extended to Yulman Stadium. Twelve years prior, Tulane refused to host The Beatles on their second U.S. tour, forcing the band to play at the smaller City Park Stadium. The Denver Broncos used Tulane Stadium as its practice facility prior to Super Bowl XII, the first Super Bowl played in the Superdome. Tulane Stadium's final game The last game played in the stadium prior to its demolition was between New Orleans Catholic League teams Chalmette High School and Jesuit High School on November 3, 1979. The final touchdown was on a 9-yard pass from Keith Mason to Craig Stieber with 4:08 remaining, helping Chalmette win by 23-9. Demolition On November 2, 1979, Tulane President Sheldon Hackney announced that the stadium would be demolished. The demolition started on November 18, 1979 and ended in June 1980. While the storage areas underneath the seating in the stadium were being emptied prior to demolition, various neglected University possessions were rediscovered, including an Ancient Egyptian mummy couple. The site of the former stadium is now home to the Aron and Willow student housing complexes, the Diboll parking structure, the Reily Student-Recreation Center and Brown Quad.	1.921875
1488923	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeremiah%20Day	Jeremiah Day	Never strong, and after 1836 subject to attacks of angina pectoris, Day prolonged his life by self-knowledge and moderation in all things. He was a man of dignity and extreme reserve. Although, as described by Timothy Dwight V, the younger, "he was a wise disciplinarian, a judicious governor, a thorough and accurate scholar, a valuable teacher, and a man of intelligent and penetrative mind," his influence was due chiefly to his goodness and his reputation for deep wisdom. Day combined serenity, self-control, modesty, and unselfishness in such a degree that all of the 2,500 students who had been under him, according to President Theodore Dwight Woolsey, would have unquestionably declared him the best man they had ever known. As president, Day built slowly on the foundation laid by his predecessor. Stability, conservatism, and great caution were his conspicuous characteristics. Improvements that were made were generally suggested by others. Outside of Connecticut he was known principally through his textbooks. In 1814, Day published An Introduction to Algebra, which went through many editions. This was followed by works on trigonometry, geometry, and the mathematical principles of navigation and surveying. After 1820, Day taught mental and moral philosophy, and in 1838 published An Inquiry Respecting the Self-determining Power of the Will and A Course of Mathematics containing The Principles of Plane Trigonometry, Mensuration, Navigation and Surveying; and in 1841 An Examination of President Edwards's Inquiry on the Freedom of the Will. He also contributed numerous articles to periodicals, and published a few sermons. Dat was responsible for the publication of "The Yale Report of 1828" defending the classical curriculum.	2.46875
1488925	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nova%20%28novel%29	Nova (novel)	Setting Nova is set in a science fictional universe with high technology, including interstellar travel and large-scale use of cyborg adaptions. Most people use intravenous drips for nutrition rather than eating, and disease is considered to be impossible. The novel is an obsolete art form and has been replaced by the "psychorama". However, in contrast to the technological background, reading the tarot is considered both scientific and accurate. Indeed, the Mouse is ridiculed as old-fashioned for his skepticism about it. In chapter four, Tyÿ gives Lorq the most detailed tarot reading in the novel. As a child, he also had a tarot reading mentioning a death in his family, about a month before his uncle, Secretary Morgan, was assassinated. Later, Cyana makes Lorq draw a card before she gives him the nova's location. Politically, the galaxy is divided between three factions: Draco, based on Earth, and the earliest area to be colonized; the younger Pleiades Federation; and the even newer Outer Colonies, where Illyrion is mined rather than manufactured. In chapter three, Lorq's father explains these regions in terms of social class. Draco is primarily controlled by corporations and governments based on Earth. Pleiades was settled later by "small businesses... cooperative groups; even private citizens...a comparatively middle class movement". Lorq's great-great-grandfather attacked ships from Draco, including those owned by Red-shift, attempting to expand into Pleiades, helping assure its independence. A few generations before the novel begins, planets much further from the Galactic Center were discovered to possess Illyrion, and corporations in Draco and Pleiades subsidized people "from the lowest population strata" to move there.	2.296875
1488925	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nova%20%28novel%29	Nova (novel)	Economic tensions have created a feud between the "new money" Von Ray family and the "old money" Red family, both of whom have a large stake in intergalactic transportation. Shortly before the novel's events (within the lifetime of Lorq's father), the Pleiades region achieved political autonomy from Draco, and is now an independent federation. At the time of the novel, citizens of the Outer Colonies are beginning to support the idea of independence as well. Technology and science Illyrion is a fictional superheavy element with an atomic weight above 300, explained as being part of the hypothetical island of stability. It is a powerful energy source; a few grams provide enough energy for a starship. Katin estimates that 8-9,000 kg has been mined. Almost all the characters in the book are cyborgs, equipped with four sockets (in the small of the back, back of the neck, and both wrists) that allow the user to connect directly to a computer. These can be used to control starships or less complicated machines; in the opening scene, one character uses it to control a "sweeper" to clean the floor. People using these sockets are called "cyborg studs". The sockets are based on the ideas of a 23rd century philosopher and psychologist, Ashton Clark, and are intended to counteract the alienation caused by the separation between work and life. When the plugs and sockets were invented, work was done directly by people, reducing mental illness and making war impossible. Future history The 20th century is a pivotal period in Novas future history. Cyana, a curator at the Alkane Museum, claims that almost a quarter of its galleries are devoted to the period. She justifies this by saying that the it encompasses the greatest change in humanity's fundamental situation: "At the beginning of that amazing century, mankind was many societies living on one world; at its end, it was basically what we are now: an informatively unified society that lived on several worlds."	2.171875
1488925	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nova%20%28novel%29	Nova (novel)	Art The two artists in Nova represent different kinds of art: the Mouse's sensory syrynx playing is spontaneous and instinctive, and on the other hand Katin's novel is carefully considered but not begun. However, while talking to the Mouse, Katin equates writing his novel to playing the sensory syrynx. Both create sensory experiences which then summon up memories, thoughts, and emotions related to those sensations. A deeper similarity is illuminated by Katin's remark that novels were primarily about relationships, and the obsolescence of the form implies that people in Novas milieu are generally solitary and lonely. However, art can make people consider these relationships, such as when the Mouse experiences Leo's playing and thinks of his parents, analyzing the difference in his relationships with them. Katin, the aspiring novelist, frequently records notes about what his novel should be like. The definition of the novel is one of Novas themes; contemporary Delany works with aesthetic concerns include Empire Stars concentration on point of view and Dhalgrens emphasis on the relationship between creative writing and criticism. Judith Merril's review goes so far as to call Nova "an experimental approach to literary criticism". By the end of the novel, it is clear that the novel Katin will write is Nova itself. Another image of the work of art in Nova is the distinction between Katin and Lorq Von Ray at the end of the novel, after they have both experienced the nova. Lorq looks into the heart of the nova and his senses are overloaded; however Katin, who looked at it after the Roc left the core, is inspired to create art by organizing his experiences through controlled aesthetic techniques.	2.34375
1488925	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nova%20%28novel%29	Nova (novel)	Race Delany has consistently created black characters to populate his science fiction, and race is both obvious and essential to Nova. The main character, Lorq, is mixed-race; his father is of Norwegian descent, and his Earth-born mother is Senegalese. This prevented the novel from being serialised in Analog before publication. The Mouse is Romani (referred to in the text as a "gypsy"); his real name is Pontichos Provechi. The residents of the Pleiades Federation (and the Outer Colonies) overall are an extremely mixed racial population. In addition to appearances, characters from the Pleiades sometimes have names that indicate a mixed racial heritage. For example, Lorq's friend Yorgos Satsumi has a clearly Japanese last name, but a first name that is decidedly Greek. This is in sharp contrast to the Earth-centered Draco society, and the Red family are consistently referred to as Caucasian. Individuals from Earth also tend to have extremely "WASPish" names. For example, Brian's full name is Brian Anthony Sanders. Moreover, according to the Mouse, Earth still has problems with racism; he recalls seeing Gypsies lynched when he was younger. The crew of the Roc are mixed in both 20th century terms—Lorq, Idas, and Lynceos are of African descent; Sebastian is a blond Asian (referred to in the text as "Oriental"); the Mouse is Romani—and in their own milieu, in terms of origin and economic class. Idas and Lynceos hail from the Outer Colonies, Katin and the Mouse from Draco, and Tyÿ, Sebastian, and Lorq from Pleiades. Lorq, at the center of the novel, is attracted to Ruby, angering Prince and reigniting their feud, even if his blackness is secondary to his identity as a Von Ray. Although race is different in the world of Nova, it still matters. However, Lorq is able to struggle against the Reds as equals and in the end, the fate of the galaxy turns on the abilities of a black man. Politics	2.40625
1488925	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nova%20%28novel%29	Nova (novel)	The setting of Nova is vague, but is explicitly defined as an empire, and it depends on Illyrion mining in the peripheral Outer Colonies. The name of the planet where Lynceos and Idas worked, Tubman, is a direct allusion to the American abolitionist Harriet Tubman. Colonial history is thus mapped onto the galactic setting. The Red family symbolize the continuation of colonialism and empire; but because of Lorq's victory, the mining colonies will be closed, and the workers freed. Man and machine Description of work before Ashton Clark and Souquet's plugs and sockets resembles the alienated, dehumanizing labor described in Karl Marx's Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts of 1844. However, work with the sockets links labor to life, allowing unalienated work. This resembles Michael Hardt and Antonio Negri's idea of "living labor", subverting the alienations of capitalism and providing an alternative to it, while affirming the worker rather than the product. Although Delany sees technology as both a constructive and destructive force, he also sees it as having limits; it is not the sole determiner of a culture or a personality. Cooperation, or community, is needed for Lorq's success, as the whole diverse crew must work together to succeed. And despite the humanizing effect of plug and socket labor, the freedom from alienation that it ensures has limits. Tarot and superstitions, such as the Mouse spitting in the river, are vital psychological supports. Meanwhile, plugs and sockets are unable to cure Prince's issues, and he remains a selfish, indulgent, and incestuous murderer pursuing his economic monopoly.	2.421875
1488925	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nova%20%28novel%29	Nova (novel)	Style Delany uses a careful prose style to present his work both sensually and metaphorically. He uses language to differentiate the characters; for instance, people from Pleiades speak with verbs at the ends of their sentences, and Lynceos and Idas begin and finish each other's sentences. The same is true for point of view; due to their different upbringings, Katin, the Mouse, and Lorq all have different perspectives on the assassination of the politician Morgan. Also, each page in the book carries a header that gives the year and location of the scene (e.g., "Draco, Earth, Paris, 3162"). This is useful because of the flashbacks in the long journey around the galaxy. The novel's prose style has been called "poetic", with every metaphor serving the larger design. The sensory syrynx is an example of this. The name alludes to the Greek god Pan's pipes; moreover, early in the novel, the Mouse refers to it as his "ax". This is both a weapon and a slang term for a guitar, fitting both the functions it performs in the novel. Furthermore, it symbolizes writing and invokes the Cretan labrys, implying the labyrinth. This allusive style has been described as a way to overcome the linearity of prose and enrich the text by invoking the textus, or web of meanings, in which Delany considers any given text to reside. Another example of this is the word nova itself; literally, it denotes a supernova, but it is also the plural of novum, Latin for "new thing", a term that can be used to mean science fictional inventions. Lorq describes the nova is a place where all law, human and natural, breaks down, to which the Mouse replies that the voyage will be "real changey". As the title indicates, this is the novel's central metaphor: the destructive implosion/explosion of an entire sun, which both destroys most of a solar system and creates new elements. Publishing history	1.976563
1488932	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tumbes%2C%20Peru	Tumbes, Peru	Tumbes is a city in northwestern Peru, on the banks of the Tumbes River. It is the capital of the Tumbes Region, as well as of Tumbes Province and Tumbes District. Located near the border with Ecuador, Tumbes has 111,595 inhabitants as of 2015. It is served by the Cap. FAP Pedro Canga Rodriguez Airport. It is located on the Gulf of Guayaquil along with Zorritos. History Tumbes has its origins back in pre-Inca times when it was inhabited by a cultural group of natives called Tumpis. At its peak, its population is estimated to have reached 178,000. After 1400, Inca Pachacuti ruled over Tumbes and the territory became an important political stronghold during the Inca Empire. Later Inca emperor Huayna Capac expanded Tumbes by ordering the construction of roads, houses and palaces. Spanish arrival Tumbes was first visited by Spanish conquistador Francisco Pizarro during the start of the Spanish conquest of the Inca Empire in 1528. Molina noted that Tumbes was a well organized town. Pizarro made a second expedition in 1532 during which he encountered resistance from the curaca (chieftain) Chilimaza in what became known as the Battle of the Manglares. Pizarro was eventually successful and is said to have planted a cross in the invaded territory as a sign of Hispanic victory. Felipillo and Yacané, the first South American Indigenous interpreters who later aided Pizarro and his followers during the conquest of Peru, were born in Tumbes. Colony and independence	2.078125
1488932	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tumbes%2C%20Peru	Tumbes, Peru	During its colonial period, Tumbes was sparsely populated and formed a part of the Audiencia of Quito through an unmodified Cedula of 1563 and Cedula of 1740. When Tumbes declared its independence from Spain, it opted to join Peru believing in the right of free determination of peoples. First, the Republic of the Gran Colombia challenged that right and then Ecuador claiming de jure rights through unmodified colonial Royal Decrees ( Real Cédulas ), but to no avail. The Protocol of Rio de Janeiro signed in 1942 with Ecuador legally confirmed Peru's previously de facto rights over Tumbes after a victorious war. However, lasting peace between both countries was not achieved until 1998, after a final conflict in 1995. Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori and Ecuadorian Presidente Jamil Mahuad signed a final document in which Ecuador accepted Perú's right over Tumbes and other territories claimed by Ecuador until then. Geography Climate Tumbes has a hot arid climate (Köppen BWh), although it receives an average annual rainfall of , due to its high potential evapotranspiration. Rainfall is very variable due to the El Niño Southern Oscillation, with strong El Niños frequently seeing more than twice the mean rain.	2.90625
1488940	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue-black%20grassquit	Blue-black grassquit	The blue-black grassquit (Volatinia jacarina) is a small Neotropical bird in the tanager family, Thraupidae. It is the only member of the genus Volatinia. It is a common and widespread bird that breeds from southern Mexico through Central America, and South America as far as northern Chile, Argentina, and Paraguay, and in Trinidad and Tobago. A male was also observed in Graham County, Arizona on July 15 and July 17, 2023. This species is sexually dimorphic; the male is glossy blue with some white under the wing. The female is brown above and pale buff with darker streaks below. Taxonomy The blue-black grassquit was described by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in 1766 in the twelfth edition of his Systema Naturae under the binomial name Tanagra jacarina. Linnaeus based his description on the "Jacarni" that was described in 1648 by the German naturalist Georg Marcgrave in his Historia Naturalis Brasiliae. The type locality is eastern Brazil. The specific epithet jacarina is derived from the Tupi language and was used for a type of finch. The blue-black grassquit is now the only species placed in the genus Volatinia and was introduced in 1850 by the German naturalist Ludwig Reichenbach. The genus name is a diminutive of the Latin volatus meaning "flying". Within the tanager family Thraupidae the blue-black grassquit is in the subfamily Tachyphoninae and is a member of a clade that contains the genera Conothraupis and Creurgops. The blue-black grassquit was formerly placed with the buntings in the subfamily Emberizinae rather than with the tanagers in Thraupinae within an expanded family Emberizidae. Three subspecies are recognised: V. j. splendens (Vieillot, 1817) – Mexico to Colombia and east through Venezuela and the Guianas to the Amazon basin; also Trinidad, Tobago and Grenada V. j. jacarina (Linnaeus, 1766) – southeast Peru to east Brazil and south to north Argentina V. j. peruviensis (Peale, 1849) – west Ecuador, west Peru, and northwest Chile	2.359375
1488970	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steven%20M.%20Wise	Steven M. Wise	Steven M. Wise (December 19, 1950 – February 15, 2024) was an American lawyer and legal scholar who specialized in animal rights, primatology, and animal intelligence. He taught animal rights law at Harvard Law School, Vermont Law School, John Marshall Law School, Lewis & Clark Law School, Tufts University School of Veterinary Medicine, and at the Master’s in Animal Law and Society of the Autonomous University of Barcelona. He was a former president of the Animal Legal Defense Fund and founder and president of the Nonhuman Rights Project. The Yale Law Journal had called him "one of the pistons of the animal rights movement." Wise was the author of An American Trilogy (2009), which tells the story of how a piece of land in Tar Heel, North Carolina, was first the home of Native Americans until they were driven into near-extinction, then a slave plantation, and finally the site of factory hog farms and the world's largest slaughterhouse. His book, Though the Heavens May Fall (2005), recounts the 1772 trial in England of James Somersett, a black man rescued from a ship heading for the West Indies slave markets, which gave impetus to the movement to abolish slavery in Britain and the United States (see Somersett's Case). He also wrote Drawing the Line (2002), which describes the relative intelligence of animals and human beings, and Rattling the Cage (2000), in which he argued that certain basic legal rights should be extended to chimpanzees and bonobos. The documentary Unlocking the Cage (2016) follows Wise in parts of his struggle for chimpanzees.	2.53125
1488970	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steven%20M.%20Wise	Steven M. Wise	Background Wise received his undergraduate education in chemistry at the College of William & Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia. Wise first became interested in politics through his involvement in the anti-Vietnam War movement while at William & Mary. Wise studied law at Boston University and was awarded his J.D. there in 1976, then became a personal injury lawyer. He was inspired to move into the area of animal rights after reading Peter Singer's Animal Liberation (1975), often referred to as "the bible of the animal liberation movement". A practicing animal protection attorney, he was president of the nonprofit Nonhuman Rights Project, where he directed its Nonhuman Rights Project, the continuing purpose of which is to obtain basic common law rights for at least some nonhuman animals. Wise lived in Coral Springs, Florida, with his children Chris and Siena. He died there of glioblastoma, a form of brain cancer, on February 15, 2024, at the age of 73. Animal personhood Wise's position on animal rights is that some animals, particularly primates, meet the criteria of legal personhood, and should therefore be awarded certain rights and protections. His criteria for personhood are that the animal must be able to desire things, to act in an intentional manner to acquire those things, and must have a sense of self — must know that he or she exists. Wise argues that chimpanzees, bonobos, elephants, parrots, dolphins, orangutans, and gorillas meet these criteria. Wise argued that these animals should have legal personhood bestowed upon them to protect them from "serious infringements upon their bodily integrity and bodily liberty." Without personhood in law, he writes, one is "invisible to civil law" and "might as well be dead." Wise wrote in "The Problem with Being a Thing" in Rattling the Cage:	2.5625
1488970	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steven%20M.%20Wise	Steven M. Wise	In Rattling the Cage, Wise offers examples of primates who he believed have suffered unjustifiably. He wrote about Jerom, a chimpanzee who lived alone in a small cage in the Yerkes Regional Primate Research Center, with no access to sunlight, after being infected with one strain of HIV when he was three, another at the age of four, and a third at the age of five, before dying in 1996 at the age of 14. Wise also told the story of Lucy Temerlin, a six-year-old chimpanzee who learned American Sign Language from Roger Fouts, the primatologist, and was raised by Maurice K. Temerlin and Temerlin Mcclain. Fouts would arrive at Lucy's home at 8:30 every morning, when Lucy would greet him with a hug, go to the stove, take the kettle, fill it with water from the sink, find two cups and tea bags from the cupboard, and brew and serve the tea. When she was 12, the Temerlins were no longer able to care for her. She was sent to a chimpanzee rehabilitation center in Senegal, then flown to Gambia, where she was shot and skinned by a poacher, and her feet and hands hacked off for sale as trophies. Seminars Wise has been profiled in Who's Who in the World as well as other editions of Who's Who since 2005. He was a frequent guest on a wide variety of television and radio news and talk shows throughout Europe, Africa, Australia, New Zealand, and North America. Wise spoke frequently on topics related to animal rights law at law schools, legal conferences, and universities throughout North and South America, Europe, Australia, New Zealand, and Africa, including Harvard Law School, Monash University Law School, and the University of Stellenbosch among others. Wise taught animal rights law and jurisprudence at the Harvard, Vermont, Lewis and Clark, University of Miami, St. Thomas, and John Marshall Law Schools. Works	2.515625
1488994	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minimum%20wage%20in%20Canada	Minimum wage in Canada	Under the Constitution of Canada, the responsibility for enacting and enforcing labour laws, including the minimum wage, rests primarily with the ten Provinces of Canada. The three Territories of Canada have a similar power, delegated to them by federal legislation. Some provinces allow lower wages to be paid to liquor servers and other gratuity earners or to inexperienced employees. The Government of Canada has the constitutional authority to set minimum wages only for employees within federal jurisdiction, such as federal public servants and workers in industries that are under federal regulatory jurisdiction, such as banks, airlines and interprovincial railways. The federal government earlier set its own minimum wage rates for workers under its jurisdiction. In 1996, however, the federal minimum wage was re-defined to be the general adult minimum wage rate of the province or territory where the work is performed. Following the 2021 budget, the Government of Canada reestablished a federal minimum wage for federally regulated industries on December 29, 2021. Demographics In 2013, 50% of minimum wage workers were between the ages of 15 and 19; in 1997, it was 36%. 50.2% of workers in this age group were paid minimum wage in 2013, an increase from 31.5% in 1997. Statistics Canada notes that "youth, women and persons with a low level of education were the groups most likely to be paid at minimum wage." According to one study, in 2019, 62% of people on minimum wage in Quebec worked part time, and 61% were aged 15 to 24. Minimum wage levels by jurisdiction Assuming a 40-hour workweek and 52 paid weeks per year, the annual gross employment income of an individual earning the minimum wage in Canada is between C$31,200 (in Alberta and Saskatchewan) and C$39,520 (in Nunavut).	2.953125
1489020	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Padukka	Padukka	The development of Padukka as an urban center began with the building of a road from Colombo to Ingiriya in the 19th century and the opening of the interior forests with the spreading of rubber, tea, cinnamon and coconut plantations. The building of the Kelani valley railway in 1902, which ran from Colombo to Yatiyantota and Ratnapura passing Padukka and Avissawella, also contributed greatly to the growth of the city. In 1871, when the first census in the country was done, the town's population stood at 400. With rapid urbanization in the country, Padukka and its surrounding villages have started to expand vastly. As a result, the government has carved out a separate divisional secretariat division for Padukka from the Hanwella division to which it previously belonged. Padukka city has become the main administrative centre of this divisional secretariat whose current population stands at 54395. Demographics Padukka is predominantly a Sinhalese area, with 95% of the population being Sinhalese. Tamils (both Sri Lankan and Indian) comprise 2.5% while Sri Lankan Moors are also present. 1405 people live in the estate sector in the division. Religious composition is also similar to racial distribution with 95% Buddhists, 1.9% Hindus, 1.1% Christians and 1.7% Muslims. The number of housing units in the Padukka division, according to the census data of 2001, is 15010 while total number of building units including government buildings is 17065. Administration The Padukka city, which was once administered by the Padukka—Waga Village Council is now run by the Seethawaka Pradeshiya Sabha (Divisional Council). Notable government institutions in Padukka include: Divisional Secretariat Police Station Government Hospital Rest House Railway Station Bope Rajasinghe National School Siri Piyaratana Central College	2.859375
1489027	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volley%20gun	Volley gun	A volley gun is a gun with multiple single-shot barrels that volley fired simultaneously or sequentially in quick succession. Although capable of unleashing intense firepower, volley guns differ from modern machine guns in that they lack autoloading and automatic fire mechanisms, and therefore their volume of fire is limited by the number of barrels bundled together. In practice, large volley guns were not particularly more useful than a cannon firing canister shot or grapeshot. Since they were still mounted on a carriage, they could be as hard to aim and move around as a cannon, and the many barrels took as long or longer to reload. They also tended to be relatively expensive since they were more complex than a cannon, due to all the barrels and ignition fuses, and each barrel had to be individually loaded, unloaded, maintained, and cleaned. 15th-century volley guns The Ribauldequin was a medieval version of the volley gun. It had its barrels set up in parallel. This early version was first employed during the Hundred Years' War by the army of Edward III of England, in 1339. Later on, the late Swiss army employed it. In the mid-1570s a volley gun referred to as an ‘ingen of war’ was presented to the government of England which was capable of holding from 160 to 320 shots and discharging them 4, 8, 12 or 24 bullets at a time. Multi-barreled artillery pieces continued in use during the 16th and 17th century. A double-barreled cannon called Elizabeth-Henry, named after Charles I's youngest children, was used by the Cavaliers during the English Civil War and fired 2oz charges. It could also fire grapeshot. The barrels were wrapped in leather to prevent rusting.	2.609375
1489050	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pok%C3%A9mon%20Heroes	Pokémon Heroes	The city of Alto Mare is protected by the dragon siblings Latias and Latios. Their father, also a Latios, once saved the city from an evil Pokémon Trainer and their Pokémon, transforming its streets into canals. The father Latios died protecting the city, leaving behind the Soul Dew containing his own soul. The citizens built the Defense Mechanism of Alto Mare (D.M.A.) to protect the city if necessary, using the Soul Dew as a power source, which was hidden away to prevent its usage. In the present, Ash Ketchum and his friends, Misty and Brock, tour the city. During a local water race, Ash and Misty briefly see an invisible Latias. Two spies named Annie and Oakley attempt to capture Latias, disguised as a human girl named Bianca, so they can gain access to the defense mechanism. Ash and Pikachu guide Latias to safety, but she disappears soon after. At a local museum, the trio learn from its curator and Bianca's grandfather Lorenzo about Alto Mare's history, the defense mechanism, and the evil trainer's fossilized Pokémon on display. Ash finds Bianca and chases her across the city into a hidden garden where Latias and Latios live. As Pikachu plays with the Pokémon, Lorenzo shows Ash the Soul Dew, unaware that Annie and Oakley have used an unmanned aerial vehicle to infiltrated the sanctuary. That evening, Annie and Oakley capture Latios and the Soul Dew to power the D.M.A., but Latias escapes and seeks Ash's help. Using the defense mechanism, Oakley locks down the city and revives the evil trainer's Pokémon from the dead. After escaping the lockdown, Ash, Pikachu and Latias travel to the museum to rescue Latios and disable the defense mechanism in the ensuing fight. The Soul Dew shatters from its use in the device, causing the city's water to become a tidal wave. Latias and Latios combine their powers to stop the wave, but Latios dies in the process.	1.976563
1489076	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Expo%20Hall	Expo Hall	Expo Hall is an indoor arena located at the Florida State Fairgrounds in East Lake-Orient Park, Florida. It is used primarily as an exhibition hall during the Florida State Fair, but has also hosted concerts and sporting events. The South Florida Bulls men's basketball team used Expo Hall as their main home arena for the 1979–80 season before the on-campus USF Sun Dome opened. The Tampa Bay Rowdies of the defunct North American Soccer League used Expo Hall for 8 of their 16 home games during the 1983–84 indoor season. At that time the arena's capacity was 9,200. This would also prove to be the league's final indoor campaign before suspending operations following the 1984 outdoor season. The arena was more famously used by the National Hockey League's Tampa Bay Lightning during the team's inaugural season of 1992–93. The facility's seating capacity of 10,425 proved too small for the Lightning, and the team relocated to the ThunderDome in St. Petersburg for three seasons, until its permanent home, Amalie Arena, was built in downtown Tampa. In 1994 the expansion Tampa Bay Tritons of Roller Hockey International played for one season at Expo Hall before folding. Mark Messier owned the club. The facility currently hosts graduation ceremonies for Hillsborough County's public high schools. Noteworthy entertainers to perform in concert at Expo Hall include Robert Plant, REO Speedwagon, Cheap Trick, No Doubt, Green Day, Nine Inch Nails, Peter Frampton, Stone Temple Pilots, Yes, George Michael, Santana, Beastie Boys, Alabama, Motörhead, and the Smashing Pumpkins.	2.03125
1489092	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ain%27t%20No%20Sunshine	Ain't No Sunshine	"Ain't No Sunshine" is a song by Bill Withers, from his 1971 debut album Just As I Am, produced by Booker T. Jones. The record featured musicians Donald "Duck" Dunn on bass guitar, Al Jackson Jr. on drums and Stephen Stills on guitar. String arrangements were arranged by Jones. The song was recorded in Los Angeles, with overdubs in Memphis by engineer Terry Manning. The song was released as a single in 1971, becoming a breakthrough hit for Withers, reaching number six on the U.S. R&B Chart and number three on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. Billboard ranked it as the No. 23 song for 1971. The song reached the Top 40 again in 2009, when it was sung by Kris Allen in the eighth season of American Idol. In 2024, the single was added to the National Recording Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, and/or aesthetically significant". History Withers was inspired to write the song after watching the 1962 movie Days of Wine and Roses. He explained, in reference to the characters played by Lee Remick and Jack Lemmon, "They were both alcoholics who were alternately weak and strong. It's like going back for seconds on rat poison. Sometimes you miss things that weren't particularly good for you. It's just something that crossed my mind from watching that movie, and probably something else that happened in my life that I'm not aware of." For the song's bridge, Withers had intended to write more lyrics instead of repeating the phrase "I know" 26 times, but then followed the advice of the other musicians to leave it that way: "I was this factory worker puttering around," Withers said. "So when they said to leave it like that, I left it." Withers, then 31, was working at a factory making bathrooms for 747s at the time he wrote the song. When the song went gold, the record company presented Withers with a golden toilet seat, marking the start of his new career. "Ain't No Sunshine" was the first of Withers' three gold records in the U.S.	1.90625
1489099	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History%20of%20the%20New%20York%20City%20Subway	History of the New York City Subway	The New York City Subway is a rapid transit system that serves four of the five boroughs of New York City, New York: the Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhattan, and Queens. Its operator is the New York City Transit Authority (NYCTA), which is controlled by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) of New York. In 2016, an average of 5.66 million passengers used the system daily, making it the busiest rapid transit system in the United States and the seventh busiest in the world. The first underground line opened on October 27, 1904, almost 35 years after the opening of the first elevated line in New York City, which became the IRT Ninth Avenue Line. By the time the first subway opened, the lines had been consolidated into two privately owned systems, the Brooklyn Rapid Transit Company (BRT, later Brooklyn–Manhattan Transit Corporation, BMT) and the Interborough Rapid Transit Company (IRT). After 1913, all lines built for the IRT and most lines for the BRT were built by the city and leased to the companies. The first line of the city-owned and operated Independent Subway System (IND) opened in 1932, intended to compete with the private systems and replace some of the elevated railways. It was required to be run "at cost", necessitating fares up to double the five-cent fare popular at the time. The city took over running the previously privately operated systems in 1940, with the BMT on June 1 and the IRT on June 12. Some elevated lines closed immediately while others closed soon after. Integration was slow, but several connections were built between the IND and BMT, which now operate as one division called the B Division. Since IRT infrastructure is too small for B Division cars, it remains as the A Division.	2.53125
1489099	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History%20of%20the%20New%20York%20City%20Subway	History of the New York City Subway	The beginnings of the actual Subway came from various excursion railroads to Coney Island and elevated railroads in Manhattan and Brooklyn. At that time, New York County (Manhattan Island and part of the Bronx), Kings County (including the cities of Brooklyn and Williamsburg), and Queens County were separate municipal entities. Competing steam-powered elevated railroads were built over major avenues. The first elevated line was constructed from 1867 to 1870 by Charles Harvey and his West Side and Yonkers Patent Railway company along Greenwich Street and Ninth Avenue (although cable cars were the initial mode of transportation on that railway). More lines were built on Second, Third and Sixth Avenues. None of these structures remain today, but these lines later shared trackage with subway trains as part of the IRT system. In Kings County, elevated railroads were built by several companies over Lexington, Myrtle, Third and Fifth Avenues, Fulton Street and Broadway. These also later shared trackage with subway trains operated by the BRT and BMT. Most of these structures have been dismantled, but some have been rebuilt and upgraded. These lines were linked to Manhattan by various ferries and later the tracks along the Brooklyn Bridge (which originally had their own line and were later integrated into the BRT/BMT). Also in Kings County, six steam excursion railroads were built to various beaches in the southern part of the county; all but one (the Manhattan Beach Line) eventually fell under BMT control. Beach Pneumatic Transit	2.703125
1489099	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History%20of%20the%20New%20York%20City%20Subway	History of the New York City Subway	The Beach Pneumatic Transit was the first attempt to build an underground public transit system in New York City. In 1869, Alfred Ely Beach and his Beach Pneumatic Transit Company of New York began constructing a pneumatic subway line beneath Broadway. Funneled through a company he set up, Beach put up $350,000 of his own money to bankroll the project. Built in only 58 days, its single tunnel, long, in diameter, was completed in 1870 and ran under Broadway from Warren Street to Murray Street. It remained little more than a curiosity, running only a single car on its one-block-long track to a dead-end at its terminus. Passengers would simply ride out and back, to see what the proposed subway might be like. During its first two weeks of operation, the Beach Pneumatic Transit sold over 11,000 rides, with 400,000 rides provided during its first year of operation. Although the public showed initial approval, Beach was delayed in getting permission to expand it. By the time he finally gained permission in 1873, public and financial support had waned, and the subway was closed down. The final blow to the project was a stock market crash in 1873 which caused investors to withdraw support. After the project was shut down, the tunnel entrance was sealed, and the station, built in part of the basement of the Rogers Peet Building, was reclaimed for other uses. The entire building was lost to fire in 1898. In 1912, workers excavating for the present-day BMT Broadway Line dug into the old Beach tunnel; today, no part of this line remains as the tunnel was completely within the limits of the present day City Hall Station under Broadway. Beginnings and rapid expansion The first subways IRT	2.84375
1489099	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History%20of%20the%20New%20York%20City%20Subway	History of the New York City Subway	In 1898, New York, Kings and Richmond Counties, and parts of Queens and Westchester Counties and their constituent cities, towns, villages, and hamlets, were consolidated into the City of Greater New York. During this era the expanded City of New York resolved that it wanted the core of future rapid transit to be underground subways but realized that no private company was willing to put up the enormous capital required to build beneath the streets. Planning for the system began with the Rapid Transit Act, authorized by the New York State Legislature on May 22, 1894, which created the Board of Rapid Transit Railroad Commissioners. The act provided that the commission would lay out routes with the consent of property owners and local authorities, either build the system or sell a franchise for its construction, and lease the operation to a private firm. A line through Lafayette Street (then Elm Street) to Union Square was considered, but at first a more costly route under lower Broadway was adopted. A legal battle with property owners along the route led to the courts denying permission to build through Broadway in 1896. The Elm Street route was chosen later that year, cutting west to Broadway via 42nd Street. This new plan, formally adopted on January 14, 1897, consisted of a line from City Hall north to Kingsbridge and a branch under Lenox Avenue and to Bronx Park, to have four tracks from City Hall to the junction at 103rd Street. The "awkward alignment...along Forty-Second Street", as the commission put it, was necessitated by objections to using Broadway south of 34th Street. Legal challenges were resolved in 1899. The city decided to issue rapid transit bonds outside of its regular bonded debt limit and build the subways itself; it contracted with the Interborough Rapid Transit Company (which by that time ran the elevated lines in Manhattan) to equip and operate the subways, sharing the profits with the city and guaranteeing a fixed five-cent fare. BRT	2.953125
1489099	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History%20of%20the%20New%20York%20City%20Subway	History of the New York City Subway	Starting in 1899, the Brooklyn Rapid Transit Company (BRT; 1896–1923) and Brooklyn–Manhattan Transit Corporation (BMT; 1923–1940) operated rapid transit lines in New York City — at first only elevated railways and later also subways. The BRT was incorporated on January 18, 1896. It took over the bankrupt Long Island Traction Company in early February, acquiring the Brooklyn Heights Railroad and the lessee of the Brooklyn City Rail Road. It then acquired the Brooklyn, Queens County and Suburban Railroad. The BRT took over the property of a number of surface railroads, the earliest of which, the Brooklyn, Bath and Coney Island Railroad or West End Line, opened for passenger service on October 9, 1863, between Fifth Avenue at 36th Street at the border of Brooklyn City and Bath Beach in the Town of Gravesend, New York. A short piece of surface route of this railroad, the BMT West End Line (today's ) on the west side of the Coney Island Complex north of the Coney Island Creek, is the oldest existing piece of rapid transit right-of-way in New York City and in the U.S., having opened on June 8, 1864. On January 30, 1899, the Brooklyn Union Elevated Railroad was incorporated; it acquired the property of the bankrupt Brooklyn Elevated Railroad on February 17. The BRT gained control a month later, on March 25, and leased the elevated company to the Brooklyn Heights Railroad, which was until then solely a street railway company. The other elevated company in Brooklyn, the Kings County Elevated Railway, was sold under foreclosure to the BRT on July 6, 1899. Initially the surface and elevated railroad lines ran on steam power, but between 1893 and 1900 the lines were converted to run on electricity. An exception was the service on the Brooklyn Bridge. Trains were operated by cables from 1883 to 1896, when they were converted to electric power.	2.765625
1489099	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History%20of%20the%20New%20York%20City%20Subway	History of the New York City Subway	Ground was broken in a ceremony at City Hall on March 24, celebrated at the time as "Tunnel Day". A plan for an extension from City Hall to the Long Island Rail Road's Flatbush Avenue terminal station (now known as Atlantic Terminal) in Brooklyn was adopted on January 24, 1901, and Contract 2, giving a lease of 35 years, was executed between the commission and the Rapid Transit Construction Company on September 11, with construction beginning at State Street in Manhattan on November 8, 1902. Belmont incorporated the IRT in April 1902 as the operating company for both contracts; the IRT leased the Manhattan Railway Company, operator of the four elevated railway lines in Manhattan and the Bronx, on April 1, 1903. Operation of the subway began on October 27, 1904, with the opening of all stations from City Hall to 145th Street on the West Side Branch. Service was extended to 157th Street on November 12, 1904. The West Side Branch was extended northward to a temporary terminus of 221st Street and Broadway on March 12, 1906. This extension was served by shuttle trains operating between 157th Street and 221st Street. The original system as included in Contract 1 was completed on January 14, 1907, when trains started running across the Harlem Ship Canal on the Broadway Bridge to 225th Street, meaning that 221st Street could be closed. Once the line was extended to 225th Street, the structure of the 221st Street was dismantled and was moved to 230th Street for a new temporary terminus. Service was extended to the temporary terminus at 230th Street on January 27, 1907. An extension of Contract 1 north to 242nd Street at Van Cortlandt Park was approved in 1906 and opened on August 1, 1908.	2.640625
1489099	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History%20of%20the%20New%20York%20City%20Subway	History of the New York City Subway	The original plan had been to turn east on 230th Street to just west of Bailey Avenue, at the New York Central Railroad's Kings Bridge station. When the line was extended to 242nd Street, the temporary platforms at 230th Street were dismantled, and were rumored to be brought to 242 Street to serve as the station's side platforms. There were two stations on the line that opened later; 191st Street and 207th Street. 191st Street was not open until January 14, 1911, because the elevators and other work had not yet been completed. 207th Street was completed in 1906, but since it was located in a sparsely occupied area, the station was opened in 1907. The initial segment of the IRT White Plains Road Line opened on November 26, 1904, between East 180th Street and Jackson Avenue. Initially, trains on the line were served by elevated trains from the IRT Second Avenue Line and the IRT Third Avenue Line, with a connection running from the Third Avenue local tracks at Third Avenue and 149th Street to Westchester Avenue and Eagle Avenue. Once the connection to the IRT Lenox Avenue Line opened on July 10, 1905, trains from the newly opened IRT subway ran via the line. Elevated service via this connection was resumed on October 1, 1907, when Second Avenue locals were extended to Freeman Street during rush hours.	2.359375
1489099	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History%20of%20the%20New%20York%20City%20Subway	History of the New York City Subway	Until the completion of the Fourth Avenue Line, there was a tram across the Manhattan Bridge which did not connect to any tracks in the New York City Subway. The track was called "Manhattan Bridge Three Cent Line" because the fare was three cents. Along with the Brooklyn and North River Railroad, the two streetcar companies began operations on those tracks. When trackage was connected to the bridge in 1915, the trolleys were moved to the upper level roadways until 1929, when service was discontinued. Dual Contracts The BRT, which just barely entered Manhattan via the Brooklyn Bridge, wanted the opportunity to compete with the IRT, and the IRT wanted to extend its Brooklyn line to compete with the BRT. This led to the city's agreement to contract for future subways with both the BRT and IRT. The expansion of rapid transit was greatly facilitated by the signing of the Dual Contracts on March 19, 1913. Contract 3 was signed between the IRT and the city; the contract between the BRT and the city was Contract 4. The majority of the present-day subway system was either built or improved under these contracts. The Astoria Line and Flushing Line were built at this time and were for some time operated by both companies. Under the terms of Contracts 3 and 4, the city would build new subway and elevated lines, rehabilitate and expand certain existing elevated lines, and lease them to the private companies for operation. The cost would be borne more-or-less equally by the city and the companies. The city's contribution was in cash raised by bond offerings, while the companies' contributions were variously by supplying cash, facilities, and equipment to run the lines.	2.828125
1489099	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History%20of%20the%20New%20York%20City%20Subway	History of the New York City Subway	As part of the contracts, the two companies were to share lines in Queens: a short line to Astoria called the Astoria Line; and a longer line reaching initially to Corona, and eventually to Flushing, called the Corona Line. The lines operated jointly and began from Queensboro Plaza. The IRT accessed the station both from the 1907 Steinway Tunnel and an extension of the Second Avenue Elevated from Manhattan over the Queensboro Bridge. The BRT fed the Queens lines from a new tunnel from the 60th Street Tunnel to Manhattan. Technically the line was under IRT ownership, but the BRT/BMT was granted trackage rights in perpetuity, essentially making it theirs also. Both lines were built to IRT specifications. This meant that IRT passengers had a one-seat ride to Manhattan destinations, whereas BRT passengers had to make a change at Queensborough Plaza. This came to be important when service was extended for the 1939 World's Fair, as the IRT was able to offer direct express trains from Manhattan, and the BRT was not. This practice lasted well into the municipal ownership of the lines and was not ended until 1949. Several provisions were imposed on the companies: the fare was limited to five cents, and this led to financial troubles for the two companies after post-World War I inflation; the city had the right to "recapture" any of the lines it built and run them as its own; and the city was to share in the profits. This eventually led to their downfall and consolidation into city ownership in 1940.	2.296875
1489099	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History%20of%20the%20New%20York%20City%20Subway	History of the New York City Subway	As part of the Dual Contracts, the operations of the original IRT system changed drastically. Instead of having trains go via Broadway, turn onto 42nd Street, and finally turn onto Park Avenue, there were two trunk lines connected by the 42nd Street Shuttle. The system was changed from a "Z" system to an "H" system. The first trunk line, the Lexington Avenue Line assumed the portion of the original IRT system south of Grand Central. The line was extended northward with a new station at Grand Central and turned onto Lexington Avenue, where the line remained as four tracks. The line had connections to the new IRT Pelham Line and IRT Jerome Avenue Line in the Bronx, in addition to a new connection to the IRT White Plains Road Line. The second trunk, the Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line assumed the portion of the original IRT system north of Times Square, and it extended southward with a new station at Times Square, running down Seventh Avenue, Varick Street and West Broadway. It was predicted that the subway extension would lead to the growth of the Lower West Side, and to neighborhoods such as Chelsea and Greenwich Village. South of Chambers Street, two branches were constructed. The first branch ran to the Battery via Greenwich Street, while the second branch turned eastward under Park Place and Beeckman Street and down William Street, running under the East River through a tunnel before running under Clark Street and Fulton Street until it reached a junction at Borough Hall with the existing Contract 2 IRT Brooklyn Line.	2.296875
1489099	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History%20of%20the%20New%20York%20City%20Subway	History of the New York City Subway	On the other hand, New York City had grown to over five and a half million inhabitants and urgently needed new subway lines. The dual system could not keep pace with this ever-increasing ridership. So, a compromise solution was finally found that would allow Hylan's plans as well as the interests of private operators to be considered. However, the city's and Hylan's long-term goal was the unification and consolidation of the existing subway, with the city operating a unified subway system. The city, bolstered by political claims that the private companies were reaping profits at taxpayer expense, determined that it would build, equip and operate a new system itself, with private investment and without sharing the profits with private entities. This led to the building of the Independent City-Owned Subway (ICOS), sometimes called the Independent Subway System (ISS), the Independent City-Owned Rapid Transit Railroad, or simply The Eighth Avenue Subway after the location of its premier Manhattan mainline. After the city acquired the BMT and IRT in 1940, the Independent lines were dubbed the IND to follow the three-letter initialisms of the other systems. The original IND system, consisting of the Eighth Avenue mainline and the Sixth Avenue, Concourse, Culver, and Queens Boulevard branch lines, was entirely underground in the four boroughs that it served, with the exception of the Smith–Ninth Streets and Fourth Avenue stations on the Culver Viaduct over the Gowanus Canal in Gowanus, Brooklyn.	2.40625
1489099	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History%20of%20the%20New%20York%20City%20Subway	History of the New York City Subway	Lines As the first line neared completion, New York City offered it for private operation as a formality, knowing that no operator would meet its terms. Thus the city declared that it would operate it itself, formalizing a foregone conclusion. The first line opened without a formal ceremony. The trains began operating their regular schedules ahead of time, and all stations of the Eighth Avenue Line, from 207th Street in Inwood to Hudson Terminal (now World Trade Center), opened simultaneously at one minute after midnight on September 10, 1932. On January 1, 1936, a second trunk line—the Sixth Avenue Line—opened from West Fourth Street (where it splits from the Eighth Avenue Line) to East Broadway. The new subway line's construction required the suspension of streetcars on the avenue. The city, wanting to save money by not having to underpin the IRT Sixth Avenue Line before the elevated line was closed, bought the line for $12.5 million and terminated operations on December 5, 1938. To help compensate for the loss in service, service on the Ninth Avenue Elevated was increased.	2.453125
1489099	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History%20of%20the%20New%20York%20City%20Subway	History of the New York City Subway	The first section of the Queens Boulevard Line, west from Roosevelt Avenue to 50th Street, opened on August 19, 1933. trains ran local to Hudson Terminal (today's World Trade Center) in Manhattan, while the (predecessor to current G service) ran as a shuttle service between Queens Plaza and Nassau Avenue on the IND Crosstown Line. An extension east to Union Turnpike opened on December 31, 1936. The line was extended to Hillside Avenue and 178th Street, with a terminal station at 169th Street on April 24, 1937. That day, express service began on the Queens Boulevard Line during rush hours, with E trains running express west of 71st–Continental Avenues, and GG trains taking over the local during rush hours. The initial headway for express service was between three and five minutes. 23rd Street–Ely Avenue station opened as an in-fill station on August 28, 1939. Upon its extension into Jamaica, the line drew Manhattan-bound passengers away from the nearby BMT Jamaica Line subway and the Long Island Rail Road. On July 1, 1937, a third trunk line, the Crosstown Line, opened from Nassau Avenue to Bergen Street. Two years later, on December 15, 1940, local service was begun along the entire IND Sixth Avenue line, including its core part through Midtown Manhattan. Meanwhile, on the East Side, the need for the Second Avenue Subway had been evident since 1919, when the New York Public Service Commission launched a study at the behest of engineer Daniel L. Turner to determine what improvements were needed in the city's public transport system. The Great Depression resulted in soaring costs, and the expansion became unmanageable, so it was not built along with the other three IND trunk lines. Construction on the first phase of the IND was already behind schedule, and the city and state were no longer able to provide funding. A scaled-down proposal including a turnoff at 34th Street and a connection crosstown was postponed in 1931.	2.53125
1489099	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History%20of%20the%20New%20York%20City%20Subway	History of the New York City Subway	Further revision of the plan and more studies followed. By 1939, construction had been postponed indefinitely, and Second Avenue was relegated to "proposed" status. The 1939 plan for subway expansion took the line not only into the Bronx (by now as a single line to Throggs Neck) but also south into Brooklyn, connecting to the stub of the IND Fulton Street Line at Court Street. Construction of the line resumed in 1972 but was ended during the 1975 fiscal crisis, and work was again restarted in 2007. Expansion plans Since the opening of the original New York City Subway line in 1904, various official and planning agencies have proposed numerous extensions to the subway system. One of the better known proposals was the "Second System," which was part of a plan by the Independent Subway to construct new subway lines in addition and take over existing subway lines and railroad right-of-ways. Though most of the routes proposed over the decades have never seen construction, discussion remains strong to develop some of these lines, to alleviate existing subway capacity constraints and overcrowding, the most notable being the Second Avenue Subway. Plans for new lines date back to the early 1910s. On August 28, 1922, Mayor John Francis Hylan announced that his new system would comprise of currently operating routes and another 100 miles of new routes, to be completed by December 31, 1925, and in competition with the IRT and BMT. In 1926, a loop subway service was planned to be built to New Jersey.	2.4375
1489099	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History%20of%20the%20New%20York%20City%20Subway	History of the New York City Subway	The most grandiose plan, conceived in 1929, was to be part of the city-operated IND. By 1939, with unification planned, all three systems were included. As this grandiose expansion was not built, the subway system is only 70% of what it was planned to be. Magnificently engineered, almost entirely underground, with platforms and flying junctions throughout, the IND system tripled the city's rapid transit debt, contributing to the demise of plans for an ambitious expansion proposed before the first line of the first system was even opened. After the IND Sixth Avenue Line was completed, only 28 new stations were built. Five stations were on the abandoned NYW&B-operated IRT Dyre Avenue Line, fourteen stations were on the abandoned LIRR Rockaway Beach Branch (now the IND Rockaway Line), six were on the Archer Avenue Lines and 63rd Street Lines (built as part of a 1968 plan), two stations (57th Street and Grand Street) were part of the Chrystie Street Connection, and the Harlem–148th Street terminal. Four MTA Capital Construction-funded stations (the 34th Street station on the 7 Subway Extension and the three stations on the Second Avenue Subway) have been constructed with up to 14 more planned. The city's subway construction costs are the highest in the world, which has slowed the pace of expansion. Unification	2.421875
1489099	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History%20of%20the%20New%20York%20City%20Subway	History of the New York City Subway	In June 1940, the IND's operator, the New York City Board of Transportation, took over the transportation assets of the IRT and BMT. In June 1953, the New York City Transit Authority, a state agency incorporated for the benefit of the city, now known to the public as MTA New York City Transit, succeeded the BoT. A combination of factors had this takeover coincide with the end of the major rapid transit building eras in New York City. The city immediately began to eliminate what it considered redundancy in the system, closing several elevated lines including the IRT Ninth Avenue Line and most of the IRT Second Avenue Line in Manhattan, and the BMT Fifth and Third Avenue Lines and most of the BMT Fulton Street Line in Brooklyn. Division differences Despite the unification, a distinction between the three systems survives in the service labels: IRT lines (now referred to as A Division) have numbers and BMT/IND (now collectively B Division) lines use letters. There is also a physical and less widely noticed difference, as A Division cars are narrower than those of B Division by and shorter by to . Because the A Division lines are of lower capacity for a given capital investment, all new extensions and lines built between World War II and 2007 have been for the B Division. A Division cars can travel on B Division lines when necessary but are not used for passenger service on those lines because of the dangerously wide gap between the car and the station platform. This stems from the IRT and BRT's long-standing disagreement where the BRT intentionally built cars that were too wide for the IRT.	2.875
1489099	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History%20of%20the%20New%20York%20City%20Subway	History of the New York City Subway	The original IRT subway lines (those built before the Dual Contracts) were built to modified elevated line dimensions. Whereas the IRT lines were originally equipped with cars that were long, the cars designed for the IRT subway measure long. Both sets of lines did not permit cars wider than . The clearances and curves on these lines are too narrow and too sharp for any IND or BMT equipment. The later extensions of the IRT, constituting the bulk of the IRT system, were built to wider dimensions, and so are of a profile that could support the use of IND/BMT sized equipment. B Division equipment could operate on much of A Division if station platforms were trimmed and trackside equipment moved, thus letting A Division service carry more passengers. However, there is virtually no chance of this happening because the older, narrower portions of A Division are centrally situated, such that it would be impossible to put together coherent through services. The most that can be reasonably hoped for is that some branch lines of Division A might be resized and attached to B Division lines. This was done with the BMT Astoria Line in Queens which had formerly been dual-operated with normal IRT trains and special narrow BMT shuttles. Post-unification expansion and reorganization New York hoped that the profits from the remaining formerly privately operated routes would support the expensive and deficit-ridden IND lines and simultaneously be able to repay the systems' debts, without having to increase the original fare of five cents. But during World War II, which gave a reprieve to the closure of most rail transit in the U.S., some closures continued, including the remainder of the IRT Second Avenue Line in Manhattan (1942) and the surviving BMT elevated services over the Brooklyn Bridge (1944). The Second World War also caused renewed inflation, which finally caused a fare increase to ten cents in 1947 and six years later to 15 cents.	2.328125
1489099	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History%20of%20the%20New%20York%20City%20Subway	History of the New York City Subway	Ridership skyrocketed during the late 1940s, and on December 23, 1946, the system-wide record of 8,872,249 fares was set. Because the consolidation dragged in the first years after unification, some improvements in operational processes were rather slow, and soon the question of organization was raised. The outsourcing of subway operations to the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey was favored at one point. On June 15, 1953, the NYCTA was founded with the aim of ensuring a cost-covering and efficient operation in the subways. There was a need to overhaul rolling stock and infrastructure of the once-private routes, especially for the IRT, where nearly all of the infrastructure was aged. The oldest cars came there from the time the subway opened in 1904, and the oldest subway cars of BMT in 1953 dated from the system's first years, in 1913. Therefore, a total of 2,860 cars for the A Division were delivered between 1948 and 1965, which constituted the replacement of almost the entire prewar IRT fleet. On the B Division, 2,760 cars were ordered. Platforms were doubled in length systemwide. At some stations, gap fillers were installed because the station extensions were curved. Also in this period, the BMT replaced their signals. The Main Line R36 cars were the first equipment to be equipped with two-way radio as delivered standard equipment in 1965, with the first use of radio in the subway system on the IRT Lexington Avenue Line in May 1965. The first successful air conditioned train (R38) was placed into service in July 1967.	2.578125
1489099	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History%20of%20the%20New%20York%20City%20Subway	History of the New York City Subway	In 1946, Mayor William O'Dwyer initiated a program to lengthen station platforms to accommodate ten-car trains. The first contract, which was completed in August 1946, extended the platforms at 125th Street, 207th Street, 215th Street, 225th Street, 231st Street and 238th Street on the IRT Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line for $423,000. Additional platform extensions were completed on the Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line in October 1946. On this date the platform extensions at 103rd Street, 110th Street, 116th Street, 137th Street, 145th Street, 157th Street, 168th Street, 181st Street, 191st Street and Dyckman Street were completed. This project cost $3.891 million. The platform extensions at the Hoyt Street station on the IRT Eastern Parkway Line opened in November 1946, being completed for $733,200. Stations along the IRT Lexington Avenue Line were next to receive the improvements. In January 1947, the 23rd Street, 28th Street and 33rd Street platform extensions were completed, costing $4.003 million. Work was subsequently completed at the Bleecker Street and Spring Street stations for $1.97 million. The $1.992 million contract to lengthen the platforms at the Canal Street and Worth Street stations to the south was completed in April 1947. In September 1947, a contract extending the platforms for stations in the Bronx was completed. The first stage of the plan was completed in June 1949, lengthening the platforms at Prospect Avenue, Jackson Avenue, Intervale Avenue, Simpson Street, Freeman Avenue, 174th Street and 177th Street on the IRT White Plains Road Line for $315,000. In September 1949, the Chairman of the Board of Transportation, William Reid, announced that the program to lengthen 32 IRT stations had been completed for $13.327 million. Reid also announced that the Board had created a five-year plan to lengthen all remaining BMT and IRT stations to accommodate ten-car trains.	2.390625
1489099	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History%20of%20the%20New%20York%20City%20Subway	History of the New York City Subway	Soon after, the city entered a fiscal crisis. Closures of elevated lines continued. These closures included the entire IRT Third Avenue Line in Manhattan (1955) and the Bronx (1973), as well as the BMT Lexington Avenue Line (1950), much of the remainder of the BMT Fulton Street Line (1956), the downtown Brooklyn part of the BMT Myrtle Avenue Line (1969), and the BMT Culver Shuttle (1975), all in Brooklyn, and the BMT Jamaica Line in Queens starting in 1977. The BMT Archer Avenue Line was supposed to replace the BMT Jamaica Line's eastern end, but it was never completed to its full extent, and opened in 1988 as a stub-end line, terminating at Jamaica Center. Construction and maintenance of existing lines was deferred, and graffiti and crime were very common. Trains frequently broke down, were poorly maintained, and were often late, while ridership declined by the millions each year. As in all of the city, crime was rampant in the subway in the 1970s. Thefts, robberies, shootings and killings became more frequent. The rolling stock was very often painted with graffiti or vandalized both inside and outside. As the New York City Police Department was completely overwhelmed, the public reacted with unease, and the subway was deliberately avoided. Around 1980, the reliability of the vehicles was a tenth of their reliability in the 1960s, and 40 percent of the network required speed restrictions. Because there had been no further studies of the subway since 1975, one third of the fleet was out of use during rush hours due to serious technical defects. In addition, signs were fitted incorrectly, and spare parts were missing or were bought in too large quantities, could not be found, or could not be installed due to lack of repairmen.	2.5

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