The William R. Thorsen House, often referred to as the Thorsen House, is a historic residence in Berkeley, California. Built in 1909 for William and Caroline Thorsen, it is one of the last of four standing ultimate bungalows designed by Henry and Charles Greene of the renowned architectural firm Greene & Greene and the only one located in Northern California.

Since 1942, it has been home to the Sigma Phi Society of the Thorsen House (alternatively Thorsen or the Sigma Phi Society of California), which hosts communal dinners, organizes small concerts, and offers tours for other students and members of the public, welcoming thousands of visitors a year.

Thorsen can be toured throughout the week on an informal basis; one can simply knock on the door to visit.

History

Namesake
The Thorsen House is named after William Randolph Thorsen (1860-1942), a lumber baron from Michigan who retired to and purchased a lot in Berkeley, California. His wife, Caroline Canfield Thorsen (1858-1942), was the younger sister of Nellie Canfield Blacker, owner of the Robert R. Blacker House in Pasadena, California. The couple resided in the house following its construction and until their deaths in 1942.

Design
The house embodies the American Craftsman style of the Arts and Crafts Movement, a style Greene & Greene is  known for incorporating in their projects (as is the case with Gamble House and Blacker House, both in Pasadena).

The entry hall is paneled in Burmese Teak while the living and dining rooms are paneled in Honduras Mahogany with ebony pegs covering the screws. The fireplace in the living room is encased in mauve tile from the Grueby Faience Company. The front door contains leaded art glass in the pattern of a gnarled grape vine, executed by Emil Lange, who also worked on the Gamble House. The Greenes were originally commissioned to make furniture for the dining room, but were later called back to make additional pieces.

See also
 Gamble House
 Robert R. Blacker House
 North American fraternity and sorority housing
 List of Berkeley Landmarks in Berkeley, California

References

Related reading
Bosley, Edward R.; Robert Judson Clark; Randell L. Makinson   (1996) Last of the Ultimate Bungalows. The William R. Thorsen House of Greene and Greene (University of California)
Makinson, Randall (2001) Greene & Greene: Architecture as a Fine Art (Gibbs Smith)
Johnson, Robert; Janet Byron (2015) Berkeley Walks: Revealing Rambles through America's Most Intriguing City (Roaring Forties Press)

External links
Official Thorsen House Website  (Sigma Phi Society - Tours)
Greene and Greene Virtual Archives Website

Houses completed in 1909
Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in California
History of Alameda County, California
Arts and Crafts architecture in California
Buildings and structures in Berkeley, California
Historic house museums in California
Bungalow architecture in California
American Craftsman architecture in California
Houses in Alameda County, California
Museums in Berkeley, California
Sigma Phi houses
National Register of Historic Places in Berkeley, California
Greene and Greene buildings
Berkeley Landmarks in Berkeley, California

Thorsen House


The flag of Washington, D.C. consists of three red stars above two red bars on a white background. It is an armorial banner based on the coat of arms granted to Lawrence Washington (George Washington's  great-grandfather) of Sulgrave Manor Northamptonshire, England, in 1592. This coat of arms was used privately by the president in his home at Mount Vernon. In heraldry, the stars are called mullets and the coat of arms is blazoned as argent two bars gules, in chief three mullets of the second.

In 1938, the District Flag Commission was created by an Act of Congress "to procure a design for a distinctive flag for the District of Columbia". The District Flag Commission was composed of three non-elected federally-appointed members: the president of the Board of Commissioners, the secretary of war and the secretary of the Navy. The flag was selected by the commission with the help of the Commission of Fine Arts. Since no local group was involved in the selection process, Washingtonians saw the flag as a symbol of their lack of representation. More recently, it has been embraced by most DC residents and businesses, as well as the DC Statehood Movement as a symbol of their local identity in the 21st century.

History

Washington family coat of arms

The Washington family traces its roots to England in the 13th century to Wessyngton, a small rural estate in the northeastern county of Durham where Sir William de Hertburn received a lordship. The original coat of arms evolved drastically over the next 150 years through alliances, land acquisitions and conflicts. In 1346, the first appearance of the family coat of arms as we would recognize it was recorded for Sir William de Wessyngton's great-grandson, but with argent (silver) horizontal bars and mullets on a gules (red) field. By the end of the 14th century, the current design was recorded for the family. After various events, the family was dispersed around England in Buckinghamshire, Kent, Warwickshire and Northamptonshire. In 1592, Robert Cooke, Clarenceux King of Arms confirmed the coat of arms upon Lawrence Washington (1566/68-1616) of Sulgrave Manor in Northamptonshire during the reign of Elizabeth I.

Two grandsons of Lawrence Washington immigrated to English North America in the 1660s. One of them was John Washington, who immigrated to the colony of Virginia in 1656. His great-grandson was George Washington who would become the first president of the United States. George used the coat of arms extensively on his Mount Vernon plantation, including on personal objects and on the livery of his enslaved servants. This was a common practice among the American planter class.

After the United States became independent from Britain in 1783, George Washington started a communication by mail with Sir Isaac Heard, Garter Principal King of Arms of the College of Arms in London on the matter of the coat of arms. This correspondence took place between 1791 and 1796 and appears to have been genealogical and probably also heraldic in nature. The president and the Garter appear to have been working together to trace George Washington's ancestors and the link to the British Isles. Mr. Heard confirmed the events that took place in England regarding his ancestors in a letter dated December 7, 1791. George Washington acknowledged that this was the same coat of arms used in the Colony prior to Independence.

Early history

Since its creation by Congress on July 9, 1790, by the Residence Act and for over a century, the District of Columbia was without an official flag and flew several unofficial banners, usually the flag of the D.C. National Guard.

In the early 20th Century, the Thompsen-Bryan-Ellis Company was a firm of printers working on a flag book under the direction of Lieutenant Commander Byron McCandless who had a great interest in vexillology. The work was then taken over by the National Geographic. It became the now well known "Our Flag Number" (Volume XXXII - Number 4) which contained 1197 flags in full colors and an additional 300 in black and white. On page 335, the National Guard's flag is shown as the representation of the District of Columbia. It showed a blue flag with two banners on it: one above with the word "Headquarters" and one below with "District of Columbia Militia" written on it. In between was an axe.

One of the artists working on the project was Charles A. R. Dunn. While drawing some of the flags, he noticed the lack of good design for many of the state flags with many simply being the state seal on a blue field. He also realized that the District of Columbia did not have a flag. He started thinking about designing a flag for the capital. He was very attracted to the design of the neighboring state flag of Maryland which used the arms of Lord Baltimore. It was only natural that he would remain in the field of heraldry for the inspiration of his design.

Early designs
In 1921, Dunn had moved on to work for the Chamber of Commerce of the United States. While working in the Mills Building, he drew a design for the flag in the office studio. He took the design directly from the coat of arms which belonged to the Washington family with no change to the design but did not release it at the time.

On February 8, 1924, the Daughters of the American Revolution managed to get a bill introduced in Congress to set up a commission to select a design. It was introduced by Chairman Reed of the House District Committee. The commission would be composed of the president of the United States, the secretary of war and the president of the board of commissioners of the district. It would have an appropriation of $1,500. On February 20, 1924, the Evening Star published a proposed design by John Mackaye Dunbar. It featured the shield portion of the coat-of-arms on a red field with a blue cross. While this design was not endorsed by the D.A.R., they appreciated its display of "simplicity" in their February 24 meeting. They confirmed that their research that the Militia flag with an ax had been used as a flag but was not an appropriate flag for the district. They further rejected the idea of having the seal of the District of Columbia be part of the design for a flag due to its complexity. Charles Moore, the chairman of the Fine Arts Commission who had been consulted on the drafting of the bill, also agreed that the design should be simple and should emphasize in some way that the district is the seat of the central government of all the states.

In February of that year, Charles Dunn submitted a set of drawings in black and white and in color to the Evening Star which was published on March 16, 1924. While the charges remained the same (two bars and three mullets) the tinctures had changed from all gules (red) to cobalt blue for the stars and vermilion for the bars. However, the enthusiasm died down soon after and the issue of a District of Columbia flag was not raised again until 1937.

However, some opposition arose from the Southeast Citizens' Association. On March 26, 1924, they adopted a resolution opposing the adoption of a special flag for the District of Columbia. This resolution was apparently adopted after Capt. W.E. Luckett declared "that the only flag the District of Columbia should cherish as its own is the one flag for every American — the Stars and Stripes".

On May 12, 1924, at a gathering of the Federation of Citizen's Associations, an imitation meeting of the federation was staged for the purpose of entertaining the guests present at the event. Meetings were known for their fiery debates and the topic of choice in this piece was the adoption of a flag for the District of Columbia. The "special committee" was headed by Fred S. Walker and James W. Murphy who came forward with the emblem with Jesse C. Suter as a member:

The design which would become known as the Jest Flag and was made public again on June 14, 2019 as part of #DCFlagDay as part of a discussion on the history of the DC flag. It is currently in the holdings of the Historical Society of Washington, D.C., and was last displayed in 1960 according to Josh Gibson who found the flag.

On May 2, 1924, the Evening Star published a new designed proposed by the Army. It was designed by the Office of the Quartermaster General and was the joint work of Capt. J. Moultrie Ward, Q.M.C. and Flora F. Sherwood, the Quartermaster Corps civilian artist. While they used the arms of George Washington in part of the flag and its two colors, it was very different. The first third, next to the hoist, consisted of a broad red strip with three white five-pointed stars aligned vertically in its center. They represented the three cities originally in its boundaries: Washington City, Georgetown and Alexandria. The remainder of the flag was composed of four stripes aligned veritably and alternating white and red ending with red on its edge.

The Senate passed the bill on May 5, 1924, and it made its way to the House of Representatives. On May 7, 1924, the Native Washingtonians for a Banquet for the organizations fifth anniversary. During his presentation, the president of the society Jesse C. Suter showed the audience the version of the district flag that was presented a few weeks later and explained its meaning:

However, it seems the bill never made it through to become law. A decade later, the question reappeared. On September 16, 1934, Frederic Adrian Delano, chairman of the National Capital Planning Commission and the uncle of President Franklin D. Roosevelt unveiled his design for a district flag. His version was based on the American flag with the same 13 stripes. In place of the stars a map of Washington when the city
was first projected in 1792 was added and was surrounded by pictures of the Capitol, the White House, the Lincoln Memorial, Mount Vernon, the Supreme Court Building, the Lee Mansion and the Amphitheater at Arlington, the Dumbarton House in Georgetown and the Masonic Memorial and Christ Church in Alexandria. In the four corners were four American eagles. The map design was originally drawn by Mildred G. Burrage at his suggestion and was known as the handkerchief map. The design was copyrighted by the American Civic Association of which Mr. Delano was president. Printed in six colors, the handkerchiefs were sold for $1 each and the proceeds were used for the George Washington Memorial Parkway fund.

Creation of the District Flag Commission
By 1938, the D.A.R. had been campaigning for a district flag for over a decade. The effort was being spearheaded by the local D.A.R. Committee on Correct Use of the Flag. In 1937, the local Chapter was asked to present a district flag to Dahlgren Hall at the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland to be hung along the flags of the 48 states (the states of Alaska and Hawaii did not join the Union until 1959) provided by state societies for Navy Day. The state chairman of the Flag Committee reached out to the district commissioner who was unable to provide one since it did not exist. Through extensive lobbying to Congress, the search for a suitable flag was pushed forward.

On June 16, 1938, Congress requested by an act that the secretary of war, the secretary of the Navy and the president of the Board of Commissioners of the District of Columbia create "a commission to procure a design for a distinctive flag for the District of Columbia, the Seat of the Capital of the Nation". The selection of the design shall have the advice of the Commission of Fine Arts. The bill was signed into law by President Franklin D. Roosevelt on the same day.

The commission included the president of the Board of Commissioners Melvin C. Hazen, the secretary of war Harry H. Woodring and the secretary of the Navy Claude A. Swanson. They held a meeting on July 9, 1938 to discuss the plans of choosing a design. The Evening Star stated at the time that this was a first step for the people of Washington toward the district's sovereignty which would include the right to vote. It was hoped that this was a sign of concession to come on the matter. At the time, the district commissioner was appointed by the president of the United States as were the two secretaries as part of the Cabinet. It was not until 1975 that DC residents voted for their mayor.

An announcement was made in the newspapers of a contest open to the public to submit design and ideas for the flag. The Heraldic Division of the War Department laid some heraldry and visibility rules. Arthur E. Du Bois was the heraldic expert of the Quartermaster General's Office and sat on the commission as an adviser. The secretary of war and the secretary of the Navy did not appear to actually be present on the commission but were represented by members of their staff.

Design submissions and selection
Charles Dunn submitted his 1921 design with the Washington coat of arms with all the charges in their original tincture of gules (red) in June 1938. In addition to the flag itself, he proposed the use of a Washington coat of arms in the canton (which he erroneously called a jack) for local organizations such as the American Legion. The organization would then use the rest of the space (the field) on the flag for their own emblem.

On August 24, 1938, the Evening Star announced that the commission had met to review the designs. They were down to two submissions mentioned by name. The first one was Charles Dunn's design using Washington's coat of arms. The second was a submission by the American Liberty Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution and designed by one of its members, Mrs. George T. Hawkins. On a blue background, a big gold star made up of 13 concentric lines representing the original Thirteen Colonies with the Capitol Building in the center. The star is encircled by 48 small gold stars representing the states in the Union. The words "DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA" written in gold could be added or removed from the bottom. A flag of Dunn's design was made and a display board of Hawkins design were shown to the reporters present at the announcement. Both designs were submitted to the Commission of Fine Arts for final review as the commission "admitted a deadlock". The Fine Arts' meeting would take place in September.

Formal requests for local selection involvement
However, the Commission of Fine Arts had to delay the review as it wanted to study all of the 50-odd designs and some had not yet arrived as of September 3 when the meeting took place. The review was pushed by two weeks to the next meeting. In addition, the Evening Star reported that the process of selecting the design was being questioned among those active in civic affairs. It was suggested that the Commission of Fine Arts use a more democratic process. This selection was "seen as a real opportunity to arouse interest and civic spirit through giving this voteless and unrepresented community an opportunity to have a part in the selection of the community colors under which it will in the future march with pride and devotion".

The question of what the flag should represent was also discussed. The Evening Star asked the question in these terms: "what do any of the designs under consideration symbolize?" Some citizens asked the same question. In their September 8, 1938 meeting, the Association of Oldest Inhabitants asked that the Commission of Fine Arts collaborate with a special committee of native Washingtonians as they felt left out. On a letter to the commissioner they stated their concerns:

The Federation of Citizens' Association joined in this movement in early October. They requested that the Commission of Fine Arts give them the privilege to co-operate with them to the selection of the design. A special committee was to be appointed to seek this. A letter from the Association of Oldest Inhabitants to the Federation of Citizens' Association was sent on October 5, 1938 requesting that both groups collaborate on the selection of the design. The Kalorama Association sided with the other two associations on October 11 as they sent a letter to the commission recommending that the choice of the design be left to the residents of the district.

Selection of the final design

On October 15, 1938, the Evening Star announced that a new flag has been adopted by the District Flag Commission and the Fine Arts Commission. After reviewing 50 designs, Washington's coat of arms was selected. The design was described as "paying honors to George Washington using the major elements of the emblem features of the family shield of the first President".

The following specifications were adopted:
The proportions of the design are prescribed in terms of the hoist, or vertical height, of the flag as follows: the upper white portion shall be  of the hoist; the two horizontal bars are each  of the hoist; the white area between the bars  of the hoist; and the base, or lowest white space, is  of the hoist. The three five-pointed stars have a diameter of  of the hoist and are spaced equidistant in the fly, or horizontal, dimension of the flag.Government of the District of Columbia, untitled monograph, 1963, pp. 21–23, as cited by

Design explanation and failure to credit local input

On October 16, all the details of the selections were given to the press and explained. It was explained that the commissioner, who was the former district surveyor, recalled seeing the coat of arms on a shield on old maps. Upon research, a map by Andrew Ellicott engraved in 1792 by Thackara & Vallance in Philadelphia was found. The direct association of the first president with the establishment of the district and the capital city bearing his name was sufficient to justify using heraldic symbolism in the flag to illustrate the historical connection. In his view, it explained why several designs included this idea.

Mr. Hazen was credited for having "brought to attention the basic elements of the simplified Washington shield" while Arthur E. Du Bois was credited for the details of the final design. Apart from the mention that many designs included these features and that 50 designs were submitted, there was no recognition of the contribution of the local residents in the process. He responded to the failure to include the local population (directly or through the civic associations) by stating that anyone interested could submit a design and that it would have been reviewed. No mention of Charles Dunn's contribution was made at the time. His contribution was made public in 1957, when he published an article in the Records of the Columbia Historical Society entitled The Origins of the District of Columbia Flag were he reveals the process that took place from his point of view. When he died in 1978, his contribution was not mentioned.

Commissioner Hazen also announced that the flag could first be flown at the Inter-American Horse Show at Meadowbrook Farm, in Montgomery County, Maryland, on October 23, 1938, which would be designated as District Day. The commissioner was one of the sponsors of the Show. However, the flag was first flown on October 18, 1938, on the District Building (now known as the John A. Wilson Building, the city council's offices) under the American flag. The flag measured  feet by .

Designer
Today, most sources state that Charles Dunn is the actual designer of the DC flag. It seems all historical accounts come from The Origins of the District of Columbia Flag he published in the Records of the Columbia Historical Society and the August 24, 1938, Evening Star article where he is mentioned as a finalist. However, according to the commission set up by Congress and who had authority to choose the design, Commissioner Melvin C. Hazen is credited as playing a major role in the design and Arthur E. Du Bois as having done the final design. This appears to indicate that Hazen and Du Bois were seen as co-designers at the time. The criticisms that followed the announcement regarding the lack of local involvement seem to confirm that this was the accepted view at the time. The DC Council website no longer states that Dunn is the designer, while it stated it up until 2018 that this was the case.

The link to the Washington coat of arms is undeniable and has been stated by all parties as a source of inspiration for the DC flag. Therefore, from a heraldry perspective, it seems that neither Dunn nor Hazen and Du Bois can lay claim to the design itself as being their own. In addition, as stated by the commissioner himself, the use of the design and its first association with Washington City and the other territories of the District of Columbia dates back to 1792 when it appeared on the Ellicott map only two years after the District of Columbia was created and while President Washington was in office. This exact same design of the arms dates back to at least the 14th century in England and it seems the original designer would have lived at that time. No changes have been made between that time and the design set in 1938.

Usage

DC Government use
Starting in 1916 when the District Building was inaugurated to 1964, the flag of the United States was flown from a large flagpole located on the roof of the building. Due to concerns regarding the safety of the staff during inclement weather, two new poles were installed in front of the building. It was then that, for the first time, the DC flag was flown on the DC Government building grounds on a separate pole. Prior to that, it was flown under the American Flag.

The flag first appeared on the District of Columbia license plates known as the 1984 Capital City Baseplate starting on October 1, 1984. These plates were issued for new registrations and issued to motorists who had the old 1974 and 1978 series plates. This replacement process took place from October 1984 to September 1986.

The DC flag is used on all DC Government websites, publications, documents and equipment. It is used extensively on its own or integrated into some of the department logos and program logos. One notable exception is the patch of the Metropolitan Police Department of the District of Columbia which had the Capitol building on it and never had the DC flag on it.

Local politics
Elements of the design are used extensively in local politics. The three stars and bars or the colors are often used by candidates and causes on their signs during local elections.

In 2002, the D.C. Council debated a proposal to change the flag in protest of the district's lack of voting rights in Congress. The new design would have added the letters "D.C." to the center star and the words "Taxation Without Representation" in white to the two red bars, a slogan already in use on the district's license plates. The change presumably would have been temporary and revoked once the city achieved equal representation or statehood. It passed the council on a 10–2 vote, but support for the proposal soon eroded, and then-mayor Anthony A. Williams never signed the bill.

In spite of its adoption by a non-elected commission of federally appointed members, the DC flag has become a symbol of local identity and local self-governance in the 21st Century. Today, it is used extensively by the DC Government's Statehood Campaign, activists and citizens fighting for the District of Columbia to become the 51st State of the Union. It is also a non-partisan symbol and is extensively used by all parties in the district including Democrats, Republicans and Green Party in their campaigns and websites.

City Council Commemorative Flag Program
Starting on June 1, 2017, the D.C. City Council began a new commemorative flag program, which is similar to the United States flag program operated by the Congressional Keeper of the Stationery and requested through a constituent's U.S. senator or U.S. representative. In the case of the DC flag, interested parties can fill out an online form on the DC Council's website providing a credit card or by sending a letter with applicable check or money order to the secretary of the City Council requesting a 3×5 or 4×6 District of Columbia flag; once the request is received a flag is taken and then flown on one of several flagpoles at the John A. Wilson Building. After the flag has been flown it is then packaged and sent to the requester with an accompanying certificate that authenticates the flag was flown at the top of a flagpole at the Wilson Building.

DC Flag Day
Flag Day is celebrated in the United States on June 14. The Neighbors United for DC Statehood has been organizing the DC Flag Day Photo Contest since 2013 (with the exception of 2016). It celebrates the DC flag and pride while advocating for DC Statehood on their website and on social media using the hashtag #DCFlagDay. In 2018, the contest was organized in several categories:
 Best Ward: given to the Council member to the highest volume of constituent tweets with the flag (won by Ward 6)
 Best Campaign Team: given to the best Campaign team bringing DC Love
 Best Advocacy: for the best photo encouraging a specific House or Senate member not yet cosponsoring the statehood bills in Congress
 Best Group: given to a community group (won by Mayor Muriel Bowser)
 Best Elected Official: given to a local elected official (won by Brianne Nadeau)
 Best Agency: given to a local Government Agency (won by DOEE)
 Best Business: given to a business promoting the DC flag and its business
 Best Non-Profit: given to a non-profit representing the love of Washington, DC and their organization (won by DC Vote)
 Artistic Expression: given for the most artistic photo
 Best Pet: given for the "most cute, quirky, or compelling photo of a non-human living thing"
 Best Friend in a State: given to a person or group from one of the 50 states imploring their Representative or Senator to support the Statehood Movement or thank them for doing so (won by Eleanor Norton)
 Best Statehood Shot: given for the best photo symbolic of the fight for statehood (won by Charles Allen)

Voter's Guide upside-down flag incident
On October 16, 2014, ahead of the November 4 elections, it was discovered that the DC flag was put upside down on the DC Voters Guide sent to residents in the district the previous day. It was originally reported by Denise Tolliver, the District of Columbia Board of Elections' spokesperson, that the inverted flag was placed as a way to draw attention to the upcoming election. The turnout at the previous election was at a historic low with only 27% turnout. Later that day, after checking with the printer, the Executive Director, Clifford Tatum, confirmed that it was indeed an error. According to him, a member of the design team had stylized the logo in past elections. He stated that "[The Board] ha[s] done different things with the flag in the past. Her idea was the bars would be above the stars." Since the error was found after they were published, it appears someone came up with the cover-up idea of it being intentional. Ward 5 Council Member Kenyan McDuffie stated "My impression is that this was not an intentional act, and it was an error. And if it was intentional, then it was ridiculous that anyone would sanction that." The board issued an apology and acknowledged both issues with the DC flag properly oriented as a watermark:

Federal use
Until 2013, the DC flag was not automatically raised at events in the United States Armed Forces along the flags of the 50 states. The National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2013 was signed into law by President Barack Obama in January 2013 contained a provision that required just that the DC flag and the flags of the territories be displayed whenever the flags of the states are displayed. This legislation was pushed by Delegate to the House of Representatives Eleanor Holmes Norton.

Private use
The design has been embraced by the public in the 20th century and it has become a symbol of the city.

The following local sports teams have integrated the flag in their logos:
 Washington Capitals
 D.C. United
 Washington Wizards
 DC Defenders
 Old Glory DC

It has been used by many local brands in their logos to show their local connection. One such example is DC Brau Brewing whose logo includes the DC flag on the US Capitol. The Department of Small and Local Business Development established the Made in DC program "to capture, highlight and promote the intellectual and creative genius of DC's local maker community". The logo includes the DC flag as part of its design.

It has also been used extensively as a tattoo design by local residents to show their connection to the city. Some notable people include Ward 3 Council Member Mary Cheh and radio host Kojo Nnamdi who along with Tom Sherwood, political analyst at the local National Public Radio WAMU agreed to get tattooed in for a $3,000 donation to the public supported station. It was announced on air on October 23, 2015 and the tattoos took place on November 20, 2015.

Criticism of the design

No local involvement in the selection
The new flag was not well received by many in the local population at the time. The failure to involve the local population in the selection of their flag did not go unnoticed and many found new meanings for the stars and bars with many negative symbols and parallels.

With the District of Columbia Organic Act of 1801, the new federal district was placed under the sole authority of Congress. In the process, DC residents lost voting representation in Congress as they were no longer part of a US state. They also lost representation in the Electoral College and the right to home rule. By 1938, the residents were still fighting for these rights. The Twenty-third Amendment restored the right to vote in the Electoral College and on December 24, 1973, the District of Columbia Home Rule Act allowed the residents to elect a mayor and the 13-member Council of the District of Columbia.

In 1938 however, the situation was much different. The Evening Star points out that while the residents of the district had now a flag, they were still without a vote or representation. The refusal to involve local participation in spite of multiple requests of local civic associations was a clear sign that nothing had changed in terms of local representation and involvement in the federally controlled government. The lack of local significance or symbolism was also criticized and new interpretations of the flag were found. The two red stripes were seen as representing the Senate and House of Representatives where DC residents were not represented, while the three stars represented the three commissioners who ruled over the city with accountability to the people who were innocent and represented in white.

A strong parallel was found by some between the way the commission (who was not elected by the residents) had not listened to the local residents and Stalinism in the Russian Empire

The chairman of the Flag Committee of the Society of Natives noted:

A citizen had similar views. He describes his vision of the flag which he considers "a misfit for a flag to represent the seat of government of the greatest free country of the earth":

Over time attitudes toward the design changed and it went from being rejected to being embraced including by the Statehood movement in the District of Columbia.

History of Washington family arms

The coat of arms in question is blazoned as:

According to records available, this coat of arms was granted to Lawrence Washington of Sulgrave Manor in 1592 by Robert Cook, Clarenceux King of Arms. He was the last known recorded grantee of that specific design by the College of Arms.

Lawrence would have passed it down to his descendants upon his death as it was the tradition. Lawrence Washington had two sons: John (1589–1688) and Lawrence (1602–1652). Lawrence Washington was the youngest. As was often the case of younger children, he entered the clergy as he seems to not have had received the estate and became a rector.

Lawrence's oldest son, John Washington (1631-1677) was the earliest ancestor to arrive in America with his youngest brother. He settled in the Colony of Virginia in 1656. It is mentioned in Crozier's General Armory that John was using the coat of arms in Virginia in 1657. However this armorial was published 250 years later in 1904 and the author does no cite his sources for the coat of arms. It could well be that William Armstrong Crozier was deducting the fact that John had it because George Washington was using them a century and a half later.

There seems to have been no official recordings of this coat of arms in the colonies so it remains unclear who used the coat of arms between John Washington who settled in 1656 and the Revolutionary war. It is said that it was engraved on Elizabeth Washington (1717–1734/35), George Washington cousin. It appears that the coat of arms had been used by the family in the Colony for some time as George Washington reported in his letter to Sir Isaac Heard on May 2, 1792. George himself had started using it as early as 1755, when he purchased goods with the coat of arms. It is well documented that George Washington, a British subject until the Revolutionary War, used this coat of arms extensively at Mount Vernon and on many objects.

While the United States were no longer under British rule after its independence, it appears that George Washington was actually studying his family heritage later in life both in terms of genealogy and heraldry as visible in his correspondence with the College of Arms represented by Isaac Heard from 1791 to 1796.

The earliest communication we have from his regarding this happens in 1788 with William Barton. The question was raised with regards to the design of the Great Seal of the United States and the possible need for regulations which George Washington was reluctant to the idea because of the fragility of the Union. At the time, he described himself as "imperfectly acquainted with the subject of heraldry. In his view "it might not [...] be advisable to stir any question, that would tend to reanimate the dying embers of faction, or blow the dormant spark of jealousy into an inextinguishable flame."

A couple years later, the same President was in communication with Isaac Heard, who was the Garter Principal King of Arms to inquire about his family's coat of arms. The communication seems to be centered around the genealogical question. In the December 7, 1791 letter, Mr. Heard is requesting additional information regarding George Washington's ancestry as he seem to not have that information available. Mr. Washington responds on May 2, 1792 that he will probably not be able to provide this pedigree due to the lack of centralized records. He has been researching the historical family link to England and acknowledges that he is unsure about the exact location in England. It is in this letter that he mentions the resemblance of the arms:

In an August 9, 1793, Mr. Heard informs Mr. Washington that he is still trying to prove that he is a direct descendant from Lawrence Washington who was granted the coat of arms and is requesting more information. The question appears to have not been resolved by July 10, 1796. He was still attempting to find the proof that the first immigrants (John and Lawrence) were in fact Lawrence Washington of Soul grove's descendants. No further letter is known to exist between the two and George Washington passed away on December 14, 1799.

See also

 George Washington
 Seal of the District of Columbia
 Flag of the United States
 Flag of Maryland
 Flag and seal of Virginia
 Vexillology
 Heraldry

References

External links

Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington
Symbols of the District of Columbia
Washington DC
1938 establishments in Washington, D.C.

Flag of Washington, D.C.


The A Line (formerly, from 1990 to 2019, and colloquially known as the Blue Line) is a  light rail line in Los Angeles County, California. The A Line runs east-west between Azusa and Pasadena, then north-south between Pasadena and Long Beach, via Downtown Los Angeles.

The A Line is the oldest of six lines in the Los Angeles Metro Rail system, operated by the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority. The original Blue Line segment from Long Beach to Downtown Los Angeles opened in 1990, using much of the original right-of-way of the Long Beach Line, a former Pacific Electric interurban line.

The A Line's current Azusa–Long Beach service was introduced in June 2023 with the opening of the Regional Connector, incorporating the Union Station–Pasadena–Azusa portion of the former Gold Line. The A Line is currently the longest light rail line in the world.

Service description

Route description
The A Line runs  between Azusa and Downtown Long Beach, with 44 stations. It is the longest light rail line in the world.

The line's northern terminus is at APU/Citrus College station just west of Citrus Avenue and the two universities. The line runs west through Azusa before stopping at Azusa Downtown station at Azusa Avenue, north of Foothill Boulevard, near the downtown shops and government buildings.

Continuing west, the line crosses over the I-210 freeway and runs parallel to it, entering Irwindale before stopping at Irwindale station at Irwindale Avenue. After this station, the line continues west, crossing over the San Gabriel River and underneath the I-605 freeway, diverging from I-210 and entering Duarte, before stopping at Duarte/City of Hope station located on the north side of Duarte Road, across from the City of Hope National Medical Center.

Continuing west, the line parallels Duarte Road, entering Monrovia, before diverging northwest just before arriving at Monrovia station. In this area, the line runs adjacent to single-family homes. Entering Arcadia, the line crosses all street crossings on bridges except for First Avenue at the at-grade Arcadia station.

Continuing west, the line reconverges with and enters the median of I-210 and continues west to Sierra Madre Villa station in Pasadena. Six stations serve different parts of Pasadena, with three of them in the freeway's median. In Old Pasadena, the line travels underground for almost half a mile, passing under Pasadena's main thoroughfare, Colorado Boulevard, which makes the Memorial Park station below grade. The station serves most of Pasadena's fine dining, shops, malls, and civic center. The Pasadena City Hall is visible upon exiting the station. The line continues south through downtown Pasadena and South Pasadena, primarily at-grade.

North of Highland Park, the line crosses over the Arroyo Seco Parkway (State Route 110) via the grand Santa Fe Arroyo Seco Railroad Bridge towards Highland Park. After Highland Park station, the line runs in the median of Marmion Way, where trains go at only . After 50th Avenue, the line runs primarily at-grade in its own right-of-way, except for a short tunnel underneath the intersection of Figueroa Street and Pasadena Avenue.

From here, the line continues, with a handful of stations serving the hillside communities north of downtown, including Lincoln Heights, Mount Washington, and the Southwest Museum of the American Indian. Northeast of Chinatown, the line crosses over the Los Angeles River on an elevated viaduct. Continuing on the elevated viaduct, the line stops at Chinatown station before arriving at Union Station. This entire section of the line north of Union Station follows the current and former right-of-way of the Pasadena Subdivision.

At Union Station, riders can transfer to other trains and modes.

Transfers include:
The B and D rapid transit lines.
The J bus rapid transit line.
Other bus services.
Metrolink commuter rail.
Amtrak inter-city services.

When the line used to be the L Line, trains went toward Atlantic station in East Los Angeles. Trains now use a new tunnel constructed via the Regional Connector Transit Project underneath downtown, which connects with the original A Line at 7th Street/Metro Center station. In Little Tokyo, the line enters the new tunnel north of Temple Street to serve the replacement underground Little Tokyo/Arts District station, where the line merges with the E Line. The lines turn to run under 2nd Street and the 2nd Street Tunnel, as well as the B and D lines, with clearances as low as .

The new tunnel ends at the north end of 7th Street/Metro Center station, the previous terminal built in the early 1990s, and the line continues south under Flower Street. After rising to street level, the A and E Lines run south along Flower Street. Passengers can connect to the bus rapid transit J Line at 7th Street/Metro Center, Pico, and Grand stations. The two lines diverge at Flower Street and Washington Boulevard. E Line trains continue south along Flower Street. At the same time, the A Line turns east onto Washington Boulevard before turning south into the former Pacific Electric right-of-way at Long Beach Avenue. This historic rail corridor has four tracks, two for A Line trains and two for freight trains. Along the corridor, there are some flyovers to either eliminate grade crossings in more densely populated areas or pass over diverging freight tracks. Passengers can connect with the C Line at the Willowbrook/Rosa Parks station. Just south of Willow station, A Line trains exit the rail corridor and begin street running in the median of Long Beach Boulevard into the city of Long Beach, where trains travel through the Long Beach Transit Mall while making a loop using 1st Street, Pacific Avenue, and 8th Street.

Hours and frequency

Speed
As listed on the official timetable, trains take two hours to travel the  length of the line, an average speed of .

Station listing
The following is the complete list of stations, from north to south.

Ridership

History

Long Beach Line
Much of the current A Line follows the route of the Pacific Electric's Long Beach Line, which ended service in 1961. The old route gave the new light rail trains a private right-of-way between  and  stations allowing them to reach higher speeds between stops.

The line initially opened as the Blue Line on Saturday, July 14, 1990, for US$877 million (equivalent to $ in  adjusted for inflation), and ran from  to . The Long Beach Loop section to  opened in September 1990, followed by the tunnel into  in February 1991.

The route was a success, and from 1999 to 2001, the Blue Line underwent a US$11 million project to lengthen 19 of its platforms so that they could accommodate three-car trains. Plans were also made to extend the Blue Line north to Pasadena, but the connection across downtown was deferred, and the northern portion opened as the Gold Line in 2003. That original plan for the Blue Line became a reality when the Regional Connector was announced in 2009. Ground was broken for the Regional Connector across downtown in 2014, and it opened on June 16, 2023.

The Blue Line was renovated in 2019, with the southern half of the line being closed for the first five months and the northern half closing for the following five months (10 months total). Metro provided a bus shuttle service to compensate for the lack of rail service. Metro officially reopened the line on November 2, 2019, rebranding it as the A Line.

Pasadena Blue Line

Much of the L Line's right-of-way through the San Gabriel Valley was built by the Los Angeles and San Gabriel Valley Railroad in 1885, eventually taken over by the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway, as part of the Pasadena Subdivision, which saw Amtrak service until 1994, when construction began on the conversion to light rail. The project was initially called the "Pasadena Metro Blue Line." Planners envisioned extending the existing Blue Line from Long Beach. Still, when a ban on sales tax spending on subway tunnels passed in 1998, the project became a separate line terminating at .

The now-renamed Gold Line, between Union Station and Sierra Madre Villa station in East Pasadena, opened on July 26, 2003.

Foothill Extension
Phase 2A (the section between LA and Pasadena was Phase 1) of the Foothill Extension, running between Sierra Madre Villa and  station in Azusa, opened on March 5, 2016.

Regional Connector

The Regional Connector Transit Project constructed a  light rail tunnel across Downtown Los Angeles that connected the L Line with the A and E lines. The project finally completed the late 1990s vision of the "Pasadena Blue Line," connecting the northern (Union Station–Azusa) segment of the L Line to the A Line (formerly the Blue Line), which ran between Los Angeles and Long Beach. The southern (Pico/Aliso–East LA) segment was combined with the existing E Line between Downtown Los Angeles and Santa Monica. The new east–west line kept the E Line name but uses the L Line's gold color.

The at-grade Little Tokyo/Arts District station was demolished in 2020 and was rebuilt as a subway station approximately  south and on the opposite side of Alameda from its former location.

With this project completed, service was simplified into the following configuration:

 A Line
 The northeastern segment of the L Line (north of ) became an extension to the previously existing A Line.
 The Foothill Extension Project was also absorbed into the A Line, which would extend it further to Pomona–North station upon its completion in summer 2025.
 E Line
 The southern portion of the current L Line to the Eastside was combined with the existing E Line, which kept the E Line name but now uses the L Line's gold color.

The groundbreaking for constructing the Regional Connector occurred on September 30, 2014, and opened on June 16, 2023.

Future developments

Foothill Extension

Phase 2B of the Foothill Extension, running between APU/Citrus College station in Azusa and the Pomona–North Metrolink station in Pomona, is currently under construction, with a current estimated completion of summer 2025. This extension, like the original Gold Line to Pasadena, and the first phase of the Foothill Extension is being built by a specialized construction authority, independent of Metro. The original plan called for the extension to end at Montclair in San Bernardino County, but budget challenges forced the construction authority to cut the line back to Pomona.

It is served by the A Line due to the completion of the Regional Connector project on June 16, 2023.

WASB
Main Article: West Santa Ana Branch Transit Corridor

The West Santa Ana Branch Transit Corridor is a planned light rail line, mostly following the Pacific Electric's historic West Santa Ana Branch, connecting Downtown Los Angeles to the city of Artesia, along with other cities in southeastern Los Angeles County. It will link the southeast/Gateway cities with the A line at Slauson station (A Line) station. It is to start construction in 2025 and operate starting in 2035. Metro says it will take 10 years to build.

Current issues

Capacity limits

The line often operates at capacity, and various options to increase capacity have been considered, such as four-car or more frequent trains. Both have problems: it would be difficult or impossible to lengthen some of the station platforms, and the number of trains already causes delays for other vehicles at level crossings. Thus it may not be possible to increase A Line ridership without a costly grade-separation project, either by elevation, by an entrenchment method similar to that used by the nearby Alameda Corridor freight rail "expressway," or by building another parallel transit corridor to relieve capacity strains from the A Line. With the Regional Connector Transit Project linking the A and E Line tracks with the former L Line tracks in Little Tokyo, this may result in even more capacity problems, with ridership expected to grow. Pico station, which is served by both A and E line trains, is a major limiting factor for service frequency. The very busy grade crossing immediately adjacent to the station makes reliably running high-frequency service on both lines logistically very difficult.

Safety at level crossings

Over 120 motorists and pedestrians have been killed at A Line level crossings since 1990. There have been more than 800 collisions, making the line easily the country's deadliest and most collision-prone rail line.

In 1998, the MTA commissioned Booz Allen Hamilton, Inc. to evaluate the cause of Blue Line collisions and recommend affordable solutions. The study reported the high ridership (over 70,000 per day) was a contributor:

Other contributing factors identified were the high population density leading to more pedestrian and vehicular traffic around the tracks, the diverse varied socio-economic community around the line that creates literacy and language difficulties for public education campaigns, driver frustration due to the slow traffic speeds around the line that leads to more risk-taking behavior, and the shared right-of-way with freight traffic in the fastest running section from Washington station to Willow station, where trains operate at a maximum of  between stations.

The collision rate has declined somewhat following the installation of four-quadrant gates at some crossings where the A Line shares the right-of-way with freight rail between Willowbrook station and Artesia station. The gates prevent drivers from going around lowered gates. In addition, cameras along some problem intersections issue traffic tickets when drivers go around gates.

Operations
On Metro Rail's internal timetables, the A Line is called line 801.

Because of the length of the line, operators do not take trains from end to end, swapping out at Union Station. Trains are operated between APU/Citrus College and Union Station by employees based at Division 24 in Monrovia. Between Long Beach and Union Station, operators are based out of Division 11 in Rancho Dominguez.

Maintenance facilities
The A Line is operated out of two divisions, Metro's term for train maintenance and storage facilities.

Division 11 is located at 4350 East 208th Street in Cota, North Long Beach between  and  stations. The facility can house and maintain 86 light rail vehicles and can perform heavy maintenance including repainting. Trains get to this yard via a wye junction on the southbound tracks. Northbound trains can enter and exit the yard via the cross tracks on the north and south side of the junction.

Division 24 is located south of the I-210 freeway in Monrovia between  and  stations. Just like Division 11, trains access the yard via the westbound/southbound tracks from either direction of its wye junction. Crossovers from the eastbound track to the yard junction are located near the California Avenue and Mountain Avenue railroad crossings.

Rolling stock

The A Line operates trains with three light rail vehicles on weekdays and two on weekends. The line currently uses three different types of light rail vehicles: the Siemens P2000, the  Kinki Sharyo P3010 and the AnsaldoBreda P2550, but has seen every type light rail rolling stock on Metro's roster throughout its history of operation.

When the A Line, then known as the Blue Line, first opened in 1990 the line had 54 Nippon Sharyo P865 light rail vehicles, numbered 100–153. These cars wore a unique livery consisting of several blue stripes and a single red stripe, reflecting the Blue Line's color designation and its Pacific Electric Red Car heritage.

In 2000, Metro transferred all 15 Nippon Sharyo P2020 (numbered 154-168) light rail vehicles from the Green Line (now the C Line) to the Blue Line fleet. These light rail vehicles were nearly identical to the older P865 model but were about five years newer and originally had equipment for automatic train operation.

In 2012, Metro transferred some Siemens P2000 light rail vehicles from the Gold Line to the Blue Line fleet.

In 2017, the Blue Line received 78 Kinki Sharyo P3010 light rail vehicles, the first new cars for the line since it opened in 1990. As the P3010 fleet was introduced, Metro gradually retired all of the remaining P865 light rail vehicles, followed by the P2020 fleet.

In 2023, as a result of the completed Regional Connector, the AnsaldoBreda P2550 light rail vehicles started running the original Blue Line route. They originally test ran the Blue Line back in 2009 before becoming exclusive to the Gold Line. Originally, the P2550s were unable to run along the Blue Line due to weight restrictions.

References

External links

 Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority
 Blue Line homepage
 Blue Line schedule
 Blue Line connections overview
 A History of the Blue Line: A Light Rail Success Story  by the Transit Coalition
 Killing Time on the Ghetto Blue from the LA Weekly
 Delivery of The First Metro Blue Line Vehicle

Light rail in California
Public transportation in Los Angeles
Public transportation in Los Angeles County, California
Transportation in Long Beach, California
South Los Angeles
Railway lines opened in 1990
1990 establishments in California

A Line (Los Angeles Metro)


42 is the "Answer to the Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe, and Everything" in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy books.  It was computed by
Deep Thought, the second greatest computer ever.  The descendants of Deep Thought's creators are upset by the numeric nature of the answer, not understanding what to do with it or what to tell the people who had commissioned the 7.5-million year project.

When asked to produce The Ultimate Question to go with the answer "42", Deep Thought admits it is not capable of computing that itself, but that it can help to design an even more powerful computer, which can. This new computer will incorporate living beings into the "computational matrix" and will run for ten million years. It is the planet Earth.

Notes

Science fiction books

42 (answer)


C.B.I. Shankar is a 1989 Indian Kannada language drama film directed by P. Nanjundappa. It stars Shankar Nag in the title role as Shankar, an officer with the CBI, who investigates a murder case closed down by the local police. The supporting cast features Devaraj, Doddanna, Vajramuni, Suman Ranganathan and Shashikumar. The film was a blockbuster and further established Nag as a leading actor in Kannada cinema.

Plot
Sub-inspector Galappa Doddamani stumbles at Sathya's filming location in a forest, of the film CBI Shankar. The president of the local Zilla Parishad Narayana Gowda (Vajramuni) reaches the spot with a businessman Amar (Devaraj), and grant the crew permission to continue filming. Following Gowda's inappropriate behavior with Tara (as herself), the film's female lead, at a party hosted by the film producer, she storms out of the party and walks out of the film. Sathya, also the film's director, persists Amar's sister Asha (Suman Ranganathan) to replace her, to which an initially hesitant Asha agrees in her brother, Amar's absence, who had other plans for her.

Amar away from home strikes a business deal with an agency with the help of Radha, who has a crush on him. Filming with CBI Shankar, Asha, while performing a scene in the film, falls unconscious on seeing blood-stained clothes and backs out of the film. Sathya woos her and convinces her to overturn her decision, and is successful. Amar, on returning home, is furious to find Asha acting and confronts Sathya. He gets the police to the filming location to arrest Sathya on grounds of having forced Asha to act in the film. Sathya then reveals his real identity of Shankar, a CBI officer who, with his team have come down to the town to unearth the murder case of Santosh (Shashikumar), having been closed down previously by the local police calling it a suicide.

In a series of flashback sequences as narrated by the potential suspects to Shankar as part of the investigation, it is seen that Santosh was a dancer who was given a ticket by a political party to contest at the local Zilla Parishad elections. Foreseeing his win, the opposition political party led by Gowda plans on giving him cash in return for his withdrawal. Reluctant to withdraw, Gowda asks Bullet Basya (Sudheer) to "deal with Santosh". Basya tails him and involves him in a fistfight, and shockingly finds Amar stabbing Santosh from behind killing him. Cut to the present, Basya reveals to Shankar that it was Amar who killed Santosh for the reason that the latter pursued Amar's sister. The CBI team proceed to arrest a newlywed Amar only to find him stabbed by Radha, his wife, who reveals that she did so, to avenge her ex-husband's murder by Amar, who had murdered him owing to a business-related dispute. An unhurt Amar manages to escape, who is pursued by Shankar and hands him over to the police.

Cast

Soundtrack

Hamsalekha composed the background score for the film and the soundtrack. The soundtrack album consists of five tracks.

References

External links

1989 films
1980s Kannada-language films
Indian drama films
Films scored by Hamsalekha
Central Bureau of Investigation in fiction
Indian nonlinear narrative films

C.B.I. Shankar


A fermentation lock or fermentation airlock is a device used in beer brewing and wine making that allows carbon dioxide released during fermentation to escape the fermenter, while not allowing air to enter the fermenter, thus avoiding oxidation.

There are two main designs for the fermentation lock. These designs work when half filled with water. When the pressure of the gas inside the fermentation vessel exceeds the prevailing atmospheric pressure the gas will push its way through the water as individual bubbles into the outside air. A sanitizing solution, sulphur dioxide or alcohol is sometimes placed in the fermentation lock to prevent contamination of the beverage in case the water is inadvertently drawn into the fermenter.

This device may take the form of a tube connected to the headspace of the fermenting vessel into a tub of sanitized liquid or a simpler device mounted directly on top of the fermentation vessel.

Currently, a popular fermentation lock that mounts on top of the fermentation vessel is the three-piece fermentation lock.  Other models contain three bulbous chambers allowing for a broader range of pressure equalization.  These bulbous fermentation locks were generally made of hand blown glass and are nowadays often made of clear plastic.

The use of perforated rubber balloons offers an easy and inexpensive alternative to conventional airlocks: as used primarily in homebrewing, the balloon is stretched over the orifice of the fermentation vessel and, if necessary, tightened with rubber bands. The balloon is then perforated with a needle. These punctures, while not completely airtight, sufficiently protect the vessel's contents from contamination and allow the gases produced by fermentation to evacuate from the vessel as the pressure rises and the balloon inflates.

See also
Fermentation (wine)

Harsch crock
Gas bubbler

References

Homebrewing

Fermentation lock


Count Louis of Stolberg (12 January 1505 in Stolberg – 1 September 1574 in Wertheim) was a German nobleman.  He ruled Eppstein-Königstein from 1535 until his death.

Life
Louis was born at Stolberg castle, as the son of Count Bodo VIII and his wife, Countess Anna of Eppstein-Königstein.  He was their third son and the fourth of their twelve children.  Among his siblings were Count Wolfgang, Abess Anna of Quedlinburg, Countess Juliana of Hanau-Münzenberg and later Nassau-Dillenburg, Count Henry of Stolberg-Wernigerode, Countess Catherine of Henneberg, Count Albert of Stolberg-Schwarza and Count Christopher of Stolberg-Gedern, who was provost at Halberstadt

From the age of nine, he was educated by his maternal uncle Eberhard IV of Eppstein in Königstein.  Later, he studied at the University of Wittenberg, where he converted to Lutheranism in 1521.  The expansion and consolidation of the Reformation became his main objective after his conversion.  He acted as councillor to Emperor Charles V and his successors Ferdinand I and Maximilian II.  He was frequently sent on diplomatic missions,  to Queen Elizabeth I of England and to the Spanish court.

His maternal uncle Eberhard IV had no sons and made Louis his universal heir.  From 1527, Louis acted as Eberhard's co-ruler.  Emperor Charles V recognized Eberhard's will in 1528.  In 1535, Eberhard died and Louis inherited his possessions.  In 1540, he introduced the Reformation in his territory.  However, he did not participate in the Schmalkaldic War.

Marriage and issue
Louis married Walburga of Wied (died 1578), the daughter of John III of Wied (died 1533) and Elisabeth of Nassau-Dillenburg (1488–1559).  Together, they had a son and three daughters:
 Catherine, married Michael III, Count of Wertheim, the last Count of Wertheim.  When Michael III died in 1556 without a male heir, Louis managed to acquire the County of Wertheim and Wertheim Castle, and a 50% share of Breuburg Castle and the Lordship of Breuberg.  Catherine remarried in 1566, to Count Philip II of Eberstein (1523–1589).
 Elisabeth, married Count Dietrich of Manderscheid-Virneburg.  He died in 1593 and a year later, she remarried to Baron William of Criechingen.
 Bodo, was educated at the court of the Duke of Bavaria.  In 1568, he moved to Quedlinburg.  He died before his father.
 Anna (13 April 1548 – 2 November 1599), married on 2 September 1566 to Count Louis III of Löwenstein-Wertheim (17 February 1530 – 13 March 1611).

His heirs
As Louis had no surviving male heir, the County of Königstein fell to his younger brother Christopher.  Louis' widow Walburga received the city, district, and winery of Butzbach as her Wittum

The Electorate of Mainz annexed the district of Königstein after Christopher died childless in 1581.  The Counts of Stolberg inherited the districts of Ortenberg and Gedern and shares of Butzbach and Münzenberg.  In 1598, his son-in-law Louis III won a dispute over the County of Wertheim that had lasted for 20 years.

References

External links
Biography on the wiki of the Königstein heritage preservation society

Footnotes

House of Stolberg
Counts of Stolberg
1505 births
1574 deaths
16th-century German people

Louis, Count of Stolberg


The Gorani people live in different parts of the Balkan Mountains, especially in Kosovo.
The language Gorani is a mix of Albanian language and Old Slavic languages. Their religion is Islam. In 1999, a mass circumcision was hold in Dragash for Gorani boys,. Dragash is one of the main settlements, the Gorani Men are wellknown for Oil wrestling.

References

Balkan Mountains
Muslims
Kosovo

Gorani people


Kinnordy House (alternative spellings: Kynnordy, Kinardy, Kinnordie and Kinorde) is an estate house near Kirriemuir in Angus, Scotland. The first house was built in the 1680s, when Inverquharity Castle was vacated; however, the current three-storey, towered and turreted structure dates from 1881, incorporating an 18th-century wing and stables. The house was the birthplace of the noted geologist Charles Lyell, and is associated with his friend Charles Darwin.

History
The walled garden was built after the Jacobite rising of 1745, by the "Nameless Highlanders".

On 28 November 1782 the entrepreneur Charles Lyell bought Inverquharity and Kinnordy from Sir John Ogilvy. An observatory was added by his son, the botanist Charles Lyell.

The house was designated a Category B listed building in 1980. Many of the associated buildings and structures are also listed: the home farm, the East Lodge and its gates, the Causewayend Cottages (now the Kinnordy Estate Office), the museum and observatory, the walled garden, sundial and Bell Gate.

See also
List of listed buildings in Kirriemuir, Angus
 Loch of Kinnordy, a Site of Special Scientific Interest, see List of Sites of Special Scientific Interest in Angus and Dundee
Ogilvy baronets
Lyell baronets
Baron Lyell

References

External links
Official website

Country houses in Angus, Scotland
Category B listed buildings in Angus, Scotland
Astronomical observatories in Scotland
Museums in Angus, Scotland
Sundials
Gardens in Angus, Scotland

Kinnordy House


Tigerland is a 2000 American war drama film directed by Joel Schumacher and starring Colin Farrell. It takes place in a training camp for soldiers to be sent to the Vietnam War.

Tigerland was the name of a U.S. Army training camp during the mid-1960s to early 1970s, located at Fort Polk, Louisiana as part of the U.S. Army Advanced Infantry Training Center. As often the last stop for new infantrymen on their way to Vietnam, Tigerland was established in humid and muggy Fort Polk in order to closely mimic the environmental conditions of South Vietnam. Although the film's setting is loosely based on Fort Polk, the film was actually filmed at Camp Blanding in Florida. The film premiered at the 2000 Toronto International Film Festival. Despite receiving generally positive reviews for its story, direction, Farrell's performance, screenplay, and emotional weight, the film was a box-office bomb, grossing only $148,701 worldwide. It was one of Schumacher's best reviewed films in his filmography.

Plot
In September 1971, the United States is losing the Vietnam War. Roland Bozz, a draftee opposed to the war, is an unruly soldier who disrespects authority. He befriends another Army recruit, Jim Paxton, an aspiring writer who records his experiences in a journal. Unlike Bozz, Paxton volunteered. Upon reaching their post, company commanding officer Captain Saunders explains that every soldier who passes through Fort Polk will be sent to Vietnam, and that any political views on the war are irrelevant.

Having "X-ray vision for loopholes", Bozz finds ways for soldiers to get out of the army — one, Cantwell, because he not only has children but also a disabled wife; another, Miter, had joined to prove his manhood but finds himself overwhelmed. Eventually Bozz's natural leadership and ability earn him the title of platoon guide. Another private, Wilson, a racial bigot and instigator, continuously demeans Miter and Bozz. Bozz fights and easily beats Wilson, earning Wilson's hatred.

Later, during live fire exercises, Wilson threatens Bozz with a pistol. Bozz tries to disarm Wilson, and the two wrestle each other to the ground, with Wilson prevailing and putting the gun to the back of Bozz's head and pulling the trigger. Miraculously, the gun misfires, saving Bozz's life. Saunders lets Bozz choose the punishment: have Wilson court-martialed or "let me deal with him", strongly suggesting the latter. Bozz says he wants Wilson "out of the Army", because he recognizes Wilson has emotionally suffered ever since his inability to command became obvious.

The platoon is sent to "Tigerland", a forested training area designed as a replica of Vietnam. During an exercise, Bozz's squad acts as villagers in a mock Vietnamese village, with one squad member designated as a Viet Cong sympathizer. They compete with another squad charged with rooting out the sympathizer, led by Wilson, who was ultimately spared. As the exercise ends with Bozz's squad "winning", Wilson tells Bozz he will kill him no matter what it takes. Soon thereafter, Bozz plans to escape to Mexico with the aid of some civilians he has paid. Platoon member Johnson tells him if he runs away, Wilson will kill Paxton instead. Bozz remains.

During the last training exercise, the two squads are pitted against each other on patrolling missions. As Wilson's squad prepares for an attack, he replaces his blank cartridges with live ammunition and removes his blank-firing adaptor. As Bozz's squad nears, he opens fire. Though he does not hit anyone, he is obviously using live ammunition, and the trainer for the exercise tries to intervene. As he does, Bozz is standing above Paxton and deliberately fires a blank round with his rifle muzzle near Paxton's face, the flash wounding Paxton's eye. The trainer aims a pistol at Wilson's head to get him to hold his weapon up and surrender, telling him he will be court-martialed.

The platoon prepares to head to Vietnam, except for Paxton, whose eye injury, though temporary, has earned him a medical discharge. Bozz and Paxton exchange farewells. Paxton tells Bozz he is going to write about him, but Bozz says he will not. He has stolen Paxton's journal and rips out pages as the platoon's bus drives off, leaving Paxton scrambling to recover them. Bozz tosses the journal as the bus speeds away.

In the closing narration, Paxton says he never saw Bozz again. Over time, he heard from various sources that Bozz either died in Vietnam or disappeared over there. One acquaintance told Paxton he thought he'd seen Bozz, years after the war, in Mexico with a beautiful woman.

Cast
 Colin Farrell as Private Roland Bozz
 Matthew Davis as Private Jim Paxton
 Clifton Collins Jr. as Private Miter
 Tom Guiry as Private Cantwell
 Shea Whigham as Private Wilson
 Russell Richardson as Private Johnson
 Cole Hauser as Staff Sergeant Cota
 Neil Brown Jr. as Private Jamoa Kearns
 Tory Kittles as Private Ryan
 Nick Searcy as Captain Saunders
 Afemo Omilami as Sergeant First Class Ezra Landers
 Matt Gerald as Sergeant Eveland
 Michael Shannon as Sergeant Filmore
 James Macdonald as Staff Sergeant Thomas
 Arian Ash as Sheri

Reception
Tigerland received positive reviews from critics and has a "certified fresh" rating of 77% on Rotten Tomatoes based on 47 reviews with an average score of 6.98 out of 10. The consensus states "A great cast and the gritty feel of the film help elevate Tigerland above the familiarity of the subject matter." The film also has a score of 55 out of 100 on Metacritic based on 14 reviews. Despite the positive critical reception and its US$10 million budget, the film hardly appeared at the box office, making $148,701 worldwide.

References

External links

2000 films
2000s English-language films
2000 drama films
2000s war drama films
20th Century Fox films
American war drama films
Films directed by Joel Schumacher
Films set in Louisiana
Films set in 1971
Films about the United States Army
Films shot in Jacksonville, Florida
American independent films
Vietnam War films
Regency Enterprises films
Films produced by Beau Flynn
Films produced by Steven Haft
Films produced by Arnon Milchan
2000s American films

Tigerland


Gunmetal, or red brass in the United States, is a metal alloy. It is a type of bronze – an alloy of copper, tin and zinc.

Proportions of its metals vary. 88% copper, 8-10% tin and 2-4% zinc is usual.

Originally it was used for making cannons. Guns are now made of steel. Gunmetal is easy to cast and work on a lathe. It resists corrosion from steam and salt water. It is used to make steam and hydraulic castings, valves, gears, statues, and various small objects such as buttons.

References

Alloys

Gunmetal


West 4th Street Washington Square is an express station and transfer stop on the IND Sixth Avenue Line and the IND Eighth Avenue Line of the New York City Subway. It is at the intersection of West Fourth Street and Sixth Avenue (Avenue of Americas) in Greenwich Village, Manhattan.

On the Sixth Avenue Line, this station is between 14th Street and Broadway Lafayette Street. On the Eighth Avenue Line, this station is between 14th Street and Spring Street.

This station is used by A, C, E, B, D, F, <F> and M trains. The station is on the National Register of Historic Places.

There are two entrances.

West Fourth Street–Washington Square station


The Baqa'a refugee camp () is the largest Palestinian refugee camp in Jordan, and it is one of the six "emergency" camps that were established in 1968 with the aim of accommodating Palestinian refugees and displaced persons who left the West Bank and Gaza Strip as a result of the 1967 Arab-Israeli war.

Location
The camp is located on the northwestern border of the Jordanian capital, Amman, 20 kilometers north of Amman on the "Amman-Irbid" road, near the Sweileh area. It is affiliated with the Ain Al-Basha in the Balqa Governorate.

History
In the period between June 1967 and February 1968, refugees and displaced persons were accommodated in temporary camps in the Jordan Valley area, but they were transferred when military operations escalated in the area.

When al-Baqa'a camp was established, it was a large camp, with 5,000 tents designated to accommodate 26,000 refugees over an area of 1.4 square kilometres. Between 1969 and 1971, UNRWA replaced the tents with a total of 8,000 pre-built houses in order to protect people from the harsh winter conditions in Jordan. Since then, most of the residents have built stronger and more durable concrete housing.

The land of the camp is owned by the Al-Wareikat (Al-Adwan) clan, and the Jordanian government leased it to UNRWA. In 1950, UNRWA set up tents for the displaced in the areas called "Palestinian camps" on government land and private land leased or acquired by the Jordanian government from its owners. The camp is surrounded by agricultural lands irrigated by groundwater. In the eighties, the Baqa'a basin was classified as the second largest area in agricultural production after the Jordan Valley, where there were approximately 5,000 greenhouses, but now, after legalizing the use of groundwater, it has become the fifth area in agricultural production.

1968 establishments
Settlements in Jordan

Baqa'a refugee camp


Larrun (modern French: La Rhune, IPA: [la'run], - 'good pasture', possibly a folk etymology, in French until the 20th century: Larhune ) is a mountain (905 m) at the western end of the Pyrenees. It is located on the border of France and Spain, where the traditional Basque provinces of Labourd and Navarra meet. Its prominence is 670 m.

History
Larrun holds an iconic place in Basque culture. It is covered in dolmens, stone circles and other neolithic monuments and was held to be a sacred place in Basque mythology. It was said to be the home of Lehensugea, the first serpent. Later, and perhaps as a consequence of the ancient sacred sites, the summit had a reputation as an akelarre or ritual meeting place for witches. Up until the 18th century, local villages paid for a monk to live as a hermit at the top of the mountain to keep witches away and ensure good winds.

The mountain was used by French troops as a defensive position towards the end of the Peninsular War, but Wellington's forces drove those of Marshal Soult off the mountain during the Battle of Nivelle on November 10, 1813, this action leaving France open for Wellington's successful march north to Paris.

Larrun and the local area were notable smuggling routes used for centuries, including for refugees during the Spanish Civil War and World War II. Smuggling was of such importance that a local tale tells that the mountain was covered by gold until evil men came to take it away. They burned the trees on the mountain to reach the gold, but the metal melted and flowed away.

The mountain started to become a popular destination for tourists following Eugenie de Montijo's holidays in Biarritz since 1864, and her outings to its summit.

Today
Larrun is now a popular site for walks and hikes and is the first peak encountered on the coast-to-coast Haute Randonnée Pyrénéenne (HRP) walking route. A rack railway, the Petit train de la Rhune, takes visitors to the top of the mountain from the French side. Cows, a few pottok ponies and manech sheep wander the slopes.

Many inns and restaurants bear its name and its distinctive shape adorn many souvenirs and logos.

External links

 Le petit train de la Rhune website
 La Rhune region on SummitPost

Mountains of Navarre
Labourd
Mountains of Pyrénées-Atlantiques
Mountains of the Pyrenees
Mountains under 1000 metres

Larrun


The Battle of Derapet was fought near the village of Derapet in the Tangi Valley in Deh Rahwod, Orūzgān Province, southern Afghanistan, between a combined Australian Army and Afghan National Army patrol and Taliban forces on 24 August 2010. Australian forces had only recently taken over responsibility for Deh Rahwod as part of a major expansion of their area of operations which took place following the Dutch withdrawal from Afghanistan in August. The combined coalition patrol included 20 Australians and 20 Afghan National Army troops. The small Australian force from 1st Mentoring Task Force (MTF-1) based in Tarin Kowt included two sections of dismounted infantry and two ASLAV-25 guncars and was tasked with a fighting patrol to find and inflict damage on insurgent forces known to be in the area.

The patrol used an aqueduct to move into Derapet after engineers nearby had identified fighting-aged males moving into the area while women and children were seen leaving the valley. Initially contacted by a large Taliban force of 90–100 insurgents from positions less than  away, the Australian and Afghan troops counter-attacked from six different positions, engaging the insurgents with small arms, machine-gun fire and anti-armour rockets, while the cavalry engaged from the high ground in fire support. AH-64 Apache attack helicopters also provided close air support, while one round of precision-guided  medium artillery from a US M777 howitzer was also used in support. A quick reaction force (QRF) was available nearby but was not required. Finally, after three and half hours of intense fighting the Australians and Afghans were running low on ammunition and broke contact, moving back through the QRF which was holding the rear, to their Bushmaster PMVs at the vehicle drop-off point, prior to moving back to the patrol base at Anar Juy.

One Australian soldier was shot and killed during the fighting and was subsequently evacuated by helicopter which took fire in conducting the medical evacuation, while no Afghan National Army casualties were reported. The ASLAVs had proven decisive, with the range and accuracy of their weapons and sensors allowing them to provide very effective support to the Australian infantry. Over 30 Taliban insurgents were reportedly killed during the battle, while more were thought to have been killed or wounded and then carried away by other fighters as they retreated. The surviving Taliban subsequently retreated into the mountains.

Corporal Daniel Keighran was awarded the Victoria Cross for Australia for his actions during this battle. Keighran "with complete disregard for his own safety, broke cover on multiple occasions to draw intense and accurate enemy fire to identify enemy locations and direct return fire from Australian and Afghan fire support elements". Later in the battle Keighran "when his patrol sustained a casualty, again on his own initiative and in an act of exceptional courage, ... moved from his position of cover to deliberately draw fire away from the team who were treating the casualty." Other soldiers awarded for their actions in the battle were Lieutenant James Fanning (Distinguished Service Medal), Sergeant Sean Lanigan and Private Paul Langer (Medal of Gallantry) and Private Sean Parker (Commendation for Gallantry).

See also
Operation Slipper

References

Conflicts in 2010
2010 in Afghanistan
Battles of the War in Afghanistan (2001–2021) involving Australia
August 2010 events in Afghanistan
History of Urozgan Province

Battle of Derapet


Ronia, the Robber's Daughter (Swedish: Ronja rövardotter) is a children's fantasy book by the Swedish author Astrid Lindgren, first published in 1981.

The book has been adapted as a prize-winning 1984 film, a Danish and a German musical, and a Japanese anime. It has been translated into at least 39 languages.

Plot summary

Ronia is a girl growing up among a clan of robbers living in a castle in the woodlands of early-Medieval Scandinavia.  As the only child of Matt, the chief, she is expected to become the leader of the clan someday.  Their castle, Matt's Fort, is split into two parts by a lightning bolt on the day of Ronia's birth. Ronia grows up with Matt's clan of robbers as her only company, until a rival robber group led by Borka moves into the other half of the castle, exacerbating the longstanding rivalry between the two bands.

One day, Ronia sees Birk Borkason, the only son of Borka, idling by the chasm. He is the only other child she has ever met, and so she is sorry that he is a Borka. He engages her in a game of jumping across, which does not end until Birk almost falls down.  Ronia saves him, and they eventually become friends.

The following winter is long and cold and although Matt's robbers are well fed, their counterparts are suffering on the other side of the chasm. Ronia brings food to Birk through a secret passageway. They get very close but both know that they cannot tell their families. Later that year, Birk is captured by Ronia's father. Ronia gives herself to the Borkas so she must be exchanged, but as a result, her father disowns her and refuses to acknowledge her as his daughter. Birk and Ronia run away to the woods, where they live in a cave and experience several harrowing adventures with the wood's indigenous wildlife, including trolls, forest gnomes, and harpies. Ultimately their families repent of their feuding, and everyone is reunited, but the story concludes with both Ronia and Birk deciding that the robber's life is not for them.

Adaptations

Literature
In 1983, Trina Schart Hyman illustrated her own version of the book, which is published by Puffin Books.

Film

In 1984, the book was made into a Swedish fantasy film. It was directed by the Swedish film director Tage Danielsson and adapted for screenplay by Astrid Lindgren herself. It was a major success, becoming the highest-grossing 1984 film in Sweden, and winning a Silver Bear at the 1985 Berlin International Film Festival. More than 1.5 million people attended its screenings in Sweden.

Musical

In 1991 the book was made into a Danish musical called Ronja Røverdatter. The musical is written by Danish composer Sebastian.

In 1994 the book was made into a German musical called Ronja Räubertochter. The musical is written by Axel Bergstedt in the German language, and has orchestra, band and more than one hundred people on the stage.

Stage
A production in the Balver Höhle was performed in 1993 and 2004 in Oberkirch (Baden) in 2006.

A production of Ronja the Robber's Daughter interpreted by Ronny Danielsson - performed at Stadsteatern Stockholm Sweden 2014, 2016, 2018.

TV-Series
On 6 September 2021 it was announced that a TV series is planned to be produced. Hans Rosenfeldt writes the script while Lisa James Larsson directs the series. Twelve episodes, divided into two seasons, have been ordered. The series is produced by Filmlance Productions, the company behind popular Swedish TV-series such as  Beck, Bron, Caliphate.

Anime

A CGI television series from Japan, which debuted on 11 October 2014.  Titled Sanzoku no Musume Ronia, the show is being produced by Dwango, NHK, NHK Enterprises, Polygon Pictures and Studio Ghibli.  The show was directed by Goro Miyazaki and scripted by .

Translations

Ronia, the Robber's Daughter has been translated into 39 languages. The two English versions translate the Swedish names differently.

References

External links
 Astrid Lindgren: Ronia, the robber's daughter (Blog)

1981 Swedish novels
1981 children's books
Swedish children's novels
Swedish novels adapted into films
Novels by Astrid Lindgren
Novels set in the Middle Ages
Methuen Publishing books
Rabén & Sjögren books
Swedish fantasy novels
Child characters in literature
Female characters in literature
Astrid Lindgren characters
1981 fantasy novels
1980s Swedish films
Scandinavia in fiction
Children's books set in Europe

Ronia, the Robber's Daughter


Licio Giorgieri (1 June 1925 – 20 March 1987) was an Italian air force general who was killed by a faction the far-left terrorist organisation Red Brigades.

Biography
Giorgieri was born in Trieste.

He graduated in naval and mechanical engineering in the University of Trieste in 1949 and later enrolled as officer of the Italian Air Force Engineering Corps in 1950. In 1983 he was promoted to General Inspector, becoming commander of the Corps and director of the Air Force's Direction of Aircraft Weapons. He also taught Rockets and Space Propulsion in the universities of Trieste and Rome.

On 20 March 1987, Giorgieri was ambushed by a commando of the Red Brigades; the Union of Combatant Communists in Rome. His car was flanked by a motorcycle whose riders fired five times, killing him. The general had reported a failed attempt against him in December 1986, but his protection had not been strengthened.

Giorgieri's assassins, Claudio Nasti and Daniele Mennella, were sentenced to 10 years in 1991.

A Lockheed F-104G exhibited in the Trieste Airport is named in his memory.

References

External links
Biography at Victim of Terrorism website

1925 births
1987 deaths
Red Brigades
Italian Air Force generals
20th-century Italian engineers
Italian terrorism victims
People murdered in Lazio
Deaths related to the Years of Lead (Italy)
Deaths by firearm in Italy
Assassinated military personnel
1987 murders in Italy

Licio Giorgieri


Titanic Quarter in Belfast, Northern Ireland, is a large-scale waterfront regeneration, comprising  historic maritime landmarks, film studios, education facilities, apartments, a riverside entertainment district, and the world's largest Titanic-themed attraction centred on land in Belfast Harbour, known until 1995 as Queen's Island. The  site, previously occupied by part of the Harland and Wolff shipyard, is named after the company's, and the city's, most famous product, RMS Titanic. Titanic Quarter is part of the Dublin-based group, Harcourt Developments, which has held the development rights since 2003.

Completed projects

The largest development is the £97 million Titanic Belfast visitor attraction which holds the record for the island's largest ever single concrete pour (4,300 cubic metres) for its foundations. The building opened on 31 March 2012 and attracted over 800,000 visitors in its first year. The attraction is owned by a charitable foundation. The architects said that "we have created an architectural icon that captures the spirit of the shipyards, ships, water crystals, ice, and the White Star Line's logo. Its architectural form cuts a skyline silhouette that has been inspired by the very ships that were built on this hallowed ground."

In 2005 the Catalyst Inc opened. It is a hi-tech science park affiliated closely with Queen's University Belfast and University of Ulster and Titanic Studios (aka the Paint Hall Studios, a film studio originally created by film producer Jo Gilbert) and used during the production of films including Tom Hanks's City of Ember starring Bill Murray, Your Highness and HBO's television series Game of Thrones.

The new £30 million headquarters of the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland opened at 2 Titanic Boulevard in April 2011. PRONI is the national archive for Northern Ireland and holds records dating from 1219.

In September 2011, the largest education facility in Northern Ireland – Belfast Institute for Further and Higher Education (now Belfast Metropolitan College) relocated to a new £44 million campus in Titanic Quarter.

Belfast Harbour Marina opened in the centre of Titanic Quarter in 2009 as part of the Belfast Tall Ships Festival. Located in the Abercorn Basin, it features 40 berths for leisure craft, it was funded by the Northern Ireland Tourist Board and Belfast Tall Ships 2009 Ltd. It is the forerunner to a future 200 berth marina in the Titanic Quarter.

In November 2010 the first hotel, a Premier Inn  with onsite restaurant, opened in Titanic Quarter. Over 40 new jobs were created.

In September 2017 a second hotel, Titanic Hotel Belfast, opened in the former Harland & Wolff Headquarters and Drawing Offices. The hotel includes artwork in the drawing offices from former Harland and Wolff worker, now current artist, Colin H Davidson. billed as the "world's most authentic Titanic hotel".

Belfast Audi, operated by the Agnew Group, opened its new headquarters in November 2010. Located at 80 Sydenham Road, it created 115 new jobs.

The first residential development in Titanic Quarter was completed in December 2010. The Arc comprises apartments and shops, and is located adjacent to Abercorn Basin.

Belfast Porsche, operated by the Agnew Group, opened its new showroom beside Belfast Audi in December 2017. This replaced the existing showroom on Boucher Crescent.

Sport
In September 2014, Northern Irish boxer Carl Frampton won the IBF world super-bantamweight title in a specially constructed outdoor arena in the Titanic Quarter in front of 16,000 fans, Northern Ireland's largest ever boxing crowd.

Transport
The Titanic Quarter is served by Translink Metro Services 94, 600A and 600B bus services, which run from Donegall Square North (Across from City Hall) to Holywood Exchange, Catalyst Inc, and Belfast City Airport, via The SSE Arena, Queens Road, Titanic Belfast and Belfast Harbour Estate East.

The area is also served by NI Railways services to Titanic Quarter (Bridge End) station, which is the first station heading towards Bangor on the Belfast–Bangor line from Lanyon Place.

The G2 service, operated by the Belfast Rapid Transit System (Glider) also terminates at Titanic Quarter.

See also
Belfast Quarters

Catalyst Inc

References

External links

Official site of the Titanic Quarter
Official site of the Titanic Belfast visitor attraction
Official site of Harcourt Developments

Buildings and structures under construction in the United Kingdom
Quarters of Belfast
RMS Titanic
Redeveloped ports and waterfronts in the United Kingdom

Titanic Quarter


The Palazzo Partanna, also once known as Palazzo Coscia, is a monumental palace located on Piazza dei Martiri 64-66 on the western edge of the neighborhood of Chiaia in Naples, Italy. The palace faces the Piazza dei Martiri.

History
The palace we see today was restored by the architect Mario Gioffredo (1718-1785). In the 19th century, Antonio Niccolini also worked on its reconstruction when it became known as Palazzo Cocozza, and housed the Cardinal Niccolò Coscia, the brother of Duke Baldassarre Coscia. Subsequent members of the aristocratic family ended up selling portions of the palace, until the last member left in 1812. In 1812, it became the offices of the Ministry of War and Navy.

The name Partanna originated from the Duchess of Floridia, Lucia Migliaccio, widow of Benedetto Grifeo, Prince of Partanna, who became the morganatic wife of the widowed Ferdinand IV of Naples. She lived in this palace till she moved to the Palazzo San Giacomo (now City Hall) in Piazza Municipio.

It was damaged by the bombing during World War II. It now houses the Unione degli Industriali of the Province of Naples. The main floor had ceilings with frescoes depicting the Triumph of Judith by Antonio and Giovanni Sarnelli(1749).

References

Palaces in Naples
Neoclassical architecture in Naples

Palazzo Partanna, Naples


When referring to Roman Catholic religious orders, the term Second Order refers to those communities of contemplative cloistered nuns which are a part of the religious orders that developed in the Middle Ages.

History

Dominican
In early 13th century, St. Dominic Guzman was a canon regular at the Cathedral of Osma in Spain. He accompanied his bishop on a trip to Denmark to arrange a marriage between the son of the King of Castile and a member of the Danish royal family. On the return trip, Dominic encountered the followers of the Duke of Albi in southern France. The Duke was a leading Cathar, which embraced a gnostic form of Christianity. Dominic undertook a preaching campaign to them, in order to bring them back to an orthodox understanding of the faith. Several women who responded to his preaching sought a completely new direction in their lives. In response to this, Dominic established a house for them in Prouille in 1206, where they could lead lives of prayer and penance.

In 1880, four nuns of the Dominican Sisters of Perpetual Adoration from the Monastery of the Blessed Sacrament in Oullins, France arrived in the Diocese of Newark, at the invitation of Bishop Michael Corrigan. By 1884, the Monastery of St. Dominic had been constructed based on Old World designs with an arched cloister, the traditional well, the vault resting-place of the departed, and the double grills separating them from the outer world. By 1889, Corrigan had become Archbishop of New York, and seven nuns from Newark re-located temporarily to establish Corpus Christi Monastery in Hunt's Point in the Bronx.

Today the Second Order of St. Dominic "...consists of cloistered nuns who take solemn vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience and dedicate themselves to a life of silence, prayer, and penance." They support themselves through intellectual, manual, and artistic work.

Franciscan
St. Francis of Assisi began his life of preaching and penance in the Tuscan region of Italy around this same time. His preaching drew a young noblewoman of the city, the Lady Clare to be inspired to follow his way of life. Determined to take this step, Clare snuck out of her family's palace to join Francis and his brothers on the night of Palm Sunday 1211. After receiving her commitment and giving her the Franciscan habit, Francis then entrusted Clare to the care of a nearby community of Benedictine nuns for her training in monastic life. The Order that emerged from her commitment, originally called the "Poor Ladies of Assisi" and now known as the Poor Clares, took a form of monastic life committed to a strict life of poverty. The order includes many different monasteries of cloistered nuns professing the Rule of St. Clare.

Other groups

Benedictine nuns follow the Rule of Saint Benedict. The Second Order of St. Augustine was founded in 1264 and remained strictly cloistered until 1401.

While almost all Second Orders are those of cloistered, contemplative nuns, not all cloistered, contemplative communities are Second Orders. A number of such congregations were founded independent of any earlier congregation for men. These would include communities such as the Sisters Adorers of the Precious Blood and the Visitandines.

Examples of Second Orders
 Founded in 1947, the Abbey of Regina Laudis was one of the first houses of contemplative Benedictine nuns in the United States.
 St. Mary's Abbey. located in Glencairn, County Waterford, Ireland, was founded in 1932. It is a Trappistine monastery, i.e., a branch of the Cistercians.
 The Passionist nuns were founded in Italy in 1771. They are the second Passionist order founded by Paul of the Cross. Our Lady of Sorrows Monastery was established in Pittsburgh in 1911.
 The Poor Clares are the second order of Franciscans. There is a Poor Clare Monastery in Hereford, England.
 The Collettines are a branch of the Poor Clares. The community of Poor Clare Colettine Nuns in Cleveland, Ohio is made up of both cloistered contemplative nuns dedicated to a life of prayer, and extern sisters who minister to the community's external needs.
 The Redemptoristines are the female counterpart to the Redemptorists. The nuns in Liguori, Missouri are located near the Redemptorist's monastery, St. Clement's Health Care Center, and the Redemptorists' Media Center.

See also
Discalced Carmelites
Augustinian nuns
Servites
Minims
Mendicant Orders

References

External links
 Cloistered Life, contains a directory of cloistered communities

Catholic orders and societies by type
Christian religious orders established in the 13th century
Catholicism in the Middle Ages
History of Catholic religious orders
History of Catholic monasticism

Second order (religious)