Thoguluva Meenatchi Iyengar Soundararajan (24 March 1922 – 25 May 2013), popularly known as TMS, was an Indian Carnatic musician and a playback singer in Tamil cinema for over six and a half decades. He sang over 10,138 songs from 3,162 films, including devotional, semi-classical, Carnatic, classical and light music songs. He gave classical concerts starting in 1943.

He lent his voice to actors and thespians in the Tamil film industry such as M. G. Ramachandran, Sivaji Ganesan, N. T. Rama Rao, Gemini Ganesan, S. S. Rajendran, Jaishankar, Ravichandran, A. V. M. Rajan, R. Muthuraman, Nagesh, Sivakumar, Kantha Rao, Rajkumar, Prem Nazir and A. Nageswara Rao. He also gave his voice to many new generation actors like Kamal Haasan, Rajinikanth, Vijayakanth, Satyaraj, Rajesh, Prabhu, and Vijaya Kumar, in addition to other known and unknown heroes and supporting actors like M.R. Radha, K R Ramaswami, T. Rajendar, V.K. Ramaswami, Thengai Sreenivasan, M.N. Nambiar, Thangavelu, Y.G. Mahendran, R.S. Manohar, S.V. Ashokan, Ranjan, Narasimha Bharathi, Sahasra Namam, T S Balayya, Jagayya, Nagayya, Thyagarajan, Sreenath, Shankar etc.

In a career spanning over six and half decades, he rode like a colossus and dominated Tamil music for decades. Besides primarily Tamil, he also sang in other languages including Sourashtra, Kannada, Telugu, Hindi, and Malayalam. He was a lyricist and music composer for many devotional songs. He was the music director for the film Bala Parikshai. His peak period as a male playback singer in the South Indian film industry was from 1955 to 1985. His first film song was in 1946, at the age of 24, and his last was with P. Susheela during 2010 at the age of 88. TMS died on 25 May 2013 at his residence in Mandaveli, Chennai due to illness. He was 91 years old.

Early life
Soundararajan was born in Madurai, the second son of Meenakshi Iyengar and Venkatammaa on 24 March 1922. He was born in a prominent Saurashtra Brahmin family and his elder brother was a scholar.

He trained his voice starting at age seven. He first studied Carnatic music from Chinnakonda Sarangapani Bhagavathar, a music teacher from Sourashtra High School, Madurai. Later, he learned Carnatic music from Arayakkudi Rajamani Iyer and started giving stage concerts at the age of 23. His first Carnatic musical concert was at SathGuru Samajam, Madurai in 1945 with violinist C. R. Mani and Mridangist S. S. Vijaya Ratnam accompanying him on the instruments. He started singing in stage concerts in the voice of the then-famous classical singer and actor M. K. Thyagaraja Bhagavathar.

Personal life
He married Sumithra in 1946 with whom he had three sons and three daughters. He lived in his home at Mandaveli, Chennai, Tamil Nadu until his death.

Early work
Soundararajan was initially rejected by music composers and recording technicians because his voice was cracking and showed variation in higher pitches. He started working in the house of Sundar Rao Nadkarni, a director in the Central Studios, hoping to get a chance to sing in movies. The director recommended him to S. M. Subbaiah Naidu. In 1946, Naidu gave TMS an opportunity to sing five songs in the style of M. K. Thyagaraja Bhagavathar for a film of P. V. Narasimha Bharathi: Krishna Vijayam. Though the songs were noted since 1946, the film was released in 1950. One of his songs in that movie, "Raathey Ennai Vittu Pogathedi," became a hit and he was paid Rs 625. In the same year (1950), G. Ramanathan had him sing "Annamitta Veettiley" for an unknown actor in the film Manthiri Kumari. In 1951, TMS acted and sang "Theeraatha Thuyaralley" in the film Devagi again by G. Ramanathan.

In 1952, S. Dakshinamurthi gave TMS two duet songs in the movie Valaiyapathi – "Kulir Thaamarai Poigaiyai Kanden" and "Kulungidum Poovilellaam" – both with singer K. Jamuna Rani where TMS had an opportunity to sing songs written by the renowned Tamil poet Bharathidasan. G. Ramanathan had TMS and K. Rani sing for Kalyani. In 1953, when Albela was dubbed into Tamil, the music director C. Ramchandra had two duets by TMS and M. S. Rajeswari: "Joraga Paadi Anbaaga Aadi" and "Thozhi Un Kann Edhire Kodi". Even though these songs were well received, there were no further chances for TMS for a while.

Then TMS went to HMV studio where K. V. Mahadevan recorded two devotional songs for which he was paid just Rs 80. Mahadevan told TMS to seek a chance with AVM Productions which was looking for new voices. TMS sang two songs for the film Chella Pillai. One was a solo ("Podanum Kulla Podanum") and the other was a duet with M.S. Rajeswari ("Naadu Nadakkira Nadayiley") under R. Sudarsanam's composition. The film was released in 1955. These music composers helped and trained the determined and ambitious TMS, who was able to overcome his voice problems to a good degree with time.

In 1954, A. Maruthakasi recommended TMS to sing in Aruna Pictures' Thookku Thookki. Till then C. S. Jayaraman used to sing playback for Sivaji Ganesan and Sivaji doubted the suitability of his voice. TMS offered to sing three songs free. TMS and Sivaji Ganesan were introduced to each other and, in the short conversation that followed, TMS studied the voice of Sivaji Ganesan. TMS sang "Sundari Soundari" and "Eraatha Malaithanile", closely imitating Sivaji Ganesan. G. Ramanathan, who was the music director for that film, was so pleased that he gave TMS the chance to sing all the Sivaji Ganesan songs in that production.

In the same year, T. R. Ramanna and T. R. Rajakumari started RR Films. As the film Koondukkili was under production stage, TMS had originally been given a chance to sing only in a chorus. Koondukkili was the only film where MGR and Sivaji acted together. Tanjai Ramayah Dass was very impressed with the golden voice of TMS and asked the story and dialogue writer Vindhan to give a chance to TMS to sing a full solo. TMS sang "Konjum Kiliyana Pennai" under K. V. Mahadevan's composition for Sivaji Ganesan.

When the song was recorded, MGR heard it and was so impressed that he wanted TMS to become his permanent playback singer. TMS was used in MGR's next movie Malaikkallan. Though he first recorded a song for the film Manthiri Kumari starring M. G. Ramachandran (MGR) in 1950, the song that announced the arrival of TMS on the big screen was "Ethanai Kaalamthaan Ematruvaar Indha Naattile" written by Tanjai Ramaiyah Dass and composed by S. M. Subbaiah Naidu. for M.G.R. During this period, TMS got an opportunity to sing in films like Kalvanin Kadhali, Vedan Kannappa, Rishi Sringer and Neela Malai Thirudan. TMS was the beneficiary of the first stereo recording in South India for a Tamil devotional song titled "Mannanalum Thiruchenthooril Mannaven".

From 1955 onward Sivaji insisted that TMS sing for him. Since then, TMS was mainly singing playback for the superstars MGR and Sivaji till the end of 1978 and 1995 respectively. He adopted styles while singing for each actor that synchronized very well with their voices.

His first musical concert abroad was in Malaysia in 1957. He continued to perform all over the world for almost 50 years till 2007, after which he restricted singing live on stage due to health reasons. He has two sons who have voices similar to their father and have sung songs of TMS all over the world in concerts since 1980 till 2012, often with their father. The sons continue to do TMS concerts after the death of their father.

Though he has worked with all music directors of South India, most of his hit songs were composed by music directors M. S. Viswanathan, K. V. Mahadevan, and the Viswanathan–Ramamoorthy duo.

TMS starred as an actor in a few Tamil films such as Pattinathar, Arunagirinathar, Kallum Kaniyagum and Kaviraja Kalamegam. He produced the movie Kallum Kaniyagum with singer A. L. Raghavan. TMS appeared in guest roles in movies such as Devaki, Navagraha Nayaki, Pennarasi, Server Sundaram, Thiru Neelakandar, Swami Ayyappan, Shanmugapriya and Deivam.

After the release Thai Nadu and Ghana Paravai, he concentrated more on live concerts and sang in very few films. He was not happy with the lyrics and music style in the films and gave opportunities for newcomers. The film song, "Paatu Ondu Ketaal", performed by him for a Sri Lankan Tamil film named Sooriyan, was recorded in 2007 though it is yet to be released. He sang a song for an album in 2008 "Netrichutti" at the age of 86 and a song named "Kutraalam Aruvi" for the album Song for Daughter, under the music of L.Sakthinathan, which was very well recognized in the industry in 2008. The last film song during October 2010 with P. Susheela, composed by MSV for a film "Valibum Sutrum Ulagam" was well recognized irrespective of his 88 years of age. In 2010, he rendered his voice for the song "Pirapokum ella yuyirukum" in the Tamil Semmozhi Meet Anthem, which was composed by A. R. Rahman. He worked with 74 music directors ranging from S. M. Subbaiah Naidu to A. R. Rahman.

ka.

Collaborations

Playback singers
He sang with other male singers, such as Ghantasala, Seerkazhi Govindarajan, P. B. Sreenivas, Balamurali Krishna, S. C. Krishnan, C. S. Jayaraman, Tharapuram Sundarajan, P. Jayachandran, Thiruchi Loganathan, V. N. Sundaram, A. L. Raghavan, K. J. Yesudas S. P. Balasubrahmanyam, Kovai Soundarrajan, Nagore E. M. Hanifa, Malaysia Vasudevan, U. R. Chandra, T. R. Mahalingam, T. A. Mothi, M. M. Muthu, Suguna Kumar, V. R. Rajagopalan, V. T. Rajagopalan, S. S. Mani Bhagavathar, G. K. Venkatesh, Sai Baba, S. V. Ponnuswami, J. V. Raghavalu, M. Raju, and Master Maharajan.

He sang duets with many female singers such as P. Suseela, P. Leela, Jikki, L. R. Eswari, S. Janaki, Vani Jairam, M. S. Rajeswari, K. Jamuna Rani, M. L. Vasanthakumari, U. R. Jeevarathinam, N. L. Ganasaraswathi, T. V. Rathnam, K.B.Sundarambal, Radha Jayalakshmi, Soolamangalam Jayalakshmi, Soolamangalam Rajalakshmi, R. Balasaraswathi Devi, A. P. Komala, P. Madhuri, K. Rani, B. S. Sasirekha, S. P. Sailaja, Lalitha, T. S. Bhagavathi, Suvarna, Vasantha, Sobha Chandrasekhar, L. R. Anjala, Kausalya, T. K. Kala, A. G. Ratnamala, Athmasha, Udutha Sarojam and R. Parvathi. Among them, he had the greatest collaboration with P. Susheela, with whom he sang 727 duets in Tamil.

He sang duets with singing actors such as J. P. Chandrababu, K. R. Ramasamy, V. Nagayya, P. Bhanumathi, S. Varalakshmi, Jayalalithaa, Manorama and Bharathi.

Awards and honours

 Mathiyakathin Gana Thalaivar
 Kala Ratnam
 Gana Ratnam
 Arul Isai Sidhar
 Navarasa Bhava Nalina Gana Varshini
 Ganamritha Varshini
 Sathanai Chakravarhti
 Bharathiya Isai Kanal
 Bharathiya Isia Megham
 Gana Kuralon
 Then Isai Thendral
 Padma Shri (2003)
 Kalaimamani
 Padakar Thilakam
 Singha Kuralon
 Bharat Kalachar award
 Isai Chakravarthi
 Gnanakala Bharathi title
 Geethavaari title
 Karpagath Tharu Mannar
 Geetharanjana Vaarithi
 Arutpa Isaimani title
 Honorary Doctorate from Belgium.
 Kural Arasar Pattam
 EzhilIsai Mannar award from former Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi (1970)
 IsaiKadal Pattam from Kavi Arasar Kannadasan (1969)
 MGR Gold Medal award
 Former Chief Minister Arignar Annadurai Recognition Award (1964)
 Former Chief Minister Tamil Nadu Kamaraj Nadar Recognition Award
 Chief Minister Jayalalitha recognition award
 M. K. Thyagaraja Bhagavathar Lifetime Achievement Award, Tamil Nadu
 Tamil Nadu Musical Artist Lifetime Achievements Award (2005)
 Tamil Film Fans Award, 23 times in the early 1950s, 1960s and 1970s
 P. Susheela Award
 Mega TV Amutha Ghanam Recognition Award (2004)
 Lifetime achievement for MGR Memorial Award
 Lifetime achievement for Shivaji Memorial Award
 Sourashtra Community Recognition Award
 Karuppai Muppanar recognition award (1992)
 Periyar RamaSwami Naikkor recognition (1959)
 Raj TV for Raja Geetham Recognition Award (2006)
 Malaysian Tamil Fans Recognition Award
 Singapore Tamil Fans Recognition Award
 France, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, the Netherlands, Belgium and Austria Tamil Fans recognition award
 United Kingdom Tamil fans recognition award
 20th Century Top Playback Singer from South African city mayor through Tamil fans, 1995
 USA Tamil fans from states recognition award
 Tamil Nadu Chief minister M. Karunanidhi recognition award at Madurai, Alagiri, 2010
 SriLankan awards from President, Prime Minister level through Tamil Group more than several times
 Tamil Fans recognition award from Canada
 Australian Tamil Fans appreciation awards in Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne, and Perth
 Kairali Swaralaya Yesudas Lifetime Achievement Award, 2012
 Government of India released memorial stamp for 10 legendary singers of India, including TMS from south India
 Tamil Nadu State Awards, many many years continuously in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s'
 Pesum Padam, award over 24 times, including consecutive annual awards from 1954 to 1969
 Former Chief Minister Tamil Nadu M.D. Bhakthavalsalam Recognition Award (1963)
 Tamil Nadu Iyal, Isai Nadaka Manthram, First Chairman.

Discography

References

External links

1922 births
2013 deaths
Musicians from Madurai
Indian male playback singers
Recipients of the Padma Shri in arts
Tamil playback singers
Tamil Nadu State Film Awards winners
20th-century Indian male classical singers
Singers from Tamil Nadu
Male actors in Tamil cinema
Male actors from Madurai
20th-century Indian male actors
21st-century Indian male actors

T. M. Soundararajan


This article describes the history of the geologic time scale.
The principles were first laid down by Nicolaus Steno in the late 17th century. Steno argued that rock layers (or strata) are laid down in succession, and that each represents a "slice" of time.

Steno formulated the principle of superposition. This says that any given stratum is probably older than those above it and younger than those below it. This principle is simple, but applying it to real rocks is complicated by their history. During the  18th century geologists realized that:
 Sequences of strata were often eroded, distorted, tilted, or even inverted after deposition;
 Strata laid down at the same time in different areas could have entirely different appearances;
 The strata of any given area represented only part of the Earth's long history.

The first serious attempts to formulate a time scale of historical geology that could be applied anywhere on Earth happened in the late 18th century. The most influential of those early attempts was led by Abraham Werner and others. They divided the rocks of the Earth's crust into four types: Primary, Secondary, Tertiary, and Quaternary. Each type of rock, according to the theory, formed during a period of Earth history. It was possible to speak of a "Tertiary period" as well as of "Tertiary rocks". Indeed, "Tertiary" (now Palaeocene-Pliocene) and "Quaternary" (now Pleistocene-Holocene) remained in use as names of geological periods well into the 21th century.

Werner had the idea that all rocks had precipitated out of a single enormous flood. That is called the Neptunist theory. A major shift in thinking came when James Hutton read his Theory of the Earth; or, an Investigation of the Laws Observable in the Composition, Dissolution, and Restoration of Land Upon the Globe before the Royal Society of Edinburgh in March and April 1785. James Hutton in those reading became "the founder of modern geology". Hutton suggested the interior of the Earth was hot, and that this heat was the engine which drove the creation of new rock. Land was eroded by air and water and deposited as layers in the sea; heat then consolidated the sediment into stone, and uplifted it into new lands. This theory was called Plutonist in contrast to the flood-oriented theory.

The identification of strata by the fossils they contained was pioneered by William Smith, Georges Cuvier and others in the early 19th century. Geologists could divide Earth history more precisely. If two strata (however distant in space or different in composition) contained the same fossils, chances were good that they had been laid down at the same time. Detailed studies between 1820 and 1850 of the strata and fossils of Europe produced the sequence of geological periods still used today. Cuvier thought many of the geological features of the Earth could be explained by catastrophic events which had caused the extinction of many species of animals. Over the course of his career, Cuvier came to believe there had not been a single catastrophe, but several, resulting in a succession of different faunas.

British geologists were most active in the 19th century. The "Cambrian," (the Roman name for Wales) and the "Ordovician," and "Silurian", named after ancient Welsh tribes, were periods defined by Welsh rocks. The "Devonian" was named after the English county of Devon, and the name "Carboniferous" was simply an adaptation of "the Coal Measures," the old British geologists' term for the same set of strata. The "Permian" was named after Perm, Russia, because it was defined using strata in that region by a Scottish geologist Roderick Murchison. British geologists were also responsible for the grouping of periods into eras and the subdivision of the Tertiary and Quaternary periods into epochs. In general, periods were named after places where the rocks were easy to see.

Geologists and paleontologists based the geologic table on the relative positions of different strata and fossils. They estimated the time scales based on studying rates of various processes. They estimated weathering, erosion, sedimentation, and how long it took to turn sediment into hard rock. The discovery of radioactivity in 1896 and its geological applications by radiometric dating happened in the first half of the 20th century. It made possible the absolute dating of rocks, and the discovery of the age of the Earth.

The International Commission on Stratigraphy is working to define exactly when geologic periods start and finish, and where the best examples are. They are called Global Boundary Stratotype Sections and Points (GSSP).

References

Earth
Geology

History of the geologic time scale


Rollo (–), also called Rolf (Hrolf) was a Viking leader. In 911 he was given lands around Rouen by the Frankish king Charles the Simple. He passed on his ever growing fief to his descendants, known as the counts and later dukes of Normandy. He was the first of the dynasty known as the House of Normandy.

Early career

Rollo might have been a son of Rognvald, earl of More (in present day Norway) and was a Viking raider in France. He probably also raided Scotland and Ireland. Rollo played a part in the Siege of Paris (885–86) and then captured Bayeux according to Dudo of Saint-Quentin. While Rollo was given lands around Rouen in 911 by the French king, Flodoard of Reims says that there were many bands of Northmen raiding in western France at the time. In his writing he paid more attention to another group of Vikings under a Ragenold. Flodoard had no way of knowing then that of all the Viking bands those under Rollo would grow to become the great duchy of Normandy.

Beginnings of Normandy

In 918 King Charles and Rollo met on the border of the Vexin and Roumois. The Roumois was the name then for the province of which Rouen was the capital. In a charter the king confirmed to Rollo the city of Rouen. He also gave him all the territory west to the border of Brittany. By 924 Normandy was growing into a principality. It was at this time he acquired Bayeux and also Maine. Rollo appears in annals only here and there. He was fighting over the castle of Eu against King Raoul. He also came to the aid of King Charles the Simple against Herbert II of Vermandois. Rollo died about 928. He was succeeded by his son William Longsword.

Family

Rollo's first wife was Poppa. Together they had:

 William I, Longsword. He succeeded his father as princeps of Normandy.
 Gerloc, wife of William III, Duke of Aquitaine.

Rollo's second wife was Gisela, daughter of Charles III the Simple, King of France.  They had no children.

Notes

References

840s births
920s deaths
Dukes and duchesses of Normandy

Rollo


John Dryden (9 August 1631 – 1 May 1700) was an English poet laureate and playwright.

He was the oldest of fourteen children born to Erasmus Dryden and wife Mary Pickering.  As a boy Dryden lived in the nearby village of Titchmarsh, Northamptonshire.   In 1644 he was sent to Westminster School. In the late twentieth century a house at Westminster was founded in his name.

In 1650 Dryden went up to Trinity College, Cambridge.  After graduating, he went to London.  Dryden got work with the Secretary of State, John Thurloe.

On 1 December 1663 Dryden married the royalist sister of Sir Robert Howard—Lady Elizabeth. They had three sons.

His first play, The Wild Gallant was in 1663.  It was not successful. But from 1668 on he was contracted to make three plays a year for the King's Company.

In 1693 Dryden famously said about English language that "We have yet no prosody, not so much tolerable dictionary, or a grammar, so that our language is in a manner barbarous." Following the century's ill formed ideas like latinising English, Dryden considered English as inferior and before expressing anything English in his works he transcribed them first into Latin. He promoted the need of a regulatory body in English like the French Academy, this idea has been carried on by others after his death like by Daniel Fefoe, John Adams and other organized bodies into the 21st century. This arresting in change was deplored in each ages.

Books about Dryden
Editions
 The Works of John Dryden, 20 vols., ed. H. T. Swedenberg Jr. et al., (Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1956–2002)
 John Dryden The Major Works, ed. by Keith Walker, (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1987)
 The Works of John Dryden, ed. by David Marriott, (Hertfordshire: Wordsworth Editions, 1995)
 John Dryden Selected Poems, ed by David Hopkins, (London: Everyman Paperbacks, 1998)

Biography
 Winn, James Anderson. John Dryden and His World, (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1987)

Modern criticism
 Eliot, T. S., 'John Dryden', in Selected Essays, (London: Faber and Faber, 1932)
 Hopkins, David, John Dryden, ed. by Isobel Armstrong, (Tavistock: Northcote House Publishers, 2004)
 Oden, Richard, L. Dryden and Shadwell, The Literary Controversy and 'Mac Flecknoe (1668–1679), (Scholars' Facsmilies and Reprints, Inc., Delmar, New York, 1977)

References

1631 births
1700 deaths
People buried in Westminster Abbey
British poets laureate

John Dryden


Credit history or   credit report is, in many countries, an information about  past borrowing and repaying, including information about late payments and bankruptcy. The term "credit reputation" can be also used to describe credit history or credit score.

In many countries, when a customer apply for credit from a bank, store or credit card company, their information is checked with credit monitoring organization. Such an organization will check if potential lender have history of some unpaid loans or other problems.

References

Money

Credit history


Marian Zyndram-Kościałkowski (; 16 March 1892 – 12 April 1946) was a Polish politician, freemason and military officer who served as voivode of Białystok Voivodeship in 1930-1934, Mayor of Warsaw in 1934 and 27th Prime Minister of Poland from 1935 to 1936.

Early years
Marian Zyndram-Kościałkowski was born in his family's real estate of Pandėlys, located in the Novoalexandrovsky Uyezd of the Kovno Governorate of the Russian Empire (today Lithuania), to Karol and Maria Budrewicz. He came from a noble background that used the Syrokomla coat of arms. In 1903, Marian went to Saint Petersburg where he attended middle and high school. After graduation in 1910, he began studying at the local Neurological Institute. Also, he studied agriculture at Riga Technical University.

In 1911, Zyndram-Kościałkowski became a member of the Union of Active Struggle (ZWC), Polish independence organization. Together with Walery Sławek, he was a co-founder of structures of the ZWC in northwestern corner of the Russian Empire. In 1912, he was named commandant of the ZWC in the Baltic provinces of Russia, and in the summer of 1914, after the outbreak of World War I, he planned to join Polish Legions in World War I, but was ordered to stay in Warsaw. In 1915, he joined Polish Military Organisation (POW), using nom de guerre Jerzy Orwid. On February 7, 1915, Józef Piłsudski promoted him to Podporucznik (Second Lieutenant). In the same year, he married fellow member of the POW, Anna Krysińska. In 1918, their son Witold was born, with Piłsudski as the godfather.

1918–1921
In late 1918, Zyndram-Kościałkowski joined the newly created Polish Army, and in 1919 he was transferred to the Second Department of Polish General Staff. He was actively involved in the activities of Polish intelligence in the areas of Suwałki and southern Lithuania. In April 1919, he came to Wilno (Vilnius), and soon afterwards, Józef Piłsudski ordered him to carry out sabotage attacks in the rear of the Red Army.

In September 1920, Zyndram-Kościałkowski was named commandant of the Bieniakonie Group, which was part of Volunteer Division (Colonel Adam Koc). Together with this unit, he participated in Żeligowski's Mutiny, which resulted in creation of the Republic of Central Lithuania. In 1920 - 1922, Zyndram-Kościałkowski commanded Second Department (Intelligence) of the General Staff of Central Lithuania's Armed Forces.

1920s
In 1922, Zyndram-Kościałkowski joined Polish People's Party "Wyzwolenie", to be soon named leader of this party (until 1925). As a deputy of the Land of Wilno to the Polish Sejm, he was released from the military. Zyndram-Kościałkowski remained in the parliament until 1939.

In the early 1920s, he was a member of a Freemason's Lodge "Tomasz Zan", and in April 1925, after abandoning Polish People's Party "Wyzwolenie", he co-created the so-called Parliamentary Labour Club (Klub Pracy, later renamed into Labour Party), together with Kazimierz Bartel. Zyndram-Kościałkowski did not play any significant role in the 1926 May Coup. As key member of the Labour Party, he supported the Sanacja movement, and in May 1927 became a member of the Warsaw City Council. At the same time, he was a deputy chairman of the Association of Army Reservists, and leading member of Association of Polish Cities. In the Parliament, he was responsible for the budget of the Ministry of Military Affairs for the year 1927/28.

Following the 1928 Polish legislative election, Zyndram-Kościałkowski was again elected from the District of Wilno. In March 1928, he became deputy chairman of the Nonpartisan Bloc for Cooperation with the Government (BBWR), and in June, his Labour Party joined the BBWR, as autonomous organization.

Zyndram-Kościałkowski was regarded as an avid supporter of Józef Piłsudski. In defence of his policies, in 1922, he challenged General Józef Haller to a duel.

1930s

On 20 July 1930 Zyndram-Kościałkowski was named Voivode of Białystok Voivodeship, remaining there until late February 1934. He improved local administration, built sewer system and paved streets of Białystok. He also founded the unemployment committee and Agricultural Chamber. Due to his efforts, local entrepreneurs presented their products at the Northern Trade Fair in Wilno. Also, he was one of co-founders of sports club Jagiellonia Białystok. To honor his work, on 4 September 1935 Zyndram-Kościałkowski was named Honorary Citizen of Białystok, and a boulevard was named after him.

Following the 1930 Polish legislative election, he was again elected to the Sejm (November 1930). On 28 June 1934, after Minister of Internal Affairs Bronisław Pieracki had been murdered by Ukrainian nationalists, Zyndram-Kościałkowski took over this post. As a minister, he tried to streamline local administration, and reach an agreement with moderate Ukrainian organizations. In the summer of 1935, Polish authorities reached a compromise with the Ukrainian National Democratic Alliance (UNDO), and as a result, the UNDO took place in the 1935 Polish legislative election.

After the death of Józef Piłsudski (12 May 1935), the Sanacja camp was divided into two factions: those gathered around President Ignacy Mościcki, and the followers of Marshal Edward Śmigły-Rydz. In August 1935, Mościcki agreed with Minister Eugeniusz Kwiatkowski that changes must be made in the government of Walery Sławek. Kwiatkowski entered the cabinet, while Zyndram-Kościałkowski was appointed to the post of Prime Minister.

On 13 October 1935 Marian Zyndram-Kościałkowski was nominated to the post of Prime Minister of Poland. His government excluded the so-called Piłsudski's colonels, which was supported by the public opinion. Due to the economical difficulties of the mid-1930s, Eugeniusz Kwiatkowski, who was Minister of Industry and Trade, played a key role in the government. In December 1935, amnesty of political prisoners was declared, but Zyndram-Kościałkowski decided not to close the Bereza Kartuska prison. In the spring of 1936, Socialist and Communist organizations initiated a series of anti-government demonstrations. Strikes and protests took place all over the country: on 20–25 March a sit-down strike took place at the Semperit Plant in Kraków. The protest was broken by the riot police, with several people killed or injured. In Lwów, the police killed 9 people, wounding over 200. These social disturbances undermined the position of Zyndram-Kościałkowski and his cabinet.

On 15 May 1936 President Mościcki demoted Zyndram-Kościałkowski, replacing him with Felicjan Sławoj Składkowski. Zyndram-Kościałkowski was appointed Minister of Labour in the new government, remaining in post until 30 September 1939.

Exile and death
After the Invasion of Poland, Zyndram-Kościałkowski was interned in Romania. He then moved to France and Great Britain. New Prime Minister in Exile, General Władysław Sikorski sent him to a camp for political opponents, on the Isle of Bute in Scotland. His new partner, actress Maria Balcerkiewicz, was interned with him. They later became engaged, but he died before they could get married.

Marian Zyndram-Kościałkowski died on 12 April 1946 in Brookwood, Surrey.

Military ranks
 Lieutenant – 2 XII 1918
 Captain – 1 XII 1919
 Major – 1924
 Subcolonel – 14 XII 1931

Honors and awards
 Silver Cross of the Virtuti Militari (1921),
 Commander Cross of the Polonia Restituta (1931)
 Cross of Independence with Swords,
 Cross of Valour (Poland), four times,
 Cross of Merit of Central Lithuania's Armed Forces,
 Officer of the Legion of Honour,
 Order of Leopold (Belgium),
 Order of the Cross of the Eagle, First Class.

External links

1892 births
1946 deaths
People from Rokiškis District Municipality
People from Novoalexandrovsky Uyezd
20th-century Polish nobility
Polish People's Party "Wyzwolenie" politicians
Nonpartisan Bloc for Cooperation with the Government politicians
Camp of National Unity politicians
Prime Ministers of Poland
Interior ministers of Poland
Members of the Sejm of the Second Polish Republic (1922–1927)
Members of the Sejm of the Second Polish Republic (1928–1930)
Members of the Sejm of the Second Polish Republic (1930–1935)
Members of the Sejm of the Second Polish Republic (1935–1938)
Members of the Sejm of the Second Polish Republic (1938–1939)
Mayors of Warsaw
Polish Freemasons
Polish exiles
Polish legionnaires (World War I)
Recipients of the Silver Cross of the Virtuti Militari
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Recipients of the Military Order of the Cross of the Eagle, Class I

Marian Zyndram-Kościałkowski


The Amber Room (, ) was a chamber decorated in amber panels backed with gold leaf and mirrors, located in the Catherine Palace of Tsarskoye Selo near Saint Petersburg.

Constructed in the 18th century in Prussia, the room was dismantled and eventually disappeared during World War II. Before its loss, it was considered an "Eighth Wonder of the World". A reconstruction was made, starting in 1979 and completed and installed in the Catherine Palace in 2003.

The Amber Room was intended in 1701 for the Charlottenburg Palace, in Berlin, Prussia, but was eventually installed at the Berlin City Palace. It was designed by German baroque sculptor Andreas Schlüter and Danish amber craftsman Gottfried Wolfram. Schlüter and Wolfram worked on the room until 1707, when work was continued by amber masters Gottfried Turau and Ernst Schacht from Danzig (Gdańsk).

It remained in Berlin until 1716, when it was given by the Prussian King Frederick William I to his ally Tsar Peter the Great of the Russian Empire. In Russia, the room was installed in the Catherine Palace. After expansion and several renovations, it covered more than  and contained over  of amber.

The Amber Room was looted during World War II by the Army Group North of Nazi Germany, and taken to Königsberg for reconstruction and display. Some time in early 1944, with Allied forces closing in on Germany, the room was disassembled and crated for storage in the Castle basement.  Königsberg was destroyed by allied bombers in August 1944 and documentation of the room location ends there.  Its eventual fate and current whereabouts, if it survives, remain a mystery. In 1979, the decision was taken to create a reconstructed Amber Room at the Catherine Palace in Pushkin. After decades of work by Russian craftsmen and donations from Germany, it was completed and inaugurated in 2003.

Architecture
The Amber Room is a priceless piece of art, with extraordinary architectural features such as gilding, carvings, 450 kg (990 lb) of amber panels, gold leaf, gemstones, and mirrors, all highlighted with candle light. Additional architectural and design features include statues of angels and children.

Because of its unique features and singular beauty, the original Amber Room was sometimes dubbed the "Eighth Wonder of the World". Modern estimates of the room's value range from $142 million (2007) to over $500 million (2016).

History

Creation

The Amber Room was begun in 1701 with the purpose of being installed at Charlottenburg Palace, the residence of Frederick, the first King in Prussia, at the urging of his second wife, Sophia Charlotte. The concept and design of the room was drafted by Andreas Schlüter. It was fabricated by Gottfried Wolfram, master craftsman to the Danish court of King Frederick IV of Denmark, with help from the amber masters Ernst Schacht and Gottfried Turau from Danzig, now Gdańsk in Poland.

Although originally intended for installation at Charlottenburg Palace, the complete panels were eventually installed at Berlin City Palace. The Amber Room did not, however, remain at Berlin City Palace for long. Peter the Great of Russia admired it during a visit, and in 1716, King Frederick I's son  Frederick William I presented the room to Peter as a gift, which forged a Russo-Prussian alliance against Sweden.

The original Berlin design of the Amber Room was reworked in Russia in a joint effort by German and Russian craftsmen. It was Peter's daughter Empress Elizabeth who decided the amber treasure should be installed at Catherine Palace, where the Russian Imperial family typically spent their summers. After several other 18th-century renovations, the room covered more than  and contained over  of amber. The room took over ten years to construct.

Theft during World War II

Shortly after the beginning of the German invasion of the Soviet Union in World War II, the curators responsible for removing the art treasures in Leningrad tried to disassemble and remove the Amber Room. However, over the years the amber had dried out and become brittle, making it impossible to move the room without the amber crumbling. The Amber Room was therefore hidden behind mundane wallpaper, in an attempt to keep German forces from seizing it, but the attempt to hide such a well-known piece of art failed.

German soldiers of Army Group North disassembled the Amber Room within 36 hours under the supervision of two experts. On 14 October 1941, the priceless room reached Königsberg in East Prussia, for storage and display in the town's castle. On 13 November 1941, a Königsberg newspaper announced an exhibition of the Amber Room at Königsberg Castle.

Last days in Königsberg
Orders given by Hitler on 21 and 24 January 1945 ordered the movement of looted possessions from Königsberg. This allowed Albert Speer, Reichsminister of Armaments, and his administration team to transport cultural goods of priority. However, before the Amber Room could be moved, Erich Koch, who was in charge of civil administration in Königsberg during the final months of the war, abandoned his post and fled from the city, leaving General Otto Lasch in command.

In August 1944, Königsberg was heavily fire-bombed by the Royal Air Force. It suffered further extensive damage from artillery from the advancing Red Army before the final occupation on 9 April 1945.

Disappearance and mysteries
After the war, the Amber Room was never seen in public again, though reports have occasionally surfaced stating that pieces of the Amber Room survived the war. Several eyewitnesses claimed to have spotted the famous room being loaded on board the Wilhelm Gustloff, which left Gdynia on 30 January 1945, and was then promptly torpedoed and sunk by a Soviet submarine.

In 1997, an Italian stone mosaic "Feel and Touch" that was part of a set of four stones which had decorated the Amber Room was found in Germany, in the possession of the family of a soldier who claimed to have helped pack up the amber chamber. The mosaic came into the hands of the Russian authorities and was used in the reconstruction.

In 1998, two separate teams, one German and one Lithuanian, announced they had located the Amber Room. The German team pointed to a silver mine while the Lithuanian team believed the amber treasure was buried in a lagoon; neither of the two locations turned out to hold the Amber Room.

In 2004, a lengthy investigation by British investigative journalists Catherine Scott-Clark and Adrian Levy concluded that the Amber Room was most likely destroyed when Königsberg Castle was damaged, first during the bombing of Königsberg by the Royal Air Force in 1944 and then by the Soviets' burning of the castle followed by shelling of the remaining walls. Official assessments, set out in documents from the Russian National Archives written by Alexander Brusov, head of the Soviet team charged with locating the Amber Room following the war, agreed with this theory. The official report stated: "Summarizing all the facts, we can say that the Amber Room was destroyed between 9 and 11 April 1945."

These dates correspond with the end of the Battle of Königsberg, which on 9 April ended with the surrender of the German garrison. A few years later, Brusov publicly voiced a contrary opinion; this is believed to have been done due to pressure from Soviet authorities, who did not want to be seen as responsible for the loss of the Amber Room.

Among other information retrieved from the archives was the revelation that the remaining Italian stone mosaics were found in the burned debris of the castle. Scott-Clark and Levy concluded in their report that the reason the Soviets conducted extensive searches for the Amber Room, even though their own experts had concluded that it was destroyed, was because they wanted to know if any of their own soldiers had been responsible for the destruction. Scott-Clark and Levy also assessed that others in the Soviet government found the theft of the Amber Room a useful Cold War propaganda tool. Russian government officials have since denied these conclusions. Adelaida Yolkina, senior researcher at the Pavlovsk Palace, reportedly stated: "It is impossible to see the Red Army being so careless that they let the Amber Room be destroyed".

After the report was made public, Leonid Arinshtein, who was a lieutenant in the Red Army in charge of a rifle platoon during the Battle of Königsberg, said: "I probably was one of the last people who saw the Amber Room". At the same time, he explained that the whole city was burning due to artillery bombardments, but also denied allegations that the Red Army burned the city on purpose, saying: "What soldiers would burn the city where they will have to stay?"

A variation of this theory by some present-day residents of Kaliningrad (formerly Königsberg), is that at least parts of the room were found in the Königsberg Castle cellars after World War II by the Red Army. The Amber Room was allegedly still in good condition; this was not admitted at the time so the blame could fall upon the Nazis. To preserve this story, access to the ruins of the castle, which was allowed after World War II, was suddenly restricted to all, including historical and archaeological surveys, but the room is said to be in a storehouse near Königsberg Castle.

Then in 1968, despite academic protests worldwide, Soviet general secretary Leonid Brezhnev ordered the destruction of Königsberg Castle, thus making any onsite research of the last known resting place of the Amber Room all but impossible. Later the search for the Amber Room continued in different locations, including near Wuppertal, Germany.

Another hypothesis involves a bunker in Mamerki in northeastern Poland, or that Stalin ordered the Amber Room replaced with a replica prior to its looting, hiding the original. The main problem with finding the Amber Room is that the Nazi regime hid many items in many difficult-to-reach places, usually without documentation, leaving a wide search area. The Germans also moved items to destinations far from Europe in some cases. The search for the Amber Room has also been halted by authorities. In the case of Frýdlant castle it was halted because of the historic value of the castle.

In October 2020 Polish divers from the Baltictech group found the wreck of the SS Karlsruhe, a ship which took part in Operation Hannibal, a sea evacuation which allowed more than a million German troops and civilians from East Prussia to escape advancing Soviet forces. The ship was attacked off the coast of Poland by Soviet aircraft after it sailed from Königsberg in 1945. The wreck holds many crates with unknown contents. An online news website, Live Science, reports that this German steamship may hold crates that contain parts of the Amber Room.

Reconstruction

In 1979, the Soviet government decided to construct a replica of the Amber Room at Tsarskoye Selo, a process that was to take 24 years and require 40 Russian and German experts in amber craftsmanship. Using original drawings and old black-and-white photographs, every attempt was made to duplicate the original Amber Room. This included the 350 shades of amber in the original panels and fixtures that adorned the room. A major problem was the lack of skilled workers, since amber carving was a nearly lost art form.

The financial difficulties that plagued the reconstruction project from the start were solved with the donation of US$3.5 million from the German company E.ON. By 2003, the work of the Russian craftsmen was mostly completed. The new room was dedicated by Russian President Vladimir Putin and German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder at the 300th anniversary of the city of Saint Petersburg.
In Kleinmachnow, near Berlin, there is a miniature Amber Room, fabricated after the original. The Berlin miniature collector Ulla Klingbeil had this copy made of original East Prussian amber.

See also
 Art of the Third Reich
 Nazi gold train
 Siege of Leningrad
 Štěchovice Treasure

References

Sources

Printed

Online

External links

 Amber Room 3D panorama with high-resolution pictures of decor elements and function drag and zoom by Classic Studio
 Bibliographical Database of the International literature about the Amber Room by Peter Bruhn

1701 establishments in the Holy Roman Empire
Buildings and structures completed in 1701
Amber
Art museums and galleries in Russia
Baroque architecture in Berlin
Baroque architecture in Russia
Ekaterininsky park
Individual rooms
Lost works of art
Nazi-looted art
Tourist attractions in Saint Petersburg
Frederick I of Prussia
Frederick William I of Prussia
Peter the Great

Amber Room


Hasan Ali Mansur (; 13 April 1923 – 26 January 1965) was an Iranian politician who served as Prime Minister from 1964 to 1965. He served during the White Revolution of the Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi and was assassinated by a member of the Fada'iyan-e Islam.

Early life and education
Hassan Ali was born in Tehran on 13 April 1923 to Prime Minister Ali Mansur (Mansour-al-Molk) and daughter of Zahir-ol-Molk Raiss. He received primary education in Tehran and graduated from Firooz-Bahram High School. During the World War II era, he entered Law School at the University of Tehran and graduated with a degree in political science.

Career
In the post World War II era, Mansour started his political career by entering the foreign ministry and completed several internal and foreign assignments including tours of Germany and France. In the 1950s, this thirty-year-old was twice appointed chief of prime minister's office, first for a brief period because of change in government, and second lasted for 2 years. In 1957, Prime Minister Manuchehr Eghbal appointed him as chairman of the economics council and vice prime minister. He also held the positions of minister of labor, and minister of trade. Prime minister Asadollah Alam appointed him as chairman of "Bimeh Iran" insurance company.

The Progressive Party or "Kanoon Motaraghion" was founded by Mansour to conduct economic policy research as well as the launching pad for his future prime ministership.  In 1962 Mansour ran for the 21st Majlis and was elected as the second representative from Tehran, after Abdollah Riazi, speaker of the Majlis. A few dozen of his party members were also elected to Majlis, with the exception of Hoveyda and Kashefian who were more interested in executive branch. Mansour then expanded his power base by forming a coalition and founded "IRAN NOVIN" party with a majority of 175 out of 230 deputies, and was elected the Majority Leader of Parliament.

After Alam resigned his premiership in 1964, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi appointed Mansur prime minister and his cabinet was announced on 7 March. He introduced many young new faces, such as Amir Abbas Hoveyda, Jamshid Amuzegar, Ataollah Khosravani, Nahavandi, Alinaghi Alikhani, Manouchehr Rohani, and many other Iran Novin members. Since most of his cabinet were young and American/European educated, Mansour had pro-American tendencies in his politics and enjoyed the support of American government. Clearly the Shah now felt more comfortable working with people from his own generation than older generation who also served his father and called him "Shah Javan" or the "Young Shah".  The torch was passed from the old war heroes to younger educated technocrats to carry out the "White Revolution" and an explosive decade of growth.

Mansur passed the Geneva Convention American Force Protection Act, also known as the highly controversial Capitulation Law. This led to a fiery attack by Ayatollah Khomeini from Qom, and resulted in his historical exile to Turkey, and many subsequent riots. Mansur also raised the price of gasoline from 5 to 10 Rials to meet budget deficits, but later retreated after strikes by taxi drivers.

Personal life
Mansur was  briefly engaged to Noushie Teymourtash, but subsequently married Farideh Emami. He was survived by a son, the jazz guitarist Ahmad Mansur (1960–2011) and a daughter, the journalist Fati Mansur (1964). Farideh's sister Leyla Emami, later married prime minister Amir Abbas Hoveyda. Javad Mansur, his brother, also served as a consultant to prime minister Hoveyda. His sister Touran was briefly engaged to Fereydoun Hoveyda but subsequently married Manouchehr Teymourtash.

Assassination

At 10am on 21 January 1965, a few days before the first anniversary of the White Revolution, Mansour was entering the gates of Majlis to present his first State-of-the-Union speech. After he stepped out of his car in Baharestan Square, he was shot three times by 21-year-old Mohammad Bokharaei, a member of Fada'iyan-e Islam. Bokharaei was later executed, along with three others implicated in the assassination – Reza Saffar Harandi, Haaj Sadegh Amani, and Morteza Niknejad.

Mansour was put back into the car and rushed to the hospital, where he remained in critical condition for 5 days before he finally died. During the crisis, the Shah quickly appointed Mansur's friend, Amir-Abbas Hoveida as the acting prime minister, in which role he continued for the next thirteen years. Mansour's assassination occurred a few years after the assassination of prime minister Ali Razmara.

Mansour was buried in Shah-Abdol-Azim near Reza Shah's mausoleum, and a Kennedy-like Black Granite Eternal Flame was constructed at his grave site. After the Islamic Revolution, the Mansur gravesite was destroyed by Ayatollah Khalkhali, and his remains were dug up and scattered.

References

 'Alí Rizā Awsatí (عليرضا اوسطى), Iran in the past three centuries (Irān dar Se Qarn-e Goz̲ashteh - ايران در سه قرن گذشته), Volumes 1 and 2 (Paktāb Publishing - انتشارات پاکتاب, Tehran, Iran, 2003).  (Vol. 1),  (Vol. 2).
 Biography of Recent Political and Military People of Iran, Bagher Agheli, Volume 3, p.1548, in Persian, Tehran 2001

External links

|-

1923 births
1965 deaths
Prime Ministers of Iran
Assassinated Iranian politicians
Iran Novin Party Secretaries-General
Mansur, Hassan Ali
Deaths by firearm in Iran
People murdered in Iran
Assassinated prime ministers
20th-century Iranian people
Children of prime ministers
People assassinated by the Fada'iyan-e Islam
Victims of Islamic terrorism
1960s assassinated politicians

Hassan Ali Mansur


Rapid plant movement means quick movement of plant structures, usually under a second.

For example, the Venus Flytrap closes its trap in about 100 milliseconds. Some other carnivorous plants, such as the bladderworts, also have a rapid response to insects.

The Dogwood Bunchberry, Cornus canadensis, has a flower which opens its petals and fires pollen in less than 0.5 milliseconds. The record is currently held by the White Mulberry tree, Morus alba, whose leaves are used to cultivate silkworms. It is also notable for the rapid release of its pollen, which is launched at over half the speed of sound. The stamens act as catapults, releasing stored elastic energy in just 25 µs. "This is the fastest motion yet observed in biology, and approaches the theoretical physical limits for movements in plants".

The very widespread genus Impatiens gets its common name, "touch-me-not", from its seed capsules. When the capsules mature, they "explode" when touched, shooting seeds several metres away.
A comparatively slow-moving  plant is Mimosa pudica, which closes its leaflets in a graceful sequence.

These rapid plant movements contrast with the more common, and much slower "growth-movements" of plants. They are called tropisms.

Charles Darwin in 1880 published his last work before his death, The Power of Movement in Plants.

Related pages
Charles Darwin's books

References

Flowering plants

Rapid plant movement


The Cittadella of Alessandria () is a star fort and citadel in the city of Alessandria, Italy. It was built in the 18th century by the Kingdom of Sardinia, and today it is one of the best preserved fortifications of that era. It is one of the few fortifications in Europe still in their original environment, since there are no buildings blocking the views of the ramparts, or a road that surrounds the ditches.

On 10 March 1821, during the Piedmont insurrection, the blue, red and black tricolour of the Carbonari was raised on the Cittadella's bastions by Colonel Ansaldi. This was the first use of a tricolour flag in the history of Italy.

The Cittadella has been Italy's tentative list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites since 2006.

Location
The fortress lies across the river Tanaro in the north-west side of the city of Alessandria. The site is one of the lowest in the Piedmont region with an altitude of about  above sea-level.

History

Social, historical and geopolitical context

Since its foundation, 1168, the town of Alessandria was always meant to be a border town with a strategic-military vocation. From the 14th century has joined the Visconti of Milan against Monferrato and Asti, with the Sforza then in the 15th century, and consequently under the Spaniards rule after, throughout the 17th century.

The construction of the fortress began immediately after the signing of the Treaty of Utrecht in 1713. The treaty handed ownership of the Citadel from the Spaniards to the House of Savoy. A massive fortification project followed, during which much of Alessandria's town-planning were changed to bolster the fortress's defenses.

In order to meet the needs of defense of the new state of Savoy, it was decided to build a massive fortress designed to function as a barrier of military transits traveling along the "Road of Flanders", the ancient Spanish military road that connected the harbors of Genova, Savona and Finale Ligure with the Netherlands.

18th century

Construction
The Citadel plan was commissioned by King Vittorio Amedeo II and effectively built, in 1732, by King Charles Emmanuel III. The project's architect was Ignazio Bertola. The fortress is a six-star hexagon shaped structure.

The Citadel was built entirely at the expense of the ancient quarter of Borgoglio (or Bergoglio) provoking strong urban revolution. It was completed in its main components in the forties of the 18th century while inside the fortified hexagon the buildings of the civilians were gradually demolished to make way for new military quarters and the inhabitants were forced to relocate, replaced by a garrison ever more numerous.

The result is an immense fortress which extends over  whose longer side is parallel to the axis of the river. The Citadel is a perfect example of modern fortress composed of six bastioned fronts supplied with cavalieri crossed by tunnels and casemates. The fortress is surrounded by a wide moat, in connection with the Tanaro river through flooding tunnels, scheduled to be flooded by the waters of the river, and protected by tenaglioni, ravelins, counterguards and ridottes.

The entrance is by a long stone bridge that leads to a large area surrounded by multi-storey buildings arranged along the axis of the ancient quarter, all protected by resistant embankments constructed between 1749 and 1831.

The War of the Austrian Succession
The Citadel was tested by fire the first time between 1745 and 1746 when it resisted the French-Spanish army for seven months, during the War of the Austrian Succession. The Citadel was still incomplete and not well armed.

First Italian Campaign
At the end of the First Italian Campaign, the Citadel was in the hands of the French: in July 1799 it was under siege by the Austro-Russian Army led by Aleksandr Vasilyevich Suvorov. After three days of bombing were inflicted serious damage to the fortified structures and the French were forced to surrender.

19th century

French occupation
Following the Battle of Marengo and the proclamation of the First French Empire, Napoleon expanded and renovated the fort to support the operations of the French army in Italy. During the French occupation, the citadel became one of the most important fortresses in the French Empire, since it was intended to be the "eastern gateway" of France.

European restoration
In 1814 the Austrian army captured the fort and transferred it to the restored Kingdom of Sardinia. The fort was renovated, and by the mid-19th century it became an important bulwark against the Austrian Empire.

Risorgimento
On 10 March 1821, the Cittadella's garrison mutinied, marking the beginning of the Piedmont insurrection, and Colonel Ansaldi raised the blue, red and black tricolour of the Carbonari on the bastions. The insurrection spread quickly throughout Piedmont, but it was suppressed by the Austrians at the end of April. The Austrians subsequently took over the fort and occupied it until 1823. Various Young Italy affiliates were imprisoned in the fort, and five were executed by firing squad in 1833.

After the Austrians defeated the Kingdom of Sardinia during the Battle of Novara in 1849, the fort was again occupied by Austrian forces for three months. After the Alessandria was back in Sardinian hands, the number of guns within the Cittadella was increased, and three nearby Napoleonic forts (Forte Ferrovia, Forte Bormida and Forte Acqui) were strengthened. The fort saw use during the Second Italian War of Independence of 1859, and Napoleon III spent some time there during the war.

Kingdom of Italy
Following the Italian unification and the proclamation of the Kingdom of Italy, Alessandria became a defensive centre of the kingdom's western border. In 1889, the Cittadella's status changed to command headquarters and barracks. Nonetheless, it remained a key site for the Royal Italian Army.

20th century
In 1901 the Army Corps of Engineers decommissioned the citadel's cinta magistrale. The Forte di Acqui, the Opera di Valenza and the citadel's outworks were decommissioned in 1904.

Several regiments were stationed in the Cittadella, including the 37th and 38th Infantry Regiments, which formed part of the 3rd Mountain Infantry Division Ravenna.

World War II
The Governor's Palace in the Cittadella was declared a National Monument by royal charter dated 17 May 1943.

On 9 September 1943, the Germans entered Alessandria and captured the Cittadella after a short bombardment. The Italian garrison surrendered and were deported to Germany.
The city of Alessandria was heavily bombed on 5 September 1944, but the Cittadella did not suffer a lot of damage. However, a bomb shelter located near the fort was hit, killing 39 civilians.

The Cittadella was captured by partisans in 1945, and it subsequently became the seat of the Brazilian Expeditionary Force.

Post-war era
From 1953 to 1962, the citadel was home to the 52nd Artillery Regiment "Torino". It was then used for logistics functions and as a magazine.

In 1994, the citadel was flooded by the river, and many buildings were severely damaged. Today, some areas are still filled with mud from the flood.

21st century
The Cittadella was officially decommissioned in 2007, when the Ministry of Defence handed it over to the Italian Public Property Agency.

On 18 June 2010, a permanent exhibition of about 1500 uniforms, weapons and memorabilia of the Royal Italian Army was established within the fort.

In 2014, the Cittadella was listed as one of "The 7 Most Endangered" sites by Europa Nostra, mainly due to the spread of weeds which threatens the fortification.

Gallery

See also
 Alessandria
 House of Savoy
 Ignazio Bertola

References

Notes

Bibliography
 Anna Marotta, La Cittadella di Alessandria, una fortezza per il territorio dal settecento all'unità. SO.G.ED. 1991

External links

 UNESCO tentative list info page about the Citadel of Alessandria

Buildings and structures in Alessandria
Fortifications in Italy
Buildings and structures completed in the 18th century
Military installations closed in 2007
Museums in Piedmont
Local museums in Italy
World Heritage Tentative List
7 Most Endangered Programme
18th-century architecture in Italy

Cittadella of Alessandria


A catapult is a type of machine used as a weapon to throw rocks, large arrows, or other things such as hot tar, that would cause damage to something else.  Often, catapults were set on higher ground or on castle towers to let them shoot farther.  They shot rocks to break castle walls, or pitch or hot tar to set the target on fire.

Catapults use weights and levers to send the rocks or other things into the air. They do not throw as far as modern weapons do, and are not useful in modern warfare.  Catapults were common in the past, especially the Middle Ages.

Nowadays catapults are used to study old weapons, and as experiments (for example in physics or engineering classes). Some old ones are kept in museums.

Aircraft carriers use much more powerful steam catapults to throw airplanes into the air.

References

Other websites
How does a catapult work  - A thorough explanation of different types of catapults with images.
Animated Catapults Animations of a Roman mangonel and onager and a medieval trebuchet

Weapons

Catapult


The Mont-Louis Solar Furnace is an experimental solar furnace - a solar thermal energy facility that was built in 1949. It was the first facility of its kind in the world, and was a precursor of the Odeillo Solar Furnace. It provides a thermal power of 50 kW.

History
The French chemist Félix Trombe and his team made an initial demonstration of a mirror of DCA in Meudon in 1946 to show the possibility of reaching high temperatures very quickly using highly concentrated sunlight. The goal was to melt ore and extract very pure substances to make new and more effective refractory materials.

In order to do further experiments, the first solar furnace was built in Mont-Louis in the Pyrénées-Orientales in 1949.

Development and cooperation
The Mont-Louis Solar Furnace is engaged in a process of technology transfer to the countries of the south; the city of Safi in Morocco is participating in this process. The aim is to install in villages, solar ovens that will cook pots, plates for eating bread, building materials, and melt any metal to make pots or tools.

Education
The centre gives demonstrations of its work. A guide takes visitors to the heart of the facility to explain the operation and use of the solar furnace. Applications of simple scientific and educational experiments complement the visit, for example: the concentration of the solar rays to produce temperatures between 2000 °C and 3500 °C, the ignition of wood, melting of metal, and ceramic cooking. The visit concludes with an overview of technologies that use solar energy: solar thermal, solar forge, solar cells, solar cookers.

See also

Odeillo solar furnace

References

External links

 History of the Solar Furnace (in French)
 Cooperation with Morocco

Energy infrastructure completed in 1949
Buildings and structures in Pyrénées-Orientales
Energy development
Solar power stations in France
Tourist attractions in Pyrénées-Orientales
Monuments historiques of Pyrénées-Orientales
20th-century architecture in France

Mont-Louis Solar Furnace


Mar Ahha or Ahai () was bishop of Seleucia-Ctesiphon, grand metropolitan and primate of the Church of the East from 410 to 414.  He is included in the traditional list of patriarchs of the Church of the East.

Biography
The following account of Ahha's reign is given by Bar Hebraeus:

After Isaac, Ahai.  His name derives from 'brotherhood', and he was so called because in his homilies and exhortations he frequently called his people his brothers.  Just as today the chanters say 'My loved ones' or, when using the plural, some say 'My brothers', he used to take over that habit for the singular, and say 'My brother'.  In Greek he is called Achaeus.  He was a man of outstanding virtue and learning, given to fasting and oratory, and hospitable, who led a monastic life throughout his catholicate.  After fulfilling his office for seven years he departed to his Lord and was buried at Seleucia.

A slightly longer and more circumstantial account is given by Mari:

Ahai.  The leadership fell to this man by the common consent of the faithful.  It was his custom to eat only bread and vegetables, cooked and in small quantities, and only just to taste it, so that he preserved a perpetual fast.  Before he assumed his patriarchal responsibilities he made a pilgrimage to see the monuments of the martyrs who suffered for Christ under Shapur, and wrote their acts, and edited an entire volume on their deeds and why each one was martyred.  He also wrote a history of Mar Abda.  He died after fulfilling his office for seven years and a few months.  In his time the relics of Stephen the martyr were found and displayed in Jerusalem.  Hormizd also accepted baptism, and built churches and protected the Christians.  He built a very large church in the place where the bones of Stephen lay, in which miracles were performed.  The times thus turned favourable for Ahai.  He was buried in al-Madaïn [Seleucia-Ctesiphon].

Sources
Brief accounts of Ahha's reign are given in the Ecclesiastical Chronicle of the Jacobite writer Bar Hebraeus (floruit 1280) and in the ecclesiastical histories of the Nestorian writers Mari (twelfth-century), Amr (fourteenth-century) and Sliba (fourteenth-century).  In all these accounts he is anachronistically called 'catholicus', a term that was only applied to the primates of the Church of the East towards the end of the fifth century.

See also
 List of patriarchs of the Church of the East

Notes

References
 Abbeloos, J. B., and Lamy, T. J., Bar Hebraeus, Chronicon Ecclesiasticum (3 vols, Paris, 1877)
 Assemani, J. A., De Catholicis seu Patriarchis Chaldaeorum et Nestorianorum (Rome, 1775)
 Brooks, E. W., Eliae Metropolitae Nisibeni Opus Chronologicum (Rome, 1910)
 Gismondi, H., Maris, Amri, et Salibae: De Patriarchis Nestorianorum Commentaria I: Amri et Salibae Textus (Rome, 1896)
 Gismondi, H., Maris, Amri, et Salibae: De Patriarchis Nestorianorum Commentaria II: Maris textus arabicus et versio Latina (Rome, 1899)

External links

Patriarchs of the Church of the East
5th-century bishops of the Church of the East
Christians in the Sasanian Empire

Ahha


GFDL(又叫 GNU FDL,全名 ),可以譯 GNU 自由文章授權條款,係一個由自由軟件基金會為 GNU 計劃而設計嘅一套反版權授權條款,特別係設計來畀自由文件用,對應 GPL 授權條款。同 GPL 一樣,佢係設計到讀者有權複製、分發同修改 GFDL 授權嘅作品,而且無論係直接複製抑或二次創作嘅作品,都一定要用一樣嘅條款授權。抄出來嘅複製品亦都准賣,但係如果印得多(即係多過100份),賣嘅時候就一定要跟埋原作或者作品源碼。

GFDL 本來係設計來畀說明書、課本、參考書、教材同 GPL 軟件嘅附屬說明用嘅,但係佢亦可以用喺任何題材、任何領域嘅任何文字作品。

「次要部分」
喺呢套條款之下,所謂 「文件」(即係正文)同所謂 「次要部分」(secondary sections)有清楚嘅劃分。所謂次要部分,係指未必整合咗入正文,但係同正文有關嘅嘢,例如印刷業所講嘅正文前部(front matter)同結文(back matter,即係例如附錄等等嘅部分),次要部分可以包括例如作者資料、出版者資料等等同正文主題冇直接關係嘅嘢。「文件」(正文)可以隨便改,但係次要部份反而可能有特別嘅限制,目的係確保之前嘅作者唔會無端端冇咗名等等;另外,正文嘅修改條款雖然同 GPL 對應,但係 GFDL 同 GPL 並唔兼容,GPL 同 GFDL 亦都唔兼容。

Specifically, the authors of prior versions have to be acknowledged and certain "invariant sections" specified by the original author and dealing with his or her relationship to the subject matter may not be changed. If the material is modified, its title has to be changed (unless the prior authors give permission to retain the title). The license also has provisions for the handling of front-cover and back-cover texts of books, as well as for "History", "Acknowledgements", "Dedications" and "Endorsements" sections.

商業再分發
GFDL requires the ability to "copy and distribute the Document in any medium, either commercially or noncommercially" and therefore is incompatible with material that excludes commercial re-use. Material that restricts commercial re-use is incompatible with the license and cannot be incorporated into the work. However, incorporating such restricted material may be fair use under United States copyright law and does not need to be licensed to fall within the GFDL if such fair use is covered by all potential subsequent uses.一個例子係of such liberal and commercial fair use is parody.

對GFDL嘅批評
The Debian project and Nathanael Nerode have raised objections. Debian developers eventually voted to consider works licensed under the GFDL to comply with their Debian Free Software Guidelines provided the invariant section clauses are not used. These critics recommend the use of alternate licenses such as the share-alike Creative Commons licenses, the BSD Documentation License, or even the GNU GPL. They consider the GFDL a non-free license. The reasons for this are that the GFDL allows "invariant" text which cannot be modified or removed, and that its prohibition against digital rights management (DRM) systems applies to valid usages, like for "private copies made and not distributed".

反數碼權利管理反得過咗火
The GNU FDL contains the statement:

A criticism of this language is that it is too broad, because it applies to private copies made but not distributed. This means that a licensee is not allowed to save document copies "made" in a proprietary file format or using encryption.

In 2003, Richard Stallman said about the above sentence on the debian-legal mailing list:

唔准改嘅部分
A GNU FDL work can quickly be encumbered因為a new, different, title must be given and a list of previous titles must be kept. This could lead to the situation where there are a whole series of title pages, and dedications, in each and every copy of the book if it has a long lineage. These pages cannot ever be removed, at least not until the work enters the public domain after copyright expires.

Richard Stallman 講過 about invariant sections on the debian-legal mailing list:

同 GPL 互相唔兼容
The GNU FDL is incompatible in both directions with the GPL: that is GNU FDL material cannot be put into GPL code and GPL code cannot be put into a GNU FDL manual. Because of this, code samples are often dual-licensed so that they may appear in documentation and can be incorporated into a free software program.

At the2006年6月22號-23號 international GPLv3 conference in Barcelona, Moglen hinted that a future version of the GPL could be made suitable for documentation:

印嘢超麻煩
The GNU FDL requires that licenses, when printing a文件covered by the license, must also include "this License, the copyright notices, and the license notice saying this License applies to the Document".咁樣表示咗如果一篇文licensee prints out a copy of an article whose text is covered under the GNU FDL, he or she must also include a copyright notice and a physical printout of the GNU FDL, which is a significantly large document in itself.

「透明」 嘅格式
The definition of a "transparent" format is complicated, and may be difficult to apply. For example, drawings are required to be in a format that allows them to be revised straightforwardly with "some widely available drawing editor." The definition of "widely available" may be difficult to interpret, and may change over time, since, e.g., the open-source Inkscape編輯者is rapidly maturing, but has not yet reached version 1.0. This section, which was rewritten somewhat between versions 1.1 and 1.2 of the license, uses the terms "widely available" and "proprietary" inconsistently and without defining them. According to a strict interpretation of the license, the references to "generic text editors" could be interpreted as ruling out a format used by an open-source word-processor such as Abiword; according to a loose interpretation, however, Microsoft Word .doc format could qualify as transparent, since a subset of .doc files can be edited perfectly using OpenOffice.org, and the format therefore is not one "that can be read and edited only by proprietary word processors."

歷史
喺 1999 年底,第一份 FDL 草稿出咗,用來搵人畀意見。修改咗幾次之後,2000年3月出咗第 1.1 版,2002年11月出咗第 1.2 版,喺2007年係第 1.2 版。

2006年9月26號,第一份討論用嘅 GFDL 第二版草稿出咗,同時出埋新寫嘅 GNU Simpler Free Documentation License(GNU 自由文章授權條款簡化版)草稿。

新版嘅 GFDL 比舊版好咗好多,例如加入咗 GPL 寫第三版嘅時喺寫嘅新條款,等做國際化易啲,易啲將條款用喺錄音或者影片,節錄用作品嘅時候冇咁麻煩等等。

至於簡化版,就冇咗有關 「封面、封底」(Cover Texts)同 「唔改得嘅部分」(Invariant Sections)嘅限制,令唔想用爾啲條款嘅作者可以有個簡單啲嘅選擇。

其他嘅自由授權條款
坊間有其他嘅自由授權條款,當中有啲同 GFDL 完全冇關,第啲就係回應 GFDL 被人覺得寫得差嘅地方。例子包括:
 FreeBSD Documentation License
 共享創意
 Design Science License
 Free Art license
 Open Content License
 Open Publication License

睇埋
 BSD license
 版權
 Copyleft
 Free software license
 GNU
 Open content
 Share-alike
 Software licensing
 Non-commercial educational

註解

連出去
 GFDL 條款原文
 GFDL 嘅官方網頁
 Free Software and Free Manuals
 Why Wikivoyage isn't GFDL: Problems with using the GFDL for short printed texts
 The Free Universal Encyclopedia And Learning Resource
 Guide to the new drafts of documentation licenses

自由軟件

GFDL


Claude Combes (born 22 July 1935 in Perpignan) is a French biologist and parasitologist. He is a professor of animal biology and director of the Centre de Biologie et Écologie Tropicale et Méditerranéenne at the Université de Perpignan.

He got his aggregation of natural sciences in 1958 and a doctoral degree in 1967.

He has received several scientific awards including the CNRS Silver Medal (1986), Skryabin Medal (USSR Academy of Sciences) (1991), Philip Morris Research Prize (1990).

He has been a member of the French Academy of Sciences since 1996.

Books
 La Vie, 2002 Ellipses (L'esprit des sciences)
 Taxonomie, écologie et évolution des métazoaires parasites. (Taxonomy, ecology and evolution of metazoan parasites), 2003 PUP
 The Art of Being a Parasite, 2005 The University of Chicago Press (2003 in French)
 Encyclopedic Reference of Parasitology, (2nd edition, 38 co-authors), 2002 Springer
 Interactions durables. Ecologie et évolution du parasitisme, 1995 Masson (Ecologie, 26)
 L'homme et l'animal. De Lascaux à la vache folle, 1999 Belin (Pour la Science)
 Les associations du vivant : l'art d'être parasite, 2001 Flammarion
 Parasitism. The Ecology and Evolution of Intimate Interactions. 2001 University of Chicago Press

External links
 The art of being a parasite by Claude Combes, in Google Books.
 A book review by Danny Yee
 short bio

Members of the French Academy of Sciences
1935 births
French parasitologists
Living people

Claude Combes


Lagoon Creek Pumping Station is a heritage-listed pumping station at Buckle Street, Caboolture, City of Moreton Bay, Queensland, Australia. It was built from 1913 to 1947. It was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on 24 January 2003.

History
The former railway water supply pumping station was built in 1913 on a waterhole on Lagoon Creek at Caboolture. It was the third pump site drawing water from this source to supply tanks at the Caboolture railway station replenishing the stock of steam locomotives. The facility was developed in stages from the opening of the North Coast railway line until 1947 and its use was discontinued in 1968 when the use of steam locomotives on the line ceased.

Progress throughout the world during the 19th century was facilitated by the development of industrial technologies, particularly those associated with the use of steam power. The introduction of a railway transport system that was able to move large quantities of goods and materials quickly, reliably and cheaply and could carry passengers and mail was a key component in the development of a modern economic and social structure. In Australia, the linking of resources with trade outlets over large distances and the reliable provision of goods and services to new settlements was a vital factor in the settlement of the country. At the time the only alternative form of transport to rail was horse or bullock dray. Proximity or otherwise to a railway line frequently dictated the success or failure of a budding township. The construction of the North Coast railway line to Caboolture was the catalyst for its growth and development as the principal centre of the district.

At the separation of Queensland from New South Wales in 1859, Queensland had no railway system and only one good road, which linked Brisbane and Ipswich. The first railway line was laid between Ipswich and Toowoomba between 1864 and 1867. Laying new lines was expensive because of the distances and difficult terrain involved so priority was given to lines that connected inland resources with ports. Queensland railways were at first a series of parallel lines rather than a network and urban centres along the coast were linked comparatively late and little by little. A line along the coast north of Brisbane was surveyed in 1882 and approved in 1884.

Those surveying a new railway line took into account terrain, soil type, the presence of existing settlements and resources and proximity to a suitable water supply. A good supply of clean water was necessary to supply steam locomotives. Water had to be replenished at  intervals, a procedure which took about 10 minutes. Watering stops were established at intervals along the line. In urban areas the town water supply was used, but where one did not exist other suitable sources were identified.

The availability of a good and plentiful supply at Lagoon Creek was instrumental in the choice of Caboolture as a railway station. When the line was first surveyed, it was thought that Morayfield might be chosen as it was already a settlement of some size, but the water supply was unsuitable and on 19 April 1884 a water reserve of approximately  on the north of Lagoon Creek was proclaimed. A pump house was built at the northern end of the Caboolture railyards to draw water from Lagoon Creek. A pipe was laid to a nearby waterhole and water was then pumped to elevated tanks in the main railway yard from which the locomotives were supplied. The section of railway between Northgate and Caboolture was opened in 1888 and the section to Gympie in 1891.

The boiler supplied to provide steam power for the pumps had originally been part of one of the earliest steam locomotives to operate in Queensland, an A10 class locomotive, which was made by Neilson & Co of Glasgow and imported in 1867. The boiler was removed from its locomotive in 1889 and adapted to drive the pump at Lagoon Creek. However, by 1902, the creeks in the Caboolture district had fallen dramatically, a result of the severe and widespread drought of the late 1890s and early 1900s. By June 1902, it was estimated that, with a weekly consumption of about , there was only about six or seven weeks supply remaining in the lagoon. The railway's Chief Engineer, William Pagan, proposed that the pipeline be extended to a larger lagoon further down the creek. To avoid the necessity of resuming land, the pipes were laid along streets to the new site at the termination of a street and a new pump house was built on the bank of the lagoon.

The boiler installed at the new site was a vertical Smith and Faulkner boiler that had been installed in July 1902 at the previous site and operated a Worthington pump. Considerable problems were experienced with this boiler and within a few months, the recycled A10 boiler had replaced it.

The lagoon was estimated to have an unfailing supply and the new site was in use by early 1903. Although the drought broke in 1903 so that the water supply increased, the demand for water also increased along with the volume of traffic on the line. The major regional centre of Rockhampton was then linked to Brisbane and branch lines were constructed, including the important Kilcoey branch line in 1913. As a result of the increased demand improvements were carried out at Lagoon Creek pumping station. A small concrete weir  downstream was constructed to increase the capacity of the lagoon. The pumping equipment was upgraded and the station relocated to the eastern side of the lagoon. New pipes were laid and a boiler from a B15 locomotive was installed at the site.

The old boiler at the previous site was sold to WF Suffolk on 14 November 1913. It was stripped of useful components but the shell was left on site. At some point it fell into the lagoon where it stayed until raised in 2000.

In the 1930s 1.6 million litres of water were pumped weekly from the creek to supply railway locomotives. In 1939 electricity was supplied to the pumping station and electric pumps were installed, relegating the steam engine to a backup. In 1934 it had been planned to increase the height of the dam . This was done and wing walls built into the banks for support between 1943 and 1947.

Diesel trains began operating on main lines in Queensland from 1952 and did not need a water supply. In the 1950s and 1960s they gradually replaced steam trains and the last steam locomotive working on a regular basis in Queensland was decommissioned in 1969. By 1968, there were no steam engines on the North Coast line, so that the pumping station at Lagoon Creek was redundant. The station was closed and the pumping equipment removed in February 1968. The concrete slab and foundations of the pumping station remained, as did the weir. At the railway station the water tanks were removed and sold for scrap. The land containing the pumping station was sold to Caboolture Shire Council in 1984. Roads bound this land on the south and east and the lagoon on the west.

A non-profit community group, the Friends of Lagoon Creek, was formed in 1989 to work to preserve and protect Lagoon Creek and its eco- systems. The restoration and re-vegetation of the Lagoon Creek catchment is their primary objective and they are also working to conserve the pump station site, whose history they have researched. They removed the boiler from the creek in October 2000, it has had conservation work carried out on it and is currently held at Caboolture.

Description

Lagoon Creek is a small watercourse in the Caboolture Shire. It begins at Moodlu and runs in an easterly direction through the north of Caboolture before entering Tea Tree Swamp on the eastern side of the Bruce Highway. It is an important part of the ecosystem within Caboolture Shire and provides a regular water flow into the Tea Tree Swamp Wetlands. The pump site is located approximately one kilometre north of the Caboolture CBD. It is situated at the end of Buckle Street and is shielded from the surrounding suburban development by mature vegetation.

The surviving built elements of the system comprise a concrete slab and foundations for the pumping station above the eastern bank of Lagoon Creek, associated iron pipes and a low concrete weir running from bank to bank some  downstream.

Heritage listing
Lagoon Creek Pumping Station was listed on the Queensland Heritage Register on 24 January 2003 having satisfied the following criteria.

The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history.

The presence of a pumping station at Lagoon Creek demonstrates the role played by the construction and operation of the North Coast railway line and its branches in the development of Caboolture. A reliable source of clean water was essential to supply locomotives in the days of steam power. That Lagoon Creek offered this was a major factor in the choice of Caboolture as a railway centre and of its continued importance in this role.

The place demonstrates rare, uncommon or endangered aspects of Queensland's cultural heritage.

The weir and pumping station remains at Lagoon Creek are a rare surviving components of a water supply facility developed by Queensland Rail for the use of steam locomotives. A reliable water supply was ensured by the provision of tanks along the line using natural water sources where suitable water was available. The pumping station is evidence of the use of steam power, an early and important technology, in the development of Queensland's railway system.

References

Attribution

External links

Queensland Heritage Register
Caboolture, Queensland
Industrial buildings in Queensland
Water management in Queensland
Articles incorporating text from the Queensland Heritage Register
North Coast railway line, Queensland
Buildings and structures in the City of Moreton Bay

Lagoon Creek Pumping Station


The water cycle (or hydrological cycle) is the cycle that water goes through on Earth.

Water is essential for life as we know it. It is present throughout the Solar System, and was part of the Earth from its formation. The source of the water was the same as the source of the Earth's rock: the cloud particles which condensed in the origin of the Solar System.

Processes
This is the process that water starts and ends in the water cycle.
 The cycle starts when water on the surface of the Earth evaporates. Evaporation means the sun heats the water which turns into a gas.
 Then, water collects as water vapour in the sky.  This makes clouds.
 Next, the water in the clouds gets cold. This makes it become liquid again. This process is called condensation.
 Then, the water falls from the sky as rain, snow, sleet or hail. This is called precipitation.
 The water sinks into the surface and also collects into lakes, oceans, or aquifers. It evaporates again and continues the cycle.
This whole process in which water evaporate and falls on the land and later flows back in river and pond is known as water cycle.

Humans activities that affect the water cycle
Human activities that change the water cycle include:
 Agriculture
 Industry
 Building dams
 Deforestation
 Removing groundwater from wells
 Taking water from rivers

Related pages
 Carbon cycle
 Rock cycle
 Drought
 Ecohydrology
 Flood
 Hydrosphere
 Rain
 Bioprecipitation
 Water

References

cycle
Weather
Earth sciences

Water cycle