New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor

The New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor is a trade and logistics passage with an operational hub centered on Chongqing. According to Xinhua the corridor was connected to 190 ports in 90 countries in September 2019. It is among one of many corridors under the Belt and Road Initiative, a global economic connectivity program organized by China.
The corridor is a joint project of western Chinese provinces (Chongqing, Guangxi, Guizhou, Gansu, Qinghai, Xinjiang, Yunnan and Ningxia) and Singapore under the government-to-government framework of the China-Singapore (Chongqing) Demonstration Initiative on Strategic Connectivity.
Routes.
The route for the corridor is the railway from Chongqing to ports at the Beibu Gulf in Guangxi like the port of Qinzhou. The cargo is shipped from the Beibu Gulf to other ports worldwide. Examples in Chinese state media of the trade enabled by the corridor are potatoes from Gansu sold to Vietnam and pitaya from Vietnam found in the supermarkets of Chongqing.
From the center of the hub in Chonqing, there are connections in other directions. Rail and truck lines also connect Chongqing to other Belt and Road Initiative corridors in Southeast Asia like the China-Myanmar Economic Corridor, Laos-China Economic Corridor, and Two Corridors, One Belt (Vietnam). Chongqing is also connected with a railway line going to Europe through Central Asia via the New Eurasian Land Bridge.
Customs clearance.
The corridor puts emphasis on faster customs clearance. Fifteen regional customs under the General Administration of Customs of China entered into a memorandum in 2019 to cooperate on the corridor.


Big Drift

The Big Drift is in Glacier National Park, in the U.S. state of Montana and is an area along the Going-to-the-Sun Road where a large amount of winter snow can accumulate to depths of . Located immediately east of Logan Pass, the westerly winds push snow over the crest of the Continental Divide onto the eastern flank of a long arête which extends south from Pollock Mountain. West of the divide, this arête is known as the Garden Wall.
As spring approaches, the region is surveyed by helicopter in preparation for snow removal that will be needed in order to reopen the Going-to-the-Sun Road for the summer season. By early April, snow removal crews working from either end of the roadway have begun to ascend the steeper east and west slopes of the Lewis Range.
The area of the Big Drift is usually reached by late May, and it often can take a month to clear this one stretch of road that is slightly more than in length. Survey crews identify avalanche hazards and help to locate the road using global positioning equipment. Large cornices are usually removed using explosives, then excavators and front-end loaders move the snow over the cliffsides or into dump trucks.
The entire Going-to-the-Sun Road takes about ten weeks to plow, even with equipment that can move 4,000 short tons of snow an hour. By the first of June of each year, the Logan Pass visitor center can usually be reached by vehicle from at least one side of the Continental Divide. In 2011, due to abnormally heavy late winter and early spring snowfall, the Going-to-the-Sun Road did not open until July 13th, the latest opening ever due to snow.


Byron G. Highland

Byron G. Highland (February 8, 1934 – February 21, 1967) was a United States Marine Corps combat photographer during the Vietnam War who was killed by a landmine alongside the war correspondent and historian Bernard B. Fall while observing Operation Chinook II on the Street Without Joy, Thừa Thiên Province on 21 February 1967, leaving behind his wife, and two sons and a daughter from a previous marriage.
The last few minutes which the two spent together are documented in Fall's posthumously published book
"Last Reflections on a War", via a tape recorder Fall was dictating into just prior to the explosion.
Born in Detroit, he entered the Marines in 1953, and also served in the Korean War.
His eldest son, Kenneth E. Highland, later recorded a song with the punk band Johnny and the Jumper Cables, entitled "Landmine", about his father's death.


Thomas Simpson (engineer)

Thomas Simpson (1755–1823) was a British civil engineer.
Career.
Simpson was born in Blackwell, Carlisle and began his career in 1778 as a millwright until being appointed an inspector and engineer of the Chelsea Waterworks. He later also became an engineer at Lambeth Waterworks Company. He contributed to the introduction of iron fresh water pipes and replacement of wooden mains in London and throughout the United Kingdom, testifying before a Parliamentary select committee in 1821 that he had invented a method of making spigot and socket joints watertight by filling them with hemp or flax and then covering them in lead. He also built a workshop to repair and maintain steam engines in 1785, which his son James Simpson took over and developed into James Simpson and Co. Ltd, later Worthington-Simpson Ltd, which after several further mergers currently trades as Flowserve.


James Staats Forbes

James Staats Forbes (7 March 1823 – 5 April 1904) was a Scottish railway engineer, railway administrator and art collector. He was the uncle of the painter Stanhope Alexander Forbes, and father of the zoologist William Alexander Forbes.
Early life.
James Staats Forbes was born on 7 March 1823 at Aberdeen, Scotland. He was the eldest of the six sons of James Staats Forbes and his wife Ann, "née" Walker. He went to school in Woolwich, and in 1840 was taken on as a draughtsman in the office of Isambard Kingdom Brunel, at that time chief engineer of the Great Western Railway. In 1841 Forbes joined the Great Western as a clerk, and in a short time rose to goods manager.
On 20 August 1851, Forbes married Ann Bennett; they had two sons and two daughters. She died in 1901.
Career.
In 1857 Forbes went to the Netherlands to join the Dutch–Rhenish Railway, where he soon became general manager. He was offered the position of general manager of the Great Western, but instead took over the failing London, Chatham and Dover Railway, then in receivership, where he was general manager and, from 1873, also chairman until in 1899 the company merged with the South Eastern Railway of Forbes's long-term rival, Sir Edward Watkin.
On 6 October 1870 Forbes joined the board of the Metropolitan District Railway, also close to bankruptcy at the time, and was chairman from 1872 until 1901. He held many other board posts: he was chairman of the Edison and Swan Electric Light Company and two other electric light companies, president of the National Telephone Company, a director of the Lion Fire Insurance Company, a director of the Hull and Barnsley Railway, chairman of the Whitechapel and Bow Railway, and financial adviser to the Didcot, Newbury and Southampton Railway, which was at the time also in financial difficulties.
He became an associate member of the Institution of Civil Engineers in 1865.
Art collection.
Forbes was a keen connoisseur of art, and built up a huge collection, particularly of works of the Barbizon School, works of Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot and of nineteenth-century Dutch painters. He also had several paintings by James McNeill Whistler, including "Blue and Silver: Boat Entering Pourville"; "Blue and Silver: Trouville"; "The Girl in Red"; "Grey and Brown: The Sad Sea Shore"; "Grey and Gold: High Tide at Pourville"; "Violet and Blue: The Red Feather" and "The Widow". His collection consisted of over four thousand pictures and drawings, valued at over 220,000 pounds at the moment of his death.
Following his death, his executors chose not to hold a sale of the whole collection, which would have taken a week and might have depressed prices, but instead to sell it in parts. Four hundred selected works were exhibited at the Grafton Galleries in 1905. The purchase of a large proportion of these by Abraham Preyer, including works by Théophile de Bock, Johannes Bosboom, Jozef Israëls, Hein Kever, Jacob and Willem Maris, Anton Mauve, Johannes Albert Neuhuys, Jan Hendrik Weissenbruch and others, was one of the largest art transactions then known. The exhibition also included works by Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot, Charles-François Daubigny, Narcisse Virgilio Díaz and Jean-François Millet. A further exhibition was held in Brighton in 1908.
Forbes died at his home, Garden Corner, 13 Chelsea Embankment, Chelsea on 5 April 1904. He was buried at West Wickham in Kent five days later.
James Forbes House, Southwark is named after him.


HMS Kandahar (F28)

HMS "Kandahar" (F28) was a K-class destroyer built for the Royal Navy during the 1930s, named after the Afghan city of Kandahar.
Description.
The K-class destroyers were repeats of the preceding J class, except that they were not fitted for minesweeping gear. They displaced at standard load and at deep load. The ships had an overall length of , a beam of and a draught of . They were powered by Parsons geared steam turbines, each driving one propeller shaft, using steam provided by two Admiralty three-drum boilers. The turbines developed a total of and gave a maximum speed of . The ships carried a maximum of of fuel oil that gave them a range of at . The ship's complement was 183 officers and men.
The ships were armed with six 4.7-inch (120 mm) Mark XII guns in twin mounts, two superfiring in front of the bridge and one aft of the superstructure. For anti-aircraft (AA) defence, they had one quadruple mount for 2-pounder "pom-pom" guns and two quadruple mounts for the 0.5 inch Vickers Mark III anti-aircraft machinegun. The K-class ships were fitted with two above-water quintuple mounts for torpedoes. The ship was fitted with two depth charge throwers and one rack for 20 depth charges.
Construction and career.
"Kandahar" was launched on 21 March 1939. On 21 February 1941, in company with sister ship and the cruiser , she captured the German blockade runner off Iceland. On 19 December 1941, she was part of British Force K, tasked to intercept an Italian convoy bound for Tripoli when she was irreparably damaged by a newly laid Italian mine whilst attempting to rescue the stricken cruiser . She was scuttled the next day by the destroyer . 73 men went down with the ship.


Messenger line

A messenger line or just messenger is relatively light cordage used to pull a heavier cable across a gap or through a tube or duct. The term is also used for a line used to pull or lower a package along a downline or jackstay.
A heaving line is a rope with a weighted end which can be thrown relatively easily across a gap. If it is attached to a heavier line, warp, or chain and then used to pull the heavier line across the gap it is being used as a messenger line. The name "heaving line" refers to the function of being thrown, and "messenger line" to the function of transferring the object it is fastened to.


Alphonso Jackson

Alphonso R. Jackson (born September 9, 1945) served as the 13th United States Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). He was nominated by President George W. Bush on January 28, 2004 and confirmed by the Senate on March 31, 2004. Jackson announced his resignation on March 31, 2008.
Early life and career.
Jackson was born on September 9, 1945, in Marshall, Texas, and grew up in South Dallas as the youngest of twelve children in the family. His mother was a midwife, while his father sometimes worked as many as three jobs—as a foundry worker, janitor, and landscaper—to make ends meet.
Education.
Jackson attended Truman State University and studied political science there. He went on to earn a master's degree in education administration from the school in 1969. But instead of taking a teaching job, Jackson enrolled in Washington University School of Law in St. Louis.
In March 1965, Jackson, then a college freshman, participated in the first civil rights march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama that became known as .
Early career.
Jackson began his professional career in St. Louis, as an assistant professor at the University of Missouri – St. Louis. In 1977 he was named the city's director of public safety. He became executive director of the St. Louis Housing Authority four years later, a job he held until 1983. He left it to work as a consultant to a St. Louis accounting firm and intensified his political activities. Active in both Democratic and Republican circles in the city for many years, he even ran for a spot as St. Louis's municipal revenue collector. He also worked for the U.S. Senate campaign of Jack Danforth, a Republican. His rising profile earned him the attention of officials in Washington, and in 1987 he was made the director of the U.S. Department of Public and Assisted Housing for Washington, D.C.
Dallas Housing Authority.
In 1989 Jackson was tapped to take over the Housing Authority of the City of Dallas as its president and chief executive officer. He was the first African American to lead the formerly troubled agency, which had become the target of discrimination lawsuits. In his seven years on the job, Jackson was credited with fixing the problems within the Dallas Housing Authority (DHA) and improving conditions for the city's poorest residents, who turned to it for help in a time of need. He worked to improve the run-down buildings and unsafe conditions that had become standard in the city's aging public-housing units, and also arranged deals that improved neighborhood conditions. He managed to find funds for a commercial development project, for example, that brought the first supermarket back to a struggling West Dallas neighborhood in several years.
Jackson's seven-year stint in Dallas was not without its challenges. In 1995 the DHA began implementing a U.S. District Court order that came about after a mid-1980s challenge to desegregate the city's public-housing units. The court order called for 3,200 low-income families to be placed in neighborhoods that were predominantly white, and the agency drew up a plan for new units to be built in a section of North Dallas that was predominantly white. The townhouses or duplexes would house just 75 families, but some 2,000 local homeowners organized to fight it.
Private sector.
In the end, Jackson left the public sector when Central Southwest Power, now American Electric Power offered him the vice president of corporate resources for CSW Energy and International in Dallas, Texas in 1996. In 1998, he became president and COO of American Electric Power-Texas, an Austin-based subsidiary of American Electric Power, a $13 billion utility company. Jackson was responsible for the Company’s operations in South and West Texas.
Return to public sector.
With a new Republican administration in the White House, Jackson was a likely contender for a federal appointment, especially since he had known George W. Bush, the Texas governor declared the winner of the 2000 presidential election, since 1989, when both lived in the same Dallas neighborhood. In early 2001 Jackson's name was approved by Congress to serve as the deputy secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), a post that essentially made him second-in-command and chief operating officer of the cabinet department, working under HUD Secretary Mel Martinez.
Jackson succeeded Martinez as Secretary in March 2004, and served until resigning in March 2008.
After Jackson's public service in Washington, DC as Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, he was the Distinguished University Professor and Director of the Center for Public Policy and Leadership at Hampton University, Hampton, Virginia from 2008–2012. Hampton University's Center for Public Policy focuses on making its university research relevant to real-world problems. No other Historically Black University houses such a center.
Current career.
In 2012, Jackson became Vice-Chairman of Consumer & Community Banking with JPMorgan Chase in New York City.
Affiliations.
An expert on public housing and urban issues, Jackson has been asked to serve on a number of national and state commissions, most notably the General Services Commission of the State of Texas, where he served as Chairman; the National Commission on America's Urban Families, and the National Commission on Severely Distressed Public Housing. He has served on the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, The Nature Conservancy of Texas, Vice Chairman of United Way Campaign(Dallas, Texas), Zale-Lipshy University Hospital, The Cotton Bowl Football Classic, Central Power & Light Company, West Texas Utilities and JPMorgan Chase (formerly Texas Commerce Bank).
Jackson currently serves on the United States Department of State Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board, Howard University’s Board of Trustees and the Ford's Theatre Society Board of Trustees.
Also, he is a member and serves on the Board of Directors, The Horatio Alger Association of Distinguished Americans, Incorporated , and is a member of the United States Institute of Peace International Advisory Council.
Awards and honors.
The Aspen Institute – Aspen Fellow; The National Boys and Girls Clubs of America – Chairman's Award; The National Academy of Achievement – Golden Plate Award; American Family Life Assurance Company (AFLAC) – Lifetime Achievement Award; The Jewish National Fund, New York – National Tree of Life Award; Truman State University – Distinguished Alumni Award; Washington University, St. Louis, Mo. – Distinguished Alumni Award.
In December 2017, Jackson was chosen to receive the Horatio Alger Award for 2018. The Horatio Alger Association of Distinguished Americans recognizes people who have overcome personal challenges to achieve personal and professional success.
Honorary degrees.
Benedict College, Hampton University, Harris Stowe State University; Hiram College; Morehouse College; North Carolina A&T State University; Paine College; Tuskegee University; Texas College; Texas Southern University
Secretary of Housing and Urban Development.
Jackson first joined the Bush Administration in June 2001 as the Deputy Secretary and Chief Operating Officer of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. As Deputy Secretary, Jackson managed the day-to-day operations of HUD, which had an annual budget of over $30 billion. After HUD Secretary Mel Martinez left the administration to campaign for the November 2004 election for a U.S. Senate seat in Florida, Jackson became acting secretary of HUD. He was nominated by President George W. Bush on January 28, 2004 to take that position on a permanent basis, and was unanimously confirmed by the Senate on March 31, 2004. Jackson was the fourth African American to hold that post. On March 31, 2008, Jackson announced his resignation, effective April 18, 2008.
HUD Removal from High Risk List.
For the first time in thirteen years, the US Government Accountability Office (GAO) removed HUD from the government's " high-risk" list. GAO's report recognized HUD's progress under Secretary Alphonso Jackson's leadership in implementing management controls that led to significant improvements to HUD departments and programs.
Jackson stated, " HUD serves the nation best when all its programs are working effectively and efficiently. GAO's removal of a high risk designation shines a bright light on our efforts over the past six years to ensure taxpayer dollars are spent wisely and well."
Reduction in homelessness.
During Jackson's tenure at HUD, HUD announced an 11.5% reduction in the number of persons reported as chronically homeless by Continuums of Care (CoCs) during a one-day count. Over 1,500 cities and counties reported a combined decrease of over 20,000 fewer chronically homeless persons between 2005 and 2006.
One important tool in this effort was HUD's first-ever Annual Homeless Assessment Report to Congress. This groundbreaking survey of homelessness found that 704,000 people nationwide sought shelter at least once in a three-month period. Through the data collection for the report, and the subsequent analysis of that data, HUD learned a great deal about the demographics of homelessness. Prior to the report, according to Jackson, HUD had a hard time figuring out if national or local programs were working and a tough time just trying to figure out where the homeless might be on a given night.
Increase in minority contracting.
Jackson increased minority, women and small business contracting substantially during his tenure. In 2003, the year before Jackson was named secretary, 14 percent—or $134 million—of the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s contracts went to black-owned firms, officials say. By 2007, black-owned businesses were receiving 25 percent of the department’s contracts, or $195.6 million. Jackson promoted such statistics, saying that “a good bottom line with small and minority businesses helps to build a stronger America.”
This accomplishment led to a federal investigation and caused some to think Jackson was wrongly targeted because of his efforts. Indeed, some of his supporters deride the scrutiny of his casual friendships as a racist effort to undermine a prominent black official and several respected black businessmen, noting that no one has been charged with a crime.
Representative James E. Clyburn of South Carolina, the No. 3 Democrat in the House, said he believed the investigation was fueled by officials determined to derail Jackson’s efforts to expand affirmative action. “Is there something wrong with trying to make sure African-Americans participate in the contracting program with the American government?” asked Mr. Clyburn.
On April 30, 2010 the Justice Department announced it would not be pursuing charges against Jackson. Jackson’s lawyers noted that a lawyer at the Justice Department’s public integrity unit told them that it was closing its investigation. One lawyer for Jackson stated that the Justice Department had been unable to find evidence that Jackson received any benefit in exchange for his office’s recommendations and that “when that quid pro quo is missing, it takes away any motivation for improper steering.”
Local housing authorities.
Philadelphia.
In March 2008, "The Washington Post" reported on a series of emails in early 2007 between HUD assistant secretaries Kim Kendrick and Orlando J. Cabrera that suggested that HUD leadership sought to punish Carl R. Greene, the director of the Philadelphia Housing Authority (PHA). On the date these e-mails were sent, HUD notified the housing authority that it had been found in violation of rules requiring that 5 percent of housing be accessible to disabled residents. The department later argued that because the authority refused to acknowledge it was in violation and to agree to a specific remedy, it was in violation of a broader agreement that put $50 million in federal funding in jeopardy. Greene, who later was forced to resign from the Philadelphia Housing Authority due to numerous accusations of wrongdoings, asserted that the HUD actions were in retaliation against PHA because Greene had refused to turn over property to Universal Community Homes, a development company founded by Kenny Gamble; Greene said that Universal had not performed as promised. Gamble complained to Jackson about the situation in 2006.
A federal judge later ruled for HUD, that Jackson did not treat Philadelphia differently than other local housing agencies. On October 16, 2008, the Philadelphia Housing Authority signed a ten-year agreement with HUD. PHA said that over the next four years it would make sure 760 units of housing were upgraded to be fully accessible for people with disabilities.
Government contracts.
On April 28, 2006, Jackson spoke at a meeting in Dallas and addressed the subject of government contracting. He recounted that a prospective HUD contractor had made a "heck of a proposal" and was selected upon the basis of that proposal, but upon thanking Jackson for being selected the bidder, mentioned that he did not like President Bush. As a result, Jackson said, the bidder who had criticized Bush did not receive the contract: "Brother, you have a disconnect—the President is elected, I was selected. You wouldn’t be getting the contract unless I was sitting here. If you have a problem with the President, don’t tell the secretary." Jackson told the crowd, "He didn't get the contract. Why should I reward someone who doesn't like the president, so they can use funds to try to campaign against the President? Logic says they don't get the contract. That's the way I believe."
After Jackson's comment, Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) called for an investigation and Jackson to resign. The investigation found "no evidence that a contract was canceled, rescinded, terminated or not issued."
Countrywide Financial loan.
In June 2008, Conde Nast Portfolio reported that Jackson, along with several other politicians and government officials, including former Cabinet Secretarys, Donna Shalala and Henry Cisneros, Senators Chris Dodd and Kent Conrad, United Nations Ambassador Richard Holbrooke had all received below-rate loans from Countrywide Financial as part of the company's "V.I.P." program. One loan was issued to refinance Jackson's townhouse in Virginia, while another was for the purchase of a vacation home on a South Carolina golf course. Jackson denied knowledge of any discounts on the loans.
According to the financial writer, David Fiderer, the source for the "Portfolio" magazine article, a former Countrywide employee, offered no written backup and made up some facts to bolster the story. Portfolio, desperate to uncover a "scandal," took his word for it. In fact, there was written documentation disproving the assertions. But since the employee did not reveal that information, Portfolio was able to maintain plausible deniability. Nothing in the paperwork suggested that anyone was paying a below-market interest rate on his loan. "The Countrywide Lineup.”
The US Senate Select Committee on Ethics found in 2009 that there was "evidence on the record that the discounts offered to V.I.P.s and F.O.A.s were not the best deals that were available at Countrywide or in the marketplace at large." The Committee further noted, "participation in the V.I.P. or F.O.A. programs did not necessarily mean that borrowers received the best financial deal available either from Countrywide or other lenders." The report concluded, however, that the V.I.P. program did seem to have an appearance that the program offered discounts to participants.


Model 52 mine

The Model 52 mine is a Swedish circular plywood cased anti-tank blast mine. It is in service with the Swedish army. The mine can be fitted with a number of different fuzes and pressure plates including a three pronged plate and a pentagonal pressure spider and a tilt-rod fuze.


Akira Aoyama

Akira Aoyama (, September 23, 1878 - March 21, 1963) was a Japanese civil engineer who led the projects of the drainage canals of the Arakawa River, Tokyo, and the Shinano River, Niigata Prefecture. He also worked as one of the leaders of the land surveyor teams during the construction of the Panama Canal.
Education.
Akira Aoyama was born in Iwata, Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan, in 1878. After elementary school there, he moved to Tokyo to study at the middle school, which would later become Hibiya High School, and at First High School, which would later become the first and second years of the University of Tokyo. In 1903, he graduated from the University of Tokyo, with his major in civil engineering. He became a Christian at the influence of Kanzo Uchimura who was teaching at the university.
Panama Canal.
Upon graduation from the university, Aoyama went to the U.S. with an introduction letter by one of the university professors to William Hubert Burr who taught civil engineering at Columbia University. Burr at that time was on the Isthmian Canal Commission, and recommended him to work on the Panama Canal.
Aoyama first worked for the railroad in Panama. He then worked as a land surveyor for the canal construction, later becoming a leader of one of the surveyor teams, the only known Japanese who contributed to the canal construction. In 1911, he made a home leave to Japan, but never returned to Panama, due to the souring relationship between U.S. and Japan.
Back in Japan.
In 1912, Aoyama started to work for the Home Ministry, and led for 19 years the construction of the drainage canal of the Arakawa River, Tokyo. When there was a major accident of the breakage of Ōkōdu diversion facility of the Shinano River, Niigata Prefecture, in 1927, he became the manager to construct the Ōkōdu diversion canal (), which was completed in 1931.
In 1934, Aoyama was appointed the fifth Engineer of the Home Ministry, and, while in that position, started the multi-purpose management of the Japanese rivers, initially proposed by Nagaho Monobe. From 1935, Aoyama served as the President of Japan Society of Civil Engineers. After retirement in 1946, Aoyama advised on Tokyo's committee on water quality and other activities.
In the Arakawa Museum of Acqua in Tokyo there is a current exhibition of Akira Aoyama and his life during Panama Canal construction.
He died in 1963 at his home in Iwata, Shizuoka Prefecture.


22 Engineer Regiment (United Kingdom)

22 Engineer Regiment is a regiment of the British Army's Royal Engineers. It is based at Swinton Barracks, Perham Down, Tidworth, Wiltshire.
History.
22 Engineer Regiment can trace its modern history back to 1948 when the 22nd Field Engineer Regiment was formed in British Libya from the former 1st Infantry Divisional Engineers. In 1951, the regiment moved to the Suez Canal Zone. In 1954, the regiment returned to Libya and in 1955 transferred to the British Middle East Land Forces. When the 1st Division returned to the United Kingdom, the regiment fell under the command of the 10th Armoured Division until 1957 when it shifted to Chiseldon, Wiltshire and joined the 3rd Infantry Division.
The regiment was broken up in March 1960 and its headquarters was renamed as the Headquarters Royal Engineers, 3rd Division. In 1972 the regiment served in Northern Ireland. By 1975, the regiment moved to Perham Down, also in Wiltshire, and in 1979 assisted the civil community in the Dominican Republic during Hurricane David. In 1977, the regiment was assigned to the 8th Field Force and in 1982 fell under the command of the 1st Mechanized Brigade. In 1996, the regiment deployed as part of the United Nations Protection Force in Bosnia and returned in a second deployment in 1999.
As part of Operation Telic, the regiment deployed to Iraq and served in TELIC IV (April–November 2004) and TELIC X (June–December 2007). As part of Operation Herrick the regiment deployed for its last time to Afghanistan as part of HERRICK XVIII (April–October 2013).
Organization.
The regiment's structure is as follows:


Madras Engineer Group

Madras Engineer Group (MEG), informally known as the Madras Sappers, is an engineer group of the Corps of Engineers of the Indian Army. The Madras Sappers draw their origin from the erstwhile Madras Presidency army of the British Raj. This regiment has its HQ in Bengaluru. The Madras Sappers are the oldest of the three groups of the Corps of Engineers.
The Madras Sappers were the only regiment of the Madras Presidency Army to survive unscathed the extensive reorganisations that took place between 1862 and 1928. The "thambis", as the troops of the Madras Sappers are popularly known, with their hallmark Shakos have distinguished themselves in many battlefields around the world for more than 200 years.
The Bangalore torpedo, a mine clearing explosive device, was invented in the Centre at Bengaluru in the early years of the Twentieth Century.
History.
The second half of the eighteenth century found the East India Company involved in the politics of India and in conflict with the French and a number of native states, amongst whom Mysore, the Marathas and the remnants of the Mughal empire were prominent. The newly raised army of the Madras Presidency was deficient of combat pioneers who were raised as 'ad hoc' companies and disbanded after the conflicts. The First Anglo-Mysore War highlighted this deficiency and led to the raising of two companies of the Madras Pioneers on 30 September 1780 at Fort St George. These men are the forefathers of the Madras Engineer Group of today and the Corps of Engineers of the Indian Army.
The Madras Pioneers formed an integral part of the armed forces. Their principal job in active warfare was to dig 'saps' or 'trenches' which permitted cannon to be brought in range of enemy fortifications and to dig 'mines' which would explode creating a breach in the fort walls. Hence the name, "Sappers & Miners". In addition, the sappers used to lead the way to the breach for the 'forlorn hope' and infantry to follow. They also built roads, bridges, fortifications, wells, water-supply and fought as infantry when needed.
Since this group was constituted by the Madras Presidency, and formed part of the Madras Army, they were called the Madras Sappers. Likewise in 1803 and again in 1824, the Bengal Sappers and Bombay Sappers were formed in the other presidencies.
The Madras Sappers recruited and trained "small tough and wiry men" from South India. These engineer troops fought in numerous campaigns in India at Sholinghur, Srirangapatna, Assaye (along with Major General Arthur Wellesley, later Duke of Wellington), and also in Egypt, China, Burma and other places abroad.
The Madras Sappers moved into Bengaluru in 1834, when they were involved in a major part of the construction activities of the Civilian and Military buildings in Bengaluru. Their association with Bengaluru, where the Centre is located, continues to this day.
The motto of the Madras Sappers is that common to all three regiments of the Corps of Engineers, Sarvatra ("Sanskrit:Everywhere") the Indian equivalent to 'Ubique', the motto of the Royal Engineers.
Symbols.
The battle symbols of MEG are, a sphinx to commemorate the victory in Egypt in 1801, an elephant for the victory in Assaye in 1803, a dragon for China(1848), a bighorn sheep for Zoji La (1948), and a tank for Basantar (1971).
Republic Day Parade.
Madras Engineer Group have been actively participating in the annual Republic Day Parade of India. MEG have been awarded the Best Marching Contingent three times in 1991, 1997 and 2017.


Pobeda (watch)

Pobeda (, "Victory") is a Russian brand of wrist-watches owned by the Petrodvorets Watch Factory "Raketa". The brand name was chosen by Stalin himself in April 1945, when he gave the order that the first watches be ready for the 1st year of Victory celebration. The first prototype came out of the Penza factory by the end of 1945, and the first model for the public came out of the Kirov Watch Factory in March 1946.
History of the Watch Movement "Pobeda".
Based on a French design, the Pobeda's simple, 15-jewel movement was cost-effective, reliable, and easy to manufacture and maintain. Prior to World War II, during a period of rapid industrialization in the Soviet Union, the Soviet government sought international funding and expertise in developing a domestic industry for timepieces. Eventually the French watch manufacturer LIP was chosen; they established a new watch factory in Penza and licensed several movement designs to the new establishment. One design dating from 1908, the R-26 movement, was further developed and renamed the K-26, with significant alterations to the original design. World War II temporarily disrupted these plans, but after the Allied victory, this watch design was quickly finished at Penza, and full-scale production commenced at the First Moscow Watch Factory. Joseph Stalin chose the name "Pobeda" ("Victory") to celebrate the end of the war.
Factories Having Produced under the brand "Pobeda".
Soviet Union.
In the Soviet Union, a product brand was not necessarily exclusive to a particular manufacturing site (this changed though in the 60's when each factory got its own brands), and during its lifetime, production of Pobeda watches was shifted between the following plants:
Modern Russia.
In today's Russia, the Petrodvorets Watch Factory from Saint Petersburg is the exclusive holder of the historical brand Pobeda. The factory is also developing other fashion accessories under this brand.
Other Brands that have used the "Pobeda" Movement.
While the basic K-26 design was shared by these manufacturers, some of them carried on building watches using movements of the same fundamental design under various names, incorporating further refinements and alterations, such as shockproofing, and automatic day/date indicators. For instance, Petrodvorets used brand names including Lotos, Majak ("Маяк", "Lighthouse"), Neva ("Нева", the Neva River), Start ("Старт"), Svet ("Свет", "Light"), and Raketa (Ракета, "Rocket"), which eventually became the firm's single brand name from 1962. The Chistopol plant produced Chaika ("Чайка", "Seagull"), Druzhba ("Дружба", "Friendship"), Jantar ("Янтарь", "Amber"), Kama ("Кама", "River Kama"), Kolos ("Колос", "Spike"), Raduga ("Радуга", "Rainbow"), Rubin ("Рубин"), Saturn ("Сатурн"), Uran ("Уран"), and Vostok, which became the standard brand for the company.
First Moscow Watch Factory further developed a centre-second variant of this movement and it was not only made under the Pobeda name, but also became the basis of a generation of watches including the Sportivnie ("Спортивные", for sportsman), Sturmanskie ("Штурманские", for navigator), etc. A lasting legacy of the Pobeda can be seen in the Raketa 2609-series movements: while still in production, they are dimensionally fully compatible with the K-26.
Pobeda watches were sold across the Soviet Union and many other Warsaw Pact nations, and today they are ubiquitous in Eastern Europe and Central Asia. Many Pobeda watches were created to commemorate special occasions, such as victories in battle, Party congresses, or space flights. These commemorative watches were often given as gifts.


King road drag

The King road drag (also known as the Missouri road drag and the split log road drag) was a road grader implement for grading dirt roads that revolutionized the maintenance of the dirt roads in the early 1900s. It was invented by David Ward King, who went by "D. Ward King" and who was a farmer whose farm was in Holt Township, near Maitland, Missouri.
It started out as two parallel logs with the cut side facing the front separated three feet by rigid separators and pulled by a team of two horses. Variations of the two-plank drag design but pulled by trucks or tractors are still used today to smooth the dirt infields of baseball diamonds.
In this simple design, the first log would remove clods and the second log would smooth the road. The logs were staggered so that dirt would be pushed to the center to create a crown so that water would rush off.
The very simple design replaced the old practice of dragging a road with a single log which left the surface unrepaired and rut filled. It also made it possible for farmers to improve roads near their homes without having to wait for government graders.
D. Ward King of Maitland, Missouri requested a patent for the process in 1907 and received Patent 884,497 in 1908. He widely publicized the process in a U.S. Department of Agriculture "Farmers' Bulletin" #321 in 1908 under the title "The use of the split-log drag on earth roads" An important component of the grading process was that it had to occur when the road was wet.
This invention was the horse drawn forerunner of the modern day road grader. It was a sensation in its day. States passed laws requiring its use. The design was so simple that King did not enforce his patent rights. However he did tour the country explaining to how to use it. He also wrote articles such as one that appeared in the May 7, 1910 issue of the Saturday Evening Post entitled “Good Roads Without Money.”
King would further enhance his invention with his patent 1,102,671 in 1914 which included four bars and two triangular scrapers.
Before the King Road Drag, dirt roads turned into a quagmire when they were wet—especially in the winter.
The widespread use of the King Road Drag came along during the Good Roads Movement, driven by bicyclists and later by automobile drivers. Automobiles benefitted since Macadam roads were rapidly destabilized by cars, which sucked the cementing dust out of smooth macadam roads. Solid roads meant people could use their automobiles on the roads between cities. Solid rural roads also made possible reliable rural mail delivery, which did much to promote commerce in the United States between city based businesses and the rural population. For instance, they allowed Sears, Roebuck to start sending out its catalogues to small towns and farms and thereby vastly increase the size of its customer base.


Centre Street South station

Centre Street South is a planned and approved CTrain light rail station in Calgary, Alberta, Canada part of the Green Line. Construction will begin in 2023 and complete in 2027 as part of construction stage one, segment 2A. The station is located in the Beltline, immediately south of downtown Calgary.
The station will be located under 11 Avenue South, near Centre Street South and will have a concourse level above the platform. It will provide access to the urban community's high-density residential, commercial and retail buildings, as well as the Calgary Tower, the Central Library and the Sheldon M. Chumir Hospital. The station and the surrounding streetscape will feature Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design principals to mitigate crime.


Al Zour Refinery

The Al Zour Refinery is an oil refinery under construction in Kuwait. It is the largest refinery in the Middle East. The Kuwait National Petroleum Company (KNPC) first released plans to build what would have been the country's fourth oil refinery in May 2006 before construction was postponed in March 2008 due to political opposition. Two years later, however, the government re-approved construction and Kuwait Integrated Petroleum Industries Company was created to manage its operations after 2019.
History.
Initial plan.
The Kuwait National Petroleum Company released plans to construct the refinery in July 2007. In May 2008, it awarded construction contracts; the largest contracted was granted to a consortium of Japan's JGC Corporation and South Korea's GS Engineering & Construction, covering the installation of six distillation and atmospheric residue desulphurisation units, and diesel, naphtha, and kerosene hydrotreating plants. Korea's SK Engineering & Construction was charged with constructing the hydrogen plants, as well as the compression and sulphur recovery units; Daelim Industrial was to construct storage tanks; and Hyundai Engineering and Construction was to be responsible for the marine works. U.S. engineering and construction firm Fluor Corporation was awarded the offsites and utilities contract. KNPC announced that it would be operational in 2012 and that it planned on spending approximately $14 billion on the project. The refinery is expected to have a capacity of , which would have made it the largest refinery in the Middle East.
Initial cancellation.
In March 2009, the Kuwaiti government informed the contractors to halt construction, citing a drop in oil prices. Some investment analysts predicted the project's cancellation as early as December 2008. Furthermore, the project encountered political opposition by lawmakers who claimed that the government had not consulted the Central Tenders Committee before awarding contracts to foreign companies.
However, in June 2011, the Supreme Petroleum Council—Kuwait's oil agency—re-approved construction of the refinery in Al Ahmadi, Kuwait. Construction had been halted due to financial concerns and political wrangling, but the Oil Minister affirmed that Kuwait was indeed moving forward with the refinery that would be able to process 615,000 barrels of oil per day. The estimated cost is $14.5 billion, or 4 billion dinar. In May 2012 Kuwait's three existing refineries produced 930,000 barrels per day.
Relaunch.
The Kuwait National Petroleum Company announced that it would relaunch a tender in June 2012. The revised project timeline aims for completion in June 2019. The majority of EPC contracts were issued to Fluor, Daewoo, Hyundai Heavy Industries, Tecnicas Reunidas, Sinopec, Hanwha Engineering and Construction, SK Engineering, and Saipem, amongst others. Kuwait Integrated Petroleum Industries Company was created to manage the operations.


Jackie Chan (politician)

Jackie Chan Chai-keung (; born 7 November 1938) is a former member of the Legislative Council of Hong Kong and Mong Kok District Board (now Yau Tsim Mong District Council).
Biography.
Chan was born in Hong Kong in 1938. He graduated from the Queen Elizabeth School and continued his study in civil engineering at the University of New South Wales in Australia. He is the member of the Institution of Civil Engineers in England, Institution of Engineers in Australia and Hong Kong Institution of Engineers. He set up his own firm, Chan Chai Keung Architect & Engineer Co..
He was first elected to the Mong Kok District Board in the first District Board election in 1982 and served in the board until it being merged into the Yau Ma Tei District Board in the 1994 election where he failed to retain his seat in Mong Kok South to Chow Chun-fai by 688 to 1,218 votes.
He won a seat in the first Legislative Council indirect election from the South Kowloon electoral college consisting of members of the Mong Kok and Yau Ma Tei District Board. He was against the government's "White Paper: The Development of Representative Government: The Way Forward" which concludes that direct elections to the Legislative Council would not be carried out in 1988 "betrays and intentionally misrepresents the wish of the majority of Hong Kong residents".


HMS Acheron (H45)

HMS "Acheron" was an destroyer of the Royal Navy. She served during the Second World War in Home waters and off the Norwegian coast, before becoming an early war loss when she sank after hitting a mine off the Isle of Wight on 17 December 1940. The wrecksite is designated under the Protection of Military Remains Act 1986.
Construction and commissioning.
"Acheron" was ordered on 29 May 1928 from the yards of John I. Thornycroft & Company, Woolston, Hampshire under the 1927 Naval Estimates. She was laid down on 29 October 1928 and was launched a year later on 18 March 1930. She was commissioned on 13 October 1931. She suffered from a number of mechanical problems which became evident in the first year of her service and would go on to plague her for the whole of her service, despite a succession of modifications and refits. When the Second World War broke out in September 1939, she was under repair at Portsmouth and was not able to take up her war station until December 1939.
Wartime career.
On completion of repairs and refit, she joined the 16th Destroyer Flotilla of the Home Fleet at Scapa Flow on 23 March 1940. The flotilla was then deployed in the North Western Approaches and the North Sea. After the German invasion of Norway on 9 April 1940, "Acheron" was deployed with the flotilla on convoy defence and fleet screening duties in support of the military landings in Norway. On 17 April, she and were part of the escort for the cruisers , , and . The cruisers then landed troops at Åndalsnes and Molde. On arrival on at Åndalsnes on 18 April, "Acheron" was detached and deployed on patrol and escort duties. She then escorted the aircraft carrier from Scapa Flow, before deploying with the destroyers and off Namsos.
On 31 May, "Acheron", , , and escorted the carriers "Glorious" and to Norway to cover the final evacuation of British troops from Norway (Operation Alphabet). This was completed by 9 June, whereupon "Acheron" resumed her normal duties with the flotilla. She then operated in the English Channel to escort convoys and was in dock at Portsmouth on 21 June to have a High Angle gun fitted to improve her anti-aircraft defence. Whilst sailing south off St. Catherine's Point on 20 July, she was attacked by German dive bombers, and was damaged by nine near misses.
She began repairs at Portsmouth Dockyard on 6 August, but on 24 August she was seriously damaged during an air raid which killed two of her crew and injured another three. One bomb hit her aft section and exploded, causing severe damage to her machinery, "Y" gun and superstructure. This caused her repairs to be extended until October, with her "Y" gun being replaced by a mounting from the destroyer , which had been damaged in June. In November, "Acheron" was nominated for service as gunnery training destroyer.
Sinking.
Repairs were fully completed by 2 December, and she began post-refit trials. On 17 December, she was sailing off the Isle of Wight. The trial was being conducted at night, in heavy seas and with a strong north-east wind in complete darkness. She was conducting steaming exercises over a measured mile, west-south-west of St. Catherine's Point. On one of the passes, she struck a mine. The explosion caused major structural damage forward, and her own speed drove her under. She sank within four minutes, taking 196 crewmen and yard workers, who were on board for the trials, to the bottom. There were only 19 survivors. The mine was probably one of those laid by the "Luftwaffe" along the Channel coast in no apparent pattern. Her sinking was not made public until 27 December 1940.
The wrecksite was designated as a "Protected Place" under the Protection of Military Remains Act 1986 in 2006.


7 Avenue Southwest station

7 Avenue Southwest is a planned and approved CTrain light rail station in Calgary, Alberta, Canada part of the Green Line. Construction will begin in 2024 and complete in 2027 as part of construction stage one, segment 2B.
The station is underground in the city's high density urban core at the intersection of 7 Avenue / 2 Street SW. It will be the busiest station on the Green Line, and is the primary transfer point to the existing Red Line and Blue Line. The station will also connect riders to the Calgary International Airport via BRT Route 300 and the southwestern bus rapid transit (BRT) transitway via MAX Yellow.
The station is surrounded by numerous high density commercial, residential, retail and mixed-use towers, and is near some of Calgary's most iconic skyscrapers that define the city's skyline, such as the Telus Sky, The Bow, the Calgary Tower, and Brookfield Place. Also near the station is Stephen Avenue, the Central Library, Arts Commons, the CORE Centre, City Hall, Devonian Gardens, the University of Calgary downtown campus, SAIT Culinary Campus and Bow Valley College.


Cilluf Olsson

Cilluf Olsson (15 February, 1847 – 5 March, 1916) was a Swedish textile artist. She was an important figure within Svensk Hemslöjd (Swedish Handicraft Association).
She was born to the wealthy farmer and local politician Sven Nilsson and Elna Ahlgren and married in 1874 to the farmer Christen Olsson.
In 1888, she founded a weaving school and work shop, which manufactured traditional textile handicrafts artwork. She also collected older textile artwork. She is credited in art history with having preserved many old traditional weaving and textile methods, colors and patterns, which were in danger of being extinct during the industrialization.
She participated in numerous international exhibitions, such as Nordic Exhibition of 1888, World's Columbian Exposition and Exposition Universelle (1900), as well as national exhibitions such as General Art and Industrial Exposition of Stockholm and Baltic Exhibition and were awarded many medals.
Some of her artwork is preserved at the Nordic Museum.


Hold down (structural engineering)

Holdown (holdown, hold-down, or hold down) or tie-down in structural engineering refers to the steel device or hardware that is installed at the end of a plywood shear wall. The hold downs provide uplift resistance against the overturning moment imposed on the wall due to "in-plane" lateral load applied at the top of the wall. A hold-down may also refer to clamping device used to anchor a pipe to a structural steel element or concrete floor or allow movement of the pipe in an axial direction.
At the bottom, the hold down is connected to the concrete foundation or structural slab by an "embedded" or "epoxied" anchor bolt. At the top, the hold down is connected to a wood post with screws, nails or bolts.


DeepCwind Consortium

The DeepCwind Consortium is a national consortium of universities, nonprofits, utilities, and industry leaders. The mission of the consortium is to establish the State of Maine as a national leader in floating offshore wind technology. Much of the consortium's work and resulting research has been funded by the U.S. Department of Energy, the National Science Foundations, and others.
The efforts of the DeepCwind Consortium culminated in the University of Maine patent-pending VolturnUS, a floating concrete hull technology can support wind turbines in water depths of 45 meters or more, and has the potential to significantly reduce the cost of offshore wind.
Overview.
The DeepCwind Consortium was initially funded in 2009 as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) through the U.S. Department of Energy. The University of Maine received $7.1 million to found the consortium and design and deploy floating offshore turbine prototypes. As part of this funding, the research plan included: "optimization of designs for floating platforms by evaluating options for using more durable, lighter, hybrid composite materials, manufacturability, and deployment logistics."
Floating deepwater wind farms placed ten or more nautical miles (nmi) offshore can play a critical role in reaching the Department of Energy's 20% windpower goal by 2030. Deepwater offshore wind is the dominant U.S. ocean energy resource, representing a potential of nearly 3,100 TW-h/year. It also:
With these qualities in mind, Maine plans to construct a 5 GW, $20 billion network of floating offshore wind farms to contribute to the northeast U.S. renewable energy needs. Maine has the deepest waters near its shores, approximately 200 ft deep at 3 nmi, and 89% of Maine's 156 GW offshore wind resource is in deep waters. The state also offers extensive maritime industry infrastructure and proximity to one of the largest energy markets in the country.
Research Outcomes.
The DeepCwind Consortium published the Maine Offshore Wind Report in February 2011. The report "examines economics and policy, electrical grid integration, wind and wave, bathymetric, soil, and environmental research. It also includes summaries of assembly and construction sites, critical issues for project development and permitting, and an analysis of the implications of the Jones Act."
In June 2013, the consortium deployed the 20 kW VolturnUS 1:8, a 65-foot-tall floating turbine prototype that is 1:8th the scale of a 6-megawatt (MW), 450-foot rotor diameter design. VolturnUS 1:8 was the first grid-connected offshore wind turbine in the Americas.
In June 2016, the UMaine-led New England Aqua Ventus I project has just won top tier status from the US Department of Energy (DOE) Advanced Technology Demonstration Program for Offshore Wind. New England Aqua Ventus I is a two 6 MW turbine (12 MW) floating offshore wind pilot project 14 miles off Maine's coast, developed by Maine Aqua Ventus, GP, LLC. The objective of the pilot is to demonstrate the technology at full scale, allowing floating farms to be built out-of-sight across the US and the world in the 2020s, bringing lower-cost, clean renewable energy to coastal population centers.
Partnering Organizations and Original Research Initiatives.
The University of Maine-led consortium includes universities, nonprofits, and utilities; a wide range of industry leaders in offshore design, offshore construction, and marine structures manufacturing; firms with expertise in wind project siting, environmental analysis, environmental law, composites materials to assist in corrosion-resistant material design and selection, and energy investment; and industry organizations to assist with education and tech transfer activities.
Task 1: Micrositing, Geophysical Investigations, and Geotechnical Engineering.
The primary objective of micrositing, geophysical investigations, and geotechnical engineering was the characterization of the seafloor environment for turbine anchoring at the University of Maine Deepwater Offshore Wind Test Site in the Gulf of Maine. Activities coordinated geologic and geotechnical engineering information with the metocean forces assessed in the Offshore Turbine Testing, Monitoring, and Reliability task and assisted in design of efficient moorings and anchors for the floating offshore wind turbines under the Floating Turbines Design and Lab Testing task. An additional objective of this task was to provide site location documentation and address safety and navigation at the site once the turbines and moorings are installed.
Partners: University of Maine Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, James W. Sewall Company, Maine Maritime Academy, University of Western Australia Centre for Offshore Foundation Research
Task 2: Study of Environmental/Ecological Impacts.
Maine Public Law 270, which allowed the establishment of the University of Maine Deepwater Offshore Wind Test Site, required that the following state and federal agencies be consulted concerning environmental monitoring and planning of the test site:
These agencies required plans for siting, navigation, project removal, remedial action, and environmental/ecological monitoring. They also required reports and updates on site activities.
There were to be wildlife-specific studies for:
As part of the environmental/ecological monitoring plan that was part of the test site permit application, a review of the potential threats to marine life was considered and mitigation measures were designed. Potential areas of concern addressed in this report included the following:
All micrositing, environmental/ecological monitoring, and permitting activities were conducted from the start of the project in 2010 until the end of the project in 2012.
Partners: University of Maine School of Marine Sciences, University of Maine School of Biology and Ecology, Island Institute, Gulf of Maine Research Institute, New Jersey Audubon Society, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
Task 3: Permitting and Policy.
Under the recently enacted Maine Public Law 2009, Chapter 270 (LD 1465), the University of Maine Deepwater Offshore Wind Test Site is located near Monhegan Island, an area selected by the state. This site was analyzed in detail through the state's site selection process.
With Maine's designation of the test site, the Permitting and Policy team secured specific permits for the proposed project from all applicable local, state, and federal permitting authorities. In conformance with the application requirements, to obtain a General Permit under LD 1465, the Permitting and Policy team, in conjunction with the Micrositing and Ecological Monitoring teams, submitted a report to the required state and federal agencies describing:
The team worked to develop these plans in consultation with federal, state, and local agencies, as well as stakeholders.
Partners: James W. Sewall Company, Kleinschmidt, HDR/DTA
Task 4: Floating Turbine Design, Material Selection, and Lab Testing.
The primary objectives of the Floating Turbine Design task was to:
Partners: Advanced Structures and Composites Center, Maine Maritime Academy, Technip USA, National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Sandia National Labs, Ashland, Inc., Kenway Corporation, Harbor Technologies, PPG Industries, Owens Corning, Zoltek, Polystrand, Inc.
Task 5: Offshore Turbine Testing, Monitoring, and Reliability.
The Physical Oceanography Group (PhOG) at the University of Maine deployed and operated an oceanographic data buoy with real-time telemetry capabilities in the University of Maine Deepwater Offshore Wind Test Site offshore Monhegan Island. The ocean data buoy was deployed prior to the tank testing and remained in operation throughout the project period in order to monitor oceanographic, meteorological, and general environmental conditions. Monitoring emphasis was on wind speed and direction, visibility, directional waves, and water-column currents.
Partners: University of Maine Physical Oceanography Group, University of Maine School of Marine Sciences
Task 6: Education and Outreach.
The University of Maine, Maine Maritime Academy, and Northern Maine Community College developed several degree programs to create a trained workforce for the State of Maine. To ensure the community at large understands our research and development, the DeepCwind Consortium found numerous opportunities to share and discuss goals, activity plans, and the results of research. The consortium held public meetings to discuss the site selection for the University of Maine Deepwater Offshore Wind Test Site, presented at conferences within the state and across the country, and even taught an interactive wind-wave tank testing activity to over 500 K-12 students across Maine. These and other activities continued through the duration of the project.
Partners: Advanced Structures and Composites Center, University of Maine College of Engineering,
University of Maine Department of Industrial Cooperation, Maine Maritime Academy, Northern Maine Community College, American Composites Manufacturers Association, Maine Composites Alliance, Maine Wind Industry Initiative
Task 8: Fabrication and Deployment
UMaine and its subcontractors led the fabrication and deployment of the approximately 1/8 scale floating wind turbine platform. The deployment study sought to identify key deployment and installation factors. The performance data gathered from the 1/8 scale platform was used to further validate platform numerical models developed by NREL and others.
Partners: Advanced Structures and Composites Center, Cianbro Corporation, General Dynamics Bath Iron Works, Maine Maritime Academy, Emera Maine, Central Maine Power Company, Technip USA, Reed and Reed, SGC


George Small (piano maker)

George Small (1782–1861) was a partner of the Scottish piano manufacturing firm of Muir, Wood and Company, an Edinburgh magistrate and a philanthropist.
Early life.
George Small was born on 26 May 1782 in Edinburgh, Scotland, the son of George Small and Ann Spalding.
As a youth Small joined a fencible regiment raised to fight Napoleon Bonaparte, serving for a time in Gibraltar. Small served with his friend and connection Sir Archibald Campbell, Baronet, then a Captain in the Army. In 1802, when that unit was disbanded, Small was approached to join the regular army but opted to leave the military to pursue business endeavors.
George Small married Elizabeth Grindlay in Edinburgh on 13 February 1808. The couple had several children, including Rev. James Grindlay Small, a noted Scottish hymnist and the author of the hymn, ""I've Found A Friend, Oh! Such A Friend"."
Business ventures.
Muir, Wood and Company was a piano manufacturing and music publishing firm in Edinburgh, Scotland. The firm had been started in 1798 by John Muir and Andrew Wood. In addition to pianos, the firm made organs (church, chamber and barrel), harps, violins, cellos, tambourines, triangles, drums and serpents. By 1799 the company had won a royal warrant as the ""Musical Instrument Makers of His Majesty"."
In 1804, George Small joined the firm to run the retail end of the business.
Muir, Wood and Company operated until John Muir's death in 1818. After Muir's death, Andrew Wood and George Small continued in business, but on a reduced scale, under the name Wood, Small and Company. Wood, Small and Company operated until Andrew Wood's death in 1829, after which George Small formed Small, Bruce and Company.
Philanthropy.
Small's 1861 obituary included the following assessment by Professor Wallace of George Small's philanthropic pursuits: "In truth, his (George Small's) whole life seems to me to be consecrated to the service of the poor." Serving as an Edinburgh magistrate, he is chiefly known as the founder of the House of Refuge for the Destitute and the Lock Hospital in Edinburgh.
Small also served as a member of the Board of Health. During the cholera outbreak in the city, Small suspended his business activities, and with his family, went daily to work in the soup kitchen, the clothing store and other charitable operations associated with the (temporary) cholera hospital in Edinburgh.
After the cholera outbreak subsided, he was named treasurer of the Charity Workhouse.
Retirement.
In 1848 he retired from business and public life, moving to a cottage in Dunkeld. After several years there, he and his wife went to live with their son at his son James at the Free Manse church in Bervie, Aberdeenshire, Scotland.
Small died on 11 July 1861 in Bervie and is buried in the Old Kirk cemetery there.


Inglewood station


Changyi Road station

Changyi Road () is an interchange station under construction on the future Lines 14 and 18 of the Shanghai Metro. Located at the intersection of Minsheng Road and Pudong Avenue in Pudong, Shanghai, the station is scheduled to open by late 2021, which is when both lines are expected to begin operations. Its name is taken from the adjacent parallel street just north of the station, Changyi Road.


Jurong Town Hall MRT station

Jurong Town Hall MRT station is a proposed Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) station on the Jurong Region Line in Jurong East, Singapore.
History.
On 9 May 2018, LTA announced that Jurong Town Hall station would be part of the proposed Jurong Region line (JRL). The station will be constructed as part of Phase 2, JRL (East), consisting of 7 stations between Tengah and Pandan Reservoir, and is expected to be completed in 2028.
Contract J109 for the design and construction of Jurong Town Hall Station and associated viaducts was awarded to Daewoo Engineering & Construction Co. Pte Ltd - Yongnam Engineering and Construction Pte Ltd Joint Venture at a sum of S$320.4 million in July 2020. Construction is expected to start in 2020. Contract J109 also includes the design and construction of the Toh Guan and Pandan Reservoir stations and the associated viaducts.
Initially expected to open in 2027, the restrictions on the construction due to the COVID-19 pandemic has led to delays in the JRL line completion, and the date was pushed to 2028.
Location.
The station complex will be next to Jurong Town Hall Road, at the junction with the International Business Park (IBP) roundabout. It is located in the Jurong East planning area between the International Business Park and Lakeside Subzones, with the future HSR station to the west and IBP to the east.
The station will have six exits on each side of the Jurong Town Hall Road.


Johann Adolph Hass

Johann Adolph Rudolph Hass (baptised 12 March 1713, buried 29 May 1771), usually known as Johann Adolph Hass, was a German maker of clavichords, harpsichords and possibly organs. He was the son of Hieronymus Albrecht Hass, also a maker of keyboard instruments.
Life.
Hass was born in the Imperial Free City of Hamburg, and was baptised on 12 March 1713. He became a citizen of the city on 28 October 1746, and was admitted to the chamber of commerce in the following year.
There is no mention of either Hass before 1758, when Jakob Adlung mentioned a "cembal d'amour" made by "Hasse in Hamburg". Both father and son are mentioned in the German translation of Charles Burney's "The Present State of Music in Germany, the Netherlands, and United Provinces" (1773): "Hasse, father and son, of Hamburg, both dead; their harpsichords and clavichords are much sought after". Ernst Ludwig Gerber said much the same in his "Historischbiographisches Lexicon" of 1790.
Hass died in Hamburg and was buried on 29 May 1771. His business may have been continued by Johann Christoffer Krogmann, a builder of fortepianos who was married to Hass's daughter Margaretha Catharina.
Instruments.
Hass's instruments are cleverly designed, strongly built, richly decorated and finely finished.
He built large clavichords of the kind that post-Baroque composers such as Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach wrote for, with good tone and volume, and capable of expressive "bebung".
Eight Hass harpsichords are known to survive. A massive instrument by Johann Adolph with two manuals and five sets of strings (16', 2 × 8', 4', 2'), with tortoiseshell natural keys and ivory-topped sharps, dates from 1760–1761, and is now in the Yale University Collection of Musical Instruments in New Haven, Connecticut. A single-manual instrument from 1764, with two 8' and one 4' sets of strings, is in the Russell Collection in Edinburgh.


Nicolas Mathieu Rieussec

Nicolas Mathieu Rieussec (July 20, 1781 – June 18, 1866) was a French watchmaker.
Surname origin.
The Rieussec family's birthplace was the town of Lespinassière. Nicolas was the son of Joseph Rieussec, a merchant born in the 18th century in Lespinassière, in Languedoc, then one of the largest provinces in the kingdom of France. Today, Lespinassière is located in Aude, one of the five départements of the Languedoc-Roussillon region.
Ancestry.
Joseph Rieussec was in Paris at the end of 1778, although no one knows when he left his birthplace, the town of Lespinassière, for the kingdom's capital. His wife, Jeanne Michateau, was expecting.
On January 20, 1779, she gave birth to their first son, Nicolas Joseph.
On July 20, 1781, a few years before the outbreak of a revolution that was to lead to an upheaval in France and all of Europe, a younger brother arrived and was named Nicolas Mathieu Rieussec. The baby was baptised three days after his birth in the parish of Sainte-Marie du Temple. Nicolas Mathieu Bogganio, a banker residing on the Rue des Victoires in Paris, stood godfather, and the godmother was Marie Victoire Griveau, also residing on the Rue des Victoires.
Joseph Rieussec held a literary salon. On an unknown date, probably between 1786 and 1788, he remarried Cécile Paillard. The family grew with the arrival of a third child, Lucile Clotilde Cécile, born on October 25, 1788. She died in 1818. Joseph Rieussec died in 1838.
Nicolas Mathieu was born in Paris. Several sources put his birth in Toulouse, sometimes on September 1, 1781, which is not supported by any documents. In contrast, the royal warrant naming Nicolas Mathieu a Watchmaker to the King, is accompanied by a baptismal certificate from the registry of the Sainte-Marie-du-Temple parish in Paris.
Early years.
Still a minor, young Rieussec was set up as a watchmaker at no. 14, Rue du Marché-Palu, on the Île de la Cité.
The Almanac du commerce de Paris pour l’an XIII (Paris Business Yearbook for Year XIII), i.e., 1805, lists 190 watchmakers, including the renowned Breguet. Rieussec does not appear. In contrast, five years later, he is listed among the 222 watchmakers in Paris. He did business at no. 14, Rue du Marché-Palu.
Married to Anne Marie Delan, he had a son named Joseph-Ferdinand, born on December 15, 1804, a few days after Napoleon was crowned Emperor of the French. Two years later, Rieussec became a widower. His wife, born July 21, 1780, died on May 1, 1806. Less than a year later, on February 7, 1807, Nicolas Mathieu married Marie Pierrette Flore Bourdin in Sainte-Marguerite church. Time passed. The year 1815 and Waterloo arrived, during which Napoleon and his Empire was swept away in defeat.
Watchmaker to the King.
With the royalty restored, the throne passed to a Bourbon, Louis XVIII, brother of the late Louis XVI, who had been guillotined in 1793. All indications are that the new king did not consider Rieussec to be a loyal follower of Napoleon, or to have a black mark against his past. From 1817 on, Rieussec practiced his profession at no. 13, Rue Notre-Dame-des-Petits-Champs. Curiously, he also had a currency exchange there for an indeterminate period of time. That same year, the young watchmaker began to gain recognition when he was named a Watchmaker to the King in a royal warrant dated January 31, 1817.
“On this thirty-first day of January, eighteen hundred and seventeen, the King at Paris, having been made fully aware of the good life and moral conduct of Sieur Nicolas Mathieu Rieussec, and of the distinguished reputation he has acquired in his profession of Watchmaker, desires to confer upon him a mark of his favour and of the protection with which he honours him; for this purpose, His Majesty has granted and does grant him the title of his Watchmaker so that said Sieur Rieussec can enjoy all the honours, prerogatives and other benefits thereunto appertaining; His Majesty desires and intends that he may use said Title at all gatherings and on all public documents […].”
In 1817, there were already five Watchmakers to the King in Paris: Lepaute, Le Roy, Lépine, Robin, and Lamygonge. Rieussec was the sixth. It was not by chance that this honour had been obtained. Since 1815/1816, Nicolas Mathieu had been entrusted with “maintenance of the clocks for the Minister of the King’s Household,” or in other words the Royal Furniture Depository. Created at the beginning of the 17th century, the Royal Furniture Depository was the government office responsible for managing furniture and artwork used to furnish and decorate the royal residences.
An ambitious man, Nicolas Mathieu Rieussec did not stop with this warrant. Scarcely had he been named a Watchmaker to the King when he sought another warrant as Watchmaker to the Crown's Furniture Depository. Between May and June 1817, Rieussec sent a letter to the Baron de la Ville d’Avray, the general superintendent of the Royal Furniture Depository. Having worked for the Depository for nearly two years, Rieussec considered that he had a right to this warrant. Such a request was astonishing, as witnessed by the following letter dated May or June 1817.
“Now that Warrants as Watchmakers to the Royal Furniture Depository are being conferred, he feels that in asking for one, he is requesting only what is his due, since it is a consequence of his employment.
Sieur Rieussec believes he is all the more justified since, out of six warrants with this title that were just conferred, only four of the watchmakers are, like himself, employed by the Royal Furniture Depository, and two (Messrs. Leroy and Lépine) are not at all, and so have been better treated than him if his request is not granted.
Could the Watchmaker to the King warrant be regarded as a favour that would cause the other to be refused him? He cannot convince himself of that, for he values possession of the former too highly to believe that anyone could consider it a precluding honour.
He therefore believes that the title of Watchmaker to the King does not influence the question of the other title in the slightest, and that that question is resolved by the legitimate rights conferred upon him by the duties he performs.
Sieur Rieussec does not seek to hold two titles; his ambition was satisfied when he was granted the Warrant as Watchmaker to the King.
This is a right that he is asserting now. It is a favour obtained by Messrs. Leroy and Lépine, who are not employed by the Royal Furniture Depository at all. In contrast, Sieur Rieussec is indeed one of [His Majesty’s] watchmakers.”
He had no choice but to wait, especially since the warrant list for 1817 was already closed. The wait was a short one.
In 1818, he was granted a warrant as Watchmaker to the Royal Furniture Depository.
The “Chronograph”.
The decade of the 1820s was one of the most prosperous in Nicolas Mathieu Rieussec's life. It certainly did get off to an auspicious start. September 1, 1821, found Rieussec at the Champ-de-Mars in Paris - not as a race spectator come to watch the Arrondissement de la Seine race, but as a watchmaker testing a “chronometer intended to consistently measure the time horses take to travel the prescribed race distances - not only the winning horse, but also all those that cross the line after it.“
Rieussec's presence at the Arrondissement de la Seine race was not by chance. His elder brother, Nicolas Joseph, was an important person in French equestrian circles, which at the time were growing rapidly. Sixteen years earlier, on August 31, 1805, an imperial decree had established horse racing. It was in this context that, before 1805, Nicolas Joseph had founded the Buc stud farm, prior to purchasing that of Viroflay a few years later in 1812. He is also considered the promoter of the thoroughbred in France. Horse racing was the fashion, and young watchmaker Nicolas Mathieu quickly saw it as an opportunity to use his skill. Running the horses and determining the winner was one thing. Being able to measure the time for each of the racers was quite another. At this time, early in the 19th century, the need was felt for an instrument that could accomplish this.
On September 1, 1820, many prominent figures had come to the Champ-de-Mars. A practised eye would have recognized Joseph Jérôme, Comte Siméon, Minister, Junior Minister in the Ministry of the Interior; and Gaspard de Chabrol, Prefect of the Seine [département].
Chabrol's support was doubtless unnecessary, since the Minister had expressed his “kindness” to Rieussec the same day, giving him reason to “hope for a patent on the basis of public utility.” Both the Race Jury's report and Prefect Chabrol's letter referred to Rieussec's invention as a “chronometer” or a “timer.” There was as yet no mention of a “chronograph.” The tests were judged to be satisfactory for the time being, as witnessed by the Race Jury's report. Rieussec's invention met a real need. Better yet, it was a comfortable and reliable way to measure the times. Henceforth, there was “no fear of any errors.” It seemed destined for a promising future!
A “Chronograph with Seconds Indicator”.
In the minutes of its meeting held October 15, 1821, the French Academy of Sciences reports on Rieussec's invention, which he had presented to them two weeks earlier and which was examined by two of its members, Breguet and Prony. As Rieussec later wrote to Comte Siméon, it was this prestigious company that was the first to call his invention the “Chronograph with Seconds Indicator.” The expression caught on to such a point that it replaced “chronometer” and “timer.” Then and for all time to come, the term became “Rieussec’s chronograph.” Having the Academy's minutes is no small advantage. They provide a description of the chronograph and its operation that is among the most comprehensive in existence:
”The volume and shape of this instrument are about those of a large pocket chronometer. The dial is movable and turns about an axis that is perpendicular to its plane and passes through its centre. When the Chronograph is operating, this dial makes one revolution per minute, and since its circumference is divided into 60 parts, the angular motion of one division corresponds to one second. A small window next to the hanging ring reveals a number, which is replaced by another number with each revolution of the dial and indicates the minutes; the Chronograph can run about three-quarters of an hour without stopping.
To use this instrument, when it is mounted and in a resting state, one first sets the divisions marking the time to the starting points by turning a knurled knob with one’s hand. Through the intermediary of a gear train, the knob causes the minute and second dials to move. Having done this, when the moment to start timing arrives, one presses a small button next to the knob to set the machine in motion. The observer can give full attention to the phenomena whose successive time intervals he wishes to measure, and as soon as one of the divisions of these intervals is reached, he presses a second button next to the one we have just mentioned. At the moment when it is pressed a small pen, or metal point, passing through the open tip of a cone filled with black oil ink and placed opposite the moving dial’s fixed zero point, marks a point on the circumference that is divided into seconds. This point then indicates the second and fraction of a second corresponding to the beginning or end of the period of time being measured.
Operation of the pen trigger mechanism neither stops nor slows the moving dial’s motion, so the button can be pressed several times while this motion lasts, making a number of black points on the scale divided into 60 parts; each point indicates, by its position, the moment when it was marked.
To stop the chronograph quickly, one need only press the button that started it. The mechanism is arranged such that pressing this button abruptly changes the current state of the machine, making it pass from a resting state to movement or from movement to its resting state.
We did not examine the inside of the instrument, and we do not think that it offers anything particularly remarkable, given the current state of watchmaking. Its principal merit lies in its ability to instantly indicate the first and last moments of several successive time intervals by means of permanent, visible signs on a moving dial, without requiring the attention of the observer’s eyes or ears.
A chronograph with such a property unquestionably offers precious resources to physicians, engineers and, in general, anyone who measures phenomena. A highly satisfactory trial was recently made at public horse races; but its use can obviously extend to an infinite variety of other kinds of observations, the testing of moving machines, gauging of running water, and almost all hydraulic operations. The passage of a star over the cross-hairs of a telescope, when the astronomer has only one free hand, will be very precisely indicated by this new means, which will either serve to verify the count of the seconds on a clock, or will replace such a count if the distant location of the clock or poor hearing keeps the escapement from being heard. […]
We think that Mr. Rieussec’s Chronograph deserves the Academy’s approval.
In summary, on October 14, 1821, Rieussec presented his invention to the Academy of Sciences, which christened it a "chronograph". The term was particularly well chosen: "chronograph" comes from the Greek words and , which means “that which writes time”. This system works as follows: a nib places a black mark on the dial at the moment when the phenomenon being measured ends. So the user can read the duration of the phenomenon - a horse race or something else - on the dial thanks to the time "written" by the hand. The chronograph was born!
Obtaining a Patent.
Armed with the reports from the Race Jury and the Academy of Sciences, Nicolas Mathieu Rieussec sent a letter to “His Excellency, Comte Siméon, Minister, Junior Minister in the Ministry of the Interior.” Ambitious, he reminded the minister that the minister had given him cause to hope for “a Patent on the basis of public utility.” To support his request, he attached a copy of the previously mentioned reports and “the plans and designs for the component parts of the race Chronograph and of the one used for astronomy and for observation of phenomena requiring the strictest accuracy.” This last point is important. It tells that right from the beginning, Rieussec made two different chronographs - one tested at the 1821 Arrondissement de la Seine race, the other presented before the Academy of Sciences that same year.
Rieussec's application, recorded by the Ministry of the Interior's departments, was examined by the Advisory Committee for Arts and Factories at a meeting on December 22, 1821.
At its meeting on March 2, 1822, the Advisory Committee acknowledged the following facts: “Sieur Rieussec, Watchmaker to the King in Paris, requests a five-year patent for a timepiece that he calls a Chronograph. The description and design furnished by the petitioner were sufficiently clear and detailed; nothing stands in the way of granting the Patent.” One week later, on March 9, 1822, Rieussec obtained a five-year patent for a “Timepiece, or timer for distance covered, called a chronograph with seconds indicator, indicating the duration of several successive phenomena without requiring the observer’s attention.”
In his application packet, Rieussec justifies the improvements he believed he had made to his chronograph. The following text is an excerpt from his justification:
“The first Chronographs, for which I obtained a Patent in 1821, were too large in size to be easily transportable as watches, due to the complicated parts that made up the mechanism.
“Since that time I have attempted to simplify the mechanism enough so that chronographs could be incorporated into very small watches, and as will be seen in the description < >, I have even combined the chronograph movement and the watch movement in a single case, such that this instrument is always available to use. The simplifications that I have added are such that I can adapt this mechanism even to the most ordinary watches and put them on the market at a very moderate price.”
He was granted the patent on January 16, 1838. Apart from the simplifications noted above, Rieussec made another important modification to his chronographs. From that time on, they had a fixed dial and a moving hand.
Improvements to Chronographs.
Still, it was not until the fall of 1837 that Rieussec filed a patent application for "Improvements to Chronographs". The wording of this application sounds like a manifesto: Ten-year patent for invention and various significant improvements made to chronographs, which he states he invented and improved.
In his application packet, Rieussec justifies the improvements he believed he had made to his chronograph. Here is an excerpt from his justification:
”The first Chronographs, for which I obtained a Patent in 1821, were too large in size to be easily transportable as watches, due to the complicated parts that made up the mechanism.
Since that time I have attempted to simplify the mechanism enough so that Cronographs could be incorporated into very small watches, and as will be seen in the description […], I have even combined the chronograph movement and the watch movement in a single case, such that this instrument is always available to use. The simplifications that I have added are such that I can adapt this mechanism even to the most ordinary watches and put them on the market at a very moderate price.”
He was granted the patent on January 16, 1838. Apart from the simplifications noted above, Rieussec made another important modification to his chronographs. From that time on, they had a fixed dial and a moving hand.
Inventor.
Other patents: From the Cart with Measuring Device to the Rieussec Snuffbox.
On the eve of 1830, Nicolas Mathieu's brother Nicolas Joseph Rieussec was interested in selling heating wood. It was in this context of a new business being developed by his brother that our watchmaker filed two new patents, both completely unrelated to watchmaking. On September 5, 1832, he drew up an application for “a cart for transporting heating wood to a residence [and called a] cart with measuring device [voiture porte mesure] or improved dray.”
An excerpt from one of the documents submitted with the file helps to imagine Rieussec's project:
“This cart differs from those known as measuring carts [voitures mesures] mainly in that in these last, the frame that contains the wood to be transported, which is longer and more cumbersome, is placed above the axle and is part of the body of the cart, which necessitates the use of wheels with a small diameter to avoid having it be too high, but then one can see how difficult it is for the horse that has to pull the full cart, especially if it meets with an obstacle.
In contrast, the frame of the cart with measuring device is suspended beneath the axle, which allows for the use of large wheels […].”
He was granted a five-year patent on October 5, 1832. Some months later, Rieussec drew up a new application, again for an invention related to heating wood. This time, he claimed “a new and improved system of devices for sawing, weighing and measuring residential heating wood.”
Rieussec's interest in heating wood is astonishing, for being so much a part of another time. Yet he did express real concern for some of his contemporaries’ daily concerns. Rieussec's career as an inventor did not stop there. In 1860, at the age of 79, he filed another patent application, his last. This time, it was for a “snuffbox system called the Rieussec Snuffbox.”
Rieussec's last invention showed a concern for health that was before its time.
A veteran of French watchmaking.
An Award-Winning World’s Fair Exhibitor from 1823-1855.
During the first half of the 19th century, the French industrial sector was expanding rapidly. Its newness led public authorities to work toward encouraging a “copycat effect.” Consequently, industry lived by the rhythm of the expositions devoted to its products. From 1823 to 1855, Rieussec was a regular participant in these exhibitions, which initially were held every four years. The first world's fair was held in 1851, in London. Rieussec was there. In 1855, Paris hosted another world's fair, which gave the Second Empire an opportunity to celebrate industry and modernity.
These expositions were an opportunity for Rieussec to collect new honours. In 1823, he exhibited an “astronomical clock with seconds, and a watch of his own invention, which he calls a chronograph.” This earned him a bronze medal. He was also among the exhibitors in 1839, when he introduced a new-style chronograph, after having obtained a patent the year before. The jury awarded him the bronze medal, a repeat of the one received in 1823.
Rieussec was again present at the 1844 exposition. That year, “the jury [was] delighted to acknowledge how prolific Mr. Rieussec’s invention has been in terms of useful applications, and hasten[ed] to do him justice by awarding him a silver medal.” In 1851, he was in London exhibiting in the Crystal Palace. Once again, his products, attracted notice. “The ingenuity of the mechanical combinations used by Mr. Rieussec to conveniently and reliably obtain a result so valuable to experimenters so impressed the London jury that the creator of this mechanism was unanimously found worthy of the first prize, and - to the great regret of all the judges - was deprived of it only by the clause in the rules stipulating that the highest award could not be given to an invention more than twenty years old.” Which, however, did not prevent him from being awarded a prize medal. The 1855 world's fair was the crowning achievement of Rieussec's watchmaking career, as “this veteran of French watchmaking” was awarded a first-class medal.
Supplier to the Royal Furniture Depository.
Rieussec's work was not limited to sophisticated measuring instruments such as the chronograph, intended to make official measurements of time intervals, whether for horse races or scientific phenomena. His activity as Watchmaker to the Royal Furniture Depository gave him an opportunity to create movements for the clocks ordered to decorate certain rooms of the royal residences. In 1821, Rieussec delivered a clock called “Iris fastening on her wings” intended for the bedchamber of the Duke of Bordeaux, who was the grandson of the Count of Artois, brother of King Louis XVIII.
Between 1820 and 1825, Rieussec signed a movement for a clock depicting Saint Vincent de Paul. This object was brought to Saint-Cloud castle in early 1826.
In 1821, more active than ever, Rieussec delivered a superb clock representing “Sappho inspired by Love,” followed by a “Homer singing over the ruins of Troy”clock which he delivered to the Royal Furniture Depository that same year. During the last years of the Restoration (1815–1830) or the first years of the July Monarchy (1830–1848), Rieussec signed a movement for a clock representing the shepherd Belisarius, inspired by a painting shown by the painter Gérard at the Salon of 1795.
These few examples are an accurate reflection of Nicolas Rieussec's great productivity between 1820 and the end of the Restoration. Having been Watchmaker to Louis XVIII (1815–1824), then to his brother Charles X (1824–1830), Rieussec remained a Watchmaker to the King under the following regime. Louis-Philippe, who was king from 1830 to 1848, appreciated Rieussec's work enough to keep him in his service. It was also during this time that Rieussec became associated with another watchmaker, Chaudé.
Was watchmaking passed down from father to son?
The genealogies that were able to consult for this article repeatedly note that Joseph Ferdinand, the son of Nicolas Mathieu, born December 15, 1804, was a Watchmaker to the King. To date, there has not been found any document confirming this. It remains to be seen whether Joseph Ferdinand followed in his father's footsteps and became a watchmaker. One passage in the property inventory made after Nicolas Mathieu's death implies that the father left his business to his son. Here, again, there is no evidence attesting to the son's watchmaking activity. Everything there is to know about this is that when his father died, Joseph Ferdinand was a merchant and lived at no. 183, Rue de Grenelle-Saint-Germain, now Rue de Grenelle.
Last years.
Nicolas Mathieu Rieussec died at his home at 60 Avenue du Bel-Air in Paris, in 1866. The declaration of succession drawn up after his death noted that he was a gentleman of independent means at the time. His heirs were his son Joseph Ferdinand and the daughters of his own daughter, Marie Clotilde, who had died young in 1842.
The inventory of Nicolas Mathieu's property, drawn up after his death, noted that the deceased was a Knight in the Order of the Legion of Honour. Unfortunately, there has been no trace of his file in the National Archives where the Legion of Honour's records are kept.


Thomas C. Dixon

Thomas C. Dixon (died 1870s) was a hatter and political figure in Canada West. He represented London in the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada from 1851 to 1854. Dixon served as mayor of London in 1849.
He defeated John Wilson to win a seat in the assembly in 1851; Dixon was defeated by Wilson when he ran for reelection in 1854. Shortly after this defeat, Dixon moved to Hamilton, where he served on city council. Originally an Anglican, he became a Mormon. In 1854, Dixon moved to Utah, taking with him the wives of five other city councillors. He died of yellow fever in Fort Worth, Texas sometime in the 1870s.


Humpback Rock

Humpback Rock is a massive greenstone outcropping near the peak of Humpback Mountain in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Augusta County and Nelson County, Virginia, United States, with a summit elevation of . The rock formation is so named for the visual effect of a "hump" it creates on the western face of the mountain.
Located six miles (10 km) south of the northern entrance to the Blue Ridge Parkway near Waynesboro, Virginia, Humpback Rock stands out from many other mountain summits in the Blue Ridge due to its exposed rocky summit, in contrast to the heavily vegetated peaks of surrounding mountains. The location features a well-maintained trail and visitor's center.
Geology.
As is the case for most of the surrounding mountains, such as Old Rag Mountain, Humpback Rock is underlain by an enormous granite formation created during the Grenville Orogeny on the ocean floor about a billion years ago. About 400 million years later, during the Catoctin Formation, basaltic magma was deposited, forming a layer of greenstone over the granite. Over time, sand and rock sedimented on the ocean floor, forming quartzite and sandstone deposits. Finally, sedimentation of shells and skeletons of foraminifera resulted in deposition of a layer of limestone. Approximately 700 million years after the Grenville Orogeny, the Iapetus Ocean began to close, resulting in the Alleghenian Orogeny, where slabs of granite and rock were transported westward and eventually thrust up over the limestone bed around it, forming Humpback Rock and the Blue Ridge Mountains.
Humpback Gap Overlook.
From 1851 until the early 20th century, wagoners hauling cargo used the bygone road Howardsville Turnpike to go between Howardsville and the Shenandoah Valley. Often the travelers camped at Humpback Gap. Nearby are the of Humpback Rocks Recreation Area. Notable is the rock fence, reputedly built by slaves of a plantation owner, that separates the gap and Greenstone Overlook. Just beyond, at milepost 5.8, are the Humpback Rocks.
The early European settlers of the Appalachian Mountains forged a living from the native materials so abundant around them. Hickory, chestnut and oak trees provided nuts for food, logs for building and tannin for curing hides, while the rocks were put to use as foundations and chimneys for the houses and in stone fences to control wandering livestock. Many self-sufficient farms sprang up in the Humpback Mountain area.
Today, visitors can tour a collection of 19th-century farm buildings. The Mountain Farm trail provides access to the cabin and various outbuildings. The area also houses a visitor center with new exhibits, a picnic area, and trails.
Hiking.
Overview.
Hiking Humpback Rocks is a relatively short hike following a trail loop. With a roughly 45 minute hike to ascend to the peak, and a 20–25 minute descent, the trail ranks as one of the shorter hikes along the Blue Ridge. The peak affords a spectacular 360-degree view of the surrounding terrain. To the north you can see into the southern section of Shenandoah National Park, to the east a patchwork of farms, to the southwest thick woods and mountain ridges of the George Washington National Forest.
Hikers may continue to follow the trail for , passing along the top of a cliff with views to the south and east before descending to a blue blaze trail. This trail leads into the Humpback Rocks Picnic Area. The distance between Humpback Gap and the Humpback Rocks Picnic Area is . A map of the hike and of the Humpback Gap Overlook is available through the Blue Ridge Parkway website. Continuing past Humpback Rocks itself, the summit of Humpback Mountain is only a few minutes further. The Appalachian Trail passes a short distance to the north, at milepost 6.
Directions.
The Humpback Rocks Visitors Center is located at mile marker 5.8, six miles south of the Rockfish Gap Interchange of I-64 and US 250. It is most easily accessed by either one of these two highways. Head south on the Blue Ridge Parkway for to reach the Humpback Rocks Visitors Center, or continue another to arrive at the Humpback Gap parking area on the left.
A map of the Blue Ridge Parkway including Humpback Rocks can be found at the Texas Library webpage.
Camping.
Camping is available nearby in the Sherando Lake Recreation Area in the George Washington National Forest off the Blue Ridge Parkway a few miles south. Coming from the north on the Appalachian Trail there is an AT shelter called the Paul C. Wolfe shelter.
Appalachian Trail.
The Appalachian Trail can also be accessed from the Humpback Gap parking area. Southbound hikers can reach it by continuing south on the Humpback Rocks trail. Northbound hikers can reach it taking the one-mile (1.6-km) blue blazed path at the northern end of the parking lot, or the one-mile (1.6-km) white blazed path just off of the Howardsville Turnpike.