The first inhabitants of what is now Nantes settled during the Bronze Age, later than in the surrounding regions (which have Neolithic monuments absent from Nantes). Its first inhabitants were apparently attracted by small iron and tin deposits in the region's subsoil. The area exported tin, mined in Abbaretz and Piriac, as far as Ireland. After about 1,000 years of trading, local industry appeared around 900 BC; remnants of smithies dated to the eighth and seventh centuries BC have been found in the city. Nantes may have been the major Gaulish settlement of Corbilo, on the Loire estuary, which was mentioned by the Greek historians Strabo and Polybius.
Its history from the seventh century to the Roman conquest in the first century BC is poorly documented, and there is no evidence of a city in the area before the reign of Tiberius in the first century AD. During the Gaulish period it was the capital of the Namnetes people, who were allied with the Veneti in a territory extending to the northern bank of the Loire. Rivals in the area included the Pictones, who controlled the area south of the Loire in the city of Ratiatum (present-day Rezé) until the end of the second century AD. Ratiatum, founded under Augustus, developed more quickly than Nantes and was a major port in the region. Nantes began to grow when Ratiatum collapsed after the Germanic invasions.
Because tradesmen favoured inland roads rather than Atlantic routes, Nantes never became a large city under Roman occupation. Although it lacked amenities such as a theatre or an amphitheatre, the city had sewers, public baths and a temple dedicated to Mars Mullo. After an attack by German tribes in 275, Nantes' inhabitants built a wall; this defense also became common in surrounding Gaulish towns. The wall in Nantes, enclosing 16 hectares (40 acres), was one of the largest in Gaul.
Christianity was introduced during the third century. The first local martyrs (Donatian and Rogatian) were executed in 288–290, and a cathedral was built during the fourth century.


The French Revolution initially received some support in Nantes, a bourgeois city rooted in private enterprise. On 18 July 1789, locals seized the Castle of the Dukes of Brittany in an imitation of the storming of the Bastille. Rural western France, Catholic and conservative, strongly opposed the abolition of the monarchy and the submission of the clergy. A rebellion in the neighbouring Vendée began in 1793, quickly spreading to surrounding regions. Nantes was an important Republican garrison on the Loire en route to England. On 29 June 1793, 30,000 Royalist troops from Vendée attacked the city on their way to Normandy (where they hoped to receive British support). Twelve thousand Republican soldiers resisted and the Battle of Nantes resulted in the death of Royalist leader Jacques Cathelineau. Three years later another Royalist leader, François de Charette, was executed in Nantes.
After the Battle of Nantes, the National Convention (which had founded the First French Republic) decided to purge the city of its anti-revolutionary elements. Nantes was seen by the convention as a corrupt merchant city; the local elite was less supportive of the French Revolution, since its growing centralisation reduced their influence. From October 1793 to February 1794, deputy Jean-Baptiste Carrier presided over a revolutionary tribunal notorious for cruelty and ruthlessness. Between 12,000 and 13,000 people (including women and children) were arrested, and 8,000 to 11,000 died of typhus or were executed by the guillotine, shooting or drowning. The Drownings at Nantes were intended to kill large numbers of people simultaneously, and Carrier called the Loire "the national bathtub".
The French Revolution was disastrous for the local economy. The slave trade nearly disappeared because of the abolition of slavery and the independence of Saint-Domingue, and Napoleon's Continental Blockade decimated trade with other European countries. Nantes never fully recovered its 18th-century wealth; the port handled 43,242 tons of goods in 1807, down from 237,716 tons in 1790.


The town of Kühlungsborn was founded on April 1, 1938 with the merger of the three municipalities; Fulgen, Brunshaupten and Arendsee. On the town coat of arms, three flying seagulls on a blue background represent these former municipalities.
At the end of World War II in 1945, many refugees settled temporarily or permanently in Kühlungsborn. In 1953, the East German government partially expropriated and arbitrarily nationalised a number of hotels and boarding houses in the city during the so-called "Action Rose".  Over 50 of these institutions were transformed into holiday and health resorts for regulated holidays for East German citizens which were controlled by FDGB Trade Union. If the former owners resisted, they were often convicted in show trials. Many were forced into exile in West Germany.
During East Germany's standard holiday period of July to August, Kühlungsborn was packed with holidaymakers. The cost of the FDGB holiday facilities was very low, normally 60-100 East German marks for 14 days full board. During this time there were frequent shortages in commercial establishments. Annual festivals were conducted for three decades, during "Baltic Week", usually the first week of July. There were numerous high-profile cultural events during these festivals. Participants from the Baltic Sea countries and Norway were accommodated in boarding houses.
From 1958 to 1990 approximately 100 men of the East German Navy's (Volksmarine) elite 18th Combat Swimmer Command (Kampfschwimmerkommando 18 (KSK-18)) were stationed in Kühlungsborn.
Since the mid-1990s Kühlungsborn has again become a popular year-round destination for the holiday season.
Kühlungsborn has no tall buildings, because no house is allowed to be built higher than the tallest trees. After the reunification of Germany the historic centre of Kühlungsborn was thoroughly renovated and many historic buildings restored. However, in 1994, 26 historic buildings, examples of resort architecture, were demolished as part of this renovation, such as the Arendseer Kurhaus completed in 1906.  There are many new hotels and apartments as well as renovated old hotels and guest houses.  From 2002-2004 the new marina was built in East Kühlungsborn with 400 moorings. The resort's pier was built in 1991 and the 3,200-metre-long beach promenade was completely renovated in 2007.
For the G8 summit in Heiligendamm in 2007, the press was accommodated in East Kühlungsborn. Around 5,390 journalists from 78 countries representing 1,045 media outlets were accredited and stayed mostly in Kühlungsborn.


Bäderbahn Molli, the local steam-operated narrow gauge railway. The line from Bad Doberan to Heiligendamm (then called Fürstenbad) was opened in 1886, its extension to Brunshaupten and Arendsee was completed in 1910, the reconstruction of the interior of the coaches was carried out in GDR times, with what was clearly modern wall materials for that period.
The Kühlung, a densely wooded ridge with good views south of Kühlungsborn, was formed during the ice age as a push moraine.
St. John's Church in Kühlungsborn-Ost. This Early Gothic church dates to the 13th century and has a Late Gothic triumphal cross group from the 15th century. The nave is made of fieldstones, the vault, edgings, windows and portals of brick. The pulpit is from 1698.
Kühlungsborn Pier. The new, 240-metre-long pier in Kühlungsborn Ost, built in 1991, has been used by ships since 1999. The two original wooden piers in Kühlungsborn Ost and West were crushed by ice masses in the winters of 1929 and 1941/42 and only partially rebuilt. During East German times the piers were shortened. After the Second World War, regular boat services only for a few years. These were stopped in 1961 when the Berlin Wall was built, because it was relatively easy to escape to West Germany from here.
The Baltic Sea watchtower near the pier. One of the last surviving East German border towers, an authentic witness to the division of Germany. Access possible.
The beach promenade, completed in 2007. From Kühlungsborn-West to the harbour promenade in the new Kühlungsborn Harbour it is about 3,200 metres long and offers a continuous open view of the Baltic. The fine sandy beach is over 100 metres wide here. The beach promenade and the harbour promenade are parts of the E9 European long distance path.
The harbour promenade, 360 metres long, runs from the stock anchor on Strandresidenz to the flood defence gates on Deichschart by Kühlungsborn Harbour. The anchor is one of the largest of its type. It weighs 3,200 kg; is 2.45 metres from fluke to fluke and the shaft is 3.93 metres long (excluding the shackle). The stock measures 3.57 metres.
Monument to the victims of fascism in Strandstraße in Kühlungsborn-Ost, made in 1972 by artist, Renata Ahrens.
The Konrad-Otto, a lifeboat owned by the German Maritime Search and Rescue Service is stationed by the East Mole of the yacht harbour.


Kühlungsborn ([kyːlʊŋsˈbɔɐ̯n]) is a Seebad (seaside resort) town in the Rostock district, in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany. It is situated on the Baltic Sea coast, 11 km northwest of Bad Doberan, and 25 km northwest of Rostock.
The town has an elongate beach and promenade, many hotels in typical German spa town architecture and a marina. It is the largest seaside spa town in Mecklenburg.
Kühlungsborn is a place with long spa traditions. It was one of the first seaside resorts to be founded in Germany, dating back to the 1860s. While the bicycle is a popular way of transport, the Molli steam railway is an historic tourist attraction that also allows exploration the area. In summer times many people rent one of the traditional Strandkorb on the beach, a covered chair protecting one from wind and sun.


Brandenburg is situated in territory known in antiquity as Magna Germania, which reached to the Vistula river. By the 7th century, Slavic peoples are believed to have settled in the Brandenburg area. The Slavs expanded from the east, possibly driven from their homelands in present-day Ukraine and perhaps Belarus by the invasions of the Huns and Avars. They relied heavily on river transport. The two principal Slavic groups in the present-day area of Brandenburg were the Hevelli in the west and the Sprevane in the east.
Beginning in the early 10th century, Henry the Fowler and his successors conquered territory up to the Oder River. Slavic settlements such as Brenna (Brandenburg an der Havel), Budusin (Bautzen), and Chośebuz (Cottbus) came under imperial control through the installation of margraves. Their main function was to defend and protect the eastern marches. In 948 Emperor Otto I established margraves to exert imperial control over the pagan Slavs west of the Oder River. Otto founded the Bishoprics of Brandenburg and Havelberg. The Northern March was founded as a northeastern border territory of the Holy Roman Empire. However, a great uprising of Wends drove imperial forces from the territory of present-day Brandenburg in 983. The region returned to the control of Slavic leaders.


The present State of Brandenburg was re-established on 3 October 1990 upon German reunification. The newly elected Landtag of Brandenburg first met on 26 October 1990. As in other former parts of East Germany, the lack of modern infrastructure and exposure to West Germany's competitive market economy brought widespread unemployment and economic difficulty. In the recent years, however, Brandenburg's infrastructure has been modernized and unemployment has slowly declined.


Emperor Go-Daigo (後醍醐天皇 Go-Daigo-tennō) (26 November 1288 – 19 September 1339) was the 96th emperor of Japan, according to the traditional order of succession. He successfully overthrew the Kamakura shogunate in 1333 and established the short lived Kenmu Restoration to bring the Imperial House back into power. This was to be the last time the emperor had real power until the Meiji Restoration in 1868. The Kenmu restoration was in turn overthrown by Ashikaga Takauji in 1336, ushering in the Ashikaga shogunate, and split the imperial family into two opposing factions between the Ashikaga backed Northern Court situated in Kyoto and the Southern Court based in Yoshino led by Go-Daigo and his later successors.
This 14th-century sovereign personally chose his posthumous name after the 9th-century Emperor Daigo and go- (後), translates as "later", and he is thus sometimes called the "Later Emperor Daigo", or, in some older sources, "Daigo, the second" or as "Daigo II".


January 11 – Workers in a sandpit in the Dauphiné region of France discover the skeleton of what is alleged to be a 30-foot tall man (the remains, it is supposed, of the giant Teutobochus, a legendary Gallic king who fought the Romans).
January 20 – King James I of England successfully mediates the Treaty of Knäred between Denmark and Sweden.
February 14 – Elizabeth, daughter of King James I of England, marries Frederick V, Elector Palatine.
March 3 (February 21 O.S.) – An assembly of the Russian Empire elects Mikhail Romanov Tsar of Russia, ending the Time of Troubles. The House of Romanov will remain a ruling dynasty until 1917.
March 27 – The first English child is born in Canada at Cuper's Cove, Newfoundland to Nicholas Guy.
March 29 – Samuel de Champlain becomes the first unofficial Governor of New France.
April 13 – Samuel Argall captures Algonquian princess Pocahontas in Passapatanzy, Virginia, to ransom her for some English prisoners held by her father, Chief Powhatan. She is brought to Henricus as an hostage.
June – From Jamestown, John Rolfe makes the first shipment of West Indian tobacco grown in Virginia to England.
June 29 – Fire destroys London's famed Globe Theatre, during a performance of Shakespeare's Henry VIII.


1613 (MDCXIII) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar and a common year starting on Friday of the Julian calendar, the 1613th year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations, the 613th  year of the 2nd millennium, the 13th  year of the 17th century, and the  4th   year of the 1610s decade. As of the start of 1613, the Gregorian calendar was 10 days ahead of the Julian calendar, which remained in localized use until 1923.


In May 2013, a fake restaurant was set up by a disgruntled businessman and reportedly had diners looking for the eatery in an alley filled with garbage cans. The fake listing went undetected on Tripadvisor for about two months.
In November 2017, journalist Oobah Butler used fake reviews to boost a nonexistent restaurant named The Shed at Dulwich to the top of Tripadvisor rankings for restaurants in London.


Fake reviews are common in many online settings and Tripadvisor has faced allegations of fake reviews on its platform.
In March 2014, Tripadvisor's Chinese site came under scrutiny when a user was found to have reviewed 51 Parisian restaurants in one month, while also reviewing 50 hotels in other countries.
In November 2017, Oobah Butler, a journalist for Vice Media, claimed to have made money posting positive reviews for restaurants he never visited, in exchange for payment.
In September 2019, consumer organisation Which? said Tripadvisor was still failing to stop fake reviews. Its survey of nearly 250,000 reviews for the ten top-ranked hotels in ten popular tourist destinations around the world found that one in seven had "blatant hallmarks" of fake positive reviews. Tripadvisor responded: "We are committed to ensuring reviews on Tripadvisor offer useful and accurate information, and we are very aggressive in catching fake reviews and pursuing the fraudsters behind them."


Year 222 (CCXXII) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. In the Roman Empire, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Antoninus and Severus (or, less frequently, year 975 Ab urbe condita). The denomination 222 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years.


Rococo (/rəˈkoʊkoʊ/, also US: /ˌroʊkəˈkoʊ/), less commonly Roccoco or Late Baroque, is an exceptionally ornamental and theatrical style of architecture, art and decoration which combines asymmetry, scrolling curves, gilding, white and pastel colours, sculpted moulding, and trompe-l'œil frescoes to create surprise and the illusion of motion and drama. It is often described as the final expression of the Baroque movement.
The Rococo style began in France in the 1730s as a reaction against the more formal and geometric Louis XIV style. It was known as the "style Rocaille", or "Rocaille style". It soon spread to other parts of Europe, particularly northern Italy, Austria, southern Germany, Central Europe and Russia. It also came to influence the other arts, particularly sculpture, furniture, silverware, glassware, painting, music, and theatre. Although originally a secular style primarily used for interiors of private residences, the Rococo had a spiritual aspect to it which led to its widespread use in church interiors, particularly in Central Europe, Portugal, and South America.


Rococo features exuberant decoration, with an abundance of curves, counter-curves, undulations and elements modeled on nature. The exteriors of Rococo buildings are often simple, while the interiors are entirely dominated by their ornament. The style was highly theatrical, designed to impress and awe at first sight. Floor plans of churches were often complex, featuring interlocking ovals; In palaces, grand stairways became centrepieces, and offered different points of view of the decoration. The main ornaments of Rococo are: asymmetrical shells, acanthus and other leaves, birds, bouquets of flowers, fruit, musical instruments, angels and Chinoiserie (pagodas, dragons, monkeys, bizarre flowers and Chinese people).
The style often integrated painting, moulded stucco, and wood carving, and quadratura, or illusionist ceiling paintings, which were designed to give the impression that those entering the room were looking up at the sky, where cherubs and other figures were gazing down at them. Materials used included stucco, either painted or left white; combinations of different coloured woods (usually oak, beech or walnut); lacquered wood in the Japanese style, ornament of gilded bronze, and marble tops of commodes or tables. The intent was to create an impression of surprise, awe and wonder on first view.


1232: The Mongols besiege Kaifeng, the capital of the Jin dynasty, capturing it in the following year.
1233: Battle of Ganter, Ken Arok defeated Kertajaya, the last king of Kediri, thus established Singhasari kingdom Ken Arok ended the reign of Isyana Dynasty and started his own Rajasa dynasty.
1235: The Mandinka tribes unite to form the Mali Empire which leads to the downfall of Takrur in the 1280s.
1239–1250: Third conflict between the Holy Roman Empire and the Papacy.
1237–1240: Mongol Empire conquers Kievan Rus.
1238: Sukhothai becomes the first capital of Sukhothai Kingdom.


The 13th century was the century which lasted from January 1, 1201 (MCCI) through December 31, 1300 (MCCC) in accordance with the Julian calendar.
The Mongol Empire was founded by Genghis Khan, which stretched from Eastern Asia to Eastern Europe. The conquests of Hulagu Khan and other Mongol invasions changed the course of the Muslim world, most notably the Siege of Baghdad (1258), the destruction of the House of Wisdom and the weakening of the Mamluks and Rums which, according to historians, caused the decline of the Islamic Golden Age. Other Muslim powers such as the Mali Empire and Delhi Sultanate conquered large parts of West Africa and the Indian subcontinent, while Buddhism witnessed a decline through the conquest led by Bakhtiyar Khilji.
The Southern Song dynasty would begin the century as a prosperous kingdom but would eventually be invaded and annexed into the Yuan dynasty of the Mongols. The Kamakura Shogunate of Japan would be invaded by the Mongols. Goryeo resisted an invasion by the Mongols but eventually sued for peace and would eventually be a client state of the Yuan dynasty.
One of the earliest Islamic states in Southeast Asia would form during this century, most notably the Samudera Pasai. The Kingdoms of Sukhothai and Hanthawaddy would emerge and go on to dominate their surrounding territories.
In the history of European culture, this period is considered part of the High Middle Ages. In North America, according to some population estimates, the population of Cahokia grew to being equal to or larger than the population of 13th-century London. In Peru, the Kingdom of Cuzco begins. The Kanem Empire in what is now Chad reaches its apex. The Solomonic dynasty in Ethiopia and the Zimbabwe Kingdom are founded. In the history of Maya civilizations, the 13th century marks the beginning of the Late Postclassic period. In the periodization of Precolumbian Peru, the 13th century is part of the Late Intermediate Period.


Zhongzheng District (also Jhongjheng District) is a district in Taipei. It is home to most of the national government buildings of the Republic of China (Taiwan), including the Presidential Office, the Executive Yuan, the Control Yuan, the Legislative Yuan, the Judicial Yuan and various government ministries.


The district is named after Generalissimo and the late President of the Republic of China Chiang Kai-shek. This district has many cultural and educational sites including the Taipei Botanical Garden, the National Taiwan Museum, the National Museum of History, the National Central Library, National Theater and Concert Hall and the Taiwan Film and Audiovisual Institute. Other museums include the Chunghwa Postal Museum, the Taipei City Traffic Museum for Children, and the Taipei Museum of Drinking Water. Much of the Qing-era city of Taipeh lies within this district.
High School and college students frequent the area immediately south of the Taipei Main Station. This area has a high concentration of bookstores, cram schools, learning centers, private tutoring centers and test-prep centers.


The district was formed in 1990 after the merging of Chengzhong District (城中區) and Guting District (古亭區).


William Penn Adair Rogers (November 4, 1879 – August 15, 1935) was an American vaudeville performer, actor, and humorous social commentator. He was born as a citizen of the Cherokee Nation, in the Indian Territory (now part of Oklahoma), and is known as "Oklahoma's Favorite Son". As an entertainer and humorist, he traveled around the world three times, made 71 films (50 silent films and 21 "talkies"), and wrote more than 4,000 nationally syndicated newspaper columns. By the mid-1930s, Rogers was hugely popular in the United States for his leading political wit and was the highest paid of Hollywood film stars. He died in 1935 with aviator Wiley Post when their small airplane crashed in northern Alaska.
Rogers began his career as a performer on vaudeville. His rope act led to success in the Ziegfeld Follies, which in turn led to the first of his many movie contracts. His 1920s syndicated newspaper column and his radio appearances increased his visibility and popularity. Rogers crusaded for aviation expansion and provided Americans with first-hand accounts of his world travels. His earthy anecdotes and folksy style allowed him to poke fun at gangsters, prohibition, politicians, government programs, and a host of other controversial topics in a way that found general acclaim from a national audience with no one offended. His aphorisms, couched in humorous terms, were widely quoted: "I am not a member of an organized political party. I am a Democrat."
One of Rogers's most famous sayings was "I never met a man I didn't like" and he even provided an epigram on this famous epigram:
When I die, my epitaph, or whatever you call those signs on gravestones, is going to read: "I joked about every prominent man of my time, but I never met a man I dident [sic]  like." I am so proud of that, I can hardly wait to die so it can be carved.


Ciccone was born on November 22, 1960, in Bay City, Michigan, to Catholic parents Madonna Louise Ciccone (née Fortin) and Silvio "Tony" Ciccone. His father's parents were Italian emigrants from Pacentro while his mother was of French-Canadian descent. In 1963, Ciccone's mother died from breast cancer at age thirty. His father remarried Joan Ciccone (née Gustafson) in 1966. His siblings are Anthony (b. 1956), Martin (b. 1957), Madonna (b. 1958), Paula (b. 1959), Melanie (b. 1962), Jennifer (b. 1968), and Mario (b. 1969).
After graduating from high school, Ciccone attended Western Michigan University and then transferred to Oakland University where he took dance classes. In 1980, he began his career as a dancer with Le Groupe de La Place Royale in Ottawa. In 1982, he moved to New York to support his sister Madonna's career as her backup dancer. Ciccone appeared in the music video for her single "Lucky Star" in 1984 and performed on her early television performances. Around this time, he worked at the Italian boutique, Fiorucci. Ciccone always had an interest in art and in 1984, he was hired as a receptionist at the Diane Brown Gallery in SoHo, Manhattan. As Madonna's fame grew and she embarked on arena tours, Ciccone was her "dresser". He created the artwork for the 12" version of her single "Like a Prayer" in 1989. Ciccone was the art director for Madonna's Blond Ambition World Tour in 1990. He also was the tour director for her The Girlie Show tour in 1993. Ciccone stated that Madonna demeaned and underpaid him throughout their working relationship.
Ciccone ventured into interior design when Madonna asked him to buy furniture for her new apartment in 1985. He also designed Madonna's Upper West Side apartment in Manhattan, which was featured on the cover of Architectural Digest in 1991. In November 1991, he had his first solo New York art show at the Wessel + O'Connor Fine Art gallery in SoHo. He exhibited seventeen paintings with prices starting at $3,500. In 1994, Ciccone moved to Los Angeles where he indulged in the partying lifestyle and he began using cocaine. Ciccone directed the music video for Dolly Parton's single "Peace Train" and Tony Bennett's rendition of "God Bless the Child" in 1997. That year, he formed a friendship with actress Demi Moore and he was her date to the Gucci evening for AIDS Project LA.
Ciccone is openly gay. He stated that Madonna outed him in her interview with The Advocate in 1991. Their relationship became strained when she married English director Guy Ritchie in 2000. According to Ciccone, he didn't get along with Ritchie who he claimed is homophobic. "It was...very apparent at the wedding in Scotland, just in the way that his friends made their toast with his gay references. I mean had it been any other word, you know Jew or a black person...anyone would find if [sic] offensive and I have a thick skin", said Ciccone. However, Ciccone's biggest rift with Madonna was over finances. In addition, Madonna appointed a different director and choreographer—Jamie King—for her Drowned World Tour 2001 and didn't tell Ciccone.
Ciccone befriended actress Farrah Fawcett and they bonded over their love of art. They attended Vanity Fair's Oscar party together in 2002.
In 2008, Ciccone released his autobiography, Life with My Sister Madonna, which debuted at No. 2 on The New York Times Best Seller list. The book fractured their relationship and Ciccone asserts that Madonna had him blacklisted from Hollywood. Ciccone also filmed a pilot for an interior design show called Pardon My Decor in 2008. He also made an appearance on the reality show, The Janice Dickinson Modeling Agency, to design a new sleeping quarter.
In September 2012, Ciccone debuted a footwear line, Ciccone Collection, during London Fashion Week. While doing press for his shoe collection, Ciccone revealed that he and Madonna are on "personable" terms. "We're back to being a brother and sister. I don't work for her, and it's better this way", he said.


October 9–22 – Batavia Massacre: Troops of the Dutch East India Company massacre 5,000–10,000 Chinese Indonesians in Batavia.
October 20 – Maria Theresa inherits the hereditary dominions of the Habsburg monarchy (Austria, Bohemia, Hungary and modern-day Belgium) under the terms of the Pragmatic Sanction of 1713 on the death of her father, Charles VI. Her succession to the Holy Roman Empire is contested widely because she is a woman, but she will reign for 40 years.
November 6 – Samuel Richardson's popular and influential epistolary novel, Pamela; or, Virtue Rewarded, is published in London.
November 14 – The University of Pennsylvania is officially established.
December 16 – Frederick II of Prussia invades the Habsburg possession of Silesia, starting the War of the Austrian Succession.


1740 (MDCCXL) was a leap year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar and a leap year starting on Tuesday of the Julian calendar, the 1740th year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations, the 740th  year of the 2nd millennium, the 40th  year of the 18th century, and the  1st   year of the 1740s decade. As of the start of 1740, the Gregorian calendar was 11 days ahead of the Julian calendar, which remained in localized use until 1923.


February 4 – Carl Michael Bellman, Swedish poet, composer (d. 1795)
February 15 – Juan Andrés, Spanish Jesuit (d. 1817)
February 16 – Giambattista Bodoni, Italian publisher and engraver (d. 1813)
February 17 – John Sullivan, American General in the American Revolutionary War, delegate in the Continental Congress (d. 1795)
March – Johann van Beethoven, German musician, father of Ludwig van Beethoven (d. 1792)
March 16 – Johann Jacob Schweppe, German-born inventor, founder of the Schweppes Company (d. 1821)
April 7 – Haym Salomon, Polish-Jewish American financier of the American Revolution (d. 1785)
April 14 – Anna Strong, Patriot spy during the American Revolutionary War (d. 1812)
May 7 – Nikolai Arkharov, Russian police chief (d. 1814)
June 2 – Marquis de Sade, French author, for whom sadism is named (d. 1814)
June 24 – Juan Ignacio Molina, Spanish-Chilean Jesuit priest, naturalist, historian, translator, geographer, botanist, ornithologist, and linguist (d. 1829)
June 27 – James Woodforde, English clergyman and diarist (d. 1803)
July 27 – Jeanne Baré, French explorer (d. 1803)
August 23 – Emperor Ivan VI of Russia (d. 1764)
August 26 – Joseph-Michel Montgolfier, French inventor (d. 1810)
September 12 – Johann Heinrich Jung, German writer (d. 1817)
September 23 – Empress Go-Sakuramachi of Japan (d. 1813)
September 25 – Hercules Mulligan, tailor and spy during the American Revolutionary War (d. 1825)
October 29 – James Boswell, Scottish author (d. 1795)
October 31 – Philip James de Loutherbourg, English artist (d. 1812)
December –  Elisabeth Olin, Swedish opera singer  (d. 1828)


July 7 – Adam Smith sets out from Scotland to take up a scholarship at Balliol College, Oxford.
July 11 – Pogrom: Jews are expelled from Little Russia.
August 1 – The song Rule, Britannia! is first performed at Cliveden, the country home of Frederick, Prince of Wales, in England.
August 17 – Pope Benedict XIV succeeds Pope Clement XII, as the 247th pope.
September 8 – Hertford College, Oxford, England, is founded for the first time.


Bursa has a Mediterranean climate (Köppen climate classification: Csa) under the Köppen classification, and dry-hot summer subtropical climate (Csa) under the Trewartha classification. The city has hot, dry summers that last from June until September. Winters are cool and damp, also containing the most rainfall. There can be snow on the ground which will last for a week or two. Air pollution is a chronic problem in Bursa.


Bursa ([buɾsa]; Ancient Greek: Προῦσα, Latin: Prusa, Ottoman Turkish: بورسه) is a city in northwestern Turkey and the administrative center of Bursa Province. The fourth-most populous city in Turkey and second-most populous in the Marmara Region, Bursa is one of the industrial centers of the country. Most of Turkey's automotive production takes place in Bursa.
As of  2019, the Metropolitan Province was home to 3,056,120 inhabitants, 2,161,990 of whom lived in the 3 city urban districts (Osmangazi, Yildirim and Nilufer) plus Gursu and Kestel, largely conurbated.
Bursa was the first major and second overall capital of the Ottoman State between 1335 and 1363. The city was referred to as Hüdavendigar (خداوندگار, meaning "God's gift" in Ottoman Turkish, a name of Persian origin) during the Ottoman period, while a more recent nickname is Yeşil Bursa ("Green Bursa") in reference to the parks and gardens located across its urban fabric, as well as to the vast and richly varied forests of the surrounding region. Mount Uludağ, the ancient Mysian Olympus, towers over it, and has a well-known ski resort. Bursa has rather orderly urban growth and borders a fertile plain. The mausoleums of the early Ottoman sultans are located in Bursa, and the city's main landmarks include numerous edifices built throughout the Ottoman period. Bursa also has thermal baths, old Ottoman mansions, palaces, and several museums.
The shadow play characters Karagöz and Hacivat are based on historic personalities who lived and died in Bursa in the 14th century.


Bursa is the largest production centre of the Turkish automotive industry. Factories of motor vehicle producers like Fiat, Renault and Karsan, as well as automotive parts producers like Bosch, Mako, Valeo, Johnson Controls, Delphi have been active in the city for decades. The textile and food industries are equally strong, with Coca-Cola, Pepsi Cola and other beverage brands, as well as fresh and canned food industries being present in the city's organized industrial zones.
Apart from its large automotive industry, Bursa also produces a substantial amount of dairy products (by Sütaş), processed food (by Tat), and beverages (by Uludağ).
Traditionally, Bursa was famous for being the largest centre of silk trade in the Byzantine and later the Ottoman empires, during the period of the lucrative Silk Road. The city is still a major centre for textiles in Turkey and is home to the Bursa International Textiles and Trade Centre (Bursa Uluslararası Tekstil ve Ticaret Merkezi, or BUTTIM). Bursa was also known for its fertile soil and agricultural activities, which have decreased in the recent decades due to the heavy industrialization of the city.
Bursa is a major centre for tourism. One of the most popular skiing resorts of Turkey is located at Mount Uludağ, just next to the city proper. Bursa's thermal baths have been used for therapeutical purposes since Roman times. Apart from the baths that are operated by hotels, Uludağ University has a physical therapy centre which also makes use of thermal water.


The earliest known human settlement near Bursa's current location was at Ilıpınar Höyüğü around 5200 BC. It was followed by the ancient Greek city of Cius, which Philip V of Macedon granted to Prusias I, the King of Bithynia, in 202 BC. King Prusias rebuilt the city with the advice of general Hannibal of Carthage, who took refuge with Prusias after losing the war with the Roman Republic and renamed it Prusa (Ancient Greek: Προῦσα; sometimes rendered as Prussa). After 128 years of Bithynian rule, Nicomedes IV, the last King of Bithynia, bequeathed the entire kingdom to the Roman Empire in 74 BC. An early Roman Treasure was found in the vicinity of Bursa in the early 20th century. Composed of a woman's silver toilet articles, it is now in the British Museum.
Bursa (from the Greek "Prusa") became the first major capital city of the early Ottoman Empire following its capture from the Byzantines in 1326. As a result, the city witnessed a considerable amount of urban growth throughout the 14th century. After conquering Edirne (Adrianople) in East Thrace, the Ottomans turned it into the new capital city in 1363, but Bursa retained its spiritual and commercial importance in the Ottoman Empire. The Ottoman sultan Bayezid I built the Bayezid Külliyesi (Bayezid I theological complex) in Bursa between 1390 and 1395 and the Ulu Cami (Grand Mosque) between 1396 and 1400. After Bayezid was defeated in the Battle of Ankara by the forces Timur in 1402, the latter's grandson, Muhammad Sultan Mirza, had the city pillaged and burned. Despite this, Bursa remained to be the most important administrative and commercial centre in the empire until Mehmed II conquered Constantinople in 1453. The population of Bursa was 45,000 in 1487.
During the Ottoman period, Bursa continued to be the source of most royal silk products. Aside from the local silk production, the city imported raw silk from Iran, and occasionally from China, and was the main production centre for the kaftans, pillows, embroidery and other silk products for the Ottoman palaces until the 17th century. As it was a significant cultural and trade hub, traders, most of whom were Armenians, became very wealthy. However, this legacy of cultural pluralism in Bursa almost entirely ended due to the events that took place from 1895 to 1925, namely the Hamidian massacres, the Armenian genocide, and the population exchange. The most influential study of Bursa's silk trade and economic history is the work of Ottomanist Halil İnalcık.
Following the foundation of the Republic of Turkey in 1923, Bursa became one of the industrial centres of the country. The economic development of the city was followed by population growth and Bursa became the 4th most populous city in Turkey.
The city has traditionally been a pole of attraction, and was a major centre for refugees from various ethnic backgrounds who immigrated to Anatolia from the Balkans during the loss of the Ottoman territories in Europe between the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The most recent arrival of Balkan Turks took place between the 1940s and 1990s, when the People's Republic of Bulgaria expelled approximately 150,000 Bulgarian Turks to Turkey. About one-third of these 150,000 Bulgarian Turkish refugees eventually settled in Bursa (especially in the Hürriyet neighborhood). With the construction of new industrial zones in the period between 1980 and 2000, many people from the eastern provinces of Turkey came and settled in Bursa.


Bursa has two public universities and one private university. Uludağ University, founded in 1975 in Görükle, is the oldest institution of higher education in the city. Founded first as the Bursa University then renamed Uludağ University in 1982, the university has a student body of 47,000, one of the largest in Turkey. Bursa Technical University is the second public university of Bursa and was established in 2010, beginning education in the 2011–2012 academic year.
The first private university of Bursa was the Bursa Orhangazi University, which started education in the 2012–2013 academic year. However, Orhangazi University was shut down by the Turkish government after the failed coup attempt of July 2016.
Istanbul Commerce University has opened graduate programs in Bursa in 2013.
The Bursa Sports High School is located in Osmangazi district.


1655 (MDCLV) was a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar and a common year starting on Monday of the Julian calendar, the 1655th year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations, the 655th  year of the 2nd millennium, the 55th  year of the 17th century, and the  6th   year of the 1650s decade. As of the start of 1655, the Gregorian calendar was 10 days ahead of the Julian calendar, which remained in localized use until 1923.


January 5 – Emperor Go-Sai ascends to the throne of Japan.
January 7 – Pope Innocent X, leader of the Roman Catholic Church and the Papal States, dies after more than 10 years of rule.
February 14 – The Mapuches launch coordinated attacks against the Spanish in Chile, beginning the Mapuche uprising of 1655.
February 16 – Dutch Grand Pensionary advisor Johan de Witt marries Wendela Bicker.
March 8 – John Casor becomes the first legally recognized slave in what will become the United States, as a court in Northampton County in the Colony of Virginia issues its decision in the Casor lawsuit, the first  instance of a judicial determination in the Thirteen Colonies holding that a person who had committed no crime could be held in servitude for life.
March 25 – Saturn's largest moon, Titan, is discovered by Christiaan Huygens.


1642 (MDCXLII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar and a common year starting on Saturday of the Julian calendar, the 1642nd year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations, the 642nd  year of the 2nd millennium, the 42nd  year of the 17th century, and the  3rd   year of the 1640s decade. As of the start of 1642, the Gregorian calendar was 10 days ahead of the Julian calendar, which remained in localized use until 1923.


1660 (MDCLX) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar and a leap year starting on Sunday of the Julian calendar, the 1660th year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations, the 660th  year of the 2nd millennium, the 60th  year of the 17th century, and the  1st   year of the 1660s decade. As of the start of 1660, the Gregorian calendar was 10 days ahead of the Julian calendar, which remained in localized use until 1923.


January 1
At daybreak, English Army Colonel George Monck, with two brigades of troops from his Scottish occupational force, fords the River Tweed at Coldstream in Scotland to cross the border into England (at Northumberland, with a mission of advancing toward London to end military rule of England by General John Lambert and to accomplish the English Restoration,  the return of the monarchy to England.  By the end of the day, he and his soldiers have gone 15 miles through knee-deep snow to Wooler while the advance guard of cavalry had covered 50 miles to reach Morpeth.
At the same time, rebels within the English Army under the command of Colonel Thomas Fairfax take control of York and await the arrival of Monck's troops.
Samuel Pepys, a 36-year-old member of parliament, begins keeping a diary that later provides a detailed insight into daily life and events in 17th century England.  He continues until May 31, 1669, when worsening eyesight leads him to quit.  .  Pepys starts with a preliminary note, "Blessed be God, at the end of the last year I was in very good health, without any sense of my old pain but upon taking of cold. I lived in Axe-yard, having my wife and servant Jane, and no more in family than us three."  For his first note on "January 1. 1659/60 Lords-day", he notes "This morning (we lying lately in the garret) I rose, put on my suit with great skirts, having not lately worn any other clothes but them," followed by recounting his attendance at the Exeter-house church in London.
January 6 – The Rump Parliament passes a resolution requesting Colonel Monck to come to London "as speedily as he could", followed by a resolution of approval on January 12 and a vote of thanks and annual payment of 1,000 pounds sterling for his lifetime on January 16.
January 11 – Colonel Monck and Colonel Fairfax rendezvous at York and then prepare to proceed southward toward London. gathering deserters from Lambert's army along the way.
January 16 – With 4,000 infantry and 1,800 cavalry ("an army sufficient to overawe, without exciting suspicion"), Colonel Monck marches southward toward Nottingham, with a final destination of London. Colonel Thomas Morgan is dispatched back to Scotland with two regiments of cavalry to reinforce troops there.
January 31 – The Rump Parliament confirms the promotion of Colonel George Monck to the rank of General and he receives the commission of rank while at St Albans.
February 3 – General George Monck, at the head of his troops, enters London on horseback, accompanied by his principal officers and the commissioners of the Rump Parliament.  Bells ring as they pass but the crowds in the streets are unenthusiastic and the troops are "astonished at meeting with so different a reception to that which they had received elsewhere during their march.".
February 13 – Charles XI becomes king of Sweden at the age of five, upon the death of his father, Charles X Gustavus.
February 26 – The Rump Parliament, under pressure from General Monck, votes to call back all of the surviving members of the group of 231 MPs who had been removed from the House of Commons in 1648 so that the Long Parliament can be reassembled long enough for a full Parliament to approve elections for a new legislative body.
February 27 – John Thurloe is reinstated as England's Secretary of State, having been deprived of his offices late in the previous year.
March 3 – General John Lambert, who had attempted to stop the Restoration, is arrested and imprisoned in the Tower of London.  He escapes on April 9 but is recaptured on April 24.  Though spared the death penalty for treason in 1662, he remains incarcerated on the island of Guernsey for the rest of his life until his death at age 75 on March 1, 1694.
March 16 – The Long Parliament, after having been reassembled for the first time in more than 11 years, votes for its own dissolution and calls for new elections for what will become the Convention Parliament to make the return from republic to monarchy.
March 31 – The war in the West Indies between the indigenous Carib people, and the French Jesuits and English people who have colonized the islands, is ended with a treaty signed at Basse-Terre at Guadeloupe at the residence of the French Governor, Charles Houël du Petit Pré.


In 2010, the Greater KL population was estimated at close to seven million and it contributed about RM263 billion to the nation's Gross National Income (GNI). Kuala Lumpur ranks 79th out of 140 cities in the Economist Intelligence Unit's survey on liveability.


Greater Kuala Lumpur is conterminous to the National Growth Conurbation, which spans the Klang Valley, western Negeri Sembilan to the south, and the topographically mountainous western frontier of Pahang to the east. It is defined as an area covered by 14 municipalities surrounding Kuala Lumpur, each governed by local authorities:
1. The Klang Valley (Selangor and the Federal Territories of Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya)
Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL)
Perbadanan Putrajaya (PPj)
Shah Alam City Council (MBSA)
Petaling Jaya City Council (MBPJ)
Klang Municipal Council (MPK)
Kajang Municipal Council (MPKJ)
Subang Jaya City Council (MBSJ)
Selayang Municipal Council (MPS)
Ampang Jaya Municipal Council (MPAJ)
Kuala Langat Municipal Council (MPKL)
Sepang Municipal Council (MPSp) consisting of Cyberjaya/Salak Tinggi/Kuala Lumpur International Airport
2. Malaysia Vision Valley (western Negeri Sembilan)
Seremban City Council (MBS)
Port Dickson Municipal Council (MPPD)
3. Western Pahang
Bentong Municipal Council (MPB)


Greater Kuala Lumpur is the geographical term that determines the boundaries of Metropolitan Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia. Though similar to the term "Klang Valley", there remains a variation between the two. It is similar to Greater London and Greater Toronto. The metropolitan area covers  5,194.72 square km of land.


July 3 – The first documented case of cyclopia is diagnosed in a horse.
July 7 – King Charles II of England leaves London with his entourage, fleeing the Great Plague. He moves his court to Salisbury, then Exeter.
July 9 – The colonization of the south Indian Ocean island Réunion begins, with the Compagnie des Indes Orientales sending 20 permanent settlers, under the command of Etienne Regnault, from the French ship Taureau.
July 11 – Pierre de Beausse, an envoy of France's King Louis XIV, formally claims possession of the African island of Madagascar on behalf of the French East India Company after landing on the coast in the 32-gun frigate Saint-Paul.
August 2 – The Dutch fleet defeats the English in the Battle of Vågen off Norway in the Second Anglo-Dutch War.
August 8 – The Great Plague forces the closure of the University of Cambridge, where Isaac Newton is a student. Newton retires to his home in Lincolnshire for safety, and stays there for two years. During this time alone, Newton will make groundbreaking discoveries in mathematics, calculus, mechanics and optics, and lay the foundations for his books Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica and Optiks.
August 27 – Ye Bare & Ye Cubbe, the first play in English in the American colonies, is given its first performance.  The presentation takes place at Cowles Tavern in Pungoteague, Virginia. The event is documented in 1958 in a historical marker with the heading "The Bear and the Cub" which says "This first play recorded in the United States was presented August 27, 1665. The Accomack County Court at Pungoteague heard charges against three men 'for acting a play,' ordered inspection of costumes and script, but found the men 'not guilty.'"
September 17 – Charles II of Spain becomes king while not yet four years old.
September 22 – Molière's L'Amour médecin is first presented, before Louis XIV of France, at the Palace of Versailles, with music by Jean-Baptiste Lully.
September – Robert Hooke's Micrographia is published in London, first applying the term 'cell' to plant tissue, which he discovered first in cork, then in living organisms, using a microscope.


1665 (MDCLXV) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar and a common year starting on Sunday of the Julian calendar, the 1665th year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations, the 665th  year of the 2nd millennium, the 65th  year of the 17th century, and the  6th   year of the 1660s decade. As of the start of 1665, the Gregorian calendar was 10 days ahead of the Julian calendar, which remained in localized use until 1923.


Rotterdam experiences a temperate oceanic climate (Köppen climate classification Cfb) similar to all of the coastal areas in the Netherlands. Located near to the coast, its climate is slightly milder than locations further inland. Winters are cool with frequent cold days, while the summers are mild to warm, with occasional hot temperatures. Temperature rises above 30 °C on average 4 days each summer, while (night) temperatures can drop below -5 °C during winter for short periods of time, mostly during periods of sustained easterly (continental) winds. The following climate data is from the airport, which is slightly cooler than the city, being surrounded by water canals which make the climate milder and with a higher relative humidity. The city has an urban heat island, especially inside the city centre.


Rotterdam (/ˈrɒtərdæm/ ROT-ər-dam, UK also /ˌrɒtərˈdæm/ ROT-ər-DAM, Dutch: [ˌrɔtərˈdɑm] (listen), lit. The Dam on the River Rotte) is the second largest city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is in the province of South Holland, at the mouth of the Nieuwe Maas channel leading into the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta at the North Sea. Its history goes back to 1270, when a dam was constructed in the Rotte. In 1340, Rotterdam was granted city rights by William IV, Count of Holland. The Rotterdam–The Hague metropolitan area, with a population of approximately 2.7 million, is the 10th-largest in the European Union and the most populous in the country.
A major logistic and economic centre, Rotterdam is Europe's largest seaport. In 2020, it had a population of 651,446 and is home to over 180 nationalities. Rotterdam is known for its university, riverside setting, lively cultural life, maritime heritage and modern architecture. The near-complete destruction of the city centre in the World War II Rotterdam Blitz has resulted in a varied architectural landscape, including skyscrapers designed by architects such as Rem Koolhaas, Piet Blom and Ben van Berkel.
The Rhine, Meuse and Scheldt give waterway access into the heart of Western Europe, including the highly industrialized Ruhr. The extensive distribution system including rail, roads, and waterways have earned Rotterdam the nicknames "Gateway to Europe" and "Gateway to the World".


The traditional provinces of Sweden serve no administrative or political purposes today, but are historical and cultural entities. In the case of Gotland, however, due to its insular position, the administrative county (län), Gotland County, and the municipality (kommun), Region Gotland, both cover the same territory as the province. Furthermore, the diocese of Visby is also congruent with the province. Gotland is traditionally divided into 92 sockens. On 1 January 2016, they were all reconstituted into Districts, administrative areas with the same borders as the former sockens.


Gotland was granted its arms in about 1560. The coat of arms is represented with a ducal coronet. Blazon: "Azure a ram statant Argent armed Or holding on a cross-staff of the same a banner Gules bordered and with five tails of the third." The county was granted the same coat of arms in 1936. The municipality, created in 1971, uses the same picture, but with other tinctures.
The Gotlandic flag displays the Gotlandic coat of arms, white on red ground, known from the 13th century in the shape of the seal of the Gutnish Republic with the proud ram. It reads: "Gutenses signo xpistus signatur in agno".


The name of Gotland is closely related to that of the Geats and Goths.


The Mästermyr chest, an important artefact from the Viking Age, was found in Gotland.
On 16 July 1999, the world's largest Viking silver treasure, the Spillings Hoard, was found in a field at Spillings farm northwest of Slite. The silver treasure was divided into two parts weighing a total of 67 kg (148 lb) (27 kg (60 lb) and 40 kg (88 lb)) and consisted mostly of coins, about 14,000, from foreign countries, mostly Islamic. It also contained about 20 kg (44 lb) of bronze objects along with numerous everyday objects such as nails, glass beads, parts of tools, pottery, iron bands and clasps. The treasure was found by using a metal detector, and the finders fee, given to the farmer who owned the land, was over 2 million kronor (about US$308,000). The treasure was found almost by accident while filming a news report for TV4 about illegal treasure hunting on Gotland.


Visby ([ˈvǐːsbʏ]) is an urban area in Sweden and the seat of Gotland Municipality in Gotland County on the island of Gotland with 24,330 inhabitants as of 2017. Visby is also the episcopal see for the Diocese of Visby. The Hanseatic city of Visby is arguably the best-preserved medieval city in Scandinavia, and, since 1995, it has been on the UNESCO World Heritage Site list. Among the most notable historical remains are the 3.4 km (2.1 mi) long town wall that encircles the town center, and a number of church ruins. The decline as a Hanseatic city in the Late Middle Ages was the cause why many stone houses were preserved in their original medieval style.
Visby is a popular vacation destination for Scandinavians during the summer and receives thousands of tourists every year. It is by far the most populous Swedish locality outside the Swedish mainland. The Gotland University is in Visby, and, since 1 July 2013, it is a department of Uppsala University under the name Uppsala University–Campus Gotland. Visby is also the sole county seat in Sweden accessible from the mainland only by boat and air.
Important annual events held in Visby include the annual political forum Almedalen Week.


The name "Visby" comes from the Old Norse Vis, (genitive singular of Vi) meaning "(pagan) place of sacrifices", and by, meaning "village". In the Gutasagan (mid 14th century) the place is referred to as just Wi meaning "holy place, place of worship".
Visby is sometimes called "The City of Roses" or "The City of Ruins".


Near Visby, there is the static inverter plant for the first HVDC interconnection of a windpark (HVDC Visby–Näs).


Visby is linked to the mainland of Sweden by ferry and by plane. Ferries arrive from both Oskarshamn in Småland and Nynäshamn, near Stockholm, each taking about three hours. The ferries are run by Destination Gotland and subsidized by the Swedish government. Destination Gotland is the only ferry operator – in summer 2016, independent shipping company Gotlandsbåten ran ferries to Västervik and Nynäshamn, but this service was unprofitable and was not repeated in 2017.
Visby Airport is located about 5 km (3.1 mi) north of the city and offers connections to the Swedish mainland. With 467,857 passengers in 2018, it is the 9th largest airport in Sweden. Daily flights to Stockholm Arlanda Airport is a common way to reach or depart from the island.
There are also city buses in Visby as well as buses to other parts of Gotland.
Visby gave its name to the 1968 Visby Amendments, which were an amendment of the Hague Rules of shipping law, leading to the Hague–Visby Rules.
Visby was previously served by two railway lines, the Gotland Railway which ran from Lärbro in the north, to Burgsvik in the south, via Visby harbour and the Visby–Visborgsslätt–Bjärs Railway, south to Visborgsslätt and Västerhejde. The first line, from Visby to Hemse was started in 1878, under the auspices of the Gotland Railway. Passenger transport was discontinued in September 1960. Freight traffic on the Slakteriet – Visby port route ran until May 1962. The last sections of the port track in Visby were removed in March 1964. Visby railway station, just south of the Söderport on Söderväg, was completed in 1878 and is one of the few remaining vestiges of the railway in Visby.


Andrea Alciato publishes the first part of his Emblemata.
Conquistador Francisco de Montejo claims Chichen Itza as capital of Spanish-ruled Yucatán.
The University of Sarajevo is founded by Gazi Husrev-beg.
Kõpu Lighthouse is completed.
An enormous drought in Henan province, China, coupled with a gigantic swarm of locusts in the summer, forces many in destitute agricultural communities to turn to cannibalism instead of dying by starvation.
Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor abolishes the worst abuses of the encomienda system, by pressure of Bartolomé de las Casas.
A witch-hunt is conducted in the town of Schiltach, Germany.


Lac Saint-Jean (Canadian French: [lak sẽ ʒã]) is a large, relatively shallow lake in south-central Quebec, Canada, in the Laurentian Highlands. It is situated 206 kilometres north of the Saint Lawrence River, into which it drains via the Saguenay River. It covers an area of 1,053 km² (407 sq mi), and is 63.1 m (207 ft) at its deepest point. Its name in the Innu language is Piekuakami.


Agriculture, crafts, animal husbandry and fishery are the main traditional sources of income. Agriculture is characterized by the cultivation of wine grapes, fruit, vegetables and olives. Lazio is the main growing region of kiwi in Italy.
Approximately 73% of the working population are employed in the services sector, which contribute 85.8% of regional GDP; this is a considerable proportion, but is justified by the presence of Rome, which is the core of public administration, media, utility, telecommunication, transport, tourism and other sectors. Many national and multinational corporations, public and private, have their headquarters in Rome (ENI, Italiana Petroli, Enel, Acea, Terna, TIM, Poste italiane, Leonardo, ITA Airways, Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane, RAI).
Lazio's limited industrial sector and highly developed service industries allowed the region to well outperform the Italian economy in 2009 in the heart of the global financial crisis. But it was strongly affected by the COVID-19 crisis of 2020-2021 due to the lock-downs.
Industrial development in Lazio is limited to the areas south of Rome. Communications and - above all - the setting of the border of the Cassa del Mezzogiorno some kilometers south of Rome, have influenced the position of industry, favouring the areas with the best links to Rome and those near the Autostrada del Sole, especially around Frosinone. Additional factor was cheap energy supply from Latina Nuclear Power Plant and Garigliano Nuclear Power Plant, which are now out of the operation after Italian nuclear energy referendum.


The Italian word Lazio descends from the Latin word Latium, the region of the Latins, Latini in the Latin language spoken by them and passed on to the Latin city-state of Ancient Rome. Although the demography of ancient Rome was multi-ethnic, including, for example, Etruscans, Sabines and other Italics besides the Latini, the latter were the dominant constituent. In Roman mythology, the tribe of the Latini took their name from King Latinus. Apart from the mythical derivation of Lazio given by the ancients as the place where Saturn, ruler of the golden age in Latium, hid (latuisset) from Jupiter there, a major modern etymology is that Lazio comes from the Latin word "latus", meaning "wide", expressing the idea of "flat land" meaning the Roman Campagna. Much of Lazio is in fact flat or rolling. The lands originally inhabited by the Latini were extended into the territories of the Samnites, the Marsi, the Hernici, the Aequi, the Aurunci and the Volsci, all surrounding Italic tribes.  This larger territory was still called Latium, but it was divided into Latium adiectum or Latium Novum, the added lands or New Latium, and Latium Vetus, or Old Latium, the older, smaller region. The northern border of Lazio was the Tiber river, which divided it from Etruria.
The emperor Augustus officially united almost all of present-day Italy into a single geo-political entity, Italia, dividing it into eleven regions. The part of today's Lazio south of the Tiber river – together with the present region of Campania immediately to the southeast of Lazio and the seat of Neapolis – became Region I (Latium et Campania), while modern Upper Lazio became part of Regio VII - Etruria, and today's Province of Rieti joined Regio IV - Samnium.
After the Gothic conquest of Italy at the end of the fifth century, modern Lazio became part of the Ostrogothic Kingdom, but after the Gothic War between 535 and 554 and conquest by the Byzantine Empire, the region became the property of the Eastern Emperor as the Duchy of Rome. However, the long wars against the Longobards weakened the region. With the Donation of Sutri in 728, the Pope acquired the first territory in the region beyond the Duchy of Rome.
The strengthening of the religious and ecclesiastical aristocracy led to continuous power struggles between secular lords (Baroni) and the Pope until the middle of the 16th century. Innocent III tried to strengthen his own territorial power, wishing to assert his authority in the provincial administrations of Tuscia, Campagna and Marittima through the Church's representatives, in order to reduce the power of the Colonna family. Other popes tried to do the same.
During the period when the papacy resided in Avignon, France (1309–1377), the feudal lords' power increased due to the absence of the Pope from Rome. Small communes, and Rome above all, opposed the lords' increasing power, and with Cola di Rienzo, they tried to present themselves as antagonists of the ecclesiastical power. However, between 1353 and 1367, the papacy regained control of Lazio and the rest of the Papal States. From the middle of the 16th century, the papacy politically unified Lazio with the Papal States, so that these territories became provincial administrations of St. Peter's estate; governors in Viterbo, in Marittima and Campagna, and in Frosinone administered them for the papacy.
Lazio was part of the short-lived Roman Republic, after which it became a puppet state of the First French Republic under the forces of Napoleon Bonaparte. Lazio was returned to the Papal States in October 1799. In 1809, it was annexed to the French Empire under the name of the Department of Tibre, but returned to the Pope's control in 1815.
On 20 September 1870 the capture of Rome, during the reign of Pope Pius IX, and France's defeat at Sedan, completed Italian unification, and Lazio was incorporated into the Kingdom of Italy. In 1927, the territory of the Province of Rieti, belonging to Umbria and Abruzzo, joined Lazio. Towns in Lazio were devastated by the 2016 Central Italy earthquake.


Industry contributes a small part of GDP, share is 8.9% compared to 25.0% in Veneto and 24.0% in Emilia-Romagna. In Rome even less with 7%, compare of 12% from tourism. Virtually no any machine building or metallurgy exists in Lazio.
Firms are often small to medium in size and operate in the
oil refining (Gaeta)
automobile (Cassino Plant, which produced 53,422 Alfa Romeo cars in 2020 and has 3,433 employees.)
yachts and boats (Canados Shipyard in Rome-Ostia)
engineering (Rieti, Anagni (rotor blades and composite structures; stone extractions machines Fantoni Sud), Frosinone (helicopter transmissions))
electronic (Viterbo, Rome, Pomezia, Latina). A large Texas Instruments plant in Rieti was closed with the loss of thousands of jobs.
building and building materials (Rome, Civitavecchia)
Well-developed travertine-processing industry, especially in the Ausoni-Tiburtina area (Tivoli and Guidonia Montecelio quarries).
ca. 70% of the national sanitary ceramics comes from Civita Castellana industrial district and Gaeta
textile (Valle del Liri). In the district the production relationships are mostly of the subcontractor type, 40% of the companies produce semi-finished and finished products not intended for marketing.
There is some R&D activity in high technology: IBM (IBM Rome Software Lab), Ericsson, Leonardo Electronics (Rome-Tiburtina, Rome-Laurentina, Pomezia, Latina), Rheinmetall ("Radar House") and tire industry: Bridgestone (R&D center in Rome and proving grounds in Aprilia).


During his second year of college, he met and proposed to Boston heiress Alice Sohier, who turned him down. Franklin then began courting his child-acquaintance and fifth cousin once removed, Eleanor Roosevelt, a niece of Theodore Roosevelt. In 1903 Franklin proposed to Eleanor, and after resistance from his mother, they were married on March 17, 1905. Eleanor's father, Elliott, was deceased, and her uncle Theodore, then the president, gave away the bride. The young couple moved into Springwood, and Franklin and Sara Roosevelt also provided a townhouse for the couple in New York City, where Sara built a house alongside for herself. Eleanor never felt at home in the houses at Hyde Park or New York, but she loved the family's vacation home on Campobello Island, which Sara also gave the couple.
Burns indicates young Roosevelt was self-assured and at ease in the upper class, while Eleanor was then shy and disliked social life, and initially stayed home to raise their children. As his father had, Franklin left the raising of the children to his wife, and Eleanor delegated it to caregivers. She later said she knew "absolutely nothing about handling or feeding a baby." Although Eleanor thought sex was "an ordeal to be endured", she and Franklin had six children. Anna, James, and Elliott were born in 1906, 1907, and 1910, respectively. The couple's second son, Franklin, died in infancy in 1909. Another son, also named Franklin, was born in 1914, and the youngest child, John, was born in 1916.
Roosevelt had several extra-marital affairs, including with Eleanor's social secretary Lucy Mercer, soon after she was hired in 1914, and discovered by Eleanor in 1918. Franklin contemplated divorcing Eleanor, but Sara objected, and Lucy would not marry a divorced man with five children. Franklin and Eleanor remained married, and Roosevelt promised never to see Lucy again. Eleanor never forgave him, and their marriage became more of a political partnership. Eleanor soon established a separate home in Hyde Park at Val-Kill, and devoted herself to social and political causes independent of her husband. The emotional break in their marriage was so severe that when Roosevelt asked Eleanor in 1942—in light of his failing health—to come back home and live with him again, she refused. He was not always aware of when she visited the White House and for some time she could not easily reach him on the telephone without his secretary's help; Roosevelt, in turn, did not visit Eleanor's New York City apartment until late 1944.
Franklin broke his promise to Eleanor as he and Lucy maintained a formal correspondence, and began seeing each other again in 1941 or earlier. Roosevelt's son Elliott claimed that his father had a 20-year affair with his private secretary, Marguerite "Missy" LeHand. Another son, James, stated that "there is a real possibility that a romantic relationship existed" between his father and Crown Princess Märtha of Norway, who resided in the White House during part of World War II. Aides began to refer to her at the time as "the president's girlfriend", and gossip linking the two romantically appeared in the newspapers.


Roosevelt cared little for the practice of law and told friends he planned to enter politics. Despite his admiration for cousin Theodore, Franklin shared his father's bond with the Democratic Party, and prior to the 1910 elections, the party recruited Roosevelt to run for a seat in the New York State Assembly. Roosevelt was a compelling recruit for the party. standing in opposition to his prominent cousin; he also brought the ability to pay for his own campaign. But Roosevelt's campaign for the state assembly ended after the Democratic incumbent, Lewis Stuyvesant Chanler, chose to seek re-election. Rather than putting his political hopes on hold, Roosevelt ran for a seat in the state senate. The senate district, located in Dutchess, Columbia, and Putnam, was strongly Republican. Roosevelt feared that opposition from Theodore could end his campaign, but Theodore encouraged his candidacy despite their party differences. Acting as his own campaign manager, Roosevelt traveled throughout the senate district via automobile at a time when many could not afford cars. Due to his aggressive campaign, his name recognition in the Hudson Valley, and the Democratic landslide in the 1910 United States elections, Roosevelt won a surprising victory.
Despite short legislative sessions, Roosevelt treated his new position as a full-time career. Taking his seat on January 1, 1911, Roosevelt soon became the leader of a group of "Insurgents" in opposition to the dominant Tammany Hall machine of the state Democratic Party. In the 1911 U.S. Senate election, which was determined in a joint session of the New York state legislature, Roosevelt and nineteen other Democrats caused a prolonged deadlock by opposing a series of Tammany-backed candidates. Tammany threw its backing behind James A. O'Gorman, a highly regarded judge whom Roosevelt found acceptable, and O'Gorman won the election in late March. Roosevelt in the process became a popular figure among New York Democrats. News articles and cartoons depicted "the second coming of a Roosevelt", sending "cold shivers down the spine of Tammany".
Roosevelt opposed Tammany Hall by supporting New Jersey Governor Woodrow Wilson's successful bid for the 1912 Democratic nomination. The election became a three-way contest when Theodore Roosevelt left the Republican Party to launch a third party campaign against Wilson and sitting Republican President William Howard Taft. Franklin's decision to back Wilson over his cousin in the general election alienated some of his family, excepting Theodore. Roosevelt overcame a bout of typhoid fever, and with help from journalist Louis McHenry Howe, he was re-elected in the 1912 elections. After the election, he served as chairman of the Agriculture Committee, and his success with farm and labor bills was a precursor to his New Deal policies years later. He had then become more consistently progressive, in support of labor and social welfare programs.


Franklin Delano Roosevelt was born on January 30, 1882, in the Hudson Valley town of Hyde Park, New York, to businessman James Roosevelt I and his second wife, Sara Ann Delano. His parents, who were sixth cousins, both came from wealthy, established New York families, the Roosevelts, the Aspinwalls and the Delanos, respectively. Roosevelt's paternal ancestor migrated to New Amsterdam in the 17th century, and the Roosevelts succeeded as merchants and landowners. The Delano family patriarch, Philip Delano, traveled to the New World on the Fortune in 1621, and the Delanos thrived as merchants and shipbuilders in Massachusetts. Franklin had a half-brother, James Roosevelt "Rosy" Roosevelt, from his father's previous marriage.
Their father graduated from Harvard Law School in 1851, but chose not to practice law after receiving an inheritance from his grandfather, James Roosevelt. Roosevelt's father, a prominent Bourbon Democrat, once took Franklin to meet President Grover Cleveland, who said to him: "My little man, I am making a strange wish for you. It is that you may never be President of the United States." Franklin's mother, the dominant influence in his early years, once declared, "My son Franklin is a Delano, not a Roosevelt at all." James, who was 54 when Franklin was born, was considered by some as a remote father, though biographer James MacGregor Burns indicates James interacted with his son more than was typical at the time.
Roosevelt learned to ride; shoot; and sail; and play polo, tennis, and golf.


Doksy lies on the shores of Lake Mácha, in the midst of dense forest. Many rock groups, mainly sandstones, are clearly visible nearby.


Villages of Břehyně, Kruh, Obora, Staré Splavy, Vojetín, Zbyny and Žďár are administrative parts of Doksy.


The town's name is derived from the Old English word wiktionary:dox ("dark"), which refers to the dark places in the swamps near Dokský stream.
The German name Hirschberg am See means deer hill by lake. A deer is even seen on the coat of arms of the town.


The town was probably established along with the nearby Bezděz Castle by King Ottokar II of Bohemia in 1264. Because it is questioned whether the founding document really concerns today's Doksy, a deed from 1293 is considered as the first verified mention of Doksy.
In 1367, Charles IV established a lake here, which was the crucial moment for the future development of Doksy. Charles IV also promoted the settlement to a town. The importance of Doksy has increased from 1553, when it became the centre of a separate manor. At the end of the 16th century, its owner Jan fo Vartenberk has built a castle and a manor house here.
Since the 1880s, Doksy is known as recreational area and a spa resort. In 1928, the first big beach was established. In the 1950s, the spa was cancelled, but the tourism of the lake did not stop and further developed.
Until 1918, Hirschberg in Böhmen was part of the Austrian monarchy (Austria side after the compromise of 1867), in the Dauba (Dubá) district, one of the 94 Bezirkshauptmannschaften in Bohemia.
Following the Munich Agreement in 1938, it was occupied by the Nazi army as one of the municipalities in Sudetenland. The German-speaking population was expelled in 1945 and replaced by Czech settlers.


Around 1900, Seattle began discharging sewage into Lake Washington. During the 1940s and 1950s, eleven sewage treatment plants were sending state-of-the-art treated water into the lake at a rate of 20 million gallons per day. At the same time, phosphate-based detergents came into wide use. The lake responded to the massive input of nutrients by developing unpleasant blooms of noxious blue-green algae (cyanobacteria). The water lost its clarity, the desirable fish populations declined, and masses of dead algae accumulated on the shores of the lake. After significant pollution, the October 5, 1963 issue of the Post Intelligencer referred to the lake as "Lake Stinko". Citizen concern led to the creation of a system that diverted the treatment-plant effluents into nearby Puget Sound, where tidal flushing would mix them with open-ocean water. The diversion was complete by 1968, and the lake responded quickly. The algal blooms diminished, the water regained its clarity, and by 1975, recovery was complete. Careful studies by a group of limnologists from the University of Washington showed that phosphate was the culprit. Since then, Lake Washington has undergone major improvements, drastically improving the ecology and water quality, making the water twice as clear as it was in 1950.


The cities and towns bordering the lake, going clockwise from the west, are Seattle, Lake Forest Park, Kenmore, Kirkland, Yarrow Point, Hunts Point, Medina, Bellevue, Beaux Arts Village, and Renton. The city of Mercer Island occupies the island of the same name, in the southern half of the lake.


The main inflowing rivers are the Sammamish and Cedar Rivers, with the Cedar supplying most of the water.  Seasonal changes in the flow of the Sammamish are moderated by a weir at the Lake Sammamish inlet.
The lake is drained by the Lake Washington Ship Canal.
In addition, there are numerous small creeks and rivers which feed the lake, including:
Coal Creek
Denny Creek (O.O. Denny Park)
Fairweather Creek
Forbes Creek
Juanita Creek
Kelsey Creek
Little Creek
Lyon Creek
Mapes Creek
May Creek
McAleer Creek
Mercer Slough
Ravenna Creek
Taylor Creek
Thornton Creek
Yarrow Creek
Yesler Creek
Historically, construction of the Lake Washington Ship Canal drastically changed the inflow and outflow of the lake.  Before construction of the canal in 1916, Lake Washington's outlet was the Black River, which joined the Duwamish River and emptied into Elliott Bay. When the canal was opened the level of the lake dropped nearly nine feet (2.7 m). The canal became the lake's sole outlet, causing the Black River to dry up and disappear.  Before construction, the Sammamish River was the primary source of water for Lake Washington. The lowering of the lake slightly increased the flow of the Sammamish.  As part of the ship canal project, the Cedar River was diverted into Lake Washington, to become the primary source of water for Lake Washington.


A ribbon lake, Lake Washington is long, narrow and finger-like. Ribbon lakes are excavated by glaciers. As the Puget lobe of the Cordilleran Ice Sheet flowed south near the end of the Late Pleistocene, it met bands of harder and softer rock. Erosion of the softer rock was faster and a linear depression was created in the flow direction. When the glacier melted, the lake filled with the meltwater, which was retained by moraine deposits. A dam can also be created by the bands of harder rock either side of the softer rock. There is usually a river at both ends of a ribbon lake, one being the inlet, and the other, the outlet—though in the case of present-day Lake Washington, inlet rivers are located at both ends, with a man-made outlet in the middle. Two seaplane bases, Kenmore Air Harbor and Will Rogers – Wiley Post Memorial Seaplane Base,  have air travel passenger terminals.


The Montlake Cut, part of the Lake Washington Ship Canal, connects the lake to Lake Union and ultimately Puget Sound.
Concrete floating bridges are employed to span the lake because Lake Washington's depth and muddy bottom prevented the emplacement of the pilings or towers necessary for the construction of a causeway or suspension bridge. The bridges consist of hollow concrete pontoons that float atop the lake, anchored with cables to each other and to weights on the lake bottom. The roadway is constructed atop these concrete pontoons. Three floating bridges cross Lake Washington: the Evergreen Point Floating Bridge (officially the SR 520 Albert D. Rosellini Evergreen Point Floating Bridge) carries State Route 520 from Seattle's Montlake neighborhood to Medina while the Lacey V. Murrow Memorial Bridge and the Third Lake Washington Bridge (officially the Homer M. Hadley Memorial Bridge) carry Interstate 90 from Seattle's Mount Baker neighborhood to Mercer Island. The East Channel Bridge carries Interstate 90 from Mercer Island to Bellevue. The Evergreen Point, Lacey V. Murrow, and Third Lake Washington bridges are the longest, second longest, and fifth longest floating bridges in the world, respectively.
Many questioned the wisdom of concrete floating bridge technology after the sinking of a portion of the Lacey V. Murrow bridge on November 25, 1990. However, a Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) investigation revealed that the incident resulted from the improper handling of hydrodemolition water being used during bridge renovations, rather than in any basic flaw in the bridge's concept or design. Concrete floating bridges continue to remain a viable means for the conveyance of vehicle traffic over Lake Washington.
In 1950, approximately one year after the tolls were removed from the Murrow bridge, the inland ferry system on the lake came to an end, having operated since the 1880s.


Lake Washington is a large freshwater lake adjacent to the city of Seattle. It is the largest lake in King County and the second largest natural lake in the state of Washington, after Lake Chelan. It borders the cities of Seattle on the west, Bellevue and Kirkland on the east, Renton on the south and Kenmore on the north, and encloses Mercer Island. The lake is fed by the Sammamish River at its north end and the Cedar River at its south.
Lake Washington received its present name in 1854 after Thomas Mercer suggested it be named after George Washington, as the new Washington Territory had been named the year before. Earlier names for the lake include the Duwamish name Xacuabš (Lushootseed: literally "xacu" great-amount-of-water + "abš" people), which referred to peoples who stayed along the coastline of Lake Washington, as well as Lake Geneva by Isaac N. Ebey; Lake Duwamish in railroad surveys under Governor Isaac Stevens; At-sar-kal in a map sketched by engineer Abiel W. Tinkham; and the Chinook Jargon name, "Hyas Chuck," or "It-Kow-Chug" 'big lake'.
The lake provides sport fishing opportunities. Some species found in this lake are Coastal Cutthroat Trout, Rainbow Trout, Largemouth Bass, Smallmouth Bass, Yellow Perch, and Black Crappie.


WikiWeb_Kenmore Air Harbor Seaplane Base_1

Kenmore Air Harbor Seaplane Base is 3 acres (1.2 ha) at an elevation of 14 feet (4.3 m) above mean sea level. It has one 5,000-by-500-foot (1,520 by 150 m) seaplane landing area designated 16/34.
For the 12 months ending December 31, 2007, the airport had 35,500 aircraft operations, an average of 97 per day: 72% air taxi and 28% general aviation.


Narendra Modi has represented Varanasi in the Parliament of India since 2014. Varanasi has been seriously affected by the COVID-19 pandemic in India.
On 13 December 2021,the landmark project of Shri Kashi Vishwanath Corridor was inaugurated by PM of India and Member of Parliament of Varanasi Shree Narendra Modi
The project of Corridor added to spiritual vibrancy of Kasi. The Corridor connected many Ghats of Varanasi (most famous being the Dashashwamedh Ghat) to the iconic temple of Kasi Vishwanath.


Chandradeva, founder of the Gahadavala dynasty made Banaras a second capital in 1090. In 1194 CE, the Ghurid conqueror Muizzuddin Muhammad Ghuri defeated the forces of Jayachandra in a battle near Jamuna and afterwards ravaged the city of Varnasi incourse of which many temples were destroyed.
Varanasi remained a centre of activity for intellectuals and theologians during the Middle Ages, which further contributed to its reputation as a cultural centre of religion and education. Several major figures of the Bhakti movement were born in Varanasi, including Kabir who was born here in 1389, and Ravidas, a 15th-century socio-religious reformer, mystic, poet, traveller, and spiritual figure, who was born and lived in the city and employed in the tannery industry.


Varanasi (Vārāṇasī; [ʋaːˈraːɳəsi]) is a city on the Ganges river in northern India that has a central place in pilgrimage, death, and mourning in the Hindu world, even as the traditions are transformed in the face of modernization, generational changes and emigration.  The city has a syncretic tradition of Muslim artisanship that underpins its tourism.  The name Varanasi was officially so revived after 1947,  but the city is still widely known by its earlier name Banaras or Benares (Banāras; [bəˈnaːrəs] (listen)),  and its ancient name Kashi. Located in the middle-Ganges valley in the southeastern part of the state of Uttar Pradesh, Varanasi lies on the left bank of the river.  It is 692 kilometres (430 mi) to the southeast of India's capital New Delhi, 320 kilometres (200 mi) south-east of the state capital, Lucknow, and 121 kilometres (75 mi) east of Allahabad, another Hindu pilgrimage site.
Varanasi is one of the world's oldest continually inhabited cities.  Kashi, its ancient name, was associated with a kingdom of the same name of 2,500 years ago. The Buddha is recorded in the Pali canon to have given his first sermon, "The Setting in Motion of the Wheel of Dharma", at nearby Sarnath in 528 BCE. In the 8th century, Adi Shankara established the worship of Shiva as an official sect of Varanasi. Since ancient times, the city has been an important centre of Hindu devotion, pilgrimage, mysticism and poetry contributing to its cultural importance. Tulsidas wrote his Awadhi language epic, the Ramcharitmanas, a Bhakti movement reworking of the Sanskrit Ramayana, in Varanasi. Several other major figures of the Bhakti movement were born in Varanasi, including Kabir and Ravidas.
In the 16th century, the Mughal emperor Akbar built two large temples dedicated to Shiva and Vishnu in the city. Under the Treaty of Faizabad, the East India Company acquired Benares in 1775, the city later successively becoming a part of the Benares Division in the Ceded and Conquered Provinces, the North-Western Provinces, and the United Provinces, and after India's independence of Uttar Pradesh.
Silk weaving, carpets and crafts and tourism employ a significant number of the local population, as do the Banaras Locomotive Works and Bharat Heavy Electricals. Varanasi is a cultural centre of northern India that has been closely associated with the Ganges. Hindus believe that dying here and being cremated along the Ganges river banks allows the cycle of rebirth to be broken and salvation to become possible. The city is known worldwide for its many ghats, steps leading down the steep river bank to the water, where pilgrims perform rituals. Of particular note are the Dashashwamedh Ghat, the Panchganga Ghat, the Manikarnika Ghat, and the Harishchandra Ghat, the last two being where Hindus cremate their dead. The Hindu genealogy registers at Varanasi are kept here. Among the notable temples in Varanasi are Kashi Vishwanath Temple of Shiva, the Sankat Mochan Hanuman Temple, and the Durga Temple.
The city has long been an educational and musical centre: many prominent Indian philosophers, poets, writers, and musicians live or have lived in the city, and it was the place where the Benares gharana form of Hindustani classical music was developed. In the 20th-century the Hindi-Urdu writer Premchand and the shehnai player Bismillah Khan were associated with the city.  India's oldest Sanskrit college, the Benares Sanskrit College, was founded during East India Company rule in 1791. Later education in Benares was greatly influenced by the rise of Indian nationalism in the late 19th-century.  Annie Besant founded the Central Hindu College in 1898. In 1916, she and Madan Mohan Malviya founded the Banaras Hindu University, India's first modern residential university. Kashi Vidyapith was established in 1921, a response to Mahatma Gandhi's Non-cooperation movement.


Buenos Aires has over 250 parks and green spaces, the largest concentration of which are on the city's eastern side in the neighborhoods of Puerto Madero, Recoleta, Palermo, and Belgrano. Some of the most important are:
Parque Tres de Febrero was designed by urbanist Jordán Czeslaw Wysocki and architect Julio Dormal. The park was inaugurated on 11 November 1875. The subsequent dramatic economic growth of Buenos Aires helped to lead to its transfer to the municipal domain in 1888, whereby French Argentine urbanist Carlos Thays was commissioned to expand and further beautify the park, between 1892 and 1912. Thays designed the Zoological Gardens, the Botanical Gardens, the adjoining Plaza Italia and the Rose Garden.
Botanical Gardens, designed by French architect and landscape designer Carlos Thays, the garden was inaugurated on 7 September 1898. Thays and his family lived in an English style mansion, located within the gardens, between 1892 and 1898, when he served as director of parks and walks in the city. The mansion, built in 1881, is currently the main building of the complex.
Buenos Aires Japanese Gardens Is the largest of its type in the world, outside Japan. Completed in 1967, the gardens were inaugurated on the occasion of a State visit to Argentina by Crown Prince Akihito and Princess Michiko of Japan.
Plaza de Mayo Since being the scene of May Revolution of 1810 that led to Argentinian independence, the plaza has been a hub of political life in Argentina.
Plaza San Martín is a park located in the city's neighborhood of Retiro. Situated at the northern end of pedestrianized Florida Street, the park is bounded by Libertador Ave. (N), Maipú St. (W), Santa Fe Avenue (S), and Leandro Alem Av. (E).


In 1996, following the 1994 reform of the Argentine Constitution, the city held its first mayoral elections under the new statutes, with the mayor's title formally changed to "Head of Government". The winner was Fernando de la Rúa, who would later become President of Argentina from 1999 to 2001.
De la Rúa's successor, Aníbal Ibarra, won two popular elections, but was impeached (and ultimately deposed on 6 March 2006) as a result of the fire at the República Cromagnon nightclub. In the meantime, Jorge Telerman, who had been the acting mayor, was invested with the office. In the 2007 elections, Mauricio Macri of the Republican Proposal (PRO) party won the second-round of voting over Daniel Filmus of the Frente para la Victoria (FPV) party, taking office on 9 December 2007. In 2011, the elections went to a second round with 60.96 percent of the vote for PRO, compared to 39.04 percent for FPV, thus ensuring Macri's reelection as mayor of the city with María Eugenia Vidal as deputy mayor.
PRO is established in the most affluent area of the city and in those over fifty years of age.
The 2015 elections were the first to use an electronic voting system in the city, similar to the one used in Salta Province. In these elections held on 5 July 2015, Macri stepped down as mayor and pursue his presidential bid and Horacio Rodríguez Larreta took his place as the mayoral candidate for PRO. In the first round of voting, FPV's Mariano Recalde obtained 21.78% of the vote, while Martín Lousteau of the ECO party obtained 25.59% and Larreta obtained 45.55%, meaning that the elections went to a second round since PRO was unable to secure the majority required for victory. The second round was held on 19 July 2015 and Larreta obtained 51.6% of the vote, followed closely by Lousteau with 48.4%, thus, PRO won the elections for a third term with Larreta as mayor and Diego Santilli as deputy. In these elections, PRO was stronger in wealthier northern Buenos Aires, while ECO was stronger in the southern, poorer neighborhoods of the city.


In 1516, navigator and explorer Juan Díaz de Solís, navigating in the name of Spain, was the first European to reach the Río de la Plata. His expedition was cut short when he was killed during an attack by the native Charrúa tribe in what is now Uruguay. The city of Buenos Aires was first established as Ciudad de Nuestra Señora Santa María del Buen Ayre (literally "City of Our Lady Saint Mary of the Fair Winds") after Our Lady of Bonaria (Patroness Saint of Sardinia) on 2 February 1536 by a Spanish expedition led by Pedro de Mendoza. The settlement founded by Mendoza was located in what is today the San Telmo district of Buenos Aires, south of the city center.
More attacks by the indigenous people forced the settlers away, and in 1542, the site was thusly abandoned. A second (and permanent) settlement was established on 11 June 1580 by Juan de Garay, who arrived by sailing down the Paraná River from Asunción (now the capital of Paraguay). He dubbed the settlement "Santísima Trinidad" and its port became "Puerto de Santa María de los Buenos Aires."
From its earliest days, Buenos Aires depended primarily on trade. During most of the 17th century, Spanish ships were menaced by pirates, so they developed a complex system where ships with military protection were dispatched to Central America in a convoy from Seville (the only port allowed to trade with the colonies) to Lima, Peru, and from it to the inner cities of the viceroyalty. Because of this, products took a very long time to arrive in Buenos Aires, and the taxes generated by the transport made them prohibitive. This scheme frustrated the traders of Buenos Aires, and a thriving informal yet accepted by the authorities contraband industry developed inside the colonies and with the Portuguese. This also instilled a deep resentment among porteños towards the Spanish authorities.
Sensing these feelings, Charles III of Spain progressively eased the trade restrictions before finally declaring Buenos Aires an open port in the late 18th century. The capture of Portobelo in Panama by British forces also fueled the need to foster commerce via the Atlantic route, to the detriment of Lima-based trade. One of his rulings was to split a region from the Viceroyalty of Perú and create instead the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata, with Buenos Aires as the capital. However, Charles's placating actions did not have the desired effect, and the porteños, some of them versed in the ideology of the French Revolution, instead became even more convinced of the need for independence from Spain.


White Serbs, an early Slavic tribe from White Serbia eventually settled in an area between the Sava river and the Dinaric Alps. By the beginning of the 9th century, Serbia achieved a level of statehood. Christianization of Serbia was a gradual process, finalized by the middle of the 9th century. In the mid-10th-century, the Serbian state stretched between the Adriatic Sea, the Neretva, the Sava, the Morava, and Skadar. During the 11th and 12th century, Serbian state frequently fought with the neighbouring Byzantine Empire. Between 1166 and 1371, Serbia was ruled by the Nemanjić dynasty (whose legacy is especially cherished), under whom the state was elevated to a kingdom in 1217, and an empire in 1346, under Stefan Dušan. Serbian Orthodox Church was organized as an autocephalous archbishopric in 1219, through the effort of Sava, the country's patron saint, and in 1346 it was raised to the Patriarchate. Monuments of the Nemanjić period survive in many monasteries (several being World Heritage sites) and fortifications.
During these centuries the Serbian state (and influence) expanded significantly. The northern part (modern Vojvodina), was ruled by the Kingdom of Hungary. The period after 1371, known as the Fall of the Serbian Empire saw the once-powerful state fragmented into several principalities, culminating in the Battle of Kosovo (1389) against the rising Ottoman Empire. The Ottomans finally conquered the Serbian Despotate in 1459. The Ottoman threat and eventual conquest saw massive migrations of Serbs to the west and north.


Serbia (/ˈsɜːrbiə/ (listen), SUR-bee-ə; Serbian: Србија, Srbija, [sř̩bija] (listen)), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian: Република Србија, Republika Srbija, [repǔblika sř̩bija] (listen)), is a landlocked country in Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Plain and the Balkans. It shares land borders with Hungary to the north, Romania to the northeast, Bulgaria to the southeast, North Macedonia to the south, Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina to the west, and Montenegro to the southwest, and claiming a border with Albania through the disputed territory of Kosovo. Serbia with Kosovo has about 8.6 million inhabitants. Its capital Belgrade is also the largest city.
Continuously inhabited since the Paleolithic Age, the territory of modern-day Serbia faced Slavic migrations in the 6th century, establishing several regional states in the early Middle Ages at times recognised as tributaries to the Byzantine, Frankish and Hungarian kingdoms. The Serbian Kingdom obtained recognition by the Holy See and Constantinople in 1217, reaching its territorial apex in 1346 as the Serbian Empire. By the mid-16th century, the Ottomans annexed the entirety of modern-day Serbia; their rule was at times interrupted by the Habsburg Empire, which began expanding towards Central Serbia from the end of the 17th century while maintaining a foothold in Vojvodina. In the early 19th century, the Serbian Revolution established the nation-state as the region's first constitutional monarchy, which subsequently expanded its territory. Following casualties in World War I, and the subsequent unification of the former Habsburg crownland of Vojvodina with Serbia, the country co-founded Yugoslavia with other South Slavic nations, which would exist in various political formations until the Yugoslav Wars of the 1990s. During the breakup of Yugoslavia, Serbia formed a union with Montenegro, which was peacefully dissolved in 2006, restoring Serbia's independence as a sovereign state for the first time since 1918. In 2008, representatives of the Assembly of Kosovo unilaterally declared independence, with mixed responses from the international community while Serbia continues to claim it as part of its own sovereign territory.
Serbia is an upper-middle income economy, ranked 64th in the Human Development Index domain. It is a unitary parliamentary constitutional republic, member of the UN, CoE, OSCE, PfP, BSEC, CEFTA, and is acceding to the WTO. Since 2014, the country has been negotiating its EU accession, with the aim of joining the European Union by 2025. Serbia formally adheres to the policy of military neutrality. The country provides universal health care and free primary and secondary education to its citizens.