title: Gordon Greenidge

text: The 1975-76 West Indian tour of Australia was considered by Greenidge as "personal nightmare so painful that I have spent my life since trying to erase it from my memory". Greenidge scored 11 runs in four test innings and the West Indies lost the series 5–1. He resolved, after that tour, to become "such a consistently high scorer that I could not be ignored". He said that “I knew from that point I had to tighten my game”.


title: Gordon Greenidge

text: In the 1976 West Indian tour of England, Greenidge scored over a 1000 runs for the West Indies. This included his 134 out of the West Indian total of 211 in the first innings and a further century in the second innings of the Old Trafford test, 84 runs out of the West Indian total of 182 in the first innings of the test at Lord's and a century in the test match at Leeds. He scored a further five centuries for the West Indies on tour with one each against Somerset, Leicestershire, Middlesex, Glamorgan and Nottinghamshire. In 1977, Wisden named Gordon Greenidge the Cricketer of the Year.


title: Gordon Greenidge

text: Gordon Greenidge and Desmond Haynes formed a prolific opening partnership, first playing a test match together in 1978. The pair made 6,482 runs while batting together in partnerships, the third highest total for a batting partnership in Test cricket history as of 2019. Desmond Haynes said of Greenidge: "Our opening partnership broke records, but Gordon was the better player. His technique was super, especially against spin". They enjoyed 16 century opening partnerships in test matches. They also had success in one day cricket with their batting partnerships yielding 5,150 runs at an average of 52.55.


title: Gordon Greenidge

text: Between 1977 and 1979 Greenidge joined the West Indies team to play in the WSC Super tests. He was the fifth highest run scorer in this with a total of 754 runs in 13 matches.


title: Gordon Greenidge

text: Greenidge had a prolific 1979 Cricket World Cup scoring 253 runs (the most in the tournament) at an average of 84 with a century against India and 73 runs in the semi final.


title: Gordon Greenidge

text: During the 5th test of the 1983 series between West Indies and India, Greenidge became the first and, only, person in test history to be retired not out when not injured. He had to leave the match in Antigua while on 154 to visit his gravely ill daughter, who died two days later, in Barbados.


title: Gordon Greenidge

text: Greenidge continued scoring runs at the 1983 Cricket World Cup with a total of scoring 250 runs at an average of 41 including a century against Zimbabwe. The World Cup final, the third that Greenidge had played in, was a disappointment as Greenidge was bowled out for 1 run in the loss to India.


title: Gordon Greenidge

text: Greenidge scored two double centuries against England in the 1984 summer Test series. This series was dubbed the "Blackwash" because West Indies won by a margin of 5–0. Greenidge scored 214 not out in the second innings of the second Test at Lord's in June 1984 and followed up with 223 in the fourth Test at Old Trafford in late July.


title: Gordon Greenidge

text: The 214* was achieved on the fifth and last day of the match as West Indies successfully chased 342 for victory. It remains the highest run chase at Lords. The innings was described as "a sadistic uncle enjoying an afternoon's beach cricket against his nieces and nephews back home in Barbados". Desmond Haynes said of it: "We were chasing 342 on the final day, and everyone thought we'd bat out time, but Gordon had a different idea. He thought that, if he got going, he could get the runs in an afternoon, and he did". Chris Broad said “As far as the result was concerned it was a disaster; we lost a game we should have won… Things did not go too badly for the first four days, just on the last day things fell apart — or rather Greenidge pulled a big one out the bag. That innings taught me a bit about being a Test match opener.”


title: Gordon Greenidge

text: In New Zealand in 1987, Greenidge scored his third test double century in Auckland to lead the West Indies to a 10 wicket victory. He hit seven sixes and twenty fours in his innings batting for almost 2 full days. it was considered "a triumph of technique and temperament".


title: Gordon Greenidge

text: Greenidge became the first player in One Day International (ODI) history to score a century in his 100th ODI when he scored 102* against Pakistan in 1988. In that game he achieved that milestone as captain, with his century eventually going in vain as West Indies lost that match.


title: Gordon Greenidge

text: Gordon Greenidge played in his 100th test match in 1990. This was the fifth test match against England at St Johns Cricket Ground in Antigua. Gordon Greenidge and Desmond Haynes opened the batting with Greenidge scoring 149 before being run out and Haynes scoring 167 runs. They had an opening partnership of 298 runs. The West Indies won the match by an innings and 32 runs.


title: Gordon Greenidge

text: His final double century was scored at home in Barbados when the West Indies played Australia in 1991. Leading into the game, Greenidge had been going through a lean patch, having scored one fifty in the last 24 innings. He hit an impressive 226 allowing the West Indies to beat Australia by 343 runs.


title: Gordon Greenidge

text: In total, Greenidge played in 108 Test matches, scoring 7,558 runs with 19 centuries, and in 128 ODIs, including the 1975 and 1983 World Cup Finals, scoring 5,134 runs and 11 centuries. He picked up the ‘Man of the Match’ award 20 times in ODIs and a further six times in test matches. He later made an appearance for Scotland.


title: Gordon Greenidge

text: Gordon Greenidge decided to pursue a coaching career and became the coach of the Bangladeshi national cricket team in 1996. He was appointed the head coach of the Bangladesh national cricket team in 1997. Under his guidance, the Bangladesh men's cricket team won the 1997 ICC Trophy beating 22 other nations. This also ensured the qualification of Bangladesh to the 1999 ICC Cricket World Cup, which was the first ever appearance in top-level cricket. Participating in their very first cricket world cup changed Bangladesh cricket forever and lead to Test cricket status for the Bangladesh national cricket team in 2000, which meant Bangladesh was promoted to full ICC member status and began playing Test cricket matches. Soon after winning the 1997 ICC Trophy, Gordon Greenidge was conferred honorary citizenship of Bangladesh for these outstanding achievements of winning the 1997 ICC Trophy and simultaneously qualifying for the cricket world cup. Greenidge is currently on the West Indies selection committee for Test matches, along with Sir Viv Richards.


title: Gordon Greenidge

text: Greenidge's son Carl is a former cricketer who coaches at Bancroft's School with John Lever. Carl also portrayed his father in the 2021 Indian film 83 which depicts the events of the 1983 Cricket World Cup. He was claimed to be the Grandfather of Reiss Greenidge, who is a footballer, however this was subsequently reported to be untrue.


title: Gordon Greenidge

text: He received Bangladeshi citizenship for his contribution as a coach of the Bangladesh National Cricket Team. A primary school was named after him in 1993. The Gordon Greenidge Primary School is located in Barbados and was built to amalgamate the St. Boniface Primary School and the Black Bess Primary Schools.


title: Gordon Greenidge

text: He was appointed Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George (KCMG) in the 2020 New Year Honours.


title: Gordon Greenidge

text: Described by "ESPNcricinfo" as "Brooding and massively destructive", he was among the 55 initial inductees of the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame in 2009.


title: Gordon Greenidge

text: Greenidge made his Test debut on 22 November 1974 against India at the Karnataka State Cricket Association Stadium, Bangalore, scoring a century. His 214 not out against England in 1984 remains the fifth-highest individual total in the fourth innings of a Test match as of August 2015. His highest score of 226—his final century—was made against Australia in April 1991. Three of his four double-centuries feature in the "Wisden"<nowiki>'</nowiki>s top 100 batting performances of all-time in a 2002 release. Greenidge holds the record for most centuries scored at Old Trafford. He was most prolific against England, accruing seven centuries.


title: Béziers

text: Béziers (; ) is a subprefecture of the Hérault department in the Occitanie region of Southern France. Every August Béziers hosts the famous "Feria de Béziers", which is centred on bullfighting. A million visitors are attracted to the five-day event.


title: Béziers

text: The town is located on a small bluff above the river Orb, about from the Mediterranean coast and southwest of Montpellier. At Béziers, the Canal du Midi passes over the river Orb by means of the "Pont-canal de l'Orb", an aqueduct claimed to be the first of its kind.


title: Béziers

text: Béziers is one of the oldest cities in France. Research published in March 2013 shows that Béziers dates from 575 BC, making it older than Agde (Greek Agathe Tyche, founded in 525 BC) and a bit younger than Marseille (Greek Massalia, founded in 600 BC).


title: Béziers

text: The site has been occupied since Neolithic times, before the influx of Celts. Roman "Betarra" was on the road that linked Provence with Iberia. The Romans refounded the city as a new "colonia" for veterans in 36–35 BC and called it "Colonia Julia Baeterrae Septimanorum". Stones from the Roman amphitheatre were used to construct the city wall during the 3rd century.


title: Béziers

text: Béziers exported wine to Rome. A "dolia" discovered in an excavation near Rome is marked, "I am a wine from Baeterrae and I am five years old." Another is simply marked, "white wine of Baeterrae." Béziers was conquered by the Muslims and remained part of Islamic Iberia between 720 and 752.


title: Béziers

text: From the 10th to the 12th century, Béziers was the centre of a Viscountship of Béziers. The viscounts ruled most of the coastal plain around Béziers, including the town of Agde. They also controlled the major east–west route through Languedoc, which roughly follows the old Roman Via Domitia, with the two key bridges over the Orb at Béziers and over the Hérault at Saint-Thibéry.


title: Béziers

text: After the death of Viscount William around 990, the viscounty passed to his daughter Garsendis and her husband, Count Raimond-Roger of Carcassonne (d. 1012). It was then ruled by their son Peter-Raimond (d. 1060) and his son Roger (d. 1067), both of whom were also Counts of Carcassonne.


title: Béziers

text: Roger died without issue and Béziers passed to his sister Ermengard and her husband Raimond-Bertrand Trencavel. The Trencavels ruled for the next 142 years, until the Albigensian Crusade, a formal crusade (holy war) authorised by Pope Innocent III.


title: Béziers

text: Béziers was a Languedoc stronghold of Catharism, which the Catholic Church condemned as heretical and which Catholic forces exterminated in the Albigensian Crusade.


title: Béziers

text: The crusaders reached Béziers on 21 July 1209. Béziers' Catholics were given an ultimatum to hand over the heretics or leave before the crusaders besieged the city and to "avoid sharing their fate and perishing with them". However, many refused and resisted with the Cathars. The town was sacked the following day and in the bloody massacre no one was spared, not even Catholic priests and those who took refuge in the churches.


title: Béziers

text: One of the commanders of the crusade was the Papal legate Arnaud-Amaury (or Arnald Amalaricus, Abbot of Citeaux). When asked by a crusader how to tell Catholics from Cathars once they had taken the city, the abbot supposedly replied, ""Caedite eos. Novit enim Dominus qui sunt eius"" ("Kill them all, for the Lord knoweth them that are His"). (This oft quoted phrase is sourced from Caesarius of Heisterbach along with a story of all the heretics who desecrated a copy of the Gospels and threw it down from the town's walls.) Amalric's own version of the siege, described in his letter to Pope Innocent III in August 1209 (col. 139), states:


title: Béziers

text: While discussions were still going on with the barons about the release of those in the city who were deemed to be Catholics, the servants and other persons of low rank and unarmed attacked the city without waiting for orders from their leaders. To our amazement, crying "to arms, to arms!", within the space of two or three hours they crossed the ditches and the walls and Béziers was taken. Our men spared no one, irrespective of rank, sex or age, and put to the sword almost 20,000 people. After this great slaughter the whole city was despoiled and burnt ...


title: Béziers

text: The invaders burned the Cathedral of Saint Nazaire, which collapsed on those who had taken refuge inside. The town was pillaged and burnt. By some accounts, none were left alive – by others, there were a handful of survivors. (A plaque opposite the cathedral records the "Day of Butchery" perpetrated by the "northern barons".)


title: Béziers

text: Despite the massacre, the city was repopulated. A few parts of the Romanesque cathedral of St-Nazaire had survived the carnage, and repairs started in 1215. The restoration, along with that of the rest of the city, continued until the 15th century.


title: Béziers

text: Rule of the city was for a long time divided among three powers: the Bishopric, which reached its apogee in the 16th and 17th centuries when it was held by the Bonsi family, allied to the Medici; the consuls, local magistrates created at the end of the 12th century; and finally the king, represented by a "Viguier for judicial affairs", and from the 17th century onwards by a sub-delegate of the Intendant.


title: Béziers

text: On 8 September 1381, a riot broke out at the seat of the municipal council, rioters setting the Town House on fire. The councillors tried to take refuge in the tower, but fire spread there as well, and they all died either by fire or in jumping from the tower to the square.


title: Béziers

text: King Charles IX passed through the city during his royal tour of France (1564–1566), accompanied by the Court and the great men of the kingdom: his brother Henry, the Duke of Anjou, his distant cousin Henri of Navarre, and the Cardinal of Bourbon with the Cardinal of Lorraine.


title: Béziers

text: In 1551, Béziers became the seat of a seneschal, being removed from the jurisdiction of the seneschals of Carcassonne.


title: Béziers

text: The city served as a rear base during various wars of the modern period, especially those against the Habsburgs. It was only once directly threatened. During the War of the Spanish Succession, the British in 1710 landed at Sète and moved to within a few kilometres of Béziers, before being repulsed by the Duke of Roquelaure. Béziers was at the heart of the Montmorency Revolt in 1632. It was in Béziers that Gaston d'Orléans and Henri II de Montmorency, Governor of Languedoc, met at the beginning of the rebellion. It was also here that the king, by the Edict of Béziers (October 1632) abolished the privileges of the province. (They were restored in 1649.)


title: Béziers

text: During the 18th century, Béziers prospered, notably thanks to the cultivation of vines which enabled it to become an important centre for alcohol trading.


title: Béziers

text: During the French Revolution, citizens of Béziers met in a revolutionary society created in May 1790 and numbering up to 400 members. It had several successive names: first, "The Literary and Patriotic Cabinet", a name still derived from the social life of the Ancien Régime; it then became "Society of the Friends of the Constitution and Liberty". Later becoming affiliated to the Jacobin Club of Paris, the Béziers organization was accordingly renamed the "Society of the Jacobins"; then, the abolition of the French monarchy precipitated two further changes of name: "Society of Brothers and Friends of the Republic" and then "Regenerated Society of the Jacobins, Friends of the Republic".


title: Béziers

text: From 1790 to 1800, Béziers was the chief town of the district of Béziers. The city did not take part in the Girondin ("Federalist") movement.


title: Béziers

text: In the repression following Louis Napoléon's coup d'état in 1851, troops fired on and killed Republican protesters in Béziers. Others were condemned to death or transported to Guiana, including a former mayor who died at sea attempting to escape from there. In the Place de la Révolution a plaque and a monument by Jean Antoine Injalbert commemorates these events. (Injalbert also designed the Fontaine du Titan in Béziers' Plâteau des Poètes park.)


title: Béziers

text: While elsewhere in France, the area planted with vines was decreasing, it increased in the Departments of Aude, Gard, Hérault and the Pyrenees-Orientales. Together, these supplied some 40% of French wine production. Haut Languedoc, and more particularly the Biterrois and Béziers, proclaimed themselves to be "The World Capital of Wine" and grew rapidly. Great fortunes were made. Large landowners, coming from industry, finance or the liberal professions, gained possession of immense vineyards.


title: Béziers

text: There was also a growing foreign competition, with smuggled wines appearing on the market. The fraudsters remained unpunished. In 1892, the winegrowers of the Midi demanded "The restoration and enforcement of customs duties". But the market remained partly held by wines made from imported dried grapes (such as grapes from Corinth), and wines called "wet" (adulterated with water). Though the vintners attached great importance to this unfair competition, in fact it did not represent more than 5% of the market.


title: Béziers

text: On 12 May 1907, no less than 150,000 protesters gathered in Béziers with the declared aim of "Defending the Southern Viticulture". The crowd spilled into Paul-Riquet and the Champ-de-Mars. The slogans on the banners Proclaimed: "Victory or death! Enough of talking, the time has come for action! Death to fraudsters! Bread or death! Live by working or die fighting!".


title: Béziers

text: The demonstrators, who came from more than 200 communes, were joined by numerous Biterrois employees and shopkeepers. The event ended with speeches on the Place de la Citadelle, (now Place Jean-Jaurès). the Speakers included Marcelin Albert who issued an ultimatum to the government, demanding that it raise the price of wine, Ernest Ferroul who advocated tax refusal and the Béziers Mayor Émile Suchon, (close to Clemenceau), who took a stand in support of the winegrowers' struggle. There were some minor incidents during the dispersal of the demonstrators.


title: Béziers

text: On 16 May, the Béziers municipal council, of Radical and Socialist tendency, resigned. The pressure of the street continued. The police station and the town hall façade were set on fire. Alerted, Georges Clemenceau decided to launch a counterattack. The 17th regiment of line infantry, composed of reservists and conscripts, was on his orders transferred from Béziers to Agde on 18 June 1907.


title: Béziers

text: On the evening of 20 June, learning of the Narbonne shooting, about 500 soldiers of the 6th company of the 17th regiment mutinied, plundered the armory and headed for Béziers. They traveled about twenty kilometers by night. On 21 June, in the early morning, they arrived in town. They were warmly welcomed by the Biterrois, "fraternizing with the demonstrators, and peacefully opposing the armed forces". The soldiers sat down on the Allées Paul Riquet and the population offered them wine and food.


title: Béziers

text: The South was on the brink of insurrection. In Paulhan, the railway was taken out of commission by protesters who stopped a military convoy sent to quell the mutineers. In Lodève, the sub-prefect was taken hostage. The military authorities were not ready to accept this mutiny, apprehensive that the example of the 17th regiment would give similar ideas to other regiments in the region.


title: Béziers

text: In Paris, the Republic trembled, as Clemenceau had to face a vote of no confidence. However, he survived by letting the military command urgently negotiate with the mutineers. In the afternoon, after obtaining a guarantee that no sanctions will be imposed on them, the 17th soldiers put down their arms and marched to the station under escort, without any major incident. On 22 June, they returned by train to their barracks. Clemenceau announced the end of the mutiny and gained a parliamentary vote of confidence by 327 votes to 223.


title: Béziers

text: Negotiations and the scale of the movement prevented collective punishment: the mutineers of the 17th were assigned to Gafsa (Tunisia), a place where soldiers were often sent for "disciplinary companies", but these soldiers remained outside this framework, and were under ordinary military status. There was therefore no penal sanction for the revolt of the 17th, contrary to the legend that developed on this subject. However, during the First World War, haunted by their reputation as deserters, many of them were sent to the front line, particularly in the bloody assaults of 1914.


title: Béziers

text: The mutiny of soldiers of the 17th has remained in historical memory, especially with the words of Montéhus' anti-militarist song "Gloire au 17", with the refrain: "Salute, salute to you / Brave soldiers of the seventeenth..."


title: Béziers

text: Béziers has a mediterranean climate (Köppen climate classification "Csa"). The average annual temperature in Béziers is . The average annual rainfall is with October as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in July, at around , and lowest in January, at around . The highest temperature ever recorded in Béziers was on 7 July 1982; the coldest temperature ever recorded was on 16 January 1985.


title: Béziers

text: Other sights in the area include the Oppidum d'Ensérune archaeological site and the Étang de Montady, a marsh drained in 1247 to create a field and Irrigation system which is visible from the Oppidum d'Ensérune.


title: Béziers

text: Road: The A9 autoroute between Italy and Spain skirts Béziers. The final link in the A75 autoroute between Pézenas and the A9 was completed in December 2010 and provides direct links to Clermont-Ferrand and Paris.


title: Béziers

text: Rail: The Gare de Béziers is a railway station with connections to Toulouse, Montpellier, Bordeaux, Marseille, Paris, Barcelona and several regional destinations. TGV trains stop in Béziers, but the tracks between Montpellier and Spain are not yet high speed tracks.


title: Béziers

text: Air: Béziers Cap d'Agde Airport (previously Béziers-Agde-Vias Airport), owned by the Chamber of commerce and Industry, provides connections to destinations in northern Europe. Following an extension to the runway which was completed in March 2007, Ryanair began flights to and from Bristol Airport in March 2008, and later to London Stansted and London Luton Airport. Current (Jan. 2013) destinations from this airport with Ryanair are Bristol, London Luton Airport, Paris Beauvais, Oslo Rygge, Manchester, Edinburgh, Weeze Airport and Stockholm Skavsta, while Flybe serves Southampton.


title: Béziers

text: Canal: Primarily used today by trip boats and "plaisanciers", the Canal du Midi is still used commercially to carry Languedoc wine to Bordeaux for blending. The canals locks have a maximum length of 30m, slightly less than the 38.5m adopted under the later Frecinet standard. Although parts of the River Orb are navigable, they river is interrupted by a number of impassable weirs.


title: Béziers

text: Béziers' rugby union team is AS Béziers Hérault, the football team is AS Béziers (2007) who play in Championnat National 2.


title: Okefenokee Swamp

text: The Okefenokee Swamp is a shallow, 438,000-acre (177,000 ha), peat-filled wetland straddling the Georgia–Florida line in the United States. A majority of the swamp is protected by the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge and the Okefenokee Wilderness. The Okefenokee Swamp is considered to be one of the Seven Natural Wonders of Georgia. The Okefenokee is the largest "blackwater" swamp in North America.


title: Okefenokee Swamp

text: The name Okefenokee is attested with more than a dozen variant spellings of the word in historical literature. Though often translated as "land of trembling earth", the name is likely derived from Hitchiti "oki fanôːki" "bubbling water".


title: Okefenokee Swamp

text: The Okefenokee was formed over the past 6,500 years by the accumulation of peat in a shallow basin on the edge of an ancient Atlantic coastal terrace, the geological relic of a Pleistocene estuary. The swamp is bordered by Trail Ridge, a strip of elevated land believed to have formed as coastal dunes or an offshore barrier island. The St. Marys River and the Suwannee River both originate in the swamp. The Suwannee River originates as stream channels in the heart of the Okefenokee Swamp and drains at least 90 percent of the swamp's watershed southwest toward the Gulf of Mexico. The St. Marys River, which drains only 5 to 10 percent of the swamp's southeastern corner, flows south along the western side of Trail Ridge, through the ridge at St. Marys River Shoals, and north again along the eastern side of Trail Ridge before turning east to the Atlantic.


title: Okefenokee Swamp

text: The earliest known inhabitants of the Okefenokee Swamp were the Timucua-speaking Oconi, who dwelt on the eastern side of the swamp. The Spanish friars built the mission of Santiago de Oconi nearby in order to convert them to Christianity. The Oconi's boating skills, developed in the hazardous swamps, likely contributed to their later employment by the Spanish as ferrymen across the St. Johns River, near the riverside terminus of North Florida's "camino real."


title: Okefenokee Swamp

text: Modern-day longtime residents of the Okefenokee Swamp, referred to as "Swampers", are of overwhelmingly English ancestry. Due to relative isolation, the inhabitants of the Okefenokee used Elizabethan phrases and syntax, preserved since the early colonial period when such speech was common in England, well into the 20th century. The Suwannee Canal was dug across the swamp in the late 19th century in a failed attempt to drain the Okefenokee. After the Suwannee Canal Company's bankruptcy, most of the swamp was purchased by the Hebard family of Philadelphia, who conducted extensive cypress logging operations from 1909 to 1927. Several other logging companies ran railroad lines into the swamp until 1942; some remnants remain visible crossing swamp waterways. On the west side of the swamp, at Billy's Island, logging equipment and other artifacts remain of a 1920s logging town of 600 residents. Most of the Okefenokee Swamp is included in the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge.


title: Okefenokee Swamp

text: The largest wildfire in the swamp’s history began with a lightning strike near the center of the refuge on May 5, 2007, eventually merging with another wildfire that began near Waycross, Georgia, on April 16 when a tree fell on a power line. Named the Bugaboo Scrub Fire, by May 31, it had burned more than , or more than 935 square miles, and remains the largest wildfire in both Georgia and Florida history.


title: Okefenokee Swamp

text: In addition, a 501(c)(3) non-profit, Okefenokee Swamp Park, provides the northernmost access into the Okefenokee Swamp near Waycross, Georgia.


title: Okefenokee Swamp

text: The graded Swamp Perimeter Road encircles Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge. Gated and closed to public use, it provides access for fire management of the interface between the federal refuge and the surrounding industrial tree farms.


title: Okefenokee Swamp

text: Many visitors enter the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge each year. The swamp provides an important economic resource to southeast Georgia and northeast Florida. More than 600,000 visitors from as many as 46 countries travel to the Okefenokee refuge each year to enjoy its unmatched wilderness. This tourism supports over 750 local jobs and contributes over $64 million to local economies.


title: Okefenokee Swamp

text: A 50-year titanium mining operation by DuPont was set to begin in 1997, but protests and public–government opposition over possibly disastrous environmental effects from 1996 to 2000 forced the company to abandon the project in 2000 and retire their mineral rights forever. In 2003, DuPont donated the it had purchased for mining to The Conservation Fund, and in 2005, nearly of the donated land was transferred to Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge.


title: Okefenokee Swamp

text: In 2018, Twin Pines Minerals LLC proposed another titanium mining operation near the Okefenokee Swamp. Over 60,000 people sent comments opposing the operation. Later, in 2020, a new rule by the Trump Administration reduced what was protected under the Clean Water Act, removing about in the proposed mining site from federal protections. The updated plan would include mining for titanium and zirconium, southeast of the Okefenokee Refuge. However, in 2022, U.S. Senator Jon Ossoff blocked the proposed titanium mine after the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service warned of severe potential damage to the wildlife refuge.


title: Okefenokee Swamp

text: The Okefenokee Swamp is part of the Southeastern conifer forests ecoregion. Much of the Okefenokee is a southern coastal plain nonriverine basin swamp, forested by bald cypress ("Taxodium distichum") and swamp tupelo ("Nyssa biflora") trees. Upland areas support southern coastal plain oak domes and hammocks, thick stands of evergreen oaks. Drier and more frequently burned areas support Atlantic coastal plain upland longleaf pine woodlands of longleaf pine ("Pinus palustris").


title: Okefenokee Swamp

text: The swamp has many species of carnivorous plants, including many species of "Utricularia", "Sarracenia psittacina", and the giant "Sarracenia minor" var. "okefenokeensis". A species of mushroom-like fungus "Rogersiomyces okefenokeensis" is found in the swamp.


title: Okefenokee Swamp

text: The Okefenokee Swamp is home to many wading birds, including herons, egrets, ibises, cranes, and bitterns, though populations fluctuate with seasons and water levels. The swamp also hosts numerous woodpecker and songbird species. Okefenokee is famous for its amphibians and reptiles such as toads, frogs, turtles, lizards, snakes, and an abundance of American alligators, including the oldest known alligator named Okefenokee Joe who died in September 2021. It is also a critical habitat for the Florida black bear.


title: Okefenokee Swamp

text: In 1974, two LP recordings of the sounds of the swamp were released as disk 6 of the "Environments" series.


title: Okefenokee Swamp

text: More than of the Okefenokee region burned from April to July 2007. Essentially the entire swamp burned, but the degrees of impact are widely varied. Smoke from the fires was reported as far away as Atlanta and Orlando.


title: Okefenokee Swamp

text: Four years later, in April 2011, the Honey Prairie wildfire began when the swamp was left much drier than usual by an extreme drought. As of January 2012, the Honey Prairie fire had already scorched more than of the Okefenokee, sending volumes of smoke across the southern Atlantic seaboard and with an unknown impact on wildlife. With the drought still continuing, the massive Honey Prairie fire continued to burn at only 75% containment. On April 17, 2012, the Honey Prairie Fire was finally declared out. Thousands of firefighters, refuge neighbors, and businesses contributed to the safe suppression of this fire. At the peak of fire activity on June 27, 2011, the Honey Prairie Complex had grown to and had 202 engines, 112 dozers, 20 water tenders, 12 helicopters, and 6 crews with a total of 1,458 personnel assigned. Over the duration of the fire, there were no fatalities or serious injuries. Firefighters managed to contain the fire within the boundaries of the 402,000 acre Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge. Only burned outside the refuge.


title: Golf ball

text: Under the rules of golf, a golf ball has a mass no more than , has a diameter not less than , and performs within specified velocity, distance, and symmetry limits. Like golf clubs, golf balls are subject to testing and approval by The R&A (formerly part of the Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews) and the United States Golf Association, and those that do not conform with regulations may not be used in competitions "(Rule 5–1)".


title: Golf ball

text: It is commonly believed that hard wooden, round balls, made from hardwoods such as beech and box, were the first balls used for golf between the 14th through the 17th centuries.


title: Golf ball

text: Though wooden balls were no doubt used for other similar contemporary stick and ball games, there is no definite evidence that they were actually used in golf in Scotland. It is equally, if not more likely, that leather balls filled with cows' hair were used, imported from the Netherlands from at least 1486 onward.


title: Golf ball

text: Then or later, the "featherie" ball was developed and introduced. A featherie, or feathery, is a hand-sewn round leather pouch stuffed with chicken or goose feathers and coated with paint, usually white in color. A standard featherie used a gentleman's top hat full of feathers. The feathers were boiled and softened before they were stuffed into the leather pouch. Making a featherie was a tedious and time-consuming process. An experienced ball maker could only make a few balls in one day, so they were expensive. A single ball would cost , which is equivalent to US$10–20 today.


title: Golf ball

text: There were a few drawbacks to the featherie. First, it was difficult to make a perfectly spherical ball, so the featherie often flew irregularly. Second, when the featherie became too wet, its distance would be reduced, and there was a possibility of its splitting open upon impact, both when hit or when contacting the ground or another hard surface. Despite these drawbacks, the featherie was a dramatic improvement over the wooden ball, and remained the standard golf ball well into the 19th century.


title: Golf ball

text: In 1848, the Rev. Dr. Robert Adams Paterson (sometimes spelled Patterson) invented the gutta-percha ball (or "guttie", "gutty"). The guttie was made from dried sap of the Malaysian sapodilla tree. The sap had a rubber-like feel and could be made spherical by heating and shaping it in a mold. Because gutties were cheaper to produce, could be re-formed if they became out-of-round or damaged, and had improved aerodynamic qualities, they soon became the preferred ball for use.


title: Golf ball

text: Accidentally, it was discovered that nicks in the guttie from normal use actually provided a ball with a more consistent ball flight than a guttie with a perfectly smooth surface. Thus, makers began intentionally making indentations into the surface of new balls using either a knife or hammer and chisel, giving the guttie a textured surface. Many patterns were tried and used. These new gutties, with protruding nubs left by carving patterned paths across the ball's surface, became known as "brambles" due to their resemblance to bramble fruit (blackberries).


title: Golf ball

text: The next major breakthrough in golf ball development came in 1898. Coburn Haskell of Cleveland, Ohio, had driven to nearby Akron, Ohio, for a golf date with Bertram Work, the superintendent of the B.F. Goodrich Company. While he waited in the plant for Work, Haskell picked up some rubber thread and wound it into a ball. When he bounced the ball, it flew almost to the ceiling. Work suggested Haskell put a cover on the creation, and that was the birth of the 20th century wound golf ball that would soon replace the guttie bramble ball. The new design became known as the rubber Haskell golf ball.


title: Golf ball

text: For decades, the wound rubber ball consisted of a liquid-filled or solid round core that was wound with a layer of rubber thread into a larger round inner core and then covered with a thin outer shell made of balatá sap. The balatá is a tree native to Central and South America and the Caribbean. The tree is tapped and the soft, viscous fluid released is a rubber-like material similar to gutta-percha, which was found to make an ideal cover for a golf ball. Balatá, however, is relatively soft. If the leading edge of a highly lofted short iron contacts a balatá-covered ball in a location other than the bottom of the ball a cut or "smile" will often be the result, rendering the ball unfit for play.


title: Golf ball

text: In the early 1900s, it was found that dimpling the ball provided even more control of the ball's trajectory, flight, and spin. David Stanley Froy, James McHardy, and Peter G. Fernie received a patent in 1897 for a ball with indentations; Froy played in the Open in 1900 at the Old Course at St. Andrews with the first prototype.


title: Golf ball

text: Players were able to put additional backspin on the new wound, dimpled balls when using more lofted clubs, thus inducing the ball to stop more quickly on the green. Manufacturers soon began selling various types of golf balls with various dimple patterns to improve the length, trajectory, spin, and overall "feel" characteristics of the new wound golf balls. Wound, balatá-covered golf balls were used into the late 20th century.


title: Golf ball

text: In the mid-1960s, a new synthetic resin, an ionomer of ethylene acid named Surlyn was introduced DuPont as were new urethane blends for golf ball covers, and these new materials soon displaced balatá as they proved more durable and more resistant to cutting.


title: Golf ball

text: Along with various other materials that came into use to replace the rubber-wound internal sphere, golf balls came to be classified as either two-piece, three-piece, or four-piece balls, according to the number of layered components. These basic materials continue to be used in modern balls, with further advances in technology creating balls that can be customized to a player's strengths and weaknesses, and even allowing for the combination of characteristics that were formerly mutually-exclusive.


title: Golf ball

text: Liquid cores were commonly used in golf balls as early as 1917. The liquid cores in many of the early balls contained a caustic liquid, typically an alkali, causing eye injuries to children who happened to dissect a golf ball out of curiosity. By the 1920s, golf ball manufacturers had stopped using caustic liquids, but into the 1970s and 1980s golf balls were still at times exploding when dissected and were causing injuries due to the presence of crushed crystalline material present in the liquid cores.


title: Golf ball

text: In 1967, Spalding purchased a patent for a solid golf ball from Jim Bartsch. His original patent defined a ball devoid of the layers in earlier designs, but Bartsch's patent lacked the chemical properties needed for manufacturing. Spalding's chemical engineering team developed a chemical resin that eliminated the need for the layered components entirely. Since then, the majority of non-professional golfers have transitioned to using solid core (or "2-piece") golf balls.


title: Golf ball

text: The specifications for the golf ball continue to be governed by the ruling bodies of the game; namely, The R&A, and the United States Golf Association (USGA).


title: Golf ball

text: The Rules of Golf, jointly governed by the R&A and the USGA, state in Appendix III that the diameter of a "conforming" golf ball cannot be any smaller than , and the weight of the ball may not exceed . The ball must also have the basic properties of a spherically symmetrical ball, generally meaning that the ball itself must be spherical and must have a symmetrical arrangement of dimples on its surface. While the ball's dimples must be symmetrical, there is no limit to the number of dimples allowed on a golf ball. Additional rules direct players and manufacturers to other technical documents published by the R&A and USGA with additional restrictions, such as radius and depth of dimples, maximum launch speed from test apparatus (generally defining the coefficient of restitution) and maximum total distance when launched from the test equipment.


title: Golf ball

text: In general, the governing bodies and their regulations seek to provide a relatively level playing field and maintain the traditional form of the game and its equipment, while not completely halting the use of new technology in equipment design.


title: Golf ball

text: Until 1990, it was permissible to use balls of less than 1.68 inches in diameter in tournaments under the jurisdiction of the R&A, which differed in its ball specifications rules from those of the USGA. This ball was commonly called a "British" ball, while the golf ball approved by the USGA was simply the "American ball". The smaller diameter gave the player a distance advantage, especially in high winds, as the smaller ball created a similarly smaller "wake" behind it.


title: Golf ball

text: When a golf ball is hit, the impact, which lasts less than a millisecond, determines the ball's velocity, launch angle and spin rate, all of which influence its trajectory and its behavior when it hits the ground.


title: Golf ball

text: A ball moving through air experiences two major aerodynamic forces, lift and drag. Dimpled balls fly farther than non-dimpled balls due to the combination of these two effects.


title: Golf ball

text: First, the dimples on the surface of a golf ball cause the boundary layer on the upstream side of the ball to transition from laminar to turbulent. The turbulent boundary layer is able to remain attached to the surface of the ball much longer than a laminar boundary with fewer eddies and so creates a narrower low-pressure wake and hence less pressure drag. The reduction in pressure drag causes the ball to travel further.


title: Golf ball

text: Second, backspin generates lift by deforming the airflow around the ball, in a similar manner to an airplane wing. This is called the Magnus effect. The dimples on a golf ball deform the air around the ball quickly causing a turbulent airflow that results in more Magnus lift than a smooth ball would experience.


title: Golf ball

text: Backspin is imparted in almost every shot due to the golf club's loft (i.e., angle between the clubface and a vertical plane). A backspinning ball experiences an upward lift force which makes it fly higher and longer than a ball without spin.


title: Golf ball

text: Curvature of the ball flight occurs when the clubface is not aligned perpendicularly to the club direction at impact, leading to an angled spin axis that causes the ball curve to one side or the other based on difference between the face angle and swing path at impact. Because the ball's spin during flight is angled, and because of the Magnus effect, the ball will take on a curved path during it's flight. Some dimple designs claim to reduce the sidespin effects to provide a straighter ball flight.


title: Golf ball

text: Other effects can change the flight behaviour of the ball. Factors such as dynamic lie (The angle of the Shaft (golf) at impact relative to the ground and it's manufactured neutral angle), strike location if the player is using a Wood (golf) due to the curved face, and external factors such as wind and debris.


title: Golf ball

text: To keep the aerodynamics optimal, the golf ball needs to be clean, including all dimples. Thus, it is advisable that golfers wash their balls whenever permissible by the rules of golf. Golfers can wash their balls manually using a wet towel or using a ball washer of some type.


title: Golf ball

text: Dimples first became a feature of golf balls when English engineer and manufacturer William Taylor, co-founder of the Taylor-Hobson company, registered a patent for a dimple design in 1905. William Taylor had realized that golf players were trying to make irregularities on their balls, noticing that used balls were going further than new ones. Hence he decided to make systematic tests to determine what surface formation would give the best flight. He then developed a pattern consisting of regularly spaced indentations over the entire surface, and later tools to help produce such balls in series.


title: Golf ball

text: Other types of patterned covers were in use at about the same time, including one called a "mesh" and another named the "bramble", but the dimple became the dominant design due to "the superiority of the dimpled cover in flight".


title: Golf ball

text: Most modern golf balls have about 300–500 dimples, though there have been balls with more than 1000 dimples. The record holder was a ball with 1,070 dimples—414 larger ones (in four different sizes) and 656 pinhead-sized ones.


title: Golf ball

text: Officially sanctioned balls are designed to be as symmetrical as possible. This symmetry is the result of a dispute that stemmed from the Polara, a ball sold in the late 1970s that had six rows of normal dimples on its equator but very shallow dimples elsewhere. This asymmetrical design helped the ball self-adjust its spin axis during the flight. The USGA refused to sanction it for tournament play and, in 1981, changed the rules to ban aerodynamic asymmetrical balls. Polara's producer sued the USGA and the association paid US$1.375 million in a 1985 out-of-court settlement.


title: Golf ball

text: Golf balls are traditionally white, but are commonly available in other colors, some of which may assist with finding the ball when lost or when playing in low-light or frosty conditions. As well as bearing the maker's name or logo, balls are usually printed with numbers or other symbols to help players identify their ball.


title: Golf ball

text: Today, golf balls are manufactured using a variety of different materials, offering a range of playing characteristics to suit the player's abilities and desired flight and landing behaviours.


title: Golf ball

text: A key consideration is "compression", typically determined by the hardness of the ball's core layers. A harder "high-compression" ball will fly further because of the more efficient transfer of energy into the ball, but will also transmit more of a shock through the club to the player's hands (a "hard feel"). A softer "low-compression" ball will do just the opposite. Golfers typically prefer a softer feel, especially in the "short game", as the softer ball typically also has greater backspin with lofted irons. However, a softer ball reduces drive distance, as it wastes more energy in compression. This makes it more difficult for players to get a birdie or eagle, as it can take more strokes to get on the green.


title: Golf ball

text: Another consideration is "spin", affected by compression and by the cover material - a "high-spin" ball allows more of the ball's surface to contact the clubface at impact, allowing the grooves of the clubface to "grip" the ball and induce more backspin at launch. Backspin creates lift that can increase carry distance, and also provides "bite" which allows a ball to arrest its forward motion at the initial point of impact, bouncing straight up or even backwards, allowing for precision placement of the ball on the green with an approach shot. However, high-spin cover materials, typically being softer, are less durable which shortens the useful life of the ball, and backspin is not desirable on most long-distance shots, such as with the driver, as it causes the shot to "balloon" and then to bite on the fairway, when additional rolling distance is usually desired.


title: Golf ball

text: Lastly, the pattern of dimples plays a role. By regulation, the arrangement of the dimples on the ball must be as symmetrical as possible. However, the dimples don't all have to be the same size, nor be in a uniform distribution. This allows designers to arrange the dimple patterns in such a way that the resistance to spinning is lower along certain axes of rotation and higher along others. This causes the ball to "settle" into one of these low-resistance axes that (golfers hope) is close to parallel with the ground and perpendicular to the direction of travel, thereby eliminating "sidespin" induced by a slight mishit, which will cause the ball to curve off its intended flight path. A badly mishit ball will still curve, as the ball will settle into a spin axis that is not parallel with the ground which, much like an aircraft's wings, will cause the shot to bank either to the left or to the right.


title: Golf ball

text: There are many types of golf balls on the market, and customers often face a difficult decision. Golf balls are divided into two categories: recreational and advanced balls. Recreational balls are oriented toward the ordinary golfer, who generally have low swing speeds ( or lower) and lose golf balls on the course easily. These balls are made of two layers, with the cover firmer than the core. Their low compression and side spin reduction characteristics suit the lower swing speeds of average golfers quite well. Furthermore, they generally have lower prices than the advanced balls, lessening the financial impact of losing a ball to a hazard or out of bounds.


title: Golf ball

text: Advanced balls are made of multiple layers (three or more), with a soft cover and firm core. They induce a greater amount of spin from lofted shots (wedges especially), as well as a sensation of softness in the hands in short-range shots. However, these balls require a much greater swing speed and thus greater physical strength to properly compress at impact. If the compression of a golf ball does not match a golfer's swing speed, either


title: Golf ball

text: a lack of compression or over-compression will occur, resulting in loss of distance. Other choices consumers must make include brand and color, with colored balls and better brands generally being more expensive.


title: Golf ball

text: A practice ball or range ball is similar to a recreational golf ball, but is designed to be inexpensive, durable and have a shorter flight distance, while still retaining the principal behaviors of a "real" golf ball and so providing useful feedback to players. All of these are desirable qualities for use in an environment like a driving range, which may be limited in maximum distance, and must have many thousands of balls on-hand at any time that are each hit and mis-hit hundreds of times during their useful life.


title: Golf ball

text: To accomplish these ends, practice balls are typically harder-cored than even recreational balls, have a firmer, more durable cover to withstand the normal abrasion caused by a club's hitting surface, and are made as cheaply as possible while maintaining a durable, quality product. Practice balls are typically labelled with "PRACTICE" in bold lettering, and often also have one or more bars or lines printed on them, which allow players (and high-speed imaging aids) to see the ball's spin more easily as it leaves the tee or hitting turf.


title: Golf ball

text: Practice balls conform to all applicable requirements of the Rules of Golf, and as such are legal for use on the course, but as the hitting characteristics are not ideal, players usually opt for a better-quality ball for actual play.


title: Golf ball

text: Players, especially novice and casual players, lose a large number of balls during the play of a round. Balls hit into water hazards, penalty areas, buried deeply in sand, and otherwise lost or abandoned during play are a constant source of litter that groundskeepers must contend with, and can confuse players during a round who may hit an abandoned ball (incurring a penalty by strict rules). An estimated 1.2 billion balls are manufactured every year and an estimated 300 million are lost in the US alone.


title: Golf ball

text: A variety of devices such as nets, harrows, sand rakes etc. have been developed that aid the groundskeeping staff in efficiently collecting these balls from the course as they accumulate. Once collected, they may be discarded, kept by the groundskeeping staff for their own use, repurposed on the club's driving range, or sold in bulk to a recycling firm. These firms clean and resurface the balls to remove abrasions and stains, grade them according to their resulting quality, and sell the various grades of playable balls back to golfers through retailers at a discount.


title: Golf ball

text: Used or recycled balls with obvious surface deformation, abrasion or other degradation are known informally as "shags", and while they remain useful for various forms of practice drills such as chipping, putting and driving, and can be used for casual play, players usually opt for used balls of higher quality, or for new balls, when playing in serious competition. Other grades are typically assigned letters or proprietary terms, and are typically differentiated by the cost and quality of the ball when new and the ability of the firm to restore the ball to "like-new" condition. The "top grade" balls are typically balls that are considered the current state of the art and, after cleaning and surfacing, are indistinguishable externally from a new ball sold by the manufacturer.


title: Golf ball

text: In addition to recycled balls, casual golfers wishing to procure quality balls at a discount price can often purchase "X-outs". These are "factory seconds"; balls which have failed the manufacturer's quality control testing standards and which the manufacturer therefore does not wish to sell under its brand name. To avoid a loss of money on materials and labor, however, the balls which still generally conform to the Rules are marked to obscure the brand name (usually with a series of "X"s, hence the most common term "X-out"), packaged in generic boxes and sold at a deep discount.


title: Golf ball

text: Typically, the flaw that caused the ball to fail QC does not have a significant effect on its flight characteristics (balls with serious flaws are usually discarded outright at the manufacturing plant), and so these "X-outs" will often perform identically to their counterparts that have passed the company's QC. They are thus a good choice for casual play. However, because the balls have been effectively "disowned" for practical and legal purposes by their manufacturer, they are not considered to be the same as the brand-name balls on the USGA's published Conforming Golf Ball List. Therefore, when playing in a tournament or other event that requires the ball used by the player to appear on this list as a "condition of competition", X-outs of any kind are illegal.


title: Golf ball

text: Golfers need to distinguish their ball from other players' to ensure that they do not play the wrong ball. This is often done by making a mark on the ball using a permanent marker pen such as a Sharpie. A wide number of markings are used; a majority of players either simply write their initial in a particular color, or color in a particular arrangement of the dimples on the ball. Many players make multiple markings so that at least one can be seen without having to lift the ball. Marking tools such as stamps and stencils are available to speed the marking process.


title: Golf ball

text: Alternatively, balls are usually sold pre-marked with the brand and model of golf ball, and also with a letter, number or symbol. This combination can usually (but not always) be used to distinguish a player's ball from other balls in play and from lost or abandoned balls on the course. Companies, country clubs and event organizers commonly have balls printed with their logo as a promotional tool, and some professional players are supplied with balls by their sponsors which have been custom-printed with something unique to that player (their name, signature, or a personal symbol).


title: Golf ball

text: Golf balls with embedded radio transmitters to allow lost balls to be located were first introduced in 1973, only to be rapidly banned for use in competition. More recently RFID transponders have been used for this purpose, though these are also illegal in tournaments. This technology can however be found in some computerized driving ranges. In this format, each ball used at the range has an RFID with its own unique transponder code. When dispensed, the range registers each dispensed ball to the player, who then hits them towards targets in the range. When the player hits a ball into a target, they receive distance and accuracy information calculated by the computer. The use of this technology was first commercialized by World Golf Systems Group to create TopGolf, a brand and chain of computerized ranges now owned by Callaway Golf.


title: Golf ball

text: Canadian long drive champion Jason Zuback broke the world ball speed record on an episode of Sport Science with a golf ball speed of . The previous record of was held by José Ramón Areitio, a Jai Alai player.


title: Petoskey stone

text: A Petoskey stone is a rock and a fossil, often pebble-shaped, that is composed of a fossilized rugose coral, "Hexagonaria percarinata". Such stones were formed as a result of glaciation, in which sheets of ice plucked stones from the bedrock, grinding off their rough edges and depositing them in the northwestern (and some in the northeastern) portion of Michigan's lower peninsula. In those same areas of Michigan, complete fossilized coral colony heads can be found in the source rocks for the Petoskey stones.


title: Petoskey stone

text: Petoskey stones are found in the Gravel Point Formation of the Traverse Group. They are fragments of a coral reef that was originally deposited during the Devonian period. When dry, the stone resembles ordinary limestone but when wet or polished using lapidary techniques, the distinctive mottled pattern of the six-sided coral fossils emerges. It is sometimes made into decorative objects. Other forms of fossilized coral are also found in the same location.


title: Petoskey stone

text: The stone was named for an Ottawa chief, Chief Pet-O-Sega, son of a French fur trader and Ottawa mother. The city of Petoskey, Michigan, is also named after him, and is the center of the area where the stones are found. The stones are commonly found on beaches and in sand dunes.


title: Petoskey stone

text: According to legend, Petosegay was a descendant of French nobleman and fur trader, Antoine Carre and an Ottawa daughter of a chief. Petosegay, meaning "rising sun", "rays of dawn" or "sunbeams of promise", was named by his father after the rays of sun that fell upon his newborn face. Building on his father's start and his place among the Ottawa, Petosegay became a wealthy fur trader who also acquired much land in the region, gaining acclaim for himself and his band. He was said to have a striking and appealing appearance, and spoke both French and English very well. He married another Ottawa, and together they had two daughters and eight sons. In the summer of 1873, a few years before the chief's death, settlers began to develop a village on his land along Little Traverse Bay. The settlers named it Petoskey, an anglicized form of Petosegay.


title: Petoskey stone

text: Petoskey stones can be found on various beaches and inland locations in Michigan, with many of the most popular Petoskey stone beaches stretching from Traverse City to Petoskey along Lake Michigan. The movement of the frozen lake ice acting on the shore during the winters is thought to turn over stones at the shore of Lake Michigan, exposing new Petoskey stones at the water's edge each spring. The type of coral that forms the basis of Petoskey Stones is also present in the fossil records of Iowa, Indiana, Illinois, Ohio, New York and locations in Canada, Germany, England, and Asia.


title: Petoskey stone

text: On September 23, 2015, it was reported that a 93-pound Petoskey stone was removed from the shallow waters of Lake Michigan, near the village of Northport, Michigan. In December 2015, the Michigan Department of Natural Resources confiscated the stone under a state law that disallows removing more than of materials from state lands. It was announced in October 2017 that the stone would be placed on permanent display at the Outdoor Adventure Center, east of downtown Detroit near the Detroit River.


title: Pure fusion weapon

text: A pure fusion weapon is a hypothetical hydrogen bomb design that does not need a fission "primary" explosive to ignite the fusion of deuterium and tritium, two heavy isotopes of hydrogen used in fission-fusion thermonuclear weapons. Such a weapon would require no fissile material and would therefore be much easier to develop in secret than existing weapons. Separating weapons-grade uranium (U-235) or breeding plutonium (Pu-239) requires a substantial and difficult-to-conceal industrial investment, and blocking the sale and transfer of the needed machinery has been the primary mechanism to control nuclear proliferation to date.


title: Pure fusion weapon

text: All current thermonuclear weapons use a fission bomb as a first stage to create the high temperatures and pressures necessary to start a fusion reaction between deuterium and tritium in a second stage. For many years, nuclear weapon designers have researched whether it is possible to create high enough temperatures and pressures inside a confined space to ignite a fusion reaction, without using fission. Pure fusion weapons offer the possibility of generating arbitrarily small nuclear yields because no critical mass of fissile fuel need be assembled for detonation, as with a conventional fission primary needed to spark a fusion explosion. There is also the advantage of reduced collateral damage stemming from fallout because these weapons would not create the highly radioactive byproducts made by fission-type weapons. These weapons would be lethal not only because of their explosive force, which could be large compared to bombs based on chemical explosives, but also because of the neutrons they generate.


title: Pure fusion weapon

text: While various neutron source devices have been developed, some of them based on fusion reactions, none of them are able to produce a net energy yield, either in controlled form for energy production or uncontrolled for a weapon.


title: Pure fusion weapon

text: Despite the many millions of dollars spent by the U.S. between 1952 and 1992 to produce a pure fusion weapon, no measurable success was ever achieved. In 1998, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) released a restricted data declassification decision stating that even if the DOE made a substantial investment in the past to develop a pure fusion weapon, "the U.S. is not known to have and is not developing a pure fusion weapon and no credible design for a pure fusion weapon resulted from the DOE investment". The power densities needed to ignite a fusion reaction still seem attainable only with the aid of a fission explosion, or with large apparatus such as powerful lasers like those at the National Ignition Facility, the Sandia Z-pinch machine, or various magnetic tokamaks. Regardless of any claimed advantages of pure fusion weapons, building those weapons does not appear to be feasible using currently available technologies and many have expressed concern that pure fusion weapons research and development would subvert the intent of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty.


title: Pure fusion weapon

text: It has been claimed that it is possible to conceive of a crude, deliverable, pure fusion weapon, using only present-day, unclassified technology. The weapon design weighs approximately 3 tonnes, and might have a total yield of approximately 3 tonnes of TNT. The proposed design uses a large explosively pumped flux compression generator to produce the high power density required to ignite the fusion fuel. From the point of view of explosive damage, such a weapon would have no clear advantages over a conventional explosive, but the massive neutron flux could deliver a lethal dose of radiation to humans within a 500-meter radius (most of those fatalities would occur over a period of months, rather than immediately).


title: Pure fusion weapon

text: Some researchers have examined the use of antimatter as an alternative fusion trigger, mainly in the context of antimatter-catalyzed nuclear pulse propulsion but also nuclear weapons. Such a system, in a weapons context, would have many of the desired properties of a pure fusion weapon. The technical barriers to producing and containing the required quantities of antimatter appear formidable, well beyond present capabilities.


title: Pure fusion weapon

text: Induced gamma emission is another approach that is currently being researched. Very high energy-density chemicals such as ballotechnics and others have also been suggested as a means of triggering a pure fusion weapon.


title: Pure fusion weapon

text: Nuclear isomers have also been investigated for use in pure fusion weaponry. Hafnium and tantalum isomers can be induced to emit very strong gamma radiation. Gamma emission from these isomers may have enough energy to start a thermonuclear reaction, without requiring any fissile material.


title: Kish (Sumer)

text: Kish (Sumerian: Kiš; transliteration: Kiš; cuneiform: ; Akkadian: kiššatu, near modern Tell al-Uhaymir) is an important archaeological site in Babil Governorate (Iraq), located 80 kilometers south of Baghdad and 12 kilometers east of the ancient city of Babylon. The Ubaid period site of Ras al-Amiyah is 8 kilometers away. It was occupied from the Ubaid to Hellenistic periods. In Early Dynastic times the city's patron deity was Inanna with her consort Enki. Her temple, at Tell Ingharra, was (E)-hursag-kalama. By Old Babylonian times the patron deity had become Zababa, along with his consort, the goddess Bau. His temple Emeteursag (later Ekišiba) was at Uhaimir.


title: Kish (Sumer)

text: Kish was occupied from the Ubaid period (c.5300-4300 BC), gaining prominence as one of the pre-eminent powers in the region during the Early Dynastic Period when it reached its maximum extent of 230


title: Kish (Sumer)

text: The "Sumerian king list" states that Kish was the first city to have kings following the deluge, beginning with Ĝushur. Ĝushur's successor is called Kullassina-bel, but this is actually a sentence in Akkadian meaning "All of them were lord". Thus, some scholars have suggested that this may have been intended to signify the absence of a central authority in Kish for a time. The names of the next nine kings of Kish preceding Etana are Nanĝišlišma, En-tarah-ana, Babum, Puannum, Kalibum, Kalumum, Zuqaqip, Aba, Mašda, and Arwium. These names are all Akkadian words for animals, e.g. Zuqaqip "scorpion". The East Semitic nature of these and other early names associated with Kish reveals that its population had a strong Semitic (Akkadian speaking) component from Early Dynastic I period on. Archaeological finds from the Uruk period indicate that the site was part of the Uruk Expansion and hence originally Sumerian and Sumerian language speaking. Ignace Gelb identified Kish as the center of the earliest East Semitic culture which he calls the Kish civilization, however the concept was discarded by more recent scholarship in 2021. After a massive flood devastated Mesopotamia, the kingship was given to Kish, with Etana as king. Ancient Sumerian sources describe Etana as 'the shepherd who ascended to Heaven and made firm all the lands'. This implies that the historical Etana stabilized the kingdom by bringing peace and order to the area after the Flood. Etana is also sometimes credited with the founding of Kish.


title: Kish (Sumer)

text: The twenty-first king of Kish on the list, Enmebaragesi, who is said to have captured the weapons of Elam, is the first name confirmed by archaeological finds from his reign. He is also known through other literary references, in which he and his son Aga of Kish are portrayed as contemporary rivals of Dumuzid, the Fisherman, and Gilgamesh, early rulers of Uruk.


title: Kish (Sumer)

text: Some early kings of Kish are known through archaeology, but are not named on the King list. These include Utug or Uhub, said to have defeated Hamazi in the earliest days, and Mesilim, who built temples in Adab and Lagash, where he seems to have exercised some control.


title: Kish (Sumer)

text: After its early supremacy, Kish declined economically and militarily, but retained a strong political and symbolic significance. Its influence reached as far west as the city of Ebla near the Mediterranean Sea, as shown by the Ebla tablets. Just as with Nippur to the south, control of Kish was a prime element in legitimizing dominance over the north of Mesopotamia. Because of the city's symbolic value, strong rulers later claimed the traditional title ""King of Kish"", even if they were from Akkad, Ur, Assyria, Isin, Larsa or Babylon. One of the earliest to adopt this title upon subjecting Kish to his empire was King Mesannepada of Ur.


title: Kish (Sumer)

text: Sargon of Akkad, the founder of the Akkadian Empire, came from the area near Kish, called Azupiranu according to a much later Neo-Assyrian text purporting to be an autobiography of Sargon.


title: Kish (Sumer)

text: After the fall of the Akkadian Empire, Kish became the capital of a small independent kingdom. One king, named Ashduniarim, ruled around the same time as Lipit-Ishtar of Isin. By the early part of the First Dynasty of Babylon, during the reigns of Sumu-abum and Sumu-la-El, Kish appears to have come under the rule of another city-state, possibly Kutha. Iawium, king of Kish around this time, ruled as a vassal of kings named Halium and Manana. Sumu-la-El conquered Kish and, later, subjugated Halium and Manana, bringing their territories into the expanding Babylonian Empire. The First Dynasty kings Hammurabi and Samsu-iluna undertook construction at Kish, with the former restoring the city's ziggurat and the latter building a wall around Kish. By this time, the eastern settlement at Hursagkalama had become viewed as a distinct city, and it was probably not included in the walled area.


title: Kish (Sumer)

text: After the Old Babylonian period, however, Kish appears to have declined in importance; it is only mentioned in a few documents from the later second millennium BC. During the Neo-Assyrian and Neo-Babylonian periods, Kish is mentioned more frequently in texts. However, by this time, Kish proper (Tell al-Uhaymir) had been almost completely abandoned, and the settlement that texts from this period call "Kish" was probably Hursagkalama (Tell Ingharra).


title: Kish (Sumer)

text: After the Achaemenid period, Kish completely disappears from the historical record; however, archaeological evidence indicates that the town remained in existence for a long time thereafter. Although the site at Tell al-Uhaymir was mostly abandoned, Tell Ingharra was revived during the Parthian period, growing into a sizeable town with a large mud-brick fortress. During the Sasanian period, the site of the old city was completely abandoned in favor of a string of connected settlements spread out along both sides of the Shatt en-Nil canal. This last incarnation of Kish prospered under Sasanian and then Islamic rule, before finally abandoned during the later years of the Abbasid Caliphate (750–1258).


title: Kish (Sumer)

text: Kish is located east of Babylon and south of Baghdad. The Kish archaeological site is an oval area roughly , transected by the dry former bed of the Euphrates River, encompassing around 40 mounds, the largest being Uhaimir and Ingharra.


title: Kish (Sumer)

text: After irregularly excavated tablets began appearing at the beginning of the twentieth century, François Thureau-Dangin identified the site as being Kish. Those tablets ended up in a variety of museums. Because of its close proximity to Babylon (of which early explorers believed it was part) the site was visited by a number of explorers and travelers in the 19th century, some involving excavation, most notably by the foreman of Hormuzd Rassam who dug there with a crew of 20 men for a number of months. Austen Henry Layard and also Julius Oppert dug some trenches there in the early 1850s. None of this early work was published. A French archaeological team under Henri de Genouillac excavated at Tell Uhaimir for three months in January 1912, finding some 1,400 Old Babylonian tablets which were distributed to the Istanbul Archaeology Museum and the Louvre. At Tell Bander he uncovered Parthian materials.


title: Kish (Sumer)

text: Later, a joint Field Museum and University of Oxford team under Stephen Langdon excavated from 1923 to 1933, with the recovered materials split between Chicago and the Ashmolean Museum at Oxford. The main focus of the excavations was at Tell Ingharra and Tell Uhaimir. The actual excavations at Tell Uhaimir were led initially by E. MacKay and later by L. C. Watelin. Work on the faunal and flora remains was conducted by Henry Field.


title: Kish (Sumer)

text: More recently, a Japanese team from the Kokushikan University led by Hideo Fuji and Ken Matsumoto excavated at Tell Uhaimir in 1989-89, 2000, and 2001. The final season lasted only one week. Work was focused w=mainly on Tell A with some time spent at the plano-convex building.


title: Kish (Sumer)

text: This site consists of three subtells (T, X, and Z). Tell Z was the location of one of the main ziggurats which at Tell X a 1st Millennium BC fort was uncovered and at Tell T some Old Babylonian structures. Between Uhaimir and Ingharra are three smaller tells and further east Tell W where an entire Neo-Babylonian archive was found consisting of about 1000 tablets.


title: Kish (Sumer)

text: Located in the eastern side of the ancient Kish, Tell Ingharra was extensively explored during the Chicago excavation and provided the best known archaeological sequence in the 3rd millennium BC site. The site consists of several subtells (A, B, D, E, F, G, H, and Tell Bandar which is made up of Tells C and V). In particular, the 1923 excavation concentrated heavily on mound E with its twin ziggurats, while the Neo-Babylonian temple was one of the two buildings that was properly described in a published report.


title: Kish (Sumer)

text: The twin ziggurats were built of small plano-convex bricks in a herringbone fashion on the summit of Tell Ingharra. The larger one is located on the south-west side of the temple and the smaller one on the south-east side. The excavation report mainly focused on the larger ziggurat while there had been only one report on the smaller one by Mackay. Based on the findings from the larger ziggurat, it is suggested that the structures were built at the end of the Early Dynastic IIIa period to commemorate the city. The fascination of the ziggurats was interesting to the excavators as it was the only Early Dynastic structure that was not destroyed or obscured by later reconstructions, which was why it provided valuable evidence of that time period.


title: Kish (Sumer)

text: As for the temple complex, the findings of the temple had determined that the mound was part of the city of Hursagkalama. It was used as an active religious centre until after 482 BC. They also had identified the builder as Nabonidus or Nebuchadnezzar II based on the bricks with inscriptions and barrel cylinder fragments reported in the temple.


title: Kish (Sumer)

text: This area, north of tell W, was unearthed during the second excavation season (1923-1924) led by Mackay, which uncovered the 'Plano-convex building' (PCB). But outstanding discoveries in Palace A rapidly overshadowed the contemporary excavation here, and the building remained partially uncovered.


title: Kish (Sumer)

text: Revealed by its stratigraphy and pottery assemblage was the existence of three distinct architectural phases. The earliest archaeological occupation dates back to the ED II period. Above it, rested the massive ED III construction – the PCB. Multiple rooms in the PCB exhibited layers of ashes and charcoals with arrowheads and copper blades, attested that the PCB suffered significant destruction twice during the late ED III period. After its destruction, the PCB was abandoned. Located above later floors of the PCB were scattered burials during the Akkadian period.


title: Kish (Sumer)

text: The Plano-convex building was a fortified construction built extensively with plano-convex bricks. It displayed the socio-economic dynamics at Kish during the ED III period. No characteristic linking the building to a religious construct. Instead, the Plano-convex building is recognized as a public building associated with the economical production of beer, textile and oil. The PCB might have also housed the administrative center powered by the elites. First recognized by Margueron, scholars have divided the building into four main sectors based on the architectural layout:


title: Kish (Sumer)

text: Mound A, which includes a cemetery and a palace, was discovered during 1922-1925 excavations conducted by Ernest Mackay, under the Field Museum and Oxford University. Although it was earlier a part of the Ingharra mounds lying about 70 meters to the north, it is now separated by an alluvial valley. The seals and other artifacts found in the graves, dating back to a later age than the palace, show that the site was used as a cemetery even in the pre-Sargonic times.


title: Kish (Sumer)

text: The palace, which was unearthed beneath the mound, had fallen into decay and was used as a burial ground during Early Dynastic III. It comprises three sections - the original building, the eastern wing and stairway, and the annex. The original building, which was composed of unbaked plano-convex bricks (23 x 15 x 3.50-6 cm), had extremely thick walls, while the annex, which was added later to the south of the building, had comparatively thinner walls. A 2.30 m wide passage was constructed within the outer wall of the original building to prevent invaders from entering the structure.


title: Kish (Sumer)

text: The archaeological findings within the palace lack pottery items, the most remarkable among them was a fragment of slate and limestone inlay work, which represents the scene of a king punishing a prisoner.


title: Kish (Sumer)

text: In the 1923-1933 Expedition, Tell H became the focus of its final three seasons (1930-1933). Due to personal reasons of the excavators, the Kish material in this section remained selective, mainly yielding Sasanian pottery, coins, incantation bowls and so on. The dating of this section crossed a range of periods, with layer upon layer built on the site. Evidence shows that in the Early Dynastic III Period, there once even existed a twin city. Therefore, the city occupies a relatively unsettled presence in chronology. But from the excavation, eight buildings were identified as from the Sasanian period, thus making this place primarily identified as the Sasanian Settlement. Researchers suspect that some of the buildings might function together as a complex serving different purposes, including royal residence, storage, and administration.


title: Kish (Sumer)

text: The most prominent finding is the stucco decoration in the first two buildings, while the 1923-1933 team also figured out the floor plan and architectural structure of others. It was partly through these stucco decorations that researchers identified the royal resident to be Bahram V (420-438 AD)—Sasanian kings had their distinctive crowns separately, and the unique crown pattern on stucco served as evidence to support this argument. In Kish, which once functioned as a transfer station between Ctesiphon and Hira, Bahram V built palaces for summer entertainment, which explains why one of the buildings has a huge water tank in the middle, probably functioning to cool down the court in summers. Around Bahram V’s palaces, a group of Sasanian people also took residence and developed a system of settlement and commercial activities.


title: Amari Rodgers

text: Amari Jai Rodgers (born September 23, 1999) is an American football wide receiver for the Houston Texans of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Clemson and was drafted by the Green Bay Packers in the third round of the 2021 NFL Draft.


title: Amari Rodgers

text: Rodgers attended Knoxville Catholic High School in Knoxville, Tennessee. As a senior, he caught 40 passes for 1,238 yards with 18 touchdowns. For his career, he had 3,498 receiving yards with 47 total touchdowns. He was rated as a four star recruit and the 16th highest rated wide receiver recruit in the country by the 247Sports.com Composite, which aggregates the ratings of the major recruiting services. Rodgers originally committed to University of Southern California, but flipped to Clemson when they gave him an offer late in the season.


title: Amari Rodgers

text: As a freshman at Clemson in 2017, Rodgers had 19 receptions for 123 yards. As a sophomore in 2018, he caught 55 passes for 575 yards and 4 touchdowns. He also returned a punt for a touchdown.


title: Amari Rodgers

text: Rodgers missed the first game of his junior season in 2019 due to an ACL tear in spring practice. He finished the season with 30 receptions, 426 yards, and 4 touchdowns. After the season, Rodgers announced he was returning for his senior season rather than entering the 2020 NFL Draft. As a senior, Rodgers caught 77 passes for 1,020 yards and 7 touchdowns.


title: Amari Rodgers

text: Rodgers was drafted by the Green Bay Packers in the third round with the 85th overall pick of the 2021 NFL Draft. The Packers send their 92nd and 135th overall picks to the Tennessee Titans to move up and select Rodgers. He signed his four-year rookie contract on July 23, 2021, worth $4.89 million, including a $923,000 signing bonus. He saw his first NFL action on September 12, 2021, against the New Orleans Saints, recording one catch for 19 yards in the 38–3 loss. He finished the 2021 season with 169 yards off punt returns and 199 yards off kickoff returns with his longest being 23 and 27 yards.


title: Amari Rodgers

text: During Rodgers’ second season, he proved to be inconsistent, totaling five fumbled punt returns over ten games. However, he was otherwise more efficient by nearing his 2021 totals in just over half a season, returning 139 yards off punt returns and 122 off kickoffs through week 10. In a week 10 win over the Dallas Cowboys, Rodgers lost his seventh fumble during a punt return, and was benched afterwards, replaced by cornerback Keisean Nixon. Head coach Matt LaFleur announced they would no longer ask Rodgers to return punts, and he was released by the Packers two days after the game.


title: Amari Rodgers

text: Rodgers is the son of football coach Tee Martin. He is close friends with Packers teammate Randall Cobb, whom he met while Cobb was playing for Martin at the University of Kentucky.


title: Big Brother (2018 film)

text: Big Brother is a 2018 Hong Kong action drama film directed by Kam Ka-wai and starring Donnie Yen and Joe Chen. The film was released on 16 August 2018.


title: Big Brother (2018 film)

text: A high school is in crisis, the students are under-performing and preoccupied with non-academic activities. Henry Chen, aka Big Brother, a teacher with rather rusty writing skills yet armed with the most knowledgeable fists and heart of steel, comes to enlighten and inspire the students with his unconventional teaching methods. Just as the kids are improving their work and enjoying the merits of the educational system, trouble follows. An opportunistic entrepreneur creates havoc by sending in a motley gang of fighters to win over the land in order to turn the all ready failing school into an apartment complex. Their approach is not all that persuasive with Chen as he and his beloved class are going to give the unwelcome guests the benefits of a real education.


title: Big Brother (2018 film)

text: The film grossed a total of US$22,029,250 worldwide, combining its box office gross from Hong Kong, China, North America and Australia.


title: Big Brother (2018 film)

text: In Hong Kong, the film grossed HK$7,253,433 during its theatrical run from 16 August to 3 October 2018.


title: Big Brother (2018 film)

text: Simon Abrams of "RogerEbert.com" gave the film a score of 2.5 stars, criticizing some of the feel-good, but praises Donnie Yen's performance.


title: Shook Ones (Part II)

text: "Shook Ones (Part II)" is the lead single from Mobb Deep's 1995 album "The Infamous...". The song is a sequel to the group's 1994 promotional single "Shook Ones", with similar lyrics, but less profanity. The original song is featured on the b-side of some releases of "Shook Ones, Part II" and was also included on the international version of the group's album "Hell on Earth". The narrative is told from the perspective of inner-city youths engaged in territorial warfare and struggling for financial gains. The phrase "shook one" refers to someone who acts tough and hardcore but when faced with murder and crime, they are scared and run away.


title: Shook Ones (Part II)

text: The song contains a pitched down sample of "Jessica" by Herbie Hancock and "Kitty with the Bent Frame" by Quincy Jones. The drum break is sampled from "Dirty Feet" by Daly-Wilson Big Band. The Herbie Hancock sample was slowed down and the pitch was altered to create the beat in the song.


title: Shook Ones (Part II)

text: In 1997, the song was sampled by Mariah Carey in her single "The Roof (Back in Time)". For its single remix, Mobb Deep recorded additional raps and also appeared in the music video.


title: Shook Ones (Part II)

text: The song was featured in the 2002 film "8 Mile". It is the song being played in the opening scene when main character B-Rabbit, portrayed by rapper Eminem, is preparing for his battle. An instrumental version of the song is played as the beat for the final battle of the film as well. The song also appears on the intro of the Season 2 premiere episode "Soul Brother #1" of the Marvel-Netflix TV Show Luke Cage, in which Luke Cage disrupts a Drug Operation that was peddling a drug named after him.


title: Shook Ones (Part II)

text: In 2010 Pitchfork Media included the song at number 25 on their "Top 200 Tracks of the 90s". "Rolling Stone" magazine placed the song on its list of "The 50 Greatest Hip-Hop Songs of All Time" and their list of the "Top 500 Best Songs of All Time" at No. 215. while "Complex" ranked "Shook Ones (Part II)" at #23 on their list of the 25 most violent rap songs of all time.


title: Shook Ones (Part II)

text: The song appears in the 2005 video games in the in-game radio station The Liberty Jam and in . It also appears in "NBA 2K13" and "NBA 2K18".


title: Roosevelt Island Tramway

text: The Roosevelt Island Tramway is an aerial tramway in New York City that spans the East River and connects Roosevelt Island to the Upper East Side of Manhattan. The tramway is the first commuter aerial tramway in North America, having opened in 1976. Since then, over 26 million passengers have ridden the tram.


title: Roosevelt Island Tramway

text: The tram consists of two cars that run back and forth on two parallel tracks. It is one of the few forms of mass transit in New York City not run by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, although it uses the MTA's MetroCard and has free transfers to the subway system.


title: Roosevelt Island Tramway

text: The tram is operated by Leitner-Poma on behalf of the Roosevelt Island Operating Corporation of the State of New York, a state public benefit corporation created in 1984 to run services on the island.


title: Roosevelt Island Tramway

text: Roosevelt Island had been connected to Manhattan by a trolley (streetcar) line that crossed over the Queensboro Bridge from its opening in 1909. Trolleys to and from Queens stopped in the middle of the bridge to meet an elevator, which then took passengers down to the island. As the only connection to the rest of the city from the island, the trolley remained in service until April 7, 1957, long after most other trolley service had been dismantled in the city, and was the last trolley line in New York State; it was replaced by buses. At that time, a bridge to Queens was completed, requiring a roundabout trip to reach Manhattan.


title: Roosevelt Island Tramway

text: Beginning in the mid-1970s, Roosevelt Island was redeveloped to accommodate low- to mid-income housing projects, necessitating the construction of a new public transit connection to the city. The trolley tracks had deteriorated beyond repair and the Roosevelt Island subway station serving the island via the 63rd Street subway connection had not yet been completed. In 1971, the Urban Development Corporation retained Lev Zetlin Associates to select and design a transit connection to Roosevelt Island. James A O'Kon PE led the LZA team in carrying out a feasibility study and design. Three alternate modes were studied: a ferry, an elevator from the bridge, and the aerial tramway. The tramway was selected and the system was designed for bidding. Von Roll was selected to supply and erect the tram and its equipment. With the elevator to Roosevelt Island closed, the footpath on the bridge was shuttered in 1974, with the expectation that the tramway would open soon. The towers for the tram system were erected by July 1975, with completion projected for December of that year.


title: Roosevelt Island Tramway

text: The tram system was opened in July 1976 as a temporary solution for the island's commuting needs. As the subway project fell further behind schedule, the "tram" became more popular and was converted into a permanent facility, and the tram held a monopoly for service between Roosevelt Island and the rest of Manhattan until the subway connection to the island was finally completed in October 1989. Before the subway opened, though, there were two major disruptions in service: in 1978, for replacement of deteriorated cables, and in 1986, after the liability insurance policy for the tramway expired.


title: Roosevelt Island Tramway

text: After the 63rd Street Subway was completed, daily ridership declined sharply, from 5,500 daily riders in 1989 to 3,000 by 1993. The tram was closed from October 1993 to January 1994 for repairs.


title: Roosevelt Island Tramway

text: The tram was the last holdout for the use of tokens in the New York City transit system. Initially, it used a special token, which was later replaced by the standard variety for subways and buses. Although tokens were phased out in favor of the MetroCard by 2003, the tram did not start to accept MetroCards until March 1, 2004. The fare is the same as that on the buses and subways: U.S. $2.75 for a one-way trip, with free transfers to the subway and buses. During the 2005 New York City transit strike, the tramway was one of the few intra-city public transportation systems still in operation, since it was privately operated.


title: Roosevelt Island Tramway

text: On April 18, 2006, at about 5:22 p.m. EDT, the two trams were stuck over the East River for over eleven hours because of mechanical problems, trapping 69 people. Rescue baskets capable of holding up to 15 people were sent up to the stranded cable cars at 10:55 p.m., with children and elderly going first, and each rescue taking about 20 minutes. These baskets also carried supplies to the trams, such as blankets, baby formula, and food, for the remaining passengers. Passengers on the Roosevelt Island–bound tram were rescued by about 2:55 a.m. on April 19, while those on the Manhattan-bound tram were not rescued until 4:07 a.m.


title: Roosevelt Island Tramway

text: The April 2006 incident had been the second time in eight months that the tram system lost power. On September 2, 2005, more than 80 people were trapped on the tram for over 90 minutes. After that incident, state inspectors cited the Roosevelt Island Tramway for not having an operational diesel backup, or motor-generator system. The State Department of Labor said the system did not pass electrical inspection and could not run when the April 18 power outage took place.


title: Roosevelt Island Tramway

text: The tramway suspended operations after the April 2006 incident, reopening on September 1, 2006. The tram's backup electrical systems were refurbished, and "in case of an emergency, each car now is equipped with blankets, water, food, and a toilet with a privacy curtain. Car attendants will carry cell phones with their radios."


title: Roosevelt Island Tramway

text: On March 1, 2010, the tramway was closed as part of a $25 million project to upgrade and modernize the system. With the help of the French company Poma, all components were replaced except for the three tower bases. Among the improvements, the new tram cables and cars are now allowed to operate independently of each other in a "dual-haul" system. Prior to this, the cars had to travel at the same time, which presented maintenance and emergency response issues. The old cabins may be preserved on Roosevelt Island and/or in a museum.


title: Roosevelt Island Tramway

text: The tramway reopened November 30, 2010. The project was completed in nine months, two months longer than originally planned.


title: Roosevelt Island Tramway

text: The Roosevelt Island Tramway contains two cabins that each run back and forth, suspended from their own pair of cables. Each cabin has a capacity of up to 110 people and makes approximately 115 trips per day. The tram moves at about and travels in 3 minutes. At its peak it climbs to above the East River as it follows its route on the north side of the Queensboro Bridge, providing views of the East Side of Midtown Manhattan. The tram runs every seven and half minutes from 6:00 a.m. to 2:00 a.m. (3:30 a.m. on weekends) and runs continuously during rush hours.


title: Roosevelt Island Tramway

text: The tramway's original operating components and cabins (prior to the 2010 renovation) are identical to the "Skyride" to access Grouse Mountain in Vancouver, Canada.


title: Roosevelt Island Tramway

text: The Roosevelt Island Tramway was the only aerial commuter tram in the US from 1976 until 2006, when the Portland Aerial Tram opened.


title: Roosevelt Island Tramway

text: The tram is wheelchair accessible. Bicycles are permitted on the tram. MetroCard is accepted on the Roosevelt Island Tramway, and riders can transfer to or from buses and subway stations on either end for free. , the OMNY fare-payment system is not accepted on the Roosevelt Island Tramway.


title: Roosevelt Island Tramway

text: In Manhattan, the entrance to the system is at Tram Plaza at 60th Street and Second Avenue, with transfers to the . The closest New York City Subway station is the complex at Lexington Avenue/59th Street, served by the . Lexington Avenue–53rd Street, served by the , and Lexington Avenue–63rd Street on the are also nearby.


title: Roosevelt Island Tramway

text: On Roosevelt Island, the "Red Bus" route meets the tram and offers transportation around the island for free. During the tramway reconstruction, the Red Bus was extended to Queens Plaza and the Manhattan side of the Queensboro Bridge. The publicly operated Q102 bus also provides transportation on the island. The Roosevelt Island subway station, serving the , is north of the tramway entrance.


title: Sewerage

text: Sewerage (or sewage system) is the infrastructure that conveys sewage or surface runoff (stormwater, meltwater, rainwater) using sewers. It encompasses components such as receiving drains, manholes, pumping stations, storm overflows, and screening chambers of the combined sewer or sanitary sewer. Sewerage ends at the entry to a sewage treatment plant or at the point of discharge into the environment. It is the system of pipes, chambers, manholes, etc. that conveys the sewage or storm water.


title: Sewerage

text: In many cities, sewage (or municipal wastewater) is carried together with stormwater, in a combined sewer system, to a sewage treatment plant. In some urban areas, sewage is carried separately in sanitary sewers and runoff from streets is carried in storm drains. Access to these systems, for maintenance purposes, is typically through a manhole. During high precipitation periods a sewer system may experience a combined sewer overflow event or a sanitary sewer overflow event, which forces untreated sewage to flow directly to receiving waters. This can pose a serious threat to public health and the surrounding environment.


title: Sewerage

text: The system of sewers is called "sewerage" or "sewerage system" in British English and "sewage system" in American English.


title: Sewerage

text: It was probably the need to get rid of foul smells rather than an understanding of the health hazards of human waste that led to the first proper sewage systems. While most settlements grew next to natural waterways into which waste from latrines was readily channeled but the emergence of major cities exposed the inadequacy of this approach. Early civilizations like the Babylonians, dug cesspits below floor level in their houses and created crude drainage systems for removing storm water. But it was not until 2000 BC in the Indus valley civilization that networks of precisely made brick-lined sewage drains were constructed along the streets to convey waste from homes. Toilets in homes on the street side were connected directly to these street sewers and were flushed manually with clean water. Centuries late, major cities such as Rome and Constantinople built increasingly complex networked sewer systems, some of which are still in use. It was after the construction of the sewer systems that people realized the reduction of health hazards.


title: Sewerage

text: The main part of such a system is made up of large pipes (i.e. the sewers, or "sanitary sewers") that convey the sewage from the point of production to the point of treatment or discharge.


title: Sewerage

text: Where a sewerage system has not been installed, sewage may be collected from homes by pipes into septic tanks or cesspits, where it may be treated or collected in vehicles and taken for treatment or disposal (a process known as fecal sludge management).


title: Sewerage

text: Severe constraints are applied to sewerage, which may result in premature deterioration. These include root intrusion, joint displacement, cracks, and hole formations that lead to a significant volume of leakage with an overall risk for the environment and public health. For example, it is estimated that 500 million m of contaminated water per year can leak into soil and ground-water in Germany. The rehabilitation and replacement of damaged sewers is very costly. Annual rehabilitation costs for Los Angeles County are about €400 million, and in Germany, these costs are estimated to be €100 million.