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Lenticular cloud

Lenticular clouds (Latin: Lenticularis lentil-shaped, from lenticula lentil) are stationary clouds that form mostly in the troposphere, typically in parallel alignment to the wind direction. They are often comparable in appearance to a lens or saucer. Nacreous clouds that form in the lower stratosphere sometimes have lenticular shapes.

There are three main types of lenticular clouds: altocumulus standing lenticular (ACSL), stratocumulus standing lenticular (SCSL), and cirrocumulus standing lenticular (CCSL), varying in altitude above the ground.

Formation and appearance

As air travels along the surface of the Earth, obstructions are often encountered, including natural features, such as mountains or hills, and artificial structures, such as buildings and other constructions, which disrupt the flow of air into "eddies", or areas of turbulence.

When moist, stable air flows over a larger eddy, such as those caused by mountains, a series of large-scale standing waves form on the leeward side of the mountain. If the temperature at the crest of the wave drops below the dew point, moisture in the air may condense to form lenticular clouds. Under certain conditions, long strings of lenticular clouds may form near the crest of each successive wave, creating a formation known as a "wave cloud". Those wave systems can produce large updrafts, occasionally enough for water vapour to condense and produce precipitation.

Lenticular clouds have been said to be mistaken for UFOs, because many of them have the shape of a "flying saucer", with a characteristic "lens" or smooth, saucer-like shape. Lenticular clouds generally do not form over low-lying or flat terrain, so many people may have never seen one before and don't know that they can exist. Bright colours (called iridescence) are sometimes seen along the edge of lenticular clouds.

Flight
Pilots of powered aircraft tend to avoid flying near lenticular clouds because of the turbulence and sinking air of the rotor generated at the trailing edge of these clouds, but glider pilots actively seek them out in order to climb in the upward moving air at the leading edge. The precise location of the rising air mass is fairly easy to predict from the orientation of the clouds. "Wave lift" of this kind is often very smooth and strong, and enables gliders to soar to remarkable altitudes and to cover great distances. , the gliding world records for both distance (over 3,000 km; 1,864 mi) and absolute altitude (over 22,000 metres; 74,334 ft) were set using such lift.

title: Lenticular cloud


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Appoquinimink River

The Appoquinimink River is a river flowing to Delaware Bay in northern Delaware in the United States. The river is 15.3 mi long and drains an area of 47 sqmi on the Atlantic Coastal Plain.

The Appoquinimink flows for its entire length in southern New Castle County. It rises approximately 2 mi west of Townsend and flows generally eastwardly, south of Middletown and past Odessa, to its mouth at the northern end of Delaware Bay, approximately 3 mi east of Odessa. In its upper course the river passes through two man-made lakes, Wiggins Mill Pond and Noxontown Lake; the river is tidal to the dam at Noxontown Lake, and salinity from Delaware Bay typically affects the lowermost 5 mi of the river. The lower 7 mi of the river are considered to be navigable by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

It collects three named tributaries along its course: From the north, Deep Creek, 4.2 mi long (also known historically as the "North Appoquinimink River" ); and Drawyers Creek, 8.2 mi long; and from the south, Hangmans Run.

According to 2002 data from the United States Environmental Protection Agency, 54.9% of the Appoquinimink River watershed is occupied by agricultural uses (predominantly soybeans, corn, and wheat); 15.1% is residential; 9.9% is wetland; and 8.8% is forested.

In 2004, a non-profit group, The Appoquinimink River Association, was founded with a mission to protect the water and natural resources in the region surrounding the Appoquinimink River.

Variant names and spellings
The United States Board on Geographic Names issued a decision clarifying the stream's name in 1950. According to the Geographic Names Information System, the Appoquinimink River has also been known historically as:

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: Appoquinimink River


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USS Wichita

Three ships of the United States Navy have been named USS Wichita, after the city of Wichita, Kansas.

 * USS Wichita (CA-45) was a heavy cruiser in service from in 1939 to 1947 and active during World War II.
 * USS Wichita (AOR-1) was a replenishment oiler in service from 1969 to 1993.
 * USS Wichita (LCS-13) is a Freedom-class littoral combat ship launched in 2016.

title: USS Wichita


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Grand Duchy of Tuscany

The Grand Duchy of Tuscany (Granducato di Toscana; Magnus Ducatus Etruriae) was an Italian monarchy that existed, with interruptions, from 1569 to 1860, replacing the Republic of Florence. The grand duchy's capital was Florence. In the 19th century the population of the Grand Duchy was about 1,815,000 inhabitants.

Having brought nearly all Tuscany under his control after conquering the Republic of Siena, Cosimo I de' Medici, was elevated by a papal bull of Pope Pius V to Grand Duke of Tuscany on 27 August 1569. The Grand Duchy was ruled by the House of Medici until the extinction of its senior branch in 1737. While not as internationally renowned as the old republic, the grand duchy thrived under the Medici and it bore witness to unprecedented economic and military success under Cosimo I and his sons, until the reign of Ferdinando II, which saw the beginning of the state's long economic decline. It peaked under Cosimo III.

Francis Stephen of Lorraine, a cognatic descendant of the Medici, succeeded the family and ascended the throne of his Medicean ancestors. Tuscany was governed by a viceroy, Marc de Beauvau-Craon, for his entire rule. His descendants ruled, and resided in, the grand duchy until its end in 1859, barring one interruption, when Napoleon Bonaparte gave Tuscany to the House of Bourbon-Parma (Kingdom of Etruria, 1801–1807), then annexed it directly to the First French Empire. Following the collapse of the Napoleonic system in 1814, the grand duchy was restored. The United Provinces of Central Italy, a client state of the Kingdom of Sardinia, annexed Tuscany in 1859. Tuscany was formally annexed to Sardinia in 1860, as a part of the unification of Italy, following a landslide referendum, in which 95% of voters approved.

Foundation
In 1569, Cosimo de' Medici had ruled the Duchy of Florence for 32 years. During his reign, Florence purchased the island of Elba from the Republic of Genoa (in 1548), conquered Siena (in 1555) and developed a well-equipped and powerful naval base on Elba. Cosimo also banned the clergy from holding administrative positions and promulgated laws of freedom of religion, which were unknown during his time. Cosimo also was a long-term supporter of Pope Pius V, who in the light of Florence's expansion in August 1569, declared Cosimo Grand Duke of Tuscany, a title unprecedented in Italy.

The international reaction to Cosimo's elevation was bleak. Queen Catherine of France, though herself a Medici, viewed Cosimo with the utmost disdain. Rumours circulated at the Viennese court that had Cosimo as a candidate for King of England. Maximilian II, Holy Roman Emperor and his cousin King Philip II of Spain reacted quite angrily, as Florence was in theory an Imperial fief and declared Pius V's actions invalid. However, Maximilian eventually confirmed the elevation with an Imperial diploma in 1576. Subsequently, to end animosities with Maximilian, Cosimo "bought" the grand ducal title from him for 100,000 ducats.

During the Holy League of 1571, Cosimo fought against the Ottoman Empire, siding with the other Catholic powers, such as Venice and the Spanish Empire. The Holy League inflicted a crushing defeat against the Ottomans at the Battle of Lepanto. Cosimo's reign was one of the most militaristic Tuscany had ever seen.

Cosimo experienced several personal tragedies during the later years of his reign. His wife, Eleanor of Toledo, died in 1562, along with four of his children due to a plague epidemic in Florence. These deaths were to affect him greatly, which, along with illness, forced Cosimo to unofficially abdicate in 1564. This left his eldest son, Francesco, to rule the duchy. Cosimo I died in 1574 of apoplexy, leaving a stable and extremely prosperous Tuscany behind him, having been the longest ruling Medici yet.

Francesco and Ferdinando I
Francesco had little interest in governing his realm, instead participating in scientific experiments. The administration of the state was delegated to bureaucrats. He continued his father's Austrian/Imperial alliance, cementing it by marrying Johanna of Austria. Francesco is best remembered for dying on the same day as his second wife, Bianca Cappello, spurring rumours of poisoning. He was succeeded by Ferdinando de' Medici, his younger brother, whom he loathed.

Ferdinando eagerly assumed the government of Tuscany. He commanded the draining of the Tuscan marshlands, built a road network in Southern Tuscany, and cultivated trade in Livorno. To augment the Tuscan silk industry, he oversaw the planting of Mulberry trees along the major roads (silk worms feed on Mulberry leaves). He shifted Tuscany away from Habsburg hegemony by marrying the first non-Habsburg candidate since Alessandro de' Medici, Duke of Florence, Christina of Lorraine, a granddaughter of Catherine de' Medici. The Spanish reaction was to construct a citadel on their portion of the island of Elba. To strengthen the new Tuscan alliance, he married the deceased Francesco's younger daughter, Marie, to Henry IV of France. Henry explicitly stated that he would defend Tuscany from Spanish aggression, but later reneged. Ferdinando was forced to marry his heir, Cosimo II, to Archduchess Maria Maddalena of Austria to assuage Spain (where Maria Maddalena's sister was the incumbent Queen consort). Ferdinando sponsored a Tuscan colony in America, with the intention of establishing a Tuscan settlement in the area of what is now French Guiana. Despite all of these incentives to economic growth and prosperity, the population of Florence, at dawn of the 17th century, was a mere 75,000 souls, far smaller than the other capitals of Italy: Rome, Milan, Venice, Palermo and Naples. Francesco and Ferdinando, due to lax distinction between Medici and Tuscan state property, are thought to have been wealthier than their ancestor, Cosimo de' Medici, the founder of the dynasty. The Grand Duke alone had the prerogative to exploit the state's mineral and salt resources. The fortunes of the Medici were directly tied to the Tuscan economy.

Ferdinando, despite no longer being a cardinal, exercised much influence at successive Papal conclaves; elections which chose the Pope, the head of the Catholic Church. In 1605, Ferdinando succeeded in getting his candidate, Alessandro de' Medici, elected as Pope Leo XI. Leo XI died less than a month later, but fortunately for the Medici his successor Pope Paul V was also pro-Medici. Ferdinando's pro-Papal foreign policy, however, had drawbacks. Tuscany was overcome with religious orders, all of whom were not obliged to pay taxes. Ferdinando died in 1609, leaving an affluent realm; however, his inaction in international affairs drew Tuscany into the provincial yolk of politics.

Cosimo II and Ferdinando II

Ferdinando's elder son, Cosimo, mounted the throne following his death. Like his uncle, Francesco I, government held no appeal for him, and Tuscany was ruled by his ministers. Cosimo II's twelve-year reign was punctuated by his contented marriage with Maria Maddalena and his patronage of astronomer Galileo Galilei.

When Cosimo died, his oldest son, Ferdinando, was still a minor. This led to a regency of Ferdinand's grandmother, Dowager Grand Duchess Christina, and his mother, Maria Maddalena of Austria. Christina heavily relied on priests as advisors, lifting Cosimo I's ban on clergy holding administrative roles in government, and promoted monasticism. Christina dominated her grandson long after he came of age until her death in 1636. His mother and grandmother arranged a marriage with Vittoria della Rovere, the granddaughter of Francesco Maria II della Rovere, Duke of Urbino, in 1634. Together they had two children: Cosimo (III), in 1642, and Francesco, in 1660.

Ferdinando was obsessed with new technology, and had several hygrometers, barometers, thermometers, and telescopes installed in the Pitti. In 1657, Leopoldo de' Medici, the Grand Duke's youngest brother, established the Accademia del Cimento, which set up to attract scientists from all over Tuscany to Florence for mutual study.

Tuscany was one of the states of the Holy Roman Empire that sided with the Emperor in the Thirty Years War, sending thousands of troops to support the pro-Imperial side from 1631. Among the commanders of the detachment were three of the grand duke's brothers; two died and one, Mattias de'Medici, became general of artillery and served for a decade. Like the Empire's other loyal Italian subjects, the Tuscans were "hawks" who supported prosecuting the war to its conclusion. Francesco de' Medici, Mattias de'Medici, and Ottavio Piccolomini (an Imperial general of Sienese origin) were among the ringleaders in the plot to assassinate field marshal Albrecht von Wallenstein, for which they were rewarded with spoils by Emperor Ferdinand II.

Tuscany participated in the Wars of Castro (the last time Medicean Tuscany proper was involved in a conflict) and inflicted a defeat on the forces of Pope Urban VIII in 1643. The treasury was so empty that when the Castro mercenaries were paid for, the state could no longer afford to pay interest on government bonds. The interest rate was lowered by 0.75%. The economy was so decrepit that barter trade became prevalent in rural market places. The exchequer was barely adequate to cover the state's current expenditure, resulting in a complete termination of banking operations for the Medici. Ferdinando II died in 1670, succeeded by his oldest surviving son Cosimo.

Cosimo III

Cosimo III's reign was characterised by drastic changes and a sharp decline of the Grand Duchy. Cosimo III was of a puritan character, banning May celebrations, forcing prostitutes to pay for licenses, and beheading sodomites. He also instituted several laws censoring education and introduced anti-Jewish legislation. He imposed crippling taxes while the country's population continued to decline. By 1705, the grand ducal treasury was virtually bankrupt, and the population of Florence had declined by approximately 50%, while the population of the entire grand duchy had decreased by an estimated 40%. The once powerful navy was reduced to a pitiful state.

Cosimo frequently paid the Holy Roman Emperor, his feudal overlord, high dues. He sent munitions to the Emperor during the Battle of Vienna. Tuscany was neutral during the War of the Spanish Succession, partly due to Tuscany's ramshackle military; a 1718 military review revealed that the army numbered less than 3,000 men, many of whom were infirm and elderly. Meanwhile, the state's capital, Florence, had become full of beggars. Europe heard of the perils of Tuscany, and Joseph I, Holy Roman Emperor asserted a remote claim to the grand duchy (through some Medici descent), but died before he could press the matter. The Treaty of the Hague reconfirmed the statuses of Tuscany and Parma-Piacenza as imperial fiefs.

Cosimo married Marguerite Louise d'Orléans, a granddaughter of Henry IV of France and Marie de' Medici. Their union wrought a high level of discontentment, but despite the tension they had three children, Ferdinando, Anna Maria Luisa de' Medici, Electress Palatine and the last Medicean grand duke of Tuscany, Gian Gastone de' Medici.

Cosimo contemplated restoring the Republic of Florence, a decision that was complicated by the Grand Duchy's feudal status: Florence was an Imperial fief, Siena a Spanish one. The plan was about to be approved by the powers convened at Geertruidenberg when Cosimo abruptly added that if himself and his two sons predeceased his daughter, the Electress Palatine, she should succeed and the republic be re-instituted following her death. The proposal sank, and ultimately died with Cosimo in 1723.

The last years of the Medicis
As Grand Prince Ferdinando, Gian Gastone's elder brother, predeceased Cosimo III, Gian Gastone succeeded his father in 1723. Gian Gastone for most of his life, kept to his bed and acted in an unregal manner, rarely appearing to his subjects, to the extent that, at times, he had been thought dead. Gian Gastone would repeal his father's puritan laws. In 1731, the Powers gathered at Vienna to decide who would succeed Gian Gastone. They drew up the Treaty of Vienna, which gave the grand ducal throne to Don Carlos, Duke of Parma. Gian Gastone was not as steadfast in negotiating Tuscany's future as his father was. He capitulated to foreign demands, and instead of endorsing the claim to the throne of his closest male relative, the Prince of Ottajano, he allowed Tuscany to be bestowed upon Don Carlos. During the War of the Polish Succession, Don Carlos conquered the Kingdom of Naples and was forced to give up the Tuscan succession by the Treaty of Vienna (1738). Soon after, Francis Stephen of Lorraine became heir to the Tuscan throne. Gian Gastone had no say in events and had become quite attached to the Spanish Infante. The Tuscans despised the new occupying "Lorrainers", as they interfered with the Tuscan government, while the occupying Spaniards had not done so. On 9 July 1737, Gian Gastone died; the last male Medici of the grand ducal line.

Francis Stephen
Francis I (as Francis Stephen became known) lived in Florence briefly with his wife, the Habsburg heiress Maria Theresa, who became Tuscany's grand duchess. Francis had to cede his ancestral Duchy of Lorraine in order to accommodate the deposed ruler of Poland, whose daughter Marie Leszczyńska was Queen of France. Marie's father Stanisław Leszczyński ruled Lorraine as compensation for his loss of the Kingdom of Poland. Francis was reluctant to resign the duchy, but Charles VI, Holy Roman Emperor (Maria Theresa's father) stated that if he did not relinquish his rights to Lorraine, he could not marry Maria Theresa. Francis did not live in his Tuscan realm, and lived in the capital of his wife's realm, Vienna. He was elected Holy Roman Emperor in 1745. He died at Innsbruck from a stroke in 1765; his wife pledged the rest of her life to mourning him, while co-ruling with her first son, her own heir apparent, and Francis' imperial successor Joseph II.

The administrative structure of the grand duchy itself would see little change under Francis I. Since their accession to the throne of Grand Dukes, however, the Habsburgs continually tried to make Tuscany a source of military power, to little success, as Tuscany had declined and demilitarized in the 18th century. Such was the failure of their initial effort that Vienna declared Tuscany to be neutral during the War of the Austrian Succession, and enemy troops crossed it unopposed. At that time the Habsburgs' efforts had only managed to muster a standing army of 3,000 poorly-trained troops. A modest plan to create a 5,000-strong Tuscan army under German officers was only semi-successful. Tuscan troops served the Emperor in Silesia during the Seven Years' War. The first contingent of 3,000 troops arrived in 1758, followed by a second contingent of 1,500, and subsequent smaller ones to replace losses from battle and disease. The fear that the Emperor would impose conscription on the duchy caused 2% of the population to flee to the Papal States.

In 1763, when nuptial agreements for the marriage of the imperial couple's second surviving son, Leopold, and the Infanta of Spain, Maria Luisa of Bourbon, were stipulated, Tuscany was erected into a secundogeniture. Thus, upon the death of Francis I, it was Leopold who directly succeeded him on the throne of the Grand Duchy.

Reform

Leopold, usually referred to in Italy as "Pietro Leopoldo", ruled the country until his brother Joseph's death and his own election as Holy Roman Emperor in 1790. He was unpopular among his subjects, though his many reforms brought the Grand Duchy to a level of stability that had not been seen in quite a while.

Leopold developed and supported many social and economic reforms. He revamped the taxation and tariff system. Smallpox vaccination was made systematically available (Leopold's mother Maria Theresa had been a huge supporter of inoculation against smallpox), and an early institution for the rehabilitation of juvenile delinquents was founded. Leopold also abolished capital punishment. On 30 November 1786, after having de facto blocked capital executions (the last was in 1769), Leopold promulgated the reform of the penal code that abolished the death penalty and ordered the destruction of all the instruments for capital execution in his land. Torture was also banned.

Leopold also introduced radical reforms to the system of neglect and inhumane treatment of the mentally ill. On 23 January 1774, the legge sui pazzi (law regarding the insane) was established, the first of its kind to be introduced in Europe, allowing steps to be taken to hospitalize individuals deemed insane. A few years later Leopold undertook the project of building a new hospital, the Bonifacio. He used his skill at choosing collaborators to put a young physician, Vincenzo Chiarugi, at its head. Chiarugi and his collaborators introduced new humanitarian regulations in the running of the hospital and caring for the mentally ill patients, including banning the use of chains and physical punishment, and in so doing have been recognized as early pioneers of what later came to be known as the moral treatment movement.

Leopold attempted to secularize the property of the religious houses or to put the clergy entirely under the control of the government. These measures, which disturbed the deeply rooted convictions of his people and brought him into collision with the pope, were not successful.

Leopold also approved and collaborated on the development of a political constitution, said to have anticipated by many years the promulgation of the French constitution and which presented some similarities with the Virginia Bill of Rights of 1778. Leopold's concept of this was based on respect for the political rights of citizens and on a harmony of power between the executive and the legislative. However, the constitution was so radically new that it garnered opposition even from those who might have benefited from it. In 1790, Emperor Joseph II died without issue before carrying out his project for the abolition of secundogeniture in Tuscany, partly due to Leopold's latent resistance. Thus, when the latter was called to Vienna, to assume the rule of his family's Austrian dominions and become Emperor, his second son Ferdinand at once became ruler of the Grand Duchy. Leopold himself died in 1792.

Tuscany during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars
Leopold was succeeded by Ferdinand III. Ferdinand was the son of Leopold I, and Grand Duchess Maria Louisa. He was forced out by the French during the French Revolutionary Wars, first in spring 1799 when a jacobin provisional government was created by the French army, and then after the Treaty of Aranjuez (1801), becoming instead Elector of Salzburg, ruling the territory of the former archbishopric. The Grand Duchy was then dissolved, and replaced by the Kingdom of Etruria under the House of Bourbon-Parma, in compensation for their loss of Duchy of Parma. In 1803, the first King of Etruria, Louis I, died and was succeeded by his infant son, Charles Louis, under the regency of his mother, Queen María Luisa.

Etruria lasted less than a decade. By the Treaty of Fontainebleau (27 October 1807), Etruria was to be annexed by France. The negotiations had been between Spain and France, and the Etrurian regent was kept entirely in the dark, only being informed that she would have to leave her young son's kingdom on 23 November 1807. She and her court left on 10 December. On 30 May 1808, Etruria was formally annexed to France. An "Extraordinary Giunta" was placed in charge under General Jacques François Menou. Tuscany was divided into the départements of Arno, Méditerranée and Ombrone. In March 1809 a "General Government of the Departments of Tuscany" was set up, and Napoleon put his sister Elisa Bonaparte at its head, with the title of Grand Duchess of Tuscany.

Tuscany restored and its absorption into unified Italy
The Napoleonic system collapsed in 1814, and the following territorial settlement agreed to at the Congress of Vienna, ceded the State of Presidi and the Principality of Piombino to a restored Tuscany. Ferdinand III resumed his rule, and died in 1824. Italian nationalism exploded in the post-Napoleonic years, leading to the establishment of secret societies bent on a unified Italy. When these leagues arrived in Tuscany, a concerned Ferdinand requisitioned an Austrian garrison, from his brother Emperor Francis of Austria, for the defence of the state. Ferdinand aligned Tuscany with Austria.

Following Ferdinand's death, his elder son, Leopold II, succeeded him. Leopold was contemporarily acknowledged as a liberal monarch. Despite his merits, most his subjects still dismissed him as a foreigner. His affinity for Austria was equally unpalatable. In 1847, Leopold, following the death of the then-incumbent Duchess of Parma, Marie Louise of Austria, and the secret Treaty of Florence (1844), annexed the Duchy of Lucca, a state created solely to accommodate the House of Bourbon-Parma until they could re-assume their Parmese sovereignty. The Duke of Lucca decided to abdicate his throne in favor of the Grand Duke of Tuscany Leopoldo II, while the Lucca territories of Montignoso, Gallicano, Minucciano and Castiglione di Garfagnana were given to Modena. Tuscany then ceded its Lunigiana territories to Modena with the exception of Pontremoli which passed to the Duchy of Parma. The same year, a Tuscan state council was brought into being.

In Leopold's years Italy was engulfed in popular rebellion, culminating in the Revolutions of 1848. The said revolution toppled the throne of France, and caused disarray across Europe. In Tuscany, Leopold II sanctioned a liberal constitution; and instituted a liberal ministry. Despite his attempts at acquiescence, street fighting in opposition to the regime sprang up in August, in Livorno. Leopold II lent his support to the Kingdom of Sardinia in the First Italian War of Independence. In February 1849, Leopold II had to abandon Tuscany to republicans and sought refuge in the Neapolitan city of Gaeta. A provisional republic was established in his stead. It was only with Austrian assistance that Leopold could return to Florence. The constitution was revoked in 1852. The Austrian garrison was withdrawn in 1855.

The Second Italian War of Independence broke out in the summer of 1859. Leopold felt obliged to espouse Austria's cause. The Royal Sardinian Army of Victor Emmanuel II captured Tuscany in its entirety, and held it for the duration of the conflict; Leopold fled Tuscany as a result. The Peace of Villafranca stipulated that Leopold be allowed to return, although in practise this never happened. He abdicated in favour of his elder son, Ferdinand. Ferdinand IV's hypothetical reign did not last long; the House of Habsburg-Lorraine was formally deposed by the Tuscan National Assembly on 16 August 1859.

In December 1859, the Grand Duchy was joined to the Duchies of Modena and Parma to form the United Provinces of Central Italy, which were annexed by the Kingdom of Sardinia a few months later. On 22 March 1860, after a referendum that voted overwhelmingly (95% ) in favour of a union with Sardinia; Tuscany was formally annexed to Sardinia as part of the new Kingdom of Italy.

Government
Tuscany was divided into two main administrative districts: the stato nuovo (the new state) consisting of the former Republic of Siena, and the stato vecchio (the old state), the old Republic of Florence and her dependencies. The two areas were governed by separate laws. They were divided because the stato nuovo was a Spanish fief and the stato vecchio an Imperial one. Siena was ruled by a governor appointed by the grand duke. Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor proclaimed Alessandro de' Medici, Duke of Florence "for his lifetime, and after his death to be succeeded by his sons, male heirs and successors, of his body, by order of primogeniture, and failing them by the closest male of the Medici family, and likewise in succession forever, by order of primogeniture."

Following the Republic's surrender in the Siege of Florence, Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor issued a proclamation explicitly stating that he and he alone could determine the government of Florence. On 12 August 1530, the Emperor created the Medici hereditary rulers (capo) of the Republic of Florence. Pope Clement VII willed his relative Alessandro de' Medici to be the monarchical ruler of Florence, and went about requisitioning that dignity carefully; he wanted to give the impression that the Florentines democratically chose Alessandro to be their monarch. In April 1532, the Pope convinced the Balía, Florence's ruling commission, to draw up a new constitution. The document in question was officiated on the 27th of that month. It formally created a hereditary monarchy, abolished the age-old signoria (elective government) and the office of gonfaloniere (titular ruler of Florence elected for a two-month term); in their place was the consigliere, a four-man council elected for a three-month term, headed by the "Duke of the Florentine Republic" (and later the Grand Duke of Tuscany). The Senate, composed of forty-eight men, chosen by the constitutional reform commission, was vested with the prerogative of determining Florence's financial, security, and foreign policies. Additionally, the senate appointed the commissions of war and public security, and the governors of Pisa, Arezzo, Prato, Voltera and Cortona and ambassadors. To be eligible, one had to be male and a noble. The Council of Two Hundred was a petitions court; membership was for life. This constitution was still in effect through the Medicean grand duchy, albeit the institutions were decayed and powerless by the rule of Ferdinando II.

Over time, the Medici acquired several territories, which included: the County of Pitigliano, purchased from the Orsini family in 1604; the County of Santa Fiora, acquired from the House of Sforza in 1633; Spain ceded Pontremoli in 1650, Silvia Piccolomini sold her estates, the Marquisate of Castiglione at the time of Cosimo I, Lordship of Pietra Santa, and the Duchy of Capistrano and the city of Penna in the Kingdom of Naples. Vittoria della Rovere brought the Duchies of Montefeltro and Rovere into the family in 1631, upon her death in 1694, they passed to her younger son, Francesco Maria de' Medici. They reverted to the crown with the ascension of Gian Gastone.

Gian Gastone, the last Medici, resigned the grand duchy to Francis Stephen of Lorraine. Under him, Tuscany was ruled by a viceroy, Marc de Beauvau-Craon, Prince de Craon. Francis Stephen altered the laws of succession in 1763, when he declared his second son, Leopold, heir to the grand duchy. If Leopold's line were to become extinct, it would revert to the main line. Should Leopold or any of his direct successors somehow come into possession of the main domains of the Habsburg monarchy, the grand duchy would then pass on to their second son and the latter's successors. Every grand duke after Leopold resided in Florence. Grand Duke Leopold II agreed to ratify a liberal constitution in 1848. He was briefly deposed by a provisional government in 1849, but restored to power the same year by Austrian troops. The government was finally dissolved upon its annexation to the United Provinces of Central Italy in 1859. The court moved to Salzburg and lived there in exile until 1918.

Army
In addition to its regular army, the duchy maintained a citizen-militia. This was used both for the protection of towns and fortresses that the army was not able to garrison, and as a reserve from which semi-trained men would be drawn into the army. The militia had its origins in 1498, in the predecessor state of the Florentine Republic. By 1506, it numbered 20,000 men, of whom 70% carried pikes, 20% halberds/bills and hog-spears, and 10% either arquebuses or crossbows. However, the size and quality of the duchy's militia varied throughout its existence, as did its army.

From 1553 to 1559, Tuscany raised 30,000 troops for their participation in the Last Italian War, which saw the Republic of Siena being added to the duchy. For the decades thereafter, the grand dukes only maintained a peacetime force of 2,500 soldiers, 500 cavalry to patrol the coasts and 2,000 infantry to man castles (Cosimo I having significantly expanded Tuscany's fortification network in an effort to defend the country). An anonymous Venetian intelligence report from the late 16th century stated that Tuscany could spend 800,000 ducats annually on war (half as much as the Spanish-held Kingdom of Naples despite having a quarter of its population), and could raise 40,000 infantry and 2,000 cavalry, counting soldiers, militia, and mercenaries from nearby Corsica and Romagna, a force massively out of proportion to its population. Hanlon considers the report overly optimistic, but with some basis in fact.

In response to the Türkenkriege during the Long Turkish War starting in 1593, the Grand Duchy of Tuscany sent 100,000 scudi and 3,600 soldiers (3,000 infantry and 600 cavalry) to support the Holy Roman Emperor in Hungary, plus smaller detachments thereafter (there were 2,000 Tuscans in the Imperial army in Hungary by 1601). A Tuscan-Spanish treaty that bound the two at the end of the Italian Wars demanded that Tuscany send 5,000 troops to the Spanish army if ever the Duchy of Milan or Naples was attacked. In 1613, Cosimo II sent 2,000 infantry and 300 cavalry, along with an undisclosed number of Tuscan adventurers, to aid the Spanish after Savoy launched an invasion of the Duchy of Montferrat.

In 1631, the grand duke sent 7,000 troops (6,000 infantry and 1,000 cavalry) to join Wallenstein's army in support of the Emperor during the Thirty Years War. From 1629 to 1630 he also sent 6,000 troops to join the Spanish in the War of the Mantuan Succession, plus a naval detachment and funds to pay for 4,000 Swiss mercenaries. In 1643, during the Castro War, the Tuscan army was between 5,000 and 10,000 good troops, including foreign mercenaries but not including militia. Yves-Marie Berce figures that most of those troops were of French or Swiss origin, but Hanlon disputes this, saying that Italians comprised a larger portion, and that the specific origins of the troops have very little information to go on. He also cites the fact that many Italians served as mercenaries outside of Italy, though he admits that (other than the well-known mercenary tradition of Corsica) there is no information on their state origins. The duchy's largest military deployment came during this war, when in June 1643 over 10,000 troops (7,000 Tuscans in eight regiments of infantry recruited from militia, garrison troops, and veteran mercenaries; 1 regiment of German infantry; 2,400 cavalry, a quarter of whom were Germans; and 1 regiment of Tuscan dragoons) with 18 cannons invaded the Papal States holding of Umbria, while other troops and militia were left garrisoning the grand duchy's major citadels, coastal forts, and border forts. Militia were recruited into the army as needed to replace losses.

Tuscany's economic and military strength cratered from the second half of the 17th century onward, which was reflected in the quality of its army; by 1740 it only consisted of a few thousand poorly-trained men and was considered impotent to such a degree that its Habsburgs rulers allowed enemy troops to cross the duchy unopposed.

Navy
The grand duchy had two sources of naval power: the state navy and the Order of Saint Stephen.

In 1572 the Tuscan navy consisted of 11 galleys, 2 galleasses, 2 galleons, 6 frigates, and various transports, carrying in all 200 guns, manned by 100 knights, 900 seamen, and 2,500 oarsmen. With the end of Spanish subsidies, in 1574 the navy shrunk to 4 galleys. Grand Duke Ferdinand I sought to expand Tuscany's naval strength during his reign, and cooperated with the Order of Saint Stephen, which often blurred the line between itself and the Tuscan navy. The Order in 1604 counted among its fleet 6 galleys, 3 roundships/bertoni, 2 transports, 1 galleon, and 1 galleass, supplemented by other ships financed by corsairs flying the Tuscan banner. Ferdinand I expanded the Tuscan fleet after expanding the arsenal at Livorno, and oversaw many raids by both the navy and Order, including on Chios in 1599 (a failure), Preveza in 1605 (5 galleys with 400 Tuscan militia; a success), various Turkish ports in 1606 (6 galleys, some roundships, and 750 Tuscan soldiers; a success), and Bone in 1607 (8 galleys, 9 bertoni, and 1 galleon, with 2,300 soldiers; a success). From 1560 to 1609, the Tuscan fleet captured 76 galiots, 7 galleys, 2 large roundships, and 67 minor craft, taking 9,620 slaves and liberating 2,076 Christians. The preponderance of small vessels among the prizes indicates that most of the trophies were easy victories.

The Tuscans were early pioneers in the deployment of roundships, as technology made manpower-heavy galleys less efficient. They launched several big ships at Portoferraio after 1601, with an armament of 40 guns each yet only 60 seamen each. 8 of them around 1610 floated a total of 200 guns. They began to raid independently of the galleys on long voyages to the Levant. In 1608, they intercepted a Turkish convoy of 42 vessels off Rhodes, seizing 9 and netting 600 slaves and a booty of 1 million ducats, equivalent to two years of revenue for the whole grand duchy. Under Grand Duke Cosimo II, 7 roundships carrying 1,800 soldiers were sent to the Mediterranean from 1609 to 1611. This expedition was less successful, costing 800 men and 4 ships disabled. The grand duke also enticed English corsairs in North Africa to use Livorno as a base instead, in exchange for amnesty and a share of their profits; Livorno quickly became a corsair capital, with the corsairs preying on both Muslim and Christian shipping.

After 1612, the Tuscans progressively stopped sending out expeditions and limited their naval operations to patrols. This can be observed in the register of prizes of the Order of Saint Stephen. It lists some 238 vessels captured from 1563 to 1688; enemy galleys captured from 1568 to 1599 were 11 (for the loss of an identical number), and another 17 were seized between 1602 and 1635. Only 1 was captured after 1635. A notable incident in this time was a naval battle off Sardinia in October 1624, in which 15 Tuscan, Papal, and Neapolitan galleys converged on a flotilla of 5 Algerian pirate vessels (including a large flagship). In the 10-hour battle, punctuated by cannon fire and boarding actions, 600 pirates were killed or captured and they lost 4 of the 5 ships (3 sunk, 1 captured), while the Italians lost 60 dead.

In 1686, Tuscany sent 4 galleys, 4 galiots, and 2 other vessels carrying 870 soldiers to participate in the Morean War (a battalion of 400 Tuscans were already serving there). In 1687 the Tuscans sent an additional 4 galleys, plus 2 hired foreign galleys, carrying 860 more soldiers, including German mercenaries. In 1688, another 6 galleys and 860 soldiers joined the fray. All three contingents suffered high casualties, a third for the first two and over half for the third.

title: Grand Duchy of Tuscany


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Wikipedia:FAQ/Forking

What is a fork?

 * Copying all or part of Wikipedia, and developing it independently of the original, is forking. Typically, a fork is implemented as another website (though printed forks are possible). There are forks of the whole encyclopedia, and there are specialized encyclopedias that start as a copy of a collection of articles from Wikipedia about a specific subject. Wikipedia's content is made available in data dumps. A list of forks is available at Mirrors and forks/All.

What is the difference between a mirror and a fork?

 * A mirror is an exact copy. A fork is a copy that has been changed, diverging from the original path of development, like a fork in the road. Mirrors provide alternative access to Wikipedia (when access is needed offline, or when the Wikipedia site is down). Forks allow you to start with Wikipedia content, and transform it into something else.

Am I allowed to fork Wikipedia?

 * Yes, as long as you follow the terms of Wikipedia's licenses. See Copyrights.

Can I fork individual Wikipedia articles?

 * Yes.

 * Wikipedia considers each Wikipedia article to be an individual document. Moreover, for the purposes of creating derivative works of individual Wikipedia articles, Wikipedia considers a direct link-back to a particular Wikipedia article as being in full compliance with the Creative Commons Attribution-Sharealike 4.0 Unported License (CC BY-SA), provided your work is also licensed under CC BY-SA.

 * Most (but not all) of our articles can be reused under the GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) (unversioned). See Copyrights for how to identify text which is not available under the GFDL.

How do I download Wikipedia content?

 * Regular dumps of the database can be found at https://dumps.wikimedia.org/.

How much storage is required for a copy of the English Wikipedia?

 * The data dump of all pages and their histories is a several-gigabyte file, which according to the warnings about decompression size at the database download page, could theoretically decompress to at least a terabyte.

How do I install Wikipedia's software?

 * Wikipedia runs on MediaWiki. Make sure to check if your computer meets the minimum system requirements, install it on the official website of MediaWiki, and follow the instructions.
 * See Help:Template, Customisation and mw:Manual:Using content from Wikipedia for lists of things that you will need to add to MediaWiki to start making it be like Wikipedia.

What kind of computer system do I need to run Wikipedia software?
Minimum system requirements, and installation instructions can be found here.

title: Wikipedia:FAQ/Forking


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Pothole

A pothole is a depression in a road surface, usually asphalt pavement, where traffic has removed broken pieces of the pavement. It is usually the result of water in the underlying soil structure and traffic passing over the affected area. Water first weakens the underlying soil; traffic then fatigues and breaks the poorly supported asphalt surface in the affected area. Continued traffic action ejects both asphalt and the underlying soil material to create a hole in the pavement.

Formation
According to the US Army Corps of Engineers's Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory, pothole formation requires two factors to be present at the same time: water and traffic. Water weakens the soil beneath the pavement while traffic applies the loads that stress the pavement past the breaking point. Potholes form progressively from fatigue of the road surface which can lead to a precursor failure pattern known as crocodile (or alligator) cracking. Eventually, chunks of pavement between the fatigue cracks gradually work loose, and may then be plucked or forced out of the surface by continued wheel loads to create a pothole.

In areas subject to freezing and thawing, frost heaving can damage a pavement and create openings for water to enter. In the spring, thaw of pavements accelerates this process when the thawing of upper portions of the soil structure in a pavement cannot drain past still-frozen lower layers, thus saturating the supporting soil and weakening it.

Potholes can grow to several feet in width, though they usually only develop to depths of a few inches. If they become large enough, damage to tires, wheels, and vehicle suspensions is liable to occur. Serious road accidents can occur as a direct result, especially on those roads where vehicle speeds are greater.

Potholes may result from four main causes:
 * 1) Insufficient pavement thickness to support traffic during freeze/thaw periods without localized failures
 * 2) Insufficient drainage
 * 3) Failures at utility trenches and castings (manhole and drain casings)
 * 4) Pavement defects and cracks left unmaintained and unsealed so as to admit moisture and compromise the structural integrity of the pavement

Prevention
The following steps can be taken to avoid pothole formation in existing pavements:
 * 1. Surveying of pavements for risk factors
 * 2. Providing adequate drainage structures
 * 3. Preventive maintenance
 * 4. Utility cut management
 * 5. Sealing asphalt cracks

Survey of pavements
At-risk pavement are more often local roads with lower structural standards and more complicating factors, like underground utilities, than major arteries. Pavement condition monitoring can lead to timely preventive action. Surveys address pavement distresses, which both diminishes the strength of the asphalt layer and admits water into the pavement, and effective drainage of water from within and around the pavement structure.

Drainage
Drainage structures, including ditching and storm sewers are essential for removing water from pavements. Avoiding other risk factors with good construction includes well-draining base and sub-base soils that avoid frost action and promote drying of the soil structure. Adequate crowns promote drainage to the sides. Good crack control prevents water penetration into the pavement soil structure.

Preventive maintenance
Preventive maintenance adds maintaining pavement structural integrity with thickness and continuity to the mix of preventing water penetration and promoting water migration away from the roadway.

Utility cut management
Eaton, et al., advocate a permitting process for utility cuts with specifications that avoid loss of structural continuity of pavements and flaws or failures that allow water penetration.

Some municipalities require contractors to install utility repair tags to identify responsible parties of the deteriorated patches.

Sealing asphalt cracks
A US Air Force manual advocates semiannual inspection of pavement cracks with crack sealing commencing on cracks that exceed 0.25 in

Repair
Pothole patching methods may be either temporary or semi-permanent. Temporary patching is reserved for weather conditions that are not favorable to a more permanent solution and usually uses a cold mix asphalt patching compound placed in an expedient manner to temporarily restore pavement smoothness. Semi-permanent patching uses more care in reconstructing the perimeter of the failed area to blend with the surrounding pavement and usually employs a hot-mix asphalt fill above replacement of appropriate base materials.

The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) offers an overview of best practices which includes several repair techniques; throw-and-roll, semi-permanent, spray injection, and edge seal. The FHWA suggests the best patching techniques, at times other than winter, are spray injection, throw-and-roll, semi-permanent, or edge seal procedures. In winter, the throw-and-roll technique may be the only available option. The Council for Scientific and Industrial Research in South Africa offers similar methods for the repair of potholes.

Materials
Asphaltic patch materials consist of a binder and aggregate that come in two broad categories, hot mix and cold mix. Hot mixes are used by some agencies, they are produced at local asphalt plants. The FHWA manual cites three types of cold mixes, those produced by a local asphalt plant, either 1) using the available aggregate and binder or 2) according to specifications set by the agency that will use the mix. The third type is a proprietary cold mix, which is manufactured to an advertised standard.

Throw-and-roll repair
The FHWA manual cites the throw-and-roll method as the most basic method, best used as a temporary repair under conditions when it is difficult to control the placement of material, such as winter-time. It consists of:

 * 1) Placing the hot or cold patch material into a pothole
 * 2) Compacting the patch with a vehicle, such as a truck
 * 3) Achieving a crown on the compacted patch of between 3 and 6 mm

This method is widely used due to its simplicity and speed, especially as an expedient method when the material is placed under unfavorable conditions of water or temperature. It can also be employed at times when the pothole is dry and clean with more lasting results. Eaton, et al., noted that the failure rate of expedient repairs is high and that they can cost as much as five times the cost of properly done repairs. They advocate this type of repair only when weather conditions prevent proper techniques.

Researchers from the University of Minnesota Duluth have tested mixing asphalt with iron ore containing magnetite which is then heated using ferromagnetic resonance (using microwaves at a specific frequency) to heat the mixed asphalt. The mixture used a compound of between 1% and 2% magnetite. The group discovered that material could be heated for a patch to 100 C in approximately ten minutes which then applied a more effective repair and drove out moisture which improved adhesion.

Semi-permanent repair
The FHWA manual cites the semi-permanent repair method as one of the best for repairing potholes, short of full-depth roadway replacement. It consists of:
 * 1. Removing water and debris from the pothole
 * 2. Making clean cuts along the sides of prospective patch area to assure that vertical sides of the repair are in sound pavement (Eaton, et al., recommend a bituminous tack coat in the open cavity, prior to placement of patch material.)
 * 3. Placing the hot or cold patch mix material
 * 4. Compacting the patch with a device that is smaller than the patch area, e.g. vibratory rollers or a vibratory plate

While this repair procedure provides durable results, it requires more labor and is more equipment-intensive than the throw-and-roll or the spray-injection procedure.

Spray-injection repair
The FHWA manual cites the spray-injection procedure as an efficient alternative to semi-permanent repair. It requires specialized equipment, however. It consists of:
 * 1. Blowing water and debris from the pothole
 * 2. Spraying a tack coat of binder on the sides and bottom of the pothole
 * 3. Blowing asphalt and aggregate into the pothole
 * 4. Covering the patched area with a layer of aggregate

This procedure requires no compaction after the cover aggregate has been placed.

Edge seal repair
The FHWA manual cites the edge seal method as an alternative to the above techniques. It consists of:
 * 1. Following the "throw-and-roll" steps
 * 2. After the repaired section has dried, placing a ribbon of asphaltic tack material on top of the patch edge, overlapping the pavement and the patch
 * 3. Placing sand on the tack material to prevent tracking by vehicle tires

In this procedure, waiting for any water to dry may require a second visit to place the tack coat. The tack material prevents water from getting through the edge of the patch and helps bond the patch to the surrounding pavement.

Efficacy of repair methods
An FHWA-sponsored study determined that the "throw-and-roll technique proved as effective as the semi-permanent procedure when the two procedures were compared directly, using similar materials". It also found the throw-and-roll procedure to be generally more cost-effective when using quality materials. It further found that spray-injection repairs were as effective as control patches, depending on the expertise of the equipment operator.

Costs to the public
The American Automobile Association estimated in the five years prior to 2016 that 16 million drivers in the United States have suffered damage from potholes to their vehicle including tire punctures, bent wheels, and damaged suspensions with a cost of $3 billion a year. In India, between 2015 and 2017, an average of 3,000 people per year were killed in accidents involving potholes. Britain has estimated that the cost of fixing all roads with potholes in the country would cost £12 billion.

Reporting
Some jurisdictions offer websites or mobile apps for pothole-reporting. These allow citizens to report potholes and other road hazards, optionally including a photograph and GPS coordinates. It is estimated there are 55 million potholes in the United States. The self-proclaimed pothole capital, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada reportedly spends $4.8 million on 450,000 potholes annually, as of 2015.

India has historically lost over 3,000 people per year to accidents caused by potholes. This situation has engendered citizen movement to address the problem.

In the United Kingdom, more than half a million pot holes were reported in 2017, an increase of 44% on the 2015 figure. There are processes in place to report potholes at different levels of jurisdiction. The process for claiming compensation varies by jurisdiction.

In popular culture
Potholes have been commented on both in various media.

Visual art
Two artists, Jim Bachor of Chicago and Baadal Nanjundaswamy of Bangalore, India, have used artwork as a commentary on potholes by placing mosaics (depicting ice cream in various manifestations) or sculpture (in the form of a crocodile) in potholes. Elsewhere, activists in Russia used painted caricatures of local officials with their mouths as potholes, to show their anger about the poor state of the roads. In Manchester, England, a graffiti artist painted images of penises around potholes, which often resulted in them being repaired within 48 hours.

Song
The Beatles song "A Day in the Life" references potholes. John Lennon wrote the song's final verse inspired by a Far & Near news brief, in the same 17 January edition of the Daily Mail that had inspired the first two verses. Under the headline "The holes in our roads", the brief stated: "There are 4,000 holes in the road in Blackburn, Lancashire, or one twenty-sixth of a hole per person, according to a council survey. If Blackburn is typical, there are two million holes in Britain's roads and 300,000 in London."

Television
In the Seinfeld episode The Pothole, George discovers that he has lost his keys, including a commemorative Phil Rizzuto keychain that says "Holy Cow" when activated. He then retraces his steps, and returns to a street where he had jumped over a pothole, which is now filled in with asphalt. The "Holy Cow" phrase is heard when a car runs over it.

title: Pothole


text:
Talk:Portuguese India

Wow...
Amazing MS Paint work on the map guys! /Sarcasm

Seriously, what were you thinking when putting that map up? I can't claim to be some sort of choreographer or talented artist, but the first map on the article is absoloutle rubbish! It is just a map of India with coloured squares for God's sake! Somebody, please put up a more decent map. This is supposed to be an Encyclopedia, not a nursery's drawing area!

title: Talk:Portuguese India


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British Columbia Highway 95

Highway 95 is a north-south highway in the southeastern corner of British Columbia, opened in 1957. The highway connects with U.S. Route 95, from which the highway takes its number, at the Canada–U.S. border at Kingsgate, just north of Eastport, Idaho. The section between the Canada-U.S. border and the Crowsnest Highway is known as the Yahk–Kingsgate Highway while the section between the Crowsnest Highway and Golden is known as the Kootenay–Columbia Highway.

Highway 95, one of the most overlapped highways in the province, shares most of its route with other numbered highways.

Route description
The 329 km long Highway 95 begins at the international border in a small community called Kingsgate. It connects to U.S. Route 95 at the Eastport-Kingsgate Border Crossing. Heading north from there, it follows the Moyie River northeast for 11 km to the town of Yahk, where it merges onto the Crowsnest Highway (Highway 3). Highway 95 follows the Crowsnest Highway northeast for 72 km to the city of Cranbrook, where Highway 95A, designated in 1968 and following the original alignment of Highway 95 for 54 km through Kimberley and Ta Ta Creek, begins. From Cranbrook, it is another 7 km east to the Fort Steele junction, where Highway 3 hands Highway 95 off to Highway 93.

From the Fort Steele junction, Highway 95 follows Highway 93 north for 31 km through the community of Wasa, to where Highway 95A's east junction is located. From the Highway 95A junction, Highway 93/95 follows the Kootenay River upstream for 45 km, through Skookumchuck to the town of Canal Flats, at the southern end of Columbia Lake. North of Canal Flats, Highway 93/95 travels for 58 km along the Columbia River, through the communities of Fairmont Hot Springs, Windermere and Invermere to the town of Radium Hot Springs, where Highway 93 diverges east. Highway 95 continues to follow the Columbia River north for 105 km, through the locations of Edgewater, Brisco, Spillimacheen and Parson, to where it terminates at its junction with the Trans-Canada Highway (Highway 1) at Golden.

History
Prior to 1941, British Columbia used lettered routes as opposed to numbers, and the Kootenay–Columbia Highway between Cranbrook and Golden was designated as part of Route U, which continued south to U.S. Route 93 at Roosville along present-day Highway 93. In 1941, British Columbia introduced numbered highways, with Highway 95 begin designated on 11 km Yahk–Kingsgate Highway, the northern extension of U.S. Route 95, while the Kootenay–Columbia Highway between Cranbrook and Golden was designated as Highway 4. In 1953, the Highway 4 was moved to its present location on Vancouver Island, with the Kootenay–Columbia Highway being renumbered to Highway 95. In 1968, Highway 95 was realigned to bypass Kimberley, with the former section becoming Highway 95A.

Major intersections
From south to north:

title: British Columbia Highway 95


text:
Talk:Bombus (disambiguation)

Page is a duplicate of Bumblebee, should be merged and redirected.--Mperkins 06:12, 25 May 2004 (UTC)

title: Talk:Bombus (disambiguation)


text:
Brown-throated wattle-eye

The brown-throated wattle-eye (Platysteira cyanea), also known as the common wattle-eye or scarlet-spectacled wattle-eye, is a small, insectivorous passerine bird. The wattle-eyes were previously classed as a subfamily of the Old World flycatcher family Muscicapidae, but are now usually separated from that group.

This species breeds in west, central and northeast tropical Africa. This common species is found in secondary forest and other woodland areas, including gardens. The eggs are laid in a small neat lichen and cobweb cup low in a tree or bush.

The adult brown-throated wattle-eye is a stout bird about 14 cm long. The breeding male has glossy black upperparts, and white underparts with a neat black breast band. There is a strong white wingbar, and fleshy red wattles above the eye.

The females are grey-black above, and also have the white wing bar and red wattles. There is a small patch of white below the bill, and the throat and breast are maroon, separated from the white belly by the black breast band. Young males are washed-out, greyer versions of the female.

These active insect-eating birds are found in pairs or small groups. The ringing call of the brown-throated wattle-eye is a very characteristic six note [[Media:Common-wattle-eye-bird.ogg|doo-dd-dum-di-do-do]].

title: Brown-throated wattle-eye


text: User talk:68.26.61.25

title: User talk:68.26.61.25


text:
Matsushima

Matsushima (松島) is a group of islands in Miyagi Prefecture, Japan. There are some 260 tiny islands (shima) covered in pines (matsu) – hence the name – and it is considered to be one of the Three Views of Japan.

Nearby cultural properties include Zuigan-ji, Entsū-in, Kanrantei, and the Satohama shell mound.

Views
A well-known haiku describes the islands as so striking that the poet is at a loss for words:

"松島やああ松島や松島や Matsushima ya / aa Matsushima ya / Matsushima ya Matsushima ah! / A-ah, Matsushima, ah! / Matsushima, ah!"

While often attributed to Matsuo Bashō, the earliest known publication is in the Matsushima Zushi (松島図誌), published in 1820 over a century after Bashō's death, which attributes it to the kyōka poet Tawara-bō (田原坊). While Bashō did visit Matsushima in Oku no Hosomichi, its only haiku about Matsushima was written by his travel comparison Kawai Sora.

Four views of Matsushima
There are four well-known spots to view the Matsushima, known as the Magnificent View (壮観), Beautiful View (麗観), Enchanting View (幽観), and Grand View (偉観).

Cruise
Tourists can view the islands from up close on cruise boats.

Transportation
The town is only a short distance (thirty minutes, about 14 km) from prefectural capital Sendai and is easily accessible by train. Matsushima-Kaigan Station is near the attractions such as Zuiganji and the waterfront. Matsushima Station, on a separate line is on the opposite side of the town.

2011 Tōhoku earthquake
Despite the proximity of Matsushima to the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami, the area was protected by the islands and suffered relatively little damage. The initial tsunami was 3.2 metres (10.5 feet) with the second 3.8 metres (12.5 feet). Electricity was restored by March 18, water fully restored by April 16th and the Senseki Train Line between Takagimachi Station and Sendai by May 28. Nevertheless, three people were confirmed killed in Matsushima (including by aftershocks) with 18 killed while out of town.

Activities
Around the island travelers can go on a cruise and view the islands up close, and around the Matsushima shore travelers can rent bikes.

title: Matsushima


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St. Jones River

The St. Jones River is a river flowing to Delaware Bay in central Delaware in the United States. It is 12.8 mi long and drains an area of 36 sqmi on the Atlantic Coastal Plain.

History
The river is believed to have been named either for Robert Jones, an early European property owner in the region, or for "St. Jone", adapted from a Welsh spelling from St. John.

Course
The St. Jones River flows for its entire length in east-central Kent County. According to the Geographic Names Information System, the river begins at the dam of Silver Lake in the city of Dover; Silver Lake is fed by Fork Branch, Penrose Branch, and Maidstone Branch. From Silver Lake, the St. Jones River flows generally southeastwardly, along the east side of downtown Dover and past Legislative Hall, the Capital Square/Legislative Mall, and the Dover Air Force Base to Bowers, where it flows into Delaware Bay, approximately 0.5 mi north of the mouth of the Murderkill River.

Watershed
The lower course of the river southeast of Dover is surrounded by brackish marshes and salt marshes, open water habitats, and wetlands. A portion of the lower river, along with nearby Blackbird Creek, have received federal protection as the Delaware National Estuarine Research Reserve, part of the National Estuarine Research Reserve system.

Variant names
The United States Board on Geographic Names settled on "St. Jones River" as the stream's name in 1894. According to the Geographic Names Information System, it has also been known historically as:
 * Jones Creek
 * Joness Creek
 * Kishlen
 * Saint Jones Creek
 * Warge Kijhlen
 * Wulfs Creek
 * Wulfscreek

title: St. Jones River


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Talk:Lenticular cloud

A note
Image copyright? One seems to have a copyright notice on it.

Charles Matthews 06:20, 25 May 2004 (UTC)

Images that have not been explicitly copyrighted are subject to the doctrines outlined by Fair use. Ferg 06:50, 25 May 2004 (UTC)

 * Sorry, but this is flat-out wrong. Copyright is created the moment the image is created. Unless released into the public domain or otherwise licensed, all images are copyrighted. Using copyrighted images in Wikipedia, in most instances, is not allowed by fair use. George Bluth 03:50, 28 January 2006 (UTC)

Fair use images are "second class" here - not every imagined WP use - such as CDROM encyclopedia sold for money - are compatible. Fortunately in this case there are plenty of better US government images that are also PD - try 'lenticular clouds gov' in Google to see some candidates from NASA and NOAA. Stan 13:37, 25 May 2004 (UTC)

Locations in the U.S.
Is it really appropriate to list locations in the U.S. where lenticular clouds occur? I mean, they're unusual but they're not that rare. I've seen them in the Owens and Indian Wells Valleys of California (formed by air coming over the Sierra Nevada) and at Palomar Mountain in San Diego County, California. I could add these, but it seems like we'd soon end up with a list of all reasonably tall mountain ranges in the U.S. And what if people in other countries started doing the same? -- Coneslayer 22:12, 2005 Jun 21 (UTC)

I've seen them while I was in the Pinos Altos/Silver City area I was at while I was in New Mexico. Martial Law 06:34, 22 November 2005 (UTC) :)

Sometimes these things would be all over the place.Martial Law 06:35, 22 November 2005 (UTC) . . what's all the fuss about, guys? i thought we were just talking about clouds here...

Southwest Arizona, west-central Yuma County

 * For 3 to 5 months in late 2009, to Jan-Feb-?Mar, 2010;.... there were from 10-15 lenticular grouping events. Most were fast-transitioning. If there were 20- (or 35) clouds they were quickly transitioning to slightly more or slightly less, (but also sometimes increasing in size, or decreasing). Prevailing winds were mostly from the NorthWest (from the Sierra Nevada (U.S.) range region, (south Nevada, southeast California); however they also appeared directly from due-West-(Peninsular range region, East of San Diego), and also a few groupings were from the Southwest-(Mexicali-northern Gulf of California, (east of Baja California Peninsula)). (Waiting 15 to 30 minutes, to re-examine the sky, would find a totally different arrangement, either in location changes, or size, or in total numbers of the lenticular clouds)... It was all very NICE, and rather atypical, but it continued for that 5 month period. :)... (we did have a later, and cooler spring for Spring 2010, (but it ended abruptly to a "Standard Hot Summer" (Though about 6-10 degrees cooler than common highs of 114-118. Highs were often only 105 to 113, and it did Persist, continue)).... -(from the HotSonoranDesert, ArizonaUSA)-Mmcannis (talk) 05:20, 15 January 2011 (UTC)

Page rename
I propose this page be renamed to "Altocumulus lenticularis" (and a redirect created). This would keep the article name in convention with the others. Dddstone 18:09, 24 December 2006 (UTC)

Citation/Reference issue
Regarding the claim: "Bright colours (called irisation) are sometimes seen along the edge of lenticular clouds.[1]" The reference/citation at number 1 ("1. Answers.com – Sci-Tech Dictionary:irisation", which links to "http://www.answers.com/topic/irisation-meteorology") does not seem valid and/or appropriate. I went to the link and did not find any relevant information. I also searched around on that site for relevant information and did not find anything relevant. Additionally, the "reference" is a "wiki" site where anyone can answer the questions posed, and there is an explicit disclamer regarding the validity of content. I do not think it is an appropriate reference.

The only online citation I can find to support the claim that lenticular clouds sometimes appear to have irisation is at wonderopolis.org/wonder/what-is-a-lenticular-cloud. I am not an expert in this area nor am I comfortable editing this wikipedia article. Perhaps the reference should be changed or the claim removed altogether? Kat.thulhu (talk) 13:06, 26 August 2016 (UTC)

title: Talk:Lenticular cloud


text:
Berwyn, Pennsylvania

Berwyn is a census-designated place (CDP) in Chester County, Pennsylvania, United States. Berwyn is located in Tredyffrin and Easttown townships. The area is part of the Philadelphia Main Line suburbs.

History
In 1877, the town received its current name, Berwyn, which a Welsh settler proposed after the Berwyn range overlooking the River Dee in Denbighshire, Wales. Prior to 1877, the village was named Cocheltown, Reeseville, Glassley, and Gaysville.

The Berwyn School Fight was a 1930s campaign against school segregation. In 1932, local school districts tried to segregate elementary schools by race. Black families sued to stop the segregationists and boycotted the segregated schools until the school districts finally conceded defeat in 1934. Occurring 20 years before Brown v. Board of Education (1954) declared school segregation to be unconstitutional nationwide, the Berwyn School Fight was a landmark early victory for the civil rights movement.

Geography
Berwyn is located at 40.04556°N, -75.43944°W. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Berwyn has a total area of 4.8 km2, all land.

Berwyn is bordered by Devon to the east, Paoli to the west, Newtown Square to the south, and the Chesterbrook section of Wayne to the north.

Two stops along SEPTA's Paoli-Thorndale Line are located in Berwyn: Berwyn station and Daylesford station, both on the northern side of Pennsylvania Route 30.

Demographics
The population of Zip Code 19312, which includes all of Berwyn and small areas Willistown and Newtown townships, was 11,745 at the 2020 census. The population density was 1,228 people per square mile. 85% of units were single-family homes and 79% of households were headed by a married couple.

According to the 2022 American Community Survey's five-year population estimates, Berwyn was 81% non-Hispanic White, 1% Black or African American, 0% Native American and 13% Asian. 4% of residents reported two or more races and <1% of the population were of Hispanic or Latino ancestry. 17.2% of residents were foreign-born, of whom 58% were born in Asia, 35% were born in Europe and 5% were born in Latin America. 4.4% of residents are U.S. veterans.

The median income for a household was $181,471, with 47% of households earning more than $200,000 per year. The median income for a family was $229,688. Among families with children, the median income was greater than $250,000.

77% of residents over the age of 25 hold a bachelor's degree.

According to Zillow, as of June 2024, the average home value in Berwyn's zip code, 19312, was $894,674. For a single family home, the average value was $904,640.

In 2023, Niche.com ranked Berwyn as the 12th-best place to raise a family in the U.S.

Culture
Berwyn is home of the Footlighters Theater, a non-profit theater that has provided entertainment for over 80 years. Footlighters Theater is the oldest community theatre on the Philadelphia Main Line.

Points of interest include the Easttown Public Library, the Upper Main Line YMCA, Teegarden Park and Glen Brook Farm. The Easttown Public Library was founded in 1905 and is a member of the Chester County Library System which consists of the 18 public libraries in the county. The Upper Main Line YMCA was founded in 1962 and sits on the former 124-acre summer estate owned by investment banker J. Gardner Cassatt, the brother of famed painter Mary Cassatt and railroad magnate Alexander Cassatt.

Economy
Ametek, Hardinge, Inc., Trinseo, Triumph Group, and TE Connectivity have operational headquarters based in Berwyn.

Education
The public school system is Tredyffrin/Easttown School District. Schools serving portions of the Berwyn CDP are Beaumont and Devon elementary schools in Easttown Township and Hillside Elementary School in Tredyffrin Township.

The district operates two middle schools, Tredyffrin/Easttown and Valley Forge, both in Tredyffrin Township. Conestoga High School, located in Tredyffrin, and Tredyffrin-Easttown Middle School are located in the township.

The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Philadelphia operates area Catholic parish schools. In 2012, the Catholic grade school in Berwyn, St. Monica, closed.

Parks
Frank Johnson Memorial Park, in the Berwyn CDP, is operated by the township government. It has a pavilion with toilets, basketball courts, an open field, a "tot lot", and volleyball courts.

Crabby Creek Park in Berwyn is operated by the township government. It is a 48 acre park, located off Walnut Lane at Bodine Road which serves as passive open space and a stream corridor buffer for Crabby Creek.

Notable people

 * Harold Barron, Olympic sprinter silver medalist
 * Jake Cohen, American-Israeli professional basketball player for Maccabi Tel Aviv and the Israeli national basketball team
 * David Eisenhower and Julie Nixon Eisenhower
 * Rachelle Ferrell, six-octave range recording artist
 * Brad Ingelsby, screenwriter and film producer
 * Drew O'Keefe, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania
 * Barbara Robinson, author

title: Berwyn, Pennsylvania


text:
Devon, Pennsylvania

Devon is a census-designated place (CDP) located in Easttown township in Chester County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 1,515 at the 2010 census. The area is part of the Philadelphia Main Line suburbs.

History
As of the 2000 U.S. Census, prior to the 2010 U.S. Census, Devon and Berwyn were in the same CDP: Devon-Berwyn.

Geography
Devon is located at 40.04972°N, -75.42556°W. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the CDP has a total area of 1.6 km2, all land.

Culture
Devon is known for the Devon Horse Show, the oldest and largest outdoor multi-breed horse competition in the United States. The event is held over ten days in late May and early June.

It was also home to the Valley Forge Music Fair from 1955 to 1996, hosting hundreds of famous musical and comedy acts.

Education
The public school system is Tredyffrin-Easttown.

Most of Devon CDP lies within the boundary of Devon Elementary School, outside of the CDP. A small section is in the boundary of Hillside Elementary School in Tredyffrin Township.

The district operates two middle schools, Tredyffrin/Easttown and Valley Forge. Conestoga High School, located west of Devon, near Berwyn CDP, serves the CDP.

Devon Preparatory School, a Catholic school, is located just east of the CDP in Tredyffrin Township.

Parks
Hilltop Park, with a Devon address but outside the Devon CDP, is operated by the township government. It has a pavilion with toilets, a picnic area, two soccer fields, a "tot lot" and walking trails.

Notable people

 * Staci Keanan, attorney and actress
 * Dave Bush, baseball player and coach

Points of interest

 * Jenkins Arboretum, north of Devon
 * Mount Zion A.M.E. Church
 * Devon (SEPTA station)
 * Devon Horse Show & Country Fair
 * Valley Forge Music Fair (closed. 1996)

title: Devon, Pennsylvania


text:
User:Ferg~enwiki

Nicknames, once they catch on, tend to take on a life of their own. Children often make the association that person's name (or nickname) is that person. Changing their name would be like changing their Frontal Cortex, Cerebellum, Medulla Oblongata, or other primary control modules.

Anyway - I don't like the nickname Ferg (really - I don't). Fortunately, however, I do remember the first person who used it in a sentence. Subsequently, I will with malice, forethought and before my inevitable death, track the person down and poke out their eyeballs :-).

Or damage the Occipital Lobe somehow...

title: User:Ferg~enwiki


text:
Joe DeLoach

Joseph ("Joe") Nathaniel DeLoach (born June 5, 1967) is an American former sprinter who was the 1988 Olympic champion in the 200 m.

Born in Bay City, Texas into a family with 11 sisters and one brother, DeLoach enjoyed running at a young age and desired to become a football player, but later set his mind to sprinting. He trained at the University of Houston, like Carl Lewis before him.

During his career, DeLoach took part in one Olympiad, the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea. He won the 200 m (beating his teammate from the Santa Monica Track Club, Carl Lewis, while placing fifth in the 100 m). The first performance was enough to qualify for the Games. There, he and Lewis were the favorites. In the final, DeLoach caught Lewis and finished in the Olympic record time of 19.75. This performance marked the only time Carl Lewis was defeated in an individual Olympic final.

In 2003, Dr. Wade Exum, the United States Olympic Committee's director of drug control administration from 1991 to 2000, gave copies of documents to Sports Illustrated which revealed that some 100 American athletes, including DeLoach, had tested positive for drugs between 1988 and 2000. The IAAF investigated the allegations, and announced that the dosages were in low concentration and no rules had been broken.

title: Joe DeLoach


text:
Benelli M4

The Benelli M4 is a semi-automatic shotgun produced by Italian firearm manufacturer Benelli Armi SpA, and the fourth and last model of the Benelli Super 90 line of semi-automatic shotguns. The M4 uses a proprietary action design called the "auto-regulating gas-operated" (ARGO) system, which was created specifically for the weapon. Designed in 1998, the M4 was adopted by the armed forces of Italy, the United States, and United Kingdom, among others, and has been used in a variety of conflicts.

History
On May 4, 1998, the United States Army Armament Research, Development and Engineering Center (ARDEC) at Picatinny Arsenal, New Jersey issued Solicitation #DAAE30-98-R-0401,v requesting submissions for a new 12 gauge semi-automatic combat shotgun for the U.S. military. In response to the request, Benelli Armi SpA of Urbino, Italy designed and built the Benelli M4 Super 90 Combat Shotgun. On August 4, 1998, five samples of the M4 were delivered to Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland, and after intense testing, the M4 won the competition. In early 1999, ARDEC awarded the M1014 Joint Service Combat Shotgun contract to Heckler & Koch, U.S. subsidiary for importation of the Benelli M4 Combat Shotgun. The first 20,000 units were delivered to the United States Marine Corps in 1999. During testing, the prototype was named XM1014;, per U.S. military standards; after adoption, the "X" was dropped, and the weapon was officially designated the M1014.

Design
The M4 was the first gas-operated shotgun produced by Benelli. Its function is designed around an entirely new design called the "auto-regulating gas-operated" (ARGO) system. The short-stroke design uses two self-cleaning stainless steel pistons located just ahead of the chamber to function opposite a rotating bolt, thereby eliminating the need for the complex mechanisms found on other gas-actuated automatics. The ARGO incorporates only four parts: two symmetrical fore-end shrouds containing two small steel pistons that push directly against the bolt.

Additionally, the weapon is self-regulating for use with shotshells of varying lengths and power levels. It can fire 2.75 in and 3 in shells of differing propellant loads without any operator adjustments and in any combination. Low-power rounds, such as less-lethal baton rounds, must be cycled manually.

The sights are military-style ghost ring and are adjustable in the field using only the rim of a shell. The MIL-STD-1913 Picatinny rail on top of the receiver allows use of both conventional optical sights and night-vision devices, while retaining use of the original iron sights.

The modular basis of the shotgun means many of its features can be reconfigured as needed. It allows a user to quickly exchange the various assembly groups (barrel, buttstock, forend, etc.) without the use of additional tools.

Durability
Preliminary testing of the M4 suggests a high level of reliability. It can reliably function for at least 25,000 rounds without replacement of any major parts. The steel components of the weapon feature a matte black phosphated corrosion resistant finish while the aluminium parts are matte hard-anodized. These finishes reduce the weapon's visibility during night operations.

The weapon requires little maintenance and operates in all climates and weather conditions.

Collapsible buttstock
The buttstock is collapsible on the M4 Model (designated 11707) and on the M1014. Collapsing the buttstock shortens the weapon by almost 8 in, allowing easier storage and transportation; furthermore, it permits better maneuverability around tight corners and over obstacles. The M4 is also available with both pistol grip and semi-grip fixed stocks, with these also being available for the M1014.

Rail interface system
The Picatinny rail built into the top of the shotgun accepts scopes, laser illuminators, night-vision sights and flashlights. Most modern military firearms have similar structures. There are aftermarket accessories such as handguards that incorporate other rail interface systems such as M-LOK.

Benelli Tactical and the M4
Benelli Tactical is a division of Beretta's Law Enforcement (LE) division. Benelli Tactical manages the sales of all tactical shotguns to law enforcement agencies, government and military entities. The M4 shotgun is sold in three configurations: M4 Entry with a 14 in barrel; M4 with an 18.5 in barrel; and M1014, which is an M4 with the "M1014" nomenclature on it for military usage only. M4 shotguns sold through Benelli Tactical are available with the collapsible buttstock.

Benelli Tactical and Beretta LE have maintained the belief that the collapsible stock, while no longer illegal in the United States, is still only to be made available to law enforcement and government agencies, and thus does not sell them to private individuals; however, Benelli Tactical sells the stock piece for retrofitting the pistol grip stock, which can be shipped from Italy without restrictions.

Suggested retail price of the civilian version is around $1,899. An NFA stamp is required to purchase or own the 14.5" barreled model only since this model is considered to be a Short Barreled Shotgun or SBS. Standard magazine capacity of the civilian version is 5+1, although it is possible to fit 6+1 and two shot extension tubes are sold by Benelli as well as some other companies. 9+1 extension tubes are also available, popular in 3-gun competitions. Some LE models have become available to private individuals on the secondary market.

Users

 * 🇦🇺 Australia
 * 🇧🇾 Belarus: Used by Internal Troops, OMON, Almaz, and KGB RB Alpha Group. Seen with Alpha Group, Internal Troops, and OCAM units deployed to Minsk during the 2020–2021 Belarusian protests. It is also allowed as civilian hunting weapon.
 * 🇧🇪 Belgium: Adopted on November 17, 2023 for counter-UAS operations by the Belgian Air Force.
 * Georgia: Used by Ministry of Internal Affairs and military special operation forces.
 * 🇮🇪 Ireland: Used by special forces and special police units (Army Ranger Wing, Special Detective Unit, Emergency Response Unit, Regional Support Unit).
 * 🇱🇾 Libya: Ordered 1,800 before the First Libyan Civil War. Used by special forces.
 * 🇲🇾 Malaysia: Used by the Royal Malaysian Customs Department.
 * 🇵🇹 Portugal: Used by Portuguese Armed Forces.
 * 🇷🇸 Serbia: Used by the Special Anti-Terrorist Unit.
 * 🇸🇰 Slovakia: Used by the Special Defence Division and Intervention Group.
 * 🇸🇮 Slovenia: Used by Slovenian Armed Forces Military Police.
 * 🇺🇦 Ukraine
 * 🇬🇧 United Kingdom: Used by the British Armed Forces, designated L128A1.
 * 🇺🇸 United States: Used by the United States Armed Forces, designated M1014. Also used by civilian law enforcement and SWAT units, such as the Los Angeles Police Department and Cambridge Police Department.

title: Benelli M4


text:
Kemper

Kemper may refer to:

Buildings

 * Kemper Arena, in Kansas City, Missouri
 * Kemper Building (Chicago), a skyscraper in Chicago, Illinois
 * Kemper Hall, a 1911 mansion in Kenosha, Wisconsin
 * Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art, in Kansas City, Missouri

Companies

 * Thomas Kemper, an American soda brewing company
 * Kemper Corporation, an American insurance group

Places

 * Quimper (Kemper), France
 * Kemper County, Mississippi
 * Kemper, Illinois
 * Kemper, South Carolina

Surname

 * Andreas Kemper (born 1963), German sociologist
 * Charles Kemper (1900–1950), American film actor
 * Christine de Bosch Kemper (1840–1924), Dutch feminist
 * David Kemper (born 1947), American rock drummer
 * David Kemper (writer), American television writer and producer
 * Dieter Kemper (1937–2018), German cyclist
 * Edmund Kemper (born 1948), American serial killer and necrophile
 * Ellie Kemper (born 1980), American actress and comedian
 * Franz-Josef Kemper (born 1945), German middle-distance runner
 * Frederick T. Kemper (1816–1881), American school-founder
 * Hermann Kemper (1892–1977), German electrical engineer and inventor
 * Hunter Kemper (born 1976), American triathlete
 * Jackson Kemper (1789–1870), American Episcopalian bishop
 * James L. Kemper (1823–1895), Confederate general in the American Civil War and governor of Virginia, U.S.
 * James S. Kemper (1886–1981), American insurance company founder and billionaire
 * Jeltje de Bosch Kemper (1836–1916), Dutch feminist
 * Joan Melchior Kemper (1776–1824), Dutch jurist and politician
 * Johan Kemper (1670–1716), Polish Christian Kabbalist
 * Johnny Kemper, American bodybuilder and actor
 * Kay Ann Kemper, stage name of Kay Lenz (born 1954), American actor
 * Kathy Kemper, American tennis coach, columnist and CEO
 * R. Crosby Kemper (1892–1972), American banker and philanthropist
 * R. Crosby Kemper Jr. (1927–2014), American banker and philanthropist
 * Reuben Kemper (1770–1826), American filibuster
 * Samuel Kemper (died 1814), American filibuster
 * Sandy Kemper (born 1965), American financial entrepreneur
 * Tom Kempers (born 1969), Dutch tennis player
 * Victor J. Kemper (1927–2023), American cinematographer
 * William Thornton Kemper Sr. (1866–1938), American banker and entrepreneur

Given name

 * Kemper Freeman (born 1941), American real estate developer
 * Kemper Goodwin (1906–1997), American architect
 * Kemper Harreld (1885–1971), African-American concert violinist
 * Kemper Nomland (1919–2009), American architect
 * Kemper Yancey (1887–1957), American football player and coach

Other uses

 * Kemper: The CoEd Killer, a 2008 film
 * Kemper Insurance Open, a former golf tournament in Potomac, Maryland
 * Kemper Lakes Golf Club, Kildeer, Illinois
 * Kemper Military School, in Boonville, Missouri, U.S.
 * Kemper Project, an energy project in Kemper County, Mississippi

title: Kemper


text:
Stefan problem

In mathematics and its applications, particularly to phase transitions in matter, a Stefan problem is a particular kind of boundary value problem for a system of partial differential equations (PDE), in which the boundary between the phases can move with time. The classical Stefan problem aims to describe the evolution of the boundary between two phases of a material undergoing a phase change, for example the melting of a solid, such as ice to water. This is accomplished by solving heat equations in both regions, subject to given boundary and initial conditions. At the interface between the phases (in the classical problem) the temperature is set to the phase change temperature. To close the mathematical system a further equation, the Stefan condition, is required. This is an energy balance which defines the position of the moving interface. Note that this evolving boundary is an unknown (hyper-)surface; hence, Stefan problems are examples of free boundary problems.

Analogous problems occur, for example, in the study of porous media flow, mathematical finance and crystal growth from monomer solutions.

Historical note
The problem is named after Josef Stefan (Jožef Stefan), the Slovenian physicist who introduced the general class of such problems around 1890 in a series of four papers concerning the freezing of the ground and the formation of sea ice. However, some 60 years earlier, in 1831, an equivalent problem, concerning the formation of the Earth's crust, had been studied by Lamé and Clapeyron. Stefan's problem admits a similarity solution, this is often termed the Neumann solution, which was allegedly presented in a series of lectures in the early 1860s.

A comprehensive description of the history of Stefan problems may be found in Rubinstein.

Premises to the mathematical description
From a mathematical point of view, the phases are merely regions in which the solutions of the underlying PDE are continuous and differentiable up to the order of the PDE. In physical problems such solutions represent properties of the medium for each phase. The moving boundaries (or interfaces) are infinitesimally thin surfaces that separate adjacent phases; therefore, the solutions of the underlying PDE and its derivatives may suffer discontinuities across interfaces.

The underlying PDEs are not valid at the phase change interfaces; therefore, an additional condition—the Stefan condition—is needed to obtain closure. The Stefan condition expresses the local velocity of a moving boundary, as a function of quantities evaluated at either side of the phase boundary, and is usually derived from a physical constraint. In problems of heat transfer with phase change, for instance, conservation of energy dictates that the discontinuity of heat flux at the boundary must be accounted for by the rate of latent heat release (which is proportional to the local velocity of the interface).

The regularity of the equation has been studied mainly by Luis Caffarelli and further refined by work of Alessio Figalli, Xavier Ros-Oton and Joaquim Serra

The one-dimensional one-phase Stefan problem
The one-phase Stefan problem is based on an assumption that one of the material phases may be neglected. Typically this is achieved by assuming that a phase is at the phase change temperature and hence any variation from this leads to a change of phase. This is a mathematically convenient approximation, which simplifies analysis whilst still demonstrating the essential ideas behind the process. A further standard simplification is to work in non-dimensional format, such that the temperature at the interface may be set to zero and far-field values to $$+1$$ or $$-1$$.

Consider a semi-infinite one-dimensional block of ice initially at melting temperature $$u=0$$ for $$x \in [0;+\infty)$$. The most well-known form of Stefan problem involves melting via an imposed constant temperature at the left hand boundary, leaving a region $$[0;s(t)]$$ occupied by water. The melted depth, denoted by $$s(t)$$, is an unknown function of time. The Stefan problem is defined by
 * The heat equation: $$\frac{\partial u}{\partial t} = \frac{\partial^2 u}{\partial x^2}, \quad \forall (x,t) \in [0;s(t)] \times [0;+\infty]

$$
 * A fixed temperature, above the melt temperature, on the left boundary: $$u(0,t) = 1, \quad \forall t > 0

$$
 * The interface at the melting temperature is set to $$u \left(s(t),t \right) = 0

$$
 * The Stefan condition: $$\beta \frac{\mathrm{d}}{\mathrm{d}t} s(t) = -\frac{\partial}{\partial x} u \left(s(t), t \right)

$$ where $$\beta $$ is the Stefan number, the ratio of latent to specific sensible heat (where specific indicates it is divided by the mass). Note this definition follows naturally from the nondimensionalisation and is used in many texts however it may also be defined as the inverse of this.
 * The initial temperature distribution: $$u(x,0) = 0, \; \forall x \geq 0

$$
 * The initial depth of the melted ice block: $$s(0) = 0

$$
 * The Neumann solution, obtained by using self-similar variables, indicates that the position of the boundary is given by $s(t) = 2 \lambda \sqrt{t}

$ where $$\lambda $$ satisfies the transcendental equation $$ \beta \lambda = \frac{1}{\sqrt{\pi}}\frac{\mathrm{e}^{-\lambda^2}}{\text{erf}(\lambda)}. $$ The temperature in the liquid is then given by $$T=1-\frac{\text{erf}\left(\frac{x}{2\sqrt{t}}\right)}{\text{erf}(\lambda)}. $$

Applications
Apart from modelling melting of solids, Stefan problem is also used as a model for the asymptotic behaviour (in time) of more complex problems. For example, Pego uses matched asymptotic expansions to prove that Cahn-Hilliard solutions for phase separation problems behave as solutions to a non-linear Stefan problem at an intermediate time scale. Additionally, the solution of the Cahn–Hilliard equation for a binary mixture is reasonably comparable with the solution of a Stefan problem. In this comparison, the Stefan problem was solved using a front-tracking, moving-mesh method with homogeneous Neumann boundary conditions at the outer boundary. Also, Stefan problems can be applied to describe phase transformations other than solid-fluid or fluid-fluid.

Application of Stefan problem to metal crystallization in electrochemical deposition of metal powders was envisaged by Călușaru

The Stefan problem also has a rich inverse theory; in such problems, the melting depth (or curve or hyper-surface) $s$ is the known datum and the problem is to find $u$ or $f$.

Advanced forms of Stefan problem
The classical Stefan problem deals with stationary materials with constant thermophysical properties (usually irrespective of phase), a constant phase change temperature and, in the example above, an instantaneous switch from the initial temperature to a distinct value at the boundary. In practice thermal properties may vary and specifically always do when the phase changes. The jump in density at phase change induces a fluid motion: the resultant kinetic energy does not figure in the standard energy balance. With an instantaneous temperature switch the initial fluid velocity is infinite, resulting in an initial infinite kinetic energy. In fact the liquid layer is often in motion, thus requiring advection or convection terms in the heat equation. The melt temperature may vary with size, curvature or speed of the interface. It is impossible to instantaneously switch temperatures and then difficult to maintain an exact fixed boundary temperature. Further, at the nanoscale the temperature may not even follow Fourier's law.

A number of these issues have been tackled in recent years for a variety of physical applications. In the solidification of supercooled melts an analysis where the phase change temperature depends on the interface velocity may be found in Font et al. Nanoscale solidification, with variable phase change temperature and energy/density effects are modelled in. Solidification with flow in a channel has been studied, in the context of lava and microchannels, or with a free surface in the context of water freezing over an ice layer. A general model including different properties in each phase, variable phase change temperature and heat equations based on either Fourier's law or the Guyer-Krumhansl equation is analysed in.

Historical references

 * . An interesting historical paper on the early days of the theory; a preprint version (in PDF format) is available here.

Scientific and general references

 * . Contains an extensive bibliography, 460 items of which deal with the Stefan and other free boundary problems, updated to 1982.
 * . An important monograph from one of the leading contributors to the field, describing his proof of the existence of a classical solution to the multidimensional Stefan problem and surveying its historical development.
 * . The paper containing Olga Oleinik's proof of the existence and uniqueness of a generalized solution for the three-dimensional Stefan problem, based on previous researches of her pupil S.L. Kamenomostskaya.
 * . The earlier account of the research of the author on the Stefan problem.
 * . In this paper the author proves the existence and uniqueness of a generalized solution for the three-dimensional Stefan problem, later improved by her master Olga Oleinik.
 * . A comprehensive reference, written by one of the leading contributors to the theory, updated up to 1962–1963 and containing a bibliography of 201 items.
 * . The impressive personal bibliography of the author on moving and free boundary problems (M–FBP) for the heat-diffusion equation (H–DE), containing about 5900 references to works appeared on approximately 884 different kinds of publications. Its declared objective is trying to give a comprehensive account of the existing western mathematical–physical–engineering literature on this research field. Almost all the material on the subject, published after the historical and first paper of Lamé–Clapeyron (1831), has been collected. Sources include scientific journals, symposium or conference proceedings, technical reports and books.
 * . A comprehensive reference, written by one of the leading contributors to the theory, updated up to 1962–1963 and containing a bibliography of 201 items.
 * . The impressive personal bibliography of the author on moving and free boundary problems (M–FBP) for the heat-diffusion equation (H–DE), containing about 5900 references to works appeared on approximately 884 different kinds of publications. Its declared objective is trying to give a comprehensive account of the existing western mathematical–physical–engineering literature on this research field. Almost all the material on the subject, published after the historical and first paper of Lamé–Clapeyron (1831), has been collected. Sources include scientific journals, symposium or conference proceedings, technical reports and books.

title: Stefan problem


text:
Stuart Brisley

Stuart Brisley (born 1933) is a British artist.

Education
Brisley studied at Guildford School of Art from 1949 to 1954 and at the Royal College of Art from 1956 to 1959. In 1959–60 he attended the Akademie der Bildenden Künste in Munich, Germany, and from 1960 to 1962 studied at Florida State University in Tallahassee, Florida, in the United States.

Career
In 1968 he took part in the occupation of Hornsey College of Art by staff and students, the "Hornsey sit-in".

In the 1960s and 1970s he was active as a performance artist; his works were inspired by Marxist political ideas, and frequently used extended duration as an aspect of the performance. In the 1980s he turned to sculpture and installation art.

After a long academic career, Brisley is a Professor Emeritus of the Slade School of Fine Art.

title: Stuart Brisley