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Kucha

Kucha or Kuche (also: Kuçar, Kuchar; كۇچار, Кучар;, ; 𑀓𑀽𑀘𑀻𑀦) was an ancient Buddhist kingdom located on the branch of the Silk Road that ran along the northern edge of what is now the Taklamakan Desert in the Tarim Basin and south of the Muzat River.

The former area of Kucha now lies in present-day Aksu Prefecture, Xinjiang, China. Kuqa town is the county seat of Aksu Prefecture's Kuqa County. Its population was given as 74,632 in 1990.

Etymology
The history of toponyms for modern Kucha remains somewhat problematic; however, it is clear that Kucha, Kuchar (in Turkic languages) and Kuché (modern Chinese), correspond to the Kushan of Indic scripts from late antiquity.

While Chinese transcriptions of the Han or the Tang imply that Küchï was the original form of the name, Guzan or Küsan is attested in the Tibetan Annals (s.v.), dating from 687 CE. Old Uyghur and Old Mandarin transcriptions from the Mongol Empire support the forms Küsän / Güsän and Kuxian / Quxian respectively, instead of Küshän or Kushan. Another, cognate Chinese transliteration is Ku-sien.

Transcriptions of the name Kushan in Indic scripts from late antiquity include the spelling Guṣān, and are reflected in at least one Khotanese Tibetan transcription.

The forms Kūsān and Kūs are attested in Mirza Muhammad Haidar Dughlat's 16th-century work in Chaghatai, the Tarikh-i Rashidi. Both names, as well as Kos, Kucha, Kujar etc., were used for modern Kucha.

Kingdom
For a long time, Kucha was the most populous oasis in the Tarim Basin. As a Central Asian metropolis, it was part of the Silk Road economy, and was in contact with the rest of Central Asia, including Sogdia and Bactria, and thus also with the cultures of South Asia, Iran, and the coastal areas of China.

The main population of Kucha was part of the ancient population of the Tarim Basin known as the Tocharians, and Kuchans spoke an Indo-European language known as Kuchean Tocharian. The Tocharians are associated with the earlier Afanasievo culture, a population derived from the ancient North Eurasians. Chinese sources from the 2nd century BCE mentioned Wusun populations with blue eyes and red hair in the area of the Ili River to the northwest of Kucha.

Chinese official and diplomat Zhang Qian traveled the area westward to visit Central Asia, during the 2nd century BCE, stopping at Kucha. Chinese chronicles recount that Princess Xijun, a Han princess married to the king of the Wusun, had a daughter who was sent to the Han court in 64 BC, but when the daughter stopped at Kucha on the way, she decided to marry the king of Kucha instead.

According to the Book of Han (completed in 111 CE), Kucha was the largest of the "Thirty-six Kingdoms of the Western Regions", with a population of 81,317, including 21,076 persons able to bear arms. The Kingdom of Kucha occupied a strategic position on the Northern Silk Road, which brought prosperity, and made Kucha a wealthy center of trade and culture.

Han-Xiongnu contention
During the Later Han (25–220 CE), Kucha, with the whole Tarim Basin, became a focus of rivalry between the Xiongnu to the north and the Han Chinese to the east. In 74 CE, Chinese troops started to take control of the Tarim Basin with the conquest of Turfan. In the first century CE, Kucha resisted the Chinese and allied itself with the Xiongnu and the Yuezhi against the Chinese general Ban Chao. Even the Kushan Empire of Kujula Kadphises sent an army to the Tarim Basin to support Kucha, but they retreated after minor encounters.

Chinese conquest
In 124, Kucha formally submitted to the Chinese court, and by 127 China had conquered the whole of the Tarim Basin. Kucha became a part of the Western protectorate of the Chinese Han dynasty, with China's control of the Silk Road facilitating the exchange of art and the propagation of Buddhism from Central Asia. The Roman Maes Titianus visited the area in the 2nd century CE, as did numerous great Buddhist missionaries such as the Parthian An Shigao, the Yuezhis Lokaksema and Zhi Qian, or the Indian Zhú Shuòfú (竺朔佛). Around 150 CE, Chinese power in the western territories receded, and the Tarim Basin and its city-states regained independence.

4th- and 5th-century Silk Road
Kucha became very powerful and rich in the last quarter of the 4th century CE, about to take over most of the trade along the Silk Road at the expense of the Southern Silk Road, which lay along the southern edge of the Tarim Basin. According to the Jinshu, Kucha was highly fortified, had a splendid royal palace, as well as many Buddhist stupas and temples:

"There are fortified cities everywhere, their ramparts are three-fold, inside there are thousands of Buddhist stupas and temples (...) The royal palace is magnificent, glowing like a heavenly abode'."

Culture flourished, and Indian Sanskrit scriptures were being translated by the Kuchean monk and translator Kumarajiva (344–413 CE), himself the son of a man from Kashmir and a Kuchean mother. The southern kingdoms of Shanshan and the Jushi Kingdom (now Turfan and Jiaohe) asked for Chinese assistance in countering Kucha and its neighbour Karashar. The Chinese general Lü Guang was sent with a military force by Emperor Fu Jian (357–385) of the Former Qin (351–394). Lü Guang obtained the surrender of Karashar and conquered Kucha in 383 CE. Lü Guang mentioned the powerful armour of Kucha soldiers, a type of Sasanian chainmail and lamellar armour that can also be seen in the paintings of the Kizil Caves as noted in the Biography of Chinese General Lü Guang: "They were skillful with arrows and horses, and good with short and long spears. Their armour was like chain link; even if one shoots it, [the arrow] cannot go in."

Lü Guang soon retired and the empire of Fu Jian crumbled against the Eastern Jin, and he established a principality in Gansu, bringing Kumarajiva together with him.

6th century
Kucha ambassadors are known to have visited the Chinese court of Emperor Yuan of Liang in his capital Jingzhou in 516–520 CE, at or around the same time as the Hepthalite embassies there. An ambassador from Kucha is illustrated in Portraits of Periodical Offering of Liang, painted in 526–539 CE, an 11th-century Song copy of which has survived.

The Chinese pilgrim Xuanzang visited Kucha and in the 630s described Kucha at some length, and the following are excerpts from his descriptions of Kucha: "The soil is suitable for rice and grain... it produces grapes, pomegranates and numerous species of plums, pears, peaches, and almonds... The ground is rich in minerals-gold, copper, iron, and lead and tin. The air is soft, and the manners of the people honest. The style of writing is Indian, with some differences. They excel other countries in their skill in playing on the lute and pipe. They clothe themselves with ornamental garments of silk and embroidery... There are about one hundred convents in this country, with five thousand and more disciples. These belong to the Little Vehicle of the school of the Sarvastivadas. Their doctrine and their rules of discipline are like those of India, and those who read them use the same originals... About 40 li to the north of this desert city there are two convents close together on the slope of a mountain... Outside the western gate of the chief city, on the right and left side of the road, there are erect figures of Buddha, about 90 feet high."

A specific style of music developed within the region and "Kuchean" music gained popularity as it spread along the trade lines of the Silk Road. Lively scenes of Kuchean music and dancing can be found in the Kizil Caves and are described in the writings of Xuanzang. "[T]he fair ladies and benefactresses of Kizil and Kumtura in their tight-waisted bodices and voluminous skirts recall—notwithstanding the Buddhic theme—that at all the halting places along the Silk Road, in all the rich caravan towns of the Tarim, Kucha was renowned as a city of pleasures, and that as far as China men talked of its musicians, its dancing girls, and its courtesans." Kuchean music was very popular in Tang China, particularly the lute, which became known in Chinese as the pipa. For example, within the collection of the Guimet Museum, two Tang female musician figures represent the two prevailing traditions: one plays a Kuchean pipa and the other plays a Chinese jiegu (an Indian-style drum). The music of Kucha, along with other early medieval music, was transmitted from China to Japan during the same period and is preserved there, somewhat transformed, as gagaku or Japanese court music.

7th to 13th centuries
Following its conquest by the Tang dynasty in the early 7th century, during Emperor Taizong's campaign against the Western Regions, the city of Kucha was regarded by Han Chinese as one of the Four Garrisons of Anxi: the "Pacified West", or even its capital.

During a few decades of domination by the Tibetan Empire, in the late 7th century, Kucha was usually at least semi-independent.

In the 8th and 9th centuries, Uyghurs increasingly migrated into the area. After the destruction of the Uyghur Khaganate by Kyrgyz forces in 840, Kucha became an important center of the Uyghur kingdom of Qocho.

The extensive ruins of the ancient capital and the Subashi Temple (Chinese Qiuci), which was abandoned in the 13th century, lie 20 km north of modern Kucha.

Modern Kucha
Francis Younghusband, who passed through the oasis in 1887 on his journey from Beijing to India, described the district as "probably" having some 60,000 inhabitants. The modern Chinese town was about 700 yd2 with a 25 ft high wall, with no bastions or protection to the gateways, but a ditch about 20 ft deep around it. It was filled with houses and "a few bad shops". The "Turk houses" ran right up to the edge of the ditch and there were remains of an old city to the south-east of the Chinese one, but most of the shops and houses were outside of it. About 800 yd north of the Chinese city were barracks for 500 soldiers out of a garrison he estimated to total about 1500 men, who were armed with old Enfield rifles "with the Tower mark."

Kucha is now part of Kuqa, Xinjiang. It is divided into the new city, which includes the People's Square and transportation center, and the old city, where the Friday market and vestiges of the past city wall and cemetery are located. Along with agriculture, the city also manufactures cement, carpets, and other household necessities in its local factories.

Archaeological investigations
There are several significant archaeological sites in the region which were investigated by the third (1905–1907, led by Albert Grünwedel) and fourth (1913–1914, led by Albert von Le Coq) German Turfan expeditions. Those in the immediate vicinity include the cave site of Achik-Ilek and Subashi.

Kucha and Buddhism
Kucha was an important Buddhist center from Antiquity until the late Middle Ages. Buddhism was introduced to Kucha before the end of the 1st century, however it was not until the 4th century that the kingdom became a major center of Buddhism, primarily the Sarvastivada, but eventually also Mahayana Buddhism during the Uighur period. In this respect it differed from Khotan, a Mahayana-dominated kingdom on the southern side of the desert.

According to the Book of Jin, during the third century there were nearly one thousand Buddhist stupas and temples in Kucha. At this time, Kuchanese monks began to travel to China. The fourth century saw yet further growth for Buddhism within the kingdom. The palace was said to resemble a Buddhist monastery, displaying carved stone Buddhas, and monasteries around the city were numerous.

Kucha is well known as the home of the great fifth-century translator monk Kumārajīva (344–413).

Po-Yen
A monk from the royal family known as Boyan travelled to the Chinese capital, Luoyang, from 256 to 260. He translated six Buddhist texts into Chinese in 258 at China's famous White Horse Temple, including the Longer Sukhāvatīvyūha Sūtra, an important sutra in Pure Land Buddhism.

Po-Śrīmitra
Po-Śrīmitra was another Kuchean monk who traveled to China from 307 to 312 and translated three Buddhist texts.

Po-Yen
A second Kuchean Buddhist monk known as Po-Yen also went to Liangzhou (modern Wuwei, Gansu, China) and is said to have been well respected, although he is not known to have translated any texts.

Tocharian languages

The language of Kucha, as evidenced by surviving manuscripts and inscriptions, was Kuśiññe (Kushine) also known as Tocharian B or West Tocharian, an Indo-European language. Later, under the Uighur domination, the Kingdom of Kucha gradually became Turkic-speaking. Kuśiññe was completely forgotten until the early 20th century, when inscriptions and documents in two related (but mutually unintelligible) languages were discovered at various sites in the Tarim Basin. Conversely, Tocharian A, or Ārśi was native to the region of Turpan (known later as Turfan) and Agni (Qarašähär; Karashar), although the Kuśiññe language also seems to have been spoken there.

While written in a Central Asian Brahmi script used typically for Indo-Iranian languages, the Tocharian languages (as they became known by modern scholars) belong to the centum group of Indo-European languages, which are otherwise native to Southern and Western Europe. The precise dating of known Tocharian texts is contested, but they were written around the 6th to 8th centuries CE (although Tocharian speakers must have arrived in the region much earlier). Both languages became extinct before circa 1000 CE. Scholars are still trying to piece together a fuller picture of these languages, their origins, history and connections, etc.

Neighbors
The kingdom bordered Aksu and Kashgar to the west and Karasahr and Turpan to the east. Across the Taklamakan Desert to the south was Khotan.

Kucha and the Kizil Caves
The Kizil Caves lie about 70 km northwest of Kucha and were included within the rich fourth-century kingdom of Kucha. The caves claim origins from the royal family of ancient Kucha, specifically a local legend involving Princess Zaoerhan, the daughter of the King of Kucha. While out hunting, the princess met and fell in love with a local mason. When the mason approached the king to ask for permission to marry the princess, the king was appalled and vehemently against the union. He told the young man he would not grant permission unless the mason carved 1000 caves into the local hills. Determined, the mason went to the hills and began carving in order to prove himself to the king. After three years and carving 999 caves, he died from the exhaustion of the work. The distraught princess found his body, and grieved herself to death, and now, her tears are said to be current waterfalls that cascade down some of the cave's rock faces.

Coinage

From around the third or fourth century Kucha began the manufacture of Wu Zhu (五銖) cash coins inspired by the diminutive and devalued Wu Zhu's of the post-Han dynasty era in Chinese history. It is very likely that the cash coins produced in Kucha predate the Kaiyuan Tongbao (開元通寳) and that the native production of coins stopped sometime after the year 621 when the Wu Zhu cash coins were discontinued in China proper. The coinage of Kucha includes the "Han Qiu bilingual Wu Zhu coin" (漢龜二體五銖錢, hàn qiū èr tǐ wǔ zhū qián) which has a yet undeciphered text belonging to a language spoken in Kucha.

Timeline

 * 630: Xuanzang visited the kingdom.

Rulers
(Names are in modern Mandarin pronunciations based on ancient Chinese records)
 * Hong (弘) 16
 * Cheng De (丞德) 36
 * Ze Luo (則羅) 46
 * Shen Du (身毒) 50
 * Jiang Bin (絳賓) 72
 * Jian (建) 73
 * You Liduo (尤利多) 76
 * Bai Ba (白霸) 91
 * Bai Ying (白英) 110–127
 * Bai Shan (白山) 280
 * Long Hui (龍會) 326
 * Bai Chun (白純) 349
 * Bai Zhen (白震) 382
 * Niruimo Zhunashen (尼瑞摩珠那勝) 521
 * Bai Sunidie (白蘇尼咥) 562
 * Anandavarman ?
 * Tottika (circa 550–600)
 * Suvarnapushpa (白蘇伐勃駃 Bái Sūfábókuài) 600–625
 * Suvarnadeva (白蘇伐疊 Bai Sufadie) 625-645
 * Haripuspa (白訶黎布失畢, Bai Helibushibi) 647
 * Bai Yehu (白葉護) 648
 * Bai Helibushibi (白訶黎布失畢) 650
 * Bai Suji (白素稽) 659
 * Yan Tiandie (延田跌) 678
 * Bai Mobi (白莫苾) 708
 * Bai Xiaojie (白孝節) 719
 * Bai Huan (白環) 731–789? / Tang general – Guo Xin 789

title: Kucha


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Talk:Franchthi

can the article be changed to Franchthi? --Yak 18:36, 28 Jul 2004 (UTC)

 * Agreed- looks like I missed out an 'h' adamsan 18:24, 6 Aug 2004 (UTC)

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

title: Talk:Franchthi


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Hazel Wolf High School

Hazel Wolf High School was a private, Waldorf high school located at the south end of Seattle's Queen Anne neighborhood, having moved there from the Roosevelt district. It opened in September 1999 after five years of planning, and merged with Seattle Waldorf School in 2007.

title: Hazel Wolf High School


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List of Olympic medalists in art competitions

There were 146 medalists in the art competitions that were part of the Olympic Games from 1912 until 1948. These art competitions were considered an integral part of the movement by International Olympic Committee (IOC) founder Pierre de Coubertin and necessary to recapture the complete essence of the Ancient Olympic Games. Their absence before the 1912 Summer Olympics, according to journalism professor Richard Stanton, stems from Coubertin "not wanting to fragment the focus of his new and fragile movement". Art competitions were originally planned for inclusion in the 1908 Summer Olympics but were delayed after that edition's change in venue from Rome to London following the 1906 eruption of Mount Vesuvius. By the 1924 Summer Olympics they had grown to be considered internationally relevant and potentially "a milestone in advancing public awareness of art as a whole".

During their first three appearances, the art competitions were grouped into five broad categories: architecture, literature, music, painting, and sculpture. The Dutch Organizing Committee for the 1928 Summer Olympics split these into subcategories in the hopes of increasing participation. Although it was a successful strategy, the 1932 Summer Olympics eliminated several of these subcategories, which led to fewer entries in the broader categories. For the 1936 Summer Olympics, the German government proposed the addition of a film contest to the program, which was rejected.

Following a final appearance at the 1948 Summer Olympics, art competitions were removed from the Olympic program. Planners of the 1952 Summer Olympics opposed their inclusion on logistical grounds, claiming that the lack of an international association for the event meant that the entire onus of facilitation was placed on the local organizing committee. Concerns were also raised about the professionalism of the event, since only amateurs were allowed to participate in the sporting tournaments, and the growing commercialization of the competitions, as artists had been permitted to sell their submissions during the course of the Games since 1928. In 1952 an art festival and exhibition was held concurrent with the Games, a tradition that has been maintained in all subsequent Summer Olympics.

The IOC does not track medalists in Olympic art competitions in its database and thus the prize winners are only officially recorded in the original Olympic reports. Judges were not required to distribute first, second, and third place awards for every category, and thus certain events lack medalists in these placements. Since participants were allowed multiple submissions, it was also possible for artists to win more than one in a single event, as Alex Diggelmann of Switzerland did in the graphic arts category of the 1948 edition. Diggelmann is tied with Denmark's Josef Petersen, who won second prize three times in literature, for the number of medals captured in the art competitions. Luxembourg's Jean Jacoby is the only individual to win two gold medals, doing so in painting in 1924 and 1928. Of the 146 medalists, 11 were women and only Finnish author Aale Tynni was awarded gold. Germany was the most successful nation, with eight gold, seven silver, and nine bronze medals, although one was won by Coubertin himself, a Frenchman. He submitted his poem Ode to Sport under the pseudonyms Georges Hohrod and Martin Eschbach, as if it were a joint-entry, and won first prize in the 1912 literature category. The original report credits this medal to Germany. Two individuals, Walter W. Winans and Alfréd Hajós, won medals in both athletic and art competitions.


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Newton Cannon

Newton Cannon (May 22, 1781 – September 16, 1841) was an American politician who served as the eighth Governor of Tennessee from 1835 to 1839. He also served several terms in the United States House of Representatives, from 1814 to 1817, and from 1819 to 1823. Cannon was a long-time foe of Andrew Jackson, and spent much of his political career opposing Jacksonite policies. Cannon was succeeded as Governor of Tennessee by James K. Polk in 1839, who later became President of the United States.

Early life
Born in Guilford County, North Carolina, Cannon was the son of Minos Cannon, who served as a soldier in the Continental Army. The family moved to the area that later became Williamson County, Tennessee, around 1790.

Cannon received a common school education and tried several occupations as a young man, working as a saddler, merchant and surveyor, and undertaking the study of law, before eventually becoming a planter in Williamson County. He owned slaves.

Career
Cannon entered political office in 1811, representing Williamson, Rutherford, Maury, Bedford, Lincoln, and Giles counties in the state senate in the 9th Tennessee General Assembly (1811–1812). He served in the Creek War of 1813 as a colonel in the Tennessee Mounted Rifles.

In 1813, he was a candidate for United States House of Representatives, losing the election to Felix Grundy. He won election to the seat as a Democratic- Republican the following year, however, in a special election held after Grundy resigned. Cannon was later reelected to a full term in the House, serving from September 16, 1814, to March 3, 1817. In 1819, he accepted an assignment from President James Monroe to negotiate a treaty with the Chickasaw. He was again elected to the U.S. House for the 16th Congress and won re-election to the 17th Congress, serving from March 4, 1819, to March 3, 1823.

Governorship
Cannon first sought the Tennessee governorship in 1827 in a field that initially included Sam Houston, former governor Willie Blount, Felix Grundy, and aging frontiersman John Rhea. Cannon lost the election to Houston by a vote of 44,426 to 33,410. He subsequently returned to the General Assembly as a state senator, representing Rutherford and Williamson counties in the 18th General Assembly (1829–1830), and aligned himself with Andrew Erwin, John Williams and Davy Crockett, to oppose the policies of Jackson and his allies. He was elected as a delegate to the Tennessee Constitutional Convention of 1834, at which he served as chairman of the Committee of the Whole.

Cannon again ran for governor in 1835, defeating incumbent William Carroll by a vote of 41,970 to 31,205. Carroll had been a popular governor, but he was seeking a fourth consecutive two-year term in spite of a provision of the state constitution that limited a governor to three terms. Carroll maintained that the gubernatorial term limit in the state's original constitution no longer applied because it was replaced by a new constitution in 1834. Cannon, however, argued that the 1834 constitution was a revision rather than a replacement for the original constitution. Cannon's view apparently prevailed with the voters. Cannon's election was also aided by division among Tennessee Democrat-Republicans over the U.S. Presidential candidacy of Tennessean Hugh Lawson White in opposition to the national party's choice of Martin Van Buren.

Cannon was the first member of the Whig Party to be elected governor of Tennessee. He became the first governor to benefit from increased powers given to the office by the state constitution of 1834. As governor, in 1836 he convened the first special session of the legislature in state history.

Cannon was re-elected to a second term as governor in 1837, defeating General Robert Armstrong. In his second term as governor, both houses of the General Assembly were controlled by Whigs, and the legislature approved proposals to create a new state bank and to expand state support for internal improvements such as roads, railroads, and canals. An advocate for public education, Cannon designated some revenues from the state bank to pay for schools. Cannon was publicly criticized for his implementation of the new laws, especially in East Tennessee, where voters grew impatient over his lack of support for the Hiwassee Railroad.

In 1839, state Democrats, determined to defeat Cannon, convinced rising politician and Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives James K. Polk to run against him. The two candidates toured the state together to give a series of public debates, the first of which took place at Murfreesboro on April 11, 1839. Cannon typically delivered slower, more methodical arguments, and was outshone in the debates by the quicker and wittier Polk. In the election, Polk narrowly defeated Cannon by a vote of 54,680 to 52,114.

Cannon wanted to run against Polk in 1841, but Whig leaders instead nominated James C. Jones, thinking that Cannon would not be able to defeat Polk.

Cannon died in Nashville at the age of sixty, just two years after his last candidacy for governor. He is interred in a cemetery on the grounds of his estate in Williamson County near Allisona.

Opposition to Andrew Jackson
Throughout his political career, Newton Cannon was known for his personal and political antagonism toward Andrew Jackson, whose policies he consistently opposed. Three different supposed interactions between the two men all have been suggested as explanations for the origin of Cannon's antipathy to Jackson. The earliest of these interactions involved a horse track known as Clover Bottom that Jackson owned together with a pair of brothers, William and Patten Anderson. Cannon is purported to have lost substantial amounts of money and other possessions from gambling at Clover Bottom, and is said to have blamed Jackson and the Andersons for his losses, suspecting them of fixing races. The second encounter occurred in 1812 when Cannon served on a jury in a trial of Jonathan Magness who, with his two sons David and Perry Green, had been accused of murder in the death of Patten Anderson. After the jury returned a verdict of not guilty, Jackson is said to have shaken his fist at Cannon, saying "I'll mark you, young man." Perhaps the most compelling explanation is Cannon's disapproval of Jackson's military leadership when he served as a detachment leader under Jackson's command during the Creek War. Cannon is said to have believed that Jackson had deliberately exposed Cannon and his men to unnecessary dangers.

Family life and legacy
Cannon was married twice. In 1813, he married Leah Pryor Perkins. She died in 1816. In 1818, he married Rachel Starnes Willborn. He was the father of ten children. A daughter, Rachel Adeline Cannon Maney, was for many years an owner of the Oaklands estate in Murfreesboro. The Civil War journals of a grandson, also named Newton Cannon, were published in 1963 as The Reminiscences of Newton Cannon: First Sergeant, 11th Tennessee Cavalry, C.S.A.

Cannon County, Tennessee, which was established during Cannon's governorship, is named in his honor.

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USS Dennis

USS Dennis (DE-405) was a John C. Butler-class destroyer escort in the service with the United States Navy from 1944 to 1946. She was scrapped in 1973.

History
Dennis was named after Radioman Third Class Otis Lee Dennis was born in Scottsville, Allen County, Kentucky on 25 March 1913. He was killed in action 1 February 1942 with Carleton Thayer Fogg (namesake of USS Fogg (DE-57)) when their Douglas SBD Dauntless was lost during an attack launched by USS Enterprise (CV-6) on Roi-Namur, Kwajalein. It was one of the first offensive operations following Pearl Harbor.

Dennis was launched on 4 December 1943 by Brown Shipbuilding, in Houston, Texas; sponsored by Mrs. J. L. Dennis, mother of the late Radioman Third Class Dennis; and commissioned on 20 March 1944.

Dennis differed from most ships in her class in that she had a quadruple mount and a twin mount of Bofors 40 mm guns instead of two twin mounts. This represented a 50% increase in medium anti-aircraft guns.

Pacific War
Dennis arrived at Pearl Harbor on 19 June 1944 to escort a convoy to Eniwetok and Kwajalein. She returned to Eniwetok on 29 July screening the light carrier USS Belleau Wood (CVL-24). Joining the 5th Fleet, she escorted Carrier Division 22 to Manus for exercises, then sortied with Task Force 77 on 10 September to supply air support for the landings on Morotai Island from 15 to 27 September.

From 12 October, Dennis screened the escort carriers supplying the air cover for the invasion of Leyte. On 25 October, she joined her carriers in making history as they fought a gallant action with the Japanese counter-attacking force in the Battle off Samar phase of the Battle of Leyte Gulf. Dennis was positioned alone as the final destroyer escort between the screen of destroyers and destroyers escorts and the escort carriers being shielded. Dennis was credited with torpedoing and sinking a Japanese heavy cruiser in that action. Dennis rescued 434 survivors from the escort carrier USS St. Lo (CVE-63), which had been sunk by a kamikaze. For this action, she shared in the Presidential Unit Citation awarded to TU 77.4.3, "Taffy 3". Arriving at Kossol Roads, Palaus on 28 October, she sailed three days later for the west coast, arriving at San Francisco, California on 26 November for an overhaul.

Returning to the forward area Dennis departed Guam on 16 February 1945 for the invasion of Iwo Jima, patrolling off the island until 8 March, when she sailed to escort a convoy to Ulithi. On 21 March, she proceeded to join a carrier group launching air strikes in preparation for the invasion of Okinawa. She remained with the carriers as they gave close support to the invasion forces ashore. On 4 May, she rescued 88 of the crew of the escort carrier USS Sangamon (CVE-26), a kamikaze victim. She served on radar picket duty at Ulithi from 9 May-3 June, then returned to Okinawa to join the Third Fleet for strikes against the Japanese mainland until 26 June.

From 30 June 1945 until the end of the war, Dennis escorted convoys among Ulithi, Okinawa, the Philippines, and New Guinea. After the war, she escorted landing craft to Okinawa, then departed Leyte Gulf on 14 October for the west coast, arriving at San Diego, California on 6 November. She was placed out of commission in reserve there on 31 May 1946.

Honors
In addition to her Presidential Unit Citation, Dennis received four battle stars for World War II service.

title: USS Dennis


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West Hartford, Vermont

West Hartford is an unincorporated community village in the town of Hartford, Windsor County, Vermont, United States. It is one of Hartford's five villages, situated on the White River and crossed by the Appalachian Trail.

West Hartford no longer has a post office, but still has a local library, and a town park. The White River, is a nearby fishing site. The village's center is listed on the National Register of Historic Places as the West Hartford Village Historic District.

Geography
West Hartford is located in far northern Hartford, seven river miles up the White River from its mouth at the Connecticut River. Its center is at geographical coordinates 43° 42′ 44" North, 72° 25′ 7" West (43.71212, -72.418541). The White River runs through the Village and along Clifford Park.

History
The village of West Hartford was settled during the late 18th century, primarily organized around mills and outlying agricultural areas. The oldest surviving house in the village was built in 1795 by Francis and Abigail (Hazen) Savage. Abigail was the granddaughter of the area's first colonial landowner. A turnpike, now Vermont Route 14, was built along the river in 1800. The focal center of the village was established at Harper Savage Lane by construction of its first bridge to span the White River in 1820, and then by the construction of a railroad station nearby. By 1830, the village had a church and post office, and the village continued to thrive during the 19th century, mainly due to its proximity to White River Junction, an important railroad hub in the region. Much of the village was destroyed by a major flood in 1867. This natural disaster destroyed much of the local industry, with the exception of retail which continued, driven by the presence of the railroad.

In the spring of 1927, the Vermont rivers flooded, taking out several bridges including the West Hartford Bridge, then a covered bridge. Shortly after the flood, the bridges were all replaced with simple contemporary bridges that were tall, green, and steel trussed. In 2006, the West Hartford Bridge was replaced with a new single-span bridge named Veterans Bridge. The old bridge had a pool off of the downstream side where locals would jump off the bridge into the water. The new bridge is in a location where it is dangerous to jump because the deep pool is no longer accessible, although teens, children, and adults still jump off the bridge. At the foot of the new bridge, there is a small area in remembrance of Hartford Veterans.

Clifford Park is a town maintained park that includes nature trails, a softball field, horseshoe pits, and a picnic area on the river. Every summer, it is turned into a major landing area for the hot air balloons that have taken off at the Quechee Balloon Festival, and every Halloween it is the Haunted Area for local youths sponsored by the Hartford Parks and Recreation Department. The park is named Clifford, after the former owner of the land that now holds the park, and the land that is the Westfield Drive community.

On August 28, 2011, West Hartford was hit by Tropical Storm Irene. Several houses, the country store, the library, and the post office were affected. The post office was torn down, the store repaired, and the library has been rebuilt.

The bridge and road also suffered damage from this event. The bridge was out of commission for several weeks, forcing people to find alternative routes to get to work and into more populated areas. As for the road, Route 14, it was usable to a certain point. It was repaired slowly and in the village itself there were several large holes where the river gouged away the pavement, dirt, and gravel. In August 29, residents and volunteers were using their tractors and snowplows to clear Route 14 of mud and debris. The town's church was used as a place for gathering donated items and food to be collected for the victims of Storm Irene.

The storm left Clifford Park significantly damaged. It accumulated at least a foot of mud, and the playground, basketball half-court, tennis courts, and baseball field all had to be reconstructed. There are picnic tables underneath a shade structure, and benches stand here and there around the perimeter of the field, and the gravel parking lot is now outlined by a wooden fence.

Debris has been cleared and restoration is complete, but evidence of the storm's destruction can still be observed. Houses, roads, and riverbanks still bear the mark of Irene in erosion and weathering.

Schools
West Hartford elementary students attend Ottauquechee School in Quechee, VT (K-5) and attend middle and high school at Hartford Memorial Middle School (6-8) and Hartford High School (9-12). Large private schools in the area include: the Upper Valley Waldorf School in Quechee (K-8), Mid Vermont Christian School in Quechee (K-6) and the Middle School (7-8) and High School (9-12).

title: West Hartford, Vermont


text:
Moody's Corporation

Moody's Corporation, often referred to as Moody's, is an American business and financial services company. It is the holding company for Moody's Ratings (previously known as Moody's Investors Service), an American credit rating agency, and Moody's (previously known as Moody's Analytics), an American provider of financial analysis software and services.

Moody's was founded by John Moody in 1909 to produce manuals of statistics related to stocks and bonds and bond ratings. Moody's was acquired by Dun & Bradstreet in 1962. In 2000, Dun & Bradstreet spun off Moody's Corporation as a separate company that was listed on the NYSE under MCO. In 2007, Moody's Corporation was split into two operating divisions, Moody's Investors Service, the rating agency, and Moody's Analytics, with all of its other products. It was included in the Fortune 500 list for the first time in 2021.

History of Moody's
Moody's Corporation traces its history back to two publishing companies established by John Moody, the inventor of modern bond credit ratings. It was first published in 1900 by John Moody, nine years before he founded Moody's Corporation. Initially called Moody's Manual of Industrial and Miscellaneous Securities, it was later superseded by Moody's Manual of Railroads and Corporation Securities, then by Moody's Analyses of Investments.

In 1900, Moody published his first market assessment, called Moody's Manual of Industrial and Miscellaneous Securities, and established John Moody & Company. The publication provided detailed statistics relating to stocks and bonds of financial institutions, government agencies, manufacturing, mining, utilities, and food companies. It experienced early success, selling out its first print run in its first two months.

By 1903, Moody's Manual was a nationally recognized publication. The 1907 financial crisis fueled several changes in the markets, including the creation of the Federal Reserve System. Meanwhile, Moody was forced to sell his business, due to a shortage of capital. Moody returned in 1909 with a new publication focused solely on railroad bonds, Analysis of Railroad Investments, and a new company, Moody's Analyses Publishing Company.

In 1962, Moody's Investors Service was bought by Dun & Bradstreet, a firm engaged in the related field of credit reporting, although they continued to operate largely as independent companies. By the late 1990s, Moody's superior performance compared to its parent company brought investor pressure to separate the businesses. In 1998, Dun & Bradstreet sold the Moody's publishing business to Financial Communications (later renamed Mergent). In December 1999, Dun & Bradstreet announced it would spin off Moody's Investors Service into a separate publicly traded company. The spin-off was completed on September 30, 2000.

In December 2022, the company was added to the Dow Jones Sustainability World Index.

Moody's Ratings
Moody's Ratings, previously known as Moody's Investors Service, is the bond credit rating business of Moody's Corporation, representing the company's traditional line of business and its historical name. Moody's Ratings rates debt securities in several market segments related to public and commercial securities in the bond market. These include government, municipal and corporate bonds; managed investments such as money market funds, fixed-income funds and hedge funds; financial institutions including banks and non-bank finance companies; and asset classes in structured finance.

Moody's Ratings closest competitors are Standard & Poor's (S&P) and Fitch Group. Together, they are sometimes referred to as the Big Three credit rating agencies. Moody's Ratings and its close competitors play a key role in global capital markets as a supplementary credit analysis provider for banks and other financial institutions in assessing the credit risk of particular securities.

According to Moody's, the purpose of its ratings is to "provide investors with a simple system of gradation by which future relative creditworthiness of securities may be gauged". To each of its ratings from Aaa through Caa, Moody's appends numerical modifiers 1, 2 and 3; the lower the number, the higher-end the rating. Aaa, Ca and C are not modified this way.

Moody's
Moody's, previously known as Moody's Analytics, is a subsidiary of Moody's Corporation established in 2007 to focus on non-rating activities. It performs economic research related to credit analysis, performance management, financial modeling, structured analysis and financial risk management. Moody's also offers software and consulting services, including proprietary economic models and software tools, as well as professional training for the financial services sector, particularly risk management accreditation.

Moody's Analytics started in 1995 as a business unit providing quantitative analysis services, including credit risk assessment software and services, called Moody's Risk Management Service (MRMS), and grew through partnerships and acquisitions in the late 1990s and 2000s, expanding its client base and capabilities. Acquisitions included KMV, Economy.com, Wall Street Analytics, Fermat International, Enb Consulting Ltd., The Institute of Risk Standards and Qualifications (iRSQ), CSI Global Education Inc., and Bureau van Dijk.

The Moody's Foundation
In 2002, Moody's Corporation created a corporate philanthropy program, The Moody's Foundation, focused on educational initiatives in mathematics, economics and finance. The organization offers grants to 501(c)(3) non-profits and equivalent international organizations, accredited schools and some governmental organizations.

Since 2006, its main program is the annual Moody's Mega Math Challenge (M3 Challenge), a student academic challenge co-sponsored with the Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics (SIAM), in which several hundred teams of high school students use quantitative analysis and modeling to solve problems related to real-life financial topics such as Social Security and the Economic Stimulus Act of 2008. Since 2010.

Moody's Research Labs
Moody's Research Labs, Inc. was a business incubator focused on research and development specializing in financial risk modeling and analysis, focused on developing such products for use by other divisions of Moody's Corporation. Its president was Roger Stein. In March 2011 Moody's Analytics announced the release of a software program developed by Moody's Research Labs, the Mortgage Portfolio Analyzer, to assist portfolio managers in managing credit risk. Moody's Research Labs was dissolved in February 2012.

Lawsuit settlements
October 2011: Moody’s reached a settlement resolving claims by the state of Connecticut that the credit rating company unfairly gave lower ratings to public bonds.

July 2012: Moody’s said it reached a settlement with stockholders in lawsuits filed over structured finance ratings.

April 2013: Moody's reached a settlement avoiding what would have been their first jury trial over crisis-era ratings. The fourteen plaintiffs, were led by Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank and King County, Washington. They claimed lawsuits filed in 2008 and 2009 that Moody's misled them by allegedly inflating ratings on two so-called structured investment vehicles they purchased.

January 2017: Moody's Corporation, Moody's Analytics, and Moody's Investors Service reached an $863 million settlement with the U.S. Department of Justice and the attorneys general of 21 states and the District of Columbia "Arising From Conduct in the Lead up to the Financial Crisis." "The settlement resolves allegations arising from Moody’s role in providing credit ratings for Residential Mortgage-Backed Securities (RMBS) and Collateralized Debt Obligations (CDO), contributing to the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression." Then California Attorney General Kamala Harris and then Missouri Attorney General Josh Hawley were among the 21 state signatories.

March 2021: Moody's reached a settlement with the European Union regarding conflicts of interest. Moody's was fined €3.7 million ($4.35 million).

Acquisitions
In 2019, Moody's Corporation purchased the majority share in the California-based climate risk data firm, Four Twenty Seven (427), that "measures the physical risks" of "climate change". This acquisition is the "latest indication that global warming can threaten the creditworthiness of governments and companies" globally, according to a July 25, 2019 article in The New York Times. In 2021, Moody's acquired Risk Management Solutions (RMS) from Daily Mail and General Trust for $2 billion. RMS generates risk models for the insurance and reinsurance industries.

title: Moody's Corporation


text:
Global Engine Alliance

Global Engine Alliance LLC, began as a joint venture of Chrysler, Mitsubishi Motors, and Hyundai Motor Company for developing a line of shared engines.

In September 2009, Chrysler purchased Mitsubishi and Hyundai's shares, after 5 years of allied research and development, making its Dundee, Michigan plant a wholly owned subsidiary of what was then Chrysler Group LLC.

Global Engine Manufacturing Alliance
Global Engine Manufacturing Alliance, LLC (GEMA) was the manufacturing arm of the Global Engine Alliance and consisted of five factories worldwide. Production began in 2005, with an annual capacity of approximately two million engines; each plant was capable of producing 420,000. Twenty different automobile models from the three companies were to use the engines. Chrysler had expected to use GEMA engines in ten models and projects, and buy up to 840,000 GEMA engines annually.

The Dundee plants were purchased by Chrysler in December, 2012, and renamed the Chrysler Dundee Engine Plant(s). After Chrysler's assimilation into FCA, the plant simply became known as the Dundee Engine Plant.

Design
Hyundai was initially responsible for leading the design of the base engine, while the Chrysler Group and Mitsubishi were involved in making other important engineering contributions pertaining to the design. The design features Siamese bores, an aluminium block with cast-iron cylinder liners, and an aluminium head. Different cylinder liners could be fitted to increase or decrease displacement depending on manufacturers needs. Each manufacturer configured their variants of the initial design differently based on their engineering needs and standards, so consumers may experience very different power, fuel efficiency, and "feel" from each manufacturer.

title: Global Engine Alliance


text:
Talk:Tang (fish)

Something doesn't seem to be right in the description of tangs. The article has a picture of a blue tang and says they don't live in the Atlantic, but 30 seconds in google searching for Blue Tang Habitat comes up with a lot claiming they live in the Caribbean.

http://www.google.com/search?q=blue+tang+habitat&hl=en

http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/fish/Gallery/Descript/BlueTang/BlueTang.html

http://animal-world.com/encyclo/marine/tangs/caribblue.php

http://www.fishtanksandponds.com/fishprofiles/bluetang.htm

 * Different species have different ranges. This article is kind of a mess overall actually. Stan 20:51, 28 Jul 2004 (UTC)

Hrm...maybe you're mixing up Acanthurus coeruleus (Atlantic Blue Tang) with Paracanthurus hepatus (Regal Blue Tang)? They're two totally different species with similar common names...CarrieOkie86 (talk) 02:03, 9 June 2008 (UTC)

We should merge this page with the surgeonfish, as, after all, tangs and surgeonfish are the same type of fish.--Mr Fink 15:57, 19 April 2006 (UTC)

 * I agree with Mr Fink, definitely. This Tang article seems to concentrate on Zebrasoma, but Tang is not a description restricted to that genus.

I agree, someone seems to have added "Only this genus of surgeon fish is properly termed "Tang"."...that makes no sense, 'Tang' is not a proper name, so no, not only Zebrasoma is properly termed a tang. It is a generic name for all the fish in the family. -Chris

yep -agree totally.

The article tries to talk about Tangs (zebrasoma sp.) but then starts mentioning non-Z surgeons as if they were tangs - probably due to common confusion... Let's merge the Surgeon and tang articles - there is good info in both and a lot of redundancy.

title: Talk:Tang (fish)


text:
Chors

Chors may refer to:

 * Chors (deity), or Khors, a Slavic god
 * Chors Rural District, in Iran
 * Chors, Iran, a village
 * Chors Patera, a volcanic feature on Io

title: Chors


text:
Public Service Alliance of Canada

The Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC; Alliance de la Fonction publique du Canada, AFPC) is one of Canada's largest national labour unions. It is the largest union in the Canadian federal public sector. PSAC members work in every province and territory, and also work abroad in embassies and consulates.

Many of PSAC's some 200,000 members work for the federal public service, crown corporations, or agencies as immigration officers, fisheries officers, food inspectors, customs officers, national defence civilian employees, and the like. However, an increasing number of PSAC members work in non-federal sectors: in women's shelters, universities, security agencies and casinos. In Northern Canada, PSAC represents most unionized workers employed in the Yukon, Nunavut and the Northwest Territories.

PSAC is headquartered in Ottawa with 23 regional offices across Canada. PSAC's Ottawa headquarters building, designed in 1968 by Paul Schoeler, is a notable example of modernist architecture in Ottawa.

History
PSAC was formed when the Civil Service Association of Canada, led by Calbert Best, and Civil Service Federation of Canada, led by Claude Edwards, agreed to merge. Claude Edwards was elected as the first PSAC president. PSAC's founding convention took place at Ottawa's Chateau Laurier in 1966.

Bargaining
PSAC signed its first collective agreements with Treasury Board in 1968. By 2015, the union was negotiating 316 separate collective agreements under federal, provincial and territorial jurisdictions.

Strikes
PSAC's first strike came in November 1971 against Defence Construction Ltd. In 1980, the PSAC's large CR bargaining unit, made up largely of women clerical workers, went out on in Canada's biggest single bargaining unit work stoppage. PSAC's 1991 general strike, the largest single union strike in Canadian history, brought job security improvements. They held another strike in 2023.

Women in the union
Most founding convention delegates were men. In 1967, PSAC began organizing secretaries, stenographers and typists. By 1976, PSAC had abolished the practice of tying a secretary’s salary to the rank of her boss (a practice known as "rug-ranking"), created an Equal Opportunities Committee to address women's issues and elected Aileen Manion, PSAC's first female national officer.

Equality rights
From 1981 onward, PSAC's Equal Opportunities Committee included all equity-seeking groups. In 1988, PSAC adopted a comprehensive human rights policy. Action committees for members with disabilities and racially visible members started in 1990. By 1999, the union started holding conferences for racially visible members, Aboriginal Peoples and workers with disabilities. In 2004, the first network of Aboriginal, Inuit and Metis members was formed to advance their rights within and beyond the union.

Executive
The National President, the National Executive Vice-President and the seven Regional Executive Vice-Presidents (REVPs) form the Alliance Executive Committee (AEC). The AEC is responsible for the day-to-day decisions of the union with respect to finances, overseeing campaigns, mobilizing the membership, advocating on behalf of the membership and advancing the union and its members' rights in the workplace. The AEC meets monthly and as needed.

The current REVPs are:

 * Chris Di Liberatore, Regional Executive Vice-President, Atlantic
 * Yvon Barrière, Regional Executive Vice-President, Québec
 * Ruth Lau-MacDonald, Regional Executive Vice-President, National Capital Region
 * Craig Reynolds, Regional Executive Vice-President, Ontario
 * Marianne Hladun, Regional Executive Vice-President, Prairies
 * Jamey Mills, Regional Executive Vice-President, British Columbia
 * Josée-Anne Spirito, Regional Executive Vice-President, North

Components

 * Agriculture Union (AU/PSAC) formerly the Canada Agriculture National Employees Association (CANEA) charter union
 * Canada Employment and Immigration Union (CEIU/PSAC) charter union
 * Customs and Immigration Union (CIU/PSAC) charter union
 * Government Services Union (GSU/PSAC) joined after the merger in 1999 with the former Union of Public Works Employees and Supply and Services Union
 * Nunavut Employees Union (NEU/PSAC) joined in 1999, previously members had belonged to the UNW
 * Union of Canadian Transportation Employees (UCTE/PSAC) charter union – merged with the Natural Resources Union in 2017
 * Union of Health and Environment Workers (UHEW/PSAC) formed by a merger of the Union of Environment Workers and the National Health Union in 2016
 * Union of National Defence Employees (UNDE/PSAC) charter union
 * Union of National Employees (NE/PSAC) (formerly the National Component) charter union
 * Union of Northern Workers (UNW/PSAC) joined in 1970
 * Union of Postal Communications Employees (UPCE/PSAC) joined in 1967, successor to the former Canadian Railway Mail Clerks Federation
 * Union of Union of Safety and Justice Employees USJE/PSAC
 * Union of Taxation Employees (UTE/PSAC) charter union
 * Union of Veterans Employees (UVE/PSAC) charter union
 * Yukon Employees Union (YEU/PSAC) joined in 1990

Presidents

 * Sharon DeSousa (CEIU) 2024-Present
 * Chris Aylward (UTE) 2018–2024
 * Robyn Benson (UTE), 2012–2018
 * John Gordon (GSU), 2006–2012
 * Nycole Turmel (CEIU), 2000–2006
 * Daryl Bean (PWU/GSU), 1985–2000
 * Pierre Samson (CEIU), 1982–1985
 * Andy Stewart (AU), 1976–1982
 * Claude Edwards, Civil Service Federation of Canada (CSFC), 1966–1976

title: Public Service Alliance of Canada


text:
Backscatter

In physics, backscatter (or backscattering) is the reflection of waves, particles, or signals back to the direction from which they came. It is usually a diffuse reflection due to scattering, as opposed to specular reflection as from a mirror, although specular backscattering can occur at normal incidence with a surface. Backscattering has important applications in astronomy, photography, and medical ultrasonography. The opposite effect is forward scatter, e.g. when a translucent material like a cloud diffuses sunlight, giving soft light.

Backscatter of waves in physical space
Backscattering can occur in quite different physical situations, where the incoming waves or particles are deflected from their original direction by different mechanisms:
 * Diffuse reflection from large particles and Mie scattering, causing alpenglow and gegenschein, and showing up in weather radar;
 * Inelastic collisions between electromagnetic waves and the transmitting medium (Brillouin scattering and Raman scattering), important in fiber optics, see below;
 * Elastic collisions between accelerated ions and a sample (Rutherford backscattering)
 * Bragg diffraction from crystals, used in inelastic scattering experiments (neutron backscattering, X-ray backscattering spectroscopy);
 * Compton scattering, used in Backscatter X-ray imaging.
 * Stimulated backscatter, observed in non-linear optics, and described by a class of solutions to the three-wave equation.

Sometimes, the scattering is more or less isotropic, i.e. the incoming particles are scattered randomly in various directions, with no particular preference for backward scattering. In these cases, the term "backscattering" just designates the detector location chosen for some practical reasons:
 * in X-ray imaging, backscattering means just the opposite of transmission imaging;
 * in inelastic neutron or X-ray spectroscopy, backscattering geometry is chosen because it optimizes the energy resolution;
 * in astronomy, backscattered light is that which is reflected with a phase angle of less than 90°.

In other cases, the scattering intensity is enhanced in backward direction. This can have different reasons:
 * In alpenglow, red light prevails because the blue part of the spectrum is depleted by Rayleigh scattering.
 * In gegenschein, constructive interference might play a role.
 * Coherent backscattering is observed in random media; for visible light most typically in suspensions like milk. Due to weak localization, enhanced multiple scattering is observed in back direction.
 * The Back Scattering Alignment (BSA) coordinate system is often used in radar applications
 * The Forward Scattering Alignment (FSA) coordinate system is primarily used in optical applications

Backscattering properties of a target are wavelength dependent and can also be polarization dependent. Sensor systems using multiple wavelengths or polarizations can thus be used to infer additional information about target properties.

Radar, especially weather radar
Backscattering is the principle behind radar systems. In weather radar, backscattering is proportional to the 6th power of the diameter of the target multiplied by its inherent reflective properties, provided the wavelength is larger than the particle diameter (Rayleigh scattering). Water is almost 4 times more reflective than ice but droplets are much smaller than snow flakes or hail stones. So the backscattering is dependent on a mix of these two factors. The strongest backscatter comes from hail and large graupel (solid ice) due to their sizes, but non-Rayleigh (Mie scattering) effects can confuse interpretation. Another strong return is from melting snow or wet sleet, as they combine size and water reflectivity. They often show up as much higher rates of precipitation than actually occurring in what is called a brightband. Rain is a moderate backscatter, being stronger with large drops (such as from a thunderstorm) and much weaker with small droplets (such as mist or drizzle). Snow has rather weak backscatter. Dual polarization weather radars measure backscatter at horizontal and vertical polarizations to infer shape information from the ratio of the vertical and horizontal signals.

In waveguides
The backscattering method is also employed in fiber optics applications to detect optical faults. Light propagating through a fiber-optic cable gradually attenuates due to Rayleigh scattering. Faults are thus detected by monitoring the variation of part of the Rayleigh backscattered light. Since the backscattered light attenuates exponentially as it travels along the optical fiber cable, the attenuation characteristic is represented in a logarithmic scale graph. If the slope of the graph is steep, then power loss is high. If the slope is gentle, then optical fiber has a satisfactory loss characteristic.

The loss measurement by the backscattering method allows measurement of a fiber-optic cable at one end without cutting the optical fiber hence it can be conveniently used for the construction and maintenance of optical fibers.

In photography
The term backscatter in photography refers to light from a flash or strobe reflecting back from particles in the lens's field of view causing specks of light to appear in the photo. This gives rise to what are sometimes referred to as orb artifacts. Photographic backscatter can result from snowflakes, rain or mist, or airborne dust. Due to the size limitations of the modern compact and ultra-compact cameras, especially digital cameras, the distance between the lens and the built-in flash has decreased, thereby decreasing the angle of light reflection to the lens and increasing the likelihood of light reflection off normally sub-visible particles. Hence, the orb artifact is commonplace with small digital or film camera photographs.

title: Backscatter


text: Category:Funnel-web spiders

title: Category:Funnel-web spiders


text:
Tsar Cannon

The Tsar Cannon (Царь-пушка, Tsar'-pushka) is a large early modern period artillery piece (known as a bombarda in Russian) on display on the grounds of the Moscow Kremlin. It is a monument of Russian artillery casting art, cast in bronze in 1586 in Moscow, by the Russian master bronze caster Andrey Chokhov. Mostly of symbolic impact, it was never used in a war. However, the cannon bears traces of at least one firing. Per the Guinness Book of Records it is the largest bombard by caliber in the world, and it is a major tourist attraction in the ensemble of the Moscow Kremlin.

Description
The Tsar Cannon is located just past the Kremlin Armory, facing towards the Kremlin Senate. The Tsar Cannon is made of bronze; it weighs 39,312 kg and has a length of 5.34 m. Its bronze-cast barrel has an internal diameter of 890 mm, and an external diameter of 1,200 mm. The barrel has eight cast rectangular brackets for use in transporting the gun, which is mounted on a stylized cast-iron gun carriage with three wheels. The barrel is decorated with relief images, including an equestrian image of Tsar Fyodor Ivanovich, with a crown and a scepter in his hand on horseback. Above the front right bracket the message "The grace of God, Tsar and Great Duke Fyodor Ivanovich, Autocrat of All Russia" was cast. There were two more labels cast at the top of the barrel, to the right is "The decree of the faithful and Christ-king and the Grand Duke Fyodor Ivanovich, Sovereign Autocrat of all Great Russia with his pious and god-blessed queen, Grand Princess Irina"; While to the one to the left is "Cast in the city of Moscow in the summer of year 7904 (c. 1585 in Gregorian calendar), in his third summer state, by Andrey Chokov." The cannon-style gun carriage, added in 1835, is purely decorative. This weapon was never intended to be transported on or fired from this gun carriage.

According to one version, the name of this cannon, "Tsar", is associated with the image of Tsar Fyodor Ivanovich. However, it is more likely that this name owes to the massive size of this cannon. In old times the cannon is also sometimes called the "Russian Shotgun" (Дробовик Российский, Drobovik Rossiyskiy, lit. Shotgun Russian), because the gun was meant to shoot 800 kg stone grapeshot rather than true, solid cannonballs.

The cannon ought to be classified as only a mortar by its barrel length in modern classification, with the barrel length at only 6 calibers. However, in the 17th to the 18th century, it was rather called a "bombard cannon", since mortars at that time had barrel lengths of no more than 2.5 calibers, or 3.5 calibers at maximum for long-range mortars.

The spherical cast-iron projectiles located in front of the Tsar Cannon—each of which weighs approximately one ton—were produced in 1834 as a decoration, and are too large to have been used in the cannon. According to legend, the cannonballs were manufactured in St. Petersburg, and were intended to be a humorous addition and a symbol of the friendly rivalry between Moscow and St. Petersburg.

History
The cannon was cast in bronze in 1586, during the reign of Tsar Fyodor Ivanovich, in the Cannon yard, by Russian master Andrey Chokhov.

The carriages and the cannon itself were richly decorated in 1835 at the St. Petersburg plant of Berd, with designs by architect A. P. Bryullov and drawings engineer P. Ya. de Witte.

The Tsar Cannon was placed at several points around Moscow in its history. It is known to have been mounted on a special frame with a fixed inclination angle in the Red Square near the Place of Skulls in order to protect the eastern approaches to the Kremlin, indicating that it originally did have a practical application. However, by 1706, it was moved to the Kremlin Arsenal and mounted on a wooden gun carriage. It was not used during the French invasion of Russia, although Napoleon Bonaparte considered removing it to France as a war trophy. The wooden gun carriage burnt in the fire that consumed Moscow in 1812, and was replaced in 1835 by the present metal carriage, which disabled the firing function of the cannon.

In 1860, the Tsar Cannon was moved to its current location on Ivanovskaya Square near the Tsar Bell, which is similarly massive and is the largest bell in the world (but which has never been rung).

Voltaire joked that the Kremlin's two greatest items were a bell which was never rung and a cannon that was never fired. For a long time, there was a common theory that the Tsar Cannon was created only to impress foreigners of Russia's military powers. Thus, according to writer Albert Valentinov:"'...Andrey Chokov knew from the very first moment that this would not be a whopper cannon at all. Even if we assume that the barrel would fire grapeshot, a massive amount of propellant would be needed to push the two-ton shot, making it impossible for the cannon to be transported from one position to another. Therefore Chokhov did not mean to cast it as a functional cannon at all. His cannon is always only a symbol of Russian power and of the capabilities of the Russian industry. If we render a Russian master able to create such a whopper cannon, the smaller ones would have much less use. Therefore, the Tsar Cannon was put on display in the Kremlin for foreign diplomats.'"

The cannon was last restored in 1980 in the town of Serpukhov. It was thoroughly studied by specialists in the Artillery Academy at that time and gunpowder residue was found, indicating that the cannon had been fired at least once, hinged and dug into the ground.

Another theory by other researchers is that Tsar cannon never fired because of the bronze parts that would fade away after the shot, also due to the absence of a pilot hole, which makes firing completely impossible.

The Donetsk copy
In the spring of 2001, as commissioned by the management of the Moscow Udmort enterprise "OAO Izhstal", a replica of the cannon was cast in iron. The replica weighed 42 tons, with a single wheel at 1.5 tons, the kernel at 1.2 meters and a caliber of exactly 89 cm.

This copy was given as a present from Moscow to Donetsk, which was installed in front of the Donetsk City Hall in May 2001. There were two copies, with the other one produced in Izhevsk set in the premises of OAO Izhstal.

The Yoshkar-Ola copy
In 2007, another replica was installed in front of the National Art Gallery in Yoshkar-Ola. This replica was made in a scale of 1:2. This replica is incomplete, with ornaments changed or absent, and other details missing. The kernel of the cannon weighs about 12 tons, with the barrel and the carriage cast in steel, and the wheels being solid. Three staples were installed on the cannon for fastening cables when moving it. It was cast on Zvenigovsky Shipyard named after N. S. Butyakov. Initially, the ornaments were cut from wood, and then cast from metal. The copy was suitable for shooting, as the barrel and the core were welded together. Four ornamental cannonballs are located next to the cannon.

Perm Tsar Cannon
The Tsar Cannon located in Perm was the world's largest 20-inch cast-iron cannon. Unlike other "Tsar cannon"s, the one in Perm was a military weapon. The cannon, nicknamed the "Perm Giant", was made in 1868, by the order of the Ministry of Marine to the Motovilikha manufacturing plant (which is PAO "Motovilikha Plants" today, manufacturing weapon systems such as cannons, mortars, howitzers, self-propelled artillery, "Grad", "Uragan" and "Smerch" rocket systems).

Tests were carried out with the gun on 16 August 1869, starting from firing from the shore of the Kama River (which is around 0.8–1 km wide). Later tests were carried out on this place until the end of Perestroika, with a lot happening in Soviet times. A certain F. V. Pestich, chief of the artillery of Kronstadt port attending most of the tests. The Perm cannon made a total of 314 shots, including grapeshot and bombs of different systems. As a result, the strength of the cannon was tested, and the weight of the powder charge was optimized. During the test, the charge weight was gradually increased to 120 kg. The set amount of propellant charge was 53 kg of black gunpowder in battle, putting the firing range to at most 1.2 km.

As quoted by writer Mikhail Osorgin, who witnessed the events: "…4 miles from the city, on the banks of the river, there was a cannon factory. Trying new guns, not testing shot projectiles (but shells seems more while there was none), but cannonballs. They shot it over the Kama River, landing in the forest, where trees were knocked down and deep ditches were dug by those cannonballs. I was not allowed to go there. Yes, and there was no one, except on Sundays, when the plant was silent as tiny spiders float on the river and boats carry people from the factory to Zakamskaya Pohulyanka. There were undershoots where the cannonball fell into the water, rising fountain spray and steam. There was no one, and no guns behind the Dalyu on the other side, only the smoke from the volleys indicated where the cannons were firing from… The river roared, shaking the air, and the mood of war was all over.""

Specifications
A model of the Perm Tsar Cannon in full size was put before the Russian Pavilion at the 1873 World Exhibition in Vienna.
 * Barrel length: 4.9 m
 * Caliber: 20 inches (508 mm)
 * Wall thickness: 180 mm (At the muzzle) / 450 mm (In breech)
 * Barrel weight: 45.9 tons (2800 pudi) (The total weight of the Moscow Tsar Cannon is only 39.3 tons (2400 pudi))
 * Total weight: 98.3 tons (6000 pudi)
 * Kernel weight: 459 kg (30 pudi)
 * Powder charge weight: 61 kg (4 pudi)

The Perm cannon was to take its place in Kronstadt at Fort Constantine (Russia), where a special carriage was already installed to ensure all-around coverage, and to protect St. Petersburg from the sea. Two such cannons were also intended to equip the armored frigate "Minin", which was built in St. Petersburg from 1866 to 1878.

However, the cannon never reached Kronstadt. The Giant has been returned to the road in Perm. This is due to the fact that the engineer-inventor Pavel Matveyevich Obukhov of Zlatoust has developed the technology to produce high-strength steel cannons. Having established a factory in St. Petersburg, he began producing lighter cannons, which were installed with breeched (the Krupp system), obsoleting the Perm cannon.

Emperor Alexander II's decision saved it from destruction, instead preserving it as a historical relic.

Today, the Perm Tsar Cannon is held on exhibition in the open museum of military equipment belonging to PAO "Motovilikha Plants".

title: Tsar Cannon


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Category:Spiders

Spiders (order Araneae) are a group of arachnids.

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title: Category:Arachnids