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Meudon
Meudon () is a municipality in the southwestern suburbs of Paris, France. It is in the département of Hauts-de-Seine. It is located from the center of Paris. The city is known for many historic monuments and some extraordinary trees. One of them, the Imperial Cedar (), attracted the attention of Empress Eugénie and Queen Victoria. As of March 2021, the tree is in good condition, but it is threatened by real estate speculation. Another real estate project is planned for the historic park of the Napoleon III villa built by Charles Schacher. Both projects are controversial and have aroused local opposition. Geography The town of Meudon is built on the hills and valleys of the Seine. The wood of Meudon lies for the most part to the west of the town. The north-west part of Meudon, overlooking the Seine, is known as ''Bellevue'' ("beautiful view"). History At Meudon, the argile plastique clay was extensively mined in the 19th century. The first fossil of the European diatryma ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Château De Meudon
Meudon Castle, also known as the Royal Castle of Meudon or Imperial Palace of Meudon, is a French castle located in Meudon in the Hauts-de-Seine department. At the edge of a wooded plateau, the castle offers views of Paris and the Seine, as well as of the Chalais valley. Located between Paris and Versailles, in the heart of a hunting reserve, the castle has an ideal topography for large gardens. It had many successive owners from the Renaissance until the fall of the Second French Empire. It should not be confused with the Bellevue Castle, also located in Meudon. Famous past residents include: Anne de Pisseleu d'Heilly, Duchess of Étampes; the Cardinal of Lorraine, Abel Servien; François Michel Le Tellier, Marquis of Louvois and Louis, Grand Dauphin, also known as ''Monseigneur'', who linked the Chaville Castle to Meudon Castle. The Château-Vieux (Old Castle) burned down in 1795 and was rebuilt as the Château-Neuf (New Castle), which in turn burned down in 1871. Demol ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chalais-Meudon
Chalais-Meudon is an aeronautical research and development centre in Meudon, to the south-west of Paris. It was originally founded in 1793 in the nearby Château de Meudon and has played an important role in the development of French aviation. Balloons The story of aviation at Chalais-Meudon starts in October 1793 when the French Public Safety Committee ordered the construction of an observation balloon capable of carrying two observers. The old royal grounds at Meudon were allocated for this work, with the Château de Meudon chosen as the centre, with Nicolas-Jacques Conté as director. Two French Balloon Corps balloon companies had already been created, and the new organisation's role was to build balloons and train their pilots and operators. The first balloon, the ''Entreprenant'', was built within four months, and on 31 October 1794, the National School of Ballooning was created, with Conté as its director. Many other balloons were then built in a short period, includi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Paris Observatory
The Paris Observatory (french: Observatoire de Paris ), a research institution of the Paris Sciences et Lettres University, is the foremost astronomical observatory of France, and one of the largest astronomical centers in the world. Its historic building is on the Left Bank of the Seine in central Paris, but most of the staff work on a satellite campus in Meudon, a suburb southwest of Paris. The Paris Observatory was founded in 1667. Construction was completed by the early 1670s and coincided with a major push for increased science, and the founding of the Royal Academy of Sciences. King Louis XIV's minister of finance organized a "scientific powerhouse" to increase understanding of astronomy, maritime navigation, and science in general. Through the centuries the Paris Observatory has continued in support of astronomical activities, and in the 21st century connects multiple sites and organizations, supporting astronomy and science, past and present. Constitution Administ ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Louis, Dauphin Of France (1661-1711)
Louis, Dauphin of France (1 November 1661 – 14 April 1711), commonly known as Grand Dauphin, was the eldest son and heir apparent of King Louis XIV and his spouse, Maria Theresa of Spain. He became known as the Grand Dauphin after the birth of his own son, Louis, Duke of Burgundy, the Petit Dauphin. As he and his son died before his father, they never became king. His grandson instead became King Louis XV at the death of Louis XIV, while his second son inherited the Spanish throne as Philip V through his grandmother. Biography Louis was born on 1 November 1661 at the Château de Fontainebleau, the eldest son of Louis XIV of France and Maria Theresa of Austria (who were double first-cousins to each other). As a ''Fils de France'' ("Son of France") he was entitled to the style of ''Royal Highness.'' He was baptised on 24 March 1662 at the chapel of the Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye and given his father's name of Louis. At the ceremony, the Cardinal de Vendôme and the Prince ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hauts-de-Seine
Hauts-de-Seine (; ) is a département in the Île-de-France region, Northern France. It covers Paris's western inner suburbs. It is bordered by Paris, Seine-Saint-Denis and Val-de-Marne to the east, Val-d'Oise to the north, Yvelines to the west and Essonne to the south. With a population of 1,624,357 (as of 2019)Populations légales 2019: 92 Hauts-de-Seine INSEE and a total area of 176 square kilometres (68 square miles), it is the second most highly densely populated department of France after Paris. It is the [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
La France (airship)
The ''La France'' was a French Army non-rigid airship launched by Charles Renard and Arthur Constantin Krebs on August 9, 1884. Collaborating with Charles Renard, Arthur Constantin Krebs piloted the first fully controlled free-flight with the ''La France''. The long, airship, electric-powered with a zinc-chlorine flow battery completed a flight that covered in 23 minutes. It was the first full round trip flight with a landing on the starting point. On its seven flights in 1884 and 1885 the ''La France'' dirigible returned five times to its starting point. Hangar The ''La France'' was constructed in Hangar "Y" at Chalais-Meudon near Paris in 1879. Hangar "Y" is one of the few remaining airship hangars Airship hangars (also known as airship sheds) are large specialized buildings that are used for sheltering airships during construction, maintenance and storage. Rigid airships always needed to be based in airship hangars because weathering was a s ... in Europe. Specificat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gaston Planté
Gaston Planté (22 April 1834 – 21 May 1889) was a French physicist who invented the lead–acid battery in 1859. This type battery was developed as the first rechargeable electric battery marketed for commercial use and it is widely used in automobiles. Planté was born on 22 April 1834 in Orthez, France. In 1854 he began work as an assistant lecturer in physics at the Conservatory of Arts and Crafts in Paris. In 1860 he was promoted to the post of Professor of Physics at the Polytechnic Association for the Development of Popular Instruction. An amphitheatre at that institute is named after him. In 1855, Planté discovered the first fossils of the prehistoric flightless bird '' Gastornis parisiensis'' (named after him) near Paris. This gigantic animal was a very close relative of the famous diatrymas of North America. At that time, Planté was at the start of his academic career, serving as a teaching assistant to A. E. Becquerel (father of Nobel laureate Henri Becquerel). Th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nicolas-Joseph Cugnot
Nicolas-Joseph Cugnot (26 February 1725 – 2 October 1804) was a French inventor who built the world's first full-size and working self-propelled mechanical land-vehicle, the "Fardier à vapeur" – effectively the world's first automobile. Background He was born in Void-Vacon, Lorraine, (now ' of Meuse), France. He trained as a military engineer. In 1765, he began experimenting with working models of steam-engine-powered vehicles for the French Army, intended for transporting cannons. First self-propelled vehicle French Army captain Cugnot was one of the first to successfully employ a device for converting the reciprocating motion of a steam piston into a rotary motion by means of a ratchet arrangement. A small version of his three-wheeled ''fardier à vapeur'' ("steam dray") was made and used in 1769 (a ''fardier'' was a massively built two-wheeled horse-drawn cart for transporting very heavy equipment, such as cannon barrels). In 1770, a full-size version of th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Grand Paris
The Métropole du Grand Paris (; "Metropolis of Greater Paris"),There is no official or widely-used English translation yet. also known as Grand Paris or Greater Paris, is a ''métropole'' covering the City of Paris and its nearest surrounding suburbs. The ''métropole'' came into existence on 1 January 2016; it comprises 131 communes, including Paris and all 123 communes in the surrounding inner-suburban departments of the ''Petite Couronne'' (Hauts-de-Seine, Seine-Saint-Denis and Val-de-Marne), plus seven communes in two of the outer-suburban departments, including the communes of Argenteuil in Val-d'Oise, Savigny-sur-Orge, Juvisy-sur-Orge, Viry-Châtillon and Paray-Vieille-Poste in Essonne, the last of which covers part of Orly Airport. Part of the ''métropole'' comprises the Seine department, which existed from 1929 to 1968. Grand Paris covers 814 square kilometers (314 square miles), about the size of Singapore, and has a population of over 7 million. The ''métropol ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Charles Renard
Charles Renard (1847–1905) born in Damblain, Vosges, was a French military engineer. Airships After the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-1871 he started work on the design of airships at the French army aeronautical department. Together with Arthur C. Krebs and his brother Paul, in 1884 he constructed '' La France'', which made its maiden flight on 9 August 1884 at Chalais-Meudon, making a 23-minute circular flight. This was the first time that a flying machine made a flight which returned to the place of take-off. It was later exhibited at the Paris Exposition Universelle (1889). Preferred numbers He also proposed a now widely used system of preferred numbers known as Renard numbers that was later named after him and became international standard ISO 3. It helped the French army to reduce the number of different balloon ropes kept on inventory from 425 to 17. Road Train Colonel Renard invented the Renard Road Train first developed by Darracq and displayed by them in 1903 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Airship
An airship or dirigible balloon is a type of aerostat or lighter-than-air aircraft that can navigate through the air under its own power. Aerostats gain their lift from a lifting gas that is less dense than the surrounding air. In early dirigibles, the lifting gas used was hydrogen, due to its high lifting capacity and ready availability. Helium gas has almost the same lifting capacity and is not flammable, unlike hydrogen, but is rare and relatively expensive. Significant amounts were first discovered in the United States and for a while helium was only available for airships in that country. Most airships built since the 1960s have used helium, though some have used hot air.A few airships after World War II used hydrogen. The first British airship to use helium was the ''Chitty Bang Bang'' of 1967. The envelope of an airship may form the gasbag, or it may contain a number of gas-filled cells. An airship also has engines, crew, and optionally also payload accommodatio ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
