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French Corvette Alecton
The French corvette ''Alecton'' was a ship in the French Navy in the 19th century. She is most famous for having been one of the first surface vessels recorded to have encountered a giant squid (''Architeuthis''). Until this time, giant squid were viewed as mythical creatures. Service history The ''Alecton'', named after Alecto, one of the three Furies, was a paddle wheeler (''aviso à roues de deuxième classe, type Étoile modifié'') laid down in 1859 at the La Seyne shipyard of the ''Société des Forges et Chantiers de la Mediterranée'' and launched in 1861. She had a length of 50.9 metres and a beam of 12.1 metres. ''Alecton'' was powered by both a 120 hp steam engine and sails on two masts, had a crew of sixty-six and an armament of two light cannons. Her displacement was 570 tonnes. ''Alecton'' was first stationed at French Guiana and from 1868 onwards at Guadeloupe. She was decommissioned on 10 August 1883 and scrapped in 1884 at Lorient. Bouyer's travelogue ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Aviso
An ''aviso'' was originally a kind of dispatch boat or "advice boat", carrying orders before the development of effective remote communication. The term, derived from the Portuguese and Spanish word for "advice", "notice" or "warning", an ''aviso'', was later adopted by the French and Portuguese navies to classify their medium-sized warships designed for colonial service. The term continued to be used in the French Navy to classify the patrol frigates until 2012, when the remaining ships of the class were reclassified as offshore patrol ships. It is equivalent to the modern use of "sloop" in other countries. Description The ''Dictionnaire de la Marine Française 1788–1792'' (by Nicolas-Charles Romme) describes ''avisos'' as "small boats designed to carry orders or dispatches". This use became obsolete with the development of means of communicating detailed information at a distance. French ''avisos'' used during World War I and World War II had displacements of 300– ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Alfred Moquin-Tandon
Christian Horace Benedict Alfred Moquin-Tandon (7 May 1804 – 15 April 1863) was a French naturalist and doctor. Moquin-Tandon was professor of zoology at Marseille from 1829 until 1833, when he was appointed professor of botany and director of the botanical gardens at Toulouse. In 1850, he was sent by the French government to Corsica to study the island's flora. In 1853, he moved to Paris, later becoming director of the Jardin des Plantes and the Académie des Sciences. His books included ''L'Histoire Naturelle des Iles Canaries'' (1835–44), co-authored with Philip Barker Webb and Sabin Berthelot. One of his specialities was the family Amaranthaceae (The Amaranth family). Several genera of plants have been named in his honour, including in 1838, DC. published '' Moquinia'', a genus of flowering plants from Brazil, in the ''Moquinia'' tribe within the sunflower family. Then in 1954, Simone Balle published '' Moquiniella'' a genus of flowering plants from Africa, belong ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jules Verne
Jules Gabriel Verne (;''Longman Pronunciation Dictionary''. ; 8 February 1828 – 24 March 1905) was a French novelist, poet, and playwright. His collaboration with the publisher Pierre-Jules Hetzel led to the creation of the ''Voyages extraordinaires'', a series of bestselling adventure novels including ''Journey to the Center of the Earth'' (1864), ''Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Seas'' (1870), and ''Around the World in Eighty Days'' (1872). His novels, always well documented, are generally set in the second half of the 19th century, taking into account the technological advances of the time. In addition to his novels, he wrote numerous plays, short stories, autobiographical accounts, poetry, songs and scientific, artistic and literary studies. His work has been adapted for film and television since the beginning of cinema, as well as for comic books, theater, opera, music and video games. Verne is considered to be an important author in France and most of Europe, where h ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Science Fiction
Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imagination, imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, Parallel universes in fiction, parallel universes, extraterrestrials in fiction, extraterrestrial life, sentient artificial intelligence, cybernetics, certain forms of immortality (like mind uploading), and the technological singularity, singularity. Science fiction List of existing technologies predicted in science fiction, predicted several existing inventions, such as the atomic bomb, robots, and borazon, whose names entirely match their fictional predecessors. In addition, science fiction might serve as an outlet to facilitate future scientific and technological innovations. Science fiction can trace its roots to ancient mythology. It is also related to fantasy, Horror fiction, horror, and superhero fiction and contains many #Subgenres, sub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Twenty Thousand Leagues Under The Sea
''Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Seas'' (french: Vingt mille lieues sous les mers) is a classic science fiction adventure novel by French writer Jules Verne. The novel was originally serialized from March 1869 through June 1870 in Pierre-Jules Hetzel's fortnightly periodical, the . A deluxe octavo edition, published by Hetzel in November 1871, included 111 illustrations by Alphonse de Neuville and Édouard Riou. The book was widely acclaimed on its release and remains so; it is regarded as one of the premier adventure novels and one of Verne's greatest works, along with '' Around the World in Eighty Days'' and '' Journey to the Center of the Earth''. Its depiction of Captain Nemo's underwater ship, the ''Nautilus'', is regarded as ahead of its time, since it accurately describes many features of today's submarines, which in the 1860s were comparatively primitive vessels. A model of the French submarine ''Plongeur'' (launched in 1863) figured at the 1867 Exposition Unive ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lasso
A lasso ( or ), also called lariat, riata, or reata (all from Castilian, la reata 're-tied rope'), is a loop of rope designed as a restraint to be thrown around a target and tightened when pulled. It is a well-known tool of the Spanish and Mexican cowboy, then adopted by the cowboys of the United States. The word is also a verb; ''to lasso'' is to throw the loop of rope around something. Overview A lasso is made from stiff rope so that the noose stays open when the lasso is thrown. It also allows the cowboy to easily open up the noose from horseback to release the cattle because the rope is stiff enough to be pushed a little. A high quality lasso is weighted for better handling. The lariat has a small reinforced loop at one end, called a ''honda'' or ''hondo'', through which the rope passes to form a loop. The ''honda'' can be formed by a honda knot (or another loop knot), an eye splice, a seizing, rawhide, or a metal ring. The other end is sometimes tied simply in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Willy Ley
Willy or Willie is a masculine, male given name, often a diminutive form of William or Wilhelm, and occasionally a nickname. It may refer to: People Given name or nickname * Willie Aames (born 1960), American actor, television director, and screenwriter * Willie Allen (basketball) (born 1949), American basketball player and director of the Growing Power urban farming program * Willie Allen (racing driver) (born 1980), American racing driver * Willie Anderson (other) * Willie Apiata (born 1972), New Zealand Army soldier, only recipient of the Victoria Cross for New Zealand * Willie (footballer) (born 1993), Brazilian footballer Willie Hortencio Barbosa * Willy Böckl (1893–1975), Austrian world champion figure skater * Willy Bocklant (1941–1985), Belgian road racing cyclist * Willy Bogner, Sr. (1909–1977), German Nordic skier * Willy Bogner, Jr. (born 1942), German fashion designer and alpine skier * Willie Bosket (born 1962), American convicted murderer whose ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Musket
A musket is a muzzle-loaded long gun that appeared as a smoothbore weapon in the early 16th century, at first as a heavier variant of the arquebus, capable of penetrating plate armour. By the mid-16th century, this type of musket gradually disappeared as the use of heavy armour declined, but ''musket'' continued as the generic term for smoothbore long guns until the mid- 19th century. In turn, this style of musket was retired in the 19th century when rifled muskets (simply called rifles in modern terminology) using the Minié ball (invented by Claude-Étienne Minié in 1849) became common. The development of breech-loading firearms using self-contained cartridges (introduced by Casimir Lefaucheux in 1835) and the first reliable repeating rifles produced by Winchester Repeating Arms Company in 1860 also led to their demise. By the time that repeating rifles became common, they were known as simply "rifles", ending the era of the musket. Etymology According to the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Skaw
Skagen Odde, also Skagens Odde, sometimes known in English as the Scaw Spit or The Skaw, is a sandy peninsula which stretches some northeast and comprises the northernmost area of Vendsyssel in Jutland, Denmark."Skagen Odde" ''Den Store Danske''. Retrieved 4 October 2013. Skagen Odde is reported to be one of the largest spit systems in Europe, created by a continuous process of marine sand and gravel deposition, moved in a north-east direction by s. The width of the spit varies from 3 to 7 km (2 to 4 mi). Contrary to common beli ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Zealand
Zealand ( da, Sjælland ) at 7,031 km2 is the largest and most populous island in Denmark proper (thus excluding Greenland and Disko Island, which are larger in size). Zealand had a population of 2,319,705 on 1 January 2020. It is the 13th-largest island in Europe by area and the 4th most populous. It is connected to Sprogø and Funen by the Great Belt Fixed Link and to Amager by several bridges in Copenhagen. Indirectly, through the island of Amager and the Øresund Bridge, it is also linked to Scania in Sweden. In the south, the Storstrøm Bridge and the Farø Bridges connect it to Falster, and beyond that island to Lolland, from where the Fehmarnbelt Tunnel to Germany is planned. Copenhagen, the capital of Denmark, with a population between 1.3 and 1.4 million people in 2020, is located mostly on the eastern shore of Zealand and partly on the island of Amager. Other cities on Zealand include Roskilde, Hillerød, Næstved, Helsingør, Slagelse, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Canary Islands
The Canary Islands (; es, Canarias, ), also known informally as the Canaries, are a Spanish autonomous community and archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean, in Macaronesia. At their closest point to the African mainland, they are west of Morocco. They are the southernmost of the autonomous communities of Spain. The islands have a population of 2.2 million people and they are the most populous special territory of the European Union. The seven main islands are (from largest to smallest in area) Tenerife, Fuerteventura, Gran Canaria, Lanzarote, La Palma, La Gomera, and El Hierro. The archipelago includes many smaller islands and islets, including La Graciosa, Alegranza, Isla de Lobos, Montaña Clara, Roque del Oeste, and Roque del Este. It also includes a number of rocks, including those of Salmor, Fasnia, Bonanza, Garachico, and Anaga. In ancient times, the island chain was often referred to as "the Fortunate Isles". The Canary Islands are the southernmost regio ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tenerife
Tenerife (; ; formerly spelled ''Teneriffe'') is the largest and most populous island of the Canary Islands. It is home to 43% of the total population of the Archipelago, archipelago. With a land area of and a population of 978,100 inhabitants as of January 2022, it is also the most populous island of Spain and of Macaronesia. Approximately five million tourists visit Tenerife each year; it is the most visited island in the archipelago. It is one of the most important tourist destinations in Spain and the world, hosting one of the world's largest carnivals, the Carnival of Santa Cruz de Tenerife. The capital of the island, , is also the seat of the island council (). That city and are the co-capitals of the autonomous community of the Canary Islands The Canary Islands (; es, Canarias, ), also known informally as the Canaries, are a Spanish autonomous community and archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean, in Macaronesia. At their closest point to the African mainland, they ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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