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Miles Rock
Miles Rock (October 10, 1840 – January 29, 1901) was an American civil engineer, geologist and astronomer. He was part of the first graduating class of Lehigh University in 1869. He assisted Benjamin Apthorp Gould in the creation of the Observatorio Astronómico de Córdoba in Argentina between 1870 and 1873. He worked on the Wheeler Survey which mapped parts of the western United States from 1878 to 1879 and as Chief of the Guatemala Boundary Commission from 1883 to 1898 which defined the disputed Guatemala–Mexico border. Early life and education He was born in Ephrata, Pennsylvania, on October 10, 1840. He was the youngest of nine children. His father died when Rock was only five years old and he was raised by a Mennonites, Mennonite farmer. At age 14, he moved to Lancaster, Pennsylvania, Lancaster and worked in a book store. He attended the local public schools and Lancaster High School. He attended Franklin & Marshall College but left early to serve in the American Civi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ephrata, Pennsylvania
Ephrata ( ; ) is a borough in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is located east of Harrisburg and about west-northwest of Philadelphia and is named after Ephrath, the former name for current-day Bethlehem. In its early history, Ephrata was a pleasure resort and an agricultural community. Ephrata's population has steadily grown over the last century. In 1900, 2,452 people lived there, and by 1940, the population had increased to 6,199. The population was 13,818 at the 2020 census. Ephrata is the most populous borough in Lancaster County. Ephrata's sister city is Eberbach, Germany, the city where its founders originated. History Ephrata is noteworthy for having been the former seat of the Mystic Order of the Solitary, a semimonastic order of Seventh-Day Dunkers. The community, which contained both men and women, was founded by Johann Conrad Beissel in 1732. Many of the members were well-educated; Peter Miller, second prior of the monastery, translated ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Center Valley, Pennsylvania
Center Valley is an unincorporated community located one mile north of Coopersburg, at the intersection of Pennsylvania State Routes 309 and 378 in Upper Saucon Township in Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is part of the Lehigh Valley, which had a population of 861,899 and was the 68th-most populous metropolitan area in the U.S. as of the 2020 census. History Centennial Bridge in Center Valley, built in 1876, was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1989. The bridge was demolished in 2013. Commerce and businesses Stabler Corporate Center, one of the largest areas of land being developed in the Lehigh Valley, is located in Center Valley. In October 2006, Promenade Saucon Valley, the Lehigh Valley's highest-end outdoor mall, opened in Center Valley. The mall includes a variety of shops and businesses. Center Valley is also home to the public library called Southern Lehigh Public Library. Center Valley also is the headquarters of Olympus Corpor ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1840 Births
Events January–March * January 3 – One of the predecessor papers of the ''Herald Sun'' of Melbourne, Australia, ''The Port Phillip Herald'', is founded. * January 10 – Uniform Penny Post is introduced in the United Kingdom. * January 13 – The steamship ''Lexington'' burns and sinks in icy waters, four miles off the coast of Long Island; 139 die, only four survive. * January 19 – Captain Charles Wilkes' United States Exploring Expedition sights what becomes known as Wilkes Land in the southeast quadrant of Antarctica, claiming it for the United States, and providing evidence that Antarctica is a complete continent. * January 21 – Jules Dumont d'Urville discovers Adélie Land in Antarctica, claiming it for France. * January 22 – British colonists reach New Zealand, officially founding the settlement of Wellington. * February – The Rhodes blood libel is made against the Jews of Rhodes. * February 5 – Damascus Affair: The murder of a Capuchin friar and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Manuel Estrada Cabrera
Manuel José Estrada Cabrera (21 November 1857 – 24 September 1924) was the President of Guatemala from 1898 to 1920. A lawyer with no military background, he modernised the country's industry and transportation infrastructure, via granting concessions to the American-owned United Fruit Company, whose influence on the government was deeply unpopular among the population. Estrada Cabrera ruled as a dictator who used increasingly brutal methods to assert his authority, including armed strike-breaking, and he effectively controlled general elections. He retained power for 22 years through controlled elections in 1904, 1910, and 1916, and was eventually removed from office when the national assembly declared him mentally incompetent, and he was jailed for corruption. As such, he was the longest-serving leader of Guatemala. Son of Pedro Estrada-Monzón and Joaquina Cabrera. Background Estrada Cabrera was a lawyer. He studied at the Universidad Nacional and thanks to his work h ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Guatemala City
Guatemala City (, also known colloquially by the nickname Guate), is the Capital city, national capital and largest city of the Guatemala, Republic of Guatemala. It is also the Municipalities of Guatemala, municipal capital of the Guatemala Department and the most populous urban metropolitan area in Central America. The city is located in a mountain valley called Valle de la Ermita () in the south-central part of the country. Guatemala City is the site of the native Maya civilization, Mayan city of Kaminaljuyu in Mesoamerica, which was occupied primarily between 1500 BCE and 1200 CE. The present city was founded by the Spanish after their colonial capital, now called Antigua Guatemala, was destroyed by the devastating 1773 Guatemala earthquake, 1773 Santa Marta earthquake and its aftershocks. It became the third royal capital of the surrounding Captaincy General of Guatemala; which itself was part of the larger Viceroyalty of New Spain in imperial Spanish America and remained und ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Foodborne Illness
Foodborne illness (also known as foodborne disease and food poisoning) is any illness resulting from the contamination of food by pathogenic bacteria, viruses, or parasites, as well as prions (the agents of mad cow disease), and toxins such as aflatoxins in peanuts, poisonous mushrooms, and various species of beans that have not been boiled for at least 10 minutes. While contaminants directly cause some symptoms, many effects of foodborne illness result from the body's immune response to these agents, which can vary significantly between individuals and populations based on prior exposure. Symptoms vary depending on the cause. They often include vomiting, fever, aches, and diarrhea. Bouts of vomiting can be repeated with an extended delay in between. This is because even if infected food was eliminated from the stomach in the first bout, microbes, like bacteria (if applicable), can pass through the stomach into the intestine and begin to multiply. Some types of microbe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mexico
Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundary, maritime boundaries with the Pacific Ocean to the west, the Caribbean Sea to the southeast, and the Gulf of Mexico to the east. Mexico covers 1,972,550 km2 (761,610 sq mi), and is the List of countries by area, thirteenth-largest country in the world by land area. With a population exceeding 130 million, Mexico is the List of countries by population, tenth-most populous country in the world and is home to the Hispanophone#Countries, largest number of native Spanish speakers. Mexico City is the capital and List of cities in Mexico, largest city, which ranks among the List of cities by population, most populous metropolitan areas in the world. Human presence in Mexico dates back to at least 8,000 BC. Mesoamerica, considered a cradle ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Santiago
Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile (), is the capital and largest city of Chile and one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is located in the country's central valley and is the center of the Santiago Metropolitan Region, which has a population of seven million, representing 40% of Chile's total population. Most of the city is situated between above sea level. Founded in 1541 by the Spanish conquistador Pedro de Valdivia, Santiago has served as the capital city of Chile since colonial times. The city features a downtown core characterized by 19th-century neoclassical architecture and winding side streets with a mix of Art Deco, Gothic Revival, and other styles. Santiago's cityscape is defined by several standalone hills and the fast-flowing Mapocho River, which is lined by parks such as Parque Bicentenario, Parque Forestal, and Parque de la Familia. The Andes Mountains are visible from most parts of the city and contribute to a smog problem ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Transit Of Venus
A transit of Venus takes place when Venus passes directly between the Sun and the Earth (or any other superior planet), becoming visible against (and hence obscuring a small portion of) the solar disk. During a transit, Venus is visible as a small black circle moving across the face of the Sun. Transits of Venus reoccur periodically. A pair of transits takes place eight years apart in December (Gregorian calendar) followed by a gap of 121.5 years, before another pair occurs eight years apart in June, followed by another gap, of 105.5 years. The dates advance by about two days per 243-year cycle. The periodicity is a reflection of the fact that the orbital periods of Earth and Venus are close to 8:13 and 243:395 commensurabilities. The last pairs of transits occurred on 8 June 2004 and 5–6 June 2012. The next pair of transits will occur on 10–11 December 2117 and 8 December 2125. Transits of Venus were in the past used to determine the size of the Solar System. The ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Simon Newcomb
Simon Newcomb (March 12, 1835 – July 11, 1909) was a Canadians, Canadian–Americans, American astronomer, applied mathematician, and autodidactic polymath. He served as Professor of Mathematics in the United States Navy and at Johns Hopkins University. Born in Nova Scotia, at the age of 19 Newcomb left an apprenticeship to join his father in Massachusetts, where the latter was teaching. Though Newcomb had little conventional schooling, he completed a B.S. at Harvard in 1858. He later made important contributions to timekeeping, as well as to other fields in applied mathematics, such as economics and statistics. Fluent in several languages, he also wrote and published several popular science books and a science fiction novel. Biography Early life Simon Newcomb was born in the town of Wallace, Nova Scotia, Wallace, Nova Scotia. His parents were John Burton Newcomb and his wife Emily Prince. His father was an itinerant school teacher, and frequently moved in order to teach in d ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
United States Naval Observatory
The United States Naval Observatory (USNO) is a scientific and military facility that produces geopositioning, navigation and timekeeping data for the United States Navy and the United States Department of Defense. Established in 1830 as the Depot of Charts and Instruments, it is one of the oldest scientific agencies in the United States, and remains the country's leading facility for astronomical and timing data. The observatory is located in Northwest Washington, D.C. at the northwestern end of Embassy Row. It is among the few pre-20th century astronomical observatories located in an urban area. In 1893, in an effort to escape light pollution, it was relocated from Foggy Bottom near the city's center, to its Northwest Washington, D.C. location. The USNO has conducted significant scientific studies throughout its history, including measuring the speed of light, observing solar eclipses, and discovering the moons of Mars. Its achievements include providing data for the first ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
United States Hydrographic Office
The United States Hydrographic Office (USHO) prepared and published maps, charts, and nautical books required in navigation. The office was established by an act of 21 June 1866 as part of the Bureau of Navigation, Department of the Navy. It was transferred to the Department of Defense on 10 August 1949. The office was abolished on 10 July 1962, replaced by the Naval Oceanographic Office. Objectives Before the hydrographic office was established in 1866, U.S. navigators were almost entirely dependent on British charts. A few private enterprises had prepared and published charts, but had not been able to do so profitably. The Hydrographic Office was established "for the improvement of the means for navigating safely the vessels of the Navy and of the mercantile marine, by providing, under the authority of the Secretary of the Navy, accurate and cheap nautical charts, sailing directions, navigators and manuals of instructions for the use of all vessels of the United States, and f ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
