Neuhauser Straße is part of the first and largest pedestrian zone in Munich‘s Old Town. Here is a large number of retail shops and restaurants to be found. According to an analysis by Jones Lang LaSalle in 2015, Kaufingerstraße is the most expensive shopping street in Germany with a top rent of 360 euros per square meter. The road runs almost straight ahead in the southeast-northwest direction out of town, from the intersection Färbergraben, or Augustinerstraße, to Karlsplatz (Stachus). It has a length of about 350 meters. In the direction of Marienplatz, Neuhauser Straße becomes Kaufingerstraße. Below the Neuhauser Straße and the Kaufingerstraße are the main lines of the S-Bahn that runs between the stops Marienplatz and Karlsplatz. read more…
Oak Park is a village adjacent to the West Side of Chicago. It is the 29th largest municipality in Illinois. The village has a population of 52,000. Oak Park was settled beginning in the 1830s, with rapid growth later in the 19th century and early 20th century. It incorporated in 1902, breaking off from Cicero. Development was spurred by railroads and street cars connecting the village to jobs in Chicago. Architect Frank Lloyd Wright and his wife settled here in 1889. Population peaked at 66,015 in 1940. Smaller families led to falling population in the same number of homes and apartments. In the 1960s, Oak Park faced the challenge of racial integration, devising many strategies to integrate rather than re-segregate the village. Oak Park includes three historic districts for the historic homes: Ridgeland, Frank Lloyd Wright and Seward Gunderson, reflecting the focus on historic preservation. read more…
The Magdalen Islands are a small archipelago in the Gulf of Saint Lawrence with a land area of 205.53 square kilometres (79.36 sq mi). Though closer to Prince Edward Island and Nova Scotia, the islands are part of the Canadian province of Quebec. There are eight major islands: Amherst, Grande Entrée, Grindstone, Grosse-Île, House Harbour, Pointe-Aux-Loups, Entry Island and Brion. All except Brion are inhabited. There are several other tiny islands that are also considered part of the archipelago: Bird Rock (Rocher aux Oiseaux), Seal Island (Île aux Loups-marins), Île Paquet and Rocher du Corps Mort. The islands’ interiors were once completely covered with pine forests. An ancient salt dome underlies the archipelago. The inherent buoyancy of the salt forces the uplift of overlying Permian red sandstone. Nearby salt domes are believed to be sources of fossil fuels. Rock salt is mined on the Islands. read more…
Almaty (“City of Apples/Apple Trees”), formerly known as Alma-Ata and Verny, is the largest city in Kazakhstan, with a population of 1.8 million people, about 8% of the country’s total population. It served as capital of the Kazakh state in its various forms from 1929 to 1997, under the influence of the then Soviet Union and its appointees. Alma-Ata was the host city for a 1978 international conference on Primary Health Care where the Alma Ata Declaration was adopted, marking a paradigm shift in global public health. In 1997, the government relocated the capital to Astana in the north of the country, which is about 12 hours away by train. read more…
Baikonur, formerly known as Leninsk (see Tyuratam), is a city of republic significance on the Northern bank of the Syr Darya river, rented and administered by the Russian Federation. It was constructed to service the Baikonur Cosmodrome and was officially renamed Baikonur by Russian president Boris Yeltsin on December 20, 1995. During the Soviet period, it was sometimes referred to as Zvezdograd (Star City). The rented area is an ellipse measuring 90 kilometres (56 mi) east to west by 85 km (53 mi) north to south, with the cosmodrome situated at the area’s centre. read more…
Atyrau, known as Guryev until 1991, is the capital of Atyrau Region. It is located at the mouth of the Ural River on the Caspian Sea, 2,700 kilometres (1,700 miles) west of Almaty and 351 kilometres (218 miles) east of the Russian city of Astrakhan. Modern Atyrau is famous for its oil and fish industries. It has 154,100 inhabitants (2007), up from 142,500 (1999 census), 90% ethnic Kazakhs (up from 80%), the rest being mostly Russians and other ethnic groups such as Tatars and Ukrainians. read more…
Ust-Kamenogorsk or Oskemen is the administrative center of East Kazakhstan Region with a population of 310,000. It is served by Ust-Kamenogorsk Airport. The city has two official names. In the Russian language, its name is Усть-Каменогорск; in the Kazakh language, its accepted name is Өскемен/Óskemen. Both names appear on the seal of the city. The city has three cinemas (although during the Soviet era, there were a lot more), three museums, a drama theater with Russian and Kazakh (since 2000) troupes, the Boris Alexandrov Sports Palace. read more…
Titus was Roman emperor from 79 to 81. A member of the Flavian dynasty, Titus succeeded his father Vespasian upon his death, thus becoming the first Roman emperor to come to the throne after his own biological father. Prior to becoming emperor, Titus gained renown as a military commander, serving under his father in Judea during the First Jewish–Roman War. The campaign came to a brief halt with the death of emperor Nero in 68, launching Vespasian’s bid for the imperial power during the Year of the Four Emperors. When Vespasian was declared Emperor on 1 July 69, Titus was left in charge of ending the Jewish rebellion. In 70, he besieged and captured Jerusalem, and destroyed the city and the Second Temple so that the city became uninhabitable for over 60 years (the present day Old City was then the whole of Jerusalem). For this achievement Titus was awarded a triumph: the Arch of Titus commemorates his victory to this day. The influence on the later developments of Christianity and Judaism through the results of the Jewish-Roman Wars (First Jewish–Roman War, Kitos War and Bar Kokhba revolt) was considerable. While Christianity experienced a rapid worldwide growth, Judaism declined into Diaspora groups. read more…
