The town of Telluride is the county seat and most populous town of San Miguel County in the southwestern portion of the U.S. state of Colorado. The town is a former silver mining camp on the San Miguel River in the western San Juan Mountains. The first gold mining claim was made in the mountains above Telluride in 1875 and early settlement of what is now Telluride followed. The town itself was founded in 1878 as “Columbia”, but due to confusion with a California town of the same name, was renamed Telluride in 1887, for the gold telluride minerals found in other parts of Colorado. These telluride minerals were never located near Telluride, causing the town to be named for a mineral which never was mined there. However, the area’s mines for some years provided zinc, lead, copper, silver, and other gold ores. read more…
Montauk is a census-designated place (CDP) that roughly corresponds to the hamlet with the same name located in the town of East Hampton in Suffolk County, New York, on the eastern end of the South Shore of Long Island. The population is at 3,300. Montauk is a major tourist destination and has six state parks. It is particularly famous for its fishing, claiming to have more world saltwater fishing records than any other port in the world. Located 20 miles (32 km) off the Connecticut coast, it is home to the largest commercial and recreational fishing fleet in New York state. Montauk is considered a beach resort, using its position at the tip of Long Island to promote itself as “The Living End” or “The Last Resort” and become one of the busiest tourist locations within the town of East Hampton. The small town is host to many restaurants, bed and breakfasts, and hotels, and is a popular vacation spot in the warm weather months. Such accommodations are rarer elsewhere in the Hamptons. Many of the Montauk hotels are only open April through November, some for shorter time periods, while a few serve fishermen and other customers year round, including the famed Gurney’s Inn. read more…
Fisher Island is a census-designated place of metropolitan Miami, located on a barrier island of the same name. As of the 2010 census, Fisher Island had the highest per capita income of any place in the United States. The island has only 218 households and a total population of 467 persons. A relatively small part of the northern part of the island is incorporated as a part of the city of Miami Beach. read more…
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is the United States government agency responsible for the civilian space program as well as aeronautics and aerospace research. President Dwight D. Eisenhower established the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) in 1958 with a distinctly civilian (rather than military) orientation encouraging peaceful applications in space science. The National Aeronautics and Space Act was passed on July 29, 1958, disestablishing NASA’s predecessor, the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA). The new agency became operational on October 1, 1958. read more…
Carmel-by-the-Sea, often called simply Carmel, is a city in Monterey County, California, founded in 1902 and incorporated on October 31, 1916. Situated on the Monterey Peninsula, Carmel is known for its natural scenery and rich artistic history. In 1906, the San Francisco Call devoted a full page to the “artists, poets and writers of Carmel-by-the-Sea”, and in 1910 it reported that 60 percent of Carmel’s houses were built by citizens who were “devoting their lives to work connected to the aesthetic arts.” Early City Councils were dominated by artists, and the city has had several mayors who were poets or actors, including Herbert Heron, founder of the Forest Theater, bohemian writer and actor Perry Newberry, and actor-director Clint Eastwood. read more…
432 Park Avenue is a supertall residential project with 104 condominium apartments developed by CIM Group in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. Originally proposed to be 1,300 feet (396 m) in 2011, construction began in 2012 and is scheduled to be completed in 2015. The building required the demolition of the 495-room Drake Hotel, which had been built in 1926. In 2006, the hotel was sold for $440 million to developer Harry Macklowe, and the hotel was demolished the year afterward. The site became one of New York’s most valuable development sites due to its location, between East 56th and 57th Streets on the west side of Park Avenue. read more…
USA-17 (formerly known as BMW Oracle Racing 90 or BOR90) is a sloop rigged racing trimaran built by the American sailing team BMW Oracle Racing to challenge for the 2010 America’s Cup. Designed by VPLP Yacht Design with consultation from Franck Cammas and his Groupama multi-hull sailing team, BOR90 is very light for her size being constructed almost entirely out of carbon fiber and epoxy resin, and exhibits very high performance being able to sail at 2.0 to 2.5 times the true wind speed. From the actual performance of the boat during the 2010 America’s Cup races, it can be seen that she could achieve a velocity made good upwind of over twice the wind speed and downwind of over 2.5 times the wind speed; this means that downwind she was sailing at nearly four times the speed of the true wind. She can apparently sail at 20 degrees off the apparent wind. The boat sails so fast downwind that the apparent wind she generates is only 5-6 degrees different from that when she is racing upwind; that is, the boat is always sailing upwind with respect to the apparent wind. An explanation of this phenomenon can be found in the article on sailing faster than the wind. USA 17’s homeport is the Golden Gate Yacht Club in San Francisco. read more…
Block Island is part of the U.S. state of Rhode Island. It is located in the Atlantic Ocean about 13 miles (21 km) south of the coast of Rhode Island, 14 miles (23 km) east of Montauk Point on Long Island, and is separated from the Rhode Island mainland by Block Island Sound. The island is part of the Outer Lands region, a coastal archipelago. The Nature Conservancy added Block Island to its list of “The Last Great Places”; the list consists of twelve sites in the Western Hemisphere. About 40 percent of the island is set aside for conservation. read more…
Sullivan’s Island is an American town and island in Charleston County, South Carolina, at the entrance to Charleston Harbor, with a population was 1,900. The town has a total area of 3.3 square miles (8.5 km2), of which 2.4 square miles (6.2 km2) is land and 0.9 square miles (2.3 km2) (27.11%) is water. The Ben Sawyer Bridge connects Sullivan’s Island to Mount Pleasant. A bridge spanning Breach Inlet connects it to Isle of Palms. Sullivan’s Island is part of the Sea Islands. read more…
