Chichen itza pyramid

Chichen itza pyramid is a large pre-Columbian archaeological site built by the Maya civilization located in the northern center of the Yucatán Peninsula, in the Yucatán state, present-day Mexico.
Chichen itza pyramid was a major regional focal point in the northern Maya lowlands from the Late Classic through the Terminal Classic and into the early portion of the Early Postclassic period. The site exhibits a multitude of architectural styles, from what is called “Mexicanized” and reminiscent of styles seen in central Mexico to the Puuc style found among the Puuc Maya of the northern lowlands. The presence of central Mexican styles was once thought to have been representative of direct migration or even conquest from central Mexico, but most contemporary interpretations view the presence of these non-Maya styles more as the result of cultural diffusion.
chichen itza pyramid History
Northern Yucatán is arid, and the interior has no above-ground rivers. There are two large, natural sink holes, called cenotes, that could have provided plentiful water year round at Chichen, making it attractive for settlement. Of the two cenotes, the "Cenote Sagrado" or Sacred Cenote (also variously known as the Sacred Well or Well of Sacrifice), is the more famous. According to post-Conquest sources (Maya and Spanish), pre-Columbian Maya sacrificed objects and human beings into the cenote as a form of worship to the Maya rain god Chaac. Edward Herbert Thompson dredged the Cenote Sagrado from 1904 to 1910, and recovered artifacts of gold, jade, pottery, and incense, as well as human remains. A recent study of human remains taken from the Cenote Sagrado found that they had wounds consistent with human sacrifice.

Great wall of China

TheGreat wall of china of 10,000 is a series of stone and earthen fortifications in China, built, rebuilt, and maintained between the 5th century BC and the 16th century to protect the northern borders of the Chinese Empire from Xiongnu attacks during the rule of successive dynasties. Several walls, referred to as the Great Wall of China, were built since the 5th century BC. One of the most famous is the wall built between 220–206 BC by the first Emperor of China, Qin Shi Huang; little of it remains; it was much farther north than the current wall, which was built during the Ming Dynasty.
great wall of china stretches over approximately 6,400 km (4,000 miles) from Shanhaiguan in the east to Lop Nur in the west, along an arc that roughly delineates the southern edge of Inner Mongolia, but stretches to over 6,700 km (4,160 miles) in total. At its peak, the Ming Wall was guarded by more than one million men. It has been estimated that somewhere in the range of 2 to 3 million Chinese died as part of the centuries-long project of building the great wall of china.

History
The Chinese were already familiar with the techniques of wall-building by the time of the Spring and Autumn Period, which began around the 8th century BC. During the Warring States Period from the 5th century BC to 221 BC, the states of Qi, Yan and Zhao all constructed extensive fortifications to defend their own borders. Built to withstand the attack of small arms such as swords and spears, these walls were made mostly by stamping earth and gravel between board frames. Qin Shi Huang conquered all opposing states and unified China in 221 BC, establishing the Qin Dynasty. Intending to impose centralized rule and prevent the resurgence of feudal lords, he ordered the destruction of the wall sections that divided his empire along the former state borders. To protect the empire against intrusions by the Xiongnu people from the north, he ordered the building of a new wall to connect the remaining fortifications along the empire's new northern frontier. Transporting the large quantity of materials required for construction was difficult, so builders always tried to use local resources. Stones from the mountains were used over mountain ranges, while rammed earth was used for construction in the plains. There are no surviving historical records indicating the exact length and course of the Qin Dynasty walls. Most of the ancient walls have eroded away over the centuries, and very few sections remain today. Later, the Han, Sui, Northern and Jin dynasties all repaired, rebuilt, or expanded sections of the great wall of china at great cost to defend themselves against northern invaders.The great wall of chinal concept was revived again during the Ming Dynasty following the Ming army's defeat by the Oirats in the Battle of Tumu in 1449. The Ming had failed to gain a clear upper-hand over the Manchurian and Mongolian tribes after successive battles, and the long-drawn conflict was taking a toll on the empire. The Ming adopted a new strategy to keep the nomadic tribes out by constructing walls along the northern border of China. Acknowledging the Mongol control established in the Ordos Desert, the wall followed the desert's southern edge instead of incorporating the bend of the Huang He. Photograph of the Great Wall in 1907Unlike the earlier Qin fortifications, the Ming construction was stronger and more elaborate due to the use of bricks and stone instead of rammed earth. As Mongol raids continued periodically over the years, the Ming devoted considerable resources to repair and reinforce the great wall of china. Sections near the Ming capital of Beijing were especially strong.During 1440s-1460s, the Ming also built a so-called "Liaodong Wall". Similar in function to the Great Wall (whose extension it, in a sense, was), but more basic in construction, the Liaodong Wall enclosed theagricultural heartland of the Liaodong province, protecting it potential incursions by Jurched-Mongol Oriyanghan from the northwest and the Jianzhou Jurchens from the north. While stones and tiles were used in some parts of the Liaodong Wall, most of it was in fact simply an earth dike with moats on both sides.Towards the end of the Ming Dynasty, thegreat wall of china helped defend the empire against the Manchu invasions that began around 1600. Under the military command of Yuan Chonghuan, the Ming army held off the Manchus at the heavily fortified Shanhaiguan pass, preventing the Manchus from entering the Chinese heartland. The Manchus were finally able to cross the Great Wall in 1644, when the gates at Shanhaiguan were opened by Wu Sangui, a Ming border general who disliked the activities of rulers of the Shun Dynasty. The Manchus quickly seized Beijing, and defeated the newly founded Shun Dynasty and remaining Ming resistance, to establish the Qing Dynasty.Under Qing rule, China's borders extended beyond the walls and Mongolia was annexed into the empire, so construction and repairs on the great wall of china were discontinuedz

Christ The Redeemer Statue

Christ the Redeemer is a statue of Jesus Christ in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The statue stands 38 metres (120 ft) tall. It weighs 635 tonnes (700 short tons), and is located at the peak of the 700 metres (2,300 ft) Corcovado mountain in the Tijuca Forest National Park overlooking the city. It is the tallest of its kind in the world. The statue of Cristo de la Concordia in Cochabamba, Bolivia is the second tallest, standing at 33 metres (110 ft) tall. It is made of reinforced concrete and soapstone.
A symbol of Christianity, the statue has become an icon of Rio and Brazil.
The idea for erecting a large statue atop Corcovado was first suggested in the mid 1850s, when Catholic priest Pedro Maria Boss requested financing from Princess Isabel to build a large religious monument. Princess Isabel did not think much of the idea and it was completely dismissed in 1889, when Brazil became a Republic, with laws mandating the separation of church and state.The second proposal for a large landmark statue on the mountain was made in 1921 by the Catholic Circle of Rio. The group organised an event called Semana do Monumento ("Monument Week") to attract donations and collect signatures to support the building of the statue. The donations came mostly from Brazilian Catholics. The designs considered for the "Statue of the Christ" included a representation of the Christian cross, a statue of Jesus with a globe in his hands, and a pedestal symbolizing the world. The statue of Christ the Redeemer with open arms was chosen.

Machu Picchu

Machu Picchu is a pre-Columbian Inca site located 2,430 metres (8,000 ft) above sea level. It is situated on a mountain ridge above the Urubamba Valley in Peru, which is 80 kilometres (50 mi) northwest of Cuzco and through which the Urubamba River flows. The river is a partially navigable headwater of the Amazon River. Often referred to as "The Lost City of the Incas", Machu Picchu is one of the most familiar symbols of the Inca Empire
The Incas started building it around 1460 AD but was abandoned as an official site for the Inca rulers a hundred years later, at the time of the Spanish conquest of the Inca Empire. Although known locally, it was said who to have been forgotten for centuries when the site was brought to worldwide attention in 1911 by Hiram Bingham, an American historian. Since then, Machu Picchu has become an important tourist attraction. It has recently come to light that the site may have been discovered and plundered several years previously, in 1867 by a German businessman, Augusto Berns. In fact, there is substantial evidence that a British missionary, Thomas Payne, and a German engineer, J. M. von Hassel, arrived earlier than Hiram, and maps found by historians show references to Machu Picchu as early as 1874.Machu Picchu was declared a Peruvian Historical Sanctuary in 1981 and a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1983. Since it was not plundered by the Spanish when they conquered the Incas, it is especially important as a cultural site and is considered a sacred place.

Machu Picchu was built in the classical Inca style, with polished dry-stone walls. Its primary buildings are the Intihuatana, the Temple of the Sun, and the Room of the Three Windows. These are located in what is known by archaeologists as the Sacred District of Machu Picchu. In September 2007, Peru and Yale University reached an agreement regarding the return of artifacts which Hiram Bingham had removed from Machu Picchu in the early twentieth century.

Roman Colosseum

The Colosseum or Roman Coliseum, originally the Flavian Amphitheatre (Latin: Amphitheatrum Flavium, Italian Anfiteatro Flavio or Colosseo), is an elliptical amphitheatre in the center of the city of Rome, Italy, the largest ever built in the Roman Empire. It is one of the greatest works of Roman architecture and Roman engineering.

Occupying a site just east of the Roman Forum, its construction started between 70 and 72 AD under the emperor Vespasian and was completed in 80 AD under Titus, with further modifications being made during Domitian's reign (81–96). The name "Amphitheatrum Flavium" derives from both Vespasian's and Titus's family name (Flavius, from the gens Flavia)
Capable of seating 50,000 spectators, the Colosseum was used for gladiatorial contests and public spectacles. As well as the gladiatorial games, other public spectacles were held there, such as mock sea battles, animal hunts, executions, re-enactments of famous battles, and dramas based on Classical mythology. The building ceased to be used for entertainment in the early medieval era. It was later reused for such purposes as housing, workshops, quarters for a religious order, a fortress, a quarry, and a Christian shrine.

It has been estimated that about 500,000 people and over a million wild animals died in the Colosseum games.Although in the 21st century it stays partially ruined due to damage caused by devastating earthquakes and stone-robbers, the Colosseum is an iconic symbol of Imperial Rome and its breakthrough achievements in earthquake engineering. It is one of Rome's most popular tourist attractions and still has close connections with the Roman Catholic Church, as each Good Friday the Pope leads a torchlit "Way of the Cross" procession to the amphitheatre.The roman colosseum is also depicted on the Italian version of the five-cent euro coin

Petra Jordan

Petra jordan is an archaeological site in the Arabah, Ma'an Governorate, Jordan, lying on the slope of Mount Horin a basin among the mountains which form the eastern flank of Arabah (Wadi Araba), the large valley running from the Dead Sea to the Gulf of Aqaba. It is renowned for its rock-cut architecture.petra jordanis also one of the new 7 wonders of the world of the world. The Nabateans constructed it as their capital city around 100 BCE. 
The site remained unknown to the Western world until 1812, when it was introduced to the West by Swiss explorer Johann Ludwig Burckhardt. It was famously described as "a rose-red city half as old as time" in a Newdigate prize-winning sonnet by John William Burgon. UNESCO has described it as "one of the most precious cultural properties of man's cultural heritage. In 1985, petra jordan was designated a World Heritage Site
History
The History of petra jordan begins with the Kites and cairns of gazelle hunters going back into the aceramic neolithic.clarification needed Evidence suggests that settlements had begun in and around there in the Eighteenth Dynasty of Egypt. It is listed in Egyptian campaign accounts and the Amarna letters as Pel, Sela or Seir). Though the city was founded relatively late, a sanctuary existed there since very ancient times. Stations 19 through 26 of the stations list of Exodus are places associated with petra jordan. Thispetra jordan of the country was biblically assigned to the Horites, the predecessors of the Edomites. The habits of the original natives may have influenced the Nabataean custom of burying the dead and offering worship in half-excavated caves. Although Petra is usually identified with Sela which also means a rock, the Biblical references refer to it as "the cleft in the rock", referring to its entrance. 2 Kings xiv. 7 seems to be more specific. In the parallel passage, however, Sela is understood to mean simply "the rock"

On the authority of Josephus Eusebius and Jerome assert that Rekem was the native name and Rekem appears in the Dead Sea scrolls as a prominent Edom site most closely describing petra jordan. But in the Aramaic versions Rekem is the name of Kadesh, implying that Josephus may have confused the two places.citation needed Sometimes the Aramaic versions give the form Rekem-Geya which recalls the name of the village El-ji, southeast of petra jordan. The capital, however, would hardly be defined by the name of a neighboring village.citation needed The Semitic name of the city, if not Sela, remains unknown. The passage in Diodorus Siculus which describes the expeditions which Antigonus sent against the Nabataeans in 312 BC is understood to throw some light upon the history of Petra,citation needed] but the "petra" referred to as a natural fortress and place of refuge cannot be a proper name and the description implies that the town was not yet in existence.[citation needed]
The Rekem Inscription in 1976The only place in petra jordan where the name "Rekem" occurs was in the rock wall of the Wadi Musa opposite the entrance to the Siq. About twenty years ago the Jordanians built a bridge over the wadi and this inscription is now buried beneath tons of concrete.
More satisfactory evidence of the date of the earliest Nabataean settlement may be obtained from an examination of the tombs. Two types may be distinguished—the Nabataean and the Greco-Roman. The Nabataean type starts from the simple pylon-tomb with a door set in a tower crowned by a parapet ornament, in imitation of the front of a dwelling-house. Then, after passing through various stages, the full Nabataean type is reached, retaining all the native features and at the same time exhibiting characteristics which are partly Egyptian and partly Greek. Of this type there exist close parallels in the tomb-towers at el-I~ejr [?] in north Arabia, which bear long Nabataean inscriptions and supply a date for the corresponding monuments at Petra. Then comes a series of tombfronts which terminate in a semicircular arch, a feature derived from north Syria. Finally come the elaborate façades copied from the front of a Roman temple; however, all traces of native style have vanished. The exact dates of the stages in this development cannot be fixed. Strangely, few inscriptions of any length have been found at Petra, perhaps because they have perished with the stucco or cement which was used upon many of the buildings. The simple pylon-tombs which belong to the pre-Hellenic age serve as evidence for the earliest period. It is not known how far back in this stage the Nabataean settlement goes, but it does not go back farther than the 6th century BC.
A period follows in which the dominant civilization combines Greek, Egyptian and Syrian elements, clearly pointing to the age of the Ptolemies. Towards the close of the 2nd century BC, when the Ptolemaic and Seleucid kingdoms were equally depressed, the Nabataean kingdom came to the front. Under Aretas III Philhellene, the royal coins begin. The theatre was probably excavated at that time, and Petra must have assumed the aspect of a Hellenistic city. In the reign of Aretas IV Philopatris, the fine tombs of the el-I ejr type may be dated, and perhaps also the great High-place.

Taj Mahal India

The tajmahal india is a mausoleum located in Agra, India, built by Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan in memory of his favorite wife, Mumtaz Mahal.
The tajmahal india is considered the finest example of Mughal architecture, a style that combines elements from Persian, Ottoman, Indian, and Islamic architectural styles. In 1983, the tajmahal india became a UNESCO World Heritage Site and was cited as "the jewel of Muslim art in India and one of the universally admired masterpieces of the world's heritage."
While the white domed marble mausoleum is its most familiar component, the tajmahal india is actually an integrated complex of structures. Building began around 1632 and was completed around 1653, and employed thousands of artisans and craftsmen. The Persian architect, Ustad Ahmad Lahauri is generally considered to be the principal designer of the tajmahal india.
History
Soon after the Taj Mahal's completion, Shah Jahan was deposed by his son Aurangzeb and put under house arrest at nearby Agra Fort. Upon Shah Jahan's death, Aurangzeb buried him in the tajmahal india next to his wife.
By the late 19th century, parts of the Taj Mahal had fallen badly into disrepair. During the time of the Indian rebellion of 1857, the tajmahal india l was defaced by British soldiers and government officials, who chiseled out precious stones and lapis lazuli from its walls. At the end of 19th century British viceroy Lord Curzon ordered a massive restoration project, which was completed in 1908 He also commissioned the large lamp in the interior chamber, modeled after one in a Cairo mosque. During this time the garden was remodeled with British-looking lawns that are visible today.

In 1942, the government erected a scaffolding in anticipation of an air attack by German Luftwaffe and later by Japanese Air Force. During the India-Pakistan wars of 1965 and 1971, scaffoldings were again erected to mislead bomber pilots. Its recent threats have come from environmental pollution on the banks of Yamuna River including acid rain due to the Mathura oil refinery, which was opposed by Supreme Court of India directives. The pollution has been turning the tajmahal india l yellow. To help control the pollution, the Indian government has set up the Taj Trapezium Zone (TTZ), a 10,400 square kilometer (6462.26 square mile) area around the monument where strict emissions standards are in place. In 1983, the tajmahal india was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The Great Pyramid Of Giza

The great pyramid of Giza Necropolis stands on the Giza Plateau, on the outskirts of Cairo, Egypt. This complex of ancient monuments, including the Great Pyramids, is located some 8 km (5 mi) inland into the desert from the old town of Giza on the Nile, some 25 km (15 mi) southwest of Cairo city centre. One of the monuments, the Great Pyramid of Giza, is the only remaining monument of the Seven 7 wonders of the world of the Ancient World.
 This Ancient Egyptian necropolis consists of the Pyramid of Khufu (known as the Great Pyramid and the Pyramid of Cheops), the somewhat smaller Pyramid of Khafre (or Chephren) a few hundred meters to the south-west, and the relatively modest-size Pyramid of Menkaure (or Mykerinos) a few hundred meters further south-west, along with a number of smaller satellite edifices, known as "queens" pyramids, causeways and valley pyramids. The Great Sphinx lies on the east side of the complex, facing east. Current consensus among Egyptologists is that the head of the Great Sphinx is that of Khafre. Associated with these royal monuments are the tombs of high officials and much later burials and monuments (from the New Kingdom onwards), signifying the reverence to those buried in the necropolis
Of the four, only Menkaure's Pyramid is seen today without any of its original polished limestone casing, with Khafre's Pyramid retaining a prominent display of casing stones at its apex, while Khufu's Pyramid maintains a more limited collection at its base. Khafre's Pyramid appears larger than the adjacent Khufu Pyramid by virtue of its more elevated location, and the steeper angle of inclination of its construction – it is, in fact, smaller in both height and volume. The most active phase of construction here was in the 25th century BC. It was popularised in Hellenistic times when the Great Pyramid was listed by Antipater of Sidon as one of the Seven 7 wonders of the world of the World. Today it is the only one of the ancient 7 wonders of the world still in existence.
Due largely to 19th-century images, the great pyramids of Giza are generally thought of by foreigners as lying in a remote, desert location, even though they are located in what is now part of the most populous city in Africa In fact, urban development reaches right up to the perimeter of the antiquities site. The ancient sites in the Memphis area, including those at Giza, together with those at Saqqara, Dahshur, Abu Ruwaysh, and Abusir, were collectively declared a World Heritage Site in 1979.

Paris the Most Visited City in the World

Paris the Most Visited City in the World

Paris is the capital and largest city in France, on the Seine, in northern France. The city of Paris, within their administrative boundaries largely unchanged since 1860, has an estimated population of 2,193,031 (January 2007), but the Paris metropolitan area has a population of 11,836,970 (January 2007) and is one of the most densely populated metropolitan areas in Europe.  Between 2009 and 2010, in Paris under the three most important and influential cities in the world ranked in the top three European cities in the future according to a study by the Financial Times and the top ten cities in the world, as published by the British contribution Monocle ( live June 2010). An important control for more than two millennia, Paris is today one of the world's leading business and cultural centers, and their influence in politics, education, entertainment, media, fashion, science and the arts all contribute to its status as one of the world's most important cities in the world. Paris, the 10 greenest cities in Europe, one in 2010  Paris and the Paris region, with € 552.1 billion (U.S. $ 768.9 billion) in 2009, produces more than a quarter of gross domestic product (GDP) of France. According to 2007 estimates is the Paris metropolitan area in Europe's largest economy of the city and the fifth largest in the world. The Paris Region hosts 37 of the Fortune Global 500 companies in various business districts, notably La Défense, the largest purpose-built business district in Europe.Paris also hosts many international organizations such as UNESCO, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) and the informal Paris Club. A recent survey by the Economist Intelligence Unit in 2010, Paris is the world's most expensive city to live in.  Paris and its region are the most popular tourist destination in the world with 45 million tourists annually, 27 million are foreign visitors.The city and region contains many famous tourist attractions, especially the Eiffel Tower as well as world famous institutions and popular parks.  Tourism  Since 1848, Paris is a popular destination of the rail network, with Paris in the middle. Among Paris 'first mass attractions drawing international interest were the above-mentioned Expositions Universal, that was the origin of Paris' many monuments, namely the Eiffel Tower in 1889. This, in addition to the capital's Second Empire embellishments, did much to the city itself the attraction it is doing today.  Paris' museums and monuments are among the most valued attractions, tourism, the city and national governments to create motivated later. The city's most valuable museum, the Louvre welcomes more than 8 million visitors a year, by far the world's most visited art museum. The city cathedrals are another attraction: Notre Dame de Paris and the Basilique du Sacre-Coeur get 12 million and eight million visitors. The Eiffel Tower, by far the most famous monuments of Paris, on average, more than six million visitors per year and more than 200 million since its construction. Disneyland Paris is a major tourist attraction for visitors to not only Paris but also the rest of Europe, with 14.5 million visitors in 2007.  The Louvre is one of the world's largest and most famous museums, housing many works of art including the Mona Lisa and Venus de Milo statue. Works by Pablo Picasso and Auguste Rodin at the Musée Picasso and Musée Rodin, or found, while the artistic community of Montparnasse is the Musée du Montparnasse Chronicle. Krass apparent with its service-pipe exterior, the Centre Georges Pompidou, also known as Beaubourg, houses the Musée National d'Art Moderne. Art and artifacts from the Middle Ages and Impressionist eras are in the Musée Cluny and Musée d'Orsay, or held former with the precious tapestry cycle The Lady with the Unicorn. Paris' newest (and third largest) museum, the Musée du Quai Branly, opened its doors in June 2006 and houses art from Africa, Asia, Oceania and the Americas.  Many of the once popular local Paris operations have come to the tastes and expectations of the tourists, rather than just local patrons. Le Lido, the Moulin Rouge dance hall, for example, is a staged dinner-theater spectacle, a dance display that was once but one aspect of the former cabaret atmosphere. All the furnishings of the former social or cultural elements, such as its ballrooms and gardens, are gone today. Much of Paris' hotel, restaurant and night entertainment trades have become heavily dependent on tourism.

Istanbul Tourism

Istanbul is the largest city in Turkey and 5 largest city proper world.Istanbul in the world with a population of 13 million, also making it the largest metropolis in Europe proper and the second largest conurbation in Europe population.Istanbul is also in the list of the most visited cities is also a Mega City, and the cultural, economic and financial center of Turkey. The city covers 39 districts of Istanbul is located on the Bosphorus province.It and includes the natural harbor known as the Golden Horn, in the northwest of the country. It covers both the European (Thrace) and on the Asian (Anatolia) side of the Bosphorus and is thereby the only metropolis in the world that lies on two continents. Istanbul is a cosmopolitan city known. 
During its long history had been in Istanbul as the capital of the Roman Empire (330-c.395), Byzantium (c.395-1204 & 1261-1453), the Latin Empire (1204-1261) and the Ottoman Empire served (1453 to 1922). Then put the new Republic of Turkey, its capital to Ankara during the Turkish War of Independence. Istanbul was chosen as European Capital of Culture for 2010 and European Capital of Sport for 2012. The historic district of the city were included in the UNESCO list of World Heritage in 1985.
Shopping Centers in Istanbul
Istanbul has numerous historic shopping centers, such as the Grand Bazaar (1461), Mahmutpaşa Bazaar (1462) and the Egyptian Bazaar (1660). The first modern shopping mall in Turkey Galleria Ataköy was (1987), dozens of others in recent decades, as Akmerkez followed (1993), the only mall, both "Europe's Best" to win is "World's Best" awards by the ICSC, Metro City (2003); Cevahir Mall (2005), the largest shopping center in Europe, and Kanyon Mall (2006), which won the 2006 Cityscape Architectural Review Award for its interesting design. Istinye Park (2007) and City Nişantaşı (2008) are two new shopping centers, high-end target consumers and are devoted almost exclusively to world-famous fashion brands.
Restaurants in Istanbul
Along with the traditional Turkish restaurants, many European and Far Eastern restaurants and numerous other cuisines are also thriving in the city. Most of the historic wine town houses (meyhane in Turkish) and pubs are in the areas around İstiklal Avenue in Beyoğlu. The 19th Century Çiçek Pasajı (literally Flower Passage in Turkish, or Cité de Pera in French) on Istiklal Avenue, which has many historical meyhanes, has bars and restaurants, from Hristaki Zografos Efendi on the former site of the Naum Theatre built and inaugurated in 1876. The famous Nevizade Street, which has rows of historic meyhanes side by side, is also in this area.
Other historic pubs are found in the areas around Tünel Pasajı and the nearby Asmalımescit Sokagi. Some historic district around İstiklal Avenue were rebuilt recently, with varying success, as Cezayir Sokagi near Galatasaray Lisesi, that has rows of pubs, cafes and restaurants with live music.
Istanbul is also famous for its historic seafood restaurants, as an example, has a pedestrian-only area Kumkapı which is dedicated to seafood restaurants. About 30 seafood restaurants are there, many of them found among the best in town. Many of the most popular fish restaurants along the banks of the Bosphorus and the Marmara Sea south of the city are displayed side. The largest of the Princes' Islands in the Marmara Sea (namely Büyükada, Heybeliada, Burgazada and Kınalıada) and Anadolu Kavagi near the northern entrance of the Bosphorus towards the Black Sea (near Yoros fortress, the Genoese as the castle was known for Genoa possession in the middle of the 15th . century) also have many historic seafood restaurants.

New York City

New York is the most popular city in the United States and the center of the greater New York, one of the most popular cities in the world.New York is the list of most visited cities in the world.New York City has a significant impact on global trade, finance , media, culture, art, fashion, research, education and entertainment. As host of the headquarters of the United Nations, it is also an important center for international affairs. The city is often referred to as New York City or the City of New York to remove it from the State of New York, of which there are different part. 
The hotel is situated on a large natural harbor on the Atlantic coast in the northeastern United States of America, New York City comprises five boroughs: The Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhattan, Queens and Staten Iceland. With a population of 8.4 million euro over a land area of only 305 square miles (790 km2) New York is the most densely populated major city in the United States.As to 800 languages are spoken in New York, is distributed so that the language diverse city in the world. The New York Metropolitan Area's population is the United States is the largest, with 19.1 million people over 6720 square miles (17,400 km2) estimated distributed. The Greater New York is also part of the largest population combined statistical area in the United States, with 22.2 million people from 2009 census estimates.
New York traces its roots to the 1624 founding of New Amsterdam as a trading post by the Dutch colonists. The city and its surrounding area came under English control in 1664 and was renamed New York after King Charles II of England granted the land to his brother, the Duke of York. New York served as the capital of the United States of 1785 to 1790. It has the largest city in the country since 1790.
Many districts and landmarks in New York City have been unknown to outsiders. The Statue of Liberty greeted millions of immigrants as they came to America by ship in the late 19 and early 20 Century. Times Square, as "The Crossroads of the World" iconified is the brightly lit center of Broadway, one of the world's busiest pedestrian crossings and a major center of the global entertainment industry. New York's financial district, anchored on Wall Street in Lower Manhattan competes with London as a financial center in the world and is home to the New York Stock Exchange, the world's largest exchange, total market capitalization of listed companies. Manhattan real estate market has the world known as one of the most valuable and expensive in the world. Manhattan's Chinatown has one of the highest concentrations of Chinese in the Western Hemisphere. Many colleges and universities are located in New York, including Columbia University, New York University and Rockefeller University, which ranked among the top 100 in the world.
Tourism in New York
Tourism is one of the most important industries in New York City, with more than 40 million combined national and international tourists each year in the last five years. Major destinations include the Empire State Building, Statue of Liberty, Ellis Iceland, Broadway theaters, museums like the Metropolitan Museum of Art; parks including Central Park and Washington Square Park, Rockefeller Center, Times Square, luxury shopping along Fifth and Madison Avenues, and events like the Halloween Parade in Greenwich Village, the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, St. Patrick's Day Parade, seasonal activities such as ice skating in Central Park in winter, the Tribeca Film Festival, and free performances at Central Park Summerstage. Special experiences outside of the key tourist areas of the city include, but are not limited to the Bronx Zoo, Coney Iceland, and the New York Botanical Garden.
In 2010, New York City, a record number of tourists with 48.7 million.Since economy of the United States had not yet recovered, is Mayor Michael Bloomberg's goal, break the record again in 2012 by more than 50 million tourists.

Travel to London England

London is the 2nd most visited city in the world.London is the capital of the United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom and the largest urban area in the European Union by most measures. The City of London, largely retains its square-mile medieval boundaries. For at least the 19th Century the name London, the city has developed around this core means. The bulk of this conurbation forms the London region and the Greater London administrative area controlled by the elected Mayor of London and the London Assembly. 
London is a leading global city, help with strengths in art, trade, education, entertainment, fashion, finance, healthcare, media, professional services, research and development, tourism and transport all of its meaning. It is the world's largest financial center after New York, the largest city of the GDP in Europe and is home to the headquarters of more than 100 of Europe's 500 largest companies. It is the most visited city in the world.London's five international airports make its airspace of the busiest of an urban center in the world and London Heathrow is the world's busiest airport on the number of international passengers. London 43 universities form the largest concentration of higher education institutions in Europe.In 2012 in London the first city to host the Olympic Games will become three.
London has a wide spectrum of peoples, cultures and religions, and more than 300 languages are spoken within its borders. In July 2007 it had an official population of 7.5569 million within the boundaries of Greater London and is the most populous city in the European Union. The Greater London Urban Area is the second largest in the EU, with a population of 8,278,251, while the Greater London area, the largest in the EU, with an estimated total population of 12 million and 14 million.
London has four world heritage sites: the Tower of London, Kew Gardens, the site of the Palace of Westminster, Westminster Abbey and St. Margaret's Church and the historic settlement of Greenwich (which operates Royal Observatory Greenwich Meridian (0 ° longitude) and GMT ). Other famous sights include Buckingham Palace, London Eye, Piccadilly Circus, 30 St Mary Axe (The Gherkin "), St. Paul's Cathedral, Tower Bridge and Trafalgar Square. London is home to numerous museums, galleries, libraries, sports events and other cultural institutions, including the British Museum, National Gallery, British Library, Wimbledon and 40 theaters. London's Chinatown is the largest in Europe thought London Underground is the oldest underground network in the world and the most extensive on the Shanghai Metro.
Parks and Gardens in London
The largest park in the central area of London, the Royal Parks of Hyde Park, Kensington Gardens, his neighbors on the western edge of central London and Regent's Park on the northern edge. Regent's Park contains London Zoo, the world's oldest scientific zoo, located near the tourist attraction of Madame Tussauds Wax Museum.
Closer to central London are the smaller Royal Parks of Green Park and St. James's Park, Hyde Park is especially popular for sports and sometimes hosts open-air concerts. A number of large parks lie outside the inner city, including the remaining Royal Parks of Greenwich Park in south-east and Bushy Park and Richmond Park in south-west and Victoria Park, East London in the east. Primrose Hill in the north of Regent's Park is a popular place to see the city skyline.
There are a few more informal, semi-natural open space is also available, including the 320-hectare (790 acres) Hampstead Heath of North London.This contains Kenwood House, the former manor house and a popular location in the summer months where classical music concerts are held on the lake and pulls to enjoy thousands of people each weekend to the music, scenery and fireworks.
Museums and galleries in London
Many museuma and galleries and other institutions in London. Many of them are free of admission fees and most important sights as well as playing a research role. The first of these was to be built by the British Museum in Bloomsbury, in 1753. Originally with antiques, natural history and the national library, the museum is now 7 million artifacts from around the world. In 1824 the National Gallery was founded to Britain's national collection of paintings by Western house, which now takes a prominent position in Trafalgar Square. In the second half of the nineteenth century, the locale of the South Kensington was "Albertopolis" as developed by cultural and academic quarter. Three major national museums are located there: the Victoria and Albert Museum (for the Applied Arts), the Natural History Museum and the Science Museum. The National Gallery of British Art is at Tate Britain, originally founded as a branch of the National Gallery in 1897. The Tate Gallery, as it was formerly called, was also a major center for modern art, and in 2000 moved the collection to Tate Modern, a new gallery in the former Bankside Power Station.

Kuala Lumpur Tourism

Kuala Lumpur is also in the list of the most visited cities in the world.in 208 Kuala Lumpur is 5th most visited cities in the world.Kuala Lumpur is the capital and largest city of Malaysia in terms of population. The town itself, so that an area of 243 km2 (94 square miles), has a population of 1.6 million 2010.Greater Kuala Lumpur, also known as Klang Valley, is is an agglomeration of million.It 7.2 fastest growing metropolitan region of the country in terms of population and economy. 
Kuala Lumpur is the seat of the Parliament of Malaysia. The city was once home to the executive and judicial branches of the federal government, but they are now starting to Putrajaya 1999.Some sections of the judiciary remains moved to the capital. The official residence of the Malaysian King, the Istana Negara, is located in Kuala Lumpur. With Kuala Lumpur as a world city is the cultural, financial and economic center of Malaysia due to its position as the capital and as a primate city.
Kuala Lumpur is within the limits of the federal territory of Kuala Lumpur and is defined by three Malaysian Federal Territories. It is an enclave within the state of Selangor, on the central west coast of the peninsula are Malaysia.Residents the city known colloquially as KLite.
Since the 1990s, the city has hosted many international sporting events, political and cultural events including the 1998 Commonwealth Games and won the Formula One world championship. In addition, Kuala Lumpur is home to the tallest twin towers in the world, the Petronas Twin Towers, which have become a symbol of Malaysia's development.
Kuala Lumpur Tourism
The tourism industry also plays an important role in the economy of the city, providing income, employment and expanding business opportunities. As an extension of this, many large hotel chains worldwide presence in the city. Kuala Lumpur is the fifth most visited city in the world, with 8.94 million tourists in 2008. Kuala Lumpur is an international shopping destination, with lots of shopping malls and mega malls which carry well-known global and local brands developed. Congress tourism conventions, which include mainly has expanded in recent years and is always a very important part of the industry.
The main tourist destinations in Kuala Lumpur, the Dataran Merdeka (Independence Square), the House of Parliament, the Istana Budaya, the Istana Negara (National Palace), the Kuala Lumpur Tower, the Muzium Negara (National Museum), the Putra World Trade Centre, the Tugu Negara (National Monument) and the Masjid Jamek mosque as the Masjid Negara (National Mosque) and the Federal Territory Mosque.
Other tourist attractions include the Aquaria KLCC, the Batu Caves, the Makam Pahlawan (National Mausoleum), the National Science Centre, Petaling Street, the Royal Selangor Pewter Visitor Centre, Zoo Negara (National Zoo), and events such as Malay cultural centers; Chinese Culture Festival at the Thean Hou Temple and the Thaipusam procession at the Sri Mahamariamman temple. The Golden Triangle, the commercial heart of the city, contains the Petronas Twin Towers and has a distinctive nightlife. Trendy nightclubs, bars and lounges, such as the Beach Club, Espanda, Republic of the Hakka Restaurant & Wine Bar, Hard Rock Cafe, the Luna Bar, Nuovo, Rum Jungle, which are Thai club, Zouk, and many others in and around Jalan P. Ramlee, Jalan Sultan Ismail and Jalan Ampang.
Hotels, have from five-star budget to cut all types, accommodate the influx of tourists every year. There are many hotels in the vicinity of Kuala Lumpur, entertainment and business district

Jahangir’s Tomb, 1870s Pic

This view shows the tomb and surrounding gardens of the Mughal emperor Jahangir (1605-1627) at Shahdara in the 1870s. Mughal royalty and their courtiers built pleasure gardens and palaces on the right bank of the River Ravi at Shahdara opposite the major city of Lahore. At the outset of the reign of Jahangir’s son, Shah Jahan, in 1627 the emphasis changed to funerary architectural projects of which this is one. Set in formal gardens originally built by Jahangir’s wife, Nur Jahan, the tomb is faced in red sandstone inlaid with coloured marbles whilst inside the mausoleum walls are covered in colourful floral murals. The surviving marble cenotaph of Jahangir is decorated with inlaid gemstones in floral motifs and calligraphic passages giving the ninety-nine names of Allah.

History Of Minar E Pakistan

MINAR-E-PAKISTAN LAHORE

Minar-e-Pakistan (Pakistan Day Memorial) is a minaret which was made to commemorate the day when the Pakistan resolution was passed on March 23, 1940. The main tower of this memorial was completed on March 22, 1968. The location was originally known as Minto Park. It was here that the historic session of the All-India Muslim League was held on March 23, 1940.

In 1960 the Muslim League leaders impressed upon the local authorities the need for building a memorial. The governor of West Pakistan, Akhtar Hussain, issued an appeal to the public for contributions for constructing the memorial. He also constituted a memorial committee and a memorial fund for collecting donations from philanthropists. Murat Khan, a Turkish architect, designed the memorial. The governor laid the foundation stone of the memorial on March 23, 1960. The tower took about eight years to complete, at an estimated cost of Rs. 500,000.

The tower rises above a platform shaped like a five-pointed star. The terrace is three feet from ground level, the platform's height is about six feet, and the star platform is about 12 feet high. It is surrounded by two crescent-shaped pools, four feet deep and lined with green and red marble. The tower has a spring shaped hall spanned by arches. The rostrum facing Badshahi Mosque is a quadrant constructed with Mughal patterned tiles. The circular diameter of the tower is 320 feet. The petals, 30 feet high, look like a blooming flower. The total height of the structure is 203 feet from ground level. On the marble slabs of the central shaft are inscribed a brief history of the Pakistan Resolution in English, Urdu and Bengali, the 99 names of God and poetic verses from Allama Iqbal. The tower has 10 vertical covering slabs interlaced with flower petals and glazed cement domes, with a sightseeing platform and a central spiral staircase.

The design of the base and the first four platforms depict the history of the Pakistan Movement through architectural symbols. Rough stones and cement have been haphazardly laid representing the chaotic conditions and the lack of direction in the early stages of the freedom movement of the Indian Muslims. The stones used for the first platform are rough Taxila stones. Hammer-dressed stones are used on the second platform. On the third platform are laid chiselled stones, while the fourth and final platform is of highly polished marble, symbolizing the ultimate success of the freedom movement.

The dome is of stainless steel inlaid with fine glass pieces. Up to the dome there are four stages spread over 162 stairs. The best and encompassing panoramic view of Lahore and the citadel is obtained by using the elevator which takes you all the way up to the top of the tower. The park is a popular recreational spot for Lahorites who congregate there in large numbers. It is often used for holding large public meetings. The locality of the memorial has been highlighted with well planned parks. Eight marble fountains on the main access add to the beauty of the memorial, emitting watery rainbows with the help of multicolored lights.

History will judge us on asylum seekers too

Julia Gil lard claimed recently that history would judge our parliamentarians when they vote on Labor'sclimate change legislation. She is right.

The next Australian history to be released will consider, somewhere towards the back in all probability, the rise of environmentalism and the climate change debate in modern Australia.
Historians are interested in changes over time. The environmental movement represents a significant new feature in the timeline of Australia's political, social and cultural history. It is deserving of a place in the story of our contemporary society. No-one can say, though, historians will judge Labor on climate change policy in the end.
Historians are also interested in continuity. We seek to describe how things evolve over time, but also how other things stay the same. One thing that has barely changed since European settlement is the attitude of our governments towards immigration.
For most of our past, we have carefully planned immigration to Australia, and have specially designed the composition and size of our population. Migrants have always been primarily a source of labour and a means to build our nation and its economy. When distance and money were still large barriers to movement, Australian governments were able to easily turn the immigration tap on and off, usually in concert with fluctuations in our economy. For a very long time, immigration was also a strategy of defence or a way of strengthening our hold on the land we inhabit - look no further than White Australia for an example of this. As a 'nation girt by sea', the peopling and development of Australia has always come back to migration. Territorial borders have always been the essential component in our sense of national sovereignty.
If you read any good Australian history, it should be clear that Australian immigration has been the combination of our cyclical need for migrants and the international conditions that have lead to large-scale movements of people. Nevertheless, as if to ignore the 'emigration' side of the equation, Australia has always considered migrants in terms of what they can offer us and not in terms of how migration might help them. For better or worse, the state's power over who comes here and who does not has long been effective in creating a nation peopled according to the tastes and requirements of Australia at the time.
Our attitudes have not changed much. The movement of people is a phenomenon as old as humanity, but larger numbers and an increased diversity of origins and destinations mark the new era of migration we live in. National governments are integrating their economies into the global market, but the opening up of trade has not coincided with the opening up of borders. The flow of money has become unrestricted, but states are frantically clutching to the idea of sovereignty as they erect bigger and stronger barricades to the flow of people in a quest for control. This is a trend in almost all Western democracies today, and Australia has had a lot of time to get used to it.

We are still struggling, however, with the new era of global migration. Australia is still not sure how to deal with alterations to our ethnic make-up. After World War II, we were scared of continental European migrants. When White Australia was fully dismantled in the 1970s, we were whipped into a fearful frenzy about Asian immigration. Today, migrants from Central Asia and the Middle East cop much of the flak. Most of us are lawful and tolerant citizens, and we treat all migrants as equals. Some of us are not so welcoming, and the increased ethnic diversity of our migrant intake has come as a rude awakening to the realities of migration in the modern world. While immigration law no longer discriminates, sections of our society are yet to catch up.
In another sense, we have adapted to some of the changes presented by modern society. With larger numbers of forced migrants and displaced persons in the world today, we recognise our responsibility as a developed nation to protect refugees and we have an active, though small, humanitarian migration program. In this way, the international community can see that we are playing team. Yet even then, we are on a bloody-minded quest for control. Prime minister John Howard summed up our official attitude to all migrants – not just asylum seekers and refugees – when he said that "We shall decide who comes to this country and the circumstances in which they come". This has been the dictum of Australian migration policy since day one – Howard just said it well.
Our culture of tight immigration management is acceptable to some, and abhorrent to others. Either way, it has stuck with us since the mass peopling of Australia began. Our government's attitudes are clashing violently with the reality of humanitarian migration. Our quest to regulate migration in every aspect is leading us down a dangerous path, one that has already seen us violate international human rights law and trample upon some of the core precepts of refugee protection. As our government desperately clings onto a notion of sovereignty that is incompatible with global humanitarianism, we are harming the people who need our protection the most. The offshore processing of asylum seekers, and the lack of compassion exhibited by most of our politicians concerning their plight, has the international community questioning our ability to right the wrongs of the past. This is yet another chapter in a particularly worrying history of migration and migrants in Australia.
Immigration regulation has been the backbone of Australian sovereignty since the beginning. It is a continuous plotline in our nation's historical narrative, and our quest for control is one that has taken us to some very dark places indeed. Historians usually seek to simply understand, but sometimes it is difficult not to pass judgment. If Julia Gillard thinks the historians will not judge her on this as well, the most constant element of our nation's story, she had better think again.

Singapore The 3rd Most Visited City in The World

Singapore's all so in the list of most visited cities in the world, Singapore is officially the Republic of Singapore is an island nation off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, 137 kilometers (85 miles) north of the equator, in Southeast Asia. It is separated from Malaysia through the Straits of Johor to the north and the Indonesian Riau Islands of the Singapore Strait south. Singapore is the world's fourth largest financial center and a cosmopolitan city, an important role in international trade and finance. The Port of Singapore is one of the five largest ports in the world. 
Singapore has a long history of immigration. It has a diverse population of nearly 5 million people, mainly by Asians (especially Chinese, Malays, Indians, Asians of various other departures), and a few Caucasians. 42% of the population in Singapore are foreigners who work and study there. Foreign workers account for 50% of the service sector. A.T. Kearney named Singapore the most globalized countries in the world in 2006 in their globalization index. 
The Economist Intelligence Unit in its "Quality of Life Index, Singapore ranked with the best quality of life in Asia and eleventh overall in the world. Singapore has the world's ninth-largest currency reserves. The country also maintains armed forces, technologically advanced and well equipped. 
Before independence in 1965, Singapore became a vibrant commercial city with a GDP per capita of $ 511, the third highest in East Asia then. After independence, foreign direct investment and state-run drive for industrialization, according to the plans of former Deputy Prime Minister Dr. Goh Keng Swee and Albert Winsemius created a modern economy. After a contraction of -6.8% in the 4th Quarter of 2009, Singapore claimed the title of the fastest growing economy in the world with a GDP growth of 14.5% for 2010 
Tourism 
Singapore is a popular tourist destination, contributing to the importance of the tourism industry. Overall visitor numbers were 10.2 million in 2007. To attract more tourists, the government decided to legalize gambling and can be developed into two casino-resorts (euphemistically called Integrated Resorts) at Marina South and Sentosa in 2005. To compete with regional rivals such as Bangkok, Hong Kong, Tokyo and Shanghai, the government has announced that the city would be implemented by lighting up the civic and commercial buildings in an exciting place. Food has also been promoted as an attraction for tourists, with the Singapore Food Festival held every July to celebrate Singapore's cuisine up. Other annual events in Singapore are the Singapore Sun Festival, the Christmas Light Up, and the Singapore Jewel Festival. 
Singapore is promoting itself as a medical tourism hub: about 200,000 foreigners seek medical care in the country each year and Singapore medical services aim to serve one million foreign patients annually by 2012 and $ 3 billion in sales.

Mohandas Gandhi (1869 - 1948)

Known as 'Mahatma' (great soul), Gandhi was the leader of the Indian nationalist movement against British rule, and is widely considered the father of his country. His doctrine of non-violent protest to achieve political and social progress has been hugely influential.

Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi was born on 2 October 1869 in Porbandar in Gujarat. After university, he went to London to train as a barrister. He returned to India in 1891 and in 1893 accepted a job at an Indian law firm in Durban, South Africa. Gandhi was appalled by the treatment of Indian immigrants there, and joined the struggle to obtain basic rights for them. During his 20 years in South Africa he was sent to prison many times. Influenced primarily by Hinduism, but also by elements of Jainism and Christianity as well as writers including Tolstoy and Thoreau, Gandhi developed the satyagraha ('devotion to truth'), a new non-violent way to redress wrongs. In 1914, the South African government conceded to many of Gandhi's demands.

Gandhi returned to India shortly afterwards. In 1919, British plans to intern people suspected of sedition - the Rowlatt Acts - prompted Gandhi to announce a new satyagraha which attracted millions of followers. A demonstration against the acts resulted in the Amritsar Massacre by British troops. By 1920, Gandhi was a dominant figure in Indian politics. He transformed the Indian National Congress, and his programme of peaceful non-cooperation with the British included boycotts of British goods and institutions, leading to arrests of thousands.

In 1922, Gandhi himself was sentenced to six years' imprisonment. He was released after two years and withdrew from politics, devoting himself to trying to improve Hindu-Muslim relations, which had worsened. In 1930, Gandhi proclaimed a new campaign of civil disobedience in protest at a tax on salt, leading thousands on a 'March to the Sea' to symbolically make their own salt from seawater.

In 1931, Gandhi attended the Round Table Conference in London, as the sole representative of the Indian National Congress, but resigned from the party in 1934 in protest at its use of non-violence as a political expedient. He was replaced as leader by Jawaharlal Nehru.

In 1945, the British government began negotiations which culminated in the Mountbatten Plan of June 1947, and the formation of the two new independent states of India and Pakistan, divided along religious lines. Massive inter-communal violence marred the months before and after independence. Gandhi was opposed to partition, and now fasted in an attempt to bring calm in Calcutta and Delhi. On 30 January 1948, he was assassinated in Delhi by a Hindu fanatic.

Jawaharlal Nehru (1889-1964)

Nehru was an Indian nationalist leader and statesman who became the first prime minister of independent India in 1947.

Jawaharlal Nehru was born in Allahabad, the son of a lawyer whose family was originally from Kashmir. He was educated in England, at Harrow School, and then at Trinity College, Cambridge. He studied law at the Inner Temple in London. He returned to India in 1912 and practised law for some years. In 1916, he married Kamala Kaul and the following year they had a daughter, Indira.

In 1919, Nehru joined the Indian National Congress which was fighting for greater autonomy from the British. He was heavily influenced by the organisation's leader Mohandas Gandhi. During the 1920s and 1930s Nehru was repeatedly imprisoned by the British for civil disobedience. In 1928, he was elected president of the Congress.

By the end of World War Two, Nehru was recognised as Gandhi's successor. He played a central role in the negotiations over Indian independence. He opposed the Muslim League's insistence on the division of India on the basis of religion. Louis Mountbatten, the last British viceroy, advocated the division as the fastest and most workable solution and Nehru reluctantly agreed.

On 15 August 1947, Nehru became the first prime minister of independent India. He held the post until his death in 1964. He implemented moderate socialist economic reforms and committed India to a policy of industrialisation.

Nehru also served as foreign minister of India. In October 1947, he faced conflict with Pakistan over the state of Kashmir, which was disputed at independence. Nehru sent troops into the state to support India's claim. A United Nations ceasefire was negotiated, but Kashmir remains deeply unstable to this day.

Against the background of the Cold War, Nehru developed a policy of 'positive neutrality' for India. He became one of the key spokesmen for the non-aligned countries of Africa and Asia, many of which were former colonies that wanted to avoid dependence on any major power.

Despite efforts at cooperation by both countries, Indian-Chinese border disputes escalated into war in 1962 and Indian forces were decisively beaten. This had a significant impact on Nehru's declining health. He died on 27 May 1964.

Two years later Nehru's daughter, Indira Gandhi, became prime minister. With an interruption of only three years, she held the post until her assassination in 1984. Her son Rajiv was prime minister of India from 1984 to 1989, but he too was assassinated.

Mohammad Ali Jinnah (1876-1948)

Jinnah was an Indian politician who successfully campaigned for an independent Pakistan and became its first leader. He is known there as 'Quaid-I Azam' or 'Great Leader'.

Mohammed Ali Jinnah was born on 25 December 1876 in Karachi, now in Pakistan, but then part of British-controlled India. His father was a prosperous Muslim merchant.

Jinnah studied at Bombay University and at Lincoln's Inn in London. He then ran a successful legal practice in Bombay. He was already a member of the Indian National Congress, which was working for autonomy from British rule, when he joined the Muslim League in 1913. The league had formed a few years earlier to represent the interests of Indian Muslims in a predominantly Hindu country, and by 1916 he was elected its president.

In 1920, the Indian National Congress launched a movement of non-cooperation to boycott all aspects of British rule. Jinnah opposed this policy and resigned from the congress. There were by now profound differences between the congress and the Muslim League.

After provincial elections in 1937, the congress refused to form coalition administrations with the Muslim League in mixed areas. Relations between Hindus and Muslims began to deteriorate. In 1940, at a Muslim League session in Lahore, the first official demand was made for the partition of India and the creation of a Muslim state of Pakistan. Jinnah had always believed that Hindu-Muslim unity was possible, but reluctantly came to the view that partition was necessary to safeguard the rights of Indian Muslims.

His insistence on this issue through negotiations with the British government resulted in the partition of India and the formation of the state of Pakistan on 14 August 1947. This occurred against a backdrop of widespread violence between Muslims, Hindus and Sikhs, and a vast movement of populations between the new states of Pakistan and India in which hundreds of thousands died.

Jinnah became the first governor general of Pakistan, but died of tuberculosis on 11 September 1948.

Exorcizing the Devil's Triangle

During the past century more than 50 ships and 20 aircraft sailed into oblivion in the area known as the Devil's Triangle, Bermuda Triangle, Hoodoo Sea, or a host of other names. Exactly what happened to the ships and aircraft is not known. Most disappeared without a trace. Few distress calls and little, if any, debris signaled their disappearance. Size of the triangle is dictated by whoever happens to be writing about it, and consequently what ships and the number lost depends largely on which article you read. Vincent Gaddis, credited with putting the triangle "on the map" in a 1964 Argosy feature, described the triangle as extending from Florida to Bermuda, southwest to Puerto Rico and back to Florida through the Bahamas. Another author puts the apexes of the triangle somewhere in Virginia, on the western coast of Bermuda and around Cuba, Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico. Sizes of the areas described ranged from 500,000 to 1.5 million square miles.Whatever the size or shape, there supposedly is some inexplicable force within it that causes ships and planes to vanish.According to Richard Winer, who recently completed a TV film documentary on the area, one "expert" he interviewed claims the missing ships and planes are still there, only in a different dimension as a result of a magnetic phenomenon that could have been set up by a UFO (Unidentified Flying Object).Winer is currently writing a book on the subject and has traveled most of the area in his sailboat. He confesses he "never saw anything unusual." Winer's TV program dealt mostly with the strange disappearance in 1945 of five Navy TBM Avengers with 14 fliers who flew from Ft. Lauderdale into the triangle never to return. A PBM Mariner with a 13-man crew was sent out to search for the fliers. It too, never returned.Few have really dug into all the aspects of this mystery, but many are content to attribute the loss of Flight 19 to some mysterious source, like UFOs. Michael McDonnel did do some digging. In an article he wrote for the June 1973 edition of Naval Aviation News, he suggested the most realistic answer to the loss of Flight 19 was simple, that after becoming lost, they ran out of gas. Many question that possibility by asking, "How could such experienced pilots get lost? How could all the compasses be wrong?"If the planes were flying through a magnetic storm, all compasses could possibly malfunction. Actually, man's knowledge of magnetism is limited. We know how to live with it and escape it by going into space, but, we really don't know what exactly it is.As for the pilots' experience, Flight 19 was a training flight. Though advanced, it was still training. Even the most "experienced" pilots make mistakes.McDonnel concludes his article with the statement, "Former TBM pilots that we questioned express the opinion that the crew of an Avenger attempting to ditch at night in a heavy sea would almost certainly not survive the crash. And this, we feel was the case with Flight 19. The aircraft most probably broke up on impact and those crewmen who might have survived the crash would not have lasted long in cool water."The PBM Mariner was specifically designed as a rescue plane with the ability to remain aloft for 24 hours. But the Mariners were nicknamed "flying gas tanks" by those who flew them. It was common for a pilot to search the crew members before each flight for matches or cigarette lighters because gas fumes often were present. After this Mariner disappeared, the Navy soon grounded all others.Another mysterious disappearance that baffles researchers is that of the SS Marine Sulphur Queen. Bound for Norfolk, Va. from Beaumont, Texas, the tanker was last heard from on Feb. 3, 1963, when she routinely radioed her position. The message placed her near Key West in the Florida Straits.Three days later, Coast Guard searchers found a solitary life jacket bobbing in a calm sea 40 miles southwest of the tanker's last known position. Another sign of the missing tanker or her 39-man crew has ever been found.The absence of bodies might be explained by the fact that the waters are infested with sharks and barracuda. As for the tanker, she was carrying 15,000 long tons of molten sulphur contained in four metal tanks, each heated to 275 degrees Fahrenheit by a network of coils connected to two boilers. No one knows for sure whether she blew up, but it is a possibility. If gas escaped from the tanks and poisoned the crew, the radio officer may have not had time to send a distress call before being overcome. The slightest spark could have set the leaking sulphur afire in an instant. Writing in the Seamen's Church Institute of New York's magazine, The Lookout, Paul Brock said that officers on a Honduras flag banana boat "reported to the Coast Guard that their freighter ran into a 'strong odor' 15 miles off Cape San Antonia, the western tip of Cuba, just before dawn on February 3. The odor was acrid.'" Brock speculates that they could have smelled the fumes coming from the Sulphur Queen "floating somewhere over the horizon, her crew dead and her cargo blazing." According to Brock, T-2 tankers like the Sulphur Queen had a history of battle failure. He said that "during the preceding years, three T-2s had split in half." Brock also cites a case in December 1954 when a converted Navy LST, the Southern District, was heading up the North Carolina coastline when she disappeared without a trace or distress call. Her cargo was powdered sulphur.One of the most celebrated stories of Devil's Triangle victims, is that of USSCyclops which disappeared in March of 1918.In his television program, Richard Winer indicated the captain of the Cyclops was rather eccentric. He was reputedly fond of pacing the quarterdeck wearing a hat, a cane and his underwear. Prior to the Cyclops disappearance there was a minor mutiny by some members of the crew which was promptly squelched by the captain and the perpetrators were sent below in irons. None of this really offers a clue to what happened to the collier Cyclops, but it suggests something other than a mysterious force might have led to her doom. According to Marshall Smith writing in Cosmopolitan, September 1973, "theories ranged from mutiny at sea to a boiler explosion which carried away the radio shack and prevented any distress call." One magazine, Literary Digest, speculated that a giant octopus rose from the sea, entwined the ship with its tentacles and dragged it to the bottom. Another theory was that the shipped suddenly turned turtle in a freak storm, trapping all hands inside.Fifty years later, novelist Paul Gallico used the idea as the peg for a novel called The Poseidon Adventure which was made into a successful movie in 1972.Cyclops was assigned to the Naval Overseas Transportation Service, which became the Naval Transportation, which merged with the Army Transport Service to become the Military Sea Transportation Service and then Military Sealift Command. When she sailed she was loaded with 10,800 tons of manganese ore bound for Baltimore from Barbados in the West Indies.Information obtained from Germany following World War I disproved the notion that enemy U-boats or mines sank the Cyclops. None were in the area. Another story concerns the loss of the nuclear submarine USS Scorpion in the Devil's Triangle. It is impossible to stretch even the farthest flung region of the triangle to include the position of the lost sub.Truth is, Scorpion was found by the MSC oceanographic ship USNS Mizar about 400 miles southwest of the Azores, nowhere near the Devil's Triangle. Its loss was attributed to mechanical failure, not some demonic denizen of the deep.There are literally thousands of cases of lost ships ever since primitive man dug a canoe out of the trunk of a tree and set it in the water. Why all this emphasis on the Devil's Triangle? It's difficult to say.It would seem that, historically, whenever man was unable to explain the nature of the world around him, the problems he faced were said to be caused by gods, demons, monsters and more recently, extra-terrestrial invaders.Before Columbus set sail and found the Americas, it was believed that the world was flat and if you sailed too far west, you would fall off the edge. That reasoning prevails concerning the Devil's Triangle. Since not enough scientific research has been done to explain the phenomenon associated with the area, imagination takes over. UFOs, mystical rays from the sun to the lost Continent of Atlantis, giant sea monsters and supernatural beings are linked to the mysterious disappearances in the triangle. To someone unprepared to take on the immense work of scientific research, supernatural phenomenon make for an easy answer. But, it is amazing how many supernatural things become natural when scientifically investigated.There are a number of natural forces at work in the area known as the Devil's Triangle, any of which could, if the conditions were right, bring down a plane or sink a ship.Many reputable scientists refuse to talk to anyone concerning the Devil's Triangle simply because they do not want their good names and reputations associated with notions they consider ridiculous.One expert on ocean currents at Yale University, who asked not to be identified, exploded into laughter at the mention of the triangle and said, "We confidently, and without any hesitation, often go to sea and work in that area." Another scientist refused to talk about it.Atmospheric aberrations are common to jet age travelers. Few have flown without experiencing a phenomenon known as clear air turbulence. An aircraft can be flying smoothly on a beautifully clear day and suddenly hit an air pocket or hole in the sky and drop 200 to 300 feet. Lt. Cmdr. Peter Quinton, meteorologist and satellite liaison officer with the Fleet Weather Service at Suitland, Md., said, "You can come up with hundreds of possibilities and elaborate on all of them and then come up with hundreds more to dispute the original ones. "It's all statistical," he said, "there's nothing magical about it." According to Quinton, the Bermuda Triangle is notorious for unpredictable weather. The only things necessary for a storm to become a violent hurricane are speed, fetch (the area the wind blows over) and time. If the area is large enough, a thunderstorm can whip into a hurricane of tremendous intensity. But hurricanes can usually be spotted by meteorologists using satellite surveillance. It is the small, violent thunderstorms known as meso-meteorological storms that they can't predict since they are outside of normal weather patterns. These are tornadoes, thunderstorms and immature tropical cyclones. They can occur at sea with little warning, and dissipate completely before they reach the shore. It is highly possible that a ship or plane can sail into what is considered a mild thunderstorm and suddenly face a meso-meteorological storm of incredible intensity. Satellites sometimes cannot detect tropical storms if they are too small in diameter, or if they occur while the satellite is not over the area. There is a 12-hour gap between the time the satellite passes over a specific part of the globe until it passes again. During these 12 hours, any number of brief, violent storms could occur.Quinton said, "Thunderstorms can also generate severe electrical storms sufficient to foul up communication systems." Speaking of meso-meteorological storms, which she dubbed "neutercanes," Dr. Joanne Simpson, a prominent meteorologist at the University of Miami, said in the Cosmopolitan article that "These small hybrid type storm systems arise very quickly, especially over the Gulf Stream. They are several miles in diameter, last a few minutes or a few seconds and then vanish. But they stir up giant waves and you have chaotic seas coming from all directions. These storms can be devastating."An experienced sailor herself, Dr. Simpson said on occasion she has been "peppered by staccato bolts of lightning and smelled- the metallic odor of spent electricity as they hit the water, then frightened by ball lightning running off the yards." Sailors have been amazed for years by lightning storms and static electricity called "St. Elmo's Fire."Aubrey Graves, writing in This Week magazine, August 4, 1964, quotes retired Coast Guard Capt. Roy Hutchins as saying, "Weather within the triangle where warm tropical breezes meet cold air masses from the arctic is notoriously unpredictable." "You can get a perfectly good weather pattern, as far as the big weather maps go, then go out there on what begins as a fine day and suddenly get hit by a 75-knot squall. They are localized and build up on the spot, but they are violent indeed." Many boatmen, Hutchins said, lack understanding of the velocity of that "river within the ocean" (Gulf Stream) which at its axis surges north at four knots. "When it collides with strong northeast winds, extremely stiff seas build up, just as in an inlet when the tide is ebbing against an incoming sea." "The seas out there can be just indescribable. The waves break and you get a vertical wall of water from 30 to 40 feet high coming down on you. Unless a boat can take complete submergence in a large, breaking sea, she can not live."Last year, the Coast Guard answered 8,000 distress calls in the area, 700 a month or 23 a day. Most problems could have been avoided if caution had been used. The biggest trouble comes from small boats running out of gas. According to the Coast Guard, an inexperienced sailor is looking for trouble out there. A small boat could be sucked into the prop oAnother phenomenon common in the region is the waterspout. Simply a tornado at sea that pulls water from the ocean surface thousands of feet into the sky, the waterspout could "wreck almost anything" said Allen Hartwell, oceanographer with Normandeau Associates. Hartwell explained that the undersea topography of the ocean floor in the area has some interesting characteristics. Most of the sea floor out in the Devil's Triangle is about 19,000 feet down and covered with deposition, a fine-grained sandy material. However, as you approach the East Coast of the United States, you suddenly run into the continental shelf with a water depth of 50 to 100 feet. Running north along the coast is the Gulf Stream which bisects the triangle carrying warm tropical water. Near the southern tip of the triangle lies the Puerto Rico Trench which at one point is 27,500 feet below sea level. It's the deepest point in the Atlantic Ocean and probably holds many rotting and decaying hulks of Spanish treasure galleons. Many articles concerning the triangle have made the erroneous statement that the Navy formed Project Magnet to survey the area and discover whether magnetic aberrations do limit communications with ships in distress, or contribute to the strange disappearance of ships and aircraft. Truth is that Navy's Project Magnet has been surveying all over the world for more than 20 years, mapping the earth's magnetic fields. According to Henry P. Stockard, project director, "We have passed over the area hundreds of times and never noticed any unusual magnetic disturbances."Also passing through the Devil's Triangle is the 80th meridian, a degree of longitude which extends south from Hudson Bay through Pittsburgh then out into the Triangle a few miles east of Miami. Known as the agonic line, it is one of two places in the world where true north and magnetic north are in perfect alignment and compass variation is unnecessary. An experienced navigator could sail off course several degrees and lead himself hundreds of miles away from his original destination.This same line extends over the North Pole to the other side of the globe bisecting a portion of the Pacific Ocean east of Japan.This is another part of the world where mysterious disappearances take place and has been dubbed the "Devil Sea" by Philippine and Japanese seamen. Noted for tsunami, the area is considered dangerous by Japanese shipping authorities. Tsunami, often erroneously called tidal waves, are huge waves created by underground earthquakes. These seismic waves have very long wave lengths and travel at velocities of 400 miles per hour or more. In the open sea they may be only a foot high. But as they approach the continental shelf, their speed is reduced and their height increases dramatically. Low islands may be completely submerged by them. So too may ships sailing near the coast or above the continental shelf.Quite a bit of seismic activity occurs off the northern shoreline of Puerto Rico. Seismic shocks recorded between 1961 and 1969 had a depth of focus ranging from zero to 70 kilometers down. Relatively shallow seaquakes could create tsunamis similar to those in the Pacific Ocean, but few have been recorded.A distinct line of shallow seaquake activity runs through the mid-Atlantic corresponding with the features of the continental shelf of the Americas. Some claim we know more about outer space than we do about inner space, including the oceans. If that is true, much information has yet to be developed concerning the Devil's Triangle. As recently as 1957 a deep counter-current was detected beneath the Gulf Stream with the aid of sub-surface floats emitting acoustic signals. The Gulf Stream and other currents have proved to consist of numerous disconnected filaments moving in complex patterns. What it all adds up to is that the majority of the supernatural happenings offered as explanations for the Devil's Triangle mysteries amount to a voluminous mass of sheer hokum, extrapolated to the nth degree. Mysteries associated with the sea are plentiful in the history of mankind. The triangle area happens to be one of the most heavily traveled regions in the world and the greater the number of ships or planes, the greater the odds that something will happen to some. Each holiday season the National Safety Council warns motorists by predicting how many will die on the nation's highways. They are usually quite accurate, but, no monsters kill people on highways, only mistakes. Seafarers and aircraft pilots also make mistakes. Eventually scientists will separate fact from the fiction concerning the Devil's Triangle. Until then, we can only grin and bear the ministrations of madness offered by triangle cultists. If you happen to be passing through the triangle while reading this article, don't bother to station extra watches to keep a wary eye out for giant squids. Better to relax and mull over the words of poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow: "Wouldst thou," so the helmsman answered, 
"Know the secret of the sea?"
Only those who brave its dangers, 
Comprehend its mystery.