Hong Kong history retold in London (with photos)
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The Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office, London (London ETO) is supporting an exhibition entitled “Opium, Silk and the Missionaries in China” curated by Ms Iris Yau from Hong Kong. The exhibition runs from May 18 to June 26 at the Brunei Gallery of SOAS University of London.
The exhibition retells one of the largely forgotten histories between China and Britain in the 19th century, with a section dedicated to Hong Kong. It showcases botanical arts and tools, historical artefacts and records of British missionary work in China, and offers a glimpse into the past. The exhibition features precious objects from collections and archives in both London and Hong Kong.
The Director-General of the London ETO, Miss Winky So, said, “The London ETO is delighted to be supporting Ms Yau for her exhibition at Brunei Gallery, which is amongst the first physical exhibitions in London to be held in 2021 after lockdown restrictions were lifted. I hope the exhibition will lend viewers a fresh perspective on the history and culture of Hong Kong.”
Ms Yau was born and raised in Hong Kong. She is an Associate Lecturer and Curator of Education at the University of the Arts London, as well as a Guest Curator at the Brunei Gallery of SOAS University of London. Before becoming an academic, Ms Yau worked as a global fashion buying and sourcing manager for various international fashion companies in London.
For more details about the exhibition, please visit the following website: www.soas.ac.uk/gallery/opium-silk-and-the-missionaries-in-china.
Apr 24, 2021 | Business
Endowed with natures finest geological creation, Yellowstone National Park shelters a diverse ecosystem where mammals, reptiles, birds, and flora thrive. But what surprises most visitors is the activity of fishes in some waters of the park. Shortly after the time of its discovery, Lake Yellowstone was known as a place where fish could be forked up by the boatload. The reason for this inspired the efforts of a few individuals in 1889 to initiate a program to stock the many streams and lakes that were barren of fish.
Todays generation may not find the efforts of the first fish culturists to be ecologically blessed, but the zeal in those mens hearts and their successes is worthy of being recorded as a unique event in the history of Yellowstone Park. In a book that celebrates this achievement, Frank H. Tainter, a retired scientist and professor emeritus of Clemson University, provides a look back into the rich history of Fish Culture in Yellowstone National Park.
Fish Culture in Yellowstone National Park is a book that will provide a guided tour into the history of Yellowstone and its fishes. In this book, Tainter honors those who led the way in transforming the bodies of water of Yellowstone into a thriving haven for sport fishing.
Tainters father, uncles, and grandfather all worked on fish culture details for the former U.S. Bureau of Fisheries. The photos they left behind led to the conception of this book in which Tainter includes many references and resource credits so that future readers and users can find additional material.
This book will certainly educate the readers about a tiny piece of history. On top of that, it will also inspire the readers to take care of the blessings that nature has endowed to us.
Grab a piece of history. Get a copy now!
Book available at https://youronlinepublicist.com/product/fish-culture-in-yellowstone-national-park-the-early-years-1900-1930-by-frank-h-tainter-ph-d/
Fish Culture in Yellowstone National Park: The Early Years: 1900-1930
Author: Frank H. Tainter, Ph.D.
Publisher: Your Online Publicist
Publication Date: April 2021
Genre: History
About the Author
Frank H. Tainter, Ph.D. lives in Bozeman, Montana.
Apr 17, 2021 | International
The Québec Bridge, originally built as a railway bridge, was designed to link the two shores of the St. Lawrence River and the railways in Quebec and the United States, which was then operated by 11 railroad companies.
A masterpeice of engineering, a historic structure and a strategic asset
The first construction
The Québec Bridge, originally built as a railway bridge, was designed to link the two shores of the St. Lawrence River and the railways in Quebec and the United States, which was then operated by 11 railroad companies.
The design included two tracks for trains and one lane of roadway. At the time of its construction, the Bridge was the longest clear span bridge in the world, including all types of bridges, with an opening measuring 1800 feet (549 metres) between its main pillars. To this day, the Québec Bridge is the longuest cantilevering bridge in the world.
Its construction dates back to October 2, 1900, when then Prime Minister of Canada, Sir Wilfrid Laurier, placed the first cornerstone. Unfortunately a few years later, on August 29, 1907, the south section of the Bridge’s frame collapsed, killing 76 workers, including 33 Mohawk workers from the Kahnawake community.
On August 17, 1908, the Minister of Railways and Canals tasked 3 engineers, including the Canadian H.E. Vautelet, with carrying out necessary changes to the bridge’s basic design. This led to the use of nickel alloy steel to increase resistance to breakage.
In 1913, construction restarted, and the central span was built in Sillery Cove from May to July 1916. However, the Bridge tragically collapsed for a second time, on September 11, 1916, causing the death of 13 workers and injuring more than 14 others. To this day, the collapsed central span rests at the bottom of the river.
Final construction
On September 20, 1917, the construction and installation of a new span were successfully completed connecting the two sides of the St. Lawrence River. On October 17, 1917, the first locomotive, with two passenger cars carrying 400 passengers, crossed over the river to the south shore and back. The Prince of Wales, future King Edward VIII of England, officially inaugurated the Bridge on August 29, 1919.
Configuration of the bridge decks
In 1929, a roadway was added to the Bridge’s two rail lines to accommodate the needs of residents in the greater Québec City area, and it operated as a toll bridge for cars from 1929 to 1942. In 1949, federal authorities decided to change the configuration of the decks by repurposing one of the rail lines for car traffic. To meet the growing traffic between the shores, a third roadway was added in 1993.
Cultural value
The Québec Bridge is both an architectural gem and a national historical site. On May 23, 1987, the Bridge was designated a Historical Civil Engineering Landmark by the American Society of Civil Engineers to highlight the technical challenge of its construction at the beginning of the century. At the time, this honour had been awarded to only four other civil engineering works worldwide. On November 24, 1995, the Government of Canada designated the Bridge a National Historic Site, recognizing it as the most important bridge in the history of Canadian civil engineering.
Strategic connection
Today, the Québec Bridge continues to allow passengers and goods to move freely between the two shores of the St. Lawrence River and to other destinations in Canada and North America. Over 33,000 vehicles, including 404 public transit buses, and approximately 10 VIA Rail passenger trains and 3 CN freight trains cross the Québec Bridge every day. Furthermore, the Bridge supports 1000 pedestrian and cyclist crossings per day in the summer months.
Sep 29, 2020 | Lifestyle
The letter, handsomely matted and framed, and with a photo of Einstein, is for sale through The Manhattan Rare Book Company. It’s especially relevant in these trying times.
New York City, NY, USA, September 29, 2020 — A letter handwritten in English in 1943 by Albert Einstein – in which he strongly condemns racism and segregation in the United States – is for sale through The Manhattan Rare Book Company at a fixed price of $85,000. The letter is especially relevant now, in today’s racially and politically charged climate, even though it was written nearly 80 years ago.
Dated September 22nd, 1943 and handwritten on his embossed Mercer Street, Princeton (N.J.) stationery, the letter is addressed to Walter F. White, the influential African American Civil Rights leader who led the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (the NAACP) from 1929-1955. Einstein praises White for his work battling racism and prejudice.
Writing in a neat cursive hand, Einstein begins, “Dear Mr. White, I have been quite impressed by the address you delivered some years ago at a meeting of the Princeton Branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. I know how hard it is to awaken the conscience even of good-hearted and well-meaning people when deep rooted prejudices are in the way.”
He concludes: “It is a great work indeed which you are doing relentlessly for the betterment of the living conditions of our Colored fellow-citizens, for justice and for the accomplishment of national unity of the American people.” The letter ends, “With sincere respect and kind wishes, Yours, Albert Einstein.” The letter is handsomely matted and framed, with a photo of Einstein.
“Einstein, writing in 1943, notes that he heard White speak ‘some years ago’. Something clearly must have deeply impressed him about White’s speech for him to write this thoughtful letter to White over three years after the event,” said Michael DiRuggiero of The Manhattan Rare Book Company. “It’s also one of the few letters Einstein hand-wrote in English. German was his preferred tongue.”
According to the Princeton Herald, on April 28, 1940 Walter White was the keynote speaker at “an inter-racial meeting sponsored by the Princeton branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People,” where his topic was “What Happens to Democracy When it Encounters the Color Line”. This is the speech that inspired the letter, albeit three years later.
At the time, Princeton University did not admit African Americans, and the community was debating the question as to whether to end segregation at the school. Princeton finally did admit its first African American student, but not until the fall of 1947 – seven years after White’s speech and four years after Einstein’s letter.
In his book Albert Einstein, author Walter Isaacson observed, “To protect the rights of the individual…was Einstein’s most fundamental political tenet. Individualism and freedom were necessary for creative art and science to flourish. Personally, politically, and professionally, he was repulsed by any restraints. That is why he remained outspoken about racial discrimination in America…. As a Jew who had grown up in Germany, Einstein was acutely sensitive to such discrimination. ‘The more I feel an American, the more this situation pains me,’ he wrote in an essay called The Negro Question for the January 1946 issue of Pageant magazine. ‘I can escape the feeling of complicity in it only by speaking out.’”
Even more directly, in his 1946 commencement speech to Lincoln University, the first degree-granting Historically Black College and University (HBCU) in the United States, Einstein strongly denounced segregation as “an American tradition which is uncritically handed down from one generation to the next,” noting that, “There is separation of colored people from white people in the United States… That separation is not a disease of colored people. It is a disease of white people. I do not intend to be quiet about it.”
The remarkable letter from 1943, apparently unpublished, is one of the earliest examples of Einstein’s interest in condemning racism in the United States. His words are strong and prescient, and resonate just as strongly today as when they were first written. The letter would make a fine and important addition to anyone’s collection. Or, it could also be proudly displayed in a museum.
To learn more, please visit www.manhattanrarebooks.com.
About The Manhattan Rare Book Company:
The Manhattan Rare Book Company is located at 1050 Second Avenue (Gallery 90) in New York City. The firm is always in the hunt for rare and important books, especially ones having to do with literature, history, science, art and photobooks, and illuminated manuscripts. To inquire about buying or selling a rare book, you may call them at 212-326-8907; or, you can email them at info@manhattanrarebooks.com. To learn more, please visit www.manhattanrarebooks.com.
