TND West

Las Vegas is well known for its contemporary cultural atmosphere and the unique casino giant city that it is. And while millions of people flock to the resorts every year for the gambling and incredible shows that take place on a nightly basis, the history of this incredible town can be just as interesting as what is taking place onstage. And surprisingly, much of the area was originally settled by Mormons who had traveled from Salt Lake City. Much of the city’s early history is overshadowed by the glitz and glamour of the contemporary society, though many of the stories are fascinating as well as informative and worth looking into if you plan to visit, or simply enjoy history.

In the mid 1800s the Mormon settlers were arriving from Utah to protect the Salt Lake-Los Angeles mail route. By 1855 they had begun construction on an adobe building that was about 150 square feet of sun dried clay bricks and grass. Around the fort they planted vegetables, fruit and mined for lead for bullets though they left the settlement by 1858 in large part due to Indian raids. A large portion of this early fort remains and was re-discovered during an archeological dig in 1992. Today the sight stands as an historical landmark.

The Las Vegas hotels are great places to acquire information on this and other interesting historic attractions in the city, in addition to the prime headliner show venues and gambling establishments in the city. This brings up another interesting aspect of the city’s history, its gaming industry. Nevada was the first state in the nation to legalize casino style gambling and the last to make it illegal, which occurred in October of 1910. However, underground games soon popped up and gambling activities occurred in the city until it was officially legalized again during the Great Depression. Part of the argument for legalization was the necessary tax money it would bring it for schools and other social services. The Hoover Dam Project soon began, which brought an additional population of over 5,000 to the city, and this was the beginning of Las Vegas being a national fascination and popular tourist destination.

Seattle is one of the most splendid cities in the country, with a very vibrant urban scene. There are wonderful events happening every night of the year, and the days are packed with an assortment of attractions, from the Pike Place Market to that icon of independent bookstores, the Elliott Bay Book Company. That store has moved from Union Square, where it was a centerpoint of the downtown scene, to Capitol Hill, another fabulous area. Things change here, and the city adapts to change very well. This is certainly in evidence when one considers that Seattle’s Gas Works Park is a major accomplishment in creative, adaptive reuse.

In the years 1900-1906, the Seattle Gas Light Company purchased this land, overlooking Lake Union, for use as a coal-to-gas plant. Many people recognize Seattle’s history, and the history of the Northwest, as one that includes the history of lumber mills in the country, but in the 19th-early 20th centuries, it was also a major resource for coal. It continued as a coal center until the 1950s, when the majority of people were turning from coal-based fuels to natural gas, and the park’s history was left up for grabs.

By the early 1970s, there were movements in the city, and throughout the country, toward beautification, and this included investing in open areas to turn them into parks. Nowadays, the spectacular location of Gas Works seems a logical position for a great Seattle park , and it has become a citywide favorite. It’s been a favorite place for contemplation by locals who like to walk in the rain, and on the clear days, it becomes a big gathering center for the city’s very active and civic-minded community.

One of the great attractions for the people in the city is the annual 4th of July fireworks display. The city turns out to watch the spectacle together, and people from out of town book Seattle hotels specifically with the intent of seeing the show. However, it’s very doubtful that this year will have the usual display, as there has been recent trouble in finding funding One Reel, the show’s producer. They’ve contributed an awful lot to the city, by being the force behind the display since 1988. Locals are skeptical, but still hopeful, that things will all work out, but nonetheless, there will be a spectacular gathering here.

Travelers visiting Boston always get lost in the history of the region. Even a night on the town, enjoying the best of Boston’s famous pubs and nightclubs, there’s a strong sense of the past. That’s one of the truly great appeals of the city, because there is an extremely contemporary urban sensibility here, and taken with the historical consciousness, it becomes a rather magnificently uncanny town to visit. It’s difficult to set foot on any of the bustling streets without wondering what it might have looked like a hundred years ago.

Thanks to the foresight of a number of collectors and historians, and the radical evolution of digital imaging technologies, it’s possible to get the bird’s eye view of Boston in some famous map collections. For the casual visitor looking for a place to eat, there are plenty of resources for Boston maps to help you find your way around, but there are also some bigger treasures.

For someone who has an interest in cartography, even a passing one, this is a place to visit for sure. Not only are there plenty of resources available, but you can also walk the very same roads that you can find on old maps, and might even be able to find your own hotel , or what it used to be in centuries past.

The David Rumsey Map Collection could very easily be among the best in the world. His collection has thousands of maps of North and South America, and there’s a special collection on Boston. Thanks to the innovations of Luna Imaging, the maps have been carefully scanned and made very searchable online, so that it’s possible to look at several city maps side by side, and compare how Boston has changed over time.

Those who still like to have a map in their hands, there’s also the Norman B. Leventhal Map Center at Boston Public Library, with a huge collection of world maps as well as maps of New England and Boston.

By the early 17th Century metaphors about maps were so easily recognized that poets such as John Donne and William Shakespeare were quoting them in their works, in their prose and their plays.  North America had been ‘discovered’ and was often times referred to as a female persona throughout Europe.  The world globe had been mapped and many people were carrying around atlas’s in their pockets.

During this time, a road map was more than a map about the physical, it was the beginning of the concept that was used to explore and to make sense of the inner and the outer worlds as well as the world of science.  The people of the seventeenth century had one hundred years of world travel and exploration behind them, and they knew exactly was was meant in the references made by Donne and Shakespeare.

The world map collection known now as the “atlas” was first published by Ortelius, but the name was not coined by him.  Gerard Mercator was the first person to use the term.  He used this term not in reference to the Titan of the same name, mythologically reported to have to support on his head, the heavens, but it was a reference to a King of Libya.  He was the scientist, the astronomer and the philosopher who is reported to have made the first globe representing the world.

His atlas was a piece of work that he had devoted twenty-five of his life to completing, and had not finished it by the time of his death.  There were two sections to the atlas, one that was published in 1585 and the second part in 1589.  His son, Rumold, completed the atlas for him in 1595.  This was a time not only of scientific exploration, but of the surrounding realms as well.  The lower world, the heavens, and the map of the human spirit.  It was a time of wonder and discovery, one that carries through to modern times…when we are still searching for scientific knowledge as well as the knowledge of our human souls.

Well after you have had a good nights sleep in one of the hotels Lisboa has to offer you really need to get over to the Belem Tower. It is also known as the Tower of St Vincent. It is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It represents the early maritime discoveries of the Portuguese. King John II commissioned this tower to be built as a part of the defense of the city but also as a gateway to Lisbon. What you will discover about this tower is that it was built with a variety of architectural styles but it is mainly a Portuguese Manueline style. It was built out of limestone for the most part and it stands about 100 feet tall, which is like four stories high. Originally the town was built on a small island near the shore of the Tagus River.

From the water the tower looks like a miniature castle. The Bastion terrace has some nice features with the virgin with child in the foreground and then the sloped roof and arches showing off the Renaissance loggia. The view from the inner cloister of the tower is beautiful as it peaks out to the sea and distant land. The bastion is one of my favorite areas to look at. It is an amazing casemate curving around and lights up with the natural lighting. Then the turrets and cupolas show the moorish style but with the Manueline cross.

It sure is amazing to feel the cool ocean air as it blows through the tower walls and windows. It take you back to the time of kings and Queens and the battles they entertained. King John II started this construction and King Manuel I finished it. It was designed by a military architect named Francisco de Arruda. The tower was dedicated to the beloved Saint Vincent. It was used as a fortress by Spanish troops as they fought for the Portuguese throne. It was also used as a political prison. If people were migrating to Lisbon they would come here first.

Guildford England is for the most part a quiet town located in the county of Surrey. It is approximately 27 miles, or 43 kilometers, southwest of London. And while it is quiet, peaceful and beautiful, it has an interesting history and has played a strong role in the evolution of England and its culture. Tourists staying in one of the Surrey hotels located in the town of Guildford or elsewhere throughout the county are often drawn to the historical landmarks, as well as into the city of London for an evening out.

In 1974 Guildford gained international attention and the peaceful setting of the city was interrupted by a sudden and unsuspected bombing by the Irish Republican Army. This has become known as the Guildford Pub Bombings, and took place on October 5 of that year. The bombings occurred in two pubs, the Horse and Groom and Seven Stars. Both of these venues were known to be popular hangouts for local army personnel, which is the primary reason they were targeted. Five people were killed in this tragedy and approximately 65 were seriously injured.

On a more peaceful note, the Guildford Museum is located on Quarry Street and offers not only art, but an interesting perspective and experience oriented toward the town’s history. Part of the museum is located in the gatehouse of the historic Guildford Castle, which allows visitors to take part in two major local landmarks in a single outing. The museum began as a collection of archeological relics that date from prehistoric eras. Throughout the years it has grown and expanded its intention and offerings. Today the museum houses various collections related to local history, prehistoric settlements and art. The art gallery has a strong focus on the work of John Russell, who was born in Guildford.

I know a lot of us remember the spirit of Corby. I came back on vacation with my family, staying at one of the Corby Hotels, taking my kids around to all my childhood haunts. Corby use to stand in for queens square. I remember it was at the end of a pond, a sculpture that represented the steel industry in town. A present from the Development corporation for the towns 25th year celebrations as a new town and it was dedicated in 1974 by the Duchess of Gloucester.

Back in the early 1990′s top officials took it down and gave it to the council, but for some reason, and can’t remember why, the council allowed part of it to be scrapped. The only part to be saved was erected on a roundabout at phoenix parkway, and then in 1997 it was blown over by really strong winds. The council wanted to scrap that too, but someone thought it could be saved, repaired and it was. To add to the saga, when the former Iron and Steel works office block was knocked down by Weldon plant, they saved the portico which was above the entrance of the office block. It was 12 feet long and 5 feet high and read: 19 S & L 33. This was the only remaining part of the steel works in the town.

The same person who thought that the sculpture could be saved, also thought that the sculpture and the monument as the year 2000 was approaching, that this could be turned into a project for the council. But due to lack of funds, the project was benched. As it stands now, ever since 1997, both these items re-erected a part of our pride in our town and its history. Remembering the steel industry and the rise of the town from the ashes of the steel closures, our ‘Spirit’ as I would call it, there has been a slow rise, a stirring, to grant a lottery to raise funds to re-erect the sculpture and the monument within the town center.

My children, who are now teenagers, weren’t interested even slightly about the history I’ve given them about where I grew up. I don’t blame them, if Corby doesn’t seem to want to remember and have pride in its history, why should they.

The Channel Islands are made of two jurisdictions that are not technically part of the United Kingdom. Tourism and agriculture have been the main economic industries and along with many a Guernsey hotel, this island is also known for the lightening industry as well as the greenhouse and horticultural advances. Beginning in the late 1980′s, Jersey’s economy became more based in banking and financing. Both islands issue their own currency, but Scottish and British currency circulates throughout the economy as well. Both export a range of farm and agricultural produce as well as a variety of crafts and artistry. Guernsey has also made an appearance in the history of literature. Herman Melville references a man from Guernsey in his novel, “Moby Dick”. And the famous “Les Miserables” was written by Victor Hugo, who spent many years on Guernsey during the time he lived in exile.

All of the Channel Islands are steeped in history and Guernsey is no exception. An interesting fact is that the islands were at one time attached to the mainland of France, until the end of the Ice Age. Archaeological discoveries have been made by scientists over the last one hundred and fifty years that reveal the existence of human life that dates back to the New Stone Age, about five thousand years B.C. These are believed to have been those traveling from Spain. The evidence of neolithic culture is found throughout the digs on the island, including burial chambers that remain very well preserved. The largest one is located close to the L’Ancresse Golf course on the island, and has stones capping the site which are a meter thick and 5 meters in length, which brings one to wonder just how they managed to move such massive stones to this location and in the particular position atop the grounds. Many other sites are located close to the Saint Peter Port. This is an island in which those interested in history and archaeology will find fascinating.

In the 1990s, according to the Justice Department, American businessman James Giffen had the title of counselor to the president of Kazakhstan. His job was to help with “priority investment projects relating to the exploration, development, production, transportation, and processing of oil and gas.” That made him hugely important in Kazakhstan and far beyond.  The last of the republics declaring their independence of the Soviet Union was Kazakhstan, this occurred in 1991.

The gas and oil reserves were abundant and, due to Kazakhstan’s independence,  these resources were now on the market for energy companies in the United States.  Four American companies acquired deals with the government between the years of 1996 and 1998, Texaco, Amaco, Phillips Petroleum and Mobil Oil.

In 2003, Giffen was indicted by the United States grand jury in the state of New York, for breaking the laws of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.  He was charged crimes that would include bribery, conspiracies that were intended to violate the laws of the FCPA, wire and mail fraud, failure in disclosing the bank accounts in foreign countries, and conspiracy to and participating in money laundering.  A list crimes that would send him to prison for eighty years.

Six years later he still has not gone to trial.  It seems that the oil and the gas interests in Kazakhstan may be too important to risk the implications.  Further investigation reveals that he had the full support of the U.S. government.

Much of the evidence surrounding his case is classified. Giffen is charged with 62 accounts of criminal indictment, however most of the information regarding his case is now top secret.  The details of the case are even hidden from Giffen, off limits to even himself.  This is a modern case of ‘who dunit’ and will continue throughout the months, perhaps the years ahead.