The Biggest Museum of Natural History

The American Museum of Natural History (abbreviated as AMNH), located on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City, United States, is one of the largest and most celebrated museums in the world. Located in park-like grounds across the street from Central Park, the Museum comprises 25 interconnected buildings that house 46 permanent exhibition halls, research laboratories, and its renowned library.

The collections contain over 32 million specimens, of which only a small fraction can be displayed at any given time. The Museum has a scientific staff of more than 200, and sponsors over 100 special field expeditions each year.

The Museum boasts habitat dioramas of African, Asian and North American mammals, a full-size model of a Blue Whale (picture below) suspended in the Milstein Family Hall of Ocean Life, sponsored by the family of Paul Milstein (reopened in 2003), a62 foot (19 m) Haida carved and painted war canoe from the Pacific Northwest, a massive 31 ton piece of the Cape York meteorite, and the Star of India, the largest star sapphire in the world. The circuit of an entire floor is devoted to vertebrate evolution.

American Museum of Natural History
Established	1869
Location	Central Park West at 79th Street,New York City, United States
Type	Natural History
Visitor figures	about 4 million visits annually
Director	Ellen V. Futter
Public transit access	M7, M10, M11, M79, B and C at the 81 Street - Museum of Natural History subway station
Website	http://www.amnh.org

The Hayden Planetarium, connected to the Museum, is now part of the Rose Center for Earth and Space, housed in a glass cube containing the spherical Space Theater, designed by James Stewart Polshek. The Heilbrun Cosmic Pathway is one of the most popular exhibits in the Rose Center, which opened February 19, 2000.

The Museum is located at 79th Street and Central Park West, accessible via the B C trains of the New York City Subway. There is a low-level floor direct access to the Museum via the 81st Street - Museum of Natural History subway station on the IND Eighth Avenue Line at the south end of the upper platform (where the uptown trains arrive).

The Museum also houses the stainless steel time capsule designed after a competition won by Santiago Calatrava, which was sealed at the end of 2000 to mark the millennium. It takes the form of a folded saddle-shaped volume, symmetrical on multiple axes, that explores formal properties of folded spherical frames, which Calatrava described as a flower. It stands on a pedestal outside the Museum's Columbus Avenue entrance. The capsule is to remain sealed until the year 3000.

  Tweet

CLICK HERE FOR MORE INTERESTING STORIES

Where Sun Shines 22 hours!

Hammerfest claims to be the northernmost city in the world, although the title is disputed by Honningsvåg, Norway. The validity of the claim depends upon one's definition of a city; although Hammerfest is further south than Honningsvåg it has a population over 5,000, which is required by Norwegian law to achieve town status. Barrow, Alaska, population c. 4,000, is further north than both the Norwegian towns, but does not lay claim to the title of northernmost town. Some foreigners may find it strange that either Hammerfest or Honningsvåg claims to be cities, given the small size of both places and it may help to know that the Norwegian language does not distinguish between city and town.

Many grave sites dating back to the Stone Age can be found here. This location was an important fishing and Arctic hunting settlement for a long time before it was given market town rights by royal decree of Christian VII of Denmark–Norway in 1789.
Hammerfest was struck by a fire in 1890 which started in the bakery and wiped out almost half the town's houses. 

Hauen Chapel, Survived 2nd World War

After their victory in the Norwegian Campaign of the Second World War, the Germans soon fortified Hammerfest and used it as a major base. The importance of Hammerfest to the Germans increased dramatically after their invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941. 

The main German U-boat base in Finnmark was in Hammerfest, serving as a central supply base for the vessels attacking the allied supply convoys to Russia.
Hammerfest was bombed twice by the Soviet Air Forces; on 14 February 1944 with little damage and again on 29 August 1944 with more significant damage to buildings and infrastructure and with ships sunk in the harbour.

German Street sign in Hammerfest in 1941

The Museum of Reconstruction in Hammerfest tells the story of these events and the recovery of the town. Hammerfest is also home to the Royal and Ancient Polar Bear Society (Norwegian:Isbjørnklubben); a museum displaying the history of Arctic hunting.

Mines and munitions left over from the Second World War are still being found and disposed of in the Hammerfest area.

The LNG site on Melkøya at dusk seen from the Storsvingen Tourist center.

Reinderr grazing outside Town Hall

During summer massive reindeer herds migrate from their winter pastures in the inner parts of Finnmark to the coast. Among the islands inhabited by reindeer during the summer months is Kvaløya, the island on which Hammerfest town is located. For years many of the 2,500 to 3,000 reindeer in the area have been walking into the town itself, wandering in the streets and among the houses. Although very popular amongst tourists, this has been less favourably received by the town's population, with people complaining of traffic disturbances and the dung and urine left by the animals. For hygienic reasons large sums of money would have to be spent every year at cleaning up after the animals. In response to the complaints the town authorities have built a 12 miles (19.31 km) long 4 feet (1.22 m) high fence encircling the town to block the animals out. However, as of the 2008 reindeer season, the fence has been ineffective, with reindeer managing to pass through on road crossings despite the presence of electrified embedded grates.

Hammerfest offers sport and commercial fishing, both sea and freshwater, as well as scuba diving. The northernmost glacier on the Norwegian mainland is a popular hiking destination. The town is a popular starting point for northern tours. There is a daily boat to the North Cape (Norwegian: Nordkapp). One chain of the Struve Geodetic Arc, now on the World Heritage List, is located at Fuglenes in Hammerfest





  Tweet



CLICK HERE FOR MORE INTERESTING STORIES

Jerusalem Wall

1. The Walls of Jerusalem surround the area of the old city of Jerusalem. The walls were built between the years 1535–1538, during the reign of the Ottoman empire in the region of Palestine, by the Ottoman Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent.

2. The length of the wall is 4,018 km (2,496.6 mi), their average height is 12 meters (39.37 feet) and the average thickness of walls is 2.5 meters (8.2 feet). The walls also contain 34 watchtowers and 8 gates.

3. In 1981, The Jerusalem walls were added, along with the Old City of Jerusalem, to the UNESCO World Heritage Site List.

4. According to the Jewish tradition, as it is expressed in the Tanakh, Jerusalem remained a Jebusite city until the rise of David, whom conquered the city and established the “City of David” in the site of the Jebusite city. Later on King David extended the walls, which were located on a low hill, outside of the walls of outside of today’s Old City area. Solomon, David’s son, built the first temple in the city and also extended the city walls in order to protect the temple.

5. The city of Jerusalem has been surrounded by walls for its defense since ancient times. In the middle Bronze Age, a period also known as the Patriarchs period, a city named Jebos was built in the location of today’s Jerusalem, which was relatively small (50,000 square meters) but was fortified. Remains from this wall are located above the Hezekiah’s Tunnel.

6. During the First Temple period and until the destruction of the First Temple, the city walls extended towards the northwest part of the city, the area where today the Jewish quarter of the city is located.

7. After the Fall of Jerusalem, the walls were destructed and were later partially restored during the Aelia Capitolina period, after afterword extensively by the Empress Aelia Eudocia.In 1033, most of the walls constructed by Empress Eudocia were destroyed by an earthquake.

8. During the Crusader conquest in 1099, the wall was rebuilt but destroyed again during the conquest of Saladin. Saladin’s nephew, Almllach Almatma Issa, ordered the reconstruction of the city walls, but later on changed his mind after most of the watchtowers were built, mainly because he feared that the city walls would mainly assist the Crusaders if the manage to reconquere the city.

9. In 16th century, during the reign of the Ottoman empire in the region, the Ottoman Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent decided to fully rebuild the city walls on the remains of the ancient walls. The construction lasted from 1535-1538 and these walls are the walls that exist today.

10. During the Six Day War in 1967, which saw hand to hand fighting on the Temple Mount, the Old City and the city walls transferred to Israeli control.

Related Post : Athens - Living History



Tweet

CLICK HERE FOR MORE INTERESTING STORIES

Loading...