Graffiti (singular: graffito; the plural is used as a mass noun) is the name for images or lettering scratched, scrawled, painted or marked in any manner on property. Graffiti is sometimes regarded as a form of art and other times regarded as unsightly damage or unwanted.
Graffiti has existed since ancient times, with examples going back to Ancient Greece and the Roman Empire[1] and may range from simple scratch marks to elaborate wall paintings. In modern times, spray paint and markers have become the most commonly used materials. In most countries, defacing property with graffiti without the property owner’s consent is considered vandalism, which is punishable by law. Sometimes graffiti is employed to communicate social and political messages. To some, it is an art form worthy of display in galleries and exhibitions; to others it is merely vandalism. There are many different types and styles of graffiti and it is a rapidly evolving artform whose value is highly contested, being reviled by many authorities while also subject to protection, sometimes within the same jurisdiction.
Sunrise is the instant at which the upper edge of the Sun appears above the horizon in the east. Sunrise should not be confused with dawn, which is the (variously defined) point at which the sky begins to lighten, some time before the sun itself appears, ending twilight. Because atmospheric refraction causes the sun to be seen while it is still below the horizon, both sunrise and sunset are, from one point of view, optical illusions. The sun also exhibits an optical illusion at sunrise similar to the moon illusion.
The apparent westward revolution of Sun around the earth after rising out of the horizon is due to the Earth’s eastward rotation, a counter-clockwise revolution when viewed from above the North Pole. This illusion is so convincing that most cultures had mythologies and religions built around the geocentric model. This same effect can be seen with near-polar satellites as well.
Sunrise and sunset are calculated from the leading and trailing edges of the Sun, and not the center; this slightly increases the duration of “day” relative to “night”. The sunrise equation, however, is based on the center of the sun.
The timing of sunrise varies with the time of year and the latitude of the location from which it is viewed. The precise local time of sunrise also depends upon each location’s precise longitude within a given time zone. Small daily changes and noticable semi-annual changes in timing of sunrise are driven by the axial tilt of Earth and the planet’s movement in its annual orbit around the sun. Some apparent anomalies exist however. In the Northern Hemisphere, the latest sunrise does not occur on the winter solstice around December 21, but rather in early January. Likewise, the earliest sunrise does not fall on the summer solstice around June 21, but occurs earlier in June in the Northern Hemisphere. As one travels farther from the equator, the times of sunrise and sunset change throughout the year. Even on the equator, sunrise and sunset shift several minutes back and forth through the year, along with solar noon. These effects are plotted using an analemma.
Due to Earth’s axial tilt, whenever and wherever sunrise occurs, it is always in the northeast quadrant from the March equinox to the September equinox and in the southeast quadrant from the September equinox to the March equinox. Sunrises occur precisely due east on the March and September equinoxes for all viewers on Earth. The sunrise and sunset times for a 12 hr day and 12 hr night do not fall on the “equinox” (equal night), since the timing of sunrises and sunsets, and hence, the lengths of day and night vary with each viewer’s particular latitude.
A pier is a raised walkway over water, supported by widely spread piles or pillars. The lighter structure of a pier allows tides and currents to flow almost unhindered, whereas the more solid foundations of a quay or the closely-spaced piles of a wharf can act as breakwaters, and are consequently more liable to silting. Piers can range in size and complexity from a simple lightweight wooden structure to major structures extended over a mile out to sea. In American English, pier may be synonymous with dock.
Piers have been built for several different purposes, and because these different purposes have distinct regional variances, the term pier tends to have different nuances of meaning in different parts of the world. Thus in North America and Australia, where many ports were, until recently, built on the multiple pier model, the term tends to imply a current or former cargo-handling facility.
The Peace Bridge is an international bridge between Canada and the United States at the east end of Lake Erie at the mouth of the Niagara River, about 20 kilometres (12.4 mi) upriver of Niagara Falls. It connects the City of Buffalo, New York and the Town of Fort Erie, Ontario. It is operated and maintained by the Buffalo and Fort Erie Public Bridge Authority.
The Peace Bridge consists of five arched spans over the Niagara River and a Parker through-truss span over the Black Rock Canal on the American side of the river. The total length is 5,800 feet (1,768 m). Material used in the construction included 3,500 feet (1,067 m) of steelwork, 9,000 tons of structural steel and 800 tons of reinforcing steel in the concrete abutments. The Peace Bridge was named to commemorate 100 years of peace between the United States and Canada.
It was constructed as a highway bridge to address the needs of pedestrian and motor vehicle traffic which could not be accommodated on the International Railway Bridge, built in 1873.
The building of the Peace Bridge was approved by the International Joint Commission on August 6, 1925. A major obstacle to building the bridge was the swift river current, which averages 7.5 to 12 miles per hour (19 km/h). Construction began in 1925 and was completed in the spring of 1927. On June 1, 1927 the bridge was opened to the public.
The official opening ceremony was held two months later, on August 7, 1927, with approximately 100,000 in attendance. The festivities were transmitted to the public via radio in the first international coast-to-coast broadcast.[citation needed] Newspapers at the time estimated as many as 50 million listeners may have heard the broadcast.[citation needed]
The dignitaries who took part in the dedication ceremonies included Edward, Prince of Wales (the future Edward VIII), Prince Albert, Duke of York (the future George VI), Canadian Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King, British Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin, U.S. Vice President Charles Dawes, Secretary of State Frank Kellogg, New York Governor Al Smith and Ontario Premier Howard Ferguson.
When the bridge opened, Buffalo became the chief port of entry to Canada from the United States. At the time it was the only vehicular bridge on the Great Lakes from Niagara Falls to Minnesota. The bridge remains one of North America’s important commercial ports - four thousand trucks cross it daily.
The Buffalo and Fort Erie Public Bridge Authority in 1997 announced plans for the building of a second bridge south of and beside the existing Peace Bridge. It was expected that the new Peace Bridge would alleviate traffic congestion and increase daily vehicle traffic by at least 33%. Legal challenges as well as concerns about the design and how costs will be paid delayed the start of construction. While the Jury Recommendation Report originally recommended a cable-stayed bridge “signature bridge” for the new span, the option was over-ruled in favour of a more conventional design due to concerns that endangered birds would possibly fly into the bridge. Local authorities are appealing the decision.
Other nearby bridges between the United States and Canada include the Rainbow Bridge, the Queenston-Lewiston Bridge and the Whirlpool Rapids Bridge. The Queenston-Lewiston Bridge and the Peace Bridge are the only crossings that allow heavy trucks.
On the New York side, Interstate 190 has a direct northbound off-ramp (Exit 9) onto the Peace Bridge. This exit is signed as Ft. Erie Can on I-190, but the bridge is actually Baird Drive. Baird Drive is not signed on the exit, but the road does head south of the bridge to its southern terminus of Porter Avenue. On the Ontario side, the Queen Elizabeth Way begins after Canadian Customs.
After new toll facilities were installed on the Canadian side in 2005, the Peace Bridge became the first (and at present the only) E-ZPass facility outside the United States.
The name is derived from its curving, horseshoe-shaped crest that is 671 meters (2,200 ft) in width. At the center of the Horseshoe Falls the water is about 3 meters (10 ft) deep. It passes over the crest at a speed of about 32 km/h (20 mph). The falls is 53 meters (173 ft) high, has an average crest elevation of 152 meters (500 ft) and faces northwards. The depth of the river at the base of the falls is actually higher than the falls itself, estimated at 56 metres (184 ft).
The Horseshoe Falls is considered to be the most impressive of the three falls that make up Niagara Falls. Approximately 90% of the water of the Niagara River flows over Horseshoe Falls, while the other 10% flows over the American Falls.
The falls produce a large amount of mist, which occasionally renders viewing them difficult. The amount of natural mist has been reduced since the early 20th century by the diversion of most of the water from the Niagara River for hydroelectricity. The Horseshoe Falls is observable at a direct angle from the Canadian side, and at a steep angle on the U.S. side on Goat Island. The Maid of the Mist boat offers tours which approach the base of the falls.
The Niagara Scow has rested approximately 700 metres from the edge of the falls since it was caught against a rock shoal in 1918, and a plaque today informs tourists of the history of the small shipwreck that has sat perched just above the falls for nearly a century without being dislodged.
