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Louvre and Musée d’Orsay closed amid Paris floods after days of non-stop heavy rain in Europe, river Seine burst its banks
*Update*
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heavy rain in Europe In late May and early June 2016 flooding began after several days of heavy rain in Europe, mostly Germany and France, but also Austria, Belgium, Romania, Moldova, Netherlands and the United Kingdom. Among others, the German states of Bavaria, Hesse, Rhineland-Palatinate, Baden-Württemberg, and North Rhine-Westphalia were affected. There was also severe flooding in France. Beginning at the river Neckar, also the Danube, Rhine, Seine and their tributaries were affected by high water and flooding along their banks.
Germany - The Baden-Württemberg village of Braunsbach was most heavily affected by the floods. After flash floods on 29 May 2016, small tributaries of the river Kocher flooded the streets of the village within minutes, and the roadways were buried under rocks, trees and car wrecks.
France - the river Seine burst its banks and one town was evacuated. Four people died in the floods. (Compare Flood level of the Seine in Paris 2016 against the flood height of 1910). Flooding in Paris was expected to peak at around 6.30 m above normal, higher than 6.18 m high seen in 1982, but below the 1955 flood level of 7.12 m, and the 1910 Paris flood which saw levels at 8.62 m above normal.
June 2, 2016 Louvre and Musée d’Orsay have shut their doors amid Paris floods read more »
27 May 1937: icon Golden Gate Bridge opened to public; 27 May 2016: 60,000 bridges across US are in desperate need of repair
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The Golden Gate Bridge is a suspension bridge spanning the Golden Gate strait, the one-mile-wide (1.6 km), three-mile-long (4.8 km) channel between San Francisco Bay and the Pacific Ocean. It opened in 1937 and was, until 1964, the longest suspension bridge main span in the world, at 4,200 feet (1,300 m). It has been declared one of the Wonders of the Modern World by the American Society of Civil Engineers. Construction began on January 5, 1933. The project was finished and opened May 27, 1937. The bridge-opening celebration began on May 27, 1937 and lasted for one week. The day before vehicle traffic was allowed, 200,000 people crossed either on foot or on roller skates.
CNN May 27, 2016 Nearly 60,000 bridges across the country are in desperate need of repair. One example is just down the street from the White House and Capitol Hill. In the nation's capital, 68,000 vehicles cross the Arlington Memorial Bridge between Washington and Virginia every day. CNN was granted rare access to go inside the crumbling bridge. "It's just eroding and concrete is falling off," said National Park Service spokeswoman Jenny Anzelmo-Sarles as she showed how the original support beams from 1932 are corroding. The beams have never been replaced, and the bridge could be closed to vehicle traffic within five years if it isn't fixed. It'll cost $250 million. read more »
"Family & Public Service", a pledge at 21 carried to 90: 69 years' Nobility, Wisdom & Compassion. Thank you, Queen of Grace!
Inset: In 1940, Princess Elizabeth, 14, featured in a radio programme called Children's Hour. She sent her best wishes to the children who had been evacuated from Britain to America, Canada and elsewhere as Britain was suffering the worst of the Blitz during World War Two.
Bottom: Elizabeth became a Girl Guide in 1937, her sister, Princess Margaret enrolled as a Brownie and their mother became the Patron of the Girl Guides. During WWii, Elizabeth did her part to boost public morale.
The Queen with her great-grandchildren and youngest grandchildren. From left: James, Viscount Severn; Lady Louise Windsor; Mia Tindall (holding the Queen's handbag); Princess Charlotte; Savannah Phillips; Prince George and Isla Phillips.
Top: April 2016 - as the Queen and Duke of Edinburgh walked the short distance from Windsor Castle, a spontaneous rendition of Happy Birthday rang out.
Bottom: Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh at the Bedaling Pass, on the Great Wall of China, on the third day of their state visit to the country. No British monarch had ever travelled to mainland China, let alone walked the Great Wall so the Queen's trip in October 1986 made history.
Honour. Courage. Example. King George VI, Queen Mother, Teen Elizabeth II... never left Buckingham Palace during wwii air raids
Top: King George VI addresses the nation by radio on 4 Sept 1939, the day after Britain declared war on Nazi Germany.
Center: King George VI and Queen Elizabeth in rubble after Buckingham Palace bombed, 13 Sept 1940
Top: King George VI, Queen Elizabeth and Winston Churchill
Inset: The King's brother, Prince George, Duke of Kent, killed on in 1942 (aged 39) on active service
Bottom: King and Queen with their daughter Princess Elizabeth visit the royal artillery during wwii
Left: Princess Elizabeth and Prince Philip on their wedding day, 20 Nov 1947; Right: Queen's Diamond Jubilee, and Love and lasting 65-year marriage
By showing personal courage, King George VI and his wife (Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother) set extraordinary examples, became a symbol of national resistance. The royal family never left London, were sharing the same dangers and deprivations as the rest of the country, and leading his people through the hardships of World War Two (1939-1945).
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Sept 1939 - war declared on Nazi Germany, King George VI and his wife determined to stay in London, despite German air raids.
07 Sept 1940 - the first German air raid on London killed about one thousand civilians.
13 Sept 1940 - the King and Queen narrowly avoided death when two German bombs exploded in a courtyard at Buckingham Palace while they were there. In defiance, the Queen famously declared: "I am glad we have been bombed. It makes me feel we can look the East End in the face". read more »
Beauty and Peace, as fragile as glass, shattered. Istanbul and now Brussels: innocent buried, candles lit, praying for Harmony
Resplendently attired cherry juice vendors demonstrate pouring techniques.
Istanbul's Blue Mosque overlook the Sea of Marmara.
Ferries cross the Bosporus, the water body between European and Asian sides of Istanbul.
A police officer secures the area after an explosion near the Ottoman-era Sultanahmet Mosque, known as the Blue Mosque.
People light candles in Brussels on Tuesday.
floral carpet on the Grand Place in Brussels, Belgium
Congress Column at Christmas and Statue Of Leopold
Brussels
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Human makes Computer smarter than human, taking winner's prize: complex game Go has roots in ancient China some 3,000 years ago
Primary school students play the board game "Go", known as "Weiqi" in Chinese, during a competition.
Fan Hui makes a move against AlphaGo in DeepMind’s HQ in King’s Cross
AlphaGo versus Lee Sedol match - Go moves 1-99; moves 100-199; moves 200-211:
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Aviator wwii hero 'Winkle' Brown flew 14 version of Spitfire, 1st to land on carrier, escaped 11crashes, survived torpedo attack
Captain Eric 'Winkle' Brown discusses Luftwaffe Aircraft - Published on Apr 23, 2014
Readers' comments -
"A great man he was the Last of a rare breed"
"Capt.Brown, a classic sort of guy"
"An amazing man. Superb achievements in pretty much every aspect of his career."
"Thanks for the video. It is good to see the Pilots telling their stories in what they did in the second world war. The real warriors of the sky and the planes they fly."
Vedio: Capt. Eric 'Winkle' Brown: the first Mosquito carrier deck landing, Published on Jul 16, 2015
In March 1944 the De Havilland Mosquito undertook carrier deck landing trials on HMS Indefatigable in the Irish Sea, giving the then Lieut. Brown the chance to make the first deck landing of a British heavy twin-engine aircraft. In this video the Patron of The People's Mosquito talks about the aircraft and the challenges he faced when presented with the task of landing it on deck.
Reader's comment: "Capt Eric 'Winkle' Brown truly is one of the finest examples of the Greatest Generation. What an honour to watch this video."
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