After 1806, when Prussia was defeated at the Battle of Jena-Auerstedt, Napoleon stole the Quadriga and took it to Paris. When Napoleon was beaten in 1814 Prussian General Ernst von Pfuel occupied Pais and took the Quadriga back to Berlin, the olive wreath was changed to an Iron Cross. The Goddess Viktoria became Nike, goddess of victory.
When the Nazis came to power, they used the Gate as their symbol. The Gate was damaged but not destroyed during World War II. The governments of East Berlin and West Berlin restored it but it was closed when the Berlin Wall was built in 1961. The gate was in the middle of the death strip.
In 1963, U.S. President John F. Kennedy visited the Brandenburg Gate. The Soviets hung large banners across it to prevent him from looking into the East. In the 1980s West Berlin mayor Richard von Weizsäcker said:
In 1987, U.S. President Ronald Reagan gave his famous speech "Tear down this wall!" outside of the gate.
Von Weizsäcker was the President of Germany at the reunification.
The Gate then symbolized the freedom to unite the City of Berlin. On the 22nd of December 1989, the Brandenburg Gate re-opened when Helmut Kohl, the West German Chancellor, walked through to be greeted by Hans Modrow, the East German Prime Minister.
On December 21, 2000, the Brandenburg Gate was privately refurbished at a cost of US$3 million.
Languages of the Caucasus
The languages of the Caucasus are languages spoken by more than ten million people in the Caucasus region of Eastern Europe and Western Asia, between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea.
Some of those language families have no known members outside the Caucasus area. The term Caucasian languages can mean only these families or all languages historically spoken in that area.
Lake Urmia
Lake Urmia () is a salt lake in northwest of Iran. It is in the provinces of East Azarbaijan and West Azarbaijan, and is southwest of the close shaped Caspian Sea. It is the largest lake inside Iran, and the second biggest salt lake of the world. It is the largest lake in the Middle East.
The location of Lake Urmia is at . It has a surface area of about 5,200 km² (2,000 mile²). At its biggest extent, it is about 140 km (87 miles) long, and 55 km (34 miles) wide. Its deepest point is approximately 16 m (52 ft) deep. It receives water from thirteen rivers coming from the near mountains, and it has no output.
Lake Urmia lies between West Azarbaijan and East Azarbaijan provinces. Tabriz is the biggest city to its east, and Urmia is the biggest city to its west. The shortest way between these cities is to go round the lake. In 1970s a project was started to create a bridge across the lake. This project was canceled when Islamic Revolution happened in 1979. However, the project was started again in 2000s; it is planned to be finished by the end of 2007.
The lake has a very salty water. The concentration of salt is different in each season of the year; it may be 26-28% in the late Autumn.
Lake Urmia is getting smaller and smaller each year. This is because the rivers which bring water to it have become smaller.
This lake was historically named Chaychast (Persian: چیچست). Later, it was named "Urmia" by the Assyrian people. The word "Urmia" consists of two parts: "ur" means city and "mia" means water. "Urmia" was the name given to the city of Urmia, which is near this lake. The lake was then named Lake Urmia, after the name given to the city. In the early years of the 20th century, it was named "Rezaiyeh Lake" after the name of Reza Pahlavi, the king of Iran. After the Islamic Revolution, its name was changed back to "Urmia Lake".
Different creatures live inside or near this lake, including some species of shrimps, amphibians and birds like flamingos and pelicans.
Urmia Lake has shallow borders with lots of mud. Different creatures live inside the mud, including frogs, snails and worms. The mud is said to have good effects in treatment of some diseases of the joints.
Lake Urmia has 102 islands. Their names are as follows :
Aram, Arash, Ardeshir, Arezu, Ashk, Ashk-Sar, Ashku, Atash, Azar, Azin, Bahram, Bard, Bardak, Bardin, Bastvar, Bon, Bon-Ashk, Borz, Borzin, Borzu, Chak-Tappeh, Cheshmeh-Kenar, Dey, Espir, Espirak, Espiro, Garivak, Giv, Golgun, Gordeh, Gorz, Iran-Nezhad, Jodarreh, Jovin, Jowzar, Kabudan, Kafchehnok, Kakayi-e Bala, Kakayi-ye Miyaneh, Kakayi-e Pain, Kalsang, Kam, Kaman, Kameh, Kariveh, Karkas, Kaveh, Kazem-Dashi, Kenarak, Khersak, Kuchek-Tappeh, Magh, Mahdis, Mahvar, Markid, Mehr, Mehran, Mehrdad, Meshkin, Meydan, Miyaneh, Nadid, Nahan, Nahid, Nahoft, Nakhoda, Navi, Naviyan, Omid, Panah, Penhan, Pishva, Sahran, Samani, Sangan, Sangu, Sarijeh, Sepid, Shabdiz, Shahi (Eslami), Shahin, Shamshiran, Shur-Tappeh, Shush-Tappeh, Siyavash, Siyah-Sang, Siyah-Tappeh, Sorkh, Sorush, Tak, Takht, Takhtan, Tanjeh, Tanjak, Tashbal, Tir, Tus, Zagh, Zar-Kaman, Zarkanak, Zar-Tappeh, Zirabeh.
Giuseppe Piazzi
Giuseppe Piazzi (July 7, 1746 – July 22, 1826) was an Italian astronomer who was famous for discovering the asteroid, now dwarf planet "Ceres".
Vesta (mythology)
Vesta was the virgin goddess of the hearth, home, and family in Roman mythology. She rarely appeared in art, as her presence was symbolized by the sacred fire that burned at her temple. The temple was forbidden to all except her priestesses, the Vestal Virgins. The Roman equivalent of the Greek Hestia, Vesta was seen to protect everything that was most important to people's survival. She was not an central figure of many myths. The Roman Empire was governed by men. Independent women would have threatened that system. Vesta was an example of what the Romans thought a woman should be. They thought that women should be modest and not share their views.
The asteroid 4 Vesta is named for her.
Heinrich Wilhelm Olbers
Heinrich Wilhelm Matthäus Olbers (October 11, 1758–March 2, 1840) was a German astronomer, physician and physicist.
Minstrel
A minstrel was a composer of the medieval time period. Other names for them are minnesinger, troubadour and trouvere. A minstrel was also a name for black musicians in America of the 19th century and white musicians who appeared in blackface.
Gnathostomata
Gnathostomata is the group of vertebrates with jaws.
The group was meant to include all jawed fish, but in modern fashion it also includes all the tetrapods as well, since they evolved from jawed fish. It is the sister group of the Agnatha, the jawless vertebrates.
The Gnathostomata first appeared in the Ordovician period and became diverse in the Devonian period, the 'Age of Fishes'. Land vertebrates appeared in the Carboniferous period.
Niger River
The Niger River is the main river of western Africa. It is over 4180 km (2500 miles) long. It has a crescent shape and it goes through Guinea, Mali, Niger, on the border with Benin and then through Nigeria. Finally, it reaches the sea at a large delta, called the Niger Delta of the Oil Rivers. This part of the Atlantic Ocean is called the Gulf of Guinea. The Niger is the third-longest river in Africa. Only by the Nile and the Congo are longer. Its main tributary is the Benue River.
No-one knows the origin of the name Niger. Many people think that it comes from the Latin word for "black", "niger", but there is no evidence for this, and Portuguese explorers would probably have used their own word ("negro") on their maps. Also, the Niger is not a blackwater river (see Rio Negro). Some people think that 'black' may mean the color of the people in this area, but this did not happen with any other river in Africa.
Therefore, most people think the name is from the original people of the area in the middle of the river where early European maps used the name "Quorra". One possibility is the Tuareg phrase "gher n gheren" "river of rivers", shortened to "ngher" or "niger", from the middle of the river near Timbuktu.