The island has been occupied since the mesolithic period and has a colourful history. It was rule by the Norse for 400 years, then dominated by Clan MacLeod and Clan Donald. The Highland Clearances of the 19th century caused a decline in the population from over 20,000 to around 9,200 in the early 21st century. The population has risen 4% from the census of 1991. The main industries are tourism, agriculture, fishing and whisky-distilling.
Skye is part of the Highland Council local government area and is now linked to the mainland by a road bridge. The island is renowned for its spectacular scenery, vibrant culture and heritage, and its abundant wildlife, including the Golden Eagle, Red Deer and Atlantic Salmon.
Skye has a rich heritage of ancient monuments from the clans, especially castles. Dunvegan Castle has been the seat of Clan MacLeod since the 13th century. It may have been inhabited by a single family for longer than any other house in Scotland.
The 18th century Armadale Castle, once home of Clan Donald was abandoned as a residence in 1925 but now hosts the Clan Donald Centre. Nearby are the ruins of two more MacDonald strongholds, Knock Castle, and Dunscaith Castle, the legendary home of Queen Scáthach.
At 1,656 square kilometres (639 sq mi), Skye is the second-largest island in Scotland after Lewis and Harris.
The Black Cuillin, low mountains mainly composed of basalt and gabbro, include 12 peaks the Scots call 'Munros'. This is some of the most dramatic and challenging mountain terrain in Scotland. The ascent of Sgùrr a' Ghreadaidh is one of the longest rock climbs in Britain and the Inaccessible Pinnacle is the only peak in Scotland that requires technical climbing skills to reach the summit. A full crossing of the Cuillin ridge may take 15–20 hours to complete.
2024 Summer Olympics
The 2024 Summer Olympics, which will be officially known as the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad, is a sporting event that will happen from July 26 to August 11 in Paris, France.
On July 11, 2017, a proposal to choose the 2024 and 2028 Olympic host cities at the same time was approved by an Extraordinary IOC Session in Lausanne, Switzerland. On July 31, 2017, the International Olympic Committee made a deal with Los Angeles to host the 2028 Summer Olympics. It made Paris host the 2024 Summer Olympics. On September 13, 2017, the hosts for both Olympic games was announced at the 131st IOC Session in Lima, Peru.
Thomas Bach stated that Hamburg would apply for 2024 Olympic Games. Hamburg would have hosted the games the first time in history and would therefore have received the virtue over Berlin as Berlin's inhabitant had a negative atmosphere towards the Olympic Games application.
The organization of the Games in Copenhagen was investigated by the Danish government
Larry Needle, executive director of the Philadelphia Sports Congress, said that if Philadelphia, the largest city in Pennsylvania, wanted to host the Olympics, its earliest realistic chance would have been the 2024 Summer Games
A study by eleven graduate students from the University of Pennsylvania showed that Philadelphia should have considered bidding for the 2024 Olympics. The study said that one of the city's biggest challenges would be convincing the voters who select the host city that Philadelphia is a "world-class city", something that "will require strategic changes in the city’s landscape in conjunction with a persuasive marketing strategy". The study mentions that when arriving in the city from Philadelphia International Airport, it is difficult to find a route that does not have abandoned oil tanks, old structures and thousands of tons of waste. One good thing about having the Games in Philadelphia is that it is near many large cities.
On July 10, 2007 it was revealed that the Canadian Olympic Committee had worked on a potential bid for the 2020 or 2024 games for Toronto, the capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. This would have been Toronto's third bid for the summer Olympic games, after unsuccessful bids for the 1996 and 2008 Summer Games.
The subtropical city of Brisbane would seriously consider bidding for the Olympic Games in 2020 or 2024, former Queensland Premier Peter Beattie has said. His announcement came after IOC President Jacques Rogge said the IOC would love to see a bid from Brisbane in the future.
Australia hosted the 1956 Olympic Games in Melbourne. In 1986, Brisbane lost the bid for the 1992 Summer Olympics, which were held in Barcelona. However, Brisbane has experience in hosting major international sporting events; the city hosted the 1982 Commonwealth Games and the 2001 Goodwill Games.
Australia also hosted the Olympic games in Sydney, 2000.
2022 Winter Olympics
The 2022 Winter Olympics, formally called the XXIV Olympic Winter Games, is the 24th Games of the Winter Olympics. It is an international winter sports event that will be held from February 4 to February 20, 2022. The winning bid was announced in the summer of 2015 and Beijing was chosen, and since it hosted the 2008 Summer Olympics, it will be the first city ever to host both the Summer and the Winter Olympics.
Guarneri
Guarneri is the name of a family of famous violin makers from Cremona in Italy in the 17th and 18th centuries. Together with the families Amati and Stradivari they made some of the best violins the world has known.
Andrea Guarneri (c. 1626 - 7 December 1698) was a pupil in the workshop of Nicolo Amati from 1641 to 1646 and returned to make violins for Amati from 1650 to 1654. He married a rich lady and they were able to buy a large house which became known as the “Casa Guarneri”. They had seven children. Two of his sons: Pietro Giovanni and Giuseppe Giovanni, became violin makers. Andrea Guarneri produced some fine violas, one of which was played by William Primrose in the early 20th century.
Pietro Giovanni Guarneri (18 February 1655 - 26 March 1720), known as Peter of Mantua ("Pietro da Mantova") to distinguish him from his nephew Pietro Guarneri. He worked in his father's workshop from around 1670 until his marriage in 1677. He had settled in Mantua by 1683, where he worked both as a musician and a violin maker. His instruments are generally better than his father's. However, he did not make so many instruments because he spent a lot of his time playing them. None of his children became violin makers. Joseph Szigeti played one of his instruments.
Andrea's younger son, Giuseppe Giovanni Battista Guarneri (25 November 1666 - 1739 or 1740), known as "filius Andreae", joined his father's business in Cremona. He inherited it in 1698. He is one of the great violin makers.
Giuseppe Giovanni Battista was father to two other instrument makers: Pietro Guerneri who settled in Venice and Bartolomeo.
Pietro Guarneri (Peter of Venice or "Pietro da Venezia") (14 April 1695 - 7 April, 1762) made some instruments that are as great as those of his father. One of his cellos was played by Beatrice Harrison.
Bartolomeo Giuseppe Guarneri ("del Gesù"), also known as Joseph (21 August 1698 - 17 October 1744), has been called the finest violin maker of the Amati line (Amati and his pupils). Giuseppe is known as "del Gesù" because his labels always have the characters I.H.S. ("iota-eta-sigma") and a Roman cross. His instruments are different from the others made by his family. They are thought of as the greatest violins with the exception of those by Stradivari. The famous violin virtuoso Niccolò Paganini’s favorite instrument was a Guarneri del Gesù violin of 1743. The "Lord Wilton" Guarneri del Gesù violin made in 1742 was owned by Yehudi Menuhin and other Twentieth-century 'del Gesù' players have included, Arthur Grumiaux, Jascha Heifetz, Isaac Stern and Henryk Szeryng.
Amati
Amati is the name of a family of Italian violin makers. Between about 1549 to 1740 they made some of the most wonderful violins that were ever produced. They worked in Cremona in Italy, the town which is famous for violin making.