The Tour of Britain has had different names. This is because many different companies or groups of people have provided the money needed to have the event happen ("sponsors").
The first edition of the latest version of the Tour of Britain took place over five days in early September 2004. It was organised by SweetSpot along with British Cycling. The race was sponsored by the organisers of London's 2012 Olympics bid. It was well-promoted and many well-known teams were a part of the race. Such teams included T-Mobile (Germany) and U.S. Postal Service (USA). This was partly due to it being a 2.3 category race on the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) calendar.
The 2004 route ended with a 45 mile (72 km) criterium in London, where tens of thousands of people watching saw a long break by Londoner Bradley Wiggins last until the final lap. Enrico Degano of Team Barloworld passed him on the final lap to win that stage of the race. The Colombian Mauricio Ardila, of Chocolade Jacques, won the Tour overall.
The 2005 race was run as a UCI 2.1 category in six stages starting in Glasgow on 30 August and finishing in London on 4 September:
The Tour of Britain 2006 took place from the 29 August to 3 September as a UCI category 2.1 event. Martin Pedersen and Andy Schleck of Team CSC won the overall and King of the Mountains classification, respectively. Mark Cavendish (T-Mobile Team) won the points classification and Johan Van Summeren (Davitamon-Lotto) captured the sprints classification.
The 2007 edition of the Tour of Britain stage race was run as a UCI 2.1 category in seven stages starting in London on 9 September and finishing in Glasgow on 15 September. The Tour was extended to seven days for 2007, with the extra day being used to run a stage in Somerset for the first time. Instead of finishing in London as in previous years, the 2007 race started in London and finished in Glasgow, which is using the event to boost its bid to host the 2014 Commonwealth Games.
Tengiz
Tengiz is a lake in Kazakhstan, Kostanay oblast near Russia. This lake has an area of about 1950 km.
Aike
Aike is a lake on the border between Kazakhstan and Russia. The lake has an area of about . The village of Terensay is on the coast of the lake. The lake is at
Tamgaly
Tamgaly is a lake in Kazakhstan, in South Kazakhstan oblast. It is also a UNESCO World Heritage Site where petroglyphs (rock pictures) have been found.
Union Cycliste Internationale
The Union Cycliste Internationale or "International Cycling Union" usually called the UCI is the governing body of bicycle racing in the world.
It sets out rules for bicycle design, and types of races. The UCI also issues licences to racing teams which gives them permission to compete in one of the ranks or "tours".
This is the highest grade, the 20 best teams are in the "UCI ProTour", and all of the races are in Europe.
There five Continental Circuits (one each for Europe, Africa, Oceania, Asia, and the Americas). They are the next highest grade after the UCI ProTour. The circuits were designed by UCI to encourage cycle racing outside the European continent, where it is most popular and where the three Grand Tour stage races Vuelta Ciclista a España, Tour de France and the Giro d'Italia are run. The Grand Tours are part of the ProTour
Ashchikol
Ashchikol is a lake in Kazakhstan, in Kyzylorda oblast. It is near the north border of the country.
Kajbagar
Kajbagar is a lake in Kustanay Oblast, Kazakhstan. Kushmurun Lake is about to the west.
Milk Marketing Board
The Milk Marketing Board was an agency of the British government.
The Board bought all of the milk in England and Wales from dairy farmers and passed it on to be processed and sold. This way small farmers always got a fair price, because no big producer could sell their milk more cheaply.
The Board was first set up in 1933. In 1933 and 1934 three other boards were set up for Scotland and one for Northern Ireland in 1955.
From 1958 until it was abolished the Milk Marketing Board sponsored (paid money for) the Tour of Britain bicycle race, which was called "The Milk Race".
History of the Milk Marketing Boards
Smithsonian Institution
The Smithsonian Institution is an educational and research institute and museum complex. Most of the institution is in Washington, D.C., but its 19 museums, zoo, and eight research centers include sites in New York City, Virginia, Panama, and elsewhere. It has over 137 million items in its collections.
A monthly magazine published by the Smithsonian Institution is also named the "Smithsonian".
The Smithsonian Institution was founded for the "increase and diffusion" of knowledge by a bequest to the United States by the British scientist James Smithson (1765–1829), who had never visited the United States himself. In Smithson's will, he stated that should his nephew, Henry James Hungerford, die without heirs, the Smithson estate would go to the United States of America for creating an "Establishment for the increase & diffusion of Knowledge among men". After the nephew died without heirs in 1835, President Andrew Jackson informed Congress of the bequest, which amounted to 104,960 gold sovereigns, or USD 500,000 ($9,235,277 in 2005 U.S. dollars after inflation).
Eight years later, Congress passed an act establishing the Smithsonian Institution. It is administered and funded by the U.S. government, and by funds from its endowment, contributions, and profits from its shops and magazine.
The Smithsonian Institution Building on the National Mall is known as "The Castle", because its design looks similar to a European castle.
Though the Smithsonian's first leader (called "Secretary"), Joseph Henry, wanted the Institution to be a center for scientific research, before long it became the depository for various Washington and U.S. government collections.
The voyage of the U.S. Navy went around the world between 1838 and 1842. The United States Exploring Expedition collected thousands of animal specimens, herbs, shells, minerals, tropical birds, jars of seawater and ethnographic specimens from the South Pacific. These specimens and artefacts became part of the Smithsonian collections. So did those collected by the military and civilian surveys in the American West.
In addition, there are many museums that are Smithsonian affiliates.
Battle of Leyte Gulf
The Battle of Leyte Gulf, was the biggest naval battle in modern history. The battle was part of World War II, and happened in the seas near the Philippines island of Leyte. It took place from 23 October to 26 October 1944, between the Allies and the Empire of Japan. The Allies started the battle to cut the way between Japan and its colonies in South East Asia. Japan took its oil for fuel from that area. The Japanese gathered all the ships they had left to fight the Allied troops. However, they failed and lost many ships and aircraft.
The battle was the last big naval fight of World War II. Without fuel, the Imperial Japanese Navy never again sailed to battle. Most of their ships returned to Japan, and were inactive for the rest of the war.
The first use of kamikaze aircraft was during this battle. A kamikaze hit the Australian flagship "HMAS Australia" on 21 October. Many other suicide attacks by the "Special Attack Force" began on 25 October, and did great damage to the Allied ships.
Ottoman dynasty
The Ottoman dynasty (or the Imperial House of Osman) ruled the Ottoman Empire from 1299 to 1922. The dynasty began with Osman I, but it was not recognized until 1383 when Murad I declared himself sultan. The dynasty might have been known as Söğüt before 1383, but it was later renamed "Osmanlı" (Ottoman in English) in honor of Osman I.
The sultan was the sole ruler of the empire. The power often shifted to other officials, such as the Grand Vizier.
(a) HIH Princess Hamide Nermin Nezahat Sultana [1923 - 1998] by Adile Hanimsultan, a granddaughter of Abdülhamid II.
Grand Vizier