The first Hamamatsu festival was held in 1558 to celebrate the birth of the son of the lord of Hamamatsu castle. The lord and his close advisers flew a kite with the son's name written on it. In the middle of the Edo era (1603~1868), not only in Hamamatsu but also all over Japan, it became popular to fly kites on the Children's Day (May 5). On that day, Japanese people usually celebrate and pray for boys' growth, good health, and bright futures.
The Hamamatsu festival is famous for its large kites. At 11 am on May 3, more than 100 large kites fly in the sky. The kite holders stand at the Nakataima Sand Dunes and release them all at the same time, signaled by a trumpet call. The Nakatajima Sand Dunes, is one of three largest sand dune areas in Japan. The Nakatajima Dunes overlook Enshu-nada sea, so the place has the strong winds needed for flying kites. The kites are decorated with baby boys' names and marks or designs of each town ("chō)". People believe that the higher the kites fly, the healthier the baby boys grow up.
Participants in each town also fight using the kites: They intertwine the 5 mm thick kite strings and use the friction to cut their opponents' kite strings. This kite festival is held for three days in the daytime.
At night, there is a parade. The parade has 83 palace-like parade floats in the center of Hamamatsu. Parade floats are large, movable carts covered in scenery or sculptures. Each small town has one float. Girls ride on the floats and play traditional music using Japanese instruments like taiko drums, shinobue flutes, and bells. Other children, their families, and people who live in the town also carry a floats around the area. The audience watches the parade from the side of the road.
Wat Yai Chai Mongkhon
Wat yai chai mongkhon is a Buddhist temple in Ayutthaya, Thailand. It is the most important temple in Ayutthaya. It is a historical landmark and a popular tourist attraction.
Hyeokgeose
Hyeokgeose (혁거세) was the first king of Silla (신라), a the kingdom of ancient south-west Korea, from B.C. 57 to B.C. 935.
In B.C. 69, six village chiefs gathered with their children and announced that “We have been living disorderly. It because we do not have a Great Chief on our villages. So, let’s set someone on the throne who is a virtuous person and found a nation.” At that time, they found the strange light looked like thunderbolt on Yang-san (양산) .
When they climbed the mountain to observe the light, The light went up to the sky at Najung (난정), the foot of Yang-san. And They found a white horse that was bowing. The horse flew up to the sky after it howled a long time. As soon as it left, they looked through the place and they found a big purple egg. The people broke the egg, and they reached out one boy who looked nice and beautiful. When people washed him at Dongchun (동천), his body shines and birds and beasts came to dance and sing. Also the sky and the earth shook and the sun and the moon became clear. After then, people named him King Hyeokgeose, meaning bright ruler.
When the son of the sky came down to the earth, he suggested that Hyeokgeose has to find good wife for him. At that time, Gyeryong (계룡), which is a dragon looked like rooster, came down from the sky to Alyeong-jung (알영정) in Sarang-ri (사량리) and bore a beautiful girl who had chicken beak under the dragon’s left rib. When people moved and washed her at Bookchun (북천) in Walsung (월성), the beak chipped off. So the people called the place Balchun (발천) and named her Alyeong.
The people built up the palace at the foot of South mountain and brought up two babies, who are Hyeokgeose and his wife to be a prince and princess.
After 61 years from he start to rule the country, he flew up to heaven. After seven days, the ashes of his body fell to the earth and scattered, and the soul of his queen ascended to join him in paradise. All the people cried the ashes of their great king and queen. So they tried to bury them in the same tomb, but a big snake showed up and protected the ashes. So the royal remains of each were divided into five parts and interred in pairs in the Northern Mausoleum, within the precincts of a temple called Tamom-sa (담엄사). The people called these the Five Mausoleums, or Sa-ning (Tomb of the Snake;사능). The Crown Prince succeeded to the throne and was given the title Namhae-wang.
The prince was crowned king with Princess Alyeong. The country at that time was called Sorabol (서라벌) in native language. The name Silla was not used until a later time. during the reign of Kaerim-guk (계림국). The Great Chief of the Park family founded the kingdom of Silla and ruled over it for sixty-two years
Since the prince had been born from an egg in the shape of the gourd called "park" in the native tongue, they gave him the family name Park (박). The princess was named Alyeong (알영) after the well where she was born.
Selenocysteine
Selenocysteine is the 21st protein-building amino acid.
Hohtenn
Hohtenn is a village and former municipality of the district of Raron in the canton of Valais in Switzerland.
On 1 January 2009 the former municipalities of Hohtenn and Steg merged into the new municipality of Steg-Hohtenn.
Kippel
Kippel is a municipality of the district of Raron in the canton of Valais in Switzerland.
Animal track
An animal track is the imprint left behind in soil, snow, mud, or other ground surfaces that an animal walks across.
Animal tracks are used by hunters to track their prey, and by naturalists to identify animals living in an area.
Tracks can be fossilized over millions of years. It is for this reason we are able to see fossilized dinosaur tracks in some types of rock formations. These types of fossils are called trace fossils since they are a trace of an animal left behind rather than the animal itself. In paleontology, tracks often preserve as sandstone infill, forming a natural mold of the track.
Congress of the Confederate States
The Congress of the Confederate States was the legislative body of the Confederate States of America. It existed during the American Civil War from 1861 to 1865. Like the United States Congress, the Confederate Congress consisted of two parts. The upper house was the Senate. It was made up of two senators from each state who were chosen by their state legislatures. The lower house was called the House of Representatives. Its members were elected by the citizens of the individual states.
On February 4, 1861, the Provisional Congress met at Montgomery, Alabama. Representatives of each state were appointed by their state secession conventions. The session ended on February 17, 1862 which also ended the Provisional Congress.
On February 18, 1862 the first congress held its first session. After four sessions, the congress adjourned "sine die" (without setting a day for another meeting) exactly two years later.
The Second Congress met for two sessions before the end of the war. Its last session ended on March 18, 1865.
The first act of the Confederate Congress was to keep in force all laws of the United States which did not conflict with the Confederate States Constitution.
The Confederate States Constitution, however, was not adopted until March 11, 1861. It was almost the same as the United States Constitution but with a few changes. These included the President of the Confederate States of America, Jefferson Davis, having a line-item veto. The president served only one six-year term and could not be voted president again. Members of the president's cabinet also served as non-voting members of Congress.