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ÃŽle Des Cygnes (former Island)
The Île des Cygnes or Île Maquerelle was an island on the river Seine in Paris. It was in the north-west part of the 7th arrondissement, between rue de l'Université and the Seine, the Invalides and the Champ de Mars. The Musée du quai Branly is located on it. It was formed by the merger of the islets known as île des Treilles, île aux Vaches, île Maquerelle, île de Jérusalem and île de Longchamp, and was merged into the ''rive gauche'' of the Seine at the end of the 18th century. History An oak pirogue, built with fir plugs, discovered in August 1806 during the construction of the footings for Pont d'Iéna, was thought to be a Norman boat dating to the Siege of Paris in 885/86, although some scholars believe that it may have dated to the Sequani tribe from the first century B.C. In the 13th century the peasants of Chaillot on the opposite bank had the right to graze their cattle on the île Maquerelle, in exchange for a payment in kind paid to the Abbaye de Saint- ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
ÃŽle Aux Cygnes
Île aux Cygnes (; en, Isle of the Swans) is a small artificial island on the river Seine in Paris, France, in the 15th arrondissement. It was created in 1827 to protect the bridge named the pont de Grenelle. It should not be confused with an earlier Île des Cygnes that was attached to the Champ de Mars in the late 18th century. The uninhabited island is 850 metres (2,789 ft) long and 11 metres (36 ft) at its widest point, making it the third-largest island in Paris. A tree-lined walkway, named L'Allée des Cygnes (Path of Swans), runs the length of the island. Since 2012, there has been a public workout space with bicycles and a climbing wall underneath the Pont de Grenelle, close to a Statue of Liberty replica. The island is crossed by three bridges: the Pont de Grenelle, the Pont Rouelle and the Pont de Bir-Hakeim. It is served by the Passy and Bir-Hakeim Métro stations. Statue of Liberty replica A notable feature is a quarter-scale replica of ''Li ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Swan
Swans are birds of the family (biology), family Anatidae within the genus ''Cygnus''. The swans' closest relatives include the goose, geese and ducks. Swans are grouped with the closely related geese in the subfamily Anserinae where they form the tribe (biology), tribe Cygnini. Sometimes, they are considered a distinct subfamily, Cygninae. There are six living and many extinct species of swan; in addition, there is a species known as the coscoroba swan which is no longer considered one of the true swans. Swans usually mate for life, although "divorce" sometimes occurs, particularly following nesting failure, and if a mate dies, the remaining swan will take up with another. The number of bird egg, eggs in each :wikt:clutch, clutch ranges from three to eight. Etymology and terminology The English word ''swan'', akin to the German language, German , Dutch language, Dutch and Swedish language, Swedish , is derived from Indo-European root ' ('to sound, to sing'). Young swans are kn ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pont D'Iéna
Pont d'Iéna ("Jena Bridge") is a bridge spanning the River Seine in Paris. It links the Eiffel Tower on the Left Bank to the district of Trocadéro on the Right Bank. History In 1807, by an imperial decree issued in Warsaw, Napoleon I ordered the construction of a bridge overlooking the Military School, and named the it after his victory in 1806 at the Battle of Jena, disregarding other names considered previously: ''pont du Champ-de-Mars'' and ''pont de l'École militaire''. Talleyrand later had the bridge reverted to its original name under Louis-Philippe. The structure was designed with five arches, each with an arc length of 28 m, and four intermediate piers. The initial construction, the cost of which was enormous at the time, was fully financed by the State and spanned six years from 1808 to 1814. The tympana along the sides of the bridge had been originally decorated with imperial eagles conceptualized by François-Frédéric Lemot and sculpted by Jean-François ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Robert Fulton
Robert Fulton (November 14, 1765 – February 24, 1815) was an American engineer and inventor who is widely credited with developing the world's first commercially successful steamboat, the (also known as ''Clermont''). In 1807, that steamboat traveled on the Hudson River with passengers from New York City to Albany and back again, a round trip of , in 62 hours. The success of his steamboat changed river traffic and trade on major American rivers. In 1800, Fulton had been commissioned by Napoleon Bonaparte, leader of France, to attempt to design a submarine; he produced , the first practical submarine in history. Fulton is also credited with inventing some of the world's earliest naval torpedoes for use by the Royal Navy.Best, Nicholas (2005). ''Trafalgar: The Untold Story of the Greatest Sea Battle in History''. London: Phoenix. . Fulton became interested in steam engines and the idea of steamboats in 1777 when he was around age 12 and visited state delegate William Henry o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gristmill
A gristmill (also: grist mill, corn mill, flour mill, feed mill or feedmill) grinds cereal grain into flour and Wheat middlings, middlings. The term can refer to either the Mill (grinding), grinding mechanism or the building that holds it. Grist is grain that has been separated from its chaff in preparation for grinding. History Early history The Greek geographer Strabo reports in his ''Geography'' a water-powered grain-mill to have existed near the palace of king Mithradates VI Eupator at Cabira, Asia Minor, before 71 BC. The early mills had horizontal paddle wheels, an arrangement which later became known as the "Water wheel#Vertical axis, Norse wheel", as many were found in Scandinavia. The paddle wheel was attached to a shaft which was, in turn, attached to the centre of the millstone called the "runner stone". The turning force produced by the water on the paddles was transferred directly to the runner stone, causing it to grind against a stationary "Mill machinery#Wat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Louis-Sébastien Mercier
Louis-Sébastien Mercier (6 June 1740 – 25 April 1814) was a French dramatist and writer, whose 1771 novel ''L'An 2440'' is an example of proto-science fiction. Early life and education He was born in Paris to a humble family: his father was a skilled artisan who polished swords and metal arms. Mercier nevertheless received a decent education. Literary career Mercier began his literary career by writing heroic epistles. He early came to the conclusion that Boileau and Racine had ruined the French language and that the true poet wrote in prose. He wrote plays, pamphlets, and novels and published prodigiously. Mercier often recycled passages from one work to another and expanded on essays he had already written. Mercier's keen observations on his surroundings and the journalistic feel of his writing meant that his work remained riveting despite the nature of its composition. "There is no better writer to consult," Robert Darnton writes, "if one wants to get some idea of how P ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Letters Patent
Letters patent ( la, litterae patentes) ( always in the plural) are a type of legal instrument in the form of a published written order issued by a monarch, president or other head of state, generally granting an office, right, monopoly, title or status to a person or corporation. Letters patent can be used for the creation of corporations or government offices, or for granting city status or a coat of arms. Letters patent are issued for the appointment of representatives of the Crown, such as governors and governors-general of Commonwealth realms, as well as appointing a Royal Commission. In the United Kingdom, they are also issued for the creation of peers of the realm. A particular form of letters patent has evolved into the modern intellectual property patent (referred to as a utility patent or design patent in United States patent law) granting exclusive rights in an invention or design. In this case it is essential that the written grant should be in the form of a publ ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Reveries Of A Solitary Walker
''The Reveries of the Solitary Walker'' (French: ''Les rêveries du Promeneur Solitaire'') is an unfinished book by Genevan philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau, written between 1776 and 1778. It was the last of a number of works composed toward the end of his life which were deeply autobiographical in nature. Previous elements in this group included '' The Confessions'' and '' Dialogues: Rousseau, Judge of Jean-Jacques''. The book is divided into ten chapters called "Walks" ("Promenades" in the original French). Walks One to Seven are complete, the Eighth and Ninth Walks were completed but not revised by Rousseau, while the Tenth Walk was incomplete at the author's death in 1778. The first publication was in 1782. The content of the book is a mix of autobiographical anecdote, descriptions of the sights, especially plants, that Rousseau saw in his walks on the outskirts of Paris, and elaborations and extensions of arguments previously made by Rousseau in fields like education and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jean-Jacques Rousseau
Jean-Jacques Rousseau (, ; 28 June 1712 – 2 July 1778) was a Genevan philosopher, writer, and composer. His political philosophy influenced the progress of the Age of Enlightenment throughout Europe, as well as aspects of the French Revolution and the development of modern political, economic, and educational thought. His ''Discourse on Inequality'' and ''The Social Contract'' are cornerstones in modern political and social thought. Rousseau's sentimental novel ''Julie, or the New Heloise'' (1761) was important to the development of preromanticism and romanticism in fiction. His ''Emile, or On Education'' (1762) is an educational treatise on the place of the individual in society. Rousseau's autobiographical writings—the posthumously published '' Confessions'' (composed in 1769), which initiated the modern autobiography, and the unfinished '' Reveries of the Solitary Walker'' (composed 1776–1778)—exemplified the late 18th-century " Age of Sensibility", and featured an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dépôt Des Marbres
The Dépôt des marbres (''marble depot'') of the French Ministry of Public Works was founded on Île des Cygnes (former island), île des Cygnes (Swan Island) in Paris by Controller-General of Finances, French minister of finance Jean-Baptiste Colbert. It was used to store marble due to be allocated to artists with state commissions, as well as statues formerly displayed but removed for political and other reasons. In 1831 Edme Gaulle was made its inspecteur conservateur. On 6 June 1838 Henri Labrouste was made its architect, and Émile Marras also served at it as a conservateur. It was built in the 17th, at a time when the island still had its original name of the ''Île aux vaches'' (Cow Island). In the late 19th century, a number of artist's studios were created in a central pavilion, later occupied by artists such as Isidore Pils, Carolus-Duran, Jean-Paul Laurens and Auguste Rodin. Sources Jacques Letheve, ''Daily Life of French Artists in the 19th Century'', trans. by ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jules Guiffrey
Jules-Joseph Guiffrey (29 November 1840 – 26 November 1918) was a 19th-century French art historian, a member of the Académie des beaux-arts. Career While studying law (he was graduated in 1861Sophie Mouquin, ÂJules Guiffrey », ''Dictionnaire critique des historiens de l'art'', INHA), he was a student at the École nationale des chartes where he obtained his diploma of archivist paleographer in 1863 with a thesis entitled ''Examen du traité qui réunit le Dauphiné à la France et des négociations qui l’ont précédé et suivi (1349)''. In 1866 he was appointed an archivist of the Emperor's archives then at the Archives nationales in the Legislative and Judicial department, where he did much of his career. In 1893, he was appointed administrator of the manufacture nationale des Gobelins Throughout his career, he conducted research in art history - sometimes at the expense of its archival activity. In 1866, he established the "Société de l'histoire de l'art françai ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
