Belisha Beacons
A Belisha beacon is an amber-coloured globe lamp atop a tall black and white striped pole, marking pedestrian crossings of roads in the United Kingdom, Ireland, and in other countries historically influenced by Britain such as Hong Kong, Malta, and Singapore. The beacons were named after Leslie Hore-Belisha (1893–1957), the Minister of Transport who, in 1934, added beacons to pedestrian crossings, marked by large metal studs in the road surface. These crossings were later painted in black and white stripes, and thus are known as zebra crossings. Legally, pedestrians have priority (over wheeled traffic) on such crossings. In December 1941 a study was made into the cost effectiveness of melting down the 64,000 Belisha beacon posts to make munitions, a plan which threatened to "deprive the right hon. Member for Devonport (Mr. Hore-Belisha) of his last hope of immortality". In 1948, the Central Office of Information produced a short film which showed the correct way to use a p ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Pegasus Crossing
A pegasus crossing (United Kingdom; also equestrian crossing) is a type of signalised pedestrian crossing, with special consideration for horse riders. This type of crossing is named after the mythical winged horse, Pegasus. They are primarily used in the United Kingdom and Peru. At a minimum, these crossings are in the form of a pelican crossing or puffin crossing but simply have two control panels, one at the normal height for pedestrians or dismounted riders, and one two metres above the ground for the use of mounted riders, and the "green man" (walk) and "red man" (stop) pictograms are replaced with horses. Additional features, to improve safety, include a wooden fence or other barrier and a wider crossing so that the horses are further away from vehicles than normal. If the crossing is to be used by pedestrians and cyclists too, then a parallel, separate toucan crossing may be placed next to the pegasus crossing. Installation and removal There are examples in Hyde P ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
1934 Introductions
Events January–February * January 1 – The International Telecommunication Union, a specialist agency of the League of Nations, is established. * January 15 – The 8.0 1934 Nepal–Bihar earthquake, Nepal–Bihar earthquake strikes Nepal and Bihar with a maximum Mercalli intensity scale, Mercalli intensity of XI (''Extreme''), killing an estimated 6,000–10,700 people. * January 26 – A 10-year German–Polish declaration of non-aggression is signed by Nazi Germany and the Second Polish Republic. * January 30 ** In Nazi Germany, the political power of federal states such as Prussia is substantially abolished, by the "Law on the Reconstruction of the Reich" (''Gesetz über den Neuaufbau des Reiches''). ** Franklin D. Roosevelt, President of the United States, signs the Gold Reserve Act: all gold held in the Federal Reserve is to be surrendered to the United States Department of the Treasury; immediately following, the President raises the statutory gold price from ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Pedestrian Crossing Components
A pedestrian is a person traveling on foot, whether walking or running. In modern times, the term usually refers to someone walking on a road or pavement, but this was not the case historically. The meaning of pedestrian is displayed with the morphemes ''ped-'' ('foot') and ''-ian'' ('characteristic of'). This word is derived from the Latin term ''pedester'' ('going on foot') and was first used (in English language) during the 18th century. It was originally used, and can still be used today, as an adjective meaning plain or dull. However, in this article it takes on its noun form and refers to someone who walks. The word pedestrian may have been used in middle French in the Recueil des Croniques et Anchiennes Istories de la Grant Bretaigne, à présent nommé Engleterre. In California the definition of a pedestrian has been broadened to include anyone on any human powered vehicle that is not a bicycle, as well as people operating self-propelled wheelchairs by reason of ph ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
NZ Transport Agency
Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency (commonly known as Waka Kotahi, and abbreviated as NZTA) is a New Zealand Crown entity tasked with promoting safe and functional transport by land, including the responsibility for driver and vehicle licensing, and administering the New Zealand state highway network. It was created on 1 August 2008 by the Land Transport Management Amendment Act 2008, merging Transit New Zealand with Land Transport New Zealand. Its legal name, as established by the Act, is New Zealand Transport Agency, but it trades as ''Waka Kotahi'' ''NZ Transport Agency''., superseded by The Māori part of the name, ''Waka Kotahi'', means "one vessel" and is intended to convey the concept of "travelling together as one". Public data access The Transport Agency stores registration, licensing and warrant of fitness details for any road-registered vehicle within New Zealand, including cars, motorbikes, trailers, trucks and earthmoving or agricultural machinery. Any member of th ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Rummy
Rummy is a group of matching-card games notable for similar gameplay based on matching cards of the same rank or sequence and same suit. The basic goal in any form of rummy is to build '' melds'' which can be either sets (three or four of a kind of the same rank) or runs (three or more sequential cards of the same suit) and either be first to go out or to amass more points than the opposition. Origin There are two common theories about the origin of Rummy, attributing its origins in either Mexico or China in the nineteenth century. The first is that it originated in Mexico around the 1890s in a game described as Conquian in R.F. Foster's book ''Foster's Complete Hoyle'', which was played with a 40 card Spanish deck and had melding mechanics. The second is that Rummy originated in Asia, and that Rummy was the result of a Mahjongg variant named Kun P'ai that was Westernized as Khanhoo by W.H. Wilkinson in 1891. Games scholar David Parlett combines these two theories, and ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Robin Hood's Well
Robin Hood's Well is a historic building beside the A1(M) motorway in Skellow, South Yorkshire, England. It was originally built in 1710 as a well house over a spring alongside the old Great North Road, but the structure was moved to its present location alongside the Doncaster By-Pass in what is known as Barnsdale (sometimes Barnsdale Forest). Naming The ballad "Robin Hood and the Curtal Friar" gives the figure of Robin Hood a connection to fountains, which may account for the original naming of the spring where the well was established. The well itself was given the name "Robin Hood's Well" by Charles Howard, 3rd Earl of Carlisle, who had the well named after the figure in an attempt to solidify the area's identity as the home of the legends. Description Robin Hood's Well is an ornamental well cover that was designed by Sir John Vanbrugh in 1710 for the 3rd Earl of Carlisle. The stone that makes up the well cover is finely cut, ashlar Magnesian Limestone. Three of its sides ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Gretna Green
Gretna Green is a parish in the southern council area of Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland, on the Scottish side of the border between Scotland and England, defined by the small river Sark, which flows into the nearby Solway Firth. It was historically the first village in Scotland, when following the old coaching route from London to Edinburgh. Gretna Green railway station serves both Gretna Green and Gretna.1:50,000 OS map 85 The Quintinshill rail disaster, the worst rail crash in British history, in which over 220 died, occurred near Gretna Green in 1915. Gretna Green sits alongside the main town of Gretna. Both are accessed from the A74(M) motorway. Gretna Green is most famous for weddings. The Clandestine Marriages Act 1753 prevented couples under the age of 21 marrying in England or Wales without their parents' consent. As it was still legal in Scotland to marry without such consent, couples began crossing the border into Scotland to marry. Marriage Gretna's "runaway ma ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
National Transport Authority (Ireland)
The National Transport Authority ( ga, Údarás Náisiúnta Iompair) or NTA is the transport authority for Greater Dublin and the public transport licensing agency for Ireland. It was established under the provisions of the ''Dublin Transport Authority Act (2008)'' and the ''Public Transport Regulation Act (2009)'', on 1 December 2009. The NTA took over certain functions from the Department of Transport and the entire role of the Dublin Transportation Office. It has also taken over the functions of the Commission for Taxi Regulation when Part 4 of the Public Transport Regulation Act (2009) commenced on 1 January 2011. The NTA operates under the consumer facing brand Transport for Ireland. Organisation The act establishing the NTA made it a body corporate consisting of the City Manager of Dublin City Council, the Chief Executive and a member of the senior management team, and a chairman and six other members appointed by the Minister for Transport. The NTA has charge of pub ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Transport Department
The Transport Department of the Government of Hong Kong is a department of the civil service responsible for transportation-related policy in Hong Kong. The department is under the Transport and Logistics Bureau. The Transport Department was created on 1 December 1968 as a separate department within the Hong Kong Government. Prior to 1968 it was assigned to the Transport Office under the Colonial Secretary's department. History The Transport Office was founded in 1965 within the Colonial Secretariat, initially with a staff of 23. The office was set up in response to the territory's worsening traffic problems, and was modelled after the systems in Britain and other Commonwealth countries, with the new department taking responsibility for vehicle registration and driver licensing. In 1968, it was spun off as a separate government department, and was renamed as the Transport Department. In 1974, the department's headquarters moved from the Blake Block on Queensway to the new Mur ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Brisbane
Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Queensland, and the third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of approximately 2.6 million. Brisbane lies at the centre of the South East Queensland metropolitan region, which encompasses a population of around 3.8 million. The Brisbane central business district is situated within a peninsula of the Brisbane River about from its mouth at Moreton Bay, a bay of the Coral Sea. Brisbane is located in the hilly floodplain of the Brisbane River Valley between Moreton Bay and the Taylor and D'Aguilar mountain ranges. It sprawls across several local government areas, most centrally the City of Brisbane, Australia's most populous local government area. The demonym of Brisbane is ''Brisbanite''. The Traditional Owners of the Brisbane area include clans of the Yugara, Turrbal and Quandamooka peoples. The Turrbal word for the Brisbane area is ''Meeanjin''. The Moreton ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
|
Refuge Island
A refuge island, also known as a pedestrian refuge or pedestrian island, is a small section of pavement or sidewalk, surrounded by asphalt or other road materials, where pedestrians can stop before finishing crossing a road. It is typically used when a street is very wide, as the pedestrian crossing can be too long for some individuals to cross in one traffic light cycle. They may also be seen on roads with higher speed limits. In the United Kingdom, refuge islands are commonly illuminated by a white 300 mm beacon mounted on a 5 m grey pole with white reflective bands. In 2015, a solar powered version of the refuge Beacon was introduced, requiring no mains cabling and incorporating the energy saving technology cited in patent GB2519445. Refuge islands may also be used when no light exists and pedestrians need safe harbour after managing one direction of traffic and before taking on the next. This significantly improves amenity for pedestrians trying to cross busy streets, as t ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |