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Charles Holloway (engineer)
Major-General Sir Charles Holloway (1749–1827) was an officer in the Royal Engineers. He served at the Great Siege of Gibraltar and returned later as Commanding Royal Engineer when he destroyed the Spanish fortifications (Lines of Contravallation of Gibraltar, Lines of Contravallation) between Spain and Gibraltar. Life Holloway was born to unrecorded parents on 17 April 1749. At the age of fifteen he entered the drawing room of the board of ordnance at the Tower of London - a building that he would later improve. In 1772 he was sent to help the commanding royal engineer with his plans for new fortifications at Portsmouth and where he became a second lieutenant in the royal engineers. Great Siege of Gibraltar In 1777 Holloway went to Gibraltar and in 1779, in the first year of the Great Siege of Gibraltar, he was staff officer to the chief engineer, Colonel William Green (general), William Green. He was also adjutant of the engineers and of the Soldier Artificer Company. (Hollow ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
George Carter (artist)
George Carter (1737–1794) was an English artist who described himself as a "historical portrait painter". He visited Italy in the company of John Singleton Copley, who had a significant influence on his work, and spent some time in India. Life Carter was born in Colchester, where he was baptised on 10 April 1737, the son of George and Elizabeth Carter. He was educated at the free school in the town, before moving to London where he worked as a servant and then for a mercer. He went into partnership as a mercer himself in Covent Garden, but the business proved unsuccessful and Carter turned to painting. In 1774 Carter visited France and Italy in the company of John Singleton Copley who had recently arrived in England from the United States. In a letter to his mother, Copley described Carter as "a very polite and sensible man, who has seen much of the world". However, relations between them soured during the journey, and Copley later compared him to "a sort of snail which ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
National Portrait Gallery, London
The National Portrait Gallery (NPG) is an art gallery in London housing a collection of portraits of historically important and famous British people. It was arguably the first national public gallery dedicated to portraits in the world when it opened in 1856. The gallery moved in 1896 to its current site at St Martin's Place, off Trafalgar Square, and adjoining the National Gallery (London), National Gallery. It has been expanded twice since then. The National Portrait Gallery also has regional outposts at Beningbrough Hall in Yorkshire and Montacute House in Somerset. It is unconnected to the Scottish National Portrait Gallery in Edinburgh, with which its remit overlaps. The gallery is a non-departmental public body sponsored by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport. Collection The gallery houses portraits of historically important and famous British people, selected on the basis of the significance of the sitter, not that of the artist. The collection includes ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Grand Vizier
Grand vizier ( fa, وزيرِ اعظم, vazîr-i aʾzam; ota, صدر اعظم, sadr-ı aʾzam; tr, sadrazam) was the title of the effective head of government of many sovereign states in the Islamic world. The office of Grand Vizier was first held by officials in the later Abbasid Caliphate. It was then held in the Ottoman Empire, the Mughal Empire, the Sokoto Caliphate the Safavid Empire and Morocco. In the Ottoman Empire, the Grand Vizier held the imperial seal and could convene all other viziers to attend to affairs of the state; the viziers in conference were called "''Kubbealtı'' viziers" in reference to their meeting place, the ''Kubbealtı'' ('under the dome') in Topkapı Palace. His offices were located at the Sublime Porte. Today, the Prime Minister of Pakistan is referred to in Urdu as ''Wazir-e-azam'', which translates literally to Grand Vizier. Initially, the Grand Viziers were exclusively of Turk origin in the Ottoman Empire. However, after there were troubles b ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jaffa
Jaffa, in Hebrew Yafo ( he, יָפוֹ, ) and in Arabic Yafa ( ar, يَافَا) and also called Japho or Joppa, the southern and oldest part of Tel Aviv-Yafo, is an ancient port city in Israel. Jaffa is known for its association with the biblical stories of Jonah, Solomon and Saint Peter as well as the mythological story of Andromeda and Perseus, and later for its oranges. Today, Jaffa is one of Israel's mixed cities, with approximately 37% of the city being Arab. Etymology The town was mentioned in Egyptian sources and the Amarna letters as ''Yapu''. Mythology says that it is named for Yafet (Japheth), one of the sons of Noah, the one who built it after the Flood. The Hellenist tradition links the name to ''Iopeia'', or Cassiopeia, mother of Andromeda. An outcropping of rocks near the harbor is reputed to have been the place where Andromeda was rescued by Perseus. Pliny the Elder associated the name with Iopa, daughter of Aeolus, god of the wind. The medieval Ara ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Syria
Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It is a unitary republic that consists of 14 governorates (subdivisions), and is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east and southeast, Jordan to the south, and Israel and Lebanon to the southwest. Cyprus lies to the west across the Mediterranean Sea. A country of fertile plains, high mountains, and deserts, Syria is home to diverse ethnic and religious groups, including the majority Syrian Arabs, Kurds, Turkmens, Assyrians, Armenians, Circassians, Albanians, and Greeks. Religious groups include Muslims, Christians, Alawites, Druze, and Yazidis. The capital and largest city of Syria is Damascus. Arabs are the largest ethnic group, and Mu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
