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Houghton, Johannesburg
Houghton Estate, often simply called Houghton is an affluent suburb of Johannesburg, South Africa, north-east of the city centre. It is best known for being the home of Nelson Mandela. History Houghton was developed as a residential area around the turn of the 20th century, primarily by Johannesburg Consolidated Investment Company ( JCI). The suburb was laid out by surveyor Gustav Arthur Troye. Geography Communities Houghton Estate has traditionally been informally divided into two areas: ''Upper Houghton'', and ''Lower Houghton''. Upper Houghton is the southern and south-eastern portion located on a ridge, while the northern Lower Houghton is flatter, and has a grid street pattern, with parts on both sides of the M1 freeway. Upper Houghton has been declared a National Heritage Area. Upper and Lower Houghton are separated by the East-West section of Houghton Drive and part of Louis Botha Avenue. Small sections of Upper Houghton lie east of Louis Botha Avenue (bordering Observa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Country
A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. It may be a sovereign state or make up one part of a larger state. For example, the country of Japan is an independent, sovereign state, while the country of Wales is a component of a multi-part sovereign state, the United Kingdom. A country may be a historically sovereign area (such as Korea), a currently sovereign territory with a unified government (such as Senegal), or a non-sovereign geographic region associated with certain distinct political, ethnic, or cultural characteristics (such as the Basque Country). The definition and usage of the word "country" is flexible and has changed over time. ''The Economist'' wrote in 2010 that "any attempt to find a clear definition of a country soon runs into a thicket of exceptions and anomalies." Most sovereign states, but not all countries, are members of the United Nations. The largest country by area is Russia, while the smallest is ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
South African Standard Time
South African Standard Time (SAST) is the time zone used by all of South Africa as well as Eswatini and Lesotho. The zone is two hours ahead of UTC ( UTC+02:00) and is the same as Central Africa Time. Daylight saving time is not observed in either time zone. Solar noon in this time zone occurs at 30° E in SAST, effectively making Pietermaritzburg at the correct solar noon point, with Johannesburg and Pretoria slightly west at 28° E and Durban slightly east at 31° E. Thus, most of South Africa's population experience true solar noon at approximately 12:00 daily. The western Northern Cape and Western Cape differ, however. Everywhere on land west of 22°30′ E effectively experiences year-round daylight saving time because of its location in true UTC+01:00 but still being in South African Standard Time. Sunrise and sunset are thus relatively late in Cape Town, compared to the rest of the country. To illustrate, daylight hours for South Africa's west ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mansion
A mansion is a large dwelling house. The word itself derives through Old French from the Latin word ''mansio'' "dwelling", an abstract noun derived from the verb ''manere'' "to dwell". The English word '' manse'' originally defined a property large enough for the parish priest to maintain himself, but a mansion is no longer self-sustaining in this way (compare a Roman or medieval villa). '' Manor'' comes from the same root—territorial holdings granted to a lord who would "remain" there. Following the fall of Rome, the practice of building unfortified villas ceased. Today, the oldest inhabited mansions around the world usually began their existence as fortified houses in the Middle Ages. As social conditions slowly changed and stabilised fortifications were able to be reduced, and over the centuries gave way to comfort. It became fashionable and possible for homes to be beautiful rather than grim and forbidding allowing for the development of the modern mansion. In British Engl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Yeoville, Gauteng
Yeoville is an inner city neighbourhood of Johannesburg, in the province of Gauteng, South Africa. It is located in Region F (previously Region 8). It is widely known and celebrated for its diverse, pan-African population but notorious for its high levels of crime and poverty It is part of Greater Yeoville, a greater territory combining Bellevue, Bellevue East and Yeoville itself and its size, crime, poverty and population density levels is somewhat comparable to nearby Hillbrow. Yeoville is home to Yeoville Boys Primary School, Yeoville Market and Yeoville recreational centre. History Founding Yeoville was proclaimed as a suburb in 1890 (four years after the discovery of gold led to the founding of Johannesburg) by Thomas Yeo Sherwell, who came from Yeovil in the United Kingdom. The area was advertised as a 'sanitarium for the rich' in which the air was purer because it was up on a ridge overlooking the dirty, smoke-filled mining town that had sprung from nothing out of the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hillbrow, Gauteng
Hillbrow () is an inner city residential neighbourhood of Johannesburg, Gauteng Province, South Africa. It is known for its high levels of population density, unemployment, poverty, prostitution and crime. In the 1970s it was an Apartheid-designated "whites only" area but soon became a "grey area", where people of different ethnicities lived together. It acquired a cosmopolitan and politically progressive feel, and was one of the first identifiable gay and lesbian areas in urban South Africa. However, due to the mass growth of the population of poor and unemployed black people after the end of Apartheid, crime soared and the streets became strewn with rubbish. This, together with lack of investment and fear led to an exodus of middle-class residents in the 1980s and the decay of major buildings, leaving in its wake an urban slum by the 1990s. Today, the majority of the residents are incoming migrants from the townships, rural areas and the rest of Africa, many living in abject ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Parktown, Gauteng
Parktown is a wealthy suburb of Johannesburg, South Africa, the first suburb north of the inner city (both chronologically and geographically). It is affectionately known as one of the Parks, others including Parkview, Parkwood, Westcliff, Parktown North, Parkhurst and Forest Town. Parktown is one of Johannesburg's largest suburbs, neighbouring Hillbrow, Braamfontein and Milpark to the South; Berea and Houghton to the East; Killarney and Forest Town to the North, and Westcliff, Melville and Richmond to the West. Originally established by the Randlords in the 1890s, Parktown is now home to many businesses, hospitals, schools, churches and restaurants, whilst still maintaining quiet residential areas. It is also home to three of the five campuses of the University of the Witwatersrand including the education campus, medical school and Wits Business School. Parktown is now divided into Parktown and Parktown West with Jan Smuts Avenue forming the dividing line. It is loca ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Observatory, Gauteng
Observatory is a Suburb in Johannesburg's east and is located in Region E of the City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality; it borders the suburbs of Houghton Estate, Cyrildene, Linksfield, Bellevue, Bellevue East and Dewetshof. History It is named for the Union Observatory established in early 1903 (today'Johannesburg Observatory, sited on Observatory Ridge, the city's highest point. The suburb is situated on part of an old Witwatersrand farm called ''Doornfontein''. It was established in 1903. It is a well-established suburbObservatory Girls' Primarywas founded in 1918, anObservatory Golf Course(1912) is the oldest golf club in Johannesburg still operating from its original ground. The suburb housed the Yeshivah Gedolah of Johannesburg Yeshivah Gedolah of Johannesburg was one of the first Yeshivot established in South Africa. Since its founding in 1978, it has played an important - though understated - role in the South African religious community. It is based in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
National Heritage Area (South Africa)
In the United States, a National Heritage Area (NHA) is a site designated by Act of Congress, intended to encourage historic preservation of the area and an appreciation of the history and heritage of the site. There are currently 62 NHAs, some of which use variations of the title, such as National Heritage Corridor. (which serves as an official list of all 55 National Heritage Areas) National Heritage Areas are not National Park Service units or federally owned or managed land. NHAs are administered by state governments or non-profit organizations or other private corporations, referred to as ''local coordinating entities''. The National Park Service provides an advisory role and limited technical, planning and financial assistance. Each area has its own authorizing legislation and a set of unique resources and goals. Areas considered for designation must have specific elements. First, the landscape must be a nationally unique natural, cultural, historic, or scenic resource. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
M1 (Johannesburg)
The M1 De Villiers Graaff motorway is a metropolitan route and major freeway in the City of Johannesburg, South Africa. The highway connects the southern areas (including Booysens, Eldorado Park and Soweto) with the city centre and extends further north through Sandton into the Ben Schoeman Highway towards Pretoria. Construction began in 1962 and resulted in the demolition of many properties and houses including numerous historical Parktown Mansions. Route The M1 officially starts at the M68 (Columbine Avenue) Interchange in Southgate, Johannesburg South, just east of the Southgate Shopping Centre. South of this interchange, it is designated as the R82 towards Walkerville. The M1 begins by heading northwards from the M68 off-ramp to reach the Uncle Charlie's Interchange with the N12 Highway ( Southern Bypass) in Ridgeway (west southbound interchange only). It continues north-east towards the city centre as a freeway, passing Ormonde and Booysens, and meets the M2 hig ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Grid Street Pattern
In urban planning, the grid plan, grid street plan, or gridiron plan is a type of city plan in which streets run at right angles to each other, forming a grid. Two inherent characteristics of the grid plan, frequent intersections and orthogonal geometry, facilitate movement. The geometry helps with orientation and wayfinding and its frequent intersections with the choice and directness of route to desired destinations. In ancient Rome, the grid plan method of land measurement was called centuriation. The grid plan dates from antiquity and originated in multiple cultures; some of the earliest planned cities were built using grid plans in Indian subcontinent. History Ancient grid plans By 2600 BC, Mohenjo-daro and Harappa, major cities of the Indus Valley civilization, were built with blocks divided by a grid of straight streets, running north–south and east–west. Each block was subdivided by small lanes. The cities and monasteries of Sirkap, Taxila and Thimi (in the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
JCI Limited
JCI or Johannesburg Consolidated Investment Co. Ltd. was founded in 1889 by the British entrepreneur Barney Barnato. JCI was a major force in South African mining for over 100 years. Using his investments in the Kimberley diamond fields, particularly his 25% share in De Beers, Barnato foresaw the value of and invested in the potential of the Witwatersrand gold mines. At first he bought small but rich mines near Germiston – the New Primrose, named after his daughter, and others in the same region. In 1913 JCI bought the Randfontein Estates Gold Mining Company, which was a fabulously rich mine, from Sir J.B. Robinson. At the peak of its production Randfontein was equipped with 600 stamp mills, the roar of which could be heard in Johannesburg. Randfontein Estates was an extraordinarily rich mining property, and in the 1950s was a pioneer of uranium production. During the 1930s Randfontein was the largest gold producer in South Africa, if not the world. JCI was also involved with ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nelson Mandela
Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela (; ; 18 July 1918 – 5 December 2013) was a South African Internal resistance to apartheid, anti-apartheid activist who served as the President of South Africa, first president of South Africa from 1994 to 1999. He was the country's first black head of state and the first elected in a Universal suffrage, fully representative democratic election. Presidency of Nelson Mandela, His government focused on dismantling the legacy of apartheid by fostering racial Conflict resolution, reconciliation. Ideologically an African nationalist and African socialism, socialist, he served as the president of the African National Congress (ANC) party from 1991 to 1997. A Xhosa people, Xhosa, Mandela was born into the Thembu people, Thembu royal family in Mvezo, Union of South Africa. He studied law at the University of Fort Hare and the University of Witwatersrand before working as a lawyer in Johannesburg. There he became involved in anti-colonial and African ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
