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Mah-Jongg (lemur)
Mah-Jongg or Jongy was a ring-tailed lemur owned by Virginia and Stephen Courtauld, wealthy English philanthropists from a family of industrialists. Jongy was purchased at Harrods, one of London's most upmarket department stores, in 1923 and lived with the Courtaulds for fifteen years, accompanying the couple on their travels and changes of residence. Jongy died at their home, Eltham Palace, Greenwich, in 1938. Jongy had his own room there, which, like the rest of the house, was centrally heated - an innovation for its time. The room had a bamboo ladder that accesses the entrance to the house. Artistic representations The Courtaulds refurbished Eltham Palace in the 1920s into an Art Deco mansion for entertaining, and had Jongy's likeness incorporated into artistic details. In the Billiard Room, a mural of St Cecilia, painted by Mary Adshead, features a lemur perched on the ledge between two painted columns. Jongy is featured in carved wooden roof bosses in the north bay o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ring-tailed Lemur
The ring-tailed lemur (''Lemur catta'') is a large strepsirrhine primate and the most recognized lemur due to its long, black and white ringed tail. It belongs to Lemuridae, one of five lemur families, and is the only member of the ''Lemur'' genus. Like all lemurs it is endemic to the island of Madagascar and endangered. Known locally in Malagasy as ' (, spelled ' in French) or ', it inhabits gallery forests to spiny scrub in the southern regions of the island. It is omnivorous and the most terrestrial of extant lemurs. The animal is diurnal, being active exclusively in daylight hours. The ring-tailed lemur is highly social, living in groups of up to 30 individuals. It is also female dominant, a trait common among lemurs. To keep warm and reaffirm social bonds, groups will huddle together. The ring-tailed lemur will also sunbathe, sitting upright facing its underside, with its thinner white fur towards the sun. Like other lemurs, this species relies strongly on its sense of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Grosvenor Square
Grosvenor Square is a large garden square in the Mayfair district of London. It is the centrepiece of the Mayfair property of the Duke of Westminster, and takes its name from the duke's surname "Grosvenor". It was developed for fashionable residences in the 18th century. In the 20th it had an American and Canadian diplomatic presence, and currently is mixed use, commercial. History Sir Richard Grosvenor obtained a licence to develop Grosvenor Square and the surrounding streets in 1710, and development took place between 1725 and 1731. The land was sold in individual plots, with 30 different builders or partnerships taking a lease; about half of these had become bankrupt by 1738. Grosvenor Square was one of the three or four most fashionable residential addresses in London from its construction until the Second World War, with numerous leading members of the aristocracy in residence. The early houses were generally of five or seven bays, with basement, three main stories a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Individual Primates
An individual is that which exists as a distinct entity. Individuality (or self-hood) is the state or quality of being an individual; particularly (in the case of humans) of being a person unique from other people and possessing one's own needs or goals, rights and responsibilities. The concept of an individual features in diverse fields, including biology, law, and philosophy. Etymology From the 15th century and earlier (and also today within the fields of statistics and metaphysics) ''individual'' meant " indivisible", typically describing any numerically singular thing, but sometimes meaning "a person". From the 17th century on, ''individual'' has indicated separateness, as in individualism. Law Although individuality and individualism are commonly considered to mature with age/time and experience/wealth, a sane adult human being is usually considered by the state as an "individual person" in law, even if the person denies individual culpability ("I followed instr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1938 Animal Deaths
Events January * January 1 ** The Constitution of Estonia#Third Constitution (de facto 1938–1940, de jure 1938–1992), new constitution of Estonia enters into force, which many consider to be the ending of the Era of Silence and the authoritarian regime. ** state-owned enterprise, State-owned railway networks are created by merger, in France (SNCF) and the Netherlands (Nederlandse Spoorwegen – NS). * January 20 – King Farouk of Egypt marries Safinaz Zulficar, who becomes Farida of Egypt, Queen Farida, in Cairo. * January 27 – The Honeymoon Bridge (Niagara Falls), Honeymoon Bridge at Niagara Falls, New York, collapses as a result of an ice jam. February * February 4 ** Adolf Hitler abolishes the War Ministry and creates the Oberkommando der Wehrmacht (High Command of the Armed Forces), giving him direct control of the German military. In addition, he dismisses political and military leaders considered unsympathetic to his philosophy or policies. Gene ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lemurs
Lemurs ( ) (from Latin ''lemures'' – ghosts or spirits) are wet-nosed primates of the superfamily Lemuroidea (), divided into 8 families and consisting of 15 genera and around 100 existing species. They are endemic to the island of Madagascar. Most existing lemurs are small, have a pointed snout, large eyes, and a long tail. They chiefly live in trees and are active at night. Lemurs share resemblance with other primates, but evolved independently from monkeys and apes. Due to Madagascar's highly seasonal climate, lemur evolution has produced a level of species diversity rivaling that of any other primate group. Until shortly after humans arrived on the island around 2,000 years ago, there were lemurs as large as a male gorilla. Most species have been discovered or promoted to full species status since the 1990s; however, lemur taxonomic classification is controversial and depends on which species concept is used. Lemurs range in weight from the mouse lemur to the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Percy Lemon
Captain Percy M. Lemon (1898 – 23 October 1932) was a signal officer and British polar explorer who was awarded the Polar Medal. Biography In 1914, while still a teenager, Lemon was interned in Germany. After being released, he was not allowed to fight in the First World War. Later he joined the British Army and ended up in the Royal Corps of Signals, where he reached the rank of captain. He met Gino Watkins in 1928 in Cambridge and in 1930 he was chosen to be the wireless operator and signal officer of the 1930-1931 British Arctic Air Route Expedition (BAARE) led by Watkins. Later in the expedition, he would be in charge of the administration of the headquarters in East Greenland. Captain Lemon would be the first member of the expedition who had an Inuit mistress and one of the first who would learn the Greenlandic language. In the following year Lemon joined Watkins and Augustine Courtauld in a survey trip of the East Greenland seashore that explored as far north as the head ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Augustine Courtauld
Augustine Courtauld (26 August 1904 – 3 March 1959), often called August Courtauld, was a yachtsman and British Arctic explorer, best known for serving as the solo meteorologist of a winter observation post, ''Icecap Station'', located in the interior of Greenland in 1930–1931. Biography Early life Courtauld was born at Bocking, Essex, the son of Samuel Augustine Courtauld JP (1865–1953) and great-grandson of George Courtauld (1802–1861). He was a cousin of British industrialist Samuel Courtauld the founder of the Courtauld Institute, and of Sydney Courtauld, who married the leading politician Rab Butler. He was educated at Charterhouse School and Trinity College, Cambridge, graduating in 1926. In 1926 he joined James Wordie's summer expedition to east Greenland as photographer. In 1927 Courtauld travelled with Francis and Peter Rodd to the Aïr Mountains in the southern Sahara. Courtauld attempted unsuccessfully to become a stockbroker but returned to Greenland ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
British Arctic Air Route Expedition
The British Arctic Air Route Expedition (BAARE) was a privately funded expedition to the east coast and interior of the island of Greenland from 1930 to 1931. Led by Gino Watkins, it aimed to improve maps and charts of poorly surveyed sections of Greenland's coastline, and to gather climate data from the coast and interior during the north polar winter. This venture was followed by the smaller 1932–1933 East Greenland expedition, led by Watkins until his death. Expedition The expedition travelled to Greenland aboard the ''Quest'', a historic sealing vessel previously used by Ernest Shackleton in 1921–1922. Expedition members included Frederick Chapman, John Rymill, Quintin Riley (meteorologist), Augustine Courtauld, J. M. Scott, Captain Percy Lemon (wireless operator and signal officer), L. R. Wager (geologist), Alfred Stephenson (chief surveyor), Lt. Martin Lindsay, Flight Lt. N. H. D'Aeth (pilot), W. E. Hampton (second pilot & aircraft engineer), Surg. Lt. E. W. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Southern Rhodesia
Southern Rhodesia was a landlocked self-governing British Crown colony in southern Africa, established in 1923 and consisting of British South Africa Company (BSAC) territories lying south of the Zambezi River. The region was informally known as south Zambesia until annexed by Britain at the behest of Cecil Rhodes's British South Africa Company, for whom the colony was named. The bounding territories were Bechuanaland (Botswana), Northern Rhodesia (Zambia), Moçambique (Mozambique), and the Transvaal Republic (for two brief periods instead the British Transvaal Colony, from 1910 the Union of South Africa, and then from 1961 the Republic of South Africa). This southern region, known for its extensive gold reserves, was first purchased by the BSAC's Pioneer Column on the strength of a Mineral Concession extracted from its Matabele overlord, Lobengula, and various majority Mashona vassal chiefs in 1890. Though parts of the territory were laid claim to by the Bechuana and Po ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
La Rochelle (Zimbabwe)
The La Rochelle Estate is a country estate owned by the National Trust Zimbabwe, situated in the Imbeza Valley in the Eastern Highlands of Zimbabwe close to the border with Mozambique and approximately 20 km from the city of Mutare (formerly Umtali). The site comprises approximately 108 ha. History The house at La Rochelle was built by Sir Stephen Courtauld and his wife Virginia (Lady Courtauld), who settled in Southern Rhodesia in 1951. Architects were invited to design an ambitious property intended for entertainment on a grand scale. The construction of the house was completed in April 1953 and the Courtaulds' fine collection of furniture, paintings and other art from their former home Eltham Palace in London was brought to La Rochelle. A large botanical garden incorporating an arboretum and pinetum was established with the professional help of the British horticulturist John Henry Mitchell. The indigenous wild bush lands in the grounds were also carefully preserved. Orchid hou ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Townhouse (Great Britain)
In British usage, the term townhouse originally referred to the town or city residence, in practice normally in London, of a member of the nobility or gentry, as opposed to their country seat, generally known as a country house or, colloquially, for the larger ones, stately home. The grandest of the London townhouses were stand-alone buildings, but many were terraced buildings. British property developers and estate agents often market new buildings as townhouses, following the North American usage of the term, to aggrandise modest dwellings and to avoid the negative connotation of cheap terraced housing built in the Victorian era to accommodate workers. The aristocratic pedigree of terraced housing, for example as survives in St James's Square in Westminster, is widely forgotten. The term is comparable to the ''hôtel particulier'', which notably housed the French nobleman in Paris, as well as to the urban '' domus'' of the ''nobiles'' of Ancient Rome. Background Historical ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Stephen Courtauld
Sir Stephen Lewis Courtauld (27 February 1883 – 9 October 1967) was an English philanthropist associated with geographical exploration, the restoration of Eltham Palace in south-east London, and cultural and education causes, both in the UK and in Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe), where he and his wife also donated to organisations promoting racial equality. Family, education and military service Courtauld was a member of the wealthy English Courtauld textile family. He was born in Bocking, Essex, the son of Sydney Courtauld (10 March 1840 – 20 October 1899) and Sarah Lucy Sharpe (1844–1906) and youngest brother of Samuel Courtauld, founder of the Courtauld Institute of Art. He was educated at Rugby and King's College, Cambridge. He did not enter the family business but his wealthy background enabled him to travel extensively and to pursue cultural and philanthropic interests. Serving in the Artists' Rifles, Worcestershire Regiment and the Machine Gun Corps during W ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
