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National Personnel Records Center Fire
The National Personnel Records Center fire of 1973, also known as the 1973 National Archives fire, was a fire that occurred at the Military Personnel Records Center in the St. Louis suburb of Overland, Missouri, from July 12–16, 1973. The fire destroyed some 16 million to 18 million official military personnel records. The NPRC, the custodian of U.S. military service records, is part of the National Personnel Records Center, an agency of the National Archives and Records Administration of the General Services Administration. Background The NPRC was created in 1956 through the mergers of predecessor agencies after World War II, including the Demobilized Personnel Records Center (DPRC) and the Military Personnel Records Center (MILPERCEN, pronounced "mil'-per-cen") of the Department of Defense, along with the St. Louis Federal Records Center of the General Services Administration. In final form, the NPRC handled the service records of people in federal civil service or American ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
National Personnel Records Center
The National Personnel Records Center(s) (NPRC) is an agency of the National Archives and Records Administration, created in 1966. It is part of the United States National Archives federal records center system and is divided into two large Federal Records Centers located in St. Louis, Missouri, and Valmeyer, Illinois. The term "National Personnel Records Center" is often used to describe both the physical Military Personnel Records Center facility and as a broader term for all records centers in the St. Louis area. To differentiate, the broader collection is occasionally called the "National Personnel Records Centers". Military Personnel Records Center The Military Personnel Records Center houses United States Armed Forces military service records dating from the late 1800s to the early 2000s. In 1956, records were moved into the MPRC's new building at 9700 Page Avenue in Overland, Missouri. The building served as the ''de facto'' headquarters for the entire National Person ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fire Sprinkler System
A fire sprinkler system is an active fire protection method, consisting of a water supply system, providing adequate pressure and flowrate to a water distribution piping system, onto which fire sprinklers are connected. Although historically only used in factories and large commercial buildings, systems for homes and small buildings are now available at a cost-effective price. Fire sprinkler systems are extensively used worldwide, with over 40 million sprinkler heads fitted each year. Even though Fire Sprinkler Systems are a Life Saving System and are not designed to protect the building, 96% of buildings that had fires and were completely protected by fire sprinkler systems were controlled by the fire sprinklers alone. History Leonardo da Vinci designed a sprinkler system in the 15th century. Leonardo automated his patron's kitchen with a super-oven and a system of conveyor belts. In a comedy of errors, everything went wrong during a huge banquet, and a fire broke out. "Th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
United States Army
The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of the United States Constitution (1789). See alsTitle 10, Subtitle B, Chapter 301, Section 3001 The oldest and most senior branch of the U.S. military in order of precedence, the modern U.S. Army has its roots in the Continental Army, which was formed 14 June 1775 to fight the American Revolutionary War (1775–1783)—before the United States was established as a country. After the Revolutionary War, the Congress of the Confederation created the United States Army on 3 June 1784 to replace the disbanded Continental Army.Library of CongressJournals of the Continental Congress, Volume 27/ref> The United States Army considers itself to be a continuation of the Continental Army, and thus considers its institutional inception to be th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
United States Army Corps Of Engineers
, colors = , anniversaries = 16 June (Organization Day) , battles = , battles_label = Wars , website = , commander1 = LTG Scott A. Spellmon , commander1_label = Chief of Engineers and Commanding General of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers , commander2 = MGbr>Richard J. Heitkamp, commander2_label = Deputy Chief of Engineers and Deputy Commanding General , commander3 = MGKimberly M. Colloton, commander3_label = Deputy Commanding General for Military and International Operations , commander4 = MGbr>William H. Graham, commander4_label = Deputy Commanding General for Civil and Emergency Operations , commander5 = COLbr>James J. Handura, commander5_label = Chief of Staff for the U.S. Army Corps of Engi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Concrete Block
A concrete masonry unit (CMU) is a standard-size rectangular block used in building construction. CMUs are some of the most versatile building products available because of the wide variety of appearances that can be achieved using them. Those that use cinders (fly ash or bottom ash) as an aggregate material are called cinder blocks in the United States, breeze blocks (''breeze'' is a synonym of ''ash'') in the United Kingdom, and hollow blocks in the Philippines. In New Zealand and Canada they are known as concrete blocks (a name common in the United States also). In New Zealand, they are also called construction blocks. In Australia, they are known as Besser blocks or Besser bricks, because the Besser Company was a major supplier of machines that made concrete blocks. Clinker blocks use clinker as aggregate. In non-technical usage, the terms ''cinder block'' and ''breeze block'' are often generalized to cover all of these varieties. Composition Concrete blocks are made ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Glass
Glass is a non-crystalline, often transparent, amorphous solid that has widespread practical, technological, and decorative use in, for example, window panes, tableware, and optics. Glass is most often formed by rapid cooling (quenching) of the molten form; some glasses such as volcanic glass are naturally occurring. The most familiar, and historically the oldest, types of manufactured glass are "silicate glasses" based on the chemical compound silica (silicon dioxide, or quartz), the primary constituent of sand. Soda–lime glass, containing around 70% silica, accounts for around 90% of manufactured glass. The term ''glass'', in popular usage, is often used to refer only to this type of material, although silica-free glasses often have desirable properties for applications in modern communications technology. Some objects, such as drinking glasses and eyeglasses, are so commonly made of silicate-based glass that they are simply called by the name of the material. Despite bei ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Aluminum
Aluminium (aluminum in American and Canadian English) is a chemical element with the symbol Al and atomic number 13. Aluminium has a density lower than those of other common metals, at approximately one third that of steel. It has a great affinity towards oxygen, and forms a protective layer of oxide on the surface when exposed to air. Aluminium visually resembles silver, both in its color and in its great ability to reflect light. It is soft, non-magnetic and ductile. It has one stable isotope, 27Al; this isotope is very common, making aluminium the twelfth most common element in the Universe. The radioactivity of 26Al is used in radiodating. Chemically, aluminium is a post-transition metal in the boron group; as is common for the group, aluminium forms compounds primarily in the +3 oxidation state. The aluminium cation Al3+ is small and highly charged; as such, it is polarizing, and bonds aluminium forms tend towards covalency. The strong affinity towards ox ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Curtain Wall (architecture)
A curtain wall is an outer covering of a building in which the outer walls are non-structural, utilized only to keep the weather out and the occupants in. Since the curtain wall is non-structural, it can be made of lightweight materials, such as glass, thereby potentially reducing construction costs. An additional advantage of glass is that natural light can penetrate deeper within the building. The curtain wall façade does not carry any structural load from the building other than its own dead load weight. The wall transfers lateral wind loads that are incident upon it to the main building structure through connections at floors or columns of the building. A curtain wall is designed to resist air and water infiltration, absorb sway induced by wind and seismic forces acting on the building, withstand wind loads, and support its own weight. Curtain walls may be designed as "systems" integrating frame, wall panel, and weatherproofing materials. Steel frames have largely given w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Prestressed Concrete
Prestressed concrete is a form of concrete used in construction. It is substantially "prestressed" ( compressed) during production, in a manner that strengthens it against tensile forces which will exist when in service. Post-tensioned concreted is "structural concrete in which internal stresses have been introduced to reduce potential tensile stresses in the concrete resulting from loads." This compression is produced by the tensioning of high-strength "tendons" located within or adjacent to the concrete and is done to improve the performance of the concrete in service. Tendons may consist of single wires, multi-wire strands or threaded bars that are most commonly made from high-tensile steels, carbon fiber or aramid fiber. The essence of prestressed concrete is that once the initial compression has been applied, the resulting material has the characteristics of high-strength concrete when subject to any subsequent compression forces and of ductile high-strength steel when sub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Firestop
A firestop or fire-stopping is a form of passive fire protection that is used to seal around openings and between joints in a fire-resistance-rated wall or floor assembly. Firestops are designed to maintain the fire-resistance rating of a wall or floor assembly intended to impede the spread of fire and smoke. Description Firestops prevent unprotected horizontal and vertical penetrations in a fire-resistance-rated wall or floor assembly from creating a route by which fire and smoke can spread that would otherwise have been fire resisting construction, e.g. where a pipe passes through a firewall. Fire stopping is also to seal around gaps between fire resisting constructions, e.g. the linear gap between a wall and the floor above, in order for construction to form a complete barrier to fire and smoke spread. Opening types Firestops are used in: * Electrical, mechanical, and structural penetrations * Unpenetrated openings (such as openings for future use) * Re-entries of exist ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Firewall (construction)
A firewall is a fire-resistant barrier used to prevent the spread of fire. Firewalls are built between or through buildings, structures, or electrical substation transformers, or within an aircraft or vehicle. Applications Firewalls can be used to subdivide a building into separate fire areas and are constructed in accordance with the locally applicable building codes. Firewalls are a portion of a building's passive fire protection systems. Firewalls can be used to separate-high value transformers at an electrical substation in the event of a mineral oil tank rupture and ignition. The firewall serves as a fire containment wall between one oil-filled transformer and other neighboring transformers, building structures, and site equipment. Types There are three main classifications of ''fire rated walls'': fire walls, fire barriers, and fire partitions. *A ''firewall'' is an assembly of materials used to separate transformers, structures, or large buildings to prevent the s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fire Damage
Fire is the rapid oxidation of a material (the fuel) in the exothermic chemical process of combustion, releasing heat, light, and various reaction products. At a certain point in the combustion reaction, called the ignition point, flames are produced. The ''flame'' is the visible portion of the fire. Flames consist primarily of carbon dioxide, water vapor, oxygen and nitrogen. If hot enough, the gases may become ionized to produce plasma. Depending on the substances alight, and any impurities outside, the color of the flame and the fire's intensity will be different. Fire in its most common form can result in conflagration, which has the potential to cause physical damage through burning. Fire is an important process that affects ecological systems around the globe. The positive effects of fire include stimulating growth and maintaining various ecological systems. Its negative effects include hazard to life and property, atmospheric pollution, and water contamination. If fire ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
