|
The Lighthouse At The End Of The World
''The Lighthouse at the End of the World'' (french: link=no, Le Phare du bout du monde) is an adventure novel by French author Jules Verne. Verne wrote the first draft in 1901.William Butcher, Jules Verne: The Definitive Biography', Thunder's Mouth Press, 2006, p. 292. . It was first published posthumously in 1905. The plot of the novel involves piracy in the South Atlantic during the mid-19th century, with a theme of survival in extreme circumstances, and events centering on an isolated lighthouse. Verne was inspired by the real lighthouse at the Isla de los Estados, Argentina, near Tierra del Fuego and Cape Horn. The novel was adapted into the 1971 movie, ''The Light at the Edge of the World''. Plot summary Verne sets the plot by stating, "The Argentine Republic had displayed a happy initiative in constructing this lighthouse at the end of the world," within Elgor Bay and the harbor of Saint-Jean "forms a kind of pendant to Elgor Bay." The despatch boat ''Santa-Fé' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jules Verne
Jules Gabriel Verne (;''Longman Pronunciation Dictionary''. ; 8 February 1828 – 24 March 1905) was a French novelist, poet, and playwright. His collaboration with the publisher Pierre-Jules Hetzel led to the creation of the ''Voyages extraordinaires'', a series of bestselling adventure novels including ''Journey to the Center of the Earth'' (1864), ''Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Seas'' (1870), and '' Around the World in Eighty Days'' (1872). His novels, always well documented, are generally set in the second half of the 19th century, taking into account the technological advances of the time. In addition to his novels, he wrote numerous plays, short stories, autobiographical accounts, poetry, songs and scientific, artistic and literary studies. His work has been adapted for film and television since the beginning of cinema, as well as for comic books, theater, opera, music and video games. Verne is considered to be an important author in France and most of Europe, where ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wrecking (shipwreck)
Wrecking is the practice of taking valuables from a shipwreck which has foundered or run aground close to shore. Often an unregulated activity of opportunity in coastal communities, wrecking has been subjected to increasing regulation and evolved into what is now known as marine salvage. Wrecking is no longer economically significant. However, as recently as the 19th century in some parts of the world, it was the mainstay of otherwise economically marginal coastal communities. A traditional legendary trope is that of wreckers deliberately decoying ships on to coasts using tricks, especially false lights, so that they run ashore for easy plundering. While this has been depicted in many stories and legends, there is no clear evidence that this has ever happened. Luring ships to wreck with false lights There are legends that some ships were deliberately lured into danger by a display of false lights. John Viele, retired U.S. Navy officer and author of a history of wrecking in the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Treenail
A treenail, also trenail, trennel, or trunnel, is a wooden peg, pin, or dowel used to fasten pieces of wood together, especially in timber frames, covered bridges, wooden shipbuilding and boat building. It is driven into a hole bored through two (or more) pieces of structural wood (mortise and tenon). History and general use The use of wood as a tenon can be traced back over 7,000 years, as archaeologist have found traces of wood nails in the excavation of early Germanic sites. Trenails are extremely economical and readily available, making them a common early building material. Black Locust is a favorite wood when making trunnels in shipbuilding in North America and English Oak in Europe due to their strength and rot resistance, while red oak is typical in buildings. Traditionally treenails and pegs were made by splitting bolts of wood with a froe and shaping them with a drawknife on a shaving horse. Treenails are cut from a single piece of wood and perform well because of the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Careening
Careening (also known as "heaving down") is a method of gaining access to the hull of a sailing vessel without the use of a dry dock. It is used for cleaning or repairing the hull. Before ship's hulls were protected from marine growth by fastening copper sheets over the surface of the hull, fouling by this growth would seriously affect the sailing qualities of a ship, causing a large amount of drag. Practice The vessel is grounded broadside onto a steep beach and then pulled over with tackles from the mastheads to strong points on the beach. This brings one side of the hull out of the water. Careening may be assisted by moving ballast to one side of the hull. When work was complete on one side, the ship would be floated off and the process repeated on the other side. A beach favoured for careening was called a careenage. Today, only small vessels are careened, while large vessels are placed in dry dock. A related practice was a Parliamentary heel, in which the vessel was heele ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Warping (sailing)
Warping or kedging is a method of moving a sailing vessel, typically against the wind or out from a dead calm, by hauling on a line attached to a kedge anchor, a sea anchor or a fixed object, such as a bollard. In small boats, the anchor may be thrown in the intended direction of progress and hauled in after it settles, thus pulling the boat in that direction, while larger ships can use a boat to carry the anchor ahead, drop it and then haul. For example, the sloop ''Adventure'' under the command of the infamous pirate Blackbeard ran aground attempting to kedge the ''Queen Anne's Revenge'' off the bar near Beaufort Inlet, North Carolina in June 1718.D. Moore. (1997) "A General History of Blackbeard the Pirate, the Queen Anne's Revenge and the Adventure". In Tributaries, Volume VII, 1997. pp. 31–35. (North Carolina Maritime History Council) See also * Kedge anchor * Warp (other) * careening Careening (also known as "heaving down") is a method of gaining access to the h ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Green Flash
The green flash and green ray are meteorological optical phenomena that sometimes occur transiently around the moment of sunset or sunrise. When the conditions are right, a distinct green spot is briefly visible above the Sun's upper limb; the green appearance usually lasts for no more than two seconds. Rarely, the green flash can resemble a green ray shooting up from the sunset or sunrise point. Green flashes occur because the Earth's atmosphere can cause the light from the Sun to separate, or refract, into different colors. Green flashes are a group of similar phenomena that stem from slightly different causes, and therefore, some types of green flashes are more common than others. Observing Green flashes may be observed from any altitude. They usually are seen at an unobstructed horizon, such as over the ocean, but are possible over cloud tops and mountain tops as well. They may occur at any latitude, although at the equator, the flash rarely lasts longer than a sec ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Banister
A handrail is a rail that is designed to be grasped by the hand so as to provide safety or support. In Britain, handrails are referred to as banisters. Handrails are usually used to provide support for body or to hold clothings in a bathroom or similar areas. Handrails are commonly used while ascending or descending stairways and escalators in order to prevent injurious falls or to hold necessities. Handrails are typically supported by balusters or attached to walls. Similar items not covered in this article include bathroom handrails—which help to prevent falls on slippery, wet floors—other grab bars, used, for instance, in ships' galleys, and barres, which serve as training aids for ballet dancers. Guard rails and balustrades line drop-offs and other dangerous areas, keeping people and vehicles out. British specifications British Standard and British Standard Code of Practice are harmonized to European Normal (EN) series. Handrail height is set between . US specif ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Second-in-command
Second-in-command (2i/c or 2IC) is a title denoting that the holder of the title is the second-highest authority within a certain organisation. Usage In the British Army or Royal Marines, the second-in-command is the deputy commander of a unit, from battalion or regiment downwards. This terminology is also used in many other Commonwealth armies and other nations. The equivalent appointment in the United States Army is the executive officer. The second-in-command of a battalion or regiment is usually a major. The second-in-command of a company, squadron, or artillery battery (in which they are called the battery captain) is usually a captain (although infantry company second-in-commands were usually lieutenants until after the Second World War), the second-in-command of a platoon or troop is the platoon or troop sergeant, and the second-in-command of a section is usually a lance corporal. In the Royal Navy and Commonwealth navies, the second-in-command of a vessel, regardless of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Carpenter
Carpentry is a skilled trade and a craft in which the primary work performed is the cutting, shaping and installation of building materials during the construction of buildings, Shipbuilding, ships, timber bridges, concrete formwork, etc. Carpenters traditionally worked with natural wood and did rougher work such as framing, but today many other materials are also used and sometimes the finer trades of cabinetmaking and furniture building are considered carpentry. In the United States, 98.5% of carpenters are male, and it was the fourth most male-dominated occupation in the country in 1999. In 2006 in the United States, there were about 1.5 million carpentry positions. Carpenters are usually the first tradesmen on a job and the last to leave. Carpenters normally framed post-and-beam buildings until the end of the 19th century; now this old-fashioned carpentry is called timber framing. Carpenters learn this trade by being employed through an apprenticeship training—normally ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pirates
Piracy is an act of robbery or criminal violence by ship or boat-borne attackers upon another ship or a coastal area, typically with the goal of stealing cargo and other valuable goods. Those who conduct acts of piracy are called pirates, vessels used for piracy are pirate ships. The earliest documented instances of piracy were in the 14th century BC, when the Sea Peoples, a group of ocean raiders, attacked the ships of the Aegean and Mediterranean civilisations. Narrow channels which funnel shipping into predictable routes have long created opportunities for piracy, as well as for privateering and commerce raiding. Historic examples include the waters of Gibraltar, the Strait of Malacca, Madagascar, the Gulf of Aden, and the English Channel, whose geographic structures facilitated pirate attacks. The term ''piracy'' generally refers to maritime piracy, although the term has been generalized to refer to acts committed on land, in the air, on computer networks, and (in scienc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cannon
A cannon is a large- caliber gun classified as a type of artillery, which usually launches a projectile using explosive chemical propellant. Gunpowder ("black powder") was the primary propellant before the invention of smokeless powder during the late 19th century. Cannons vary in gauge, effective range, mobility, rate of fire, angle of fire and firepower; different forms of cannon combine and balance these attributes in varying degrees, depending on their intended use on the battlefield. A cannon is a type of heavy artillery weapon. The word ''cannon'' is derived from several languages, in which the original definition can usually be translated as ''tube'', ''cane'', or ''reed''. In the modern era, the term ''cannon'' has fallen into decline, replaced by ''guns'' or ''artillery'', if not a more specific term such as howitzer or mortar, except for high-caliber automatic weapons firing bigger rounds than machine guns, called autocannons. The earliest known depict ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Scavenger
Scavengers are animals that consume dead organisms that have died from causes other than predation or have been killed by other predators. While scavenging generally refers to carnivores feeding on carrion, it is also a herbivorous feeding behavior. Scavengers play an important role in the ecosystem by consuming dead animal and plant material. ''Decomposers'' and detritivores complete this process, by consuming the remains left by scavengers. Scavengers aid in overcoming fluctuations of food resources in the environment. The process and rate of scavenging is affected by both biotic and abiotic factors, such as carcass size, habitat, temperature, and seasons. Etymology Scavenger is an alteration of ''scavager,'' from Middle English ''skawager'' meaning "customs collector", from ''skawage'' meaning "customs", from Old North French ''escauwage'' meaning "inspection", from ''schauwer'' meaning "to inspect", of Germanic origin; akin to Old English ''scēawian'' and German ' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
