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Backyard Furnace
In China, backyard furnaces () were large and small blast furnaces used by the people of China during the Great Leap Forward (1958–1962). These were constructed in the fields and backyards of communes to further the Great Leap Forward's aims of making China the top steel producer in the world. However, most furnaces were only capable of producing unusable pig iron. The productivity of backyard furnaces was highly variable across China. Many regions experienced a renewed interest in traditional metalworking practices, and successfully produced steel and copper. Nonetheless, backyard furnaces were largely an improvised and undisciplined pursuit in much of the countryside. In 1958, the Communist Party funded the production of dozens of documentaries on metalworking in an attempt to counteract widespread ignorance and further promote the practice. Peasants were encouraged to prioritize iron and steel production over agricultural obligations, which may have been a contributing fac ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Reuters
Reuters ( ) is a news agency owned by Thomson Reuters. It employs around 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists in about 200 locations worldwide writing in 16 languages. Reuters is one of the largest news agencies in the world. The agency was established in London in 1851 by Paul Reuter. The Thomson Corporation of Canada acquired the agency in a 2008 corporate merger, resulting in the formation of the Thomson Reuters Corporation. In December 2024, Reuters was ranked as the 27th most visited news site in the world, with over 105 million monthly readers. History 19th century Paul Julius Reuter worked at a book-publishing firm in Berlin and was involved in distributing radical pamphlets at the beginning of the Revolutions of 1848. These publications brought much attention to Reuter, who in 1850 developed a prototype news service in Aachen using homing pigeons and electric telegraphy from 1851 on, in order to transmit messages between Brussels and Aachen, in what today is Aa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1960s In China
Year 196 ( CXCVI) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Dexter and Messalla (or, less frequently, year 949 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomination 196 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years. Events By place Roman Empire * Emperor Septimius Severus attempts to assassinate Clodius Albinus but fails, causing Albinus to retaliate militarily. * Emperor Septimius Severus captures and sacks Byzantium; the city is rebuilt and regains its previous prosperity. * In order to assure the support of the Roman legion in Germany on his march to Rome, Clodius Albinus is declared Augustus by his army while crossing Gaul. * Hadrian's wall in Britain is partially destroyed. China * First year of the Jian'an Era, during the reign of the Xian Emperor of the Han. * The Xian Emperor returns to war-r ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1950s In China
Year 195 ( CXCV) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known in Rome as the Year of the Consulship of Scrapula and Clemens (or, less frequently, year 948 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomination 195 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years. Events By place Roman Empire * Emperor Septimius Severus has the Roman Senate deify the previous emperor Commodus, in an attempt to gain favor with the family of Marcus Aurelius. * King Vologases V and other eastern princes support the claims of Pescennius Niger. The Roman province of Mesopotamia rises in revolt with Parthian support. Severus marches to Mesopotamia to battle the Parthians. * The Roman province of Syria is divided and the role of Antioch is diminished. The Romans annex the Syrian cities of Edessa and Nisibis. Severus re-establishes his headquarters and the colonies th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Steel Industry Of China
Steel is an alloy of iron and carbon that demonstrates improved mechanical properties compared to the pure form of iron. Due to steel's high elastic modulus, yield strength, fracture strength and low raw material cost, steel is one of the most commonly manufactured materials in the world. Steel is used in structures (as concrete reinforcing rods), in bridges, infrastructure, tools, ships, trains, cars, bicycles, machines, electrical appliances, furniture, and weapons. Iron is always the main element in steel, but other elements are used to produce various grades of steel demonstrating altered material, mechanical, and microstructural properties. Stainless steels, for example, typically contain 18% chromium and exhibit improved corrosion and oxidation resistance versus its carbon steel counterpart. Under atmospheric pressures, steels generally take on two crystalline forms: body-centered cubic and face-centered cubic, however depending on the thermal history and alloying, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pollution In China
Pollution in China is one aspect of the broader topic of environmental issues in China. Various forms of pollution have increased following the industrialisation of China, causing widespread environmental and health problems. Jared Diamond, '' Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed'', Penguin Books, 2005 and 2011 (). See chapter 12 entitled "China, Lurching Giant" (pages 258–377). Pollution statistics Soil The immense population growth in the People's Republic of China since the 1980s has resulted in increased soil pollution. The State Environmental Protection Administration believes it to be a threat to the environment, food safety and sustainable agriculture. 38,610 square miles (100,000 km2) of China's cultivated land have been polluted, with contaminated water being used to irrigate further 31.5 million square miles (21,670 km2.), and another 2 million square miles (1,300 km2) have been covered or destroyed by solid waste. The affected area a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Heavy Metals
upright=1.2, Crystals of lead.html" ;"title="osmium, a heavy metal nearly twice as dense as lead">osmium, a heavy metal nearly twice as dense as lead Heavy metals is a controversial and ambiguous term for metallic elements with relatively high density, densities, atomic weights, or atomic numbers. The criteria used, and whether metalloids are included, vary depending on the author and context and it has been argued that the term "heavy metal" should be avoided. A heavy metal may be defined on the basis of density, atomic number or chemical behaviour. More specific definitions have been published, none of which have been widely accepted. The definitions surveyed in this article encompass up to 96 out of the 118 known chemical elements; only mercury, lead and bismuth meet all of them. Despite this lack of agreement, the term (plural or singular) is widely used in science. A density of more than 5 g/cm3 is sometimes quoted as a commonly used criterion and is used in the b ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Economy Of China
The People's Republic of China is a Developing country, developing Mixed economy, mixed socialist market economy, incorporating Industrial policy, industrial policies and strategic Five-year plans of China, five-year plans. —Xu, Chenggang. "The Fundamental Institutions of China's Reforms and Development." Journal of Economic Literature, vol. 49, no. 4, American Economic Association, 2011, pp. 1076–151, . —Nee, Victor, and Sonja Opper. "Political Capital in a Market Economy." Social Forces, vol. 88, no. 5, Oxford University Press, 2010, pp. 2105–32, . —Shue Tuck Wong & Sun Sheng Han (1998) Whither China's Market Economy? The Case of Lijin Zhen, Geographical Review, 88:1, 29–46, —Gregory C. Chow (2005) The Role of Planning in China's Market Economy, Journal of Chinese Economic and Business Studies, 3:3, 193–203, —HUA, HUANG. "The Market Economy in China." Security Dialogue, vol. 24, no. 2, SAGE Publications, Ltd., 1993, pp. 175–79, . —Chow, Gregory C. "Devel ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mao Zedong
Mao Zedong pronounced ; traditionally Romanization of Chinese, romanised as Mao Tse-tung. (26December 18939September 1976) was a Chinese politician, revolutionary, and political theorist who founded the People's Republic of China (PRC) in 1949 and led the country from Proclamation of the People's Republic of China, its establishment until Death and state funeral of Mao Zedong, his death in 1976. Mao served as Chairman of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) from 1943 until his death, and as the party's ''de facto'' leader from 1935. His theories, which he advocated as a Chinese adaptation of Marxism–Leninism, are known as Maoism. Born to a peasant family in Shaoshan, Hunan, Mao studied in Changsha and was influenced by the 1911 Revolution and ideas of Chinese nationalism and anti-imperialism. He was introduced to Marxism while working as a librarian at Peking University, and later participated in the May Fourth Movement of 1919. In 1921, Mao became a founding member of the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Taiping Heavenly Kingdom
The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, or the Heavenly Kingdom of Great Peace (1851–1864), was a theocratic monarchy which sought to overthrow the Qing dynasty. The Heavenly Kingdom, or Heavenly Dynasty, was led by Hong Xiuquan, a Hakka man from Guangzhou. Its capital was at Tianjing, present-day Nanjing. The unsuccessful 14-year war it waged against the Qing is known as the Taiping Rebellion. A self-proclaimed younger brother of Jesus Christ and convert to Protestant Christianity, Hong Xiuquan led an army that controlled a significant part of southern China during the middle of the 19th century, eventually expanding to an area populated by nearly 30 million people. The rebel kingdom announced social reforms and the replacement of traditional cults for his own ''Bài Shàngdì Huì'' (Supreme Emperor Worshipping Society), holding that he was the second son of Heavenly Father (Shangdi) and the Heavenly Mother ( Doumu), and the younger brother of Jesus. The Taiping areas were besieged ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Shengbao (currency)
The currency of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom () consisted of Chinese cash coins and paper money, although the rarity of surviving Taiping paper money suggests that not much was produced. The first cash coins of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom were issued in the year 1853 in the capital of Tianjing (present day Nanjing). The cash coins of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom should not be confused with the Taiping Tongbao (太平通寳) which was issued during the Northern Song dynasty between the years 976 and 997, or with any other contemporary rebel coinage that also bear this inscription. Most cash coins issued by the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom were made from bronze with a smaller quantity being made from either iron or lead. Taiping rebellion cash coins made from either gold or silver are also known to exist but are extremely rare.The “Chutian City News” (楚天都市报). Grandfather Saved Iron Coins from the Taiping Rebellion Published: 5 May 2011. Retrieved: 1 June 2011. (in Manda ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Great Chinese Famine
The Great Chinese Famine () was a famine that occurred between 1959 and 1961 in the People's Republic of China (PRC). Some scholars have also included the years 1958 or 1962. It is widely regarded as the deadliest famine and one of the greatest man-made disasters in human history, with an estimated death toll due to starvation that ranges in the tens of millions (15 to 55 million). The most stricken provinces were Anhui (18% dead), Chongqing (15%), Sichuan (13%), Guizhou (11%) and Hunan (8%). The major contributing factors in the famine were the policies of the Great Leap Forward (1958 to 1962) and people's communes, launched by Chairman of the Chinese Communist Party Mao Zedong, such as inefficient distribution of food within the nation's planned economy; requiring the use of poor agricultural techniques; the Four Pests campaign that reduced sparrow populations (which disrupted the ecosystem); over-reporting of grain production; and ordering millions of farmers to switch ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
