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Green Point Lighthouse, Cape Town
The Green Point Lighthouse, Cape Town is an operational lighthouse on the South African coast. First lit on 12 April 1824, it is located on Mouille Point. Williams (1993), p.1. The lighthouse was the first solid lighthouse structure on the South African coast and the oldest operational lighthouse in South Africa. The lighthouse was commissioned by acting Governor of the Cape Colony Sir Rufane Shaw Donkin and designed by German architect Herman Shutte. Building commenced in 1821 and was completed in 1823. The lighthouse started operating in 1824. The lighthouse cost approximately £6,420 pounds sterling to build. When the lighthouse was first lit, it burned Argand lamps fueled by sperm whale oil. The light from these lanterns could be seen for . The lighthouse was expanded to its present height in 1865. In 1922, the range of the light house was extended to 22 nautical miles when 3rd order dioptric flashing lights were installed. Its present characteristic is a white light flashin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cape Town
Cape Town is the legislature, legislative capital city, capital of South Africa. It is the country's oldest city and the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. Cape Town is the country's List of municipalities in South Africa, second-largest city by population, after Johannesburg, and the largest city in the Western Cape. The city is part of the City of Cape Town metropolitan municipality (South Africa), metropolitan municipality. The city is known for Port of Cape Town, its harbour, its natural setting in the Cape Floristic Region, and for landmarks such as Table Mountain and Cape Point. In 2014, Cape Town was named the best place in the world to visit by ''The New York Times'', and was similarly ranked number one by ''The Daily Telegraph'' in both 2016 and 2023. Located on the shore of Table Bay, the City Bowl area of Cape Town, which contains its Cape Town CBD, central business district (CBD), is History of Cape Town, the oldest urban area in the Western Cape, with a signi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sperm Whale
The sperm whale or cachalot (''Physeter macrocephalus'') is the largest of the toothed whales and the largest toothed predator. It is the only living member of the Genus (biology), genus ''Physeter'' and one of three extant species in the sperm whale superfamily Physeteroidea, along with the pygmy sperm whale and dwarf sperm whale of the genus ''Kogia''. The sperm whale is a pelagic mammal with a worldwide range, and will migrate seasonally for feeding and breeding. Females and young males live together in groups, while mature males (bulls) live solitary lives outside of the mating season. The females cooperate to protect and Lactation, nurse their young. Females give birth every four to twenty years, and care for the calves for more than a decade. A mature, healthy sperm whale has no natural predators, although calves and weakened adults are sometimes killed by Cetacea#Social relations, pods of killer whales (orcas). Mature males average in length, with the head represent ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lighthouses In South Africa
A lighthouse is a tower, building, or other type of physical structure designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lenses and to serve as a beacon for navigational aid for maritime pilots at sea or on inland waterways. Lighthouses mark dangerous coastlines, hazardous shoals, reefs, rocks, and safe entries to harbors; they also assist in aerial navigation. Once widely used, the number of operational lighthouses has declined due to the expense of maintenance and the advent of much cheaper, more sophisticated, and more effective electronic navigational systems. History Ancient lighthouses Before the development of clearly defined ports, mariners were guided by fires built on hilltops. Since elevating the fire would improve visibility, placing the fire on a platform became a practice that led to the development of the lighthouse. In antiquity, the lighthouse functioned more as an entrance marker to ports than as a warning signal for reefs and promontories, unlike many moder ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
List Of Lighthouses In South Africa
This is a list of lighthouses in South Africa. It contains currently active lights as well as decommissioned lights of historical importance. Lighthouses See also *List of lighthouses in Namibia (to the north-west) *List of lighthouses in Mozambique (to the north-east) *List of lighthouses and lightvessels *Transnet National Ports Authority *List of shipwrecks in South Africa Gallery File:Mouille Point Lighthouse.jpg, Mouille Point Lighthouse, Cape Town File:Seal Point Lighthouse-002.jpg, Seal Point Lighthouse File:Greenpoint Lighthouse close-up.jpg, Green Point Lighthouse, Cape Town File:Milnerton Lighthouse, Western Cape, South Africa.jpg, The lighthouse at Milnerton, Cape Town. It is situated on Woodbridge Island References * * * External links *Baillie-Cooper, Simon (2006-07-23Lighthouses of South Africa [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Provincial Heritage Site (South Africa)
Provincial heritage sites in South Africa are places that are of historic or cultural importance within the context of the province concerned and which are for this reason declared in terms of Section 28 of the National Heritage Resources Act (NHRA) or legislation of the applicable province. The designation was a new one that came into effect with the introduction of the Act on 1 April 2000 when all former national monuments declared by the former National Monuments Council and its predecessors became provincial heritage sites as provided for in Section 58 of the Act. Both provincial and national heritage sites are protected under the terms of Section 27 of the NHRA or legislation of the relevant province and a permit is required to work on them. Provincial heritage sites are declared and administered by the relevant provincial heritage resources authority whilst national heritage sites are the responsibility of SAHRA. KwaZulu-Natal is the only province to have its own heritag ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lord Charles Somerset
Lord Charles Henry Somerset PC (12 December 1767 – 18 February 1831), born in Badminton Badminton is a racquet sport played using racket (sports equipment), racquets to hit a shuttlecock across a net (device), net. Although it may be played with larger teams, the most common forms of the game are "singles" (with one player per s ..., England, was a British soldier, politician and colonial administrator.Charles Mosley, editor. Burke's Peerage and Baronetage, 106th edition, 2 volumes (Crans, Switzerland: Burke's Peerage (Genealogical Books) Ltd, 1999), volume 1, page 221 – 223. He was governor of the British Cape Colony, Cape Colony, South Africa, from 1814 to 1826. Early life Somerset was the second son of Henry Somerset, 5th Duke of Beaufort, and Elizabeth, daughter of Admiral the Hon. Edward Boscawen. He was the brother of Henry Somerset, 6th Duke of Beaufort, General Lord Robert Somerset, Lord Arthur Somerset (1780–1816), Lord Arthur Somerset and Field M ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mayor Of Cape Town
The mayor of Cape Town is the head of the local government of Cape Town, South Africa; currently that government takes the form of the City of Cape Town Metropolitan municipality (South Africa), Metropolitan Municipality. The mayoral position was established on 7 December 2000. In the past, the position of mayor has varied between that of an executive mayor actively governing the city and that of a figurehead mayor with a mostly ceremonial role. The current mayor is Geordin Hill-Lewis of the Democratic Alliance (South Africa), Democratic Alliance (DA). Current office This is a list of mayors of Cape Town in South Africa: City of Cape Town (December 2000–present) Historic offices Metropolitan Local Councils (June 1996–December 2000) Cape Metropolitan Council (CMC) * Attie Adriaanse (2000) (New National Party (South Africa), NNP) * Rev William Bantom (1996 - 2000) (New National Party (South Africa), NNP) City of Cape Town Municipality (Central Substructure) * Nomain ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Foghorn
A foghorn or fog signal is a device that uses sound to warn vehicles of navigational hazards such as rocky coastlines, or boats of the presence of other vessels, in foggy conditions. The term is most often used in relation to marine transport. When visual navigation aids such as lighthouses are obscured, foghorns provide an audible warning of rock outcrops, shoals, headlands, or other dangers to shipping. Description All foghorns use a vibrating column of air to create an audible tone, but the method of setting up this vibration differs. Some horns, such as the Daboll trumpet, used vibrating plates or metal reed (music), reeds, a similar principle to a modern electric Vehicle horn, car horn. Others used air forced through holes in a rotating cylinder or disk, in the same manner as a siren (alarm), siren. Semi-automatic operation of foghorns was achieved by using a clockwork mechanism (or "coder") to sequentially open the valves admitting air to the horns; each horn was given its ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dioptric
Dioptrics is the branch of optics dealing with refraction, especially by lenses. In contrast, the branch dealing with mirrors is known as ''catoptrics''. Telescopes that create their image with an objective that is a convex lens ( refractors) are said to be "dioptric" telescopes. An early study of dioptrics was conducted by Ptolemy in relationship to the human eye as well as refraction in media such as water. The understanding of the principles of dioptrics was further expanded by Alhazen, considered the father of modern optics. See also * Diopter/Dioptre (unit of measurement) * Dioptrice (work by Johannes Kepler) * Catoptrics (study of and optical systems utilizing reflection) * Catadioptrics (study of and optical systems utilizing reflection and refraction) * Optical telescope * List of telescope types The following are lists of devices categorized as types of telescopes or devices associated with telescopes. They are broken into major classifications with many variations ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Argand Lamp
The Argand lamp is a type of oil lamp invented in 1780 by Aimé Argand. Its output is 6 to 10 candelas, brighter than that of earlier lamps. Its more complete combustion of the candle wick and oil than in other lamps required much less frequent trimming of the wick. In France, the lamp is called "Quinquet", after Antoine-Arnoult Quinquet, a pharmacist in Paris, who used the idea originated by Argand and popularized it in France. Quinquet sometimes is credited with the addition of the glass chimney to the lamp. Design The Argand lamp had a sleeve-shaped wick mounted so that air can pass both through the center of the wick and also around the outside of the wick before being drawn into a cylindrical chimney which steadies the flame and improves the flow of air. Early models used ground glass which was sometimes tinted around the wick. An Argand lamp used whale oil, seal oil, colza, olive oil or other vegetable oil as fuel which was supplied by a gravity feed from a reservoir ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Ocean; to the north by the neighbouring countries of Namibia, Botswana, and Zimbabwe; to the east and northeast by Mozambique and Eswatini; and it encloses Lesotho. Covering an area of , the country has Demographics of South Africa, a population of over 64 million people. Pretoria is the administrative capital, while Cape Town, as the seat of Parliament of South Africa, Parliament, is the legislative capital, and Bloemfontein is regarded as the judicial capital. The largest, most populous city is Johannesburg, followed by Cape Town and Durban. Cradle of Humankind, Archaeological findings suggest that various hominid species existed in South Africa about 2.5 million years ago, and modern humans inhabited the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pounds Sterling
Sterling (Currency symbol, symbol: Pound sign, £; ISO 4217, currency code: GBP) is the currency of the United Kingdom and nine of its associated territories. The pound is the main unit of account, unit of sterling, and the word ''Pound (currency), pound'' is also used to refer to the British currency generally, often qualified in international contexts as the British pound or the pound sterling. Sterling is the world's oldest currency in continuous use since its inception. In 2022, it was the fourth-most-traded currency in the foreign exchange market, after the United States dollar, the euro, and the Japanese yen. Together with those three currencies and the renminbi, it forms the basket of currencies that special drawing rights#Value definition, calculate the value of IMF special drawing rights. As of late 2022, sterling is also the fourth most-held reserve currency in Foreign exchange reserves, global reserves. The Bank of England is the central bank for sterling, issui ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
