The Forth Bridge is a cantilever railway bridge over the Firth of Forth in the east of Scotland, to the east of the Forth Road Bridge, and 14 kilometres (9 mi) west of central Edinburgh.
It is often called the Forth Rail Bridge or Forth Railway Bridge to distinguish it from the Forth Road Bridge.
It was opened on 4 March 1890. The bridge connects Scotland's capital city, Edinburgh, with Fife, leaving the Lothians at Dalmeny and arriving in Fife at North Queensferry; it acts as a major artery connecting the north-east and south-east of the country.
Described in the Collins Encyclopaedia of Scotland as "the one immediately and internationally recognised Scottish landmark", it may be nominated by the British government to be added to the UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Scotland.
The bridge and its associated railway infrastructure is owned by Network Rail Infrastructure Limited.
It is currently the longest cantilever bridge in the world for rail transport (the second longest cantilever bridge in the world after the Quebeck Bridge).
The Lockheed U-2, nicknamed "Dragon Lady", is a single-engine, very high-altitude reconnaissance aircraft operated by the United States Air Force and previously flown by the Central Intelligence Agency.
It provides day and night, very high-altitude (70,000 feet / 21,000 meters), all-weather surveillance.
The aircraft is also used for electronic sensor research and development, satellite calibration, and satellite data validation.
The U-2R, first flown in 1967, is significantly larger and more capable than the original aircraft.
A tactical reconnaissance version, the TR-1A, first flew in August 1981.
A distinguishing feature of these aircraft is the addition of a large instrumentation "superpod" under each wing.
Designed for standoff tactical reconnaissance in Europe, the TR-1A was structurally identical to the U-2R.
The 17th Reconnaissance Wing, Royal Air Force Station Alconbury, England used operational TR-1As from 1983 until 1991.
The last U-2 and TR-1 aircraft were delivered to the Air Force in October 1989.
In 1992 all TR-1s and U-2s (all U-2Rs) were designated U-2Rs.
The two-seat trainer variant of the TR-1, the TR-1B, was redesignated as the TU-2R.
After upgrading with the F-118-101 engine, the former U-2Rs were designated the U-2S Senior Year.
A puzzle box (also called a secret, or trick box) is a box that can only be opened through some obscure or complicated series of manipulations.
Some puzzle boxes may require only a simple squeeze in the right spot, whereas others may require the subtle movement of several small parts, to open the box.
Some puzzle boxes are comparable to burr puzzles.
The puzzle box originated in the Hakone region of Japan at the turn of the 19th century as the Himitsu-Bako, or Personal Secret Box.
If opened, a puzzle box usually contains a sort of good luck charm.
These boxes were made in various complexities, and consist of moves with a variety of twists to trick the person trying to open the box, but the real trick is finding the correct series of movements that can range from two to 300+ moves.
The Blue Grotto (Grotta Azzurra) is a noted sea cave on the coast of the island of Capri, Italy.
Sunlight, passing through an underwater cavity and shining through the seawater, creates a blue reflection that illuminates the cavern.
The Blue Grotto is one of several sea caves, worldwide, that is flooded with a brilliant blue or emerald light.
The quality and nature of the color in each cave is determined by the unique lighting conditions in that particular cave.
The Great Buddha of Kamakura is a monumental outdoor bronze statue of Amitābha Buddha located at the Kōtoku-in Temple in Kamakura, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan.
The bronze statue probably dates from 1252, in the Kamakura period, according to temple records.
It was preceded by a giant wooden Buddha, which was completed in 1243 "after five years of continuous labor", the funds having been raised by Lady Inadano-Tsubone and the Buddhist priest Joukou of Toutoumi.
That wooden statue was damaged by a storm in 1248, and the hall containing it was destroyed, so Joukou suggested making another statue of bronze, and the huge amount of money necessary for this and for a new hall was raised for the project.
The sculptors were Ono Goroemaon and Tanji Hisatomo.
At one time, the statue was gilded. There are still traces of gold leaf near the statue's ears.
The hall was destroyed by a storm in 1334, was rebuilt, and was damaged by yet another storm in 1369, and was rebuilt yet again.
It is unclear, however, whether the statue constructed in 1252 is the same statue as the present statue.
The building housing the statue was washed away in the tsunami of September 20th, 1498 during the Muromachi period.
The statue is approximately 13.35 meters tall and weighs approximately 93 tons. The statue is hollow, and visitors can view the interior.
*1 かたもちばり・カンチレバー。
*2 1964年にフォース鉄道橋と並んで、フォース道路橋"Forth Road Bridge"が開通した。
*3 カナダのケベック橋は1919年 完成、全長987m・支間長549m。フォース鉄道橋は全長こそ2530mだが支間長は521m。支間長の距離で橋の長さは比較される。
*4 U-2の初飛行は1955年。
*5 遠隔航空偵察 Airborne Stand-Off Reconnaissance [ASTOR]の一環に位置づけられる。
*6 手で扱うこととなっており、お尻でキュッとできるわけではない。
*7 それ以前の18世紀末には既に存在が確認されている。
*8 Personal Secret Box：英語圏でいう秘密箱のこと。日本製の寄せ木細工のものがコレクションの対象となっていたりする。
*9 grottoは ほら穴より小さめで、岩屋というイメージ。西洋庭園では避暑用に装飾された「グロット」が設けられた。
*10 高徳院の縁起書ではない。
*11 吾妻鏡の記述を元にした建長4年造立開始説と混同している。
*12 英語版Wikipediaでは「おの ごろえもん」とも読める表記になっているが、ここでは寺伝に従って訳し直しておきます。
*13 主として寺伝によった記述であるが、鋳物師についても諸説がある。
*14 台座を含む。像高は約11.3メートル。
*15 121トンとする資料も。
