Facts city Fun Facts and Trivia

 Whooping crane Distribution map of the whooping crane. blue: breeding, orange: wintering, green: year-round, grey: experimental year-round COMMON NAME:   Whooping cranes SCIENTIFIC NAME:  Grus americana TYPE:  Birds DIET:  Omnivore AVERAGE LIFE SPAN IN THE WILD:  22 to 24 years SIZE:  Body:  4.9 feet  wingspan:  7.5 feet WEIGHT:  13.3 to 17.2 pounds SIZE RELATIVE TO A 6-FT MAN: Scientific classification Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Aves Order: Gruiformes Family: Gruidae Genus: Grus Species: G. americana whooping crane, (Grus americana), tallest American bird and one of the world’s rarest. At the beginning of the 21st century fewer than 300 whooping cranes remained in the wild. Most are part of a flock that migrates between Texas and Canada. Almost all the rest are part of a mainly nonmigrating Florida population. These majestic white birds are the tallest in North America. They live in family groups and frequent m...

 Mount Fuji Location of Mount Fuji Location Fuji-Hakone-Izu National Park Country Japan Prefectures Shizuoka and Yamanashi Shikuchōson Fuji, Fujinomiya, Fujiyoshida, Gotemba, Narusawa and Oyama Topo map Geospatial Information Authority 25000:1 富士山 50000:1 富士山 Geology Age of rock 100,000 years Mountain type Stratovolcano Last eruption 1707–08 Climbing First ascent 663 by En no Odzunu (役行者, En no gyoja, En no Odzuno) Easiest route Hiking Highest point Elevation 3,776.25 to 3,778.23 m (12,389.3 to 12,395.8 ft)  Prominence 3,776 m (12,388 ft) Ranked 35th Isolation 2,077 km (1,291 mi)  Listing Highest peak in Japan Ultra-prominent peaks List of mountains in Japan 100 Famous Japanese Mountains List of volcanoes by elevation Coordinates 35°21′38″N 138°43′39″E Mount Fuji, Japanese Fuji-san, also spelled Fujisan, also called Fujiyama or Fuji no Yama, highest mountain in Japan. It rises to 12,388 feet (3,776 metres) near the Pacific Ocean coast in Yamanashi and Shizuoka ken (prefec...

 Varangian Guard The mercenary Varangian Guard was an elite Byzantine army corps and the personal bodyguard of emperors beginning with Basil II in c. 988 CE. The Viking unit was famous for the stature of its members and their blood-thirsty conduct in battle, where they used their fearsome double-bladed battle-axes to devastating effect. Celebrated recruits include Harald Hardrada, who went on to become the king of Norway, and the Icelandic hero Bolli Bollason. Later, after the 1066 CE Battle of Hastings in England, especially, they became a largely Anglo-Saxon unit. By the beginning of the 14th century CE they had outlasted their usefulness but, for a few centuries at least, the Varangians were probably as shocking a sight to Byzantine enemies as tanks would have been to WWI infantry. Basil II Basil II reigned as emperor from 976 to 1025 CE, and despite a hugely successful military career which saw the Byzantine empire almost double its territories, he got off to the worst possible...

 Hamster A Winter white dwarf hamster Scientific classification Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Mammalia Order: Rodentia Family: Cricetidae Subfamily: Cricetinae hamster, (subfamily Cricetinae), any of 18 Eurasian species of rodents possessing internal cheek pouches. The golden hamster (Mesocricetus auratus) of Syria is commonly kept as a pet. Hamsters are stout-bodied, with a tail much shorter than their body length, and have small furry ears, short stocky legs, and wide feet. Their thick long fur ranges from grayish to reddish brown, depending upon the species; underparts range from white to shades of gray and black. The Dzhungarian hamster (Phodopus sungorus) and the striped dwarf hamster (Cricetulus barabensis) have a dark stripe down the middle of the back. Dwarf desert hamsters (genus Phodopus) are the smallest, with a body 5 to 10 cm (about 2 to 4 inches) long. The largest is the common hamster (Cricetus cricetus), measuring up to 34 cm long, not including a short ...

 Big Ben  Information Type Clock tower Architectural style Gothic Revival Location Westminster, London, England Coordinates 51.5007°N 0.1245°W Completed 31 May 1859; 162 years ago Height 316 feet (96 m) Floor count 11 Big Ben, tower clock, famous for its accuracy and for its massive bell. Strictly speaking, the name refers to only the great hour bell, which weighs 15.1 tons (13.7 metric tons), but it is commonly associated with the whole clock tower at the northern end of the Houses of Parliament, in the London borough of Westminster. The tower itself was formally known as St. Stephen’s Tower until 2012, when it was renamed Elizabeth Tower on the occasion of Elizabeth II’s Diamond Jubilee, celebrating 60 years on the British throne. The hands of the clock are 9 and 14 feet (2.7 and 4.3 metres) long, respectively, and the clock tower rises about 320 feet (97.5 metres). Originally in coordination with the Royal Greenwich Observatory, the chimes of Big Ben have been broadcast—wit...

 Golden Gate Bridge Coordinates 37°49′11″N 122°28′43″W Carries 6 lanes of US 101 / SR 1 Bicycle route: USBR 95 Eastern walkway: pedestrians or bicycles during selected hours Western walkway: bicycles (only when pedestrians are allowed on the eastern sidewalk) Crosses Golden Gate Locale San Francisco, California and Marin County, California, U.S. Official name Golden Gate Bridge Maintained by Golden Gate Bridge, Highway and Transportation District Characteristics Design Suspension, Art Deco, truss arch & truss causeways Material Steel Total length 8,980 ft (2,737.1 m), about 1.7 mi (2.7 km) Width 90 ft (27.4 m) Height 746 ft (227.4 m) Longest span 4,200 ft (1,280.2 m), about 0.79 miles (1.28 km) Clearance above 14 ft (4.3 m) at toll gates, trucks cannot pass Clearance below 220 ft (67.1 m) at high tide History Architect Irving Morrow Engineering design by Joseph Strauss, Charles Ellis, Leon Solomon Moisseiff Construction start January 5, 1933 Construction end April 19, 1937 Op...

 Notre-Dame de Paris Location Parvis Notre-Dame – Place Jean-Paul-II, Paris Denomination Roman Catholic Tradition Roman Rite Status Closed/Under renovation after the 2019 fire Architecture Style French Gothic Years built 1163–1345 Groundbreaking 1163 Completed 1345 Specifications Length 128 m (420 ft) Width 48 m (157 ft) Nave height 35 metres (115 ft) Number of towers 2 Tower height 69 m (226 ft) Number of spires 1 Spire height 91.44 m (300.0 ft) (formerly) Bells 10 Notre-Dame de Paris, also called Notre-Dame Cathedral, cathedral church in Paris. It is the most famous of the Gothic cathedrals of the Middle Ages and is distinguished for its size, antiquity, and architectural interest. Notre-Dame lies at the eastern end of the Île de la Cité and was built on the ruins of two earlier churches, which were themselves predated by a Gallo-Roman temple dedicated to Jupiter. The cathedral was initiated by Maurice de Sully, bishop of Paris, who about 1160 conceived the idea of converting int...