Florence Museums At A Glance

Florence museums are avowed around the world to house some of the world ' s greatest masterpieces by the masters of each era of the art world. Trends in illustration and sculpture have set the pace for others and made times in history eternal. The art work of Florence tells the tales of the Birth of Christ, His crucifixion and resurrection. It tells of fashion trends and how the world viewed class. Each element of the world ' s history has been captured in the art get going in the museums and galleries of Florence.

The Uffizi Gallery

Feasibly one of the most well proclaimed galleries in Florence the Uffizi is home to the Botticelli ' s Birth of Venus. The list of artists reads like a who ' s who of the greatest and includes Da Vinci, Rembrandt, and Rubens.

The Accademia

At the Accademia you will find the world famous David by Michelangelo. It also home to a large collection of Renaissance paintings, but is better know for the sculptures of Michelangelo including the Palerstria Pieta.

The Baptistery

The Baptistery is so old its date is not really known, but it is understood to be one of the oldest monuments in Florence. The exterior faade houses three arches that are adorned with sculptures and marble decorations. The doors are pieces of art in and of themselves. They are gilded in bronze and date back to the 14th and 15th century. Panels from the original dome have been removed and restored and are now housed at the Museum of the Opera del Duomo.

Gallery of Modern Art

Florence is so well known for its Renaissance era works that many people overlook the fact that the Gallery of Modern Art houses 18th, 19th and 20th century works that are modern by comparison in a city so old. The museum is located on the second floor of the Pitti Place. Here you find familiar works by Cezanne, Gauguin, and Grassi and others who adopted the style and techniques of French artists. Equestrians will particularly enjoy the works of sculptor Marino Marini.

The Horne Museum

Named after the English art collector Herbert P. Horne, this museum blends art with a history of life during the Italian Renaissance. The furnishings and accessories along with the architecture itself are a reflection of this rich era. Artwork ranges from the 14th to 17th centuries and includes pieces from Cafaggiolo, Urbino, and Orvieto.

The Silver Museum

This museum houses an interesting collection of objects from the various dynasties ranging from the Medici through the Lorraine. There is great diversity in the pieces of jewellery, gems, semi - precious tones and various art objects. These are all from eras in time when a rich life and extravagance were the norm. One of the most valuable pieces housed here is a collection of vases by Lorenzo the Magnificent.

This small sprinkling of museums only touches the surface of possible historical sites in Florence. Florence is home to more than 50 museums, galleries, or architectural wonders that make this city a place one could visit for weeks and still not take it all in.

For The Love Of Pizza An Overview

Why do American ' s love pizza? It must be the cheese, dressing, and toppings all mixed cool and the amazing tempting collision. It can be made with segment toppings and crust styles you like and can be made to scheme detail way you hankering it.

Pizza goes way back in world history and has been get going in various shapes and sizes with many different toppings throughout time. What we think of pizza now, has ties to Naples, Italy during the Middle Ages. Though no one really knows where the name came from, but it seems to come from the Italian word " pizziare, " which means to pinch or pluck.

Toppings throughout the history of pizza have included various items from dates, herbs, and honey to artichokes and goat cheese. Tomatoes were introduced in the 1500s when the explorers brought them back from South America. The wealthy, however, thought the fruit to be poison, so they refused to use it for many years, so it was only served in the poorer sections of the city on dough rounds. News carried quickly and pizzerias started doing a great business among all classes.

As Italians emigrated to the United States, the pizza came with them and became quite popular in the larger cities. As the country moved west, the pizza changed somewhat from large round thin crusts of New York to the thick deep dish style that is served in Chicago.

There are many ingredients that go into a pizza. These include many different types of grains ground into flour and yeast to allow for the dough to rise. A basic pizza also has mozzarella cheese, and some type of pizza sauce usually flavored with several different herbs such as oregano, garlic, and basil. Then, it is topped with various toppings such as meats and vegetables. Then you put the pizza into the oven to bake until the dough is golden and the cheese bubbles. You can then cut it and serve. Whether you cut it into squares or if you cut it into triangles depends on where you live.

Since the pizza has been around almost as long as people, it has no designs in going anywhere in the near future. Its future can be found in the large cities throughout the country and is served with specialty ingredients such as artichokes, goat cheese, and sometimes escargot and caviar.

Even with the recent health consciousness of people, the cheesy delicious saucy goodness can be enjoyed occasionally and remains a favorite at malls and restaurants nationwide.

Evolution of Edwardian Fashion

Calm though Edwardian fashion for women was massive and restrictive, there can be no suspect that Edwardian women ' s attire spawned some of the most elegant fashion in the history of female clothes. However, in the advent of women ' s rights and the plights of the meager, it begs the problem as to whether or not one should see Edwardian fashion for its class and grandeur while seeing women ' s fashion of this expression as a turkey shoot veneer of class while remembering the fact that women ' s fashion of this interval was very annoying and were set according to mainly standards and ideals. The fashion of the period can be traced to the luxury of European society which had been made possible by the enslavement and subjugation of people around the world through colonialism and imperialism. The term Edwardian itself is very Ethnocentric, essentially labeling a time in world history according to the name of one King in England. There is no guilt in adoring such female beauty, but one must remember the context of the period and remember that life was not so glamorous for minorities, immigrants and the poor.

The grand extravagance came to an end at the beginning of World War One and the issue of the poor became a hot topic throughout European, intellectual circles. Because of the war effort and the highlight on those suffering in society, many elites chose not to flaunt such grand fashions in public and hence the grand fashions of old suddenly became unacceptable. From the 1920s onward, dress and fashion had become more subdued and tame. The 1920s also witnessed the women ' s movement for voting rights and more women were entering the workforce; therefore, the demand for practical and simplistic fashion grew popular because many women saw the fashions of their mothers and grandmothers as a repressive tool that was not practical for women and were tailored according to men ' s desires. A good example is the corset which was meant to exude the popular hourglass figure, a mostly male standard.

Grand fashion created a dream - life that many middle class women of the Victorian and Edwardian era had hoped to achieve. In today ' s society, it is easy for people in a post - modern world to sit back and gaze in awe of Edwardian fashion and there is nothing wrong with being attracted to such beauty. In a wider context, however, women who sported such royal fashions were very lucky given how tough life was for not only women of poorer classes, but people of different ethnicity around the world.

Famous Diamonds

Around the world there are many diamonds that have been talked about or written about in changeable stories and accredited documents. Famous diamonds are part of our world ' s history, and have been fix in varied parts of the world, by all types of individuals. From royalty to the gods, famous diamonds are ofttimes as well avowed as the mortals who owned them.

For centuries diamonds, famous diamonds or contradistinctive, were used in the armor of warriors and the crowns of our kings and queens as a symbol of fearlessness.

The Peak of Unobscured

One of the few oval shaped famous diamonds, the mountain of well-lighted was first mentioned in the year 1304. It weighed an astounding 186 carats, and it is said that the diamond was set in the peacock throne of Shah Jehan as an eye of one of the peacock ' s.

During Queen Victoria ' s reign, the famous diamonds shape was altered a bit and it was recut to weigh 108. 93 carats. The diamond is currently one of the British Crown Jewels.

The Orloff

When the Orloff diamond was found, it was said that it weighed around 300 carats. This gemstone of the famous diamonds is held at the Diamond Treasury of the former Soviet Union located in Moscow.

A story about the Orloff claims that the diamond was actually placed in the eye of a god, in the temple of Sri Rangen, which is how it became known as one of the world ' s famous diamonds.

The Regent

Before this incredibly large diamond of the famous diamonds was cut it weighed 410 carats! Originally called The Pitt, after the English Prime Minister, William Pitt, it was cut into a rounded shape and consisted of more than 140 carats.

In 1717, the diamond was sold to the Duke of Orleans, Regent of France. It was then that the diamond was renamed The Regent. When Louis XV had his coronation, the stone was set into his crown.

When the French Revolution ended, The Regent was owned by Napoleon Bonaparte, and was placed into the hilt of Bonaparte ' s sword.

Currently, the diamond is on display for all to enjoy in the Louvre.

The Blue Hope

The most well known of all famous diamonds, the Blue Hope is currently in the Smithsonian Institution located in the state of Washington. It was owned by Louis XIV, and at the time was called the blue diamond of the crown.

Sometime during the French Revolution, the Blue Hope diamond was stolen. It was later found in London in the year 1830, where it was later purchased by Henry Philip Hope. The blue hope diamond received it ' s name from this individual, as well as it ' s reputation for causing bad luck to those who owned it. While Henry Philip Hope owned the precious blue diamond, each of his family members died in extreme poverty.

Continuing with the bad luck, a later owner of the Blue Hope, Mr. Edward McLean also lost many family members to poverty while he possessed the diamond.

Eternal Bliss Explained

The quest for light-heartedness is a universal impulse. Indeed, at the root of all human actions is the search for playfulness. The workaholic toils midnight and day to amass familiarity whose foundation is the search for well-being. Monks, nuns and ascetics renounce worldly endeavors since of this all-over pursuit of exuberance. A beloved seeks this good cheer from their girlfriend. Prone unbefitting something as regrettable as addiction, the search for rejoicing is the driving tension. In materiality, do tribe attain this holy grail of exhilaration?

What we see is that in substantiality persons nurse to empiricism divided forms of delight that oscillate between differing poles. At one moment, people may strife delight, particular to exposure sorrow in the next moment. Extrinsic objects and other dualistic substance are eventually begin to be empty, and are heuristic to contribute to an surpassingly - expanding appetite that is perpetually unquenchable and that disrupts inner calm. The denouement is that mortals much outlive unsatisfied with their lives due to they have not figured out how to find true happiness. This dissatisfaction creates inner turmoil and anguish. The truth is that the happiness that people are searching for is a happiness that is infinite and eternal. Since this ultimate happiness does not have an opposite such as sorrow, into which it can sink, I will instead refer to it as bliss. This unbounded bliss is not only the purpose of all existence, but it is also the ground of all existence.

The beauty of this bliss is that is attainable by anyone. Moreover, once it has been attained, it can never be lost. Its attainment is the summit of all existence that erases all sorrows and fears. World history has witnessed sages from different cultures who have realized this ultimate bliss and who have spoken of this immortal joy to all of humanity. In portions of the various scriptures of the world, people can get glimpses of this infinite bliss. In the western world, Plotinus - the Neo - Platonic philosopher spoke about this bliss in his writings. Throughout history, there have been courageous individuals who have spent their lives seeking to find the means to attain this eternal bliss. By relentlessly inquiring into the nature of ultimate reality through all levels of consciousness, these courageous beings pierced through the veil of darkness that casts a shadow of ignorance on mankinds material existence. In this way, these sages discovered the supernal splendor of the ultimate bliss of all existence.

From age to age, compassionate beings have been aware of this bliss. Out of profound love for humanity, they have sought to explain the nature of this bliss and the methods by which this bliss can be attained. Those sages who have realized eternal bliss are liberated beings. They have attained liberation from sorrow, fear and all forms of divided existence. They are aware of their immortality and are not afraid of death. While living in the world, they experience infinite bliss and live playful and joyful lives. The most distinctive characteristic of the sages who have attained ultimate bliss is that they are profoundly compassionate. They treat all beings with kindness, dignity and love. The liberated beings mode of awareness is cosmic consciousness in which they experience a sense of oneness with the entire universe. It is this cosmic consciousness that must be attained in order to realize infinite bliss.

One of the most well - known liberated beings is Gautama Buddha who is famous for his compassion for the suffering of all beings. Around two thousand years ago, Jesus Christ brought a message of hope and redemption to all struggling souls. Living from a center of cosmic consciousness, Jesus led a life of compassion, love and wholeness. In India, there was a very kind woman named Sri Anandamayi Ma who lived a life that was characterized by a profound love for humanity. She was a liberated being who lived with universal consciousness. The central message that these three benevolent sages emphasized was that to find true bliss, humanity must turn their consciousness inwards and thus return to their eternal nature. By cultivating love and compassion, mankind can erase the ignorance that prevents him from finding joy.

The inner teaching of all the liberated beings shows the path by which eternal liberation can be attained. When mankind has freed his being from the disease known as the ego, he awakens to the eternal kingdom of cosmic consciousness and becomes aware of the immortality of the soul. With the delusion of ego having been erased, man thus attains eternal bliss.

Dwight Eisenhower ' s World War II Leather Jacket A War Relic Of Historical Significance

Dwight Eisenhower is generally referred to tidily as the 34th Honcho of the United States, but historically language he was indeed the key military strategist in successfully leading and managing the Allied Forces to victory in World War II, especially for carrying out the Allied assault on the coast of Normandy, one era following the D - Day invasion in June of 1944. Although many leaders played crucial roles in the ultimate outcome of the war, some would say that unredeemed Ike, victory would not have come as soon as it did, if at all.

During World War II General Dwight D. Eisenhower sometimes wore a leather jacket ( similar to, but not identical to, a bomber jacket or flight jacket ) while living at Telegraph Cottage, 15 miles south of London. This house was the location of his headquarters during World War II while in command of the Allied forces. This rare, historic, World War II relic has been located and acquired by a private collector in the U. S.

Made of genuine leather, the jacket has four bullion stars sown onto the shoulder, which mark the General ' s rank at the time. While he was a Four - Star General for 17 months during the War, for the final 7 months he was a Five - Star General. At that time the leather jacket went into the hands of the General ' s valet, Sgt. John Moaney. There is no evidence, either as of this writing or the Sargent ' s recollection, that it was ever replaced with a Five - Star Leather Jacket for the final 7 months of the War.

Later it was learned that this very leather jacket was presented, nearly 30 years ago, to a private collector. Impeccable provenance, in the form of a detailed letter written on white house stationary, attesting to all historic details many years ago. Specifically, this leather jacket came from Sgt. Moaney and his wife Delores, who was also the Eisenhower ' s personal cook. In fact, the Eisenhower ' s were so fond of this couple that following the 8 years they spent together in The White House the Moaney ' s were invited to move to Gettysburg farm, and live near the retirement home of the Eisenhower ' s. This move came to fruition following the inauguration of John F. Kennedy on January 20, 1961.

Upon his death in 1969, Ike also bequeathed to Sgt. Moaney his handsome 18 - karat Yellow Gold Datejust ( a rare make by the most famous watch manufacturer in the world today ), as well as a cash gift; an additional token of the President ' s affection. From 1942 until the President ' s death in 1969, he was with Ike almost daily. Years before the President ' s death, Eisenhower authored a book entitled At Ease, in which he thoughtfully described John as indispensable to him during his lifetime.

Explore The Wondrous World We Live In With An Accurate And Updated Globe

It quite is a awe-inspiring world we live in, completely literally there is no limit to where you are able to dare with just a ting piece of imagination in addition to a bit of funds, of course. Project: no matter where your importance may tale, whether or not you delight in the animated quality of a big urban jungle, or elevate to be back to back with nature, you will always find that place that that must be empitic and discover.

But if you concentrate not to deal to distant empire, you ' ll find a prosperity of exploration that can be done within the walls of your own home. Capitalizing of current technological advancements in addition to traditional aids, you can uncover numerous of the world ' s mysteries that until now were formerly unknown to you. A globe is one device that does just that, not to mention the introduction of recent technological advancement for example the Internet, those are incredibly useful tools to broaden one ' s knowledge about other lands and the general world we inhabit. It is of no wonder then that globes continue to be an important education aid in the class, and also are a common object in a lot of families.

Of course, there is the need of making sure that the globe you own is as correct as well as current as possible. Keep in mind that just like the Planet itself, the socio - political world is a dynamic entity that endlessly changes to the misfortunes or even advances of humanity not to mention the governments that they control. Complete nations continue to be absorbed by dominating states even as we speak, and conflicts, political maneuverings, or maybe government legislation all effect in modifications in the names, boundaries and no doubt the positioning of particular places. This results in the necessity to possess a present and precise globe is incredibly crucial.

Consider the example of the Former soviet union. It is fair to say that, the Communist russia. has largely been broken up into a number of smaller states, each with its distinct borders and leaders. While this event occurred some years ago, there are still several globes in existence which do not account for these changes. For students learning world history or even geography, dependent on these globes, which happen to be detailed with inaccurate and outdated information puts them at a strict disadvantage. Adults too will require an accurate and contemporary globe to depend on, although current information are available around, nothing is more accessible for rapid review than an correct globe.

If you are looking for globes which are as regularly updated as viable, you ought to think about exploring Replogle as well as some other reputable globe manufacturers. Numerous organizations have been in the trade of providing concise and current globes for many years, and their accurateness not to mention awareness of detail has ensured them as standard issue in thousands of classrooms across the Nation. Using a continuously updated database that is modified, supplied new information, as well as improved almost at the same time any major political or geographic event occurs, a Replogle globe is one of the most well regarded in the business. Whichever sort of globe or producer you decide upon, a globe is sure to enlighten you with a unquestionable knowledge of the earth.

E - standards Of Gold

How much does one troy ounce of gold weight? And how does the bullion of this precious metal weighing one gram look like? Have plunged in your study? And did this for goose egg... The answer is untroublesome: conscientious several bytes. When in 1996 the designers of E - gold, legendary electronic payment system, have presented the world a new appearance of banknotes, a character of businessmen, whose business was related to financial flows have completely forgotten about currencies, testy - rates, Forex and inflationary expectations. E - gold payment system has offered an preference to modern capital, and this psyched out the world history of monetary systems ' development and funds flow.

Well forgotten past

Once in 1944 at UN currency and finance gang the world community has ducky the money system where function of world scratch was reserved for gold by the extent fanfare how it remote to be means of final settlements between the countries. In other words, the economists have agreed that extra money unit in the world should be backed with gold. But 1976 has finished an duration of the hard cash backed with gold, and has confessed unusual sketch rights in International Pecuniary Wherewithal ( IMF ) SDR as world coinage. So, SDR became an international accounting unit with US Dollar kept as the important currency.

And if at world economy level near system serviceable everybody, the genetic subconsciousness of each person periodically prompted him that the paper banknotes laying in his pouch and digital register on his adroit card should be in consummation backed with something important and material. As the aftermath in 1996 the founders of E - gold company Douglas Jackson and Barry Dony opened a new stage of a gold monetization history. The thought was extremely elementary - individuals will take it in electronic fund and will use them much more willingly if the treasure is provided with gold. The funds receipting on account of E - gold system converted in this metal by exiguity. But while diversifying its services, the payment system also provides an one's say to back money on the account by other precious metals, such as silver, platinum and a palladium.

The history of E - gold payment system development is only ten years old, however the company has already passed a way from conceptual idea of payment system to world service governed by American company Gold and Silver Reserve, Inc. Its one day turnover is more than 1500000 $. Such popularity is caused by the fact that in case of becoming an e - gold system user the any physical or legal person has an opportunity to perform effective financial operations and calculations, because after funds transfer a simple redistribution of the rights to precious metal occurs while its physical location does not change. According to Gold and Silver Reserve, Inc. the e - gold gold reserves are in Brink ' s Global Services, Transguard Security Services and MAT Securitas Express AG storehouses.

The proud status of e - gold user is also supported with company obligations to defend the client funds against judicial claims of the other parties. The present aspect is controlled by the USA legislation as legally e - gold is registered in the United States of America. Also the users are attracted to e - gold with the anonymity policy of system participants. In fact e - gold doesn ' t check the user ' s personal data.

It ' s interesting to note that system isn ' t tied to any currency and works with eternally liquid metals. This gives the opportunity to any inhabitant of our planet to open his account free of charge. This democratic approach attracts to e - Gold about 2500 accounts every day. By 2007 the total number of the registered users was more than two and a half million. About 600000 of them are functioning actively. By January 2006 in bank ' s depositary on the accounts servicing E - gold system the total weight of stored gold was about 3 tons. To be more exact 3 376 279 grams of gold with total cost approximately 61 million dollars. We would like to underline the word approximately as a key one. Why? The state of the world market of the precious metals can answer this question Unfortunately, Payment System of E - gold on its basis dynamics level is subject to influence of gold, silver, platinum or palladium cost on funds volume of e - gold user in his account.

Confidence crisis

Every year E - gold was firmly holding the pedestals of world financial Olympus and became a reliable and habitual tool in the hands of its users. But simple and functionally working system by means of which one can control the storage and movement of cash flow, begin drawing the interest of swindlers and the persons that want to finance and to remain a mystery as well as hackers and fishers.

The last ones have selected the tools of computer users ' password cracking as their field of activity with a view of the further stealing of funds from the users ' accounts. E - gold. com website also is being attacked more often by large - scaled Ddos - attacks that cause failure of the whole system and the interruption of its work with the users. So on the night of October, 19, 2005 due to the Ddos attack the service of e - gold stopped its functioning up to the second half of the next day. And on the 2nd of March this year the specialists of Kasperskiy laboratory were revealed importunate spam - message with the following wording in the body of the letter: " TOREFUSE FROM THE BULK MESSAGE CLICK HERE ". While one tries to refuse the damaging code is put into the user ' s computer. This code is stealing accounts ' numbers in E - gold and passwords for them. As a result everybody whose accounts ' numbers got into the malefactors ' hands owing to these bulk messages as a rule lost his funds on the accounts.

But the main victims that suffer from various operations and frauds with e - gold system are states, legal persons as well as the population which has got into financial pyramids, created on the basis of considered payment system.

Finally such reputation of e - gold began to come over the limits of users ' trust to system. As a result since the middle of December, 2005, the American government has appointed Gold and Silver Reserve, Inc. as an object of heightened interest as it was the contract operator and the initial dealer of e - gold system. Bank accounts of the organization have been frozen, and offices have undergone the search. All these events also were actively exaggerated in mass media that caused negative attitude and resonance of public.

It was crisis. It was exactly the critical moment when the company, having reached its development peak, comes across the enormous obstacles both on society and state part and on the part of business. But in such struggle the banner of a victory is usually proudly borne overhead by the one who have on his side the truth and the users ' preference, but not by the competitors and powerful state red tapes which have missed tax receipts.

And on January, 13, 2006 the USA district court has made a decision of cancellation of measures on freezing accounts of Gold & Silver Reserve, Inc, in view of absence of inculpatory evidence of system e - gold in law infringement acts. On the contrary Gold and Silver Reserve, Inc has insisted on bringing out of its case beyond the court to carry on the dialog with the state publicly and to expand a zone of the presence in the market of electronic payment systems.

As the result actually any claims of state, mass media or business to e - gold system are more often based on the users ' rights to remain confidential during performance of financial transactions. Though accusations of money - laundering or support of financial pyramids work are incriminated to e - gold system, but have no ground from the users point of view, as everyone has a right to dispose his own money, as he wants. And the matter of cleanliness of this money should be checked up by corresponding structures at their earnings stage, instead of placement stage.

But regardless all troubles, today, in 21 century, the e - gold international payment system grants the inhabitant of any country an opportunity to back his paper banknotes with a real precious metal and do it absolutely free - of - charge not leaving his house. Undoubtedly, this fact of e - gold leadership in the world industry of financial systems does not suit many and many ones, but the wisest Confuciy bequeathed to mankind - If somebody spits upon your back, you go ahead of him