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February 20

February 20

February 20 is the 51st day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. There are 314 days remaining, 315 in leap years.

Events

- 1472 - Orkney and Shetland are annexed to the crown of Scotland.
- 1547 - Edward VI of England is crowned King of England at Westminster Abbey.
- 1724 - The premiere of Giulio Cesare, an Italian opera by George Frideric Handel, takes place in London.
- 1725 - The first reported case of white men scalping Native Americans takes place in New Hampshire colony.
- 1792 - The Postal Service Act, establishing the United States Post Office Department, is signed by President George Washington.
- 1810 - Andreas Hofer, Tyrolean patriot and leader of rebellion against Napoleon's forces, was executed.
- 1816 - Gioachino Rossini's The Barber of Seville debuts at Teatro Argentina, with a fiasco.
- 1835 - Concepción, Chile is destroyed by an earthquake
- 1864 - Battle of Olustee
- 1872 - In New York City the Metropolitan Museum of Art opens.
- 1873 - The University of California opens its first medical school in San Francisco, California.
- 1901 - The legislature of Hawaii Territory convenes for the first time.
- 1913 - King O'Malley drives in the first survey peg to mark commencement of work on the construction of Canberra.
- 1921 - The film The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, starring Rudolph Valentino, premieres.
- 1931 - California gets the go-ahead by the U.S. Congress to build the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge.
- 1942 - Lieutenant Edward O'Hare becomes America's first World War II flying ace.
- 1943 - American movie studio executives agree to allow the Office of War Information to censor movies.
- 1943 - The Paricutín volcano begins to form in Paricutín, México.
- 1944 - World War II: "Big Week" begins with American bomber raids on Nazi aircraft manufacturing centers.
- 1944 - World War II: The United States takes Eniwetok Island.
- 1952 - Emmett L. Ashford becomes the first African-American umpire in organized baseball by being authorized to be a substitute umpire in the Southwestern International League.
- 1952 - The film The African Queen opens at the Capitol Theatre in New York City.
- 1959 - The Avro Arrow programme to design and manufacture supersonic jet fighters in Canada is cancelled by the Diefenbaker government amid much political debate.
- 1962 - Mercury program: While aboard Friendship 7, John Glenn orbits the earth three times in 4 hours, 55 minutes, becoming the first American to orbit the earth.
- 1965 - Ranger 8 crashes into the moon after a successful mission of photographing possible landing sites for the Apollo program astronauts.
- 1974 - Science fiction writer Philip K. Dick claims he began experiencing intense gnostic visions on this date.
- 1976 - The Southeast Asia Treaty Organization disbands.
- 1987 - Unabomber: In Salt Lake City, in the USA, a bomb explodes in a computer store.
- 1992 - Ross Perot announces his intention to run in the 1992 U.S. presidential election on CNN's Larry King Live.
- 1992 - The FA Premier League is formed and takes over as the professional league in England from season 1992–93.
- 1998 - The afternoon newspaper Nashville Banner publishes its final edition.
- 2001 - FBI agent Robert Hanssen is arrested and charged with spying for Russia for 15 years.
- 2002 - In Reqa Al-Gharbiya, Egypt, a fire on a train injures over 65 and kills at least 370.
- 2003 - In Rhode Island, in the USA, The Station nightclub fire kills about 100 and injures over 200.
- 2005 - Spain becomes the first country to vote in a referendum on ratification of the proposed Constitution of the European Union, passing it by a substantial margin, but on a low turnout.
- 2005 - Jeff Gordon wins his third Daytona 500.

Births

- 1631 - Thomas Osborne, 1st Duke of Leeds, English statesman (d. 1712)
- 1745 - Henry James Pye, English poet (d. 1813)
- 1751 - Johann Heinrich Voß, German poet (d. 1826)
- 1753 - Louis Alexandre Berthier, French marshal (d. 1815)
- 1757 - John 'Mad Jack' Fuller, English philanthropist (d. 1834)
- 1819 - Alfred Escher, Swiss politician, railroad entrepreneur (d. 1882)
- 1839 - Benjamin Waugh, American minister and founder of the NSPCC (d. 1908)
- 1844 - Ludwig Boltzmann, Austrian physicist (d. 1906)
- 1844 - Joshua Slocum, Canadian seaman and adventurer (d. 1909)
- 1848 - Edward Henry Harriman, American railroad executive (d. 1909)
- 1887 - Vincent Massey, Governor-General of Canada (d. 1967)
- 1888 - Georges Bernanos, French writer (d. 1948)
- 1893 - Russel Crouse, American playwright (d. 1966)
- 1901 - Muhammad Naguib, President of Egypt (d. 1984)
- 1902 - Ansel Adams, American photographer (d. 1984)
- 1904 - Alexei Kosygin, Premier of the Soviet Union (d. 1980)
- 1912 - Pierre Boulle, French author (d. 1994)
- 1914 - John Daly, South African-born broadcaster (d. 2001)
- 1923 - Forbes Burnham, President of Guyana (d. 1985)
- 1924 - Gloria Vanderbilt, American clothing designer and entrepreneur
- 1925 - Robert Altman, American film director
- 1925 - Heinz Kluncker, German labor union leader
- 1926 - Richard Matheson, American author
- 1927 - Roy Cohn, American lawyer, and anti-Communist (d. 1986)
- 1927 - Ibrahim Ferrer, Cuban musician (Buena Vista Social Club) (d. 2005)
- 1927 - Sidney Poitier, American actor
- 1931 - Amanda Blake, American actress (d. 1989)
- 1934 - Bobby Unser, American race car driver
- 1936 - Marj Dusay, American actress
- 1936 - Larry Hovis, American actor (d. 2003)
- 1937 - Robert Huber, German chemist, Nobel Prize laureate
- 1937 - Roger Penske, American race car driver
- 1937 - Nancy Wilson, American singer
- 1938 - Richard Beymer, American actor
- 1941 - Buffy Sainte-Marie, American singer
- 1942 - Phil Esposito, Canadian hockey player
- 1943 - Mike Leigh, British film director
- 1944 - Willem van Hanegem, Dutch footballer and coach
- 1945 - Brion James, American actor (d. 1999)
- 1946 - Brenda Blethyn, English actress
- 1946 - Sandy Duncan, American singer and actress
- 1947 - Peter Osgood, English footballer
- 1947 - Peter Strauss, American actor
- 1948 - Jennifer O'Neill, Brazilian-born actress
- 1949 - Ivana Trump, Czech skier, model and socialite
- 1950 - Ken Shimura, Japanese television performer and actor
- 1951 - Edward Albert, American actor
- 1951 - Gordon Brown, British politician
- 1951 - Randy California, guitarist (d. 1997)
- 1954 - Anthony Stewart Head, English actor
- 1954 - Patty Hearst, American socialite and kidnapping victim
- 1955 - Kelsey Grammer, American actor
- 1963 - Charles Barkley, American basketball player
- 1966 - Cindy Crawford, American model
- 1967 - Kurt Cobain, American musician (d. 1994)
- 1971 - Jari Litmanen, Finnish footballer
- 1975 - Brian Littrell, American musician (Backstreet Boys)
- 1976 - Ed Graham, British drummer (The Darkness)
- 1977 - Stephon Marbury, American basketball player
- 1978 - Julia Jentsch, German actress
- 1980 - Imanol Harinordoquy, French rugby player
- 1981 - Tony Hibbert, English footballer
- 1985 - Yulia Volkova, Russian musician (t.A.T.u.)

Deaths

- 702 - Chan Bahlum II, king of the Maya state of Palenque (b. 635)
- 1171 - Conan IV, Duke of Brittany (b. 1138)
- 1194 - King Tancred of Sicily
- 1258 - Al-Musta'sim, last Abbasid Caliph of Baghdad
- 1408 - Henry Percy, 1st Earl of Northumberland, English statesman (b. 1342)
- 1431 - Pope Martin V (b. 1368)
- 1513 - King Christian II of Denmark (b. 1455)
- 1579 - Nicholas Bacon, English politician (b. 1509)
- 1618 - Philip William, Prince of Orange (b. 1554)
- 1626 - John Dowland, English composer and lutenist (b. 1563)
- 1762 - Tobias Mayer, German astronomer (b. 1723)
- 1771 - Jean Jacques d'Ortous de Mairan, French geophysicist (b. 1678)
- 1773 - King Charles Emmanuel III of Sardinia (b. 1701)
- 1778 - Laura Bassi, Italian scholar (b. 1711)
- 1790 - Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor (b. 1741)
- 1803 - Marie Dumesnil, French actress (b. 1713)
- 1806 - Lachlan McIntosh, Scottish-born American military and political leader (b. 1725)
- 1810 - Andreas Hofer, Tyrolean national hero (executed) (b. 1767)
- 1871 - Paul Kane, Irish-born painter (b. 1810)
- 1893 - P.G.T. Beauregard, American Confederate general (b. 1818)
- 1895 - Frederick Douglass, American abolitionist writer
- 1907 - Henri Moissan, French chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1852)
- 1916 - Klas Pontus Arnoldson, Swedish writer and pacifist, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (b. 1844)
- 1920 - Robert Peary, American explorer (b. 1856)
- 1961 - Percy Grainger, Australian composer (b. 1882)
- 1966 - Chester Nimitz, American admiral (b. 1885)
- 1968 - Anthony Asquith, British film director and writer (b. 1902)
- 1969 - Ernest Ansermet, Swiss conductor (b. 1883)
- 1970 - Sophie Treadwell, American playwright and journalist (b. 1885)
- 1972 - Maria Goeppert-Mayer, German physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1906)
- 1972 - Walter Winchell, American journalist (b. 1897)
- 1975 - Robert Strauss, American politician and diplomat (b. 1918)
- 1976 - René Cassin, French judge, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (b. 1887)
- 1980 - J.B. Rhine, American parapsychologist (b. 1895)
- 1981 - Baron Nicolas de Gunzburg, magazine editor, socialite (b. 1904)
- 1985 - Clarence Nash, American voice actor (b. 1904)
- 1992 - Roberto D'Aubuisson, Salvadoran politician (b. 1944)
- 1992 - Dick York, American actor (b. 1928)
- 1993 - Ferruccio Lamborghini, Italian automobile manufacturer (b. 1916)
- 1996 - Solomon Asch, American psychologist (b. 1907)
- 1996 - Tōru Takemitsu, Japanese composer (b. 1930)
- 1999 - Sarah Kane, English playwright (b. 1971)
- 1999 - Gene Siskel, American film critic (b. 1946)
- 2000 - Anatoly Sobchak, Russian politician (b. 1937)
- 2001 - Rosemary DeCamp, American actress (b. 1910)
- 2003 - Maurice Blanchot, French author (b. 1907)
- 2003 - Orville Freeman, American politician (b. 1918)
- 2003 - Harry Jacunski, American football player
- 2003 - Ty Longley, American guitarist (Great White)
- 2005 - Sandra Dee, American actress (b. 1944)
- 2005 - John Raitt, American actor (b. 1917)
- 2005 - Hunter S. Thompson, American journalist and author (b. 1937)

External links

- [http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/february/20 BBC: On This Day]
- [http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/20050220.html The New York Times: On This Day] ---- February 19 - February 21 - January 20 - March 20 -- listing of all days ko:2월 20일 ms:20 Februari ja:2月20日 simple:February 20 th:20 กุมภาพันธ์

February 20

February 20 is the 51st day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. There are 314 days remaining, 315 in leap years.

Events

Births

Deaths

External links

1472

Events

- February 20 - The Orkneys and Shetlands are annexed to the crown of Scotland
- Possible discovery of Bacalao (possibly Newfoundland, North America) and João Vaz Corte-Real.
- Beginning of extensive slave trade in modern Cameroon, as the Portuguese sail up the Wuori River.
- Fernão do Po claims the central-African islands Bioko and Annobón for Portugal.
- Banca Monte Dei Paschi Di Siena, the world's oldest bank, is founded.

Births

- March 28 - Fra Bartolommeo, Italian artist (died 1517)
- April 5 - Bianca Maria Sforza, wife of Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor (died 1510)
- December 10 - Anne de Mowbray, 8th Countess of Norfolk (died 1481)
- Lucas Cranach the Elder, German painter (died 1553)
- Eskander, Emperor of Ethiopia (died 1494)
- Wang Yangming, Chinese neo-Confucian scholar (died 1529)

Deaths

- April 25 - Leone Battista Alberti, Italian artist, poet, and philosopher (born 1404)
- May 30 - Jacquetta of Luxembourg, daughter of Pierre de Luxembourg (born 1416)
- July 5 - Charles of Artois, Count of Eu, French military leader (b. 1394)
- Johannes Bessarion, titular patriarch of Constantinople
- Thomas Boyd, 1st Earl of Arran
- Hayne van Ghizeghem, Flemish composer
- Michelozzo, Italian architect and sculptor (born 1391)
- Nezahualcoyotl, Aztec poet
- Afanasiy Nikitin, Russian traveller
- Amadeus IX of Savoy (born 1435) Category:1472 ko:1472년

Orkney

The Orkney Islands are one of 32 unitary council regions in Scotland, and form a traditional county and Lieutenancy area, and the Orkney constituency of the Scottish Parliament. Orkney consists of about 70 small islands 16 km north of Caithness in northern Scotland. The largest island in the group is known as "The Mainland"; about 20 are inhabited in total. Orkney's administrative capital is Kirkwall on "The Mainland." Home to the St Magnus' Cathedral, it has about 7,000 inhabitants and a large port. The only other burgh is Stromness at the western end of "The Mainland", with a population of only about 2,000. The third largest settlement is St Margaret's Hope, on South Ronaldsay.

Islands

The largest island in Orkney is known as "The Mainland". Other islands can be classified as north or south of "The Mainland." The islands north of "The Mainland" are known collectively as The North Isles, those to the south as The South Isles. The remote Sule Skerry and Sule Stack lie around 60 km west of the archipelago, but form part of the council area.

The North Isles

The northern group of islands is the most extensive and consists of a large number of moderately sized islands, linked to "The Mainland" by ferries. Most of the islands described as "holms" are very small.
- Auskerry
- Calf of Eday
- Damsay
- Eday, Egilsay, Eynhallow
- Faray
- Gairsay
- Helliar Holm, Holm of Faray, Holm of Huip, Holm of Papay, Holm of Scockness
- Kili Holm
- Linga Holm
- Muckle Green Holm
- North Ronaldsay
- Papa Stronsay, Papa Westray
- Rousay, Rusk Holm
- Sanday, Shapinsay, Stronsay, Sweyn Holm
- Westray, Wyre Wyre

The South Isles

The southern group of islands surrounds Scapa Flow. Hoy is the highest of the Orkney Isles, while South Ronaldsay and Burray are linked to "The Mainland" by the Churchill Barriers. The Pentland Skerries lie further south, close to the Scottish mainland.
- Burray
- Calf of Flotta, Cava, Copinsay, Corn Holm
- Fara, Flotta
- Glims Holm, Graemsay
- Hoy, Hunda
- Lamb Holm
- Rysa Little
- South Ronaldsay, Switha, Swona

Geography

Swona The Pentland Firth is a seaway which separates Orkney from the mainland of Scotland. The firth is 11 km wide between Brough Ness on the island of South Ronaldsay and Duncansby Head in Caithness. Orkney lies between 58° 41' and 59° 24' North, and 2° 22' and 3° 26' West, measures 80 km from northeast to southwest and 47 km from east to west, and covers 973 km². Excepting on the west coasts of the larger islands, which present rugged cliff scenery remarkable both for beauty and for colouring, the group lies somewhat low and is of bleak aspect. The hilliest island is Hoy; the highest point in Orkney, Ward Hill, is to be found there. The only other islands containing heights of any importance are "The Mainland", with Ward Hill (268 m), and Wideford Hill and Rousay. Nearly all of the islands possess lochs (lakes), and The Loch of Harray and The Loch of Stenness on "The Mainland" attain noteworthy proportions. The rivers are merely streams draining the high land. Excepting on the west fronts of the Mainland, Hoy and Rousay, the coastline of the islands is deeply indented, and the islands themselves are divided from each other by straits generally called "sounds" or "firths", though off the north-east of Hoy the designation "Bring Deeps" is used, south of "The Mainland" is Scapa Flow and to the south-west of Eday is found the Fall of Warness. The very names of the islands indicate their nature: the terminal "a" or "ay" represents the Norse ey, meaning "island", which is scarcely disguised even in the words "Pomona" (an older alternative name for The Mainland) and "Hoy". The islets are usually styled "holms" and the isolated rocks "skerries". The tidal currents, or races, or "roost" (as some of them are called locally, from the Icelandic) off many of the isles run with enormous velocity, and whirlpools are of frequent occurrence, and strong enough at times to prove a source of danger to small craft. The charm of Orkney does not lie in their ordinary physical features, so much as in beautiful atmospheric effects, extraordinary examples of light and shade, and rich coloration of cliff and sea. The islands are notable for the lack of trees, which is partly accounted for by the amount of wind (although the climate in general is temperate). The formation of peat is evidence that this was not always the case, and deliberate deforestation is believed to have taken place at some stage prior to the Neolithic, the use of stone in settlements such as Skara Brae being evidence of the lack of availability of timber for building. Most of the land is still taken up by farms, and agriculture is by far the most important sector of the economy, with fishing also being a major occupation. Orkney exports beef, cheese, whisky, beer, fish and seafood.

Geology

All the islands of this group are built up entirely of Old Red Sandstone. As in the neighbouring mainland county of Caithness, these rocks rest upon the metamorphic rocks of the eastern schists, as may be seen on The Mainland, where a narrow strip is exposed between Stromness and Inganess, and again in the small island of Graemsay; they are represented by grey gneiss and granite. The upper division of the Old Red Sandstone is found only on Hoy, where it forms the Old Man of Hoy and neighbouring cliffs on the northwest coast. The Old Man of Hoy presents a characteristic section, for it exhibits a thick pile of massive, current-bedded red sandstones, resting, near the foot of the pinnacle, upon a thin bed of amygdaloidal porphyrite, which in its turn lies uncomfortably upon steeply inclined flagstones. This bed of volcanic rock may be followed northward in the cliffs, and it may be noticed that it thickens considerably in that direction. The Lower Old Red Sandstone is represented by well-bedded flagstones over most of the islands; in the south of The Mainland these are faulted against an overlying series of massive red sandstones, but a gradual passage from the flagstones to the sandstones may be followed from Westray southeastwards into Eday. A strong synclinal fold traverses Eday and Shapinsay, the axis being North and South. Near Haco's Ness in Shapinsay there is a small exposure of amygdaloidal diabase, which is (of course) older than that on Hoy. Many indications of ice action are found on these islands; striated surfaces are to be seen on the cliffs in Eday and Westray, in Kirkwall Bay and on Stennie Hill in Eday; boulder clay, with marine shells, and with many boulders of rocks foreign to the islands (chalk, oolitic limestone, flint, etc), which must have been brought up from the region of Moray Firth, rests upon the old strata in many places. Local moraines are found in some of the valleys in The Mainland and Hoy.

Climate

The climate is remarkably temperate and steady for such a northerly latitude. The average temperature for the year is 8 °C (46 °F), for winter 4 °C (39 °F) and for summer 12 °C (54 °F). The winter months are January, February and March, the last being the coldest. Spring never begins before April, and it is the middle of June before the warmth grows comfortable. September is frequently the finest month, and at the end of October or the beginning of November the "peedie" (or little) summer or milder weather may occur. The average annual rainfall varies from 850 mm to 940 mm. Fogs occur during summer and early autumn, and furious gales may be expected four or five times in the year, when the crash of the Atlantic waves is audible for 30 km. To tourists, one of the fascinations of the islands is their nightless summers. On the longest day, the sun rises at 03:00 and sets at 21:25 — and darkness is unknown, it being possible to read at midnight. Winter, however, is long and depressing. On the shortest day the sun rises at 09:10 and sets at 15:17. The soil generally is a sandy loam or a strong but friable clay, and very fertile. Large quantities of seaweed as well as lime and marl are available for manure.

Economy

The woollen trade once promised to reach considerable dimensions, but towards the end of the 18th century was superseded by the linen (for which flax came to be largely grown); and when this in turn collapsed before the products of the mills of Dundee, Dunfermline and Glasgow, straw-plaiting was taken up, though only to be killed in due time by the competition of the south. The kelp industry was formerly of at least minor importance. For several centuries the Dutch practically monopolised the herring fishery, but when their supremacy was destroyed by the salt duty, the Orcadians failed to seize the opportunity thus presented, and George Barry (died 1805) recorded that in his day the fisheries were almost totally neglected. The industry, however, revived, concentrating on herring, cod and ling, but also catching lobsters and crabs. In recent years, the Orkney economy has seen growth in areas other than the traditional agriculture, livestock farming, and fishing. These include tourism; food and beverage manufacture; jewellery, knitware, and other crafts production; construction; and oil transportation through the Flotta oil terminal. Public services also play a significant role.

Communications

Frequent ferry services operate on the following routes:
- Lerwick to Kirkwall
- Aberdeen to Kirkwall
- Scrabster to Stromness
- John O'Groats to Burwick, South Ronaldsay
- Gills Bay to St Margaret's Hope Most of the larger islands have their own airfield or airstrip. [http://www.loganair.co.uk/ Loganair] operates regular services to six islands from Kirkwall. These include the shortest scheduled air service in the world, between the islands of Westray and Papa Westray. The flight is scheduled at two minutes' duration but can take less than a minute if the wind is in the right direction.

Media

The islands are currently served by two weekly local newspapers, [http://www.orkneytoday.co.uk/ Orkney Today] and [http://www.orcadian.co.uk/ The Orcadian], both published every Thursday. In addition, a local radio station operates, with a second hoping to return to the isles in the near future. Radio Orkney, the local opt-out of BBC Radio Scotland, broadcasts twice daily, with local news and entertainment. [http://www.thesuperstation.co.uk/ The Superstation Orkney], Orkney's first commercial radio station, will begin broadcasting on 105.4FM in late 2005 or early 2006. The station was granted a community radio licence in September 2005 by Ofcom.

Heritage

The famous Neolithic sites of Skara Brae and Maeshowe are located on Mainland. These have both been designated as UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Viking settlers comprehensively occupied Orkney, and the islands became a possession of Norway until being given to Scotland during the 15th century as part of a dowry settlement. Evidence of the Viking presence is widespread, and includes the settlement at the Brough of Birsay, the vast majority of place names, and runic inscriptions at Maeshowe and other ancient sites.

History

Main article: History of the Orkney Islands The original inhabitants were Picts, evidence of whose occupation still exists in numerous "weems" or underground houses, chambered mounds, barrows or burial mounds, "brochs" or round towers, and stone circles and standing stones. Such implements as have survived are of the rudest description, and include quern-stones for grinding materials including grain, stone whorls and bone combs employed in primitive forms of woollen manufacture, and specimens of simple pottery ware. The Romans were aware of, and probably circumnavigated, the Orkney Islands, which they called "Orcades". There is evidence that they traded, either directly or indirectly, with the inhabitants. However, they made no attempt to occupy the islands. If, as seems likely, the Dalriadic Scots established a footing in the islands towards the beginning of the 6th century, their success was short-lived, and the Picts regained power and kept it until dispossessed by the Norsemen in the 9th century. In the wake of the Scots incursionists followed the Celtic missionaries about 565. They were companions of Saint Columba and their efforts to convert the folk to Christianity seem to have impressed the popular imagination, for several islands bear the epithet "Papa" in commemoration of the preachers. Vikings having made the islands the headquarters of their buccaneering expeditions (carried out indifferently against their own Norway and the coasts and isles of Scotland), Harold Hårfagre ("Fair Hair") subdued the rovers in 875 and annexed both Orkney and Shetland to Norway. The martyrdom of Earl Magnus resulted in the building of St Magnus Cathedral, Kirkwall. The islands remained under the rule of Norse earls until 1231, when the line of the jarls became extinct. In that year the earldom of Caithness was granted to Magnus, second son of the Earl of Angus, whom the king of Norway apparently confirmed in the title. Recent studies from the field of population genetics reveal a significant percentage of Norse ethnic heritage – up to one third of the Y chromosomes on the islands are derived from western Norwegian sources, as opposed to the Shetlands, where over half the male lineage is Norse. Some jarls of Orkney:
- Ragnvald Eysteinsson, 890
- Turf-Einar, 910
- Torfinn Hausakljuv, 963 In 1468 Orkney and Shetland were pledged by Christian I of Denmark and Norway for the payment of the dowry of his daughter Margaret, betrothed to James III of Scotland, and as the money was never paid, their connection with the crown of Scotland has been perpetual. In 1471 James bestowed the castle and lands of Ravenscraig in Fife on William, earl of Orkney, in exchange for all his rights to the earldom of Orkney, which, by act of parliament, passed on February 20, 1472, was annexed to the Scottish crown. In 1564 Lord Robert Stewart, natural son of James V of Scotland, who had visited Kirkwall twenty-four years before, was made sheriff of Orkney and Shetland, and received possession of the estates of the udallers; in 1581 he was created earl of Orkney by James IV(?), the charter being ratified ten years later to his son Patrick, but in 1615 the earldom was again annexed to the crown. The islands were the rendezvous of Montrose's expedition in 1650 which culminated in his imprisonment and death. During the Protectorate they were visited by a detachment of Cromwell's troops, who initiated the inhabitants into various industrial arts and new methods of agriculture. In 1707 the islands were granted to the earl of Morton in mortgage, redeemable by the Crown on payment of 30,000 pounds, and subject to an annual feu-duty of 500 pounds; but in 1766 his estates were sold to Sir Lawrence Dundas, ancestor of the Earls of Zetland. In early times both the archbishop of Hamburg and the archbishop of York disputed with the Norwegians ecclesiastical jurisdiction over the Orkneys and the right of consecrating bishops; but ultimately the Norwegian bishops, the first of whom was William the Old (consecrated in 1102), continued the canonical succession. The see remained vacant from 1580 to 1606, and from 1638 till the Restoration, and, after the accession of William III, the episcopacy was finally abolished (1697), although many of the clergy refused to conform. The toponymy of the Orkneys is wholly Norse, and the Norse tongue, at last extinguished by the constant influx of settlers from Scotland, lingered until the end of the 18th century. Readers of Scott's Pirate will remember the frank contempt which Magnus Troil expressed for the Scots, and his opinions probably accurately reflected the general Norse feeling on the subject. When the islands were given as security for the princess's dowry, there seems reason to believe that it was intended to redeem the pledge, because it was then stipulated that the Norse system of government and the law of Saint Olaf should continue to be observed in Orkney and Shetland. Thus the udal succession and mode of land tenure (that is, absolute freehold as distinguished from feudal tenure) lingered to some extent, and the remaining udallers held their lands and passed them on without written title. During World War I and World War II, the Royal Navy had a major base at Scapa Flow. The base was closed in 1956. In the Arthurian legend, Orkney is the home to King Lot, Sir Gareth, Sir Gaheris, Sir Gawaine, and Sir Agravain.

Language

The older Norn was replaced by Lowland Scots which in turn is being replaced by Scottish English.

Orcadian people

Some well-known Orcadians:
- Magnus Erlendsson (Saint Magnus) (c1070 – c1117), Earl of Orkney c1105 – 1117
- Rognvald Kali Kolssson (Saint Rognvald) (c1103 – 1158), Earl of Orkney 1136 – 1158
- James Atkine (1613 – 1687), bishop first of Moray and afterwards of Galloway
- Murdoch McKenzie (died 1797), the hydrographer
- Malcolm Laing (1762 – 1818), author of the History of Scotland from the Union of the Crowns to the Union of the Kingdoms
- William Sinclair (1766 – 1818), Chief Factor at the Hudsons Bay Company
- Mary Brunton (1778 – 1818), author of Self-Control, Discipline and other novels
- Samuel Laing (1780 – 1868), author of A Residence in Norway, and translator of the Heimskringla, the Icelandic chronicle of the kings of Norway
- Thomas Stewart Traill (1781 – 1862), professor of medical jurisprudence at Edinburgh University and editor of the 8th edition of the Encyclopaedia Britannica
- Samuel Laing (1812 – 1897), chairman of the London, Brighton. & South Coast railway, and introducer of the system of "parliamentary" trains with fares of one penny a mile
- Dr John Rae (1813 – 1893), the Arctic explorer
- William Balfour Baikie (1825 – 1864), the African traveller
- Edwin Muir (1887 – 1959), author and poet
- Stanley Cursiter (1887 – 1976), artist
- Eric Linklater (1899 – 1974), novelist, playwright, journalist, essayist, and poet
- George Mackay Brown (1921 – 1996), poet, author, playwright.
- Cameron Stout, winner of the fourth series of the reality TV show Big Brother
- Luke Sutherland, writer of novels Jelly Roll, Sweatmeat and Venus As A Boy

Constituencies

The Orkney Islands are represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom as part of the Orkney and Shetland constituency, which elects one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election. In the Scottish Parliament the Orkney Islands are themselves the Orkney constituency, which elects one Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) by the first past the post system. Also, the Orkney Islands are within the Highlands and Islands electoral region.

External links

- [http://www.orkneyjar.com/ Orkneyjar, an Orcadian History and Heritage Site]
- [http://www.orkneylinks.co.uk/ Orkney Links Galore!]
- [http://www.orkneycommunities.co.uk/ Orkneycommunities.co.uk, community news, pictures and websites]
- [http://www.british-towns.net/scotland/orkney.asp Orkneys with map]
- [http://www.hie.co.uk/orkney Orkney Enterprise] Category:Islands of Scotland Category:Lieutenancy areas of Scotland
- Category:Traditional counties of Scotland Category:Archipelagoes Category:Regions of Scotland Category:Former Norwegian colonies ja:オークニー諸島 ko:오크니 제도

Scotland

Scotland (Alba in Gaelic) is a nation in northwest Europe and a constituent country of the United Kingdom. The name originally meant Land of the Gaels (see below). The country occupies the northern third of the island of Great Britain and shares a land border to the south with England and is bounded by the North Sea on the east and the Atlantic Ocean on the west. Its capital city is Edinburgh. Despite no longer being an independent sovereign state, Scotland is still considered a country in its own right. Scotland existed as an independent Kingdom until 1 May 1707, when the Act of Union 1707 merged Scotland with the Kingdom of England to create the Kingdom of Great Britain. The flag of Scotland — the Saltire — is thought to be the oldest national flag still in use. The patron saint of Scotland is Saint Andrew, and Saint Andrew's Day is the 30 November. There are currently attempts to create an additional national holiday on this day.

Etymology

The English language name Scotland could date from at least the first half of the 10th century, when it was used in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. The word Scot- was borrowed from Latin. We cannot assume Scotland was being used here to mean anything other than Land of the Gaels, just like Latin Scotia. Scottish kings adopted the title Basileus/Rex Scottorum (= High King/King of the Gaels) and Rex Scotiae (King of Gael-Land) some time in the 11th century. The earliest attribution of the latter Latin title was by the Germany-based Irish writer Marianus Scotus, recording the death of King Máel Coluim mac Cináeda as Moelcoluim Rex Scotiae, for the year 1034. In taking this title, they were likely influenced by the style Imperator Scottorum known to have been employed by Brian Bóruma in 1005. In the early 13th century, the Scotto-Norman author of de Situ Albanie protested that Scotia was a corrupt word for what should be called Albania; but by then Scotia was becoming the norm in Latin, French and English; and hence Scotia and its derivitives prevailed in all languages except the Celtic ones. The Kingdom of Scotland has traditionally been regarded as being united in 843, by Cináed mac Ailpín, King of the Picts, the man who is known to the modern English-speaker as King Kenneth I of Scotland.

History

See also the main article: History of Scotland. The written history of Scotland largely began with the arrival of the Roman Empire in Britain, when the Romans occupied what is now England and Wales, administering it as a Roman province called Britannia. To the north was territory not governed by the Romans—Caledonia, peopled by the Picts. From a classical historical viewpoint Scotland seemed a peripheral country, slow to gain advances filtering out from the Mediterranean fount of civilisation, but as knowledge of the past increases it has become apparent that some developments were earlier and more advanced than previously thought, and that the seaways were very important to Scottish history. The country's lengthy struggle with England, its more powerful neighbour to the south, was the cause of the Wars of Scottish Independence, forcing Scotland to rely on trade, cultural and often strategic ties with a number of European powers, most notably France. In these, the Scots repudiated the English king's assertions of paramountcy. They fought firstly under the leadership of Sir William Wallace and Andrew de Moray in support of John Balliol, and later under that of Robert the Bruce. Bruce, crowned as King Robert I in 1306, won a decisive victory over the English at the Battle of Bannockburn in 1314. Battle of Bannockburn From roughly the end of the 14th century, Scotland began to show a split into two cultural areas — the mainly Scots, or English, speaking Lowlands, and the mainly Gaelic-speaking Highlands. Gaelic persisted in remote parts of the southwest, which had formed part of the rival kingdom of Galloway during the early medieval period, probably up until the late 1700s. Historically, the Lowlands were closer to the mainstream European culture, and adopted a variant of the feudal system after the Norman Conquest of England. A number of major families of Norman ancestry, such as the Bruce, Douglas, and Stewart families, provided most of the monarchs after approximately 1100. By comparison, the clan system of the Highlands formed one of the region's more distinctive features, with a number of powerful clans remaining dominant until after the Act of Union. It is worth noting that the Western Isles, along with Orkney and Shetland, were part of Norway until 1266 and 1468 respectively; the culture of these islands, in many ways, remained distinct from the rest of Scotland until the modern period. In 1603, the Scottish King James VI inherited the throne of England, and became James I of England. James moved to London, only returning to Scotland once. Although he subsequently styled himself as the King of Great Britain, this was a personal union: the two nations shared a head of state but remained separate kingdoms, with the exception of a brief period when Oliver Cromwell overthrew the monarchy and Scotland was under English military occupation. In 1707, the Scottish and English Parliaments enacted the Acts of Union, which merged the Kingdom of Scotland with the Kingdom of England, creating the Kingdom of Great Britain. The Union dissolved both the English and the Scottish Parliaments, and transferred all their powers to a new Parliament sitting in London which then became the Parliament of the United Kingdom. However, most of Scotland's institutions remained separate, notably the country's legal system and its established church; these distinctions remain to the present day. In 1801, Scotland became part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, when the Kingdom of Great Britain merged with the Kingdom of Ireland. Since 1922, Scotland has been one of the four constituent nations (along with England, Northern Ireland and Wales) of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. In 1997 the people of Scotland voted to create a new devolved Scottish Parliament, subsequently established by the UK government under the Scotland Act 1998. Following the Act of Union and the subsequent Scottish Enlightenment and Industrial Revolution, Scotland became one of the commercial, intellectual and industrial powerhouses of Europe. Its industrial decline following the Second World War was particularly acute, but in recent decades the country has enjoyed something of a cultural and economic renaissance, fuelled in part by a resurgent financial services sector, the proceeds of North Sea oil and gas, and latterly the devolved parliament.

Geography

Clan Grant Main article: Geography of Scotland. Scotland comprises the northern part of the island of Great Britain; it is bordered on the south by England. Scotland's territorial extent is generally that established by the 1237 Treaty of York between Scotland and England and the 1266 Treaty of Perth between Scotland and Norway. Exceptions include the Isle of Man, which is now a crown dependency outside the United Kingdom, Orkney and Shetland, which are Scottish rather than Norwegian, and Berwick-upon-Tweed, which was defined as subject to the laws of England by the 1746 Wales and Berwick Act. The country consists of a mainland area plus several island groups, including Shetland, Orkney, and the Hebrides, divided into the Inner Hebrides and Outer Hebrides. Three main geographical and geological areas make up the mainland: from north to south, the generally mountainous Highlands containing Ben Nevis, Britain's highest mountain, the low-lying Central Belt, and the hilly Southern Uplands. The majority of the Scottish population resides in the Central Belt, which contains three of the country's six largest cities (Edinburgh, Glasgow, and Stirling) and many large towns. Most of the remaining population lives in the North-East Lowlands, where two of the remaining three cities (Aberdeen and Dundee) are situated. The final city, Inverness, is situated where the River Ness meets the Moray Firth, on the Great Glen Fault between the North-West Highlands and the Cairngorms. Highest maximum temperature: 32.9°C (91.2°F) at Greycrook, near Newtown St. Boswells, Borders on 9 August 2003. Lowest minimum temperature: -27.2°C (-17.0°F) at Braemar, Aberdeenshire on 11 February 1895 and 10 January 1982 and at Altnaharra, Highland on 30 December 1995. [http://www.metoffice.com/climate/uk/location/scotland/#temperature]

Major cities

The six designated cities in descending order of population size:
- Glasgow
- Edinburgh, the capital
- Aberdeen
- Dundee
- Inverness
- Stirling Scottish towns:
- List of burghs in Scotland

Waterways

- Major Rivers:
- The Clyde, The Dee, The Don, The Forth, The Tay, The Tweed, The Spey, ...
- Firths:
- Solway, Clyde, Cromarty, Dornoch, Forth, Lorne, Moray, Tay
- Sea Lochs (fjords):
- Loch Linnhe,