| Wednesday, April 26, 2006 |
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| New York's Central Park |
SpotlightFrederick Law Olmsted, the landscape architect who designed NY's Central Park, was born on this date in 1822. Also a journalist, Olmsted researched and reported on slavery in the US's southern states, finding it economically inefficient as well as morally abhorrent. He was a founder of The Nation and wrote several books. Among the other sites Olmsted designed are the Niagara Reservation in Niagara Falls, NY; Mount Royal Park in Montreal; Jackson Park in Chicago, IL; and the grounds surrounding the Capitol building in Washington, DC.
Quote"My favorite place is Central Park because you never know what you're going to find there. I also like that when I look out the windows of surrounding hotels, it seems like I'm looking out over a forest."
Today in History
- Cape Henry: the Jamestown settlers made landfall on this Virginia promontory (1607)
- Tanzania: African republic was formed by the union of Tanganyika and Zanzibar (1964)
Chernobyl disaster : worst-ever nuclear reactor accident occurred near the Ukrainian city of Chernobyl (1986)
Today's Birthdays
- Bernard Malamud: author of
The Fixer , The Natural (1914-1986) - Carol Burnett: comic host of The Carol Burnett Show (73)
- Jet Li: martial arts movie star, The One (43)
Word of the Dayinfrastructure: the basic features of an organization; landscape architects often design the civil infrastructure of an area.
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