sure mat's was exciting and informative, but i hope you guys learned a little 'bout pandas and their endangerment! that was the point i was trying to get across to all future viewers.
The lovable and charismatic panda is one of the most popular animals in the world. Unfortunately, it is also one of the most endangered.
Found only in China, one of the world's most populous countries, the giant panda clings to survival, facing habitat fragmentation and poaching as its greatest threats. It is estimated that as few as 1,600 pandas remain in the wild today. WWF works to help giant pandas in the wild through a variety of programs, including scientific assessments, habitat conservation and outreach to local governments and people within the panda's home range.
Pandas have been an integral part of our mission for more than two decades. In 1979, WWF was the first international organization to be invited into China to work on panda conservation. To this day, we remain the primary international conservation organization protecting pandas in the wild, and with your help we can ensure their survival.
1838 - Aristide Boucicaut started the Bon Marche store in Paris that evolved into the first department store by 1852, displaying a wide variety of goods in 'departments' under one roof at a fixed price, no haggling or bargaining, with a 'money-back guarantee' allowing exchanges and refunds, employing up to 4000 with daily sales of $300,000. The department store and the restaurant would become anchors of downtown urban centers in the 19th century.
1848 - Alexander Turney Stewart built his Marble Palace at Broadway and Chambers Street in New York City, a much larger version of his dry goods store at 283 Broadway that he started in 1823. The Marble Palace sold imported European merchandise to women, offered the first 'fashion shows' on the second floor in the 'Ladies' parlor' with full-length mirrors. In 1862 Stewart built a true department store at Broadway and 9th near Grace Church, the Cast Iron Palace, with 8 floors on 2.5 acres, up to 2000 employees. The 19 departments included 'silks' and 'dress goods' and carpets and toys and sports. A great glass dome skylight covered the central rotunda of the grand emporium. Organ music entertained customers, including First Lady Mary Lincoln whose compulsive clothes buying ran up $27,000 in bills by 1865. A. T. Stewart's 1862 store caused other stores with cast-iron facades to be built on the cobblestoned 'Ladies Mile' of lower Broadway between 8th and 23rd Streets, including Lord & Taylor, Arnold Constable, Siegel-Cooper, James McCreery, Simpson-Crawford, LeBoutellier, and Stern Brothers. The Cast Iron Palace was demolished but an extension built for John Wanamaker in 1902 survives at Broadway and 9th, designed by the same Daniel Burnham who built the Flatiron Building in 1902 at 23rd and Fifth Avenue.
1858 - Rowland Hussey Macy was a Nantucket Quaker and whaler who failed several times as a store owner until he founded a 'fancy dry goods' store in New York City on 6th Avenue near 14th Street in 1858. He began selling at a fixed price for cash, discounted and advertised his merchandise. The red star tatooed on his hand as a 15-year old boy on the whaling ship Emily Morgan became the symbol of the new store. In 1866 he bought an adjoining building for expansion, and by 1872 owned four buildings and by his death in 1877 owned 11 buildings. He was one of the first owners to employ women executives, and Margaret Getschell rose from cashier in 1866 to store superintendent and husband of one of the owners. In 1887 Isidore and Nathan Straus became part owners, and bought full control in 1898. The Strauses moved the store from 14th Street to Herald Square, and in 1902 built a new store on this site where Koster & Bial's Music Hall once stood and where Thomas Edison first projected his Vitascope motion picture. The new Macy's store was proclaimed 'the largest store on earth' with 9 stories and 33 elevators and 4 escalators and pneumatic tube system. This structure grew 30 stories covering an entire city block by 1924. With a '6% less for cash' policy it attracted thousands of customers. By 1977 Macy's was the nation's 5th largest department store chain with 76 stores, sale over $1.6 billion, and full ownership of 5 regional shopping centers and 50% interest in 3 other centers.
1869 - Zion's Cooperative Mercantile Institution opened March 1, 1869, in Salt Lake City. The Mormons did not want to be at the mercy of non-Mormons who ran the railroads and wagon trains through the town. Brigham Young arranged for Mormon merchants to join together and create a new community store that became the first incorporated department store in America by 1870. A new 3-story brick and iron store was built in 1876, noted for its unique architecture and striped awnings. This store was replaced by an enclosed shopping center in 1973, and the new Zion department store preserved the gilt-edged ornate facade of the old store. In 1999 the May Department Stores bought a 14-store ZCMI chain and changed its name to Meier & Frank, a May property with eight stores in Oregon and Washington.
In the present day, the world's economy is ever-changing and adjusting. Many different reasons control the reasons for this. The future of currency is something that can only be predicted and is not guaranteed. However, there are many determing factors behind the changes that can take place. Asia and North America are two continents that have economies that have recently changed or are in the midst of change.
World War 2 drew a hard blow and left a serious and lasting effect to many Asian countries. This however, did not hamper the growth of countries such as China, Japan and Vietnam as their governments were taking serious steps to recover economically. Thus, the global market cannot deny a place for these 'Asian Dragons', because these countries are growing at a tremendous pace to the extent of being capable in emerging as global market leaders.
China's capitalism and boom was born when their president, Deng Xiaoping permitted the provinces to dismantle their communes and collective farms. This led China to venture into free-market economics, although they were still under the communist political system. When President Deng announced that they needed Western money and expertise, China flung their trade doors wide open and China went on a capitalist drive without ever looking back. By mid 1960's, the Chinese Revolution settled down to the job of ruling China. Its main goal was essentially nationalist: a prosperous modern economy. While there continued to exist substantially economic inequalities, distribution of wealth was probably a bit more equal than in most Western countries.
(Moise 171)
While there were great variations in income between different villages, and between different jobs in the urban sector, the overall averages showed a clear pattern: the cities were much richer than the countryside. Most capital investments were going into urban industries. The urban workers, using considerable amount of heavy machinery, had a much higher average level of productivity compared to the rural workers. The natural consequence was, for the city people, an average income level twice as high as that of the people in the countryside. The most obvious way to attack this poverty problem was to increase production, in all sectors of the economy. Though the easiest way to increase production was to increase capital inputs, China could only afford a limited amount of capital construction. In accordance to this, China went on a construction binge. Whole factories were purchased from abroad while others were built with local resources. By 1978, the frenzy for new projects reached a level that reminded some people of the Great Leap Forward. In an effort to promote agricultural production, the government released many of the restrictions on the 'spontaneous capitalist tendencies' of the peasantry. (173) In the late 1980's, the government decided to expand the scope of private marketing. The next step was to increase the amount land assigned to the peasants. The peasants were now not responsible to the government for the use they made to the private plots. They simply could grow what they wished, for the sale to the government or to private markets. This led to furious rebuilding and inflow of foreign investments. All this enabled China to remake itself into Asian's hub of finance, trade and culture.
The Urban Revolution or “beginnings of city life�, occurring about six thousand years ago, was the second major revolution in human living and took place in Mesopotamia. This period when compared to the others seemed to stand out the most with regards to having the greatest impact upon mankind. When you look at the other eras/ revolutions you do not get the high standards that the Urban Revolution had with its excellent level of communication, development of society, and all of its many innovations with their impact today.
The Urban Revolutions high level of communication was one main factor in helping to determine that it was the best revolution in impacting mankind. One way that the level of communication was increased during this period was the surplus of crops. This surplus of crops led to people engaging in other activities, especially including trade and manufacturing, therefore increasing there level of communication. While having many goods and trading them and manufacturing them, the idea and eventually the creation of cities began to form. This made it possible for the farmers growing the crops outside of the city to bring them in and sell a large quantity of their product to the street dwellers all at once. These cities helped with the communication by means of everyone living and working in the same compact area, keeping everything closer and making it much easier to communicate.
The next step that makes the Urban Revolution the revolution with the greatest impact on mankind is all of its many innovations and their lasting impact today. There were various inventions in this time period, probably the most important being the wheel. The wheel being used in many things today made it easy to categorize the Urban Revolution as being the best in the “innovations with impact today� category. The discovery of the wheel is the base of many inventions from that time period until present day, therefore making it a key invention and discovery throughout history. Another great innovation during the urban revolution was the discovery and use of effective writing. This innovation also helped to change the way that people would communicate forever. Now having writing as an alternative source of communication, the people could not only speak to communicate but also write down various forms of symbols or letters to effectively communicate.
The third and final piece that makes this period greater than the others with its impact upon mankind is its sufficient development of society. After the growth of the city, more cities formed eventually needing basic units of operation one being the establishment of the city-state governments and having set rulers or kings and the other being the practical use of money. These more complex political systems helped to make rules for the cities or nations as well as defining how each or all of them should be run, to achieve the most effective use out of them. One of the ways discovered to make it easier on the people in these cities or areas was to establish a basic monitory unit for each city, or all of the cities in a particular nation or state. This use of money now got rid of most of the trading aspects and brought in a simpler and defined way of obtaining or getting particular things you needed, this of course being money. No longer did you have to worry about the hassling of trading, everyone followed and used this unit making the society more developed than previous ones and also starting a new way of society in which we still use today.
Looking at other eras/ revolutions you do not get the high level of standards that the Urban Revolution had with its excellent level of communication, development of society, and all of its many innovations with their impact today. This can be shown through the Urban Revolutions innovations and the ways of development, because all of these ideas are still being used today in the present time period in some way, shape, or form. Many of these innovations and developments are still being used and will probably be used forever, all leading back to the Urban Revolution.
