Graphing all of the US Ski Resort Base & Summit Elevation also Looks Like a Mountain.

I've always been fascinated by how data can be visualized but was not very good at creating it. As a ski fan, the various mountain-related stats also was of interest. So working on that, here's the first set that I created. It is a bar graph of all the US ski slopes with their base and summit elevations displayed. The height of each bar is the difference between those too. Vertical drop is a separate stat and not shown here.

The Real Top Gear UK Locations Maps - Clarkson, Hammond, and May around the World

Many Top Gear UK fans want to have their own adventures by recreating the road trips made by Clarkson, Hammond, and May. They want to drive the same roads, see the same sites, and relax in the same places that those three blokes did.

But figuring out where they've traveled is not actually easy. The maps shown on the program are approximations at best. The routes that are drawn usually do not follow actual roads or trails. The hosts will mention a few places from time to time which can help locate sites.

Luckily, Google has come to the rescue. With their updated satellite imaging, street views, and user-uploaded photos, its now easier to trace the route that Top Gear used. I've marked these locations on the 3 separate maps (broken up because of limits by Google) and divide by episode. These encompass all parts of the world outside of Europe. Because of all the places that they've been to in Europe, that will take much longer.

I don't know how to get these My Maps to be displayed in Google Maps. You'll have to use the Street View option on regular Google Maps to get a better look at these locations. Feel free to send a message if you find a location to add or want to correct one.

Americas:


Asia:


Africa and Middle East:

An Eclipse-created Monochromatic Rainbow

During this past May 20, 2012, the citizens of the US experienced the second biggest astronomical event of the year (the first being the transit of Venus in June).  People were concentrating their eyes, cameras, and telescopes at the moon as it slowly moved in front of the sun. The highlight of the event was the annular eclipse in the western part of the US. People further away from this annular path were treated to a partial eclipse. But a very select few in the Midwest experienced a rarer visual spectre, a rainbow. But not just any rainbow. It was a monochromatic rainbow from an eclipsed sun.

To create a monochromatic rainbow, the sun has to be near sunset so that mainly red light shines through. On the map, the eclipse was occurring during sunset in areas between the far left and far right red lines.  Next, if too much of the sun is eclipsed, there will not be enough light at sunset to create the already faint monochromatic rainbow. Areas below the light blue line have more than 80% of the sun blocked. The dark blue line is the path where an annular eclipse could be viewed. Finally, you need rain to create a rainbow but the storm should have a distinctive western edge were the sunset sun can shine through. The only place which all 3 elements is over the midwest (upper peninsula of Michigan, Illinois, and eastern Missouri). The regions in Ohio could have it but its likely that not much of the sun would be eclipsed at sunset. 

The photo above is a mosaic of frames from a video capture of the monochromatic rainbow over the Chicago skyline. I wish i could have gotten a better shot of it with my camera but its the best I could do.

Who's buried in Grants Tomb?

1st Question: Who is buried in Grants Tomb?
2nd Question: Where are the other US presidents buried?
3rd Question: Are US presidents now buried at their libraries?

There used to be an old joke since the 1950s used as a low ball/easy question for a contest:

"Who is buried in Grant's Tomb?" The expected answer is Ulysses S. Grant, but he is not buried there technically (he is entombed there). But where are US presidents buried?

Since Hoover, all presidents have been buried at their presidential libraries/ museums except for Franklin Roosevelt (at his home in Hyde Park, NY), John Kennedy (at Arlington National Cemetery) and Lyndon Johnson (at his ranch in Johnson City, TX). Those six are:

• Herbert Hoover - West Branch, IA
• Harry Truman - Independence, MO
• Dwight Eisenhower - Abilene, KS
• Richard Nixon - Yorba Linda, CA
• Gerald Ford - Grand Rapids, MI
• Ronald Reagan - Simi Valley, CA
• George H.W. Bush - College Station, TX

But what about the rest? 

An obvious choice would be to be buried on the grounds of a family estate. For those presidents who had such large estates, this is usually the case for 9 of them:

• George Washington at Mount Vernon (Mount Vernon, VA)
• Thomas Jefferson at Monticello (Charlottesville, VA)
• James Madison at Montpelier (near Orange, VA)
• Andrew Jackson at Hermitage (Hermitage, TN)
• Andrew Johnson at the Andrew Johnson House (Greeneville, TN)
• James Polk at Polk Place (Nashville, TN) but moved to the Tennessee State Capitol
• Rutherford Hayes at Spiegel Grove (Fremont, OH)
• Franklin Roosevelt at Springwood (Hyde Park, NY)
• Lyndon Johnson at LBJ Ranch / Texas White House (Stonewall, TX)

There are other presidents with family estates but were not buried there (James Monroe's Oak Hill, James Buchanan's Wheatland, James Garfield's Lawnfield, Theodore Roosevelt's Sagamore Hill, and John Kennedy's Kennedy Compound). 

Several US presidents were of such importance during their lives that separate tombs and memorials were created. Surprisingly, there are only 5 such Presidents:

• William Henry Harrison - William Henry Harrison Tomb and Monument in North Bend, OH
• Abraham Lincoln - Lincoln Tomb at Oak Ridge Cemetery in Springfield, IL
• Ulysses Grant - Grant's Tomb in New York City, NY.
• William McKinley - McKinley National Memorial in Canton, OH
• Warren Harding - Harding Memorial in Marion, OH

Five US presidents have been buried in special locations, mainly churches or Arlington National Cemetery:

• John Adams and John Quincy Adams - United First Parish Church in Quincy, MA
• William Taft - Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, VA
• Woodrow Wilson - Washington National Cathedral in Washington, DC
• John Kennedy - Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, VA

Nine US Presidents are buried in a cemetery near or in their hometowns. These graves can have monuments, mausoleums, or tombs associated with them:

• Martin Van Buren - Kinderhook Cemetery in Kinderhook, NY
• Zachary Taylor - Zachary Taylor National Cemetery in Louisville, KY
• Millard Fillmore - Forest Lawn Cemetery in Buffalo, NY
• Franklin Pierce - Old North Cemetery in Concord, NH
• James Buchanan - Woodward Hill Cemetery in Lancaster, PA
• James Garfield - Lakeview Cemetery in Cleveland, OH
• Benjamin Harrison - Crown Hill Cemetery in Indianapolis, IN
• Theodore Roosevelt - Youngs Memorial Cemetery in Oyster Bay, NY
• Calvin Coolidge: Notch Cemetery in Plymouth Notch, VT. 

There are four US Presidents who are buried in cemeteries somewhat close to their hometowns. 

• James Monroe: Hollywood Cemetery in Richmond, VA with a cast iron cage-like tomb. 
• John Tyler: Hollywood Cemetery in Richmond, VA next to James Monroe
• Chester Arthur: Family plot in Albany Rural Cemetery in Menands, NY
• Grover Cleveland: Princeton Cemetery in Princeton, NJ (born in NJ but lived in NY)

So what does the future hold? Apparently Jimmy Carter wishes to be buried near his home in Plains, GA and not at the Carter Center. As for the rest, we don't know.

In the end, there has not been a "standard" presidential burial. Some have small graves in a small cemetery. Others are entombed on their large family estates. Surprisingly, most do not have large monuments or memorials to their memories. The last two US Presidents with a separate memorial may not be considered memorial by today's standards. However, a Presidential Library and Museum today could be considered a separate memorial. I guess we'll be seeing more and more of such monuments to US Presidents in the future. The days of a plain grave in a small cemetery are probably over. Coolidge was the last of them. He was quoted as saying: 

"We draw our Presidents from the people... I came from them. I wish to be one of them again."

What was THE only Confederate Territory of America?

1st Question: How many states were in the Confederate States of America?
2nd Question: How many territories were in the CSA?
3rd Question: Did Arizona really want to be part of the CSA?

At the end of 1861, the first provisional Congress of the Confederate States of America met. The seal and flag of the CSA had 13 stars which include the 11 states who officially voted to secede from the Union (VA, NC, SC, GA, FL, Al, MS, TN, AR, LA, and TX) as well as MO and KY who never seceded but had factions in them that were pro-CSA.

So the Confederacy that most of us know about is this:

But something odd happened down in the southwestern part of the US, in the New Mexico Territory. That territory was the only region in the "South" that the Confederate States of America could try to claim. But things were already brewing in that territory, back in 1854. Governing large territories like New Mexico can be difficult as populations are spread out. The populous town of Tucson was far the capital, Santa Fe, and without governmental support. Therefore, New Mexico wanted to create a separate territory. They petitioned Congress to act but nothing was done.

Several version of how to divide New Mexico were created. The New Mexico Legislature wanted a north-south border at the 109 deg W meridian. The people around Tucson pushed for an east-west border at the 33 deg 45 minute line from California to Texas. But these suggestions were not accepted by the US Congress. As the Civil War began, frustration with the federal government had been on going for at least 10 years. In Mesilla, they voted to seceded from the US and join the CSA. Their "Ordinance of Secession" lists their greivances: failure to provide protection against savages, denied them the right to form a government to administer laws, and loss of mail service. But official recognition from the CSA would take an invading Confederate army lead by John Baylor to remove Union forces near Mesilla. On August 1, 1861, Baylor proclaimed the area of New Mexico south of the 34th parallel as the Territory of Arizona for the Confederate States of America. It was proclaimed by Jefferson Davis, President of the CSA, on February 14, 1862. 

The US Congress attempted to invalidate the CSA claim to this territory by creating its own Arizona Territory in February 1863 by dividing New Mexico along the 109th deg W meridian. This effectively split the CSA's territory in half and not recognizing it. There were no delegates from Southern states to block its creation. 

The CSA Arizona territory would collapse with Union troops moving back into the area in 1862, the CSA government would flee from Mesilla to San Antonio. However, it did keep its Congressional Delegate. It would "officially" disappear with the collapse of the CSA at the end of the Civil War. 

The Confederacy had hoped to reach California and gain access to its resources and an outlet to the Pacific Ocean. While this plan was not successful, Arizona should be remembered with the other 13 states as being part of the Confederacy as show in this map:

But this odd link with the Confederacy does not stop there. The people of the Arizona Territory were allowed to join the Union as a state with their enabling act in 1910. While forming their state constitution, one contentious topic was the ability of voters to recall judges. The Arizona state constitution with this provision was approved by delegates (on party lines) and the territorial voters. But it was vetoed by President Taft in 1911. By December 1911, an amended state constitution without the judge recall clause was approved. Arizona was then approved for statehood. Apparently, some Arizona settlers hoped to be admitted into the Union on February 12th which was the birthday of President Lincoln who had help create the territory in 1863 (almost 50 years prior). However, Taft was apparently "busy". Internet searches indicate he spoke about the need for national parks,visited the Essex Troop Armory in Newark, NJ, and spoke at a Lincoln Day dinner of the NY Republicans (discussed the dangers of the Progressive movement). Anecdotally, Taft did not want to sign the proclamation of statehood on the 13th as it was bad luck. Therefore, it was signed on February 14, 1912, and Arizona became a state. Rebelliously, these new citizen restored the recall of judges into their constitution in November 1912. 

As for this link with the Confederacy? The date of statehood (February 14, 1912) is fifty years to the day that President Davis proclaimed its existence as a territory of the CSA. An accident, I'm sure...

Why was there no Delaware Colony?

When peering at the various boundaries throughout the US, there is one that stands out for an odd reason: the Pennsylvania - Delaware boundary. It's almost circular.

How did such a thing come about? When looking at this arc, its center is not at Wilmington, which is the capital of Delaware. It is New Castle, which is located 12 miles from this border. This arc has also been called "The Twelve Mile Circle".  When William Penn received a charter for his new Province of Pennsylvania on February 28. 1681, his new province was:

"bounded on the East by Delaware River, from twelve miles distance Northwards of New Castle Towne unto the three and fortieth degree of Northerne Latitude... The said Lands to extend westwards five degrees in longitude, to bee computed from the said Easterne Bounds".

This boundary by New Castle was described as:
"a Circle drawne at twelve miles distance from New Castle Northward and Westward unto the beginning of the fortieth degree of Northern Latitude"

There was confusion if the the circle was supposed to have a diameter, radius, or circumference of 12 miles around New Castle. In the end, a radius of 12 miles was used. In fact, this extends all around New Castle including the border of New Jersey. In fact, there are parts of land attached to the NJ side of the Delaware River that are technically in Delaware because it falls within 12 miles of New Castle. Most websites and blogs stop there. But where did this 12 mile distance come from?

The area was originally colonized by the Dutch and the Swedes. One of the main forts in the area was in New Castle. Eventually, the British would win control over this region (and the Hudson River valley). Charles II granted all the land west of the Connecticut River to the east side of Delaware Bay to his brother, the Duke of York, in 1664. The region of present day Delaware was outside this. Since, the Duke was given the Dutch claims along the Hudson River, the Duke assumed control over all other Dutch areas on the west bank of the Delaware Bay.  

But if you look further back, this area was given to Lord Baltimore in his Charter of Maryland in 1632. The northern boundary of this new colony was at the 40th degree latitude. The land included all parts west of the Delaware Bay up to the mouth of the Potomac River and up to the headwaters of the Potomac. As shown on the right, this would include present day Delaware. Lord Baltimore tried to claim that his grant included the region that the Dutch had settled. Lead by Augustine Herman, the Dutch countered that Baltimore's claim includes land that had not been settled which was not the case for the west bank of a Delaware Bay. Hence, that region should be excluded. In the end, the two parties decided to divide the peninsula in half but such a line was not marked until Mason and Dixon surveyed it in the 1760s. So there is no mention of 12 miles in this part of the story. 

When William Penn attempted to form a colony in the area, his grant of 1681 mentions the southern boundary to be at the 40th degree latitude. In those days, there was a variation of interpretation for this. Some drew a boundary line at the start of the 40th degree. Others would surveyed a line at the end of the 40th degree. This amount of variability could leave Philadelphia in Maryland or Baltimore City in Pennsylvania. The agents for the Duke of York thought the 40th degree was about 20-30 miles north of New Castle (so outside of this newly acquired region). William Penn and the head of the Privy Council (Lord Chief-Justice North) thought it was about 12 miles north of New Castle. So this is the origin of this particular distance. The supposed southern border of Pennsylvania would approach the west bank of the Delaware and get as close as 12 miles from New Castle. The best outcome would be the 40th degree latitude would meet at the top of this circle. In the end, the 40th degree was too far north and further negotiations would lead to the present day boundaries. 

But there is one more tidbit. In 1682, Penn would received a deed from the Duke of YOrk to "rent out" the "Lower Counties on the Delaware" to provide more access to the Delaware Bay. There was still a dispute between the Duke of York and Lord Calvert (of Maryland) as to who actually controlled this previous Swedish colony. Regardless, the Duke deeded it to Penn on August 24 (or 28), 1682. This claim by Penn was solidified by King James's compromise in Nov 1685 to divide the peninsula in half above the Cape Henlopen line of latitude which placed those Lower counties under the rule of the King (to Duke to Penn).

Eventually, those living in this region would want to have their own government that was not linked to Philadelphia.  This was somewhat granted in 1701 where there would still be a single governor but the local representatives would function independently from Philadelphia. After the Declaration of Independence was signed, these three counties quickly organized into an independent state with the creation of its own constitution in September 1776. Eventually, it would be the first state to ratify the new US Constitution in 1787. So, first state in this new Federal union wasn't even an official British colony.

Changing when the Seasons Start...

1st Question: When do the seasons began?
2nd Question: Are there different ways to define seasons?
3rd Question: How about a more psychologically appealing seasons?

There are four main dates in the calendar that relate to the environment we live in: the December and June solstices, and the March and September equinoxes. Seasons have been defined by certain periods of time in a year. Seasons usually indicate changes in amount of daylight and the weather. But there are regions of the world where the daylight does not change much during the year but the weather can: e.g. monsoon season or rainy season. But we'll stick with the typical temperate zone seasons of spring, summer, fall, and winter.

Popular media will use those dates to indicate when a season "starts" as in winter starts on December 21 or 22 in the northern hemisphere. But seasons can be defined in different ways.

An astronomical POV could be used where it is the position of the sun in the sky that determines the seasons. In this case, solstices and equinoxes would be the middle of the seasons. For example, the June solstice is the day the sunrises the earliest and should be in the middle of northern hemisphere summer (not the start). Therefore, astronomical seasons start in between a solstice and equinox. Some call these dates cross-quarter days, or days halfway between a solstice and equinox. In the northern hemisphere, this would be on Feb 1 or 2, May 1, Aug 1-2, and Oct 31-Nov 1. This is similar to using the amount of sunlight received (insolation) to determine various quarters of the year.

Another way to look at when the seasons start is based upon the weather (or temperature). When using average temperatures for a particular hemisphere, the starts of the seasons are March 1, June 1, September 1, and December 1. In general, the temperature changes typical for those seasons have not started at these dates (possibly due to so called thermal lag).

So where does that leave us?

	Spring	Summer	Fall	Winter
Astronomic	February 1,2	May 1	August 1,2	October 31,November 1
Meteorologic	March 1	June 1	September 1	November 1
Popular Media	March 20,21	June 20,21	September 22,23	December 21,22

Can we improve upon these definitions?

Why not take the sunlight approach but disregard the need to have seasons with similar number of days. Using Chicago as an example, below is a graph of the sunrise and sunset times:

The amount of daylight varies from 9:08 to 15:14 throughout the year. We can divide the amount of possible daylight per day into 4 equal durations:

• 9:08 to 10:39:30
• 10:39:30 to 12:11
• 12:11 to 13:42:30
• 13:42:30 to 15:14

There will be 2   periods of the year where each of these durations would occur. Therefore, we could define winter as the 2 sections with the least daylight while summer would be the 2 sections with the most daylight. Spring and Fall would occur in between. If we do that, what do the seasons look like?

So spring is from February 16 to April 22. Summer goes until August 18. Fall ends at October 24. Winter continues through February 16. 

• Spring: February 16 to April 22
• Summer: April 23 to August 18
• Fall: August 19 to October 24
• Winter: October 25 to February 15

The solstices and equinoxes are in the middle of their respective seasons. But the length of each season is different: Summer and winter are about 16 1/2 weeks each. Spring and fall are about 9 1/2 weeks each. 

But there is another way to define a season: using the sunset (or sunrise). Excluding daylight savings, sunset varies from 16:19 to 19:30. Like the hours of daylight, you can divide that up into quarters and assign seasons based upon what range of sunset times occur.  

Using that idea, spring would start on February 2. Summer starts on April 24. Fall starts on August 20. And winter begins on October 16. 

• Spring: February 2 to April 23
• Summer: April 24 to August 19
• Fall: August 20 to October 15
• Winter: October 16 to February 1

But if you add daylight savings and assume the latest sunset is at 20:30, things are little more interesting. Spring would start on February 9. Summer begins on April 11. Fall starts on August 30. And winter begins on November 4. So where does that leave us?

	Spring	Summer	Fall	Winter
Astronomic	February 1,2	May 1	August 1,2	October 31,November 1
Meteorologic	March 1	June 1	September 1	November 1
Popular Media	March 20,21	June 20,21	September 22,23	December 21,22
Daylight Duration	February 16	April 22,23	August 18	October 24,25
Sunset	February 2	April 24	August 20	October 16
Sunset w/ Daylight Savings	February 9,10	April 11	August 30	November 4

Anyway, that's just me. So what do we use? The best combination of seasons would be the one with long summers, not as long winters, and spring happening earlier. And using the sunset times with daylight savings fits those requirements: Spring starts 6 weeks early. Summer is 20 weeks long. Winter starts earlier but only lasts 14 weeks. Maybe this should be called the socioeconomic seasons? Just a thought.