Taj Mahal

The Taj Mahal is a mausoleum located in Agra, India, built by Mughal emperor Shah Jahan in memory of his favorite wife, Mumtaz Mahal . The Taj Mahal (also "the Taj") is considered the finest example of Mughal architecture, a style that combines elements from Islamic, Indian and Persian architectural styles.In 1983, the Taj Mahal became a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
While the white domed marble mausoleum is its most familiar component, the Taj Mahal is actually an integrated complex of structures. Building began around 1632 and was completed around 1653, and employed thousands of artisans and craftsmen.The construction of the Taj Mahal was entrusted to a board of architects under imperial supervision including Abd ul-Karim Ma'mur Khan, Makramat Khan, and Ustad Ahmad Lahauri. Lahauri is generally considered to be the principal designer.

Soon after the Taj Mahal's completion, Shah Jahan was deposed by his son Aurangzeb and put under house arrest at nearby Agra Fort. Upon Shah Jahan's death, Aurangzeb buried him in the mausoluem next to his wife.
By the late 19th century, parts of the buildings had fallen badly into disrepair. During the time of the Indian rebellion of 1857, the Taj Mahal was defaced by British soldiers and government officials, who chiseled out precious stones and lapis lazuli from its walls. At the end of the 19th century, British viceroy Lord Curzon ordered a massive restoration project, which was completed in 1908. He also commissioned the large lamp in the interior chamber, modeled after one in a Cairo mosque. During this time the garden was remodeled with British-style lawns that are still in place today.

Phobias

Ablutophobia - Fear of washing or bathing.

Achluophobia - Fear of darkness.

Acousticophobia - Fear of noise.

Agliophobia - Fear of pain.

Ailurophobia - Fear of cats.

Angrophobia - Fear of becoming angry.

Bathophobia - Fear of depth

Bibliophobia - Fear of books.

Androphobia - Fear of men.

Cynophobia - Fear of dogs or rabies

Chromophobia - Fear of colors.

Daemonophobia - Fear of demons.

Anthophobia - Fear of flowers.

Aurophobia - Fear of gold.

Ecophobia - Fear of home.

Geliophobia - Fear of laughter

Febriphobia - Fear of fever.

Zoophobia - Fear of animals.

Top 10 Longest place names

• Krung thep mahanakhon bovorn ratanakosin mahintharayutthaya mahadilok pop noparatratchathani burirom udomratchanivetmahasathan amornpiman avatarnsathit sakkathattiyavisnukarmprasit (167 letters)
  (Bangkok, Thailand)

• Taumatawhakatangihangakoauauotamateaturipukakapiki-maungahoronukupokaiwhenuakitanatahu
  (Maori name of a hill in New Zealand. Translation: "The place where Tamatea, the man with the big knees, who slid, climbed, and swallowed mountains, known as Land-eater, played on the flute to his loved one" (85 letters)

• Gorsafawddachaidraigddanheddogleddollônpenrhynareur-draethceredigion
  Gwynedd, North Wales. Translation: "The Mawddach station and its dragon teeth at the Northern Penrhyn Road on the golden beach of Cardigan Bay".
  (67 letters)

• Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch
  Gwynedd, North Wales. Translation: "St Mary's Church in the hollow of the white hazel near to the rapid whirlpool of the church of St. Tysilo near the Red Cave".
  (58 letters)
  
• El Pueblo de Nuestra Señora la Reina de los Ángeles de la Porciúncula
  Los Angeles, California.
  Translation: "The town of Our Lady the Queen of the Angels of the Little Portion". (57 letters)

• Chargoggagoggmanchaugagoggchaubunagungamaug
  A lake near Webster, Massachusetts.
  Translation: "You fish on your side. I'll fish on mine, and no one fishes in the middle". (43 letters)

• Lower North Branch Little Southwest Miramichi
  A short river in New Brunswick, Canada (40 letters)

• Villa Real de la Santa Fé de San Francisco de Asis
  Santa Fe, New Mexico.
  Translation: "Royal city of the holy faith of St. Francis of Assisi".
  (40 letters)

• Te Whakatakanga-o-te-ngarehu-o-te-ahi-a-Tamatea
  Mauri name of Hammer Springs, New Zealand.
  (38 letters)

• Meallan Liath Coire Mhic Dhubhghaill
  Aultanrynie, Highlands, Scotland.
  (32 letters)
  

Our Earth

Estimated Weight (mass) : 5,940,000,000,000,000,000,000 metric tons

Estimated Age : 4.6 billion years

Current Population : 6,446,131,714

Surface Area : 510,066,000 sq km

Land Area : 148,647,000 sq km - 29.1%

Ocean Area : 335,258,000 sq km

Total Water Area : 361,419,000 sq km - 70.9%

Type of Water : 97% salt , 3% fresh

Circumference at the equator : 40,066 km

Circumference at the poles : 39, 992 km

Diameter at the equator : 12,753 km

Diameter at the poles : 12,710 km

Radius at the equator : 6,376 km

Radius at the poles : 6,355 km

Orbit Speeds : The earth orbits the Sun at (66,700 mph),

(107,320km per hour)

Sun Orbit : The earth orbits the Sun every 365 days, 5 hours,

48minutes and 46 seconds

LARGEST COUNTRIES

Russia 17,075,400 sq km

Canada 9,330,970 sq km

China 9,326,410 sq km

USA 9.166,600 sq km

Brazil 8,456,510 sq km

Australia 7,617,930 sq km

India 2,973,190 sq km

Argentina 2,736,690 sq km

Kazakhstan 2,717,300 sq km

Sudan 2,376,000 sq km

Top 10 Ice Cream Consuming Countries in the World

1) United States

2) New Zealand

3) Denmark

4) Australia

5) Belgium / Luxembourg

6) Sweden

7) Canada

8) Norway

9) Ireland

10) Switzerland

Interesting facts

1. If you are right handed, you will tend to chew your food on your right side. If you are left handed, you will tend to chew your food on your left side.

2. If you stop getting thirsty, you need to drink more water. For when a human body is dehydrated, its thirst mechanism shuts off.

3. Chewing gum while peeling onions will keep you from crying.

4. Your tongue is germ free only if it is pink. If it is white there is a thin film of bacteria on it.

5. The Mercedes-Benz motto is “Das Beste oder Nichts” meaning “the best or nothing”.

6. The Titanic was the first ship to use the SOS signal.

7. The pupil of the eye expands as much as 45 percent when a person looks at something pleasing.

8. The average person who stops smoking requires one hour less sleep a night.

9. Laughing lowers levels of stress hormones and strengthens the immune system. Six-year-olds laugh an average of 300 times a day. Adults only laugh 15 to 100 times a day.

10. The roar that we hear when we place a seashell next to our ear is not the ocean, but rather the sound of blood surging through the veins in the ear.

UNBELIEVABLE!!!!!!!!!!!!

Canadian film maker Rob Spence, who damaged his right eye in a childhood accident, is determined to replace it with a digital camera. "Team Eyeborg" has just succeeded in fitting Spence with an artificial eye containing a working LED – a step towards a camera-containing synthetic eye. Spence and engineer Kosta Gramatis have succeeded in placing a working red LED in Spence's eye giving him a look similar from Arnold Schwarzenegger's cyborg in The Terminator. This camera will record everything that enters Spence's field of vision and relay the footage back to a computer. That video will provide a unique perspective on the way video surveillance is becoming more popular in western societies...

Similarities between Abraham Lincoln & John F Kennedy

• Abraham Lincoln was elected to Congress in 1846.

John F. Kennedy was elected to Congress in 1946

• Lincoln failed to win the Vice Presidential nomination in 1856.

Kennedy failed to win the Vice Presidential nomination in 1956.

• Abraham Lincoln was elected President in 1860.

John F. Kennedy was elected President in 1960.

• Lincoln defeated Stephen Douglas who was born in 1813.

Kennedy defeated Richard Nixon who was born in 1913.

• Both Presidents were shot on a Friday.

Both Presidents were shot in the head.

• Lincoln's secretary was named Kennedy.

Kennedy's secretary was named Lincoln.

• Andrew Johnson, who succeeded Lincoln, was born in 1808.

Lyndon Johnson, who succeeded Kennedy, was born in 1908.

• Lincoln was shot at the theatre called "Ford."

Kennedy was shot in a car named "Lincoln", made by Ford.

• Booth ran from the theater and was caught in a warehouse.

Oswald ran from a warehouse and was caught in a theater.

For more information see http://www.meilach.com/samscorner/president.htm

America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves.
By: Abraham Lincoln..

Abraham Lincoln and 7:

1.He was the 16th president of America- 1+6=7.

2. In his name, there are 7 letters.

3. He was sworn in as a member of American Congress on-7-12-1847.

4. He has 7 debates with Stephen Douglas whose name also contains 7 letters each.

5. He fought Slavery which contains-7 letters.

6. He was a member in state legislature for 7 years.
7. When he became president of America, he appointed 7 cabinet ministers.

8. His best military general U.S. Grant has 7 letters in his name.

9. Lincoln died a few minutes after 7 a.m on the 7th day of the week (on Sunday).

The above incidents in the life of Lincoln were may be accidental or incidental