Thursday, May 15, 2025

Introduction To This Blog System

                                                                                                                                             

Image used by permission

This is my main blog and all new postings are made here. Postings may be later combined into a compound posting on this blog. Many of the postings concern my observations in various branches of science, but there are also many on technology, religion, economics and, general world issues.

Blogs are organized to be read from top to bottom like a book. There is a list of the postings on each blog to the right of the blog, but you have to click on the months shown. Please use this listing to verify that you have seen all of the postings on the blog. The usual pace of this blog is 1-3 new postings per week.
 
I would really like to thank everyone who reads any of these blogs for your interest.
 
SCIENCE WRITING
 
Most of the postings on this blog are visits to various places around the world, and articles about such topics as history and religion. But much of the writing is about science. I do not write about what is already known but only if I can write something new, or at least a new way of looking at things. If the title of a posting has an asterisk* after it, that means that the posting has already been moved to it's permanent position and will later be deleted from here.
 
If you would like a quick background in the science and mathematics that everyone should really know in the 21st Century, the posting "Scientific Literacy" provides this in about a hundred paragraphs. Similarly, "The Way Things Work" provides a quick background in everyday technology.
 
I am a Christian and I want to show that belief in God is not unscientific at all. I was interested in science long before I was interested in religion, and have never had any trouble believing that God created everything.
 
There are five major scientific theories, each arranged in the form of a textbook. The first four of the following five are on this blog.
 
"The Theory Of Stationary Space" is my cosmological theory of how so much revolves around time being explained by us being in four-dimensional space, with the dimension that we cannot access being perceived as time. This is my version of string theory, with matter actually being strings in four dimensions rather than particles in three dimensions. Everything is ultimately based on negative and positive electric charges, with energy being able to overcome the laws of attraction and repulsion of electric charges. No one has ever explained exactly what time is, and a myriad of explanations of other things fall right into place around it.
 
"The Flow Of Information Through The Universe" is about how so much can be explained by seeing how there is a limited amount of information, and it must be the same information that constructs the highest levels as the lowest levels. A ready example is how the orbits of planets around the sun is based on the orbitals of electrons around the nucleus, in the atoms of which the sun and planets are composed. This concept is extremely useful because, understanding this, we can study things that we cannot directly see by analyzing things that we can see because all must be built on the same information.
 
"The Theory Of Complexity" is about what information actually is, how energy and information is really the same thing, and how we see the universe as we do because of our perspective of being at a higher level of information than our inanimate surroundings.
 
"The Lowest Information Point" is about how, since information and energy is really the same thing and the universe always seeks the lowest energy state, it also always seeks the "Lowest Information Point". So much is explained by how the universe prefers equalities to inequalities and related ratios where the numerator of one ratio is also the denominator of the other. This explains so much from why dust particles are as big as they to why the planets and stars are the scale that they are.
 
"The Story Of Planet Earth", on the geology blog, is about how virtually every major feature of the earth's surface, both on land and seafloor, can be explained by lines of magma emergence from below that were affected by the landing of three Continental Asteroids. Many people believe that land originated from a past "super-continent", but there is no explanation of where it came from.
 
There are a few of what we could call "minor" theories, where there is not as much written as with the major theories. On this blog, there is "How Biology And Human Life Fits Into Cosmology". On the meteorology and biology blog, there is my theory of the nature of water, "Water Made Really Simple".
 
There are compound postings about science which are groupings of writing about a certain topic.
 
Scientific compound postings include, "Computer Science", "Atomic Science", "Measurement", "A Celebration Of The Inverse Square Law", "Our Solar System", "Mind-Bending Cosmology", "The Configuration Of The Solar System Made Really Simple", "In Appreciation Of Electrons", "The Science Of Human Society " and "Orbital And Escape Velocities And Impacts from Space".
 
Compound postings about history and the world include "The House Of Holy Wisdom, Where The Modern World Began", "Niagara Stories", "Economics", "How History Repeats Itself", "The Meaning Of Freedom", "The Western Hemisphere", "Our Language" and, "America And The Modern World Explained By Way Of Paris".
 
There are two compound postings about prophecies and the Bible. There is "The Aztec Prophecy" than, for prophecies that are directly made in the Bible there is "New Insight Into Bible Prophecy".
 
"Investigations" is the compound posting that is a collection of any posting about an investigation.
 
The rest of the postings are individual postings. For more detailed information about this blog, see the posting "About This Blog". For general topics of conversation, see "Thoughts And Observations", on the world and economics blog.  

Other Blogs And Books

                                                                                         

Lights at night 

Here is a quick look at my other blogs before you start this one.

On this blog, you can see a list of all postings by clicking on the year or month to the right. But on the topical blogs, that is not the case. If you click on a year or month on those blogs, it will display the postings themselves, but the list on the right will still only show those postings that were added most recently.

To access a list of all postings on those blogs, it is necessary to click on the arrow in front of the year or month in question.

http://www.markmeekeconomics.blogspot.com/ is about economics, history and, general human issues.

http://www.markmeekprogress.blogspot.com/ concerns progress in technology and ideas.

http://www.markmeekearth.blogspot.com/ is my geology and global natural history blog for topics other than glaciers. My natural history blogs concerning the impact of glaciers is http://www.markmeekworld.blogspot.com/ .

http://www.markmeekniagara.blogspot.com/ is about new discoveries concerning natural history in the general area of Niagara Falls.

http://www.markmeeklife.blogspot.com/ is my observations concerning meteorology and biology.

http://www.markmeekphysics.blogspot.com/ is my blog about physics and astronomy.

http://www.markmeekcosmology.blogspot.com/ is my version of string theory that solves many unsolved mysteries about the underlying structure and beginning of the universe.

http://www.markmeekpatterns.blogspot.com/ details my work with the fundamental patterns and complexity that underlies everything in existence.

 http://www.markmeekreligion.blogspot.com/ is my religion blog.

 http://www.markmeekcreation.blogspot.com/ is proof that there must be a god.

http://www.markmeekphotos.blogspot.com/ is my travel photos of Europe.

On my photo blogs, Blogspot will not hold all of the photos in each blog in a straight line. To see all of the photos, you must click on the bottom posting listed on the right at the top of the blog after seeing all that there are in the initial showing. The last posting in the North America blog should be "Tijuana, Mexico" and the last posting in the Europe blog should be "Notre Dame Cathedral Door And Arc De Triomphe, Paris". Each photo in the photo blogs can be clicked on to enlarge it to full screen.

My autobiography is http://www.mark-meek.blogspot.com/

My books can be seen at http://www.bn.com/ http://www.amazon.com/ or, http://www.iuniverse.com/ just do an author search for "Mark Meek".   

Nanjing

There are three great cities in the general area where the Yangtze River meets the sea. We have already visited Shanghai and Hangzhou, today let's visit Nanjing.

Nanjing was capital of China during the Ming Dynasty, and was once the largest city in the world. The Ming Dynasty, from 1368 to 1644, was a great period in Chinese and world history. During this time Beijing, the current capital of China, was made a secondary northern capital, but Nanjing was the main capital. Most of the six hundred year old walls of Nanjing are still there. The Forbidden City of Beijing was supposedly based on on the now-gone Ming Palace of Nanjing.

The city itself goes far back into ancient times. it is built on the site of an "Ancient Stone City", from the Warring States Period of the Fifth Century B.C., which is now part of Nanjing's wall. The famed admiral, Zheng He, who made sea voyages all over Asia and to Africa during the Ming Dynasty, was based in Nanjing.

The center of Nanjing today is the area around the Confucian Temple. A temple was first constructed here in the year 384. The Qinhuai River meets the Yangtze River at Nanjing. The first four scenes of the Temple area are from Google Street View.





There are multiple scenes following. To see the scenes, after the first one, you must first click the up arrow, ^, before you can move on to the next scene by clicking the right or forward arrow, >. After clicking the up arrow, you can then hide the previews of successive scenes, if you wish.

https://www.google.com/maps/@32.0236043,118.7870183,3a,75y,98.94h,90t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1s-aaMzxrnM7bo%2FV1Puw7MmhRI%2FAAAAAAAAi6o%2Ffc0iB6ISapg9KLoOmmVBX5vKzrPU1hLIQCLIB!2e4!3e11!6s%2F%2Flh3.googleusercontent.com%2F-aaMzxrnM7bo%2FV1Puw7MmhRI%2FAAAAAAAAi6o%2Ffc0iB6ISapg9KLoOmmVBX5vKzrPU1hLIQCLIB%2Fw203-h100-k-no-pi0-ya329.51166-ro-0-fo100%2F!7i8704!8i4352

The Qixia Temple, not far from Nanjing, dates from the year 489. Also in the images may be seen the mausoleum of Dr. Sun Yat Sen, but this was built in the Twentieth Century. Sun Yat Sen is the founder of the modern Republic of China, and was it's first president.

He founded the Nationalist Party, which later lost to the Communists and withdrew to Taiwan, but it still honored in the mainland as the founder of the modern country. 

Sun Yat Sen died in 1925, before the Long March and the Civil War which resulted in victory for the Communists. Nanjing was the capital of China, until the victorious Communists moved the capital to Beijing. The name was changed from "Republic of China" to "People's Republic of China". The following three images of the mausoleum are from Google Street View.


























What China Has Going For It

China's history goes back about five thousand years and the present government is solidly rooted in that history. It is widely considered that Imperial China, with it's successive dynasties, came to an end in 1911. But a dynastic history that has been going on for thousands of years isn't going to just end suddenly like that.

China's dynasties are usually divided into Early, Middle and, Late Imperial China, with three successive dynasties each. We might call the era that China is in now "Post-Imperial", but the same rules will apply.

The first Post-Imperial "Dynasty" was the Nationalist Dynasty, from 1911 to 1949 and led by Sun Yat-Sen and Chiang Kai-Shek. The second Post-Imperial "Dynasty" is the present Communists, ruling since 1949.

What the present leadership has going for it is that in each of the first two imperial eras, Early and Middle Imperial China, the first dynasty was a rather brief one but was important in that it reunited the country after the collapse of the previous dynasty, thus bringing in a new era. 

These previous dynasties were the Qin, from Early Imperial China, and the Sui, from Middle Imperial China. In Post-Imperial China these correspond to the Nationalists, who indeed dealt with the warlords and fragmentation that occurred after the end of the Qing Dynasty, in 1911.

The good news for the present Communist "Dynasty" is that the brief Qin and Sui Dynasties were followed by two of the most glorious periods in Chinese history. These are the Han Dynasty, of Early Imperial China, and the Tang Dynasty, of Middle Imperial China. The present Communist "Dynasty" corresponds to these glorious eras of the past.

So we are expecting great things from China.

Just an idea for China. There is an Eighteenth Century scroll painting called "Prosperous Suzhou", about the city by that name near Shanghai and Hangzhou. It shows daily life across the city. A scroll painting is the long-ago version of a movie. How about making it into a modern movie?

Again the capital city of China has moved so many times, I wonder if it will ever move again. Xian was the first capital, and also served as capital at other times since then. I remember, from when I was very young, the news of the discovery of the Terra Cotta Army that had been buried with the first emperor of Imperial China. How about Xian if the capital ever moves again? 

DONALD TRUMP AND THE SILK ROAD 

From ancient times until the late Middle Ages, trade thrived between China and the West along what later became known as the Silk Road. It was a general term describing the trade, rather than referring to a specific road. The growth of the Ottoman Empire, between the West and China, was one reason for the decline of the Silk Road. Europeans began looking for a sea route to the East, and that is what led to the discovery and colonization of the Western Hemisphere. 

The Chinese terminal of the Silk Road was the city of Xian, which was once the capital of China and the largest city in the world. In recent decades a mirror-image maritime version of the Silk Road has emerged. Products are shipped in the opposite direction, eastward from China, by sea to ports such as Los Angeles. The Chinese terminal of this maritime route is mainly Shanghai. 

China has set about reviving the original Silk Road with the Belt and Road Initiative. Meanwhile, Donald Trump's tariffs will likely diminish the input of products from Shanghai. If this trade could be shifted to other countries, it could be the best thing for the new Silk Road, the Belt and Road Initiative. 

CHINA'S GREAT REUNION 

China has recently completed a great seaport complex in Peru. In the compound posting, "The Western Hemisphere" August 2021, there is a section titled "CHINA'S GREAT REUNION". The native Indians of the Western Hemisphere originally came from east Asia. 

During the last ice age, sea level dropped because so much water was tied up in glaciers on land. This made it possible for the ancestors of the native Indians to walk across from Siberia to Alaska, and from there they spread throughout the Western Hemisphere. They are called "Indians" because Christopher Columbus mistakenly thought that he had landed in India. 

China's extensive economic connections with South America, including this port in Peru, is what I refer to as "China's Great Reunion". 

CHINESE WEAPONS 

The real winner in the recent shootout between India and Pakistan was Chinese weapons. Aircraft and missiles were tested, for the first time, in actual combat.

Library For Readers

Here is our library for your summer reading. More has been added since last year. I periodically collect postings of similar subject matter together into compound postings. They are of book-length or near-book-length. Here is an index of the compound postings, and a link to each posting.


HISTORY AND THE WORLD


"The Sheet Theory Of History" www.markmeeksideas.blogspot.com/2025/02/the-sheet-theory-of-history.html?m=0

"The House Of Holy Wisdom Where The Modern World Began" www.markmeeksideas.blogspot.com/2016/01/the-house-of-wisdom-where-modern-world.html?m=0

"America And The Modern World Explained By Way Of Paris" www.markmeeksideas.blogspot.com/2015/12/america-and-modern-world-explained-by_12.html?m=0

"The Revolution Series" www.markmeeksideas.blogspot.com/2025/03/the-revolution-series.html?m=0

"Economics" www.markmeeksideas.blogspot.com/2019/11/economics.html?m=0

"How History Repeats Itself" www.markmeeksideas.blogspot.com/2019/11/how-history-repeats-itself.html?m=0

"The Meaning Of Freedom" www.markmeeksideas.blogspot.com/2021/07/the-meaning-of-freedom_1.html?m=0

"The Western Hemisphere" www.markmeeksideas.blogspot.com/2021/08/the-western-hemisphere.html?m=0

"Our Language" www.markmeeksideas.blogspot.com/2022/08/our-language.html?m=0

"Investigations" www.markmeeksideas.blogspot.com/2018/12/investigations.html?m=0 

"India And The West" www.markmeeksideas.blogspot.com/2022/12/india-and-west.html?m=0

"Niagara Stories" www.markmeeksideas.blogspot.com/2024/06/niagara-stories.html?m=0


CHRISTIANITY 


"New Insight Into Bible Prophecy" www.markmeeksideas.blogspot.com/2016/10/new-insight-into-bible-prophecy.html?m=0

"The Aztec Prophecy" www.markmeeksideas.blogspot.com/2018/04/?m=0


SCIENCE

"Cosmology Theory In Diagrams". This is an abbreviated version of the cosmology theory. www.markmeeksideas.blogspot.com/2024/01/cosmology-theory-in-diagrams.html?m=0

"Geology Theory With Satellite Imagery". This is an abbreviated version of the geology theory. www.markmeeksideas.blogspot.com/2024/03/geology-theory-with-satellite-imagery.html?m=0

"Computer Science" www.markmeeksideas.blogspot.com/2021/07/computer-science.html?m=0

"Atomic Science" www.markmeeksideas.blogspot.com/2022/12/atomic-science.html?m=0

"Measurement" www.markmeeksideas.blogspot.com/2021/09/measurement.html?m=0

"A Celebration Of The Inverse Square Law" www.markmeeksideas.blogspot.com/2015/08/a-celebration-of-inverse-square-law.html?m=0

"Our Solar System" www.markmeeksideas.blogspot.com/2022/10/our-solar-system.html?m=0

"Mind-Bending Cosmology" www.markmeeksideas.blogspot.com/2022/05/mind-bending-cosmology.html?m=0

"The Configuration Of The Solar System Made Really Simple" www.markmeeksideas.blogspot.com/2017/03/the-configuration-of-solar-system-made.html?m=0

"Orbital And Escape Velocities And Impacts From Space" www.markmeeksideas.blogspot.com/2014/11/orbital-and-escape-velocities-and.html?m=0 

"In Appreciation Of Electrons" www.markmeeksideas.blogspot.com/2022/01/in-appreciation-of-electrons.html?m=0 

"The Science Of Human Society" www.markmeeksideas.blogspot.com/2023/02/the-science-of-human-society.html?m=0 

"The Moon" www.markmeeksideas.blogspot.com/2023/08/the-moon.html?m=0 


I set out to provide a good background in science that everyone should have in the Twenty-First Century in 100 paragraphs. I ended up with 104 paragraphs. Thoroughly learn everything in "Scientific Literacy" and you will have a strong background in general science. It includes mathematics but not biology:

www.markmeeksideas.blogspot.com/2014/03/scientific-literacy_22.html?m=0 

This is a link to the information theories.

www.markmeeksideas.blogspot.com/2024/08/the-information-theories.html?m=0


GENERAL 

This is the travel photos of Europe. www.markmeeksideas.blogspot.com/2024/02/travel-photos-of-europe.html?m=0

This is the travel photos of North America. www.markmeeksideas.blogspot.com/2024/02/travel-photos-of-north-america.html?m=0

This is "Insights Into Major Crimes". www.markmeeksideas.blogspot.com/2024/09/insights-into-major-crimes.html?m=0

This is a book of general observations, and things to talk or write or think about, in no particular order.

www.markmeekeconomics.blogspot.com/2009/07/thoughts-and-observations.html?m=0 

The best way to tell a lot of stories is in the context of an autobiography. This is a "living" autobiography and I periodically add more to it.

www.markmeeksideas.blogspot.com/2009/07/other-blogs-and-books.html?m=0

My story about imaginary space aliens that visit earth, but never see a human, deduce all about humans from the technology that they find is "Reverse Archeology".

www.markmeekpatterns.blogspot.com/2009/07/reverse-archeology.html?m=0

UPDATED WITH IMAGES 

There are four postings that I originally wrote on a computer, so they had links to images rather than the images in the posting. I recently updated these postings so that the images are in the postings. This should make them easier to read.

There is the book of "Investigations". 

www.markmeeksideas.blogspot.com/2018/12/investigations.html?m=0

There is the visit to "Paris".

www.markmeeksideas.blogspot.com/2024/08/paris.html?m=0 

"A Comparison Of London And Paris" 

www.markmeeksideas.blogspot.com/2023/12/a-comparison-of-london-and-paris.html?m=0 

"Along London's Royal Route" 

www.markmeeksideas.blogspot.com/2024/08/along-londons-royal-route.html?m=0


IMPORTANT SINGLE POSTINGS 

Here are links to some important single postings on this blog. These are the length of a single article. By that I mean the ones that I link to most often.

This is about the long term effects of the Iranian Revolution of 1979. www.markmeeksideas.blogspot.com/2017/01/the-great-revolution-of-our-time.html?m=0 

This is an introduction to my cosmology theory. www.markmeeksideas.blogspot.com/2019/05/in-cosmology-everything-just-fell-right.html?m=0 

This is the Theory Of Kings. www.markmeeksideas.blogspot.com/2022/04/the-theory-of-kings_28.html?m=0 

These are two introductions to how information works. www.markmeeksideas.blogspot.com/2019/04/how-information-works.html?m=0 

www.markmeeksideas.blogspot.com/2021/02/examples-of-how-information-works.html?m=0 

This is discoveries in Niagara Falls natural history. www.markmeeksideas.blogspot.com/2019/06/niagara-natural-history-summary.html?m=0 

This is how the world is divided between the South and West and the North and East. www.markmeeksideas.blogspot.com/2016/04/understanding-world-in-terms-of-south.html?m=0 

This is the far reaching effects of the Holy Roman Empire. www.markmeeksideas.blogspot.com/2016/04/the-far-reaching-legacy-of-holy-roman.html?m=0 

This is The Wars Of The Gods. www.markmeeksideas.blogspot.com/2022/10/the-wars-of-gods.html?m=0

Really Fast Food

While in line at a fast food restaurant or drive-thru, you may have noticed that "fast food" sometimes isn't so fast after all. I often make a quick meal simply by putting raisins, dates and nuts, usually walnuts or pecans, together. It is nutritious and inexpensive and really is "fast food". 



Baltimore

With the first American Pope it is mostly forgotten today but the U.S. state of Maryland was originally a reserve for Catholics to live, hence the name of the state.

Baltimore is the largest city in the U.S. state of Maryland. The pre-independence history of America usually revolves around Puritans and Anglicans. But Maryland was an area that was set aside for Catholics, hence the name of the state, and Baltimore has the oldest Catholic cathedral in the U.S. In the days of immigration to America by ship, not all landed at Ellis Island. Many immigrants arrived in Baltimore.

A good place to begin our visit to Baltimore is downtown at the Lexington Market. The first image is from Google Street View.


There are multiple scenes following. To see the scenes, after the first one, you must first click the up arrow, ^, before you can move on to the next scene by clicking the right or forward arrow, >, After clicking the up arrow, you can then hide the previews of successive scenes, if you wish.

https://www.google.com/maps/@39.2918767,-76.6211532,3a,75y,132.68h,90t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sGdbSqzg_b6OgXEMuWKIgeg!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo2.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3DGdbSqzg_b6OgXEMuWKIgeg%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D139.99297%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i13312!8i6656

These views of downtown Baltimore begin at the base of the Emerson Bromo Seltzer Clock Tower. Possibly the best known sports team in America is baseball's Baltimore Orioles. The first time I heard of Baltimore was in conjunction with baseball. Certainly the most famous name in baseball is Babe Ruth, who was a native of Baltimore. 

These two views of the Emerson Bromo Seltzer Clock Tower are from Google Street View.



This image, from Google Earth, is of the baseball stadium.


These three general views of downtown Baltimore are from Google Earth.




https://www.google.com/maps/@39.2872444,-76.6207988,3a,75y,41.03h,117.85t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1s-w-8mSkK--BP7e16jlTlcw!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo1.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3D-w-8mSkK--BP7e16jlTlcw%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D42.869114%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i13312!8i6656

The Phoenix Shot Tower, where gunshot is made simply by dropping molten metal from a height so that it falls into water and quenches, was once the tallest structure in the U.S. An old red brick power plant has been redeveloped for other uses. These two images of the Phoenix Shot Tower are from Google Earth and Street View.



There is an old smokestack nearby that is reminiscent of the Phoenix Shot Tower. When I was a stargazer, in my early teens before I got interested in exercise, I would focus the telescope for long-distance viewing on the bricks of this smokestack. Image from Google Street View.


https://www.google.com/maps/@39.2910867,-76.6052915,3a,75y,192.18h,113.29t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sK0Ksrxvx02vvTVyDLQKioQ!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo3.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3DK0Ksrxvx02vvTVyDLQKioQ%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D92.303894%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i13312!8i6656

One of the names most associated with Baltimore today is Johns Hopkins, primarily a university and associated medical center. Johns Hopkins was a wealthy, and very generous, Nineteenth-Century philanthropist. This is Johns Hopkins University. It is one of those universities that actually "looks like a university".

https://www.google.com/maps/@39.3282577,-76.6207246,3a,75y,191.32h,90t/data=!3m5!1e1!3m3!1sKYOiaR07gyTBCElUiq0ybQ!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo2.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3DKYOiaR07gyTBCElUiq0ybQ%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D188.80252%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100

Baltimore is a city of many distinct neighborhoods. The following scenes begin in Mount Vernon, north of downtown. The monument on the column is in honor of George Washington. The first two images of the statue of George Washington are from Google Earth and Street View.



https://www.google.com/maps/@39.2997032,-76.6148953,3a,75y,133.79h,90t/data=!3m5!1e1!3m3!1sirAISx3NJVkL6GsD09wgRA!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo3.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3DirAISx3NJVkL6GsD09wgRA%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D141.09006%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100

America's national anthem, "The Star Spangled Banner", is about Baltimore's Fort McHenry. There was a large U.S. flag flying over the fort. British ships bombarded the fort with rockets throughout the night. But when morning came, the flag was still there. That was taken as an omen that America was here to stay.

America has fireworks displays on July 4th, a celebration of it's Independence Day in 1776. The fireworks represent the rockets that were launched at the fort. But this bombardment actually took place during the War of 1812, not America's War of Independence.

What became the national anthem was first written as a poem, by Francis Scott Key. It was actually made into a song by England's John Stafford Smith, from my native Gloucestershire. There is a memorial of him today in Gloucester Cathedral. The following image is from the Wikipedia article "John Stafford Smith".


This is Fort McHenry. The first three images are from Google Earth and Street View.




https://www.google.com/maps/@39.2632914,-76.5798809,3a,75y,140.2h,90t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sAF1QipNNqMn4aulfUApPFh5oEUgjjzV6TR8jbiY88YJl!2e10!3e11!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipNNqMn4aulfUApPFh5oEUgjjzV6TR8jbiY88YJl%3Dw203-h100-k-no-pi-0-ya325.17163-ro0-fo100!7i10240!8i5120

Here is some of everyday Baltimore, the area known as Midtown.

https://www.google.com/maps/@39.3067507,-76.6201504,3a,75y,136.5h,90t/data=!3m5!1e1!3m3!1sB2xv8fG62vjN6TM2BdJWhg!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo3.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3DB2xv8fG62vjN6TM2BdJWhg%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D136.5%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100

Baltimore has row houses that resemble those in Philadelphia. This area is Charles Hill.

https://www.google.com/maps/@39.3207265,-76.6149905,3a,75y,177.02h,90t/data=!3m5!1e1!3m3!1s8WVUvFLSJB25Q5F8YLQmJw!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo0.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3D8WVUvFLSJB25Q5F8YLQmJw%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D177.02487%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100

ATLANTIC CITY

There is another place that I wanted to add to these visits but it is not a big enough city to justify a full visit. So I will add a look at it here. Atlantic City is a resort. It is not near Baltimore but is on the coast of New Jersey. The people are walking on the famous Boardwalk. The first four images of Atlantic City are from Google Earth and Street View.




If you are wondering, the Boardwalk is actually made of boards. Image from Google Street View.