Where you were born

[Rye]

Where were you born? Post a few excerpts from Wiki about the city you were born in. If you were born on the border of two, post a little of both.

I was born right near the border of Astoria and Maspeth, Queens, so here:

The area now known as Astoria was originally called Hallet's Cove, after its first landowner William Hallet, who settled there in 1659 with his wife Elizabeth Fones. It was renamed after John Jacob Astor, the wealthiest man in America, with a net worth of over $40 million, in order to persuade him to invest $2,000 in the neighborhood. He only invested $500, but the name stayed nonetheless, as a bitter battle over naming the village was finally won by Astor's supporters and friends. From Astor's summer home in Hell Gate, Manhattan – on what is now East 87th Street near York Avenue – he could see across the East River the new Long Island village named in his honor; however, Astor never actually set foot in Astoria...

Astoria was first settled by the Dutch and Germans in the 17th century. Many Irish settled in the area during the waves of Irish immigration into New York City during the 19th and early 20th centuries.

Italians were the next significant immigrants in Astoria. Numerous Italian restaurants, delis, bakeries and pizza shops are found throughout Astoria, particularly in the Ditmars Blvd area.

The 1960s saw a large number of ethnic Greeks from Greece, Albania and Cyprus, giving Astoria the largest Greek population in New York City.[citation needed] The Greek cultural imprint can be seen in the numerous Greek restaurants, bakeries, tavernas and cafes, as well as several Greek Orthodox churches. With perhaps 30,000 residents claiming Greek heritage, Astoria has one of the largest concentrations of Greeks outside Greece.

The area known today as Maspeth was chartered by Dutch and English settlers in the mid-17th century. The Dutch had purchased land in the area known today as Queens in 1635, and within a few years began chartering towns. In 1642 they settled Maspat, under a charter granted to Rev. Francis Doughty. [1] Maspat became the first European settlement in Queens. [2] The settlement was leveled the following year in an attack by Native Indians, and the surviving settlers returned to Manhattan... The name "Maspeth" is derived from the name of Mespeatches Indians, one of the 13 main Indian tribes that inhabited Long Island. It is translated to mean "at the bad waterplace" relating to the many stagnant swamps that existed in the area.

Most people who live in Maspeth are of Polish, Slavic, Italian, Irish, German, Hispanic or Chinese descent. Maspeth also has a significant Lithuanian population, one of the densest populations of Lithuanian-Americans outside of the Chicago Area. Transfiguration Roman Catholic Church still is the focal point of Maspeth Lithuanian culture, and during the 60's, 70's, and 80's there was a thriving Lithuanian-American club on Grand Avenue. Even today Transfiguration conducts some masses in Lithuanian, and runs a Knights of Lithuania chapter out of the church hall. The Maironis Lithuanian School of New York also conducts its classes in Maspeth.

Where I went to school when I was a child, I was one of the only children who didn't speak Polish. In Astoria, most of the people are Greek and Italian, it's where my Dad grew up. Queens is weird because each neighborhood is real close to another, but each has its own very unique vibe. One area in Queens is literally only a few blocks in each direction, but the population is almost exclusively Jewish. It's kind of odd how each is so distinct when they're so close.

[Rocket Edge]

Portlaoise, Ireland.

Portlaoise (historically spelt Port Laoighise meaning "fort of Laois") is the county town of County Laois in the midlands of Ireland.


It's just a small town, nothing too out of the blue about it!

[Breine]

Here are some facts about my home town

Brørup is a town with a population of 4,436 (1st January 2009) in Vejen municipality, Region Syddanmark in Denmark.

Until January 1, 2007, Brørup was also a municipality (Danish, kommune) in Ribe County. The municipality covered an area of 107 km², and had a total population of 6,485 (2005). Its last mayor was Egon Fræhr, a member of the Venstre (Liberal Party) political party.

Brørup municipality ceased to exist as the result of Kommunalreformen ("The Municipality Reform" of 2007). It was merged with existing Holsted, Rødding, and Vejen municipalities to form the new Vejen municipality. This created a municipality with an area of 817 km² and a total population of 41,350 (2005).

Tirslund Rock or Tirslundstenen is a granite boulder in Denmark. Deposited during the Ice age it lies 4 km west of Brørup. It is Jutland's largest granite boulder and the second largest in Denmark. Its height is 3.5 meters above the ground and it's 16 meters in circumference. The rock was put under protection in 1832.

According to the legend King Harald Bluetooth wanted use the Tirslund Rock as a memorial stone on his parents Gorm the Old and Thyra's burial mounds in Jelling (this was in circa 940). It was supposed to be transported on a great iron sled but as legend says enemies forced King Harrold to abandon this enterprise. So the stone was left where it stands and the iron sled is said still to exist buried along with great treasure deep in the ground.

In the late 1700s an attempt to blow up the stone was made by the local pastor (so that it could be used as material for buildings), but he managed only to blow a small piece off of the top.



Tirslundstenen - the stones we are sitting on are the pieces the pastor blew off back then.


There is also a story saying that an angry troll threw the stone in an attempt to hit a nearby church, but he missed it, and as a result the stone landed where it now is.

Other facts:

- There is a big market here every Friday. Thousands of people come here to sell and buy all sorts of stuff. The market also has the biggest livestock auction in Denmark.

- Denmark was the first country in the world to legalize porn (in 1967), and the cinema in Brørup was the first in Denmark to show them. This means that the cinema here was probably the first in the world to legally show pornography. People used to come here in busses to watch porn

[Aerith's Knight]

I was born in a small town, I'm afraid. Only about 20.000 people.

Son en Breugel is a municipality in the southern Netherlands just outside of Eindhoven. 15,204 lived in this municipality as of June 1, 2005. Son en Breugel is 26,67 km² (of which 0,28 km² water). Son en Breugel used to be two different towns 'Son' and 'Breugel'. The border between these towns is made by the stream the Dommel. Son en Breugel borders to the following municipalities: Eindhoven, Sint-Oedenrode, Nuenen, Gerwen en Nederwetten, Best and Laarbeek.

The villages of Son and Breugel were founded between the 12th and 14th century. The villages developed quickly; some 300 households (150 each) were reported in both villages during the 15th century. However, both Son as well as Breugel were hit hard during the Eighty Years' War, and the number of households shrink to some 140 (with a total of 600 - 800 inhabitants). However, both villages manage to recover.

During the reign of Napoleon, both villages are combined into one municipality. Until the beginning of the 20th century, the population stays relatively stable at some 1,500 persons. However, between 1910 and 1940 the population increases from 1,600 to 3,500 when people start to move to the village out of economic reasons. It was the scene of heavy fighting at the end of the Second World War. From 1960 onwards, Son en Breugel continues to grow. As of August 16 2002, the number of inhabitants reached 15,000.

Exact middle of the colored part.

[Old Manus]

Wegberg is the northernmost city in the district of Heinsberg in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.



Parts of the hospital I was born in burned down in 1996 and it no longer treats birth and pregnancies, so I guess I'm in an exclusive club or something

[Rye]

Wow, I thought you were born in Wales!

[Raistlin]

I was born in Aurora, Colorado, which is a suburb right next to Denver.

World attention focused on Aurora for seven weeks during the fall of 1955, as President Dwight D. Eisenhower recovered from a heart attack at Fitzsimons Army Medical Center. The hospital is also the 1943 birthplace of 2004 Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry.

In 2004, Aurora was honored as the Sports Illustrated magazine's 50th Anniversary "Sportstown" for Colorado because of its exemplary involvement in facilitating and enhancing sports. Aurora's active populace is also reflected in the variety of professional athletes hailing from the city (see Notable People from Aurora below).

[Chloe.]

Salisbury is a cathedral city in Wiltshire, England. It has also been called New Sarum to distinguish it from the original site of settlement to the north of the city at Old Sarum, but this alternative name is not in common use. Similarly, a native of Salisbury may be known as a "Sarumite"[citation needed], but this term is also not commonly used. In 1990 Salisbury was twinned with Saintes in France, in 2006 with Xanten in Germany, and then in 2008 with the American cities of Salisbury, North Carolina and Salisbury, Maryland .

The city is located in the south-east of Wiltshire, near the edge of Salisbury Plain. It sits at the confluence of five rivers: the Nadder, Ebble, Wylye and Bourne are tributary to the Avon, which flows to the south coast and into the sea at Christchurch, Dorset. Salisbury railway station serves the city, and is the crossing point between the West of England Main Line and the Wessex Main Line making it a regional interchange.

It's also very close to Stonehenge, which has never seemed like a very exciting place to me.

Salisbury Cathedral.

Anyway it's a pretty boring place, but I've lived here my whole life so that's probably why I think that. I guess it's not too bad though.

[Shattered Dreamer]

Dublin (pronounced /ˈdʌblɨn/, /ˈdʊblɨn/ or /ˈdʊbəlɪn/) is the largest city (being a primate city)[2][3] and capital of Ireland. It is officially known in Irish as Baile Átha Cliath [bˠalʲə aːha klʲiəh] or Áth Cliath [aːh cliə(ɸ)]; the English name comes from the Irish Dubh Linn meaning "black pool". It is located near the midpoint of Ireland's east coast, at the mouth of the River Liffey and at the centre of the Dublin Region. Originally founded as a Viking settlement, it evolved into the Kingdom of Dublin and became the island's primary city following the Norman invasion. Today, it is ranked 23rd (down from 10th in 2008) in the Global Financial Centres Index,[4][5] has one of the fastest growing populations of any European capital city,[6][7] and is listed by the GaWC as a global city,[8][9] with a ranking of Alpha - which places Dublin amongst the top 25 cities in the world.[10] Dublin is a historical and contemporary cultural centre for the island of Ireland as well as a modern centre of education, the arts, administrative function, economy and industry.

[G13]

I was born in Spokane Washington. I'm not gonna post anything about it because there is literally nothing interesting about this place. Dick Cheney came to visit once, but no one really cared, Josh Hartnet filmed a few scenes for a movie that never came out, Carmen Electra had lunch at some ty restaurant and apparently someone saw Samuel L. Jackson at the mall.



I'm not sure what that thing is that's leaning, or why it's leaning. Maybe Breine's Troll's rock bounced off of it before landing there. Anyways, that's the nicest area of Spokane. All the other pictures are misleading. There's an Imax behind that hill.

[Jess]

I was born in Gateshead, UK. It lies on the southern bank of the river Tyne - directly opposite Newcastle.





Gateshead is the home of the MetroCentre, the largest shopping centre in the European Union.

There has been a settlement on the Gateshead side of the River Tyne, around the old river crossing where the Swing Bridge now stands, since Roman times.

Theories of the derivation of the name 'Gateshead' include 'head of the (Roman) road' or 'goat’s headland', as the River Tyne at this point was once roamed by goats.

In 1068 William the Conqueror defeated the forces of Edgar the Atheling and Malcolm king of Scotland (Shakespeare's Malcolm) on Gateshead Fell (now Low Fell).

The earliest recorded coal mining in the Gateshead area is dated to 1344. As trade on the Tyne prospered there were several attempts by the burghers of Newcastle to annex Gateshead. In 1576 a small group of Newcastle merchants acquired the 'Grand Lease' of the manors of Gateshead and Whickham. In the hundred years from 1574 coal shipments from Newcastle increased elevenfold while the population of Gateshead doubled to approximately 5,500. However, the lease and the abundant coal supplies ended in 1680. The pits were shallow as problems of ventilation and flooding defeated attempts to mine coal from the deeper seams.

[Bunny]

I was born in Durham, North Carolina.



Dinosaurs live there currently. Please don't mow the grass, they eat it.

Events include jazz festivals, blues festivals, symphony concerts, art exhibitions, and a multitude of cultural expositions, including the American Dance Festival and the Full Frame Documentary Film Festival. A center of Durham's culture is its Carolina Theater, which shows both live performances and films, primarily independent releases. Notable dining establishments are primarily concentrated in the Ninth Street, Brightleaf, and University Drive areas. There is a resurgence of restaurants in and around the downtown area, including several new restaurants in the American Tobacco District. The Nasher Museum of Art opened in October 2005 and has produced nationally-recognized traveling exhibitions of leading-edge global, contemporary art.
The Durham Association for Downtown Arts (DADA) is a non-profit arts organization located in the downtown area. It was founded in 1998 and then incorporated in 2000. The organization's mission is a commitment to the development, presentation and fiscal sponsorship of original art and performance in Durham. DADA strives to support local artists working in a diversity of artistic media. Emphasizing community, DADA helps local residents gain access to these artists by providing free or low-cost venue admission.

It is the location of the American Tobacco Company, the American Tobacco Trail, and Stagville, one of the largest plantation complexes in the South and home to almost 900 slaves! David Garrard and Dewayne Washington were born there and Clay Aiken lives there. So does Jamie Stewart of Xiu Xiu apparently!

[~*~Celes~*~]

Oregon is a city in Lucas County, Ohio, United States. It is a suburb of Toledo. The population was 19,355 at the 2000 census.

Perhaps the most well-known attraction in Oregon is the Sundance Drive-In, one of the last in the region. Pearson Park, within the city limits, and Maumee Bay State Park, just east of the city, have preserved or re-created sections of the original Black Swamp topography and forest. Its location at the confluence of major migration routes brings birdwatchers and hunters to nearby shoreland areas. Boating and fishing on Lake Erie are popular pursuits. The city sponsors an extensive softball and baseball recreation program.

German-American Festival Oregon hosts the oldest, largest and greatest ethnic festival in the area every year during the last weekend in August- the German-American Festival. An end of summer tradition, tens of thousands of festival goers migrate to the 57 acres (230,000 m2) of well-manicured lawns and gardens that make up Oak Shade Grove in Oregon. It is sponsored by the seven German- and Swiss-American Societies in Toledo. The purpose of the German-American Festival is to promote and enhance the German and Swiss cultures. As the largest supporter of high school level foreign language education in the Toledo area, The German-American Society uses festival revenue to support a wide variety of scholarships recognizing young German scholars who have shown great enthusiasm and dedication in studying the German language and culture. "Beer - lots of German and domestic BEER!" 2007 was the first year the GAF had "park and ride" bus service available at various locations around Toledo. The festival will be held August 22, 23, 24 in 2008.

If you want to see some pix, go here: City of Oregon Ohio, Lucas County

[Cuchulainn]

Belfast, Ireland

Belfast (from the Irish: Béal Feirste meaning "mouth of the sandbars") is the capital of and the largest city in Northern Ireland, a constituent country of the United Kingdom. It is the seat of devolved government and legislative Northern Ireland Assembly.[4] It is the largest urban area in the province of Ulster, the second largest city on the island of Ireland and the 15th largest city in the United Kingdom. The city of Belfast has a population of 267,500,[1] and lies at the heart of the Belfast urban area, which has a population of 483,418.[5] The Belfast metropolitan area has a total population of 579,276.[3] Belfast was granted city status in 1888.

Belfast is a hole torn in two by 2 religions and despite the ceasefire don't believe the hype. We still hate eachother.


Police Station


Lovely Riot


Our lovely police


wall separating the two moronic tribes


a lovely mural by Protestant murderers reminding us that while they arent killing innocent Catholics rigfht nowm they can & may at any time.


The UVF, Protestant murder squads who kill Catholic civilians & call it war.


The PIRA who killed police, soldiers & Loyalist for 28 years in order to get 'freedom' and in 28 years it got them...nowhere.


The RIRA who are STILL trying to kill soldiers & police & havent gor the hint yet that it dont work.




Belfast people. Come visit.

[Madame Adequate]

Eh, your impressions of Belfast will be deeply colored by where you go. Like Cuchulainn, I've been to plenty of ty areas. But someone who stays in the nicer areas would come away with a bloody good impression.

It is full of buck eejits though, no question.

Belfast Zoo is owned by Belfast City Council. The council spends £1.5 million every year on running and promoting the zoo, which is one of the few local government-funded zoos in the UK and Ireland. The Zoo is one of the top visitor attraction in Northern Ireland, receiving more than 295,000 visitors a year. The majority of the animals are in danger in their natural habitat. The zoo houses more than 1,200 animals of 140 species including Asian Elephants, Barbary Lions, a White Tigers (one of the few in the United Kingdom), three species of penguin, a family of Western Lowland Gorillas, a troop of Common Chimpanzees, a Red Panda and several species of langur. The zoo also carries out important conservation work and takes part in European and international breeding programmes which help to ensure the survival of many species under threat.[73]

If you want to make it rain at Belfast Zoo, take me there. In all my years I have been there only once without a drop falling.

Peace has also boosted the numbers of tourists coming to Belfast. There were 6.4 million visitors in 2005, which was a growth of 8.5% from 2004. The visitors spent £285.2 million, supporting more than 15,600 jobs.[95] Visitor numbers rose by 6% to reach 6.8 million in 2006, with tourists spending £324 million, an increase of 15% on 2005.[96] The city's two airports have helped make the city one of the most visited weekend destinations in Europe.[97]

Belfast harbour was dredged in 1845 to provide deeper berths for larger ships. Donegall Quay was built out into the river as the harbour was developed further and trade flourished.[105] The Harland and Wolff shipbuilding firm was created in 1861, and by the time the Titanic was built in Belfast in 1912 it had become the largest shipyard in the world.[31]