Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Humanities/2013 July 28

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July 28

name

Whats that locker called with extra locks for homes where people leave expensive valuables? Pass a Method talk 18:32, 28 July 2013 (UTC)

Safety deposit box? Or just safe? Tevildo (talk) 18:43, 28 July 2013 (UTC)

No. Thats kept in banks. Im speaking about the ones you have at home. Pass a Method talk 18:46, 28 July 2013 (UTC)

Safe? -- Jack of Oz ^{[pleasantries]} 18:54, 28 July 2013 (UTC)

Chastitty belt? --Cookatoo.ergo.ZooM (talk) 19:08, 28 July 2013 (UTC)

Didn't realize those were so common Cookatoo.ergo! ^{Market St.⧏} _{⧐ Diamond Way} 07:46, 29 July 2013 (UTC)

Strongbox? Cookatoo, was that spelling a freudian slip or a deliberate joke? {The poster formerly known as 87.81.2301.95} 90.213.246.168 (talk) 20:37, 28 July 2013 (UTC)

Pretty sure you mean a safe, or a "vault". There's a tremendous range in how good they are, from $10 boxes you can break open with a hammer, to $2000 safes you can store jewels in and the best safe crackers in the world need 30 minutes or more to get into. It's a big field. Shadowjams (talk) 22:28, 28 July 2013 (UTC)

Israeli municipalities elections

is there a website that shows the result of the previous municipal elections that took place in Israel ? because I want to know which mayors are from Shas party. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 65.92.153.225 (talk) 18:36, 28 July 2013 (UTC)

This information doesn't appear to be readily available on the Web, even in Hebrew. Go to Category:Municipalities of Israel where you'll find three relevant subcategories: Category:Cities in Israel, Category:Local councils in Israel and Category:Regional councils in Israel. A local council (usually smaller population than a city and may combine several in geographic proximity) is headed by a mayor or council head. A regional council (rural) has an elected council head. You can check these systematically if no better method presents itself. Do check the page history: there may not have been an update since the elections.-- Deborahjay (talk) 09:53, 31 July 2013 (UTC)

Name of an island

What's the name of the island that lies at the confluence of the Ohio and Miami Rivers? I've tried Google, which is full of references to an artificial island in Miami, Florida, but I couldn't find anything about an island located at 39°6′32″N 84°49′12″W. Its name also isn't marked on USGS quads. Nyttend (talk) 19:09, 28 July 2013 (UTC)

It also doesn't show a name on Bing Maps. Maybe it doesn't have a name? But if you call the libraries at the towns nearest to it, they might know. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 22:29, 28 July 2013 (UTC)

You can contact the Aurora Public Library (Aurora, Indiana) at http://www.aurorapubliclibrary.org. There is a button "Ask a Question" at the right side of the page. You can contact Miami University at http://www.lib.muohio.edu/askus/.

—Wavelength (talk) 02:07, 29 July 2013 (UTC)

Apparently people now call it "Flannery Island": [1] (third story). I'm not sure what it was called before that. --Atethnekos (Discussion, Contributions) 03:27, 29 July 2013 (UTC)

Though libraries are good suggestions, it may be more useful to call the county's property appraiser's office or the mayor or county councils office since they would be the experts on lands, boundaries and geographic names for the area. A librarian though smart would not really be well versed in some hinterland name or history. In my work I have had to call out of state county appraiser offices (they are government officials/employees) or the county council office and 99% of the time they are delighted to assist because calls about property or geographic locations can sometimes mean many more $$$$s in tax assessment and no appraiser office wants to get a reputation of scaring potential business away, whether your looking to do business with them (buy property, build factories/offices) or not. ^{Market St.⧏} _{⧐ Diamond Way} 07:41, 29 July 2013 (UTC)

Your comments about county offices made me wonder why I didn't check the Dearborn County GIS website (Indiana's great with GIS), but while that website tells me who owns different pieces of the Indiana side of the island, it didn't say anything. I think I'll try looking more for Flannery Island and look for old histories of Hamilton and Dearborn Counties, and if I can't confirm that, I'll try telephoning the appraisal offices. Thanks for the help! Nyttend (talk) 12:28, 29 July 2013 (UTC)

For what more are you looking? Since Oxbow owns the vast majority of the island, and they call it "Flannery Island" and erected a sign on the island saying so as well, that seems like it's pretty much its name. The National Map doesn't have a name for it: [2]; and the USACE navigational charts don't have a name for it [3] (chart 111). If I wanted a second opinion, I would email CSX railroad and ask them if they have a name for the island. For a third opinion, ask Duke Energy who own the neighboring Miami Fort Power Station. --Atethnekos (Discussion, Contributions) 15:26, 29 July 2013 (UTC)

So they do. I'd failed to make the connection (I've been really rushed this week) and hadn't yet contacted anyone. See File:Flannery Island at Ohio-Miami confluence.jpg; I was asking because I didn't know what to call the image. Nyttend (talk) 12:01, 30 July 2013 (UTC)

Central capitals

What capital cities are the (near or exact) geographical center the the entity it represents?--The Emperor's New Spy (talk) 20:38, 28 July 2013 (UTC)

I seem to recall this being asked before. I can't remember which desk it was on and I don't have any time to check as my wife just called me to dinner. Dismas|^(talk) 20:56, 28 July 2013 (UTC)

An example I know off-hand is Madrid. AndrewWTaylor (talk) 21:24, 28 July 2013 (UTC)

Only applies to Madrid if you leave the Canary Islands out of the equation. --Soman (talk) 22:32, 28 July 2013 (UTC)

Monaco? The Vatican? I should look it up, but does Brasilia work? HiLo48 (talk) 21:26, 28 July 2013 (UTC)

Brasilia was made to be more central but no, very much not the geographic center when you consider the no-mans land of the vast north and west rain forests of Brazil, though it is "centered" with population distribution of the nation. ^{Market St.⧏} _{⧐ Diamond Way} 07:24, 29 July 2013 (UTC)

There was a related discussion here. Capitals which have been chosen - and in some cases newly built - to be close to the centre of their territories include Brasilia, Abuja, Dodoma, Yamoussoukro, and Naypyidaw. Ghmyrtle (talk) 21:52, 28 July 2013 (UTC)

Wellington, New Zealand, fits the requirements pretty well. HiLo48 (talk) 22:19, 28 July 2013 (UTC)

Was the District of Columbia near the geographic center of the United States when it was chosen as the capital in 1790?Or when Congress first met there in 1800? Edison (talk) 03:48, 29 July 2013 (UTC)

As for 1790, it appears to have been close judging by this image on the north/south scale but certainly not east/west. Dismas|^(talk) 03:54, 29 July 2013 (UTC)

That may may overstate the westward extent of the 1790 US, with lands in Virginia and Georgia which werre not really settled(by US citizens) and which lacked county governments. Here's a Virginia 1790 map which is less Kentucky-ish: [4], Georgia counties 1790. The US government had little focus on areas west of the mountains in 1790. Edison (talk) 19:53, 29 July 2013 (UTC)

Limited only to national capitals? Indianapolis, Indiana; Columbus, Ohio; Bismark, North Dakota; Columbia, South Carolina; Austin, Texas; Pierre, South Dakota; Jackson, Mississippi; Springfield, Illinois; Hartford, Connecticut, Dover, Delaware; Honolulu, Hawaii & Des Moines, Iowa in the US are extremely near or on their state's geographic center with Nashville, Tennessee slightly north of it. Edmonton, Alberta is one I know in Canada. ^{Market St.⧏} _{⧐ Diamond Way} 07:22, 29 July 2013 (UTC)

With Nations how about Santiago, Chile, Tokyo, Japan, Mexico City, Mexico, Panama City, Panama, San Jose, Costa Rica and Riyadh, Saudi Arabia? ^{Market St.⧏} _{⧐ Diamond Way} 07:26, 29 July 2013 (UTC)

Athens, Greece works when you count all the islands & Crete, also working when you count Sardinia and Sicily is Rome, Italy. Also Ankara, Turkey, Prague, Czech Republic, Brussels, Belgium and Kiev, Ukraine. ^{Market St.⧏} _{⧐ Diamond Way} 07:29, 29 July 2013 (UTC)

And with the last decade of international news who can forget, Baghdad, Iraq? ^{Market St.⧏} _{⧐ Diamond Way} 07:30, 29 July 2013 (UTC)

DC was pretty close to central on an east-west (or, more precisely, a coast-inland) axis: the Atlantic Seaboard fall line was the de facto western boundary of the United States. Yes, people lived inland of it, but there weren't many of them. --Carnildo (talk) 01:24, 2 August 2013 (UTC)

Ottowa Canada was situated to be central to the then Canadian population, between Toronto and the flagship city of Montreal.

So was Ottawa Hayttom 19:06, 30 July 2013 (UTC)

92.17.0.133 (talk) 18:54, 29 July 2013 (UTC)

Colonel Seth Warner

Did Colonel Seth Warner know Robert Rogers personally? — Preceding unsigned comment added by Bfox71 (talk • contribs) 22:56, 28 July 2013 (UTC)

Not necessarily as Roger's Rangers reached a peak of 1,400 member in nine companies. It is easy to expect higher numbers of total members counting replacements and expired enlistments. Rogers probably didn't know most of them. Rmhermen (talk) 06:26, 29 July 2013 (UTC)