Tranquillity Park

Tranquillity Park

Tranquillity Park is a park in Downtown Houston, Texas, between Walker and Rusk Streets, and west of Smith Street, with the United States federal courts building for the Southern District of Texas on one side and Houston City Hall on the other. It takes its name, notably differing in spelling, from the Sea of Tranquility, where man first landed on the moon during the Apollo 11 mission on July 20, 1969.

First opening to visitors in the summer of 1979, Tranquillity Park was officially dedicated on the tenth anniversary of the historic lunar landing. On bronze plaques placed along the main entrance, the first words transmitted by Neil Armstrong from the moon, "Houston, Tranquillity Base here. The Eagle has landed," are written in 15 languages.^[1] A replica of one of the footprints left on the moon by Neil Armstrong is also on display inside the park.

A two-block-long oasis of water and walkways, the mounds and depressions throughout the park are meant to represent the cratered lunar surface, and the park's 32-level Wortham Fountain features towering stainless steel cylinders designed to resemble the Apollo's rocket boosters.

Each year, Tranquillity Park becomes home to many city functions, art shows, and events such as the Children's Festival and the Houston International Festival. The park is also popular with downtown office workers seeking a shady spot to picnic during their lunch hours.^[2]

In the northern part of the park, actually a smaller park across the street, there are two memorials, one for each shuttle disaster.

References[link]

This Houston-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. v t e

Ray Hill (born 1939) was a leading figure in the British far right who went on to become a well-known informant.

Born in Lancashire, he spent three years in the army before making his first steps in the far right with the Racial Preservation Society in Leicester in the late 1960s.^[1] From here he met Colin Jordan and soon became a member of the British Movement, being appointed Organiser for Leicester in 1968.^[2] He emigrated to South Africa the following year and became disabused of his former views after becoming friendly with members of South Africa's Jewish community. He was asked by a friend to infiltrate the South African National Front, an organisation for ex-pat whites, eventually rising to the chairmanship as well as undertaking a series of speaking engagements for the Afrikaans Herstigte Nasionale Party (a radical breakaway from the ruling National Party).^[3]

Hill returned to Leicester in 1980 where he became associated with Anthony Reed Herbert, initially in the British National Front, then in the British Democratic Party. Hill didn't actually join either group; instead he renewed his membership in the British Movement.^[4] Around this time Hill also began to work in secret for Searchlight, helping to foil an alleged gun-running plot by the BDP.^[5]

By then deputy leader of the BM, Hill clashed with leader Michael McLaughlin in 1982 and succeeded in splitting the party.^[6] Hill, a former boxer in the army with a reputation as a street fighter, had the support of the BM's large skinhead following and took them with him when he joined in the newly launched British National Party in 1982 (also convincing Reed Herbert to bring his BDP on board).^[7] In the 1983 general election, he contested Leicester West for the BNP, receiving 469 votes (1.0%).^[8]

Hill revealed himself to be a 'mole' in 1984 in a documentary for Channel 4 which focused on the links between the British far right and international terrorism, as well as plots to launch bomb attacks in London, said to have been planned by the National Socialist Action Party.^[9] Hill became a regular columnist for Searchlight from then on, and in 1988 published a book about his experiences, The Other Face of Terror, with the journalist Andrew Bell. He has also been elected as an Honorary Vice President of the National Union of Students. He no longer writes for Searchlight.

Elections contested[link]

References[link]

Constructs such as ibid., loc. cit. and idem are discouraged by Wikipedia's style guide for footnotes, as they are easily broken. Please improve this article by replacing them with named references (quick guide), or an abbreviated title. (March 2010)

Bibliography[link]

• R. Hill & A. Bell, The Other Face of Terror- Inside Europe’s Neo-Nazi Network, London: Collins, 1988

External links[link]

• Can Fascists Recant?
• Ray Hill's Speech at The Cambridge Union Society (audio recording)