Jaffna

Jaffna (Tamil: யாழ்ப்பாணம் Yalpanam, Sinhalese: යාපනය Yāpanaya) is the capital city of the Northern Province of Sri Lanka. It is the administrative headquarters of the Jaffna district located on a peninsula of the same name. With a population of 88,138, Jaffna is Sri Lanka's 12th largest city. Jaffna is approximately six miles away from Kandarodai which served as a famous emporium in the Jaffna peninsula from classical antiquity. Jaffna's suburb, Nallur served as the capital of the four centuries-long medieval Jaffna kingdom. Prior to the Sri Lankan civil war, it was Sri Lanka's second most populated city after the commercial capital Colombo. The 1980s insurgent uprising led to extensive damage, expulsion of part of the population, and military occupation. Since the end of civil war in 2009, refugees and internally displaced people have started to return to their homes and government and private sector reconstruction has begun.

Historically, Jaffna has been a contested city. It was made into a colonial port town during the Portuguese occupation of the Jaffna peninsula in 1619. The Dutch, took it from the Portuguese, only to lose it to the British in 1796. After Sri Lanka gained independence 1948, the political relationship between the minority Sri Lankan Tamils and majority Sinhalese worsened and after the Black July pogrom, civil war erupted in 1983. The rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) occupied Jaffna in 1986. and from 1989 until 1995. The Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF) briefly occupied the city in 1987. The LTTE again occupied the city from 1989 until 1995, when the Sri Lankan military gained control.

Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka (/sriːˈlɑːŋkə, -ˈlæŋkə/ or ⁱ/ʃriː-/;Sinhalese - ශ්‍රී ලංකාව, Tamil Ilaṅkai), officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka and known from the beginning of British colonial rule until 1972 as Ceylon (/sᵻˈlɒnˌ seɪ-ˌ siː-/), is an island country in South Asia near south-east India.

Sri Lanka has maritime borders with India to the northwest and the Maldives to the southwest. Its documented history spans 3,000 years, with evidence of pre-historic human settlements dating back to at least 125,000 years. Its geographic location and deep harbours made it of great strategic importance from the time of the ancient Silk Road through to World War II.

A diverse and multicultural country, Sri Lanka is home to many religions, ethnic groups, and languages. In addition to the majority Sinhalese, it is home to large groups of Sri Lankan and Indian Tamils, Moors, Burghers, Malays, Kaffirs and the aboriginal Vedda. Sri Lanka has a rich Buddhist heritage, and the first known Buddhist writings of Sri Lanka, the Pāli Canon, dates back to the Fourth Buddhist council in 29 BC. The country's recent history has been marred by a thirty-year civil war which decisively ended when Sri Lankan military defeated Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam in 2009.

100 North Main

100 North Main is the tallest building in Memphis, Tennessee. At 430 feet, (131m) it has 37 floors and stands bordering Adams Avenue, North Second Street, and North Main. The building is currently undergoing a multimillion-dollar renovation which will convert the building to a hotel and apartments, with plans to re-open the revolving restaurant on the top floor. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2015.

History

Finished in 1965, 100 North Main has remained a focal point of the Memphis riverfront skyline. The building was designed by Robert Lee Hall, the architect of Memphis' largest office building (based on square footage), Clark Tower, as well as Patterson Hall at the University of Memphis.

100 North Main is an almost identical, taller version of the 633 Building in downtown Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Due to its proximity to various municipal buildings, 100 North Main's tenant base consisted primarily of attorneys, title companies, and various other professionals involved with government business and the courts.

Main City

Main City (Polish: Główne Miasto, German: Rechtstadt) is the central, historic part of Gdańsk's borough of Śródmieście. Unlike the Old Town and the New Town, the area was rebuilt after World War II and includes some of the city's best known historical monuments, including the St. Mary's basilica, Golden Gate, Artus Court, Main City Hall, the Royal Road, Long Lane and Long Market.

The Main City is located on the western bank of Motława. It is surrounded by the Old Town to the north, the Stare Przedmieście to the south, the borough of Nowe Ogrody to the east and the Granary Island to the east, across Motława.

It was founded in 1343 by the Teutonic Knights who had conquered the area in 1308. Officially a separate settlement from the nearby city (since then called the Old Town), it was chartered with Kulm Law, and was governed separately until 1457, when king Casimir IV of Poland granted the town with the Great Privilege, uniting the Main City with the Old Town and the suburb of Osiek. From then onwards the Main City shared its history with the rest of Gdańsk. In 19th century many houses in the largely mediaeval and renaissance part of Gdańsk received new, Gothic revival façades in line with a trend in Germany tying this style to "German spirit".