Germiston

Germiston is a city in the East Rand of Gauteng in South Africa. Germiston is now the seat of the Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality which includes much of the East Rand, and is also considered part of Greater Johannesburg. Lambton is the closest residential suburb to Rand Airport.

History

It was established in the early days of the gold rush when two prospectors, John Jack from the farm of Germiston near Glasgow and August Simmer from Vacha in Germany, struck paydirt on the farm of Elandsfontein. Both men made fortunes and the town sprang up next to the mine. In 1921 the world's largest gold refinery, the Rand Refinery, was established at Germiston. Seventy percent of the Western World's gold passes through this refinery. Gold mining gradually wound down and, by the end of the 20th century, no longer existed.

The WesBank Raceway motorsports facility was located in the city, but it was sold to industrial estate developers in November 2007. The Raceway was formerly the Gosforth Park Race Club, one of the major horse racing facilities in Gauteng. Germiston Stadium (formerly the Herman Immelman Stadium), home stadium of Moroka Swallows FC is also located in the citY.BRAVO This was also the home ground for the Germiston Simmer Rugby Club and has a tartan track for athletics.

Tony Hawk

Anthony Frank "Tony" Hawk (born May 12, 1968), nicknamed "The Birdman", is an American former professional skateboarder and actor. Hawk is well known for completing the first documented 900 and for his licensed video game titles, published by Activision. He is widely considered to be one of the most successful and influential pioneers of modern vertical skateboarding.

In 2002, he created the "Boom Boom HuckJam", an extreme sports exhibition and tour that was launched in Las Vegas. Throughout his career, Hawk has made numerous appearances in films, other media, and his own series of video games. He has also been involved in various philanthropic activities, including his own Tony Hawk Foundation that helps to build skateparks in underprivileged areas. In 2014, Hawk was labeled as one of the "Most influential skateboarders of all-time" by FoxWeekly.

Early life

Tony Hawk was born on May 12, 1968 in Carlsbad, California, to Nancy and Frank Peter Rupert Hawk, and was raised in San Diego, California. When Hawk was young, he was described as being "hyperactive," and his mother says that he was "so hard on himself and expected himself to do so many things." One time, Hawk struck out in baseball and was so distraught that he hid in a ravine and had to be "physically coaxed out" by his father. His frustration with himself was so harsh that his parents had him psychologically evaluated at school. The results were that Tony was "gifted," he tested with an I.Q. of 144, and school advisers recommended placing him in advanced classes. Hawk attended Jean Farb Middle School from 1980 to 1981, and eventually returned for the show, Homecoming with Rick Reilly, where he set up a ramp and did a demonstration.