Neptune's Needle

City (1991 pop. 114,455), (cap.) N.S., S central N.S., E Canada, on the Atlantic Ocean; 44º39'N 63º36'W. Largest city in the Maritime provs. and one of Canada’s principal ice-free Atlantic ports. E terminus of Canada’s 2 great RR systems and of its transcontinental highway. Its many industries include commercial fishing, fish processing, shipbuilding, oil refining, and the mfg. of motor vehicles, electronics, clothing, and furniture. Home port of the Can. Atlantic fleet and the hq. of its E army. Founded in 1749 as Chebucto; later renamed for the earl of Halifax, then president of the Board of Trade and Plantations. It was intended originally to be a Brit. naval stronghold comparable to that of France at Louisburg. It served as a naval base for the expedition against Louisburg in 1758, against the Amer. colonies in the Amer. Revolution, and against the U.S. in the War of 1812. The first transatlantic steamship service, from Halifax to Great Britain, began in 1840. During both world wars the port was an important naval and air base, convoy terminal, and embarkation center. In 1917 a Fr. munitions vessel carrying explosives was rammed in the harbor by a Belg. relief vessel, causing an explosion that killed about 1,800 people, injured about 9,000 more (20% of the pop. city (1994 pop.1,702,900), coextensive with, and (cap.) Hamburg state (area; 288 sq mi/746 sq km), N Germany, on the Elbe R. near its mouth in the North Sea, and on the Alster R.; 53º33'N 10º00'E. The economic center of Germany and its 2d-largest city, Hamburg is the nation’s busiest port and its major industrial city. Its harbor handles approximately 1/3 of Germany’s imports and exports. Hamburg originated (early 9th cent.) in the Carolingian castle of Hammaburg, probably built by Charlemagne as a defense against the Slavs. It became (834) an archepiscopal see (united in 847 with the archdiocese of Bremen) and a missionary center for N Europe. Grew to commercial importance and in 1241 formed an alliance with Lubeck, which later became the basis of the Hanseatic League. Occupied by the French in 1806 and in 1815 joined the Ger. Confederation. In 1842 a fire destroyed much of the city. After World War I Hamburg was briefly (1918-1919) a socialist republic. In 1937 the city ceded Cuxhaven, its outlying port, to Prussia, but incorporated the neighboring towns of Altona, Harburg, and Wandsbek. During World War II (esp. in 1943) Hamburg was severely damaged by aerial bombardment, and some 55,000 persons were killed.

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Peter Richards