Downtown is a term primarily used in North America by English speakers to refer to a city's core (or center) or central business district (CBD), often in a geographical, commercial, or communal sense. The term is not generally used in British English, whose speakers instead use the term city centre.
The term is thought to have been coined in New York City, where it was in use by the 1830s to refer to the original town at the southern tip of the island of Manhattan. As the town of New York grew into a city, the only direction it could grow on the island was toward the north, proceeding upriver from the original settlement (the "up" and "down" terminology in turn came from the customary map design in which up was north and down was south). Thus, anything north of the original town became known as "uptown" (Upper Manhattan), while the original town (which was also New York's only major center of business at the time) became known as "downtown" (Lower Manhattan).
During the late 19th century, the term was gradually adopted by cities across the United States and Canada to refer to the historical core of the city (which was most often the same as the commercial heart of the city). Notably, it was not included in dictionaries as late as the 1880s. But by the early 1900s, downtown was clearly established as the proper term in American English for a city's central business district.
"Downtown Las Vegas Area" is the name assigned by the Nevada Gaming Control Board NGCB which includes the Downtown Las Vegas area casinos and the Stratosphere Tower which is located 2 miles (3.2 km) from Fremont Street. The city of Las Vegas uses the term Downtown Gaming for the casinos near the Fremont Street Experience. The land is part of the 110 acres (45 ha) that were auctioned on May 15, 1905 when the city was founded.
Currently downtown Las Vegas is the only place in Las Vegas where the casinos are clustered around an outdoor pedestrian zone. Caesars Entertainment has announced plans to build a similar venue with an observation wheel similar to the London Eye near the Flamingo.
In fiscal year 1988 the ratio of revenue for the Strip compared to downtown was less than 3:1. In FY2008 the ratio is over 10:1. However, downtown rode the massive increase in tourist spending from 2004 through 2007 that swelled the non-gaming revenue of the area. Non gaming revenue and income hit an all-time high in FY2006.
It's About Time is the debut studio album by American female R&B trio SWV, released by RCA Records on October 27, 1992 (see 1992 in music). It was certified triple platinum by the RIAA for more than three million copies shipped to store, and it spawned four hit singles with "I'm So into You", "Downtown", "Weak", and a remixed version of "Right Here/Human Nature." The latter two reached #1 on the R&B singles chart, with "Weak" being their biggest pop hit at #1. A remixed version of "Anything" appeared on the soundtrack of the film Above the Rim in 1994 and was released as the final single from It's About Time.
In 1993, the group earned 11 Billboard Music Award nominations for their debut album. In October 2004, I'm So into You appeared in popular videogame Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, playing on fictional new jack swing radio station CSR 103.9.
In 1996, the album was certified 3x platinum, for shipping over 3,000,000 albums in the U.S. alone.
*Initially issued without track 15, but was added to all subsequent CDs in April 1993
*Copies of the album with the catalog number BMG 66074 contain "Right Here (Vibe Mix)" (4:18), as the final track
Royal may refer to:
Fundy Royal (formerly known as Royal from 1914 to 1966, Fundy—Royal from 1966 to 2003, and Fundy in 2003-2004) is a federal electoral district in southern New Brunswick, Canada, that has been represented in the House of Commons of Canada since 1917.
The riding roughly covers the area in between the three largest cities in the province; Fredericton, Saint John and Moncton. Included in the riding are the towns of Quispamsis, Hampton, Sussex, St. Martins, Petitcodiac, Salisbury and part of Riverview. Also included are the area around Loch Lomond east of Saint John, and the Kingston Peninsula.
The neighbouring ridings are Saint John—Rothesay, New Brunswick Southwest, Fredericton, Miramichi—Grand Lake, Moncton—Riverview—Dieppe, and Beauséjour.
The riding of "Royal" was created in 1914. The name came from the counties of Queens and Kings, of which it was composed.
In 1966, Royal riding was amalgamated with most of Albert County and a rural portion of Saint John County into a new riding, "Fundy—Royal". One parish in Queens county was reapportioned into York—Sunbury at this time. In the 2003 redistribution, it lost almost all of Queens County and a large part of Kings County to other ridings; while gaining western Westmorland County. The riding was renamed "Fundy". This name was changed to "Fundy Royal" in 2004. As per the 2012 federal electoral redistribution, this riding will gain territories from Beauséjour, Saint John and New Brunswick Southwest, and lose a small territory to the new riding of Saint John—Rothesay.
A royal is a small sail flown immediately above the topgallant on square rigged sailing ships. It was originally called the "topgallant royal" and was used in light and favorable winds.
Royal sails were normally found only on larger ships with masts tall enough to accommodate the extra canvas. Royals were introduced around the turn of the 18th century, but were not usually flown on the mizzenmast until the end of that century. It gave its name to a Dutch term for a light breeze—the Royal Sail Breeze or bovenbramzeilskoelte was a Force 2 wind on the Beaufort Scale.