Washington, D.C.

If New York is the centre of finance, shipping and entertainment. New Orleans, the city of cotton and jazz. Boston the centre of culture and learning. Chicago, of meat markets and gangsters. Washington is the city of government and administration.

Washington, D.C.

Washington, D.C., is the capital of the United States. It is one of the few national capitals founded  solely as a seat of government. The original plan of the city anticipated its future growth. As the new republic increased in size and wealth, Washington grew to become one of the most important and beautiful cities in the world. It is the site of impressive government buildings, magnificent monuments, important historical landmarks, fine museums, and broad, tree-shaded avenues and malls. Every year Washington is visited by millions of tourists from all parts of the United States and from many other countries of the world. But the city is also home to a large number of people-the place where they live, work, and raise families. As such, it is confronted by the same problems facing most large cities.
Washington, District of Columbia, was named after George Washington and Christopher Columbus. 
Washington lies on the Potomac River between Maryland and Virginia. The city's site was selected by President Washington in 1791. A French engineer and architect was commissioned to plan the future capital. In 1800 the still unfinished city replaced Philadelphia as the nation's capital. 

Great Britain and major cities

Stratford

Stratford's fame has spread worldwide as the town where William Shakespeare was born. On a bright morning the busy shops are reminders that for five hundred years Stratford has been a market town.
Its history begins with the Roman occupation, but it was during the Middle Ages that Stratford flowered.
Stratford-upon-Avon is a town 94 miles northwest of London, on the Avon. In 1553 the town received a charter from Edward VI. Another Charter was granted in 1611. The population of the town is about 20 thousand. Its chief points of interest are associated with the name and life of Shakespeare. In Henley Street stands an unpretentions one-storeyed wooden house, where he was born, and which now belongs to the British government. The house where he died was torn down in 1759.
The town has a fine guild-hall, and a public library rich in Sliakespeareana (1905), an art gallery with many Sliakespeareana paintings, a market house, a corn exchange, a new school for technical education, public schools, the fine Shakespeare Memorial Theatre, and the Shakespeare fountain.
Stratford-upon-Avon is the birthplace of the greatest English poet and playwright William Shakespeare.
Shakespeare was born on April 23, 1564.
William received his early education at the local grammer school.
In 1587 Shakespeare went to London to seek his fortune in a company of actors. First he worked as an actor and then as a revister and writer of plays. 
Shakespeare's first narative poem, ''Venus' and Adonis'', was published in 1593 and met with a warm reception. 
In 1599 he became one of the proprietors at the Globe Theatre which was built on Bankside. In 1597 he bought New Place, one og the largest houses in Stratford. But  he continued to live and work in London until 1610. 
Shakespeare died at the age of fifty-two on April, 23, 1616, at New Place. He was buried in the church at Stratford on the banks of the Avon. 
Although Stratford-upon-Avon remains a small market town, it has now become a gathering-place of all nations. People show their love for the great writer and every year on April, 23 they come to Stratford and take part in celebrating Shakespeare's birthday.
The royal Shakespeare Theatre was opened in Stratford-upon-Avon in 1932. Only Shakespeare's plays are performed here. The town attracts people from all over the world by its Royal Shakespeare Theatre and as the birthplace of the great writer.