The Maya civilization was a Mesoamerican civilization developed by the Maya peop

les, noted for the Maya hieroglyphic script, the only known fully developed writ
ing system of the pre-Columbian Americas, as well as for its art, architecture,
and mathematical and astronomical systems. The Maya civilization developed in an
area that encompasses southeastern Mexico, all of Guatemala and Belize, and the
western portions of Honduras and El Salvador. This region consists of the north
ern lowlands, encompassing the Yucatn Peninsula, the highlands of the Sierra Madr
e, running from the Mexican state of Chiapas, across southern Guatemala and onwa
rds into El Salvador, and the southern lowlands of the Pacific littoral plain.
Brigadier General Bernard Ardisana (born 1924, died 1978) was the assistant depu
ty director for operations at the National Security Agency at Fort George G. Mea
de.[1] During his tenure with the US Military he also commanded the USAF Securit
y Service s 6924th Security Squadron and went on to become the Vice Commander of t
he USAF Security Service.[2] He died on January 14, 1978 from a heart attack at
Kimbrough Army Hospital at Ft. Meade.[3]
North Center is one of the 77 community areas of Chicago, Illinois, located in t
he city's North Side. North Center is bordered on the north by Montrose Avenue,
on the south by Diversey Parkway, on the west by the Chicago River and on the ea
st by Ravenswood Avenue; it includes the neighborhoods of Northcenter, Roscoe Vi
llage, St. Ben's, and Hamlin Park. The Brown Line of the Chicago 'L' has stops w
ithin the community area at Addison, Irving Park and Montrose.
North Center was settled in the latter part of the 19th century and the early 20
th century largely by Germans who worked in what is known as the industrial corr
idor along Ravenswood Avenue, and the large industrial plants along the Chicago
River to the west.
Orchidaceae is a diverse and widespread family of flowering plants, with blooms
that are often colourful and often fragrant, commonly known as the orchid family
. Along with the Asteraceae, they are one of the two largest families of floweri
ng plants, with between 21,950 and 26,049 currently accepted species, found in 8
80 genera.[2][3] The determination of which family is larger is still under deba
te, because verified data on the members of such enormous families are continual
ly in flux. Regardless, the number of orchid species nearly equals the number of
bony fishes and more than twice the number of bird species, and about four time
s the number of mammal species. The family also encompasses about 6 11% of all see
d plants.[4] The largest genera are Bulbophyllum (2,000 species), Epidendrum (1,
500 species), Dendrobium (1,400 species) and Pleurothallis (1,000 species).
The family also includes Vanilla (the genus of the vanilla plant), Orchis (type
genus), and many commonly cultivated plants such as Phalaenopsis and Cattleya. M
oreover, since the introduction of tropical species into cultivation in the 19th
century, horticulturists have produced more than 100,000 hybrids and cultivars.