5 sentences with “latitude”

Reasonably effective compasses and a device for measuring latitude called an astrolabe came into European hands from the Middle East around 1400 as well.

Greek sailors already knew that the world was round and had devised a system for determining latitude that was surprisingly accurate; Pytheas' own calculation of the latitude of Massalia was only eight miles wrong.

President Polk - whose campaign slogan in 1844 had been "Fifty-four or fight!" - asserted the right of the United States to gain full control of what was known as the Oregon Country, from its southern border at 42° latitude (today's boundary with California) to its northern border at 54° 40' latitude.

To avoid similar conflicts whenever a territory applied for statehood, a line was drawn that coincided with Missouri's southern border (at 36° 30' latitude) through the rest of the Louisiana Territory. Slavery could exist south of this line, but was prohibited north of it, with the obvious exception of Missouri.

Realising that the British were unwilling to cede all claims to the territory, Polk proposed that the land be divided at 49° latitude (today's Washington-Canada border). However, the British denied American claims to land north of the Columbia River (today's northern Oregon border). In fact, the British foreign secretary refused even to transmit Polk's proposal to London.