1.English Channel
The English Channel is probably one of the most famous stretches of water in the world. 
Basic facts about the English Channel can be found at http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_Channel. To read more about the Battle of Britain (that was fought over the English Channel) during the Second World War, check out the web page at http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Britain.
2. Channel Tunnel
The Channel Tunnel, one of Europe’s biggest infrastructure projects to date. The $15 billion Channel Tunnel makes the old dream of a ground link between Great Britain and continental Europe a reality for the first time since the Ice Ages. The tunnel consists of 3 interconnected tubes: 1 rail track each way plus 1 service tunnel. Its length is 31 miles, of which 23 miles are underwater. Its average depth is 150 feet under the seabed. The channel crossing time for Eurostar (a train) is only 20 minutes. 95 miles of tunnels were dug by nearly 13,000 engineers, technicians and workers. The volume of rubble removed from the tunnel is three times greater than that of the Cheops Pyramid in Egypt. 
The much pooh-poohed delays in the 1994 opening of the Channel Tunnel, better known as the “Chunnel”, certainly pale when one considers that the Romans mused over the idea, that in 1802 Napoleon approved a Channel Tunnel project (designed for stagecoaches and to be ventilated by “chimneys” rising above the water’s surface), and that the British made an abortive stab at it in 1880. Ground was broken again on the project in 1987. Some $15 billion and seven years later, the finished product of over 15,000 workers ran 50 kilometers (31 miles) from Folkestone, England, to Calais, France, 37 of those kilometers through chalk marl, the roof just 2545 meters below the seabed. It’s only the second longest rail tunnel in the world, however, the longest being that under Japan’s Strait of Tsugaru.
For a brief account of the historical perspective of building a tunnel beneath the English Channel, check out the web page at
http://www.theotherside.co.uk/tm-heritage/background/tunnel.htm. For a brief illustration of the engineering work, visit the web page at http://www.bradford.ac.uk/acad/civeng/marketing/civeng/succcha1.htm. To see how the rail service is in operation, see the web page at http://www.raileurope.com/us/rail/eurostar/channel_tunnel.htm. The web page at http://www.wonderclub.com/WorldWonders/ChunnelHistory.html offers a personal account of riding the Eurostar train through the Channel Tunnel. 3. Queen Elizabeth
Queen of the United Kingdom. For a biography of the Queen as well as the British Monarchy, check out the website at http://www.royal.gov.uk, especially the page at http://www.royal.gov.uk/output/Page412.asp. 4. Francois Mitterrand
Francois Mitterrand was French president from 1981 to 1995. He is the fifth child of a stationmaster, and was born in Jarnac, France, on 26th October, 1916. As an intelligent student Mitterrand studied law and political science at the University of Paris.
On the outbreak of the Second World War Mitterrand joined the French Army but in 1940 he was wounded during Germany’s Western Offensive. After being captured he was taken to Germany, but managed to escape in December 1941.
In 1971 Mitterrand became the leader of the Socialist Party. Over the next few years he embarked on a strategy of electoral union with the Communist Party. This proved highly successful and by 1978 it became the single most popular party in France and in 1981 Mitterrand was elected president.
Mitterrand was re-elected president in 1988 and secured another seven-year term. In 1992 the Socialist Party suffered a crushing defeat with the right-wing parties winning 484 seats to the left’s 92. Three years later Mitterrand lost the presidential election. Francois Mitterrand died in Paris on 8th January, 1996.
You can check out the websites at http://www.bartleby.com/65/mi/Mitterra.html and http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francois_Mitterrand for his biography.
The Chunnel 背景知识(background info)
»