title: Báb

text: In mid-1850 a new prime minister, Amir Kabir, ordered the execution of the Báb, probably because of various Bábí insurrections' defeats and because the movement's popularity appeared to be waning. The Báb was brought back to Tabriz from Chehriq for an execution by firing squad. The night before his execution, while being conducted to his cell, a young Bábí, Muhammad-Ali "Anis" from Zonuz, threw himself at the feet of the Báb and begged martyrdom with him, then was immediately arrested and placed in the same cell as the Báb.


title: Báb

text: On the morning of 9 July 1850 (28 Sha'ban 1266 AH), the Báb was taken to the courtyard of the barracks where he was imprisoned. Thousands of people gathered to watch his execution. The Báb and Anis were suspended on a wall and a large firing squad of soldiers prepared to shoot. Numerous eye-witness reports, including those of Western diplomats, recount the result. The order was given to fire. Accounts differ on the details, but all agree that the first volley failed to kill the Báb; the bullets had instead cut the rope suspending them from the wall. A second firing squad was brought in and a second order to fire given. This time the Báb was killed. In Bábí and Baháʼí tradition, the failure of the first volley to kill the Báb is believed to be a miracle. The remains of the Báb and Anis were thrown into a ditch and assumed eaten by dogs, an action condemned by Justin Sheil, then British Minister in Tehran.


title: Báb

text: The remains were clandestinely rescued by a handful of Bábis and then hidden. Over time the remains were secretly transported according to the instructions of Baháʼu'lláh and then ʿAbdu'l-Bahá by way of Isfahan, Kirmanshah, Baghdad, Damascus, Beirut, and then by sea to Acre on the plain below Mount Carmel in 1899. On 21 March 1909, the remains were interred in a special tomb, the Shrine of the Báb, erected for this purpose by ʻAbdu'l-Bahá, on Mount Carmel in present-day Haifa, Israel. In its vicinity, the Baháʼí World Centre welcomes visitors to tour the gardens.


title: Báb

text: In most of his prominent writings, the Báb alluded to a Promised One, most commonly referred to as "man yazhiruhu'lláh", "Him Whom God shall make manifest", and that he himself was "but a ring upon the hand of Him Whom God shall make manifest". Within 20 years of the Báb's death, over 25 people claimed to be the Promised One, most significantly Baháʼu'lláh.


title: Báb

text: Before the Báb's death, he sent a letter to Mírzá Yahyá, Subh-i-Azal, that some consider a will and testament. This recognized the appointing of Subh-i-Azal as the leader of the Bábí community after the death of the Báb, and ordered to obey the Promised One when he appears. At the time Subh-i-Azal, still a teenager, had never demonstrated leadership in the Bábí movement, and was still living in the house of his older brother, Baháʼu'lláh. The Baháʼí claim that the Báb appointed Subh-i-Azal the head of the Bábí Faith so as to divert attention away from Baháʼu'lláh, while allowing Bábís to visit Baháʼu'lláh and consult with him freely, and allowing Baháʼu'lláh to write to Bábís easily and freely.


title: Báb

text: In 1852 Baháʼu'lláh, while a prisoner in Tehran, was visited by a "Maid of Heaven", that symbolically marked the beginning of his mission as a Messenger of God. Eleven years later in Baghdad, he made his first public declaration and eventually was recognized by the vast majority of Bábís as "He Whom God shall make manifest". His followers began calling themselves Baháʼís.


title: Báb

text: Subh-i-Azal's followers became known as Azalis or Azali Bábís. For the Bábís who did not recognize Baháʼu'lláh, Subh-i-Azal remained their leader until his death in 1912, and Azali successorship remains disputed. Baháʼí sources report that 11 of the 18 "witnesses" appointed by Subh-i-Azal to oversee the Bábí community became Baháʼís, as his son did. The man allegedly appointed by Subh-i-Azal to succeed him, Hadíy-i-Dawlat-Abádí, later publicly recanted his faith in the Báb and Subh-i-Azal.


title: Báb

text: Baháʼu'llah emerged more successful and nearly all of the Báb's followers abandoned Subh-i-Azal and became Baháʼís. Today Baháʼís have several million followers, while estimates of the number of Azalís are generally around one thousand in Iran, and any organization of theirs seems to have ceased to exist.


title: Báb

text: The Báb's teachings have three broad stages, each with a dominant thematic focus. His earliest teachings are primarily defined by his interpretation of the Quran and hadith, and that his teachings are in alignment with "true Islam". Rather than revealing new religious laws, early Babi doctrine "focuses on the inner and mystical meanings of religious law" and "turning ritual action into a spiritual journey" These themes continue in later years, but a shift takes place where his emphasis moves to philosophical elucidation, and finally to legislative pronouncements.


title: Báb

text: In the second philosophical stage, the Báb gives an explanation of the metaphysics of being and creation, and in the third legislative stage his mystical and historical principles unite as the Báb's writings gain a historical consciousness. and clearly establish the principle of Progressive Revelation.


title: Báb

text: The Bab discusses many fundamental issues in religion in this second stage including how to recognize spiritual truth, the nature of the human being, the meaning of faith, the nature of good deeds, the preconditions of spiritual journey and the question of the eternality or origination of the world. He even, in his Treatise on Singing, explores the philosophy of music.


title: Báb

text: In 1848 the Báb's teachings changed with a clear abrogation of Islamic law and the introduction of his own set of doctrines. The Báb's legal system included details for marriage, burial, pilgrimage, prayer, and other practices that appear designed for a future Bábí state or to be implemented by He whom God shall make manifest, a future prophet who is mentioned throughout the Báb's writings.


title: Báb

text: In many respects, the Báb raised the status of women in his teachings. He taught that since God transcends the boundaries of male and female, God wishes that "neither men exalt themselves over women, nor women exalt themselves over men". The Báb instructed his followers to not mistreat women "even for the blink of an eye" and set the penalty for causing grief to women as double that of causing grief to men. He also encouraged the education of women and didn't display a gender distinction in Bábi laws on education. Armin Eschraghi notes the context of 19th century Iran and that, "Modern western readers might not appreciate the revolutionary potential" of the Báb's teaching that "Those who have been brought up in this community, men and women, are allowed to look [at each other], speak and sit together" The Primal Will of God is also personified as the female figure of the maid of heaven. The Báb also foreshadowed later developments in media, by emphasising the need for a rapid system of news communication, which would be available for all to access, no matter their wealth or social standing. He writes, regarding the news, that "until such a system is made universal, its benefit will not reach those servants of the kingdom unless there come a time when it will be accessible to all the people. Although today the kings have their own special couriers, this is fruitless, for the poor are deprived of such a service."


title: Báb

text: Jack McLean, summarizing Nader Saiedi's analysis, writes that the Báb's writings "foresee current global issues of crisis, such as the protection of the environment and the commodification of natural resources" The Báb specifically calls for the absolute purity of water in the Bayán and as all substances return to the inland water table and the oceans, this could easily be seen as a general law for the protection of the environment. The Arabic Bayán also forbids the commodification of the four elements, earth, air, fire and water.


title: Báb

text: The Báb's theological teachings include, "gnostic and Neoplatonist features common to earlier Shiʿite sects such as the Ismaʿilis and Ḥorūfīs" and, "at the heart of the system is the belief that the divine or eternal essence is unknowable, indescribable, and inaccessible", according to Denis MacEoin. This would continue as a key principle of the Baha'i Faith. (see God in the Baháʼí Faith) According to Edward Browne some of the theories of the Báb are dependent upon those of Ibn Arabi. This dependence mostly concerns the deeper meaning which both the mystics devote to certain letters and numbers, namely the letter bā and the numbers 19 and 361.


title: Báb

text: The Báb also developed a distinct philosophy of aesthetics, which emphasised beauty and refinement ("litafat") as governing principles, not only for art but for our actions, and stressed the need to bring all things to their highest state of perfection, or paradise ("itqan"). Saiedi writes that, "The Bab makes it clear that He wants His community to be the embodiment of perfection in all things. Furthermore, He defines beautification and excellence in art as the means of the spiritualization of the world". The Báb himself writes, using calligraphy as an example of a universal principle, "Should he know of a higher degree of refinement and fail to manifest it upon that paper, he would deprive it of its paradise, and he would be held accountable, for why hast thou, despite the possession of the means, withheld the effusion of grace and favour?" Moojan Momen writes, regarding the word refinement, that The Báb "seems to have regarded this word as signifying the closest that physical reality can come to spiritual reality. As physical reality ascends and becomes closer to spiritual reality, it loses its qualities of thickness, denseness and impurity...and acquires the qualities of delicacy, purity and refinement"


title: Báb

text: The Báb affirms that the verses revealed by a Manifestation of God are the greatest proof of His mission and the writings of the Báb comprise over two thousand tablets, epistles, prayers, and philosophical treatises. These writings form part of Baha'i scripture, particularly his prayers, which are often recited individually as well as in devotional gatherings. The works of the Báb have also excited scholarly interest and analysis. Elham Afnan describes the writings of the Báb as having "restructured the thoughts of their readers, so that they could break free from the chains of obsolete beliefs and inherited customs". Jack McLean notes the novel symbolism of the Báb's works, observing that "The universe of the Báb's sacred writings is pervasively symbolic. Numbers, colors, minerals, liquids, the human body, social relationships, gestures, deeds, language (letters and words), and nature itself are all mirrors or signs that reflect the profounder reality of the names and attributes (asmá va sifát) of God". The Báb's works are characterised by linguistic innovation, including many neologisms whenever He found existing theological terms inadequate. Free association and stream-of-consciousness-style composition are marked features of some works. Several scholars have identified the continual repetition of particular words or phrases of religious importance to be a distinct feature throughout the Bab's writings. The Báb himself categorised his writings into five modes: divine verses, prayers, commentaries, rational discourse — written in Arabic — and the Persian mode, which encompasses the previous four. Scholars have noted commonalities between the Báb's writings and those of Western philosophers such as Hegel, Kant) and James Joyce


title: Báb

text: Most of the writings of the Báb have been lost, however. The Báb himself stated they exceeded five hundred thousand verses in length; the Quran, in contrast, is 6300 verses in length. If one assumes 25 verses per page, that would equal 20,000 pages of text. Nabíl-i-Zarandí, in "The Dawn-breakers", mentions nine complete commentaries on the Quran, revealed during the Báb's imprisonment at Maku, which have been lost without a trace. Establishing the true text of the works that are still extant, as already noted, is not always easy, and some texts will require considerable work. Others, however, are in good shape; several of the Báb's major works are available in the handwriting of his trusted secretaries.


title: Báb

text: Most works were revealed in response to specific questions by Bábís. This is not unusual; the genre of the letter has been a venerable medium for composing authoritative texts as far back as Paul the Apostle. Three quarters of the chapters of the New Testament are letters, were composed to imitate letters, or contain letters within them. Sometimes the Báb revealed works very rapidly by chanting them in the presence of a secretary and eyewitnesses.


title: Báb

text: The Archives Department at the Baháʼí World Centre currently holds about 190 Tablets of the Báb. Excerpts from several principal works have been published in the only English-language compilation of the Báb's writings: "Selections from the Writings of the Báb". Denis MacEoin, in his "Sources for Early Bābī Doctrine and History", gives a description of many works; much of the following summary is derived from that source. In addition to major works, the Báb revealed numerous letters to his wife and followers, many prayers for various purposes, numerous commentaries on verses or chapters of the Quran, and many "khutbihs" or sermons (most of which were never delivered). Many of these have been lost; others have survived in compilations.


title: Báb

text: The Báb has been criticized for his inconsistent use of correct and incorrect Arabic grammar in his religious works, though in his Arabic letters he made very few mistakes. A reason for this inconsistency could be to distinguish those who could not see past the outer form of the words from those that could understand the deeper meaning of his message. The Báb in his Treatise on Grammar, emphasised that Arabic grammar must be taught as an outer symbol of the spiritual grammar of the universe.


title: Báb

text: The Báb's "Tafsir on Surah al-Baqara" was started by the Báb in November or December 1843, some six months before declaring his mission. The first half was completed by February or March 1844; the second half was revealed after the Báb's declaration. It is the only work of the Báb's revealed before his declaration that has survived intact. It also sheds light on the Báb's attitude toward Twelver beliefs. His wife also refers to important episodes before his declaration.


title: Báb

text: The Báb left Isfahan in March 1847, sojourned outside Tehran several months, then was sent to a fortress at Maku, Iran, close to the Turkish border. It witnessed the composition of some of the Báb's most important works.


title: Báb

text: The Báb spent two years in Chehriq, except for his brief visit to Tabriz for his trial. The works he produced there were more esoteric or mystical and less thematically organized. Two major books were produced, in addition to many minor works:


title: Báb

text: In the Baháʼí calendar the events of the birth, declaration and death of the Báb are commemorated by Baháʼí communities on a yearly basis. At the centennial of the declaration of the Báb to Mulla Husayn in May 1944, the Baháʼís had a viewing of the portrait of the Báb during the celebrations held at the Baháʼí House of Worship (Wilmette, Illinois). Speaking at the event were Dorothy Beecher Baker, Horace Holley, and others.


title: Báb

text: The notion of "twin Manifestations of God" is a concept fundamental to Baháʼí belief, describing the relationship between the Báb and Baháʼu'lláh. Both are considered Manifestations of God in their own right, having each founded separate religions (Bábism and the Baháʼí Faith) and revealed their own holy scriptures. To Baháʼís, however, the missions of the Báb and Baháʼu'lláh are inextricably linked: The Báb's mission was to prepare the way for the coming of Him whom God shall make manifest, who eventually appeared in the person of Baháʼu'lláh. For this reason, both the Báb and Baháʼu'lláh are revered as central figures of the Baháʼí Faith. A parallel is made between Baháʼu'lláh and the Báb as between Jesus and John the Baptist.


title: Báb

text: The Bábí movement had a major impact on religious and social thought in 19th century Iran. Christopher de Bellaigue, writing about the Enlightenment period in the Islamic world, wrote,


title: Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport

text: Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport () or Belgrade Airport () is an international airport serving Belgrade, Serbia. It is the largest and the busiest airport in Serbia, situated west of downtown Belgrade near the suburb of Surčin, surrounded by fertile lowlands. It is operated by French conglomerate Vinci Airports and it is named after Serbian inventor Nikola Tesla (1856–1943).


title: Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport

text: The flag carrier and the largest airline of Serbia, Air Serbia, uses Belgrade Nikola Tesla as their hub. It is also one of the many operating bases for low-cost airline Wizz Air. The air taxi services Air Pink, Eagle Express and Prince Aviation also call the airport their home.


title: Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport

text: The first airfield in Belgrade was inaugurated in 1910 in the neighbourhood of Banjica and was initially used by aviation pioneers such as Simon, Maslenikov, Vidmar and Čermak. Two years later a wooden hangar was built for the Serbian Air Force, which was at the time engaged in the First Balkan War against Turkey. In 1914, the Banjica airfield was the base for the Serbian Air Force squadron and the Balloon Company. After the end of the First World War, the Banjica airfield was used for airmail traffic and included the routes Novi Sad–Belgrade–Niš–Skoplje and Belgrade–Sarajevo–Mostar.


title: Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport

text: In 1911 another airfield was inaugurated in Belgrade, in the lower city of the Kalemegdan Fortress at the location of today's Belgrade Planetarium.


title: Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport

text: An airport on the outskirts of Pančevo, a town located northeast of Belgrade, began its operations in 1923 when CFRNA inaugurated the international route Paris–Istanbul which was flown via Belgrade. It was on that route that same year that the first world night flight ever happened in history. The same year airmail service began operating from the airport. The Pančevo airport was also used by the Royal Yugoslav Air Force academy. After the World War II the airport was used by the Yugoslav Air Force before it became the airfield of the Utva Aviation Industry after its relocation from Zemun to Pančevo.


title: Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport

text: Because of the distance from Pančevo to downtown Belgrade, which at that time required crossing the Danube, a decision was made to build a new airport which would be closer. The airport was planned to be built just across the river Sava, in a neighborhood today known as Novi Beograd. It was opened on 25 March 1927 under the official name of Belgrade International Airport (also known as Dojno polje Airport). From February 1928, the aircraft owned by the first local airline Aeroput started taking off from the new airport. The airport had four long grass runways. The design for a reinforced concrete hangar that was built at the airfield was made by the Serbian scientist Milutin Milanković, better known for his theory of climate change. A modern terminal building was built in 1931, while the landing equipment for conditions of poor visibility was installed in 1936.


title: Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport

text: Before World War II, Belgrade was also used as a stopover for some major air races, such as The Schlesinger African Air Race.


title: Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport

text: Besides Aeroput, Air France, Deutsche Luft Hansa, KLM, Imperial Airways and airlines from Italy, Austria, Hungary, Romania and Poland also used the airport until the outbreak of the Second World War. Belgrade gained further prominence when Imperial Airways introduced inter-continental routes through Belgrade, when London was linked with India through the airport. Belgrade was linked with Paris and Breslau because CIDNA and Deutsche Luft Hansa, respectively, included Belgrade on its routes to Istanbul. By 1931, Belgrade became a major air hub being linked with regular flights with international destinations such as London, Madrid, Venice, Brussels, Berlin, Cologne, Warsaw, Prague, Vienna, Graz, Klagenfurt, Budapest, Bucharest, Sofia, Varna, Thessaloniki, Athens, Istanbul, and also intercontinental links with Cairo, Karachi and India.


title: Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport

text: Starting from April 1941, German occupation forces used the airport. During 1944 it was bombed by the Allies, and in October of the same year the German army destroyed the remaining facilities while withdrawing from the country.


title: Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport

text: The airport was rebuilt by October 1944 and until the end of the war was used by the Soviet Union and Yugoslavia as part of the Allied war effort.


title: Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport

text: Civil transport by Yugoslav Air Force cargo planes from this airport was reinstated at the end of 1945. At the beginning of 1947 JAT Yugoslav Airlines and JUSTA took over domestic and international traffic, and from 1948 Western European airlines resumed flights to Belgrade.


title: Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport

text: A constant increase in traffic and the beginning of the passenger jet era called for a significant expansion of the airport. In the meantime, a plan to build a residential and business district called Novi Beograd on the location of the airport was introduced. The officials decided therefore that a new international airport should be built near the village of Surčin to the west. The last flight to depart from the old airport was early in 1964.


title: Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport

text: The new location for the airport was on the Surčin plateau, from Belgrade's city center. Thanks to the original planners' vision, two conditions for the airport's development were fulfilled: a location was chosen which met the navigational, meteorological, construction, technical, and traffic requirements; and the special needs for the airport's long-term development were established.


title: Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport

text: Building of the new airport started in April 1958 and lasted until 28 April 1962, when it was officially opened by President Josip Broz Tito. During that period a runway was built, with the parallel taxiway and concrete aprons for sixteen airplanes. The passenger terminal building occupied an area of . Cargo storage spaces were also built, as well as a technical block with the air-traffic control tower and other accompanying facilities. Modern navigational equipment was installed, earning the airport the highest international classification according to the International Civil Aviation Organization.


title: Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport

text: The airport stagnated during the 1990s after the outbreak of the Yugoslav wars and the United Nations sanctions imposed on the Serbia and Montenegro. The sanctions also included a ban on air travel. The airport had minimal passenger movement, and many facilities were in need of reparation.


title: Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport

text: With a change in government and international sentiment, normal air traffic resumed in 2001. A few years later the airport's terminal 2 underwent a major reconstruction. The runway was upgraded to CAT IIIb in 2005, as part of a large renovation project. CAT IIIb is an Instrument Landing System (ILS), giving aircraft the security of landing during fog and storms. In 2006, the airport was renamed to "Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport". Nikola Tesla was a Serbian-American inventor and scientist, generally considered one of the world's most famous inventors. The construction of the new air traffic control center was completed in 2010. In 2011 Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport shares (AERO) began trading on the Belgrade Stock Exchange (BELEX).


title: Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport

text: In 2012, construction work on the modernization and expansion of the airport began. It was carried out on the expansion and reconstruction of the A-gate and C-gate departure and transit areas. As a result, an extra was added. Jetways at the A and C gates were also replaced.


title: Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport

text: Also, there were plans for the construction of a new control tower as the current air control tower was built in 1962. Future expansion of current terminals should see additional 17,000 sqm added, with terminal 2 getting additional 4 jetways.


title: Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport

text: In January 2018, the Government of Serbia granted a 25-year concession of the Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport to the French airport operator Vinci Airports for a sum of 501 million euros. On 21 December 2018, Vinci formally took over the airport. In 2018, the airport had a sizeable increase in revenue and net income, due to Vinci Airports transaction.


title: Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport

text: Airport two terminals have a combined area of 33,000 sqm, with Terminal 2 being larger of the two, adjacent to one another terminals are connected through a hallway. The airport has 66 check-in counters and 27 gates (of which 16 are equipped with jetways).


title: Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport

text: Terminal 1 (T1) was the original and only terminal when the airport was built. The terminal handled domestic flights during the time of Yugoslavia and Serbia and Montenegro, and subsequently has come to be used for international flights, mostly by low-cost and charter airlines. The terminal went through a major renovation in 2016 and 2017 when the interior was overhauled.


title: Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport

text: Terminal 2 (T2) was constructed in 1979 for the airport's growing passenger numbers. The terminal has a capacity of 5 million passengers. The terminal contains airline offices, transfer desks and various retail shops. The terminal went through two major renovations: from 2004 through 2006, with the arrivals and departures areas of the terminal completely reconstructed, and another one in 2012 and 2013 when there were works on expansion and overhaul of the C platform. While not officially confirmed, it is believed that the overhauled T1 will be used by foreign carriers, while Air Serbia and Etihad Airways Partners would gain exclusive use of Terminal 2.


title: Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport

text: Before the 2020/2021-2023 remodeling, Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport was built with only one airside hallway for both departing and arriving passengers. As such, security checks used to be located at gate entrances rather than on a central location. As of 2021, however, there is a central security hall directly above the ticketing area, before passport control, where all passengers must be screened.


title: Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport

text: Passport controls are placed on two entrances and the single exit of the hallway. All passengers must pass the passport control, as there are no domestic flights. An additional security check used to exist on the hallway entrance, but it was removed in 2013 as it inconvenienced passengers and was not essential for security.


title: Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport

text: In 2007 the airport prohibited cars parking next to the airport terminal, instead they have to use the car park provided, as a result of the 2007 Glasgow International Airport attack.


title: Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport

text: Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport offers a single business class lounge, "Business Club", for all airlines operating from the airport. "Business Club", opened in 2011, covers an area of , and seats 30 guests.


title: Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport

text: Airport also has a "VIP lounge", with separate check-in and passport control facilities - also used by general aviation customers. The lounge consists of three parts - the first part for leisure, second for television crew and press conferences and a third part is a presidential suite. The lounge has a total surface area of . The lounge is also used as a press centre, upon the arrival of VIPs.


title: Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport

text: "Air Serbia Premium Lounge" is the first dedicated airline owned and operated lounge at the airport. It is open from 5 am 8pm every day for Air Serbia/ Etihad Airways business class passengers, as well as members of the Air Serbia/Etihad Guest frequent flyer program and other passengers who purchase one time lounge access.


title: Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport

text: The airport is connected to the A3 motorway via a nearby interchange. The toll station on A3 is located to the west of the interchange, and the sections to the Belgrade downtown and the Belgrade bypass are toll-free. Licensed taxis from the airport to the city are available.


title: Pitcairn Island

text: Pitcairn Island is the only inhabited island of the Pitcairn Islands, of which many inhabitants are descendants of mutineers of HMS "Bounty".


title: Pitcairn Island

text: The island is of volcanic origin, with a rugged cliff coastline. Unlike many other South Pacific islands, it is not surrounded by coral reefs that protect the coast. The only access to the island is via a small pier on Bounty Bay. Adamstown is the sole settlement.


title: Pitcairn Island

text: Indigenous fauna consists of insects and lizards. Since their introduction, rats have become an invasive species.


title: Pitcairn Island

text: Due to the absence of coral reefs, fishing is offshore. Sharks, sea bream, barracudas and tuna are all abundant. Whale migrations are seen yearly.


title: Enver Gjokaj

text: Enver Leif Gjokaj ( ; born February 12, 1980) is an American film and television actor. He is known for his roles as Victor in the science fiction television series "Dollhouse" and as Daniel Sousa in "Agent Carter", a role he later reprised in "Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D".


title: Enver Gjokaj

text: Gjokaj was born in Orange County, California. His father is Albanian, and his mother is American. Gjokaj has an older brother named Bekim and an identical twin brother named Demir. Both Gjokaj and his brother attended Amador High School, in Sutter Creek, California, where Gjokaj participated in multiple plays and variety shows. Gjokaj graduated with a Master of Fine Arts from New York University's Graduate Acting Program at the Tisch School of the Arts. While at NYU, he was a semi-finalist for Tisch's Vilar Global Fellows Program. In 2002, he received a Bachelor of Arts in English from UC Berkeley.


title: Enver Gjokaj

text: Beginning in 2009, Gjokaj played the role of Victor on the TV series "Dollhouse". His character, whose real name is Anthony Ceccoli, is an "Active" (or "doll") inside the Dollhouse, taking on multiple personalities through the process of highly technological imprinting of memories. His identical twin brother Demir guest starred alongside Gjokaj in a dream sequence in a second-season episode of "Dollhouse".


title: Enver Gjokaj

text: Gjokaj has since appeared in the films "" alongside Dennis Quaid, "Taking Chance" with Kevin Bacon, and "Eagle Eye" opposite Shia LaBeouf. Prior to his series regular role on "Dollhouse", he appeared in the made-for-TV film "Filthy Gorgeous" and also had a recurring role on the television series "The Book of Daniel". He also guest starred in episodes of "", "Community", and "The Unit".


title: Enver Gjokaj

text: In 2012 Gjokaj was awarded a patent for a focusing system for motion picture cameras. Gjokaj has appeared in "Emergence" as Agent Ryan Brooks, in "" as Navy Captain Joe Milius and in "Resident Alien" as Joseph in recurring capacities


title: Enver Gjokaj

text: Gjokaj has made multiple appearances in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. In 2012, Gjokaj made an appearance in "The Avengers" as a New York City police officer. He starred in the two seasons of "Agent Carter" (2015–2016) as SSR Agent Daniel Sousa. He went on to reprise the role of Sousa in the final season of "Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D" (2020).


title: Sledgehammer (Peter Gabriel song)

text: "Sledgehammer" is a song by English rock musician Peter Gabriel. It was released on 21 April 1986 as the lead single from his fifth studio album, "So" (1986). It was produced by Gabriel and Daniel Lanois. It reached No. 1 in Canada on 21 July 1986, where it spent four weeks; No. 1 on the "Billboard" Hot 100 chart in the United States on 26 July 1986; and No. 4 on the UK Singles Chart, thanks in part to its music video. It was his biggest hit in North America and ties with "Games Without Frontiers" as his biggest hit in the United Kingdom.


title: Sledgehammer (Peter Gabriel song)

text: The song's video won a record nine MTV Video Music Awards at the 1987 MTV Video Music Awards and Best British Video at the 1987 Brit Awards. The song also saw Gabriel nominated for three Grammy Award for Best Male Rock Vocal Performance, Record of the Year and Song of the Year. In a 2005 poll conducted by Channel 4 the music video was ranked second on their list of the 100 Greatest Pop Videos.


title: Sledgehammer (Peter Gabriel song)

text: "Sledgehammer" has been described as dance-rock, funk rock and soul. Ryan Reed of "Paste" called the song a danceable "blue-eyed soul-strut". "Trouser Press" gave it as an example of Gabriel's "characteristically sophisticated music" which in this case "touches on funk".


title: Sledgehammer (Peter Gabriel song)

text: The song also features a synthesised shakuhachi flute generated with an E-mu Emulator II sampler. Gabriel said the "cheap organ sound" comes from an expensive Prophet-5 synth, which he regards as "an old warhorse" sound tool. The backing vocals were by P. P. Arnold, Coral "Chyna Whyne" Gordon, and Dee Lewis, who also did the backing for "Big Time".


title: Sledgehammer (Peter Gabriel song)

text: "Sledgehammer" is Gabriel's only US No. 1. It replaced "Invisible Touch" by his former band Genesis; coincidentally, that group's only US No. 1. Genesis lead singer Phil Collins later jested about the occurrence in a 2014 interview, stating, "I read recently that Peter Gabriel knocked us off the No. 1 spot with "Sledgehammer". We weren't aware of that at the time. If we had been, we'd probably have sent him a telegram saying: 'Congratulations – bastard.'"


title: Sledgehammer (Peter Gabriel song)

text: "Sledgehammer" also achieved success on other "Billboard" charts in 1986, spanning the Album Rock Tracks (two weeks at the summit in May and June) and Hot Dance Club Play (one week atop this chart in July).


title: Sledgehammer (Peter Gabriel song)

text: The single release included the previously unreleased "Don't Break This Rhythm" and an "'85 Remix" of 1982's "I Have the Touch". US versions of the single contained an extended dance remix of "Sledgehammer".


title: Sledgehammer (Peter Gabriel song)

text: The "Sledgehammer" music video was commissioned by Tessa Watts at Virgin Records, directed by Stephen R. Johnson and produced by Adam Whittaker. Aardman Animations and the Brothers Quay provided claymation, pixilation, and stop motion animation that gave life to images in the song. Many of these techniques had been employed in earlier music videos, such as Talking Heads's 1985 hit "Road to Nowhere", also directed by Johnson. The style was later used in the video for "Big Time", another single from "So".


title: Sledgehammer (Peter Gabriel song)

text: Gabriel lay under a sheet of glass for 16 hours while filming the video one frame at a time. "It took a lot of hard work," Gabriel recalled. "I was thinking at the time, 'If anyone wants to try and copy this video, good luck to them.'" Two dead, headless, featherless chickens were animated using stop-motion and shown dancing along to the synthesised shakuhachi solo. This section was animated by Nick Park, of Aardman Animations, who was refining his work in plasticine animation at the time. The video ended with a large group of extras jerkily rotating around Gabriel, among them his daughters Anna-Marie and Melanie, the animators themselves and director Stephen Johnson's girlfriend. Also included were six women who posed as the back-up singers of the song.


title: Sledgehammer (Peter Gabriel song)

text: "Sledgehammer" won nine MTV Video Music Awards in 1987, the most awards a single video has won. It ranked at number four on MTV's "100 Greatest Music Videos Ever Made" (1999). "Sledgehammer" has also been declared MTV's number one animated video of all time. The video was voted number seven on TMF's "Ultimate 50 Videos You Must See", which first aired 24 June 2006. It ranked at number 2 on VH1's "Top 20 Videos of the '80s" and number one on "Amazing Moment in Music" on the Australian TV show "20 to 1" in 2007. It won Best British Video at the 1987 Brit Awards and was nominated for the Best Music Video category for the first annual Soul Train Music Awards in that same year.


title: Sledgehammer (Peter Gabriel song)

text: In 1986, "Weird Al" Yankovic covered this song as the first song from his polka medley "Polka Party!" from the 1986 album of the same name.


title: Sledgehammer (Peter Gabriel song)

text: On 2nd of March 2020 Harry Styles covered this song for the first time publicly on the Howard Stern Show.


The Delhi–Meerut Regional Rapid Transit System is an long, semi-high speed rail corridor currently under construction which will connect Delhi, Ghaziabad, and Meerut. It is one of three rapid rail corridors planned under Phase I of the Regional Rapid Transport System (RRTS) project managed by the National Capital Region Transport Corporation (NCRTC). With a maximum speed of , the distance between Delhi and Meerut will be covered in less than 60 minutes. The project will cost and will have 24 stations including two depots at Duhai and Modipuram.


title: Delhi–Meerut Regional Rapid Transit System

text: On 8 March 2019, Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone of the corridor. Local transit services will also be provided on the Delhi-Meerut RRTS network in Meerut with allotted for local transit needs.


text: The NCRTC planned for the long priority section between Sahibabad and Duhai to begin regular operations by March 2023. The entire long Delhi-Ghaziabad-Meerut RRTS corridor is expected be operational by June 2025.


text: Following the Galwan Valley skirmish on 15 June 2020, there were calls by Swadeshi Jagran Manch for the Government to cancel the bid of a Chinese company related to the transit system. The trains are being built by Alstom's manufacturing plant in Savli, Gujarat.


text: 8 stations constructed exclusively for local transit services in Meerut: Partapur, Rithani, Brahmapuri, Meerut Central, Bhaisali, MES Colony, Daurli and Meerut North.


text: 4 stations for which both RRTS and local transit services in Meerut will be provided: Meerut South, Shatabdi Nagar, Begumpul and Modipuram.


text: Of the entire length, is elevated, is underground. and will be at grade for connections to two depots to be located at Duhai and Modipuram. In densely populated areas of Delhi and Meerut the route will be underground including near the Yamuna river. The entire route is designed for a maximum speed of , with an operating speed of . The average speed (when taking stops into account) will be approximately .


text: The Delhi-Meerut corridor starts from Sarai Kale Khan station in Delhi. The corridor will pass through areas of Delhi, Ghaziabad, and Meerut; terminating at Modipuram in Meerut.


text: Sarai Kale Khan will also become a transit hub with the Sarai Kale Khan - Nizamuddin metro station, the Sarai Kale Khan ISBT, and the Hazrat Nizamuddin railway station in vicinity.


text: The long Sahibabad - Meerut South section, including Duhai Depot, is expected to become operational by January 2023, the Hazrat Nizamuddin - Sahibabad in January 2024 and the remaining Meerut South - Modipuram in July 2024.


text: There will be a total of 16 stations. Multimodal transport hubs will be combined with existing transportation such as Delhi Metro, Indian Railways, and Uttar Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation (UPSRTC) bus terminals (planned at Anand Vihar, Sahibabad and Shaheed Sthal stations).


text: The National Capital Region Transport Corporation has decided to equip the line with European Train Control System (ETCS) Level 2 signalling. Tenders for its procurement were invited on 17 April 2020.


text: On 1 May 2020, Alstom emerged as the lowest bidder among a group of three bidders to supply and maintain 210 coaches. The coaches will be built in Alstom's plant in Gujarat. The RRTS rolling stock will be the first in India with a design speed of . The entire rolling stock for the Delhi-Ghaziabad-Meerut RRTS corridor will be manufactured in India. In 2020 the NCRTC announced what the RRTS trains would look like.


title: Curious George (TV series)

text: Curious George is an American animated children's television family comedy series based on the children's book series of the same name which features Jeff Bennett as the voice of Ted Shackelford (credited as "The Man with the Yellow Hat" --formerly called that in the original series books and telefilm books). Frank Welker, who voiced George in the 2006 feature film, returns as the voice of him. The show premiered on PBS Kids on September 4, 2006, and originally ended after nine seasons on April 1, 2015 before returning in 2018.


title: Curious George (TV series)

text: On September 3, 2018, season 10 premiered on Family Jr. in Canada. Seasons 10-13 debuted on NBCUniversal's streaming service Peacock in the United States when it launched in July 2020. Seasons 1-9 of Curious George are available to stream for Peacock Premium subscribers since September 20, 2020, which is also available to stream on Hulu. Season 10 of Curious George premiered on PBS on October 5, 2020.


title: Curious George (TV series)

text: "Curious George" is a production of Universal 1440 Entertainment (Universal Studios Family Productions before 2013), Imagine Entertainment, and WGBH-TV (WGBH Kids) (before season 13), and animated by Toon City. Each episode has two animated segments per half hour episode, and a short live-action segment after each.


title: Curious George (TV series)

text: The live-action shorts illustrate and explain various concepts in math and science, and shows a class with kids engaging in experiments, that teach the math or science concept featured in the previous story. This was shown for seasons 1–9 during its first runs. They were removed from re-runs starting after season 10, and future airings of older episodes also remove them.


title: Curious George (TV series)

text: The setting for most episodes is either the city, where George lives in an apartment building with the Man in the Yellow Hat, or the country, where they share a small house near a lake called Lake Wanasinklake. This allows George to mirror the experiences of kids who live in an urban environment and those who live on farms and in suburbs. A few episodes take place in alternate but familiar settings, like an airport or a train station.


title: Curious George (TV series)

text: The show premiered on PBS through PBS Kids in the United States in 2006 and Family Jr. in Canada in 2015. Season 10 premiered on PBS and the series made its debut on the PBS Kids 24/7 channel the same day. All seasons are available on Peacock with the first 9 seasons exclusive to Peacock Premium and Hulu.


title: Curious George (TV series)

text: "Curious George: A Very Monkey Christmas", an animated television film, was released on November 25, 2009. It was distributed by PBS and produced by Imagine Entertainment and Universal Animation Studios. The film is a holiday television special featuring George, as featured in the TV series. The film is part of the show as well. It is shown every Christmas season on PBS Kids.


title: Arthur Rubinstein

text: Arthur Rubinstein (; 28 January 188720 December 1982) was a Polish-American pianist. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest pianists of all time. He received international acclaim for his performances of the music written by a variety of composers and many regard him as one of the greatest Chopin interpreters of his time. He played in public for eight decades.


title: Arthur Rubinstein

text: Artur Rubinstein was born in Łódź, Congress Poland (part of the Russian Empire for the entire time Rubinstein resided there) on 28 January 1887, to a Jewish family. He was the youngest of seven children of Felicja Blima Fajga (née Heiman) and Izaak Rubinstein. His father owned a small textile factory.


title: Arthur Rubinstein

text: Rubinstein's birth name was to be "Leo", but his eight-year-old brother claimed that "His name must be Artur. Since Artur X (a neighbour's son) plays the violin so nicely, the baby may also become a great musician!" Thus, he was called Artur, although in English-speaking countries, he preferred to be known as "Arthur Rubinstein". His United States impresario Sol Hurok, however, insisted he be billed as "Artur", and records were released in the West under both versions of his name.


title: Arthur Rubinstein

text: At age two, Rubinstein demonstrated absolute pitch and a fascination with the piano, watching his elder sister's piano lessons. By the age of four, he was recognised as a child prodigy. His father had a predilection for the violin and offered Rubinstein a violin; but Rubinstein rejected it because he thought his instinct was for harmony and polyphony. The Hungarian violinist Joseph Joachim, on hearing the four-year-old child play the piano, was greatly impressed, telling Arthur's family, "This boy may become a very great musician—he certainly has the talent for it... When the time comes for serious study, bring him to me, and I shall be glad to supervise his artistic education." On 14 December 1894, seven-year-old Arthur Rubinstein had his debut with pieces by Mozart, Schubert and Mendelssohn.


title: Arthur Rubinstein

text: When he became ten years of age, Rubinstein moved to Berlin to continue his studies, and gave his first performance with the Berlin Philharmonic in 1900, at the age of 13. Joseph Joachim recommended Karl Heinrich Barth as the boy's piano teacher. As a student of Barth, Rubinstein inherited a renowned pedagogical lineage: Barth was himself a pupil of Liszt, who had been taught by Czerny, who had in turn been a pupil of Beethoven.


title: Arthur Rubinstein

text: In 1904, Rubinstein moved to Paris to launch his career in earnest, where he met the composers Maurice Ravel and Paul Dukas and the violinist Jacques Thibaud. He also played Camille Saint-Saëns' Piano Concerto No. 2 in the presence of the composer. Through the family of Juliusz Wertheim, whose understanding of Chopin's genius inspired Rubinstein, he formed friendships with the violinist Paul Kochanski and composer Karol Szymanowski.


title: Arthur Rubinstein

text: Rubinstein made his New York debut at Carnegie Hall in 1906, and thereafter toured the United States, Austria, Italy, and Russia. According to his own testimony and that of his son in François Reichenbach's film "L'Amour de la vie" (1969), he was not well received in the United States. By 1908, Rubinstein, destitute and desperate, hounded by creditors, and threatened with being evicted from his Berlin hotel room, made a failed attempt to hang himself. Subsequently, he said that he felt "reborn" and endowed with an unconditional love of life. In 1912, he made his London debut, and found a musical home there in the Edith Grove, Chelsea, musical salon of Paul and Muriel Draper, in company with Kochanski, Igor Stravinsky, Jacques Thibaud, Pablo Casals, Pierre Monteux and others.


title: Arthur Rubinstein

text: During World War I, Rubinstein stayed in London, giving recitals and accompanying the violinist Eugène Ysaÿe. In 1916 and 1917, he made his first tours in Spain and South America where he was widely acclaimed. It was during those tours that he developed a lifelong enthusiasm for the music of Enrique Granados, Isaac Albéniz, Manuel de Falla, and Heitor Villa-Lobos. He was the dedicatee of Manuel de Falla's "Fantasía Bética", Villa-Lobos's "Rudepoêma" and Stravinsky's "Trois mouvements de Petrouchka".


title: Arthur Rubinstein

text: Rubinstein was disgusted by Germany's conduct during the war and never played there again. His last performance in Germany was in 1914.


title: Arthur Rubinstein

text: In the autumn of 1919 Rubinstein toured Great Britain with soprano Emma Calvé and tenor Vladimir Rosing.


title: Arthur Rubinstein

text: In 1921, Rubinstein gave two American tours, travelling to New York with Karol Szymanowski and his close friend Paul Kochanski.


title: Arthur Rubinstein

text: In 1934, the pianist, who stated he neglected his technique in his early years, relying instead on natural talent, withdrew from concert life for several months of intensive study and practice.


title: Arthur Rubinstein

text: Rubinstein toured the United States again in 1937, his career becoming centered there during the World War II years when he lived in Brentwood, Los Angeles, California. He became a naturalized US citizen in 1946.


title: Arthur Rubinstein

text: During his time in California, Rubinstein provided the piano soundtrack for several films, including "Song of Love" with Katharine Hepburn. He appeared, as himself, in the films "Carnegie Hall" and "Of Men and Music".


title: Arthur Rubinstein

text: Although best known as a recitalist and concerto soloist, Rubinstein was considered an outstanding chamber musician, partnering with Henryk Szeryng, Jascha Heifetz, Pablo Casals, Gregor Piatigorsky and the Guarneri Quartet. Rubinstein recorded much of the core piano repertoire, particularly that of the Romantic composers. At the time of his death, "The New York Times" in describing him wrote, "Chopin was his specialty ... it was [as] a Chopinist that he was considered by many without peer." With the exception of the Études, he recorded most of the works of Chopin. In 1964, during the Cold War, he gave a legendary concert in Moscow, with a pure Chopin program. He was one of the earliest champions of Spanish and South American composers, as well as French composers of the early 20th century (such as Debussy and Ravel). In addition, Rubinstein promoted the music of his compatriot Karol Szymanowski. Rubinstein, in conversation with Alexander Scriabin, named Brahms as his favorite composer, a response that enraged Scriabin.


title: Arthur Rubinstein

text: In 1969, the film "Arthur Rubinstein – The Love of Life" was released; it won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature. (A later TV special, "Rubinstein at 90", highlighted how he had been playing for people for eight decades.)


title: Arthur Rubinstein

text: By the mid-1970s, Rubinstein's eyesight had begun to deteriorate. He retired from the stage at age 89 in May 1976, giving his last concert at London's Wigmore Hall, where he had first played nearly 70 years before.


title: Arthur Rubinstein

text: Rubinstein, who was fluent in eight languages, held much of the repertoire (and not only that of the piano) in his formidable memory. According to his memoirs, he learned César Franck's "Symphonic Variations" while on a train en route to the concert, without the benefit of a piano, practicing passages in his lap. Rubinstein described his memory as photographic, to the extent that he would visualize an errant coffee stain while recalling a score.


title: Arthur Rubinstein

text: Rubinstein also had exceptionally developed aural abilities, which allowed him to play whole symphonies in his mind. "At breakfast, I might pass a Brahms symphony in my head," he said. "Then I am called to the phone, and half an hour later I find it's been going on all the time and I'm in the third movement." This ability was often tested by Rubinstein's friends, who would randomly pick extracts from opera and symphonic scores and ask him to play them from memory.


title: Arthur Rubinstein

text: Rubinstein's autobiography contained two volumes: "My Young Years" (1973); and "My Many Years" (1980). Many were displeased by their emphasis on personal anecdotes over music. Pianist Emanuel Ax, one of Rubinstein's greatest admirers, was profoundly disappointed by reading "My Many Years": "Until then," he told Harvey Sachs, "I had idolized Rubinstein—I had wanted to have a life like his, the book changed all that."


title: Arthur Rubinstein

text: In a reflective muse, Rubinstein once noted "It is simply my life, music. I live it, breathe it, talk with it. I am almost unconscious of it. No, I do not mean I take it for granted—one should never take for granted any of the gifts of God. But it is like an arm, a leg, part of me. On the other hand, books and paintings and languages and people are passions with me, always to be cultivated. Travel too. I am a lucky man to have a business which allows me to be on the road so much. On the train, the plane, I have time to read. There again, I am a lucky man to be a pianist. A splendid instrument, the piano, just the right size so that you cannot take it with you. Instead of practicing, I can read. A fortunate fellow, am I not?"


title: Arthur Rubinstein

text: Of his youth, Rubinstein once said: "It is said of me that when I was young I divided my time impartially among wine, women and song. I deny this categorically. Ninety percent of my interests were women." At the age of 45, in 1932, Rubinstein married Nela Młynarska, a 24-year-old Polish ballerina (who had studied with Mary Wigman). Nela was the daughter of the Polish conductor Emil Młynarski and his wife Anna Talko-Hryncewicz, who was from a Polish aristocratic heraldic family of Iłgowski coat of arms. Nela had first fallen in love with Rubinstein when she was 18, but married Mieczysław Munz, another Polish-American pianist, after Rubinstein began an affair with an Italian princess. Nela subsequently divorced Munz and three years later married Rubinstein. They had five children (one died in infancy), including photographer Eva Rubinstein, who married William Sloane Coffin, and son John Rubinstein, a Tony Award-winning actor and father of actor Michael Weston. Nela subsequently wrote "Nela's Cookbook", which included the dishes she prepared for the couple's legendary parties.


title: Arthur Rubinstein

text: Both before and during his marriage, Rubinstein carried on a series of affairs with women, including Lesley Jowitt, the wife of the British politician William Jowitt, and Irene Curzon.


title: Arthur Rubinstein

text: In addition to fathering a daughter (Brazilian pianist Luli Oswald) with the Italian marchioness Paola Medici del Vascello (née Princess Paola di Viggiano, also: Donna Paola Sanfelice dei Principi di Viggiano), he may have been the father of American decorator and artist Muriel Draper's son Sanders Draper, who died in World War II. Luli Oswald was never recognised by her biological parents, hidden from the public and given as a newborn to a friend of Rubinstein's, the Brazilian conductor and composer Henrique Oswald (1852-1931). The latter's daughter Maria and her husband Odoardo Marchesini raised her and adopted her. The adoptive parents signed an affidavit in 1967 stating that Luli Oswald had been entrusted to them by her biological parents Paola Medici and Arthur Rubinstein because she was the "fruit of a forbidden love." After the adoption, her name was Margarida Henriqueta Marchesini. Oswald later performed under the stage name Luli Oswald.


title: Arthur Rubinstein

text: Though he and Nela never divorced, in 1977, at age 90, he left her for Annabelle Whitestone, then 33 years old.


title: Arthur Rubinstein

text: An agnostic, Rubinstein was proud of his Jewish heritage. He was a great friend of Israel, which he visited several times with his wife and children, giving concerts with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, recitals, and master classes at the Jerusalem Music Centre.


title: Arthur Rubinstein

text: In 1949, Rubinstein—who lost family members in the Holocaust—along with other prominent musicians (including Horowitz and Heifetz) announced that he would not appear with the Chicago Symphony if it engaged the conductor Wilhelm Furtwängler, who had remained in Germany during the war and who had performed a symphony for Hitler's birthday.


title: Arthur Rubinstein

text: Throughout his life, Rubinstein was deeply attached to Poland. At the inauguration of the United Nations in 1945, Rubinstein showed his Polish patriotism at a concert for the delegates. He began the concert by stating his deep disappointment that the conference did not have a delegation from Poland. Rubinstein later described becoming overwhelmed by a blind fury and angrily pointing out to the public the absence of the Polish flag. He stopped playing the piano, told the audience to stand up, including the Soviets, and played the Polish national anthem loudly and slowly, repeating the final part in a great thunderous "forte". When he had finished, the public gave him a great ovation.


title: Arthur Rubinstein

text: Rubinstein was active in supporting charities throughout his life. He performed charity concerts to raise donations for numerous organizations which interested him. In 1961, he performed ten recitals in Carnegie Hall to raise roughly $100,000 for charities including Big Brothers, United Jewish Appeal, Polish Assistance, Musicians Emergency fund, the National Association for Mental Health, and the Legal Defense Fund of the National Advancement of Colored People.


title: Arthur Rubinstein

text: In his two autobiographies, Rubinstein is often intensely self-critical. A natural pianist with a big technique, he claimed that he practiced as little as possible, learning new pieces quickly and with insufficient attention to detail, relying on his charm and charisma to conceal the lack of finish in his playing. The literal truth of these self-directed critiques is open to question: Rubinstein wasn't averse to making himself the butt of a good story. Even so, he insisted that his attitude toward practicing changed after his marriage. He stated that he did not want his children to see him as a second-rater, so he began in the summer of 1934 to restudy his entire repertoire. "I buckled down back to work—six hours, eight hours, nine hours a day." he recalled in 1958. "And a strange thing happened. ... I began to discover new meanings, new qualities, new possibilities in music that I have been regularly playing for more than 30 years." In general, however, Rubinstein believed that excessive practice could be dangerous for young pianists. Perhaps recalling his own youthful brush with repetitive-stress syndrome, Rubinstein regularly advised that young pianists should practice no more than three hours a day. "I was born very, very lazy and I don't always practice very long", he said, "but I must say, in my defense, that it is not so good, in a musical way, to overpractice. When you do, the music seems to come out of your pocket. If you play with a feeling of 'Oh, I know this', you play without that little drop of fresh blood that is necessary—and the audience feels it." Of his own practice methods, he said, "At every concert I leave a lot to the moment. I must have the unexpected, the unforeseen. I want to risk, to dare. I want to be surprised by what comes out. I want to enjoy it more than the audience. That way the music can bloom anew. It's like making love. The act is always the same, but each time it's different."


title: Arthur Rubinstein

text: Rubinstein was reluctant to teach in his earlier life, refusing to accept William Kapell's request for lessons. It was not until the late 1950s that he accepted his first pupil, Dubravka Tomšič Srebotnjak. Other pupils of Rubinstein include François-René Duchâble, Avi Schönfeld, Ann Schein Carlyss, Eugen Indjic, Janina Fialkowska, Dean Kramer and Marc Laforêt. Rubinstein also gave master classes towards the end of his life.


title: Arthur Rubinstein

text: Rubinstein died in his sleep at his home in Geneva, Switzerland, on 20 December 1982, at the age of 95. His remains were cremated. On the first anniversary of his death, an urn holding his ashes was buried in Jerusalem—as specified in his will—in a dedicated plot now dubbed "Rubinstein Forest" overlooking the Jerusalem Forest. This was arranged by then-mayor Teddy Kollek with Israel's Chief Rabbis, who had objected to Rubinstein's wish of having his ashes strewn over the Jerusalem Forest, given that Jewish law prohibits cremation and the forest is a public park, and as such falls under the religious law governing cemeteries.


title: Arthur Rubinstein

text: In October 2007, his family donated to the Juilliard School an extensive collection of original manuscripts, manuscript copies and published editions that had been seized by the Germans during World War II from his Paris residence. Seventy-one items were returned to his four children, marking the first time that Jewish property kept in the Berlin State Library was returned to the legal heirs.


title: Arthur Rubinstein

text: In 1974, Jan Jacob Bistritzky established the Arthur Rubinstein International Piano Master Competition, held every three years in Israel, intended to promote the careers of young and outstanding pianists. The Arthur Rubinstein Award and other prizes are presented to the winners. The Rubinstein Competition also commissions works by Israeli composers.


title: Arthur Rubinstein

text: There is an Arthur Rubinstein Street in Tel Aviv and in Białogard (Polish: "ulica Artura Rubinsteina") and an Arthur Rubinstein Passage in Łódź (Polish: "aleja Artura Rubinsteina").


title: Arthur Rubinstein

text: In 1910, Rubinstein recorded Franz Liszt's Hungarian Rhapsody No. 10 for the Polish Favorit label. The pianist was displeased with the acoustic recording process, saying it made the piano sound "like a banjo" and he did not record again until the advent of electrical recording. However, Rubinstein made numerous player piano music rolls for the Aeolian Duo-Art system and the American Piano Company (AMPICO) in the 1920s.


title: Arthur Rubinstein

text: Beginning in 1928, Rubinstein began to record extensively for the Gramophone Company (later known as EMI Records), better known as His Master's Voice in England and for RCA Victor in the United States, making a large number of solo, concerto and chamber music recordings until his retirement in 1976. As recording technology improved, from 78-rpm discs to LPs and stereophonic recordings, Rubinstein re-recorded much of his repertoire. All of his RCA Victor recordings have been reissued on compact disc and amount to about 107 hours of music.


title: Arthur Rubinstein

text: Rubinstein preferred to make studio recordings and during his lifetime approved for release only around three hours of live recordings. However, since his death, several labels have issued many of his live recordings sourced from various radio broadcasts.


title: Jacques le Gris

text: Sir Jacques le Gris (lit. "the Gray") (c. 1330s – 29 December 1386) was a French squire and knight who gained fame and infamy, and was ultimately killed when he engaged in one of the last judicial duels permitted by the Parlement of Paris after he was accused of rape by Marguerite de Carrouges, the wife of his neighbour and rival, Sir Jean de Carrouges. Carrouges brought legal proceedings against Le Gris before King Charles VI who, after hearing the evidence, authorised a trial by combat to determine the question. The duel attracted thousands of spectators and has been discussed by many notable French writers, from the contemporary Jean Froissart to Voltaire.


title: Jacques le Gris

text: Described as a large and physically imposing man, and rumoured to be a womaniser, Le Gris was a liegeman (feudal retainer) of Count Pierre d'Alençon and a favourite at his court, governing a large swathe of his liege lord's territory, in addition to his own ancestral holdings. Le Gris' insistence on defending his case by chivalric trial by combat, rather than opting for the safer church trial (to which, as a cleric in minor orders, he was entitled), attracted widespread support for his cause amongst the French nobility.


title: Jacques le Gris

text: Jacques le Gris was born in the 1330s, the son of Guillaume le Gris, a minor Norman squire. Unusual for the time, he was educated, taking minor orders as a cleric in the church, and able to read sufficiently well to officiate at mass. Like his father, Le Gris was first a man-at-arms, and then a squire, in the service of the Count of Perche, a role at which he excelled. He also participated in several minor military campaigns in Normandy, in the entourage of Robert d'Alençon.


title: Jacques le Gris

text: At some point in his life, Le Gris also married, and fathered several sons; who, in turn, had descendants of their own.


title: Jacques le Gris

text: In 1370, his long service was rewarded when he was given command of one of his liege lord's castles at the village of Exmes. During his career, he became firm friends with Jean de Carrouges, another squire in the count's service. Carrouges and Le Gris were so close that, in 1377, the same year that Count Robert died, Carrouges made Le Gris godfather to his eldest son, a position of great responsibility and trust.


title: Jacques le Gris

text: With the arrival of Count Robert's brother, Pierre d'Alençon, as the new count with Robert d'Alençon's death in 1377, the friendship between the two squires became strained. Le Gris was an able, amiable, and intelligent man, and soon became one of the new count's favourites. When Count Pierre moved his court to Argentan, Le Gris lent him 3,000 livres and, in reward, was confirmed as Seigneur (Lord) of Exmes, and given a valuable estate at Arnou-le-Faucon. As Le Gris rose in his lord's esteem, the poorer Carrouges was frequently overlooked, resulting in a deterioration in their friendship which was only worsened by the death of Carrouges' wife and son in 1380, severing the men's family ties.


title: Jacques le Gris

text: Shortly after the death of his family, Carrouges departed on campaign in Upper Normandy while Le Gris – thanks to his literacy and military skills – rose steadily in importance in Count Pierre's court, travelling with the count when he went to Paris on business. During the course of these trips, Count Pierre introduced Le Gris at the royal court and was instrumental in gaining him the prestigious title of Royal Steward, a position within the household of the King, Charles VI.


title: Jacques le Gris

text: In 1381, Le Gris and Carrouges engaged in a public argument over the domain of Aunou-le-Faucon. Carrouges had returned from the wars with a new bride, Marguerite de Thibouville, daughter of a controversial Norman squire who, until recently, had owned Aunou. Although the lands had been legally bought by Count Pierre in 1377 for 8,000 livres, Carrouges wanted them back as part of his dowry and took Count Pierre to court to return them. Pierre was forced to visit his cousin, the King, to obtain royal approval for his purchase and consequently was furious with Carrouges. The eventual result was that Carrouges was isolated from the court and subjected to three years of legal struggles over land with Count Pierre, who denied him the purchase or inheritance of several estates. Le Gris was heavily involved in these legal disputes both as the Seigneur of Aunou-le-Faucon and as an adviser to the count. He thus became a target of Carrouges, who accused Le Gris of orchestrating the lawsuits against him.


title: Jacques le Gris

text: A rapprochement between the two men was achieved in the winter of 1384, when Carrouges and Le Gris were both invited to the estate of a mutual friend, Jean Crespin, to celebrate the birth of his son. For the first time, Carrouges brought his wife Marguerite into society and it was at this party that she made her first acquaintance with Le Gris. Despite the tension between them, Carrouges and Le Gris shook hands and drank together, putting their quarrel behind them before their peers and neighbours.


title: Jacques le Gris

text: A few months later, Jean de Carrouges departed on a campaign to Scotland in 1385 as part of France's Auld Alliance with Scotland, serving under commander Jean de Vienne, and Le Gris took the opportunity to increase his influence with Count Pierre, making substantial financial and territorial gains in his rival's absence. Carrouges returned a year later, now a knight but bankrupt, ill, and suffering the aftermath of a long and unsuccessful campaign. When Carrouges appeared at Argentan in January 1386, he was involved in a confrontation with his erstwhile friend. Although it is not known what was said, the two men separated on poor terms, and Carrouges departed for Paris in a state of agitation.


title: Jacques le Gris

text: Some weeks after their encounter, word reached Le Gris of accusations being made against him by Carrouges and his wife. Carrouges claimed that on 18 January 1386, whilst Carrouges was still in Paris, Le Gris had entered the chateau of Carrouges' mother Nicole and raped Marguerite. According to Marguerite de Carrouges' testimony, a squire in Le Gris' employ named Adam Louvel had knocked on the door of the chateau and demanded entry. All the servants were attending to Dame Nicole de Carrouges, who was visiting a neighbouring town on legal business, and so Marguerite was alone when Louvel called. Once inside, Louvel gave Marguerite a message that Le Gris was outside and desired to see her because he was passionately in love with her. Although Marguerite protested, Le Gris broke into the house and proposed sexual intercourse with her, offering money in exchange. When Marguerite refused, Le Gris forcibly raped her on the bed in her chamber with the help of Louvel. As Le Gris departed, he threatened her with violence if she told of the encounter.


title: Jacques le Gris

text: Charges were brought by the Carrouges' faction against Le Gris in the court of Count Pierre but Carrouges and his wife refused to attend the hearing, so convinced were they of receiving unfair treatment from the count. Count Pierre backed his favourite in the trial, clearing Le Gris and accusing Marguerite of inventing or "dreaming" the charges. Undeterred, Carrouges then visited the court of King Charles VI at the Château de Vincennes and appealed to the King for the right to challenge Le Gris to a judicial duel to allow God to decide the case. The King referred the case to the Parlement of Paris, where both claimants were expected to appear on 9 July.


title: Jacques le Gris

text: Informed of the King's decision, Le Gris contacted Jean Le Coq, widely considered the best lawyer of the day in France. Le Coq kept meticulous notes of the entire trial process and it is through his record that many of the facts of the case are known. Le Coq also comments in his records his own suspicions about his client, whose claims of innocence he considered to be false. Le Gris was urged by his family and lawyer to insist on being tried in a church court, which was his right as a cleric in minor orders. This would have given him a more favourable hearing in a court that did not condone trial by combat and thus would also be much safer. Le Gris rebuffed this advice and became angry when challenged on the decision, insisting on his right to a trial before the Parlement.


title: Jacques le Gris

text: On 9 July 1386, at the Palais de Justice in Paris the two claimants faced each other for the first time since their confrontation at Argentan several months before. Each stepped before the Parlement in turn and presented their case for the King and court, Carrouges throwing down his gauntlet in a challenge and Le Gris picking it up, signifying his acceptance of the duel. Le Gris also embellished his case by insisting that should he be proven innocent of the offence, he would sue Carrouges or his estate for 40,000 livres. Following the declarations, a number of high-ranking noblemen stepped forward to act as seconds in the duel for both men, including Waleran of Saint-Pol for Carrouges and Philip of Artois, Count of Eu for Le Gris. After hearing the challenges and accusations, the Parlement and King debated the case and decided that a full hearing of the evidence from witnesses would be held to determine guilt. If the case could not be decided by normal means, then a judicial duel would be held to adjudicate the dispute, with God choosing the victor.


title: Jacques le Gris

text: During the criminal trial, all the major figures in the case were called on to give evidence. Le Gris and Carrouges began proceedings and were followed by a heavily pregnant Marguerite and at least one of her maidservants as well as Adam Louvel. As people of low birth, Louvel and the servants were all subject to torture to test the veracity of their testimony, but none gave evidence against Le Gris and the case continued through the summer and into September without conclusion. Le Gris' case involved several strategies; he attempted to discredit his opponent by telling of Carrouges' infamous temper and describing the case against him as a jealous invention from a man who had threatened to beat his wife if she did not corroborate his accusations. Le Gris then provided alibis for the entire week in question, establishing his whereabouts in testimony backed up by several other squires of the court of Count Pierre. Finally, he attempted to demonstrate in court that it was physically impossible for him to have ridden in winter from Argentan to Capomesnil, where the crime supposedly took place, in a single day, a round trip of approximately 50 miles (80 km).


title: Jacques le Gris

text: As the trial progressed, however, Le Gris' testimony suffered several blows. The unwavering accusations directed at him by Marguerite despite the shame such accusations brought to her were, in the eyes of the court, a powerful reason why the charges could not have been invented. One of the men providing Le Gris' alibi, Jean Beloteau, was arrested in Paris during the trial and charged with rape himself. This charge seriously undermined Beloteau's testimony and Le Gris' defence. Finally, Carrouges himself offered counter-testimony in court that a healthy, strong man with long experience of horsemanship and a stable full of horses like Le Gris could certainly have made the 50 mile trip without difficulty, even accounting for the snow.


title: Jacques le Gris

text: Faced with such conflicting accounts and unable to reach a conclusion, the Parlement announced on 15 September that the two men would fight to the death on 27 November 1386 to decide guilt in the case. If Carrouges lost, then Marguerite would be burnt at the stake for perjury. King Charles VI, who was on campaign with his court in Flanders, ordered the duel to be postponed until 29 December as he did not want to miss what was rapidly becoming the event of the season.


title: Jacques le Gris

text: On the day decreed, Le Gris and Carrouges travelled through Paris to the Abbey of Saint-Martin-des-Champs in the city's northern suburbs. The abbey's field had been converted from a jousting ground to a wooden arena especially for the combat, surrounded by banks for the spectators and a royal box. The King; his uncles John, Duke of Berry, Philip the Bold, and Louis II, Duke of Bourbon; and his brother the Duke of Orléans joined thousands of ordinary Parisians, Normans, and visiting French to attend the duel. The commoners in attendance were warned that anyone who did not keep quiet would lose a hand and anyone who attempted to aid either combatant would be executed.


title: Jacques le Gris

text: Although legal accounts do not describe the course of the combat, contemporary chroniclers have left several records of the day's battle. According to the chronicles, the claimants entered the field last and before all present repeated their accusations against the other and swore oaths guaranteeing their honesty before the King, Parliament, and God. Before they remounted, the marshal of the duel performed a brief ceremony in which he knighted Jacques Le Gris. This ceremony was traditional before the battle but also performed a part in maintaining the social structure of medieval France. With both men on the same social footing, there would be no defeat of a senior rank by a lesser one. Having been raised to the status of a knight, Sir Jacques regained his horse and the arena was cleared. Both knights were heavily armed and armoured, protected by a hide and wood shield bearing their coat of arms and thick plate armour, riding a heavy warhorse and wielding a lance, longsword, heavy battle axe, and long dagger known as a misericorde.


title: Jacques le Gris

text: At the marshal's signal, silence descended over the field and both knights spurred their horses and charged, their lances each striking the other's shield but not causing significant damage. Wheeling, both again struck, but failed to penetrate, scoring glancing blows on their helmets but remaining horsed. For a third time, they turned and charged and again they both struck. This time however the lances shattered, sending slivers of wood cartwheeling across the arena and nearly unseating both men. Regaining their balance, the knights closed on one another with battle axes drawn, trading furious two-handed blows. As the engagement progressed, Le Gris' superior strength began to tell and Carrouges was driven back until with a mighty swing, Le Gris' axe severed the spine of Carrouges' horse. The dying beast tumbled to the ground, Carrouges leaping clear and meeting Le Gris' charge with a side-step, allowing him to thrust his own axe's pike deep into the stomach of Le Gris' steed.


title: Jacques le Gris

text: As his horse faltered and collapsed, Le Gris was thrown off and lost his axe. Undaunted, he rose and drew his longsword, turning to meet Carrouges who was already advancing on him, sword also drawn. Again the combatants traded blows, their weapons the only sounds heard in the silent battleground. Again, Le Gris' superior strength gave him an advantage, pushing Carrouges back before thrusting his blade through his opponent's thigh. As the crowd murmured, Le Gris made a fatal mistake; withdrawing his weapon, he stepped back to watch his wounded enemy and was thus off balance when the desperate Carrouges threw himself forwards, wrestling Le Gris to the ground and hacking at him with his own longsword. Although Le Gris' plate armour was too thick to allow Carrouges' weapon to penetrate, it was also so heavy that he could not regain his feet with Carrouges on top of him. Stranded on the ground, Le Gris struggled as Carrouges straddled him and used his sword to smash open the lock on Le Gris' faceplate. As the crowd watched in silence, Carrouges shouted in Le Gris' exposed face for him to confess his crime before death or face Hell. Le Gris replied so all could hear, "In the name of God, and on the peril and damnation of my soul, I am innocent of the crime." Enraged, Carrouges drew his misericorde and thrust it through Le Gris' throat, killing him instantly.


title: Jacques le Gris

text: At Le Gris' death, the crowd cheered and the King greeted the victor with several fine presents. Carrouges became a wealthy and famous man as a result of his victory, but, despite his end, Le Gris was not forgotten. In the duel's immediate aftermath, the Executioner of Paris took charge of the body and stripped its armour and clothing before dragging it through the streets to the Gibbet of Montfaucon. There it was strung up alongside the bodies of murderers and thieves to rot before eventually being flung into a common grave. However, the memory of Jacques Le Gris was kept alive by his family and supporters for many years. His son Guillaume Le Gris paid over 200 francs for masses to be said for his father, "a man of noble memory," and continued to pay similar sums for at least ten years after his death. Count Pierre too retained favourable memories of his advisor, taking revenge by blocking Carrouges' efforts to purchase more land or expand his influence in Normandy.


title: Jacques le Gris

text: In the centuries since Le Gris' death, the case has become an important cultural legend in France. The duel was one of the last trials by combat ever permitted by the Parlement de Paris or the French Kings and the guilt or innocence of its participants has been a source of great debate among historians and jurists. The contemporary chronicler Jean Froissart harbours no question over the guilt of Le Gris, whom he considers a villain. Later writers take a different view, including the Grandes Chroniques de France and the works of Jehan de Waurin, who repeat with varying details an unverifiable tale of an unnamed culprit admitting his guilt after being condemned to death for an unidentified crime. During the Enlightenment, the duel was revisited by Boucher d'Argis, who repeated this story of the anonymous criminal's confession in Diderot's" Encyclopédie", and by Voltaire in his "Histoire du Parlement de Paris". An imaginative version of the legend was repeated in the "Encyclopædia Britannica" until the 1970s.


title: Jacques le Gris

text: Legal studies conducted in the 2000s by French jurists generally considered it likely that Le Gris was the real culprit based on Marguerite's evidence, although none, of course, could prove so conclusively. A major exception to this trend was a book written in 1890 by a descendant of Le Gris named F. White Le Grix, who makes a determined effort to defend his ancestor. Most recently, the story was studied in Eric Jager's work "", which also considers Le Gris the likely rapist.


title: Jacques le Gris

text: Jager's book was adapted into a feature film of the same name, directed by Ridley Scott, and released in 2021. Le Gris is portrayed by Adam Driver.


title: Burgos

text: Burgos () is a city in Spain located in the autonomous community of Castile and León. It is the capital and most populated municipality of the province of Burgos.


title: Burgos

text: Burgos is situated in the north of the Iberian Peninsula, on the confluence of the Arlanzón river tributaries, at the edge of the central plateau. The municipality has a population of about 180,000 inhabitants. The Camino de Santiago runs through Burgos.


title: Burgos

text: Founded in 884 by the second Count of Castile, Diego Rodríguez Porcelos, Burgos soon became the leading city of the embryonic County of Castile. The 11th century chieftain Rodrigo Díaz de Vivar ("El Cid") had connections with the city: born near Burgos, he was raised and educated there. In a long-lasting decline from the 17th century, Burgos became the headquarters of the Francoist proto-government (1936-1939) following the start of the Spanish Civil War. Declared in 1964 as Pole of Industrial Promotion and in 1969 as Pole of Industrial Development, the city has grown since then in terms of economic activity. At the regional level, Burgos forms part of an economic axis together with the cities of Valladolid and Palencia. In 2008, the international Burgos Airport started to service commercial flights.


title: Burgos

text: The Museum of Human Evolution opened here in 2010. The museum features remains of the first hominins in Europe, who lived in this area 750,000-800,000 years ago. The Cathedral of Burgos is a World Heritage Site. Burgos was selected as the "Spanish Gastronomy Capital" of 2013. In 2015 UNESCO named it "City of Gastronomy", and it has been part of the Creative Cities Network since then.


title: Burgos

text: There are several possible origins for the toponymy. When the city was founded, the inhabitants of the surrounding country moved into the fortified village, whose Visigothic name of Burgos signified consolidated walled villages (Gothic "baurgs"). The cities Burgas in Bulgaria and numerous cities containing the Germanic burg "city" such as Hamburg have a similar literal composition. The city began to be called "Caput Castellae" ("Cabeza de Castilla" or "Head of Castile").


title: Burgos

text: When the Romans took possession of what is now the province of Burgos, the site had been a Celtic city. In Roman times, it belonged to Hispania Citerior ("Hither Spain") and then to Hispania Tarraconensis. In the 5th century, the Visigoths drove back the Suebi, then the Berbers occupied almost all of Castile in the 8th century, though only for a very brief period, and left little if any trace of their occupation. King Alfonso III the Great of León reconquered it about the middle of the 9th century, and built several castles for the defence of Christendom, which was then extended through the reconquest of lost territory. The region came to be known as Castile (Latin "castella"), i.e. "(land of) castles".


title: Burgos

text: Burgos was founded in 884 as an outpost of this expanding Christian frontier, when Diego Rodríguez "Porcelos", count of Castile, governed this territory with orders to promote the increase of the Christian population; with this end in view he gathered the inhabitants of the surrounding country into one fortified village. The city began to be called "Caput Castellae" ("Cabeza de Castilla" or "Head of Castile"). The county ("condado") of Castile, subject to the Kings of León, continued to be governed by counts and was gradually extended; one of these counts, Fernán González, established his independence.


title: Burgos

text: In the 11th century, the city became the see of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Burgos and the capital of the Kingdom of Castile. Burgos was a major stop for pilgrims on the French Way the most popular path to Santiago de Compostela and a centre of trade between the Bay of Biscay and the south, which attracted an unusually large foreign merchant population, who became part of the city oligarchy and excluded other foreigners. Throughout the 13th and 14th centuries, Burgos was a favourite seat of the kings of León and Castile and a favoured burial site. The "consejo" or urban commune of Burgos was firmly in the hands of an oligarchic class of "caballeros villanos", the "peasant knights" of Burgos, who provided the monarchs with a mounted contingent: in 1255 and 1266 royal charters granted relief from taxes to those citizens of Burgos who owned horses and could arm themselves, provided that they continue to live within the city walls. The merchant oligarchy succeeded the cathedral chapter as the major purchasers of land after 1250; they carried on their mercantile business in common with municipal or royal functions and sent their sons to England and Flanders to gain experience in overseas trade. A few families within the "hermandades" or confraternities like the Sarracín and Bonifaz succeeded in monopolising the post of "alcalde", or mayor; a special court, the "alcalde del rey" was first mentioned at Burgos in 1281. By the reign of Alfonso X, the exemption of the non-noble knights and religious corporations, combined with exorbitant gifts and grants to monasteries and private individuals, placed great stress on the economic well-being of the realm.


title: Burgos

text: In the century following the conquest of Seville (1248) on the Moors, Burgos became a testing ground for royal policies of increasing power against the "consejo", in part by encouraging the right to appeal from the "consejo" to the king. In 1285, Sancho IV added a new body to the "consejo" which came to dominate it: the "jurado" in charge of collecting taxes and overseeing public works; the king reserved the right to select its members. The city perceived that danger to its autonomy came rather from an uncontrolled aristocracy during royal minorities: Burgos joined the "hermandades" of cities that leagued together for mutual protection in 1295 and 1315. In the 14th century, official royal intrusion in city affairs was perceived as a palliative against outbreaks of violence by the large excluded class of smaller merchants and artisans, on whom the tax burden fell. The "alguacil" was the royal official instituted to judge disagreements.


title: Burgos

text: On 9 June 1345, sweeping aside the city government, Alfonso XI established direct royal rule of Burgos through the "Regimiento" of sixteen appointed men.


title: Burgos

text: In 1574, Pope Gregory XIII made the bishopric a Metropolitan archbishopric, at the request of king Felipe II.


title: Burgos

text: Burgos has been the scene of many wars: with the Moors, the struggles between León and Navarre, and between Castile and Aragon. In the Peninsular War against Napoleonic France, the siege of Burgos (between 19 September to 21 October) was a scene of a withdrawal for Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington. Again in the 19th-century Carlist civil wars of the Spanish succession Burgos was the scene of a battle. During the Spanish Civil War, Burgos was the base of General Franco's rebel fascist government.


title: Burgos

text: At an elevation of , the city of Burgos lies in the transition zone between a Warm-summer Mediterranean climate (Köppen "Csb") and an Oceanic climate (Köppen "Cfb"), with some continental influence resulting from its distance from the sea and higher altitude. Burgos' climate features chilly and windy winters, due to altitude and an inland location, which always include snow and temperatures below freezing. Temperature ranges can be extreme and Burgos is drier than Spain's coastal regions, although there is year-round precipitation. Average annual precipitation is and the average annual relative humidity is 72%. In winter, temperatures very often (almost every day) drop below freezing, often reaching temperatures as low as , and snowfalls are common, while the summer months see average high temperatures of . The lowest recorded temperature in Burgos was on 20 January 1885. The highest recorded temperature was on 13 August 1987.


title: Burgos

text: Burgos is rich in ancient churches and convents. The three most notable are the cathedral, with its chapel of the Condestables de Castilla (Lords Constable of Castile), the monastery of Las Huelgas and the Carthusian monastery of Miraflores. Minor notable churches are San Esteban, San Gil (Sancti Aegidii), San Pedro, San Cosme y San Damián, Santiago (Sancti Jacobi), San Lorenzo and San Lesmes (Adelelmi). The Convento de la Merced, occupied by the Jesuits, and the Hospital del Rey are also of historic and architectural interest.


title: Burgos

text: Among the other interesting architectural structures, in the walls of the city are the gateway of Santa María, erected for the first entrance of the Emperor Charles V, and the arch of Fernán González.


title: Burgos

text: Construction on Burgos' Gothic Cathedral began in 1221 and spanned mainly from the 13th to 15th centuries. It has been declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The Cathedral is the resting place for El Cid (the famous knight from Medieval Spain's history) and his wife Dona Jimena. The west front is flanked by towers terminating in octagonal spires covered with open stonework traceries. The middle section, which serves as an entrance, has three alabaster pilasters, the intercolumnar spaces bearing panel-pictures representing the martyrdom of saints. The façade possesses ornate and fantastic surface decoration.


title: Burgos

text: The octagonal chapel of the Condestable, in florid, thus highly sculpted, Gothic design, has a roof finished with balustraded turrets, needle-pointed pinnacles and statues. In the lower portion, coats of arms, shields and crouching lions have been worked into the ensemble. The exterior of the sacristy is decorated with carved traceries, figures of angels and armoured knights. The elaborate tabernacle is composed of two octagonal sections in Corinthian style.


title: Burgos

text: The "Monasterio de las Huelgas Reales" (Monastery of the Royal Retreats) on the outskirts of the city, was founded in 1180 by king Alfonso VIII, and was begun in a pre-Gothic style, although almost every style has been introduced over many additions. The remarkable cloisters have been described as "unrivalled for beauty both of detail and design, and perhaps unsurpassed by anything in its age and style in any part of Europe" (1911 Encyclopædia Britannica). One cloister has semicircular arches with delicate and varied columns; the other has an ogival style of early Gothic. The interior of the church has enormous columns supporting its magnificent vault; the entrance is modern. This convent historically benefited from extraordinary privileges granted to its abbess by kings and popes.


title: Burgos

text: The Carthusian monastery, Miraflores Charterhouse ("Cartuja de Miraflores") is situated about four kilometres from the historic city center. Among the treasures of the Charterhouse are the wooden statue of St. Bruno, the wooden choir stalls in the church and the tombs of King Juan II and of his spouse, Queen Isabella of Portugal, constructed of marble and with their recumbent effigies sculpted in alabaster. Around the top frieze are statues of angels in miniature. The French soldiers in the Spanish War of Independence (1814) mutilated this work, cutting off some of the heads and carrying them away to France. King Juan II's daughters by his first wife, heiresses Princesses Catherine and Eleanor of Asturias, are also buried in the monastery.


title: Burgos

text: Burgos has a total of 10 museums, the newest being the Museum of Human Evolution (the 10th most visited museum in Spain).


title: Burgos

text: The Museum of Human Evolution was inaugurated on 13 July 2010. Its foundation is based on the archeological site of Atapuerca located east of Burgos. The Atapuerca site has been designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It contains several caves, where fossils and stone tools of the earliest known hominids in West Europe have been found, near Atapuerca Mountains.


title: Burgos

text: It summarizes the history of the province of Burgos. It has important objects and documents from all the ages, starting from Atapuerca, passing to the Romans and Iberians, and finishing in the contemporary period. These include the traditional sword of El Cid.


title: Burgos

text: The museum is located in the renaissances palaces, the House of Íñigo Angulo and the House of Miranda, which has a main patio that structures the museum.


title: Burgos

text: Between the Main Square "Plaza Mayor" and the Promenade of the Espolón "Paseo del Espolón," on the side street, Travesía del Mercado nº3, you find the Fadrique de Basilea Book Museum "Museo del Libro Fadrique de Basilea", of the Burgos publisher, Siloé, a cosy museum that shows the history of the book from its first written form to its modern electronic form.


title: Burgos

text: State Education in Spain is free, and compulsory from 6 to 16 years. The current education system is called LOE ("Ley Orgánica de Educación").


title: Burgos

text: Often abbreviated 'UBU', the University of Burgos is a public university with about 10,000 students studying over 30 different undergraduate degrees, over 20 PhD Programmes, as well as several Official Masters and other graduate courses. It was established in 1994 when it was divided from the University of Valladolid.


title: Burgos

text: UBU cooperates with the Erasmus Project, a European Union (EU) student-exchange programme, and each semester hosts students from various countries across the 15-state European Union, as well as Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, Malta and associated countries in Eastern Europe. Additionally, university students from various regions around the world including China, Latin and North America are able to participate in exchange programmes to study abroad at the University of Burgos. In total, the University of Burgos has education agreements with over 100 international academic institutions.


title: Burgos

text: Isabella I of Castile University, established in 2008, is a private state-recognized university located in Burgos. It was fully accredited by the Spanish Government in 2011.


title: Burgos

text: Most of the parks in the city of Burgos can be found along the river Arlanzón. Indeed, the banks of the river itself constitute a green corridor along the city. In total, there are nearly 3 square miles (1,878 acres) of parks in Burgos and one tree for every 3 inhabitants.


title: Burgos

text: Burgos is one of Spain's richest cities, with a GDP above the Spain average. It is an important trade and tourist center with a sizeable manufacturing base.


title: Burgos

text: Burgos is a very industrial city, with a secondary sector widely developed. The city has the biggest industrial park of north Spain, called "Villalonquéjar".


title: Burgos

text: The city is the headquarters of Grupo Antolin, designer and manufacturer of interior automotive components.


title: Burgos

text: It employs the bigger percentage in the city and is represented by the public sector (production, delivery and allocation of goods and services), due to the capital status.


title: Burgos

text: The city has a complete culture infrastructure, remarked by the Auditorio y Palacio de Congresos de Burgos, which opened in mid-2012.


title: Burgos

text: Spanish, also called Castilian, originated in Castile and spread throughout the Crown of Castile's possessions following the reconquista. It was eventually dispersed throughout the Spanish empire following the conquest and colonization of the Americas, and Spain after the union of the Catholic Monarchs's kingdoms being co-spoken with other languages. Of the many different variations and dialects found throughout the world, it's argued that the purest Spanish can be found in the region of Burgos due to the fact that the language first developed here in the 10th century.


title: Burgos

text: The Spanish language can be traced back to the monastery of Valpuesta located north-east of the city of Burgos. The Valpuesta cartularies are significant in the history of the Spanish language, and their status as manuscripts containing the earliest words written in Spanish has been officially recognised.


title: Burgos

text: The first utterings of Spanish continued in the "Silos Glosses", recorded in the Burgos monastery of Santo Domingo de Silos.


title: Burgos

text: Queso de Burgos, a white cheese which is soft and unctuous (because it is made with whey). Although originally made with sheep's milk, now cow's milk or mixtures are more common. Each "comarca" (rural district) produces a minor variation, and the major dairies produce an industrial product that is acceptable for people with sensitive digestion.


title: Burgos

text: Burgos is blessed with a moderate climate and this fresh cheese was able to be conserved there without the need for curing of more than 10 days. With the improvement of aseptic industrial production processes this can be extended to about 30 days at a cool 6 °C. Its production reaches 35,000 tons annually.