List of honorary British knights and dames
Arts and entertainment
Table:
List of honorary British Knights and Dames

Name
Nationality
Honour
Year
Category
Notes

Daniel Barenboim
Argentina /
Israel
KBE
2011
Arts/Entertainment
Pianist and conductor[1]

Jorge Luis Borges
Argentina
KBE
tbd
Arts/Entertainment
Poet and writer

Alfred Brendel
Austria
KBE
1989
Arts/Entertainment
Pianist

Julien Cain
France
KBE
1952
Arts/Entertainment
Administrator-general of the Bibliothèque nationale de France for services to British cultural issues.[2] see also fr:Julien Cain

Ralf Dahrendorf
Germany
KBE
1982
Arts/Entertainment
Became a British national in 1988

Christian Conrad Sophus, Count Danneskiold-Samsøe
Denmark
KCVO
1904
Arts/Entertainment
[3]

Anna Morpurgo Davies
Italy[N 1]
DBE
2000
Arts/Entertainment

Plácido Domingo
Spain
KBE
2002
Arts/Entertainment
Opera singer; awarded for contributions to music and charity work[4]

Antal Doráti
Hungary
KBE
1983
Arts/Entertainment

Maurice Druon
France
KBE
1999
Arts/Entertainment
Previously appointed Honorary CBE in 1988.

Douglas Fairbanks Jr.
United States
KBE
1949
Arts/Entertainment
In recognition of his work on behalf of Anglo-American amity, particularly as chairman in the United States of the Cooperative for American Remittances to Europe.[5]

Naum Gabo
Soviet Union
KBE
1973
Arts/Entertainment

Mark Getty
United States
KBE
2015
Arts/Entertainment

Bernard Haitink
Netherlands
CH
2002
Arts/Entertainment
Musical director of the Royal Opera House[6]

Bernard Haitink
Netherlands
KBE
1977
Arts/Entertainment
Principal Conductor, London Philharmonic Orchestra for his enormous contribution to the artistic life of this country[7]

Bob Hope
United States
KBE
1998
Arts/Entertainment
Entertainer, for contribution to Anglo-American friendship[8] He had lost British nationality in 1920.[N 2]

Magnus Magnusson
Iceland
KBE
1989
Arts/Entertainment

Ferdinand Meldahl
Denmark
GCVO
1904
Arts/Entertainment
Chamberlain to the King of Denmark and Vice President of the Royal Academy of Arts, Copenhagen.[3]

Yehudi Menuhin
United States/
Switzerland
KBE
1965
Arts/Entertainment
Became a British national in 1985. Appointed a substantive Member of the Order of Merit in 1987.

Spike Milligan
Ireland
KBE
2001
Arts/Entertainment
Comedian, awarded for services to entertainment[9]

Using the following table along with the textual context listed at the end.

State the answer to the question: In which year was the pianist born on 15 November 1942 honoured ? Provide just your answer in a JSON object {"answer": "YOUR ANSWER"}. Base your answer solely on the given information.

Daniel Barenboim , KBE ( German : [ ˈbaːʁənbɔʏm ] ; Hebrew : דניאל בארנבוים ; born 15 November 1942 ) is a pianist and conductor who is a citizen of Argentina , Israel , Palestine , and Spain . The current general music director of the Berlin State Opera and the Staatskapelle Berlin , Barenboim previously served as Music Director of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra , the Orchestre de Paris and La Scala in Milan . Barenboim is known for his work with the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra , a Seville-based orchestra of young Arab and Israeli musicians , and as a resolute critic of the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories . Barenboim has received many awards and prizes , including seven Grammy awards , an honorary Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire , France 's Légion d'honneur both as a Commander and Grand Officier , and the German Großes Bundesverdienstkreuz mit Stern und Schulterband . Together with the Palestinian-American scholar Edward Said , he was given Spain 's Prince of Asturias Concord Award . Barenboim is a polyglot , fluent in Spanish , Hebrew , English , French , Italian , and German . A self-described Spinozist , he is significantly influenced by Spinoza 's life and thought .
Argentina ( Spanish : [ aɾxenˈtina ] ) , officially the Argentine Republic [ A ] ( Spanish : República Argentina ) , is a country located mostly in the southern half of South America . Sharing the bulk of the Southern Cone with Chile to the west , the country is also bordered by Bolivia and Paraguay to the north , Brazil to the northeast , Uruguay and the South Atlantic Ocean to the east , and the Drake Passage to the south . With a mainland area of 2,780,400 km2 ( 1,073,500 sq mi ) , [ B ] Argentina is the eighth-largest country in the world , the fourth largest in the Americas , the second largest in South America after Brazil , and the largest Spanish-speaking nation . The sovereign state is subdivided into twenty-three provinces ( Spanish : provincias , singular provincia ) and one autonomous city ( ciudad autónoma ) , Buenos Aires , which is the federal capital of the nation ( Spanish : Capital Federal ) as decided by Congress . The provinces and the capital have their own constitutions , but exist under a federal system . Argentina claims sovereignty over part of Antarctica , the Falkland Islands ( Spanish : Islas Malvinas ) , and South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands . The earliest recorded human presence in modern-day Argentina dates back to the Paleolithic period . The Inca Empire expanded to the northwest of the country in Pre-Columbian times . The country has its roots in Spanish colonization of the region during the 16th century . Argentina rose as the successor state of the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata , a Spanish overseas viceroyalty founded in 1776 . The declaration and fight for independence ( 1810-1818 ) was followed by an extended civil war that lasted until 1861 , culminating in the country 's reorganization as a federation of provinces with Buenos Aires as its capital city . The country thereafter enjoyed relative peace and stability , with several waves of European immigration , mainly Italians and Spaniards , radically reshaping its cultural and demographic outlook ; 62.5% of the population has full or partial Italian ancestry , and the Argentine culture has significant connections to the Italian culture .
Israel , formally known as the State of Israel ( Hebrew : מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל ) , is a country in Western Asia , located on the southeastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea and the northern shore of the Red Sea . It has land borders with Lebanon to the north , Syria to the northeast , Jordan on the east , the Palestinian territories of the West Bank and Gaza Strip to the east and west , respectively , and Egypt to the southwest . The country contains geographically diverse features within its relatively small area . Israel 's economic and technological center is Tel Aviv , while its seat of government and proclaimed capital is Jerusalem , although the state 's sovereignty over Jerusalem has only partial recognition . [ fn 4 ] Israel has evidence of the earliest migration of hominids out of Africa . Canaanite tribes are archaeologically attested since the Middle Bronze Age , while the Kingdoms of Israel and Judah emerged during the Iron Age . The Neo-Assyrian Empire destroyed Israel around 720 BCE . Judah was later conquered by the Babylonian , Persian and Hellenistic empires and had existed as Jewish autonomous provinces . The successful Maccabean Revolt led to an independent Hasmonean kingdom by 110 BCE , which in 63 BCE however became a client state of the Roman Republic that subsequently installed the Herodian dynasty in 37 BCE , and in 6 CE created the Roman province of Judea . Judea lasted as a Roman province until the failed Jewish revolts resulted in widespread destruction , the expulsion of the Jewish population and the renaming of the region from Iudaea to Syria Palaestina . Jewish presence in the region has persisted to a certain extent over the centuries . In the 7th century CE , the Levant was taken from the Byzantine Empire by the Arabs and remained in Muslim control until the First Crusade of 1099 , followed by the Ayyubid conquest of 1187 .
Jorge Francisco Isidoro Luis Borges Acevedo KBE ( /ˈbɔːrhɛs/ ; Spanish : [ ˈboɾxes ] ( listen ) ; 24 August 1899 - 14 June 1986 ) was an Argentine short-story writer , essayist , poet and translator , and a key figure in Spanish-language and universal literature . His best-known books , Ficciones ( Fictions ) and El Aleph ( The Aleph ) , published in the 1940s , are compilations of short stories interconnected by common themes , including dreams , labyrinths , philosophy , libraries , mirrors , fictional writers , and mythology . Borges ' works have contributed to philosophical literature and the fantasy genre , and have been considered by some critics to mark the beginning of the magic realist movement in 20th century Latin American literature . His late poems converse with such cultural figures as Spinoza , Camões , and Virgil . Born in Buenos Aires , Borges later moved with his family to Switzerland in 1914 , where he studied at the Collège de Genève . The family travelled widely in Europe , including Spain . On his return to Argentina in 1921 , Borges began publishing his poems and essays in surrealist literary journals . He also worked as a librarian and public lecturer . In 1955 , he was appointed director of the National Public Library and professor of English Literature at the University of Buenos Aires . He became completely blind by the age of 55 . Scholars have suggested that his progressive blindness helped him to create innovative literary symbols through imagination . [ Note 1 ] By the 1960s , his work was translated and published widely in the United States and Europe .
Alfred Brendel KBE ( born 5 January 1931 ) is an Austrian pianist , poet and author , known particularly for his performances of Mozart , Schubert , Schoenberg , and especially Beethoven .
Austria ( /ˈɒstriə/ ( listen ) , /ˈɔːs-/ ; German : Österreich [ ˈøːstɐʁaɪ̯ç ] ( listen ) ) , officially the Republic of Austria ( German : Republik Österreich , listen ( help·info ) ) , is a landlocked East Alpine country in the southern part of Central Europe . It is composed of nine federated states ( Bundesländer ) , one of which is Vienna , Austria 's capital and its largest city . It is bordered by Germany to the northwest , Czech Republic to the north , Slovakia to the northeast , Hungary to the east , Slovenia and Italy to the south , and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the west . Austria occupies an area of 83,879 km2 ( 32,386 sq mi ) and has a population of nearly 9 million people . While German is the country 's official language , many Austrians communicate informally in a variety of Bavarian dialects . Austria initially emerged as a margraviate around 976 and developed into a duchy and archduchy . In the 16th century , Austria started serving as the heart of the Habsburg Monarchy and the junior branch of the House of Habsburg - one of the most influential royal dynasties in history . As an archduchy , it was a major component and administrative centre of the Holy Roman Empire . Early in the 19th century , Austria established its own empire , which became a great power and the leading force of the German Confederation but pursued its own course independently of the other German states . Following the Austro-Prussian War and the compromise with Hungary , the Dual Monarchy was established . Austria was involved in World War I under Emperor Franz Joseph following the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand , the presumptive successor to the Austro-Hungarian throne . After the defeat and the dissolution of the Monarchy , the Republic of German-Austria was proclaimed with the intent of the union with Germany , which eventually failed because of the Allied Powers and the state remained unrecognized .
Julien Cain ( 10 May 1887 - 9 October 1974 ) was the general administrator of the Bibliothèque nationale de France ( then called the Bibliothèque nationale ) before the Occupation of France by Nazi Germany . In August 1937 , Cain was one of the hosts of the first World Congress of Universal Documentation , held in Paris , which met to further the goal of creating a World Brain , an idea championed by H. G. Wells , and seen by some as one of the precursors to Wikipedia . In the summer of 1939 , before the occupation began , he saw the impending danger clearly enough to order the evacuation of many of the library 's most valuable items . Quite soon after the occupation began , Cain was removed from his post by the Vichy government because he was Jewish and replaced by collaborationist Bernard Faÿ . In February , 1941 , Cain was denounced in Le Matin and arrested . He was detained in French prisons until January 1944 , when he was sent to Buchenwald . He was freed by American forces in April , 1945 , when the camp was liberated . He resumed the administratorship of the Bibliothèque nationale , which he held until 1964 .
France ( French : [ fʁɑ̃s ] ( listen ) ) , officially the French Republic ( French : République française , pronounced [ ʁepyblik fʁɑ̃sɛːz ] ( listen ) ) , is a country whose territory consists of metropolitan France in Western Europe and several overseas regions and territories . [ XIII ] The metropolitan area of France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea , and from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean . It is bordered by Belgium , Luxembourg and Germany to the northeast , Switzerland and Italy to the east , and Andorra and Spain to the south . The overseas territories include French Guiana in South America and several islands in the Atlantic , Pacific and Indian oceans . The country 's 18 integral regions ( five of which are situated overseas ) span a combined area of 643,801 square kilometres ( 248,573 sq mi ) and a total population of 67.02 million ( as of July 2019 [ update ] ) . France is a unitary semi-presidential republic with its capital in Paris , the country 's largest city and main cultural and commercial centre . Other major urban areas include Lyon , Marseille , Toulouse , Bordeaux , Lille and Nice . France , including its overseas territories , has the most number of time zones of any country , with a total of 12 . During the Iron Age , what is now metropolitan France was inhabited by the Gauls , a Celtic people . Rome annexed the area in 51 BC , holding it until the arrival of Germanic Franks in 476 , who formed the Kingdom of Francia . The Treaty of Verdun of 843 partitioned Francia into East Francia , Middle Francia and West Francia . West Francia , which became the Kingdom of France in 987 , emerged as a major European power in the Late Middle Ages , following its victory in the Hundred Years ' War ( 1337-1453 ) .
The Bibliothèque nationale de France ( French : [ biblijɔtɛk nasjɔnal də fʁɑ̃s ] , National Library of France ; BnF ) is the national library of France , located in Paris . It is the national repository of all that is published in France and also holds extensive historical collections .
Ralf Gustav Dahrendorf , Baron Dahrendorf , KBE , FBA ( 1 May 1929 - 17 June 2009 ) was a German-British sociologist , philosopher , political scientist and liberal politician . A class conflict theorist , Dahrendorf was a leading expert on explaining and analyzing class divisions in modern society . Dahrendorf wrote multiple articles and books , his most notable being Class Conflict in Industrial Society ( 1959 ) and Essays in the Theory of Society ( 1968 ) . During his political career , he was a Member of the German Parliament , Parliamentary Secretary of State at the Foreign Office of Germany , European Commissioner for Trade , European Commissioner for Research , Science and Education and Member of the British House of Lords , after he was created a life peer in 1993 . He was subsequently known in the United Kingdom as Lord Dahrendorf . He served as director of the London School of Economics and Warden of St Antony 's College , University of Oxford . He also served as a Professor of Sociology at a number of universities in Germany and the United Kingdom , and was a Research Professor at the Berlin Social Science Research Center .
Germany ( German : Deutschland , German pronunciation : [ ˈdɔʏtʃlant ] ) , constitutionally the Federal Republic of Germany ( German : Bundesrepublik Deutschland , listen ( help·info ) ) , [ f ] is a country in Central and Western Europe . It borders Denmark to the north , Poland and the Czech Republic to the east , Austria and Switzerland to the south , France to the southwest , and Luxembourg , Belgium , and the Netherlands to the west . Germany includes 16 constituent states , covers an area of 357,386 square kilometres ( 137,988 sq mi ) , and has a largely temperate seasonal climate . With 83 million inhabitants , it is the second most populous state of Europe after Russia , the most populous state lying entirely in Europe , as well as the most populous member state of the European Union . Germany is a very decentralised country . Its capital and largest metropolis is Berlin , while Frankfurt serves as its financial capital and has the country 's busiest airport . Various Germanic tribes have inhabited the northern parts of modern Germany since classical antiquity . A region named Germania was documented before AD 100 . Beginning in the 10th century , German territories formed a central part of the Holy Roman Empire . During the 16th century , northern German regions became the centre of the Protestant Reformation . After the collapse of the Holy Roman Empire , the German Confederation was formed in 1815 . The German revolutions of 1848-49 resulted in the Frankfurt Parliament establishing major democratic rights .
Christian Conrad Sophus Danneskiold-Samsøe ( 29 August 1836 - 1 November 1908 ) , normally referred to as Christian Danneskiold-Samsøe , was a Danish count , landowner and administrative leader of the Royal Danish Theatre .
Denmark ( Danish : Danmark , pronounced [ ˈtænmak ] ( listen ) ) , officially the Kingdom of Denmark , [ N 10 ] [ N 2 ] is a Nordic country in Northwest Europe . Denmark proper , which is the southernmost of the Scandinavian countries , consists of a peninsula , Jutland , and an archipelago of 443 named islands , [ N 2 ] with the largest being Zealand , Funen and the North Jutlandic Island . The islands are characterised by flat , arable land and sandy coasts , low elevation and a temperate climate . The southernmost of the Scandinavian nations , Denmark lies southwest of Sweden and south of Norway , [ N 11 ] and is bordered to the south by Germany . The Kingdom of Denmark also includes two autonomous territories in the North Atlantic Ocean : the Faroe Islands and Greenland . Denmark has a total area of 42,924 km2 ( 16,573 sq mi ) , land area of 42,394 km2 ( 16,368 sq mi ) , and the total area including Greenland and the Faroe Islands is 2,210,579 km2 ( 853,509 sq mi ) , and a population of 5.8 million in Denmark proper ( Danish egentlige Danmark ) ( as of 2020 [ update ] ) . The unified kingdom of Denmark emerged in the 8th century as a proficient seafaring nation in the struggle for control of the Baltic Sea . Denmark , Sweden , and Norway were ruled together under one sovereign ruler in the Kalmar Union , established in 1397 and ending with Swedish secession in 1523 . The areas of Denmark and Norway remained under the same monarch until 1814 , Denmark-Norway . Beginning in the 17th century , there were several devastating wars with the Swedish Empire , ending with large cessions of territory to Sweden . After the Napoleonic Wars , Norway was ceded to Sweden , while Denmark kept the Faroe Islands , Greenland , and Iceland . In the 19th century there was a surge of nationalist movements , which were defeated in the First Schleswig War .
Anna Elbina Morpurgo Davies , DBE , FSA , FBA ( 21 June 1937 - 27 September 2014 ) was an Italian philologist who specialised in comparative Indo-European linguistics . She spent her career at Oxford University , where she was the Professor of Comparative Philology and Fellow of Somerville College .
Italy ( Italian : Italia [ iˈtaːlja ] ( listen ) ) , officially the Italian Republic ( Italian : Repubblica Italiana [ reˈpubblika itaˈljaːna ] ) , is a European country consisting of a peninsula delimited by the Alps and surrounded by several islands . Italy is located in south-central Europe , and it is also considered a part of Western Europe . The country covers a total area of 301,340 km2 ( 116,350 sq mi ) and shares land borders with France , Switzerland , Austria , Slovenia , and the enclaved microstates of Vatican City and San Marino . Italy has a territorial exclave in Switzerland ( Campione ) and a maritime exclave in the Tunisian Sea ( Lampedusa ) . With around 60 million inhabitants , Italy is the third-most populous member state of the European Union . The capital and largest city is Rome ; other major cities are Milan , Naples , Turin , Palermo , Genoa , Bologna , Florence and Venice . Due to its central geographic location in Southern Europe and the Mediterranean , Italy has historically been home to myriad peoples and cultures . In addition to the various ancient peoples dispersed throughout what is now modern-day Italy , the most predominant being the Indo-European Italic peoples who gave the peninsula its name , beginning from the classical era , Phoenicians and Carthaginians founded colonies mostly in insular Italy , Greeks established settlements in the so-called Magna Graecia of Southern Italy , while Etruscans and Celts inhabited central and northern Italy respectively . An Italic tribe known as the Latins formed the Roman Kingdom in the 8th century BC , which eventually became a republic with a government of the Senate and the People . The Roman Republic initially conquered and assimilated its neighbours on the Italian peninsula , eventually expanding and conquering parts of Europe , North Africa and Asia . By the first century BC , the Roman Empire emerged as the dominant power in the Mediterranean Basin and became a leading cultural , political and religious centre , inaugurating the Pax Romana , a period of more than 200 years during which Italy 's law , technology , economy , art , and literature developed . Italy remained the homeland of the Romans and the metropole of the empire , whose legacy can also be observed in the global distribution of culture , governments , Christianity and the Latin script .
José Plácido Domingo Embil KBE [ a ] ( born 21 January 1941 ) is a Spanish opera singer , conductor and arts administrator . He has recorded over a hundred complete operas and is well known for his versatility , regularly performing in Italian , French , German , Spanish , English and Russian in the most prestigious opera houses in the world . Although primarily a lirico-spinto tenor for most of his career , especially popular for his Cavaradossi , Hoffmann , Don José , and Canio , he quickly moved into more dramatic roles , becoming the most acclaimed Otello of his generation . In the early 2010s , he transitioned from the tenor repertory into almost exclusively baritone parts , most notably Simon Boccanegra . He has performed 151 different roles . Domingo has also achieved significant success as a crossover artist , especially in the genres of Latin and popular music . In addition to winning fourteen Grammy and Latin Grammy Awards , several of his records have gone silver , gold , platinum and multi-platinum . His first pop album , Perhaps Love ( 1981 ) , spread his fame beyond the opera world . The title song , performed as a duet with country and folk singer John Denver , has sold almost four million copies and helped lead to numerous television appearances for the tenor . He also starred in many cinematically released and televised opera movies , particularly under the direction of Franco Zeffirelli . In 1990 , he began singing with fellow tenors Luciano Pavarotti and José Carreras as part of The Three Tenors . The first Three Tenors recording became the best-selling classical album of all time .
Spain ( Spanish : España [ esˈpaɲa ] ( listen ) ) , officially the Kingdom of Spain ( Spanish : Reino de España ) , [ a ] [ b ] is a country in Southwestern Europe with some pockets of Spanish territory across the Strait of Gibraltar and the Atlantic Ocean . Its continental European territory is situated on the Iberian Peninsula . Its territory also includes two archipelagoes : the Canary Islands off the coast of Africa , and the Balearic Islands in the Mediterranean Sea . The African enclaves of Ceuta , Melilla , and Peñón de Vélez de la Gomera make Spain the only European country to have a physical border with an African country ( Morocco ) . [ h ] Several small islands in the Alboran Sea are also part of Spanish territory . The country 's mainland is bordered to the south and east by the Mediterranean Sea except for a small land boundary with Gibraltar ; to the north and northeast by France , Andorra , and the Bay of Biscay ; and to the west and northwest by Portugal and the Atlantic Ocean . With an area of 505,990 km2 ( 195,360 sq mi ) , Spain is the largest country in Southern Europe , the second largest country in Western Europe and the European Union , and the fourth largest country in the European continent . By population ( about 47 million ) , Spain is the sixth largest in Europe and the fifth in the European Union . Spain 's capital and largest city is Madrid ; other major urban areas include Barcelona , Valencia , Seville , Zaragoza , Málaga and Bilbao . Modern humans first arrived in the Iberian Peninsula around 35,000 years ago . Iberian cultures along with ancient Phoenician , Greek , Celtic and Carthaginian settlements developed on the peninsula until it came under Roman rule around 200 BCE , after which the region was named Hispania , based on the earlier Phoenician name Sp ( a ) n or Spania . At the end of the Western Roman Empire the Germanic tribal confederations migrated from Central Europe , invaded the Iberian peninsula and established relatively independent realms in its western provinces , including the Suebi , Alans and Vandals .
Antal Doráti KBE ( UK : /ˌæntæl dɔːˈrɑːti/ , US : /ˈdɔːrɑːti , dɔːˈrɑːti/ , Hungarian : [ ˈɒntɒl ˈdoraːti ] ; 9 April 1906 - 13 November 1988 ) was a Hungarian-born conductor and composer who became a naturalized American citizen in 1943 .
Hungary ( Hungarian : Magyarország [ ˈmɒɟɒrorsaːɡ ] ( listen ) ) is a country in Central Europe . Spanning 93,030 square kilometres ( 35,920 sq mi ) in the Carpathian Basin , it borders Slovakia to the north , Ukraine to the northeast , Romania to the east and southeast , Serbia to the south , Croatia and Slovenia to the southwest , and Austria to the west . With about 10 million inhabitants , Hungary is a medium-sized member state of the European Union . The official language is Hungarian , which is the most widely spoken Uralic language in the world , and among the few non-Indo-European languages to be widely spoken in Europe . Hungary 's capital and largest city is Budapest ; other major urban areas include Debrecen , Szeged , Miskolc , Pécs and Győr . The territory of modern Hungary was for centuries inhabited by a succession of peoples , including Celts , Romans , Germanic tribes , Huns , West Slavs and the Avars . The foundations of the Hungarian state were established in the late ninth century CE by the Hungarian grand prince Árpád following the conquest of the Carpathian Basin . His great-grandson Stephen I ascended the throne in 1000 , converting his realm to a Christian kingdom . By the 12th century , Hungary became a regional power , reaching its cultural and political height in the 15th century . Following the Battle of Mohács in 1526 , Hungary was partially occupied by the Ottoman Empire ( 1541-1699 ) . It came under Habsburg rule at the turn of the 18th century , and later joined Austria to form the Austro-Hungarian Empire , a major European power . The Austro-Hungarian Empire collapsed after World War I , and the subsequent Treaty of Trianon established Hungary 's current borders , resulting in the loss of 71% of its territory , 58% of its population , and 32% of ethnic Hungarians .
Maurice Druon , KBE ( 23 April 1918 - 14 April 2009 ) was a French novelist and a member of the Académie française , of which he served as Perpetual Secretary ( chairman ) between 1985 and 1999 .
Douglas Elton Fairbanks Jr. , KBE , DSC ( December 9 , 1909 - May 7 , 2000 ) , was an American actor and producer , and a decorated naval officer of World War II . He is best known for starring in such films as The Prisoner of Zenda ( 1937 ) , Gunga Din ( 1939 ) and The Corsican Brothers ( 1941 ) . He was the son of actor Douglas Fairbanks and was once married to Joan Crawford .
The United States of America ( USA ) , commonly known as the United States ( U.S. or US ) or America , is a country consisting of 50 states , a federal district , five major self-governing territories , and various possessions . [ g ] At 3.8 million square miles ( 9.8 million km2 ) , it is the world 's third or fourth-largest country by total area [ b ] and is slightly smaller than the entire continent of Europe . Most of the country is located in central North America between Canada and Mexico . With an estimated population of over 328 million , the U.S. is the third most populous country in the world . The capital is Washington , D.C. , and the most populous city is New York City . Paleo-Indians migrated from Siberia to the North American mainland at least 12,000 years ago . European colonization began in the 16th century . The United States emerged from the thirteen British colonies established along the East Coast . Numerous disputes between Great Britain and the colonies led to the American Revolutionary War lasting between 1775 and 1783 , leading to independence . The United States embarked on a vigorous expansion across North America throughout the 19th century - gradually acquiring new territories , displacing Native Americans , and admitting new states - until by 1848 it spanned the continent . During the second half of the 19th century , the American Civil War led to the abolition of slavery in the United States . The Spanish-American War and World War I confirmed the country 's status as a global military power .
Naum Gabo , born Naum Neemia Pevsner ( 5 August [ O.S . 24 July ] 1890 - 23 August 1977 ) ( Hebrew : נחום נחמיה פבזנר ) , was an influential sculptor , theorist , and key figure in Russia 's post-Revolution avant-garde and the subsequent development of twentieth-century sculpture . His work combined geometric abstraction with a dynamic organization of form in small reliefs and constructions , monumental public sculpture and pioneering kinetic works that assimilated new materials such as nylon , wire , lucite and semi-transparent materials , glass and metal . Responding to the scientific and political revolutions of his age , Gabo led an eventful and peripatetic life , moving to Berlin , Paris , Oslo , Moscow , London , and finally the United States , and within the circles of the major avant-garde movements of the day , including Cubism , Futurism , Constructivism , the Bauhaus , de Stijl and the Abstraction-Création group . Two preoccupations , unique to Gabo , were his interest in representing negative space - released from any closed volume or mass - and time . He famously explored the former idea in his Linear Construction works ( 1942-1971 ) - used nylon filament to create voids or interior spaces as concrete as the elements of solid mass - and the latter in his pioneering work , Kinetic Sculpture ( Standing Waves ) ( 1920 ) , often considered the first kinetic work of art . Gabo elaborated many of his ideas in the Constructivist Realistic Manifesto , which he issued with his brother , sculptor Antoine Pevsner as a handbill accompanying their 1920 open-air exhibition in Moscow . In it , he sought to move past Cubism and Futurism , renouncing what he saw as the static , decorative use of color , line , volume and solid mass in favor of a new element he called the kinetic rhythms ( … ) the basic forms of our perception of real time . Gabo held a utopian belief in the power of sculpture - specifically abstract , Constructivist sculpture - to express human experience and spirituality in tune with modernity , social progress , and advances in science and technology . After working on a smaller scale in England during the war years ( 1936-1946 ) , Gabo moved to the United States , where he received several public sculpture commissions , only some of which he completed . These include Constructie , an 81-foot commemorative monument in front of the Bijenkorf Department Store ( 1954 , unveiled in 1957 ) in Rotterdam , and Revolving Torsion , a large fountain outside St Thomas Hospital in London . The Tate Gallery , London held a major retrospective of Gabo 's work in 1966 and holds many key works in its collection , as do the Museum of Modern Art and Guggenheim Museum in New York .
The Soviet Union , [ b ] officially known as the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics ( USSR or СССР ) , [ c ] was a federal sovereign state in northern Eurasia that existed from 1922 to 1991 . Nominally a union of multiple national Soviet republics , [ d ] in practice its government and economy were highly centralized . The country was a one-party state , governed by the Communist Party with Moscow as its capital in its largest republic , the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic ( Russian SFSR ) . Other major urban centers were Leningrad , Kiev , Minsk , Tashkent , Alma-Ata , and Novosibirsk . It spanned over 10,000 kilometers ( 6,200 mi ) east to west across 11 time zones , and over 7,200 kilometers ( 4,500 mi ) north to south . Its territory included much of Eastern Europe , as well as part of Northern Europe and all of Northern and Central Asia . It had five climate zones : tundra , taiga , steppes , desert and mountains . The Soviet Union had its roots in the 1917 October Revolution , when the Bolsheviks , led by Vladimir Lenin , overthrew the Russian Provisional Government which had replaced the autocratic regime of Tsar Nicholas II during World War I . In 1922 , after a civil war ending in the Bolsheviks ' victory , the USSR was formed by a treaty which united the Russian , Transcaucasian , Ukrainian and Byelorussian republics . Following Lenin 's death in 1924 and a brief power struggle , Joseph Stalin came to power in the mid-1920s . Stalin formalized the Communist Party 's ideology of Marxism-Leninism and replaced the market economy with a command economy which led to a period of rapid industrialization and collectivization . During this period , rapid economic development resulted in dramatic improvements in the average standard of living , particularly in urban areas .
Mark Harris Getty , KBE ( born July 9 , 1960 ) is an Irish national British businessman and is co-founder and Chairman of Getty Images . He is the son of Gail Harris , and Sir John Paul Getty .
Bernard Johan Herman Haitink CH KBE ( Dutch : [ ˈbɛrnɑrt ˈɦaːi̯tɪŋk ] ; born 4 March 1929 ) is a Dutch conductor .
The Netherlands ( Dutch : Nederland , [ ˈneːdərlɑnt ] ( listen ) ) , informally Holland , is a country in Northwestern Europe with some overseas territories in the Caribbean . In Europe , it consists of 12 provinces that border Germany to the east , Belgium to the south , and the North Sea to the northwest , with maritime borders in the North Sea with those countries and the United Kingdom . Together with the Caribbean Netherlands - Bonaire , Sint Eustatius and Saba - it forms a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands . The official language is Dutch and a secondary official language in the province of Friesland is West Frisian . In the north and east of the country , Low Saxon is also spoken , and in the southeast , Limburgish . In the Caribbean Netherlands English and Papiamento are recognised languages . The five largest cities in the Netherlands are Amsterdam , Rotterdam , The Hague , Utrecht and Eindhoven . Amsterdam is the country 's most populous city and nominal capital , while The Hague holds the seat of the States General , Cabinet and Supreme Court . The Port of Rotterdam is the busiest seaport in Europe , and the busiest in any country outside Asia . Amsterdam Airport Schiphol is the busiest airport in the Netherlands , and the third busiest in Europe . The country is a founding member of the EU , Eurozone , G10 , NATO , OECD and WTO , as well as a part of the Schengen Area and the trilateral Benelux Union . It hosts several intergovernmental organisations and international courts , many of which are centered in The Hague , which is consequently dubbed 'the world 's legal capital ' .
The Royal Opera House ( ROH ) is an opera house and major performing arts venue in Covent Garden , central London . The large building is often referred to as simply Covent Garden , after a previous use of the site of the opera house 's original construction in 1732 . It is the home of The Royal Opera , The Royal Ballet , and the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House . Originally called the Theatre Royal , it served primarily as a playhouse for the first hundred years of its history . In 1734 , the first ballet was presented . A year later , Handel 's first season of operas began . Many of his operas and oratorios were specifically written for Covent Garden and had their premieres there . The current building is the third theatre on the site following disastrous fires in 1808 and 1856 . The façade , foyer , and auditorium date from 1858 , but almost every other element of the present complex dates from an extensive reconstruction in the 1990s . The main auditorium seats 2,256 people , making it the third largest in London , and consists of four tiers of boxes and balconies and the amphitheatre gallery . The proscenium is 12.20 m wide and 14.80 m high . The main auditorium is a Grade I listed building .
Bob Hope , KBE ( born Leslie Townes Hope ; May 29 , 1903 - July 27 , 2003 ) was an English-American stand-up comedian , vaudevillian , actor , singer , dancer , athlete , and author . With a career that spanned nearly 80 years , Hope appeared in more than 70 short and feature films , with 54 feature films with Hope as star , including a series of seven Road musical comedy movies with Bing Crosby as Hope 's top-billed partner . In addition to hosting the Academy Awards show 19 times , more than any other host , he appeared in many stage productions and television roles , and was the author of 14 books . The song Thanks for the Memory was his signature tune . Hope was born in the Eltham district of southeast London , UK , arrived in the United States of America with his family at the age of four , and grew up in the Cleveland , Ohio , area . After a brief career as a boxer in the late 1910s , he began his career in show business in the early 1920s , initially as a comedian and dancer on the vaudeville circuit , before acting on Broadway . Hope began appearing on radio and in films starting in 1934 . He was praised for his comedic timing , specializing in one-liners and rapid-fire delivery of jokes which often were self-deprecating . He helped establish modern American stand-up comedy . Celebrated for his long career performing in United Service Organizations ( USO ) shows to entertain active duty American military personnel , making 57 tours for the USO between 1941 and 1991 , Hope was declared an honorary veteran of the U.S. Armed Forces in 1997 by an act of the United States Congress . He appeared in numerous specials for NBC television starting in 1950 , and was one of the first users of cue cards . Hope participated in the sports of golf and boxing and owned a small stake in his hometown baseball team , the Cleveland Indians .
Magnus Magnusson , KBE ( [ ˈmaknus ˈmaknusɔn ] ; born Magnús Sigursteinsson ; 12 October 1929 - 7 January 2007 ) was an Icelandic-born British based journalist , translator , writer , and television presenter . Born in Reykjavík , he lived in Scotland for almost all his life , although he never took British citizenship . He came to prominence as a BBC television journalist and was best known as the presenter of the BBC television quiz programme Mastermind , which he hosted for 25 years . He is also known for his famous catchphrase I 've started so I 'll finish , which he said whenever the time ran out while he was reading a question on Mastermind .
Iceland ( Icelandic : Ísland ; [ ˈistlant ] ( listen ) ) [ c ] is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic , with a population of 360,390 and an area of 103,000 km2 ( 40,000 sq mi ) , making it the most sparsely populated country in Europe . [ d ] The capital and largest city is Reykjavík . Reykjavik and the surrounding areas in the southwest of the country are home to over two-thirds of the population . Iceland is volcanically and geologically active . The interior consists of a plateau characterised by sand and lava fields , mountains , and glaciers , and many glacial rivers flow to the sea through the lowlands . Iceland is warmed by the Gulf Stream and has a temperate climate , despite a high latitude just outside the Arctic Circle . Its high latitude and marine influence keep summers chilly , with most of the archipelago having a tundra climate . According to the ancient manuscript Landnámabók , the settlement of Iceland began in 874 AD when the Norwegian chieftain Ingólfr Arnarson became the first permanent settler on the island . In the following centuries , Norwegians , and to a lesser extent other Scandinavians , emigrated to Iceland , bringing with them thralls ( i.e. , slaves or serfs ) of Gaelic origin . The island was governed as an independent commonwealth under the Althing , one of the world 's oldest functioning legislative assemblies . Following a period of civil strife , Iceland acceded to Norwegian rule in the 13th century . The establishment of the Kalmar Union in 1397 united the kingdoms of Norway , Denmark , and Sweden .
Ferdinand Meldahl ( 16 March 1827 - 3 February 1908 ) was a Danish architect best known for the reconstruction of Frederiksborg Castle after the fire in 1859 . Meldahl was one of the leading proponents of historicism in Denmark .
Yehudi Menuhin , Baron Menuhin , OM KBE ( 22 April 1916 - 12 March 1999 ) was an American-born violinist and conductor who spent most of his performing career in Britain . He is widely considered one of the greatest violinists of the 20th century . He played the Soil Stradivarius , considered one of the finest violins made by Italian luthier Antonio Stradivari .
Switzerland , officially the Swiss Confederation , is a country situated in the confluence of western , central , and southern Europe . [ note 4 ] It is a federal republic composed of 26 cantons , with federal authorities seated in Bern . [ note 1 ] Switzerland is a landlocked country bordered by Italy to the south , France to the west , Germany to the north , and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east . It is geographically divided among the Swiss Plateau , the Alps , and the Jura , spanning a total area of 41,285 km2 ( 15,940 sq mi ) , and land area of 39,997 km2 ( 15,443 sq mi ) . While the Alps occupy the greater part of the territory , the Swiss population of approximately 8.5 million is concentrated mostly on the plateau , where the largest cities are located , among them the two global cities and economic centres of Zürich and Geneva . The establishment of the Old Swiss Confederacy dates to the late medieval period , resulting from a series of military successes against Austria and Burgundy . Swiss independence from the Holy Roman Empire was formally recognized in the Peace of Westphalia in 1648 . The Federal Charter of 1291 is considered the founding document of Switzerland which is celebrated on Swiss National Day . Since the Reformation of the 16th century , Switzerland has maintained a strong policy of armed neutrality ; it has not fought an international war since 1815 and did not join the United Nations until 2002 . Nevertheless , it pursues an active foreign policy and is frequently involved in peace-building processes around the world . Switzerland is the birthplace of the Red Cross , one of the world 's oldest and best known humanitarian organisations , and is home to numerous international organisations , including the second largest UN office . It is a founding member of the European Free Trade Association , but notably not part of the European Union , the European Economic Area or the Eurozone .
The Order of Merit ( French : Ordre du Mérite ) [ n 1 ] is a Commonwealth order of merit recognising distinguished service in the armed forces , science , art , literature , or for the promotion of culture . Established in 1902 by King Edward VII , admission into the order remains the personal gift of its Sovereign - currently Edward VII 's great-granddaughter , Queen Elizabeth II - and is restricted to a maximum of 24 living recipients from the Commonwealth realms , plus a limited number of honorary members . While all members are awarded the right to use the post-nominal letters OM and wear the badge of the order , the Order of Merit 's precedence among other honours differs between countries .
Terence Alan Spike Milligan KBE ( 16 April 1918 - 27 February 2002 ) , was an English-Irish comedian , writer , poet , playwright and actor . The son of an Irish father and an English mother , Milligan was born in India where he spent his childhood , relocating to live and work the majority of his life in the United Kingdom . Disliking his first name , he began to call himself Spike after hearing the band Spike Jones and his City Slickers on Radio Luxembourg . Milligan was the co-creator , main writer and a principal cast member of the British radio programme The Goon Show , performing a range of roles including the Eccles and Minnie Bannister characters . He was the earliest-born , longest-lived and last surviving member of the Goons . Milligan parlayed success with the Goon Show into television with Q5 , a surreal sketch show credited as a major influence on the members of Monty Python 's Flying Circus . Milligan wrote and edited many books , including Puckoon ( 1963 ) and a seven-volume autobiographical account of his time serving during the Second World War , beginning with Adolf Hitler : My Part in His Downfall ( 1971 ) . He also wrote comical verse , with much of his poetry written for children , including Silly Verse for Kids ( 1959 ) . When the Commonwealth Immigrants Act removed Indian-born Milligan 's automatic right to British citizenship in 1962 , he became an Irish citizen , exercising a right conferred through his Irish-born father .
Ireland ( Irish : Éire [ ˈeːɾʲə ] ( listen ) ) , also known as the Republic of Ireland ( Poblacht na hÉireann ) , is a country in north-western Europe occupying 26 of 32 counties of the island of Ireland . The capital and largest city is Dublin , which is located on the eastern side of the island . Around a third of the country 's population of 4.9 million people resides in the greater Dublin area . The sovereign state shares its only land border with Northern Ireland , a part of the United Kingdom . It is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean , with the Celtic Sea to the south , St George 's Channel to the south-east , and the Irish Sea to the east . It is a unitary , parliamentary republic . The legislature , the Oireachtas , consists of a lower house , Dáil Éireann , an upper house , Seanad Éireann , and an elected President ( Uachtarán ) who serves as the largely ceremonial head of state , but with some important powers and duties . The head of government is the Taoiseach ( Prime Minister , literally 'Chief ' , a title not used in English ) , who is elected by the Dáil and appointed by the President ; the Taoiseach in turn appoints other government ministers . The state was created as the Irish Free State in 1922 as a result of the Anglo-Irish Treaty . It had the status of Dominion until 1937 when a new constitution was adopted , in which the state was named Ireland and effectively became a republic , with an elected non-executive president as head of state . It was officially declared a republic in 1949 , following the Republic of Ireland Act 1948 . Ireland became a member of the United Nations in December 1955 .