The history of the car is the history of the Volkswagen company - the company was created to make that car. Other than some military vehicles during WWII, it was the only car the company made at first.
The car was made from 1949 to 2003, over 23 million of them. For many years, it held the record as the most-sold car ever. It took the record from the Model T Ford in 1971, and held it until 2000 when the Toyota Corolla took it away.
The basic shape and design of the car did not change. It was also powered by an engine in the rear, had a small trunk up front, and was air-cooled (no radiator).
More recently, the company made the New Beetle, which looked similar, followed by the present-day Beetle from 2012. These are completely different cars however, since they have a water-cooled engine in the front, and are very similar underneath to the Volkswagen Golf.
There are many Volkswagen clubs around the world, the members restore or modify the original air-cooled Volkswagens.
Disney made a series of films about a Beetle called .
Ferdinand Porsche
Ferdinand Porsche (September 3, 1875January 30, 1951) was born in Austria. He was a talented and well-known car designer, especially of race cars. But he always wanted to make a small car useful for a family. Finally Adolf Hitler gave him the opportunity to make the Volkswagen Beetle in 1936. But by the time the car started production, war broke out, and the company started making army vehicles instead. After World War II he was put in a French jail for almost 2 years but never convicted of a crime. He was released, but his health had been damaged and he died not long afterwards. He lived long enough to see his beloved small car being successfully produced by the Volkswagen company, but not to see the great success it eventually became.
He started the Porsche company in 1931. At first it made designs and prototypes for others (including the Volkswagen Beetle). Later, under his son Ferry Porsche's leadership, it started making high-end cars. It continues to produce high power cars to this day.
George Balanchine
George Balanchine (Saint Petersburg, January 22, 1904 – New York, April 30, 1983) was a ballet dancer and choreographer. His father was Georgian and his mother Russian.
He was one of the 20th century's most famous choreographers. He developed over 200 ballets, mostly in the United States. He was the co-founder and balletmaster of the New York City Ballet. He was a choreographer known for his musicality. He often with Igor Stravinsky: 39 of his ballets were choreographed to music by Stravinsky.
Balanchine was trained at the Imperial Ballet School in St Petersburg. After the Revolution he joined what is now the Mariinsky Ballet. He escaped when the company toured Germany. He was picked up by Sergei Diaghilev to be a dancer and choreographer for the Ballets Russes.
After Diaghilev's death, Balanchine stayed in Europe until 1933. Then he was taken to New York by a wealthy patron, Lincoln Kirstein. Together they formed the American Ballet School. Later they formed the American Ballet Company. This company became the 'house' dance group of the New York Metropolitan Opera. Later, in 1938, Balanchine moved the company to Hollywood.
In 1948 he moved back to New York. This was to head the New York City Ballet at the New York State Theater. He designed this theater. From 1946 to 1982 he choreographed many dances for this company. Balanchine died in 1983 of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease.
In 1922 18 year old Balanchine married 15 year old Tamara Geva. After his divorce from Geva, Balanchine was with Alexandra Danilova from 1926 through 1933. He married and divorced three more times, all to women who were his dancers. There was Vera Zorina (December 1938–1946), Maria Tallchief (1946–1952), and Tanaquil Le Clercq (1952–1969). He did not have any children.
Tamara Karsavina
Tamara Platonovna Karsavina (10 March 1885 – 26 May 1978) was a Russian ballerina. She began her career in the Imperial Russian Ballet and later danced with the Diaghilev's Ballets Russes.
Karsavina created the title role in "The Firebird", the Ballerina in "Petrushka", and The Young Girl in "Le Spectre de la Rose". After she settled in Hampstead, London, she began teaching ballet professionally. She assisted in setting up The Royal Ballet, and was a founding member of the Royal Academy of Dance. Her pupils included Dame Alicia Markova and Dame Margot Fonteyn. She wrote two books: the autobiography "Theatre Street" (1930) and the dance textbook "Classical Ballet: the flow of movement" (1962).
Jeddah Tower
Jeddah Tower, or Kingdom Tower is a skyscraper that is under construction. The tower is being built in Jeddah, a major port city on the Red Sea coast of Saudi Arabia. After its completion, Kingdom Tower will be the tallest building in the world, according to Construction Weekly. The consultants at Advanced Construction Technology Services state that the new tower will be approximately high, which is significantly taller than the current Guinness World Record holder, the Burj Khalifa. In contrast, the Burj Khalifa is only high.
Kingdom Tower will be the first part in a new project called Kingdom City, a planned suburb of Jeddah, with plans to eventually become a new city entirely. Plans for Kingdom Tower have been circulating since 2008, when it was originally named the "Mile-High Tower," for the obvious reason that it was going to be a mile high. However, the foundation where the Kingdom Holding Company wanted to build the tower was not stable enough to support such a large project. Instead, the company settled for the kilometer high title, where on August 2, 2011, Kingdom Holding announced that construction would commence soon, as the support for the tower had finally been gathered. The idea of Kingdom Tower is accredited to the Prince of Saudi Arabia, Al-Waleed bin Talal, whom also owns Kingdom Holding Company. The prince is the main contributor to this project, as he is known to be one of the wealthiest men in the world.
However, many people are complaining that the tower is going to be a waste of much needed capital. The government has many problems and issues that require the money of the Saudi Arabian government, such as improving education and providing jobs that will benefit the country as a whole. As such, there are some that believe the country cannot afford to pursue such a large project. Many believe that this project is an elitist venture made simply to compete with the already-failed Burj Khalifa, which is known to be almost completely empty. Saudi Arabians and immigrants alike fear that the project is going to be a failure in stimulating the lagging economy of Saudi Arabia, and will instead add to the debt of the country.
Still, others also believe that the project will benefit the economy of Saudi Arabia, bringing in much needed jobs to help construct the building, and will bring in a large amount of tourism already concentrated within the Hejaz area where Jeddah resides.
Harmonium
A harmonium, also called a "melodeon", "reed organ" or "pump organ", is a keyboard instrument that is a lot like an organ. It makes sound by blowing air through reeds, which are tuned to different pitches to make musical notes.
A harmonium can be made to work using either the feet or the hands:
The hand-pumped harmonium was created by Dwarkanath Ghose so that the instrument could be played while the player was sitting down on the floor. It is used in India, Pakistan, Nepal, Afghanistan, Bangladesh and in other South Asian countries as an accompanying instrument in Hindustani classical music, Sufi Music, Bhajan and other devotional music, Qawwali, Natya Sangeet, and a variety of genres including accompaniment to Classical Kathak Dance and other entertainments.