David Llewelyn Wark "D. W." Griffith (January 22, 1875 – July 23, 1948) was an American movie director. He is best known as the director of the Ku Klux Klan 1915 movie "The Birth of a Nation" and the 1916 follow-up movie "Intolerance". "The Birth of a Nation" made early use of advanced camera and storytelling techniques. It was a very popular movie. It was also a very controversial movie. The movie showed African Americans and White anti-racists in a bad way. It also showed slavery and the Ku Klux Klan as good things. The movie was praised by President Woodrow Wilson. He said it was "history written in lightning". The NAACP boycotted the movie. Griffith responded to all the criticism with another movie, "Intolerance". This movie showed the dangers of prejudice. The movie did not make as much money as "The Birth of a Nation", but the critics liked it. Many of Griffith's later movies were critical successes. They did not make a lot of money. Even so, he is one of the most important figures of early movies. Other famous movies by Griffith include "Orphans of the Storm" and "Broken Blossoms".
Service d'exploitation de la formation aéronautique
The Service d'exploitation de la formation aéronautique (SEFA) was the French national flight school, in nine places in France and managed by the "direction générale de l'aviation civile" (DGAC). It merged with French Civil Aviation University the 1st of January 2011.
SEFA is a direct descendant of a long tradition of state involvement in helping to light aviation. By 1936, the Popular Front creates the ""sections d’aviation populaire"" (SAP), in order to democratize the flight training for young people and then to train more crew for the French military aviation. In 1946, the ""service de l’aviation légère et sportive"" (SALS) is created, which purpose is essentially to provide available aircraft and instructors for flying clubs.
In 1955, SALS becomes the ""service de la formation aéronautique et des sports aériens"" (SFASA), in 1959 the ""service de la formation aéronautique, du travail aérien et des transports"" (SFATAT), in 1964 it is renamed the ""service de la formation aéronautique"" (SFA) and finally the ""service de la formation aéronautique et du contrôle technique"" (SFACT) in 1976. These designations reflect the successive changes in the organization of the civil aviation administration, but also the direct involvement of the State, in flight training. Thus "national centers" will be created, in 1945, for the gliding activities (Challes-les-Eaux, Beynes, Pont-Saint-Vincent, etc.), and then for the flight in piston aircraft (Carcassonne in 1945, Saint-Yan in 1947), and even skydiving (Biscarosse in 1953).
Over the years, the French civil aviation administration gradually withdraw from its activities in the field of gliding and skydiving.
In 1959, the center of Saint-Yan welcomes the first course of airline pilot students (EPL, "Elève Pilote de ligne", in English airline pilot student), ushering in a new mission of the SEFA : the training of airline pilots. The national centers were attached to the service of the civil aviation administration in charge of training. The creation of a single management structure was needed.
Thus was created the SEFA in 1993, bringing together under one organization all the necessary needs to implement the tasks entrusted by the DGAC. The direction of the SEFA moved to Muret in 1996, bringing together all central services previously scattered between Saint-Cyr-l'École and Paris.
Finally, on the 1st of January 2011, the SEFA is merged with the French Civil Aviation University in order to create the biggest European aviation school. All the SEFA activities are now providing under the only acronym ENAC.
Paris Opéra Ballet
The Paris Opera Ballet (French: Ballet de l'Opéra de Paris) is the oldest national ballet company in the world. Many European and international ballet companies can trace their origins to it. It has always been an integral part of the Paris Opéra, which was founded in 1669 as the Académie d'Opéra (Academy of Opera).
Theatrical dance was not an important part of the Paris Opera until 1673. Then was renamed the Académie Royale de Musique (Royal Academy of Music) and placed under the leadership of Jean-Baptiste Lully. The Paris Opera has had many different official names during its long history but since 1994 has been called the Opéra National de Paris (Paris Opera). Currently the company presents ballet primarily at the Palais Garnier.
Alexis Weissenberg
Alexis Weissenberg (26 July 1929 – 8 January 2012) was a French pianist of Jewish-Bulgarian descent. Technically brilliant, his playing was often described as cold and precise. Weissenberg was born in Sofia and in 1941 was sent to a concentration camp with his family. A guard liked his playing and helped the family escape to Turkey, and then to Jerusalem. In 1946 he moved to New York and studied at the Julliard School of Music. He toured for about ten years, but then did not play in public until 1966 when he performed with Herbert von Karajan in Berlin. He finally settled in Spain, but rarely performed in public.
Carlos Soria
Carlos Soria (1 March 1949–1 January 2012) was an Argentine lawyer who became Governor of . A member of the ruling Peronist party, he had been the mayor of General Roca, until his election as governor of the province in October 2011. He died after being shot in the head during an argument at home with his wife.
Bolshoi Ballet
The Bolshoi Ballet is a ballet company. It is based at the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow, Russia. It was founded in 1776. It is one of the oldest ballet companies in the world. It achieved worldwide acclaim in the early 20th century when Moscow became the capital of Soviet Russia. The Bolshoi and the Kirov Ballet are recognised as the foremost ballet companies in Russia.
The origin of the Bolshoi is found in the creation of a dance school for a Moscow orphanage in 1773. In 1776, dancers from the school were employed by Prince Pyotr Urusov and the English theatrical entrepreneur Michael Maddox to form part of their new theatre company. They performed in privately owned venues. Later they acquired the Petrovsky Theatre. The theatre would later be rebuilt as today's Bolshoi Theatre.
The early history of the Bolshoi Ballet is very sketchy. The company staged many famous ballets. It struggled to compete with the Imperial Russian Ballet of St Petersburg. It was not until Alexander Gorsky became Ballet Master in 1900 that the company began to develop its own unique identity. The company was acclaimed for productions of new or restaged ballets including, "Don Quixote" (1900), "Coppélia" (1901), "Swan Lake" (1901), "La fille mal gardée" (1903), "Giselle" (1911), "Le Corsaire" (1912) and "La Bayadère" (1917).
American Ballet Theatre
American Ballet Theatre (ABT), is a classical ballet company based in New York City. It has an annual eight week season at the Metropolitan Opera House Lincoln Center. It tours around the world the rest of the year. American Ballet Theatre was founded in 1937 by Mikhail Mordkin. It is recognized as one of the world's leading classical ballet companies. American Ballet Theatre is the parent company of the Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis School. It was recognized as "America's National Ballet Company" in 2006 by the United States Congress.
List of bridges in Calgary
The City of Calgary has a number of bridges, spanning the two main rivers that cross the city, Bow River and Elbow River, as well as some other geographical and physical features.
The Bow River enters the city from west, winds around downtown, then runs south. From west to south, the following structures cross the river.
The Elbow River enters the city in the southwest, then turns north and merges into the Bow River immediately east of downtown. From west to north, the following structures cross the river.