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City Park/Pepsi Tennis Center

The City Park/Pepsi Tennis Center is a tennis facility located in City Park in New Orleans, United States. The facility, built in 2011, serves as the home of the Loyola Wolf Pack and Tulane Green Wave tennis teams.The facility offers 26 lighted courts. It has 16 hard courts and 10 clay courts along with a practice court and a club house. The club house is 3,500 square feet and includes a meeting room, showers and lockers.The tennis center hosts the City Park Grand Slam Tennis Tournament and has hosted the Allstate Sugar Bowl Tennis Tournament.

The City Park/Pepsi Tennis Center is a tennis facility located in City Park in New Orleans, United States. The facility, built in 2011, serves as the home of the Loyola Wolf Pack and Tulane Green Wave tennis teams.The facility offers 26 lighted courts. It has 16 hard courts and 10 clay courts along with a practice court and a club house. The club house is 3,500 square feet and includes a meeting room, showers and lockers.The tennis center hosts the City Park Grand Slam Tennis Tournament and has hosted the Allstate Sugar Bowl Tennis Tournament. History of City Park tennis facilities In 1922, City Park had a tennis facility with 17 courts. Gallery See also City Park (New Orleans) Loyola Wolf Pack Tulane Green Wave References External links Official website

List of dam removals in Connecticut

This is a list of dams in Connecticut that have been removed as physical impediments to free-flowing rivers or streams.

This is a list of dams in Connecticut that have been removed as physical impediments to free-flowing rivers or streams. Completed removals See also List of dam removals in Massachusetts List of dam removals in Rhode Island List of dam removals in New York (state) References External links Media related to Removed dams in Connecticut at Wikimedia Commons

Cross Egypt Challenge

Cross Egypt Challenge (or simply CEC) is an annual cross-country endurance motorcycle and scooter rally conducted throughout the most difficult and challenging roads and tracks of Egypt. The rally is open to amateur and professional riders from around the globe. The distance of the rally ranges between 2500 and 3000 km but with a different route every year. Participants usually ride from 200 to 500 km per day.

Cross Egypt Challenge (or simply CEC) is an annual cross-country endurance motorcycle and scooter rally conducted throughout the most difficult and challenging roads and tracks of Egypt. The rally is open to amateur and professional riders from around the globe. The distance of the rally ranges between 2500 and 3000 km but with a different route every year. Participants usually ride from 200 to 500 km per day. History Cross Egypt Challenge started in the year 2011 when one night in Alexandria, Ahmad Elzoghby, Founder of the Cross Egypt Challenge, was enjoying a normal evening with his cousins when one of them suggested they should take a trip to Sharm El Sheikh – on their scooters. The idea of traveling to another city by scooter intrigued Elzoghby. Few days later, at another get together with his cousins, he proposed a daring idea. “I thought if we could go to Sharm Elsheikh, we could go anywhere else, scooter rallies are organised all over the world, but nothing like this had ever been done in Egypt. And there is no reason why we should not have an event like that here; we have the space, a beautiful country and great places to visit.” The declining tourist numbers after the revolution worried Elzoghby and the Cross Egypt Challenge seemed a good idea to generate international media interest. “After the revolution, the global media focussed mainly on the problems Egypt was having, creating the impression that Egypt had stopped being safe,” he explained. “Yes, we are facing big challenges but for the most part Egypt is a safe place to be. I wanted to show the world that it is possible to travel across the country on a scooter and arrive safely.” The international media loved the idea, and stories were carried by the likes of BBC, National Geographic and Discovery Channel. After the success of the challenge in its first year back in 2011, Elzoghby and his team decided that they would turn the Cross Egypt Challenge into an annual event. 2011 Edition The first season of Cross Egypt challenge took place between October 14 and 22, 2015, and was a 9 days ride from the shores of the Mediterranean Sea in the North of Egypt to the temple of Abu Simbel, on the southern borders of Egypt with a total distance of about 1700 km. 15 riders from 3 different countries took place in the 2011 season in which 14 were able to complete the challenge successfully. The challenge began at the site of the modern Bibliotheca Alexandrina in the ancient city of Alexandria, passed by the Great Pyramids of Giza in Cairo, and crossed the Nile River and the Suez Canal on the way to the eastern Egyptian border at Taba. The riders head south to the cities of Neuwebaa and Dahab before reaching the world famous resort city of Sharm El Sheikh. They then took a ferry across the Gulf of Suez to Hurghada and continued their journey to the legendary city of Luxor; the world largest open-air museum, where they rode down the avenue of the sphinxes to reach the magnificent temple of Karnak. The team continued to Aswan and further south to end the journey in front of the most famous temple of Ramses II, Abu Simbel, on the shores of Lake Nasser. 2012 Edition The 2012 season of Cross Egypt Challenge began on October 12, 2012 and lasted for 8 days. The season witnessed a 2400 km route starting from Egypt's capital and the home of the famous Tahrir Square, Cairo then head toward the coastal city of Alexandria before going west to the city of Marsa Matrouh. From Marsa Matrouh, the riders rode south and explored the most fascinating oases of the Egyptian Sahara; Siwa, Bahareya, Farafra, Dakhla and Kharga before arriving to the final destination, Luxor, the world's largest open-air museum. The 2012 season had 25 riders 10 different countries. 24 in which were able to complete the challenge successfully. 2013 Edition The 2013 season started on November 8, 2013 and lasted for 9 days. The total distance of the 2013 route was 2400 km and started from the Mediterranean city of Alexandria; passed by Egypt's capital, Cairo, made stops at the Western Desert Oases of Bahareya, Farafra, Dakhla, and Kharga, then head east towards Luxor, Hurghada, and Sokhna before ending the journey in Cairo at the foot of the Great Pyramids of Giza. 44 riders from 11 different countries took place in the 2013 season of Cross Egypt Challenge. 2014 Edition The fourth season of Cross Egypt Challenge started on November 14, 2014 and lasted for 9 days. The 2014’s 3000 km route started from the Mediterranean city of Alexandria; passed by Egypt's capital, Cairo, made stops at Ain Sokhna, El Gouna, Marsa Alam before crossing the Egyptian Eastern Desert towards Luxor and Aswan, then made went deep south to Abu Simbel at the southern borders of Egypt before heading north by the Nile Valley towards Assiout and then ending the journey in Cairo under the Great Pyramids of Giza. 52 riders from 11 different countries took place in the 4th season of Cross Egypt Challenge, 48 of which were able to complete the challenge successfully. 2015 Edition The 2015 and fifth anniversary season of Cross Egypt Challenge started on October 23, 2015 and lasted for 9 days. The 2,725 km route began from the Mediterranean's largest coastal city, Alexandria then passed through the Capital - Cairo - en route to the Red Sea's resort Sokhna before going South to visit the amazing resort cities of Sahl Hashish and Marsa Alam on the Red Sea shore. The challenge then headed west to the Nile valley to visit the ancient city of Luxor, the world's largest open-air museum city, and the capital of Ancient Egypt where the participants spent two days in celebration for the rally's 5th anniversary. From Luxor the riders headed North-west to explore some of the most fascinating oasis of the Egyptian Sahara (desert). A total number of 3 oases were explored en route before the final leg of the 2015 season of Cross Egypt Challenge took place between Bahareya Oasis and Cairo to end the new season at the most sacred place in Egypt, under the Great Pyramids of Giza. 2016 Edition The 2016 season of Cross Egypt Challenge returned back to the Egyptian western desert after 2 years of absence and included a 2,700 km route finished in 9 days. The 2016 route Started from Alexandria at the shores of the Mediterranean Sea and went through the Egyptian western desert, the Nile valley, the Egyptian eastern desert and the Red Sea Riviera before heading back north and finishing the season in the most sacred place in Egypt, under the Great Pyramids of Giza 2017 Edition The 2017 season of Cross Egypt Challenge featured a great route that span over 8 stages and 2,500 km. The 2017 route started from Alexandria and went through the Mediterranean coast, the Red Sea Riviera, Egyptian eastern desert, Egyptian western desert and the Nile valley before finishing the season in the most sacred place in Egypt, under the Great Pyramids of Giza. 2018 Edition The 2018 season of Cross Egypt Challenge featured a fantastic route that span over 7 stages and 2,475 km. The 2018 route started from Alexandria and went through the Mediterranean coast, the Red Sea Riviera, Egyptian eastern desert, Egyptian western desert and the Nile valley before finishing the season in the most sacred place in Egypt, under the Great Pyramids of Giza. 2019 Edition The 2019 season of Cross Egypt Challenge featured a fantastic route that span over 7 stages and 2,320 km. The 2019 route started from Alexandria and went through the Mediterranean coast, the Nile Valley, Egyptian eastern deserts, and the Red Sea Riviera before finishing the season in the most sacred place in Egypt, under the Great Pyramids of Giza. Cross Egypt Challenge is considered the only organized cross-country rally of its kind in the entire region and combines the best of adventure travel and extreme sport. Each season of the endurance rally introduces a new route throughout the most famous spots of Egypt. Tens of adventure riders fly to Egypt yearly to take part of the famous challenge. List of participants 2011 participants 2012 participants 2013 participants 2014 participants 2015 participants 2016 participants 2017 participants 2018 participants 2019 participants Television coverage October 2011: Aljazeera Documentary Channel produced a full-length documentary about the first season of Cross Egypt Challenge. However, due to production issues at the channel, the movie was aired in June 2014. The film crew followed the riders of the first season as they travelled through Egypt on their scooters and documented their journey from day to day and from town to town. Link to the full movie: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QHEljtydvpE September 2011: National Geographic radio conducted a radio interview with Ahmad Elzoghby of Cross Egypt Challenge to speak about the initiative and what their plans for the future are. Link to the full episode: https://web.archive.org/web/20150810163427/http://radio.nationalgeographic.com/radio/ng-weekend-archives/1139/ November 2014: Egyptian TV station CBC broadcast a short documentary about the 2014 season of Cross Egypt Challenge Link to the documentary: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RonYqHddY3w December 2014: Interview with Ahmad Elzoghby, founder of Cross Egypt Challenge to speak about the recently finished 2014 season of Cross Egypt Challenge on Sabah ON morning show on Egyptian TV station OnTV. Link to the interview: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qDG50FrJmdw February 2015: Famous Egyptian sport program "Doos Banzeen" on Mehwar Channel dedicated an episode about the 2014 season of Cross Egypt Challenge. Link to the episode: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mYAgaDirv0o Incidents Australian rider died in 2016 References External links Website www.crossegyptchallenge.com Facebook www.facebook.com/crossegyptchallenge Twitter www.twitter.com/crossegypt YouTube www.youtube.com/crossegyptchallenge Instagram www.instagram.com/crossegyptchallenge

Ron Williams

Ronald Allen Williams (born 1949) is an American businessman and board director on corporate, public sector and non-profit boards. Williams is the author of Learning to Lead: The Journey to Leading Yourself, Leading Others, and Leading an Organization, which appeared on The Wall Street Journal's best seller list. He is founder, chairman and CEO of RW2 Enterprises, LLC. He is the former chairman, president and chief executive officer (CEO) of Aetna Inc., a diversified benefits company. Aetna is now part of CVS Health.

Ronald Allen Williams (born 1949) is an American businessman and board director on corporate, public sector and non-profit boards. Williams is the author of Learning to Lead: The Journey to Leading Yourself, Leading Others, and Leading an Organization, which appeared on The Wall Street Journal's best seller list. He is founder, chairman and CEO of RW2 Enterprises, LLC. He is the former chairman, president and chief executive officer (CEO) of Aetna Inc., a diversified benefits company. Aetna is now part of CVS Health. Following his retirement from Aetna, Williams formed RW2 Enterprises, LLC. He coaches and consults with senior corporate executives of Fortune 100 companies on leadership and business strategy and board preparedness. He continues to work on issues such as value creation in health care in the US. Business leadership Williams serves on the board of directors of Boeing and Warby Parker. He previously served on the boards of Johnson & Johnson and American Express. He is an operating advisor to the private equity firm Clayton, Dubilier & Rice (CD&R), where he has guided three CD&R portfolio company exits: naviHealth, PharMEDium and Envision Healthcare. He is chairman of the board of agilon health. agilon health was launched in 2016. He also is chairman of the board of apree health, formed by the combination of VERA Whole Health and Castlight. Williams is chairman of The Conference Board. Williams led TCB's efforts to create the millennial leader report "Divergent Views/Common Ground, the leadership perspective of C-Suite Executives and Millennial Leaders." Williams participates with the Committee for Economic Development (CED), and co-chaired two of CED's studies: Adjusting the Prescription and Modernizing Medicare. In January 2010, he co-chaired the World Economic Forum's annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland. He also previously served as vice chairman of The Business Council from 2008 to 2010 and chairman of the Council for Affordable Quality Healthcare (CAQH). He also was an advisor to The Wall Street Journal CEO Council and a former member of the GE Healthymagination Advisory Committee. In 2023, he began as a member of the McKinsey & Company External Advisory Group. Aetna leadership Williams served as both chairman and CEO of Aetna until November 2010 and as chairman through April 2011. He also served as chairman of the Aetna Foundation from 2006 to April 2011. During his tenure, Aetna was named Fortune magazine's most admired Company in the Health Care: Insurance and Managed Care category for three consecutive years. In 2011, Aetna's revenues were $34 billion, and the firm ranked 77th on the Fortune 100 list. Mr. Williams joined Aetna in 2001 and in 2002 was named president and joined Aetna's board. He was named CEO in February 2006 and chairman of the board in October 2006. In 2001, Aetna reported a net loss from continuing operations of $292 million and earnings per share loss from continuing operations of $0.46. In 2011, full-year operating earnings were $2.0 billion with operating earnings per share of $5.17 producing a 12.3 percent operating EPS CAGR over the last five years.Under his leadership, Aetna worked to increase access and affordability of health care and make American health care more efficient. He has advocated for specific reforms in broadcast media interviews and has authored or co-authored op-ed articles in The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, the Financial Times and the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. Public service Williams chairs the Health Systems Initiative at MIT Sloan. He also serves on MIT's North America Executive Board.In March 2011, Williams was appointed to the President's Management Advisory Board, which was assembled by U.S. President Barack Obama. He served in that capacity until 2017. He serves on the board of the Peterson Center on Healthcare board of advisors, the Peterson Institute for International Economics and the RAND Health board of advisors.In 2013 he was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, an independent, multidisciplinary policy research center, and became a trustee of the Committee for Economic Development, a non-profit, non-partisan, business-led public policy organization. Early business career Prior to joining Aetna, Williams served as group president, and president of WellPoint (now Anthem), having joined WellPoint's predecessor firm, Blue Cross of California, in 1987. Previously, he was co-founder of Visa Health Corp. and group marketing executive of Control Data Corporation. Education Williams holds a Bachelor of Arts in psychology from Roosevelt University and a Master of Business Administration from the MIT Sloan School of Management. External activities, awards and recognition During his career, Williams has received media recognition and other awards including: Modern Healthcare magazine's "100 Most Powerful People in Healthcare 2009" Black Enterprise magazine's "100 Most Powerful Executives in Corporate America, 2009" Institutional Investor magazine's 2009 "America's Best CEOs Health Care – Managed Care category" References External links Official website Aetna Inc. WSJ CEO Council 2011 Special Report (pdf) How the Experts Would Fix Health Care, Bloomberg BusinessWeek, February 23, 2012 Fix This: Health Care, Bloomberg BusinessWeek Conversation (videos), February 23, 2012

Hafed Al-Ghwell

Hafed al-Ghwell — ARABIC : حافظ الغويل — is a non-resident Senior Fellow at the Foreign Policy Institute (FPI) of the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) at Johns Hopkins University and a senior advisor at Maxwell Stamp, an international economics advisory and consultancy firm, where he specializes in the Middle East political, economic and social issues. He also heads their global strategic communications practice. He is also a senior advisor at Oxford Analytica, the global risk consultancy firm and a Columnist for Arab NewsFrom January 2015 until this year, Hafed was a Senior Nonresident Fellow at the Atlantic Council's Rafik Hariri Center for the Middle East in Washington, D.C. Hafed Al-Ghwell also serves as a member of the board of directors of the National Council on US–Libya Relations, as well as a member of the Board of Directors of the consulting firm NH & Associates. Additionally, Hafed Al-Ghwell is a columnist for Gulf News and Al Jazeera International and a veteran commentator on the political economies of the Middle East and North Africa. His comments and analyses are published widely in international media, including Reuters, ABC News, BBC, DW-TV, Al-Jazeera English, NPR, PBS Frontline, NewsHour, CCTV America, and Radio France Internationale (RFI).He is also a frequent commentator on various Arabic-only news channels, e.g.

Hafed al-Ghwell — ARABIC : حافظ الغويل — is a non-resident Senior Fellow at the Foreign Policy Institute (FPI) of the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) at Johns Hopkins University and a senior advisor at Maxwell Stamp, an international economics advisory and consultancy firm, where he specializes in the Middle East political, economic and social issues. He also heads their global strategic communications practice. He is also a senior advisor at Oxford Analytica, the global risk consultancy firm and a Columnist for Arab NewsFrom January 2015 until this year, Hafed was a Senior Nonresident Fellow at the Atlantic Council's Rafik Hariri Center for the Middle East in Washington, D.C. Hafed Al-Ghwell also serves as a member of the board of directors of the National Council on US–Libya Relations, as well as a member of the Board of Directors of the consulting firm NH & Associates. Additionally, Hafed Al-Ghwell is a columnist for Gulf News and Al Jazeera International and a veteran commentator on the political economies of the Middle East and North Africa. His comments and analyses are published widely in international media, including Reuters, ABC News, BBC, DW-TV, Al-Jazeera English, NPR, PBS Frontline, NewsHour, CCTV America, and Radio France Internationale (RFI).He is also a frequent commentator on various Arabic-only news channels, e.g. Al Arabiya TV, Alaraby TV and Al Hurra TV, and many others. His opinions and comments are also featured in print publications like the Financial Times, The Wall Street Journal, VOA News, The Washington Times, UPI, Newsweek, The Washington Diplomat, The National, Gulf News, among many others. His area of expertise include the society, politics and the economies of the MENA region, geopolitics, international relations, especially US-Middle East Relations, with special emphasis on Libya's internal and external affairs. He is often described in the news media as Middle East & North Africa analyst, but prior to that, he was known for his activism against the now deposed regime of Muammar Gaddafi. Career Hafed Al-Ghwell served as a permanent Staff Member of the World Bank Group for 16 years, in various positions, e.g. as an Advisor to the Dean of the Board of Executive Directors of the World Bank Group until the end of 2015 after taking an early retirement. Between 2009 and 2012, he also served as a Strategy and Communications Advisor in the Office of the Vice President for Middle East and North Africa and as well as the Program Coordinator in the Office of the Vice President of UN and External Affairs, also at the World Bank. He was also a Director of External Affairs and Communications at the Dubai School of Government, and part of its Senior Management Team (SMT), from 2007 to 2009. He joined the Dubai School of Government, a partnership with the Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government for the Arab World, now renamed as Mohammed Bin Rashid School of Government, on a secondment from his position as the Head of the Global Network of Public Diplomacy, Information, and Communication Centers for the World Bank. Prior to that, Hafed served as a Principal Associate at Foreign Reports Inc., a Washington, D.C.-based management-consulting firm that publishes and distributes intelligence reports and analyses on political developments in the Middle East oil industry and key issues facing energy markets around the world. He later joined the World Bank in 1999. In the late 80's, upon graduation from the George Washington University, Hafed also served as a Junior Economist at the International Monetary Fund (IMF), focusing on monetary and exchange rate policy of the OPEC countries in the Middle East and North Africa. Education Hafed holds a B.A. in Economics from the George Washington University, and completed multiple postgraduate programs in Philosophy of Religion also at GWU. He also holds a Postgraduate Executive Certificate from Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government in leadership and public policy, and a Postgraduate Executive Certificate from Stanford University in Strategic Communications, Media and Publishing. Hafed has also completed numerous executive training programs of the World Bank Group in Management, Strategy, Economic Development, Public Policy and Administration. References Bibliography Al Jazeera International, www.aljazeera.com Atlantic Council, www.atlanticcouncil.org Financial Times, www.ft.com Archived 2016-10-03 at the Wayback Machine Gulf News, www.gulfnews.com Samuels D., How Libya Blew Billions and Its Best Chance at Democracy, www.bloomberg.com, 2014 [1] Sorenson D.S., An Introduction to the Modern Middle East: History, Religion, Political Economy, Politics, Westview Press Inc, 2014 The Wall Street Journal, www.wsj.com World Bank Group Directory, World Bank Publications 2003 World Development Indicators: 2003, World Bank Publications 2003

B. E. Devaraj

B. E. Devaraj was a translator who pioneered the Lambadi version of the New Testament. He was Acting Commissary and Vicar General of the Archdeaconry of Nandyal from 1950 to 1951.Devaraj also taught in the Andhra Christian Theological College, Rajahmundry {affiliated to the Senate of Serampore College (University) - a University within the meaning of Section 2 (f) of the University Grants Commission Act, 1956 (as modified up to 20 December 1985)}. Ravela Joseph who compiled a bibliography of original Christian writings in Telugu with the assistance of B. Suneel Bhanu under the aegis of the Board of Theological Education of the Senate of Serampore College included books by B. E. Devaraj entitled A Commentary on First Corinthians (మొదటి కొరింథీ పత్రిక వ్యాఖ్యానము), Good Friday (మoఛి శుక్రవారము), and Love's Servant (ప్రెమదాసు).The Bible Society of India Andhra Pradesh Auxiliary released the New Testament in Lambadi on 25 October 1999 in the presence of G. Babu Rao, then Auxiliary Secretary, G. D. V. Prasad, Director - Translations of the Bible Society of India, Central Office, Bengaluru and B. K. Pramanik, its General Secretary. Lazarus Lalsingh of Badao Banjara Phojer who put in efforts for bringing the New Testament in Lambadi recalled the earlier efforts of B. E. Devaraj in translating texts into Lambadi at the release in 1999.

B. E. Devaraj was a translator who pioneered the Lambadi version of the New Testament. He was Acting Commissary and Vicar General of the Archdeaconry of Nandyal from 1950 to 1951.Devaraj also taught in the Andhra Christian Theological College, Rajahmundry {affiliated to the Senate of Serampore College (University) - a University within the meaning of Section 2 (f) of the University Grants Commission Act, 1956 (as modified up to 20 December 1985)}. Ravela Joseph who compiled a bibliography of original Christian writings in Telugu with the assistance of B. Suneel Bhanu under the aegis of the Board of Theological Education of the Senate of Serampore College included books by B. E. Devaraj entitled A Commentary on First Corinthians (మొదటి కొరింథీ పత్రిక వ్యాఖ్యానము), Good Friday (మoఛి శుక్రవారము), and Love's Servant (ప్రెమదాసు).The Bible Society of India Andhra Pradesh Auxiliary released the New Testament in Lambadi on 25 October 1999 in the presence of G. Babu Rao, then Auxiliary Secretary, G. D. V. Prasad, Director - Translations of the Bible Society of India, Central Office, Bengaluru and B. K. Pramanik, its General Secretary. Lazarus Lalsingh of Badao Banjara Phojer who put in efforts for bringing the New Testament in Lambadi recalled the earlier efforts of B. E. Devaraj in translating texts into Lambadi at the release in 1999. Contribution Books in Telugu 1949 - Religious Lessons 1956 - Good Friday (మoఛి శుక్రవారము) 1960 - Gospel of St. Mark in simplified Telugu 1967 - Love's Servant (ప్రెమదాసు). 1969 - History of the Church in India, 1973 - A Commentary on First Corinthians (మొదటి కొరింథీ పత్రిక వ్యాఖ్యానము) Books in Lambadi (Translations) 1963 - Gospel According to St. Mark 1966 - Gospel According to St. Luke Books in Lambadi (Translations with Special Titles) 1974 - Way of Hope, The Gospel According to St. Mark 1975 - Way of Peace, The Gospel according to St. Luke 1976 - Way of Life, The Gospel According to St. John History and Studies Devaraj attended the local S.P.G. School in Nandyal and then graduated from the Noble College in Machilipatnam in 1920 where he took a B.A. He also studied for an M.A. at the Madras University in 1929, eventually became principal of a Training School in Nandyal.During 1946–1947, Devaraj attended a special course at the United Theological College, Bengaluru and was ordained as an Anglican Priest in 1948. Reminisce Talathoti Punnaiah who studied a 3-year theology course leading to Bachelor of Theology at the Andhra Christian Theological College, both at Rajahmundry and at Hyderabad from 1970-1973 recalls his association with B. E. Devaraj: Devaraj was Bursar of the College and a senior most among the faculty hailing from an Anglican background, very active and healthy. He was very good in Telugu and composed the Hymn 484 appearing in the Christian Hymnal in Telugu. He was very particular in grammar pronunciation. As I studied in Madras and had Tamil slang, I was afraid to read the Telugu book in the class. Later on, I understood the importance of Telugu language through his Telugu class and I improved my Telugu vocabulary, expression and accent. References Notes Further readingEugene Albert Nida, Eric McCoy North (1972). "The Book of a thousand tongues" (Edition 2). {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help) Constance M. Millington (1993). An Ecumenical Venture: The History of Nandyal Diocese in Andhra Pradesh, 1947-1990. ISBN 9788170861539. K. M. George (1999). Church of South India: Life in Union, 1947-1997. ISBN 9788172145125.

Ptolemy XII Auletes

Ptolemy XII Neos Dionysus (Koinē Greek: Πτολεμαῖος Νέος Διόνυσος, romanized: Ptolemaios Neos Dionysos, lit. 'Ptolemy the new Dionysus' c. 117 – 51 BC) was a king of the Ptolemaic Kingdom of Egypt who ruled from 80 to 58 BC and then again from 55 BC until his death in 51 BC. He was commonly known as Auletes (Αὐλητής, "the Flautist"), referring to his love of playing the flute in Dionysian festivals. A member of the Ptolemaic dynasty, he was a descendant of its founder Ptolemy I, a Macedonian Greek general and companion of Alexander the Great.Ptolemy XII was an illegitimate son of Ptolemy IX by an uncertain mother. In 116 BC, Ptolemy IX became co-regent with his mother, Cleopatra III.

Ptolemy XII Neos Dionysus (Koinē Greek: Πτολεμαῖος Νέος Διόνυσος, romanized: Ptolemaios Neos Dionysos, lit. 'Ptolemy the new Dionysus' c. 117 – 51 BC) was a king of the Ptolemaic Kingdom of Egypt who ruled from 80 to 58 BC and then again from 55 BC until his death in 51 BC. He was commonly known as Auletes (Αὐλητής, "the Flautist"), referring to his love of playing the flute in Dionysian festivals. A member of the Ptolemaic dynasty, he was a descendant of its founder Ptolemy I, a Macedonian Greek general and companion of Alexander the Great.Ptolemy XII was an illegitimate son of Ptolemy IX by an uncertain mother. In 116 BC, Ptolemy IX became co-regent with his mother, Cleopatra III. However, he was forced into a civil war against his mother and his brother, Ptolemy X, leading to his exile in 107 BC. Cleopatra III sent her grandsons to Kos in 103 BC. They were captured by Mithridates VI of Pontus probably in 88 BC, around the time Ptolemy IX returned to the Egyptian throne. After their father died in 81 BC, Ptolemy XII's half-sister Berenice III took the throne. She was soon murdered by her husband and co-regent, Ptolemy XI, who was then killed. At this point, Ptolemy XII was recalled from Pontus and proclaimed pharaoh, while his brother, also named Ptolemy, was installed as king of Cyprus. Ptolemy XII married his relative Cleopatra V, who was likely one of his sisters or cousins; they had at least one child together, Berenice IV, and Cleopatra V was likely also the mother of his second daughter, Cleopatra VII. The king's three youngest children – Arsinoe IV, Ptolemy XIII, and Ptolemy XIV – were born to an unknown mother. Ptolemy XII's uncle Ptolemy X had left Egypt to Rome in the event there were no surviving heirs, making Roman annexation of Egypt a possibility. In an effort to prevent this, Ptolemy XII established an alliance with Rome late into his first reign. Rome annexed Cyprus in 58 BC, causing Ptolemy of Cyprus to commit suicide. Shortly afterwards, Ptolemy XII was deposed by the Egyptian people and fled to Rome, and his eldest daughter, Berenice IV, took the throne. With Roman funding and military assistance, Ptolemy XII recaptured Egypt and had Berenice IV killed in 55 BC. He named his daughter Cleopatra VII as his co-regent in 52 BC. He died the next year and was succeeded by Cleopatra VII and her brother Ptolemy XIII as joint rulers. Background and early life Ptolemy XII was the oldest son of Ptolemy IX. The identity of his mother is uncertain. Ptolemy IX was married twice, to his sister Cleopatra IV from around 119 BC until he was forced to divorce her in 115 BC, and secondly to another sister, Cleopatra Selene, from 115 BC until he abandoned her during his flight from Alexandria in 107 BC. However, Cicero and other ancient sources refer to Ptolemy XII as an illegitimate son; Pompeius Trogus called him a "nothos" (bastard), while Pausanias wrote that Ptolemy IX had no legitimate sons at all. Some scholars have therefore proposed that his mother was a concubine – if so, probably an Alexandrian Greek. It had been speculated by Werner Huß that Ptolemy's mother was an unknown woman belonging to the Egyptian elite, based upon a speculated earlier marriage between Psenptais II, high priest of Ptah, and a certain "Berenice", once argued to possibly be a daughter of Ptolemy VIII. However, the speculation of this marriage was refuted by Egyptologist Wendy Cheshire. Chris Bennett argues that Ptolemy XII's mother was Cleopatra IV and that he was considered illegitimate simply because she had never been co-regent. This theory is endorsed by the historian Adrian Goldsworthy.The date of Ptolemy XII's birth is thus uncertain. If he was the son of Cleopatra IV, he was probably born around 117 BC and followed around a year later by a brother, known as Ptolemy of Cyprus. In 117 BC, Ptolemy IX was governor of Cyprus, but in 116 BC he returned to Alexandria upon the death of his father, Ptolemy VIII. At this point, Ptolemy IX became the junior co-regent of his grandmother Cleopatra II and his mother, Cleopatra III. In 115 BC, his mother forced him to divorce Cleopatra IV, who fled into exile. The former Egyptian queen married the Seleucid king Antiochus IX, but she was murdered by his half-brother and rival Antiochus VIII in 112 BC. Ptolemy IX meanwhile had been remarried to Cleopatra Selene, with whom he had a daughter, Berenice III. By 109 BC, Ptolemy IX had begun the process of introducing Ptolemy XII to public life. In that year, Ptolemy XII served as the Priest of Alexander and Ptolemaic kings (an office which Ptolemy IX otherwise held himself throughout his reign) and had a festival established in his honour in Cyrene. Relations between Ptolemy IX and his mother deteriorated. In 107 BC she forced him to flee Alexandria for Cyprus and replaced him as co-regent with his younger brother, Ptolemy X. Justin mentions that Ptolemy IX left two sons behind when he fled Alexandria. Chris Bennett argues that these sons should be identified as Ptolemy XII and Ptolemy of Cyprus. Ptolemy IX made an attempt to reclaim the Ptolemaic throne in 103 BC by invading Judaea. At the start of this war, Cleopatra III sent her grandsons to the island of Kos along with her treasure in order to protect them. There, Ptolemy XII and Ptolemy of Cyprus seem to have been captured by Mithridates VI of Pontus in 88 BC, at the outbreak of the First Mithridatic War. Ironically, their father had reclaimed the Egyptian throne around the same time. They were held by Mithridates as hostages until 80 BC. At some point during this period, probably in 81 or 80 BC, they were engaged to two of Mithridates' daughters, Mithridatis and Nyssa. Meanwhile, Ptolemy IX died in December 81 BC and was succeeded by Berenice III. In April 80 BC, Ptolemy X's son Ptolemy XI was installed as Berenice III's husband and co-regent. He promptly murdered her and was himself killed by an angry Alexandrian mob. The Alexandrians then summoned Ptolemy XII to Egypt to assume the kingship; his brother, also named Ptolemy, became king of Cyprus, where he would reign until 58 BC. First reign (80–58 BC) On his arrival in Alexandria, in April 80 BC, Ptolemy XII was proclaimed king. His reign was officially dated as having begun on the death of his father in 81 BC, thereby eliding the reigns of Berenice III and Ptolemy XI. Shortly after his accession, Ptolemy XII married one of his relatives, Cleopatra V. Her parentage is uncertain – modern scholarship often interprets her as a sister, but Christopher Bennett argues that she was a daughter of Ptolemy X. The couple became co-regents and they were incorporated into the Ptolemaic dynastic cult together as the Theoi Philopatores kai Philadelphoi (Father-loving and Sibling-loving Gods). This title was probably meant to reinforce Ptolemy XII's claim to the throne in the face of claims that his parentage meant that he was an illegitimate son of Ptolemy IX and therefore not entitled to rule. In 76 BC, the High Priest of Ptah in Memphis died and Ptolemy XII travelled to Memphis to appoint his fourteen-year-old son, Pasherienptah III, as the new High Priest. In turn, Pasherienptah III crowned Ptolemy as Pharaoh and then went to Alexandria, where he was appointed as Ptolemy XII's 'prophet'. These encounters are described in detail on Pasherienptah's funerary stela, Stele BM 866, and they demonstrate the extremely close and mutually reinforcing relationship that had developed between the Ptolemaic kings and the Memphite priesthood by this date.In August 69 BC, Cleopatra V ceases to be mentioned as co-regent. The images of her that had been carved on the main pylon of the Temple of Horus at Edfu were covered over at this time. The reason for this sudden shift is unknown, but presumably she was divorced at this time. Ptolemy adopted a new royal epithet Neos Dionysos (New Dionysus) at some time after this; Chris Bennett proposes that the epithet was linked to the break with Cleopatra. Relations with Rome When Ptolemy X had died in 88 BC, his will had left Egypt to Rome in the event that he had no surviving heirs. Although the Romans had not acted on this, the possibility that they might forced the following Ptolemies to adopt a careful and respectful policy towards Rome. Ptolemy XII continued this pro-Roman policy in order to protect himself and secure his dynasty's fate. Egypt came under increasing Roman pressure nevertheless. In 65 BC, the Roman censor, Marcus Licinius Crassus proposed that Rome annex Egypt. This proposal failed in the face of opposition from Quintus Lutatius Catulus and Cicero. In light of this crisis, however, Ptolemy XII began to expend significant resources on bribing Roman politicians to support his interests. In 63 BC, when Pompey was reorganising Syria and Anatolia following his victory in the Third Mithridatic War, Ptolemy sought to form a relationship with Pompey by sending him a golden crown. Ptolemy also provided pay and maintenance for 8,000 cavalry to Pompey for his war with Judaea. He also asked Pompey to come to Alexandria and help to put down a revolt which had apparently broken out in Egypt; Pompey refused.The money required for these bribes was enormous. Initially, Ptolemy XII funded them by raising taxes. A strike by farmers of royal land in Herakleopolis which is attested in a papyrus document from 61/60 BC has been interpreted as a sign of widespread discontent with this taxation. Increasingly, Ptolemy XII also had recourse to loans from Roman bankers, such as Gaius Rabirius Postumus. This gave the Romans even more leverage over his regime and meant that the fate of Egypt became an increasingly immediate issue in Roman politics.Finally, in 60 BC, Ptolemy XII travelled to Rome, where the First Triumvirate, composed of Pompey, Crassus, and Julius Caesar, had just taken power, in order to negotiate official recognition of his kingship. Ptolemy paid Pompey and Caesar six thousand talents – an enormous sum, equivalent to the total annual revenue of Egypt. In return, a formal alliance or foedus was formed. The Roman Senate recognised Ptolemy as king and Caesar passed a law that added Ptolemy to the list of friends and allies of the people of Rome (amici et socii populi Romani) in 59 BC.In 58 BC, the Romans took control of Cyprus, causing its ruler, Ptolemy XII's brother, to commit suicide. Ptolemy XII took no action in response to his brother's death and Cyprus remained a Roman province until returned to Ptolemaic control by Julius Caesar in 48 BC. Exile in Rome (58–55 BC) The bribery policy had been unpopular in Egypt for a long time, both because of its obsequiousness and because of the heavy tax burden that it entailed, but the annexation of Cyprus demonstrated its failure and enraged the people of Alexandria. The courtiers in Alexandria forced Ptolemy to step down from the throne and leave Egypt. He was replaced by his daughter Berenice IV, who ruled jointly with Cleopatra Tryphaena (known to modern historians as Cleopatra VI), who was probably Ptolemy XII's former wife but may be an otherwise unattested daughter. Following Cleopatra Tryphaena's death a year later, Berenice ruled alone from 57 to 56 BC. Probably taking his daughter Cleopatra VII with him, Ptolemy fled for the safety of Rome. On the way, he stopped in Rhodes where the exiled Cato the Younger offered him advice on how to approach the Roman aristocracy, but no tangible support. In Rome, Ptolemy XII prosecuted his restitution but met opposition from certain members of the Senate. His old ally Pompey housed the exiled king and his daughter and argued on behalf of Ptolemy's restoration in the Senate. During this time, Roman creditors realized that they would not get the return on their loans to the king without his restoration. In 57 BC, pressure from the Roman public forced the Senate's decision to restore Ptolemy. However, Rome did not wish to invade Egypt to restore the king, since the Sibylline books stated that if an Egyptian king asked for help and Rome proceeded with military intervention, great dangers and difficulties would occur.Egyptians heard rumours of Rome's possible intervention and disliked the idea of their exiled king's return. The Roman historian Cassius Dio wrote that a group of one hundred men were sent as envoys from Egypt to make their case to the Romans against Ptolemy XII's restoration. Ptolemy seemingly had their leader Dio of Alexandria poisoned and most of the other protesters killed before they reached Rome. Restoration and second reign (55–51 BC) In 55 BC, Ptolemy paid Aulus Gabinius 10,000 talents to invade Egypt and so recovered his throne. Gabinius defeated the Egyptian frontier forces, marched to Alexandria, and attacked the palace, where the palace guards surrendered without fighting. The exact date of Ptolemy XII's restoration is unknown; the earliest possible date of restoration was 4 January 55 BC and the latest possible date was 24 June the same year. Upon regaining power, Ptolemy acted against Berenice, and along with her supporters, she was executed. Ptolemy XII maintained his grip on power in Alexandria with the assistance of around two thousand Roman soldiers and mercenaries, known as the Gabiniani. This arrangement enabled Rome to exert power over Ptolemy, who ruled until he fell ill in 51 BC. On 31 May 52 BC his daughter Cleopatra VII was named as his coregent.At the moment of Ptolemy XII's restoration, Roman creditors demanded the repayment of their loans, but the Alexandrian treasury could not repay the king's debt. Learning from previous mistakes, Ptolemy XII shifted popular resentment of tax increases from himself to a Roman, his main creditor Gaius Rabirius Postumus, whom he appointed dioiketes (minister of finance), and so in charge of debt repayment. Perhaps Gabinius had also put pressure on Ptolemy XII to appoint Rabirius, who now had direct access to the financial resources of Egypt but exploited the land too much. The king had to imprison Rabirius to protect his life from the angry people, then allowed him to escape. Rabirius immediately left Egypt and went back to Rome at the end of 54 BC. There he was accused de repetundis, but defended by Cicero and probably acquitted. Ptolemy also permitted a debasing of the coinage as an attempt to repay the loans. Near the end of Ptolemy's reign, the value of Egyptian coinage dropped to about fifty per cent of its value at the beginning of his first reign.Ptolemy XII died sometime before 22 March 51 BC. His will stipulated that Cleopatra VII and her brother Ptolemy XIII should rule Egypt together. To safeguard his interests, he made the people of Rome executors of his will. Since the Senate was busy with its own affairs, his ally Pompey approved the will. Legacy and assessments Generally, descriptions of Ptolemy XII portray him as weak and self-indulgent, drunk, or a lover of music. According to Strabo, his practice of playing the flute earned him the ridiculing sobriquet Auletes ('flute player'): Now all of the kings after the third Ptolemy, being corrupted by luxurious living, administered the affairs of government badly, but worst of all were the fourth, seventh, and the last, Auletes, who, apart from his general licentiousness, practised the accompaniment of choruses with the flute, and upon this he prided himself so much that he would not hesitate to celebrate contests in the royal palace, and at these contests would come forward to vie with the opposing contestants. According to the author Mary Siani-Davies: Throughout his long-lasting reign the principal aim of Ptolemy was to secure his hold on the Egyptian throne so as to eventually pass it to his heirs. To achieve this goal he was prepared to sacrifice much: the loss of rich Ptolemaic lands, most of his wealth and even, according to Cicero, the very dignity on which the mystique of kingship rested when he appeared before the Roman people as a mere supplicant. Marriage and issue Ptolemy married his sister Cleopatra V, who was with certainty the mother of his eldest known child, Berenice IV. Cleopatra V disappears from court records a few months after the birth of Ptolemy XII's second known child, and probably hers, Cleopatra VII in 69 BC. The identity of the mother of the last three of Ptolemy XII's children, in birth order Arsinoe IV, Ptolemy XIII, and Ptolemy XIV, is also uncertain. One hypothesis contends that possibly they (and perhaps Cleopatra VII) were Ptolemy XII's children with a theoretical half Macedonian Greek, half Egyptian woman belonging to a priestly family from Memphis in northern Egypt, but this is only speculation.The philosopher Porphyry (c. 234 – c. 305 AD) wrote of Ptolemy XII's daughter Cleopatra VI, who reigned alongside her sister Berenice IV. The Greek historian Strabo (c. 63 BC – c. AD 24) stated that the king had only three daughters of whom the eldest has been referred to as Berenice IV. This suggests that the Cleopatra Tryphaena mentioned by Porphyry may not have been Ptolemy XII's daughter, but his wife. Many experts now identify Cleopatra VI with Cleopatra V. References Notes Primary sources Cassius Dio 39.12 – 39.14, 39.55 – 39.58 Cicero, Marcus Tullius (2018) [54 BC]. pro Rabirio Postumo [In Defense of Gaius Rabirius Postumus]. Latin Texts & Translations. Strabo 12.3.34 and 17.1.11 Secondary sources Bennett, Christopher J. (1997). "Cleopatra V Tryphæna and the Genealogy of the Later Ptolemies". Ancient Society. 28: 39–66. doi:10.2143/AS.28.0.630068. ISSN 0066-1619. JSTOR 44079777. (registration required) Bradford, Ernle Dusgate Selby (2000). Cleopatra. London: Penguin Books. ISBN 978-0141390147. (registration required) Cheshire, Wendy (2011), "The Phantom Sister of Ptolemy Alexander", Enchoria, 32: 120–130. Goldsworthy, Adrian Keith (2011). Antony and Cleopatra. London: Phoenix. ISBN 978-0-300-16534-0. Grant, Michael (1972). Cleopatra. Edison, NJ: Barnes and Noble Books. ISBN 978-0880297257. Hölbl, Günther (2001). A History of the Ptolemaic Empire. London & New York: Routledge. pp. 222–230. ISBN 0415201454. Huß, Werner (2001). "Ägypten in hellenistischer Zeit 332–30 v. Chr. (Egypt in Hellenistic times 332–30 BC)". The Journal of Egyptian Archaeology. Munich. ISSN 0307-5133. (in German) Jones, Prudence J. (2006). Cleopatra: a sourcebook. Norman, Oklahoma: University of Oklahoma Press. ISBN 9780806137414. Kleiner, Diana E. E. (2005). Cleopatra and Rome. Cambridge, MA: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press. ISBN 9780674019058. (registration required) Lefkowitz, Mary R. (1997). Not out of Africa: How Afrocentrism became an Excuse to Teach Myth as History. New York: Basic Books. ISBN 978-0-465-09838-5. (registration required) Lippert, Sandra (2013), "What's New in Demotic Studies? An Overview of the Publications 2010-2013" (PDF), The Journal of Juristic Papyrology: 33–48. Mahaffy, John Pentland (1899). A History of Egypt under the Ptolemaic Dynasty. Vol. IV. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons. Meadows, Andrew (2001), "Sins of the fathers; the inheritance of Cleopatra, last queen of Egypt", in Walker, Susan; Higgs, Peter (eds.), Cleopatra of Egypt: from History to Myth, Princeton, NJ: British Museum Press), pp. 14–31, ISBN 978-0714119434 Preston, Diana (2009). Cleopatra and Antony. New York: Walker & Company. ISBN 978-0802710598. Roller, Duane W. (2010). Cleopatra: a Biography. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-195-36553-5. (registration required) Schiff, Stacy (2010). Cleopatra: A Life. New York: Back Bay Books. ISBN 978-0-316-12180-4. Siani-Davies, Mary (1997). "Ptolemy XII Auletes and the Romans". Historia. 46 (3): 306–340. JSTOR 4436474. (registration required) Stanwick, Paul Edmund (2010). Portraits of the Ptolemies: Greek Kings as Egyptian Pharaohs. University of Texas Press. ISBN 9780292777729. Svoronos, Ioannis (1904). Ta nomismata tou kratous ton Ptolemaion. Vol. 1 & 2, and 3 & 4. Athens. OCLC 54869298.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) (in Greek and German) Tyldesley, Joyce (2006). Chronicle of the Queens of Egypt. London: Thames & Hudson. ISBN 9780500051450. Watterson, Barbara (2020). Cleopatra: Fact and Fiction. Amberley Publishing. ISBN 978-1-445-66965-6. Whitehorne, John (1994). Cleopatras. Routledge. ISBN 978-0-415-05806-3. External links Ptolemy XII by Christopher Bennett (part of his Egyptian Royal Genealogy) Ptolemy XII Auletes from the online Encyclopædia Britannica Strabo The Geography in English translation, ed. H. L. Jones (1924), at LacusCurtius (Bill Thayer's Web Site) Cassius Dio Roman History in English translation by Cary (1914–1927), at LacusCurtius (Bill Thayer's Web Site) The House of Ptolemy, Chapter XII by E. R. Bevan (Bill Thayer's Web Site) Ptolemy XII Auletes (ca. 112 - 51 BCE) entry in historical sourcebook by Mahlon H. Smith

Air Japan

Air Japan, legally Air Japan Co., Ltd. (株式会社エアージャパン, Kabushiki-gaisha Eā Japan, styled AirJapan), is a low-cost airline based in Narita International Airport in Narita, Chiba, in Japan. Initially founded in 1990 as a charter carrier, the airline was relaunched in 2022 as the long-haul low-cost arm of the ANA Group.

Air Japan, legally Air Japan Co., Ltd. (株式会社エアージャパン, Kabushiki-gaisha Eā Japan, styled AirJapan), is a low-cost airline based in Narita International Airport in Narita, Chiba, in Japan. Initially founded in 1990 as a charter carrier, the airline was relaunched in 2022 as the long-haul low-cost arm of the ANA Group. History Air Japan was established as World Air Network on 29 June 1990 and became the charter airline arm of ANA, but ceased operation since September 1995. In 2000, World Air Network was renamed Air Japan, , operating services under the ANA brand. It relaunched service as a scheduled airline in 2001; its first flight departed from Osaka to Seoul, South Korea with a Boeing 767-300 transferred from ANA.It was announced on 2 April 2010 that Air Japan and ANA & JP Express will merge, with Air Japan being the surviving company. In 2018, the airline started Boeing 787 operations, flying under the ANA name. On 8 March 2022, ANA unveiled plans to transform Air Japan into a low-cost medium-haul carrier, with flights to be launched in February 2023. It was launched with the slogan, Fly Thoughtful. Up to this point, Air Japan had shared the same callsign with All Nippon Airways on all flights except routes to and from Seoul Incheon, Hong Kong, Taipei, and Honolulu which use the Air Japan call sign.On 9 March 2023, ANA announced that Air Japan will be servicing flights to and from Southeast Asia starting in February 2024, using Boeing 787 Dreamliners in an all-Economy class layout. The airline is intended as ANA's rival to Japan Airlines' ZipAir, which competes in the same sector. The first city that the new Air Japan will operate to is Bangkok (Suvarnabhumi), starting 9 February 2024 six times a week. Corporate affairs The airline has its headquarters at the ANA Sky-center (ANAスカイセンター) 3B, Narita International Airport in Narita, Chiba. The headquarters used to be in Higashikōjiya (東糀谷), Ōta, Tokyo. In addition to its headquarters, Air Japan also used to have offices at Shiodome City Center in Minato, Tokyo. Destinations As of November 2023, Air Japan operates passenger flights to the following destinations: Fleet The future Air Japan fleet will consist of Boeing 787-8 aircraft to be transferred from its parent company ANA. In the past, the airline operated Boeing 787s on behalf of ANA by both ANA and Air Japan pilots. References Air Japan Company Information (in Japanese) ANA's press release of the Air Japan launch External links Official website

Clock Tower Beach

Clock Tower Beach (French: Plage de l'Horloge) is an urban beach on the Saint Lawrence River in Montreal, adjacent to the Montreal Clock Tower in the Old Port of Montreal.

Clock Tower Beach (French: Plage de l'Horloge) is an urban beach on the Saint Lawrence River in Montreal, adjacent to the Montreal Clock Tower in the Old Port of Montreal. Description and history The beach opened in 2012. It consists of sand, Muskoka chairs, a boardwalk, a bar, showers and misting stations. Visitors are charged a fee for admission. Work began on the site in the fall of 2011, including the installation of parasols. The beach was designed by Claude Cormier, who has also designed urban beaches in Toronto. References External links Media related to Clock Tower Beach at Wikimedia Commons

Tim Densham

Tim Densham (born 31 March 1955) is a former British Formula One engineer. He was most recently the chief designer at the Renault Formula One team.

Tim Densham (born 31 March 1955) is a former British Formula One engineer. He was most recently the chief designer at the Renault Formula One team. Biography Densham started his career in motorsport with Team Lotus – the top team at the time – and started working at Ketteringham Hall under Colin Chapman. Densham soon was promoted to the position of race engineer, where he worked with Elio de Angelis in 1984 and Johnny Dumfries the following year. He went on to work with Satoru Nakajima when the team landed Honda engines in 1986. Away from the race tracks, he did a lot of testing work with Ayrton Senna and Nelson Piquet and eventually became assistant chief engineer in charge of Team Lotus research and development department. Team Lotus, however, was plagued with financial issues, so in 1990 Densham decided to move on and found a job with Brabham.He worked as a designer once again and was the race engineer for Stefano Modena in 1990 and Mark Blundell in 1991. When Sergio Rinland left the team at the end of 1991 Densham was named chief designer for the BT61 project but the team went bankrupt so it closed down in the middle of the season with the new car never having been built. In late 1992 Densham joined Tyrrell as a design engineer. He was soon back on the racing team as race engineer to Andrea de Cesaris, Mark Blundell (again) and Ukyo Katayama, who he engineered in 1995 and 1996.At the start of 1998, however, Densham decided that he no longer wanted to attend races as he had in the past and moved to the test team. In the mid-season he quietly left Tyrrell and soon afterwards began working at a secret design center in Leatherhead, Surrey, on the Honda F1 car. This was built by Dallara in Italy and ran for the first time in December with Jos Verstappen at the wheel. The death of Harvey Postlethwaite in 1999 resulted in Honda canceling the program and Densham was recruited to be chief designer at Benetton. He led the engineering department which designed the Benetton-Playlife B200 and remained with the team after it was taken over by Renault Sport.With Renault, Densham designed cars won back to back drivers' and constructors' titles in 2005 and 2006 and were one of the most competitive teams in the mid to late 2000s. In 2011 Densham left Renault and retired from Formula One. == References ==

Federal Electric Railways Commission

The Federal Electric Railways Commission was a United States agency established by President Woodrow Wilson in June 1919. The commission was charged with investigating the financial problems of the streetcar and interurban railway industry in the United States. The commission completed its business in July 1920 after submitting a final report to the President.

The Federal Electric Railways Commission was a United States agency established by President Woodrow Wilson in June 1919. The commission was charged with investigating the financial problems of the streetcar and interurban railway industry in the United States. The commission completed its business in July 1920 after submitting a final report to the President. Membership The commission members were: Charles E. Elmquist, commission chairman. Elmquist was president and general solicitor of the National Association of Railway and Utilities Commissioners Edwin F. Sweet, vice chairman of the commission; Assistant Secretary of Commerce Philip H. Gadsden, American Electric Railway Association Royal Meeker, Commissioner of Labor Statistics Louis B. Wehle, General Counsel of the War Finance Corporation Charles W. Beall, representing the Investment Bankers' Association of America William D. Mahon, president of Amalgamated Association of Street and Electric Railway Employees of America George Luis Baker, mayor of Portland, Oregon.: iv Charlton Greenwood Ogburn served as Executive Secretary to the commission. Testimony and investigation The commission conducted public hearings from June to October 1919. In addition to receiving witness testimony, the commission sent questionnaires to electric railway companies, local governments, state public utility commissions and railway labor unions; and obtained reports on specialized topics. Local government experts Delos F. Wilcox and Milo R. Maltbie analyzed the data obtained and served as advisors to the commissioners. Final report The commission submitted its final report to the President, thereby completing its business, in July 1920.Among the 23 conclusions and recommendations in the final report are the following: "The electric railway industry as it now exists is without financial credit and is not properly performing its public function." "This condition is the result of early financial mismanagement and economic causes accentuated by existing high-price levels of labor and materials, and of the failure of the uniform unit fare of 5 cents prescribed either by statute or by local franchise ordinances or contracts to provide the necessary revenues to pay operating costs and to maintain the property upon a reasonable basis." "The industry can be restored to a normal basis only by the introduction of economies in operation, improving the tracks, equipment, and service, and assuring a reasonable return upon the fair value of its property used in the public service when honestly and efhciently managed." "The great increase in the use of private automobiles, the jitney, and motor busses has introduced a serious although not a fatal, competition to the electric railway. These forms of public motor conveyance when operated as public carriers should properly be subject to equivalent regulatory provisions." "A private industry should not be subsidized by public funds unless it is imperatively necessary for the preservation of an essential service, and then only as an emergency measure." "While eventually it might become expedient for the public to own and operate electric railways, there is nothing in the experience thus far obtained in this country that will justify the assertion that it will result in better or cheaper service than privately operated utilities could afford if properly regulated.": 3–5 Delos Wilcox, who had reviewed the commission's accumulated testimony and other data, criticized the commission's final report because it did not support a recommendation for municipal ownership of the railways as an alternative solution. He had submitted an 823 page report to the commission on June 8, 1920, including his analysis and recommendations for public ownership, but this information was not included in the commission's final report to the President. Later in 1920 he publicly stated that private ownership of electric railways had been a failure in the United States, while public ownership was widespread in the United Kingdom. Independent report by Wilcox In 1921 Wilcox published his report independently. The report, titled "Analysis of the Electric Railway Problem", stated, "My analysis of the evidence presented to the Federal Electric Railways Commission confirmed me in the opinion that no permanent solution of the electric railway problem, consistent with the public interest, is possible except in public ownership. I advised the Commission that the most important thing to be done at the present time is frankly to recognize the necessity of public ownership and operation as an ultimate policy and to concentrate eflfort upon plans for the removal of obstacles in its way and for the assurance of its success when undertaken... The final solution of the problem, as I see it, lies in the full recognition of public responsibility for local transportation and in the acceptance by the community of the primary obligation of self-help in the performance of this all-important community service." Aftermath The fortunes of the interurban industry in the US declined during World War I and into the early 1920s. Many financially weak interurbans did not survive the prosperous 1920s, and most others went bankrupt during the Great Depression, along with many streetcar systems. See also Public transportation in the United States == References ==

Aida Rodriguez

Aida Margarita Parada Rodriguez (born August 29, 1977) is an American comedian of Puerto Rican/Dominican descent who is best known for her appearance as a contestant on the eighth season of Last Comic Standing and as a commentator on The Young Turks. She is also an actress, producer, writer, and podcaster.

Aida Margarita Parada Rodriguez (born August 29, 1977) is an American comedian of Puerto Rican/Dominican descent who is best known for her appearance as a contestant on the eighth season of Last Comic Standing and as a commentator on The Young Turks. She is also an actress, producer, writer, and podcaster. Early life Rodriguez was born in Boston, Massachusetts and taken to the Dominican Republic shortly afterward. As a child, her mother kidnapped her from her father in the Dominican Republic, and brought her to the U.S. Her grandmother and uncle would later abduct her from her mother's home in New York and bring her to Florida, in an attempt to protect her from her mother's boyfriend. Her uncle was later murdered in a hate crime. She attended Florida State University where she met her future husband 'Omar Ellison. She studied English and law, but left before graduating after she became pregnant. She was recruited by modeling agency IMG. She and Ellison later divorced.Rodriguez moved to Los Angeles in the early 2000s with her two children after her divorce from Ellison. After a bout with anorexia and a divorce, she turned to comedy for healing. For a time, she and her children were homeless and lived out of a car. Career Rodriguez attempts to transform painful episodes of her life into comedy material, while also addressing difficult issues such as misogyny and racism.She was a top ten finalist in the eighth season of NBC's Last Comic Standing (2014), but was eliminated in the seventh episode of the season after losing a head-to-head showdown against Rod Man (who ultimately won the LCS title). She finished in a tie for ninth place.Rodriguez is a five-time host of the Imagen Awards, which recognizes "the positive portrayal and creative excellence of Latinos and Latino cultures on screen".Through the stand-up comedy circuit, Rodriguez met Tiffany Haddish, who has proven a long-time friend and a strong advocate for women of color comics. In August 2019, Rodriguez was featured in the comedy anthology series Tiffany Haddish Presents: They Ready on Netflix. She was one of six featured comedians, each given a half-hour comedy special. Currently, Rodriguez appears as a co-host of The Young Turks online platform.In collaboration with HBO Max, Rodriguez released her debut hour-long comedy special on November 4, 2021. Throughout the special, she speaks on issues in today's world and relates them to her personal life. Advocacy In October 2023, Rodriguez signed an open letter to Joe Biden, President of the United States, of artists calling for a ceasefire of the Israeli bombardment of Gaza. Filmography Film Television Comedy releases References External links Official website Aida Rodriguez at IMDb

Russell Blackford

Russell Blackford (born 1954) is an Australian writer, philosopher, and literary critic.

Russell Blackford (born 1954) is an Australian writer, philosopher, and literary critic. Early life and education Blackford was born in Sydney, and grew up in the city of Lake Macquarie, near Newcastle, New South Wales. After graduating with first-class honours degrees in both arts and law from the University of Newcastle and University of Melbourne respectively, Blackford was awarded a PhD in English literature, also from Newcastle, on the return to myth in modern fictional narrative (as postulated by Northrop Frye). He completed a Master of Bioethics at Monash University and was awarded a second PhD, in philosophy (also from Monash), for a thesis entitled "The philosophy of human enhancement". His supervisor was Justin Oakley. Career As a fiction writer, Blackford specialises in science fiction, fantasy and horror fiction. His work includes four novels published by iBooks, three of them forming an original trilogy (The New John Connor Chronicles) set in the world of the Terminator movies. His non-fiction work frequently deals with issues involving science and society, particularly philosophical bioethics, cyberculture, transhumanism, and the history and current state of the science fiction genre. His work has appeared in many magazines, journals, and reference books, and has been featured most prominently in Quadrant, a monthly journal of literature and policy. It draws on his academic qualifications in a number of fields.Since 2008, he has also been a Fellow of the Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies. He was a speaker at the 2010 Global Atheist Convention and a contributor to The Australian Book of Atheism. Bibliography Novels The Tempting of the Witch King, Melbourne, Cory & Collins, 1983, ISBN 0-909117-18-7 The New John Connor Chronicles: Dark Futures: Book One of Terminator 2: The New John Connor Chronicles, iBooks, August 2002, 336p, ISBN 0-7434-4511-2 An Evil Hour: Book Two of Terminator 2: The New John Connor Chronicles, iBooks, May 2003, 368p, ISBN 0-7434-5863-X Times of Trouble: Book Three of Terminator 2: The New John Connor Chronicles, iBooks, September 2003, 384p, ISBN 0-7434-7483-X Kong Reborn, ibooks, Inc. November 2005, 320p, ISBN 1-59687-133-4 Non-fiction books Hyperdreams: Damien Broderick's Space/Time Fiction (OCLC 44838585), Originally published in 1998 as chapbook 8 in the Babel Handbooks series on Fantasy and Science Fiction Writers. Review of the writings of SF author Damien Broderick. Strange Constellations: A History of Australian Science Fiction (with Van Ikin and Sean McMullen), Greenwood Press, Contributions to the Study of Science Fiction and Fantasy, May 1999, 264p, ISBN 0-313-25112-6 Reviewed in: *"Science Fiction in Australia", by Michael Levy (Science Fiction Studies 27:1 (March,2000) "Russell Blackford ... among Australia's most widely respected critics" Freedom of Religion and the Secular State, Wiley-Blackwell, 2012. ISBN 978-0-470-67403-1 50 Great Myths About Atheism (with Udo Schuklenk), Wiley-Blackwell, 2013. ISBN 978-0470674055. Humanity Enhanced: Genetic Choice and the Challenge for Liberal Democracies, MIT Press, 2014. ISBN 978-0262026611. The Mystery of Moral Authority, Palgrave Pivot, 2016. ISBN 978-1-137-56269-2. Science Fiction and the Moral Imagination: Visions, Minds, Ethics, Springer, 2017. ISBN 978-3319616834. The Tyranny of Opinion: Conformity and the Future of Liberalism, Bloomsbury, 2018 ISBN 978-1350056008. Editor Urban Fantasies, anthology of 13 stories, edited with David King, Ebony, 1985. ISBN 978-0-9590655-1-0 Contrary Modes, proceedings of the academic track of Aussiecon 2, edited with Jenny Blackford, Lucy Sussex and Norman Talbot, 1985. ISBN 978-0-9590655-2-7 50 Voices of Disbelief: Why We Are Atheists, co-editor with Udo Schuklenk, 2009. ISBN 978-1-4051-9045-9 Intelligence Unbound: The Future of Uploaded and Machine Minds, co-editor with Damien Broderick, 2014. ISBN 978-1118736289 Philosophy's Future: The Problem of Philosophical Progress, co-editor with Damien Broderick, 2017. ISBN 978-1119210092 Academic articles "Judicial Power, Political Liberty and the Post-Industrial State." Australian Law Journal 71 (1997): 267–93. "Thinking about Cloning: A Reply to Judith Thomson." Journal of Law and Medicine 9 (2001): 238–50. "Stranger Than You Think: Arthur C. Clarke's Profiles of the Future." Prefiguring Cyberculture: An Intellectual History. Ed. Darren Tofts, Annemarie Jonson, and Alessio Cavellaro. Sydney: Power Publications, 2002; co-published Boston: MIT Press, 2003: 252–63. "Try the Blue Pill: What's Wrong with Life in a Simulation?" Jacking In to the Matrix Franchise: Cultural Reception and Interpretation. Ed. Matthew Kapell and William Doty. New York: Continuum, 2004: 169–82. "Should We Fear Death? Epicurean and Modern Arguments." Immortality Institute, ed. The Scientific Conquest of Death: Essays on Infinite Lifespans. Buenos Aires: LibrosEnRed, 2004: 257–69. "Human Cloning and 'Posthuman' Society." Monash Bioethics Review 24 (2005): 10–26. "Stem cell research on other worlds, or why embryos do not have a right to life." Journal of Medical Ethics 32 (2006): 177–80. Short stories "The Load on Her Mind", Westerly Volume 27, (1982). ISSN 0043-342X "Crystal Soldier" (1983) in Dreamworks: Strange New Stories (ed. David King) ISBN 978-0-909106-11-9 "Glass Reptile Breakout" (1985) in Strange attractors: Original Australian speculative fiction (ed. Hale and Iremonger) ISBN 978-0-86806-208-2 "The Sword of God" (1996) in Dream Weavers (ed. Paul Collins) "Lucent Carbon" (1997) in Eidolon (Australian magazine), #25/26 "The Soldier in the Machine" (1998) in Dreaming Down-Under (ed. Jack Dann, Janeen Webb) "Byzantium vs Republic of Australia" (1998) in Aurealis #20/21 "The King with Three Daughters" (2000) in Black Heart, Ivory Bones (ed. Ellen Datlow, Terri Windling) ISBN 978-0-380-78623-7 "Two Thousand Years" (2000) in Eidolon (Australian magazine) #29/30 "Smoke City" (2003) in Gathering the Bones (ed. Ramsey Campbell, Jack Dann, Dennis Etchison) ISBN 978-0-7322-8068-0 "The Name of the Beast Was Number" (2004) in Microcosms (ed. Gregory Benford) ISBN 978-0-7564-0171-9 "Idol" (2004) in Oceans of the Mind XII - reprinted (2014) in Novascapes (ed. C.E. Page) "Manannan's Children" (2008) in Dreaming Again: Thirty-five New Stories Celebrating the Wild Side of Australian Fiction (ed. Jack Dann) References David Seed. A Companion To Science Fiction Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing, 2005. ISBN 978-1-4051-1218-5 Footnotes External links Official website Russell Blackford at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database Blackford's blog

Abdullahi

Abdullahi (also spelled Abdollahi and Abdillahi) is a male given name also common as a surname. It is a variation of the Arabic personal name Abdullah. The variant Abdullahi is most common in Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, and Ethiopia. Abdullahi may refer to: is a male given name, it is a variation of the Arabic language (عبدالله), meaning “God’s servant.”

Abdullahi (also spelled Abdollahi and Abdillahi) is a male given name also common as a surname. It is a variation of the Arabic personal name Abdullah. The variant Abdullahi is most common in Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, and Ethiopia. Abdullahi may refer to: is a male given name, it is a variation of the Arabic language (عبدالله), meaning “God’s servant.” Given name Abdullahi Ahmed Addow (born 1936), Somali politician Abdullahi Ahmed Irro, Somali military General Abdillahi Deria, d(1967) former Sultan of the Isaaq clan Abdullahi Afrah (died 2008), Somali leader of UIC Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed (born 1934), President of Somalia Abdullahi Sudi Arale, Somali Guantanamo detainee Abdullahi Sadiq, Ethiopian politician Abdullahi dan Fodio (c. 1766–1828), Sultan of Gwandu and scholar Abdallahi ibn Muhammad (1846–1899) Mahdist Ansar ruler of Sudan Abdullahi Ibrahim, Nigerian politician Abdullahi Sheikh Ismail, Somali politician Abdullahi Issa (1922–1988), first prime minister of Somalia Abdullahi Sarki Mukhtar (born 1949), Nigerian retired Major-General Abdullahi al-Harari, Ethiopian Islamic Scholar Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed, Prime Minister of Somalia Abdullahi Aliyu Sumaila, Nigerian Administrator and Politician Abdullahi Ali Ahmed Waafow (died 2022), Somali general and politician Surname Ahmed Aboki Abdullahi, Nigerian army officer Hamza Abdullahi (1945–2019), Nigerian Air Force air marshal and governor Hassan Abdillahi, Somali journalist Mohamed Diriye Abdullahi (born 1958), Somali-Canadian scholar Nasrollah Abdollahi (born 1951), Iranian football player and coach Sadiq Abdullahi (born 1960), Nigerian tennis player See also Abdullah (name) Abdollahi

History of Cubana de Aviación

Cubana de Aviación S.A is Cuba's largest airline and flag carrier.

Cubana de Aviación S.A is Cuba's largest airline and flag carrier. History Establishment Cubana was established on 8 October 1929 as Compañía Nacional Cubana de Aviación Curtiss, indicating its association with the Curtiss aircraft manufacturing company. It was one of the earliest airlines to emerge in Latin America. Cubana's predecessors were the Compañía Aérea de Cuba, founded in 1919, and the Compañía Aérea Cubana, founded in 1920 (both airlines flew out of Havana's Columbia Airport, which started operations in 1919). Those companies were dissolved soon after they started, however, due to the difficult economic conditions affecting Cuba (and many other nations) in the aftermath of World War I. Other air transport companies in Cuba at the time of Cubana's founding were Servicio Cubano de Aviación, Líneas Aéreas de Cuba, and Compañía Nacional Cubana de Transporte Aéreo. All of these companies existed only for short periods of time, and had limited finances. They mostly operated occasional flights that carried packages for urgent delivery, or individuals who sought air travel for private business trips or recreational purposes. They were all greatly affected by the onset of the Great Depression in 1929 and the early 1930s, and the subsequent drop in air traffic. Cubana de Aviación Curtiss started services in 1930 with Curtiss Robin aircraft, followed by Sikorsky S-38 amphibians and Ford Trimotors. Amphibious service linked the coastal mining areas in the eastern part of Cuba, while the land-based Curtiss Robins and Ford Trimotors served the major provincial cities. The Curtiss Aviation School, owned by the Curtiss airplane manufacturing company, had trained Cuban pilots starting in the 1910s, thus creating the expertise necessary for the emergence of Cubana. Among the early Cuban aviation aces was Agustín Parlá Orduña, a 1912 graduate of the Curtiss School, who had headed the Compañía Aérea de Cuba in 1919. Early years Visits to Cuba by famous aviators, and news about their exploits, favored Cubana's start-up. They generated interest in aviation and its commercial possibilities in Cuba, at a time when civil aviation was mostly a recreational activity. Among them were the Spanish-Cuban aviator Domingo Rosillo, who completed the first flight across the Strait of Florida (Key West to Havana) in 1913, French aviator Charles Nungesser in 1924, and the American Charles Lindbergh in his "Spirit of St. Louis" airplane in 1928. After Cubana's founding, the Spanish aviators Mariano Barberán and Joaquín Collar completed the first transatlantic flight from Spain to Cuba in 1933, followed in 1936 by the first Cuba-to-Spain (Havana-Seville) flight by Cuban aviator Antonio Menéndez Peláez in an open cockpit, single-engine airplane. These and other feats promoted interest in long-distance flight. Pan American Airways (then known as Pan American Airways System or PAA) acquired Cubana in 1932, and the word Curtiss was deleted from the airline's name. Financial difficulties in the U.S.-based Curtiss aircraft manufacturing company, due to the deepening economic depression, partly motivated the sale. Cubana therefore became a subsidiary of Pan American Airways. At that time, Pan American had started to assemble a Latin American and Caribbean network, linking together air services in various nations with its own international routes in the Americas and the Caribbean. Pan American's own first-ever international scheduled service had started from Florida to Cuba in the 1920s (Key West-Havana). Acquiring Cubana therefore made sense to PAA's management as it expanded operations beyond Cuba toward the rest of Latin America and the Caribbean. Cuba's populist revolution of 1933 had little effect on Cubana and on Pan American's ownership of the airline. Despite the nationalist character of the new government which seized power from 1933 until 1940, Pan American's investment in Cubana was safeguarded. The economic depression of the 1930s did affect Cuba, but its impact on Cubana was not substantial. At the time, much of Cubana's revenue was derived from carrying mail for Cuba's postal service. Airline passenger traffic was very limited, due to the small capacity of aircraft in those times. Also, people who chose to travel by air were mostly a select elite. Air travellers within Cuba in the 1930s were mostly wealthy business people, well-paid professionals, or well-to-do individuals who could afford the relatively high fares. Twin-engine Lockheed Model 10 Electras joined Cubana's fleet in 1934, allowing the airline to extend its routes within Cuba. These aircraft, which were among the most advanced in their time, were part of Pan American's investment in Cubana. The Lockheed Electras allowed Cubana to expand its land-based operations, serving cities which previously had no access to scheduled airline service. The expansion of Cubana's routes was accompanied by the creation of Cuba's Civil Aviation School in 1936, headed by Cuban aviation ace Ramiro Leonard. The school trained many aviators who would join Cubana's operations. By 1940, Cubana's fleet had a total of 12 aircraft, all of which were used in the airline's growing domestic network. The Lockheed Electras were followed by the Douglas DC-3 in 1944 and the Curtiss C-46 in 1946. As a subsidiary of Pan American Airways, Cubana's technical operations, aircraft livery, crews' uniforms and even the airline's logo closely followed those of Pan American (the PAA-style logo was retained until 1957). Cubana's route system within Cuba fed passengers to Pan American's international flights, providing connections through Havana. This relationship was similar to that of other Pan American Airways subsidiaries in Latin America, such as Mexicana de Aviación and Panair do Brasil. In 1944 the name of the airline was changed to Compañía Cubana de Aviación S.A. A majority share in the airline was then sold to Cuban investors in that year, with Pan American Airways retaining a 42% stake. Pan American had been expanding rapidly, acquiring or setting up subsidiaries throughout Latin America (and re-establishing its Pacific and North Atlantic services as the end of World War II approached), and needed to raise capital. This change in majority ownership marked Cubana's ascendance as a Cuban enterprise, and made the airline a source of national pride. From 1944, Cubana would remain a private enterprise supported primarily by domestic capital. In 1944, the first International Conference on Civil Aviation was convened, which later would lead to the creation of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO). Cuba was a participant in this conference and a founding member of ICAO, helping set the framework for international agreements that would rule civil aviation during the second half of the 20th century. In April 1945, the conference that created the International Air Transport Association (IATA) was held in Havana. Cubana became a founding member of IATA, and participated in the creation of that organization through its involvement with the Havana conference and the resulting accords. Both conferences and the organizations they spawned helped establish Cubana as an internationally recognized airline company. During its first 16 years Cubana's scheduled services were exclusively domestic. Its route system used Havana as its main hub, with frequent flights to the nation's major provincial cities. Cubana's founding in 1929 had coincided with the opening of Havana's José Martí International Airport, allowing the airline to establish a permanent operational base there. Located 18 km. from central Havana, near the town of Rancho Boyeros, the new airport provided ample space for expansion (compared to Havana's old Columbia Airport, which was hemmed by the city's rapid growth). During the 1930s, Cubana expanded its services to serve most every major city in Cuba. Then, the Second World War stymied Cubana's expansion, due to limited supplies of fuel and aircraft. By the end of the War, however, Cubana was ready to launch its first international route. International expansion In May 1945 Cubana started its first scheduled international flights, from Havana to Miami using Douglas DC-3 aircraft. Cubana was the first Latin American airline to establish scheduled passenger services to Miami. Flights on this route carried mostly business people and tourists, and they helped start tourism travel as an important market for commercial aviation. The Miami route, because of its economic and political significance, would later prove to be an important part of Cubana's history. In April 1948 a transatlantic route was started between Havana and Madrid (via Bermuda, the Azores and Lisbon) using Douglas DC-4 aircraft. The DC-4 was Cubana's first four-engine aircraft, and it required five cockpit crew members to operate (captain, first officer, flight engineer, navigator and radio operator). The DC-4 that started the transatlantic route had a pressurized cabin and was christened "Estrella de Cuba" (CU-T188). A second DC-4 was christened "Estrella de Oriente" (CU-T397) and replaced the DC-3s on Cubana's Miami route. The Madrid route was extended to Rome in 1950 (the Madrid-Rome segment was later discontinued). The new route to Europe made Cubana one of the earliest Latin American carriers to establish scheduled transatlantic service. At the time, most European airlines did not have any transatlantic routes, and Cubana became the only carrier offering direct service from continental Europe to the Caribbean. Later, in the early 1950s, the DC-4s were replaced by Lockheed Constellations (L-049), the main type of aircraft used at the time for long-distance commercial air travel. In the early 1950s the airline purchased several Lockheed Super Constellations (L-1049E and L-1049G) from the U.S., and turboprop Vickers Viscount (VV-755) aircraft from Britain to renovate its fleet. The first Super Constellation (L-1049E, registered as CU-P573) was delivered in early 1953, and was placed in service on Cubana's Madrid route. Cubana was Lockheed's launch customer for the L-1049E. The Super Constellations allowed Cubana to start service to Mexico City, New York City, and to increase frequencies to Madrid via Bermuda, the Azores and Lisbon. With these aircraft, Cubana became the first Latin American airline to establish services to New York. The Viscounts were used for its Miami and Nassau flights, and for domestic services to Camagüey and Santiago de Cuba. Cubana's turboprop Viscount flights to Miami from Havana and Varadero became popular with travellers, because of their shorter flight time, quieter ride, and superb onboard service. Cubana usually operated as many as five daily roundtrip Viscount flights between Havana and Miami year-round, with additional flights during holiday periods. The Miami route therefore became Cubana's main international source of revenue during the 1950s. In 1954, the airline became fully Cuban-owned when Pan American Airways sold its minority stake. This marked Cubana's independence as a private Cuban enterprise. Cuban investors were drawn to Cubana by the airline's potential for growth and by its achievements, such as the quality of passenger services, the renovation of its fleet (which was among the most advanced in Latin America), the experience of its crews, and its projected international expansion. An additional attraction were the airline's promotional efforts to cater to Cuba's growing tourism industry, particularly with American travellers. Tourism was a nascent industry in the 1950s. Havana, having one of the best hotel and communication infrastructures in Latin America, became a tourist playground, attracting more tourism than any other Latin American city in the mid-1950s. The city's proximity to the U.S. provided a formidable advantage that helped consolidate its position as a prime tourist destination. Cubana took advantage of Havana's excellent tourist infrastructure and amenities by pioneering the combination of flights, hotels and tours as a package. An example of this strategy was the airline's "Tropicana flights" from Miami, which combined flights, hotel, ground transport, and admission to the internationally famous Tropicana Cabaret in Havana. By the mid-1950s, Cubana was the Latin American carrier with most experience in travel promotion. Promotions At a time when airline in-flight publications were practically unknown, Cubana started its own in-flight magazine, Aeroguía Cubana. The magazine was first published in March 1954. Typically about 60 pages long, with numerous photographs and illustrations, it was published in Spanish and contained articles on Cuba's tourist attractions, Cuban culture and folklore, the Cuban economy, Havana entertainment, points of interest in Cuba's provinces, a directory of Havana museums, hotels, restaurants, night clubs, and a calendar of upcoming monthly cultural and sports events, among other features. Aeroguía Cubana was financially supported through advertisements from major, well-known Cuban private enterprises, such as the Bacardi liquor company, major Havana hotels, the department store El Encanto, and internationally well-known entertainment venues, such as the Tropicana and Montmartre cabarets (both in Havana). Issues of the magazine also often included articles on the airline's international destinations, such as a history of Miami (in the November 1954 issue), along with a humor-comics section and cross-word puzzles. Aeroguía Cubana was distributed freely in all of the airline's international services, and in its domestic flights. In 1957, Cubana started a second publication, the Cubana Courier, a bilingual monthly newspaper. This publication was oriented toward travel agents and the tourism promotion industry, particularly in the U.S. Cubana Courier's reporting covered a wide range of subjects related to tourism in Cuba and the Cuban economy, among them articles covering Cuban tourism statistics, the Cuban construction industry, Havana's infrastructure, new tourism programmes, and foreign investment in Cuba. The newspaper also sometimes included educational supplements, such as a booklet explaining the workings of the Rolls-Royce Dart turboprop engines which powered Cubana's Vickers Viscount aircraft. Cubana Courier was made available at the airline's international and domestic offices, and was distributed by mail to travel professionals in the U.S., Cuba, and other nations. This newspaper reflected Cubana's growing experience with tourism promotion. To many of the airline's investors, it was a welcome indication of Cubana's pioneering efforts in tourism promotion, and its growing expertise in mass communications related to tourism and travel. Cubana's travel promotion strategies also enlisted consultants and publicists with wide access to the media. Contracts with American advertising and public relations firms allowed the airline to become well known in the U.S. At the same time, Cuban advertising firms helped promote Cubana's domestic and international services. The airline thus became not only well known among American travellers, but was also a favorite of Cuba's growing middle classes as vacation and business travel abroad increased, due to the nation's economic expansion throughout the 1950s. The PAA-style logo Cubana had used since the 1930s was replaced in 1957, and a new logo and livery compatible with the advent of the jet age were adopted (the new livery and logo were retained until the late 1960s). The new logo's aerodynamic look included an oval-shaped globe showing the geographical areas served by Cubana, with Cuba in the center. It was unique among Latin American airlines, whose logos typically depicted avian-based designs or simply used their acronyms. At this time, Cubana also undertook a renovation of its fleet, opting to replace its long-range piston-prop Super Constellations with turboprop aircraft, and to expand its existing Vickers Viscount turboprop fleet in the immediate future. Turboprop expansion Cubana placed orders for four long-range Bristol Britannia (Model 318) and four Vickers Super Viscount (VV-818) aircraft, all turboprops, for its international services (which included Madrid, New York, Mexico City, Miami, Montego Bay, Nassau, Port-au-Prince), and for some of its domestic routes (Camagüey, Santiago de Cuba, Varadero). The first Bristol Britannia (CU-T668) was delivered in late 1958, and was placed in service in the airline's New York route. The new Britannias and Super Viscounts allowed Cubana to become the first Latin American airline to fly only turboprop aircraft in all its international routes. By the late 1950s, Cubana was the Latin American airline with most experience in the operation and maintenance of British-built turboprop aircraft. It also had one of the most advanced fleets in Latin America. The new Bristol Britannias and Super Viscounts provided the only turboprop flights to Cuba at a time when U.S.-flag carriers and all other airlines flew there only with piston-prop aircraft. Cubana's turboprop aircraft (starting with the Viscount VV-755s in the mid-1950s) shortened flight times significantly, and also provided a quieter ride than the piston-prop aircraft flown by all other carriers serving Cuba. Some of Cubana's turboprops started to set flight time records on the routes they flew. On 17 January 1959, for example, one of Cubana's new Britannias set a record for the New York-Havana route, flying it in 3 hours 28 minutes, the fastest ever for a commercial flight on that route. Similarly, on the Havana-Madrid route, Cubana's Britannias shortened total flight time by as much as 4 hours one-way, compared to the flight time of the Super Constellations (flown by a competing carrier). Cubana's Britannias thus allowed the airline to displace competing airlines on its New York, Mexico City and Madrid services, flying the routes faster, with less cabin noise and vibration, while providing excellent onboard service. Cubana's turboprop Viscounts and Super Viscounts on the Miami flights also flew the route faster than competing carriers, with excellent inflight service and amenities upon arrival in Havana. The Miami and New York routes thus became a major source of revenue for the airline. These routes were widely promoted in the U.S. through New York-based advertising agencies, that helped create an image of excellent service and reliability for the airline among American travellers. In 1958, Cubana placed an order for two Boeing 707-139 jets, becoming one of the first Latin American carriers planning to purchase this new passenger jet (the order was cancelled in 1960, when U.S.-Cuba relations deteriorated). Despite Cubana's advances during the 1950s and its position at the forefront of aviation in Latin America and the Caribbean, part of the year 1958 involved some difficulties for the airline. Cuba's intensifying revolutionary struggle impacted Cubana as three of its flights were hijacked. Two of the three hijackings did not result in losses, but one involved fatalities and the loss of an aircraft (a Viscount VV-755). This was the first-ever loss of life or an aircraft due to hijacking in Cubana's history. Revolutionary leaders subsequently apologized for the losses, but the incidents made it clear that Cubana's operations would no longer remain unaffected by the strife. Then, less than two months after the third hijacking incident, revolutionary leaders seized power (in January 1959), and another stage in the history of Cubana de Aviación began. Revolution and socialism When Cuba's populist revolutionary movement, led by Fidel Castro, overthrew Fulgencio Batista's regime in January 1959, Cubana was seen by the new government as an important resource. Building up the new government's foreign relations became an important priority, and Cubana had a major role to play in this area. Despite the fact that the airline was a private enterprise, it was viewed by the new government as Cuba's official air carrier. The events surrounding Cuba's revolutionary process in 1959 and 1960 attracted much international interest. Numerous international celebrities visited Cuba aboard Cubana's flights, providing much publicity to the airline. Among them were French philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre and writer Simone de Beauvoir, the American singer Josephine Baker, Chilean poet (and later Nobel laureate) Pablo Neruda, British historian Hugh Thomas, Soviet filmmaker Mikhail Kalatozov, and Colombian writer (and later Nobel laureate) Gabriel García Márquez. For these and many other celebrities who visited Cuba, often as guests of the new government, Cubana was the preferred airline. In May 1959 the revolutionary government decided to nationalise Cubana. The private passenger airline Aerovías Q and private cargo carriers Cuba Aeropostal and Expreso Aéreo Interamericano were then merged into Cubana. At that time, Aerovías Q operated Douglas DC-4 and Curtiss C-46 aircraft (modified for passenger use), while Cuba Aeropostal and Expreso Aéreo Interamericano used Douglas DC-3 and Curtiss C-46 freighters. Aerovías Q had many daily flights from Havana's Columbia Airport (at the time a mixed use military-civilian airport adjacent to the Miramar district) to Key West, Fort Lauderdale, West Palm Beach and Cuba's Isle of Pines (renamed Isla de la Juventud since the mid-1960s), but its operations were moved to José Martí International Airport shortly before the merger. Cuba Aeropostal had frequent cargo flights to Miami and within Cuba, while Expreso Aéreo Interamericano operated cargo flights to Central America and the Caribbean. Shortly before the merger, Havana's Columbia Airport (which was part of the Camp Columbia military base) began to be used solely for military traffic and was renamed Ciudad Libertad. All commercial aircraft traffic for Havana was therefore concentrated at the José Martí International Airport, located in the adjacent district of Rancho Boyeros (18 km. from central Havana). The merger of these airlines with Cubana consolidated Cuban commercial aviation under government ownership. Cubana's name was changed to Empresa Consolidada Cubana de Aviación S.A., to reflect its new ownership and the mergers. The airline's expropriated investors, however, would soon launch a troublesome campaign against the airline. Most of Cubana's expropriated investors went into exile and sought external litigation against Cubana and against Cuba's revolutionary government. In the U.S., in particular, they joined with American investors whose properties had also been nationalised, in rejecting the new government's offer of 20-year 4.5% government bonds as compensation; a rate higher than the one paid for airline bonds in U.S. markets at that time. They instead demanded immediate payment and sought U.S. court orders to impound Cubana's aircraft. Those orders were issued at various times, starting in 1960. Such actions disrupted Cubana's U.S. operations considerably, leading to occasional flight delays or cancellations. The nationalisation of Cubana was among the first wave of business and property nationalisations enacted by Cuba's revolutionary government, as it sought greater control over the economy and the public ownership of key enterprises. As a nationalised company and Cuba's undisputed flag carrier, Cubana became an important resource in the revolutionary government's foreign relations strategy. Domestic and international travel by the government's leaders, and visits by official guests, were coordinated through the airline. Special flights for government officials and guests were operated frequently, as the airline became an essential element of Cuba's foreign policy. Important projects, such as the creation of the Cuban government's international press agency, Prensa Latina, in 1959 used Cubana for all travel arrangements. Cubana's international offices also became closely linked with Cuba's diplomatic legations. During 1960 many of the Cubana's most experienced crews and technicians sought employment with foreign airlines and left Cuba, reducing the airline's pool of skilled personnel. Then, by late 1960 Cubana was forced to discontinue all its U.S. routes, which included Miami and New York, along with the merged Aerovías Q and Cuba Aeropostal services to Florida (Key West, Fort Lauderdale, West Palm Beach). Rising tensions between the U.S. and Cuban governments, threats by the U.S. to impound Cubana aircraft, and the unilateral breaking of diplomatic relations by the U.S. government in January 1961, caused the cancellation of the routes. Earlier, in October 1960, the U.S. government had imposed a partial embargo on Cuba, in retaliation for the nationalisation of American properties. These actions were part of a broader U.S. strategy that had started as early as October 1959, when President Dwight D. Eisenhower approved a Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and State Department-proposed programme to support opposition groups inside Cuba, and allow occasional air and sea-borne raids from U.S. territory. This initial programme then led to the March 1960 approval of a formal CIA plan to execute sabotage, assassinations, and to attack and invade Cuba with the objective of overthrowing its revolutionary government.This broad strategy of aggression and sabotage culminated in the failed, CIA-planned and executed April 1961 invasion of Cuba at Playa Girón (also known as the Bay of Pigs). When an aerial bombardment of several Cuban airports by CIA-piloted and owned U.S. B-26 bombers (using fake Cuban air force livery to confound defenders) occurred on 15 April 1961, Cubana was forced to discontinue all its operations. One of Cubana's Douglas DC-3 aircraft, registered CU-T138, that was parked at Santiago de Cuba's Antonio Maceo Airport, was destroyed in one of the CIA's aerial bombing raids on that day. Other Cubana aircraft were also damaged by the bombing raids. The aerial bombardments were a prelude to the invasion landings that occurred on 17 April. After the failure of the invasion and all related military actions, the U.S. government continued and increased its strategy of sabotage, assassinations and threats against Cuba's revolutionary government and the Cuban economy. Cubana, being a most visible entity of Cuba's foreign relations, thus came under special pressure from U.S. authorities. One way to put pressure on Cubana was to induce aircraft hijackings. The U.S. government thus crafted policies toward Cuba that led to frequent aircraft hijackings. Starting in 1961, the U.S. automatically granted asylum to any hijackers of Cubana (and any other Cuba-registered) aircraft, regardless of any crimes committed in Cuba by the hijackers, or any deaths and injuries that resulted from a hijacking. This policy provided a formidable incentive for anyone to undertake an aircraft hijacking, since all hijackers were assured of complete immunity (and impunity) once they reached the U.S. This policy caused additional problems for Cubana, beyond hijacking incidents, since hijacked aircraft were usually retained by the U.S. for periods of time, to cause a loss of the aircraft's use to the airline and to entice crews to remain in the U.S. As a result, Cubana was forced to adopt heightened security precautions in all its flights, training pilots and crew members, as well as ground personnel, to prepare for hijacking incidents. The airline was also forced to expand its fleet with reserve aircraft, to be placed in service when a hijacked aircraft was retained by the U.S. Despite these problems, in late 1961 Cubana expanded its scheduled transatlantic services to Prague (in addition to its existing Madrid route) using its Bristol Britannia turboprops. This was the first scheduled service by a Latin American airline to Eastern Europe. The new Prague route made a scheduled refueling stop in Gander (Canada) before reaching Prague [stopping also in Shannon (Ireland) on the return flight]. Cubana then ceded one of its Britannias to Czechoslovak Airlines (CSA) (CU-T668, re-registered as OK-MBA by CSA) so that it could start its own Prague-Havana flights, in cooperation with Cubana's services on that route. Cubana's crews trained CSA personnel in the operation of the Britannias. This allowed CSA to establish its first-ever scheduled transatlantic service in early 1962. The Gander and Shannon stops on Cubana's Prague route (Gander only on the Madrid route) became necessary after the U.S. government pressured and got Cubana's landing rights cancelled in Bermuda and the Azores in 1961. These stops were essential (Bermuda on the outbound and Azores on inbound flights) because Cubana's Britannias did not have the necessary range to fly nonstop to and from Europe. The Bermuda and Azores stops had been part of Cubana's transatlantic routes since 1948, when its first flights to Europe started. Fortunately for Cubana, the Canadian and Irish governments provided landing rights and refused to bend to U.S. pressure, especially when Czechoslovak Airlines (CSA) started to operate its own services on the same route (coordinated with Cubana's). The denial of those rights by Canada and Ireland would have forced Cubana to discontinue its transatlantic routes. The Gander stop, in particular, posed many challenges to Cubana's crews over the years because of very difficult winter conditions, which included snow and ice storms, icy runways, temperatures below −30 °C, and diverted flights with low fuel reserves. Also, U.S. government policies toward Cuba enticed Cubana's crews to desert their flights at Gander and emigrate to the U.S. Despite these difficulties, Cubana never experienced an accident on the Gander route during its four decades of operation. With the U.S. breaking relations (in January 1961) and the imposition of a total U.S. embargo on Cuba on 7 February 1962 (beyond the partial one imposed in October 1960), Cubana turned to the Soviet Union to obtain new aircraft. Although the Bristol Britannias were kept in service for many years, the airline's Viscounts (VV-755) and Super Viscounts (VV-818) were sold in 1961 and 1962 to other carriers (Cunard Eagle, Trans-Australia, and South African Airways). The first Soviet-built aircraft type delivered was the twin-engine, piston-prop Ilyushin IL-14 in late 1961. Soon after, Ilyushin IL-18 four-engine turboprops were delivered, and began to be used in Cubana's domestic services. They were followed by the twin-engine Antonov AN-24 and AN-26, and the four-engine AN-12, all of them turboprops. The AN-26s and AN-12s, both freighters, helped sustain and expand Cubana's cargo operations on short- and long-range routes. These aircraft replaced all of Cubana's Viscounts, Super Viscounts and U.S.-built aircraft. Except for the Bristol Britannias, Cubana's fleet would now be made up of Soviet-built aircraft. U.S. government actions against Cubana continued all along, with pressures being placed on Western petrol companies that supplied the airline on its international routes. Bombings, arson and other sabotage of Cubana's offices in Mexico, Canada and Western Europe also occurred occasionally, beyond aircraft hijackings. Groups and individuals claiming responsibility (or suspected) for these violent actions were known or alleged to have had CIA training or ties. Then, the missile crisis of October 1962 had a negative impact on the airline, as all of Cubana's services had to be suspended during the crisis, due to the threat of U.S. aerial bombardments and the potential for Cubana aircraft to be destroyed by U.S. warplanes. The memory of what had happened 18 months earlier (April 1961), during the CIA's aerial bombardment of Cuba, and the destruction of Cubana aircraft, caused the airline to take additional precautions (beyond suspension of all services). Some aircraft were dispersed and parked at various airports, and those flying abroad at the time the crisis started were instructed not to return. Disruptions continued after the end of the October missile crisis, but Cubana's services were nonetheless fully restored, and were helped by the ongoing acquisition of Soviet-built aircraft. Cubana's new Soviet-built fleet was accompanied by important cooperation agreements with Eastern bloc airlines. Cooperation with CSA Czechoslovak Airlines had already produced mutually beneficial results. In 1963, Cubana's cooperation made it possible for Aeroflot Soviet Airlines to establish 18-hour nonstop scheduled services between Moscow and Havana. These were the longest nonstop flights in the world, and the Tupolev 114 aircraft Aeroflot used were also the largest passenger aircraft in service at that time. Cubana provided Aeroflot with ground support and technical services, and representative offices in Havana and Cuba, for the nonstop Moscow-Havana route. Aeroflot, in turn, represented Cubana in the USSR. Later, cooperation with the East German airline Interflug made it possible for this carrier to establish its first-ever scheduled transatlantic service, linking East Berlin with Havana. Cooperative agreements (without direct flights) were also established with Malev (Hungarian Airlines), LOT Polish Airlines, and Tarom (Romanian Air Transport). These and other cooperation agreements supported Cubana's technical capabilities and led to mutual accords involving representative offices, passenger services and aircraft maintenance. Later on, with the arrival of the Ilyushin IL-62 jets in the late 1960s, Cubana was able to replace its Britannias and start all-jet service to Europe on its already existing routes to Madrid and Prague (via Gander, Canada). A fleet of Tupolev TU-154, Ilyushin IL-76, Yakovlev YAK-40 and YAK-42 jets, and the more advanced Ilyushin IL-62M, followed in the 1970s for the airline's transatlantic, Latin American, Caribbean, and domestic services. The acquisition of this large and diverse fleet was financed by the Soviet Union and carried very favorable terms, such as repayment through general barter trade in place of hard currency. As a result, Cubana became the Latin American carrier with most experience in the operation of Soviet-built aircraft. The agreements with Eastern bloc airlines and nations also allowed Cubana to fulfill an important strategic role for the Cuban government. Since the early 1960s, numerous aspiring revolutionaries from Latin America travelled to Cuba for education, training, medical care and conferences. They usually travelled on Cubana's flights from Prague, and in some cases also used the airline's occasional special flights to Eastern bloc cities. This long roundabout became important when almost all Latin American nations severed relations with Cuba, mostly in response to U.S. pressures. By the mid-1960s, only Mexico had diplomatic relations with Cuba, and Cubana's Mexico City service provided the only flights to Latin America. The Mexico City flights were closely monitored by the CIA, however, making it difficult for individuals who travelled to Cuba to avoid being targeted (and potentially submitted to arrest, torture or death when they returned to their home countries). Through its transatlantic flights to Prague and other Eastern bloc cities, Cubana therefore helped fulfill a significant element of the Cuban government's foreign relations strategy. Later, throughout the late 1960s and 1970s, numerous African revolutionaries would also use Cubana's services from Eastern bloc nations, to travel to Cuba and avoid being targeted by the CIA and Western intelligence services (although the Gander stop, necessary because of the Britannias' and IL-62s' limited range, did pose some challenges). 1970s and 1980s In 1975, Cubana's Bristol Britannias were pressed into service to ferry elite Cuban military units to Angola, as part of Operation Carlota. The Britannias were modified (with additional fuel tanks placed inside the passenger cabins) by Cubana's technicians, to allow non-stop flights from Cuba to Africa (with a reduced passenger load). This occurred when the U.S. government started to pressure Barbados to cancel Cubana's landing rights for those flights. Modifications to the Britannias included providing access to the cargo bay from the passenger cabins, to facilitate the rapid deployment of weapons and ammunition upon arrival. Nobel Prize winning author Gabriel García Márquez wrote articles in 1977 (and a book) that included narrations about Cubana's Britannias and its pilots flying the first contingent of elite Cuban troops to Angola. The route for those very urgent flights often involved a brief stop at Brazzaville for refueling and information on developments in Luanda. Arrivals in Brazzaville and Luanda were scheduled for nighttime, and the aircraft's exterior and interior lights were turned off before landing, on the ground, and during takeoff to avoid attracting attention. The initial flights were undertaken in secrecy, and helped prevent apartheid South Africa's army from occupying Luanda when Angola gained independence. In all, Cubana's Britannias performed over 100 flights between Cuba and Angola during several months, as part of Operation Carlota. Because spare parts were no longer made or marketed, Cubana's technicians had to manufacture them, and brake parts from Ilyushin IL-18 aircraft were adapted to fit the Britannias. Maintenance time was reduced by half to keep the aircraft operating continuously, despite the lack of weather reports along the sparsely travelled route. Each flight carried two pilot crews, taking turns at the controls, but pilots often flew beyond their flight-time limits. Shortly after this operation, Cubana established scheduled services between Havana and Luanda. Cubana's Britannias served in the airline's fleet for over three decades (they were retired in 1990), and never experienced any accident. In the mid-1970s, Cubana leased Douglas DC-8-43 aircraft (previously in service with Air Canada) for its Canadian, Caribbean and Guyana services. These aircraft were leased with support from the Canadian government, as part of bilateral trade agreements between Canada and Cuba. Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau had spearheaded this initiative himself, seeking to strengthen relations between Canada and Cuba. As a result, the Canadian government, and Mr. Trudeau himself, came under intense pressure from the U.S. government, which disapproved of this initiative and sought to stop it. The DC-8 leases allowed Cubana to gain experience operating U.S.-built jets and made up for delays in deliveries of Soviet-built aircraft. One of the DC-8s (CU-T1200) was damaged in an accident (a mid-air collision with a smaller aircraft) during a test flight, with no loss of life, but a second DC-8 (CU-T1201) was lost when bombs exploded during an international flight in 1976, resulting in numerous fatalities. The explosions occurred shortly after takeoff from Barbados, whose government had been pressured earlier by the U.S. to cancel Cubana's landing rights. Among the many fatalities was a group of 24 athletes, mostly teenagers, from one of Cuba's sports teams. The Cuban government decried the explosions as sabotage, perpetrated by CIA-trained individuals who sought to damage the airline and terrorize passengers who would fly with Cubana. As a result, Cubana was forced to screen all passengers and luggage carefully before boarding, requiring lengthy advance check-in times and individual security checks as routine precautions in all flights. The leases for the DC-8s were terminated in the late 1970s, as a result of the losses. Except for the Britannias, the DC-8s were the only Western-built aircraft Cubana operated during the 1970s. In 1978 the Carter administration, despite the continuing U.S. embargo, decided to open a U.S. interests section in Havana, to aid family reunions and visits of U.S. residents to families in Cuba. The U.S. had unilaterally broken diplomatic relations with Cuba in January 1961, and there had been no direct U.S. diplomatic representation whatsoever in Havana since that time (Cuba had not been allowed to have any diplomatic representation in U.S. territory since then, except for its U.N. mission). Although not an embassy in the formal sense, this diplomatic initiative nonetheless allowed Cubana to operate regular charter flights between Havana and Miami. No regular flights between Cuba and the U.S. had been allowed by the U.S. government since the 1960s, and U.S. airlines had since been banned from serving Cuba by the embargo. Cubana's charter flights to Miami were abruptly cancelled, however, by the Reagan administration shortly after it took office in 1981. Despite the Carter administration's initiative, provocations and sabotage against Cubana's operations continued all along, with actual and attempted bombings of Cubana's offices in Canada, Latin America and Europe (Cubana was not allowed to open any offices in the U.S. for the charter flights). Armed groups in the U.S., trained in sabotage and explosives, often issued public threats against Cubana. U.S. travel agencies that arranged Cubana's charter flights were also targeted with bombings, arson and other sabotage. Such acts followed a pattern that started in 1960 and that targeted Cubana's offices in numerous nations, seeking to terrorize the airline's staff and passengers, and to obstruct its operations. The groups that claimed responsibility for those acts were led by individuals who had been CIA-trained or previously had ties to that intelligence agency.By the late 1970s and early 1980s, Cubana flew scheduled services to Eastern and Western Europe (Prague, East Berlin, Moscow, Madrid, Paris, Lisbon), Sub-Saharan Africa (Luanda, Guinea-Bissau, Cabo Verde), Asia (Baghdad), North Africa (Tripoli), Canada (Montreal, Toronto, Gander), and to various Latin American and Caribbean destinations (Mexico City, Panama, Managua, Lima, Kingston, Barbados, Port of Spain, Georgetown). A route to Vietnam was under consideration at that time but was never started. The Baghdad route, in particular, made Cubana the first Latin American airline to serve Asia (this route was discontinued in the early 1980s). During the 1970s and 1980s, Cubana served as general representative in Cuba for various Western airlines, such as Swissair, Sabena, Lufthansa and TAP. Mostly, these were airlines that did not serve Cuba but needed representation due to increasing travel of citizens from their home countries to Cuba. In addition, Cubana represented several African carriers in Cuba, such as TAAG, LAM, TACV (Cabo Verde) and LIA (Guinea-Bissau). Cubana also continued to represent Aeroflot Soviet Airlines, CSA Czechoslovak Airlines, Interflug, Malev Hungarian Airlines, LOT Polish Airlines and TAROM Romanian Air Transport. In the early 1980s, Cubana ceded one of its IL-62 jets to Angola's national airline, TAAG, so that it could start its own scheduled flights on the Luanda-Havana route, in cooperation with Cubana's services on that route. This enabled TAAG to operate its first-ever transatlantic service. Some of Cubana's crews and technicians also helped TAAG sustain its services in Angola and Africa during the late 1970s and early 1980s. In most cases, Cubana's crews had to operate multiple types of aircraft to sustain flights, using both Western- and Soviet-built airplanes. This helped Angola to keep its national airline operating when civil war started, as factions supported by the apartheid South African regime, the CIA, and Zaire's Mobutu Sese Seko fought to gain control of the nation and its resources.Most of the international services noted above were sustained through the decade of the 1980s. Cubana's international flights mostly carried diplomats, government officials, sports delegations, scholarship students, cultural exchange delegations, Cuban medical personnel on aid missions, military personnel, and visitors to official events in Cuba. Most international destinations were served once or twice per week. As the Cuban government began to make tourism a priority in the mid-1980s, however, Cubana's international flights started to cater more to this growing segment of travellers to Cuba. Then, the collapse of the Soviet bloc by the end of the 1980s, and the Soviet Union's own dissolution in 1991, would have a major impact on the airline's operations. Post-Cold War era With the collapse of the Eastern bloc, Cubana faced the formidable challenges of improving passenger services, revamping its technical capabilities, and restructuring its fleet. Any one of those challenges would have been a daunting undertaking for any major Western airline. Cubana had to face all of them at the same time, with great urgency, along with the continuing U.S. embargo on Cuba (which prohibited sales of U.S.-made aircraft and components). Despite the immense difficulties it faced, Cubana managed to sustain and expand its services throughout the 1990s. Cuba's rapidly growing tourism sector also helped the airline, providing much needed traffic. Cubana had received it last three completely new IL-62Ms in late 1990 (CU-T1282) and early 1991 (CU-T1283 and 1284), from the Kazan, USSR, factory that manufactured these aircraft. Two other, also new, IL-62Ms had been delivered in 1988 and 1989. Cubana was therefore able to keep most of these aircraft in service long after the USSR's dissolution (in 1991) and the end of all IL-62M production in the mid-1990s. Its long experience with these aircraft made it possible to keep them flying, to sustain some of its long- and medium-range routes in the 1990s and beyond (Cubana's last IL-62M in regularly scheduled service was retired in 2011). The U.S. government's long-standing quest to damage Cubana continued in the 1990s, beyond the restrictions imposed by the embargo (in effect since 1962), by prohibiting all flights over U.S. territory, despite the fact that the airline was not allowed to serve the U.S. at all. The prohibition violated international commercial aviation accords. Many U.S. aircraft overflew Cuba every day, on flights between the U.S. and Latin America or the Caribbean, yet the Cuban government did not pursue any retaliation against U.S. carriers or aircraft. Cubana's affected routes were those between Cuba and Canada, which at the time carried a significant amount of tourist traffic. Cubana was therefore forced to take long and very costly detours on all flights between Canada (Montreal, Toronto) and Cuba, to avoid overflying the U.S. A complaint to the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) and an upgrade of aircraft flying the Canada routes with costly new communications equipment ended this blockage, despite the fact that most aircraft operating within the U.S. at that time were not required to have similar equipment (or had less advanced equipment than Cubana). This action by the U.S. government placed additional financial and technical strains on Cubana, at a time when the airline was in a very vulnerable situation, facing challenges that could have easily grounded any Western carrier. Efforts were made to improve operations in the mid-1990s by leasing Western-built aircraft. This helped the airline to compete for passengers in Western Europe, Latin America, and Canada. Western-built aircraft were leased for limited periods of time, to supplement Cubana's Soviet-built jets. Long-range McDonnell Douglas DC-10-30 wide-bodies were leased from the French airline Air Outre Mer (AOM) in the 1990s, and medium-range Airbus A320 aircraft from various companies, despite pressures by the U.S. government to rescind or prevent leases. The French airline AOM, in particular, was threatened by the U.S. with cancellation of landing rights, when it entered into its lease and code-sharing agreements with Cubana. An intervention by the French government was required to prevent AOM from being severely damaged by those threats and any resulting U.S. actions. These and other unilateral pressures were unprecedented in the history of commercial aviation, and they were part of the U.S. government's longstanding efforts to damage Cubana and the Cuban economy. In the mid-1990s, Cubana also acquired several Fokker F-27 turboprops from Iberia Airlines of Spain, as well as Sud Aviation ATR 42 turboprop aircraft to sustain its short-range routes. For some short-range routes in the Caribbean and within Cuba, the regional airline AeroCaribbean was enlisted to support Cubana's operations, offering connection and code-sharing services. Cubana also leased wide-body aircraft, such as Airbus A330 and Boeing 767, for limited periods of time from various European companies to support its transatlantic, North American and Latin American services, given Cuba's rapidly growing tourism sector. Cubana's most experienced crews were trained in the operation of all of these aircraft, and the airline also undertook their technical maintenance. With the introduction of the Web in the middle 1990s, Cubana faced a new and unexpected challenge from the U.S. Anonymous U.S.-based individuals and groups (often using multiple online pseudonyms, false identities, and claiming to have been Cubana passengers) started systematically and regularly flooding travel-related websites, online forums and blogs with negative comments and false statements about Cubana's services and aircraft. Travel websites, forums and blogs based in numerous nations are usually targeted, especially those served by Cubana. Also, events that typically go unnoticed when they happen in U.S. airlines are falsely exaggerated and distorted sensationally in travel-related blogs and forums, when they occur in Cubana flights. When Cubana opened its own website, it was faced with denial-of-service attacks by U.S.-based hackers that frequently closed all access to the site. These and other frequent hacking attacks prevented Cubana from setting up online payment channels for reservations and ticketing, causing additional difficulties and losses for the airline. An additional, related problem in this area was the (still in effect) U.S. embargo's total prohibition of any payments to Cubana (and Cuba-based enterprises) with U.S.-based credit or debit cards, bank transfers (electronic or otherwise), and travellers' cheques, all of which greatly complicated setting up any online payment process for the airline. These U.S.-based efforts expanded the U.S. government's longstanding record of damaging the airline by multiple means, that had started with the cancellation of landing rights in the early 1960s, followed by the imposition of the U.S. embargo on Cuba (in 1962), along with many other actions and measures over the years. In the 1990s, using Western-built aircraft and also its Soviet-built fleet, Cubana established new routes to western Europe and Latin America, to cater to Cuba's rapidly growing tourism industry. Cubana's 1990s routes included regularly scheduled services to: Europe: Geneva, London, Manchester, Rome, Milan, Copenhagen, Brussels, Frankfurt, Berlin, Barcelona, Las Palmas, Vitoria, Santiago de Compostela. South America: São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Buenos Aires, Santiago de Chile, Bogotá, Caracas, Mendoza, Córdoba, Quito, Guayaquil, Montevideo. Central America: Guatemala City, San José de Costa Rica. Caribbean: Santo Domingo, St. Maarten, Montego Bay, Fort de France, Nassau, Grand Cayman, Pointe a Pitre. North America: Mexico City, Cancún, Montreal, Toronto.In the 1990s Cubana also undertook many special flights involving humanitarian missions, despite all the operational difficulties it faced. For example, when in 1998 the hurricanes Georges and Mitch caused severe damage in Central America and the Caribbean, Cubana flew medical brigades and provisions to the affected nations. The airline also flew sports delegations from Cuba and other Caribbean nations to international competitions around the world. Cubana became the prime carrier for Cuba's medical missions, which operate in over 100 nations and are typically contracted by countries and governments with difficult health problems. Cubana's services are also important to diplomatic missions in Havana, which housed over 180 embassies and legations by the end of the 1990s (more than in any other Latin American capital). Cubana's strategic importance to Cuba's foreign relations and to its tourism industry was well understood by the Cuban government. As a result, considerable efforts were devoted to renovate the airline's fleet and its technical capabilities. Renovation After the 1990s, Cubana faced the need to replace its Soviet-built aircraft, to improve its competitiveness with other airlines serving Cuba. Its management therefore made plans to renovate the airline's fleet, and in late 2005 Cubana received its first new long-range Ilyushin IL-96-300 (CU-T1250) wide-body jet from Russia, to replace some of the leased Western-built wide-bodies and its Soviet-era aircraft. Other IL-96-300s were delivered later, making it possible for the airline to reduce its leased, long-range Western-built fleet. New medium-range Russian Tupolev TU-204-100E and 100EC jets (passenger and cargo versions) were also ordered and started to be delivered in 2007. The new IL-96 and TU-204 jets were financed with the assistance of the Russian government. Cubana refurbished some of its Ilyushin IL-62M aircraft in the early 2000s (decade), to continue using them in some of its international routes. The refurbished IL-62M aircraft were used in some of Cubana's flights within Latin America and for special flights to Africa. Restrictions imposed by the U.S. embargo on the sale of American-built aircraft and components (such as engines and avionics) also made it necessary for Cubana to keep the IL-62Ms in service, along with some Soviet-built aircraft in its domestic and short-range routes. Its newest IL-62M (CU-T1284) was received from the Ilyushin factory (in Kazan, USSR) in early 1991, shortly before the dissolution of the Soviet Union (two other new IL-62Ms were received in 1990). In all, Cubana had over four decades of experience with IL-62 and IL-62M aircraft, longer than any other airline in the world. Its IL-62s and IL-62Ms were also used for official government travel to many nations, including several round-the-world trips. Only one of Cubana's IL-62s (an IL-62M, CU-T1281) was ever lost in an accident, and this was due to a severe weather effect (wind-shear during take off, in 1989, long before this kind of weather problem attracted attention and remedial measures). All of Cubana's IL-62Ms were retired from regularly scheduled services in 2011. Cubana's long-term renovation strategy is based on the purchase of new Russian-built aircraft. An important factor seems to be the financing provided by the Russian government, which sees Latin America as a potentially promising market for some of the new-generation Russian aircraft. The efficiency and performance of the most modern Russian aircraft, such as the IL-96 and TU-204, compare favorably with aircraft built by Airbus and Boeing. Also, the performance, purchase price and maintenance requirements of new-generation Russian jet engines, such as the Pavel Soloviev/Aviadvigatel PS-90A, compare favorably with Western-built engines, such as those manufactured by Pratt and Whitney, General Electric and Rolls Royce. The much lower purchase price of Russian aircraft makes them attractive to government-owned airlines such as Cubana, and the airline's longstanding experience with Soviet and Russian-built aircraft is also a favorable factor. Cubana is, after all, the most experienced operator of Soviet- and Russian-built aircraft in the Americas. As part of its renovation strategy, Cubana sought to upgrade its technical support capabilities. The airline established a joint venture company with Iberia Airlines of Spain in 2004, to maintain and overhaul Western-built aircraft, including all Airbus and Boeing models. Technical facilities are located in Havana and other Cuban cities served by foreign carriers. The joint venture company, IBECA (incorporating Iberia's and Cubana's initials), is partly owned by Cubana. It has contracted with various airlines flying to Cuba to provide maintenance and technical support. Expertise gained through this venture are likely to help Cubana's technical capabilities with its new Russian aircraft, since they share many features with Western-built airplanes. In 2004, Cuba and China signed an aviation accord, thus opening the possibility for Cubana to eventually operate direct flights between Havana and Beijing or Shanghai. Those flights, when started, would most likely make an intermediate stop (possibly in Canada). The General Administration of Civil Aviation of China held talks with Cuban officials before the signing of the accord, and expressed the possibility that a Chinese carrier, such as Air China or China Eastern would start services to Cuba, in coordination with Cubana. Cuba has had long-standing cultural, commercial and diplomatic ties with China, that started in the mid-19th century with significant Chinese emigration to Cuba. The possibility of opening a route to China seems feasible for Cubana, given its experience with long-range flights and routes, the substantial commercial ties between Cuba and China, the long-standing cultural heritage of Chinese emigration to Cuba, and growing Chinese interest in the Caribbean and Latin America. During the August 2007 MAKS Airshow Cubana signed a $150 million contract for the purchase and confirmation of additional Tupolev TU-204s and new Antonov AN-148 aircraft. Th Antonov-148 purchase, in particular, will make Cubana one of this aircraft's launch customers. These new-generation Russian aircraft will allow Cubana to expand its services throughout the Caribbean and Latin America, and to upgrade its domestic routes. As Russian-built aircraft attract increasing interest from Latin America, Cubana stands to become an important source of technical support and demonstration for airlines that may lease or purchase them. Cubana's renovation efforts are also related to the airline's strategic importance for the Cuban government and its foreign relations. Cubana's aircraft are typically used by high-level Cuban government officials on trips abroad. Also, Cubana's pilots and technicians have typically served in the Cuban air force, and are experienced in the operation and maintenance of multiple types of aircraft. Most of Cubana's flight attendants have medical training or experience, making it possible to deal with health emergencies on board. In this respect, the airline benefits from Cuba's very large per capita number of medical doctors and health personnel (one of the highest in the world), and is able to market its services in the growing area of medical tourism. The large and increasing number of tourists who visit Cuba for medical treatment makes this a promising market for Cubana in the future. Cuba's growing tourism sector, the large number of tourist sites and their diverse attractions, also make it a very promising market for Cubana. Cuba's well-developed airport infrastructure, with 10 international airports capable of serving wide-body aircraft and long-range flights, makes it possible for Cubana to expand its international services to new destinations and markets. A major question for Cubana's future is the continuation of the U.S. embargo on Cuba. The embargo, imposed in February 1962 (a partial one started in October 1960), is the longest-running one in history and has been consistently and continuously condemned (annually) by the United Nations for several decades. Cuba now receives millions of visitors every year and stands to become one of the most important tourist destinations in Latin America, despite the embargo's efforts to isolate it, and to damage Cubana and all other Cuba-based airlines. The embargo and other U.S. actions have done considerable damage to Cubana over the years, involving direct or indirect destruction of aircraft by U.S. aerial bombing raids, acts of sabotage, hijackings, bombings, arson, cancellations of landing rights, obstruction of services, freezing of financial assets, deaths of staff and passengers, and numerous other acts (by the U.S. government or by U.S.-based parties, or both). Most such acts have violated international laws and international commercial aviation agreements, as well as national sovereignty rights, and some can easily be classified as undeclared acts of war or of terrorism. Cubana clearly stands to seek much compensation from the U.S. when the embargo ends. The amounts to be sought, compounded over time, are likely to be quite substantial. See also List of Cuba-US aircraft hijackings Footnotes Notes References Bibliography Aeroguía Cubana magazine, volume 1, issues 1–9 (March–November 1954). AeroTransport Data Bank, Cubana fleet data, website www.aerotransport.org. Aerovías Q timetable, undated, c. 1958. Biographical notes on aviators: Agustín Parlá, website www.earlyaviators.com/eparla.htm; Domingo Rosillo, website www.rcooper.0catch.com/erosillo.htm. Britannia Aircraft Preservation Trust, website www.britannia.flyer.co.uk. Ceskoslovenske Aerolinie (CSA) timetable, April 1962. Cuba Aéreo, Breve Historia de la Aviación Cubana, https://web.archive.org/web/20071013181532/http://www.cubaaereo.com/pilot.asp?pg=historia. Cuban Tourist Commission, Cuba magazine, 1959. Cubana Airlines: Pioneer in World Aviation brochure, undated (c. 1958). Cubana Courier newspaper, volume 1, various issues, 1957. Cubana de Aviación timetables, November 1, 1945; January 1, 1946; March 1948; April 1948; May 1948; May 1953; May 1, 1955; September 16, 1955; December 1, 1955; September 1, 1957; June 1958; Summer 1961; December 1, 1965; June 1968; April 1, 1986; May 1, 1990; Summer 2006. García Dulzaides, Aurelio, Álbum Azul de Cuba, Rex Press, Miami, 1965. García Márquez, Gabriel, Operación Carlota, Mosca Azul, Lima, 1977. Gómez Fariñas, George, "Una tragedia cubana, 40 años después", El Nuevo Herald, December 15, 1992, p. 1C. Martí, Julio, "75 primaveras en alturas", Sol y Son magazine, November 15, 2004, website www.solysonmagazine.com. Martínez Menocal, Luis, Historias de la Aviación Cubana, Editora Política, Havana, 2009. Pan American Union, Cuba, Washington, D.C., 1943. Reed, Ted and Mimi Whitefield, "Cuba improves fleet with Western planes", Miami Herald, February 6, 1994, p. 22A. Revolución newspaper, volumes 1, 2 and 3, various issues, 1959, 1960, 1961. Rodríguez, Jorge L. and Diana Rodríguez, En Alas Cubanas, book (416 pages) available through website www.cubaaereo.com. Time magazine, "Flight 482 Is Missing", November 17, 1958. Time magazine, "Red All The Way", October 10, 1960. Vickers Viscount Network, website www.vickersviscount.net.

Steven Allan Boggs

Steven Allan Boggs (March 15, 1946 – June 2, 2018) was an American physicist in the field of dielectrics and electrical insulation. He was a researcher in industry before becoming a tenured research professor at University of Connecticut from 1993 to 2013.

Steven Allan Boggs (March 15, 1946 – June 2, 2018) was an American physicist in the field of dielectrics and electrical insulation. He was a researcher in industry before becoming a tenured research professor at University of Connecticut from 1993 to 2013. Early life and education Boggs was born on March 15, 1946, in Miami and raised around Portland, Oregon. His father was a professor of English. Boggs attended Lake Oswego High School and completed a B.A. in physics from Reed College in 1968. He completed an undergraduate thesis titled The Covariant Presentation of a Postulatory Approach to Electromagnetism with advisor Dennis G. Hoffman. Boggs earned a Ph.D. in physics in 1972 at University of Toronto. His doctoral advisor was Harry L. Welsh. He was a postdoctoral fellow at the Canada Centre for Remote Sensing. Career Boggs was a researcher in the field of dielectrics and electrical insulation. He worked at Ontario Hydro from 1975 to 1987. He worked on the nature and measurement of partial discharge "in the ultra-high frequency range in gas-insulated substation and rotating machines. He also researched electric and water trees and developed methods to measure thermal impedance in "transmission-class power cables." He worked on a team with Frank Chu, Nobby Fujimoto, and Sil Rizzetto. His boss was Gary Ford. He completed a M.B.A. at University of Toronto in 1987. In February 1987, Boggs became the director of engineering and research at Underground Systems Incorporated (USi). He served as the vice president of the USi subsidiary, Chicago Condenser Corporation.In 1993, Boggs became a tenured research professor at University of Connecticut (UConn). He served as the director of the Electrical Insulation Research Center at the Institute of Materials Science and held a joint appointment with the graduate programs in electrical engineering, physics, and materials science. He supervised over 20 students, with half of them being female. Boggs was a proponent of gender equality in STEM. He retired from UConn in September 2013. After retirement, he worked for his consulting company, NonLinear Systems Inc. Personal life Boggs was married to fellow Reed College alumna Joan Raymond; they later divorced. He died on June 2, 2018, in Columbia, Maryland due to inoperable brain cancer. Awards and honors Boggs was a fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers and the recipient of the 2019 IEEE Herman Halperin Electric Transmission and Distribution Award. References External links Steven Allan Boggs publications indexed by Google Scholar

Deen K. Chatterjee

Deen Chatterjee is an American philosopher and a faculty affiliate at Oxford Consortium for Human Rights at the Institute for Ethics, Law, and Armed Conflict at Oxford University. Previously he was a Senior Fellow in the S.J. Quinney College of Law at the University of Utah. Chatterjee is known for his works on ethics.

Deen Chatterjee is an American philosopher and a faculty affiliate at Oxford Consortium for Human Rights at the Institute for Ethics, Law, and Armed Conflict at Oxford University. Previously he was a Senior Fellow in the S.J. Quinney College of Law at the University of Utah. Chatterjee is known for his works on ethics. Books The Ethics of Preventive War (Cambridge University Press, 2013) Democracy in a Global World: Human Rights and Political Participation in the 21st Century (Rowman and Littlefield, 2008) The Ethics of Assistance: Morality and the Distant Needy (Cambridge University Press, 2004) Ethics and Foreign Intervention, with Don E. Scheid (Cambridge University Press, 2003) References External links Personal website

Unity of knowledge and action

The unity of knowledge and action (Chinese: 知行合一) is a concept in philosophy created by Wang Yangming. It means that knowledge and action should go together and help each other. This idea says that only by behaving well can someone become wise. It is similar to the Western idea called virtue epistemology.

The unity of knowledge and action (Chinese: 知行合一) is a concept in philosophy created by Wang Yangming. It means that knowledge and action should go together and help each other. This idea says that only by behaving well can someone become wise. It is similar to the Western idea called virtue epistemology. Overview In Chinese philosophy, knowledge and action were traditionally seen as related but distinct. Wang argued there was no difference between them. He thought that knowledge was knowing how to act in a situation, based on his ideas about people and their innate knowledge. He also believed that the world was always changing, rather than staying the same, which is similar to the Western idea of process philosophy. History Wang Yangming developed the concept during the Ming dynasty. in response to a disagreement with the teachings of Zhu Xi. Wang Yangming disagreed with the teachings of Zhu Xi. Zhu Xi encouraged students to study in two parts, one theoretical and one practical. Wang believed this approach made people ineffective. Application Western philosophers talk about akrasia, which is when someone does something they know is wrong on purpose. But Wang disagrees. He says that just saying you know something is wrong isn't enough. You have to actually act on what you know for it to count. For example, if a student cheats on a test but says cheating is wrong, Wang would say they don't really understand what they're saying. Similar ideas The idea of combining knowledge and action is not exclusive to Chinese philosophy. Similar ideas can be found in Western literature. Hermann Hesse in his novel Demian writes that only the thoughts we put into action have real value. The motto of MIT, "Mens et Manus" or "Mind and Hand," also emphasizes the importance of combining inner knowledge with actions.The idea of virtue Epistemology in contemporary Western philosophy also shares similarities with Wang Yangming's concept of the Unity of Knowledge and Action. Both emphasize the importance of practical wisdom and the integration of knowledge and action. See also Unity of Heaven and humanity Unity of religion and rule Virtue epistemology == References ==

St. Stanislaus Institute

St. Stanislaus Institute, also known as St. Stanislaus Orphanage and Holy Child Church, is a historic former Roman Catholic orphanage complex located at 141 Old Newport Street in Newport Township, Luzerne County, Pennsylvania within the Diocese of Scranton.

St. Stanislaus Institute, also known as St. Stanislaus Orphanage and Holy Child Church, is a historic former Roman Catholic orphanage complex located at 141 Old Newport Street in Newport Township, Luzerne County, Pennsylvania within the Diocese of Scranton. Description The complex consists of three interconnected and three independent buildings built between 1918 and 1939, built originally for use as an orphanage for Polish children. They are the Spanish Revival style boys dormitory (1918), Holy Child chapel (1939), laundry / boiler building, and rectory and garage. The facility closed in 1972.It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2008. == References ==

Jordan Historical Museum of the Twenty

The Lincoln Museum and Cultural Centre: Home of the Jordan Historical Museum is a community history museum established in 1953 that tells the story of the five towns and villages located within the boundaries of the Lincoln, Ontario. The museum began as a joint project between Jordan Wines and the people of the area, many of whom were descendants of Pennsylvania German Mennonite Pennsylvania Dutch and Loyalist settlers United Empire Loyalists. The museum consists of an acre of land that overlooks the Twenty Mile Creek, with three buildings: the 1815 Pennsylvania German Mennonite log farmhouse, an 1859 stone school house, and a main administration building that features an exhibit gallery with a special collection of fraktur folk art Fraktur. The log farmhouse is located on the site of a former church, demolished in 1899, and is surrounded by is also a grave site featuring names of Loyalist and Mennonite families.

The Lincoln Museum and Cultural Centre: Home of the Jordan Historical Museum is a community history museum established in 1953 that tells the story of the five towns and villages located within the boundaries of the Lincoln, Ontario. The museum began as a joint project between Jordan Wines and the people of the area, many of whom were descendants of Pennsylvania German Mennonite Pennsylvania Dutch and Loyalist settlers United Empire Loyalists. The museum consists of an acre of land that overlooks the Twenty Mile Creek, with three buildings: the 1815 Pennsylvania German Mennonite log farmhouse, an 1859 stone school house, and a main administration building that features an exhibit gallery with a special collection of fraktur folk art Fraktur. The log farmhouse is located on the site of a former church, demolished in 1899, and is surrounded by is also a grave site featuring names of Loyalist and Mennonite families. The School House In 1858, a little to the west of where the current school house sits, a red brick school house suffered the devastating effects of a fire, and was burned to the ground. The following year, the school trustees oversaw the building of a new structure, made from local limestone. It was larger, and brighter, quite up-to-the-minute for its time with huge windows, carefully chosen colour scheme designed specifically to encourage attention and obedience. It also sported a sloped floor, angled up and away from the teacher's raised platform so that students at the back could see clearly over the heads of the children in front of them. It became, as most schools did, a center of the community, used for the local Ladies Intellectual Club meetings, adult German language classes, and of course, the inevitable and much anticipated annual Christmas pageant. It also had a bit of a reputation as having "difficult" students. Most of the children came from farms, and the boys especially were not the most attentive students, as they often had more immediate, pressing duties at home. Many a child would come to school already exhausted from being up early attending to chores, and often, classes would be vastly reduced as the spring and fall arrived. Children from this school developed a reputation for being somewhat hard on the teachers, who were often young, female, and fresh out of teacher's college. It was uncommon for any teacher stayed longer than one term. The school was in use for 89 years, until a bigger, much more modern one was built nearby. The stone school house was abandoned, stripped of its interior, and left alone. In 1952, Jordan Wines purchased it and gave it back to the community. It was filled with agricultural tools and artisan's equipment, and turned into a museum, which opened in 1953. In 1997, the school house was painstakingly restored to look as it would have in 1908. Desks were found, the ceiling was replaced, as was the dividing wall and the girls and boys separate entrances, and all the details of a one-room school of that period were carefully installed. A school field trip program was set up whereby children would come for the day, and roleplay a child who was actually a student there in 1908. It has proven to be very successful. During the summer months, the schoolhouse is open to the public. The Fry House When Jacob Fry and his family left Pennsylvania in 1800, he was one of more than 30 families seeking religious freedom and the good farming said to be had in Upper Canada. Of German Mennonite background, the families were hardworking, faithful, and very community oriented. Jacob settled first near Grimsby, but soon was convinced by his wife to move to Vineland in 1815, to be close to the other families who had settled there. The house he built, with its central chimney plan and double attic, was based on medieval German architecture, and was a statement of the strong traditions of his community. The Fry family lived in it until 1895, when, typical of the conservative lifestyle of these people, a brick home was built less than 200 yards away. The little log house was left as a playhouse for the children, and even served time as a chicken house. In the late 1950s, a group of volunteers rescued the house, and moved it down to its current site on the museum grounds. It was restored, and turned into a showcase for the artifacts and lifestyle of the Fry family, including the weaver Samuel Fry, the only one of Jacob's sons who ended up living in the house. Samuel went to Pennsylvania around 1830 to learn the weaving trade in more detail, and on his return, he actually married Anna, the daughter of his father's second wife! Samuel was a well-known local weaver, producing beautiful coverlets and other items. He also has the distinction of being the best-documented early weaver known, with his original pattern and account books, as well as his wedding suit, still in existence. The house became renowned for having the most complete set of original furnishings in a pioneer-craftsman's home. Of particular interest are the beautiful schranks (clothespresses or wardrobes) made by Jacob Fry. The pieces produced by Jacob Fry, along with those of some other local cabinetmakers of Pennsylvania German Mennonite origin, launched the interest in antiques in Niagara. The house has undergone a complete restoration, and now offers summer visitors the opportunity to experience a tour with costumed interpreters, including a peek upstairs at some of the beds originally used by the Fry family. The beds are made up in the traditional Pennsylvania German manner. Harvest Pioneer Day The first Pioneer Day was held as a Canadian Centennial Year (1967) event, as a festival designed to highlight and showcase the traditions of the area's past through demonstrations of the crafts, skills, and activities of local settlers. The festival has been held every year since, and is held on the Saturday before Canadian Thanksgiving. Jordan Village Haunted Tour The first Jordan Village Haunted Tour took place in 2008. Every year, for two nights only, guests are taken on a walking tour of the most haunted building in Jordan Village and the Jordan Historical Museum, while knowledgeable guides share historical and paranormal tales. The tour takes place every October, the weekend before Halloween. Christmas in the School House Christmas in the School House began in 2013. Throughout the day, families can participate in activities such as ornament painting, making elf hats, wagon rides, face painting and much more. References External links Official website

George Nicholson (politician)

George Brecken Nicholson (17 March 1868 – 1 January 1935) was a Canadian businessman and politician. Nicholson served as a Conservative and Unionist member of the House of Commons of Canada. He was born in Crapaud, Prince Edward Island and became a lumber merchant. Nicholson attended public and grammar schools at Prince Edward Island and Nova Scotia. In 1884, he joined the Canadian Pacific Railway for construction work, remaining in that job until 1901.

George Brecken Nicholson (17 March 1868 – 1 January 1935) was a Canadian businessman and politician. Nicholson served as a Conservative and Unionist member of the House of Commons of Canada. He was born in Crapaud, Prince Edward Island and became a lumber merchant. Nicholson attended public and grammar schools at Prince Edward Island and Nova Scotia. In 1884, he joined the Canadian Pacific Railway for construction work, remaining in that job until 1901. Nicholson was established in northern Ontario by the end of the 19th century. In business, he was part of the lumber firm Austin and Nicholson and became president and secretary-treasurer of the McNaught Lumber company. Nicholson was also a director of the Excelsior Life Insurance company.He was first elected to Parliament as a supporter of Sir Robert Borden's wartime Union Government in Algoma East riding during the 1917 general election. After serving one term, he was a Conservative candidate in the 1921 election but was defeated by John Carruthers of the Liberals. Nicholson returned to the House of Commons when he defeated Carruthers in the 1925 election. After another term in Parliament, Nicholson again lost his Algoma East seat to Beniah Bowman of the United Farmers of Ontario in the 1926 election. Nicholson won the seat back again in the 1930 federal election by defeating Bowman who by that time became a Liberal candidate. Nicholson was at his old Chapleau residence when he sustained a stroke. He was admitted to Toronto General Hospital where he died the following day, on 1 January 1935, before the end of his term in the 17th Canadian Parliament. References External links George Nicholson – Parliament of Canada biography

Solvang Church

Solvang Church (Solvang Kirke) is a church in the Amager district of Copenhagen, Denmark. It was built between 1975 and 1976 on designs of architect Holger Jensen. It consists of a complex of box-shaped buildings, which also includes a parish hall and a confirmation halls. The church was renovated externally between 1998 and 1999, and inside between 2003 and 2005. == References ==

Solvang Church (Solvang Kirke) is a church in the Amager district of Copenhagen, Denmark. It was built between 1975 and 1976 on designs of architect Holger Jensen. It consists of a complex of box-shaped buildings, which also includes a parish hall and a confirmation halls. The church was renovated externally between 1998 and 1999, and inside between 2003 and 2005. == References ==

Johannes Friedrich (linguist)

Johannes Friedrich (27 August 1893, in Leipzig-Schönefeld – 12 August 1972, in Berlin) was a German hittitologist who published the Hethitisches Elementarbuch (1940), and the Kurzgefasstes Hethitisches Wörterbuch (1966). A translation of his book "Entzifferung Verschollener Schriften und Sprachen" ( "Extinct Languages" ) was published by Philosophical Library New York 1957: a study of Ancient Orient languages, including Egyptian hieroglyphics, cuneiform writing, Hittite hieroglyphics and other scripts and languages of the Old world. In 1933 Friedrich signed the Vow of allegiance of the Professors of the German Universities and High-Schools to Adolf Hitler and the National Socialistic State. "Extinct Languages" translated from the original German "Entzifferung Verschollener Schriften und Sprachen" by Frank Gaynor

Johannes Friedrich (27 August 1893, in Leipzig-Schönefeld – 12 August 1972, in Berlin) was a German hittitologist who published the Hethitisches Elementarbuch (1940), and the Kurzgefasstes Hethitisches Wörterbuch (1966). A translation of his book "Entzifferung Verschollener Schriften und Sprachen" ( "Extinct Languages" ) was published by Philosophical Library New York 1957: a study of Ancient Orient languages, including Egyptian hieroglyphics, cuneiform writing, Hittite hieroglyphics and other scripts and languages of the Old world. In 1933 Friedrich signed the Vow of allegiance of the Professors of the German Universities and High-Schools to Adolf Hitler and the National Socialistic State. "Extinct Languages" translated from the original German "Entzifferung Verschollener Schriften und Sprachen" by Frank Gaynor

Duchal House

Duchal House is an 18th-century mansion and estate near Kilmacolm, Scotland. It is located in Inverclyde, in the former county of Renfrewshire. Duchal was acquired by the Porterfield family in the 16th century. The present house was built in 1710 and extended in 1768. It was owned by Lord Maclay until 2018.

Duchal House is an 18th-century mansion and estate near Kilmacolm, Scotland. It is located in Inverclyde, in the former county of Renfrewshire. Duchal was acquired by the Porterfield family in the 16th century. The present house was built in 1710 and extended in 1768. It was owned by Lord Maclay until 2018. The house is protected as a category A listed building, and the grounds are included in the Inventory of Gardens and Designed Landscapes in Scotland, the national listing of significant gardens. History The lands of Duchal were held by the Lyle family from the 13th century, based at Duchal Castle, now a ruin. In 1544 Duchal was acquired by John Porterfield, and in 1710 his descendant Alexander Porterfield constructed a new house. This building now forms the south range of the present house. Formal gardens had been laid out by around 1750. The house was extended eastward by Boyd Porterfield in 1768.In 1854 the estate was acquired by the Shaw-Stewarts of Ardgowan for use as a shooting lodge. Duchal was sold in 1910, and in 1915 was purchased by the shipowner Joseph Paton Maclay, 1st Baron Maclay, whose family occupied the house until 2018. See also List of Category A listed buildings in Inverclyde List of listed buildings in Kilmacolm, Inverclyde References External links Historic Environment Scotland. "Duchal House (42247)". Canmore. Video of Duchal Castle

Jill Hoare

Jill, Lady Hoare (born 15 October 1933) is a British computer scientist and one of the primary developers on the initial compiler for the ALGOL 60 language, developed for Elliott Brothers in 1963.

Jill, Lady Hoare (born 15 October 1933) is a British computer scientist and one of the primary developers on the initial compiler for the ALGOL 60 language, developed for Elliott Brothers in 1963. Early life and family Hoare was born Jill Pym on 15 October 1933. She is the daughter of Lieutenant Colonel John Pym and Diana Gough. She married Sir Charles Antony Richard Hoare on 13 January 1962. The couple had three children. Career Pym was one of the primary developers on the initial compiler for the ALGOL 60 language, developed for Elliott Brothers in 1963. She worked at Stanford University in 1973. After working on ALGOL, Hoare worked on hospital computer systems for the British National Health Service (NHS) Oxfordshire.She was interviewed on her career and experiences of coding and programming, work at Stanford University in 1973 and working on hospital systems for NHS Oxfordshire by the Oxford Women in Computing Oral History programme in 2020. == References ==

James Clarke (antiquary)

James Clarke (bapt. 27 May 1798 – 23 September 1861) was an English antiquary, archaeologist, shopkeeper, and amateur poet. He published numerous minor articles on the antiquities of his home county, Suffolk, and a volume of doggerel verse.

James Clarke (bapt. 27 May 1798 – 23 September 1861) was an English antiquary, archaeologist, shopkeeper, and amateur poet. He published numerous minor articles on the antiquities of his home county, Suffolk, and a volume of doggerel verse. Biography James Clarke was born to William Clarke and his wife, Mary Cook, in Bedingfield, Suffolk. Here, he was baptised on 27 May 1798. His first occupation was as a grocer and draper in Suffolk, his shop established opposite the gates of Easton Park, the residence of the dukes of Hamilton, and near Wickham Market. On 12 April 1821, he married Jane Louisa Clamp, née Clonmel. Together, they had four children - three sons and a daughter - between 1826 and 1844.Clarke was a keen antiquary, particularly for those antiquities of his local area. In 1847, he became an associate of the British Archaeological Association (BAA), which, the BAA stated in their obituary of Clarke, "proved a great source of improvement and enjoyment" for him. Clarke made many communications to the association's journal, predominately concerning his own finds, which the BAA referred to as "numerous, if [...] not of any great importance". The BAA lists 29 communications between 1849 and 1861, among them are reports of: a 12/13th-century brass plate, coins from English kings ranging from Edward III to Elizabeth I (including Roman coins and those of Alexander III of Scotland), a Roman burial vault at Rosas Pit, various seals and rings, architectural remains, and - in his last communication - a denarius of Otto IV, Holy Roman Emperor. Clarke's closest partner in his antiquarian studies was Edward Dunthorne (1792–1853), a fellow grocer in nearby Dennington and antiquary.Clarke was also an amateur poet, publishing an antiquarian-inspired collection of 115 four-line stanzas, in his The Suffolk antiquary; containing a brief sketch of the sites of ancient castles, abbeys, priories … also notices of ancient coins and other antiquities found in the county … concluding with a petition for calling in all defaced coins, and other changes to quiet the public mind (1849). This collection of self-declared "doggerel rhyme" includes tangential fragments of antiquarian and topographical information on Suffolk, and tributes to fellow antiquaries of the county, including David Elisha Davy and W. S. Fitch.Clarke health "had been failing for some time", according to the BAA, before he died on 23 September 1862 at Easton, at the age of 63, having published his last communication to the BAA a year earlier. His wife survived him and he was buried at Church of All Saints, Easton, where his gravestone was engraved with a final stanza of his "doggerel rhyme". His will was probated at £1500. == References ==

Canada (AG) v Mossop

Canada (AG) v Mossop, [1993] 1 SCR 554 was the first decision of the Supreme Court of Canada to consider equality rights for gays. The case is also significant as one of Justice L'Heureux-Dube's most famous dissents where she proposes an evolving model of the "family".

Canada (AG) v Mossop, [1993] 1 SCR 554 was the first decision of the Supreme Court of Canada to consider equality rights for gays. The case is also significant as one of Justice L'Heureux-Dube's most famous dissents where she proposes an evolving model of the "family". Background In 1985, Brian Mossop, a gay man from Toronto, sought bereavement leave from his employer, the Canadian federal government's Translation Bureau, to attend the funeral of his same-sex partner's father. His partner is journalist and activist Ken Popert. His employer denied him leave under the collective agreement on the grounds that Popert was not "immediate family". Mossop took his employer before the Canadian Human Rights Commission. Sexual orientation was not a prohibited ground of discrimination at that time, so he argued that he had been discriminated against on the basis of his "family status", under section 3 of the Canadian Human Rights Act. The Canadian Human Rights Tribunal found in his favour, but the government appealed to the Federal Court of Appeal and the favourable finding was overturned. Mossop appealed to the Supreme Court, but it upheld the finding of the Federal Court. Reasons of the court The majority held that absent a Charter challenge of the constitutional validity of the Canadian Human Rights Act, there was no grounds for a claim. The only issues raised in the appeal was a question of law on whether the Federal Court of Appeal had jurisdiction to overturn the Tribunal under s. 28 of the Federal Court Act and of statutory interpretation of the Canadian Human Rights Act. It was held that the Federal Court of Appeal did have the necessary jurisdiction to review the Tribunal's decision, as there was no privative clause governing the Tribunal. Since the question posed to the Tribunal was one of statutory interpretation, a question of law, judicial deference was not warranted. On the question of whether there was discrimination on the basis of "family status", the court found that there was no grounds for Mossop's claim because Parliament intentionally excluded sexual orientation from the list of prohibited grounds of discrimination. Since the intent was clear, both the Federal Court and Tribunal were bound to apply the law. Dissent In dissent, Madam Justice L'Heureux-Dube found that there was basis to read sexual orientation into the term "family status" within the Canadian Human Rights Act. She argued that the meaning of family should be read purposively and that given the growing number of non-traditional families there is a need to reconsider its meaning in light of these changes. She was joined on this point by McLachlin J. and Cory J., who both agreed that the relationship of Mossop and his partner fell within the scope of the term "family status". Aftermath Despite the dismissal of his appeal Mossop declared the decision a success as it opened up a national debate on gay rights. A subsequent Supreme Court case to consider discrimination against gay persons, Egan v. Canada, would find that sexual orientation is a prohibited grounds of discrimination under Section 15 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. See also List of Supreme Court of Canada cases (Lamer Court) References External links Full text of Supreme Court of Canada decision at LexUM and CanLII

Per Il Volo

Per Il Volo (English: For The Flight) is an Italian aircraft manufacturer based in Galliera Veneta. The company specializes in the design and manufacture of paramotors and aircraft engines.The company designed and built the first purpose-designed paramotor engine, the Top 80 and also the aircraft to fit it, the Miniplane, both of which remain in production in the 21st century.

Per Il Volo (English: For The Flight) is an Italian aircraft manufacturer based in Galliera Veneta. The company specializes in the design and manufacture of paramotors and aircraft engines.The company designed and built the first purpose-designed paramotor engine, the Top 80 and also the aircraft to fit it, the Miniplane, both of which remain in production in the 21st century. Aircraft See also List of Italian companies References External links Official website

Macau Fisherman's Wharf

The Macau Fisherman's Wharf (Chinese: 澳門漁人碼頭; Portuguese: Doca dos Pescadores) is a themed entertainment, retail and hotel complex and former amusement park in Sé, Macau, China.

The Macau Fisherman's Wharf (Chinese: 澳門漁人碼頭; Portuguese: Doca dos Pescadores) is a themed entertainment, retail and hotel complex and former amusement park in Sé, Macau, China. History The construction of the theme park took 5 years, before an opening ceremony by the Chief Executive of Macau and trial operation began on December 31, 2005. After one year of trial operation, the wharf was officially opened on December 31, 2006. Architecture The complex includes over 70 stores and restaurants in buildings built in the style of different world seaports such as Cape Town, and Amsterdam, a convention and exhibition centre, a marina, two hotels and a casino spanning over 133,000 square metres (1,430,000 sq ft) of area. The theme park gets 40% of its area from reclamation from the sea. Visitor attractions Today operating only as a commercial district, the park was formerly home to several amusement rides including the country's first rollercoaster, located inside the artificial volcano on which a replica of the Potala Palace sits. The coaster, which travelled through several themed diaromas intended to give the illusion of flying around the world, was closed at some point after 2007 due to an unspecified accident. Other amusements included a magic carpet ride, bumper cars, a flying carousel, a paintball arena and a children's miniature train ride. A replica of the Colosseum serves as a venue for concerts and other performances, and other facilities on the site include the Victorian-themed Rocks Hotel, the Czech Baroque-themed Harborview Hotel, a large convention and exhibition center, the Legend Boulevard shopping and dining street, and the Babylon Casino. See also List of Macao-related topics Fisherman's Wharves in other places == References ==

Litae

In Greek mythology, Litae (; Ancient Greek: Λιταί means 'prayers') were personifications of prayers offered up in repentance and were ministers of the god Zeus. They were described as hobbling, old women. Their opposite number was Ate, the spirit of delusion and folly, in whose wake they followed.

In Greek mythology, Litae (; Ancient Greek: Λιταί means 'prayers') were personifications of prayers offered up in repentance and were ministers of the god Zeus. They were described as hobbling, old women. Their opposite number was Ate, the spirit of delusion and folly, in whose wake they followed. Family Homer describes them as kourai "maidens" of Zeus rather than thugateres "daughters", so it is not clear if they were his literal daughters. This is supported by Quintus Smyrnaeus, who attests that they were the children of the king of the gods:(Paris addresses his former wife Oinone): ‘Remember not those pangs of jealousy, nor leave me by a cruel doom to die low fallen at thy feet! This should offend the Litai (Prayers), the daughters of the Thunderer Zeus, whose anger followeth unrelenting pride with vengeance, and the Erinnys (Fury) executes their wrath.’ Mythology They appear in Homer's Iliad in Book 9 as the lame and wrinkled daughters of Zeus who follow after Zeus' exiled daughter Atë ("Folly") as healers but who cannot keep up with the fast-running Atë. They bring great advantage to those who venerate them, but if someone dishonors them, they go to Zeus and ask that Atë be sent against that person.‘The very immortals can be moved; their virtue and honour and strength are greater than ours are, and yet with sacrifices and offerings for endearment, with libations and with savour men turn back even the immortals in supplication, when any man does wrong and transgresses. For there are also Litai (Spirits of Prayer), the daughters (kourai) of great Zeus, and they are lame of their feet, and wrinkled, and cast their eyes sidelong, who toil on their way left far behind by the spirit of Ruin (Ate): but she, Ate (Ruin), is strong and sound on her feet, and therefore far outruns all Litai (Prayers), and wins into every country to force men astray; and the Litai (Prayers) follow as healers after her. If a man venerates these daughters of Zeus as they draw near, such a man they bring great advantage, and hear his entreaty; but if a man shall deny them, and stubbornly with a harsh word refuse, they go to Zeus, son of Kronos, in supplication that Ate (Ruin) may over take this man, that he be hurt, and punished. So Akhilleus: grant, you also, that Zeus' daughters be given their honour, which, lordly though they be, curbs the will of others.This is an obvious allegory on the supposed power of prayer to mitigate the misfortunes into which one's folly has led one. Notes References Homer, The Iliad with an English Translation by A.T. Murray, Ph.D. in two volumes. Cambridge, MA., Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann, Ltd. 1924. ISBN 978-0674995796. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library. Quintus Smyrnaeus, Quintus Smyrnaeus: The Fall of Troy, translated by A. S. Way, Cambridge, Massachusetts, Harvard University Press, 1913. Internet Archive.

The Young Messiah

The Young Messiah is a 2016 biblical drama film directed by Cyrus Nowrasteh and co-written by Betsy and Cyrus Nowrasteh, based on the novel Christ the Lord: Out of Egypt by Anne Rice. The film stars Adam Greaves-Neal, Sean Bean, David Bradley, Lee Boardman, Jonathan Bailey, and David Burke. The film revolves around a fictional interpretation of a seven-year-old Jesus, who tries to discover the truth about his life when he returns to Nazareth from Egypt. Nowrasteh acquired the film rights in 2011, and wrote the script along with his wife Betsy Giffen. Chris Columbus developed the film through his 1492 Pictures banner and helped the film financing by Ocean Blue Entertainment.

The Young Messiah is a 2016 biblical drama film directed by Cyrus Nowrasteh and co-written by Betsy and Cyrus Nowrasteh, based on the novel Christ the Lord: Out of Egypt by Anne Rice. The film stars Adam Greaves-Neal, Sean Bean, David Bradley, Lee Boardman, Jonathan Bailey, and David Burke. The film revolves around a fictional interpretation of a seven-year-old Jesus, who tries to discover the truth about his life when he returns to Nazareth from Egypt. Nowrasteh acquired the film rights in 2011, and wrote the script along with his wife Betsy Giffen. Chris Columbus developed the film through his 1492 Pictures banner and helped the film financing by Ocean Blue Entertainment. FilmDistrict acquired the US distribution rights in 2013, which were later transferred to Focus Features in 2014. Filming began on September 15, 2014, in Matera and Rome, Italy. Although the film was known throughout production as Christ the Lord, Focus Features announced on September 1, 2015, that it would now be called The Young Messiah. Nowrasteh said in a press release, "This new title better conveys how our film seeks to present a realistic portrait of Jesus as a child both grounded in faith and consistent with the adult Jesus revealed in the Bible."The film was released on March 11, 2016, by Focus Features. Reviews were mixed, and the film proved to be a box office bomb, grossing only $7 million against a budget of $18.5 million. Plot Seven-year-old Jesus is playing in Alexandria with his cousins when the bully Eliezer beats Jesus and then turns to his female cousin. Satan throws an apple before Eliezer and he falls to his death. Satan turns the crowd against Jesus and they accuse him of cursing Eliezer. His mother Mary saves him from the mob but as he and his cousins hide in the house they ask Jesus to repeat with Eliezer the act he showed them previously: bringing a dead bird to life. Jesus sneaks out of the house and into Eliezer's home where preparations are being made for his disemboweling and burial. When Jesus resurrects Eliezer, the boy resumes beating Jesus. Eliezer's parents ask Joseph, Jesus and Mary to leave Alexandria saying "Seven years is more than enough". Joseph tells Mary and his extended family that he had a dream and it is time to return to Israel because Herod is dead. Mary insists on returning to Nazareth instead of Bethlehem. The family departs. On the road to Nazareth, Jesus's uncle Cleopas is growing more unwell, coughing; Jesus says he cannot heal him because he has been asked not to. As the family rests Jesus walks into an ambush of rebel Jews waiting for a passing Roman cavalry. One of the rebels tries to shoo Jesus away. This rebel pushes Jesus out of harm's way and sacrifices his own life. One of the Centurions saves Jesus from one of the Roman soldiers. Jesus runs back to his family to find Cleopas delirious by the river Jordan. Jesus cannot resist and moves to heal him. The news spreads and reaches the new Jewish King who orders his Roman Centurion to find the boy healer and execute him. Jesus and the family encounter a man raping a woman by the roadside. The lady knifes the attacker and kills him. Joseph and Cleopas bury the rapist, and the victim joins the family on their road to Nazareth. They see crucifixions of Jewish rebels. In Nazareth, Roman soldiers accuse them of banditry and rebellion. Grandmother Sarah shares sweet cakes and good wine with the soldiers. The soldiers spare Joseph and the extended clan. The centurion returns to Herod in the middle of a belly dancing entertainment. He informs the Centurion that he just crucified a man who told him about the return of Jesus, who has a gift camel. Jesus is taken to Temple for schooling. He amazes the rabbis with his wisdom and knowledge, but Jesus faints on the way back. Satan torments Jesus as he lies unwell and tells him that his little miracles will mean nothing. Jesus is restored to health and he asks to visit Jerusalem for Passover. The centurions track Jesus to Sarah's house in Nazareth but they have already departed for Jerusalem. The soldiers extract information about the boy's name. The soldiers intercept the travelers on the road but the family hides in the caves. Jesus leaves the cave alone in the middle of the night for Jerusalem asking God for guidance and safety. Jesus enters Jerusalem; his parents follow looking for him. Jesus is given some coins by well-meaning pilgrims and he uses the coins to free a sacrificial dove. Jesus finds a blind rabbi and asks about what happened seven years ago in Bethlehem. Satan guides the Centurions to the boy by the rabbi. The rabbi is healed by Jesus. The centurion corners Jesus and the people in the temple gather around Jesus identifying him as the boy who healed the rabbi. Centurion Severus desists from killing the boy and asks them to leave the temple. Severus falsely reports to Herod that Jesus was murdered by him. Mary tells Jesus the answers to all the questions he was looking for. Jesus runs to his family. Cast Production Principal photography began on location on September 15, 2014, in Matera, Italy. Shooting also took place in Rome at Cinecittà studios.According to director Cyrus Nowrasteh, James and Salome, referred in the Bible as Jesus' brother and sister, are portrayed as his cousins. Nowrasteh said that the idea is that they had "sort of been adopted... they all referred to one another as brother and sister in those times." The filmmakers had cross-denominational support for the film's production, and received positive feedback from evangelicals and Catholics alike. Nowrasteh's wife Betsy helped rewrite two scenes taken from the apocryphal Infancy Gospel of Thomas in order to bring them more into line with the Gospels.The film was recognized by Time as introducing "a new class in the world of Jesus narratives". According to the director, "it wasn't easy material to tackle". Music On January 17, 2013, John Debney was hired to compose the music for the film. Release The film was previously set for March 23, 2016, release, but on January 15, 2015, Focus Features moved the release up to March 11, 2016. On December 22, 2015, a sneak peek video clip was released on the movie's website. The film met the qualification criteria for the 89th Academy Awards. Distribution On June 21, 2013, it was announced that FilmDistrict had acquired the US distribution rights to the film and planned to release the film in March 2015. The film was then being developed and financed by Rise Entertainment, under a five-year deal inked between Rise and 1492 Pictures. 1492 Pictures, Hyde Park Entertainment, CJ Entertainment, and Ocean Blue Entertainment would produce the film, and Hyde Park would handle the international sales for the film. Producers would be Columbus, Barnathan, and Radcliffe for 1492, Tracy K. Price for Ocean Blue, Ashok Amritraj for Hyde Park, and Mark W. Shaw for CJ.On May 16, 2014, it was reported again that Ocean Blue would finance the film along with CJ, Echo Lake Productions, and Ingenious Media, while 1492 Pictures would produce the film along with Ocean Blue, CJ, Hyde Park and Ingenious. Focus Features acquired the US rights from FilmDistrict, and set the film to begin production in September 2014. Reception Box office In the United States and Canada, the film opened on March 11, 2016, alongside 10 Cloverfield Lane, The Brothers Grimbsy and The Perfect Match. It was originally projected to gross $7–8 million in its opening weekend, however after grossing just $1.4 million on its opening day, estimates were lowered to $3–4 million. It ended up grossing $3.3 million in its opening weekend, finishing 7th at the box office. Critical response The film has gathered mixed critical responses. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 50%, based on 38 reviews, with an average rating of 5.60/10. On Metacritic, the film has a score of 33 out of 100, based on 9 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A−" on an A+ to F scale.Steven D. Greydanus reviewed The Young Messiah for the National Catholic Register, saying it was smartly adapted by Cyrus and Betsy Nowrasteh. Greydanus said he could imagine watching the film with a mixed group of people of faith and no faith while holding everyone's interest. He says this project could have turned into "the greatest imaginable act of authorial hubris and irrelevance", except that the filmmakers found an elegant solution in drawing on both the Gospels and the apocryphal Gospels, while reworking all the material to bring it into conformance with right beliefs among Christians. Greydanus says that "The Young Messiah offers an imaginative vision of the most iconic and celebrated family in human history that is both surprising and familiar, warmly human and credible yet also different." References External links The Young Messiah at IMDb The Young Messiah at Box Office Mojo The Young Messiah at Rotten Tomatoes The Young Messiah at Metacritic Official resources website

Nishinomiya Battery

The Nishinomiya Battery (西宮砲台, Nishinomiya hōdai) was a Bakumatsu period coastal artillery battery erected by the Tokugawa shogunate on the coast of Osaka Bay of what is now the Nishihato-cho neighborhood of the city of Nishinomiya, Hyōgo Prefecture in the Kansai region of Japan. Its ruins were designated a National Historic Site in 1922.

The Nishinomiya Battery (西宮砲台, Nishinomiya hōdai) was a Bakumatsu period coastal artillery battery erected by the Tokugawa shogunate on the coast of Osaka Bay of what is now the Nishihato-cho neighborhood of the city of Nishinomiya, Hyōgo Prefecture in the Kansai region of Japan. Its ruins were designated a National Historic Site in 1922. Background In the late Edo period, the Tokugawa shogunate was increasing alarmed by incursions by foreign ships into Japanese territorial waters, fearing that these kurofune warships of the United States or other Western powers would attempt to end Japan's self-imposed national isolation policy by force, or would attempt an invasion of Japan by landing hostile military forces. Numerous feudal domains were ordered to establish fortifications along their coastlines with shore artillery located at strategic locations. The most critical locations were perceived to be at Edo Bay, where the shogunal capital was situated, and Osaka Bay, which controlled the seaward approaches to the imperial capital of Kyoto. Matters were rendered critical when a Russian warship appeared in Osaka Bay in 1854. Construction of this battery began in 1863 and was completed in 1866.The design of the fortification was by Katsu Kaishū, who supervised the construction with the assistance of the nearby Kobe Naval Training Center.The design was a cylindrical bastion with a height of 12 meters, inner diameter of 17 meters, and a wall thickness of 1.53 meters at the bottom, tapering to 1.21 meters at the top. The exterior walls are plastered, and the interior is arranged into three stories. The ground floor was tamped earth, with a central pit for gun barrel cooling with a well, and a slab-floored gunpowder magazine. The second floor was wooden, and had 11 cannons, with one additional port left open on the north side to permit the receiving of instructions from outside. Granite for the walls of the structure were quarried on islands offshore Okayama Prefecture. After completion, the bastion was tested once with cannons firing blank charges. However, it was immediately discovered that the inside of the structure filled with smoke, rendering it useless in combat, and it was never used again. The structure was partially destroyed by a fire in 1884, and the property was sold by the Imperial Japanese Army in the early 1900s to the Hanshin Electric Railway.The bastion is located in Omaehama Park, roughly halfway between Nishinomiya Port in the east and the Shukugawa River in the west, 2.3 kilometers south of Hankyu Shukugawa Station. See also List of Historic Sites of Japan (Hyōgo) References External links Hyogo Tourism (in Japanese) Hankyu Railways (in Japanese) Nishinomiya City official site (in Japanese)

Putonghua Proficiency Test

The Putonghua Proficiency Test or Putonghua Shuiping Ceshi (PSC) is an official test of spoken fluency in Standard Chinese (Mandarin) intended for native speakers of Chinese languages. The test was developed in October 1994 by the Ministry of Education of the People's Republic of China, the Institute of Applied Linguistics at Beijing Language and Culture University and the State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television. Specified standards of achievement in the test are required for many jobs in broadcasting, education and government.

The Putonghua Proficiency Test or Putonghua Shuiping Ceshi (PSC) is an official test of spoken fluency in Standard Chinese (Mandarin) intended for native speakers of Chinese languages. The test was developed in October 1994 by the Ministry of Education of the People's Republic of China, the Institute of Applied Linguistics at Beijing Language and Culture University and the State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television. Specified standards of achievement in the test are required for many jobs in broadcasting, education and government. Content The test consists of five sections: Reading 100 monosyllabic words to test pronunciation. (10%) Reading 100 polysyllabic words to test pronunciation. (20%) Reading out the correct form from several choices, to test vocabulary and syntax. (10%) Reading a 400-character passage to test fluency. (30%) Speaking for three minutes on a topic chosen from two supplied by the examiners. (30%)There are sixty literary selections used in the fourth section of the test, including: a selection from Jia Pingwa's 丑石 ('Ugly Rock'), a story about a meteorite which he and the local community had thought of for many years as a worthless ugly rock: 338–339  the work of writer Sun Junqing (孙俊卿) of Haiyang, Shandong, who in 1962 wrote about the hope for a better year of farming in 1963 after the Great Chinese Famine.: 342–343  "People that Read are Happy People" a piece by Xie Mian included in his 1997 book Eternal Campus (永远的校园) and originally published in the July 19, 1995 edition of the China Reader's Report (中华读书报).: 344–345  "Kite Capriccio" (风筝畅想曲) by Li Hengrui (李恒瑞), describing life as a child in 1950's Fengtai County, Anhui.: 350–351  "Father's Love" (父亲的爱), a Chinese translation of one of the works of American Erma Bombeck about her stepfather Albert Harris.: 352–353  a text about the relationship between the oceans of the Earth and the origin and evolution of life.: 358–359  a story about Hu Shih debating the merits of Written vernacular Chinese over Classical Chinese (selection 15).: 362–363  a translation of the legend of the construction of Windsor Guildhall by Sir Christopher Wren.: 370–371  an inspirational essay about the conditions in New York City schools written by Liu Yong.: 378–379  a reflection written by Yan Wenjing on the hope for friendly Sino-Japanese relations describing the author's discovery of Lotus flowers imported from China which had been planted around the portrait of Jianzhen in the Tōshōdai-ji temple in Nara, Nara, Japan.: 380–381  a reflection on the beauty of Meiyu Pond (梅雨潭) and waterfall in the Middle Yandang Mountains in Xianyan Subdistrict, Ouhai District, Wenzhou of southeastern Zhejiang province in eastern China by Zhu Ziqing after his visits to the area in 1923.: 382–383  a story from the youth of Xu Dishan in which, after the family has grown peanuts for several months, his father Xu Nanying uses an analogy to the peanut to teach a moral lesson to his children.: 384–385  a translation (by Ba Jin) of a story about a young sparrow which had fallen from its nest, written by Ivan Turgenev.: 386–387  a description of the Mogao Caves in Dunhuang, Jiuquan, Gansu: 390–391  a reminiscence on the value of keeping in close contact with friends by Liu Hsia: 396–397  a story about the wisdom displayed by Tao Xingzhi in his handling of a misbehaving elementary school student.: 410–411  a story from the childhood of famous footballer Pelé growing up in the slums of Rio de Janeiro.: 414–415  a reminiscence on the life of Mina Owczyńska, mother of author Romain Gary: 416–417  Xia Yan's comparison of things conventionally assumed to be strong and powerful with grass, which he considers more powerful: 430–431 Grading Candidates who pass the test are given a Certificate of Putonghua Proficiency Level at levels 1, 2 or 3, each of which is subdivided into grades A and B: Level 1-A (97% correct) is required for presenters in national and provincial radio and television. Level 1-B (92% correct) is required for Chinese-language teachers in northern China. Level 2-A (87% correct) is required for Chinese-language teachers in southern China. Level 2-B (80% correct) is required for Chinese teachers teaching other languages in China. Level 3-A (70% correct) Level 3-B (60% correct) is required for civil service jobs.By 2010, the test had been taken more than 35 million times. As it requires strict adherence to the phonology of Standard Chinese, including such features as retroflex initials, erhua and the neutral tone, the test gives an advantage to native speakers of the Beijing dialect and closely related varieties over speakers of varieties lacking these features. See also Hanyu Shuiping Kaoshi, for non-native speakers, has a spoken component in addition to written and listening components. References External links 普通话培训测试指要 (in Chinese) ('Putonghua Training Test Essentials', from Hubei) 普通话水平测试教程 (in Chinese) ('PSC Educational Course', from Guangdong)

Licking

Licking is the action of passing the tongue over a surface, typically either to deposit saliva onto the surface, or to collect liquid, food or minerals onto the tongue for ingestion, or to communicate with other animals. Many animals both groom themselves, eat or drink by licking.

Licking is the action of passing the tongue over a surface, typically either to deposit saliva onto the surface, or to collect liquid, food or minerals onto the tongue for ingestion, or to communicate with other animals. Many animals both groom themselves, eat or drink by licking. In animals Grooming: Animals commonly clean themselves through licking. In mammals, licking helps keep the fur clean and untangled. The tongues of many mammals have a rough upper surface that acts like a brush when the animal licks its fur. Certain reptiles, such as geckos, clean their eyes by licking them. Mammals typically lick their offspring clean immediately after birth; in many species this is necessary to free the newborn from the amniotic sac. The licking not only cleans and dries the offspring's fur, but also stimulates its breathing and digestive processes. Food and water acquisition: Hummingbirds are often said to "sip" nectar, but in fact they lap up nectar on their long tongues. Their tongues have fringed edges, which help both in nectar-eating and in catching tiny insects. Mother hummingbirds also lick their chicks after a rainstorm to dry them by licking water droplets from the coats of the chicks to avoid them chilling. Many animals drink by licking. While young mammals drink milk from their mothers' teats by sucking, the typical method of drinking for adult mammals involves dipping the tongue repeatedly into water and using it to scoop water into the mouth. This method of drinking relies in part on the water adhering to the surface of the tongue and in part on muscular control of the tongue to form it into a spoonlike shape. Cattle, horses and other animals lick rocks, salt licks or other objects to obtain mineral nutrients. Gustation: Animals also use their tongues to enhance their sense of smell. By licking a surface or extending the tongue beyond the mouth, molecules are transferred via the tongue to the olfactory receptors in the nose and in some animals, to the vomeronasal organ. In some mammals, the tongue is used to "lick" the air during the flehmen response to assist transfer of pheremones. Similarly, snakes use smell to track their prey. They smell by using their forked tongues to collect airborne particles, then passing them to the vomeronasal organ. They keep their tongues constantly in motion, sampling particles from the air, ground, and water, analyzing the chemicals found, and determining the presence of prey or predators in the local environment. Communication: Dogs and cats use licking both to clean and to show affection among themselves or to humans, typically licking their faces. Many animals use licking as a submissive or appeasement signal in dominance hierarchies. Thermoregulation: Some animals use licking to cool themselves. Cats do not sweat the way humans do and the saliva deposited by licking provides a similar means of evaporative cooling. Some animals spread saliva over areas of the body with little or no fur to maximise heat loss. For example, kangaroos lick their wrists and rats lick their testicles. Mating behavior: Post-copulatory genital grooming often occurs in male rats and prosimian primates. This behavior may prevent disease transmission. In primates Ring-tailed lemurs lick each other's babies as a means of collective grooming and of reinforcing social cohesion within the community. Macaques and other primates lick leaves for water in addition to dipping their arms into tree crevices and licking the water off. Chimpanzees use licking in a variety of ways: licking objects, such as dead trees, that others in their community have licked, licking each other's body parts for grooming and sex and licking rocks for salt. Gorillas use licking in addition to other senses to determine the nature of an object. In humans Compared to most other mammals, licking has a minor role for humans. The human tongue is relatively short and inflexible, and is not well adapted for either grooming or drinking. Instead, humans prefer to wash themselves using their hands and drink by sucking or pouring fluid into their mouth. Humans have much less hair over their skin than most other mammals, and much of that hair is in places which they cannot reach with their own mouth. The presence of sweat glands all over the human body makes licking as a cooling method unnecessary. Nonetheless, licking does play a role for humans. Even though humans cannot effectively drink water by licking, the human tongue is quite sufficient for licking more viscous fluids. Some foods are sold in a form intended to be consumed mainly by licking, e.g. ice cream cones and lollipops. Though useful, in some cultures it is considered improper table manners to clean one's fingers by licking during a meal. Some people in the Afar tribe of Ethiopia have been reported to have used their tongues to lick other humans, as a way of cleaning them from the dust that accumulates on them in a very water-scarce region.Humans use licking for a number of other purposes. For example, licking can moisten the adhesive surfaces of stamps or envelopes. Many people lick a fingertip (usually the one of the index finger) for some extra grip when turning a page, taking a sheet of paper from the top of a pile or opening a plastic bag. In sewing, thread ends are commonly wet by licking to make the fibres stick together and thus make threading them through the eye of a needle easier. Another practice considered uncivilized is licking one's hand and using it to groom one's hair. Humans also use their tongues for sexual purposes, such as during cunnilingus, anilingus, fellatio, breast licking, foot licking, and whilst French kissing, where two people lick each other's tongues. In dogs Abnormal licking Self-licking can sometimes become abnormally frequent occasionally resulting in a lick granuloma. The most common cause of lick granuloma appears to be psychological, related to stress, anxiety, separation anxiety, boredom, or compulsiveness. Lick granulomae are especially seen in active dogs left alone for long periods of time. One theory is that excessive licking causes endorphin release, which reduces pain and makes the dog feel temporarily euphoric. This provides the animal with positive feedback from the licking, and subsequent addiction to the behaviour. Animals in captivity sometimes develop a licking stereotypy during which surfaces (walls, bars, gates, etc.) are repeatedly licked for no apparent reason. This has been observed in captive giraffes and camels. References External links Grooming in cats Hummingbird Licking Behavior Mice Licking Responses to Sweeteners The Stages of Canine Labor When Your Dog Gives Birth Video of a giraffe licking a wall

American International School of Bolivia

American International School of Bolivia (AIS/B, Spanish: Colegio Americano Internacional de Bolivia) is an American international school in Cochabamba, Bolivia. It serves grades Pre-Kindergarten–12.

American International School of Bolivia (AIS/B, Spanish: Colegio Americano Internacional de Bolivia) is an American international school in Cochabamba, Bolivia. It serves grades Pre-Kindergarten–12. References External links American International School of Bolivia (in Spanish) American International School of Bolivia

Aka-Cari language

The Cari (occasionally "Kari"), Chariar or Sare language, also known as Aka-Cari, is an extinct Great Andamanese language, of the Northern group, which was spoken by the Cari people, one of a dozen Great Andamanese peoples.In the 19th century the Cari lived on the north coast of North Andaman and on Landfall and other nearby small islands. By 1994 the population had been reduced to two women aged over 50 living with the other few surviving Great Andamanese on Strait Island. Aka-Cari became extinct with the death of Licho in April 2020.

The Cari (occasionally "Kari"), Chariar or Sare language, also known as Aka-Cari, is an extinct Great Andamanese language, of the Northern group, which was spoken by the Cari people, one of a dozen Great Andamanese peoples.In the 19th century the Cari lived on the north coast of North Andaman and on Landfall and other nearby small islands. By 1994 the population had been reduced to two women aged over 50 living with the other few surviving Great Andamanese on Strait Island. Aka-Cari became extinct with the death of Licho in April 2020. History The Cari population at the time of first European contacts (in the 1790s) has been estimated at 100 individuals, out of perhaps 3500 Great Andamanese. Like other Andamanese peoples, the Cari were decimated during colonial and post-colonial times, by diseases, alcohol, colonial warfare and loss of territory. The population was down to 39 individuals in the 1901 census, falling to 36 in 1911, 17 in 1921, and 9 in 1931.In 1949 any remaining Cari were relocated, together with all other surviving Great Andamanese, to a reservation on Bluff island; and then again in 1969 to a reservation on Strait Island.By 1994, the tribe was reduced to only two women, aged 57 and 59, and therefore was on its way to extinction. The last speaker, a woman called Licho, died from chronic tuberculosis on 4 April 2020 in Shadipur, Port Blair.They are a designated Scheduled Tribe. Grammar The Great Andamanese languages are agglutinative languages, with an extensive prefix and suffix system. They have a distinctive noun class system based largely on body parts, in which every noun and adjective may take a prefix according to which body part it is associated with (on the basis of shape, or functional association). Thus, for instance, the *aka- at the beginning of the language names is a prefix for objects related to the tongue. An adjectival example can be given by the various forms of yop, "pliable, soft", in Aka-Bea: A cushion or sponge is ot-yop "round-soft", from the prefix attached to words relating to the head or heart. A cane is ôto-yop, "pliable", from a prefix for long things. A stick or pencil is aka-yop, "pointed", from the tongue prefix. A fallen tree is ar-yop, "rotten", from the prefix for limbs or upright things.Similarly, beri-nga "good" yields: un-bēri-ŋa "clever" (hand-good). ig-bēri-ŋa "sharp-sighted" (eye-good). aka-bēri-ŋa "good at languages" (tongue-good.) ot-bēri-ŋa "virtuous" (head/heart-good)The prefixes are, Body parts are inalienably possessed, requiring a possessive adjective prefix to complete them, so one cannot say "head" alone, but only "my, or his, or your, etc. head". The basic pronouns are almost identical throughout the Great Andamanese languages; Aka-Bea will serve as a representative example (pronouns given in their basic prefixal forms): 'This' and 'that' are distinguished as k- and t-. Judging from the available sources, the Andamanese languages have only two cardinal numbers — one and two — and their entire numerical lexicon is one, two, one more, some more, and all. See also Great Andamanese language References External links Aka-Cari Swadesh List

Banpu

Banpu Public Company Limited is an energy company based in Thailand. Its three core businesses are energy resources (coal and gas); energy generation (conventional and renewable); and energy technology (wind and solar solutions, storage systems, and energy technologies). : 7  As of 2015 Banpu is headed by CEO Somruedee Chaimongkol. In the 2012 Forbes Global 2000, Banpu was ranked as the 1707th -largest public company in the world.

Banpu Public Company Limited is an energy company based in Thailand. Its three core businesses are energy resources (coal and gas); energy generation (conventional and renewable); and energy technology (wind and solar solutions, storage systems, and energy technologies).: 7  As of 2015 Banpu is headed by CEO Somruedee Chaimongkol. In the 2012 Forbes Global 2000, Banpu was ranked as the 1707th -largest public company in the world. History Banpu was founded by members of the Vongkusolkit and Auapinyakul families on 16 May 1983 as Ban Pu Coal Company Limited. The company was created to subcontract a coal mining operation at Banpu Mine (BP-1 Mine) in Li District, Lamphun Province. On 4 May 1989, Banpu was listed on the Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET). Its name was changed on 29 July 1993 to Banpu Public Company Limited.: 7 In 2005, Banpu entered into a joint venture with Thai-Lao Lignite Co., Ltd. and Hong Sa Lignite (Lao PDR) Co., Ltd. to develop the project, but this agreement was terminated in 2006. A UNCITRAL arbitration found that the Lao government illegally terminated concession and ordered Laos to pay US$57 million in damages plus interest. Laos is refusing to pay.In 2010 Banpu bought the Australian mining company Centennial Coal. Current CEO of Banpu Somruedee Chaimongkol assumed the position on 10 April 2015.: 137  Banpu decided to launch a new corporate branding attributes in 2018, the "Banpu Heart". Operations Power generation Banpu Power Public Company Limited or Banpu Power (BPP) was established in 1996 (then named "Cogeneration PLC") as a subsidiary of Banpu PCL. BPP's generating capacity as of early-2019 is 2,140 megawatts. Its goal is to expand that number to 4,300 MW by 2025. Renewable power projects account for 20 percent of BPP-generated electricity. Coal mining It is the largest coal producer in Thailand and also has coal mining operations in Indonesia and China, and coal-fired power generation operations in Thailand and China. Banpu plans also to invest in the Hong Sa lignite mine and power plant project in Laos.Banpu's main coal resources are in Indonesia (26 million tonnes), Australia (14 million tonnes), and China (4.7 million tonnes). It expects its sales to rise to 45 million tonnes in 2018, up from 42 million tonnes in 2017.Due to its coal mining operations, Banpu was named on a 2019 list of the 100 companies "...responsible for most of the world's greenhouse gas emissions". Centennial Coal Centennial Coal Company Ltd operates five mines in New South Wales (NSW) supplying coal for export and approximately 40 percent of NSW's coal-fired electricity. The company sells approximately 40 percent of its coal to export markets, primarily for use in power stations and steel mills in Japan, Korea, Taiwan and Europe.Centennial Coal has been responsible for more than 900 pollution notices between 2000 and 2013 from the NSW Environment Protection Authority (EPA). In 2015 it was responsible for a major release of coal fines into the Wollangambe River and World Heritage listed areas of the Blue Mountains National Park. Centennial Coal has been dumping mine effluent into the Wollangambe River for approximately 30 years, effectively killing large sections of it. Between 2000-2015, Centennial's Clarence Colliery has been cited for more than 65 non-compliance breaches of its licence. As of 2015, Centennial Coal has applied to extend the Springvale Mine, undermining swamps of "National Environmental Significance" and dumping up to 50 million litres a day of mine effluent into the Coxs River which also flows through the Blue Mountains World Heritage area and into Sydney's drinking water catchments. Banpu NEXT Formed in 2019 as a joint venture between Banpu and Banpu Power (BPP), Banpu NEXT is the company's energy technology division. The division is targeted towards providing energy solutions for storage systems, battery-powered electric vehicles, energy efficiency management, and smart city projects. Corporate issues Financials Banpu reported revenues of 123,345 million baht for its fiscal year ending 31 December 2018. Net income was 6,694 million baht, total assets 274,312 million baht, and total equity 83,060 million baht. Banpu's coal business accounted for 87% of its revenues for the year.: 13 As of 31 December 2018, Banpu employed 6,037 persons, nearly half of them at its coal operations in Indonesia. Banpu employed 383 persons in Thailand, 6% of its workforce.: 82 Remuneration of the twelve directors on the Banpu board totaled 48 million baht. The eight senior managers earned 110 million baht in salary and bonuses.: 144 Recognition Banpu has been selected for a fifth consecutive year as a member of the Dow Jones Sustainability Indices (DJSI). It was ranked Gold Class in the Coal and Consumable Fuel sector by Robeco Sustainable Asset Management. Banpu also received the Sustainability Awards Honor and was listed as a Thailand Sustainability Investment (THSI) by the Stock Exchange of Thailand. == References ==

1996 Franklin Templeton Classic – Singles

Jim Courier was the defending champion but did not compete that year. Wayne Ferreira won in the final 2–6, 6–3, 6–3 against Marcelo Ríos.

Jim Courier was the defending champion but did not compete that year. Wayne Ferreira won in the final 2–6, 6–3, 6–3 against Marcelo Ríos. Seeds Draw Key Finals Top half Bottom half External links Main draw

Cold Big Bang

Cold Big Bang is a designation used in cosmology to denote an absolute zero temperature at the beginning of the Universe, instead of a (hot) Big Bang. In an attempt to understand the origin of atoms, Georges Lemaître proposed (by 1927) that before the expansion of the universe started all the matter in the universe, it formed a gigantic ball of nuclear liquid at very low temperature. This low temperature was required to provide an adequate cohesion within the Lemaître's primeval atom. In 1966, David Layzer proposed a variant on Lemaître's cosmology in which the initial state of the universe was near absolute zero. Layzer argued that, rather than in an initial high entropy state, the primordial universe was in a very low entropy state near absolute zero.

Cold Big Bang is a designation used in cosmology to denote an absolute zero temperature at the beginning of the Universe, instead of a (hot) Big Bang. In an attempt to understand the origin of atoms, Georges Lemaître proposed (by 1927) that before the expansion of the universe started all the matter in the universe, it formed a gigantic ball of nuclear liquid at very low temperature. This low temperature was required to provide an adequate cohesion within the Lemaître's primeval atom. In 1966, David Layzer proposed a variant on Lemaître's cosmology in which the initial state of the universe was near absolute zero. Layzer argued that, rather than in an initial high entropy state, the primordial universe was in a very low entropy state near absolute zero. The mainstream version of the Cold Big Bang model predicted an absence of acoustic peaks in the cosmic microwave background radiation and was eventually explicitly ruled out by WMAP observations. References External links Universe: Cold Big Bang - Cosmos Portal

O Príncipe

O Príncipe (lit. "The Prince") is a 2002 Brazilian drama film directed and written by Ugo Giorgetti and starring Eduardo Tornaghi, Bruna Lombardi, Ricardo Blat, Ewerton de Castro and Otávio Augusto. The plot of the film follows the story of Gustavo (Eduardo Tornaghi), a middle-aged intellectual man, who lives in Paris for more than 20 years, after leaving Brazil because of the coup d'état. After many years, he returns to São Paulo, due to the illness of his mother, in an opportunity to discover a country that he does not recognize anymore.

O Príncipe (lit. "The Prince") is a 2002 Brazilian drama film directed and written by Ugo Giorgetti and starring Eduardo Tornaghi, Bruna Lombardi, Ricardo Blat, Ewerton de Castro and Otávio Augusto. The plot of the film follows the story of Gustavo (Eduardo Tornaghi), a middle-aged intellectual man, who lives in Paris for more than 20 years, after leaving Brazil because of the coup d'état. After many years, he returns to São Paulo, due to the illness of his mother, in an opportunity to discover a country that he does not recognize anymore. Cast References External links O Príncipe at IMDb

Aristobule

Aristobule (Ancient Greek: Ἀριστοβύλη) was an epithet of the Greek goddess Artemis, meaning "the best advisor", under which she was worshipped at Athens in ancient Greece. The politician and general Themistocles built a temple of Artemis Aristobule at Athens, near his house in the deme of Melite, in which he dedicated his own statue. This annoyed a great many Greeks, who took this as Themistocles boasting of his own good counsel as a politician. Not long after this, Themistocles was ostracized and went into exile. Some scholars contend that "Aristobule" should not be globally conflated with Artemis, and outside Athens was a distinct divine concept in its own right.

Aristobule (Ancient Greek: Ἀριστοβύλη) was an epithet of the Greek goddess Artemis, meaning "the best advisor", under which she was worshipped at Athens in ancient Greece. The politician and general Themistocles built a temple of Artemis Aristobule at Athens, near his house in the deme of Melite, in which he dedicated his own statue. This annoyed a great many Greeks, who took this as Themistocles boasting of his own good counsel as a politician. Not long after this, Themistocles was ostracized and went into exile. Some scholars contend that "Aristobule" should not be globally conflated with Artemis, and outside Athens was a distinct divine concept in its own right. The philosopher Porphyry spoke of Aristobule as one known by this name alone (as opposed to a more surname-like epithet, "Artemis Aristobule"). Scholar Noel Robertson proposed that in Rhodes "Aristoboule" ought to be identified with the Roman Mother goddess, also known as Cybele.It has also been suggested by religion scholar Hermann Usener that "Aristobule" was a euphemism for capital punishment, and that this epithet and its temple had something to do with public executions, though other scholars disagree with this interpretation. This largely comes from speculation around the fact that in Athens the temple of Artemis Aristobule was very near to the place where the bodies of executed criminals who were denied interment (which was the ultimate punishment) were thrown into an open pit to rot. References This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Schmitz, Leonhard (1870). "Aristobule". In Smith, William (ed.). Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology. Vol. 1. p. 300.

August Horch

August Horch (12 October 1868 – 3 February 1951) was a German engineer and automobile pioneer, the founder of the manufacturing giant which would eventually become Audi.

August Horch (12 October 1868 – 3 February 1951) was a German engineer and automobile pioneer, the founder of the manufacturing giant which would eventually become Audi. Beginnings Horch was born in Winningen, Rhenish Prussia. His initial trade was as a blacksmith, and then was educated at Hochschule Mittweida (Mittweida Technical College). After receiving a degree in engineering, he worked in shipbuilding. Horch worked for Karl Benz from 1896, before founding A. Horch & Co. in November 1899, in Ehrenfeld, Cologne, Germany. Manufacturing The first Horch automobile was built in 1901. The company moved to Reichenbach in 1902 and Zwickau in 1904. Horch left the company in 1909 after a dispute, and set up in competition in Zwickau. His new firm was initially called Horch Automobil-Werke GmbH, but following a legal dispute over the Horch name, he decided to make another automobile company. (The court decided that Horch was a registered trademark on behalf of August's former partners and August was not entitled to use it any more). Consequently, Horch named his new company Audi Automobilwerke GmbH in 1910, Audi being the Latinization of Horch. Post Audi Horch left Audi in 1920 and went to Berlin and took various jobs. He published his autobiography, I Built Cars (Ich Baute Autos) in 1937. He also served on the board of Auto Union, the successor to Audi Automobilwerke GmbH he founded. Horch remained an honorary executive at Auto Union during and after its reincorporation in Ingolstadt, Bavaria in the late 1940s until his death in 1951, ultimately not living to see the later resurrection of his Audi brand a decade later under the ownership of Volkswagen. He was an honorary citizen of Zwickau and had a street named for his Audi cars in both Zwickau and his birthplace Winningen. He was made an honorary professor at Braunschweig University of Technology. An August Horchstrasse (August Horch Street) also exists at Audi's main manufacturing plant in Ingolstadt. References External links Newspaper clippings about August Horch in the 20th Century Press Archives of the ZBW

National Children's Bureau

The National Children’s Bureau works collaboratively across the issues affecting children to influence policy and get services working together to deliver a better childhood. Established in 1963, they have been at the forefront of campaigning for children and young people’s rights for over 50 years. They have offices in Hackney and Lambeth, London and Northern Ireland. They employ nearly 120 people. NCB also hosts the: Anti-Bullying Alliance, Childhood Bereavement Network, Council for Disabled Children, Sex Education Forum, LEAP.

The National Children’s Bureau works collaboratively across the issues affecting children to influence policy and get services working together to deliver a better childhood. Established in 1963, they have been at the forefront of campaigning for children and young people’s rights for over 50 years. They have offices in Hackney and Lambeth, London and Northern Ireland. They employ nearly 120 people. NCB also hosts the: Anti-Bullying Alliance, Childhood Bereavement Network, Council for Disabled Children, Sex Education Forum, LEAP. History The National Children's Bureau was organized as the National Bureau for Co-operation in Child Care in 1963, with a combination of public and private funding. The child psychologist Mia Kellmer Pringle was tapped as its founding director, and she led the NCB until her retirement in 1981. Under her leadership, the organization grew from a small-scale operation with four employees to a staff of 65 working out of a dedicated building.Beginning in 1964, Mia Kellmer Pringle and Dr. Neville Butler codirected the National Child Development Study, an influential longitudinal study that surveyed the development of a cohort of 17,000 children. The initial conclusions of the survey were published by the NCB in the 1973 book "Born to Fail?" Leadership NCB's chief executive (since 2014) is Anna Feuchtwang. Her predecessor from 2011 to 2014 was Dr Hilary Emery. Prior to that Sir Paul Ennals, was NCB's Chief Executive from 1998.Alison O’Sullivan was appointed Chair of NCB in January 2019, in succession to Elaine Simpson who had served since September 2012. Baroness Tyler of Enfield is NCB's president. Her predecessor was Baroness Shireen Ritchie, who died in April 2012, and who had been President of NCB since November 2010. References External links Official website NCB’s strategy NCB’s story

Herc's Adventures

Herc's Adventures is a video game released for the Sega Saturn and PlayStation by LucasArts in 1997. The overhead, action-adventure format is similar to Zombies Ate My Neighbors. Up to two players each take on the role of one of three ancient Greek heroes: Herc (Hercules), Atlanta (Atalanta), or Jason, who are on a quest to defeat Hades and save the goddess of nature, Persephone. In 2014, it was released for PSN in North America. Herc's Adventures was originally announced as a Sega Saturn exclusive with a release date of December 1996, but delays pushed its release back to July 1997.

Herc's Adventures is a video game released for the Sega Saturn and PlayStation by LucasArts in 1997. The overhead, action-adventure format is similar to Zombies Ate My Neighbors. Up to two players each take on the role of one of three ancient Greek heroes: Herc (Hercules), Atlanta (Atalanta), or Jason, who are on a quest to defeat Hades and save the goddess of nature, Persephone. In 2014, it was released for PSN in North America. Herc's Adventures was originally announced as a Sega Saturn exclusive with a release date of December 1996, but delays pushed its release back to July 1997. The PlayStation version was released internationally, while the Saturn version was exclusive to North America. Virgin Interactive Entertainment had planned to release the Saturn version in Europe in September 1997, but it was dropped from the release schedule as part of Virgin's withdrawal of support for the Saturn. Gameplay The characters pick up various weapons and items, which include: pepper breath against bees and wasps, frost breath that freezes enemies, lightning which blasts a target with electrical energy, spears, boar traps, flaming spears (used against the Hydra to prevent its head from reforming), bombs, an evil Pandora's box which when opened releases rough weather, a shrink doll which miniaturizes any target and a laser gun. Items include Circe's potion which turned the player into a pig to fit into small crevices, Medusa and Minotaur's head, and the golden fleece (which opens the gates of Hades' underworld). Gyros increase the player's health bar, and each hero has a second strength bar that depletes whenever moving or picking up an object. Health and strength are increased by buying lessons from a strength trainer or finding red hearts. Every time the players die, they are sent down to the underworld and need to fight their way to the exit in order to continue. The more they die, the further back into the underworld they are sent, making it increasingly harder to fight their way out. Dying five times results in a game over. With the exception of the switch to and from the underworld section, the game world is presented as an open, singular map, without any loading screens or interstitials between areas. Voice cast Rachel Reenstra - Atlanta Lois Nettleton - Athena Cástulo Guerra - Hades Patty Parris - Hera Michael Gough - Hercules / Dionysus Tom Wyner - Zeus / Poseidon Wally Wingert - Jason / Bronze Guy / Big Soldier Pat Fraley - Minotaur / Helldog / Soldier Reception Herc's Adventures met with mostly positive reviews, as critics were overwhelmingly pleased with the graphics, offbeat humor, huge amount of lands to explore, and inclusion of three playable characters, each with their own strengths and weaknesses that make an important difference in how the game plays.The more mixed reviews found some faults with the gameplay. Next Generation opined that the gameplay is too one-note and that the skewed perspective sometimes creates confusion about where the player character can go, though the reviewer still concluded that the game is fun enough and different enough to be enjoyable. IGN criticized only the fact that the game is not a polygon-based fighting game or racing game, remarking that it was exceptionally good for a game that did not fall into either of those genres. Most critical commentary on the gameplay was positive, however, with several critics commenting that the cooperative two-player mode is especially fun. Shawn Smith of Electronic Gaming Monthly stated that "the gameplay is flawless."Glenn Rubenstein of GameSpot summed up that "The graphics, gameplay, and humor make a unique mix that results in a truly fresh title unlike most of the other games on the market today." Major Mike gave the Saturn version a perfect 5.0 out of 5 in all four GamePro categories (graphics, sound, control, and funfactor), noting in particular the excellent incorporation of mythological figures. He gave the PlayStation version a 4.5 out of 5 in all four categories, but did not directly compare it to the Saturn version, and Rubenstein gave the two versions identical scores. References External links Herc's Adventures at MobyGames

The Toronto Rap Project

The Toronto Rap Project is a 2006 documentary directed by Richard Budman, about rap music culture and violence in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was produced by John Bortolotti for D.C.R. Productions and premiered April 20, 2006 at the ReelWorld Film Festival in 2006.

The Toronto Rap Project is a 2006 documentary directed by Richard Budman, about rap music culture and violence in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was produced by John Bortolotti for D.C.R. Productions and premiered April 20, 2006 at the ReelWorld Film Festival in 2006. Overview On November 22, 2005, MP Dan McTeague asked Immigration Minister Joe Volpe to restrict rapper 50 Cent from entering Canada, citing the death of a constituent at the performer's previous concert in Toronto in 2004. 50 Cent's tour went on as scheduled but McTeague's intervention succeeded in seeing at least half of the accompanying members of the rapper's troupe, the G-Unit, banned in Canada as a result of the objections.The documentary travels to diverse neighbourhoods including Jane-Finch, Cataraqui Park in Scarborough, and ends up at the 50 Cent concert in Toronto. It features commentary and interviews from both aspiring rappers and established music stars Kardinal Offishall and Wes “Maestro” Williams, Reverend Eugene Rivers, BBC documentary filmmaker Don Letts, journalists, politicians, and the everyday person on the streets of Toronto also weigh in on the debate. Soundtrack The Toronto Rap Project Soundtrack was released in April, 2006, produced by John Bortolotti and distributed by D.C.R. Productions. The soundtrack featured songs inspired by and used in the documentary, including music by such prominent rap artists such as Jeru the Damaja, Maestro Fresh Wes, Kardinal Offishall and The Dope Poet Society, along with many underground rappers from areas that the documentary covered. The Canadian urban magazine Urbanology called the soundtrack "the hottest movie soundtrack since The Show", and the soundtrack was called "a remarkable soundtrack" by the Brock Press. Reception The Toronto Rap Project won the StarTV audience choice award for best film and the best director award at the festival, while selling out both of the screenings of the film. The film was also awarded a four-star review by Now Magazine and received positive reviews in The Toronto Star and National Post. It was also a feature story on CBC News and MTV Canada. The Toronto Rap Project also played several other film festivals, receiving rave reviews at both its Brunswick House Screening and at the 2006 Commfest Gala with Harold Stoute. The Rap Project also hosted a Jane and Finch community screening at Driftwood Community Center with Rap Project Star Blacus Ninjah.The Toronto Rap Project was eventually distributed on-line through the Rap Project website and through social networking sites such as YouTube, Myspace, and Facebook. The success of The Toronto Rap Project led D.C.R. Productions to continue the premise of the documentary as a running on-line show, called RAPproject TV. RAPproject TV has featured interviews with such hip-hop heavyweights as Russell Simmons, Chuck D and RZA. == References ==

Rousettus bat coronavirus HKU9

Rousettus bat coronavirus HKU9 is bat Betacoronavirus.

Rousettus bat coronavirus HKU9 is bat Betacoronavirus. See also RNA virus Animal viruses == References ==

Aristocritus (actor)

Aristocritus (Ancient Greek: Ἀριστόκριτος) was a famous actor of Greek tragedy who apparently worked in the employ of a young Alexander the Great. He was sent as an emissary by Carian satrap Pixodarus in 337 or 336 BCE to offer the hand of Pixodarus's daughter to Arrhidaeus, the eldest son of Philip II of Macedon, and Alexander's older brother. Alexander later sent another actor, Thessalus, back to Pixodarus with a counter-proposal that he be the one to marry Pixodarus's daughter. Nothing came of these machinations, other than Alexander earning the irritation of Arrhidaeus, and there was ultimately no wedding. However both Aristocritus and Thessalus must have conducted themselves well, as we know they remained in Alexander's service until the end of his life, being described as participating in the festivities of a great wedding celebration at Susa more than a decade later, in 324 BCE.

Aristocritus (Ancient Greek: Ἀριστόκριτος) was a famous actor of Greek tragedy who apparently worked in the employ of a young Alexander the Great. He was sent as an emissary by Carian satrap Pixodarus in 337 or 336 BCE to offer the hand of Pixodarus's daughter to Arrhidaeus, the eldest son of Philip II of Macedon, and Alexander's older brother. Alexander later sent another actor, Thessalus, back to Pixodarus with a counter-proposal that he be the one to marry Pixodarus's daughter. Nothing came of these machinations, other than Alexander earning the irritation of Arrhidaeus, and there was ultimately no wedding. However both Aristocritus and Thessalus must have conducted themselves well, as we know they remained in Alexander's service until the end of his life, being described as participating in the festivities of a great wedding celebration at Susa more than a decade later, in 324 BCE. == References ==

Thetis

Thetis ( THEEH-tiss; Greek: Θέτις [tʰétis]) is a figure from Greek mythology with varying mythological roles. She mainly appears as a sea nymph, a goddess of water, and one of the 50 Nereids, daughters of the ancient sea god Nereus.When described as a Nereid in Classical myths, Thetis was the daughter of Nereus and Doris, and a granddaughter of Tethys with whom she sometimes shares characteristics. Often she seems to lead the Nereids as they attend to her tasks. Sometimes she also is identified with Metis. Some sources argue that she was one of the earliest of deities worshipped in Archaic Greece, the oral traditions and records of which are lost.

Thetis ( THEEH-tiss; Greek: Θέτις [tʰétis]) is a figure from Greek mythology with varying mythological roles. She mainly appears as a sea nymph, a goddess of water, and one of the 50 Nereids, daughters of the ancient sea god Nereus.When described as a Nereid in Classical myths, Thetis was the daughter of Nereus and Doris, and a granddaughter of Tethys with whom she sometimes shares characteristics. Often she seems to lead the Nereids as they attend to her tasks. Sometimes she also is identified with Metis. Some sources argue that she was one of the earliest of deities worshipped in Archaic Greece, the oral traditions and records of which are lost. Only one written record, a fragment, exists attesting to her worship and an early Alcman hymn exists that identifies Thetis as the creator of the universe. Worship of Thetis as the goddess is documented to have persisted in some regions by historical writers, such as Pausanias. In the Trojan War cycle of myth, the wedding of Thetis and the Greek hero Peleus is one of the precipitating events in the war which also led to the birth of their child Achilles. One of her epithets was Halosydne (Greek: Ἁλοσύδνη), meaning "sea-nourished" or "sea-born" goddess. As a goddess Most extant material about Thetis concerns her role as mother of Achilles, but there is some evidence that as the sea-goddess she played a more central role in the religious beliefs and practices of Archaic Greece. The pre-modern etymology of her name, from tithemi (τίθημι), "to set up, establish", suggests a perception among Classical Greeks of an early political role. Walter Burkert considers her name a transformed doublet of Tethys. After Achilles' death, Thetis does not need to appeal to Zeus for immortality for her son, as the two have an established rapport (due to Thetis helping him in a dispute with three other Olympians) and snatches him away to the White Island Leuke in the Black Sea, an alternate Elysium, where he has transcended death, and where an Achilles cult lingered into historical times. Mythology Thetis and the other deities Pseudo-Apollodorus' Bibliotheke asserts that Thetis was courted by both Zeus and Poseidon, but she was married off to the mortal Peleus because of their fears about the prophecy by Themis (or Prometheus, or Calchas, according to others) that her son would become greater than his father. Thus, she is revealed as a figure of cosmic capacity, quite capable of unsettling the divine order. (Slatkin 1986:12) When Hephaestus was thrown from Olympus, whether cast out by Hera for his lameness or evicted by Zeus for taking Hera's side, the Oceanid Eurynome and the Nereid Thetis caught him and allowed him to stay on the volcanic isle of Lemnos, while he labored for them as a smith, "working there in the hollow of the cave, and the stream of Okeanos around us went on forever with its foam and its murmur" (Iliad 18.369). Thetis is not successful in her role protecting and nurturing a hero (the theme of kourotrophos), but her role in succoring deities is emphatically repeated by Homer. Diomedes recalls that when Dionysus was expelled by Lycurgus with the Olympians' aid, he took refuge in the Erythraean Sea with Thetis in a bed of seaweed (6.123ff). These accounts associate Thetis with "a divine past—uninvolved with human events—with a level of divine invulnerability extraordinary by Olympian standards. Where within the framework of the Iliad the ultimate recourse is to Zeus for protection, here the poem seems to point to an alternative structure of cosmic relations."Once, Thetis and Medea argued in Thessaly over which was the most beautiful; they appointed the Cretan Idomeneus as the judge, who gave the victory to Thetis. In her anger, Medea called all Cretans liars, and cursed them to never say the truth. Marriage to Peleus Zeus had received a prophecy that Thetis's son would become greater than his father, as Zeus had dethroned his father to lead the succeeding pantheon. In order to ensure a mortal father for her eventual offspring, Zeus and his brother Poseidon made arrangements for her to marry a human, Peleus, son of Aeacus, but she refused him. Proteus, an early sea-god, advised Peleus to find the sea nymph when she was asleep and bind her tightly to keep her from escaping by changing forms. She did shapeshift, becoming flame, water, a raging lioness, and a serpent. Peleus held fast. Subdued, she then consented to marry him. Thetis is the mother of Achilles by Peleus, who became king of the Myrmidons. According to classical mythology, the wedding of Thetis and Peleus was celebrated on Mount Pelion, outside the cave of Chiron, and attended by the deities: there they celebrated the marriage with feasting. Apollo played the lyre and the Muses sang, Pindar claimed. At the wedding Chiron gave Peleus an ashen spear that had been polished by Athena and had a blade forged by Hephaestus. While the Olympian goddesses brought him gifts: from Aphrodite, a bowl with an embossed Eros, from Hera a chlamys while from Athena a flute. His father-in-law Nereus endowed him a basket of the salt called 'divine', which has an irresistible virtue for overeating, appetite and digestion, explaining the expression '...she poured the divine salt'. Zeus then bestowed the wings of Arce to the newly-wed couple which was later given by Thetis to her son, Achilles. Furthermore, the god of the sea, Poseidon gave Peleus the immortal horses, Balius and Xanthus. Eris, the goddess of discord, had not been invited, however, and in spite, she threw a golden apple into the midst of the goddesses that was to be awarded only "to the fairest." In most interpretations, the award was made during the Judgement of Paris and eventually occasioned the Trojan War. As is recounted in the Argonautica, written by the Hellenistic poet Apollonius of Rhodes, Thetis, in an attempt to make her son Achilles immortal, would burn away his mortality in a fire at night and during the day, she would anoint the child with ambrosia. When Peleus caught her searing the baby, he let out a cry. Thetis heard him, and catching up the child threw him screaming to the ground, and she like a breath of wind passed swiftly from the hall as a dream and leapt into the sea, exceeding angry, and thereafter returned never again. Some myths relate that because she had been interrupted by Peleus, Thetis had not made her son physically invulnerable. His heel, which she was about to burn away when her husband stopped her, had not been protected. (A similar myth of immortalizing a child in fire is seen in the case of Demeter and the infant Demophoon). In a variant of the myth first recounted in the Achilleid, an unfinished epic written between 94–95 AD by the Roman poet Statius, Thetis tried to make Achilles invulnerable by dipping him in the River Styx (one of the five rivers that run through Hades, the realm of the dead). However, the heel by which she held him was not touched by the Styx's waters and failed to be protected. Peleus gave the boy to Chiron to raise. Prophecy said that the son of Thetis would have either a long but dull life, or a glorious but brief one. When the Trojan War broke out, Thetis was anxious and concealed Achilles, disguised as a girl, at the court of Lycomedes, king of Skyros. Achilles was already famed for his speed and skill in battle. Calchas, a priest of Agamemnon, prophesied the need for the great soldier within their ranks. Odysseus was subsequently sent by Agamemnon to try and find Achilles. Skyros was relatively close to Achilles’ home and Lycomedes was also a known friend of Thetis, so it was one of the first places that Odysseus looked. When Odysseus found that one of the girls at court was not a girl, he came up with a plan. Raising an alarm that they were under attack, Odysseus knew that the young Achilles would instinctively run for his weapons and armour, thereby revealing himself. Seeing that she could no longer prevent her son from realizing his destiny, Thetis then had Hephaestus make a shield and armor. Iliad and the Trojan War Thetis played a key part in the events of the Trojan War. Beyond the fact that the Judgement of Paris, which essentially kicked off the war, occurred at her wedding, Thetis influenced the actions of the Olympians and her son, Achilles.Nine years after the beginning of the Trojan War, Homer's Iliad starts with Agamemnon (king of Mycenae and the commander of the Achaeans) and Achilles (son of Thetis) arguing over Briseis, a woman married to Mynes (son of the king of Lyrnessus). She was kidnapped and enslaved by Achilles. After initially refusing, Achilles relents and gives Briseis to Agamemnon. However, Achilles feels disrespect for having to hand over Briseis and prays to Thetis, his mother, for restitution of his lost honor. She urges Achilles to wait until she speaks with Zeus to rejoin the fighting, and Achilles listens. When she finally speaks to Zeus, Thetis convinces him to do as she bids, and he seals his agreement with her by bowing his head, the strongest oath that he can make.Following the death of Patroclus, who wore Achilles' armor in the fighting, Thetis comes to Achilles to console him in his grief. She vows to return to him with armor forged by Hephaestus, the blacksmith of the gods, and tells him not to arm himself for battle until he sees her coming back. While Thetis is gone, Achilles is visited by Iris, the messenger of the gods, sent by Hera, who tells him to rejoin the fighting. He refuses, however, citing his mother's words and his promise to her to wait for her return. Thetis, meanwhile, speaks with Hephaestus and begs him to make Achilles armor, which he does. First, he makes for Achilles a splendid shield, and having finished it, makes a breastplate, a helmet, and greaves. When Thetis goes back to Achilles to deliver his new armor, she finds him still upset over Patroclus. Achilles fears that while he is off fighting the Trojans, Patroclus' body will decay and rot. Thetis, however, reassures him and places ambrosia and nectar in Patroclus' nose in order to protect his body against decay.After Achilles uses his new armor to defeat Hector in battle, he keeps Hector's body to mutilate and humiliate. However, after nine days, the gods call Thetis to Olympus and tell her that she must go to Achilles and pass him a message, that the gods are angry that Hector's body has not been returned. She does as she is bid, and convinces Achilles to return the body for ransom, thus avoiding the wrath of the gods. Worship in Laconia and other places A noted exception to the general observation resulting from the existing historical records, that Thetis was not venerated as a goddess by cult, was in conservative Laconia, where Pausanias was informed that there had been priestesses of Thetis in archaic times, when a cult that was centered on a wooden cult image of Thetis (a xoanon), which preceded the building of the oldest temple; by the intervention of a highly placed woman, her cult had been re-founded with a temple; and in the second century AD she still was being worshipped with utmost reverence. The Lacedaemonians were at war with the Messenians, who had revolted, and their king Anaxander, having invaded Messenia, took as prisoners certain women, and among them Cleo, priestess of Thetis. The wife of Anaxander asked for this Cleo from her husband, and discovering that she had the wooden image of Thetis, she set up the woman Cleo in a temple for the goddess. This Leandris did because of a vision in a dream, but the wooden image of Thetis is guarded in secret.In one fragmentary hymn by the seventh-century BC Spartan poet Alcman, Thetis appears as a demiurge, beginning her creation with poros (πόρος) "path, track" and tekmor (τέκμωρ) "marker, end-post". Third was skotos (σκότος) "darkness", and then the Sun and the Moon. A close connection has been argued between Thetis and Metis, another shape-shifting sea-power later beloved by Zeus. but prophesied-bound to produce a son greater than his father because of her great strength.Herodotus noted that the Persians sacrificed to "Thetis" at Cape Sepias. By the process of interpretatio graeca, Herodotus identifies a sea-goddess of another culture (probably Anahita) as the familiar Hellenic "Thetis". In other works Homer's Iliad makes many references to Thetis. Euripides's Andromache, 1232–1272 Apollonius Rhodius, Argonautica IV, 770–879. Bibliotheca 3.13.5. Francesco Cavalli's first opera Le nozze di Teti e di Peleo, composed in 1639, concerned the marriage of Thetis and Peleus WH Auden's poem The Shield of Achilles imagines Thetis's witnessing of the forging of Achilles's shield. In 1939, HMS Thetis (N25) then a new design of submarine, sank on her trials in the River Mersey shortly after she left the dock in Liverpool. There were 103 people on board and 99 died. The cause of the accident was an inspection hole to allow a sailor to look into the torpedo tubes. A special closure for this inspection hole had been painted over. Once submerged the torpedo tube flooded and the bow of the vessel sank. The stern was still above water. Ninety-nine people, half of them dockyard workers, died of carbon monoxide poisoning. In 1981, British actress Maggie Smith portrayed Thetis in the Ray Harryhausen film Clash of the Titans (for which she won a Saturn Award). In the film, she acts as the main antagonist to the hero Perseus for the mistreatment of her son Calibos. In 1999, British poet Carol Ann Duffy published The World's Wife poetry collection, which included a poem based on Thetis. In 2004, British actress Julie Christie portrayed Thetis in the Wolfgang Petersen film Troy. In 2011, American novelist Madeline Miller portrayed Thetis in The Song of Achilles as a harsh and remote deity. She does not approve of Patroclus and tries to separate him and Achilles on multiple occasions. The 2018 novel The Silence of the Girls focuses on the character of Briseis in the first person, with interjections giving Achilles' internal state of mind, including his tormented relationship with his mother. In 2019, New Zealand graphic designer Rachel Smythe portrayed Thetis in "Lore: Olympus". She is Zeus' personal secretary whom she also has an affair with. She is also the toxic best friend of Minthe and works with her to bring down Persephone. Gallery Thetis, Peleus and Zeus Wedding of Peleus and Thetis Thetis and Achilles Notes External links THETIS from the Theoi Project Slatkin: The Power of Thetis: a seminal work freely available in the University of California Press, eScholarship collection. Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Thetis" . Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.

Colegio Karl C. Parrish

Colegio Karl C. Parrish (also known as KCP) is a bilingual private school that offers Preschool through 12th-grade education. The school is located in Barranquilla, Colombia.

Colegio Karl C. Parrish (also known as KCP) is a bilingual private school that offers Preschool through 12th-grade education. The school is located in Barranquilla, Colombia. Description Colegio Karl C. Parrish was founded in 1938. It is accredited by the Colombian Ministerio de Educación Nacional and the US-based Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, now part of the Cognia-AdvancED accrediting agency. KCP is affiliated with international organizations such as the National Honor Society, Mu Alpha Theta, Model United Nations, and CharacterCounts!. The school teaches a U.S college-preparatory curriculum. Students study for both the U.S High School Diploma and the Colombian Bachillerato Diploma. The school offers Advanced Placement courses. History The school opened its doors for elementary students in 1938 as the result of an initiative by American and Colombian families to establish a school that could offer a United States-type education. They named the school after Karl Calvin Parrish, a civil engineer from Iowa lived in Barranquilla in the 1920s. The first director was Miss Miriam Best. The school has changed its location twice since its beginnings, once in 1946 and later in 1978 to its present site. Dr. Burton B. Fox became director in 1964. The school became an internationally accredited school in 1966 by the Southern Association of Schools and Colleges – now an accreditation division of AdvancED now Cognia – and still holds that status. The first class of seniors graduated in 1967. In 1998, the KCP Preschool adopted a Reggio Emilia approach – a specially designed project-based learning environment for preschoolers. It was the first school in Colombia to have this program. Facilities KCP's campus spans over 3 hectares. KCP's library, named in honor of Burton B. Fox, is a two-story building added in 1984 and was renovated in 2011. The Burton B. Fox Library contains over 22,000 items and subscribes to hundreds of academic databases. It also houses the Preschool Library, the result of a Reggio Emilia project undertaken by Kinder students in 2001. A swimming pool and gymnasium were built in 1987. In 1998 the Alumni Hall Auditorium was inaugurated as an addition to the Fine Arts program. It seats 465. 2014 saw the inauguration of a modern Gross Motor / Atelier building and Park for the Preschool. The Brown House holds the Director's office and the Board Room was built by Dr. Fox in 1970. References External links Parrish Jr., Karl. "Written by Memory by Karl C. Parrish, Jr., 1987" Archived 2014-05-29 at the Wayback Machine, Retrieved on 29 May 2014.

Mother of Muses

"Mother of Muses" is a song written and performed by the American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan and released as the seventh track on his 2020 album Rough and Rowdy Ways. It is a spare and meditative acoustic folk song in which the first person-narrator offers a paean to Mnemosyne, the goddess of memory in Greek mythology who gave birth to the nine Muses (the inspirational goddesses of literature, science and the arts).

"Mother of Muses" is a song written and performed by the American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan and released as the seventh track on his 2020 album Rough and Rowdy Ways. It is a spare and meditative acoustic folk song in which the first person-narrator offers a paean to Mnemosyne, the goddess of memory in Greek mythology who gave birth to the nine Muses (the inspirational goddesses of literature, science and the arts). Background and composition In an article published online in July 2020, one month after the release of Rough and Rowdy Ways, Dylan scholar Rolf Säfström theorized that "Mother of Muses" had been inspired by Dylan's having won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2016. Dylan had formally received the prize on April 1, 2017, before playing a concert in Stockholm, Sweden, in a small ceremony with no press or photographers present as per Dylan's request. Säfström noted that Sara Danius, secretary of the Swedish Academy, nonetheless published a short book on Dylan later that year in which she described his reaction to receiving the prize: "When he had the golden medal in his hand, he turned the backside up, looked at it for a long time and seemed amazed" by an engraving that depicted a poet listening to and writing down the song of a Muse playing a lyre. The engraving is accompanied by a Latin inscription, adapted from Virgil's Aeneid, "Inventas vitam iuvat excoluisse per artes", which literally translates to: "It is beneficial to have improved (human) life through discovered arts".Dylan scholar Laura Tenschert agrees with Säfström's theory and sees "Mother of Muses" as part of a diptych of songs, along with "My Own Version of You", that explicitly explore the "myth and mystery of creation" on Rough and Rowdy Ways. Niall Brennan also sees the song as "the most direct statement yet of how seriously Dylan has mediated upon the Nobel honours" but argues that the "central verses seem to suggest that he sees himself as undeserving of such high recognition, mentioning heroes both named and unnamed who might be more worthy".In the 2022 edition of their book Bob Dylan All the Songs: The Story Behind Every Track, authors Philippe Margotin and Jean-Michel Guesdon describe the song as "a very fine ballad with more or less Celtic influences, in a style that is not a million miles away from Mark Knopfler. The arrangements are once more deliberately reduced: we hear lots of acoustic and electric guitars, the bowed double bass and some sporadic contributions from Matt Chamberlain on bass drum (or orchestral kettledrum)". The song is performed in the key of A major. The second line in each verse contains an E6-E7 guitar figure (sometimes played as E minor) that Dylan previously used when covering Charles Aznavour's song "The Times We've Known" live in concert. Themes The song is a prayer for inspiration and artistic skill, featuring an invocation to the "Mother of Muses" to sing for (and through) the narrator. Dylan scholar Tony Attwood has observed that this is similar to how, in Ancient Greece, Mnemosyne was "called upon by poets who seek her help so that they may correctly remember the lines that they are to recite". The opening line to Dylan's song, "Mother of Muses, sing for me", even seems to explicitly recall the opening lines of Homer's Odyssey and Iliad (which begin, "Sing in me, Muse..." and "Sing, goddess...", respectively). Dylan had previously quoted Robert Fitzgerald’s 1961 translation of the opening invocation of Homer's Odyssey (“Sing in me, O Muse, and through me tell the story”) at the end of his Nobel lecture, which he delivered in June 2017.Historian and Harvard Latinist Richard F. Thomas notes that in much the same way that Homer and Virgil prayed to the Muse to help them in "memorializing the fighters of old", so too does Dylan ask for help in memorializing "those generals who fought for the freedoms that America enjoys, in the wars against the Confederacy and Nazi Germany" (e.g., William Tecumseh Sherman, Bernard Montgomery, Winfield Scott, Georgy Zhukov and George S. Patton). Thomas also believes that the song serves an important structural function as "the introduction to the rest of the album" whose final three "increasingly longer songs" ("Crossing the Rubicon", "Key West (Philosopher Pirate)" and "Murder Most Foul") form a trilogy that deal with the assassination of political figures (Julius Caesar, William McKinley and John F. Kennedy). Critical reception "Mother of Muses" has frequently been described by critics as a "hymn". Nick Tavares wrote that it is "one of the record’s highest moments" and describes it as "a quiet lament, calling for those spirits to help him carry on, and for new ones to carry forward when he’s gone". In a review of Rough and Rowdy Ways at Hot Press, Anne Margaret Daniel noted that it possesses a "stately, quiet grace". Johnny Borgan compared its "beautiful melody" and lyrics to Dylan's earlier "Ring Them Bells". Ewan Gleadow called it "a beautiful track, perhaps some of the best writing Dylan has offered up since his early days of freewheelin’ fun". Ludovic Hunter-Tilney praised Dylan's vocal performance in Financial Times, writing that "he sandpapers his rough and rowdy voice and croons the words as tenderly as he can".Spectrum Culture included the song on a list of "Bob Dylan's 20 Best Songs of the '10s and Beyond". In an article accompanying the list, critic Peter Tabakis considered that the song would not have been out of place on Dylan's Time Out of Mind: "There’s a gentleness, if not a wariness, to the song that harmonizes better with tracks like 'Not Dark Yet' and 'Standing in the Doorway' than some of the more rip-roaring compositions that followed. And its contemplative reckoning with mortality and one’s own legacy of course mirrors the central themes of his 1997 opus. In the end, it’s unclear if Dylan is begging Mnemosyne for help with his own memory, or perhaps ours with regard to him long after he’s gone. Either way 'Mother of Muses' is another late-period track that, to put too fine a point on it, is unforgettable".A 2021 Guardian article included it on a list of "80 Bob Dylan songs everyone should know". A 2021 article at Inside of Knoxville listed it as one of the "25 Best Dylan Songs from the Last 25 Years". In popular culture Folk singer (and former Dylan paramour) Joan Baez, who believes Rough and Rowdy Ways is as good as anything Dylan has ever done, quoted the song while paying tribute to the recently deceased Ruth Bader Ginsburg in a Rolling Stone interview in 2020: "She had outlived her life by far". Cultural references The fourth verse, about "falling in love with Calliope", explicitly references Mnemosyne's daughter Calliope, the Greek goddess of music, song and dance, and the muse of Epic Poetry.The song's last line, "I'm traveling light and I'm slow coming home", may refer to the journey of Odysseus (Richard F. Thomas has written extensively about Dylan seeing himself as "Odysseus transfigured") while also alluding to songs that appeared on each of the final three albums by Dylan's friend Leonard Cohen ("Traveling Light", "Slow" and "Going Home"). Live performances "Mother of Muses" received its live debut at the Riverside Theater in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on November 2, 2021, the first concert of Dylan's Rough and Rowdy Ways World Wide Tour. See also Civil rights movement in popular culture References External links Video on YouTube Lyrics at Bob Dylan's official site Bob Dylan at NobelPrize.org

Benjamin Seymour

Benjamin Seymour (ca 1806 – March 23, 1880) was a political figure in Canada West and a Conservative member of the Senate of Canada from 1867 to 1880. He was born in Fredericksburgh Township in Upper Canada around 1806 and became a merchant in the town of Bath. In 1844, he was elected to the 2nd Parliament of the Province of Canada representing the counties of Lennox and Addington and he continued to serve in that role until 1854. He was appointed to the Legislative Council. In 1867, he was appointed to the Canadian Senate and died while still in office in 1880.

Benjamin Seymour (ca 1806 – March 23, 1880) was a political figure in Canada West and a Conservative member of the Senate of Canada from 1867 to 1880. He was born in Fredericksburgh Township in Upper Canada around 1806 and became a merchant in the town of Bath. In 1844, he was elected to the 2nd Parliament of the Province of Canada representing the counties of Lennox and Addington and he continued to serve in that role until 1854. He was appointed to the Legislative Council. In 1867, he was appointed to the Canadian Senate and died while still in office in 1880. External links Benjamin Seymour – Parliament of Canada biography

Aleksander Kopatzky

Aleksander Grigoryevich Kopatzky (Russian: Александр Григорьевич Копацкий; 1923-1982) was a Soviet double agent who was ostensibly uncovered in 1965 by possible KGB "mole" Bruce Solie in CIA's mole-hunting Office of Security five years after he (Kopatzky / Orlov) had retired from the CIA. Kopatzky (or whatever his real name was) used the names Aleksandr Navratilov, Calvus, and, in the U.S., Igor Orlov. His Soviet codenames were Erwin, Herbert and Richard. In 1941, after the start of the German-Soviet War, Kopazky (who, since his first name was Alexandr, was often referred to as "Sasha") attended a Soviet training school for agents of the NKVD. In October 1943 he was on a parachute jump, with a radio, over occupied Kresy, but the German Wehrmacht arrested him, and he was taken as a prisoner-of-war.

Aleksander Grigoryevich Kopatzky (Russian: Александр Григорьевич Копацкий; 1923-1982) was a Soviet double agent who was ostensibly uncovered in 1965 by possible KGB "mole" Bruce Solie in CIA's mole-hunting Office of Security five years after he (Kopatzky / Orlov) had retired from the CIA. Kopatzky (or whatever his real name was) used the names Aleksandr Navratilov, Calvus, and, in the U.S., Igor Orlov. His Soviet codenames were Erwin, Herbert and Richard. In 1941, after the start of the German-Soviet War, Kopazky (who, since his first name was Alexandr, was often referred to as "Sasha") attended a Soviet training school for agents of the NKVD. In October 1943 he was on a parachute jump, with a radio, over occupied Kresy, but the German Wehrmacht arrested him, and he was taken as a prisoner-of-war. From 1944, he ostensibly worked for the Germans as an agent of the Department of Foreign Armies against the Red Army in Vlasov’s Army. In 1945, he came into American captivity and came into contact with the Gehlen Organization into which he was recruited by 1948. He married Eleanor Stirner, the daughter of a former SS functionary. In 1949, Kopazky (whom James Jesus Angleton said was always a Kremlin-loyal intelligence agent) was ostensibly re-recruited by the KGB and became one of its most important double agents. The CIA sent him to Berlin in 1951 under the name Franz Koischwitz. On 7 November 1951, he kidnapped the Estonian CIA agent Vlkadimir Kivi from West Berlin to East Berlin on behalf of the KGB. In 1954 the CIA, which was planning on bringing Koischwitz / Kopatzky to the U.S. for training, changed his name to Igor Orlov because he'd been imprisoned for drunk driving in Germany and the Agency didn't want this fact to come to the attention of U.S. immigration authorities. In 1957, Orlov attended agent training in the U.S. and was then reposted to Europe in 1958. In 1960, he was transferred back to the US where he was immediately laid off by the CIA. When KGB Major Anatoliy Golitsyn defected to the U.S. in December of 1961, he told Bruce Solie in the CIA's mole-hunting Office of Security, and Solie's mole-hunting subordinate, James Angleton in Counterintelligence, that he had read a report ten years earlier which led him to believe that the CIA was penetrated by a KGB mole whose code name was "Sasha," who had served with the CIA in Germany, and whose name started with a "K" and ended with a "-ski" or "-sky". Angleton searched for "Sasha" for several years but never found him, possibly because Solie was, according to the author of "Oswald and the CIA" and "Uncovering Popov's Mole" John M. Newman, a KGB mole, himself, and had deleted Orlov's former name, Alexandr ("Sasha") Kopatzky, from the list of suspected moles he showed to Golitsyn four days after he had arrived in the U.S. (Golitsyn chose the name of Serge Karlow from the list, instead, probably he had been stationed in Germany, he was already suspected of being a KGB agent in the Operation Easy Chair case, and because his original name was Klibansky. Solie, himself, "uncovered" Sasha in 1965, five years after Orlov had retired from the CIA. After a house search in 1965, Orlov fled for a short time in the Soviet consulate. He refused a flight to the Soviet Union, however, and remained in the United States. Until his death in 1982, he lived with his wife in Alexandria, Virginia, where they owned an art gallery and frame shop. See also List of Eastern Bloc defectors The Company (TV miniseries) Sources References Helmut Roewer, Stefan Schäfer, Matthias Uhl, Encyclopedia of intelligence in the 20th Century Herbig, München 2003, ISBN 3-7766-2317-9. David E. Murphy, Sergei A. Kondrashev, and George Bailey, Battleground Berlin: CIA vs. KGB in the Cold War. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1997. Joseph J. Trento: The Secret History of the CIA. Carroll & Graf Publishers Inc., New York 2005, ISBN 0-7867-1500-6. David E. Murphy, "Sasha who?", Intelligence and National Security, 8(1), 1993, p. 102-07 Routledge. Christopher Andrew and Vasili Mitrokhin, The Sword and the Shield: The Mitrokhin Archive and the Secret History of the KGB, Basic Books, New York, 1999 (published in United Kingdom as The Mitrokhin Archive: The KGB in Europe and the West, Allen Lane/Penguin Press, London, 1999), pp. 21, 148-149, 176-177 David E. Murphy, "The Hunt for Sasha Is Over." CIRA Newsletter 25, no. 3 (Fall 2000): 11-15.

List of bridges in Sichuan

This is a list of bridges in Sichuan, China.

This is a list of bridges in Sichuan, China. Bridges Bingcaogang Bridge Bosideng Bridge Fujiang Bridge Kuige Bridge Labajin Bridge Luding Bridge Luding Yaye Expressway Bridge Miaoziping Bridge Nanxi Bridge Qiancao Bridge Qianwei Bridge Rongzhou Bridge Taian Yangtze River Bridge Xiaonanmen Bridge Xipan Bridge Yibin Bridge Zhaohua Jialing Jiang Bridge Zhongba Bridge See also List of bridges in China Yangtze River bridges and tunnels

List of gold mines in Australia

This list of gold mines in Australia is subsidiary to the list of mines article and lists working, defunct and planned mines in the country organised by state.

This list of gold mines in Australia is subsidiary to the list of mines article and lists working, defunct and planned mines in the country organised by state. New South Wales Cadia-Ridgeway Mine Mount Boppy Gold Mine Mount Drysdale Mine Northparkes Occidental Mine / New Occidental Mine Peak Mines Tomingley Cowal Hera Queensland Mount Morgan Mine Cracow, Queensland Kidston Gold Mine Pajingo, Queensland Mt Carlton, Queensland Ravenswood Gold South Australia Tasmania Henty Gold Mine Mount Dundas (Tasmania) Mount Jukes Mine sites Mount Read (Tasmania) Beaconsfield Gold Mine Victoria A1 gold mine Ballarat gold mine Central Deborah gold mine Costerfield Gold Mine Fosterville Gold Mine Stawell Gold Mine Western Australia See also Mining in Australia == References ==

Fast X

Fast X (also known as Fast & Furious 10) is a 2023 American action film directed by Louis Leterrier from a screenplay written by Dan Mazeau and Justin Lin, both of whom also co-wrote the story with Zach Dean. It is the sequel to F9 (2021), the tenth main installment, and the eleventh installment overall in the Fast & Furious franchise. It stars Vin Diesel as Dominic Toretto alongside an ensemble cast including Michelle Rodriguez, Tyrese Gibson, Chris "Ludacris" Bridges, John Cena, Nathalie Emmanuel, Jordana Brewster, Sung Kang, Scott Eastwood, Daniela Melchior, Alan Ritchson, Helen Mirren, Brie Larson, Rita Moreno, Jason Statham, Jason Momoa, and Charlize Theron. In the film, Toretto must protect his family from Dante Reyes (Momoa), who seeks revenge for his father's death and the loss of his family's fortune. With a tenth film planned since 2014 and a two-part finale planned since October 2020, Lin was confirmed to return to direct with the main cast attached.

Fast X (also known as Fast & Furious 10) is a 2023 American action film directed by Louis Leterrier from a screenplay written by Dan Mazeau and Justin Lin, both of whom also co-wrote the story with Zach Dean. It is the sequel to F9 (2021), the tenth main installment, and the eleventh installment overall in the Fast & Furious franchise. It stars Vin Diesel as Dominic Toretto alongside an ensemble cast including Michelle Rodriguez, Tyrese Gibson, Chris "Ludacris" Bridges, John Cena, Nathalie Emmanuel, Jordana Brewster, Sung Kang, Scott Eastwood, Daniela Melchior, Alan Ritchson, Helen Mirren, Brie Larson, Rita Moreno, Jason Statham, Jason Momoa, and Charlize Theron. In the film, Toretto must protect his family from Dante Reyes (Momoa), who seeks revenge for his father's death and the loss of his family's fortune. With a tenth film planned since 2014 and a two-part finale planned since October 2020, Lin was confirmed to return to direct with the main cast attached. The film's official title was revealed when principal photography began in April 2022. Lin left as director later that month citing creative differences, though he retained writing and producing credits. Leterrier was then hired as his replacement a week later and performed several uncredited rewrites to the screenplay. Longtime franchise composer Brian Tyler returned to score the film. With an estimated production budget of $340 million, Fast X would be the eighth-most expensive film ever made. Filming lasted until that August, taking place in London, Rome, Turin, other Italian cities, Lisbon, and Los Angeles. Fast X premiered in Rome on May 12, 2023, and was released in the United States on May 19, by Universal Pictures. The film received mixed reviews from critics, with praise for its action sequences and Momoa's performance but criticism towards the writing. The film grossed $714 million worldwide, becoming the fifth-highest-grossing film of 2023. A sequel is in development and scheduled to be released on April 4, 2025. Plot Dominic Toretto and his team are requested by the Agency to steal a computer chip during its transit in Rome. Dom and his wife Letty Ortiz stay behind with his son Brian "Little B" Marcos, while the rest of the team, consisting of Roman Pearce, Tej Parker, Han Lue, and Ramsey, travels to Rome. A wounded Cipher arrives at Dom's home and informs him and Letty that Dante Reyes, the son of drug lord Hernan Reyes, has turned her crew against her and is using them to target Dom as revenge for his father's death and the loss of his family's fortune ten years prior. When Little Nobody says that there is no Agency mission in Rome, Dom and Letty realize that Dante set them up and they go to rescue the team. In Rome, Dante releases a metal ball bomb into the streets. Dom pushes it into the Tiber River, minimizing the damage, but Letty is arrested. Agent Aimes, the Agency's de facto leader since Mr. Nobody's disappearance, believes that Dom and his team are responsible for the bombing and begins a manhunt. In Los Angeles, Dom's brother Jakob rescues Little B and Mia, his and Dom's sister, from a squad sent by Dante to kidnap Little B and with her approval, takes Little B to a secret location in Portugal, where they will await Dom. Mr. Nobody's daughter, Tess, is convinced of the team's innocence and uses God's Eye to find Dom in Naples, informing him that Dante is in Rio de Janeiro. There, Dom confronts Dante and meets Isabel Neves, the sister of Little B's late mother Elena. Dom later challenges Dante to a race, along with Isabel and his ally, Diogo. However, Dante wins while killing Diogo and injuring Isabel. Tess visits Letty at the black site and covertly wounds her to send her to the prison's treatment center, where Letty meets Cipher. They discover the black site is located in Antarctica and they must work together to escape. In London, Dom's team turns to Deckard Shaw for help, through the convincing of Han after a scuffle between himself and Deckard. Tess gets shot by the sniper and Dante steals the God's eye from Tess. Aimes joins forces with Dom to fight Dante. Dante locates Little B in Portugal and kidnaps him. As Dom is cornered by mercenaries, Jakob sacrifices his life to take them all out, allowing Dom to rescue his son. Dante again corners Dom and his son, just as Roman, Tej, Han, and Ramsey arrive by plane to aid Dom. Realizing too late, Dom tells Roman to turn the plane around, but Aimes, revealed to be working for Dante, shoots down the plane, leaving each member of the team's fates unknown. Dom drives off the edge of the dam they are on to avoid Dante's trap, but Dante has the dam rigged with explosives and arms them, leaving Dom and Little B's fates unknown as well. In Antarctica, Gisele Yashar, who was presumed dead, emerges from a submarine to rescue Letty and Cipher. In a mid-credits scene, Luke Hobbs infiltrates an abandoned theatre with a team of agents where he is contacted by Dante who tells him that he will be his next target for killing his father. Cast Vin Diesel as Dominic Toretto:A former criminal and professional street racer who has retired and settled down with his wife, Letty Ortiz, and his son, Brian Marcos. In an interview, Louis Leterrier described Fast X as exploring the fallout of Dom's actions in previous installments, saying "[Dom] has fought so hard to keep faith and protect family [but] there is a price to pay. His enemies are coming after him". Michelle Rodriguez as Letty Ortiz: Dom's wife and a former criminal and professional street racer. Tyrese Gibson as Roman Pearce: An ex-habitual offender, expert street racer, and a member of Dom's team. Chris "Ludacris" Bridges as Tej Parker: A tech expert, mechanic, and a member of Dom's team. Jordana Brewster as Mia Toretto: Dom and Jakob's sister and a member of Dom's team who has two children with her partner, Brian O'Conner. Sung Kang as Han Lue: An expert drifter and member of Dom's team who previously faked his death during a covert operation for Mr. Nobody. John Cena as Jakob Toretto: Dom and Mia's brother and a master thief, assassin, and high-performance driver who once worked as an agent for Mr. Nobody. Nathalie Emmanuel as Ramsey: A computer hacktivist and a member of Dom's team. Emmanuel said her character would see increased involvement in Fast X compared to the previous films. Scott Eastwood as Little Nobody: A government law enforcement agent who worked under Mr. Nobody. Daniela Melchior as Isabel Neves: A Brazilian street racer and the sister of Dom's former girlfriend and Little B's mother, Elena Neves. Alan Ritchson as Aimes: The new leader of Mr. Nobody's agency who is covertly working with Dante. In early drafts, Aimes and Dante were brothers, and Ritchson revealed the film's plot twist was filmed alongside another ending, saying, "Aimes wouldn't care [if] he's evil [if] his methods made him feel like he was a good guy". Helen Mirren as Magdalene "Queenie" Ellmanson-Shaw: The leader of a female militia and an ally of Dom, as well as the mother of his former enemies Deckard and Owen. Mirren drew inspiration for the character from her aunt (also nicknamed Queenie) and from her performance as Queen Elizabeth II in The Queen (2006). Brie Larson as Tess: Mr. Nobody's daughter and agent who allies with Dom and his crew. According to Diesel, Larson drew inspiration from his daughter, Pauline, for the character. Rita Moreno as Abuelita Toretto: Dom, Jakob, and Mia's paternal grandmother. Jason Statham as Deckard Shaw: A former opponent of Dom and his team, who became an ally and new member after saving his son. Deckard's younger brother, Owen, was hospitalized working for Cipher. Jason Momoa as Dante Reyes: The son of drug lord Hernan Reyes, seeking revenge against Dom and his crew for the death of his father and loss of his family's fortune in Fast Five (2011). Momoa described the character as Dom's foil, saying Dante is "very sadistic and androgynous and he's a bit of a peacock... He's got a lot of issues. He's definitely got some daddy issues". Momoa expressed a desire to play against type when portraying Dante, taking on a "less macho" character, and he performed his own stunts for the film. Charlize Theron as Cipher: A criminal mastermind and cyberterrorist who was previously an enemy of Dom's team. Leterrier described Cipher as the "devil", and speaking on her dynamic with Dante, Leterrier said, "They are bad news, but one is more afraid than the other. One is worse news than the other".Gal Gadot and Dwayne Johnson reprise their roles from the franchise uncredited as Gisele Yashar and Luke Hobbs during the final scene and mid-credits scene, respectively. Joaquim de Almeida reprises his role as Hernan Reyes, a ruthless drug lord and Dante's father, from Fast Five, while Leo Abelo Perry portrays Brian "Little B" Marcos, Dom's son. Luis Da Silva reprises his role from Fast Five as Diogo, a Brazilian street racer who allies with Dom and his crew. Making cameo appearances are Brazilian singer Ludmilla as a race starter in Rio de Janeiro, Pete Davidson as Bowie, a friend of Ramsey, Paul Walker's daughter Meadow as a flight attendant helping Jakob, and Debby Ryan and Josh Dun (credited as themselves) as a couple in an airport. Production Development In November 2014, Universal Pictures chairwoman Donna Langley said there would be at least three more films in the Fast & Furious franchise after Furious 7 (2015). In April 2017, producer Neal H. Moritz stated that the tenth entry would serve as the finale for the franchise with Chris Morgan attached as screenwriter. In October 2017, Justin Lin entered negotiations to direct the ninth and tenth installments after directing four films in the series. In February 2020, Vin Diesel hinted the film could be split in two, which he confirmed in an April 2021 press conference, stating, "There's so much ground to cover and so many places in so many locations that we have to visit" as the rationale behind the decision for a two-part finale. Prior to production, Diesel announced filming would take place in Italy, stating, "I was asked, 'Would there ever be a Fast where you could film in Italy?', and I [promised] we would". While Morgan ultimately did not return as screenwriter, it was confirmed he would serve as an executive producer on the film, alongside Joseph M. Caracciolo, Jr., David Cain, Amanda Lewis, and Mark Bomback.By April 2022, a new screenplay draft was written by Lin and Dan Mazeau. On June 5, 2022, Tyrese Gibson announced Fast X would see the franchise "going back to its roots", with reports indicating this to be a return to street racing elements of previous entries, although shared details the film would also continue to explore the history of the Toretto family in a "similar" vein to F9; Leterrier later revealed the film focuses on increased familial responsibilities, saying, "Dom was always a lone wolf. He was living a quarter mile at a time [but] the stakes are real now. [He is] responsible for a human being, an innocent life [he] brought into the world". Gibson also expressed a desire for the franchise to film in South Africa, stating, "me and Luda always had this idea [that] it's time for us to head to South Africa. It needs real estate in this franchise [because] it [has] a beautiful skyline with ocean. It's the Fast and Furious package". Ludacris later stated his favorite franchise filming location was his home city of Atlanta, Georgia, and revealed that he did not anticipate returning to the franchise after his initial appearance in 2 Fast 2 Furious (2003). During an August 2022 interview with ComicBook, Nathalie Emmanuel said "the stakes are higher on a more personal level in this [film]", indicating a more grounded approach compared to previous installments. In developing the character of Dante, Leterrier revealed they wanted to forge the "anti-Dom", saying, "[Dante] is the yang of [Dom's] yin, the antichrist of his Christ", and wanted to give Dante clear motivation with Dom's role in Dante's origin story, noting, "There are strong ties with [Dante and Dom] and that is what makes an amazing villain because you understand why they became this and [their motivations]". Leterrier noted Larson's character as also being influenced by "the generational legacy of the characters", saying, "Everybody [in the franchise] has a different point of view on Dom and his own influence on their lives. And that's how she [fits in]".Describing the film's retcon of Fast Five (2011), Leterrier said it was to "explore the price of justice", noting, "[We] Rashomon'ed [the fifth film] to experience it through the eyes of Reyes, with Dom and Brian the thieves. We [wanted to] guide the audience to rethink everything they've experienced in the franchise [because] a good antagonist has their own truth, [separate] from the protagonists". Leterrier noted the film touches on each previous installment, saying, "The snowball [of Dom's actions] has picked up speed and became an avalanche", and said his favorite film in the franchise is Fast Five. Leterrier later revealed he performed several uncredited rewrites to the entire screenplay on his initial travel to the set, stating he lacked sleep for the first four days he worked on the film. During the film's early promotional run, Leterrier said Fast X explores the potential breakup of family, noting "people are going to need to take sides [and] alliances will need to be made" compounded by "[the] war brewing" between the characters, saying "there will be some tremendous casualties". He later confirmed the film will end on a cliffhanger, and further hinted at character deaths, saying, "The beauty of the end of this franchise [is] understanding these characters will [not] live forever. Only in Westerns do cowboys gallop out into the sunset. This is different; the stakes even more than they've been before". This was seemingly confirmed by Michelle Rodriguez, who considered the fan reaction to the ending, saying, "You're going to feel so cheated in a way, but then so gratified and excited about what's to come. After 23 years of [making films], it's really tough at this stage to shock me, and they got me good". She reiterated this in a promotional interview with Collider for Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves (2023), saying the ending of Fast X would "[leave] people really surprised and we're [going to] get open mouths at the end. In [the] theater, I was like, 'Oh my god. What have we done?!'".In an interview with Collider, Universal Pictures producer Kelly McCormick stated the impact of COVID-19 and the production schedules of "our interfering projects" (like Fast X and its sequel) caused delays in developing the sequel to Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw (2019). Filming in Turin required the Film Commission Torino Piemonte, local authorities, and city councilors to conduct a five-month planning schedule from September 2021 to January 2022, collaborating with the Departments of Culture to coordinate the city's major events, roads and transport, public, and security around filming requirements. Such planning included managing the overflight of drones and limitations on circulation made necessary for the management and safety of the set. Vehicles Fast X is the first film in the series to feature electric cars, with leaked set photos featuring the 2024 Dodge Charger Daytona SRT Banshee Concept and the gull-winged DeLorean Alpha5. Other vehicles set to feature include the 2022 TorRed Dodge Charger R/T, the 2023 Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat Redeye, and the 1970 Charger R/T, the latter a franchise staple. On June 27, 2022, it was reported Fast X would include the fan favorite orange and black Veilside Mazda RX-7 FD Fortune, which first featured in The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift (2006). The inclusion of the electric Dodge Chargers in the film was confirmed upon release of the first trailer on February 9, 2023, with the "Greys of Thunder" Dodge Charger Daytona SRT also appearing in other promotional material. In an interview with Fox News, a Dodge spokesperson said the company "has a long-standing marketing partnership with Fast & Furious", which will continue with Fast X. Other vehicles expected to feature in the film include the foreign-made Lamborghini Gallardo, Alfa Romeo 159, Nissan Silvia, Porsche 911 997 GT3 RS, Pagani Huayra Tricolore, and the Datsun 240Z, as well as the U.S.-made Chevrolet Impala and El Camino, Lenco BearCat Armoured Vehicle, and the 1966 Ford Fairlane. In an interview with vehicle co-ordinator Dennis McCarthy, who worked on every Fast & Furious film since Tokyo Drift (2006), each significant car featured on screen required around seven duplicates, resulting in an estimated 200 cars built for Fast X to race-car standards required for the stunt work. In April 2023, Momoa revealed that he personally contacted Jochen Zeitz, the CEO of Harley-Davidson, to secure six motorcycles to be used in the film for his character. He is seen riding the Harley-Davidson Pan America throughout the movie, which was modified with an upgraded exhaust system and extra shielding. Casting In June 2021, Diesel announced the film would be split in a two-part culmination to the franchise, with principal photography slated to begin in January 2022 and take place back-to-back. In December 2021, Dwayne Johnson ruled out returning for Fast X, and labeled an Instagram post by Diesel asking for his return as "manipulation", with publications indicating he was referring to a feud with Diesel stemming from Diesel's role as an executive producer on The Fate of the Furious (2017). He ultimately reprised his role as Luke Hobbs in a mid-credits scene cameo appearance.In early 2022, Jason Momoa was cast as Dante, the villain, while Daniela Melchior, Brie Larson, and Alan Ritchson joined the cast by that April. Keanu Reeves was originally approached to play Aimes, having been previously in talks to join the franchise with the role of the Eteon Director in Hobbs & Shaw, but plans shifted and Ritchson was contacted about taking over the role while filming Ordinary Angels (2024), an offer he considered and accepted once production on that film was halted because of the announcement that the biggest blizzard in Winnipeg's history was coming to the set. Larson was initially hesitant to join another franchise after the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), saying, "I was scared of what would happen to me [by joining Fast & Furious]. But what I always come back to is, I have to live with myself in a way that nobody else has to. The choices I make, I have to live with, whether I regret them or not", but stated Fast & Furious was her "dream franchise", saying, "I've been begging to be in this for years. Being part of something you've watched your whole life and that you love is an amazing feeling".In a March 2023 interview with Total Film, Larson revealed she would portray Tess, the daughter of government agent and covert operations team leader Mr. Nobody; she described Tess as "a bridge", saying, "she doesn't go along with the Agency. She believes in the legacy her father set up, standing with Dom and the Toretto family". Describing Momoa's addition, director Louis Leterrier said Dante is "an incredible new character. It's 1,000 per cent Momoa", while Michelle Rodriguez said Dante is "malicious but he can be playful. It's like a fresh energy. There's something charming about him". She later labeled Dante as the best male villain in the franchise's history, describing him as "revenge with a smirk". After being cast, Momoa was initially apprehensive over filming conditions due to reports of conflict on set between Diesel and Lin, and said he accepted the role to play against type. In May, Rita Moreno was cast as Abuelita, the grandmother of Dom, Jakob, and Mia, with Leterrier describing her inclusion as the "guiding light that Dom is following", adding, "[Abuelita] is his conscience, [she is one] of the people that keep him grounded. When your grandmother you haven't seen for years gives you a message that becomes guiding for the second part of your life, you listen". In a February 2023 interview with Collider, Moreno's grandson said he pitched for her inclusion in Fast X after he met Diesel at the premiere for West Side Story (2021), which starred Moreno.On December 23, 2022, it was revealed that Gal Gadot, who portrayed Gisele Yashar in three previous installments, filmed a scene for Fast X; according to social media reports, she appeared in one of two versions of the film screened three days prior, with further details about the nature of her return undisclosed. Gadot's potential return was met with mixed reception by fans and critics; some criticized the franchise's history of reviving dead characters to capitalize on star power, labeling it "ineffective" fan service which negatively impacts the previous installments and the story of the franchise. Others were positive about Gadot's potential return, citing her portrayal of one of the franchise's most popular characters. In a February 2023 interview with ComicBook, Sung Kang refused to rule out Gadot's character being resurrected in Fast X. As the final cast rounded out, it sparked debate that it could create a story problem for the film; writing for Screen Rant, Ryan Northrup said, "With such a large cast, it's uncertain whether Fast X will be able to serve [every] character in a satisfying way. With many new and returning characters, [every] arc may not be as fleshed out [and if] new characters aren't given much screen time or development, [it will be] a disappointment. [It may be] up to the finale to rectify [it]".A month later, a leaked email from The Hollywood Reporter revealed some crew returned after principal photography had completed to film a "button or tag" (a mid or post-credits scene) that will feature "a guest cameo". Gadot and Johnson ultimately reprised their roles in cameo appearances. Rodriguez and Diesel later said Gadot's return had been planned for previous installments (going as far as to film unused cameos), with Diesel reasoning the decision to include Gadot in Fast X was done because it "fit the [film]". He also said, "Doing tags is tricky because you want great talent but at the same time you have to be very careful to maintain the emotional state of your audience". Several actors who were reported to be reprising their roles from previous films in Fast X did not end up doing so, including Michael Rooker as Buddy, Cardi B as Leysa, Don Omar as Rico Santos, and Tego Calderón as Tego Leo, respectively.Following the release of the film's trailer on February 9, 2023, Leterrier hinted archival footage featuring Paul Walker from previous films may be used in Fast X, saying, "Brian is very much alive in [this franchise]. This [film] jumps back and forth between the past and the present. You will see Brian in the past, you won't see Brian in the present. [His] family is part of this franchise. It has to be the right moment, the right tone [if] Brian has to re-enter the franchise. [It must be] as perfect as how he left". Regarding Walker's inclusion, Rodriguez said, "It's really hard to [make the films] without a blessing of some sort from [his] family because it's everything. Without that kind of like that love from them, we would be lost". She also revealed Furious 7 (2015) is her favorite film in the franchise, citing its emotional tribute to Walker. Diesel similarly commented on Walker's potential inclusion in the film in a March 2023 interview with Total Film, saying, "[Universal] made a bold, righteous, and daring decision to keep Brian O'Conner alive. I couldn't image this saga ending without truly saying goodbye to Brian". Filming Principal photography began on April 21, 2022, with the film's title being revealed and Michelle Rodriguez, Tyrese Gibson, Chris "Ludacris" Bridges, Jordana Brewster, Nathalie Emmanuel, Sung Kang, and Charlize Theron confirmed to reprise their roles. According to Diesel, an earlier draft excluded Brewster's character, which he overturned. Fast X's production budget was initially reported to be $300 million in May 2022, which was revised to $340 million that November; the cast was reportedly paid $100 million for their involvement, including $20 million for Diesel. Other costs for the rising budget (which factors in tax-incentive offsets) included increases in production costs caused by global inflation and charges for pandemic testing requirements mandated by COVID-19 safety protocols. According to unnamed sources reporting to Radar, Diesel reportedly "stressed" over the increased budget and the creative decisions in Fast X; sources wrote Diesel is considered by Universal as "simultaneously the greatest star [they've] had and their biggest headache" and that "[Diesel] doesn't let anybody forget [how] the Fast & Furious franchise is important to the whole [film] industry".A week after filming commenced, Lin exited the film as director due to "creative differences", leaving primary production stalled. However, Lin remained on board as a producer. Later reports alleged that Lin clashed on set with Diesel, who purportedly arrived out of shape, was often late, and did not remember his lines. Lin was also upset with rewrites to his screenplay, as well as changing filming locations and one of the film's villains having yet to be cast; a disagreement with Diesel reportedly escalated to the point it caused Lin to shout, "This movie is not worth my mental health"; Lin reportedly forewent pay in the region of $10–20 million in his departure. Second unit production remained ongoing in the United Kingdom while the studio sought a replacement director. Universal Pictures reportedly spent $1 million a day to pause production. Former Fast & Furious directors F. Gary Gray and David Leitch, who previously directed The Fate of the Furious and Hobbs & Shaw respectively, were considered by the studio to replace Lin, however neither were likely to step in due to their commitments with Lift and The Fall Guy (both 2024), respectively. Furious 7 director James Wan, who was once considered to direct The Fate of the Furious and F9 but declined due to his straining experience on Furious 7, was also considered a "viable option" but was tied with commitments to Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom (2023), the final DC Extended Universe (DCEU) film. Variety reported hiring an "A-list" director was not probable without drastic changes to the screenplay and Universal would likely turn to a second unit director "well-versed" in big-budget action films. On May 2, 2022, Louis Leterrier was announced as Lin's replacement. Leterrier already had an established relationship with the studio, having previously directed the MCU film The Incredible Hulk (2008), and he was knowledgeable about the franchise; he and franchise star Jason Statham went to watch the original film in Paris in 2001 while on a break from filming The Transporter (2002). Leterrier joined filming in London after scheduling and contractual considerations were confirmed; he later revealed he initially rejected the offer to direct the film, labeling it a "massive" task, although later used elements of Lin's original contributions, such as the established crew, as well as Lin's shot lists and storyboards, to complete the film. Production in London concluded in mid-August, with scenes filmed at Warner Bros. Studios, Leavesden. Rodriguez later revealed a fight sequence between her and Theron was shot without a principal director, being done while studio negotiations with Leterrier were ongoing. Ritchson initially thought he would lose the role of Aimes upon being informed by producer Jeff Kirschenbaum about the directing change, but was quickly reassured by Kirschenbaum that he was still cast and that he would just not collaborate with Lin. Describing his style for the film, Leterrier said, "I'm more practical than other directors, and I brought [the franchise] back to earth", revealing he favored more practical stunts (including a return of racing scenes featuring a "vertical quarter mile race") enhanced with visual effects, as opposed to the extensive use of computer-generated imagery (CGI) in the recent installments.Filming took place in Genzano di Roma in mid-May. Filming took place in Rome for two weeks in mid-May, and one week in mid-July, with scenes being shot at the Via Cristoforo Colombo, Lungotevere, Via dei Fori Imperiali, Ponte Umberto I, Ponte Vittorio Emanuele II, and the area around the Castel Sant'Angelo and the Spanish Steps. Filming then took place in Turin between May 24 and June 6, with action sequences filmed at the Piazza Crimea and Corso Fiume, Murazzi del Po, Via Roma, and the Piazza IV Marzo. Momoa began shooting his scenes on May 16. Like previous installments, Diesel supervised writing and design of the film's action sequences; according to unnamed sources to The Hollywood Reporter, Diesel's creative control and frequent last-minute changes reflect "a process [which] is like a mosaic that doesn't stop moving", labeling him "demanding" and a perfectionist. On June 6, it was reported a stuntman was injured in an accident after being hit by part of a car after an explosion. On July 22, in an interview with Deadline Hollywood while at San Diego Comic-Con, Rodriguez announced she had completed filming her scenes and said "only four [or] five weeks [are] left" in production. Filming in Angelino Heights (the location of the Toretto house) faced protest from some local residents after production gave notice of the filming of a sequence which would involve "simulated emergency services activity, aerial photography, wetting down of street and atmospheric smoke". According to those residents, the protest was to raise awareness for road safety education, claiming the franchise caused their neighborhood to become a hot spot for fans to engage in street racing and other dangerous activity. Filming managed to occur following the protest on August 26, while other portions were filmed in Portugal, such as in Lisbon, Viseu, and Vila Real. In an interview with Lusa News Agency, Conceição Azevedo, the mayor of Viseu, announced filming would take place on IP5, a highway in the Vouzela municipality. Ritchson finished filming his scenes by August 16, and hinted at flying cars in the film, stating "we're going to take it to the sky".During filming, Sofia Noronha, a producer for Sagesse Productions (the company in charge of overseeing production of Fast X in Portugal) said a "brutal economic investment" will be made in the country by the film. Highlighting the weather, affordability through tax breaks, and flexibility of the production, Noronha argued "investments [from film] made in the country is almost double that tax incentive. The [producing] country always benefits". This was echoed during filming in Turin, with it reported the two-week schedule generated €3.8 million for the local economy, coming mainly from expenses related to location rent, hospitality, technical staff and local workforce employment, security and sanitation, and storage and unloading. It was also reported the film regularly brought troupes of close to 400 people (5 times above average for comparable films) and often collaborated with hundreds of local professionals on the research of locations and finalization of the working filming plan. In a statement, Beatrice Borgia, President of Film Commission Torino Piemonte, said "Fast X is a confirmation of the key role Turin and Piedmont has gained in filmmaking. [We have] proved to have all what is needed to host complex productions: skilled professionals, supportive institutions, and amazing locations". Post-production Dylan Highsmith and Kelly Matsumoto, both of whom were two of the three co-editors on F9, return as editors with Laura Yanovich and Corbin Mehl joining. Peter Chiang returns as the visual effects supervisor for the production, after doing so for F9, with DNEG and Industrial Light & Magic as the returning visual effects vendors. In a July 2022 interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Michelle Rodriguez praised the addition of Leterrier and his predominantly French-speaking creative team, labeling it "the French takeover, dude". She stated Leterrier "came with all this energy of love [from] a real fan of [the] franchise who really wants to take it places that it hasn't gone before. It reminds you [how] beautiful and magical [filmmaking] is". Several aerial shots were filmed with first-person view (FPV) drones with an attached WarpCam® piloted by Johnny Schaer, similar to the filming techniques that were used for the action sequences in Michael Bay's Ambulance (2022). Schaer previously supervised the drone-led filming in Rawson Marshall Thurber's Red Notice (2021). The filmmakers researched pre-existing and unused footage of Fast Five through Universal's archival department as the film had dailies for "alternate takes and different angles". Such footage was composited to provide changes for Fast X's flashback, integrating the characters into it using motion control photography and CGI. In March 2023, the writing credits were finalized; Mazeau and Lin received screenplay credits, and both shared story credits with Zach Dean. In May 2023, despite his initial refusal to return to the franchise, it was announced that Dwayne Johnson would appear as Luke Hobbs in the movie's mid-credits scene. Music The first single for the film's soundtrack, "Let's Ride", was released on February 10, 2023, performed by YG, Ty Dolla Sign, and Lambo4oe. The soundtrack features hip hop, pop, reggaeton, electronic rock, and rhythmic Latin tracks. The second song from the film, "Won't Back Down", performed by YoungBoy Never Broke Again, Bailey Zimmerman, and Dermot Kennedy, was released on May 4. The soundtrack of the film was released on May 19, by Artist Partner Group.In March 2023 during post-production, Brian Tyler was returned to composed the film score after he previously scoring some of the film franchise starting with the third installment The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift (2006). The official score album was being released on June 2, 2023, by Back Lot Music. Marketing Parts of Fast X previewed at CineEurope in Barcelona in June 2022, including a first look at Jason Momoa and Brie Larson. Speaking of the film, Universal Pictures International President of Distribution, Veronika Kwan Vandenberg, stated the studio's drive was to continue to "cater to the diverse tastes" expected from the franchise. At the 2022 Grio Awards, Tyrese Gibson stated he watched the completed film on October 20, 2022, describing it as "crazy" with "just too much magic", and announced an extended version of the film's trailer would first premiere at Super Bowl LVII on February 12, 2023. This was seemingly confirmed in a December 2022 social media post by Vin Diesel, who wrote the trailer was "less than two months away", and was made it official in January 2023 post. In a January 2023 report by Collider, it was confirmed the first trailer would debut worldwide on February 10, 2023 (after being screened at a private fan event a day prior); it was three minutes long, and was followed with a Super Bowl spot alongside Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves, Cocaine Bear, Scream VI, 65, Air, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 and The Flash (all 2023). Beginning February 1, to promote the release of the trailer, official recuts of the trailers of each of the previous nine films, dubbed "Legacy Trailers", were released daily in conjunction with IGN. The fan event took place at L.A. Live in downtown Los Angeles, being hosted by Maria Menounos and featuring Diesel, Rodriguez, Gibson, Ludacris, and Cody Walker, the brother of the series' longtime initial star Paul Walker. Similar fan events also took place in Mexico, France, and Japan but did not feature the cast.On February 1, the film's teaser poster was released, depicting Diesel alone in the center, bowing his head and clutching a cross between his fists on a dark to light backdrop. Writing for Collider, Safeeyah Kazi said his positioning depicts "an intense prayer" with the "small amount of light [from the cross] engulfing his fist acting as the optimism in the dark". She also said that the relative simplicity of the poster compared to the "color explosion" for F9 could indicate a grittier storyline in Fast X. Kazi wrote the film's "the end of the road begins" tagline depicted "a new level of intensity", and speculated it could refer to the end for some of the franchise's characters. In an analysis by Matt Singer of WBUF, Singer described the poster as "somber", noting it as "remarkably tense" compared to the posters for other entries in the franchise. Stills from the film detailing Momoa, Larson, and Diesel's characters were publicly released on February 9, and was followed by a teaser showcasing the main cast a day later. The official trailer then released soon after, featuring an orchestral flip of "Notorious Thugs" by The Notorious B.I.G. and Bone Thugs-n-Harmony from the former's album Life After Death (1997). The trailer was mostly positively received; writing for GQ, Grant Rindner labeled the trailer "glorious absurdity", stating it is "as glossy and over-the-top as recent features". He commended the return of racing scenes, saying it "restores the original feeling" of the films, and said the music was an "operatic nail-biter".According to data from social media analytics company RelishMix, the film's Super Bowl trailer (dubbed "The Big Game Trailer") clocked 94.1 million views across social media in the 24-hour period following the game; it was the third most viewed trailer that aired at the event, behind Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (134.1 million views) and The Flash (97.4 million). It was the highest-viewed trailer which did not debut at the event, but its view count was down from the 110.9 million views received by F9's Super Bowl trailer in 2020, prior to that film's eventual delay. According to unnamed sources reporting to Variety, the first trailer accumulated an estimated 295 million views globally within the first 72 hours of release; Instagram drove nearly 30% of views, followed by TikTok (25%), Facebook (22%), YouTube (18%) and Twitter (6%), with a majority of viewership coming in from international territories. Fast X also trended as the top topic on Twitter in the U.S. immediately after the trailer debut. Similar to other Fast & Furious releases, Hot Wheels announced a themed basic assortment of cars set to feature in Fast X, which is set to be released with the film.On March 14, 2023, the official theatrical poster was released; writing for Collider, Aidan King positively reviewed the poster, saying the vehicles placed around the characters are similar to a "high-octane drag race", indicating a return to the franchise's history as car-oriented films. He also noted the characters "loom above the drag [race] scene", referencing the franchise's thematic shift away from car culture. Two featurettes were released, first on March 31 and then on April 7, 2023, with the main cast giving a behind-the-scenes look (with previously unseen footage) at the production of the film. An additional featurette highlighting Diesel and Perry's characters was released on May 5, with the pair and Leterrier providing commentary.On April 19, the second full-length trailer and the film's official synopsis was released; it was generally praised by critics for its action and Momoa's presentation. On May 2, a character trailer featuring Diesel and Rodriguez, titled "Fast X: Open Road", was released; writing for /Film, Bill Bria described it as "reflective". The trailer featured elements of Max Richter's "On the Nature of Daylight" and Dinah Washington's contributions from "This Bitter Earth", which Bria said "lent even more gravitas to the Dom/Letty highlight reel". He further praised the combination, stating "visuals so nakedly frivolous and music so achingly earnest" created "an exquisite tension". Two days later, the free to play 8-bit style game Fast X: Let's Race was launched online. The game features multiple top-down race courses set in the film's locations of Los Angeles, Rio de Janeiro, and Rome. Diesel and Rodriguez then appeared in promotional spots at the 2023 Miami Grand Prix, while in the United Kingdom, the film partnered with the Capital radio network to launch a competition for a listener to win a trip to Rome. The extended four and a half-minute final trailer was released on May 15.On May 16, Philips announced a partnership with Universal Pictures in the Philippines, where one could win tickets alongside purchases of an Evnia gaming monitor. Universal also partnered with Frito-Lay's Ruffles to create limited-edition Fast X potato chips, which come with raffle tickets where fans could win a ticket; a lucky prize included the 2023 Dodge Charger R/T. Release Theatrical Fast X premiered on May 12, 2023, at the Colosseum in Rome. It was initially scheduled for release on April 2, 2021, but was postponed to April 7, 2023, and finally May 19. These shifts were reportedly made in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to F9's eventual postponement to June 2021 that caused Fast X to be indefinitely delayed. It was widely released in IMAX and other premium large formats. The film was cleared for release in China on March 28, 2023, marking one of the first large American films released in the country in 2023; Fast & Furious films have grossed over $1.2 billion in China since the release of Fast & Furious 6 (2013), and was one of the first countries where F9 (2021) was released, being five weeks ahead of its domestic release. Home media Fast X was released by Universal Pictures Home Entertainment on premium video on demand on June 9, 2023; on 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray, and DVD on August 8; and on Peacock on September 15. Physical copies contain an audio commentary, behind-the-scenes featurettes, a blooper reel, and two music videos. Reception Box office Fast X has grossed $146.1 million in the United States and Canada, and $568.5 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $714.6 million. Prior to its release, TheWrap estimated the film would need to gross $800–850 million worldwide in order to turn a profit. Variety later reported that the film "barely crawled into the black" but would post a modest profit for the studio.In the United States and Canada, tickets went on sale at midnight on February 9, 2023, a day prior to the premiere of the trailer. According to a Fandango study, which surveyed over 6,000 ticket buyers between February and March 2023, Fast X was revealed to be the sixth-most anticipated film of the summer. In April 2023, box office projections estimated that the film would gross $65–75 million in its opening weekend. By the week of its release, estimates had been lowered to $60 million. The film made $28 million on its first day, including $7.5 million from Thursday previews. It went on to debut to $67 million from 4,046 theaters, topping the box office. Writing for TheWrap, Jeremy Fuster predicted that Fast X may be less profitable than some of its predecessors, citing the film's sudden increased overall production budget (at 70% larger than F9) and the expected large marketing budget. In its second weekend, the film made $23 million (dropping 66%), finishing second behind newcomer The Little Mermaid. In its third weekend, Fast X finished in fourth place and made $9.2 million for a drop of 61%.In the United Kingdom, tickets went on sale on May 5. The film was projected to gross around $280 million worldwide in its opening weekend, including about $220 million from 84 countries. Like its domestic debut, the film ended up slightly out-performing projections, making $252.7 million internationally and a total of $320 million worldwide. It was the sixth-best opening weekend for a studio film since 2019, and second-biggest non-superhero title (behind Avatar: The Way of Water). Its largest markets were China ($78 million), Mexico ($16 million), France ($9.6 million), and Brazil ($9.6 million). The film set records for the highest-opening weekend release for a foreign film in Pakistan, with 19.98 crore ($701,052). Critical response On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 56% of 310 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 5.7/10. The website's consensus reads: "As irredeemably silly as it is satisfyingly self-aware, Fast X should rev the engines of longtime fans while leaving many newcomers in neutral." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 56 out of 100, based on 59 critics, indicating "mixed or average" reviews. Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B+" on an A+ to F scale, the same as F9 and the first film but below other installments. PostTrak reported filmgoers gave the film an 82% positive score, with 67% saying they would definitely recommend it.Momoa's performance was widely praised by critics; Eric Eisenberg of CinemaBlend said Momoa "plays Dante like [the] Fast & Furious version of The Joker", concluding it was a "delightful" portrayal of a "gleeful psychopath". Liam Crowley of Comicbook seconded this view, calling Momoa "hilarious", while Screen Rant's Joseph Deckelmeier said Momoa brings "magic" to a performance which "oozes charisma". In a mixed review, Brian Truitt of USA Today also praised Momoa's performance but criticized the screenplay, saying, "Laws of physics are pummeled at length and all logic is shot out of a cannon [with] its bizarre character choices and decisions". The Chicago Sun-Times's Richard Roeper gave the film two out of four stars and was more critical of Momoa's performance, writing, "[He] comes across as more of a preening, performance-art, sociopathic clown than a truly menacing villain". Clarisse Loughrey of The Independent said that an "arbitrary" plot serves a "biblically-scaled soap opera [that] happily rewrites the laws of gravity and physiology to put a smile on its audience's faces", and praised the cast performances, namely Momoa's.In a less positive review, Charles Pulliam-Moore of The Verge criticized the return of former characters, saying the film has "convoluted twists and turns" which contribute to making it feel "exciting, but airless". He also wrote the large cast made its characters "feel like souped-up cameos meant to remind you of the past rather than figures organically existing in the present—especially when they just pop up out of nowhere, which happens more often than you'd expect". He also criticized the screenplay, saying "[Dom and Dante's] conflict ends up feeling like something that was mapped out on paper, but was not crafted tightly enough for on-screen". This was echoed by Den of Geek's Don Kay, who lamented the lack of character beats for the supporting cast and the lack of stakes in the plot, although he praised Cena's performance, writing, "He plays to his comedic strengths and gets by on his sheer charisma".Alison Willmore of Vulture criticized Leterrier's direction, writing the film "plays like it was made by an AI versed in the existing [films] but not quite up to spitting out something coherent itself" and called its plot "deliriously unwieldy". She also criticized its cast as being bloated and its dialogue as feeling "engineered to be clipped and used without context for promotional purposes", concluding watching Fast X "feels like sustaining a head injury". Writing for Slant, Greg Nussen criticized the acting performances and cinematography, calling it "overly lit [with] ultra-saturated images" and wrote that the film was "closer to fan fiction or self-parody than the real deal". Writing for The Wall Street Journal, Kyle Smith also criticized Leterrier's direction as overzealous, saying, "Leterrier rarely misses an opportunity to shred the storyline [to] end up with confetti, serving ridiculous action scenes [that] require much narrative corner-cutting".In a scathing review, GameSpot's Phil Owen said the film possesses "blurry backgrounds and weird close-up shots", negatively comparing it to low-budget films, and called the editing "distractingly frenetic". He also said the storyline "just rehashed plot threads and set pieces from past [films]", criticized the ending, and called Diesel's performance a "full-on parody of himself: [he plays] a bland character". Kevin Maher of The Times called the film a "jaded and lackadaisical patch-up job", criticizing the cast performances, while Rolling Stone's Chris Vognar said that the cast (besides Momoa) "mailed [their] performances in" and called the film uninspiring, writing, "Fast X feels like it was written by a software program". Accolades Fast X was nominated in five categories at the 2023 Golden Trailer Awards: "Legacy Ride" (TRANSIT) for Best Action and Best Music, "Last Ride" (AV Squad) for Best Summer 2023 Blockbuster Trailer, "Clash" (TRANSIT) for Best Sound Editing in a TV Spot (for a Feature Film), and "Ensemble Shoot" (AV Squad) for Best Action/Thriller TrailerByte for a Feature Film. It won Best Action TV Spot (for a Feature Film) for "Ahead" (AV Squad). It became a runner-up for Best Supporting Actor (Momoa) and received a nomination for Best Stunts at the 6th Hollywood Critics Association Midseason Film Awards. The film garnered nominations for Best Music Supervision – Film and Best Soundtrack Album at the 14th Hollywood Music in Media Awards. At the 51st Saturn Awards, Fast X received nominations for Best Action or Adventure Film and Best Editing. It was nominated for Best Stunts at the 2nd Astra Film Creative Arts Awards. Sequels Although Fast X was reported as the final installment of the franchise, Diesel claimed that Universal approached him to do two sequels to Fast X, depending on its performance. Leterrier considered whether the eleventh film would be the franchise's last installment or not. The relative success of Fast X sought a sequel, scheduled for release on April 4, 2025. Development on both sequels were suspended due to the 2023 Writers Guild of America and SAG-AFTRA strikes. Explanatory notes References External links Official website Fast X at IMDb Fast X at Rotten Tomatoes

Amarna letter EA 364

Amarna letter EA 364, titled Justified War, is a clay tablet letter from Ayyab, ruler of Aštartu, to Pharaoh Akhenaten (1350s–1330s BC). It is one of the Amarna letters, 382 in total, dating from c. 1360 – c. 1332 BC. The initial corpus of letters were found at the city of Amarna, founded by Akhenaten, in the floor of the Bureau of Correspondence of Pharaoh. The letter is a reply to the pharaoh referring to a letter from the pharaoh's messenger Tahmassi. In it, Ayyab, governing-man (often—("who/which"-(ša))-"man, city")-Aštartu, who is in control of one of the city-states in Canaan, is stating his commitment to guarding the city (and the region), after three cities in the region were taken in attacks by Habiru raiders.

Amarna letter EA 364, titled Justified War, is a clay tablet letter from Ayyab, ruler of Aštartu, to Pharaoh Akhenaten (1350s–1330s BC). It is one of the Amarna letters, 382 in total, dating from c. 1360 – c. 1332 BC. The initial corpus of letters were found at the city of Amarna, founded by Akhenaten, in the floor of the Bureau of Correspondence of Pharaoh. The letter is a reply to the pharaoh referring to a letter from the pharaoh's messenger Tahmassi. In it, Ayyab, governing-man (often—("who/which"-(ša))-"man, city")-Aštartu, who is in control of one of the city-states in Canaan, is stating his commitment to guarding the city (and the region), after three cities in the region were taken in attacks by Habiru raiders. The tablet measures about 4 in x 2.3 in and is in relatively pristine condition. Because of its narrowness, each line averages only between 4 and 7 cuneiform characters in the Akkadian language. Glossenkeils used in letter 364: Text The following English language text, and Akkadian is from Rainey, 1970, El Amarna Tablets, 359-379: (Line 1)--To the "King, my Lord", (2)--thus (speaks) Ayyab (3)--your servant: at (4)--the feet of my lord (5)--7 times (and) 7 times (6)--I have fallen down. I am the servant (7)--of the "King, my Lord", "And"--[ "and"=Ù (omitted by Rainey)] (8)--("and") the dust of(at?) (i.e. beneath)-(dust= SAHAR / : (–gl–) -(a-pa-ru)-("And-("dust-and-dust")")) ( ) i.e.((7.7-8))--("And-("dust-and-dust")") (9)--(at/beneath)-his two feet. (10)--I have obeyed (lit.: heard) the message (11)--of the "King, my Lord", (12)--to me from (13)--the hand of Atahmaya. (14)--I will still guard (15)--very diligently (16)--[the land]s of the "King, my Lord". (end photo obverse)(17)--Furthermore, see! (18)--the king of Hasora (19)--has occupied (taken) (20)--3 towns from me! (21)--On the day that I heard (of it), I commanded (!) (22)--to commence hostilities (23)--against them (24-25)--until the "King, my Lord" may be apprised. (26)--And may the "King, my Lord", (27)--take counsel (28)--concerning his land.Akkadian: (Line 1)--a-na LUGAL EN-[ ia ] (2)--um-ma A-iYa-aB (3)--ARAD-ka a-na! (4)--GÌR.MEŠ EN-ia (5)--7-šu 7-ta-an (6)--am-qut a-na-ku (7)--LUGAL EN-ia Ù-(Rainey omitted) (8)--SAHAR // : (–gl–) a-pa-ru....(also used in Amarna letters–𒃵--see EA 147 ) (9)--2 GÌR.MEŠ-šu (10)--[eš15(=is)]-(=eš)-te-mé ša-par (11)--LUGAL EN-ia (12)--a-na ia-ši i-na (13)--qa-ti IA-TaH-Ma-iYa (14)--a-di aṣ-ṣur-[ mi ] (15)--[ ma ]-gal [ ma ]-[ gal ] (16)--[ KUR ].MEŠ LUGAL EN-[ ia ] (end photo obverse)(17)--ša-ni-tam a-mur (18)--URU-Ha-Sú-Ra (19)--il-te-qé (20)--3 URU-didli.ki iš-tu [ ia ]-ši (21)--i-na UD aš-mé ù [ a ]-ma-[ ru ] (22)--i-pé-eš15 nu-kùr-ti (23)--i-na šu-a-šu (24)--a-di-mi li-di-mi (25)--LUGAL EN-ia (26)--ù LUGAL EN-ia (27)--li-im-lu-uk-mi (28)--a-na ARAD-šu Letter EA 364, Moran translation Moran's non-linear letter English language translation (translated from the French language):EA 364, Obverse: (Lines 1-9)--"To the king, my lord: Message of Ayyab, your servant. I fall at the feet of my lord 7 times and 7 times. I am the servant of the king, my lord, ("and"-omitted) the dirt- : (–gl–) (dirt) ((i.e. dust & dust)) at his feet. (lines 10-16)--I have heard what the king, my lord, wrote to me through (='by the hand', qa-ti ) Atahmaya. Truly, I have guarded1 very carefully (ma-gal ma-gal) [the citie]s2 of the king, my lord.EA 364, continued Bottom, Reverse: (lines 17-28)--Moreover, (ša-ni-tam) note that it is the ruler of Haṣura who has taken 3 cities from me. From the time I heard and verified this,3 there has been waging of war against him. Truly, may the king, my lord, take cognizance, and may the king, my lord, give thought to his servant."--(complete EA 364, with minor lacunae, lines 1-28) Selected cuneiform signs in EA 364 Sign "tah" Often personal names (PN) contain special cuneiform characters, and Tahmassi's name, spelled "Atahmaya"-(~Ptah is Mine) is an example of such. Sign "tah" (based on the more common "qab"-"GABA"-) can be seen in line 13—IA-TaH-Ma-iYa. (In the photo of EA 364 (obverse), the cuneiform signs become out-of-focus below lines 9 and 10.) The "tah" sign has only one use, as tah, in the Epic of Gilgamesh, (12 times).Because the name Tahmassi's comes from the Egyptian god Ptah (a creator god), the origion of the spelling and pronunciation of "ptah" can be guessed. "Ptah-mine", Ptah (is) mine, "Mine, My (God) is Ptah", with -iya the suffix for 'my' still used in the languages of present day. Variants of EN, for "Lord" The "en" cuneiform sign, is used frequently in the Canaanite city-state letters to the Pharaoh for "Lord", (as EN (lord Sumerogram)), for Akkadian language bēlu. It is often part of the phrase "King-Lord-mine", LUGAL-EN-ia; a variant often in the letters (because of the addendum of an RI sign) contains an equivalent for LUGAL, "ŠÀR", for (LUGAL=king=Šarru), "ŠÀR-RI, EN-ia". Also, singly "Lord-mine" is used in some letter texts, and often with alphabeltic spellings of "bēlu" instead of using "EN": in EA 364, (above)–line (end l.3) and 4 state: "...at feet 'Lord(EN)-mine' ". In letter EA 364, the common variety of many sub-varieties is used, . It shows distinctly in lines 364:1,4,7, and 11 the two verticals-right, with the angled wedges at their base. The lone vertical at center-left is equally tall (not on all Amarna letters), and strikingly visible, and without the angled wedge at the base. Some letters have an additional wedge at the base (making it the 3rd, 'vertical-with-wedge-base'). See also Ayyab Glossenkeil (Amarna letters) Amarna letters–phrases and quotations List of Amarna letters by size Amarna letter EA 5, EA 9, EA 15, EA 19, EA 26, EA 27, EA 35, EA 38 EA 153, EA 161, EA 288, EA 364, EA 365, EA 367 References Sources Moran, William L. The Amarna Letters. Johns Hopkins University Press, 1987, 1992. (softcover, ISBN 0-8018-6715-0) Parpola, 1971. The Standard Babylonian Epic of Gilgamesh, Parpola, Simo, Neo-Assyrian Text Corpus Project, c 1997, Tablet I thru Tablet XII, Index of Names, Sign List, and Glossary-(pp. 119–145), 165 pages. Rainey, 1970. El Amarna Tablets, 359-379, Anson F. Rainey, (AOAT 8, Alter Orient Altes Testament 8, Kevelaer and Neukirchen -Vluyen), 1970, 107 pages. External links CDLI entry of EA 364 ( Chicago Digital Library Initiative, ID=P270874 ), and cuneiform drawing of clay tablet CDLI listing of all EA Amarna letters, 1-382 Photo, EA 252 Obverse, Schechem, etc.

Villa Balestra (Rome)

The name of Villa Balestra indicates today the homonymous urban park in Rome (Italy), located on the top of the tufaceous hill overlooking Viale Tiziano. The garden occupies the extreme offshoot of the Monti Parioli, though it belongs to the Quarter Pinciano, together with Via Bartolomeo Ammannati from which it is accessed.

The name of Villa Balestra indicates today the homonymous urban park in Rome (Italy), located on the top of the tufaceous hill overlooking Viale Tiziano. The garden occupies the extreme offshoot of the Monti Parioli, though it belongs to the Quarter Pinciano, together with Via Bartolomeo Ammannati from which it is accessed. History of the villa Villa Poggio The present public garden occupies only a fairly small part of the original land of Villa Poggio, which constitutes its historical core. The construction of the villa is due to the Bolognese cardinal Giovanni Poggio (also referred to as "Poggi"), who was the treasurer of the Apostolic Camera under Paul III and, being highly appreciated by the Pope, was subsequently sent to Spain for three years as nuncio, to collect «the spoils of all Spains» (a sort of general tax collector of the assets owed to the Pope) and then in Germany, which had recently become Lutheran. From these nunciatures he returned a rich man and decided to invest in properties the resources he had accumulated; in Rome he built Villa Poggio, which however did not belong to him for long.Nonetheless, in 1834 an encyclopedic dictionary of sciences, letters and arts compiled by Antonio Bazzarini still described the Villa – generally called "Poggi" at the time – as «Villa Poggi outside Porta del Popolo in Rome, where cardinals and ambassadors now stop when they make their public entrance to receive the compliments of the gentry». Villa Balestra After being passed from hand to hand – the Colonna among others – Villa Poggi was purchased in 1880 by cavalier Giuseppe Balestra, who successfully devoted the agricultural area to vineyards. The allotment The Villa was dismembered starting in 1910. In 1928 a part of the park was saved and opened to the public and in 1939 the Municipality of Rome could complete its purchase. The part, which had remained in private hands, was parcelled out and built up around the 1950s. Of the original park – which included several buildings, partly no longer existing and partly become dismembered and isolated edifices – only a portion remains. All the main buildings of the former sixteenth-century Villa are now located outside the perimeter of the park of Villa Balestra and are all privately owned: Casino nobile: it boasts a loggia which, according to Vasari, was frescoed by Pellegrino Tibaldi. Villa Parodi Delfino: it is assumed that once it was a stable, then the former dining room of the Villa; it is located in Via Bartolomeo Ammannati, 21. Casa del Maresciallo: in Via Bartolomeo Ammannati, at the corner with Via dei Monti Parioli; in the 1950s it was turned into a modern cottage. The public garden of Villa Balestra The current area of public gardens, owned by the Municipality of Rome, covers an area of little less than 1.5 ha (3.7 acres); it has an elliptical shape and is divided into two parallel avenues and three large flowerbeds with high-trunk trees. The garden also includes a small sloping area, a sort of "thicket" used as an area for dogs (to the left of the main gate) and a space housing a refreshment point equipped with recreational activities for children (on the opposite side). Along the slopes of the hill, overlooking Viale Tiziano, there is a vast green area featuring thick vegetation and caves dug into the tuff halfway up the hill. In 1964, the garden inspired the song L'orchestra di Villa Balestra, written by Renato Rascel for the musical comedy Il giorno della tartaruga by Garinei and Giovannini. Notes External links "Villa Balestra". Sovrintendenza Capitolina ai Beni Culturali. Retrieved 11 December 2019.

Notre-Dame de la Garde

Notre-Dame de la Garde (literally: Our Lady of the Guard), known to local citizens as la Bonne Mère (French for 'the Good Mother'), is a Catholic basilica in Marseille, France, and the city's best-known symbol. The site of a popular Assumption Day pilgrimage, it is the most visited site in Marseille. It was built on the foundations of an ancient fort at the highest natural point in Marseille, a 149 m (489 ft) limestone outcropping on the south side of the Old Port of Marseille. Construction of the basilica began in 1853 and lasted for over forty years. It was originally an enlargement of a medieval chapel but was transformed into a new structure at the request of Father Bernard, the chaplain.

Notre-Dame de la Garde (literally: Our Lady of the Guard), known to local citizens as la Bonne Mère (French for 'the Good Mother'), is a Catholic basilica in Marseille, France, and the city's best-known symbol. The site of a popular Assumption Day pilgrimage, it is the most visited site in Marseille. It was built on the foundations of an ancient fort at the highest natural point in Marseille, a 149 m (489 ft) limestone outcropping on the south side of the Old Port of Marseille. Construction of the basilica began in 1853 and lasted for over forty years. It was originally an enlargement of a medieval chapel but was transformed into a new structure at the request of Father Bernard, the chaplain. The plans were made and developed by the architect Henri-Jacques Espérandieu. It was consecrated while still unfinished on 5 June 1864. The basilica consists of a lower church or crypt in the Romanesque style, carved from the rock, and an upper church of Neo-Byzantine style decorated with mosaics. A square 41 m (135 ft) bell tower topped by a 12.5 m (41 ft) belfry supports a monumental 11.2 m (37 ft) statue of the Madonna and Child, made of copper gilded with gold leaf. An extensive restoration from 2001 to 2008 included work on mosaics damaged by candle smoke, green limestone from Gonfolina which had been corroded by pollution, and stonework that had been hit by bullets during the Liberation of France. The restoration of the mosaics was entrusted to Marseille artist Michel Patrizio, whose workmen were trained in Friuli, north of Venice, Italy. The tiles were supplied by the workshop in Venice which had made the originals. History The rocky outcrop upon which the basilica would be built is an Urgonian limestone peak dating from the Barremian and rising to a height of 162 metres. Due to its height and proximity to the coast, the hill became an important stronghold and lookout point, as well as a landmark for sailing. In 1302 Charles II of Anjou ordered one of his ministers to set beacons along the Mediterranean coast of Provence. One of these beacon sites was the hill of Notre-Dame de la Garde. First chapel In 1214 maître (master) Pierre, a priest of Marseille, was inspired to build a chapel dedicated to the Virgin Mary on the hill known as La Garde, which belonged to the abbey of Saint-Victor. The abbot granted him permission to plant vines, cultivate a garden and build a chapel. The chapel, completed four years later, appears in a June 18, 1218 papal bull by Pope Honorius III listing the possessions of the abbey. After maître Pierre died in 1256, Notre-Dame de la Garde became a priory. The prior of the sanctuary was also one of four claustral priors of Saint-Victor.From the time the chapel was founded, surviving wills show bequests in its favour. Also, sailors who survived shipwrecks gave thanks and deposited ex-votos at Notre-Dame of the Sea in the church of Notre-Dame-du-Mont. Towards the end of the 16th century they began going to Notre-Dame de la Garde instead.The first chapel was replaced at the beginning of the 15th century by a larger building with a richly equipped chapel dedicated to Saint Gabriel. Fort and place of worship from the 16th to 18th centuries Charles II d'Anjou mentioned a guardpost in the 15th century, but the present basilica was built on the foundations of a 16th-century fort erected by Francis I of France to resist the 1536 siege of Marseille by the Emperor Charles V during the Italian War of 1536–38. Visit of Francis I On January 3, 1516 Louise of Savoy, the mother of Francis I of France, and his wife, Queen Claude of France, daughter of Louis XII, went to the south of France to meet the young king, right after from his victory at Marignan. On January 7, 1516, they visited the sanctuary. On January 22, 1516, Francis accompanied them to the chapel as well.The king noted during his visit that Marseille was poorly defended. The need to reinforce its defenses became even more obvious in 1524 after the Constable of Bourbon and emperor Charles V lay siege to the city and almost took it. François I built two forts: one on the island of If, which became the famous Chateau d'If, the other at the top of La Garde, which included the chapel. This is the only known example of a military fort sharing space with a sanctuary open to the public. The Chateau d'If was finished in 1531, while Notre-Dame de la Garde was not completed until 1536, when it was used to help repel the troops of Charles Quint. It was built using stone from Cap Couronne, as well as materials from buildings outside the ramparts of the demolished city to keep them from providing shelter to enemy troops. Among these was the monastery of the Mineurs brothers where Louis of Toulouse was buried near the Cours Belsunce and Cours Saint-Louis.The fort was a triangle with two sides of approximately 75 metres and a third of 35 metres. This rather modest fort remains visible on a spur west of the basilica, which was restored in 1993 to its original state when a 1930 watch tower was removed. Above the door can be seen a very damaged escutcheon of François I, the arms of France, three fleurs-de-lys with a salamander below. Nearby, to the right, is a rounded stone weathered by time which once represented the lamb of John the Apostle with its banner. Wars of religion In 1585 Hubert de Garde de Vins, chief of the Catholic League of Provence, sought to seize Marseille and combine forces with Louis de La Motte Dariès, the second consul of Marseille, and Claude Boniface, captain of the Blanquerie neighborhood. On the night of April 9, 1585, Dariès occupied La Garde, from which his guns could fire on the city. But the attack on Marseille failed, leading to the execution of Dariès and his accomplice, Boniface. In 1591 Charles Emmanuel, Duke of Savoy, tried to seize the Abbey of Saint Victor, a stronghouse near the port. He charged Pierre Bon, baron de Méolhon, governor of Notre-Dame de la Garde, with seizing the abbey. On November 16, 1591, Méolhon did so but it was quickly retaken by Charles de Casaulx, first consul of Marseille. in 1594. He sent two priests, Trabuc and Cabot, to celebrate mass in the chapel. Trabuc wore armour under his cassock and after the ceremony killed the captain of the fort. Charles de Casaulx took possession of it and named his son Fabio its governor. After the assassination of Charles de Casaulx on February 17, 1596, by Pierre de Libertat, Fabio was driven out of the fort by his own soldiers. Last royal visit While in Marseille on November 9, 1622, Louis XIII rode in spite of the rain to Notre-Dame de la Garde. He was received by the governor of the fort, Antoine de Boyer, lord of Bandol. When the latter died on June 29, 1642, Georges de Scudéry, mainly known as a novelist, was named governor, but he did not take up his post until December 1644. He was accompanied there by his sister, Madeleine de Scudéry, a woman of letters who gave in her letters many descriptions of the area as well as of various festivals and ceremonies. "Last Friday... you could see the citadel covered from head to foot with ten or more flags, the bells of our tower swinging, and an admirable procession returning to the castle. The statue of Notre-Dame de la Garde holding in her left arm the naked child and in her right hand, a bouquet of flowers, was carried by eight shoeless penitents veiled like ghosts."Georges de Scudéry scorned the fort and preferred to live at Place de Lenche, the aristocratic quarter of the time. The stewardship of the fort was entrusted to a mere sergeant, named Nicolas.In the 1650 Caze affair, the governor of Provence, the Count of Alais, opposed the Parliament of Provence in the Fronde and wanted to put down the revolt in Marseilles. Since La Garde was a desirable strategic position, he bribed Nicolas and on August 1, 1650, installed there one of his men, David Caze. He hoped to support an attack by galleys from Toulon, a city faithful to him. The consuls of Marseille reacted to this threat by forcing David Caze to leave the fort. 18th century In 1701, the Dukes of Burgundy and of Berry, grandsons of Louis XIV, visited the sanctuary. Sébastien Vauban, who succeeded Louis Nicolas de Clerville, the builder of Fort Saint Nicolas, studied ways to improve Marseilles' defences. On April 11, 1701, he presented an imposing proposal for a vast enclosure connecting Fort Saint Nicolas to Notre-Dame de la Garde and continuing to the plaine Saint-Michel, currently Place Jean-Jaurès, and the quay d'Arenc. This project was not followed through. During the Great Plague of Marseille, which killed 100,000 people in Marseille in 1720, the bishop Henri de Belsunce went three times on foot to the chapel at the Notre-Dame de la Garde on September 28 December 8, 1720; and August 13, 1721, to bless the inhabitants of the city. Revolutionary period Closing of the chapel On April 30, 1790, the fort was invaded by anti-clerical revolutionaries who crossed the drawbridge on the pretext of attending mass in the chapel, a ruse previously adopted by the ligueurs in 1594. On June 7, 1792, Trinity Sunday, the day's traditionally large procession was disturbed by demonstrations. During the statue's return to the sanctuary, the Virgin was wrapped in a scarf in the revolutionary tricolour and a Phrygian cap, icon of the French Revolution, was placed on the head of the baby Jesus. On November 23, 1793, the church buildings were closed down and worship ceased. On March 13, 1794, the statue of the Virgin, made in 1661 from silver, was melted down at the mint of Marseille, located at 22 Rue du Tapis-Vert at the former convent of Order of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mercy. A prison for princes In April 1793, the King's cousin Louis Phillipe, Duke of Orléans was imprisoned in Notre-Dame de la Garde for several weeks, along with two of his sons, the Duke of Montpensier and the Count of Beaujolais, his sister Louise, Duchess of Bourbon, and the Prince of Conti. Despite the lack of amenities in the old apartments of the governor, the prisoners enjoyed the panorama. Each day the Duchess of Bourbon attended mass then went to the fort's terrace and often remained as much as two hours in contemplation. The princess Louise, who painted well, left behind a pencil drawing of Marseille as seen from the Virgin of Notre-Dame de la Garde. The prisoners were then transferred to Fort Saint-Jean. A providential man: Escaramagne The last of the objects from the sanctuary were auctioned off on April 10, 1795. The chapel was nationalized and rented to Joseph Escaramagne. A former ship's captain who lived in what is now the current place du Colonel-Edon, Escaramagne had a deep devotion to the Virgin. After worship resumed in some parishes, he wrote in September 1800 to the Minister of War, Lazare Carnot, asking to reopen the sanctuary. But prefect Charles-François Delacroix voiced opposition when the minister consulted him. The chapel finally re-opened for worship on April 4, 1807.Escaramagne bought at auction an 18th-century statue of the Virgin and child from a monastery of the Picpus Fathers that had been demolished during the Revolution. He offered the statue to the La Garde church. The scepter that the virgin had held was replaced by a bouquet of flowers, hence the statue became known as the "Virgin of the bouquet". To make way for a new silver statue created in 1837, this statue was given to the Montrieux charterhouse, then returned in 1979 to the sanctuary. The statue of the Virgin of the bouquet is currently displayed on the altar in the crypt. Renaissance of the sanctuary On the day the chapel of Notre-Dame de la Garde was reopened for worship, a procession started from Marseille Cathedral, bringing to the sanctuary the statue that Escaramagne had bought. The traditional procession of the Fête-Dieu (Corpus Christi Day) resumed in 1814. Julie Pellizzone mentions this event in her diary: "On Sunday June 12, 1814, Fête-Dieu, the gunners of the city guard went in the morning with barefoot penitents to get Our Lady of the Guard and to bring her into town, according to the ancient custom. She was greeted by several cannon blasts. Mass was said, then she was brought here, carried by penitents with their hoods covering their faces, a procession such as had not taken place since the Revolution. Chapel expansions During this period the fort itself went almost unused while the number of people visiting the chapel increased significantly. This increase was so great that the 150 square meter chapel was extended in 1833 with the addition of a second nave, which increased its area to approximately 250 square meters. The bishop of Marseilles, Fortuné de Mazenod, consecrated this chapel in 1834. Distinguished visitors After escaping a shipwreck while returning from Naples, the Duchess of Berry climbed to the chapel on June 14, 1816, and left a silver statuette as an ex voto – although the statue was melted down a few years later.Marie Therese of France, daughter of Louis XVI and Duchess of d'Angoulême, climbed to Notre-Dame de la Garde on May 15, 1823, which was a day of strong mistral winds. Despite the wind, the duchess remained on the terrace, struck by the beauty of the view.In 1838 the Virgin of the Guard had another distinguished visitor: François-René de Chateaubriand.Pope Francis visited the Notre-Dame de la Garde basilica on September 22, 2023. Black Madonna and Child Thanks to various offerings, notably a gift of 3000 francs that the Duchess of Orleans made while travelling through Marseille in May 1823, a new statue of the Virgin was commissioned to replace the one melted down during the French Revolution. In 1829, Marseilles goldsmith Jean-Baptiste Chanuel, an artisan with a workshop in the Rue des Dominicaines, began work on this statue based on a model by the sculptor Jean-Pierre Cortot. This very delicate work of hammered gold was finished five years later, in 1834. On July 2, 1837, Fortuné de Mazenod blessed the statue on the Cours Belsunce, which was then brought to the top of the hill. It replaced the Virgin of the Bouquet, which was given to the Montrieux Charterhouse. The Virgin of the Bouquet was later returned to the crypt in 1979. The two statues, the Virgin of the Bouquet and the silver Virgin, thus pre-date the basilica where they are displayed. New church bell The rebuilding of the bell tower in 1843 was accompanied by the purchase of not just a new bell but a bourdon commissioned from the Lyons foundery of Gédéon Morel thanks to a special collection among the faithful. It was cast on February 11, 1845 and arrived in Marseille on September 19, 1845. It was placed in Jean-Jaurès square and blessed on Sunday October 5, 1845, by Eugène de Mazenod and baptized "Marie Joséphine". The bell's godfather was André-Élisée Reynard, then mayor of Marseille, and the godmother of the wife of shipping magnate Wulfran Puget (born Canaple). Their names are engraved on the bell. On October 7, the bell which weighed 8,234 kilograms (18,153 lb), was placed on a harnessed carriage of sixteen horses. It descended by Thiers Street, Leon Gambetta Alley, the Rue du Tapis-Vert, the Cours Belsunce, Canebière, the Rue Paradis, and the Cours Pierre-Puget. Ten horses were added there to the convoy, bringing their number to twenty-six. On October 8, 1845, the ascent of the bell up the hill began with the help of capstans and continued until Friday October 10, when the bell arrived at the summit. The bell was set up on Wednesday October 15. It rang out its first notes on December 8, the day of Immaculate Conception. On this occasion the poet Joseph Autran composed a poem: "Sing, vast bell! sing, blessed bell Spread, spread afloat your powerful harmony; Pour over the sea, the fields, the mounts; And especially from this hour when your hymn begins Ring out into the skies a song of immense joy For the city that we love!"Like the statues of the Virgin displayed in the interior of the basilica, the bell came before the construction of the current building. Construction of the current basilica Negotiations with the army On June 22, 1850, Father Jean-Antoine Bernard, who took responsibility for the chapel, asked the Ministry of War to authorise an expansion of the existing building. This request was denied on October 22, 1850, the day he resigned, by Minister of War Alphonse Henri d'Hautpoul, for being too vague. He agreed to the expansion in theory but invited a more precise proposal. On April 8, 1851, a more precise request was submitted, calling for the construction of a new and larger church, essentially doubling the area of the existing building. This design would mean that there would no longer be room for military buildings inside the fort. Thanks to the support of General Adolphe Niel, the fortifications committee advocated the proposal on January 7, 1852. Authorization to build a new chapel was given by the Minister of War on February 5, 1852. Project set-up On November 1, 1852, Monseigneur Eugene de Mazenod requested offerings from the members of the parish. Studies were requested from various architects. The administration council of the chapel met with Mazenod almost two months later, on December 30. The proposal presented by Leon Vaudoyer, who worked at the Marseille Cathedral, was the only one of Romano-Byzantine style; the others were Neo-Gothic. Each project received five votes, but the vicar's tie-breaking vote went to Vaudoyer, whose project was commissioned. The plans were in fact drawn up by Henri-Jacques Espérandieu, his former pupil who was only twenty-three years old.On June 23, 1853, Espérandieu was named as architect and developed the project. While he was Protestant, it does not seem that his religion was a major cause of the difficulties he encountered with the committee in charge of the work. The committee decided, without consulting him, not to open up labour for competitive bidding, but to award it directly to Pierre Bérenger (on August 9, 1853), contractor and architect of the Saint-Michel church. He himself had proposed one of the Neo-Gothic plans and was a close relative of Monseigneur Mazenod. The commission also imposed their choice of artists, such as sculptor Joseph-Marius Ramus and the painter Karl Müller of Düsseldorf, without concern for whether their works would fit within the structure. Karl Müller's commission was later rejected, which allowed the architect to direct mosaics as the decor. Construction The first stone was laid by the bishop of Marseille, Monseigneur de Mazenod, on September 11, 1853. Work began but financial problems quickly developed because the foundations had to be laid in very hard rock. In 1855, the government authorized a lottery, but this produced less revenue than anticipated. The financial shortfall grew larger when the sanctuary commission decided to enlarge the crypt to run not only under the choir, but to extend under the entire higher vault. In spite of a loan secured by the personal assets of the bishop, building stopped from 1859 to 1861, the year of Mazenod's death. The new bishop, Patrice Cruice, arrived at the end of August in 1861, and resumed work. The generosity of citizens of all religions and all social positions allowed completion of the work, from the Emperor Napoleon III and the Empress Eugénie, who visited Notre Dame de la Garde on September 9, 1860, to the poorest of Marseillais. The sanctuary was dedicated on Saturday June 4, 1864, by the Cardinal of Villecourt, a member of the Roman curia, in the presence of forty-three other bishops. In 1866, mosaic flooring was laid in the upper church and the square bell tower was finished; the bell was installed in October of the same year. In 1867, a cylindrical pedestal or belfry was built on the square bell tower to receive the monumental statue of the virgin. The statue was financed by the town of Marseille. Sketches for the statue made by three Parisian artists, Eugène-Louis Lequesne, Aimé Millet and Charles Gumery were examined by a jury of Espérandieu the architect, Antoine-Théodore Bernex, mayor of Marseilles, and Philippe-Auguste Jeanron, director of the School of Fine Arts, Antoine Bontoux, sculptor and professor of sculpture and Luce, president of the Civil Court and administrator of the sanctuary. The committee selected the proposal of Lequesne. For reasons of cost and weight, copper was chosen as the medium for the statue. A very new method for the time was adopted to realize of the statue: galvanoplasty, a type of electroplating, or "the art of moulding without the help of fire" was chosen over hammered copper. A scientific report of November 19, 1866, said that electrotype copper allowed an "irreproachable reproduction" and a solidity that left nothing to be desired. Only Eugène Viollet-le-Duc thought that the galvanoplasty technique would not long resist the atmospheric pollution in Marseilles.Espérandieu had the statue made in four sections because of the difficulty of getting it up the hill and to the top of the bell tower. He inserted into the center of the sculpture an iron arrow, the core of a spiral staircase to the Virgin's head, to be used for maintenance and sight-seeing. This metal structure, used to support the statue, made it possible to assemble the whole by connecting it to the body of the tower. The execution of the statue, entrusted to the workshops of Charles Christofle, was finished in August 1869. The first elements were assembled on May 17, 1870, and the statue was dedicated on September 24, 1870, but without fanfare, since defeat by the Prussian army dampened all spirits. The statue was gilded, which required 500 grams (18 oz) gold, and regilding in 1897, 1936, 1963 and 1989.In March 1871 Gaston Crémieux formed the revolutionary Commune of Marseille. Helped by followers of Giuseppe Garibaldi, the rebels seized the Prefecture of the Rhone delta and took the prefect captive. On March 26, 1871, General Henri Espivent de Villesboisnet retreated to Aubagne, but undertook to retake the city beginning on April 3. The rebels who took refuge in the prefecture took fire from the batteries installed in Fort Saint Nicolas and in Notre-Dame de la Garde. They capitulated on April 4 and said that the Virgin had changed her name and should from then on be called "Notre-Dame of bombardment"Following the death of Espérandieu on September 11, 1874, Henri Révoil was charged with finishing the interior of the basilica, in particular the mosaics. The construction of the major crypt and installation of the mosaics in the choir was carried out in 1882. Unfortunately a fire on June 5, 1884, destroyed the altar and the mosaic in the choir; moreover the statue of the Virgin was damaged. The statue and the mosaics were restored and the altar was rebuilt according to the drawings of Révoil. On April 26, 1886, cardinal Charles Lavigerie consecrated the new crypt. In 1886, walnut stalls were built in the choir; the last mosaics in the side vaults were finished between 1887 and 1892. In 1897, the two bronze doors of the upper church and the mosaic above them were installed and the statue of the Virgin was regilded for the first time. Final completion of the basilica thus took place more than forty years after the first stone was laid. Funicular In 1892 a funicular was built to reduce the effort of scaling the hill; it became known as the ascenseur or elevator. The base was at the lower end of Rue Dragon. The upper station led directly onto a footpath to the terrace beneath the basilica, leaving only a short climb to the level of the crypt at 162 m (531 ft). Construction took two years. The funicular consisted of two cabins each weighing 13 tons when empty, circulating on parallel cogged tracks. The movement was powered by a "hydraulic balance" system: each cabin, in addition to its two floors capable of holding fifty passengers total, was equipped with a 12 cubic meter tank of water. The cabins were linked by a cable; the tank of the descending cabin was filled with water and that of the ascending cabin emptied. This ballasting started the system moving. The vertical distance between the two stations was 84 m (276 ft).The water collected at the foot of the apparatus at the end of each trip was brought back to the top with a 25-horsepower pump—true horsepower, because the pump was powered by steam. Travel time was two minutes, but filling the upper tank took more than ten minutes, forcing waits between departures, in spite of often considerable crowds. The last adventure after the ascent was crossing the 100-meter footbridge up the steep slope. Built by Gustave Eiffel, the footbridge was only 5 metres (16 ft) wide and very exposed to the mistral winds. On August 15, 1892, the number of visitors exceeded 15,000, but the advent of the automobile killed the funicular. On September 11, 1967, at 18:30, the funicular was shut down as unprofitable. It was demolished after having transported 20 million passengers over 75 years. Liberation of France On August 24, 1944, General Joseph de Monsabert ordered General Aimé Sudre to take Notre-Dame de la Garde, which was covered in German Army blockhouses. But his orders stipulated "no air raid, no large-scale use of artillery. This legendary rock will have to be attacked by infantrymen supported by armoured tanks". The primary attack was entrusted to Lieutenant Pichavant, who commanded the 1st company of the 7th regiment of Algerian riflemen On August 25, 1944, at 6 am, troops began moving towards the hill, very slowly, because sniping from German riflemen impeded their advance. One French soldier, Pierre Chaix-Bryan, was familiar with the neighborhood, and knew that at No. 26 Cherchel street, (now Rue Jules-Moulet) a hallway ran through the building to a staircase unknown to the Germans. A commemorative plaque marks this spot today. The Algerian riflemen used this staircase and arrived under the command of Roger Audibert at the Cherchel plateau. Other soldiers took the staircases up the Notre-Dame slope from the boulevard of the same name. The attackers on the northern face came under fire from the blockhouses then were also attacked from the rear by the guns of Fort Saint Nicolas. The support of the tanks was essential. In the early afternoon the tanks of the 2nd regiment of cuirassiers of the 1 D.B also attacked from Boulevard Gazzino, now Boulevard André-Aune, and from the church slope. The tank Jeanne d' Arc was hit full force and stopped at the place du Colonel Edon, its three occupants killed. The tank can still be seen today. A second tank, the Jourdan, hit a mine but was protected by a rocky overhang, and so could continue shooting. This had a decisive effect not known until later: the German non-commissioned specialist in charge of the flame throwers was killed by the Jourdan's fire. Because of this a young, inexperienced German soldier prematurely ignited the flame throwers, which allowed the French to spot the site of the guns.Around 3:30pm a section of the 1st company of the 7th Algerian riflemen under Roger Audibert, joined by Ripoll, took the hill by storm. They were greeted by Monseigneur Borel, who had taken refuge in the crypt. The French flag was hoisted atop the bell tower, although the position was still shelled from the Angelus and from Fort Saint Nicolas, until they too were retaken. In the evening the German officer who had commanded the German troops at Notre-Dame de la Garde returned. He was wounded and died two days later. The liberation of Marseille took place on the morning of August 28, 1944. Architecture The exterior of the building features layered stonework in contrasting colours: white Calissane limestone alternates with green sandstone from Golfolina near Florence. Marble and pictorial mosaics in various colours decorate the upper church. A 35 m (115 ft) double staircase leads to a drawbridge, granting access to the crypt and, via another set of stairs, to the church's main entrance. Crypt The entrance hall under the bell tower features marble statues of Bishop Eugène de Mazenod and Pope Pius IX, both carved by Joseph-Marius Ramus. Staircases on both sides of the entrance lead to the church above. The Romanesque crypt is composed of a nave with low barrel vaults, bordered by six side chapels corresponding exactly to those of the upper church. Unlike the upper church, the crypt is dim and somber. The side chapels contain plaques with the names of various donors. The side altars are devoted to saints Philomena, Andrew, Rose, Henry, Louis and Benedict Labre.The main altar was built of Golfolina stone with columns of Spanish marble. Behind the altar is a statue of the Madonna holding a bouquet, the Vierge au Bouquet. Joseph-Elie Escaramagne obtained this statue for the original chapel in 1804. At first the Madonna held a sceptre, but due to the sceptre's poor condition, it was replaced by flowers. Two staircases flanking the main altar lead to the sacristy buildings and the choir above, but they are off-limits to the public. Bell tower At a height of 41 metres (135 ft), the square bell tower above the entrance porch has two identical storeys of five blind arches, of which the central arch has a window and a small balcony. This is surmounted by a belfry, with each face composed of a three-light window divided by red granite mullions, behind which are abat-sons. The belfry is covered by a square terrace, which is enclosed by a stone balustrade bearing the arms of the city on each side and an angel with a trumpet at each corner. These four statues were carved by Eugène-Louis Lequesne. From the square terrace a cylindrical bell tower rises to a height of 12.5 metres (41 ft). It is made of sixteen red granite columns, supporting a 11.2 metres (37 ft) tall statue of the Virgin Mary. A staircase within the bell tower leads to the terrace and to the statue, but is off-limits to the general public. At the base of the tower, bronze doors by Henri Révoil grant access to the church. The central door panels bear the monogram of the Virgin placed within a circle of pearls resembling the rosary. The tympanum above the main entrance is decorated with a mosaic of the Assumption of the Virgin, patterned after a painting by Louis Stanislas Faivre-Duffer. Upper church The nave's interior is 32.7 m long and 14 m wide. Each side chapel measures 3.8 m by 5.4 m. The interior is decorated with 1,200 m2 (13,000 sq ft) of mosaics as well as alternating red and white marble columns and pilasters. Espérandieu wanted a subtle red that would harmonise with the mosaics and not clash too much with the whiteness of the Carrara marble. Jules Cantini, the marble worker, discovered such a red marble with yellow and white veins in the commune of La Celle near Brignoles, Var. For parts higher up, plaster—i.e. reconstituted marble—was used. The mosaics were created between 1886 and 1892 by the Mora company from Nimes. The tesserae came from Venice and were manufactured by craftsmen at the height of their art. Each panel comprises nearly ten thousand tesserae per square metre, which means that the basilica contains approximately 12 million small squares of 1 to 2 cm2 (0.31 sq in). The floors are covered with approximately 380 m2 (4,100 sq ft) of Roman mosaics with geometric patterns. Nave The aisles of the nave are divided into three equal parts, each with a central window that illuminates a side chapel. The external pilasters and arches are composed of alternating green and white stones and voussoirs. Basement windows at ground level allow some daylight into the crypt's underground chapels. Since the nave is higher than the side chapels, a clerestory with two-light windows illuminates the domes of the nave, although these windows are not visible form the terrace. The nave is topped by three cupolas decorated on the inside with similar mosaics: on a field of flowers, doves form a circle around a central floret. The colours of the flowers differ for each cupola: white for the southeastern one, blue for the middle and red for the northwestern cupola. Medallions on the pendentives depict scenes from the Old Testament: Mosaics of the southeastern cupola Mosaics of the middle cupola The mosaics of the northwestern cupola depict a grapevine, a thorned lily, an olive branch with silver leaves and a date palm. Transept The transept is oriented east to west and lit by two paired windows, each with a rose window above. Above the crossing of the transept is an octagonal tholobate supporting a dome of nine meters in diameter, composed of thirty-two ribs and crowned by a cross. Each outward face of the octagon contains a window flanked by two red granite columns and topped by a triangular pediment. The semicircular apse is adorned with five blind arches on the outside, each flanked by two red granite columns. The sacristy buildings that were added later hide part of the apse. The inside of the dome is decorated with a mosaic of four angels on a field of gold. The angels hold up a wreath of roses which they offer to the Virgin Mary, represented by her monogram in the middle of the composition. The pendentives at the base of the dome contain representations of the Four Evangelists: Mark symbolized by a lion, Luke by a bull, John by an eagle and Matthew by a man. The tympanum above the apse depicts the Annunciation of Mary: the archangel Gabriel on the right announces the birth of Jesus to Mary on the left. Art of the transept Choir The white marble altar was designed by Henri Révoil and constructed by Jules Cantini between 1882 and 1886. The base of the altar is formed by five gilded bronze arches resting on colonettes of lapis lazuli. The silver-gilt tabernacle is framed by two columns and two mosaics of doves drinking from a chalice. Behind the altar, a red marble column topped by a gilded capital supports a statue of Mary, made of hammered silver by the goldsmith Chanuel of Marseille. The mosaic of the apse's semi-dome depicts a ship in its central medallion. The ship's sail features the monogram of Mary, while a star in the sky shows an intertwined A and M, which stands for Ave Maria. This medallion is surrounded by rinceaux and thirty two birds, including peacocks, parrots, hoopoes, bluethroats, herons, and goldfinches. The band beneath the semi-dome is decorated with nine medallions, which represent several titles of Mary from the Litany of Loreto: Foederis Arca, Speculum Iustitiae, Sedes Sapientiae, Turris Davidica, Rosa Mystica, Turris Eburnea, Domus Aurea, Vas Spirituale, Ianua Coeli. Side chapels The aisles on either side of the nave house a total of six side chapels. Henri Révoil designed and Jules Cantini constructed the altars; Cantini also created the statue of Peter and made it a gift to the sanctuary. Each altar tomb features the coat of arms of its respective saint. The ceiling of each chapel is decorated with a mosaic, depicting the name and arms of the financer on one side and a symbol of the saint on the other. Long and meticulous restoration: 2001–2008 By 2001 the interior facades had severely aged. Also, the cathedral's mosaics had been badly restored after the war. After four years of preparatory studies, a major restoration project was launched in 2001 under the direction of the architect Xavier David. The work lasted until 2008, financed by local government agencies and by donations from private individuals and businesses. External restoration Although the majority of the stones used proved very resistant over time, this did not hold true for the green Golfolina stone, a beautiful hard stone which degrades very quickly when exposed to industrial and domestic pollution, especially coal smoke, and was found to be corroded to a depth of 3 to 5 cm. As the original quarry near Florence had been closed for a long time, a new source was sought. A quarry in a vineyard close to Chianti supplied 150 cubic metres of Golfolina. The defective stone was replaced by stone treated to resist pollution. Moreover, rusting metal reinforcements had split some of the stone. Two sets of reinforcements posed a serious problem: those that girdle the top of the bell tower to reinforce against the swinging of the bell, and those around the upper part of the bell tower that supports the monumental statue. Some of the reinforcements were treated with cathodic protection, and others replaced with stainless steel. Interior restoration Interior work was even more important. Some water-damaged stuccos in higher areas had to be redone. Mosaic panels damaged by bullets or shells had earlier been repaired with a poor and rushed technique: missing tiles had been replaced by plaster covered with paint. Moreover, all the mosaics were blackened by candle smoke. Mosaics which threatened to fall apart needed to be consolidated with resin injections. The most damaged part was in the central cupola of the nave, where all the gold mosaics needed to be replaced. The restoration of the mosaics was entrusted to Marseille artist Michel Patrizio, whose workmen were trained in traditional mosaic skills at the school of Spilimbergo in Friuli, north of Venice. The mosaic tiles were supplied by the Orsoni Venezia 1888 workshop in Venice which had made the originals. In the arts Writers Many writers have described the famous basilica, for example: Valery Larbaud: "She who governs the roads of the sea, Who shines above the waves and the sun, The giantess standing behind the blue hours, high gold inhabitant of a long white country, Christian Pallas of the Gauls. Paul Arene: "Here the true good mother, the only one, who rules in a gold coat stiff with pearls and rubies, under the dome of Notre-Dame de la Garde, a cupola of hard lapis lazuli encrusted with diamonds for stars, condescended to be angry with me. Chateaubriand: "I hastened to go up to Notre-Dame de la Garde, to admire the sea bordered with the ruins the laughing coasts of all the famous countries of Antiquity. Marie Mauron: "It is she whom one sees from the sea, first and last on her summit of light hemmed of blue, dominating its Greek Provence which knows or does not know any more that it is it, but the remainder. Who would miss, believer or not, climbing up to the Good mother? Michel Mohrt: "And there high on the mountain, the good Virgin, the good mother, looked out this crowd, presided over the traffic in the false identity cards, at the open-air black market behind the Stock Exchange, with all the attacks, all the denunciations, all the rapes, the Good mother of the Garde who takes care on the sailors who are ashore, – as for those who are at sea, let them sort themselves out! " André Suarès: "Notre Dame of the Guard is a mast: it oscillates on its skittle. It will take its flight, the basilica, with the virgin who serves as its crest. Thus the basilica perched on the hill of the guard, and the gilded copper statue which they hoisted on the basilica. There, once more, this style which wants to be Roman and Byzantine, without ever succeeding in being a style: neither the force of the Roman, nor the science of the Byzantine." Painters of the Basilica Many painters have depicted Marseille's port with Notre-Dame's basilica in the background. Paul Signac, who helped to develop pointillism, produced a painting in 1905 that is now shown in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Albert Marquet produced three works. The first was a drawing executed in ink in 1916, shown at Musee National d'Art Moderne in Paris. The second is an oil on canvas painted in 1916 entitled "The horse at Marseille". This painting, now at the Museum of Fine Arts in Bordeaux, shows a horse on the port quay with the hill of Notre-Dame de la Garde in the background. The third, shown at the Annonciade museum at Saint-Tropez, is called "The Port of Marseille in fog"; the basilica emerges from a misty landscape where the purification of form indicates distance.This painting shows this painter did not always represent the port of Marseilles from the front, moving his easel to the riverbank side, sometimes close to the town hall, to represent the hill of Notre-Dame de la Garde. Charles Camoin painted two canvases in 1904 featuring Notre-Dame de la Garde: "The Old Port with Barrels", at the Gelsenkirchen museum, and "The Old Port and Notre-Dame de la Garde" shown at the Fine Art museum of Le Havre. This museum also possesses a painting by Raoul Dufy done in 1908, entitled "The Port of Marseille". In 1920, Marcel Leprin made a pastel drawing "Notre-Dame de la Garde Seen from the Town Hall"; this work is in the Petit Palais museum in Geneva. Louis-Mathieu Verdilhan, about 1920 "The Canal from Fort St. John"; the silhouette of Notre-Dame de la Garde is at the rear of the painting with a boat in the foreground. This painting is at the Musée National d'Art Moderne in Paris. M.C. Escher produced a wood engraving of the city, entitled Marseille, in 1936. Bonne Mère The people of Marseille regard the Notre-Dame basilica as the guardian and protectoress of the city, hence its nickname Bonne Mère ("Good Mother"), which is also a nickname of Mary, mother of Jesus. Ex-votos A Mediterranean-style religiosity is expressed here with numerous votive candles and ex-votos offered to the Virgin to thank her for spiritual or temporal favours and to proclaim and recall the grace received. One of the oldest documents about this practice is a deed of August 11, 1425, in which a certain Jean Aymar paid five guilders for wax images offered in gratitude to the Virgin. During his travels in the south of France at the beginning of the 19th century, Aubin-Louis Millin de Grandmaison was struck by the number of ex-voto at Notre-Dame de la Garde: "The path that leads to the oratory is stiff and difficult. The chapel is small and narrow, but decorated everywhere with tributes from pious mariners: on the ceiling small vessels are suspended with their rigs and have their name registered on the stern; they represent those that the mother of Christ has saved from cruel shipwreck or from the fury of pirates and corsairs". The ceiling of the upper church still features many scale models of recently restored boats and planes. The walls of the side vaults of the two sanctuaries, the crypt and upper church, are covered with a first level of marble slabs. The upper walls of these side vaults are occupied by painted ex-votos hung in several rows above; the most recent are on the walls of the terraces of the basilica. Most of these ex-votos date only from the second half of the 19th century; earlier ones disappeared during the Revolution. Most depict shipwrecks and storms, but there are also very different scenes: fire, car and railway accidents, bedridden patients, and political and social events. The events of May 68 were the inspiration for one drawing; an Olympique de Marseille flag recalls that the players of the club mounted a pilgrimage to the basilica after a victory. Symbol of Marseille Visible from the motorways of Marseille and from the train station, the gare Saint-Charles, Notre Dame de la Garde is the city's most well-known symbol. It is the most-visited site in Marseille, and receives hundreds of visitors every day, a number of pilgrims remarkable for a site that with no association with a saint, vision or miracle, nor for that matter with a famous person. For Cardinal Etchegaray, former bishop of Marseille, the Virgin of the Garde "does not merely form part of the landscape like the Chateau d'If or the Old Port, it is the living heart of Marseille, its central artery more than the Canebière. It is not the exclusive property of Catholics; it belongs to the human family that teems in Marseille." Notre-Dame de la Garde remains the heart of the diocese of Marseille, even more so than the cathedral. It was here that Bishop Jean Delay on August 30, 1944, hoped that deep reforms would bring to the poorest more humane and more just living and working conditions. It was also here that Etchegaray compared, in May 1978, the ravages of unemployment to those of the plague of Marseille of 1720. A museum opened on the site on June 18, 2013, retracing the building's eight-century history. It was officially inaugurated July 11, 2013, with civil and military authorities participating. As with prior renovations, a fundraising appeal received generous support from the public, in addition to gifts from public agencies. The logo of the popular French soap opera Plus belle la vie, set in Marseille, depicts Notre-Dame de la Garde. The Marseille-based company Compagnie Maritime d'Expertises used a model of the church for a maritime test launch in 2017 where the symbol was sent to near-space in 20 km altitude. Tourism Notre-Dame de la Garde receives around a million and half visitors each year, many just for the view. Pilgrims come for various reasons, some writing them down in a guestbook. One in particular sums up these reasons: "I came here first for the peace and comfort one finds at the feet of the Blessed Virgin, then for the feast for the eyes that the basilica offers, for the panorama, the pure air and the space, for the feeling of freedom." Gallery References Bibliography Further reading Arnaud Ramière de Fortanier, Illustration du vieux Marseille, ed. Aubanel, Avignon, 1978, ISBN 2-7006-0080-0 Félix Reynaud, Ex-voto de Notre-Dame de la Garde. La vie quotidienne. édition La Thune, Marseille, 2000, ISBN 2-913847-08-0 Félix Reynaud, Ex-voto marins de Notre-Dame de la Garde. édition La Thune, Marseille, 1996, ISBN 2-9509917-2-6 External links Official website Notre-Dame de la Garde – Marseille Tourism Bells of Notre-Dame de la Garde

Kiln Theatre

The Kiln Theatre (formerly the Tricycle Theatre) is a theatre located in Kilburn, in the London Borough of Brent, England. Since 1980, the theatre has presented a wide range of plays reflecting the cultural diversity of the area, as well as new writing, political work and verbatim reconstructions of public inquiries. The theatre has produced original work by playwrights such as Lynn Nottage, Patrick Barlow, Richard Bean, David Edgar, Stephen Jeffreys, Abi Morgan, Simon Stephens, Roy Williams, Lolita Chakrabarti, Moira Buffini, Alexi Kaye Campbell, Florian Zeller, Ayad Akhtar and Zadie Smith. The current artistic director is Indhu Rubasingham, who succeeded Nicolas Kent in 2012. Rubasingham will step down in December 2023, to be replaced by Amit Sharma.The theatre's name was changed from the Tricycle to Kiln Theatre in April 2018.

The Kiln Theatre (formerly the Tricycle Theatre) is a theatre located in Kilburn, in the London Borough of Brent, England. Since 1980, the theatre has presented a wide range of plays reflecting the cultural diversity of the area, as well as new writing, political work and verbatim reconstructions of public inquiries. The theatre has produced original work by playwrights such as Lynn Nottage, Patrick Barlow, Richard Bean, David Edgar, Stephen Jeffreys, Abi Morgan, Simon Stephens, Roy Williams, Lolita Chakrabarti, Moira Buffini, Alexi Kaye Campbell, Florian Zeller, Ayad Akhtar and Zadie Smith. The current artistic director is Indhu Rubasingham, who succeeded Nicolas Kent in 2012. Rubasingham will step down in December 2023, to be replaced by Amit Sharma.The theatre's name was changed from the Tricycle to Kiln Theatre in April 2018. History Wakefield Tricycle Company The theatre opened on the Kilburn High Road in 1980 as the permanent home of the Wakefield Tricycle Company, a touring theatre company that was known for producing British premieres, new writing, children's shows and theatre for the community in London and south-east England. The Wakefield Tricycle Company had been started in 1972 by Ken Chubb and Shirley Barrie, performing initially in a room behind the Pindar of Wakefield pub in King's Cross. The name Wakefield Tricycle Company was adopted as a pun on the Wakefield Cycle of mystery plays, the pub's name and the fact that the initial company had three members. The company commissioned new plays which it presented at arts centres around the country and then brought into small London theatres, such as The Bush and King's Head. The Wakefield Tricycle produced over 60 plays including works by Sam Shepard, John Antrobus, Olwen Wymark and co-founder Barrie. The building After securing the support of Brent London Borough Council, the Greater London Council and Arts Council England, the company was given a lease and began converting the Foresters' Hall on the Kilburn High Road into the Tricycle Theatre ("Wakefield" being dropped from the company's name at this point), opting for this space due to the lack of local entertainment facilities for the residents of Kilburn at the time. The Foresters' Hall, which was built for the Ancient Order of Foresters, had previously been used for various purposes, including as a cinema and as a music and dance hall and as temporary offices for Brent Housing Department and Rent Tribunal.The then 235-seat auditorium, designed by architect Tim Foster and theatre consultant Iain Mackintosh, was modelled on the Georgian Theatre Royal in Richmond, Yorkshire. It was built using free-standing system-scaffolding that supported padded benches rather than individual seats. The pre-existing proscenium arch was in front of a stage so shallow as to be almost useless, so a large apron was built to take the acting area out into "the courtyard", leaving the old stage as almost a backstage area, frequently unused in productions, but leaving the theatre with the oddity of a proscenium arch framing a small rear, inner acting area. In 1987 the theatre suffered a devastating fire that spread from a neighbouring timber yard and which seriously damaged the building. However, after extensive fundraising, the theatre was rebuilt and reopened in 1989, with only minor alterations. In 1998, a 300-seat cinema was added to the complex, and in 2001 the Creative Space was built for the theatre's extensive education and community work. All stages of the development were designed by Tim Foster Architects (now Foster Wilson Size).In July 2016, the theatre began to refurbish the theatre auditorium and front of house spaces, led by Chapman Architects. In April 2018, the theatre announced its planned reopening in September 2018, as well as the 2018/19 season of plays.The refurbished building opened on 5 September 2018 with: A new auditorium with a flexible stage Increased capacity in the auditorium (292 seats) and individual seating Eight wheelchair positions within the auditorium with access at stalls level and increased accessibility in front of house and backstage areas Additional toilets New façade and street-facing café Technical bridges and increased access to technical equipment Renaming In April 2018 the theatre was renamed as Kiln Theatre. Artistic director Indhu Rubasingham said that the new name helped strengthen the venue's association with the Kilburn area and that kilns also have a relationship with all cultures around the world, and are symbols of creativity and culture. Following this, a public petition was launched arguing that the name change was "unnecessary, costly and squanders the established reputation of The Tricycle". As of July 2018 the petition was reported to have received over 2,000 signatures. The theatre received public support from various industry professionals, including an open letter in The Guardian from actors Jim Carter and Imelda Staunton and articles from critics Lyn Gardner and Matt Trueman, as well as arts writer Jessie Thompson. In September 2018 The Stage published an open letter in support of Kiln Theatre, including signatures from Richard Bean, Moira Buffini, Dominic Cooke, David Eldridge, Rebecca Lenkiewicz, Simon Stephens and Erica Whyman.Later that month, The Guardian published an open letter opposed to the name change, including signatures from both former Artistic Directors (Ken Chubb and Nicolas Kent) and 13 others, including several former Trustees (Pam Jordan, Tim Foster, Nicholas Allott, Mark Cummins, Rosalie Horner, Martin Dives, Errol Lloyd, Mustapha Matura, Janet Mokades, Andree Molyneux, Stephen Phillips and James Shillingford). In October 2018, the Camden New Journal published an open letter calling for the name of the Tricycle Theatre to be reinstated, signed by Sally Greengross, Michael Codron, Lord Cashman, Ken Livingstone, Clive Hirschhorn, Martin Yates, Anita Dobson, Christopher Biggins, Bradley Walsh, Mark Thomas, Lesley Joseph, Les Dennis, Bobby Crush, Lorraine Chase, Mark Curry, Anne Reid, Joe Pasquale, Sandra Dickinson, Linda Hayden, Ray Cooney, Christina Lamb, Robin Soans, Paul Freeman, Joan Ann Maynard and Clarke Peters.According to trustees, over 50% of audience members attending the 2018 reopening season were visiting the theatre for the first time. Artistic directors In 1984 co-founder Ken Chubb turned leadership over to new artistic director Nicolas Kent, who had previously brought a successful production of Playboy of the West Indies by Mustapha Matura to the theatre with the Oxford Playhouse Company. Ken Chubb and Shirley Barrie returned shortly thereafter to their native Canada, where they have continued working in theatre and education.In 2012 the role of artistic director was taken over by Indhu Rubasingham, who had previously worked as a guest director at the theatre working on shows such as Starstruck by Roy Williams (1998), Fabulation by Lynn Nottage (2006), The Great Game (with Nicolas Kent in 2009) and Detaining Justice by Bola Agbaje (2009). Rubasingham will step down in December 2023, to be replaced by Amit Sharma. Productions Tricycle Theatre productions 1980s–1990s Among the highpoints of the 1980s and early 1990s were productions of Return to the Forbidden Planet, Just So (a musical based on the Rudyard Kipling children's stories), the UK premiere of Alice Childress's Trouble in Mind and productions by The Black Theatre Co-operative, Carib Theatre, Druid, Field Day, Foco Novo, Market Theatre of Johannesburg, National Theatre of Brent, Paines Plough, Shared Experience, Talawa Theatre Company. "Tribunal plays" From 1994, during the tenure of Nicolas Kent as artistic director, the theatre established a reputation for its distinctive "tribunal plays" based on verbatim reconstructions of public inquiries. In 1994 the theatre produced Half the Picture by Richard Norton-Taylor and John McGrath (a dramatisation of the Scott Arms to Iraq Inquiry), which was the first play ever to be performed in the Houses of Parliament. This was the first of a series of plays that have subsequently become known as the Tricycle Tribunal Plays. The next, marking the 50th anniversary of the 1946 War Crimes Tribunal, was Nuremberg, which was followed by Srebrenica – the UN Rule 61 Hearings, which later transferred to the National Theatre and the Belfast Festival at Queen's. In 1999, the theatre's reconstruction of The Stephen Lawrence Inquiry – The Colour of Justice received critical and public acclaim, The Guardian calling it "the most vital piece of theatre on the London stage". It went on to play for two weeks at Theatre Royal, Stratford East and transferred to the Victoria Palace in the West End. It completed a national tour in 1999 which included the Belfast Festival and the National Theatre. In 2003 Justifying War – Scenes from the Hutton Inquiry opened at the theatre.In 2004 the theatre produced Guantanamo: Honor Bound to Defend Freedom written by Victoria Brittain and Gillian Slovo from spoken evidence, which transferred to the New Ambassadors Theatre in the West End and the Culture Project in New York (where Archbishop Desmond Tutu appeared in the production). In 2006 the theatre presented a performance of the play at the Houses of Parliament and also on Washington's Capitol Hill. It has since been performed around the world. Through the "Guantanamo Reading Project" there have been 25 community productions of readings of the play in the United States. Bloody Sunday: Scenes from the Saville Inquiry opened in 2005 and later transferred to Belfast, Derry and to the Abbey Theatre for the Dublin Theatre Festival. In 2006 the theatre was awarded an Evening Standard Special Drama Award for "pioneering political work", and a Laurence Olivier Award for Outstanding Achievement for Bloody Sunday. In 2007 Called to Account – the indictment of Tony Blair for the crime of aggression against Iraq – a hearing was staged at the Tricycle with evidence from American political lobbyist Richard Perle, the Chilean Ambassador to the United Nations Security Council in 2003, Juan Gabriel Valdes, and ex-Cabinet Minister Clare Short.In 2010 Nicolas Kent, Indhu Rubasingham and the Tricycle Theatre were awarded a Human Rights Award from Liberty for "their proud record of highlighting some of the most important human rights issues of the day". The award named several of the tribunal plays.Most of these plays have been broadcast by the BBC on radio or television, and have together reached audiences of over 30 million people worldwide. Productions 2006–2012 The 39 Steps adapted by Patrick Barlow (10 August − 9 September 2006) Fabulation, or the Re-Education of Undine by Lynn Nottage (14 September − 21 October 2006) Called to Account edited by Richard Norton-Taylor (19 April − 9 June 2007) Moonlight & Magnolias by Ron Hutchinson (September 2007 − 3 November 2007; revived 2 July − 2 August 2008)1 *Doubt: A Parable by John Patrick Shanley (22 November 2007 − 12 January 2008) Let There Be Love by Kwame Kwei-Armah (17 January − 16 February 2008; revived 5 − 30 August 2008) Radio Golf by August Wilson (2 October − 1 November 2008) Loot by Joe Orton, starring Matt Di Angelo, David Haig and Doon Mackichan (11 December 2008 – 31 January 2009) The Great Game: Afghanistan – A festival that included 12 newly commissioned short plays by Richard Bean, David Edgar, David Greig, Amit Gupta, Ron Hutchinson, Stephen Jeffreys, Abi Morgan, Ben Ockrent, J. T. Rogers, Simon Stephens, Colin Teevan and Joy Wilkinson (17 April − 14 June 2009). The production, which received an Olivier Award Nomination for Outstanding Achievement, returned to the Tricycle in the autumn of 2010, before embarking on a tour of the US Not Black and White by Roy Williams, Kwame Kwei-Armah and Bola Agbaje (8 October − 19 December 2009), a season of full-length plays looking at 21st-century London from a black perspective Greta Garbo Came to Donegal (7 January – 20 February 2010) by Frank McGuinness Women, Power and Politics (4 June − 17 July 2010). Following the 2010 General Election, the Tricycle presented a season of twelve new plays that examined both the history of women's role in politics, and the complex issues surrounding women's participation and role in contemporary governments Broken Glass by Arthur Miller (10 August − 10 September 2010) The Riots, written by Gillian Slovo from spoken evidence (17 November − 10 December 2011; transferred to the Bernie Grant Arts Centre 4 − 14 January 2012) The Bomb – a partial history with plays by Lee Blessing, John Donnelly, Elena Gremina, Amit Gupta, Zinnie Harris, Ron Hutchinson (9 February – 1 April 2012) Lover's Rock Monologues, the story of how a subgenre of reggae born in the UK defined a generation in the late 1970s and 1980s and had huge impact on British pop culture (9–14 July 2012) Jazz at Cafe Society, a show about the 1940s New York Cafe Society nightclub, written and produced by Alex Webb, narrated by DJ and BBC Radio presenter Max Reinhardt and featuring Gwyneth Herbert, Alexander Stewart and China Moses (16–21 July 2012) Productions 2012–2020 Productions between 2012 and 2020 included: Red Velvet, a world premiere of a play by Lolita Chakrabarti and directed by Indhu Rubasingham. It was based on the life of Ira Aldridge, the first black actor to play Othello on a London stage in 1833 (played 11 October – 24 November 2012; revived 23 January 2014 – 15 March 2014; transferred to New York 25 March – 20 April 2014). The production received awards for Most Promising Playwright and Best Actor at the Evening Standard Award and Critics' Circle Theatre Awards, and transferred to the West End in 2016 as part of the Kenneth Branagh season at the Garrick. The Arabian Nights by Mary Zimmerman, adapted from The Book of the Thousand Nights and One Night (30 November 2012 – 12 January 2013) Paper Dolls by Philip Himberg, a play about a Filipino drag act in Tel Aviv (28 February – 28 April 2013) Bracken Moor by Alexi Kaye Campbell, presented by Shared Experience and the Tricycle Theatre (6 June – 20 July 2013) A Boy and His Soul by Colman Domingo, a play about growing up in Philadelphia with Soul music (4 September – 21 September 2013) Handbagged by Moira Buffini, directed by Indhu Rubasingham (October 2013). In 2014 Handbagged transferred to the Vaudeville Theatre in London's West End, and the Tricycle Theatre received an Olivier Award for "Outstanding Achievement in an Affiliate Theatre". The play was nominated for an Olivier Award for "Best Comedy" and went on national tour in 2015. The Colby Sisters of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania by Adam Bock (19 June − 26 July 2014) The Kilburn Passion by Suhayla El-Bushra, presented by the Young Company's 19–25 Ensemble (5 – 9 August 2014) The House That Will Not Stand by Marcus Gardley (9 October – 29 November 2014) Lionboy, from the novel by Zizou Corder, adapted by Marcelo Dos Santos and Complicite (17 December 2014 – 10 January 2015) Multitudes by John Hollingworth(19 February – 21 March 2015) The Dissidents by Shamser Sinha presented by the Young Company's 19–25 Ensemble (26 – 28 March 2015) After Electra by April De Angelis (7 April – 2 May 2015) The Father by Florian Zeller, in a translation by Christopher Hampton (7 May – 13 June 2015). This show transferred to the West End in September 2015 and won Kenneth Cranham an Olivier Award for Best Actor. A Wolf in Snakeskin Shoes by Marcus Gardley (8 October – 14 November 2015) Ben Hur by Patrick Barlow (19 November 2015 – 9 January 2016) The Mother by Florian Zeller (21 January – 12 March 2016) The Invisible Hand by Ayad Akhtar (12 May – 2 July 2016) The Great Wave by Francis Turnly (co-production with the National Theatre, 10 March – 14 April 2018) Holy Sh!t by Alexis Zegerman (5 September – 6 October 2018) White Teeth by Stephen Sharkey, adapted from the novel by Zadie Smith (world premiere, 26 October – 22 December 2018) Approaching Empty by Ishy Din (co-production with Tamasha and Live Theatre, world premiere, 9 January – 2 February 2019) The Son by Florian Zeller (UK premiere, 20 February – 6 April 2019). This show transferred to the West End in Aug-Nov 2019, produced by Fiery Angel and Gavin Kalin Productions. The Half God of Rainfall by Inua Ellams (co-production with Fuel and Birmingham Repertory Theatre, world premiere, 26 April – 17 May 2019) Wife by Samuel Adamson (world premiere, 30 May – 6 July 2019) Blues in the Night by Sheldon Epps (18 July – 7 September 2019). This production was nominated for an Olivier Award for "Outstanding achievement in an affiliate theatre" The Seven Ages of Patience by Chinonyerem Odimba (world premiere, 25 – 28 September 2019) When the Crows Visit by Anupama Chandrasekhar (world premiere, 23 October – 30 November 2019) Snowflake by Mike Bartlett (10 December 2019 – 25 January 2020) Pass Over by Antoinette Nwandu (UK premiere, 13 February – 4 April 2020) Productions 2021-present Following closure due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Kiln Theatre reopened in May 2021. Reasons You Should(n't) Love Me by Amy Trigg (21 May – 12 June 2021) The Invisible Hand by Ayad Akhtar (1 – 31 July 2021) NW Trilogy by Moira Buffini, Suhayla El-Bushra and Roy Williams (6 September – 9 October 2021) The Wife of Willesden adapted by Zadie Smith from Chaucer's The Wife of Bath (11 November 2021 – 15 January 2022) Black Love by Chinonyerem Odimba (28 March – 23 April 2022) Girl on an Altar by Marina Carr (19 May – 25 June 2022) The Darkest Part of the Night by Zodwa Nyoni (14 July – 13 August 2022) Handbagged by Moira Buffini (10 September – 29 October 2022) The Wife of Willesden adapted by Zadie Smith from Chaucer's The Wife of Bath (14 December 2022 – 11 February 2023) Es and Flo by Jennifer Lunn Modest by Ellen Brammar (29 June – 15 July 2023) Two Strangers (Carry a Cake Across New York) by Jim Barne and Kit Buchan (9 November – 23 December 2023) 2014 Jewish Film Festival funding In August 2014, the theatre informed the UK Jewish Film Festival (UKJFF) that it could not host the festival in 2014 (as it had done for the previous eight years) if the festival accepted a £1400 grant from the Israeli Embassy in London, as the theatre did not think that the festival should accept funding from any party to the then ongoing conflict in Gaza. The theatre offered to make up the loss itself but the festival's chief executive director Stephen Margolis dismissed this offer as a "publicity stunt", saying that artistic director Indhu Rubasingham had also demanded to scrutinise the list of films to be shown. The decision led to accusations of anti-semitism and The Jewish Chronicle described the decision as "open racism". Rubasingham drew attention to her own and the theatre's record, adding: "I am not anti-Semitic or anti-Israeli".Nick Cohen, writing in The Spectator, accused the Tricycle of inconsistency, as other groups' or events' funding had not, he claimed, previously been examined in this way. Cohen also pointed out that the theatre accepted Arts Council funding during times that the UK was actively involved in military conflicts. In an editorial, The Guardian said that the theatre had made "a bad error of judgment". Sajid Javid, the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport was reported as saying that the theatre had been "misguided" in demanding the festival drop its sponsorship by the Israeli Embassy.Theatre directors Nicholas Hytner and Richard Eyre both supported the Tricycle's stance and deplored those who had misrepresented that position. Hytner also said "Rubasingham and the Tricycle board could not have made clearer their commitment to Jewish culture ... It is entirely understandable that they felt obliged to insist that no government agency should sponsor the festival. The Tricycle ... has a clear responsibility to make no statement about the dispute that is behind the current conflict. It greatly saddens me that the UKJFF have unwisely politicised a celebration of Jewish culture".However, in a joint statement on 15 August, the UKJFF and Tricycle Theatre said: "Some weeks ago the UKJFF fell out, very publicly, with the Tricycle over a condition imposed by the Tricycle regarding funding. This provoked considerable public upset. Both organisations have come together to end that. Following lengthy discussions between the Tricycle and UKJFF, the Tricycle has now withdrawn its objection and invited back the UK Jewish Film Festival on the same terms as in previous years with no restrictions on funding from the Embassy of Israel in London." The 2014 festival did not take place at the theatre, but it was suggested that the Tricycle might hold some UKJFF-related events later in the year.In May 2015 the Tricycle Theatre's chair, Jonathan Levy, issued an apology in a piece published in The Jewish Chronicle, saying that the theatre had taken the wrong decision when it had asked UKJFF to return to the Israeli Embassy the £1400 funding it had received and that it was now seeking ways to rebuild mutual trust with the Jewish community. Facilities == References ==

Transfiguration Church (Cleveland, Ohio)

Transfiguration Church (Polish: Parafia Przemienienia Pańskiego w Cleveland), was a Catholic parish church in Cleveland, Ohio, in the United States. Part of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Cleveland, it was located at the southwest corner of the intersection of Broadway Avenue and Fullerton Avenue in a part of the South Broadway neighborhood previously known in Polish as Warszawa, also referred to today as Slavic Village. The church suffered a severe structure fire in 1990. The parish closed in 1992, and the church was demolished in early 1993. The records of this church, and all churches closed after 1975, can be found in the Catholic Diocese of Cleveland Archives.

Transfiguration Church (Polish: Parafia Przemienienia Pańskiego w Cleveland), was a Catholic parish church in Cleveland, Ohio, in the United States. Part of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Cleveland, it was located at the southwest corner of the intersection of Broadway Avenue and Fullerton Avenue in a part of the South Broadway neighborhood previously known in Polish as Warszawa, also referred to today as Slavic Village. The church suffered a severe structure fire in 1990. The parish closed in 1992, and the church was demolished in early 1993. The records of this church, and all churches closed after 1975, can be found in the Catholic Diocese of Cleveland Archives. Diocesan policy is to keep all archive records closed. History Trinity Baptist Trinity Baptist Church was organized in March 1873 with Rev. F. Tolhurst as the first pastor. The church dedicated its first building on Fullerton Street (at the intersection with Wood Street) on February 13, 1876.In February 1892, Trinity Baptist Church purchased two lots on the corner of Broadway Avenue and Fullerton Street for $8,565 ($300,000 in 2022 dollars). Fundraising to erect the new structure took eight years. In 1910, the church hired F.S. Barnum & Co., a local architectural firm, to design the new structure. The church was in the English Gothic architectural style, made of red brick with buff stone trim. The nave was designed as a bowl, with seating in pews for 550 people. The rear wall of the chancel was actually a sliding door. When opened, an additional 500 seats could be added in the social hall behind the chancel. The chancel contained a significant space for both the choir and the organ. The structure had an unfinished basement, and a two-story Sunday School classroom building was attached. The total cost of the building was $20,000 ($700,000 in 2022 dollars). Construction began in July 1900, and the church was dedicated on September 15, 1901. The final cost of the building was $30,000 ($1,100,000 in 2022 dollars).A Spiritualist church purchased the old Trinity Baptist structure, which completely renovated the building. It opened as the First Spiritualist Temple (and first Spiritualist church in Cleveland) on October 1, 1905.Trinity Baptist Church incurred a mortgage of $7,500 ($300,000 in 2022 dollars) to complete its new building. The church paid off the mortgage in April 1906, which included a $2,500 ($100,000 in 2022 dollars) donation from John D. Rockefeller. The congregation raised another $3,000 ($100,000 in 2022 dollars) which it used to install an organ in June 1906. Establishment of Transfiguration Church In the late 1930s and the early 1940s, the neighborhood around Trinity Baptist Church began to decline due to rapid industrialization and the construction of several nearby steel mills. Trinity Baptist saw a steady decline in membership, dipping to just 670 members by 1942. The church agreed to merge with Garfield Heights Baptist Church in the nearby suburb of Garfield Heights, Ohio, which had a large, new structure. In April 1943, Trinity Baptist Church sold its building to the Roman Catholic Diocese of Cleveland for $35,000 ($600,000 in 2022 dollars).The Roman Catholic Diocese of Cleveland erected Transfiguration Parish on July 30, 1943. The parish was divided from nearby Immaculate Heart of Mary Church and Shrine Church of St. Stanislaus parishes. Reverend Joseph F. Zabawa was named the pastor of the new congregation, which took up residence in the Trinity Baptist Church building.Transfiguration Church served Slavic Village's Polish community, with services conducted in Polish. In time, the church was enlarged to seat 950, and a convent was built. Closure of Transfiguration Church The continuing job and population losses among blue-collar workers in the area around Slavic Village left 40 percent of the area's housing stock abandoned and demolished. By 1989, housing foreclosure rates in the area reached 35 percent, causing runaway neighborhood decline. Attendance at Transfiguration declined to about 700, which led the diocese to close the church's elementary school in the spring of 1990.On October 19, 1990, faulty wiring in a dropped ceiling in the basement of the church that broke out at 5:35 AM. The intense fire burned a hole in the roof and destroyed the basement, choir loft, organ, nave, and several stained glass windows. The classroom building was untouched. The chancel was largely spared, allowing the Eucharistic chalice, tabernacle, and many vestments to survive.Damage to the building was estimated at $500,000 ($1,100,000 in 2022 dollars). Although both nearby St. Stanislaus and Immaculate Heart of Mary churches provided worship space to the parishioners of Transfiguration Church, attendance at Transfiguration's masses dwindled. Transfiguration later held mass in a classroom in its closed elementary school, but attendance continued to decline and reached only 100 by 1992. The diocese determined that the cost of repairing the church would exceed the insurance payment, no priest could be found to take over at Transfiguration, and the church was running a deficit of $5,000 ($10,426.8 in 2022 dollars) a month. After consulting with a parish task force, the diocese suppressed the parish on January 1, 1992. Bishop Anthony Pilla announced the closure in October 1992.The final mass at Transfiguration was held on November 8, 1992. Salvaged items from the church were dispersed to other Catholic churches and organizations, and insurance proceeds and other funds given to nearby diocesan churches. Priests See also Shrine Church of St. Stanislaus Immaculate Heart of Mary Church References Notes Citations

The Devil's Playground (1976 film)

The Devil's Playground is a 1976 Australian drama film written, produced and directed by Fred Schepisi. It is a semi-autobiographical film which tells the story of a boy growing up and going to school in a Catholic juniorate administered by De La Salle Brothers. Its focus is on the trials of the flesh and the tensions that arise, for both Brothers and students, from the religious injunction to control one's sexuality. It is considered part of the Australian New Wave film genre.

The Devil's Playground is a 1976 Australian drama film written, produced and directed by Fred Schepisi. It is a semi-autobiographical film which tells the story of a boy growing up and going to school in a Catholic juniorate administered by De La Salle Brothers. Its focus is on the trials of the flesh and the tensions that arise, for both Brothers and students, from the religious injunction to control one's sexuality. It is considered part of the Australian New Wave film genre. Premise In August 1953, the 13-year-old Tom Allen attends a Catholic juniorate in Melbourne, Australia. Students and Brothers face individual challenges of faith and self-restraint. Cast Arthur Dignam as Brother Francine Nick Tate as Brother Victor Simon Burke as Tom Allen Charles McCallum as Brother Sebastian John Frawley as Brother Celian Jonathan Hardy as Brother Arnold Gerry Duggan as Father Hanrahan Peter Cox as Brother James Thomas Keneally as Father Marshall Sheila Florance as Mrs Sullivan John Diedrich as Fitz Alan Cinis as Waite Richard Morgan as Smith Jeremy Kewley as Thompson Production The screenplay was based on Schepisi's own experience attending a Catholic juniorate and took him five years to write. The film financing took three years to arrange, eventually coming from the Australian Film Commission ($100,000) and the Film House, Schepisi's own company ($154,000), with the balance coming from private investment.It was shot in 1975 mostly at Werribee Park near Melbourne. Recognition The film won the 1976 Australian Film Institute Award for Best Film, Best Direction, Best Lead Actor for both Simon Burke and Nick Tate, Best Screenplay, Best Achievement in Cinematography, and the Jury Prize.The Devil's Playground was initially not released in theaters in the United States, but after director Fred Schepisi acquired greater overseas fame with The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith and Barbarosa, it was brought to the U.S. in 1982. Reviewing the film on the American TV show Sneak Previews, Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert said it remained a compelling example of Schepisi's work, and gave it two "yes" votes. They commented that it stands out from similar films in that it does not focus solely on the subject of sex, and that it addresses the struggles of the brothers at the school as well as the students. Box office The Devil's Playground grossed $334,000 at the box office in Australia, which is equivalent to $2,157,500 in 2020 dollars. According to Schepisi, the movie almost got its money back. Home media The Devil's Playground was released on DVD with a new print by Umbrella Entertainment in November 2008. The DVD is compatible with all region codes and includes special features such as the theatrical trailer, an interview with Fred Schepisi, and audio commentary with Fred Schepisi. This film was released on Blu-ray by Umbrella Entertainment in June 2014, with extras. See also Cinema of Australia Devil's Playground (TV series) References External links The Devil's Playground at IMDb The Devil's Playground at Oz Movies The Devil's Playground at the National Film and Sound Archive

WEC Energy Group

WEC Energy Group is an American company based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin that provides electricity and natural gas to 4.4 million customers across four states.

WEC Energy Group is an American company based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin that provides electricity and natural gas to 4.4 million customers across four states. Subsidiaries Wisconsin We Energies, the umbrella name for Wisconsin Electric Power and Wisconsin Gas, provides electricity and natural gas to customers in Wisconsin Wisconsin Public Service Corporation provides electricity and natural gas to customers in northeastern and northcentral Wisconsin Bluewater Gas Storage provides natural gas storage and hub services for We Energies and Wisconsin Public Service WEC Infrastructure designs, builds and owns electric generating plants Wispark develops and invests in real estate, industrial/office buildings and urban redevelopment projects Wisconsin River Power Company, WEC Energy Group owns 50% while Alliant Energy owns the other 50% Illinois Peoples Energy provides natural gas to customers in the city of Chicago North Shore Gas provides natural gas to customers in Chicago's northern suburbs Minnesota Minnesota Energy Resources Corporation provides natural gas to customers in Minnesota Michigan Michigan Gas Utilities Corporation provides natural gas to customers in lower Michigan Upper Michigan Energy Resources provides electric and natural gas to customers in Michigan's Upper Peninsula History 1896 The Milwaukee Electric Railway and Light Company was formed as a subsidiary of the North American Company to provide interurban rail service in a 12,000-square-mile (31,000 km2) area of southeastern Wisconsin. In time, the company began selling electricity not needed to power the interurban trains to individuals and businesses. 1919 Experiments at the company's East Wells Power Plant (then called Oneida Street Station) in downtown Milwaukee, proved that use of pulverized coal reduced the cost of producing electric power and conserved fuel. 1921 Wisconsin Electric Power Company is formed by the North American Company to build and operate the Lakeside Power Plant in St. Francis, Wisconsin. Lakeside was the world's first power plant to burn pulverized coal exclusively. 1935 The first of five 80-megawatt units at Port Washington Power Plant was brought on line. From 1935 to 1948, Port Washington was the most efficient coal-fueled power plant in the world. 1938 Milwaukee Electric Railway and Light was merged into Wisconsin Electric. 1941 Wisconsin Electric purchased Wisconsin Gas & Electric Company and Wisconsin Michigan Power Company, which also had been under the North American Company. 1946 Wisconsin Electric becomes an independent company, no longer part of the North American Company. 1953 Wisconsin Electric placed into service the first 120-megawatt unit at Oak Creek Power Plant. Seven additional units were completed through 1968. 1970 Wisconsin Electric's 908-megawatt Point Beach Nuclear Plant began operation and gained a worldwide reputation for efficiency. 1980 Wisconsin Electric placed the first 580-megawatt unit at Pleasant Prairie into service. A second unit was added in 1985. 1987 Wisconsin Electric reorganized as a holding company, Wisconsin Energy Corporation, with Wisconsin Electric, Wispark, Wisvest and Witech as subsidiaries. 1994 Wisconsin Energy purchased Lake Geneva-based Wisconsin Southern Gas Co. and merged it into Wisconsin Natural, which subsequently merged with Wisconsin Electric in 1995. 1998 Wisconsin Energy bought ESELCO, parent company of the Edison Sault Electric Company, based in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan. 2000 WICOR, holding company of Wisconsin Gas, became part of Wisconsin Energy, creating the largest electric and natural gas provider in Wisconsin. The corporation also announced a 10-year plant to invest US$7.0 billion to build five new power plants, to upgrade existing plants and to improve its electric distribution system. 2001 American Transmission Company, the first multi-state all-transmission utility in the United States, was formed by Wisconsin's major utilities, and Wisconsin Electric transferred ownership of its transmission lines to American Transmission in exchange for shares in the new company. 2002 Wisconsin Electric and Wisconsin Gas began doing business as We Energies. 2004 Wisconsin Energy sold the non-energy assets of WICOR for US$850 million as part of its strategy to divest its non-core businesses. 2005 Construction of two 615-megawatt coal-fired units began at the Oak Creek Power Plant site. The same year, the first of two 545-megawatt natural-gas-fueled units began commercial operation at Port Washington Generating Station. 2007 Wisconsin Energy sold Point Beach Nuclear Plant to FPL Energy for approximately US$924 million, with We Energies entitled to the output for the life of the plant. 2008 The Blue Sky Green Field Wind Farm began operation on a 10,600-acre (43 km2) site with 88 turbines (145-megawatt capacity) in Wisconsin's Fond du Lac County. 2009 We Energies received approval to construct and operate the Glacier Hills Wind Park in Wisconsin's Columbia County. The company also announced plans to build a biomass generating facility at the Domtar paper mill in Rothschild, Wisconsin. 2010 The first of two 615-megawatt coal-fueled units at the company's Oak Creek expansion site attains commercial operation on Feb. 2. Wisconsin Energy completed the sale of Edison Sault Electric Company to Cloverland Electric Cooperative. In May, construction began on the Glacier Hills Wind Park in Columbia County. 2011 The second of two 615-megawatt coal-fueled units at the company's Oak Creek expansion site attains commercial operation on Jan. 12. Glacier Hills Wind Park began operating 90 turbines in the towns of Randolph and Scott in Wisconsin. 2013 A 50-megawatt, biomass-based, cogeneration facility in Rothschild, Wisconsin, began commercial operation to provide base-load power for the electric system and steam to the Domtar paper mill. 2014 Wisconsin Energy announced that it was purchasing Integrys Energy Group, parent company of Peoples Gas, North Shore Gas and Wisconsin Public Service, for $9.1 billion. 2015 The company completed its acquisition of Integrys Energy Group in a deal worth $9.1 billion. 2017 WEC Energy Group acquired Bluewater Gas Storage, a Michigan-based company, to provide about one-third of storage needs for WEC Energy Group's natural gas distribution companies in Wisconsin. Primergy merger On May 3, 1995, Wisconsin Energy Corporation and Northern States Power Company (NYSE: NSP) each filed a Securities and Exchange Commission Form 8-K to combine in a merger-of-equals transaction to form Primergy Corporation. It would have been the 10th largest investor-owned electric and gas utility company in the United States, based on market capitalization at that time of about US$6.0 billion. NSP would have been the nominal survivor, and the merged company would be headquartered in Minneapolis (headquarters of the old NSP), but the merged company would have been registered in Wisconsin. On May 16, 1997, both CEOs announced that the boards of directors of both companies had terminated the merger plan because of approval delays by the U.S. Department of Justice, the SEC, and state regulators in Minnesota and Wisconsin. They also stated that regulatory agencies were changing their merger policies as they were considering the companies' filing and that further delay would reduce the benefits of the Primergy transaction.The delay already had put the merger five months behind schedule and had reduced earnings for both utilities by a total of US$58 million to that point. In addition, Wisconsin Energy's stock had fallen about 13% since early 1995 when the deal had been announced, while NSP's stock had risen by 6%. The case was considered to be a bellwether in the utilities industry, putting an end to the rapid pace of mergers and acquisitions that had been ongoing up to then. References External links WEC Energy Group Business data for WEC Energy Group:

Barry MacKay

Barry MacKay (August 31, 1935 – June 15, 2012) was an American tennis player, tournament director and broadcaster. He was ranked #1 in the U.S. in 1960.While competing in college for the University of Michigan, he won the Singles title of the 1957 NCAA Men's Tennis Championship to clinch the team title for Michigan over Tulane 10 to 9, by defeating Sammy Giammalva in a 5 set Final. His teammates were: Mark Jaffe, Dick Potter, Jon Erickson, John Harris, Dale Jensen, and Dick Cohen. He was also a finalist in the 1957 NCAA Doubles competition with Dick Potter. He won 5 Big Ten Conference titles, 1956-57 (2) in singles and 1955-57 (3) in doubles.He reached the Quarterfinals of Wimbledon in 1958 and 1960 and the Semifinals in 1959, and was a Doubles finalist at the U.S. Open in 1958, with Sam Giammalva.In 1959, when he reached the Singles Semifinals at the Australian Championships he lost to Alex Olmedo in 5 sets, and in the Semifinals at The Championships, Wimbledon he lost to Rod Laver in five sets.

Barry MacKay (August 31, 1935 – June 15, 2012) was an American tennis player, tournament director and broadcaster. He was ranked #1 in the U.S. in 1960.While competing in college for the University of Michigan, he won the Singles title of the 1957 NCAA Men's Tennis Championship to clinch the team title for Michigan over Tulane 10 to 9, by defeating Sammy Giammalva in a 5 set Final. His teammates were: Mark Jaffe, Dick Potter, Jon Erickson, John Harris, Dale Jensen, and Dick Cohen. He was also a finalist in the 1957 NCAA Doubles competition with Dick Potter. He won 5 Big Ten Conference titles, 1956-57 (2) in singles and 1955-57 (3) in doubles.He reached the Quarterfinals of Wimbledon in 1958 and 1960 and the Semifinals in 1959, and was a Doubles finalist at the U.S. Open in 1958, with Sam Giammalva.In 1959, when he reached the Singles Semifinals at the Australian Championships he lost to Alex Olmedo in 5 sets, and in the Semifinals at The Championships, Wimbledon he lost to Rod Laver in five sets. He then reached the Quarterfinals of the U.S. Championships losing to Bob Mark.In 1960, he was seeded No. 1 at the French Championships, and reached the Quarterfinals losing to Orlando Sirola. Prior to Paris he had won the Italian Championships in early May, beating Defending Champion, Luis Ayala, in five sets. MacKay twice won the Pacific Coast Championships, first in 1959, and again in 1960.His big year was 1960, when he also won ten more tournaments, to earn the No. 1 ranking in the United States. That year he reached the Quarterfinals of the U.S. Championships. Early years MacKay was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, and grew up in Dayton, Ohio, where he attended Oakwood High School. In 1950, he won the National Boys Indoor Doubles Championship. He was the Ohio State High School Tennis Champion in 1952 and 1953. He was ranked #16 in the National Juniors. Playing career MacKay enjoyed a 17-year career as an amateur and a professional tennis player, winning 29 singles titles and 11 doubles. He started his tennis career in the 1950, as National Boys Indoor champion and then in 1952, as the Ohio State High School Champion. From there, he enrolled at the University of Michigan in 1953 along with Mark Jaffe and Dick Potter to form a strong team under tennis coach Bill Murphy. Entering college Barry was ranked #16 in the Juniors, Mark Jaffe #10, and Dick Potter #20. Barry practiced often with Professor and ranked player Andy Paton Jr., who made him a much better player. He won five Big Ten Conference Championships while at the University of Michigan — 2 Singles Championships in 1956 and 1957, and 3 Doubles Championships with partner, Dick Potter, in 1955, 1956, and 1957.In June 1957, MacKay won the Singles title at the NCAA Men's Tennis Championship, defeating Sammy Giammalva of Texas in five sets at Salt Lake City. This win enabled the Michigan Wolverines to capture their first and only NCAA Team Championship over Tulane University, 10-9. He was the first Big Ten player to win the NCAA Singles Title, was runner-up for the Doubles Title with partner, Dick Potter, and was the first Michigan Tennis player to be named as an All-American. MacKay played on five United States Davis Cup teams from 1956 to 1960, and in three final rounds. The 1958 Davis Cup team of Alex Olmedo, Ham Richardson, and Barry beat Australia for the Championship. In 1959, he beat Rod Laver 7-5, 6-4, 6-1 in the Davis Cup Finals at Forest Hills. He is the only American player to beat Laver in Davis Cup competition. After winning the NCAA Singles Title in June 1957, MacKay played amateur tennis for three additional summers. In 1958, he reached the Quarterfinals of Wimbledon and the Finals of the U.S. Doubles Championships. In 1959, he lost to Alex Olmedo in five sets at the Australian Semifinals and at Wimbledon, he lost in the Semifinals to Rod Laver in 87 games over five sets. He also reached the Quarterfinals of the U.S. Championships losing to Bob Mark. In 1960, he was ranked as the No. 1 amateur in the U.S. after reaching the Quarterfinals of Wimbledon and the U.S. Championships, and winning 11 tournaments: Atlanta, Buffalo, Dallas, River Oaks, River Forest U.S. Clay Court Championships, Rome (Italian Championship), New York Indoors Nationals, Los Angeles Pacific Southwest, San Francisco Pacific Coast Tuscaloosa, and Victoria, Australia. MacKay defeated defending champion, Luis Ayala, in the final of the Italian Championship in five sets(considered the 5th Major) and was seeded No. 1 at the 1960 French Championships, where he lost in the Quarterfinals to Sirola. In 1961, MacKay turned professional. He played three years with the Jack Kramer Professional Tennis Tour. He recalled the Kramer Tour, "Matches were played in one city after another on a nightly basis across the country and around the world. It was a barnstorming type of tour." Grand Slam finals Doubles: 1 runner-up Directing tournaments In 1964, MacKay moved to California and worked for Jack Kramer on the Professional Tennis Tour. He remained with Kramer through 1966, when he moved to Sausalito, CA. In 1970, MacKay bought the controlling interest in the ATP Pacific Coast Championships in Berkeley, California, when he was ranked #9 in the U.S. He convinced banker Byron Leydecker to sponsor the tournament and it became the Redwood Bank Pacific Coast Open. In 1973, he started a company named BMK Sports, which operated his Major Tennis Event that became known as the SAP Open when he sold in 1995. Barry played his last tournament in Palm Beach, Florida in 1973. He was the first known as Mr. Wild Card for adding Jimmy Connors, John McEnroe, and Bjorn Borg, and others to his tournament draw even though they did not qualify. He was influential in Bay Area tennis circles and contributed his time and money. Barry's closest friends were his agent, Donald Dell, tennis historian, Bud Collins, Stanford Tennis Coach, Dick Gould, College Hall of Famer, Mike Franks, and player/broadcaster, Brad Gilbert. Broadcasting career Starting in the 1970s, MacKay became a Tennis Broadcaster. In 2001, he helped launch Tennis Channel as a Broadcaster. Over his 30-year broadcasting career, MacKay teamed with Arthur Ashe, Bud Collins, Donald Dell, Billie Jean King, Martina Navratilova, Jimmy Connors, Chris Evert, John McEnroe, Pam Shriver, Tracy Austin, Justin Gimelstob, and Leif Shiras. He was the on-air voice for American broadcasts of the U.S. Open, Wimbledon, French Open, Australian Open, and many ATP and WTA tournaments. He also provided color commentary, play-by-play, and lead analysis for The Tennis Channel, DirecTV, and Versus. He spent 30 years with HBO broadcasting Wimbledon, and the US Open on USA Network. He provided color commentary on Fox Sports Network, and served as the play-by-play announcer for the NBC Sports coverage of tennis at the 2008 Summer Olympics in China. Death Mackay died in San Francisco, California on June 15, 2012, aged 76, after a long illness. He is survived by his wife, Michele, and daughter, Kelly. Honors Inducted into the University of Michigan Athletic Hall of Honor in 1980. Inducted into the Cincinnati Tennis Hall of Fame in 2003. Inducted into the Intercollegiate Tennis Hall of Fame in 1987. Presented the Bob Hope Award for "Amateur Athlete of the Year" in 1960. Inducted into the Los Angeles Open Hall of Fame in 2005. Honored by the Indian Wells Masters tournament for his life's contributions to Tennis on March 10, 2013. References External links Barry MacKay at the Association of Tennis Professionals Barry MacKay at the International Tennis Federation Barry MacKay at the Davis Cup The Tennis Channel: Profile of Barry MacKay Alumni Update: Barry MacKay (1955-57), March 2007 1957 NCAA Singles Champion U.S.Championship Doubles finalist in 1958 Barry MacKay at IMDb

Veernala Jayarama Rao

Guru Jayarama Rao is a Guru and performer of Kuchipudi style, the classical dance of Andhra Pradesh, India. He has extended the Kuchipudi repertoire. Belonging to a family of traditional artists of Andhra Pradesh, Guru Jayarama Rao was trained from his childhood in the traditional Guru Shishya Parampara. He graduated from The Siddhendra Kala Kshetram and later trained under Vempati Chinna Satyam. After his arrival in Delhi to open a Kuchipudi school, he has trained many students in this art.

Guru Jayarama Rao is a Guru and performer of Kuchipudi style, the classical dance of Andhra Pradesh, India. He has extended the Kuchipudi repertoire. Belonging to a family of traditional artists of Andhra Pradesh, Guru Jayarama Rao was trained from his childhood in the traditional Guru Shishya Parampara. He graduated from The Siddhendra Kala Kshetram and later trained under Vempati Chinna Satyam. After his arrival in Delhi to open a Kuchipudi school, he has trained many students in this art. Some of his prominent students were Swapna Sundari, Meenakshi Sesadri, Vanashree Rao, his wife and dance partner.He is a member of the Expert committee on Kuchipudi in the HRD Ministry, Govt. of India, and a senior Fellowship holder for his research on Kuchipudi. He has received the PADMASRI (2004) and the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award (1999), along with Vanashree, given by the hon’ble President Of India, The Delhi State Award, and The Andhra Pradesh Samman. He is also the recipient of the INDIRA PRIYADARSHINI AWARD (Nov 2003). In 2005, The Sanmukhananda Sabha felicitated him with the Natyaratna Award. See also Kuchipudi Vempati Chinna Satyam References External links "Padmashree Jayarama Rao And Vanashree Rao Perform Kuchipudi Dance Form". YouTube video. Wild Films India. 6 October 2015. Retrieved 17 November 2015.

Thomas Holme

Thomas Holme (1624–1695) was the first surveyor general of the colonial-era Province of Pennsylvania. He laid out the first and original plan for the city of Philadelphia. Holme was a member of the Valiant Sixty, a group of early leaders and activists in the Religious Society of Friends, known as the Quakers.

Thomas Holme (1624–1695) was the first surveyor general of the colonial-era Province of Pennsylvania. He laid out the first and original plan for the city of Philadelphia. Holme was a member of the Valiant Sixty, a group of early leaders and activists in the Religious Society of Friends, known as the Quakers. Early life Holme was born in Lancashire, England, on November 3, 1624, to a yeoman, George Holme, and his wife Alice (née Whiteside). He married Sarah Croft in 1649. Career Soon after his marriage, Holme enlisted in the British Army, which was then under the leadership of Oliver Cromwell, where he attained the rank of captain. It may have been in the army that he gained some experience in surveying. He was reportedly converted to the Quaker movement by George Fox, founder of the sect. There, he met fellow Quaker William Penn, founder of colonial-era Pennsylvania. In 1682, Penn wrote to Holme from the colony asking him to come be his surveyor, since his original surveyor, Captain William Crispin, had recently become ill and died on the voyage to America. Shortly thereafter, Holme, a widower, sailed with four of his children to America, where he arrived in August 1682.Holme designed the plan of the city of Philadelphia and produced the first detailed map of Pennsylvania, titled A Mapp of Ye Improved Part of Pensilvania in America, Divided Into Countyes, Townships and Lotts...., published circa 1687. Once Penn arrived in present-day Pennsylvania, he appointed Holme one of his councilors. Holme also served as a justice of the peace and commissioner of property.Holme held the office of Surveyor-General until his death at age 71 in the spring of 1695, in Dublin Township, Pennsylvania in the present-day Holmesburg section of Philadelphia. After retiring, he was granted more than 4,000 acres (16 km²) in County Wexford, Ireland, which was then under the control and colonization of England. In 1863, a memorial was erected at his burial site, in the form of a six-foot-tall marble obelisk, near where his home is believed to have been located, which is now part of Pennypack Park. Legacy Philadelphia's Holme Avenue, Holme Circle, Thomas Holme Elementary School, and Holmesburg, a Philadelphia neighborhood, are all named in his honor. See also Nicholas Scull II Numbered streets References Further reading Corcoran, Irma (1992). Thomas Holme, 1624-1695: Surveyor General of Pennsylvania, Volume 200 of Memoirs of the American Philosophical Society, American Philosophical Society. Diane Publishing. p. 317. ISBN 978-0-87169-200-9. Hough, Oliver, "Captain Thomas Holme, Surveyor-General of Pennsylvania and Provincial Councillor," The Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography, Vol. XIX & XX, 1895 & 1896. External links http://archives.profsurv.com/magazine/article.aspx?i=711 Biographical essay in Professional Surveyor magazine: Part 1 Part 2 Image of one of Holme's maps from the Lower Merion Historical Society "Portraiture of the City of Philadelphia" (1683), by Thomas Holme Brief biography at virtualology.com Thomas Holme at Find a Grave

Creation myth

A creation myth or cosmogonic myth is a type of cosmogony, a symbolic narrative of how the world began and how people first came to inhabit it. While in popular usage the term myth often refers to false or fanciful stories, members of cultures often ascribe varying degrees of truth to their creation myths. In the society in which it is told, a creation myth is usually regarded as conveying profound truths – metaphorically, symbolically, historically, or literally. They are commonly, although not always, considered cosmogonical myths – that is, they describe the ordering of the cosmos from a state of chaos or amorphousness.Creation myths often share several features. They often are considered sacred accounts and can be found in nearly all known religious traditions.

A creation myth or cosmogonic myth is a type of cosmogony, a symbolic narrative of how the world began and how people first came to inhabit it. While in popular usage the term myth often refers to false or fanciful stories, members of cultures often ascribe varying degrees of truth to their creation myths. In the society in which it is told, a creation myth is usually regarded as conveying profound truths – metaphorically, symbolically, historically, or literally. They are commonly, although not always, considered cosmogonical myths – that is, they describe the ordering of the cosmos from a state of chaos or amorphousness.Creation myths often share several features. They often are considered sacred accounts and can be found in nearly all known religious traditions. They are all stories with a plot and characters who are either deities, human-like figures, or animals, who often speak and transform easily. They are often set in a dim and nonspecific past that historian of religion Mircea Eliade termed in illo tempore ('at that time'). Creation myths address questions deeply meaningful to the society that shares them, revealing their central worldview and the framework for the self-identity of the culture and individual in a universal context.Creation myths develop in oral traditions and therefore typically have multiple versions; found throughout human culture, they are the most common form of myth. Definitions Creation myth definitions from modern references: A "symbolic narrative of the beginning of the world as understood in a particular tradition and community. Creation myths are of central importance for the valuation of the world, for the orientation of humans in the universe, and for the basic patterns of life and culture." "Creation myths tell us how things began. All cultures have creation myths; they are our primary myths, the first stage in what might be called the psychic life of the species. As cultures, we identify ourselves through the collective dreams we call creation myths, or cosmogonies. ... Creation myths explain in metaphorical terms our sense of who we are in the context of the world, and in so doing they reveal our real priorities, as well as our real prejudices. Our images of creation say a great deal about who we are." A "philosophical and theological elaboration of the primal myth of creation within a religious community. The term myth here refers to the imaginative expression in narrative form of what is experienced or apprehended as basic reality ... The term creation refers to the beginning of things, whether by the will and act of a transcendent being, by emanation from some ultimate source, or in any other way."Religion professor Mircea Eliade defined the word myth in terms of creation: Myth narrates a sacred history; it relates an event that took place in primordial Time, the fabled time of the "beginnings." In other words, myth tells how, through the deeds of Supernatural Beings, a reality came into existence, be it the whole of reality, the Cosmos, or only a fragment of reality – an island, a species of plant, a particular kind of human behavior, an institution. Meaning and function Creation myths have been around since ancient history and have served important societal roles. Over 100 "distinct" ones have been discovered. All creation myths are in one sense etiological because they attempt to explain how the world formed and where humanity came from. Myths attempt to explain the unknown and sometimes teach a lesson.Ethnologists and anthropologists who study origin myths say that in the modern context theologians try to discern humanity's meaning from revealed truths and scientists investigate cosmology with the tools of empiricism and rationality, but creation myths define human reality in very different terms. In the past, historians of religion and other students of myth thought of such stories as forms of primitive or early-stage science or religion and analyzed them in a literal or logical sense. Today, however, they are seen as symbolic narratives which must be understood in terms of their own cultural context. Charles Long writes: "The beings referred to in the myth – gods, animals, plants – are forms of power grasped existentially. The myths should not be understood as attempts to work out a rational explanation of deity."While creation myths are not literal explications, they do serve to define an orientation of humanity in the world in terms of a birth story. They provide the basis of a worldview that reaffirms and guides how people relate to the natural world, to any assumed spiritual world, and to each other. A creation myth acts as a cornerstone for distinguishing primary reality from relative reality, the origin and nature of being from non-being. In this sense cosmogonic myths serve as a philosophy of life – but one expressed and conveyed through symbol rather than through systematic reason. And in this sense they go beyond etiological myths (which explain specific features in religious rites, natural phenomena, or cultural life). Creation myths also help to orient human beings in the world, giving them a sense of their place in the world and the regard that they must have for humans and nature.Historian David Christian has summarised issues common to multiple creation myths: How did everything begin? This is the first question faced by any creation myth and ... answering it remains tricky. ... Each beginning seems to presuppose an earlier beginning. ... Instead of meeting a single starting point, we encounter an infinity of them, each of which poses the same problem. ... There are no entirely satisfactory solutions to this dilemma. What we have to find is not a solution but some way of dealing with the mystery .... And we have to do so using words. The words we reach for, from God to gravity, are inadequate to the task. So we have to use language poetically or symbolically; and such language, whether used by a scientist, a poet, or a shaman, can easily be misunderstood. Classification Mythologists have applied various schemes to classify creation myths found throughout human cultures. Eliade and his colleague Charles Long developed a classification based on some common motifs that reappear in stories the world over. The classification identifies five basic types: Creation ex nihilo in which the creation is through the thought, word, dream, or bodily secretions of a divine being. Earth-diver creation in which a diver, usually a bird or amphibian sent by a creator, plunges to the seabed through a primordial ocean to bring up sand or mud which develops into a terrestrial world. Emergence myths in which progenitors pass through a series of worlds and metamorphoses until reaching the present world. Creation by the dismemberment of a primordial being. Creation by the splitting or ordering of a primordial unity such as the cracking of a cosmic egg or a bringing order from chaos.Marta Weigle further developed and refined this typology to highlight nine themes, adding elements such as deus faber, a creation crafted by a deity, creation from the work of two creators working together or against each other, creation from sacrifice and creation from division/conjugation, accretion/conjunction, or secretion.An alternative system based on six recurring narrative themes was designed by Raymond Van Over: Primeval abyss, an infinite expanse of waters or space Originator deity which is awakened or an eternal entity within the abyss Originator deity poised above the abyss Cosmic egg or embryo Originator deity creating life through sound or word Life generating from the corpse or dismembered parts of an originator deity Ex nihilo The myth that God created the world out of nothing – ex nihilo – is central today to Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, and the medieval Jewish philosopher Maimonides felt it was the only concept that the three religions shared. Nonetheless, the concept is not found in the entire Hebrew Bible. The authors of Genesis 1 were concerned not with the origins of matter (the material which God formed into the habitable cosmos), but with assigning roles so that the cosmos should function. In the early 2nd century CE, early Christian scholars were beginning to see a tension between the idea of world-formation and the omnipotence of God, and by the beginning of the 3rd century creation ex nihilo had become a fundamental tenet of Christian theology.Ex nihilo creation is found in creation stories from ancient Egypt, the Rig Veda, and many animistic cultures in Africa, Asia, Oceania, and North America. In most of these stories, the world is brought into being by the speech, dream, breath, or pure thought of a creator but creation ex nihilo may also take place through a creator's bodily secretions. The literal translation of the phrase ex nihilo is "from nothing" but in many creation myths the line is blurred whether the creative act would be better classified as a creation ex nihilo or creation from chaos. In ex nihilo creation myths, the potential and the substance of creation springs from within the creator. Such a creator may or may not be existing in physical surroundings such as darkness or water, but does not create the world from them, whereas in creation from chaos the substance used for creation is pre-existing within the unformed void. Creation from chaos In creation from chaos myths, there is nothing initially but a formless, shapeless expanse. In these stories the word "chaos" means "disorder", and this formless expanse, which is also sometimes called a void or an abyss, contains the material with which the created world will be made. Chaos may be described as having the consistency of vapor or water, dimensionless, and sometimes salty or muddy. These myths associate chaos with evil and oblivion, in contrast to "order" (cosmos) which is the good. The act of creation is the bringing of order from disorder, and in many of these cultures it is believed that at some point the forces preserving order and form will weaken and the world will once again be engulfed into the abyss. One example is the Genesis creation narrative from the first chapter of the Book of Genesis. World parent There are two types of world parent myths, both describing a separation or splitting of a primeval entity, the world parent or parents. One form describes the primeval state as an eternal union of two parents, and the creation takes place when the two are pulled apart. The two parents are commonly identified as Sky (usually male) and Earth (usually female), who were so tightly bound to each other in the primeval state that no offspring could emerge. These myths often depict creation as the result of a sexual union and serve as genealogical record of the deities born from it.In the second form of world parent myths, creation itself springs from dismembered parts of the body of the primeval being. Often, in these stories, the limbs, hair, blood, bones, or organs of the primeval being are somehow severed or sacrificed to transform into sky, earth, animal or plant life, and other worldly features. These myths tend to emphasize creative forces as animistic in nature rather than sexual, and depict the sacred as the elemental and integral component of the natural world. One example of this is the Norse creation myth described in Völuspá, the first poem of Gylfaginning. Emergence In emergence myths, humanity emerges from another world into the one they currently inhabit. The previous world is often considered the womb of the earth mother, and the process of emergence is likened to the act of giving birth. The role of midwife is usually played by a female deity, like the spider woman of several mythologies of Indigenous peoples in the Americas. Male characters rarely figure into these stories, and scholars often consider them in counterpoint to male-oriented creation myths, like those of the ex nihilo variety. Emergence myths commonly describe the creation of people and/or supernatural beings as a staged ascent or metamorphosis from nascent forms through a series of subterranean worlds to arrive at their current place and form. Often the passage from one world or stage to the next is impelled by inner forces, a process of germination or gestation from earlier, embryonic forms. The genre is most commonly found in Native American cultures where the myths frequently link the final emergence of people from a hole opening to the underworld to stories about their subsequent migrations and eventual settlement in their current homelands. Earth-diver The earth-diver is a common character in various traditional creation myths. In these stories a supreme being usually sends an animal (most often a type of bird, but also crustaceans, insects, and fish in some narratives) into the primal waters to find bits of sand or mud with which to build habitable land. Some scholars interpret these myths psychologically while others interpret them cosmogonically. In both cases emphasis is placed on beginnings emanating from the depths. Motif distribution According to Gudmund Hatt and Tristram P. Coffin, Earth-diver myths are common in Native American folklore, among the following populations: Shoshone, Meskwaki, Blackfoot, Chipewyan, Newettee, Yokuts of California, Mandan, Hidatsa, Cheyenne, Arapaho, Ojibwe, Yuchi, and Cherokee.American anthropologist Gladys Reichard located the distribution of the motif across "all parts of North America", save for "the extreme north, northeast, and southwest". In a 1977 study, anthropologist Victor Barnouw surmised that the earth-diver motif appeared in "hunting-gathering societies", mainly among northerly groups such as the Hare, Dogrib, Kaska, Beaver, Carrier, Chipewyan, Sarsi, Cree, and Montagnais.Similar tales are also found among the Chukchi and Yukaghir, the Tatars, and many Finnic traditions, as well as among the Buryat and the Samoyed. In addition, the earth-diver motif also exists in narratives from Eastern Europe, namely Romani, Romanian, Slavic (namely, Bulgarian, Polish, Ukrainian, and Belarusian), and Lithuanian mythological traditions.The pattern of distribution of these stories suggest they have a common origin in the eastern Asiatic coastal region, spreading as peoples migrated west into Siberia and east to the North American continent. However, there are examples of this mytheme found well outside of this boreal distribution pattern, for example the West African Yoruba creation myth of Ọbatala and Oduduwa. Native American narrative Characteristic of many Native American myths, earth-diver creation stories begin as beings and potential forms linger asleep or suspended in the primordial realm. The earth-diver is among the first of them to awaken and lay the necessary groundwork by building suitable lands where the coming creation will be able to live. In many cases, these stories will describe a series of failed attempts to make land before the solution is found.Among the indigenous peoples of the Americas, the earth-diver cosmogony is attested in Iroquois mythology: a female sky deity falls from the heavens, and certain animals, the beaver, the otter, the duck, and the muskrat dive in the waters to fetch mud to construct an island.In a similar story from the Seneca, people lived in a sky realm. One day, the chief's daughter was afflicted with a mysterious illness, and the only cure recommended for her (revealed in a dream) was to lie beside a tree and to have it be dug up. The people do so, but a man complains that the tree was their livelihood, and kicks the girl through the hole. She ends up falling from the sky to a world of only water, but is rescued by waterfowl. A turtle offers to bear her on its shell, but asked where would be a definitive dwelling place for her. They decide to create land, and the toad dives into the depths of the primal sea to get pieces of soil. The toad puts it on the turtle's back, which grows larger with every deposit of soil.In another version from the Wyandot, the Wyandot lived in heaven. The daughter of the Big Chief (or Mighty Ruler) was sick, so the medicine man recommends that they dig up the wild apple tree that stands next to the Lodge of the Mighty Ruler, because the remedy is to be found on its roots. However, as the tree has been dug out, the ground begins to sink away, and the treetops catch and carry down the sick daughter with it. As the girl falls from the skies, two swans rescue her on their backs. The birds decide to summon all the Swimmers and the Water Tribes. Many volunteer to dive into the Great Water to fetch bits of earth from the bottom of the sea, but only the toad (female, in the story) is the one successful. See also References Bibliography Further reading External links Creation myth – Encyclopædia Britannica Japanese Creation Myth Mayan Creation Myth Egyptian Creation Myth Norse Creation Myth Indo-European Creation Myth Archived 2017-09-11 at the Wayback Machine

Charles Deslondes

Charles Deslondes (c. 1789 – January 11, 1811) was an African American revolutionary who was one of the leaders in the 1811 German Coast uprising, a slave revolt that began on January 8, 1811, in the Territory of Orleans. He led more than 500 rebels against the plantations along the Mississippi River toward New Orleans. White planters formed militias and ended up hunting down the rebels. The enslaved insurgents killed one Free Man of Color, the "commandant", "overseer", or "slave driver" on the Andry Plantation which started the revolt, and one white man during their retreat from the outskirts of New Orleans. The militia and the Army killed 95 enslaved people, reflecting killings in the battle on Bernard Bernoudy's plantation, some gratuitous "accidental" killings of innocent enslaved people by the Army on its march from New Orleans, and the executions which followed the tribunals after the revolt was put down.

Charles Deslondes (c. 1789 – January 11, 1811) was an African American revolutionary who was one of the leaders in the 1811 German Coast uprising, a slave revolt that began on January 8, 1811, in the Territory of Orleans. He led more than 500 rebels against the plantations along the Mississippi River toward New Orleans. White planters formed militias and ended up hunting down the rebels. The enslaved insurgents killed one Free Man of Color, the "commandant", "overseer", or "slave driver" on the Andry Plantation which started the revolt, and one white man during their retreat from the outskirts of New Orleans. The militia and the Army killed 95 enslaved people, reflecting killings in the battle on Bernard Bernoudy's plantation, some gratuitous "accidental" killings of innocent enslaved people by the Army on its march from New Orleans, and the executions which followed the tribunals after the revolt was put down. Early life Charles Deslondes was born on the plantation of Jacques Deslondes about the year 1789. Deslandes's plantation succession records have Charles described as being a "Creole mulatto slave" by the name of Charles, "about 16 years old", listed as a "field laborer." He was likely baptized a Catholic.It is disputed whether Jacques Deslondes brought Charles over from Saint-Domingue; there is no record of Jacques ever having lived in Saint Domingue, and there is no record of Jacques buying Charles before Deslondes died in 1793. Deslondes had a continually documented presence in Louisiana from the time he was 17 years old until he died in 1793. Charles Deslondes worked as a "driver," or overseer of enslaved people, on the plantation of Col. Manuel Andre (or Andry), who enslaved 86 people. This plantation was later renamed the Woodland Plantation. The revolt Deslondes had organized slaves and maroons for revolt in what is now St. John the Baptist Parish, part of the German Coast (of the Mississippi River) because it had been settled by many German immigrants in the 1720s, long before the cultivation of sugar cane in the area. Deslondes's forces recruited other enslaved people from plantations along the way southeast into St. Charles Parish before turning back shortly before encountering militia sent from New Orleans. Accounts of the number of insurgents vary, from 200 to 500 men. The men killed two whites near the beginning of their march and burned down three plantation houses and some crops. They fought primarily with cane knives and captured a limited number of weapons, although they had planned on more. On January 11, a planter militia led by Col. Manuel Andry attacked the main body of insurgents at the back of Bernard Bernoudy's plantation west of New Orleans. Andry and his overseer, a free man of color named "Petit" Baptiste Thomassin, had been the first targets of the insurrection. Mr. Thomassin discovered the rebels who killed him, attacked Manuel Andry, and seriously wounded him with an ax. Some contemporary articles falsely indicate that "younger Andry" (son of Manuel Andry) had also been killed. The "younger Andry", Gilbert Andry, died on January 2 and was buried on January 3, five days before the start of the revolt. Gilbert was married to the daughter of Jacques Deslondes, Marie Marcelline Deslondes. The militia killed about forty enslaved people in the battle, from which many enslaved people fled into the swamps. Shortly afterward, the militia killed fourteen more enslaved people in other skirmishes and captured many more, although as many as 100 may have escaped permanently. After interrogating the captives, they quickly tried and executed eighteen enslaved people at the Destrehan plantation. They tried and executed eleven enslaved people in New Orleans. A total of ninety-five insurgents were killed in the aftermath of the rebellion. Death Deslondes was among the first captured by dogs after the battle. The militia did not hold him for trial or interrogation. Samuel Hambleton described Deslonde's fate: "Charles [Deslondes] had his hands chopped off then shot in one thigh & then the other, until they were both broken – then shot in the body and before he had expired was put into a bundle of straw and roasted!" His dying cries sent a message to the other escaped enslaved people in the marshes. Legacy In 2021 on the site, the 1811 Kid Ory Historic House opened, dedicated both to the German Coast uprising and to Kid Ory, American jazz composer, trombonist, and bandleader, who was born there in 1886.) In a letter printed in the Philadelphia "Political and Commercial Advertiser" on February 19 that year, Deslondes was mistakenly described as a free person of color. Citations Further reading Dormon, James H., "The Persistent Specter: Slave Rebellion in Territorial Louisiana." "Louisiana History" 28 (Fall 1977): 389–404. Paquette, Robert L., "Revolutionary St. Domingue in the Making of Territorial Louisiana", in "A Turbulent Time: The French Revolution in the Greater Caribbean" (Bloomington, Indiana: Indiana University Press, 1997), pp. 218–20. Rasmussen, Daniel, "American Uprising: The Untold Story of America's Largest Slave Revolt" Harper/HarperCollins Publishers. Rodriguez, Junius P. "'Always En Garde': The Effects of Slave Insurrection upon the Louisiana Mentality", "Louisiana History" 33 (Fall 1992): 399–416. Thompson, Thomas Marshall. "National Newspaper and Legislative Reactions to Louisiana's Deslonde Slave Revolt of 1811", "Louisiana History" 33 (Winter 1992): 5–29.

Capel Curig

Capel Curig (Welsh pronunciation: [ˈkɑːpɛl ˈkɨːrɪɡ]; meaning "Curig's Chapel") is a village and community in Conwy County Borough, Wales. Historically in Caernarfonshire, it lies in the heart of Snowdonia, on the River Llugwy, and has a population of 226, reducing slightly to 206 at the 2011 census. It lies at the junction of the A5 road from Bangor and Bethesda to Betws-y-Coed with the A4086 road from Caernarfon, Llanberis, Pen-y-Pass and Pen-y-Gwryd. It is surrounded by hills and mountains, including Moel Siabod and Pen Llithrig y Wrach.

Capel Curig (Welsh pronunciation: [ˈkɑːpɛl ˈkɨːrɪɡ]; meaning "Curig's Chapel") is a village and community in Conwy County Borough, Wales. Historically in Caernarfonshire, it lies in the heart of Snowdonia, on the River Llugwy, and has a population of 226, reducing slightly to 206 at the 2011 census. It lies at the junction of the A5 road from Bangor and Bethesda to Betws-y-Coed with the A4086 road from Caernarfon, Llanberis, Pen-y-Pass and Pen-y-Gwryd. It is surrounded by hills and mountains, including Moel Siabod and Pen Llithrig y Wrach. Name Capel Curig takes its name from the little St Julitta's Church in the ancient graveyard by the river bridge on the Llanberis road. This, confusingly, has been known for over 100 years as St Julitta's Church, and is currently being restored by the "Friends of Saint Julitta". Tradition claims this chapel to be the 6th-century foundation of St Curig, a Celtic bishop. Centuries later, probably when the present ancient church was built, the name appears to have been Latinised as Cyricus, which is the name of a 4th-century child martyr whose mother was Julitta. They are usually named together as Saints Quiricus and Julietta. The names Capel Kiryg and Capel Kerig were recorded in 1536 and 1578 respectively. Roman fort Approximately one kilometre from Pont Cyfyng, on the farm of Bryn Gefeiliau, there are the remains of a Roman fort (c.90–100 AD) and named Caer Llugwy by its excavators. (53.0972°N 3.8743°W / 53.0972; -3.8743 (Bryn-y-Gefeiliau Roman Site), OS Grid Reference SH746572). In 1920 excavations undertaken by J.P. Hall and Captain G.H. Hodgson revealed a roughly square Roman fort of approximately 4 acres (1.6 ha). Stone buildings were uncovered and traced. The rectangular walled area is on flat land close to the River Llugwy. From the pottery and finds in 1923 and subsequently, it appears to have only been garrisoned for 20–30 years. Activity centre The village is a popular centre for walking, climbing, mountaineering, mountain biking and other outdoor pursuits and is served by the Sherpa bus network. It is also home to an Army training camp, a camp site, several cafes and hotels and outdoor activity gear shops, and, formerly, a youth hostel. Wolverhampton City Council have since 1961 operated 'The Towers' outdoors activity centre just outside Capel Curig. The centre facilitates walking, climbing, a variety of watersports and field studies on a schedule that is adapted day to day according to the prevailing weather conditions and to the abilities and needs of individuals and groups.Also located in Capel Curig is the UK National Mountain Centre at Plas y Brenin, which offers the highest quality mountaineering, climbing, canoeing facilities and training. One mile east of the village on the A5 is Tŷ Hyll, home of the Snowdonia Society Culture Capel Curig is mentioned in the song Bottleneck at Capel Curig by cult UK band Half Man Half Biscuit on their album Trouble Over Bridgwater. Capel Curig is the setting for the climax of the 1956 thriller The Hidden Face by Victor Canning. Welsh language According to the 2011 Census, 57.1% of the community's population aged 3 years or over could speak Welsh, with 82.5% of the Welsh-born population aged 3+ being able to speak Welsh. 54.3% of the community's population could speak Welsh in 2001. 49.5% of the community's population aged 3 years or over could speak, read and write Welsh in 2011. Climate As with much of the rest of the British Isles, Capel Curig experiences a temperate maritime climate (Cfb), with warm summers and cold winters, little extremes of temperature and high humidity year round. The driest month is May, with around 130 mm (5.1 in) of rain, while the wettest is December, with more than 300 mm (12 in) of rain. The warmest recorded temperature was 30.6 °C (87.1 °F) on 19 July 2006 and the coldest −17.5 °C (0.5 °F) on 20 December 2010. Capel Curig is one of the wettest places in the UK and the wettest in Wales. Record high temperatures during February 2019 were higher than in the average summer: on 25 February 2019, Capel Curig recorded its warmest February day on record, with a temperature of 17.5 °C (63.5 °F). This was beaten again the next day, with 18.8 °C (65.8 °F). Evan Roberts Capel Curig was home to the botanist Evan Roberts (1909–1991). Roberts lived at Gelli, from where he explored all of Snowdonia, and compiled an unparalleled knowledge of the plant life of North Wales. Although he spent the first 40 years of his life as a quarry worker, he went on to become the colleague of academics. He was awarded the honorary degree of M.Sc. of the University of Wales, in 1956, at the same ceremony as the architect Frank Lloyd Wright, and his portrait was painted by Kyffin Williams. See also Cobden's Hotel References External links A Vision of Britain Through Time British Listed Buildings Capel Curig—The Heart of Snowdonia Genuki Geograph Gwydyr Mountaineering Club History of Capel Curig Plas y Brenin—The National Mountain Sports Centre Office for National Statistics

Galina Pugachenkova

Galina Anatolyevna Pugachenkova (Russian: Галина Анатольевна Пугаченкова; 7 February 1915 – 18 February 2007) was a Soviet archaeologist and art historian, regarded as a founder of Uzbek archaeology and central to the progression of archaeology and art history under Soviet regimes. Her work has contributed greatly to the register of surviving buildings in Central Asia and in many cases was the first register of traditional surviving buildings. Pugachenkova directed a branch of the archaeological expedition of southern Turkmenistan from 1946 to 1961, and of the Uzbek historical-artistic expedition from 1959 to 1984.

Galina Anatolyevna Pugachenkova (Russian: Галина Анатольевна Пугаченкова; 7 February 1915 – 18 February 2007) was a Soviet archaeologist and art historian, regarded as a founder of Uzbek archaeology and central to the progression of archaeology and art history under Soviet regimes. Her work has contributed greatly to the register of surviving buildings in Central Asia and in many cases was the first register of traditional surviving buildings. Pugachenkova directed a branch of the archaeological expedition of southern Turkmenistan from 1946 to 1961, and of the Uzbek historical-artistic expedition from 1959 to 1984. Education and career Pugachenkova was an outstanding academic and scholar, publishing over 700 works in six languages, on the fine and applied art of antique and medieval central Asia. Her career began in 1937 when she graduated from the Central Asian Industrial Institute. This led to a long career studying the development of ancient Asia, including monuments such as exploring places such as Holchayon, Dalvarzintepa and Bactria. Pugachenkova began writing her first scientific works in 1958, characterised by her interest in the evolution of Central Asian architecture in the history of architecture, with a particular focus on 14th and 15th century. The study of the architectural material collected during the excavation campaigns of Khalchayan and Dalverzintepa allowed her to develop theories on the genetic origins of Kushan art and the various influences of Bactrian and Parthian culture on the artistic culture of Gandhara.She developed a great interest in numismatics, which allowed her to refine her study of the different ancestral sculptural styles and her lively interest in the coroplastics of Margiana and Northern Bactria, led her to study the bas-reliefs of Samarkand as a relative material for details and small architectural patterns.G.A. Pugachenkova has left a number of monographs on the concept of the evolution of Central Asian art, including "The Art of Uzbekistan from the Most Ancient Times to the middle of the 19th Century", awarded by the Khamza Uzbek SSR State Prize. (co-author with L.I. Rempel), "The Art of Turkmenistan", "The Art of Afghanistan", "The Art of Bactria of the Kushan era", "From the artistic treasure of the Middle East".Pugachenkova held the following positions over the course of her career: Associate Professor of Archaeology Department of History Faculty, Central Asian University (Tashkent State University) (1942–60), then Professor (1962) Head of the Department of History of Art and Architecture (1960–84) Head of Scientific Expedition and Head of Art History of Uzbekistan (1959–84) Academy of Sciences of Uzbekistan Academician-Secretary of the Department of History, Linguistics and Literary Studies (1984–87) Academic Advisor at the Institute of History of the Academy of Sciences of Uzbekistan (1987)She was critical of the dispersal of Uzbek treasures into foreign museums and called in the 1970s for their repatriation. This has begun with extensive publications of catalogues to draw the material together.Galina Pugachenkova was married to Mikhail Masson, who was also a well-known central Asian archaeologist. After her death, mourners were able to see her a final time in her coffin in the Central Exhibition Hall of the Uzbek Academy of Arts. She was buried on 19 February 2007, following Christian rites. Art history As an art historian she wrote on a wide variety of central Asian art-forms, including miniature painting. On miniature painting, she said that when artists illustrated literature in the form, they showed "their time and their place" not that of the literary work. Pugachenkova came up with original interpretations of art historical questions, including a study of the dragon totem seen on the Sheikh Jemaliddin Mosque in Turkmenistan. She also studied illuminated manuscripts in Uzbekistan. Archaeology Pugachenkova had her first contact with the world of archaeology thanks to her participation in the YuTAKE (Southern Turkmen Archaeological Complex Expedition) project from 1936 to 1938, led by M. E. Masson, who later became her husband. The project, which for the first time brought a systematic approach to archaeology in Central Asia, developed in Pugachenkova the awareness that the architectural artifacts kept in museums are not sufficient to reconstruct the development of Middle Eastern architecture and art, but it is essential to seek history in the artifacts preserved in situ and under the ground. The experience at YuTAKE, the following years spent in Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Afghanistan and Iran, and the collaboration with Masson, resulted in Pugachenkova applying archaeological methods in the research and study of architectural monuments leading to the creation of unique expeditions to explore the historical-artistic heritage of Uzbekistan. Her work has opened the doors of the Central Asian and Afghan art to the world's scientific community and to the entire world.As an archaeologist, Pugachenkova excavated widely and published both on art and architecture, including Buddhist architecture in the fourth-century. She also worked extensively on Sogdian archaeology with Vladimir Karasev. She studied the archaeology of the Silk Road through Turkmenistan as part of a team from the Academy of Science. She was the first person to study in detail the eleventh century ruins of Akcha-kala. Another research project led her to research the fifteenth century Timurid gardens, proposing they followed established plans and held many symbolic meanings in their layout. Materials, such as gold were central to her research, as she studied the wealth from a wide variety of sites. She also had a keen research interest in burial practices from Sogdia. Field research Early 1980s: Pugachenkova led the Uzbek Art-Historical Expedition to carry out excavations at the burial-ground of Orlat, 50 km north-west of Samarkand. 1974–6: she led the excavation of the site Jiga Tepe, which dated from the Hellenistic to the Sassanian eras. 1973: she led excavations in Afghanistan exploring the Kushan military camp at Zadian. 1972: she led the excavations at Dalverzin Tepe, uncovering extraordinary elephant figurines from India. 1967–9: she led the surveys of Islamic monuments around Herat, this led to extensive excavation. 1960: architectural investigation of the mausoleum at Arab Ata. 1959–63: she led the excavations at Khalchayan. 1947: excavation and recording of the Seyit Jamal-ad-Din Mosque. The mosque was destroyed by an earthquake the following year and Pugachenkova's photographs are the only record today. Honours and awards Medal "For Valorous Labor in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945" (1946) Honoured Art Worker of Uzbekistan (1964) Was awarded the State Hamza Prize for his scientific research "History of the Arts of Uzbekistan from ancient times to the XIX century" (together with L. I. Rempel) (1966) Medal "For Valorous Labor. In commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the birth of V. I. Lenin" (1970) Order of the Red Banner of Labour (1975) Academician of the Academy of Sciences of Uzbekistan (1984) Laureate of the Biruni State Prize of Uzbekistan (1992) Was elected Academician of the Academy of Arts of Uzbekistan (1993) Order "Doʻstlik" (1995) Palme d'Or, Académie française (1995) Gold medal of the Academy of Arts of Uzbekistan (2000) Order "Buyuk xizmatlari uchun" (2002)G. A. Pugachenkova was elected corresponding member of the German Archaeological Institute, Italian Institute of Middle and Far East, honorary doctor of Strasbourg University, honorary academician of the International Academy of Oriental Architecture, many other authoritative scientific institutions. Selected publications Pugachenkova, G. A. The Antiquities of Transoxiana in the Light of Investigations in Uzbekistan (1985-1990) (Brill, 1990) Pugachenkova, G. A. The Sculpture of Khalchayan. Moscow, 1970. Pugachenkova, G. A. Khalchayan. Tashkent Pugachenkova, G A, 1979. Iskusstvo Baktrii epokhi Kushan. Moskva: Izdatel’stvo Iskusstvo. Pugachenkova, G A and Usmanova, Z I, 1995. Buddhist monuments in Merv. In In the land of the Gryphons. Papers on Central Asian archaeology in antiquity, ed. A. Invernizzi, 51–81. Firenze: Casa Editrice Le Lettere. Pugachenkova, G. A. (1961), 'Bronzovoe zerkalo iz Termeza [A bronze mirror from Tirmidh]', SE, 1. Pugachenkova, G. A. (1963), 'K istorii antichnoi stroitel'noi tekhniki Baktrii-Tokharistana [Contribution to the History of Ancient Construction Technology in Bactria-Tokharistan]', SA, 4, 73–85. Pugachenkova, G. A. (1963), 'K istoricheskoi topografii Chaganiana [Contribution to the Historical Topography of Chaganian]', Trudy TashGU [Works of Tashkent State University], 200. Pugachenkova, G. A. (1965), 'Ob odnoi gruppe terrakotovykh satuetok Tokharistana [On one group of terracotta figurines from Tokharistan]', Novoe v Sovetskoi Arkheologii [New Developments in Soviet Archaeology] (Moscow). Pugachenkova, G. A. (1967), 'Dve stupa na iuge Uzbekistana [Two Stupas in the South of Uzbekistan]', SA, 3, 257–64. Pugachenkova, G. A. (1967), 'K stratigrafii novykh monetnykh nakhodok v Severnoi Baktrii [Contribution to the Stratification of New Coin Finds from Northern Bactria]', VDI, 3. Pugachenkova, G. A. (1971), 'Novoe v izuchenii Dal'verzin-Tepe (K istorii baktriisko-kushanskoi gorodskoi kul'tury) [New developments in the investigation of Dal'verzin-Tepe (Contribution to the history of Bactrian-Kushan urban culture)]', SA, 4, 186–203. Pugachenkova, G. A. (1971), Skul'ptura Khalchaiana [The Sculpture of Khalchaian] (Moscow). Pugachenkova, G. A. (1971), 'Novoe v izuchenii Dal'verzin-Tepe (K istorii baktriisko-kushanskoi gorodskoi kul'tury) [New developments in the investigation of Dal'verzin-Tepe (Contribution to the history of Bactrian-Kushan urban culture)]', SA, 4, 186–203. Pugachenkova, G. A., Rtveladze, E. V. (1971), 'Novye monetnye nakhodki iz pravoberezhnoi Baktrii [New coin finds from right-bank Bactria]', VDI, 4. Pugachenkova, G. A. (1973), 'K arkhitekturnoi tipologii v zodchestve Baktrii i vostochnoi Parfii [Contribution to the Architectural Typology of Bactria and Eastern Parthia]', VDI, 1. Pugachenkova, G. A. (1973), 'Novye dannye o khudozhestvennoi kul'ture Baktrii [New data on the artistic culture of Bactria]', Iz istorii antichnoi kul'tury Uzbekistana [From the History of the Antique Culture of Uzbekistan] (Tashkent). Pugachenkova, G. A. (1976), 'K otkrytiiu nadpisei kkharoshtkhi na zolotykh predmetakh Dal'verzinskogo klada [On the Discovery of Kharoshti inscriptions on golden objects from Dalverzin Tepe]', VDI, 1. Pugachenkova, G. A. (1976), 'Baktriiskii zhiloi dom (k voprosu ob arkhitekturnoi tipologii) [The Bactrian House (A Contribution to the Question of Architctural Typology)]', Istoriia i kul'tura Srednei Azii [The History and Culture of Middle Asia] (Moscow). Pugachenkova, G. A., Rtveladze, E. V., et al. (ed.), (1978), Dal'verzin-tepe, Kushanskii gorod na iuge Uzbekistana [Dalverzin-Tepe: a Kushan town in south Uzbekistan] (Tashkent). Pugachenkova, G. A. (1979), Iskusstvo Baktrii epokhi Kushan [Bactrian art of the Kushan period] (Moscow). Pugachenkova, G. A. (1981), 'Unikal'naia gruppa monet chaganianskogo chekana VI v. [A unique group of coins from sixth-century Chaganian]', Kul'tura i isuksstvo drevnego Khorezma [The culture and art of ancient Khwarezm] (Moscow). Pugachenkova, G. A., Rtveladze, E. V. (1983), 'Ob obrashchenii greko-baktriiskikh monet v Severnoi Baktrii [On the circulation of Greco-Bactrian coins in northern Bactria]', ONU, 5. Pugachenkova, G. A. (1984), 'Pozdneantichnaia zhivopis' Baktrii-Tokharistana. Tendentsii i stil' [Late antique paintings of Bactria-Tokharistan – Tendencies and style]', Iz istorii zhivopisi Srednei Azii, traditsii i novatorstvo[From the history of the paintings of Middle Asia: traditions and innovations] (Tashkent). Pugachenkova, G. A., Rempel', L. I. (1986), 'O zolote "bezymiannykh tsarei" iz Tillia-tepe (k probleme stilia i sviazei) [On the gold of 'unknown kings' from Tilya Tepe (Problems of style and connections)]', Iz istorii kul'turnykh sviazei narodov Srednei Azii i Indii [From the history of the cultural connections of the peoples of Middle Asia and India] (Tashkent). Pugachenkova, G. A. (1987), 'Shor-tepe', IMKU, 21. Pugachenkova, G. A., Rtveladze, E. V. (1990), Severnaia Baktriia-Tokharistan. Ocherki istorii i kul'tury. Drevnost' i srednevkov'e [North Bactria-Toharistan. Outlines of its history and culture. Antiquity and the Middle Ages.] (Tashkent). References External links Galina Pugachenkova archive

Antei

Antei (安貞) was a Japanese era name (年号,, nengō,, lit. "year name") after Gennin and before Kangi. This period spanned the years from December 1227 to March 1229. The reigning emperor was Go-Horikawa-tennō (後堀河天皇).

Antei (安貞) was a Japanese era name (年号,, nengō,, lit. "year name") after Gennin and before Kangi. This period spanned the years from December 1227 to March 1229. The reigning emperor was Go-Horikawa-tennō (後堀河天皇). Change of era 1227 Antei gannen (安貞元年): The era name was changed to mark an event or a number of events. The previous era ended and a new one commenced in Karoku 3. Events of the Antei Era 1227 (Antei 1, 1st month): Fujiwara Kintsugu died at age 53. He had been Udaijin and Sadaijin. 1227 (Antei 1, 2nd month): The emperor raised Fujiwara no Nagako, the daughter of Konoe Iezane, to the rank of chūgū (empress consort). She was somewhat older than the emperor, but he became deeply attached to her. Notes References Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric and Käthe Roth. (2005). Japan encyclopedia. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. ISBN 978-0-674-01753-5; OCLC 58053128 Titsingh, Isaac. (1834). Nihon Odai Ichiran; ou, Annales des empereurs du Japon. Paris: Royal Asiatic Society, Oriental Translation Fund of Great Britain and Ireland. OCLC 5850691 Varley, H. Paul. (1980). A Chronicle of Gods and Sovereigns: Jinnō Shōtōki of Kitabatake Chikafusa. New York: Columbia University Press. ISBN 9780231049405; OCLC 6042764 External links National Diet Library, "The Japanese Calendar" -- historical overview plus illustrative images from library's collection

Erechtheus

Erechtheus (; Ancient Greek: Ἐρεχθεύς) in Greek mythology was a king of Athens, the founder of the polis and, in his role as god, attached to Poseidon, as "Poseidon Erechtheus". The name Erichthonius is carried by a son of Erechtheus, but Plutarch conflated the two names in the myth of the begetting of Erechtheus.

Erechtheus (; Ancient Greek: Ἐρεχθεύς) in Greek mythology was a king of Athens, the founder of the polis and, in his role as god, attached to Poseidon, as "Poseidon Erechtheus". The name Erichthonius is carried by a son of Erechtheus, but Plutarch conflated the two names in the myth of the begetting of Erechtheus. Erechtheus I Athenians thought of themselves as Erechtheidai, the "sons of Erechtheus". In Homer's Iliad (2. 547–48) Erechtheus is the son of "grain-giving Earth", reared by Athena. The earth-born son was sired by Hephaestus, whose semen Athena wiped from her thigh with a fillet of wool cast to earth, by which Gaia was made pregnant. In the contest for patronage of Athens between Poseidon and Athena, the salt spring on the Acropolis where Poseidon's trident struck was known as the sea of Erechtheus. Erechtheus II, king of Athens Family The second Erechtheus was given a historicizing genealogy as son and heir to King Pandion I of Athens by Zeuxippe, this Pandion being son of Erichthonius. This later king Erechtheus may be distinguished as Erechtheus II. His siblings were Philomela, Procne, Butes and possibly Teuthras.Erechtheus was father, by his wife Praxithea, of sons: Cecrops, Pandorus, Metion and of six daughters, the eldest was Protogeneia, Pandora, Procris, Creusa, Oreithyia and Chthonia. Sometimes, his other mentioned children were Orneus, Thespius, Eupalamus, Sicyon and Merope. According to Pseudo-Apollodorus, Erechtheus II had a twin brother named Butes who married Erechtheus' daughter Chthonia, the "earth-born". The brothers divided the royal power possessed by Pandion, Erechtheus taking the physical rule but Butes taking the priesthood of Athena and Poseidon, this right being passed on to his descendants. This late origin myth or aition justified and validated the descent of the hereditary priesthood of the Boutidai family. Reign His reign was marked by the war between Athens and Eleusis, when the Eleusinians were commanded by Eumolpus, coming from Thrace. An oracle declared that Athens' survival depended on the death of one of the three daughters of Erechtheus. Perhaps this means the three unmarried daughters. In one version it is Chthonia, the youngest, who is sacrificed. In another, it is both Protogeneia and Pandora, the two eldest, who offer themselves up. In any case the remaining sisters (excepting Orithyia who had been kidnapped by Boreas), or at least some of them, are said to kill themselves. The story of the unfortunate daughters of Erechtheus is comparable to those of the daughters of Hyacinthus of Lacedaemon, and of the daughters of Leos. In the following battle between the forces of Athens and Eleusis, Erechtheus won the battle and slew Eumolpus, but then himself fell, struck down by Poseidon's trident. According to fragments of Euripides' tragedy Erechtheus, Poseidon avenged his son Eumolpus' death by driving Erechtheus into the earth with blows of his trident,The ending lines of Euripides' tragedy were recovered in 1965 from a papyrus fragment. They demonstrate for Burkert that "the founding of the Erechtheum and the institution of the priestess of Athena coincide." Athena resolves the action by instructing Erichtheus' widow Praxithea: ...and for your husband I command a shrine to be constructed in the middle of the city; he will be known for him who killed him, under the name of 'sacred Poseidon'; but among the citizens, when the sacrificial cattle are slaughtered, he shall also be called 'Erechtheus'. To you, however, since you have rebuilt the city's foundations, I grant the duty of bringing in the preliminary fire-sacrifices for the city, and to be called my priestess. In the Athenian king-list, Xuthus, the son-in-law of Erechtheus, was asked to choose his successor from among his many sons and chose Cecrops II, named for the mythic founder-king Cecrops. Thus Erechtheus is succeeded by Cecrops II, his brother, according to a fragment from the poet Casto. But according to pseudo-Apollodorus (3.15.1) he was succeeded by his son. Erechtheion The central gods of the Acropolis of Athens were Poseidon Erechtheus and Athena Polias, "Athena patron-guardian of the city". The Odyssey (VII.81) already records that Athena returned to Athens and "entered the strong-built house of Erechtheus". The archaic joint temple built upon the spot that was identified as the Kekropion, the hero-grave of the mythic founder-king Cecrops and the serpent that embodied his spirit was destroyed by the Persian forces in 480 BC, during the Greco-Persian wars, and was replaced between 421 and 407 BC by the present Erechtheum. Continuity of the site made sacred by the presence of Cecrops is inherent in the reference in Nonnus' Dionysiaca to the Erechtheion lamp as "the lamp of Cecrops". Priests of the Erechtheum and the priestess of Athena jointly took part in the procession to Skiron that inaugurated the Skira festival near the end of the Athenian year. Their object was the temenos at Skiron of the hero-seer Skiros, who had aided Eumolpus in the war between Athens and Eleusis in which Erechtheus II, the hero-king, was both triumphant and died. That Poseidon and Erechtheus were two names at Athens for the same figure (see below) was demonstrated in the cult at the Erechtheum, where there was a single altar, a single priest and sacrifices were dedicated to Poseidon Erechtheus, Walter Burkert observed, adding "An historian would say that a Homeric, pan-Hellenic name has been superimposed on an autochthonous, non-Greek name." Swinburne's Erechtheus Swinburne's classical tragedy Erechtheus was published in 1876. He uses the framework of the classical myth to express the republican and patriotic ideals that preoccupied him at this era. Notes References Apollodorus, The Library with an English Translation by Sir James George Frazer, F.B.A., F.R.S. in 2 Volumes, Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1921. ISBN 0-674-99135-4. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library. Greek text available from the same website. Diodorus Siculus, The Library of History translated by Charles Henry Oldfather. Twelve volumes. Loeb Classical Library. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann, Ltd. 1989. Vol. 3. Books 4.59–8. Online version at Bill Thayer's Web Site Diodorus Siculus, Bibliotheca Historica. Vol 1-2. Immanel Bekker. Ludwig Dindorf. Friedrich Vogel. in aedibus B. G. Teubneri. Leipzig. 1888-1890. Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library. Euripides, The Complete Greek Drama, edited by Whitney J. Oates and Eugene O'Neill Jr. in two volumes. 1. Ion, translated by Robert Potter. New York. Random House. 1938. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library. Euripides, Euripidis Fabulae. vol. 2. Gilbert Murray. Oxford. Clarendon Press, Oxford. 1913. Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library. Euripides, Medea with an English translation by David Kovacs. Cambridge. Harvard University Press. 1994. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library. Greek text available from the same website. Homer, The Iliad with an English Translation by A.T. Murray, Ph.D. in two volumes. Cambridge, MA., Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann, Ltd. 1924. ISBN 978-0674995796. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library. Homer, Homeri Opera in five volumes. Oxford, Oxford University Press. 1920. ISBN 978-0198145318. Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library. Lucius Mestrius Plutarchus, Lives with an English Translation by Bernadotte Perrin. Cambridge, MA. Harvard University Press. London. William Heinemann Ltd. 1914. 1. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library. Greek text available from the same website. Nonnus of Panopolis, Dionysiaca translated by William Henry Denham Rouse (1863-1950), from the Loeb Classical Library, Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press, 1940. Online version at the Topos Text Project. Nonnus of Panopolis, Dionysiaca. 3 Vols. W.H.D. Rouse. Cambridge, MA., Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann, Ltd. 1940–1942. Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library. Pausanias, Description of Greece with an English Translation by W.H.S. Jones, Litt.D., and H.A. Ormerod, M.A., in 4 Volumes. Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1918. ISBN 0-674-99328-4. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library Pausanias, Graeciae Descriptio. 3 vols. Leipzig, Teubner. 1903. Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library. Stephanus of Byzantium, Stephani Byzantii Ethnicorum quae supersunt, edited by August Meineike (1790-1870), published 1849. A few entries from this important ancient handbook of place names have been translated by Brady Kiesling. Online version at the Topos Text Project. Suida, Suda Encyclopedia translated by Ross Scaife, David Whitehead, William Hutton, Catharine Roth, Jennifer Benedict, Gregory Hays, Malcolm Heath Sean M. Redmond, Nicholas Fincher, Patrick Rourke, Elizabeth Vandiver, Raphael Finkel, Frederick Williams, Carl Widstrand, Robert Dyer, Joseph L. Rife, Oliver Phillips and many others. Online version at the Topos Text Project. External links Media related to Erechtheus at Wikimedia Commons

Scots Wha Hae

"Scots Wha Hae" (English: Scots Who Have; Scottish Gaelic: Brosnachadh Bhruis) is a patriotic song of Scotland written using both words of the Scots language and English, which served for centuries as an unofficial national anthem of the country, but has lately been largely supplanted by "Scotland the Brave" and "Flower of Scotland".

"Scots Wha Hae" (English: Scots Who Have; Scottish Gaelic: Brosnachadh Bhruis) is a patriotic song of Scotland written using both words of the Scots language and English, which served for centuries as an unofficial national anthem of the country, but has lately been largely supplanted by "Scotland the Brave" and "Flower of Scotland". Background The lyrics were written by Robert Burns in 1793, in the form of a speech given by Robert the Bruce before the Battle of Bannockburn in 1314 during the Scottish Wars of Independence. Although the lyrics are by Burns, he wrote them to the traditional Scottish tune "Hey Tuttie Tatie", which according to tradition, was played by Bruce's army at the Battle of Bannockburn. According to tradition, the same theme was played in 1429 by the Franco-Scots army at the siege of Orléans in front of Joan of Arc. The song, called "Marche des soldats de Robert Bruce" in France, belongs to the traditional list of military music, and commemorates the Auld Alliance between France and Scotland. As for the Battle of Bannockburn, the theme really played was probably a traditional Scottish theme such as "Hey Tuttie Tatie". The tune tends to be played as a slow air, but certain arrangements put it at a faster tempo, as in the Scottish Fantasy by Max Bruch, the concert overture Rob Roy by Hector Berlioz, and the Real McKenzies' punk rock rendition on their 1998 album Clash of the Tartans. The song was sent by Burns to his publisher, George Thomson, at the end of August 1793, with the title "Robert Bruce's March To Bannockburn", and a postscript saying that he had been inspired by Bruce's "glorious struggle for Freedom, associated with the glowing ideas of some other struggles of the same nature, not quite so ancient." This is seen as a covert reference to the Radical movement, and particularly to the trial of Glasgow lawyer Thomas Muir of Huntershill, whose trial began on 30 August 1793 as part of a government crackdown, after the French Revolutionary Wars led to France declaring war on the Kingdom of Great Britain on 1 February 1793. Muir was accused of sedition for allegedly inciting the Scottish people to oppose the government during the December 1792 convention of the Scottish Friends of the People Society, and was eventually sentenced to 14 years' transportation to the convict settlement at Botany Bay. Burns was aware that if he declared his republican and radical sympathies openly, he could suffer the same fate. When Burns notably agreed to let the Morning Chronicle, of 8 May 1794, publish the song, it was on the basis of "let them insert it as a thing they have met with by accident, and unknown to me." The song was included in the 1799 edition of A Select Collection of Original Scottish Airs for the Voice, edited by George Thomson, but Thomson preferred the tune "Lewie Gordon", and had Burns add to the fourth line of each stanza, to suit. In the 1802 edition, the original words and tune were restored. In 1881, The New York Times, reviewing Our Familiar Songs and Those Who Made Them by Helen Kendrick Johnson, asserted that no song was "more glorious" than "Scots, wha hae wi Wallace bled", explaining that once Burns' poem had been set to the tune of Hey Tuttie Tatie, it "marched through the land forever, loud, and triumphant." "Scots Wha Hae" is the party song of the Scottish National Party. In the past, it was sung at the close of their annual national conference each year. The tune was adapted for military band as Marche des soldats de Robert Bruce by French army Chef de Musique Léonce Chomel, and recorded around 1910 in his Marches historiques, chants et chansons des soldats de France. The tune is also featured in the fourth movement of the Scottish Fantasy, composed in 1880 by German composer Max Bruch . Lyrics In popular culture The opening lyrics of the song are the key words for the posthypnotic-suggestion programming of United Nations Exploratory Force soldiers in Joe Haldeman's military science-fiction novel The Forever War, intended to make them particularly aggressive in battle. In the Dad's Army episode "My British Buddy", Private Frazer recites a personally updated version of the song's second and third lyrics to an American colonel during the welcoming of the United States into World War II. References Bold, Alan (editor), Rhymer Rab, An Anthology of Poems and Prose by Robert Burns, Black Swan, Transworld Publishers Ltd, London 1993, ISBN 0-552-99526-6 Mackay, James A. (editor), The Complete Letters of Robert Burns, Ayr 1987. External links Digitised copy of Scots Wha Hae in James Johnson's Scots Musical Museum, printed between 1787 and 1803, from National Library of Scotland. JPEG, PDF, XML versions. MP3 file of vocal performance The Reevers • Farewell to the Highlands

List of hospitals in the Democratic Republic of the Congo

The following is a list of hospitals in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

The following is a list of hospitals in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Kinshasa Goma General Hospital of Goma/Hopital Provincial du Nord Kivu (public) Heal Africa Hospital (private) CBCA Virunga Hospital ( non profit/ Protestant) CIMAK Hospital ( private) Kyeshero Hospital ( non profit/ Protestant), Goma Sanru Hospital (non profit/Protestant) Charité Maternelle Hospital, CBCA Ndosho Hospital, Skyborne Hospital/Goma, Centre Medical Alanine Centre Medical GESOM Centre Hospitalier La Providence. CLOIC Clinique Oncologique Integrative du Congo Uvira Territory Lemera Hospital Hospital General of Reference D'uvira Kisantu Saint Luke Hospital (non profit/diocesan) Kimpese Kimpese Sanru Hospital (non profit/Protestant) == References ==

Marie Crous

Marie Crous (fl. 1641) was a French mathematician. She introduced the decimal system to France in the 17th century.

Marie Crous (fl. 1641) was a French mathematician. She introduced the decimal system to France in the 17th century. Biography Coming from a modest origin, Marie Crous became an accomplished writer and teacher at Charlotte-Rose de Caumont La Force. She was first published in 1636; by 1641, she published a study on the decimal system, which she dedicated to "the saffron-tinted princess" Madame de Combalet, Duchesse d'Aiguillon, niece of Cardinal de Richelieu and a well known patron; she was a friend of Marin Mersenne. However, Marie Crous would never be cited by the eminent members of the academics and scientists within the Minim Roman Catholic religious order, who dominated scientific research in France during that period, and she was never acknowledged as a woman of learning. Her work, printed by Simon Stevin, goes well beyond what was provided at the time in calculation manuals. She wrote, There is no book to be found other than this one where this invention is taught, being due to the vigilant work of your very humble servant. Her work introduced two fundamental innovations: the decimal point (today called the virgule in French) to separate the mantissa of the decimal parts, as well as the use of a zero in the decimal part to indicate that a place is absent. In doing this, she gave form to current decimal numbers. She named the zeroes nuls as the Germans were doing. Talented in writing as well as mathematics, she developed among other things the method of Pestalozzi and what she called denominational division, which has great utility for mental calculations, notably in its application in the rule of three. Crous' work (the first edition dates to 1635–1636) begins with an epistle to her noble patron. She expresses gratitude for her help in these terms: You know how, as in imitation of the great God, to raise the simple and lowly (of whose number I am one, I confess it ingenuously). Nevertheless, she does not attribute the merit of her inventions to her. In the preface of her Abrégé recherche (Research Abstract), Marie Crous assures that she made her work to give solace to such young women as those who practise in this science as much for the necessity of their business as for the contentment of their spirit. In her preface to Charlotte de Caumont, she referred to trades workers in construction in Paris, who were at that time beginning to replace pre-metric units of measurement, such as the toise, with measurements in tenths as a more efficient system: It seems to me that it is up to the sovereigns to change the division of their money, weights and measures, because the ausneur and toiseur have marked their measurements in tenths on the side where there are no ruler markings... From this perspective, Marie Crous provided a basis for the decimal metric system.Mathematician Olry Terquem regretted that her name had not yet been given to a street in Paris. More recently, Catherine Goldstein devoted part of her article, "Neither public nor private: mathematics in early modern France" to Crous. See also 0 (number) Mantissa Significand Rule of three (mathematics) Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi References (in English) Catherine Goldstein, Neither public nor private: mathematics in early modern France. (in French) Abrégée recherche de Marie Crous, pour tirer la solution de toute proposition d'arithmétique, dépendantes des règles y contenues ; avec quelques propositions sur les changes, escomptes, intérêt, compagnie, associations, paiements, départements de deniers, mélanges, bureau des monnaies et toisages, divisé en trois parties. ENsemble un avis sur les dixmes ou dixièmes du sieur Stevin, à Paris, chez Jacques Auvray. 1661. (in French) M. Olry Terquem, published by T. Bachelier, article on Marie Crous p. 200 et seq. Ou Nouvelles Annales de Mathématiques Volume 14, p. 200 et seq (1852). (in French) Georges Maupin, Opinions et curiosités touchant la mathématique (deuxième série) d'après les ouvrages français des XVIe, XVIIe et XVIIIe siècle, édité à Paris chez Naud (1898). pp. 230–243.

Rajendra Tower

Rajendra Tower (Hindi: राजेंद्र टावर), locally known as Tower Chowk, is a historic clock tower in Gaya, Bihar, India. Built sometime between 1910 and 1914 during the British rule by the-then collector George Oldhum, it was renamed as Rajendra Tower after the first Indian president Dr. Rajendra Prasad in 1981 by the administration of Bihar's Chief Minister Jagannath Mishra. The tower is widely considered to be the symbol of the city.

Rajendra Tower (Hindi: राजेंद्र टावर), locally known as Tower Chowk, is a historic clock tower in Gaya, Bihar, India. Built sometime between 1910 and 1914 during the British rule by the-then collector George Oldhum, it was renamed as Rajendra Tower after the first Indian president Dr. Rajendra Prasad in 1981 by the administration of Bihar's Chief Minister Jagannath Mishra. The tower is widely considered to be the symbol of the city. History The clock tower was built during the British Raj by George Oldhum, the-then collector of Gaya district, which was under Bihar and Orissa Province sometime between 1910 and 1914. The clock tower gradually became symbolic for the city of Gaya. After the end of British rule in 1947, the clock tower eventually became the property of the new Indian state of Bihar. It was renamed Rajendra Tower in 1981 after Dr. Rajendra Prasad, the first President of India by the administration of Jagannath Mishra, the-then Chief Minister of Bihar. According to locals, there were four clocks in the tower on each side and people used to hear the chimes of the clock from meters away whereas pedestrians used to match their accurate time by taking the reference of the clock. Due to the presence of the clock tower, the area gradually became a commercial district and goes by the name of Tower Chowk. == References ==

Gwaun y Llwyni

Gwaun y Llwyni is a subsidiary summit of Aran Fawddwy in southern Snowdonia, Wales. It forms a part of the Aran mountain range. The peak's southern face is very steep and forms one of the backwalls of Cwm Cywarch. The summit is grassy and is marked by a small cairn. Pen yr Allt Uchaf rises on the other side of Cwm Cywarch, Aran Fawddwy is to the north-east, Waun Camddwr to the north and Glasgwm to the west.

Gwaun y Llwyni is a subsidiary summit of Aran Fawddwy in southern Snowdonia, Wales. It forms a part of the Aran mountain range. The peak's southern face is very steep and forms one of the backwalls of Cwm Cywarch. The summit is grassy and is marked by a small cairn. Pen yr Allt Uchaf rises on the other side of Cwm Cywarch, Aran Fawddwy is to the north-east, Waun Camddwr to the north and Glasgwm to the west. References External links www.geograph.co.uk : photos of Aran Fawddwy and surrounding area

Phene (mythology)

In Greek mythology, Phene (Ancient Greek: Φήνη, romanized: Phḗnē, lit. 'vulture') is the name of a legendary queen of Attica, and the wife of Periphas. They were a just and fair royal couple who were transformed into birds by Zeus.

In Greek mythology, Phene (Ancient Greek: Φήνη, romanized: Phḗnē, lit. 'vulture') is the name of a legendary queen of Attica, and the wife of Periphas. They were a just and fair royal couple who were transformed into birds by Zeus. Etymology The ancient Greek noun φήνη means vulture, at least a kind of vulture. According to Celoria, the elements pha- and phe- in the names of Periphas and Phene can both be traced to the ancient Greek verb φαίνω (phaino), meaning 'to appear'. According to Beekes it has no clear etymology, and its alternative spelling φίνις (phínis), points to a pre-Greek origin, which according to him is the most likely possibility anyway. Mythology Phene was married to Periphas, a king of Attica. Periphas was a pious and just man, beloved by his subjects, who then began to worship him as a god. They erected temples to him and worshipped him using Zeus's cult titles such as Soter (the saviour) and Epopsios ("overlooker of all"). This angered Zeus, who planned on striking Periphas with one of his thunderbolts. But Apollo intervened and convinced his father to spare Periphas because he (Apollo) had been greatly honoured by the king. So he then came to Phene and Periphas's house, and found them conversing together. He turned Periphas into an eagle immediately. Phene, not wanting to be separated from her husband, asked to be changed into a bird as well. Her wish was fulfilled and she was transformed into a phene (φήνη), a kind of vulture (perhaps lammergeier). By decree of Zeus, that vulture became a good omen for mankind.Antoninus Liberalis, who recorded the tale, did not mention Phene's name, only the bird she transformed into, and simply referred to her as Periphas's wife. Her name comes from an earlier Roman writer, Ovid, who only mentions her in passing along with Periphas. Ovid calls her 'most just Phene'. See also Orpheus Dido Laodamia of Phylace References Bibliography Antoninus Liberalis, The Metamorphoses of Antoninus Liberalis translated by Francis Celoria (Routledge 1992). Online version at the Topos Text Project. Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010). Lucien van Beek (ed.). Etymological Dictionary of Greek. Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series. Vol. ΙΙ. Leiden, the Netherlands: Brill Publications. ISBN 978-90-04-17419-1. Celoria, Francis (1992). The Metamorphoses of Antoninus Liberalis: A Translation with Commentary. Routledge. ISBN 9780415068963. Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert (1940). A Greek-English Lexicon, revised and augmented throughout by Sir Henry Stuart Jones with the assistance of Roderick McKenzie. Oxford: Clarendon Press. Online version at Perseus.tufts project. Ovid (1916). Metamorphoses. Loeb Classical Library 42. Vol. I: Books 1-8. Translated by Frank Justus Miller, revised by G. P. Goold. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. Smith, William (1873). A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology. London: John Murray, printed by Spottiswoode and Co., New-Street Square and Parliament Street.

List of birds of Sierra Leone

This is a list of the bird species recorded in Sierra Leone. The avifauna of Sierra Leone include a total of 677 species. This list's taxonomic treatment (designation and sequence of orders, families and species) and nomenclature (common and scientific names) follow the conventions of The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World, 2021 edition. The family accounts at the beginning of each heading reflect this taxonomy, as do the species counts found in each family account. Accidental species are included in the total species count for Sierra Leone.

This is a list of the bird species recorded in Sierra Leone. The avifauna of Sierra Leone include a total of 677 species. This list's taxonomic treatment (designation and sequence of orders, families and species) and nomenclature (common and scientific names) follow the conventions of The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World, 2021 edition. The family accounts at the beginning of each heading reflect this taxonomy, as do the species counts found in each family account. Accidental species are included in the total species count for Sierra Leone. The following tags have been used to highlight accidental and introduced species. The commonly occurring native species are untagged. (A) Accidental - a species that rarely or accidentally occurs in Sierra Leone (I) Introduced - a species introduced to Sierra Leone as a consequence, direct or indirect, of human actions Ducks, geese, and waterfowl Order: Anseriformes Family: Anatidae Anatidae includes the ducks and most duck-like waterfowl, such as geese and swans. These birds are adapted to an aquatic existence with webbed feet, flattened bills, and feathers that are excellent at shedding water due to an oily coating. White-faced whistling-duck, Dendrocygna viduata Fulvous whistling-duck, Dendrocygna bicolor (A) Knob-billed duck, Sarkidiornis melanotos Hartlaub's duck, Pteronetta hartlaubii Egyptian goose, Alopochen aegyptiacus Spur-winged goose, Plectropterus gambensis African pygmy-goose, Nettapus auritus Garganey, Spatula querquedula Northern shoveler, Spatula clypeata (A) Northern pintail, Anas acuta Ferruginous duck, Aythya nyroca (A) Tufted duck, Aythya fuligula (A) Guineafowl Order: Galliformes Family: Numididae Guineafowl are a group of African, seed-eating, ground-nesting birds that resemble partridges, but with featherless heads and spangled grey plumage. Helmeted guineafowl, Numida meleagris White-breasted guineafowl, Agelastes meleagrides Crested guineafowl, Guttera pucherani New World quail Order: Galliformes Family: Odontophoridae Despite their family's common name, this species and one other are native to Africa. Stone partridge, Ptilopachus petrosus Pheasants, grouse, and allies Order: Galliformes Family: Phasianidae The Phasianidae are a family of terrestrial birds which consists of quails, snowcocks, francolins, spurfowls, tragopans, monals, pheasants, peafowls and jungle fowls. In general, they are plump (although they vary in size) and have broad, relatively short wings. Blue quail, Synoicus adansonii Common quail, Coturnix coturnix Double-spurred francolin, Pternistis bicalcaratus Ahanta francolin, Pternistis ahantensis Latham's francolin, Peliperdix lathami Flamingos Order: Phoenicopteriformes Family: Phoenicopteridae Flamingos are gregarious wading birds, usually 3 to 5 feet (0.9 to 1.5 m) tall, found in both the Western and Eastern Hemispheres. Flamingos filter-feed on shellfish and algae. Their oddly shaped beaks are specially adapted to separate mud and silt from the food they consume and, uniquely, are used upside-down. Greater flamingo, Phoenicopterus roseus Lesser flamingo, Phoenicopterus minor Grebes Order: Podicipediformes Family: Podicipedidae Grebes are small to medium-large freshwater diving birds. They have lobed toes and are excellent swimmers and divers. However, they have their feet placed far back on the body, making them quite ungainly on land. Little grebe, Tachybaptus ruficollis Pigeons and doves Order: Columbiformes Family: Columbidae Pigeons and doves are stout-bodied birds with short necks and short slender bills with a fleshy cere. Rock pigeon, Columba livia (I) Speckled pigeon, Columba guinea Afep pigeon, Columba unicincta Bronze-naped pigeon, Columba iriditorques Lemon dove, Columba larvata European turtle-dove, Streptopelia turtur Red-eyed dove, Streptopelia semitorquata Vinaceous dove, Streptopelia vinacea Laughing dove, Spilopelia senegalensis Blue-spotted wood-dove, Turtur afer Tambourine dove, Turtur tympanistria Blue-headed wood-dove, Turtur brehmeri Namaqua dove, Oena capensis (A) African green-pigeon, Treron calva Sandgrouse Order: Pterocliformes Family: Pteroclidae Sandgrouse have small, pigeon like heads and necks, but sturdy compact bodies. They have long pointed wings and sometimes tails and a fast direct flight. Flocks fly to watering holes at dawn and dusk. Their legs are feathered down to the toes. Four-banded sandgrouse, Pterocles quadricinctus (A) Bustards Order: Otidiformes Family: Otididae Bustards are large terrestrial birds mainly associated with dry open country and steppes in the Old World. They are omnivorous and nest on the ground. They walk steadily on strong legs and big toes, pecking for food as they go. They have long broad wings with "fingered" wingtips and striking patterns in flight. Many have interesting mating displays. Denham's bustard, Neotis denhami Black-bellied bustard, Lissotis melanogaster Turacos Order: Musophagiformes Family: Musophagidae The turacos, plantain eaters and go-away-birds make up the bird family Musophagidae. They are medium-sized arboreal birds. The turacos and plantain eaters are brightly coloured, usually in blue, green or purple. The go-away birds are mostly grey and white. Great blue turaco, Corythaeola cristata Guinea turaco, Tauraco persa Yellow-billed turaco, Tauraco macrorhynchus Violet turaco, Musophaga violacea (A) Western plantain-eater, Crinifer piscator Cuckoos Order: Cuculiformes Family: Cuculidae The family Cuculidae includes cuckoos, roadrunners and anis. These birds are of variable size with slender bodies, long tails and strong legs. The Old World cuckoos are brood parasites. Nightjars and allies Order: Caprimulgiformes Family: Caprimulgidae Nightjars are medium-sized nocturnal birds that usually nest on the ground. They have long wings, short legs and very short bills. Most have small feet, of little use for walking, and long pointed wings. Their soft plumage is camouflaged to resemble bark or leaves. Pennant-winged nightjar, Caprimulgus vexillarius Standard-winged nightjar, Caprimulgus longipennis Brown nightjar, Caprimulgus binotatus (A) Eurasian nightjar, Caprimulgus europaeus (A) Black-shouldered nightjar, Caprimulgus nigriscapularis Swamp nightjar, Caprimulgus natalensis Plain nightjar, Caprimulgus inornatus Freckled nightjar, Caprimulgus tristigma Long-tailed nightjar, Caprimulgus climacurus Swifts Order: Caprimulgiformes Family: Apodidae Swifts are small birds which spend the majority of their lives flying. These birds have very short legs and never settle voluntarily on the ground, perching instead only on vertical surfaces. Many swifts have long swept-back wings which resemble a crescent or boomerang. Mottled spinetail, Telacanthura ussheri (A) Black spinetail, Telacanthura melanopygia Sabine's spinetail, Rhaphidura sabini Cassin's spinetail, Neafrapus cassini Alpine swift, Apus melba (A) Mottled swift, Apus aequatorialis Common swift, Apus apus Plain swift, Apus unicolor (A) Pallid swift, Apus pallidus African swift, Apus barbatus Little swift, Apus affinis White-rumped swift, Apus caffer Bates's swift, Apus batesi African palm-swift, Cypsiurus parvus Flufftails Order: Gruiformes Family: Sarothruridae The flufftails are a small family of ground-dwelling birds found only in Madagascar and sub-Saharan Africa. White-spotted flufftail, Sarothrura pulchra Buff-spotted flufftail, Sarothrura elegans (A) Red-chested flufftail, Sarothrura rufa Rails, gallinules, and coots Order: Gruiformes Family: Rallidae Rallidae is a large family of small to medium-sized birds which includes the rails, crakes, coots and gallinules. Typically they inhabit dense vegetation in damp environments near lakes, swamps or rivers. In general they are shy and secretive birds, making them difficult to observe. Most species have strong legs and long toes which are well adapted to soft uneven surfaces. They tend to have short, rounded wings and to be weak fliers. African rail, Rallus caerulescens (A) African crake, Crex egregia Gray-throated rail, Canirallus oculeus Lesser moorhen, Paragallinula angulata Eurasian moorhen, Gallinula chloropus Allen's gallinule, Porphyrio alleni African swamphen, Porphyrio madagascariensis Nkulengu rail, Himantornis haematopus Black crake, Zapornia flavirostris Little crake, Zapornia parva Baillon's crake, Zapornia pusilla Finfoots Order: Gruiformes Family: Heliornithidae Heliornithidae is a small family of tropical birds with webbed lobes on their feet similar to those of grebes and coots. African finfoot, Podica senegalensis Cranes Order: Gruiformes Family: Gruidae Cranes are large, long-legged and long-necked birds. Unlike the similar-looking but unrelated herons, cranes fly with necks outstretched, not pulled back. Most have elaborate and noisy courting displays or "dances". Black crowned-crane, Balearica pavonina Thick-knees Order: Charadriiformes Family: Burhinidae The thick-knees are a group of largely tropical waders in the family Burhinidae. They are found worldwide within the tropical zone, with some species also breeding in temperate Europe and Australia. They are medium to large waders with strong black or yellow-black bills, large yellow eyes and cryptic plumage. Despite being classed as waders, most species have a preference for arid or semi-arid habitats. Eurasian thick-knee, Burhinus oedicnemus (A) Senegal thick-knee, Burhinus senegalensis Egyptian plover Order: Charadriiformes Family: Pluvianidae The Egyptian plover is found across equatorial Africa and along the Nile River. Egyptian plover, Pluvianus aegyptius Stilts and avocets Order: Charadriiformes Family: Recurvirostridae Recurvirostridae is a family of large wading birds, which includes the avocets and stilts. The avocets have long legs and long up-curved bills. The stilts have extremely long legs and long, thin, straight bills. Black-winged stilt, Himantopus himantopus Pied avocet, Recurvirostra avosetta Oystercatchers Order: Charadriiformes Family: Haematopodidae The oystercatchers are large and noisy plover-like birds, with strong bills used for smashing or prising open molluscs. Eurasian oystercatcher, Haematopus ostralegus Plovers and lapwings Order: Charadriiformes Family: Charadriidae The family Charadriidae includes the plovers, dotterels and lapwings. They are small to medium-sized birds with compact bodies, short, thick necks and long, usually pointed, wings. They are found in open country worldwide, mostly in habitats near water. Black-bellied plover, Pluvialis squatarola European golden-plover, Pluvialis apricaria (A) American golden-plover, Pluvialis dominica (A) Spur-winged lapwing, Vanellus spinosus White-headed lapwing, Vanellus albiceps Senegal lapwing, Vanellus lugubris Wattled lapwing, Vanellus senegallus Caspian plover, Charadrius asiaticus (A) Kittlitz's plover, Charadrius pecuarius Kentish plover, Charadrius alexandrinus Common ringed plover, Charadrius hiaticula Little ringed plover, Charadrius dubius Forbes's plover, Charadrius forbesi White-fronted plover, Charadrius marginatus Painted-snipes Order: Charadriiformes Family: Rostratulidae Painted-snipes are short-legged, long-billed birds similar in shape to the true snipes, but more brightly coloured. Greater painted-snipe, Rostratula benghalensis Jacanas Order: Charadriiformes Family: Jacanidae The jacanas are a group of tropical waders in the family Jacanidae. They are found throughout the tropics. They are identifiable by their huge feet and claws which enable them to walk on floating vegetation in the shallow lakes that are their preferred habitat. Lesser jacana, Microparra capensis (A) African jacana, Actophilornis africanus Sandpipers and allies Order: Charadriiformes Family: Scolopacidae Scolopacidae is a large diverse family of small to medium-sized shorebirds including the sandpipers, curlews, godwits, shanks, tattlers, woodcocks, snipes, dowitchers and phalaropes. The majority of these species eat small invertebrates picked out of the mud or soil. Variation in length of legs and bills enables multiple species to feed in the same habitat, particularly on the coast, without direct competition for food. Buttonquail Order: Charadriiformes Family: Turnicidae The buttonquail are small, drab, running birds which resemble the true quails. The female is the brighter of the sexes and initiates courtship. The male incubates the eggs and tends the young. Small buttonquail, Turnix sylvatica Black-rumped buttonquail, Turnix nanus Pratincoles and coursers Order: Charadriiformes Family: Glareolidae Glareolidae is a family of wading birds comprising the pratincoles, which have short legs, long pointed wings and long forked tails, and the coursers, which have long legs, short wings and long, pointed bills which curve downwards. Temminck's courser, Cursorius temminckii (A) Collared pratincole, Glareola pratincola Rock pratincole, Glareola nuchalis Skuas and jaegers Order: Charadriiformes Family: Stercorariidae The family Stercorariidae are, in general, medium to large birds, typically with grey or brown plumage, often with white markings on the wings. They nest on the ground in temperate and arctic regions and are long-distance migrants. Pomarine jaeger, Stercorarius pomarinus Parasitic jaeger, Stercorarius parasiticus (A) Long-tailed jaeger, Stercorarius longicaudus Gulls, terns, and skimmers Order: Charadriiformes Family: Laridae Laridae is a family of medium to large seabirds, the gulls, terns, and skimmers. Gulls are typically grey or white, often with black markings on the head or wings. They have stout, longish bills and webbed feet. Terns are a group of generally medium to large seabirds typically with grey or white plumage, often with black markings on the head. Most terns hunt fish by diving but some pick insects off the surface of fresh water. Terns are generally long-lived birds, with several species known to live in excess of 30 years. Skimmers are a small family of tropical tern-like birds. They have an elongated lower mandible which they use to feed by flying low over the water surface and skimming the water for small fish. Southern storm-petrels Order: Procellariiformes Family: Oceanitidae The southern storm-petrels are relatives of the petrels and are the smallest seabirds. They feed on planktonic crustaceans and small fish picked from the surface, typically while hovering. The flight is fluttering and sometimes bat-like. Wilson's storm-petrel, Oceanites oceanicus Northern storm-petrels Order: Procellariiformes Family: Hydrobatidae Though the members of this family are similar in many respects to the southern storm-petrels, including their general appearance and habits, there are enough genetic differences to warrant their placement in a separate family. European storm-petrel, Hydrobates pelagicus Leach's storm-petrel, Hydrobates leucorhous Band-rumped storm-petrel, Hydrobates castro Shearwaters and petrels Order: Procellariiformes Family: Procellariidae The procellariids are the main group of medium-sized "true petrels", characterised by united nostrils with medium septum and a long outer functional primary. Fea's petrel, Pterodroma feae (A) Cory's shearwater, Calonectris diomedea Manx shearwater, Puffinus puffinus (A) Balearic shearwater, Puffinus mauretanicus (A) Storks Order: Ciconiiformes Family: Ciconiidae Storks are large, long-legged, long-necked, wading birds with long, stout bills. Storks are mute, but bill-clattering is an important mode of communication at the nest. Their nests can be large and may be reused for many years. Many species are migratory. African openbill, Anastomus lamelligerus Abdim's stork, Ciconia abdimii Woolly-necked stork, Ciconia episcopus White stork, Ciconia ciconia (A) Saddle-billed stork, Ephippiorhynchus senegalensis Marabou stork, Leptoptilos crumenifer Yellow-billed stork, Mycteria ibis Boobies and gannets Order: Suliformes Family: Sulidae The sulids comprise the gannets and boobies. Both groups are medium to large coastal seabirds that plunge-dive for fish. Brown booby, Sula leucogaster (A) Northern gannet, Morus bassanus Anhingas Order: Suliformes Family: Anhingidae Anhingas or darters are often called "snake-birds" because of their long thin neck, which gives a snake-like appearance when they swim with their bodies submerged. The males have black and dark-brown plumage, an erectile crest on the nape and a larger bill than the female. The females have much paler plumage especially on the neck and underparts. The darters have completely webbed feet and their legs are short and set far back on the body. Their plumage is somewhat permeable, like that of cormorants, and they spread their wings to dry after diving. African darter, Anhinga melanogaster Cormorants and shags Order: Suliformes Family: Phalacrocoracidae Phalacrocoracidae is a family of medium to large coastal, fish-eating seabirds that includes cormorants and shags. Plumage colouration varies, with the majority having mainly dark plumage, some species being black-and-white and a few being colourful. Long-tailed cormorant, Microcarbo africanus Pelicans Order: Pelecaniformes Family: Pelecanidae Pelicans are large water birds with a distinctive pouch under their beak. As with other members of the order Pelecaniformes, they have webbed feet with four toes Pink-backed pelican, Pelecanus rufescens Hammerkop Order: Pelecaniformes Family: Scopidae The hammerkop is a medium-sized bird with a long shaggy crest. The shape of its head with a curved bill and crest at the back is reminiscent of a hammer, hence its name. Its plumage is drab-brown all over. Hamerkop, Scopus umbretta Herons, egrets, and bitterns Order: Pelecaniformes Family: Ardeidae The family Ardeidae contains the bitterns, herons and egrets. Herons and egrets are medium to large wading birds with long necks and legs. Bitterns tend to be shorter necked and more wary. Members of Ardeidae fly with their necks retracted, unlike other long-necked birds such as storks, ibises and spoonbills. Ibises and spoonbills Order: Pelecaniformes Family: Threskiornithidae Threskiornithidae is a family of large terrestrial and wading birds which includes the ibises and spoonbills. They have long, broad wings with 11 primary and about 20 secondary feathers. They are strong fliers and despite their size and weight, very capable soarers. Glossy ibis, Plegadis falcinellus (A) African sacred ibis, Threskiornis aethiopicus Olive ibis, Bostrychia olivacea Spot-breasted ibis, Bostrychia rara Hadada ibis, Bostrychia hagedash Eurasian spoonbill, Platalea leucorodia (A) African spoonbill, Platalea alba Osprey Order: Accipitriformes Family: Pandionidae The family Pandionidae contains only one species, the osprey. The osprey is a medium-large raptor which is a specialist fish-eater with a worldwide distribution. Osprey, Pandion haliaetus Hawks, eagles, and kites Order: Accipitriformes Family: Accipitridae Accipitridae is a family of birds of prey, which includes hawks, eagles, kites, harriers and Old World vultures. These birds have powerful hooked beaks for tearing flesh from their prey, strong legs, powerful talons and keen eyesight. Barn-owls Order: Strigiformes Family: Tytonidae Barn-owls are medium to large owls with large heads and characteristic heart-shaped faces. They have long strong legs with powerful talons. Barn owl, Tyto alba Owls Order: Strigiformes Family: Strigidae The typical owls are small to large solitary nocturnal birds of prey. They have large forward-facing eyes and ears, a hawk-like beak and a conspicuous circle of feathers around each eye called a facial disk. African scops-owl, Otus senegalensis Northern white-faced owl, Ptilopsis leucotis Grayish eagle-owl, Bubo cinerascens Fraser's eagle-owl, Bubo poensis Shelley's eagle-owl, Bubo shelleyi Verreaux's eagle-owl, Bubo lacteus Akun eagle-owl, Bubo leucostictus Pel's fishing-owl, Scotopelia peli Rufous fishing-owl, Scotopelia ussheri Pearl-spotted owlet, Glaucidium perlatum Red-chested owlet, Glaucidium tephronotum African wood-owl, Strix woodfordii Trogons Order: Trogoniformes Family: Trogonidae The family Trogonidae includes trogons and quetzals. Found in tropical woodlands worldwide, they feed on insects and fruit, and their broad bills and weak legs reflect their diet and arboreal habits. Although their flight is fast, they are reluctant to fly any distance. Trogons have soft, often colourful, feathers with distinctive male and female plumage. Narina trogon, Apaloderma narina Hoopoes Order: Bucerotiformes Family: Upupidae Hoopoes have black, white and orangey-pink colouring with a large erectile crest on their head. Eurasian hoopoe, Upupa epops Woodhoopoes and scimitarbills Order: Bucerotiformes Family: Phoeniculidae The woodhoopoes are related to the kingfishers, rollers and hoopoes. They most resemble the hoopoes with their long curved bills, used to probe for insects, and short rounded wings. However, they differ in that they have metallic plumage, often blue, green or purple, and lack an erectile crest. Green woodhoopoe, Phoeniculus purpureus Black scimitarbill, Rhinopomastus aterrimus Hornbills Order: Bucerotiformes Family: Bucerotidae Hornbills are a group of birds whose bill is shaped like a cow's horn, but without a twist, sometimes with a casque on the upper mandible. Frequently, the bill is brightly coloured. Red-billed dwarf hornbill, Lophoceros camurus African pied hornbill, Lophoceros fasciatus African gray hornbill, Lophoceros nasutus Western red-billed hornbill, Tockus kempi (A) Northern red-billed hornbill, Tockus erythrorhynchus (A) White-crested hornbill, Horizocerus albocristatus Black dwarf hornbill, Horizocerus hartlaubi Black-casqued hornbill, Ceratogymna atrata Yellow-casqued hornbill, Ceratogymna elata Black-and-white-casqued hornbill, Bycanistes subcylindricus Brown-cheeked hornbill, Bycanistes cylindricus Piping hornbill, Bycanistes fistulator Kingfishers Order: Coraciiformes Family: Alcedinidae Kingfishers are medium-sized birds with large heads, long, pointed bills, short legs and stubby tails. Shining-blue kingfisher, Alcedo quadribrachys Malachite kingfisher, Corythornis cristatus White-bellied kingfisher, Corythornis leucogaster African pygmy kingfisher, Ispidina picta African dwarf kingfisher, Ispidina lecontei Chocolate-backed kingfisher, Halcyon badia Gray-headed kingfisher, Halcyon leucocephala Woodland kingfisher, Halcyon senegalensis Blue-breasted kingfisher, Halcyon malimbica Striped kingfisher, Halcyon chelicuti Giant kingfisher, Megaceryle maximus Pied kingfisher, Ceryle rudis Bee-eaters Order: Coraciiformes Family: Meropidae The bee-eaters are a group of near passerine birds in the family Meropidae. Most species are found in Africa but others occur in southern Europe, Madagascar, Australia and New Guinea. They are characterised by richly coloured plumage, slender bodies and usually elongated central tail feathers. All are colourful and have long downturned bills and pointed wings, which give them a swallow-like appearance when seen from afar. Black bee-eater, Merops gularis Blue-moustached bee-eater, Merops mentalis Red-throated bee-eater, Merops bulocki (A) Little bee-eater, Merops pusillus Swallow-tailed bee-eater, Merops hirundineus White-throated bee-eater, Merops albicollis Blue-cheeked bee-eater, Merops persicus European bee-eater, Merops apiaster Northern carmine bee-eater, Merops nubicus Rollers Order: Coraciiformes Family: Coraciidae Rollers resemble crows in size and build, but are more closely related to the kingfishers and bee-eaters. They share the colourful appearance of those groups with blues and browns predominating. The two inner front toes are connected, but the outer toe is not. Abyssinian roller, Coracias abyssinica Rufous-crowned roller, Coracias naevia (A) Blue-bellied roller, Coracias cyanogaster Broad-billed roller, Eurystomus glaucurus Blue-throated roller, Eurystomus gularis Dollarbird, Eurystomus orientalis African barbets Order: Piciformes Family: Lybiidae The African barbets are plump birds, with short necks and large heads. They get their name from the bristles which fringe their heavy bills. Most species are brightly coloured. Yellow-billed barbet, Trachyphonus purpuratus Bristle-nosed barbet, Gymnobucco peli Naked-faced barbet, Gymnobucco calvus Speckled tinkerbird, Pogoniulus scolopaceus Red-rumped tinkerbird, Pogoniulus atroflavus Yellow-throated tinkerbird, Pogoniulus subsulphureus Yellow-rumped tinkerbird, Pogoniulus bilineatus Yellow-fronted tinkerbird, Pogoniulus chrysoconus Yellow-spotted barbet, Buccanodon duchaillui Hairy-breasted barbet, Tricholaema hirsuta Vieillot's barbet, Lybius vieilloti Double-toothed barbet, Lybius bidentatus Honeyguides Order: Piciformes Family: Indicatoridae Honeyguides are among the few birds that feed on wax. They are named for the greater honeyguide which leads traditional honey-hunters to bees' nests and, after the hunters have harvested the honey, feeds on the remaining contents of the hive. Cassin's honeyguide, Prodotiscus insignis Yellow-footed honeyguide, Melignomon eisentrauti Willcock's honeyguide, Indicator willcocksi Least honeyguide, Indicator exilis Thick-billed honeyguide, Indicator conirostris Lesser honeyguide, Indicator minor Spotted honeyguide, Indicator maculatus Greater honeyguide, Indicator indicator Lyre-tailed honeyguide, Melichneutes robustus Woodpeckers Order: Piciformes Family: Picidae Woodpeckers are small to medium-sized birds with chisel-like beaks, short legs, stiff tails and long tongues used for capturing insects. Some species have feet with two toes pointing forward and two backward, while several species have only three toes. Many woodpeckers have the habit of tapping noisily on tree trunks with their beaks. Eurasian wryneck, Jynx torquilla Melancholy woodpecker, Chloropicus lugubris Cardinal woodpecker, Chloropicus fuscescens Fire-bellied woodpecker, Chloropicus pyrrhogaster Brown-backed woodpecker, Chloropicus obsoletus African gray woodpecker, Chloropicus goertae Brown-eared woodpecker, Campethera caroli Buff-spotted woodpecker, Campethera nivosa Little green woodpecker, Campethera maculosa Fine-spotted woodpecker, Campethera punctuligera Falcons and caracaras Order: Falconiformes Family: Falconidae Falconidae is a family of diurnal birds of prey. They differ from hawks, eagles and kites in that they kill with their beaks instead of their talons. Lesser kestrel, Falco naumanni Eurasian kestrel, Falco tinnunculus Fox kestrel, Falco alopex Gray kestrel, Falco ardosiaceus Red-necked falcon, Falco chicquera (A) African hobby, Falco cuvierii Peregrine falcon, Falco peregrinus Old World parrots Order: Psittaciformes Family: Psittaculidae Characteristic features of parrots include a strong curved bill, an upright stance, strong legs, and clawed zygodactyl feet. Many parrots are vividly coloured, and some are multi-coloured. In size they range from 8 cm (3.1 in) to 1 m (3.3 ft) in length. Old World parrots are found from Africa east across south and southeast Asia and Oceania to Australia and New Zealand. Rose-ringed parakeet, Psittacula krameri Black-collared lovebird, Agapornis swindernianus Red-headed lovebird, Agapornis pullarius African and New World parrots Order: Psittaciformes Family: Psittacidae Characteristic features of parrots include a strong curved bill, an upright stance, strong legs, and clawed zygodactyl feet. Many parrots are vividly coloured, and some are multi-coloured. In size they range from 8 cm (3.1 in) to 1 m (3.3 ft) in length. Most of the more than 150 species in this family are found in the New World. Gray parrot, Psittacus erithacus Brown-necked parrot, Poicephalus robustus (A) Senegal parrot, Poicephalus senegalus African and green broadbills Order: Passeriformes Family: Calyptomenidae The broadbills are small, brightly coloured birds, which feed on fruit and also take insects in flycatcher fashion, snapping their broad bills. Their habitat is canopies of wet forests. African broadbill, Smithornis capensis Rufous-sided broadbill, Smithornis rufolateralis Pittas Order: Passeriformes Family: Pittidae Pittas are medium-sized by passerine standards and are stocky, with fairly long, strong legs, short tails and stout bills. Many are brightly coloured. They spend the majority of their time on wet forest floors, eating snails, insects and similar invertebrates. African pitta, Pitta angolensis Cuckooshrikes Order: Passeriformes Family: Campephagidae The cuckooshrikes are small to medium-sized passerine birds. They are predominantly greyish with white and black, although some species are brightly coloured. White-breasted cuckooshrike, Coracina pectoralis Ghana cuckooshrike, Campephaga lobata Red-shouldered cuckooshrike, Campephaga phoenicea Purple-throated cuckooshrike, Campephaga quiscalina Blue cuckooshrike, Cyanograucalus azureus Old World orioles Order: Passeriformes Family: Oriolidae The Old World orioles are colourful passerine birds. They are not related to the New World orioles. Eurasian golden oriole, Oriolus oriolus African golden oriole, Oriolus auratus Western black-headed oriole, Oriolus brachyrhynchus Black-winged oriole, Oriolus nigripennis Wattle-eyes and batises Order: Passeriformes Family: Platysteiridae The wattle-eyes, or puffback flycatchers, are small stout passerine birds of the African tropics. They get their name from the brightly coloured fleshy eye decorations found in most species in this group. Brown-throated wattle-eye, Platysteira cyanea West African wattle-eye, Platysteira hormophora Red-cheeked wattle-eye, Platysteira blissetti Yellow-bellied wattle-eye, Platysteira concreta Senegal batis, Batis senegalensis West African batis, Batis occulta Vangas, helmetshrikes, and allies Order: Passeriformes Family: Vangidae The helmetshrikes are similar in build to the shrikes, but tend to be colourful species with distinctive crests or other head ornaments, such as wattles, from which they get their name. White helmetshrike, Prionops plumatus Red-billed helmetshrike, Prionops caniceps African shrike-flycatcher, Megabyas flammulatus Black-and-white shrike-flycatcher, Bias musicus Bushshrikes and allies Order: Passeriformes Family: Malaconotidae Bushshrikes are similar in habits to shrikes, hunting insects and other small prey from a perch on a bush. Although similar in build to the shrikes, these tend to be either colourful species or largely black; some species are quite secretive. Drongos Order: Passeriformes Family: Dicruridae The drongos are mostly black or dark grey in colour, sometimes with metallic tints. They have long forked tails, and some Asian species have elaborate tail decorations. They have short legs and sit very upright when perched, like a shrike. They flycatch or take prey from the ground. Western square-tailed drongo, Dicrurus occidentalis Shining drongo, Dicrurus atripennis Glossy-backed drongo, Dicrurus divaricatus Fanti drongo, Dicrurus atactus Monarch flycatchers Order: Passeriformes Family: Monarchidae The monarch flycatchers are small to medium-sized insectivorous passerines which hunt by flycatching. Blue-headed crested-flycatcher, Trochocercus nitens Black-headed paradise-flycatcher, Terpsiphone rufiventer African paradise-flycatcher, Terpsiphone viridis Shrikes Order: Passeriformes Family: Laniidae Shrikes are passerine birds known for their habit of catching other birds and small animals and impaling the uneaten portions of their bodies on thorns. A typical shrike's beak is hooked, like a bird of prey. Northern fiscal, Lanius humeralis Woodchat shrike, Lanius senator Yellow-billed shrike, Lanius corvinus Crows, jays, and magpies Order: Passeriformes Family: Corvidae The family Corvidae includes crows, ravens, jays, choughs, magpies, treepies, nutcrackers and ground jays. Corvids are above average in size among the Passeriformes, and some of the larger species show high levels of intelligence. Piapiac, Ptilostomus afer Pied crow, Corvus albus Rockfowl Order: Passeriformes Family: Picathartidae Rockfowl are lanky birds with crow-like bills, long necks, tails and legs, and strong feet adapted to terrestrial feeding. They are similar in size and structure to the completely unrelated roadrunners, but they hop rather than walk. They also have brightly coloured unfeathered heads. White-necked rockfowl, Picathartes gymnocephalus Hyliotas Order: Passeriformes Family: Hyliotidae The members of this small family, all of genus Hyliota, are birds of the forest canopy. They tend to feed in mixed-species flocks. Yellow-bellied hyliota, Hyliota flavigaster Violet-backed hyliota, Hyliota violacea Fairy flycatchers Order: Passeriformes Family: Stenostiridae Most of the species of this small family are found in Africa, though a few inhabit tropical Asia. They are not closely related to other birds called "flycatchers". African blue flycatcher, Elminia longicauda Dusky crested-flycatcher, Elminia nigromitrata Tits, chickadees, and titmice Order: Passeriformes Family: Paridae The Paridae are mainly small stocky woodland species with short stout bills. Some have crests. They are adaptable birds, with a mixed diet including seeds and insects. White-shouldered black-tit, Melaniparus guineensis Dusky tit, Melaniparus funereus Larks Order: Passeriformes Family: Alaudidae Larks are small terrestrial birds with often extravagant songs and display flights. Most larks are fairly dull in appearance. Their food is insects and seeds. Rufous-rumped lark, Pinarocorys erythropygia Rufous-naped lark, Mirafra africana Sun lark, Galerida modesta Crested lark, Galerida cristata Nicators Order: Passeriformes Family: Nicatoridae The nicators are shrike-like, with hooked bills. They are endemic to sub-Saharan Africa. Western nicator, Nicator chloris African warblers Order: Passeriformes Family: Macrosphenidae African warblers are small to medium-sized insectivores which are found in a wide variety of habitats south of the Sahara. Green crombec, Sylvietta virens Lemon-bellied crombec, Sylvietta denti Northern crombec, Sylvietta brachyura Moustached grass-warbler, Melocichla mentalis Kemp's longbill, Macrosphenus kempi Gray longbill, Macrosphenus concolor Green hylia, Hylia prasina Tit-hylia, Pholidornis rushiae Cisticolas and allies Order: Passeriformes Family: Cisticolidae The Cisticolidae are warblers found mainly in warmer southern regions of the Old World. They are generally very small birds of drab brown or grey appearance found in open country such as grassland or scrub. Reed warblers and allies Order: Passeriformes Family: Acrocephalidae The members of this family are usually rather large for "warblers". Most are rather plain olivaceous brown above with much yellow to beige below. They are usually found in open woodland, reedbeds, or tall grass. The family occurs mostly in southern to western Eurasia and surroundings, but it also ranges far into the Pacific, with some species in Africa. Melodious warbler, Hippolais polyglotta Sedge warbler, Acrocephalus schoenobaenus Marsh warbler, Acrocephalus palustris (A) Eurasian reed warbler, Acrocephalus scirpaceus Great reed warbler, Acrocephalus arundinaceus Grassbirds and allies Order: Passeriformes Family: Locustellidae Locustellidae are a family of small insectivorous songbirds found mainly in Eurasia, Africa, and the Australian region. They are smallish birds with tails that are usually long and pointed, and tend to be drab brownish or buffy all over. Fan-tailed grassbird, Catriscus brevirostris Common grasshopper-warbler, Locustella naevia Swallows Order: Passeriformes Family: Hirundinidae The family Hirundinidae is adapted to aerial feeding. They have a slender streamlined body, long pointed wings and a short bill with a wide gape. The feet are adapted to perching rather than walking, and the front toes are partially joined at the base. Bulbuls Order: Passeriformes Family: Pycnonotidae Bulbuls are medium-sized songbirds. Some are colourful with yellow, red or orange vents, cheeks, throats or supercilia, but most are drab, with uniform olive-brown to black plumage. Some species have distinct crests. Leaf warblers Order: Passeriformes Family: Phylloscopidae Leaf warblers are a family of small insectivorous birds found mostly in Eurasia and ranging into Wallacea and Africa. The species are of various sizes, often green-plumaged above and yellow below, or more subdued with greyish-green to greyish-brown colours. Wood warbler, Phylloscopus sibilatrix Willow warbler, Phylloscopus trochilus Bush warblers and allies Order: Passeriformes Family: Scotocercidae The members of this family are found throughout Africa, Asia, and Polynesia. Their taxonomy is in flux, and some authorities place genus Erythrocerus in another family. Chestnut-capped flycatcher, Erythrocercus mccallii Sylviid warblers, parrotbills, and allies Order: Passeriformes Family: Sylviidae The family Sylviidae is a group of small insectivorous passerine birds. They mainly occur as breeding species, as the common name implies, in Europe, Asia and, to a lesser extent, Africa. Most are of generally undistinguished appearance, but many have distinctive songs. Eurasian blackcap, Sylvia atricapilla Garden warbler, Sylvia borin Moltoni's warbler, Curruca subalpina (A) Western subalpine warbler, Curruca iberiae (A) White-eyes, yuhinas, and allies Order: Passeriformes Family: Zosteropidae The white-eyes are small and mostly undistinguished, their plumage above being generally some dull colour like greenish-olive, but some species have a white or bright yellow throat, breast or lower parts, and several have buff flanks. As their name suggests, many species have a white ring around each eye. Northern yellow white-eye, Zosterops senegalensis Ground babblers and allies Order: Passeriformes Family: Pellorneidae These small to medium-sized songbirds have soft fluffy plumage but are otherwise rather diverse. Members of the genus Illadopsis are found in forests, but some other genera are birds of scrublands. Brown illadopsis, Illadopsis fulvescens Pale-breasted illadopsis, Illadopsis rufipennis Blackcap illadopsis, Illadopsis cleaveri Rufous-winged illadopsis, Illadopsis rufescens Puvel's illadopsis, Illadopsis puveli Laughingthrushes and allies Order: Passeriformes Family: Leiothrichidae The members of this family are diverse in size and colouration, though those of genus Turdoides tend to be brown or greyish. The family is found in Africa, India, and southeast Asia. Blackcap babbler, Turdoides reinwardtii Brown babbler, Turdoides plebejus Capuchin babbler, Turdoides atripennis Treecreepers Order: Passeriformes Family: Certhiidae Treecreepers are small woodland birds, brown above and white below. They have thin pointed down-curved bills, which they use to extricate insects from bark. They have stiff tail feathers, like woodpeckers, which they use to support themselves on vertical trees. African spotted creeper, Salpornis salvadori Oxpeckers Order: Passeriformes Family: Buphagidae As both the English and scientific names of these birds imply, they feed on ectoparasites, primarily ticks, found on large mammals. Yellow-billed oxpecker, Buphagus africanus Starlings Order: Passeriformes Family: Sturnidae Starlings are small to medium-sized passerine birds. Their flight is strong and direct and they are very gregarious. Their preferred habitat is fairly open country. They eat insects and fruit. Plumage is typically dark with a metallic sheen. Violet-backed starling, Cinnyricinclus leucogaster Chestnut-winged starling, Onychognathus fulgidus Narrow-tailed starling, Poeoptera lugubris Copper-tailed starling, Hylopsar cupreocauda Long-tailed glossy-starling, Lamprotornis caudatus Splendid starling, Lamprotornis splendidus Lesser blue-eared starling, Lamprotornis chloropterus Emerald starling, Lamprotornis iris Purple starling, Lamprotornis purpureus Bronze-tailed starling, Lamprotornis chalcurus Thrushes and allies Order: Passeriformes Family: Turdidae The thrushes are a group of passerine birds that occur mainly in the Old World. They are plump, soft plumaged, small to medium-sized insectivores or sometimes omnivores, often feeding on the ground. Many have attractive songs. Finsch's flycatcher-thrush, Neocossyphus finschi White-tailed ant-thrush, Neocossyphus poensis Gray ground-thrush, Geokichla princei African thrush, Turdus pelios Old World flycatchers Order: Passeriformes Family: Muscicapidae Old World flycatchers are a large group of small passerine birds native to the Old World. They are mainly small arboreal insectivores. The appearance of these birds is highly varied, but they mostly have weak songs and harsh calls. Sunbirds and spiderhunters Order: Passeriformes Family: Nectariniidae The sunbirds and spiderhunters are very small passerine birds which feed largely on nectar, although they will also take insects, especially when feeding young. Flight is fast and direct on their short wings. Most species can take nectar by hovering like a hummingbird, but usually perch to feed. Weavers and allies Order: Passeriformes Family: Ploceidae The weavers are small passerine birds related to the finches. They are seed-eating birds with rounded conical bills. The males of many species are brightly coloured, usually in red or yellow and black, some species show variation in colour only in the breeding season. Waxbills and allies Order: Passeriformes Family: Estrildidae The estrildid finches are small passerine birds of the Old World tropics and Australasia. They are gregarious and often colonial seed eaters with short thick but pointed bills. They are all similar in structure and habits, but have wide variation in plumage colours and patterns. Indigobirds Order: Passeriformes Family: Viduidae The indigobirds are finch-like species which usually have black or indigo predominating in their plumage. All are brood parasites, which lay their eggs in the nests of estrildid finches. Pin-tailed whydah, Vidua macroura Togo paradise-whydah, Vidua togoensis Village indigobird, Vidua chalybeata Quailfinch indigobird, Vidua nigeriae Jambandu indigobird, Vidua raricola Baka indigobird, Vidua larvaticola Cameroon indigobird, Vidua camerunensis Variable indigobird, Vidua funerea Parasitic weaver, Anomalospiza imberbis Old World sparrows Order: Passeriformes Family: Passeridae Old World sparrows are small passerine birds. In general, sparrows tend to be small, plump, brown or grey birds with short tails and short powerful beaks. Sparrows are seed eaters, but they also consume small insects. Northern gray-headed sparrow, Passer griseus Sahel bush sparrow, Gymnoris dentata Wagtails and pipits Order: Passeriformes Family: Motacillidae Motacillidae is a family of small passerine birds with medium to long tails. They include the wagtails, longclaws and pipits. They are slender, ground feeding insectivores of open country. Mountain wagtail, Motacilla clara Western yellow wagtail, Motacilla flava African pied wagtail, Motacilla aguimp White wagtail, Motacilla alba Long-billed pipit, Anthus similis Tawny pipit, Anthus campestris (A) Plain-backed pipit, Anthus leucophrys Tree pipit, Anthus trivialis Red-throated pipit, Anthus cervinus Yellow-throated longclaw, Macronyx croceus Finches, euphonias, and allies Order: Passeriformes Family: Fringillidae Finches are seed-eating passerine birds, that are small to moderately large and have a strong beak, usually conical and in some species very large. All have twelve tail feathers and nine primaries. These birds have a bouncing flight with alternating bouts of flapping and gliding on closed wings, and most sing well. White-rumped seedeater, Crithagra leucopygius Yellow-fronted canary, Crithagra mozambicus West African seedeater, Crithagra canicapilla Streaky-headed seedeater, Crithagra gularis Old World buntings Order: Passeriformes Family: Emberizidae The emberizids are a large family of passerine birds. They are seed-eating birds with distinctively shaped bills. Many emberizid species have distinctive head patterns. Brown-rumped bunting, Emberiza affinis Ortolan bunting, Emberiza hortulana Cabanis's bunting, Emberiza cabanisi Gosling's bunting, Emberiza goslingi See also List of birds Lists of birds by region Wildlife of Sierra Leone References Lepage, Denis. "Checklist of Birds of Sierra Leone". Bird Checklists of the World. Avibase. Retrieved 27 April 2020. Clements, James F. (2000). Birds of the World: A Checklist. Cornell University Press. p. 880. ISBN 0-934797-16-1. External links Birds of Sierra Leone - World Institute for Conservation and Environment

Rennell flying fox

The Rennell flying fox (Pteropus rennelli) is a species of flying fox found in the Solomon Islands. It is an endangered species risking extinction.

The Rennell flying fox (Pteropus rennelli) is a species of flying fox found in the Solomon Islands. It is an endangered species risking extinction. Taxonomy and etymology It was described as a new species in 1929 by Australian mammalogist Ellis Le Geyt Troughton. As the genus Pteropus is speciose, it is divided into closely related species groups. The Rennell flying fox is in the "samoensis" species group. Its species name "rennelli" comes from Rennell Island, which is part of the Solomon Islands. Rennell Island was where the holotype was collected, and remains the only known location of this species. In 1962, Hill published that he considered Rennell's flying fox as a subspecies of the Solomons flying fox, with a trinomen of Pteropus rayneri rennelli. Description The forearm of the holotype was 121 mm (4.8 in) long. The fur of its back is uniformly brownish, with the fur of its neck and face lighter. Biology Females give birth to one offspring per litter, with the young called a "pup." Its lifespan is estimated at eight to nine years. It is nocturnal, roosting in sheltered places such as trees during the day. Individuals roost by themselves. Range and habitat It is only known from Rennell Island, which is part of the Solomon Islands. Conservation The holotype was the only known individual of these species until 1958, when two more were collected. It is currently listed as an endangered species by the IUCN; its 2017 assessment uplisted it from its 2008 status of vulnerable. A 2016 study stated that the Rennell's flying fox is one of the land mammals most threatened by overhunting. Because the species has such a small range, it is susceptible to extinction via natural disaster; a single cyclone could conceivably extinct this species. == References ==

Iasion

In Greek mythology, Iasion (Ancient Greek: Ἰασίων, romanized: Iasíōn) or Iasus (Ancient Greek: Ἴασος, romanized: Íasos), also called Eetion (Ancient Greek: Ἠετίων, romanized: Ēetíōn), was the founder of the mystic rites on the island of Samothrace.

In Greek mythology, Iasion (Ancient Greek: Ἰασίων, romanized: Iasíōn) or Iasus (Ancient Greek: Ἴασος, romanized: Íasos), also called Eetion (Ancient Greek: Ἠετίων, romanized: Ēetíōn), was the founder of the mystic rites on the island of Samothrace. Family According to the mythographer Apollodorus, Iasion is the son of the Pleiad Electra and Zeus, and the brother of Dardanus and possibly Emathion. Both Hellanicus and Diodorus Siculus repeat this parentage, adding Harmonia as his sister. According to an Italian version of the genealogy, Iasion and Dardanus are both Electra's sons, and are both born in Italy, with Iasion fathered by Corythus and Dardanus by Zeus. In Hyginus' Fabulae, Iasion is called the son of Ilithyius.With Demeter, Iasion was the father of Plutus, the god of wealth. According to Hyginus' De Astronomica, Iasion was also the father of Philomelus, while, according to Diodorus Siculus, he was the father of a son named Corybas with Cybele. Mythology At the marriage of Cadmus and Harmonia, Iasion was lured by Demeter away from the other revelers. They had intercourse as Demeter lay on her back in a freshly plowed furrow. When they rejoined the celebration, Zeus guessed what had happened because of the mud on Demeter's backside, and out of envy killed Iasion with a thunderbolt. In one account, his death was caused by his impiety to the statue of Demeter instead. Servius, in his commentary upon Virgil's Aeneid, states that Iasion was killed by his brother Dardanus, whereas Hyginus attributes his death to horses. Ovid, in contrast, says that Iasion lived to an old age as the husband of Demeter.Some versions of this myth conclude with Iasion and the agricultural hero Triptolemus then becoming the Gemini constellation. Notes References Apollodorus, Apollodorus. The Library, Volume I: Books 1-3.9, translated by James G. Frazer, Loeb Classical Library No. 121, Cambridge, Massachusetts, Harvard University Press, 1921. ISBN 978-0-674-99135-4. Online version at Harvard University Press. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library. Fowler, R. L. (2000), Early Greek Mythography: Volume 1: Text and Introduction, Oxford University Press, 2000. ISBN 978-0198147404. Google Books. Fowler, R. L. (2013), Early Greek Mythography: Volume 2: Commentary, Oxford University Press, 2013. ISBN 978-0-198-14741-1. Google Books. Gantz, Timothy, Early Greek Myth: A Guide to Literary and Artistic Sources, Johns Hopkins University Press, 1996, Two volumes: ISBN 978-0-8018-5360-9 (Vol. 1), ISBN 978-0-8018-5362-3 (Vol. 2). Grenfell, Bernard P., and Arthur S. Hunt, The Oxyrhynchus Papyri, Part XI, London, Egypt Exploration Fund, 1915. Internet Archive. Grimal, Pierre, The Dictionary of Classical Mythology, Wiley-Blackwell, 1996. ISBN 978-0-631-20102-1. Internet Archive. Hansen, William, Handbook of Classical Mythology, ABC-Clio, 2004. ISBN 978-1-576-07226-4. Internet Archive. Hard, Robin, The Routledge Handbook of Greek Mythology: Based on H.J. Rose's "Handbook of Greek Mythology", Psychology Press, 2004. ISBN 978-0-415-18636-0. Google Books. Hesiod, Catalogue of Women, in Hesiod: The Shield, Catalogue of Women, Other Fragments, edited and translated by Glenn W. Most, Loeb Classical Library No. 503, Cambridge, Massachusetts, Harvard University Press, 2007, 2018. ISBN 978-0-674-99721-9. Online version at Harvard University Press. Hesiod, Theogony from The Homeric Hymns and Homerica with an English Translation by Hugh G. Evelyn-White, Cambridge, MA.,Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1914. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library. Greek text available from the same website. Homer, The Odyssey with an English Translation by A.T. Murray, PH.D. in two volumes. Cambridge, MA., Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann, Ltd. 1919. ISBN 978-0674995611. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library. Greek text available from the same website. Hyginus, Gaius Julius, Fabulae, in The Myths of Hyginus, edited and translated by Mary A. Grant, Lawrence: University of Kansas Press, 1960. Online version at ToposText. Lactantius, Divine Institutes, Translated by William Fletcher (1810-1900). From Ante-Nicene Fathers, Vol. 7. Edited by Alexander Roberts, James Donaldson, and A. Cleveland Coxe. (Buffalo, NY: Christian Literature Publishing Co., 1886.) Online version at the Topos Text Project. Maurus Servius Honoratus, In Vergilii carmina comentarii. Servii Grammatici qui feruntur in Vergilii carmina commentarii; recensuerunt Georgius Thilo et Hermannus Hagen. Georgius Thilo. Leipzig. B. G. Teubner. 1881. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library. Merkelbach, R., and M. L. West, Fragmenta Hesiodea, Clarendon Press Oxford, 1967. ISBN 978-0-19-814171-6. Ovid, Metamorphoses, edited and translated by Brookes More, Boston, Cornhill Publishing Co., 1922. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library. Online version at ToposText. Smith, William, Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, London (1873). Online version at the Perseus Digital Library. Wendel, Carl, Scholia in Apollonium Rhodium vetera, Hildesheim, Weidmann, 1999. ISBN 978-3-615-15400-9.

Joseph Hutchinson

Sir Joseph Burtt Hutchinson FRS (21 March 1902 – 16 January 1988) was a British biologist. He was Drapers Professor of Agriculture at the University of Cambridge from 1957-1969.

Sir Joseph Burtt Hutchinson FRS (21 March 1902 – 16 January 1988) was a British biologist. He was Drapers Professor of Agriculture at the University of Cambridge from 1957-1969. Biography He was educated at Bootham School, York and at St John's College, Cambridge. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in March 1951 and was awarded their Royal Medal in 1967 "In recognition of his distinguished work on the genetics and evolution of crop-plants with particular reference to cotton."His FRS candidature citation said that: "His contributions are outstanding among advances culminating in a notably improved and simplified classification of the genus Gossypium on a genetic basis and an admirably developed theory of the evolution of its species. His work is central in the very fine tradition of British workers which, by remarkable theoretical insight, combined with technical skill, has placed Cotton among the best studied of the world's cultivated crops. By his genetical work, coupled with exceptionally wide study of variability of field crops (especially Cotton), in the West Indies, India and Africa, the scientific foundations of the art of practical plant improvement have been substantially strengthened."He was knighted in 1956. He presided over the 1966 British Association meeting. He died on 16 January 1988. == References ==

Crossroads Fund

The Crossroads Fund is a Chicago-based public foundation that supports community organizations working for social and economic justice in the Chicago area. It is a member of a national network of grantmakers called the Funding Exchange [www.fex.org], all of whom share the motto, "change, not charity." This motto speaks to a shared commitment by Funding Exchange members to support grassroots organizations in their efforts towards system change. Crossroads Fund sees direct service as important, but recognizes that it has a critical role to play in supporting groups working to change the world we live in. [1].

The Crossroads Fund is a Chicago-based public foundation that supports community organizations working for social and economic justice in the Chicago area. It is a member of a national network of grantmakers called the Funding Exchange [www.fex.org], all of whom share the motto, "change, not charity." This motto speaks to a shared commitment by Funding Exchange members to support grassroots organizations in their efforts towards system change. Crossroads Fund sees direct service as important, but recognizes that it has a critical role to play in supporting groups working to change the world we live in. [1]. Crossroads Fund has four standing grantmaking programs, including: the Seed Fund, which targets new, emerging, and risk-taking groups working for social change across issues; the Technical Assistance Fund, which support technical and training needs of eligible grantees; the Emergency Fund offers assistance to groups faced by sudden and unexpected problems; and the donor-advised fund provides a way for donors with a specific interest in an issue to pool their resources for concentrated impact. The Crossroads Fund is a left-liberal-progressive organization that gives money to many different kinds of projects in Chicago. Advocacy, arts and activism, radical education, and public health are some of the areas. Many of its grantees have been groups working with the poor or with ethnic and sexual minorities. It has been a frequent supporter of immigrant-rights groups in Chicago and also of LGBT groups. For example, in 2007, it co-sponsored the Tubeho Project Exhibit on the Survivors of the Rwandan genocide at Northwestern University [2]. But Crossroads has also supported other kinds of projects, for example ones aiding senior citizens at Jane Addams Hull House. In international affairs, the group has sponsored Chicago Palestine Film Festival and Committee for a Just Peace in Israel & Palestine. Bibliography [3] Davis, Andrew and Amy Wooten, "Taking Charge: What was Happening in 1985", Windy City Times, [4] Hemmady, Neena, "Neena Hemmady Remembers", [5] Society for Non-Profit Organizations [6]

Santuario della Madonna della Rosa, Correggio

The Sanctuary of the Madonna della Rosa is a Roman Catholic church located on Viottolo Madonna della Rosa in the town of Correggio, province of Reggio Emilia, region of Emilia-Romagna, Italy.

The Sanctuary of the Madonna della Rosa is a Roman Catholic church located on Viottolo Madonna della Rosa in the town of Correggio, province of Reggio Emilia, region of Emilia-Romagna, Italy. History The small church arose over time just outside the 16th century walls of the city. In 1440, a chapel dedicated to St Ursula was erected under the patronage of Giberto da Correggio. In 1496, Nicolò da Correggio and his wife, Cassandra Colleoni, founded a convent of nuns (Corpus Domini) to which this chapel adjacent. During a siege by the Este, the monastery was destroyed due to its position near the walls, but the chapel was spared. The chapel had an adjacent room with a bas-relief depicting the Madonna della Rosa. Veneration of this image gained fervor and by 1607, miracles began to be attributed to the image. This led ultimately to the erection of a larger votive church in 1625, patronized by Prince Siro di Camillo of Correggio as an ex voto. Consecration took place in 1626, when the miraculous bas-relief was moved to the present site, above the main altar in the presbytery. The Madonna is viewed as the protector of the town. The church was restored in 2000, and open to guided tours. == References ==

USS Panay incident

The USS Panay incident on December 12, 1937, was a Japanese bombing attack on the U.S. Navy river gunboat Panay and three Standard Oil Company tankers on the Yangtze River. Japan and the United States were not at war at the time. The boats were part of the American naval operation called the Yangtze Patrol, which began following the joint British, French, and American victory in The Second Opium War. Public reaction was mixed in the U.S., with the president weighing various diplomatic and military responses only to settle for an apology and compensation. The Japanese claimed that they did not see the U.S. flags painted on the deck of the gunboat.

The USS Panay incident on December 12, 1937, was a Japanese bombing attack on the U.S. Navy river gunboat Panay and three Standard Oil Company tankers on the Yangtze River. Japan and the United States were not at war at the time. The boats were part of the American naval operation called the Yangtze Patrol, which began following the joint British, French, and American victory in The Second Opium War. Public reaction was mixed in the U.S., with the president weighing various diplomatic and military responses only to settle for an apology and compensation. The Japanese claimed that they did not see the U.S. flags painted on the deck of the gunboat. Tokyo officially apologized and paid a cash indemnity. The settlement mollified some of the U.S. anger, and newspapers called the matter closed. Background A flat-bottomed craft built in Shanghai specifically for river duty, Panay served as part of the US Navy's Yangtze Patrol in the Asiatic Fleet, which was responsible for patrolling the Yangtze River to protect American lives and property in China. After invading China in the summer of 1937, Japanese forces moved into Nanking (now known as Nanjing) in December, where they later committed the massacre in the city that resulted in the deaths of 300,000 civilians and prisoners of war. Panay evacuated the remaining Americans from the city on December 11, bringing the number of people aboard to five officers, 54 enlisted men, four US embassy staff, and 10 civilians, including Universal Newsreel cameraman Norman Alley, Movietone News’ Eric Mayell, the New York Times's Norman Soong, Collier's Weekly correspondent Jim Marshall, La Stampa correspondent Sandro Sandri and Corriere della Sera correspondent Luigi Barzini Jr. Incident On the morning of the 12th, the Japanese air forces received information that fleeing Chinese forces were in the area in ten large steamers and a large number of junks and that they were between 12 and 25 mi (19 and 40 km) upstream from Nanking. While anchored upstream from Nanking, Panay and three Standard Oil tankers, Mei Ping, Mei An, and Mei Hsia, came under attack from Japanese naval aircraft. Panay was hit by two of the eighteen 132 lb (60 kg) bombs dropped by three Yokosuka B4Y Type-96 bombers and strafed by nine Nakajima A4N Type-95 fighters.According to Lieutenant J.W. Geist, an officer aboard Panay, "the day before we told the Japanese army in the area who we were," and three U.S. flags were plainly visible on the ship. Planes also machine-gunned small boats taking the wounded ashore, and several additional survivors were wounded. The Times correspondent Colin MacDonald, who had also been aboard Panay, saw a Japanese army small boat machine-gun the Panay as it was sinking in spite of the American flag painted on the side of the ship. Since Japanese planes continued to circle overhead, survivors cowered knee deep in mud in a swamp. Panay's lifeboats were machine-gunned by Japanese fighter planes in the attack.As a result of the attack, Panay sank; Storekeeper First Class Charles Lee Ensminger, Standard Oil tanker captain Carl H. Carlson and Italian reporter Sandro Sandri were killed, Coxswain Edgar C. Hulsebus died later that night. 43 sailors and five civilians were wounded. The three Standard Oil tankers were also bombed and destroyed, and the captain of Mei An and many Chinese civilian passengers were killed. The vessels had been helping to evacuate the families of Standard Oil's employees and agents from Nanking during the Japanese attack on that city.Two newsreel cameramen were aboard during the attack (Norman Alley of Universal News and Eric Mayell of Movietone News); they were able to film part of the attack and, after reaching shore, the sinking of the ship in the middle of the river. Survivors were later taken aboard the American vessel Oahu and the British gunboats HMS Ladybird and Bee. Earlier the same day, a Japanese shore battery had fired on Ladybird. The survivors coped with near freezing nights in inadequate clothing and with no food. It took three days to move the sixteen wounded to the safety of several British and American ships. Diplomacy The aftermath of the Panay sinking was a nervous time for the American ambassador to Japan, Joseph C. Grew. Grew, whose experience in the foreign service spanned over 30 years, "remembered the Maine," the U.S. Navy ship that blew up in Havana Harbor in 1898. The sinking of Maine had propelled the U.S. into the Spanish–American War and ambassador Grew hoped the sinking of Panay would not be a similar catalyst for the severance of diplomatic ties and war with Japan. The Japanese government took full responsibility for sinking Panay but continued to maintain that the attack had been unintentional. Chief of Staff of Japanese naval forces in northern China, Vice Admiral Rokuzo Sugiyama, was assigned to make an apology. The formal apology reached Washington, D.C., on Christmas Eve. Although Japanese officials maintained that their pilots never saw any American flags on Panay, a US Navy court of inquiry determined that several US flags were clearly visible on the vessel during the attacks. At the meeting held at the American embassy in Tokyo on December 23, Japanese officials maintained that one navy airplane had attacked a boat by machine gun for a short period of time and that Japanese army motor boats or launches had been attacking the Chinese steamers escaping upstream on the opposite bank. However, the Japanese navy insisted that the attack had been unintentional. The Japanese government paid an indemnity of $2,214,007.36 to the US on April 22, 1938, officially settling the Panay incident ($46,030,000 in 2023). Post-incident Donations Following the incident, Japanese individuals and organizations sent letters of apology and gifts of money to U.S. diplomatic offices and the U.S. Navy Department in Washington, D.C. This ranged from letters penned by schoolchildren to organized pools of donors. The most prominent donor was the America-Japan Society, headed by Prince Tokugawa Iesato, which amassed ¥16,242.56 in Panay contributions from 7,749 people and 218 organizations.In response to the donations, Secretary of State Cordell Hull stated that "neither the American Government nor any agency of it nor any of its nationals should receive sums of money thus offered or take direct benefit therefrom." However, Hull noted that since "a flat rejection of such offers would produce some misunderstanding of our general attitude and offend those Japanese who make such a gesture, the Department is of the opinion that some method should be found whereby Japanese who wish to give that type of expression to their feelings may do so."The United States State Department expressed the desire that any necessary arrangements should be made promptly. Hull did not wish to keep the Japanese people waiting for a decision on what was to become of the money they donated. A prolonged delay could lead to misunderstanding, especially if a decision were reached months later to return the money to the donors. A temporary solution was reached to allow only the American ambassador in Japan and the American ambassador in China to accept donations related to the Panay incident. Several American consulates were receiving money, including consulates at Nagoya, Kobe, Nagasaki and Osaka, in Japan; Taipei, Taiwan; Keijo (Seoul), Korea; Dairen, Manchuria; and São Paulo, Brazil. These contributions were eventually forwarded to the ambassador in Tokyo. Grew kept all money received related to the Panay incident in the embassy safe until the State Department could find a solution.Despite this policy, a local newspaper in Nagasaki, the Nagasaki Minyu Shimbun, published stories about some Japanese donations to the American consulate in Nagasaki, including an excerpt from a letter attached to a schoolboy's donation. Arthur F. Tower, the American consul in Nagasaki, informed Ambassador Grew of the article, which had been published on January 7. Tower also informed Grew that a reporter of another newspaper—the Tokyo and Osaka Asahi Shimbun, had called on him on 23 December to discuss the Panay contributions. Towers reassured Grew that "this consulate has not sought to give publicity to the donations received or offered and has furnished information concerning them on two occasions only, when requested." However, the newspaper stories may nonetheless have increased contributions to the location.A final solution to the donations was reached by creating the Japan-America Trust in the name of the Panay survivors and relatives of those who lost their lives. The trust would be used to care for the graves of American sailors buried in Japan, dating back to the graves of sailors involved in the Perry Expedition in 1853. The formation of the trust allowed the State Department to avoid returning donations or directly distributing them to the U.S. government or individuals. (see also Foreign cemeteries in Japan) Awards Servicemembers aboard the Panay were awarded the Navy Expeditionary Medal and China Service Medal.Fireman First Class John L. Hodge and Lieutenant Clark G. Grazier were presented with the Navy Cross for their actions during the Panay incident.The Navy Cross was also presented to two British naval officers, Vice Admiral Lewis Eyre Crabbe and Lieut. Commander Harry Barlow, for their assistance in recovering survivors from the USS Panay. Responsibility for the attack Modern historians believe that the attack may have been intentional. According to John Prados, Navy cryptographers had intercepted and decrypted traffic relating to the attacking planes which clearly indicated that they were under orders during the attack and that it had not been a mistake of any kind. This information was not released at the time because it would have revealed that the United States had broken Japanese Naval codes. Writer Nick Sparks believes that the chaos in Nanking created an opportunity for renegade factions within the Japanese army who wanted to force the U.S. into an active conflict so that the Japanese could once and for all drive the U.S. out of China. Legacy Fon Huffman, the last survivor of the incident, died in 2008. The last surviving Japanese pilot who participated in the attack was Kaname Harada, who died in 2016. The episode has been cited by Philip K. Dick in his novel The Man in the High Castle, depicted in a collectible picture-card of the 1940s, in the series Horrors of War with the title "The sinking of the Panay." The incident features in the 2005 novel A Winter in China by the British writer Douglas Galbraith. It is also described in the historical fiction novel Pearl Harbor by Newt Gingrich and William R. Forstchen. The 2009 film John Rabe portrays a fictionalized version of the incident. See also Japan–United States relations References Further reading Ashbaugh, William. "Relations with Japan." in A Companion to Franklin D. Roosevelt (2011) pp: 612+. LaFeber, Walter. The clash: a history of U.S.-Japan relations (1997) pp 196–198. excerpt Konstam, Angus. Yangtze River Gunboats 1900–49 (Bloomsbury, 2012). Peifer, Douglas Carl. (2016). Choosing war: presidential decisions in the Maine, Lusitania, and Panay incidents. New York, NY: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0190939601 online review Peifer, Douglas Carl (2018) . "Presidential Crisis Decision Making Following the Sinking of the Panay." International Journal of Naval History 14, no. 2/November . Perry, Hamilton Darby. The Panay Incident: Prelude to Pearl Harbor (1969). Roberts Jr, Frank N. "Climax of Isolationism, Countdown to World War." Naval History 26.6 (2012): 32+ Schnurr, Jeremy. "'The Best Possible Time for War?' The USS Panay and American Far Eastern Policy During the Roosevelt Presidency" (MA thesis. University of Ottawa, 2012) online; bibliography pp 165–72 Swanson, Harlan J. "The 'Panay' Incident: Prelude To Pearl Harbor." U.S. Naval Institute Proceedings (Dec 1967) 93#12 pp 26–37. Tolley, Kemp. Yangtze Patrol: The US Navy in China (Naval Institute Press, 2013). External links Castle Film – Bombing of USS Panay – USS Panay Sinking The New York Times - Search (パネー号事件と日米関係)"The Panay incident and Japan-US relations", in US-Japan War Talks, the Japan Center for Asian Historical Records Japan Center for Asian Historical Records (in Japanese)

Abraham H. Oort

Abraham Hans Oort (born 1934 in Leiden, Netherlands) is a Dutch-born American climatologist. Oort is the son of the Dutch astronomer Jan Hendrik Oort. He moved to the United States in 1961. Since 1971, Oort was professor at Princeton University, where from 1977 until his retirement in 1996 he worked at the Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory/NOAA. Oort is best known for his textbook, Physics of Climate, written in conjunction with José P. Peixoto.

Abraham Hans Oort (born 1934 in Leiden, Netherlands) is a Dutch-born American climatologist. Oort is the son of the Dutch astronomer Jan Hendrik Oort. He moved to the United States in 1961. Since 1971, Oort was professor at Princeton University, where from 1977 until his retirement in 1996 he worked at the Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory/NOAA. Oort is best known for his textbook, Physics of Climate, written in conjunction with José P. Peixoto. References External links Bibliography at GFDL Oort's Monthly and Seasonal Global Circulation Statistics since 1958 from NCAR and LDEO/IRI Climate Data Library

Vittorio Bellentani

Vittorio Bellentani (March 11, 1906 – March 26, 1968) was an Italian automobile engineer and racing driver.

Vittorio Bellentani (March 11, 1906 – March 26, 1968) was an Italian automobile engineer and racing driver. Biography Born in Modena, he studied in Germany at University of Freiburg before joining Enzo Ferrari in 1940, where he first worked on the Auto Avio Costruzioni 815 (1940–46). He subsequently worked for Maserati (1950–55), developing the Maserati A6 (A6GCM 1952; A6SSG 1954), and Maserati 250F, that had been initiated by Gioacchino Colombo who left the company in 1955. Bellentani continued as a consulting engineer for Ferrari (1956–63) on cars as Ferrari 412 S (1957) and the 1-litre ASA Ferrarina (1962). He also worked for the Bellentani Riccardo Modena (B.R.M.) company (1955–1957), which had been formed by his brother Riccardo Bellentani. B.R.M. was mostly involved in two-stroke engines, and continued to operate under Riccardo's son, Antonio Bellentani.Bellentani died in Modena in 1968. References Candini, Dante (2002). Le moto Maserati e l'artigianato motociclistico modenese. Il Fiorona.

San Francisco Brewing Company

The San Francisco Brewing Company was one of the oldest micro-breweries and bars in San Francisco, in addition to being one of the first four brew pubs in the United States. It was not always known as the Brewing Company, as only in recent decades did it take the moniker. It was located on the edge of what was once known as the Barbary Coast, at the intersection of Columbus and Pacific Avenues. It was formerly known as the Andromeda Saloon and the Albatross Saloon.

The San Francisco Brewing Company was one of the oldest micro-breweries and bars in San Francisco, in addition to being one of the first four brew pubs in the United States. It was not always known as the Brewing Company, as only in recent decades did it take the moniker. It was located on the edge of what was once known as the Barbary Coast, at the intersection of Columbus and Pacific Avenues. It was formerly known as the Andromeda Saloon and the Albatross Saloon. History The pub originally opened in 1907 as the Andromeda Saloon, where "angling executives, sharp-talking politicians and homesick sailors all rubbed elbows while brazen prostitutes flaunted coquettish charms at the brass rail of the ornate bar." In 1913, the Andromeda gained wide respect when Jack Dempsey, the future heavyweight champion, gained employment there. It is even rumored that, in 1939, Baby Face Nelson was captured in the pub by the FBI.During Prohibition the Andromeda Saloon was one of very few pubs that survived, and it did so by calling itself the Andromeda Cafe – which provided classy seafood fare such as fresh oysters and clams, all the while still serving alcohol discreetly. Decades later, in 1977, the brew pub was renovated and renamed the Albatross Saloon, and gained notoriety among San Francisco bars for its rich history. The bar itself was the original solid plank of mahogany used during its Barbary Coast days, and the vintage fan system run by leather belts and pulleys has remained in operation from its construction in 1916 until today in its most recent incarnation. Allan G. Paul, while living on Telegraph Hill, developed an obsession with Barbary Coast history and unique, micro-brewed beer. Paul bought the Albatross Saloon in 1985 and renamed it the San Francisco Brewing Company. It still housed all the historical pieces from its early days, but had his addition of antique-style micro-brewing, which brought beer in brass pipes straight from the basement, where it fermented and self-carbonated, into a pint glass. Tours of the pub, its famous Dempsey Room, and the brewery itself were given upon request. The Brewing Company had live music from classic jazz combos to blues and even more modern and avant-garde performances every Thursday through Saturday. Some of its chief attractions were the oddly humored brew titles, which included the Bock Obama, the Albatross Lager, and the Hugh Hefnerweizen. The San Francisco Brewing Company closed in November 2009 due to financial issues but, as of April 2010, has since been remodeled and reestablished under new ownership as the Comstock Saloon.In late 2012, Brew-master and new owner Joshua Leavy started up the brand and brewing again under the name San Francisco Brewing Co. They have put out four beers in two years and are serving their beers all over the Bay Area today. See also California breweries Beer in the United States References External links Official website

Robert Koldewey

Robert Johann Koldewey (10 September 1855 – 4 February 1925) was a German archaeologist, famous for his in-depth excavation of the ancient city of Babylon in modern-day Iraq. He was born in Blankenburg am Harz in Germany, the duchy of Brunswick, and died in Berlin at the age of 69. His digs at Babylon revealed the foundations of the ziggurat Marduk, and the Ishtar Gate; he also developed several modern archaeological techniques including a method to identify and excavate mud brick architecture. This technique was particularly useful in his excavation of the Hanging Gardens of Babylon (1899–1917) which were built ca. 580 BC using mainly unfired mudbricks.

Robert Johann Koldewey (10 September 1855 – 4 February 1925) was a German archaeologist, famous for his in-depth excavation of the ancient city of Babylon in modern-day Iraq. He was born in Blankenburg am Harz in Germany, the duchy of Brunswick, and died in Berlin at the age of 69. His digs at Babylon revealed the foundations of the ziggurat Marduk, and the Ishtar Gate; he also developed several modern archaeological techniques including a method to identify and excavate mud brick architecture. This technique was particularly useful in his excavation of the Hanging Gardens of Babylon (1899–1917) which were built ca. 580 BC using mainly unfired mudbricks. A practicing archaeologist for most of his life, he participated in and led many excavations in Asia Minor, Greece, and Italy. After he died, the Koldewey Society was established to record and mark his architectural service. Early life After attending a gymnasium in Braunschweig, Koldewey moved with his family to Altona in 1869 where he attended the Christianeum, achieving his abitur in 1875. Koldewey was a self-trained archaeological historian of the classical area. Although he studied architecture and art history in Berlin and Vienna, he left both those universities without an advanced degree. In 1882 he was signed on as a participant to the excavation of ancient Assus in Turkey, where Koldewey learned several excavation methods and how best to draw ancient remains. Archaeology Francis H. Bacon (an American affiliated with the Archaeological Institute of America) introduced Koldewey to archaeology at the excavation of Assos in 1882–1883. Koldewey went on to conduct digs for the German Archaeological Institute, at Hellenic sites including Lesbos (1885–1886) and Mesopotamian sites such as Lagash (1887). In 1890–1891 and 1894, he worked with Felix von Luschan on the excavation of a Hellenic city in Sicily. Excavation of Babylon With support from the Deutsche Orient-Gesellschaft (German Oriental Society), Koldewey directed the excavation of Babylon from 1899 through 1914, using comparatively modern archaeological techniques. (The site had been identified a century earlier by Claudius James Rich.) More than 200 people worked daily, year round, for fifteen years. When the team unearthed Babylon's central Processional street in 1899, the modern world had its first look at the site of this much-storied ancient city. The expedition also found the outer walls, inner walls, and foundation of Etemenanki, a temple sometimes identified as the "Tower of Babel". It also unearthed Nebuchadnezzar's palaces. Walter Andrae, a participant in the expedition, later created models of Babylon for the Vorderasiatisches Museum Berlin. The excavations at the famous city of Babylon were considered prestigious for Germany, and were consequently well-sponsored and well-publicized. Hanging Gardens of Babylon The Hanging Gardens of Babylon were a previously unconfirmed legend about a beautiful man-made mountain full of green plants and trees that reportedly were built by King Nebuchadnezzar (ruled 605 BC – 563 BC) for his homesick wife, Amytis, who was daughter of the king of the Medes. While excavating the Southern Citadel, Robert Koldewey discovered a basement with fourteen large rooms with stone arch ceilings. Ancient texts showed that only two locations in the city had used stone, the north wall of the Northern Citadel, and the Hanging Gardens. The north wall of the Northern Citadel had already been found. This made it seem likely that Koldewey had found the cellar of the gardens. He continued exploring the area and discovered many of the features reported by the ancient Greek historian Diodorus. While Koldewey was convinced that he had found the gardens, some modern archaeologists have called his discovery into question. While the location of the site that Koldewey excavated was well known and recognised as where Babylon had been situated, they argue that the dig site was too far from the Euphrates River to have been irrigated with the amount of water required for a green garden, and the ancient Greek historian Strabo stated that the Hanging Gardens were located right next to the river. The complex of arched rooms that Koldewey discovered was most likely a storeroom, as cuneiform tablets with lists of supplies and rations were later found in the ruins. See also Biblical archaeology (Jehoiachin's Rations Tablets) List of artifacts significant to the Bible Notes Bibliography Clayton, Peter A. and Martin J. Price, Ed. "The Seven Wonders of the Ancient World." Routledge: New York, 1988. p 54–55. Seymour, Michael John. "The Idea of Babylon: Archaeology and Representation in Mesopotamia". PhD dissertation accepted at University College London, 2006. Twardowski, Kristen E. Excavating Imperial Fantasies: The German Oriental Society, 1898–1914". Master's thesis accepted at University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, 2015. External links Robert Koldewey Society in Berlin on Koldewey Gesellschaft e.V. Full-text scan of The Excavations at Babylon by Robert Koldewey, translated by Agnes S. Johns; London: Macmillan, 1914.

Mizumoto Park

Mizumoto Park (水元公園, Mizumoto Kōen) is a park in Katsushika ward, Tokyo, Japan. It is the biggest park within the 23 special wards of Tokyo. It is known for its diverse plants and wild birds, and as an attraction spot during the Hanami season. Locals have said that it is home to a haunted phone booth.

Mizumoto Park (水元公園, Mizumoto Kōen) is a park in Katsushika ward, Tokyo, Japan. It is the biggest park within the 23 special wards of Tokyo. It is known for its diverse plants and wild birds, and as an attraction spot during the Hanami season. Locals have said that it is home to a haunted phone booth. Data Date opened: April 1, 1965 Area: 921,539 m2 (227.717 acres) Nearest station: About 2 km (1.2 mi) from Kanamachi Station (JR Jōban Line); a bus service to the park is available. Transportation When Katsushika Shōbu Festival is held, Mizumoto Katsushika Shōbu Meguri Bus are run by Keisei Bus on holidays in June. And, the bus is bound for Horikiri-Shobuen Station via Kanamachi Station and Shibamata Taishakuten. It takes 220 yen to ride on the bus. Education Katsushika City Board of Education operates area public elementary and junior high schools. 2-8-ban are zoned to Higashi-Mizumoto Elementary School (東水元小学校) while 1-ban is zoned to Handa Elementary School (半田小学校).3-8-ban are zoned to Mizumoto Junior High School (水元中学校) while 1-2-ban are zoned to Higashi Kanamachi Junior High School (東金町中学校). References External links Mizumoto Park, Tokyo Metropolitan Park Association Jōdoron kōen, Jōdoron kōen By Kōon Mizumoto

Church of St Nonna, Bradstone

The Church of St Nonna is a redundant church in Bradstone, Devon, England that was built in the 12th century. It is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade I listed building, and is in the care of the Churches Conservation Trust. It was vested in the Trust on 12 November 1996. The church is named after Saint Nonna. The church has an arcaded north aisle.

The Church of St Nonna is a redundant church in Bradstone, Devon, England that was built in the 12th century. It is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade I listed building, and is in the care of the Churches Conservation Trust. It was vested in the Trust on 12 November 1996. The church is named after Saint Nonna. The church has an arcaded north aisle. The west tower was added in the 15th century. The tracery in the south wall of the chancel is believed to date from 1261 when the church was dedicated by Bishop Walter Branscombe.Outside the tower is a stone dedicated to John Coumbe, said to have lived from 1484 to 1604 - outliving the entire Tudor dynasty. See also List of churches preserved by the Churches Conservation Trust in South West England == References ==

Eastern Airlines, LLC

Eastern Airlines, LLC is an American airline founded in 2010. It operates Boeing 767s and Boeing 777s. It began as Dynamic Airways and later added "International" to its name to reflect its transition from a charter airline into scheduled international services. Under the Dynamic name, the airline was headquartered in High Point, North Carolina, offering service from New York to South America. It used to operate from Fort Lauderdale, Chicago, Los Angeles, and New York to the Caribbean, Cancún, and South America.

Eastern Airlines, LLC is an American airline founded in 2010. It operates Boeing 767s and Boeing 777s. It began as Dynamic Airways and later added "International" to its name to reflect its transition from a charter airline into scheduled international services. Under the Dynamic name, the airline was headquartered in High Point, North Carolina, offering service from New York to South America. It used to operate from Fort Lauderdale, Chicago, Los Angeles, and New York to the Caribbean, Cancún, and South America. Following a successful bankruptcy restructuring in April 2018, Dynamic International Airways obtained a license to use the Eastern intellectual property from Swift Air, and the leases of two aircraft from the 2015 Eastern Air Lines startup. Dynamic was rebranded as Eastern Airlines. History Dynamic Airways Dynamic Airways was established by Dynamic Aviation with its first aircraft being a second-hand McDonnell Douglas MD-88 delivered a year before operations started in 2009. The airline officially started operations in early October 2010 after receiving its air operator's certificate.In November 2010, the airline started to operate for Direct Air. The company's first aircraft was re-painted in livery and leased to Direct Air.As the airline approached its second year of operations, its first Boeing 767-200 was delivered to the airline, followed by the approval for another MD-88 to take to the skies.Not long after the purchase of the second MD-88, Dynamic announced a three-year partnership flying for Hoda Air Services in South Korea. The deal, which included an MD-88 supported by a full crew, was the airline's first in Asia. The airline continued to expand when its first 767 entered service and the second was delivered, which was, according to the airline, available for ACMI wet lease, full charter and corporate shuttle programs for private and government organizations.In March 2012, Direct Air temporarily suspended its operations and cancelled all charter flights, subsequently filing for bankruptcy. It ceased operations completely shortly after, having been found to have racked up millions in debts. The MD-88 was returned to Dynamic as a result. A third 767 was delivered to Dynamic on March 6. This 767 entered operations in early 2013.Dynamic operated a successful wet-lease ACMI for EZjet, operating regular flights from New York City to Georgetown utilizing their 767-200. This operation ceased in 2012, prompting Dynamic's move into regularly scheduled services, starting with the resurrection of the New York to Georgetown route in June 2014, competing with Caribbean Airlines and Fly Jamaica Airways on that route, the latter two flying the route as a fifth-freedom service.In 2015, Dynamic also added services from Fort Lauderdale, flying to both Caracas and Rio de Janeiro. In 2016, Dynamic added new routes from New York to the Caribbean and Latin America, commencing service to Caracas (filling a void left after American Airlines canceled that same route) Cancún, and Punta Cana, and entered both the Chicago and Los Angeles markets, with service from Chicago to both Punta Cana and Cancún, and from Los Angeles to Cancún and San Juan. However, the latter was later withdrawn before launch. By August 2016, however, all of the new routes except for the New York to Caracas route had been cancelled, as well as the Fort Lauderdale to Caracas service. Soon after those cancellations, Mexican low-cost carrier Interjet began operating some of the canceled routes to and from Cancún. After summer of 2017, Dynamic withdrew from scheduled services and re-focused as an ACMI operator. In November 2017, Dynamic and its affiliated airline Swift Air went bankrupt. Eastern Airlines Dynamic exited bankruptcy, and with the rights held by Swift Air, renamed itself as Eastern Airlines in April 2018. The company adopted plans similar to the prior Eastern Air Lines Group. The airline's viability was to be based on route selection, mostly secondary locations in South America and China. But while the destinations were under-served, there may not have been enough demand to be profitable. The company applied for four non-stop routes, three international, from its proposed JFK New York hub. It assembled a fleet of eight Boeing 767s and used them to furnish charter services in North America and Europe. With the Boeing 737 MAX groundings, Eastern provided charters for Sunwing Airlines.On September 1, 2019, the company moved into its new Systems Operations Control center in Wayne, Pennsylvania. At the end of the month, Eastern joined the British Civil Aviation Authority in the largest-ever peacetime repatriation of British citizens after the collapse of Thomas Cook Airlines, operating flights to bring stranded overseas holidaymakers back to the UK.On January 12, 2020, Eastern Airlines completed its inaugural flight to New York from Guayaquil, Ecuador. By May 2020, Eastern planned to purchase several Boeing 767s, with at least five used 777-200s. On September 1, 2021, Eastern Airlines announced the creation of a new cargo subsidiary name Eastern Air Cargo and the addition of 35 Boeing 777 preighters to their fleet.In May 2023, Eastern Airlines announced its plans to acquire charter airline Hillwood Airways to enter the luxury charter market. It was officially purchased on August 15, 2023, but Hillwood continues to operate under its existing brand.In July 2023, the New England Patriots filed a lawsuit against Eastern Airlines over an alleged breach of contract. Ownership Until 2017, Dynamic Airways was owned as follows, Kenneth M. Woolley (50%) - founder and chief information officer (and former CEO) of Extra Space Storage. Woolley also co-owns Swift Air, another Part 121 carrier, in association with Swift Transportation, and is the owner of KMW Leasing, an aircraft leasing firm. Paul Kraus (50%) - owner of Jet Midwest Group, an aircraft leasing firm.After a successful bankruptcy restructuring in 2017, Dynamic Airways was owned by Olga Alauof (70%) and Woolley (30%) Destinations As of November 2023, Eastern Airlines operates no commercial scheduled flights after cancelling the once monthly Miami to Santo Domingo route. Fleet Current fleet As of August 2023, the Eastern Airlines fleet includes the following aircraft: Former fleet As Dynamic Airways, the airline formerly operated the following aircraft: Accidents and incidents On October 29, 2015, Dynamic Airways Flight 405, a Boeing 767-200ER (registered N251MY), was taxiing at Fort Lauderdale–Hollywood International Airport when its left-hand engine caught on fire. Fire crews were dispatched to the scene and all 101 passengers and crew were safely evacuated from the aircraft. 17 passengers and 5 crew members were reported as sustaining injuries. Aircraft operations were briefly suspended at the airport.On July 15, 2020, a Boeing 767-300ER (registered N706KW), from New York City to Georgetown, Guyana, taxied off the taxiway at Cheddi Jagan International Airport upon landing, after it vacated Runway 24. Almost immediately after turning onto Taxiway Charlie, the aircraft’s right main landing gear rolled off the pavement and became stuck in the grass. All 201 passengers and 10 crew members were safely evacuated from the aircraft with no injuries. See also Eastern Air Lines Eastern Air Lines (2015) List of airlines of the United States References External links Media related to Eastern Airlines at Wikimedia Commons Official website

Milton Hopkins (biologist)

Milton Hopkins, Jr. (1906–1983) was an American historian, professor of biology, and an editor of college textbooks.

Milton Hopkins, Jr. (1906–1983) was an American historian, professor of biology, and an editor of college textbooks. Biography In 1917 Milton Hopkins, Jr. moved with his family to Port Washington, New York and attended elementary school and high school there. In 1930 he received his bachelor's degree from Amherst College. After graduating with M.A. and Ph.D. in biology from Harvard University, he was a professor of biology from 1936 to 1945 at the University of Oklahoma.In 1944 he married Elizabeth Robbins Hewlett. In 1945 they returned to the Port Washington area to live in the Hewlett homestead. Located in the Village of Flower Hill, the home was built in the early 1700s and occupied by eight generations of the Hewlett family before being sold to the real estate developer Ivo Matkovic.From 1945 until retirement, Milton Hopkins was editor-in-chief of college textbooks at Holt, Rinehart & Winston. He was a local historian of Long Island and president of the Cow Neck Peninsula Historical Society of Port Washington. Milton and Elizabeth Hopkins lived in the historic Hewlett house until 1980. Upon his death he was survived by his widow, a daughter, and two granddaughters. Death Hopkins died on March 25, 1983 at St. Francis Hospital in Flower Hill, New York. He was 76 at the time of his death. Legacy A small green space on East Gate Road in Flower Hill is named Milton Hopkins Green in honor of Hopkins. Selected publications Hopkins, Milton (1935). "Notes on Lespedeza". Rhodora. 37 (439): 264–266. JSTOR 23300288. —— (1937). "Arabis in eastern and central North America (Continued)". Rhodora. 39 (460): 106–148. JSTOR 23300659. —— (1938). "Notes from the herbarium of the University of Oklahoma—I". Rhodora. 40 (479): 425–434. JSTOR 23301951. —— (1942). "Cercis in North America". Rhodora. 44 (522): 193–211. JSTOR 23301997. ——; Waterfall, U. T. (1943). "Notes on Oklahoma plants". Rhodora. 45 (532): 113–117. JSTOR 23302105. —— (1943). "Notes from the Bebb Herbarium of the University of Oklahoma—II". Rhodora. 45 (535): 265–277. JSTOR 23301989. == References ==

Christopher Wilder

Christopher Bernard Wilder (March 13, 1945 – April 13, 1984), also known as the Beauty Queen Killer and the Snapshot Killer, was an Australian-American serial killer who abducted at least twelve young women and girls, killing eight of them during a six-week, cross-country crime spree in the United States in early-1984. Wilder's series of murders began in Florida on February 26, 1984, and continued across the country through Texas, Oklahoma, Colorado, Nevada and California, with attempted abductions in Washington and New York. Wilder victimised attractive young women, most of whom he would entice by promising to take their pictures. After subduing them, he would torture and rape them before shooting, stabbing with a knife, or strangling them to death. Two or more of his victims were electrocuted using a makeshift electrical cord.After being named a suspect in the disappearances of his first two victims, both of whom were women he knew and whose bodies were never found, Wilder began to target random women; many of whom were abducted from shopping malls.

Christopher Bernard Wilder (March 13, 1945 – April 13, 1984), also known as the Beauty Queen Killer and the Snapshot Killer, was an Australian-American serial killer who abducted at least twelve young women and girls, killing eight of them during a six-week, cross-country crime spree in the United States in early-1984. Wilder's series of murders began in Florida on February 26, 1984, and continued across the country through Texas, Oklahoma, Colorado, Nevada and California, with attempted abductions in Washington and New York. Wilder victimised attractive young women, most of whom he would entice by promising to take their pictures. After subduing them, he would torture and rape them before shooting, stabbing with a knife, or strangling them to death. Two or more of his victims were electrocuted using a makeshift electrical cord.After being named a suspect in the disappearances of his first two victims, both of whom were women he knew and whose bodies were never found, Wilder began to target random women; many of whom were abducted from shopping malls. Wilder accidentally killed himself during a struggle with police in New Hampshire on April 13, 1984. Since his death, Wilder has been suspected in the additional rapes, murders and disappearances of many other women, including the unsolved 1965 Wanda Beach Murders in his native Sydney as well as the suspected murder of missing 18-year-old beauty queen Tammy Lynn Leppert. The 1986 made-for-television movie Easy Prey dramatises Wilder's crimes. Early life and criminal history Christopher Wilder was born on March 13, 1945, in Sydney, New South Wales, the oldest of four sons to an American father, Coley Chapman Wilder (August 27, 1919 – January 29, 1992), a naval officer, and an Australian mother, June Wilder (née Decker; June 18, 1925 – April 26, 1986). Wilder nearly died at birth, and reportedly almost drowned in a swimming pool at the age of 2. On January 4, 1963, at age 17, Wilder raped a 13-year-old girl in the company of two other young men in a Freshwater quarry, both of whom denied being involved in the actual assault. Wilder was sentenced to probation, and claimed later in life that he also received electroshock therapy. It has been suggested that this therapy aggravated Wilder's violent sexual tendencies. However, journalist Duncan McNab claims that there is no evidence that Wilder underwent electroshock therapy, and that the story of his near-drowning was an invention of Wilder himself.Wilder married in 1968, but his wife left him after one week when Wilder was taken in for questioning over a series of sexual assaults at Manly Beach. After their divorce, Wilder's ex-wife told law enforcement that he had attempted to seduce both his mother-in-law and sister-in-law, and that she had found pictures of young women in their underwear in a briefcase inside his car. She also admitted to the police that he had twice attempted to kill her. In November 1969, Wilder used nude photographs to extort sex from an Australian student nurse; she complained to police, but charges were ultimately dropped when she refused to testify in court. Wilder emigrated to the United States in 1969 and lived in Boynton Beach, in an upscale waterfront home twenty-five miles south of affluent Palm Beach, becoming successful in the real estate business. He frequently travelled to Hawaii and the Bahamas and also developed an interest in photography which resulted in his converting a bedroom of his home into a darkroom.Between 1971 and 1975, Wilder faced various charges related to sexual misconduct. He raped a young woman he had lured into his truck on the pretense of photographing her for a modelling contract. This was to become part of his modus operandi during his later crime spree. Despite several convictions, Wilder was never jailed for any of these offenses. In 1977, a psychologist deemed Wilder a "mentally disordered sex offender" and "not safe except in a structured environment and should be in a resident program" and also noted his need to dominate women and turn them into slaves for his pleasure. He had expressed interest in white slavery and spoke of his sexual fantasies which involved twisting a woman's nipples during sex and slapping and kicking sexual partners. While visiting his parents in Australia in 1982, Wilder was charged with sexual offenses against two 15-year-old girls whom he had forced to pose nude after luring them from Manly Beach. His parents posted bail and he was allowed to return to Florida to await trial, but court delays prevented his case from ever being heard, as the eventual initial hearing date of April 1984 came after his death. Two other young girls, aged 10 and 12, later identified Wilder from mugshots as the man who had abducted them in Boynton Beach in 1983 and forced them to perform oral sex on him. Crime spree Florida and Georgia murders The first murder attributed to Wilder was that of 20-year-old Rosario Teresa Gonzalez, who was last seen on February 26, 1984, at the Miami Grand Prix, where she was employed as a spokesmodel at a temporary job distributing samples of aspirin for a pharmaceutical company. Witnesses stated that she left the Grand Prix track between noon and 1:00 p.m. with a Caucasian man in his thirties. Her blue 1980 Oldsmobile Cutlass was found parked near Dupont Plaza. Wilder was a race car driver who frequented the Miami Grand Prix racetrack and was also at the race, where he raced in the IMSA GTU class in a Porsche 911.On March 5, Wilder's former girlfriend, Miss Florida finalist Elizabeth Ann Kenyon, 23, went missing. She dated Wilder for a period of time, and was proposed to by him, but she declined due to their age difference; she is believed to have been last seen with him at a gas station near Miami. Her car was found six days later abandoned at the Miami Airport. Gonzales was an aspiring model at the time of her disappearance and had participated in the Miss Florida beauty contest along with Kenyon. Neither woman's remains have ever been found. On March 18, Wilder led 21-year-old Theresa Anne Ferguson away from the Merritt Square Mall in Merritt Island, Florida. He murdered Ferguson and dumped her body at Canaveral Groves, where it was discovered on March 23. Wilder's next victim was 19-year-old Linda Grover from Florida State University, whom he abducted from the Governor's Square Mall in Tallahassee, Florida, and transported to Bainbridge, Georgia, on March 20. She had declined his offer to photograph her for a modeling agency, after which he assaulted her in the mall parking lot. Wilder tied Grover's hands wrapped her in a blanket and put her in the trunk of his car. Grover was taken to Glen Oaks Motel and was raped. Wilder blinded her with a blow dryer and super glue. He applied copper wires to her feet and passed an electric current through them. When she tried to get away, he beat her, but she escaped and locked herself in the bathroom, where she began pounding on the walls. Wilder fled in his car, taking all of Grover's belongings with him. Texas and Kansas murders On March 21, Wilder approached Terry Diane Walden, a 23-year-old wife, mother, and nursing student at Lamar University in Beaumont, Texas, about posing as a model. She turned him down, but ran across him again two days later, March 23, and he kidnapped her then. Wilder raped her, stabbed her to death and dumped her body in a canal, where she was found on March 26. After killing Walden, Wilder fled in her rust-colored 1981 Mercury Cougar. On March 25, Wilder abducted 21-year-old Suzanne Wendy Logan at the Penn Square Mall in Oklahoma City. Wilder took her 180 miles north to Newton, Kansas, and checked into room 30 of the Interstate 35 Inn. After breakfast the next morning, he drove to Milford Reservoir, 90 miles northeast of Newton near Junction City, Kansas, where he stabbed her to death and dumped her body under a cedar tree. Utah and California murders Wilder took 18-year-old Sheryl Lynn Bonaventura captive in Grand Junction, Colorado, on March 29. They were seen together at a diner in Silverton, where they told staff they were heading for Las Vegas with a stop in Durango on the way. On March 30, they were seen at the Four Corners Monument, after which Wilder checked into the Page Boy Motel in Page, Arizona. Wilder shot and stabbed Bonaventura to death around March 31 near the Kanab River in Utah, but her body was not found until May 3. Wilder killed 17-year-old Michelle Lynn Korfman, an aspiring model, who disappeared from a Seventeen magazine cover model competition at the Meadows Mall in Las Vegas on April 1. A photograph was taken of Wilder stalking her at the competition. Her body remained undiscovered near a Southern California roadside rest stop until May 11, and was not identified until mid-June via dental X-rays. New York murder On April 4, near Torrance, California, Wilder photographed 16-year-old Tina Marie Risico before abducting her and driving her to El Centro, where he assaulted her. Wilder apparently believed that Risico would be of use in helping him get other victims, so he kept her alive and took her with him as he traveled back east through Prescott, Arizona, Joplin, Missouri, and Chicago, Illinois. Wilder had been on the FBI's ten most wanted fugitives list since the second week of April. He and Risico went to Merrillville, Indiana, on April 10, where she helped him abduct 16-year-old Dawnette Sue Wilt at the Southlake Mall. Wilder raped Wilt several times as Risico drove to New York. Near Penn Yan, Wilder took Wilt into the woods and attempted to suffocate her before stabbing her twice and leaving her. Wilt managed to tie a pair of jeans around herself and flag down help. She was taken to Soldiers and Sailors Hospital in Penn Yan by a truck driver, Charlie Laursen. Wilder had doubled back and returned to the spot where he left her to make sure she was dead. He panicked on seeing she had fled.Dr. John Flynn performed a life-saving surgery on Wilt at the hospital and she survived and recuperated at Soldiers and Sailors Hospital. She told local police that Wilder was heading for Canada. At the Eastview Mall in Victor, New York, Wilder forced 33-year-old Beth Elaine Dodge into his car and had Risico follow him in Dodge's Pontiac Firebird. After a short drive, Wilder shot Dodge and dumped her body in a gravel pit. Risico and he then drove the Firebird to Logan Airport in Boston, where he bought her a ticket to Los Angeles. Wilder then headed north, and in Beverly, Massachusetts, he attempted to abduct a woman at gunpoint, but was unsuccessful. Suspected victims Wilder is one of three suspects in Australia's unsolved Wanda Beach Murders – the murders of 15-year-olds Marianne Schmidt and Christine Sharrock at Wanda Beach, near Sydney, on January 11, 1965 – because of his similarity to a suspect sketch and that two years prior to the murders, he had been convicted of a gang-rape on a Sydney beach. The day after they were both reported missing by family, both women were found partially buried in the sand. A blow to the back of the head had shattered Sharrock's skull, and she had received fourteen knife wounds. Schmidt had been stabbed six times and had her throat severely cut. Attempts had been made to rape both girls, and their underwear had been cut. Both girls had semen stains on their clothes, but an autopsy revealed that their hymens were still intact. The case is currently the oldest under review by the New South Wales unsolved homicide unit. Wilhelmina Kruger, a 56-year-old cleaning lady, was murdered at Wollongong's Piccadilly Centre on January 29, 1966. A butcher who had arrived for work at 5:45 a.m. found her bloody body at the bottom of the basement-level staircase. She had been forcibly pulled down the escalators and stairs after being attacked three stories up, possibly around 4:30 a.m. She was discovered naked from the chest down, having been stabbed, strangled, and mutilated. Additionally, the police discovered burns from cigarettes on her clothing and blond hair at the site. Prior to the murder, Kruger started to feel as though someone was stalking her, so her husband drove her to work. The homicide is still unsolved and is regarded as one of the most notorious in state history. A 27-year-old store employee and prostitute from Bondi named Anna Toskayoa Dowlingkoa vanished after leaving the Taxi Club in Kings Cross on February 16, 1966, at midnight. Ten days later, on February 26, at about 5:30 p.m., a truck driver who had stopped at the side of Old Illawarra Road in Menai to fix a tire discovered her partially clothed, stabbed, strangled, and mutilated body. Drag evidence revealed that Dowlingkoa's body had been moved to a more obvious position three to four days or so before her body was discovered. The majority of Dowlingkoa's clothing and belongings were also missing. Police immediately linked her brutal "Jack the Ripper-like murder" with that of Kruger, and investigators from that crime were called in to assist. They believed that the murder might have been the work of the Wanda Beach Killer, primarily based on circumstantial evidence and similarities in modus operandi. An unidentified woman's body was discovered in a field in Caledonia, New York, on November 10, 1979. She had been shot twice, once in the front of the head and once in the back and was the victim of a homicide. She was discovered shortly after her death, but she remained a Jane Doe until 2015 when she was identified as Tammy Jo Alexander, a 16-year-old who had vanished from Brooksville, Florida, in 1979. Alexander may be connected to Wilder due to the fact that she was discovered wearing an Auto Sports Products jacket which was a brand Wilder was well known for using. The .38 calibre bullet that killed Alexander was found in the dirt beneath her body and this caliber ammunition was commonly used in .357 calibre revolvers like the one found in Wilder's possession immediately after his death. There is no evidence that the round's compatibility with the pistol was determined through ballistic testing. Wilder is a suspect in the unsolved disappearance of 17-year-old Mary Opitz who went missing in Fort Myers, Florida, on January 16, 1981, and was last seen leaving the Edison Mall and heading towards the parking lot. Another girl who physically resembled Opitz, 18-year-old Mary Elizabeth Hare, disappeared on February 11, 1981, from the same parking lot. Hare's body, which had decomposed, was found in June 1981 in a field near Alabama Road and Highway 82 in a remote, undeveloped area of Lehigh Acres, Florida; she had been stabbed in the back and was the victim of a homicide. Authorities began to suspect foul play was involved in Opitz's case following this, but Opitz has never been found. Skeletal remains were discovered in a green nylon bag on May 29, 1982, in a shallow grave at the 300 block of F Road, north of Southern Boulevard, in Loxahatchee, Florida, close to property owned by Wilder. Although the manner of her death is unknown, she is believed to have been murdered. Using dental records, the remains of 17-year-old Tina Marie Beebe were identified as hers in July 2013 by the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office. On January 20, 1981, she told her sister that a man had offered her a job as a model before she disappeared in Fort Myers, Florida. On December 19, 1982, a real estate agent who was inspecting land discovered severely decomposed remains that belonged to a female. They were dispersed throughout thick bush in a wooded location 140 yards north of Okeechobee Road off F Road, close to Loxahatchee. She had been shot once in the head and is referred to only as the Palm Beach County Jane Doe. Shari Lynne Ball, a 20-year-old aspiring model, went missing on June 27, 1983, from Boca Raton, Florida, after telling relatives she was going to pursue a modelling career. Two days later, she called a friend from a truck stop in Ashland, Virginia. Her badly decomposed body was found by a hunter in Shelby, New York, on October 29, 1983, but was not identified until 2014. Her cause of death could not be determined, but foul play was suspected. She was found thirty-eight miles from where Alexander was found in Caledonia, New York. A New York State Police Cold Case investigator claimed that Ball's murder was consistent with "Wilder's method of operations." Tammy Lynn Leppert, 18, was last seen around 11:30 a.m. on July 6, 1983, in Cocoa Beach, Florida, while in a heated argument with a male companion. Leppert's family filed a $1 million lawsuit against Wilder before his death but dropped the suit afterward. Leppert's mother, modelling agent Linda Curtis, claimed that Wilder and Tammy met on the set of the 1983 comedy film Spring Break in Fort Lauderdale. She further claimed that he travelled to Brevard County where they lived in a fruitless effort to convince her to let him photograph Tammy. She also recalled that a man strongly resembling him visited her modelling agency several times in 1983, looking for models. However, she later stated that she never believed Wilder was involved in Tammy's disappearance. Police were unable to link Wilder to Leppert. Lori Jane Kearsey, 23, was found floating in a canal on February 18, 1984, in Davie, Florida. She had been strangled to death and was thought to have been dead two days prior to being found. On March 7, 1984, Melody Marie Gay, 19, was abducted while working the graveyard shift at an all-night store in Collier County, Florida; her body was pulled from a rural canal three days later. Due to the similarities with Wilder's crimes, their murders were thought to be connected, but he has since been ruled out as a suspect. Wilder is the primary suspect in the disappearance of 15-year-old Colleen Emily Orsborn, who went missing after leaving her Daytona Beach home on March 15, 1984. She missed her school bus on the day of her disappearance and is believed to have skipped school to go to the beach. Wilder was staying at a motel in Daytona Beach on that same date. The disappearance of Colleen fitted the pattern of Wilder, who often attacked near his birthdate of March 13. Also, one of Orsborn's classmates claimed a man resembling Wilder had offered her $100 to pose for pictures. However, though he checked out on the day Orsborn disappeared, no evidence has been found to connect them. Her body was discovered a few weeks later on April 6, 1984, partially buried near a lake in Orange County, Florida, although it was initially ruled not to be her, and was not formally identified using DNA testing until February 2011. Death On April 13, Wilder stopped at Vic's Getty service station in Colebrook, New Hampshire to ask directions to Canada. Two New Hampshire state troopers, Leo Jellison and Wayne Fortier, approached Wilder, who retreated to his car to arm himself with a Colt Python .357 Magnum. Jellison was able to grab Wilder from behind and in the scuffle, two shots were fired. The first bullet hit Wilder and exited through his back and into Jellison. The second bullet hit Wilder in the chest. Wilder died; Jellison was seriously wounded, but recovered and returned to full duty. A copy of the novel The Collector by John Fowles, in which a man keeps a woman in his cellar against her will until she dies, was found among his possessions after his death. Wilder was cremated in Florida, leaving a personal estate worth more than $7 million. In June 1986, a court-appointed arbitrator ruled that the after-tax balance was to be divided among the families of his victims. See also List of serial killers in the United States List of serial killers by number of victims List of serial rapists References External links Easy Prey (TV Movie 1986) at IMDb miamiherald.com

Selma Al-Radi

Selma Al-Radi (Arabic: سلمى الراضي) (July 23, 1939 – October 7, 2010) was an Iraqi archaeologist who began and led the over twenty-year restoration of the Amiriya Madrasa, which is under consideration as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Selma Al-Radi (Arabic: سلمى الراضي) (July 23, 1939 – October 7, 2010) was an Iraqi archaeologist who began and led the over twenty-year restoration of the Amiriya Madrasa, which is under consideration as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Biography Selma Al-Radi was born in Baghdad, Iraq, but her childhood was spent in Iran and later in India, where her father Muhammed Selim Al-Radi was the Iraqi Ambassador. She obtained her BA at the University of Cambridge in Akkadian, Hebrew and Persian. Her tutor was Joan Oates, a noted Mesopotamian archaeologist. After graduation, she returned to Baghdad, where she began working in the National Museum of Iraq. Along with her cousin Lamya Gailani, they were the first women in Iraq to go on archaeological excavations as representatives of the archaeological service. One of her first assignments was to accompany the team led by David Oates (the husband of her tutor), which discovered a large cache of the celebrated Nimrud Ivories, many of which were restored by Selma, giving her a first taste of restoration. She then obtained her master's degree in Art History and Archeology at Columbia University in New York in 1967 under the tutelage of Edith Porada. On her return, she continued to work in the Department of Antiquities and the Museum. The family left Iraq to settle in Beirut, where Selma began teaching at the American University of Beirut (1969–1974). She enrolled in the University of Amsterdam for her PhD degree. Her supervisors were Maurits van Loon from Amsterdam and Edith Porada from Columbia University. The University of Amsterdam did not require students to be resident for their graduate degrees after all their courses were completed. Her PhD research was performed on a Bronze Age site in Cyprus, Phlamoudhi Vounari, and her thesis was published in 1983.In 1977, she took on the position of an adviser to the National Museum of Yemen in Sana'a, and Yemen was to remain the focus of most of her work. There, she conducted many archaeological surveys, participated in digs, energized the field of restoration of buildings especially mud brick palaces in the Hadhramawt. But her chef d'oeuvre was to be the restoration of the Amiriya Madrasa, probably not a madrassa (school) but rather a large palace with a beautiful small mosque. In collaboration with the Antiquites Department led by Qadi Ismail Al-Aqwa', she began in 1983 to restore the structure of this massive building which was about to fall down. Using local craftsmen whose expertise was handed down in the same families for generations, she resuscitated the ancient medieval craft of building in Yemen. In particular, she re-invented the ancient plastering method of qudad, a waterproofing cement similar in many ways to ancient Roman pozzolana. After laborious experimentation, they discovered the correct mixtures of volcanic ash and slaked lime. The results were published in 1995. The large cadre of masons and qudad workers became a school of restoration after the project gained international attention. Many of the workers were hired to restore old mansions in Yemen or to use the same methods to build new ones there. She was a tireless campaigner for raising funds for the building restoration from the Dutch and Yemeni governments.When the structure was stabilized, she turned her attention to the beautifully painted mosque. The sanctuary was painted with murals in colorful designs, part of a long tradition of painted wooden and plaster ceilings in Yemen from the early medieval period on. Selma had documented the existence of these painted mosques, a unique feature in Islamic architecture, and Yemen was particularly rich in these structures. Selma documented as many as 40 of these mosques. A five-year project began with the Centro di Conservazione Archaeologica in Rome led by Roberto Nardi to conserve and restore the paintings. Students were involved in the training. Selma herself cleaned the intricately carved stucco decoration which had been covered with decades of whitewash using fine dental tools. The result was magnificent. Another book followed with emphasis on restoration of the stucco and paintings. The New York Times described the project as "an immense undertaking" and the madrasa as "one of the great treasures of Islamic art and architecture." Awards In 2005 Al-Radi received the Yemen Presidential Medal of Culture. In 2007. In 2007, Al-Radi and Yahya Al-Nasiri received the Aga Khan Award for Architecture for their work in the restoration. Family Al-Radi was the sister of Nuha al-Radi, the author of Baghdad Diaries." Al-Radi was married to Qais Al-Awqati, a Professor of Medicine and Physiology at Columbia University. Her son Rakan Ammar Zahawi from her first marriage is an environmental scientist who is the head of the Las Cruces Biological Station in Costa Rica. References External links Caterina Borelli, Caterina Borelli: "QUDAD - reinventing a tradition - English version" on Vimeo, 2012, A Documentary on the renovation of the ‘Amiryia Madrasa and Mosque in Rada, Yemen, using the ancient waterproofing technique with qudad.

Église du Saint-Esprit (Aix-en-Provence)

The Église du Saint-Esprit is a Roman Catholic church in Aix-en-Provence.

The Église du Saint-Esprit is a Roman Catholic church in Aix-en-Provence. Location It is located at 40 rue Espariat in Aix-en-Provence. History In the 18th century, the Hôpital du Saint-Esprit, a hospital of the Order of the Holy Ghost, and several houses were torn down to make way for the construction of a new church. It was designed by architects Laurent Vallon (1652-1724) and Georges Vallon (1688-1767), and built from 1706 to 1728. It was then known as Église Saint-Jérôme, in honour of Jérôme de Grimaldi (1597–1685), who served as Archbishop of Aix from 1655 to 1683. It was dedicated by Forbin-La Barben in 1716. It was fully sculpted and painted from 1726 to 1728.Inside, there is a retable dating back to 1505. At present It is the main parish church for university students in Aix. The current priests are Fr Gilles-Marie Lecomte and Fr Benoît CoppeauxIt is open every day from 7:30am to 11pm. The Chaplet of Divine Mercy is said every day from 5:30pm to 6pm, Confession and Adoration are from 6pm to 7pm. Additionally, the Eucharist is every day (except Saturdays), at 7pm. There is also a Mass on Saturdays at 6pm and on Sundays. Heritage significance It has been listed as a monument historique since December 31, 1985. Gallery == References ==

Arch of Augustus (Susa)

The Arch of Augustus is an important monument constructed in the city of Susa, Piedmont, in the province of Turin. It was originally built at the end of the 1st century BC to record the renewed alliance between Emperor Augustus and Marcus Julius Cottius, a Celto-Ligurian ruler who had been made king and Roman prefect of the Cottian Alps. The arch, together with other remains from the period, such as the Roman amphitheatre and a Roman aqueduct, underscore the importance that the city of Susa had during the Roman period.

The Arch of Augustus is an important monument constructed in the city of Susa, Piedmont, in the province of Turin. It was originally built at the end of the 1st century BC to record the renewed alliance between Emperor Augustus and Marcus Julius Cottius, a Celto-Ligurian ruler who had been made king and Roman prefect of the Cottian Alps. The arch, together with other remains from the period, such as the Roman amphitheatre and a Roman aqueduct, underscore the importance that the city of Susa had during the Roman period. Description From above, the arch forms a rectangle 11.93 metres long and 7.3 metres wide. It rests on two large bases and there is only one archway. The white marble of the arch was sourced from a nearby quarries at Fornesto and Tre Piloni.The arch has a unique arcade, in which the archivolt is supported by pilasters. The entablature rests on four Corinthian columns placed at the extremities of each corner, such that a quarter of each drum is embedded in the monument. The lowest architrave is composed of three bands of which the lowest band is thicker than the middle band, and this in turn is thicker than the top band. Above the architrave, a frieze composed of a bass relief stretches around all four sides. Above that is the cornice which has twenty-two corbels on each face and twelve on each side of the arch. The corbels' panels are decorated with roses. On top of that rests the attic, which displays an inscription on both faces. The inscription reads: IMP · CAESARI · AVGVSTO · DIVI · F · PONTIFICI · MAXVMO · TRIBVNIC · POTESTATE · XV · IMP · XIII · M · IVLIVS · REGIS · DONNI · F · COTTIVS · PRAEFECTVS · CEIVITATIVM · QVAE · SVBSCRIPTAE · SVNT · SEGOVIORVM · SEGVSINORVM · BELACORVM · CATVRIGVM · MEDVLLORVM · TEBAVIORVM · ADANATIVM · SAVINCATIVM · ECDINIORVM · VEAMINIORVM · VENISAMORVM · IEMERIORUM · VESVBIANIORVM · QVADIATIVM · ET · CEIVITATES · QVAE · SVB · EO · PRAEFECTO · FVERVNT Marcus Julius Cottius, son of King Donnus, leader of the following communities: the Segovii, Segusini, Belaci, Caturiges, Medulli, Tebavii, Adanates, Savincates, Ecdinii, Veaminii, Venisamores, Iemerii, Vesubianii, and Quadiates, and the (aforementioned) communities who were under this leader (dedicated this arch) to Imperator Caesar Augustus, son of a god, Pontifex Maximus, awarded tribunician power 15 times, and acclaimed Imperator 13 times. The frieze represents the sacrifice of the suovetaurilia, a sacrifice in which the victims were a pig (sus), a sheep (ovis) and a bull (taurus) with the animals intended for sacrifice of exceptional size, clearly much larger than the men leading them to sacrifice. The scene has a great number of symbolic meanings, however it indicates above all that the sacrifice is the focus. The man performing the sacrifice is perhaps to be identified with Cottius. On the western side some representatives of the Cottian communities mentioned in the inscription are depicted. On the southern side a second sacrifice, officiated by Cottius, is depicted. On the eastern side the scene has been completely destroyed by the ravages of time. See also List of Roman triumphal arches References Bibliography Michele Ruggiero, Storia della Valle di Susa - Alzani Bartolomasi Natalino, Valsusa Antica - Alzani

Libra Party

The Libra Party or Equal List (Albanian: Lista e Barabartë) is a political party in Albania. It was founded in 2016.

The Libra Party or Equal List (Albanian: Lista e Barabartë) is a political party in Albania. It was founded in 2016. History The party was founded by Ben Blushi, a prominent politician/writer, and Mimoza Hafizi; both former MPs of the Socialist Party of Albania. They left the Socialist Party after months of discussions with the leader Edi Rama and opposed the government's decisions. The pair wanted elections to be held within the party to elect a new leader. In October 2016, after leaving the party they created LIBRA, which in Albanian is an acronym for 'Lista e Barabartë' (The equal list). Currently both Ben Blushi and Mimoza Hafizi serve as Members of the National Assembly from the LIBRA Party. Ideology Libra means Knowledge, Freedom and Balance. It is a centre-left political party with centrist tendencies, which promotes equality and human rights. Social liberalism, civic nationalism and pro-Europeanism are its 3 main ideologies. It promotes democracy and education and believes that all people should be treated as equal. The main goal is to help reduce poverty and to create a society that lives in harmony and justice. Leader Parliamentary representation References External links Official website

Robert Uihlein Jr.

Robert Uihlein Jr. (1916–1976) was a German-American heir, businessman, polo player and philanthropist.

Robert Uihlein Jr. (1916–1976) was a German-American heir, businessman, polo player and philanthropist. Early life Robert Uihlein Jr. was born on March 26, 1916, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. His father was Robert Uihlein Sr. and his grandfather August Uihlein. His great-great uncle, August Krug, was the founder of the Joseph Schlitz Brewing Company.Uihlein attended the Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts, where he graduated in 1934. He received a Bachelor of Science from Harvard University in 1938, and a law degree from the University of Wisconsin Law School in 1941. He then attended the U.S. Brewers Academy and the Wallerstein Laboratories in New York. Career Uihlein joined the family business, Joseph Schlitz Brewing Company, full-time in the sales staff department, in 1942. He became vice president in 1945, vice president of sales in 1951, Executive Vice President in 1959, and company President in 1961. In 1967, he became chairman of the board of directors. He served on the board of directors of the United States Brewers' Association. He was one of the four leading men in the Milwaukee Brewers, Inc. along with Allan "Bud" Selig, Judge Robert C. Cannon and Edmund Fitzgerald to bring the Seattle Pilots baseball team to Milwaukee in April 1970. Polo As a polo player, Uihlein won the U.S. Open Polo Championship in 1951 and 1961. He also won several Sunshine League and Twenty Goal titles. He served as a Governor of the United States Polo Association from 1949 to 1953, and from 1955 to 1974. He co-founded the Milwaukee Polo Club. He was inducted into the Museum of Polo and Hall of Fame in Lake Worth, Florida on February 17, 2001. Philanthropy Uihlein supported the American Cancer Society, the National Business Committee for the Arts, and the New York Philharmonic. Death and legacy Uihlein died from complications of leukemia on November 12, 1976. His grandsons, Robin and James Uihlein, play polo at the Sarasota Polo Club in Sarasota, Florida. His family owns the Schroeder-Manatee Ranch, which comprises Lakewood Ranch, Florida, the Sarasota Polo Club, and the Lakewood Ranch Golf & Country Club. == References ==

Assaji

Assaji (Pali: Assaji, Sanskrit: Aśvajit) was one of the first five arahants of Gautama Buddha. He is known for his conversion of Sariputta and Mahamoggallana, the Buddha's two chief male disciples, counterparts to the nuns Khema and Uppalavanna, the chief female disciples. He lived in what is now Uttar Pradesh and Bihar in northern India, during the 6th century BCE.

Assaji (Pali: Assaji, Sanskrit: Aśvajit) was one of the first five arahants of Gautama Buddha. He is known for his conversion of Sariputta and Mahamoggallana, the Buddha's two chief male disciples, counterparts to the nuns Khema and Uppalavanna, the chief female disciples. He lived in what is now Uttar Pradesh and Bihar in northern India, during the 6th century BCE. Background Assaji was born into a brahmin family. His father was one of the eight brahmin scholars who were invited by Suddhodana, the monarch of the Sakyan kingdom to Kapilavastu to read the fortune of his son Siddhartha. Assaji's father and six of the other brahmins had predicted that Siddhartha would either become a great religious leader or a great military monarch. Kaundinya, the youngest was the only one to confidently state that Siddhartha would become a Buddha. As a result, when Siddhartha renounced the world, Kaundinya and Assaji, as well as Bhaddiya, Vappa and Mahanama, three sons of three of the brahmin scholars joined Siddhartha in the ascetic life. The five joined Siddhartha in self-mortification practices at Uruvela. When Siddhartha abandoned this practice to follow the Middle Way, they left him in disappointment, believing he had become indulgent. Arahantship But after the Enlightenment, the Buddha visited them at Sarnath, where they had journeyed after the split. The Buddha preached the Four Noble Truths and the Dhammacakkappavattana Sutra, and they became the first five bhikkhus of the sangha. Assaji was the last to understand the teachings, and the Buddha had to give further explanations to him and Mahanama while the other three bhikkhus went out on alms round. He was the last to reach sotapanna, the first stage of arahanthood. He became an arahant, together with the others, at the preaching of the Anattalakkhana Sutra. Conversion of Sariputta and Mahamoggallana Assaji was on alms round in Rajagaha, when Sariputta in his search for enlightenment, spotted him. Being impressed by Assaji's demeanour, Sariputta followed him until he had finished his alms round. After Assaji sat down, Sariputta asked him about his teacher and the teaching he followed. Initially, Assaji was reluctant to preach, explaining that he was inexperienced, but relented at the urging of Sariputta. Assaji spoke a short verse: Of all those things that from a cause arise,Tathagata the cause thereof has told; And how they cease to be, that too he tells, This is the teaching of the Great Recluse. Sariputta comprehended, gaining sotapanna, the first stage of arahanthood after hearing the teachings, which implied the Four Noble Truths. He went off to tell Mahamoggallana, his friend since childhood that he had been successful in his search for enlightenment. Both then became bhikkhus in the sangha and went on to become the two chief disciples of the Buddha.Assaji was highly venerated by Sariputta, and in whichever quarter Assaji was residing, Sariputta would extend his clasped hands in an attitude of reverent supplication in the direction, as well as turning his head when he lay down to sleep in the direction.One day when Assaji was going through Vesali for alms, the Nigantha Saccaka, who was looking for ascetics to debate, questioned him regarding the Buddha's Dharma because Assaji was a prominent disciple (ñātaññatara-sāvaka). Assaji delivered a summary of the doctrine contained in the Anattalakkhana Sutta. Confident of his ability to refute these views, Saccaka went with a large concourse of Licchavis to the Buddha and questioned him. This was the occasion for the preaching of the Cula-Saccaka Sutta. == References ==

Development and Education Programme for Daughters and Communities

The Development and Education Programme for Daughters and Communities (DEPDC) is a non-profit, community-based NGO working in Thailand to prevent child exploitation and prostitution and defend the rights of minors. The DEP, later the DEPDC, was founded in 1988 by Sampop Jantraka, as a response to the practice of selling young children into the sex industry. Women and children of Thai nationality are being increasingly victimized, but additionally and especially vulnerable to this type of exploitation are children of refugee, or "stateless", status, who have no citizenship and therefore no access to education, health care or legitimate work opportunities. DEPDC offers free education, vocational training, and full-time accommodation for young girls and boys, and helps combat human trafficking in the Mekong sub-region.

The Development and Education Programme for Daughters and Communities (DEPDC) is a non-profit, community-based NGO working in Thailand to prevent child exploitation and prostitution and defend the rights of minors. The DEP, later the DEPDC, was founded in 1988 by Sampop Jantraka, as a response to the practice of selling young children into the sex industry. Women and children of Thai nationality are being increasingly victimized, but additionally and especially vulnerable to this type of exploitation are children of refugee, or "stateless", status, who have no citizenship and therefore no access to education, health care or legitimate work opportunities. DEPDC offers free education, vocational training, and full-time accommodation for young girls and boys, and helps combat human trafficking in the Mekong sub-region. History DEPDC started in 1989 by helping nineteen girls, founded as the Daughters Education Program, their program has now expanded to helping over 400 girls find alternatives to entering the sex trade. DEPDC works with community leaders to identify which girls are going to be at a higher level of risk to enter the sex trade, they then work with the family to gain their trust and support. Gaining the family's trust and support is crucial to the success of the girls; however, they program does offer alternative living arrangements for girls that are not allowed to stay with their family.Sompop Jantraka, a winner of the Wallenberg Medal, grew up impoverished in southern Thailand. In 1988, while working to identify why women and children went into prostitution, he decided that working to eliminate this epidemic was to be his life goal. He used the money that he earned as a researcher to pay families of girls that would have otherwise been sent to a life of sexual slavery, but instead were allowed to stay home and obtain their education. Mission The DEPDC's mission is to "aim to instil self-confidence and positive attitudes among the children as well as improve the material, social, and spiritual quality of life for these children and their communities." Projects Half Day School: Based in Mae Sai, this project provides basic education and vocational training to the vulnerable children in the surrounding area so that they are less likely to end up in exploitative situations. Mekong Regional Indigenous Child Rights Home (MRICRH): Based in Mae Chan, this project provides accommodation, swimming lessons, and enrolment in the local school as well as basic English lessons for indigenous and at risk children. Sustainable Agricultural Skills Training: As part of their vocational training, children in all DEPDC shelters are thought to be self-sufficient through agricultural activities such as the planting, growing, and harvesting of crops. Donors The projects are sponsored and supported by the ILO, UNICEF, USAID, Oxfam Netherlands and others. In addition, The Thailand Project: Higher Education as Humanitarian Aid proposes to partner non-governmental organizations with American universities with the goal of offering educational opportunities to stateless young women like those who attended DEPDC in order to give these individuals the tools to return to their home country and work to combat the conditions that cause child exploitation and prostitution. References External links DEPDC website