the-french-artist/wikipedia_20220301.simple_sentence_split huggingface dataset:
They were professional musicians who understood how to play Baroque music.
Gradually he was able to add more and more historical instruments to his concerts, such as the natural/clarino trumpet, oboe da caccia, baroque flute and sackbuts.
By 1985 there were enough professional players of Baroque instruments in England for the LBS choir to be able to perform the St Matthew Passion with a complete orchestra of period instruments in Wells Cathedral and later in 1987 at Westminster Abbey
After Steinitz's death in 1989 there was no more choir, but the society still continues.
Today they organize a festival of Bach's music every year, called "Bachfest" (German for "Bach Festival").
http://www.bachlive.co.uk/
http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Bio/LBS.htm
Rodgau is a city in the Offenbach Rural District in the state of Hesse, Germany.
It is the largest city of the district by area and by population as well.
Rodgau is in the Rhine Main area 30 km southeast of Frankfurt am Main.
The whole area of the town is 65.04 km2 large and it is 130 m above sea level.
It is a plain area with no hills.
About 35 to 20 million years ago in the age of tertiary the whole region was lying under sea level.
At that time it was covered by an ocean which was warm and not very deep.
Lots of sediments sank to its bottom.
Then the region rose again and the water left, leaving soil which is mostly sandy and poor.
The town consists out of 5 former independent villages.
On 1 January 1977 they were united and became the municipality of Rodgau.
On 15 September 1979 city rights were given to the municipality.
The former villages, now urban districts, are from north to south: Weiskirchen, Hainhausen, Jügesheim, Dudenhofen and Nieder-Roden.
They all lie by a small creek, the Rodau, flowing through the city from south to north.
Rodgau got its name from this creek.
The ending -gau means area or district.
Rod- is a hint to the former landscape.
The German verb roden means cutting down trees to cultivate land.
Rod- is also part of the name of Nieder-Roden.
Obertshausen (North)
Hainburg and Seligenstadt (East)
Babenhausen, Eppertshausen and Rödermark (South)
Heusenstamm and Dietzenbach (West)
Rodgau has 43,047 inhabitants (2008).
Nearly 10% of the people living here are from foreign countries.
They come from 52 different nations.
39% of the people are of catholic religion, 25.5% are of protestant religion and 35.5% have another or no religion.
The climate of the town is mild with an average temperature of 10.5 °C.
There is less rain than in other parts of Germany.
Some local people are speaking a regional type (dialect) of the German language with a certain tone and special words.
It is a Hessian dialect (German: Hessisch).
This language type is related to other dialects in the south of Germany.
In former times mostly every village had its own special dialect, sometimes hard to understand for people of other parts of Germany.
Today the dialect speakers are a minority and the majority of them does not speak the real dialect.
They rather speak a kind of regular German with a certain pronunciation.
The first settlements were build in the 8th century.
Later in the 12th and 13th century the names of the settlements were written down in documents.
During the times the villages belonged to different owners.
Because of the reformation the people of the village of Dudenhofen became protestant, but all the others remained catholic.
This led to the situation, that the Dudenhofen people married partners from nearby Babenhausen, Dietzenbach and other protestant places but did not have relatives in the catholic Rodgau villages.
Around 1830 the settlements had a total population of about 4,000 people.
In 1939 the amount of inhabitants was about 11,500.
It increased to about 34,000 in 1970 and to about 45,000 at the end of the 2000s.
Formerly the people in the Rodgau area were farmers and craftsmen but not tradesmen.
Every family had land to grow their food.
When the property was handed to the next generation it was divided within the children.
Therefore, most families had only small farms and were poor.
With the industrial revolution the Rhine Main area got lots of factories and developed to a center for metal working and leather manufacturing, also chemical engineering.
Many men got workmen and found a job in the factories and earned money.
This increased living conditions partly.
After world war II the Rhine Main area was one of the hot spots in Germany because of its central location and its traffic opportunities.
Many companies settled down because of the Rhine Main airport and the motorways connecting the region with all parts of Germany.
From the 1960s on the Rodgau villages were a huge development area, especially in Nieder-Roden and Jügesheim.
Lots of small and middle seized companies started or moved to the area giving jobs to the people.
Houses were built and people from other parts of Germany or from other countries came to the area for working and living.
The fields near the villages were needed for building and the prices for the land exploded in the 1970s.
All this increased the living conditions dramatically.
The growing villages formed an urban areal and in the late 1970s the municipality of Rodgau was shaped.
Since then the former villagers and the new residents slowly began to develop a Rodgau identity.
Most of the foreign people at first came from Italy, Spain and Portugal, later from Yugoslavia and Greece, then from Turkey.
Often the male members came to earn money and send it to their family abroad.
In many cases the families moved to Germany later, settled down and got German citizens, bought houses or built one.
Only few went back to their home countries.
The children went to German schools and are nowadays regular members of the community.
The administration of the formerly independent villages was centralized and the new city hall is in the central part of Rodgau, Jügesheim.
There are citizen offices in every former village, called Anlaufstelle to deal with minor affairs.
Head of the city is a mayor (CDU).
The parliament has 45 seats.
Last elections in 2006 had the following results:
1 Bürger/FWG = Bürger/Freie Wählergemeinschaft.
This is an independent party of citizens, which has a focus on single local matters.
2 Dt.
Liste = Deutsche Liste.
This is a conservative party.
Most people and most other parties say, that this party stands for positions of Neo-Nazism.
Rodgau is ruled by a center-right alliance of CDU and FDP.
The city government and the mayor got problems because after the parliament elections three members of the CDU delegates left the CDU parliamentary group.
The following political trouble influenced the later mayor elections (2009) and led to a new mayor, now from the SPD.
He will start in April 2010.
The coat of arms was given to the city in 1978.
It stands for the former villages and their religion.
From bottom left to top right runs a silvery band.
It is the picture of the creek Rodau.
The fife stars on the band are the picture of the fife villages lying by the creek.
Top left is the picture of a luther rose.
It is a religious symbol and it stands for the protestant religion of Dudenhofen.
Bottom right is a picture of a wheel.
This is not a religious symbol.
But it stands for the catholic religion of Weiskirchen, Hainhausen, Jügesheim and Nieder-Roden.
Both pictures are standing for the former owners of the villages.
The rose stands for the Count of Hanau and later the Count of Darmstadt.
The wheel comes from the archbishop of Mainz.
The rose is on one side of the creek and the wheel is opposite to it on the other side of the creek.
This means that the villages had trouble and fights because of their different religion.
Puisseau, France
Hainburg, Austria
Donja Stubica, Croatia
Culture and Sights
The two main fields of Rodgau culture are the surrounding nature and the peoples clubs.
It is typically German, that most of the people of Rodgau are a member of one or more of the clubs.
These associations have a focus on singing, sports, orchestra music, socker, breeding pet animals, dancing and many other.
There are about 50 clubs in Rodgau, where people come together and spend their free time.
The associations are an important part of the social life of the city, especially for the people of the former villages partly to keep their villager identity.
The clubs are open to new members, who like to share the focus and to develope social contacts.
Rodgau is surrounded by large forests.
On weekend many people go there for a walk or make trips by bicycle on the narrow lanes which are leading all through the woods.
Often there are places for doing sports or having a barbecue.
The facilities are kept kleen and in order by work departments of the city administration.
Because of the village history there are no theaters or museums in the city, but there are well known ones in the cities nearby, mostly in Frankfurt (Senckenbergmuseum; on natural history), Offenbach (Ledermuseum; on leather handycraft and artswork) and Darmstadt (Theater).
There are no famous buildings in Rodgau but some architecture (stile of buildings) typical for the region.
The old churches of the villages and the framework houses are worth to look at.
There are five protestant and six catholic churches in the city.
For the Muslim there are two mosques, one in Nieder-Roden and one in Jügesheim.
Once in the year in January and February the whole region is celebrating carnival, the local name is Fasenacht or Fastnacht.
It is mostly a tradition of catholic areas.
The local names come from a period named Fastenzeit (a time of fasting) some weeks before Easter, when one should do fasting.
The celebrations are always ending on Tuesday midnight and the fasting period starts on the following Wednesday, named Aschermittwoch.
In autumn every village has an extra weekend to celebrate.
It is the memorial to the opening of their church.
The feasts are named Kirchweih or - in the local dialect - Kerb.
In former times great autumn fairs were held on that weekend and the people, especially the young ones of the nearby places, went to the feasts to meet each other in the village, to have pleasure, to dance together and make friends.
During late spring and summer many small feasts are celebrated on weekend, mostly in the forests at the barbecue places.
They are arranged by the local clubs and associations, even by the local political parties.
They are open to the public and people go there to socialize, having a meal and drinking some beer.
The most special and expensive vegetable of the region is asparagus, which loves the poor sandy soil.
It is gathered in May and June.
Because of the same reason the region has a lot of potato dishes.
Some of them are very special and only available on special occasions like the Bauernkeeskuche (farmers cheese pie).
It is a sort of salty potato pie, that is made with a bread dough.
Economics und Infrastructure
The traffic in Rodgau runs mostly individual by car.
A lot of people are working in nearby cities.
They have to drive to their jobs in Frankfurt, Offenbach or other big places.
They use the motorway A3 running through the north of Rodgau.
East along the city runs the B45 from north to south, a motorway-like street connecting all the urban districts with the motorway A3 and the cities of Offenbach, Frankfurt and Hanau to the north and Darmstadt to the south.
The suburban railway no.
1 (German: S-Bahn-Linie 1) runs to Offenbach and, since 2003 directly to Frankfurt.
A poor bus system (a single line) connects the urban districts frequently.
Rodgau can be easyly reached by street from most other parts of Germany.
This was one reason for its fast development in the past.
The city has no own daily newspaper.
There are the Offenbach-Post and the Frankfurter Rundschau, both with additional pages (supplement) about Rodgau.
The Offenbach-Post supplement is named Rodgau-Post.
It comes weekly on Thursday.
There are two weekly papers for free which are brought to every house: The Rodgau-Zeitung and the Bürgerblatt.
The Dreieich-Spiegel also comes to the houses for free and has a part with Rodgau things.
There is a quarterly city magazine mein rodgau, with articles about people, sports, culture and life style.
Radio information comes by the radio station Hessischer Rundfunk (HR) on channel 1 to 4, You FM and hr-info.
Other radio stations are Hit Radio FFH, also Radio Primavera in the nearby bavarian city of Aschaffenburg.
Rodgau does not have a hospital.
The next clinic is about 7 km away in Seligenstadt.
The town is short with specialist doctors.
Patients often have to go to nearby cities, if they want to see a doctor on special diseases, for example a heart disease.
There is a medical emergency center in Dudenhofen to give fast help in case of a heart attack.
The city has many kindergartens and primary schools in each urban district.
There is a secondary school (highschool) in Dudenhofen.
For colleges and universities the students have to go to the nearby cities.
Site of the ADFC bicycle club Rodgau, looked up on 14 January 2010, German.
Site about the Rodgau lake public bath, looked up on 14 January 2010, German.
The North Pacific giant octopus (Enteroctopus dofleini) is a big cephalopod in the coastal North Pacific.
It usually lives at depths around lseters  hey have also besSeven-arm octopus (Haliphron atlanticus).
Adults usually weigh around 15 kg (33 lb), with an arm span of
They mostly eat crabs, shrimp, abalone, fish, and shellfish like scallops, clams, and mussels.
In aquariums, they have been seen eating spiny dogfish (Squalus acanthias), a type of shark 3-4 feet long.
Food is grabbed with its sucy rs and then crushed using its tough beak of chitin.
North Pacific giant octopus are eaten by harbor seals, sea otters, and sperm whales.
They usually live about 3-5 years in the wild.
Charles Michael "Chuck" Palahniuk (born February 21, 1962) is an American satire author.
He is well known for writing the award-winning book Fight Club.
It was later made into a movie directed by David Fincher.
He lives in the state of Washington.
Palahniuk was born in Pasco, Washington and raised in Burbank, Washington and Eastern Washington.
started writing books when he was in his mid-thirties.
His first book, Insomnia: If You Lived Here, You'd Be Home Already, was never made into a book because he didn't think the story was very good.
When he tried to write his next novel, Invisible Monsters, publishers did not like it because they thought it was too scary.
This made him work on his best known book, Fight Club.
He wrote it to try to scare the publisher even more for not publishing his book.
Palahniuk wrote this story in his spare time.
After first writing it as a short story, Palahniuk made it longer into a full book, which, surprising to him, was published.
In 1999, a changed version of Invisible Monsters, and his fourth novel, Survivor, were published.
This made Palahniuk a cult figure.
A few years later Palahniuk wrote his first New York Times bestseller, Choke.
After that, Palahniuk's later books would mostly have the same success.
This success allowed him to travel and promote his books, where he reads from new and upcoming books.
Fight Club (1996)
Survivor (1999)
Invisible Monsters (1999)
Choke (2001)
Lullaby (2002)
Diary (2003)
Haunted (2005)
Rant (2007)
Snuff (2008)
Pygmy (2009)
Tell All (2010)
Fugitives and Refugees: A Walk in Portland, Oregon (2003)
Stranger Than Fiction: True Stories (2004)
You Do Not Talk About Fight Club: I Am Jack's Completely Unauthorized Essay Collection (2008) (introduction)
Fight Club (1999)
Choke (2008)
Invisible Monsters (2010)
Haunted (TBA) - optioned property
Survivor (TBA) - script stage
Rant (TBA) - optioned property
Diary (TBA) - optioned property
Lullaby (TBA) - optioned property
20th-century American novelists
The most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George is an order of chivalry.
It was started on 28 April 1818 by George, Prince Regent, who became King George IV of the United Kingdom.
It started when he was Prince Regent for his father, King George III.
Knight Grand Cross or Dame Grand Cross (GCMG)
Knight Commander (KCMG) or Dame Commander (DCMG)
Companion (CMG)
People are appointed to the Order rather than given it.
British Ambassadors to foreign nations are often appointed as KCMGs or CMGs.
For example, the British Ambassador to the United States, Sir David Manning, was appointed a CMG when he worked for the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO).
After his appointment as British Ambassador to the United States, he was promoted to a Knight Commander (KCMG).
Often, when the Queen visits a nation, the British ambassador to that nation automatically becomes a Knight Commander of the Order, and afterwards they may use the title "Sir", before their name.
The Order's motto is Auspicium melioris ævi (Latin for "Token of a better age").
Its patron saints are Saint Michael the Archangel and Saint George.
One of its primary symbols is that of St Michael standing over Satan.
The Most Illustrious Order of St Patrick (for Ireland) has not been appointed since 1934 as the Republic of Ireland is no longer part of the United Kingdom.
The Most Exalted Order of the Star of India has not been used since India's independence in 1947.
The Order was started to remember the British protectorate over the Ionian Islands.
The Islands had come under British control in 1814.
It was given its own constitution as the United States of the Ionian Islands, in 1817.
The reasons for being appointed to the Order were changed in 1868.
Anyone who did important work in Queen Victoria's government (especially overseas) could be appointed.
After this change, many Governors-General and Governors were appointed to the Order.
Members of the Order
The British Sovereign is the Sovereign of the Order and appoints all other members of the Order.
The sovereign follow the advice of the Government.
After the sovereign, the next-most senior member is the Grand Master.
The office used to be held by the Lord High Commissioner of the Ionian Islands, but now they are chosen by the Sovereign.
1818–1825: Sir Thomas Maitland
1825–1850: Prince Adolphus, Duke of Cambridge
1850–1904: Prince George, Duke of Cambridge
1904–1910: George V, then Prince of Wakes
1910–1917: None
1917–1936: The Prince of Wales
1936–1957: Alexander Cambridge, 1st Earl of Athlone
1957–1959: E. F. L. Wood, 1st Earl of Halifax
1959–1967: Harold Alexander, 1st Earl Alexander of Tunis
1967–present: Prince Edward, Duke of Kent
15 Knights Grand Cross (now there can be up to 125 Knights Grand Cross)
20 Knights Commander (now there can be up to 375 Knights Commander)
25 Companions (now there can be up to 1750 Companions)
the Prelate (since May 2005, this has been the Rt Revd David Urquhart)
the Chancellor
the Registrar
the King of Arms of the Order of St Michael and St George
the Usher.
The Usher of the Order is known as the Gentleman Usher of the Blue Rod.
He does not perform any duties related to the House of Lords, unlike the Usher of the Order of the Garter (the Gentleman Usher of the Black Rod).
The  Sovereign will name some days "collar days".
On these days, members attending formal events may wear the Order's collar over their military uniform or evening wear.
When collars are worn (either on collar days or on formal occasions such as coronations), the badge is hung from the collar.
All collars which have been awarded since 1948 must be returned to the Central Chancery of the Orders of Knighthood.
The other symbols can be kept..
The original home of the Order was the Palace of St Michael and St George in Corfu This was the home of the Lord High Commissioner of the Ionian Islands.
It was also the location of the Ionian Senate meetings.
Since 1906, the Order's chapel has been in St Paul's Cathedral in London. (
The Cathedral also serves as home to the chapels of The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire and The Imperial Society of Knights Bachelor.)
Religious services for the whole Order are held every four years.
New Knights and Dames Grand Cross are 'installed' at these services (this means that they are officially appointed and make an oath of loyalty to the Sovereign).
Under English heraldic law, women who are not monarchs do not bear helms or crests - this is because in the past, women did not fight in wars or tournaments, so they did not have a helmet.
Instead of a helmet, Dames will have a coronet (a small crown).
The exact design will depend on how important the Dame's  is in society.
Above the crest or coronet hangs the Knight or Dame's heraldic banner, showing the coat of arms.
At the back of the stall there is a piece of brass (a "stall plate") displaying its occupant's name, arms and date of admission into the Order.
Upon the death of a Knight, the banner, helm, mantling and crest are taken down.
The stall plates are not removed, but remain permanently placed somewhere in the stall, so that the stalls of the chapel are covered with a colourful record of the Order's Knights and Dames Grand Cross since 1906.
Precedence and privileges
Members of the Order of St Michael are given positions in the order of precedence (the order in which members of the nobility should be placed in a procession or other events).
Wives of male members are also given positions in the order of precedence.
So are sons, daughters and daughters-in-law of Knights Grand Cross and Knights Commanders.
Relatives of female members are not given any special precedence.
Knights Grand Cross and Knights Commanders use the title "Sir" before their given name, and Dames Grand Cross and Dames Commanders use "Dame".
For example, John Smith and Jane Doe would be called Sir John Smith and Dame Jane Doe.
Wives of Knights may use the title "Lady" before their surname (for example Lady Smith), but husbands of Dames have no title.
These titles are not used by peers and princes, except when the names of peers are written out in their fullest forms.
Honorary members (usually members from other countries) and clergymen do not receive the accolade or use the title.
Knights and Dames Grand Cross use the post-nominal "GCMG".
Knights Commanders and Dames Commanders use "KCMG" and "DCMG" respectively.
Companions use "CMG".
Male Companion: John Smith CMG
Female Companion: Jane Doe CMG
Male Commander: Sir Fred Smith KCMG
Female Commander: Dame Joanna Doe DCMG
Male Grand Cross: Sir George Smith GCMG
Female Grand Cross: Dame Janice Doe GCMG
Knights and Dames Grand Cross are also allowed to receive heraldic supporters (figures on either side of the shield, which look like they are holding it up).
These may be real or imaginary animals, or human figures.
They may also surround their arms with the design of the circlet (a circle bearing the motto) and the collar.
The circlet is shown either outside or on top of the collar.
Knights and Dames Commanders and Companions may display the circlet (but not the collar) around their arms.
The badge is depicted hanging from the collar or circlet.
Popular references
In the satirical British television programme, Yes Minister, Jim Hacker MP is told an old joke by his Private Secretary, Bernard Woolley, about what the different post-nominals mean.
Ian Fleming's spy, James Bond, was appointed to the CMG, in 1953 (mentioned in the novel From Russia, with Love).
He was offered the KCMG in The Man with the Golden Gun, but he would not take it, as he did not wish to become a public figure.
Current Knights and Dames Grand Cross
Sovereign: Her Majesty The Queen
Grand Master: His Royal Highness The Duke of Kent, KG, GCMG, GCVO (1967)
Knights and Dames Grand Cross
Sir Ellis Clarke, TC, GCMG (1972)
Sir Edward Peck, GCMG (1974)
Sir Zelman Cowen, AK, GCMG, GCVO, QC (1977)
Sir Tore Lokoloko, GCL, GCMG, GCVO, OBE (1977)
Sir Michael Palliser, GCMG (1977)
Sir Donald Maitland, GCMG (1977)
The Viscount Soulbury, GCMG GCVO, DL (1978)
Sir Paul Scoon, GCMG, GCVO, OBE (1979)
Sir David Scott, GCMG (1979)
Sir Baddeley Devesi, GCMG, GCVO (1980)
Sir Donald Tebbit, GCMG (1980)
Sir Clive Rose, GCMG (1981)
Sir Oliver Wright, GCMG, GCVO, DSC (1981)
Sir Ninian Stephen, KG, AK, GCMG, GCVO, KBE, QC (1982)
Sir Percy Cradock, GCMG (1983)
Sir Clement Arrindell, GCMG, GCVO, QC (1984)
Sir Hugh Cortazzi, GCMG (1984)
Sir James Craig, GCMG (1984)
Sir Michael Butler, GCMG (1984)
Rev. The Hon.
Sir Paul Reeves, ONZ, GCMG, GCVO, CF, QSO (1985)
Sir John Thomson, GCMG (1985)
Abdelaziz bin Khalifa Al Thani, GCMG (1985)
Sir Antony Acland, KG, GCMG, GCVO (1986)
Sir John Fretwell, GCMG (1987)
Sir George Lepping, GCMG, MBE (1988)
The Lord Carrington, KG, GCMG, CH, MC, PC, DL (1988)
Sir Crispin Tickell, GCMG, KCVO (1989)
The Lord Wright of Richmond, GCMG (1989)
Sir Toaripi Lauti, GCMG (1990)
Sir Shridath Ramphal, OE, OM, GCMG, ONZ, AC, QC (1990)
Sir Michael Somare, GCL, GCMG, CH, CF (1990)
Dame Catherine Tizard, ONZ, GCMG, GCVO, DBE, QSO (1990)
Sir Howard Cooke, ON, GCMG, GCVO, CD (1991)
Sir David Goodall, GCMG (1991)
The Lord Wilson of Tillyorn, KT, GCMG (1991)
Sir Stanislaus James, GCMG (1992)
Sir Reginald Palmer, GCMG (1992)
Sir John Whitehead, GCMG, CVO (1992)
Sir James Carlisle, GCMG (1993)
Sir Ewen Fergusson, GCMG, GCVO (1993)
Sir Rodric Braithwaite, GCMG (1994)
Sir Julius Chan, GCL, GCMG, KBE (1994)
His Excellency Sir Colville Young, GCMG, MBE (1994)
Sir Nicholas Fenn, GCMG (1995)
The Lord Hannay of Chiswick, GCMG, CH (1995)
Sir Moses Pitakaka, GCMG (1995)
Sir Orville Turnquest, GCMG, QC (1995)
Sir Michael Hardie Boys, GNZM, GCMG, QSO (1996)
His Excellency Sir Clifford Husbands, GCMG, KA, CHB, QC (1996)
Sir Christopher Mallaby, GCMG, GCVO (1996)
Sir Tulaga Manuella, GCMG (1996)
His Excellency Sir Cuthbert Sebastian, GCMG, OBE (1996)
Sir Daniel Williams, GCMG (1996)
Sir John Coles, GCMG (1997)
Sir George Mallet, GCMG, CBE (1997)
The Lord Williamson of Horton, GCMG, CB, PC (1998)
Sir John Lapli, GCMG (1999)
Her Excellency Dame Pearlette Louisy, GCMG (1999)
Sir Andrew Wood, GCMG (2001)
Sir Tomu Sione, GCMG (2001)
Sir John Goulden, GCMG (2001)
The Lord Kerr of Kinlochard, GCMG (2001)
Sir David Wright, GCMG, LVO (2002)
Sir Jeremy Greenstock, GCMG (2003)
Sir John Young, GCMG (2003)
The Lord Robertson of Port Ellen, KT, GCMG, PC (2004)
Sir John Wall, GCMG, LVO (2004)
His Excellency Sir Nathaniel Waena, GCMG, CSI (2005)
The Lord Ashdown of Norton-sub-Hamdon, GCMG, KBE, PC (2006)
The Lord Jay of Ewelme, GCMG (2006)
The Rev. Sir Filoimea Telito, GCMG, MBE (2007)
Sir Emyr Jones Parry, GCMG (2007)
Sir Kenneth Hall, ON, GCMG, OJ (2007)
Sir David Manning, GCMG, CVO (2008)
Sir Carlyle Glean, GCMG (2008)
Sir Patrick Allen, ON, GCMG, CD (2009)
Sir Frank Kabui, GCMG, CSI, OBE (2009)
Prelate: Rt.
David Urquhart (Bishop of Birmingham)
Chancellor: Sir Christopher Mallaby
Secretary:
Registrar: Lord Wilson of Tillyorn
King of Arms: Sir Ewen Fergusson (King of Arms of the Order of St Michael and St George)
Usher: Sir Anthony Figgis KCVO, CMG (Gentleman Usher of the Blue Rod)
Honorary Appointments
Lee Kwan Yew, Hon.
GCMG, CH, 1972
Chandrika Prasad Srivastava, Hon.
KCMG, 1990
Fidel V. Ramos, Hon.
GCMG (1995)
Ong Teng Cheong, Hon.
GCMG, 1998
Anson Chan, GBM, Hon.
GCMG, CBE, JP, 2002
Hamid Karzai, Hon.
GCMG, 2003
Ryszard Kaczorowski, Hon.
GCMG, 2004
Kofi Annan, Hon.
GCMG, 2007
Maumoon Abdul Gayyoom, Hon.
GCMG, 2008
Shimon Peres, Hon.
Sadako Ogata, Hon.
Dame Commander (DCMG), 2011
Select former recipients
Sir Adams George Archibald, CMG (1814-1892); first Lieutenant Governor of Manitoba (1870-1872)
Sir Philip Oakley Fysh, KCMG (1835-1919); Australian politician, Premier of Tasmania and a member of the first federal ministry.
Fysh joined Barton, Deakin and Kingston in securing British approval for the 'Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Bill'.
Sir John Young, GCB, GCMG, PC (1807–1876); second Governor General of Canada (1869-1872)
Sir John Macdonald, GCB, KCMG, PC (1815–1891); first Prime Minister of Canada (1867–1873)(1878–1891)
Sir Charles Monck, 4th Viscount Monck, GCMG, PC (1819–1894); first Governor General of Canada (1867-1869)
Sir Donald Smith, 1st Baron Strathcona and Mount Royal, GCMG, GCVO, PC, DL (1820–1914)
Sir Charles Tupper, 1st Baronet, GCMG, CB, PC (1821–1915); Premier of Nova Scotia (1864-1867), sixth Prime Minister of Canada (1896)
Sir John Caldwell Abbott, KCMG, PC, QC (1821–1893); third Prime Minister of Canada (1891-1892)
Sir Richard Burton, KCMG (1821-1890)
Sir Wilfred Grenfell, KCMG (February 28, 1865-October 9, 1940); medical missionary to Newfoundland and Labrador.
Sir Mackenzie Bowell, KCMG, PC (1823–1917); fifth Prime Minister of Canada (1894-1896)
Sir Frederick Temple Hamilton-Temple-Blackwood, KP, GCB, GCSI, GCMG, GCIE, PC (1826–1902); third Governor General of Canada (1872-1878)
Matsukata Masayoshi, GCMG (1835–1924)
Sir Henry Binns KCMG (1837-1899); Prime Minister of the Colony of Natal (1897-1899)
Sir Wilfrid Laurier, GCMG, PC, KC (1841–1919); seventh Prime Minister of Canada (1896-1911)
Sir Ernest Satow, GCMG PC(1843–1929)
Menelik II of Ethiopia, GCMG (1844–1913)
Sir John Thompson, KCMG, PC, QC (1845–1894); Premier of Nova Scotia (1882); fourth Prime Minister of Canada (1892-1894)
Sir John Campbell, 9th Duke of Argyll, KG, KT, GCMG, GCVO, PC (1845–1914); fourth Governor General of Canada (1878-1883)
Sir Henry Petty-Fitzmaurice, 5th Marquess of Lansdowne, KG, GCSI, GCMG, GCIE, PC (1845–1927); fifth Governor General of Canada (1883-1888)
Sir George Fiddes, GCMG, CB (1858-1936), Permanent Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies
Sir Gilbert Elliot-Murray-Kynynmound, KG, GCSI, GCMG, GCIE, PC (1845–1914); eighth Governor General of Canada (1898-1904)
Admiral Sir James Bruce (1846-1921) Invested KCMG in 1900.
Sir John Campbell Hamilton-Gordon, KT, GCMG, GCVO, PC (1847–1934); seventh Governor General of Canada (1893 to 1898)
Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught and Strathearn (Arthur William Patrick Albert), KG, KT, KP, PC, GCMG, GCSI, GCIE, GCVO, GCB, VD, AdC(P) (1850–1942); tenth Governor General of Canada (1911-1916)
Sir Frank Swettenham GCMG CH (1850–1946)
Sir Albert Grey, GCMG, GCVO, PC (1851–1917); ninth Governor General of Canada (1904-1911)
Sir John Birchenough, GCMG (1853–1937)
Sir Robert Borden, GCMG, PC, KC (1854–1937); eighth Prime Minister of Canada (1911-1920)
Sir Robert Baden-Powell, OM, GCMG, GCVO, KCB (1857–1941); founder of the Scout Movement
Katō Takaaki, (1860–1926)
Field Marshal Sir Julian Byng, GCB, GCMG, MVO, DCO, LLD(hc) Alb (1862–1935); twelfth Governor General of Canada (1921-1926)
Sir Solomon Dias Bandaranike, KCMG, Maha Mudaliyar and JP of Ceylon (1862-1946)
The Hon Lionel Cripps (1863–1950)
Major Sir Freeman Freeman-Thomas, PC, GCSI, GCMG, GCIE, GBE, (1866–1941); thirteenth Governor General of Canada (1926-1931)
Major-General Sir Pomeroy Holland-Pryor, KCB, CMG, DSO, MVO (1866-1955)
Sir Victor Cavendish, KG, PC, GCMG, GCVO, JP (1868–1938); eleventh Governor General of Canada (1916-1921)
Major-General Sir Alexander Cambridge, 1st Earl of Athlone, KG, PC, GCB, GCMG, GCVO, DSO, ADC(P,) FRS (1874–1957); sixteenth Governor General of Canada (1940-1946)
Sir John Buchan, 1st Baron Tweedsmuir, PC, CH, GCMG, GCVO, (1875–1940); fifteenth Governor General of Canada (1935-1940)
Captain Sir Vere Brabazon Ponsonby,PC, GCMG (1880–1956); fourteenth Governor General of Canada (1931-1935)
Lieutenant General Sir Adrian Carton de Wiart VC, KBE, CB, CMG, DSO (1880–1963)
Sir George Sansom, KCMG (1883–1965)
Field Marshal Sir Harold Alexander, KG, PC, PC, GCB, OM, GCMG, CSI, DSO, MC, CD, (1891–1969); seventeenth Governor General of Canada (1946-1952)
Sir Edward Gent KCMG, DSO, OBE, MC (1895–1948)
Sir Henry Gurney KCMG KStJ (1898–1951)
Sir Gerald Templer KG, GCB, GCMG, KBE (1898–1979)
Sultan Hamengkubuwono IX, GCMG (1912-1988); Ninth Sultan of Sultanate of Yogyakarta
President Ibrahim Nasir, KCMG (1926-2008)
General Sir Hudson Lowe, GCMG (1769-1844)
Field Marshal Živojin Mišić, GCMG (1855-1921); Serbian field marshal
Royal.gov.uk article on the order
"Knighthood and Chivalry." (
Orans, L. P. "The Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George."
Velde, F. R. (2003). "
Order of Precedence in England and Wales.
State Library of New South Wales: Nelson Meers Foundation  — gallery to full set of insignia, including images of both sides of the badge and a close-up of the star.
Starting as a Collector of Customs for the Gold Coast, he later became the Treasurer of the Gold Coast and The Gambia.
Changing his career to administration, he started as the Administrator for The Gambia, where he dealt with the aggression of the native King of Gambia.
He then became Governor for the Lagos where he negotiated on treaties with the local chiefs which protected Christian missionaries and ending human sacrifices.
He later served as the Governors for The Bahamas and Barbados and finally as the Governor for Trinidad and Tobago.
Early life and career in the navy
Carter was the only son of Thomas Gilbert Carter who was a Commander in the Royal Navy.
He was educated at the Royal Naval School in Greenwich.
Carter joined the Royal Navy in 1864, working as an Assistant Clerk on different ships.
He also worked as a Clerk and as an Assistant Paymaster (the person responsible for paying everyone).
His final job in the Royal Navy was on a Colonial steamer.
While he was on this ship, he took part in the third war between England and the Ashanti people on the Gold Coast (now Ghana).
When the town of Elmina was sold to the British by the Dutch Government, he was a commissioner, responsible for valuing the military supplies left behind by the Dutch.
He left the Navy on 21 July 1875.
Leeward Islands, the Gold Coast and the Gambia
In 1875, Carter became the private secretary to Sir George Berkeley who was the Governor of the Leeward Islands.
In August 1879, he became Collector of Customs and Treasurer of the Gold Coast.
From 1882 until December 1888, Carter was in charge of the Settlement (the British colony) on The Gambia as a Treasurer and Postmaster.
From 1886, he was acting Administrator of the Colony of the Gambia, until 1 December 1888, when he was given the job as full Administrator on the Gambia's separation from Sierra Leone.
In 1891, the native King of Gambia had been organising abusive acts towards the British colonists.
Carter sent an envoy from his official residence in Bathurst with a message that if the abuses continued, "he might expect a visit of a disciplinary nature from the marine forces of the Queen of England." (
This means that the British Navy would send warships to punish the King.)
The King sent the envoy back mutilated, with a message: "This is the King's answer."
In response, Carter sent three British gunboats to get revenge for the bad treatment shown to the envoy.
Lagos (Nigeria)
On 3 February 1891, Carter became Governor and Commander-in-Chief of the Colony of Lagos (now Nigeria).
In 1892, Carter ordered an attack on the Ijebu tribe  (of the Yoruba people) "in the interest of civilisation".
Afterwards, he continued to say that this attack was a war to end slavery and promote civilisation.
In early 1893, Carter travelled to various parts of Yorubaland, travelling with soldiers, in an attempt to show the power of the British.
Some of the tribal chiefs did not want Carter there, and told him not to interfere with the slavery trade.
In January 1893, the Egba chiefs decided to sign a Treaty of Independence with the British Government.
The Crown agreed that Her Majesty's Government would not try to take over any part of the Egba Nation without the permission of the lawful Authority of the nation.
They also agreed that no aggressive actions should be made against the nation, and that its independence would be recognised.
The Egba chiefs also said they would end human sacrifices.
He became a Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George (KCMG) on 3 June 1893.
This was for the work that he did in Yoruba country, and for bringing an end to a long war there.
Later life, retirement and death
In 1898, Carter was moved to The Bahamas as the Governor and Commander-in-Chief.
He also had a temporary job as the Governor of Trinidad and Tobago.
In July 1904, he was moved to Barbados as Governor and Commander-in-Chief.
In the spring of 1903, Carter met Gertrude Codman Parker (born 6 February 1875).
She was travelling in the Bahamas with her parents.
Carter and Parker got married on 25 August 1903 in the Church of the Advent in Boston, USA.
He had been married before this, and had three sons and two daughters.
His son Humphrey was Director of the Cambridge University Botanic Garden.
He had one son from his second marriage, named John Carter, who was a Senior Engineer for Westinghouse Electric.
Carter retired in 1910.
In 1919, he changed his surname to Gilbert-Carter and in the early 1920s, he moved back to Barbados, and lived at Ilaro Court, which had been designed and built by his wife.
Carter Coat of Arms
Companions of the Order of St Michael and St George
The uvula is the punchbag-shaped object on the back of a throat, in the middle of the soft palate.
Massaging the uvula causes the gag reflex which makes someone vomit.
The uvula functions with the back of the throat, the palate, and air coming up from the lungs to create a number variety of different sounds.
Consonants involving sound from the uvula are not found in most dialects of English, though they are found in many Semitic, Caucasian, and Turkic languages, as well as several languages of Western Europe such as German, French and a few Celtic languages, where it is used to make a sound called the uvular trill.
Canada Day is a national and an official holiday in Canada celebrating its anniversary of Confederation.
It takes place annually on July 1st.
O Canada - legally adopted on Canada Day in 1980.
Blood diamonds, also known as conflict diamonds, are diamonds mined in a war zone and sold illegally to pay for anti-government fighting.
There have been 3.7 million deaths over diamonds.
Blood diamonds come from areas controlled by armed groups which are fighting against the government.
These armed groups force civilians (mostly children) to mine diamonds.
People who refuse to do this work may be raped, abused, or even murdered.
The armed groups then sell the diamonds and use the money to buy weapons.
Then they use these weapons to fight against the government.
Diamonds mined during the 20th–21st century civil wars in Angola, Ivory Coast, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Guinea, and Guinea-Bissau have been called blood diamonds.
The Kimberly Process Certification Scheme (KPCS) helps keep blood diamonds out of markets.
Every KPCS-certified diamond has to be labeled with a specific government number.
Eighty-one countries participate in the KPCS.
According to the Hebrew Bible, Solomon’s Temple was the first temple the Israelites built for God.
It was also called the First Temple and was first built by Solomon.
It stood next to the king’s palace, and was both God’s royal palace and Israel’s center of worship.
The Bible says that the Lord said to Solomon, “I have consecrated (made special or clean) this temple…by putting my name there forever.
My eyes and my heart will always be there” (1 Kings 9:3).
A symbol of holiness and royalty, it reminded the Israelites that God was the special head of Israel.
It was patterned after the tabernacle and, in general, other temples at that time, and was divided into three important areas: the Most Holy Place, the Holy Place and the outer courtyard.
It was built in Jerusalem, on the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite, where Solomon's father David had bought to build an altar to God.
Historical evidence
According to  secular historians, the Temple would have been completed in 957 BCE.
The Babylonians destroyed it in 587 or 586 BCE.
Rabbinic literature says that the temple stood for 410 years.
According to the work Seder Olam Rabbah, written in the second century CE, the temple was built in 832 BCE, and destroyed in 433 BCE (3338 AM).
This is 165 later than the secular estimates.
Biblical description
Preparations for building the temple
At first, King David wanted to build a temple for God, but according to the Bible, God said to him through the prophet Nathan, "You are not to build a house for my name, because you are a warrior and have shed blood."
However, he chose Solomon to build the temple.
Before his death, David gave his son Solomon the plans for the building of the temple, and instructions for the priests and Levites, and all the work of serving in the temple.
He also gave his own money to Solomon to help build the temple, and asked the people to help give gifts of money.
King Solomon sent a message to Hiram king of Tyre, who had been friends with his father David and sent David lots of wood to build his palace with.
In this message, Solomon said that he wanted to build a temple for the Lord, and asked Hiram to send him wood.
Hiram said that he would if Solomon gave food for the cost of the wood and work people did.
So Hiram gave Solomon all the cedar and pine logs he wanted, and Solomon gave Hiram wheat for his family, and twenty thousand baths (about 115,000 gallons or 434 000 liters) of olive oil.
King Hiram cut down the wood and sent them on  to a place called Joppa.
From there they could take the wood up to Jerusalem.
Building the temple
According to the Bible, “In the 480th year after the Israelites had come out of Egypt, in the fourth year of Solomon’s reign over Israel, in…the second month, he began to build the temple of the LORD.”(1 Kings 6:1) King Solomon brought Huram-Abi, whose mother was a widow from the tribe of Naphtali (one of the tribes of Israel) and whose father was a man from Tyre and a person who was a craftsman in bronze.
Huram was very good at all kinds of work.
In 2 Chronicles 2:7 it says that he was "...skilled to work in gold and silver, bronze and iron, and in purple, crimson, and blue yarn."
He was especially good at working with bronze.
When all the work King Solomon had done for the temple was finished, he brought in the things his father David had given to God, and put them in the treasuries of the temple.
So "In the eleventh year in the month of Bul, the eighth month, the temple was finished in all its details according to its specifications." (
1 Kings 6:38 NIV)
Dedicating the temple
When the temple was finished, King Solomon brought the  of the Lord's covenant to the temple and made all the people of Israel come there, and they sacrificed so many sheep and cattle "they could not be recorded or counted".
Then the cloud filled the temple - just as God showed himself on the  at Mt. Sinai, he now showed himself at the temple in a cloud.
Then King Solomon praised God.
He said a prayer of dedication (giving to God) in front of the people of Israel.
He asked God to keep his promise to King David of letting King David's sons rule forever (which, according to Christianity, becomes true when Jesus, the son of David, dies for mankind); then he added, "But will God really dwell on earth?
The heavens, even the highest heaven, cannot contain you.
How much less this temple I have built!"—reminding the people that God was not bound to the temple and could not be contained, even though he had chosen to come and  with the people of Israel in a special way.
Then he asked God to answer the people of Israel when they prayed toward, or at, the temple; to hear from heaven when someone sinned, or enemies came to Israel, or there was drought or famine in the land, "...whatever disaster or disease may come, and when a prayer or plea (asking for something, request) is made by any of your people Israel...then hear from heaven, your dwelling place.
Forgive and act; deal with each man according to all he does, since you know his heart (for you alone know the hearts of all men), so that they will fear you all the time they live in the land you gave our fathers" (1 Kings 8:38-40).
Then Solom stood up and blessed the people of Israel, and gave sacrifices to God: "twenty thousand cattle and a hundred and twenty thousand sheep and goats.
So the king and all the Israelites dedicated the temple of the LORD"(1 Kings 8: 63, NIV).
God comes to Solomon
According to the Bible, when Solomon had finished building the temple, God appeared to him and said, "I have heard the prayer and plea you have made before me...My eyes and my heart will always be there [at the temple you have made]."
However, God also warned to Solomon the importance of obeying God's covenant (promise) in order to enjoy its blessings, not its curses.
This was needed because God gave Solomon power and wealth, which many times made people forget the promise God had made with them.
Solomon also gave to Hiram king of Tyre 20 towns in Galilee because Hiram had given him all the cedar and pine and gold he had needed.
But Hiram did not like the towns Solomon had given him and he said, "What kind of towns are these you have given me, my brother?" (
1 Kings 9:13, NIV) He called them the Land of Cabul (which sounds like the Hebrew for good-for-nothing).
Probably Solomon had become more indebted to Hiram than he had at first thought, so he had given the towns to Hiram king of Tyre as a sign that he would pay him later.
2 Chronicles 8:1-2 says that later, when Solomon became richer - maybe because of the expedition to Ophir (1 King 9:26-28;10-11) or the visit from the queen of Sheba.
The temple of Solomon was next to the king's palace.
The floor plan was like most West Semite kinds of floor plans.
An early example of a floor divided into ulam, hekal, and debir (, main hall, and inner ) has been found at Syrian Ebla (c.2300 B.C.)  and much later but more around the time of Solomon, at Tell Tainat at the Orontes basin (c.900 B.C.).
Like Solomon's, the later temple has three divisions has two columns at the entrance (in Solomon's palace, they are called Jakin and Boaz''), and is next to the royal palace.
The ark of the covenant of God was put inside the inner sanctuary - the Most Holy Place - which was about 30 feet (about 9 meters) long, wide and high, overlaid with pure gold.
Solomon used lots of gold in the temple: this was probably because the bright gold symbolized the glory of God and his heavenly temple (Rev.21:10-11,18,21).
Inside the temple were carved , palm trees and flowers.
This is a reminder of the Garden of Eden, which humans could not live in anymore because of their sin.
The temple was a symbol that the Israelites could come back to paradise through the temple.
Things inside the temple
Movable Bronze Basin
Something very much like the wheeled movable basin used in the courtyard of the temple has come from archaeological  on Cyprus.
Table for the Bread of the Presence
A stone altar having four horns on the corners was found at Megiddo.
It shows a good idea of how the gold altar in the temple looked like.
The table for the Bread of the Presence was also made of gold.
The Bread of the Presence (twelve pieces of bread, one for every tribe of Israel), symbolized a continual offering to God by which Israel showed that she gave to God what she earned with her work, and that everything Israel had received was a blessing of God's.
Lamp stand
Ten lamp stands were in the temple, five on each side of the (1 Kings 7:49).
Lamps like these have been found in many places in Palestine, including Hazor and Dothan.
Resources > Biblical History > Jerusalem, The First Temple  Project of the Dinur Center for Research in Jewish History, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
Jewish Encyclopedia Temple of Solomon.
Nat, Arnold vander, "The Temple of Jerusalem ".
Telushkin, Joseph, "The Temple".
Jewish Literacy (Jewish Virtual Library).
Wells, Steve, "The Skeptic's Annotated Bible".
"Radio Bart" is the thirteenth episode of The Simpsons third season.
It was first shown on the Fox network in the United States on January 9, 1992.
In this episode, Bart gets a microphone that transmits sound to nearby AM radios.
To play a prank on the people of "Springfield", Bart places a radio deep inside a well and uses the microphone to trick the town into thinking a little boy is stuck in it.
At first his trick worked, but soon realizes that he left a "property of Bart Simpson" label on the radio and goes to get it.
Bart becomes trapped in the well and while the town decides to leave him there after finding out about the prank, his father Homer  tries to rescue him.
1992 television episodes
Chromatin is the complex combination of DNA and proteins that makes up chromosomes.
It is found inside the nuclei of eukaryotic cells.
Heterochromatin is composed mostly of satellite DNA tandem repeats.
The active components of chromatin are DNA and histone proteins, although other proteins also occur.
The functions of chromatin are:
to package DNA into a smaller volume to fit in the cell
to strengthen the DNA to allow mitosis and meiosis
to control DNA replication and gene expression.
How this works is not yet clear.