Historical context.

In the 16th century, the Holy Roman Empire was a centralised state in name only. The Empire was divided into many princely and city states that provided a powerful check on the rule of the Holy Roman Emperor. The division of power between the emperor and the various states made the Reformation in Germany possible, as individual states defended reformers within their territories. In the Electorate of Saxony, Martin Luther was supported by the elector Frederick III and his successors John and John Frederick. Philip I, Landgrave of Hesse—whose lands lay midway between Saxony and the Rhine—also supported the Reformation, and he figured prominently in the lives of both Luther and Bucer. The Emperor Charles V had to balance the demands of his imperial subjects. At the same time, he was often distracted by war with France and the Ottoman

Early years (1491–1523).

Martin Bucer was born in Sélestat (Schlettstadt), Alsace, a free imperial city of the Holy Roman Empire. His father and grandfather, both named Claus Butzer, were coopers (barrelmakers) by trade. Almost nothing is known about Bucer's mother. Bucer likely attended Sélestat's prestigious Latin school, where artisans sent their children. He completed his studies in the summer of 1507 and joined the Dominican Order as a novice. Bucer later claimed his grandfather had forced him into the order. After a year, he was consecrated as an acolyte in the Strasbourg church of the Williamites, and he took his vows as a full Dominican friar. In 1510, he was ordained as a deacon.  By 1515, Bucer was studying theology in the Dominican monastery in Heidelberg. The following year, he took a course in dogmatics in Mainz, where he was ordained a priest, returning to Heidelberg in January 1517 to enroll in the university. Around this time, he became influenced by humanism, and he started buying books published by Johannes Froben, some by the great humanist Erasmus. A 1518 inventory of Bucer's books includes the major works of Thomas Aquinas, leader of medieval scholasticism in the Dominican order.  In April 1518, Johannes von Staupitz, the vicar-general of the Augustinians, invited the Wittenberg reformer Martin Luther to argue his theology at the Heidelberg Disputation. Here Bucer met Luther for the first time. In a long letter to his mentor, Beatus Rhenanus, Bucer recounted what he learned, and he commented on several of Luther's "Ninety-five Theses". He largely agreed with them and perceived the ideas of Luther and Erasmus to be in concordance. Because meeting Luther posed certain risks, he asked Rhenanus to ensure his letter did not fall into the wrong hands. He also wrote his will, which contains the inventory of his books. In early 1519, Bucer received the "baccalaureus" degree, and that summer he stated his theological views in a disputation before the faculty

Reformer in Strasbourg (1523–1525).

Bucer, excommunicated and without means of subsistence, was in a precarious situation when he arrived in Strasbourg. He was not a citizen of the city, a status that afforded protection, and on 9 June 1523 he wrote an urgent letter to the Zürich reformer, Huldrych Zwingli, pleading for a safe post in Switzerland. Fortunately for Bucer, the Strasbourg council was under the influence of the reformer, Matthew Zell; during Bucer's first few months in the city he worked as Zell's unofficial chaplain and was able to give classes on books of the Bible. The largest guild in Strasbourg, the "Gärtner" or Gardeners, appointed him as the pastor of St Aurelia's Church on 24 August 1523. A month later the council accepted his application for citizenship. In Strasbourg, Bucer joined a team of notable reformers: Zell, who took the role of the preacher to the masses; Wolfgang Capito, the most influential theologian in the city; and Caspar Hedio, the cathedral preacher. One of Bucer's first actions in the cause of reform was to debate with Thomas Murner, a monk who had attacked Luther in satires. While the city council vacillated on religious issues, the number

Dialogue with Luther and Zwingli (1524–1530).

Beginning in 1524, Bucer concentrated on the main issue dividing leading reformers, the eucharist. In this dispute, he attempted to mediate between Martin Luther and Huldrych Zwingli. The two theologians disagreed on whether the body and blood of Christ were physically present within the elements of bread and wine during the celebration of the Lord's Supper. Luther believed in a corporeal or physical real presence of Christ; and Zwingli believed Christ's body and blood were made present by the Holy Spirit. By late 1524, Bucer had abandoned the idea of corporeal real presence and, after some exegetical studies, accepted Zwingli's interpretation. However, he did not believe the Reformation depended on either position but on faith in Christ, other matters being secondary. In this respect he differed from Zwingli.  In March 1526, Bucer published "Apologia", defending his views. He proposed a formula that he hoped would satisfy both sides: different understandings of scripture were acceptable, and church unity was assured so long as both sides had a "child-like faith in God". Bucer stated that his and Zwingli's interpretation on the eucharist was the correct one, but while he considered the Wittenberg theologians to be in error, he accepted them as brethren as they agreed on the fundamentals of faith. He also published

Competing Protestant confessions (1530–1533).

The extent of the theological division among the reformers became evident when the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V asked them to present their views to him in 1530 at the Diet of Augsburg. Philipp Melanchthon, the main delegate from Wittenberg, quickly prepared the draft that eventually became the Augsburg Confession. The Wittenberg theologians rejected attempts by Strasbourg to adopt it without the article on the Lord's Supper. In response, Bucer wrote a new confession, the "Confessio Tetrapolitana" (Tetrapolitan Confession), so named because only four cities adopted it, Strasbourg and three other southern German cities, Konstanz, Memmingen, and Lindau. A copy of Melanchthon's draft was used as the starting point and the only major change was the wording on the article on the eucharist. According to Eells, the article on the eucharist in the Tetrapolitan Confession stated, "In this sacrament his true body and true blood are truly given to eat and drink, as food for their souls, and to eternal life, that they may remain in him and he in them". The ambiguous word "truly" was not defined.  Charles, however, decreed on 22 September that all reformers must reconcile with the Catholic faith, or he would use

Organising the Strasbourg church (1529–1534).

While these events unfolded, the reformers in Strasbourg were slowly making progress. Their pressure on the council to ban all masses finally succeeded. On 20 February 1529, Strasbourg openly joined the Reformation when the practice of the mass was officially suspended. In its place, two preaching services ("Predigtgottesdienste") per Sunday were held in all the parish churches. On 5 January 1530, when Strasbourg joined the alliance of Swiss cities, the, the council systematically removed images and side altars from the churches. Bucer had at first tolerated images in places of worship as long as they were not venerated. He later came to believe they should be removed because of their potential for abuse, and he advocated in a treatise for their orderly removal. First the authority of the magistrates should be obtained, and then the people instructed on abandoning devotion to images.  Bucer's priority in Strasbourg was to instill moral discipline in the church. To this end, special wardens ("Kirchenpfleger"), chosen from among the laity, were assigned to each congregation to supervise both doctrine and practice. His concerns were motivated by the effects of a rapidly rising refugee population, attracted by Strasbourg's tolerant asylum policies. Influxes of refugees, particularly after 1528, had brought a series of revolutionary preachers into Strasbourg. These men were inspired by a variety of apocalyptic and mystical doctrines, and in some cases by hostility towards the social order and the notion of

Champion of Protestant unity (1534–1538).

By 1534, Bucer was a key figure in the German Reformation. He repeatedly led initiatives to secure doctrinal agreement between Wittenberg, the south German cities, and Switzerland. In December 1534, Bucer and Melanchthon held productive talks in Kassel, and Bucer then drafted ten theses that the Wittenberg theologians accepted. In October 1535, Luther suggested a meeting in Eisenach to conclude a full agreement among the Protestant factions. Bucer persuaded the south Germans to attend, but the Swiss, led by Zwingli's successor Heinrich Bullinger, were skeptical of his intentions. Instead they met in Basel on 1 February 1536 to draft their own confession of faith. Bucer and Capito attended and urged the Swiss to adopt a compromise wording on the eucharist that would not offend the Lutherans. The true presence of Christ was acknowledged while a natural or local union between Christ and the elements was denied. The result was the First Helvetic Confession, the success of which raised Bucer's hopes for the upcoming meeting with Luther.  The meeting, moved to Wittenberg because Luther was ill, began on 21 May 1536. To the surprise of the south Germans, Luther began by attacking them, demanding that they

Advice to Philip of Hesse (1538–1539).

When Philip of Hesse's law on the protection of the Jews in his territory expired in 1538, he commissioned Bucer to create a new policy. Philip gave him a draft that was tolerant in the regulation of their affairs. Bucer rejected the favourable conditions and recommended that Jews be prohibited from all trades except those providing minimum subsistence. His "Judenratschlag" also included his first use of negative stereotypes of the Jews. Philip's ordinance of 1539 represented a compromise. He allowed the Jews to engage in trade and commerce but included strict rules on their association with Christians. The potential for an arbitrary enforcement of the new policy was frightening, and as a result many Jews chose to leave Hesse. For

Doctrinal issues (1539–1542).

At the end of 1538, shortly before the Catholic Duke Georg of Saxony died, a religious colloquy was convened in Leipzig to discuss potential reforms within the Duchy. The Electorate of Saxony sent Melanchthon, and Philip of Hesse sent Bucer. The Duchy itself was represented by Georg Witzel, a former Lutheran who had reconverted to Catholicism. In discussions from 2 to 7 January 1539, Bucer and Witzel agreed to defer controversial points of doctrine, but Melanchthon withdrew, feeling that doctrinal unity was a prerequisite of a reform plan. Bucer and Witzel agreed on fifteen articles covering various issues of church life. Bucer, however, made no doctrinal concessions: he remained silent on critical matters such as the mass and the papacy. His ecumenical approach provoked harsh criticism from other reformers. In the Truce of Frankfurt of 1539, Charles and the leaders of the Schmalkaldic League agreed on a major colloquy to settle all religious issues within the Empire. Bucer placed great hopes on this meeting: he believed it would be possible to convince most German Catholics to accept the doctrine of "sola fide" as the basis for discussions on all other issues. Under various pseudonyms, he published tracts promoting a German national church. A conference in Haguenau began on 12 June 1540, but during a month's discussion the two sides failed to agree on a common starting point. They decided to reconvene in Worms. Melanchthon led the Protestants, with Bucer a major influence behind the scenes. When the colloquy again made no progress, the imperial chancellor, Nicholas Perrenot de Granvelle, called for secret negotiations. Bucer then began working with Johannes Gropper, a delegate of the archbishop of Cologne, Hermann von Wied. Aware of the risks

Reform in the Electorate of Cologne (1542–1547).

On 5 February 1542, Bucer and Gropper met with Hermann von Wied, archbishop-elector of Cologne, to discuss the introduction of church reform in his archdiocese. As one of the seven electors of the Holy Roman Empire, the archbishop of Cologne was a key political figure for both the emperor and the reformers. After consulting the territorial diet, the archbishop enlisted Bucer to lead the reform, and on 14 December Bucer moved to Bonn, the capital of the electorate. His selection caused consternation in the Cologne cathedral chapter, the clerics assisting the archbishop. The hostility of the clergy soon caused a rift between Bucer and Gropper. On 19 December, the chapter lodged a formal protest against Bucer's appointment, but von Wied supported his new protégé and Bucer was allowed to stay. He led a small congregation at Bonn cathedral, where he preached three times a week, although his main responsibility was to plan reform.  In January 1543, Bucer began work on a major document for von Wied,. Melanchthon joined him in Bonn in May, and

Rejecting the Augsburg Interim (1547–1549).

With the onset of the Schmalkaldic War in 1546, Protestants began a gradual retreat within the Empire. On 21 March 1547, Strasbourg surrendered to the imperial army, and the following month the decisive imperial victory at the Battle of Mühlberg ended most Protestant resistance. In Strasbourg, Bucer and his colleagues, including Matthew Zell, Paul Fagius and Johannes Marbach, continued to press the council to bring more discipline and independence to the church. Charles V overruled their efforts at the Diet of Augsburg, which sat from September 1547 to May 1548. The Diet produced an imperial decree, the provisional Augsburg Interim, which imposed Catholic rites and ceremonies throughout the Empire, with a few concessions to the Reformation. To make the document acceptable to the Protestants, Charles needed a leading figure among the reformers to endorse it, and he selected Bucer.  Bucer arrived in Augsburg on 30 March 1548 of his own volition. On 2 April, after he was shown the

Exile in England (1549–1551).

Bucer received several offers of sanctuary, including Melanchthon's from Wittenberg and Calvin's from Geneva. He accepted Archbishop Thomas Cranmer's invitation to come to England; from his correspondence with several notable Englishmen, he believed that the English Reformation had advanced with some success. On 25 April 1549 Bucer, Fagius, and others arrived in London, where Cranmer received them with full honours. A few days later, Bucer and Fagius were introduced to Edward VI and his court. Bucer's wife Wibrandis and his stepdaughter Agnes Capito (daughter of Wolfgang Capito) joined him in September. The following year, Wibrandis arranged for the rest of her children and her elderly mother to come to England.  Bucer took the position of Regius Professor of Divinity at the University of Cambridge. In June he entered a controversy when Peter Martyr Vermigli, another refugee who had taken the equivalent Regius Professor position at Oxford University, debated with Catholic colleagues over the issue of the Lord's Supper. Martyr asked Bucer for his support, but Bucer did not totally agree with Martyr's position and thought that exposure of differences would not assist the cause of reform. Unwilling to see the eucharist conflict repeat itself in England, he told Martyr he did not take sides, Catholic, Lutheran, or Zwinglian. He said, "We must aspire with the utmost zeal to edify as many people as we possibly can in faith and in the love of Christ—and to offend no one."  In 1550, another conflict arose when John Hooper, the new bishop of Gloucester, refused to don the traditional vestments for his consecration. The vestments controversy pitted Cranmer, who supported the wearing of clerical garments, against Hooper, Martyr and Jan Laski, the pastor of the Stranger church in London. As it was known

Death and legacy.

Bucer's time in England was dogged by illnesses, including rheumatism, coughs, and intestinal ailments. Symptoms such as vomiting, shivering, and sweating suggest severe tuberculosis. In February 1551, his health finally broke down, and on the 22nd he dictated an addition to his will. He named Walter Haddon and Matthew Parker as executors, commended his loved ones to Thomas Cranmer, and thanked his stepdaughter Agnes Capito for taking care of him. On 28 February, after encouraging those near him to do all they could to realise his vision as expressed in "De Regno Christi", he died at the age of 59. He was buried in the church of Great St Mary's in Cambridge before a large crowd of university professors and students.  In a letter to Peter Martyr, John Cheke wrote a fitting eulogy: Bucer left his wife Wibrandis a significant inheritance consisting mainly of the household and his large collection of books. She eventually returned to Basel, where she died on 1 November 1564 at the age of 60.  When Mary I came to the throne, she had Bucer and Fagius tried posthumously for heresy as part of her efforts to restore Catholicism in England. Their caskets were disinterred and their remains burned, along with copies of their books. On 22 July 1560, Elizabeth I formally rehabilitated both reformers. A brass plaque on the floor of Great St Mary's marks the original location of Bucer's grave.  After Bucer's death, his writings continued to be translated, reprinted, and disseminated throughout Europe. No "Buceran" denomination, however, emerged from his ministry, probably because he never developed a systematic theology as Melanchthon had for the Lutheran church and Calvin for the Reformed churches. Several groups, including Anglicans, Puritans, Lutherans, and Calvinists, claimed him as one of their own. The adaptability of his theology to each confessional point-of-view also led polemicists to criticise it as too accommodating. His theology could be best summarised as being practical and pastoral rather than theoretical. Bucer was not so concerned about staking a doctrinal claim "per se", but rather he took a standpoint in order to discuss and to win over his opponents. At the same time his theological stand was grounded in the conditions of his time where he envisioned the ideal society to be one that was led by an enlightened, God-centred government with all the people united under Christian fellowship. Martin Bucer is chiefly remembered for his promotion of doctrinal unity, or ecumenism, and his lifelong struggle to create an inclusive church.

Martin Bucer (early German: "Martin Butzer"; 11 November 1491 – 28 February 1551) was a German Protestant reformer in the Reformed tradition based in Strasbourg who influenced Lutheran, Calvinist, and Anglican doctrines and practices. Bucer was originally a member of the Dominican Order, but after meeting and being influenced by Martin Luther in 1518 he arranged for his monastic vows to be annulled. He then began to work for the Reformation, with the support of Franz von Sickingen.

Martin Bucer, též Butzer nebo Bucerus, (11. listopadu 1491 Sélestat, Alsasko, v současnosti Francie – 28. února 1551 Cambridge, Anglie) byl německý náboženský reformátor a teolog usazený ve Štrasburku, jehož názory ovlivnily všechny tradiční směry protestantismu.


Life.

Childhood.

Caterina Sforza was born in Milan in early 1463, the illegitimate daughter of Galeazzo Maria Sforza by his mistress, Lucrezia Landriani. It's believed that she spent the first years of her life with her mother's relatives. The bond between mother and daughter was never interrupted: in fact, Lucrezia followed Caterina's growth and was always close to her in the crucial moments of her life, even in the final years that she spent in Florence.  Upon the succession of Galeazzo Maria Sforza as Duke of Milan in 1466, following the death of his father Francesco, Galeazzo arranged for his four children by Lucrezia Landriani to come to court: Carlo (born in 1461; later Count of Magenta), Caterina, Alessandro (born in 1465; later Lord of Francavilla) and Chiara (born in 1467; by her first marriage, she became Countess dal Verme di Sanguinetto and Lady of

First marriage.

In 1473 Caterina became betrothed to Girolamo Riario, the son of Paolo Riario and Bianca della Rovere, sister of Pope Sixtus IV (in office: 1471–1484). Caterina replaced her cousin, the 11-year-old Costanza Fogliani, as Girolamo's bride because, according to some historians, Costanza's mother Gabriella Gonzaga (illegitimate daughter of Marquis Ludovico III of Mantua) refused to allow the consummation of the marriage until Costanza reached the legal age—then 14—while Caterina, although only ten years old at that time, agreed with the demands of the groom; other sources instead reported

In the Vatican court.

At the end of the 15th century, Rome was no longer a medieval city, but not yet the important centre of artistic endeavors it would become a few decades later as one of the most important cities of the Renaissance. Upon her arrival in May 1477, Caterina found a city full of cultural fervour, with a desire for renovation.  The atmosphere was a mix of intrigue and power, which was pursued without scruples, with material interests far exceeding the spiritual. Caterina was banned by her husband from meddling in politics, but she quickly integrated—owing to her extroverted and sociable character—into aristocratic Roman society.  As evidenced by correspondence from that period, Caterina immediately

Occupation of Castel Sant'Angelo.

When Pope Sixtus IV died, rebellions and disorder immediately spread through Rome, including looting of his supporters' residences. Girolamo's residence, the Orsini palace in Campo de' Fiori, was stripped of its content and almost destroyed.  In this time of anarchy, Caterina, who was in her seventh month of pregnancy, crossed the Tiber on horseback to occupy the "rocca" (fortress) of Castel Sant'Angelo on behalf of her husband. From this position and with the obedience of the soldiers, Caterina could monitor the Vatican and dictate the conditions for the new conclave.  Meanwhile, the disorder in the city increased. A militia accompanied the arrival of the cardinals. The latter did not want to attend the funeral of Sixtus IV and refused to enter into conclave, for fear of coming under the

Forlì.

In Forlì, law and order had been maintained by Caterina's uncle Ludovico il Moro Sforza, Duke of Milan. On their arrival, the Riarios learned of the election of Giovanni Battista Cybo, an old opponent, as Pope Innocent VIII. He confirmed Girolamo in his lordships of Imola and Forlì and his appointment as captain-general. That appointment, however, was only nominal; Girolamo had no real control over the papal army and Innocent VIII refused to pay Girolamo for leaving Rome.  Despite the loss of income, Girolamo

Girolamo's death.

After more than a half dozen failed attempts, Girolamo was killed on 14 April 1488 by a conspiracy led by the Orsis, a noble family of Forlì. The lord's palace was sacked, while Caterina and her children were made prisoners.  The fortress of Ravaldino, a central part of the defensive system of the city, refused to surrender to the Orsis. Caterina offered to attempt to persuade the castellan, Tommaso Feo, to submit. The Orsis believed Caterina because she left her children as hostages, but once inside she let loose a barrage of vulgar threats and promises of vengeance against

Lady of Imola and Forlì.

On 30 April 1488, Caterina became regent for her eldest son Ottaviano, formally recognised by all the members of the Comune and the head of the magistrates as the new Lord of Forlì that day, but too young to exercise power directly.  Caterina's first act as Regent of Forlì was to avenge the death of her husband, according to the custom of the time. She ordered that all those involved in the Orsi conspiracy were to be imprisoned, along with the Pope's governor, Monsignor Savelli, all the pontifical generals, and the castellan of the fortress of Forlimpopoli, and also all women of the Orsis and other families who had assisted in the conspiracy. Soldiers sought

Second marriage.

Two months after the death of Girolamo, a rumour was spread that Caterina was close to marrying Antonio Maria Ordelaffi, who had started to court her. This marriage would end the claims of the Ordelaffi family on the city of Forlì. Antonio Maria, feeling confident, wrote to the Duke of Ferrara that the Countess promised to marry him. When Caterina saw how things stood, she imprisoned those who had spread the false news. These promises were addressed by the Senate in Venice, which summoned Antonio Maria to Friuli, where he remained confined for ten years.  In point of fact, Caterina had fallen in love with

Third marriage.

In 1496, the ambassador of the Republic of Florence, Giovanni de' Medici il Popolano, paid a visit to Caterina. The second son of Pierfrancesco il Vecchio, he belonged to a collateral branch of the Medici family. Along with his older brother Lorenzo, he had been sent into exile because of his open hostility toward their cousin Piero, who succeeded his father Lorenzo il Magnifico in the government of Florence. In 1494, when Charles VIII invaded Italy, Piero was forced to sign a treaty which allowed the French army to move freely into the Kingdom of Naples. The people of Florence were liberated, deposed Piero and proclaimed a Republic. Giovanni and his brother were able to return to their homeland. They renounced the Medici surname and took the name of "Popolano". The Florentine government appointed Giovanni as ambassador to Forlì.  Shortly after coming to Forlì, Giovanni and his entourage were housed in the apartments adjacent to Caterina's in the fortress of Ravaldino. The rumours of a possible marriage between Giovanni and Caterina and that

Defence against Venice.

After having returned to Forlì in order to make preparations for the defence of her states, Caterina was occupied by military concerns, especially logistics. Training the militia was executed by the Countess in person. To find additional money and troops, she wrote to her uncle Ludovico, the Republic of Florence and the neighbouring states who were her allies. Only the Dukes of Milan and Mantua sent a small contingent of soldiers to aid her.  After an initial attack by the Venetians, which inflicted severe destruction, Caterina's army managed to outmanoeuvre them. Afterwards, the war continued with minor skirmishes until the Venetians were able to circumvent Forlì to reach Florence by another route.  Because of this staunch defence, Caterina Sforza gained the nickname of "" ('The Tiger').

Capture by Cesare Borgia.

In the meantime, Louis XII had succeeded to the French throne. Louis claimed the rights both to the Duchy of Milan as a grandson of Valentina Visconti, and to the Kingdom of Naples as heir to the House of Anjou. Before starting his campaign in Italy, Louis XII secured an alliance with Savoy, the Republic of Venice and Pope Alexander VI. In the summer of 1499, he came to Italy with a formidable army; without having to fight a single battle, he occupied Piedmont, as well as Genoa and Cremona. On 6 October, he settled in Milan, which had been abandoned the previous

Rome.

Cesare obtained custody of Caterina from the French general, Yves d'Allègre, promising that he would treat her not as a prisoner but as a guest. Caterina and her entourage were therefore forced to go with the army that was preparing to conquer Pesaro. The conquest had to be postponed because on 5 February Ludovico il Moro returned to Milan, forcing French troops to turn back.  Cesare departed alone with the Papal army for Rome, where he took Caterina. In Rome, she was held in the Belvedere Palace. Towards the end of March, Caterina tried to escape but she was discovered and immediately imprisoned at Castel Sant'Angelo.

In the prison of Castel Sant'Angelo.

To justify Caterina's imprisonment, Pope Alexander VI accused her of trying to kill him in November 1499 with letters impregnated with poison, as a response to the Papal bull which had deprived the countess of her fiefdoms.  Even today it is not known if the accusation was founded or not. Machiavelli believed that Caterina had tried to poison the Pope, while other historians, such as Jacob Burckhardt and Ferdinand Gregorovius, are not certain. An inconclusive and unfinished trial took place, and Caterina remained imprisoned until 30 June 1501, when she was released by Yves d'Allègre, who had come to Rome with the army of Louis XII for the conquest of the Kingdom of Naples. Alexander VI alleged that Caterina signed documents renouncing all of her fiefs, because in the meantime his son Cesare, with the acquisition of Pesaro, Rimini and Faenza, was appointed Duke of Romagna.  After a brief stay in the residence of Cardinal Riario, Caterina embarked from Livorno to Florence, where her children were waiting for her.

Florence.

In Florence, Caterina lived in the villas which had belonged to her third husband Giovanni de' Medici, often staying at the Villa Medici di Castello. Soon, she complained of being mistreated and living in a straitened financial situation.  For many years she conducted a legal battle against her brother-in-law Lorenzo de' Medici for the custody of her son Giovanni, who was entrusted to him during her detention. In 1504, her son was finally returned to her, because the judge recognized that her confinement as a prisoner of war was not comparable to the detention of a criminal.  With the death of Pope Alexander VI on 18 August 1503, Cesare Borgia lost all his power. This reopened the possibility of restoring to power all the old feudal lords of the Romagna who had been

Death and burial.

In April 1509 Caterina was stricken by a severe case of pneumonia. She appeared to have recovered, but had a relapse of the disease, after which she made her will and arranged her burial. At the age of forty-six years, "The Tiger of Forlì", who had "frightened all of Romagna", died on 28 May 1509. Her body was placed in a small tomb in the chapel of Le Murate in Florence, a convent of nuns whom Caterina had befriended during her time in that city, and where she had kept a cell as a spiritual retreat. During the 1830s the nuns were forced to leave the property, and in 1845 it was redesigned as a prison. Sometime during this renovation, Caterina's body was lost.

Issue.

From her first marriage with Girolamo Riario, Caterina had six children:  From her second marriage with Giacomo Feo, Caterina had one son:  From her third marriage to Giovanni de' Medici, Caterina had one son:  In June

Legacy.

In her book "The Warrior Queens: Boadicea's Chariot", British historian Antonia Fraser presents Caterina Sforza as a contrasting figure to her contemporary Isabella I of Castile. Fraser points out that whilst the murders ordered by Caterina were no

In Machiavelli.

Caterina is one of the few women discussed by Machiavelli at length. The incident of her having shown her genitalia in regaining the fortress of Ravaldino was recounted at some length by him in his "Discourses on Livy", and his "Florentine Histories", while being only briefly mentioned in his "Prince". Elizabeth Lev wrote on the matter in her biography of Caterina Sforza,

External links.

The Identification of Caterina Sforza in Renaissance Paintings through Symbolism.

Caterina Sforza (1463 – 28 May 1509) was an Italian noblewoman, the Countess of Forlì and Lady of Imola, firstly with her husband Girolamo Riario, and after his death as a regent of her son Ottaviano.

Kateřina Sforzová (italsky Caterina Sforza zvaná "První dáma Itálie" nebo "Tygřice", 1463 – 28. května 1509) byla italská šlechtična, nemanželská dcera milánského vévody Galeazza Marie Sforzy a Lukrécie Landrianiové, manželky jednoho z dvořanů. Vychována byla na milánském dvoře. Od dětství se projevovala jako statečná a nepoddajná osobnost. Po sňatku s Girolamem Riariem se Kateřina stala hraběnkou z Forlì a paní Imoly, po jeho smrti byla regentkou v zastoupení svého syna Ottaviana. Jejími dalšími manželi byli Giacomo Feo a Giovanni de' Medici il Popolano. Jako dospělá se Kateřina věnovala řadě činností včetně alchymie, milovala lov a tanec. Protože se odvážila vzdorovat Cesarovi Borgiovi, přivolala na sebe jeho hněv a byla na nějakou dobu uvězněna v Římě. Po propuštění klidně dožila ve Florencii. Měla mnoho dětí, z nichž jen nejmladší, kondotiér Giovanni dalle Bande Nere, zdědil její silnou a bojechtivou povahu.


Software.

In May 2016, at the Google I/O developer conference, Google announced that a new virtual reality (VR) platform called "Daydream" would be built into the next release of their Android mobile operating system, Nougat (7.1). With the release of Android Nougat, the Daydream environment included a "sustained performance mode" to assist developers in optimizing apps to a device's thermal profile, a new head tracking algorithm which combines the input from various device sensors, and integration of system notifications into the VR user interface.  Daydream allows users to interact with VR-enabled apps, including YouTube, Google Maps Street View, Google Play Movies & TV, and Google Photos in an immersive view. Google recruited media companies like Netflix and Ubisoft for entertainment apps.  In January 2017, Google opened the Daydream program for all third-party developers.

Hardware.

First generation Daydream View.

Headset.

The first-generation Google Daydream View was announced on October 4, 2016. Daydream-ready smartphones can be placed in the front compartment of the Daydream View and then viewed in VR through the headset's two lenses. The View distinguished itself from previous VR head mounts by being constructed out of a light-weight cloth material, as well as featuring capacitive nubs and an NFC chip to simplify the process of setting up virtual reality viewing.  The Daydream View was released on November 10, 2016.  The Daydream View launched in a "Slate" color option. Two new color choices, "Crimson" and "Snow", became available on December 8, 2016.  In a review of the Google Daydream View, Adi Robertson of "The Verge" wrote that the headset was the "best mobile headset" she'd ever used, complimenting its "squishy foam-and-fabric body" being "significantly smaller, lighter, and more portable than the Samsung Gear VR", and that its design "keeps the lenses relatively protected during travel". She also liked the device's weight distribution, writing that it "rests more weight on your forehead than your cheeks, an option I've found more comfortable" and that allows her to "wear it easily for hours at a time". She also praised the material, particularly its plastic sliders rather than velcro patches on the head strap, writing that it allows "a wider range of sizes and avoids gathering lint", and that the View's overall design "could almost pass for an airplane sleep mask", meaning that it "avoids looking ostentatiously high-tech or intimidating".

Controller.

Google Daydream headsets are packaged with a wireless controller. This controller can be used for interacting with the virtual world through button presses or through waving the device. On-board sensors are used to track the orientation of the controller and approximate the position of the user's hand. The Daydream View's controller can be stored inside the headset while not in use. The controller has a touch pad, two circular buttons (one functioning as a home button and one functioning as an app-specific button), and two volume buttons, along with a status light. The controller is rechargeable and charges via USB-C. On its support pages, Google noted that the Daydream View "doesn't include a charger or cables" and instead directs users to purchase those from the Google Store.

Second generation Daydream View.

The second-generation Daydream View was unveiled during the Made by Google 2017 event. It was released in a different set of colors, namely: "Charcoal", "Fog", and "Coral". It is largely similar to the first-generation model, with a few improvements, including a slightly altered design and improved lenses for a wider field of view. Augmented Reality was a major upgrade exclusive to the second-generation's design. It was released on October 19, 2017, with a launch price of US$99.

Lenovo Mirage Solo.

Lenovo's Mirage Solo headset, announced at CES 2018, is the first standalone headset running on Google's Daydream platform. It is powered by Qualcomm's Snapdragon 835 system-on-chip, has 4 GB of RAM and 64 GB of internal storage expandable by microSD, dual mics, a 3.5mm headphone jack, a 2560 x 1440 LCD screen and a 4,000 mAh battery. Its highlight feature is support for Google "WorldSense", an improved position tracking technology.  The headset is designed to be coupled with the Mirage Camera, which is a point-and shoot 180-degree 3D VR camera with two lenses that can capture in 4K.  Lenovo released the device in May 2018, with a price of $399.

Compatibility.

Daydream will only work on certain newer phones with specific components. Google announced at the Google I/O conference in May 2016 that eight hardware partners would make Daydream-ready phones: Samsung, HTC, LG, Xiaomi, Huawei, ZTE, Asus and Alcatel. Phones dedicate processing power to the Daydream mode in order to reduce latency and prevent nausea. Google CEO Sundar Pichai expected 11 Android smartphones supporting Daydream VR to be on sale by the end of 2017.

Discontinuance.

In 2019, HBO discontinued its Daydream apps, while Hulu dropped support for the platform from its app. The Google Play Movies app for Daydream, which was developed and maintained by Google, was discontinued in June 2019.  On October 15, 2019, Google announced that it would no longer sell the Daydream View headset, and that their new flagship phones, the Pixel 4 and Pixel 4 XL, would not be certified for Daydream. No phones released in 2019 are compatible with Daydream, and the company confirmed that no additional devices would be certified for the platform. A spokesperson said, "There hasn't been the broad consumer or developer adoption we had hoped, and we've seen decreasing usage over time of the Daydream View headset." The representative said that the company recognized the potential in smartphone VR but: "we noticed some clear limitations constraining smartphone VR from being a viable long-term solution. Most notably, asking people to put their phone in a headset and lose access to the apps they use throughout the day causes immense friction." Google confirmed that the Daydream app and app store would remain available.

Daydream is a discontinued virtual reality (VR) platform which was developed by Google, primarily for use with a headset into which a smartphone is inserted. It is available for select phones running the Android mobile operating system (versions "Nougat" 7.1 and later) that meet the platform's software and hardware requirements. Daydream was announced at the Google I/O developer conference in May 2016, and the first headset, the Daydream View, was released on November 10, 2016. To use the platform, users place their phone into the back of a headset, run Daydream-compatible mobile apps, and view content through the viewer's lenses. A standalone headset with integrated hardware, the Lenovo Mirage Solo, does not require a phone to use.

Google Daydream je platforma pro virtuální realitu vyvinutá společností Google pro použití s headsetem Google Daydream View a Android Nougat, sedmou hlavní verzí operačního systému Android pro mobilní telefony. Byla poprvé oznámena na vývojářské konferenci Google I/O v květnu 2016, s prvním VR headsetem vydaným 10. listopadu 2016.


Plot.

Multi-billionaire Nathaniel Shepard, CEO of Genesis, launches the first mission to colonize Mars. During the journey, astronaut Sarah Elliot discovers she is pregnant. She gives birth to Gardner after landing on Mars, and dies from eclampsia; Gardner's father is unknown. Nathaniel keeps Gardner on Mars as a secret; he fears a public relations disaster and returning to Earth could be dangerous to Gardner's health. Gardner is raised by astronaut Kendra Wyndham and the other scientists on Mars.  Sixteen years later, he hacks into a robot he helped build to gain access to his mother's personal belongings. He finds a wedding ring and a video of Sarah and a man in a beach house. Convinced that the man is his father, Gardner determines to find him. In an Internet chatroom, Gardner talks to Tulsa, a street-smart girl from Colorado living in the foster care system. She believes Gardner is confined to a penthouse due to osteogenesis imperfecta. They discuss their plans for the future and Gardner promises to visit her someday.  Kendra video calls Nathaniel and Genesis director, Tom Chen; she says that Gardner is extremely intelligent and wants him to be allowed to go to Earth. Nathaniel refuses; Gardner would have to have a risky surgery to increase his bone density and train to adapt to Earth's atmospheric pressure. Gardner undergoes the surgery and training against Nathaniel's wishes and boards a shuttle for Earth with Kendra and several other astronauts.  When they arrive on Earth, Nathaniel is angry at Tom who kept Gardner's training a secret. Gardner is quarantined at NASA while undergoing medical tests to determine his fitness for life on Earth. When the tests show Gardner cannot live on Earth very long, he escapes and finds Tulsa and convinces her to help find his father. They are followed by Nathaniel and Kendra, who try to convince Gardner to return to NASA but he runs away with Tulsa and learns the location of the man who married Gardner's parents, Shaman Neka. Nathaniel and Kendra learn that Gardner's body contains dangerously high levels of troponin, indicative of an enlarged heart, which cannot withstand the atmospheric pressure of Earth; Gardner must be returned to Mars immediately if he is to survive.  Gardner confesses his true origins to Tulsa who does not believe him. They find Neka, who agrees to help them and lets Tulsa use his computer to locate the beach house from Gardner's video. They travel to Summerland, California, stopping in Las Vegas for fun, where Gardner collapses and is taken to a hospital. X-rays show carbon tubes in Gardner's bones, and Tulsa finally believes Gardner's claims of being born on Mars. Gardner knows he cannot survive on Earth and wants to meet his father before he dies. Tulsa helps him to sneak out of the hospital and they drive to the beach house; they meet the man from Gardner's video who is Sarah's brother, not Gardner's father. Gardner thinks this is a lie and runs to the sea, telling Tulsa that this is where he wants to die before collapsing.  Nathaniel and Kendra arrive in time to save Gardner with CPR. Gardner asks Nathaniel about Sarah and realizes that Nathaniel is his father. Nathaniel, Kendra, and Tulsa rush Gardner to a Dream Chaser and launch into orbit, hoping this will stabilize Gardner. Free of Earth's gravity, Gardner is revived.  Soon after, Gardner boards a space shuttle to Mars after sharing an emotional parting with Tulsa. Kendra, who is retiring from active flight status with NASA, adopts Tulsa. Determined to join Gardner on Mars, Tulsa joins Kendra's training program. Gardner is seen back on Mars with Nathaniel.

Production.

In 1999, Universal Pictures and Mike Lobell Productions acquired a screenplay, then titled "Mainland", about a rebellious teen born on the moon who desired to come to the earth but whose physiology, it was feared, would not be able to survive the transition. After failed rewrites by Allison Burnett ("Autumn in New York"), the project was placed on hiatus, as Lobell left Universal for a deal at Castle Rock Entertainment. The project remained unproduced for over a decade.  On March 13, 2014, an industry source revealed that a science fiction-adventure film titled "Out of This World" was in development at Relativity Media, scripted by Allan Loeb. Later in August 2014, it was reported that Peter Chelsom, who had previously directed "Hector and the Search for Happiness" for Relativity, was hired to direct the film, while Relativity would produce and distribute. Southpaw Entertainment's Richard B. Lewis was attached to produce the film, and also received a "story by" credit.  On February 2, 2015, Asa Butterfield was tapped to play the lead character in the film, a teen who was raised on Mars, and who falls in love with a girl on Earth he has been communicating with. Chelsom and Tinker Lindsay rewrote the screenplay. On July 13, 2015, it was announced that Relativity was selling the project to STX Entertainment, in order to reach an agreement with its creditors and avoid having to file for bankruptcy. STX produced and distributed the film. On July 31, 2015, Gary Oldman, Carla Gugino, and Britt Robertson joined the cast of the then-untitled film. Robertson would play the female lead, a teen girl from Colorado. On September 8, 2015, it was announced that the title of the film would be "The Space Between Us", and B. D. Wong and Janet Montgomery were added to the cast. On September 30, 2015, Trey Tucker joined the film to play an astronaut, and on October 23, 2015, Scott Takeda was cast to play a doctor in the film.  The actors Asa Butterfield (20 years old at the time of the film's release) and Britt Robertson (27 at the time) have a seven-year age gap between them, greater than their respective characters (both of whom are around 16 or 17), which caused controversy, but in an interview Robertson explains that the age difference helped with the dynamic of the relationship between Tulsa and Gardner: "I don't think Tulsa is really a teenager. She's had to be an adult for a really long time. She's had to take care of herself. She's had to figure out where she's going to live, and pay her mortgage or gas. She thinks like an adult. There's this dynamic where she's almost parenting him in some ways. There's this very specific kind of thing where she's teaching him about the world (saying), 'Get it together, these are people. Why are you doing it this way? Why aren't you being human?' [Our age difference] I think really helps the dynamic. It's not something I really pay attention to."  Principal photography on the film began on September 14, 2015, in Albuquerque, New Mexico.  Decathlon diving masks were used as ordinary masks for the team that helps the returning astronauts out of the spaceship.  Andrew Lockington composed the film's score, which was released through Sony Music Entertainment.

Release.

In August 2015, STX Entertainment scheduled the film to be released on July 29, 2016. The release date was later switched with STX's other release, "Bad Moms", and was moved its release date later to August 19, 2016. However, "Kubo and the Two Strings", "Ben-Hur", and "War Dogs" were all slated for August 19, 2016 and STX Entertainment moved its release date later to December 21, 2016, allowing more time for work on the visual effects. The film's release date was later moved to December 16, 2016, and finally STX Entertainment moved its release date later to February 3, 2017.

Box office.

"The Space Between Us" grossed $7.9 million in the United States and Canada and $6.9 million in other territories for a worldwide total of $14.8 million, against a production budget of $30 million.  In North America, "The Space Between Us" was released alongside "Rings" and "The Comedian", and was projected to gross $8–10 million from 2,812 theaters during its opening weekend. The film ended up grossing $1.4 million on its first day and $3.8 million in its opening weekend, finishing well below expectations, and 7th at the box office. In its third weekend the film grossed $260,000 after being pulled from 2,441 theaters (dropping 84.6% to 331), marking the 8th biggest theater drop in history.

Critical response.

On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 16% based on 131 reviews, with an average rating of 4.2/10. The site's critical consensus reads, ""The Space Between Us" strands its star-crossed young lovers in a mind-numbingly vast expanse of shameless cheese that will send all but the most forgiving viewers eye-rolling for the exits." On Metacritic, the film holds a score 33 out of 100, based on 32 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A–" on an A+ to F scale.  Writing for IndieWire, David Ehrlich gave the film a grade of "C," calling it a "guileless and good-natured sci-fi love story". Kevin Maher gave a scathing review in "The Times", writing that the film is "notable only for some horrendously bad science and a career-low performance from Gary Oldman".

The Space Between Us is a 2017 American romantic science fiction film directed by Peter Chelsom and written by Allan Loeb, from a story by Stewart Schill, Richard Barton Lewis, and Loeb. The film stars Gary Oldman, Asa Butterfield, Britt Robertson, and Carla Gugino, and follows a teenage boy, born on Mars, who travels to Earth.

Vesmír mezi námi (v anglickém originále The Space Between uS) je americký romantický sci-fi film z roku 2017. Režie se ujal Peter Chelsom a scénáře Allan Loeb. Ve snímku hrají hlavní role Gary Oldman, Asa Butterfield, Britt Robertsonová a Carla Guginová. Do kin byl film oficiálně uveden 3. února 2017. V České republice premiéru neměl. Film získal negativní recenze od kritiků a vydělal pouhých 14,8 milionů dolarů, jeho rozpočet dělal však 30 milionů dolarů.


Early history.

Barker Ranch is located in a rock- and boulder-filled valley in the Panamint Range. It is accessible only by sandy, primitive and rugged roads. Streams feed this little valley and provide much vegetation. There is a small one-room guest house located to the side of the main house. There is also a five-thousand-gallon "swimming pool" (in reality a reservoir to store water from the spring) made from cement and rock boulders towards the back of the property.  Bluch and Helen Thomason began construction of Barker Ranch around 1940. It was originally used as a storage and shop facility to support their mining activity in the area. They constructed a small cabin and out building, with electricity provided by a windmill and generator, and drinking water from a nearby spring. In 1950, Bluch Thomason died and the ranch became a seasonal vacation property.  The ranch was sold to James and Arlene Barker of Oklahoma in 1956. The Barkers engaged in gold and uranium mining in the area through the rest of the 1950s and the 1960s. To accommodate their family gatherings, the Barkers enlarged the house and constructed more out buildings.

Myers Ranch.

The closest habitation to Barker Ranch is Myers Ranch. The ranch was built in 1932 by Bill and Barbara Myers. The Myers family resided on the property until 1960 when they relocated to Fresno. Myers Ranch is currently a 40-acre (16 ha) private inholding within Death Valley National Park owned by the Myers family.

Manson at Barker Ranch.

In 1968, Charles Manson learned about the Myers Ranch from Catherine Gillies, the granddaughter of Barbara Myers. Starting in November 1968, Manson and others began staying at the ranch and discovered the nearby Barker Ranch. The buildings at Barker Ranch being in better condition, the family relocated there and later obtained Arlene Barker's permission to use the property on a temporary basis. At times, the family was using both properties.  The Inyo County sheriff department, California Highway Patrol, and National Park Service Law Enforcement Rangers captured the group in raids on October 10 and October 12, 1969. Manson was caught hiding under the bathroom vanity. At the time of his arrest they were unaware of the magnitude of their find. They wanted to prosecute the persons responsible for vandalism within Death Valley National Monument further north, unaware that they had a mass-murder suspect and his followers.  In early 1970, members of the Manson Family were filmed by Robert Hendrickson at Barker Ranch, sorting through, and taking evidence left behind by detectives, for the making of the Oscar-nominated documentary "Manson."  In 1971, Arlene Barker ceased to file reports with the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) on the family's mining activity. The land (and improvements) then reverted to government control. In 1976, the ranch became part of the California Desert Conservation Area. In 1994, it was incorporated into Death Valley National Park.  Today the remnants of the ranch belong to National Park Service.

Subsequent events.

In early 2008, after decades of persistent rumors of additional Manson family murder victims, forensic investigators performed testing at the ranch for possible buried human remains. Using state of the art technology not available 40 years ago, investigators located several sites consistent with possible clandestine graves. In May 2008, investigators conducted a "dig" at the sites; however, further searching by authorities was called off due to finding no evidence or victim remains during the search.  Due to a fire in May 2009, most of the main structure has been destroyed with only the concrete and rock portion of the cabin still standing.

Barker Ranch is located inside Death Valley National Park in eastern California. Used as a mining and recreational property from the 1940s to the 1960s, it is infamous due to its association with Charles Manson and his "family".

Barkerův ranč se nachází v Národním parku Death Valley ve východní Kalifornii. Na Barkerově ranči se nacházely zeleninové zahrady, nádrž na vodu, přístřešek a dvě kamenné budovy, ve kterých byla kamna a koupelna se sprchou a umyvadlem.


Early life and marriages.

Armand was born in Paris. Her mother, Nathalie Wild, was a comedienne of half-French and half-English descent, and her father, Théodore Pécheux d'Herbenville, was a French opera-singer. Her father died when she was five and she was brought up by her aunt and grandmother living in Moscow, both teachers.  At the age of nineteen she married Alexander Armand, the son of a wealthy Russian textile manufacturer. The marriage produced four children. Inessa and her husband opened a school for peasant children outside of Moscow. She also joined a charitable group dedicated to helping the city's destitute women.

Life.

In 1902, she left her husband, with whom she had an open marriage, to marry his younger brother Vladimir, who shared her radical political views, and bore him her fifth child, Andrei.  In 1903, she joined the illegal Russian Social Democratic Labour Party. Armand distributed illegal propaganda; after her arrest in June 1907 she was sentenced to two years' internal exile in Mezen in Northern Russia.  In November 1908 Armand managed to escape from Mezen and eventually left Russia to settle in Paris, where she met Vladimir Lenin and other Bolsheviks living in foreign exile. In 1911 Armand became secretary for the Committee of Foreign Organisations established to coordinate all Bolshevik groups in Western Europe.  Armand returned to Russia in July 1912. This was a risky mission. Lenin needed her to pass on the resolution of the Prague Conference, to help organise the Bolshevik campaign to get its supporters elected to the Duma, and find out what was going on in Pravda. Helen Rappaport notes that Lenin knew her entry into Russia would invite immediate arrest, yet he made light of it, his concerns for party works overcoming his personal feelings for her. Two months later she was arrested and imprisoned, only to be released against bail in March 1913, thanks to Alexander's generous support. Once again illegally leaving Russia, she went to live with Vladimir Lenin and Nadezhda Krupskaya in Galicia. She also began work editing "Rabotnitsa". Krupskaya, with admiration, noted that exhausted as Armand was, she threw herself immediately into the party works. Lenin wrote to her and trusted her more than anyone else in his circles. The Okhrana considered Armand to be the right hand of Lenin. According to author Ralph Carter Elwood, "Even more than Trotsky during the Iskra period, she became Lenin’s ‘cudgel’ — someone to beat wavering Bolsheviks back into line, to convey uncompromising messages to his political opponents, to carry out uncomfortable missions which Lenin himself preferred to avoid".  Armand was upset that many socialists in Europe chose not to fight against the war effort during World War I. She joined Lenin in helping to distribute propaganda that urged Allied troops to turn their rifles against their officers and to start a socialist revolution.  Lenin appointed her as the Bolshevik representative to the International Socialist Bureau conference in Brussels in July 1914. Bertram Wolfe remarked, "He was sending her to meet and do battle with such large figures as Kautsky, Vandervelde, Huysmans, Luxemburg, Plekhanov, Trotsky and Martov. He counted on her mastery of all the languages of the International, her literal devotion to him and his views, her steadfastness under fire". He wrote to her:  I am convinced that you are one of those who develops, grows stronger, becomes more energetic and bolder when alone in a responsible post... I stubbornly disbelieve the pessimists who say that you — are hardly — nonsense and again nonsense.  In March 1915 Armand went to Switzerland where she organised the anti-war International Conference of Socialist Women.

Russian Revolution.

On 2 March 1917 Tsar Nicholas II abdicated, leaving the Provisional Government in control of the country, which declared the Russian Republic. The Bolsheviks in exile became desperate to return to Russia to help shape the future of the country. The German Foreign Ministry, which hoped that Bolshevik influence in Russia would help bring the war on the Eastern Front to an end, provided a special train for Armand, Vladimir Lenin and 26 other revolutionaries to travel to Petrograd.  She did not participate in most of the revolutionary events, choosing to take care of her ill son Andre instead. It is still unclear why she chose to be inactive during this crucial period of seizing power, although she had interrupted her revolutionary activities for the sake of her children in 1905, 1908 and 1913. On 19 April, she did attend a Moscow Oblast Conference, in which she made forceful speeches on the necessity of the election of officers and the fraternization of combatant forces, as well as on the opportunism of the Second International's leaders.  After the October Revolution, Armand headed the Moscow Economic Council and served as an executive member of the Moscow Soviet. She became a staunch critic of the Soviet government's decision to sign the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk. On her return to Petrograd, she became director of Zhenotdel, an organisation that fought for female equality in the Communist Party and the Soviet trade unions (Zhenotdel operated until 1930), with powers to make legislative decisions. She drove through reforms to allow women rights to divorce, abort, participate in government affairs and create the facilities like mass canteens and mother centers. In 1918, with Sverdlov's assistance against opposition from Zinoviev and Radek, she succeeded in getting a national congress of working women held, with Lenin as a speaker. According to Elwood, the reason the party leadership agreed to back up Armand’s agitation for communal facilities was that the Civil War required enlisting women into factory work and auxiliary tasks in the Red Army, which created the need to release women from traditional duties. Armand also chaired the First International Conference of Communist Women in 1920. The spring of 1920 saw the appearance, again on Armand’s initiative, of the journal "Kommunistka", which dealt with "the broader aspects of female emancipation and the need to alter the relationship between the sexes if lasting change was to be effected".

Death.

But the fifth number of this journal carried its founder’s obituary. Realizing that she was exhausted from overload of work, Lenin had urged Armand to go to the Caucasus for a holiday, without knowing that the area was infested by epidemic and had not been pacified by the Red Army. She and other patients had to be evacuated from the region. In the evening of 21 September, she ventured out to meet the Nal'chik Executive Committee, perhaps to get accommodation for her group, and contracted cholera. She died in the morning hours of 24 September, aged 46. She was buried in the Kremlin Wall Necropolis in Moscow. A state funeral, an extremely rare honour for a woman, was organized, with a mass singing of the Internationale. She was buried in the Red Square, being the first woman to receive this honour.  In the first edition of the "Great Soviet Encyclopedia", published in 1926, she was commemorated as a "senior and dedicated Bolshevik" and as "a close friend and aide of Lenin", but by the 1930s her work had been forgotten. The Zhenotdel was abolished in 1930.

In literature and film.

Inessa Armand is assumed to be the model for the fictional heroine of the novel "A Great Love", written in 1923 by Alexandra Kollontai, who knew both Lenin and Armand. The heroine is in love with a revolutionary leader, assumed to be based on Lenin who "takes her devotion to him for granted and returns it with resentment and suspicion." Armand has been portrayed in the films "Lenin in Paris" (1981, played by Claude Jade), "Lenin...The Train" (1988, played by Dominique Sanda) and "All My Lenins" (1997, played by Janne Sevchenko). She was also portrayed as the heroine in the fictionalised account of Lenin's Russian return: "Seven Days to Petrograd" (1988 by Tom Hyman, Penguin Books).

Romantic relationship with Lenin.

Armand and Lenin were very close friends from 1911 to 1912 or 1914–how sexual it was remains a debated point among scholars.  Krupskaya wrote about her:  We were terribly glad... at her arrival.... In the autumn (of 1913) all of us became very close to Inessa. In her there was much joy of life and ardor. We had known Inessa in Paris, but there was a large colony there. In Krakow lived a small closely knit circle of comrades. Inessa rented a room in the same family with which Kamenev lived. My mother became closely attached to Inessa. Inessa often went to talk with her, sit with her, have a smoke with her. It became cosier and gayer when Inessa came. Our entire life was filled with party concerns and affairs, more like a student commune than like family life, and we were glad to have Inessa... Something warm radiated from her talk. In "In Memory of Inessa Armand", Krupskaya further suggested that Inessa and Lenin were bonded together by their common favourite fictional work "What Is to Be Done?": Inessa was moved to socialism by the image of woman’s rights and freedom in What Is To Be Done? Like the heroine, she broke her ties with one man to live with another, concerned herself with good deeds to redeem the poor female and the prostitute, tried to solve the problems of woman’s too servile place in society. Indeed, whole generations of Russian radicals were influenced by Chernyshevsky’s many-sided utopian novel and were moved to imitate its “uncommon men and women”. Just as Marx could be the spiritual ancestor of people as various as Bernstein, Kautsky, Bebel, and Luxemburg, so Chernyshevsky was a formative influence for the two men who in their persons incarnated the two opposing poles of socialism in 1917: Tsereteli and Lenin. If Inessa found in the novel her image of woman’s rights and freedom in love, and Lenin the prototypes of his vanguard and his leadership, Tsereteli found there his ideal of service to the people.  Angelica Balabanoff recalled about the relationship between Armand and Lenin:  Lenin loved Inessa. There was nothing immoral in it, since Lenin told Krupskaya everything [again the same code]. He deeply loved music, and this Krupskaya could not give him. Inessa played beautifully — his beloved Beethoven and other pieces. He sent Inessa to the Youth Conference of the Zimmerwald Group — a little old, but she had a credential from the Bolsheviks and we had to accept it. He did not dare to come himself, sat downstairs in a little adjacent cafe drinking tea, getting reports from her, giving her instructions. I went down for tea and found him there. Did you come na chai, I asked, or na rezoliutsii? (for tea, or for the resolution?) He laughed knowingly, but did not answer. [Inessa fought hard, but the resolution Lenin prepared for her was defeated 13–3.] When Inessa died, he begged me to speak at her funeral. He was utterly broken by her death.  Bob Gould remarked that, "It is fairly clear from Armand’s last diary entries, and from Lenin’s utter devastation at her death, that they may both have had some vague perspective of resuming the physical side of their relationship at some more favourable time in the future, as people often do in such circumstances. Another feature of Inessa Armand was that, despite her intense emotional involvement with Lenin, she was capable of disagreeing with him politically on points of principle. She was a vigorous participant in the Workers' Opposition, despite the fact that this involved a profound political collision with Lenin".  According to Elwood, since Bertram Wolfe proved the existence of the romantic relationship in 1963, Western scholarship has focused so much on it that her achievements as a revolutionist and a feminist are usually obscured. Elwood tried to call attention to her work first as an underground propagandist, then as a Bolshevik organizer in emigration, and finally as a defender of women's rights in the workplace and in society.

Inessa Fyodorovna Armand (born Elisabeth-Inès Stéphane d'Herbenville; 8 May 1874 – 24 September 1920) was a French-Russian communist politician, member of the Bolsheviks and feminist who spent most of her life in Russia. Armand, being an important figure in pre-Revolution Russian communist movement and early days of the communist era, had been almost forgotten for a long time (due to deliberate Stalinist censorship, partly in consideration of her relationship with Lenin) until the partial opening of Soviet archives during the 1990s (despite this, many valuable sources regarding her life still remain inaccessible in Russian archives). Historian Michael Pearson wrote about her: "She was to help him (Lenin) recover his position and hone his Bolsheviks into a force that would acquire more power than the tsar, and would herself by 1919 become the most powerful woman in Moscow."

Inessa Fjodorovna Armandová (Ине́сса Фёдоровна Арма́нд), francouzsky Inès Elizabeth Armand rozená Elisabeth Pécheux d'Herbenville, pseudonym Jelena Blonina (8. května 1874 Paříž – 24. září 1920 Nalčik) byla rusko-francouzská komunistická revolucionářka a feministka, spolupracovnice a milenka Lenina.


Publication history.

"Planetary" was previewed in issue #33 of "Gen13" and issue #6 of "C-23", both dated September 1998. The first issue of the series was cover-dated April 1999. Originally intended to be a 24-issue bi-monthly series, the series was on hold from 2001 to 2003 due to illness of writer Warren Ellis and other commitments by Cassaday. Laura Martin (also credited as Laura DePuy) colored almost every issue of the series. The series recommenced in 2004 and concluded with issue #27 in October 2009.  Ellis intended the focus of the book to be the superhero genre, rather than the superheroes themselves. "I wanted to do something that actually went deeper into the subgenre, exposed its roots and showed its branches" and stated in his proposal for the comic series: "[...] What if you had a hundred years of superhero history just slowly leaking out into this young and modern superhero world of the Wildstorm Universe? What if you could take everything old and make it new again?"  Rich Kreiner described John Cassaday's artwork in "The Comics Journal" as being "close to the gold standard for fabulous realism in mainstream comics". Tom Underhill noted colorist Laura Martin's contribution as "every bit as compelling" as Cassaday's in his review for "The Comics Journal".  One of the main features of the series is the portrayal of alternate versions of many figures from popular culture, such as Godzilla, Tarzan, Sherlock Holmes, and Doc Savage. This extends to comic book characters from both DC Comics (e.g. Superman, Green Lantern, and Wonder Woman) and Marvel Comics (e.g. the Fantastic Four, the Hulk, and Thor).  Ellis also introduced the concept of a multiverse to the series, drawing upon the mathematical concept known as the Monster group for inspiration. The multiverse is described as "a theoretical snowflake existing in 196,833 dimensional space", a reference to the visualization method used by some mathematicians when describing the Monster group.

Fictional group biography.

Describing themselves as "Archaeologists of the Impossible", Planetary is an organization intent on discovering the world's secret history. Funded by the mysterious Fourth Man, the field team consists of three superhuman beings: Jakita Wagner (strong, fast and almost invulnerable); The Drummer (can detect and manipulate information streams, such as computer data links and radio waves); and new recruit Elijah Snow (can create intense cold and extract heat). Planetary member Ambrose Chase (can create a "selective physics-distortion field") was also a member of the field team until he was killed. It was later revealed that Ambrose Chase was still alive and had used his powers to manipulate time and suspend himself in a time distortion bubble where the effects of his mortal injuries proceeded at an incredibly slow pace. Elijah Snow and the rest of Planetary, using technology based on Randall Dowling's notes, were able to recover Ambrose Chase and save his life.  The field team travel the world investigating strange phenomena - including monsters, aliens and other superhumans, unusual relics and suppressed military secrets - for both the betterment of mankind and out of sheer curiosity. The group is, first covertly and later more and more openly, opposed by a rival group of metahumans called the Four, a parallel Fantastic Four (Dr. Randall Dowling, Kim Süskind, William Leather and Jacob Greene) who are using the secrets of the world for personal gain.

Collected editions.

The series, and spin-offs, have been collected into a number of volumes:

Planetary is an American comic book series created by writer Warren Ellis and artist John Cassaday, and published by the Wildstorm imprint of DC Comics. After an initial preview issue in September 1998, the series ran for 27 issues from April 1999 to October 2009.

Planetary je americká komiksová série napsána Warrenem Ellisem a ilustrována Johnem Cassadayem. V USA byl komiks vydán nakladatelstvím DC Comics přostřednictvím svého imprintu WildStorm. Po preview sešitu vydaném v září roku 1998, bylo od dubna roku 1999 do října roku 2009 vydáno celkem 27 sešitů.


History.

"Premier Guitar" was founded in February 2007. "Premier Guitar" is published by Gearhead Communications, LLC, a privately owned company that is headquartered in Marion, Iowa. "Premier Guitar" also has offices in Nashville, Minneapolis, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Peterborough, New Hampshire.

Content.

"Premier Guitar"'s editorial staff is composed of experienced musicians, and the content consists largely of guitar and bass-related news and gear coverage, as well as instructional material. "Premier Guitar" has interviewed dozens of world-famous guitarists, including The Who's Pete Townshend, Ron Wood of the Rolling Stones, Aerosmith's Joe Perry, Annie Clark, Guthrie Govan, Bonnie Raitt, Steve Vai, Joe Satriani, the Black Keys' Dan Auerbach, Dave Mustaine and David Ellefson of Megadeth, Brent Hinds and Bill Kelliher of Mastodon, Bruce Cockburn, Alex Skolnick of Testament, Todd Snider and experimental luthier Yuri Landman.

Format.

"Premier Guitar" is published in print and online on a monthly basis all around the globe.  All editions of "Premier Guitar" are available online for free. The digital version includes all the content of the print version, as well as added multimedia content. "Premier Guitar" also has applications that make it fully accessible on iPhone, iPad, and Android devices.

Multimedia.

"Premier Guitar"'s website provides daily news, exclusive stories, complete video lessons in all genres, and written and video gear reviews. This in addition to our free digital magazine provides 100% of the content provided in the print magazine at zero cost to the end user. "Premier Guitar's" YouTube channel boasts over 450k subscribers and features gear demos, artists interviews, in-studio music, and the popular Rig Rundown series.

Premier Guitar is an American magazine devoted to guitarists. Founded in 2007, it is based in Marion, Iowa, and has an editorial staff composed of experienced musicians. Content includes instructional material, guitar gear reviews, and guitar news. Interviews have included guitarists such as Pete Townshend of The Who, Ron Wood of the Rolling Stones, Joe Perry of Aerosmith, Guthrie Govan, Brent Hinds and Bill Kelliher of Mastodon, and Dave Mustaine and Chris Broderick of Megadeth. The magazine is published online for free, and includes multimedia such as instructional videos and podcasts "Premier Guitar" was originally published under the name "Musicians Hotline" through 2006.

Premier Guitar je americký hudební časopis věnovaný kytaristům. Jeho náplní jsou originální rozhovory s osobnostmi a recenze alb. Jedná se o měsíčník, každý měsíc vychází jedno vydání, kromě toho je vydáváno prázdninové třinácté vydání.


Classification by spectral energy distribution.

A star forms by accumulation of material that falls in to a protostar from a circumstellar disk or envelope. Material in the disk is cooler than the surface of the protostar, so it radiates at longer wavelengths of light producing excess infrared emission. As material in the disk is depleted, the infrared excess decreases. Thus, YSOs are usually classified into evolutionary stages based on the slope of their spectral energy distribution in the mid-infrared, using a scheme introduced by Lada (1987). He proposed three classes (I, II and III), based on the values of intervals of spectral index formula_1:  formula_2.  Here formula_3 is wavelength, and formula_4 is flux density.  The formula_1 is calculated in the wavelength interval of 2.2–20 formula_6 (near- and mid-infrared region). Andre "et al." (1993) discovered a class 0: objects with strong submillimeter emission, but very faint at formula_7. Greene "et al." (1994) added a fifth class of "flat spectrum" sources.  This classification schema roughly reflects evolutionary sequence. It is believed that most deeply embedded Class 0 sources evolve towards Class I stage, dissipating their circumstellar envelopes. Eventually they become optically visible on the stellar birthline as pre-main-sequence stars.  Class II objects have circumstellar disks and correspond roughly to classical T Tauri stars, while Class III stars have lost their disks and correspond approximately to weak-line T Tauri stars. An intermediate stage where disks can only be detected at longer wavelengths (e.g., at formula_13) are known as transition-disk objects.

Characteristics.

YSOs are also associated with early star evolution phenomena: jets and bipolar outflows, masers, Herbig–Haro objects, and protoplanetary disks (circumstellar disks or proplyds).

Classification of YSOs by mass.

These stars may be differentiated by mass: Massive YSOs, intermediate-mass YSOs, and brown dwarfs.

Young stellar object (YSO) denotes a star in its early stage of evolution. This class consists of two groups of objects: protostars and pre-main-sequence stars.

Mladý hvězdný objekt (anglicky "Young Stellar Object - YSO") je obecné označení hvězdy v raném období vzniku. Je to souhrnné označení pro protohvězdy a hvězdy před hlavní posloupností.


History.

The original concept design by architects Khatib and Alami was 74 floors, with three basement levels and a four-storey podium, and had a total planned built up area of 111,832 m2 (1.2 million ft2). It was to have 504 apartments ranging from one to three bedrooms and four duplex apartment suites. The three basement floors and part of the podium were to hold car parking for 536 vehicles, while floors five and six were to contain a swimming pool, health club, gymnasium, cafeteria, aerobic rooms and sit-out cover seal terraces.  However, the original developer of the project for the proposed tower, Al Rashideen Trading Company, transferred ownership of the project to a new developer, Select Group. Select Group then appointed a new consultant, National Engineering Bureau, who amended and modified the concept design and, following delays, eventually secured the necessary approval from Dubai Municipality.  Dubai Municipality's approval of the design was delayed because of its comments on the National Engineering Bureau's modifications to the concept design, and the purported risk of structural failings arising from the design modifications.  In April 2007, the project was running 18 months behind schedule, with the tower's foundations still under construction. The original expected completion date of June 2008 had been extended to late 2009, with the further extension into 2011. The Marina Torch was opened in May 2011.  As built, it has 676 apartments and six retail units. In 2015 the price of a one bedroom apartment started at 1,628,000 AED ($443,295 USD).  There are many residential towers in this part of Dubai and they are popular with expatriates.

2015 fire.

A fire broke out in the building at 2:00 am on 21 February 2015. Witnesses said the fire started with a grill located on one of the building's balconies. Seven people were treated at the scene for smoke inhalation. Video footage showed structural debris falling from the burning stories to the ground. The fire appeared to have started in the middle of the building and spread rapidly due to falling flaming debris and high winds, which caused the flames to flare up, resulting in "massive problems" for the fire department and a several mile long traffic jam on a nearby highway.  External cladding was charred from the 50th floor to the top of the tower. As of 28 February 101 apartments were uninhabitable and their occupants were offered temporary free lodging by some hotels and houses. Dubai Municipality confirmed there was no damage to the structure. Lifts were brought back in phases and eight of the nine lifts were back in operation within a week. By 21 March 2015, 81 units were still not habitable. The remainder of the 676 apartments were back in occupation.  Tenants requesting emergency accommodation were found free hotel accommodation for up to two months. All resident owners are covered by insurance for alternative accommodation for up to three years. In April, after insurance assessment, tenders were drawn up for repair of the damaged building.  Repairs were started in May 2015 under the project management of the building's architect, National Engineering Bureau.  Following this disaster, in the fall of 2015 Dubai Civil Defence announced it would be purchasing several Martin Jetpack single-person aircraft to assist first responders in managing high-rise fires, to be delivered in 2016.

2016 exterior renovation.

Approval to proceed on a full exterior renovation of the cladding damaged during the fire in terms of building permits was granted by Dubai authorities in July 2016. Scaffolding was erected and building works started.  During this period the pool facility at the Torch remained closed, mainly due to the risk of safety issues. It was estimated to re-open in October 2016.

2017 fire.

A significant fire broke out in the building on 4 August 2017 at about 1 am local time; the cause was not initially known. Videos showed debris from the fire falling to the ground and starting a second fire in the streets below. Civil defence officials said they had successfully evacuated the building, with no injuries reported, and had brought the fire under control.

The Marina Torch, also known as Dubai Torch, Dubai Torch Tower, and The Torch, is a residential skyscraper in Dubai Marina in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. It is tall, with 79 floors above ground, and became the tallest residential building in the world on its completion in 2011, surpassing Q1 in Gold Coast, Australia. It lost the record in 2012 to Dubai's Elite Residence. The building was damaged by fire on 21 February 2015 and again on 4 August 2017, while it was undergoing restorative work.

The Marina Torch (: "Přístavní pochodeň") je obytný mrakodrap ve čtvrti Dubai Marina v emirátu Dubaj ve Spojených arabských emirátech.


History.

The first U.S. Open was played on October 4, 1895, on a nine-hole course at the Newport Country Club in Newport, Rhode Island. It was a 36-hole competition and was played in a single day. Ten professionals and one amateur entered. The winner was Horace Rawlins, a 21-year-old Englishman, who had arrived in the U.S. earlier that year to take up a position at the host club. He received $150 cash out of a prize fund of $335, plus a $50 gold medal; his club received the Open Championship Cup trophy, which was presented by the USGA.  In the beginning, the tournament was dominated by experienced British players until 1911, when John J. McDermott became the first native-born American winner. American golfers soon began to win regularly and the tournament evolved to become one of the four majors.  Since 1911, the title has been won mostly by players from the United States. Since 1950, players from only six countries other than the United States have won the championship, most notably South Africa, which has won five times since 1965. A streak of four consecutive non-American winners occurred from 2004 to 2007 for the first time since 1910. These four players, South African Retief Goosen (2004), New Zealander Michael Campbell (2005), Australian Geoff Ogilvy (2006) and Argentine Ángel Cabrera (2007), are all from countries in the Southern Hemisphere. Northern Ireland's Graeme McDowell (2010) became the first European player to win the event since Tony Jacklin of England in 1970; three more Europeans won in the next four editions, making it only three American wins in the 11 tournaments from 2004-2014.  U.S. Open play is characterized by tight scoring at or around par by the leaders, with the winner usually emerging at around even par. A U.S. Open course is seldom beaten severely, and there have been many over-par wins (in part because par is usually set at 70, except for the very longest courses). Normally, an Open course is quite long and will have a high cut of primary rough (termed "Open rough" by the American press and fans); undulating greens (such as at Pinehurst No. 2 in 2005, which was described by Johnny Miller of NBC as "like trying to hit a ball on top of a VW Beetle"); pinched fairways (especially on what are expected to be less difficult holes); and two or three holes that are short par fives under regular play would be used as long par fours during the tournament (often to meet that frequently used par of 70, forcing players to have accurate long drives). Some courses that are attempting to get into the rotation for the U.S. Open will undergo renovations to develop these features. Rees Jones is the most notable of the "Open Doctors" who take on these projects; his father Robert Trent Jones had filled that role earlier. As with any professional golf tournament, the available space surrounding the course (for spectators, among other considerations) and local infrastructure also factor into deciding which courses will host the event.

Qualification.

The U.S. Open is open to any professional, or to any amateur with a USGA Handicap Index not exceeding 1.4. Players (male or female) may obtain a place by being fully exempt or by competing successfully in qualifying. The field is 156 players.  About half of the field is made up of players who are fully exempt from qualifying. The current exemption categories are:  The exemptions for amateurs apply only if the players remain amateurs as of the tournament date, except for the U.S. Amateur. On August 5, 2019, the USGA announced a rule change stating a player may turn professional and still retain his U.S. Open exemption. Note that this tournament typically takes place after the collegiate season has ended, so players may turn professional immediately after their last collegiate event (typically the end of the NCAA final of their senior year) in order to maximize the number of FedEx Cup points they may score before the August cutoff.  Before 2011, the sole OWGR cutoff for entry was the top 50 as of two weeks before the tournament. An exemption category for the top 50 as of the tournament date was added for 2011, apparently in response to the phenomenon of golfers entering the top 50 between the original cutoff date and the tournament (such as Justin Rose and Rickie Fowler in 2010).  Through 2011, exemptions existed for leading money winners on the PGA, European, Japanese, and Australasian tours, as well as winners of multiple PGA Tour events in the year before the U.S. Open. These categories were eliminated in favor of inviting the top 60 on the OWGR at both relevant dates. Starting with the 2012 championship, an exemption was added for the winner of the current year's BMW PGA Championship, the European Tour's equivalent of The Players Championship.  Potential competitors who are not fully exempt must enter the Qualifying process, which has two stages. Firstly there is Local Qualifying, which is played over 18 holes at more than 100 courses around the United States. Many leading players are exempt from this first stage, and they join the successful local qualifiers at the Sectional Qualifying stage, which is played over 36 holes in one day at several sites in the U.S., as well as one each in Europe and Japan. There is no lower age limit and the youngest-ever qualifier was 14-year-old Andy Zhang of China, who qualified in 2012 after Paul Casey withdrew days before the tournament.

USGA special exemptions.

The USGA has granted a special exemption to 34 players 52 times since 1966. Players with multiple special exemptions include: Arnold Palmer (1978, 1980, 1981, 1983, 1994), Seve Ballesteros (1978, 1994), Gary Player (1981, 1983), Lee Trevino (1983, 1984), Hale Irwin (1990, 2002, 2003), Jack Nicklaus (1991, 1993, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000), Tom Watson (1993, 1996, 2000, 2003, 2010).  Irwin won the 1990 U.S. Open after accepting a special exemption. In the 2016, a special exemption was extended to former champion Retief Goosen (2001, 2004). In 2018, a special exemption was extended to former U.S. Open champions Jim Furyk (2003) and Ernie Els (1994, 1997).

Prizes.

The purse at the 2017 U.S. Open was $12 million, and the winner's share was $2.16 million. The European Tour uses conversion rates at the time of the tournament to calculate the official prize money used in their Race to Dubai (€10,745,927 in 2017).  In line with the other majors, winning the U.S. Open gives a golfer several privileges that make his career much more secure if he is not already one of the elite players of the sport. U.S. Open champions are automatically invited to play in the other three majors (the Masters, The Open Championship (British Open), and the PGA Championship) for the next five years. They are also automatically invited to play in The Players Championship for the next five years, and they are exempt from qualifying for the U.S. Open itself for 10 years.  Winners may also receive a five-year exemption on the PGA Tour, which is automatic for regular members. Non-PGA Tour members who win the U.S. Open have the choice of joining the PGA Tour either within 60 days of winning, or prior to the beginning of any one of the next five tour seasons.  Finally, U.S. Open winners receive automatic invitations to three of the five senior majors once they turn 50; they receive a five-year invitation to the U.S. Senior Open and a lifetime invitation to the Senior PGA Championship and Senior British Open.  The top 10 finishers at the U.S. Open are fully exempt from qualifying for the following year's Open, and the top four are automatically invited to the following season's Masters.

Playoff format.

Up to 2017, the U.S. Open retained a full 18-hole playoff the following day (Monday). If a tie existed after that fifth round, then the playoff continued as sudden-death on the 91st hole. The U.S. Open advanced to sudden-death three times (1990, 1994, 2008), most recently when Tiger Woods defeated Rocco Mediate on the first additional playoff hole in 2008. Before sudden-death was introduced in the 1950s, additional 18-hole rounds were played (1925, 1939, and 1946) to break the tie. When the playoff was scheduled for 36 holes and ended in a tie, as in 1931, a second 36-hole playoff was required.  Since 2018, the USGA adopted a two-hole aggregate playoff format, after consulting fans, players and media partners. Sudden death will still be played if the playoff ends tied.

Champions.

Willie Anderson, Bobby Jones, Ben Hogan and Jack Nicklaus hold the record for the most U.S. Open victories, with four victories each. Hale Irwin is the oldest winner of the U.S. Open at 45 years and 15 days in 1990. The youngest winner of the U.S. Open is John McDermott at 19 years, 10 months, 14 days in 1911. (a) denotes amateur

Summary by course, state and region.

The eighteenth state to host the tournament was Washington in 2015, followed by Wisconsin in 2017.

Records.

There is an extensive records section on the official U.S. Open website.

Broadcasting.

As of 2015, Fox Sports is the official broadcaster of the U.S. Open, as the result of a 12-year deal with the USGA for exclusive rights to its tournaments through 2026. Coverage will be telecast by Fox (over-the-air) and FS1 (cable).  The 2019 edition of the U.S. Open featured a total of 38 hours of coverage in the United States, with 20 hours being on Thursday and Friday, and 18 hours being on Saturday and Sunday; the Fox Sports 1 cable network carried a total of 14 hours of coverage on Thursday and Friday. The Fox broadcast network had a total of 24 hours of coverage Thursday through Sunday, with 6 hours Thursday and Friday, and 18 hours Saturday and Sunday. The overall 38–hour total is up 1 hour from last year's total of 37 hours, due to the Fox broadcast network's coverage having 24 hours this year, compared to the 23.5 hours it had last year, and the Fox Sports 1 cable network's 14 hours this year, compared to the 13.5 hours it had last year.  Coverage was previously televised by NBC and ESPN through 2014. NBC's most recent period as rightsholder began in 1995; ABC held the broadcast rights from 1966 through 1994.  In Australia, from 2015 Fox Sports Australia is the exclusive broadcaster of the U.S. open until 2018.

The United States Open Championship, commonly known as the U.S. Open, is the annual open national championship of golf in the United States. It is the third of the four major championships in golf, and is on the official schedule of both the PGA Tour and the European Tour. Since 1898 the competition has been 72 holes of stroke play (4 rounds on an 18-hole course), with the winner being the player with the lowest total number of strokes. It is staged by the United States Golf Association (USGA) in mid-June, scheduled so that, if there are no weather delays, the final round is played on the third Sunday. The U.S. Open is staged at a variety of courses, set up in such a way that scoring is very difficult, with a premium placed on accurate driving. As of 2019 the U.S. Open awards a $12.5 million purse, the largest of all 4 major championships and tied for largest of all PGA Tour events (The Players Championship also with $12.5 million).

The United States Open Championship, často uváděn také pod názvem "U.S. Open", je každoroční národní golfový šampionát ve Spojených státech amerických. Je druhým ze čtyř golfových major turnajů a pořádán v rámci oficiálního programu obour turnajů, PGA Tour i European Tour. Je pořádán Americkou golfovou asociací, United States Golf Association (USGA), v polovině června, naplánován tak, aby, pokud nedojde ke zpoždění zaviněným počasím, bylo finálové kolo odehráno třetí neděli, na Den otců. U.S. Open se pořádá na různých hřištích, vytvořen tak, aby bylo skórování velmi obtížné, s vysoce kvalitním a přesným odpalováním.


Structure.

Melanosomes are relatively large organelles, measuring up to 500 nm in diameter. They are bound by a bilipid membrane and are, in general, rounded, sausage-like, or cigar-like in shape. The shape is constant for a given species and cell type. They have a characteristic ultrastructure on electron microscopy, which varies according to the maturity of the melanosome, and for research purposes a numeric staging system is sometimes used.

Synthesis of melanin.

Melanosomes are dependent for their pigment on certain enzymes, especially tyrosinase, that synthesise the large polymers of melanin within the cell. Before it generates sufficient pigment to be seen on light microscopy it is known as a pre-melanosome.  Dysfunction or absence of the melanin-synthesising enzymes (in conditions such as Chédiak–Higashi syndrome) leads to various patterns of albinism.

Pseudopodia and tanning.

In some melanocytes, the melanosomes remain static within the cell. In others the cell can extend its surface lengthwise as temporary projections known as pseudopodia, which carry melanosomes away from the center of the cell, thereby increasing the cell's effectiveness in absorbing light.  The pseudopodial process (aka the "tanning" process) happens slowly in dermal melanocytes in response to ultraviolet light and to production of new melanosomes and increased "donation" of melanosomes to adjacent keratinocytes, which are typical skin surface cells. Donation occurs when some keratinocytes engulf the end of the melanocyte pseudopodia, which contain many melanosomes. Cytoplasmic dynein will carry the vesicles containing the melanin to the center of the cell, which causes melanosomes to sequester the keratinocyte's nucleus, providing optimal protection from UV rays. These changes are responsible for tanning of human skin after exposure to UV light or sunlight.

In animals.

In many species of fish, amphibians, crustaceans, and reptiles, melanosomes can be highly mobile within the cell in response to hormonal (or sometimes neural) control, which leads to visible changes in colour that are used for behavioural signaling or photoprotection.  Melanosomes found in certain fish species contain pigments that control the color of the fish's scales. Molecular motors, when signaled, will either carry melanosomes containing pigments out to the periphery of the cell, or concentrate them at the center. The motor protein dynein is responsible for concentrating the melanosomes toward the center of the cell, or the "minus end" of microtubules. Conversely, the protein kinesin is responsible for dispersing the melanosomes to the periphery of the cell, and are "plus end" directed motors. Because the plus ends of microtubules are oriented towards the periphery, kinesin will carry melanosomes to the periphery. Dispersing melanosomes to the periphery causes the cell to appear darker; concentrating melanosomes towards the center will cause the cell to appear lighter color. This is how a photoprotective system works for the fish on a molecular level.  Recently, melanosomes were found in spiders as well.  The beautiful and rapid colour changes seen in many cephalopods such as octopuses and squid, are based on a different system, the chromatophore organ.

In fossils.

Recent (2008) discoveries by Xu Xing, a Chinese paleontologist, include fossilized feathers in rock formations dating from the Jurassic period (200 to 150 million years ago) to the late Paleogene and Neogene periods (66 to 2 million years ago). The feathers contain preserved residues of carbon that were previously thought to be traces of bacteria that decomposed feather tissues; however these (residues) are in fact microscopic organic imprints of fossilized melanosomes. Some of these structures still maintain an iridescent color typical of feather and fur tissues. It is conjectured that these microscopic structures could be further studied to reveal the original colors and textures of softer tissues in fossils. "The discovery of ultra-structural detail in feather fossils opens up remarkable possibilities for the investigation of other features in soft-bodied fossils, like fur and even internal organs," said Derek Briggs of the Yale University study team.  Melanosomes were used to discover the true colors of fossil "Anchiornis huxleyi" by a collaborative team including members from the Beijing Museum of Natural History, Peking University, Yale University, the Peabody Museum of Natural History, the University of Akron, and the University of Texas at Austin.

Templating.

Melanosomes are believed to template melanin polymerization by way of amyloidogenesis of the protein Pmel17, which is present in abundant quantities in melanosomes.

A melanosome is an organelle found in animal cells and is the site for synthesis, storage and transport of melanin, the most common light-absorbing pigment found in the animal kingdom. Melanosomes are responsible for color and photoprotection in animal cells and tissues.

Melanozom je speciální organela, která slouží k tvorbě a shromažďování melaninu v pigmentových buňkách obratlovců. U člověka se nachází v melanocytech v kůži a v oku a v pigmentových epiteliálních buňkách sítnice.