History.

Vassal of the Great Khan (1226–1266).

When Genghis Khan died in 1227, his son Chagatai Khan inherited the regions roughly corresponding to the defunct Qara Khitai Empire: Issyk-Kul, Ili River, Chu River, Talas River, Transoxania, and the Tarim Basin. Chagatai was not fully independent in his khanate however and still received orders from Karakorum. When he dismissed the governor of Transoxania, Mahmud Yalavach, Ögedei Khan reinstated Mahmud, whose dynasty continued to administer the region even after the death of Chagatai. In 1238 there was a Muslim uprising in Bukhara, but Mahmud's son Mas'ud crushed it the next year before Mongol troops were able to arrive, thereby saving the populace from Mongol vengeance.  Chagatai Khan died in 1242 and was succeeded by his grandson Qara Hülegü, whose father Mutukan had been killed in 1221 during the Siege of Bamyan. Qara Hülegü was too young to rule independently so the widowed khatun Ebuskun ruled as regent in his place. In 1246, Güyük Khan replaced him with one of his uncles, Yesü Möngke.  Yesü Möngke came to power because he was a personal friend of Güyük Khan. He was a drunk who left the affairs of the state to his wife and minister Beha ad-Din Marghinani. In 1252 he was deposed by Möngke Khan, who installed Qara Hülegü again.  Qara Hülegü died on his way home and was succeeded by his son Mubarak Shah.  Mubarak Shah was too young to rule and state affairs were managed by his mother Orghana. In 1260, Ariq Böke replaced Mubarak Shah with Alghu, a grandson of Chagatai Khan. Alghu rebelled against Ariq Böke upon securing power and defected to Kublai Khan's side in the Toluid Civil War. Ariq Böke attacked him and while Alghu experienced initial success in fending off the Ariq Böke's army, was forced to flee to Samarkand in 1263. Ariq Böke devastated the Ili region in his absence. Alghu was able to recruit a new army with the aid of Orghana and Mas'ud Yalavach. He then went on to defeat an invasion by Kaidu and drive out Ariq Böke, who surrendered to Kublai in 1264. Alghu died in 1265 and Orghana placed her son, Mubarak Shah, on the throne once again.  Mubarak Shah was the first Chagatai khan to be converted to Islam. His rule was cut short by his cousin Ghiyas-ud-din Baraq, who deposed him with the support of Kublai Khan.

Reign of Kaidu (1266–1301).

Ghiyas-ud-din Baraq came into conflict with Kublai Khan on the administration of the Tarim Basin. Baraq drove out an agent sent by Kublai to govern the region and when Kublai sent a detachment of 6,000 horsemen, Baraq met them with 30,000 men, forcing them to retreat. Baraq also came into conflict with Kaidu, who enlisted the Golden Horde khan Mengu-Timur in attacking Baraq. With a Golden Horde army of 50,000 at his back, Kaidu forced Baraq to flee to Transoxania. In 1267, Baraq accepted peace with Kaidu, and relinquished the territory east of Transoxania. Kaidu then coerced Baraq into invading the Ilkhanate. Baraq attacked first, defeating Prince Buchin, the governor of Khorasan, and brother of Abaqa Khan. Abaqa rushed from Azerbaijan and defeated Baraq near Herat on 22 July 1270, forcing him to retreat. On the way back he fell from his horse and was crippled so he spent the winter in Bukhara where he died not long after. He converted to Islam before his death.  Baraq's four sons and two sons of Alghu rebelled against Kaidu in the wake of Baraq's death, but they were continually defeated. Kaidu enthroned Negübei as the khan in Transoxania. When Negübei rebelled, he was killed and replaced with another khan, Buqa Temür in 1274. It's not certain when Buqa Temür died, but after that, Baraq's son Duwa was enthroned as khan. Meanwhile Abaqa invaded Transoxania in 1272 and sacked Bukhara, carrying off 50,000 captives.  In 1275, Duwa joined Kaidu in the war against the Yuan dynasty but were repelled. In 1295, Duwa invaded the Punjab and devastated the region. Several invasions of the Delhi Sultanate also occurred but none were able to make any headway. In September 1298, Duwa captured Temür Khan's son-in-law, Korguz, and put him to death, but immediately after that suffered a disastrous defeat by Yuan forces. In 1301 they were defeated again in an attack on Karakorum and Kaidu died during the retreat.

Foreign wars (1301–1325).

After Kaidu's death in 1301, both Duwa and Kaidu's son Chapar recognized Yuan authority in 1303. However Duwa threw off his allegiance to Chapar. Both the Yuan dynasty and Duwa attacked Chapar, forcing him to surrender his territory to Duwa in 1306. Meanwhile, Prince Turghai invaded the Delhi Sultanate in 1303 and looted the Delhi region. In 1304 they invaded again but suffered a crushing defeat. Duwa died soon after and was succeeded by his son Könchek, who ruled only for a year and a half before he died. One of Buqa Temür's brothers, Taliqu, seized power, but Duwa's family rebelled and killed him at a banquet. Duwa's younger son Kebek became khan. Kebek invaded the Delhi Sutunate again in 1305, looting the Multan region, but suffered a defeat on the way back. Chapar took advantage of the political turmoil to attack Kebek but was defeated and fled to the Yuan dynasty. Another kuriltai was held in the Chagatai Khanate, which elected another of Duwa's sons, Esen Buqa I, who took the throne ceded by Kebek. In 1315, Esen Buqa invaded the Ilkhanate in support of Duwa's grandson, Dawud Khoja, who had set himself up in eastern Afghanistan. He defeated an Ilkhanate army on the Murgab and reached as far as Herat, but was forced to retreat when the Yuan dynasty attacked him from the east. The Yuan army devastated the Issyk-Kul region. In 1315 the Chagatayid prince Yasa'ur defected to the Ilkhanate, only to rebel, taking Khorasan. Both Chagatai and Ilkhanate forces attacked Yasa'ur. He was killed as he fled. Esen Buqa I died in 1318, at which point Kebek returned to power. He made peace with the Ilkhanate and the Yuan dynasty and reigned until 1325.

Religious conflict (1325-1338).

Kebek was succeeded by his three brothers in succession. Eljigidey and Duwa Temür each reigned for only a few months. Tarmashirin (1326–1334) converted to Islam and raided the Delhi Sultanate, reaching as far as Delhi. Tarmashirin was brought down by an anti-Muslim rebellion of the eastern tribes. A son of Duwa, Changshi, was enthroned in 1335. One of his sons was baptized. Pope Benedict XII appointed the Franciscan Richard of Burgundy to Almalik in 1339 but he was killed by Muslims in the Ili region. Giovanni de' Marignolli, a papal legate, arrived in the Ili valley the following year on his way to the Yuan dynasty. He built a church and baptized some people during his stay but the presence of Christianity did not last much longer after his departure.

Transition to Moghulistan (1338–1363).

The khanate became increasingly unstable in the following years and split in two during the 1340s. Transoxania was ruled by Qazan Khan ibn Yasaur. In 1346 a tribal chief, Amir Qazaghan, killed Qazan and set up Danishmendji as puppet khan. Dnishmendji was killed a year later and replaced with Bayan Qulï. Qazaghan made Herat a tributary in 1351. He was assassinated in 1357 and was succeeded by his son Abdullah, who killed Bayan Qulï in 1358. This aroused the anger of local lords such as Hajji Beg, the uncle of Tamerlane. Hajji drove out Abdullah to the Hindu Kush, where he died. From then on the Chagatayid khans of Transoxania served as nothing more but figureheads until it was annexed by the Timurid Empire.  In the east, the powerful Dughlats enthroned a son of Esen Buqa I, Tughlugh Timur as khan of Moghulistan in 1347. In 1350, Tughlugh converted to Islam. In 1360, Tughlugh invaded Transoxania and conquered it. Hajji Beg fled in the face of overwhelming power. The future conqueror Timur entered Tughlugh's service and was appointed ruler of Shahr-i Sebz. After Tughlugh left Transoxania, Hajji Beg returned in force, only to be driven away again by Tughlugh. Hajji Beg was killed near Sebzewar. As a result Timur came to power. Tughlugh expanded his territory into Afghanistan by defeating Amir Husayn. Thus the Chagatai Khanate was restored under Tughlugh. Following his death in 1363, Timur and Amir Husayn took over Transoxiana. Timur and Amir Husayn forced Tughlugh's successor Ilyas Khoja out of Transoxania, and then Timur eliminated Amir Husayn as well, gaining mastery over Transoxiana (1369–1405). Like his predecessors, Timur maintained a puppet khan on the throne to legitimatize his rule, but his khans were members of the house of Ögedei rather than descendants of Chagatai.

Moghulistan (1363–1487).

Ilyas Khoja attacked Timur in 1364 and defeated him on the north bank of the Syr Darya. He then besieged Samarkand but suffered harsh attrition due to an epidemic so that by the next year he was forced to retreat from Transoxania. The Dughlat Qamar-ud-din Khan Dughlat rebelled and killed Ilyas Khoja in 1368, taking the throne for himself. Ilyas Khoja's brother Khizr Khoja fled to Turpan where he set up his own independent realm and converted the last Uyghurs there to Islam. In 1375, Timur invaded Moghulistan, looting the Ili region. Qamar retaliated by raiding Fergana until Timur put him to flight. Timur fell into an ambush and barely escaped, retreating to Samarkand. Timur attacked again in 1376 and 1383 but both times failed to capture the Moghul khan. In 1389 Timur attacked Khizr Khoja instead and forced him to flee into the Gobi Desert. In 1390 Timur invaded Moghulistan and once again failed to find Qamar, but Qamar, having fled, was never heard of again. Khizr Khoja returned to Moghulistan and assumed power once more. He gave his daughter in marriage to Timur and made peace with him in 1397. Khizr Khoja died in 1399 and was succeeded by his three sons in succession: Shams-i-Jahan (1399–1408), Muhammad Khan (1408–1415)), and Naqsh-i-Jahan (1415–1418). Upon Khizr Khoja's death, Timur took the opportunity to send another army to pillage Moghul lands.  Uwais Khan came to power in 1418. During his reign he waged war on the Oirats and was taken prisoner by their leader Esen Taishi. Due to Uwais' royal lineage, Esen Taishi treated him with respect and released him. Uwais suffered two more defeats against the Oirats and was captured a second time. He was let go after sending his sister as hostage to Esen Taishi's family. Uwais died in 1429. Two factions supporting his two sons Yunus Khan and Esen Buqa II quarreled over the throne with Esen Buqa II emerging as the victor. Yunus fled to Samarkand. Under Esen Buqa II, the powerful Dughlat Sayyid Ali, who had helped him to the throne, became very influential and held both Kucha and Kashgar. In 1451, Esen Buqa II raided the northern border of the Timurid Empire. The Timurid ruler Abu Sa'id Mirza schemed to split the Moghuls in two, so he summoned Yunus in 1456 and supported his authority in the Ili region. Yunus tried to conquer Kashgar but was repelled by Sayyid Ali and Esen Buqa II. Esen Buqa II died in 1462. His son Dost Muhammad was an inexperienced 17 year old. He plundered the territory of the Dughlats. By the time he died in 1469, his realm was in general revolt. Yunus took advantage of the situation to capture the Moghul capital Aksu. Dost Muhammad's young son Kebek Sultan was taken to Turpan, where he was proclaimed khan. Four years later, he was put to death by his followers and brought to Yunus. Yunus thus became the sole ruler of Moghulistan in 1472.  Yunus' reign began with a raid by the Oirats under Esen Taishi's son Amasanj, who forced Yunus to flee to the Syr Darya. Yunus returned after the Oirats left with their pillage. In 1465, Yunus faced a rebellion by Mirza Abu Bakr Dughlat, who seized Yarkand and Khotan. Yunus attempted twice to remove to Abu Bakr but was defeated both times in 1479 and 1480, after which Abu Bakr also seized Kashgar. In the west, Yunus captured Hami from Kara Del, which was then a tributary of the Ming dynasty. A Ming army evicted the Moghuls from the city but failed to catch them, and they soon returned to Hami afterwards. Yunus also took advantage of political infighting in the west to vassalize Umar Shaikh Mirza II's realm in Fergana. Yunus moved to Tashkent in 1484 and settled down, giving up the nomadic way of life. His nomadic followers became alarmed by this action and departed for the steppes, taking with them Yunus' second son Ahmad Alaq. When Yunus died in 1486, his realm was divided between the Yarkent Khanate, ruled by Mahmud Khan in the west, and the Turpan Khanate, ruled by Ahmad Alaq in the northeast.

Turpan Khanate (1487–1570).

Ahmad Alaq's reduced nomadic realm came into frequent conflict with the Oirats, Kyrgyz people, and Kazakhs. According to the "Tarikh-i Rashidi", the Oirats called him "Alasha", "the Killer". In 1482, Hami was restored to Kara Del under Qanšin, but in 1488, Ahmad killed Qanšin and retook the city. The next year Ahmad was driven out of Hami. In 1493, Ahmad captured Kara Del's ruler Šamba and held him prisoner. Šamba's received support from the Ming dynasty, which closed its borders to Turpan and expelled its traders from their markets, which eventually forced Ahmad to give up his ambitions in Hami due to unrest in his realm. In 1499 Ahmad retook Kashgar and Yengisar from Mirza Abu Bakr Dughlat.  Around 1500, Muhammad Shaybani attacked Ahmad's brother Mahmud Khan, who appealed to Ahmad for help. Muhammad defeated both Ahmad and Mahmud, seizing Tashkent and Sairam. Ahmad was captured but released soon after. He died of paralysis in Aksu a year later. His brother Mansur Khan succeeded him. His reign began with difficulties with the powerful Dughlat of Kashgar, Mirza Abu Bakr Dughlat, plundering the cities of Kucha and Aksu. In 1514, Mansur's brother Sultan Said Khan captured Kashgar, Yarkand, and Khotan from Abu Bakr and forced him to flee to Ladakh. This marked the final separation of Moghulistan into two realms, with Said situated in Kashgar, and Mansur in Turpan, otherwise known as Uyghuristan.  In 1513, Kara Del submitted to Mansur and in 1517 Mansur moved to Hami permanently, where he launched raids against the Ming dynasty. Mansur was succeeded in 1545 by his son Shah Khan. Shah fought with his brother Muhammad, who seized part of Hami and allied with the Oirats. Shah died in 1560 and Muhammad succeeded him. Muhammad had to fight against a third brother, Sufi Sultan, who tried to enlist the Ming in support of his claim to the throne. After Muhammad's death in 1570, the Turpan Khanate fades from historical texts. The last thing heard of them are embassies sent from Turpan to Beijing in 1647 and 1657. The Qing dynasty regarded them as embassies from a genuine Chagatayid.

Yarkent Khanate (1487–1705).

In the west, Mahmud Khan ruled from Tashkent over the Yarkent Khanate. In 1488, the Timurids of Samarkand tried to recover Tashkent but were defeated by Mahmud. In 1487, Mahmud gave refuge to Muhammad Shaybani, who then seized Bukhara and Samarkand from the Timurids in 1500, making himself ruler of Transoxania. Muhammad immediately turned against Mahmud, who called his brother Ahmad Alaq for help, and defeated both the Moghul khans and took them prisoner. He released them soon after but kept Tashkent and Sairam. Ahmad died soon after. Mahmud was captured again in 1508 and put to death, marking the last time the Chagatayids were ejected from Transoxania.  In 1514, Mansur Khan's brother Sultan Said Khan captured Kashgar, Yarkand, and Khotan from Mirza Abu Bakr Dughlat, who had ruled in Mahmud's absence, and forced him to flee to Ladakh. This marked the final separation of Moghulistan into two realms, with Said situated in Kashgar, and Mansur in Turpan, otherwise known as Uyghuristan. In 1529, Said attacked Badakhshan, and in 1531, he invaded Ladakh. During the campaign, Said fell ill from altitude sickness and died in July 1533 on the homeward journey. He was succeeded by his son Abdurashid Khan. Abdurashid came into conlift with the Dughlats and persecuted one of their leaders, Sayyid Muhammad-mirza. Abdurashid spent his reign fighting the Kyrgyz people and the Kazakhs, who made incursions on the Ili region and Issyk Kul. He was ultimately unsuccessful in preventing the Kyrgyz-Kazakhs from seizing the Ili region. Abdurashid was succeeded in 1565 by his son Abdul Karim Khan, who shifted the capital to Yarkand. Abdul was succeeded in 1590 by his brother Muhammad Sultan, who repelled an invasion by the Khanate of Bukhara under Abdullah Khan II. Muhammad died in 1610 and was succeeded by his son Shudja ad Din Ahmad Khan, who was assassinated in 1619, and replaced by Abd al-Latif (Afak) Khan. Abd al-Latif (Afak) Khan was succeeded by his nephew Sultan Ahmad Khan (Pulat Khan) in 1631. Pulat was overthrown by Abdallah (Moghul Khan) in 1636. Abdallah stabilized the court and exiled a number of old nobles to India. He repelled Oirat inroads in the Khotan and Aksu regions, and entered a tributary relationship with the Qing dynasty in 1655. Friendly relations were also established with Bukhara and the Mughal Empire. In 1667, Abdallah's son Yulbars Khan removed his father from power.  From the late 16th century onward, the Yarkent Khanate fell under the influence of the Khojas. The Khojas were Muslims who claimed descent from the prophet Muhammad or from the first four Arab caliphs. By the reign of Said in the early 16th century, the Khojas already had a strong influence in court and over the khan. In 1533, an especially influential Khoja named Makhdum-i Azam arrived in Kashgar, where he settled and had two sons. These two sons hated each other and they passed down their mutual hatred down to their children. The two lineages came to dominate large parts of the khanate, splitting it between two factions: the Aq Taghliq (White Mountain) in Kashgar and the Qara Taghliq (Black Mountain) in Yarkand. Yulbars patronized the Aq Taghliqs and suppressed the Qara Taghliqs, which caused much resentment, and resulted in his assassination in 1670. He was succeeded by his son who ruled for only a brief period before Ismail Khan was enthroned. Ismail reversed the power struggle between the two Muslim factions and drove out the Aq Taghliq leader, Afaq Khoja. Afaq fled to Tibet, where the 5th Dalai Lama aided him in enlisting the help of Galdan Boshugtu Khan, ruler of the Dzungar Khanate.  In 1680, Galdan led 120,000 Dzungars into the Yarkent Khanate. They were aided by the Aq Taghliqs and Hami and Turpan, which had already submitted to the Dzungars. Ismail's son Babak Sultan died in the resistance against them in the battle for Kashgar. The general Iwaz Beg died in the defense of Yarkand. The Dzungars defeated the Moghul forces without much difficulty and took Ismail and his family prisoner. Galdan installed Abd ar-Rashid Khan II, son of Babak, as puppet khan. The new khan forced Afaq Khoja to flee again, but Abd ar-Rashid's reign was also ended unceremoniously two years later when riots erupted in Yarkand. He was replaced by his brother Muhammad Imin Khan. Muhammad sought help from the Qing dynasty, Khanate of Bukhara, and the Mughal Empire in combating the Dzungars. In 1693, Muhammad conducted a successful attack on the Dzungar Khanate, taking 30,000 captives. Unfortunately Afaq Khoja appeared again and overthrew Muhammad in a revolt led by his followers. Afaq's son Yahiya Khoja was enthroned but his reign was cut short in 1695 when both he and his father were killed while suppressing local rebellions. In 1696, Akbash Khan was placed on the throne, but the begs of Kashgar refused to recognize him, and instead allied with the Kyrgyz to attack Yarkand, taking Akbash prisoner. The begs of Yarkand went to the Dzungars, who sent troops and ousted the Kyrgyz in 1705. The Dzungars installed a non-Chagatayid ruler Mirza Alim Shah Beg, thereby ending the rule of Chagatai khans forever.

Government.

The Chagatai Mongols remained mostly nomadic in their mode of government and did not settle down in urban centers until the late 15th century. The Mongols of the Chagatai Khanate treated the urban dwellers of Transoxania and the Tarim Basin as dependencies.

The Chagatai Khanate (Mongolian: Цагаадайн Хаант Улс, "Tsagadaina Khaanat Ulus", ) or Chagatai Ulus, was a Mongol and later Turkicized khanate that comprised the lands ruled by Chagatai Khan, second son of Genghis Khan and his descendants and successors. At its height in the late 13th century, the khanate extended from the Amu Darya south of the Aral Sea to the Altai Mountains in the border of modern-day Mongolia and China, roughly corresponding to the defunct Qara Khitai Empire. Initially the rulers of the Chagatai Khanate recognized the supremacy of the Great Khan, but by the reign of Kublai Khan, Ghiyas-ud-din Baraq no longer obeyed the emperor's orders. During the mid-14th century, the Chagatais lost Transoxania to the Timurids. The reduced realm came to be known as Moghulistan, which lasted until the late 15th century when it broke off into the Yarkent Khanate and Turpan Khanate. In 1680, the remaining Chagatai domains lost their independence to the Dzungar Khanate and in 1705, the last Chagatai khan was removed from power, ending the dynasty of Chagatai.

Čagatajův ulus (lid) nebo Čagatajský chanát byl turko-mongolský stát ve Střední Asii. Existoval v letech 1227 až 1687. Vznikl osamostatněním na Mongolské říši. V roce 1360 ztratil západní polovinu svého území ve prospěch Tamerlánovy říše, avšak přežil až do 17. století. Vládnoucí dynastií byli potomci Čagataje, druhého syna dobyvatele Čingischána. Alguovi následníci - Mubarak a Borak, vyhledávali užší vztahy s obyvateli oblastí přijetím islámu. Navzdory tomu, že od počátku Čagatajovy vlády byl islám bezmála po sto let zakazován, se roku 1326 stal oficiálním náboženstvím Čagatajova ulusu.


Host city selection.

Cortina d'Ampezzo is a ski resort village situated in the Dolomite Alps in the north-eastern corner of Italy. In 1956, it had a population of 6,500 people. Count Alberto Bonacossa, an accomplished alpine skier, figure skater and a member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) since 1925, spearheaded the effort to bring the Olympic Games to Cortina d'Ampezzo. He persuaded the city council of Cortina to bid for the 1944 Games. During the 38th IOC Congress held in London in 1939, Cortina d'Ampezzo was awarded the 1944 Winter Olympics, but the Games were canceled due to the outbreak of World War II.  In 1946 the Italian Winter Sports Federation convened in Milan and decided to support a new attempt from Cortina to host the Winter Games. A delegation, led by Count Bonacossa, presented Cortina's bid to host the 1952 Winter Olympics at the 40th IOC Session in Stockholm, Sweden. They were backed by the city's council and the Italian National Olympic Committee (CONI, "Comitato Olimpico Nazionale Italiano"). A rival bid from Oslo, Norway, soundly defeated Cortina. Count Bonacossa's and CONI prepared a third bid, this time for the 1956 Winter Games. The host city selection took place in Rome, during the 43rd IOC Session. On 28 April 1949, Cortina d'Ampezzo was selected with 75% of the votes, over bids from Montreal, Colorado Springs and Lake Placid. Unfortunately, Bonacossa died on 30 January 1953, three years before he could witness Cortina host the Games.

Participating nations.

A total of 32 nations sent athletes to Cortina d'Ampezzo. Along with the Soviet Union, Bolivia and Iran competed at the Winter Games for the first time, making Bolivia the first completely Tropical nation to participate in a Winter Olympic. Korea, Liechtenstein, and Turkey returned after having missed the 1952 Winter Olympics, while Argentina, Denmark, New Zealand, and Portugal did not compete at these Games, after having participated in the previous edition. Athletes from West Germany (FRG) and East Germany (GDR) competed together as the United Team of Germany, an arrangement that would continue for the following two Olympiads.  Below is the list of participating nations, with the number of competitors indicated in brackets:

Number of athletes by National Olympic Committees.

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Medal count.

These are the top ten nations that won medals at the 1956 Winter Olympics:

Organization.

The 1956 Winter Olympics was organised by a committee composed of members of the Italian National Olympic Committee and the Italian government. Observers were sent to the Oslo Games in 1952 to collect information regarding the sports programme, infrastructure, and accommodation requirements. The intelligence gathered there indicated that Cortina's facilities were not up to Olympic standards. The town did not have an ice stadium, or a speed skating rink; the alpine ski runs, ski jump and bobsleigh run were in poor condition. Cortina was a small village, and its infrastructure would be overwhelmed by the crowds expected for the Games. To accommodate the influx of people, new roads and rail lines had to be built, and the city's power grid and telephone lines expanded. Enhancements also had to be made to sewer and water capacity. The Italian government supplied Italian lira 460 million for infrastructure improvements. The Italian Olympic Committee was responsible for funding the rest of the costs of hosting the Games. They did this by setting aside monies from their own budget, ticket sales, and even culling funds from local football betting pools. The organising committee also took the unprecedented step of selling corporate sponsorship. For example, Fiat was designated the official car of the 1956 Winter Olympics, and Olivetti supplied typewriters for the 400 journalists attending the Games.

Politics.

The Cold War began after the allied victory in World War II. Until 1952, many of the Communist countries of Eastern Europe had participated in Worker's Olympics or Spartakiads. The Soviet Union emerged from international isolation by eschewing the Spartakiad and participating in the 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki; they made their Winter Olympics debut at the Cortina Games. Soviet general secretary Nikita Khrushchev's aim was to use international sports competitions, such as the Olympics, to demonstrate the superiority of communism, strengthen political ties with other communist countries, and project the Soviet Union as a peace-loving nation actively engaged in the world. The Soviets' participation at the Olympics raised the level of competition as they won the most medals and more gold medals than any other nation. The Cortina Games were held before the Hungarian Revolution and subsequent Soviet invasion, and the Suez War, which occurred in the autumn of 1956; the Winter Games escaped the boycotts that plagued the Melbourne Olympics, which were celebrated in November and December of that year.

Television.

The Cortina Games were the first Winter Olympics to be broadcast to a multi-national audience. Television as a mass communication technology was expanding rapidly in the 1950s. In the midst of the Cold War, Europe was a propaganda battlefield as countries relayed television signals across the Iron Curtain. By 1956, countries in the Soviet sphere of influence had achieved a technological advantage and were able to broadcast communist television programmes into Finland, the eastern border regions and more isolated geographic areas of West Germany and Austria, where residents had coverage from an East German broadcast with a pro-communist point-of-view. Most West Germans watched the 1956 Winter Olympics via Eurovision broadcasts which were relayed all over western Europe including all major West German stations (Eurovision connectivity in 1956) The political ramifications were not the only impact television had these Olympics. The Cortina Games did not generate revenue from television – the 1960 Winter Olympics in Squaw Valley were the first to do so – but were an experiment in the feasibility of televising a large multi-sport event. For the first time at an Olympic Games, the venues were built with television in mind. For example, the grand stand at the cross-country ski venue ("Lo Stadio della neve") was built facing south so that the television cameras would not be adversely affected by the rising or setting sun.

Events.

Medals were awarded in 24 events contested in 4 sports (8 disciplines). The programme for the 1956 Winter Games saw two new events added to the four sports and twenty-two events from the 1952 Olympics, namely the men's 30 kilometre cross-country ski race and the women's 3x5 kilometre cross-country relay race.

Opening ceremonies.

The opening ceremonies took place on Thursday, 26 January 1956 in the Olympic Ice Stadium. Temporary seating was added to boost the stadium's capacity to 14,000 people. Athletes representing 32 nations marched in the ceremony and Mr Giovanni Gronchi, President of the Italian Republic, declared the Games open. At this point, speed skater Guido Caroli skated into the stadium with the Olympic flame. While he was on a circuit of the Ice Stadium he tripped and fell over a television cable; he regained his feet and lit the cauldron. The Olympic oath was delivered by Giuliana Chenal-Minuzzo; this was the first time a female athlete gave the oath at an Olympic Games. The Olympic Hymn, officially recognised as such at the IOC congress in Paris on 13 June 1955, was played for the first time at the Cortina Games.

Bobsleigh.

There were two bobsleigh events, the two-man and four-man competitions. Every participating nation was limited to two sleighs in each event. The sleighs made four runs, with the total time summed. The Italians won gold and silver in the two-man event. Switzerland took third place when they passed Spain on the fourth run. In the four-man event held a week later, the Swiss won the gold medal, Italy picked up the silver, and the United States won the bronze. Italy had participated in all six previous Olympic bobsleigh competitions but had never reached the podium. Italians Renzo Alverà and Eugenio Monti won the silver in the two-man competition and were also on the silver-winning four-man sleigh. Monti's silver medals at the 1956 Games were the first of six Olympic medals he would win in his bobsleigh career. The bobsleigh run at Cortina was eventually renamed the Eugenio Monti track to honour his bobsleigh career. The medals won in bobsleigh would be the host nation's only medals at these Games. One complaint of the bobsleigh events was that the track surface suffered extensive damage due to overuse. This hampered the performance of teams drawn late in the competition.

Ice hockey.

The eighth Olympic ice hockey tournament also served as both the European and World Championships. Split into three pools before the tournament, the ten participating nations began by playing each team in their pool in a round robin format. The top two teams from each pool advanced to the final round, with the remaining teams played in a consolation group for 7th through 10th places. Canada, Czechoslovakia, and the Soviet Union took first place in their preliminary pools with undefeated records. Germany, the United States, and Sweden took second place in their pools.  An important early matchup of the final round was the game between Canada and the United States. The Canadians had never lost to the US in Olympic play prior to that game. In what was considered a tremendous upset, the United States defeated Canada 4–1. The Americans, who placed fourth at the 1955 World Ice Hockey Championships and were not expected to medal, then faced the USSR, who won the tournament in 1954 and took silver in 1955 behind Canada, in a game that would eventually make the difference in the gold medal. The Soviets overwhelmed the underdogs and won the match 4–0. The USSR then played Canada, who still had a chance to win the gold if they defeated the Soviets, and won 2–0 despite being dramatically outshot in the first and second periods. The USSR won gold, the United States surprisingly took silver and Canada, with their two losses, earned bronze, their worst result to date in Olympic play.

Figure skating.

The Cortina Games were the last Olympics to feature figure skating outdoors. Skaters from the United States won five medals, sweeping the men's event and taking the top two spots in the ladies' event. Tenley Albright was the women's Olympic champion despite sustaining a serious injury in practice. Less than two weeks before the Olympics she was practicing her skating routine when she hit a rut in the ice and fell. Her skate cut through several layers of clothing, and sliced her right leg at the ankle. Her teammate Carol Heiss won the silver, and Austrian Ingrid Wendl earned the bronze medal. Americans Hayes Jenkins, Ronald Robertson, and Jenkins' brother David Jenkins were the men's medallists. The Austrian pair of Sissy Schwarz and Kurt Oppelt took the gold medal in the pairs event. Canadians Frances Dafoe and Norris Bowden won the silver and the Hungarian siblings Marianna Nagy and László Nagy defended their bronze medal from the 1952 Games.

Speed skating.

The Soviet Union dominated the speed skating events by winning seven of the twelve medals, including four golds. Soviet skaters set two world records, an Olympic record, and had at least one medallist in each of the four events. Yevgeny Grishin was the top individual performer, with two gold medals and two world records. Grishin and Soviet teammate Yuri Mikhaylov tied in the 1,500 metre race. It was decided to award both of the athletes gold medals and leave the silver medal position vacant. Sigvard Ericsson of Sweden earned gold and silver medals and set an Olympic record in the 10,000 metre event.

Alpine skiing.

Six alpine skiing events were held, three for men and three for women. The races were the downhill, slalom and giant slalom. Toni Sailer of Austria swept the men's gold medals, becoming the first person to win three alpine skiing golds in a single Olympics. Led by Sailer, the Austrians dominated the alpine skiing events for both men and women, winning nine out of a possible eighteen medals. The Austrians were particularly successful in the giant slalom; the men swept the medals and the women took silver and bronze. Chiharu Igaya won the first Winter Olympics medal for Japan when he placed second in the slalom. Swiss teammates, Madeleine Berthod and Renée Colliard won the women's downhill and slalom races. Germany earned its only gold medal of the Games when Ossi Reichert took first in the giant slalom.

Cross-country skiing.

Two women's events were added to the cross-country skiing programme for the first time. The Soviet women took the top two spots in the individual 10 kilometre race but lost to Finland in the new 3x5 kilometre relay. The men had a new event as well, the 30 kilometre race, which was won by Veikko Hakulinen from Finland. The other three men's events were won by three different nations: Norway took the 15 kilometre race, Sweden the 50 kilometre event, and the Soviet Union won the relay. Overall the Soviet Union won seven out of a possible eighteen medals in cross-country skiing. Sweden, behind the strong skiing of Sixten Jernberg, won six medals. Jernberg won a gold, two silvers, and a bronze, which were the first of nine Olympic medals he would earn in his cross-country career.

Nordic combined.

There were significant changes to the Nordic combined event at the 1956 Games. The event had always been a cross-country race followed by a ski jump. Originally the competitors in the Nordic combined were entered into the open 18 kilometre cross-country race, which meant that they competed alongside athletes who were dedicated cross-country skiers. Their times were combined with their score from two ski jumps to determine the winner. At the Cortina Games, the format was altered to allow the Nordic combined athletes to compete in a dedicated 15 kilometre cross-country race. Two days later they had three jumps on the ski jump hill. Their best two scores were combined with their cross-country time to determine a winner. This format would become the standard for Nordic combined competitions going forward. Norway continued its dominance of Nordic combined when Sverre Stenersen won the gold medal. Since its inception at the 1924 Games, the country had only lost the Nordic combined event once. Stenersen was followed by Bengt Eriksson of Sweden and Poland's Franciszek Gąsienica Groń.

Ski jumping.

In the ski jumping event, the Swiss jumper, Andreas Däscher introduced a new style of jumping, which would soon come to be known as the Däscher technique. Before these Games, the athletes would hold their arms forward over their heads. Däscher reasoned that if the athlete held his arms at his side he would fly farther. Adherents to this new style dominated the competition. Finnish jumpers Antti Hyvärinen and Aulis Källakorpi took first and second place; Harry Glass of Germany won the bronze medal. This competition marked the end of Norwegian dominance in the sport. Since the first winter Games in 1924, the Norwegians had won the gold medal at each Olympics until 1956. The poor performance of the Norwegian jumpers was attributed to their refusal to use the new jumping technique.

Closing ceremonies.

The closing ceremonies took place on Sunday, 5 February in the Olympic Ice Stadium. They were preceded by a figure skating exhibition performed by the men's, women's, and pairs figure skating champions. The flag bearers of each nation then entered the stadium followed by the flags of Greece, Italy, and the United States. These three flags were raised to honor the nation that founded the Olympics, the host nation, and the next country to host the Winter Games. Avery Brundage, President of the International Olympic Committee, declared the Olympics closed, and a fireworks display concluded the Games.

Calendar.

The opening ceremony was held on 26 January, along with the first games of the hockey tournament. From 27 January until 5 February, the day of the closing ceremony, at least one event final was held each day.  † The numeral indicates the number of event finals for each sport held that day.

Venues.

A unique feature of the Cortina Olympics was the proximity of many event locations which were in walking distance of each other within the town of Cortina. The speed skating events were held at Lake Misurina, roughly from Cortina. The venues featured grandstands heated by silica coils built into the seats. Silica coil heating was a technology that had only recently become economical. The competitions were held without incident except for the skiing events, which suffered from a lack of snow.  A notable venue not found at the 1956 Games was an Olympic Village, where the athletes would be housed. The town of Cortina d'Ampezzo had a population of less than 7,000 people in 1956. Local hotels were concerned that after the Olympics an Olympic Village would so significantly increase the hotel capacity it would put many of them out of business. Athletes were billeted by local families or stayed in hotels during the Games.  The Olympic Ice Stadium ("Stadio Olimpico Del Ghiaccio") was intended to be the focal point of the Games. It was built on the banks of the Boite river just north of Cortina. After new roads and a bridge had been constructed, the stadium was an eight-minute walk from the center of town. The stadium was built to accommodate 6,000–7,000 people. Due to space limitations the grandstands were constructed vertically, with tiers built directly on top of each other. There were two artificial ice rinks of, with a total ice surface of. A special cooling plant was built under the stadium, which froze the ice through the evaporation of ammonia. The construction cost totaled ITL 1.3 billion (US$2.1 million in 1956), making it the most expensive venue of these Games. The stadium was used for the opening and closing ceremonies, all of the figure skating competitions and select ice hockey events. After the Games, the organising committee made the Ice Stadium a gift to the city of Cortina. It was used as an ice skating rink in the winter and an outdoor gymnasium for judo and gymnastics in the summer.  The "Apollonio Stadium" was used for select games of the ice hockey tournament. Considerable work had to be done to bring the stadium up to date. A second rink was added to allow for two games to be held simultaneously. The stadium was outfitted with electric lights and the seating capacity was enlarged to accommodate 2,000 people.  The bobsleigh run ("Pista Olimpica di Bob – Eugenio Monti"), was originally constructed in 1928. The track was rebuilt and expanded several times during the years leading up to the Olympics. A state-of-the-art signal board was installed displaying a diagram of the run with the position of each sleigh on the run shown with lights.  Situated around from Cortina, near Zuel, the "Italia" Jump ("Trampolino Olimpico Italia") was originally built in 1923 as the "Franchetti" Jump. After modifications in 1926, the first structure was demolished in 1939 and rebuilt in 1940. With the 1956 Games coming to Cortina, the jump had to be updated again to comply with the technical demands of the Olympics. On 15 April 1955, the "Franchetti" Jump was finally demolished and the new "Italia Jump" was completed in the same year at a cost of nearly ITL 310 million ($500,000). The reinforced concrete platform was high, and possessed a long, 35° steep in-run. Two grandstands, each with a capacity for 3,000 people, were placed on either side of the landing slope; a natural amphiteatre at the bottom of the hill could hold up to 40,000 standing spectators. A special road was built between Cortina and the venue for the transport of athletes, officials and authorities.  The Snow Stadium ("Stadio della neve") was constructed from Cortina, and hosted all of the cross-country events. Two grandstands were constructed to accommodate 6,000 people. Three types of cross-country courses were constructed: one of, three of, and four of. Some of these courses went through the bobsleigh run. As a result, a bridge had to be constructed so events occurring in the two venues would not interfere with each other.  The alpine runs ("Le piste alpine") were built on the slopes of Monte Tofana and Monte Faloria in the nearby Dolomite alps. The men's and women's downhill and slalom races were held on Tofana. Faloria was the site of the two giant slalom events. It took nearly two years to complete construction of the runs. In previous years, lack of snow was never an issue, but in the winter of 1956 there was insufficient snowfall for skiers to safely navigate the runs. As a consequence, snow had to be transported from other parts of the mountains by the Italian army.  The Misurina rink ("La pista di Misurina") was the location of the speed skating events. This was the last time that speed skating at the Olympics was held on natural ice. It was from Cortina. The rink was established at the northern end of the lake with a mountain backdrop. Stands were constructed to accommodate 8,500 people. Despite the event being held outdoors on lake ice, two world records and two Olympic records were broken during the competition.  Three of the venues for these games (the bobsleigh run, indoor arena, and ski jump) would serve as film location for the 1981 James Bond film "For Your Eyes Only".

The 1956 Winter Olympics (, ) officially known as the VII Olympic Winter Games (, ), was a multi-sport event held in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, from 26 January to 5 February 1956.

Zimní olympijské hry 1956 (oficiálně VII. zimní olympijské hry) probíhaly od 26. ledna do 5. února v Italském městě, Cortina d'Ampezzo. Tyto hry byly unikátní z několika důvodů: všechna sportoviště až na jedno byly od sebe velmi málo vzdálené, hry byly první, které se spoléhaly na sponzory, a byly první zimní olympijské hry, které se vysílaly v televizi.


Background.

Cyrus is a singer-songwriter and actress who starred on the Disney Channel television series "Hannah Montana" as Miley Stewart, a girl with a secret double life as the popstar Hannah Montana. Through the television series, Cyrus developed fame as a teen idol and released music credited to Hannah Montana. Cyrus' debut studio album, titled "Meet Miley Cyrus", was released as the second disc of the "" (2007) double-disc album. In order to promote the album, Cyrus embarked on her debut tour, the Best of Both Worlds Tour (2007–08), a North American tour where she performed both under character, as Hannah Montana, and as herself. With the release of Cyrus' second studio album, "Breakout" (2008), her first not be affiliated with the "Hannah Montana" franchise, and an extended play (EP) "The Time of Our Lives" (2009), Cyrus decided to embark on tour again with the Wonder World Tour, however, without incorporating performances as Hannah Montana, a step which the media interpreted as furthering her distance from the "Hannah Montana" franchise.  The concert tour was announced alongside Cyrus' joint apparel line with Max Azria on June 3, 2009, through various outlets, including Miley's Twitter account, a press release, and MileyWorld, Cyrus' official fan club. It was confirmed that the tour would be sponsored by American retailing company Wal-Mart and promoted by AEG Live. It would expand throughout the United States, from September 14, 2009 in Portland, Oregon to December 2, 2009 in Miami, Florida, with a total of forty-five dates. Alternative rock band Metro Station, where Cyrus' older brother, Trace Cyrus, integrates in, was confirmed as the opening act for all dates. Two days later, a European leg, with nine dates in the United Kingdom, was announced, marking Cyrus' first concerts to visit another continent. On June 16, 2009, two more dates were annexed, and one final date was annexed in October 2009, in order to meet demand.  All tickets for the Wonder World Tour were sold exclusively through paperless ticket delivery, meaning that fans did not receive a physical concert ticket for their entry into the event. Ticket buyers were required to bring the credit card used to make the purchase and photo identification to the concert venue in order to gain entry. All groups were to enter the concert together, and ushers issued seat locator slips. The method of ticket sales was relatively new at the time, although Ticketmaster first experimented it with AC/DC's Black Ice World Tour (2008–10). However, it marked the first time for an arena tour to sell all tickets through paperless ticketing. This was done in response to the extensive ticket scalping that occurred during the Best of Both Worlds Tour and in order to give fans the opportunity to purchase good tickets at face value. Cyrus' manager and president of Morey Management Group, Jason Morey, stated, "The focus was, 'How do we take all the information we gathered last time out and do a better job of it?' It was important to us to address the issue of demand. We thought that of every single option that was available out there, this was a really viable option, to go with the paperless ticketing." As with the Best of Both Worlds Tour, one dollar from each ticket purchased was donated to the City of Hope National Medical Center, a center dedicated to the prevention, treatment and research for the cure of cancer.

Development.

The tour was titled the Wonder World Tour because of its diversity in themes and styles. Cyrus believed the tour was good transition for solidifying a more rock music-based career. She described the tour to be edgy and "more of a mature show", with the target audience being teenagers relatively her age, which was sixteen at the time. However, performances that would please younger audiences were added to the setlist. It was conceptualized to be a more elaborate than Cyrus' previous tour and to reflect Cyrus as an individual. The reason for this to occur was because Cyrus felt more confident as a vocalist to perform stunts and use props while singing. Also, more resources were available, for more companies were willing to invest in the tour. Ideas were suggested by different individuals and were tested during filmed rehearsals in order to decide which would make the final cut. "Each person has their own character and their own story. So, we've added everyone's kind of specialty into our show [...] This is not just a concert, it is an absolute show", Cyrus said. After having completed filming for "The Last Song" (2010) in Tybee Island, Georgia, Cyrus returned to Los Angeles for tour rehearsals at The Forum in mid-August. Due to filming "The Last Song", Cyrus was only able to rehearse for three weeks although the average rehearsal period for musicians is about three months.  Jammal Simms was hired as the tour's director and main choreographer. Octavious Terry served as an assistant for directing, meanwhile Dondraico Johnson assisted choreography. They, along with twelve other members, composed the tour's creative team. In total, the Wonder World Tour included 124 traveling workers, 19 truckloads of equipment, and 15 buses. The stage was quite different from that of the Best of Both Worlds Tour. It consisted of a rectangular main stage, which featured staircases that elevated the center of the stage, and a narrow runway, which connected the main stage to a B-stage that ran the length of the main stage. Regarding the stage, Cyrus noted that it was "something not many people get to have. I'm able to move around to each side so there's no one person who feels like they don't have the best seat. Every seat is the best seat." Six LED multi-screen video units were located throughout the stage; the three largest were placed as the upstage wall, while the other three were hung by rigs above the stage. The center unit consisted of three screens that faced outward; two others were hung right and left to the center unit, both were double faced toward the center of the venue at a 45° angle, while the backside faced the upper-seat audience. The structure of the video panels was designed by Sims to ensure that all seats within the 270° angle at each venue received an equal view of the video screens. Video content and lighting were designed by Seán Burke; the latter was provided by Production Resource Group (PRG).  The tour used seven individual rigs for performers and props to become airborne. For dancers to be flown to the center of each upstage, a wench, which dropped 18 inches off the face of the panel, was placed in the rig. Cyrus' flying required two wenches, one for a vertical lift and one for a horizontal move that coursed the audience and back to the stage. Four elevators, or trap doors, were located throughout the stage, some of which had the option of a 4×4 or an 8×8 foot opening. All of the fly rigs and elevators were built and operated by Show Group Production Services (SGPS)/Showrig. The challenge that presented the most difficulty for SGPS was time constraint, as there were only three weeks of rehearsal. Brian White, co-owner of SGPS, explained,  Special effects and pyrotechnics were provided by Pyritz Pyrotechnics Group. Terry Ritz, founder of the organization, and his partner Steve Aleff had created various ideas based on the tour soundtrack that was provided to them by the Wonder World Tour's personnel. They met with the tour's choreographer, band manager, and lighting designer, asking them to bring their "hopes, wishes, and dreams." Out of these meetings, the show was completed and a lighting crew, who monitored the stage with a four-camera monitor system when cues were executed, was selected. The pyrotechnics for the show were described as more elegant and subtle, being composed of pink flames with accentuation of silver and white glitter. Because of the extensive automation executed throughout the concert, two personnel were in charge of running it. Neville Emerton ran the automation from under the stage, and Sean Conner ran all of the flying moves from a position at the front of each venue. Meanwhile, assistant stage manager Seth Posner called cues for each concert. "Normally, in a rock show you don’t need someone calling the show. In this one we had to take a more theatrical approach with someone calling cues every step of the way because there was so much going on at once between props and automation", explained production manager Omar Abderrahman. One of the props that required much attention on the part of Posner was a car made to resemble a tractor, designed and built by effects designer and stage manager Scott "Stryker" Christensen. Because it came along late in the design process, the main elevator was not built to handle the weight of the car, though it was eventually reinforced to support the weight and movement of the car. The car was also modified; it was made electric, instead of using a combustion engine, for fire-safety and changed to turn around by adjusting its turning radius to automate steering with all four wheels. In order to translate the concert tour overseas to the United Kingdom, the Wonder World Tour paired with Sound Moves, a company that was already providing minor support for the North American leg of the tour.

Concert synopsis.

The main show commenced with Cyrus emerging from the bottom of the stage inside a large, crystal-like glacier. She wore a black leather hot pantsuit, a tank top, and a white fur vest with a silver sequined hood as she escaped the cocoon to perform the concert's opening number, "Breakout". Numerous backup dancers accompanied her and, towards the conclusion, she performed atop movable scaffolding. After removing the fur vest, Cyrus performed "Start All Over" atop the scaffolding and continued the remainder of the first segment of the show with "7 Things" and "Kicking and Screaming". Cyrus then executed the show's second segment with a performance of "Bottom of the Ocean", which featured an aquatic theme for the stage and Cyrus donning a silver, flowing evening gown that bared a bejeweled bodysuit underneath. The performance ended with Cyrus diving into the stage, succeeded by a simulation of her underwater on the video screens. Cyrus returned to the stage for the show's third segment atop a tractor-resembling car to perform "Fly on the Wall". During the performance, Cyrus wore an extravagant white dress with a feathered skirt. Backup dancers were flown up into contact with panels in order to resemble a fly on a window; meanwhile, Cyrus was flown across the arena. Once back in the stage, Cyrus and backup dancers performed a brief dance interlude of Michael Jackson's "Thriller" (1984). Replacing the feathered bottom with a tutu, Cyrus performed the Hannah Montana-credited song "Let's Get Crazy" and "Hoedown Throwdown". The latter was followed by a video in which will.i.am of The Black Eyed Peas spoke about Cyrus, as she left the stage. When the video was completed, the dancers performed a remix of the Black Eyed Peas' "Boom Boom Pow" (2009).  The show's fourth segment opened with "These Four Walls", in which Cyrus wore a black high-low dress. The song was performed in B-stage with various acoustic musicians. The show proceeded with "When I Look at You", a performance that featured the trailer for Cyrus' film "The Last Song" (2010) and her performing with a grand piano. It concluded with "Obsessed", which the singer performed atop a simple suspension bridge. She re-entered the stage, clothed by a black tee, red cheetah-patterned hot pants, and black boots, to perform the second Hannah Montana-credited song "Spotlight" and, later, "G.N.O. (Girl's Night Out)", replacing the prior hot pants with black ones and adding a denim vest. She followed with a cover of Arrows' "I Love Rock 'n' Roll", where Cyrus mounted a red Harley-Davidson Dyna Fat Bob FXDF 2010 that was suspended above the stage and traveled in a semi-oval path across the venue. Performances of "Party in the U.S.A.", which made use of a luggage cart, and "Hovering", which featured Cyrus' older brother Trace Cyrus, rounded off the segment. The sixth segment of the show featured Cyrus performing "Simple Song", in which she dressed in a long, white shirt and a black tuxedo, in order to simulate a music conductor. Midway through the performance, Cyrus stepped onto an elevator that rose eight feet from the stage. She exited the stage and returned for the final section. During the encore, Cyrus dressed in a white tank top and shorts, boots, and a metallic vest to perform "See You Again", later removing the vest to conclude the concert with "The Climb". Immediately after finishing, she exited through a passageway in the stage as fireworks were fired above.

Critical reception.

Mikael Wood of "The Los Angeles Times", in reference to Hannah Montana, commented, "Once again, make-believe Miley was more compelling than the real thing." Wood believed Cyrus possessed charisma, commenting that she portrayed superstar authority, but failed because she was unable or unwilling to "give her fans a deeper idea of who she is and what her music means. For all its eye-popping detail, the concert offered nothing that viewers of her TV show or buyers of her records don't already know about her." Dave Paulson of "The Tennessean" stated, "Cyrus' spectacle sets her apart from nearly every other A-list act touring today. She's not a renowned vocalist by any stretch, but her show's choreography barely provides a moment for her to catch her breath, and she's still able to deliver." Michael Hann of the United Kingdom-based "Guardian" was impressed by the concert, praising the setlist and deeming it enjoyable for both children and adults. He continued, "Good as the best songs are, though, they take a backseat to the staging [...] The one misstep is when a trailer for her next movie is shown during a costume change. It's a tacky moment and doesn't reflect the attention to detail that makes the rest of it a laugh-out-loud delight." Lael Loewenstein of "Variety" magazine said, "Cyrus knows how to deliver the goods without losing her core audience." Loewenstein deemed the concert a mission accomplished because of inevitable hits and Cyrus' charisma, drive, spunk, and a merely-limited vocal range. Erik Ensrst of "The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel" praised the show, stating that it was "a pure visual spectacle", but commented that producers forgot a place for Cyrus' personality.  Jim Harrington of "The Oakland Tribune" described the show as a human embodiment of Britney Spears' "I'm Not a Girl, Not Yet a Woman" (2002). He presumed that the tour was a conscious transition for fans who did not want Cyrus to separate herself from the "Hannah Montana" franchise. Kirsty Cameron of "The Daily Telegraph" wrote, "Despite her relatively young age, Cyrus showed her unfailing capability as performer. With the help of her back-up dancers, Cyrus provided her audience with choreographed set pieces and a different spectacle for each song." James Reed of "The Boston Globe" noted that the Wonder World Tour presented Cyrus as both a "PG-rated tween pop star and an edgy rocker eager". He stated that although she played both roles well, it was apparent that she was more at ease with the latter. Reed also felt the concert did little to display Cyrus' personality and ability to engage with the audience. "We know she's got impressive vocal chops, but now we need to feel what she's trying to put across in her songs, something beyond the standard 'You guys are awesome!' banter." Scott Iwasaki of "Deseret News" reviewed a concert in which Cyrus was ill. He mentioned that because of her illness, her voice went flat. Iwasaki also expressed his viewpoint that "if there [were] any worries that Miley Cyrus would become another Britney Spears train wreck, those worries were quelled during Tuesday night's show. She kept the show family-friendly and, although obviously sick, looked like she had a good time." Marlin Levison of "The Star Tribune" believed the concert lacked much profundity until the last performance.

Commercial performance.

The Wonder World Tour was commercially successful and represented stability in the touring industry, despite the financial recession. In North America, the tour sold out twenty-nine out of forty-five concert dates and grossed over US $45.2 million. The tour was able to remain as one of the hottest tours in the United States during its expansion. The Wonder World Tour's entire, ten-date European leg sold out in only ten minutes. In order to meet demand, an eleventh date was added and scheduled for December 29, 2009. In December 2009, the tour ranked atop "Billboard"s Hot Tours, based on the tour's European performances. For the month, box office grossed US $21.9 million for eleven shows in four markets. The five concerts held at The O Arena in London produced ticket sales that topped $11 million (£6.8 million). On December 19, 2009, with an audience of 16,196, Cyrus broke the record for the largest attendance at The O Arena; a record that surpassed the previously tied records by Beyoncé's I Am... Tour (2009–10), Bon Jovi's Lost Highway Tour (2007–08), and Coldplay's Viva la Vida Tour (2008–10). In total, the tour grossed over $67.1 million, $15 million which were earned by Cyrus.

Bus accident.

On November 20, 2009, in its attempt to arrive at the destination of Greensboro, North Carolina, one of the buses for the Wonder World Tour overturned on a Virginian highway. The accident occurred around 8:15 A.M. in Dinwiddie County, about 40 miles south of Richmond, Virginia. The bus ran off the left side of Interstate 85, struck an embankment, rolled onto its right side. An eye witness of the accident explained that the bus appeared to have drifted off the road for a fairly long stretch before tipping over. The bus had nine passengers aboard, including members of the lighting crew, though Cyrus was not on board during the incident. Most of the passengers on the bus suffered only minor injuries and escaped the crashed bus through the broken front windshield. One person, Assistant Stage Manager Martin Zilio, required medical attention and was hospitalized overnight. Zilio recovered from his injuries and was later able to return to work on the tour. One person, bus driver Bill "Uncle Bill" Douglas, a 53-year-old of Austin, Texas, died at the scene of the accident.  In response to the accident, the Cyrus family released a statement via Cyrus' official website; it stated, "We are deeply saddened by the loss of Bill 'Uncle Bill' Douglas. Members of our tour are like members of our family. Our thoughts and prayers go out to his family in the midst of this tragedy. He will truly be missed." Omar Abderrahman, the tour's production manager, said, "That was real tough. It's always a tragedy to lose anyone. Uncle Bill was a great driver and a good friend. He’d done a lot of tours with me, and we’re all going to miss him." Although the cause for the accident remains undefined, authorities confirmed the roads were wet from overnight rain. However, CBS News reported that speed and weather were not attributed as factors for the accident's occurrence. Despite the incident, the tour's following concert on November 22, 2009 at the Greensboro Coliseum in Greensboro, North Carolina proceeded as scheduled. During the concert, Cyrus dedicated the performance of "The Climb" to Douglas as overhead screens displayed a video commemorating him.

Broadcast and recordings.

The concerts held on December 13, 14, 19, 20, and 29, 2009 at The O Arena in London were filmed. On May 26, 2010, it was announced that the American Broadcasting Company (ABC) would broadcast an hour-long television special entitled "Miley Cyrus: Live from London" on June 18, 2010, as part of promotion for Cyrus' third studio album "Can't Be Tamed" (2010). The special was executively produced by Leticia "Tish" Cyrus, Cyrus' mother, and Jason Morey, Cyrus' manager. It was directed by Russell Thomas and produced by Jim Parsons. "Miley Cyrus: Live from London" was described by Cyrus' official website with the following statement: "The program captures how Miley, who has grown up in the public eye, has grown as an artist and reveals her natural progression and sophistication." The concert special was watched by over 2.6 million viewers in the United States. "Miley Cyrus: Live from London"s airing on ABC was a filtered version of the full-length concert, which became available on the limited, deluxe edition of "Can't Be Tamed", released on June 21, 2010. The deluxe edition featured the audio CD, containing the album's music, and a DVD, which contains nineteen live performances and behind-the-scenes footage with Cyrus. "We anticipate an overindexing, if you will, of those who buy the CD/DVD over just the music because it's never been seen before", stated Abbey Konowitch, general manager of Hollywood Records. The performances of "Fly on the Wall" and "Start All Over" were included in Cyrus' second video album "Can't Be Tamed: Mini DVD" (2010), released only in the United Kingdom and Japan.

Personnel.

Source:

The Wonder World Tour was the second concert tour by American recording artist Miley Cyrus. The tour was held to promote her second studio album "Breakout" (2008) and first extended play (EP) "The Time of Our Lives" (2009). It began in September 2009 and concluded in December 29, visiting cities in the United States and United Kingdom; thus, the Wonder World Tour became Cyrus' first world tour. It also became Cyrus' first tour not to incorporate performances as Hannah Montana, although "Let's Get Crazy", an official Hannah-song, was performed. Alternative band Metro Station served as opening act for all tour venues. It was sponsored by Wal-Mart and promoted by AEG Live. All tickets from the Wonder World Tour were sold using paperless ticketing, in order to prevent ticket scalping similar to what had occurred during Cyrus' previous tour. One dollar from each ticket sold was donated to the City of Hope National Medical Center, an organization devoted to the fight against cancer.

Wonder World Tour je koncertní turné americké hudebnice Miley Cyrus. Je to v pořadí její druhé turné a zároveň první celosvětové, které nezahrnuje fiktivní alter ego Hannah Montana. Turné propagovalo Mileyino EP The Time Of Our Lives.


Description.

Cap is hoof-shaped or triangular, hard and tough, and up to 30–40 x 25 x 10 cm. Its surface is more or less smooth, at first orange-yellow with a white margin, later dark reddish to brown and then frequently with an orange margin. The pore surface is pale yellow to leather-brown, 3–4 pores per mm. It grows as thick shelves on live and dead coniferous or (less commonly) deciduous trees.  The fruiting body of "Fomitopsis pinicola" is called the "conk". It is a woody, pileate fruiting body with pores lined with basidia on its underside. As in other polypores, the fruiting body is perennial with a new layer of pores produced each year on the bottom of the old pores. The pores are whitish when young and become somewhat brownish in age. This mushroom is inedible due to its woody texture, but it is useful as tinder.

Stem decay characteristics.

Most of the stem decay (heart rot) in mature forests that results from this fungus does not interfere with the normal growth and physiological processes of live trees since the vascular system is not affected. It is classified as a brown rot, which primarily degrades cellulose in tree stands. Wood impacted by this fungus may become more brittle and prone to breakage in high winds, and cannot be used for pulp production. This species requires exposed wood of wounds for entry, continuing their decay after the tree dies.  The fruiting bodies of the fungus disperse airborne spores, but the actual degradation of the wood is by the threadlike vegetative part of the fungus inside the trees. The fungus can occur anywhere on roots or the stem, but is most common low on the bole, where frequent wounds promote infection.

Ecology.

This stem decay fungi is found on live conifer trees in southeast Alaska such as Western hemlock, Mountain hemlock, White spruce, Lutz spruce and Sitka spruce. The tree stem decay is caused by the fungus when it invades and colonizes the wood of living trees and decomposes the wood before the tree is dead. This brown rot fungus degrades only cellulose, leaving the other primary constituents of wood, lignin, as a considerably less dense but fairly stable residual structure that is suitable for excavation by woodpeckers.  This fungus is normally found on dead conifers, but can also be observed growing on large stem wounds, broken tops, and dead tissue of live trees. In mature forests, these stem decay fungi cause enormous annual wood volume loss of Alaska’s major tree species. Approximately one-third of the old-growth timber board-foot volume in Southeast Alaska is defective, largely due to decay from this type of fungus. Conversely, there is very little decay in young-growth stands without prevalent wounding from commercial thinning activities, wind damage, or animal feeding. By predisposing large old trees to bole breakage and windthrow, stem decays serve as important small-scale disturbance regimes in these temperate rainforest ecosystems where fire and other large-scale disturbances are uncommon. This stem decay creates canopy gaps, influences stand structure and succession, increases biodiversity, and enhances wildlife habitat. The fungus also performs essential nutrient cycling functions in these forests by decomposing stems, branches, roots, and boles of dead trees. Cavities created by the fungus in standing trees provide crucial habitat for many wildlife species including bears, voles, squirrels, and a number of bird species. The lack of disturbance in these areas and longevity of individual trees allows ample time for this slow-growing decay fungus to cause significant decay. There is a growing interest in acquiring methods to promote earlier development of stem decays in second-growth stands to achieve wildlife and other non-timber objectives.

Fomitopsis pinicola, is a stem decay fungus. Its conk (fruit body) is known as the red belt conk. The species is common throughout the temperate Northern Hemisphere. It is a decay fungus that serves as a small-scale disturbance agent in coastal rainforest ecosystems. It influences stand structure and succession in temperate rainforests. It performs essential nutrient cycling functions in forests.

Troudnatec pásovaný ("Fomitopsis pinicola") je víceletá dřevokazná houba z čeledi chorošovitých. Svým vzhledem i použitím je podobná troudnatci kopytovitému, který se od něj liší šedavými až hnědavými póry a zrnitým jádrem uvnitř horní části plodnice.


Early life and education.

Schröder was born Kristina Köhler in Wiesbaden, Hessen. After finishing her abitur in 1997, she studied sociology, history, philosophy, and political science at Johannes Gutenberg University of Mainz. She earned her Diplom in 2002, and her Ph.D. in 2009. Her doctoral thesis was "" (English: "Justice as equality? An empirical analysis of the objective and subjective responsivity of members of parliament"), supervised by Jürgen W. Falter.  Following Schröder's appointment as government minister, her doctoral research came under close scrutiny for its heavy reliance on research assistance by her party. In 2011 it was reported that an assistant of Falter had been paid by Schröder for working on the statistical data on which the thesis was based. The university's president stated there was no evidence for any wrongdoing, and that legwork undertaken by aides was scientifically legitimate and accepted practice.

Political career.

Schröder joined the Junge Union in 1991 and has been a member of the Bundestag since 2002, affiliated with the CDU. Between 2002 and 2009, she served as member on the Committee on Internal Affairs. In 2005, she also joined an inquiry committee investigating the involvement of German intelligence services in the Iraq War.  On November 30, 2009, Schröder was appointed Federal Minister for Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth in the cabinet of Angela Merkel. During her time in office, the government approved a bill to provide parents of 1- and 2-year-old children with an allowance for keeping their toddlers out of state-run day care, a move that critics said would derail recent efforts to encourage German women to return to work after starting a family. Amid a conflict within her own political party over the question of setting a statutory quota for female participation in the supervisory boards of companies in Germany, Schröder backed a voluntary scheme.  When Germany's government reduced compulsory military service from nine months to six in 2009, Schröder took the lead on introducing the Federal Volunteers Service (BFD), a German government program which encourages volunteerism among young adults for public welfare, to fill the gaps left by changes to the national service system.  Unlike many in her party at the time, Schröder spoke out in support of civil unions in 2012, saying that "in lesbian and gay life partnerships, people take lasting responsibility for one another and thus they live according to conservative values."  Since the 2013 elections, Schröder has been the deputy chairwoman of the Committee on the Scrutiny of Elections, Immunity and the Rules of Procedure, which is chaired by Johann Wadephul. In addition, she serves as member of the Committee on Economic Affairs and Energy, where she is her parliamentary group’s rapporteur on the media, food and pharmaceutical industries as well as on space technology.  In April 2016, Schröder announced that she would not stand in the 2017 federal elections but instead resign from active politics by the end of the parliamentary term. By the end of the parliamentary term, she joined communication consultancy Deekeling Arndt Advisors as Senior Advisor.

Personal life.

Schröder lives in Berlin and Wiesbaden-Sonnenberg with her husband Ole Schröder, a fellow member of the Bundestag. Shortly after her appointment, the two announced that they were planning to get married in February 2010 and did so on 12 February 2010. In January 2011, it was announced that Schröder was pregnant with her first child, who was born in June 2011, and that she would try not to take time off during the pregnancy. She is the first German cabinet member to ever give birth to a child while in office. In 2014 she gave birth to her second child a daughter.  Schröder is a member of the Independent Evangelical-Lutheran Church.

Kristina Schröder (née Köhler, born 3 August 1977) is a German politician who served as the Federal Minister of Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth in the government of Chancellor Angela Merkel from 2009 to 2013. She served as a Member of Parliament between 2002 and 2017.

Kristina Schröderová, nepřechýleně Kristina Schröder, rozená Köhler (* 3. srpna 1977 Wiesbaden, Západní Německo) je německá křesťanskodemokratická politička a socioložka. Od 30. listopadu 2009 do 17. prosince 2013 byla spolkovou ministryní pro rodinu, seniory, ženy a mládež Německa, přitom věkově nejmladší členkou druhého spolkového kabinetu Angely Merkelové. Mezi lety 2002–2017 zasedala jako poslankyně v Německém spolkovém sněmu.


Description.

A sexually mature adult axolotl, at age 18–24 months, ranges in length from, although a size close to is most common and greater than is rare. Axolotls possess features typical of salamander larvae, including external gills and a caudal fin extending from behind the head to the vent.  Their heads are wide, and their eyes are lidless. Their limbs are underdeveloped and possess long, thin digits. Males are identified by their swollen cloacae lined with papillae, while females are noticeable for their wider bodies full of eggs. Three pairs of external gill stalks (rami) originate behind their heads and are used to move oxygenated water. The external gill rami are lined with filaments (fimbriae) to increase surface area for gas exchange. Four gill slits lined with gill rakers are hidden underneath the external gills.  Axolotls have barely visible vestigial teeth, which would have developed during metamorphosis. The primary method of feeding is by suction, during which their rakers interlock to close the gill slits. External gills are used for respiration, although buccal pumping (gulping air from the surface) may also be used to provide oxygen to their lungs. Axolotls have four pigmentation genes; when mutated they create different color variants. The normal wild type animal is brown/tan with gold speckles and an olive undertone. The four mutant colors are leucistic (pale pink with black eyes), albino (golden with gold eyes), axanthic (grey with black eyes) and melanoid (all black with no gold speckling or olive tone). In addition, there is wide individual variability in the size, frequency, and intensity of the gold speckling and at least one variant that develops a black and white piebald appearance on reaching maturity. Because pet breeders frequently cross the variant colors, animals that are double recessive mutants are common in the pet trade, especially white/pink animals with pink eyes that are double homozygous mutants for both the albino and leucistic trait. Axolotls also have some limited ability to alter their color to provide better camouflage by changing the relative size and thickness of their melanophores.

Habitat and ecology.

The axolotl is only native to Lake Xochimilco and Lake Chalco in the Valley of Mexico. Lake Chalco no longer exists, having been drained as a flood control measure, and Lake Xochimilco remains a remnant of its former self, existing mainly as canals. The water temperature in Xochimilco rarely rises above, though it may fall to 6 to 7 °C in the winter, and perhaps lower.  The wild population has been put under heavy pressure by the growth of Mexico City. The axolotl is currently on the International Union for Conservation of Nature's annual Red List of threatened species. Non-native fish, such as African tilapia and Asian carp, have also recently been introduced to the waters. These new fish have been eating the axolotls' young, as well as its primary source of food.  Axolotls are members of the tiger salamander, or "Ambystoma tigrinum", species complex, along with all other Mexican species of "Ambystoma". Their habitat is like that of most neotenic species—a high altitude body of water surrounded by a risky terrestrial environment. These conditions are thought to favor neoteny. However, a terrestrial population of Mexican tiger salamanders occupies and breeds in the axolotl's habitat.  The axolotl is carnivorous, consuming small prey such as worms, insects, and small fish in the wild. Axolotls locate food by smell, and will "snap" at any potential meal, sucking the food into their stomachs with vacuum force.

Neoteny.

Axolotls exhibit neoteny, meaning that they reach sexual maturity without undergoing metamorphosis. Many species within the axolotl's genus are either entirely neotenic or have neotenic populations. In the axolotl, metamorphic failure is caused by a lack of thyroid stimulating hormone, which is used to induce the thyroid to produce thyroxine in transforming salamanders. The genes responsible for neoteny in laboratory animals may have been identified; however, they are not linked in wild populations, suggesting artificial selection is the cause of complete neoteny in laboratory and pet axolotls.  Neoteny has been observed in all salamander families in which it seems to be a survival mechanism, in aquatic environments only of mountain and hill, with little food and, in particular, with little iodine. In this way, salamanders can reproduce and survive in the form of a smaller larval stage, which is aquatic and requires a lower quality and quantity of food compared to the big adult, which is terrestrial. If the salamander larvae ingest a sufficient amount of iodine, directly or indirectly through cannibalism, they quickly begin metamorphosis and transform into bigger terrestrial adults, with higher dietary requirements. In fact, in some high mountain lakes there live dwarf forms of salmonids that are caused by deficiencies in food and, in particular, iodine, which causes cretinism and dwarfism due to hypothyroidism, as it does in humans.  Unlike some other neotenic salamanders (sirens and "Necturus"), axolotls can be induced to metamorphose by an injection of iodine (used in the production of thyroid hormones) or by shots of thyroxine hormone. The adult form resembles a terrestrial plateau tiger salamander, but has several differences, such as longer toes, which support its status as a separate species.

Use as a model organism.

Six adult axolotls (including a leucistic specimen) were shipped from Mexico City to the in Paris in 1863. Unaware of their neoteny, Auguste Duméril was surprised when, instead of the axolotl, he found in the vivarium a new species, similar to the salamander. This discovery was the starting point of research about neoteny. It is not certain that "Ambystoma velasci" specimens were not included in the original shipment.  Vilem Laufberger in Prague used thyroid hormone injections to induce an axolotl to grow into a terrestrial adult salamander. The experiment was repeated by Englishman Julian Huxley, who was unaware the experiment had already been done, using ground thyroids. Since then, experiments have been done often with injections of iodine or various thyroid hormones used to induce metamorphosis.  Today, the axolotl is still used in research as a model organism, and large numbers are bred in captivity. They are especially easy to breed compared to other salamanders in their family, which are almost never captive-bred due to the demands of terrestrial life. One attractive feature for research is the large and easily manipulated embryo, which allows viewing of the full development of a vertebrate. Axolotls are used in heart defect studies due to the presence of a mutant gene that causes heart failure in embryos. Since the embryos survive almost to hatching with no heart function, the defect is very observable. The axolotl is also considered an ideal animal model for the study of neural tube closure due to the similarities between human and axolotl neural plate and tube formation; the axolotl's neural tube, unlike the frog's, is not hidden under a layer of superficial epithelium. There are also mutations affecting other organ systems some of which are not well characterized and others that are. The genetics of the color variants of the axolotl have also been widely studied.

Regeneration.

The feature of the salamander that attracts most attention is its healing ability: the axolotl does not heal by scarring and is capable of the regeneration of entire lost appendages in a period of months, and, in certain cases, more vital structures, such as tail, limb, central nervous system, and tissues of the eye and heart. Some have indeed been found restoring the less vital parts of their brains. They can also readily accept transplants from other individuals, including eyes and parts of the brain—restoring these alien organs to full functionality. In some cases, axolotls have been known to repair a damaged limb, as well as regenerating an additional one, ending up with an extra appendage that makes them attractive to pet owners as a novelty. In metamorphosed individuals, however, the ability to regenerate is greatly diminished. The axolotl is therefore used as a model for the development of limbs in vertebrates.

Genome.

The 32 billion base pair long sequence of the axolotl's genome was published in 2018 and is the largest animal genome completed so far. It revealed species-specific genetic pathways that may be responsible for limb regeneration. Although the axolotl genome is about 10 times as large as the human genome, it encodes a similar number of proteins, namely 23,251 (the human genome encodes about 20,000 proteins). The size difference is mostly explained by a large fraction of repetitive sequences, but such repeated elements also contribute to increased median intron sizes (22,759 bp) which are 13, 16 and 25 times that observed in human (1,750 bp), mouse (1,469 bp) and Tibetan frog (906 bp), respectively.

Captive care.

The axolotl is a popular exotic pet like its relative, the tiger salamander ("Ambystoma tigerinum"). As for all poikilothermic organisms, lower temperatures result in slower metabolism and a very unhealthily reduced appetite. Temperatures at approximately to are suggested for captive axolotls to ensure sufficient food intake; stress resulting from more than a day's exposure to lower temperatures may quickly lead to disease and death, and temperatures higher than may lead to metabolic rate increase, also causing stress and eventually death. Chlorine, commonly added to tapwater, is harmful to axolotls. A single axolotl typically requires a tank with a water depth of at least. Axolotls spend the majority of the time at the bottom of the tank.  Salts, such as Holtfreter's solution, are usually added to the water to prevent infection.  In captivity, axolotls eat a variety of readily available foods, including trout and salmon pellets, frozen or live bloodworms, earthworms, and waxworms. Axolotls can also eat feeder fish, but care should be taken as fish may contain parasites.  Substrates are another important consideration for captive axolotls, as axolotls (like other amphibians and reptiles) tend to ingest bedding material together with food and are commonly prone to gastrointestinal obstruction and foreign body ingestion. Some common substrates used for animal enclosures can be harmful for amphibians and reptiles. If gravel (common in aquarium use) is used, it is recommended that it consist of smooth particles of a size small enough to pass through the digestive tract. One guide to axolotl care for laboratories notes that bowel obstructions are a common cause of death, and recommends that no items with a diameter below 3 cm should be available to the animal.  There is some evidence that axolotls might seek out appropriately-sized gravel for use as gastroliths based on experiments conducted at the University of Manitoba axolotl colony.

In popular culture.

"Axolotl" is one of a number of words, mostly of foreign origin, adopted by "Mad" Magazine as nonsense words for use as running gags; "potrzebie" and "veeblefetzer" are two others. These achieved some popularity with readers of the magazine; see for example the discussion of a poem (quoted in full) centering on the word.  The axolotl's real world ability to regrow limbs served as the inspiration for the Tleilaxu axlotl tanks in the fictional "Dune" universe created by Frank Herbert.  Argentine writer Julio Cortázar included a short story entitled "Axolotl" in his 1956 collection "Final del juego". The story concerns a man who becomes obsessed with the salamanders after viewing them in an aquarium in Paris.  In the Netflix series "Bojack Horseman", there is an anthropomorphic axolotl character named Yolanda Buenaventura voiced by Natalie Morales.  The Netherlands-based contemporary art music ensemble Axolot takes "their name from the ancient yet futuristic evolutionary wonder the axolotl, the ensemble takes the concept of a ‘recorder trio’ to its limits."  In 2020 it was announced that the axolotl will be featured on the new design for Mexico's 50-peso banknote, along with images of maize and chinampas. The banknotes are expected to go into circulation by 2022.

The axolotl (, from ; plural axolotls or rarely axolomeh; ), "Ambystoma mexicanum", also known as the Mexican walking fish, is a neotenic salamander related to the tiger salamander. Although the axolotl is colloquially known as a "walking fish", it is not a fish, but an amphibian. The species was originally found in several lakes, such as Lake Xochimilco underlying Mexico City. Axolotls are unusual among amphibians in that they reach adulthood without undergoing metamorphosis. Instead of developing lungs and taking to the land, adults remain aquatic and gilled.

Axolotl mexický ("Ambystoma mexicanum"), česky také zvaný vodní dráček, chodící mlok nebo tygří mlok, je středně velký obojživelník vyskytující se v mexických jezerech Lago de Xochimilco a Lago de Chalco. Jeho jméno pochází z jazyka nahuatl, kde má podobu "āxōlōtl" [aː.ˈʃóː.loːtɬ]) a znamená "vodní Xolotl", přičemž Xolotl je jméno aztéckého božstva dvojčat a podivností, včetně lidí narozených s tělesným handicapem. Xolotl býval zobrazován jako bytost podobná psu a zdá se, že axolotl Aztékům pro svůj podivný vzhled asocioval právě toto božstvo. Aztékové i jejich potomci axolotla s oblibou jedli, donedávna se chycení axolotli prodávali jako potravina i na trzích v Ciudad de México. V současné době jsou však chráněni zákonem.


Biography.

Born at Cheapside, City of London, as William Hobman Hunt, to warehouse manager William Hunt (1800–1856) and Sarah (c. 1798–1884), daughter of William Hobman, of Rotherhithe Hunt adopted the name "Holman" instead of "Hobman" when he discovered that a clerk had misspelled the name that way after his baptism at the Anglican church of Saint Mary the Virgin, Ewell, England. The Hobman family were wealthy, and it was thought that Sarah had made an unequal marriage. After eventually entering the Royal Academy art schools, having initially been rejected, Hunt rebelled against the influence of its founder Sir Joshua Reynolds. He formed the Pre-Raphaelite movement in 1848, after meeting the poet and artist Dante Gabriel Rossetti. Along with John Everett Millais they sought to revitalise art by emphasising the detailed observation of the natural world in a spirit of quasi-religious devotion to truth. This religious approach was influenced by the spiritual qualities of medieval art, in opposition to the alleged rationalism of the Renaissance embodied by Raphael. He had many pupils including Robert Braithwaite Martineau.  Hunt married twice. After a failed engagement to his model Annie Miller, in 1861 he married Fanny Waugh, who later modelled for the figure of "Isabella". When, at the end of 1866, she died in childbirth in Italy, he sculpted her tomb at Fiesole, having it brought down to the English Cemetery in Florence, beside the tomb of Elizabeth Barrett Browning. He had a close connection with St. Mark's Church in Florence, and paid for the communion chalice inscribed in memory of his wife. His second wife, Edith, was Fanny's youngest sister. At the time it was illegal in Great Britain to marry one's deceased wife's sister, so the two of them travelled abroad and married at Neuchâtel (in francophone Switzerland) in November 1875. This led to a grave conflict with other family members, notably his former Pre-Raphaelite colleague Thomas Woolner, who had once been in love with Fanny and had married the middle sister, Alice Waugh.  Hunt's works were not initially successful, and were widely attacked in the art press for their alleged clumsiness and ugliness. He achieved some early note for his intensely naturalistic scenes of modern rural and urban life, such as "The Hireling Shepherd" and "The Awakening Conscience". However, it was for his religious paintings that he became famous, initially "The Light of the World" (1851–1853), now in the chapel at Keble College, Oxford, England; a later version (1900) toured the world and now has its home in St Paul's Cathedral, London, England.  In the mid-1850s Hunt travelled to the Holy Land in search of accurate topographical and ethnographical material for further religious works, and to employ his “powers to make more tangible Jesus Christ’s history and teaching”; there he painted "The Scapegoat", "The Finding of the Saviour in the Temple", and "The Shadow of Death", along with many landscapes of the region. Hunt also painted many works based on poems, such as "Isabella" and "The Lady of Shalott". He eventually built his own house in Jerusalem.  He eventually had to relinquish painting because failing eyesight meant that he could not achieve the quality that he wanted. His last major works, including a large version of "The Light of the World", were completed with the help of his assistant, Edward Robert Hughes.  Hunt died on 7 September 1910 and was buried in St Paul's Cathedral in London, England.

Awards and commemoration.

Hunt published an autobiography in 1905. Many of his late writings are attempts to control the interpretation of his work. That year, he was appointed to the Order of Merit by King Edward VII. At the end of his life he lived in Sonning-on-Thames.  His personal life was the subject of Diana Holman-Hunt's book "My Grandfather, his Life and Loves".  The Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood was depicted in two BBC period dramas. The first, "The Love School", in 1975, starred Bernard Lloyd as Hunt. The second was "Desperate Romantics", in which Hunt is played by Rafe Spall.  Facing Mar Elias Monastery is a stone bench erected by the wife of the painter, who painted some of his major works at this spot. The bench is inscribed with biblical verses in Hebrew, Greek, Arabic and English.

William Holman Hunt (2 April 1827 – 7 September 1910) was an English painter and one of the founders of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. His paintings were notable for their great attention to detail, vivid colour, and elaborate symbolism. These features were influenced by the writings of John Ruskin and Thomas Carlyle, according to whom the world itself should be read as a system of visual signs. For Hunt it was the duty of the artist to reveal the correspondence between sign and fact. Of all the members of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, Hunt remained most true to their ideals throughout his career. He was always keen to maximise the popular appeal and public visibility of his works.

William Holman Hunt (2. dubna 1827, Londýn – 7. září 1910, tamtéž) byl anglický malíř a jeden z původních prerafaelitů. I když jméno Holman je prostředním jménem, často jej můžeme najít jako součást příjmení oddělenou pomlčkou.