History.

Precursors to the popular samples can be found in contemporary classical music, for example in Igor Stravinsky's ballet "The Firebird" (1919).  Use of short samples (such as the orchestra hit) became popular in the early 1980s with the advent of digital samplers. These devices allowed sounds to be replayed at specific times and at regular intervals by sequencing, which was extremely difficult through previous methods of tape splicing. Samplers also began to allow sections of audio to be edited and played by a keyboard controller.  The orchestra hit was popularised in Afrika Bambaataa's "Planet Rock" (1982) and used soon after in Kate Bush's "The Dreaming". Other examples of use in popular music include En Vogue's "Hold On" (1990) and Duran Duran's "A View to a Kill" (1985). Yes's "Owner of a Lonely Heart" (1983) used an orchestra hit which was sampled from Funk, Inc.'s "Kool is Back". By the mid 1980s, the orchestra hit had become commonplace in hip hop music, and its ubiquitous use became a cliché. Use in other genres extends to jazz funk, where it was used on the title track of Miles Davis's 1986 album "Tutu". By the mid 1990s the sound had begun to be used in caribbean music.  Anne Dudley and Trevor Horn used an orchestra hit with the Art of Noise as a sound effect rather than a melodic instrument. The sample was used in "Close (to the Edit)", where it was sequenced alongside sound effects of chainsaws, breaking glass and motorcycles. Similarly, the brass orchestra hits in "Owner of a Lonely Heart" are used as a rhythmic device, rather than an effect to evoke a specific environment (in a similar way to samples in Yes's earlier recordings). The stabs in the song may also be substitutes for other instruments in the rhythm section, possibly drum fills, and the use of orchestra hits and other samples is particularly noticeable between the first chorus and the start of the guitar solo. High-pitched versions of the orchestra hit were used in many late 80s and 90s songs in Eastern Europe, for example one notable use there was in the song "S'agapao pou na parei" (Σ'αγαπάω που να πάρει) by Greek singer Thanos Kalliris in 1997.  Orchestra hits can be used in film music to represent loud noises such as closing doors.

Technical.

Orchestra hit is defined in the General Midi sound set. It is assigned voice 55, in the ensemble sub group.  The Fairlight CMI synthesizer included a sampled orchestra hit voice, which was later included in many sample libraries. The voice was given the name ORCH5, and was possibly the first famous orchestra hit sample. The sound was a low-resolution, eight-bit digital sample from a recording of Stravinsky's "Firebird Suite" – specifically, the chord that opens the "Infernal Dance" section, pitched down a minor sixth and at a reduced speed. It was sampled by David Vorhaus. Music magazine "The Wire" suggests that the prototype sample is owned by Vivian Kubrick.  Early orchestra hits were short in duration (often less than a second) both due to the nature of the sound (a staccato note) and the restrictions on bit rates and depths. A compromise for longer durations would be lower bitrates, which would leave the sample with little timbre.  Fairlight produced a number of orchestra hit samples, including a chord version (TRIAD), a percussion version (ORCHFZ1) and a looped version (ORCH2). Samples ORCH4, ORCH5 and ORCH6 were located on the CMI's disk 8, within the STRINGS1 library.

Samples.

The following samples are examples of orchestra hit voices on different sound modules. Each note is played at C4 (see scientific pitch notation).

An orchestra hit, also known as an orchestral hit, orchestra stab, or orchestral stab, is a synthesized sound created through the layering of the sounds of a number of different orchestral instruments playing a single staccato note or chord. The orchestra hit sound was propagated by the use of early samplers, particularly the Fairlight CMI where it was known as the ORCH5 sample. The sound is used in pop, hip hop, jazz fusion, techno, and video game genres to accentuate passages of music.


History and architecture.

The "Teen Darwaza" was an egress from Bhadra Fort to the eastward. The gateway has three arches which led into a large enclosure, forming the outer courtyard of the palace called "Maidan Shah" in past, with a fountain and raised terrace in the centre. The roadway in the central opening is 17 feet wide, and that of each side arch is 13 feet wide. It has highly decorated buttresses on the faces of piers between the arches. The height of the arches is twenty-five feet. The terrace on the top of the gateway was formerly roofed over. But in 1877 the gateway was repaired, and the terrace thrown open. Here the great feudatories or foreign embassies assembled before approaching the presence, and the sovereign enthroned on the terrace, mustered the troops for martial enterprises and gala-day reviews, or held court in the cool of the evening beside the splashing fountain. Now the area is congested market.  It was built by Ahmad Shah I immediately after the foundation of Ahmedabad and completed in 1415. Through it, in 1459, Mahmud Begada, king for only a few months, and not fifteen years old, quiver on back and bow in hand, with only 300 horsemen, marched to disperse his rebel nobles and their 30,000 followers. Leaving the palace, the young king ordered the roads leading to it to be held by elephants, and, with the royal music playing, marched slowly along the main street. His cool bravery gave some of his faithful nobles time to join, and forming a considerable force, though small compared with the insurgents, attacked them, put them to flight, and destroyed their leaders. Later the newly appointed Maratha governors used to aim five arrows at one of its beams, and augur good or ill to their administration in accordance with their success in striking it.

Maratha Inscription.

Maratha governor Chimnaji Raghunath decreed and inscribed "farman" on Teen Darwaza in 1812 declaring equal right to women in inheritance of ancestral property. Raghunath had appealed to Hindu and Muslims both. This plaque engraved in Devnagari script and dated 10 October 1812 reads, "Let the daughter get her due share of fathers property without any hitch. So is Lord Vishwanath's command. If you defy, the Hindu will have to answer Mahadev and the Mussalman will have to explain to Allah or Rasool."  Years ago, Laxmi, the Goddess of Wealth, came to the gate of the Bhadra Fort to leave the city in the night. Watchman Khwaja Siddique Kotwal stopped her and identified her. He asked her not to leave the fort until he obtained a permission from the king, Ahmad Shah. He went to the king and beheaded himself in order to keep Laxmi in the city. It resulted in the prosperity of the city.

Eternal lamp.

There is a tomb near Bhadra Gate of the fort dedicated to Siddique Kotwal and a temple to Bhadra Kali, representing Laxmi. A lamp in one of the niche of "Teen Darwaza" is burning there for more than six hundred years by a Muslim family in a dedication to the legend.

Teen Darwaza is a historical gateway on the east of Bhadra Fort, Ahmedabad, India. Completed in 1415, it is associated with historical as well as legendary events. The gates are featured in the logo of Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation.


History.

The company was formed in 1995 as a unit of American Radio Systems. In 1998, American Radio Systems merged with CBS Corporation and completed the corporate spin-off of American Tower. Following the merger, American Tower began international expansion by establishing operations in Mexico in 1998 and Brazil in 1999. The company began purchasing numerous AT&T Long Lines microwave telephone relay towers. Upon acquisition of these sites from the now defunct AT&T Communications, Inc., American Tower began repurposing the towers for use as cell towers, and leasing antenna space to various American cell phone providers and private industries. Then, most of the former AT&T Long Lines sites had their horn antennas removed, either by helicopter or by crane, to make room for more antennas. Since AT&T's Long Lines Program was decommissioned in the 1980s, and the company no longer had any use for the towers themselves, American Tower now owns most of these tower structures across the entire continental United States.  In 2005, American Tower acquired SpectraSite Communications, expanding its global portfolio to over 22,000 owned communications sites including over 21,000 wireless towers, 400 broadcast towers and 100 in-building DAS (Distributed Antenna System) sites. The merger further established American Tower's position as one of the largest tower owner and operators in North America.  Between 2007 and 2012, the company expanded internationally with operations in India, Peru, Chile, Colombia, South Africa, Ghana and Uganda.  In 2013, the company acquired Global Tower Partners for $4.8 billion. This acquisition added sites to the U.S. portfolio and added operations in Costa Rica and Panama.

American Tower Corporation (also referred to as American Tower or ATC) is an American real estate investment trust and an owner and operator of wireless and broadcast communications infrastructure in several countries worldwide and is headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts.


Background.

The photo was originally taken by Serghei Platanov, who then posted it to Shutterstock on 23 June 2015 with the title "eggs isolated on white background".

History.

On 4 January 2019, the @world_record_egg account was created, and posted an image of a bird egg with the caption, "Let's set a world record together and get the most liked post on Instagram. Beating the current world record held by Kylie Jenner (18 million)! We got this." Jenner's previous record, the first photo of her daughter Stormi, had garnered a total of 18.4 million likes.  The post quickly reached 18.4 million likes in just under 10 days, becoming the most-liked Instagram post of all time. It then continued to rise over 45 million likes in the next 48 hours, surpassing the "Despacito" music video and taking the world record for the most liked online post (on any media platform) in history.  After the account became verified on 14 January, the post rose in popularity and 'likes', which snow-balled into coverage in various media outlets.  By 18 March, the post had accumulated over 53.3 million likes, nearly three times the previous record of 18.4 million. It posted frequent updates for a few days in the form of Instagram Stories.  Several individuals tried to claim that they were the account's creator, the claims being dismissed by "the egg" on Instagram direct messages. On 3 February 2019, the creator of the Instagram egg was revealed by Hulu and "The New York Times" to be Chris Godfrey, a British advertising creative. Alissa Khan-Whelan, his colleague, was also outed.  On 18 January 2019, the account posted a second picture of an egg, almost identical to the first one apart from a small crack at the top left. As of 25 February 2019, the post accumulated 11.8 million likes. On 22 January 2019, the account posted a third picture of an egg, this time having two larger cracks. In less than 25 minutes, the post accumulated 1 million likes, and by 25 February it had accumulated 9.5 million likes. On 29 January 2019, a fourth picture of an egg was posted to the account which has another large crack on the right hand side, attracting 7.6 million likes by 25 February. On 1 February 2019, a fifth picture of an egg was posted with stitching like that of a football, referencing the upcoming Super Bowl. That post had accumulated 6.5 million likes by 25 February 2019. The account promised that it would reveal what was inside the egg on 3 February, on the subscription video on demand service Hulu.  The Hulu Instagram egg reveal was used to promote an animation about a mental health campaign. A caption from the clip read, "Recently I've started to crack, the pressure of social media is getting to me. If you're struggling too, talk to someone." The video was later posted on @world_record_egg Instagram account which had received over 33 million views by May 2019.

Reception.

In response to breaking the world record for most-liked Instagram post, the account's owner wrote "This is madness. What a time to be alive." Hours later, Kylie Jenner posted a video on Instagram of her cracking open an egg and pouring its yolk onto the ground, with the caption: "Take that little egg."  Pundits pontificated on the meaning of the egg picture's dominance over social media's "first family". As "Vogue" observed, tapping a heart pictogram is easy, and eggs are "lovable". More pointedly: [T]he attention economy is a scam based on requiring little to no labor from both producer and consumer despite commanding the most space, and therefore value, in our digital lives... but it very well could be: As a metaphor for the fragility of the influencer ecosystem, the egg has broken the Internet.  The significance of the event and its massive republishing are a topic of discussion.  A University of Westminster researcher of internet memes compared it to the movement to name a scientific research vessel in the United Kingdom as Boaty McBoatface. The Instagrammer's success is a rare victory for the unpaid viral campaign on social media. "There is a bit of an anti-celebrity revolt here – 'look what we can do with a simple egg The researcher suggests that the accomplishment of becoming such a widely heralded unpaid viral post may become increasingly rare, as social networks rely more on paid and business promotion.  It has been characterized as a populist backlash against "consumerism". It is seen as a triumph of community over celebrity. However, propelled by their popular success, the creators have promised to cash in to a merchandising opportunity, releasing 'egg-centric' memorabilia; thereby adopting the corporate culture the effort seemed to implicitly reject.  Hundreds of games based on the Instagram egg have appeared on Apple's App Store. The creators of the Instagram egg also reached a deal to promote Hulu.

The Instagram egg is a photo of an egg posted by the account @world_record_egg on the social media platform Instagram, notable for becoming a global phenomenon and an internet meme within days of its creation. It has 54.5 million likes, making it both the most-liked Instagram post and most liked online post on any website in history. The owner of the account was revealed to be Chris Godfrey, an advertising creative, who later worked with his two friends Alissa Khan-Whelan and CJ Brown on a Hulu commercial featuring the egg, intended to raise awareness of mental health.


Electoral system.

The President of Nigeria is elected using a modified two round system, to be elected in the first round, a candidate must receive a majority of the vote and over 25% of the vote in at least 24 of the 36 states. If no candidate passes this threshold, a second round is held.  The 109 members of the Senate were elected from 109 single-seat constituencies (three in each state and one for the Federal Capital Territory) by first-past-the-post voting. The 360 members of the House of Representatives were also elected by first-past-the-post voting in single-member constituencies.

Presidential candidates.

Party primaries.

PDP.

The People's Democratic Party held its presidential primaries on 5 October 2018, at the Adokiye Amiesimaka Stadium, Port Harcourt, Rivers State. Thirteen aspirants contested for the ticket of the PDP, with Atiku Abubakar emerging the winner.

APC.

Though some party members aspired for office of the president, notably, Dr. SKC Ogbonnia, Chief Charles Udeogaranya, and Alhaji Mumakai-Unagha, the incumbent President Muhammadu Buhari was selected as the sole candidate of the All Progressives Congress party primaries held on 29 September 2018 amidst charges of imposition.

Presidential debates.

A presidential and vice-presidential debate was organised by the Nigerian Elections Debate Group (NEDG) and the Broadcasting Organisations of Nigeria (BON), with invitations extended to five of the 78 presidential candidates. The Debate Group explained the exclusion of other candidates as a measure to ensure the effectiveness of the debate and not an endorsement of the candidates chosen.  The vice presidential debate was held on 14 December 2018, at the Transcorp Hilton Hotels in Abuja. All invited vice presidential candidates were present, with candidates discussing health, education, security, economy and foreign affairs policies plans.  The presidential debate occurred on 19 January 2019, and took place at the same venue. The two leading presidential contestants were absent, with Atiku Abubakar leaving the venue upon discovering that Muhammadu Buhari was absent. Fela Durotoye (ANN), Oby Ezekwesili (ACPN) and Kingsley Moghalu (YPN) continued the debate, while criticising the absence of the others. Mark Eddo moderated the debate.

Conduct.

Immediately following the elections there were claims of widespread fraud by the opposition. The claims included accusations of ballot box snatching, vote-trading and impersonation. There were also claims that caches of explosives were found by police. Losing candidate Atiku Abubakar filed a case in the Nigerian supreme court citing widespread irregularities in the polls. However the court dismissed his case, saying that Atiku has failed to prove widespread fraud committed by the electoral team of Buhari. The court also dismissed an allegation which said that Buhari lied about his academic background.  The African Union said the elections were "largely peaceful and conducive for the conducting of credible elections." The electoral commission also described the elections as mostly peaceful. On the contrary, US based organisation freedom house severely criticised the conduct,saying that they were marred by irregularities and intimidation.

Results.

President.

The results of the presidential election were announced in the early hours of 27 February 2019.

Senate.

Senate President Bukola Saraki (PDP) was defeated in Kwara Central by the APC candidate.  Currently, 64 incumbent Senators will not be returning as members of the Ninth Senate, having been defeated during the elections. While the APC will have a simple majority of votes in the Senate, it will not have a supermajority (74 votes), meaning it cannot push through major bills on its own. Three Senate seats have yet to be filled.

Governors.

On 2 March 2019, elections were held for governors of 29 of the 36 states of Nigeria. Elections were suspended on the original date in Rivers State. They were later held on April 3, where the INEC declared that incumbent Wike won re-election.

General elections were held in Nigeria on 23 February 2019 to elect the President, Vice President, House of Representatives and the Senate. The elections had initially been scheduled for 16 February, but the Electoral Commission postponed the vote by a week at 03:00 on the original polling day, citing logistical challenges in getting electoral materials to polling stations on time. In some places, the vote was delayed until 24 February due to electoral violence. Polling in some areas was subsequently delayed until 9 March, when voting was carried out alongside gubernatorial and state assembly elections.


Design and development.

The Convair Model 200 was designed in 1973 as a single-jet fighter, that could be built in both vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) (model 200A) and conventional takeoff and landing (CTOL) configurations (Model 201A). For the CTOL, the single Pratt & Whitney JTF22A-26A with tail hook, canard with flap, and CTOL tail cone. For the VTOL operations, the single Pratt & Whitney JTF22A-30A with a jet exhaust pipe tiltable by 90 degrees, and two additional lifting engines with 46.7 kN thrust each were provided behind the cockpit. The lifting engines and the swiveling nozzles were eliminated in the CTOL versions. The top speed was Mach 2. The wingspan was 27 feet 10.5 inches; the length was 51 feet 1.5 inches. The Model 200 had a cruise engine, a swept tail, two ventral fins under the fuselage, delta wings and delta canards directly behind the rectangular air intakes.  The Model 200 was proposed in a US Navy competition for a small VTOL fighter that could be carried by the Sea Control Ship, the small aircraft carriers that the US Navy was planning at the time. Neither the Model 200 nor the SCS were built. However, a competitor of the Model 200, the Rockwell XFV-12 fighter aircraft, was built. The XFV-12 was far from meeting expectations, and the project was canceled before the second XFV-12 was completed. Various models for wind tunnel tests were built for the Convair Model 200. As well as a model for researching the air currents during vertical takeoff and landing. Furthermore, a 1:1 front fuselage model including a complete cockpit layout.

The Convair Model 200 was a design for a supersonic vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) fighter requirement for the United States Navy Sea Control Ship. Further versions were planned for conventional catapult launches and landing using the arresting gear.


Early and personal life.

Worth was born György Woittitz in Budapest, Hungary, and was Jewish. Because of the political climate in Hungary in 1937, Worth sought to emigrate to the United States, but he was unable to do so directly because he was Jewish and spent two years in Cuba.  Worth finally came to the United States, and changed his name to George Worth, and at the age of 22 he was living in Manhattan in New York City. He became a US citizen. Worth served for the US in World War II, and fought in the Battle of the Bulge in 1944 and 1945, winning several Bronze Stars.  He later served as Captain of the South Orangetown, New York Ambulance Corps and Chief Commissioner of the Orangeburg, New York Fire Department.

Fencing career.

Worth began fencing while he was a youth in Hungary, at Salle Santelli, the salle d’armes of Italo Santelli, a sabre coach and the father of Giorgio Santelli, who became a five-time US Olympic coach. During his two years in Cuba, Worth won the Cuban national sabre championship and fenced often with Ramon Fonst, who had won the Olympic championship in both 1900 and 1904.

US Championship.

Worth won the US AFLA national sabre championship in 1954, and was a 5-time medalist. He was a member of 14 national championship teams, representing Salle Santelli his entire career.

Olympics.

Worth competed at four Olympic Games for the US Olympic team—in 1948, 1952, 1956, and 1960.  He won a bronze medal at the 1948 Summer Olympics in London at 33 years of age in the team saber competition, and he reached the finals and placed fifth in the individual saber event.  At the 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki at 37 years of age, he reached the quarterfinals in the solo event and advanced to the final in the team saber event, where they finished in fourth place.  At the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne at 41 years of age, he reached the semifinals in the sabre event. In the team event they had a bye into the semifinals, where they were defeated.  His final Olympics was the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome at 45 years of age, where he and his team placed fourth in the sabre competition.

Pan American Games.

Worth was also a member of three Pan-American teams on behalf of the US. He won the individual silver medal in sabre and the team gold medal in sabre and foil at the 1951 Pan American Games in Argentina. He repeated those results at the 1955 Pan American Games in Mexico. At the 1959 Pan American Games in Chicago, he again won a team gold, and came in fifth in the individual competition.  He took the Pan American Games Oath of Participation on behalf of all athletes of the United States during the opening ceremonies of the 1959 Games.  After his fencing career concluded, he was a leading official in the sport.

Hall of Fame.

He was inducted into the USFA Hall of Fame in 1974.

George V. Worth (born György Woittitz; April 1, 1915 – January 15, 2006) was a Hungarian-born American sabre Olympic medalist fencer.


Royal Air Force use.

Bovingdon was built in 1941/42 as a standard Class A RAF bomber airfield. The main NE/SW runway was /4902 feet long and the two secondary runways were /4299 feet long each. Over 30 dispersal hardstandings were built.  On 15 June 1942, No. 7 Group, RAF Bomber Command took up residence at Bovingdon. Operational missions were flown in June and July by the RAF until the field was turned over to the USAAF in August.

United States Army Air Forces use.

USAAF Station Units assigned to RAF Bovingdon were: Regular Army Station Units included:  The primary mission of Bovingdon was to support Eighth Air Force Headquarters and the Air Technical Section, both equipped with a variety of aircraft types. General Eisenhower's personal B-17 was housed on the base. During World War II, several film stars were assigned at one time or another to the base, including Clark Gable, James Stewart and William Holden. Among famous wartime visitors were Bob Hope, Frances Langford, Mrs Eleanor Roosevelt, and Glenn Miller.  A unique mission undertaken at Bovingdon was the training of United States journalists to cover the air war over Occupied Europe. A group of military journalists underwent training in February 1943 to fly high-altitude missions in bombers, to shoot the flexible machine guns (although they did not actually fire them in combat), as well as parachute and life support training as aircrew.  The group of journalists flew on a combat mission over Wilhelmshaven, Germany on 26 February 1943 to attack the German Naval submarine pens there. The mission saw heavy losses for the USAAF, and the aircraft of Andy Rooney of the Stars and Stripes was damaged by flak and Robert Post of the New York Times was killed in action when his B-24 exploded. This ended the training of journalists to fly along with Eighth Air Force bomber crews. Other journalists who underwent this training included Walter Cronkite, James Denton Scott, Homer Bigart, William Wade and Gladwin Hill.

92nd Bombardment Group (Heavy).

The first USAAF tenant at Bovingdon was the 92nd Bombardment Group (Heavy), being deployed from Sarasota AAF, Florida. The group was known as "Fame's Favorite Few", and it was assigned to the 4th Combat Wing at RAF Thurleigh. The group tail code was a "Triangle B". Its operational squadrons were:  The 92nd flew a few two combat missions in September and October 1942, then was assigned the role of a Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress Combat Crew Replacement Unit (CCRU). In January 1943, the 92nd was transferred to RAF Alconbury where it was reformed as an operational combat group.

11th Combat Crew Replacement Unit.

Although the 92nd Bomb Group departed for Alconbury, the 326th Bomb Squadron of the 92nd remained at Bovingdon to form the core of 11th Combat Crew Replacement Unit. The training was performed on the B-17E aircraft, and most combat crews of 8th Air Force bombing units for the balance of the war received their introduction before moving on to their operational bases. Although based at Bovingdon, the 326th remained under the operational control of the 92nd at Alconbury until May 1943.  In September 1944 the 11th CCRU was disbanded and Bovingdon became the base for the European Air Transport Service (EATS). Many thousands of Americans returned to the States via the air terminal.

Postwar uses.

At the end of the war, Bovingdon was returned to RAF control on 15 April 1947. The British Ministry of Civil Aviation obtained the airfield for civilian airline use. On 15 September 1949, Bovingdon was the start point for a successful record air speed attempt by a de Havilland Hornet to and from Gibraltar.  Because of its elevation, Bovingdon was often clear when Heathrow Airport and RAF Northolt were fog-bound and, during the winter months especially, Bovingdon was used by British European Airways (BEA). British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC) used Bovingdon as a maintenance facility and numerous other independent aircraft operators used the former technical site during the postwar years.  During the 1950s both civilian and military organizations used Bovingdon. The proximity of the USAF Third Air Force Headquarters at RAF South Ruislip and HQ RAF Fighter Command at Bentley Priory made Bovingdon the ideal location for service aircraft.  The USAF returned to Bovingdon on 25 May 1951, with the establishment of the 7531st Air Base Squadron. Douglas C-47 Skytrains were assigned to the unit, however many transitory USAF planes used the airfield routinely. In addition, the RAF operated the Fighter Command Communication Squadron RAF on the base. In October 1962, the USAF departed from Bovingdon. During the 60s, RAF Transport Command (Southern Communication Squadron RAF) operated Anson, Devon, Pembroke and latterly Basset aircraft from Bovingdon. In the 1960s the base was home to the last flight of Anson Mk 21 aircraft, descended from a World War II design.  The Air Training Corps 617 Gliding School operated from Bovingdon between 1968 and 1970, the last flight by a military aircraft being Kirby Cadet Mk.3 glider XN246 on 25 oct 1970. The school had moved from RAF Hendon in 1968 but moved on to RAF Manston in 1971. In 1968 the airfield was used to store and dispose of several aircraft used in the making of the film "Battle of Britain". Recently it has been used as the location for the Masked Singer reality Show

Closure and civilian use.

In 1968, the Ministry of Defence (MOD) announced that Bovingdon would be closed for budgetary reasons, and in 1972 the airfield was shut down, although since World War II to present day, the runway, 650m long x 49m wide on Berry Farm has continuously been used for light aircraft activities. Berry Farm is owned separately and is unconnected to the part of the original airfield where the land has been utilised for various other uses including the market. In 2012 Dacorum Borough Council confirmed the Berry Farm stretch of runway 08/26 remains a legal active airfield for light aircraft operation.  In the early 1980s, flying returned to the airfield in the form first of hang-glider tow-launching (using a truck-mounted pay-out winch) and then microlight aircraft, mainly of the 'Trike/hang-glider' type. Some local residents complained on the grounds of "noise" and "danger". After local inquiry, the Ombudsman narrowly decided against allowing flying to continue. At that time the combined control tower and fire-tender garage were in'reasonable structural condition' but deliberately damaged a few years later by earthmoving equipment, thereafter making restoration highly unlikely. The remains of the control tower were demolished in August, 2010.  An area of the former technical site was transferred to HM Prison Service for use as a prison, called 'The Mount' which opened in 1987.  The airfield site still houses a VOR navigational beacon, code BNN. The airspace above the airfield and nearby Chesham is known as the Bovingdon stack and is a holding area for aircraft approaching Heathrow Airport, to the south. Aircraft are requested to join the hold, typically at an altitude of 7000–16000 feet, and then fly a 'race-track' pattern around the Bovingdon VOR beacon, separated at intervals of 1000 feet from other aircraft. Each aircraft is then instructed to descend to a lower available altitude as the lowest aircraft leaves the hold to make its final approach to Heathrow. At busy times, therefore, there may be up to 10 aircraft holding at the available 1000 foot separations between 7000 feet and 16000 feet and these may be seen circling overhead on a clear day.  The remainder of the airfield site is used for a regular Saturday market and there was also a permanent circuit for banger racing which closed in September 2008. The main runway and taxiways which are still intact though in a poor state of repair, but are also used for other events such as autojumbles and classic car shows. Alongside a runway is a Delta Force Paintballing Facility. The ruins of the control tower also remain.

Film and television appearances.

In the 1960s, Bovingdon was used in the production of four World War II films, "The War Lover" (1962); "633 Squadron" (1964) "Battle of Britain" (1969) and "Mosquito Squadron" (1969). Although flying ceased at the airfield in 1969, it was also used to film parts of the flying car scenes in the James Bond film "The Man With the Golden Gun" starring Roger Moore, when the palm trees fold down as it takes off as well as some flying scenes for the film "Hanover Street" which were shot there in 1978. The site was also used in the 2016 "Star Wars" film "Rogue One", representing the planet Scarif.  On television it served as the location for at least one black and white episode of "The Avengers" ""The Hour That Never Was"", starring Patrick Macnee and Diana Rigg featuring Gerald Harper and Roy Kinnear as well as the 1980 "Blake's 7" episode "The Harvest of Kairos" as the surface of the planet Kairos. An airstrip at the airfield is also reputed to have been used in the opening credits of the 1967 television series "The Prisoner" in which Patrick McGoohan is seen driving a Lotus Super Seven car past the camera at speed. The control tower and airfield was the filming location for the 1981 movie "Silver Dream Racer" starring David Essex and Beau Bridges. In the movie, the montage scene before the final race shows Essex and Christina Raines training for the forthcoming grand prix. It has continued to be used in various TV shows up to the present day.  Since January 2018, Bovingdon is the filming location of ITV's "Dancing on Ice" where a full-size studio has been built for the series. The airfield has also been used in the production of the film "Bohemian Rhapsody", as the production crew were required to recreate the 1985 Live Aid set.

Royal Air Force Bovingdon or more simply RAF Bovingdon is a former Royal Air Force station located near the village of Bovingdon, south of Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire and southeast of Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire, England.


Family.

A descendant of an ancient Welsh family, Sir Richard was a landed gentleman of Buckinghamshire, the son of Geoffrey Pole, Esquire of Worrell, Cheshire, and of Wythurn in Medmenham, Buckinghamshire (1431 – 1474 / 4 January 1479, interred in Bisham Abbey). His mother was Edith St John, daughter of Sir Oliver St John of Bletso, Bedfordshire (d. 1437) and the half-sister of Lady Margaret Beaufort, mother of Henry VII. They shared the same mother, Margaret Beauchamp of Bletso, who had married three times; this made Richard a first cousin of the half blood to Henry VII. Sir Richard was thus first cousin of Alice St John, wife of Henry Parker, 10th Baron Morley and mother of Jane Parker, wife of George Boleyn, Viscount Rochford.

Tudor rule.

Henry VII gave him various offices in Wales: he was Constable of Harlech and Montgomery Castles and the High Sheriff of Merionethshire. In 1495 Pole raised men against the rebellion of Perkin Warbeck.  Sir Richard Pole was "a valiant and expert commander" first retained to serve Henry VII in the wars of Scotland in 1497 with five demi-lancers and 200 archers, and shortly afterwards with 600 men-at-arms, 60 demi-lancers, and 540 bows and bills.  King Henry later made him Chief Gentleman of the Privy Chamber to Arthur, Prince of Wales. Pole was invested as a Knight of the Garter on April 1499. After Prince Arthur married Catherine of Aragon in 1501 Pole accompanied them to Ludlow Castle where Arthur took his role as President of the Council of Wales and the Marches. Pole was later given responsibility for the Welsh Marches. He also had the daunting task of meeting with the Council of Wales and the Marches on how best to inform the king of his much-loved eldest son's death on 2 April 1502.

Marriage.

He married Margaret Plantagenet, daughter of George Plantagenet, 1st Duke of Clarence and Isabel Neville, Duchess of Clarence, between 1491 and 1494, perhaps on 22 September 1494. However, their eldest son Henry was born in 1492, making 1491 the likely date of marriage. On the topic of the marriage, William Shakespeare wrote "His [The Duke of Clarence's] daughter meanly have I match'd in marriage." and Horace Walpole wrote in his correspondence, "Henry had married her to the insignificant Sir Richard Pole who is called a Welsh Knight". Sir Richard Pole may have been chosen by King Henry VII as husband for his wife's cousin Margaret on the basis that he was "safe" because his mother was a half-sister of Henry's own mother, Margaret Beaufort, Countess of Richmond—that is, one of the St Johns—and her mother in turn was a Beauchamp.  He died before 18 December 1505.

Issue.

He and his wife had five children:

Sir Richard Pole, KG (1462 – before 18 December 1505) was a Welshman who was a supporter and close relation of King Henry VII. He was created a Knight of the Garter and was married to Margaret Pole, Countess of Salisbury, a member of the Plantagenet dynasty: a marriage which reinforced the Tudor alliance between the houses of Lancaster and York.


Company history.

Introduction.

After studying marketing in Besançon, Richard Mille (born 13 February 1951, Draguignan, France) started work at Finhor, a local watchmaking company in 1974. The company was bought by Matra in 1981 and Richard Mille rose to manage Matra's watchmaking business, which then included the brands Yema and Cupillard Rième. Matra's watchmaking activities were sold to Seiko, who Mille left in 1992 to start a watchmaking business for jewellery firm Mauboussin.

Development.

Following a disagreement about commercial strategy at Mauboussin, where he was a shareholder, Richard Mille left his position as General Manager of the watchmaking division of the Place Vendôme jeweller and decided to launch his own range of watches. In late 1998, he presented his plans to his friend Dominique Guenat, owner of «Montres Valgine» (Guenat SA - Montres Valgine), whom he met in 1988 while working in Besançon for Compagnie Générale Horlogère (CGH) and with whom he worked on watches for Mauboussin. The professional relationship between the two men soon grew into a great friendship, fuelled in particular by a shared love of cars, aeronautics and mechanics. Then they decided to go into partnership together in order to enhance and launch their plans for a new watch brand with the support of Lucien Tissot, a lawyer specialised in the watchmaking industry.  In early 1999, Richard Mille and Dominique Guenat drew up their plans and the basis for the Richard Mille brand, in partnership with Guenat S.A. Montres Valgine and APR&P (Audemars Piguet, Renaud et Papi). Over the next two years, they defined their brand concept, combining the worlds of cars, aeronautics and sailing with the high-tech aspects of innovation, resistant materials and accuracy. After this, they began designing the future Richard Mille watches and subjected them to reliability and precision testing. Dominique Guenat and Richard Mille then founded Horométrie SA – their operating company for the new Richard Mille brand – as equal partners, registered on in the Swiss registry of commerce (wholesale of watch and jewellery items). They then founded the Richard Mille watchmaking brand in collaboration with Swiss watchmaking Manufacture Audemars Piguet, which became a Richard Mille shareholder in 2007.  After three years of research and prototypes, the Richard Mille brand presented its first watch, the RM 001 Tourbillon at Baselworld in 2001, the world watch and jewellery show held in Basel, Switzerland. This manually wound mechanism was fitted with a ribbed tonneau-shaped case that revealed the mechanism6, the main features of the brand's visual identity, and included a tourbillon calibre, a power-reserve indicator and a torque indicator. The strap was made from leather and the crystal from mineral glass, and it had a water-resistance of up to 50 metres.  Then, in 2002, Richard Mille presented the RM 002, a technological development on the first model and the first watch in the history of watchmaking to feature a titanium baseplate. This was followed later that year by the RM 003, a dual time zone tourbillon, and by the RM 004 flyback chronograph in 2003.  In 2005, the watch brand launched the RM 007, the first ladies' watch in the Richard Mille collection.  Richard Mille soon made a name for itself in the luxury and ultra-luxury watch sectors thanks to its innovative materials and technology, joining the Fondation de la Haute Horlogerie in 2007.  In April 2013, Richard Mille and Dominique Guenat acquired a 90% stake in"Prototypes Artisanals SA" (with former director Alain Varrin retaining a 10% share). Founded by Marco Poluzzi, the company became «ProArt» and moved to a 3,000 m2 building in Les Breuleux built for the production of watch cases and prototypes. Following the sale of case supplier Donzé-Baume to Swiss luxury group Richemont in 2007, the Richard Mille company began to invest in machining its own cases and some of its watch components. ProArt thus began to operate as an exclusive subcontractor to the brand.  In 2013, the French luxury world group Kering, controlled by François-Henri Pinault, made a proposal to buy the watch company to acquire 51% of the shares. But the proposal was rejected. Richard Mille remains independent.  On 27 September 2018, Richard Mille announced it would be withdrawing from the Salon international de la haute horlogerie (SIHH) in Geneva after the 2018 edition, like its shareholder Audemars Piguet, as the show no longer corresponded to the brand's distribution strategy.  In October 2018, Richard Mille opened its largest store in the world in New York. It is the brand's sixth store in the United States, with a surface area of 390 m2 and is located on 57th Street, at 432 Park Avenue, in the second highest residential tower in the Western hemisphere. The facade is almost 10m tall, and reveals a glass sculpture formed of 24 individually engraved panels depicting the tourbillon movement of the RM 008. The complete structure weighs 16,700 kg.  At the end of 2018, the brand presented Richard Mille's first creation entirely supervised by a woman, the "RM 71-01 Automatic Tourbillon Talisman" equipped with the new «CRMT1» automatic caliber house.

Geographic location.

Richard Mille is a Swiss brand based in the town of Les Breuleux, in the Canton of Jura at an altitude of 1,038 meters metres above sea level It operates within the Montres Valgine company.

The Richard Mille Group.

The “Richard Mille Group” comprises the following companies: Horométrie SA (distribution), Guenat SA Montres Valgine (conception and assembly), ProArt (components), VMDH (decoration) and Cercle d'Art (publishing).  In 2018, the Group employed 148 people.

Horométrie SA.

Horométrie is the operating company of the «Richard Mille brand» created by Richard Mille and Dominique Guenat in 2001. It also coordinates global distribution via four partners, who operate 38 proprietary Richard Mille stores around the world as joint ventures or franchises, and 45 retailers distributed as follows :

Guenat SA - Montres Valgine.

Dominique Guenat joined the Guenat SA - Montres Valgine (GMV) company in 1986 and took to the helm in 1991. In 1999, he teamed up with Richard Mille to create the “Richard Mille” watch brand.  All Richard Mille watches are developed and produced in Switzerland by the Guenat SA - Montres Valgine (GMV) Manufacture in Les Breuleux. Design and development are carried out in the old 1950s building in Les Breuleux, which was renovated in 1972, while assembly and quality control are performed in the building that was completed in 2007.  In 2018, Cécile Guenat – director of the Richard Mille women's collection, daughter of Dominique Guenat and the fourth generation to work at the Montres Valgine company – presented the first Richard Mille creation to be designed by a woman: the RM 71-01 Automatic Tourbillon Talisman.

ProArt.

Richard Mille watch cases, as well as certain movement components, such as baseplates, bridges, screws and some wheels, are produced in their entirety by ProArt. This machining company belongs to the Richard Mille group and operates in an ultra-modern 3,000 m2 building that was opened in April 2013 in Les Breuleux. Work to extend the ProArt site began in late 2017, with the construction of a second building intended to house the research and development offices as well as new machining workshops.

VMDH.

VMDH (Vital Morel Décalque Horlogère) is located in La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland, just 25 km from Les Breuleux. It specialises in transfers and the decoration of watch movement components (galvanoplasty, electroplating, etc.). VMDH produces all the dials and flanges used by the Richard Mille brand as well as some of the hands, and is tasked with applying «Super-LumiNova» phosphorescent pigments. VMDH is chaired by Yves Mathys.

The Richard Mille brand.

Visual identity.

The characteristic Richard Mille case shape is now the principal element of the brand's visual identity, ensuring that the watches are clearly recognisable, as are the "spline screws" visible on both the case and the inside of the movement. The movement is always visible in a Richard Mille watch.

Products.

The brand's most famous models are the Tourbillon RM 008 (chronograph tourbillon) and the sapphire split seconds (chronograph tourbillon) RM 056. The RM 008 combines a tourbillon movement with manual winding, a chronograph split-seconds, a torque indicator, and a power reserve indicator. Claimed to be one of the most advanced watches in the world, it is priced from €500,000.  The RM 056 split seconds (chronograph tourbillon) is distinguished by its three-part all-sapphire skeletal case. The RM 056 is completely see-through and is the first watch case to be completely built from sapphire, with a limited edition five pieces of the Richard Mille RM 056 Felipe Massa Sapphire priced at US$1.7 million. The RM 056 was declared best watch of 2012 at the Salon Internacional de Alta Relojería watchmakers' exhibition in Mexico City in October 2012.

Technologies.

A large portion of Richard Mille's inspiration comes from racing cars and the study of shock-resistance, the concrete applications of which have made it possible to improve the rigidity of the baseplate, reduce friction, and give the watches very high shock-resistance. The concepts and materials inspired by Formula 1, which provided the basis for the first Richard Mille watch (RM 001), are one of the cornerstones of the brand's philosophy.  Richard Mille decided to craft extremely lightweight and accurate watches from the best high-tech materials used in aeronautics, Formula 1 and precision surgery, such as grade 5 titanium, LITAL, Carbon TPT and graphene. Thus ARCAP – a material renowned for its physical qualities, including resistance to corrosion and magnetic fields – was used for the first time in watchmaking history in the RM 002.  Richard Mille teamed up with North Thin Ply Technology, the world leader in the production of lightweight pre-impregnated materials used in sailing and Formula 1, to produce the RM 27-02 Rafael Nadal in Carbon NTPT and Quartz TPT, as well as the RM 11-03 McLaren. A Richard Mille Tourbillon can contain up to 1,000 components in a case that measures just 45 millimetres thick.

Movement.

The brand has designed its own manufactured automatic calibres, including a whirlpool movement :

Records.

Accuracy.

The RM 031 is one of the most accurate wristwatches ever created. With a frequency of 36,000 vibrations per hour, it features the most advanced regulation mechanism in existence and has a performance of +/- 20 seconds per month – a real feat in modern watchmaking. Limited to just 10 pieces.

Lightness.

In 2004, Richard Mille launched the RM 006 Felipe Massa Tourbillon, which weighed just 48 grams (excluding the strap).  In 2005, the brand repeated this feat with the RM 009 Felipe Massa Tourbillon, which set a world record of 29 grams (excluding the strap).  In 2007, the record was reduced to 20 grams by the RM 027 Rafael Nadal (strap included)52, whose movement is made from titanium and LITAL, a lithium alloy popular in aeronautics that contains aluminium, copper, magnesium and zirconium.  In 2013, the record was smashed by the manually wound RM 27-01 Rafael Nadal Tourbillon watch (limited to 50 pieces), which pushed the concepts of lightness and resistance to the extreme. Developed with the tennis star, the tourbillon weighs just 18.83 grams (strap included) and holds the record for the lightest tourbillon ever made thanks to its lithium aluminium movement and carbon nanotube case.  In 2017, at the Salon international de la haute horlogerie (SIHH), Richard Mille presented the RM 50-03 McLaren F1, the world's lightest flyback chronograph weighing just 38 grams (strap included).

Shock-resistance.

The RM 27-03 Tourbillon can withstand impacts of 10,000 g – double that of the RM 50-03 McLaren F1 – thanks to its skeletonised unibody baseplate made from Carbon TPT®.  On 25 July 2009, during his Formula 1 accident in the qualifying stages of the 2009 Hungarian Grand Prix, Felipe Massa, one of the brand's "partners", was wearing an RM 006, which emerged from the almost 200 km/h crash unscathed.

Projects.

Quebec City Clock.

Called the «Porte-Bonheur Clock», this project was launched in 2008 to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Quebec City. The Republic and Canton of Jura and the Richard Mille brand wanted to offer Quebec a symbolic gift symbolizing the friendship that binds the Republic and Canton of Jura to the City of Quebec.  It was officially unveiled on 7 March 2014 in the presence of Richard Mille, Dominique Guenat, Élisabeth Baume-Schneider (President of the Jura government), Régis Labeaume (Mayor of Quebec) and Charles Juillard (Swiss Minister of Finance).  For six years, in partnership with the technical college of Porrentruy (École des métiers techniques in Porrentruy) and the Neuchâtel Haute Ecole Arc, Richard Mille engineers have developed, machined and assembled this monumental clock. Assembled using 16 spline screws, it measures 3.5 metres tall, 2.5 metres wide and 1.3 metres deep and weighs 1,913 kg.  As the first clock to be designed and produced in accordance with the demands and conventions of very fine watchmaking, the Jura Clock required:

Starck and Only Watch.

In 2005, Richard Mille and the French designer Philippe Starck made their first collaboration by presenting the creation of a unique interpretation "RM 005-1 Richard Mille by Philippe Stark". The piece was sold at auction in Monaco for €285,000, for the benefit of the association Only Watch, the highest price ever achieved for an automatic watch at that time.  Two years later, the two men team up again for Only Watch 2007. The RM 011 Starck resulting from this collaboration is extremely complex, it comes in the form of a titanium "bangle" bracelet totally integrated into the case. This coin led to a new auction record on 20 September 2007, raising €320,000 for the same charity.

Planetarium Tellurium.

It took 10 years and 50,000 hours of research and development to create the Richard Mille Planetarium-Tellurium. It was presented on September 4, 2007 at the Tempus Event 'The Hour Glass' in Singapore. The project dates back to 1998, when Richard Mille met Stephen Forsey and Robert Greubel during an assignment for Mauboussin. After founding their company Greubel Forsey in 2004, the men asked Christian Étienne, owner of the Swiss watch clinic in Porrentruy, to assemble the prototype of the Planetarium-Tellurium, while Richard Mille tackled the design and outer casing.  The Planetarium-Tellurium features a perpetual calendar with a rapid corrector that can make the necessary adjustments both forwards and backwards. It combines an extremely precise gear train and barrel for the planetarium with a detent escapement, making it the most accurate in the world today.  Planet Earth (enlarged 109 times) weighs 91 grams and is in solid silver, as is its satellite, the Moon. The Sun is made from yellow gold, Mercury from pink gold, and Venus from natural stone. The planets are covered in different colours of enamel. The Planetarium-Tellurium weighs 44 kg, including its titanium encasing and protective glass. Its encasing was modified after the official presentation, as the original hid the front section.

Sponsorship and endorsements.

The brand sponsors various sports persons, and the company also sponsors sports events including the Le Mans Classic and Grand Prix de Pau auto races and the 'Voiles de Saint Barth' sailing regatta.

Sailing.

In 2006, Richard Mille launched a partnership with Italian yacht manufacturer Perini Navi. The watch brand also became the official timekeeper of the Perini Navi Cup. To mark this collaboration, it launched the RM 014 Tourbillon Perini Navi watch in 2006 and the RM 015 Tourbillon Perini Navi in 2007.  Richard Mille has been the main partner of «Les Voiles de Saint Barth» (since 2010) with the "Richard Mille Maxi Cup".  In 2007, Ian Williams, a British sailor, won the third edition of the Monsoon Cup under the colors Richard Mille, last round of the World Match Racing Tour in Kuala Terengganu, Malaysia, and became World Match-Race Champion.

Sport.

Since 2013, Richard Mille has been sponsoring the Lacoste Ladies Open Golf Women's Open.  In May 2011, Richard Mille created the Richard Mille Polo Team composed of Prince Bahar of Brunei, British player Max Routledge and Argentinians Pablo Mac Donough and Alejandro Muzzio.

Cars and racing.

Richard Mille is also Chairman of the Endurance Commission of the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA).  From its very beginnings, the brand has invested in events dedicated to the automobile and the competition, becoming in 2002 the partner of the automobile event, now a must-see and a classic of its kind, the Le Mans Classic. In 2014, Richard Mille reiterated his involvement, always in association with Patrick Peter of Peter Auto, and contributed to the creation of an event dedicated to historic automobiles which became, from its first edition, one of the most prestigious automotive elegance competitions in the world : the Chantilly Arts & Elegance Richard Mille.  The Richard Mille brand has teamed up with a number of drivers from Formula 1 teams, such as Alfa Romeo Sauber, Haas F1 Team and McLaren Racing, and from Formula E (Nissan E-dams, Venturi Formula E).  In 2017, Richard Mille and McLaren Automotive signed a 10-year partnership agreement. The RM 11-03 McLaren Automatic Flyback Chronograph – a limited edition of 500 timepieces jointly designed by McLaren design director Rob Melville and Richard Mille engineer Fabrice Namura – is the first product to arise from this union. The RM 11-03 McLaren watch enabled the 500 owners of the McLaren Senna, the first model in the Ultimate Series from the Woking-based manufacturer, to order a watch with a number that matched the chassis number of their supercar. Furthermore, the McLaren Speedtail presented in October 2018 is the first car to incorporate Thin-Ply Technology (TPT) in automotive construction. It is used on the supercar's upper control system, steering wheel base, and gear-change paddles.  Also in 2017, the watch brand became an official partner of the Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi, and of the Circuit Paul Ricard in Le Castellet in 2018, where the “Tour Chrono” (race display board) was designed by the Richard Mille teams.  In late 2018, just before the first leg of the 2018–19 Formula E season, Richard Mille announced a three-year partnership with Venturi, the team managed by Gildo Pastor in which Felipe Massa, the watch brand's historic partner, competes alongside teammate Edoardo Mortara. In 2019, Tolman Motorsport ran a pair of McLaren 570S GT4s with Richard Mille as a sponsor.  The watch brand is also a partner of:

Art.

In 2014, Horométrie SA acquired « Éditions Cercle d’Art ». The publishing house decided to refocus on prestigious art books. In parallel, it now also publishes books about watchmaking, architecture, photography, design, gastronomy and cars.

Economics.

Watch sales figures.

Sales of Richard Mille watches have grown by 15 % on average per year since the brand was launched, with a total of 32,000 watches sold between 2001 and 2017,

Revenue.

In CHF million.

Richard Mille is a Swiss luxury watchmaking brand founded in 2001 by Dominique Guenat and Richard Mille, and based in Les Breuleux, Switzerland.


Biography.

Olha Basarab was born Olha Levytska in 1889 into the family of petty gentry (coat-of-arms Rogala) near the town of Rohatyn. In 1914 she married Dmytry Basarab, who died fighting for Austrian on the Italian front in 1915. During World War I Basarab was a member of the first Women's Platoon of the Ukrainian Sich Riflemen, a unit of Ukrainian volunteers within the Austrian army. After the war she worked in the years 1918-1923 as an accountant of Embassy of Ukraine in Vienna, she also visited Denmark, Germany, Norway and other states to collect military and political intelligence. She was involved in charity work involving helping wounded soldiers and civilians, and was recognized by the International Red Cross for her efforts. Active in Ukrainian political organizing, she helped organize Ukrainian soldiers and was a member of the Ukrainian Women's Union in Vienna and a member of the Supreme Executive of the Union of Ukrainian Women in Lviv. In 1923 she started working with Ukrainian Military Organization where her liaison was colonel Eugene Konovalets. She was accused by the Polish authorities of working with intelligence from Germany and Bolshevik Ukraine in Poland and belonging to the Ukrainian Military Organization which organised assassinations on Poles and Ukrainians. After her imprisonment, materials concerning cooperation with German intelligence were found (the Ukrainian Military Organization signed an agreement on May 1923 with Weimar Germany's intelligence service according to which UVO would conduct espionage work against Poland while the German side was to provide financial aid and military equipment). She died in prison in unclear circumstances. The Polish government was accused of torturing her to death, although this accusation was never conclusively proven. Martha Bohachevsky-Chomiak from Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies claims the Polish government initially presented her death as a suicide but subsequent exhumation of her body showed that she had been murdered in their custody. Basarab's death resulted in protests from Ukrainians, demands for an inquiry from Ukrainian members of the Polish parliament, and calls from the Jewish members of the Polish parliament to investigate prisoner conditions in Polish jails. Her body was exhumed on February 26 and the Polish forensic expert stated that she had died by hanging. He declined to publicly identify the bruises on her body as being the results of beatings, although his student stated that he had told her during the autopsy that Basarb's body showed traces of having been beaten. Rumors spread in Lviv that police tortured people through the use of electric shocks.

Olha Basarab ( September 1, 1889 - February 12, 1924) was a Ukrainian political activist and member of the Ukrainian Military Organization who conducted both charitable and humanitarian work that was recognized by the International Red Cross, as well as military or intelligence work on behalf of the Ukrainian underground. She was an executive of the Ukrainian Women's Union branch in Lviv Ukraine. She was arrested by the Polish police after being accused of working with the Ukrainian Military Organization and of spying for Germany (with whom the Ukrainian Military Organization had a working relationship). Materials indicating cooperation with Germany's intelligence were found at her home. Different accounts of her death in prison exist range from suicide to murder. Afterwards she was seen as a martyr and source of inspiration within the Ukrainian community.


Life and career.

Wlaschiha was born in Pirna, Saxony, and studied music at the Musikhochschule in Weimar, after he had been rejected at the Musikhochschule Dresden. He began his operatic career at the Theater Gera, followed by the Sächsisches Landestheater Dresden-Radebeul, the Nationaltheater Weimar from 1966, and the Leipzig Opera from 1970, where he took part in the world premiere of Robert Hanell's "Griechische Hochzeit" on 31 May 1969, and in the world premiere of Fritz Geißler's "Der Schatten" in 1975. He was a member of the Berlin State Opera from 1982. Among his major roles there were Wagner characters: Telramund in "Lohengrin", Amfortas and Klingsor in "Parsifal", Kurwenal in "Tristan und Isolde", Hans Sachs in "Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg" and the title role in "Der fliegende Holländer". He also appeared as Don Pizarro in Beethoven's "Fidelio", Kaspar in Weber's "Der Freischütz", Jochanaan in "Salome" by Richard Strauss, Escamillo in Bizet's "Carmen", Amonasro in Verdi's "Aida" and the title role in his "Rigoletto". He was a regular guest at the Dresdner Staatsoper.  Wlaschiha first appeared at the Bayreuth Festival in 1984 as Alberich in "Götterdämmerung". Alberich became his signature role, performed in Bayreuth until 1998, then conducted by James Levine. He appeared there also as Kurwenal in "Tristan und Isolde" in 1986, conducted by Daniel Barenboim, as Telramund in "Lohengrin", as Biterolf in "Tannhäuser" and as Klingsor in "Parsifal". He appeared as Kaspar in Weber's "Der Freischütz" when the Semperoper was reopened on 13 February 1985, staged by and conducted by Wolf-Dieter Hauschild. He was Jochanaan in "Salome" by Richard Strauss at the Bavarian State Opera in Munich in 1987, opposite Hildegard Behrens in the title role. In 1988, he made his debut as Alberich at the Royal Opera House in London. Again as Alberich, he was filmed in the 1989 video broadcast of "Der Ring des Nibelungen" from the Metropolitan Opera, which won him international recognition. He sang alongside James Morris as Wotan, Siegfried Jerusalem as Siegfried and Behrens as Brünnhilde, conducted by Levine. He also appeared at the Met in "Salome", "Parsifal" and "Fidelio". He appeared as Telramund on a DVD from the Bayreuth Festival, conducted by Peter Schneider, with sets and costumes by filmmaker Werner Herzog. He retired from the stage as Pizarro in Beethoven's "Fidelio" at the Semperoper in 1998.  Wlaschiha won two Grammy Awards, in 1990 and 1991, both for recording the role of Alberich with the Metropolitan Opera on DG. His portrayal of the role was described as not a pure villain, but as a person with inner conflicts. His voice, which he described as with "a certain bite, a certain metal" ("Meine Stimme hatte immer einen gewissen Biss, ein gewisses Metall."), was intense, but with a wide scale of expression ("eine breite Skala von Ausdrucksmöglichkeiten"). He is remembered as a singer of powerful vocal presence and the ability to present multi-faceted personalities on stage. He had an unusual ability to maintain a relaxed legato line even when singing music with wide jumps in pitch and sudden changes in volume ("barks") such as the role of Alberich.  Wlaschiha also performed in concert and oratorio. On a 1984 recording of Bach's "St Matthew Passion", conducted by Peter Schreier who also took the part of the Evangelist, he appeared as Pilate.  Wlaschiha died in Bayreuth on 20 February 2019.

Ekkehard Wlaschiha (; 28 May 1938 – 20 February 2019) was a German operatic baritone who specialized in Wagnerian "villains", such as Alberich, Klingsor and Friedrich von Telramund. He performed at the Bayreuth Festival and at the Metropolitan Opera, and left many recordings.


History.

The company was founded in 1994 by brothers-in-law Dan Henry and Mike Brown and headquartered in Leawood, Kansas. In 1998, Euronet purchased ARKSYS, a computer software company that specialized in electronic payment and transaction delivery systems. On January 23, 2002, Euronet Worldwide announced the formation of a joint venture with Hong Kong-based First Mobile Group Holdings Limited.  In February 2003, Euronet acquired e-pay Ltd, an electronic payments processor of prepaid mobile airtime top-up services in the U.K. and Australia. This added a prepaid processing division to Euronet that grew with the September 2003 purchase of Austin International Marketing and Investments, Inc. (AIM), a U.S. based company, and the acquisition of the German company transact Elektronische Zahlungssysteme GmbH in November 2003.  In 2007, the company acquired Ria Money Transfer, global money transfer company with a network of agents and company-owned stores in North America, the Caribbean, Europe and Asia. In 2013, Euronet purchased Pure Commerce, giving it access to a suite of SaaS based applications.  In April 2014, Walmart started offering a store-to-store money transfer service, partnering with Euronet's subsidiary Ria Money Transfer. Walmart2Walmart allows shoppers to transfer money to and from 4,000 Walmart stores in the U.S. In 2016, the program was expanded into the global money transfer service market with Walmart2World.  In May 2014, it acquired UK-based international payments provider HiFX giving it access to cross border payment business in the UK, Australia and New Zealand. This acquisition allowed Euronet to offer international payment services between accounts for high-income individuals and small-to-medium-sized businesses.  In June 2015, Euronet's Ria entered the Middle East remittance market with the buyout of money transfer provider, IME. In July 2015, Euronet acquired xe.com, a provider of digital foreign exchange rate information, bringing Euronet a large internet presence and users familiar with foreign currency.  In March 2017, the company announced an unsolicited purchase offer for MoneyGram for $954 million. The acquisition however did not go through.  In April 2018, the company acquired Innova, which allows Euronet to provide VAT refunds to its customers. In December 2018, Euronet signed an agreement with Mozambique to provide software for the nation's financial system. Under the agreement, Euronet supports transaction processing services, connections to major card associations, ATM and Point of Sale device driving, card issuing, mobile recharge, bill payments, and digital wallets, among other services.  In January 2019, the municipality of Amsterdam announced its plans to prevent new Euronet ATMs from opening in shop facades, as Euronet "charges a hefty fee per cash withdrawal and uses unfavorable exchange rates." Advocates for dynamic currency conversion argue that fees, in general, offer visibility of the total costs at the point of transaction.  In January 2020, Euronet partnered with Standard Chartered to allow international ATM users to pay in their own currency rather than the local currency using a dynamic currency conversion (DCC) service. The ATM service will be provided in countries across Asia Pacific and the Middle East. That same month, Euronet began offering a recurring billing service to allow monthly payments for AppleCare products. Euronet also entered an agreement with AMBER Alert Europe in January 2020 to publish active missing child alerts on ATM screens.  In February 2020, Euronet's subsidiary, Ria Money, opened its first retail store in Singapore, allowing customers to transfer money at foreign exchange rates. The same month, Euronet partnered with Amazon India to provide add-on payment services to Amazon’s mobile wallet platform. In April 2020, the company acquired Dolphin Debit, a U.S. based ATM outsourcing company. Euronet operates ATM outsourcing services worldwide, but the 2020 acquisition allows the company to expand its outsourcing services to the U.S. for the first time. In May 2020, Euronet’s subsidiary, Ria Money Transfer, announced an expansion of their money transfer mobile app to European customers.

Company operation.

It operates in three segments: electronic funds transfer (EFT) processing, prepaid processing, and money transfer.

Euronet Worldwide is an American-headquartered worldwide provider of electronic payment services with headquarters in Leawood, Kansas. It offers automated teller machines (ATM), point of sale (POS) services, credit/debit card services, currency exchange and other electronic financial services and payments software. Among others, it provides the prepaid subsidiaries Transact, PaySpot, e-pay, Movilcarga, TeleRecarga and ATX.


Synopsis.

In 18th century Beijing (18 March 1741), Wei Yingluo enters the court of the Qianlong Emperor, Aisin Gioro Hongli, as one of the palace embroiderers to secretly investigate her beloved sister's mysterious death. At first believing the imperial guard Fuca Fuheng to be the prime suspect, Yingluo schemes to approach his sister, the Empress Fuca Rongyin, and succeeds in getting transferred from her embroidery unit to the Empress's Changchun Palace as her maid. Over time, she learns that the Fuca siblings are honest and kindhearted people, innocent of the crime, and develops romantic affections for Fuheng, who is admired by many around the Palace, including Qianlong's Consort Chun who allies herself to Empress Fuca because of her crush on her brother.  Though Yingluo is not noble by birth and is illiterate, the kindhearted Empress Fuca teaches her how to read and write, along with all the proper etiquette and mannerisms for noblewomen at the time. Yingluo also helps Empress Fuca survive a series of maneuvers by her chief rivals, becoming a trusted friend and confidant while never forgetting her own agenda of avenging her sister's murder. In time, Yingluo discovers that the actual murderer is a Consort of the late Emperor Yongzheng and mother of Qianlong's half brother, and hatches a plot to drive the culprit to her untimely death. Empress Fuca, for fear of Qianlong's fury over Yingluo's actions, banishes her to the palace sanitation unit to escape his decree of punishment. There, Yingluo befriends a conniving eunuch, Yuan Chunwang, who is subsequently revealed to be a bastard son of Emperor Yongzheng.  Without Yingluo, Empress Fuca falls victim to the machinations of Noble Consort Gao that puts her in a coma. News reaches Yingluo who secretly visits Empress Fuca's chamber to sit by her mistress's side and care for her. Yingluo's devotion to Empress Fuca convinces Qianlong to relent on his tough stance towards her and allow her to return as maid. Empress Fuca is able to wake from her coma, and becomes pregnant again. She goes through almost life-ending labor to give birth to another son, who is immediately the target of assassination by the duplicitous Consort Chun, devastated for having been rejected by Fuheng. Empress Fuca is driven to suicide when she is not able to save her newborn in a bizarre fire that rose overnight. After Empress Fuca's death, Yingluo is sent to live and guard over her mistress's grave at the Old Summer Palace. She stays there with Yuan Chunwang until one year (1750), during an imperial visit by Qianlong and his consorts to Fuca's grave, Yingluo learns that Consort Chun was responsible for her late mistress's suicide. She decides once again to enter the Forbidden City and exact retribution on the evildoers.  In order to achieve the goal, Yingluo skillfully charms Qianlong, becoming part of his harem, and is bestowed a title, Consort Ling. With meticulous planning, she topples her rivals one after another, including the villainess, now Noble Consort Chun, even insofar as exposing her role in Empress Fuca's death, which leads to her fall in the hands of Yingluo's archrival, the newly named Empress Hoifa-Nara (1751). Yingluo's captivation of Qianlong brings her numerous threats, such as from newcomer Concubine Shun, a beautiful and cunning woman dead set to even the score with Qianlong and Fuheng for having been forced into political marriage in the Forbidden City. Framing Yingluo for attempted assassination, Concubine Shun deftly teams up with Empress Hoifa-Nara to put Yingluo under house arrest and pull strings to starve her nearly to death. Nevertheless, Yingluo is able to reverse her situation, reveal Shun's treachery, and restore Qianlong's affections for her. Having reached stalemate at this point, Yingluo negotiates for a truce with Hoifa-Nara on the condition that they both not harm any children of the palace in spite of the rivalry.  A decade later (1765), however, the nihilistic Yuan Chunwang betrays Yingluo and joins Hoifa-Nara, causing a series of mishaps in the palace that even force the Empress Dowager's hand and break her hold on power. Hongzhou, the Emperor's brother, also plots to sabotage Qianlong's Southern river tour. On a chosen night, a band of rebels suddenly storms onto the royal vessel just as a fire engulfs the Empress Dowager's cabin, prompting Qianlong to charge into the flaming cabin to save his mother, seemingly perishing himself in the process.  The next morning, as Hongzhou gallantly appears to restore order from the overnight coup, Qianlong and the Empress Dowager emerge safely from a secret passageway designed by Fuheng and expose Hongzhou's plan of treachery. After Qianlong sentences Hongzhou to death, Yuan Chunwang gets on his knees in front of the Emperor and claims he is a long-lost son of the Yongzheng Emperor. The Empress Dowager denies this, which drives Yuan Chunwang into madness, leaving others unable to determine whether or not it is to protect Qianlong. At this time, Consort Ling comes out of hiding under the protection of the Emperor's guards, prompting Hoifa-Nara to protest once and for all the Emperor's lavished attention for Yingluo alone. In a fit of rage and jealousy, she cuts off her own hair, a taboo in Manchu tradition analogous to an outcry for divorce, effectively cursing the entire Aisin Gioro clan.  In the end, Empress Hoifa-Nara is permitted to keep her title, but loses all of the Emperor's affections. Wei Yingluo is elevated to the most powerful title: 'Imperial Noble Consort". Remembering Empress Fuca's teachings, she embodies all the qualities of a virtuous consort, and supports the Emperor until death.

Production.

Many of the film props and costumes use as centerpieces exquisitely made articles from traditional Chinese crafts that are dying out with few master-level experts remaining to pass on their skills to the next generation. The acquisition of these skills requires a lifetime commitment to perfect, since they are unsurprisingly labor-intensive, demanding a sharp eye and tireless hands in order to replicate in painstaking detail the exclusive nature of their beauty.

Velvet flowers (ronghua).

The velvet flower headwear used by the main characters was designed based on historical documents or antiques housed in the Palace Museum. Each adornment is created according to the characteristics of individual palace women. Zhao Shuxian, one of the few craftsmen still making velvet flowers, created all the headwear in the show using the art of making velvet flower (ronghua). This technique dates back to the Tang Dynasty (618-907) and refers to the creation of not only floral displays, but also animal shapes made by silk on a twisted wire frame.

Jeweled hairpins (tian-tsui).

Worn by the Empress and Consorts as status symbols of opulence, these are hairpins of a particular vibrant blue hue, made from the preserved feathers of the wings and back of the kingfisher bird. The technique resembles cloisonné, and when inlaid with pearls and other gemstones, are especially eye-catching the way a peacock dazzles fanning its tail.  The success of the drama is due in no small part to the contributions of numerous artisans and craftspeople behind the scenes that lend to the authenticity of Qing era fashion and style visible in every frame.

Soundtrack.

The original soundtrack was released as an extended play on July 23, 2018. "Willows of the Palace" by Li Chunai was released independently from the album.  A 70-track studio album titled "The Story of Yanxi Palace TV soundtrack" (延禧攻略 影视剧配乐) was released July 19, 2018, containing the instrumental music of the series composed by Chen Guoliang. The music was recorded in J Productions House, and features flute player: Tan Baoshuo, Violin player: Leslie Ryang, Pipa player: Liu Tuotong, erhu player: Huang Leting, and Li Junzhu as the female voice. A total of 129 pieces were used in the show.

Reception.

The series has generated buzz online for its engaging plot of a "Cinderella" tale with Chinese characteristics. It set the single-day online viewership record in China with a total of 530 million views, and has attracted a cumulative over 13 billion views since August 2018. The drama is the most viewed Chinese language drama of 2018. The drama was also the most Googled show on earth in 2018.  Many viewers praised the story, because unlike the usual amicable heroines, the main character Wei Yingluo fights fire with fire and outmaneuvers her opponents. It also received praise for its well-developed cast of characters and exciting interpretation by the actors; beautiful cinematography and intricate costume design; as well as its accurate portrayal of history and Qing-dynasty settings. Owing to its success, there has been an increased number of visitors to the Palace Museum in Beijing, which is where all the main characters in the show used to live in times gone by.

Controversy.

There was uproar in China after a Vietnamese website managed to acquire episodes not yet shown in China and asked visitors to the website to answer questions confirming their Vietnamese identity before the website loads. "This service is for Vietnamese people only. Please answer the following questions: To which country do the Hoang Sa (Paracel Islands) belong? Vietnam, China, Philippines or Japan?". The only correct answer to the question is Vietnam. Copies of the episodes were later removed from the platform.

Story of Yanxi Palace () is a Chinese period drama series created by Yu Zheng. It is an original screenplay written by Zhou Mo, and later developed into a novel by Xiao Lian Mao. Starring Wu Jinyan, Charmaine Sheh, Qin Lan, Nie Yuan, Tan Zhuo and Xu Kai, the series premiered on iQiyi from July 19, 2018 to August 26, 2018. During its run it was streamed more than 15 billion times.


Biography.

Li Xuefeng joined the Communist Party of China in 1933 and served in several roles, like propaganda chief or organization chief in the Party committees of Shanxi, Beijing, Hebei and Henan. Hebei and Henan were long under the Zhili Province before being split by the Republic of China in 1928.  In 1947, he was appointed deputy secretary of the "Central Plains Bureau" of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, an office responsible for coordinating military efforts around the Yellow River, and concurrently deputy director of the Central Organization Department. In addition, in 1949 he was secretary of the CPC Henan Committee and political commissar of the Henan Military Region.  After the establishment of the People's Republic of China in 1949, Li was appointed head of the Organization Department of the Central-South China Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, as well as deputy secretary of the Bureau, and concurrently vice-chairman of the Central-South Administrative Council. In 1954 he was elevated to Deputy General Secretary of the Central Committee directly under Deng Xiaoping, and head of the Transports and Communications Department in 1956. He was also a member of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress from 1954 to 1963.  He was elected a full member of the CPC Central Committee at the Eight National Congress held in 1956. In 1960 he was transferred to the posts of first secretary of the North China Bureau of the Central Committee and first political commissar of the Beijing Military Region.  With the outburst of the Cultural Revolution, Li Xuefeng was seen as one of its early supporters. After Peng Zhen, Mayor of Beijing, was overthrown for opposing Mao Zedong over the course of the Cultural Revolution in May 1966, Li Xuefeng replaced him as first secretary of the CPC Beijing Committee, and in August he was promoted an alternate member of the CPC Politburo. His first acts as Party chief in Beijing were to dismiss the editorial boards of several local newspapers and the CPC committee in the University of Beijing, provisionally replacing it with a "work team" charged with providing political education to the students and pushing them to join the Cultural Revolution movement.  His perceived low support for the Red Guards and Mao's criticism towards the "work teams", thought to be harmful to the Cultural Revolution and the source of the students' inner fighting, led to Li's rapid downfall. In 1967, as both the Beijing Municipal Government and CPC Municipal Committee were reorganized in a Revolutionary Committee, Li was sent to Tianjin away from limelight. He resurfaced in February 1968, when he was appointed chairman of the Revolutionary Committee of Hebei Province; in April 1968, he was confirmed as an alternate member of the Politburo at the Ninth Congress of the CPC.  In 1971, Li's support for Chen Boda during the troublesome Second Plenary Session of the Ninth Central Committee held in Lushan in 1970 led him to be identified as a member of Lin Biao's conspiracy against Mao, who called him one of Lin's "big generals". Thus, he was sent to confinement in Anhui for eight years. The accusation of being part of Chen Boda's "anti-party clique" was confirmed in 1973 at the Party's Tenth Congress.  Li Xuefeng was never expelled from the Party, and, despite his ambivalent attitude during the Cultural Revolution, he was rehabilitated in 1982. In June 1983, he was elected member of the Standing Committee of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, a post he had previously held from 1959 to 1965. He was also a member of the Central Advisory Committee.  After having retired from political roles between the late 1980s and early 1990s, Li Xuefeng died in Beijing in 2003, aged 96.

Li Xuefeng (; 19 January 1907 – 15 March 2003) was a Chinese Communist politician. He occupied several prominent regional offices prior to the founding of the People's Republic in 1949. In 1960 he became the first political commissar of the Beijing Military Region. He took over the Beijing party organization as its First Secretary after the purge of Peng Zhen in May 1966, and was sent to take the reins of Hebei's Revolutionary Committee between 1968 and 1971. However, his support for Chen Boda during the 1971 Lushan Conference led him to be branded as a supporter of Lin Biao; he was purged and sent into internal exile in Anhui province for eight years. He was politically rehabilitated in 1982, and went on to serve in several advisory positions in the party.


Background.

Established in 1992 in Shunde, Guangdong, Country Garden was listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on April 20, 2007, making billionaires of five of its shareholders.  Founder Yang Guoqiang built the company from scratch, having previously worked as a farmer and on construction sites. The company now has interests in property development, construction, fitting and decoration, property management and hotel operations in a wide variety of global markets. In 2014, Country Garden was ranked the 6th largest property developer in China by sales revenue.

2005 share transfer.

In 2005, Yang transferred his shares in Country Garden Holdings Company Limited to his daughter, Yang Huiyan. In October 2007, she was declared the richest woman in Asia by "Forbes" magazine, with a net worth of US$16 billion.

International.

Country Garden's first venture outside of China is the Country Garden Danga Bay (CGDB) coastal development in Johor Bahru, Iskandar Malaysia, with a sales figure of US$1.57 billion (MYR5.0 billion) on the day of its official launch. Similarly, its second Malaysian project in Semenyih, Selangor termed Country Garden Diamond City had 70% of its total units for Phase 1 sold in early June 2014.  'Risland Australia', Country Garden's overseas venture in Sydney also garnered strong sales, with 296 apartments at its Ryde Garden development sold within six hours in late June 2014; generating US$169 million (AUD180 million) in the process.

Recent news.

On April 2, 2015, Chinese insurance giant Ping An became the second largest shareholder in Country Garden by acquiring 9.9% of the company for US$800 million.  In Jun 2018, Country Garden halted all projects in China for security inspections following an accident at its construction site in the eastern province of Anhui that killed six people.  In Aug 2018, Malaysia's Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad reportedly said he intends to ban foreigners from buying homes being built by Country Garden in the southern tip of the country.  In February 2020, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Sydney office of a 'Country Garden' subsidiary, 'Risland Australia', sourced 82 tonnes of supplies, which were subsequently airlifted to Wuhan. This daigou operation has caused concern in Australia.

Country Garden (; ) is a property development company based in Guangdong, China, owned by Yang Guoqiang's family. In 2018, it is ranked 353rd in Fortune Global 500 List. Country Garden features a market capitalization of over US$29.84 billion as of 2018; with more than 200 high-end township developments throughout China, Malaysia and Australia among its vast international project portfolio.


Plot.

Lena wants to go to school, so her older brother Peter takes her with him one day. Peter shows her the way to school and explains on which streets Lena should be very careful. Then Lena gets to know the school. She is allowed to sit on the chair of Lisa, who is sick that day and cannot come to school. Lena watches Peter who is calculating and writing. During the break, Lena and Peter play in the playground of the school. When Peter's classmate Pelle says he thinks it's stupid to take small children to school, Pelle and Peter have a fight. Lena is afraid, but does not show it, so she is happy when the school bell rings and the biology class starts. Here Lena is able to contribute something to the lesson, because she realizes that the bird the teacher shows to the students is a chaffinch. Lena also accompanies Peter at breakfast in the dining room, during gymnastics and reading. After all, Pelle doesn't seem to mind small children at school anymore. When Lena and Peter are getting home, Lena is happy to know exactly how Peter's school is like.

Background.

"I Want to Go to School Too" ("Jag vill också gå i skolan") was first published in Sweden in 1951. It was illustrated by Birgitta Nordenskjöld. In 1979 a new Swedish edition with pictures from Ilon Wikland was released. This book was translated into English in 1980. It has been translated into at least 20 different languages.  Astrid Lindgren published two books dealing with the lives of the siblings Peter and Lena. "I Want a Brother or Sister" is the first book followed by the second one "I Want to Go to School Too". In "I Want a Brother or Sister" Peter gets his sister Lena and another brother, Nils, who isn't mentioned in "I Want to Go to School Too".

Analysis.

According to Kretschmann, Behring and Dobrindt Astrid Lindgren describes the experiences of a child coming from a family where reading, writing and speaking is important. Books are available in the family, Lena gets a book from her mother, her questions are answered, she can imitate her brother, her brother explains things to her, and she learns from her family that reading and writing is important and it is worth the effort of learning. Kretschmann, Behring and Dobrindt argue that children like Lena have it more easy at school, than children from families where these things are not present. Often the lessons at school are made for children like Lena, whereas other children are often not included. For these children it is frustrating, to always be confronted with something they do not know or understand. These children develop anxieties, barriers to learning or defensive attitudes.

Reception.

"Publishers Weekly" believes that "I Want to Go to School Too" gives a reassuring answer to the questions young children have when they start school. In addition, the lively, cheerful illustrations by Ilon Wikland are praised.  "Stiftung Lesen" thinks the book is a great present for the Schultüte at the children's first day of school.  According to "Kirkus Reviews" Ilon Wikland's illustrations are more memorable than Astrid Lindgren's text. The colorful illustrations are entertaining and rich in detail.

I Want to Go to School Too (original title: Jag vill också gå i skolan) is a children's book written by Astrid Lindgren. It is about Peter and his sister Lena, who previously appeared in the book "I Want a Brother or Sister".


Prelude.

After taking Bonn on May 15, Marlborough now wanted to conquer Ostend, Antwerp, or force the French to an open battle. He ordered the Dutch general, Coehoorn, to march to Ostend and lay siege to it. Dutch general Van Sparre would march south west of Antwerp, Dutch general Obdam would march south from Bergen op Zoom, and Marlborough himself would march on Lier. Obdam had to send several of his battalions to join Coehoorn. Obdam's depleted force marched on 28 June from Bergen op Zoom to Antwerp. It arrived the next day at Ekeren, seven kilometres north of Antwerp, just south of Dutch held fort Lillo (top left of map).  After hearing about this, Villeroi sent a detachment force-marching from Diest to support the troops already around Antwerp to pounce on Obdam's force, before it could dig in or be reinforced.

The battle.

Early in the morning of 30 June French dragoons marched from Merksem and Ekeren in the direction of Kapellen to cut off the escape route near Hoevenen for the Dutch to return to Breda and Bergen-op-Zoom. The Marquis of Bedmar and his Spanish troops were positioned near Wilmarsdonk. This ensured that the Dutch forces were surrounded on all sides by a force outnumbering them four to one.  Soon Dutch reconnaissance discovered the French dragoons and Obdam immediately sent his cavalry to Hoevenen, but it was too late, the village was packed with French troops. An attempt to conquer neighboring Muisbroek also failed. Then the French attacked, and Obdam tried to take Oorderen, an attack which was briefly successful before the French retook the village.  The fighting went on for the entire day. The engagement was long and bloody. Dutch drill and independently and quick thinking lower commanders made up for their lack in numbers. Towards the end, many units were out of ammunition, and several Dutch units continued to fight with fixed bayonets only. By eight o'clock there was no more sign of Obdam, and Slangenburg decided to attack Oorderen to force a breakthrough to safety. Friesheim sent his men wading through the water, appearing where the French had not expected them to. Here too the fighting was long and hard, but the attack was a success: the encirclement was broken and the Dutch troops could retire under cover of the night to fort Lillo.

Aftermath.

The battle was undecided, but both sides claimed victory. The French because they ended up occupying the battlefield, the Dutch because they had forced the French from the battlefield, allowing the outnumbered Dutch to retire to safety. It may be considered an operational victory for the Two Crowns, because it stopped the Dutch move along the Scheldt. And it may be considered a tactical victory for the Dutch, because they managed to save 8,000 troops instead of losing 10,000.  Boufflers was blamed for letting a perfect chance slip through his fingers. Obdam had panicked in the afternoon and had managed to get through the enemy line with a handful of riders by throwing away their green field signs and orange sashes so everyone around thought them to be French. His behaviour was not forgiven by the Dutch military, and his military career was destroyed. Slangenburg, for his part, was acclaimed as a Dutch hero. He was also furious at Marlborough, who had been outmanoeuvered by the French and had not come to the aid of the Dutch.  The Dutch took one gun, 2 sets of dragoon drums and at least 17 banners (several other had been reused as scarfs before they could be collected). The French and Spaniards lost at least 2,800 men: over 1,200 killed, 1,200 wounded and several hundred missing. The Dutch lost over 2,400 men: around 700 killed, 1,000 wounded and 700 taken prisoner or missing.  Exact Dutch losses: 2,423 combatants out of 10,629 (23%), of which 2,049 were infantry (553 killed, 862 wounded, 634 prisoner or missing, or 27% of the infantry) and 374 cavalry (162 killed, 152 wounded, 60 prisoner or missing, or 12% of the cavalry; and 376 horses: 279 killed, 58 wounded and 39 missing, or 13% of the horses). Losses from the train were 17 men, 22 wagons and 30 horses (7 men wounded, the others missing).

Modern location.

A large part of the battlefield, including the villages of Oorderen, Wilmarsdonk and Lillo, has disappeared under the Port of Antwerp expansion in the 1960s.

The Battle of Ekeren, which took place on 30 June 1703, was a battle of the War of the Spanish Succession. The French surrounded the much smaller Dutch force, which however managed to beat it back, break out and retire to safety. The battle had no strategic effect whatsoever.


Manufacture.

The techniques used are typical of contemporary Islamic glass, with the enamel decoration applied to a pre-fired plain body, and the whole then fired for a second time. The coloured decoration may include Qur'anic verses, especially the first part of the "Ayat an-Nur" or "Verse of Light" (24:35, see below), inscriptions and heraldic emblems recording the donor, as well as purely decorative motifs. By the 15th century production of all types of fine glass was in steep decline, a sign of which is that in 1569 the Ottoman Grand Vizier Sokullu Mehmed Pacha ordered 600 plain lamps of Venetian glass, perhaps to be decorated elsewhere.  The Ottomans also made lamps of similar form in Iznik pottery, and Shah Abbas I of Persia gave plain silver lamps to hang by the tomb of Shaykh Safi at Ardabil; Persian miniatures show other examples from the 16th century in gold or brass and silver. Such opaque materials were much less effective as lighting, but the purpose of the lamp was symbolic as well as practical, related to the "Verse of Light". Mosque lamps are often shown in profile at the head of a prayer rug for the same reason. The decoration of the lamps often includes either the name or the symbol from Islamic heraldry of the donor, who usually gave a group of lamps. Other types of lighting in mosques were large metal lamp stands, like very wide candlesticks, which were also used in secular buildings. These could be very intricately decorated.

Later types.

The elaborate decorated types were mostly succeeded by plain glass oil lamps with a simple rim at the top, by which they were attached to (typically) a circular metal bar. Often these hang in tiers. Mosques today typically retain the hanging circular fittings, but use electric lights and glass shades of various sorts, not essentially different from other glass lampshades used in lighting other buildings.

Collecting.

In 2000, three 14th-century Mamluk mosque lamps in pristine condition from the collection of Bethsabée de Rothschild sold at Christie's in London for £1,763,750 (US$2,582K), £993,750 (US$1,455K) and £641,750 (US$937K). In the second half of the 19th century, a number of forgeries, or expensive glass ornaments in the style of Mamluk lamps were produced in France and Italy.

The Verse of Light.

Qur'an 24:35:

Mosque lamps of enamelled glass, often with gilding, survive in considerable numbers from the Islamic art of the Middle Ages, especially the 13th and 14th centuries, with Cairo in Egypt and Aleppo and Damascus in Syria the most important centres of production. They are oil lamps, usually with a large round bulbous body rising to a narrower waist, above which the top section is flared. There is usually a foot so they can be placed on a surface, but they were normally used suspended by chains that went through a number of loops on the outside of the body. They were used to light mosques and other buildings in mosque complexes, in large spaces in groups hanging from a circular metal frame. The circular frames continue to be used in many mosques today, but with plain or frosted glass lamps for electric lighting.


United Nations Security Council Resolution 674

Details.

The resolution firstly demanded that Iraqi forces cease and desist from taking foreign nationals hostage, as well as the mistreatment of Kuwaiti nationals, in violation of decisions of the Council, the Fourth Geneva Convention and international law, inviting states to collect information of violations against them and making this information available to the Council. It also demanded Iraq fulfill its obligations under the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations and Consular Relations, after the diplomatic missions of some countries were entered by Iraqi forces, and requested Iraq to allow foreign nationals and diplomatic officials to leave. The Council further requested Iraq to rescind its removal of diplomatic immunity and the closure of embassies in occupied Kuwait.  Regarding humanitarian issues, Resolution 674 asserted that Iraq should ensure access to food, water and basic services to the civilian population of Kuwait, as well as to foreign nationals and diplomatic staff. The Council reminded Iraq that it is liable for any loss, damage or injury following the invasion concerning Kuwait and third states, and those of their nationals and corporations. At the same, the resolution asked Member States to collect information on relevant claims for restitution and compensation.  Noting that the Council will be seized of the matter until Kuwait achieves its independence again, the Council requested the Secretary-General Javier Pérez de Cuéllar, "using his good offices", to continue to undertake diplomatic efforts in order to reach a peaceful solution to the crisis, reporting back on developments.  Resolution 674 was the tenth resolution adopted on the conflict, threatening "further measures" if necessary. It was the most comprehensive resolution on the conflict regarding humanitarian issues, and was adopted by 13 votes to none, with two abstentions from Cuba and Yemen.

United Nations Security Council resolution 674, adopted on 29 October 1990, after recalling resolutions 660 (1990), 661 (1990), 662 (1990), 664 (1990), 665 (1990), 666 (1990), 667 (1990) and 670 (1990) on the topic of Iraq, the Council condemned the continuing situation in occupied Kuwait after the Iraqi invasion on 2 August 1990, reaffirming the goal of the international community of maintaining international peace and security.