Life.

Falconet was born to a poor family in Paris. He was at first apprenticed to a carpenter, but some of his clay figures, with the making of which he occupied his leisure hours, attracted the notice of the sculptor Jean-Baptiste Lemoyne, who made him his pupil. One of his most successful early sculptures was of Milo of Croton, which secured his admission to the membership of the Académie des beaux-arts in 1754.  He came to prominent public attention in the Salons of 1755 and 1757 with his marbles of "L'Amour" and the "Nymphe descendant au bain" (also called "The Bather"), which is now at the Louvre. In 1757 Falconet was appointed director of the sculpture atelier of the new "Manufacture royale de porcelaine" at Sèvres, where he brought new life to the manufacture of small sculptures in unglazed soft-paste porcelain figurines that had been a specialty at the predecessor of the Sèvres manufactory, Vincennes.  The influence of the painter François Boucher and of contemporary theater and ballet are equally in evidence in Falconet's subjects, and his sweet, elegantly erotic, somewhat coy manner. Right at the start, Falconet created for Sèvres a set of white biscuit table garnitures of putti (Falconet's "Enfants"), illustrating the Arts, meant to complement the manufacture's grand dinner services. The fashion for similar small table sculptures spread to most of the porcelain manufacturies of Europe. He remained at the Sèvres post until he was invited to Russia by Catherine the Great in September 1766. At St Petersburg he executed a colossal statue of Peter the Great in bronze, known as the "Bronze Horseman", together with his pupil and stepdaughter Marie-Anne Collot. In 1788, back in Paris he became director of the Académie des beaux-arts. Many of Falconet's religious works, commissioned for churches, were destroyed at the time of the French Revolution. His work on private commission fared better.  He found time to study Greek and Latin, and also wrote several brochures on art: Denis Diderot confided to him the chapter on "Sculpture" in the "Encyclopédie", separately released by Falconet as "Réflexions sur la sculpture" in 1768. Three years later, he published "Observations sur la statue de Marc-Aurèle", which may be interpreted as the artistic program for his statue of Peter the Great. Falconet's writings on art, his "Oeuvres littéraires" came to six volumes when they were first published, at Lausanne, in 1781–1782.  Falconet's somewhat prettified and too easy charm incurred the criticism of the "Encyclopædia Britannica" 1911: "His artistic productions are characterized by the same defects as his writings, for though manifesting considerable cleverness and some power of imagination, they display in many cases a false and fantastic taste, the result, most probably, of an excessive striving after originality."  In 2001/2002, when the Musée de Céramique at Sèvres mounted an exhibition of Falconet's production for Sèvres, 1757–1766, its subtitle was " l'art de plaire" ("the art of pleasing.")

Family.

The painter Pierre-Étienne Falconet was his son.

Étienne Maurice Falconet (1 December 1716 – 24 January 1791) was a French baroque, rococo and neoclassical sculptor, best-known for his equestrian statue of Peter the Great, the "Bronze Horseman" (1782), in St. Petersburg, Russia, and for the small statues he produced in series for the Royal Sévres Porcelain Manufactory

Étienne Maurice Falconet (1. prosince 1716 Paříž – 4. ledna 1791 tamtéž) byl francouzský sochař. Pocházel z chudé rodiny a pracoval původně jako tesař, jeho talentu si však povšiml Jean-Baptiste Lemoyne a učinil ho svým žákem. Roku 1754 byl Falconet přijat do Královské akademie malířství a sochařství a úspěšně vystavoval na Pařížském salonu, ochrannou ruku nad ním držela Madame de Pompadour. Jeho styl se vyznačoval silným emociálním nábojem, vyšel z barokních vlivů a posunul se směrem k rokoku a neoklasicmu, pracoval převážně s mramorem, ale také vytvářel drobné žánrové sošky v porcelánce v Sèvres.


Youth and early career.

Yang was born in Shanghai in 1947, and grew up in Taipei, Taiwan. After studying Electrical Engineering in National Chiao Tung University (located in Hsinchu, Taiwan), where he received his Bachelor's Degree (BSEE), he enrolled in the graduate program at the University of Florida, where he received his Masters Degree in Electrical Engineering in 1974. During this time and briefly afterwards, Yang worked at the Center for Informatics Research at the University of Florida. Yang always had a great interest in film ever since he was a child, but put away his aspirations in order to pursue a career in the high-tech industry.  A brief enrollment at USC Film School after graduating with his M.S.E.E. convinced Yang that the world of film was not for him – he thought USC film school's teaching methodologies were too commercial and mainstream oriented. Yang then applied and was accepted into Harvard's architecture school, the Harvard Graduate School of Design, but decided not to attend. Thereafter, he went to Seattle to work in microcomputers and defense software.  While working in Seattle, Yang came across the Werner Herzog film "Aguirre, the Wrath of God" (1972): this encounter rekindled Yang's passion for film and introduced him to a wide range of classics in world and European cinema. Yang was particularly inspired by the films of Italian director Michelangelo Antonioni (Antonioni's influence has shown up in some of Yang's later works). He married Taiwanese pop-singer and music legend Tsai Chin in May 1985. They divorced in August 1995, and he subsequently married pianist Kai-Li Peng ().

Later career.

"The Winter of 1905" and "In Our Time" (short, "Desires" or "Expectation").

Yang eventually returned to Taiwan to write the script for and serve as a production aide on a Hong Kong TV movie, "The Winter of 1905" (1981), which was nominated for a Best Cinematography award at the 1982 Golden Horse Film Festival and Awards. After directing a series of television shows, Yang's break came in 1982 when he was asked to direct and write a short, "Desires" (also known as "Expectation"), in the seminal Taiwanese New Wave collection "In Our Time" (1982), which featured other short films from directors such as Yi Chang, I-Chen Ko, and Te-chen Chao. Yang's short film is about a young girl's experiences going through puberty.

"That Day, on the Beach".

Yang then followed that short with several of his major works. While his contemporary Hou Hsiao-hsien focused more on the countryside, Yang was a poet of the city, analyzing the environment and relationships of urban Taiwan in nearly all his films. Yang's first feature film, "That Day, on the Beach" (1983), was a fractured modernist narrative reflecting on couples and families that spliced timelines. The film is also notable as being one of the first films – and perhaps first feature film – that Christopher Doyle received a Director of Photography credit for before going on to become Wong Kar Wai's frequent collaborator and cinematographer, along with DP Hui Kung Chang, who went on to provide the cinematography for many of Yang's later films. The film also won a Best Cinematography award from the 1983 Asia-Pacific Film Festival, and was nominated for three awards at the 1983 Golden Horse Film Festival and Awards: Best Feature Film, Best Director (Yang), and Best Original Screenplay (Wu Nien-jen and Edward Yang). Screenwriter Wu Nien-jen would later collaborate with Yang as an actor, in "Taipei Story" (1985) (as the Taxi Driver), "Mahjong" (1996) (as a Gangster in Black Suit) and as the star "N.J." in "Yi Yi" (2000). For the film, Yang was also nominated for the Golden Montgolfiere award at the 1983 Nantes Three Continents Festival.

"Taipei Story".

Yang followed with his second feature film, "Taipei Story" (1985), where he cast fellow auteur Hou Hsiao-hsien as the lead, a former Little-League baseball star named Lung trying to find his way in Taipei. "Taipei Story" also starred Yang's future wife, Tsai Chin, as Chin, the female lead and girlfriend of Hou Hsiao-hsien's character, Lung. The film was also nominated for two awards at the 1985 Golden Horse Film Festival and Awards: Best Leading Actor (Hou Hsiao-hsien) and Best Cinematography (Wei-han Yang).

"Terrorizers".

Yang's third feature film was "Terrorizers" (1986), a complex multi-narrative urban thriller that reflected on city life and contained the crime elements and alienation themes of an Antonioni film. The film also starred Cora Miao and won a Silver Leopard at The Locarno International Film Festival and was examined by Fredric Jameson in "The Geopolitical Aesthetic". In addition, "Terrorizers" won the Best Film award at the 1986 Golden Horse Film Festival, where actress Cora Miao was also nominated for a Best Actress award. In addition, the film won the Sutherland Trophy at the 1987 British Film Institute Awards, and a Best Screenplay Award (awarded to writers Edward Yang and Hsiao Yeh) from the 1987 Asia-Pacific Film Festival.

"A Brighter Summer Day".

Yang's fourth film was "A Brighter Summer Day" (1991) (The Chinese title of "Gǔ lǐng jiē shàonián shārén shìjiàn" literally translating to: "The Murder Incident of the Boy on Guling Street"), a sprawling examination of youth-teen gangs, 1949 Taiwanese societal developments, and American pop culture starring a then 15-year-old Chang Chen. The film also stars Lisa Yang, Kuo-Chu Chang, Elaine Jin and Yang's then-wife Tsai Chin in a small role as Wang's wife. The title was also taken from a lyric from the song Are You Lonesome Tonight?. The film is considered by many critics to be Yang's defining masterpiece. For "A Brighter Summer Day," Yang won the FIPRESCI Prize and a Special Jury Prize (and was nominated for the Tokyo Grand Prix) at The Tokyo International Film Festival, and a Golden Horse award for Best Film as well as Best Original Screenplay, credited to writers Edward Yang, Hung Hung, Alex Yang, and Mingtai Lai. The film was also nominated for a total of ten other Golden Horse awards, including Best Leading Actor (Chen Chang), Best Leading Actress (Lisa Yang), Best Director (Edward Yang), Best Leading Actor (Kuo-Chu Chang), Best Supporting Actress (Elaine Jin), Best Supporting Actress (Hsiu-Chiung Chang), Best Cinematography (Hui Kung Chang), Best Art Director (Edward Yang and Wei-yen Yu), Best Makeup & Costume Design (Wei-yen Yu), and Best Sound Recording (Duu-Chih Tu and Ching-an Yang). The film also won the Best Film award at the 1991 Asia-Pacific Film Festival, a Best Foreign Language Film Director Award for Yang at the 1983 Kinema Jumpo Awards, another Best Director award for Yang at the Nantes Three Continents Festival (where Yang was also nominated for the Golden Montgolfiere award) and the Silver Screen award for "Best Director – Asian Feature Film" for Yang at the Singapore International Film Festival.  In December 2015, The Criterion Collection announced that the film would be made available on Blu-ray and DVD in March 2016. The Criterion release features the film in a new 4K digital restoration with a monaural soundtrack (on the Blu-ray), and also includes a new audio commentary from critic Tony Rayns; a new interview with star Chen Chang; "Our Time, Our Story", a nearly two-hour 2002 documentary covering the Taiwanese New Wave that features interviews with Yang, Hou Hsiao-hsien, and Tsai Ming Liang; a video-taped staged performance of Yang's 1992 play "Likely Consequence"; new English subtitle translations; an essay by film critic Godfrey Cheshire III; and a Director's Statement from Yang written in 1991.

"A Confucian Confusion".

Yang's fifth film was "A Confucian Confusion" (1994), a multi-character comedy set in urban Taiwan, which was nominated for a Palme d'Or and in competition at the 1994 Cannes Film Festival and also garnered a Golden Horse Award for Best Screenplay Originally Written for The Screen. The film also won a Best Supporting Actor award (Bosen Wang) and a Best Supporting Actress award (Elaine Jin) at the 1994 Golden Horse Film Festival. Also at the Golden Horse Film Festival that year, the film also received a total of 9 nominations: Best Feature Film (Executive Producer David Sui), Best Leading Actress (Shu-Chun Ni), Best Makeup & Costume Design (Edward Yang and Tsai Chin), Best Original Film Score (Antonio Lee), Best Film Editing (Po-Wen Chen), Best Sound Effects (Duu-Chih Tu), Best Director (Edward Yang), Best Cinematography (Chan Chang, Lung-Yu Li, Arthur Wong and Wu-Hsiu Hung), and Best Art Direction (Edward Yang, Ernest Guan and Jui-Chung Yao).

"Mahjong".

Yang's sixth film was "Mahjong" (1996), a sharp, incisive reflection of modern urban-Taiwan seen through foreign eyes, which also starred several foreign actors, which won an Honourable Mention at the 46th Berlin International Film Festival, where it was also nominated for the Golden Berlin Bear award. The film also garnered Yang another Silver Screen Award for "Best Asian Director" at The Singapore International Film Festival, his second award of this type, as well as an Award of the City of Nantes from the Nantes Three Continents Festival, where it was also nominated for a Golden Montgolfiere award. Actor Chi-tsan Wang also won a Best Supporting Actor award at the 1996 Golden Horse Film Festival, where the film was also nominated for a Best Makeup & Costume Design award (Chi-chien Chao).

"Yi Yi".

However, Yang was best known for his seventh and final film, "Yi Yi" (2000) (full title in some areas: "Yi Yi: A One and A Two") – it was for this film that he received the Best Director at the 2000 Cannes Film Festival where it was also in competition and nominated for the prestigious Palme d'Or. "Yi Yi" was an epic story about the Jian family seen through three different perspectives: the father NJ (Wu Nien-jen), the son Yang-Yang (Jonathan Chang), and the daughter, Ting-Ting (Kelly Lee). The three-hour piece started with a wedding, concluded with a funeral, and contemplated all areas of human life in between with profound humor, beauty and tragedy. The film is also best summarized by film critic Nigel Andrews, who stated in the "Financial Times" that "[t]o describe ["Yi Yi"] as a three-hour Taiwanese family drama is like calling "Citizen Kane" a film about a newspaper."  The film won the "Best Film" award from the National Society of Film Critics (USA) in 2001 (where Yang also won 2nd place for a Best Director award), the "Best Foreign Film" award from the 2000 Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards, the "Best Foreign Film" award from the 2000 New York Film Critics Circle Awards, the Panorama Jury Prize from the 2000 Sarajevo Film Festival, the Chief Dan George Humanitarian Award (for Yang) at the 2000 Vancouver International Film Festival, a "Best Film – China/Taiwan" award and "Best Director" award from the 2002 Chinese Film Media Awards, a "Best Film" award at the 2001 Chinese Film Media Awards, a "Best Foreign Film" critics award from the 2001 French Syndicate of Cinema Critics, the Grand Prix award from the 2001 Fribourg International Film Festival, and the Netpac Award from the 2000 Karlovy Vary International Film Festival ("For the perceptive and sensitive portrayal of a generation and cultural gap in Taiwan and the painful choices to be made in these difficult times.").  "Yi Yi" was also named "Best Film of the Year" (2000) by the following film critics and writers: A.O. Scott of The New York Times, Susan Sontag writing for ArtForum, Michael Atkinson of the Village Voice, Steven Rosen of the Denver Post, John Anderson, Jan Stuart and Gene Seymour writing for Newsday, and Stephen Garrett as well as Nicole Keeter of Time Out New York.  The film also won 2nd place for Best Director, Best Film and Best Foreign Language Film in the 2000 Boston Society of Film Critics Awards, and was also nominated for: a Best Foreign Language Film award from the Awards Circuit Community Awards, a Best Non-American Film award from the 2003 Bodil Awards, a Best Foreign Language Film award from the 2001 Chicago Film Critics Association Awards, the Best Cast, Best Movie and Best Original Screenplay from the 2002 Chlotrudis Awards, a Best Foreign Film award from the 2001 Cesar Awards, a Screen International Award from the 2000 European Film Awards, a Best Asian Film award from the 2002 Hong Kong Film Awards, a Best Foreign Language Film award from the Online Film & Television Association, a Best Foreign Language Film award from the 2001 Online Film Critics Society Awards, and a Golden Spike award from the 2000 Valladolid International Film Festival.  "Yi Yi" also placed third in a 2009 Village Voice Film Poll ranking "The Best Film of the Decade," tying with "La Commune (Paris, 1871)" (2000) and "Zodiac" (2007), and also placed third in a 2009 IndieWire Critics' Poll of the "Best Film of the Decade."  The film is also currently available on The Criterion Collection as a "Director-approved Special Edition", and features a newly restored digital transfer a long with a DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack (on the Blu-ray), audio commentary from Yang and Asian film critic Tony Rayns, a taped interview with film critics Rayns about Yang and the New Taiwanese Cinema movement, the U.S. theatrical trailer, an original English subtitle translation by Yang and Rayns, and an essay by writer Kent Jones as well as notes from Yang himself.

Plays and other work.

In 1989, Yang formed his own production company, "Yang and his Gang", which was renamed "Atom Films and Theater" in 1992, after one of Yang's favorite anime television shows while growing up, Osamu Tezuka's "Astro Boy". Atom Films and Theater not only was involved in the production and financing of films, but also staged theatrical productions and plays, as well as experimental high-tech multimedia pieces. In 1992, Yang also put on a production of a play he wrote entitled "Likely Consequence", a video-taped performance of which can be viewed on The Criterion Collection Blu-ray/DVD of "A Brighter Summer Day" (1991), released in March 2016.  In 2001, Yang had finished a script about a young kid who travels the world with just a cellphone and a credit card. Regarding that, "those two things are all you need now. It's a new world and there are a lot of stories we can tell each other," said the cineaste. In the same year, Yang also hoped to make a film in Seattle and a second world war story set in Taiwan.  In addition to these unrealized projects, Yang planned to make "The Wind", an animated feature with Jackie Chan budgeted at $25m, to be drawn by Yang, heading a team of animators.

Death.

Yang died on June 29, 2007 at his home in Beverly Hills, as a result of complications from a seven-year struggle with colon cancer. He was survived by his wife, concert pianist Kaili Peng, and son Sean.

Style and themes.

Yang's visual style comprehended deliberate pacing, long takes, fixed camera, few closeups, empty spaces, and cityscapes.  Yang, in addition to being interested in the impact of the changes of Taiwanese society on the middle classes, attempted to examine the struggle between the modern and the traditional in his films, as well as the relationship between business and art, and how greed may corrupt, influence, or affect art. For that reason, many of his films (other than "Yi Yi") are extremely difficult to find, since Yang did not consider selling films for money his primary purpose as an artist, and also felt that film distribution, especially in Taiwan, was something out of his control.  Yang always set his work in the cities of Taiwan. As a result, Yang's films — especially "A Confucian Confusion," "Taipei Story," "Mahjong" and "Terrorizers" — are commentaries on Taiwanese urban life and insightful explorations of Taiwanese urban society.  Yang also collaborated with many of his fellow Taiwanese film-makers in his films: for instance, in "Yi Yi" he cast as the lead well-known auteur, novelist, and screenwriter Wu Nien-jen, director of the award-winning "", which Martin Scorsese has cited as one of his favorite works and one of the most influential films of the '90s. He also cast fellow film-maker Hou Hsiao-hsien as the lead in his 1985 film, "Taipei Story," where Wu Nien-jen also had a brief part as a taxi driver and an old friend of Hou Hsiao-hsien's character. Yang also taught theatre and film classes at the Taipei National University of the Arts. Several of his students showed up in his films as actors and actresses.

Legacy.

In 2000, Yang formed Miluku Technology & Entertainment to produce animated films and TV shows. The first animated feature that Miluku was slated to produce was an animated feature titled "The Wind" with Jackie Chan in 2007, but the project was cut short when Yang fell ill with cancer. At the 2007 Pusan International Film Festival, he won an award for Asian Filmmaker of the Year, and was also immortalized with a hand-printing at the festival along with Ennio Morricone, Seung-ho Kim, Volker Schlöndorff, Dariush Mehrjui and Claude Lelouch. In 2007, Yang also won a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Golden Horse Film Festival and Awards that year.

Edward Yang (; November 6, 1947 – June 29, 2007) was a Taiwanese filmmaker. Yang, along with fellow auteurs Hou Hsiao-hsien and Tsai Ming-liang, was one of the leading film-makers of the Taiwanese New Wave and Taiwanese cinema. He won the Best Director Award at Cannes for his 2000 film "Yi Yi".

Edward Yang (čínsky: 楊德昌, pchin-jinem "Yáng Déchāng"; 6. listopadu 1947 Šanghaj – 29. června 2007 Los Angeles) byl tchajwanský režisér a scenárista. Spolu s dalšími režiséry Hou Hsiao-hsien a Tsai Ming Liang patřil k předním filmovým tvůrcům tchajwanské nové vlny a tchajwanské kinematografie. V roce 2000 získal v Cannes za film Yi Yi cenu za nejlepší režii.


Biography.

Gatto was born to Andrew Michael Mario and Frances Virginia ( Zimmer) Gatto in Monongahela, Pennsylvania, a steel town near Pittsburgh. In his youth he attended public schools throughout the Pittsburgh Metro Area including Swissvale, Monongahela, and Uniontown as well as a Catholic boarding school in Latrobe. He did undergraduate work at Cornell, the University of Pittsburgh, and Columbia, then served in the U.S. Army medical corps at Fort Knox, Kentucky, and Fort Sam Houston, Texas. Following army service he did graduate work at the City University of New York, Hunter College, Yeshiva University, the University of California, Berkeley, and Cornell.  He worked as a writer and held several odd jobs before borrowing his roommate's license to investigate teaching. Gatto also ran for the New York State Senate, 29th District in 1985 and 1988 as a member of the Conservative Party of New York against incumbent David Paterson. He was named New York City Teacher of the Year in 1989, 1990, and 1991, and New York State Teacher of the Year in 1991. In 1991, he wrote a letter announcing his retirement, titled "I Quit, I Think", to the op-ed pages of the "Wall Street Journal," saying that he no longer wished to "hurt kids to make a living." He then began a public speaking and writing career, and has received several awards from libertarian organizations, including the "Alexis de Tocqueville Award for Excellence in Advancement of Educational Freedom" in 1997.  Gatto promoted homeschooling, and specifically unschooling and open source learning. Wade A. Carpenter, associate professor of education at Berry College, has called his books "scathing" and "one-sided and hyperbolic, [but] not inaccurate" and describes himself as in agreement with Gatto.  Gatto was featured in the 2011 documentary film, "IndoctriNation: Public Schools and the Decline of Christianity in America", and worked on a 3-part documentary about compulsory schooling, titled "The Fourth Purpose". He says he was inspired by Ken Burns's "Civil War".  In 2011, Gatto had two major strokes which occurred after he completed the filming of "The Ultimate History Lesson: A Weekend with John Taylor Gatto" which was released in early 2012 by Tragedy and Hope Communications.

Main thesis.

Gatto asserts the following regarding what school does to children in "Dumbing Us Down":  He also draws a contrast between communities and “networks,” with the former being healthy, and schools being examples of the latter. He says networks have become an unhealthy substitute for community in the United States.  An article published online by the Foundation for Economic Education described John Taylor Gatto as having mentored "millions of people in writing their own scripts". In his book, "Dumbing us Down", John Gatto urged parents to control the education of their children. He made a critical analysis of state education and described the system as comprehensive, informal, historical, and philosophical. John wrote several lectures which disclosed a significant conclusion which encouraged splitting institutional schools and removing certification from teaching. His belief was privatization of education along with a free market system was the most viable option. Gatto's book aimed to inspire education advocates and the inception of Praxis tests. This testing measured academic competence and knowledge of specific subjects required for teaching. Praxis tests are taken by potential educators as part of certification required by state and professional licensing entities.  Gatto demystifies the apparent confusion and meaninglessness of public schooling system by exposing it's real purpose and function. According to Gatto, the purpose of public education can be boiled down to six functions:  Other critics of public education:

John Taylor Gatto (December 15, 1935 – October 25, 2018) was an American author and school teacher who taught in the classroom for nearly 30 years. He devoted much of his energy to his teaching career, then, following his resignation, authored several books on modern education, criticizing its ideology, history, and consequences. He is best known for his books "Dumbing Us Down: the Hidden Curriculum of Compulsory Schooling", and "The Underground History of American Education: A Schoolteacher’s Intimate Investigation Into the Problem of Modern Schooling", which is sometimes considered to be his "magnum opus".

John Taylor Gatto (15. prosince 1935, Monongahela, Pensylvánie, USA – 25. října 2018, New York, New York) byl americký autor a učitel, který učil téměř 30 let. Věnoval velkou část své energie učitelské kariéře a poté, co rezignoval, napsal několik knih, kde kritizoval moderní vzdělávání.


Early life.

Wagner was born in Schwerin on 23 November 1898, and joined the Imperial German Navy on 4 July 1916.

World War II.

At the beginning of the Second World War Wagner was Naval Attaché in Madrid, Spain. The "Wagner Campaign" was named after him, via which from January to August 1940 300 tons of strategic commodities, mainly tungsten, were exported from Spain to Germany for war materials use. The transaction was accounted with deliveries of German arms, mercenary services and transports to Spain. Still after 1 September 1939, the outbreak of World War II, airplane parts were delivered to Spain. The German exports to Spain which had increased during the Spanish Civil War were mainly carried out by sea. With the outbreak of World War 2 the Allies tried to block this sea route trade, and "the Wagner campaign" was devised to organize German merchant ships that were stuck thereafter in Spanish ports changing their flags and partially subscribe them to Spanish entrepreneur Juan March. During the course of World War 2 Wagner became head of the Operational Department of the naval staff. At the end of the conflict, Wagner, together with the supreme commander of the Kriegsmarine, Hans Georg von Friedeburg, was present and a signatory to the surrender of the German forces in northern Germany at Lüneburg Heath on 4 May 1945 to the British Commander-in-Chief, General Bernard Montgomery.  Wagner subsequently gave testimony on 13 and 14 May 1946 at the Nuremberg Trials.

Post-war activities.

Wagner was a member of the "Naval Historical Team" based in Bremerhaven, which consisted of a group of German Naval officers appointed by the United States Navy to write down the war experiences of German naval forces from a German point of view in the conflict. The group produced a report in 1949 entitled "Soviet anti-submarine warfare potential (A historical summary of Soviet anti-submarine warfare (ASW) operations during World War II)", detailing missions of the German U-boats "U-9", "U-18", "U-19", "U-20", "U-23", "U-24", "U-576", "U-752", "U-986", and "U-997" in the years from 1942 to 1945.  In 1951 via the Naval Historical Team Wagner authored a paper entitled "A Critique on Vice-Admiral Eberhard Weichold's essay on 'German surface ships—policy and operations in World War II'(promulgated in ONI GHS / 4)".  Two papers known as 'Bremerhaven or Wagner memoranda' were also produced by the Group on the creation of a new post-war German Navy: "Aufbau eines deutschen Marinekontingents im Rahmen deutscher Mitwirkung an der Verteidigung Westeuropas [Establishment of a German naval contingent in the frame of a German involvement in the defense of Western Europe]", the so-called Wagner's memorandum, dated March 1951, and "Ausführungen des deutschen Marinesachverständigen, Konteradmiral a.D. Gerhard Wagner über Fragen des deutschen Marinebeitrages [Explanations by German naval expert Rear Admiral (ret.) Gerhard Wagner on questions of the German naval contribution]", 8 February 1952.

German Federal Navy career.

In the post-war Navy of West Germany Wagner was appointed to the post of Deputy to the Navy Inspector (Friedrich Ruge). He was the first flag officer to hold the position of the integrated North Atlantic Treaty Organization Commander Naval Forces Baltic Approaches from 1961 to 1962, which was initially titled 'Commander Allied Naval Forces Northern Area Central Europe'. In this post he held the temporary rank of Vice-Admiral.

Death.

He died in Altenkirchen on 26 June 1987 at the age of 89 years.

Gerhard Wagner (23 November 1898 – 26 June 1987) was a German naval officer, who ended his career as a Konteradmiral (rear admiral) of the German Navy of West Germany.

Gerhard Wagner (23. listopadu 1898 Schwerin – 26. června 1987 Altenkirchen) byl německý kontradmirál. 4. května 1945 podepsal kapitulaci německých vojsk. Později zastával funkci zástupce přednosty námořního oddělení západoněmeckého ministerstva obrany. 15. června 1944 získal Německý zlatý kříž.


Early life, education, and academic career.

Solís was born in San José, Costa Rica, to Vivienne Rivera Allen, an educator, and Freddy Solís Avendaño, an uneducated shoemaker. Both his parents lived in Turrialba, and as such many residents consider him Turrialban. His family has Afro-Caribbean and Chinese roots, coming from Jamaica to Costa Rica in the early 1900s. Solís grew up in San Pedro de Montes de Oca and Curridabat, neighborhoods of San José. He attended Methodist High School in San José, where he was president of the student body, before studying history at the University of Costa Rica, where he earned a degree with academic honors in 1979. He earned a master's degree in Latin American Studies at Tulane University in New Orleans.  Solís has held various academic and consulting positions. Between 1981 and 1987, he was an associate professor at the University of Costa Rica. In addition, he was a Fulbright Scholar at the University of Michigan from 1983 to 1985. During this time, Solís worked with the Arias administration and eventually became director of the Center for Peace and Reconciliation (CPR for its Spanish initials). From 1992 to 1995, Solís worked with the Academic Council of the United Nations System. Starting in 1999, Solís worked for Florida International University as coordinator in the Center for the Administration of Justice and as a researcher for the Latin American and Caribbean Center, where he analyzed political and social events in Latin America.  A writer and editorial writer, Solís has published numerous essays and books about national and international affairs. In the 1990s, he wrote for "La República", a daily newspaper based in San José. His writing has been published by Foreign Affairs Latinoamérica, Frontera Norte, Espacios and Global Governance. His writing has focused on civil society, international relations, and trade.

Political beginnings.

While still at UCR, Solís joined the National Liberation Party (PLN for its Spanish initials) in 1977. Solís was an adviser to Óscar Arias in the Foreign Ministry, working on the Esquipulas Peace Agreement for which Arias would later win a Nobel Peace Prize. Solís served as Director of International Relations for the PLN. During José María Figueres Olsen's time in office, Solís was ambassador of Central American Affairs.  In 2002, Solís followed Rolando González Ulloa as General Secretary of the PLN, a position he resigned from the following year, citing his disappointment with the Alcatel-Lucent bribery scandal that many PLN leaders were involved in. In 2005, he denounced the PLN for irregularities and corruption during party elections, along with a host of former PLN members. Solís went as far as to call the PLN leadership "Napoleonic" and "anti-democratic". He officially renounced his affiliation with the party and returned to academics.  After the 2006 election, Solís' name began to come up in PAC circles, particularly at meetings of the "ungroup," an informal gathering of PAC officials, led by former deputy and former Vice President of the National University of Costa Rica Alberto Salom Echeverría. Ottón Solís, one of PAC's founders and three-time presidential candidate, suggested that Luis Guillermo Solís run as a vice presidential candidate in 2010. Luis Guillermo Solis rejected the offer because he was working for the General Secretariat of Ibero-America (SEGIB for its Spanish initials), and employees of SEGIB were not allowed to participate in elections.  In 2009, Luis Guillermo Solís began his official affiliation with PAC. He began attending meetings of the "ungroup" in 2010. Within the party, PAC leader María Eugenia Venegas recognized Solís' potential and pushed for him to be elevated within the party. Solís undertook several trips around the country to meet with national and provincial PAC leaders.

2014 presidential campaign.

Solís announced his candidacy for president on 27 November 2012. In the PAC's primary, he ran against Epsy Campbell Barr, Juan Carlos Mendoza García, and Ronald Solís Bolaños, winning with 35 percent of the vote, only 110 votes more than Juan Carlos Mendoza García.  In October 2013, he chose Helio Fallas and Ana Helena Chacón Echeverría as his Vice-Presidential running mates. Among his aims, Solís claimed he would clean up corruption, create major investments in infrastructure, and shore up Costa Rica's universal health care and social security system. He also promised to continue initiatives to keep Costa Rica environmentally friendly. He said that he would "put the brakes" on new free trade agreements and would begin correctly administrating current free trade agreements. As such, Solís received a tremendous amount of political support from the country's trade unions.  On 2 February 2014, Solís won the most votes in the election with 30.95 percent. PLN candidate Johnny Araya came second with 29.95 percent of the vote. Most of Solís' support came from the Central Valley provinces of San José, Alajuela, Heredia and Cartago.  Because no candidate exceeded 40 percent of the vote, a runoff was scheduled for 6 April, as required by the constitution. However, on 5 March, Araya announced that he would abandon his campaign after polls showed him far behind Solís; one poll showed him losing by over 43 percent. However, under Costa Rican law the runoff still had to take place, and Solís won with over 77 percent of the vote, the largest margin ever recorded for a free election in Costa Rica. Unlike the first round, Solís earned a majority in every province, including Puntarenas, Limón, and Guanacaste. When he took office on 8 May, he was the first president in 66 years not to come from the PLN or what is now the PUSC.  Immediately after the election, Solís thanked Costa Rican voters. He received congratulatory notes from world leaders, including US Secretary of State John Kerry, Ecuadoran President Rafael Correa, Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto, Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, Bolivian President Evo Morales, and the spokesperson from the French Ministry of International Affairs. For his part, Araya congratulated Solís on his victory, calling for national unity.

Presidency.

A little over a week before taking office, in April 2014, Solís announced the creation of his cabinet. His cabinet consists of mostly PAC members or non-aligned citizens. However, two PUSC members were also added: María del Rocío Sáenz, Abel Pacheco's former health minister, heads the Costa Rican Social Security System (Caja Costarricense del Seguro Social). Delia Villalobos, another former health minister, heads the Social Protection Council (Consejo de Seguridad).  Solís took office on 8 May 2014, amid festive fanfare. Delegations from more than 80 countries attended his inauguration at La Sabana Metropolitan Park, including Prince Felipe de Borbón of Spain, Evo Morales of Bolivia, Rafael Correa of Ecuador, and the Secretary General of the Organization of American States, José Miguel Insulza. Solís said, in Costa Rican vernacular, that he is taking over a "weed farm" (finca encharralada), pointing out growing income inequality and poverty, as well as a national teachers' strike.

Economic issues.

In 2014, President Solís presented a budget with an increase in spending of 19% for 2015, an increase of 0.5% for 2016 and an increase of 12% for 2017. When the 2017 budget was finally proposed, it totaled US$15.9 billion. Debt payments account for one-third of that amount. Of greater concern is the fact that a full 46% of the budget will require financing, a step that will increase the debt owed to foreign entities.  The country's credit rating was reduced by Moody's Investors Service in early 2017 to Ba2 from Ba1, with a negative outlook on the rating. The agency particularly cited the "rising government debt burden and persistently high fiscal deficit, which was 5.2% of GDP in 2016". Moody's was also concerned about the "lack of political consensus to implement measures to reduce the fiscal deficit [which] will result in further pressure on the government's debt ratios". In late July 2017, the Costa Rica Central Bank estimated the budget deficit at 6.1 percent of the country's GDP.  A 2017 study by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development warned that reducing the foreign debt must be a very high priority for the government. Other fiscal reforms were also recommended to moderate the budget deficit.

Liquidity problems.

In early August 2017, the President admitted that the country was facing a "liquidity crisis" and promised that a higher VAT tax and higher income tax rates were being considered by his government. Such steps are essential, Solís told the nation, because it was facing difficulties in paying its obligations and guaranteeing the provision of services." "Despite all the public calls and efforts we have made since the start of my administration to contain spending and increase revenues, there is still a gap that we must close with fresh resources," he said. The crisis was occurring in spite of growth, low inflation and continued moderate interest rates, Solís concluded. He explained that the Treasury will prioritize payments on the public debt first, then salaries, pensions, and, finally, on infrastructure. The subsequent priorities include transfers to institutions "according to their social urgency." All other payments will be made only if funds are available.

Political, economic, and social philosophy.

Like most members of PAC, Solís identifies himself as a progressivist. His "Plan Rescate", or "Rescue Plan", outlines his political beliefs. This plan focused on three central issues: anti-corruption, economic growth, and reducing income inequality.  Solís claims that economic neoliberalism has created too much income inequality for Costa Rica. Past governments have avoided collecting taxes on large companies and high-income earners, leading to budget deficits which Solís claims his administration will fix through better enforcement. Banks should not encourage exports at the expense of income growth among the poor, according to Solís. He believes that economic liberalization has generally harmed women more than men because they have traditionally had less access to higher-income jobs. Part of that liberalization, he claims, included ignoring the financial and growth needs of the agricultural industry.  Solís supports environmental protections, which he believes Costa Rica has forgotten. As such, Solís believes that water must be safeguarded from private development and mismanagement, something that has caused water shortages in many of the country's municipalities. Solís claims that he will prosecute violators of the Water Resources Management Bill.  In addition, Solís supports increased LGBT rights for lesbians, gays, bisexuals, and transsexuals. In May 2014, he ordered that a rainbow flag be flown over the Presidential House as a show of solidarity with gays on International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia.  Solís is a Catholic. As a presidential candidate, he visited the basilica of Our Lady of Angels, home to the Costa Rican patron saint La Negrita, a traditional pilgrimage for many Costa Ricans and tourists. He supports the separation of church and state despite Catholicism being the country's official religion. With regard to ethical issues, he also supports civil unions, and in-vitro fertilization.

Personal life.

Solis has five children from his previous marriage to his first wife, Nancy Olive Worsfold Richards (1987–2006): Monica, Cristina, Beatriz, Diego, and Ignacio.  Solís is not married to Mercedes Peñas Domingo, but she is altogether considered the First Lady of Costa Rica. He and Peñas, who began dating in 2006, have one daughter, Inés. Peñas said that she hopes to be active as an adviser to Solís, who called her "Jiminy Cricket." Saying that some of her duties as First Lady are machista, she will nevertheless greet dignitaries and perform other obligations. In addition to public service and academics, Solís enjoys farming.

Luis Guillermo Solís Rivera (; born 25 April 1958) is a Costa Rican educator and politician who was the President of Costa Rica from 2014 to 2018. He is a member of the center-left Citizens' Action Party (PAC). Solís led the field in the 2014 presidential election, and won the presidency in a landslide election, earning more votes than any presidential candidate in the history of the nation. Solís has a long academic and political career, culminating in his election as the first President of Costa Rica to be a member of the PAC.

Luis Guillermo Solís Rivera (* 25. dubna 1958, San José, Kostarika) je kostarický politik, historik a 47. prezident Kostariky mezi roky 2014 a 2018.


Etymology.

Several speculations arose about the army's name. The first recorded accounts using "black" description appear in written memoranda immediately after Hunyady's death, when the rest of the army was pillaging Hungarian, and later Austrian, villages when they were receiving no pay. One idea is that they adopted the adjective from a captain, "Black" John Haugwitz, whose nickname already earned him enough recognition to be identified with the army as a whole.

Reforms of the draft of traditional feudal and levy armies.

In the first years of Matthias' rule, the structure of enlisting troops was built on the legacy of his ancestor Sigismund of Luxembourg. The majority of his army consisted of noble banners and the soldiers provided and regulated by the "militia portalis" (manor militia), which outlined that for every twenty serf-lots ("portae", literally "gates"), a noble was ordered to raise and lend one archer to the king. Later, that obligation was reconsidered, and the limit was shifted to one archer per 33 manors and three mounted archers per 100 manors. Those who did not have serfs but owned manors as a noble had to join a regional count in state of war. No significant number of mercenaries were present in the Hungarian Army during Matthias' early years. (In the 1463 Janus Pannonius' report of the siege of Jajce Castle, there is no mention of them.)  In case of emergency, a last chance existed for the actual king in power to mobilize the population suddenly. Every noble, no matter his social class, had to participate in person with his weaponry and all of his personal guards made available. These were the estate armies. Whenever they were called upon, they were not allowed to fight for longer than 15 days, and their field of operations was restricted to within the borders of Hungary. The so-called "insurrectio" (noble "insurrection") was nothing more than an obsolete form of drafting, but it was valid until the Battle of Raab in 1809, mainly because it relieved the participating nobles of paying their taxes; but generally, these enlisted armada played a minor role in the Black Army, since Matthias decreased their participation gradually and called them up in large numbers early in his reign.  In the laws of 1459 of Szeged, he restored the basis of 20 serfs to induct an archer (this time it was based on the number of persons). The barons' "militia portalis" no longer counted in the local noble's banner but into the army of the country (led by a captain appointed by the king) and could have been sent abroad as well. He also increased the "insurrectio's" time of service from 15 days to three months.

From mercenaries to regularly paid soldiers.

Though these efforts were sound, the way they were carried out was not in any way supervised. In 1458, Matthias borrowed as many as 500 heavy cavalry from Bohemian king, George of Poděbrady, to strengthen his situation at home against his rival landlords. This marks the turning point away from obsolete noble banners to skilled soldiers of fortune (in this case, they were remnants of the Hussites, whose battle tactics were later adapted by the Black Army). He needed more seasoned veterans, so he chose to settle a group of rogue Czech Army deserters led by John Jiskra who were already plundering the northern countryside seeking daily loot. Jiskra was promised a royal pardon and two castles, Solymos and Lippa (now Şoimuş and Lipova), in the Peace Treaty of Wiener Neustadt of 1463, and his soldiers received a payment of 25,000 ducats. He was stationed in Bosnia to fight the Ottomans the next year. Previously, in 1462, the King sent word to his equerry that he should hire 8,000 cavalry to start a holy war against the Ottoman Empire only if the Venetians – according to their promise – covered the expenses (unfortunately for the Hungarians, this financial aid was postponed from time to time). The first major and mass conscription of mercenaries appeared during the Bohemian Wars (1468–78), whereas the core of his royal infantry, a force of 6,000–8,000 armed men, were incorporated into the Black Army (the origins of the moniker could also come from this era).

Funding.

After Matthias's income increased periodically, simultaneously, the number of mercenaries increased as well. Historical records vary when it comes to numbers, mainly because it changed from battle to battle and most soldiers were only employed for the duration of combat or a longer conflict. Reckoning the nobility's banners, the mercenaries, the soldiers of conquered Moravia and Silesia, and the troops of allied Moldavia and Wallachia, the King could have gathered an army of 90,000 men. The nobility's participation in the battlefield were ignored by the time their support could have been redeemed in gold later on. The cities were also relieved of paying war levies if they supplied the craftsmanship and weapon production to equip the military.  King Matthias increased the serf's taxes; he switched the basis of taxing from the "portae" to the households, and occasionally, they collected the royal dues twice a year during wartime. Counting the vassals' tribute, the western contributions, the local nobility's war payment, the tithes, and the urban taxes, Matthias's annual income reached 650,000 florins; for comparison, the Ottoman Empire had 1,800,000 per year. In contrast to popular belief, historians have speculated for decades that the actual sum altogether could circle around 800,000 florins in a good year at the peak of Matthias's reign, but never surpassed the financial threshold of one million florins, a previously commonly accepted number. In 1467, Matthias Corvinus reformed the coin system for easier accumulation of taxes and manageable disbursements and introduced an improved dinar, which had a finer silver content (500‰) and weighed half a gram. He also re-established its ratio, where one florin of gold equaled 100 dinars of silver, which was so stable that it remained in place until the mid-16th century.  The army was divided into three parts: the cavalry, paid three florins per horse; the pavisors, who received double the money; and the archers, light infantry and arquebusiers, with the latter consisting of mostly Czechs, Germans and Poles (all paid differently). Medieval gunpowder was quite expensive, so the King preferred adapting Hussite tactics to mounted warfare (based on defense, placing infantry behind wagon blockades or tall pavises, while the cavalry constantly harassed the enemy and guarded the "middle") and placed archery in favor of fusiliers, with the latter being engaged at the very start of the battle. With firearm production being made available by local marksmen in Transylvania, especially in Braşov,

Improving the river fleet.

The river fleet () was composed of wooden galleys, rowboats (later upgraded to gunboats) and smaller ships, which were capable of sailing up the rivers Danube, Tisza and Sava. The victory at the Belgrade (Nándorfehérvár) in 1456, where the fleet played a significant role in breaking through the Turkish river blockade to bring relief to the besieged city, showed its importance and signaled the beginning of a recognition of its significance. It also encouraged King Matthias to build a larger and better-equipped navy. Since they were manned by South Slavs, mainly Serbs and Croats, the two major ports of operations were Belgrade and Szabács (Šabac). In 1475, concomitantly with the introduction of field guns, he ordered the installation of artillery onto the river barges as well as bombards able to shoot cannonballs ranging from In 1479, he had a mixed fleet of 360 vessels, a crew of 2600 sailors, and a capacity of 10,000 soldiers on board. Matthias also secured an exit to the Adriatic Sea, the city-port of Zengg from which Balázs Matthias could embark for his maritime campaigns. Matthias could also monitor the trade going through the Danube Delta to the Black Sea from the City of Kilia, but during his reign, it was seized by the Moldavian Army supported by the Ottoman Fleet.

Branches, tactics, equipments.

Heavy cavalry.

At the height of the century, the heavy cavalry was already at its peak, although it showed signs of declining tendencies. The striking power and the ability to charge without backup made them capable of forcing a decisive outcome in most battles. Although they were rarely deployed on their own, if they were, they would take square formations. Such turning points occurred at the Battle of Breadfield (1479). Usually, they made up one-sixth of the army and, with mercenary knights, were in the majority. Their armament was well prepared and of high quality except for the noble banners. This stands for proprietary arms, not the ones provided by the king.

Light cavalry.

The traditional hussars were introduced by Matthias; henceforth, the light cavalry is called "huszár", a name derived from the word "húsz" ("twenty" in English), which refers to the drafting scheme where for every twenty serfs a noble owned, he had to equip a mounted soldier. After the Diet of Temesvár (Timişoara) of 1397, the light cavalry was institutionalized as an army division. They were the second ranked in order within an army and generally considered an elite force. They assembled from the "militia portalis", a significant number of them "insurrectios", the Moldavians and Transylvanians with the first having serfs with lesser accoutrement and the latter generally regarded as good horsearchers. They were divided into groups of 25 ("turma") led by a captain ("capitaneus gentium levis armature"). Their field of operation was scouting, securing, prowling, cutting enemy supply lines, and disarraying them in battle. They also served as an additional maneuverable flank (for swooping advance attacks) to strong centers of heavy cavalry.

Weaponry.

Helmet, mail shirt, sabre, targe, spear and, in some cases, throwing axes and topors.

Infantry.

Infantry was less important but formed a stable basis in the integrity of an army. They were organized from mixed ethnicities and were composed of heavy infantry, shielded soldiers, light infantry and fusiliers. Their characteristics include the combination of plate and mail armour and the use of the pavises (these painted willow-wood large shields were often ornamented and covered with leather and linen). The latter served multiple purposes: to hold off enemy attacks, to cover ranged infantry shooting from behind (fusiliers engage first, the archers fire constantly), and moveable hussite-style "tabor" (with a restricted deployment of war wagons in number). The infantry contained Swiss pikemen, who were held in high honour by the king.  In 1481, the Black Army's infantry was described as:

Weaponry.

Various long-range weapons including bows, crossbows, and arquebuses; all sorts of melee weapons, halberds, pikes, and awl-pikes; hussite/peasant weapons such as slings and flails; hand weapons such as morgensterns and war-hammers; and classical swords and sabres.

Mutinies.

The disadvantage of having periodically or occasionally paid recruits was that if their money had not arrived on time, they simply left the battlefield, or – in a worse scenario – they revolted, as has happened in several instances. Since they were the same skilled men-at-arms led by the same leaders previously fighting under the Hungarian flag, they were as difficult to eliminate as the Black Army was to its enemies. However, they could be outnumbered, since it was always a flank or division which quit the campaign. An easier solution was to have the captain accept some lands and castles to be mortgaged in return of service (in one occasion the forts of Ricsó (Hričovský hrad) and Nagybiccse (Bytča) to František Hag). An example of mass desertion occurred in 1481 when a group of 300 horsemen joined the opposing Holy Roman forces. One of these recorded insurrections was conducted by Jan Švehla, who accompanied Corvinus to Slavonia in 1465 to beat the Ottomans; but when they were approaching Zagreb, Švehla asked for royal permission to officially quit the offensive with his mercenaries due to financial difficulty. His request was denied, and as a consequence, he and two of his vice-captains left the royal banner along with their regiments.  Following their breakaway, George of Poděbrady secretly supported their invasion into the Comitatus of Nitra and their occupation of the fort of Kosztolány, as the army was composed of Bohemian-Moravian professionals previously in service for George and Frederick III. Apart from the militia, there were religious outcasts (considered heretics) looking for shelter, including Hussite "Bratriks" ("Brothers" – Hussites in Slovakia/Upper Hungary) and rogue "Žebraks" who favoured pillaging instead of payment. Svehla established an ad-hoc fort, and he appointed Jorig Lichtenburger and Vöttau as "comeses" for the county. The fort and its looting inhabitants had a surrounding sphere of influence ranging from the valleys of Váh and Nitra to the eastern provinces of Austria. Matthias realized the threat and ordered two of his "upper-land" captains to besiege Kosztolany, namely Stephen Zápolya and Ladislaus Podmaniczky. After returning from Slavonia, the king joined the siege. It is worth mentioning that here, among few occasions, Matthias cooperated with Frederick. He sent a strong-armoured mounted troop led by commander Ulrich von Grafeneck to help wipe out these brigades. When he reached Pozsony (Bratislava), he was reinforced by Knight Georg Pottendorfer with his 600 crusader cavalry. This totaled 8–10 thousand people ready to besiege, who began an assault after taking some minor fortifications on 1 January 1467. The vanguards of the Black Army officers were all present against their former ally. They included the Palatine Michael Ország, Jan Jiskra, Jan Haugwitz, Balázs Magyar, Pál Kinizsi, Nicholaus Ujlaki Ban of Macsó (Mačva), and Peter Sobi Ban of Bosnia-Croatia-Dalmatia, with the latter-most dying in the assault. Before the siege began, Matthias offered Švehla the chance to return to his service in exchange for an unconditional surrender on all grounds. After a refusal, he immediately began the siege and the cannon firing despite the harsh winter conditions. Švehla and his 2,500 men (and additional citizens) resisted the superior besiegers, but food storages reached extremely low levels and all the efforts to break out were unsuccessful, so he decided to capitulate twice to Matthias with the aforementioned taking his revenge in rejecting it. After three weeks, Švehla feigned a breakout attempt in the front while getting out from the rear through a water channel. Though his physically weak and exhausted entourage of 2,000 infantry tried to elude the besieging forces, they were not fast enough to escape safely. Balázs Magyar and Pál Kinizsi rode down to the fort of Csejte (Čachtice), where they clashed. Almost all of the rioters fell, only 250 taken as prisoners. Svehla evaded capture again but was put in custody by peasants by the time he was too debilitated to fight.  Matthias doomed him to be hanged up along with the remaining couple of hundred prisoners. This was a rather violent act regarding the campaigns of King Matthias Corvin. On the very next day, 31 January 1467, witnessing the executions, the garrison asked for mercy, and it was granted; and after taking Kosztolány, he also offered František Hag – officer member of the resistance group – captainship in the Black Army, since he found him skilled enough. In another case in 1474, František Hag revolted due to lack of pay, but the conflict ended without violence, and he remained Matthias' subject until his death.

Dissolution.

Before his death on 6 April 1490, King Matthias asked his captains and barons to pledge an oath to his son John Corvinus and secure his succession to the throne. Though John was the biggest estate holder in Hungary and had the command over the Black Army, his stepmother, Queen Beatrice of Naples, invited two heirs, the Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I and Polish prince John I Albert, for an assembly to be held at Buda to discuss who would inherit the throne. The first based his claim on the Peace Treaty of Wiener Neustadt, while the latter on his family ties. Furthermore, the Hungarian barons invited a third pretender, the King of Bohemia and brother of John Albert, Vladislaus II. After the barons double-crossed John Corvinus, he escaped from the capital and was moving to Pécs, when he was attacked midway at Szabaton village and suffered a defeat from which he could retreat. No parts of the Black Army were – yet – involved, as their core was stuck in Silesia and Styria. Their famed captains Blaise Magyar and Paul Kinizsi joined the pretenders' side, John Albert and Vladislaus, respectively; the latter subsequently became the legitime king.  Maximilian immediately attacked the conquested territories in Austria in 1490. The Black Army fortified itself in the occupied forts on the western border. Most of them were captured by trick, bribery, or citizen revolt in a few weeks without any major battles. The trenchline along the river Enns, which was built by mercenary captain Wilhelm Tettauer, resisted quite successfully for a month. Due to the lack of payment, some of the Black Army mercenaries, mostly Czechs, switched sides and joined the Holy Roman army of 20,000 men in invading Hungary. They advanced in the heart of Hungary and managed to capture the city of Székesfehérvár, which he sacked, as well as the tomb of King Matthias, which was kept there. His Landsknechts were still unsatisfied with the plunder and refused to go for taking Buda. He returned to the Empire in late December but left garrisons of a few hundred soldiers in those Hungarian cities and castles he occupied.  The National Council of the barons decided to recuperate the cities lost, especially Székesfehérvár. The Black Army was put on reserve at Eger, but their payment of 46,000 forints was late again, so they robbed the neighboring monasteries, churches, peasantries and lorddoms. After their dues were paid, appointed captain Steven Báthory gathered an army of 40,000 soldiers and began the siege in June 1491, which lasted for a month. More minor cities were regained, and without further support from the German nobility, Maximilian agreed to negotiate, and in the end, he signed the Peace of Pressburg in 1491, which included ceding the Silesian lands to him. John Haugwitz never recognized this treaty and held their possessions in Silesia afterwards.  Meanwhile, disappointed John Albert gathered an army at the eastern border of Hungary and attacked the vicinity of Kassa (Košice) and Tokaj, also in 1490. John Corvinus accepted Vladislaus as his feudal lord and helped him in his coronation (he personally handed the crown to him). Vladislaus married widowed Queen Beatrice in order to acquire her assets of 500,000 forints. This would have allowed him to cover the expenses of the Black Army stationed in Moravia and upper Silesia and the cost of transporting them home to Upper Hungary to defend it from the Polish army of John Albert. John Filipec, on the behalf of the new king, helped to convince Silesian Black Army leader John Haugwitz to return to duty in exchange for 100,000 forints. The Hungarian-Czech army of 18,000 met the Polish troops in December 1491 in the Battle of Eperjes (Prešov), which was a decisive victory for the Black Army. John Albert withdrew to Poland and promised that he had no further claims to the throne.  The Black Army was sent to the south region to fight the Ottoman invasions. While waiting for their wages, they sought plunder in the nearby villages. The National Council ordered Paul Kinizsi to stop the plundering at all costs. He arrived in Szegednic-Halászfalu in late August 1492, where he dispersed the Black Army led by Haugwitz. Of the 8,000 members, 2,000 were able to escape to western Styria, where they continued to pillage the countryside. The prisoners were escorted to Buda, where the Black Army was officially disbanded and they were allowed to leave abroad under the condition never to come back and claim their payment. They joined the forces already in Austria. They confronted Count Georg Eynczinger on 7 May 1493, at Thaya, where they were all killed or captured and tortured to death. The last remaining mercenaries were integrated into local garrisons, such as the one in Nándorfehérvár (Belgrade) under the leadership of Balthasar Tettauer, brother of Wilhelm Tettauer. They were so frustrated about their financial status that they allied with Ottoman Mihaloğlu Ali Bey to secretly hand over the fort to his sultan, Bayezid II. When their plan surfaced, Paul Kinizsi intervened in May 1494 before their act could take place. He arrested the captain and his troops for treason and starved them to death.

The Black Army (, pronounced ), also called the Black Legion/Regiment – possibly after their black armor panoply – is a common name given to the military forces serving under the reign of King Matthias Corvinus of Hungary. The ancestor and core of this early standing mercenary army appeared in the era of his father John Hunyadi in the early 1440s. The idea of the professional standing mercenary army came from Matthias' juvenile readings about the life of Julius Caesar.

Černá armáda (maďarsky "Fekete sereg", nazvaná pravděpodobně podle černě zbarvené zbroje jejího vrchního velitele Jana Haugvice z Biskupic), často nazývaná také jako Černá rota nebo Černá legie, jsou názvy pro pozdně středověké uherské žoldnéřské vojsko ve službách krále Matyáše Korvína. Zrod tohoto žoldnéřského vojska započal už za vlády jeho otce Jánose Hunyadiho kolem roku 1440, ovšem s myšlenkou zavedení stálé profesionální žoldnéřské armády přišel až Matyáš Korvín, čímž se pravděpodobně inspiroval ze svého mládí, když četl o životě římského vojevůdce Julia Caesara. Žoldnéřské vojsko existovalo mezi lety 1458 až 1494. Oproti jiným vojskům byla Černá rota stálou profesionální žoldnéřskou armádou, se kterou Matyáš dosáhl mnoha vítězství a úspěchů, když v rakousko-uherské válce proti císaři Fridrichu III. dobyl velkou část Rakouska, včetně hlavního města Vídně v roce 1485, a v česko-uherské válce více než polovinu ze Zemí Koruny české (Moravu, Slezsko a obě Lužice). Dalšího vítězství dosáhl Matyáš s Černou armádou nad Osmanskými Turky roku 1479.


History.

2001–2005: Formation and "Turn It Up Faggot".

The band was co-founded in 2001 by vocalist Bradford Cox and drummer and keyboardist Moses Archuleta. The name Deerhunter (Which Cox has repeatedly remarked upon despising) was chosen by the band's first drummer, Dan Walton. Cox didn't care what the band was called as he thought it to be just another temporary art project. The band was joined by Colin Mee, whom Cox met while Mee was living at the Atlanta label Die Slaughterhaus Records with members of Black Lips. The two bonded over a shared interest in Dada and 20th Century Composers Oliver Messiaen and György Ligeti, as well as British bands The Fall, The Raincoats, and Cabaret Voltaire. In 2004 the group's first bassist, Justin Bosworth, died of head injuries suffered in a skateboarding accident. He appeared on only one Deerhunter release, the "Deerhunter/Alphabets Split", issued before their debut album. Joshua Fauver, of Atlanta punk band Electrosleep International, then took up the position as bassist. Deerhunter's first album, "Turn It Up Faggot", was "the result of a lot of negativity". After the band finished the album, in an indication of how difficult it was to record in the wake of his bandmate's death, Cox said "I don't ever want to make this album again". The album's liner notes are dedicated to Bosworth. After the release of "Turn It Up Faggot," Cox asked his best friend from high school, Lockett Pundt, to join the band.

2005–2007: "Cryptograms" and "Fluorescent Grey" EP.

The band, now featuring Pundt's reverb-saturated guitar sound, went on tour, playing shows with the likes of Lightning Bolt and Gang Gang Dance. This tour culminated in a recording session engineered by acclaimed folk musician Samara Lubelski at Rare Book Room, New York City. This session failed to produce anything that could be used, due to Cox’s mental and physical state at the time, as well as technical disagreements that emerged with Lubelski. Cox has kept a copy of the sessions on "a scratched CD-R under my bed" and has stated that "nobody will ever hear them". In spite of Cox's claim excerpts from those sessions were later posted as a free download on the band's blog. The band returned to the same studio where they recorded their first album outside Athens, Georgia and decided to give recording their second album another attempt. This was partly due to advice received from the band Liars, who encouraged them to re-record it.  It took only two days in November 2005 for the band to record their second album, entitled "Cryptograms". In 2006, before its release, Pitchfork Media added "Spring Hall Convert", a song from the record, to its "Infinite Mix Tape series". The album was released by Kranky in January 2007. The album revealed a more subdued and introverted sound for the band. As with their first album, "Cryptograms" also had a dedication inside the album's liner notes, this time to a friend of Cox's, Bradley Ira Harris, a heroin addict who died in 2005.  On May 8, 2007, the group released the "Fluorescent Grey" EP, which was recorded in July 2006. The EP featured more use of rudimentary keyboards, bells, and pianos.  On August 29, 2007, the group became a quartet with the loss of guitarist Colin Mee. Mee departed because he "...couldn't make it to a couple of shows we had booked next weekend and that was unacceptable to certain bandmates". Mee rejoined the band four months later, but departed the band for the final time before 2008.

2007–2009: "Microcastle/Weird Era Cont.", "Rainwater Cassette Exchange" EP, and hiatus.

Deerhunter contributed the song "After Class" to "Living Bridge", a compilation put together by Rare Book Room Records. The song was recorded in the same place where they attempted to record their second album. They returned to Rare Book Room studios in April 2008 to record "Oh, It's Such A Shame," a Jay Reatard cover that would be released as a split single with Reatard himself covering the "Fluorescent Grey" title track. In the same month they recorded their next album, "Microcastle". Prior to the announced release date for the LP, the band continued to tour, with one date opening for The Smashing Pumpkins and a select of fall shows opening for Nine Inch Nails.  The quartet's third offering, "Microcastle", was set to be released on October 27, 2008, although it became available through peer-to peer networks in late May. In an attempt to reward fans who awaited for the street date, the group reconvened to record a new album of material, "Weird Era Cont.", which later leaked before its street date also. However, "Microcastle" did manage to debut at No. 123 on the Billboard 200, a first for Deerhunter. Colin Mee again left the band, to be replaced by a high school friend of Cox's, Whitney Petty. The band enlisted former cheerleader and high school friend of Cox, Whitney Petty, as his touring replacement.  While touring the "Microcastle" album in the UK, Cox booked an evening in a studio and recorded what would become the "On Platts Eyott" cassette. This was released in two batches of 100 copies each; an edition of pink cassettes was given out to competition winners by his record label and orange cassettes were sold at a special Halloween concert in Atlanta on the 31st of October 2008. In a comment left on the Deerhunter blog on February 28, Cox announced that Whitney Petty was no longer a member of the band, stating: While on tour, the band managed to release "Rainwater Cassette Exchange", an EP of songs written during the "Microcastle" sessions, and "Vox Celeste 5," a Sub Pop single of songs from "Weird Era Cont." and "Microcastle". To promote the releases, they embarked on a short summer trek with No Age and Dan Deacon as the "No Deachunter Tour." Later during a performance at All Tomorrow's Parties 2009 Music Festival in September (curated by The Flaming Lips), Bradford Cox announced that the band will be going on hiatus to "devote time to some other things," calling the show their last "for a long time." During the hiatus, Bradford Cox continued with Atlas Sound and released his second album "Logos", Josh Fauver resumed work with his record label Army of Bad Luck, Moses Archuleta enrolled in culinary school, and Lockett Pundt performed some shows in celebration of "The Floodlight Collective", his debut album as Lotus Plaza released in March of that year.

2010: "Halcyon Digest".

In early January, it was revealed that the group would serve as openers on the upcoming Spoon tour to promote their album "Transference". Along with the Spoon tour, the group also announced some shows of their own, including stops at the 2010 Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, and All Tomorrow's Parties (curated by Simpsons creator, Matt Groening.) During these shows, the band began to debut some new material, including the songs "Helicopter," "Primitive 3D," "Fountain Stairs" and "Revival," all of which would end up being recorded for their next studio session to follow.  In June, Deerhunter took a short break from touring to record "Halcyon Digest". Initial news of the album became public when music industry firm, Milk Money, posted a message on their Twitter account that the band had been mixing the new record with Ben Allen (who also worked on Animal Collective's "Merriweather Post Pavilion" and "Fall Be Kind EP".) A week later the band launched a new website, where they announced the title and release date of the LP, along with a guerilla style marketing campaign. The first single, "Revival," was made available to fans who had assisted the band with promotion for the new album through a link via official email. In the same month, director John Albrecht posted a trailer for an upcoming live video on his Vimeo page set to be released later in the year.  In 2012, it was announced that Deerhunter was to provide an original score to "The Curve of Forgotten Things", a short film by the fashion line Rodarte starring Elle Fanning. That same year, bassist Josh Fauver left the band via email in 2012, just prior to the recording of "Monomania".

2013–2014: "Monomania".

On March 22, 2013, Deerhunter announced their sixth studio album would be released on May 7, 2013. The album, entitled "Monomania", was recorded in New York with frequent collaborator and producer Nicolas Vernhes at his Rare Book Room Studio, where Microcastle and Parallax were taped. For "Monomania", Josh McKay took over bass duties, and Atlanta native Frankie Broyles was brought in to play guitar. Deerhunter's press release described the record as "nocturnal garage" while having an avant garde context. On April 2, 2013, the band performed the song "Monomania" on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon.  Deerhunter headlined and curated the All Tomorrow's Parties music festival held at Pontins holiday camp in Camber Sands, England from the 21–23 June 2013. At the event they performed the "Cryptograms", "Microcastle" & "Halcyon Digest" albums in full, with Atlas Sound also performing. Deerhunter was announced as a headliner at Austin Psych Fest, the 6th annual festival held April 26–28, 2013, Heineken Primavera Sound (Barcelona), Optimus Primavera Sound (Porto), and perform live at Dancity Festival (Foligno, Italy) along with FYF Fest in Los Angeles during 2015. Deerhunter have also been asked to play at the Meredith Music Festival this December in Victoria, Australia.  On December 4, 2014, frontman Bradford Cox was seriously injured and hospitalized after being hit by a car in Atlanta, GA.

2015–2017: "Fading Frontier".

On August 16, 2015, Deerhunter released a video for a new song titled "Snakeskin," and announced that their new album, "Fading Frontier", was released on October 16, 2015, on the 4AD label. The song featured alto saxophonist Zumi Rosow and the video was directed by Valentina Tapia. On 13 October, Deerhunter shared the video for 'Living My Life', dedicated to Miles Davis. The LP was very well received by critics.

2018-present: "Double Dream of Spring" and "Why Hasn’t Everything Already Disappeared?".

In 2018, the band released a cassette-only studio album during their Spring 2018 tour called "Double Dream of Spring". A mostly instrumental album, it was made to fill the void until their next album would be released the following year.  Deerhunter's eighth album "Why Hasn't Everything Already Disappeared?" was released on January 18, 2019. The album's first single, "Death in Midsummer", was released in October 2018 co-produced by Cate Le Bon.  Former bass guitarist Joshua Fauver died in November 2018. He was a member of the band from 2004 to 2012.  On Halloween 2019, Deerhunter released the 13-minute long single "Timebends". A separate entity to their eighth studio album, "Why Hasn’t Everything Already Disappeared?," "Timebends" is a partly-improvised stream-of-consciousness outpouring, recorded live direct to tape and in one take with minimal overdubs and mastered using a completely analogue signal chain.  The next day, Cox released the "Myths 004" EP in collaboration with Cate Le Bon, recorded in Marfa, Texas as part of an ongoing series with Dev Hynes, Ariel Pink and Connan Mockasin.

Musical style and influence.

The band has revealed many artists and genres that contribute to Deerhunter's sound. "The New York Times" concert review mentioned "the Breeders, Stereolab, disco rhythm, krautrock, Sonic Youth’s noise breakdowns, girl-group pop, the picked eighth-note bass lines of 1980s indie rock", as influences. The song "Coronado" from "Halcyon Digest" features saxophone sounds inspired by the Rolling Stones' album "Exile on Main St". Cox recalled, "I wanted that sax on there because I was listening to the Stones' "Exile on Main St" reissue a lot...I began to see a pattern forming. Saxophones are becoming this thing. That's why we did it early. Next year everyone's gonna have a saxophone on their record because saxophones are just cool." The next year, M83 charted with "Midnight City" featuring a prominent saxophone solo.  Deerhunter has been described as indie rock, experimental rock, psychedelic pop, noise rock garage rock and art rock.

Members.

Current Former

Touring.

During live shows, Cox has worn sundresses and has performed with fake blood smeared over his face and hands, their live show being "much more savage" than their albums. In his explanation of the sundresses Cox has said, "I don't like the idea of going around stage in just jeans and a t-shirt. It seems anticlimactic."  Deerhunter have supported many bands on tour, including Nine Inch Nails, TV on the Radio, Project Pat, Liars, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Spoon, The Smashing Pumpkins, The Fiery Furnaces, Lower Dens, Ex Models, Battles, and Kings of Leon.

Deerhunter is an American rock band from Atlanta, Georgia, formed in 2001. The band consists of Bradford Cox (vocals, guitar, keyboards), Moses Archuleta (drums, electronics, sound treatments), Lockett Pundt (guitar, vocals, keyboards), Josh McKay (bass) and Javier Morales (keyboards, synthesizers, alto saxophone).

Deerhunter je americká rocková skupina z Atlanty, založená v roce 2001. Založili ji zpěvák a kytarista Bradford Cox a bubeník Moses Archuleta. Později kapelou prošlo několik dalších hudebníků, přičemž jedinými stálými členy zůstávali Cox a Archuleta. Jeden z členů, baskytarista Josh Fauver, který v kapele hrál v letech 2004 až 2012, zemřel v roce 2018 ve věku 39 let. Své první album nazvané "Turn It Up Faggot" skupina vydala roku 2005; následovalo několik dalších.


History.

The farmhouses of Hälsingland are a cultural heritage and an example of traditional Swedish construction technique in the old farming society in Hälsingland. The magnificent dwelling houses of the farms have become symbols of the term Hälsingland farms, although the farm as a production unit, including out buildings and land, is what constitutes a Hälsingland farm.  The Hälsingland farms reflect the rural construction techniques, using only wood, and are an expression of the popular architecture; the farmer’s way of building as it evolved according to the available means. To depict a general idea of the Hälsingland farm is difficult as they vary between parishes and periods of time.  The uniqueness of these farms lie in the farmer’s ambition to build big. The farms have large and elaborately decorated dwelling houses, often two or three, sometimes housing several generations, whereas some houses were used only for festivities and others for sleeping, so called ”bed-cottages”. Most often they were two stories, but there are also examples of one story cottages with room for two families.  The well-constructed dwelling houses, often lavishly designed with profiled roof-bases, elegantly profiled joinery work around windows and beautifully decorated doorways, mainly represent the construction style of the 19th century, but there are also older farms with low, unpainted houses built in a square shape around the yard, as well as start-of-the-20th-century buildings with rich ”carpenters joy” and large porches.  For periods of time, each parish had their own style of constructing, mainly shown in the lavish front porches and otherwise elaborate entrances. Some areas, foremost the coastal parishes, lacked front porches entirely; instead they had more costly doors and door fittings.  Inside the farms houses of Hälsingland are magnificent and well-preserved interiors with art painted on the walls, stencilled wall decorations, and expensive wallpaper. Biblical motifs were transformed into Hälsingland milieu, funny stories and cautionary tales mixed in the artwork with the decorative style of the wandering painters from Dalarna, characterized by religious motifs, ribbons and large flowers. Expensive, imported wallpaper was combined with popular painting into something entirely new, and the stencilled paintings in many places flowed onto walls, ceilings and fireplaces. The amount of well-preserved interiors kept in its original site, is unique in the world.  With the farms in Hälsingland also came a large number of out buildings, freely placed outside the courtyard. Grand barns, large log cabins, smithies, breweries, grain storage houses, stables and liveries all give a picture of the system of many outhouses, which by the end of the 19th century was replaced by large multifunctional buildings that housed many functions under the same roof.  Often the farms of Hälsingland are connected to other buildings such as mills, water works, and summer farms, providing us with a glimpse into the culture of Hälsingland. The farms are placed in village structures of the olden days, with roots in prehistoric times, only partly changed from the original 19th century sites.  Still today, there are around one thousand farmhouses of Hälsingland preserved in the province. Some of them have been nominated to UNESCO list of World Heritage.

Listed farmhouses.

Bollnäs Municipality Ljusdal Municipality Ovanåker Municipality Söderhamn Municipality

A Hälsingland farm or Hälsingegård is a particular type of farm or former farm in Hälsingland, Sweden, with preserved cultural and historical value.

Zdobené farmy v Hälsinglandu je název jedné ze švédských kulturních památek chráněných UNESCEM. Jedná se o skupinu 7 zemědělských statků na území historické provincie Hälsingland. Jsou ukázkou tradiční výstavby ze dřeva na švédském venkově. Obytné budovy jsou většinou dvoupodlažní, vícegenerační s bohatou vnitřní výzdobou zdí nástěnými malbami a tapetami. Vnitřní i venkovní dekorací (umělecké ztvárnění vstupních portálů, šambrána oken) dávali majitelé najevo svoje sociální postavení a bohatství. Kromě obytných budov se na statcích nachází stáje, sýpky, sušárny a další hospodářské stavby.


Surroundings and history.

The original pagoda was built during the reign of Emperor Gaozong of Tang (r. 649–683), then standing at a height of 60 m (198 ft). This construction of rammed earth with a stone exterior facade collapsed five decades later. The ruling Empress Wu Zetian had the pagoda rebuilt and added five new stories by the year 704.  A massive earthquake in 1556 heavily damaged the pagoda and reduced it by three stories, to its current height of seven stories.  The structure leans very perceptibly (several degrees) to the west. Its related structure, the 8th century Small Wild Goose Pagoda in Xi'an, only suffered minor damage in the 1556 earthquake (unrepaired to this day). The Giant Wild Goose Pagoda was extensively repaired during the Ming dynasty (1368–1644) and renovated again in 1964. The pagoda currently stands at a height of 64 m (210 ft) tall and from the top it offers views over the city of Xi'an.  The tower sits inside the Daci'en Temple complex ("mercy and kindness"). The Daci'en Temple was built in 648 to honor the Empress Zhangsun. The temple complex is open to the public and it receives millions of tourists each year. It can be accessed from the Da Yan Ta station of line 3 of the Xi'an Metro. One entrance is located at the northeast corner of the north plaza. A new entrance has opened during the end of 2017  This site was added to the World Heritage List on June 22, 2014.

Giant Wild Goose Pagoda or Big Wild Goose Pagoda (, literally "big swan goose pagoda"), is a Buddhist pagoda located in southern Xi'an, Shaanxi, China. It was built in 652 during the Tang dynasty and originally had five stories. The structure was rebuilt in 704 during the reign of Empress Wu Zetian and its exterior brick facade was renovated during the Ming dynasty.

Velká pagoda divoké husy () je 64 metrů vysoká pagoda ve městě Si-an v provincii Šen-si v Čínské lidové republice. Nachází se v městském obvodě Jen-tcha jižně od historického centra. Od roku 2014 je chráněná UNESCEM jako součást položky „“.


Early life.

The son of a Church of England minister, Charles Valentine Riley was born on 19 September 1843 in London's Chelsea district. When he was around eleven his parents, the Rev. Charles and Mary (née Valentine) Riley, chose to further his education in Europe. There he excelled at art and natural history attending private schools in Dieppe, France and later Bonn, Germany. After the death of his father he was brought home to Britain to enroll in a public school there. Sometime later his mother remarried which may have played a part in his decision, taken at the age of seventeen, to cross the Atlantic Ocean to America with scant resources.  Riley's journey west ended in the U.S. state of Illinois where was employed as a laborer on a farm in Aroma, a small community in Kankakee County some fifty miles south of Chicago. Riley had become acquainted with the farm's owner, a British expatriate named George Edwards, sometime earlier when the latter was visiting London. Around 1864 he left the Edwards’ farm to work for the Chicago-based "Prairie Farmer", a leading agricultural journal as reporter, artist, and editor of the entomological department. A few months later he joined the 134th Illinois Volunteer Infantry Regiment, mustering out before the end of 1864 after fulfilling his one-hundred day enlistment commitment.

Career.

In 1868, he was appointed as the first State Entomologist for the State of Missouri. He collaborated on the annual reports from Missouri, work which established him as one of the leading entomologists in the United States.  Riley studied the plague of grasshoppers that invaded many Western States between 1873 and 1877. He convinced the United States Congress to establish the United States Entomological Commission, which included a Grasshopper Commission, to which Riley was appointed chairman.  In 1878, he was appointed to the post of entomologist to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, but he resigned after only a year because of a disagreement with the Commissioner. He was reappointed in 1881 and remained in the top post until 1894. He was also appointed the first curator of insects for the Smithsonian Institution in 1885. Riley would later go on to donate his 100,000 piece insect specimen collection to them.  He was one of the first to practice biological pest control, introducing a beetle that was the natural enemy to a scale that was damaging the California citrus industry. Because this method successfully reduced the scale, Riley is sometimes known as the "Father of Biological Control". He invented the “cyclone” or eddy chamber in nozzles for spraying purposes.  He was among the first to notice that the American grapes, "Vitis labrusca" were resistant to grape "Phylloxera". His work with J. E. Planchon led to the use of grafting French grape on "V. labrusca" root stock. This effort helped save the French wine industry and for his efforts, Riley received the French Grand Gold Medal and was named a Chevalier of the Legion of Honor in 1884.  A prolific writer, artist, and visionary, Riley authored over 2,400 publications. He published two journals, "The American Entomologist" (1868–80) and "Insect Life" (1889–94) and Riley was the first to recommend for the establishment of the Office of Experiment Stations, in 1878 before the National Agricultural Congress. He received honorary degrees from Kansas State University and the University of Missouri. He was an honorary member of the Entomological Society of London and founder and first president of the Entomological Society of Washington. He and Dr. L. O. Howard, Riley's assistant in the Federal Entomological Service, were among the founders of the American Association of Economic Entomologists, which became part of Entomological Society of America in 1953. Riley was succeeded as State Entomologist of Missouri by Otto Lugger who served as an assistant in Riley's early years.

Marriage.

On 20 June 1878 Riley married in St. Louis, Missouri Emilie Conzelman, who was born and raised in that city. Her father, Gottlieb Conzelman, came from Germany and supported his family employed as a wallpaper hanger. Emilie's mother, Jorgine Augusta (née Grønbech), was Danish; she died 21 February 1861 in St. Louis, Missouri at age 39. Charles and Emilie went on to have five girls and two boys. Their first, Alice was born in 1879 and Cathryn, their youngest, came in 1891. William, Mary, Harold (who died at four months), Helen and Thora were all born in the 1880s. Emilie Conzelman Riley died at Washington D. C. on 10 December 1947, nearly a month shy of her 98th birthday (29 January 1948).

Death.

On 14 September 1895 Riley died as the result of a bicycle accident that occurred not far from his Washington D. C. residence. As he was riding rapidly down a hill, the bicycle wheel struck a granite paving block dropped by a wagon. He catapulted to the pavement and fractured his skull. He was carried home on a wagon and never regained consciousness. He died at his home the same day at the age of 52, leaving his wife with six children.

Charles Valentine Riley (18 September 1843 – 14 September 1895) was a British-born American entomologist and artist. He was one of the first individuals to use biological pest control and authored over 2,400 publications. He convinced Congress to create the United States Entomological Commission and was among the founders of the American Association of Economic Entomologists.

Charles Valentine Riley (18. září 1843 Chelsea, Londýn – 14 září 1895 Washington, D.C.) byl britsko-americký entomolog a umělec. Je považován za otce biologického boje proti škůdcům.


Report.

Background.

The race was moved from its April date to September to fill the vacancy of the Malaysian Grand Prix, which was discontinued at the end of the 2017 season.  During the weekend, the first DRS zone was extended by 100 meters so that the beginning of the DRS zone started 95 meters before turn 1.

Race.

At the start, Sebastian Vettel got a better start than Lewis Hamilton, but there was no room to overtake heading into turn one. On lap 4, both Scuderia Toro Rosso drivers Pierre Gasly and Brendon Hartley suffered brake failures which forced both to retire, they were the only retirements of the race.  Later on lap 14, Hamilton made his one and only pitstop of the race, putting him behind Vettel. Two laps later, Hamilton made a move on Sebastian Vettel at turn 3 and passed him into fourth place into turn 4.  The most notable moment of the race came on lap 26, when Mercedes asked Valtteri Bottas to let Lewis Hamilton through into second at turn 13. Max Verstappen, who led the race since lap 19, came in for his pitstop on lap 42.  Hamilton won the race for the third time in his career, with Valtteri Bottas second and Sebastian Vettel completing the podium in third place. As a consequence, Hamilton extended his lead over Vettel in the championship to 50 points.

Classification.

Qualifying.

Despite receiving no penalties, both of the Renault drivers elected not to run any laps on Q2 due to them automatically receiving places 11 and 12. They were then able to start the race on fresh tyres of their choice.

The 2018 Russian Grand Prix (officially the Formula 1 2018 VTB Russian Grand Prix) was a Formula One motor race held on 30 September 2018 at the Sochi Autodrom in Sochi, Russia. The race was the 16th round of the 2018 Formula One World Championship and marked the 7th running of the Russian Grand Prix and the 5th time the race had been held in Sochi.

Grand Prix Ruska 2018 (oficiálně Formula 1 2018 VTB Russian Grand Prix) se jela na okruhu Sochi Autodrom v Soči v Rusku dne 30. září 2018. Závod byl šestnáctým v pořadí v sezóně 2018 šampionátu Formule 1.