Early life.

Born Rocco Francis Marchegiano, he was raised on the south side of Brockton, Massachusetts, to Pierino Marchegiano and Pasqualina Picciuto. Both of his parents were immigrants from Italy. His father was from Ripa Teatina, Abruzzo, while his mother was from San Bartolomeo in Galdo, Campania. Rocky had two brothers, Louis (aka Sonny) and Peter, and three sisters, Alice, Concetta and Elizabeth. When he was about 18 months old, Marciano contracted pneumonia, from which he almost died.  In his youth, he worked out on homemade weightlifting equipment (later in his life, Marciano was also a client of Charles Atlas) and used a stuffed mailbag that hung from a tree in his back yard as a heavy bag. He attended Brockton High School, where he played both baseball and football. However, he was cut from the school baseball team because he had joined a church league, violating a school rule forbidding players from joining other teams. He dropped out of school after finishing tenth grade.  Marciano then worked as a chute man on delivery trucks for the Brockton Ice and Coal Company. He also worked as a ditchdigger, railroad layer and shoemaker. He was a resident of Hanson, Massachusetts; the house he lived in still stands on Main Street.  In March 1943, Marciano was drafted into the United States Army for a term of two years. Stationed in Swansea, Wales, he helped ferry supplies across the English Channel to Normandy. After the war ended, he completed his service in March 1946 at Fort Lewis, Washington.

Amateur career.

Marciano's amateur record was 8–4. While awaiting discharge, Marciano represented the Army and won the 1946 Amateur Armed Forces boxing tournament. His amateur career was briefly interrupted on March 17, 1947, when Marciano stepped into the ring as a professional competitor at the Valley Arena Gardens of Holyoke, Massachusetts, being billed as "Rocky Mackianno of Westover Field". That night, he knocked out local fighter Lee Epperson in three rounds. In an unusual move, Marciano returned to the amateur ranks and fought in the Golden Gloves All-East Championship Tournament in March 1948. He was controversially beaten by Coley Wallace. He continued to fight as an amateur throughout the spring and competed in the AAU Olympic tryouts in the Boston Garden. There, he knocked out George McInnis, but hurt his hands during the bout and was forced to withdraw from the tournament. That was his last amateur bout.  In late March 1947, Marciano and several friends traveled to Fayetteville, North Carolina, to try out for the Fayetteville Cubs, a farm team for the Chicago Cubs baseball team. Marciano lasted three weeks before being cut. After failing to find a spot on another team, he returned to Brockton and began boxing training with longtime friend Allie Colombo. Al Weill and Chick Wergeles served as his managers and Charley Goldman as his trainer and teacher.

Professional career.

Although he had one professional fight (against Lee Epperson) on his record, Marciano began fighting permanently as a professional boxer on July 12, 1948. That night, he notched a win over Harry Bilazarian (3–6–0). He won his first 16 bouts by knockout, all before the fifth round and nine before the first round was over. Don Mogard (17–9–1) became the first boxer to last the distance (full 10 rounds scheduled) with "The Rock", but Marciano won by unanimous decision.  Early in his career, he changed the spelling of his last name, "Marchegiano". The ring announcer in Providence, Rhode Island, could not pronounce it, so Marciano's handler, Al Weill, suggested they create a pseudonym. The first suggestion was Rocky Mack, which Marciano rejected, deciding to go with the more Italian-sounding "Marciano".  Marciano won three more fights by knockout and then he met Ted Lowry (58–48–9). Marciano kept his winning streak alive, beating Lowry by unanimous decision. Four more knockout wins then followed, including a five-rounder on December 19, 1949, with Phil Muscato (56–20–0), an experienced heavyweight from Buffalo, New York, being the first "name fighter" Marciano faced. Three weeks after that fight, Marciano beat Carmine Vingo (16–1–0) by a sixth-round knockout in New York that almost killed Vingo.

Marciano vs. La Starza.

On March 24, 1950, Marciano fought Roland La Starza, winning by split decision. La Starza may have come closer than any other boxer to defeating Marciano as a professional. The scoring for the bout was 5–4, 4–5, and 5–5. Marciano won on a supplemental point system used by New York and Massachusetts at that time. The scoring system did not award an extra point for a knockdown and Marciano scored a knockdown in the fight. Referee Watson decided the bout, scoring it for Marciano. Both boxers were undefeated before the fight, with La Starza's record at 37–0.

Subsequent bouts.

Marciano scored three more knockouts in a row before a rematch with Lowry (61–56–10), Marciano again winning by unanimous decision. After that, he scored four more knockouts and, after a decision over Red Applegate (11–14–2) in late April 1951, he was showcased on national television for the first time, knocking out Rex Layne (34–1–2) in six rounds on July 12, 1951.  On October 27, 1951, the 28-year-old Marciano took on the 37-year-old Joe Louis. Coming into the bout, Marciano was a 61⁄2-to-5 underdog. Marciano upset Louis in the latter's last career bout.  After four more wins, including victories over 35-year-old Lee Savold (96–37–3) and Harry Matthews (81–3–5), Marciano received a shot at the world title.

Championship fights.

Marciano, 29, faced the World Heavyweight Champion, 38-year-old Jersey Joe Walcott, in Philadelphia on September 23, 1952. Walcott dropped Marciano in the first round and steadily built a points lead. In the 13th, Walcott used his trademark feint to set up his right hand, but Marciano's "Suzie Q" landed first, a powerful right hook causing Walcott to slump to his knees with his arm draped over the ropes. He lay motionless long after he had been counted out and Marciano became the new World Heavyweight Champion. At the time of the stoppage, Walcott was leading on all scorecards, 8–4, 7–5, and 7–4.  His first defense came a year later – a rematch against Walcott, 39, who this time was knocked out in the first round.  Next, it was Roland La Starza's turn to challenge Marciano. After building a small lead on the judges' scorecards all the way through the middle rounds, Marciano won the rematch by a technical knockout in the 11th round.  Then came two consecutive bouts against former World Heavyweight Champion and light heavyweight legend Ezzard Charles, 33, who became the only man to ever last 15 rounds against Marciano. Marciano won the first fight on points and the second by an eighth-round knockout. Then, Marciano met British and European Champion Don Cockell. Marciano knocked him out in the ninth round.  Marciano's last title bout was against 38-year-old Archie Moore, on September 21, 1955. The bout was originally scheduled for September 20, but because of hurricane warnings, it had to be delayed a day. Marciano was knocked down for a four-count in the second round, but recovered and retained his title with a knockout in round nine.  Marciano announced his retirement on April 27, 1956, aged 32. He finished his career at 49–0.

Life after boxing.

Marciano considered a comeback in 1959 when Ingemar Johansson won the Heavyweight Championship from Floyd Patterson on June 26, 1959. After only a month of training in nearly four years, Marciano decided against it and never seriously considered a comeback again.  After his retirement, Marciano entered the world of television, first appearing in the "Combat!" episode "Masquerade" and then hosting a weekly boxing show on TV in 1961. For a brief period, he worked as a troubleshooting referee in wrestling (Marciano was a good wrestler in high school). He continued as a referee and boxing commentator in boxing matches for many years. He was also active in business as a partner and vice president of Papa Luigi Spaghetti Dens, a San Francisco-based franchise company formed by Joe Kearns and James Braly. He built a custom home at 641 NW 24 Street in Wilton Manors, Florida, a suburb of Fort Lauderdale. The house still stands as of 2018.  In late July 1969, shortly before his death, Marciano participated in the filming of "The Superfight: Marciano vs. Ali". The two boxers were filmed sparring, then the film was edited to match a computer simulation of a hypothetical fight between them, each in their prime. It aired on January 20, 1970, with one version having Marciano winning and the second version having Ali winning.

Death.

On August 31, 1969 (the day before his 46th birthday), Marciano was a passenger in a small private plane, a Cessna 172 heading to Des Moines, Iowa. It was night time and bad weather had set in. The pilot, Glenn Belz, had 231 total hours of flying time, 35 of them at night, and had no instrument rating. Belz tried to land the plane at a small airfield outside Newton, Iowa but the aircraft hit a tree two miles short of the runway. Flying with Marciano in the back seat was Frankie Farrell, 28, the oldest son of Lew Farrell, a former boxer who had known Marciano since his childhood. Marciano, Belz and Farrell were killed on impact.  The National Transportation Safety Board report said, "The pilot attempted an operation exceeding his experience and ability level, continued visual flight rules under adverse weather conditions and experienced spatial disorientation in the last moments of the flight." Marciano was on his way to give a speech to support his friend's son and there was a surprise birthday celebration waiting for him. He had hoped to return in the early morning for his 46th birthday celebration with his wife. He was coming from a dinner in Chicago at STP CEO Andy Granatelli's home.  Marciano is interred in a crypt at Forest Lawn Memorial Cemetery in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. His wife Barbara Marciano died five years later at the age of 46 due to lung cancer, and is entombed next to him.

Legacy.

In 1971, Nat Fleischer, a boxing historian and founder of "The Ring", named Marciano as the 10th all-time greatest heavyweight champion. Fleischer wrote that Marciano was "crude, wild swinging, awkward and missed heavily. In his bout with light heavyweight champion Archie Moore, for example, he missed almost two-thirds of the 50-odd punches he threw when he had Archie against the ropes, a perfect target for the kill."  John Durant, author of "The Heavyweight Champions", wrote in 1971 (p. 123): "Critics do not rate Rocky with the great ones, like Jeffries, Johnson, Dempsey, Tunney and Louis. He never faced top fighters like they did. It was not Rocky's fault, of course, that there was a lack of talent when he was boxing. He fought them all and that is what a champion is supposed to do."  In December 1962, a "The Ring" poll of 40 boxing experts had Jack Dempsey rated the number-one heavyweight of all time, with Joe Louis second, Jack Johnson third and Marciano seventh. Two boxing historians, Herb Goldman and Charley Rose, and John McCallum's "Survey of Old Timers" (survey of a group of historians and writers) rated Marciano at number seven, number eight and number nine, respectively, of the best heavyweights of all time.  In 1998, "The Ring" named Marciano as the sixth greatest heavyweight champion ever. In 2002, "The Ring" placed Marciano at number 12 on the list of the 80 Best Fighters of the Last 80 Years. In 2003, "The Ring" rated Marciano number 14 on the list of 100 greatest punchers of all time. In 2005, Marciano was named the fifth greatest heavyweight of all time by the International Boxing Research Organization. A 1977 ranking by "The Ring" listed Marciano as the greatest Italian American fighter. In 2007, on ESPN.com's list of the 50 Greatest Boxers of All Time, Marciano was ranked number 14. Marciano holds the record with heavyweight John L. Sullivan and Brian Nielsen for the longest undefeated streak by a heavyweight.. He also holds the record for being the only world heavyweight champion to go undefeated throughout his career. Willie Pep, a featherweight, had a perfect 62–0 record before he was defeated once, followed by a 72–0–1 undefeated streak. Packey McFarland was a lightweight (fighting between 1904 and 1915) who lost his first fight and then won his next 98, though he never won the lightweight title. Heavyweight champion Gene Tunney never suffered a defeat at heavyweight and retired as champion, only losing one career fight at light heavyweight. Apart from Marciano, only a few boxers have retired as undefeated world champions throughout history., Joe Calzaghe, Georgi Kandelaki, Michael Loewe, Floyd Mayweather Jr., Sven Ottke, Harry Simon, Pichit Sitbangprachan, Edwin Valero, Andre Ward, retired with perfect records, without defeats or draws. Yet most of those fighters had asterisks next to their unbeaten records. Simon temporarily halted his career during a prison sentence. Valero allegedly committed suicide while still an active champion. Ottke won countless dubious decisions spending all of his career within Germany, Loewe and Kandelaki ended their careers due to injuries. Only the records of Calzaghe and Mayweather have been able to escape much controversy, with the latter retiring at 50–0. As of 2018, this has been surpassed by Thai boxer Chayaphol Moonsri, who at 33 years of age (as of May 2019) fights at mini-flyweight and is currently 53–0.  Marciano has the highest knockout percentage of any heavyweight champion in history (over the period of a career) with 87.76%. In his professional career, he was only knocked down twice. The first occurred in his first championship against Jersey Joe Walcott, 38, and the second occurred against 38 year-old Archie Moore.  On the bootleg tapes of the Beatles in session in 1965 recording "Think For Yourself", John Lennon can be heard reflecting and joking about a meeting he had with Marciano in which Marciano talked about Joe Louis.  Marciano's punch was tested and it was featured in the December 1963 issue of "Boxing Illustrated": "Marciano's knockout blow packs more explosive energy than an armor-piercing bullet and represents as much energy as would be required to spot lift 1000 pounds one foot off the ground."  Marciano was named fighter of the year by "The Ring" three times. His three championship fights between 1952 and 1954 were named fights of the year by the magazine. Marciano won the Sugar Ray Robinson Award in 1952. In 2006, an ESPN poll voted Marciano's 1952 championship bout against Walcott as the greatest knockout ever. Marciano also received the Hickok Belt for top professional athlete of the year in 1952. Murray Goodman later recalled that Ray Hickok, founder of the award, also presented Rocky with a hundred miniatuare boxing gloves, which Rocky was selling a week later for $1 a pair. In 1955, he was voted the second most important American athlete of the year.  Marciano is a member of the International Boxing Hall of Fame and the World Boxing Hall of Fame.  Marciano had two children, a daughter Mary Anne (born 1952) who died on June 3, 2011, of complications from a respiratory illness and a son Rocco Kevin (born 1968). Mary Anne had several run-ins with the law in Florida in the 1980s and 1990s, getting arrested and charged with assault and armed robbery after previously serving jail time for cocaine possession.  A bronze statue of Marciano was planned for a 2009 completion date in his hometown of Brockton, Massachusetts, as a gift to the city by the World Boxing Council. The artist, Mario Rendon, head of the Instituto Universitario de las Bellas Artes in Colima, Mexico, was selected to sculpt the statue. After years of delays in the planning stages, the groundbreaking for the statue was held on April 1, 2012, on the grounds of Brockton High School. The statue was officially unveiled on September 23, 2012, which was the 60th anniversary of Marciano winning the world heavyweight title. A bronze statue of Marciano was also erected in Ripa Teatina, Italy, to celebrate the birthplace of Marciano's father.

Rocco Francis Marchegiano (September 1, 1923 – August 31, 1969; ), best known as Rocky Marciano (), was an American professional boxer who competed from 1947 to 1955, and held the world heavyweight title from 1952 to 1956. He is the only heavyweight champion to have finished his career undefeated. His six title defenses were against Jersey Joe Walcott (from whom he had taken the title), Roland La Starza, Ezzard Charles (twice), Don Cockell and Archie Moore.

Rocky Marciano, "eigentlich Rocco Francis Marchegiano", (* 1. September 1923 in Brockton, Massachusetts; † 31. August 1969 in der Nähe von Newton, Iowa) war ein US-amerikanischer Boxer italienischer Abstammung. Insgesamt konnte er 87,76 % seiner Gegner vorzeitig besiegen, er erreicht somit die höchste K.-o.-Quote aller Schwergewichtsweltmeister in der Geschichte des Profiboxens. Er beendete seine Karriere als erster ungeschlagener Schwergewichts-Boxweltmeister und gilt daher und aufgrund seiner hohen K.-o.-Quote als einer der erfolgreichsten Boxer in der Geschichte dieses Sports. Er war von 1952 bis 1956 Weltmeister. Marciano kam am Tag vor seinem 46. Geburtstag bei einem Flugzeugabsturz ums Leben.


Biography.

He was a professor of international law at the University of Innsbruck from 1956, at the University of Vienna from 1964, member of Parliament for the Austrian People's Party from 1971 to 1990, member of the European Commission of Human Rights and the United Nations Human Rights Committee 1959-1980 and 1984-1987. In 1974 he was President of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights, and from 1984 he was UN Special Rapporteur for Afghanistan. In 1992, he cofounded the Ludwig Boltzmann Institut für Menschenrechte, with his students and close collaborators Manfred Nowak and Hannes Tretter, and served as its first director.  He was part of UN delegations investigating human rights abuses in Chile, South Africa, occupied Palestine, Iran and Afghanistan. On behalf of the Council of Europe, he investigated human rights abuses in Algeria, Greece, Ireland, Turkey and Cyprus. As an academic, a legislator and a UN official, he fought unconditionally against injustice and human rights abuses. In an expert opinion commissioned by the Bavarian government in 1991, Ermacora concluded that the Expulsion of Germans after World War II constituted a genocide and crime against humanity. As the UN Special Rapporteur for Afghanistan, he uncovered "gross violations of human rights" by Soviet forces in Afghanistan, made public in a 1985 report.  He received the German Great Cross of Merit, Commander of the Ordre national du Mérite of France, Commander 1st Class of the Order of the Polar Star of Sweden, the European Charlemagne Award of the Sudetendeutsche Landsmannschaft, the UNESCO Prize for Human Rights Education in 1983 and the European Human Rights Prize of the Council of Europe in 1992 (jointly with Médecins Sans Frontières) for "an exceptional contribution to the cause of human rights". He received honorary doctorates at the universities of Cologne and Strasbourg, and was a corresponding member of the Austrian Academy of Sciences from 1971. He was also a board member of the International Society for Human Rights.  In 1999, the Felix Ermacora Institut was founded, and in 2005, the Felix Ermacora Human Rights Award was established by the Faction of the Conservative Party in the Austrian Parliament. The Felix Ermacora Society was founded in 2005, and is headed by Wolfgang Schüssel, the former Austrian Chancellor.  His students include Andreas Khol, a former President of the Austrian parliament and, mosts prominently, Manfred Nowak.  He died in 1995, of a disease he caught on a UN mission in Afghanistan and Pakistan in December 1994.

Felix Ermacora (13 October 1923 – 24 February 1995) was the leading human rights expert of Austria and a member of the Austrian People's Party.

Felix Ermacora (* 13. Oktober 1923 in Klagenfurt; † 24. Februar 1995 in Wien) war ein österreichischer Verfassungsrechtler und Menschenrechtsexperte. Er war von 1971 bis 1990 Nationalratsabgeordneter der ÖVP.


Early years.

Ailo was born in Tromsø to parents Mikkel Aslaksen Gaup and author Laila Stien and grew up there and in Máze (Masi) in Kautokeino municipality. His family moved to Alta when Ailo was fourteen years old. As a ten-year-old he sold fish and painted houses to be able to buy a mini-motorcycle and began motorcross cycling. As a sixteen-year-old, he moved to the capital of Oslo to enroll in the motorcross line at The Norwegian College of Elite Sport in Bærum.

Career.

Today, Ailo lives in Kongsberg, where he has been located since 2000. He started competing in freestyle motocross in 1999 and won the Norwegian Championship. In 2002 Ailo entered his first international freestyle motocross contest and ended up second overall at his first World Cup contest.  Ailo was the first European to perform a backflip on a motorcycle, in 2003. He was also the first European do long distance backflips, a year later. In November 2004 Ailo invented the Underflip, which is a sideways flip on a motorcycle. It took almost two years until anyone else was able to perform this trick. The Underflip has later been copied by riders all over the world. Gaup has to date won six Norwegian Championships in two different sports, motocross and freestyle motocross/FMX, and won the World Cup in 2003 and 2004. He was crowned World Cup Champion in FMX in 2004 and again in 2007, making him the only rider to win the World Championships in freestyle motocross twice. He has stated that in spite of his profession, he is scared of heights. On 17 November 2007 he became the first Norwegian and the first Sámi to win a gold medal in FMX.  As many of his relatives, Ailo has also done some acting. He played Ryzard, a gymnast in a small circus in the movie "Dobbel Salto" in 2005. He also plays the young version of the main character Eivind, in "Jernanger".

Ailo Mikkelsen Gaup (born 22 January 1979 in Tromsø, Norway) is a former Norwegian Freestyle Motocross rider, who invented the Underflip. Gaup has won the world title in FMX. Gaup originally started his career competing in motocross, but switched to FMX competitions. He announced his retirement in October 2009.

Ailo Gaup (Ailo Mikkelsen Gaup, Spitzname: "Iceman"; * 22. Januar 1979 in Tromsø) ist ein samisch-norwegischer Freestyle Motocross (FMX) Fahrer. Neben Mathieu Rebeaud hat er die europäische Freestyle Motocross Landschaft in den letzten zwei Jahren dominiert. Seine Motorsport Karriere beginnt er bereits im Alter von fünf Jahren mit Snowmobilrennen. Der Umstieg auf die Motocross Maschine erfolgt 1993 bevor er 2000 zum Freestyle Motocross wechselt. Inzwischen ist er Profi und kann von den gezahlten Preisgeldern und Antrittsgagen leben. Als erster Fahrer hat er 2005 einen Underflip gesprungen, eine Mischung aus 360 und Backflip. Als erster Europäer wurde er zu einem X-Games Wettkampf im Bereich Freestyle Motocross eingeladen.


Early life.

He was born Albert Gumm, in Indianapolis, Indiana, United States. His parents, Sarah (Tilzer) and Jacob Gumbinsky, were Polish Jewish immigrants. As a young man he worked briefly at his older brother Harry Von Tilzer's publishing company, and Albert's earliest songs were published by Harry.  Harry had adopted his mother's maiden name, Tilzer, as his own. He sought to make it sound even classier by tacking on the German nobiliary particle "Von." So impressive seemed the transformation that eventually all his brothers (Albert, Will, and Jules) had changed their last name to match his.

Career.

Within a few years Albert formed his own firm, The York Publishing Company.  By 1913, Albert had closed The York Publishing Company and joined the firm of his brother Will Von Tilzer.  Albert Von Tilzer was a top Tin Pan Alley tune writer, producing numerous popular music compositions from 1900 continuing through the early 1950s. He collaborated with many lyricists, including Jack Norworth, Lew Brown, and Harry MacPherson. A number of his tunes were performed (and recorded) by jazz bands and continue to be played decades later. His songs included "The Alcoholic Blues", "Au Revoir But Not Good Bye, Soldier Boy", "Chili Bean", "Dapper Dan", "Don't Take My Darling Boy Away", "Honey Boy", "I May Be Gone for a Long, Long Time", "(I'll Be With You) In Apple Blossom Time", "I'm Glad I'm Married", "I'm the Lonesomest Gal in Town", "I Used to Love You But It's All Over Now", "The Moon Has His Eye On You", "My Cutie's Due at Two-to-Two", "My Little Girl", "Oh By Jingo!", "Oh How She Could Yacki-Hacki, Wicki-Wacki, Woo" (interpolated into the show "Houp La!", 1916, and recorded by Ida Adams), "Put on Your Slippers and Fill Up Your Pipe, You're Not Going Bye-Bye Tonight", "Put Your Arms Around Me Honey", "Roll Along, Prairie Moon", "Tell Me With Your Eyes", "Wait Till You Get Them Up in the Air, Boys", and hundreds of others.  "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" was listed as number 8 on the list of Songs of the Century.

Death.

He resided in Beverly Hills, California. He died in Los Angeles, California.

Albert Von Tilzer (born Albert Gumm, March 29, 1878 – October 1, 1956) was an American songwriter, the younger brother of fellow songwriter Harry Von Tilzer. He wrote the music to many hit songs, including, most notably, "Take Me Out to the Ball Game".

Albert Von Tilzer (* 29. März 1878 in Indianapolis, Indiana; † 1. Oktober 1956 in Los Angeles, Kalifornien) war ein US-amerikanischer Musikproduzent.


Background.

Military situation.

After the collapse of Maj. Gen. George B. McClellan's Peninsula Campaign in the Seven Days Battles of June 1862, President

Plans.

Pope's mission was to fulfill two basic objectives: protect Washington and the Shenandoah Valley; and draw Confederate forces away from McClellan by moving in the direction of Gordonsville. Based on his experience fighting McClellan in the Seven Days, Robert E. Lee perceived that McClellan was no further threat to him on the Virginia Peninsula,

Initial movements in the Northern Virginia Campaign.

On August 3, General-in-Chief Henry Halleck directed McClellan to begin his final withdrawal from the Peninsula and to return to Northern Virginia to support Pope. McClellan protested and did not begin his redeployment until August 14.  On August 9, Nathaniel Banks's corps attacked Jackson at Cedar Mountain,

Prelude to battle.

From August 22 to 25, the two armies fought a series of minor actions along the Rappahannock River. Heavy rains had swollen the river and Lee was unable to force a crossing. By this time, reinforcements from the Army of the Potomac were arriving from the Peninsula. Lee's new plan in the face of all these additional forces outnumbering him was to send Jackson and Stuart with half of the army on a flanking march to cut Pope's line of communication, the Orange & Alexandria Railroad. Pope would be forced to retreat and could be defeated while moving and vulnerable. Jackson departed on August 25 and reached Salem (present-day Marshall) that night.  On the evening of August 26, after passing around Pope's right flank via Thoroughfare Gap, Jackson's wing of the army struck the Orange

Opposing forces.

Union.

Gen. Pope's Army of Virginia of approximately 51,000 men was divided into three army corps: The Kanawha

Confederate.

On the Confederate side, Gen. Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia was organized into two "wings" or "commands" totaling about 55,000 men:  An exact estimate of both armies' strength at the battle is not possible as different reports and returns provide differing figures. The total

Battle.

August 28: Brawner's Farm (Groveton).

The Second Battle of Bull Run began on August 28 as a Federal column, under Jackson's observation just outside Gainesville, near the farm of the John Brawner family, moved along the Warrenton Turnpike. It consisted of units from Brig. Gen. Rufus King's division: the brigades of Brig. Gens. John P. Hatch, John Gibbon, Abner Doubleday, and Marsena R. Patrick, marching eastward to concentrate with the rest of Pope's army at Centreville. King was not with his division because he had suffered a serious epileptic attack earlier that day.  Jackson, who had been relieved to hear earlier that Longstreet's men were on their way to join him, displayed himself prominently to the Union troops, but his presence was disregarded. Concerned that Pope might be withdrawing his army behind Bull Run to link up with McClellan's arriving forces, Jackson determined to attack. Returning to his position behind the tree line, he told his subordinates, "Bring out your men, gentlemen." At about 6:30 p.m., Confederate artillery began shelling the portion of the column to their front, John Gibbon's Black Hat Brigade (later to be named the Iron Brigade). Gibbon, a former artilleryman, responded with fire from Battery

August 29: Jackson defends Stony Ridge.

Jackson had initiated the battle at Brawner's farm with the intent of holding Pope until Longstreet arrived with the remainder of the Army of Northern Virginia. Longstreet's 25,000 men began their march from Thoroughfare Gap at 6 a.m. on August 29; Jackson sent Stuart to guide the initial elements of Longstreet's column into positions that Jackson had preselected. While he waited for their arrival, Jackson reorganized his defense in case Pope attacked him that morning, positioning 20,000 men in a line to the south of Stony Ridge. Noticing the buildup of I Corps (Sigel's) troops along the Manassas-Sudley Road, he ordered A.P. Hill's brigades behind the railroad grade near Sudley Church on his left flank. Aware that his position was geographically weak (because the heavy woods in the area prevented effective deployment of artillery), Hill placed his brigades in two lines, with Brig. Gen. Maxcy Gregg's South Carolina brigade and Brig. Gen. Edward L. Thomas's Georgia brigade in the front. In the center of the line, Jackson placed two brigades from Ewell's division (now under the command of Brig. Gen. Alexander Lawton), and on the right, William B. Taliaferro's division, now commanded by Brig. Gen. William E. Starke. Jackson's position straddled a railroad grade which had been dug out by the Manassas Gap Railroad Company in the 1850s and abandoned on the eve of the war. While some parts of the railroad grade were a good defensive position, others were not, moreover the heavily wooded terrain largely precluded the use of artillery aside from the right end of the line, which faced open fields. Fitz Lee's cavalry along with a battery of horse artillery were anchoring the left flank of the Confederate line, in case any Union troops attempted to cross Sudley Ford (as McDowell had done during the battle here 13 months earlier) and get in Jackson's rear. The Confederate right flank was potentially vulnerable, as it was held by Taliaferro's (now Starke's) division, the smallest of Jackson's three divisions and which had also taken significant casualties in the fighting at Brawner's Farm. Jackson thus placed the brigades of Early and Forno on the right end of the line, both large brigades that had not been engaged the previous evening and were fresh. Aside from bolstering Starke's understrength division, they were to watch and give notice of Longstreet's arrival.  At daybreak on the 29th, Pope had learned to his surprise and annoyance that Ricketts and King had both withdrawn south. In addition, John Gibbon arrived at Centreville and informed Pope that the retreat from Groveton was a mistake, ignoring the fact that he had recommended it in the first place. Gibbon also stated that he had no idea what had become of McDowell, to which an infuriated Pope replied "God damn McDowell! He's never where he's supposed to be!" Gibbon rode down to Manassas where he encountered Porter's troops resting and drawing rations. In addition, King, exhausted and ill from epileptic attacks, had turned over command of the division to John Hatch. McDowell was there as well, after spending most of the previous day wandering aimlessly around Prince William County, and not happy to learn of Pope's orders. In effect, King would accompany Porter, while Reynolds was temporarily attached to Sigel's corps, and Ricketts was still some miles away at Bristoe Station in effect leaving McDowell without any command. Pope on the 29th remained firmly wedded to the idea that Jackson was in a desperate situation and almost trapped, not only an incorrect assumption, but one that also depended on the coordination of all the corps and divisions under his command, none of which were where

August 30: Longstreet counterattack, Union retreat.

The final element of Longstreet's command, the division of Maj. Gen. Richard H. Anderson, marched and arrived on the battlefield at 3 a.m., August 30. Exhausted and unfamiliar with the area, they halted on a ridge east of Groveton. At dawn, they realized they were in an isolated position too close to the enemy and fell back. Pope's belief that the Confederate army was in retreat was reinforced by this movement, which came after the withdrawal of Hood's troops the night before.  Pope thus directed McDowell to move his entire corps up the Sudley Road and hit the Confederate right flank. McDowell however protested this order, stating that he had no idea what was happening down on the Confederate left and he would much prefer to have his troops on Chinn Ridge. He then said that it would make more sense to attack the Confederate right with Heintzelman's troops, since they were closer to this area. Pope gave in, but decided to detach King's division to support Heintzelman.  At an 8 a.m. council of war at Pope's headquarters, his subordinates attempted to convince their commander to move cautiously. Probes of the Confederate line on Stony Ridge around 10 a.m. indicated that Stonewall Jackson's men were still firmly in their defensive positions. John F. Reynolds indicated that the Confederates were in great strength south of the turnpike. Fitz John Porter arrived later with similar intelligence. However, Heintzelman and McDowell conducted a personal reconnaissance that somehow failed to find Jackson's defensive line, and Pope finally made up his mind to attack the retreating Southerners.  While Porter was bringing his corps up, a further mix-up in orders resulted in the loss of two brigades. Abram Sanders Piatt's small brigade, which had been detached from the defenses of Washington D.C. and temporarily attached to the V Corps, and Charles Griffin's brigade both pulled out of Porter's main column, marched back down to Manassas Junction, and then up to Centreville. Morell, using an outdated set of orders from a day earlier, had assumed Pope was at Centreville and he was expected to join him there. Piatt eventually realized that something was amiss and turned back around towards the battlefield, arriving on Henry House Hill at about 4 p.m. Griffin and his division commander Maj. Gen George W. Morell however stayed at Centreville despite their discovery that Pope was not there. Eventually, at 4 p.m., Griffin began moving his brigade towards the action, but by this point, Pope's army was in full retreat and a mass of wagons and stragglers were blocking the roadway, in addition the bridge over Cub Run was

Aftermath.

Casualties.

The Second Battle of Bull Run, like the First (July 21, 1861), was a significant tactical victory for the Confederates and

Chantilly.

As the Union Army concentrated on Centreville, Lee planned his next move. He sent Jackson on another flanking march in an attempt to interpose his army between Pope and Washington. Pope countered the move and the two forces clashed

Pope relieved of command.

Pope was relieved of command on September 12, 1862, and his army was merged into the Army of the Potomac as it marched into Maryland under McClellan. He spent the remainder of the war in the Department of the Northwest in Minnesota, dealing with the Dakota War of 1862. Pope sought scapegoats to spread the blame for his defeat. On November

Longstreet criticized.

James Longstreet was criticized for his performance during the battle and the postbellum advocates of the Lost Cause claimed that his slowness, reluctance to attack, and disobedience to Gen. Lee on August

Battlefield preservation.

Part of the site of the battle is now Manassas National Battlefield Park. Located north of Manassas, in Prince William County, Virginia, it preserves the site of two major American Civil War battles: the First Battle of Bull Run on July 21, 1861, and the Second Battle of Bull Run which was fought between August 28 and August 30, 1862 (also known as the First Battle of Manassas and the Second Battle of Manassas, respectively). The peaceful Virginia countryside bore witness to clashes between the armies of the North (Union) and the South (Confederacy), and it was there that Confederate General Thomas J. Jackson acquired his nickname "Stonewall." The Civil War Trust (a division of the American Battlefield Trust) and its partners have acquired and preserved of the Second Battle of Bull Run battlefield in more than 10 transactions since 2000.

The Second Battle of Bull Run or Battle of Second Manassas was fought August 28–30, 1862 in Prince William County, Virginia, as part of the American Civil War. It was the culmination of the Northern Virginia Campaign waged by Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia against Union Maj. Gen. John Pope's Army of Virginia, and a battle of much larger scale and numbers than the First Battle of Bull Run (or "First Manassas") fought on July 21, 1861 on the same ground.

Die zweite Schlacht am Bull Run, auch als "zweite Schlacht bei Manassas" bezeichnet, fand zwischen dem Abend des 28. und dem 30. August 1862 während des Sezessionskrieges in der Nähe von Manassas im nördlichen Virginia statt. Das Gefecht endete mit einem Sieg der konföderierten Truppen unter Robert E. Lee.


Viral infection.

First described in 1954 by Bjorn Sigurdsson in Iceland, Maedi-visna virus was the first lentivirus to be isolated and characterized, accomplished in 1957 by Sigurdsson. "Maedi" (Icelandic'meaning dyspnoea) and "visna" (Icelandic'mening "wasting" or "shrinking" of the spinal cord) refer to endemic sheep herd conditions that were only found to be related after Sigurdsson's work.  Visna infection may progress to total paralysis leading to death via inanition; however, if given assistance in eating and drinking, infected animals may survive for long periods of time, sometimes greater than ten years. Viral replication is almost exclusively associated with macrophages in infected tissues; however, replication is restricted in these cells—that is, the majority of cells containing viral RNA do not produce infectious virus.  The disease was introduced to Iceland following an import of Karakul sheep from Germany in 1933. The susceptibility to maedi-visna infection varies across sheep breeds, with coarse-wool breeds apparently more susceptible than fine-wool sheep. Attempts at vaccination against maedi-visna virus have failed to induce immunity, occasionally causing increased viremia and more severe disease. Eradication programs have been established in countries worldwide.

Associated diseases and symptoms.

Visna – Maedi is a chronic viral disease prevalent in adult sheep. The disease is rarely found in certain species of goat. Maedi Visna virus is also referred to as ovine progressive pneumonia (OPP). This disease corresponds to two clinical entities caused by the same Maedi in a form that results in a chronic progressive pneumonia. Visna refers to the neurological form of the disease and predominantly causes meningoencephalitis in adult sheep. This disease has inflicted many economic losses worldwide due to the long incubation period and the high mortality rate of sheep and goats. MV virus can infect sheep of any age but clinical symptoms rarely occur in sheep less than two years old. The onset of the diseases is gradual resulting in relentless loss of weight in addition to breathing problems. Cough, abortion, rapid breathing, depression, chronic mastitis and arthritis are also additional symptoms observed. These symptoms appear mostly in animals over the age of three and therefore might spread to other flocks before clinical diagnosis can be achieved. Animals showing the above symptoms might die within six months of infection. This causal lentivirus can be found in monocytes, lymphocytes and macrophages of infected sheep in the presence of humoral and cell mediated immune response and can also be detected by conducting several serological tests. Transmission of the disease occurs most commonly via the oral route caused by ingestion of colostrum or milk that contains the virus or inhalation of infected aerosol droplets. Due to variation of the strains of MVV, some of the association clinical symptoms may be more pre-dominant in a flock relative to others along with differences in genetic susceptibility patterns.

Viral replication.

Entry.

Visna Maedi virus (VMV) belongs to the small ruminant lentivirus group (SRLV). In general, SRLVs enter the cell through the interaction of their glycosylated envelope protein with a cellular receptor on the cell's plasma membrane facilitating fusion of the viral and cellular membrane. However, the specific cellular receptor that VMV binds is not entirely certain. A few studies have proposed MHC class II, CD4 and CXCR4 proteins as possible receptors however, none of these proteins have been established as the main receptor. Another study suggests that C-type lectins part of the mannose receptor (MR) family play a role as an alternative SRLV receptor. The mannose receptor is a 180-kDa transmembrane protein with eight tandem C-type lectin carbohydrate recognition domains (CRD) of which CRD4 and CRD5 are essential in recognizing mannose, fucose and N-acetyl glucosamine residues. Studies suggest that VMV gains entrance to the cell via mannosylated residues on its envelope proteins. MR is involved in recognizing the surface of pathogens and is involved in phago- and endocytosis and mediating antigen processing and presentation in a variety of cells including monocyte/macrophages and endothelial cells.

Replication.

Visna Maedi virus is a retrovirus meaning its genome consists of a (+)RNA that undergoes reverse transcription and then is integrated into the host's genome after infection. This integration is what leads to VMV's lifelong persistent infection. VMV has a long incubation period. During the initial outbreak among sheep in Iceland, there was no sign of clinical disease until six years after the importation of the Karakul sheep, which brought the virus from Germany to Iceland. Susceptibility to infection also increases with a higher level. VMV infects cells of the monocyte lineage, but only replicates at high levels when the monocytes are more mature/differentiated. of maturity/differentiation of the monocytes. Infected differentiated monocytes, also known as macrophages, will continuously present VMV antigens inducing T-lymphocytes to produce cytokines that in turn induce the differentiation of monocytes.

Viral transmission.

Horizontal transmission.

Horizontal transmission plays an important role among livestock due to their often close quarters, especially during winter stabling. Free virus or virus infected cells are generally transferred in through inhalation of respiratory secretions. Additionally, fecal-oral transmission often occurs through contamination of drinking water. Sexual transmission has also been shown to be possible No link has yet been made between transmission and other excretory products such as saliva and urine.

Vertical transmission.

In endemically infected flocks of livestock, free virus and virus infected cells are passed through from mothers to lambs via colostrum and milk. This is one of the key features in affected populations, as it contributes greatly to the virus becoming endemic in the flock. Lambs are extremely vulnerable to infection due to the permeability of the guts of newborns

Virion structure.

Visna virus particles are spheres approximately 100 nm in diameter. Virions consist of an icosahedral capsid surrounded by an envelope derived from the host plasma membrane. Inside the capsid are the nucleoprotein-genome complex and the reverse transcriptase and integrase enzymes. A crystal structure of the virion has not been obtained and the triangulation number of the icosahedron is unknown.

Tropism.

The term viral tropism refers to the cell types a virus infects. Visna virus is generally known to target cells of the immune system, mainly monocytes and their mature form, macrophages. Studies suggest that the amount of viral replication appears to have a direct correlation with the maturity of the infected cells, with relatively little virus replication in monocytes when compared to more mature macrophages.  Infection can also occur in mammary epithelial and endothelial cells, implying mammary glands as a main viral reservoir, showing the importance that vertical transmission plays in the spread of the virus.

Genome structure.

Visna virus has a positive-strand RNA genome approximately 9.2 kilobases in length. As a retrovirus in the genus "lentivirinae", the genome is reverse transcribed into proviral DNA. The visna virus genome resembles that of other lentiviruses, in terms of the gene functions that are present. Visna virus is closely related to the caprine arthritis encephalitis virus but has limited nucleotide sequence similarity with other lentiviruses.  The visna viral genome encodes three structural genes characteristic of retroviruses, "gag" (group specific antigen), "pol" (polymerase), and "env" (envelope protein). The genome also encodes two regulatory proteins, "tat" (trans-activator of transcription) and "rev" (regulator of virion protein expression). A "rev" response element (RRE) exists inside the "env" gene. An auxiliary gene, "vif" (viral infectivity factor), is also encoded. However, the number and role of auxiliary genes varies by strain of visna virus. The genome sequence is flanked by 5’ and 3’ long terminal repeats (LTRs).  The viral LTRs are essential for viral transcription. The LTRs include a TATA box at the -20 position and a recognition site for the AP-4 transcription factor at the -60 position. There are several AP-1 transcription factor binding sites in the viral LTRs. The closest AP-1 binding site is bound by the Jun and Fos proteins to activate transcription. A duplicated motif in the visna virus LTR is associated with cell tropism and neurovirulence.  The "gag" gene encodes three final glycoprotein products: the capsid, the nucleocapsid, and the matrix protein which links the capsid and the envelope.  The "env" gene is translated into a single precursor polyprotein that is cleaved by a host protease into two proteins, the surface glycoprotein and the transmembrane glycoprotein. The transmembrane glycoprotein is anchored inside the envelope lipid bilayer while the surface glycoprotein is non-covalently linked to the transmembrane glycoprotein.  The "pol" gene encodes five enzymatic functions: a reverse transcriptase, RNase H, dUTPase, integrase, and protease. The reverse transcriptase is an RNA-dependent DNA polymerase that exists as a heterodimer protein with RNase H activity. The dUTPase enzyme is not present in all lentiviruses. The role of the dUTPase in the visna virus life cycle is unclear. dUTPase-deficient visna virus knockout strains show no decrease in pathogenicity in vivo. The integrase enzyme exists inside the viral capsid, facilitating integration into the host chromosome after entry and virion uncoating. The protease cleaves the "gag" and "pol" polyprotein precursor.  The viral "tat" gene encodes a 94-amino acid protein. Tat is the most enigmatic of the proteins of the visna virus. Most studies have indicated that Tat is a transcription factor necessary for viral transcription from the LTRs. Tat contains both a suppressor domain and a powerful acidic activator domain on the N-terminus. It has been suggested that Tat interacts with the cellular AP-1 transcription factors Fos and Jun to bind to the TATA-binding protein and activate transcription. However, other studies have suggested that the visna virus "Tat" protein is not a trans-activator for transcription but instead exhibits a function involved in cell cycle arrest, making it more closely related to the HIV-1 Vpr protein than Tat.  The viral "rev" gene encodes a post-transcriptional regulatory protein. Rev is required for expression of unspliced or partially spliced mRNA coding for the viral envelope protein, including "gag" and "env" in a similar manner as the HIV Rev protein. Rev binds as a multimer to the Rev Response Element (RRE) which has a stem-loop secondary structure.  The function of the auxiliary gene "vif" is not fully known. The "vif" gene product, a 29 kDa protein, induces a weak immune response in animals. Deletion experiments have demonstrated that the "vif" gene is essential for infectivity.

Model system for HIV infection.

Though it does not produce severe immunodeficiency, visna shares many characteristics with human immunodeficiency virus, including the establishment of persistent infection with chronic active lymphoproliferation; however, visna virus does not infect T-lymphocytes. The relationship of visna and HIV as lentiviruses was first published in 1985 by visna researcher Janice E. Clements and colleagues in the HIV field. It has been postulated that the effects of maedi-visna infection in sheep are the "equivalent" of central nervous system disease and wasting syndrome found in human AIDS patients. Despite limited sequence homology with HIV, the genomic organization of visna is very similar, allowing visna infection to be used as an "in vivo" and "in vitro" model system for HIV infection.  Research using visna was important in the identification and characterization of HIV. Nucleotide sequence analysis demonstrated that the AIDS virus was a retrovirus related to visna and provided early clues as to the mechanism of HIV infection.

Control programs.

Many countries have some sort of national programme to prevent and control a situation where the virus spreads. These programs include:

Visna virus (also known as Visna-maedi virus, Maedi-visna virus and Ovine lentivirus) from the genus "Lentivirus" and subfamily "Orthoretrovirinae", is a "prototype" retrovirus that causes encephalitis and chronic pneumonitis in sheep. It is known as visna when found in the brain, and maedi when infecting the lungs. Lifelong, persistent infections in sheep occur in the lungs, lymph nodes, spleen, joints, central nervous system, and mammary glands; The condition is sometimes known as "ovine progressive pneumonia" (OPP), particularly in the United States, or "Montana sheep disease". White blood cells of the monocyte/macrophage lineage are the main target of visna virus.

Das Maedi-Visna-Virus (MVV), auch Visna-Maedi-Virus (VMV) oder Visna-Lentivirus (VLV) ist ein RNA-Virus und gehört zur Familie der Retroviren (Retroviridae), Gattung Lentiviren. „Maedi“ und „Visna“ leiten sich aus isländischen Bezeichnungen ab (isländisch: ', „Atemnot“ bzw. „Erschöpfung“ und ', „verwelken“). Die Benennung nimmt Bezug auf die beiden Hauptformen der durch das Virus hervorgerufenen Maedi-Visna-Erkrankung.


Name.

There are two theories regarding the origin of its name: it was either named after a daughter of Oceanus and Tethys, or after Xanthi, one of the Amazons that ruled the region, according to legend.  Xanthi is known as ""İskeçe"" in Turkish and ""Скеча"" (Skecha) or ""Ксанти"" (Ksanti) in Bulgarian.

History.

Xanthi is sometimes identified with the ancient city of "Xantheia" mentioned in the 1st century BC by the geographer Strabo, but it was not mentioned by any other ancient historian. It began as a small village and experienced all the tumultuous periods of the history of Thrace, such as raids, disasters, ethnic conflicts, civil wars. The population of the region of Xanthi had dwindled down to almost nothing, as the region was depopulated in the 3rd century AD and almost everything had been destroyed when the Ottomans conquered the region in 1361. For this reason, the Ottomans brought settlers from within of Asia Minor, which is how Genisea (Γενισέα) was created, while Oraio (Ωραίο) and Xanthi remained mainly Greek and Christian centres.

Middle Ages.

Known references to Xanthi (), or Xanthia (), the city's origins are obscure; it was a prosperous stronghold of the Byzantine era but latter became a colony of the Ottomans known as "Eskije". Xanthi is first recorded in 879 (Bishop Georgios of Xantheia is reported as taking part in the Fourth Council of Constantinople). the From 13th to 14th century it was the most important city of the region. Three monasteries date from the Middle Ages: Pammegiston, Taxiarchon, and Panagia Archangeliotisa, although written records indicate several others now lost. Xanthi featured in the campaign of Andronikos II Palaiologos in 1327.

Early modern.

By 1715, Xanthi, as well as Genisea, became renowned for its tobacco quality. Many foreign sightseers traveled throughout the region and described both the life and struggles of the locals. The tobacco trade throughout Europe led Xanthi into a course of prosperity. George Demetriou was active in the Xanthi area during the Greek Revolution of 1821. In March and April 1829 two earthquakes leveled the city, however, they played a decisive role in the further developments as the city's rebuilding immediately got underway. In 1870, the city of Genisea was burned down and thus all of the agencies and services were transferred to Xanthi which, at that time, had a population of about 10,000 inhabitants. In 1891, a rail line was established near the city, while further economic development led to the founding of schools and associations. During the late period of Ottoman rule until 1912, the city was administratively located in the Sanjak of Gümülcine within the Adrianople Vilayet.

Balkan Wars.

During the First Balkan War, Xanthi was captured by the Bulgarian army from the Ottomans in 8 November 1912. In the Second Balkan War the Greek army captured it in July 1913. However, with the Treaty of Bucharest, Xanthi along with Western Thrace were ceded to Bulgaria (where it was also called "Skecha"), and remained a part of the latter until the end of World War I. Following the Bulgarian defeat in this war, Western Thrace came under Allied administration and on 4 October 1919 the Greek army under Georgios Leonardopoulos command entered the city. That date is today celebrated in Xanthi as the anniversary of its liberation. Second lieutenant Gavriel Ladas, who was from Xanthi, led the first Greek troops in the city. Ladas became the mayor of Xanthi from 1959 to 1964.

World War II.

On 8 April 1941 the 164th Infantry Division captured Xanthi following the German invasion of Greece and the Germans passed the city to Bulgaria, who occupied the whole region east of Strymonas, except a small German zone near the border with Turkey. The city became the administrative center of the Bulgarian province of Belomorie and served as headquarters for the Bulgarian Second Army. During the Bulgarian occupation, more than 2,000 men from Xanthi, both Christians and Muslims were sent for forced labor in Bulgaria. On 4 March 1943 the Jews of Xanthi were arrested by the Bulgarians and imprisoned in a tobacco warehouse. On 18 and 19 March, they were deported to Nazi concentration camps in Poland. From a community of 550 people, only six Jews survived the Holocaust. The city was liberated following the 9 September coup d'etat in Bulgaria when partisans of the Greek People's Liberation Army entered the city and took over control without a fight. However, the Bulgarian army remained in the region until the end of October 1944 and it withdrew under pressure from the Allies.

Today.

Nowadays Xanthi is a modern city, rich in history, traditions and customs, and with many attractions for the visitors (including the surrounding areas). Xanthi is known as "the city of a thousand colours", and like Komotini and Didymoteicho has a large population of Turkish-speaking Muslims dating to the Ottoman period. The Muslim population of East Macedonia and Thrace dates to the Ottoman period, and unlike the Turkish Muslims and Greek Muslims of Greek Macedonia and Epirus was exempted from the 1922–23 Greek-Turkish population exchange following the Treaty of Lausanne. In 1972 the Greek authorities planned to demolish the landmark of the city – the clock tower, built by the pomak Hadji Emin Aga in 1870. This decision resulted in protests by the local Muslims and the plans were cancelled.

Transport.

Road Transport.

A few kilometers outside Xanthi, the Egnatia Motorway crosses Xanthi with Macedonia, Epirus and the rest of Thrace. The Xanthi Bus Station runs daily services to several cities throughout Greece. Xanthi is 206 km from Thessaloniki, 704 km from Athens, 397 km from Istanbul and 236 km from Edirne. On January 15, 2010, the Agios Konstantinos border crossing point between Greece and Bulgaria was inaugurated, 51 km from Xanthi, linking the nearby village of Thermi with the town of Zlatograd. Under construction is the vertical cross-border axis of Egnatia Road, which will connect Xanthi with the Bulgarian town of Rudozem.

Rail Transport.

Outside Xanthi is the Xanthi railway station on the Thessaloniki-Alexandroupoli line, with daily services to Thessaloniki and Alexandroupolis.

Air Transport.

Xanthi does not have an airport. It is mainly served by Kavala Airport, 42 km away, and secondarily by Alexandroupolis Airport, 112 km away.

Municipality.

The municipality Xanthi was formed at the 2011 local government reform by the merger of the following 2 former municipalities, that became municipal units:  The municipality has an area of 495.118 km, the municipal unit 153.116 km.

Communities.

The municipal unit Xanthi is subdivided into the communities Evmoiro, Kimmeria and Xanthi. These communities contain the following settlements:

Economy.

Traditionally, the tobacco business, commerce, and farming have been the primary occupation of the residents of the area. During the last decades, tourism has also increased, especially during the period of the "festivals of the old town".  School of Engineering

Cultural events.

Carnival and old town's festivals.

The city has a rich history, tradition, and customs and it is the cultural center in the area. It is also considered a multi-cultural city and it has been characterized as "the city of the thousand colours". Xanthi's Carnival is very popular (every February) and is one of the most popular in Greece, while the "old town festival" (early September) is equally famous. Furthermore, the bazaar of Xanthi is famous and takes place at Emboriou Square every Saturday. In addition, the Manos Hatzidakis' festival attracts worldwide interest.

International relations.

Xanthi is twinned with:

Xanthi (, "Xánthi", ) is a city in the region of Western Thrace, northeastern Greece. It is the capital of the Xanthi regional unit of the region of East Macedonia and Thrace.

Xanthi ( [],, ) ist eine griechische Stadt in Westthrakien. Xanthi liegt 121 km westlich der Stadt Alexandroupoli, östlich der Stadt Kavala und südlich des Rhodopen-Hauptkamms. Xanthi ist Sitz einer großen Universität, eines Militärgerichtes sowie eines Bistums. Der Fußballverein Skoda Xanthi gehört zu den bestgeführten in der ersten Liga und spielt seit 2003 im neuen Skoda-Xanthi-Stadion. Die Gemeinde Xanthi wurde 1924 eingerichtet und 1997 um die Nachbargemeinden Evmiro und Kimmeria, 2010 um die westlich angrenzende Gemeinde Stavroupoli erweitert.


Early life.

Family background.

King was born in a nursing home in Bentinck Street, Marylebone, London, the first child of Jimmy King (d. 1954) and his wife, Ailsa Linley Leon (1916–2007), a former actress. Originally from New Jersey, Jimmy King had moved to England when he was 14. He attended Oundle School and Trinity College, Cambridge, before joining the American Field Service during World War II and later Tootal Ties and Shirts as managing director.  King's birth was a forceps delivery and a muscle on his upper lip was affected during it, giving him his slightly crooked smile. After he was born, the family lived in Gloucester Place, Marylebone, then moved to Surrey, where King and his younger brothers, James and Anthony ("Andy"), were raised in Brookhurst Grange, a mansion near Ewhurst.

Stoke House and Charterhouse.

King was sent to boarding school, first as a weekly boarder to pre-prep school in Hindhead, Surrey, then, when he was eight, to Stoke House Preparatory School in Seaford, East Sussex. A year later, in 1954, after his father died from a heart attack, Brookhurst Grange was sold and the family moved to Cobbetts, a cottage in nearby Forest Green.  Music became his passion around this time. King would save his pocket money for train trips to London to watch "My Fair Lady", "The King and I", "Irma la Douce", "Salad Days", "Damn Yankees" and "Kismet" from the cheap seats in the balcony. He also discovered pop music and bought his first single, Guy Mitchell's "Singing the Blues" (1956).  In 1958 King became a boarder at Charterhouse in Godalming, Surrey. He wrote that he "loved Charterhouse immediately", with its history and "every possible area of encouragement from sport to intellectual pursuits." Unlike at Stoke House, there were other boys there who appreciated pop music. He bought a transistor radio and earphones and joined the "under the bedclothes" club, listening to Tony Hall, Jimmy Savile, Don Moss and Pete Murray on Radio Luxembourg, and keeping track of the "New Musical Express" charts. The music, particularly Buddy Holly, Adam Faith, Roy Orbison and Gene Pitney, made him "ache with desire": Since "It Doesn't Matter Anymore" swept me off my feet, I had become a raving pop addict, desperate for a fix every few seconds. I kept thick notebooks packed with copies of the weekly charts, adverts for new products, pages of predictions of future hits, reviews and comments about current artistes. Looking at them now, there was no way I could ever have avoided a future in the music industry.

Gap year.

King left Charterhouse in 1962 to attend Davies's, a London crammer, for his A levels. With his wages from a job stacking shelves in a supermarket, he made a demo of himself the following year singing "It Doesn't Matter Anymore" and "Fool's Paradise" Eden Kane song with the Ted Taylor Trio, a professional group in Rickmansworth. Wearing a pinstripe suit and trainers, he approached John Schroeder of Oriole Records and told him he could make a hit record. "I have been studying the music industry for the last three years and it is one big joke," Schroeder reported him as saying. "Anyone can make it if they're clever and can fool a few people." After hearing King's demo, Schroeder booked a studio session with an orchestra but suspected that King could not sing in tune.  King also joined a local band in Cranleigh, the Bumblies, as manager/producer and occasional singer, sometimes wearing thigh-length boots and long black gloves, during the band's appearances at birthday parties and similar.  Despite the cramming, King failed the scholarship exam for Trinity College, Cambridge, but he was offered a place in 1963 after an interview. He accepted, but first took a gap year and spent six months travelling with a round-the-world ticket from his mother. Staying mostly in youth hostels, he visited Greece, the Middle East, Asia, Australia and the United States, including Hawaii, where, in June 1964, he met the manager of the Beatles, Brian Epstein. They spent hours together in Honolulu discussing the music industry, King wrote. In October that year King began to study for his degree in English literature at Cambridge, lodging in Jesus Lane.

Career.

Early success.

Around the time King began at Cambridge, the Bumblies (featuring Terry Ward) recorded a song he had written and produced, "Gotta Tell", which King persuaded Fontana Records to release. It appeared in April 1965 and "rightly sank without trace", King writes, but the experience of taking it from label to label, and then trying to find people to play it, taught him how to promote a record. He called DJs and television producers to ask them to listen to it and, because it was Easter, delivered hundreds of vinyl singles to music critics complete with Easter eggs he had painted himself. King and the Bumblies recorded another of his songs, "All You've Gotta Do", with producer Joe Meek, but nothing came of it.  Keen to break into the music business, King contacted Tony Hall of Decca Records, who put him in touch with the Zombies' producers Ken Jones and Joe Roncoroni. King played them one of his songs, "Green is the Grass", and they asked him to write a B side. He offered them six songs, including "Everyone's Gone to the Moon", which became the A side. They also suggested he change his name.  Decca released "Everyone's Gone to the Moon" in August 1965. Relying on the contacts he had made while promoting "Gotta Tell", King plugged it relentlessly to radio stations to get it on their playlists. DJ Tony Windsor of Radio London, a pirate station broadcast from the "MV Galaxy", was the first to play it, not only once, but three times in a row. (Windsor later said he did this only because of a problem with his other turntable.) It sold 26,000 copies the next day.  When the song made number 18 in the charts, King was invited onto the BBC's "Top of the Pops", introduced by Jimmy Savile. The following day it sold 35,000 copies. It peaked at number four in the UK (the Beatles were at number one with "Help!") and 17 in the US, and was awarded a gold disc. Nina Simone, Bette Midler, and Marlene Dietrich all covered it. Dietrich sang "Everyone's Gone to the Moon" and its B side, "Summer's Coming", at the Golders Green Hippodrome in October 1966, with an arrangement by Burt Bacharach. The single reached No. 17 in the US "Billboard" Hot 100 and was one of the songs carried on the Apollo 11 moon mission. In 2019, the track was included in the soundtrack of the Hollywood film "In The Shadow of the Moon" over the closing credits..  From his second year at university, King split his time between Cambridge and London, moving into a three-bedroom apartment, owned by his mother, at 20 St Andrews Mansions, Dorset Street, Marylebone, driving there from classes in his white MGB GT. His next release, "Green is the Grass", flopped, but the third (which he wrote and produced, but did not perform), "It's Good News Week" by Hedgehoppers Anonymous, was a hit. It was released in September 1965 through Decca and credited to King and his new publishing company, JonJo Music Co. Ltd, which was named after King, Ken Jones and Joe Roncoroni and based in Jones' and Roncoroni's office at 37 Soho Square. Briefly banned by the BBC because of its lyrics about birth control, the song made the top five in the UK and top 50 in America.  Also in 1965, King began contributing a column to "Disc and Music Echo", a weekly magazine edited by Ray Coleman. King adopted a deliberately provocative style, promoting new acts but also publishing criticism of the music industry and particular artists. Michael Wale described him as "the butterfly who stamped its foot".

Discovery of Genesis.

In early 1967, King attended an old boys' reunion at Charterhouse. He said he went there to show off, "oust[ing] Baden Powell as their most famous Old Boy." When they heard he was going to be there, a school band recorded a demo tape for him, and a friend, John Alexander, left the cassette in King's car with a note, "These are Charterhouse boys. Have a listen". Calling themselves Anon, the band consisted at that point of Peter Gabriel, Tony Banks, Anthony Phillips, Chris Stewart and Mike Rutherford, then all aged 15 to 17.  King liked several songs such as "She is Beautiful" (which became "The Serpent" on the band's first album) and, according to Philips, they got the deal with King on the basis of that song. King signed the band to JonJo Music and licensed the short-term rights to Decca Records. He paid them £40 for four songs, and came up with their name, Genesis, to mark the start of his own career as a record producer. According to Phillips, King was "hugely patient and indulgent" with the band. John Silver, drummer on the first album, wrote in 2007: We would be pretending to rehearse or simply waiting around and somehow somebody would bring a message to the flat, "Quick, get over to Jonathan King's flat, because Paul McCartney's turning up." We would scurry over as quickly as possible because the art was to be there, looking casual, before the next famous person arrived, so that Jonathan King could say, "Hey, these are my new protégés." I trusted him as a god, because he knew these people. It wasn't celebrity like it is now. There were only a few famous people and he knew them. If Jonathan said jump or stand backwards or stand on your head, basically you did it. This was the nature of the relationship; he was completely omnipotent, in a decent way.  King produced their first three singles, including "The Silent Sun" (1968) and an album, "From Genesis to Revelation" (1969). Banks and Gabriel wrote "The Silent Sun" as a late-1960s Bee Gees "pastiche" to please King; Robin Gibb's voice was apparently King's favourite at the time. The records made little impact; the album sold just 649 copies "and we knew all of those people personally," wrote Banks. King slowly lost interest in the band. Their next demo was even less "poppy"; the more complicated the songs, the less King liked them. Genesis left King in 1970 for Tony Stratton-Smith's Charisma Records, were joined by Phil Collins and Steve Hackett—and, after another two unsuccessful albums, released "Foxtrot" (1972) to critical acclaim. King retained the rights to the first album and re-released it several times under different titles. Rutherford said in 1985 that, "for all his faults", King had given the band an opportunity to record, which at that time was hard to come by.

Broadcasting, Decca Records.

When King graduated from Cambridge in June 1967, the press covered his graduation ceremony: "Jonathan King becomes M.A. (Cantab.)". Shortly afterwards Tony Firth, an ATV producer and Trinity graduate, asked King to present "Good Evening", a weekly television show that ran nationally on ATV at 6:30 pm on Saturdays from October 1967 to 1968. The following year he began broadcasting for BBC Radio 1, including a "blast off" slot on the Stuart Henry show.  Tired of living in the Dorset Street apartment, King bought a three-storey mews house near Porchester Terrace, Bayswater, in which he still lived as of 2019, for £18,650. Around this time, he was recruited by Sir Edward Lewis, the founder of Decca Records and another Trinity graduate, to be his unpaid (expenses only) personal assistant. King writes that Lewis recruited him twice for this position, once not long after graduation and again in the late 1970s.

Early 1970s.

"It's Good News Week" (1965) was the last big hit King had for four years. Then his cover of "Let It All Hang Out" (1969) made the top 30 in January 1970, and he went on to become the top singles producer of 1971 and 1972, beginning with "It's the Same Old Song". Released by B&C Records in December 1970 under a pseudonym, the Weathermen, it moved into the charts a month later. Using pseudonyms meant more airtime: radio producers might play several songs by the same artist during a programme without realizing they had devoted so much airtime to one person.  King's 1971 releases included a version of Bob Dylan's "Baby, You've Been On My Mind", released as Nemo, which failed to chart; "The Sun Has Got His Hat On", also as Nemo; "Sugar, Sugar" as Sakkarin; "Leap Up and Down (Wave Your Knickers in the Air)" by St Cecelia (this one a real band, rather than a pseudonym), which went to number 12; and "Lazy Bones", "Flirt" and "Hooked on a Feeling" – all released under his own name.  Bell Records asked King to produce four songs for the Bay City Rollers, including their first hit, "Keep on Dancing", on which King sang the 13 backing vocals himself. Released in May 1971, the single reached number nine.  "Hooked on a Feeling", a country song that King had turned into a pop hit, adding "ooga chaka ooga ooga" to the intro, was a Top Thirty hit. King's arrangement later gave Swedish group Blue Swede a US number one in April 1974. The arrangement featured in "Reservoir Dogs" (1992), at least one episode of "Ally McBeal", where it provided the music for the Dancing Baby (1998), and "Guardians of the Galaxy" (2014), although King writes that he made no money from the Blue Swede version. Years later the track still garners coverage.  Another top three 1971 hit was "Johnny Reggae", a ska pop song about a skinhead, written by King after he was introduced to a Johnny Reggae at the Walton Hop disco in Surrey. It was sung by King and middle-aged session singers pretending to be teenagers, credited to The Piglets and released by Bell. John Stratton writes that "Johnny Reggae" was the "first British hit with a ska beat to have been written by a white Englishman... and performed by white English singers and musicians." While, according to Lloyd Bradley, the BBC was reluctant to play reggae by black Jamaican artists, "Johnny Reggae", which Bradley described as "lamentable [and] audibly jarring", reached number three in the UK in November 1971 (when Slade's "Coz I Luv You" was number one) and stayed in the top 50 for 12 weeks.  It has been reported that, under various different names and in assorted formats, he sold around 40 million records.

UK records.

In 1972 King set up a record label, UK Records, distributed by Decca and later Polygram in the UK and London Records in the US. Chris Denning left Bell to run the UK office and Fred Ruppert, formerly of Elektra Records, the US office. Don Wardell then took over the US office, Denning left and Wardell moved back to run the UK company. King's brother Andy was hired in 1974 as the promotion manager. Clive Selwood, who had helmed John Peel's label Dandelion, then took over as manager.  The label's first hit was "Seaside Shuffle" by Terry Dactyl and the Dinosaurs, followed by King's "Loop di Love", which reached number four, released under the pseudonym Shag. Other signings included Ricky Wilde, then 11 years old and promoted to fill the gap later taken by Donny Osmond, a potential David Cassidy, Simon Turner, Roy C, the First Class and Lobo. The label also released King's cover of "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" (1974) under the name Bubblerock, described as a "Grateful Dead"-style country version", which met the approval of Mick Jagger.  In June 1973, after seeing "The Rocky Horror Show" on its second night, King invested a 20% stake in it, making him one of its two original backers, along with Michael White, and produced and released "The Rocky Horror Show Original London Cast".  The label's most significant signing was 10cc. Eric Stewart, one of the band members, had known King since 1965, when Stewart was with The Mindbenders and King had wanted to manage them. The band had planned to release "Donna" as a B side, but decided it could be a hit: "We only knew of one person who was mad enough to release it," Stewart said, "and that was Jonathan King." King gave the band its name and released two of the group's albums ("10cc" and "Sheet Music") and eight singles. "Donna" (1972) and "Rubber Bullets" (1973), reached number two and one respectively, followed by "The Dean and I" (1973) and "The Wall Street Shuffle" (1974). The band only dented the American market, with "Rubber Bullets" making 73 on the Billboard Hot 100. 10cc left UK Records in 1975 for Mercury Records, after which they achieved success in America, particularly with "I'm Not in Love" (1975).

Move to New York.

In April 1978 King stood for parliament as an independent in the Epsom and Ewell by-election, calling himself the Royalist party. He gained 2,350 votes. A year later he decided to leave the music industry and closed UK Records. He wrote to the charts committee of the British Phonographic Industry in August 1979 alleging that the lower levels of the charts reflected "clever promotion and marketing rather than good records", and suggesting that only information about the top 30 should be made available. The idea was that this would force programmers to base their airplay decisions on something other than the lower charts.  The UK Records New York office on 57th Street was turned into an apartment, and King set about building a new career in writing and broadcasting. He was given a weekly five-minute slot on BBC Radio 1 called "A King in New York", a "Postcard from America" slot in Radio 4, and he reported for Radio 1 on the 1980 presidential election. In December 1980, watching television in bed, he heard there had been a shooting outside the Dakota Apartments. He called and woke up BBC producer Tom Brook, who was living in New York; Brook became the first to announce to the UK that John Lennon had died.  Throughout 1980 and 1981 King presented a radio talk show on New York's WMCA from 10–12 weekday mornings, and regularly reported from the United States on "Top of the Pops". He devised and hosted a spinoff series, "Entertainment USA", broadcast on BBC 2, which was nominated for a BAFTA in 1987. He also created and produced "No Limits", a youth programme.  His first novel, "Bible Two", was published in 1982. It tells the story of a window dresser in "Selfishes" who inherits his family's millions. He was also hired by Kelvin MacKenzie, editor of "The Sun", to write a weekly column, "Bizarre USA", which began in February 1985 and continued for eight years. He continued with several music projects, including with the hard-rock supergroup Gogmagog, which released an EP, "I Will Be There" (1985).

Brit Awards, Eurovision Song Contest.

In 1987 King hosted the Brit Awards for the BBC, and from 1990 to 1992 was the event's producer. He resigned just after the 1992 show because he and the British Phonographic Industry, which runs the awards, disagreed about the show's format. The following year he founded "The Tip Sheet" (1993–2002), an influential weekly trade magazine promoting new acts.  King's media work included finding and producing the Eurovision Song Contest entrant for the BBC from 1995. He selected several songs for them. Love City Groove's song, "Love City Groove", came tenth in 1995. Gina G's "Ooh Aah... Just a Little Bit" came eighth the following year, and was number one in the UK. "Love Shine A Light" by Katrina and the Waves came first in 1997. His entry for 1998, when the UK hosted the event in Birmingham, was by Imaani and came second. His writing continued. His second novel, "The Booker Prize Winner", was published that year. He was involved in finding and promoting the Chumbawamba hit "Tubthumping" (1997), which made number two, and the Baha Men's number one hit, "Who Let the Dogs Out?" (2000) which he first released under the name Fat Jakk and his Pack of Pets.  In October 1997 King received a Music Industry Trusts Award at a dinner held in his honour at the Grosvenor House Hotel in London. A video tribute to him featured Guy Mitchell, Ozzy Osbourne, The Moody Blues and Hanson. The following year he devised "The Record of the Year", produced by his "Tip Sheet" and London Weekend Television, a show in which the public voted for the year's best single. In 2000 Nigel Lythgoe, executive producer of the new "Popstars" talent show, considered hiring King as anchor of its judging panel, but he turned it down. Lythgoe took the position himself.  King reportedly turned down the chance to manage the KLF.

2001 trials.

In September 2001 King was convicted, after a two-week trial at the Old Bailey, on four counts of indecent assault, one of buggery and one of attempted buggery, committed between 1983 and 1987 against five boys aged 14 and 15. In a second trial he was found not guilty after an alleged victim (someone King denied having ever met) acknowledged that he could have been 16 or older at the time. Three further trials that had been scheduled were ordered abandoned. King continued to maintain his innocence throughout, protesting, among other things, that the lack of a statute of limitations in the UK for sex offences meant he had been unable to defend himself adequately because of the many years that had passed.  The National Criminal Intelligence Service had begun investigating King for child sexual abuse in 2000, when a man told them he had been assaulted by King and others 30 years earlier. The man had originally approached publicist Max Clifford, himself later jailed in 2014 for sexual assault, about other men; Clifford told him that he needed to include a celebrity in his allegations and that he should go to the police. King was arrested in November that year and bailed on £150,000, £50,000 of which was put up by Simon Cowell. He was arrested again in January 2001 on further allegations. Twenty-seven men told police that King had sexually assaulted them during the period 1969–1989. Police found pictures of teenagers in a search of King's home. King admitted having approached thousands of people with questionnaires about youth interests, doing market research. The questionnaires asked recipients to list topics according to importance including music, sport, friends and family; the prosecution claimed that boys who listed sex high in their list of priorities were then targeted by King.  After the second trial at the Old Bailey on 21 November 2001, Judge David Paget QC sentenced King to 7 years in prison using the first trial verdict as a sample for "all previous sexual behaviour". In addition, King was placed on the Sex Offenders Register, prohibited from working with children, and ordered to pay £14,000 costs. In 2003 the Court of Appeal rejected his application to appeal both the conviction and the sentence; he had argued that the conviction was unsafe and the sentence, with guidelines of two years, had been "manifestly too severe". He appealed twice unsuccessfully to the Criminal Cases Review Commission, and was released on parole in March 2005, strongly proclaiming his innocence.  King has complained about his media coverage since his 2001 conviction. In 2005 he went to the Press Complaints Commission about an article in the "News of the World" that said he had gone to a park to "ogle" boys. In fact he had gone there at the request of a documentary maker. The complaint was not upheld, but Roy Greenslade argued that King had a good case. In October 2011 then BBC Director-General Mark Thompson apologised to King for the removal of King's performance of "It Only Takes a Minute" from a repeat, on BBC Four, of a 1976 episode of "Top of the Pops". King described the cut as a "Stalinist revision approach to history". When asked by a newspaper in 2012 if he believed he had anything to apologise for, to anybody from his past, King replied, "The only apology I have is to say that I was good at seduction. I was good at making myself seem attractive when I wasn't very attractive at all". He appeared in front of the Leveson Inquiry.

After prison.

Journalist Robert Chalmers wrote that King's creative output after he left prison "resembled a primal scream of rage". Two novels appeared: "Beware the Monkey Man" (2010), under the pen name Rex Kenny, and "Death Flies, Missing Girls and Brigitte Bardot" (2013), under his real name, Kenneth George King. He also published a diary, "Three Months" (2012), and two volumes of his autobiography, "Jonathan King 65: My Life So Far" (2009) and "70 FFFY" (2014).  King maintained an interest in prison issues and writes a column for "Inside Time", the national newspaper for prisoners.  He released "Earth to King" in 2008. One of the new songs on the album, "The True Story of Harold Shipman" was about the serial killer Dr. Harold Shipman, in which King suggested that Shipman may have been a victim of the media. He also produced three films. "Vile Pervert: The Musical" (2008), available for free download, is a 96-minute film in which King plays all 21 parts and presents his version of events surrounding his prosecution. He portrays his viewpoint of the events responsible for his troubles. In one scene King, dressed as Oscar Wilde, sings that there is "nothing wrong with buggering boys". Rod Liddle called it "a fantastically berserk, bravado performance". "Me Me Me" (2011) was described at the Cannes Film Festival as "a re-telling of "Romeo and Juliet"". "The Pink Marble Egg" (2013) is a spy story; for publicity King drove down the Promenade de la Croisette in Cannes with a pink papier-mâché egg on top of his Rolls Royce during the Cannes Film Festival.

2018 trial.

In August 2015, King wrote an article for "The Spectator" magazine concerning Sir Edward Heath, the subject of the now-discredited Operation Midland. In September 2015, King was arrested as part of Operation Ravine, a further investigation into claims of sexual abuse at the Walton Hop disco in the 1970s. He was later released on bail. On 25 May 2017, he was charged by Surrey Police with 18 sexual offences, relating to nine boys aged between 14 and 16, allegedly carried out between 1970 and 1986. He was released on bail and appeared at Westminster Magistrates' Court on 26 June, where he was released on conditional bail to appear at Southwark Crown Court on 31 July. His trial began on 11 June 2018, and on 27 June the jury was discharged for legal reasons.  On 6 August 2018, King received an apology for the collapse of the trial, with Judge Deborah Taylor saying that Surrey Police had made "numerous, repeated and compounded" errors during the investigation, describing the situation as a "debacle". In her ruling she said "I have concluded that this is a case where even if it were possible to have a fair trial, it is in the rare category where the balance, taking account of the history, the failures and misleading of the Court, is in favour of a stay on the basis that following what has occurred, continuation would undermine public confidence in the administration of justice". Taylor said that the case against King had been motivated by "concerns about reputational damage to Surrey Police" following the allegations of sexual abuse against Jimmy Savile. Surrey Police "wholeheartedly apologised" to King, saying: "We deeply regret that despite these efforts we did not meet the required standards to ensure a fair trial." King refused to accept the apology, and criticised Surrey Police for "deep, institutional faults". He urged both the Chief Constable and the Police and Crime Commissioner to go.  After the "debacle", as Judge Taylor described the 2018 trial, many respected commentators started to question the verdict of the 2001 trial including Bob Woffinden in his book "The Nicholas Cases" and Daniel Finkelstein in" The Times"; the Criminal Cases Review Commission announced it was reopening an investigation into it, after fresh evidence emerged during the 2018 prosecution.  In August 2019 Chief Constable Stephens, who had replaced Ephgrave, announced that, in the year since King's acquittal, the Surrey Police success rate for convictions in sex abuse cases had dropped from 20% to "under 4%". On 22 November 2019, an independent review into the police investigation leading to the trial was published. It was critical of the handling of disclosure of documents to King's defence prior to the trial, and questioned whether some of the staff involved had been qualified or experienced enough to handle the case.

Jonathan King (born Kenneth George King, 6 December 1944) is an English singer-songwriter, record producer, music entrepreneur, and former television and radio presenter.

Jonathan King (* 6. Dezember 1944 in London, England; eigentlich "Kenneth George King") ist ein britischer Sänger, Songschreiber und Musikproduzent.


History and sights.

The historical treasury of Třebíč includes the old Jewish Quarter and the large Romanesque St Procopius' Basilica, which incorporates some later Gothic features, including a rare example of a ten-part (also known as 'botanical') rose window. Such designs reflect the five or ten parts of the family Roseaceae flowers and fruit, based on their five sepals and petals or the usual ten segments of their fruit. Botanical rose windows contrast with more complex Gothic windows that contain more segments (usually multiples of traditional gothic units of design – three trefoil, or four quatrefoil). Another thesis says that these decorations are based on an ancient design, inspired by forerunners in the wheel of life, associated with eastern religions nowadays, or may allude to the Virgin Mary.  The famous Basilica originated in the early 12th century as a Benedictine monastery. It was endowed so well, that it led to the establishment of a local commercial centre; the town of Třebíč. The monastery was rebuilt during the reign of King Wenceslas I (1230–53), and again at the end of the fifteenth century. During the first half of the 16th century some of Třebíč's historic monastic buildings were remodeled into a castle, and were later renovated in Baroque style.  In the early eighteenth century changes were introduced on the basilica by the Czech architect Frantisek Maxmilian Kanka; windows were enlarged, buttresses were added, a southwest tower was rebuilt, and a new west front with two towers was constructed in a gothic baroque style.  The historical town of Třebíč, which extends on both sides of the river Jihlava, was declared a Conservation Area in 1990. The Jewish Quarter and St. Procopius Basilica together with the castle and gardens, are all included within the Trebic Conservation Area.

Geography.

Třebíč is situated 35 km southeast of Jihlava and 65 km west of Brno on the Jihlava River. The town's elevation is between 392 and 503 metres above sea-level.  Třebíč has a temperate climate with occasional rains. Average annual temperature is 7.5 °C, average temperature in July is 18.5 °C and −3.4 °C in January.

Transport.

Important trade routes, that had been leading near Třebíč already in ancient times were called: "Habry Route", "Lovětín Route" and "Libice Route".  Nowadays, Třebíč is an important traffic junction of the region. The main roads crossing Třebíč are I/23 (Brno – České Budějovice) and II/360, which connects Třebíč with the highway D1. Road II/405, passing near the town, connects Třebíč with the capital city of Vysočina Region – Jihlava.  The railway has the east–west direction in Třebíč. This railway No. 240 connects Třebíč with cities of Brno and Jihlava. There are two train stations serving the town: Třebíč and Třebíč-Borovina.  There is the small sport airport in the outskirts.  A trolley line was proposed in the past but has never been built.  In Třebíč there are several segregated cycle facilities, including a bike route leading from Jihlava to Raabs an der Thaya, which was built in 2009.

Twin towns – sister cities.

Třebíč is twinned with:

Třebíč (; ) is a town in the Moravian part of the Vysočina Region of the Czech Republic. Třebíč is a regional centre with a population of approximately 36,000. It is the administrative capital of the Třebíč District.

Třebíč (deutsch "Trebitsch") ist die Bezirksstadt des Okres Třebíč in Tschechien. Sie liegt beiderseits der Jihlava in einer Höhe von 405 m ü. M. im Böhmisch-Mährischen Hochland. Im Laufe der vergangenen Jahrhunderte wuchs die Stadt zu einem wirtschaftlichen, politischen, administrativen und kulturellen Zentrum in Südwestmähren heran.


Regular season.

This regular season, like the two preceding it and the two following it, belonged to the Montreal Canadiens, who were in the midst of five straight first overall finishes and at the tail end of five straight Stanley Cup victories. The Detroit Red Wings, who were dead last and missed the playoffs the previous season, squeaked into the playoffs by riding a Hart Memorial Trophy performance by their ageless star right-winger, Gordie Howe.  The season was marked by important changes in the NHL, as Canadiens goaltender Jacques Plante, like Clint Benedict before him, began to wear a mask in hockey games. Plante, who had asthma-related problems throughout his career, first began wearing a mask in practice shortly after a sinus operation in 1957. On November 1, 1959, Plante's nose was broken by a shot from New York Rangers right-winger Andy Bathgate. After being stitched up, Plante insisted on wearing a mask for the remainder of the game. Montreal coach Toe Blake was bitterly opposed to the idea, but did not have a backup goaltender and relented after Plante said he would not return to the ice without a mask. Although many in the NHL disapproved of Plante's decision due to NHL tradition at the time, many followed suit after Plante went undefeated in ten games with the mask on.  Phil Watson suffered an ulcer and was quietly dismissed as Ranger coach and replaced by Alf Pike. Gump Worsley was demoted to the Springfield Indians of the AHL and Worsley screamed he was finished with hockey, but reported to Springfield anyway. Indians owner Eddie Shore, known for his criticism of his players, gave Worsley a surprise vote of confidence. Gump played well for the Indians.  There was trouble brewing for Rangers right-winger Andy Bathgate, who had ripped open Plante's nose on the night of the goalie mask's official NHL debut. In a January 1960 True Magazine article ghosted by Dave Anderson, the defending league MVP listed the names of players whom he considered guilty of the dangerous act of spearing. This was brought to the attention of NHL President Clarence Campbell, who fined Bathgate $500 and Ranger general manager Muzz Patrick $100 on the grounds the article was prejudicial to and against the welfare of the league.  After being demoted to Springfield, Gump Worsley was brought back up as Marcel Paille was even worse in goal for New York. Gump and the Rangers beat the Canadiens 8–3 in his first game back on January 3, but on January 21, Montreal bombed Worsley 11-2. Later against the Chicago Black Hawks, Worsley suffered an injury that finished him for the season; Hawks' winger Bobby Hull skated over his catching glove and severed two tendons in his fingers. Al Rollins was called up to replace him. Later, Olympic hero Jack McCartan played a few games for the Rangers, acquitting himself very well.  The Boston Bruins narrowly missed the playoffs despite a flurry of offense, sparked by the "Uke Line" of Johnny Bucyk, Vic Stasiuk, and Bronco Horvath. Horvath finished a close second to Chicago's Bobby Hull in the scoring race and was named to the Second All-Star Team. Slick centre Don McKenney led the NHL in assists while winning the Lady Byng Trophy and versatile Doug Mohns also contributed. 1959–60 saw two veteran Bruins, centre Fleming MacKell and goaltender Harry Lumley, play their last campaigns before retirement.  This season marked the first season of the Original Six era during which every active player had played for Original Six teams only. Ken Mosdell, the last player to play for another team, retired the previous season.

Stanley Cup playoffs.

Montreal played the minimum number of games to win the Stanley Cup and in the process, became the last Cup winners in NHL history to go undefeated in the playoffs to date. After winning the Stanley Cup, Maurice Richard retired from the NHL as a champion.

Awards.

Gordie Howe won the Hart Trophy to become the first five-time winner of the Hart. In voting, he received 118 votes of a possible 180, twice as many as runner-up Bobby Hull. Howe was the last winner of the original Hart Trophy. The trophy was retired to the Hockey Hall of Fame and the NHL began presenting a new trophy, which was dubbed the "Hart Memorial Trophy" in its place. Hull won the Art Ross Trophy for the scoring championship, his first. Doug Harvey won the Norris Trophy for the fifth time, and the fifth time in the seven times it had been awarded. The Canadiens had the lowest goals against average, for the fifth consecutive time, and Jacques Plante was awarded his fifth Vezina Trophy. The Black Hawks' Glenn Hall was named to the First All-Star team as goaltender.

Player statistics.

Scoring leaders.

"Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points"

Leading goaltenders.

"Note: GP = Games played; MIN = Minutes played; GA = Goals against; SO = Shut outs; AVG = Goals against average"

Debuts.

The following is a list of players of note who played their first NHL game in 1959–60 (listed with their first team, asterisk(*) marks debut in playoffs):

Last games.

The following is a list of players of note that played their last game in the NHL in 1959–60 (listed with their last team):

The 1959–60 NHL season was the 43rd season of the National Hockey League. The Montreal Canadiens were the Stanley Cup winners as they defeated the Toronto Maple Leafs four games to none for their fifth straight Stanley Cup.

Die NHL-Saison 1959/60 war die 43. Spielzeit in der National Hockey League. Sechs Teams spielten jeweils 70 Spiele. Den Stanley Cup gewannen die Montréal Canadiens nach einem 4:0-Erfolg in der Finalserie gegen die Toronto Maple Leafs zum fünften Mal in Folge. Von 1951 bis 1960 stand Montreal ohne Unterbrechung im Finale. Einen Tag nach Halloween traf New Yorks Andy Bathgate Montreals Goalie Jacques Plante mit einem Schuss ins Gesicht. Plante kehrt mit einer Fiberglasmaske zurück und hält 29 von 30 Torschüssen. Hierdurch wurde das Torwartspiel revolutioniert, da es bisher nicht üblich war mit Maske zu spielen.