Background.

General Dwight D. Eisenhower, the Allied Commander, had decided that the best route into Germany would be across the relatively flat lands of northern Europe, taking the industrial heartland of the Ruhr. This first required that Allied forces should close up to the Rhine along its whole length. Montgomery's 21st Army Group had established a front along the River Maas in late 1944 and had also considered several offensive operations to enlarge and defend the Nijmegen bridgehead and its important bridges (captured during the operation to capture Arnhem). One such proposal, "Valediction" (a development of an earlier plan; "Wyvern") - an assault south-eastwards from Nijmegen between the Rhine and Maas rivers, initially had been shelved by Montgomery. A conference was convened at Maastricht on 7 December 1944 between Allied generals, to consider ways of maintaining pressure on the Germans throughout the winter. Consequently, "Valediction" was brought forward and allocated to the First Canadian Army. British XXX Corps were attached to the Canadians for the operation and the date was provisionally set as 1 January 1945. At this point, the name "Veritable" was attached to the operation in place of "Valediction".  In the event, "Veritable" was delayed by the diversion of forces to stem the German attack through the Ardennes in December, (Battle of the Bulge) and the advantages to the Allies of hard, frozen ground were lost.  The objective of the operation was to clear German forces from the area between the Rhine and Maas rivers, east of the German/Dutch frontier, in the Rhineland. It was part of Eisenhower's "broad front" strategy to occupy the entire west bank of the Rhine before its crossing. The Allied expectation was that the northern end of the Siegfried Line was less well defended than elsewhere and an outflanking movement around the line was possible and would allow an early assault against the industrial Ruhr region.  "Veritable" was the northern arm of a pincer movement. The southern pincer arm, Operation Grenade, was to be made by Lieutenant General William Hood Simpson's U.S. Ninth Army. The operation had complications. First, the heavily forested terrain, squeezed between the Rhine and Maas rivers, reduced Anglo-Canadian advantages in manpower and armour; the situation was exacerbated by soft ground which had thawed after the winter and also by the deliberate flooding of the adjacent Rhine flood plain.

Order of battle.

Allied.

At this stage, 21st Army Group consisted of the British Second Army (Lieutenant-General Miles C. Dempsey), First Canadian Army (Lieutenant-General Harry Crerar) and the U.S. Ninth Army (Lieutenant General William Simpson). In "Veritable", the reinforced British XXX Corps (one of two such formations in the First Canadian Army), under Lieutenant-General Brian Horrocks, would advance through the Reichswald Forest and its adjacent flood plains to the Kleves – Goch road.  The First Canadian Army had had a severe time clearing the approaches to Antwerp during the previous autumn. It was, numerically, the smallest of the Allied armies in northern Europe and, despite its name, contained significant British units as part of its structure. For "Veritable", it was further strengthened by XXX Corps. At the start of the operation, Allied deployment was, from left to right across the Allied front:  Further divisions were committed as the operation progressed:

German.

Assessments by the German High Command were that an Allied advance through the Reichswald would be too difficult and the expected assault would be by the British Second Army from the Venlo area. Reserves were therefore placed to respond to this. Alfred Schlemm, the local German commander, strongly disagreed, believing, correctly, that the Reichswald was the more likely route. He acted against the assessments of his superiors and therefore ensured that the area was well fortified, strengthened the Siegfried Line defences and quietly moved some of his reserves to be nearer this line of attack which meant that fresh, elite troops were readily available to him.

Terrain.

The Allied advance was from Groesbeek (captured during Operation Market Garden) eastwards to Kleve and Goch, turning south eastwards along the Rhine to Xanten and the US advance. The whole battle area was between the Rhine and Maas rivers, initially through the Reichswald and then across rolling agricultural country.  The Reichswald is a forested area close to the Dutch-German border. The Rhine flood plain, wide (and which, at the time of the operation, had been allowed to flood after a wet winter), is the northern boundary of the area and the Maas flood plain is the southern boundary. The Reichswald ridge is a glacial remnant which, when wet, easily turns to mud. At the time of the operation, the ground had thawed and was largely unsuitable for wheeled or tracked vehicles and these conditions caused breakdowns to significant numbers of tanks.  Routes through the forest were a problem for the Allies, both during their advance through the forest and later for supply and reinforcements. The only main roads passed to the north (Nijmegen to Kleve) and south (Mook to Goch) of the forest - no east-west metalled route passed through it. There were three north-south routes: two radiating from Hekkens to Kranenburg (between two and five kilometres behind the German frontline) and to Kleve; and Kleve to Goch, along the eastern edge of the Reichswald. The lack of suitable roads was made worse by the soft ground conditions and the deliberate flooding of the flood plains, which necessitated the use of amphibious vehicles. The few good roads were rapidly damaged and broken up by the constant heavy traffic that they had to carry during the assaults.  The Germans had built three defence lines. The first was from Wyler to the Maas along the western edge of the Reichswald, manned by the 84th Division and the 1st Parachute Regiment; this was a "trip-wire" line intended only to delay an assault and alert the main forces. The second, beyond the forest, was Rees, Kleve, Goch and the third ran from Rees, through the Uedemer Hochwald to Geldern.

Operation Veritable (Battle of the Reichswald).

Preparations for the operations were complicated by the poor condition of the few routes into the concentration area, its small size, the need to maintain surprise and, therefore, the need to conceal the movements of men and materiel. A new rail bridge was constructed that extended rail access to Nijmegen, a bridge was built across the Maas at Mook and roads were repaired and maintained. Elaborate and strict restrictions were placed on air and daytime land movements; troop concentrations and storage dumps were camouflaged.  Operation Veritable was planned in three separate phases: "Phase 1 The clearing of the Reichswald and the securing of the line Gennep-Asperden-Cleve.  "Phase 2 The breaching of the enemy's second defensive system east and south-east of the Reichswald, the capture of the localities Weeze-Üdem-Kalkar-Emmerich and the securing of the communications between them.  "Phase 3 The 'break-through' of the Hochwald 'lay-back' defence lines and the advance to secure the general line Geldern-Xanten."  The operation started as an infantry frontal assault, with armoured support, against prepared positions, in terrain that favoured the defenders. On 7 February more than 750 RAF heavy bombers deluged Kleve and Goch with high explosive. In order to reduce the defenders' advantages, a large scale artillery bombardment was employed, the biggest British barrage since the Second Battle of El Alamein. Men were literally deafened for hours by the noise of 1,034 guns. It was hoped that this would not only destroy the German defences throughout the Reichswald but also destroy the defenders' morale and their will to fight. Air raids were also undertaken to isolate the battle area from further reinforcement.  Operation Veritable began on 8 February 1945, at 10:30 five infantry divisions, 50,000 men with 500 tanks, attacked in line – respectively from the north, the 3rd and 2nd Canadian, the 15th (Scottish) in the center and the 53rd (Welsh) and 51st (Highland) on the right. The next day the Germans released water from the largest Roer dam, sending water surging down the valley, and irreparably jammed the sluices to ensure a steady flow for many days. The next day they added to the flooding by doing the same to dams further upstream on the Roer and the Urft. The river rose at two feet an hour and the valley downstream to the Maas stayed flooded for about two weeks.  XXX Corps advanced with heavy fighting along the narrow neck of land between the Meuse and the Waal east of Nijmegen, but Operation Grenade had to be postponed for two weeks when the Germans released the waters from the Roer dams and river levels rose. The U.S. Ninth Army was unable to move and no military actions could proceed across the Roer until the water subsided. During the two weeks of flooding, Hitler forbade Field Marshal Gerd von Rundstedt to withdraw east behind the Rhine, arguing that it would only delay the inevitable fight. Rundstedt was ordered to fight where his forces stood. The imposed American standstill allowed German forces to be concentrated against the Anglo-Canadian assault.  At first, XXX Corps made rapid progress across most of its front but after the first day, German reinforcements appeared and violent clashes were reported with a regiment of the 6th Parachute Division and armored detachments. Horrocks ordered the 43rd (Wessex) Division to advance past Kleve into the German rear. This resulted in the greatest traffic jam in the history of modern warfare. With only one road available, units of the 43rd, 15th and Canadian divisions became inextricably mixed in a column long. Two "natural" impediments to the Allied advance, flooding and the dense forest, failed to disrupt it.  The 15th Division had orders to capture Kleve, but on the night of 9 February they were held up on the outskirts. The 47 Panzer Corps under General Heinrich Freiherr von Lüttwitz was directed to Kleve and the Reichswald. On 11 February the 15th had cleared the town. Having expanded the front line to, the II Canadian Corps, with the 2nd and 3rd Divisions and the 4th Armoured Division, became responsible for the drive along the Rhine to Kalkar and Xanten. XXX Corps were to operate on the right and take Goch before swinging towards the Rhine and linking with the Americans – once Operation Grenade had been launched.  The 3rd Division used Buffalo amphibious vehicles to move through the flooded areas; the water rendered the German field defences and minefields ineffective and isolated their units on islands where they could be picked off, one by one. XXX Corps had rehearsed forest warfare tactics and were able to bring armour forward with them (despite a high rate of damage due to the natural conditions combined with the age of the tanks). The German defences had not anticipated such tactics, so these tanks, including Churchill Crocodile flame-throwers, had great shock value.

Operation Blockbuster.

Once the Reichswald had been taken, the Allied forces paused to regroup before continuing their advance towards the Hochwald forested ridge, plus Xanten to the east of it, and the US 9th Army. This stage was Operation Blockbuster. As planned, it would start on 22 February when the 15th (Scottish) Division would attack woods north-east of Weeze, to be followed two days later on the 24th when the 53rd (Welsh) Division would advance southwards from Goch, take Weeze and continue south-westward. Finally, the II Canadian Corps would launch, on 26 February, the operation intended to overcome the German defences based on the Hochwald and then exploit to Xanten.  By the time the waters from the Roer dams had subsided and the US 9th Army was able to cross the Roer on 23 February, other Allied forces were also close to the Rhine's west bank. Rundstedt's divisions which had remained on the west bank of the Rhine were cut to pieces in the Rhineland and 230,000 men were taken prisoner.

Aftermath.

After the battle, 34 Armoured Brigade conducted a review of its own part in the forest phase of the battle, in order to highlight the experiences of the armoured units and learn lessons.  After the war, Eisenhower commented this "was some of the fiercest fighting of the whole war" and "a bitter slugging match in which the enemy had to be forced back yard by yard". Montgomery wrote "the enemy parachute troops fought with a fanaticism un-excelled at any time in the war" and "the volume of fire from enemy weapons was the heaviest which had so far been met by British troops in the campaign."

Notes.

Footnotes  Citations

Operation Veritable (also known as the Battle of the Reichswald) was the northern part of an Allied pincer movement that took place between 8 February and 11 March 1945 during the final stages of the Second World War. The operation was conducted by Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery's Anglo-Canadian 21st Army Group, primarily consisting of the First Canadian Army under Lieutenant-General Harry Crerar and the British XXX Corps under Lieutenant-General Brian Horrocks.

Die Schlacht im Reichswald (engl.: "Operation Veritable") fand im Zweiten Weltkrieg zwischen alliierten Expeditionsstreitkräften der 21st Army Group und Verbänden der deutschen 1. Fallschirm-Armee vom 7. bis 22. Februar 1945 im Raum Kleve am Niederrhein statt. Die erbitterten Kämpfe um den Klever Reichswald erstreckten sich über zwei Wochen; über 10.000 alliierte und deutsche Soldaten fielen. Auch die Zivilbevölkerung erlitt schwere Verluste. Die Schlacht bildete den Auftakt des Rheinfeldzuges, der bis zum 10. März 1945 auf der ganzen Länge des westlichen deutschen Rheinufers zur Vertreibung der deutschen Truppen führte. Im Kampfraum setzte danach die britisch-kanadische 21. Heeresgruppe am 24. März 1945 bei Wesel über den Rhein.


Rapid rise to prominence.

The first known progenitor of this family is Yves de Bellême who was probably the son of Yves de Creil, The "caput" of the lordship was the castle of Bellême, constructed "a quarter of a league from the old dungeon of Bellême" in Maine. The second lord, William of Bellême, with the consent of Richard I, Duke of Normandy constructed two castles, one at Alençon and the other at Domfront, the caput of the lordship remained the castle of Bellême. Yet in a charter to the abbey of Lonlay of the lands of Neustria Pia, he describes himself as William "princeps" and "provinciae principatum gerens" indicating he considered himself an independent ruler or prince of his own domains. His sons Fulk and Warin died in his lifetime leaving Robert as his heir. Robert de Bellême died a prisoner leaving the fourth son, Ives as lord of Bellême, who shortly thereafter became Bishop of Séez. William Talvas, held the lands of Bellême in right of his brother Bishop Ives who retained the Lordship himself until his death at which time William came into possession of the lands of Bellême, Domfront and Alençon. After the infamous incident (see below) with William fitz Giroie, his kinsmen sacked and destroyed the lands of William Talvas who would not face them in the field. In turn Talvas' son Arnulf rebelled and exiled his father, now reviled by everyone. He wandered until he was taken in by the de Montgomery family whose son Roger agreed to marry his daughter Mabel in return for the lands William lost. Mabel inherited all the vast estates of her father (and in 1079 those of her uncle Bishop Ives) and married the heir of one of the most prominent families in Normandy, Roger de Montgomery, who became the 1st Earl of Shrewsbury.

Apogee and decline.

Mabel was succeeded by her son Robert of Bellême, 3rd Earl of Shrewsbury, who continued the aggressive policy of his mother. He built several castles to ensure control of the vast lordship of Bellême and held in total forty castles, including those of Alençon and Bellême, defends the territory and form a barrier to any attempt to bid. In 1098 Robert's younger brother Hugh died, and Robert inherited, on payment of £3,000 in relief, the English properties that had been their father's, including the Rape of Arundel and the Earldom of Shrewsbury. Robert had also acquired the countship of Ponthieu "jure uxoris" and the honor of Tickhill; all of which combined made him the wealthiest magnate in both England and Normandy. Robert rebelled repeatedly against the King of England and Duke of Normandy. In 1112 Robert was sent as an envoy of the French king to Henry I at his court at Bonneville whereas Henry seized Robert and imprisoned him. Robert spent the rest of his life as a prisoner; the exact date of his death is not known.

Bellême family bishops.

Even as early as the latter half of the tenth century members of this family held the bishoprics of Le Mans and Séez. Seinfroy (Seginfredus) sought the bishopric of Le Mans and offered Geoffrey I, Count of Anjou the hamlet of Coulaines and the villa of Dissay-sue-Courcillon including all fiscal rights if he could use his influence. Geoffrey interceded with King Lothair to obtain the see for Seinfroy who became Bishop. Geoffrey's choice of bishop proved to be a useful ally against the counts of Maine. Although their parentage is unknown, his sister, Godeheut, was the wife of Yves de Bellême. He was followed as Bishop of Le Mans in 997 by his nephew, Avesgaud de Bellême, son of Godeheut and Yves de Bellême. Throughout most of his reign as bishop he and Herbert Wakedog were locked in a bitter and seemingly endless power struggle. At Avesgaud's death in 1036 his nephew Gervais de Bellême, son of his sister Hildeburge de Bellême succeeded him as Bishop of Le Mans.

Notoriety.

The chroniclers of ducal Normandy, William of Jumieges and Orderic Vitalis depict several members of the family as cruel and deceptive. While William Talvas was as treacherous and self-serving as any of his family before him he surpassed them in wickedness and cruelty. He had married a Hildeburg, daughter of a nobleman named Arnulf, but he had his wife strangled on her way to church, according to Orderic, because she loved God and would not support his wickedness. Then on the occasion of his second wedding, William Talvas invited one of his vassals William fitz Giroie to attend. Suspecting nothing, fitz Giroie, while a guest at the festivities, was suddenly seized by Talvas' men and imprisoned, then according to Orderic horribly mutilated and blinded before being released. Somehow William Giroie survived his torture and mutilation and retired to Bec Abbey to live out the remainder of his life as a monk.  Of all of Orderic's female subjects William's daughter Mabel was the most cunning and treacherous; if not entirely for her own misdeeds then as the mother of Robert de Bellême, who had a reputation for savagery as well as cruelty. In one passage Orderic describes her as "small, very talkative, ready enough to do evil, shrewd and jocular, extremely cruel and daring. Mabel was hostile to most members of the clergy; but her husband loved the monks at Saint-Evroul so she found it necessary to be more subtle. She deliberately burdened their limited resources by visiting the abbey for extended stays with a large retinue of her soldiers. When rebuked by Theodoric the abbot for her callousness she snapped back that the next time she would visit with an even larger group. The abbot predicted that if she did not repent of her evilness she would suffer great pains and that very evening she did. She left the abbey in great haste as well as in great pain and did not abuse their hospitality again. In continuing her family's feud with the Giroie family she set her sights on Arnold de Echauffour, she son of William fitz Giroie who her father had mutilated at his wedding celebration. She attempted to poison Arnold of Echauffour by placing it in a glass of wine but he declined to drink. Her husband's brother, Gilbert, refreshing himself after a long ride, drank the wine and died shortly thereafter. In the end though she bribed Arnold's chamberlain providing him with the necessary poison, this time being successful. In 1077 she took the hereditary lands of Hugh Bunel by force. Two years later while resting after a bath, she was murdered in her bed by the same Hugh Bunel  But, Orderic Vitalis may have been most strongly biased against Robert de Bellême and his treatment of that magnate belies a moral interpretation of his actions. The basis for Orderic's animosity towards Robert and his de Bellême predecessors was the longstanding and bitter feud between the Giroie family, patrons of Orderic's Abbey of Saint-Evroul, and the de Bellême family. William Talvas (de Bellême), Robert's grandfather, had blinded and mutilated William fitz Giroie. Robert did at times appropriate church properties and was not a major donor to any ecclesiastical house. But Robert's attitudes toward the church are typical of many of his contemporaries; certainly no worse than the secular rulers and other magnates of his day. The assessment of William II Rufus by R.W. Southern could well apply to Robert de Bellême as well: "His life was given over to military designs, and to the raising of money to make them possible; for everything that did not minister to those ends he showed a supreme contempt".

Prominent members.

The five generations of this well-known if not notorious family are represented by:

House of Bellême also referred to as the Family of Bellême was an important seigneurial family during the 10th through the 12th centuries. Members of this family held the important castles of Bellême, Alençon, Domfront and Sées as well as extensive lands in France, Normandy and Maine.

Bellême war eine Adelsfamilie, die vom 10. bis zum Ende des 11. Jahrhunderts in der Normandie und in Maine existierte. Rechnet man die Nachkommen in weiblicher Linie dazu, die den Namen Bellême führten, aber zum Haus Montgommery gehörten, erreichte die Familie den Höhepunkt ihrer Macht sogar erst im 12. Jahrhundert.


Etymology.

Kralendijk is a degeneration of the Dutch word, which means "coral dike."

History.

Fort Oranje was built in 1639 to defend Bonaire's main harbor. The fort was extensively modified during the end of the seventeenth century. The English settlement of "Playa" was established adjacent to the fort in 1810. The town was renamed "Kralendijk" by the Dutch colonial rulers in about 1840.  On May 10, 1940, 461 Dutch and German citizens were transported to Bonaire and interned in a camp just south of the fort. After World War II, this camp was converted into a hotel, which is now the Divi Bonaire.

Climate.

Kralendijk has a hot semi-arid climate (Köppen "BSh") with uniformly hot, humid but dry weather due to the divergence between the trade winds and the North American Monsoon, along with a strong drying effect from winds parallel to the coast of South America. There is a short rainy season between October and January due to stronger northeasterly flow during the retreat of the monsoon; however it is erratic and heavily influenced by the Southern Oscillation, frequently failing completely during El Niño years. During La Niña years, however, rainfall may reach up to over a year and over in a month as happened during 1970/1971, 1988/1989, 1999/2000 and 2010/2011.

Sights and activities.

The Tourism Corporation Bonaire has a "Historical Walking Tour" brochure that lists 25 historical sites in the downtown area: In addition to the stores on the main street (Kaya Grandi), there is a large food market (Cultimara) and a bakery (Exito) on Kaya L.D. Gerharts. There are two warehouse-type food markets on Kaya Industria, on the way to Flamingo International Airport.  The "Public Beach", also known as Windsock, is located south of downtown at the west end of the runway of the Flamingo International Airport. Another public beach is at the site of the Bonaire Sunset Beach Hotel about two kilometres () north of downtown.

Transportation.

Kralendijk is served by Flamingo International Airport and a cruise ship terminal. Taxis are available in town and at the airport. There is no public bus service, but collective taxis run between Kralendijk and Rincon. Car rentals are available at the airport. Bicycle and scooter rentals are available in town. Water taxi service goes to Klein Bonaire and several resort areas departing from the centre of Kralendijk.

Economy.

Previously Dutch Antilles Express, a now-defunct airline, had its head office in the Plasa Medardo SV Thielman in Kralendijk. In April 2007 the airline moved its head office from Bonaire to Curaçao, where the airline's flight operations had been based. The airline's call centre and its revenue accounting and handling departments remained in Bonaire.

Kralendijk () is the capital city and main port of the island of Bonaire in the Caribbean Netherlands. The language spoken in the town is Papiamentu, but Dutch and English are widely used., the town had a population of 3,061. In Papiamentu, the town is often called "Playa" or "beach".

Kralendijk ist der Hauptort von Bonaire, einer niederländischen Insel der kleinen Antillen nördlich von Venezuela. Südlich der Stadt liegt der Flamingo International Airport.


Early life.

The younger daughter of Francis "Frank" Marion Dee and his wife, the former Henriette Putnam, Frances Marion Dee was born in Los Angeles, California, where her father was working as a civil-service examiner.  When Dee was seven years old, her family moved to Chicago, Illinois. She attended Shakespeare Grammar School and Hyde Park High School, where she went by the nickname of Frankie Dee.  After graduating from Hyde Park High in 1927, of which she was vice president of her senior class, as well as voted Belle of the Year, she spent two years at the University of Chicago, where she participated in dramatic activities, before returning to California.

Career.

Following her sophomore year in 1929, she went on summer vacation with her mother and older sister to visit family in the Los Angeles, California area. She began working as a movie extra as a lark. Her big break came when, still an extra, she was offered the lead opposite Maurice Chevalier in "Playboy of Paris".  The audience appeal established in two films opposite Paramount stars Charles "Buddy" Rogers and Richard Arlen, led to the co-starring role as Sondra Finchley, opposite Phillips Holmes and Sylvia Sidney, in Paramount Pictures's prestigious, and controversial, production of "An American Tragedy", directed by Josef von Sternberg.  Dee's additional screen credits included "June Moon", "Little Women", "Of Human Bondage", "Becky Sharp", and "Payment on Demand". She co-starred with her husband Joel McCrea in the Western "Four Faces West" (1948).

Personal life.

Dee met actor Joel McCrea on the set of the 1933 film "The Silver Cord". The couple married on October 20, 1933, after a whirlwind courtship, and remained married until McCrea's death in 1990. During their lifetime together, the McCreas lived, raised their children, and rode their horses on their ranch in what was then an unincorporated area of eastern Ventura County, California. They ultimately donated several hundred acres of their personal property to the newly formed Conejo Valley YMCA for the city of Thousand Oaks, California, both of which celebrated their 40th anniversaries in 2004. She, like Joel, was a Republican.  Joel McCrea died on their 57th wedding anniversary. Their three sons, including the actor Jody McCrea, and many grandchildren, also survived McCrea. She was honored at the 1998 Memphis Film Festival in Mississippi. In 2004, Frances Dee McCrea died in Norwalk, Connecticut, due to complications from a stroke at the age of 94. Jody McCrea died in 2009.

Frances Marion Dee (November 26, 1909 – March 6, 2004) was an American actress. She starred opposite Maurice Chevalier in the early talkie musical, "Playboy of Paris" (1930). She starred in the film "An American Tragedy" (1931) in a role later recreated by Elizabeth Taylor in the 1951 retitled remake, "A Place in the Sun". She also had a prominent role in the classic 1943 Val Lewton psychological horror film "I Walked With a Zombie".

Frances Dee (* 26. November 1909 in Los Angeles, Kalifornien; † 3. Juni 2004 in Norwalk, Connecticut, eigentlich: "Frances Marion Dee" – andere Quellen: "Jean Dee") war eine US-amerikanische Schauspielerin, die ihre besten Rollen in der frühen Tonfilmzeit spielte.


History.

Trentino Volley was founded on May 23, 2000; and two days later, it purchased the rights to play in the Serie A1 (Italy's First Division) from Ravenna, that had retired due to financial problems. The club played its first Serie A1 match in Parma on October 15, 2000, against Maxicono Parma, and was defeated 3–0. The first home match of the Trentino Volley was played on October 22, 2000, against Padova, and the home team came out victorious with a result of 3–2. Trentino Volley are by far the most successful side in the history of the FIVB Volleyball Men’s Club World Championship, having won the title a total of four times. However, the Italian club, founded in 2000 and based in the city of Trento in the northeast of the country, only managed a bronze in 2013, were knocked out during pool play in 2014 (ending up 5th) and missed out on the 2015 edition of the competition. During its first two seasons, the team managed a tenth, and a ninth place finish at the end of the regular season.  Players acquired by the team in his first Italian Serie A years included Lorenzo Bernardi and Andrea Sartoretti. In the summer of 2007 Trentino Volley made substantial purchases, as part of a strategy that would focus on a young team with talented players, such as Serbian Nikola Grbić, Bulgarians Vladimir Nikolov and Matey Kaziyski and Italian Emanuele Birarelli. Itas Trentino Diatec ended the following regular season with a first-place finish, and stepped into the finals. On May 7, 2008 Trentino Volley defeated Piacenza 3–0, to win its first national championship title, and gain access to the CEV Champions League 2008–2009.  Trento run undefeated in the pool stages, with a first-place finish in Group E. On April 5, 2009, at the "O2 Arena" in Prague, Trento defeated Iraklis Thessaloniki 3–1 in the final. In 2009, the team flew to Doha (Qatar), to compete in the FIVB Men's Club World Volleyball Championship. On Sunday November 8, Trentino Betclic won the final, with a score of 3–0 against the Poles of Skra Bełchatów, and became FIVB Club World Champion. In 2010, it won the Italian Cup and then successfully defended its Champions League title with a 3–0 victory (25–12, 25–20, 25–21) over Dynamo Moscow.

Symbols.

Club logos and brand names are composed of a red ball. The eagle is the symbol of the club, Autonomous province of Trento is the club's flag.

Stadium.

The PalaTrento arena has always been the place where the club's at home games have been disputed, ever since its opening in 2000 during the first at home game in the history of Trentino Volley (Itas Diatec Trentino-European Padua 3–2 on October 22, 2000), The arena is in the south of the city of Trento on the Ghiaie sport groundsthat also includes the PalaGhiaccio, a football field, and a ballpark.

Kit providers.

The table below shows the history of kit providers for the Trentino team.

Sponsorship.

Primary sponsors include: main sponsors like Diatec Group other sponsors: Volkswagen, Consorzio Melinda, Dorigoni Trento, Scania, Mediocredito Italiano, McDonald's, Intesa Sanpaolo, Marzadro Distillery, Südtiroler Volksbank, Grand Hotel Trento, Sparco, Forst, Superpoli, Menz & Gasser and Policura.

Diatec Trentino is a professional Italian volleyball team based in Trento, in northern Italy. It plays in the Italian Volleyball League without interruption since 2000. It has won four times the Italian Volleyball League, the Italian Cup, the Italian Super Cup, three consecutive times the CEV Champions League and a record four consecutive times the FIVB Men's Club World Volleyball Championship. In the 2010–11 season it won national, continental and world championship. It was the first team in volleyball history to have done that.

Trentino Volley, auch bekannt als "ITAS Diatec Trentino", ist ein italienischer Volleyball-Verein, der in der ersten italienischen Liga (Serie A1) spielt.


Development.

Universal Classic Monsters began in the 1920s during the silent film era. "The Hunchback of Notre Dame" (1923) and "The Phantom of the Opera" (1925) are typically regarded as the first films to kick off Universal Pictures' series of horror films. Though, it is the latter film that holds the distinction of being the first Universal Classic Monsters film. This is because of the film's motifs and themes surrounding its antagonist, which can also be seen in further entries of the franchise.  In the 1925 film, Lon Chaney starred as the Phantom. The character haunts the Opéra Garnier in an attempt to make the woman he loves become an opera star. The interior of the Opéra Garnier was re-created to scale and was used again in the 1943 remake with Claude Rains.  In 1931, Bela Lugosi starred in Universal's "Dracula" and Boris Karloff portrayed the monster in "Frankenstein". Actors Dwight Frye and Edward Van Sloan, who played major supporting roles in both films, made several film appearances in this decade. Make-up artist Jack Pierce created several monsters' make-up starting in the 1930s.  "The Mummy" (1932) starring Karloff, was produced in 1932. Universal began releasing sequels including "Bride of Frankenstein" (1935) and "Dracula's Daughter" (1936). The first mainstream werewolf picture appeared, "Werewolf of London" (1935) starring Henry Hull.  The end of Universal's first run of horror films came in 1936. The monster movies were dropped from the production schedule altogether and would not re-emerge for another three years. In the meantime, a theater owner revived "Dracula" and "Frankenstein" as a resoundingly successful double feature, prompting the studio to re-release the original movies. "Son of Frankenstein" (1939), starring Basil Rathbone, Boris Karloff, and Bela Lugosi, was filmed as a result of the unexpected resurgence.  In 1941, Universal released "The Wolf Man" (1941), with Lon Chaney Jr.. The junior Chaney became the studio's leading monster movie actor in the 1940s, just as his father had been two decades earlier, supplanting the 1930s' Karloff and Lugosi by a wide margin in terms of the number of leading roles that he played. Chaney Jr. physically resembled his father apart from usually being somewhat overweight, which the senior Chaney never was. The studio dropped the "Jr." from the junior Chaney's billing almost immediately to confuse some in the audiences into assuming that this was the same actor.  In 1943, the studio released a "Phantom of the Opera" remake, this time starring Nelson Eddy and Susanna Foster with Claude Rains as the Phantom.  The "Frankenstein" and "Wolf Man" series continued with "The Ghost of Frankenstein" (1942), in which Chaney Jr. played Frankenstein's monster and Lugosi reprised his role as Ygor, and "Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man" (1943) with Lugosi as the monster and Chaney Jr. as the werewolf. "Son of Dracula" (1943) featured Chaney Jr. in Lugosi's original role as the Count. The "Mummy" series was also continued with "The Mummy's Hand" (1940), "The Mummy's Tomb" (1942), "The Mummy's Ghost" and "The Mummy's Curse" (both 1944) with Chaney Jr. as the Mummy in the last three films. "House of Frankenstein" (1944) and "House of Dracula" (1945) featured many of the monsters from the studio's previous films, with Glenn Strange taking over the Frankenstein's monster role from Karloff, albeit with only tiny increments of screen time in either picture.  As the decade drew to a close, the comedy "Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein" (1948) features Lugosi in only his second film as Count Dracula, alongside Chaney Jr. as Larry Talbot (the Wolf Man), and Glenn Strange reprising his role as Frankenstein's monster, albeit with minimal screen time again. Abbott and Costello also appeared in other comedy films featuring characters such as the Mummy and the Invisible Man.  "Creature from the Black Lagoon", directed by Jack Arnold, was released in 1954. "Dracula" and "Frankenstein" were re-released as double features in theatres, and were later broadcast in syndication on American television in 1957 as part of the "Shock Theater" package of Universal monster movies. Magazines such as "Famous Monsters of Filmland" covered the monster films. Universal spent the last half of the decade issuing a number of one-shot monster films.

Reboot.

Development.

Originally conceived as a cinematic universe that was officially titled the Dark Universe, with multiple crossovers and inter-connectivity between films, the label is now used colloquially by some media outlets to refer to Universal Pictures' rebooted franchises. Conceptualized as a shared universe, the studio had announced the projects in development with a press release announcing the intellectual property's title, a trailer, casting announcements, and official theme music composed by Danny Elfman. Casting included: Russell Crowe as Dr. Henry Jekyll / Mr. Edward Hyde, Javier Bardem as the Frankenstein's Monster, and Johnny Depp as The Invisible Man. They joined Tom Cruise and Sofia Boutella, as Nick Morton and Princess Ahmanet / The Mummy. Additional rebooted adaptations of characters was also announced, including: Van Helsing, the Wolf Man, the Creature from the Black Lagoon, the Phantom of the Opera, Dr. Henry Jekyll and Mr. Edward Hyde, and The Hunchback of Notre-Dame. Alex Kurtzman and Chris Morgan were announced as co-runners of the Dark Universe, with collaborations from David Koepp and Christopher McQuarrie.  After mixed critical reception to the first two installments, Universal halted development on further projects, while their plans for future releases was reassessed. Despite this, in May 2018 artist Robert Vargas announced from his social media account that he had attended a meeting with the studio and would collaborate on the Dark Universe character designs moving forward. During this period of time, Alex Kurtzman and Chris Morgan left their roles as co-architects of the franchise, while successful horror film producer Jason Blum had at various times publicly expressed his interest in reviving and working on future installments within the Dark Universe franchise. By January 2019, the studio announced plans to develop individualized films, with stand-alone installments.

Films.

"Dracula Untold" (2014).

The studio's first attempt at launching their shared universe, "Dracula Untold" was originally developed prior to the plans for a shared universe of horror films. The studio decided to retool the movie to be the first installment of the franchise, with re-shoots adding a modern-day setting at the end of the film. Starring Luke Evans as the eponymous role, the plot incorporated elements regarding the real-life Vlad Drăculea in an original story where he becomes the vampire, Dracula. Released on October 10, 2014, the film's mixed financial and critical reception resulted in the film's presence within the franchise to be downplayed. Evans has remained attached to the role, with potential to return in a future film.

"The Mummy" (2017).

Originally announcing plans for a reboot of "The Mummy" franchise in 2012, Universal marketed "The Mummy" as the first film in the Dark Universe. Alex Kurtzman served as director and co-writer, "The Mummy" was released on June 9, 2017. It received mixed-to-negative reviews from critics. Universal deemed the domestic ticket sales to be, underwhelming box office returns. Due to the mixed reception, Universal removed additional films from their scheduled release dates, while the future of the franchise was reassessed. As of June 2020, It remains as the first and only installment of the Dark Universe.

"The Invisible Man" (2020).

The project was initially announced in February 2016 as a part of the Dark Universe with Johnny Depp cast in the lead role, and a script by Ed Solomon. By January 2019, it was announced to be retooled as a stand-alone feature film written and directed by Leigh Whannell with an acknowledgement that Depp had the option to remain cast as the titular monster. The project was a joint-production between Universal Pictures, Blumhouse Productions, Nervous Tick, and Goalpost Pictures. Jason Blum and Kylie du Fresne served as the producers.  Elisabeth Moss and Oliver Jackson-Cohen were cast as the lead characters, Cecilia Kass and Adrian Griffin / the Invisible Man, respectively. Principle photography commenced in July 2019, and continued into September 2019. "The Invisible Man" was released on February 28, 2020. Later, Whannell stated that the movie was developed as a stand-alone installment, and was not developed with a greater cinematic universe in mind. This is not part of the planned Dark Universe.

In other media.

Theme park attractions.

Since 1991, Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Parks & Resorts have featured characters from the Universal Classic Monsters franchise. From 2006 to 2014, the characters also appeared in the year-round walk-through attraction, Universal's House of Horrors, at Universal Studios Hollywood. The franchise is also the central theme of Universal's Horror Make-Up Show. The live show opened in 1990 at Universal Studios Florida and is still in operation.  In 2004, Revenge of the Mummy opened at Universal Studios Florida and Universal Studios Hollywood. Based on the first two Mummy films of the remake era, the ride is a roller coaster with dark ride elements. Recent reports indicate the franchise will be conceptualized as a brand new land opening at Universal's Epic Universe.

Universal Classic Monsters is a name given to the horror, fantasy, thriller and science fiction films made by Universal Pictures during the decades of the 1920s through the 1950s. They were the first shared universe in the entire movie industry in Hollywood and around the world. They began with "The Phantom of the Opera", a silent film starring Lon Chaney. Universal Classic Monsters continued with talkies including core monsters in the franchise "Dracula", "Frankenstein", "The Mummy", "The Invisible Man", "The Wolf Man" and "Creature from the Black Lagoon". The films often featured Bela Lugosi, Boris Karloff and Lon Chaney Jr.

Universal-Horror oder Universal Monsters ist die Bezeichnung für eine Reihe klassischer Horrorfilme der Universal Studios von den 1920er bis zu den 1950er Jahren.


Mechanisms.

Several models have been proposed for the genetic mechanisms of haplodiploid sex-determination. The model most commonly referred to is the "complementary allele model". According to this model, if an individual is heterozygous for a certain locus, it develops into a female, whereas hemizygous and homozygous individuals develop into males. In other words, diploid offspring develop from fertilized eggs, and are normally female, while haploid offspring develop into males from unfertilized eggs. Diploid males would be infertile, as their cells would not undergo meiosis to form sperm. Therefore, the sperm would be diploid, which means that their offspring would be triploid. Since hymenopteran mother and sons share the same genes, they may be especially sensitive to inbreeding: Inbreeding reduces the number of different sex alleles present in a population, hence increasing the occurrence of diploid males.  After mating, each fertile hymenopteran female stores sperm in an internal sac called the spermatheca. The mated female controls the release of stored sperm from within the organ: If she releases sperm as an egg passes down her oviduct, the egg is fertilized. Social bees, wasps, and ants can modify sex ratios within colonies which maximizes relatedness among members and generates a workforce appropriate to surrounding conditions. In other solitary hymenopterans, the females lay unfertilized male eggs on poorer food sources while laying the fertilized female eggs on better food sources, possibly because the fitness of females will be more adversely affected by shortages in their early life. Sex ratio manipulation is also practiced by haplodiploid ambrosia beetles, who lay more male eggs when the chances for males to disperse and mate with females in different sites are greater.

Sex-determination in honey bees.

In honeybees, the drones (males) are entirely derived from the queen, their mother. The diploid queen has 32 chromosomes and the haploid drones have 16 chromosomes. Drones produce sperm cells that contain their entire genome, so the sperm are all genetically identical except for mutations. The male bees' genetic makeup is therefore entirely derived from the mother, while the genetic makeup of the female worker bees is half derived from the mother, and half from the father. Thus, if a queen bee mates with only one drone, any two of her daughters will share, on average, of their genes. The diploid queen's genome is recombined for her daughters, but the haploid father's genome is inherited by his daughters "as is". It is also possible for a laying worker bee to lay an unfertilised egg, which is always a male.  There are rare instances of diploid drone larvae. This phenomenon usually arises when there is more than two generations of brother-sister mating. Sex determination in honey bees is initially due to a single locus, called the complementary sex determiner ("csd") gene. In developing bees, if the conditions are that the individual is heterozygous for the "csd" gene, they will develop into females. If the conditions are so that the individual is hemizygous or homozygous for the "csd" gene, they will develop into males. The instances where the individual is homozygous at this gene are the instances of diploid males. Diploid males do not survive to adulthood, as the nurse worker bees will cannibalize the diploid males upon hatching.  While workers can lay unfertilized eggs that become their sons, haplodiploid sex-determination system increases the individual's fitness due to indirect selection. Since the worker is more related to the queen's daughters (her sisters) than to her own offspring, helping the queen's offspring to survive helps the spread of the same genes that the worker possesses more efficiently than direct reproduction.  Batches of worker bees are short lived and are constantly being replaced by the next batch, so this kin selection is possibly a strategy to ensure the proper working of the hive. However, since queens usually mate with a dozen drones or more, not all workers are full sisters. Due to the separate storage of drone sperm, a specific batch of brood may be more closely related than a specific batch of brood laid at a later date. However, many other species of bees, including bumblebees, such as "Bombus terrestris", are monandrous. This means that sisters are almost always more related to one another than they would be to their own offspring, thus eliminating the conflict of variable relatedness present in honeybees.

Relatedness ratios in haplodiploidy.

Relatedness is used to calculate the strength of kin selection (via Hamilton's rule). The haplodiploidy hypothesis proposes that the unusual relatedness coefficient amongst full haplodiploid sisters is responsible for the frequency of evolution of eusocial behavior in hymenopterans. A eusocial worker helping her mother birth more sisters propagates more of her own genes than had she reproduced herself.  In normal sexual reproduction, the father has two sets of chromosomes, and crossing over takes place between the chromatids of each pair during the meiosis which produces the sperm. Therefore, "the sperms are not identical", because in each chromosome of a pair there will be different alleles at many of the loci. But when the father is haploid "all the sperms are identical" (except for a small number where gene mutations have taken place in the germ line). So, all female offspring inherit the male's chromosomes 100% intact. "As long as a female has mated with only one male", all her daughters share a complete set of chromosomes from that male. In Hymenoptera, the males generally produce enough sperm to last the female for her whole lifetime after a single mating event with that male.  Relatedness coefficients in haplodiploid organisms are as follows, assuming that a female has only mated once. These ratios apply, for example, throughout a bee hive, unless some laying workers produce offspring, which will all be males from unfertilised eggs: in that case, average relatedness will be lower than shown.  Under this assumption that mothers only mate once, sisters are more strongly related to each other than to their own daughters. This fact has been used to explain the evolution of eusociality in many hymenopterans. However, colonies which have workers from multiple queens or queens which have mated multiple times will have worker-to-worker relatedness which is less than worker-to-daughter relatedness, such as in "Melipona scutellaris".

Haplodiploidy is a sex-determination system in which males develop from unfertilized eggs and are haploid, and females develop from fertilized eggs and are diploid. Haplodiploidy is sometimes called arrhenotoky.

Als Haplodiploidie bezeichnet man eine Form der Geschlechtsdetermination, bei der ein Geschlecht nur einen Chromosomensatz trägt (haploid) und das andere Geschlecht den doppelten Chromosomensatz (diploid). Üblicherweise ist das männliche Geschlecht haploid.


Music career.

Static started his producing career when he signed Swing Mob. Major made a breakthrough working with R&B singer Ginuwine. Major helped produce the song "Pony" which became a major hit and a milestone in both Major's and Timbaland's careers. He later became a member of the Def Jam group Playa, who were most known for their hit single "Cheers 2 U". Playa released an album of the same name in 1998.  After working with Ginuwine, Static assisted in producing songs for Nicole Wray for her 1998 debut album, "Make It Hot". Static Major would eventually become the lead songwriter for the late R&B singer Aaliyah. His songwriting collaborations with Aaliyah include: "Are You That Somebody?", which was featured in the "Dr. Dolittle" soundtrack, and the "Romeo Must Die" soundtrack singles "Come Back in One Piece" and her first and only number-one "Billboard" Hot 100 single "Try Again". The songs "More than a Woman," "We Need a Resolution," "Rock the Boat", "Loose Rap" (which he was also featured on), "Extra Smooth", "I Refuse", "Read Between the Lines", "Those Were The Days," and "Never No More" were all featured on her third and final studio album "Aaliyah". He earned Aaliyah four top 25 "Billboard" Hot 100 singles during his time working with the late R&B star.  Static was frequently a collaborator with R&B group Pretty Ricky, working with them on several songs, including "Juicy", from their 2005 album "Bluestars". His most recent work producing music was Lil Wayne's "Lollipop" from the album "Tha Carter III". "Suppertime" is the solo album that Static Major was reportedly set to release on OG Music/Blackground in 2008. Static worked along with Rudy Sandapa in producing "Fire Lovin'" by R&B musician Pleasure P on his album "The Introduction of Marcus Cooper". Static had numerous leaked demos for Pleasure and many other artists including Aaliyah and JoJo. "I stay in the streets, that's where I draw my inspiration," Static Major said describing where he gets his inspiration. "If it can't be played in the hood, then it just doesn't work for me. And nobody can hold me on harmony. My whole aura is not your typical R&B aura." Static re-emerged posthumously in 2018 on Drake's album Scorpion on the song "After Dark".

Death.

Garrett died at Baptist Hospital East in Louisville, Kentucky on February 25, 2008. No cause of death was released, but it was reported that he had suffered a suspected brain aneurysm.

Stephen Ellis Garrett (November 11, 1974 – February 25, 2008), also known as Static Major or Static/Major, was a Grammy Award-winning American recording artist and record producer from Louisville, Kentucky. He was a member of the R&B trio Playa. Static Major gained posthumous fame for writing and appearing on Lil Wayne's 2008 album "Tha Carter III" on the song "Lollipop". He was a songwriter for several artists, including Aaliyah, Ginuwine, Pretty Ricky, and Destiny's Child.

Stephen Garrett (* 11. November 1974 in Louisville, Kentucky; † 25. Februar 2008 ebenda) war ein US-amerikanischer Hip-Hop- und Contemporary-R&B-Produzent, Rapper und Sänger, der unter dem Pseudonym Static bzw. Static Major bekannt wurde. Er war Mitglied des R&B-Trios Playa und arbeitete als Produzent und Songwriter unter anderem für Aaliyah, Ginuwine, Destiny’s Child, Brandy und JoJo.


Startup actions.

Startups typically begin by a founder (solo-founder) or co-founders who have a way to solve a problem. The founder of a startup will begin market validation by problem interview, solution interview, and building a minimum viable product (MVP), i.e. a prototype, to develop and validate their business models. The startup process can take a long period of time (by some estimates, three years or longer), and hence sustaining effort is required. Sustaining effort over the long term is especially challenging, because of the high failure rates and uncertain outcomes.

Design principles.

Models behind startups presenting as ventures are usually associated with design science. Design science uses design principles considered to be a coherent set of normative ideas and propositions to design and construct the company backbone. For example, one of the initial design principles in effectuate is "affordable loss".  It's better to first make a must-have for a small number of users (early adopters) than a nice-to-have for a large number of users. It is much easier to get more users than to go from nice-to-have to must-have.

Heuristics and biases in startup actions.

Because of the lack of information, high uncertainty, the need to make decisions quickly, founders of startups use lots of heuristics and exhibit biases in their startup actions. Biases and heuristics are parts of our cognitive toolboxes in the decision making process, and they help us to take a decision as quick as possible under uncertainty, but sometimes become erroneous and fallacious.  Entrepreneurs often become not only overconfident about their startups but also about their personal influence on an outcome (case of "the illusion of control"). Entrepreneurs tend to believe they have more degree of control over events, discounting the role of luck. Below are some of the most important decision biases of entrepreneurs to start up a new business.  Startups use a number of action principles (lean startup) to generate evidence as quickly as possible to reduce the downside effect of decision biases such as an escalation of commitment, overconfidence, and the illusion of control.

Mentoring.

Many entrepreneurs seek feedback from mentors in creating their startups. Mentors guide founders and impart entrepreneurial skills and may increase self-efficacy of the nascent entrepreneurs. Mentoring offers direction for entrepreneurs for the purpose of enhancing their knowledge on how to sustain their asset relating to their status and identity, along with the enhancement of their real-time skills.

Startup principles.

There are many principles in creating a startup.

Lean startup.

Lean startup is a popular set of principles to create and design startups under limited resources and tremendous uncertainty to build their ventures more flexibly and at lower cost. It is based on the idea that entrepreneurs can make their implicit assumptions about how their venture works explicit and empirically testing it. The empirical test is to de/validate these assumptions and to get an engaged understanding of the business model of the new ventures, and in doing so, the new ventures are created iteratively in a build–measure–learn loop. Hence, lean startup is a set of principles for entrepreneurial learning and business model design. More precisely, it is a set of design principles aimed for iteratively experiential learning under uncertainty in an engaged empirical manner. Typically, lean startup focuses on a few lean principles:

Market validation.

A key principle of startup is to validate the market need before providing a customer-centric product or service to avoid business ideas with weak demand. Market validation can be done in a number of ways, including surveys, cold calling, email responses, word of mouth or through sample research.

Design thinking.

Design thinking is used to understand the customers' need in an engaged manner. Design thinking and customer development can be biased because they do not remove the risk of bias because the same biases will manifest themselves in the sources of information, the type of information sought, and the interpretation of that information. Encouraging people to “consider the opposite” of whatever decision they are about to make tends to reduce biases such as overconfidence, the hindsight bias, and anchoring (Larrick, 2004; Mussweiler, Strack, & Pfeiffer, 2000).

Decision-making under uncertainty.

In startups, many decisions are made under uncertainty, and hence a key principle for startups is to be agile and flexible. Founders can embed options to design startups in flexible manners, so that the startups can change easily in future.  Uncertainty can vary within-person (I feel more uncertain this year than last year) and between-person (he feels more uncertain than she does). A study found that when entrepreneurs feel more uncertain, they identify more opportunities (within-person difference), but entrepreneurs who perceive more uncertainties than others do not identify more opportunities than others do (no between-person difference).

Partnering.

Startups may form partnerships with other firms to enable their business model to operate. To become attractive to other businesses, startups need to align their internal features, such as management style and products with the market situation. In their 2013 study, Kask and Linton develop two ideal profiles, or also known as configurations or archetypes, for startups that are commercializing inventions. The "inheritor" profile calls for a management style that is not too entrepreneurial (more conservative) and the startup should have an incremental invention (building on a previous standard). This profile is set out to be more successful (in finding a business partner) in a market that has a dominant design (a clear standard is applied in this market). In contrast to this profile is the "originator" which has a management style that is highly entrepreneurial and in which a radical invention or a disruptive innovation (totally new standard) is being developed. This profile is set out to be more successful (in finding a business partner) in a market that does not have a dominant design (established standard). New startups should align themselves to one of the profiles when commercializing an invention to be able to find and be attractive to a business partner. By finding a business partner, a startup has greater chances of becoming successful.  Startups usually need many different partners to realize their business idea. The commercialization process is often a bumpy road with iterations and new insights during the process. Hasche and Linton (2018) argue that startups can learn from their relationships with other firms, and even if the relationship ends, the startup can have gained valuable knowledge about how it should move on. When a relationship is failing for a startup it needs to make changes. Three types of changes can be identified according to Hasche and Linton (2018):

Entrepreneurial learning.

Startups need to learn at a huge speed before running out of resources. Proactive actions (experimentation, searching, etc.) enhance a founder's learning to start a company. To learn effectively, founders often formulate falsifiable hypotheses, build a minimum viable product (MVP), and conduct A/B testing.

Business Model Design.

With the key learnings from market validation, design thinking, and lean startup, founders can design a business model. However it's important not to dive into business models too early before there is sufficient learning on market validation. Paul Graham said "What I tell founders is not to sweat the business model too much at first. The most important task at first is to build something people want. If you don’t do that, it won’t matter how clever your business model is."

Founders/entrepreneurs.

Founders or co-founders are people involved in the initial launch of startup companies. Anyone can be a co-founder, and an existing company can also be a co-founder, but the most common co-founders are founder-CEOs, engineers, hackers, web developers, web designers and others involved in the ground level of a new, often venture. The founder that is responsible for the overall strategy of the startup plays the role of founder-CEOs, much like CEOs in established firms.  The language of securities regulation in the United States considers co-founders to be "promoters" under Regulation D. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission definition of "Promoter" includes: (i) Any person who, acting alone or in conjunction with one or more other persons, directly or indirectly takes initiative in founding and organizing the business or enterprise of an issuer; However, not every promoter is a co-founder. In fact, there is no formal, legal definition of what makes somebody a co-founder. The right to call oneself a co-founder can be established through an agreement with one's fellow co-founders or with permission of the board of directors, investors, or shareholders of a startup company. When there is no definitive agreement (like shareholders' agreement), disputes about who the co-founders are can arise.

Self-efficacy.

Self-efficacy refers to the confidence an individual has to create a new business or startup. It has a strong relation with startup actions. Entrepreneurs' sense of self-efficacy can play a major role in how they approach goals, tasks, and challenges. Entrepreneurs with high self-efficacy—that is, those who believe they can perform well—are more likely to view difficult tasks as something to be mastered rather than something to be avoided.

Stress.

Entrepreneurs often feel stressed. They have internal and external pressures. Internally, they need to meet deadlines to develop the prototypes and get the product or service ready for market. Externally they are expected to meet milestones of investors and other stakeholders to ensure continued resources from them on the startups. Coping with stress is critical to entrepreneurs because of the stressful nature of start up a new firm under uncertainty. Coping with stress unsuccessfully could lead to emotional exhaustion, and the founders may close or exit the startups.

Emotional exhaustion.

Sustaining effort is required as the startup process can take a long period of time, by one estimate, three years or longer (Carter et al., 1996; Reynolds & Miller, 1992). Sustaining effort over the long term is especially challenging because of the high failure rates and uncertain outcomes.

Founder identity and culture.

Some startup founders have a more casual or offbeat attitude in their dress, office space and marketing, as compared to executives in established corporations. For example, startup founders in the 2010s may wear hoodies, sneakers and other casual clothes to business meetings. Their offices may have recreational facilities in them, such as pool tables, ping pong tables, football tables and pinball machines, which are used to create a fun work environment, stimulate team development and team spirit, and encourage creativity. Some of the casual approaches, such as the use of "flat" organizational structures, in which regular employees can talk with the founders and chief executive officers informally, are done to promote efficiency in the workplace, which is needed to get their business off the ground. In a 1960 study, Douglas McGregor stressed that punishments and rewards for uniformity in the workplace are not necessary because some people are born with the motivation to work without incentives. Some startups do not use a strict command and control hierarchical structure, with executives, managers, supervisors and employees. Some startups offer employees incentives such as stock options, to increase their "buy in" from the start up (as these employees stand to gain if the company does well). This removal of stressors allows the workers and researchers in the startup to focus less on the work environment around them, and more on achieving the task at hand, giving them the potential to achieve something great for both themselves and their company.

Failure.

The failure rate of startup companies is very high. A 2014 article in "Fortune" estimated that 90% of startups ultimately fail. In a sample of 101 unsuccessful start ups, the top five factors in failure were lack of consumer interest in the product or service (42% of failures); funding or cash problems (29%); personnel or staffing problems (23%); competition from rival companies (19%); and problems with pricing of the product or service (18%); more than one factor can be cited as a cause for failure so these numbers add up to more than 100%. In cases of funding problems it can leave employees without paychecks. Sometimes these companies are purchased by other companies if they are deemed to be viable, but oftentimes they leave employees with very little recourse to recoup lost income for worked time.

Re-starters.

Failed entrepreneurs, or restarters, who after some time restart in the same sector with more or less the same activities, have an increased chance of becoming a better entrepreneur. However, some studies indicate that restarters are more heavily discouraged in Europe than in the US.

Startup training.

Many institutions and universities provide training on startups. In the context of universities, some of the courses are entrepreneurship courses that also deal with the topic of startups, while other courses are specifically dedicated to startups. Startup courses are found both in traditional economic or business disciplines as well as the side of information technology disciplines. As startups are often focused on software, they are also occasionally taught while focusing on software development alongside the business aspects of a startup.  "“The best way of learning about anything is by doing.” – Richard Branson"  Founders go through a lot to set up a startup. A startup requires patience and resilience, and training programs need to have both the business components and the psychological components. Entrepreneurship education is effective in increasing the entrepreneurial attitudes and perceived behavioral control, helping people and their businesses grow. Most of startup training falls into the mode of experiential learning (Cooper et al., 2004; Pittaway and Cope, 2007), in which students are exposed to a large extent to a real-life entrepreneurship context as new venture teams (Wu et al., 2009). An example of group-based experiential startup training is the Lean LaunchPad initiative that applies the principles of customer development (Blank and Dorf, 2012) and Lean Startup (Ries, 2011) to technology-based startup projects.  As startups are typically thought to operate under a notable lack of resources, have little or no operating history, and to consist of individuals with little practical experience, it is possible to simulate startups in a classroom setting with reasonable accuracy. In fact, it is not uncommon for students to actually participate in real startups during and after their studies. Similarly, university courses teaching software startup themes often have students found mock-up startups during the courses and encourage them to make them into real startups should they wish to do so. Such mock-up startups, however, may not be enough to accurately simulate real-world startup practice if the challenges typically faced by startups (e.g. lack of funding to keep operating) are not present in the course setting.  To date, much of the entrepreneurship training is yet personalized to match the participants and the training.

Startup ecosystem.

The size and maturity of the startup ecosystem is where a startup is launched and where it grows to have an effect on the volume and success of the startups. The startup ecosystem consists of the individuals (entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, angel investors, mentors, advisors); institutions and organizations (top research universities and institutes, business schools and entrepreneurship programs and centres operated by universities and colleges, non-profit entrepreneurship support organizations, government entrepreneurship programs and services, Chambers of commerce) business incubators and business accelerators and top-performing entrepreneurial firms and startups. A region with all of these elements is considered to be a "strong" startup ecosystem. One of the most famous startup ecosystems is Silicon Valley in California, where major computer and internet firms and top universities such as Stanford University create a stimulating startup environment, Boston (where Massachusetts Institute of Technology is located) and Berlin, home of WISTA (a top research area), numerous creative industries, leading entrepreneurs and startup firms.  Although there are startups created in all types of businesses, and all over the world, some locations and business sectors are particularly associated with startup companies. The internet bubble of the late 1990s was associated with huge numbers of internet startup companies, some selling the technology to provide internet access, others using the internet to provide services. Most of this startup activity was located in the most well-known startup ecosystem - Silicon Valley, an area of northern California renowned for the high level of startup company activity:  Startup advocates are also trying to build a community of tech startups in New York City with organizations like NY Tech Meet Up and Built in NYC. In the early 2000s, the patent assets of failed startup companies were being purchased by people known as patent trolls, who assert those patents against companies that might be infringing the technology covered by the patents.

Startup investing.

Startup investing is the action of making an investment in an early-stage company. Beyond founders' own contributions, some startups raise additional investment at some or several stages of their growth. Not all startups trying to raise investments are successful in their fundraising.  In the United States, the solicitation of funds became easier for startups as result of the JOBS Act. Prior to the advent of equity crowdfunding, a form of online investing that has been legalized in several nations, startups did not advertise themselves to the general public as investment opportunities until and unless they first obtained approval from regulators for an initial public offering (IPO) that typically involved a listing of the startup's securities on a stock exchange. Today, there are many alternative forms of IPO commonly employed by startups and startup promoters that do not include an exchange listing, so they may avoid certain regulatory compliance obligations, including mandatory periodic disclosures of financial information and factual discussion of business conditions by management that investors and potential investors routinely receive from registered public companies.  Investors are generally most attracted to those new companies distinguished by their strong co-founding team, a balanced "risk/reward" profile (in which high risk due to the untested, disruptive innovations is balanced out by high potential returns) and "scalability" (the likelihood that a startup can expand its operations by serving more markets or more customers). Attractive startups generally have lower "bootstrapping" (self-funding of startups by the founders) costs, higher risk, and higher potential return on investment. Successful startups are typically more scalable than an established business, in the sense that the startup has the potential to grow rapidly with a limited investment of capital, labor or land. Timing has often been the single most important factor for biggest startup successes, while at the same time it's identified to be one of the hardest things to master by many serial entrepreneurs and investors.  Startups have several options for funding. Revenue-based financing lenders can help startup companies by providing non-dilutive growth capital in exchange for a percentage of monthly revenue. Venture capital firms and angel investors may help startup companies begin operations, exchanging seed money for an equity stake in the firm. Venture capitalists and angel investors provide financing to a range of startups (a portfolio), with the expectation that a very small number of the startups will become viable and make money. In practice though, many startups are initially funded by the founders themselves using "bootstrapping", in which loans or monetary gifts from friends and family are combined with savings and credit card debt to finance the venture. Factoring is another option, though it is not unique to startups. Other funding opportunities include various forms of crowdfunding, for example equity crowdfunding, in which the startup seeks funding from a large number of individuals, typically by pitching their idea on the Internet.

Necessity of funding.

While some (would-be) entrepreneurs believe that they can't start a company without funding from VC, Angel, etc. That is not the case.

Startup valuations.

If a company's value is based on its technology, it is often equally important for the business owners to obtain intellectual property protection for their idea. The newsmagazine "The Economist" estimated that up to 75% of the value of US public companies is now based on their intellectual property (up from 40% in 1980). Often, 100% of a small startup company's value is based on its intellectual property. As such, it is important for technology-oriented startup companies to develop a sound strategy for protecting their intellectual capital as early as possible. Startup companies, particularly those associated with new technology, sometimes produce huge returns to their creators and investors—a recent example of such is Google, whose creators became billionaires through their stock ownership and options.

Investing rounds.

When investing in a startup, there are different types of stages in which the investor can participate. The first round is called seed round. The seed round generally is when the startup is still in the very early phase of execution when their product is still in the prototype phase. At this level angel investors will be the ones participating. The next round is called Series A. At this point the company already has traction and may be making revenue. In Series A rounds venture capital firms will be participating alongside angels or super angel investors. The next rounds are Series B, C, and D. These three rounds are the ones leading towards the IPO. Venture capital firms and private equity firms will be participating.

History of startup investing.

After the Great Depression, which was blamed in part on a rise in speculative investments in unregulated small companies, startup investing was primarily a word of mouth activity reserved for the friends and family of a startup's co-founders, business angels, and Venture Capital funds. In the United States, this has been the case ever since the implementation of the Securities Act of 1933. Many nations implemented similar legislation to prohibit general solicitation and general advertising of unregistered securities, including shares offered by startup companies. In 2005, a new Accelerator investment model was introduced by Y Combinator that combined fixed terms investment model with fixed period intense bootcamp style training program, to streamline the seed/early-stage investment process with training to be more systematic.  Following Y Combinator, many accelerators with similar models have emerged around the world. The accelerator model has since become very common and widely spread and they are key organizations of any Startup ecosystem. Title II of the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act (JOBS Act), first implemented on September 23, 2013, granted startups in and startup co-founders or promoters in US. the right to generally solicit and advertise publicly using any method of communication on the condition that only accredited investors are allowed to purchase the securities. However the regulations affecting equity crowdfunding in different countries vary a lot with different levels and models of freedom and restrictions. In many countries there are no limitations restricting general public from investing to startups, while there can still be other types of restrictions in place, like limiting the amount that companies can seek from investors. Due to positive development and growth of crowdfunding, many countries are actively updating their regulation in regards to crowdfunding.

Investing online.

The first known investment-based crowdfunding platform for startups was launched in Feb. 2010 by Grow VC, followed by the first US. based company ProFounder launching model for startups to raise investments directly on the site, but ProFounder later decided to shut down its business due regulatory reasons preventing them from continuing, having launched their model for US. markets prior to JOBS Act. With the positive progress of the JOBS Act for crowd investing in US., equity crowdfunding platforms like SeedInvest and CircleUp started to emerge in 2011 and platforms such as investiere, Companisto and Seedrs in Europe and OurCrowd in Israel. The idea of these platforms is to streamline the process and resolve the two main points that were taking place in the market. The first problem was for startups to be able to access capital and to decrease the amount of time that it takes to close a round of financing. The second problem was intended to increase the amount of deal flow for the investor and to also centralize the process.

Internal startups.

Internal startups are a form of corporate entrepreneurship. Large or well-established companies often try to promote innovation by setting up "internal startups", new business divisions that operate at arm's length from the rest of the company. Examples include Bell Labs, a research unit within Bell Corporation and Target Corporation (which began as an internal startup of the Dayton's department store chain) and threedegrees, a product developed by an internal startup of Microsoft. To accommodate startups internally, companies, such as Google has made strides to make purchased startups and their workers feel at home in their offices, even letting them bring their dogs to work.

Unicorns.

Some startups become big and they become unicorns, i.e. privately held startup companies valued at over US$1 billion. The term was coined in 2013 by venture capitalist Aileen Lee, choosing the mythical animal to represent the statistical rarity of such successful ventures. According to "TechCrunch", there were 279 unicorns as of March 2018, and most of the unicorns are in China, followed by the USA. The unicorns are concentrated in a few countries: China (131), US (76), India (14), UK (7), Indonesia (4), Argentina (4), Singapore (3), Switzerland (2), South Korea (2), Hong Kong (2), and 13 countries (1 each). The largest unicorns included Ant Financial, ByteDance, DiDi, Uber, Xiaomi, and Airbnb.

A startup or start-up is a company or project initiated by an entrepreneur to seek, effectively develop, and validate a scalable business model. While entrepreneurship refers to all new businesses, including self-employment and businesses that never intend to become registered, startups refer to the new businesses that intend to grow large beyond the solo founder. Startups face high uncertainty and have high rates of failure, but a minority of them do go on to be successful and influential. Some startups become unicorns, i.e. privately held startup companies valued at over US$1 billion.

Ein Start-up-Unternehmen (von = „gründen, in Gang setzen“), auch Startup-Unternehmen, oder kurz Start-up ist eine Unternehmensgründung mit einer innovativen Geschäftsidee und hohem Wachstumspotenzial. Der Begriff ist wirtschaftsgeschichtlich relativ neu.


Death of Callixtus III.

Pope Callixtus III, the first pope of the House of Borgia, died on August 6, 1458. He was severely criticized due to his nepotism and devotion towards his compatriots of Catalonia, making him very unpopular among the rather xenophobic Roman populace. After the Pope's death an open revolt against him broke out and some of his partisans (e.g. his nephew Pedro Luis de Borja) had to flee Rome.

List of participants.

At the time of Callixtus' death, there were 27 living cardinals, of whom 19 were in Rome, but on August 14 Cardinal Domenico Capranica, archpriest of the College, unexpectedly died. Participating in the conclave were 18 out of the 26 members of the Sacred College:  Eight electors were Italian, five Spaniards, two French, two Greeks and one Portuguese. Seven of them were created by Callistus III, six by Eugenius IV, four by Nicholas V and one by Martin V.

Absentees.

Eight cardinals did not participate in this conclave:  Of the absentee cardinals four were creations of Eugenius IV, two of Nicholas V and one of Callixtus III. Pierre de Foix was the last surviving cardinal of the Great Western Schism and was elevated by Pisan Antipope John XXIII.  Among them there were three French, two Germans, one Spaniard, one Italian and the one Hungarian.

Candidates to the papacy.

The principal concerns in the conclave of 1458 arose from the rapid rise of the effective power and influence of the French monarchy in the closing years of the Hundred Years War, which had recently ended with the French victory. The principal Italian states – Kingdom of Naples, Republic of Genoa and Duchy of Milan – feared a rebirth of French interest in Italian affairs and tried to prevent the elevation of a French pope at all costs. The official candidate of the Milanese was Domenico Capranica. The campaign for his election in the pre-conclave period was so successful that it appeared almost certain that he would be elected to the papacy. But Cardinal Capranica died suddenly on August 14, 1458, two days before the beginning of the conclave, leaving his party in great confusion. Ottone de Carretto, ambassador of Milan in Rome, made the quick and unconsulted decision to support Cardinal Enea Piccolomini and managed to convince Latino Orsini, one of the most influential cardinals, to back him in this action. The principal candidate of the pro-French party was d'Estouteville. Bessarion, Torquemada and Calandrini also were considered papabile.

The conclave.

Eighteen cardinals entered the conclave in Vatican on August 16. Initially they subscribed to the conclave capitulation, which obliged the elect to continue the crusade against the Ottoman Empire and to give more welfare to poorer cardinals.  The first scrutiny took place only on August 18. Cardinals Piccolomini and Calandrini received five votes each, while none of the others obtained more than three. At this point French Cardinal d'Estouteville started an intensive simonical campaign for his own candidature. He promised the office of Vice-Chancellor to the Cardinal of Avignon and offered other bribes to the Greek cardinals. On August 18 in the evening he was certain that he would obtain at least eleven votes on the following morning But the opposite Italian party also lost no time. During the night Cardinal Pietro Barbo called together all the other Italian cardinals except Prospero Colonna and proposed to them that, of them all, the one most likely to obtain the required majority of two thirds was Piccolomini, and that all should support him on the following day.

Election of Pius II.

The results of the second ballot on August 19 in the morning were a greatly disappointing surprise for d'Estouteville. He received only six votes – those of de Coëtivy, Colonna, Bessarion, Fieschi, Torquemada, and Castiglione. Cardinal Piccolomini obtained nine votes – those of Barbo, Orsini, Calandrini, Isidore of Kiev, de Mella, de La Cerda, Jaime de Portugal, del Mila y Borja, and that of d'Estouteville, who hesitated to vote for himself but certainly did not consider Piccolomini a serious rival. The votes of Rodrigo Borgia, Giacomo Tebaldi and Enea Piccolomini fell to other candidates. After announcing the results, Cardinal Dean opened the customary procedure of the accessus. There was a long silence broken by Rodrigo Borgia who changed his vote to Piccolomini. Then the partisans of d'Estouteville made an attempt to adjourn the session, but Cardinal Tebaldi also changed his vote to Piccolomini, who needed only one vote more for the election. At this point Cardinal Colonna arose to give his vote. Cardinals Rouen and Bessarion attempted to subdue him forcefully but Colonna was able to free himself from the scuffle to proclaim "I also vote for the Cardinal of Siena, and I make him Pope!" The rest of the adherents of the Cardinal of Rouen could do nothing but change their votes too, and a few minutes later Cardinal Bessarion congratulated Piccolomini on his unanimous election to the papacy.  Cardinal Enea Silvio Piccolomini accepted his election and took the name Pius II. On September 3, 1458, he was solemnly crowned on the steps of the patriarchal Vatican Basilica by Cardinal Prospero Colonna, protodeacon of S. Giorgio in Velabro.

In popular culture.

The proceedings of the election of Pius II were the basis of the 2006 film "The Conclave".

The papal conclave of 1458 (August 16–19), convened after the death of Pope Callixtus III, elected as his successor Cardinal Enea Silvio Piccolomini who took the name Pius II.

Das Konklave von 1458 war die Wahlversammlung der Kardinäle nach dem Tod von Papst Calixt III. und dauerte vom 14. August 1458 bis zum 19. August 1458. Seine Wahl fiel auf Enea Silvio de' Piccolomini, der sich Papst Pius II. nannte.