History.

The company dates back to 1835 when Georg Egestorff founded in Linden near Hanover a company called "Eisen-Giesserey und Maschinenfabrik Georg Egestorff" to build small steam engines. They soon started making farm machinery and in 1846 built their first railway locomotive for the Royal Hanoverian State Railways. By 1870 they had made 500 locomotives and in 1871 changed their name to "Hannoversche Maschinenbau Actien-Gesellschaft vorm. Georg Egestorff, Linden vor Hannover". Road vehicles followed when in 1905 they received a contract for steam waggons for the German army.

Tractors.

In 1912 Hanomag started the production of plows with up to 80 hp benzene engines. In 1924, the first farm tractor WD 26 (WD) with a 26 hp four-cylinder benzene engine was presented to the market. In 1931, the first diesel tractor RD 36 with a 36-horsepower four-cylinder engine, and 5.2 liters of capacity was made. Hanomag was the market leader in 1939 and the early 1950s. In 1951, a series of new tractors were developed, based on a modular system with 2-3- and 4-cylinder engines. From 1962 until the cessation of production in 1971, only four-stroke diesel tractors were built.  From 1912 to 1971, more than 250,000 machines from 12 to 92 hp left the factory halls in Linden. In addition, there were manufacturing facilities in Argentina and license agreements with the Spanish industrialists.

Cars.

By the 1920s, the market for steam road vehicles was in terminal decline, and Hanomag looked to cars as the future, particularly economy models. In 1925, they launched the Hanomag 2/10, a open two-seater with a mid-mounted 500cc single-cylinder water-cooled engine. Named "Zweisitzer Limousine" (two-seat limousine) by the company, its rounded front and rear gained it the nickname "Kommissbrot" for its resemblance to a loaf of Army bread. Although made in large numbers, 15,775 in total, it did not make much money for the company and in the late 1920s the railway locomotive division was sold to Henschel & Son of Kassel.  A more conventional car, the 3/16PS, and the first diesel engined tractors, came in 1928, taking the company back into profit. Hanomag were badly hurt by the drop in trade in 1929 and built a large stock of unsold vehicles. Things improved in 1930 and the company got 14 per cent of the domestic car market, second place behind Opel, but in 1931 a new crisis came when the banks called in a loan. The factory was mortgaged to Hannover City and the Vereinigte Stahlwerke trust and the company relaunched as Hanomag Automobil und Schlepperbau GmbH.  For 1932, a new small car, the 1.1 Litre, renamed the "Garant" in 1934, was announced and sold well, allowing two-shift working to be introduced and it was joined by the larger 1.5 litre Rekord (a name later used by Opel) in 1933, with independent front suspension. A diesel Rekord was shown at the 1936 Berlin Motor Show.  The Hanomag 1.3 litre was introduced in 1939 and had unitary body, an innovative feature for that time. It was studied by Volvo engineers and influenced the construction of the Volvo PV 444 passenger car.

Military vehicles.

During World War II, the car plant made military vehicle engines, a military version of their heavy tractor renamed the SS-100, and half track troop carriers. The Hanomag 20 B, a four-wheel-drive Small Unit-Personnel Carrier was produced from 1937 until 1940 (circa 2000 built) under the parentage of Stoewer (as the R180, R200 and Type 40). Capacity problems by Stoewer resulted in co-production by both BMW (as the 325) and Hanomag. Together, the three manufacturers made about 10,000 units. The special four-wheel-steering system was fitted on most models. Operating a "lock-level" between the front seats, made the steerable rear axle turn sideways to a certain angle.  The single most important and iconic military vehicle to be designed and built by Hanomag during World War II was the Sd.Kfz. 251 half-track (commonly called simply "the Hanomag") with a total production numbering just over 15,000. Built to protect and transport the Panzergrenadier mechanized infantry forces, it was by far the most common German armoured troop-carrying vehicle of World War II, and a direct precursor to the armoured personnel carriers of today. In comparison to the most common Allied half-track of the war, the M3 Half-track, the Sd.Kfz. 251 was slower and lower-powered, but with thicker, sloping side armour provided better protection; the flat-sided M3 was, at one point, panned as the "Purple Heart Box" for being unable to stop 7.92mm Mauser bullets at close range, while the Hanomag's sloping side armour deflected Allied bullets with no similar issue.  Post-war production resumed, making trailer units, followed by tractors and, in 1949, a 1.5 ton truck. Although prototypes were made, no cars were produced postwar. Rudolph Hiller, who had been president of Phänomen trucks, joined the board and restructured the company by arranging for it to join the Rheinstahl consortium in 1952.

Merger and split.

In 1964, Rheinstahl took over Henschel-Werke and in a reverse of history the company was merged with Hanomag.  The farm tractor operation was sold to Massey Ferguson and in 1969 the truck making division of Hanomag-Henschel went to Daimler Benz, leaving the Hanover works making earth-moving machinery for Massey Ferguson.  In 1989, the world's second largest construction machine manufacturer, Komatsu, bought a share of Hanomag AG and, since 2002, Komatsu Hanomag GmbH has been a 100% subsidiary of the global company.

Construction machinery.

In Hanover, the company is producing wheel loaders ranging from 54 to and since 2005 also has been producing wheeled excavators from 14 to 22 tons. Thanks to the European Technical Center (EUTC), these correspond to the latest state of technology. In Hanover, the company develops construction machines which meet varied requirements of customers all over Europe as well as for certain products also worldwide.

Hanomag in Argentina.

In 1960, Cura Hnos began to build a billet factory from an electric furnace on the premises, which he later suspended for associating with Rheinstahl Hanomag, from Germany, to manufacture tractors. The new company by the merger, used the industrial warehouse of Granadero Baigorria, while the administration and factory of the new company was built.  Models produced

Hanomag (Hannoversche Maschinenbau AG, ) was a German producer of steam locomotives, tractors, trucks and military vehicles in Hanover. Hanomag first achieved international fame by delivering numerous steam locomotives to Finland, Romania and Bulgaria before World War I and making of first tractor Hanomag R26 in 1924 in Germany. In 1925, they added automobiles to their line, additionally moving in 1931 into the production of construction machinery. Since 1989, the company has been part of the Komatsu company.


Music and setting.

The concert programmes always include pieces from the Strauss family—Johann Strauss I, Johann Strauss II, Josef Strauss and Eduard Strauss. On occasion, music principally of other Austrian composers, including Joseph Hellmesberger Jr., Joseph Lanner, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Otto Nicolai (the Vienna Philharmonic's founder), Emil von Reznicek, Franz Schubert, Franz von Suppé, and Karl Michael Ziehrer has featured in the programmes. In 2009, music by Joseph Haydn was played for the first time, where the 4th movement of his "Farewell" Symphony marked the 200th anniversary of his death. Other European composers such as Hans Christian Lumbye, Jacques Offenbach, Emile Waldteufel, Richard Strauss, Verdi, and Tchaikovsky have been featured in recent programmes.  The announced programme contains approximately 14-20 compositions, and also three encores. The announced programme includes waltzes, polkas, mazurkas, and marches. Of the encores, the unannounced first encore is often a fast polka. The second is Johann Strauss II's waltz "The Blue Danube", whose introduction is interrupted by applause of recognition and a New Year's greeting from the conductor and orchestra to the audience. The final encore is Johann Strauss I's Radetzky March, during which the audience claps along under the conductor's direction. In this last piece, the tradition also calls for the conductor to start the orchestra as soon he steps onto the stage, before reaching the podium. The complete duration of the event is around two and a half hours. The concerts have been held in the "" (Golden Hall) of the Musikverein since 1939. The television broadcast is augmented by ballet performances in selected pieces during the second part of the programme. The dancers come from the Vienna State Ballet and dance at different famous places in Austria, e. g. Schönbrunn Palace, Schloss Esterházy, the Vienna State Opera or the Wiener Musikverein itself. In 2013, the costumes were designed by Vivienne Westwood. From 1980 until 2013, the flowers that decorated the hall were a gift from the city of Sanremo, Liguria, Italy. In 2014, the orchestra itself provided the flowers. Since 2014, the flowers have been arranged by the "Wiener Stadtgärten". In 2017, the orchestra performed for the first time in new attire designed by Vivienne Westwood and Andreas Kronthaler.

History.

There had been a tradition of concerts on New Year's Day in Vienna since 1838, but not with music of the Strauss family. From 1928 to 1933 there were six New Year's concerts in the Musikverein, conducted by Johann Strauss III. These concerts were broadcast by the RAVAG. In 1939, Clemens Krauss, with the support of Vienna Gauleiter Baldur von Schirach, devised a New Year's concert which the orchestra dedicated to "Kriegswinterhilfswerk" ('Winter War Relief'), to improve morale at the front lines. After World War II, this concert survived, as the Nazi origins were largely forgotten, until more recently.  The concert was first performed in 1939, and conducted by Clemens Krauss. For the first and only time, the concert was not given on New Year's Day, but instead on 31 December of that year. It was called then a special, or 'extraordinary' concert (). Johann Strauss II was the only composer performed, in a modest program:

Encores.

There were no encores in 1939, and sources indicate that encores were not instituted until 1945. Clemens Krauss almost always included "Perpetuum mobile" either on the concert or as an encore. The waltz "The Blue Danube" was not performed until 1945, and then as an encore. The Radetzky March was first performed in 1946, as an encore. Until 1958, these last two pieces were often but not always given as encores. Since that year, their position as twin encores has become inviolable tradition, with two exceptions: One unannounced encore is always placed before the "Blue Danube", and after the final announced work on the printed concert programme.

Conductors.

Boskovsky, concertmaster of the orchestra from 1939 until 1970, directed the Vienna New Year's concerts from 1955 to 1979. In 1980, Lorin Maazel became the first non-Austrian conductor of the concert. The orchestra subsequently changed practice, to choose a different conductor every year. The first such choice was Herbert von Karajan, for the 1987 concert. Karajan's concert also featured the only invited guest artist in the history of the concert, Kathleen Battle.

Audience.

The concert is popular throughout Europe, and more recently around the world. The demand for tickets is so high that people have to pre-register one year in advance in order to participate in the drawing of tickets for the following year. Some seats are pre-registered by certain Austrian families and are passed down from generation to generation.  The event is televised by the Austrian national broadcasting service ORF – from 1989 to 1993, 1997 to 2009, and again in 2011 under the direction of Brian Large – and relayed via the European Broadcasting Union's Eurovision network to most major broadcasting organizations in Europe. On 1 January 2013, for example, the concert was shown on Één and La Une in Belgium, ZDF in Germany, France 2 in France, BBC Two in the United Kingdom, Rai 2 in Italy (on some hours delay), RSI La 1 in Switzerland, La 1 in Spain, ČT2 in the Czech Republic, RTP1 in Portugal, and TVP2 in Poland, among many other channels. The concert was again televised by ORF on 1 January 2015 and 1 January 2016. Estimated audience numbers are ~50 million, in 73 countries in 2012, 93 countries in 2017 and 95 countries in 2018.  Outside Europe, the concert is also shown on PBS in the United States (beginning in 1985, as part of the performing arts anthology "Great Performances", in abridged form), CCTV in China since 1987 (being telecast live since 1989, except in 1990) while also being broadcast live by CNR in China since 2013, NHK in Japan since 1973, MetroTV in Indonesia, KBS in South Korea, and SBS in Australia (until 2018, on delay). Since 2006, the concert has also been broadcast to viewers in several African countries (Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Swaziland, Zambia and Zimbabwe). In Latin America the concert is shown in Chile by La Red, and in Guatemala, Ecuador and Bolivia. Indonesia's MetroTV broadcasts the concert although it is delayed by four to five days. The concert was broadcast for the first time in Mongolia, Mozambique, Sri Lanka and Trinidad and Tobago in 2010.

Commercial recordings.

Decca Records made the first of the live commercial recordings, with the 1 January 1979 digital recording (their first digital LP releases) of the 25th time (and 24 years = 1979-1955) of the New Year's Concert with Willi Boskovsky conducting the Vienna Philharmonic.

Other New Year's concerts in Vienna.

The Vienna Hofburg Orchestra's traditional New Year's Eve Concert takes place on 31 December in the halls of the Hofburg Palace. The program features the most famous waltz and operetta melodies by Johann Strauss, Emmerich Kálmán, Franz Lehár and opera arias by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.

The Vienna New Year's Concert () is an annual concert of classical music performed by the Vienna Philharmonic on the morning of New Year's Day in Vienna, Austria. The concert occurs at the Musikverein at 11:15. The orchestra performs the same concert programme on 30 December, 31 December, and 1 January but only the last concert is regularly broadcast on radio and television.


Etymology.

The English word "clan" is derived from the Gaelic meaning "children", "offspring", "progeny" or "descendants"; it is not from the word for "family" or "clan" in either Irish or Scottish Gaelic. According to the "Oxford English Dictionary", the word "clan" was introduced into English in around 1425, as a descriptive label for the organization of society in the Scottish Highlands.  None of the Irish and Scottish Gaelic terms for kinship groups is cognate to English "clan" or Gaelic " ("descendants"):

Clans as political units.

In different cultures and situations, a clan usually has different meaning than other kin-based groups, such as tribes and bands. Often, the distinguishing factor is that a clan is a smaller, integral part of a larger society such as a tribe, chiefdom, or a state. In some societies, clans may have an official leader such as a chief, matriarch or patriarch; or such leadership role is performed by elders. In others, leadership positions may have to be achieved.  Examples include Irish, Scottish, Chinese, Korean, and Japanese clans, which exist as kin groups within their respective nations. Note, however, that tribes and bands can also be components of larger societies. The early Norse clans, the, are often translated as "house" or "line". The Biblical "tribes" of Israel were composed of many clans. Arab clans are sub-tribal groups within Arab society. Native American and First Nations peoples, often referred to as "tribes", also have clans. For instance, Ojibwa bands are smaller parts of the Ojibwa people or tribe in North America. The many Native American peoples are distinguished by language and culture, and most have clans and bands as the basic kinship organizations. In some cases tribes recognized each other's clans; for instance, both the Chickasaw and Choctaw tribes of the Southeast United States had fox and bear clans, who felt a kinship that reached beyond their respective tribes.  Apart from these different historical traditions of kinship, conceptual confusion arises from colloquial usages of the term. In post-Soviet countries, for example, it is quite common to speak of "clans" in reference to informal networks within the economic and political sphere. This usage reflects the assumption that their members act towards each other in a particularly close and mutually supportive way, approximating the solidarity among kinsmen. Similar usage of the term applies to specific groups of various cultures and nationalities involved in organized crime. Polish clans differ from most others as they are a collection of families who bear the same coat of arms, as opposed to claiming a common descent (see Polish heraldry). There are multiple closely related clans in the Indian subcontinent, especially South India.

A clan is a group of people united by actual or perceived kinship and descent. Even if lineage details are unknown, clan members may be organized around a founding member or apical ancestor. Clans, in indigenous societies, tend to be exogamous, meaning that their members cannot marry one another. Clans preceded more centralized forms of community organization and government, and exist in every country. Members may identify with a coat of arms or other symbol to show that they are an independent clan. The kinship-based bonds may also have a symbolic ancestor, whereby the clan shares a "stipulated" common ancestor that is a symbol of the clan's unity. When this "ancestor" is non-human, it is referred to as a totem, which is frequently an animal.


Biography.

Isser Halperin (later Harel) was born in Vitebsk, Russia (now Belarus), to a large, wealthy family. The exact date of his birth was not passed on to him because the book of Gemara in which the date was recorded was lost in the migrations of the Russian Revolution of 1917 and World War I. The family had a vinegar factory in Vitebsk. It was a gift of his maternal grandfather, who had a concession to make vinegar in large parts of Tsarist Russia. Young Isser was five years old when the revolution broke out and Vitebsk passed several times between the Whites and the Reds. On one occasion he saw Leon Trotsky give a speech in the town.  The Harel family faced hardship when the Soviet regime confiscated their property. In 1922 they emigrated from the Soviet Union to Daugavpils in independent Latvia. On the way, Soviet soldiers stole their suitcases, which contained the rest of their possessions. In Daugavpils, Isser began his formal studies, completed primary school, and began secondary school. As he grew, a Jewish national consciousness grew within him and he joined a Zionist youth organization.  When he was 16, Harel began preparations to emigrate to the British Mandate for Palestine. During this preparatory year he worked in agriculture with the aspiration to join a kibbutz. With the outbreak of the 1929 Hebron massacre, his friends decided to move up their emigration date in order to reinforce the Jewish settlement in Palestine. Documents were prepared for the 17-year-old Harel stating that he was 18 and eligible for a British visa. At the beginning of 1930 he immigrated to Palestine. He crossed Europe from north to south to board a ship in Genoa, carrying a pistol that he concealed in a loaf of bread.  Harel's powerful position stood in contrast to his personal life. His neighbors took him for a minor government official. Harel and his wife Rivka had one daughter, named Miriam, two grandsons and one granddaughter.

Intelligence career.

After the creation of Israel in 1948, Harel founded and became the first director of Israel's internal security agency, Shin Bet. Later, he took over the Mossad a year after it was created in 1951. As chief of two of the nation's three intelligence agencies, Harel wielded considerable power in Israel's first 15 years.  In 1957, members of the West German government provided Israel with information that Adolf Eichmann was hiding in Argentina under the name "Ricardo Klement". Eichmann, as director of Department IV-B4 of the Third Reich's Reich Main Security Office during the Second World War, had played a crucial role in the planning and execution of the so-called "Final Solution to the Jewish Question". Israeli prime minister David Ben-Gurion believed that seeking Eichmann's extradition from Argentina by legal and diplomatic methods would be unsuccessful. In 1959, he placed Harel in charge of the operation to locate, seize, and secretly extract Eichmann from Argentina, with the intention of returning him to Israel to stand trial. In April 1960, Harel's team of agents arrived in Buenos Aires, and tracked Eichmann to a residence in the San Fernando neighborhood of the city. Harel followed soon after. On May 11, they kidnapped Eichmann as he walked from a bus stop to his home. Days later, Eichmann was drugged and clandestinely placed on an Israeli diplomatic aircraft, disguised as a crew member. He was flown to Tel Aviv. According to Harel himself, when he arrived back in Israel with the captured Eichmann, Harel went to Ben-Gurion's office and told the prime minister: "I've brought you a present. Eichmann is here."  Harel later stated that it was his belief that if the Eichmann operation had begun some weeks earlier, the Mossad may have had a chance to apprehend Dr. Josef Mengele, the notorious physician who presided over the selections on the train platform at Auschwitz. His book about the operation, "The House on Garibaldi Street", became a best-seller and a TV Movie.  Harel was also responsible for the intelligence coup that cemented the Mossad's reputation with Western intelligence agencies. In March 1956, three years after the death of Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin, his successor Nikita Khrushchev denounced Stalin's "cult of personality" and brutal paranoia in a speech before a closed session of the Communist Party's 20th Congress. Word spread of this event, but U.S. intelligence agencies were unable to obtain the text of the so-called "Secret Speech".  The Soviet politburo delivered copies of the speech to a few Eastern-bloc countries; in Poland, a journalist named Viktor Grayevsky borrowed a copy from his girlfriend, who worked in the office of the First Secretary of the Polish Communist Party. Grayevsky, who was Jewish, had recently visited Israel and had decided to emigrate; he gave the speech to security officers at the Israeli embassy in Warsaw, and they in turn sent photographed copies to Harel in Tel Aviv.  Harel shared the speech with his counterparts in other Western intelligence offices, most notably counterintelligence spymaster James Jesus Angleton of the American CIA.  Harel was forced to resign from Mossad in March 1963, while conducting Operation Damocles, a covert operation to dissuade German rocket scientists from working for Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser's heavy rocket program. The Mossad's tactics included sending mail bombs and arranging assassination attempts. Ben-Gurion demanded Harel's resignation after these tactics injured several people other than the scientists and seemed to be ineffective in preventing their cooperation with the Egyptians.

Political career.

After leaving Mossad, Harel turned to politics. He joined David Ben-Gurion's newly created National List prior to the 1969 elections, and was elected to the Knesset as the party won four seats. However, after Ben-Gurion resigned from the party it began to disintegrate, with two of the MKs defecting to Likud and the other to the Alignment. As a result, Harel lost his seat in the 1973 elections.

Isser Harel (, 1912 – 18 February 2003) was spymaster of the intelligence and the security services of Israel and the Director of the Mossad (1952–1963). In his capacity as Mossad director he oversaw the capture and covert transportation to Israel of Holocaust organizer Adolf Eichmann.


Biography.

Early life and education.

Larsson was born in the Gamla stan neighborhood of Stockholm, Sweden. His parents were extremely poor, and his childhood was not happy.  Renate Puvogel, in her book "Carl Larsson" (Cologne: Taschen; 1994), gives detailed information about Larsson's life: "His mother was thrown out of the house, together with Carl and his brother Johan; after enduring a series of temporary dwellings, the family moved into Grev Magnigränd No. 7 (later No. 5) in what was then Ladugårdsplan, present-day Östermalm". As a rule, each room was home to three families; "penury, filth and vice thrived there, leisurely seethed and smouldered, eaten-away and rotten bodies and souls. Such an environment is the natural breeding ground for cholera", he wrote in his autobiographical novel "Jag".  Larsson's father worked as a casual laborer, sailed as a stoker on a ship headed for Scandinavia, and lost the lease to a nearby mill, only to work there later as a mere grain carrier. Larsson portrays him as a loveless man lacking self-control; he drank, ranted and raved, and incurred the lifelong anger of his son after an outburst in which he declared, "I curse the day you were born". In contrast, Carl's mother worked long hours as a laundress to provide for her family.  However, at the age of thirteen, his teacher at the school for poor children urged him to apply to the Royal Swedish Academy of Arts, and he was admitted. During his first years there, Larsson felt socially inferior, confused, and shy. In 1869, at the age of sixteen, he was promoted to the "antique school" of the same academy. There Larsson gained confidence, and even became a central figure in student life. Carl earned his first medal in nude drawing. In the meantime, Larsson worked as a caricaturist for the humorous paper "Kasper" and as a graphic artist for the newspaper " Ny Illustrerad Tidning". His annual wages were sufficient to allow him to help support his parents financially.

Career.

After several years working as an illustrator of books, magazines, and newspapers, Larsson moved to Paris in 1877, where he spent several frustrating years as a hardworking artist without any success. Larsson was not eager to establish contact with the French progressive Impressionists; instead, along with other Swedish artists, he cut himself off from the radical movement of change.  After spending two summers in Barbizon, the refuge of the plein-air painters, he settled down with his Swedish painter colleagues in 1882 in Grez-sur-Loing at a Scandinavian artists' colony outside Paris. It was there that he met the artist Karin Bergöö (1859–1928), who soon became his wife. This was to be a turning point in Larsson's life. In Grez, Larsson painted some of his most important works, now in watercolour and very different from the oil painting technique he had previously employed.  Carl and Karin Larsson had eight children (Suzanne (b. 1884), Ulf (b. 1887), Pontus (b. 1888), Lisbeth (b. 1891), Brita (b. 1893), Mats (b. 1894), Kersti (b. 1896) and Esbjörn (b. 1900). His family became Larsson's favourite models. Many of the interiors depicted were the work of Karin Larsson, who also worked as an interior designer.  In 1888 the young family was given a small house named Little Hyttnäs at Sundborn just outside Falun in Dalarna by Karin's father Adolf Bergöö (1828–1890). Carl and Karin decorated and furnished this house according to their particular artistic taste and also for the needs of the growing family. Through his paintings and books, Little Hyttnäs has become one of the most famous artist's homes in the world, transmitting the artistic taste of its creators and making it a major line in Swedish interior design. The descendants of Carl and Karin Larsson now own this house, now known as Carl Larsson-gården, and keep it open for tourists each summer from May until October.  In his later years he suffered from bouts of depression. While working on "Midvinterblot" (1915), a large decoration for the vestibule of the Nationalmuseum, Larsson experienced the onset of an eye problem and a worsening of his frequent headaches. After suffering a mild stroke in January 1919, he spent his remaining time completing his memoirs. He died later that month in Falun and was buried in the cemetery of Sundborn Church ("Sundborns kyrka").

Paintings.

Larsson's popularity increased considerably with the development of colour reproduction technology in the 1890s, when the Swedish publisher Bonnier published books written and illustrated by Larsson and containing full colour reproductions of his watercolours, titled "A Home". However, the print runs of these rather expensive albums did not come close to that produced in 1909 by the German publisher Karl Robert Langewiesche (1874–1931). Langewiesche's choice of watercolours, drawings and text by Carl Larsson, titled "Das Haus in der Sonne" (Königstein, Verlag Karl Robert Langewiesche. 1909), immediately became one of the German publishing industry's best-sellers of the year—40,000 copies sold in three months, and more than 40 print runs have been produced up to 2001. Carl and Karin Larsson declared themselves overwhelmed by such success.  Carl Larsson considered his monumental works, such as his frescos in schools, museums and other public buildings, to be his most important works. His last monumental work, "Midvinterblot" ("Midwinter Sacrifice"), a oil painting completed in 1915, had been commissioned for a wall in the National Museum in Stockholm (which already had several of his frescos adorning its walls). However, upon completion, it was rejected by the board of the museum. The fresco depicts the blót of King Domalde at the Temple of Uppsala. Decades later, the painting was purchased and placed in the National Museum.

"Midvinterblot".

In his memoirs "Jag" (Stockholm: Albert Bonniers förlag, 1931) – published after Larsson's death – he declared his bitterness and disappointment over this rejection of the painting he himself considered to be his greatest achievement: "The fate of "Midvinterblot" broke me! This I admit with a dark anger. And still, it was probably the best thing that could have happened, because my intuition tells me – once again! – that this painting, with all its weaknesses, will one day, when I'm gone, be honoured with a far better placement." Larsson admitted, however, in the same memoirs that the pictures of his family and home "became the most immediate and lasting part of my life's work. For these pictures are of course a very genuine expression of my personality, of my deepest feelings, of all my limitless love for my wife and children."  Fights between different schools of Swedish artists caused the "Midvinterblot" controversy to continue for many years. In 1987 the museum was even offered the monumental painting for free, provided it would adorn the empty wall for which it had been intended, but the museum declined the offer, so the painting was sold to the Japanese collector Hiroshi Ishizuka. In 1992, he agreed to lend it to the museum for its major Carl Larsson exhibition, where it was hung in the intended place. Public appreciation changed the "experts'" view of the painting, and with the help of private donations the museum was able to buy it from Ishizuka in 1997 and permanently display it in the location for which it was intended.

Carl Olof Larsson (; 28 May 1853 – 22 January 1919) was a Swedish painter representative of the Arts and Crafts movement. His many paintings include oils, watercolors, and frescoes. He is principally known for his watercolors of idyllic family life. He considered his finest work to be "Midvinterblot" ("Midwinter Sacrifice"), a large painting now displayed inside the Swedish National Museum of Fine Arts.


Controversy.

Herberger joined the Nazi Party in 1933. His nomination to the Germany's Sports Hall of Fame in 2008 caused a lot of criticism because of his Nazi past.

1954 World Cup win / The Miracle of Bern.

Hungary was the overwhelming favourite to win the 1954 World Cup. Its legendary "Golden Team", also known as the "Mighty Magyars", had not lost a match in 4 years. They were the reigning Olympic Champion and had won the Central European International Cup in 1953. Once the World Cup started, Hungary had been dominant, outscoring their opponents 17–3 in their two group games while West Germany had been outscored 7–9. In their match against each other, Hungary had won 8–3. The final was played in heavy rain. Hungary scored an early goal and minutes later doubled their lead. Germany pulled one back within two minutes, and equalized eight minutes after that. Hungary had more chances the rest of the way, but was unable to score. West Germany scored with 6 minutes left in the match to win 3–2. Among Herberger's moves credited with helping the team in the final are: fielding a below strength and largely out-of-position team in the first match against Hungary, to disguise the team's strengths; giving Fritz Walter defensive help, so he could concentrate his energies on attacking; and instructing his team to attack the Hungarian penalty area from the wings, instead of down the middle.

References in popular culture.

Three of these sayings are quoted in the beginning of the 1998 film "Run Lola Run". The first is at the very beginning of the film ("Nach dem Spiel ist vor dem Spiel", "After the game is before the game"). Then after a series of intentionally confusing and seemingly innocuous statements and character introductions, a simple minded security guard utters the phrase "Der Ball ist rund und das Spiel dauert 90 Minuten.", which is a commonly used amalgamation of two separate famous quotes.  The 2003 film, "The Miracle of Bern", following Herberger and his team's path to victory in the 1954 World Cup, also features a number of these quotations including the amalgamation of two of the above, "The ball is round and the game lasts for 90 minutes" ("Der Ball ist rund und das Spiel dauert 90 Minuten").

Honours.

As a player.

VfR Mannheim

As a manager.

Germany

Josef "Sepp" Herberger (28 March 1897 – 28 April 1977) was a German football player and manager. He is most famous for being the manager of the West German national team which won the 1954 FIFA World Cup final, a match later dubbed "The Miracle of Bern", defeating the overwhelming favourites from Hungary. Previously he had also coached the Breslau Eleven, one of the greatest teams in German football history.


Geography.

Grapes are grown on the slopes of the Wienerwald; the area is called "Thermenregion", where one can find much "Heurigen" (the most recent year's wine).  Wiener Neudorf to the east, and Maria Enzersdorf to the north, merge directly into Mödling. South of Mödling is Gumpoldskirchen, separated by the Eichkogel with its very special flora. In the west a narrow street runs through Vorderbrühl, formally a village in its own rights, and leads to Hinterbrühl. This narrow valley is called Klausen, above it the remains of the Mödling castle, once belonging to the Babenberger, the then ruling family. On the other side of the Klausen is the Kalenderberg, with the castle of Liechtenstein on its far side. The beginning of the Klausen is marked by the large red-brick aqueduct of the "Erste Wiener Hochquellenwasserleitung". The steep, rocky valley sides of the "Naturpark Föhrenberge" grow the typical "Wienerwald-Schwarzföhren" (the "austriaca" form of the European Black Pine, "Pinus nigra").

History.

The settlement dates back to the Neolithic era. Through the centuries, the name of the town evolved from Medilihha to Medelikch, Medling and, finally, Mödling. These names traces back to old Slavic meaning'slowly running water'. Today there is a quaint old town with a pedestrian area. The town was the residence of a branch of the Babenberger family, as a result of which it received the nickname Babenbergerstadt ('Town of the Babenbergers').  Traces of the first settlements of the Hallstatt culture from the Neolithic era were found on the Kalenderberg. Roman coins and a Roman burial site have been found near today's railway station.  After Charlemagne's victory in 803 AD against the Avars, the area around Mödling was settled by settlers from Bavaria. About 500 Avar graves were found in the area of the "Goldenen Stiege" (very close to today's old city).  The first ancient document mentioning "MEDILIHHA ULTRA MONTEM COMMIGENIUM" is dated 8 September 903, when two bishops (of the then Roman Catholic church) exchanged lands. However, in 907 the settlement seems to have been destroyed again. After the battle on the "Lechfeld" settlement in the area of today's Mödling started again.  After this, for some time Mödling housed a relative of the then ruling House of Babenberg. Hence their castle's ruin. In 1177, Henry the Elder, son of Henry II Jasomirgott, became landlord in an area reaching from Liesing to Piesting and Bruck an der Leitha. You can read this in old documents kept in the nearby monastery of Heiligenkreuz. In Henry's days arts and culture dominated in the castle of Mödling; the famous minnesinger Walther von der Vogelweide stayed there more than once. The Spitalkirche and today's St. Othmar were built in the 15th century, the Karner (charnel house) in the 12th.  Even in these times, Mödling grew grapes; after Langenlois, it was the largest grape-growing community in Lower Austria.  Duke Albrecht II, in 1343 granted the rights of a "Market" to Mödling.  In 1529, the Ottomans devastated Mödling for the first time. In 1679, many citizens died of the Black Death. When the Ottomans came again in 1683, almost all the citizens of Mödling were killed. The second epidemic of the Black Death only brought death to 22 inhabitants, hence the survivors built the monument of the Holy Trinity (Dreifaltigkeits- or Pestsäule, Freiheitsplatz).  In the early 19th century, Ludwig van Beethoven often visited his favorite pub, the Three Ravens, in Mödling.  Arnold Schönberg lived in Mödling between 1918 and 1925, and invented his twelve-tone technique of composition there.  On 18 November 1875, Mödling was designated a "City".  From 1883 to 1932, Mödling was the starting point of the Mödling and Hinterbrühl Tram, Austria's first electric railway and world's first long-lasting tram with overhead lines. In 1938, after the Anschluss with Nazi Germany, Mödling was incorporated into the newly formed 24th District of Vienna. In 1954, it became once again a part of Lower Austria.

Politics.

Members of the city-government (2016)

Traffic.

Mödling functions as a traffic hub for its direct vicinity. Bus lines connect the town and Südbahn with the surrounding areas. The Südbahn connects Mödling to Vienna, but also to other local centers like Wiener Neustadt by commuter trains.  Many bus lines end/start at Mödling's railway station: Most of them lead to Vienna (with different ways) (207, 259, 260, 265, 266, 269, 270...) but also other villages in the district are destinations: Gießhübel (262), Hinterbrühl, Gaaden... (364, 365), Guntramsdorf (363) and many more.  The closest airport is Vienna International Airport.  The town lies close to several major motorways (A2, A23, S1).  Until the 1960s, the town was connected to the tram system of Vienna though the line 360 was discontinued after the commuter train system was introduced on the Südbahn. Historically Mödling was the site of the first electrified tram line, which had mainly touristic use.

Economy.

In the old days, because of the rail-connection to the north/Vienna and to the south, several large industries had their plants here. Today most of the firms are SMEs. The larger ones have moved to Wiener Neudorf into the 'Industriezentrum Niederösterreich Süd'.

Castles.

The Mödling area in the Vienna Forest contains many old castles () and ruins. Castle Liechtenstein is the most famous and biggest castle. It was owned by the wealthy family who later founded the country of the same name. Burgruine Mödling also stands nearby and is one of the oldest ruins in the area. It dates back to the 11th century. In addition, Black Tower (Schwarzer Turm) looks out over downtown Mödling from the Calendar mountains. It was built over 200 years ago, but is still privately occupied to this day. Lastly, on the walk between Black Tower and Castle Liechtenstein, one will come across a 200-year-old amphitheatre nearly buried in the woods. It was built in the same time frame as the Black Tower and served as an important cultural centre for the local Mödling population.

Culture and sights.

The well-preserved and revitalized Old City is protected by the Hague Convention. The town hall holds the registry office. Because of its lovely environment many couples choose to marry here. Schrannenplatz and Kaiserin-Elisabeth-Strasse were pedestrianised at the very early date of 1976, the first time a 'Bundesstraße' had been declared a pedestrian area.  Nearby is the Eichkogel Nature Reserve, with rare flora, like 'Knollen-Brandkraut' ("Phlomoides tuberosa") and others, on 'Halbtrockenrasen'. Among the rocks in the Klausen rare plants grow, like the 'Mödlinger Federnelke' ("Dianthus plumarius" subsp. "neilreichii"), which was discovered as late as the middle of the 19th century by the botanist August Neilreich, or the 'Deutsche Alant' (Inula germanica).

International relations.

Twin towns — Sister cities.

Mödling is twinned with

Mödling is the capital of the Austrian district of the same name located approximately 14 km south of Vienna. Mödling lies in Lower Austria's industrial zone. The Mödlingbach, a brook which rises in the Vienna Woods, flows through the town. Near Achau it joins with the Schwechat. Woodland occupies a large part of the municipality, part of the Föhrenberge ('Pine Mountains').


Halftoning.

With CMYK printing, "halftoning" (also called "screening") allows for less than full saturation of the primary colors; tiny dots of each primary color are printed in a pattern small enough that humans perceive a solid color. Magenta printed with a 20% halftone, for example, produces a pink color, because the eye perceives the tiny magenta dots on the large white paper as lighter and less saturated than the color of pure magenta ink.  Without halftoning, the three primary process colors could be printed only as solid blocks of color, and therefore could produce only seven colors: the three primaries themselves, plus three secondary colors produced by layering two of the primaries: cyan and yellow produce green, cyan and magenta produce blue, yellow and magenta produce red (these subtractive secondary colors correspond roughly to the additive primary colors), plus layering all three of them resulting in black. With halftoning, a full continuous range of colors can be produced.

Screen angle.

To improve print quality and reduce moiré patterns, the screen for each color is set at a different angle. While the angles depend on how many colors are used and the preference of the press operator, typical CMYK process printing uses any of the following screen angles:

Benefits of using black ink.

The "black" generated by mixing commercially practical cyan, magenta, and yellow inks is unsatisfactory, so four-color printing uses black ink in addition to the subtractive primaries. Common reasons for using black ink include:  When a very dark area is desirable, a coloured or gray CMY "bedding" is applied first, then a full black layer is applied on top, making a rich, deep black; this is called "rich black". A black made with just CMY inks is sometimes called a "composite black".  The amount of black to use to replace amounts of the other ink is variable, and the choice depends on the technology, paper and ink in use. Processes called under color removal, under color addition, and gray component replacement are used to decide on the final mix; different CMYK recipes will be used depending on the printing task.

Other printer color models.

CMYK or process color printing is contrasted with spot color printing, in which specific colored inks are used to generate the colors appearing on paper. Some printing presses are capable of printing with both four-color process inks and additional spot color inks at the same time. High-quality printed materials, such as marketing brochures and books, often include photographs requiring process-color printing, other graphic effects requiring spot colors (such as metallic inks), and finishes such as varnish, which enhances the glossy appearance of the printed piece.  CMYK are the process printers which often have a relatively small color gamut. Processes such as Pantone's proprietary six-color (CMYKOG) Hexachrome considerably expand the gamut. Light, saturated colors often cannot be created with CMYK, and light colors in general may make visible the halftone pattern. Using a CcMmYK process, with the addition of light cyan and magenta inks to CMYK, can solve these problems, and such a process is used by many inkjet printers, including desktop models.

Comparison with RGB displays.

Comparisons between RGB displays and CMYK prints can be difficult, since the color reproduction technologies and properties are very different. A computer monitor mixes shades of red, green, and blue light to create color pictures. A CMYK printer instead uses light-absorbing cyan, magenta, and yellow inks, whose colors are mixed using dithering, halftoning, or some other optical technique.  Similar to monitors, the inks used in printing produce a color gamut that is "only a subset of the visible spectrum" although both color modes have their own specific ranges. As a result of this, items which are displayed on a computer monitor may not completely match the look of items which are printed if opposite color modes are being combined in both mediums. When designing items to be printed, designers view the colors which they are choosing on an RGB color mode (their computer screen), and it is often difficult to visualize the way in which the color will turn out post-printing because of this.

Spectrum of printed paper.

To reproduce color, the CMYK color model codes for absorbing light rather than emitting it (as is assumed by RGB). The 'K' component absorbs all wavelengths and is therefore achromatic. The Cyan, Magenta, and Yellow components are used for color reproduction and they may be viewed as the inverse of RGB. Cyan absorbs Red, Magenta absorbs Green, and Yellow absorbs Blue (-R,-G,-B).

Conversion.

Since RGB and CMYK spaces are both device-dependent spaces, there is no simple or general conversion formula that converts between them. Conversions are generally done through color management systems, using color profiles that describe the spaces being converted. An ICC profile defines the bidirectional conversion between a neutral "profile connection" color space (CIE XYZ or Lab) and a colorspace we are interested in, in this case both RGB and CMYK. The precision of the conversion depends on the profile itself, the exact methodology, and because the gamuts do not generally match, the rendering intent and constraints such as ink limit.  ICC profiles, internally built out of lookup tables and other transformation functions, are capable of handling many effects of ink blending. One example is the dot gain, which show up as non-linear components in the color-to-density mapping. More complex interactions such as "Neugebauer" blending can be modelled in higher-dimension lookup tables.  The problem of computing a colorimetric estimate of the color that results from printing various combinations of ink has been addressed by many scientists. A general method that has emerged for the case of halftone printing is to treat each tiny overlap of color dots as one of 8 (combinations of CMY) or of 16 (combinations of CMYK) colors, which in this context are known as "Neugebauer primaries". The resultant color would be an area-weighted colorimetric combination of these primary colors, except that the "Yule–Nielsen" effect of scattered light between and within the areas complicates the physics and the analysis; empirical formulas for such analysis have been developed, in terms of detailed dye combination absorption spectra and empirical parameters.  Standardization of printing practices allow for some profiles to be predefined. One of them is the US Specifications for Web Offset Publications (SWOP), which has its ICC color profile built into many software including Microsoft Office (as Agfa RSWOP.icm).

The CMYK color model (; process color, four color) is a subtractive color model, based on the CMY color model, used in color printing, and is also used to describe the printing process itself. CMYK refers to the four ink plates used in some color printing: cyan, magenta, yellow, and key (black).


History.

Shetland ponies originated in the Shetland Isles, located northeast of mainland Scotland. Small horses have been kept in the Shetland Isles since the Bronze Age. People who lived on the islands probably later crossed the native stock with ponies imported by Norse settlers. Shetland ponies also were probably influenced by the Celtic pony, brought to the islands by settlers between 2000 and 1000 BCE. The harsh climate and scarce food developed the ponies into extremely hardy animals.  Shetland ponies were first used for pulling carts, carrying peat, coal and other items, and plowing farm land. Then, as the Industrial Revolution increased the need for coal in the mid-19th century, thousands of Shetland ponies travelled to mainland Britain to be pit ponies, working underground hauling coal, often for their entire (often short) lives. Coal mines in the eastern United States also imported some of these animals. The last pony mine in the United States closed in 1971.  The Shetland Pony Stud-Book Society is the breed society for the traditional Shetland throughout the world. It was started in 1890 to maintain purity and encourage high-quality animals. In 1957, the Shetland Islands Premium Stallion Scheme was formed to subsidise high-quality registered stallions to improve the breeding stock. In the United States, ponies may also be registered with the American Shetland Pony Club and the Shetland Pony Society of North America.  A number of pony breeds derive from the traditional Shetland. These include the American Shetland Pony and Pony of the Americas in the United States, and the Deutsches Classic Pony in Germany.

Characteristics.

Shetland Ponies are hardy and strong, in part because the breed developed in the harsh conditions of the Shetland Isles. In appearance, Shetlands have small heads, sometimes with dished faces, widely spaced eyes and small and alert ears. The original breed has a short, muscular neck; a compact, stocky body; short, strong legs; and a shorter-than-normal cannon bone in relation to its size. A short broad back and deep girth are universal characteristics, as is a springy stride. Shetlands have long thick manes and tails and dense double winter coats to withstand harsh weather.  Shetlands can be almost every colour, including skewbald and piebald (called pinto in the United States), but are mainly black, chestnut, bay, grey, palomino, dun, roan, cremello, and silver dapple. Registered shetlands are not leopard spotted (Appaloosa), nor do they carry the champagne gene, though these colours are sometimes seen in Shetland-sized crossbreds.  Shetland ponies are generally gentle, good-tempered, and very intelligent by nature. They make good children's ponies, and are sometimes noted for having a "brave" character. They can be very opinionated or "cheeky", and can be impatient, snappy, and sometimes become uncooperative. Due in part to their intelligence and size, they are easily spoiled and can be very headstrong if not well-trained.  For its size, the Shetland is the strongest of all horse and pony breeds. It can pull twice its own weight under circumstances where a draft horse can only pull approximately half its own weight, as well as many being able to carry up to 9 stone –. Shetland ponies are found worldwide, though mainly in the UK and North America. In general, UK ponies tend to preserve more of the original characteristics of the breed and are often stockier than their American cousins.  Many ponies are long-lived; it is not unusual for a Shetland pony to live more than 30 years. Conversely, their small size also predisposes some individuals to a greater probability of heart problems than in larger animals, on occasion leading to early death. Shetland ponies, like many hardy small horse and pony breeds, can easily develop laminitis if on a diet high in non-structural carbohydrates. Therefore, owners must pay careful attention to nutrition, being careful to regulate feed quantity and type.

Uses.

Today, Shetlands are ridden by children and are shown by both children and adults at horse shows in harness driving classes as well as for pleasure driving outside of the show ring. Shetlands are ridden by small children at horse shows, in riding schools and stables as well as for pleasure. They are seen working in commercial settings such as fairs or carnivals to provide short rides for visitors. They are also seen at petting zoos and sometimes are used for therapeutic horseback riding purposes. In the United Kingdom, Shetlands are also featured in the Shetland Pony Grand National, galloping around a racecourse with young jockeys.  Junior Harness Racing was founded in Queensland by a group of breeders to give young people aged 6–16 an opportunity to obtain a practical introduction to the harness racing industry. The children have the opportunity to drive Shetland ponies in harness under race conditions. No prize money is payable on pony races, although winners and place-getters receive medallions.  Miniature Shetlands have been trained as guide horses to take the same role as guide dogs. This task is also performed by other miniature horse breeds.  The Royal Regiment of Scotland and the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders, prior to the regiment's formation, adopted the Shetland as its regimental mascot and names them "Cruachan".

The Shetland pony is a Scottish breed of pony originating in the Shetland Isles in the north of Scotland. The ponies range in height at the withers from approximately to a permitted maximum of. They have a heavy coat and short legs, and are considered quite intelligent. They are strong for their size, and are used for riding, driving, and pack purposes.


Description.

They are perennial herbaceous plants which exhibit a multitude of physiological and morphological differences making this genus an excellent example of diversity. Having native habitats that vary from being epiphytic and saxicolous, species have certain adaptations, such as root systems designed to anchor to other plants or substrates, and modified trichomes for water and nutrient intake. Some of the species, like the majority of bromeliaceae, grow as funnel bromeliads, with a compressed stem axis. The leaves are then close together in rosettes, and cover the lower areas of the leaves, forming a funnel for collecting water.  These leaf rosettes, a common physical characteristic in "Tillandsia" species, collect nutrients and water. The flowers typically involve bright, vibrant colors, with blooms or inflorescences produced on a stalk or several stalks. The flower's color varies greatly; red, yellow, purple and pink flowers exist in this genus, and multicolored flowers are known. The bright colors attract pollinators. An air plant's foliage may also change color when it blooms, also attracting pollinators. The hermaphrodite flowers are threefold with double perianth. The three free sepals are symmetrical and pointed. The seeds have a "parachute" similar to the dandelion.  Common pollinators of this genera include moths, hummingbirds and, more recently recognized, bats.

Range.

They have naturally been established in diverse environments such as equatorial tropical rain forests, high elevation Andes mountains, rock dwelling (saxicolous) regions, and Louisiana swamps, such as Spanish moss ("T. usneoides"), a species that grows atop tree limbs. But there are also species that live lithophytic, so on rocks (but also roofs and even telephone wires).  The green species with their claim to a cool-humid climate live mostly more in the shade terrestrial or in the lower levels of the forests. In contrast, almost all gray species live in precipitation-poor areas with high humidity. They prefer the full sun and can therefore be found in the upper floors of the woods, on rocks or (rarely) on the ground. Many of the gray species are epiphytes. Some species are more or less xeromorphic.

Cultivation.

Tillandsias, like other bromeliads, can multiply through pollination and seed formation. Since Tillandsia are not self-fertile, the pollen must come from another plant of the same species. Tillandsia, depending on the species, may take months or years to flower. After flowering, the plant forms offsets and dies.  Generally, the thinner-leafed varieties grow in rainy areas and the thick-leafed varieties in areas more subject to drought. Most species absorb moisture and nutrients through the leaves from rain, dew, dust, decaying leaves and insect matter, aided by structures called trichomes. Air plants are growing rapidly in popularity as a low maintenance household plant. Due to their minimal root system and other adaptations, they generally do not require frequent watering, no more than four times a week, allowing the plant to completely dry before watering again.  The amount of light required depends on the species; overall, air plants with silver dusting and stiff foliage will require more sunlight than air plants with softer foliage. They generally need a strong light. In summer outside, however, they prefer the light shade of a tree at the hottest hours. Plants are commonly seen mounted, placed in a terrarium, or simply placed in seashells as decorative pieces. For so-called "aerial" species (the majority of the common species in culture except "Tillandsia cyanea"), that is to say those whose roots are transformed into crampons without any power of absorption, watering is done by the leaves in the form of frequent sprays, or brief soaking of the plant in a container full of water. It is imperative to use non-calcareous water. Rainwater recovered from the flow of a mossy or green roof is best for this purpose, if available.

Ecology.

Species of "Tillandsia" photosynthesize through a process called CAM cycle, where they close their stomata during the day to prevent water loss and open them at night to fix carbon dioxide and release oxygen. This allows them to preserve water, necessary because they are epiphytes. They do not have a functional root system and instead absorb water in small amounts through their leaves via small structures called trichomes. Species of "Tillandsia" also absorb their nutrients from debris and dust in the air.  Any root system found on "Tillandsia" has grown to act as a fragile stabilizing scaffold to grip the surface they grow on. As soon as they have been soaked with water, the green assimilation tissue below the suction scales becomes visible again, the plant is therefore "greened". Now the plant can absorb more light. When the sun dries the plants, they turn white. Thanks to this special survival trick, plants without roots can absorb fog droplets as well as rainwater and thus cover their water needs.  Temperature is not critical, the range being from to. Frost hardiness depends on the species. "T. usneoides", for example, can tolerate night-time frosts down to about. For most species, the ideal growth temperature is between 20 °C and 25 °C, with a minimum of 10 °C and a maximum of 30 °C. Few are resistant to −10 °C, but some, usually from higher elevation areas, are hardy enough to withstand light and brief freezes and live outdoors year round in areas with mild winters.

Taxonomy.

The genus "Tillandsia" was named by Carl Linnaeus after the Swedish physician and botanist Dr. Elias Tillandz (originally Tillander) (1640–1693). Some common types of "Tillandsia" include ball moss ("T. recurvata") and Spanish moss ("T. usneoides"). The genus contains around 650 species, where 635 are considered epiphytic are traditionally divided into seven subgenera:  Four species are protected under CITES II:

Tillandsia is a genus of around 650 species of evergreen, perennial flowering plants in the family Bromeliaceae, native to the forests, mountains and deserts of northern Mexico and south-eastern United States, Mesoamerica and the Caribbean to mid Argentina. Their leaves, more or less silvery in color, are covered with specialized cells (trichomes) capable of rapidly absorbing water that gathers on them.


Etymology.

Originally, political economy meant the study of the conditions under which production or consumption within limited parameters was organized in nation-states. In that way, political economy expanded the emphasis of economics, which comes from the Greek "oikos" (meaning "home") and "nomos" (meaning "law" or "order"). Political economy was thus meant to express the laws of production of wealth at the state level, just as economics was the ordering of the home. The phrase "économie politique" (translated in English as "political economy") first appeared in France in 1615 with the well-known book by Antoine de Montchrétien, "Traité de l’economie politique". Other contemporary scholars derive the roots of this study to the 13th Century Tunisian Arab Historian and Sociologist, Ibn Khaldun, for his work on making the distinction between "profit" and "sustenance", in modern political economy terms, surplus and that required for the reproduction of classes respectively. He also calls for the creation of a science to explain society and goes on to outline these ideas in his major work, the "Muqaddimah". In Al-Muqaddimah Khaldun states, “Civilization and its well-being, as well as business prosperity, depend on productivity and people’s efforts in all directions in their own interest and profit” – seen as a modern precursor to Classical Economic thought.  Leading on from this, the French physiocrats were the first major exponents of political economy, although the intellectual responses of Adam Smith, John Stuart Mill, David Ricardo, Henry George and Karl Marx to the physiocrats generally receives much greater attention. The world's first professorship in political economy was established in 1754 at the University of Naples Federico II in southern Italy. The Neapolitan philosopher Antonio Genovesi was the first tenured professor. In 1763, Joseph von Sonnenfels was appointed a Political Economy chair at the University of Vienna, Austria. Thomas Malthus, in 1805, became England's first professor of political economy, at the East India Company College, Haileybury, Hertfordshire. In its contemporary meaning, political economy refers to different yet related approaches to studying economic and related behaviours, ranging from the combination of economics with other fields to the use of different, fundamental assumptions that challenge earlier economic assumptions:

Current approaches.

Political economy most commonly refers to interdisciplinary studies drawing upon economics, sociology and political science in explaining how political institutions, the political environment, and the economic system—capitalist, socialist, communist, or mixed—influence each other. The "Journal of Economic Literature" classification codes associate political economy with three sub-areas: (1) the role of government and/or class and power relationships in resource allocation for each type of economic system; (2) international political economy, which studies the economic impacts of international relations; and (3) economic models of political or exploitative class processes. Much of the political economy approach is derived from public choice theory on the one hand and radical political economics on the other hand, both dating from the 1960s.  Public choice theory is a microfoundations theory that is closely intertwined with political economy. Both approaches model voters, politicians and bureaucrats as behaving in mainly self-interested ways, in contrast to a view, ascribed to earlier mainstream economists, of government officials trying to maximize individual utilities from some kind of social welfare function. As such, economists and political scientists often associate political economy with approaches using rational-choice assumptions, especially in game theory and in examining phenomena beyond economics' standard remit, such as government failure and complex decision making in which context the term "positive political economy" is common. Other "traditional" topics include analysis of such public policy issues as economic regulation, monopoly, rent-seeking, market protection, institutional corruption and distributional politics. Empirical analysis includes the influence of elections on the choice of economic policy, determinants and forecasting models of electoral outcomes, the political business cycles, central-bank independence and the politics of excessive deficits.  A more recent focus has been on modeling economic policy and political institutions as to interactions between agents and economic and political institutions, including the seeming discrepancy of economic policy and economist's recommendations through the lens of transaction costs. From the mid-1990s, the field has expanded, in part aided by new cross-national data sets that allow tests of hypotheses on comparative economic systems and institutions. Topics have included the breakup of nations, the origins and rate of change of political institutions in relation to economic growth, development, financial markets and regulation, the importance of institutions, backwardness, reform and transition economies, the role of culture, ethnicity and gender in explaining economic outcomes, macroeconomic policy, the environment, fairness and the relation of constitutions to economic policy, theoretical and empirical.  Other important landmarks in the development of political economy include:

Related disciplines.

Because political economy is not a unified discipline, there are studies using the term that overlap in subject matter, but have radically different perspectives:

Political economy is the study of production and trade and their relations with law, custom and government; and with the distribution of national income and wealth. As a discipline, political economy originated in moral philosophy, in the 18th century, to explore the administration of states' wealth, with "political" signifying the Greek word "polity" and "economy" signifying the Greek word "okonomie" (household management). The earliest works of political economy are usually attributed to the British scholars Adam Smith, Thomas Malthus, and David Ricardo, although they were preceded by the work of the French physiocrats, such as François Quesnay (1694–1774) and Anne-Robert-Jacques Turgot (1727–1781).


Early career.

Helmuth von Moltke was born in Biendorf, Grand Duchy of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, and was named after his uncle, Helmuth Karl Bernhard von Moltke, future "Generalfeldmarschall" (Field Marshal) and hero of the Unification of Germany. During the Franco-Prussian War, Moltke served with the 7th Grenadier Regiment and was cited for bravery. He attended the War Academy between 1875 and 1878 and joined the General Staff in 1880. In 1882 he became personal adjutant to his uncle, who was then Chief of the General Staff. In 1891, on the death of his uncle, Moltke became aide-de-camp to Kaiser Wilhem II, thus becoming part of the Emperor's inner circle. In 1898 he became commander of the 1st Guards Infantry Brigade and in 1902, being promoted to Lieutenant General, received command of the 1st Guards Infantry Division.

Rise to the General Staff.

In 1904 Moltke was made Quartermaster-General; in effect, Deputy Chief of the General Staff. In 1906, he became chief on the retirement of Alfred von Schlieffen. His appointment was controversial then and remains so today. The other likely candidates for the position were Hans Hartwig von Beseler, Karl von Bülow and Colmar Freiherr von der Goltz. Critics charge that Moltke gained the position on the strength of his name and his friendship with the Kaiser, whom he was certainly far closer to than the other candidates. Historians argue that Beseler was too close to Schlieffen to have succeeded him, while Bülow and Goltz were too independent for Wilhelm to have accepted them. Moltke's friendship with the Kaiser permitted him a latitude that others could not have enjoyed. Goltz, at least, saw nothing wrong with Moltke's performance as Chief.

Marne campaign.

Shortly before the outbreak of the First World War and the First Battle of the Marne in September 1914, Moltke was called to the Kaiser who had been told by Karl Max, Prince Lichnowsky, that the British Foreign Secretary, Sir Edward Grey, had offered French neutrality under guarantee of Great Britain. According to John Keegan however, the Kaiser believed that Britain would remain neutral if Germany did not attack France. Whichever is true, the Kaiser, seeing that a two-front war could be avoided, told Moltke to divert forces from the western to the eastern front against Russia. Moltke refused, arguing that such a drastic alteration of a long-planned major mobilization could not be done without throwing the forces into organizational chaos and the original plan now in motion must be followed through. Years later, General, head of the German railway division, would disagree in a book detailing a contingency plan that the German army had for such a situation. Grey's offer turned out to be a wishful misinterpretation by Lichnowsky and the Kaiser told Moltke to proceed as originally planned. Moltke's health, already stressed from this argument with his ruler, broke down as a consequence of German defeat at the first battle of the Marne, and on 14 September 1914, he was succeeded by Erich von Falkenhayn.  It is a matter of debate whether the "failure" of the Marne Campaign can be placed at Moltke's feet. Some critics contend that Moltke's weakening of the Schlieffen Plan led to German defeat. The records show that Moltke, who was concerned about Russia, moved 180,000 men east before the war. Many thousands more men were transported from the crucial right wing to the left wing facing France in Alsace and Lorraine. Most controversially, on 28 August, Moltke sent two corps and a cavalry division to reinforce Ludendorff and Hindenburg, just before the epic victory at the Battle of Tannenberg. The series of moves has been viewed by some historians as responsible for much of the strategic failure of the Schlieffen Plan as enacted in 1914. A number of historians, notably Zuber and S. L. A. Marshall, contend that the failure of Alexander von Kluck's 1st Army to keep position with Karl von Bülow's 2nd Army, thus creating a gap near Paris that was exploited by the French, is a more direct cause than any planning foibles on Moltke's part. The Schlieffen School disagrees and argues that Moltke lost control of the invading armies during the month of August and thus was unable to react when the First Battle of the Marne developed in September. While Moltke had lost touch with his field commanders, German operational doctrine had always stressed (personal initiative) on the part of subordinate officers, more so than in other armies. Other historians argue that the multitude of strategic options Moltke faced and the danger of the Russian invasion of East Prussia clouded Moltke's judgement.  Although earlier in the campaign, German generals and the press had been proclaiming the campaign as good as won, on 4 September, Moltke was found despondent that the lack of prisoners meant that the Germans had not yet really won a decisive victory. Moltke may well have been overly preoccupied with the unsuccessful German offensive in Lorraine, and he issued no orders to the First, Second and Third Armies between 2 and 5 September whilst the Battle of the Marne was in progress.  Following the German retreat from the Marne, Moltke allegedly reported to the Kaiser, "Your Majesty, we have lost the war."

Later life.

After being succeeded by Falkenhayn, Moltke was entrusted in Berlin with the office of chief of the home substitute for the general staff ("Der stellvertretende Generalstab"), which had the task of organising and forwarding the reserves and of controlling the territorial army corps, corresponding to those at the front. Moltke's health continued to deteriorate and he died in Berlin on 18 June 1916, during the "Staatsakt" (memorial state ceremony) for Marshal Colmar Freiherr von der Goltz. He left a pamphlet entitled "Die 'Schuld' am Kriege" (The Blame for the War), which his widow Eliza intended to publish in 1919. She was dissuaded from doing so because of the problems it might cause. The pamphlet was designed to show the "chaotic" nature of events leading up to the war, to counter Allied accusations of warmongering by Germany. Army chiefs and the German foreign ministry were disturbed by its contents. General Wilhelm von Dommes was sent to advise Eliza von Moltke against publication. Having read the pamphlet he confided to his diary that it "contains nasty stuff". Instead, Eliza published the more bland "Erinnerungen, Briefe, Dokumente", a collection of her husband's letters and documents. Other material was archived. Some was later destroyed in World War II and the original pamphlet has not been accessible since.

Personal life.

At sixty-six, Moltke was one of the older commanders of 1914 and in poor health, having suffered a stroke shortly before the outbreak of war. These factors negatively affected his determination when he was under stress. His personal interests included music, painting and literature. While often assertive in manner, his character was assessed by the historian Barbara W. Tuchman as being essentially that of a self-doubting introvert.  Moltke was a follower of theosophy, which taught that humanity was an endless, unchanging cycle of civilizations rising and falling. Historian Margaret MacMillan connected his personal beliefs with his resigned approach to the possibility of a general war in the leadup to the First World War. Like many of his colleagues on the German General Staff, he was heavily influenced by Social Darwinism. His view of international relations as merely a struggle for survival led him to believe that the longer the start of the war was delayed the worse things would be for Germany.

Helmuth Johannes Ludwig Graf von Moltke (; 25 May 1848 – 18 June 1916), also known as Moltke the Younger, was a German general and Chief of the Great German General Staff. He was also the nephew of "Generalfeldmarschall" (Field Marshal) Helmuth Karl Bernhard von Moltke who is commonly called "Moltke the Elder" to differentiate the two.


Etymology.

The name "Pelargonium" is derived from the Greek πελαργός, "pelargós" (stork), because the seed head looks like a stork's beak. Dillenius originally suggested the name'stork', because "Geranium" was named after a crane — ""a" πελαργός, "ciconia, sicuti vocamus Gerania", γερανός, "grus"" (as "pelargos", stork, as we call the "Gerania", "geranos", crane). Despite the Latin, this should not be confused with the modern-day genus "Ciconia", of birds in the stork family.

Description.

"Pelargonium" occurs in a large number of growth forms, including herbaceous annuals, shrubs, subshrubs, stem succulents and geophytes. The erect stems bear five-petaled flowers in umbel-like clusters, which are occasionally branched. Because not all flowers appear simultaneously but open from the centre outwards, this is a form of inflorescence is referred to as pseudoumbels.  The flower has a single symmetry plane (zygomorphic), which distinguishes it from the "Geranium" flower, which has radial symmetry (actinomorphic). Thus the lower three (anterior) petals are differentiated from the upper two (posterior) petals. The posterior sepal is fused with the pedicel to form a hypanthium (nectary tube). The nectary tube varies from only a few millimeters, up to several centimeters, and is an important floral characteristic in morphological classification. Stamens vary from 2 to 7, and their number, position relative to staminodes, and curvature are used to identify individual species. There are five stigmata in the style. For the considerable diversity in flower morphology, see figure 1 of Röschenbleck "et al." (2014)  Leaves are usually alternate, and palmately lobed or pinnate, often on long stalks, and sometimes with light or dark patterns. The leaves of "Pelargonium peltatum" (Ivy-leaved Geranium), have a thick cuticle better adapting them for drought tolerance.

Taxonomy.

"Pelargonium" is the second largest genus (after "Geranium") within the family Geraniaceae, within which it is sister to the remaining genera of the family in its strict sense, "Erodium", "Geranium", and "Monsonia" including "Sarcocaulon". The Geraniaceae have a number of genetic features unique amongst angiosperms, including highly rearranged plastid genomes differing in gene content, order and expansion of the inverted repeat.<!--- Current insights in the relationships of the Geraniaceae, based on a 2008 DNA-analysis, are summarized in the following tree.

Pelargonium is a genus of flowering plants which includes about 200 species of perennials, succulents, and shrubs, commonly known as geraniums, pelargoniums, or storksbills. Confusingly, "Geranium" is the botanical name and common name of a separate genus of related plants (also known as cranesbills). Both genera belong to the family Geraniaceae. Linnaeus originally included all the species in one genus, "Geranium", and they were later separated into two genera by Charles L’Héritier in 1789.


History.

UNPO was conceived of in the 1980s by leaders of self-determination movements, Linnart Mäll of the Congress of Estonia, Erkin Alptekin, of East Turkestan, and Lodi Gyari of Tibet, together with Michael van Walt van Praag, long the international law adviser of the 14th Dalai Lama. The founders were representatives of national movements of Estonia, Latvia, Tibet, Crimean Tatars, Armenia, Georgia, Tatarstan, East Turkestan, East Timor, Australian Aboriginals, The Cordillera, the Greek Minority in Albania, Kurdistan, Palau, Taiwan, and West Papua. A key UNPO goal was, and remains, to replicate the success of the 14th Dalai Lama's and the Tibetan people's non-violent message in the face of oppression and occupation.  UNPO chose for its founding headquarters in 1991 The Hague in the Netherlands because the city aimed at becoming the International City of Peace and Justice and hosts international courts like the ICJ and ICC. A Foundation was established in the Netherlands to provide secretarial support to the UNPO General Assembly and to carryout research and educational activities related to unrepresented peoples worldwide. The Foundation maintains a permanent presence before the European Union, United States and United Nations. It is funded by a combination of member contributions, donations from individuals and project-based grants from foundations.

Aims.

UNPO's vision is to affirm democracy as a fundamental human right, implement human, civil and political rights worldwide, uphold the universal right to autonomy and self-determination and further federalism. It encourages nonviolent methodologies to reach peaceful solutions to conflicts and oppression. UNPO supports members in getting their human and cultural rights respected and in preserving their environments. The organization provides a forum for members to network and assists them in participating at an international level.  Although UNPO members often have different goals, they have one thing in common: they are generally not represented diplomatically (or only with a minor status, such as observer) in major international institutions, such as the United Nations (UN). As a result, their ability to have their concerns addressed by the global bodies mandated to protect human rights and address conflict is limited.  UNPO is dedicated to the five principles enshrined in its Covenant:  All members are required to sign and abide by the UNPO Covenant. UNPO members are required to be nonviolent.

Members.

The following are listed as members by the UNPO.  Original members are listed with pink background and in bold.

Suspensions.

Organizations representing nations may become suspended from the UNPO if they fail to follow its covenant.  In 1993, Khalistan was briefly admitted in the Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization, but was suspended in a few months. The membership suspension was made permanent on 22 January 1995.  Scania was also suspended.

Former members.

Some members of the UNPO have left because of United Nations (UN) recognition, autonomy agreements, or for other reasons.  The following lists former and suspended members.  Former members who became part of UN are highlighted with a blue background and "italics". Original members (from 11 February 1991) are listed with pink background and in bold.

Leadership.

Secretaries general Executive Director  Chair/Presidents of the General Assembly

The Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization (UNPO) is an international membership organization established to facilitate the voices of unrepresented and marginalised nations and peoples worldwide. It was formed on 11 February 1991 in The Hague, Netherlands. Its members consist of indigenous peoples, minorities, and unrecognised or occupied territories. UNPO works to develop the understanding of and respect for the right to self-determination, provides advice and support related to questions of international recognition and political autonomy, trains groups on how to advocate for their causes effectively, and directly advocates for an international response to human rights violations perpetrated against UNPO member groups. Some former members, such as Armenia, East Timor, Estonia, Latvia, Georgia and Palau, have gained full independence and joined the United Nations (UN).


History.

The Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) became involved in developing standards for web mapping after a paper was published in 1997 by Allan Doyle, outlining a "WWW Mapping Framework". The OGC established a task force to come up with a strategy, and organized the "Web Mapping Testbed" initiative, inviting pilot web mapping projects that built upon ideas by Doyle and the OGC task force. Results of the pilot projects were demonstrated in September 1999, and a second phase of pilot projects ended in April 2000.  The Open Geospatial Consortium released WMS version 1.0.0 in April 2000, followed by version 1.1.0 in June 2001, and version 1.1.1 in January 2002. The OGC released WMS version 1.3.0 in January 2004.

Requests.

WMS specifies a number of different request types, two of which are required by any WMS server:  Request types that WMS providers may optionally support include:

Map image.

A WMS server usually serves the map in a bitmap format, e.g. PNG, GIF or JPEG and etc... In addition, vector graphics can be included, such as points, lines, curves and text, expressed in SVG or WebCGM format.

Software.

Open source software that provide web map services capability include:  Proprietary server software that allow providing web map services include:  Open source standalone (client side) software that allow viewing web map services include:  Proprietary standalone (client side) software that allow viewing web map services include:  WMS is a widely supported format for maps and GIS data accessed via the Internet and loaded into client side GIS software. Major commercial GIS and mapping software that support WMS include:  Open source software that supports WMS include:

A Web Map Service (WMS) is a standard protocol developed by the Open Geospatial Consortium in 1999 for serving georeferenced map images over the Internet. These images are typically produced by a map server from data provided by a GIS database.


Early life.

Tolkien was born in Leeds, England, the third of four children and youngest son of John Ronald Reuel Tolkien and his wife, Edith Mary Tolkien (née Bratt). He was educated at the Dragon School (Oxford) and later at The Oratory School.  He entered the Royal Air Force in mid-1943 and was sent to South Africa for flight training, completing the elementary flying course at 7 Air School, Kroonstad, and the service flying course at 25 Air School, Standerton. He was commissioned into the general duties branch of the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve on 27 January 1945 as a pilot officer on probation (emergency) and was given the service number 193121. He briefly served as an RAF pilot before transferring to the Royal Navy Volunteer Reserve on 28 June 1945. His commission was confirmed and it was announced he was promoted to flying officer (war substantive) on 27 July 1945.  After the war, he studied English at Trinity College, Oxford, taking his B.A. in 1949 and his B.Litt. a few years later.

Career.

Tolkien had long been part of the critical audience for his father's fiction, first as a child listening to tales of Bilbo Baggins (which were published as "The Hobbit"), and then as a teenager and young adult offering much feedback on "The Lord of the Rings" during its 15-year gestation. He had the task of interpreting his father's sometimes self-contradictory maps of Middle-earth in order to produce the versions used in the books, and he re-drew the main map in the late 1970s to clarify the lettering and correct some errors and omissions. Tolkien was invited by his father to join the Inklings when he was 21 years old, making him the youngest member of the informal literary discussion society that included C. S. Lewis, Owen Barfield, Charles Williams, Warren Lewis, Lord David Cecil, and Nevill Coghill.  He published "The Saga of King Heidrek the Wise": "Translated from the Icelandic with Introduction, Notes and Appendices by Christopher Tolkien" in 1960. Later, Tolkien followed in his father's footsteps, becoming a lecturer and tutor in English Language at New College, Oxford, from 1964 to 1975.  In 2016, he was given the Bodley Medal, an award that recognises outstanding contributions to literature, culture, science, and communication.

Editorial work.

His father wrote a great deal of material connected to the Middle-earth legendarium that was not published in his lifetime. He had originally intended to publish "The Silmarillion" along with "The Lord of the Rings", and parts of it were in a finished state when he died in 1973, but the project was incomplete. Tolkien once referred to his son as his "chief critic and collaborator", and named him his literary executor in his will. Tolkien organised the masses of his father's unpublished writings, some of them written on odd scraps of paper a half-century earlier. Much of the material was handwritten; frequently a fair draft was written over a half-erased first draft, and names of characters routinely changed between the beginning and end of the same draft. In the years following, Tolkien worked on the manuscripts and was able to produce an edition of "The Silmarillion" for publication in 1977.  "The Silmarillion" was followed by "Unfinished Tales" in 1980, and "The History of Middle-earth" in 12 volumes between 1983 and 1996. Most of the original source-texts have been made public from which "The Silmarillion" was constructed. In April 2007, Tolkien published "The Children of Húrin", whose story his father had brought to a relatively complete stage between 1951 and 1957 before abandoning it. This was one of his father's earliest stories, its first version dating back to 1918; several versions are published in "The Silmarillion", "Unfinished Tales", and "The History of Middle-earth". "The Children of Húrin" is a synthesis of these and other sources. "Beren and Lúthien " is an editorial work and was published as a stand-alone book in 2017.  The next year, "The Fall of Gondolin " was published, also as an editorial work. "The Children of Húrin", "Beren and Lúthien", and "The Fall of Gondolin" make up the three "Great Tales" of the Elder Days which J.R.R. Tolkien considered to be the biggest stories of the First Age.  HarperCollins published other J. R. R. Tolkien work edited by Tolkien which is not connected to the Middle-earth legendarium. "The Legend of Sigurd and Gudrún" appeared in May 2009, a verse retelling of the Norse Völsung cycle, followed by "The Fall of Arthur" in May 2013, and by "" in May 2014.  Tolkien served as chairman of the Tolkien Estate, Ltd., the entity formed to handle the business side of his father's literary legacy, and as a trustee of the Tolkien Charitable Trust. He resigned as director of the estate in 2017.

Reaction to filmed versions.

In 2001, he expressed doubts over "The Lord of the Rings" film trilogy directed by Peter Jackson, questioning the viability of a film interpretation that retained the essence of the work, but stressed that this was just his opinion. In a 2012 interview with "Le Monde" he criticised the films saying: "They gutted the book, making an action film for 15 to 25-year-olds."  In 2008, Tolkien commenced legal proceedings against New Line Cinema, which he claimed owed his family £80 million in unpaid royalties. In September 2009, he and New Line reached an undisclosed settlement, and he withdrew his legal objection to "The Hobbit" films.

Personal life.

Tolkien lived from 1975 in the French countryside with his second wife, Baillie Tolkien (née Klass), who edited his father's "The Father Christmas Letters" for posthumous publication. They had two children, Adam Reuel Tolkien and Rachel Clare Reuel Tolkien. In the wake of a dispute surrounding the making of "The Lord of the Rings" film trilogy, he disowned his son by his first marriage, barrister and novelist Simon Mario Reuel Tolkien, though they reconciled prior to Christopher's death.  He died on 16 January 2020, at the age of 95, in Draguignan, Var, France.

Bibliography.

As author or translator  As editor

Christopher John Reuel Tolkien (21 November 1924 – 16 January 2020) was an English and French academic editor. He was the son of author J. R. R. Tolkien and the editor of much of his father's posthumously published work. Tolkien drew the original maps for his father's "The Lord of the Rings".


History.

"Senet" is one of the oldest known board games. Fragmentary boards that could be "senet" have been found in First Dynasty burials in Egypt, c. 3100 BC. A hieroglyph resembling a "senet" board appears in the tomb of Merknera (3300–2700 BC). The first unequivocal painting of this ancient game is from the Third Dynasty tomb of Hesy (c. 2686–2613 BC). People are depicted playing "senet" in a painting in the tomb of Rashepes, as well as from other tombs of the Fifth and Sixth Dynasties (c. 2500 BC). The oldest intact "senet" boards date to the Middle Kingdom, but graffiti on Fifth and Sixth Dynasty monuments could date as early as the Old Kingdom.  At least by the time of the New Kingdom in Egypt (1550–1077 BC), "senet" was conceived as a representation of the journey of the "ka" (the vital spark) to the afterlife. This connection is made in the "Great Game Text", which appears in a number of papyri, as well as the appearance of markings of religious significance on "senet" boards themselves. The game is also referred to in chapter XVII of the "Book of the Dead". A study on a "senet" board in the Rosicrucian Egyptian Museum, dating back to the early New Kingdom of Egypt, showed the evolution of the game from its secular origins into a more religious artifact.  "Senet" also was played by people in neighboring cultures, and it probably came to those places through trade relationships between Egyptians and local peoples. It has been found in the Levant at sites such as Arad and Byblos, as well as in Cyprus. Because of the local practice of making games out of stone, there are more "senet" games that have been found in Cyprus than have been found in Egypt.

Gameplay.

The "senet" gameboard is a grid of 30 squares, arranged in three rows of ten. A "senet" board has two sets of pawns (at least five of each). Although details of the original game rules are a subject of some conjecture, "senet" historians Timothy Kendall and R. C. Bell have made their own reconstructions of the game. These rules are based on snippets of texts that span over a thousand years, over which time gameplay is likely to have changed. Therefore, it is unlikely these rules reflect the exact course of ancient Egyptian gameplay. Their rules have been adopted by sellers of modern "senet" sets. Scenes found in Old Kingdom tombs, dating 2686 to 2160 BC, reveal that Senet was a game of position, strategy, and a bit of luck.  In a presentation to the XX Board Games Studies Colloquium at the University of Copenhagen, Denmark, Espen Aarseth asked if the game "Senet" could be said to still exist, given that the rules were unknown. In response, Alexander de Voogt of the American Museum of Natural History pointed out that games did not have a fixed set of rules, but rules varied over time and from place to place. Moreover, many players of games, even today, do not play (or sometimes do not even know) the "official rules".  Games historian Eddie Duggan (University of Suffolk) provides a brief resume of ideas related to the ancient Egyptian game of "senet" (together with an overview of the so-called "Royal Game of Ur") and a version of rules for play in his teaching notes on ancient games.

Senet (or senat) is a board game from ancient Egypt, whose original rules are the subject of conjecture. The oldest hieroglyph resembling a "senet" game dates to around 3100 BC. The full name of the game in Egyptian is thought to have been "zn.t n.t ḥˁb", meaning the "game of passing".


Kinds of samples.

A complete sample is a set of objects from a parent population that includes "all" such objects that satisfy a set of well-defined selection criteria. For example, a complete sample of Australian men taller than 2 m would consist of a list of "every" Australian male taller than 2 m. But it wouldn't include German males, or tall Australian females, or people shorter than 2 m. So to compile such a complete sample requires a complete list of the parent population, including data on height, gender, and nationality for each member of that parent population. In the case of human populations, such a complete list is unlikely to exist (the human population being in the billions). But such complete samples are often available in other disciplines, such as the set of players in a major sports league, the birth dates of the members of a parliament, or a complete magnitude-limited list of astronomical objects.  An unbiased (representative) sample is a set of objects chosen from a complete sample using a selection process that does not depend on the properties of the objects. For example, an unbiased sample of Australian men taller than 2 m might consist of a randomly sampled subset of 1% of Australian males taller than 2 m. But one chosen from the electoral register might not be unbiased since, for example, males aged under 18 will not be on the electoral register. In an astronomical context, an unbiased sample might consist of that fraction of a complete sample for which data are available, provided the data availability is not biased by individual source properties.  The best way to avoid a biased or unrepresentative sample is to select a random sample, also known as a probability sample. A random sample is defined as a sample where each individual member of the population has a known, non-zero chance of being selected as part of the sample. Several types of random samples are simple random samples, systematic samples, stratified random samples, and cluster random samples.  A sample that is not random is called a non-random sample or a non-probability sampling. Some examples of nonrandom samples are convenience samples, judgment samples, purposive samples, quota samples, snowball samples, and quadrature nodes in quasi-Monte Carlo methods.

Mathematical description of random sample.

In mathematical terms, given a probability distribution "F", a random sample of length "n" (where "n" may be any positive integer) is a set of realizations of "n" independent, identically distributed (iid) random variables with distribution "F".  A sample concretely represents the results of "n" experiments in which the same quantity is measured. For example, if we want to estimate the average height of members of a particular population, we measure the heights of "n" individuals. Each measurement is drawn from the probability distribution "F" characterizing the population, so each measured height formula_1 is the realization of a random variable formula_2 with distribution "F". Note that a set of random variables (i.e., a set of measurable functions) must not be confused with the realizations of these variables (which are the values that these random variables take). In other words, formula_2 is a function representing the measurement at the "i"-th experiment and formula_4 is the value obtained when making the measurement.

In statistics and quantitative research methodology, a sample is a set of individuals or objects collected or selected from a statistical population by a defined procedure. The elements of a sample are known as sample points, sampling units or observations.