Military career.

Born the son of Sir Richard Temple, 3rd Baronet, and his wife Mary Temple (née Knapp, daughter of Thomas Knapp), Temple was educated at Eton College and Christ's College, Cambridge, and was commissioned as an ensign in Prince George of Denmark's Regiment on 30 June 1685. After becoming a captain in Babington's Regiment in 1689, he fought under William III during the Williamite War in Ireland against the Jacobite Irish Army of James II. He was present at the Siege of Namur in July 1695 during the Nine Years' War. Temple succeeded his father as 4th Baronet in May 1697 and as Whig Member of Parliament for Buckingham later that year: he continued to represent either Buckingham or Buckinghamshire for the next 16 years. Promoted to lieutenant colonel on 10 February 1702, he was given his own regiment to command. He fought under John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough at the Battle of Venlo in September 1702 and at the Battle of Roermond in October 1702 during the War of the Spanish Succession. He also took part in the Battle of Oudenarde in July 1708 and the Siege of Lille in Autumn 1708. For his good conduct at Lille he was sent home to present the despatches to Queen Anne. In Parliament he supported the Whigs and voted for the Foreign Protestants Naturalization Act 1708 which allowed Protestants fleeing from the continent to enter Great Britain. Promoted to major-general on 1 January 1709, he fought again at the Battle of Malplaquet in September 1709 and was promoted to lieutenant general on 1 January 1710. In Parliament, in accordance with Whig party policy, he voted for the impeachment of Henry Sacheverell, a clergyman who had criticised the party, in March 1710.  In recognition of his service in the field, Temple was appointed colonel of the Princess Anne of Denmark's Regiment of Dragoons in April 1710. From 1711, he made dramatic changes to his family estate at Stowe; the work was carried out under the guidance of John Vanbrugh, a skilled architect, and the future royal gardener, Charles Bridgeman.  In 1713 the Harley Ministry stripped Temple of his colonelcy for voting against the Treaty of Utrecht. However, after George I ascended the throne, Temple became ambassador to Vienna and was created Baron Cobham in October 1714. He also became colonel of The Royal Regiment of Dragoons in 1715 and Constable of Windsor Castle in 1716. He was made a Privy Councillor in July 1716 and created Viscount Cobham in April 1718.  Temple was a mentor and Patron to a number of young Whigs, the most notable being William Pitt. Collectively they became known as Cobham's Cubs. Two of them, Pitt and Temple's nephew George Grenville went on to be Prime Minister. In September 1719 during the War of the Quadruple Alliance Temple led a force of 4,000 troops on a raid on the Spanish coastline which captured Vigo and occupied it for ten days before withdrawing.  Temple generally supported the government of Sir Robert Walpole once it came to power in April 1721 and was rewarded with the colonelcy of the King's Own Regiment of Horse later that year. He became Governor of Jersey in May 1723 and Lord Lieutenant of Buckinghamshire in March 1728.

Later life.

Temple fell out with Prime Minister Robert Walpole in 1733 and formed a faction in the Whig Party to oppose the Excise Bill which resulted in his being stripped of his colonelcy again. He was promoted to full general on 27 October 1735.  Temple provided patronage to the rising star of the Whig Party, William Pitt, securing him a cornet's commission in his regiment. The group of Temple's young supporters were known as Cobham's Cubs and included Richard Grenville, George Grenville and George Lyttelton, as well as Pitt. After Walpole's fall as Prime Minister in 1742, they turned their attacks on his replacement – a government led by Lord Wilmington and Lord Carteret. Promoted to field marshal on 10 July 1742, Temple became colonel of the 1st Troop of Horse Grenadier Guards that same day, colonel of Viscount Cobham's Regiment of Horse in 1744 and colonel of Viscount Cobham's Regiment of Dragoons in June 1745. He died at Stowe on 13 September 1749 and was buried there.

Family.

In September 1715 Temple married Anne Halsey, daughter of Edmund Halsey who had owned the Anchor Brewery: her inheritance allowed Temple to maintain the Stowe estate; they had no children.

Legacy.

Temple was admired by Alexander Pope, and Temple's gardens were praised by Pope in his "Epistle to Burlington" as a wonder. Pope wrote a "moral epistle" to Temple in 1733 and published it in the same year as "An Epistle to the Right Honourable Richard Lord Visct. Cobham". Pope praises Temple as a practical man of the world whose "ruling passion" was service to his country, whatever the cost. Basil Williams said Temple "had all the coarse, roystering bluffness of the hardened old campaigners of that time".

Field Marshal Richard Temple, 1st Viscount Cobham (24 October 1675 – 14 September 1749) was a British soldier and Whig politician. After serving as a junior officer under William III during the Williamite War in Ireland and during the Nine Years' War, he fought under John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough, during the War of the Spanish Succession. During the War of the Quadruple Alliance Temple led a force of 4,000 troops on a raid on the Spanish coastline which captured Vigo and occupied it for ten days before withdrawing. In Parliament he generally supported the Whigs but fell out with Sir Robert Walpole in 1733. He was known for his ownership of and modifications to the estate at Stowe and for serving as a political mentor to the young William Pitt.


Plot summary.

In this alternate history, the corrupt United States president Ferris F. Fremont (FFF for 666, ‘F’ being the 6th letter in the alphabet) becomes Chief Executive in the late 1960s following Lyndon Johnson's administration. The character is best described as an amalgam of Joseph McCarthy and Richard Nixon, who abrogates civil liberties and human rights through positing a conspiracy theory centered on a (presumably) fictitious subversive organization known as "Aramchek". In addition to this, he is associated with a right-wing populist movement called "Friends of the American People" (FAPers).  The President's paranoia and opportunism lead to the establishment of a real resistance movement that is organized through narrow-beam radio transmissions from a mysterious alien near-Earth satellite by a superintelligent, extraterrestrial, but less than omnipotent being (or network) named VALIS.  Like its successor "VALIS", this novel is autobiographical. Dick himself is a major character, though fictitious protagonist Nicholas Brady serves as a vehicle for Dick's alleged gnostic theophany on February 11, 1974. In addition, Silvia Sadassa is a character who claims that Ferris Fremont is actually a communist covert agent recruited by Sadassa's mother when Fremont was still a teenager.  As with "VALIS", "Radio Free Albemuth" deals with Dick's highly personal style of Christianity (or Gnosticism). It further examines the moral and ethical repercussions of informing on trusted friends for the authorities. Also prominent is Dick's dislike of the Republican Party, satirizing Nixon's America as a Stalinist or neo-fascist police state. Fremont eventually captures and imprisons Dick and Brady after the latter attempts to produce and distribute a record that contains subliminal messages of revolt against the current dictatorship. Brady and Silvia are executed, and Dick narrates the concluding passage about his life in a concentration camp, where his supposedly latest work is actually penned by a ghost writer and regime-approved hack. Suddenly, however, he hears music blaring from a transistor radio which contains the same subliminal message. He and his friends, it turns out, were just a decoy set up by VALIS to detour the government from stopping a much more popular A-List band from releasing a similar record with a better-established recording company. As Dick realizes this and hears youngsters repeating the lyrics, he realizes that salvation may lie within the hearts and minds of the next generation.

Reception.

Gerald Jonas of "The New York Times" thought that the novel "may have been merely a first draft (and an abandoned first draft at that), but this book is not Dick at his best. "  J. Michael Caparula reviewed "Radio Free Albemuth" in "Space Gamer/Fantasy Gamer" No. 80. Caparula commented that "The final result presents a satisfying (albeit enigmatic) conclusion to his trilogy of Valis novels ("Valis" and "The Divine Invasion" being the other two)."

Relationship to "VALIS".

When he rewrote "Radio Free Albemuth" as "VALIS", Dick incorporated the plotline of "Radio Free Albemuth" as a backdrop film (also titled "VALIS") that recapitulated the central theological and existential concerns of his novel as a mise en abyme - that is, a miniature copy of his central preoccupations at this stage of his literary career, common to both works. The word "albemuth" was derived by Dick from the Arabic word Al Behemoth, "the whale", itself an oblique reference to Fomalhaut, the star Dick at one time believed VALIS came from in real life.

Film adaptation.

John Alan Simon wrote, produced and directed a film adaptation of "Radio Free Albemuth". Canadian singer-songwriter Alanis Morissette stars as Sylvia. Filming took place in October 2007 at Los Angeles' Lacy Street Studios and multiple other locations. The film premiered in February 2010 at the Sedona Film Festival as a work in-progress. It was released as a limited release (and VOD) on June 27, 2014.

Radio Free Albemuth is a dystopian novel by Philip K. Dick, written in 1976 and published posthumously in 1985. Originally titled "VALISystem A", it was his first attempt to deal in fiction with his experiences of early 1974. When his publishers at Bantam requested extensive rewrites he canned the project and reworked it into the "VALIS" trilogy. Arbor House acquired the rights to "Radio Free Albemuth" in 1985. They then published an edition under the current title (the original was too close to "VALIS"), prepared from the corrected typescript given by Dick to his friend Tim Powers.


History.

The 1929 Arab riots and the Haganah's inability to successfully prevent the 1929 Hebron massacre and the Safed massacre led to the creation of the first militant organization characterized by its complete disassociation from the existing Zionist establishment dominated by the Labor Zionist movement.

Ideology.

The organization's official ideology was Revisionist Maximalism, which was modelled upon Italian Fascism. It sought to create a fascist corporatist state. It is also influenced by the Canaanite ideology of Yonatan Ratosh and the theories of Oswald Spengler in "The Decline of the West" (1918). It called for the Zionist Revisionist Movement (ZRM) to adopt the fascist principles of the regime of Benito Mussolini in Italy to create an integralist "pure nationalism" amongst Jews. Revisionist Maximalism rejects communism, humanism, internationalism, liberalism, pacifism and socialism; condemned liberal Zionists for only working for middle-class Jews rather than the Jewish nation as a whole. Revisionist Maximalism's minimal goals were presented in 1932 where Ahimeir officially called for the leadership of the Zionist Revisionist Movement to be redesigned into the form of a dictatorship, called for the creation of an independent Zionist federation, called for a "war on funds" to end corruption in the Zionist movement, and called for a war on anti-Semitism. The movement's psychology was emphasized in its motto of "conquer or die".

Operations.

Members of "Brit HaBirionim" carried out several operations, including demonstrations against visiting British dignitaries, rallies against the British arrest and deportation to Europe of Jewish refugees who overstayed their tourist visas, attempts to interrupt a census conducted by the British, and other illegal activities intended as public provocations such as blowing the Shofar at the Western Wall (forbidden to Jews at that time), and removing the Nazi flags from two German consulates.  In 1933, the British Mandatory Authority arrested several members, including Ahimeir, and charged them with the murder of Chaim Arlosoroff. Though acquitted of the charges in 1934, the trial tarnished the group's reputation and led to its isolation by former political supporters among the Jewish populace, and eventually to its demise.

Brit HaBirionim (Hebrew: ברית הבריונים, "The Strongmen Alliance" (Alliance of Thugs)) was a clandestine, self-declared fascist faction of the Revisionist Zionist Movement (ZRM) in Mandatory Palestine, active between 1930 and 1933. It was founded by the trio of Abba Ahimeir, Uri Zvi Greenberg and Yehoshua Yeivin.


Synopsis.

"The following Word does not bring a new religion, but is intended as the torch to help all serious listeners or readers find the right path, which leads them to the longed-for height.The Message will strike only those who openly carry within them a spark of Truth, and the yearning to be true human beings. To all such It will become the shining light and staff. It will lead them unswervingly out of all the chaos of the present-day confusion." It answers ALL of life's questions, and gives a much deeper understanding of God's Laws...The Ten Commandments and The Golden Rule. " Abd-ru-shin's Grail Message addresses various topics, ranging from God and the universe to the "Laws in Creation", free will and responsibility, intuition and the intellect, the ethereal world and the beyond, justice and love. The Grail Message addresses eternal questions such as what does it mean to be human, what is the purpose of life on earth, and what happens after death. The Grail Message also addresses the causes and significance of crises facing humanity and humanity's responsibilities to the future.  The publishers write "This book... answers with clarity all the unsolved questions of human existence. The recognitions mediated with this book are so immense that they force the unprejudiced reader to ponder, investigate and go forward. The Grail Message will appeal to any human being who is seeking to understand life, his or her place in Creation, and the source of one’s being."  "In the Light of Truth: The Grail Message" was written to address and provide spiritual support for the problems and questions in life: Where do we come from? Where do we go when we die? What about fate and karma, Divine justice, free will, the Mission of Jesus, the Son of God, the Laws of Nature and Creation, and many others. "In the Light of Truth" also gives information about the Holy Grail. While ancient sagas and legends, and modern art, depict the Grail as an earthly myth, without being able to provide a conclusive explanation of its significance, Abd-ru-shin describes the Grail as a spiritual reality of the highest order, the connecting point between the Creator and His Creation.  According to the explanations of Creation given in "The Grail Message", human beings are actually only guests on this earth. They came from a spiritual realm, which is far above the world of earthly matter, in order to begin a course of development leading down to this earth. This path continues for each person through repeated earth lives (reincarnation). Through experiences each person's inner, spiritual consciousness develops, grows, and matures. This is the prerequisite for the way back to the spiritual realm, which is the goal of our path of development: people can and should return to the immortality of the spiritual realm as a conscious spiritual entity, and thus enter "Paradise."  "In the Light of Truth: The Grail Message" posits that "The Laws of Creation" provide each human spirit with support on their pathway though their existence. Unchangeably interwoven from the beginning, they bear within, like the Ten Commandments, the Love, Grace, and Justice of the Creator. To truly know and understand the way these laws work is essential for successfully navigating one's way through life. Therefore, the explanation of these Laws runs like a thread through the lectures of "The Grail Message".  The book also describes the relationship between the sexes: "male" and "female", each representing a specific, separate "principle", each of equal value for the total Creation. "In the Light of Truth" describes that there is a polarity between man and woman, which having been misunderstood in the past has often resulted in confusion over the intrinsic nature of their respective activities and the purpose of the sexes.

Publication.

"The Grail Message: In the Light of Truth" in three volumes, containing 168 lectures (including lectures published in separate books and in individual form after 1931), was first published in 1950, and is currently available from the Grail Foundation. and from booksellers around the world. 1931 original version books are available at lulu.com

In the Light of Truth: The Grail Message was written by Oskar Ernst Bernhardt (1875–1941), and first published in 1926 under the pen name Abd-ru-shin. An expanded, complete edition was published by the author under the name of Abdruschin in 1931, entitled "Im Lichte der Wahrheit" (In the Light of the Truth). It was a collection of 91 lectures, written to build upon each other, presenting a complete picture of Creation. Between 1931 and 1934, a further total of 59 additional lectures were released.


Eligibility.

Ice hockey players born between January 1, 1997, and September 15, 1999, were eligible for selection in the 2017 NHL Entry Draft. Additionally, undrafted, non-North American players born in 1996 were eligible for the draft; and those players who were drafted in the 2015 NHL Entry Draft, but not signed by an NHL team and who were born after June 30, 1997, were also eligible to re-enter the draft.

Draft lottery.

Since the 2012–13 NHL season all teams not qualifying for the Stanley Cup playoffs have a "weighted" chance at winning the first overall selection. Beginning with the 2014–15 NHL season the NHL changed the weighting system that was used in previous years. Under the new system the odds of winning the draft lottery for the four lowest finishing teams in the league decreased, while the odds for the other non-playoff teams increased. The first three picks overall in this draft were awarded by lottery. The odds of winning the second and third draws increased on a proportional basis depending on which team won the previous draw. In the 2017 draft lottery, the expansion Vegas Golden Knights had the same odds of winning the lottery as the team that finished with the third fewest points in the 2016–17 NHL season (this ended up being the Arizona Coyotes). Vegas earned the lowest possible pick that they could receive, and selected sixth overall in the first-round and third in each subsequent round of this draft. The New Jersey Devils, Philadelphia Flyers and Dallas Stars won the draft lotteries that took place on April 29, 2017, giving them the first, second and third picks overall. New Jersey moved up four spots to earn the first selection, while Philadelphia and Dallas moved up from the thirteenth and eighth spots, respectively. In the process, the Colorado Avalanche, Vancouver Canucks, Vegas Golden Knights and Arizona Coyotes were each knocked down three places from first, second, third and fourth overall, respectively, while the Buffalo Sabres and Detroit Red Wings dropped two spots and the Florida Panthers, Los Angeles Kings, Carolina Hurricanes and Winnipeg Jets each dropped one place.

Selections by round.

The order of the 2017 Entry Draft is listed below.

The 2017 NHL Entry Draft was the 55th NHL Entry Draft. The draft was held on June 23–24, 2017, at the United Center in Chicago, Illinois. The first three selections were Nico Hischier going to the New Jersey Devils, Nolan Patrick going to the Philadelphia Flyers, and Miro Heiskanen going to the Dallas Stars.


Provenance.

Literacy in native languages became also one of the chief projects for the Czech Reformation including the first Hussites but especially for their later Unity of the Brethren branch with their bishop Comenius. While the author's identity and the precise date of authorship are unknown, it is widely held that the author is Jan Hus and the year of creation somewhere between 1406 and 1412, based on historical and philological studies.

Contents.

The primary purpose of "De orthographia bohemica" was to simplify and unify Czech orthography in order to promote literacy by making the language "clearer and easier" to read and write. Instead of representing sounds using digraphs and trigraphs, it proposed a "diacritic orthography", where one letter indicates only one sound, and different but related sounds (such as those now represented by "r" and "ř") are distinguished by diacritics. Briefly, one can summarize the spelling changes in Orthographia Bohemica as follows:  To illustrate the simple and revolutionary nature of this spelling, take as an example the various ways of representing ř, compared with that seen in the grammar of Jan Gebauer. In manuscripts written before Hus, all of the following representations were in use: "rz", "rrz", "rs", "rzs", "rzss", "zr", "sr", "rzs" and "rzz". Long vowels were written either with no indication of the length, or written double (sometimes with the second letter written in superscript), or with any of a wide and unstandardized range of diacritical marks. One could not even assume that the same scribe would consistently use their own conventions, and their use often varied even within a single manuscript.

Significance and impact.

"Orthographia bohemica" was the first known document in which such spelling reforms were suggested for a Slavic language. It is not yet fully clear where Jan Hus drew inspiration for this work. Considered in the context of the contemporaneous study of letters of St. Jerome by Danish scholars of Hebrew working at the Sorbonne, there was a good knowledge of such orthographic practices at the time (particularly the designation of long vowels). According to a study by F. V. Mareš, a stimulus for the project was the author's knowledge of Glagolitic, used by Croatian monks in the Emmaus Monastery ("Na Slovanech") in Prague.  The significance of the document lies in the longevity and wide application of its logical system of diacritics. Its impact is apparent in the "Náměšťská mluvnice" ("Grammar of Náměšť"), the first grammar of the Czech language, published in 1533, but the adoption of the new rules was relatively slow and far from uniform. Throughout the 16th century, some printers and typesetters ignored the prescriptions of "Orthographia bohemica" and continued to maintain some digraphs (e.g. "ss" for instead of "š"), although their use became considerably more uniform. In addition, scribes adopted the new rules much more slowly than book printers.

Discovery and publication.

The manuscript for "Orthographia bohemica" was found by František Palacký on 13 August 1826, in Třeboň in the south of Bohemia. The public was made aware of the existence of the work a year later, with the first issue of the newly founded journal "Časopis společnosti vlastenského Museum v Čechách" ("Journal of the Society of the National Museum in Bohemia"), but its publication had to wait a further thirty years. The Latin text with translation appeared in 1857 in "Slavische Bibliothek" in Vienna thanks to A. V. Šembera, who worked at the time at the university as Professor of Czech Language and Literature. A year later in Prague, the fifth volume of "Mistra Jana Husi sebrané spisy" ("Collected Works of Master Jan Hus") appeared with a Czech translation and a short introduction by Václav Flajšhans, to date the latest Czech translation of this manuscript. The Latin text was published twice more: first in the unaltered Šembera edition by "Slavische Bibliothek" (Amsterdam, 1965) and second with a German translation and commentary by J. Schröpfer in Wiesbaden, Germany in 1968.  Šembera's Latin text was probably taken directly from Palacký's copy of the manuscript; Schröpfer produced a new revised (though not flawless) edition of the manuscript. A critical evaluation comparing the preserved Třeboň manuscript with the extant excerpts has yet to appear.

Preserved manuscripts.

A manuscript of "Orthographia bohemica" in Jan Hus' hand has still not been found; the only complete copy of the manuscript which is available for study was written by a monk Oldřich Kříž of Třeboň (i.e. the copy found by Palacký). Its age can not be accurately determined as the copy is not dated. The end of the manuscript contains the inscription "In die Leonardi", i.e. on January 6; however, this may indicate either the date of completion of the original manuscript or Oldřich Kříž's copy. In the same volume as "Orthographia bohemica", however, are some more works: three of them bear the year 1459 and one 1457. The writings are not arranged chronologically, however, and so they serve only as an approximate guide for determining the age of the manuscript.  In addition to the Kříž manuscript there are various excerpts deposited in the archives of Prague Castle. Anežka Vidmanová's comparative study with the manuscript of Oldřich Kříž shows that the Třeboň manuscript is unreliable in many places.

De orthographia bohemica () is a Latin work published between 1406 and 1412. It is attributed to Charles University rector and reformer Jan Hus. The book codified the Czech language's modern spelling and orthography and had decisive impact on the orthography of a number of other European languages.


Life.

Early life.

Pompilio Ruggieri was born in Spinazzola, Apulia, then part of the Kingdom of Naples, in 1543. He obtained a doctorate in civil and canon law () at the University of Naples and was employed in the administration of Philip II. He entered the Society of Jesus in Rome on 27 October 1572 taking the name "Michele". After completing the Jesuit usual spiritual and intellectual formation, Ruggieri volunteered for the Asian missions and left for Lisbon, where he was ordained in March 1578 while waiting for a ship to take him to Goa.

Missionary work.

Ruggieri left Europe with a group of missionaries which included Rudolph Acquaviva and Matteo Ricci. Arriving in India (September 1578), he promptly started to study the language used on the Malabar coast and in 6 months reached such proficiency that he could hear confession. It is probably this gift for language that made him an ideal choice for the beginning of the Chinese mission.  Ruggieri was assigned to Macau to study the Chinese language and customs, arriving 20 July 1579. He landed at the Portuguese trade centre and started at once to learn to read and write Chinese. In the process, and aware that several will be following him, he set up Shengma'erding Jingyuan ("St Martin House"), the first school for teaching Chinese to foreigners.  Ruggieri's and Ricci's intent was to settle somewhere in "real" China - not just Macao, and to that end Ruggieri made a number of trips to Canton (Guangzhou) and Zhaoqing (the residence of the Governor General of Guangdong and Guangxi), making useful contacts with the local authorities. As such he is one of the very first Christian missionaries to have entered Ming Dynasty Mainland China. After a number of failed attempts to obtain permission to establish a permanent mission within China, such a permission was finally obtained in 1582, and in 1583 Ricci and Ruggieri finally settled in Zhaoqing, the first stage on the Jesuits' "long ascent" to Beijing.  In 1584 Ruggieri published the first Chinese catechism. Visiting villages in the region he baptized several families that formed the nucleus of further Christian communities in mainland China.  During 1583-88, Michele Ruggieri, with Matteo Ricci as co-author, created a Portuguese-Chinese dictionary - the first ever European-Chinese dictionary, for which they developed a consistent system for transcribing Chinese words in Latin alphabet. The dictionary's Romanisation was Ruggieri's. A Chinese Jesuit Lay Brother Sebastiano Fernandez, who had grown up and been trained in Macau, assisted in this work. Unfortunately, the manuscript was misplaced in the Jesuit Archives in Rome, and re-discovered only in 1934, by Pasquale d'Elia. This dictionary was finally published in 2001. To Ruggieri is attributed one of the first collections of handwritten maps of China, translated into Latin from Chinese sources (atlases and maps), dating back to 1606, or nearly fifty years before the manuscript maps of the Polish Jesuit Michael Boym and the Novus Atlas Sinensis of the Trentino Jesuit Martino Martini (printed by the publisher Johan Blaeu in Amsterdam in 1655 and immediately translated into several languages). The manuscript is now preserved in the State Archives of Rome, ms. 493.  Ruggieri was accused by Cai Yilong (Ts‘ai I-lung) of adultery with the wife of Lo Hung in October 1587. After trial, the judge ordered Cai to be severely punished, to the point he died of his wounds.

Return to Europe.

In November 1588, Ruggieri left China for Rome in order to get the pope to send an embassy to the Wanli Emperor. This plan had been proposed as a means to allow Jesuits to reach Beijing and to be received by the emperor. But nothing came out of it: the Popes kept dying on him, his own health deteriorated, and eventually the weary Jesuit retired to Salerno, where he died in 1607 without ever going to China again.  In Salerno, the retired Jesuit carried on intellectual work that would make China better known in Europe. He completed the Latin translation of the "Four Books" (the classic Chinese introduction to Confucius’ philosophy), wrote poetry in Chinese, and circulated copies of Chinese maps he had brought along with him from Zhaoqing. Ruggieri was also a much sought after spiritual guide and confessor in the school of Salerno. He died on 11 May 1607.

Michele or Michael Ruggieri (1543– 11 May 1607), born Pompilio Ruggieri and known in China as Luo Mingjian, was an Italian Jesuit priest and missionary. A founding father of the Jesuit China missions, co-author of the first European–Chinese dictionary, and first European translator of the Four Books of Confucianism, he has been described as the first European sinologist.


History.

The Duke Emmanuel Philibert, Duke of Savoy was one of the leaders of the Habsburg armies of his cousin Philip II of Spain; they decisively defeated the French armies in the Battle of Saint-Quentin in Northern France on 10 August 1557, the Feast of St. Lawrence (San Lorenzo), which affected the outcome of the Treaty of Cateau-Cambrésis; in which, the Savoy, including Turin, was returned to the rule of the mercenary duke. That the Battle occurred on the Saint's feast instigated Phillip's denomination and design of the palace of El Escorial. Emmanuel Philibert, on his return to Turin in 1562, renovated the old ducal chapel of Santa Maria ad Presepae, which is still present near the entrance, and erected this church dedicated to St. Lawrence. Construction of the contemporary church began in 1634. The architect Guarino Guarini was a great innovator in Baroque principles first developed by the great Roman Baroque architect Francesco Borromini, in particular the play with optical effects and organic "deconstruction" of the classical orders and principles of column and entablature. However, in San Lorenzo Guarini took these further. The ground plan is a kind of square which becomes an octagon at the level of the entablatures above the columns only to change again to become a Greek cross at the level of the pendentives of the vaults. Again, the base of the dome is circular in plan yet the lantern above it octagonal. The dome itself is supported by eight ribs forming a lattice similar to those found in mosques and Romanesque churches in Spain. To this superposition of - by the standards of convention - contradictory central plans is added an elliptical choir. The high altar, separated from the nave by a convex and concave archway receives natural light from a hidden dome, devices drawn from the other key Roman Baroque architect Gian Lorenzo Bernini.

The Royal Church of Saint Lawrence () is a Baroque-style church in Turin, adjacent to the Royal Palace of Turin. The present church was designed and built by Guarino Guarini during 1668–1687.


History.

The French narrow gauge railway pioneer Paul Decauville wanted to experiment with passenger transport using his portable railways, already successfully introduced in the industry and agriculture. For the 1878 Exposition Universelle he proposed to use his concept for the exhibition by a line Trocadéro - Military Academy passing the Champ-de-Mars, but permission was denied. He then offered the same facility at the Zoological Gardens, which was accepted. Two kilometers of railway line at the track gauge of was constructed for the transportation of the exhibit visitors over a circular track, having a maximum speed of 15 km/h. The line carried up to 3000 passengers on some Sundays and received a very positive response from the visitors. But for some unknown reason, the network was quickly removed.  In 1880, a new modified line connected the garden to the Porte Maillot. It was constructed by another company and operated as a streetcar line with American vehicles hauled by ponies. These gave way to tractors in 1910. By 1930, the line was shortened at each end. Since then, it continues to link Porte Maillot to the garden, without being altered significantly since then.

The line.

The line originally featured a terminus loop at Porte Maillot, crossing the road at the Porte de Sablons, and follows a route through the woods to the garden, which is traversed for its entire length. It was constructed in double track with each track following a slightly different alignment, with a total track length of five kilometers. Curves had a minimum radius of eight to fifteen meters.  In the early 1930s, the line was shortened at both ends. The section within the zoological garden was removed, and the road section to Porte Maillot, where an underground construction was created, required relocating of the terminal along the road at Porte des Sablons.

Operations.

Originally, two ponies towed the small vehicles alone or in groups of two. Each car had eight seats, with passengers sitting back to back on longitudinal seats. In 1910, animal traction gives way to steam outlined gasoline locomotives, equipped with a driver's cab at the rear of the engine. They hauled three to four cars equipped with crossbenches facing the direction of travel. The appearance of the locomotives has evolved over the years with one resembling Renault taxis, while another retained a more classic look.  In 1945, the shortage of gasoline caused the replacement of the gasoline locomotives with battery tractors, which probably came from the Universal Exhibition of 1937, with their wheels with tires running outside the rails. However, the gasoline locomotives were quickly returned to service. In 1960, Renault built seven tractors with two bogies. Their bodywork was steam outlined and brightly decorated. These machines measure 3.05 meters long and 1.20 meters wide, weigh five tons and reach 19 km / h with their engines of fifty-five horse-power. The trailers are those of the 1910s, the only modification being the addition of a small roof in the year 1951. In 2010 new locomotives with electric traction came into service on the now 130-year-old railway.

The Jardin d'Acclimatation railway is a minimum gauge park railway, located in the Bois de Boulogne in Paris. It was opened in 1878 and connects Porte Maillot and the Jardin d'Acclimatation (zoological gardens), 800 meters apart. It was the first passenger-carrying narrow gauge railway of France.


Early life.

Sobral was born in Lisbon and has lived there most of his life. He was born into a formerly noble family, the son of Salvador Luís Cabral Braamcamp Sobral and Luísa Maria Cabral Posser Vilar. His paternal grandparents are Salvador José de Almeida Braamcamp Sobral and Maria Elisa Perestrelo de Matos de Figueiredo Cabral; and his maternal grandparents are João Luís Posser de Andrade Vilar and Luísa Maria de Melo Breyner Freire Cabral. The politician Hermano José Braamcamp de Almeida Castelo Branco is his great-great-great-great-grandfather.  At the age of ten, he participated in the TV programme "Bravo Bravíssimo", and at 20 he was one of the ten finalists of "Ídolos", the Portuguese version of the "Idols" franchise. As a finalist, he sang music by Stevie Wonder, Leonard Cohen and Rui Veloso.  He studied Psychology at the, in Lisbon, which he abandoned to pursue a degree in music. He spent time in Mallorca as an Erasmus student, where he sang in bars.

Career.

2009–2010: "Ídolos".

In 2009, he competed on season three of "Ídolos", Portugal's version of the "Idols" franchise. He finished seventh in the competition. His sister, Luísa Sobral, is also a singer who previously placed third on season one of "Ídolos".

2011–2014: Barcelona and first concerts.

After he left the Psychology program, he applied to the "Taller de Músics", a music school in Barcelona, where he finished his studies in 2014. In 2015, he participated in the Vodafone Mexefest and EDP Cool Jazz festivals. During this time, Sobral traveled through several cities in Spain and among them, Tenerife, where he performed at a private party of a wealthy couple.

2016–present: "Excuse Me", Eurovision Song Contest and health issues.

On 2 August 2016, Sobral released his debut single "Excuse Me" as the lead single from his debut studio album. On the same day he released his debut studio album "Excuse Me". The album peaked at number 10 on the Portuguese Album Chart. "Nem Eu" was released as the second single from the album on 27 October 2016. In 2017, Sobral was confirmed to be taking part in "Festival da Canção 2017", with the song "Amar pelos dois". He went on to win the competition on 5 March 2017, and represented Portugal in the Eurovision Song Contest 2017.  Sobral could not perform in the first rehearsals because of a heart condition and an operation that forced him to rest ahead of the performance in the semi. His sister took over the role of singer during the first rehearsals. He won the final with 758 points, which under the current voting system represents the highest scoring winner in the history of the contest.  In July 2017, he participated in the Super Bock Super Rock festival in Lisbon, fronting rock group Alexander Search, a project he shares with pianist Júlio Resende and other musicians - the band plays music inspired by the work by Portuguese poet Fernando Pessoa.  In 23 April 2018 he received - along with his sister, Luísa Sobral - the Portuguese Order of Merit, both receiving the medals of Commanders (ComM). This honorific award was given by the Portuguese president himself, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa.  In May 2018 Sobral performed in the Grand Final of the 2018 Eurovision Song alongside Brazilian musician Caetano Veloso.  On 29 March 2019 his second studio album "Paris, Lisboa" (Paris, Lisbon) was released in 13 countries, he sings in 4 languages on it.

Personal life.

Salvador Sobral is a fan of Chet Baker and Música popular brasileira singers including Caetano Veloso and Chico Buarque. He speaks six languages: Portuguese, Spanish, English, Catalan, French and some Italian. In 2019, he started to learn Swedish, as he is a fan of film-maker Ingmar Bergman.  Sobral married Belgian actress Jenna Thiam in a small ceremony in Lisbon on 29 December 2018.

Health.

On 5 September 2017, Sobral announced via Facebook that he would interrupt his career temporarily due to health concerns, following a last concert on 8 September, in the gardens of Casino Estoril, in Cascais. "It is not a secret that I have a fragile health; I have a problem. It is, unfortunately, time to hand over my body to science and to abandon my life of concerts and music; time to leave for a while from this civilian world and go to another where, certainly, my problem will be fixed. Unfortunately, I do not know how long this will take." On 8 December 2017, Sobral underwent a successful heart transplant. He left hospital in January 2018, with doctors telling him to "take life quietly" and "keep away from crowds".

Activism.

Sobral drew attention to the European migrant crisis by attending the first semi-final winners' press conference in an 'S.O.S. Refugees' shirt. "If I'm here and I have European exposure, the least thing I can do is a humanitarian message," he said. "People come to Europe in plastic boats and are being asked to show their birth certificates in order to enter a country. These people are not immigrants, they're refugees running from death. Make no mistake. There is so much bureaucratic stuff happening in the refugee camps in Greece, Turkey and Italy and we should help create legal and safe pathways from these countries to their destiny countries," he added, earning a round of applause.  The EBU banned him from wearing the shirt for the remainder of the contest. The EBU argued that Sobral's shirt was being used as a "political message", violating the rules of the contest. Sobral argued at his winners' press conference, however, that it held a humanitarian message, not political one.  During a concert in Ourém, Sobral announced on 19 June 2017 that he would donate all the profits from the sales of his CDs sold, to the people of Pedrógão Grande and the relief efforts in the town after it was severely damaged by wildfires the previous day.

Salvador Vilar Braamcamp Sobral (, born 28 December 1989) is a Portuguese singer, who won the Eurovision Song Contest 2017 for with the song "Amar pelos dois", written and composed by his sister Luísa Sobral. In doing so, he gave its first ever win in the contest since its debut in, ending the longest winless run by a country in Eurovision history (53 years). Sobral and his entry hold the Eurovision record for the highest-scoring winner, having earned a total of 758 points under the current voting system, after winning both the jury vote and televote.


Early life and career.

Jiří Drahoš was born on 20 February 1949 in Český Těšín to a Czech father originally from Skuteč in Vysočina, and a Polish mother from Jablunkov. He spent most of his childhood in Jablunkov, where his mother Anna lived and worked as a nurse. His father, also named Jiří, was a teacher in a local Czech school.  Drahoš studied at the University of Chemistry and Technology in Prague and qualified as a scientist in 1972. He joined the Institute of Chemical Process Fundamentals at the Czech Academy of Sciences, and was later head of the institute from 1996 to 2003. On 13 March 2009, Drahoš was elected President of the Czech Academy of Sciences, defeating Eva Syková. During his tenure, he successfully opposed 50% budget cuts to the Academy proposed by the governments of Prime Ministers Mirek Topolánek and Jan Fischer as a consequence of the 2008 financial crisis. Drahoš later called it an "attempt to destroy my motherly institution". In 2012, President Václav Klaus awarded him the Medal of Merit in the field of science. His second term as head of the academy ended on 24 March 2017. He is co-author of 14 patents.

Political career.

2018 presidential campaign.

On 28 March 2017, Drahoš announced his intention to stand in the 2018 presidential election. On 24 April 2017, he started gathering the signatures required to be registered as a candidate. In July 2017, after meeting with Drahoš, the leaders of Populars and Mayors, Pavel Bělobrádek and Petr Gazdík, announced that they would ask their respective parties' members to nominate and endorse Drahoš's candidacy. Mayors and Independents endorsed Drahoš on 25 July 2017 while the Christian and Democratic Union – Czechoslovak People's Party (KDU–ČSL) endorsed him on 14 November 2017. Young Social Democrats also endorsed Drahoš on 9 December 2017. Polls in late 2017 showed Drahoš as the second strongest candidate behind Zeman.  Drahoš received campaign donations from several influential businessmen, including Dalibor Dědek, Jiří Grygar and Luděk Sekyra. Drahoš started gathering signatures for his nomination in May 2017. On 19 August 2017, Drahoš announced he had gathered 78,000 signatures. He submitted his nomination on 3 November 2017 with 142,000 signatures.  On 4 November 2017 on Facebook, Drahoš criticized Mirek Topolánek, who had announced his candidacy that day, describing Topolánek as similar to Miloš Zeman and calling his candidacy a bad joke. The two candidates met during a presidential debate at Charles University; Drahoš reflected that the status he posted was "Topolánek-like", to which Topolánek replied that it was written either by "a woman or PR mage".  Drahoš received media attention when he expressed his fear that the election could be influenced by Russia. He met outgoing Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka to discuss the matter and stated he would also meet the new Prime Minister Andrej Babiš. The incumbent president Miloš Zeman criticized Drahoš and compared his actions to Hillary Clinton's when she lost to Donald Trump.  Drahoš received criticism when he published a status on social media about Václav Klaus' amnesty, when it was revealed that he had copied a similar status by his fellow presidential candidate Michal Horáček. Drahoš apologised and attributed the mistake to an external member of staff.  The first round was held on 12 and 13 January 2018. Drahoš received 1,369,601 (26.6%) votes, and advanced to the second round against the incumbent president Miloš Zeman. In the second round, held on 26–27 January 2018, Drahoš received 48.63% of the vote and thus lost to Zeman. Drahoš conceded defeat to Zeman, telling a crowd of his supporters that "I would like to congratulate election winner Miloš Zeman".

Senate.

Following the 2018 presidential election, Drahoš vowed to remain in public life, and in March 2018 announced his bid for the Prague 4 Senate seat in the 2018 election, nominated by Mayors and Independents and supported by TOP 09, KDU–ČSL and the Green Party. He won the election outright in the first round, with 52.65% of the vote.

Political views.

Drahoš considers himself a centrist politician. As a candidate, Jiří Drahoš has presented himself as someone who can unite society, and as a respectable person who would act according to the constitution. Drahoš emphasises the importance of Czech science and education and has called for solidarity with those "who cannot take care of themselves". He has called for a "responsible approach" to the landscape and environment and has described human reason, creativity and ingeniousness as the only "renewable resource" of the wealth of the Czech Republic.  Drahoš wants the Czech Republic to play an active role in discussions over the future of the European Union, and wants the country to be a part of the Western world. He supports European integration but has said that he believes that the European Union should not impose unnecessary regulations on member states. He also said that he would not rush into Czech adoption of the Euro. Drahoš opposes a referendum about Czech membership of the European Union, and said that important geopolitical questions should not be decided by referendum. He supports the Czech Republic's membership of NATO.  In August 2015, Drahoš signed a petition named "scientists against fear and apathy" in opposition to both anti-Islamic radicalism and anti-immigrant populism.  Drahoš suggested that the Catalan independence referendum was "not legal", supporting the position of the Spanish government.  Drahoš says he supports the anti-Russian sanctions imposed by the United States and the EU. However he also said that having good relations with Russia is in the interest of the Czech Republic and European Union. Drahoš supports trade and economic relations with China, arguing that "China is a superpower" and "many countries are doing business with China."  In 2017, Drahoš rejected the European Union's proposal of compulsory migrant quotas, saying, "there is no successful model of Muslim integration in Europe". Drahoš also said that "Europe can't feed 100 million Africans, it is necessary to help them at home."  Drahoš described the pre-war German minority in Czechoslovakia as "Adolf Hitler's fifth column", and said that he agreed with the post-war expulsion of Germans from Czechoslovakia.  Drahoš has described himself as a sympathizer with Israel.

Jiří Drahoš (born 20 February 1949; ) is a Czech physical chemist and politician who has been the Senator from Prague 4 since October 2018. Previously, Drahoš served as President of the Czech Academy of Sciences from 2009 to 2017, and was a candidate in the 2018 Czech presidential election.


Club career.

Caracas.

Martínez made his debut for Caracas FC on 21 August 2010 against Estudiantes de Mérida, entering as a substitute in the 70th minute, won 1–0. He scored his first goal in a 2–2 draw against Deportivo Petare on 21 November 2010.

Young Boys.

On 3 January 2012, Caracas announced Martínez had been sold to BSC Young Boys of the Swiss Super League for a period of four years along with fellow right-back Alexander Gonzalez. He debuted on 5 February 2012 against Servette FC, which the Young Boys won 3–1. After a string of good performances, Martínez was called up to the Venezuela national team, as well as awarded his first start for Young Boys on 21 October 2012, in which he scored his first goal for the Swiss club with a volley in the 50th minute against Grasshopper Club Zürich.

Loan to FC Thun.

After one season in the Swiss capital city, he was sent on loan to Thun. After scoring 8 goals in 18 games with the team from Bernese Oberland, he was momentarily the top scorer in the Swiss Super League and recalled by Young Boys.

Torino.

On 7 June 2014, Martínez was sold to Italian Serie A club Torino for a reported fee of €3 million. He made his debut in a 0–3 away win against Sweden's Brommapojkarna in the third round of the 2014–15 Europa League. He scored his first goal for the "Granata" in the return leg, won 4–0 in Turin (7–0 on agg.).  He made his league debut on 14 September in a 2–0 loss away to Sampdoria. On 7 December, he scored his first goal in Serie A during a 2–2 draw with Palermo. Four days later, he scored his first brace in the Europa League against Copenhagen, which ended 1–5 in favour of Torino.  On 30 April 2016, he scored his first brace in Serie A, as Torino won 1–5 away to Udinese.

Atlanta United.

On 2 February 2017, Martínez was loaned with a buying option to Major League Soccer expansion team Atlanta United. He made his league debut on 5 March in a 1–2 home defeat against New York Red Bulls. He scored his first career hat-trick, and the first hat-trick in the history of the club, in a 6–1 win at Minnesota United the following week.  On 21 March, Atlanta announced they had activated the buyout clause for an undisclosed transfer fee. He was named the MLS Player of the Month for March after scoring five goals in his first three games in the league.  On 23 March, while playing for the Venezuelan national team against Peru, Martínez injured his left quadricep. After more than two months of recuperation, he returned to action only to be injured again over the summer. Upon his return from the second injury, he scored hat tricks in two consecutive games against the New England Revolution and Orlando City, and was named the MLS Player of the Month for September 2017. Atlanta United finished in a tie for third in the Eastern Conference, but were eliminated in the first round of the MLS Cup Playoffs by Columbus Crew. Despite only making 20 appearances (all competitions) due to injury, Martínez finished his first year in Atlanta fourth in the league in scoring, with 20 goals in all competitions, and was named to the MLS Best XI for the 2017 season.

2018 season.

On 2 June 2018, Martínez converted a late penalty kick against Philadelphia Union to notch his fifth MLS hat-trick, tying the league record for hat-tricks and doing so faster than any other player in league history. He broke the record for hat-tricks on 21 July 2018 against DC United, after only 44 games.  He was voted the MLS Player of the Month for July after scoring nine goals and adding one assist to lead the Five Stripes to a 3–1–1 record.  He scored the only goal for the MLS All-Stars in the 2018 MLS All-Star Game against Juventus, a 1–1 draw, and was named MVP.  On 24 August 2018, he scored his 28th goal of the season, a game winner in Orlando City, to break the league single-season record of 27, held by Roy Lassiter, Chris Wondolowski, and Bradley Wright-Phillips. After failing to capitalize on numerous opportunities, Martínez utilized his quick footwork to cut back against the defender and then chip Joe Bendik to set the record in just his 26th match. He was named MLS Player of the Month for August 2018.

2019 season.

On 6 August 2019, Martínez was awarded the MLS Player of the Month for July. He earned the award having scored in nine straight matches, tying his own MLS record set the previous season, which was also shared with Diego Valeri.  On 23 August, he set a new MLS record by scoring a goal in 12 consecutive games. The goal helped his side to a 1–0 win over rivals Orlando and was his 15th strike during the streak. On 18 September, Martínez extended his goal-scoring record to 15 consecutive games, which is the third longest streak in world football after Lionel Messi (33 goals in 21 games) and Tor Henning Hamre (21 goals in 15 games).

2020 season.

On February 29, 2020, in Atlanta United’s first game of the 2020 season, Martínez suffered a torn ACL against MLS debutant Nashville SC. Martínez is set to miss the entirety of the 2020 season.

International career.

Martínez made his international debut on 7 August 2011 against El Salvador as a substitute in the 76th minute.  On 10 November 2016 (matchday 11 of the 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification), Martínez scored a hat-trick against Bolivia in a 5–0 win in Maturín.

Style of play.

Primarily a forward, Martínez is a diminutive yet aggressive and powerful player, who usually plays in a central role as a main striker, but who is also capable of playing as a winger. His pace, dribbling ability, eye for goal, and his accurate finishing ability with either foot, as well as his head, combined with his ability to make attacking runs off the ball from behind and get into good positions, make him a dangerous attacking threat in the penalty area.

Josef Alexander Martínez Mencia (born 19 May 1993) is a Venezuelan professional footballer who plays as a striker for American club Atlanta United FC, and the Venezuela national team.


Roles.

There is also a chorus of Fairies, Islanders, Shepherds and Shepherdesses, Heroes and followers of Glory.

Synopsis.

The opera opens with an allegorical prologue in which Démogorgon, King of the Fairies, sings the praises of Louis XIV and asks to see the story of the famous paladin Roland. Roland, the nephew of Charlemagne loves Angélique, the daughter of the King of Cathay, but, unbeknown to him, she is in love with Médor, a soldier in the army of Africa. In Act One, Roland gives Angélique a magic bracelet as a token of his love. In Act Two, Angélique approaches the Fountain of Love in a forest. When she catches sight of Roland, she uses a magic ring to make herself invisible and Roland wanders off in despair. Médor then arrives and in a soliloquy reveals he too is desperately in love with Angélique, so much so he is planning to kill himself. At that moment Angélique reveals herself and confesses her love for him. But she worries that Roland will be provoked to fury if he finds out. In Act Three, Angélique and Médor plan to flee from the clutches of Roland after a hasty wedding. The following act finds Roland in despair when Angélique is nowhere to be found. He comes across the names of Angélique and Médor carved on the walls of a cave. He hears the sound of a village wedding nearby. The villagers tell him of Médor and Angélique's escape and show him Roland's bracelet which the couple gave them in gratitude for letting them stay in the village. Roland plunges into madness. In the final act, under the influence of the fairy Logistille the sleeping Roland is visited by dreams of ancient heroes who urge him to give up his futile love for Angélique and return to the Christian army. Roland awakes, having recovered his reason and his desire for glory and rides off to battle amid a general triumph.

Background and performance history.

Unlike the majority of Lully's "tragédies", "Roland" is not based on Classical mythology but on tales of medieval chivalry. This is also the case for the operas which preceded and followed it: "Amadis" (1684) and "Armide" (1686). Lully and Quinault's operas generally reflected the thinking of their patron, Louis XIV. The king had recently come under the influence of the pious Madame de Maintenon and had reaffirmed his religious faith and his desire to impose Catholic orthodoxy on France. He was even referred to as the "new Charlemagne" in a sermon preached by Bossuet in the same month as the opera's premiere. Thus the Christian knight Roland's rediscovery of his sacred mission was an ideal subject for the times. There was a patriotic motive too: although the story was derived from an Italian poem, Roland had been born in France and was the hero of the epic "La Chanson de Roland", one of the earliest works of French literature.  The opera premiered in the stables at Versailles, which had been specially adapted for the occasion. In March of the same year, it was given at the theatre of the Palais Royal, Paris, and enjoyed great success. Revivals would continue well into the 18th century. In 1778, Marmontel adapted the libretto for a new setting by Piccinni (Gluck and Rameau had also considered producing a new version). The theme of the "madness of Roland" proved attractive to later composers too. Notable examples include "Orlando finto pazzo" (1714) and "Orlando furioso" (1727) by Vivaldi, "Orlando" (1732) by Handel, and "Orlando paladino" (1782) by Haydn.

Roland is an opera with music by Jean-Baptiste Lully and a libretto by Philippe Quinault. It was first performed on January 8, 1685, at the Palace of Versailles by the Académie Royale de Musique (Paris Opera) and later, beginning on March 8, 1685, at the company's public theatre in Paris, the Théâtre du Palais-Royal. The story is derived from Ariosto's epic poem "Orlando Furioso". The opera takes the form of a tragédie en musique with an allegorical prologue and five acts.


Provenance.

The picture was sold in May 1696 in Delft, part of the collection of Jacob Dissous, which included many Vermeers. It was later acquired by Venetian artist Giovanni Antonio Pellegrini in 1718, with Pellegrini's collection later being bought by Joseph Smith. "The Music Lesson" has been part of the Royal Collection of Great Britain since 1762, when King George III bought Smith's collection of paintings. When the painting was acquired it was believed to be a work by Frans van Mieris the elder because of a misinterpretation of the signature. It was not correctly attributed to Vermeer until 1866 by Théophile Thoré, though some scholars were skeptical whether it was Vermeer or not. It has at various times been kept at both Buckingham Palace and Windsor Castle, and is depicted in Charles Wild's "Windsor Castle: the King's Closet, 1816", a watercolour prepared for William Pyne's "History of the Royal Residences".

Painting materials.

The painting was investigated by Hermann Kühn in 1968 and there is also material on the pigment analysis on the website of the National Gallery in London where the painting was included in the exhibition "Vermeer and Music: The Art of Love and Leisure" in 2013. "The Music Lesson" is a mature work of Vermeer and his handling of color and his choice of painting materials is but one of the aspects proving his mastery. The painting is dominated by dark areas such as the bluish-black floor painted in bone black with the addition of natural ultramarine.

In popular culture.

The 2013 documentary film "Tim's Vermeer" documents inventor and entrepreneur Tim Jenison's attempt to recreate "The Music Lesson" to test his theory that Vermeer painted with the help of optical devices. Jenison is given the opportunity for a brief private viewing of the painting at Buckingham Palace. The film's claim that Vermeer used something similar to Jenison's technique has been derided by art critics Jonathan Jones and Bendor Grosvenor.

The Music Lesson, Woman Seated at a Virginal or A Lady at the Virginals with a Gentleman by Johannes Vermeer is a painting of a young female pupil receiving a music lesson from a man. The man's mouth is slightly agape giving the impression that he is singing along with the music that the young girl is playing. This suggests that there is a relationship between the two figures and the idea of love and music being bridged together. This was a common theme among Netherlandish art in this time period. Vermeer uses linear perspective and his invention of the camera pictura to create the illusion of space and depth within the setting of the painted room. Vermeer consistently used the same objects within his paintings such as the draped rug, the white water jug, various instruments, tiled floor and windows that convey light and shadows. This is one of few paintings produced by Vermeer which were kept in his home until his death in 1675 when his family was forced to sell them. It became a part of the Royal Collection, and it is currently on display in the Picture Gallery at Buckingham Palace in London.


Patterns of Force (Star Trek: The Original Series)

Plot.

The starship "Enterprise" arrives at the planet Ekos to investigate the disappearance of a Federation cultural observer named John Gill, who was one of Captain Kirk's history professors at Starfleet Academy. The "Enterprise" enters orbit around Ekos and is attacked by a rocket armed with a thermonuclear warhead, technology that is too advanced to be from either Ekos or their neighboring planet, Zeon.  Kirk suspects Gill may be responsible for the introduction of advanced technology, which would mean that he has contaminated Ekosian culture and violated the Prime Directive. Kirk and First Officer Spock decide to beam down to the planet to investigate. Before they transport to the surface, Chief Medical Officer Dr. McCoy inserts subcutaneous emergency transponders, a type of homing device, into the forearms of each in the event they cannot use their communicators.  Upon their arrival, Kirk and Spock watch in horror as a Zeon is arrested by Ekosian soldiers dressed as brown-shirted Nazi Stormtroopers. An outdoor video newsreel shows an Ekosian rally featuring huge crowds shouting Nazi-style slogans and waving swastika-emblazoned flags. A female Nazi officer, Daras, is shown receiving a medal of honor; the Iron Cross, Second Class. The "Final Solution" is mentioned, meaning apparently the extinction of all Zeons on Ekos, as a prelude to the entire destruction of Zeon. The broadcast ends with the reporter making a Nazi salute to a picture of the Führer — whom the shocked Kirk recognizes as John Gill.  Startled and determined to contact Gill, Kirk and Spock steal uniforms and attempt to infiltrate the main headquarters, but are caught when Spock's ears are exposed. He and Kirk are tortured until Party Chairman Eneg orders them thrown in a cell for further interrogation. There they meet Isak, the Zeon prisoner they had seen arrested earlier.  The trio quickly engineer an escape using the rubindium crystals from Kirk and Spock's transponders as cutting-torch lasers and retrieve their communicators. Isak takes them to meet the underground resistance led by his brother Abrom. Suddenly, their hideout is raided, led by Daras, in what is quickly revealed as a ruse to test the strangers' loyalty. Daras is actually a resistance member who has infiltrated the government. Abrom explains that Deputy Führer Melakon is actually the "de facto" leader of Ekos; in turn, Kirk and Spock explain the situation from their perspective, and ask for help in locating Gill. They learn that the "Führer" is to make a speech that evening that will officially launch the "Final Solution".  To gain entrance to the broadcast center, the whole group pretends to be a film crew. They find Gill in a broadcasting booth surrounded by guards, seemingly dazed but beginning his speech. Kirk has Dr. McCoy beam down; he arrives in a cloakroom, where the party is discovered by a security team led by Chairman Eneg—who surprisingly does not seem to recognize them. After he leaves, Isak explains that Eneg is also a resistance member.  Sneaking into the broadcast booth, McCoy confirms Gill is heavily drugged. He administers a counteractive stimulant while Spock uses a Vulcan mind meld on Gill, which confirms that Melakon was responsible for Gill's condition. Barely coherent, Gill explains that he initially imposed a form of Nazism/Fascism upon the lawless Ekosians because he believed it to be the most efficient system of government ever devised. The system worked on Ekos until Melakon gained control and twisted it into a tool to wipe out Zeon.  Kirk makes Gill aware of the extent to which Ekos has progressed toward resembling Nazi Germany. Gill, now lucid enough to speak his own mind, renounces the "Final Solution", cancels the invasion of Zeon, and declares Melakon a traitor. Melakon grabs a submachine gun and opens fire on the broadcast booth, fatally wounding Gill. In retaliation, Isak shoots Melakon twice, killing him. Eneg and Daras, still officially respected party leaders, agree to "stop the bloodshed," and plan to announce the end of the Nazi regime. Eneg thanks Kirk for Starfleet's help, but asks them to leave, saying it is up to the two planets to rebuild themselves.

Production.

The V-2 rocket films were actual films and the clips of Hitler in a car were from the movie "Triumph of the Will" (1935).

Reception.

Critic Darren Mooney criticised the episode's premise that Nazi Germany was the most efficient state Earth ever knew, citing historians' criticism of that common misconception.  In the 1960s, West Germany restricted the broadcast of this episode. (more information below)

German broadcast history.

Because the episode contains Nazi uniforms and insignia, and features a character who makes the statement that Nazi Germany was the "most efficient society" ever created, it was considered unfit for entertainment in Germany. Consequently, this episode is the only one which was not aired during either of the two original runs in Germany (on the public ZDF network in the mid-1970s and on the private Sat.1 network in the late 1980s/early 1990s). It was only dubbed into German in 1995, and was presented in the original English with subtitles in all earlier German releases. It was finally shown on German pay TV in 1996 and included on all DVD/Blu-ray season sets. On November 4, 2011 it was finally shown on the public network channel ZDFneo as well.

"Patterns of Force" is the twenty-first episode of the of the American science-fiction television series "". Written by John Meredyth Lucas and directed by Vincent McEveety, it was first broadcast on February 16, 1968.


Background.

In 2016, ISIL had plotted to target St. Petersburg due to Russia's military involvement in Syria, resulting in arrests. No public transport system in Russia had been bombed since the 2010 Moscow Metro bombings.  ISIL propaganda was being circulated prior to this incident. It encouraged supporters to launch strikes on Moscow. ISIL propaganda showed bullet holes through Putin's head and a poster circulated before the attack of a falling Kremlin and included the message "We Will Burn Russia." However, as some researchers have said, Russia faces a "sophisticated and complex" threat from domestic terrorism, linked to many different groups.  Vladimir Putin was visiting Saint Petersburg, where he was born, on the day of the attack.

Attack.

On 3 April 2017, a device containing of explosives detonated on a train travelling through a tunnel between the Sennaya Ploshchad and Tekhnologichesky Institut stations of the Saint Petersburg Metro. According to a statement from the Ministry of Emergency Situations, the bomb was detonated on the third carriage of the train. Eyewitnesses said the blast occurred near the door. Immediately after the explosion, smoke filled the platform. Video from social media showed multiple victims on the platform and a metal door twisted by the force of the blast. Following reports of the explosion, all metro stations in Saint Petersburg were quickly closed. In the late evening, metro services were resumed on Lines 3, 4, and 5.  A second bomb was discovered and disarmed at Ploshchad Vosstaniya station. The device had ball bearings, screws, and shrapnel and was hidden within a fire extinguisher containing an equivalent of about of TNT. Jalilov's DNA was found on a bag which contained the extinguisher, suggesting that he intentionally left this bag inside a carriage as witnessed by some passengers.

Aftermath.

Security was heightened after the attack. Metal detectors, installed countrywide following another metro attack seven years before, were all implemented after not having been in use for several years. The Moscow Metro security department said they were ready to assist the Saint Petersburg Metro in case of any help being needed. Local media reported that authorities had found suspicious packages in three Moscow metro stations, Nagatinskaja, Savelovskaya and Ugrezhskaya (CIP). Authorities later cordoned off the area. The security of Pulkovo International Airport was also heightened in response to the blast. A possible suspect was sighted on Metro surveillance cameras, according to unconfirmed reports. The Investigative Committee of Russia said the train operator's decision to drive it to the next station helped to avoid an even higher number of casualties.  Two weeks later, FSB released a statement says that Russian security operatives have detained Abror Azimov (born 1990), the alleged mastermind of the bombing, in Moscow in which he trained the suicide attacker.

Casualties.

As reported by the Russian Ministry of Health, approximately 50 people were injured, of whom 15 died (seven during the attack, eight later from their injuries). 39 people were hospitalised, of whom six had critical injuries. Children were among those injured.  The fifteen people killed were identified as thirteen Russian citizens, a Kazakh man and an Azerbaijani woman.

Perpetrator.

The suspected perpetrator behind the attacks was identified by Kyrgyzstan and Russian intelligence services as Akbarzhon Jalilov (sometimes spelled Akbarjon Djalilov), an ethnic Uzbek 22-year-old Kyrgyz-born Russian citizen. He was one of the 15 people who died during the attack.  Jalilov was born in 1995 in Osh, Kyrgyzstan, and arrived in Moscow around 2011. According to Russian newspaper "Moskovskij Komsomolets", Gazeta.ru reported he had worked as a cook at a sushi bar in 2015, while other sources claimed Jalilov had worked in a garage before disappearing weeks prior to the attack. Interfax said authorities believe he had ties to radical Islamic groups. Russian media has reported that he traveled to Syria in 2014 and trained with Islamic State militants. On 26 April, a group called the Imam Shamil Battalion has claimed responsibility the attack, and said that the bomber was acting on orders from al-Qaeda. The statement, posted by SITE Intelligence Group, said the bomber, Akbarzhon Jalilov, had acted on instructions from al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri. In considering the incident, researchers had already illustrated that ‘analysis should not focus exclusively on recent developments and Daesh’, but rather look at the ‘broader context’ including the ‘range of groups with which Central Asian radicals are involved.’

Initial reports.

On 3 April 2017, investigators said they believed the attack was a suicide bombing and identified a Central Asian as the suspected perpetrator. Some reports initially misidentified the suspect as a 22-year-old from Kazakhstan who was an IT student at St. Petersburg State University of Economics. He had been reported missing. This individual was later correctly identified as a victim of the attack. The suspect was later identified as a 23-year-old native of Kyrgyzstan with Russian citizenship and with links to international militant groups. The man with a beard wearing a skullcap contacted police to clear his name. Interfax later said only one person was involved. The man with the beard turned out to be a former paratrooper from Bashkortostan.

Reactions.

Domestic.

President Vladimir Putin was in the city when the attack happened and pledged a thorough investigation. During an unrelated meeting with President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko, Putin said they are "considering all possible causes, including terrorism." He later visited the area of the attack, which was prohibited by the Federal Protective Service due to security concerns. This information was later denied by RIA Novosti. His statement was followed by Lukashenko expressing his sadness over the bombing. Mayor of Moscow Sergey Sobyanin expressed his condolences to the victims of the attack and ordered the strengthening of security measures around the capital's transport infrastructure, according to the Mayor's and city government's Press Secretary Gulnara Penkova. Head of the Ministry of Health Veronika Skvortsova instructed federal doctors to help doctors in St. Petersburg to assist the victims.  The Head of the Chechen Republic Ramzan Kadyrov called for the identification and punishment of the perpetrators.  The All-Russian Union of Insurers said relatives of the victims will be able to receive 2.025 million rubles.  A makeshift memorial was made to honour the victims of the bombing. Saint Petersburg declared three days of mourning in response to the attack. Mayor Georgi Poltavchenko, Governor of Leningrad Alexander Drozdenko, and President Vladimir Putin visited the site and laid flowers to pay respect.

International.

Condolences and sympathies for those affected were offered by several international figures, including representatives of Algeria, China, the Czech Republic, Norway, Denmark, Finland, France, Georgia, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Iran, Israel, Japan, Laos, Malaysia, Pakistan, Poland, Portugal, Singapore, Thailand, Ukraine, the United Kingdom, the United States, Vietnam, NATO, and the European Union.  Ukraine tightened security around its metro stations in fear of an attack.

Other reactions.

Tel Aviv city hall building was lit with the colours of the Russian flag. In Brussels, where a similar attack took place a year earlier, the ING Marnix building near the Throne metro station was also decorated with a moving Russian flag animation. At midnight (01:00 of April 5 in Moscow time), the lights of the Eiffel Tower were switched off to honor the victims.  "The Independent" reported that some supporters of ISIL on unnamed internet forums linked the attack to Russia's support of Bashar al-Assad, and shared photos and video of people injured and killed by the blast.

On 3 April 2017, a terrorist attack using an explosive device took place on the Saint Petersburg Metro between Sennaya Ploshchad and Tekhnologichesky Institut stations. Seven people (including the perpetrator) were initially reported to have died, and eight more died later from their injuries, bringing the total to 15.


Gameplay.

The game uses a deck of 55 cards, each printed with eight different symbols. Any two cards always share one, and only one, matching symbol. The object of the game is to be the first to announce the drawing in common between two given cards.

Development.

In 1976, inspired by Kirkman's schoolgirl problem, French mathematics enthusiast Jacques Cottereau devised a game consisting of a set of 31 cards each with six images of insects, with exactly one image shared between each pair of them. In 2008, journalist and game designer Denis Blanchot found a few of the cards from the "game of insects" and developed the idea to create "Dobble".  "Dobble" was released in France in 2009, and in the UK and North America in 2011 under Blue Orange Games. In 2015, the French board game company Asmodee acquired the rights to "Dobble" and "Spot It!".

Mathematics.

The special way that symbols are arranged on "Dobble" cards can be understood using geometry. If we represent each card by a line, and each symbol by a point where two lines intersect, then the properties of "Dobble" are that:  This geometric structure is an example of a finite projective plane.  If there are 3 points in each line this creates a structure known as the Fano Plane. This represents a simpler version of "Dobble" with 3 symbols on each card, 7 cards and 7 symbols.  In general, a finite projective plane with n+1 points on each line has n+n+1 points and lines.  To represent the real game of "Dobble", each line must join 8 points. This results in a structure with 57 lines and 57 points (7+7+1=57).  A pack of "Dobble" cards has 57 symbols but only 55 cards, so 2 possible cards are missing.

Dobble is a game in which players have to find symbols in common between two cards. It was the UK’s best-selling game in 2018 and 2019.


Design.

Fidget spinners are toys not unlike yo-yo or other skill toys, designed to spin with little effort. A basic fidget spinner usually consists of a two- or three-pronged design with a bearing in its center circular pad. However, the number of prongs may vary - some may have six or more. A person holds the center pad while the toy spins. They are made from various materials including brass, stainless steel, titanium, copper, aluminium, and plastic. The bearings are generally ceramic, metal (stainless steel or chrome), and some are hybridssuch as ceramic balls with stainless races and cages. Each fidget spinner also has two or more weights on the outside that make it spin faster and stay balanced. Bearings can vary to adjust for the design's spin time, vibration, and noise, causing unique sensory feedback.  Being a kind of a flywheel of a gyroscope in principle, fidget spinners come with similar effects enabling a player to pull various tricks and stunts while forces of a gyroscope take hold. A fidget spinner can be balanced on top of fingers, thrown and caught, and so on.

Origin.

As of 2017, the patent status of the various fidget spinners on the market was unclear.  Catherine Hettinger, a chemical engineer by training, was initially credited by some news stories as having been the inventor of the fidget spinner, including by media outlets such as "The Guardian", "The New York Times", and the "New York Post". Hettinger filed a patent application for a "spinning toy" in 1993 and a patent was issued, but Hettinger allowed the patent to lapse in 2005 after she could not find a commercial partner. A May 2017 Bloomberg News article showed that Hettinger was not the inventor of the fidget spinner, and Hettinger agreed.  In an interview appearing on 4 May 2017 on NPR, Scott McCoskery described how he invented a metal spinning device in 2014 to cope with his own fidgeting in IT meetings and conference calls. In response to requests from an online community, he began selling the device he called the Torqbar online.

Popularity and adolescent usage.

With the rapid increase in the popularity of fidget spinners in 2017, many children and teenagers began using them in school, and some schools also reported that students were trading and selling the spinner toys.  As a result of their frequent use by school children, many school districts banned the toy. Some teachers argued that the spinners distracted students from their schoolwork. According to a survey conducted by Alexi Roy and published in May 2017, 32% of the largest 200 American public and private high schools had banned spinners on campus.  When fidget spinners rose in popularity in 2017, many publications in the popular press discussed the marketing claims made about them for people with ADHD, autism, or anxiety. However, there is no scientific evidence that fidget spinners are effective as a treatment for children with ADHD.

A fidget spinner is a toy that consists of a ball bearing in the center of a multi-lobed (typically two or three) flat structure made from metal or plastic designed to spin along its axis with very little effort. Fidget spinners became trending toys in 2017, although similar devices had been invented as early as 1993.


Disposition of forces.

Under the command of Horthy, three Austro-Hungarian cruisers ("Novara", "Saida", and "Helgoland", modified to resemble large British destroyers) were ordered to attack the drifters on the night of 14 May and attempt to destroy as many as possible before daybreak. The destroyers "Csepel" and "Balaton" were to mount a diversionary raid off the Albanian coast in order to confuse any Allied counter-attack. Two Austro-Hungarian U-boats— and, along with the German U-boat —were to participate in the operation as well. A supporting force composed of the armored cruiser, two destroyers, and four 250t-class torpedo boats was on standby if the raiders ran into trouble. The old pre-dreadnought battleship and three more 250t-class torpedo boats were also available if necessary.  An Allied destroyer patrol was in the area on the night of 14 May, to the north of the Barrage. The Italian flotilla leader "Mirabello" was accompanied by the French destroyers, and. The Italian destroyer "Borea" was also in the area, escorting a small convoy to Valona. A support force was based in the port of Brindisi, consisting of the British cruisers "Dartmouth" and "Bristol" and several French and Italian destroyers.

Raid on the drifters.

The Italian convoy escorted by "Borea" was attacked by the Austro-Hungarian destroyers "Csepel" and "Balaton" at approximately 03:24. The Austro-Hungarians sank "Borea" and a munitions ship, and a second was set on fire and abandoned.  The three cruisers were able to pass through the line of drifters, and at 03:30 began attacking the small barrage ships. The Austro-Hungarians frequently gave the drifter crews warning to abandon ship before opening fire. In some instances, the drifter crews chose to fight: "Gowan Lee" returned fire on the Austro-Hungarian ships. The ship was heavily damaged, but remained afloat; her captain—Joseph Watt—was later awarded the Victoria Cross for his actions during the battle.  There were 47 drifters in Barrage on the night of 14 May; the Austro-Hungarians managed to sink 14 drifters and damage four more. The lack of sufficient Allied escorts forced the withdrawal of the remaining blockading ships, although only for a short time.

Battle.

By this time, the Allied naval forces in the area were aware of the raid, and were in a position to block the Austro-Hungarian retreat. Rear Admiral Alfredo Acton—the commanding officer of the Italian Scouting Division—ordered "Mirabello"s group southward at 04:35, while he embarked on the British light cruiser. By 06:45, the cruisers "Dartmouth" and —along with the Italian destroyers "Mosto", "Pilo", "Schiaffino", "Acerbi", and "Aquila"—were sailing north in an attempt to cut off the Austro-Hungarian cruisers. The Italian light cruiser, the flotilla leader "Racchia", and the destroyers "Insidioso", "Indomito", and "Impavido" were readying to sail in support as well.  The "Mirabello" group engaged the Austro-Hungarian cruisers at 07:00, but were heavily outgunned, and instead attempted to shadow the fleeing cruisers. At 07:45, Rear Admiral Acton's ships encountered the destroyers "Csepel" and "Balaton". After 20 minutes, the Italian destroyers were able to close the distance to the Austro-Hungarian ships; the two groups engaged in a short artillery duel before a shot from "Csepel" struck "Aquila" and disabled the ship's boilers. By this time, the Austro-Hungarian destroyers were under the cover of the coastal batteries at Durazzo, and were able to make good their escape.  At 09:00, "Bristol"s lookouts spotted the smoke from the Austro-Hungarian cruisers to the south of her position. The Allied ships turned to engage the Austro-Hungarian ships; the British ships had a superiority both in numbers and in firepower; "Dartmouth" was armed with eight guns and "Bristol" had two 6 inch and ten, compared to the nine guns on each of the Austro-Hungarian ships. Unfortunately for the Allies, their numerical superiority was quickly lost, as their destroyers were either occupied with mechanical problems, or protecting those destroyers suffering from breakdowns. The support forces of both sides—the "Sankt Georg" group for the Austro-Hungarians, and the "Marsala" group for the Allies—were quickly dispatched to the battle.  Italian FBA seaplanes from the seaplane carrier "Europa" shadowed the Austro-Hungarian cruisers and eventually dropped bombs on "Helgoland", only scoring a near-miss that dislodged some rivets in her rudder. "Dartmouth"—faster than "Bristol"—closed to effective engagement range with the Austro-Hungarian ships, and opened fire. A shell from "Dartmouth" struck "Novara", at which point the Austro-Hungarian ships laid a smoke screen in order to close the distance. "Dartmouth" was struck several times, and by 11:00, Acton ordered the ship to reduce speed to allow "Bristol" to catch up. "Novara" was hit several more times, and her main feed pumps and starboard auxiliary steam pipe had been damaged, which caused the ship to begin losing speed. At 11:05, Acton turned away in an attempt to separate "Saida" from "Novara" and "Helgoland". At this point, "Sankt Georg" was approaching the scene, which prompted Acton to temporarily withdraw to consolidate his forces. This break in the action was enough time for the Austro-Hungarians to save the crippled "Novara"; "Saida" took the ship under tow while "Helgoland" covered them.  Unaware that "Novara" had been disabled, and fearing that his ships would be drawn too close to the Austrian naval base at Cattaro, Acton broke off the pursuit. The destroyer "Acerbi" misread the signal, and attempted to launch a torpedo attack, but was driven off by the combined fire of "Novara", "Saida", and "Helgoland". At 12:05, Acton realized the dire situation "Novara" was in, but by this time, the "Sankt Georg" group was too close. The "Sankt Georg" group rendezvoused with "Novara", "Saida", and "Helgoland", and "Csepel" and "Balaton" reached the scene as well. The entire group returned to Cattaro together.  At 13:30, the submarine "UC-25" torpedoed "Dartmouth", causing serious damage. The escorting destroyers forced "UC-25" from the area, but "Dartmouth" had to be abandoned for a period of time, before it could be towed back to port. The French destroyer attempted to pursue the German submarine, but struck a mine laid by "UC-25" that morning and sank rapidly.

Aftermath.

As a result of the raid, it was decided by the British naval command that unless sufficient destroyers were available to protect the barrage, the drifters would have to be withdrawn at night. The drifters would only be operating for less than twelve hours a day, and would have to leave their positions by 15:00 every day. Despite the damage received by the Austro-Hungarian cruisers during the pursuit by "Dartmouth" and "Bristol", the Austro-Hungarian forces inflicted more serious casualties on the Allied blockade. In addition to the sunk and damaged drifters, the cruiser "Dartmouth" was nearly sunk by the German submarine "UC-25", the French destroyer "Boutefeu" was mined and sunk, and a munitions convoy to Valona was interdicted.  However, in a strategic sense, the battle had little effect on the war. The barrage was never particularly effective at preventing the U-boat operations of Germany and Austria-Hungary in the first place. The drifters could cover approximately apiece; of the -wide Strait, only slightly more than half was covered. The raid risked some of the most advanced units of the Austro-Hungarian fleet on an operation that offered minimal strategic returns.

The 1917 Battle of the Strait of Otranto was the result of an Austro-Hungarian raid on the Otranto Barrage, an Allied naval blockade of the Strait of Otranto. The battle took place on 14–15 May 1917, and was the largest surface action in the Adriatic Sea during World War I. The Otranto Barrage was a fixed barrier, composed of lightly armed drifters with anti-submarine nets coupled with minefields and supported by Allied naval patrols.


Early life and education.

Édouard Philippe, the son of French teachers, was born in Rouen in 1970 and grew up in a left-wing household. He has one sibling, a sister. He comes from a family of dockworkers, a profession in which members of his family are still employed. He grew up in a suburban neighbourhood in Rouen. He was at first a pupil at the Michelet School in Rouen before moving to Grand-Quevilly where he attended Jean-Texier College and later attending Lycée les Bruyères in Sotteville-lès-Rouen.  He obtained his baccalauréat at the École de Gaulle-Adenauer in Bonn, and after a year in hypokhâgne, he studied at Sciences Po for three years and graduated in 1992, and later studied at the École nationale d'administration from 1995 to 1997 (the "Marc Bloch cohort").  Philippe served as an artillery officer during his national service in 1994. He continued to serve in the operational reserve for several years afterwards.  In his years at Sciences Po, he supported Michel Rocard and was influenced by him, identifying with the Rocardian and social democratic wings of the Socialist Party. His brief flirtation with the Socialists ended after Rocard was toppled from the leadership of the Socialist Party. After leaving the ÉNA in 1997, he went on to work at the Council of State, specializing in public procurement law.

Political career.

In 2001, Philippe joined Antoine Rufenacht as Deputy Mayor of Le Havre charged with legal affairs; Rufenacht served as mayor of Le Havre from 1995 to 2010 and campaign director for Jacques Chirac in the 2002 presidential election. Recognising the ideological proximity between Michel Rocard and Alain Juppé, Philippe supported the latter at the time of the creation of the Union for a Popular Movement (UMP) in 2002, marking the end of his left-wing activism; the same year, he failed to win his constituency in the legislative elections. He served under Juppé as director general of services of the UMP until 2004, when the mayor of Bordeaux was convicted as a result of the fictitious jobs case implicating the Rally for the Republic (RPR). He then took a job in the private sector, working with the American law firm Debevoise & Plimpton LLP, and was elected to the regional council of Upper Normandy the same year.  In the wake of Nicolas Sarkozy's victory in the 2007 presidential election, Philippe briefly returned to political life working for Alain Juppé, when Juppé served briefly as Minister of Ecology, Sustainable Development and Energy, before being appointed Director of Public Affairs at Areva, where he worked from 2007 to 2010. He was also substitute to Jean-Yves Besselat, who served as the member of the National Assembly for Seine-Maritime's 7th constituency from 2007 to 2012. In 2008, he was elected to the general council of Seine-Maritime in the canton of Le Havre-5, and in 2010 was elected mayor of Le Havre after the resignation of Rufenacht, his mentor, and also became President of the Agglomeration community of Le Havre the same year. After Besselat's death in 2012 following a long illness, Philippe took his seat, successfully holding it in the subsequent legislative elections. He was reelected as Mayor of Le Havre in the 2014 municipal elections in the first round, with an absolute majority of 52.04% of expressed votes. Following his resignation on 20 May 2017 as Le Havre Mayor, he retains a seat in the municipal council.

2017 presidential election.

He worked for the campaign of Alain Juppé in the primary of the right and centre in 2016, serving as a spokesperson alongside Benoist Apparu. Though Philippe and Apparu, as well as Christophe Béchu, later joined the campaign of François Fillon for the 2017 presidential election after his victory in the primary, the three parliamentarians – close to Juppé – quit on 2 March 2017 after the candidate was summoned to appear before judges amidst the Fillon affair. He said he would not seek to retain his seat in the legislative elections in June to avoid breaching the law limiting the accumulation of mandates. Following the victory of Emmanuel Macron in the presidential election, there was speculation that Philippe was a potential choice for Prime Minister, representing three essential aspects: political renewal (at the age of only 46), affiliation with the moderate right, and familiarity with the political terrain.

Prime Minister.

On 15 May 2017, Philippe was appointed as Prime Minister by Emmanuel Macron after speculation he was a contender for the office alongside former Ecology Minister Jean-Louis Borloo, MoDem Leader François Bayrou and IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde. In the June 2017 legislative elections, Macron's party, renamed "La République En Marche!", together with its ally the Democratic Movement (MoDem), secured a comfortable majority, winning 350 seats out of 577, with his party alone winning an outright majority of 308 seats. Philippe is a member of The Republicans though he campaigned for La République En Marche! due to the party supporting his role as Prime Minister. He formed the Second Philippe government on 21 May 2017 following a series of resignations after scandal embroiled Ministers François Bayrou, Sylvie Goulard, Marielle de Sarnez and Richard Ferrand. This diminished Democratic Movement's representation in the government significantly.  Philippe secured a vote of confidence and was allowed to govern with a majority government on 4 July 2017. Philippe was confirmed with a vote of 370 against 67. Following the vote, Philippe addressed the parliament, talking about plans to tackle France's debt by raising cigarette tax and cutting spending. Philippe also talked about plans to reduce corporate tax from 33.3% to 25% by 2022. Philippe announced the government's labour reform plan which will give companies more power when it comes to negotiating conditions directly with their employees. Labour reform was one of Macron's biggest election promises and has been seen as the government's biggest economic reform.  On 12 July 2017, Philippe announced a new immigration plan. The plan attempts to speed up asylum claims from fourteen months to six, provide housing for 7,500 refugees by the end of 2019, improve living conditions for minors and deport economic migrants The draft of the law will be introduced in September.

Personal life.

Philippe is married to Édith Chabre, the executive director of the School of Law at Sciences Po. They have three children.

Physical appearance.

Since the middle of the 2010s, Philippe sports a short beard. He is the first Prime Minister with facial hair since Henri Queuille (Prime Minister in 1951) and the first one with a full beard since Alexandre Ribot (Prime Minister for four days in 1914).

Published works.

Philippe has co-authored two works of fiction:  In 2015, he prefaced "Promenades avec Oscar Niemeyer" by Danielle Knapp, published by Petit à Petit.

Édouard Charles Philippe (; born 28 November 1970) is a French politician serving as Prime Minister of France since 15 May 2017 under President Emmanuel Macron.