History.

Before the adoption of four standard time zones for the continental United States, many towns and cities set their clocks to noon when the sun passed their local meridian, pre-corrected for the equation of time on the date of observation, to form local mean solar time. Noon occurred at different times but time differences between distant locations were barely noticeable prior to the 19th century because of long travel times and the lack of long-distance instant communications prior to the development of the telegraph.  The use of local solar time became increasingly awkward as railways and telecommunications improved. American railroads maintained many different time zones during the late 1800s. Each train station set its own clock making it difficult to coordinate train schedules and confusing passengers. Time calculation became a serious problem for people traveling by train (sometimes hundreds of miles in a day), according to the Library of Congress. Every city in the United States used a different time standard so there were more than 300 local sun times to choose from. Time zones were therefore a compromise, relaxing the complex geographic dependence while still allowing local time to be approximate with mean solar time. Railroad managers tried to address the problem by establishing 100 railroad time zones, but this was only a partial solution to the problem.  Weather service chief Cleveland Abbe introduced four standard time zones for his weather stations, an idea which he offered to the railroads. Operators of the new railroad lines needed a new time plan that would offer a uniform train schedule for departures and arrivals. Four standard time zones for the continental United States were introduced at noon on November 18, 1883, in Chicago, IL, when the telegraph lines transmitted time signals to all major cities.  In October 1884, the International Meridian Conference at Washington, D.C. adopted a proposal which stated that the prime meridian for longitude and timekeeping should be one that passes through the centre of the transit instrument at the Greenwich Observatory in the United Kingdom (UK). The conference therefore established the Greenwich Meridian as the prime meridian and Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) as the world's time standard. The U.S. time-zone system grew from this, in which all zones referred back to GMT on the prime meridian.

From GMT to UTC.

In 1960, the International Radio Consultative Committee formalized the concept of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC), which became the new international civil time standard. UTC is, within about 1 second, mean solar time at 0°. UTC does not observe daylight saving time.  For most purposes, UTC is considered interchangeable with GMT, but GMT is no longer precisely defined by the scientific community. UTC is one of several closely related successors to GMT.

United States and regional time zones.

Standard time zones in the United States and other regions are currently defined at the federal level by law 15 USC §260. The federal law also establishes the transition dates and times at which daylight saving time occurs, if observed. It is ultimately the authority of the secretary of transportation, in coordination with the states, to determine which regions will observe which of the standard time zones and if they will observe daylight saving time. As of August 9, 2007, the standard time zones are defined in terms of hourly offsets from UTC. Prior to this they were based upon the mean solar time at several meridians 15° apart west of Greenwich (GMT).  Only the full-time zone names listed below are official; abbreviations are by common use conventions, and duplicated elsewhere in the world for different time zones.  The United States and its surrounding areas use nine standard time zones. As defined by U.S. law they are:

Zones used in the contiguous U.S..

From east to west, the four time zones of the contiguous United States are:

Minor Outlying Islands.

Some United States Minor Outlying Islands are outside the time zones defined by 15 U.S.C. §260 and exist in waters defined by nautical time. In practice, military crews may simply use Zulu time () when on these islands. Baker Island and Howland Island are in, while Wake Island is in. Because they exist on opposite sides of the International Date Line, it can, for example, be noon Thursday on Baker and Howland islands while simultaneously being noon Friday on Wake Island. Other outlying islands include Jarvis Island, Midway Atoll, Palmyra Atoll, and Kingman Reef (); Johnston Atoll (); and Navassa Island, Bajo Nuevo Bank, and Serranilla Bank ().

Antarctic research stations.

In Antarctica, the U.S. research facility Palmer Station is in, while McMurdo Station and Amundsen–Scott South Pole Station use in order to coordinate with their main supply base in New Zealand.

Daylight saving time (DST).

Daylight saving time (DST) begins on the second Sunday of March and ends on the first Sunday of November.  Clocks will be set ahead one hour at 2:00 a.m. on the following start dates and set back one hour at 2:00 a.m. on these ending dates:  In response to the Uniform Time Act of 1966, each state has officially chosen to apply one of two rules over its entire territory:  The Energy Policy Act of 2005 extended daylight saving time (DST) for an additional month beginning in 2007.  Previous DST change dates include:

Time in the United States, by law, is divided into nine standard time zones covering the states, territories and other US possessions, with most of the United States observing daylight saving time (DST) for approximately the spring, summer, and fall months. The time zone boundaries and DST observance are regulated by the Department of Transportation. Official and highly precise timekeeping services (clocks) are provided by two federal agencies: the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) (an agency of the Department of Commerce); and the United States Naval Observatory (USNO). The clocks run by these services are kept synchronized with each other as well as with those of other international timekeeping organizations.


Early life.

Ani Lorak had a notably tough childhood. Born in Kitsman Western Ukraine, speaking Ukrainian as her native language, Karolina was raised by a single mother. At the age of 6, she and her brothers were placed in a foster home. One of her brothers later died when fighting in Afghanistan. Karolina Kuiek developed the desire to become a singer as early as the age of four. She often performed at various school vocal competitions. In 1992, she took part in the popular contest 'Pervotsvit' and was the winner. It was here where she met her ex-producer Yuriy Falyosa. As a result, at the age of 14 she signed her first professional contract. Kuiek became known as Ani Lorak in March 1995 when she took part in a contest at the television program "Morning Star" in Moscow, Russia. There was a Russian singer with the same name already enrolled in that competition so Kuiek had to invent a stage name. "Ani Lorak" is the name "Karolina" read backwards. Ani Lorak moved to Kiev in 1995. By that time her name was well known in Ukrainian show business. She became even more popular after winning the "Big Apple Music 1996 Competition" in New York City. She was named "Discovery of the Year" at the popular Ukrainian festival "Tavria Games" in 1996. The same year she released her first album "I Want to Fly".

1997–2011.

Lorak continued recording new songs in 1997. Her two videos "The Model" and "My God" were filmed and the latter became a soundtrack to the movie "The Right to Choose". In the spring of 1998 her new video "I will be back" was shot and in December Lorak's second album "I will be back" was released. Mastering of this album took place in New York. Simultaneously her two music videos "Oh my love" and "A Stranger's City" were filmed to accompany her new album. At the outset of 1999 she started extensive touring, performing in the US, France, Germany, Hungary, and her concerts took place in every major city of Ukraine. In 1999 she earned the title of the Honoured Artist of Ukraine.  In the spring of 2000 Ani Lorak recorded the soundtrack for an advert for the Chocolate "Korona" at the London studio "Astoria". Here, the singer met British composers Burrie Guard and Josh Phillips. Also, in London Lorak recorded new songs. In 2004-2005 Ani Lorak was a UN Good Will Ambassador in Ukraine for HIV/AIDS.  In October 2009, Lorak was ranked 41st in a top 100 of "most influential women in Ukraine" compiled by experts for the Ukrainian magazine Focus.

Business ventures.

In 2005, Ani Lorak and her fiancé Murat opened the Angel Lounge, a restaurant that specializes in Mediterranean cuisine in the center of Kiev. In 2009, they opened a Ukrainian travel agency called "Holiday Travel", which is a sub-division of "Turtess Travel", a company Murat works for. In 2010, Lorak became an Oriflame advert. She participated in several catalogues and developed a new fragrance called Chiffon by Ani Lorak.  In 2011, Lorak was announced the fifth richest singer in Ukraine, with her team's revenues amounting to $2.35 million that year. Her typical fee is $25,000-$40,000 per concert.  In 2014 the singer was criticised in Ukraine for having accepted awards in Russia while Ukraine had conflicts with Russia. Lorak then told reporters that she was a true Ukrainian patriot and loved her country dearly, advising her critics to “go and join [the] Anti-Terror Operation”

Personal life.

On 21 August 2009 Lorak married her longtime Turkish fiancé and manager Murat Nalçacıoğlu, whom she met in 2003 when vacationing in Turkey. Murat Nalçacıoğlu, is a Turkish hotel manager and travel agent. Lorak confirmed her pregnancy at the end of November 2010. Their daughter, Sophia, was born on 9 June 2011. She and her family lived in a house on the outskirts of Kiev, Ukraine but frequently travel to Turkey. The couple's marriage was officially annulled in January 2019.

Eurovision.

2005.

In 2005, Ani Lorak made her first attempt to perform at the Eurovision Song Contest and was virtually certain to sing the home country's entry in Kiev, but ultimately failed to be selected. Her narrow defeat in the 2005 national pre-selection competition was particularly controversial, given that the winners, GreenJolly, did not have to qualify for the final by winning one of the fifteen preliminary heats (unlike her). Lorak finished in second place in the Ukrainian national final with the song "A Little Shot Of Love".

2008.

Having come close to singing the home country's entry in 2005, when Ukraine staged the Eurovision Song Contest, Ukrainian television NTU announced in late December that Ani Lorak, one of the country's most successful singers would represent the country at Eurovision in Belgrade and that the public and a jury would choose the song. On 23 February, Ani performed five potential entries, in a special show and the winner, chosen by both the public and by the jury was "Shady Lady", written by Greek composer and producer Dimitris Kontopoulos, also known in the Eurovision bubble.  She also recorded a Russian version of her Eurovision song "Shady Lady" with the title "S neba v nebo". Ani had visited other countries to present her song, like Malta, Russia, Bulgaria, Spain and Germany. At the 2008 Eurovision Song Contest in Belgrade, she sang the song "Shady Lady" in the second semi final on 23 May 2008, winning a place in the final. She took the second place in the final after Dima Bilan. She was awarded a prize for being the Best Artist at the contest from the media. Italian designer Roberto Cavalli designed a dress for Ani Lorak performance at the festival. The ornate dress was made with Swarovski Diamonds, and her choreography produced by Fokas Evangelinos who designed the stage show for her entry. He also arranged the stage shows of Greece 2005, Russia 2006 and Belarus 2007.

Charity.

Lorak spends a lot of time on charitable activities. Since 2004-2005 Lorak has been a UN Goodwill Ambassador on HIV/AIDS in Ukraine. UNICEF and UN in Ukraine have awarded a commendation to Lorak for assistance and help to HIV positive citizens of Ukraine. In 2005, Lorak was conferred with the St. Stanislav Order of the 4th degree and the Officer's Cross "for strengthening the international authority of Ukraine, for the high professionalism, great creative achievements, charity and adherence to the ideals of chivalry".

Karolina Myroslavivna Kuiek (,, also transliterated as Kuyek or Kuek; born 27 September 1978), popularly known as Ani Lorak (), is a Ukrainian singer, songwriter, actress, entrepreneur, and former UN Goodwill Ambassador. Having received Ukraine's most prestigious and honorary title, the People's Artist of Ukraine, Lorak has been cited as one of the most powerful and influential women in her country, as well as ranked one of the most beautiful women from Eastern Europe. Ani Lorak reported the highest income of all singers in Ukraine in 2014


Origin and influence of the Esperanto Wikipedia.

Chuck Smith, an American Esperantist, is considered to be Esperanto Wikipedia's founder. The encyclopedia started off when he imported the 139 articles of the by Stefano Kalb, which took him three weeks following 15 November 2001. Later on, he undertook a journey to Europe with the goal of popularizing Wikipedia among the speakers of Esperanto in European countries. For instance, already in November 2002 he gave a talk about Wikipedia at the 10th Conference on the Application of Esperanto in Science and Technology in Dobřichovice (Czech Republic).  Esperanto speakers have also been involved in the founding of several other language versions of the Wikipedia (Czech, Slovak, Ossetian, Swahili). The introduction of support for the Esperanto alphabet by Brion Vibber, an Esperanto speaker and later Wikimedia Foundation's first employee, in January 2002 has paved the way for alphabets of languages other than English and initiated the transition of the whole Wikipedia to Unicode.

Quality of the Esperanto Wikipedia.

As of July 2018, the Esperanto Wikipedia has 287 articles of () and a further 206 considered (). Weekly community projects include a () which improves neglected articles and an Article of the Week featuring good-quality articles on the front page. The Esperanto community is a frequent contributor to the Meta project,.  According to the at Meta, a list based on, Esperanto ranks 36th, lacking almost none of the list of vital articles, but having in general relatively short articles.  On 18 November 2008, the Esperanto Wikipedia implemented the extension.  As of February 2012, the Esperanto Wikipedia had the 5th greatest number of articles per speaker among Wikipedias with over 100,000 articles, and ranked 11th overall. These figures were based on "Ethnologue"s estimate of 2,000,000 Esperanto speakers.  Due to the geographical spread of its editors (see the box on the right), the Esperanto Wikipedia has a varied list of countries of origin of its editors.  On 13 August 2014 Esperanto Wikipedia reached 200,000 articles.  In 2019 the Esperanto Wikipedia has 83 thousand unique categories and 18.87% of them do not have appropriate page in the category namespace. The average article in this language version has 4 categories, while number of unique categories per articles ratio is 0.325. The largest number of articles has People (20%) and Geography (20%) category. In Esperanto Wikipedia articles related to Life and Religion has the highest average quality. Content about Events is read more often and articles in Philosophy category have the highest authors' interest on average.

Notability within the Esperanto community.

Along with learners and other Esperantists of all levels, many very experienced Esperantists and native Esperantists have joined the project. At least three editors are members of the Academy of Esperanto, Gerrit Berveling, John C. Wells, and Bertilo Wennergren, a notable Esperanto grammarian and the director of the Academy's section about Esperanto vocabulary.  The Esperanto Wikipedia has been featured in many Esperanto news media, including a radio interview at Radio Polonia, and articles at,, and. The Esperanto Wikimania, a gathering held in 2011 to celebrate the encyclopedia's 10th anniversary, has been subsidized by the host city of Svitavy (Czech Republic) and the Pardubice Region and covered by Czech Television.  Esperanto organisations like Universal Esperanto Association do not contribute to but support it by providing chambers at Esperanto conventions for presentations and trainings. At the World Esperanto Congress in Rotterdam, summer 2008, there were two Wikipedian meetups and a lecture at the Esperantology Conference. In April 2013, ("Esperanto and Free Knowledge") was established as one of the first Wikimedia user groups.

Wikipedia handbook in Esperanto.

The Esperanto Wikipedia community has created and published a 40-page "Wikipedia: Practical Handbook" () which is sold on-line and at conventions. The manual is intended to give new Wikipedians advice and information on how to edit Wikipedia in Esperanto. It is currently in its second printing.

The Esperanto Wikipedia (, or ) is the Esperanto version of Wikipedia, which was started on 11 May 2001, alongside the Basque Wikipedia. With over articles, it is the 32nd-largest Wikipedia as measured by the number of articles, and the largest Wikipedia in a constructed language.


Movement.

The motion requires that the board be twisted back and forth so as to move either just the back foot or both the front and back feet side to side, essentially pushing the board forward at the outside of the movement, before the foot is brought back in the other direction. In principle, the act is similar to what is required to propel one who is riding inline skates forward, as opposed to how skateboarders push with their feet on the ground. Riding a caster board requires using a twisting motion of hips and legs.  A rider or "caster boarder" gains speed because each wheel is mounted on a 30° slant on the bottom of each deck. When each deck is pushed to the side, it causes the board to be pushed upward by the wheels' rotation against the gradient of the mounts. This creates potential energy that is then released moves back down under the rider's weight and its own combined. The weight pushing the board back down causes the wheels to turn to face straight again. While riding on a caster board, the increase in height is barely noticeable unless the rider twists the board along the vertical axis too hard, causing stability to be momentarily reduced.  Caster boarding has been introduced into many school curricula as a means of teaching the basic movement principles that govern board-sports. The success in its ability to engage with pupils not interested in sport was assessed in a 12-week, 6 secondary school case study in the UK carried out by Curriculum Ex.

Foot placement.

Foot placement is similar to that of a skateboard. Foot placement is critical on a caster board because one wheel rests under each foot while in use. In order to start with proper foot placement, it is necessary to have the front foot above the center of the front caster and to allow the back foot to give a good push of speed that will allow the board to keep proper balance. Attempting to place the back foot too quickly will make it even more difficult to achieve a desirable foot placement, so it is best to give that foot a maximum of two seconds for it to properly set itself on the board. More experienced riders will be able to place their back feet more quickly. A manual is performed by putting the rear foot on the back end of the rear deck without letting it come off and gently lifting the front foot.  If the user is already riding the board and the user recognizes that the foot placement is slightly undesirable, the user could replace both feet simultaneously without interrupting their ride that is already taking place. This is done by the rider's first making sure that they are riding at a normal speed and that the riding surface ahead is stable for riding on and then jumping with both feet at a minimal height that allows both shoes to separate their treads from the grips of the caster board. The rider may continue to "hop around" the board until a most desirable foot placement is achieved and for as long as a proper speed is maintained. Hopping around may even more easily produce better results than getting off the board and getting back on again. A much more difficult means of replacing the feet while riding is attempting to correct only one foot at a time, increasing the risk of shifting his/her weight too far forward or backward and falling to the ground.

Steering.

In order to steer properly on a caster board, the front foot must lean into the curve while the back foot leans out of the curve. By leaning the front foot in and the back foot out, the front wheel, which will have its front facing inward, is forced to form an arc with the back wheel, which will have its front facing outward. This arcing allows for very sharp turning, but can be exercised for making wide turns as well. While attempting to turn on the board at a higher speed and/or using a tighter arc, the rider leans his/her center of gravity into the turn to keep from falling from the board. However, like all vehicles, there is a limit to the combined sharpness and speed of turning on a caster board without it becoming overturned. It is possible to propel the board while turning by making weaving motions that are typically smaller than those of a relatively straight trajectory.  The wrong way to turn on a caster board is to lean both decks in the direction of the turn, which will cause the board to move away from the leaning direction in a parallel-sliding fashion.

Safety.

A helmet, elbow pads, knee pads, gloves, and shin guards are recommended when using a caster board. Falling is common for inexperienced riders.

Tricks.

A variety of tricks can be done on a caster board. They are coping and ledge tricks, manuals, Carves and flips. The various flips tricks include: Kickflip, No Comply Impossible, Double Kickflip, Fakie Kickflip, Switch Kickflip, Fakie Bigspin, Nollie Kickflip, Nollie Heelflip, Nollie Frontside 180 Bigspin, Varial Kickflip, Varial Heelflip, Backside 180 Kickflip, Frontside 180 Heelflip, Frontside 180 Kickflip, 360 Kickflip and the Frontside 180 Double Kickflip.

Skatepark.

Casterboarders can ride in skateparks as with other types of skateboards. However, some skateparks have prohibited caster boards. Planet Park (Hachioji city) skatepark in Tokyo, Japan allows only skateboards with four wheels and a single deck. The Japan Skatepark Association claims that if a caster board rider falls, it can be difficult to predict which direction the board will travel, constituting an unpredictable element of danger that may interfere with other skateboarders, inline-skaters and BMX riders in the park.

Exercise.

The Vigorboard's ability to combine fun with a full cardio-vascular workout has prompted St Helens council to promote the boards in all of its high schools and some of its primary schools, seeing it as a method of inspiring children who wouldn't normally take part in traditional exercise.  The Vigorboard is proving a valuable weapon in the fight against childhood obesity, with some teachers at the schools currently trialing the boards also reporting drops in truancy, with pupils not wishing to miss school should they miss their Vigorboard session.  An independent study conducted by the University of Salford found that vigorboarding resulted in an average increase in heart rate of 227% and a 535% increase in energy expenditure. The study also concluded that vigorboarding results in a 233% greater energy expenditure (407kcal/hr) than walking at 3 mph (174.5kcal/hr).  In its conclusion, the authors of the university study went on to say, 'Vigorboarding may be a useful alternative to increasing physical activity levels and energy expenditure, especially for individuals that do not wish to participate in the usual sports or activities performed by adolescents.'.

A caster board or vigorboard is a two-wheeled, human-powered land vehicle. Other names are waveboard, "J-board", and RipStik (sometimes written "rip stick"), both of which are derived from commercial brands.


Structure and features.

Warrants have similar characteristics to that of other equity derivatives, such as options, for instance:  The warrant parameters, such as exercise price, are fixed shortly after the issue of the bond. With warrants, it is important to consider the following main characteristics:  Warrants are longer-dated options and are generally traded over-the-counter.

Secondary market.

Sometimes the issuer will try to establish a market for the warrant and to register it with a listed exchange. In this case, the price can be obtained from a stockbroker. But often, warrants are privately held or not registered, which makes their prices less obvious. On the NYSE, warrants can be easily tracked by adding a "w" after the company's ticker symbol to check the warrant's price. Unregistered warrant transactions can still be facilitated between accredited parties and in fact, several secondary markets have been formed to provide liquidity for these investments.

Comparison with call options.

Warrants are very similar to call options. For instance, many warrants confer the same rights as equity options and warrants often can be traded in secondary markets like options. However, there also are several key differences between warrants and equity options:

Traded warrants.

Pricing.

There are various methods (models) of evaluation available to value warrants theoretically, including the Black–Scholes model. However, it is important to have some understanding of the various influences on warrant prices. The market value of a warrant can be divided into two components:  Intrinsic value: This is simply the difference between the exercise (strike) price and the underlying stock price. Warrants are also referred to as in-the-money or out-of-the-money, depending on where the current asset price is in relation to the warrant's exercise price. Thus, for instance, for call warrants, if the stock price is below the strike price, the warrant has no intrinsic value (only time value—to be explained shortly). If the stock price is above the strike, the warrant has intrinsic value and is said to be in-the-money.  Time value: Time value can be considered as the value of the continuing exposure to the movement in the underlying security that the warrant provides. Time value declines as the expiry of the warrant gets closer. This erosion of time value is called time decay. It is not constant, but increases rapidly towards expiry. A warrant's time value is affected by the following factors:

Uses.

Warrants can be used for Portfolio protection: Put warrants allow the owner to protect the value of the owner's portfolio against falls in the market or in particular shares.

Risks.

There are certain risks involved in trading warrants—including time decay. Time decay: "Time value" diminishes as time goes by—the rate of decay increases the closer to the date of expiration.

Types of warrants.

A wide range of warrants and warrant types are available. The reasons you might invest in one type of warrant may be different from the reasons you might invest in another type of warrant.

Traditional.

Traditional warrants are issued in conjunction with a bond (known as a warrant-linked bond) and represent the right to acquire shares in the entity issuing the bond. In other words, the writer of a traditional warrant is also the issuer of the underlying instrument. Warrants are issued in this way as a "sweetener" to make the bond issue more attractive and to reduce the interest rate that must be offered in order to sell the bond issue.

Covered or naked.

Covered warrants, also known as naked warrants, are issued without an accompanying bond and, like traditional warrants, are traded on the stock exchange. They are typically issued by banks and securities firms and are settled for cash, e.g. do not involve the company who issues the shares that underlie the warrant. In most markets around the world, covered warrants are more popular than the traditional warrants described above. Financially they are also similar to call options, but are typically bought by retail investors, rather than investment funds or banks, who prefer the more keenly priced options which tend to trade on a different market. Covered warrants normally trade alongside equities, which makes them easier for retail investors to buy and sell them.

Third-party warrants.

A third-party warrant is a derivative issued by the holders of the underlying instrument. Suppose a company issues warrants which give the holder the right to convert each warrant into one share at $500. This warrant is company-issued. Suppose, a mutual fund that holds shares of the company sells warrants against those shares, also exercisable at $500 per share. These are called third-party warrants. The primary advantage is that the instrument helps in the price discovery process. In the above case, the mutual fund selling a one-year warrant exercisable at $500 sends a signal to other investors that the stock may trade at $500-levels in one year. If volumes in such warrants are high, the price discovery process will be that much better; for it would mean that many investors believe that the stock will trade at that level in one year. Third-party warrants are essentially long-term call options. The seller of the warrants does a covered call-write. That is, the seller will hold the stock and sell warrants against them. If the stock does not cross $500, the buyer will not exercise the warrant. The seller will, therefore, keep the warrant premium.

In finance, a warrant is a security that entitles the holder to buy the underlying stock of the issuing company at a fixed price called exercise price until the expiry date.


History and overview.

The Vasari Corridor was built in five months by order of Duke Cosimo I de' Medici in 1565, to the design of Giorgio Vasari. It was commissioned in connection with the marriage of Cosimo's son, Francesco, with Johanna of Austria. The idea of an enclosed passageway was motivated by the Grand Duke's desire to move freely between his residence and the government palace, when, like most monarchs of the period, he felt insecure in public, in his case especially because he had replaced the Republic of Florence. The meat market of Ponte Vecchio was moved to avoid its smell reaching into the passage, its place being taken by the goldsmith shops that still occupy the bridge. At the latter extremity, the corridor was forced to pass around the Mannelli's Tower, after the staunch opposition of that family to its destruction.  In the middle of Ponte Vecchio, the corridor is characterized by a series of panoramic windows facing the Arno, in the direction of the Ponte Santa Trinita. These replaced the smaller windows of the original construction in 1939, by order of Benito Mussolini. The larger windows were installed for an official visit to Florence by Adolf Hitler to give him a panoramic view of the river.  After the Ponte Vecchio the Corridor passes over the loggiato of the church of Santa Felicita; at that point it had a balcony, protected by a thick railing, looking into the interior of the church, in order to allow the Grand Duke's family to follow services without mixing with the populace.  In its Uffizi section, the Vasari Corridor is used to exhibit the museum's famous collection of self-portraits.  The area closest to the Uffizi entrance was heavily damaged by a bombing commissioned by the Italian mafia on the night of May 27, 1993. When a car bomb was detonated next to the Torre dei Pulci, located between via Lambertesca and via de' Georgofili, this section of the Uffizi Gallery was among the buildings damaged, and several artworks in the Corridor were destroyed. These paintings, some hopelessly damaged, have been pieced back together and placed back on their original spot to serve as a reminder of the event.

The Vasari Corridor () is an elevated enclosed passageway in Florence, central Italy, which connects the Palazzo Vecchio with the Palazzo Pitti. Beginning on the south side of the Palazzo Vecchio, it then joins the Uffizi Gallery and leaves on its south side, crossing the Lungarno dei Archibusieri and then following the north bank of the River Arno until it crosses the river at Ponte Vecchio. At the time of construction, the corridor had to be built around the Torre dei Mannelli, using brackets, because the owners of the tower refused to alter it. The corridor covers up part of the façade of the Church of Santa Felicita. The corridor then snakes its way over rows of houses in the Oltrarno district, becoming narrower, to finally join the Palazzo Pitti. The full length of the corridor is approximately one kilometre.


Early years.

Randall's parents, Ronn and Deborah (née Haines) originally met at a California ski resort. Kikkan's name was the result of a compromise between her parents: her father wanted to name her Kikki, after Kiki Cutter, the first American to win a race on the Alpine Skiing World Cup, whilst her mother wanted to name her Meghan. Ronn started teaching Kikkan to ski one day after her first birthday. She is the niece of former cross-country skiing Olympians Betsy Haines (1980) and Chris Haines (1976).  Randall lived in Salt Lake while her mother attended law school at the University of Utah. In the mid-1980s, she moved to Anchorage, Alaska with her parents, where her younger siblings, Tanner and Kalli were born. Originally she had ambitions to race as an alpine skier, as well as to run for a NCAA Division I college. She ran a 6:06 minute mile in sixth grade at Scenic Park Elementary. Randall won 10 state titles at East Anchorage High School — seven in track and three in cross-country running. She is the last Alaskan state speed-skiing champion. Randall took up cross-country skiing in 1998, when her track coach suggested using it as a means of keeping fit during the winter.

Skiing career.

Early career.

After graduating from high school, Randall moved to Utah to train with the United States Ski Team, but returned to Alaska due to homesickness. Her sixth-place finish in the sprint at the 2001 Junior World Championships was the best ever result by an American woman. Randall made her Olympic debut as a 19-year-old at the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City and finished 44th in the inaugural Olympic individual sprint. In January 2006, Randall returned to Soldier Hollow, Utah, the site of the 2002 Olympic cross-country competition, and won national titles in the 5-kilometer freestyle, the 10-km classical and the sprint. At the 2005 World Championships in Oberstdorf, Germany, she finished 30th in the individual sprint.

2006–2011.

At the 2006 Winter Olympics, Randall finished ninth in the Olympic Sprint, the best ever Olympic result in cross-country skiing by an American woman. Shortly thereafter, she finished fifth in a World Cup sprint. On January 21, 2007, she captured bronze in the women's 1.2-kilometer sprint in Rybinsk, Russia, the best ever cross-country World Cup result by an American woman. Later that calendar year, in the following season, she took the first World Cup win for an American female skier since the introduction of women's competition in 1978 in another 1.2 kilometre sprint at the same venue.  In February 2009, Randall won the silver medal in the 1.3-kilometer sprint at the Nordic Skiing World Championships - the first American cross-country skier to take a World Championship medal since Bill Koch in 1982. In January 2010, Randall qualified for the 2010 Winter Olympics, where she earned a US best finish of sixth in the team sprint and her best individual finish of eighth in the individual sprint event. In the 2010-11 season, she finished third in the Sprint World Cup standings.

2011–2012.

Randall became the first American woman to win a World Cup discipline title in cross-country by topping the season's Sprint standings. Her season included wins in the World Cup freestyle sprints in Düsseldorf and Davos. She also finished fifth in the Overall World Cup that season.

2012–2013.

Randall won four World Cup freestyle sprint events, in Quebec, Val Mustair, Sochi, and Lahti. She also won the 3 km freestyle prologue of the Tour de Ski in Oberhof. She won a team freestyle sprint in Quebec with teammate Jessica Diggins. Randall finished first in the final World Cup sprint standings and third in the overall standings. Third place is the highest ever by a U.S. woman. Randall, with Diggins, won the first-ever team sprint gold for U.S. women at the World Ski Championships.

2013–2014.

Randall qualified for the U.S. Olympic team at Sochi, and went into the 2014 Winter Olympics as heavily favored to win the USA's first medal in cross-country skiing since 1976, but missed qualifying to advance in the sprint quarterfinals by.05 of a second. Subsequently, she suggested that her focus on peaking for the Olympics was disrupted by a back injury which she sustained whilst training in Davos in December 2013.  Randall topped the overall World Cup sprint standings for a third time. She won the World Cup freestyle sprint events in Nove Mesto, Szklarska Poreba, and Lahti.

2014–2015.

Randall placed third in the Lahti freestyle sprint.  In October 2015 Randall announced that she was expecting her first child in April, and would take a break from competition in the 2015-16 season before returning in 2016-17 with a focus on the 2017 World Championships in Lahti and the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang.

2016–2017.

Upon returning to competition, Randall initially struggled, failing to advance beyond qualifying in the first two World Cup Sprint competitions of the season. However she was able to make steady progress, and in January 2017 finished fifth in a World Cup Sprint in Falun, Sweden - her best result in nearly two years. Subsequently, at the 2017 World Nordic Ski Championships in Lahti, Finland, Randall took the bronze medal in the freestyle sprint, catching Hanna Falk in the last 100 metres to pip her for third place by 0.1 seconds, one place behind team-mate Diggins in second.

2017-2018.

In December 2017 Randall took her first World Cup podium finish in almost three years when she finished third in a sprint in Davos, Switzerland.  During the 2018 Winter Olympics, she and Jessica Diggins became the first American cross-country skiers to win a gold medal by winning the women's team sprint at the Alpensia Cross-Country Centre in Pyeongchang, South Korea.

Cross-country skiing results.

All results are sourced from the International Ski Federation (FIS).

Other achievements.

In 2009, Randall was elected to the International Ski Federation's Athletes Commission, which she served on for eight years. Subsequently, in 2018 she was elected to the International Olympic Committee's Athletes Commission, succeeding American ice hockey player Angela Ruggiero.  Randall defeated teammate Holly Brooks to win the Mount Marathon Race in 2011, following in the footsteps of her mother Debbie (who won the Race in 1975) and aunt Betsy (who won it three years in succession from 1979 to 1981).  Randall was inducted into the Alaska Sports Hall of Fame in 2011.

Personal life.

Randall is married to former Canadian ski racer Jeff Ellis, who works as a marketing support manager for the FIS Cross-Country World Cup. The pair originally met at a ski competition in 2006, and married in May 2008 in a ceremony officiated by her coach Erik Flora. The couple have a son, Breck, who was born in April 2016.  In April 2008 she was diagnosed with the genetic blood clotting disorder Factor V Leiden after being hospitalized twice due to blood clots in her left leg.  Randall mixes studies at Alaska Pacific University with skiing for the APU Nordic Ski Center program run by former national level ski racer, Erik Flora.  In April 2018, Randall was diagnosed with breast cancer. She announced her diagnosis in July of that year on her social media accounts, as well as her plans to return to Anchorage to undergo chemotherapy.

Kikkan Randall (born December 31, 1982) is an American, Olympic champion cross-country skier. She has won 17 U.S. National titles, made 29 podiums on the World Cup, made five trips to the Winter Olympic Games and had the highest finish by an individual American woman at the World Championships, second in the Sprint in Liberec in 2009. She was the first American female cross-country skier to take a top ten finish in World Cup competition, to win a World Cup race and to win a World Cup discipline title. She won the silver medal in the individual sprint at the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships 2009 in Liberec, becoming the first American woman to win a medal in cross country skiing at the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships, and in 2013 teamed up with Jessica Diggins to win the first ever American FIS Nordic World Ski Championships gold medal in the team sprint. She and Diggins won the United States' first ever cross-country skiing gold medal at the Winter Olympics in women's team sprint at Pyeongchang in 2018.


Life.

Heinrich Wittek was born in the Austrian capital Vienna, the eldest son of Johann Marzellin Wittek (1801–1876), an officer of the Imperial and Royal Army, who shortly after Heinrich's birth was appointed an educator of the Habsburg archdukes, the sons of Archduke Franz Karl. The boy grew up at the Austrian court and especially befriended with Archduke Ludwig Viktor, younger brother of Emperor Franz Joseph I, who was almost of the same age. His father was ennobled in 1858 and elevated to the hereditary rank of "Ritter" in 1871.  Wittek attended the Vienna "Schottengymnasium", where he obtained his "Matura" degree, and went on to study law at the University of Vienna. Having received his doctorate, he began a career as a state official at the Austrian Ministry of Commerce, where he was concerned with the establishment of the Imperial Royal Austrian State Railways upon the Long Depression from 1873 onwards. As a proven expert, he was promoted to head of the railway department in 1886 and led the ministry for a short while in 1895.  On 30 November 1897, Wittek was appointed Railway Minister in the Austrian government of Minister-President Paul Gautsch von Frankenthurn, a post he held in various succeeding Austrian cabinets until 1 May 1905. Upon the resignation of Count Manfred von Clary-Aldringen on 21 December 1899, he also served as acting Austrian Minister-President until the appointment of Ernest von Koerber on 18 January 1900.  During Wittek's time in office, the public railroad network of the Imperial Royal Austrian State Railways was significantly enlarged by an extensive construction programme, as decided by the Austrian Imperial Council parliament in 1901, including the Alpine Bohinj and Tauern Railway lines. Wittek is also credited with improving the social conditions of the railway employees. However, as the building projects suffered substantial cost overruns, he lost support and finally handed in his resignation on 1 May 1905.  A few days later, his CS party colleague Mayor Karl Lueger made him an honorary citizen of Vienna. On August 16 he was appointed life peer of the Austrian House of Lords by Emperor Franz Joseph I. Upon the 1907 legislative election, he succeeded Mayor Karl Lueger as a CS member of the House of Deputies.  Wittek died in Vienna and was buried in the Hietzing Cemetery.

Heinrich Ritter von Wittek (29 January 1844 – 9 April 1930) was an Austrian politician of the Christian Social Party (CS). He served as head of the "k.k." Railway Ministry and as Minister-President of Cisleithania for four weeks in 1899/1900.


Background.

The Anežka Hrůzová murder case.

Anežka Hrůzová was a 19-year-old Czech Catholic girl, living in the village of Věžnička. She worked as a seamstress in Polná, away. On the afternoon of 29 March 1899, she left her place of employment as usual, but did not return to her home. Three days later (1 April) her body was found in a forest, her throat having been cut and her garments torn. Nearby was a pool of blood, some blood-stained stones, parts of her garments, and a rope with which she had been either strangled to death or dragged, after the murder, to the place where the body was found. Because of the little amount of blood found near the body, and the fact that Anežka Hrůzová's disappearance had taken place during the Jewish holiday of Passover, authorities and population began speculating this was a case of Jewish ritual murder (blood libel).  The suspicion of the sheriff was first turned against four vagrants who had been seen in the neighborhood of the forest on the afternoon of the day when the murder was supposed to have been committed. Among them was Leopold Hilsner, a 23-year-old Jew, a man of little intelligence, who had been a vagrant all his life. Suspicion against him was based on the fact that he had been frequently seen strolling in the forest where the body was found. A search of his house showed nothing suspicious. He claimed to have left the place on the afternoon of the murder long before it could have been committed; but he could not establish a perfect alibi. Hilsner was arrested, and tried at Kutná Hora on 12–16 September. He denied all knowledge of the crime. The only physical evidence against him was a pair of trousers on which some stains were found, which chemical experts said might have been blood, while the garment was wet as if an attempt had been made to wash it. One witness against him claimed to have seen Hilsner, at a distance of, in company with two strange Jews, on the day on which the murder was supposed to have been committed and on the spot where the body was found. Another witness claimed to have seen him come from that place on the afternoon of 29 March and to have noticed that he was very much agitated. Both the prosecuting attorney, and the attorney for the Hrůza family, Karel Baxa, made clear suggestions of ritual murder. Testimony had proved that Hilsner was too weak to have committed the crime by himself. Still he was sentenced to death for participation in the murder, while his supposed accomplices were undiscovered and no attempt was made to bring them to justice. The prominent Czech nationalist scholar Tomáš Masaryk, professor of the Charles University in Prague, intervened on behalf of Hilsner; he filed an appeal to the supreme court, citing technical errors in the trial. The supreme court ordered a new trial, to be held at Písek in order to avoid intimidation of the jury by the mob, and the influence of political agitation. On 20 September 1899, a few days after the first trial, Hilsner was confronted by hostile fellow prisoners, who showed him some carpenters working in the courtyard of the jail and told him that they were constructing a gallows for him. They demanded the names of his accomplices, and said he could thus obtain a commutation of his sentence. Hilsner, terrified, named Joshua Erbmann and Solomon Wassermann as those who had assisted him. Being brought before the judge on 29 September, he declared that this statement was false. On 7 October, he reiterated the statement, but again recanted on 20 November. Fortunately for those he had accused, they were able to prove perfect alibis, one of them having been in jail on the day of the murder, while the other proved, from certificates of poorhouses in Moravia which he had visited as a beggar, that he could not possibly have been in Polná on that day.

The Marie Klímová disappearance case.

Meanwhile, Hilsner was accused of another murder. Marie Klímová, a servant, had disappeared on 17 July 1898. A female body was found on 27 October following in the same forest as the body of Anežka Hrůzová. This body had, with great probability, been identified as the missing girl. However, decomposition was so advanced that not even the fact that the girl had been murdered could be established. Hilsner, charged with this crime also, was tried for both murders in Písek (25 October-14 November 1900). The witnesses at this trial became more definite in their statements. Those that at the first trial had spoken of a knife which they had seen in Hilsner's possession, now asserted distinctly that it was such a knife as was used in ritual slaughtering. The strange Jews who were supposedly seen in company with Hilsner were more and more particularly described. When witnesses were shown that the testimony given by them at the second trial differed from that given at the first trial, they said either that they had been intimidated by the judge or that their statements had not been correctly recorded.

Sentence, pardon and aftermath.

Hilsner was found guilty of having murdered both Anežka Hrůzová and Marie Klímová and sentenced to death on 14 November 1900. The sentence was commuted by Emperor Franz Josef to life imprisonment on 11 June 1901 but requests to renew the trial were turned down. Shortly before the end of World War I (24 March 1918), Hilsner was pardoned by Emperor Karl. He spent the rest of his life in Velké Meziříčí, Prague, and Vienna; he died on 9 January 1928 at the age of 52 in Vienna. His conviction was never annulled, and no one else was ever charged with the murders. Although the case was never solved, Hilsner's innocence concerning the anachronistic charge of ritual murder is recognized. A tombstone unveiled over his grave reads: 'As the innocent victim of lies of ritual murder, he languished in prison for 19 years'. A plaque on his last place of residence also reads: 'Here stood the house where Leopold Hilsner (1876-1928) lived before his death. As the innocent victim of lies about ritual murder, he wasted 19 years in prison.'

References.

See History of East European Jews, Heiko Haumman, CEU Press (2002), at 200-01.

The Hilsner Affair (also known as the Hilsner Trial, Hilsner Case or Polná Affair) was a series of anti-semitic trials following an accusation of blood libel against Leopold Hilsner, a Jewish inhabitant of the town of Polná in Bohemia, Austria-Hungary in 1899 and 1900. The affair achieved widespread media publicity at the time, and Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk, then professor at Charles University in Prague also got involved in the case to defend Leopold Hilsner. Hilsner spent 19 years in prison before being pardoned by the Emperor of Austria-Hungary.


Background and education.

Born in London, Ryder was the eldest son of Nathaniel Ryder, 1st Baron Harrowby, and his wife Elizabeth (née Terrick). Sir Dudley Ryder was his grandfather and Richard Ryder his younger brother. He was educated at Harrow School and St John's College, Cambridge.

Political career.

Harrowby was elected to his father's old Parliament seat of Tiverton in 1784. His administrative career began with an appointment to be Joint Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs in 1789. In 1791 he was appointed joint Paymaster of the Forces, having been made Vice-President of the Board of Trade in 1790. He resigned the positions and also that of Treasurer of the Navy when he succeeded to his father's barony in June 1803. In 1804 he was Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs. After James Monroe's first interview with him on 30 May 1804, "...Monroe reported to his Government that Lord Harrowby's manners were designedly unfriendly; his reception was rough, his comments on the Senate's habit of mutilating treaties were harsh, his conduct throughout the intervuew was calculated to wound and to irritate."  In 1805 he was Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster under his intimate friend William Pitt; in the latter year he was sent on a special and important mission to the emperors of Austria and Russia and the king of Prussia. In 1809 he was honoured when he was made Viscount Sandon, of Sandon in the County of Stafford, and Earl of Harrowby, in the County of Lincoln. From November 1809 to June 1812 he served as Minister without portfolio in the cabinet of Spencer Perceval.  From 1812 to 1827, he served as Lord President of the Council under Lord Liverpool. After George Canning's death in 1827, Harrowby refused to serve George IV as prime minister and never held office again. Despite this he continued to take part in politics, being especially prominent during the deadlock which preceded the passing of the Reform Bill in 1832. Harrowby's long association with the Tories did not prevent him from assisting to remove the disabilities of Roman Catholics and Protestant dissenters, or from supporting the movement for electoral reform; he was also in favour of the emancipation of the slaves. He was a member of the Literary Association of the Friends of Poland.

Family.

Lord Harrowby married Lady Susanna Leveson-Gower, daughter of Granville Leveson-Gower, 1st Marquess of Stafford, in 1795. They had three sons and five daughters. She died in May 1838. Lord Harrowby survived her by nine years and died in December 1847 at his Staffordshire residence, Sandon Hall, aged 85, being, as Charles Cavendish Fulke Greville says, "the last of his generation and of the colleagues of Mr Pitt, the sole survivor of those stirring times and mighty contests." He was succeeded in his titles by his eldest son Dudley. His second son, Granville Ryder, became a Member of Parliament.

Dudley Ryder, 1st Earl of Harrowby, PC, FSA (22 December 176226 December 1847) was a prominent British politician of the Pittite faction and the Tory party.


Background and early life.

Grenville was the eldest son of George Grenville, Prime Minister of Great Britain, and his wife, Elizabeth Wyndham, daughter of Sir William Wyndham, 3rd Baronet, and was born on 17 June 1753. He was the nephew of Richard Grenville-Temple, 2nd Earl Temple, and the elder brother of Thomas Grenville and of William Grenville, 1st Baron Grenville, also Prime Minister of Great Britain. In 1764, he was appointed a Teller of the Exchequer. He was educated at Eton College from 1764 to 1770 and matriculated at Christ Church, Oxford in 1770. He succeeded his father on 13 November 1770. In 1774 he undertook a Grand Tour through Italy and Austria. In 1775, he married the Hon. Mary Nugent, daughter of the 1st Viscount Clare (later the 1st Earl Nugent).

Political career.

Grenville was returned as Member of Parliament for Buckinghamshire at the 1774 general election. In the House of Commons he emerged as a sharp critic of the American policy of Lord North. In September 1779, he succeeded his uncle as Earl Temple and moved to the House of Lords.  Grenville also took the additional family names Nugent and Temple by Royal Warrant issued on 4 December making the compound family name Nugent-Temple-Grenville. In 1782, Lord Temple was appointed Lord Lieutenant of Buckinghamshire and in July 1782, he became a member of the Privy Council and Lord Lieutenant of Ireland in the Ministry of Lord Shelburne. He was instrumental in the enactment of the Renunciation Act of 1783, which supplemented the legislative independence granted to Ireland in 1782. As Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, and by Royal Warrant, he created the Order of St Patrick in February 1783, with himself as the first Grand Master. He left Ireland in 1783 and again turned his attention to English politics. He enjoyed the confidence of King George III, and having opposed Fox's East India Bill, he was authorised by the King to say that "whoever voted for the India Bill was not only not his friend, but would be considered by him as an enemy", a message which ensured the defeat of the Bill. He was appointed a Secretary of State when the younger Pitt (his father's sister's son) formed his ministry in December 1783, but resigned only three days later.  In December 1784, Lord Temple was created Marquess of Buckingham. In November 1787, he was again appointed Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, this time under Pitt, but his second tenure of this office proved less successful than the first. Grattan denounced him for extravagance; the Irish Houses of Parliament censured him for refusing to transmit to England an address calling upon the Prince of Wales to assume the regency; and he could only maintain his position by resorting to bribery on a large scale. When his father-in-law died in 1788, Lord Buckingham succeeded him as 2nd Earl Nugent. However, since he already held the higher rank of Marquess, he was never known by this title. Having become very unpopular, he resigned his office in September 1789.

Later years.

Lord Buckingham subsequently took very little part in politics, although he spoke in favour of the Act of Union of 1800. His wife died in 1812 and he died on 11 February 1813 at his residence, Stowe in Buckinghamshire. He was buried at his ancestral Wotton. He left two sons: The 1st Duke of Buckingham and Chandos and The 2nd Baron Nugent.

George Nugent-Temple-Grenville, 1st Marquess of Buckingham, (17 June 1753 – 11 February 1813; known as The 3rd Earl Temple between 1779 and 1784) was a British statesman.


Biography.

Rav Eybeschütz's father Nosson Nota was the rabbi in Ivančice (, sometimes "Eibeschutz"), Habsburg Moravia. Rav Eybeschütz was a child prodigy in Talmud; on his father's death, he studied in the yeshiva of Meir Eisenstadt in Prostějov (Prossnitz), and then later in Holešov (Holleschau). He also lived in Vienna for a short time. He married Elkele Spira, daughter of Rabbi Isaac Spira, and they lived in Hamburg for two years with Mordecai ha-Kohen, Elkele's maternal grandfather.  At the age of eighteen, Rav Eybeschütz was appointed rabbi of Mladá Boleslav, where he stayed for three years, afterward settling in Prague in 1700 and becoming head of the yeshivah and a famous preacher. The people of Prague held Rav Eybeschütz in high esteem and he was considered second there only to Dayan David Oppenheim.  In Prague, Rav Eybeschütz received permission to print the Talmud—but with the omission of all passages contradicting the principles of Christianity in consultation with Dayan David Oppenheim. Legends and rumors seeking to discredit the event said that he did this without the consultation of the Rabbis of Prague, and they revoked the printing license.  Already in Prague 1724, he was suspected of being a Sabbatean. He even got up on Yom Kippur to denounce the Sabbatean movement, but he remained suspected. Therefore, In 1736, Rav Eybeschutz was only appointed dayan of Prague and not chief rabbi. He became rabbi of Metz in 1741. In 1750, he was elected rabbi of the "Three Communities:" Altona, Hamburg, and Wandsbek.  He was "an acknowledged genius" in at least three separate areas of Jewish religious creativity: Talmud and Jewish law (halakhah); homiletics (derush) and popular preaching; and Kabbalah. "He was a man of erudition, but he owed his fame chiefly to his personality. Few men of the period so profoundly impressed their mark on Jewish life." His granddaughter was the Breslau poet and intellectual, born Esther Gad.

Sabbatian controversy.

Rav Eybeschütz again became suspected of harboring secret Sabbatean beliefs because of a dispute that arose concerning the amulets which he was suspected of issuing. It was alleged that these amulets recognized the Messianic claims of Sabbatai Zevi. The controversy started when Rav Yaakov Emden found serious connections between the Kabbalistic and homiletic writings of Rav Eybeschutz with those of the known Sabbatean Judah Leib Prossnitz, whom Rav Eybeschütz knew from his days in Prossnitz. Rabbi Jacob Emden accused him of heresy. The majority of the rabbis in Poland, Moravia, and Bohemia, as well as the leaders of the Three Communities supported Rav Eybeschütz: the accusation was "utterly incredible"—in 1725, Rav Eybeschütz was among the Prague rabbis who excommunicated the Sabbateans. Others suggest that the Rabbis issued this ruling because they feared the repercussions if their leading figure, Rav Eybeschütz, was found to be a Sabbatean. Recent evidence has produced the actual amulets and their alleged connection to Sabbatean amulets.  In 1752, the controversy between Rav Emden and Rav Eybeschütz raged. In December of that year, the Hamburg government banned any more discussion of the amulets, the Senate of Hamburg suspended Rav Eybeschütz, and many members of that congregation demanded that he should submit his case to rabbinical authorities. At this point he was defended by Carl Anton, a convert to Christianity, but a former disciple of Rav Eybeschütz.  The controversy was a momentous incident in Jewish history of the period—involving both Rav Yechezkel Landau and the Vilna Gaon—and may be credited with having crushed the lingering belief in Sabbatai current even in some Orthodox circles.  In 1760, the quarrel broke out once more when some Shabbatean elements were discovered among the students of Rav Eybeschütz' yeshivah. At the same time his younger son, Wolf Jonas Eybeschutz, presented himself as a Shabbatean prophet, and was close to several Frankists, with the result that the yeshivah was closed.  According to Jacob Katz, Rav Jonathan Eybeschütz's grandson was rumored to be Baron Thomas von Schoenfeld, an apostate Jew who inherited his grandfather's collection of Sabbatean kabbalistic works. He eventually left the Sabbatean movement and founded a Masonic lodge called the Asiatische Bruder, one of four Illuminati lodges in Vienna. After his uncle's death on August 10, 1791, he was offered the leadership of the Frankist movement which he refused. Katz disputes this claim however, saying that Baron Thomas von Schoenfeld was a member of the Dobruschka family of Brno and was in no way related, either by blood or marriage, to Rav Eybeschutz. According to Gershom Scholem, the ideology of the Asiatic Brethren mixed Kabbalistic and Sabbatean ideas jumbled together with Christian theosophic doctrines.  Some of Rav Eybeschutz's descendants are the Yiddish novelist and Holocaust survivor Chava Rosenfarb (1923–2011), Rav Chaim Kreiswirth of Antwerp, Belgium, and Rav Shmuel Wosner (1913–2015), a prominent Haredi rabbi and posek ('decisor of Jewish law') who lived in Bnei Brak, Israel.

Works.

Thirty of his works in the area of Halakha (Jewish law) have been published. In addition, several of his works on homiletics, teaching methodology, and Kabbalah are currently in print. Only one of his works was published in his lifetime. The posthumous printing of so many of his works is testimony to his influence on his contemporaries through his oral teachings and his personality.  Rabbi Eybeschutz also wrote "Luchoth Edut" (Tablets of Testimony), in which he describes the whole dispute and attempts to refute the charges against him. It includes also the letters of recommendation which he had received from leading rabbis who came to his defense. In January 2014, Maggid Books, a division of Koren Publishers Jerusalem published "Derash Yehonatan: Around the Year with Rav Yehonatan Eybeshitz" by Rabbi Shalom Hammer. This work is one of the first English translations of Rabbi Eybeshutz's writings.

Rav Jonathan (Yonoson יונתן) Eybeschütz (also Eibeschutz or Eibeschitz; 1690 in Kraków1764 in Altona), was a Talmudist, Halachist, Kabbalist, holding positions as Dayan of Prague, and later as Rabbi of the "Three Communities": Altona, Hamburg and Wandsbek. With Rav Jacob Emden, he is well known as a protagonist in the Emden–Eybeschütz Controversy.


Plot.

Patrick Sullivan is looking forward to a life with Sophia, until she calls into the radio show hosted by famed love expert Dr. Emma Lloyd. Emma questions Sophia’s concept of romantic love and advises her to break their engagement, which she swiftly does.  Patrick is so upset that when he hears that Emma is about to be married herself, he allows his young neighbour, Ajay, to hack into public records and create a fake marriage certificate between himself and Emma. Upon going to the public records office to get a marriage license, Emma and her perfect-gentleman fiancé, Richard, are told she is already married.  Emma sets out to find Patrick and give him annulment papers to sign so that she can marry Richard. Emma finds Patrick in a bar, and their initial meeting ends with her getting drunk. The following day, Patrick comes to Emma's workplace to give her the annulment papers as she is leaving for a wedding cake tasting. Patrick accompanies her to the tasting, where Frau Greta Bollenbecker assumes he is Emma's fiancé, Richard. Greta later comes to Emma's book launch because her husband Herr Karl Bollenbecker is planning to liquidate Richard's publishing house. Greta meets Emma during the banquet and tells her of the same. Patrick still has the annulment papers, so he comes to the book launch. Matters get worse when Richard sees Greta and Karl with Emma and Patrick, who is posing as Richard, but Richard agrees to go along with it when he learns that Greta thinks Patrick will charm Karl so much that Karl will decide to continue business with "Richard".  Patrick invites them all to Ajay's ceremony. Emma and the other guests have a good time there, and she sees a whole new side of Patrick, who had been repulsive to her so far. There is a slight spark of attraction, but Emma flees the scene before anything can happen.  Patrick decides to throw out everything related to Emma or Sophia, but instead reads Emma's book, "Real Love". He comes to confront her about the book because he thinks it only points out all the bad things in a relationship. Patrick and Emma continue their argument in an elevator. Suddenly Patrick falshes his New York Fire Department badge and asks the other occupants to leave the elevator. He then locks the elevator to kiss Emma. Security staff see them through a CCTV in the elevator and ask them to leave.  Emma finally has the signed and notarized annulment papers, but she considers calling off her wedding. She goes to Patrick’s lodgings and they make love that night. The following morning, Emma finds all the papers related to her and Sophia in the trash. Patrick then confesses that he had initially wanted to teach her a lesson about love but then fell for her. Emma then goes back to the honorable Richard, who still loves her and says that she wants to marry him.  One day before her wedding, Patrick calls her at the radio station and tells her that he loves her. She does not answer him. The next day on her wedding day, she confides in her father, Wilder, and asks for his advice. He tells her that the decision is hers. Richard comes to see Emma in the bridal chamber. Richard had also heard the radio show the night before and tells her that he wants her to be happy, and they amicably break up.  Emma sets off the church's fire sprinklers in an attempt to get Patrick to the church. Meanwhile, the fire department where Patrick works is called to the church to put out the fire. When Patrick arrives there, Emma and Patrick get married and leave in the fire truck. The final scene shifts to a year later where it is shown that Emma is pregnant and that she and Patrick are still very much in love. The movie ends with a Tamil song, "Swasame", from the movie "Thenali" in the background.

Soundtrack.

The film features several Indian songs, including A. R. Rahman's "Yaro Yarodi", "Swasamae" and "Rang De" (from the films "Alaipayuthey", "Thenali" and "Thakshak" respectively) as well as Panjabi Hit Squad's "Kuriyeh".

Release.

Theatrically, the film was released on February 29, 2008 in the UK and was scheduled to be released on August 22, 2008 in the United States. It was delayed to March 27, 2009 before being shelved indefinitely following the bankruptcy of its distributor, Yari Film Group's releasing division. It was released direct-to-DVD in the United States on November 10, 2009.

Reception.

Box office.

As of December 12, 2010, it made $22,707,064.

Critical Response.

On Rotten Tomatoes the film has an approval rating of 6% based on reviews from 17 critics. On Metacritic it has an approval rating of 14% based on reviews from 4 critics, indicating "overwhelming disklike".  Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian criticized the predictable plot and the actors lack of romantic chemistry. Jenny McCartney of The Telegraph was critical of the lack of chemistry "None of it works: the inexplicable alchemy between co-stars that can seduce the audience even in an indifferent rom-com doesn't arise between Thurman and Morgan."

The Accidental Husband is a 2008 American romantic comedy film directed by Griffin Dunne and starring Uma Thurman, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Colin Firth, Isabella Rossellini, and Sam Shepard. The film was written by Mimi Hare, Clare Naylor and Bonnie Sikowitz, and was produced by Jennifer Todd, Jason Blum, and Uma Thurman. It was theatrically released in the United Kingdom in 2008, but was released direct-to-DVD in the United States.


Etymology.

The name "winter melon" that is sometimes given to this plant is based on the Chinese name (); however, the character () can also mean “gourd” or “squash.” It is likely that the name “melon” is given because this gourd is sometimes candied or made into a sweet tea.

Cultivation.

It is grown in well-drained loam and sandy soils in warm, mild climates, and will not tolerate frosts. It is grown in riverbeds or furrows, and needs constant irrigation during the growing season.

Uses.

The wax gourd can be stored for many months, much like winter squash. Ash gourds of the Indian subcontinent have a white coating with a rough texture (hence the name ash gourd). Southeast Asian varieties have a smooth waxy texture. It is one of the few vegetables available during winter in areas of deciduous vegetation. In India, the wax gourd is recognized for its medicinal properties in the Ayurvedic system of medicine. It also has significance in spiritual traditions of India and Yoga, where it is identified as a great source of prana.  In Vietnamese cuisine, it is called "bí đao", and is usually used to make soup or stew. When cooked with pork short ribs, the resulting soup is traditionally thought to help produce more milk for breastfeeding mothers.  In Chinese cuisine, the gourds are used in stir fries or combined with pork or pork/beef bones to make winter gourd soup, often served in the scooped out gourd, carved by scraping off the waxy coating. It is also chopped and candied as wintermelon candy (táng dōng guā), commonly eaten at New Year festivals, or as filling for Sweetheart cake (lǎopó bǐng). It has also been used as the base filling in Chinese and Taiwanese mooncakes for the Moon Festival.  In the Philippines it is candied (referred to plainly as "kundol") and is used as a pastry filling for bakpia ("hopia" in the Philippines). It is also an ingredient in some savory soups (sabaw) and stir-fries (guisado).  In Indian cuisine it is traditionally used to prepare a wide variety of dishes. In northern India it is used to prepare a candy called "petha". In South Indian cuisine, it is traditionally used to make a variety of curries, including a stew made with a yogurt base. The juice of the raw ash gourd (Maipawl or Khar) is used by the Mizo community and indigenous Assamese ethnicities of North-East India as a natural remedy to treat mild to severe dysentery. In north India, particularly in the middle Himalayas, it is paired with pulses such as moong which, when crushed, along with winter gourd, make a dish locally called "bori". When dried in sunlight it becomes somewhat hard and is used in curry dishes and eaten with rice or chapati. This practice is especially prevalent in the Himalayas due to the long shelf life of the resulting product.  In Andhra Pradesh, it is called "boodidi gummidikaya" (Telugu language). It is used to make stews, stir fries and vadialu. Vadialu (plural; vadiam is singular) are made by chopping the gourd in small pieces and mixing with yogurt and spices, then sun-drying. To eat, vadialu are deep fried in oil and eaten as an accompaniment to rice and sambar or lentil stews.  In Kerala, the plant is called Kumbalam (കുമ്പളം) and the fruit is called Kumbalanga (കുമ്പളങ്ങ) or Kooshmandam (കൂശ്മാണ്ടം). It is traditionally used to offer 'Guruthi' (ഗുരുതി) instead of 'Kuruti' (കുരുതി) among Malayali Brahmins. Thus, instead of offering someone's life in the pier, an ash gourd is cut into two as a symbolic performance in lieu of human sacrifice.  In Udupi cuisine, the ash gourd is known as Budu Kumbda or Boldu Kumbda in the Tulu language, Budi Kumblakayi in Kannada is used to prepare dishes like Kodel (Sambhar), Ale bajji, Kashi Halwa and chutney. In Gujarat, is called kolu (કોળુ).  In Nepal, where it is called Kubhindo, it is cooked as a vegetable when young, but the ripe gourds are usually made into preserves or crystallized candy known as "murabba" or "petha".  Occasionally, it is used to produce a fruit drink with a distinctive taste. It is usually sweetened with caramelized sugar. In Southeast Asia, the drink is marketed as wax gourd tea or wax gourd punch.  The shoots, tendrils, and leaves of the plant may also be eaten as greens.

Benincasa hispida, the wax gourd, also called ash gourd, white gourd, winter gourd, tallow gourd, ash pumpkin, winter melon, Chinese preserving melon and (Alu) Puhul, is a vine grown for its very large fruit, eaten as a vegetable when mature.


Biography.

William was born at Liège (in present-day Belgium) of a noble family between 1075 and 1080 (or 1085), and died at Signy-l'Abbaye in 1148. He probably studied at the cathedral school in Reims, though some have argued it was at Laon, prior to his profession as a Benedictine monk. He became a monk with his brother Simon at the monastery of St. Nicaise, also in Reims, sometime after 1111. From here both eventually became abbots of other Benedictine abbeys: Simon at the abbey of Saint-Nicolas-au-Bois, in the Diocese of Laon, and William at Saint-Thierry, on a hill overlooking Reims, in 1119.  In 1118 William met St. Bernard, abbot of the Cistercian monastery of Clairvaux, where they formed an intimate friendship that lasted for life. His greatest desire was to move to Clairvaux and profess as a Cistercian, but Bernard disapproved of the plan and imposed on him the responsibility of remaining in charge of the abbey at St. Thierry as a Benedictine. Their friendship, however, grew stronger while Bernard lay in the infirmary of Clairvaux convalescing after an illness in 1125.  William was instrumental in the first General Chapter meeting of the Benedictine abbots in the Diocese of Reims, in 1131, and it is possible that he hosted the chapter meeting at Saint-Thierry. After the second General Chapter of the Benedictines, held at Soissons in 1132, where many Cistercian reforms were adopted by the Benedictines, William submitted his "Responsio abbatum" ("Response of the Abbots") to Cardinal Matthew — papal legate in the diocese and critic of the abbots' reforms — successfully defending their reformation efforts. On account of long infirmities and a lifelong desire for a life of contemplation, William resigned his abbacy in 1135 and entered the newly established Cistercian Signy Abbey, also in the diocese of Reims. He did not venture to retire to Clairvaux lest his friend Bernard refuse to accept his abdication. There he divided his free time between prayer, study, and writing. According to a contemporary, his death occurred in 1148, about the time of the council held at Reims under Pope Eugenius. The necrology of Signy dates it 8 September, a few years prior to his good friend Bernard's death in 1153.

Writings.

William wrote throughout all of his abbatial career as a Benedictine and his final years as a Cistercian monk. His earliest works reflect a monk seeking God continually and investigating the various and best ways of furthering the soul's ascent to God in spiritual union, William's ultimate goal. When read chronologically, one can discern the development and evolution of William's thought.  Toward the end of his career, having written extensively on spiritual life and especially on the moral interpretation of the biblical Song of Songs, William came across the writings of Peter Abelard, whose Trinitarian theology and especially Christology William found to be in error and dangerous to Christian faith. He wrote his own work against Abelard and alerted others about these concerns, urging St. Bernard to act. As a result, Abelard was condemned by the Council of Sens in 1140 or 1141. William wrote against what he saw as errors in the writings of William of Conches concerning Trinitarian theology and also against Rupert of Deutz on sacramental theology.  Besides his letters to St. Bernard and others, William wrote several works, some of which he himself enumerates, though somewhat incorrectly. In total, there were twenty two works by William (twenty one extant), all written in Latin between c. 1121 and 1148.  In approximate chronological order, these include:  Three of William's writings were widely read in the later Middle Ages. However, they were frequently attributed to Bernard of Clairvaux - a sign of their quality and also another reason for their continued popularity. Only in the early twentieth century did interest in William as a distinct writer begin to develop again and was his name correctly attached to all of his own writings.  William drew upon the existing and traditional monastic and theological authors of his day and significant authors of previous centuries, but not in a slavish way; rather he is creative and independent in his thought and exposition. His own commentaries show his remarkable insight while they also incorporate traditional authors such as Augustine of Hippo and Origen of Alexandria. Perhaps his most influential works are those dealing with the spiritual life of the contemplative monk. From his "On Contemplating God" to his "Golden Epistle", one can see a progressive evolution of William's thought and a maturing of William's spiritual insight and experience, while also noticing an improved, more polished writing style and organization. Some scholars also argue that although William drew on texts and authors in the past, his creativity and usage of spiritual terminology was also influential on many other authors from the 12th century onward.  The Latin texts of most of William's writings are contained in J.-P. Migne's "Patrologia Cursus Completus Series Latina" ("Patrologia Latina") volume 180, with other works also in volumes 184 and 185. All of his works are available in critical editions in the Corpus Christianorum Continuatio Medievalis series from Brepols in six volumes (86-89B). The bulk of William’s writings are available in English translation from Cistercian Publications (formerly located in Kalamazoo and now located at Collegeville, Minnesota, at St. John's University).

William of Saint-Thierry (French: "Guillaume de Saint-Thierry"; Latin: "Guillelmus S. Theodorici"; 1075/80/85–1148) was a twelfth-century French Benedictine abbot of Saint-Thierry, theologian and mystic who became a Cistercian monk and writer.


Plot.

Will Hayes works at an advertising agency in New York City and is in the midst of a divorce. After her first sex education class, his 10-year-old daughter Maya insists on hearing the story of how her parents met. Will gives in, but changes the names and some of the facts, leaving Maya to guess which of the women from his past would become her mother.  Will begins his “mystery love story” in 1992, when he moves away from Madison, Wisconsin and his college sweetheart, Emily, to work on the Clinton campaign in New York City. There, he meets April Hoffman, a fellow campaign staffer, and delivers a package from Emily to her college friend, Summer Hartley. The package is revealed to be Summer’s diary, which Will had read, learning she had a brief affair with Emily. Summer is dating her professor, Hampton Roth, but spontaneously kisses Will.  He tells April his plan to propose to Emily, and rehearses his proposal; April replies, “Definitely, maybe”. They go to her apartment, where Will notices her many copies of "Jane Eyre". She explains that her father gave her a copy with a personal inscription shortly before he died, but the book was later lost. She has spent years searching secondhand bookstores to find it, and collects any copy with an inscription. April and Will kiss, but he abruptly leaves. The next day, Emily arrives in New York City. Will tries to propose, but Emily confesses that she slept with his roommate, and urges him to move on and pursue his ambitions.  After Clinton is elected, Will opens a political consulting firm, and stays in close touch with April as she travels the world. He encounters Summer, now a journalist and single, and they begin a relationship. April returns from abroad, planning to tell Will that she loves him, but discovers he is planning to propose to Summer. Will learns that Summer has written an article that will ruin his candidate’s campaign. He asks her not to publish it, but she refuses, and Will ends their relationship. The article derails the campaign, losing Will his political career and friends.  Years later, April reaches out to Will, who has fallen into depression in his new job, while she has a new boyfriend named Kevin. She throws Will a birthday party, reuniting him with his old colleagues. He drunkenly confesses to April that he loves her, leading to an argument about the state of their lives. Passing a bookstore, he finds the inscribed copy of "Jane Eyre" April’s father gave her. He goes to April’s apartment to give her the book, but decides against it when he meets Kevin, who is living with her. Will runs into Summer, who invites him to a party where he reunites with Emily, who has moved to New York City.  In the present, Maya deduces that “Emily” is her mother, Sarah. Will assures Maya that she is the story’s happy ending, and he and Sarah finalize their divorce. Unpacking in his new apartment, he discovers April’s book. He brings it to her, apologizing for waiting so long, but she asks him to leave. At Maya’s urging, Will realizes he is miserable without April, and he and Maya go to April’s apartment. When she does not let them inside, Will and Maya walk away, but April runs after them. Will explains that he kept the book as the only thing he had left of her. April invites them in to tell her the story, and she and Will kiss.

Music.

The film was scored by English composer Clint Mansell. Lakeshore Records released the score on March 18, 2008. All Music Guide reviewer William Ruhlmann praised the album as filled with "sweet, melodic numbers that often seem to lack only a lyric to turn them into pop songs". He also stated that it functioned as "light accompaniment to an equally light entertainment".

Release.

In its opening weekend, the film cleared its production budget of $7 million by grossing $9.8 million in 2,204 theaters in the United States and Canada, ranking #5 at the box office. As of September 28, 2008, the film has grossed $55,447,968 worldwide.  The film was released on DVD June 24, 2008, with a widescreen transfer, deleted scenes, two short featurettes, and a commentary track by Reynolds and director Brooks.

Reception.

On Rotten Tomatoes the film has an approval rating of 70% based on reviews from 147 critics, with an average rating of 6.49/10. The site's consensus reads: "With a clever script and charismatic leads, "Definitely, Maybe" is a refreshing entry into the romantic comedy genre." On Metacritic the film has an average score of 59 out of 100 based on 33 reviews, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore gave the film a grade B+ on scale of A to F.  Dennis Harvey of "Variety magazine" called it "A pleasingly non-formulaic romantic seriocomedy, "Definitely, Maybe" has charm and some depth, even if it’s ultimately more a third-base hit than a home run." A.O. Scott of The New York Times called it "A nimble and winning little romance". Claudia Puig of USA Today gave it a positive reviwe and wrote: "It's generally enjoyable, amusing and more sophisticated than most films in this genre."  Stephen Farber The Hollywood Reporter gave a more mixed review, but praised the cast: "The film is far from a complete washout, and this is chiefly a tribute to its immensely attractive and appealing cast. Ryan Reynolds proves to have the stuff of a true leading. man."

Definitely, Maybe is a 2008 romantic comedy-drama film written and directed by Adam Brooks, and starring Ryan Reynolds, Isla Fisher, Rachel Weisz, Elizabeth Banks, Abigail Breslin, and Kevin Kline. Set in New York City during the 1990s, the film is about a political consultant who tries to help his eleven-year-old daughter understand his impending divorce by telling her the story of his past romantic relationships and how he ended up marrying her mother. The film grossed $55 million worldwide.


Description.

The landscape was painted from an elevated position to the southeast of Delft, possibly the upper floor of a house on the quayside across the river Schie. The artist is looking back to the city to the northwest, with the in the middle of the composition, and the and its barbican to the right, all reflected in the water of the harbour created in 1616–1620. Behind the Schiedam Gate is the long red-roofed arsenal (the Armamentarium).  It is a morning scene, with the sun to the east (viewer's right) illuminating the Protestant Nieuwe Kerk ("New Church", right of centre) before its bells were replaced in 1660. The New Church in Delft is the burial place of William the Silent and other members of the House of Orange-Nassau.  To the left is the tower the "De Papegaey" (Parrot) brewery (since demolished) and, to its left, the top of the tower of the Oude Kerk ("Old Church"). Some barges are drawn up on the quayside, with a few people passing by. The top half of the painting is dominated by a cloudy sky, with a dark cloud suggesting a rain shower has just passed.  It is believed that Vermeer created this painting using an optical device—possibly a camera obscura, or a telescope—to capture the detail.

Painting materials.

The technical analysis shows that Vermeer used a limited choice of pigments for this painting: calcite, lead white, yellow ochre, natural ultramarine and madder lake are the main painting materials. His painting technique, on the other hand, is very elaborate and meticulous.

Legacy.

The painting may have been bought by Pieter van Ruijven and inherited by his daughter Magdalena. It is known to have passed through the collection of her husband Jacob Dissius. It was auctioned in 1822, and bought for 2,900 guilders for the new Dutch Royal Cabinet of Paintings established at the Mauritshuis.  The painting features in Marcel Proust's novel "In Search of Lost Time", in the death scene of the writer Bergotte in "The Captive". Bergotte takes inspiration from Vermeer's technique: "That's how I ought to have written... My last books are too dry, I ought to have... made my language precious in itself, like this little patch of yellow wall." Proust himself greatly admired Vermeer, particularly this painting. When seeing the work for the first time, Proust is quoted as saying:  In 2011, the painting was featured on gold and silver commemorative coins issued by the Royal Dutch Mint.

View of Delft () is an oil painting by Johannes Vermeer, painted ca. 1660–1661. The painting of the Dutch artist's hometown is among his most popular, painted at a time when cityscapes were uncommon. It is one of three known paintings of Delft by Vermeer, along with "The Little Street" and the lost painting "House Standing in Delft". The use of pointillism in the work suggests that it postdates "The Little Street", and the absence of bells in the tower of the New Church dates it to 1660–1661. Vermeer's "View of Delft" has been held in the Dutch Royal Cabinet of Paintings at the Mauritshuis in The Hague since its establishment in 1822.


Location.

The site is on the hill of Epano Englianos, situated close to the road south of Chora and north of Pylos, at above sea level and in an area of by.

Excavations.

In 1912 and 1926 two tholos tombs north of the Bay of Navarino were excavated. One contained three decorated jars and the other a collection of Early Mycenaean and Middle Helladic pots.  A joint Hellenic-American expedition was formed with the Greek Archaeological Service and the University of Cincinnati and trial excavations of Epano Englianos were started on 4 April 1939. From the first day stone walls, fresco fragments, Mycenaean pottery and inscribed tablets were found.  During excavation in 1939 around 1,000 Linear B tablets were found. A systematic excavation was impossible throughout World War II and excavations resumed in 1952. From 1952 to 1966 the Palace was uncovered with areas around the acropolis being further explored. A breakthrough in translating them was achieved by Michael Ventris, an English architect in 1952 who found that it was an archaic form of Greek. The translation of such tablets in the following years showed that they consisted of part of the royal archive.

The Griffin Warrior Tomb.

In 2015 the University of Cincinnati uncovered an extraordinarily rich find not far from the palace. This undisturbed burial of a Mycenaean warrior, called the "griffin warrior" by the team, yielded gold rings, bronze weapons, and many other artifacts. The iconography of the artifacts displays a mixture of Minoan and Mycenaean culture.

Tablets.

The Linear B clay tablets confirm that the palace served as the administrative, political and financial centre of Mycenaean Messenia.

The Palace of Nestor (Modern Greek: Ανάκτορο του Νέστορα ; Ἀνάκτορον Νέστορος ) was an important centre in Mycenaean times, and described in Homer's Odyssey and Iliad as Nestor's kingdom of "sandy Pylos".


Background.

RDA emerged from the International Conference on the Principles & Future Development of AACR held in Toronto in 1997. It is published jointly by the American Library Association, the Canadian Federation of Library Associations, and the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals (CILIP) in the United Kingdom. Maintenance of RDA is the responsibility of the RDA Steering Committee (RSC). As of 2015, RSC is undergoing a transition to an international governance structure, expected to be in place in 2019.  RDA instructions and guidelines are available through RDA Toolkit, an online subscription service, and in a print format.  RDA training materials and texts are available online and in print.

Features.

RDA is a package of data elements, guidelines, and instructions for creating library and cultural heritage resource metadata that are well-formed according to international models for user-focused linked data applications. The underlying conceptual models for RDA are the Functional Requirements for Bibliographic Records (FRBR), Functional Requirements for Authority Data (FRAD), and Functional Requirements for Subject Authority Data (FRSAD) maintained by IFLA, and will be compliant with the Library Reference Model, the IFLA standard that consolidates them.

RDA Vocabularies.

RDA Vocabularies is a representation of the RDA entities, elements, relationship designators, and controlled terms in RDF (Resource Description Framework). The Vocabularies are intended to support linked data applications using RDA. They are maintained in the Open Metadata Registry, a metadata registry, and released via GitHub and the RDA Registry.  The human-readable labels, definitions, and other textual annotations in the Vocabularies are known as RDA Reference. The RDA Reference data are used in the production of RDA Toolkit content.  The RDA Vocabularies and RDA Reference are available under an open license.

Internationalization.

RDA is in step with the Statement of International Cataloguing Principles published by IFLA in 2009, and updated in 2016.  The Committee of Principals for RDA, now the RDA Board, announced its commitment to internationalization of RDA in 2015. This is reflected in the new governance structure with representation based on the United Nations Regional Groups, comprising, Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean, North America, and Oceania.  As of May 2017, the RDA Toolkit has been translated from English into Catalan, Chinese, Finnish, French, German, Italian, and Spanish. RDA Reference is currently being translated into these languages as well as others including Arabic, Danish, Dutch, Greek, Hebrew, Swedish, and Vietnamese.

Adoption of RDA.

In March 2012 the Library of Congress announced that it would fully implement RDA cataloging by the end of March 2013. Library and Archives Canada fully implemented the standard in September 2013. British Library, National Library of Australia, and Deutsche Nationalbibliothek and other national libraries have since implemented RDA.

Opposition.

In the United States, the cataloguing community expressed reservations about the new standard in regard to both the business case for RDA in a depressed economy and the value of the standard's stated goals. Michael Gorman, one of the authors of AACR2, was particularly vocal in expression of his opposition to the new guidelines, claiming that RDA was poorly written and organized, and that the plan for RDA unnecessarily abandoned established cataloging practices. Others felt that RDA was too rooted in past practices and therefore was not a vision for the future. In response to these concerns, the three United States national libraries (Library of Congress, National Library of Medicine, and the National Agricultural Library) organized a nationwide test of the new standard.  On 13 June 2011, the Library of Congress, the National Agricultural Library, and the National Library of Medicine released the results of their testing. The test found that RDA to some degree met most of the goals that the JSC put forth for the new code and failed to meet a few of those goals. The Coordinating Committee admitted that they "wrestled with articulating a business case for implementing RDA", nevertheless the report recommended that RDA be adopted by the three national libraries, contingent on several improvements being made. The earliest possible date for implementation was given as January 2013, as the consensus emerging from the analysis of the test data showed that while there were discernible benefits to implementing RDA, these benefits would not be realized without further changes to current cataloging practices, including developing a successor to the MARC format.  Several other institutions were involved in the RDA test. Many of these institutions documented their findings in a special issue of "Cataloging & Classification Quarterly".

Resource Description and Access (RDA) is a standard for descriptive cataloging initially released in June 2010, providing instructions and guidelines on formulating bibliographic data. Intended for use by libraries and other cultural organizations such as museums and archives, RDA is the successor to "Anglo-American Cataloguing Rules, Second Edition" (AACR2).


Biography.

Francis Darwin was born in Down House, Downe, Kent in 1848. He was the third son and seventh child of Charles Darwin and his wife Emma Wedgwood. He was educated at Clapham Grammar School.  He then went to Trinity College, Cambridge, first studying mathematics, then changing to natural sciences, graduating in 1870. He then went to study medicine at St George's Medical School, London, earning an MB in 1875, but did not practise medicine.  Darwin was married three times and widowed twice. First he married Amy Richenda Ruck in 1874, but she died in 1876 four days after the birth of their son Bernard Darwin, who was later to become a golf writer. In September 1883 he married Ellen Wordsworth Crofts (1856 - 1903) and they had a daughter Frances Crofts Darwin (1886–1960), a poet who married the poet Francis Cornford and became known under her married name. His third wife was Florence Henrietta Fisher, daughter of Herbert William Fisher and widow of Frederic William Maitland, whom he married in 1913, the year in which he was knighted. Her sister Adeline Fisher was the first wife of Darwin's double first cousin once removed Ralph Vaughan Williams.  Francis Darwin worked with his father on experiments dealing with plant movements, specifically phototropism and they co-authored "The Power of Movement in Plants" (1880). Their experiments showed that the coleoptile of a young grass seedling directs its growth toward the light by comparing the responses of seedlings with covered and uncovered coleoptiles. These observations would later lead to the discovery of auxin.  Darwin was nominated by his father to the Linnean Society of London in 1875, and was elected as a Fellow of the Society on 2 December 1875. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society on 8 June 1882, the same year in which his father died. Darwin edited "The Autobiography of Charles Darwin" (1887), and produced some books of letters from the correspondence of Charles Darwin; "The Life and Letters of Charles Darwin" (1887) and "More Letters of Charles Darwin" (1905). He also edited Thomas Huxley's "On the Reception of the Origin of Species" (1887).  Cambridge University awarded him an honorary doctorate (DSc) in 1909. He also received honorary doctorates from Dublin, Liverpool, Sheffield, Brussels, St Andrews, Upsala, and Prague. He was knighted in 1913.  He is buried in Cambridge. His daughter, Frances Cornford, was later buried with him.

Family.

His first wife, Amy Ruck, died in 1876, a few days after the birth of her son Bernard, and was buried in Holy Trinity Church, Corris, North Wales. According to a letter written by Charles Darwin to his close friend, Joseph Dalton Hooker: " I never saw anyone suffer so much as poor Frank. He has gone to N. Wales to bury the body in a little church-yard amongst the mountains".  He married his second wife, Ellen Wordsworth Crofts, in 1883. She was a Fellow and lecturer at Newnham College. She was a member of the Ladies Dining Society in Cambridge, together with 11 other members. She died in 1903, and is buried in the churchyard of St. Andrew's Church, Girton.  In 1913, he married his third wife, Lady Florence Henrietta Fisher, the widow of Frederic William Maitland. She died in 1920 and is interred in the Parish of the Ascension Burial Ground, Cambridge, opposite the grave of Sir Francis Darwin and his daughter Frances Cornford.

Sir Francis "Frank" Darwin (16 August 1848 – 19 September 1925) was a British botanist. He was a son of the naturalist and scientist Charles Darwin, and brother of George Howard Darwin, Horace Darwin, and Leonard Darwin.