In the Bible.

In the Book of Judges, it is stated that Deborah was a prophet, a judge of Israel and the wife of Lapidoth. She rendered her judgments beneath a date palm tree between Ramah in Benjamin and Bethel in the land of Ephraim.  The people of Israel had been oppressed by Jabin, the king of Canaan, whose capital was Hazor, for twenty years. Stirred by the wretched condition of Israel she sends a message to Barak, the son of Abinoam, at Kedesh of Naphtali, and tells him that the Lord God had commanded him to muster ten thousand troops of Naphtali and Zebulun and concentrate them upon Mount Tabor, the mountain at the northern angle of the great plain of Esdraelon. At the same time she states that the Lord God of Israel will draw Sisera, commander of Jabin's army, to the River Kishon. Barak declines to go without the prophet. Deborah consents, but declares that the glory of the victory will therefore belong to a woman. As soon as the news of the rebellion reaches Sisera he collects nine hundred chariots of iron and a host of people.  Then Deborah said, according to :  As Deborah prophesied, a battle is fought (led by Barak), and Sisera is completely defeated. He himself escapes on foot, while his army is pursued as far as Harosheth of the Gentiles and destroyed. Sisera comes to the tent of Jael; and he lies down to rest. He asks for a drink; she gives him milk; and while he is asleep she hammers a tent-pin through his temple.  The Biblical account of Deborah ends with the statement that after the battle, there was peace in the land for 40 years ().

The Song of Deborah.

The Song of Deborah is found in Judges 5:2–31 and is a victory hymn, sung by Deborah and Barak, about the defeat of Canaanite adversaries by some of the tribes of Israel. Biblical scholars generally identified the Song as one of the oldest parts of the Bible, dating somewhere in the 12th century BC, based on its grammar and context. However, some critics have recently argued that the song's language and content indicate that it was written no earlier than the 7th century BC. The song itself differs slightly from the events described in Judges 4. The song mentions six participating tribes (Ephraim, Benjamin, Machir, Zebulun, Issachar, and Naphtali) as opposed to the two tribes in Judges 4:6 (Naphtali and Zebulun) and does not mention the role of Jabin.  Though it is not uncommon to read a victory hymn in the Hebrew Bible, the Song of Deborah stands out as unique in that it is a hymn that celebrates a military victory helped by two women: Deborah and Jael. Michael Coogan writes that Jael being a woman "is a further sign that Yahweh ultimately is responsible for the victory: the mighty Canaanite general Sisera will be'sold' by the Lord 'into the hand of a woman (Judges 4:9).

Traditional chronology.

Traditional Jewish chronology places Deborah's 40 years of judging Israel () from 1107 BC until her death in 1067 BC. The "Dictionary of World Biography: The Ancient World" claims that she might have lived in the period between 1200 BC to 1124 BC. Based on archaeological findings, different biblical scholars have argued that Deborah's war with Sisera best fits the context of either the second half of the 12th century BC or the second half of the 11th century BC.

According to the Book of Judges, Deborah (, "Dəḇōrāh", "bee";, "Dabūrāh") was a prophetess of the God of the Israelites, the fourth Judge of pre-monarchic Israel and the only female judge mentioned in the Bible, and the wife of Lapidoth. Deborah told Barak that God commanded him to lead an attack against the forces of Jabin king of Canaan and his military commander Sisera (Judges 4:6–7); the entire narrative is recounted in chapter 4.


Natalia Alexeievna (Wilhelmina Louisa of Hesse-Darmstadt)

Life.

Early years.

Born in Prenzlau, Uckermark, Brandenburg, Prussia as the sixth child and fourth daughter of the nine children born from the Landgravial couple, Wilhelmina Louisa Augusta of Hesse-Darmstadt was brought up under the strict supervision of her mother, nicknamed "The Great Landgräfin", famed as one of the most learned women of her time and who befriended several writers and philosophers of her time, such as Goethe, Herder and other celebrities of that time. Already in her youth, Wilhelmina was distinguished by an outstanding mind, strong character and ardent temperament.

Journey to Russia and Marriage.

In 1772, Tsarevich Pavel Petrovich of Russia was 18-years-old, and his mother, Empress Catherine II, began the search for a bride for him. After a long search, two candidates remained: Sophia Dorothea of Württemberg and Wilhelmina. But Sophia Dorothea was just 13-years-old, and Catherine II urgently needed an heir, so the Empress was forced to opt for one of the remaining three unmarried daughters of the Landgrave; however, this option did not please her. In a letter to her envoy, she wrote:  King Frederick II of Prussia — to whom Catherine turned for "recommendations" in this matter — wanted the marriage, moreover because the Landgrave's eldest daughter Frederica was married to the heir of the Prussian throne and so, an alliance between Prussia and Russia would be a beneficial outcome.  In October 1772, Catherine wrote to Nikita Ivanovich Panin:  Unable to decide which one was worthy, the Empress sent an invitation to Wilhelmina, her sisters and their mother to visit Russia. The three Princesses studied to perfect their French, worked on their dancing, practiced dropping deep curtseys, and completed their wardrobes. Their first stop was in Berlin where from there a flotilla of four ships, sent by Catherine, which took them to Russia. It was the Grand Duke Paul's best friend, young Andrei Razumovsky, who commanded the frigate that carried the young ladies and their mother. He was immediately captivated by these charming passengers, and was particularly taken with Wilhelmine. She was not insensible to the admiration of Andrei.  The meeting of the Tsarevich with the Hessian princesses occurred in Gatchina on 15 June 1773. Paul chose Wilhelmina; she was very pretty, gay and exuberant, and the heir of the Russian throne was very delighted with her. Catherine wrote:  On 27 June 1773 the Landgravine of Hesse-Darmstadt and her three daughters were awarded with the Order of Saint Catherine. Almost one month later, on 15 August, Princess Wilhelmina was accepted in the Orthodox faith with the name and title of Grand Duchess Natalia Alexeievna, and the next day her betrothal with the Tsarevich Paul took place amidst great ostentation.

Tsarevna.

On 29 September 1773, the wedding between Tsarevich Paul Petrovich and Natalia Alexeievna took place in the Church of the Nativity of the Most Holy Theotokos (currently Kazan Cathedral). Very soon she showed her domineering and impetuous nature: the English envoy James Harris, 1st Earl of Malmesbury noted that she "ruled her husband despotically, without even giving herself the trouble to show the least attachment to him."  During the first few months of her marriage, Natalia's gaiety and spontaneity animated the whole court. The Empress was delighted with her initially, but as time passed difficulties started to appear. The new Tsarevna's union was a failure: although Paul Petrovich loved his wife, Natalia was disappointed with her life as a married woman; for this, she began several political intrigues against Catherine II in order to help her husband to take the throne, because she felt such a need to accede to power due to her disastrous conjugal life. In addition, the Tsarevna refused to learn Russian and, being raised in modern Europe, showed certain independence in her statements, adhering to liberal ideas and even occasionally advocated the liberation of the peasants. Catherine II clearly didn't like her daughter-in-law's behavior. She wrote:  Despite the fact that the Tsarevna wasn't in love with her husband, she used her influence over him and tried to keep him away from everyone except for a narrow circle of her friends. According to contemporaries, the Tsarevna was a serious and ambitious woman, with a proud heart and a cool temper. In addition, she had been married for two years, but there was still no heir, to the concern of the court and the Empress.  However, in early 1776 the long-awaited pregnancy of the Tsarevna was officially announced to the court. Rumours of her affair with the charming Andrei Razumovsky aroused doubts about the real paternity of the child; however, for Catherine II didn't seem to care if was her son's or Andrei's. Natalia was carrying the heir to the Russian throne, and for the Empress, that was all that mattered.

Death.

On 10 April 1776 around 4 a.m., the Tsarevna began the first labour pains. The contractions lasted for several days, and despite this, the baby couldn't be born naturally. The child died in the womb and infected the mother's body.  After five days of torment at 5 a.m. on 15 April, Tsarevna Natalia Alekseevna finally died after giving birth to a stillborn son.  The Chevalier de Corberon questioned the surgeon Moreau during a dinner, and he wrote, <nowiki>"</nowiki>"He [Moreau] told me privately that in his opinion, the surgeons and doctors of the court were asses. The Grand Duchess should never have died. In truth, it is very surprising that greater care is not taken in advance with a Grand Duchess. The people are very angry, weeping and bitter. Yesterday and today, people in shops were heard to say, 'The young ladies die; the old babas never die.'"<nowiki>"</nowiki> 'Old babas' (old women) was an allusion to Empress Catherine II.

Natalia Alexeievna, Tsarevna of Russia (25 June 1755 – 26 April 1776) was the first wife of Paul Petrovich, Tsarevich of Russia (future Emperor Paul I), son of the Empress Catherine II. She was born as Princess Wilhelmina Louisa of Hesse-Darmstadt as the fifth child of Louis IX, Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt and his spouse Countess Palatine Caroline of Zweibrücken.


Life and career.

Life in Europe.

Landowska was born in Warsaw to Jewish parents. Her father was a lawyer, and her mother a linguist who translated Mark Twain into Polish. She began playing piano at the age of four, and studied at the Warsaw Conservatory with the senior Jan Kleczyński and Aleksander Michałowski. She was considered a child prodigy. She studied composition and counterpoint under Heinrich Urban in Berlin, and had lessons in Paris with Moritz Moszkowski. She began her performing career in Paris, where her recitals in that city and other European cities garnered praise from critics. She was interested in the music of J.S. Bach, whose works for harpsichord were included in her recitals by 1903, earning praise from Albert Schweitzer.  She became very interested in harpsichord, to the point that she decided to devote her career to harpsichord rather than piano, against the wishes of her friends, who thought she had a promising future as a pianist. In 1908–09, she toured Russia with a Pleyel harpsichord, similar to the 1889 model that the firm displayed at the Paris Exposition. After eloping with and marrying Polish folklorist and ethnomusicologist Henry Lew in 1900 in Paris, she taught piano at the Schola Cantorum there (1900–1912).  She later taught harpsichord at the Berlin Hochschule für Musik (1912–1919). When World War I started in 1914, she was interned on the grounds that she was a foreign national. After WWI ended, her husband died in a car accident. She had her American debut in 1923, touring major cities with four Pleyel Grand Modele de Concert harpsichords, which were huge seven-and-a-half foot long instruments with foot pedal-controlled registers. These were large, heavily built harpsichords with a 16-foot stop (a set of strings an octave below normal pitch) and owed much to piano construction. Deeply interested in musicology, and particularly in the works of Bach, Couperin and Rameau, she toured the museums of Europe looking at original keyboard instruments; she acquired old instruments and had new ones made at her request by Pleyel and Company. Responding to criticism by fellow Bach specialist Pablo Casals, she once said: "You play Bach your way, and I'll play him 'his' way." A number of important new works were written for her: Manuel de Falla's "El retablo de maese Pedro" ("Master Peter's Puppet Show") marked the return of the harpsichord to the modern orchestra. Falla later wrote a harpsichord concerto for her, and Francis Poulenc composed his "Concert champêtre" for her. She taught at the Curtis Institute of Music from 1925 until 1928. She established the École de Musique Ancienne at Paris in 1925: from 1927, her home in Saint-Leu-la-Forêt became a center for the performance and study of old music. During this time Landowska frequented the salon of open lesbian Natalie Clifford Barney, to both socialize and perform.

Life in America.

When the German Army invaded France, Landowska fled with her student and domestic partner Denise Restout. After leaving Saint-Leu in 1940, sojourning in Banyuls-sur-Mer, a commune in southern France, where her friend, sculptor Aristide Maillol was living, they sailed from Lisbon to the United States. Believing the Nazi threat to be temporary she had left with only two suitcases. She arrived in New York on 7 December 1941, the date of the bombing of Pearl Harbor. Her home in Saint-Leu was looted, and her instruments and manuscripts were stolen, so she arrived in the United States essentially with no assets.  Her 1942 performance of Bach's "Goldberg Variations" at New York's Town Hall was the first occasion in the 20th century where the piece was played on the harpsichord, the instrument for which it had been written.  She settled in Lakeville, Connecticut in 1949, and re-established herself as a performer and teacher in the United States, touring extensively. Her last public performance was in 1954. Her partner, Denise Restout, was editor and translator of her writings on music, including "Musique ancienne", and "Landowska on Music", published posthumously in 1964. Landowska recorded extensively for the Victor Talking Machine Company/RCA Victor and The Gramophone Company/EMI.

Wanda Aleksandra Landowska (5 July 1879 – 16 August 1959) was a Polish harpsichordist whose performances, teaching, recordings, and writings played a large role in reviving the popularity of the harpsichord in the early 20th century. She was the first person to record Johann Sebastian Bach's "Goldberg Variations" on the harpsichord (1933). She became a naturalized French citizen in 1938.


Physiology.

The name mineralocorticoid derives from early observations that these hormones were involved in the retention of sodium, a mineral. The primary endogenous mineralocorticoid is aldosterone, although a number of other endogenous hormones (including progesterone and deoxycorticosterone) have mineralocorticoid function.  Aldosterone acts on the kidneys to provide active reabsorption of sodium and an associated passive reabsorption of water, as well as the active secretion of potassium in the principal cells of the cortical collecting tubule and active secretion of protons via proton ATPases in the lumenal membrane of the intercalated cells of the collecting tubule. This in turn results in an increase of blood pressure and blood volume.  Aldosterone is produced in the zona glomerulosa of the cortex of the adrenal gland and its secretion is mediated principally by angiotensin II but also by adrenocorticotrophic hormone (ACTH) and local potassium levels.

Mode of action.

The effects of mineralocorticoids are mediated by slow genomic mechanisms through nuclear receptors as well as by fast nongenomic mechanisms through membrane-associated receptors and signaling cascades.

Genomic mechanisms.

Mineralocorticoids bind to the mineralocorticoid receptor in the cell cytosol, and are able to freely cross the lipid bilayer of the cell. This type of receptor becomes activated upon ligand binding. After a hormone binds to the corresponding receptor, the newly formed receptor-ligand complex translocates into the cell nucleus, where it binds to many hormone response elements (HREs) in the promoter region of the target genes in the DNA.  The opposite mechanism is called transrepression. The hormone receptor without ligand binding interacts with heat shock proteins and prevents the transcription of targeted genes.  Aldosterone and cortisol (a glucosteroid) have similar affinity for the mineralocorticoid receptor; however, glucocorticoids circulate at roughly 100 times the level of mineralocorticoids. An enzyme exists in mineralocorticoid target tissues to prevent overstimulation by glucocorticoids. This enzyme, 11-beta hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type II (), catalyzes the deactivation of glucocorticoids to 11-dehydro metabolites. Licorice is known to be an inhibitor of this enzyme and chronic consumption can result in a condition known as pseudohyperaldosteronism.

Pathophysiology.

Hyperaldosteronism (the syndrome caused by elevated aldosterone) is commonly caused by either idiopathic adrenal hyperplasia or by an adrenal adenoma. The two main resulting problems:  Hypoaldosteronism (the syndrome caused by underproduction of aldosterone) leads to the salt-wasting state associated with Addison's disease, although classical congenital adrenal hyperplasia and other disease states may also cause this situation. Acute underproduction (hemorrhagic adrenalitis) is often lifethreatening.

Pharmacology.

An example of a synthetic mineralocorticoid is fludrocortisone (Florinef).  Important antimineralocorticoids are spironolactone and eplerenone.

Mineralocorticoids are a class of corticosteroids, which in turn are a class of steroid hormones. Mineralocorticoids are produced in the adrenal cortex and influence salt and water balances (electrolyte balance and fluid balance). The primary mineralocorticoid is aldosterone.


Medical uses.

Synthetic pharmaceutical drugs with corticosteroid-like effects are used in a variety of conditions, ranging from brain tumors to skin diseases. Dexamethasone and its derivatives are almost pure glucocorticoids, while prednisone and its derivatives have some mineralocorticoid action in addition to the glucocorticoid effect. Fludrocortisone (Florinef) is a synthetic mineralocorticoid. Hydrocortisone (cortisol) is typically used for replacement therapy, "e.g." for adrenal insufficiency and congenital adrenal hyperplasia.  Medical conditions treated with systemic corticosteroids: Topical formulations are also available for the skin, eyes (uveitis), lungs (asthma), nose (rhinitis), and bowels. Corticosteroids are also used supportively to prevent nausea, often in combination with 5-HT3 antagonists ("e.g." ondansetron).  Typical undesired effects of glucocorticoids present quite uniformly as drug-induced Cushing's syndrome. Typical mineralocorticoid side-effects are hypertension (abnormally high blood pressure), steroid induced diabetes mellitus, psychosis, poor sleep, hypokalemia (low potassium levels in the blood), hypernatremia (high sodium levels in the blood) without causing peripheral edema, metabolic alkalosis and connective tissue weakness. Wound healing or ulcer formation may be inhibited by the immunosuppressive effects.  Clinical and experimental evidence indicates that corticosteroids can cause permanent eye damage by inducing central serous retinopathy (CSR, also known as central serous chorioretinopathy, CSC). This should be borne in mind when treating patients with optic neuritis. There is experimental and clinical evidence that, at least in optic neuritis speed of treatment initiation is important.  A variety of steroid medications, from anti-allergy nasal sprays (Nasonex, Flonase) to topical skin creams, to eye drops (Tobradex), to prednisone have been implicated in the development of CSR.  Corticosteroids have been widely used in treating people with traumatic brain injury. A systematic review identified 20 randomised controlled trials and included 12,303 participants, then compared patients who received corticosteroids with patients who received no treatment. The authors recommended people with traumatic head injury should not be routinely treated with corticosteroids.

Pharmacogenetics.

Asthma.

Patients' response to inhaled corticosteroids has some basis in genetic variations. Two genes of interest are CHRH1 (corticotropin-releasing hormone receptor 1) and TBX21 (transcription factor T-bet). Both genes display some degree of polymorphic variation in humans, which may explain how some patients respond better to inhaled corticosteroid therapy than others. However, not all asthma patients respond to corticosteroids and large sub groups of asthma patients are corticosteroid resistant.

Adverse effects.

Use of corticosteroids has numerous side-effects, some of which may be severe:

Biosynthesis.

The corticosteroids are synthesized from cholesterol within the adrenal cortex. Most steroidogenic reactions are catalysed by enzymes of the cytochrome P450 family. They are located within the mitochondria and require adrenodoxin as a cofactor (except 21-hydroxylase and 17α-hydroxylase).  Aldosterone and corticosterone share the first part of their biosynthetic pathway. The last part is mediated either by the aldosterone synthase (for aldosterone) or by the 11β-hydroxylase (for corticosterone). These enzymes are nearly identical (they share 11β-hydroxylation and 18-hydroxylation functions), but aldosterone synthase is also able to perform an 18-oxidation. Moreover, aldosterone synthase is found within the zona glomerulosa at the outer edge of the adrenal cortex; 11β-hydroxylase is found in the zona fasciculata and zona glomerulosa.

Classification.

By chemical structure.

In general, corticosteroids are grouped into four classes, based on chemical structure. Allergic reactions to one member of a class typically indicate an intolerance of all members of the class. This is known as the "Coopman classification". The highlighted steroids are often used in the screening of allergies to topical steroids.

Group A – Hydrocortisone type.

Hydrocortisone, Hydrocortisone acetate, Cortisone acetate, tixocortol pivalate, prednisolone, methylprednisolone, prednisone

Group B – Acetonides (and related substances).

Amcinonide, budesonide, desonide, fluocinolone acetonide, fluocinonide, halcinonide, and triamcinolone acetonide.

Group C – Betamethasone type.

Beclometasone, betamethasone, dexamethasone, fluocortolone, halometasone, and mometasone.

Group D – Esters.

Group D – Halogenated (less labile).

Alclometasone dipropionate, betamethasone dipropionate, betamethasone valerate, clobetasol propionate, clobetasone butyrate, fluprednidene acetate, and mometasone furoate.

Group D – Labile prodrug esters.

Ciclesonide, cortisone acetate, hydrocortisone aceponate, hydrocortisone acetate, hydrocortisone buteprate, hydrocortisone butyrate, hydrocortisone valerate, prednicarbate, and tixocortol pivalate.

By route of administration.

Topical steroids.

For use topically on the skin, eye, and mucous membranes.  Topical corticosteroids are divided in potency classes I to IV in most countries (A to D in Japan). Seven categories are used in the United States to determine the level of potency of any given topical corticosteroid.

Inhaled steroids.

For nasal mucosa, sinuses, bronchi, and lungs. This group includes:  There also exist certain combination preparations such as Advair Diskus in the United States, containing fluticasone propionate and salmeterol (a long-acting bronchodilator), and Symbicort, containing budesonide and formoterol fumarate dihydrate (another long-acting bronchodilator). They are both approved for use in children over 12 years old.

Oral forms.

Such as prednisone, prednisolone, methylprednisolone, or dexamethasone.

Systemic forms.

Available in injectables for intravenous and parenteral routes.

History.

Tadeusz Reichstein, Edward Calvin Kendall. and Philip Showalter Hench were awarded the Nobel Prize for Physiology and Medicine in 1950 for their work on hormones of the adrenal cortex, which culminated in the isolation of cortisone.  Initially hailed as a miracle cure and liberally prescribed during the 1950s, steroid treatment brought about adverse events of such a magnitude that the next major category of anti-inflammatory drugs, the nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), was so named in order to demarcate from the opprobrium. Corticosteroids were voted Allergen of the Year in 2005 by the American Contact Dermatitis Society.  Lewis Sarett of Merck & Co. was the first to synthesize cortisone, using a 36-step process that started with deoxycholic acid, which was extracted from ox bile. The low efficiency of converting deoxycholic acid into cortisone led to a cost of US$200 per gram. Russell Marker, at Syntex, discovered a much cheaper and more convenient starting material, diosgenin from wild Mexican yams. His conversion of diosgenin into progesterone by a four-step process now known as Marker degradation was an important step in mass production of all steroidal hormones, including cortisone and chemicals used in hormonal contraception.  In 1952, D.H. Peterson and H.C. Murray of Upjohn developed a process that used Rhizopus mold to oxidize progesterone into a compound that was readily converted to cortisone. The ability to cheaply synthesize large quantities of cortisone from the diosgenin in yams resulted in a rapid drop in price to US$6 per gram, falling to $0.46 per gram by 1980. Percy Julian's research also aided progress in the field. The exact nature of cortisone's anti-inflammatory action remained a mystery for years after, however, until the leukocyte adhesion cascade and the role of phospholipase A2 in the production of prostaglandins and leukotrienes was fully understood in the early 1980s.

Etymology.

The "cortico-" part of the name refers to the adrenal cortex, which makes these steroid hormones. Thus a corticosteroid is a "cortex steroid".

Corticosteroids are a class of steroid hormones that are produced in the adrenal cortex of vertebrates, as well as the synthetic analogues of these hormones. Two main classes of corticosteroids, glucocorticoids and mineralocorticoids, are involved in a wide range of physiological processes, including stress response, immune response, and regulation of inflammation, carbohydrate metabolism, protein catabolism, blood electrolyte levels, and behavior.


Biography.

Sechter was born in Friedberg (Frymburk), Bohemia, then part of the Austrian Empire, and moved to Vienna in 1804, succeeding Jan Václav Voříšek as court organist there in 1824. In 1810 he began teaching piano and voice at an academy for blind students. In 1828 the ailing Franz Schubert had one counterpoint lesson with him. In 1851 Sechter was appointed professor of composition at the Vienna Conservatory. He died in poverty. He was succeeded at the Conservatory by Anton Bruckner, a former student whose teaching methods were based on Sechter's.

Teaching methods.

Others whom Sechter taught include Henri Vieuxtemps, Franz Lachner, Eduard Marxsen (who taught Johannes Brahms piano and counterpoint), Johann Nepomuk Fuchs, Gustav Nottebohm, Anton Door, Karl Umlauf, Béla Kéler and Sigismond Thalberg, Adolf von Henselt, Anton de Kontski, Kornelije Stanković and Theodor Döhler.  Sechter had strict teaching methods. For instance, he forbade Bruckner to write any original compositions while studying counterpoint with him. The scholar Robert Simpson believes that "Sechter unknowingly brought about Bruckner's originality by insisting that it be suppressed until it could no longer be contained." Sechter taught Bruckner by mail from 1855 to 1861 and considered Bruckner his most dedicated pupil. Upon Bruckner's graduation, Sechter wrote a fugue dedicated to his student.  In the three-volume treatise on the principles of composition, "Die Grundsätze der musikalischen Komposition", Sechter wrote a seminal work that influenced many later theorists. Sechter's ideas are derived from Jean-Philippe Rameau's theories of the fundamental bass, always diatonic even when the surface is highly chromatic; music theory historians strongly associate Sechter with the Viennese conception of fundamental bass theory. Sechter was an advocate of just intonation over well-tempered tuning.

As composer.

Sechter was also a composer, and in that capacity he is mostly remembered for writing about 5,000 fugues (he tried to write at least one fugue every day), but he also wrote masses and oratorios. In addition he wrote five operas "Das Testament des Magiers" (1842), "Ezzeline, die unglückliche Gegangene aus Deli-Katesse" (1843), "Ali Hitsch-Hatsch" (1844), "Melusine" (1851), and "Des Müllers Ring" (?). In 1823–24, he was one of the 51 composers who composed a variation on a waltz by Anton Diabelli for "Vaterländischer Künstlerverein."

Simon Sechter (11 October 1788 – 10 September 1867) was an Austrian music theorist, teacher, organist, conductor and composer. He was one of the most prolific composers who ever lived, although his music is largely forgotten and he is now mainly remembered as a strict music teacher, most notably of Anton Bruckner.


Family.

Ino was the second wife of the Minyan king Athamas, mother of Learches and Melicertes and stepmother of Phrixus and Helle. She was the second daughter of Cadmus and Harmonia and one of the three sisters of Semele, the mortal woman of the house of Cadmus who gave birth to Dionysus. The three sisters were Agave, Autonoë and Ino, who was a surrogate for the divine nurses of Dionysus: Ino was a primordial Dionysian woman, nurse to the god and a divine maenad. (Kerenyi 1976:246)

Mythology.

Maenads were reputed to tear their own children limb from limb in their madness. In the back-story to the heroic tale of Jason and the Golden Fleece, Phrixus and Helle, twin children of Athamas and Nephele, were hated by their stepmother, Ino. Ino hatched a devious plot to get rid of the twins, roasting all the crop seeds of Boeotia so they would not grow. The local farmers, frightened of famine, asked a nearby oracle for assistance. Ino bribed the men sent to the oracle to lie and tell the others that the oracle required the sacrifice of Phrixus. Athamas reluctantly agreed. Before he was killed though, Phrixus and Helle were rescued by a flying golden ram sent by Nephele, their natural mother. Helle fell off the ram into the Hellespont (which was named after her, meaning "Sea of Helle") and drowned, but Phrixus survived all the way to Colchis, where King Aeetes took him in and treated him kindly, giving Phrixus his daughter, Chalciope, in marriage. In gratitude, Phrixus gave the king the golden fleece of the ram, which Aeetes hung in a tree in his kingdom.Later, Ino raised Dionysus, her nephew, son of her sister Semele, causing Hera's intense jealousy. In vengeance, Hera struck Athamas with insanity. Athamas went mad, slew one of his sons, Learchus, thinking he was a ram, and set out in frenzied pursuit of Ino. To escape him Ino threw herself into the sea with her son Melicertes. Both were afterwards worshipped as marine divinities, Ino as Leucothea ("the white goddess"), Melicertes as Palaemon. Alternatively, Ino was also stricken with insanity and killed Melicertes by boiling him in a cauldron, then took the cauldron and jumped into the sea with it. A sympathetic Zeus did not want Ino to die, and transfigured her and Melicertes as Leucothea and Palaemon.  The story of Ino, Athamas and Melicertes is relevant also in the context of two larger themes. Ino, daughter of Cadmus and Harmonia, had an end just as tragic as her siblings: Semele died while pregnant with Zeus' child, killed by her own pride and lack of trust in her lover; Agave killed her own son, King Pentheus, while struck with Dionysian madness, and Actaeon, son of Autonoe, the third sibling, was torn apart by his own hunting dogs. Also, the insanity of Ino and Athamas, who hunted his own son Learchos as a stag and slew him, can be explained as a result of their contact with Dionysus, whose presence can cause insanity. None can escape the powers of Dionysus, the god of wine. Euripides took up the tale in "The Bacchae", explaining their madness in Dionysiac terms, as a result of their having initially resisted belief in the god's divinity.  When Athamas returned to his second wife, Ino, Themisto (his third wife) sought revenge by dressing her children in white clothing and Ino's in black and directing the murder of the children in black. Ino switched their clothes without Themisto knowing and she killed her own children.  Transformed into the goddess Leucothea, Ino also represents one of the many sources of divine aid to Odysseus in the "Odyssey" (5:333ff), her earliest appearance in literature. Homer calls her "Ino-Leocothea of the beautiful ankles [καλλίσφυρος], daughter of Cadmus, who was once a mortal speaking with the tongue of men, but now in the salt sea-waters has received honor at the hands of the gods". Providing Odysseus with a veil and telling him to discard his cloak and raft, she instructs him how he can entrust himself to the waves and succeed in reaching land and eventually the island of Scheria (Corcyra), home of Phaeaceans.  In historical times, a sisterhood of maenads of Thebes in the service of Dionysus traced their descent in the female line from Ino; we know this because an inscription at Magnesia on the Maeander summoned three maenads from Thebes, from the house of Ino, to direct the new mysteries of Dionysus at Magnesia (Burkert 1992:44).

In Greek mythology Ino (Ancient Greek: Ἰνώ, ) was a mortal queen of Boeotia, who after her death and transfiguration was worshiped as a goddess under her epithet Leucothea, the "white goddess." Alcman called her "Queen of the Sea" (), which, if not hyperbole, would make her a doublet of Amphitrite.


Biography.

Vandamme enlisted in the army in 1786 and rapidly rose through the ranks. At the outbreak of the French Revolutionary Wars in 1793 he was a Brigadier General. He served in this rank in the campaigns of 1794 in the Low Countries, 1795 on the Rhine and 1796 in Germany. He was court-martialled for looting and suspended. Reinstated, he fought at the First Battle of Stockach on 25 March 1799, but disagreement with General Jean Moreau led to his being sent to occupation duties in Holland. At the Battle of Austerlitz in 1805 he led his division, alongside Gen. St. Hilaire's, as part of Marshal Soult's IV Corps in the charge that captured the Pratzen Heights. For his leadership he was awarded the Grand Eagle of the Legion of Honour.  In 1806-7 his forces besieged Breslau, and after finally taking it he ordered the fortifications to be levelled. He was named Count of Unsebourg by Napoleon I after the Silesian campaign during the War of the Fourth Coalition. In the campaign of 1809, he led a small allied corps from Württemberg in the battles of Abensberg, Landshut, and Eckmühl.  Reportedly a brutal and violent soldier, renowned for insubordination and looting, Napoleon is said to have told him, "If I had two of you, the only solution would be to have one hang the other". Napoleon added that he would give Vandamme command of the vanguard were he (Napoleon) to launch a campaign against Lucifer in Hell.  In the campaign of 1813, Vandamme's I Corps attacked the Allied Bohemian Army as it tried to retreat after the Battle of Dresden. While his troops were engaged in the Battle of Kulm, a corps led by the Prussian General Friedrich Graf Kleist von Nollendorf fortuitously attacked the French from the rear. In the consequent disaster, Vandamme and 13,000 of his men were captured. In his captivity, he appears to have been treated with especial harshness, and at the end of the war he was forbidden to enter Paris, and sent to Cassel by Louis XVIII. He was thus free of all obligations towards the Bourbons, and when Napoleon returned, joined him without hesitation. The emperor made him a peer of France.  In the campaign of 1815 Vandamme was in command of the III Corps, under the direction of Marshal Emmanuel Grouchy. He urged Grouchy to join Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo, but Grouchy preferred to pursue the Prussian 3rd Corps under General Johann von Thielmann, winning the Battle of Wavre, but losing the war. After the restoration of Louis XVIII of France Vandamme was exiled to America and settled in Philadelphia amongst other French military exiles. General Vandamme was allowed to return to France by the ordinance of 1 December 1819. He was re-established in the service in the Ètat-major Général, until his final retirement on 1 January 1825. Afterwards he lived alternatively in Cassel and Ghent, occupying himself with the writing of his memoirs. He died in his native Cassel, aged 59.  VANDAMME is one of the names inscribed under the Arc de Triomphe.

General Dominique-Joseph René Vandamme, Count of Unseburg (5 November 1770, Cassel, Nord15 July 1830) was a French military officer, who fought in the Napoleonic Wars. He was a dedicated career soldier with a reputation as an excellent division and corps commander. However he had a nasty disposition that alienated his colleagues; he publicly criticized Napoleon, who never appointed him marshal.


Background.

Following the French victory at Dresden, Vandamme pursued the retreating allies. Napoleon sent Marshals Gouvion Saint Cyr and Auguste Marmont to support Vandamme's corps. With Vandamme in advance, Saint Cyr's and Marmont's corps brought up the rear. Vandamme caught up with Alexander Ivanovich Ostermann-Tolstoy's forces near the town of Kulm, eight kilometres northwest of Aussig (Ústí nad Labem, now in the Czech Republic).

Battle.

On 29 August, Vandamme, with 34,000 soldiers and 84 guns at his disposal, attacked Russian formations forming a rearguard for the retreating Coalition army, at 16,000 strong, under the command of Russian general Ostermann-Tolstoy. The situation was very dangerous for the allies; if Vandamme won the battle, the French would take the passes in the mountains, and the retreating Coalition army could be trapped by Napoleon. However, Ostermann-Tolstoy rallied all of his troops for a stiff defense, and soon Vandamme's troops were repulsed. Vandamme's situation changed the next day. A Prussian army corp commanded by Friedrich von Kleist attacked Vandamme's rear guard. Kleist then received help from a combined Russian and Austrian attack on his front, under the command of Generals Ostermann-Tolstoy and von Colloredo-Mansfeld. In an attempt to repulse simultaneous attacks on his front and rear, Vandamme ordered his forces to form squares. The inexperienced French troops were unable to fend off the allies, and soon withdrew from the battlefield, with heavy losses, including Vandamme himself as a captured prisoner of war.

Casualties.

The French lost more than half of the pursuing force of 34,000; about 5,000 soldiers killed or wounded, and between 7,000 and 13,000 French soldiers were taken prisoner, including Vandamme, and almost all of his artillery, 80 of his 84 guns, were captured. The allies lost approximately 13,000 soldiers killed or wounded.  In Vandamme's corps there were two Polish regiments of Uhlans, part of cavalry divisions under the command of General Jean Corbineau. These regiments were used by Vandamme to defend against enemy cavalry charges. One regiment, commanded by Colonel Maximilian Fredro (brother of playwright Alexander Fredro), was attacked after withdrawing to a defile and surrendered. The other regiment of Uhlans, under the command of Count Tomasz Łubieński (generally known in English as Thomas Lubienski) successfully withdrew.

Aftermath.

While Marshal MacDonald's defeat at Katzbach coincided with Napoleon's victory at Dresden, the Coalition success at Kulm eventually negated his triumph, given that his troops never completely crushed the enemy. Thus, by winning this battle, Ostermann-Tolstoy and his troops succeeded in buying much needed time for the Coalition armies to regroup after the Battle of Dresden.

Insults.

According to a French anecdote, after the battle Vandamme was brought to and accused by Emperor Alexander I of Russia of being a brigand and plunderer. He retorted, "I am neither a plunderer nor a brigand, but in any case, my contemporaries and history will not reproach me for having murdered my own father." This statement apparently hinted at the widespread belief that Alexander I was implicated in the murder of his father, Emperor Paul I.

The battlefield today.

The battlefield is mostly built over. There is a large monument topped with a lion next door to the Hotel Napoleon.

The Battle of Kulm was a battle near the town Kulm () and the village Přestanov in northern Bohemia. It was fought on 29–30 August 1813, during the War of the Sixth Coalition. 32,000 French troops under Dominique Vandamme attacked an army of about 50-60,000 Austrians, Russians and Prussians under Alexander Ostermann-Tolstoy, but were defeated with heavy losses on both sides.


Design and development.

The Heinkel He 70 "Blitz" (Lightning) was designed in the early 1930s to serve as a mailplane for "Deutsche Lufthansa" in response to a request for an aircraft faster than the Lockheed Model 9 Orion (used by Swissair) to service short routes.  It was a low-wing monoplane, with the main characteristics of its design being an aerodynamically efficient elliptical wing, a two-bladed propeller driven by a single engine.  In order to meet the demanding speed requirements, the design endeavored to minimise drag, with flush rivets giving a smooth surface finish, and retractable main landing gear. The tail wheel was not retractable. It was powered by a BMW VI V12 engine of 630hp cooled by ethylene glycol rather than water. This allowed a smaller radiator which also retracted at high speed to further reduce drag. The pilot and radio operator were seated in tandem, followed by a cabin seating four passengers in pairs facing each other. and proved to have excellent performance, setting eight world records for speed over distance, and reaching a maximum speed of 377 km/h (222 mph).

Operational history.

Luft Hansa operated He 70s between 1934 and 1937 for a fast flight service which connected Berlin with Frankfurt, Hamburg and Cologne, as well as on the Cologne/Hamburg route.  He 70s were flown abroad from Stuttgart to Seville between 1934 and 1936. The route was part of the South America mail service provided by Luft Hansa that continued via Bathurst, The Gambia to Natal, Brazil, using Junkers Ju 52/3m and Dornier Wal flying boats.  Remaining aircraft were transferred to the "Luftwaffe" in 1937.

Military use.

The "Luftwaffe" operated He 70s from 1935, initially as a light bomber and reconnaissance aircraft. As soon as purpose built designs became available, it was relegated as a liaison and courier aircraft.  Twenty-eight aircraft were sent in the late 1930s to Spain with the German-manned "Legion Condor", where they were used during the Spanish Civil War as fast reconnaissance aircraft. There they were known as the "Rayo", Spanish for "lightning".  The He 70K (later He 170) was a fast reconnaissance airplane variant used by the German air force. Fitted with a new WM-K-14 radial engine, it was used by the Royal Hungarian Air Force as the He 170A early in World War II during 1941–42.  The main weakness of the He 70 in military use was that crews considered it a fire risk. Elements of the airframe were made out of an extremely flammable magnesium alloy called "Elektron", though the majority of the monocoque fuselage was Duralumin. Elektron is very light yet strong, but burns readily when ignited and is difficult to extinguish. Moreover, each wing contained a non-self-sealing 47-gallon fuel tank, which may have further added to the aircraft's reputation for catching fire. A single hit from a light machine gun is reputed to have often set the entire aircraft ablaze. The Hungarian He 170A fleet was retired for this and other reasons, including poor defensive armament, short range and poor view from the cabin, and replaced with vintage, high-wing He 46 monoplanes, until modern Bf 109 fighter-reconnaissance and specialized Fw 189 "Uhu" medium altitude observation aircraft could be introduced.

Influence.

While the He 70 saw only limited service in training capacities during World War II, it was the "Luftwaffe"s first "Schnellbomber" and served as the antecedent for the majority of bombers involved in both the Battle of Britain and the attack on Pearl Harbor.

German designs.

The He 70 is known mainly as the direct ancestor of the Heinkel He 111, which had the distinctive elliptical wings and streamlined fuselage in a twin-engine configuration. One can also see the close similarity of the designs in the tail section and cockpit of the early He 111. The He 111, which began service with the "Luftwaffe" in 1936, went on to become the most numerous bomber type of the Luftwaffe – with just over 5,600 examples produced during the war in total – in the early years of World War II, before the growing numbers of Junkers Ju 88 bomber variants (the -A and -S subtypes) overtook it later in World War II.  Heinkel's pioneering design was also a model for the He 112 fighter which competed unsuccessfully against the Messerschmitt Bf 109 to become the "Luftwaffe"s first monoplane fighter. The He 112 was nonetheless built in small numbers, and its performance proved once again the strength of the He 70's original design.

Japanese designs.

The He 70 was exported to Japan for study and inspired the Aichi D3A ("Val") carrier-launched light bomber. This aircraft shared the He 70's distinctive low-mounted elliptical wing and was one of several collaborations between Heinkel and the Japanese aviation industry.

British designs.

It has been said that the He 70 was an inspiration or influence for the Supermarine Spitfire's elliptical wing.  In a letter to Heinkel, written after seeing the aircraft perform with the Rolls Royce Kestrel engine fitted, R. J. Mitchell said: However, Beverley Shenstone, RJ Mitchell's aerodynamic advisor denied that the Spitfire wing was copied from the He 70. Shenstone said:  The Günther brothers had already used an elliptical wing design for the Bäumer Sausewind sports aircraft before they joined Heinkel.  Shenstone said that the He 70's influence on the Spitfire design was limited to use as a benchmark for aerodynamic smoothness.

The Heinkel He 70 was a mail plane and fast passenger aircraft of the 1930s designed by German aeronautics firm Heinkel Flugzeugwerke, which was also used in auxiliary bomber and aerial reconnaissance roles. It had a relatively brief commercial career before it was replaced by types which could carry more passengers. The He 70 was a leading design for its day, setting eight world speed records by the beginning of 1933.


Early life.

Salvatore Maranzano was the youngest of 12 children born to Domenico Maranzano and Antonina Piscotta. Five of his siblings lived to adulthood: Mariano, Angelo, Nicolo, Giuseppe, and Angela. As a youngster, Maranzano had wanted to become a priest and even studied to become one, but later became associated with the Mafia in his homeland. Maranzano had a very commanding presence and was greatly respected by his underworld peers. He had a fascination with Julius Caesar and the Roman Empire, and enjoyed talking to his less-educated American Mafia counterparts about these subjects. Because of this, he was nicknamed "Little Caesar" by his underworld peers.

Early career.

Maranzano emigrated from Sicily to the United States in the 1920s, settling in Brooklyn. The Sicilian "mafioso" Don Vito Ferro decided to make a bid for control of Mafia operations in the United States. From his base in Castellammare del Golfo, Maranzano was sent to seize control. While building a legitimate business as a real estate broker, Maranzano also maintained a growing bootlegging business, using the real estate company as a front for his illegal operations. He soon became involved in prostitution and the illegal smuggling of narcotics; he also took a liking to a young Joseph Bonanno and became his mentor.

Castellammarese War.

To protect the criminal empire that Maranzano had built up, he declared war on his rival Joe Masseria, the boss of all bosses, in 1930, starting the Castellammarese War. In early 1931, Lucky Luciano decided to eliminate his boss, Masseria. In a secret deal with Maranzano, Luciano agreed to engineer Masseria's death in return for receiving Masseria's rackets and becoming Maranzano's second-in-command. On April 15, Luciano invited Masseria and two other associates to lunch in a Coney Island restaurant. After finishing their meal, the mobsters decided to play cards. At that point, according to mob legend, Luciano went to the bathroom. Four gunmen – Vito Genovese, Albert Anastasia, Joe Adonis and Benjamin "Bugsy" Siegel – then walked into the dining room and shot and killed Masseria. With Maranzano's blessing, Luciano took over Masseria's gang and became Maranzano's lieutenant.

Boss of All Bosses.

With Masseria gone, Maranzano reorganized the Italian American gangs in New York City into Five Families headed by Luciano, Profaci, Gagliano, Vincent Mangano and himself. Each family would have a boss, underboss, capos, soldiers, and associates, would be composed of only full-blooded Italian Americans, while associates could come from any background. However, Maranzano called a meeting of crime bosses in Wappingers Falls, New York, and declared himself "capo dei capi" ("boss of all bosses"). Maranzano also whittled down the rival families' rackets in favor of his own. Luciano appeared to accept these changes, but was merely biding his time before removing Maranzano. Although Maranzano was slightly more forward-thinking than Masseria, Luciano had come to believe that Maranzano was even more greedy and hidebound than Masseria had been.  Maranzano's scheming, his arrogant treatment of his subordinates and his fondness for comparing his organization to the Roman Empire (he attempted to model the organization after Caesar's military chain of command) did not sit well with Luciano and his ambitious friends, like Vito Genovese, Frank Costello and others. Despite his advocacy for modern methods of organization, including crews of soldiers doing the bulk of a family's illegal work under the supervision of a "caporegime", at heart Maranzano was a "Mustache Pete" — an old-school mafioso too steeped in Old World ways. He was opposed to Luciano's partnership with Jewish gangsters such as Meyer Lansky and Benjamin "Bugsy" Siegel. Luciano and his colleagues had intended all along to bide their time before getting rid of Maranzano.

Death.

By September 1931, Maranzano realized Luciano was a threat, and hired Vincent "Mad Dog" Coll, an Irish gangster, to kill him. However, Tommy Lucchese alerted Luciano that he was marked for death. On September 10, Maranzano ordered Luciano and Genovese to come to his office at the 230 Park Avenue in Manhattan. Convinced that Maranzano planned to murder them, Luciano decided to act first. He sent to Maranzano's office four Jewish gangsters whose faces were unknown to Maranzano's people. They had been secured with the aid of Lansky and Siegel. Disguised as government agents, two of the gangsters disarmed Maranzano's bodyguards. The other two, aided by Lucchese, who was there to point Maranzano out, stabbed the boss multiple times before shooting him. This assassination was the first of what would later be fabled as the "Night of the Sicilian Vespers."  Although there would have been few objections had Luciano declared himself "capo di tutti capi," he abolished the title, believing the position created trouble between the families and made himself a target for another ambitious challenger. Luciano subsequently created The Commission to serve as the governing body for organized crime.  Maranzano is buried in Saint John's Cemetery, Queens, New York, near Luciano's grave.

Photographs.

The only known photographs of Maranzano are from the scene of his death. In 2009, "Informer" author David Critchley had identified the picture once claimed to be a mugshot of Maranzano, as that of the London-based gangster Salvatore Messina instead. In August 2019, the "Informer" had issued another photo believed to be Maranzano, but later retracted the statement in September due to European historians identifying the image to be that of German criminal Peter Kürten.

Further reading.

Salvatore Maranzano (; July 31, 1886 – September 10, 1931) was an organized crime figure from the town of Castellammare del Golfo, Sicily, and an early Cosa Nostra boss who led what later would become the Bonanno crime family in New York City. He instigated the Castellammarese War in 1930, to seize control of the American Mafia, winning the war after the murder of rival faction head, Joe Masseria, in April 1931. He then briefly became the Mafia's "capo di tutti capi" ("boss of all bosses") and formed the Five Families in New York City, but was murdered on September 10, 1931, under the orders of Charles "Lucky" Luciano, who established an arrangement in which families shared power to prevent future turf wars: The Commission.


Early years.

Of Czech descent, Sindelar was born Matěj Šindelář () in Kozlov, Moravia, then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the son of Jan Šindelář, a blacksmith, and his wife Marie (née Švengrová). Despite occasional claims that Sindelar was of Jewish origin, the family was Catholic. They moved to Vienna in 1905 and settled in the district of Favoriten, which had a large Czech-speaking community. Young Matěj/Matthias began playing football in the streets of Vienna.

Club career (1918–1939).

At the age of 15, the Sindelar joined Hertha Vienna, playing there until 1924, when he was brought to FK Austria Vienna, whose name at the time was "Wiener Amateur-SV", up to 1926. He helped the team win the Austrian Cup in 1925, 1926, 1933, 1935 and 1936, a league title in 1926, and the Mitropa Cup in 1933 and 1936.  In 2001, Sindelar was chosen in Austria's Team of the Century.  Sindelar was arguably one of Europe's best and, in scope, most influential footballers of his generation, recognized for his ball control, passing and dribbling, and especially his creativity. Anecdote has it that some Viennese football fans went to Sindelar's games not only to see him play but to get a better understanding of how football should be played.  In 1938 he appeared as himself in the Austrian film "Roxy and the Wonderteam".

International career.

Austria national team.

From 1926 to 1937, Sindelar was capped 43 times for his country, scoring 26 goals. He scored four goals in his first three international matches, including one in his debut match, a 2-1 victory over Czechoslovakia on 28 September 1926. Sindelar became an essential part of the Austrian "Wunderteam" that was coached by Hugo Meisl, after a falling-out caused by his individualism. David Goldblatt described the events:  He made his international debut in 1926 and played well before falling out of favour with the disciplinarian Meisl. Four years in the international wilderness followed until Meisl was cornered by a gathering of the city's leading football commentators as he sat in the Ring Café in 1931. Everyone was arguing for Sindelar's recall and Meisl changed his mind. Sindelar played. Scotland were beaten and the "Wunderteam" - already disciplined, organized, hardworking and professional - acquired their playmaker and inspiration, that vital spark of unpredictability.

1934 World Cup.

Sindelar and Austria were especially prominent at the 1934 World Cup. The high point was their defeat of Hungary in quarterfinals, when Sindelar was matched up against centre-half György Sárosi, who would go on to claim a runners-up medal at the following World Cup in France. In a bruising encounter, one Hungarian was sent-off, and Johann Horvath, the Austrian midfielder, was injured and missed the semi-final against Italy. Austria then suffered a controversial defeat to the host nation, with Sindelar affected by the harsh marking of Luis Monti.

Austria v Germany 1938.

On 3 April 1938, the Austrian team played Germany in the Prater Stadium in Vienna its last match as an independent Austrian team, as some weeks earlier, Germany had annexed Austria (Anschluss) and the Nazis ordered the dissolution of the Austrian team into a common team with Germany, even though it had qualified for the 1938 FIFA World Cup.  The match (German: "Anschlussspiel") was dubbed as a game for celebrating the Anschluss and Austria's "coming home to the Reich". The Austrians played on the wish of Sindelar in red-white-red kits (the national flag's colours) instead of their traditional white and black. Austria missed out many sitters in a way that looked deliberate. However, in the last 20 minutes, Sindelar and teammate Karl Sesta both scored as the game finished 2–0. Sindelar is reported to have celebrated extravagantly in front of senior Nazi dignitaries.

International caps and goals.

The following is a list of Sindelar's international appearances and goals with the Austria national football team.

Team record.

In the 43 matches that Sindelar played, Austria had a total record of 25 victories, 11 draws, and 7 losses.

Death and myth.

Always refusing to leave his home country, Sindelar refused to play for Germany after Austria was annexed by Nazi Germany in 1938 (Anschluss), citing old age (by then 35 years) or injury as his excuse. On 23 January 1939 both Sindelar and his girlfriend Camilla Castagnola were found dead at the apartment they shared in Vienna; the official verdict cited carbon monoxide poisoning as the cause. Different theories speculated that his death was an accident, suicide or murder.  Austrian writer Friedrich Torberg later dedicated the poem ""Auf den Tod eines Fußballspielers"" ("On the death of a footballer") to Sindelar. The poem suggested that he had committed suicide as a result of the German Anschluss of Austria in 1938. On the other hand, it has been thought and reported that his death was accidental, caused by a defective chimney. A neighbour had reported a defective chimney in the block a few days before Sindelar's death. However, in a 2000s documentary screened on the BBC, Egon Ulbrich, a lifelong friend of Sindelar, stated that a local official was bribed to record his death as an accident, which ensured that he would receive a state funeral. ""According to the Nazi rules, a person who had been murdered or who has committed suicide cannot be given a grave of honour. So we had to do something to ensure that the criminal element involved in his death was removed"," he stated. It has also been suggested that Sindelar was killed for his opposition for the Anschluss. The Nazi secret police force, the notorious Gestapo, had a file on him and had kept his café under surveillance.

Honours.

Sindelar was ranked as Austria's best footballer of the twentieth century by the IFFHS, also ranking as the world's 22nd best. His career titles include:  |

Matthias Sindelar (; 10 February 1903 – 23 January 1939) was an Austrian footballer who played for Austria Vienna and the Austrian national football team


Biography.

Eduard Suess was born on 20 August 1831 in London, England, the oldest son of Adolph Suess, a Lutheran Saxon merchant, and Jewish mother Eleonore Zdekauer. When he was three, his family relocated to Prague, and then to Vienna when he was 14. He became interested in geology at a young age. While working as an assistant at the Hofmuseum in Vienna, he published his first paper—on the geology of Carlsbad (in present-day Czech Republic)—when he was 19. In 1855, Suess married Hermine Strauss, the daughter of a prominent physician from Prague. Their marriage produced five sons and one daughter.  In 1856, he was appointed professor of paleontology at the University of Vienna, and in 1861 was appointed professor of geology. He gradually developed views on the connection between Africa and Europe. Eventually, he concluded that the Alps to the north were once at the bottom of an ocean, of which the Mediterranean was a remnant. Suess was not correct in his analysis, which was predicated upon the notion of "contractionism"—the idea that the Earth is cooling down and, therefore, contracting. Nevertheless, he is credited with postulating the earlier existence of the Tethys Ocean, which he named in 1893. He claimed in 1885 that land bridges had connected South America, Africa, India, Australia, and Antarctica. He named this ancient broken continent Gondwanaland.  Suess published a comprehensive synthesis of his ideas between 1885 and 1901 titled "Das Antlitz der Erde" ("The Face of the Earth"), which was a popular textbook for many years. In volume two of this massive three-volume work, Suess set out his belief that across geologic time, the rise and fall of sea levels were mappable across the earth—that is, that the periods of ocean transgression and regression were correlateable from one continent to another. His theory was based upon glossopteris fern fossils occurring in South America, Africa, and India. His explanation was that the three lands were once connected in a supercontinent, which he named Gondwanaland. Again, this is not quite correct: Suess believed that the oceans flooded the spaces currently between those lands. In his work "Die Entstehung der Alpen", Suess also introduced the concept of the biosphere, which was later extended by Vladimir I. Vernadsky in 1926. Suess wrote: He was elected a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences in 1895. He received the Wollaston Medal of the Geological Society of London in 1896 and he won the Copley Medal of the Royal Society in 1903. Suess died on 26 April 1914 in Vienna. He is buried in the town of Marz in Burgenland, Austria.

Legacy.

Suess is considered one of the early practitioners of ecology. Suess Land in Greenland, the lunar crater "Suess", as well as the crater "Suess" on Mars, are named after him.

Franz Eduard Suess.

His son, Franz Eduard Suess (1867–1941), was superintendent and geologist at the "Imperial Geological Institute" in Vienna, who studied moldavites and coined the term tektite. The asteroid 12002 Suess, discovered by Czech astronomers Petr Pravec and Lenka Kotková in 1996, was named in his honor.

Eduard Suess (; 20 August 1831 – 26 April 1914) was an Austrian geologist and an expert on the geography of the Alps. He is responsible for hypothesising two major former geographical features, the supercontinent Gondwana (proposed in 1861) and the Tethys Ocean.


Bestowing.

When Yad Vashem, the Shoah Martyrs' and Heroes' Remembrance Authority, was established in 1953 by the Knesset, one of its tasks was to commemorate the "Righteous Among the Nations". The Righteous were defined as non-Jews who risked their lives to save Jews during the Holocaust.  Since 1963, a commission headed by a justice of the Supreme Court of Israel has been charged with the duty of awarding the honorary title "Righteous Among the Nations". Guided in its work by certain criteria, the commission meticulously studies all documentation including evidence by survivors and other eyewitnesses, evaluates the historical circumstances and the element of risk to the rescuer, and then decides if the case meets the criteria. Those criteria are:  The award has been given without regard to the social rank of the helper. It has been given to royalty such as Princess Alice of Battenberg, Queen Mother Helen of Romania and Queen Elisabeth of Belgium but also to others like the philosopher Jacques Ellul and to Amsterdam department store employee Hendrika Gerritsen.  A person who is recognized as Righteous for having taken risks to help Jews during the Holocaust is awarded a medal in their name, a certificate of honor, and the privilege of having the name added to those on the Wall of Honor in the Garden of the Righteous at Yad Vashem in Jerusalem (the last is in lieu of a tree planting, which was discontinued for lack of space). The awards are distributed to the rescuers or their next-of-kin during ceremonies in Israel, or in their countries of residence through the offices of Israel's diplomatic representatives. These ceremonies are attended by local government representatives and are given wide media coverage.  The Yad Vashem Law authorizes Yad Vashem "to confer honorary citizenship upon the Righteous Among the Nations, and if they have died, the commemorative citizenship of the State of Israel, in recognition of their actions". Anyone who has been recognized as "Righteous" is entitled to apply to Yad Vashem for the certificate. If the person is no longer alive, their next of kin is entitled to request that commemorative citizenship be conferred on the Righteous who has died. In total, men and women from 51 countries have been recognized, amounting to more than 10,000 authenticated rescue stories. Yad Vashem's policy is to pursue the program for as long as petitions for this title are received and are supported by evidence that meets the criteria.  Recipients who choose to live in the State of Israel are entitled to a pension equal to the average national wage and free health care, as well as assistance with housing and nursing care.

Righteous settled in Israel.

At least 130 Righteous non-Jews have settled in Israel. They were welcomed by Israeli authorities, and were granted citizenship. In the mid-1980s, they became entitled to special pensions. Some of them settled in British Mandatory Palestine before Israel's establishment shortly after World War II, or in the early years of the new state of Israel, while others came later. Those who came earlier often spoke fluent Hebrew and have integrated into Israeli society.

Other signs of veneration.

The Righteous are honored with a feast day on the liturgical calendar of the Episcopal Church in the United States on 16 July.  One Righteous Among the Nations, Saint Elizabeth Hesselblad of Sweden, has been canonized a saint in the Catholic Church. Five others have been beatified: Blessed Giuseppe Girotti, O.P., and Odoardo Focherini of Italy, Blessed Klymentiy Sheptytsky, M.S.U., of Austria-Hungary, Blessed Bernhard Lichtenberg of Germany, and Blessed Sára Salkaházi of Hungary.  In 2015, Lithuania's first street sign honoring a Righteous Among the Nations was unveiled in Vilnius. The street is named Simaites Street, after Ona Šimaitė, a Vilnius University librarian who helped and rescued Jewish people in the Vilna Ghetto.  In Zvolen, Slovakia, the commemorates the Righteous Among the Nations from Slovakia.

Number of awards by country.

, the award has been made to 27,363 people.

Righteous Among the Nations (, "ḥasidei ummot ha`olam" "righteous (plural) of the world's nations") is an honorific used by the State of Israel to describe non-Jews who risked their lives during the Holocaust to save Jews from extermination by the Nazis for altruistic reasons. The term originates with the concept of "righteous gentiles", a term used in rabbinic Judaism to refer to non-Jews, called "ger toshav", who abide by the Seven Laws of Noah.


Organic thiocyanates.

Organic and transition metal derivatives of the thiocyanate ion can exist as "linkage isomers". In thiocyanates, the organic group (or metal ion) is attached to sulfur: R−S−C≡N has a S–C single bond and a C≡N triple bond. In isothiocyanates, the substituent is attached to nitrogen: R−N=C=S has a S=C double bond and a C=N double bond:  Organic thiocyanates are valuable building blocks in organic chemistry and they allow to access efficiently various sulfur containing functional groups and scaffolds.

Synthesis.

Several synthesis routes exist, the most basic being the reaction between alkyl halides and alkali thiocyanate in aqueous media. Organic thiocyanates are hydrolyzed to thiocarbamates in the Riemschneider thiocarbamate synthesis.

Biological chemistry of thiocyanate in medicine.

Thiocyanate is known to be an important part in the biosynthesis of hypothiocyanite by a lactoperoxidase. Thus the complete absence of thiocyanate or reduced thiocyanate in the human body, (e.g., cystic fibrosis) is damaging to the human host defense system.  Thiocyanate is a potent competitive inhibitor of the thyroid sodium-iodide symporter. Iodine is an essential component of thyroxine. Since thiocyanates will decrease iodide transport into the thyroid follicular cell, they will decrease the amount of thyroxine produced by the thyroid gland. As such, foodstuffs containing thiocyanate are best avoided by Iodide deficient hypothyroid patients.  In the early 20th century, thiocyanate was used in the treatment of hypertension, but it is no longer used because of associated toxicity. Sodium nitroprusside, a metabolite of which is thiocyanate, is however still used for the treatment of a hypertensive emergency. Rhodanese catalyzes the reaction of sodium nitroprusside with thiosulfate to form the metabolite thiocyanate.

Coordination chemistry.

Thiocyanate shares its negative charge approximately equally between sulfur and nitrogen. As a consequence, thiocyanate can act as a nucleophile at either sulfur or nitrogen — it is an ambidentate ligand. [SCN] can also bridge two (M−SCN−M) or even three metals (>SCN− or −SCN<). Experimental evidence leads to the general conclusion that class A metals (hard acids) tend to form "N"-bonded thiocyanate complexes, whereas class B metals (soft acids) tend to form "S"-bonded thiocyanate complexes. Other factors, e.g. kinetics and solubility, are sometimes involved, and linkage isomerism can occur, for example [Co(NH)(NCS)]Cl and [Co(NH)(SCN)]Cl.

Test for iron(III) and cobalt(II).

If [SCN] is added to a solution with iron(III) ions, a blood-red solution forms mainly due to the formation of[Fe(SCN)(HO)], i.e. pentaaqua(thiocyanato-"N")iron(III). Lesser amounts of other hydrated compounds also form: e.g. Fe(SCN) and [Fe(SCN)].  Similarly, Co gives a blue complex with thiocyanate. Both the iron and cobalt complexes can be extracted into organic solvents like diethyl ether or amyl alcohol. This allows the determination of these ions even in strongly coloured solutions. The determination of Co(II) in the presence of Fe(III) is possible by adding KF to the solution, which forms uncoloured, very stable complexes with Fe(III), which no longer react with SCN.  Phospholipids or some detergents aid the transfer of thiocyanatoiron into chlorinated solvents like chloroform and can be determined in this fashion.

Thiocyanate (also known as rhodanide) is the anion [SCN]. It is the conjugate base of thiocyanic acid. Common derivatives include the colourless salts potassium thiocyanate and sodium thiocyanate. Organic compounds containing the functional group SCN are also called thiocyanates. Mercury(II) thiocyanate was formerly used in pyrotechnics.


Early life.

Kempff was born in Jüterbog, Brandenburg, in 1895. He grew up in nearby Potsdam where his father was a royal music director and organist at St. Nicolai Church. His grandfather was also an organist and his brother Georg became director of church music at the University of Erlangen. Kempff studied music at first at the Berlin Hochschule für Musik at the age of nine after receiving lessons from his father at a younger age. Whilst there he studied composition with Robert Kahn and piano with Karl Heinrich Barth (with whom Arthur Rubinstein also studied). In 1914 Kempff moved on to study at the Viktoria gymnasium in Potsdam before returning to Berlin to finish his training.

As a pianist.

In 1917, Kempff gave his first major recital, consisting of predominantly major works, including Beethoven's Hammerklavier Sonata and Brahms Variations on a Theme of Paganini. Kempff toured widely in Europe and much of the rest of the world. Between 1936 and 1979 he performed ten times in Japan (a small Japanese island was named "Kenpu-san" in his honor). Kempff made his first London appearance in 1951 and his first in New York in 1964. He gave his last public performance in Paris in 1981, and then retired for health reasons (Parkinson's disease). He died in Positano, Italy, in 1991 at the age of 95, five years after his wife, whom he had married in 1926. They were survived by seven children.  Wilhelm Kempff recorded over a period of some sixty years. His recorded legacy includes works of Schumann, Brahms, Schubert, Mozart, Bach, Liszt, Chopin and particularly, of Beethoven. He recorded the complete sonatas of Franz Schubert long before these works became popular, albeit restricting himself to the finished movements, not fragments, in sonatas that Schubert left incomplete. He also recorded two sets of the complete Beethoven sonatas, one in mono (1951–1956) and the other in stereo (1964–1965); earlier, he recorded nearly all on shellac (1926–1945). He recorded the complete Beethoven piano concertos twice as well, both with the Berlin Philharmonic; the first from the early 1950s in mono with Paul van Kempen, and the later in stereo from the early 1960s with Ferdinand Leitner. Kempff also recorded chamber music with Yehudi Menuhin, Pierre Fournier, Wolfgang Schneiderhan, Paul Grümmer, and Henryk Szeryng, among others.  He left recordings of most of his repertory, including the complete sonatas of Beethoven and Schubert. He performed to an advanced age, continuing to give concerts past his eightieth birthday. His association with the Berlin Philharmonic spanned over sixty years.

Technique and style.

As a performer Kempff stressed lyricism and spontaneity in music, particularly effective in intimate pieces or passages. He always strove for a singing, lyrical quality. He avoided extreme tempos and display for its own sake.  The pianist Alfred Brendel has written that Kempff "played on impulse... it depended on whether the right breeze, as with an aeolian harp, was blowing. You then would take something home that you never heard elsewhere." (in Brendel's book, "The Veil of Order"). He regards Kempff as the "most rhythmical" of his colleagues. Brendel helped choose the selections for the Philips label's Great Pianists of the 20th Century issue of Kempff recordings, and wrote in the notes that Kempff "achieves things that are beyond him" in his "unsurpassable" recording of Liszt's first Legende, "St. Francis Preaching to the Birds."  When pianist Artur Schnabel undertook his pioneering complete recording of the Beethoven sonatas in the 1930s, he told EMI that if he didn't complete the cycle, they should have Kempff complete the remainder. Later, when Kempff was in Finland, the composer Jean Sibelius asked him to play the slow movement of Beethoven's 29th Sonata, the Hammerklavier; after Kempff finished, Sibelius told him, "You did not play that as a pianist but rather as a human being."

As a teacher.

From 1924 to 1929, Kempff took over the direction of the Stuttgart College of Music as a successor of Max Pauer. In 1931, he was co-founder of the summer courses at Marmorpalais Potsdam. In 1957, Kempff founded Fondazione Orfeo (today: Kempff Kulturstiftung) in the south-Italian city Positano and held his first Beethoven interpretation masterclass at Casa Orfeo, which Kempff had built especially for this reason. He continued teaching there once a year until 1982. His wife died in 1986. After his death in 1991, Gerhard Oppitz taught the courses from 1992–1995, followed by John O’Conor until 2011 and from 2013 onwards Bernd Goetzke. Oppitz and O'Conor had both been outstanding participants of Kempff's masterclasses and were personally closely connected with Wilhelm Kempff. Like his predecessors Bernd Goetzke is a former participant of the courses in Positano.  Other noted pianists to have studied with Kempff include Jörg Demus, Norman Shetler, Mitsuko Uchida, Peter Schmalfuss, İdil Biret and Ventsislav Yankov.

Composition.

A lesser-known activity of Kempff was composing. He composed for almost every genre and used his own cadenzas for Beethoven's Piano Concertos 1–4. His student İdil Biret has recorded a CD of his piano works. His second symphony premiered in 1929 at the Leipzig Gewandhaus by Wilhelm Furtwängler. He also prepared a number of Bach transcriptions, including the Siciliano from the Flute Sonata in E-flat major, that have been recorded by Kempff and others. His opera "Famile Gozzi", a comic work in three acts, was written in 1934.

Recordings.

Among many others:

Wilhelm Walter Friedrich Kempff (25 November 1895 – 23 May 1991) was a German pianist and composer. Although his repertoire included Bach, Mozart, Chopin, Schumann, Liszt and Brahms, Kempff was particularly well known for his interpretations of the music of Ludwig van Beethoven and Franz Schubert, recording the complete sonatas of both composers. He is considered to have been one of the chief exponents of the Germanic tradition during the 20th century and one of the greatest pianists of all time.


Development.

In 1930, Ernst Heinkel began developing an aircraft for the "Reichsmarine". To conceal the true military intentions, the aircraft was officially a civil aircraft. The He 59B landplane prototype was the first to fly, an event that took place in September 1931, but it was the He 59A floatplane prototype that paved the way for the He 59B initial production model, of which 142 were delivered in three variants. The Heinkel He 59 was a pleasant aircraft to fly; deficiencies noted were the weak engine, the limited range, the small load capability and insufficient armament.

Design.

The aircraft was of a mixed-material construction. The wings were made of a two-beam wooden frame, where the front was covered with plywood and the rest of the wing was covered with fabric. The box-shaped fuselage had a fabric-covered steel frame. The tail section was covered with lightweight metal sheets.  The keels of the floats were used as fuel tanks - each one holding 900 L (238 US gal) of fuel. Together with the internal fuel tank, the aircraft could hold a total of 2,700 L (713 US gal) of fuel. Two fuel tanks could also be placed in the bomb bay, bringing the total fuel capacity up to 3,200 L (845 US gal). The propeller was fixed-pitch with four blades.

Operations.

During the first months of World War II, the He 59 was used as a torpedo- and minelaying aircraft. Between 1940 and 1941 the aircraft was used as a reconnaissance aircraft, and in 1941-42 as a transport, air-sea rescue, and training aircraft. The trainer models survived slightly longer in service than operational models, but all had been retired or destroyed by 1944. Some aircraft were operated by the Condor Legion in Spain during the Spanish Civil War in 1936 as coastal reconnaissance and torpedo floatplanes.  The British claimed, as the air-sea rescue aircraft, despite carrying Red Cross markings, were being used for reconnaissance, they were legitimate targets. Even before then some had been forced down by British aircraft. One justification the British used resulted from the fact that in July 1940 they had shot down a white HE 59 near Deal, Kent that was clearly marked with red crosses simply because it was in the same air space as German fighters. Some have explained this violation by stating that the British were fearful that saboteurs might be landed using these aircraft, another claim was that a convoy passing through the heavily trafficked English channel had spotted a red cross marked HE 59 and was then attacked by bombers later in its voyage. When the crew of the HE 59 downed off Deal was captured the British noted that the pilot supposedly noted the position and direction of a British convoy in his log book. Using that pretext the British Air Ministry issued Bulletin 1254 indicating that all enemy air-sea rescue aircraft were to be destroyed wherever they were encountered. Later, Winston Churchill later cast doubt on his own government's claims and motives when he wrote: "We did not recognize this means of rescuing enemy pilots who had been shot down in action, in order that they might come and bomb our civil population again." Germany protested the British attacks as rescue aircraft were part of the Geneva Convention agreement stipulating that belligerents must respect all "mobile sanitary formations" such as field ambulances and hospital ships. Churchill claimed that rescue aircraft were not anticipated by the treaty, and were therefore not covered. Because British attacks on He 59s continued the German Seenotdienst ordered the rescue aircraft armed and camouflaged. The use of civil registration and red cross markings was abandoned. A Seenotdienst gunner later shot down an attacking No. 43 Squadron RAF Hurricane fighter on July 20 Rescue flights were ordered to be protected by fighter aircraft whenever possible.  The "Ilmavoimat" (Finnish Air Force) rented four aircraft from Germany in August 1943. These were used to ferry long-range reconnaissance patrols behind enemy lines. They were returned to Germany four months later.

References.

"Brandenburg Historica," The Luftwaffe Seenotdienst (Air Sea Rescue Service) of World War II

The Heinkel He 59 was a twin-engined German biplane designed in 1930, resulting from a requirement for a torpedo bomber and reconnaissance aircraft able to operate on wheeled landing gear or twin-floats.


Classification.

The genus is monotypic within the subfamily Babyrousinae, or alternatively considered to form a tribe, Babyrousini, of the subfamily Suinae. To date, only one fossil skull has been found to suggest a larger ancestor.  All members of the genus were considered part of a single species, the babirusa or pig-deer, "B. babyrussa". They were split into several species, this scientific name is restricted to the Buru babirusa from Buru and the Sula Islands, whereas the best-known species, the north Sulawesi babirusa, is named "B. celebensis". The split, which uses the phylogenetic species concept, is based on differences in size, amount of hair on body and tail-tuft, and measurements of the skull and teeth.

Species.

"B. babyrussa beruensis" was described as an extinct, Pleistocene subspecies from southwestern Sulawesi before babirusas were split into multiple species.

Physical description.

Babirusa are notable for the long upper canines in the males. The upper canines of male babirusa emerge vertically from the alveolar process, penetrating through the skin and curving backward over the front of the face and towards the forehead. The lower canines also grow upwards. The canines of the female are either reduced or absent. The structure of the male's canines vary by species. In the golden babirusa, the upper canines are short and slender with the alveolar rotated forward to allow the lower canines to cross the lateral view. The Togian babirusa also has the same characteristics and the upper canines always converge. The North Sulawesi babirusa has long and thick upper canines with a vertically implanted alveolar. This caused the upper canines to emerge vertically and not cross with the lower canines. Babirusa also vary by species in other characteristics. The golden babirusa has a long, thick pelage that is white, creamy gold, black or gold overall and black at the rump. The pelage of the Togian babirusa is also long but not as that of the golden babirusa. The Togian babirusa has a tawny, brown or black pelage that is darker on the upper parts than in the lower parts. The North Sulawesi babirusa has very short hair and appears bald. The female babirusa has only one pair of teats.

Biology and ecology.

Babirusa are native to Sulawesi, some of the Togian Islands, the Sula Islands and Buru. In Sulawesi, they range from the northern peninsula to the south and south east provinces. Although babirusas are present on both Sulawesi and Sula, they are not found on the large islands between the two, the Banggai Archipelago. It has been hypothesized that the unusual distribution is due to their being transported by humans as gifts bestowed by native royalty. The preferred habitat of babirusa are tropical rainforests along river banks. It appears that they have been confined to the higher grounds in the interior despite occurring in lowland areas near coasts in the past. They are also active during the daytime. Like all pig species, babirusa have an omnivorous diet with an intestinal tract similar to that of the domestic pig. The stomach diverticulum of a babirusa is enlarged which may indicate that it is a ruminant but evidence shows otherwise. Because it does not have a rostral bone in the nose, a babirusa does not dig with its snout like other pigs do except in mud and swampy grounds. The diet of the babirusa includes leaves, roots, fruits and animal material. Apparently, the strong jaws of a babirusa are capable of easily cracking hard nuts.  Male babirusa tend to live solitarily while adult females can be found in groups with young. Groups of female and young babirusa may number up to 84 individuals, most of which contain no adult males. Males rarely travel in pairs or trios. The tusks of the adult males are used in intraspecific fighting. The upper tusks are for defense while the lower tusks are offensive weapons. If a babirusa does not grind its tusks (achievable through regular activity), they can eventually keep growing so as to penetrate the animal's own skull.  Female babirusa cycle lengths are between 28 and 42 days and estrus last 2–3 days. The litter size for a babirusa is usually one or two piglets.

Relationship with humans.

In Indonesia, the striking appearance of the babirusa has inspired demonic masks, and the animal itself is sometimes used as a gift to present to visitors.  The Balinese Hindu-era Court of Justice pavilion and the "floating pavilion" of Klungkung palace ruins are notable for painted babirusa "raksasa" (grotesques) on the ceilings.  Prehistoric paintings of babirusa found in caves on the island of Sulawesi in Indonesia have been dated back at least 35,400 years (to the ice age Pleistocene epoch). Adam Brumm, who co-authored the 2014 study dating the paintings, said "The paintings of the wild animals are most fascinating because it is clear they were of particular interest to the artists themselves."

Conservation status.

Babirusas are protected in Indonesia and killing them is illegal in most cases. However, poaching remains a significant threat to the babirusa. Additionally, commercial logging operations threaten the babirusa by habitat loss, and also reduce cover, making the babirusa more exposed to poachers. All extant species of babirusa are listed as vulnerable or endangered by the IUCN.

The babirusas, also called deer-pigs () are a genus, Babyrousa, in the swine family found in Wallacea, or specifically the Indonesian islands of Sulawesi, Togian, Sula and Buru. All members of this genus were considered part of a single species until 2002, the babirusa, "B. babyrussa", but following that, was split into several species. This scientific name is restricted to the Buru babirusa from Buru and Sula, whereas the best-known species, the north Sulawesi babirusa, is named "B. celebensis". The remarkable "prehistoric" appearance of these mammals is largely due to the prominent upwards incurving canine tusks of the males, which actually pierce the flesh in the snout.


Geography.

From north to south, the delta is approximately in length. From west to east, it covers some of coastline. The delta is sometimes divided into sections, with the Nile dividing into two main distributaries, the Damietta and the Rosetta, flowing into the Mediterranean at port cities with the same name. In the past, the delta had several distributaries, but these have been lost due to flood control, silting and changing relief. One such defunct distributary is Wadi Tumilat.  The Suez Canal is east of the delta and enters the coastal Lake Manzala in the north-east of the delta. To the north-west are three other coastal lakes or lagoons: Lake Burullus, Lake Idku and Lake Mariout.  The Nile is considered to be an "arcuate" delta (arc-shaped), as it resembles a triangle or flower when seen from above. Some scholars such as Aristotle have written that the delta was constructed for agricultural purposes due to the drying of the region of Egypt. Although such an engineering feat would be considered equivalent to a wonder of the ancient world, there is insufficient evidence to determine conclusively whether the delta is man-made or was formed naturally.  In modern day, the outer edges of the delta are eroding, and some coastal lagoons have seen increasing salinity levels as their connection to the Mediterranean Sea increases. Since the delta no longer receives an annual supply of nutrients and sediments from upstream due to the construction of the Aswan Dam, the soils of the floodplains have become poorer, and large amounts of fertilizers are now used. Topsoil in the delta can be as much as in depth.

History.

People have lived in the Nile Delta region for thousands of years, and it has been intensively farmed for at least the last five thousand years. The delta was a major constituent of Lower Egypt, and there are many archaeological sites in and around the delta. Artifacts belonging to ancient sites have been found on the delta's coast. The Rosetta Stone was found in the delta in 1799 in the port city of Rosetta (an anglicized version of the name Rashid). In July 2019 a small Greek temple, ancient granite columns, treasure-carrying ships, and bronze coins from the reign of Ptolemy II, dating back to the third and fourth centuries BC, were found at the sunken city of Heracleion, colloquially known as Egypt's Atlantis. The investigations were conducted by Egyptian and European divers led by the underwater archaeologist Franck Goddio. They also uncovered a devastated historic temple (the city's main temple) underwater off Egypt's north coast.

Ancient branches of the Nile.

Records from ancient times (such as by Pliny the Elder) show that the delta had seven distributaries or branches, (from east to west):  There are now only two main branches, due to flood control, silting and changing relief: the Damietta (corresponding to the Phatnitic) to the east, and the Rosetta (corresponding to the Bolbitine) in the western part of the Delta. The Delta used to flood annually, but this ended with the construction of the Aswan Dam.

Population.

About 39 million people live in the Delta region. Outside of major cities, population density in the delta averages or more. Alexandria is the largest city in the delta with an estimated population of more than 4.5 million. Other large cities in the delta include Shubra El Kheima, Port Said, El Mahalla El Kubra, Mansura, Tanta, and Zagazig.

Wildlife.

During autumn, parts of the Nile River are red with lotus flowers. The Lower Nile (North) and the Upper Nile (South) have plants that grow in abundance. The Upper Nile plant is the Egyptian lotus, and the Lower Nile plant is the Papyrus Sedge ("Cyperus papyrus"), although it is not nearly as plentiful as it once was, and is becoming quite rare.  Several hundred thousand water birds winter in the delta, including the world's largest concentrations of little gulls and whiskered terns. Other birds making their homes in the delta include grey herons, Kentish plovers, shovelers, cormorants, egrets and ibises.  Other animals found in the delta include frogs, turtles, tortoises, mongooses, and the Nile monitor. Nile crocodiles and hippopotamus, two animals which were widespread in the delta during antiquity, are no longer found there. Fish found in the delta include the flathead grey mullet and soles.

Climate.

The Delta has a hot desert climate (Köppen: BWh) as the rest of Egypt, but its northernmost part, as is the case with the rest of the northern coast of Egypt which is the wettest region in the country, has relatively moderate temperatures, with highs usually not surpassing in the summer. Only of rain falls on the delta area during an average year, and most of this falls in the winter months. The delta experiences its hottest temperatures in July and August, with a maximum average of. Winter temperatures are normally in the range of at nights to in the daytime. With cooler temperatures and some rain, the Nile Delta region becomes quite humid during the winter months.

Sea level.

Egypt's Mediterranean coastline experiences significant loss of land to the sea, in some places amounting to a year. The low-lying Nile Delta area in particular is vulnerable to sea level rise associated with global warming. This effect is exacerbated by the lack of sediments being deposited since the construction of the Aswan Dam. If the polar ice caps were to melt, much of the northern delta, including the ancient port city of Alexandria, could disappear under the Mediterranean. A rise in sea level could affect about 6.6% of the total land cover area in the Nile Delta region. At sea level rise, an estimated 887 thousand people could be at risk of flooding and displacement and about of vegetation, wetland, cropland, and of urban area land could be destroyed, flooding approximately. Some areas of the Nile Delta's agricultural land have been rendered saline as a result of sea level rise; farming has been abandoned in some places, while in others sand has been brought in from elsewhere to reduce the effect. In addition to agriculture, the delta's ecosystems and tourist industry could be negatively affected by global warming. Food shortages resulting from climate change could lead to seven million "climate refugees" by the end of the 21st century. Nevertheless, environmental damage to the delta is not currently one of Egypt's priorities.  The delta's coastline has also undergone significant changes in geomorphology as a result of the reclamation of coastal dunes and lagoons to form new agricultural land and fish farms as well as the expansion of coastal urban areas.

Governorates and large cities.

The Nile Delta forms part of these 10 governorates: Large cities located in the Nile Delta:

The Nile Delta ('or simply ') is the delta formed in Lower Egypt where the Nile River spreads out and drains into the Mediterranean Sea. It is one of the world's largest river deltas—from Alexandria in the west to Port Said in the east, it covers of Mediterranean coastline and is a rich agricultural region. From north to south the delta is approximately in length. The Delta begins slightly down-river from Cairo.


How and when it happens.

The still commonly presented incorrect explanation claims that the Earth's post-sunset and pre-sunrise atmosphere solely receives and disperses the sun's shorter blue wavelengths and scatters the longer, reddish wavelengths to explain why the hue of this hour is so blue. In fact, the blue hour occurs when the Sun is far enough below the horizon so that the sunlight's blue wavelengths dominate due to the Chappuis absorption caused by ozone. Even some websites dedicated to information about ozone still propagate the incorrect claim that ozone does not contribute to the blue color of the sky, though this effect is much weaker during the rest of the day, between morning and evening twilight.  When the sky is clear, the blue hour can be a colorful spectacle, with the indirect sunlight tinting the sky yellow, orange, red, and blue. This effect is caused by the relative diffusibility of shorter wavelengths (bluer rays) of visible light versus the longer wavelengths (redder rays). During the blue "hour", red light passes through space while blue light is scattered in the atmosphere, and thus reaches Earth's surface. Blue hour usually lasts about 20–30 minutes right after sunset and right before sunrise. For instance, if the sun sets at 6:30 p.m., blue hour would occur from 6:40 p.m. to 7 p.m.. If the sun were to rise at 7:30 a.m., blue hour would occur from 7 a.m. to 7:20 a.m.. Time of year, location, and air quality all have an impact on the exact timing of blue hour.

Blue hour photography.

Many artists value this period for the quality of the soft light. Although the blue hour does not have an official definition, the blue color spectrum is most prominent when the Sun is between 4° and 8° below the horizon. Photographers cherish blue hour for the tranquil mood it sets. When photographing blue hour it is recommended to capture subjects that have artificial light sources, such as buildings, monuments, cityscapes, or bridges.

The blue hour (from French ; ) is the period of twilight (in the morning or evening, around the nautical stage) when the Sun is at a significant depth below the horizon and residual, indirect sunlight takes on a predominantly blue shade, which differs from the one visible during most of a clear day, which is caused by Rayleigh scattering.