Background.

In 1944, the "Wehrmacht" was pressed back along its entire frontline in the east. In February 1944, it retreated from the approaches to Leningrad to the prepared section of the Panther Line at the border of Estonia. In June and July, Army Group Centre was thrown back from the Belorussian SSR into Poland by Operation Bagration. This created the opportunity for the Red Army to attack towards the Baltic Sea, thereby severing the land connection between the German Army Groups.  By 5 July, the Šiauliai Offensive commenced, as a follow-on from Operation Bagration. The Soviet 43rd, 51st, and 2nd Guards Armies attacked towards Riga on the Baltic coast with 3rd Guards Mechanized Corps in the van. By 31 July, the coast on the Gulf of Riga had been reached; 6th Guards Army covered Riga and the extended flank of the penetration towards the north.  The German reaction was rapid, and initially successful. A counterattack, code-named Operation Doppelkopf, was conducted on 16 August by XXXX and XXXIX Panzer Corps under the command of Third Panzer Army, Army Group Centre. Acting in coordination with armored formations from Army Group North, they initially cut off the Soviet troops on the coast, and re-established a tenuous 30-kilometer-wide corridor connecting Army Groups Centre and North. The main objective of the attack was to retake the key road junction of Šiauliai (), but the German tanks ran head-on into an in-depth defense by the 1st Baltic Front, and by 20 August the German advance had stalled with heavy losses. A follow-on attack, code-named Operation Cäsar, and launched on 16 September, failed in the same manner. After a brief period of respite, STAVKA issued orders for the Baltic Strategic Offensive, which lasted from 14 September-24 November.

Battles.

In common with other Soviet strategic offensives, the Baltic Offensive covers a number of operational level operations and individual Front offensive operations:  From the German defensive perspective, the period included the following operations:

Aftermath.

Soviet victory.

The Baltic Offensive operation resulted in the expulsion of German forces from Estonia and Lithuania. The Soviet fronts involved in the battle lost a total of ca. 280,000 men to all causes (killed, missing, wounded, sick).  Communication lines between Army Group North and Army Group Centre were permanently severed, and the former was relegated to an occupied Baltic seashore area in Latvia. On 25 January, Adolf Hitler renamed Army Group North to Army Group Courland implicitly recognising that there was no possibility of restoring a new land corridor between Courland and East Prussia. The Red Army commenced the encirclement and reduction of the Courland cauldron which retained a possibility of being a major threat, but were able to focus on operations on its northern flank that were now aiming at East Prussia. Operations by the Red Army against the Courland Pocket continued until the surrender of the Army Group Courland on 9 May 1945, when close to 200,000 Germans were taken prisoner there.  The German command released thousands of native conscripts from military service. However the Soviet command began conscripting Baltic natives as areas were brought under Soviet control. While some ended up serving on both sides, many partisans hid in the woods to avoid conscription. ("See also Forest Brothers")  112 Hero of the Soviet Union awards were given out during the offensive, of which three were given soldier's second award.

Reoccupation of the Baltic states.

Soviet rule of the Baltic states was re-established by force, and sovietisation followed, which was mostly carried out in 1944–1950. The forced collectivisation of agriculture began in 1947, and was completed after the mass deportation of civilians in March 1949. All private farms were confiscated, and farmers were made to join the collective farms. An armed resistance movement of 'forest brothers' was active until the mass deportations. Tens of thousands participated or supported the movement; thousands were killed. The Soviet authorities fighting the forest brothers suffered also hundreds of deaths. Among those killed on both sides were innocent civilians. Besides the armed resistance of the forest brothers, a number of underground nationalist schoolchildren groups were active. Most of their members were sentenced to long terms of imprisonment. The punitive actions decreased rapidly after Joseph Stalin's death in 1953; from 1956–1958, a large part of the deportees and political prisoners were allowed to return to their homelands. Political arrests and numerous other kind of crimes against humanity were committed all through the occupation period until the late 1980s. Although the armed resistance was defeated, the populations remained anti-Soviet. This helped the Baltic citizens to organise a new resistance movement in the late 1980s and then rapidly develop a modern society after the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991.

The Baltic Offensive, also known as the Baltic Strategic Offensive, denotes the campaign between the northern Fronts of the Red Army and the German Army Group North in the Baltic States during the autumn of 1944. The result of the series of battles was the isolation and encirclement of the Army Group North in the Courland Pocket and Soviet re-occupation of the Baltic States.


Winter Olympics.

2010 Winter Olympics.

Kalla won the gold medal in the women's 10 km individual for Sweden at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, with a time of 24:58.4. She also won a silver in the team sprint event with Anna Haag at those same games.

2014 Winter Olympics.

Kalla won a silver medal in the skiathlon event on 8 February in Sochi, and another silver in the classical race on 13 February. In the 4 × 5 km women's relay race, held on 15 February, she ran in the final leg and started third with a 25.7 sec lag behind the first place and a 19.9 lag behind the second place, but totally reduced the gap, and overtook her competitors in the final straight, giving Sweden the gold medal.

2018 Winter Olympics.

Kalla took the first gold medal awarded at the 2018 Games in Pyeongchang when she won the skiathlon, breaking away from the leading group on the last lap of the course to take victory with a lead of 7.8 seconds over second-placed Marit Bjørgen. Her win made her the first Swedish woman to win three Winter Olympic golds, and tied her with canoer Agneta Andersson as the female Swede with most Olympic gold medals overall. It was also Kalla's sixth Olympic medal, equalling Anja Pärson's record for the most Winter Olympic medals among Swedish women. She then went on to win silver in the 10 km freestyle individual start, the 4 × 5 km relay (together with Anna Haag, Ebba Andersson and Stina Nilsson) and the team sprint (with Stina Nilsson).

Cross-country skiing results.

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

Other sports.

On 17–18 April 2015, Kalla participated and placed second in Keb Classic, a ski mountaineering event in Kebnekaise, Sweden, with Emelie Forsberg and Josefina Wikberg.

Marina Charlotte Kalla (born 22 July 1987 in Tärendö) is a Swedish cross-country skier who has been competing at international level since the 2003–04 season. Kalla is a three-time Olympian, winning her first Olympic gold medal at the 2010 Winter Olympics in the 10 km freestyle event in Vancouver. At the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi Kalla ran the final leg in the 4 × 5 km women's relay race and started third with a 25.7 seconds lag behind the first place but reduced the gap, overtaking her competitors in the final straight, earning Sweden the first gold medal in the women's relay event since 1968. At the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang Kalla won Olympic gold medal in the skiathlon event.


Amateur career.

Ken Morrow was born in Flint and grew up in the nearby town of Davison, Michigan. He is a graduate of Davison High School. Morrow attended Bowling Green State University in Bowling Green, Ohio where he was a star defenseman and also represented Team USA at the 1978 Ice Hockey World Championship. His best year as a college player was in 1979 when he was named Central Collegiate Hockey Association player of the year.  The following season, Morrow played for the 1980 U.S. Olympic hockey team that beat the Soviet team in an event known as the "Miracle on Ice" during the 1980 Winter Olympics before defeating Finland to win the gold medal.

Professional career.

Selected 68th overall in the 1976 NHL Entry Draft by the New York Islanders, Morrow joined the Islanders immediately after the Olympics. He helped them win their first Stanley Cup in 1980, making him the first player to win the Olympic Gold and an NHL championship in one season. He was an integral member of all four Islanders Stanley Cup teams in 1980, 1981, 1982 and 1983; furthermore, although Morrow was never a goal-scorer, during the playoffs the Isles often benefited from his clutch goal scoring at key times. Morrow also returned to the United States national team for the 1981 Canada Cup tournament.  During the 1980 and 1983 playoffs, Morrow had arthroscopic surgeries performed to his knees, and played only days afterward in order to contribute to the Islanders championships, often having fluid drained from his knees between games. He was eventually forced to retire prematurely from the game in 1988–89 due to constant knee problems.

Post playing career.

Morrow, who was inducted into the United States Hockey Hall of Fame in 1995, has been director of pro scouting for the Isles since 1993. He remains employed in this position despite the fact that a large amount of Islanders draft picks have never panned out. He previously served as the Islanders' assistant coach for one season, in 1991–92. He was also co-coach of the International Hockey League's Kansas City franchise in 1990–91 and assistant coach of the IHL Flint Spirits in 1989–90 shortly after retiring from hockey. On December 31, 2011, Morrow was inducted into the New York Islanders Hall of Fame. Ken Morrow is also President of KCIce, an Outdoor Ice Rink Development and Management company in Kansas City, MO.

In popular culture.

In the 1981 TV movie about the 1980 gold medal-winning U.S. Hockey team called "Miracle on Ice", he is played by Scott Feraco.  Morrow was portrayed by actor Casey Burnette in the 2004 Disney movie "Miracle". Before the movie, Burnette played junior hockey for the Barrie Colts in the Ontario Hockey League, the Hull Olympiques (now called the Gatineau Olympiques) and the Montreal Rocket, both in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. Bizarrely he was not depicted with his trademark beard in the movie despite this almost being an issue for Coach Herb Brooks. Brooks specifically made a rule to allow Morrow to keep his beard for the team, based on his having a beard prior to joining the team.

Kenneth Arlington Morrow (born October 17, 1956 in Davison, Michigan) is a former American professional ice hockey defenseman and a member of the 1980 USA Olympic Miracle on Ice hockey team. He is currently serves as the New York Islanders' director of pro scouting. A member of the United States Hockey Hall of Fame, he played 550 regular season games in the National Hockey League between 1980 and 1989.


Biography.

Legasov was born on September 1, 1936, in Tula, Russian SFSR, into a family of civil workers. He attended secondary school in Kursk. In 1949–1954, he attended School No. 56 in Moscow and graduated with a gold medal. The school now bears his name, and his bronze bust stands at the entrance. He married Margarita Mikhailovna and had a daughter, Inga Legasova.  In 1961, he graduated from the Faculty of Physicochemical Engineering at the Mendeleev Moscow Institute of Chemistry and Technology.  He worked as secretary of the Komsomol Committee of the Moscow Institute of Chemical Technology.  In 1962, he joined the graduate school in the Department of Molecular Physics of the Kurchatov Institute of Atomic Energy, first as a junior then senior researcher, and finally as head of the laboratory. In 1967, he defended his thesis at the Kurchatov Institute, under the supervisor Isaac Kikoin, on the synthesis of compounds of noble gases and the study of their properties. He received the degree of candidate in 1967 and his doctorate in chemistry in 1972.  In 1976, he was elected a corresponding member of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR.  From 1978 to 1983, he was a professor at the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology.  In 1981, he became a full member of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR, in the Department of Physical Chemistry and Technology of Inorganic Materials.  From 1983 until his death, he worked as chair of the department of Radiochemistry and Chemical Technology at the Faculty of Chemistry at Moscow State University. In 1983, he became the first Deputy Director for scientific work of the Kurchatov Institute of Atomic Energy.  Legasov studied methods for the synthesis and the properties of new compounds with elements in high oxidation states; nuclear and plasma technology; energy-saving technology, and hydrogen energy. Under his leadership, a scientific school was created in the newest section of inorganic chemistry – chemistry of noble gases.  Even before the Chernobyl disaster, Legasov was known to stress the need for new security and safety methods to prevent large catastrophes.

Chernobyl disaster.

By the time of the Chernobyl disaster on 26 April 1986, Legasov was the first deputy director of the Kurchatov Institute of Atomic Energy. He became a key member of the government commission formed to investigate the causes of the disaster and to plan the mitigation of its consequences. He took the most important decisions to avoid repeat accidents and informed the government of the situation in the disaster area. He did not hesitate to speak to his fellow scientists and to the press about the safety risks of the destroyed plant and insisted on the immediate evacuation of the entire population of the city of Pripyat nearby. In August 1986, he presented the report of the Soviet delegation at the special meeting of International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in Vienna. His report displayed a depth of analysis and honesty in discussing the extent and consequences of the tragedy. Legasov recorded five audio tapes where he expressed his point of view on events that happened in Chernobyl. The fifth and last tape was recorded with Ales Adamovich as an interview for an article.

Death.

On 27 April 1988, one day after the second anniversary of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant accident and one day before he was due to announce his results of the investigation into the causes of the disaster, Legasov hanged himself (some sources say in his apartment or the stairwell of his apartment; others in his office). A personal pistol remained in a drawer, but the professor chose to hang himself. He was buried at the Novodevichy cemetery in Moscow.  This was not Legasov's first suicide attempt. David R. Marples has suggested that the adversity of the Chernobyl disaster on Legasov's psychological state was the factor that led to his decision to die by suicide. Before his suicide, Legasov wrote documents revealing previously undisclosed facts about the catastrophe. According to an analysis of the recording for the BBC TV movie "Chernobyl Nuclear Disaster", Legasov claims political pressure censored the mention of Soviet nuclear secrecy in his report to the IAEA, a secrecy which forbade even plant operators having knowledge of previous accidents and known problems with reactor design. The "Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists" also stated that Legasov had become bitterly disillusioned with the failure of the authorities to confront the design flaws.

Aftermath.

Legasov's suicide caused shockwaves in the Soviet nuclear industry. In particular, the problem with the design of the control rods in Chernobyl-type RBMK reactors was rapidly admitted and addressed.  On 20 September 1996, then-Russian president Boris Yeltsin posthumously conferred on Legasov the honorary title of Hero of the Russian Federation, the country's highest honorary title, for the "courage and heroism" shown in his investigation of the disaster.

In media.

Legasov is portrayed by Ade Edmondson in the BBC docudrama "Surviving Disaster" (2006), and by Jared Harris in the Sky/HBO miniseries "Chernobyl" (2019).

Valery Alekseyevich Legasov (; 1 September 1936 – 27 April 1988) was a Soviet inorganic chemist and a member of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR. He is now mainly remembered for his work as the chief of the commission investigating the Chernobyl disaster.


Plot.

Rikki Chadwick, Emma Gilbert, and Cleo Sertori are three teenage Australian girls who find themselves stranded on the mysterious Mako Island, where they end up in a pool under a dormant volcano just as a full moon passes above them, bathing the pool in light. The girls are rescued and brought back to shore, where they return to their normal lives, until discovering their lives have become anything but normal. The girls find out that ten seconds after coming into contact with water they transform into mermaids. After further experimentation, the girls also discover they have supernatural powers over water. The trio enlist the help of Cleo's friend Lewis McCartney to help them keep their secret.  Everyday situations, such as bathing and dealing with rainy weather, become tricky as the girls struggle with their newfound abilities, which come with many advantages and disadvantages, while also trying to keep them a secret from everyone else, including their families. They soon adapt to their new abilities and lifestyles.  Series two introduces Charlotte Watsford, a rival to Cleo, for dating Lewis shortly after Cleo had broken up with him. She gains mermaid powers and becomes the main antagonist of series two. She has all three of the mermaids' powers. In the end, Charlotte loses both her powers and Lewis.  Series three sees the departure of Emma, who has left to travel the world with her parents. A new character, Bella Hartley, is introduced and it is discovered that she has been a mermaid since the age of nine. Rikki and Cleo become friends with Bella, but are soon beset by a mysterious tentacle of water with a connection to Mako Island. A new boy, Will Benjamin, also arrives and becomes friends with the trio when he discovers that they are mermaids. The girls learn that Earth is in the path of a comet that could destroy the planet. Using their powers, they manage to stop the comet from colliding with Earth.

Development and production.

There are three different types of mermaid tails used on the show: custom-fitted tails that the girls swim in, a "floppy tail" used for stationary shots, and a "hard tail" for stunts. The custom costumes took six months to build, with the tails and tops made from body casts and comprising individually hand-crafted scales. The finished product weighs between. Inside the tail are leg straps where the girls are strapped up and then zipped up. Once in costume, the girls have to be lifted into the water. Attempts were made to minimise the on-screen visibility of the zips on the tails, such as adding extra scales and crafting a ridge of material around the length of the zip. The tail fin itself was designed with a foot pedal to assist the actresses with swimming. This, along with the fin, adds some to the length of the costume.

Multimedia.

Home media.

All series have been released on DVD in Region 4 PAL format. Series one comprises six individual DVD sets released between September 2007 and November 2008, and a complete series set released in June 2009. Series two comprises three individual sets released between February and September 2009, and a complete series set released in November 2009. Series three comprises two individual sets released in July and September 2012, with a complete series released in December 2012.  A three-disc set, "HO: Season 1, Volume 1", containing the first 13 episodes of series 1 for Region 1 NTSC format was released on 16 June 2009 by Nickelodeon as a manufacture-on-demand (MOD) DVD-R release via Amazon.com through their CreateSpace service. No follow-up DVD volume releases were made from this initial set, which was later discontinued. A complete series DVD boxed set was released in Region 1 NTSC format on 6 November 2012 from New Video, and all three series were made available for purchase individually beginning on 5 March 2013.

Soundtracks.

An official soundtrack for series two of the show, titled "" and recorded by singer Kate Alexa, was first released on 10 September 2007 in Australia on Liberation Records and has since been made available worldwide. Its lead track, "No Ordinary Girl", is the theme song for the show. "No Ordinary Girl" is performed by Ellie Henderson in series one, by Kate Alexa in series two and by Indiana Evans in series three.  A second soundtrack, featuring music from series three, was first released on iTunes on 17 February 2011 and later worldwide in March 2011. It is also titled "" and was recorded by actress Indiana Evans.

Books.

Several children's books have been released by Nickelodeon UK:

Spin-offs.

In July 2011, the production of a 26-episode spin-off was announced. The new series, "", follows the adventures of 15-year-old Zac and mermaids Sirena, Nixie, and Lyla. In the final series of the show, Cariba Heine makes a guest appearance as Rikki.  In May 2015, an animated spin-off targeted to children premiered on Netflix, titled "".

HO: Just Add Water, also known as HO, is an Australian dramatic fantasy television series for children and teenagers created by Jonathan M. Shiff. It first screened on Australia's Network Ten and runs in syndication on channels in over 120 countries and has a worldwide audience of more than 250 million. It was filmed on location at Sea World and other locations on the Gold Coast. The show revolves around three teenage girls facing everyday teen problems with an added twist: they're mermaids with powers over water.


Origin and status.

The Titan Saturn System Mission (TSSM) was officially created in January 2009 by the merging of the ESA's Titan and Enceladus Mission (TandEM) with NASA's Titan Explorer (2007) study, although plans to combine both concepts date at least back to early 2008. TSSM was competing against the Europa Jupiter System Mission (EJSM) proposal for funding, and in February 2009 it was announced that NASA/ESA had given EJSM priority ahead of TSSM. TSSM will continue to be studied for a later launch date, probably sometime in the 2020s. Detailed assessment reports of the mission elements as well as a specific concept for a lake-landing module for Titan's lakes called Titan Mare Explorer (TiME) with the potential of becoming a part of the TSSM have been proposed in February and October 2009, respectively.  The TSSM may be revived and launched on the SLS super-heavy-lift rocket.

Mission overview.

The TSSM mission consists of an orbiter and two Titan exploration probes: a hot air balloon ("Montgolfier" type) that will float in Titan's clouds, and a lander that will splash down on one of its methane seas.  Both probes’ data are to be relayed to a Titan orbiter. They will be equipped to study Titan's features with instruments for imaging, radar profiling, and surface as well as atmospheric sampling, much more complete than done by the Cassini–Huygens mission.  The spacecraft will use several gravity assist flybys of other planets to enable it to reach Saturn. The baseline design envisaged a September 2020 launch, followed by four gravity assists (Earth–Venus–Earth–Earth), and arrival at Saturn 9 years later in October 2029. This is one of several available Earth-to-Saturn transfer options from the year 2018 through 2022. Current NASA plans do not give the TSSM a priority, however, and it is unlikely any of the proposed launch dates can be met.  Upon Saturn arrival, in October 2029, the orbiter's chemical propulsion system would place the flight system into orbit around Saturn, followed by a two-year Saturn Tour Phase, characterized by the deployment of the "in situ" elements, and including a minimum of seven close Enceladus flybys and 16 Titan flybys. During this period, repeated satellite gravity assists and manoeuvres will reduce the energy needed to insert into Titan's orbit. As the craft completes its flyby by Enceladus, the orbiter will analyze the unusual cryovolcanic plumes at the moon's south pole.  The montgolfière, a hot air balloon, would be released on approach to the first Titan flyby for ballistic entry into Titan's atmosphere for its six Earth months’ mission from April 2030 to October 2030. Based on Cassini–Huygens discoveries, the montgolfière should be able to circumnavigate Titan at least once during its nominal lifetime at its deployment latitude of about 20°N, 10 kilometers above Titan's surface.

Lake lander.

Numerous proposals have been brought forward with respect to the lake-lander concept. One of the most detailed plans so far is the so-called Titan Mare Explorer (TiME), which had originally been proposed as a separate scout mission, but might eventually be postponed and included in the TSSM. If approved, TiME would be released by the orbiter on its second Titan flyby. Due to Titan's haze layer and its distance to the Sun, the lander cannot be powered by solar panels and it would rely on the new Advanced Stirling Radioisotope Generator (ASRG), which is a prototype meant to provide availability of long-lived power supplies for landed networks and other planetary missions. The lander will target Ligeia Mare, a northern polar sea of liquid hydrocarbons at about 79°N. The probe will descend by parachute, like the Huygens probe of 2005. During the 6 hours of descent it will analyze the atmosphere and then splashdown on the liquid surface. The plutonium-powered craft's principal function is to sample and analyze organics on the surface for a period of about 3 to 6 months; this would be the first floating exploration of an extraterrestrial sea.

Science goals and objectives.

The major goals of the TSSM mission can be summarized under four categories: At Titan, the science goals would be to provide information on such aspects as the composition of the surface and the geographic distribution of the various organic constituents; on the methane cycle and the methane reservoirs; on the ages of the surface features, and in particular on whether cryovolcanism and tectonism are actively ongoing or are relics of a more active past; on the presence or absence of ammonia, of a magnetic field and of a sub-surface ocean; on the chemistry that drives complex ion formation in the upper atmosphere; and on a large altitude range in the atmosphere, from 400–900 km, which remains poorly explored after Cassini. In addition, much remains to be understood about seasonal changes of the atmosphere at all levels, and the long-term escape of constituents to space.  TiME lander would splashdown on Ligeia Mare, a methane sea on Titan's northern hemisphere. It is believed that Titan's methane cycle is analogous to Earth's hydrologic cycle, with meteorological working fluid existing in liquid and gas phase. TiME would directly discern the methane cycle of Titan and help understand its similarities and differences to the hydrologic cycle on Earth. However, questions about the sources of re-supply of methane to the atmosphere remain to be answered. This world is built by organic activities which still operate and Cassini–Huygens findings suggest a world with a balance of geologic and atmospheric processes that is the solar system's best analogue to Earth. Moreover, an interior ocean discovered by Cassini, deep underneath Titan's dense atmosphere and surface is thought to be largely composed of liquid water. TSSM would be the first mission in the 50 years of space exploration where an extensive and interdisciplinary in situ survey of active organic chemistry and climate on the land, on the sea, and in the air of another world will take place.

Titan Saturn System Mission (TSSM) was a joint NASA–ESA proposal for an exploration of Saturn and its moons Titan and Enceladus, where many complex phenomena were revealed by "Cassini". With an estimated NASA cost of $2.5 billion (FY07), TSSM was proposed to launch in 2020, get gravity assists from Earth and Venus, and arrive at the Saturn system in 2029. The 4-year prime mission would include a two-year Saturn tour, a 2-month Titan aero-sampling phase, and a 20-month Titan orbit phase.


Plot summary.

The court jester Hop-Frog, "being also a dwarf and a cripple", is the much-abused "fool" of the unnamed king. This king has an insatiable sense of humor: "he seemed to live only for joking". Both Hop-Frog and his best friend, the dancer Trippetta (also small, but beautiful and well-proportioned), have been stolen from their homeland and essentially function as slaves. Because of his physical deformity, which prevents him from walking upright, the King nicknames him "Hop-Frog".  Hop-Frog reacts severely to alcohol, and though the king knows this, he forces Hop-Frog to consume several goblets full. Trippetta begs the king to stop. Though Trippetta is said to be a favorite of his, he pushes her and throws a goblet of wine into her face in front of seven members of his cabinet council. The violent act makes Hop-Frog grind his teeth. The powerful men laugh at the expense of the two servants and ask Hop-Frog (who suddenly becomes sober and cheerful) for advice on an upcoming masquerade. He suggests some very realistic costumes for the men: costumes of orangutans chained together. The men love the idea of scaring their guests and agree to wear tight-fitting shirts and pants saturated with tar and covered with flax. In full costume, the men are then chained together and led into the "grand saloon" of masqueraders just after midnight.  As predicted, the guests are shocked and many believe the men to be real "beasts of "some" kind in reality, if not precisely ourang-outangs". Many rush for the doors to escape, but the King had insisted the doors be locked; the keys are left with Hop-Frog. Amidst the chaos, Hop-Frog attaches a chain from the ceiling to the chain linked around the men in costume. The chain then pulls them up via pulley (presumably by Trippetta, who has arranged the room to help with the scheme) far above the crowd. Hop-Frog puts on a spectacle so that the guests presume "the whole matter as a well-contrived pleasantry". He claims he can identify the culprits by looking at them up close. He climbs up to their level, grits his teeth again, and holds a torch close to the men's faces. They quickly catch fire: "In less than half a minute the whole eight ourang-outangs were blazing fiercely, amid the shrieks of the multitude who gazed at them from below, horror-stricken, and without the power to render them the slightest assistance". Finally, before escaping through a sky-light with Trippetta to their home country, Hop-Frog identifies the men in costume:

Analysis.

The story, like "The Cask of Amontillado", is one of Poe's revenge tales, in which a murderer apparently escapes without punishment. In "The Cask of Amontillado", the victim wears motley; in "Hop-Frog", the murderer also dons such attire. However, while "The Cask of Amontillado" is told from the murderer's point of view, "Hop-Frog" is told from an unidentified third-person narrator's point of view.  The grating of Hop-Frog's teeth, right after Hop-Frog witnesses the king splash wine in Trippetta's face, and again just before Hop-Frog sets the eight men on fire, may well be symbolic. Poe often used teeth as a sign of mortality, as with the lips writhing about the teeth of the mesmerized man in "The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar" or the obsession with teeth in "Berenice".  "The Cask of Amontillado" represents Poe's attempt at literary revenge on a personal enemy, and "Hop-Frog" may have had a similar motivation. As Poe had been pursuing relationships with Sarah Helen Whitman and Nancy Richmond (whether romantic or platonic is uncertain), members of literary circles in New York City spread gossip and incited scandal about alleged improprieties. At the center of this gossip was a woman named Elizabeth F. Ellet, whose affections Poe had previously scorned. Ellet may be represented by the king himself, with his seven councilors representing Margaret Fuller, Hiram Fuller (no relation), Thomas Dunn English, Anne Lynch Botta, Anna Blackwell, Ermina Jane Locke, and Locke's husband.  The tale is arguably autobiographical in other ways. The jester Hop-Frog, like Poe, is "kidnapped from home and presented to the king" (his wealthy foster father John Allan), "bearing a name not given in baptism but 'conferred upon him'" and is susceptible to wine... when insulted and forced to drink becomes insane with rage". Like Hop-Frog, Poe was bothered by those who urged him to drink, despite a single glass of wine making him drunk.  Poe may have based the story on the "Bal des Ardents" at the court of Charles VI of France in January 1393. At the suggestion of a Norman squire, the king and five others dressed as Wild Men in highly flammable costumes made with pitch and flax. Four of the men died in the fire, and only Charles and the fifth man were saved. Citing Barbara Tuchman as his source, Jack Morgan, of the University of Missouri–Rolla, author of "The Biology of Horror", discusses the incident as a possible inspiration for "Hop-Frog".  The king and his seven councilors appear in the masquerade at midnight, the same time that the Red Death appears in the masquerade in "The Masque of the Red Death", the narrator of "The Tell-Tale Heart" enters the old man's bedroom each night for one week, and the raven taps on the narrator's door in Poe's poem "The Raven".

Publication history.

The tale first appeared in the March 17, 1849 edition of "The Flag of Our Union", a Boston-based newspaper published by Frederick Gleason and edited by Maturin Murray Ballou. It originally carried the full title "Hop Frog; Or, The Eight Chained Ourang-Outangs". In a letter to friend Nancy Richmond, Poe wrote: "The 5 prose pages I finished yesterday are called — what do you think? — I am sure you will never guess — "Hop-Frog!" Only think of "your" Eddy writing a story with "such" a name as 'Hop-Frog'!"  He explained that, though "The Flag of Our Union" was not a respectable journal "in a literary point of view", it paid very well.

"Hop-Frog" (originally "Hop-Frog; Or, the Eight Chained Ourang-Outangs") is a short story by American writer Edgar Allan Poe, first published in 1849. The title character, a person with dwarfism taken from his homeland, becomes the jester of a king particularly fond of practical jokes. Taking revenge on the king and his cabinet for the king's striking of his friend and fellow dwarf Trippetta, he dresses the king and his cabinet as orangutans for a masquerade. In front of the king's guests, Hop-Frog murders them all by setting their costumes on fire before escaping with Trippetta.


Plot.

Brad Whitewood Sr. is a career criminal and the leader of his family's gang of rural back-door criminals. The film chronicles the intersection of Sr's criminal enterprises with his son, Brad Whitewood Jr., who starts out as a floundering, out-of-work teenager living in near squalor with his mother, grandmother, brother and mother's boyfriend. When his father shows up in a flashy car with a pocket full of hundred dollar bills, Brad Jr. formulates a desire to join his father's life of crime. At first Jr. starts a gang with his brother, Tommy, fencing their stolen goods through Brad Sr.'s criminal network. As a result of entanglements with his 16-year-old girlfriend, Terry, Brad Jr. seeks full entry into his father's gang, but after witnessing a murder he tries to back out. Eventually Brad Jr's gang is arrested while attempting to steal tractors, and the FBI and local law enforcement attempt to lean on Brad Jr. to get him to turn evidence on his father's gang.  During Brad Jr.'s time in jail, Brad Sr. becomes convinced that Terry is a risk to his activities, thinking that Brad Jr. may confide details to Terry and that she has a big mouth. In an attempt to destroy her relationship with Brad Jr., Brad Sr. rapes Terry after getting her drunk and stoned. After a prison visit where Terry, accompanied by Brad Jr's mother, has an inaudible conversation with Brad Jr., it appears that Brad Jr. begins to cooperate with the police. The members of Brad Jr's gang are subpoenaed, and Brad Sr. feels his only recourse is to eliminate them. Brad Jr. and Terry plan to flee to Montana, but they are ambushed. Terry is killed, and Brad Jr. is seriously wounded. Brad Jr. confronts his father armed with his father's gun, but decides instead to cooperate with police. The film ends with a close up of Brad Jr. on the witness stand.

Production.

Filming.

The movie, while depicting incidents in Chester County and Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, was actually filmed in Franklin, Tennessee and Spring Hill, Tennessee.

Soundtrack.

Music for the film was composed by Patrick Leonard, who had been working on an instrumental theme for "Fire with Fire", and wanted to enlist Madonna for the vocals. Leonard was turned down by Paramount for that project, but Madonna, who was at the time married to Sean Penn, decided that the theme would work well for "At Close Range". She composed the lyrics and presented a demo cassette to director James Foley, and suggested Leonard compose the film's soundtrack. The theme with Madonna's lyrics became the single "Live to Tell". A slower instrumental version opened the film's main title sequence, a harbinger of the end credit sequence, which was accompanied by the version from Madonna's album "True Blue". Versions of the instrumental show up throughout. The instrumental score by Leonard remained unreleased until a version of the main titles appeared on the Internet in 2014, although the 45 single of "Live to Tell" included a B-side incomplete instrumental version of the score, and DJ A!O released a seven-minute instrumental suite of Leonard's film arrangement prior to 2008 on Sp!n.  The official soundtrack to the film included a number of singles from the 1970s decade, including "Miss You" by The Rolling Stones, "Boogie Oogie Oogie" by A Taste of Honey, as well as a number of arrangements featuring LeRoux.

Reception.

Critical reception.

Roger Ebert gave the "At Close Range" 31⁄2 (out of 4) stars, noting that "few recent films have painted such a bleak picture of human nature". He described Penn as "probably the best of the younger actors", while lauding Walken's "hateful" performance.  At Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 87% based on 23 reviews, with an average score of 7.2/10. It holds a score of 67 out of 100 on Metacritic from 9 appraisals, indicating "generally favorable reviews".

Box office.

Despite the accolades and warm reviews, the film was not a box office success. It grossed a total of $2,347,000 at the North American box office during its theatrical run in 83 theaters, earning less than its production budget of $6.5 million.

At Close Range is a 1986 American neo-noir crime drama film directed by James Foley, based on the real life rural Pennsylvania crime family led by Bruce Johnston Sr. which operated during the 1960s and 1970s. It stars Sean Penn and Christopher Walken, with Mary Stuart Masterson, Sean's brother Chris Penn, David Strathairn, Crispin Glover, Kiefer Sutherland, and Eileen Ryan in supporting roles. Madonna both sang and co-wrote the song “Live to Tell” which features in the film's soundtrack.


History.

The reign of King Ludwig I of Bavaria was a time of intensive research into water glass (potassium silicate). The king loved the colorful lime frescoes in North Italy and longed to enjoy the typically splendid colors produced by lime paints in his own kingdom. But the harsh German climate was not suitable for the technique used in Italy. Eventually, the skilled craftsman and researcher Adolf Wilhelm Keim succeeded in mixing liquid water glass and mineral color pigments to create a paint that could withstand the climate north of the Alps while at the same time offering brilliant colors. The paint's durability results from the chemical bond formed by the binding agent with the substrate (silification). Keim obtained a patent for his mineral paints in 1878, thus laying the foundation stone for today's company KEIMFARBEN GMBH. The first production site was near to the limestone quarry in Offenstetten (which belongs to Abensberg today) in Lower Bavaria.

Group structure.

Headquarters in Diedorf Subsidiary in Alteno  Keimfarben has two German sites in Diedorf (headquarters) and Alteno/Luckau and altogether eleven foreign subsidiaries in Europe (Austria, Switzerland, Italy, France, Spain, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Scandinavia, Poland, the Czech Republic) and the United States. Authorised dealers are responsible for sales in countries where Keimfarben does not have its own subsidiary (Australia, Canada, China, Singapore, Malaysia and Russia). On 6 September 2012, KEIMFARBEN GMBH & Co KG changed its legal form and now operates under the name of "KEIMFARBEN GMBH".

Product range.

Keim laid the foundation for the success of Keimfarben in 1878 with KEIM Purkristalat, a two-component pure silicate paint. The second generation of Keim paints followed in 1962 with Keim Granital, the first silicate emulsion paint; in contrast to Purkristalat, this is a one-component paint which makes it easier to apply. In 2002, Keimfarben then launched Keim Soldalit, a sol-silicate or colloidal silicate paint (binding agent: colloidal silica and water glass), which makes it much easier to apply silicate paints so that they are suitable for universal use.  Keimfarben produces paint systems for external and internal use, mineral renders and fillers, natural stone repair systems and thermal insulation composite systems, together with concrete repair and surface protection systems. A new item in the product range is silicate paint for wooden substrates.

KEIMFARBEN GMBH is a medium-sized company based in Diedorf near Augsburg. It belongs to the Leonhard Moll AG Group and is one of the world's leading manufacturers of silicate paints. Buildings such as the White House, Mariyinsky Palace, Buckingham Palace, Sydney Opera House and the Bolshoi Theatre are painted with Keimfarben paints.


Biography.

He was born in Bohemian-Moravian Highlands. Until the age of 18 he worked in the quarry. His meeting with the famous Czech cello pedagogue Karel P. Sádlo proved to be a turning point in his life. Sádlo supported him, introduced him to the cello (1941) and tutored him for the Conservatoire (1942–1948, cello with K. P. Sádlo, chamber music with Václav Talich). Between 1948-52 Sláma completed his studies at the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague. By this time he had already been a member of the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra (1948–1981, since 1962 sub-principal cello and cello section leader).  The legendary conductor Václav Talich encouraged Sláma's enthusiasm for chamber music and had, along with K.P.Sádlo and later Milan Munclinger, a lasting influence on Sláma's musical development. During the next 45 years Sláma performed with leading chamber ensembles in Czechoslovakia. In 1946 he was a founding member of Talich's Czech Chamber Orchestra, between 1953-1976 the viol da gambist of Pro Arte Antiqua (one of the oldest European ensembles focused on medieval and Renaissance music) and between 1954-1997 a member of the ensemble Ars Rediviva, whose performances and recordings played an important role in the revival of the Baroque music in Czechoslovakia.  With these ensembles he made a large number of recordings (with Supraphon, Panton, Columbia, DGG, Ariola, Nippon, etc.), which received several awards both in Czechoslovakia and abroad (e.g. Grand Prix du Disque). He participated also in first performances of modern compositions (e.g. Ilja Hurník: "Sonata da camera", Jan Tausinger: "Evocations").

Pedagogue and publicist.

Since the 1970s he was a teacher at the Conservatoire in Prague. He also wrote about music and musicians, cooperated with Czech Radio (e.g. introduced Jordi Savall to the Czech audience). In 2001 his book ""Z Herálce do Šangrilá a zase nazpátek"" (“"From Heralec to Shangrila and Back Again"”) was published - reminiscences about the Prague music scene between the 1940s and the 1990s as well as about Sláma's musical colleagues, conductors (Talich, Barbirolli, Cluytens, Karajan, Kleiber, Klemperer, Kletzki, Kubelík, Maazel, Mackerras, Markevitch, Matačić, Mravinsky, Münch, Pedrotti, Rozhdestvensky, Sawallisch, Stokowski, etc.) and other personalities whom he had met (e.g. Adorján, André, Fournier, Honegger, Mainardi, Menuhin, Milhaud, Navarra, Nureyev, Oistrakh, Rampal, Richter, Szeryng, Sudek, Tortelier).

František Sláma archive.

František Sláma archive collection donated to his native village Heralec consists of more than 5000 negatives and photos, over 150 hours of authentic recordings and documents about Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, Václav Talich, Milan Muclinger, Ars Rediviva, etc. Live recordings of Ars Rediviva performances in Rudolfinum are also deposited in the Czech Music Museum (see: External links).

František Sláma (November 19, 1923 – May 5, 2004) was a significant Czech chamber music performer. He was the first Czech cellist who focused on Early music.


Early life and rise.

Mitsuhide was born in Tara castle, Mino Province-now Gifu Prefecture Mitsuhide was a descendant of the Toki-Akechi family of the shugo Toki clan. Mitsuhide is rumored to be a childhood friend or cousin of Nōhime. It is believed that he was raised to be a general among 10,000 by Saitō Dōsan and the Toki clan during their governorship of the Mino Province. When Dōsan's son, Saitō Yoshitatsu, rebelled against his father in 1556, Mitsuhide sided with Dōsan.  Mitsuhide began serving the "wandering "shōgun"" Ashikaga Yoshiaki as one of his guardians under Hosokawa Yusai. "Shōgun" Ashikaga ordered Asakura Yoshikage to be his official protector, an offer which Yoshikage declined. Yoshiaki appealed to Mitsuhide, who suggested Oda Nobunaga instead.  In 1564, Nobunaga sent his sister Oichi to be the bride of Azai Nagamasa. This aided him in his 1566 conquest for Mino province this also opened the path to Kyoto. The "shōgun" Yoshiaki and Mitsuhide arrived at Kyoto, the capital of Japan, converting Hongoku-ji temple to a temporary palace in November 1568. Nobunaga returned from Kyoto on January 4, 1569. The Miyoshi clan and Saito Tatsuoki defeated the daimyo of Mino, and attacked Ashikaga Yoshiaki at Hongoku-ji, where Mitsuhide successfully defended the "shōgun". Nobunaga asked Mitsuhide to join his troops and Mitsuhide decided to serve both the "shōgun" and Nobunaga.  Mitsuhide received Sakamoto and built Sakamoto Castle in 1571 after the successful attack at the Enryaku-ji temple. Although Nobunaga rarely put too much trust in his retainers, he particularly trusted Shibata Katsuie, Hashiba Hideyoshi, and Akechi Mitsuhide, who was the first subordinate to receive a castle from Nobunaga. After Mitsuhide received Sakamoto, he moved to pacify the Tanba region by defeating several clans such as the Hatano clan and Akai Naomasa of Tango. Mitsuhide also received Kameyama castle and Tanba Province (550,000 "koku").  He participated in Ishiyama Hongan-ji War (1570-1580) and the Battle of Tedorigawa in 1577.

Incident at Honnō-ji.

In 1579, Nobunaga captured Yakami Castle from Hatano Hideharu by promising Hideharu peace terms; however, Nobunaga betrayed the peace agreement and had Hideharu executed. This reputedly displeased the Hatano family, and a short while later several of Hideharu's retainers murdered Akechi Mitsuhide's mother (or aunt). The failing relationship between Nobunaga and Mitsuhide was further fueled through several public insults which Nobunaga directed at Mitsuhide.  In 1582, Mitsuhide was ordered to march west and assist Hashiba Hideyoshi who was at that time fighting the Mōri clan. Ignoring his orders, Mitsuhide assembled an army of 13,000 soldiers and moved against Nobunaga's position at Honnō-ji. On June 21, Mitsuhide was quoted as saying, "The enemy is at Honnō-ji!" His army surrounded the temple and eventually set it on fire. Oda Nobunaga was killed either during the fighting, or by his own hand. Nobunaga's son, Oda Nobutada, fled the scene, but was surrounded at Nijō and killed. Despite not killing Nobunaga personally, Mitsuhide claimed responsibility for his death.

The Battle of Yamazaki.

Mitsuhide's betrayal of the Oda shocked the capital, and he was forced to move quickly to secure his position. Mitsuhide looted Azuchi castle to reward his men and maintain their loyalty.  Mitsuhide attempted to make gestures of friendship to a panicked Imperial Court; he also made many attempts to win over the other clans, but to no avail. Hosokawa Fujitaka, to whom he was related through marriage, quickly cut ties with him.  Tsutsui Junkei half-heartedly supported Hideyoshi.  Mitsuhide had counted on Toyotomi Hideyoshi being occupied fighting with the Mori, and unable to respond to Mitsuhide's coup d'état. However, having learned of the assassination of his lord, Hideyoshi quickly signed a peace treaty with the Mori, and alongside Tokugawa Ieyasu rushed to be the first to avenge Nobunaga and take his place.  Hideyoshi force-marched his army to Settsu in four days, and caught Mitsuhide off guard. Mitsuhide had been unable to garner support for his cause, and his army had dwindled down to 10,000 men. Hideyoshi, however, had won over former Oda retainers, including Niwa Nagahide and Takayama Ukon, and had a strength of 20,000 men. The two forces met at the Battle of Yamazaki.  Mitsuhide took up a position south of Shōryūji Castle, securing his right flank by the Yodo river, and his left at the foot of the 270-metre Tennozan. Hideyoshi immediately seized the advantage by securing the heights of Tennōzan; his vanguard then maneuvered to face the Akechi forces along the Enmyōji river. Mitsuhide's forces made a failed attempt to force Hideyoshi from Tennōzan. Hideyoshi's general, Ikeda Nobuteru moved to reinforce Hideyoshi's right flank, which soon crossed Enmyōji-gawa and turned the Akechi flank. Simultaneously, Hideyoshi's forces marched against the Akechi front; this started a rout, only two hours after the battle had begun.

Aftermath.

Mitsuhide's reign as "shōgun" only lasted 13 days, hence the reference "thirteen-day shogun", he was later killed while fleeing the battle of Yamazaki by the bandit leader Nakamura Chōbei.  The short reign of Mitsuhide is listed as the inspiration for the yojijukugo set phrase.  He is still popular in present culture. A ceremonial activity was held on April 15, 2018 in Kyoto.

Reasons for betrayal.

No one knows the specific reason that Mitsuhide betrayed Nobunaga, though there are several theories:

Family.

Ancestors.

The Akechi family was able to trace their heritage to the Toki clan and from there to the Minamoto clan. The sword of Mitsuhide is of the Tensho style; the Tensho Koshirae was first designed to be a replica of Akechi Mitsuhide's own sword.

Castles built or reconstructed by Mitsuhide.

Mitsuhide was well known as a master of castle construction, and was engaged in the construction of many castles.

, first called Jūbei from his clan and later from his title, was a samurai and general who lived during the Sengoku period of Feudal Japan.


Seed.

Native to Ethiopia and Malawi, niger seeds are also grown in India. Niger seeds resemble sunflower seeds in shape, but are smaller in size and black. It bears a fairly thick, adherent seed coat and can be stored for up to a year without deterioration. Niger seed contains proteins, oil and soluble sugars. Niger seeds are used as bird feed worldwide. Commercial niger seed is grown in Africa, India and other areas of southeast Asia, and the seed is imported around the world as a popular type of birdseed. Before it is imported, however, niger seed is sterilized by intense heat to prevent germination of any additional seeds that may be part of the mix. Treated niger seed may germinate but would typically be stunted, limiting its spread and offering less of a threat to native plants.  Basic nutritional components of niger seeds

Cultivation.

Requiring moderate rainfall between 1000 and 1250 mm (39–49 in) annually, niger seed needs moist soil to grow properly. Niger should be grown in light black soils or brownish loam with sufficient depth but it also can be grown on well drained heavy soils or rocky laterite soils. It can grow in semi-shade or full sun. The yield of seeds will average 300–400 kg/hectare (270–360 lb/acre) under favorable conditions but can produce up to 600 kg/hectare (540 lb/acre). It gives a dependable yield even under unfavorable climatic conditions.  The seed, technically a fruit called an achene, is often sold as birdseed as it is a favourite of finches, especially the goldfinch and the greenfinch. In the birdseed market, niger is often sold or referred to as thistle seed. This is a misnomer resulting from early marketing of the seed as "thistle" to take advantage of the finches' preference for thistle.  The Wild Bird Feeding Industry (WBFI) has trademarked the name Nyjer "... to eliminate product confusion and the offensive mispronunciation of Niger as well as to promote a positive image for the use of 'Guizotia abyssinica' as a wild bird feed." In 1982 the USDA ordered that imported niger seed must be heat sterilized to kill the contaminant dodder seed. This treatment, however, was insufficient to kill seeds of other Federal noxious weeds, including "Asphodelus fistulosus" (onion weed), "Digitaria" spp. (includes African couchgrass), "Oryza" spp. (red rice), "Paspalum scrobiculatum" (kodo millet), "Prosopis" spp. (includes mesquites), "Solanum viarum" (tropical soda apple), "Striga" spp. (witchweed), and "Urochloa panicoides" (liver-seed grass). In 2001 a new treatment required that imported niger seed must be heat treated at 120 °C (248 °F) for 15 minutes.  In 2002 the 'EarlyBird' variety of "Guizotia abyssinica" with a crop maturity of 65 days was developed and adapted to grow in the United States. The 'EarlyBird' variety of "Guizotia abyssinica" is protected by U.S.D.A. Plant Variety Protection Certificate Number 9900412. A second variety of "Guizotia abyssinica" submitted to the U.S.D.A. for Plant Variety Protection (Application Number 200500140) called 'Earlybird 50' has a crop maturity of 50 days and is a shorter, more dense plant with a higher yield and is less susceptible to lodging than the 'EarlyBird' variety. Both varieties have short enough maturities to make production feasible in many U.S. growing regions. "Guizotia abyssinica" is not a Federal noxious weed and is now in commercial agricultural production in the United States often grown as a first or second crop before or after wheat, corn, soybeans, and cucurbits. Niger is self-sterile and requires bees for cross pollination.

Oil.

Niger seed yields about 30–35% of its weight in oil which is clear, slow-drying, and edible. Niger seed oil is polyunsaturated semi-drying oil. It has pale yellow or orange color with a nutty taste and sweet odor. Raw oil has low acidity and can be used directly for cooking. Normally it has a poor shelf life and will become rancid when stored for a long period. Its fatty acid composition is similar to sunflower oil and has high content of linoleic acid. It is used as a substitute for olive oil and can be mixed with linseed oil. The presence of linoleic acid varies from 45.0–65.0% depending on harvested soil conditions and seed variety. The physical character of oil and its fatty acid composition is furnished in the following tables.  Physical characteristics of oil Fatty acid composition of niger seed oil

Culinary and medicinal uses.

Niger seeds are also used in human consumption in southern parts of India. In Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra, niger seeds (called "valisalu"/"valasulu" in Telugu, "uchellu"/"gurellu" in Kannada, and "karale" in Marathi) are used to make a dry chutney which is used as an accompaniment with breads such as chapati. They are also used as a spice in some curries. In Ethiopia, an infusion made from roasted and ground niger seeds, sugar and water is used in treating common colds.

Other uses.

A paste or gruel made from ground niger seed, mixed with ground flaxseeds (Amharic: "telbah"), is traditionally used in Ethiopia in treating leather.  The seed's oil is widely used for industrial purposes such as soap making, paints preparations and preparation of different types of emulsions.  The seed is used as bird food. As the seeds are so small, specialized bird feeders are manufactured for niger seed. In the United Kingdom the seeds attract finches and siskins.  Niger oil cake, which consists of the residues obtained after processing of the seeds to make oil, is rich in protein and is used to feed livestock, particularly in Ethiopia.

Guizotia abyssinica is an erect, stout, branched annual herb, grown for its edible oil and seed. Its cultivation originated in the Ethiopian highlands, and has spread to other parts of Ethiopia. Common names include noog/nug (Ethio-Semitic ኑግ "nūg"); niger, nyger, nyjer, or niger seed ; ramtil or ramtilla; inga seed; and blackseed.


Design and development.

The Auster was a twice-removed development of an American Taylorcraft design of civilian aircraft, the Model A. The Model A had to be redesigned in Britain to meet more stringent Civil Aviation standards and was named the Taylorcraft Plus C. After the start of the Second World War, the company developed the model further as an Air Observation Post (AOP)—flown by officers of the Royal Artillery and used for directing artillery fire of British Army Royal Artillery units.  The Plus C was re-engined with the Blackburn Cirrus Minor I engine and redesignated the Taylorcraft Plus D. Most of the civil Plus Cs and Ds were impressed into Royal Air Force service, the Plus Cs were re-engined with the Cirrus Minor I and redesignated as Plus C2.  Prewar tests identified the Taylorcraft Model D as the most suitable aircraft for the AOP role. Three more Ds were purchased from Taylorcraft and a trials unit, D Flight, under Major Charles Bazeley RA, formed at Old Sarum on 1 February 1940. The flight with three Austers and one Stinson Voyager, and three artillery and one RAF pilots, moved to France where they trained with artillery and practised fighter avoidance with Hurricanes of Air Component before moving south to train with French artillery. The flight did not participate in the fighting and withdrew without loss to the UK. However, the War Office then ordered 100 Stinson L-1 Vigilants. Formation of the RAF's Army Cooperation Command in December 1940 led to the RAF rejecting the very notion of light AOP aircraft.  Intercession by General Alan Brooke led to an accommodation that led to the first AOP pilot course for artillery officers taking place in October 1940 and in 1941, the first AOP squadron, No 651, formed. Stinson Vigilants eventually arrived in early 1942 but most had been severely damaged in transit leading to the adoption of the Taylorcraft Auster 1 and an order for 100 aircraft placed. Some of the Stinsons were resurrected but found to be too big for the AOP role.  The Auster II was a re-engined aircraft with an American 130 hp (97 kW) Lycoming O-290 engine. Due to the shortage of American engines that version was not built but led to the Auster III (Model E), which was the same as the Auster I but had a 130 hp (97 kW) de Havilland Gipsy Major engine. The next development was the Auster IV (Model G) which had a slightly larger cabin with three seats and used the Lycoming O-290. The major production version was the Auster V (Model J) which was an Auster IV with blind flying instruments, and a flap modification.  Post war, the Auster Mark V was used as the basis for the Auster J/1 Autocrat intended for the civilian market; the British firm having changed their name to Auster and stopped licensing from Taylorcraft. Further military aircraft were supplied post war; the Auster AOP6, Auster T7 (a trainer), and the Auster AOP9.

Operational history.

The Auster Mark III, IV and V were issued to 12 Royal Air Force (RAF), one Polish and three Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) Air Observation Post (AOP) Squadrons. The first to deploy was No. 651 Squadron RAF. The leading elements landed in Algiers on 12 November 1942 with eight aircraft, 11 Royal Artillery (RA) pilots, 39 RA soldiers and 25 airmen (mostly maintenance technicians). The normal strength of an AOP squadron was 12 aircraft, 19 RA officers (all pilots), 83 RA other ranks and 63 RAF including two administrative officers. Aircraft were fitted with the Army's No 22 Wireless, an HF set providing two-way voice communications with artillery units and formations on the ground.  On 31 March 1943 the Army Cooperation Command was disbanded, most of its assets being used to form the Second Tactical Air Force.  Four squadrons (No. 651, No. 654 Squadron RAF, No. 655 Squadron RAF and No. 657 Squadron RAF) fought in North Africa and Italy, being joined from August 1944 by No. 663 Polish squadron. The other seven squadrons (Nos. 652, 653, 658, 659, 660, 661 and 662 of the RAF) operated after D-Day in France, the Low Countries and into Germany.  No. 664 Squadron RCAF, No. 665 Squadron RCAF, and No. 666 Squadron RCAF were also issued with the Auster Mk. IV and V, formed in the UK at RAF Andover in late 1944 and early 1945. The RCAF squadrons were manned by Canadian personnel of the Royal Canadian Artillery and the RCAF, with brief secondment to the squadrons with pilots from the Royal Artillery; overall control was maintained in the UK by 70 Group, RAF Fighter Command. The three squadrons deployed from RAF Andover, England, to the Netherlands, to Dunkirk, France, where the last Canadian'shots' in Europe were fired, and later to occupied Germany.  No. 656 Squadron RAF was assigned to 14th Army and used Austers in Burma, generally with flights assigned to each corps. In European theatres a squadron was generally assigned to each corps, but under command for technical matters of an RAF group.  The Royal Australian Air Force's No. 16 AOP Flight and No. 17 AOP Flight operated Auster Mark III aircraft in support of the Australian Army in the Pacific Theatre from October 1944 until the end of the war.  Postwar Auster AOP aircraft were reorganised into independent flights (probably because the RAF used Wing-Commanders, equivalent to Lieutenant-Colonels, to command squadrons while the army insisted on a major's command) including 1903 Flight in Korea that had artillery pilots from several Commonwealth countries. There was also an Auster-equipped Liaison Flight, No 1913, in that theatre. Air OP flights also operated in the Malayan Emergency. Several AOP squadrons were reformed within the Royal Auxiliary Air Force in 1949 and these operated some AOP.5s, AOP.6s and AOP.9s until at least March 1957, when the Auxiliary Air Force was disbanded. All Auster AOP units were transferred to the Army Air Corps when it was formed in September 1957, with AAC squadrons using numbers starting with 651.  The air observation duties, counter-insurgency and casualty evacuation roles performed by Auster and similar light aircraft were generally taken over by light helicopters from the mid-1960s.

External links.

[[Category:1940s British military reconnaissance aircraft]] [[Category:Single-engined tractor aircraft]] [[Category:Aircraft first flown in 1942]]

The Taylorcraft Auster was a British military liaison and observation aircraft produced by the Taylorcraft Aeroplanes (England) Limited company during the Second World War.


Background and early life.

Daniel was born to Olle and Ewa Westling (born Ewa Westring) at Örebro Hospital, on the day Carl XVI Gustaf ascended the throne. His family initially lived in Örebro, but later moved to Ockelbo. He has a sister, Anna Westling Söderström (formerly Anna Westling Blom, born Anna Westling; 1970). Most of his ancestors were farmers in the province of Hälsingland. Daniel Westling was christened at Almby Church in January 1974. His family has Forest Finnish ancestry and his father is a leader in the Forest Finnish community.  After completing his education, he briefly served, as part of national conscription, in the Swedish Army at Hälsinge Regiment in Gävle. In 2001, he met the Crown Princess when he became her personal trainer.  On 1 July 2008, he moved into a one-bedroom rental apartment in the Pagebyggnaden building on the grounds of Drottningholm Palace. The move was confirmed by the Royal Court.

Career.

In November 2009 it was reported that Daniel Westling was to step down as CEO and member of the Board of Directors of the "Balance" company. He will still be an equity partner. It was expected that the same procedure would be followed with his involvements in other companies, before he became prince. His business positions: Balance – CEO and member of the Board of Directors (stepped down November 2009); Master Training – CEO and member of the Board of Directors; Brasil Development – member of the Board of Directors.

Engagement and marriage.

On 24 February 2009, Westling and Crown Princess Victoria received the required consent of King Carl XVI Gustaf and the Government of Sweden for marriage. Such permission is necessary according to the terms of the Swedish Act of Succession.  Westling suffered from a congenital (but not hereditary) ailment causing impaired renal function. Three months after his engagement, on 28 May 2009, Westling underwent a kidney transplant at Karolinska University Hospital. His father was the donor. The operation was a success. Victoria could not be present when the operation took place because she was in Greenland at the time.  The wedding took place in Stockholm Cathedral on 19 June 2010, the 34th anniversary of her parents' wedding. After the wedding, the Duke and Duchess of Västergötland moved into the Haga Palace. On 26 September 2010, Daniel went on his first tour with Victoria, visiting France in connection with the Bernadotte anniversary.  On 17 August 2011, the Swedish royal court announced that Prince Daniel and Crown Princess Victoria were expecting their first child in March 2012. She gave birth to a girl on 23 February 2012, Princess Estelle, Duchess of Östergötland. Daniel took his paternity leave and switched parental roles with Victoria when Estelle began preschool. Their second child, Prince Oscar, Duke of Skåne, was born on 2 March 2016.

Charity work.

Patronage.

Prince Daniel is a patron in the following organizations: A Swedish Classic, The Healthy Generation Foundation, International Society of Nephrology, More Organ Donation.

Areas of work.

Health.

Prince Daniel is an honorary chairman of the board of the Swedish Heart-Lung Foundation and has given his name "Prince Daniel's Grant for Promising Young Researchers". Prince Daniel invented "Prince Daniel's Race and Sports Day", which are arranged each year to encourage more young people to get exercise and to take an interest in sport. The game is in association with the Swedish Sports Confederation.  Prince Daniel and Crown Princess Victoria established a foundation to mark the occasion of their marriage in 2010. The focus of the foundation is to combat exclusion and promote good health among children and young people in Sweden. The couple took the initiative for Generation PEP, a non-profit organisation that works to raise awareness of and encourage commitment to issues relating to the health of children and young people.

Entrepreneurship.

Each year, Prince Daniel visits the Swedish Young Enterprise Championship. He is also a member of Young Enterprise's national board.  The Prince Daniel's Fellowship project and its entrepreneurial programme were launched in January 2013. Prince Daniel with business leaders and entrepreneurs visits upper secondary schools, universities and university colleges around Sweden to inspire young people to get involved in entrepreneurship. This project is a long-term partnership between Prince Daniel and the Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences.

Titles, styles, honours and arms.

Titles and styles.

Sweden has practised absolute primogeniture only since 1980. This means that Victoria is the first female heir apparent, and questions arose as to how Daniel Westling would be known after their marriage.  When Carl XVI Gustaf married Silvia Sommerlath in 1976, he discontinued the established norm that Swedish princes must marry royalty to be eligible to inherit the throne. But men, royal or not, had only twice before, in the 13th and 17th centuries, obtained new title or rank as the spouse of a Swedish princess, and even three queens regnant left no clear precedent. Margaret (reigned 1388–1412) was the widow of Håkon VI of Norway and Christina (reigned 1632–1654) was unmarried. The most recent Ulrika Eleonora (reigned 1718–1720) was already married during her tenure as queen regnant: her husband, Frederick, was given the style "Royal Highness" during his tenure as consort, a style granted to him by the estates. Ulrika Eleonora later abdicated so her consort Frederick—who was born a prince of Hesse-Kassel—could be king. In Daniel's case, the Swedes were treading on new ground.  The Swedish Royal Court announced that Westling would become "Prince Daniel" and "Duke of Västergötland", corresponding in form to the style used by previous Swedish princes, including Victoria's younger brother Prince Carl Philip, Duke of Värmland, i.e. "Prince + Given name + Duke of [Province]".  As was further announced in May 2010, on his wedding day Westling was made a prince of Sweden and was granted the style "Royal Highness", making him an official member of the Swedish royal family and on a par with other senior members of the royal family, such as Prince Carl Philip, Princess Madeleine and Princess Lilian. At Stockholm Cathedral, he was also then made a knight of the Royal Order of the Seraphim and already wore its badge and ribbon upon emerging after the ceremony.  Since his marriage, Daniel has been styled as "His Royal Highness Prince Daniel, Duke of Västergötland". He added the surname of the Swedish royal family, Bernadotte, making his full legal name Olof Daniel Westling Bernadotte. When referring to both him and his wife, they are called the Crown Princess Couple ().

Arms.

Prince Daniel's coat of arms is based on the greater coat of arms of Sweden. It features in the first and fourth quarters, the Three Crowns; in the second, the lion of the House of Bjelbo; and in the third, the lion of the arms of Västergötland, representing the titular designation of his and his wife's dukedom. In the centre, on an inescutcheon, is his personal arms (Westling). This arms is based on the arms of Ockelbo. Surrounding the shield is the chain of the Order of the Seraphim, of which he has been a member since his wedding.

Prince Daniel, Duke of Västergötland (born Olof Daniel Westling on 15 September 1973), is a member of the Swedish royal family. Prior to his marriage to the heir apparent, Crown Princess Victoria, Daniel was a personal trainer and gym owner and ran a company called Balance Training with three gyms in central Stockholm.


History.

The Spanish Synagogue is not the first synagogue at the site. Before it there stood probably the oldest synagogue in Prague Jewish Town, "Altschule". In the second half of 19th century, the capacity of the "Altschule" did not suffice. The modernist faction in the community, which renovated it in 1837 for the purpose of moderately reformed services, therefore decided to demolish the synagogue in 1867 and one year later it was replaced by the new, Spanish Synagogue. Its name presumably refers to the style in which it was built, Moorish Revival style, which was inspired by the art of Arabic period of Spanish history (this name was not always prevalent, in the beginnings it was usually called by German-speaking Jews Geistgasse-Tempel, i.e. Temple in Holy Spirit Street). The architectural plans were designed by Vojtěch Ignác Ullmann and Josef Niklas (an imposing interior decoration).  In 1935, a functionalistic building, designed by Karel Pecánek, was added to the synagogue. Till the Second World War it served to the Jewish Community as a hospital. The synagogue used the space of the new building as well; there was a vestibule and a winter oratory in it. Since 1935, the appearance of the synagogue remained essentially unchanged.  During the Second World War, confiscated properties of Czech Jewish Communities were stored in the synagogue, e.g. the furniture from other synagogues. Ten years after the war, the synagogue was handed over to the Jewish Museum and in 1958–1959 it was completely restored inside. In the following year an exposition of synagogue textiles was opened there. In the 1970s the building was neglected and after 1982 it remained closed. The restoration started only after the Velvet revolution. Completely restored to its former beauty, the synagogue was re-opened with a ceremony in 1998.

Appearance.

The synagogue itself is two storeys high. Its ground plan is square. The main hall with a dome is surrounded by three built-in balconies. At the south balcony, there is an organ. In the eastern wall there is a great round stained glass window with a central ornament of Magen David (hexagram), installed in 1882–1883. Underneath it there is a monumental aron ha-kodesh. The most impressive decorative element in the synagogue is a gilded and multi-colored parquet arabesque. Its designers, Antonín Baum and Bedřich Münzberger, were inspired by Arabic architecture and art. The synagogue was decorated according to their design in 1882–1893. The disposition of the synagogue is reform – the reading platform, bimah, is situated at the eastern wall, not in the central space as in older synagogues. Benches (not original, but from synagogue in Zruč nad Sázavou) stand in rows (as in a church), not around the walls. The aron ha-kodesh is designed in the style of mihrab, and has no curtain (parochet) today.

Today.

Since the last restoration in 1998, an exposition about modern Jewish history in the Czech lands can be seen there. It begins with reforms initiated by enlightened Emperor Joseph II, which started the Jewish emancipation and inclusion of Jews to major society. Many personalities, which have attributed to its economy, science and culture, are mentioned here. Traumatic events of the 20th century are also commemorated. The themes of modern times accords well with the relation between the synagogue and Reform Jewish Community. The European Cantors Association held the concert for their 11th Annual Convention in the Spanish Synagogue in front of a packed crowd on 19 November 2016. Arranged as a tribute to ECA Convenor, Alex Klein, the concert was led by the Tel Aviv Cantorial Institute Choir conducted by Cantor Naftali Herstik.

The Spanish Synagogue (,, ) is the newest synagogue in the area of the so-called Jewish Town, yet paradoxically, it was built at the place of the presumably oldest synagogue, Old School (also known as Altshul). The synagogue is built in Moorish Revival Style. Only a little park with a modern statue of famous Prague writer Franz Kafka (by Jaroslav Róna) lies between it and the church of Holy Spirit. Today, the Spanish Synagogue is administered by the Jewish Museum in Prague.


Biography.

Antonio Rosmini Serbati was born 24 March 1797, at Rovereto, in the Austrian Tyrol. He studied at the University of Padua, and was ordained priest at Chioggia, 21 April 1821. In 1822 he received a Doctorate in Theology and Canon Law.  During this time Rosmini formulated his "Principle of Passivity". Rosmini felt compelled to ask himself: Do my plans spring more from my own subjective desire to do good than from a desire to do the will of God?”. Reflecting in this way, Rosmini articulated the principle in two parts: be ready to undertake any work of charity but only so long as it is God's Providence that presents it; in the meantime, immerse oneself in the commitment to continual conversion, seeking the amendment of one's own life.

The Institute of Charity.

In 1828 he founded at Monte Calvario near Domodossola, a new religious community, the Institute of Charity, known generally since as the Rosminians. In the autumn of 1830 he inaugurated the observance of the rule at Calvario, and from 1834 to 1835 had charge of a parish at Rovereto. Later foundations followed at Stresa and Domodossola. The Constitutions of the institute were approved by presented to Pope Gregory XVI on 20 December 1838. The institute spread rapidly in England and Italy, and requests for foundations came from various countries.  The members might be priests or laymen, who devoted themselves to preaching, the education of youth, and works of universal charity—material, spiritual and intellectual. They work in Italy, England, Ireland, France, Wales, New Zealand, Kenya, Tanzania, India, Venezuela, and the United States. In London they were attached to the historical Church of St Etheldreda, Ely Place, Holborn. In 1962, Rosmini College School for Boys was founded in Auckland, New Zealand by Father Catcheside.  Rosmini was retained as a political advisor to the then government of Piedmont. In August 1848, he was sent to Rome by King Charles Albert of Piedmont to enlist the pope on the side of Italy as against Austria. Rosmini was invited to serve in the Roman Curia of Pope Pius IX as prime minister of the Papal States. He participated in the intellectual struggle which had for its object emancipation from Austria, but as a trusted ecclesiastical advisor and diplomat he was not an initiator of the movement which ended in the freedom and unity of Italy. In fact, while eager for the deliverance of Italy from Austria, his aim was to bring about a confederation of the states of the country, which was to be under the control of the pope. Upon establishment of the Roman Republic, the Pontiff was forced to flee and became estranged from his former advisor in political matters. The tenuous political circumstances made it very difficult to reconcile the two men's differing projects: innovative social and juridical reforms, however modest, fell victim to the more pressing existential needs of defending the supremacy of the Church's temporal powers.

Writings.

Rosmini's works, "Of the five wounds of the Holy Church" and "The Constitution of Social Justice" (see Works below), aroused great opposition, especially among the Jesuits, and in 1849 they were placed upon the Index. Rosmini at once declared his submission and retired to Stresa on Lago Maggiore, where he died. Before his death he had the satisfaction of learning that the works in question were dismissed, that is, proclaimed free from censure by the Congregation of the Index. Twenty years later, the word dismissed ("dimittantur") became the subject of controversy, some maintaining that it amounted to a direct approval, others that it was purely negative and did not imply that the books were free from error. Vincenzo Maria Gatti, the Dominican professor of theology at the College of Saint Thomas, the forerunner of the Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas and Master of the Sacred Palace, was instrumental in partially rehabilitating the works of Rosmini. In an article published in "L'Osservatore Romano" on 16 June 1876, Gatti made clear that Pius IX did not intend the "dimittantur" as amounting to wholesale condemnation.  The controversy continued until 1887, when Pope Leo XIII condemned forty of Rosmini's propositions. Referring to this condemnation, however, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith issued a document in 2001 in which it declared that "the meaning of the propositions, as understood and condemned by the Decree, does not belong to the authentic position of Rosmini."  In 1998 Rosmini was named by Pope John Paul II in the encyclical "Fides et Ratio" as one of the greater Christian thinkers.

Thought.

The most comprehensive view of Rosmini's philosophical standpoint is to be found in his "", in which he set forth the conception of a complete encyclopaedia of the human knowable, synthetically conjoined, according to the order of ideas, in a perfectly harmonious whole. Contemplating the position of recent philosophy from John Locke to Georg Hegel, and having his eye directed to the ancient and fundamental problem of the origin, truth and certainty of our ideas, he wrote: "If philosophy is to be restored to love and respect, I think it will be necessary, in part, to return to the teachings of the ancients, and in part to give those teachings the benefit of modern methods" ("Theodicy", a. 148). He examined and analysed the fact of human knowledge, and obtained the following results:

The cause for canonization.

On 26 June 2006, Pope Benedict XVI signed a Decree of the heroic virtues, and hence declared Rosmini to be Venerable. On 3 June 2007, Pope Benedict XVI authorized the promulgation of a decree approving Rosmini's beatification. On 18 November 2007 he was beatified in Novara, Italy.

Works.

Of his numerous works, of which a collected edition in 17 volumes was issued at Milan (1842–44), supplemented by "Opere postume" in 5 volumes (Turin, 1859–74), the most important are: The following have also been translated into English:

Blessed Antonio Francesco Davide Ambrogio Rosmini-Serbati (; Rovereto, 25 March 1797Stresa, 1 July 1855) was an Italian Roman Catholic priest and philosopher. He founded the Rosminians, officially the Institute of Charity or "", pioneered the concept of social justice, and was a key figure in Italian Liberal Catholicism. Alessandro Manzoni considered Rosmini the only contemporary Italian author worth reading.


Mathematical definition.

Gabriel's horn is formed by taking the graph of with the domain formula_2 and rotating it in three dimensions about the -axis. The discovery was made using Cavalieri's principle before the invention of calculus, but today calculus can be used to calculate the volume and surface area of the horn between and, where. Using integration (see Solid of revolution and Surface of revolution for details), it is possible to find the volume and the surface area :  The value can be as large as required, but it can be seen from the equation that the volume of the part of the horn between and will never exceed ; however, it does gradually draw nearer to as increases. Mathematically, the volume "approaches" as "approaches" infinity. Using the limit notation of calculus:  The surface area formula above gives a lower bound for the area as 2 times the natural logarithm of. There is no upper bound for the natural logarithm of, as approaches infinity. That means, in this case, that the horn has an infinite surface area. That is to say,

Apparent paradox.

When the properties of Gabriel's horn were discovered, the fact that the rotation of an infinitely large section of the -plane about the -axis generates an object of finite volume was considered a paradox. While the section lying in the -plane has an infinite area, any other section parallel to it has a finite area. Thus the volume, being calculated from the "weighted sum" of sections, is finite.  Another approach is to treat the horn as a stack of disks with diminishing radii. The sum of the radii produces a harmonic series that goes to infinity. However, the correct calculation is the sum of their squares. Every disk has a radius and an area or. The series diverges but converges. In general, for any real, converges.  The apparent paradox formed part of a dispute over the nature of infinity involving many of the key thinkers of the time including Thomas Hobbes, John Wallis and Galileo Galilei.  There is a similar phenomenon which applies to lengths and areas in the plane. The area between the curves and from 1 to infinity is finite, but the lengths of the two curves are clearly infinite.

Painter's paradox.

Since the horn has finite volume but infinite surface area, there is an apparent paradox that the horn could be filled with a finite quantity of paint and yet that paint would not be sufficient to coat its inner surface. The paradox is resolved by realizing that a finite amount of paint can in fact coat an infinite surface area — it simply needs to get thinner at a fast enough rate. (Much like the series gets smaller fast enough that its sum is finite.) In the case where the horn is filled with paint, this thinning is accomplished by the increasing reduction in diameter of the throat of the horn.

Converse.

The converse of Gabriel's horn—a surface of revolution that has a "finite" surface area but an "infinite" volume—cannot occur when revolving a continuous function on a closed set:

Theorem.

Let be a continuously differentiable function. Write for the solid of revolution of the graph about the -axis. "If the surface area of is finite, then so is the volume."

Proof.

Since the lateral surface area is finite, the limit superior: Therefore, there exists a such that the supremum } is finite. Hence, Finally, the volume: Therefore: "if the area is finite, then the volume must also be finite."

Gabriel's horn (also called Torricelli's trumpet) is a particular geometric figure that has infinite surface area but finite volume. The name refers to the Christian tradition identifying the archangel Gabriel as the angel who blows the horn to announce Judgment Day, associating the divine, or infinite, with the finite. The properties of this figure were first studied by Italian physicist and mathematician Evangelista Torricelli in the 17th century.


Life.

Ivo Babuška was born on March 22, 1926 in Prague the son of architect Milan Babuška (who designed the National Technical Museum (Prague) and his wife Marie. He studied civil engineering at the Czech Technical University in Prague, where he received the Dipl. Ing in 1949. In 1951 he received the degree Dr. Tech.; his doctoral dissertation was supervised by Eduard Čech and Vladimir Knichal. From 1949 he studied at Mathematical Institute of the Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences and then was the head of the Department of Partial Differential Equations. In 1955, he received a C.Sc (=Ph.D.) in mathematics and in 1960 D.Sc. in mathematics. He is married to Renata and they had two children, a girl, Lenka and a boy, Vit.

Work.

Babuška works in the field of mathematics, applied mathematics, numerical methods, finite element methods, and computational mechanics. In 1968, he became a professor at University of Maryland, College Park in the mathematics department, which is part of the University of Maryland College of Computer, Mathematical, and Natural Sciences. He retired in 1996 as a Distinguished University Professor. In 1989 he co-founded the company ESRD, Inc. which developed the StressCheck finite element software, putting into practice much of Babuška's research and contributions to the finite element method. After his time at the University of Maryland, he moved to the Institute for Computational Engineering and Sciences at the University of Texas at Austin where he currently holds the Robert B. Trull Chair in Engineering. Babuška has published more than 300 papers in refereed journals, more than 70 papers in conference proceedings, and several books. He is an invited speaker at major international conferences and is a member of numerous editorial boards for scientific journals. In 2018 he retired as Professor Emeritus. His doctoral students include Christoph Schwab and Michael Vogelius.

Honors.

He has received many honors for his work, including five doctorates "honoris causa", member of European Academy of Sciences (2003), Fellow of SIAM and ICAM, the Czechoslovak State prize for Mathematics, the Leroy P. Steele Prize (2012), the Birkhoff Prize (1994), the Humboldt Award of Federal Republic of Germany, the Neuron Prize Czech Republic, Honorary Foreign Member of the Czech Learned Society and the Bolzano Medal. In 2003, asteroid 36060 Babuška was named in his honor by the International Astronomical Union. In 2005, Babuska was awarded the Honorary Medal "De Scientia Et Humanitate Optime Meritis", received the ICAM Congress Medal (Newton Gauss, 2016) and he was elected to the National Academy of Engineering. He is also a member of the Academy of Medicine, Engineering, and Sciences of Texas.

Ivo M. Babuška (born March 22, 1926 in Prague) is a Czech-American mathematician, noted for his studies of the finite element method and the proof of the Babuška–Lax–Milgram theorem in partial differential equations. One of the celebrated result in the finite elements is the so-called Ladyzenskaja–Babuška–Brezzi (LBB) condition (also referred to in some literature as Banach–Necas–Babuška (BNB)), which provides sufficient conditions for a stable mixed formulation. The LBB condition has guided mathematicians and engineers to develop state-of-the-art formulations for many technologically important problems like Darcy flow, Stokes flow, incompressible Navier–Stokes, nearly incompressible elasticity. He is also well known for his work on adaptive methods and the "p"- and "hp"-versions of the finite element method. He also developed the mathematical framework for the partition of unity methods.


Name.

Initially named Heavy Tank T28 when construction was authorized in 1944, the design did not fit in the usual categories of vehicles leading to reclassification. As it did not have its armament in a revolving turret, Ordnance requested a name change to 105 mm Gun Motor Carriage T95, the change becoming official in March 1945. However, due to its heavy armor and armament—while self-propelled guns in United States service were lightly armored—it was renamed Super Heavy Tank T28 in June 1946 by OCM 37058.

Development.

The T28/T95 was designed to be used for attacking the heavy defenses expected of the German Siegfried Line. The 105mm T5E1 gun selected was known to have very good performance against concrete and "expected to be extremely effective at reducing heavy fortifications" After the vehicle passed trials, the German Siegfried Line had already been infiltrated and overwhelmed by the allied forces, so the designers decided to have the T28/T95 tanks to fight on the Japanese mainland later in the war. Japan surrendered before the tank was able to be transported overseas.  The need for an assault tank was first identified in 1943, Ordnance proposing that 25 vehicles could be ready for operations. A conference in March 1944 between Ordnance Department and Army Ground Forces resulted in agreement to build five. The Pacific Car and Foundry Company were supplied with the design in March 1945, completed final design and had the first hull welded by August. By the time the first tank was completed and ready for combat, the war was over. The plan for five was reduced to two.  As it did not have a turret, but a fixed casemate mount instead for its main armament (as German "Jagdpanzers" and Soviet "Samokhodnaya Ustanovka"-designation combat vehicles did), and the 105 mm gun fitted could only elevate from 19.5° to −5° and traverse from 10° right to 11° left of the centerline, the T28/T95 more closely resembled a self-propelled gun, and was redesignated as "T95 Gun Motor Carriage" in 1945, but in June 1946, the vehicle was redesignated again as "Super Heavy Tank T28".  Two prototypes of the T28 were built. They underwent evaluation at the Aberdeen Proving Ground and Fort Knox facilities until 1947. In 1947, one of the T28s was heavily damaged by an engine fire during trials at Yuma Proving Ground and was broken up and sold for scrap. The T28 never went into service due to the obsolete design, expensive maintenance costs, and the heavy weight, which prevented it from being transported across seas, but was retained to test the "durability of components on such a heavy vehicle". Work on it ended before completion as the War Department decided to stop the development of vehicles of that sort of weight and the T28 program terminated in October 1947. By that point, the T29 and T30 turreted heavy tank designs had been built. The T29 mounted the same gun as the T28 in a conventional rotating turret. The T30 was developed with a larger-caliber gun and more powerful engine. The T29 program was used to test mechanical components for future tank designs

Surviving vehicle.

In 1974, the last prototype was discovered abandoned in a field at Fort Belvoir, Virginia. Camouflaged in the middle of some bushes, it is unknown where it spent the intervening 27 years. It is the sole remaining example of these tanks and was exhibited at the Patton Museum of Cavalry and Armor in Kentucky. In 2011, it was shipped to its new home at Fort Benning, Georgia. It was placed in the new Patton Park, which is a plot of 30 acres where all of the tanks being stored at Fort Benning are now displayed. Unfortunately, the vehicle was damaged in January 2017 during transit to another facility for external refurbishment when it broke loose from the M1070 HET carrying it. The transporter failed to negotiate a downhill slope and subsequent turn at a safe speed, causing the securing chains to break and allowing the T28 to slide off the trailer. Despite then rolling into a ditch, only minor repairable damage was sustained to two bogies. The outer track units had been removed.

Design.

The mechanical superstructure was taken from a T23. The original plan was to build five prototype vehicles, with a production total of 25. Its total weight when fully equipped would have reached 95 short tons (86 tonnes). To lower ground pressure, instead of two tracks, it used four tracks that projected forward of the hull, each 12.9 inches (328 mm) wide. The outer tracks could be detached within two hours for rail transport: After removal, they could be fixed together to make a unit that could be towed behind the tank. Due to its extreme weight and low engine power, the T28 had extremely limited obstacle-crossing ability and could not cross any of the portable bridges available at the time, and so was considered impractical in the field and not suitable for production.  The T28 had no conventional turret, with a casemate style hull instead, giving it a comparatively low profile, as the later examples of the fully enclosed "Jagdpanzer"-family of German tank destroyers, not entirely dissimilar to the 50 short-ton weight German Jagdpanther. Its main armament was a 105 mm T5E1 gun, in a ball-shaped gun mantlet set into the vertical hull front. The traverse was limited to 10° right and 11° left, and elevation from 19.5° to −5°. When traveling, the gun was locked at the maximum elevation. The only other armament was a.50 cal. (12.7 mm) M2 Browning machine gun on a ring mount above the commander's hatch for anti-aircraft use. The main gun—65 calibres long—had a muzzle velocity of 3,700 feet per second (1,130 m/s), with a range of up to 12 miles (19 km).  The armor was very thick compared to other tanks of the time, up to 12 inches (305 mm) thick on the front. This was considered heavy enough to provide protection from the German 88 mm gun used as tank and anti-tank guns. The lower hull front had 5.25 in (130 mm) of armor, and the sides 2.5 in (64 mm). The suspension system and lower hull were covered with 4-in (100 mm) thick steel skirts. The engine was a gasoline-powered Ford GAF V-8, delivering 500 hp, at 2600 rpm through the Torqmatic transmission; which left the vehicle underpowered, geared down to a top speed of about 8 mph (13 km/h) and greatly limited its obstacle-climbing capability.

The T28 Super Heavy Tank was an American heavily armored tank/self-propelled gun designed for the United States Army during World War II. It was originally designed to be used to break through German defenses of the Siegfried Line, and was later considered as a possible participant in the planned invasion of the Japanese mainland.