Plot.

Ahmad ibn Fadlan is a court poet to the Caliph of Baghdad, until his amorous encounter with the wife of an influential noble gets him exiled as an "ambassador" to the Volga Bulgars. Traveling with his father's old friend, Melchisidek, his caravan is saved from Tatar raiders by the appearance of Norsemen. Taking refuge at their settlement on the Volga river, communications are established through Melchisidek and Herger, a Norseman who speaks Latin. From Herger, the two learn that the celebration being held by the Northmen is in fact a funeral for their recently deceased king. Herger also introduces them to one of the king's sons, Buliwyf. Ahmad and Melchisidek then to witness a fight in which Buliwyf kills his rival (presumably his brother) for the throne in self defense, which establishes Buliwyf as heir apparent, followed by the Viking funeral of their dead king, cremated together with a young woman who agreed to accompany him to Valhalla.  The next day, a young prince named Wulfgar enters the camp requesting Buliwyf's aid: his father's kingdom in the far north is under attack from an ancient evil so frightening that even the bravest warriors dare not name it. The "angel of death", a völva (wisewoman) determines the mission will be successful if thirteen warriors go to face this danger—but the thirteenth must not be a Norseman. Ahmad is recruited against his will.  Ahmad learns Norse during their journey by listening intently to his companions' conversations. He is looked down upon by the huge Norsemen, who mock his physical weakness and his small Arabian horse, but he earns a measure of respect by his fast learning of their language, his horsemanship, ingenuity, and ability to write.  Reaching King Hrothgar's kingdom, they confirm that their foe is indeed the ancient "Wendol", fiends who come with the mist to kill and take human heads. While the group searches through a raided cabin they find a Venus figurine, said to represent the "Mother of the Wendol". On their first night two of their number—Hyglak and Ragnar—are killed. In a string of clashes, Buliwyf's band establishes that the Wendol are humanoid cannibals who appear as, live like, and identify with bears.  Their numbers dwindling, having also lost Skeld, Halga, Roneth and Rethel, and their position all but indefensible, they consult an ancient "völva" of the village. She tells them to track the Wendol to their lair and destroy their leaders, the "Mother of the Wendol" and their Warlord who wears "the horns of power". Buliwyf and the remaining warriors infiltrate the Wendol cave-complex and kill the Mother, but not before Buliwyf is scratched deeply across the shoulder by her poisoned "fingernail claw".  The remaining warriors return to the village (losing Helfdane who opts to stay behind and fight) and prepare for a final battle they do not expect to survive. Buliwyf staggers outside before the fight and inspires the warriors with a Viking prayer for the honored dead who will enter Valhalla. Buliwyf succeeds in killing the Wendol warlord, causing their defeat, before succumbing to the poison. Ahmad witnesses Buliwyf's royal funeral before returning to his homeland, grateful to the Norsemen for helping him to "become a man and a useful servant of God". He is seen at the movie's end writing down the tale of his time with them.

Production.

Originally titled "Eaters of the Dead", production began in the summer of 1997, but the film went through several re-edits after test audiences did not react well to the initial cut. Crichton took over as director himself due to the poor test audience reception, causing the release date to be pushed back over a year. The film was re-cut, a new ending added, along with a new score. Graeme Revell was replaced by Jerry Goldsmith as composer. The title was changed to "The 13th Warrior".  The budget, which was originally around $85 million, reportedly soared to $100 million before principal photography wrapped. With all of the re-shoots and promotional expenses, the total cost of the film was rumored to be as high as $160 million, which given its lackluster box office take (earning US$61.7 million worldwide), made for a loss of $70–130 million.

Reception.

The film debuted at No. 2 on its opening weekend behind "The Sixth Sense".  "The 13th Warrior" holds a 33% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 88 reviews. The consensus is: "Atmospheric, great sets and costumes, but thin plot."  Roger Ebert gave the film one and a half stars out of four, remarking that it "lumber[s] from one expensive set-piece to the next without taking the time to tell a story that might make us care." Conversely, James Berardinelli gave "The 13th Warrior" three stars out of four, calling it "a solid offering" that "delivers an exhilarating 100 minutes". Lisa Schwarzbaum of "Entertainment Weekly" rated it A− and called it "the most unexpectedly audacious, exhilarating, and wildly creative adventure thriller I have seen in ages".  The outcome of the film's production disappointed Omar Sharif so much that he temporarily retired from film acting, not taking a role in another major film until 2003's "Monsieur Ibrahim":

Soundtrack.

The original soundtrack was composed by Graeme Revell and featured the Dead Can Dance singer Lisa Gerrard. The score was rejected by Michael Crichton and was replaced by one composed by Crichton's usual collaborator, Jerry Goldsmith.

The 13th Warrior is a 1999 American historical fiction action film based on Michael Crichton's 1976 novel "Eaters of the Dead", which is a loose retelling of the tale of "Beowulf" combined with Ahmad ibn Fadlan's historical account of the Volga Vikings. It stars Antonio Banderas as Ahmad ibn Fadlan, as well as Diane Venora and Omar Sharif. It was directed by John McTiernan. Crichton directed some reshoots uncredited. The film was produced by McTiernan, Crichton, and Ned Dowd, with Andrew G. Vajna, James Biggam and Ethan Dubrow as executive producers.


Early life.

Blanche grew up at the French court of her cousin Charles IV of France, who was a nephew to her father. She spent much time with Charles' wife Marie, who was an aunt to her future husband.  A betrothal between Blanche and Charles, eldest son of John of Bohemia was contracted in 1323. Charles had been staying at the French court as he had been sent by his father to be educated; he had been baptised Wenceslaus but changed his name upon the betrothal in honour of King Charles.  The importance of Blanche's position grew when King Charles died without male heirs and so Blanche's brother succeeded as Philip VI of France. He had his son and heir John betrothed and later married to Charles' sister, Jutta.

Marriage.

At Prague in May 1329, Blanche and Charles were married. The couple lived apart for the first several years of marriage as they were both about 13 years old; Blanche lived in Luxembourg whilst Charles was in Italy focusing on securing the Empire with his father. The couple began to live together upon Charles' return in 1334, when they are now about 18 years old, at which time, the couple were made Margrave and Margravine of Moravia. Blanche entered Prague on 12 June with French ladies and courtiers. The couple clashed with the Bohemian nobility who had gained strength because of King John's frequent trips abroad; despite this challenge, Blanche learned Czech and German, had a social life and would remain in Bohemia when Charles traveled abroad. Within the first year of married life, the couple had a short-lived son.  Blanche was close to her mother-in-law, Charles' stepmother Beatrice, as French was the native language of both women, they communicated easily however Blanche was more popular at court than Beatrice; she was always compared unfavourably to Blanche and this was possibly because Beatrice never learned Czech or German whilst Blanche did.  John put pressure on Blanche due to the birth of only a daughter, Margaret and the absence of a living male child. The pressure resulted in Blanche moving to Brno in 1337; for the next several years, Blanche and Charles had no children. However, the couple had a second daughter in 1342 named Katherine. On 11 July 1346, Charles was elected King of Germany in opposition to Holy Roman Emperor Louis IV. His election was supported by Pope Clement VI, who was at odds with Louis. While the conflict in Germany continued, Blanche's father-in-law John allied himself with Blanche's brother, King Philip. John was killed in the Battle of Crécy (26 August 1346). Charles escaped the battlefield relatively unharmed and succeeded to the Kingdom of Bohemia. Blanche became queen consort.  On 11 October 1347, Louis IV died suddenly and Charles gained wider recognition as King of Germany. However, less than a year later on 1 August 1348, Blanche died after a short illness aged thirty-two. Her death was a large blow to Charles who still did not have a son and heir, large political loss with France and a full-fledged marriage. Desperate for a son, Charles remarried the following year to Anna of Bavaria. Seven years after the death of Blanche, Charles became Holy Roman Emperor; he was eventually succeeded by his son Sigismund, whom he had with his fourth wife Elizabeth of Pomerania.  Blanche was buried in Saint Vitus, Prague Castle.

Children.

Blanche and Charles had two daughters:

In Media.

Blanche was portrayed by Czech actress Daniela Kolářová in the 1969 film "Slasti Otce vlasti".

Blanche of Valois (baptised "Marguerite"; 1317–1348) was a Queen consort of Germany and Bohemia by her marriage to King and later Holy Roman Emperor Charles IV. She was the youngest daughter of Charles of Valois and his third wife Mahaut of Châtillon.


Design and development.

The Glenn L. Martin Company scaled up their PBM Mariner patrol bomber design to produce the prototype XPB2M-1 Mars. The XPB2M-1 was launched on 8 November 1941. After a delay caused by an engine fire during ground runs, the aircraft first flew on 23 June 1942. After flight tests with the XPB2M between 1942 and 1943, she was passed on to the Navy. The original patrol bomber concept was considered obsolete by this time, and the Mars was converted into a transport aircraft designated the XPB2M-1R. The Navy was satisfied with the performance, and ordered 20 of the modified JRM-1 Mars. The first, named "Hawaii Mars", was delivered in June 1945, but with the end of World War II the Navy scaled back their order, buying only the five aircraft which were then on the production line. Though the original Hawaii Mars was lost in an accident on Chesapeake Bay a few weeks after it first flew, the other five Mars were completed, and the last delivered in 1947.

Operational history.

U.S. Navy service.

Named the "Marianas Mars", "Philippine Mars", "Marshall Mars", "Caroline Mars", and a second "Hawaii Mars", the five production Mars aircraft entered service ferrying cargo to Hawaii and the Pacific Islands on 23 January 1944. The last production airplane (the "Caroline Mars") was designated JRM-2, powered by Pratt & Whitney R-4360 engines, and featured a higher maximum weight and other improvements. On 4 March 1949, the "Caroline Mars" set a new world passenger load record by carrying 269 people from San Diego to Alameda, CA. On 5 April 1950, the "Marshall Mars" was lost near Hawaii when an engine fire consumed the airplane after her crew had evacuated. The remaining "Big Four" flew record amounts of Naval cargo on the San Francisco-Honolulu route efficiently until 1956, when they were beached at NAS Alameda.

Civilian use.

In 1959, the remaining Mars aircraft were to be sold for scrap, but a Canadian company, Forest Industries Flying Tankers (FIFT), was formed and bid for the four aircraft and a large spares inventory. The company represented a consortium of British Columbia forest companies, and the bid was accepted and the sale completed in December 1959. The four aircraft were flown to Fairey Aviation at Victoria, British Columbia, for conversion into water bombers. The conversion involved the installation of a plywood tank in the cargo bay with retractable pick-up scoops to allow uploading of water while the aircraft was taxiing. The scoops allowed 30 tons of water to be taken on board in 22 seconds. Later some of the hull fuel tanks were replaced with water tanks.  The "Marianas Mars" crashed near Northwest Bay, British Columbia, on 23 June 1961 during firefighting operations; all four crew members were lost. Just over a year later, on 12 October 1962 while parked onshore at the Victoria airport, the "Caroline Mars" was damaged beyond repair by Typhoon Freda when she was blown 200 yards, breaking her back. The "Hawaii Mars" and "Philippine Mars" had their conversion into water bombers advanced and entered service in 1963. They appeared at local airshows, demonstrating their water-dropping ability. Flying Tankers Inc. flew the water bombers to hot spots around the province when a need developed, such as in August 2003, when a large forest fire threatened the outskirts of Kelowna, British Columbia.  On 10 November 2006, TimberWest Forest Ltd. announced they were looking for buyers of the Mars. A condition of sale was that the purchaser would have to donate one plane back to Port Alberni when they were retired, as a historic attraction. The Maryland Aviation Museum and British Columbia Aviation Council initiated a joint effort to preserve the aircraft, one for display in Maryland and the other at the current location in Canada. On 13 April 2007, TimberWest announced the sale of both aircraft to Coulson Forest Products, a local forestry company in Port Alberni, British Columbia. The two surviving tankers are presently operated by Coulson Flying Tankers and are based and maintained at Sproat Lake near Port Alberni. On 25 October 2007, the "Hawaii Mars" ("Redtail") arrived at Lake Elsinore in southern California, on a private contract, to assist with firefighting efforts at the California wildfires of October 2007. Meanwhile, the "Philippine Mars" had been undergoing "extensive maintenance and renovation" and was expected to be ready to fly again by 2010., the "Hawaii Mars" was in service fighting the La Brea fire east of Santa Maria in Southern California. The aircraft can carry 7,200 U.S. gallons (27,276 litres) of water and each deployment can cover an area of up to 4 acres (1.6 hectares). The aircraft can also carry up to 600 U.S. gallons (2,270 litres) of foam concentrate for gelling the load drop. They are mainly used to fight fires along the coast of British Columbia and sometimes in the interior. As of July 29, 2010, the Martin Mars was being used to fight the Mason Lake/Bonaparte Lake fire north of Kamloops.  On 23 August 2012, the Coulson Group announced that the "Philippine Mars", due to its lack of use for five years, would be retired and flown to the National Naval Aviation Museum at Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida to become a static exhibit. The aircraft was repainted to its original U.S. Navy colors and was to have been delivered to the museum in November 2012. After many delays, the trade deal of transferring the aircraft to the museum was put on hold by the Navy in June 2016, pending the outcome of the 2016 US Presidential election. On 10 May 2013, the B.C. provincial government announced that the "Hawaii Mars" would no longer be placed on contract after the 2013 season, due to not having been used to fight any B.C. fires for two years and the operation of newer and more versatile aircraft by the Coulson group including a Lockheed C-130 Hercules converted to firefighting use. Although Coulson stated that the "Hawaii Mars" has been under numerous recent upgrades to make it safer and more reliable, no buyers have come forward to purchase the aircraft. Coulson also cautioned against any plans to open the aircraft as a tourist attraction because of the 2013 closure of the Flying Tankers Bomber Base Museum from poor attendance.  In May 2015, the "Hawaii Mars" received a small contract to be used briefly for training Chinese pilots. This was done using the Martin Mars to evaluate against civil certification regulations by The International Test Pilot School, on how to handle such a large amphibious aircraft. These pilots will be involved with the Chinese state owned Aviation Industry Corporation of China as they get ready to launch their forthcoming AVIC TA-600 airplane. Subsequently, in July 2015, the airplane was put back in service after public outcry, being awarded a 30-day contract from the BC Government to help with a particularly bad fire season.  In 2016, the "Hawaii Mars" made its first appearance at EAA AirVenture Oshkosh in hopes of being sold or leased to a new home or business. One of the pilots on the way to Oshkosh was well-known Kermit Weeks. According to the Smithsonian Channel episode of Mighty Planes Martin Mars, only one Martin Mars is now flying.

The Martin JRM Mars is a large, four-engined cargo transport flying boat designed and built by the Martin Company for the United States Navy during World War II. It was the largest Allied flying boat to enter production, although only seven were built. The United States Navy contracted the development of the XPB2M-1 Mars in 1938 as a long-range ocean patrol flying boat, which later entered production as the JRM Mars long-range transport.


History.

Construction.

The Standard Oil Building was constructed as the headquarters of the Standard Oil Company of Indiana, which had previously been housed at South Michigan Avenue and East 9th Street. When it was completed in 1973, it was the tallest building in Chicago and the fourth-tallest in the world, earning it the nickname "Big Stan". (A year later, the Sears Tower took the title as Chicago's and world's tallest.) The building employs a tubular steel-framed structural system with V-shaped perimeter columns to resist earthquakes, reduce sway, minimize column bending, and maximize column-free space. This construction method was also used for the former World Trade Center towers in New York City.

Refacing.

When completed, it was the world's tallest marble-clad building, sheathed entirely with 43,000 slabs of Italian Carrara marble. The marble used was thinner than previously attempted in cladding a building, which soon proved to be a mistake. On December 25, 1973, during construction a 350-pound marble slab detached from the façade and penetrated the roof of the nearby Prudential Center. In 1985, inspection found numerous cracks and bowing in the marble cladding of the building. To alleviate the problem, stainless steel straps were added to hold the marble in place. Later, from 1990 to 1992, the entire building was refaced with Mount Airy white granite at an estimated cost of over $80 million. Amoco was reluctant to divulge the actual amount, but it was well over half the original price of the building, without adjustment for inflation. Two-thirds of the discarded marble was crushed and used as landscaping decoration at Amoco's refinery in Whiting, Indiana, one-sixth was donated to Governors State University, in University Park, and one-sixth donated to Regalo, a division of Lashcon Inc. Under a grant from the Illinois Department of Rehabilitative Services, Regalo's 25 handicapped workers carved the discarded marble into a variety of specialty items such as corporate gifts and mementos including desk clocks and pen holders. The building's facade somewhat resembles the former World Trade Center due to the upward flow of the columns.

Designation.

The Standard Oil Building was renamed the Amoco Building when the company changed names in 1985. In 1998, Amoco sold the building to The Blackstone Group for an undisclosed amount, estimated to be between $430 and $440 million. It was renamed as the Aon Center on December 30, 1999, although the Aon Corporation would not become the building's primary tenant until September 2001. In May 2003, Wells Real Estate Investment Trust, Inc. acquired the building for between $465 and $475 million. On August 10, 2007, Wells Real Estate Investment Trust, Inc. changed its name to Piedmont Office Realty Trust, Inc.) Real estate investors Mark Karasick and Victor Gerstein acquired the building from Piedmont in 2015 for $713 million.

Planned observation deck.

On May 14, 2018 the owners unveiled $185 million proposal for an observatory featuring a thrill ride on the roof called the Sky Summit, the world’s tallest exterior elevator, and new entrance pavilion.

Exterior lighting.

In recent years, the top floors of the building have been lit at night with colors to reflect a particular season or holiday. Orange is used for Thanksgiving, green or red for Christmas, and pink during National Breast Cancer Awareness Month. The lighting commonly matches the nighttime lighting on the antenna of Willis Tower, the John Hancock Center and the upper floors of the Merchandise Mart.

Plaza.

In the plaza, there is a sounding sculpture by Harry Bertoia.

The Aon Center (200 East Randolph Street, formerly Amoco Building) is a modern supertall skyscraper just east of the Chicago Loop, Chicago, Illinois, United States, designed by architect firms Edward Durell Stone and The Perkins and Will partnership, and completed in 1974 as the Standard Oil Building. With 83 floors and a height of 1,136 feet (346 m), it is the fourth-tallest building in Chicago, surpassed in height by Willis Tower, Trump International Hotel and Tower, and Vista Tower.


Biography.

Frederick was the youngest son of Duke Leopold III (1351–1386) and his wife Viridis (d. 1414), a daughter of Bernabò Visconti, Lord of Milan. According to the 1379 Treaty of Neuberg, his father ruled over the Habsburg Inner Austrian territories of Styria, Carinthia, Carniola, as well as over Tyrol and the dynasty's original Further Austrian possessions in Swabia. After the early death of Duke Leopold in the 1386 Battle of Sempach, Frederick and his elder brothers William, Leopold IV and Ernest initially remained under the tutelage of their uncle Duke Albert III of Austria.  As an inheritance dispute arose upon Duke Albert's death in 1395, the young Leopoldian dukes insisted on their rights: the next year, William went on to rule the Inner Austrian lands and Leopold IV ascended as Count of Tyrol. When Frederick came of age in 1402, he was formally assigned to administrate his father's inheritance in the scattered Habsburg territories in Swabia, referred to collectively as Further Austria ("Vorderösterreich") and took his residence in Freiburg im Breisgau. Another division of the Leopoldian territories took place after William' death in 1406: Duke Leopold IV, now eldest heir, ceded Tyrol to Frederick, however, he did not become sole ruler in Further Austria until Leopold's death in 1411.  The early years of Frederick's reign were marked by external and internal conflicts. He had to overcome the opposition of Tyrolean nobles (who gave him the title "of the Empty Pockets") in 1406/07 and a rebellion in the Bishopric of Trent. He also had to deal with the independence movement in the Swabian Appenzell lands, where the conflict with the Prince-Abbots of St Gall had escalated in 1401, sparking the Appenzell Wars. Frederick had to withstand in a series of longstanding military conflicts, until a peace was concluded in 1410. However, the Appenzell area became a protectorate of the Old Swiss Confederacy in 1411. Back in Tyrol, he had to face the invading forces of Duke Stephen III of Bavaria, whom he defeated in the Lower Inn Valley.  Upon the death of Duke Leopold IV in 1411, the surviving younger brothers Frederick and Ernest again divided the Leopoldian possessions. With Further Austria, Frederick became undisputed ruler over the Habsburg territories in the Alsace region and of the Burgau margraviate. In 1417 he also inherited the former Kyburg estates from the extinct comital Habsburg-Laufenburg branch. Several border conflicts with the Republic of Venice led to the loss of Rovereto in the Lagarina Valley.  Under the terms of the Western Schism, Duke Frederick sided with Antipope John XXIII, whom he helped on his flight from the Council of Constance in March 1415. The Luxembourg king Sigismund had John arrested in Breisgau and placed Frederick under the Imperial ban. Thanks to the support of the local populace he managed to keep Tyrol, though he lost the western Aargau, the Freiamt and County of Baden estates, in the old homeland of the Habsburgs, to the Swiss.  In 1420, Frederick also moved his Tyrolean court from Meran to Innsbruck. After several rebellions by local nobles, his rule over Tyrol had stabilized, partially due to the successful beginning of silver mining that brought an increase in prosperity to the region. After the death of his brother Ernest on 10 June 1424, Duke Frederick also took over the regency over Inner Austria for his minor nephews Frederick V (the later Emperor Frederick III) and Albert VI. In his later years, however, he again had to cope with another rebellion against his Tyrolean rule, instigated by Prince-Bishop Alexander of Trent.  Frederick died at his court in Innsbruck, despite his nickname a rich man. His son and heir Sigismund was called "der Münzreiche" ("Rich in Coin"). Frederick was buried in the Cistercian abbey of Stams, Tyrol.

Marriage and issue.

On 24 December 1407, Frederick married Elizabeth of the Palatinate (1381–1408), daughter of King Rupert of Germany, in Innsbruck. They had one daughter, Elizabeth, but both mother and child died shortly after the birth on 27 December 1408.  On 11 June 1411, Frederick married Anna (d. 1432), daughter of the Welf duke Frederick I of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel; they had four children: Only Sigismund survived until adulthood. He succeeded his father in Tyrol and Further Austria.

Frederick IV (1382 – 24 June 1439), also known as Frederick of the Empty Pockets (), a member of the House of Habsburg, was Duke of Austria from 1402 until his death. As a scion of the Habsburg Leopoldian line, he ruled over Further Austria and the County of Tyrol from 1406 onwards.


History.

The Deaflympics are held every four years, and are the longest running multi-sport event excluding the Olympics themselves. The first games, held in Paris in 1924, were also the first ever international sporting event for athletes with a disability. The event has been held every four years since, apart from a break for World War II, and an additional event, the Deaflympic Winter Games, was added in 1949. The games began as a small gathering of 148 athletes from nine European nations competing in the International Silent Games in Paris, France, in 1924; now, they have grown into a global movement.  Officially, the games were originally called the "International Games for the Deaf" from 1924 to 1965, but were sometimes also referred to as the "International Silent Games". From 1966 to 1999 they were called the "World Games for the Deaf", and occasionally referred to as the "World Silent Games". From 2001, the games have been known by their current name Deaflympics (often mistakenly called the Deaf Olympics).  To qualify for the games, athletes must have a hearing loss of at least 55 db in their "better ear". Hearing aids, cochlear implants and the like are not allowed to be used in competition, to place all athletes on the same level. Other examples of ways the games vary from hearing competitions are the manner in which they are officiated. To address the issue of Deaflympians not being able to be guided by sounds, certain sports use alternative methods of commencing the game. For example, the football referees wave a flag instead of blowing a whistle; on the track, races are started by using a light, instead of a starter pistol. It is also customary for spectators not to cheer or clap, but rather to wave – usually with both hands.

Host nations and cities.

To date, the Summer Deaflympic Games have been hosted by 21 cities in 17 countries, but by cities outside Europe on only five occasions (Washington, D.C. 1965, Los Angeles 1985, Christchurch 1989, Melbourne 2005 and Taipei 2009). The last summer games were held in Samsun, Turkey in 2017. The Winter Deaflympic Games have been hosted by 16 cities in 11 countries. The last winter games were held in Khanty-Mansiysk, Russian Federation in 2015.  The 2011 Winter Games scheduled to be held in Vysoké Tatry, Slovakia were cancelled due to the lack of readiness by the organizing committee to host the games. The International Committee of Deaf Sports filed a criminal complaint against the Slovak Deaflympics Organizing Committee and its President, Mr. Jaromír Ruda. The criminal complaint demands reimbursement of the funds that were transferred to the Slovak Deaflympics Organizing Committee from national deaf sports federations, to cover hotel accommodations and other Deaflympics-related expenses. According to the Slovak newspaper, "SME", "Jaromír Ruda, head of the Slovak Organising Committee, [is] a champion of promises and someone who is accused of a 1.6 million Euro Deaflympics-related fraud". In a letter to the United States Deaflympians, International Committee of Sports for the Deaf ICSD President Craig Crowley expressed "his deep apologies for the cancellation of the 17th Winter Deaflympics". Currently, the Slovak Deaflympic Committee and the Slovakia Association of Deaf Sportsmen Unions have been suspended. In 2013 the Special Criminal Court in Banská Bystrica sentenced Ruda to a prison term of 14 and a half years for defrauding €1.6 million that should have been used for Winter Deaflympics.  The host cities and NOCs for all past and scheduled games are as follows:

All-time medal table.

Summer Deaflympics.

An all-time Summer Deaflympics from 1924 Summer Deaflympics to 2017 Summer Deaflympics, is tabulated below. The table is simply the consequence of the sum of the medal tables of the various editions of the Summer Deaflympics.

Winter Deaflympics.

An all-time Winter Deaflympics from 1949 Winter Deaflympics to 2019 Winter Deaflympics, is tabulated below. The table is simply the consequence of the sum of the medal tables of the various editions of the Winter Deaflympics.

Sports.

Summer Deaflympics.

The following sports have been contested in a Summer Deaflympic Games programme:

Winter Deaflympics.

The following sports have been contested in a Winter Deaflympic Games programme:

The Deaflympics (previously called World Games for the Deaf, and International Games for the Deaf) are an International Olympic Committee (IOC)-sanctioned event at which deaf athletes compete at an elite level. Unlike the athletes in other IOC-sanctioned events (the Olympics, the Paralympics, and the Special Olympics), the Deaflympians cannot be guided by sounds (e.g., the starter's guns, bullhorn commands or referee whistles). The games have been organized by the "Comité International des Sports des Sourds" (CISS, "The International Committee of Sports for the Deaf") since the first event in 1924.


Life.

Remigius was born, traditionally, at Cerny-en-Laonnois, near Laon, Picardy, into the highest levels of Gallo-Roman society. He is said to have been son of Emilius, count of Laon (who is not otherwise attested) and of Celina, daughter of the Bishop of Soissons, which Clovis had conquered in 486. He studied at Reims and soon became so noted for his learning and sanctity, and his high status, that he was elected Bishop of Reims at age 21, though still a layman. He was both Lord Chancellor of France and Référendaire of France.  The story of the return of the sacred vessels (most notably the Vase of Soissons), which had been stolen from the church of Soissons, testifies to the friendly relations existing between him and Clovis, King of the Franks, whom he converted to Christianity with the assistance of Saint Vedast (Vedastus, Vaast, Waast) and Saint Clotilde, the Burgundian princess who was wife to Clovis. Even before he embraced Christianity, Clovis had showered benefits upon Remigius and the Christians of Reims, and after his victory over the Alamanni in the battle of Tolbiac (probably 496), he requested Remigius to baptize him at Reims (December 25, 496) in the presence of a large company of Franks and Alamanni; according to Saint Gregory of Tours, 3,000 Franks were baptized with Clovis.  King Clovis granted Remigius stretches of territory, in which Remigius established and endowed many churches. He erected bishoprics at Tournai; Cambrai; Thérouanne, where he personally ordained the first bishop in 499; Arras, where he installed St. Vedast; and Laon, which he gave to his niece's husband Gunband. In 530 he consecrated Medardus, Bishop of Noyon. Remigius' brother Principius was Bishop of Soissons and also corresponded with Sidonius Apollinaris, whose letters give a sense of the highly cultivated courtly literary Gallo-Roman style all three men shared. The chroniclers of ""Gallia Christiana"" record that numerous donations were made to Remigius by the Frankish nobles, which he presented to the cathedral at Reims.  Though Remigius never attended any of the church councils, in 517 he held a synod at Reims, at which after a heated discussion he converted a bishop of Arian views. Although Remigius's influence over people and prelates was extraordinary, upon one occasion his condoning of the offences of one Claudius, a priest whom Remigius had consecrated, brought upon him the rebukes of his episcopal brethren, who deemed Claudius deserving of degradation. The reply of Remigius, still extant, is able and convincing.  Few authentic works of Remigius remain: his ""Declamations"" were elaborately admired by Sidonius Apollinaris, in a finely turned letter to Remigius, but are now lost. Four letters survive: one containing his defence in the matter of Claudius, two written to Clovis, and a fourth to Bishop Falco of Tongeren. The ""Testament of Saint Remigius"" is apocryphal. A brief and strictly legendary ""Vita"" was formerly ascribed to Venantius Fortunatus. Another, according to Jacobus de Voragine, was written by Ignatius, bishop of Reims. A letter congratulating Pope Hormisdas upon his election (523) is apocryphal, and "the letter in which Pope Hormisdas appears to have appointed him vicar of the kingdom of Clovis is proved to be spurious; it is presumed to have been an attempt of Hincmar to base his pretensions for the elevation of Reims to the primacy, following the alleged precedent of Remigius."  A Commentary on the Pauline Epistles (edited Villalpandus, 1699) is not his work, but that of Remigius of Auxerre.  Remigius' relics were kept in the Cathedral of Reims, whence Hincmar had them translated to Épernay during the Viking invasions and thence, in 1099 to the Abbey of Saint-Rémy. His feast is celebrated on October 1.

Remigius and the Holy Ampulla.

Remigius is known through the legend of the Baptism of the Moribund Pagan, according to which a dying pagan asked for baptism at the hands of Remigius, but when it was found that there was no Oil of the Catechumens or sacred Chrism available for the proper administration of the baptismal ceremony, Remigius ordered two empty vials be placed on an altar and as he prayed before them the two vials miraculously filled respectively with the necessary Oil of the Catechumens and Chrism.  Apparently when the sepulchre containing the body of Remigius was opened in the reign of Charles the Bald and while Hincmar was the Archbishop of Reims, two small vials were found, the contents of which gave off an aromatic scent the likes of which was like nothing known to those present. If one recalls that when Remigius died the ancient art of perfumery was still known and practiced in the collapsing Roman Empire, but was unknown in the Carolingian empire four hundred years later, these vials may have originally been bottles of unguents used to cover the scent of decay of Remigius’ corpse during his funeral. But the memory of the two vials miraculously filled in the story of the Baptism of the Moribund Pagan, and the unusual, seemingly otherworldly scents issuing from these two vials found buried with Remigius combined to suggest to those present that these two vials were the miraculously filled vials of the legend.  It should be remembered as well that it was not uncommon for chalices, patens, and other sacred vessels to be buried with high-ranking clergymen.  Hincmar adroitly combined the discovery of, the two vials, the legend of the Moribund Pagan and the historical memory that Saint Remigius had baptized Clovis, into the Legend of the Holy Ampulla (that contained the chrism used by Remigius when he baptized Clovis was miraculously supplied by heaven itself). Hincmar used the new legend to strengthen his claim that his own archepiscopal see of Reims (as the possessor of this heavenly sent chrism) should be recognized as the divinely chosen site for all subsequent anointings of French kings. The fate of the second vial is uncertain. It has been suggested that since in the original form of the legend this would have been the vial containing the Oil of the Catechumens and that the French coronation ordinals prescribe the Oil of the Catechumens, rather than Chrism, for the anointing of queens, it was subsequently used for anointing the queens of France It is possible that a vial currently identified by some of the Bourbon Legitimists as the Sainte Ampoulle is actually this second vial.  See also Frankish Chancellors.

Saint Remigius, or ( – January 13, 533), was the Bishop of Reims and "Apostle of the Franks". On 25 December 496 he baptised Clovis I, King of the Franks. This baptism, leading to the conversion of the entire Frankish people to Christianity, was a momentous success for the Church and a seminal event in European history.


Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (United States)

History.

Auditors took the leading role in developing GAAP for business enterprises.  Accounting standards have historically been set by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) subject to U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) regulations. The AICPA first created the Committee on Accounting Procedure in 1939 and replaced that with the Accounting Principles Board in 1959. In 1973, the Accounting Principles Board was replaced by the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) under the supervision of the Financial Accounting Foundation with the Financial Accounting Standards Advisory Council serving to advise and provide input on the accounting standards. Other organizations involved in determining United States accounting standards include the Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB), formed in 1984; and the Federal Accounting Standards Advisory Board (FASAB), formed in 1990.  Circa 2008, the FASB issued the FASB Accounting Standards Codification, which reorganized the thousands of U.S. GAAP pronouncements into roughly 90 accounting topics.  In 2008, the Securities and Exchange Commission issued a preliminary "roadmap" that may lead the United States to abandon Generally Accepted Accounting Principles in the future, and to join more than 100 countries around the world instead in using the London-based International Financial Reporting Standards. As of 2010, the convergence project was underway with the FASB meeting routinely with the IASB. The SEC expressed their aim to fully adopt International Financial Reporting Standards in the U.S. by 2014. With the convergence of the U.S. GAAP and the international IFRS accounting systems, as the highest authority over International Financial Reporting Standards, the International Accounting Standards Board is becoming more important in the United States.

Basic characteristic.

Financial reporting should provide information that is:

Required departures from GAAP.

Under the AICPA's Code of Professional Ethics under Rule 203 – Accounting Principles, a member must depart from GAAP if following it would lead to a material misstatement on the financial statements, or otherwise be misleading. In the departure, the member must disclose, if practical, the reasons why compliance with the accounting principle would result in a misleading financial statement. Under Rule 203-1-Departures from Established Accounting Principles, the departures are rare, and usually take place when there is new legislation, the evolution of new forms of business transactions, an unusual degree of materiality, or the existence of conflicting industry practices.

Involved in development.

These organizations influence the development of GAAP in the United States.

Precedence of GAAP-setting authorities.

In the United States, GAAP derives, in order of importance, from:

Codification in Accounting – FASB Accounting Standards Codification.

The Codification is effective for interim and annual periods ending after September 15, 2009. All existing accounting standards documents are superseded as described in FASB Statement No. 168, The FASB Accounting Standards Codification and the Hierarchy of Generally Accepted Accounting Principles. All other accounting literature not included in the Codification is nonauthoritative.  The Codification reorganizes the thousands of U.S. GAAP pronouncements into roughly 90 accounting topics and displays all topics using a consistent structure. It also includes relevant Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), guidance that follows the same topical structure in separate sections in the Codification.  To prepare users for the change, the AICPA has provided a number of tools and training resources.  While the Codification does not change GAAP, it introduces a new structure—one that is organized in an easily accessible, user-friendly online research system. The FASB expects that the new system will reduce the amount of time and effort required to research an accounting issue, mitigate the risk of noncompliance with standards through improved usability of the literature, provide accurate information with real-time updates as new standards are released, and assist the FASB with the research efforts required during the standard-setting process.

Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP or U.S. GAAP) is the accounting standard adopted by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). While the SEC previously stated that it intends to move from U.S. GAAP to the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS), the latter differ considerably from GAAP and progress has been slow and uncertain. More recently, the SEC has acknowledged that there is no longer a push to move more U.S companies to IFRS so the two sets of standards will "continue to coexist" for the foreseeable future.


Linux.

Although systemd is,, used by default in most major Linux distributions, runlevels can still be used through the means provided by the sysvinit project. After the Linux kernel has booted, the program reads the file to determine the behavior for each runlevel. Unless the user specifies another value as a kernel boot parameter, the system will attempt to enter (start) the default runlevel.

Linux Standard Base specification.

Systems conforming to the Linux Standard Base (LSB) need not provide the exact run levels given here or give them the meanings described here, and may map any level described here to a different level which provides the equivalent functionality.

Slackware Linux.

Slackware Linux uses runlevel 1 for maintenance, as on other Linux distributions; runlevels 2, 3 and 5 identically configured for a console (with all services active); and runlevel 4 adds the X Window System.

Unix.

Solaris.

Starting from Solaris 10, SMF (Service Management Facility) is used instead of SVR4 run levels. The latter are emulated to preserve compatibility with legacy startup scripts.

AIX.

AIX does not follow the System V R4 (SVR4) runlevel specification, with runlevels from 0 to 9 available, as well as from a to c (or h). 0 and 1 are reserved, 2 is the default normal multi-user mode and runlevels from 3 to 9 are free to be defined by the administrator. Runlevels from a to c (or h) allow the execution of processes in that runlevel without killing processes started in another.  The S, s, M and m runlevels are not true runlevels, but are used to tell the init command to enter maintenance mode. When the system enters maintenance mode from another runlevel, only the system console is used as the terminal.

A runlevel is a mode of operation in the computer operating systems that implement Unix System V-style initialization. Conventionally, seven runlevels exist, numbered from zero to six. "S" is sometimes used as a synonym for one of the levels. Only one runlevel is executed on startup; run levels are not executed one after another (i.e. only runlevel 2, 3, or 4 is executed, not more of them sequentially or in any other order).


Construction.

Because the original dedicatory inscription has been destroyed, it is not known whether it was built during the emperor’s reign (on the occasion of the triumph over the Marcomanni, Quadi and Sarmatians in the year 176) or after his death in 180; however, an inscription found in the vicinity attests that the column was completed by 193.  In terms of the topography of ancient Rome, the column stood on the north part of the Campus Martius, in the centre of a square. This square was either between the temple of Hadrian (probably the Hadrianeum) and the temple of Marcus Aurelius (dedicated by his son Commodus, of which nothing now remains – it was probably on the site of Palazzo Wedekind), or within the latter’s sacred precinct, of which nothing remains. Nearby is the site where the emperor’s cremation occurred.  The column’s shaft is high, on a high base, which in turn originally stood on a high platform – the column in total is About 3 metres of the base have been below ground level since the 1589 restoration.  The column consists of 27 or 28 blocks of Carrara marble, each of diameter, hollowed out whilst still at the quarry for a stairway of 190–200 steps within the column up to a platform at the top. Just as with Trajan’s Column, this stairway is illuminated through narrow slits into the relief.

Relief.

The spiral picture relief tells the story of Marcus Aurelius' Danubian or Marcomannic wars, waged by him from 166 to his death. The story begins with the army crossing the river Danube, probably at Carnuntum. A Victory separates the accounts of two expeditions. The exact chronology of the events is disputed; however, the latest theory states that the expeditions against the Marcomanni and Quadi in the years 172 and 173 are in the lower half and the successes of the emperor over the Sarmatians in the years 174 and 175 in the upper half.  One particular episode portrayed is historically attested in Roman propaganda – the so-called "rain miracle in the territory of the Quadi", in which a god, answering a prayer from the emperor, rescues Roman troops by a terrible storm, a miracle later claimed by the Christians for the Christian God.  In spite of many similarities to Trajan's column, the style is entirely different, a forerunner of the dramatic style of the 3rd century and closely related to the triumphal arch of Septimius Severus, erected soon after. The figures' heads are disproportionately large so that the viewer can better interpret their facial expressions. The images are carved less finely than at Trajan's Column, through drilling holes more deeply into the stone, so that they stand out better in a contrast of light and dark. As villages are burned down, women and children are captured and displaced, men are killed, the emotion, despair, and suffering of the "barbarians" in the war, are represented acutely in single scenes and in the figures' facial expressions and gestures, whilst the emperor is represented as protagonist, in control of his environment.  The symbolic language is altogether clearer and more expressive, if clumsier at first sight, and leaves a wholly different impression on the viewer to the whole artistic style of 100 to 150 as on Trajan's column. There, cool and sober balance – here, drama and empathy. The pictorial language is unambiguous – imperial dominance and authority is emphasised, and its leadership is justified. Overall, it is an anticipation of the development of artistic style into late antiquity, and a first artistic expression of the crisis of the Roman empire that would worsen in the 3rd century.

Later history.

In the Middle Ages, climbing the column was so popular that the right to charge the entrance fee was annually auctioned, but it is no longer possible to do so today. Now the Column serves a centrepiece to the piazza in front of the Palazzo Chigi.

Restoration.

About three metres of the base have been below ground level since 1589 when, by order of pope Sixtus V, the whole column was restored by Domenico Fontana and adapted to the ground level of that time. Also a bronze statue of the apostle St. Paul was placed on the top platform, to go with that of St. Peter on Trajan's Column (27 October 1588). (Originally the top platform probably had a statue of Marcus Aurelius, but it had been already lost by the 16th century.) That adaptation also removed the damaged or destroyed original reliefs on the base of garland-carrying victories and (on the side facing the via Flaminia ) representations of subjected barbarians, replacing them with the following inscription mistakenly calling this the column of Antoninus Pius, which is now recognised as lost:

The Column of Marcus Aurelius (, ) is a Roman victory column in Piazza Colonna, Rome, Italy. It is a Doric column featuring a spiral relief: it was built in honour of Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius and modeled on Trajan's Column.


History.

Authorship is traditionally ascribed to Saint Ambrose (d. 397) or Saint Augustine (d. 430). In 19th-century scholarship, Saints Hilary of Poitiers (d. 367) and Nicetas of Remesiana (d. 414) were proposed as possible authors. In the 20th century, the association with Nicetas has been deprecated, so that the hymn, while almost certainly dating to the 4th century, is considered as being of uncertain authorship. Authorship of Nicetas of Remesiana was suggested by the association of the name "Nicetas" with the hymn in manuscripts from the 10th century onward, and was particularly defended in the 1890s by Germain Morin. Hymnologists of the 20th century, especially Ernst Kähler (1958), have shown the association with "Nicetas" to be spurious. It has structural similarities with a eucharistic prayer and it has been proposed that it was originally composed as part of one.  The hymn was part of the Old Hymnal since it was introduced to the Benedictine order in the 6th century, and it was preserved in the Frankish Hymnal of the 8th century. It was, however, removed from the New Hymnal which became prevalent in the 10th century. It was restored in the 12th century in hymnals that attempted to restore the praiseful intent of the rule of St. Benedict.  In the traditional office, the "Te Deum" is sung at the end of Matins on all days when the Gloria is said at Mass; those days are all Sundays outside Advent, Septuagesima, Lent, and Passiontide; on all feasts (except the Triduum) and on all ferias during Eastertide.  Before the 1961 reforms of Pope John XXIII, neither the Gloria nor the Te Deum were said on the feast of the Holy Innocents, unless it fell on Sunday, as they were martyred before the death of Christ and therefore could not immediately attain the beatific vision.  In the Liturgy of the Hours of Pope Paul VI, the "Te Deum" is sung at the end of the Office of Readings on all Sundays except those of Lent, on all solemnities, on the octaves of Easter and Christmas, and on all feasts. A plenary indulgence is granted, under the usual conditions, to those who recite it in public on New Year's Eve.  It is also used together with the standard canticles in Morning Prayer as prescribed in the Anglican Book of Common Prayer, in Matins for Lutherans, and is retained by many churches of the Reformed tradition.  The hymn is in regular use in the Catholic Church, Lutheran Church, Anglican Church and Methodist Church (mostly before the Homily) in the Office of Readings found in the Liturgy of the Hours, and in thanksgiving to God for a special blessing such as the election of a pope, the consecration of a bishop, the canonization of a saint, a religious profession, the publication of a treaty of peace, a royal coronation, etc. It is sung either after Mass or the Divine Office or as a separate religious ceremony. The hymn also remains in use in the Anglican Communion and some Lutheran Churches in similar settings.

Text.

The petitions at the end of the hymn (beginning "Salvum fac populum tuum") are a selection of verses from the book of Psalms, appended subsequently to the original hymn.  The hymn follows the outline of the Apostles' Creed, mixing a poetic vision of the heavenly liturgy with its declaration of faith. Calling on the name of God immediately, the hymn proceeds to name all those who praise and venerate God, from the hierarchy of heavenly creatures to those Christian faithful already in heaven to the Church spread throughout the world.  The hymn then returns to its credal formula, naming Christ and recalling his birth, suffering and death, his resurrection and glorification. At this point the hymn turns to the subjects declaiming the praise, both the universal Church and the singer in particular, asking for mercy on past sins, protection from future sin, and the hoped-for reunification with the elect.

Music.

The text has been set to music by many composers, with settings by Haydn, Mozart, Berlioz, Verdi, Bruckner, Furtwängler, Dvořák, Britten, Kodály, and Pärt among the better known. Jean-Baptiste Lully wrote a setting of Te Deum for the court of Louis XIV of France, and received a fatal injury while conducting it. Michel Richard de Lalande wrote a setting of "Te Deum" S.32. The prelude to Marc-Antoine Charpentier's setting (H.146) is well known in Europe on account of its being used as the theme music for Eurovision network broadcasts of the European Broadcasting Union, most notably the Eurovision Song Contest and "Jeux Sans Frontières". He wrote also 3 other settings of Te Deum, H 145, H 147, H148. Henry Desmarets, 2 settings of Te Deum (1687). Louis-Nicolas Clérambault wrote 3 settings of "Te Deum" C.135, C.136, C.155. Earlier it had been used as the theme music for Bud Greenspan's documentary series, "The Olympiad". Sir William Walton's "Coronation Te Deum" was written for the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in 1953. Other English settings include those by Thomas Tallis, William Byrd, Henry Purcell, Edward Elgar, and Herbert Howells, as well as five settings by George Frideric Handel and three settings by Charles Villiers Stanford.  Puccini's opera "Tosca" features a dramatic performance of the initial part of the "Te Deum" at the end of Act I.  The traditional chant melody was the basis for elaborate "Te Deum" compositions by notable French composer organists, Louis Marchand, Guillaume Lasceux, Charles Tournemire (1930), Jean Langlais (1934), and Jeanne Demessieux (1958), which are still widely performed today.  A version by Father Michael Keating is popular in some Charismatic circles. Mark Hayes wrote a setting of the text in 2005, with Latin phrases interpolated amid primarily English lyrics. In 1978, British hymnodist Christopher Idle wrote "God We Praise You", a version of the text in 8.7.8.7.D meter, set to the tune "Rustington". British composer John Rutter has composed two settings of this hymn, one entitled "Te Deum" and the other "Winchester Te Deum". Igor Stravinsky set the first 12 lines of the text as part of "The Flood" in 1962. Antony Pitts was commissioned by the London Festival of Contemporary Church Music to write a setting for the 2011 10th Anniversary Festival. The 18th-century German hymn "Großer Gott, wir loben dich" is a free translation of the Te Deum, which was translated into English in the 19th century as "Holy God, We Praise Thy Name."

Latin and English text.

"In the Book of Common Prayer, verse is written in half-lines, at which reading pauses, indicated by colons in the text."

Service.

A Te Deum service is a short religious service, based upon the singing of the hymn, held to give thanks. In Sweden, for example, it may be held in the Royal Chapel in connection with the birth of a Prince or Princess, christenings, milestone birthdays, jubilees and other important events within the Royal Family of Sweden. In Luxembourg, a service is held annually in the presence of the Grand-Ducal Family to celebrate the Grand Duke's Official Birthday, which is also the nation's national day, on either 23 or 24 June. it is also very common to be held in some South American countries such as Argentina, Chile, Peru etc.

The Te Deum (, from its incipit, "Te Deum laudamus" "Thee, O God, we praise") is a Latin Christian hymn written in 387 A.D. It is central to the Ambrosian hymnal, which spread throughout the Latin Church with other parts of the Milanese Rite in the 6th to 8th centuries, and it is sometimes known as "the Ambrosian Hymn" although authorship by Saint Ambrose is unlikely. The term "Te Deum" can also refer to a short religious service (of blessing or thanks) based upon the hymn.


Early years.

Kraenzlein was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, a son of Johann Georg Kränzlein, a brewer, and Maria Augusta Schmidt, both of a German origin. After his family moved to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, he attended the Milwaukee's East Side High School, where he became involved in sports. In 1895, during the Wisconsin Interscholastic Championships, he won first places in the 100-yard dash, 120-yard high hurdles, 220-yard low hurdles, high jump, and shot put.  He attended the University of Wisconsin where he studied engineering. In 1896, he won the 220-yard low hurdles, the high jump and placed second in the 100-yard dash and shot put at the freshman-sophomore track-and-field meet. During the 1897 Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Championship, Kraenzlein won the 220-yard low hurdles and the high jump. He led the Wisconsin team to the team title. He also won the 1897 Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) title in the 220-yard low hurdles. In 1897 Alvin Kraenzlein set an indoor world record of 36.6 seconds in the 300-yard low hurdles.  In 1898, after being recruited by Mike Murphy, the University of Pennsylvania track-and-field coach, he moved to Philadelphia, where he studied at the Dental School and graduated in 1900.  After winning his first athletics title in 1897 - the 220 yards hurdles race at the AAU championship, Kraenzlein achieved more notability by winning five AAU titles in both hurdling and long jump events, and eight Intercollegiate Association of Amateur Athletes of America titles in dash, hurdling and the long jump. Being a student at the University of Philadelphia, he established world records for the 120 metres high hurdles and the 220 metres low hurdles, the last standing for quarter of a century. In 1899, Kraenzlein established the long jump world record of 24' 3 1/2". He was a leader of the Penn's track-and-field team that won four consecutive team IC4A titles.  Kraenzlein was especially noted for his hurdling technique, as he was among the first to practice the modern method of straight-lead-leg (the first leg over the hurdle remains straight and parallel with the ground) hurdle clearing. Arthur C. M. Croome from Great Britain first attempted the straight-lead-leg style in 1886, however, Alvin Kraenzlein perfected it and turned into a mainstream technique. This was a significant development, as it enabled athletes to overcome the hurdles without reducing speed.

The world's spotlight.

In 1900, Kraenzlein was training for the Summer Olympics in England. He won the British Amateur Athletic Association (BAAA) Championships in London in the 120 yards hurdles and the long jump before entering the 1900 Summer Olympics in Paris. He established a world record in the 120 yards hurdles for grass tracks.  Alvin Kraenzlein became the most successful athlete of the 1900 Olympics. There, during three days of competitions he won four titles establishing new Olympic record every time:  In the 60 metres, he ran both the preliminary and final in 7.0 seconds, defeating Walter Tewksbury by bare inches in the finals. His victory in the long jump was remarkable, as Kraenzlein defeated silver medallist Meyer Prinstein, his great rival from Syracuse University, only by a single centimetre. Prinstein's mark had been set in the qualification, and he did not attend the final, because it was held on a Sunday. As it was said, the two had an informal agreement not to compete on Sunday, and when Prinstein learned that Kraenzlein did show up he became violent, allegedly punching Kraenzlein according to some accounts (others claim that Prinstein was restrained before he could land the punch).  Altogether, thirteen student athletes from the University of Pennsylvania competed in the track events in Paris. They distinguished themselves with twenty medals including eleven gold awards.

Coaching.

After the 1900 Olympic Games, Kraenzlein retired from athletic competition in late 1900, as the owner of six world and four Olympic records. He came back to Milwaukee and started a dental practice. Kraenzlein also became a manager of the Milwaukee Athletic Association. In 1902, having returned to Philadelphia, he married Claudine Gilman, whom he knew from the student days. He practiced dentistry in Philadelphia till 1906 when he became the track-and-field coach at Mercersburg Academy, a selective prep school in Pennsylvania. Amongst his students was Ralph Craig, a future Olympic titleholder in both the 100 and 200 metres in 1912 Olympic Games.  In 1910–1913 he was the head track-and-field and football coach (in 1910–1911) at the University of Michigan.  In 1913 he signed a five-year $50,000 contract with the German government to train the 1916 German Olympic track team (this was cancelled due to the outbreak of World War I). With World War I coming, Kraenzlein served in the U.S. Army as a physical training specialist. When the war ended, he became an assistant coach for the University of Pennsylvania track team. He also coached at summer camps and at the Havana Golf and Tennis Club in Cuba in the winter.  In late 1927, he became afflicted with bouts of pleurisy. Alvin Kraenzlein died early 1928 of endocarditis in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania.

Alvin Christian "Al" Kraenzlein (December 12, 1876 – January 6, 1928), known as "the father of the modern hurdling technique", was an American track-and-field athlete, and the first sportsman in the history of Olympic games to win four individual gold medals in a single discipline at the 1900 Summer Olympics in Paris. Before, Carl Schuhmann, a German athlete, won four Olympic titles in gymnastics and wrestling at the 1896 Summer Olympics in Athens., Alvin Kraenzlein is the only track-and-field athlete who has won four individual titles at one Olympics. Kraenzlein is also known for developing a pioneering technique of straight-leg hurdling, which allowed him to set two world hurdle records. He is an Olympic Hall of Fame (1984) and USA Track & Field (1974) inductee.


History.

The settlement of Gumbinnen (from : pumpkin) in the Duchy of Prussia was first mentioned in a 1580 deed. A Protestant parish was established in Gumbinnen at the behest of the Hohenzollern thanks to Duke Albert of Prussia about 1545 and the first church was erected in 1582. Gumbinnen became part of Brandenburg-Prussia in 1618.  Between 1709 and 1711 the area was devastated by the Great Northern War plague outbreak and had to be redeveloped under the rule of the "Soldier King" Frederick William I of Prussia, who granted Gumbinnen town privileges in 1724 and from 1732 resettled the area with Salzburg Protestants, refugees from Salzburg, who had been expelled by Prince-Archbishop Count Leopold Anton von Firmian. The first filial church of the Salzburg Protestants was erected between 1752 and 1752, and was rebuilt in 1840 in a Neoclassical style according to plans designed by Karl Friedrich Schinkel. The church was restored in 1995 by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Russia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan and Central Asia.  From 1815, Gumbinnen was the capital of Regierungsbezirk Gumbinnen, an administrative district of the Province of East Prussia, and became part of the German Empire upon the unification of Germany in 1871. In 1860 the Prussian State railway line from Königsberg to Stallupönen (now Nesterov) was built and the route passed through Gumbinnen, causing the town to grow in economic importance in the region. By the end of the 19th century, Gumbinnen had a foundry, a machine shop, a furniture factory, a clothing mill, two sawmills, several brickworks, and a dairy.  During World War I the town was the site of the Battle of Gumbinnen, a major battle on the Eastern Front. The battle took place nearby in the opening days of the war in August 1914, and Gumbinnen was subsequently occupied by the Russian Imperial Army for several months. After the war, a power plant, the Ostpreußenwerk, was built in Gumbinnen and powered much of East Prussia. At the beginning of the Nazi era, Gumbinnen was designated a military sub-region of the Königsberg military area. Near the end of World War II, in 1944, the first of Gumbinnen's 24,000 residents began to flee from the advancing Red Army, and a Soviet air attack on October 16, 1944, caused heavy damage to the inner town area. On October 22, 1944, the town was taken by Soviet forces, who engaged in numerous vengeful atrocities against the civilian population before the Wehrmacht retook the town two days later. Although the German forces retook Gumbinnen and managed in late October to stabilize the battle line east of the town, it was quickly re-conquered by the Red Army during the great Soviet East Prussia offensive on 21 January 1945. During the Evacuation of East Prussia, the surviving German residents fled or were forcibly expelled.  Following the end of the war, under border changes promulgated at the Potsdam Conference in 1945, the northern part of East Prussia became a part of the Soviet Union, including Gumbinnen. The town was renamed Gusev, in honour of a Red Army captain, Sergei Ivanovich Gusev, who was killed in action near Gumbinnen in January 1945, and was posthumously given the award of Hero of the Soviet Union on April 19, 1945.

Administrative and municipal status.

Within the framework of administrative divisions, Gusev serves as the administrative center of Gusevsky District. As an administrative division, it is incorporated within Gusevsky District as the town of district significance of Gusev.  Within the framework of municipal divisions, since June 10, 2013, the territories of the town of district significance of Gusev and of four rural okrugs of Gusevsky District are incorporated as Gusevsky Urban Okrug. Before that, the town of district significance was incorporated within Gusevsky Municipal District as Gusevskoye Urban Settlement.

Economy.

Transportation.

Gusev lies on the double-track, broad-gauge rail line connecting the Kaliningrad Oblast exclave through Lithuania and Belarus with the main contiguous territory of Russia.

The Yantar Special Economic Zone.

In the 1990s the Yantar Special Economic Zone was established in Kaliningrad Oblast. Some of projects in the zone are located in Gusev, such as NPO CTS.

Twin towns and sister cities.

Gusev is twinned with:

Gusev (), previously known by its German name (; ), is a town and the administrative center of Gusevsky District of Kaliningrad Oblast, Russia, located at the confluence of the Pissa and Krasnaya Rivers, near the border with Poland and Lithuania, east of Chernyakhovsk. Population figures:


Etymology.

"Detergent" is borrowed from the Latin verb "detergere", which is a compound of "de", "away from", and "tergere", "to wipe". In the English language, it was used as an adjective, "detergent", in the 17th century.

Chemical classifications of detergents.

Detergents are classified into three broad groupings, depending on the electrical charge of the surfactants.

Anionic detergents.

Typical anionic detergents are alkylbenzenesulfonates. The alkylbenzene portion of these anions is lipophilic and the sulfonate is hydrophilic. Two different varieties have been popularized, those with branched alkyl groups and those with linear alkyl groups. The former were largely phased out in economically advanced societies because they are poorly biodegradable. An estimated 6 billion kilograms of anionic detergents are produced annually for domestic markets.  Bile acids, such as deoxycholic acid (DOC), are anionic detergents produced by the liver to aid in digestion and absorption of fats and oils.

Cationic detergents.

Cationic detergents are similar to the anionic ones, with a hydrophilic component, but, instead of the anionic sulfonate group, the cationic surfactants have quaternary ammonium as the polar end. The ammonium sulfate center is positively charged.

Non-ionic and zwitter ionic detergents.

Non-ionic detergents are characterized by their uncharged, hydrophilic headgroups. Typical non-ionic detergents are based on polyoxyethylene or a glycoside. Common examples of the former include Tween, Triton, and the Brij series. These materials are also known as ethoxylates or PEGylates and their metabolites, nonylphenol. Glycosides have a sugar as their uncharged hydrophilic headgroup. Examples include octyl thioglucoside and maltosides. HEGA and MEGA series detergents are similar, possessing a sugar alcohol as headgroup.  Zwitterionic detergents possess a net zero charge arising from the presence of equal numbers of +1 and −1 charged chemical groups. Examples include CHAPS.  See surfactants for more applications.

History.

In World War I, there was a shortage of oils. Synthetic detergents were first made in Germany.

Major applications of detergents.

Household cleaning.

One of the largest applications of detergents is for household and shop cleaning including dish washing and washing laundry. The formulations are complex, reflecting the diverse demands of the application and the highly competitive consumer market.

Fuel additives.

Both carburetors and fuel injector components of Otto engines benefit from detergents in the fuels to prevent fouling. Concentrations are about 300 ppm. Typical detergents are long-chain amines and amides such as polyisobuteneamine and polyisobuteneamide/succinimide.

Biological reagent.

Reagent grade detergents are employed for the isolation and purification of integral membrane proteins found in biological cells. Solubilization of cell membrane bilayers requires a detergent that can enter the inner membrane monolayer. Advancements in the purity and sophistication of detergents have facilitated structural and biophysical characterization of important membrane proteins such as ion channels also the disrupt membrane by binding lipopolysaccharide, transporters, signaling receptors, and photosystem II.

A detergent is a surfactant or a mixture of surfactants with cleansing properties in dilute solutions. These substances are usually alkylbenzene sulfonates, a family of compounds that are similar to soap but are more soluble in hard water, because the polar sulfonate (of detergents) is less likely than the polar carboxylate (of soap) to bind to calcium and other ions found in hard water.


Life.

Early life.

Zwentibold was born during the long reign of his great-grandfather, King Louis the German in East Francia. He was the first-born, yet illegitimate, son of Arnulf of Carinthia (d. 899) and his concubine Vinburga. Zwentibold's father himself was an illegitimate son of Carloman of Bavaria, the eldest son of King Louis. After the king's death in 876, Carloman ruled over the East Frankish territory of Bavaria and ceded the adjacent marches of Pannonia and Carinthia (former Carantania) to his son Arnulf. In 887 Arnulf succeeded the incapable King Charles the Fat as King of East Francia. He was named "Zwentibold" after his godfather Svatopluk, ruler of Great Moravia.  When Zwentibold came of age, he intervened in the scramble for the throne in West Francia (France) between Count Odo of Paris and Charles the Simple, but they began to cooperate against Zwentibold, when it became apparent that he intended to become king of West Francia himself. The eldest son of Arnulf was at first marked out for his succession in East Francia. According to the 870 Treaty of Meerssen and the 880 Treaty of Ribemont, the Lotharingian kingdom of former Middle Francia had fallen to the East Frankish realm. When in 893 King Arnulf's wife Ota gave birth to his legitimate son and successor Louis the Child, Zwentibold in compensation received the Lotharingian royal title, which last had been held by Lothair II.

King of Lotharingia.

In the summer of 893 Arnulf, received pleas of intervention against [emperor] Wido of Spoleto from pope Formosus and Berengar of Friuli, king of Italy. He sent Zwentibold down the Brenner Pass with an army who joined forces with Berengar in Verona. The two marched to Wido's capital, Pavia, and besieged it unsuccessfully, finally abandoning the siege. According to Liutprand of Cremona, Zwentibold accepted money from Wido in order to leave, although it is not clear if it was in the form of a personal bribe or a tribute to his father. Zwentibold's retreat was nonetheless seen as a failure, but after learning details of the campaign, Arnulf summoned a stronger army and personally led it to Italy and took Pavia a few months later.  As a part of the plans to integrate Lotharingia into the East Frankish realm, the rule of King Zwentibold was enforced by his father, supported by the archbishops Herman I of Cologne and Ratbod of Trier, against the resistance of the local nobility. As he helped the common population too much, he began to be hated in a few years. He was fighting unruly nobles when his father Arnulf died in 899 and the legitimate son Louis the Child became king of East Francia at the age of six.

Death.

Zwentibold attempted to take advantage of the succession of his minor half-brother to establish complete independence for his Lotharingian kingdom. However, after he had lost his father's backing, the entire nobility supported Louis and asked him to intervene. In 900, Count Reginar I of Hainault rose against Zwentibold and slew him near present-day Susteren.  After Zwentibold's death, his half-brother King Louis the Child of East Francia also ruled over Lotharingia. However, under his reign the East Frankish realm disintegrated and from 903 Zwentibold's kingdom was administered by the Lahngau Count Gebhard, a scion of the Conradine dynasty, who received the title of a Duke of Lorraine.

Family.

Zwentibold was named after his godfather, King Svatopluk I of Great Moravia (Zwentibold being a Frankish transcription of Svatopluk). In 897, he married Oda, a daughter of Duke Otto I of Saxony. His mortal remains are buried at Susteren Abbey. He had three daughters, who are mentioned in the "Gesta episcoporum Leodensium":

Zwentibold ("Zventibold", "Zwentibald", "Swentiboldo", "Sventibaldo", "Sanderbald"; – 13 August 900), a member of the Carolingian dynasty, was the illegitimate son of Emperor Arnulf. In 895, his father, then king of East Francia, granted him the Kingdom of Lotharingia, which he ruled until his death. After his death he was declared a saint and martyr by the Catholic Church.


Development.

During and after World War I, a number of inventors devised small, remote-controlled, tracked vehicles intended to carry an explosive charge. During the war, the French developed two vehicles. The "Crocodile Schneider Torpille Terrestre" or Land Torpedo Crocodile Schneider carried a 40-kilogram (88 lb) explosive charge and saw limited combat use in June 1916. However, it performed poorly and was eclipsed by the first tanks, then being introduced. The "Aubriot-Gabet Torpille Electrique" was driven by a single electric motor powered by a trailing cable. This vehicle may have been steered by clutch control on its tracks, although early versions may have lacked steering. This may not have mattered as its task was simply to cross No man's land to attack the long trenches of the enemy. The "Wickersham Land Torpedo" was patented by American inventor Elmer Wickersham in 1918 and in the 1930s, a similar vehicle was developed by the French vehicle designer Adolphe Kégresse.  In late 1940, Kégresse's prototype was recovered by the Germans near the Seine; the Wehrmacht's ordnance office directed the Carl F.W. Borgward automotive company of Bremen, Germany to develop a similar vehicle for the purpose of carrying a minimum of 50 kilograms (110 lb) of explosives. The result was the SdKfz. 302 ("Sonderkraftfahrzeug", ‘special-purpose vehicle’), called the "Leichter Ladungsträger" (‘light charge carrier’), or Goliath, which carried 60 kilograms (130 lb) of explosives. The vehicle was steered remotely via a joystick control box. The control box was connected to the Goliath by a, triple-strand cable attached to the rear of the vehicle. The cable was used both for control and for transmitting power to the electric driven version. Two of the strands were used to move and steer the Goliath, while the third was used for detonation. Each Goliath was disposable, being intended to be blown up with its target. Early model Goliaths used an electric motor but, as these were costly to make (3,000 "Reichsmarks") and difficult to repair in a combat environment, later models (known as the SdKfz. 303) used a simpler, more reliable gasoline engine.

Service.

Goliaths were used on all fronts where the Wehrmacht fought, beginning in early 1942. They were used principally by specialized Panzer and combat engineer units. Goliaths were used at Anzio in Italy in April 1944, and against the Polish resistance during the Warsaw Uprising in 1944. A few Goliaths were also seen on the beaches of Normandy during D-Day, though most were rendered inoperative due to artillery blasts severing their command cables. Allied troops also encountered a small number of Goliaths in the Maritime Alps following the landings in southern France in August 1944, with at least one being used successfully against a vehicle of the 509th Parachute Infantry Battalion.  Although a total of 7,564 Goliaths were produced, the single-use weapon was not considered a success due to high unit cost, low speed (just above ), poor ground clearance (just 11.4 centimetres), the vulnerable control cable, and thin armour which could not protect the vehicle from small-arms fire. The Goliath was also too big and heavy to be easily man-portable. Mostly, they failed to reach their target although the effect was considerable when they did.  Large numbers of Goliaths were captured by the Allies. Although they were examined with interest by Allied intelligence, they were seen as having little military value. Some were used by the United States Army Air Force as aircraft tugs, although they quickly broke down as the disposable vehicles were not designed for sustained use.  The Goliath did help lay the foundation for post-war advances in remote-controlled vehicle technologies.

Romanian version.

During 1944, Romania designed and built its own model of remote-controlled tracked mine, known as "Romanian Goliath", due to lack of information about its actual name. However, it was markedly different from its German counterpart. The few surviving photos show that the vehicle had no armour, and it is not known if that was ever changed. It did have some logistical improvements, however, as the Romanian-designed chassis allowed it to cross trenches and craters much better than its German counterparts. Little is known about the vehicle, aside from that it never went beyond the prototype stage and that it weighed about two tonnes.

Surviving examples.

Surviving Goliaths are preserved at:

Notes.

Defence against the German Goliath was re-enacted in the 1957 Polish film "Kanał", documenting the final days of the Warsaw Uprising, the TV series "Kolumbowie" and the 2014 film "Warsaw 44".

The Goliath tracked mine - complete German name: "Leichter Ladungsträger Goliath" (Goliath Light Charge Carrier) was a name given to two German Unmanned ground vehicles, disposable demolition vehicles, used during World War II. These were the electrically powered "Sd.Kfz. 302" and the petrol-engine powered "Sd.Kfz. 303a" and "303b". They were known as "beetle tanks" by the Allies.


Names.

The city's Sicilian name is. It was named by the Greeks who settled it as "Kephaloídion" () or "Kephaloidís" (). These were latinized as "Cephaloedium" and "Cephaloedis". Under Arab rule, it was known as "Gafludi".  Under Carthaginian rule, it was known as "Cape Melqart" (, ), after the Tyrian god.

History.

Of Greek foundation, the city evidently derived its name from its situation on a lofty and precipitous rock, forming a bold headland (, "kephalḗ", 'head') projecting into the sea. Despite the Greek origin of its name, no mention of it is found in the works of Thucydides, who expressly says that Himera was the only Greek colony on this coast of the island; it is probable that Cephaloedium was at this time merely a fortress (, "phroúrion") belonging to the Himeraeans and may very likely have been first peopled by refugees after the destruction of Himera. Its name first appears in history at the time of the Carthaginian expedition under Himilco, 396BC, when that general concluded a treaty with the Himeraeans and the inhabitants of Cephaloedium. But after the defeat of the Carthaginian armament, Dionysius the Elder made himself master of Cephaloedium, which was betrayed into his hands. At a later period we find it again independent, but apparently on friendly terms with the Carthaginians, on which account it was attacked and taken by Agathocles, 307BC. In the First Punic War it was reduced by the Roman fleet under Atilius Calatinus and Scipio Nasica, 254BC, but by treachery and not by force of arms. Cicero speaks of it as apparently a flourishing town, enjoying full municipal privileges; it was, in his time, one of the which paid the tithes of their corn in kind to the Roman state and suffered severely from the oppressions and exactions of Verres. It also minted coins. No subsequent mention of it is found in history, but it is noticed among the towns of Sicily by the geographers Strabo, Pliny, and Ptolemy, and at a later period its name is still found in the itineraries.  After the fall of the Western Roman Empire, the town remained part of the Eastern Roman (Byzantine) Empire and the settlement was eventually moved from the plain to the current spur for defense, like many cities during the Byzantine era, as the Mediterranean was no longer solely controlled by the empire and was subject to Arab incursions. Nevertheless the old town was never entirely abandoned. In AD858, after a long siege, it was conquered by the Arabs. For the following two centuries it was part of the Emirate of Sicily.  In 1063, the Normans captured it. In 1131, Roger II, king of Sicily, transferred it from its almost inaccessible position to one at the foot of the rock, where there was a small but excellent harbor and began construction of the present Byzantine-style cathedral. In addition to Arabs the area was still inhabited by its original Greek speakers (today called Byzantine Greeks, then called Rûm i.e. 'Romans,' by the Arabs), and these Christians were then still members of the Byzantine (Greek Orthodox) church. Between the 13th century and 1451, it was under different feudal families, and then it became a possession of the bishops of Cefalù.  During the Risorgimento, the patriot Salvatore Spinuzza was shot here in 1857. Cefalù became part of the Kingdom of Italy in 1861.

Main sights.

Cathedral.

The Cathedral, begun in 1131, in a style of Norman architecture which would be more accurately called Sicilian Romanesque. The exterior is well preserved, and is largely decorated with interlacing pointed arches; the windows also are pointed. On each side of the façade is a massive tower of four stories. The round-headed Norman portal is worthy of note. A semi-circular apse is set into the east end wall. Its strengthening counterforts that work like buttresses, are shaped as paired columns to lighten their aspect. The groined vaulting of the roof is visible in the choir and the right transept, while the rest of the church has a wooden roof. Fine cloisters, coeval with the cathedral, adjoin it.  The interior of the cathedral was restored in 1559, though the pointed arches of the nave, borne by ancient granite columns, are still visible; and the only mosaics preserved are those of the apse and the last bay of the choir; they are remarkably fine specimens of the Byzantine art of the period (1148) and, though restored in 1859–62, have suffered much less than those at Palermo and Monreale from the process. The figure of the Pantocrator gracing the apse is especially noteworthy.  The cathedral is one of nine structures comprising the UNESCO World Heritage Site, Arab-Norman Palermo and the Cathedral Churches of Cefalù and Monreale.

Others.

Some remains of the ancient city are still visible, on the summit of the rock; but the nature of the site proves that it could never have been more than a small town, and probably owed its importance only to its almost impregnable position. Fazello speaks of the remains of the walls as still existing in his time, as well as those of a temple of Doric architecture, of which the foundations only are now visible. But the most curious monument still remaining of the ancient city is an edifice, consisting of various apartments, and having the appearance of a palace or domestic residence, but constructed wholly of large irregular blocks of limestone, in the style commonly called polygonal or Cyclopean. Rude mouldings approximating to those of the Doric order, are hewn on the face of the massive blocks. The doorways are of finely-cut stone, and of Greek type, and the date, though uncertain, cannot, from the careful jointing of the blocks, be very early. This building, which is almost unique of its kind, is the more remarkable, from its being the only example of this style of masonry, so common in Central Italy, which occurs in the island of Sicily. It is fully described and figured by Dr. Nott in the "Annali dell'Instituto di Corrispondenza Archeologica", for the year 1831 (vol. iii. p. 270-87).  On the summit of the promontory are extensive remains of a Saracenic castle. The town's fortifications formerly extended to the shore, on the side where the modern town now is, in the form of two long walls protecting the port. There are remains of a wall of massive rectangular blocks of stone at the modern Porta Garibaldi on the south.  Other sights include:  Not far from the town are the sanctuary of Gibilmanna and the Gibilmanna Observatory.

In popular culture.

The "Breakfast at Tiffany's" character Salvatore 'Sally' Tomato ("notorious mafia-notorious Mafia-führer") was "believed to have been born in Cefalu".

Cefalù (), the classical Cephaloedium (), is a city and comune in the Italian Metropolitan City of Palermo, located on the Tyrrhenian coast of Sicily about east of the provincial capital and west of Messina. The town, with its population of just under 14,000, is one of the major tourist attractions in the region. Despite its size, every year it attracts millions of tourists from all parts of Sicily and also, from all over Italy and Europe.


Growth.

"Gentiana lutea" is an herbaceous perennial plant, growing to tall, with broad lanceolate to elliptic leaves long and broad. The flowers are yellow, with the corolla separated nearly to the base into 5–7 narrow petals. It grows in grassy alpine and sub-alpine pastures, usually on calcareous soils.

Uses.

"Gentiana lutea" is remarkable for the intense bitterness of the root and every part of the herbage. Before the introduction of hops, gentian was used occasionally in brewing.  Gentian root has a long history of use as an herbal bitter and is an ingredient of many proprietary medicines. The parts used include the dried, underground parts of the plant and the fresh, above-ground parts. The root, which can be over thick and has few branches, is harvested in the autumn and dried for later use. Caution should be exercised as to its use because it is endangered, and the closely related "Centaurium erythraea" shares many of its constituents and actions.  The name is a tribute to Gentius, an Illyrian king who was thought to have found out that the herb had tonic properties.  In veterinary pharmacopeia in the 1860s, gentian root or gentian radix was considered useful as a tonic and stomachic.  Extracts of gentian root can be found in the American soft drink Moxie, and its unique flavor is attributed to that fact. It is also used in France to produce a Limousin specialty liqueur and aperitif called, with plants gathered from the Auvergne area.  The European Gentian Association in Lausanne, Cercle Européen d'Etude des Gentianacées, has the objective to develop the knowledge and uses of yellow gentian and other species of Gentianaceae.  The "Gentiana lutea" is depicted on the reverse of the Albanian 2000 lekë banknote, issued in 2008. The note depicts king Gentius on its obverse.

Chemical constituents.

The bitter principles of gentian root are secoiridoid glycosides amarogentin and gentiopicrin. The former is one of the most bitter natural compounds known and is used as a scientific basis for measuring bitterness.

Gentiana lutea, the great yellow gentian, is a species of gentian native to the mountains of central and southern Europe.


History.

First schilling.

The schilling was established by the schilling Act (Schillingrechnungsgesetz) of December 20, 1924 at a rate of 1 schilling to 10,000 kronen and issued on March 1, 1925. The schilling was abolished in the wake of Germany's annexation of Austria in 1938, when it was exchanged at a rate of 2 German reichsmark to 3 schilling.

Second schilling.

The schilling was reintroduced after World War II on November 30, 1945 by the Allied Military, who issued paper money (dated 1944) in denominations of 50 groschen up to 100 schilling. The exchange rate to the reichsmark was 1:1, limited to 150 schilling per person. The Nationalbank also began issuing schilling notes in 1945 and the first coins were issued in 1946.  With a second "schilling" law on November 21, 1947, new banknotes were introduced. The earlier notes could be exchanged for new notes at par for the first 150 schilling and at a rate of 1 new schilling for 3 old schillings thereafter. Coins were not affected by this reform. The currency stabilised in the 1950s, with the schilling being tied to the U.S. dollar at a rate of $1 = 26 schilling. Following the breakdown of the Bretton Woods system in 1971, the schilling was initially tied to a basket of currencies and then, in July 1976, the schilling was coupled to the German mark.  Although the euro became the official currency of Austria in 1999, euro coins and notes were not introduced until 2002. Old schilling denominated coins and notes were phased out from circulation because of the introduction of the euro by 28 February of that year. Schilling banknotes and coins which were valid at the time of the introduction of the euro will indefinitely remain exchangeable for euros at any branch of the Oesterreichische Nationalbank.

Coins.

First schilling.

In 1925, bronze 1 and 2 groschen, cupro-nickel 10 groschen, and silver and 1 schilling coins were introduced, followed by cupro-nickel 5 groschen issues in 1931. In 1934, cupro-nickel 50 groschen and 1 schilling were introduced, together with silver 5 schilling. Coins were issued until 1938.  Also issued gold and silver coins: 2 schillings (1937) – 64% silver, 5 schillings (1934) – 83% silver, 25 schillings (1926) – 90% gold, 100 schillings (1924) – 90% gold.

Second schilling.

Between 1947 and 1952, coins in denominations of 1, 2, 5, 10, 20, and 50 groschen; and 1, 2, and 5 schilling were introduced. The 2 and 50 groschen; 1, 2, and 5 schilling were struck in aluminium, as was the second type of 10 groschen coin. The 1 and 5 groschen and the first type of 10 groschen were in zinc, with the 20 groschen struck in aluminium-bronze. The 1 groschen was only struck in 1947, while the 20 groschen and 2 schilling coins were suspended from production in 1954 and 1952, respectively. In 1957, silver 10 schilling coins were introduced, followed in 1959 by aluminium-bronze 50 groschen and 1 schilling, and in 1960 by silver 5 schilling coins. Thus, the 5 schilling coins went from an aluminium composition to a silver one, a highly unusual event made possible by the substantial improvement of the Austrian economy in the 1950s. Cupro-nickel replaced silver in the 5 and 10 schilling coins in 1969 and 1974, respectively. An aluminium-bronze 20 schilling coin was introduced in 1980.  Silver coins were in the value of 25, 50, 100, 200 and 500 schilling, but gold coins also existed for 500 and 1,000 schilling. They were considered legal currency, but were rarely found in actual transactions.  At the time of the changeover to the euro, the coins in circulation were the following. Coins under 10 groschen were rarely seen in circulation during their final years.

Banknotes.

First schilling.

In 1925, the Oesterreichische Nationalbank issued notes in denominations of 1, 5, 10, 20, 100 and 1,000 "Schillinge" (note the different spelling of the plural on this first 1925-series of notes).  In 1927–1929 a second series was added with 5, 10, 20, 50 and 100 schilling notes. The one schilling was substituted by a coin.

Second schilling.

In 1945, the Allies introduced notes (dated 1944) in denominations of 50 groschen, 1, 2, 5, 10, 20, 25, 50, 100 and 1,000 schilling. The Oesterreichische Nationalbank also introduced notes in 1945, in denominations of 10, 20, 100 and 1,000 schilling and the allied currency with small values up to 5 schilling remained valid until 1947. With the banknote reform of 1947, new notes were issued in denominations of 5, 10, 20, 50, 100 and 1,000 schilling. Until 1957, the first 500 schilling banknote was issued and the 5 and 10 schilling notes were replaced by coins. However, although 20 schilling coins were issued from 1980, the 20 schilling note continued to be produced, with 5,000 schilling notes added in 1988.

The schilling (German: "Schilling") was the currency of Austria from 1925 to 1938 and from 1945 to 1999, and the circulating currency until 2002. The euro was introduced at a fixed parity of €1 = 13.7603 schilling to replace it. The schilling was divided into 100 groschen.


History.

Since the unanimous acceptance of the Union of Uzhhorod on the territory that includes present day eastern Slovakia in 1646, the history of the Slovak Greek Catholic Church was intertwined with that of the Ruthenian Greek Catholic Church for a period of several centuries. At the end of World War I, most Greek Catholic Ruthenians and Slovaks were included within the territory of Czechoslovakia, including two eparchies, Prešov and Mukačevo. The eparchy of Prešov, created on September 22, 1818, was removed in 1937 from the jurisdiction of the Hungarian primate and subjected directly to the Holy See, while the 21 parishes of the eparchy of Prešov that were in Hungary were formed into the new exarchate of Miskolc.  After World War II, the eparchy of Mukačevo in Transcarpathia was annexed by the Soviet Union, thus the eparchy of Prešov included all the Greek Catholics that remained in Czechoslovakia. After communists seized the country in April 1950, a "synod" was convoked at Prešov, at which five priests and a number of laymen signed a document declaring that the union with Rome was disbanded and asking to be received into the jurisdiction of the Moscow Patriarchate, later the Orthodox Church of Czechoslovakia. Greek Catholic bishop Blessed Pavel Petro Gojdič of Prešov along with his auxiliary, Blessed Basil Hopko, were imprisoned and bishop Gojdič died in prison in 1960.  During the Prague Spring in 1968, the former Greek Catholic parishes were allowed to restore communion with Rome. Of the 292 parishes involved, 205 voted in favor. This was one of the few reforms by Dubček that survived the Soviet invasion the same year. However, most of their church buildings remained in the hands of Orthodox Church.  After communism was overthrown in the 1989 Velvet Revolution, Church property was gradually returned to the Slovak Greek Catholic Church. This process was almost completed by 1993, the year after the dissolution of Czechoslovakia into the Czech Republic and Slovakia. For Greek Catholics in the Czech Republic, a separate Apostolic Vicariate was created, elevated in 1996 to an exarchate thus forming the Apostolic Exarchate in the Czech Republic (now considered part of Ruthenian Catholic Church); the 2007 "Annuario Pontificio" indicated that it had by then grown to having 177,704 faithful, 37 priests and 25 parishes.  In Slovakia itself, Pope John Paul II created an Apostolic Exarchate of Košice in 1997. Pope Benedict XVI raised this to the level of an Eparchy on January 30, 2008 and at the same time erected the new Byzantine-rite Eparchy of Bratislava. He also raised Prešov to the level of a metropolitan see, constituting the Slovak Greek Catholic Church as a "sui iuris" metropolitan Church.

Structure.

Slovakia: Canada:

Abroad.

In the United States, the Slovak Greek Catholics are not distinguished from the Ruthenians. Nonetheless, they have an eparchy in Canada, the Eparchy of Saints Cyril and Methodius of Toronto.

The Slovak Greek Catholic Church (Slovak: "Gréckokatolícka cirkev na Slovensku", "Greek-Catholic Church in Slovakia"), or Slovak Byzantine Catholic Church, is a Metropolitan "sui iuris" Eastern particular Church in full union with the Catholic Church. Its liturgical rite is the Byzantine Rite. L'Osservatore Romano of January 31, 2008 reported that, in Slovakia alone, it had some 350,000 faithful, 374 priests and 254 parishes. In addition, the 2012 Annuario Pontificio gave its Canadian Eparchy of Saints Cyril and Methodius of Toronto as having 2,000 faithful, 4 priests and 5 parishes. The Slovak Greek Catholic Church is in full communion with the Holy See.