Geography.

Dinant is positioned in the Upper Meuse valley, at a point where the river cuts deeply into the western Condroz plateau. Sited in a steep sided valley, between the rock face and the river. The original settlement had little space in which to grow away from the river, and it therefore expanded into a long, thin town, on a north-south axis, along the river shore. During the 19th century, the former "Île des Batteurs" (Drummers' Island) to the south was attached directly to the town when a branch of the river was filled in.  Dinant has been enriched by the agricultural opportunities presented by the fertile land on the plateau that overlooks it. Within the town, brassware production is a traditional craft that has benefited from the presence of the broad and, at this point, easily navigable river which has facilitated easy delivery of the raw materials and ready distribution of the resulting products of the artisans' workshops. Another traditional source of wealth is provided by the limestone cliffs overlooking the town, which supported a high-end quarrying industry, producing black marble and bluestone, and whose distribution also benefitted from the proximity of the relatively wide and deep navigable river.

History.

Origins to the 10th century.

The name Dinant comes from the Celtic "Divo-Nanto", meaning "Sacred Valley" or "Divine Valley"; it can also be translated as "Celestial Gorge" or "Luminous Gorge" (as in modern Welsh "Nant Dwyfol").  The Dinant area was already populated in Neolithic, Celtic, and Roman times. The first mention of Dinant as a settlement dates from the 7th century, when Saint Perpete, bishop of Tongeren, which at the time had its capital in Maastricht, took Dinant as his residence and founded the church of Saint Vincent. In 870, Charles the Bald gave part of Dinant to be administered by the Count of Namur, the other part by the bishop of Tongeren, which was by that time based in Liège.  In the 11th century, the emperor Henry IV granted several rights over Dinant to the Prince-Bishop of Liège, including market and justice rights. From that time on, the city became one of the 23 ‘‘bonnes villes’’ (or principal cities) of the Prince-Bishopric of Liège. The first stone bridge on the Meuse and major repair to the castle, which had been built earlier, also date from the end of the 11th century. Throughout this period, and until the end of the 18th century, Dinant shared its history with its overlord Liège, sometimes rising in revolt against it, sometimes partaking in its victories and defeats, mostly against the neighbouring County of Namur.

Late Middle Ages.

Its strategic location on the Meuse exposed Dinant to battle and pillage, not always by avowed enemies: in 1466, Philip the Good, Duke of Burgundy, uncle of Louis de Bourbon, Prince-Bishop of Liège, and Philip’s son Charles the Bold punished an uprising in Dinant during the Liège Wars, by casting 800 burghers into the Meuse and setting fire to the city. The city's economic rival was Bouvignes, downriver on the opposite shore of the Meuse.  Late Medieval Dinant and Bouvignes specialised in metalwork, producing finely cast and finished objects in a silvery brass alloy, called "dinanderie" and supplying aquamaniles, candlesticks, patens and other altar furniture throughout the Meuse valley (giving these objects their cautious designation "Mosan"), the Rhineland and beyond.  Henri Pirenne gained his doctorate in 1883 with a thesis on medieval Dinant.

The Old Regime and World War I.

In the 16th- and 17th-centuries wars between France and Spain, Dinant suffered destruction, famine and epidemics, despite its neutrality. In 1675, the French army under Marshal François de Créquy occupied the city. Dinant was briefly taken by the Austrians at the end of the 18th century. The whole Bishopric of Liège was ceded to France in 1795. The "dinanderies" fell out of fashion and the economy of the city now rested on leather tanning and the manufacture of playing cards. The famous "couques de Dinant" also appeared at that time.  The city suffered devastation again at the beginning of the First World War. On the 15 August 1914, French and German troops fought for the town in the Battle of Dinant (1914), among the wounded was Lieut. Charles de Gaulle. On 23 August, 674 inhabitants were summarily executed by Saxon troops of the German Army — the biggest massacre committed by the Germans in 1914. Within a month, some five thousand Belgian and French civilians were killed by the Germans at numerous similar occasions.

Transport.

Dinant's railway station is on the left bank of the river. There is hourly train service to Brussels, about a 90-minute ride.

Healthcare.

Dinant hosts the "Saint-Vincent" and "Saint-Anne" sites (Centre Hospitalier de Dinant) of the CHU UCLouvain Namur university hospital, the provinces' largest employer and serving as teaching hospital for the University of Louvain.

Dinant () is a Walloon city and municipality located on the River Meuse, in the Belgian province of Namur. It lies south-east of Brussels, south-east of Charleroi and south of Namur. Dinant is situated north of the border with France.


Early life.

Christian Dior was born in Granville, a seaside town on the coast of Normandy, France. He was the second of five children born to Maurice Dior, a wealthy fertilizer manufacturer (the family firm was Dior Frères), and his wife, formerly Madeleine Martin. He had four siblings: Raymond (father of Françoise Dior), Jacqueline, Bernard, and Catherine Dior. When Christian was about five years old, the family moved to Paris, but still returned to the Normandy coast for summer holidays.  Dior's family had hoped he would become a diplomat, but Dior was artistic and wished to be involved in art. To make money, he sold his fashion sketches outside his house for about 10 cents each. In 1928, Dior left school and received money from his father to finance a small art gallery, where he and a friend sold art by the likes of Pablo Picasso. The gallery was closed three years later, following the deaths of Dior's mother and brother, as well as financial trouble during the Great Depression that resulted in his father losing control of the family business.  From 1937, Dior was employed by the fashion designer Robert Piguet, who gave him the opportunity to design for three Piguet collections. Dior would later say that 'Robert Piguet taught me the virtues of simplicity through which true elegance must come.' One of his original designs for Piguet, a day dress with a short, full skirt called "Cafe Anglais", was particularly well received. Whilst at Piguet, Dior worked alongside Pierre Balmain, and was succeeded as house designer by Marc Bohan – who would, in 1960, become head of design for Christian Dior Paris. Dior left Piguet when he was called up for military service.  In 1942, when Dior left the army, he joined the fashion house of Lucien Lelong, where he and Balmain were the primary designers. For the duration of World War II, Dior, as an employee of Lelong – who labored to preserve the French fashion industry during wartime for economic and artistic reasons – in attempts to preserve the fashion industry during the war, Dior designed dresses for the wives of Nazi officers and French collaborators, as did other fashion houses that remained in business during the war, including Jean Patou, Jeanne Lanvin, and Nina Ricci. His sister, Catherine (1917–2008), served as a member of the French Resistance, was captured by the Gestapo, and sent to the Ravensbrück concentration camp, where she was incarcerated until her liberation in May 1945. In 1947, he named his debut fragrance, "Miss Dior" in tribute to his sister.

The Dior fashion house.

In 1946 Marcel Boussac, a successful entrepreneur known as the richest man in France, invited Dior to design for Philippe et Gaston, a Paris fashion house launched in 1925. Dior refused, wishing to make a fresh start under his own name rather than reviving an old brand. On 8 December 1946, with Boussac's backing, Dior founded his fashion house. The actual name of the line of his first collection, presented on 12 February 1947, was "Corolle" (literally the botanical term "corolla" or "circlet of flower petals" in English), but the phrase "New Look" was coined for it by Carmel Snow, the editor-in-chief of "Harper's Bazaar". Dior's designs were more voluptuous than the boxy, fabric-conserving shapes of the recent World War II styles, influenced by the rations on fabric. He was a master at creating shapes and silhouettes; Dior is quoted as saying "I have designed flower women." His look employed fabrics lined predominantly with percale, boned, bustier-style bodices, hip padding, wasp-waisted corsets and petticoats that made his dresses flare out from the waist, giving his models a very curvaceous form.  Initially, women protested because his designs covered up their legs, which they had been unused to because of the previous limitations on fabric. There was also some backlash to Dior's designs due to the amount of fabrics used in a single dress or suit. Of the “New Look”, Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel said the following, “Look how ridiculous these women are, wearing clothes by a man who doesn’t know women, never had one, and dreams of being one.” During one photo shoot in a Paris market, the models were attacked by female vendors over this profligacy, but opposition ceased as the wartime shortages ended. The "New Look" revolutionized women's dress and reestablished Paris as the centre of the fashion world after World War II.  In 1955, the 19-year-old Yves Saint Laurent became Dior's design assistant. Christian Dior later met with Yves Saint Laurent's mother, Lucienne Mathieu-Saint Laurent, in 1957 to tell her that he had chosen Saint Laurent to succeed him at Dior. She said at the time she had been confused by the remark, as Dior was only 52 at the time.

Death.

Christian Dior died while on holiday in Montecatini, Italy, on 24 October 1957. Some reports say that he died of a heart attack after choking on a fish bone. "Time"'s obituary stated that he died of a heart attack after playing a game of cards. However, one of Dior's acquaintances, the Paris socialite Baron de Redé, wrote in his memoirs that contemporary rumor was that the heart attack had been caused by a strenuous sexual encounter. As of 2020, the exact circumstances of Dior's death remain undisclosed.

Awards and honors.

Dior was nominated for the 1955 Academy Award for Best Costume Design in black and white for the "Terminal Station" directed by Vittorio De Sica (1953).  Dior was also nominated in 1967 for a BAFTA for Best British Costume (Colour) for the "Arabesque" directed by Stanley Donen (1966).  Nominated in 1986 for his contributions to the 1985 film, "Bras de fer", he was up for Best Costume Design (Meilleurs costumes) during the 11th Cesar Awards.

Tributes.

The Paul Gallico novella "Mrs 'Arris Goes to Paris" (1958, UK title "Flowers for Mrs Harris") tells the story of a London charwoman who falls in love with her employer's couture wardrobe and decides to go to Paris to purchase herself a Dior ballgown.  A perfume named Christian Dior is used in Haruki Murakami's novel "The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle" as an influential symbol placed at critical plot points throughout.  The English singer-songwriter Morrissey released a song titled "Christian Dior" as a B-side to his 2006 single, "In the Future When All's Well".  In the song "Rainbow High" from the film "Evita", Eva Perón sings "I came from the people. They need to adore me. So Christian Dior me. From my head to my toes"  Kanye West released a song titled "Christian Dior Denim Flow" in 2010. West mentioned the Dior brand in three other songs: "Devil in a New Dress", "Stronger", and "Barry Bonds"  Rapper Pop Smoke released a song titled Dior in February 2020.

Christian Dior (; 21 January 1905 – 23 October 1957) was a French fashion designer, best known as the founder of one of the world's top fashion houses, also called Christian Dior, which is now owned by Groupe Arnault. His fashion houses are now all around the world.


Life and work.

Bischof was born in Zürich, Switzerland. When he was six years old, the family moved to Waldshut, Germany, where he subsequently went to school. In 1932, having abandoned studies to become a teacher, he enrolled at the "Kunstgewerbeschule" in Zürich. While there he studied alongside. He graduated "cum laude" in 1936.  From 1939 on, he worked as an independent photographer for various magazines, in particular, "", based in Zürich. He travelled extensively from 1945 to 1949 through nearly all European countries from France to Romania and from Norway to Greece. His works on the devastation in post-war Europe established him as one of the foremost photojournalists of his time.  He was associated into Magnum Photos in 1948 and became a full member in 1949. At that time Magnum was composed of just five other photographers, its founders Robert Capa, Henri Cartier-Bresson, George Rodger, David Seymour, and Ernst Haas.  The focus of much of Bischof's post-war humanist photography was showing the poverty and despair around him in Europe, tempered with his desire to travel the world, conveying the beauty of nature and humanity.  Of photography, Bischof said -  In 1951, he went to India, freelancing for "Life", and then to Japan and Korea. For "Paris Match" he worked as a war reporter in Vietnam. In 1954, he travelled through Mexico and Panama, before flying to Peru, where he embarked on a trip through the Andes to the Amazonas on 14 May. On 16 May 1954 his car fell off a cliff on a mountain road in the Andes, and all three passengers were killed.

Werner Bischof (26 April 1916 – 16 May 1954) was a Swiss photographer and photojournalist. He became a full member of Magnum Photos in 1949, the first new photographer to join its original founders. Bischof's book "Japan" (1954) was awarded the Prix Nadar in 1955.


Capacitors.

A discharged or partially charged capacitor appears as a short circuit to the source when the source voltage is higher than the potential of the capacitor. A fully discharged capacitor will take approximately 5 "RC" time cycles to fully charge; during the charging portion of the cycle, instantaneous current can exceed load current by a substantial multiple. Instantaneous current declines to load current as the capacitor reaches full charge. In the case of open circuit, the capacitor will be charged to the peak AC voltage (one cannot actually charge a capacitor with AC line power – this refers to unidirectional alternating voltage output from a rectifier).  In the case of charging a capacitor from a linear DC voltage, like that from a battery, the capacitor will still appear as a short circuit; it will draw current from the source limited only by the internal resistance of the source and ESR of the capacitor. In this case, charging current will be continuous and decline exponentially to the load current. For open circuit, the capacitor will be charged to the DC voltage.  Safeguarding against the filter capacitor’s charging period’s initial current inrush flow is crucial for the performance of the device. Temporarily introducing a high resistance between the input power and rectifier can increase the resistance of the powerup, leading to reducing the inrush current. Using an inrush current limiter for this purpose helps, as it can provide the initial resistance needed.

Transformers.

When a transformer is first energized, a transient current up to 10 to 15 times larger than the rated transformer current can flow for several cycles. Toroidal transformers, using less copper for the same power handling, can have up to 60 times inrush to running current. Worst-case inrush happens when the primary winding is connected at an instant around the zero crossing of the primary voltage (which for a pure inductance would be the current maximum in the AC cycle) and if the polarity of the voltage half-cycle has the same polarity as the remanence in the iron core has (the magnetic remanence was left high from a preceding half cycle). Unless the windings and core are sized to normally never exceed 50% of saturation (and in an efficient transformer they never are, such a construction would be overly heavy and inefficient), then during such a start-up the core will be saturated. This can also be expressed as the remnant magnetism in normal operation is nearly as high as the saturation magnetism at the "knee" of the hysteresis loop. Once the core saturates, however, the winding inductance appears greatly reduced, and only the resistance of the primary-side windings and the impedance of the power line are limiting the current. As saturation occurs for part half-cycles only, harmonic-rich waveforms can be generated and can cause problems to other equipment. For large transformers with low winding resistance and high inductance, these inrush currents can last for several seconds until the transient has died away (decay time proportional to "X"/"R") and the regular AC equilibrium is established. To avoid magnetic inrush, only for transformers with an air gap in the core, the inductive load needs to be synchronously connected near a supply voltage peak, in contrast with the zero-voltage switching, which is desirable to minimize sharp-edged current transients with resistive loads such as high-power heaters. But for toroidal transformers only a premagnetising procedure before switching on allows to start those transformers without any inrush-current peak. Inrush current can be divided in three categories:

Motors.

When an electric motor, AC or DC, is first energized, the rotor is not moving, and a current equivalent to the stalled current will flow, reducing as the motor picks up speed and develops a back EMF to oppose the supply. AC induction motors behave as transformers with a shorted secondary until the rotor begins to move, while brushed motors present essentially the winding resistance. The duration of the starting transient is less if the mechanical load on the motor is relieved until it has picked up speed.  For high-power motors, the winding configuration may be changed (wye at start and then delta) during start-up to reduce the current drawn.

Heaters and filament lamps.

Metals have a positive temperature coefficient of resistance; they have lower resistance when cold. Any electrical load that contains a substantial component of metallic resistive heating elements, such as an electric kiln or a bank of tungsten-filament incandescent bulbs, will draw a high current until the metallic element reaches operating temperature. For example, wall switches intended to control incandescent lamps will have a "T" rating, indicating that they can safely control circuits with the large inrush currents of incandescent lamps. The inrush may be as much as 14 times the steady-state current and may persist for a few milliseconds for smaller lamps up to several seconds for lamps of 500 watts or more. (Non-graphitized) carbon-filament lamps, rarely used now, have a negative temperature coefficient and draw more current as they warm up; an "inrush" current is not found with these types.

Protection.

A resistor in series with the line can be used to limit the current charging input capacitors. However, this approach is not very efficient, especially in high-power devices, since the resistor will have a voltage drop and dissipate some power.  Inrush current can also be reduced by inrush current limiters. Negative-temperature-coefficient (NTC) thermistors are commonly used in switching power supplies, motor drives and audio equipment to prevent damage caused by inrush current. A thermistor is a thermally-sensitive resistor with a resistance that changes significantly and predictably as a result of temperature changes. The resistance of an NTC thermistor decreases as its temperature increases.  As the inrush current limiter self-heats, the current begins to flow through it and warm it. Its resistance begins to drop, and a relatively small current flow charges the input capacitors. After the capacitors in the power supply become charged, the self-heated inrush current limiter offers little resistance in the circuit, with a low voltage drop with respect to the total voltage drop of the circuit. A disadvantage is that immediately after the device is switched off, the NTC resistor is still hot and has a low resistance. It cannot limit the inrush current unless it cools for more than 1 minute to get a higher resistance. Another disadvantage is that the NTC thermistor is not short-circuit-proof.  Another way to avoid the transformer inrush current is a "transformer switching relay". This does not need time for cool down. It can also deal with power-line half-wave voltage dips and is short-circuit-proof. This technique is important for IEC 61000-4-11 tests.  Another option, particularly for high-voltage circuits, is to use a pre-charge circuit. The circuit would support a current-limited precharge mode during the charging of capacitors and then switch to an unlimited mode for normal operation when the voltage on the load is 90% of full charge.

Switch-off spike.

When a transformer, electromagnet, or other inductive load is switched off, the inductor increases the voltage across the switch or breaker and cause extended arcing. When a transformer is switched off on its primary side, inductive kick produces a voltage spike on the secondary that can damage insulation and connected loads.

Inrush current, input surge current, or switch-on surge is the maximal instantaneous input current drawn by an electrical device when first turned on. Alternating-current electric motors and transformers may draw several times their normal full-load current when first energized, for a few cycles of the input waveform. Power converters also often have inrush currents much higher than their steady-state currents, due to the charging current of the input capacitance. The selection of over-current-protection devices such as fuses and circuit breakers is made more complicated when high inrush currents must be tolerated. The over-current protection must react quickly to overload or short-circuit faults but must not interrupt the circuit when the (usually harmless) inrush current flows.


"Pass of Balmaha".

The ship was launched as "Pass of Balmaha" by Robert Duncan & Company, Port Glasgow, Scotland, on 9 August 1888 as a steel-hulled ship-rigged sailing vessel measuring. She was long, in beam and with a depth of. Delivered in the following month to the ownership of David R Clark, a partner in Gibson & Clark, Glasgow, she was registered at that port with Official Number 95087 and signal letters KTRP.  In February 1908, "Pass of Balmaha" was sold at Leith by Gibson & Clark for £5,500 to The River Plate Shipping Company Ltd of Montreal. Her port of registry remained Glasgow, but she was managed by American interests in Boston, Massachusetts. By 1910, she had been transferred to the Ship Pass of Balmaha Company Ltd, Montreal, and under the management of George I Dewar, Toronto. Both of these companies were controlled by American shipping and lumber interests.  Soon after the outbreak of World War I in 1914 "Pass of Balmaha" was transferred to the neutral United States flag and registered at Boston in the ownership of the Harby Steamship Company Ltd of New York, part of the Harris-Irby Cotton Company.

Capture.

"Pass of Balmaha" was captured by in the North Sea in 1915 under somewhat peculiar circumstances. She departed from New York Harbor in June 1915, bound for the Arctic port of Arkhangelsk with a cargo of cotton for Russia. She was intercepted by the British auxiliary cruiser "Victorian" off the coast of Norway. "Victorian"s captain led a boarding party to inspect the cargo for contraband. The British captain found reason for suspicion, and ordered "Pass of Balmaha" to sail to Kirkwall in the Orkney Islands for further inspection. A prize crew of an officer and six marines was left aboard to ensure compliance.  The British also ordered the neutral American colours struck and replaced with the British flag, against the will of "Pass of Balmaha"s Captain Scott, who realised that this would mark the ship as a belligerent. Soon after, "U-36" intercepted "Pass of Balmaha". To avoid being impounded, Scott hid the British prize crew in the hold and replaced the Union Jack with the Stars and Stripes. The commander of "U-36", Captain Ernst Graeff, was not entirely convinced by this ruse and ordered "Pass of Balmaha" to sail for Cuxhaven for inspection. A German ensign was left aboard. Scott and his crew, resentful of what they perceived as British meddling, kept the British marines locked in the hold.  "Pass of Balmaha" reached Cuxhaven without major incident, and was boarded by a German inspection party. Captain Scott then revealed the British prize crew to the Germans, who took them prisoner. For their cooperation, the Americans were allowed free passage to a neutral country, but "Pass of Balmaha" became property of the German Navy.

SMS "Seeadler".

By 1916 the Allies had blockaded German warships in the North Sea, and any commerce raiders that succeeded in breaking out lacked foreign or colonial bases for resupply of coal. This gave rise to the idea of equipping a sailing ship instead, since it would not require coaling.  "Seeadler" was equipped with an auxiliary engine, hidden lounges, accommodation for additional crew and prisoners, two hidden 105 mm guns, mounted on either side of the forecastle, two hidden heavy machine guns, a pair of torpedo tubes for anti-cruiser purposes, and rifles for boarding parties. These weapons were rarely fired (the torpedo tubes never), and many of the 15 ships encountered by "Seeadler" were sunk with only one single accidental casualty on either side during the entire journey. On 21 December 1916, she sailed under the command of "Kapitänleutnant" Felix von Luckner. The ship was disguised as a Norwegian wood carrier and succeeded in crossing the British blockading line despite being boarded for an inspection. The crew had been handpicked partly for their ability to speak Norwegian. Over the next 225 days, she captured 15 ships in the Atlantic and Pacific and led the British and US Navies on a merry chase.  Her journey ended wrecked on a reef at the island of Mopelia from Tahiti in the Society Islands, part of French Polynesia. Luckner and some crew sailed for Fiji, where they were captured and imprisoned. The French schooner "Lutece", of 126 tons, was captured by the remaining crew on 5 September 1917. They sailed to Easter Island as "Fortuna", arriving on 4 October and running aground there, after which they were interned by the Chilean authorities.

Captured ships.

Sixteen ships, totaling 30,099 tons, were captured by "Seeadler" between 21 December 1916 and 8 September 1917. Unless otherwise noted, all vessels in the list were steamships.

SMS "Seeadler (Ger: sea eagle) was a three-master steel-hulled sailing ship. She was one of the last fighting sailing ships to be used in war when she served as a merchant raider with Imperial Germany in World War I. Built as the British-flagged Pass of Balmaha", she was captured by the German submarine, and in 1916 converted to a commerce raider. As "Seeadler" she had a successful raiding career, capturing and sinking 15 ships in 225 days until she was wrecked, in September 1917, in French Polynesia.


Early life and education.

Born in Neudörfel (Sorbian: Nowa Wjeska) near Kamenz (Sorbian: Kamjenc), Tillich studied construction and drive techniques at the Dresden University of Technology after finishing his Abitur at the Sorbian Gymnasium in Bautzen in 1977. He graduated from university with a Diplomingenieur degree in 1984. Tillich was an employee of the district administration of Kamenz between 1987 and 1989. Later he became an entrepreneur.

Political career.

Stanislaw Tillich joined the Christian Democratic Union (East Germany) in 1987 and became a member of the CDU after German reunification in 1990. He was a member of the Volkskammer in 1990 and was delegated as an observer of the European Parliament between 1991 and 1994. He joined the European People's Party and was a member of the European Parliament between 1994 and 1999 where he was the Parliament's rapporteur on the 1998 EU budget.  Tillich has been a minister in the government of Saxony since 1999. He was State Minister for Federal and European Affairs until 2002 when he became State Minister and head of the "Staatskanzlei". In 2004 he became the Saxon State Minister for Environment and Agriculture. He became State Minister of Finance in 2007 and has been a member of the Landtag of Saxony since 2004.

Minister-President of Saxony, 2008-2017.

Tillich was proposed by Georg Milbradt on 14 April 2008 to become his successor as the Minister-President of Saxony. The Landtag of Saxony elected him on 28 May 2008. He is the first Sorbian head of government in more than thousand years of Sorbian-German coexistence in Saxony.  In the negotiations to form a coalition government of the Christian Democrats (CDU together with the Bavarian CSU) and the Free Democratic Party (FDP) following the 2009 national elections, Tillich was part of the CDU/CSU delegation in the working group on economic affairs and energy policy, led by Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg and Rainer Brüderle.  Since 2010, Tillich has been a member of the Christian Democratic Union's 20-strong executive board. By 2012, opinion polls put the backing of Tillich's CDU at 44 percent, at the time the highest level of support in any of the 16 German federal states; this made commentators describe him as “Germany’s second most-powerful politician from the formerly Communist East“ after Chancellor Angela Merkel.  Tillich participated in the exploratory talks between the CDU, CSU and SPD parties to form a coalition government under Merkel following the 2013 federal elections.  Tillich won reelection in the 2014 state elections. Ahead of the elections, he had soon put an end to speculation that he might team up with the newly founded AfD, which the CDU instead attempted to characterize as a fringe movement that flirts with the far right. At the time, Saxony was the first of three eastern regions to hold elections in a two-week span, with Brandenburg and Thuringia later rounding off the first set of electoral since Merkel won a third term.  As one of Saxony's representatives at the Bundesrat, Tillich served as chairman of the Committee on Foreign Affairs from October 2016. In addition, he was a member of the German-Russian Friendship Group set up in cooperation with Russia's Federation Council.  When the AfD overtook the CDU for the first time to emerge as Saxony's most popular party in the 2017 national elections, Tillich resigned and Michael Kretschmer took over.

Life after politics.

From 2018 until 2019, Tillich co-chaired the German government's so-called coal commission, which was tasked to develop a masterplan before the end of the year on how to phase-out coal and create a new economic perspective for the country's coal-mining regions.

Personal life.

Besides his native language Upper Sorbian, Tillich speaks fluent German, Czech and Polish. His wife, Veronika, is half-Polish, half-Sorbian. Her father was a forced laborer from Poland who settled in Lusatia after World War II and married a Sorbian woman. Tillich and his wife have two children.

Stanislaw Tillich (; ; born 10 April 1959) is a German CDU politician. He served as the 3rd Minister President of Saxony from 2008 to 2017. From 1 November 2015 until 31 October 2016 he was President of the Bundesrat and "ex officio" deputy to the President of Germany. Tillich is of Sorbian ethnicity and lives in Panschwitz-Kuckau (Pančicy-Kukow), which is 35 kilometres north-east of Dresden near Kamenz.


Frederick Francis IV, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin

Early life.

Born on 9 April 1882, Duke Frederick Francis IV was the son of Frederick Francis III, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, then hereditary Grand duke, and Grand Duchess Anastasia Mikhailovna of Russia. He was born in Palermo, Sicily at Villa Belmonte where his parents were staying to alleviate the faltering health of the hereditary Grand duke. Frederick Francis's father suffered from a weak heart, chronic asthma, and acute eczema and had to live part of the year away from Mecklenburg in a warmer climate. Frederick Francis's mother, raised in the splendor of the Russian imperial court and the Orthodox church, never got used to the provincial austerity of the Lutheran court of Schwerin, preferring to live abroad.  Frederick Francis was one year old when he became the hereditary grand duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin at the death of his grandfather Frederick Francis II, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin on 15 April 1883. Frederick Francis IV had an older sister, Alexandrine and a younger one, Cecilie. The three children were raised with simplicity and a lot of freedom by royal standards. Theirs was a polyglot household. The three siblings, who would remain very close throughout their lives, learned English, French, German and Russian. The family spent only half of the year in Schwerin during the summer months. They stayed as little time as possible in Schwerin Castle surrounded by a lake, preferring Gelbensande, a hunting lodge near Rostock and the Baltic Sea. There, the family led the simple life they preferred. Friederich Franz III spent most his time hunting, while Anastasia and the children rode or drove out, visited local people or enjoyed the beach and the surrounding forest. Every year from November until May, they lived in Villa Welden in Cannes where they sailed with their father and swam in the Mediterranean. On their journey back to Germany they stopped in Paris.

Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin.

Frederick Francis IV succeeded his father as Grand Duke upon his death on 10 April 1897. He had just turned fifteen the day before. As he was a teenager, due to his minority, the grand duchy was governed by his uncle Duke Johann Albrecht as regent. Frederick Francis's mother, Grand Duchess Anastasia preferred to remain in France while he continued the long preparation to eventually assume the throne. The following year, his older sister, Alexandrine married the Danish Crown Prince (future King Christian X in 1912). His mother and younger sister Cecile visited him frequently in Dresden and during their stays, they would go out for long drives in a carriage and horses bought for him from Schwerin. In 1903, the young Grand Duke moved to Bonn, where he attended university and studied administration and law. Adolf Langfeld was appointed as his study advisor.  On 9 April 1901 Frederick Francis came of age, ending the regency and beginning his reign in Schwerin. He immediately began working on a reform of the constitution, but it failed in the face of opposition from parliament.

Marriage and issue.

On 7 June 1904, Frederick Francis married Princess Alexandra of Hanover and Cumberland in Gmunden. She was the second eldest daughter of Ernest Augustus, Crown Prince of Hanover, and his wife Princess Thyra of Denmark, a daughter of Christian IX of Denmark.  They had five children:

Abdication.

Following the 1918 suicide of Grand Duke Adolphus Frederick VI of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, Frederick Francis took up the regency of Strelitz. This happened because the heir presumptive Duke Charles Michael was serving in the Russian Army at the time and had indicated that he wished to renounce his succession rights. Frederick Francis abdicated the grand ducal throne on 14 November 1918 following the German Empire's defeat in World War I; the regency ended at the same time.  After his abdication, he was initially not allowed to live in Mecklenburg and had to move to Denmark. A year later, he was permitted to return. He recovered some of his former properties and occupied some of his former homes. Frederick Francis died on 17 November 1945 in Flensburg after being arrested by No6 RAF Security section on 9 November 1945. He was succeeded as head of the grand ducal house by his son Hereditary Grand Duke Friedrich Franz.

Frederick Francis IV (Friedrich Franz Michael; 9 April 1882 – 17 November 1945) was the last Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin and regent of Mecklenburg-Strelitz. He inherited the throne when he was fifteen years old in 1897 and was forced to renounce it in 1918.


Plot summary.

Killings of innocent ranchers indicate the Apaches have broken the peace treaty. Old Shatterhand, blood brother of the Apache chief Winnetou, finds out that ruthless land grabbers did the killings, hoping to start off a war between the Indians and the settlers, and follows the trail right back to the gates of the cavalry's fort.

Background.

After the success of director Harald Reinl's "Treasure of Silver Lake" ("Der Schatz im Silbersee") in 1962 produced by Horst Wendlandt for Rialto Film, his rival Artur Brauner from CCC Film also wanted to have his share in this upcoming series. Since Wendlandt got the rights for the original Karl May novels (although none of his films ever got too close to their respective plots), Brauner only had the chance of making a movie "inspired by" Karl May, using some of the already known characters portrayed by American Lex Barker as "Old Shatterhand" and Frenchman Pierre Brice as "Winnetou".  American Guy Madison, who had starred in the television series "The Adventures of Wild Bill Hickok", played one of the bad guys and exotic Israeli Daliah Lavi was one of the "damsels in distress" before turning to a singing career, as did American Bill Ramsey, the comic part in this movie, already known in Germany for his Schlager music and later jazz songs.  One mystery remained from the movie: Today no one remembers who the original singer was of the song "Nothing To Say" ("Die Stunde kam") by saloon singer Rosemarie, played by actress Kitty Mattern.

The film Old Shatterhand (known as Apaches' Last Battle in the UK) is a very successful Eurowestern based on the character "Old Shatterhand" invented by German novelist Karl May. It is a West German CCC Film production co-produced with French, Italian, and Yugoslav companies and filmed in 70mm. Financed with roughly DM5,000,000, the film was the most expensive Karl May western. Composer Riz Ortolani used a chorus for his film score.


Early life.

Born in Manchester, Jamaica in 1967, Bailey immigrated to Canada at age 13 and played basketball with John Degenhardt before his graduation at Queen Elizabeth Park High School in Oakville, Ontario. He began competing as a 100 m sprinter part-time in 1991, but he did not take up the sport seriously until 1994. At that time, he was also a stockbroker. He was coached by American Dan Pfaff.

Career.

In 1993-94 he competed for Fenerbahçe Athletics. At the 1995 world Track & Field Championships in Gothenburg, Sweden, Bailey won both the 100m sprint and the 4 × 100 m relay titles.  As a precursor to the centennial Olympics being held in Atlanta, Bailey broke the indoor 50 m world record during a competition in Reno, Nevada in 1996. He was timed at 5.56 seconds. Maurice Greene matched that performance in 1999, but his run was never ratified as a world record. Bailey repeated the "double" at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, setting a world record of 9.84s +0.7 m/s wind in the 100 m. Many Canadians felt his victory restored the image of Canadian athletes, which had been tarnished by Ben Johnson's previous disqualified win at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul. Bailey was only the second person to hold all the major titles in the 100 m concurrently (World Champion, Olympic Champion & World Record Holder); Carl Lewis was the first to achieve this feat.  Bailey won a third world title in 1997 with the Canadian relay team, while finishing second in the 100 m behind Maurice Greene.  After the 1997 season Bailey ruptured his Achilles tendon while playing basketball during the post season of 1998, effectively ending his career. He made a second attempt in the 2000 Summer Olympics for Olympic glory, but suffered from pneumonia and dropped out during the rounds. He retired from the sport in 2001, having been a three-time World and 2 time Olympic champion.  Bailey's time of 9.84 in Atlanta was the 100m world record from 1996 until 1999, when it was broken by Maurice Greene. The time also stood as the Commonwealth record from 1996 until 2005, when it was broken by Asafa Powell, and is the current Canadian record holder (shared with Bruny Surin since 1999). His Olympic record was broken by Usain Bolt at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

World's Fastest Man.

In May 1997 he raced against Michael Johnson in a 150 m race at Toronto's Rogers Centre in a bid to truly determine who the world's fastest man was. Earlier in the spring of 1997, Johnson began performing television promotions in which he billed himself as "the world's fastest man" as a result of his 200 meters world record, despite the fact that the 100 m world record holders are traditionally given that unofficial title. Though Bailey ran in the competition, he initially refused to take part, stating that "the world's fastest man was decided in Atlanta."  Bailey won with a time of 14.99 seconds and received $1.5 million.

After racing.

After racing, Bailey started his own company called DBX Sport Management which helps amateur athletes find a way to promote themselves. He also started a sport injury clinic in Oakville, Ontario.  He has been inducted into Canada's Sports Hall of Fame twice: in 2004 as an individual, and in 2008 as part of the 1996 Summer Olympics 4 × 100 relay team.  In August 2008 Bailey began work as a track commentator for CBC Television at the 2008 Summer Olympics. He estimated that had Usain Bolt not slowed down near the end of the 100m dash (which he still won in record time), he could have set a time of 9.55 seconds. He returned as the track analyst for CBC's coverage of the 2016 Summer Olympics.  In 2016, he was made a member of the Order of Ontario. In 2017, Canada's Walk of Fame honoured him with a star.  In 2018, it was reported that Bailey had provided his entire athlete's trust of $3.75 million to Aird & Berlis lawyer Stuart Bollefer, who invested it in what was determined to be a tax evasion scheme by the Canadian government. Bailey lost the full amount due to the scheme, however the courts ordered Aird & Berlis to pay all outstanding taxes due to their negligence.

Family.

Bailey is a father of two, a girl named Adrienna Bailey and one boy, Mateus Bailey. He has four brothers — Glenroy, Wilburn, O'Neil and Michael, along with one sister, Arlene Duncan. His father is African American and his mother is West Indian.

Donovan Bailey, (born December 16, 1967) is a retired Jamaican-Canadian sprinter, who once held the world record for the 100 metres. He recorded a time of 9.84 seconds to win the gold medal at the 1996 Olympic Games. He was the first Canadian to legally break the 10-second barrier in the 100 m. Particularly noted for his top speed, Bailey ran in his 1996 Olympic title run, the fastest ever recorded by a human at the time. He was inducted into Canada's Sports Hall of Fame in 2004 as an individual athlete and in 2008 as part of the 1996 Summer Olympics 4x100 relay team. In 2005, he was also inducted into the Ontario Sports Hall of Fame.


Early life and education.

Zeigarnik was born and raised as Bluma Gerstein into a Lithuanian Jewish family in Prienai, Suwałki Governorate (now in Lithuania) to Wolf and Ronya Gerstein, as their only child. Although her parents spoke some Yiddish, their primary language was Russian, as was hers. From a very young age, Zeigarnik had a high regard for education. This showed in Zeigarnik's interest in wanting to continue her education. Zeigarnik was one of the first Russian women to go to a university. She spent many hours studying in the library. It was there that she met her husband, Albert Zeigarnik, and later married in 1919. In 1922, her husband Albert and she left for Berlin, where he studied at the Polytechnic Institute and she at the University of Berlin. She met Kurt Lewin and assisted him during her time at the university. She graduated in 1925 and received a Doctoral degree from the same university in 1927.  Zeigarnik matriculated from the Berlin University in 1927. She described the Zeigarnik effect in a diploma prepared under the supervision of Kurt Lewin. In the 1930s, she worked with Lev Vygotsky at the All-Union Institute of Experimental Medicine (AUIEM, aka "VIEM"). During World War II, she assisted Alexander Luria in treating head injuries. She was a co-founder of Moscow State University Department of Psychology and the All-Russian Seminars in Psychopathology. She died in Moscow at the age of 87.

Later life.

In 1931, Zeigarnik and her husband moved to Moscow, where she began a career at the All-Union Institute of Experimental Medicine (AUIEM). In 1940, a major event happened in Zeigarnik's life; her husband Albert was arrested on suspicion of spying for Germany. By this time, they had two children together, one six years old born in 1934 and the other less than a year old born the previous year in 1939; she was left to take care of the two by herself. Throughout the year, she continued to visit her husband where he was being held in the Lubyanka prison and waited to learn what his punishment and fate were to be. In 1943, Zeigarnik returned to Moscow and began her work again at AUIEM and continued working there until 1950. Shortly after, she lost her job because of anti-Semitism. In 1983, Zeigarnik was awarded the Lewin Memorial Award for her psychological research. Although she was awarded, due to the Russian government's strict rules, the award was reviewed and approved but she was unable to retrieve it. In February 1988, Zeigarnik died before ever gaining her award.

Influences.

One of Zeigarnik's first influences was Kurt Lewin. Zeigarnik met Lewin during her first year at Humboldt University of Berlin. During this time, Lewin was a teacher and a researcher, and one of the first to let females into his lab. Zeigarnik liked his progressive views and started her scientific career within his research group. It was with Lewin that she developed her well-known theory: the Zeigarnik effect. Not only was Lewin the main influence in Zeigarnik life, but he was also a good friend. Another Influence of Zeigarnik was L.S. Vygotsky. Zeigarnik met and started working with Vygotsky, as well as A.R Luria and A.N Leontyev in the 1930s. Together they studied topics involving mental structures and general psychology. Their research also allowed Zeigarnik to create and name her own field of psychology.

Research and contributions.

In the 1920s, Zeigarnik continued her study under Vygotsky's supervision and was able to conduct a study on memory in which she compared memory in relation to incomplete and complete tasks and found that it is easier for people to remember incomplete tasks than those that are complete. The findings became known as "The Zeigarnik Effect". Shortly after her finding of the Zeigarnik Effect, she began work at the Institute of Higher Nervous Activity, where she was also influenced by the psychologist Vygotsky, becoming a part of his science research activities. Zeigarnik work provided great service to her country and as a pathophysiology, she established the use of her work in medical care, specifically in clinical work. Zeigarnik's copious experience helped her present the stages of development of Russian Psychology. Her work had a clinical focus which helped psychiatric health professionals focus their attention on mental health issues. In addition, she continued to teach and concentrated on the importance of mental health and clinical practice. Later, Zeigarnik concluded that the importance of taking personality assessment of the patient's psychological state and general understanding of their defect structure was key. Zeigarnik stated that, "Any problem suggested by psychiatric practice, whether it concerns the examination of disability, or the study of the structure of remission, or the effectiveness of treatment - the data of psychological study comes useful only at once, when and where they suggest a qualification of the whole personality rather than a certain mental process".

Zeigarnik effect.

In psychology, the Zeigarnik effect states that people remember uncompleted or interrupted tasks better than completed tasks (this effect should not be confused with the Ovsiankina effect). In Gestalt psychology, the Zeigarnik effect has been used to demonstrate the general presence of Gestalt phenomena: not just appearing as perceptual effects, but also present in cognition.

Awards and honors.

Zeigarnik was nominated for the Lewin Memorial Award in 1983 for her work regarding neuropsychology. This award was named after her former professor Kurt Lewin, and is commonly rewarded to those who help to expand and develop psychological research. Being that Zeigarnik herself had made many contributions in this area of research: creating her own theory, developing Pathophysiology, and working with mental structures, she was granted the Lewin award in Leipzig at the International Congress of Psychology. Although officially acknowledged at the congress, Zeigarnik did not ever physically receive the award. This was due to the strict policies Russia had at the time; especially regarding political bans between East and West. Although eventually the award had been reviewed and approved, Zeigarnik was not allowed to travel outside of the country to retrieve the award. In 1988, 5 years after being nominated, she died before ever receiving it.

Bluma Wulfovna Zeigarnik (; 9 November (27 October) 1901 – 24 February 1988) was a Soviet psychologist and psychiatrist, a member of the Berlin School of experimental psychology and Vygotsky Circle. She discovered the Zeigarnik effect and contributed to the establishment of experimental psychopathology as a separate discipline in the Soviet Union in the post-World War II period.


History.

Through the 19th century.

Throughout its history, Charles Bridge has suffered several disasters and witnessed many historic events. Czech legend has it that construction began on Charles Bridge at 5:31am on 9 July 1357 with the first stone being laid by Charles IV himself. This exact time was very important to the Holy Roman Emperor because he was a strong believer in numerology and felt that this specific time, which formed a palindrome (1357 9, 7 5:31), was a numerical bridge, and would imbue Charles Bridge with additional strength. The bridge was completed 45 years later in 1402. A flood in 1432 damaged three pillars. In 1496 the third arch (counting from the Old Town side) broke down after one of the pillars lowered, being undermined by the water (repairs were finished in 1503). A year after the Battle of White Mountain, when the 27 leaders of the anti-Habsburg revolt were executed on 21 June 1621, the Old Town Bridge Tower served as a deterrent display of the severed heads of the victims to stop Czechs from further resistance. During the end of the Thirty Years' War in 1648, the Swedes occupied the west bank of the Vltava, and as they tried to advance into the Old Town the heaviest fighting took place right on the bridge. During the fighting, they severely damaged one side of the Old Town bridge tower (the side facing the river) and the remnants of almost all gothic decorations had to be removed from it afterward. During the late 17th century and early 18th century the bridge gained its typical appearance when an alley of baroque statues was installed on the pillars. During a great flood in 1784, five pillars were severely damaged and, although the arches did not break down, the traffic on the bridge had to be greatly restricted for some time.  The original stairway to Kampa Island was replaced by a new one in 1844. The next year, another great flood threatened the bridge, but the bridge escaped major damage. In 1848, during the revolutionary days, the bridge escaped unharmed from the cannonade, but some of the statues were damaged. In 1866, pseudo-gothic gas lights were erected on the balustrade; they were later replaced with electric lighting. In the 1870s, the first regular public-transport (omnibus) line went over the bridge (officially called "Charles Bridge" after 1870) later replaced by a horse tram. The bridge towers underwent a thorough reconstruction between 1874 and 1883.  On 2–5 September 1890, another disastrous flood struck Prague and severely damaged Charles Bridge. Thousands of rafts, logs and other floating materials that escaped from places upstream gradually formed a huge barrier leaning against the bridge. Three arches were torn down by the great pressure and two pillars collapsed from being undermined by the water, while others were partly damaged. With the fifth pillar, two statues – St. Ignatius of Loyola and St. Xavier, both by Ferdinand Brokoff – also fell into the river. The former statue was replaced by a statuary of Saints Cyril and Methodius by Karel Dvořák; the latter was replaced by a replica of the original. Repair works lasted for two years (the bridge was reopened on 19 November 1892) and cost 665,000 crowns.

20th century to present.

In the beginning of the 20th century, Charles Bridge saw a steep rise of heavy traffic. The last day of the horse line on the bridge was 15 May 1905, when it was replaced with an electric tram and later, in 1908, with buses. At the end of World War II, a barricade was built in the Old Town bridge tower gateway. A capital repair of the bridge took place between 1965 and 1978, based on a collaboration among various scientific and cultural institutes. The stability of the pillars was reassured, all broken stone blocks were replaced, and the asphalt top was removed. All vehicular traffic has been excluded from Charles Bridge since then, making it accessible by pedestrians only. The repair cost 50 million crowns.  During the 1990s, some people started criticizing the previous reconstruction of the bridge and proposing further work. As of the beginning of the new millennium, most of the experts appeared to agree that the previous reconstruction had not been flawless but disputed the need for further interference with the bridge. However, after the disastrous floods of 2002 (which themselves caused only minor harm to the bridge), support for an overall bridge reconstruction grew. It was decided that repair and stabilization of the two pillars (numbers 8 and 9) on the Malá Strana side of the bridge would be done. These are the only river pillars that were not repaired after the 1890 floods. The reconstruction was a gradual process that closed off parts of the bridge without closing the span entirely.  Performed from 2008 to 2010, the work included bolstering the pillars and building a new hydroisolation system protecting the bridge. It also encompassed a re-pavimentation of the bridge's pavement and the replacement of many of the stones in the bridge walls, a matter which was controversial due to a heavy-handed approach adopted by the restoration team, which had no previous experience in restoration of cultural heritage monuments. The result has been criticised by conservation professionals all over Europe (see photos on external links), as dozens of new replacement stones do not match the historical ones they are next to, the amount of replaced stones is considered excessive, some stones have been inappropriately positioned, original stones have been chipped and joining materials employed are considered not appropriate for the structure. In 2010 UNESCO's World Heritage Committee adopted a decision stating that "the restoration of Charles Bridge was carried out without adequate conservation advice on materials and techniques".

Statues on the bridge.

The avenue of 30 mostly baroque statues and statuaries situated on the balustrade forms a unique connection of artistic styles with the underlying gothic bridge. Most sculptures were erected between 1683 and 1714. They depict various saints and patron saints venerated at that time. The most prominent Bohemian sculptors of the time took part in decorating the bridge, such as Matthias Braun, Jan Brokoff, and his sons Michael Joseph and Ferdinand Maxmilian.  Among the most notable sculptures, one can find the statuaries of St. Luthgard, the Holy Crucifix and Calvary, and John of Nepomuk. Well known also is the statue of the knight Bruncvík, although it was erected some 200 years later and does not belong to the main avenue.  Beginning in 1965, all of the statues have been systematically replaced by replicas, and the originals have been exhibited in the Lapidarium of the National Museum.

Tribute.

On July 9, 2017, Google celebrated the 660th anniversary of Charles Bridge with a Google Doodle.

Charles Bridge ( ) is a historic bridge that crosses the Vltava river in Prague, Czech Republic. Its construction started in 1357 under the auspices of King Charles IV, and finished in the beginning of the 15th century. The bridge replaced the old Judith Bridge built 1158–1172 that had been badly damaged by a flood in 1342. This new bridge was originally called Stone Bridge ("Kamenný most") or Prague Bridge ("Pražský most") but has been "Charles Bridge" since 1870. As the only means of crossing the river Vltava (Moldau) until 1841, Charles Bridge was the most important connection between Prague Castle and the city's Old Town and adjacent areas. This "solid-land" connection made Prague important as a trade route between Eastern and Western Europe.


Characteristics.

Most species are trees or shrubs, a few are herbs ("Boenninghausenia" and "Dictamnus"), frequently aromatic with glands on the leaves, sometimes with thorns. The leaves are usually opposed and compound, and without stipules. Pellucid glands, a type of oil gland, are found in the leaves responsible for the aromatic smell of the family's members; traditionally they have been the primary synapomorphic characteristic to identify the Rutaceae.  Flowers are bractless, solitary or in cyme, rarely in raceme, and mainly pollinated by insects. They are radially or (rarely) laterally symmetric, and generally hermaphroditic. They have four or five petals and sepals, sometimes three, mostly separate, eight to ten stamen (five in "Skimmia", many in "Citrus"), usually separate or in several groups. Usually a single stigma with 2 to 5 united carpels, sometimes ovaries separate but styles combined.  The fruit of the Rutaceae are very variable: berries, drupes, hesperidia, samaras, capsules, and follicles all occur. Seed number also varies widely.

Classification.

The family is closely related to the Sapindaceae, Simaroubaceae, and Meliaceae, and all are usually placed into the same order, although some systems separate that order into Rutales and Sapindales. The families Flindersiaceae and Ptaeroxylaceae are sometimes kept separate, but nowadays generally are placed in the Rutaceae, as are the former Cneoraceae. The subfamilial organization has not been fully resolved, but the subfamily Aurantioideae (=Citroideae) is well supported; the placement of several genera remains unclear.

Notable species.

The family is of great economic importance in warm temperate and subtropical climates for its numerous edible fruits of the genus "Citrus", such as the orange, lemon, calamansi, lime, kumquat, mandarin and grapefruit.  Non-citrus fruits include the white sapote ("Casimiroa edulis"), orangeberry ("Glycosmis pentaphylla"), Clymenia ("Clymenia polyandra"), limeberry ("Triphasia trifolia"), and the bael ("Aegle marmelos").  Other plants are grown in horticulture: "Murraya" and "Skimmia" species, for example. "Ruta", "Zanthoxylum" and "Casimiroa" species are medicinals. Several plants are also used by the perfume industry, such as the Western Australian "Boronia megastigma".  The genus "Pilocarpus" has species ("P. jaborandi", and "P. microphyllus" from Brazil, and "P. pennatifolius" from Paraguay) from which the medicine pilocarpine, used to treat glaucoma, is extracted.  Spices are made from a number of species in the genus "Zanthoxylum", notably Sichuan pepper.

The Rutaceae are a family, commonly known as the rue or citrus family, of flowering plants, usually placed in the order Sapindales.


Plot.

Santer (Mario Adorf) and his gang are after the Apache Gold. They intrude Apache land and intercept a courier named Black Eagle. The young warrior is killed while the gangsters attempt to retrieve information from him.  Meanwhile the young chartered surveyor Charlie aka „Old Shatterhand“ (Lex Barker) discovers that the „Great Western Railway“ commits a breach of valid contracts by taking a shortcut through Apache land. He is told that certain geological complications would leave the company no other choice but he can refute these allegations as a pretext to save money even at the costs of lives.  Winnetou (Pierre Brice) observes how the railway is built right into the land of his tribe. On his way back to his village he comes across the corpse of Black Eagle. He brings Black Eagle to his family and reports to his father Intschu-tschuna.  Chief Intshu-tshuna is deeply worried that even more villains like Santer will get to the Apache land and consequently waste his people if the „Great Western Railway“ can carry on.  A missionary called „Klekih-petra“ beseeches him not to start a war. He talks the aristocratic chief and his son Winnetou into setting up a meeting with a deputation of the Great Western Railway. Proceedings are prepared and Old Shatterhand is chosen to convince the Indians that the company will respect the contracts after all.  But Santer doesn't let go of his ambitions. He strives to give Winnetou's people a bad name, so that the U.S.Army will come and drive the people off their land, hereby making way for his personal ambitions.  Santer persuades the chief of a Kiowa tribe to attack the meeting. Klekih-petra is hereby killed and Winnetou is captured by his arch enemies who plan to torture him.  Old Shatterhand risks his life in order to save Winnetou. At night he sneaks into the Kiowa's camp and cuts the chief's son's fetters. Winnetou can escape but doesn't see his saviour.  Now Old Shatterhand and his supporters commence a crusade against Santer and his henchmen. They go to Santers strongpoint, a town called Roswell. There a tremendous fight takes place. But Winnetou also has unfinished business with Santer and goes there too. As an outsider he cannot tell the good men from the bad ones. He and his warriors attack the whole town.  Old Shatterhand gets wounded and is captured. Winnetou has him brought to the Apache village. Thanks to the dedication of Intschu-tschuna's daughter Nsho-tshi (Marie Versini) he survives. But once he has recovered he must stand trial. He claims an ordeal by battle. Chief Intshu-tshuna himself takes him on and Old Shatterhand can scarcely win.  After Old Shatterhand has spared the chief and Nsho-tshi has discovered proof that Shatterhand did free her brother, Shatterhand and Winnetou become officially friends.  Although this tribe is at the brink of civilisation and the leading family does already build houses, Nsho-tshi wants to attend a school in St.Louis before she marries Old Shatterhand. In order to cover the looming expenses her family goes to their source of gold. But Santer is still alive and hasn't ceased to pursue his evil plans. He follows and ambushes them. Winnetou's father dies during the fight and Nsho-tshi dies only little later in the arms of Old Shatterhand.

Background.

The English version is shorter than the original German one. Many of Ralf Wolter's scenes, in which he acts in the manner of Benny Hill, are shorter. Moreover Chris Howland's appearances as a preposterous self-declared scholar have been dropped completely.

Box office.

It was the highest-grossing film of 1963 at the German box office, selling 10 million tickets and grossing €10 million. It was later released in the Soviet Union, where it sold 56 million tickets in 1975, becoming the third highest-grossing foreign film of the year and the 12th highest-grossing foreign film ever in the Soviet Union. In total, the film sold 66 million tickets at the worldwide box office.

United States.

Released on a limited basis in the United States by Columbia Pictures, the film was aired on television in several cities.

Apache Gold (, later retitled to "Winnetou – 1. Teil"), also known as Winnetou the Warrior, is a 1963 Western film directed by Harald Reinl. It is based on the story of Winnetou, a fictional Native-American Apache hero from the "Winnetou" series of German novels. It was the highest-grossing film of 1963 in Germany, where it grossed €10 million, and it sold 66 million tickets at the worldwide box office.


Early life and education.

Todt was born in Pforzheim in the Grand Duchy of Baden, today's Baden-Württemberg to Emil Todt (1861–1909) and his wife Elise née Unterecker (1869–1935). His father owned a small ring factory. During 1910, he volunteered for one-year military service. From 1911 to 1914, Todt studied engineering at Technical University of Munich and at Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, graduating with a Diplom degree in construction engineering from the latter.  During World War I, he served initially with the infantry and then as front line reconnaissance observer within the "Luftstreitkräfte" (the German Air Forces – DLSK), winning the Iron Cross. After the war he resumed his studies, graduating during 1920.

Career.

During 1921 he initially worked on waterpower stations for the Grün & Bilfinger AG, Mannheim company and, later during 1921, the civil engineering company and worked there until 1933. On 5 January 1922, he joined the Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei (NSDAP), or "Nazi Party". In 1931, he became an "Oberführer" (senior Colonel) in the "Sturmabteilung" (SA), which was then commanded by Ernst Röhm. During 1932, Todt completed his thesis at Technical University of Munich ""Fehlerquellen beim Bau von Landstraßendecken aus Teer und Asphalt"" – "Sources of defects in the construction of tarmac and asphalt road surfaces" and became a Doctor of Engineering (Dr.-Ing.).

Nazi Germany, 1933–41.

In July 1933, five months after Hitler became "Reichskanzler", Todt was appointed "Inspector General for German Roadways" ("Generalinspektor für das deutsche Straßenwesen"). This public authority (Oberste Reichsbehörde) was privileged to be outside the hierarchy of Reich Ministries; Todt was subordinated directly to Hitler. Alan S. Milward characterized this phase as follows: "His personal views on business questions and, what was more important, the success of the motorway project kept Todt in the inner circle of the Führer. At the same time, his deliberate pose as a technical expert, as a man without interest in internal power struggles, saved him from the adversaries of the more important party leaders for long time. " He was given the task of organizing a new construction company for the motorways ("Reichsautobahnen"). He edited the journal "Die Strasse", which was a publication of his agency from 1934 to 1942. For his work on the autobahnen, Todt was recognized with the German National Prize for Art and Science by Hitler, next to Ernst Heinkel, Ferdinand Porsche and Willy Messerschmitt. Hitler donated the award during 1937, devised as a replacement for the Nobel Prize, which Hitler forbade Germans from accepting starting during 1936.  In 1938, he became "Leiter des Hauptamts für Technik in der Reichsleitung der NSDAP" ("Director of the Head Office for Engineering in the National Directorate of the NSDAP") and during December "Generalbevollmächtigter für die Regelung der Bauwirtschaft" ("General Commissioner for the Regulation of the Construction Industry"). At the beginning of World War II in Europe, he was also appointed to the rank of "Generalmajor" of the Luftwaffe. During May 1938, he initiated the "Organisation Todt" (OT), joining together government firms, private companies and the "Reichsarbeitsdienst" (Reich Labour Service). OT used up to 800,000 forced laborers ("Zwangsarbeiter") from countries Germany occupied during World War II. Todt was responsible for the construction of the "West Wall" (commonly named the "Siegfried Line" in English-speaking countries) to defend the "Reich" territory. On 17 March 1940, Todt was appointed "Reichsminister für Bewaffnung und Munition" ("Minister for Armaments and Munitions") which meant he managed the entire military economy.  After the invasion of the USSR during June 1941, Todt was appointed to manage the restoration of the infrastructure there. At the end of July 1941 he was named "Inspector General for water and energy". During that year, he became increasingly distant from the commanders of the "Wehrmacht" and in particular, from "Reichsmarschall" Hermann Göring, the "Oberbefehlshaber der Luftwaffe" (Commander-in-chief of the Luftwaffe). After an inspection tour of the Eastern Front, Todt complained to Hitler that without better equipment and supplies for the armed forces it would be better to end the war with the Soviet Union. Hitler rejected such an assessment and continued the offensive against the Soviets.

Personal life.

Todt was married and had three daughters and one son.  On the occasion of his 50th birthday in 1941, he founded the " Dr. Fritz Todt Foundation". The goal of the organisation was to promote young talents of technicians, especially young people from poor families by a training subsidy.

Death.

On 8 February 1942, soon after takeoff from the "Wolfsschanze" ("Wolf's Lair") airfield near Rastenburg in East Prussia, Todt's aircraft crashed. He was buried in the Invalids' Cemetery in the Scharnhorst-Strasse in Berlin. Posthumously, he became the first recipient of the newly-created "Deutscher Orden" ("German Order"), the highest award the Nazi Party could bestow on a person for "duties of the highest order to the state and party".  It has been suggested that Todt was the victim of an assassination orchestrated by Hitler, but that has never been confirmed. Todt's successor as "Reichsminister" was Albert Speer, whom Hitler awarded an "Org.Todt" ring during May 1943. Speer mentioned the Reich Air Ministry enquiry into the airplane accident, which he said ended with the sentence: "The possibility of sabotage is ruled out. Further measures are therefore neither requisite nor intended". Speer, who was present and had declined to ride on the same flight, thought that the wording was "curious".

Legacy.

On 8 February 1944, the second anniversary of Todt's death, Hitler awarded the "Dr.-Fritz-Todt-Preis" as a Badge of Honor of the Nazi Party for "Innovative accomplishments, which are of great importance for the Volk community because of the improvement of their weapons, ammunition and military equipment, and the saving of labor, raw materials and energy". The Badge of Honor came with a material prize and a certificate, was awarded as a medal made of gold, silver, or steel. The Golden Award of Honor was presented by Hitler in person upon proposal by the responsible Gauleiter, upon the joint proposal of Robert Ley, the director of the corresponding Deutsche Arbeitsfront and NSDAP leaders, and the director of the "Main office for Technology in the NSDAP", Albert Speer.

Fritz Todt (4 September 1891 – 8 February 1942), was a German construction engineer and senior Nazi, who rose from the position of "Inspector General for German Roadways", where he directed the construction of the German Autobahns ("Reichsautobahnen"), to become the Reich Minister for Armaments and Ammunition. From that position he directed the entire German wartime military economy. At the beginning of World War II he initiated what Hitler named "Organisation Todt", a military-engineering company, which supplied industry with forced labor and administered construction of the Nazi concentration camps in the late phase of Nazi Germany. Todt died in a mysterious aircraft crash in 1942.


History.

The inscription on the episcopal throne states that this is the first church in Rome dedicated to Mary, mother of Jesus, although some claim that privilege belongs to the Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore. It is certainly one of the oldest churches in the city. A Christian house-church was founded here about 220 by Pope Saint Callixtus I (217–222) on the site of the "Taberna meritoria", a refuge for retired soldiers. The area was made available for Christian use by Emperor Alexander Severus when he settled a dispute between the Christians and tavern-keepers, saying, according to the "Liber Pontificalis" "I prefer that it should belong to those who honor God, whatever be their form of worship." In 340, when Pope Julius I (337–352) rebuilt the "titulus Callixti" on a larger scale, it became the "titulus Iulii" in commemoration of his patronage and one of the original 25 parishes in Rome.  The church underwent two restorations in the fifth and eighth centuries and in 1140-43 it was re-erected on its old foundations under Pope Innocent II. Innocent II razed the church along with the recently completed tomb of the Antipope Anacletus II, his former rival. Innocent II arranged for his own burial on the spot formerly occupied by the tomb.  The richly carved Ionic capitals reused along its nave were taken either from the ruins of the Baths of Caracalla or the nearby Temple of Isis on the Janiculum. When scholarship during the 19th century identified the faces in their carved decoration as Isis, Serapis and Harpocrates, a restoration under Pius IX in 1870 hammered off the offending faces.  The predecessor of the present church was probably built in the early fourth century and that church was itself the successor to one of the "tituli", Early Christian basilicas ascribed to a patron and perhaps literally inscribed with his name. Although nothing remains to establish with certainty where any of the public Christian edifices of Rome before the time of Constantine the Great were situated, the basilica on this site was known as "Titulus Callisti", based on a legend in the "Liber Pontificalis", which ascribed the earliest church here to a foundation by Pope Callixtus I (died 222), whose remains, translated to the new structure, are preserved under the altar.  The inscriptions found in Santa Maria in Trastevere, a valuable resource illustrating the history of the Basilica, were collected and published by Vincenzo Forcella.

Interior.

The present nave preserves its original (pre-12th century) basilica plan and stands on the earlier foundations. The 22 granite columns with Ionic and Corinthian capitals that separate the nave from the aisles came from the ruins of the Baths of Caracalla, as did the lintel of the entrance door.  Inside the church are a number of 12th and late 13th-century mosaics. Below are mosaics on the subject of the "Life of the Virgin" by Pietro Cavallini (1291). Above is the mosaic representation of the "Coronation of the Virgin" (1130–1143). The "Coronation of the Virgin" sits atop an apse vault, and depicts Pope Innocent II holding a model of the church.  Domenichino's octagonal ceiling painting, "Assumption of the Virgin" (1617) fits in the coffered ceiling setting that he designed.  The fifth chapel to the left is the Avila Chapel designed by Antonio Gherardi. This, and his Chapel of S. Cecilia in San Carlo ai Catinari are two of the most architecturally inventive chapels of the late-17th century in Rome. The lower order of the chapel is fairly dark and employs Borromini-like forms. In the dome, there is an opening or oculus from which four putti emerge to carry a central "tempietto", all of which frames a light-filled chamber above, illuminated by windows not visible from below. The church keeps a relic of Saint Apollonia, her head, as well as a portion of the Holy Sponge. Among those buried in the church are Pope Callixtus I, Pope Innocent II, Antipope Anacletus II, Cardinal Philippe of Alençon and Cardinal Lorenzo Campeggio.

Exterior.

The Romanesque campanile is from the 12th century. Near the top, a niche protects a mosaic of the Madonna and Child. The mosaics on the façade are believed to be from the 12th century. They depict the Madonna enthroned and suckling the Child, flanked by 10 women holding lamps. This image on the façade showing Mary nursing Jesus is an early example of a popular late-medieval and renaissance type of image of the Virgin. The motif itself originated much earlier, with significant seventh-century Coptic examples at Wadi Natrun in Egypt.  The façade of the church was restored in 1702 by Carlo Fontana, who replaced the ancient porch with a sloping tiled roof — seen in Falda's view above — with the present classicizing one. The octagonal fountain in the piazza in front of the church (Piazza di Santa Maria in Trastevere), which already appears in a map of 1472, was restored by Carlo Fontana.

The titulus.

Ancient sources maintain that the "titulus S. Mariae" was established by Pope Alexander I around 112. Later traditions give the names of the early patrons of the "tituli" and have retrospectively assigned them the title of cardinal: thus at that time, the cardinal-patron of this basilica, these traditions assert, would have been Saint Calepodius. Pope Callixtus I confirmed the "titulus" in 221; to honor him it was changed into "Ss. Callisti et Iuliani"; it was renamed "S. Mariae trans Tiberim" by Innocent II. By the 12th century, cardinal deacons as well as the presbyters had long been dispensed from personal service at the "tituli". Among the past cardinal priests holding the honorary "titulus" of Santa Maria in Trastevere have been James Gibbons, Pope Leo XII, Józef Glemp, and Cardinal Henry Benedict Stuart, whose coat of arms, topped by a crown (some hailed him as King Henry IX of England) rather than a "galero" (red hat), is visible over the screen to the right of the altar. The incumbent titular holder is Carlos Osoro Sierra Archbishop of Madrid since November 19, 2016 upon the death of Loris Francesco Capovilla, the oldest living cardinal at the time of his death on 26 May 2016.

Significant events.

In July 2014, the wedding of Prince Amedeo of Belgium, Archduke of Austria-Este, and Elisabetta Rosboch von Wolkenstein was held at the basilica.

The Basilica of Santa Maria in Trastevere (); ) is a titular minor basilica in the Trastevere district of Rome, and one of the oldest churches of Rome. The basic floor plan and wall structure of the church date back to the 340s, and much of the structure to 1140-43. The first sanctuary was built in 221 and 227 by Pope Callixtus I and later completed by Pope Julius I. The church has large areas of important mosaics from the late 13th century by Pietro Cavallini.


Description.

Flowers and flower-heads.

"Hieracium" or hawkweeds, like others in the family Asteraceae, have mostly yellow, tightly packed flower-heads of numerous small flowers but, unlike daisies and sunflowers in the same family, they have not two kinds of florets but only strap-shaped (spatulate) florets, each one of which is a complete flower in itself, not lacking stamens, and joined to the stem by leafy bracts. As in other members of the tribe, each ray corolla is tipped by 3 to 5 teeth.

Bracts, stems and leaves.

Erect single, glabrous or hairy stems, sometimes branched away from the point of attachment, sometimes branched throughout.  The hairiness of hawkweeds can be very complex: from surfaces with scattered to crowded, tapered, whiplike, straight or curly, smooth to setae; "stellate-pubescent" or surfaces with scattered to crowded, dendritically branched (often called, but seldom truly, "stellate") hairs; and "stipitate-glandular" or surfaces with scattered to crowded gland-tipped hairs mostly. Surfaces of stems, leaves, peduncles, and phyllaries may be glabrous or may bear one, two, or all three of the types of hairs mentioned above.  Like the other members of the Chicory tribe, hawkweeds contain a milky latex.

Ecology.

The Large Yellow Underwing ("Noctua pronuba") feeds on "Hieracium" species.

Distribution.

"Hieracium" species are native to Africa,Asia, Europe, North America, Central America and South America.

Species.

The classification of "Hieracium" into species is notoriously difficult. One reason is the apomictic reproduction (in which plants asexually produce seeds), which tends to produce a lot of minor geographical variation. Over 9000 species names have been published in "Hieracium" but some botanists regard many of those as synonyms of larger species.

North America.

The list below is a selection of species that have been accepted by the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service and Canada. A more complete list is given in the list of "Hieracium" species.

Plant pest.

All species of the genus "Hieracium" are classed as invasive species throughout New Zealand. They are banned from sale, propagation and distribution under the National Pest Plant Accord. "Hieracium" is a pasture weed that reduces available feed for livestock and displaces the indigenous plants. It is a particular threat in alpine ecosystems previously dominated by native tussocks, though it will colonise habitats from bare ground, to exotic pine forest, to native Southern Beech forest.  In the United States, many species of "Hieracium" have been introduced and all species present are considered noxious weeds in one or more states.  In Australia, hawkweeds are invasive pests in alpine regions, all species of "Hieracium" are listed or declared under various State Acts.

Hieracium, known by the common name hawkweed and classically as hierakion (from ancient Greek ιεράξ, "hierax" 'hawk'), is a genus of the sunflower ("Helianthus") family Asteraceae), and closely related to dandelion ("Taraxacum"), chicory ("Cichorium"), prickly lettuce ("Lactuca") and sow thistle ("Sonchus"), which are part of the tribe Cichorieae. Hawkweeds, with their 10,000+ recorded species and subspecies, do their part to make Asteraceae the second largest family of flowers. Some botanists group all these species or subspecies into approximately 800 accepted species, while others prefer to accept several thousand species. Since most hawkweeds reproduce exclusively asexually by means of seeds that are genetically identical to their mother plant (apomixis or agamospermy), clones or populations that consist of genetically identical plants are formed and some botanists (especially in UK, Scandinavia and Russia) prefer to accept these clones as good species (arguing that it is impossible to know how these clones are interrelated) whereas others (mainly in Central Europe and USA) try to group them into a few hundred more broadly defined species. What is here treated as the single genus "Hieracium" is now treated by most European experts as two different genera, "Hieracium" and "Pilosella", with species such as "Hieracium pilosella", "Hieracium floribundum" and "Hieracium aurantiacum" referred to the latter genus. Many members of the genus "Pilosella" reproduce both by stolons (runners like those of strawberries) and by seeds, whereas true "Hieracium" species reproduce only by seeds. In "Pilosella", many individual plants are capable of forming both normal sexual and asexual (apomictic) seeds, whereas individual plants of "Hieracium" only produce one kind of seeds. Another difference is that all species of "Pilosella" have leaves with smooth (entire) margins whereas most species of "Hieracium" have distinctly dentate to deeply cut or divided leaves.


History.

The program was originally written by Mark Spencer, an Auburn University sophomore, as an emulation of AOL's IM program AOL Instant Messenger on Linux using the GTK+ toolkit. The earliest archived release was on December 31, 1998. It was named GAIM ("GTK+ AOL Instant Messenger") accordingly. The emulation was not based on reverse engineering, but instead relied on information about the protocol that AOL had published on the web. Development was assisted by some of AOL's technical staff. Support for other IM protocols was added soon thereafter.  On 6 July 2015, Pidgin scored seven out of seven points on the Electronic Frontier Foundation's secure messaging scorecard. They have received points for having communications encrypted in transit, having communications encrypted with keys the providers don't have access to (end-to-end encryption), making it possible for users to independently verify their correspondent's identities, having past communications secure if the keys are stolen (forward secrecy), having their code open to independent review (open source), having their security designs well-documented, and having recent independent security audits.

Naming dispute.

In response to pressure from AOL, the program was renamed to the acronymous-but-lowercase gaim. As AOL Instant Messenger gained popularity, AOL trademarked its acronym, "AIM", leading to a lengthy legal struggle with the creators of GAIM, who kept the matter largely secret.  On April 6, 2007, the project development team announced the results of their settlement with AOL, which included a series of name changes: "Gaim" became "Pidgin", "libgaim" became "libpurple", and "gaim-text" became "finch". The name Pidgin was chosen in reference to the term "pidgin", which describes communication between people who do not share a common language. The name "purple" refers to "prpl", the internal libgaim name for an IM protocol plugin.  Due to the legal issues, version 2.0 of the software was frozen in beta stages. Following the settlement, it was announced that the first official release of Pidgin 2.0.0 was hoped to occur during the two weeks from April 8, 2007. However, Pidgin 2.0 was not released as scheduled; Pidgin developers announced on April 22, 2007 that the delay was due to the preferences directory ".gaim".  Pidgin 2.0.0 was released on May 3, 2007. Other visual changes were made to the interface in this version, including updated icons.

Features.

Pidgin provides a graphical front-end for libpurple using GTK+. Libpurple supports many instant-messaging protocols.  Pidgin supports multiple operating systems, including Windows and many Unix-like systems such as Linux, the BSDs, and AmigaOS. It is included by default in the operating systems Tails and Xubuntu.

Pluggability.

The program is designed to be extended with plugins. Plugins are often written by third-party developers. They can be used to add support for protocols, which is useful for those such as Skype or Discord which have licensing issues (however, the users' data and interactions are still subject to their policies and eavesdropping). They can also add other significant features. For example, the "Off-the-Record Messaging" (OTR) plugin provides end-to-end encryption.  The TLS encryption system is pluggable, allowing different TLS libraries to be easily substituted. GnuTLS is the default, and NSS is also supported. Some operating systems' ports, such as OpenBSD's, choose to use OpenSSL or LibreSSL by default instead.

Contacts.

Contacts with multiple protocols can be grouped into one single contact instead of managing multiple protocols, and contacts can be given aliases or placed into groups.  To reach users as they log on or a status change occurs (such as moving from "Away" to "Available"), Pidgin supports on-action automated scripts called "Buddy Pounces" to automatically reach the user in customizable ways.

File transfer.

Pidgin supports file transfers for many protocols. It lacks some protocol-specific features like the folder sharing available from Yahoo. Direct, peer-to-peer file transfers are supported over protocols such as XMPP and MSN.

Voice and video chat.

As of version 2.6 (released on August 18, 2009), Pidgin supports voice/video calls using Farstream., calls can only be initiated through the XMPP protocol.

Miscellaneous.

Further features include support for themes, emoticons, spell checking, and notification area integration.

Supported protocols.

The following protocols are officially supported by libpurple 2.12.0, without any extensions or plugins: Some XMPP servers provide transports, which allow users to access networks using non-XMPP protocols without having to install plugins or additional software. Pidgin's support for XMPP means that these transports can be used to communicate via otherwise unsupported protocols, including not only instant messaging protocols, but also protocols such as SMS or E-mail.  Additional protocols, supported by third-party plugins, include Discord, Telegram, Microsoft OCS/LCS (extended SIP/SIMPLE), Facebook Messenger, QQ, Skype via skype4pidgin plugin, WhatsApp and the Xfire gaming network (requires the Gfire plugin).

Plugins.

Various other features are supported using third-party plugins. Such features include:

Mascot.

The mascot of Pidgin is a purple pigeon with the name of The Purple Pidgin.

Other notable software based on libpurple.

BitlBee and Minbif are IRCd-like gateways to multiple IM networks, and can be compiled with libpurple to increase functionality.

Pidgin (formerly named Gaim) is a free and open-source multi-platform instant messaging client, based on a library named libpurple that has support for many instant messaging protocols, allowing the user to simultaneously log into various services from a single application, with a single interface for both the popular and obsolete protocols (from AOL to Discord), thus avoiding the hassle of having to deal with a new bloated, unaudited, closed-source, and different piece of software for each device and protocol.


Early political career.

Born in Prague, Gross briefly worked for Czechoslovak State Railways (ČSD) as an engine-driver trainee. After the Velvet Revolution in 1989, he became a member of the Social Democratic party and in 1992 member of the parliament. After studies in law from 1993 to 1999 he obtained an academic title, although under less than normal conditions. His thesis had a mere 33 pages.

Minister of the Interior.

On 5 April 2000 he was named interior minister in the government of Miloš Zeman. After elections in 2002, Gross continued as interior minister and became deputy prime minister in the government of Vladimír Špidla.  During his service, several scandals in the police had leaked out: corruption among the highest officials, irregularities in business tenders and failure to solve serial murders. Gross claimed that this was due to a better ability to discover such behaviour within the police force. Gross was also criticized for installing his friends and allies as executives in state-owned companies and for misuse of secret services for political aims.  In spite of these problems, Gross was able to maintain higher popularity than other politicians (his peak came in at over 70%). His youthful, photogenic appearance, skills in dealing with media and unwillingness to get involved in controversial decisions or discussions helped.

Prime minister.

In the 2004 European election, ČSSD lost badly and the popularity of the party was low; this led to the resignation of Špidla on 26 July. Gross was appointed prime minister on 4 August 2004 and his government was approved on 24 August.  Gross was seen by his party as the last way to regain popularity and better handle future elections. This was proved wrong; in elections for regional assemblies and Senate elections, the Social Democrats failed again.  Gross claimed he would modernise the party on lines similar to those followed by Tony Blair, but his short time in office and constant involvement with scandals did not give him any time to implement changes. His popularity started to decline, and his involvement in further allegations of nepotism, police corruption, suspicious dealings in state privatisations accelerated the decline.

Financial irregularities.

In early 2005, Gross faced a scandal related to unclear origins of the loan to buy his flat. It was found that his wife was a business associate of a brothel owner who was later sentenced for insurance fraud to five years in prison. Criticism from the media and record public dissatisfaction grew into a government crisis. For three months, Gross tried to keep himself in power until he was forced to resign on 25 April 2005. His popularity sank to a record low, and trust in politicians among Czech people was shattered.  In September 2005 Gross stepped down from his remaining position of party leader. The reason was growing suspicion about corruption during the privatization of the chemical conglomerate Unipetrol to the Polish concern of PKN Orlen, involving Gross.  Gross denied all accusations as an absurd conspiracy against him.

Later life and death.

After leaving the world of top level politics Gross started to work for the Law Office of Eduard Bruna. Between April 2006 and January 2007 he served as the chairman of Security Commission of the Social Democrats ("bezpečnostní komise"). The media had occasionally speculated about his influence on decisions made within the Czech police.  In September 2007, the economics weekly Euro published information that Gross and his wife bought up to a 31% stake in the energy company Moravia Energo. The value of the stake was estimated to be worth about 300 million CZK. The journal calculated that the banks would provide at most two-thirds of the sum and the rest was thus paid by Gross. When this information was published Gross refused to provide details to the press on grounds of privacy. By June 2008 Gross successfully sold his 31% stake for 150 million CZK, his original purchase price was 21 million CZK. The whole deal was very curious and was investigated, but it was quickly found to be a legitimate business deal according to the Czech Police.  On 18 March 2008 he failed the bar exam, but later passed it and opened a private law practice. Gross was student of the Charles University in Prague and later was awarded his law degree by the University of West Bohemia at Plzeň. In 2009 this university has been the centre of investigations into allegations of law degrees being awarded after only a few months study. Gross was mentioned during the investigation.  In early 2008 together with his wife Šárka Grossová, they purchased a $735,000 (or 11 million CZK) Hidden Bay luxury condo in Miami, Florida (review of public online county records show that the property was purchased in his wife's name only). Mr. Gross and his wife also purchased a small 10 million CZK house in need of major renovations about 1 km from their apartment in Barrandov, Prague, Czech Republic (controversy surrounding the purchase of that apartment was one of the key factors in his stepping down from his post as prime minister and leaving politics).  Gross died on 16 April 2015 at the age of 45 from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

In popular culture.

Gross was an inspiration for the character of corrupt prime minister Klein in the film Gangster Ka.

Stanislav Gross (; 30 October 1969 – 16 April 2015) was a Czech lawyer and politician who served as Prime Minister of the Czech Republic and Leader of the Czech Social Democratic Party from 2004 until 2005 when he resigned as a result of his financial irregularities. He previously served as Minister of the Interior in cabinets of Miloš Zeman and Vladimír Špidla from 2000 to 2004. Gross was Member of the Chamber of Deputies (MP) from 1992 to 2004.


Early life.

Morgan was born Simone Renée Roussel in Neuilly-sur-Seine, Hauts-de-Seine, a wealthy suburb of Paris. She grew up in Dieppe, Seine-Maritime, France.

Career.

Morgan left home at the age of 15 for Paris determined to become an actress. She took acting lessons from René Simon while serving as an extra in several films to pay for her drama classes. It was then that she took the stage name "Michèle Morgan". She argued that she did not have the body type of a Simone, and "Morgan" sounded more Hollywood-friendly.  Morgan was first noticed by director Marc Allégret, who offered her a major role in the film "Gribouille" (1937), opposite Raimu. Then came "Le Quai des brumes" (1938) directed by Marcel Carné (1938), opposite Jean Gabin, and "Remorques" (1941) directed by Jean Grémillon.  Upon the invasion of France in 1940 by the Germans, Morgan left for the United States and Hollywood where she was contracted to RKO Pictures in 1941. Her career there proved rather disappointing, apart from "Joan of Paris" (1942) opposite Paul Henreid, and "Higher and Higher" (1943) opposite Frank Sinatra. She was tested and strongly considered for the female lead in "Casablanca" but RKO would not release her for the amount of money that Warner Bros. offered. Morgan did work for Warners however in "Passage to Marseille" (1944) with Humphrey Bogart. After the war, Morgan returned to France and quickly resumed her career with the film "La Symphonie Pastorale" (1946) directed by Jean Delannoy, which earned her the Best Actress award at the Cannes Film Festival. Her other films from this period include; Carol Reed's "The Fallen Idol" (1948), "Fabiola" (1949), "The Proud and the Beautiful" (1953) by Yves Allégret, "Les Grandes Manœuvres" (1955) by René Clair and "Marie-Antoinette reine de France" (1956). She continued working in films throughout the 1960s, such as in "Lost Command" (1966), a version of "Les Centurions". In the 1970s, she virtually retired from her acting career, then made only occasional appearances in film, television and theatre.  For her contribution to the motion picture industry, Morgan has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 1645 Vine Street. In 1969, the government of France awarded her the Légion d'Honneur. For her long service to the French motion picture industry, in 1992 she was given an Honorary César Award. In 1996, she also received the Career Golden Lion for lifetime achievement at the Venice Film Festival.  Morgan took up painting in the 1960s. She had a solo exhibition, "Artistes En Lumière à Paris", from 2 March to 30 April 2009, at the Espace Cardin in Paris. In 1977 she released her memoir, titled "With Those Eyes" ("Avec ces yeux-là").

Personal life and death.

While in Hollywood, Morgan married William Marshall (1917–1994), in 1942, with whom she had a son, Mike Marshall (1944–2005). Morgan had built and owned a house at 10050 Cielo Drive. Morgan and Marshall divorced in 1948. She married French actor Henri Vidal (1919–1959) in 1950. She remained with him until his death in 1959. She then lived with film director and actor/writer Gérard Oury until his death in 2006.  Morgan died on 20 December 2016, aged 96, in Meudon, France of natural causes. Her funeral was held at the Église Saint-Pierre in Neuilly-sur-Seine on 23 December 2016, and she was buried at the Montparnasse Cemetery.  Despite living to the age of 96, she technically only had 24 birthdays due to being born on February 29.

Michèle Morgan (; 29 February 1920 – 20 December 2016) was a French film actress, who was a leading lady for three decades in both French cinema and Hollywood features. She is considered to have been one of the great French actresses of the 20th century. Morgan was the inaugural winner of the Best Actress Award at the Cannes Film Festival. In 1992, she was given an honorary César Award for her contributions to French cinema.