Design and development.

The design for the 14th fighter for the VVS, the I-14, started as an advanced (for the era) monoplane under the direction of Andrei Tupolev. He grew concerned that the design would not mature, and ordered two backup biplane designs as the I-14A and B just to be safe. Polikarpov had just been released from prison in August 1932, and was handed the I-14A project. When both the I-14 and I-14A were ordered into production, Polikarpov's design, a development of the I-5 fighter became the famous I-15.  The first flight was made in October 1933 with V.P. Chkalov at the controls, powered by an imported Wright R-1820 Cyclone engine. The I-15, also known by its development name TsKB-3, was a small biplane fighter with a gulled upper wing. The single bay wings were of wooden construction, while the fuselage was of mixed steel and duralumin construction, with a fabric covered rear fuselage.  Production started in 1934, initially being powered by the Shvetsov M-22, a license-built version of the Bristol Jupiter radial engine. While less powerful than the Cyclone, the M-22 powered aircraft were still superior to the I-5 which it replaced, demonstrating excellent manoeuvrability. Production switched to the 515 kW (700 hp) Shvetsov M-25 engine (a license-built, metricated Cyclone) in late 1936. A total of 671 I-15s were built, 284 in the Soviet Union and a further 287 under license by CASA in Spain.  The gulled upper wing of the I-15 was unpopular with some pilots, as it was felt to restrict visibility, so Polikarpov's design bureau produced a revised version, again powered by the M-25, with a longer span un-gulled upper wing. This version, the I-15bis, commenced production in 1937, a total of 2,408 I-15bis' being delivered by the time production finished in 1940.

Operational history.

China.

In August 1937, the Chinese Kuomintang Government signed a non-aggression pact with the USSR. And, in autumn of the same year, the Soviet Union commenced to ship I-15s as a part of a programme of military aid to the Chinese Air Force (CAF) in its defensive war against Japan. More than 250 Soviet pilots volunteered to fly the 255 I-15s supplied to China in autumn 1937. By 1939, the total number of Polikarpov biplanes delivered to CAF reached 347 I-15/I-15bis. The I-15bis saw a great amount of action in the Soviet–Japanese border conflicts along the China–Mongolia border. In 1937, I-15s in the hands of the Chinese Nationalist Air Force fought against invading Japanese, where the tough biplane began to meet its match in some of the newer, faster Japanese monoplanes.

Mongolia.

In 1939 Polikarpov fighters were extensively used during the Battles of Khalkhin Gol fought around the Khalkha River in Dornod Province. The battles were fought during 11 May–16 September 1939, and involved more than 600 planes. When hostilities commenced, the only I-15bis in the area were 14 aircraft of 70th IAP. Their number increased in the following weeks: on 23 May, 35 I-15bis from 22nd IAP arrived from the Trans-Baikal region. However the Polikarpov pilots had been hastily trained and they suffered heavy losses against the more experienced Japanese. During this conflict, the Soviet Union and Japan lost more than 200 aircraft each. 10 aircraft were delivered to the Mongolian People's Army Air Force in mid-July 1939 and flight personnel were trained for rear air defence. Afterwards, they received more than 30 aircraft in March 1942.

Spain.

The I-15 was used extensively in combat by the Republicans in the Spanish Civil War and proved to be one of the best fighter biplanes of its time. The Nationalists called the fighter "Curtiss", apparently believing it to be the Curtiss F9C Sparrowhawk. The first batch of 25 Polikarpovs arrived in Cartagena, Spain, on 28 October 1936, with 15 pilots, led by future ace Pavel Rychagov. A few days later a further group of 10 pilots and 15 aircraft arrived in Bilbao.  The Soviet pilots first went into action 4 November, when I-15s shot down two Junkers Ju 52/3ms and two CR.32s over Madrid, and forced a third Ju 52 and a Heinkel two-seater to crash-land. No losses were reported among the Soviet pilots. During the next two days, "Chato" pilots claimed 12 more victories, at the cost of two I-15s lost.  On 16 November, while dogfighting with Fiat CR.32s over Madrid, future ace Rychagov was shot down and four days later the number of combat-ready Polikarpov in the central area had fallen to 15 aircraft: seven had been lost in combat, two had force-landed and one was undergoing repair.  In December 1936 and January 1937, two more shipments of 30 aircraft arrived in Spain, making it possible to form four full-strength I-15 squadrons. Until the spring of 1937, central Spain was the main war theatre for I-15s. And in May 1937, another batch of 31 Polikarpov landed in Spain, taking the total number of I-15s delivered to 116.  "Chato" losses in the Spanish Civil War were comparable to those of its principal rival, the Fiat CR.32. By 1 January 1939, 197 Polikarpovs had been lost: 88 shot down by enemy aircraft and nine by anti-aircraft artillery, 27 destroyed on the ground and 67 written off in accidents.

World War II.

More than 1,000 I-15bis fighters were still in Soviet use during the German invasion when the biplane was employed in the ground attack role. By late 1942, all I-15s and I-15bis' were relegated to second line duties.

The Polikarpov I-15 () was a Soviet biplane fighter aircraft of the 1930s. Nicknamed "Chaika" ("", "Seagull") because of its gulled upper wings, it was operated in large numbers by the Soviet Air Force, and together with the Polikarpov I-16 monoplane, was one of the standard fighters of the Spanish Republicans during the Spanish Civil War, where it was called Chato (snub-nose).


Taxonomy.

Unlike the gharial, the false gharial's snout broadens considerably towards the base and so is more similar to those of true crocodiles than the gharial, whose osteology indicates a distinct lineage from all other living crocodilians. However, preliminary nuclear genetic sequences may indicate the gharial and false gharial had a shared ancestor at some point in prehistory. Other molecular studies have similarly indicated that it is the nearest relative (the sister taxon) of the gharial. Along with close fossil relatives, such as "Maroccosuchus", it is thus increasingly classed in the family Gavialidae.

Characteristics.

The false gharial is dark reddish-brown above with dark brown or black spots and cross-bands on the back and tail. Ventrals are grayish-white, with some lateral dark mottling. Juveniles are mottled with black on the sides of the jaws, body, and tail. The smooth and unornamented snout is extremely long and slender, parallel sided, with a length of 3.0 to 3.5 times the width at the base. All teeth are long and needle-like, interlocking on the insides of the jaws, and are individually socketed. The dorsal scales are broad at midbody and extend onto the sides of the body. The digits are webbed at the base. Integumentary sensory organs are present on the head and body scalation. Scales behind the head are frequently a slightly enlarged single pair. Some individuals bear a number of adjoining small keeled scales. Scalation is divided medially by soft granular skin. Three transverse rows of two enlarged nuchal scales are continuous with the dorsal scales, which consist of 22 transverse rows of six to eight scales, are broad at midbody and extend onto the sides of the body. Nuchal and dorsal rows equals a total of 22 to 23 rows. It has 18 double-crested caudal whorls and 17 single-crested caudal whorls. The flanks have one or two longitudinal rows of six to eight very enlarged scales on each side.  The false gharial has one of the slimmest snouts of any living crocodilian, perhaps comparable to the slender-snouted crocodile and the freshwater crocodile in the extent of slenderness, only that of the gharial is noticeably more slim. The false gharial is a large crocodilian. Males can reportedly grow up to in length. Three mature males kept in captivity measured and weighed, while a female measured and weighed. Females have been recorded at lengths of up to. The false gharial apparently has the largest skull of any extant crocodilian, undoubtedly aided by the great length of the slender snout. Out of the eight longest crocodilian skulls from existing species that could be found in museums around the world, six of these belonged to false gharials. The longest crocodilian skull belonging to an extant species was of this species and measured in length, with a mandibular length of. Most of the owners of these enormous skulls surprisingly had no confirmed (or even anecdotal) total measurements, but based on the known skull-to-total length ratio for the species, they would measure approximately in length.

Distribution and habitat.

False gharials are native to Peninsular Malaysia, Sarawak, and Indonesia (Sumatra, and Borneo), but were extirpated in Singapore and Thailand. It is unclear if they remain in Java. Apart from rivers, they inhabit swamps and lakes. The species is almost entirely found today in peat swamps and lowland swamp forests. In the 1990s, information and sightings were available from 39 localities in 10 different river drainages, along with the remote river systems of Borneo.  Prior to the 1950s, "Tomistoma" occurred in freshwater ecosystems along the entire length of Sumatra east of the Barisan Mountains. The current distribution in eastern Sumatra has been reduced by 30-40% due to hunting, logging, fires, and agriculture.

Ecology and behaviour.

Diet.

Until recently, very little was known about the diet or behaviour of the false gharial in the wild. Details are slowly being revealed. In the past, the false gharial was thought to have a diet of only fish and very small vertebrates. But more recent evidence and observation indicate that it has a generalist diet despite its narrow snout. In addition to fish and smaller aquatic animals, mature adults prey on larger vertebrates, including proboscis monkeys, long-tailed macaques, deer, water birds, and reptiles. An eye-witness accounted of a false gharial attacking a cow in East Kalimantan.  The false gharial may be considered an ecological equivalent to Neotropical crocodiles such as the Orinoco and American crocodiles, which both have slender snouts but a broad diet.

Reproduction.

False gharials are mound-nesters. Females lay small clutches of 13 to 35 eggs per nest, and appear to produce the largest eggs of extant crocodilians. Sexual maturity in females appears to be attained around, which is large compared to other crocodilians.  It is not known when they breed in the wild or when the nesting season is. Once the eggs are laid, and construction of the mound is completed, the female abandons her nest. Unlike most other crocodilians, the young receive no parental care and are at risk of being eaten by predators, such as mongooses, tigers, leopards, and wild dogs. The young hatch after 90 days and are left to fend for themselves.

Conflict.

In 2008, a 4-m female false gharial attacked and ate a fisherman in central Kalimantan; his remains were found in the gharial's stomach. This was the first verified fatal human attack by a false gharial. However, by 2012, at least two more verified fatal attacks on humans by false gharials had occurred indicating perhaps an increase of human-false gharial conflict possibly correlated to the decline of habitat, habitat quality, and natural prey numbers.

Threats.

The false gharial is threatened with extinction throughout most of its range due to the drainage of its freshwater swamplands and clearance of surrounding rainforests. The species is also hunted frequently for its skin and meat, and the eggs are often harvested for human consumption.

Conservation.

The false gharial is listed on CITES Appendix I. Currently population surveys indicate that while the false gharial is not for the most extirpated from areas it used to inhabit, the distribution of individuals is much more spotty than the previously more connective distribution, putting the animals at risk of genetic isolation. In large part, the isolation of false gharials is due to extremely extensive habitat destruction and disturbance within the species' area of distribution, few areas outside of legally protected areas are likely to bear viable breeding populations.  Steps have been taken by the Malaysian and Indonesian governments to prevent its extinction in the wild. There are reports of some populations rebounding in Indonesia, yet with this slight recovery, mostly irrational fears of attacks have surfaced amongst the local human population. Yayasan Ulin (The Ironwood Foundation) is currently attempting to manage a wetland area in East Kalimantan, which is known to contain the false gharials.

Fossil record.

Although "Tomistoma schlegelii" is the only extant species in the genus "Tomistoma", fossils of extinct species have been found in Paleogene, Neogene, and Quaternary-age deposits in Taiwan, Uganda, Italy, Portugal, Egypt, and India, but nearly all of them are likely to be distinct genera due to older age compared to the false gharial.

The false gharial ("Tomistoma schlegelii"), also known as the Malayan gharial and the Sunda gharial, is a freshwater crocodilian in the family Gavialidae. It is native to Peninsular Malaysia, Borneo, Sumatra, and Java. It is listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List, as the global population is estimated at around 2,500 to 10,000 mature individuals.


Scope of the term.

The term "alexandrine" may be used with greater or lesser rigor. Peureux suggests that only French syllabic verse with a 6+6 structure is, strictly speaking, an alexandrine. Preminger "et al". allow a broader scope: "Strictly speaking, the term 'alexandrine' is appropriate to French syllabic meters, and it may be applied to other metrical systems only where they too espouse syllabism as their principle, introduce phrasal accentuation, or rigorously observe the medial caesura, as in French." Common usage within the literatures of European languages is broader still, embracing lines syllabic, accentual-syllabic, and (inevitably) stationed ambivalently between the two; lines of 12, 13, or even 14 syllables; lines with obligatory, predominant, and optional caesurae.

French.

Although alexandrines occurred in French verse as early as the 12th century, they were slightly looser rhythmically, and vied with the "décasyllabe" and "octosyllabe" for cultural prominence and use in various genres. "The alexandrine came into its own in the middle of the sixteenth century with the poets of the Pléiade and was firmly established in the seventeenth century." It became the preferred line for the prestigious genres of epic and tragedy. The structure of the classical French alexandrine is  Classical alexandrines are always rhymed, often in couplets alternating masculine rhymes and feminine rhymes, though other configurations (such as quatrains and sonnets) are also common.  Victor Hugo began the process of loosening the strict two-hemistich structure. While retaining the medial caesura, he often reduced it to a mere word-break, creating a three-part line ("alexandrin ternaire") with this structure:  The Symbolists further weakened the classical structure, sometimes eliminating any or all of these caesurae. However, at no point did the newer line "replace" the older; rather, they were used concurrently, often in the same poem. This loosening process eventually led to "vers libéré" and finally to "vers libre".

English.

In English verse, "alexandrine" is typically used to mean "iambic hexameter":  Whereas the French alexandrine is syllabic, the English is accentual-syllabic; and the central caesura (a defining feature of the French) is not always rigidly preserved in English.  Though English alexandrines have occasionally provided the sole metrical line for a poem, for example in lyric poems by Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey and Sir Philip Sidney, and in two notable long poems, Michael Drayton's "Poly-Olbion" and Robert Browning's "Fifine at the Fair", they have more often featured alongside other lines. During the Middle Ages they typically occurred with heptameters (seven-beat lines), both exhibiting metrical looseness. Around the mid-16th century stricter alexandrines were popular as the first line of poulter's measure couplets, fourteeners (strict iambic heptameters) providing the second line.  The strict English alexandrine may be exemplified by a passage from "Poly-Olbion", which features a rare caesural enjambment (symbolized codice_1) in the first line:  <poem style="margin-left:2em"> Ye sacred Bards, that to ¦ your harps' melodious strings Sung th'ancient Heroes' deeds (the monuments of Kings) And in your dreadful verse ingrav'd the prophecies, The agèd world's descents, and genealogies; (lines 31-34) </poem>  The Faerie Queene by Edmund Spenser, with its stanzas of eight iambic pentameter lines followed by one alexandrine, exemplifies what came to be its chief role: as a somewhat infrequent variant line in an otherwise iambic pentameter context. Alexandrines provide occasional variation in the blank verse of William Shakespeare and his contemporaries (but rarely; they constitute only about 1% of Shakespeare's blank verse). John Dryden and his contemporaries and followers likewise occasionally employed them as the second (rarely the first) line of heroic couplets, or even more distinctively as the third line of a triplet. In his "Essay on Criticism", Alexander Pope denounced (and parodied) the excessive and unskillful use of this practice:  <poem style="margin-left:2em"> Then at the last and only couplet fraught With some unmeaning thing they call a thought, A needless Alexandrine ends the song, That, like a wounded snake, drags its slow length along. (lines 354-357) </poem>

Other languages.

Spanish.

The Spanish "alejandrino" is a line of 7+7 syllables, probably developed in imitation of the French alexandrine.  It was used beginning about 1200 for "mester de clerecía" (clerical verse), typically occurring in the "cuaderna vía", a stanza of four "alejandrinos" all with a single end-rhyme.  The "alejandrino" was most prominent during the 13th and 14th centuries, after which time it was eclipsed by the metrically more flexible "arte mayor". Juan Ruiz's Book of Good Love is one of the best-known examples of "cuaderna vía", though other verse forms also appear in the work.

Dutch.

The mid-16th-century poet Jan van der Noot pioneered syllabic Dutch alexandrines on the French model, but within a few decades Dutch alexandrines had been transformed into strict iambic hexameters with a caesura after the third foot. From Holland the accentual-syllabic alexandrine spread to other continental literatures.

German.

Similarly, in early 17th-century Germany, Georg Rudolf Weckherlin advocated for an alexandrine with free rhythms, reflecting French practice; whereas Martin Opitz advocated for a strict accentual-syllabic iambic alexandrine in imitation of contemporary Dutch practice — and German poets followed Opitz. The alexandrine (strictly iambic with a consistent medial caesura) became the dominant long line of the German baroque.

Polish.

Unlike many similar lines, the Polish alexandrine developed not from French verse but from Latin, specifically, the 13-syllable goliardic line:  Though looser instances of this (nominally) 13-syllable line were occasionally used in Polish literature, it was Mikołaj Rej and Jan Kochanowski who, in the 16th century, introduced the syllabically strict line as a vehicle for major works.

Czech.

The Czech alexandrine is a comparatively recent development, based on the French alexandrine and introduced by Karel Hynek Mácha in the 19th century. Its structure forms a halfway point between features usual in syllabic and in accentual-syllabic verse, being more highly constrained than most syllabic verse, and less so than most accentual-syllabic verse. Moreover, it equally encourages the very different rhythms of iambic hexameter and dactylic tetrameter to emerge by preserving the constants of both measures:

Modern references.

In the comic book "Asterix and Cleopatra", the author Goscinny inserted a pun about alexandrines: when the Druid Panoramix ("Getafix" in the English translation) meets his Alexandrian (Egyptian) friend the latter exclaims "Je suis, mon cher ami, || très heureux de te voir" at which Panoramix observes "C'est un Alexandrin" ("That's an alexandrine!"/"He's an Alexandrian!"). The pun can also be heard in the theatrical adaptations. The English translation renders this as "My dear old Getafix || I hope I find you well", with the reply "An Alexandrine".

Alexandrine is a name used for several distinct types of verse line with related metrical structures, most of which are ultimately derived from the classical French alexandrine. The line's name derives from its use in the Medieval French "Roman d'Alexandre" of 1170, although it had already been used several decades earlier in "Le Pèlerinage de Charlemagne". The foundation of most alexandrines consists of two hemistichs (half-lines) of six syllables each, separated by a caesura (a metrical pause or word break, which may or may not be realized as a stronger syntactic break):


Russian Empire.

Origins.

The Order was established in 1698 by Tsar Peter the Great, in honour of Saint Andrew, the first apostle of Jesus and patron saint of Russia. It was bestowed in a single class and was only awarded for the most outstanding civilian or military merit.  Peter learned of the practice of bestowing awards from his travels in the West during the Great Embassy. In the past, service to the Russian state was rewarded with money or large estates. He witnessed first hand the awards ceremonies for England's Order of the Garter and Austria's Order of the Golden Fleece and noticed the loyalty and pride of the awardees. It also saved the state land and money.  Count Fyodor Golovin was the first recipient of the order. Until its abolition following the Russian Revolution of 1917, just over one thousand awards had been made. During the monarchy, recipients of the Order of St. Andrew also automatically received the Order of St. Alexander Nevsky, the Order of the White Eagle, the Order of St. Anne first class, and the Order St. Stanislaus first class. Moreover, recipients of lower ranks were automatically promoted to the rank of lieutenant general or vice admiral. The Order of Saint Andrew continued to be awarded by the Russian Imperial House in exile. The first post revolutionary presentation was to HH Prince Georgy Konstantinovich of Russia on attaining his dynastic majority in April 1923.

Insignia.

The insignia of the order consisted of:  The insignia of the order could be awarded "with diamonds" as a special distinction. Saint Andrew's Cathedral in Saint Petersburg was the chapter church of this order of chivalry.

Russian Federation.

An order with the same name but with different insignia and statutes was first unofficially re-established by the Orthodox Church of Russia on December 27, 1988. The order was officially re-instated as the highest Russian civilian and military award by Presidential Decree No757 on June 1, 1998. The Order's award criteria were modified by Presidential Decree 1099 of September 7, 2010.

Statute of the Order.

The Order of St. Andrew the Apostle the First-Called is used to award prominent statesmen and public figures, eminent representatives of science, culture, the arts and various industries for exceptional services, for promoting the prosperity, grandeur and glory of Russia.  The Order may also be awarded to foreign heads of states for outstanding service to the Russian Federation.  Unlike the original Imperial institution, the modern Order does not have special robes nor strict rules regulating its wearing. The collar, the sash and the star of the Imperial Order were only worn with uniform or full evening dress; the insignia are nowadays may be worn on lounge suits and at least one recipient was seen wearing the order dressed in lounge suit without a tie, something that would be unheard of during the Imperial era.  The collar of the original Order was worn across the shoulders; modern recipients tend to wear it as a chain around the neck.

Insignia.

The design of the insignia of the modern Order of St. Andrew has changed very little from the imperial design. It consists of:  The colour of the sash differs from the colour of the Imperial era, and resembles the shade of the sash of the British Order of the Garter. Members of the military division of the Order have crossed swords added below the crown above the two eagles' heads. On the reverse of the eagle on a white ribbon the motto of the Order appears inscribed in gold letters: «За веру и верность» ("For faith and loyalty").

Recipients (partial list).

Among the recipients of the Order after its re-establishment were:

The Order of St. Andrew the Apostle the First-Called () is the highest order of the Russian Federation. Established as the first and highest order of chivalry of the Russian Empire in 1698, it was abolished under the USSR before being re-established as the top Russian order in 1998.


Early life and family.

Irma Ilse Ida Grese was born to Berta Grese and Alfred Grese, a dairy worker, on 7 October 1923. Irma was the third of five children (three girls and two boys). In 1936, her mother committed suicide by drinking hydrochloric acid after discovering that Alfred had had an affair with a local pub owner's daughter. Historian Peter Vronsky speculated that Alfred Grese joined the Nazi Party in 1937 and remarried in 1939.  Irma's sister, Helene Grese, said at Irma's trial that in primary school, when "girls were quarreling and fighting, [Irma] never had the courage to fight, but... ran away." She left school in 1938, aged 15, and worked as an assistant nurse in the sanatorium of the SS.

Concentration camp guard.

By her teenage years, she had become active in the Hitler Youth and the League of German Girls. Before her 18th birthday, she moved to the SS Female Helpers’ training base, which was located near Ravensbrück, the all-female concentration camp. After her training, she volunteered to work at Ravensbrück.  She was soon promoted to a guard position at Auschwitz-Birkenau. In 1942, she became an "Aufseherin" (guard or overseer) at Ravensbrück, and in March 1943 she transferred to Auschwitz-Birkenau. In 1944, she was promoted to "Rapportführerin", the second-highest rank possible for female KZ-wardens.  Grese participated in prisoner selections for the gas chambers at Auschwitz.  In early 1945, Grese accompanied a prisoner evacuation transport from Auschwitz to Ravensbrück. In March 1945, she went to Bergen-Belsen along with a large number of prisoners from Ravensbrück. Grese was captured by the British Army on 17 April 1945, together with other SS personnel who did not flee.

War crimes trial.

Grese was among the 45 people accused of war crimes at the Belsen Trial. She was tried over the first period of the trials (17 September – 17 November 1945) and was represented by Major L. Cranfield. The trials were conducted under British military law in Lüneburg, based on charges derived from the Geneva Convention of 1929 regarding the treatment of prisoners. The accusations against her centred on her ill-treatment and murder of those imprisoned at the camps.  Survivors provided detailed testimony of cruelties. They also claimed that she beat some women using a plaited whip.  Under direct examination, Irma Grese testified about her background: I was born on 7 October 1923. In 1938 I left the elementary school and worked for six months on agricultural jobs at a farm, after which I worked in a shop in Lychen for six months. When I was 15 I went to a hospital in Hohenlychen, where I stayed for two years. I tried to become a nurse but the Labor Exchange would not allow that and sent me to work in a dairy in Fürstenberg. In July 1942, I tried again to become a nurse, but the Labour Exchange sent me to Ravensbrück Concentration Camp, although I protested against it. I stayed there until March 1943, when I went to Birkenau Camp in Auschwitz. I remained in Auschwitz until January 1945.  During the trial, the press labelled Grese as "the Beautiful Beast" alongside Kommandant Josef Kramer ("the Beast of Belsen"). After a nine-week trial, Grese was sentenced to death by hanging. Although the charges against some of the other female warders (a total of 16 were charged) were as serious as those against Grese, she was one of only three female guards to be sentenced to death.

Execution.

Grese and two other concentration camp workers, Johanna Bormann and Elisabeth Volkenrath, were convicted along with eight men for crimes committed at Auschwitz and Belsen and sentenced to death. As the verdicts were read, Grese was the only prisoner to remain defiant. Her subsequent appeal was rejected.  According to Wendy Adele-Marie Sarti, the night before her execution, Grese sang Nazi songs until the early hours of the morning with Johanna Bormann. On Thursday, 13 December 1945, in, Grese was led to the gallows. The women were executed singly by long-drop hanging and then the men in pairs. Regimental Sergeant Major Richard Anthony O'Neill assisted the British executioner, Albert Pierrepoint:We climbed the stairs to the cells where the condemned were waiting. A German officer at the door leading to the corridor flung open the door and we filed past the row of faces and into the execution chamber. The officers stood at attention. Brigadier Paton-Walsh stood with his wristwatch raised. He gave me the signal, and a sigh of released breath was audible in the chamber, I walked into the corridor. 'Irma Grese', I called. The German guards quickly closed all grilles on twelve of the inspection holes and opened one door. Irma Grese stepped out. The cell was far too small for me to go inside, and I had to pinion her in the corridor. 'Follow me,' I said in English, and O'Neil [sic] repeated the order in German. At 9.34 a.m. she walked into the execution chamber, gazed for a moment at the officials standing round it, then walked on to the centre of the trap, where I had made a chalk mark. She stood on this mark very firmly, and as I placed the white cap over her head she said in her languid voice, 'Schnell'. [English translation: 'Quickly'].  The drop crashed down, and the doctor followed me into the pit and pronounced her dead. After twenty minutes the body was taken down and placed in a coffin ready for burial.

Dramatizations.

Grese has been portrayed as a minor character in two films: "Pierrepoint" (2005), which portrays her execution following the Belsen war crimes trial; and "Out of the Ashes" (2003). Both films feature additional female guards in much smaller roles. Grese was briefly portrayed in a nonspeaking reenactment in "" (2005).

Irma Ida Ilse Grese (7 October 1923 – 13 December 1945) was an "SS" guard at the Nazi concentration camps of Ravensbrück and Auschwitz, and served as warden of the women's section of Bergen-Belsen.


Life.

Mandl was born in Münzkirchen, Upper Austria, then part of Austria-Hungary, the daughter of a shoemaker.

Camp work.

After the "Anschluss" by Nazi Germany, Mandl moved to Munich, and on 15 October 1938 joined the camp staff as an "Aufseherin" at Lichtenburg, an early Nazi concentration camp in the Province of Saxony where she worked with fifty other SS women. On 15 May 1939, along with other guards and prisoners, Mandl was sent to the newly opened Ravensbrück concentration camp near Berlin. She soon impressed her superiors and, after she had joined the Nazi Party on 1 April 1941, was elevated to the rank of a "SS-Oberaufseherin" in April 1942. She oversaw daily roll calls, assignments for "Aufseherinnen" and punishments such as beatings and floggings.  On 7 October 1942, Mandl was assigned to the Auschwitz II-Birkenau camp where she succeeded Johanna Langefeld as "SS-Lagerführerin" of the women camp under "SS-Kommandant" Rudolf Höß. As a woman she could never outrank a man, but her control over both female prisoners and her female subordinates was absolute. The only man Mandl reported to was the commandant. She controlled all the female Auschwitz camps and female subcamps including at Hindenburg, Lichtewerden and Raisko.  Mandl promoted Irma Grese to head of the Hungarian women's camp at Birkenau. According to some accounts, Mandl often stood at the gate into Birkenau waiting for an inmate to turn and look at her: any who did were taken out of the lines and never heard from again. At Auschwitz, Mandl was known as The Beast, and for the next two years she participated in selections for death and other documented abuses. She signed inmate lists, sending an estimated half a million women and children to their deaths in the gas chambers at Auschwitz I and II.  Mandl created the Women's Orchestra of Auschwitz to accompany roll calls, executions, selections and transports. An Auschwitz prisoner, Lucia Adelsberger, later described it in her book, "Auschwitz: Ein Tatsachenbericht":"The women who came back from work exhausted had to march in time to the music. Music was ordered for all occasions, for the addresses of the Camp Commanders, for the transports and whenever anybody was hanged."  For her services, Mandl was awarded the War Merit Cross 2nd class. In November 1944, she was assigned to the Mühldorf subcamp of Dachau concentration camp and Elisabeth Volkenrath became head of Auschwitz, which were liberated in late January 1945. In May 1945, Mandl fled from Mühldorf into the mountains of southern Bavaria to her birthplace, Münzkirchen.

Arrest and execution.

The United States Army arrested Mandl on 10 August 1945. Interrogations reportedly revealed her to be highly intelligent and dedicated to her work in the camps. For some time she was held at Dachau Prison, and was filmed by the US Army in May 1945 sharing a cell with Elizabeth Ruppert. Mandl was handed over to the Polish People’s Republic in November 1946, and in November 1947 she was tried in a Kraków courtroom in the Auschwitz Trial and sentenced to death by hanging.  Stanisława Rachwałowa (a Polish survivor of Auschwitz who was an inmate under Mandl's administration and, after the war, was arrested by Poland's post-war communist authorities as an "anti-communist activist") was imprisoned in the cell next to Maria Mandl and Therese Brandl. Rachwałowa was proficient enough in German to interpret for the wardens. She stated that the last time she and the two German war criminals met – after they had been sentenced to death and shortly before their executions took place – both had asked her for forgiveness. Mandl was hanged on 24 January 1948, aged 36.

Maria Mandl (also spelled Mandel; 10 January 1912 – 24 January 1948) was an Austrian "SS-Helferin" known for her role in the Holocaust as a top-ranking official at the Auschwitz-Birkenau extermination camp where she is believed to have been directly complicit in the deaths of over 500,000 female prisoners. She was executed for war crimes.


Early years.

Jacob was born the only child of Simon, a merchant, and Thérèse (Franck) Jacob, in Nancy, France. An inquisitive child, he learned to read at a young age. Albert Franck, Jacob's maternal grandfather, a four-star general, was Jacob's childhood role model. At seven he entered the Lycée Carnot, where he was schooled for the next ten years; in his autobiography he describes his impression of it: "a cage". He was antagonized by rightist youth at the Lycée Carnot around 1934.  Though interested (and talented) in physics and mathematics, Jacob was horrified at the prospect of spending two additional years in "an even more draconian regime" to prepare for higher study at the Polytechnique. Instead, after observing a surgical operation that cemented his "slight interest" in medicine, he entered medical school.  During the German occupation of France—and on the heels of his mother's death—Jacob left France for Great Britain to join the war effort. Jacob, who had only completed his second year of medical studies, joined the medical company of the French 2nd Armored Division in 1940. He was injured in a German air attack in 1944 and returned to now-liberated Paris in on 1 August 1944. For his wartime service, he was awarded France's WWII highest decoration for valor, the Cross of Liberation, as well as Légion d'honneur and croix de guerre.  After his recovery, Jacob returned to medical school and began researching tyrothricin and learning the methods of bacteriology in the process. He completed a thesis he described as "replicating American work" on the effectiveness of the antibiotic against local infections, and became a medical doctor in 1947. Though attracted to research as a career, he was discouraged by his own perceived ignorance after attending a microbiology congress that summer. Instead he took a position at the Cabanel Center, where he had done his thesis research; his new work entailed the manufacture of antibiotic, tyrothricin. Later, the center was contracted to convert gunpowder factories for penicillin production (though this proved impossible).  Also in this period, he met and began courting his future wife, Lise Bloch. Jacob remarried in 1999 to Geneviève Barrier.

Research.

In 1961 Jacob and Monod explored the idea that the control of enzyme expression levels in cells is a result of regulation of transcription of DNA sequences. Their experiments and ideas gave impetus to the emerging field of molecular developmental biology, and of transcriptional regulation in particular.  For many years it had been known that bacterial and other cells could respond to external conditions by regulating levels of their key metabolic enzymes, and/or the activity of these enzymes. For instance, if a bacterium finds itself in a broth containing lactose, rather than the simpler sugar glucose, it must adapt itself to the need to 1) import lactose, 2) cleave lactose to its constituents glucose and galactose, and 3) convert the galactose to glucose. It was known that cells ramp up their production of the enzymes that do these steps when exposed to lactose, rather than wastefully producing these enzymes all the time. Studies of enzyme activity control were progressing through theories of the (allosteric) action of small molecules on the enzyme molecule itself (switching it on or off), but the method of controlling the enzyme production was not well understood at the time.  With the earlier determination of the structure and central importance of DNA, it became clear that all proteins were being produced in some way from its genetic code, and that this step might form a key control point. Jacob and Monod made key experimental and theoretical discoveries that demonstrated that in the case of the lactose system outlined above (in the bacterium "E. coli"), there are specific proteins that are devoted to repressing the transcription of the DNA to its product (RNA, which in turn is decoded into protein).  This repressor (the lac repressor) is made in all cells, binding directly to DNA at the genes it controls, and physically preventing the transcription apparatus from gaining access to the DNA. In the presence of lactose, some of the lactose is converted to allolactose, which binds to the repressor making it no longer able to bind to DNA, and the transcriptional repression is lifted. In this way, a robust feedback loop is constructed that allows the set of lactose-digesting proteins products to be made only when they are needed.  Jacob and Monod extended this repressor model to all genes in all organisms in their initial exuberance. The regulation of gene activity has developed into a very large sub-discipline of molecular biology, and in truth exhibits enormous variety in mechanism and many levels of complexity. Current researchers find regulatory events at every conceivable level of the processes that express genetic information. In the relatively simple genome of baker's yeast, ("Saccharomyces cerevisiae"), 405 of its 6,419 protein-encoding genes are directly involved in transcriptional control, compared to 1,938 that are enzymes.

François Jacob (17 June 1920 – 19 April 2013) was a French biologist who, together with Jacques Monod, originated the idea that control of enzyme levels in all cells occurs through regulation of transcription. He shared the 1965 Nobel Prize in Medicine with Jacques Monod and André Lwoff.


Family.

Marwan ibn Muhammad was a member of the "Marwanid" household of the Umayyad Caliphate. His mother was a most likely a Kurd who was taken captive by Marwans father, Muhammad ibn Marwan, who was the son of the fourth Umayyad Caliph Marwan I (), by a woman named Zaynab, and hence half-brother to fifth Umayyad Caliph Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan ().

Reign.

In A.H. 114 (732–733) Caliph Hisham appointed Marwan governor of Armenia and Azerbaijan. In A.H. 117 (735–736) Marwan invaded Georgia, devastated it and then took three fortresses of the Alans and made peace with Tumanshah. In A.H. 121 he launched further raids and obtained tribute. In A.H. 126, on hearing news of the plot to overthrow al-Walid II, Marwan wrote to his relatives from Armenia strongly discouraging this. He urged them to harmoniously preserve the stability and well-being of the Umayyad house.  When Yazid III persisted in overthrowing al-Walid II, Marwan at first opposed him, then rendered allegiance to him. On Yazid's early death, Marwan renewed his ambitions, ignored Yazid's named successor Ibrahim and became caliph. Ibrahim initially hid, then requested Marwan give him assurances of personal safety. This Marwan granted and Ibrahim even accompanied the new caliph to Hisham's residence of Rusafah.  Marwan named his two sons Ubaydillah and Abdullah heirs. He appointed governors and proceeded to assert his authority by force. However, anti-Umayyad feeling was very prevalent, especially in Iran and Iraq. The Abbasids had gained much support. As such, Marwan's reign as caliph was almost entirely devoted to trying to keep the Umayyad empire together.  Marwan took Emesa (Homs) after a bitter ten-month siege. Al-Dahhak ibn Qays al-Shaybani led a Kharijite rebellion. He defeated the Syrian forces and took Kufa. Sulayman ibn Hisham turned against Marwan, but suffered a severe defeat. The Kharijites advanced on Mosul and were defeated. Sulayman joined them. Al-Dahhak's successor al-Khaybari was initially successful in pushing back Marwan's centre and even took the caliph's camp and sat on his carpet. However, he and those with him fell in fighting in the camp. Shayban succeeded him. Marwan pursued him and Sulayman to Mosul and besieged them there for six months. Then, reinforced, the caliph drove them out. Shayban fled to Bahrayn where he was killed; Sulayman sailed to India.  In Khurasan there was internal discord with the Umayyad governor Nasr ibn Sayyar facing opposition from al-Harith and al-Kirmani. They also fought each other. In addition Abbasid envoys arrived. There had long been religious fervour and a kind of messianic expectation of Abbasid ascendency. During Ramadan 747 (May 16–June 14), they unfurled the standards of their revolt. Nasr sent his retainer Yazid against them. Yazid, however, was bested, taken and held captive. He was impressed by the Abbasids and when released told Nasr he wanted to join them, but his obligations to Nasr brought him back.  Fighting continued throughout Khurasan with the Abbasids gaining increasing ascendency. Finally, Nasr fell sick and died at Rayy on November 9, 748 at the age of eighty-five.  Marwan campaign in Egypt in 749 to quell the Bashmuric Revolt and secure his rear, but his campaign was a failure. The Abbasids, meanwhile, achieved success in the Hijaz. Marwan suffered a decisive defeat by Abu al-'Abbas al-Saffah on the banks of the Great Zab called Battle of the Zab. At this battle alone, over 300 members of the Umayyad family died. Marwan fled, leaving Damascus, Jordan and Palestine and reaching Egypt, where he was caught and killed on August 6, 750. His heirs Ubaydallah and Abdallah escaped to modern Eritrea. Ubaydallah died in fighting there.  Marwan's death signalled the end of Umayyad fortunes in the East, and was followed by the mass-killing of Umayyads by the Abbasids. Almost the entire Umayyad dynasty was killed, except for the talented prince Abd ar-Rahman who escaped to Spain and founded an Umayyad dynasty there.

Marwan ibn Muhammad ibn Marwan ibn al-Hakam (; 691–6 August 750), also called Marwan II, was the fourteenth and last caliph of the Umayyad Caliphate, ruling from 744 until he was killed in 750. Much of his reign was dominated by the Third Muslim Civil War, and he was the last Umayyad ruler to rule the united Caliphate before the Abbasid Revolution toppled the Umayyad dynasty.


Definition.

In 1964, Kardashev defined three levels of civilizations, based on the order of magnitude of power available to them:  Kardashev believed that a Type 4 civilization was impossible, so he did not go past Type 3. However, new types (0, IV, V, VI) have been proposed.

Current status of human civilization.

At the current time, humanity has not yet reached Type 1 civilization status. Physicist and futurist Michio Kaku suggested that, if humans increase their energy consumption at an average rate of 3 percent each year, they may attain Type I status in 100–200 years, Type II status in a few thousand years, and Type III status in 100,000 to a million years.  Carl Sagan suggested defining intermediate values (not considered in Kardashev's original scale) by interpolating and extrapolating the values given above for types I (10 W), II (10 W) and III (10 W), which would produce the formula  where value "K" is a civilization's Kardashev rating and "P" is the power it uses, in watts. Using this extrapolation, a "Type 0" civilization, not defined by Kardashev, would control about 1 MW of power, and humanity's civilization type as of 1973 was about 0.7 (apparently using 10 terawatts (TW) as the value for 1970s humanity).  In 2018, the total world energy consumption was 13864.9 Mtoe (161,249 TWh), equivalent to an average power consumption of 18.40 TW or 0.73 on Sagan's interpolated Kardashev scale.

Observational evidence.

In 2015, a study of galactic mid-infrared emissions came to the conclusion that "Kardashev Type-III civilizations are either very rare or do not exist in the local Universe".  On October 14, 2015, the detection of an unusual light curve for star KIC 8462852 raised speculation that a Dyson swarm (Type II civilization) may have been discovered. The SETI Institute's initial radio reconnaissance of KIC 8462852, however, found no evidence of technology-related radio signals from the star.  In 2016, Paul Glister, author of the Centauri Dreams website, described a signal apparently from the star HD 164595 as requiring the power of a Type I or Type II civilization, if produced by extraterrestrial lifeforms. However, in August 2016 it was discovered that the signal's origin was most likely a military satellite orbiting the Earth.

Civilization implications.

There are many historical examples of human civilization undergoing large-scale transitions, such as the Industrial Revolution. The transition between Kardashev scale levels could potentially represent similarly dramatic periods of social upheaval, since they entail surpassing the hard limits of the resources available in a civilization's existing territory. A common speculation suggests that the transition from Type 0 to Type I might carry a strong risk of self-destruction since, in some scenarios, there would no longer be room for further expansion on the civilization's home planet, as in a Malthusian catastrophe. Excessive use of energy without adequate disposal of heat, for example, could plausibly make the planet of a civilization approaching Type I unsuitable to the biology of the dominant life-forms and their food sources. If Earth is an example, then sea temperatures in excess of would jeopardize marine life and make the cooling of mammals to temperatures suitable for their metabolism difficult if not impossible. Of course, these theoretical speculations may not become problems possibly through the applications of future engineering and technology. Also, by the time a civilization reaches Type I it may have colonized other planets or created O'Neill-type colonies, so that waste heat could be distributed throughout the planetary system  The limitation of biological life-form and the evolution of computing technology may lead to the transformation of the civilization through Mind uploading during the transition from Type I to Type II, leading to a digitalized civilization.

Extensions to the original scale.

Many extensions and modifications to the Kardashev scale have been proposed.

Criticism.

It has been argued that, because we cannot understand advanced civilizations, we cannot predict their behavior. Thus, the Kardashev scale may not be relevant or useful for classifying extraterrestrial civilizations. This central argument is found in the 2002 book "".

The Kardashev scale is a method of measuring a civilization's level of technological advancement based on the amount of energy they are able to use. The measure was proposed by Soviet astronomer Nikolai Kardashev in 1964. The scale has three designated categories:


Development.

The SU-85 was developed from the chassis of the T-34 tank replacing the turret with a larger, fixed superstructure that allowed a larger gun to be fitted: the 85 mm D-5 gun, providing dramatically upgraded firepower compared to the T-34's 76.2 mm models. Introduced to service in 1943, the SU-85 was quickly rendered obsolete as a new tank design featured the same gun on the T-34-85.  This prompted the design of a more advanced turretless tank destroyer with an even more powerful cannon. Development was conducted under supervision of L. I. Gorlitskiy, chief designer of all medium Soviet self-propelled guns. The work started in February 1944 and the first prototype of the SU-100, "Object 138", was delivered in March. After intensive testing with different models of 100 mm gun Soviet engineers approved the D-10S gun for mass production. This gun was developed in Constructors Bureau of Artillery Factory No. 9 under the guidance of F. F. Petrov. After the Second World War this gun was installed on T-54 and T-55 tanks; these vehicles and their derivatives were in service forty years after initial development.  It was built at the UZTM (Russian abbreviature УЗТМ for Уральский Завод Тяжелого Машиностроения – Ural Heavy Machinery Factory, also called "Uralmash") in Yekaterinburg. The SU-100 quickly proved itself to be able to penetrate around of vertical armor from a range of and the sloped front armor of the German Panther from.  The hull of the SU-100 had major improvements over the SU-85; the thickness of the front armour was increased from, and the commander's workplace was made in a small sponson on the right side of the hull; combined with the commander's cupola this improved the commander's effectiveness. Its German "Jagdpanzer"-family counterparts — the Jagdpanzer IV, Jagdpanther and Jagdtiger, by comparison, lacked this key piece of observational equipment. On the other hand, the SU-100's optics were inferior. For better ventilation two ventilator units were installed, instead of only one as in the SU-85. Mass production began in September 1944.

Service history.

The SU-100 saw extensive service during the last year of the war. It was used "en masse" in Hungary in March 1945, when Soviet forces defeated the German Operation Frühlingserwachen offensive at Lake Balaton. By July 1945, 2,335 SU-100s had been built.  The vehicle remained in service with the Red Army well after the war; production continued in the Soviet Union until 1947 and into the 1950s in Czechoslovakia. It was withdrawn from Soviet service in 1967 but many vehicles were transferred to reserve stocks. Some exist to this day in the Russian Army holding facilities.  Many Warsaw Pact countries also used the SU-100, as did Soviet allies such as Egypt, Angola and Cuba. A few SU-100 were delivered to Yugoslavia after the war, under the designation M-44. The SU-100 saw service in the fighting that accompanied the 1956 Suez Crisis, in which the Egyptians used SU-100s against Israel's M4 Sherman tanks. The vehicle was also utilized in the 1967 Six-Day War and the 1973 Yom Kippur War. It was modified slightly to adapt it to the sandy conditions of the Middle East, thus creating the SU-100M variant. Exported SU-100s continued in service until the 1970s, and in some countries, even later. Yugoslavs used them during the civil war; however, due to lack of spare parts they were quickly retired, despite their satisfactory performance. The SU-100 remains in use by the Vietnam People's Army and the Korean People's Army Ground Force.  SU-100s entered service with the People's Liberation Army (PLA) of China after 1 December 1950 when Soviet forces left Dalian. The armaments in Dalian were sold to China, including 99 SU-100s, 18 IS-2 heavy tanks, and 224 T-34s, with which PLA formed its 1st Mechanised Division.  In April 2015, a SU-100 self-propelled gun was photographed being used in Yemen as part of the ongoing conflict. Video evidence uploaded to YouTube in November 2016 showed an apparent SU-100 being knocked out by an anti-tank guided missile in Yemen.

The SU-100 ("Samokhodnaya Ustanovka" 100) was a Soviet tank destroyer armed with a 100 mm anti-tank gun in a casemate superstructure. It was used extensively during the last year of World War II and saw service for many years afterwards with the armies of Soviet allies around the world.


History.

The project was proposed by Erik Möller in March 2004 and launched on September 7, 2004. A key motivation behind the setup of a central repository was the desire to reduce duplication of effort across the Wikimedia projects and languages, as the same file had to be uploaded to many different wikis separately before Commons was created.

Policies.

The aim of Wikimedia Commons is to provide a media file repository "that makes available public domain and freely-licensed educational media content to all, and that acts as a common repository for the various projects of the Wikimedia Foundation." The expression "educational" is to be understood according to its broad meaning of "providing knowledge; instructional or informative".  Most Wikimedia projects still allow local uploads which are not visible to other projects or languages, but this option is meant to be used primarily for material (such as fair use content) which local project policies allow, but which would not be permitted according to the copyright policy of Commons. Wikimedia Commons itself does not allow fair use or uploads under non-free licenses, including licenses which restrict commercial use of materials or disallow derivative works. For this reason, Wikimedia Commons always hosts freely licensed media and deletes copyright violations. Licenses that are acceptable include the Creative Commons Attribution and Attribution/ShareAlike licenses, other free content and free software licenses, and the public domain.  The default language for Commons is English, but registered users can customize their interface to use any other available user interface translations. Many content pages, in particular policy pages and portals, have also been translated into various languages. Files on Wikimedia Commons are categorized using MediaWiki's category system. In addition, they are often collected on individual topical gallery pages. While the project was originally proposed to also contain free text files, these continue to be hosted on a sister project, Wikisource.

Controversial content.

The site has been criticized for hosting large amounts of amateur pornography, often uploaded by exhibitionists who exploit the site for personal gratification, and who are enabled by sympathetic administrators. In 2012, BuzzFeed described Wikimedia Commons as "littered with dicks".  In 2010, Wikipedia co-founder Larry Sanger reported Wikimedia Commons to the FBI for hosting sexualized images of children known as "lolicon". After this was reported in the media, Jimmy Wales, founder of the Wikimedia Foundation which hosts Commons, used his administrator status to delete several images without discussion from the Commons community. Wales responded to the backlash from the Commons community by voluntarily relinquishing some site privileges, including the ability to delete files.

Utilities.

Over time, additional functionality has been developed to interface Wikimedia Commons with the other Wikimedia projects. Daniel Kinzler wrote applications for finding appropriate categories for uploaded files ("CommonSense"), determining the usage of files across the Wikimedia projects ("CheckUsage"), locating images with missing copyright information ("UntaggedImages"), and relaying information about administrative actions such as deletions to the relevant wikis ("").  Specialized uploading tools and scripts such as "" have been created to simplify the process of uploading large numbers of files. At one time, in order to review free content photos uploaded to Flickr, users could participate in a now-defunct collaborative external review process (""), which resulted in more than 10,000 uploads to Commons.

Structured Data.

Structured Data on Commons (SDC) is a three-year software development project funded by the Sloan Foundation to provide the infrastructure for Wikimedia Commons volunteers to organize data about media files in a consistent manner. This data is structured more, and is made machine-readable. The goals of the functionality are to make contributing to Commons easier by providing new ways to edit, curate, and write software for Commons, and to make general use of Commons easier by expanding capabilities in search and reuse.

Quality.

The site has three mechanisms for recognizing quality works. One is known as "", where works are nominated and other community members vote to accept or reject the nomination. This process began in November 2004. Another process known as "" began in June 2006, and has a simpler nomination process comparable to "Featured pictures". "Quality images" only accepts works created by Wikimedia users, whereas "Featured pictures" additionally accepts nominations of works by third parties such as NASA. A third image assessment project, known as "", began on June 1, 2008 with the purpose of recognizing "the most valued illustration of its kind", in contrast to the other two processes which assess images mainly on technical quality.  The three mentioned processes select a slight part (less than 0.1%) from the total number of files. However, Commons collects files of all quality levels, from the most professional level across simple documental and amateur files up to files of very poor quality. Generally, Commons is not a competition but a collection; a quality of the description and organization of files and their descriptive and informational benefits are often more relevant than technical or artistic perfection of the files. Files with specific defects can be tagged for improvement and warning or even proposed for deletion but there exists no process of systematic rating of all files.  The site held its inaugural "Picture of the Year" competition, for 2006. All images that were made a Featured picture during 2006 were eligible, and voted on by eligible Wikimedia movement members during two rounds of voting. The winning picture was a picture of the Aurora Borealis over snowlands, taken by an airman from the U.S. Air Force. The competition has since become an annual event.

Wikimedia Commons Pictures of the Year.

The (POTY) is a competition that was first run in 2006. It aims to identify the best freely licensed images from those that during the year have been awarded status.

Content figures.

"Source: "

Wikimedia Commons (or simply Commons) is an online repository of free-use images, sounds, other media, and JSON files. It is a project of the Wikimedia Foundation.


General information.

The municipality of Alten-Talvig was established on 1 January 1838 (see formannskapsdistrikt). On 1 January 1863, the municipality was divided into two: Talvik to the north (population: 1,938) and Alta to the south (population: 2,442). On 1 January 1964, the two municipalities were merged back together to form the new, larger municipality of Alta. Prior to the merger, Alta had 6,629 residents and Talvik had 3,266 residents. The borders have not changed since that time.  On 1 January 2020, the municipality became part of the newly formed Troms og Finnmark county. Previously, it had been part of the old Finnmark county.

Name.

The municipality is probably named after the local Altafjorden. The name possibly comes from the Old Norse ("ǫlpt" or "alpt") which refers to a swan or it is a Norwegianization of the Finnish word ("alaattia") which refers to a "lowland". Prior to 1918, the name was written "Alten".

Coat of arms.

The coat of arms is from modern times; they were granted on 9 July 1976. The arms show a white arrow point on a blue background. The arrow is derived from the findings of quartzite arrow points dating back to the late Stone Age and found in the area. The quartzite was quarried in the municipality and tools made from it were used all over Northern Norway.

Churches.

The Church of Norway has two parishes "(sokn)" within the municipality of Alta. It is part of the Alta prosti (deanery) in the Diocese of Nord-Hålogaland.

History.

The rock carvings at Alta, located near the Jiepmaluokta bay, dating from c. 4200 BC to 500 BC, are on the UNESCO list of World Heritage Sites. The Komsa culture was named after the Komsa mountain in Alta municipality, where the first archeological remains of this culture were discovered.  In the aftermath of the Sami Kautokeino rebellion of 1852, rebel leaders Mons Aslaksen Somby and Aslak Jacobsen Hætta were decapitated at Elvebakken in what is now the town of Alta on 14 October 1854.  Their bodies were buried in graves just outside the Kåfjord Church graveyard in the village of Kåfjord in Alta, but their heads were sent on to the "Anatomisk Institute" at the Kong Medical Frederiks University in Oslo, where they were kept for more than a century as part of the university's skull collections. The two skulls were only relinquished by the university in 1985, following a controversy and protests by Sami activists, and were in November 1997 buried at the Kåfjord Church in Alta, at the same spot as their bodies were buried over 140 years earlier.  During World War II, the German battleship "Tirpitz" used the Kåfjorden, an arm of Altafjorden, as a harbour, and was damaged here by attacking Allied warplanes. The town Alta was seriously destroyed by fire near the end of the World War II. It was rebuilt in subsequent years.  The "Altasaken" in 1979 made headlines for weeks, as many people (especially Sami people and environmentalists) demonstrated and used civil disobedience to prevent the building of a dam on the river Altaelva in order to produce hydropower. The dam was built, however, and the river still offers good salmon fishing. The King of Norway usually visits the river once in the summer to fish.  The urban area made up of Bossekop, Elvebakken, and Bukta, also known collectively now as the town of Alta, became a town on 1 January 2000. The population has been growing steadily for many years.

Government.

All municipalities in Norway, including Alta, are responsible for primary education (through 10th grade), outpatient health services, senior citizen services, unemployment and other social services, zoning, economic development, and municipal roads. The municipality is governed by a municipal council of elected representatives, which in turn elect a mayor. The municipality falls under the Alta District Court and the Hålogaland Court of Appeal.

Municipal council.

The municipal council of Alta is made up of 35 representatives that are elected to four year terms. The party breakdown of the council is as follows:

Geography.

Alta is the second northernmost city in the world surpassing 10,000 inhabitants. Alta municipality covers, in the west of the county, mostly situated along the Altafjord, taking in large tracts of woodlands, as well as parts of the High Plateau of Finnmarksvidda. On its way from the plateau down to the fjord, the river Altaelva has carved out the Sautso canyon, one of the largest canyons in Europe. The large Altafjorden has several notable bays and fjord arms that branch off from it including Langfjorden, Jiepmaluokta, Kåfjorden, and Lille Kufjorden.  Alta is based on the mainland of Norway, but it also includes parts of the islands of Stjernøya and Seiland. Seiland is the home of Seiland National Park where the Seilandsjøkelen glacier and the mountain Seilandstuva are located.  Several of the notable lakes in Alta include Iešjávri, Juovvajávri, Kovvatnet, and Stuorajávri.

Climate.

Most people live in the town of Alta, stretching along the inner part of the fjord, enjoying a sheltered subarctic climate (Dfc), where daily mean temperatures are above 10 degrees Celsius for only 3 months of the year. Daytime mid-summer temperatures are often comparable to southern parts of Norway, and lowland areas in Alta are mostly sheltered from the winter storms. The mean annual temperature is (1961–90) and the Alta valley does not have permafrost but is dominated by closed-canopy forest of birch and pine. Precipitation is low, with a yearly average precipitation of only. The frequent clear skies are the reason why Alta early was chosen as an excellent location for studying the aurora borealis. The "midnight sun" is above the horizon from 18 May to 27 July, lasting a bit longer than the polar night from 26 November to 16 January.

Transportation.

Alta is a transportation center in Finnmark. Alta Airport served 334,132 passengers in 2009. There are direct flights to Oslo, Tromsø, Vadsø, and Kirkenes. The town of Alta also has port facilities in the town center, and European route E6 passes through Alta. The distance to southern Scandinavia is considerably shorter over European route E45 and northern Finland.

Economy.

Main activities in Alta include trading, small industry, education, and public service. The town is also famous for its slate industry. Finnmark University College () is situated in Alta, and there is also a research institution (Norut NIBR Finnmark). The town has the northernmost ice hotel in Europe.

Sports.

Alta is home to the football club Alta IF. Cross-country skiing is very popular. Alta also has clubs for handball, track and field, alpine skiing, ice skating, taekwondo, and judo.  The bicycle race Finnmark Offroad, with 700- and 300-kilometer long courses, starts and ends in Alta ().  Alta is the starting point for the Finnmarksløpet, a 500- and 1000- kilometer sled dog race—The longest sled dog race in Europe.

International relations.

Twin towns — sister cities.

Alta is twinned with:

The municipality is the 7th largest municipality by area out of the 356 municipalities in Norway. Alta is the 60th most populous municipality in Norway with a population of 20,789. The municipality's population density is and its population has increased by 11.3% over the last decade.


Early life and swimming career.

Rudenko was born in 1904 in Lubny, in the Poltava region of what is now Ukraine. At age 10, Rudenko was taught how to play chess by her father—although, at first, she was more interested in swimming. After secondary school, she moved to Odessa and took a degree in economics. Rudenko became the swimming champion of Odessa in the breaststroke. In 1925, she was swimming vice-champion of Ukraine (breaststroke). She started a career as an economic planner for the Soviet Union, and chess became a hobby.

Chess career.

Rudenko began playing tournament chess in 1925 after a move to Moscow. In 1928, she won the Moscow women's championship. She then moved to Leningrad, where she met and married scientist Lev Davidovich Goldstein; in 1931 they had a son. In Leningrad in 1929 she began training with chess master Peter Romanovsky. She won the Leningrad women's championship three times.  In World War II, Rudenko organized a train to evacuate children from the Siege of Leningrad. She described this as the most important accomplishment in her life.  Women's World Champion Vera Menchik died in 1944 during an air raid. After the war, in the winter of 1949–1950, the World Chess Federation FIDE held a tournament in Moscow to determine the new women's champion. Sixteen women from twelve countries competed, with the four Soviet players taking the top four spots.  At the time Rudenko was roughly 40 years old, and she won (scoring nine wins, one loss, and five draws).  She held the Women's World Championship title until losing it to Elisaveta Bykova in 1953 in the next championship cycle. Her score was 6–8 (five wins, seven losses, and two draws).  Rudenko's post-war chess trainers were Alexander Tolush and Grigory Levenfish.

Legacy.

Rudenko was inducted into the World Chess Hall of Fame in 2015. She was honored with a Google Doodle on the 114th anniversary of her birth, 27 July 2018.

Lyudmila Vladimirovna Rudenko (, ; 27 July 1904 – 4 March 1986) was a Soviet chess player and the second women's world chess champion, from 1950 until 1953.


Early life.

Stahlecker was born into a wealthy family in Sternenfels on 10 October 1900. From 1919–20 Stahlecker was a member of the Deutschvölkischer Schutz und Trutzbund and the Organisation Consul. He studied at the University of Tübingen, where he obtained a doctorate of law in 1927. On 14 October 1932, he married Luise-Gabriele Freiin von Gültlingen; their marriage produced four children.

Early Nazi career.

On 1 May 1932, Stahlecker joined the Nazi Party (no. 3,219,015) as well as the SS (no. 73,041). On 29 May 1933, he was appointed deputy director of the Political Office of the Württemberg State Police. In 1934, he was appointed head of the Gestapo in the German state of Württemberg and soon assigned to the main office of the "Sicherheitsdienst" (SD). On 11 May 1937, he became head of the Gestapo in Breslau. After the incorporation of Austria in 1938, Stahlecker became SD chief of the Danube district (Vienna), a post he retained even after being promoted to SS-"Standartenführer". In the summer of 1938, Stahlecker became Inspector of the Security Police in Austria, succeeding Gestapo chief Heinrich Müller in that position. As of 20 August 1938, Stahlecker was the formal head of the Central Agency for Jewish Emigration in Vienna, though its de facto leader was Adolf Eichmann. Differences of opinion with Reinhard Heydrich motivated Stahlecker to move to the "Auswärtiges Amt" (Foreign Office), after which he held posts as the commander of the Security Police and SD in the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia under SS-"Brigadeführer" Karl Hermann Frank. In mid-October 1939, Eichmann and Stahlecker decided to begin implementation of the Nisko Plan.  On 29 April 1940, Stahlecker arrived in Oslo, Norway, where he held various posts, most notably as commander of about 200 "Einsatzgruppe" members of the Security Police and SD. He was promoted to SS-"Oberführer". He was succeeded in this position in autumn 1940 by Heinrich Fehlis.

Einsatzgruppe A.

On 6 February 1941 Stahlecker was promoted to SS-"Brigadeführer" and "Generalmajor der Polizei" and took over as commanding officer of "Einsatzgruppe A", in hopes of furthering his career with the Reich Main Security Office (RSHA), Nazi Germany's security police and intelligence organization. In June 1941, "Einsatzgruppe A" followed Army Group North and operated in the Baltic states and areas of Russia up to Leningrad. Its mission was to hunt down and murder the Jews, Gypsies, Communists, and other "undesirables". In a 15 October 1941 report, Stahlecker wrote:  By winter 1941, Stahlecker reported to Berlin that "Einsatzgruppe A" had murdered some 249,420 Jews. He was made Higher SS and Police Leader ("Höhere SS- und Polizeiführer"; HSSPF) of "Reichskommissariat Ostland", which included the occupied territory of Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Belarus, at the end of November 1941. Stahlecker was killed in action on 23 March 1942, by Soviet partisans near Krasnogvardeysk, Russia. Heinz Jost then assumed command of "Einsatzgruppe A".

Franz Walter Stahlecker (10 October 1900 – 23 March 1942) was commander of the SS security forces ("Sicherheitspolizei" (SiPo) and the "Sicherheitsdienst" (SD)) for the "Reichskommissariat Ostland" in 1941–42. Stahlecker commanded "Einsatzgruppe A", the most murderous of the four "Einsatzgruppen" (death squads during the Holocaust) active in German-occupied Eastern Europe. He was killed in action by Soviet partisans and was replaced by Heinz Jost.


Background.

Béla Kiss was born in Izsák, Austria-Hungary to János Kiss and Verona Varga.  A tinsmith, Béla Kiss lived in Cinkota (then a town near Budapest, now a neighborhood within the city itself) since 1900. He was an amateur astrologer and allegedly fond of occult practices. Kiss was married twice, and had two children, Aranka and Ilonka. In 1912, Kiss hired a housekeeper, Mrs. Jakubec, after his wife had reportedly abandoned him for a lover.  Jakubec noticed that Kiss corresponded with a number of women, typically through advertisements he would place in newspapers offering his services as either a matrimonial agent or a fortune teller. He sometimes brought the women individually to his home. However, his housekeeper had little contact with the women.  Kiss was never on intimate terms with his neighbors even though he was well-liked. Townsfolk also noticed that Kiss had collected a number of metal drums. He had told the town police, who questioned him about the drums, that he filled them with gasoline in order to prepare for the rationing in the oncoming war.  When World War I began in 1914, he was conscripted and left his house in Jakubec's care.

Criminal activity.

In July 1916, Budapest police received a call from Kiss’ landlord who had found seven large metal drums. The town constable had remembered Kiss' stockpile of gasoline, and he led needy soldiers to them. Upon attempting to open the drums, a suspicious odour was noted. Detective Chief Károly Nagy headed an investigation and opened one of the drums, against the protests of Jakubec. There they discovered the body of a strangled woman. The other drums yielded similarly gruesome content. A search of Kiss' house resulted in a total of 24 bodies.  Nagy informed the military that they should arrest Kiss immediately, if he was still alive – there was also a possibility that he was a prisoner of war. The name, unfortunately, was very common. Nagy also arrested Jakubec and asked the postal service to hold any possible letters to Kiss, in case he had an accomplice that could warn him. Nagy initially suspected that Jakubec might have had something to do with the murders, especially when Kiss had left her money in his will. Jakubec assured police that she knew absolutely nothing about the murders. She showed them a secret and locked room Kiss had told her never to enter. The room was filled with bookcases but also had a desk that held a number of letters, Kiss' correspondence with 74 women, and a photo album. Many of the books were about poisons or strangulation. From the letters, Nagy discerned several things. The oldest of the letters were from 1903 and it became clear that Kiss was defrauding the women—usually middle-aged—who had been looking for marriage. He had placed ads in the marriage columns of several newspapers and had selected mainly women who had no relatives living nearby and knew no one who would quickly notice their disappearance. He wooed them and convinced them to send him money. Police also found old court records that indicated that two of his victims had initiated court proceedings because he had taken money from them. Both women had disappeared, and the cases had been dismissed.  Each woman who came to the house was strangled. Kiss pickled their corpses in alcohol and sealed them in the airtight metal drums. Police found that the bodies had puncture marks on their necks and that their bodies were drained of blood. This led them to believe that Kiss may have been practicing vampirism.

Escape.

On October 4, 1916, Nagy received a letter that stated that Kiss was recuperating in a Serbian hospital. However, Nagy arrived at the hospital too late; Kiss had fled and substituted the dead body of another soldier in his bed. Nagy alerted all the Hungarian police. However, all the sightings police could check proved to be wrong.

Sightings.

On several later occasions, speculation arose that Kiss had perhaps faked his death by exchanging identities with a dead soldier named Mackaree during the war. He was reportedly sighted numerous times in the following years. Various rumors emanated as to his actual fate, including that he had been imprisoned for burglary in Romania or he had died of yellow fever in Turkey. In 1920, a soldier in the French Foreign Legion reported on another legionnaire named Hoffman (the name Kiss had been used in some letters) who had boasted how good he was at using a garrote, and who fit Kiss' description. "Hoffman" deserted before police could reach him.  The last known sighting occurred in New York City in 1932. In 1932, homicide detective Henry Oswald was certain he had observed Kiss emerging from the New York City Subway at Times Square, Manhattan. There were also rumors that Kiss was living in the city and working as a janitor, although these could not be verified. When the police went to interview the janitor, he had already left.  Kiss' eventual fate and exact number of victims remain unknown.

Béla Kiss (; ; 28 July 1877 – after 4 October 1916) was a Hungarian serial killer. He is thought to have murdered at least 23 young women and one man, and attempted to pickle their bodies in large metal drums that he kept on his property.


Description.

It is the largest species of hazel, reaching tall, with a stout trunk up to in diameter; the crown is slender and conical in young trees, becoming broader with age. The bark is pale grey-buff, with a thick, corky texture.  The leaves are deciduous, rounded, 6–15 cm long and 5–13 cm across, softly hairy on both surfaces, and with a coarsely double-serrate to shallowly lobed margin. The main limbs are quite small in diameter in relationship to the straight trunk, and arise at almost a 90-degree angle. Making the tree quite durable to urban conditions and helps maintain a symmetrical crown which landscape architects love so much.  The flowers bloom in early spring before the leaves, and are dioecious, with single-sex catkins; the male pale yellow and 5–10 cm long, the female very small and largely concealed in the buds, with only the bright red 1–3 mm long styles visible. The flowers on female trees are not very visible. On male trees, however, the flowers are visible.  The fruit is a nut sometimes called "Turkish nuts" about 1–2 cm long, surrounded by a thick, softly spiny and bristly involucre (husk) 3 cm diameter, which encloses all but the tip of the nut; the nuts are borne in tight clusters of 3-8 together, with the involucres fused at the base. The fruit matures in September and is edible, with a taste that is very similar to common hazels. They are occasionally gathered from the wild as well as from urban trees, but their small size (smaller than common hazel nuts) and very hard, thick nut shell (3 mm thick) makes them of little or no commercial value. "Corylus colurna" is however important in commercial hazelnut orchards, as it does not sucker, making it the ideal rootstock on which to graft the nut-bearing common hazel cultivars. The nut can only be found on female trees. Nut production is irregular and occurs every two to three years

Root.

"Corylus colurna" have fibrous roots. The roots of "Corylus colurna" are not adventitious, meaning they do not form suckers. This makes "Corylus colurna" desirable for grafting on the rootstock over a single stemmed trees. This allows "Corylus colurna" to be grown in poorer and rocky soils.

Cultivation.

"Corylus colurna" has a medium growth rate. It is occasionally drought tolerant and alkaline soil tolerant. However, it prefers moist, well-drained soil, as well as full sun. Once established "Corylus colurna" is tolerant of heat, cold, and drought.  There are no serious pests or problems with "Corylus colurna".  "Corylus colurna" is not easily transplantable and will need extra watering in summer after transplanting. It will take about two years after transplant for the tree to become established and survive on its own.  "Corylus colurna' has received the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.

Propagation.

The most common form of propagation for "Corylus colurna" is by seed. It is best sown as soon as it is harvested in autumn in a cold frame. The seed will germinate in late winter or spring. If starting with a stored seed, the seed should be pre-soaked in warm water for 48 hours and then given 2 weeks warm followed by 3 to 4 months cold stratification. This will allow the seed to germinate in 1 to 6 months if kept at 20 °C. Once the seed is large enough to handle, pick the seedlings out into individual pots and grow them on in a cold frame or sheltered place outdoors for their first winter. You can plant the seed into their permanent positions in late spring or early summer.

Identification Features.

There are a couple distinct features to identify "Corylus colurna". Leaves are alternate, simple, broadly ovate to obovate, doubly serrate, glabrous above, and pubescent veins below. "Corylus colurna"s buds are 1/3 inch long, green tinted brown. and softly pubescent. Young trees have gray stems.

Uses.

Besides its use as a single-stem rootstock for "Corylus avellana", "Corylus colurna" is widely cultivated as an ornamental tree in Europe and North America. It is very tolerant of difficult growing conditions in urban situations, which in recent decades has increased its popularity in civic planting schemes. Turkish hazel makes a good shade tree since it produces very dense shade, and its narrow crown and ability to withstand air-pollution make it well suited for use as a street tree in urban areas. It makes a rather formal statement in the landscape due to the tight, consistently-shaped, narrow crown. It is well suited for areas which have restricted overhead. "Corylus colurna" is also used in different sized parking lot islands and a variety of wide lawns. It is recommended for a buffer strip around parking lots or highways. Also it is used as a street tree, specimen tree, or in sidewalk cut outs. Other landscape uses for "Corylus colurna" are for fruit, difficult and dry sites, naturalistic areas, and street trees.

Corylus colurna, the Turkish hazel or Turkish filbert, is a deciduous tree native to southeast Europe and southwest Asia, from the Balkans through northern Turkey to northern Iran. It is also found grown wildly in the forests of Western Himalayan range in the north Indian state of Himachal Pradesh particularly in the temperate regions of districts of Kullu, Shimla, Kinnaur district and Chamba district.


Print spooling.

Nowadays, the most common use of spooling is printing: documents formatted for printing are stored in a queue at the speed of the computer, then retrieved and printed at the speed of the printer. Multiple processes can write documents to the spool without waiting, and can then perform other tasks, while the "spooler" process operates the printer.  For example, when a large organization prepares payroll cheques, the computation takes only a few minutes or even seconds, but the printing process might take hours. If the payroll program printed cheques directly, it would be unable to proceed to other computations until all the cheques were printed. Similarly, before spooling was added to PC operating systems, word processors were unable to do anything else, including interact with the user, while printing.  Spooler or print management software often includes a variety of related features, such as allowing priorities to be assigned to print jobs, notifying users when their documents have been printed, distributing print jobs among several printers, selecting appropriate paper for each document, etc.  A print server applies spooling techniques to allow many computers to share the same printer or group of printers.

Banner page.

Print spoolers can be configured to add a banner page, also called a burst page, job sheet, or printer separator, to the beginning and end of each document and job. These separate documents from each other, identify each document (e.g. with its title) and often also state who printed it (e.g. by username or job name). Banner pages are valuable in office environments where many people share a small number of printers. They are also valuable when a single job can produce multiple documents. Depending on the configuration, banner pages might be generated on each client computer, or on a centralized print server, or by the printer itself.  On printers using fanfold continuous forms a leading banner page would often be printed twice, so that one copy would always be face-up when the jobs were separated. The page might include lines printed over the fold, which would be visible along the edge of a stack of printed output, allowing the operator to easily separate the jobs. Some systems would also print a banner page at the end of each job, assuring users that they had collected all of their printout.

Other applications.

Spooling is also used to mediate access to punched card readers and punches, magnetic tape drives, and other slow, sequential I/O devices. It allows the application to run at the speed of the CPU while operating peripheral devices at their full rates speed.  A batch processing system uses spooling to maintain a queue of ready-to-run tasks, which can be started as soon as the system has the resources to process them.  Some store and forward messaging systems, such as uucp, used "spool" to refer to their inbound and outbound message queues, and this terminology is still found in the documentation for email and Usenet software, even though messages are often delivered immediately nowadays.

History.

Peripheral devices have always been much slower than core processing units. This was an especially severe problem for early mainframes. For example, a job which read punched cards or generated printed output directly was forced to run at the speed of the slow mechanical devices. The first spooling programs, such as IBM's "SPOOL System" (7070-IO-076) copied data from punched cards to magnetic tape, and from tape back to punched cards and printers. Hard disks, which are even faster and support random access, started to replace this use of magnetic tape in the middle 1960s, and by the 1970s had eliminated this use of tape.  Because the unit record equipment on IBM mainframes of the early 1960s was so slow, it was common to use a small offline machine such as a 1401 instead of spooling.  The term "spool" probably originates with the Simultaneous Peripheral Operations On-Line (SPOOL) software. Its derivation is uncertain. "Simultaneous peripheral operations on-line" may be a backronym. Another explanation is that it refers to "spools" or reels of magnetic tape.

In computing, spooling is a specialized form of multi-programming for the purpose of copying data between different devices. In contemporary systems, it is usually used for mediating between a computer application and a slow peripheral, such as a printer. Spooling allows programs to "hand off" work to be done by the peripheral and then proceed to other tasks, or to not begin until input has been transcribed. A dedicated program, the spooler, maintains an orderly sequence of jobs for the peripheral and feeds it data at its own rate. Conversely, for slow "input" peripherals, such as a card reader, a spooler can maintain a sequence of computational jobs waiting for data, starting each job when all of the relevant input is available; see batch processing. The spool itself refers to the sequence of jobs, or the storage area where they are held. In many cases the spooler is able to drive devices at their full rated speed with minimal impact on other processing.


History.

19th century.

In the United States of America, The American School Library (1839) was a traveling frontier library published by Harper & Brothers. The Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of American History has the only complete original set of this series complete with its wooden carrying case.  "The British Workman" reported in 1857 about a perambulating library operating in a circle of eight villages, in Cumbria. A Victorian merchant and philanthropist, George Moore, had created the project to "diffuse good literature among the rural population".  The Warrington Perambulating Library, set up in 1858, was another early British mobile library. This horse-drawn van was operated by the Warrington Mechanics' Institute, which aimed to increase the lending of its books to enthusiastic local patrons.

20th century.

One of the earliest mobile libraries in the United States was a mule-drawn wagon carrying wooden boxes of books. It was created in 1904 by the People's Free Library of Chester County, South Carolina, and served the rural areas there.  Another early mobile library service was developed by Mary Lemist Titcomb (1857–1932). As a librarian in Washington County, Maryland, Titcomb was concerned that the library was not reaching all the people it could. The annual report for 1902 listed 23 "branches", each being a collection of 50 books in a case that was placed in a store or post office throughout the county. Realizing that even this did not reach the most rural residents, the Washington County Free Library began a "book wagon" in 1905, taking the library materials directly to people's homes in remote parts of the county. With the rise of motorized transport in America, a pioneering librarian in 1920 named Sarah Byrd Askew began driving her specially outfitted Model T to provide library books to rural areas in New Jersey. The automobile remained rare, however, and in Minneapolis, the Hennepin County Public Library operated a horse-drawn book wagon starting in 1922.  Following the Great Depression in the United States, a WPA effort from 1935 to 1943 called the Pack Horse Library Project covered the remote coves and mountainsides of Kentucky and nearby Appalachia, bringing books and similar supplies on foot and on hoof to those who could not make the trip to a library on their own. Sometimes these "packhorse librarians" relied on a centralized contact to help them distribute the materials.  At Fairfax County, Virginia, county-wide bookmobile service was begun in 1940, in a truck loaned by the Works Progress Administration ("WPA"). The WPA support of the bookmobile ended in 1942, but the service continued. The "Library in Action" was a late-1960s bookmobile program in the Bronx, NY, run by interracial staff that brought books to teenagers of color in under-served neighborhoods.  Bookmobiles reached the height of their popularity in the mid-twentieth century.

21st century.

Bookmobiles are still in use in the 21st century, operated by libraries, schools, activists, and other organizations. Although some feel that the bookmobile is an outmoded service, citing reasons like high costs, advanced technology, impracticality, and ineffectiveness, others cite the ability of the bookmobile to be more cost-efficient than building more branch libraries would be and its high use among its patrons as support for its continuation. To meet the growing demand for "greener" bookmobiles that deliver outreach services to their patrons, some bookmobile manufacturers have introduced significant advances to reduce their carbon footprint, such as solar/battery solutions in lieu of traditional generators, and all-electric and hybrid-electric chassis. Bookmobiles have also taken on an updated form in the form of "m libraries", also known as "mobile libraries" in which patrons are delivered content electronically.  The Internet Archive runs its own bookmobile to print out-of-copyright books on demand. The project has spun off similar efforts elsewhere in the developing world.  The Free Black Women's Library is a mobile library in Brooklyn. Founded by Ola Ronke Akinmowo in 2015, this bookmobile features books written by black women. Titles are available in exchange for other titles written by black female authors.

National Bookmobile Day.

In the U.S., the American Library Association sponsors National Bookmobile Day in April each year, on the Wednesday of National Library Week.

A bookmobile or mobile library is a vehicle designed for use as a library. They have been known by many names throughout history, including traveling library, library wagon, book wagon, book truck, library-on-wheels, and book auto service. Bookmobiles expand the reach of traditional libraries by transporting books to potential readers, providing library services to people in otherwise underserved locations (such as remote areas) and/or circumstances (such as residents of retirement homes). Bookmobile services and materials (such as Internet access, large print books, and audiobooks), may be customized for the locations and populations served.