Geography.

To the west, as well as to the north and south-west of Mayen, is the country landscape of the Eifel. To the east, the landscape flattens out, running towards the Koblenz-Neuwied Basin, which is divided into the northern section of the Pellenz and the southern section of the Maifeld. This area is geographically considered to be part of the Eifel. Mayen is often called ‘The Gateway to the Eifel’.  The small river Nette runs through the town, flowing from the Eifel towards Weißenthurm on the Rhine.

History.

Even in Roman times, Mayen (Lat. "Megina") was an important economic centre. From the end of the 3rd century up until the Middle Ages, potteries operated here, and their products were traded and sold across Central Europe. During prehistoric times, nearby quarries were the sources of basalt to make millstones and tuff used to make sarcophagi. These sarcophagi were found buried with significant glass artifacts as grave goods. (Both classes of items are displayed in the Genovevaburg Museum in Mayen).  The name Mayen probably comes from the name Megina. Records from as far back as 847 show this as a designation of the town; it was adapted by the Romans from the Celtic word "magos," meaning field. In the 8th century the legend of Genoveva of Brabant, names Mayen as the seat of government of Duke Siegfried of the Pfalz.  Mayen received its first official recognition in 1041, and was granted Town Status in 1291 from Rudolf I von Habsburg, at the same time as Bernkastel, Welschbillig, Montabaur and Saarburg. Mayen is possibly linked to the town of Maifeld, which lies a short distant to the south-east, since Mayen was called the capital of the Meiengau in the Middle Ages.  During the Second World War, in particular during the allied forces air attacks of 12 December 1944 and 2 January 1945, approximately 90% of the town was destroyed. After the war and following a special referendum which addressed costs of rebuilding, the people voted to rebuild the town.  Up until 1973, Mayen was the District Centre of the Mayen District (with number-plate code MY). After 1973, the district administration was moved to Koblenz and the District was renamed Mayen-Koblenz District with the new number-plate code of MYK; Koblenz kept its own code of KO.

Boroughs.

Because of the Kommunalreform in 1970, four villages next to Mayen were incorporated. The four villages now belong officially to the town and became Boroughs of Mayen. The Boroughs are still village-like and hold most of the Agriculture of Mayen. The Boroughs are  The population of Alzheim and Hausen is increasing in the last years, due to the development of new residential areas.

Industry.

Basalt mining, slate mining, cardboard industry, machine-production, aluminium- and artificial material processing.

Education.

Mayen is the location of  The Bundeswehr (German Armed Forces) has a forces school at the Mayen Barracks, where troops are trained for psychological aspects of leadership of operations, as well as dealing with the media. This school is unique in Germany. Michigan State University, based in Michigan, the United States, has a summer program in Mayen.

Notable residents and natives.

Mayen

Twin towns – sister cities.

Mayen is twinned with:

Mayen is a town in the Mayen-Koblenz District of the Rhineland-Palatinate Federal State of Germany, in the eastern part of the Volcanic Eifel Region. As well as the main town, additional settlements include Alzheim, Kürrenberg, Hausen-Betzing, Hausen and Nitztal. Mayen is the administrative centre of the Vordereifel ‘Collective Municipality’, although it is not part of the municipality.


Background.

Frederick was the younger son of the first Oldenburg King Christian I of Denmark, Norway and Sweden (1426–81) and of Dorothea of Brandenburg (1430–95). Soon after the death of his father, the underage Frederick was elected co-Duke of Schleswig and Holstein in 1482, the other co-duke being his elder brother, King John of Denmark. In 1490 at Frederick's majority, both duchies were divided between the brothers.  In 1500 he had convinced his brother King John to conquer Dithmarschen. A great army was called from not only the duchies, but with additions from all of the Kalmar Union for which his brother briefly was king. In addition, numerous German mercenaries took part. The expedition failed miserably, however, in the Battle of Hemmingstedt, where one third of all knights of Schleswig and Holstein lost their lives.

Reign.

When his brother, King John died, a group of Jutish nobles had offered Frederick the throne as early as 1513, but he had declined, rightly believing that the majority of the Danish nobility would be loyal to his nephew Christian II. In 1523, Christian was forced by disloyal nobles to abdicate, and Frederick took the throne. It is not certain that Frederick ever learned to speak Danish. After becoming king, he continued spending most of his time at Gottorp, a castle and estate in the city of Schleswig.  In 1524 and 1525 Frederick had to suppress revolts among the peasants in Agder, Jutland and Scania who demanded the restoration of Christian II. The high point of the rebellion came in 1525 when Søren Norby, the governor ("statholder") of Gotland, invaded Blekinge in an attempt to restore Christian II to power. He raised 8000 men who besieged Kärnan ("Helsingborgs slott"), a castle in Helsingborg. Frederick's general, Johann Rantzau, moved his army to Scania and defeated the peasants soundly in April and May 1525.  Frederick played a central role in the spread of Lutheran teaching throughout Denmark. In his coronation charter, he was made the solemn protector ("værner") of Roman Catholicism in Denmark. In that role, he asserted his right to select bishops for the Roman Catholic dioceses in the country. Christian II had been intolerant of Protestant teaching, but Frederick took a more opportunist approach. For example, he ordered that Lutherans and Roman Catholics share the same churches and encouraged the first publication of the Bible in the Danish language. In 1526, when Lutheran Reformer Hans Tausen was threatened with arrest and trial for heresy, Frederick appointed him his personal chaplain to give him immunity.  Starting in 1527, Frederick authorized the closure of Franciscan houses and monasteries in 28 Danish cities. He used the popular anti-establishment feelings that ran against some persons of the Roman Catholic hierarchy and nobility of Denmark as well as keen propaganda to decrease the power of bishops and Roman Catholic nobles. During his reign, Frederick was skillful enough to prevent all-out warfare between Protestants and Roman Catholics. In 1532 he succeeded in capturing Christian II who had tried to make a political come-back in Norway. Frederick died on 10 April 1533 in Gottorp, at the age of 61, and was buried in Schleswig Cathedral. Upon Frederick's death, tensions between Roman Catholics and Protestants rose to a fever pitch which would result in the Count's Feud ("Grevens Fejde").

Family and children.

On 10 April 1502, Frederick married Anna of Brandenburg (1487–1514), the daughter of John Cicero, Elector of Brandenburg and Margaret of Thuringia. The couple had two children:  Frederick's wife Anna died on 5 May 1514, 26 years old. Four years later on 9 October 1518 at Kiel, Frederick married Sophie of Pomerania (20 years old; 1498–1568), a daughter of Bogislaw "the Great", Duke of Pomerania. Sophie and Frederick had six children:

Frederick I (7 October 1471 – 10 April 1533) was the king of Denmark and Norway. His name is also spelled "Frederik" in Danish and Norwegian, "Friedrich" in German and "Fredrik" in Swedish. He was the last Roman Catholic monarch to reign over Denmark, when subsequent monarchs embraced Lutheranism after the Protestant Reformation. As king of Norway, Frederick is most remarkable in never having visited the country and was never crowned as such. Therefore, he was styled "King of Denmark, the Vends and the Goths, elected King of Norway".


Biography.

Dmitry Dmitriyevich Maksutov was born in 1896 in either Nikolayev or the port city of Odessa, Russian Empire. His father, was a naval officer serving with the Black Sea Fleet, who came from a family with a long and distinguished naval tradition. His great-grandfather, Peter Ivanovich Maksutov, was given the title of prince, thereby raising the family to hereditary nobility as a reward for bravery in combat. His grandfather, Dmitri Petrovich Maksutov, was the last Russian governor of Russian Alaska, before it was purchased by the United States in 1867.  Dmitri became interested in astronomy in early childhood, and constructed his first telescope (a 7.2 inch / 180 mm reflector) when he was twelve years old. Later he read publications by the Russian optician Alexander Andreevich Chikin (1865–1924), who became his teacher. He constructed a much better 10 inch (210 mm) reflector and began serious astronomical observation. At 15 years of age he had already been accepted as a member of the Russian Astronomical Society. Three years later he graduated from the Military Nikolayev Engineering Institute in what was then Petrograd (a.k.a. Saint Petersburg, Russia), now the Saint Petersburg Military Engineering-Technical University. Between 1921 and 1930 he worked at the Physics Institute of the University of Odessa in the field of astronomical optics.  In 1930 Maksutov established the Laboratory of Astronomical Optics at the State Optical Institute of Leningrad and led it until 1952. This laboratory was one of the leading astronomical research groups in the USSR. While there he published "Анаберрационные отражающие поверхности и системы и новые способы их испытания" [Aberration-free reflective surfaces and systems and new methods of testing them] (1932), in which he analyzed aplanatic double mirror systems and introduced the compensating method, which he proposed as early as 1924. This became the main control method of mirror study along with the shadow method.  In 1944 he became a professor as a result of his paper, and from 1946 a Corresponding Member of the USSR Academy of Sciences. From 1952 he worked in Pulkovo Observatory. Maksutov died in what was then Leningrad (a.k.a. Saint Petersburg) in 1964.

Inventions.

Maksutov's most well known contribution in the field of optics was made in 1941, when he invented the Maksutov telescope. Like the Schmidt telescope, the Maksutov corrects for spherical aberration by placing a corrector lens in front of the primary mirror. However, where the Schmidt uses an aspheric corrector at the entrance pupil, Maksutov's telescope uses a deeply curved full diameter negative meniscus lens (a "meniscus corrector shell"). He published the design in 1944 in a paper entitled "Новые катадиоптрические менисковые системы" [New catadioptric meniscus systems]. This method was adopted not only by his own laboratory for many of the most important observatories in the Soviet Union, but also internationally. Several commercial telescope-making companies produce Maksutovs, including Celestron, Meade, and Questar.  He created many objective lenses, mirrors, and prisms of various sizes and purposes. He also created a photo-gastrograph (used for photographing the stomach), a needle-microscope, shadow instruments for aerodynamic tubes, telescopic spectacles, and other instruments.

Dmitry Dmitrievich Maksutov () ( – 12 August 1964) was a Russian / Soviet optical engineer and amateur astronomer. He is best known as the inventor of the Maksutov telescope.


Germany.

The man chiefly responsible for the Triple Alliance was Otto von Bismarck, the Chancellor of Germany. His primary goal was to preserve the status quo in Europe after he had unified Germany in 1871. He was particularly concerned about France finding allies to help it regain Alsace-Lorraine. By promising to aid Austria-Hungary and Italy in the event of attack, Bismarck sought to make them somewhat dependent on Germany and therefore unsympathetic to French adventures.

Austria-Hungary.

By the late 1870s, Austrian territorial ambitions in both the Italian Peninsula and Central Europe had been thwarted by the rise of Italy and Germany as new powers. With the decline and the failed reforms of the Ottoman Empire, Slavic discontent in the occupied Balkans grew, which both Russia and Austria-Hungary saw as an opportunity to expand in the region. In 1876, Russia offered to partition the Balkans, but the Hungarian statesman Gyula Andrássy declined because Austria-Hungary was already a "saturated" state and could not cope with additional territories. The whole empire was thus drawn into a new style of diplomatic brinkmanship, which was first conceived of by Andrássy, centring on the province of Bosnia and Herzegovina, a predominantly-Slav area that was still under the control of the Ottoman Empire.  On the heels of the Great Balkan Crisis, Austro-Hungarian forces occupied Bosnia and Herzegovina in August 1878, and Austria-Hungary eventually annexed Bosnia and Herzegovina in October 1908 as a common holding under the control of the finance ministry, rather than attaching it to either Austria or Hungary. The occupation of Bosnia-Herzegovina was a step taken in response to Russian advances into Bessarabia. Unable to mediate between the Ottoman and the Russian Empires over the control of Serbia, Austria–Hungary declared neutrality when the conflict between the empires escalated into the escalated into war. To counter Russian and French interests in Europe, an alliance was concluded with Germany in October 1879 and with Italy in May 1882.

Italy.

Italy had several motives for joining the existing Austro-German alliance. The Italian government at that time was controlled by conservatives, who sympathized ideologically with the two monarchies. Also, Catholic Austria was a traditional protector of the Vatican, which Italy wanted to absorb. However, perhaps most importantly, Italy was seeking potential allies against France. The Kingdom of Italy, like some of the other European powers, wanted to set up colonies and build up an overseas empire. Although France had supported Italian unification, Italy's colonial ambitions in Africa quickly brought it into a rivalry with France. That was reflected in anger at the French seizure of Tunisia in 1881, the so-called "Schiaffo di Tunisi" by Italian press, which many Italians had seen as a potential colony. By joining the Alliance, Italy hoped to guarantee itself support in case of foreign aggression. The main alliance compelled any signatory country to support the other parties if two other countries attacked. Germany had won a war against France in 1870 and was a natural ally for Italy. Thus, Italy found itself coming to terms with its historical enemy, Austria-Hungary, against which Italy had fought three wars in the 34 years before the signing of the first treaty.  However, Italian public opinion remained unenthusiastic about their country's alignment with Austria-Hungary, a past enemy of Italian unification and whose Italian-populated districts in the Trentino and Istria were seen as occupied territories by Italian irredentists. In the years before World War I, many distinguished military analysts predicted that Italy would attack its supposed ally in the event of a large scale conflict. Italy's adherence to the Triple Alliance was doubted, and from 1903 plans for a possible war against Rome were again maintained by the Austro-Hungarian General Staff. Mutual suspicions led to reinforcement of the frontier and speculation in the press about a war between the two countries into the first decade of the 20th century. As late as 1911, Count Franz Conrad von Hötzendorf, the chief of the Austro-Hungarian General Staff, was advocating a preemptive strike against Austria's supposed Italian ally. That prediction was strengthened by Italy's invasion and annexation of Libya, bringing it into conflict with the German-backed Ottoman Empire.

Romania.

King Carol I of Romania was of German ancestry, which, combined with his wish to turn Romania into a centre of stability in Southeastern Europe and his fear of Russian expansion and the competing claims on Bessarabia, led to Romania secretly joining the Triple Alliance on 18 October 1883. Only the King and a handful of senior Romanian politicians knew about it. Romania and Austria-Hungary pledged to help each other in the event of a Russian, Serbian or Bulgarian attack. There were, however, several disputes between Romania and Austria-Hungary, the most notable being the policy of Magyarization of Transylvania's Romanian population. Romania eventually managed to achieve the status of regional power in the aftermath of the Balkan Wars and the 1913 Treaty of Bucharest, but less than a year later, World War I started, and Romania, after a period of neutrality in which both the Central Powers and the Allies tried persuading Romania to join their respective sides, eventually joined the Allies in 1916, after it had been promised Romanian-inhabited Austro-Hungarian lands. Romania's official reason for not siding with the Triple Alliance when the war started was the same as Italy's. The Triple Alliance was a defensive alliance, but Germany and Austria-Hungary had taken the offensive.

The Triple Alliance was an agreement between Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy. It was formed on 20 May 1882 and renewed periodically until it expired in 1915 during World War I. Germany and Austria-Hungary had been closely allied since 1879. Italy was looking for support against France shortly after it lost North African ambitions to the French. Each member promised mutual support in the event of an attack by any other great power. The treaty provided that Germany and Austria-Hungary were to assist Italy if it was attacked by France without provocation. In turn, Italy would assist Germany if attacked by France. In the event of a war between Austria-Hungary and Russia, Italy promised to remain neutral. The existence and membership of the treaty were well known, but its exact provisions were kept secret until 1919.


Biography.

He was a son of William, Duke of Nassau (1792–1839), and his first wife, Princess Louise of Saxe-Hildburghausen. Adolphe's half-sister, Sophia of Nassau, was the wife of Oscar II of Sweden.

Duke of Nassau.

Adolphe became Duke of Nassau in August 1839 at the age of 22, after the death of his father. Wiesbaden had by this time become the capital of the Duchy and Adolphe took up residence in the newly constructed Stadtschloss in 1841. On 4 March 1848 he consented to the population of Nassau's 9 "Demands of the Nassauers". A few years later, however, he revoked his liberal views and took a strongly conservative and reactionary course. In general, though, he was seen as a popular ruler. He supported the Austrian Empire in the Austro-Prussian War of 1866. After Austria's defeat, Nassau was annexed to the Kingdom of Prussia and he lost his throne on 20 September 1866.

Grand Duke of Luxembourg.

In 1879, Adolphe's niece Emma of Waldeck and Pyrmont, the daughter of another of his half-sisters, married William III, King of the Netherlands and Grand Duke of Luxembourg. In 1890, their only daughter Wilhelmina succeeded on his death without surviving male issue to the Dutch throne, but was excluded from the succession to Luxembourg by Salic Law. The Grand Duchy, which had been linked to the Netherlands in personal union since 1815, passed to Adolphe in accordance with the Nassau Family Pact. Adolphe was King-Grand Duke William III's 17th cousin once removed through male line, which is the greatest distance over which a crown has ever been inherited.  He had, in fact, taken over the regency of Luxembourg for a short time during William III's illness.  In any case, as he was already 73 years old and knew little of Luxembourgish politics, he left his hands off the day-to-day governing. The prime minister Paul Eyschen, in office since 1888, took care of the affairs of state, and this created a tradition that the ruler would remain absent from the politics of the day. In 1902 Adolphe appointed his son William as Lieutenant-Representative. He died in 1905 at his summer home, Schloss Hohenburg in Lenggries, and in 1953 was buried in the crypt of the church of Schloss Weilburg.

Marriage and family.

On 31 January 1844, Adolphe married firstly in St. Petersburg Grand Duchess Elizabeth Mikhailovna of Russia, niece of Emperor Nicholas I of Russia. She died less than a year afterwards giving birth to a stillborn daughter. Adolphe built the Russian Orthodox Church of Saint Elizabeth 1847 to 1855 as her funeral church.  On 23 April 1851, he remarried in Princess Adelheid-Marie of Anhalt-Dessau. They had five children, of whom only two lived to the age of eighteen and became prince and princess of Luxembourg:  In 1892, Grand Duke Adolphe conferred the hereditary title Count of Wisborg on his Swedish nephew, Oscar, Prince Bernadotte, who had lost his Swedish titles after marrying without his father's approval. Wisborg (also spelled Visborg) in the ruins of an old castle in the city of Visby within Oscar's former Dukedom of Gotland, but the title itself was created in the nobility of Luxembourg.

Adelsverein.

On April 20, 1842, the Adelsverein, "Society for the Protection of German Immigrants in Texas", was organised in the Grand Duke's castle at Biebrich on the Rhine. He was named the Protector of the organisation. The Verein was responsible for the large emigration of Germans to Texas in the 19th Century, and on January 9, 1843, established the 4,428 acre Nassau Plantation in Fayette County, Texas and named it after the Grand Duke.

Adolphe (Adolf Wilhelm August Karl Friedrich; 24 July 1817 – 17 November 1905) was the last sovereign Duke of Nassau, reigning from 20 August 1839 until the duchy's annexation to Kingdom of Prussia in 1866. In 1890, he became Grand Duke of Luxembourg following the death of King William III of the Netherlands, ending the personal union between the Netherlands and Luxembourg, until his own death in 1905. He was the first monarch of Luxembourg from the House of Nassau-Weilburg.


Description.

Both sexes of "C. austriaca" grow to an average total length (including tail) of about to. Two specimens measuring have been recorded in Sweden, as well as one in Russia that was.  The head has a rostral scale that is at least as deep as it is wide, creating a triangular indentation between the internasal scales (rarely separating them). The top of the head is covered with nine large plates. The nasal scale is often divided. There is one (rarely two) preoculars and two postoculars. The temporals number 2+2 or 2+3 (rarely 1+2). There are seven (rarely eight) upper labials, of which the third and fourth or fourth and fifth border the eye.  In the middle part of the body there are 19 (rarely 17 or 21) rows of dorsal scales. In contrast with many other snakes found in the region, these scales are flat (not keeled). This gives the snake a smooth texture to the touch, from which it gets its common name. The ventral scales number 150-164 in males and 162–200 in females. The anal scale is divided (rarely single) and the subcaudal scales are paired. Males have 54–70 subcaudal scales and females 40–76.  The colour pattern consists of a brown, grey or reddish ground colour with two rows of small, rather indistinct dark spots running down the back towards the tail. In some cases, each pair of spots may be united toward the neck area, forming a series of cross-bars over the back. There is also a very indistinct series of dark spots running along each of the flanks. These four series of spots along the body overlay four parallel, rather shadowy stripes that also run down the back and flanks.  On the top of the head is a dark marking which is often in the shape of a crown, giving rise to the generic name "Coronella" (which means coronet). A relatively thick dark stripe extends from each nostril, through the eye, and along the side of the head to a little beyond the neck. The upper labials are whitish, greyish-white or light brown, sometimes with darker spots. The tongue is reddish brown or dark red.

Biology.

The smooth snake feeds on smaller animals, especially other reptiles. It subdues larger prey by constriction, although unlike true constrictors it does not kill by this method. Smooth snakes are ovoviviparous. The juveniles hatch out of eggs internally and are born live.  In Britain it is restricted to heathland habitats.

Geographic range.

"Coronella austriaca" is found from the south of England through France and the Low Countries to northern Spain and Portugal, Germany, Norway and Sweden (as far north as latitude 63°), Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Switzerland, Austria, Italy and Sicily (but not in Corsica or Sardinia), the western Balkans and Greece, and European Russia as far north as latitude 57°. In Asia, it is found from Turkey to Azerbaijan, Georgia, Armenia and northern Iran. It is oddly absent in Denmark despite the species being found just south of the German border as well as southern Sweden.  In Finland, the species is found only on the Åland Islands, and it is not common there.

The smooth snake ("Coronella austriaca") is a species of non-venomous snake in the family Colubridae. The species is found in northern and central Europe, but also as far east as northern Iran. The Reptile Database recognizes two subspecies as being valid, including the nominotypical subspecies described here.


Early life.

Allen was born in Denver, Colorado, to Martha Katherine (née Fox), a community-service worker, and Gerald M. Dick, a real estate agent. He is the third oldest of six children. Allen has two older brothers as well as two younger brothers and a younger sister. His father died in a car accident in November 1964, colliding with a drunk driver when Allen was 11. Two years later, his mother married her high school sweetheart, a business executive, and moved with her six children to Birmingham, Michigan, to be with her new husband and his three children.  Allen attended Seaholm High School in Birmingham, where he was in theater and music classes (resulting in his love of classical piano). He then attended Central Michigan University before transferring to Western Michigan University in 1974. At Western Michigan, Allen worked at the student radio station WIDR and received a Bachelor of Science degree in communications specializing in radio and television production in 1976 with a split minor in philosophy and design. In 1998, Western Michigan awarded Allen an honorary fine arts degree and the Distinguished Alumni Award.

Career.

Allen started his career as a comedian in 1975. On a dare from one of his friends, he participated in a comedy night at Mark Ridley's Comedy Castle in Royal Oak, a suburb of Detroit. While in Detroit he began to get recognition appearing in local television commercials and appearing on cable comedy shows such as Gary Thison's "Some Semblance of Sanity".  On October 2, 1978, Allen was arrested in the Kalamazoo/Battle Creek International Airport for possession of over of cocaine. He subsequently pleaded guilty to felony drug trafficking charges and provided the names of other dealers in exchange for a sentence of three to seven years rather than a possible life imprisonment. He was paroled on June 12, 1981, after serving two years and four months in Federal Correctional Institution, Sandstone in Sandstone, Minnesota. Following his release from prison, he returned to comedy. He moved to Los Angeles and became a regular performer at The Comedy Store. He began to do stand-up appearances on late-night talk shows and specials on record and film.  Despite his admitted limited acting range (he once told a magazine his range as an actor is "... strictly limited. I can only play a part if I can draw on personal experience, and that well can go dry pretty quickly"), Allen rose to fame in acting with the ABC sitcom "Home Improvement" (1991–1999) produced for ABC by Wind Dancer Productions, a company he co-founded with producer Carmen Finestra. Allen played the main character Tim "The Tool-Man" Taylor. In November 1994, he simultaneously starred in the highest-grossing film (Disney's "The Santa Clause"), topped the "New York Times" bestseller list with his book "Don't Stand Too Close to a Naked Man", and appeared in the top rated television series ("Home Improvement") within the span of one week. "Home Improvement" ran until 1999, for which he was paid US$1.25 million per episode.  In 1995, Allen provided the voice of Buzz Lightyear in the Disney/Pixar blockbuster "Toy Story". In 1997, he starred in the family comedy "Jungle 2 Jungle" from Disney. The next year he returned to voice Buzz Lightyear in "Toy Story 2" which was a financial and critical hit. That same year, Allen was arrested for DUI in Birmingham, Michigan. At the time, his blood alcohol content was 0.15, nearly double the legal limit in Michigan. He was sentenced to one-year probation and entered a rehabilitation clinic for alcohol abuse as part of his court obligation. In 1999, he starred in the sci-fi parody "Galaxy Quest" alongside Sigourney Weaver, Alan Rickman, and Sam Rockwell.  In 2002, he reprised his role as Scott Calvin in "The Santa Clause 2". Two years later, he starred as Luther Krank in "Christmas with the Kranks". In 2006, "Zoom" was released, starring Allen as Jack Shepard. The same year, he also starred in "The Shaggy Dog" and "The Santa Clause 3". 2008 marked his first dramatic turn with a supporting role as an aging action movie star in David Mamet's "Redbelt". Allen began narrating the "Pure Michigan" television and radio commercials for the "Travel Michigan" agency. These commercials can be seen and heard throughout the Midwest and began airing nationally in 2009.  In December 2009, he started a preview tour of "Crazy on the Outside", a film that debuted in January 2010. Allen accompanied the film, helping promote it with a series of stand-up acts beforehand. During the performances, he told audiences that he planned a 2010 comedy tour. Allen also directed the film, marking his film directorial debut.  Allen hosted the 8th Annual TV Land Awards on April 25, 2010. That same year, he became the official voice of the Chevrolet Cruze, narrating commercials for the vehicle, and he became the voice of Campbell Soup's "It's Amazing What Soup Can Do" campaign. Allen returned to ABC with the sitcom "Last Man Standing" (2011–2017). He played the role of Mike Baxter, a conservative father fighting for his manhood in a house filled with women. The character is loosely based on his own life, as a Republican father of three girls. After six seasons, the show was canceled in May 2017. ABC Entertainment Chief Channing Dungey denied claims of political bias against Allen, explaining that the network simply could not accommodate the program on their schedule. On May 11, 2018, Fox TV's CEOs and chairmen announced that Fox had officially picked up "Last Man Standing" for a seventh season.  Shortly before the cancellation of "Last Man Standing", Allen had been announced as part of the cast of the Netflix original comedy film "El Camino Christmas" (2017).

Personal life.

Allen was raised as an Episcopalian. He married Laura Deibel on April 7, 1984. In December 1989, their daughter Katherine was born. He and Laura legally separated in 1999. Their divorce was finalized in 2003. Allen married actress Jane Hajduk on October 7, 2006, in a small private ceremony in Grand Lake, Colorado. They had dated for five years. In March 2009, their daughter Elizabeth was born.  Allen is a Republican. He has appeared on Sean Hannity's show and announced support for John Kasich, and later Donald Trump, in the 2016 presidential election.

Timothy Alan Dick (born June 13, 1953), known professionally as Tim Allen, is an American actor and comedian. He is known for playing Tim "The Toolman" Taylor on the ABC sitcom "Home Improvement" (1991–1999) and Mike Baxter on the ABC/Fox sitcom "Last Man Standing" (2011–). He voices Buzz Lightyear for the "Toy Story" franchise and played Scott Calvin and Santa Claus in the "Santa Clause" film trilogy (1994–2006). Allen's other films include "For Richer or Poorer" (1997), "Jungle 2 Jungle" (1997), "Galaxy Quest" (1999), "Big Trouble" (2002), "Christmas with the Kranks" (2004), "The Shaggy Dog" (2006), "Wild Hogs" (2007), "Redbelt" (2008), and "Crazy on the Outside" (2010).


Paleontology.

, paleoanthropologists tend to regard the search for a precise point of hominization as somewhat irrelevant, seeing the process as gradual. Anatomically modern humans (AMH, or AMHS) developed within the species "Homo sapiens" about 200,000 years ago.  Many thinkers have attempted to explain hominization – from Classical times through Hobbes, Rousseau, Hegel, and Engels, who wrote an essay on "The Part Played by Labour in the Transition from Ape to Man". The contemporary study of hominization in archeology often looks for signs that mark out human habitations from pre-human forms: for example, the use of grave goods.

Philosophy and theology.

In ancient philosophy, "hominization" referred to the ensoulment of the human fetus. When the soul is said to enter the fetus at some time later than conception, this is sometimes called "delayed hominization", as in the Aristotelian belief in ensoulment 40 days after conception.  In the context of modern theistic evolution, "hominization" refers to the theory that there was a point at which a population of hominids who had (or may have) evolved by a process of evolution acquired souls and thus (with their descendants) became fully human in theological terms. This group might be restricted to Adam and Eve, or indeed to Mitochondrial Eve, although versions of the theory allow for larger populations. The point at which this occurred should essentially be the same as in paleoanthropology and archeology, but theological discussion of the matter tends to concentrate on the theoretical. The term "special transformism" refers to theories of a divine intervention of some sort, achieving hominization.  The process and means by which hominization occurs is a key problem in theistic evolutionary thought, at least for the Abrahamic religions, for which the belief that animals do not have souls but humans do is a core teaching. Scientific accounts of the origin of the universe, origin of life and subsequent evolution of pre-human life forms may not cause any difficulty (helped by the reluctance of science itself to say anything about what preceded the Big Bang) but the need to reconcile religious and scientific views of hominization and account for the addition of a soul to humans remains a problem. Several 19th-century theologians attempted specific solutions, including the Catholics John Augustine Zahm and St. George Jackson Mivart, but tended to come under attack from both the theological and biological camps. 20th-century thinking has tended to avoid proposing precise mechanisms.

Literature.

This term is used to describe the tendency to attribute "human" characteristics to entities that are other than human. Example; "My dog's separation anxiety", etc.

Hominization, also called anthropogenesis, refers to the process of becoming human, and is used in somewhat different contexts in the fields of paleontology and paleoanthropology, archeology, philosophy, and theology.


Design and development.

In 1934, a specification for a modern twin-engined aircraft, capable of operating both as a high-speed airliner for the German airline Luft Hansa and as a medium bomber for the nascent Luftwaffe, was issued to both Junkers and Heinkel. Five prototypes were ordered from each company; the Junkers Ju 86 and Heinkel He 111.  Junkers' design was a low-winged twin-engined monoplane, of all-metal stressed skin construction. Unlike most of Junkers' previous designs, it discarded the typical corrugated skinning in favour of smooth metal skinning which helped to reduce drag. The craft was fitted with a narrow track retractable-main gear conventional undercarriage with a fixed tailwheel, and twin fins and rudders. It was intended to be powered by Junkers Jumo 205 diesel engines, which although heavy, gave better fuel consumption than conventional petrol engines.  The design featured the distinctive Junkers "doppelflügel" control surfaces on the wing, similar to those on the Junkers Ju 52. These were hinged below the wing's trailing edge, with the outboard section on each side functioning as an aileron, and the inner section functioning as a wing flap. The bomber aircraft had a crew of four; a pilot, navigator, radio operator/bombardier and gunner. Defensive armament consisted of three machine guns, situated at the nose; at a dorsal position; and within a retractable ventral position. Bombs were carried vertically in four fuselage cells behind the cockpit. The airliner version replaced the bomb cells with seating for ten passengers, with fuel tanks being moved from the fuselage to the wings.  Jumo 205s were unavailable when the first prototype airframe was completed. Instead, the bomber-configured Ju 86ab1 was fitted with Siemens SAM 22 radial engines and flew for the first time on 4 November 1934. The second prototype, also a bomber, flew in January 1935. The third Ju 86, the first civil prototype, flew on 4 April 1935. Production of pre-series military and civil aircraft started in late 1935, with full production of the Ju 86A-1 bomber commencing in April 1936. Production quickly switched to the improved Ju 86D with a modified tail cone to improve stability.  Early use of the Jumo-powered Ju 86 bomber in the Spanish Civil War showed that it was inferior to the He 111, with the diesel engines being unsuitable for rough treatment during combat; and production plans were cut back. One Ju 86 had already been converted to use radial engines as a testbed for possible export versions, and this showed improved reliability. Production switched to a version powered by the BMW 132 engine, the Ju 86E, with production continuing until 1938.  Civil variants, introduced in 1936, were designated Ju 86Z in three different models differing in their engines. The Jumo-engined Ju 86Z-1 (corresponding to the former B-0 or C-1) was sold to Swissair (one), Airlines of Australia (one), and LAN-Chile (three). The BMW 132H-powered Ju 86Z-2 was sold to DLH (two) and the para-military Manchukuo Air Transport (five or more). The Pratt & Whitney R-1690 Hornet-engined Ju 86Z-7 was delivered to AB Aerotransport (ABA) of Sweden (one, for use as a mail carrier), Lloyd Aéreo Boliviano (three), and South African Airways - SAA - (17). The ABA aircraft was later transferred to the Swedish Air Force, with which it served, under the designation Tp 9, until 1958. South African Airways' original intention was to have its Ju 86s powered by 745 hp Rolls-Royce Kestrels. Six aircraft for SAA, flown with these engines, were refitted with Hornets before delivery, and the remainder were also Hornet-powered.  The Ju 86K was an export model, also built under license in Sweden by Saab as the B 3 with (905 hp) Bristol Mercury XIX radial engines. Several aircraft remained in service with the Swedish Air Force until 1958. A few were converted for radio interception activities.

Operational history.

The bomber was field-tested in the Spanish Civil War, where it proved inferior to the He 111. Four Ju 86D-1s arrived in Spain in early February 1937, but after a few sorties one of them was shot down on 23 February by Republican fighters with the loss of three crewmen killed and one captured. A replacement aircraft was sent from Germany, but in the summer of 1937 another was lost in an accident, and the three remaining aircraft were sold to the Nationalist air forces. Ju 86s were again used in the 1939 invasion of Poland, but retired soon after. In January 1940, the "Luftwaffe" tested the prototype Ju 86P with a longer wingspan, pressurized cabin, Junkers Jumo 207A-1 turbocharged two-stroke, opposed-piston diesel engines and a two-man crew. The Ju 86P could fly at heights of 12,000 m (39,000 ft) and higher on occasion, where it was felt to be safe from enemy fighters. The British Westland Welkin and Soviet Yakovlev Yak-9PD were developed specifically to counter this threat.  At the outbreak of the Second World War, South Africa's Ju 86Zs were militarised and armed as bombers with defensive guns and external bomb racks. These aircraft were initially used for coastal patrols along with the sole Ju 86K-1, playing an important role in the interception of the German blockade runner SS "Watussi" in December 1939. In May 1940, they were used to re-equip No. 12 Squadron SAAF, which was deployed in the East African Campaign from June 1940. It flew its first bombing missions on 14 June 1940. As more modern aircraft became available, the South African Ju 86s were passed from squadron to squadron, seeing their last use with No. 22 Squadron SAAF, which used it along with the Avro Anson in the coastal reconnaissance role, finally retiring its Ju 86s in September 1942.  Satisfied with the trials of the new Ju 86P prototype, the "Luftwaffe" ordered that some 40 older-model bombers be converted to Ju 86P-1 high-altitude bombers and Ju 86P-2 photo-reconnaissance aircraft. Those operated successfully for some years over Britain, the Soviet Union and North Africa. In August 1942, a modified Supermarine Spitfire V shot one down over Egypt at an altitude of some 14,500 m (49,000 ft); when two more were lost, Ju 86Ps were withdrawn from service in 1943.  Junkers developed the Ju 86R for the "Luftwaffe", using larger wings and new engines capable of even higher altitudes - up to 16,000 m (52,500 ft) - but production was limited to prototypes.

Surviving aircraft.

Only one Junkers Ju 86 is known to exist today. The aircraft was built in Germany and sold to Sweden in 1938. Before it was retired from Swedish service in 1958, the aircraft was used in the 1955 movie "Des Teufels General". It is on permanent static display at the Swedish Air Force Museum near Linköping.

The Junkers Ju 86 was a German monoplane bomber and civilian airliner designed in the early 1930s, and employed by various air forces on both sides during World War II. The civilian model Ju 86B could carry ten passengers. Two were delivered to Swissair and five to Deutsche Luft Hansa. In addition a single civilian Ju 86Z was delivered to Sweden's AB Aerotransport.


History.

Promulgated by Martin Luther at the Protestant Reformation in 16th–17th-century Europe, many Protestants adopted this gift bringer, the Christ Child or "Christkindl", and the date of giving gifts changed from December 6 to Christmas Eve. As such, the "Lutheran Church promoted Christ as the children's gift-giver, hoping to draw attention to the child for whom Christmas was named." The Christkind was adopted in Catholic areas of Germany during the 19th century. To this date, the Christkindl "remains the main gift bringer in many Catholic countries in Latin America."  The Christkind is a sprite-like child, usually depicted with blond hair and angelic wings. Martin Luther intended it to be a reference to the incarnation of Jesus as an infant (see Christ Child). Sometimes the Christ Child is, instead of the infant Jesus, interpreted as a specific angel bringing the presents, as it appears in some processions together with an image of little Jesus Christ. Later, the Christkind was said to make rounds delivering gifts with St. Nicholas.  Children never see the Christkind in person, and parents tell them that Christkind will not come and bring presents if they are curious and try to spot it. The family enters the living room, where the Christmas tree has been put up, for the opening of presents (the "Bescherung"), when the parents say that they think that the Christkind who has brought the presents has now left again. In some traditions, the departure is announced by the ringing of a small bell, which the parents pretend to have heard or which is secretly done by one of the adults in the family.  Since the 1990s, the Christkind has faced increasing competition from the Weihnachtsmann, caused by the use of the American version of Santa Claus as an advertising figure. Many traditionalist Catholics in recent times have advocated for the tradition of the Christkind as a "beautiful means of restoring the true meaning of Christmas".  Christkindl or Christkindel are diminutive versions of Christkind. Christkind and Belsnickel are also found among communities of Volga German descent in Argentina. A well-known figure is the Christkind at the Christkindlesmarkt in Nuremberg, which is represented by a young woman chosen every two years for this task.  Christkindl is also a part of the city of Steyr in Austria, named after the allegedly miraculous wax statue of Christkind in the town church.

Czech Ježíšek.

Ježíšek (the Baby Jesus) is the Czech-language name for the Christkind Christmas figure. There is no accurate description of Ježíšek. He has been depicted as a baby, toddler, and young lad. Some even consider him simply as an abstract figure. According to tradition, Ježíšek makes his appearance on Christmas Eve. In some families, Ježíšek is said to bring the Christmas tree and the gifts, while the elders do it in secret. In other families, the Christmas tree is decorated collaboratively with the children. Christmas gifts are delivered and unboxed on Christmas Eve (24 December).  The tradition of Ježíšek has been observed by the Czechs for more than 400 years. This is partly due to the large population of Catholics during that period. It was Martin Luther who coined the term during the 16th century, an attempt to provide a suitable name to their figure other than St. Nicholas.  At present, belief in Ježíšek is upheld in modern Czech society, despite having the lowest rates of religious affiliation in the world.

The Christkind (; ), sometimes also called "Christkindl", is the traditional Christmas gift-bringer in Austria, Switzerland, southern and western Germany, the Czech Republic, Croatia, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Belgium, Portugal, Slovakia, Hungary, parts of northeastern France, Upper Silesia in Poland, parts of Hispanic America, in certain areas of southern Brazil, and in the Acadiana region of Louisiana. In some parts of Italy, the analogous figure of the Christkind is known as, however Santa Claus is the traditional bearer of Christmas gifts. Christkind is called in Portuguese ("Jesus Boy"), in Hungarian ("Little Jesus"), in Slovak ("Little Jesus"), in Czech ("Little Jesus"), in Latin America ("God Child") or ("Jesus Child") and in Croatian or ("Little Jesus").


Course.

The Vltava river is long and drains an area in size, over half of Bohemia and about a third of the Czech Republic's entire territory. As it runs through Prague, the river is crossed by 18 bridges (including the Charles Bridge) and covers within the city. The water from the river was used for drinking until 1912, when the Vinohrady Water Tower ceased pumping operations. It is, however, the source of drinking water in case of failures of or repairs to the water supply from the Želivka and Kárané sources. The Podolí water processing plant is on standby for such cases with the long section of the river upstream of the Podolí plant under the stricter, second degree of pollution prevention regulations.  The height difference from source to mouth is about and the largest stream at the source is named Černý Potok (Black Brook) or Teplá Vltava (Warm Vltava). The Vltava itself originates by a confluence of two streams, the Warm Vltava ("), which is longer, and the Cold Vltava ("Studená Vltava"), sourcing in Bavaria. Along its course, Vltava receives many tributaries, the biggest being Otava and Berounka from the left and Lužnice and Sázava from the right side.

Navigation.

Between the confluence with the Elbe at Mělník and Prague, the river is navigable by vessels of up to displacement. Most of the river upstream of Prague as far as České Budějovice is currently navigable by craft of up to displacement, but such vessels cannot pass the dams at Orlík and Slapy, and are also restricted by a low bridge at Týn nad Vltavou. Work is planned to complete boat lifts, planned for but never completed, at the two dams, and to rebuild the bridge, in order for them to navigate throughout. Much smaller craft, of up to displacement and under beam and air draft, can avoid these obstacles.  Upstream of České Budějovice, the river's section around Český Krumlov (specifically from Vyšší Brod to Boršov nad Vltavou) is a very popular destination for water tourism.

Dams.

Nine hydroelectric dams have been built on the Vltava south of Prague to regulate the water flow and generate hydroelectric power, starting in the 1950s. Beginning at the headwaters, these are: Lipno, Lipno II, Hněvkovice, Kořensko, Orlík, Kamýk, Slapy, Štěchovice and Vrané. The Orlík dam supports the largest reservoir on the Vltava by volume, while the Lipno dam retains the largest reservoir by area. The Štěchovice Reservoir is built over the site of the St John's Rapids.  The river also features numerous weirs that help mitigate its flow from in elevation at its source near the German border to at its mouth in Mělník.

Floods.

The Vltava basin has flooded multiple times throughout recorded history. Markers have been created along the banks denoting the water line for notable floods in 1784, 1845, 1890, 1940, and the highest of all in 2002.  In August of that year, the basin was heavily affected by the 2002 European floods when the flooded river killed several people and caused massive damage and disruption along its length, including in Prague. It left the oldest bridge in Prague, Charles Bridge, seriously weakened, requiring years of work to repair.  Prague was again flooded in 2013. Many locations within the Vltava and Elbe basins were left under water, including the Prague Zoo, but metal barriers were erected along the banks of the Vltava to help protect the historic city centre.

References in culture and science.

One of the best-known works of classical music by a Czech composer is Bedřich Smetana's "Vltava", sometimes called "The Moldau" in English. It is from the Romantic era of classical music and is a musical description of the river's course through Bohemia (listen).  A minor planet 2123 Vltava discovered in 1973 by Soviet astronomer Nikolai Stepanovich Chernykh is named after the river.  Smetana's symphonic poem also inspired a song of the same name by Bertolt Brecht. An English version of it, by John Willett, features the lyrics "Deep down in the Moldau the pebbles are shifting" / "In Prague three dead emperors moulder away."

The Vltava (, ; ) is the longest river within the Czech Republic, running southeast along the Bohemian Forest and then north across Bohemia, through Český Krumlov, České Budějovice and Prague, and finally merging with the Elbe at Mělník. It is commonly referred to as the "Czech national river".


History.

The first PEN Club was founded in London in 1921 by Catherine Amy Dawson Scott, with John Galsworthy as its first president. Its first members included Joseph Conrad, Elizabeth Craig, George Bernard Shaw, and H. G. Wells.  PEN originally stood for "Poets, Essayists, Novelists", but now stands for "Poets, Playwrights, Editors, Essayists, Novelists", and includes writers of any form of literature, such as journalists and historians.  The club established the following aims:  Past presidents of PEN International have included Alberto Moravia, Heinrich Böll, Arthur Miller, Mario Vargas Llosa, Homero Aridjis, Jiří Gruša and John Ralston Saul. The current president is Jennifer Clement.

Structure and status.

PEN International is headquartered in London and composed of autonomous PEN Centres in over 100 countries around the world, each of which are open to writers, journalists, translators, historians and others actively engaged in any branch of literature, regardless of nationality, race, colour, or religion.  It is a non-governmental organization in formal consultative relations with UNESCO and Special Consultative Status with the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations.

Charter.

The PEN Charter is based on resolutions passed at its International Congresses and may be summarised as follows:  PEN affirms that:  Literature knows no frontiers and must remain common currency among people in spite of political or international upheavals. In all circumstances, and particularly in time of war, works of art, the patrimony of humanity at large, should be left untouched by national or political passion. Members of PEN should at all times use what influence they have in favour of good understanding and mutual respect between nations and people; they pledge themselves to do their utmost to dispel all hatreds and to champion the ideal of one humanity living in peace and equality in one world. PEN stands for the principle of unhampered transmission of thought within each nation and between all nations, and members pledge themselves to oppose any form of suppression of freedom of expression in the country and community to which they belong, as well as throughout the world wherever this is possible. PEN declares for a free press and opposes arbitrary censorship in time of peace. It believes that the necessary advance of the world towards a more highly organised political and economic order renders a free criticism of governments, administrations and institutions imperative. And since freedom implies voluntary restraint, members pledge themselves to oppose such evils of a free press as mendacious publication, deliberate falsehood and distortion of facts for political and personal ends.

Writers in Prison Committee.

PEN International Writers in Prison Committee works on behalf of persecuted writers worldwide. Established in 1960 in response to increasing attempts to silence voices of dissent by imprisoning writers, the Writers in Prison Committee monitors the cases of as many as 900 writers annually who have been imprisoned, tortured, threatened, attacked, made to disappear, and killed for the peaceful practice of their profession. It publishes a bi-annual Case List documenting free expression violations against writers around the world.  The committee also coordinates the PEN International membership's campaigns that aim towards an end to these attacks and to the suppression of freedom of expression worldwide.  PEN International Writers in Prison Committee is a founding member of the International Freedom of Expression Exchange (IFEX), a global network of 90 non-governmental organisations that monitors censorship worldwide and defends journalists, writers, internet users and others who are persecuted for exercising their right to freedom of expression.  It is also a member of IFEX's Tunisia Monitoring Group (TMG), a coalition of twenty-one free expression organisations that began lobbying the Tunisian government to improve its human rights record in 2005. Since the Arab Spring events that led to the collapse of the Tunisian government, TMG has worked to ensure constitutional guarantees of free expression and human rights within the country.  On 15 January 2016, PEN International joined human rights organisations Freemuse and the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran, along with seven other organisations, to protest against the 2013 imprisonment and 2015 sentencing of musicians Mehdi Rajabian and Yousef Emadi, and filmmaker Hossein Rajabian, and called on the head of the judiciary and other Iranian authorities to drop the charges against them.

PEN affiliated awards.

The various PEN affiliations offer many literary awards across a broad spectrum.

Memorials.

A grove of trees beside Lake Burley Griffin forms the PEN International memorial in Canberra, Australian Capital Territory. The dedication reads: "The spirit dies in all of us who keep silent in the face of tyranny." The memorial was officially opened on 17 November 1997.  A cast-iron sculpture entitled "Witness", commissioned by English PEN to mark their 90th anniversary and created by Antony Gormley, stands outside the British Library in London. It depicts an empty chair, and is inspired by the symbol used for 30 years by English PEN to represent imprisoned writers around the world. It was unveiled on 13 December 2011.

PEN International (known as International PEN until 2010) is a worldwide association of writers, founded in London in 1921 to promote friendship and intellectual co-operation among writers everywhere. The association has autonomous International PEN centers in over 100 countries.


Early life.

Prince Alfred of Edinburgh was born on 15 October 1874 at Buckingham Palace, London. His father was Prince Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh, second eldest son of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. His mother, Grand Duchess Maria Alexandrovna of Russia, was a daughter of Emperor Alexander II of Russia and Princess Marie of Hesse and by Rhine.  Archibald Campbell Tait, Archbishop of Canterbury, baptised the prince in the Lower Bow Room of Buckingham Palace on 23 November 1874. His godparents were the Queen, the Emperor of Russia (whose son Tsesarevich Alexander stood proxy for him), the German Emperor (for whom Alfred's paternal uncle Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught and Strathearn stood proxy), the German Crown Princess (Alfred's paternal aunt, for whom her sister Princess Christian of Schleswig-Holstein stood proxy), the Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (his paternal grand-uncle, for whom Prince Christian of Schleswig-Holstein stood proxy), and the Prince of Wales (his paternal uncle).

Hereditary Prince of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha.

In 1893, his granduncle, Ernest II, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, the elder brother of his paternal grandfather, died without legitimate heirs. Being ineligible under Saxe-Coburg-Gotha house law to succeed to the duchy due to his status as the heir apparent to an existing throne, the Prince of Wales had previously renounced his claim to the ducal throne. Thus, the succession devolved to Alfred's father, who was at that time the Duke of Edinburgh. Alfred thus became the "Hereditary Prince of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha".  Prince Alfred had lived in Clarence House in the early years of his life with his parents and sisters; after his father's accession to the ducal throne of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, he moved to Schloss Rosenau, near Coburg.

Failed engagement.

On 28 January 1895, the Court Circular published the following: “We are informed that a marriage has been arranged between his Royal Highness Prince Alfred of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, only son of their Royal Highnesses the Duke and Duchess of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha and grandson of Her Majesty, and Her Royal Highness the Duchess Elsa Matilda Marie, elder twin daughter of the late Duke William Eugene of Württemberg by his marriage with the Grand Duchess Vera of Russia.” The marriage never occurred.

Death.

On 23 January 1899 Maria Alexandrovna and her husband celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary at Schloss Friedestein, the Duke's official residence in Gotha. Absent from the festivities was their only son, who was gravely ill.  The exact circumstances of Alfred's death are not known, and varying accounts have been published. His sister Marie's memoirs simply say his health "broke down", and other writers have said that he had "consumption". "The Times" published an account stating he had died of a tumor, while the "Complete Peerage" gives the generally accepted account that he "shot himself".  Various authors have speculated on reasons why he might have killed himself. One author, Frank Bush, claimed to have been a descendant of a secret marriage between Alfred and Mabel Fitzgerald, granddaughter of the 4th Duke of Leinster, and claimed that friction between Alfred and his family over the "secret marriage" was the cause of the suicide. Despite the lack of documentary evidence, and the lack of contemporary reference, other authors have repeated Bush's assertion that Alfred and Mabel married, including John van der Kiste and Bee Jordaan in "Dearest Affie", and the assertion is repeated as fact in the official family history ("Das Haus von Sachsen-Coburg und Gotha").  According to theory, Alfred shot himself with a revolver while the rest of the family was gathered for the anniversary celebration. He survived and was looked after at Schloss Friedenstein in Gotha (Thuringia) for three days before being sent to the Martinnsbrunn Sanatorium in Gratsch near Meran in the County of Tyrol (Austria-Hungary, now Italy). Alfred died there at 4:15 pm on 6 February 1899, aged 24 years. He was buried in the ducal mausoleum of the "", Coburg, Bavaria (southern Germany).  Later in 1899 Alfred's uncle the Duke of Connaught and his son Prince Arthur of Connaught renounced their succession rights to the Duchy of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. As a result, his first cousin Prince Charles Edward, Duke of Albany, became heir presumptive.

Titles, styles, honours and arms.

Honours.

He received the following orders and decorations:

Arms.

As a male-line grandson of the British Sovereign, young Alfred bore the royal arms, with an inescutcheon of the shield of Saxony, all differenced by a label argent of five points, the odd bearing crosses gules and even anchors azure.

Alfred, Hereditary Prince of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (Alfred Alexander William Ernest Albert; 15 October 1874 – 6 February 1899), was the son and heir apparent of Alfred, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. He died aged 24 under circumstances still not entirely clear. He was a first cousin of King George V of the United Kingdom, Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany, Tsar Nicholas II of Russia and brother of Queen Marie of Romania.


Early life.

Julianus was born to Quintus Petronius Didius Severus and Aemilia Clara. Julianus's father came from a prominent family in Mediolanum, modern-day Milan, and his mother was a North African woman of Roman descent, from a family of consular rank. His brothers were Didius Proculus and Didius Nummius Albinus. His date of birth is given as 30 January 133 by Cassius Dio and 2 February 137 by the "Historia Augusta".  Didius Julianus was raised by Domitia Lucilla, mother of the emperor Marcus Aurelius. With Domitia's help, he was appointed at a very early age to the vigintivirate, the first step towards public distinction. He married a Roman woman named Manlia Scantilla, and sometime around 153, she bore him a daughter, Didia Clara, their only child.

Public service.

In succession Julianus held the offices of quaestor and aedile, and then, around 162, was named as praetor. He was nominated to the command of the Legio XXII Primigenia in Mogontiacum (now Mainz). In 170, he became praefectus of Gallia Belgica and served for five years. After repelling an invasion by the Chauci, a tribe dwelling in the drainage basin of the river Scheldt, the northwestern coastal area of present-day Germany, he was raised to the consulship in 175 along with Pertinax.  He further distinguished himself in a campaign against the Chatti, governed Dalmatia and Germania Inferior. He was then made prefect, charged with distributing money to the poor of Italy. Modern historians generally consider this a demotion for political reasons, as Commodus, the Roman Emperor at the time, feared Julianus' growing power. It was around this time that he was charged with having conspired against the life of Commodus, but the jury acquitted him and instead punished his accuser. Afterwards, he governed Bithynia and succeeded Pertinax as the proconsul of North Africa.

Career as Emperor.

After the murder of Pertinax on March 28, 193, the Praetorian guard announced that the throne was to be sold to the man who would pay the highest price. Titus Flavius Claudius Sulpicianus, prefect of Rome and Pertinax's father-in-law, who was in the Praetorian camp ostensibly to calm the troops, began making offers for the throne. Meanwhile, Julianus also arrived at the camp, and since his entrance was barred, shouted out offers to the guard.  After hours of bidding, Sulpicianus promised 20,000 sesterces to every soldier; Julianus, fearing that Sulpicianus would gain the throne, then offered 25,000. The guards closed with the offer of Julianus, threw open the gates, and proclaimed him emperor. Threatened by the military, the senate also declared him emperor. His wife and his daughter both received the title Augusta.

Reign.

Upon his accession, Julianus immediately reversed Pertinax's monetary reforms by devaluing the Roman currency to near pre-Pertinax levels.  Because Julianus bought his position rather than acquiring it conventionally through succession or conquest, he was a deeply unpopular emperor. When Julianus appeared in public, he frequently was greeted with groans and shouts of "robber and parricide." Once, a mob even obstructed his progress to the Capitol by pelting him with large stones.  When news of the public anger in Rome spread across the Empire, three influential generals, Pescennius Niger in Syria, Septimius Severus in Pannonia, and Clodius Albinus in Britain, each able to muster three legions, rebelled. They refused to accept Julianus' authority as emperor and instead declared themselves emperor. Julianus declared Severus a public enemy because he was the nearest of the three to Rome, making him the most dangerous foe. Julianus sent senators to persuade Severus' legionaries to abandon him, a new general was nominated to replace him, and a centurion dispatched to take Severus' life.  The Praetorian Guard had rarely fought in field battles, so Julianus marched them into the Campus Martius and drilled the guard in the construction of fortifications and field works. Despite this training, the Praetorian Guard was still undertrained compared to the field legionaries of Severus. Severus first secured the support of Albinus, declaring him Caesar, and then seized Ravenna and its fleet. Severus killed Tullius Crispinus, the Praetorian prefect, who was sent to negotiate with Severus and slow his march on Rome and won over to his cause the ambassadors sent to turn his troops.  Cassius Dio maintains that the Praetorian Guard tried to fight back, but were crushed, while modern historians believe that the Praetorian Guard simply abandoned Julianus, deserting "en masse". Julianus attempted to negotiate with Severus, offering to share the empire with his rival, but Severus ignored these overtures and pressed forward. As he marched, more and more cities in Italy supported his claim to the throne. The remnants of the Praetorian Guard received pardons from Severus in exchange for surrendering the actual murderers of Pertinax. After seizing the ringleaders and killing them, the soldiers reported what they had done to Marcus Silius Messala, the consul, who summoned the senate to inform them of the proceedings.  The Senate passed a motion proclaiming Severus emperor, awarded divine honours to Pertinax, and sentenced Julianus to death. Julianus was deserted by all except one of the prefects and his son-in-law, Cornelius Repentinus.

Execution (193).

Julianus was killed in the palace by a soldier on June 1, 193 AD, after a mere 66 days of ruling. Severus dismissed the Praetorian Guard and executed the soldiers who had killed Pertinax, the previous emperor. According to the contemporary Roman historian Cassius Dio, Julianus' last words were: "But what evil have I done? Whom have I killed?" His body was given to his wife and daughter, who buried it in his great-grandfather's tomb by the fifth milestone on the Via Labicana. The Senate passed a damnatio memoriae motion to condemn Julianus and his legacy.

Legacy.

Julianus repelled invasions by the Chatti and the Chauci, both of which helped protect Rome's border provinces. In the long run, the two tribes he repelled were but the harbingers of far larger Germanic migrations that would only truly finish in the sixth century AD.  As emperor, Didius Julianus was unable to pass any major policy reforms in his short reign other than currency devaluation. While the currency devaluation was comparatively minor, he restarted the trend of devaluing the Roman currency which had abated under Pertinax's reign. The trend he started, which would continue under the Severan dynasty at a far larger scale, destroyed confidence in Rome's currency, led to rampant hyperinflation, and caused widespread economic upheaval. Moreover, his blatant purchase of the throne shattered any illusions of normalcy in the Roman Empire.

Popular culture.

In the movie The Fall of The Roman Empire Julianus is played by Eric Porter and depicted as a scheming henchman of Commodus. At the end of the movie, Julianus and Pescennius Niger, played by Douglas Wilmer, another crony of Commodus, compete against each other in the auction for the throne of Rome.

Didius Julianus (; Marcus Didius Severus Julianus Augustus; born 30 January 133 or 2 February 137 – 1 June 193) was Roman emperor for nine weeks from March to June 193, during the Year of the Five Emperors.


Early life.

Kureishi was born in Bromley, South London, to a Pakistani father, Rafiushan (Shanoo) Kureishi, and an English mother, Audrey Buss. His father was from a wealthy Madras family, most of whose members moved to Pakistan after the Partition of British India in 1947. Rafiushan came to the UK in 1950 to study law but for financial reasons worked at the Pakistani embassy instead. Here he met his wife-to-be, Buss. He wanted to be a writer but his ambitions were frustrated. The couple were married, the family settled in Bromley where Kureishi was born. In interview, Kureishi notes:My [paternal] grandfather, an army doctor, was a colonel in the Indian army. Big family. Servants. Tennis court. Cricket. Everything. My father went to the Cathedral School that Salman Rushdie went to. Later, in Pakistan, my family were close to the Bhuttos. My uncle Omar was a newspaper columnist and the manager of the Pakistan cricket team... My grandfather, the colonel, was terrifying. A hard-living, hard-drinking gambler. Womanising. Around him it was like "The Godfather". They drank and they gossiped. The women would come and go.  Hanif Kureishi attended Bromley Technical High School and studied for A-levels at Bromley College of Technology. While at this college he was elected as Student Union President (1972) and some of the characters from his semi-autobiographical work "The Buddha of Suburbia" are from this period. He went on to spend a year studying philosophy at Lancaster University before dropping out. Later he attended King's College London and earned a degree in philosophy.

Career.

Kureishi started his career in the 1970s as a pornography writer, under the pseudonyms Antonia French and Karim. He went on to write plays for the Hampstead Theatre, Soho Poly and by the age of 18 was with the Royal Court. He wrote "My Beautiful Laundrette" in 1985, a screenplay about a gay Pakistani-British boy growing up in 1980s London for a film directed by Stephen Frears. The screenplay, especially the racial discrimination experienced, contained elements from Hanif's own experiences as the only Pakistani student in his class at school. It won the New York Film Critics Best Screenplay Award and an Academy Award nomination for Best Screenplay. He also wrote the screenplay for "Sammy and Rosie Get Laid" (1987). His book "The Buddha of Suburbia" (1990) won the Whitbread Award for the best first novel and was made into a BBC television series with a soundtrack by David Bowie. 1991 saw the release of the feature film entitled "London Kills Me", written and directed by Kureishi.  His novel "Intimacy" (1998) revolved around the story of a man leaving his wife and two young sons after feeling physically and emotionally rejected by his wife. This created some controversy as Kureishi had recently left his own partner (the editor and producer Tracey Scoffield) and two young sons; it was assumed to be at least semi-autobiographical. In 2000/2001 the novel was adapted into a film, "Intimacy" by Patrice Chéreau, which won two Bears at the Berlin Film Festival: a Golden Bear for Best Film and a Silver Bear for Best Actress (Kerry Fox). It was controversial for its explicit sex scenes. The book was translated into Persian by Niki Karimi in 2005.  Kureishi's drama "The Mother" was adapted to a movie by Roger Michell, which won a joint First Prize in the Director’s Fortnight section at Cannes Film Festival. It showed a cross-generational relationship with changed roles: a seventy-year-old English lady and grandmother (played by Anne Reid) who seduces her daughter's boyfriend (played by Daniel Craig), a thirty-year-old craftsman. Explicit sex scenes were shown in realistic drawings only, thus avoiding censorship. His 2006 screenplay "Venus" saw Oscar, BAFTA, Screen Actors Guild, Broadcast Film Critics Association and Golden Globe nominations for Peter O'Toole in the best actor category.  A novel entitled "Something to Tell You" was published in 2008. His 1995 novel "The Black Album", adapted for the theatre, was performed at the National Theatre in July and August 2009. In May 2011, he was awarded the second Asia House Literature Award on the closing night of the Asia House Literary Festival where he discussed his "Collected Essays" (Faber).  Kureishi has also written non-fiction, including autobiography. As noted by Cathy Galvin in "The Telegraph": "But at the core of his life, as described in his memoir, "My Ear at His Heart", is Kureishi’s relationship with his father, Rafiushan, who died in 1991."

Personal life.

Kureishi has twin boys (from his relationship with film producer Tracey Scoffield) and a younger son. Kureishi currently lives in West London. He was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2008 New Year Honours. In 2013, Kureishi lost his life savings, intended to cover "the ups and downs of being a writer", in a suspected fraud. Although he acknowledges his father's Pakistani roots (originating in Madras, in British India, present-day Chennai, India), he rarely visits Pakistan. Upon a 2012 visit sponsored by the British Council, he acknowledged that it was his first trip to Pakistan in 20 years.  Kureishi's family have accused him of exploiting them with thinly disguised references in his work; Kureishi has denied the claims. His sister Yasmin has accused him of selling her family "down the line". She wrote, in a letter to "The Guardian", that if her family's history had to become public, she would not stand by and let it be "fabricated for the entertainment of the public or for Hanif's profit". She says that his description of her family's working-class roots are fictitious. Their grandfather was not "cloth cap working class", their mother never worked in a shoe factory, and their father, she says, was not a bitter old man. Yasmin takes up issues with her brother not merely for his thinly disguised autobiographical references in his first novel, "The Buddha of Suburbia", but also for the image of his own past that he portrays in newspaper interviews. She wrote: "My father was angry when "The Buddha of Suburbia" came out as he felt that Hanif had robbed him of his dignity, and he didn't speak to Hanif for about a year." Kureishi and his father did not speak for many months during the controversy. There was further furore with the publication of "Intimacy", as the story was assumed to be autobiographical.  In 2013 Kureishi was appointed as a professor in the creative writing department at Kingston University in London, where he was a Writer in Residence. However, at "The Independent" Bath Literature Festival, 2 March 2014, he stated that creative writing courses were a "waste of time" and commented that 99.9 per cent of his students were talentless. In 2014 the British Library announced that they would be acquiring the archive of Kureishi's documents spanning 40 years of his writing life. The body of work will include diaries, notebooks and drafts.  Major influences on Kureishi's writing include P. G. Wodehouse and Philip Roth. Kureishi's uncle was the writer, columnist and Pakistani cricket commentator and team manager Omar Kureishi. The poet Maki Kureishi was his aunt.

Filmography.

Story basis only.

2001 "Intimacy"

Producer.

2006 "Souvenir"

Hanif Kureishi, CBE (born 5 December 1954) is a British playwright, screenwriter, filmmaker and novelist of Pakistani and English descent. In 2008, "The Times" included Kureishi in their list of "The 50 greatest British writers since 1945".


Definition.

DRT can be used to refer to many different types of transport. When taxicabs were first introduced to many cities, they were hailed as an innovative form of DRT. They are still referred to as DRT in some jurisdictions around the world as their very nature is to take people from point-to-point based on their needs.  More recently, DRT generally refers to a type of public transport. They are disinct from fixed-route services as they do not always operate to a specific timetable or route. While specific operations vary widely, generally a particular area is designated for service by DRT. Once a certain number of people have requested a trip, the most efficient route will then be calculated depending on the origins and destinations of passengers.  Share taxis are another form of DRT. They are usually operated on an ad-hoc basis but also do not have fixed routes or times and change their route and frequency depending on demand.  Some DRT systems operate as a service that can deviate from a fixed route. These operate along a fixed alignment or path at specific times but may deviate to collect or drop off passengers who have requested the deviation.

Operation.

A DRT service will be restricted to a defined operating zone, within which journeys must start and finish. Journeys may be completely free form, or accommodated onto skeleton routes and schedules, varied as required. As such, users will be given a specified pick-up point and a time window for collection. Some DRT systems may have defined termini, at one or both ends of a route, such as an urban centre, airport or transport interchange, for onward connections.  DRT systems require passengers to request a journey by booking with a central dispatcher who determines the journey options available given the users' location and destination.  DRT systems take advantage of fleet telematics technology in the form of vehicle location systems, scheduling and dispatching software and hand-held/in vehicle computing.  Vehicles used for DRT services will usually be small minibuses, reflecting the low ridership, but also allowing the service to provide as near a door to door service as practical, by being able to use residential streets. In some cases Taxicabs are hired by the DRT provider to serve their routes on request.  DRT schemes may be fully or partially funded by the local transit authority. As such, operators of DRT schemes may be selected by public tendering. Other schemes may be partially or fully self-funded as community centred not for profit social enterprises (such as a Community interest company in the UK). They may also be provided by private companies for commercial reasons; some conventional bus operating companies have set up DRT-style airport bus services, which compete with larger private hire airport shuttle companies.

Simulations of health and environmental effects.

For a model of a hypothetical large-scale demand-responsive public transport system for the Helsinki metropolitan area, simulation results published in 2005 demonstrated that “in an urban area with one million inhabitants, trip aggregation could reduce the health, environmental, and other detrimental impacts of car traffic typically by 50–70%, and if implemented could attract about half of the car passengers, and within a broad operational range would require no public subsidies”.

Licensing.

DRT schemes may require new or amended legislation, or special dispensation, to operate, as they do not meet the traditional licensing model of authorised bus transport providers or licensed taxicab operators. The status has caused controversy between bus and taxi operators when the DRT service picks up passengers without pre-booking, due to the licensing issues. Issues may also arise surrounding tax and fuel subsidy for DRT services.

Effectiveness.

Ridership on DRT services is usually quite low (less than ten passengers per hour), but DRT can provide coverage effectively.

Current DRT systems by country.

Hong Kong.

Red minibuses which serve non-franchised routes across the country, depending on routes, allow passengers to reserve their seats by phone such that operators and drivers are able to know where passengers are and how many there are in deploying their vehicles.

Iceland.

Public transport authority in the Icelandic capital of Reykjavik and the surrounding municipalities. Manages public bus transport and disabled transport, but does not have its own vehicles. About 1300 enquiries and thousand trips a day. Uses 60 vehicles and 10–20 more for school transport for children with special needs. For more see http://eu-en.trapezegroup.com/case-study/straeto-iceland]

Italy.

Following some pioneering DRT schemes implemented in the 1980s, a second wave of systems were launched from the mid 1990s. There are now DRT schemes in urban and peri-urban areas as well as in rural communities. Operated by both public transport companies and private service providers, the DRT schemes are offered either as intermediate collective transport services for generic users or as schemes for specific user groups. DRT schemes operate in major cities including Rome, Milan, Genoa, Florence, and in several mid- to small-size towns including Alessandria, Aosta, Cremona, Livorno, Mantova, Parma, Empoli, Siena, and Sarzana.

Japan.

More than 200 of the 1700 local governments in Japan have introduced DRT public transport services.

Poland.

The first ever demand responsive transport scheme in Poland – called Tele-Bus – has been operated since 2007 in Krakow by MPK, the local public transport company (see also Tramways in Krakow).

Sweden.

Regional transport authority in Västra Götaland in southwestern Sweden is responsible for all public transport and for transport offers to citizens with special needs. This is an example of DRT used for people with special needs (paratransit).

Switzerland.

DRT services have operated in some sparsely populated areas (under 100 p/km2) since 1995. "PostBus Switzerland Ltd", the national post company, has operated a DRT service called PubliCar, formerly also Casa Car.

United Kingdom.

Under the existing UK bus operating regulations of 1986, some DRT schemes were operating, allowed by the fact they had a core start and finish point, and a published schedule. For England and Wales in 2004, the regulations concerning bus service registration and application of bus operating grants were amended, to allow registration of fully flexible pre-booked DRT services. Some services such as LinkUp only pick up passengers at'meeting points', but can set down at the passenger's destination.

United States.

The large majority of 1,500 rural systems in the US provide demand-response service; there are also about 400 urban DRT systems.

Demand-responsive transport, also known as demand-responsive transit (DRT), demand-responsive service, Dial-a-Ride transit (DART) or flexible transport services is a form of shared private transport (or quasi-public) for groups travelling where vehicles alter their routes based on particular transport demand rather than using a fixed route or timetable. These vehicles typically pick-up and drop-off passengers in locations according to passengers needs and can include taxis, buses or other vehicles.


History.

Although the Me 163 had very short endurance, it had originally been even shorter. In the original design, the engine had only one throttle setting, "full on", and burned through its fuel in a few minutes. Not only did this further limit endurance, in flight testing, pilots found the aircraft quickly exhibited compressibility effects as soon as they levelled off from the climb and speeds picked up. This led the "RLM" to demand the addition of a throttle, leading to lengthy delays and a dramatic decrease in fuel economy when throttled.  This problem was addressed in the larger Me 163C. This featured the same HWK 509B or -C dual chamber rocket engine already trialled on the Me 163B V6 and V18 prototypes; the main upper chamber was tuned for high thrust while the lower "Marschofen" combustion chamber was designed for a much lower thrust output (about 400 kgf maximum) for economic cruise. In operation, throttling was accomplished by starting or stopping the main engine, which was about four times as powerful as the smaller one. This change greatly simplified the engine, while also retaining much higher efficiency during cruise. Along with slightly increased fuel tankage, the powered endurance rose to about 12 minutes, a 50% improvement. As the aircraft spent only a short time climbing, this meant the time at combat altitude would be more than doubled.

Ju 248.

Throughout development the RLM proved unhappy with the progress on the 163 project, and eventually decided to transfer development to Heinrich Hertel at Junkers. Lippisch remained at Messerschmitt and retained the support of Waldemar Voigt, continuing development of the 163C.  At Junkers, the basic plan of the 163C was followed to produce an even larger design, the Ju 248. It retained the new pressurized cockpit and bubble canopy of the 163C, with even more fuel tankage, and adding a new retractable landing gear design. On 25 September 1944 a wooden mock-up was shown to officials. The production version was intended to be powered by the more powerful BMW 109-708 rocket engine in place of the Walter power plant.  Prior to the actual building of the Ju 248, two Me 163Bs, V13 and V18, were slated to be rebuilt. V13 had deteriorated due to weather exposure, so only V18 was rebuilt, but had been flown by test pilot Heini Dittmar at a record-setting 1,130 km/h (702 mph) velocity on July 6, 1944 and suffered near-total destruction of its rudder surface as a result. It is this aircraft that is often identified as the Me 163D, but this aircraft was built after the Ju 248 project had started.  Hertel had hoped to install Lorin ramjet engines, but this technology was still far ahead of its time. As a stopgap measure, they decided to build the aircraft with a "Sondergeräte" (special equipment) in the form of a "Zusatztreibstoffbehälter" (auxiliary fuel tank): two external T-Stoff oxidizer tanks were to be installed under the wings. This would lead to a 10% speed decrease but no negative flight characteristics. Although Junkers claimed the Ju 248 used a standard Me 163B wing, they decided to modify the wing to hold more C-Stoff fuel. This modification was carried out by the Puklitsch firm.

Me 263.

In November 1944, the aircraft was again redesignated as the Me 263 to show its connection with the Me 163. The two projects also got names - the Ju 248 "Flunder" (Flounder) and the Me 263 "Scholle" (Plaice). In early 1945, Junkers proposed its own project, the EF 127 "Walli" rocket fighter, as a competitor to the Me 163C and Me 263.  The first unpowered flight of the Me 263 V1 was in February 1945. Several more unpowered flights took place that month. The biggest problem had to do with the center of gravity which was restored with the addition of counterweights. Eventually, the production aircraft would have repositioned the engine or the landing gear installation to solve this problem. The landing gear was still non-retractable. The first flights gave the impression that it was suitable as it was for production.  Test flights were later stopped because of fuel shortages for the Bf 110 towplanes. As the Me 263 was not a part of the "Jägernotprogramm" (Emergency Fighter Program), it was difficult to get the resources it needed. For the time being the plane was not expected to enter production but further development was allowed. The V2 and V3 were not yet ready. The V2 was to get the retractable landing gear and the V3 would have the armament built in. The next month both the V1 and the V2 had the two-chambered HWK 109-509C installed, correcting the center-of-gravity problems. They flew only as gliders.  In April, the Americans occupied the plant and captured the three prototypes and the mock-up. The V2 was destroyed but another prototype ended up in the US. The rest was handed over to the Russians, who then created their own Mikoyan-Gurevich I-270 interceptor.

The Messerschmitt Me 263 "Scholle" (plaice) was a rocket-powered fighter aircraft developed from the Me 163 "Komet" towards the end of World War II. Three prototypes were built but never flown under their own power as the rapidly deteriorating military situation in Germany prevented the completion of the test program.


Terminology.

The English word is first recorded in 1530, derived from Middle French ', a 15th-century derivation from Medieval Latin ', from Latin "-" (Greek ) meaning "authority" or "primary" (see "arch-") and "" "duke" (literally "leader").  "Archduke" (; ) is a title distinct from "Grand Duke" (; ; ), a later monarchic title borne by the rulers of other European countries (for instance, Luxembourg).

History.

The Latin title "archidux" is first attested in reference to Bruno the Great, who ruled simultaneously as Archbishop of Cologne and Duke of Lotharingia in the 10th century, in the work of his biographer Ruotger. In Ruotger, the title served as an honorific denoting Bruno's unusual position rather than a formal office.  The title was not used systematically until the 14th century, when the title "Archduke of Austria" was invented in the forged "Privilegium Maius" (1358–1359) by Duke Rudolf IV of Austria. Rudolf originally claimed the title in the form "palatinus archidux" ("palatine archduke"). The title was intended to emphasize the claimed precedence (thus "Arch-") of the Duchy of Austria, in an effort to put the Habsburgs on an even level with the Prince-Electors of the Holy Roman Empire, as Austria had been passed over when the Golden Bull of 1356 assigned that dignity to the four highest-ranking secular Imperial princes and three Archbishops. Holy Roman Emperor Charles IV refused to recognise the title, as did all the other ruling dynasties of the member countries of the Empire. But Duke Ernest the Iron and his descendants unilaterally assumed the title of "Archduke".  The archducal title was only officially recognized in 1453 by Emperor Frederick III, when the Habsburgs had solidified their grip on the throne of the "de jure" elected Holy Roman Emperor, making it "de facto" hereditary. Despite that imperial authorization of the title, which showed a Holy Roman Emperor from the Habsburg dynasty deciding over a title claim of the Habsburg dynasty, many ruling dynasties of the countries which formed the Empire refused to recognize the title "Archduke". Ladislaus the Posthumous, Duke of Austria, who died in 1457, never got in his lifetime the imperial authorization to use it, and accordingly, neither he nor anyone in his branch of the dynasty ever used the title. Emperor Frederick III himself simply used the title "Duke of Austria", never "Archduke", until his death in 1493. The title was first granted to Frederick's younger brother, Albert VI of Austria (d. 1463), who used it at least from 1458.  In 1477, Frederick III also granted the title of "Archduke" to his first cousin, Sigismund of Austria, ruler of Further Austria (). Frederick's son and heir, the future Emperor Maximilian I, started to use the title, but apparently only after the death of his wife Mary of Burgundy (d. 1482), as "Archduke" never appears in documents issued jointly by Maximilian and Mary as rulers in the Low Countries (where Maximilian is still titled "Duke of Austria"). The title appears first in documents issued under the joint rule of Maximilian and his son Philip in the Low Countries.  "Archduke" was initially borne by those dynasts who ruled a Habsburg territory—i.e., only by males and their consorts, appanages being commonly distributed to cadets. But these "junior" "archdukes" did not thereby become sovereign hereditary rulers, since all territories remained vested in the Austrian crown. Occasionally a territory might be combined with a separate gubernatorial mandate ruled by an archducal cadet.

Usage.

From the 16th century onward, "Archduke" and its female form, "Archduchess", came to be used by "all" the members of the House of Habsburg (e.g. Queen Marie Antoinette of France was born Archduchess Maria Antonia of Austria). Upon extinction of the male line of the Habsburgs and the marriage of their heiress, the Holy Roman Empress-consort Maria Theresa, Queen of Hungary and Archduchess of Austria, to Francis Stephen, Duke of Lorraine, who was elected Holy Roman Emperor, their descendants formed the House of Habsburg-Lorraine. After the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire this usage was retained in the Austrian Empire (1804–1867) and the Austro-Hungarian Empire (1867–1918).  The official use of titles of nobility and of all other hereditary titles, including "Archduke", has been illegal in the Republic of Austria for Austrian citizens since the Law on the Abolition of Nobility ("Gesetz vom 3. April 1919 über die Aufhebung des Adels, der weltlichen Ritter- und Damenorden und gewisser Titel und Würden"). Thus those members of the Habsburg family who are residents of the Republic of Austria are simply known by their first name(s) and their surname "Habsburg-Lothringen". However, members of the family who reside in other countries may or may not use the title, in accordance with laws and customs in those nations.  For example, Otto Habsburg-Lothringen (1912–2011), the eldest son of the last Habsburg Emperor, was an Austrian, Hungarian and German citizen. As he lived in Germany, where it is permitted to use hereditary titles as part of the civil surname (including indications of origin, such as "von" or "zu"), his official civil name was Otto von Habsburg (literally: Otto "of" Habsburg), whereas in Austria he was registered as Otto Habsburg.  The King of Spain also bears the nominal title of Archduke of Austria as part of his full list of titles, as the Bourbon dynasty adopted all the titles previously held by the Spanish Habsburgs when they took over the Spanish throne. However, "Archduke" was never considered by the Spanish Bourbons as a substantial dignity of their own dynasty, but rather as a traditional supplementary title of the Spanish Kings since the days of the Habsburg dynasty on the royal throne (1516–1700). Hence, no member of the royal family other than the King bears the (additional) title of "Archduke".

Insignia.

The insignia of the Archduke of Lower and Upper Austria was the archducal hat, a coronet which is kept in Klosterneuburg Monastery.

Archduke (feminine: Archduchess; German: "Erzherzog", feminine form: "Erzherzogin") was the title borne from 1358 by the Habsburg rulers of the Archduchy of Austria, and later by all senior members of that dynasty. It denotes a rank within the former Holy Roman Empire (962–1806), which was below that of Emperor, King, and (debatably) a Grand Duke and above that of Duke and Prince.