Biography.

Early life.

Waterhouse was born in the city of Rome to the English painters William and Isabella Waterhouse in 1849, in the same year that the members of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, including Dante Gabriel Rossetti, John Everett Millais and William Holman Hunt, were first causing a stir in the London art scene. The exact date of his birth is unknown, though he was baptised on 6 April, and the later scholar of Waterhouse's work, Peter Trippi, believed that he was born between 1 and 23 January. His early life in Italy has been cited as one of the reasons many of his later paintings were set in ancient Rome or based upon scenes taken from Roman mythology.  In 1854, the Waterhouses returned to England and moved to a newly built house in South Kensington, London, which was near to the newly founded Victoria and Albert Museum. Waterhouse, or 'Nino' as he was nicknamed, coming from an artistic family, was encouraged to become involved in drawing, and often sketched artworks that he found in the British Museum and the National Gallery. In 1871 he entered the Royal Academy of Art school, initially to study sculpture, before moving on to painting.

Early career.

Waterhouse's early works were not Pre-Raphaelite in nature, but were of classical themes in the spirit of Alma-Tadema and Frederic Leighton. These early works were exhibited at the Dudley Gallery, and the Society of British Artists, and in 1874 his painting "Sleep and his Half-brother Death" was exhibited at the Royal Academy summer exhibition. The painting was a success and Waterhouse would exhibit at the annual exhibition every year until 1916, with the exception of 1890 and 1915. He then went from strength to strength in the London art scene, his 1876 piece "After the Dance" being given the prime position in that year's summer exhibition. Perhaps due to his success, his paintings typically became larger and larger in size.

Later career.

In 1883, Waterhouse married Esther Kenworthy, the daughter of an art schoolmaster from Ealing who had exhibited her own flower-paintings at the Royal Academy and elsewhere. In 1895 Waterhouse was elected to the status of full Academician. He taught at the St. John's Wood Art School, joined the St John's Wood Arts Club, and served on the Royal Academy Council.  One of Waterhouse's best known subjects is "The Lady of Shalott", a study of Elaine of Astolat as depicted in the 1832 poem by Alfred, Lord Tennyson, who dies of a mysterious curse after looking directly at the beautiful Lancelot. He actually painted three different versions of this character, in 1888, 1894, and 1916. Another of Waterhouse's favorite subjects was Ophelia; the most familiar of his paintings of Ophelia depicts her just before her death, putting flowers in her hair as she sits on a tree branch leaning over a lake. Like "The Lady of Shalott" and other Waterhouse paintings, it deals with a woman dying in or near water. He may also have been inspired by paintings of Ophelia by Dante Gabriel Rossetti and John Everett Millais. He submitted his 1888 "Ophelia" painting in order to receive his diploma from the Royal Academy. (He had originally wanted to submit a painting titled "A Mermaid", but it was not completed in time.) After this, the painting was lost until the 20th century. It is now displayed in the collection of Lord Lloyd-Webber. Waterhouse would paint Ophelia again in 1894 and 1909 or 1910, and he planned another painting in the series, called "Ophelia in the Churchyard".  Waterhouse could not finish the series of Ophelia paintings because he was gravely ill with cancer by 1915. He died two years later, and his grave can be found at Kensal Green Cemetery in London.

Gallery.

In total he produced 118 paintings. See List of paintings by John William Waterhouse for an almost complete list.

John William Waterhouse (6 April 184910 February 1917) was an English painter known for working first in the Academic style and for then embracing the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood's style and subject matter. His artworks were known for their depictions of women from both ancient Greek mythology and Arthurian legend.


History.

Originally known as place Royale, "Place des Vosges" was built by Henri IV from 1605 to 1612. A true square (140 m × 140 m), it embodied the first European program of royal city planning. It was built on the site of the Hôtel des Tournelles and its gardens: at a tournament at the Tournelles, a royal residence, Henri II was wounded and died. Catherine de' Medici had the Gothic complex demolished, and she moved to the Louvre Palace.  Place des Vosges, inaugurated in 1612 with a grand "carrousel" to celebrate the engagement of Louis XIII and Anne of Austria, is a prototype of the residential squares of European cities that were to come. What was new about the "place Royale" in 1612 was that the housefronts were all built to the same design, probably by Jean Baptiste Androuet du Cerceau, of red brick with strips of stone quoins over vaulted arcades that stand on square pillars. The steeply-pitched blue slate roofs are pierced with discreet small-paned dormers above the pedimented dormers that stand upon the cornices. Only the north range was built with the vaulted ceilings that the “galleries” were meant to have. Two pavilions that rise higher than the unified roofline of the square center the north and south faces and offer access to the square through triple arches. Though they are designated the Pavilion of the King and of the Queen, no royal has ever lived in the aristocratic square, except for Anne of Austria in the pavilion de la Reine, for a short while. Place des Vosges initiated subsequent developments of Paris that created a suitable urban background for the French aristocracy and nobility.  The square was often the place for the nobility to chat, and served as a meeting place for them. This was so until the Revolution.  Before the square was completed, Henri IV ordered Place Dauphine to be laid out. Within a mere five-year period the king oversaw an unmatched building scheme for the ravaged medieval city: additions to the Louvre Palace, the Pont Neuf, and the Hôpital Saint Louis as well as the two royal squares.  Cardinal Richelieu had an equestrian bronze of Louis XIII erected in the center (there were no garden plots until 1680). In the late 18th century, while most of the nobility moved to the Faubourg Saint-Germain district, the square managed to keep some of its aristocratic owners until the Revolution. It was renamed in 1799 when the "département" of the Vosges became the first to pay taxes supporting a campaign of the Revolutionary army. The Restoration returned the old royal name, but the short-lived Second Republic restored the revolutionary one in 1870.  Today the square is planted with a bosquet of mature lindens set in grass and gravel, surrounded by clipped lindens.  Residents of place des Vosges

The Place des Vosges (), originally Place Royale, is the oldest planned square in Paris, France. It is located in the "Marais" district, and it straddles the dividing-line between the 3rd and 4th arrondissements of Paris. It was a fashionable and expensive square to live in during the 17th and 18th centuries, and one of the central reasons of the fashionable nature of Le Marais for the Parisian nobility.


Career.

Thonet was the son of the master tanner Franz Anton Thonet of Boppard. Following a carpenter's apprenticeship, Thonet set himself up as an independent cabinetmaker in 1819. A year later, he married Anna Grahs, with whom he had seven sons and six daughters. Only five of the sons, however, survived early childhood.  In the 1830s, Thonet began trying to make furniture out of glued and bent wooden slats. His first success was the "Bopparder Schichtholzstuhl" (Boppard layerwood chair) in 1836. Thonet gained substantial independence by acquiring the "Michelsmühle", the glue factory that made the glue for this process, in 1837. However, his attempts to patent the technology failed in Germany (1840) as well as in Great Britain, France and Russia (1841). Thonet's essential breakthrough was his success in having light, strong wood bent into curved, graceful shapes by forming the wood in hot steam. This enabled him to design entirely novel, elegant, lightweight, durable and comfortable furniture, which appealed strongly to fashion – a complete departure from the heavy, carved designs of the past – and whose aesthetic and functional appeal remains to this day.  At the Koblenz trade fair of 1841, Thonet met Prince Klemens Wenzel von Metternich, who was enthusiastic about Thonet's furniture and invited him to the Vienna court. In the next year, Thonet was able to present his furniture, and his chairs in particular, to the Imperial Family.  As the Boppard establishment got into financial difficulties, Thonet sold it and emigrated to Vienna with his family. There, he worked with his sons on the interior decoration of the Stadtpalais Liechtenstein for the Carl Leistler establishment. In 1849, he again opened his own shop together with his four sons. A few years later, in 1853, he transferred the company to his sons under the name Gebrüder Thonet. In 1850 he produced his "Nr 1" chair. The Great Exhibition in London 1851 saw him receive the bronze medal for his "Vienna bentwood chairs". This was his international breakthrough. At the next World's Fair, "Exposition Universelle" in Paris 1855, he was awarded the silver medal as he continued to improve his production methods. In 1856 he was able to open up a new factory in Koryčany, Moravia  The 1859 chair "Nr. 14" – better known as "Konsumstuhl Nr. 14", coffee shop chair no. 14 – is still called the "chair of chairs" with some 50 million produced and still in production today. The innovative bending technique allowed for the industrial production of a chair for the first time ever. What was revolutionary about the former no.14, which is today's no. 214, was the fact that it could be disassembled into a few components and thus produced in work-sharing processes. The chair could be exported to all nations of the world in simple, space saving packages: 36 disassembled chairs could fit into a one cubic meter box. It yielded a gold medal for Thonet's enterprise at the 1867 Paris World's Fair.  At the time, the chair no. 14 cleared the way for Thonet to become a global company. Numerous pieces of bentwood furniture followed. Some models also became icons of design history: the rocking chair no. 1 from 1860, later on in the 19th century the successful models no. 18 and no. 56, around 1900 the elegant no. 209 with its curved armrests, which Le Corbusier adored, and in 1904 the art nouveau armchair 247 by Otto Wagner, the so-called postal savings bank chair, to name but a few. Thonet production peaked in 1912: two million different products were manufactured and sold worldwide.  In 1857, Michael Thonet's sons as Gebrüder Thonet commissioned the first Thonet furniture factory to be built in the Moravian town of Koryčany using their father's plans. In the coming years, five more production sites were established in Eastern Europe, and in 1889 the seventh and last production site was added in the Hessian town of Frankenberg, Hesse, Germany. After World War I and World War II, this one was the only one to remain. It is Thonet's head office until today.  As Michael Thonet died 1871 in Vienna, the Fa. Gebrüder Thonet had sales locations across Europe as well as Chicago and New York. Today, a museum in the factory in Frankenberg showcases the firm's history and the Thonet design.  In 1976 Thonet was divided into a German and an Austrian company (Thonet Vienna). The two companies are independent of each other. In 2006 Gebrüder Thonet became Thonet GmbH.

Thonet Today.

The success of the company Thonet GmbH in Frankenberg, Germany, began with the work of master joiner Michael Thonet (1796–1871). Since he founded his first woodworking shop in 1819 in Boppard, the name Thonet has stood for high-quality, innovative and elegant furniture. Today, Thorsten Muck runs the company with its head offices and production facilities in Frankenberg. Michael Thonet's direct descendants in the fifth and sixth generation remain involved in the company's business as associates and sales partners. The collection comprises famous bentwood furniture, tubular steel classics from the Bauhaus era, and current designs by famous contemporary architects and designers.  Often mispronounced "Tho-nay" the name is pronounced "toe-net" with a hard beginning and ending "t".  The Museum of Applied Arts, MAK Vienna hosts the largest collection of original Thonet chairs in Austria.

Michael Thonet (2 July 1796 – 3 March 1871) was a German-Austrian cabinet maker, known for the invention of bentwood furniture.


History.

Belgian art dealer Isy Brachot coined the French word "Hyperréalisme", meaning Hyperrealism, as the title of a major exhibition and catalogue at his gallery in Brussels in 1973. The exhibition was dominated by such American Photorealists as Ralph Goings, Chuck Close, Don Eddy, Robert Bechtle and Richard McLean; but it included such influential European artists as Domenico Gnoli, Gerhard Richter, Konrad Klapheck, and. Since then, "Hyperealisme" has been used by European artists and dealers to apply to painters influenced by the Photorealists. Among contemporary European hyperrealist painters we find Gottfried Helnwein (Austrian), Willem van Veldhuizen and Tjalf Sparnaay (Dutch), Roger Wittevrongel (Belgian), as well as the French Pierre Barraya, Jacques Bodin, Ronald Bowen, François Bricq, Gérard Schlosser, Jacques Monory, Bernard Rancillac, Gilles Aillaud and Gérard Fromanger.  Early 21st century Hyperrealism was founded on the aesthetic principles of Photorealism. American painter Denis Peterson, whose pioneering works are universally viewed as an offshoot of Photorealism, first used "Hyperrealism" to apply to the new movement and its splinter group of artists. Graham Thompson wrote "One demonstration of the way photography became assimilated into the art world is the success of photorealist painting in the late 1960s and early 1970s. It is also called super-realism or hyper-realism and painters like Richard Estes, Denis Peterson, Audrey Flack, and Chuck Close often worked from photographic stills to create paintings that appeared to be photographs."  However, Hyperrealism is contrasted with the literal approach found in traditional photorealist paintings of the late 20th century. Hyperrealist painters and sculptors use photographic images as a reference source from which to create a more definitive and detailed rendering, one that often, unlike Photorealism, is narrative and emotive in its depictions. Strict Photorealist painters tended to imitate photographic images, omitting or abstracting certain finite detail to maintain a consistent over-all pictorial design. They often omitted human emotion, political value, and narrative elements. Since it evolved from Pop Art, the photorealistic style of painting was uniquely tight, precise, and sharply mechanical with an emphasis on mundane, everyday imagery.  Hyperrealism, although photographic in essence, often entails a softer, much more complex focus on the subject depicted, presenting it as a living, tangible object. These objects and scenes in Hyperrealism paintings and sculptures are meticulously detailed to create the illusion of a reality not seen in the original photo. That is not to say they're surreal, as the illusion is a convincing depiction of (simulated) reality. Textures, surfaces, lighting effects, and shadows appear clearer and more distinct than the reference photo or even the actual subject itself.  Hyperrealism has its roots in the philosophy of Jean Baudrillard, "the simulation of something which never really existed." As such, Hyperrealists create a false reality, a convincing illusion based on a simulation of reality, the digital photograph. Hyperreal paintings and sculptures are an outgrowth of extremely high-resolution images produced by digital cameras and displayed on computers. As Photorealism emulated analog photography, Hyperrealism uses digital imagery and expands on it to create a new sense of reality. Hyperrealistic paintings and sculptures confront the viewer with the illusion of manipulated high-resolution images, though more meticulous.

Style and methods.

The Hyperrealist style focuses much more of its emphasis on details and the subjects. Hyperreal paintings and sculptures are not strict interpretations of photographs, nor are they literal illustrations of a particular scene or subject. Instead, they use additional, often subtle, pictorial elements to create the illusion of a reality which in fact either does not exist or cannot be seen by the human eye. Furthermore, they may incorporate emotional, social, cultural and political thematic elements as an extension of the painted visual illusion; a distinct departure from the older and considerably more literal school of Photorealism.  Hyperrealist painters and sculptors make allowances for some mechanical means of transferring images to the canvas or mold, including preliminary drawings or grisaille underpaintings and molds. Photographic slide projections or multi media projectors are used to project images onto canvases and rudimentary techniques such as gridding may also be used to ensure accuracy. Sculptures utilize polyesters applied directly onto the human body or mold. Hyperrealism requires a high level of technical prowess and virtuosity to simulate a false reality. As such, Hyperrealism incorporates and often capitalizes upon photographic limitations such as depth of field, perspective and range of focus. Anomalies found in digital images, such as fractalization, are also exploited to emphasize their digital origins by some Hyperrealist painters, such as Chuck Close, Denis Peterson, Bert Monroy and Robert Bechtle.

Themes.

Subject matter ranges from portraits, figurative art, still life, landscapes, cityscapes and narrative scenes. The more recent hyperrealist style is much more literal than Photorealism as to exact pictorial detail with an emphasis on social, cultural or political themes. This also is in stark contrast to the newer concurrent Photorealism with its continued avoidance of photographic anomalies. Hyperrealist painters at once simulate and improve upon precise photographic images to produce optically convincing visual illusions of reality, often in a social or cultural context.  Some hyperrealists have exposed totalitarian regimes and third world military governments through their narrative depictions of the legacy of hatred and intolerance. Denis Peterson and Gottfried Helnwein depicted political and cultural deviations of societal decadence in their work. Peterson's work focused on diasporas, genocides and refugees. Helnwein developed unconventionally narrative work that centered on past, present and future deviations of the Holocaust. Provocative subjects include enigmatic imagery of genocides, their tragic aftermath and the ideological consequences. Thematically, these controversial hyperreal artists aggressively confronted the corrupted human condition through narrative paintings as a phenomenological medium. These lifelike paintings are an historical commentary on the grotesque mistreatment of human beings.  Hyperreal paintings and sculptures further create a tangible solidity and physical presence through subtle lighting and shading effects. Shapes, forms and areas closest to the forefront of the image visually appear beyond the frontal plane of the canvas; and in the case of sculptures, details have more clarity than in nature. Hyperrealistic images are typically 10 to 20 times the size of the original photographic reference source, yet retain an extremely high resolution in color, precision and detail. Many of the paintings are achieved with an airbrush, using acrylics, oils or a combination of both. Ron Mueck's lifelike sculptures are scaled much larger or smaller than life and finished in incredibly convincing detail through the meticulous use of polyester resins and multiple molds. Bert Monroy's digital images appear to be actual paintings taken from photographs, yet they are fully created on computers.

Hyperrealism is a genre of painting and sculpture resembling a high-resolution photograph. Hyperrealism is considered an advancement of Photorealism by the methods used to create the resulting paintings or sculptures. The term is primarily applied to an independent art movement and art style in the United States and Europe that has developed since the early 1970s. Carole Feuerman is the forerunner in the hyperrealism movement along with Duane Hanson and John De Andrea.


Biography.

Peter II was a son of Peter I of Courtenay (died 1183), the youngest son of Louis VI of France and his second wife, Adélaide de Maurienne. His mother was Elisabeth de Courtenay, daughter of Renaud de Courtenay (died 1194) and Hawise du Donjon.  Peter first married Agnes I, via whom he obtained the three counties of Nevers, Auxerre, and Tonnerre. He took for his second wife Yolanda of Flanders (died 1219), a sister of Baldwin and Henry of Flanders, who were afterwards the first and second emperors of the Latin Empire of Constantinople. Peter accompanied his cousin, King Philip Augustus, on the crusade of 1190 and fought (alongside his brother Robert) in the Albigensian Crusade in 1209 and 1211, when he took part in the siege of Lavaur. He was present at the Battle of Bouvines in 1214.  When his brother-in-law, the emperor Henry, died without sons in 1216, Peter was chosen as his successor, and with a small army he left his residence of château de Druyes in France to take possession of his throne. He was consecrated emperor at the Basilica of Saint Lawrence outside the Walls in Rome by Pope Honorius III on 9 April 1217. He then borrowed some ships from the Venetians, promising in return to conquer Durazzo for them, but he failed in this enterprise, and sought to make his way to Constantinople by land. On the journey he was seized by the despot of Epirus, Theodore Komnenos Doukas, and, after an imprisonment of two years, died, probably by foul means. Peter thus never governed his empire, which, however, was ruled for a time by his wife, Yolanda, who had succeeded in reaching Constantinople. Two of his sons, Robert and Baldwin, reigned in turn as emperors of the Latin Empire of Constantinople.

Family.

By his first wife Agnes I, Countess of Nevers he had one child, Matilda I, Countess of Nevers.  By his second wife Yolanda of Flanders, he had 10 children:  He had an illegitimate son:

Peter, also Peter II of Courtenay (; died 1219), was emperor of the Latin Empire of Constantinople from 1216 to 1217.


Biography.

Baldwin II was born in Constantinople (the only Latin emperor to be born there), a younger son of Yolanda of Flanders, sister of the first two emperors, Baldwin I and Henry of Flanders. Her husband, Peter of Courtenay, was third emperor of the Latin Empire, and had been followed by his son Robert of Courtenay, on whose death in 1228 the succession passed to Baldwin, then an 11-year-old boy.  The barons chose John of Brienne as emperor-regent for life. Baldwin was also to marry Marie of Brienne, daughter of John and his third wife Berenguela of Leon, and on John's death to enjoy the full imperial sovereignty. The marriage contract was carried out in 1234. Since the death of Baldwin's uncle Emperor Henry in 1216, the Latin Empire had declined and the Byzantine (Nicene) power advanced; and the hopes that John of Brienne might restore it were disappointed. The realm Baldwin governed was little more than the city of Constantinople. He adopted the Byzantine title of "porphyrogenetos". His financial situation was desperate, and his life was chiefly occupied in begging at European courts. He went to the West in 1236, visited Rome, France and Flanders, trying to raise money and men to recover the lost territory of his realm. In 1237, with the support of the King of France and the Countess of Flanders, he chased his sister Margaret from power to become the next Count of Namur. But Baldwin was practically never present, and after the invasion and conquest of Namur by Henry V, Count of Luxembourg in 1256, he sold the rights on the County to his cousin Guy, Count of Flanders.  In around March 1238, Baldwin II's regency council pawned the Crown of Thorns to the Venetian Podestà of Constantinople for 13,134 "hyperpera" from a "consortium of creditors". His efforts met with success, and in 1240 he returned to Constantinople (through Germany and Hungary) at the head of a considerable army. Circumstances hindered him from accomplishing anything with this help, and in 1245 he traveled again to the West, first to Italy and then to France, where he spent two years. The empress Marie and Philip of Toucy governed during his absence. He was happy to be able to get money from King Louis IX in exchange for relics. In 1249 he was with King Louis at Damietta. The extremity of his financial straits reduced him soon afterwards to handing over his only son, Philip, to Venetian merchants as a pledge for loans of money. Philip was later redeemed by Alfonso X of Castile. The rest of his reign was spent by Baldwin in mendicant tours in western Europe.  On the night of 24 July 1261, a group of soldiers under Alexios Strategopoulos managed to enter Constantinople through a secret passageway and captured the city. Baldwin was asleep in the Blachernae Palace when the noise of the fighting awoke him; upon seeing the Byzantine troops advance upon him, he fled in such haste that he left his crown and sceptre behind him. Baldwin made his way to the harbor where he boarded a Venetian galley to Negropont. From there he proceeded to Athens, thence to Apulia, finally to France. As titular emperor, his role was still the same, to beg help from the western powers. In 1267 he went to Italy; his hopes were centred on Charles of Anjou. Charles seriously entertained the idea of conquering Constantinople, though his efforts were destroyed during the Sicilian Vespers, an event perhaps engineered by Michael VIII Palaeologus of Constantinople. To this intent, he signed the Treaty of Viterbo with Baldwin (May 1267). During the next year Baldwin and his son Philip lived on pensions from Charles. In October 1273 Philip married Beatrice, daughter of Charles, at Foggia. A few days later Baldwin died in Naples. Under Baldwin II, Constantinople's population had fallen to a mere 35,000 people.

Baldwin II, also known as Baldwin of Courtenay or Baldwin the Broke (; late 1217 – October 1273), was the last Latin Emperor ruling from Constantinople.


Taxonomy.

Four subspecies are recognised, though they differ little: The Indian subspecies are both larger than the African subspecies. The genus name "Psittacula" is a diminutive of Latin "psittacus", "parrot", and the specific "krameri" commemorates the Austrian naturalist Wilhelm Heinrich Kramer.

Distribution.

Since the 19th Century, the rose-ringed parakeet has successfully colonised many other countries. It breeds further north than any other parrot species. It has established itself on a large scale in Germany, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Italy, and especially the UK. See Feral Birds section below.

Ecology and behaviour.

Diet.

In the wild, rose-ringed parakeets usually feed on buds, fruits, vegetables, nuts, berries, and seeds. Wild flocks also fly several miles to forage in farmlands and orchards, causing extensive damage.  In India, they feed on cereal grains, and during winter also on pigeon peas. In Egypt during the spring, they feed on mulberry and in summer they feed on dates and nest inside palm trees and eat from sunflower and corn fields.  In captivity, rose-ringed parakeets will take a large variety of food and can be fed on a number of fruits, vegetables, pellets, seeds, and even small amounts of cooked meat for protein. Oils, salts, chocolate, alcohol, and other preservatives should be avoided.

Reproduction.

In north-west India, Indian rose-ringed parakeets form pairs from September to December. They do not have life mates and often breed with another partner during the following breeding season. During this cold season, they select and defend nest sites, thus avoiding competition for sites with other birds. Feeding on winter pea crops provides the female with nutrients necessary for egg production. From April to June, they care for their young. Fledglings are ready to leave the nest before monsoon.

Aviculture.

Rose-ringed parakeets are popular as pets and they have a long history in aviculture. The ancient Greeks kept the Indian subspecies "P. krameri manillensis", and the ancient Romans kept the African subspecies "P. krameri krameri". Colour mutations of the Indian rose-ringed parakeet subspecies have become widely available in recent years. A blue colour morph mutation of the rose ringed parakeet is also commonly kept in aviculture. Birds that display this mutation have solid light blue feathers instead of green, and lack the rings of their normal counterparts.

Mimicry.

Both males and females have the ability to mimic human speech. First, the bird listens to its surroundings, and then it copies the voice of the human speaker. Some people hand-raise rose-ringed parakeet chicks for this purpose. Such parrots then become quite tame and receptive to learning.

Feral birds.

A popular pet, the rose-ringed parakeet has been released in a wide range of cities around the world, giving it an environment with few predators where their preferred diet of seeds, nuts, fruits, and berries is available from suburban gardens and bird feeders. Its adaptations to cold winters in the Himalayan foothills allow it to easily withstand European winter conditions. It has established feral populations in a number of European cities, South Africa and Japan. There are also apparently stable populations in the US (Florida, California and Hawaii) and small self-sustaining populations in Ankara (concentrated in parks), Tunis, Tripoli and Tehran (concentrated in the north side of the city). It is also found throughout Lebanon, Israel, the UAE, Bahrain, Qatar, and Oman. A small number of escaped birds are in Australia.  The European populations became established during the mid-to-late 20th century. There is a burgeoning population of feral parakeets in Great Britain which is centred around suburban London and the Home Counties of South-East England. Parakeet numbers have been highest in the south-west of London, although the population has since spread rapidly, and large flocks of birds can be observed in places such as Crystal Palace Park, Battersea Park, Buckhurst Hill, Richmond Park, Wimbledon Common, Greenwich Park, and Hampstead Heath, as well as Surrey and Berkshire. Feral parakeets have also been observed in Abbey Wood, Bostall Heath, Bostall Woods and Plumstead Common. The winter of 2006 had three separate roosts of about 6000 birds around London. A smaller population occurs around Margate, Broadstairs and Ramsgate, Kent. There is also an established population to the North East of London in Essex at Loughton and Theydon Bois by Epping Forest. Elsewhere in Britain, smaller feral populations have become established from time to time (e.g., at Sefton Park and Greenbank Park in Liverpool, Studland, Dorset, Kensington Gardens, Nottingham, south Manchester and even as far north as Edinburgh). It has been suggested that feral parrots could endanger populations of native British birds, and that the rose-ringed parakeet could even be culled as a result, although this is not currently recommended by conservation organisations. A major agricultural pest in locations such as India, as of 2011 the rose-ringed parakeet population was growing rapidly, but is generally limited to urban areas in southern England  A Europe-wide count was held in 2015 and found 85,220 Rose-ringed parakeets in 10 European countries. In the Netherlands, the feral population in the four largest urban areas (Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Utrecht and especially in The Hague) was estimated at 10,000 birds in 2010, almost double the number of birds estimated in 2004. There also exists a feral population in Belgium, with as many as 5,000 pairs estimated in Brussels. These originate from an original population that was set free in 1974 by the owner of the Meli Zoo and Attraction Park near the Atomium who wanted to make Brussels more colourful. In Germany, these birds are found along the Rhine in all major urban areas such as Cologne, Düsseldorf (about 800 birds), Bonn, Ludwigshafen, Heidelberg and Speyer, Wiesbaden and Mainz, and Worms. Other populations are found around Paris, Rome — notably in the gardens of the Palatine Hill, the trees of the Trastevere and Janiculum and at Villa Borghese, in the Orto Botanico di Palermo in Palermo, in Genoa, in Barcelona and in Lisbon.  The specimens in these naturalised populations often represent intra-specific hybrids, originally between varying numbers (according to locality) of the subspecies "manillensis", "borealis", and/or (to a lesser extent) "krameri" along with some inter-specific hybrids with naturalised "Psittacula eupatria" (Alexandrine parakeet).  Where introduced, rose-ringed parakeets may affect native biodiversity and human economy and wellness.  In the United Kingdom and especially within London, parakeets face predation by native birds of prey and owls, including the Peregrine falcon ("Falco peregrinus"), Eurasian hobby ("F. subbuteo") and Tawny owl ("Strix aluco").  There is a feral population of the birds in Japan. In the 1960s many Japanese people became pet owners for the first time and the parakeet was widely imported as a pet. Some escaped or were released and formed populations around the country. By the 1980s groups could be found in Tokyo, Osaka, Nagoya, Niigata and Kyushu. Some groups since died out, but as of 2009 there was a large population residing at the Tokyo Institute of Technology's main campus at Ookayama, along with small groups in Maebashi and Chiba city.

The rose-ringed parakeet ("Psittacula krameri"), also known as the ring-necked parakeet, is a medium-sized parrot in the genus Psittacula, of the family Psittacidae. It has disjunct native ranges in Africa and South Asia, and is now introduced into many other parts of the world where feral populations have established themselves and are bred for the exotic pet trade.


History.

Founded in 1863 by Ernest Solvay and his brother Alfred Solvay to produce sodium carbonate by the Solvay process, the company has diversified into two main sectors of activity: chemicals and plastics. Before World War I, Solvay was the largest multinational company in the world. It was formerly also active in pharmaceuticals, but agreed to sell that entire division to Abbott Labs for €4.5 billion in September 2009, a deal completed in February 2010.  In April 2011, the firm agreed to the €3.4 billion acquisition of French-based chemicals company Rhodia which was completed in September 2011.  Since January 2012, the new Solvay is listed on the NYSE Euronext in Paris and joined the CAC 40 index in September 2012. Solvay is historically listed on the NYSE Euronext in Brussels and part of BEL20 index.  Following its integration with Rhodia, the Committee of Executive Members at Solvay reorganised its various business units into five segments – Consumer Chemicals, Advanced Materials, Performance Chemicals, Functional Polymers and Corporate & Business Services, effective from 2013.  The company is a supporter of the Solvay Conferences that were started by Ernest Solvay in 1911.  On December 3, 2015, Solvay launched a share issue sent to existing shareholders, completing funding for the $5.5 billion purchase of Cytec Industries Inc.

Corporate affairs.

The company's head office is located in Brussels, Belgium. It was previously in Ixelles, Brussels  Solvay's United States subsidiary, Solvay America, Inc., is based in Houston, Texas.

Products.

Solvay is a main partner of Solar Impulse and has contributed research and development resources to their solar powered airplane project. That aircraft conducted its first test flight on 3 December 2009, and since then has made solar-powered flights from Switzerland to Spain and Morocco in 2012.  Currently, Solar Impulse II is attempting a round the world flight.  Fuel cell technology SolviCore, a joint venture by Umicore and Solvay in the field of fuel cells is already pre-marketing membrane-electrode assemblies for different types of fuel cells for portable or mobile use. New generation lithium batteries for hybrid vehicles components make use of Solvay fluorinated polymers inorder to reduce carbon dioxide emissions.  Soil remediation Novosol: sodium bicarbonate-based process for treating and recovering mineral residues contaminated with heavy metals. Renewable feedstock Development and industrialization of proprietary Epicerol process for manufacturing epichlorohydrin from natural glycerin.

Solvay is a Belgian chemical company founded in 1863, with its head office in Neder-Over-Heembeek, Brussels, Belgium. In 2015, it realized €12.4 billion in revenues, €2.336 billion of REBITDA, 43% of its sales in emerging high-growth countries, 90% of its sales in markets where it is ranked among the top three manufacturers. With 145 sites, Solvay employs 30,900 people in 53 countries.


Biography.

He was born as Giacomo or Jacopo Attendolo in Cotignola (Romagna) to a rich family of rural nobility, son of Giovanni Attendolo (d. 1385/86) and Elisa, perhaps daughter of Ugolino Petraccini. Muzzo or Muzio was the short form of the nickname of Giacomuzzo, who was the name of his paternal grandfather. He had eight known siblings: Bosio (d. 1411), Margherita (by her first mariage de’ Ravignani and by her second Countess of Morcone), Francesco (d. 1412), Bartolo (d. 1412), Giorgio, Matteo (killed in 1388), Tonduzzo (killed with his brother in 1388) and Maria (d. 1412; by marriage Marchioness Pallavicino).  According to tradition, young Giacomo was plowing a field when a platoon of mercenaries led by Boldrino da Panicale passed nearby in search of recruits. He then stole one of his father's horses and followed the soldiers to follow the same career.  Later, together with his brothers Bosio, Francesco and Bartolo and two cousins, he joined the company of Alberico da Barbiano, who nicknamed him "Sforza" ("Strong") for his staunchness and his abilities to suddenly reverse the fortunes of battles. In 1398 he was at the service of Perugia against the Milanese troops of Gian Galeazzo Visconti, to whom Muzio soon switched his loyalty following the typical behavior of mercenary chieftains of the time. Later he fought for Florence against Visconti but in 1402, at the battle of Casalecchio, was defeated by his former master Alberico da Barbiano. In 1406 he captured Pisa and was subsequently hired by Niccolò III d'Este of Ferrara, who was being menaced by Ottobono Terzi of Parma.  King Ladislaus of Naples named him Gran Connestabile of his kingdom. Sforza's military qualities were mostly needed against Florence and the Pope. He remained for the rest of his life in the Kingdom of Naples, after the King's death (1414), at the service of queen Joan II. However, he attracted the jealousy of Joan's favorite, Pandolfello Alopo, who had him arrested and imprisoned. However, when Sforza's troops intervened, Alopo freed him and Joan gave him the fiefdoms of Benevento and Manfredonia. On this occasion Sforza married Caterina Alopo, Pandolfello's sister. A few months later Sforza was again arrested after a quarrel with James of Bourbon. He was freed only in 1416, after James' fall from power, and Joan gave him back the title of "Conestabile".  In 1417 Sforza was sent by Joan to help the pope against Braccio da Montone, together with his son Francesco. Later he returned briefly to Naples, but here he was opposed by Giovanni (Sergianni) Caracciolo, Joan's new lover. In the following, confused, events that led to the arrival of Louis III of Anjou in Naples in opposition to Alfonso V of Aragon, Sforza helped Joan and Sergianni to flee to Aversa.  In 1423, the city of L'Aquila rebelled against Braccio da Montone and he was sent to support it. In an attempt to save one of his pages during the fording of the Pescara River, Sforza drowned and his body was swept away by the waters.

Family.

Sforza had sixteen known children born from three marriages and two mistresses:  In 1409, Sforza married firstly with Antonia (d. 1411), widow of Francesco Casali, Lord of Cortona and daughter of Francesco Salimbeni, Patrician of Siena and Lord of Chiusi, Radicofani, Bagno Vignoni, Carsoli and Sarteano. They had one son:  On 16 June 1413, Sforza married secondly with Caterina (also named "Catella"; d. 1418 in childbirth), a sister of Pandolfello Piscopo ""Alopo"", Grand Chamberlain of the Kingdom of Naples and lover of Queen Joanna II. They had three children:  In 1421, Sforza married thirdly with Maria (d. 1440), daughter of Giacomo da Marzano, 1st Duke of Sessa, and Sovereign Countess of Celano after inherited from her first husband Nicola de Berardi. They had two children:  With his mistress Tamira di Cagli, Sforza had two children:  With his mistress Lucia Terzani da Marsciano (or "Lucia da Torsano" according to other sources; d. 1461), Sforza had eight children:

Other.

The Italian Regia Marina launched a cruiser called "Muzio Attendolo" in 1935. See also Condottieri class cruiser.

Muzio Attendolo Sforza (28 May 1369 – 4 January 1424), was an Italian "condottiero". Founder of the Sforza dynasty, he led a Bolognese-Florentine army at the Battle of Casalecchio.


Early life.

Fritz ter Meer was the son of Edmund ter Meer (1852–1931), who founded the chemical company Teerfarbenfabrik Dr. E. ter Meer & Cie in Uerdingen, which in 1925 became part of IG Farben. His family tree can be traced back to the 15th Century. After completing his schooling from 1903 to 1908 ter Meer studied in France and Germany also briefly chemistry and law. He received his doctorate in 1909 in Berlin with regard to the thesis of the ether Isonitrosoketonen. Subsequently, in-depth studies followed the dye chemistry in Krefeld and abroad in France and England.

Career.

Thereafter, he worked in the family-owned company Dr. E. ter Meer & Co., where he held senior positions and in 1919 became a member of the Board. After the merger he worked for IG Farben until 1945. Meer was responsible for running negotiations between IG Farben and Standard Oil.  From 1925 to 1945 Fritz ter Meer was on the board of IG Farben AG. He was also from 1932 a member of the Working Committee and the Technical Committee, Head of Division II in the War Ministry and the defense industry.

Nazi support during World War II.

In May 1937, he joined the Nazi Party (NSDAP). On 7 September 1939 he and Henry agreed with the Army Ordnance Hörlein the production of the gas Tabun, an extremely toxic nerve agent. More than 100 prisoners of war were used during construction of the designated poison gas factory in Dyhernfurth.  He was involved in the planning of Monowitz concentration camp, a satellite camp of KZ Auschwitz and responsible for helping build the IG Farben Buna Werke factory at Auschwitz, which conducted human experiments and held some 25,000 slave labourers under deplorable conditions.  In September 1943 he became General Agent for Italy, the Reich Minister for armaments and war production. In 1943 ter Meer received the Knight's Cross of War Merit Cross.

War crimes trial.

In 1945 the US began investigating the IG Farben for potential war crime violations, and US attorneys began questioning Farben executives. In 1946 Meer began writing company memos that tried to hide IG Farben's service to the Nazi party and the Hitler administration. On May 3, 1947, Meer along with 23 other board members and executives of IG Farben were charged with five counts of war crimes by US attorneys at the Nuremberg Military Tribunals: On August 27, 1947, the IG Farben Trial began. The trial lasted 152 days, ending on May 28, 1948. On July 29, 1948 the verdict was announced. On counts 1 and 5, specifically relating to the waging of wars, the defendants were found not guilty; while the court found the defendants had worked to assist the Nazi party there was not evidence the executives were directly advising Hitler. However, on the rest of the counts (mass murder/enslavement, plunder, SS membership), Meer - along with other executives- was found guilty as charged. He was sentenced to seven years imprisonment. The court, in part of its findings regarding Meer wrote: "The inference is strong that Farben officials subordinate to Ter Meer took the initiative in securing the services of these inmates at the plant site. This inference is further supported by the fact that Farben at its own expense and with funds appropriated by the TEA [Technical Committee], of which Ter Meer was chairman, built Camp Monowitz for the specific purpose of housing its concentration-camp workers. We are convinced beyond a reasonable doubt that the officials in charge of Farben construction went beyond the necessity created by the pressure of government officials and may be justly charged with taking the initiative in planning for and availing themselves of the use of concentration-camp labor. Of these officials Ter Meer had greatest authority."

Bayer chairmanship and later life.

He was released early in the summer of 1950 because of "good behaviour" from Landsberg Prison. In 1956 Meer became Chairman of the board for IG Farben spinoff, Bayer AG. He held the position of supervisory board chairman until 1964. In subsequent years, he also took on board positions at a number of other companies, including, inter alia, Theodor Goldschmidt AG, Commerzbank AG, Bank Association, Duewag, VIAG and Union Bank AG, West Germany.  He retired in 1961.  In his memory, his employer set up the Fritz-ter-Meer-Stiftung, now called the Bayer Science & Education Foundation, which promotes chemistry students through scholarships.

Fritz ter Meer (4 July 1884 – 27 October 1967) was a German chemist, Bayer board chairman, Nazi Party member and war criminal.


Early years.

Laliberté was born in 1959 in Quebec City, Quebec, Canada. His interest in show business began at a relatively young age. His parents took him to watch the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus, an experience which led Laliberté to read the biography of P. T. Barnum. While he was still in school, Guy produced several performing arts events. After school, he became a street performer, playing the harmonica and accordion on the streets of Quebec. Laliberté joined a performing troupe called Les Échassiers, which included fire-breathers, jugglers, and acrobats who hitchhiked around the country to shows. He later returned to Quebec, where he obtained a full-time job at a hydroelectric dam. However, soon after his employment began, the company's employees went on strike. Laliberté took the opportunity to return to his life as a street performer.  In 1980, he ran as a Rhinoceros Party candidate for the electoral district of Charlevoix in the 1980 federal election.

Career.

Cirque du Soleil.

Guy Laliberté co-founded Quebec's first internationally renowned circus with Gilles Ste-Croix and a small group of colleagues. He recognized and cultivated the talents of the buskers from the Fête foraine de Baie-Saint-Paul and created Cirque du Soleil in 1984 with the support of a government grant for the celebration of the 450th anniversary of Jacques Cartier's discovery of Canada. Cirque du Soleil was originally set up as a one-year project. However, the government of Quebec wanted a touring event that would perform in other provinces.  The name 'Cirque du Soleil' ("circus of the sun"), which Laliberté came up with while he was in Hawaii, reflects his notion that "the sun stands for energy and youth" and that the circus is about those two words. In founding the company, Guy Laliberté was assisted by Gilles Ste-Croix. It is said that Laliberté is the "father" of Cirque du Soleil while Ste-Croix is the "grandfather."  Since 1984, Laliberté has participated in the creation of every Cirque du Soleil show.  Cirque du Soleil has become a sprawling international operation, as much in terms of its makeup as in the scope of its activities and influence. The organization now has activities on five continents. Its shows employ approximately 4,000 people from over 40 countries and generate an estimated annual revenue exceeding US$810 million.  In 2015 he sold 90% of his stock in the company. On February 17, 2020, he sold the remaining 10% to Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec.

Poker career.

In April 2007, Laliberté finished fourth in the World Poker Tour Season Five event at Bellagio in Las Vegas and won $696,220. Laliberté also played on GSN's "High Stakes Poker" Season 4 show and took part in "Poker After Dark" season 4. He was also known for frequenting the highest stakes games on Full Tilt Poker. In 2011 Laliberté announced the Big One, a $1 million dollar buy-in tournament which was featured at the 2012 World Series of Poker. Part of the prize money was donated to Laliberté's philanthropic organization One Drop Foundation. 48 players participated in the tournament and Antonio Esfandiari won the $18,346,673 first-place prize. The tournament raised $5,333,328 for the One Drop foundation.  Laliberté has lost the most amount of money on online poker cash games. Over his six accounts, noataima, patatino, lady marmelade, elmariachimacho, Esvedra and Zypherin, Laliberté has lost approximately US$31,000,000.

Spaceflight.

In September 2009, Laliberté became the first Canadian space tourist. His spaceflight was dedicated to raising awareness on water issues facing humankind, making his spaceflight the first, in his words, "poetic social mission" in space. The event was accompanied by a 120-minute webcast program featuring various artistic performances in 14 cities on five continents, including the International Space Station.  In May 2020, Canada's Federal Court of Appeals ruled that his trip should be considered primarily personal, and not work related, and directed income tax be assessed on 90% of the cost of the trip.  In June 2011, Laliberté published a book, entitled "Gaia", containing photos of Earth from his 2009 trip to the International Space Station. Proceeds from his book are to go to the One Drop Foundation.

Atoll of Nukutepipi.

Guy Laliberté became in 2007 the owner of the atoll of Nukutepipi in the French Polynesia. Major works that took place there were expected to end in 2016 at the cost of approximately CA$20 million, according to "Journal de Montréal" (see below).  In May 2014, Guy Laliberté told the "Journal de Montréal" that he wanted to make of this place a shelter that could accommodate his family and friends in the event of a global catastrophe. "Because of all that's happening in the world, I said to myself: that could be the place where, in case of an epidemic or a total war, I could bring people I like and my family so that we'd be protected. It will be completely autonomous on the level operation: solar, environmental, ecologic."  On 13 November 2019, following his arrest for cannabis cultivation, Laliberté's investment firm Lune Rouge stated that "Laliberté is being questioned in respect of cultivation of cannabis for his personal use only at the residence on the island of Nukutepipi" in Tahiti..

Awards and honours.

In 1997, Guy Laliberté received the National Order of Quebec, the highest distinction awarded by the Government of Quebec. In 2001, he was named a Great Montrealer by the Académie des Grands Montréalais. In 2003, he was honored by the Condé Nast group as part of the Never Follow Program, a tribute to creators and innovators. In 2004, he received the Order of Canada, the highest distinction in the country, from the Governor General of Canada. The same year, he was recognized by "Time Magazine" as one of the 100 most influential people in the world.  In 2006, Laliberté took the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year award for all three levels: Quebec, Canada and international. Entrepreneur of the Year, then, in 2007, was named Ernst & Young World Entrepreneur Of The Year.  Université Laval (Québec) awarded an honorary doctorate to Guy Laliberté in 2008. On 22 November 2010, he and Cirque du Soleil were honoured with the 2,424th star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Personal life.

Laliberté's son Kami is a racing driver competing in the European junior formulae. He recorded one race victory in F4 but has no record of racing after 2017. His daughter Naïma is a competitive dressage rider.

Guy Laliberté, (born 2 September 1959) is a Canadian billionaire businessman, and poker player. Along with Gilles Ste-Croix, he is the co-founder of Cirque du Soleil. In January 2018, Laliberté was ranked by "Forbes" as the 11th wealthiest Canadian.


Life.

Bianca was born in Pavia as the eldest daughter of Galeazzo Maria Sforza, Duke of Milan, by his second wife, Bona of Savoy. Bianca's paternal grandparents were Francesco I Sforza and Bianca Maria Visconti, for whom she was named.  When Bianca was not yet five years old, her father was assassinated inside the Church of Santo Stefano in Milan on 26 December 1476, which was the Feast Day of St. Stephen. He was stabbed to death by three high-ranking officials of the Milanese court.

First marriage.

On 6 January 1474 the 21-month-old Bianca married her first cousin Philibert I, Duke of Savoy, the son of her uncle Amadeus IX of Savoy, and Yolande of France. Duke Philibert I died in the spring of 1482, leaving Bianca a widow at the age of ten. She returned to Milan, under the tutelage of her uncle Ludovico "Il Moro", who cared little about her education and allowed her to indulge her own interests, mainly needlework.

Betrothals.

Three years later, on 31 July 1485, the engagement between Bianca and Janus Corvinus, the only (though illegitimate) son of King Matthias of Hungary was formally announced. With this marriage, the Hungarian ruler wanted to secure his son's future inheritance of Hungary and Bohemia and to make him Duke of Austria. The marriage by proxy was signed on 25 November 1487, and according to the terms of the contract, Bianca received several Hungarian counties. However, due to the opposition and intrigues of Queen Beatrix, wife of Matthias, the formal marriage never took place. In March 1492 a marriage between Bianca and King James IV of Scotland was considered, but the idea was soon abandoned.

Queen and Empress.

On 16 March 1494 in Hall, Tyrol, she married for the second time, to the King of the Holy Roman Empire, Maximilian I, who had been a widower since the death of his first wife Mary of Burgundy, who was fatally injured on 27 March 1482 after falling from her horse. Bianca's second marriage was arranged by her uncle, who wanted recognition and the title of Duke confirmed by the Emperor; in exchange, the Emperor received a large dowry along with Bianca. Her magnificent retinue on her way to her wedding aroused much attention.  At her wedding, Bianca wore a bodice "with eighty pieces of the jeweler's art pinned thereon, with each piece consisting of one ruby and four pearls". She also brought her husband a rich dowry of 400,000 ducats, and through his marriage, Maximilian was able to assert his right to the Imperial overlordship of Milan. This angered Anne of France, regent of France for her brother King Charles VIII, and brought about French intervention in Italy, thus inaugurating the lengthy Italian Wars.  The union was unhappy: shortly after the consummation of the marriage, Maximilian complained that Bianca may have been more beautiful than his first wife but was not as wise. It was impossible for the young bride to win the affection of her husband, who considered her too uneducated, talkative, naive, wasteful with money, and careless. He did wish to have children with her, but all their attempts failed: despite Bianca's several pregnancies, none produced a living child. She very much liked his two surviving legitimate children (Philip the Handsome, who married Joanna of Castile, and Archduchess Margaret of Austria, who first married John, Prince of Asturias, and later Philibert II, Duke of Savoy), but was criticized for forgetting her dignity when she sat on the floor with them to play.  After 1500, Maximilian lost all interest in Bianca. She lived with her own court of Milanese people in various castles in Tyrol. On several occasions he left her behind as security when he could not pay for his rooms on trips.  Maximilian took the title of Holy Roman Emperor Elect in 1508. Bianca was, by marriage, Empress of the Holy Roman Empire.  Bianca Maria Sforza died at Innsbruck on 31 December 1510. She was buried at Stams. Her husband did not attend her funeral or even dedicate a gravestone to her.  A noteworthy portrait of Bianca Maria Sforza by Ambrogio de Predis hangs in the National Gallery of Art of the United States in Washington, D.C.

Bianca Maria Sforza (5 April 1472 – 31 December 1510) was a Queen of the Romans and Holy Roman Empress as the third spouse of Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor. She was the eldest legitimate daughter of Galeazzo Maria Sforza, Duke of Milan, by his second wife, Bona of Savoy.


History.

Furfural was first isolated in 1821 (published in 1832) by the German chemist Johann Wolfgang Döbereiner, who produced a small sample as a byproduct of formic acid synthesis. At the time, formic acid was formed by the distillation of dead ants, and Döbereiner's ant bodies probably contained some plant matter. In 1840, the Scottish chemist John Stenhouse found that the same chemical could be produced by distilling a wide variety of crop materials, including corn, oats, bran, and sawdust, with aqueous sulfuric acid; he also determined an empirical formula of (CHO). George Fownes named this oil furfurol in 1845 (from "furfur" - bran, and "oleum"). This name persisted prominently in the literature until 1901 when the German chemist Carl Harries deduced furfural's structure.  Furfural remained relatively obscure until 1922, when the Quaker Oats Company began mass-producing it from oat hulls. Today, furfural is still produced from agricultural byproducts like sugarcane bagasse and corn cobs. The main countries producing furfural today are the Dominican Republic, South Africa and China.

Properties.

Furfural dissolves readily in most polar organic solvents, but it is only slightly soluble in either water or alkanes.  Furfural participates in the same kinds of reactions as other aldehydes and other aromatic compounds. It exhibits less aromatic character than benzene, as can be seen from the fact that furfural is readily hydrogenated to tetrahydrofurfuryl alcohol. When heated in the presence of acids, furfural irreversibly polymerizes, acting as a thermosetting polymer.

Production.

Furfural may be obtained by the acid catalyzed dehydration of 5-carbon sugars (pentoses), particularly xylose.  These sugars may be obtained from hemicellulose present in lignocellulosic biomass, which can be extracted from most terrestrial plants.  Between 3% and 10% of the mass of crop residue feedstocks can be recovered as furfural, depending on the type of feedstock. Furfural and water evaporate together from the reaction mixture, and separate upon condensation. The global production capacity is about 800,000 tons as of 2012. China is the biggest supplier of furfural, and accounts for the greater part of global capacity. The other two major commercial producers are Illovo Sugar in the Republic of South Africa and Central Romana in the Dominican Republic  In the laboratory, furfural can be synthesized from plant material by reflux with dilute sulfuric acid or other acids.  In industrial production, some lignocellulosic residue remains after the removal of the furfural. This residue is dried and burned to provide steam for the operation of the furfural plant. Newer and more energy efficient plants have excess residue, which is or can be used for co-generation of electricity, cattle feed, activated carbon, mulch/fertiliser, etc.

Uses and occurrence.

It is found in many foods: coffee (55–255 mg/kg) and whole grain bread (26 mg/kg).  Furfural is an important renewable, non-petroleum based, chemical feedstock. It can be converted into a variety of solvents, polymers, fuels and other useful chemicals by a range of catalytic reductions.  Hydrogenation of furfural provides furfuryl alcohol (FA), which is used to produce Furan resins, which are exploited in thermoset polymer matrix composites, cements, adhesives, casting resins and coatings. Further hydrogenation of furfuryl alcohol leads to tetrahydrofurfuryl alcohol (THFA), which is used as a solvent in agricultural formulations and as an adjuvant to help herbicides penetrate the leaf structure.  Another important solvent made from furfural is methyltetrahydrofuran. Furfural is used to make other furan derivatives, such as furoic acid, via oxidation, and furan itself via palladium catalyzed vapor phase decarbonylation.  Furfural is also a specialized chemical solvent.  There is a good market for value added chemicals that can be obtained from furfural.

Safety.

Furfural is carcinogenic in lab animals and mutagenic in single cell organisms, but there is no data on human subjects. It is classified in IARC Group 3 due to the lack of data on humans and too few tests on animals to satisfy Group 2A/2B criteria. It is hepatotoxic.  The median lethal dose is low 650–900 mg/kg (oral, dogs), consistent with its pervasiveness in foods.  The Occupational Safety and Health Administration has set a permissible exposure limit for furfural at 5ppm over an eight-hour time-weighted average (TWA), and also designates furfural as a risk for skin absorption.

Furfural is an organic compound with the formula CHOCHO. It is a colorless liquid, although commercial samples are often brown. It has an aldehyde group attached to the 2-position of furan. It is a product of the dehydration of sugars, as occur in a variety of agricultural byproducts, including corncobs, oat, wheat bran, and sawdust. The name "furfural" comes from the Latin word, meaning bran, referring to its usual source. Furfural is only derived from lignocellulosic biomass, i.e. its origin is non-food or non-coal/oil based. Aside from ethanol, acetic acid and sugar it is one of the oldest renewable chemicals. It is also found in many processed foods and beverages.


Skipping rope techniques.

There are many techniques which can be used when skipping. These can be used individually, or combined in a series, to create a routine.

Solo participants.

Basic jump or easy jump.

Jump with both feet slightly apart over the rope. Beginners usually master this technique first before moving onto more advanced techniques.

Alternate foot jump (speed step).

Use alternate feet to jump off the ground. This technique can be used to effectively double the number of jumps per minute as compared to the above technique. This step can be used for speed events.

Criss-cross.

Also known as crossover or cross arms. Perform the basic jump whilst crossing arms in front of the body.

Side Swing.

The rope is passed by the side of the participant's body, without jumping it.

EB (front-back cross or sailor).

Perform the criss-cross whilst crossing one arm behind the back.

Double under.

A high basic jump, turning the rope twice under the feet. Turning the rope three times is called a triple under. In competitions, participants may attempt quadruple (quads) and quintuple unders (quins) using the same method.

Toad.

Perform the criss-cross with one arm crossing under the opposite leg from the inside.

Leg over / Crougar.

A basic jump with one arm hooked under the adjacent leg.

Awesome Annie.

Also known as Awesome Anna or swish. Alternates between a leg over and a toad without a jump in between.

Inverse toad.

Perform the toad whilst one arm crosses the adjacent leg from the outside.

Elephant.

A cross between the inverse toad and the toad, with both arms crossing under one leg.

Frog or Donkey kick.

The participant does a handstand, returns to their feet and turns the rope under them. A more advanced version turns the rope during the return to the ground.

TJ.

A triple-under where the first 'jump' is a side swing, middle jump is a toad, and the final jump in an open.

Competition techniques.

In competitions, participants are required to demonstrate competence using specific techniques. The selection depend on the judging system and country in which the tournament is held.

Health effects.

Skipping as exercise.

Skipping may be used as a cardiovascular workout, similar to jogging or bicycle riding, and has a high MET or intensity level. This aerobic exercise can achieve a "burn rate" of up to 700 to over 1200 calories per hour of vigorous activity, with about 0.1 to nearly 1.1 calories consumed per jump mainly depending upon the speed and intensity of jumps and leg foldings. Ten minutes of skipping is roughly the equivalent of running an eight-minute mile. Skipping for 15–20 minutes is enough to burn off the calories from a candy bar and is equivalent to 45–60 minutes of running depending upon the intensity of jumps and leg swings. Many professional trainers, fitness experts and professional fighters greatly recommend skipping for burning fat over any other alternative exercises like running and jogging.  Weighted skipping ropes are available for such athletes to increase the difficulty and effectiveness of such exercise. Individuals or groups can participate in the exercise, and learning proper techniques is relatively simple compared to many other athletic activities. The exercise is also appropriate for a wide range of ages and fitness levels.

Competition.

International.

There are two main world organisations: International Rope Skipping Federation (FISAC-IRSF), and the World Jump Rope Federation (WJRF). There have been 11 World Championships on every alternate year by (FISAC), with the most recent held in Shanghai, China. There have been 7 World Jump Rope Championships held every year by (WJRF); the most recent taking place in Orlando, Florida. Other locations of this championship include Washington DC, France, and Portugal.  Merger Recently International Rope Skipping Federation (FISAC-IRSF) and World Jump Rope Federation (WJRF) both announced merged organisation called International Jump Rope Union.The International Jump Rope Union (IJRU) has become the 10th International Federation to gain GAISF Observer status. The decision was taken by the Global Association of International Sports Federations (GAISF) Council, which met during SportAccord in Bangkok. Observer status is the first step on a clear pathway for new International Federations towards the top of the Olympic Family pyramid. Those who wish to proceed will be assisted by GAISF, leading them into full GAISF membership through the Alliance of Independent Recognised Members of Sport (AIMS), and the Association of IOC Recognised International Sports Federations (ARISF).  International Rope Skipping Organisation later in 2019 International Rope Skipping Organisations IRSO re-emerged and reactivated its activities. The organisation is headed by the founder of Rope Skipping / Jump Rope sport Richard Cendali. IRSO disagree and was not happy the way both organisations International Rope Skipping Federation and World Jump Rope Federation ignored several long-standing organisations in this merger. Various organisations that have long-standing for the development of the sport but eft out of the merger came under IRSO under the leadership of Richard Cendali. USA Jump Rope Federation and newly formed Asian Rope Skipping Association also joined IRSO and decided to host their World Championship in conjunction with AAU.

World Inter School.

The first World Inter-School Rope Skipping Championship was held at Dubai, November 2015. The second World Inter-School Rope Skipping Championship was held at Eger, Hungary. The Championship was organised by World Inter School Rope Skipping Organisation (WIRSO). Second, third and fourth World Inter-School championships held in Hungary 2017, Hong Kong 2018 and Belgium 2019 respectively.

United States.

Historically in the United States there were two competing jump rope organizations: the International Rope Skipping Organization (IRSO), and the World Rope Skipping Federation (WRSF). IRSO focused on stunt-oriented and gymnastic/athletic type moves, while the WRSF appreciated the aesthetics and form of the exercise. In 1995 these two organizations merged to form the United States Amateur Jump Rope Federation (now, USA Jump Rope). USA Jump Rope hosts annual national tournaments, as well as camps, workshops, and clinics on instruction. Jump rope is also part of the Amateur Athletic Union and participates in their annual AAU Junior Olympic Games.  Speed jump ropes are made from a thin vinyl cord. They are best for indoor use, because they will wear down fast on concrete or other harsh surfaces. The beaded ropes make rhythmic jumping very easy, because the jumper can hear the beads hitting the ground and strive for a rhythmic pattern. The leather jump rope tangles less than the speed rope.

A skipping rope (British English) or jump rope (American English) is a tool used in the sport of skipping/jump rope where one or more participants jump over a rope swung so that it passes under their feet and over their heads. There are multiple subsets of skipping/jump rope, including single freestyle, single speed, pairs, three-person speed (Double Dutch), and three-person freestyle (Double Dutch freestyle). Often separated by sex and age, events include hundreds of competitive teams all around the world. There are a few major organizations that support jump rope as a sport as seen below. In the US, schools rarely have jump rope teams, and states do not sanction official events for high school or elementary school. In freestyle events, jumpers use a variety of basic and advanced techniques in a routine of one minute, which is judged by a head judge, content judges, and performance judges. In speed events, a jumper alternates their feet with the rope going around the jumper every time one of their feet hit the ground for 30 seconds, one minute, or three minutes. The jumper is judged on the number of times the right foot touches the ground in those times.


Early life.

Born in the city of Potsdam, Blobel fought in the First World War, in which by all accounts he served well, being decorated with the Iron Cross first class. After the war, Blobel studied architecture and practiced this profession from 1924 until 1931, when upon losing his job he joined the Nazi Party, the SA, and the SS (he had joined all of these by 1 December 1931).

SS career.

In 1933 Blobel joined the police force in Düsseldorf. In June 1934 he was recruited into the SD Security Service. During World War II, following Operation Barbarossa, in June 1941 Blobel became the commanding officer of "Sonderkommando 4a" of Einsatzgruppe C, active in Reichskommissariat Ukraine. Both, "Einsatzgruppen" and the Order Police battalions were responsible for massacres of Jews behind the Wehrmacht lines in the Soviet Union. The murder campaign included all political and racial undesirables. In August 1941 Blobel was put in charge of creating a Nazi ghetto in Zhytomyr to enclose around 3,000 Jews who were murdered a month later.  On 10 or 11 August 1941, Friedrich Jeckeln ordered him, on behalf of Adolf Hitler, to exterminate the entire Jewish population. On 22 August 1941, the "Sonderkommando" murdered Jewish women and children at Bila Tserkva with the consent of Field Marshal Walther von Reichenau, commander of the 6th Army. SS-"Obersturmführer" August Häfner testified at his own 1942 trial:  Blobel, in conjunction with Reichenau's and Friedrich Jeckeln's units, organised the Babi Yar massacre in late September 1941 in Kiev, where 33,771 Jews were murdered. In November 1941, Blobel received and activated the first gas vans at Poltava.  Blobel was relieved of his command on 13 January 1942, officially for health reasons, but mostly due to his alcoholism. In June 1942 he was put in charge of Aktion 1005, with the task of destroying the evidence of all Nazi atrocities in Eastern Europe. This entailed exhumation of mass graves, then incinerating the bodies. Blobel developed efficient disposal techniques such as alternating layers of bodies with firewood on a frame of iron rails.  In October 1944 he headed an anti-partisan group in Yugoslavia. Gitta Sereny related the conversation about Blobel she once had with one-time Chief of the Church Information Branch at the Reich Security Head Office, Albert Hartl.

Trial and conviction.

Up to 59,018 killings are attributable to Blobel, though during testimony he was alleged to have killed 10,000–15,000 people. He was later sentenced to death by the U.S. Nuremberg Military Tribunal in the Einsatzgruppen trial. He was hanged at Landsberg Prison shortly after midnight on June 7, 1951.

Paul Blobel (13 August 1894 – 7 June 1951) was a German SS commander and convicted war criminal. He was the key figure in organising and executing the Babi Yar massacre of 1941. In June 1942, Blobel was put in charge of Sonderaktion 1005, with the task of destroying the evidence of Nazi atrocities in Eastern Europe. After the war, he was convicted at the Einsatzgruppen Trial and executed.


Members.

The Paneuropean Union is one of the largest European organizations and in 2020 has member organizations in

History.

The organisation was prohibited by Nazi Germany in 1933, and was founded again after the Second World War. Otto von Habsburg, the head of the Habsburg dynasty and former Crown Prince of Austria-Hungary, became involved with the Paneuropean Union in the 1930s, was elected its Vice President in 1957 and became its International President in 1973, after Coudenhove's death. The President of the Union since 2004 is Alain Terrenoire, former Member of Parliament in France and MEP and Director of the French Paneuropa-Union. Otto Habsburg became the International Honorary President of the International Paneuropean Union in 2004. Its Vice President is Walburga Habsburg Douglas, a member of the Swedish Parliament.  The Union has branches in many European countries, with the General Secretariat located in Munich. In France, the Pan-Europa Union was founded by later President Georges Pompidou and later cabinet minister Louis Terrenoire, with the support of Charles de Gaulle. The Union achieved high political influence in France, particularly within the Gaullist segment of French politics.  Winston Churchill lauded the movement's work for a unified Europe prior to the war in his famous Zurich speech in 1946.  In 1947, the group formed around Duncan Sandys, Winston Churchill, Edvard Beneš and others split into newly formed European Movement in opposition of the Union's strong Christian right.  Grounded in liberal values, the Paneuropean Union was considered staunchly anti-communist from its inception and especially during the Cold War. For this reason, the organisation was much reviled by the communist regimes of the Eastern Bloc. The organisation became renowned for its role in organising the Pan-European Picnic, an important event during the Revolutions of 1989.

Prominent Members.

The Paneuropean Union lists the following as historical members:

The International Paneuropean Union, also referred to as the Paneuropean Movement and the Pan-Europa Movement, is the oldest European unification movement. It began with the publishing of Count Richard von Coudenhove-Kalergi's manifesto "Paneuropa" (1923), which presented the idea of a unified European State. Coudenhove-Kalergi, a member of the Bohemian Coudenhove-Kalergi family and the son of an Austro-Hungarian diplomat and a Japanese mother, was the organisation's central figure and President until his death in 1972.


Biography.

Early life and anarchism.

Born in Chengdu, Sichuan, Li was born into a scholarly family of officials. His paternal grandfather ruled the large, five generation household with an autocratic hand, which young Li found stifling, not unlike that depicted in his famous novel, "The Family". As a child Li was taught to read and write first by his mother, and later by privately engaged house tutors. It was not until the death of this grandfather in 1917, causing a power struggle which ended with an elder uncle emerging victorious, that he was released to explore the world. As a youngster, Li read widely and was deeply influenced by Piotr Kropotkin's famous pamphlet, "An Appeal to the Young", which he read at age fifteen. Hugely impressed by Emma Goldman, whom he later referred to as his "spiritual mother", Li started a lifelong correspondence with her.  In 1920, Li enrolled, with an elder brother, in the Chengdu Foreign Language Specialist School to study English. It was there he first engaged in the organization of literary journal "Crescent" and wrote a number of vers libre. Joining an anarchist organization, the Equality Society, Li became its most prominent member, actively distributing propaganda leaflets.  Three years later, Li moved to Shanghai and subsequently to Dongnan University, Nanjing on the pretext of study, but mainly, as he put it, to escape the feudalistic (fengjian) influence of his family. There, he mastered Esperanto within one year of study and took part in leftist socialist strikes, while remaining active in the anarchist movement, writing a pamphlet on the Chicago Anarchist Martyrs.

France (1927–1928).

On graduation, he left on board a liner on February 15, 1927, with a friend for Paris, France, for further studies, where he lodged at the 5th arrondissement (three months at Rue Banville, then Rue Tournefort, No. 2). He described his life there as boring and monotonous, taking daily afternoon walks at the Jardin du Luxembourg and evening French lessons at Alliance Francaise. He recalled especially Rousseau's statue at the Panthéon ("I almost knelt before it...he whom Tolstoy described as the conscience of the 18th century"), the River Seine and the tolling of the Notre Dame. In Paris, Li writes:  It was partly owing to boredom when Li began to write his first novel, "Miewang" (“Destruction”). In France, Li continued his anarchist activism, translated many anarchist works, including Kropotkin's "Ethics", into Chinese, which was mailed back to Shanghai's anarchist magazines for publication. Alexander Berkman was one of many anarchist leaders he met there.  The trials of Italian immigrants Sacco and Vanzetti filled the fervent writer with anger and Ba Jin worked tirelessly to champion their release. Vanzetti apparently was moved enough to reply to the young man from his American prison, with a package of anarchist texts for his readings. Their short correspondence ceased when Vanzetti was executed, along with Sacco, on August 23, 1927. Li published in late 1932 the short story "The Electric Chair" (), to protest against their execution.

Shanghai and later life.

On his return to Shanghai in 1928, Ba Jin continued writing and working on translations. His first novel, "Destruction", was released serially by "Fiction Monthly" in 1929, a foremost literary magazine, and earned him many admirers.  During the next 10 years, Li acted as editor to several important publishing firms and periodicals, as well as composing the works which he is best known for – "The Family" (1931), The Love Trilogy "Fog" (1931), "Rain" (1933) and "Lightning" (1935), the novellas "Autumn in Spring" and "A Dream of the Sea", the short story collection "Mengya" (“Germination”) and prose writings in "Fuchou" ("Vengeance") and "Shen, Gui, Ren" ("Gods, Ghosts and Men").  During the Second Sino-Japanese War, Ba Jin was actively involved in propaganda work against the Japanese invasion, working on the publication "Nahan" (“Outcries”, later renamed "Fenghuo", “Beacons”) with Mao Dun. In the later stages of the war, Ba Jin completed the famous Torrents Trilogy — of which "The Family" (1931) was the first written — with "Spring" (1938) and "Autumn" (1940). Other works of the post-war period, like the short novels "A Garden of Repose" (1944), "Ward Four" (1946) and "Cold Nights" (1947), contain some of his strongest writing. He ceased fiction writing after the establishment of the People's Republic of China, choosing to concentrate on nonfiction instead.  During the Cultural Revolution, Ba Jin was heavily persecuted as a counter-revolutionary. His wife, Xiao Shan, died during the Revolution after being denied medical care, and the manner of her death traumatized Ba Jin for the rest of his life. He was rehabilitated in 1977, after which he was elected to many important national literary posts, including chairman of the Chinese Writers' Association (since 1983). The most significant work of his later years is the discursive writings in "Suixiang Lu" (translated as "Random Thoughts", five volumes, composed between 1978 and 1986), in which, among other things, he reflected on the Cultural Revolution in a painfully honest manner and asked specifically for a Cultural Revolution Museum to be set up as a deterrent for future generations.  He spoke and advocated Esperanto and in the 1980s was the vice-president of the Chinese Esperanto League.  Ba Jin's works were heavily influenced by foreign writers, including Émile Zola, Ivan Turgenev, Alexandr Herzen, Anton Chekhov, and Emma Goldman, and a substantial amount of his collected works are devoted to translations. His writing style, characterized by simplicity, avoids difficult, abstruse words, making him one of the most popular of all modern Chinese writers.  Ba Jin suffered from Parkinson's disease beginning in 1983, and the ailment almost completely debilitated him in his later years. The illness confined him to a hospital unable to speak and walk during the last few years of his life. Ba Jin died of cancer in Shanghai at the age of 100 (101 by Chinese reckoning) in 2005. His death marked the end of an era for Chinese literature, especially since he was the last major writer to live through the May Fourth Movement. He received the Fukuoka Asian Culture Prize in 1990.  Asteroid 8315 Bajin is named in his honor.

Li Yaotang (25 November 190417 October 2005), better known by his pen name Ba Jin and also known as Li Pei Kan, was a Chinese author and political activist best known for his novel "The Family". He is considered to be one of the most important and widely read Chinese writers of the 20th century.


Initial campaigns.

When Nicephorus I became emperor in 802, he planned to reincorporate Bulgar-held territory back into the empire. In 807 he launched a campaign but only reached Odrin and achieved nothing because of a conspiracy in his capital. That attempted attack, however, gave reason for the Bulgar Khan Krum to undertake military operations against the Byzantine Empire. The main objective was an extension to the south and south-west. In the next year a Bulgar army penetrated the Struma Valley and defeated the Byzantines. The Bulgar troops captured 1,100 "litres" (roughly 332 to 348 kilograms) of gold and killed many enemy soldiers including all "strategoi" and most of the commanders. In 809 the Khan personally besieged the strong fortress of Serdica and seized the city, killing the whole garrison of 6,000.

Preparation for an invasion.

In 811, the Byzantine Emperor organised a large campaign to conquer Bulgaria once and for all. He gathered an enormous army from the Anatolian and European "themata", and the imperial bodyguard (the "tagmata"); they were joined by a number of irregular troops who expected a swift victory and plunder. The conquest was supposed to be easy, and most of the high-ranking officials and aristocrats accompanied him, including his son Stauracius and his brother-in-law Michael I Rangabe. The whole army consisted of around 60,000 to 80,000 soldiers.

Sack of Pliska.

The army gathered in May, and by 10 July had set up camp at the fortress of Marcelae (present-day Karnobat) near the Bulgarian frontier. Nicephorus intended to confuse them and over the next ten days launched several supposed attacks, which were immediately called back. Krum assessed the situation and estimated that he could not repulse the enemy and offered peace, which Nicephorus haughtily rejected. Theophanes wrote that the Emperor, "was deterred from his own ill thoughts and the suggestions of his advisors who were thinking like him". Some of his military chiefs considered the invasion of Bulgaria to be imprudent and too risky, but Nicephorus was convinced of his ultimate success.  In June he invaded the Bulgarian lands and marched through the Balkan passes towards the capital of Pliska. On 20 July Nicephorus divided the army into three columns, each marching by a different route towards Pliska. He met little resistance and after three days he reached the capital where the Byzantines met an army of 12,000 elite soldiers who guarded the stronghold. The Bulgarians were defeated and most of them perished. Another hastily assembled army of 15,000 soldiers had a similar fate. On 23 July the Byzantines quickly captured the defenseless capital. The city was sacked and the countryside destroyed. Khan Krum attempted once more to negotiate for peace. According to the historian Theophanes, Krum's proclamation stated, "Here you are, you have won. So take what you please and go with peace." Nicephorus, overconfident from his success, ignored him. He believed that Bulgaria was thoroughly conquered.  Michael the Syrian, patriarch of the Syrian Jacobites in the twelfth century, described in his Chronicle the brutalities and atrocities of Nicephorus's troops: "Nicephorus, emperor of the Romans, walked in Bulgarians land: he was victorious and killed a great number of them. He reached their capital, took it over and devastated it. His savagery went to such a point that he ordered to bring their small children, got them tied down on earth and made thresh grain stones to smash them." The Byzantine soldiers looted and plundered; burnt down the unharvested fields, cut the tendons of the oxen, slaughtered sheep and pigs." The Emperor took over Krum's treasury, locked it and did not allow his troops to reach it.

Battle.

While Nicephorus and his army were busy plundering the Bulgarian capital, Krum mobilized his people (including women and Avar mercenaries) to set traps and ambushes in the mountain passes. Initially Nicephorus intended to march through Moesia and reach Serdica before returning to Constantinople but the news of these preparations for a battle changed his decision and he chose the shortest way to his capital. The overconfident Emperor neglected to scout ahead. On 25 July his army entered the Varbica Pass but his cavalry told him the road was barred with thick wooden walls and Krum's detachments watched from the heights around. The Emperor became panicked by the situation and repeatedly stated to his companions "Even if we have had wings we could not have escaped from peril." Before they could retreat, the Bulgars blocked the valley entrance too.  Nicephorus, unable to face attacking one of the palisades, simply set up camp, despite his generals' misgivings. By the third night Byzantine morale was shattered, while Bulgar troops banged their shields and taunted them.  On that night the Bulgarians gathered their troops and tightened the belt around the trapped enemy. At dawn they rushed down and started to kill the panicked and totally confused Byzantines. The "tagmata" were the first to be attacked. The Byzantines fruitlessly resisted for a short time and perished. Upon seeing their comrades' fate, the next units immediately ran away.  On their way south the Byzantine forces hit a muddy river which was difficult to cross. As they could not find a ford quickly enough, many Byzantines fell into the river. The first stalled in the mud with their horses and were trampled by those who came next. The river was filled with so many dead that the chasing Bulgarians easily passed over them and continued the pursuit. Those who passed through the river reached the wooden wall which was high and thick. The Byzantines left their horses and began climbing the wall with hands and legs and hung over the other side. The Bulgarians had dug a deep moat from the inner side and when the Byzantine soldiers were getting across the ramparts, they fell from the high wall, breaking their limbs. Some of them died instantly, others hobbled some time before falling to the ground and dying from thirst and hunger. The Byzantine troops burned the wall at several places but as they were rushing to get across it, they too fell into the moat along with the burning parts of the palisade. Almost everyone perished; some were killed by the sword, others drowned in the river or were mortally injured after falling from the wall and some of them died in the fire. Among the nobles killed were the patricians Theodosios Salibaras and Sisinnios Triphyllios; the "strategos" of the Anatolics Romanos and the "strategos" of Thrace; as well as the commanders of the Excubitors and Vigla "tagmata". Reportedly, only a few survived the defeat. The most notable person to be killed, however, was Emperor Nicephorus, who according to historians died on a dunghill on the day of the battle. Nicephorus's son, Stauracius, was carried to safety by the Imperial bodyguard after receiving a paralyzing wound to his neck. Six months later, his wounds finally killed him. According to tradition, Krum had the Emperor's head on a spike, then lined his skull with silver and used it as a drinking cup.

The Battle of Pliska or Battle of Vărbitsa Pass was a series of battles between troops, gathered from all parts of the Byzantine Empire, led by the Emperor Nicephorus I Genik, and the First Bulgarian Empire, governed by Khan Krum. The Byzantines plundered and burned the Bulgar capital Pliska which gave time for the Bulgarians to block passes in the Balkan Mountains that served as exits out of Bulgaria. The final battle took place on 26 July 811, in some of the passes in the eastern part of the Balkans, most probably the Vărbitsa Pass. There, the Bulgarians used the tactics of ambush and surprise night attacks to effectively trap and immobilize the Byzantine army, thus annihilating almost the whole army, including the Emperor. After the battle, Krum encased Nicephorus's skull in silver, and used it as a cup for wine-drinking. This is one of the best documented instances of the custom of the skull cup.


History.

The Barchetta was developed between 1990 and 1994, under the project name "Tipo B Spider 176". It was designed by Andreas Zapatinas and Alessandro Cavazza, under the supervision of Peter Barrett Davis and other car designers at the "Centro Stile Fiat", and prototyping was carried out by Stola.  Production began in February 1995 and lasted until June 2005, with a brief pause, due to the bankruptcy of coachbuilder Maggiora. The Barchetta was based on the chassis of the Mark 1 Fiat Punto. The Barchetta has 1,747 cc DOHC petrol engine fitted with variable camshaft timing, used for the first time in a Fiat production car, after being patented in 1970.  The engine has and of torque. The Barchetta weighs 1056 kg (2328 lb) without air conditioning and can accelerate to in just over 7 seconds and has a top speed of 217 km/h (124 mph).  It came in various trim levels which offered different features, for example, diamond cross stitch, patterned red leather instead of the standard black leather or fabric seats, alloy wheels instead of steel wheels, or fog-lights as an option. Arguably one of the biggest external cosmetic changes was made by the addition of the third brake light, first introduced by Fiat on the Lido and Riviera in 2000, and on sub models thereafter.  The Barchetta was revised in August 2003 ahead of its relaunch the following year, with some alterations inside and out. The most notable changes were the revised front spoiler and rear bumper. Production of the car eventually stopped in June 2005.

Production.

Car bodies were welded at ILCAS in "Sparone Canavese", and final assembly was done in Chivasso by the coachbuilder Maggiora. After Maggiora's bankruptcy in May 2002, Fiat relocated production of the Barchetta to its Mirafiori plant and resumed production two years later. Around 57,700 cars were built up to 2005.  Production of the Barchetta was limited to LHD cars only, even though the car was marketed and sold in two RHD markets, the United Kingdom and Japan.

Bertone concept car.

The Italian styling house of Bertone created a one off roadster show car for Fiat called the Barchetta in March 2007, at the Geneva Motor Show.

Notable examples.

A Barchetta featured in the "" television episode, which aired in December 2010.  In the episode, the three presenters (Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May) attempted to follow the path of the Three Wise Men to Bethlehem. Hammond drove the Fiat Barchetta (specifically a Riviera Special Edition featuring a black paint job and red quilted leather), compared to Clarkson's Mazda MX-5 and May's BMW Z3.  At the end of the episode, the Barchetta was declared the most desirable, and most reliable of the three cars.

The Fiat Barchetta () (Type 183) is a roadster produced by the Italian manufacturer Fiat from 1995 to 2005. "Barchetta" in Italian means "little boat", and also denotes a type of open-top sports car body style.