Professional basketball career.

Pau-Orthez (2001–2003).

From 2001 to 2003, Diaw played for Pau-Orthez of the LNB Pro A, a French professional basketball league. In 2002, he competed in the league's All-Star game and the Slam Dunk contest.

Atlanta Hawks (2003–2005).

Diaw was selected by the Atlanta Hawks with the 21st overall pick in the 2003 NBA draft. On July 10, 2003, he signed a multi-year deal with the Hawks.

Phoenix Suns (2005–2008).

In August 2005, he was traded with two future first round picks to the Phoenix Suns in exchange for future teammate Joe Johnson.  In Phoenix, Diaw blossomed into an all-round player, playing any position from center to point guard and garnered the nickname "3D" because of his multidimensional play (his motto being "drive, dish, defend") and the combination of his number (3) and surname. Diaw averaged 13.3 points, 6.9 rebounds, 6.2 assists and 1.0 blocks per game on 52.6% field goal shooting and 73.1% from the free throw line in the 2005–06 season where he played both forward positions and then center after injuries to Amar'e Stoudemire and Kurt Thomas.  During the 2006 NBA playoffs, as the Suns' starting center, Diaw averaged 18.7 points, 6.7 rebounds, 5.2 assists and 1.1 blocks per game. In Game 1 of the 2006 Western Conference Finals against the Dallas Mavericks, Diaw scored a career-high 34 points, including the game-winner with 0.5 seconds remaining in regulation, to help the Suns to a 121–118 victory.

Charlotte Bobcats (2008–2012).

On December 10, 2008, Diaw, along with Raja Bell and Sean Singletary, was traded to the Charlotte Bobcats in exchange for Jason Richardson and Jared Dudley.  On September 28, 2011, Diaw signed with JSA Bordeaux of France for the duration the 2011 NBA lockout. In December 2011, he returned to the Charlotte Bobcats.  On March 21, 2012, Diaw was waived by the Bobcats.

San Antonio Spurs (2012–2016).

Two days later, he signed with the San Antonio Spurs for the rest of the season.  On July 12, 2012, Diaw re-signed with the Spurs to a reported two-year, $9.2 million deal. Diaw helped the Spurs reach the 2013 NBA Finals where they faced the Miami Heat. San Antonio lost the series in seven games.  On June 15, 2014, Diaw won his first NBA championship after the Spurs defeated the Miami Heat 4–1 in the 2014 NBA Finals. He was inserted into the starting lineup beginning with Game 3, and he led all players in the series in total assists (29) and was second in total rebounds (43) behind teammate Tim Duncan (50). Diaw averaged 35 minutes per game in the Finals, an increase of over 10 minutes from the regular season.  On July 15, 2014, Diaw re-signed with the Spurs to a reported three-year, $22 million contract.  On August 1, 2015, Diaw played for Team Africa at the 2015 NBA Africa exhibition game.

Utah Jazz (2016–2017).

On July 8, 2016, Diaw was traded, along with a 2022 second-round pick and cash considerations, to the Utah Jazz in exchange for the rights to Olivier Hanlan. In early November 2016, Diaw missed eight games with a right leg contusion. On July 13, 2017, he was waived by the Jazz.

Levallois Metropolitans (2017–2018).

On September 17, 2017, Diaw signed with the Levallois Metropolitans, a French team, for the 2017–18 season. With Levallois, he played in the LNB Pro A and EuroCup. He averaged 11.1 points, 6.4 rebounds in 31.2 minutes per game in 31 Pro A games.

Retirement.

Diaw announced his retirement via his Twitter account on September 6, 2018.

National team career.

In 2000, Diaw won the FIBA Europe Under-18 Championship with the French junior national team. In July 2006, Diaw was named the captain of the senior men's French national basketball team. He won the bronze medal at the EuroBasket 2005.  Diaw led the French team at the 2006 FIBA World Championship, with 107 points and 22 assists, in 9 games. In 2013, Diaw and the French team won the gold medal at the EuroBasket tournament.

Player profile.

At 6'8" and 250 lbs, Diaw was a natural forward. However, his passing skills and ability to score inside earned him a reputation for being capable of playing all positions well. Diaw began the 2005–06 season as a reserve, substituted (effectively) at point guard when starting point guard Steve Nash was injured, started at small forward, and was finally moved to center when all three Suns centers were injured. Diaw's breakout season (13.3 points, 6.9 rebounds and 6.2 assists per game) was recognized with the Most Improved Player Award. Diaw was lauded for his unselfish but assertive play.

Career as basketball executive.

In 2009, Diaw became vice-president and shareholder of the JSA Bordeaux basketball club in his native France and took over as president one year later. In 2017, he stepped down as president of the club.  On July 4, 2019, Diaw was announced as the new president of Metropolitans 92, succeeding Jean-Pierre Aubry.

Personal life.

Diaw's mother, Élisabeth Riffiod, is regarded as one of the best centers in French women's basketball history. She is a member of the French Basketball Hall of Fame. Diaw's father, Issa Diaw, is a former Senegalese high jump champion. Diaw has a half-brother, Paco Diaw, who was a guard at Georgia Tech, but transferred to Lee University, a small NAIA school in the Southern States Athletic Conference. His other brother, Martin Diaw, played basketball for Division II's California University of Pennsylvania.  Diaw and fellow French NBA star and Spurs teammate Tony Parker are long-time friends and former roommates. Diaw was the best man at Parker's wedding to actress Eva Longoria.  In 2005, Diaw established a non-profit foundation, Babac'Ards, to organize sports activities for Senegalese youth and aid "developmental education".

Boris Babacar Diaw-Riffiod (born April 16, 1982), better known as Boris Diaw, is a French retired professional basketball player. Diaw, who began his professional career in Pro A, returned to that league after 14 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played mostly at the power forward position. In 2006, Diaw was named the NBA's Most Improved Player as a member of the Phoenix Suns. He won an NBA championship with the San Antonio Spurs in 2014.


History.

The first joint fashion line established by Susie and Doug Tompkins (who had previously founded The North Face) was sold from a VW bus and their headquarters was the Tompkins' apartment in San Francisco. Susie assumed the creative and Doug Tompkins the financial role in the business. At that time ( mid-60's ) their sales success was due to their original "Big Mama", Helene W. Japhe, who agreed to represent them exclusively as their sales agent, taking their line "on the road" and having great success. After Helene Japhe's departure from the company and San Francisco, the business continued to flourish under more professional administration and management until its US downturn and eventual sale to a Hong Kong firm.  In 1979, the Esprit logo was developed by John Casado.  The 1980s saw the introduction of the "Real People Campaign", which was shot by photographer Oliviero Toscani, using architects and designers for its projects, starting with Italian Ettore Sottsass, who developed the first Esprit Europe Headquarters in Düsseldorf. He established the overall concept of the stores in the style of the Memphis design movement. Architects and designers included Antonio Citterio and Norman Foster.  In February 2012, Esprit announced that it planned to close all retail stores in North America because they were not competitive in this market and were losing money.  In December 2015, Esprit announced it would be returning to the Canadian market. Since the announcement, Esprit has opened two stores, one at Metrotown in Metro Vancouver, and one at West Edmonton Mall, with plans to open a third store in fall 2016, in Mississauga.  In May 2018, it was announced that Esprit will close all 67 stores in New Zealand and Australia.  By the end of 2019, Esprit was operating 389 retail stores and about 4,800 wholesale distribution points.  In April 2020, Espirit announced to close all 56 stores in Asia (Taiwan, Singapore, Hong Kong, Malaysia and Macau). Since 7 April 2020, all Esprit stores in Singapore were closed and Esprit already exited Singapore's market, with the remaining countries such as Taiwan, Hong Kong, Malaysia and Macau to all follow suit by 30 June 2020.

Product lines.

Esprit's products include casual sportswear and "collection" business clothing for both men and women; "de.corp" urban casual clothing for young women; "kids" clothing for children 7 to 14 years old; sports wear including skiwear, fitness fashion and streetwear; accessories such as bags; shoes; and bodywear, day and night underwear and swimwear for men, women and children.  In 1998, the "edc" of young people's clothing was founded.  Since 1990, Esprit has grown through licensees. More than 30 license holders include Coty/Lancaster (scents) and Falke (socks and stockings). Under the name "Esprit timewear + jewel", Egana Holdings Ltd. produces watches and jewellery.  Esprit home sells furniture, carpets, wallpaper, lighting, living accessories, home textiles and bathrooms; Esprit kids’ world sells maternity wear, toys, buggies and nursery furniture.

Company.

In the 2018/2019 business year, Esprit Holdings Limited reported worldwide sales of €1.5 billion.  The Group operates more than 429 directly managed retail stores worldwide and distributes its products via more than 4,900 wholesale locations around the globe. The company has more than 255,000 square metres of sales area in more than 40 countries.

Esprit Holdings Limited () is a publicly owned manufacturer of clothing, footwear, accessories, jewellery and housewares under the Esprit label. The company is headquartered in Kowloon, Hong Kong, and Ratingen (near Düsseldorf), Germany. In the 2018–2019 business year, Esprit generated a worldwide sales of around €1.5 billion (as of 30 June 2019). Esprit operates 429 retail stores worldwide and distributes products to more than 4,900 wholesale locations around the globe. Esprit has more than 255,000 square meters of retail space in 40 countries.


History.

Sargon II ruled from 722 to 705 BC. The demands for timber and other materials and craftsmen, who came from as far as coastal Phoenicia, are documented in contemporary Assyrian letters. The debts of construction workers were nullified in order to attract a sufficient labour force. The land in the environs of the town was taken under cultivation, and olive groves were planted to increase Assyria's deficient oil-production. The great city was entirely built in the decade preceding 706 BC, when the court moved to Dur-Sharrukin, although it was not completely finished yet. Sargon was killed during a battle in 705. After his unexpected death his son and successor Sennacherib abandoned the project, and relocated the capital with its administration to the city of Nineveh, 20 km south. The city was never completed and it was finally abandoned a century later when the Assyrian empire fell.

Destruction by ISIL.

On 8 March 2015 the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant reportedly started the plunder and demolition of Dur-Sharrukin, according to the Kurdish official from Mosul Saeed Mamuzini. The Iraqi Tourism and Antiquities Ministry launched the related investigation on the same day.

Description.

The town was of rectangular layout and measured 1758.6 by 1635 metres. The enclosed area comprised 3 square kilometres, or 288 hectares. The length of the walls was 16280 Assyrian units, which according to Sargon himself corresponded to the numerical value of his name. The city walls were massive and 157 towers protected its sides. Seven gates entered the city from all directions. A walled terrace contained temples and the royal palace. The main temples were dedicated to the gods Nabu, Shamash and Sin, while Adad, Ningal and Ninurta had smaller shrines. A temple tower, ziggurat, was also constructed. The palace was adorned with sculptures and wall reliefs, and the gates were flanked with winged-bull "shedu" statues weighing up to 40 tons. Sargon supposedly lost at least one of these winged bulls in the river.  In addition to the great city, there was a royal hunting park and a garden that included "all the aromatic plants of Hatti and the fruit-trees of every mountain", a "record of power and conquest", as Robin Lane Fox has observed. Surviving correspondence mentions the moving of thousands of young fruit trees, quinces, almonds, apples and medlars. "On the central canal of Sargon's garden stood a pillared pleasure-pavilion which looked up to a great topographic creation: a man-made Garden Mound. This Mound was planted with cedars and cypresses and was modelled after a foreign landscape, the Amanus mountains in north Syria, which had so amazed the Assyrian kings. In their flat palace-gardens they built a replica of what they had encountered."

Archaeology.

Dur-Sharrukin is roughly a square with a border marked by a city wall 24 meters thick with a stone foundation pierced by seven massive gates. A mound in the northeast section marks the location of the palace of Sargon II. At the time of its construction, the village on the site was named Maganuba. The site was first noticed by the French Consul General at Mosul, Paul-Émile Botta in 1842. Botta believed, however, that Khorsabad was the site of biblical Nineveh. The site was excavated by Botta in 1842-44, joined in the later stages by artist Eugène Flandin. Victor Place resumed the excavations from 1852 to 1855.  A significant number of the items recovered by the French at Dur-Sharrukin were lost in two river shipping incidents. In 1853, Place attempted to move two 30-ton statues and other material to Paris from Khorsabad on a large boat and four rafts. All of the vessels except two of the rafts were scuttled by pirates. In 1855, Place and Jules Oppert attempted to transport the remaining finds from Dur-Sharrukin, as well as material from other sites being worked by the French, mainly Nimrud. Almost all of the collection, over 200 crates, was lost in the river. Surviving artifacts from this excavation were taken to the Louvre in Paris.  The site of Khorsabad was excavated 1928–1935 by American archaeologists from the Oriental Institute in Chicago. Work in the first season was led by Edward Chiera and concentrated on the palace area. A colossal bull estimated to weigh 40 tons was uncovered outside the throne room. It was found split into three large fragments. The torso alone weighed about 20 tons. This was shipped to Chicago. The preparation and shipment of the bull back to the Oriental Institute was incredibly arduous. The remaining seasons were led by Gordon Loud and Hamilton Darby. Their work examined one of the city gates, continued work at the palace, and excavated extensively at the palace's temple complex. Since Dur-Sharrukin was a single-period site that was evacuated in an orderly manner after the death of Sargon II, few individual objects were found. The primary discoveries from Khorsabad shed light on Assyrian art and architecture.  In 1957, archaeologists from the Iraqi Department Antiquities, led by Fuad Safar excavated at the site, uncovering the temple of Sibitti.

Dur-Sharrukin ("Fortress of Sargon";, Syriac: ܕܘܪ ܫܪܘ ܘܟܢ), present day Khorsabad, was the Assyrian capital in the time of Sargon II of Assyria. Khorsabad is a village in northern Iraq, 15 km northeast of Mosul. The great city was entirely built in the decade preceding 706 BC. After the unexpected death of Sargon in battle, the capital was shifted 20 km south to Nineveh.


Life.

He was born as Thomas Percy in Bridgnorth, the son of Arthur Lowe Percy a grocer and farmer at Shifnal who sent Thomas to Christ Church, Oxford in 1746 following an education firstly at Bridgnorth Grammar School followed by nearby Adams' Grammar School in local Newport. He graduated in 1750 and proceeded M.A. in 1753. In the latter year he was appointed to the vicarage of Easton Maudit, Northamptonshire, and three years later was instituted to the rectory of Wilby in the same county, benefices which he retained until 1782. In 1759 he married Anne, daughter of Barton Gutterridge.  Dr Percy's first work, 'Hao Kiou Choaan, or The Pleasing History', was published in 1761. This is a heavily revised and annotated version of a manuscript translation of the "Haoqiu zhuan" (好逑傳), and is the first full publication in English of a Chinese novel. The following year, he published a two-volume collection of sinological essays (mostly translations) entitled 'Miscellaneous Pieces Relating to the Chinese.' In 1763, he published "Five Pieces of Runic Poetry", translated from the Icelandic. The same year, he also edited the Earl of Surrey's poems with an essay on early blank verse, translated the Song of Solomon, and published a key to the New Testament. His "Northern Antiquities" (1770) is a translation from the French of Paul Henri Mallet. His edition of the 'Household Book' of the Earl of Northumberland (1770) ("The Regulations and Establishment of the Household of Henry Algernon Percy, the Fifth Earl of Northumberland, at his Castles of Wresill and Lekinfield in Yorkshire. Begun anno domini M.DXII") is of the greatest value for the illustrations of domestic life in England at that period.  These works are of little estimation when compared with the "Reliques of Ancient English Poetry" (1765). In the 1760s, he obtained a manuscript of ballads (the Percy Folio) from a source in Northumberland. He had in mind the idea of writing a history of the Percy family of the peerage (the Dukes of Northumberland), and he had sought materials of local interest. He had sought out old tales from near Alnwick, the ancestral home of the Northumberland Percy family, and he had come across many ballad tales.  In 1763, Percy, aiming for the market that "Ossian" had opened for "ancient poetry" (see James MacPherson), published "Five Pieces of Runic Poetry" from Icelandic, which he translated and "improved."  Percy was a friend of Samuel Johnson, Joseph and Thomas Warton, and James Boswell. In 1764, Dr Johnson and others encouraged Percy to preserve the poetry he was finding at home. Percy therefore took the "ballad" material he had from his folio and began searching for more ballads, in particular. He wanted to collect material from the border areas, near Scotland. In 1765, he published the "Reliques" to great success.  Appointed a chaplain to the king in 1769, Percy was formally admitted to Emmanuel College, Cambridge that year, and received a doctorate of divinity from Cambridge in 1770.  Still not having secured an adequate living, Thomas Percy continued with his project of commemorating the Alnwick area, and so he composed his own ballad poem on Warkworth Castle, then a ruin, which the Dukes of Northumberland controlled and which the Duchess of Northumberland favored for its sublime views. Combining the vogue for the "Churchyard Poets" and the ballad vogue that he himself had set in motion, Thomas Percy wrote "The Hermit of Warkworth" in 1771. Samuel Johnson famously composed three ex tempore parodies of this verse in the 1780s. When an admirer too often told Johnson of the beautiful "simplicity" of the ballad verse form, Johnson pointed out that the line between simplicity and simple mindedness is narrow: just remove the sense. He then demonstrated: Thomas Percy was angered by the parody, but Hester Thrale says that he soon came to his senses and realized that Johnson was satirizing the form, and not the poem.  Soon after, he said,  This extemporized parody was written down by Boswell and others. It may have been aimed less at Percy than at the ballads that were then appearing nearly daily on every subject.  Percy carried out most of the literary work for which he is now remembered at Easton Maudit. When he became famous, he was made domestic chaplain to the Duke and Duchess of Northumberland, and was tempted into the belief that he belonged to the illustrious house of Percy. Through his patron's influence he became Dean of Carlisle Cathedral in 1778 and was ordained as Bishop of Dromore in County Down in 1782.  His wife died before him in 1806; the bishop, blind but otherwise in sound health, lived another five years. Both were buried in the transept which Percy had added to Dromore Cathedral.

Literary work.

The "Reliques of Ancient English Poetry" set the stage not only for Robert Burns, but also for Wordsworth and Coleridge's "Lyrical Ballads." The book is based on an old manuscript collection of poetry, which Percy claimed to have rescued in Humphrey Pitt's house at Shifnal, Shropshire, "from the hands of the housemaid who was about to light the fire with it." The manuscript was edited in its complete form by JW Hales and FJ Furnivall in 1867-1868. This manuscript provides the core of the work but many other ballads were found and included, some by Percy's friends Johnson, William Shenstone, Thomas Warton, and some from a similar collection made by Samuel Pepys.  Percy "improved" 35 of the 46 ballads he took from the Folio. In the case of The Beggar's daughter of Bednal Green (Bethnal Green), he added the historical character of Simon de Montfort, Earl of Evesham. In this version the ballad became so popular that it was used in two plays, an anonymous novel, operas by Thomas Arne and Geoffrey Bush, and Carl Loewe's ballad "Der Bettlers Tochter von Bednall Green". A fuller account of the history of the ballad can be found in "The Green" by A. J. Robinson and D. H. B. Chesshyre.

Thomas Percy (13 April 1729 – 30 September 1811) was Bishop of Dromore, County Down, Ireland. Before being made bishop, he was chaplain to George III of the United Kingdom. Percy's greatest contribution is considered to be his "Reliques of Ancient English Poetry" (1765), the first of the great ballad collections, which was the one work most responsible for the ballad revival in English poetry that was a significant part of the Romantic movement.


History.

Before and during World War II.

The "Regia Marina" was formed on March 17, 1861, after the proclamation of the Kingdom of Italy. The Italian Navy assumed its present name after the Italian monarchy was abolished following a popular referendum held on June 2, 1946.

After World War II.

At the end of its five years involvement in World War II, Italy was a devastated nation. After the end of hostilities the "Regia Marina", which at the beginning of the war was the fourth largest navy in the world with a mix of modernised and new battleships, started a long and complex rebuilding process. The important combat contributions of the Italian naval forces after the signing of the armistice with the Allies on September 8, 1943, and the subsequent cooperation agreement on September 23, 1943, left the Regia Marina in a poor condition, with much of its infrastructure and bases unusable and its ports mined and blocked by sunken ships. However, a large number of its naval units had survived the war, albeit in a low efficiency state, which was due to the conflict and the age of many vessels. The vessels that remained were:

The peace treaty.

The peace treaty signed on February 10, 1947 in Paris was onerous for Regia Marina. Apart from territorial and material losses, also the following restrictions were imposed:  The treaty also ordered Italy to put the following ships at the disposals of the victorious nations United States, Soviet Union, Great Britain, France, Greece, Yugoslavia and Albania as war compensation:

The entry into NATO.

Great changes in the international political situation, which were developing into the Cold War, convinced the United Kingdom and United States to discontinue the transfer of Italy's capital ships as war reparations. Some had already been dismantled in La Spezia between 1948 and 1955, including the aircraft carrier. However, the Soviet Union demanded the surrender of the battleship "Giulio Cesare" and other naval units designated for transfer. The cruisers "Attilio Regolo" and "Scipione Africano" became the French "Chateaurenault" and "Guichen", while "" became the Greek "Elli". After break up and/or transfers, only a small part of the fleet remained to be recommissioned into the Marina. As Western attention turned to the Soviets and the Mediterranean Sea, Italian seas became one of the main sites of confrontation between the two superpowers, contributing to the re-emergence of Italy's naval importance thanks to her strategic geographical position.  With the new elections in 1946, the Kingdom of Italy became a Republic, and the Regia Marina took the name of "Marina Militare" (Military Navy). As the Marshall Plan began to rebuild Italy and Europe was rapidly being divided into two geopolitically antagonistic blocs, Italy began talks with the United States to guarantee adequate security considerations. The US government in Washington wished to keep its own installations on the Italian Peninsula and relaxed the Treaty restrictions by including Italy in the Mutual Defense Assistance Programme (MDAP). On April 4, 1949, Italy joined the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) and, in order for the navy to contribute actively in the organization, the Treaty restrictions were definitively repealed by the end of 1951, with the consent of all of Western nations.  Within NATO, the Italian Navy was assigned combat control of the Adriatic Sea and Strait of Otranto, as well as the defence of the naval routes through the Tyrrhenian Sea. To ensure these tasks a ""Studio sul potenziamento della Marina italiana in relazione al Patto Atlantico"" (Study about the development of the Italian Navy with reference to the Atlantic Pact) was undertaken, which researched the structures and the methods for the development of the navy.

Naval ensign.

The ensign of the Italian Navy is the Italian tricolour defaced with the coat of arms of the Marina Militare. The quarters refer to the four Medieval Italian Thalassocracies, or "Maritime Republics" (Italian: "Repubbliche Marinare"): The shield has a golden crown, that distinguishes military vessels from merchant: the crown, ""corona rostrata"", was proposed in 1939 by Admiral Domenico Cavagnari to the Government, as an acknowledgement of the Italian Navy's origin in Roman times. In the proposal, Adm. Cavagnari wrote that "in order to recall the common origin [of the Navy] from the Roman sailorship, the Insignia will be surmounted by the towered Crown with rostra, the emblem of honour and valour the Roman Senate awarded to the leaders of naval victories, conquerors of lands and cities across the seas".  A further difference is that St. Mark's lion, symbolising the Republic of Venice, does not hold the gospel in its paw (as it does on the civil ensign, where the book is open at the words ""Pax tibi Marce, evangelista meus"", meaning "Peace to you Mark, my Evangelist") and is wielding a sword instead: such an image is consistent with the pictorial tradition from Venetian history, in which the book is shown open during peacetime and closed during wartime.

Structure and organisation.

Organization.

In 2012 the Navy began a restructuring process that will see a 21% decrease in personnel by 2025. A new structure was implemented in January 2014.

Coast Guard.

The Corps of the Port Captaincies – Coast Guard (Italian language: "Corpo delle Capitanerie di porto – Guardia costiera"') is the coast guard of Italy and is part of the Italian Navy under the control of the Ministry of Infrastructures and Transports. In Italy, it is commonly known as simply the "Guardia costiera". The Coast Guard has approximately 11 000 staff.

Corps.

The Italian Navy is divided into seven corps (by precedence) and one:

Fleet.

Command of the Italian Fleet (ships, submarines and amphibious forces) and Naval aviation falls under Commander in Chief Naval Fleet

Equipment.

Ships and submarines.

Today's Italian Navy is a modern navy with ships of every type. The fleet is in continuous evolution, and as of today oceangoing fleet units include: 2 light aircraft carriers, 3 amphibious assault ships, 4 destroyers, 13 frigates and 8 attack submarines. Patrol and littoral warfare units include: 10 offshore patrol vessels. 10 mine countermeasure vessels, four coastal patrol boats, and a varied fleet of auxiliary ships are also in service.  The flagship of the fleet is the carrier "Cavour".

Aircraft.

The Italian Navy operates a diverse fleet of aircraft including fixed-wing, rotary and UAVs.

Future.

The 2014 Naval Act allocated Euro 5.4 billion for the following vessels:  The 2017 budget allocated 12.8 billion (2017–2032 years) for the following ships:  The 2018 budget allocated about 1 Billion Euros for:  Planned:  For the Naval Aviation the Navy plans to expand for replace the following assets:  For the Marine Brigade "San Marco" the Navy plans to acquire following assets:

The Italian Navy (, "Military Navy"; abbreviated as MM) is the Navy of the Italian Republic. It is one of the four branches of Italian Armed Forces and was formed in 1946 from what remained of the "Regia Marina" (Royal Navy) after World War II. As of August 2014, the Italian Navy had a strength of 30,923 active personnel with approximately 184 vessels in service, including minor auxiliary vessels. It is considered a multiregional and a blue-water navy.


Design and development.

The J2M was designed by Jiro Horikoshi, creator of the A6M Zero, to meet the 14-Shi (14th year of the Showa reign, or 1939) official specification. It was to be a strictly local-defense interceptor, intended to counter the threat of high-altitude bomber raids, and thus relied on speed, climb performance, and armament at the expense of manoeuvrability. The J2M was a sleek, but stubby craft with its oversized Mitsubishi Kasei engine buried behind a long cowling, cooled by an intake fan and connected to the propeller with an extension shaft.  Teething development problems stemming from the Kasei engine cooling system, and the main undercarriage members led to a slowdown in production. A continual set of modifications resulted in new variants being introduced with the ultimate high-altitude variant, the J2M4 Model 34 flying for the first time in August 1944. It had a 1,420 hp Kasei 23c engine equipped with a turbo supercharger (mounted in the side of the fuselage just behind the engine) that allowed the rated power to be maintained up to. Two upward-aimed, oblique-firing (aimed at seventy degrees) 20 mm cannons, mounted in the German "Schräge Musik" style, were fitted behind the cockpit with the four wing cannons retained. Unresolved difficulties with the turbo supercharger caused the project to be terminated after only two experimental J2M4s were built.

Operational history.

The first few produced J2M2s were delivered to the development units in December 1942 but severe problems were encountered with the engines. Trials and improvements took almost a year and the first batch of the serial built J2M2 Model 11 was delivered to 381st Kōkūtai in December 1943. Parallel with the J2M2, production of the J2M3 "Raiden" Model 21 started. The first J2M3s appeared in October 1943 but deliveries to combat units started at the beginning of February 1944.  The "Raiden" made its combat debut in June 1944 during the Battle of the Philippine Sea. Several J2Ms operated from Guam and Saipan and a small number of aircraft were deployed to the Philippines. Later, some J2Ms were based in Chosen airfields, Genzan (Wonsan), Ranan (Nanam), Funei (Nuren), Rashin (Najin) and Konan under Genzan Ku, for defence of these areas and fighting against Soviet Naval Aviation units.  Primarily designed to defend against the Boeing B-29 Superfortress, the type was handicapped at high altitude by the lack of a turbocharger. However, its four-cannon armament supplied effective firepower and the use of dive and zoom tactics allowed it to score occasionally.  Insufficient numbers and the American switch to night bombing in March 1945 limited its effectiveness.  J2Ms took part in one of the final aerial combats of the Second World War when four Raidens, accompanied by eight Mitsubishi A6M Zeros, all belonging to the 302nd Kokutai, intercepted a formation of US Navy F6F Hellcats from the aircraft-carrier USS "Yorktown" (CV-10) during the morning of 15 August 1945 over the Kanto Plain. In the engagement, that took place only two hours before Japan officially announced its surrender, four Hellcats were lost along with two Raidens and two Zeros.  Two captured J2Ms were U.S. Technical Air Intelligence Command (TAIC) tested using 92 octane fuel plus methanol, with the J2M2 (Jack11) achieving a speed of 655 km/h (407 mph) at 5,520 m (17,400 ft), and J2M3 (Jack21) achieving a speed of 671 km/h (417 mph) at 4,980 m (16,600 ft).

Production.

After the decisive Battle of Midway in 1942 Japan's military leaders rushed to re-equip their forces for defense of the home islands. In fighter designs the interceptor role now took priority over forward projection of offensive power. Allied forces, meanwhile, sought to establish air superiority over Japanese-held territories via B-29 bombing raids on industrial targets.  The struggle to meet production demands sparked a Japanese initiative to recruit "shonenko" (child labour) from Taiwan (Formosa). Though the target of 25,000 youths was never reached, over 8,400 Taiwanese youths aged 12 to 14 relocated to Mitsubishi plants to help build the J2M Raiden.  The Allied advance took its toll. In 1945 aircraft production in Japan collapsed, as numbers for the J2M reflect.

Surviving aircraft.

A surviving J2M is on display at the Planes of Fame museum in Chino, California.

The Mitsubishi J2M "Raiden" (雷電, "Lightning Bolt") is a single-engined land-based fighter aircraft used by the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service in World War II. The Allied reporting name was "Jack".


Subspecies.

The European gypsy moth ("Lymantria dispar dispar") is native to temperate forests in western Europe. It had been introduced to Canada in 1912 and in the United States in 1869.  The Asian gypsy moth ("Lymantria dispar asiatica") is native to southern Europe, northern Africa, Asia and Pacific. It is spreading to northern Europe (Germany, and other countries), where it hybridized with the European gypsy moth. A colony had been reported from Great Britain in 1995. It has also spread to North America since the early 20th century and is considered to be invasive to that continent.  This moth is an important defoliator on broad-leaf and conifer trees.  In North America a biological control was introduced. "Ooencyrtus kuvanae" is a parasitoid wasp of Lepidoptera eggs. It parasitizes the eggs of other moths, not just this species.

Etymology.

The order Lepidoptera contains moths and butterflies characterized by having a complete metamorphosis; larvae transform to pupae and then metamorphosing into adult moths or butterflies. The genus is Lymantriidae. Lymantriid larvae are commonly called tussock moths because of the tufts of hair on larvae.  The meaning of the name "Lymantria dispar" is composed of two Latin-derived words. "Lymantria" means 'destroyer'. The word "dispar" is derived from the Latin word that means 'to separate' and it depicts the differing characteristics between the sexes.  The North American gypsy moth and the European gypsy moth are of the same subspecies, often listed as "Lymantria dispar dispar". Confusion over the species and subspecies, for classification still exists. The U. S. Department of Agriculture defines the Asian gypsy moth as "any biotype of "Lymantria dispar" possessing female flight capability", despite "Lymantria dispar asiatica" not being the only classified subspecies that is capable of flight. Traditionally, "Lymantria dispar" has been referred to as "gypsy moths" even when referring to Japanese, Indian and Asiatic gypsy moths.

Lymantria dispar, the gypsy moth, is a species of moth in the family Erebidae. "Lymantria dispar" covers many subspecies, subspecies identification such as "L. d. dispar" or "L. d. japonica" leaves no ambiguity in identification. "Lymantria dispar" subspecies have a range which covers in Europe, Africa, Asia, North America and South America.


Distribution.

The species can be found in western Europe from northern Scandinavia to the Mediterranean, then east to the Caucasus, northern Iran, Russia, Russian Far East, and Ussuri.

Description.

The female of this species is wingless and rather spider-like and can be found on the trunks and stems of its larval food plants. She is white or yellow-and-black patched. The male is fully winged (wingspan 40–45 mm) and very variable. The ground colour of the forewing is pale yellow or light yellow ochre and suffused dark grey. The basal and distal fasciae are dark brown. The basal fascia is bordered on the inner side by a brown cloud; the distal fascia has a brown cloud on the outer edge. There is also a brown cloud along the costa. There are two dark brown oblong spots in the upper half of the terminal area. The hindwing is grey white with grey suffusion. There is a grey-black discal spot on both wings. There are numerous and significant deviations from this colour pattern and some specimens are very dark. Truly melanic forms are also frequent. As with the peppered moth, the darker forms tend to be prevalent in industrial areas.

Biology.

The adults have been recorded from September to December in the Great Britain and Ireland. Males are attracted to light.  The larva is also variable from cream to dark brown. It feeds on a wide variety of trees and shrubs (see list below) and can be a serious pest in orchards. The species overwinters as an egg.

The mottled umber ("Erannis defoliaria") is a moth of the family Geometridae. It is common throughout much of the Palearctic region. The species was first described by Carl Alexander Clerck in 1759.


Description.

The forewing ground colour of the winged males varies from grey-yellow to beige-brown or occasionally slightly reddish-tinted. The patterns are often band-shaped dark brownish, often indistinct. The fringe is yellowish. The hindwings are pale grey or yellow grey. The antennae are short and finely hairy. The flightless female has a brownish-grey body with rudimentary wing stubs that are brown to grey and have dark bands. Body length for both sexes approximately 1.0 centimeters. Larvae at hatching are 1/10 inch (2.5 mm) in length and will grow to 3/4 inch (20 mm) over a six-week period. In North America, winter moth can be confused with the related native species Bruce spanworm ("Operophtera bruceata"). In fact, the two species hybridize.

Distribution.

Native to Northern and Central Europe: In the South, its range extends to Northern Italy; in the East to the Caucasus and Asia Minor; in the North to the Baltic. The genetic populations of winter moth in Europe are a result of recolonization following the last glacial period. As an invasive species, this moth is found in Nova Scotia, coastal New England (Massachusetts, Maine, Rhode Island, Connecticut, and New York) and also the Pacific northwest (mainly Vancouver Island). In New England, expansion inland and north appears to be curtailed by cold winter temperatures, so for example, coastal Maine but not inland. Locally milder winters, as part of global climate change, may be allowing expansion of afflicted territory. A study conducted in Massachusetts documented that winter moth defoliation reduced the annual trunk diameter growth rate of oak trees by an average of 47% while not significantly impacting growth rates of the less defoliated maple trees.

Life cycle.

Winter moth larvae (caterpillars) emerge in early spring from egg masses laid near leaf buds after a series of days in which the daytime high temperatures reach into the 50s Fahrenheit. Research conducted in the Netherlands indicated that as climate warming is causing spring temperatures to become warmer sooner, some of the winter moth eggs were hatching before tree leaf buds - first food for the caterpillars - had begun to open. Early hatchlings starved. Late hatchlings survived. Because hatch timing is genetically controlled, the moths are evolving to resynchronize with bud opening by delaying the response to the temperature trigger by 5 to 10 days. The larvae, like the adults, can withstand below freezing temperatures at night. Larval dispersal is the dominant source of density-dependent larval mortality and likely regulates high density population dynamics of winter moth in New England. Larvae prefer Oak and Apple, but also feed on Maple, Birch, Hornbeam, Chestnut, Hazel, Quince, Beech, Larch, Poplar, Cherry, Pear, Rose, Raspberry, Blueberry, Willow, Elm, and other leafy trees and shrubs.  Recently hatched larvae feed on expanding leaf buds, often after having burrowed inside the bud, and later on foliage, for approximately six weeks. In addition to feeding on the tree where they hatched, young larvae will also product silk strands to 'balloon' (be wind-blown) to other trees. Defoliation can approach 90%. By mid-May the larvae, green in color and about an inch long, descend to the ground. Very little mortality due to disease has been noted in winter moth larvae in North America. Pupation occurs in the soil in late May. Adults emerge from the soil in late fall to early winter, when, upon mating, the flightless female lays eggs in bark crevices and on branches. With such a long pupal period, winter moth is vulnerable to numerous pupal predators and parasitoids.

Biological control.

In Europe, where winter moths are native, two parasitic species, a wasp ("Agrypon flaveolatum") and a fly ("Cyzenis albicans") prey on winter moth caterpillars. The wasps insert eggs into the larvae. The flies lay eggs on leaves, which the larvae ingest when eating the leaves. As a biological control, the wasp was introduced in Canada but is not being pursued in the United States because there is not sufficient evidence that the wasp would not lay eggs in larvae of other moth species. Introduction of "C. albicans", which is species-specific to preying on winter moths, has proven successful in strongly reducing, although not entirely eliminating, winter moth infestation in Nova Scotia, Canada. Test introductions were begun in eastern Massachusetts in 2005. This proved successful, so more fly releases have taken place at sites from southeast Connecticut to coastal Maine. As moth densities can reach ten million larvae per acre, several years are needed before parasitism by the flies reaches 20-50%. Once this is achieved the winter moth density declines and leaf defoliation is reduced to levels not as harmful to the trees.. The delay in establishment is likely the result of heavy mortality from predators and hyperparasitoids on the pupating "C. albicans". Management of winter moth in Massachusetts using biological control with "C. albicans" is showing positive results.

The winter moth ("Operophtera brumata") is a moth of the family Geometridae. It is an abundant species of Europe and the Near East and a famous study organism for evaluating insect population dynamics. It is one of very few lepidopterans of temperate regions in which adults are active in late fall and early winter. The adults use endothermy for movement in these cold temperatures. The female of this species is virtually wingless and cannot fly, but the male is fully winged and flies strongly. After the initial frosts of late fall, the females emerge from their pupa, walk to and up trees, there emitting pheromones in the evening to attract males. Fertilized, she ascends to lay, on average, around 100 eggs. Typically, the larger the female moth is the more eggs she lays.


Geography.

It is located around east of Bratislava and around southeast of Banská Bystrica and west of Košice. The town, along with the district lies in the Rimava river valley in the Slovenské rudohorie mountains, in the Southern Slovak Basin. There are two protected areas close to the town in the district, Cerová vrchovina to the south and Muránska planina National Park to the north.  The town is composed of 11 parts/boroughs: Bakta, Dúžava, Kurinec, Mojín, Nižná Pokoradz, Rimavská Sobota, Sabová, Sobôtka, Včelinec, Vinice and Vyšná Pokoradz.

History.

The first traces of settlement in the town's territory come from the Neolithic. Other archaeological discoveries are dated to the middle and late Bronze Age and Iron Age. Several tribes have passed through the area, including Celts, Germanic tribes and several others during the Migration Period. The Slavs settled here most likely in the 7th and 8th centuries. The old Hungarian tribes came at the beginning of the 10th century and settled in the 11th century. A medieval town was probably founded in the second half of the 11th century and became a market town.  The first written record about Rimavská Sobota was in 1268 as "Rymoa Zumbota" and belonged to the Archbishop of Kalocsa, who owned the land from 1150 to around 1340. In 1334 the ownership changed to Thomas Szécsényi from Transylvania. The town received a privilege charted in 1335 on the basis of the Buda municipal law. In the first half of the 15th century, it was a small town, and economic development had begun, when the first guilds were established. However, it was interrupted by Turkish occupation, first in 1553–1593 and then in 1596–1686. It was centre of Filek sanjak firstly in Budin Eyalet, latterly Eğri Eyalet. The town was growing again in the 18th century, with the guilds of tanners, weavers, shoe-makers and others being set up. It became a free privileged town in the 1790s. From 1850 to 1922 it was the capital of the Gömör-Kishont county. Industry started to develop in the 20th century, with a cannery being established.  After the break-up of Austria-Hungary, the town was occupied by the Czechoslovak Legions in January 1919. However, the army of the Hungarian Soviet Republic came to the town in May 1919, but control reverted to Czechoslovakia in July 1919. After the First Vienna Award in 1938, the town belonged to Hungary to the end of 1944. During the Socialist Czechoslovakia, food industry developed here; for example, a sugar factory was established in 1966 and a meat processing plant in 1977.

Economy.

The town's main trade is agriculture and food processing. Agricultural production is aimed at animal production: beef-raising, sheep farming, and farming of permanent grass fields, meadows and pasture lands. Rimavská's hollow basin is an important agricultural area, where almost all crops can be grown, including the more thermophilic ones, such as sugar beet, wheat, rye, vegetable, tobacco, vine, lucerne, and corn. Forest resources are under both state and private administration. The town also has electrotechnical, mechanical, and chemical businesses. All industrial companies were privatized during the Slovak economy transformation.  The most important transport line goes through the southern part of the county. Rimavská Sobota is from Banská Bystrica and from Bratislava. The district is also the site of former Czechoslovakia (now Radio Slovakia International, RSI) shortwave radio antenna tower facility, using a 250 kW transmitter to reach listening audiences as far away as North America. The towers and masts of the station have heights up to 171 metres.  Rimavská Sobota's tourist industry is as yet largely undeveloped, due to a lack of infrastructure, although the area possesses natural, historical, and cultural potential.

Demographics.

According to the 2001 census, there were 25,088 people living in the town, the majority being Slovaks (59.28%), with a significant minority of Hungarians (35.26%), a small percentage of Roma (3.01%) and others. The religious make-up was: 47.84% Roman Catholics, 25.44% without denomination, 10.33 Protestants and 5.26% not specified.

Twin towns — sister cities.

Rimavská Sobota is twinned with:

Rimavská Sobota (;, ) is a town in southern Slovakia, in the Banská Bystrica Region, on the Rimava river. It has approximately 24,000 inhabitants. The town is a historical capital of the Malohont, Gemer-Malohont county (from 1850 to 1922).


Ecclesiastical career.

Born in Mijdrecht, Netherlands, he originally intended to become a teacher and enrolled at the University of Utrecht in 1932 to study Classical Philology. There he was also editor in a student newspaper and co-founder of a political party, which had only a short existence. He decided instead to follow a religious life and in 1934 entered the Premonstratensian Tongerlo Abbey, of the Norbertine Order, in the province of Antwerp, in Belgium, taking the religious name Werenfried, in honour of an early Medieval Germanic saint. He became the abbot's secretary, after a bout of tuberculosis that left him too weak for missionary work. He was ordained a priest on 25 July 1940.

Humanitarian work.

He first rose to public attention at Christmas, 1947, when he wrote an article entitled "Peace on Earth? No Room at the Inn," in which he appealed to all faithful to help the fourteen million German civilians displaced from the east at the end of World War II, six million of whom were Roman Catholics. These refugees and expellees resided in very primitive camps, mostly former Nazi concentration camps or Allied POW camps located in the western occupation zones of Germany and - for a minority - in the Netherlands and Belgium, and suffered from malnutrition and lack of medical care.  The response to the article of Van Straaten was unexpectedly generous, proving charity still existed and hatred was lessening towards the former enemies. He earned his nickname, "Bacon Priest" () due to his appeals to Flemish farmers for contributions of food for the German refugees, appeals which met with considerable amounts of meat being donated. His next concern was the pastoral care of the six million displaced Catholics, some of which were housed in purely Protestant areas, without their own churches and pastors. With the action "A vehicle for God" he converted used buses and trucks into mobile altars. In 1953, van Straaten called the International Building Order into being to motivate students to help refugees and displaced persons build their own homes in Germany.  This initial work led to the formation of Aid to the Church in Need ("Kirche in Not"), centered in Königstein, Germany, in 1952. After 1950, he was active in Catholic relief work worldwide, through church appeals, public speaking, and his newsletter, "The Mirror", which he began publishing in 1953. After the plight of the expellees in the newly founded Federal Republic of Germany was largely alleviated, his concern became the persecuted church in the now communist-dominated Eastern Europe. After the collapse of the Soviet regime, he tried to bridge the trenches to the Catholic Church, through generous help to the Russian Orthodox Church.  Werenfried van Straaten succeeded in combining social engagement with dedication to the proclamation of the faith. For his life's work he was honored many times by the church and the state. He also wrote a number of books, including "They Call Me The Bacon Priest" (1960).  In his later years he was active in anti-abortion activism, demonstrating and speaking out against abortion in Western Europe and the United States.  He died on January 31, 2003 at Bad Soden in Germany at the age of 90 years. He is buried in the cemetery of Königstein im Taunus.

Werenfried Prize.

At the 3rd International Congress Treffpunkt Weltkirche, held from 11 to 13 April 2008, in Augsburg, the Father Werenfried Prize was awarded for the first time to the Friends of the St. Clemens Church in Berlin. This prize, endowed with 1000 euros, was awarded jointly with the Katholische Sonntagszeitung. At the 5th international congress of Treffpunkt Weltkirche, held from 12 to 15 March 2015, in Würzburg, the Father Werenfried Prize was awarded to Gabriele Kuby.

Werenfried van Straaten, born Philippus Johannes Hendricus van Straaten O. Praem. (January 17, 1913 – January 31, 2003), was a Dutch Roman Catholic priest and social activist. He was a Premonstratensian priest expatriate in Germany, who became known for his humanitarian work, particularly as founder of the international Catholic association Aid to the Church in Need. He was known affectuously as the ""Bacon Priest".


History.

Opava was initially established as a Moravian province under the rule of King Ottokar's son Nicholas I, who first appeared as a "Lord of Opava" in 1269 and became the progenitor of the Opava branch of the Přemyslid dynasty. After Ottokar was killed in the 1278 Battle on the Marchfeld, Nicholas had to ward off against claims raised by his stepmother Kunigunda of Halych and her lover Zavis of Falkenstein residing at Hradec Castle near Opava. Nevertheless, he reached his confirmation by both the Habsburg king Rudolf I of Germany and his stepbrother King Wenceslaus II of Bohemia and retained his territory even after the murder of the last Přemyslid king Wenceslaus III of Bohemia in 1306.  Upon the extinction of the royal branch of the Přemyslid dynasty and the subsequent turmoil around the Bohemian throne, Henry of Carinthia gave Opava in pawn to the Silesian duke Bolesław III the Generous. When finally in 1310 the mighty House of Luxembourg ascended to the throne, it was redeemed by King John of Bohemia in 1311. Opava was officially raised to a duchy in 1318 and was confirmed as a fief for Nicholas' son Duke Nicholas II by King John, who soon had to fend off the Hungarian troops of King Casimir III of Poland. The conjunction with Silesia was accomplished when Duke Nicholas II married Anna of Racibórz, sister of the Piast Duke Leszek of Racibórz, also a Bohemian vassal since 1327. When Leszek died without heirs in 1336, King John vested his brother-in-law Nicholas II with the Silesian Duchy of Racibórz (Ratibor, Ratiboř), whereafter he ruled both duchies in personal union until his death in 1365, when his eldest son John I succeeded him.  In 1377, Duke John I again separated Opava from the duchies of Racibórz and Krnov (Jägerndorf, Krnów) and granted it to his younger brothers Nicholas III (†1394), Wenceslaus I (†1381) and Przemko (†1433). Afterward, Opava ownership changed several times, mainly due to purchase and partitions. Przemko's sons sold their shares to the Bohemian king George of Poděbrady by 1462; their Přemyslid cousins however retained Racibórz and Krnov. In 1465 King George gave Opava to his second son Victor, who also became Duke of Münsterberg in 1462. Victor in turn had to cede it to the Bohemian anti-king Matthias Corvinus in 1485, who installed his illegitimate son John as duke.  In 1506 King Vladislas II Jagiellon of Bohemia granted Opava to Duke Casimir II of Cieszyn (Teschen), who had married a daughter of Victor and held the duchy until his death in 1528, after which it was again seized by Bohemia. Meanwhile, in 1521, with the death of Duke Valentin of Racibórz, the Opava line of the Přemyslids had finally become extinct and all their possessions had fallen back to the Bohemian Crown, which in 1526 passed to the Habsburg Monarchy. Prince Karl I of Liechtenstein was invested with the Duchy of Troppau in 1614 by Emperor Matthias of Habsburg. After the 1620 Battle of White Mountain Prince Karl also acquired the Duchy of Krnov, and ever since the heads of the Princely Family of Liechtenstein bear the title "Duke of Troppau and Jägerndorf".  In 1742, in the course of the First Silesian War and the Treaty of Breslau, the Duchy was divided once more, with the part north of the Opava River including Głubczyce (Leobschütz, Hlubčice) and Hlučín (Hultschin) becoming part of Prussia. The southern part with Krnov, Bruntál (Freudenthal), Fulnek and Opava itself remained part of Austrian Silesia, a crown land of the Austrian Empire from 1804.  The Austrian Duchy of Troppau ceased to exist when the Austro-Hungarian Empire was dissolved in 1918 and the area ("Troppauer Land") including the city became part of Czechoslovakia. The Prussian share remained a part of the Silesian province until 1945, when it fell to Poland in accord with the Potsdam Agreement.

The Principality of Opava () () or Duchy of Troppau () was a historic territory split off from the Margraviate of Moravia before 1269 by King Ottokar II of Bohemia to provide for his natural son, Nicholas I. The Opava territory thus had not been part of the original Polish Duchy of Silesia in 1138, and was first ruled by an illegitimate offshoot of the Bohemian Přemyslid dynasty, not by the Silesian Piasts like many of the neighbouring Silesian duchies. Its capital was Opava ("Troppau") in the modern day Czech Republic.


Design.

The Ar 232 design resulted from a tender offered by the "Reichsluftfahrtministerium" (German Air Ministry, RLM) in late 1939 for a replacement for the Ju 52/3m transport. Both Arado and Henschel were asked for rear-loading designs powered by two 1,193 kW (1,600 hp) BMW 801A/B radial engines, which was just entering prototype production and not currently used on any front-line designs. The Arado design beat out Henschel's after an examination of the plans, and an order for three prototypes was placed in 1940.  Wilhelm van Nes led the design of the Ar 232. He began at the cargo area, with a bay directly behind the "stepless cockpit" that was 6.6 m (21 ft 73⁄4 in) long, 2.3 m (7 ft 61⁄2 in) wide and 2.0 m (6 ft 63⁄4 in) high. Typical designs of the era used a side-mounted door for access, but the Ar 232 used hydraulically powered clamshell-doors on the rear of the bay with a ramp to allow cargo to be rolled into the hold. The twin tail configuration tail surfaces were mounted on the end of a long boom to keep the area behind the doors clear so trucks could drive right up to the ramp, much like the 1944-era American Fairchild C-82 Packet of a differing twin boom fuselage configuration. The high-set tail on its "pod-and-boom" configuration fuselage allowed the Ar 232 to be loaded and unloaded faster than other designs.  For short-field performance, the Ar 232 incorporated Arado's own "travelling flap" design for the entire rear surface of the wing. Even loaded to 16,000 kg (35,270 lb), it could take-off in 200 m (656 ft). This distance could be further reduced by using "Starthilfe" liquid fuelled monopropellant rocket assist (RATO) jettisonable propulsion units for take-off.  Normally operated by a crew of four, the pilot was the only member without two roles. The navigator operated a 13 mm (.51 in) MG 131 machine gun in the nose, the radio operator a 20 mm MG 151 cannon in a rotating turret on the roof, and the loadmaster a 13 mm (.51 in) MG 131 machine gun firing rearward from the extreme rear of the cargo bay above the cargo doors.

Landing gear design innovations.

The most noticeable feature of the Ar 232 was the landing gear. Normal operations from prepared runways used a tricycle gear — a then-novel feature for German military aircraft—but the sideways-retracting main gear's lever-action lower oleo-strut suspended arm – carrying the main gear's wheel/tire unit at the bottoms of the maingears' struts could "break", or kneel, after landing to place the fuselage closer to the ground and thereby reduce the ramp angle. An additional set of eleven smaller, non-retractable twinned wheels per side, mounted along the ventral centreline of the fuselage from just behind the semi-retractable nosewheel aftwards to just forward of the wing's trailing edge, supported the aircraft once the main landing gear's lever-action lower arm had "knelt", or could be used for additional support when landing on soft or rough airfields. The aircraft was intended to be capable of taxiing at low speeds on its row of small wheels, thus being able to negotiate small obstacles such as ditches up to 1.5 m (5 ft) in width. The appearance of the row of small wheels led to the nickname "millipede". In flight, the main legs fully retracted inwards into the wings, while the fixed support wheels remained exposed and the nose wheel only semi-retracted, with the nosewheel tire's lowest point while retracted never going above the lowest point of the 22 auxiliary centre-line wheels' tires.

Development.

Even before the prototypes were complete in 1941, the Focke-Wulf Fw 190 project had been earmarked to use the BMW 801A/B, and was proving to be a capable design, with each BMW 801 radial weighing about 1,012 kg (2,231 lb). Production of the BMW 801 was insufficient to supply this new demand, and the Ar 232 was forced to use another engine. Eventually, the BMW Bramo 323 "Fafnir" nine-cylinder radial, itself weighing some 550 kg (1,210 lbs), from Focke-Wulf's Fw 200 land-based maritime patrol aircraft as an alternate powerplant choice was selected instead, as it was already in production and could meet requirements if the Ar 232 really did replace the Ju 52/3m in service. The prototypes were far enough along that switching engines would have seriously delayed the program, so the first two were to be completed as the Ar 232A, and the third and a newly ordered fourth as the Ar 232B. The third and fourth prototypes (and all production aircraft) used four engines (in place of the two specified in the RLM specification) in order to provide the desired performance. The first two prototypes, bearing the "Stammkennzeichen" alphabetic codes GH+GN and VD+YA respectively, started trials in early 1941. The first flight resulted in the collapse of the nose gear, but the twenty-two "millipede wheels" saved the aircraft from damage. A further ten pre-production machines were built, and were used operationally as the Ar 232A-0 while awaiting production versions. In general, the Ar 232 completely outperformed the Ju 52/3m. It carried roughly double the load over longer distances, operated from shorter runways and rougher fields if need be, and cruised about 70 km/h (44 mph) faster.  The Ar 232B program ran at the same time. With the quartet of 895 kW (1,200 hp) Bramo 323s replacing the twin BMW 801s, each Bramo 323 with its aforementioned 550 kg dry weight apiece; power increased from 2,386 kW (3,200 hp) to 3,580 kW (4,800 hp), solving the A model's problem of having little excess power in case of engine failure. This change also required the wing to be extended slightly, the span increasing just over 3 m (9 ft 10 in) in total. The extra weight of the Bramo nine-cylinder engines also moved the center of gravity forward, which was offset by stretching the cargo area rearward another meter, adding to the cargo capacity it could carry internally.  Two four-engined prototypes were ordered, the V3 and V4, and V3 first flew in May 1942. A further 10 were then ordered as the Ar 232B-0, and were used widely in an operational role. However, this was the only order for the design, as the "Luftwaffe" gave transport aircraft production a very low priority. Many of those produced were used by Arado to transport aircraft parts between its factories, and did not see front-line service.  Plans were also made to replace the outer wing sections and control surfaces with wooden versions to conserve aluminium. Originally to be known as the Ar 232C, the design dragged on and was later renamed the Ar 432. Plans were finally put into place to start production in October 1945, but the war ended without even a prototype being produced. Two even larger planned versions, the Ar 532 and the Ar 632, would have almost doubled the wingspan to 60 m (196 ft 10 in), as large as Germany's six-engined BV 238 flying boat design, and added another two engines.  Two of the B-0s were captured by British forces at the end of the war. After test flights by Eric "Winkle" Brown, who gave the design excellent marks, they were used by the Royal Air Force on flights between England and Germany after the war.

The Arado Ar 232 "Tausendfüßler" (German: "Millipede"), sometimes also called "Tatzelwurm", was a cargo aircraft, designed and built in small numbers by the German firm Arado Flugzeugwerke during World War II. The design introduced, or brought together, almost all of the features now considered to be "standard" in modern cargo transport aircraft designs, including a box-like fuselage slung beneath a high wing; a rear loading ramp (that had first appeared on the December 1939-flown Junkers Ju 90 V5 fifth prototype four-engined transport via its "Trapoklappe"); a high-mounted twin tail for easy access to the hold; and various features for operating from rough fields. Although the "Luftwaffe" was interested in replacing or supplementing its fleet of outdated Junkers Ju 52/3m transports, it had an abundance of types in production at the time, and did not purchase large numbers of the Ar 232.


Description.

Iboga is native to tropical forests, preferring moist soil in partial shade. It bears dark green, narrow leaves and clusters of white tubular flowers on an erect and branching stem, with yellow-orange fruits resembling an olive.  Normally growing to a height of 2 m, "T. iboga" may eventually grow into a small tree up to 10 m tall, given the right conditions. Its flowers are white and pink, while the fruit can be either an elongated oval shape, or a round spherical shape, both having an orange color. Its yellow-colored roots contain a number of indole alkaloids, most notably ibogaine, which is found in the highest concentration in the root-bark. The root material, bitter in taste, causes anesthetic sensation in the mouth as well as systemic numbness to the skin.

Alkaloids.

Indole alkaloids, which make up about 6% of the root chemical composition of iboga, include:

Traditional use.

The Iboga tree is central to the "Bwiti" spiritual practices in West-Central Africa, mainly Gabon, Cameroon and the Republic of the Congo, where the alkaloid-containing roots or bark are used in various ceremonies to create a near-death experience. Iboga is taken in massive doses by initiates of this spiritual practice, and on a more regular basis is eaten in smaller doses in connection with rituals and tribal dances performed at night. Bwitists have been subject to persecution by Catholic missionaries. Léon M'ba, before becoming the first President of Gabon in 1960, defended the Bwiti religion and the use of iboga in French colonial courts. In 2000, the Council of Ministers of the Republic of Gabon declared "Tabernanthe iboga" to be a national treasure.  In lower doses, iboga has a stimulant effect and is used to maintain alertness while hunting.

Addiction treatment claims.

Anecdotal reports of self-treated opioid addicts indicated a reduced desire to sustain opiate abuse following iboga ingestion. Since 1970, iboga has been legally prohibited in the United States following several fatalities. Preliminary research for the potential use of ibogaine in the treatment of opioid dependence is ongoing in the 21st century, with several clinics using ibogaine in Western countries, Panama, and Caribbean islands. Iboga extracts, as well as the purified alkaloid ibogaine, have attracted attention because of their purported ability to reverse addiction to drugs such as alcohol and opiates. Ibogaine is a k-opioid agonist which may be the mechanism for how it affects opiate withdrawal symptoms.  Ibogaine is classified as a schedule 1 controlled substance in the United States, and is not approved there for addiction treatment (or any other therapeutic use) because of its hallucinogenic and cardiovascular side effects, as well as the absence of safety and efficacy data in human subjects. In most other countries, it remains unregulated and unlicensed.  Independent ibogaine treatment clinics have emerged in Mexico, Canada, the Netherlands, South Africa, and New Zealand, all operating in what has been described as a "legal gray area". Covert, illegal neighborhood clinics are also known to exist in the United States, despite active DEA surveillance. Addiction specialists warn that the treatment of drug dependence with ibogaine in non-medical settings, without expert supervision and unaccompanied by appropriate psychosocial care, can be dangerous — and, in approximately one case in 300, potentially fatal.

Legal status.

Iboga is outlawed or restricted in Belgium, Poland, Denmark, Croatia, France, Sweden, and Switzerland. In the United States, ibogaine is classified by the Controlled Substances Act on the list of schedule I drugs, although the plant itself remains unscheduled.  Non-profit organization "Föreningen för hollistisk missbruksvård" is trying to convince the Swedish government to start up clinical investigations of its anti-addictive properties, loosen up the prohibition law against ibogaine, and allow the creation of treatment facilities in Sweden.  Exportation of iboga from Gabon is illegal since the passage of a 1994 cultural protection law.

Conservation status.

While little data is available on the exploitation and existing habitat of the iboga plant, the destructive effects of harvesting and slow growth could have already severely damaged the wild iboga population.

Tabernanthe iboga (iboga) is a perennial rainforest shrub native to West Africa. An evergreen bush indigenous to Gabon, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and the Republic of Congo, it is cultivated across West Africa.


First generation (1978–1992).

The first series Daily was offered with two models, the 35 and the 50 (3.5 and 5.0 tons). The larger one (Daily 50) had load capacity up to 17 m3. In 1985, a turbodiesel version named "TurboDaily" was introduced. An Alfa Romeo badge engineered version was sold as the Alfa Romeo AR8, similarly to the Fiat Ducato based AR6. The OM version was initially called OM Grinta, and later the turbocharged version OM TurboGrinta. In Switzerland, these were also sold as Saurer-Fiat and as Saurer-OM.

Second generation (1990–2000).

The second generation Daily was introduced in 1990, with a totally revised cab and improvements on the Sofim engine (at that time, with a 2.5 L capacity). Following the entry of Ford's commercial operation into Iveco, in 1986, The Daily 3.5 ton was soon removed from the UK market as it was now direct competition with Ford's Transit, the Daily stayed on in the UK at rated above 4.0 ton, and now sold as Iveco-Ford Truck. The Daily has no other connection with the Transit.  The second generation was facelifted in 1996; it differs only slightly exterior-wise, but the engine was now available in 2.8-litre capacity 76 KW (103 hp). The 59-12 (chassis cabs and panel vans) and 59-13 (minibus) models were launched (GVW 6.4 tons). All-wheel-drive variants were also made available.

Third generation (2000–2006).

With third series the Daily got new light groups (wider and lower). The Turbodaily name was dropped as all turbodiesels came with Unijet technology (common rail). Two new versions were released: "Agile", with automatic gearshift, and "CNG", a natural gas version. Also two new load classes were introduced: Daily 65 and Daily 28 (6.5 tons and 2.8 tons). The Iveco Daily was made "Van of the Year" for the year 2000.  The third generation of the Iveco Daily and the second generation of the Renault Mascott share many panels and some components of the cab, including the doors due to an agreement between Iveco and Renault stipulated in July 1994. The agreement provided for the production and sharing of common components for a total of 120 thousand pieces a year produced in the various factories of Brescia (Italy, Iveco), Suzzurra (Italy, Iveco), Valladolid (Spain, Iveco) and Batilly (France, SoVAB Renault factory).

Engines.

Originally there were models with three engine options, all of type 8140 of 2.8 liters. A variant was a suction diesel with 66 kW (90 hp), but they rarely sold. Another had turbocharger, intercooler and 78 kW (106 hp). The last variant gave 92 kW (125 hp) and had common rail injection. Shortly after receiving the largest engine variable geometry turbocharger and an output of 107 kW (146 hp).  In 2003 came F1A engine with 2.3 litre stroke volume and second-generation common rail injection with 74 kW (101 hp) and 88 kW (120 hp), and in 2004 came the new F1C engine of 3.0 liters, based on F1A with timing chain and 100 kW (136 hp) or 122 kW (166 hp). At this time, the old 8140-engine was completely replaced.

Transmissions.

The motors up to 88 kW (120 hp) had five-speed gearbox, while the more powerful engines also available with a six-speed gearbox. The model could also be obtained with electronic / hydraulic controlled manual gearbox, called "Agile".

Fourth generation (2006–2011).

The fourth generation was designed by Giugiaro and arrived to markets in the middle of 2006. It's available as: Van, cabin cruiser, Combi, Minibus, Agile, and CNG. The minibus is also commercialized with the Irisbus brand. Certain models with clean engines have been sold as the "Iveco EcoDaily" in some European markets.  For the first time since the year 2000, an all-wheel-drive version of the Daily is available starting from 2007. This is developed in co-operation with the company SCAM and is available as single cab and double cab with the wheelbases and and double cab with wheelbase of. Permissible total weight in two versions: or.

Fifth generation (2011–2014).

The fifth generation was introduced 29 June 2011 and came into the market at the beginning of September 2011.

Iveco Daily Ousheng.

A version produced by Naveco (Nanjing Iveco) of China called the Iveco Daily Ousheng (欧胜) was a facelift based on the fifth generation Iveco Daily, and extended production starting from 2017.

Engines.

Euro 5  EEV

Sixth generation (2014–present).

The sixth generation was introduced in July 2014.

Engines.

Euro 5  Euro 6

Electric version.

A version powered by a 30 kW (40 HP) electric motor (60 kW peak) supplied by a battery with a capacity of 76 Ah and 21.2 kWh was announced in August 2010.

The Iveco Daily is a large light commercial van produced by the Italian automaker Iveco since 1978; it was also sold as the Fiat Daily by Fiat until 1983. Unlike the more car-like unibody Fiat Ducato, the Daily uses a separate ladder frame typical of heavier commercial vehicles. The Iveco Daily is produced at the Iveco Suzzara plant, near Mantova in Italy, where Iveco has recently made substantial investments to renew the production lines.


Design.

The Project 685 was designed by the Rubin Design Bureau in response to a challenge to develop an advanced submarine that could carry a mix of torpedoes and cruise missiles with conventional or nuclear warheads. The order to design the submarine was issued in 1966 and design was completed in 1974. The keel was laid down on 22 April 1978 at Severodvinsk. "K-278" was launched on 3 June 1983 and commissioned on 28 December 1983.  "K-278" had a double hull, the inner one being composed of titanium, which gave her an operating depth far greater than that of the best American submarines. The pressure hull was composed of seven compartments with the second and third protected by stronger forward and aft bulkheads creating a "safety zone" in case of an emergency. An escape capsule was fitted in the sail above these compartments to enable the crew to abandon ship in the event of an underwater emergency. Initial Western intelligence estimates of "K-278"'s speed were based on the assumption that it was powered by a pair of liquid-metal lead-bismuth reactors. When the Soviet Union revealed that the submarine used a single OK-650b-3 conventional pressurized-water reactor, these speed estimates were lowered.

Crew.

According to Norman Polmar and Kenneth J. Moore, two Western experts on Soviet submarine design and operations, the Project 685's advanced design included many automated systems which, in turn, allowed for fewer crew members than would be expected for a submarine of its size. The manning table approved by the Soviet Ministry of Defense in 1982 called for a crew of just 57 men. This was later increased to 64: 30 officers, 22 warrant officers, and 12 petty officers and seamen.

Name.

In October 1988, "K-278" was honored by becoming one of the few Soviet submarines to be given an actual name: "Komsomolets" ("Комсомолец", meaning "a member of the Komsomol"), and her commanding officer, Captain 1st rank Yuriy Zelenskiy was honored for diving to a depth of.

Sinking.

On 7 April 1989, while under the command of Captain 1st Rank Evgeny Vanin and running submerged at a depth of about southwest of Bear Island (Norway), fire broke out in an engineering compartment due to a short-circuit, and even though watertight doors were shut, the resulting fire spread through bulkhead cable penetrations. The reactor scrammed and propulsion was lost. Electrical problems spread as cables burned through, and control of the boat was threatened. An emergency ballast tank blow was performed and the submarine surfaced eleven minutes after the fire began. Distress calls were made, and most of the crew abandoned ship.  The fire continued to burn, fed by the compressed air system. At 15:15, several hours after the boat surfaced, it sank in of water, about SSW off Bear Island. The commanding officer and four others who were still on board entered the escape capsule and ejected it. Only one of the five to reach the surface was able to leave the capsule and survive before it sank again in the rough seas.  Rescue aircraft arrived quickly and dropped small rafts, but winds and sea conditions precluded their use. Many men had already died from hypothermia in the water of the Barents Sea. The floating fish factory B-64/10 "Aleksey Khlobystov" ("Алексей Хлобыстов") arrived 81 minutes after "K-278" sank, and took aboard 25 survivors and 5 fatalities. Initially, only 42 of the 69 crewmen died in the accident, including the commanding officer. An additional number succumbed to inhalation of toxic gases aboard the rescue ship.

Aftermath.

In addition to her eight standard torpedoes "K-278" was carrying two torpedoes armed with nuclear warheads. Under pressure from Norway, the Soviet Union used deep sea submersibles operated from the oceanographic research ship "Keldysh" to search for "K-278". In June 1989, two months after the sinking, the wreck was located. Soviet officials stated that any possible leaks were insignificant and posed no threat to the environment.  In 1993, Vice Admiral (ret.) Chernov, commander of the submarine group of which the "Komsomolets" was part, founded the "Komsomolets" Nuclear Submarine Memorial Society, a charity to support the widows and orphans of his former command. Since then, the Society's charter has expanded to provide assistance to the families of all Soviet and Russian submariners lost at sea. 7 April has become a day of commemoration for all submariners lost at sea.  An expedition in mid-1994 revealed some plutonium leakage from one of the two nuclear-armed torpedoes. On 24 June 1995, "Keldysh" set out again from St. Petersburg to the "Komsomolets" datum to seal the hull fractures in Compartment 1 and cover the nuclear warheads, and declared success at the end of a subsequent expedition in July 1996. Furfurol, the jelly-like sealant, was projected to make the wreck radiation safe for 20 to 30 years, that is, until 2015 or 2025.  Norwegian authorities from the Marine Environmental Agency and Radiation Agency are taking water and ground samples from the vicinity of the wreck on a yearly basis.  In July 2019, a joint Norwegian-Russian expedition took water samples out of a ventilation pipe and from several meters above, and analyzed them for caesium-137. That pipe had been identified as a leak in several Mir missions up to 1998 and 2007. The activity levels in the six samples out of the pipe ranged between less than (the on-board detection limit of) 10 Bq/l to 100 Bq/l (on 8 July) and 800 Bq/l (9 July). No activity could be detected in the free-water samples. Due to dilution, there is no threat to the environment. The Norwegian limit on caesium-137 in food products is 600 Bq/kg. The background activity of caesium-137 in the water body is as low as 0.001 Bq/l. More sensitive measurements of the samples are underway.

The K-278 "Komsomolets" was the "Project-685 Plavnik" (Russian: проект-685 плавник, meaning "fin", also known by its NATO reporting name of "Mike"-class), nuclear-powered attack submarine of the Soviet Navy— the only submarine of her design class.


Mission.

The organization's mission statement is: "ADRA works with people in poverty and distress to create just and positive change through empowering partnerships and responsible actions.". It's stated reason for existence is "to follow Christ's example by being a voice for, serving, and partnering with those in need"., and the 1983 organizational documents include a biblical rationale for conducting humanitarian work.

Purpose.

ADRA partners with communities, organizations, and governments in order to develop:  ADRA says that it serves people without discriminating their ethnic, political, or religious association. Priority is given to those with disabilities, children, and senior citizens.  ADRA's areas of expertise include: Education, Emergencies, Food/nutrition, HIV/AIDS, Health, Refugees and IDPs, Shelter, Training and development, Water and sanitation, Women, Children, Monitoring and Evaluation, Programme management, and Security.  A Los Angeles Times story from 1998 reports on ADRA's 1996 10-year strategic plan, which calls the agency "a bona fide ministry of Jesus Christ and the Seventh-day Adventist Church" and "provides a strategy to reach people previously untouched by other church institutions. The church's mission is incomplete without ADRA's distinctive ministry." Much has been said about faith-based agencies taking US government funding and using those funds to further religious doctrinal missions, however ADRA does not proselytise. It claims to operate "by love with no strings attached". As a global organisation, ADRA is a signatory of the Code of Conduct for the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement and NGOs in Disaster Relief, which states that "aid will not be used to further a particular political or religious standpoint", that "aid is given regardless of the race, creed, or nationality", and that organizations "shall respect culture and custom."

History.

ADRA was established as the Seventh-day Adventist Welfare Service (SAWS) in November 1956. The name was changed to Seventh-day Adventist World Service in 1973.  In 1983, the organisation was renamed the 'Adventist Development and Relief Agency' to better reflect its missions and activities.

International Development Degree Program.

In 1996 ADRA and Andrews University established the ADRA Professional Leadership Institute (APLI). The institute provided field-based training and continuing professional education to ADRA staff around the world. By the year 2000, the APLI program was used as a model by the Food Aid Management members as an example of "best practices for local capacity building." The model was well received by Africare, World Vision, and others. By 2003, the ADRA and Andrews University partnership offered a master's degree in International Development. More than 160 students had graduated. Sixty of those graduates had moved into management positions across the network. Seventh-day Adventist institutions of higher education on four continents offered degrees in International Development.

United Nations.

The United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) granted ADRA general Consultative Status in 1997.

Emergency Response.

So far in 2014, ADRA International has responded to approximately 60 emergencies worldwide, by which more than 127,000 people have directly benefited.

The Adventist Development and Relief Agency International (ADRA or ADRA International) is a humanitarian agency operated by the Seventh-day Adventist Church for the purpose of providing individual and community development and disaster relief. It was founded in 1956, and it is headquartered in Silver Spring, Maryland, United States of America.


Laboratory applications and examples.

Liquid-liquid extractions in the laboratory usually make use of a separatory funnel, where two immiscible phases are combined to separate a solute from one phase into the other, according to the relative solubility in each of the phases. Typically, this will be to extract organic compounds out of an aqueous phase and into an organic phase, but may also include extracting water-soluble impurities from an organic phase into an aqueous phase.  Common extractants may be arranged in increasing order of polarity according to the Hildebrand solubility parameter:  ethyl acetate < acetone < ethanol < methanol < acetone:water (7:3) < ethanol:water (8:2) < methanol:water (8:2) < water  Solid-liquid extractions at laboratory scales can use Soxhlet extractors. A solid sample containing the desired compound along with impurities is placed in the thimble. An extracting solvent is chosen in which the impurities are insoluble and the desired compound has at least limited solubility. The solvent is refluxed and condensed solvent falls into the thimble and dissolves the desired compound which then passes back through the filter into the flask. After extraction is complete the solvent can be removed and the desired product collected.

Everyday applications and examples.

Boiling tea leaves in water extracts the tannins, theobromine, and caffeine out of the leaves and into the water, as an example of a solid-liquid extraction.  Decaffeination of tea and coffee is also an example of an extraction, where the caffeine molecules are removed from the tea leaves or coffee beans, often utilising supercritical fluid extraction with CO or standard solid-liquid extraction techniques.

Extraction in chemistry is a separation process consisting in the separation of a substance from a matrix. Common examples include "liquid-liquid extraction", and "solid phase extraction". The distribution of a solute between two phases is an equilibrium condition described by partition theory. This is based on exactly how the analyte moves from the initial solvent into the extracting solvent. The term "washing" may also be used to refer to an extraction in which impurities are extracted from the solvent containing the desired compound.


Life.

Balbín was born in Hradec Králové into a middle class Roman Catholic family. He was educated mostly in the Jesuit schools, he soon joined the Society of Jesus. After finishing studies in philosophy at University of Olomouc, he taught in Jesuit colleges in Prague, Třeboň, Brno, Jičín, Jindřichův Hradec and Český Krumlov.  After writing of several textbooks and didactic theatre plays, he also became acquainted with historical sources of archives and libraries. His entire life was devoted to collecting and editing materials about Czech history, and his researches have often been utilized by the Bollandists. Balbín died, aged 66, in Prague.

Work.

He wrote over thirty works, the most important from which is "Miscellanea Historica regni Bohemiae" ("Varieties from the History of the Czech Kingdom" ", 6 vols., Prague, 1679–87), in which he described the geography, natural history, and chief historical events of his native land. The work includes brief "vitae" of prominent Czechs. The sections of the work:  Bohuslav Balbín (Balbinus) is known in Czech Lands mostly for his "Apology for the Slavic and especially Czech language", written in Latin. He was the first to edit the ancient chronicle of the tenth century known as the "Life of St. Ludmilla and Martyrdom of St. Wenceslas", which is considered the oldest historical work written in the Czech lands by a Czech (written in Latin). Balbinus wrote also "De archiepiscopis Bohemiae" ("The Archbishops of Bohemia", Prague, 1682) and "Bohemia Sancta, sive de sanctis Bohemiae, Moraviae, Silesiae, Lusatiae" ("Sacred Bohemia, or the Saints of Bohemia, Moravia, Silesia and Lusatia" Prague, 1682). His book "Vita beatae Joannis Nepomuceni martyris" (Life of Saint and martyr John of Nepomuk) was published in Prague, 1670, is in large part responsible for the developed legend of Saint John of Nepomuk. Balbin also wrote one reference book about stylistics (1666) and two works devoted to rhetoric (1677, 1688)

Bohuslav Balbín (3 December 1621 Hradec Králové – 29 November 1688 Prague) was a Czech writer, historian, geographer and Jesuit, called the "Czech Pliny". He became well known also as an advocate of the Czech language in the time of incoming germanization of the Czech lands.


Early history.

The estate of Yasnaya Polyana was originally owned by the Kartsev family. In the 18th century, it was purchased by major-general Sergey Volkonskiy and then passed to his son, general-in-chief Prince Nikolai Volkonskiy, the grandfather of the writer. Nikolai lived in what is now known as the 'Volkonskiy house' before commencing to build the main, single-storey manor house in 1810, at the highest point of the estate. This was flanked by two two-storey wings, linked by decking. He also built stables, a coach-house, a bathhouse, summerhouse, and two orangeries linked by a gallery, and created a formal French garden, an English landscape garden with a cascade of ponds, and long avenues of birch and oak trees.  The house passed from Nikolai Volkonskiy to his only daughter, Maria Nikolayevna, the mother of Leo Tolstoy. Her husband, Nikolai Ilyich Tolstoy, a veteran of the war against Napoleon in 1812, added a second storey to the house, providing accommodation for an extended family of thirteen.

Leo Tolstoy at Yasnaya Polyana.

Leo Tolstoy was born on September 9, at Yasnaya Polyana. His parents died when he was very young, and he was raised there by relatives. In 1854, to pay off gambling debts, Tolstoy sold the central part of the house to a neighbour, who dismantled it and rebuilt it on his own land. Only the two wings remained; Tolstoy occupied one while the other became dilapidated. He brought his wife there after their marriage in 1862.  At the time Tolstoy lived there, the Yasnaya Polyana estate comprised about, on a gently sloping hillside with dense original forest (The Forest of the Old Order) at the upper end, and a series of four ponds at different levels. The estate had four clusters of peasant houses for about 350 peasants living and working on the estate.  Tolstoy wrote "War and Peace" at Yasnaya Polyana between 1862 and 1869, and wrote "Anna Karenina" there between 1873 and 1877. He wrote the novels in his study by hand in very small handwriting, with many additions and deletions and notes, and gave the draft to his wife, who made a clean copy at night, which Tolstoy then rewrote the next day. Each chapter went through five or six drafts, and she recopied "War and Peace" seven times before it was finished. All the drafts were saved by his wife and are now in the Rumyantsev Museum in Moscow.  Tolstoy's thirteen children, of whom four died in childhood, were all born at Yasnaya Polyana. They were born on the same leather sofa where Tolstoy himself was born, which was kept in his study next to his writing desk, and is still there today.  When he was living and working at Yasnaya Polyana, Tolstoy awakened at 7:00 a.m. (07:00 local time), did physical exercises, and walked in the park, before starting his writing. During the harvest season he often worked in the fields with the peasants, both for physical exercise and to make his writing about peasant life more realistic. He also visited the school for peasant children which he had created in one building, where he told stories to the children.  Tolstoy entertained almost all the important Russian cultural and artistic figures of his time at Yasnaya Polyana. His guests are known to have included Anton Chekhov, Turgenev, Maxim Gorky, the painters Valentin Serov, and Ilya Repin.

After Tolstoy's death.

In 1911, Tolstoy's widow Sofia Alexandrovna applied to Tsar Nicholas II to have Yasnaya Polyana made into a state museum. The Tsar refused, but did grant a pension to the family which allowed the house and estate to be preserved as they were.  In 1919, the Soviet Government formally put Yasnaya Polyana under the protection of the state, and in June 1921 Yasnaya Polyana was nationalized and became a state museum, receiving 3,147 visitors in its first year.  In October 1941, as the Germans approached Moscow, 110 crates filled with the exhibits of the museum were evacuated to Moscow, and then to Tomsk. The estate was occupied by the Germans for 45 days, who turned the Leo Tolstoy House into a hospital, and German soldiers who died in the hospital were buried around Tolstoy's grave. A fire during the occupation damaged the upper floor of the house. Following the war the estate was restored to the way it looked when Count Tolstoy lived there. Soviet propaganda made use of the Germans' disregard of the house's cultural value in the 1942 war documentary film "Moscow Strikes Back".

The Kuzminskiy wing.

The Kuzminsky wing, like the house of Leo Tolstoy, was originally part of the large house built by Tolstoy's father, and later demolished. In 1859 Tolstoy turned it into a school for the peasant children of his estate, where he practised his theories of education. After 1862, it became the home of the younger sister of his wife, Tatyana Andreyevna Kuzminskiy, and her family. By 1897 it had become dilapidated.

The Volkonskiy house.

The Volkonskiy house (not to be confused with the Volkonsky House in Moscow) is the oldest structure on the estate. It was used as a carpet factory at one time. During Tolstoy's time it housed the estate's servants.

Grave of Leo Tolstoy.

Long before he died Tolstoy announced the place where he wanted to be buried; in a small clearing called "the place of the green wand", next to a long ravine in a part of the old forest called the Forest of the Old Order (Старый Заказ, ) because cutting trees there had been forbidden since the time of his grandfather, and many trees there were over a hundred years old. The name 'place of the green wand' had been given by Tolstoy's older brother Nikolai, who said that the person who found the magic wand there would never die or be ill. He and his brother frequently sat in the darkness in the clearing and talked.

In fiction.

The Bald Hills estate in "War and Peace", owned by Prince Bolkonsky and later by Nikolai Rostov, is modelled on Yasnaya Polyana. Yasnaya Polyana is one of four major cities in the Erangel map in the video game "PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds". It also features in the 1990 Jay Parini novel "The Last Station", and in the 2009 film version.

Yasnaya Polyana (, literally: "Bright Glade") is a writer's house museum, the former home of the writer Leo Tolstoy. It is southwest of Tula, Russia, and from Moscow.


Life.

As a young girl, Mathilde was quiet and gentle, but she was not especially good-looking. Her father, George of Saxony, had planned a marriage between Mathilde and Archduke Rudolf, Crown Prince of Austria, Hungary, and Bohemia, however Rudolf rejected this arrangement and instead married Princess Stéphanie of Belgium.  It was then agreed that Mathilde would marry a nephew of Emperor Franz Joseph I and the presumptive heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, Archduke Franz Ferdinand. However, Franz Ferdinand rejected this arrangement. Dynastic relations between the Saxon royal family and the Habsburgs were once again strained when Franz Ferdinand chose to marry (morganatically) Sophie Chotek, Countess Chotek of Wognin. (Relations between the two nations improved only when Mathilde's younger sister Maria Josepha married her second cousin, Archduke Otto Francis.)  Mathilde became embittered by these rejections and turned critical and waspish; she also turned to alcohol to ease her unhappiness, acquiring the nickname "Schnapps-Mathilde" for obvious reasons. She made life difficult for other members of the royal family, and as a consequence was the least popular of the family by a wide margin among the people of Saxony.  She was a talented painter and took lessons from the artist Alfred Diethe from 1890 to 1901. Some of her paintings, mainly landscapes and scenes of court life in Pillnitz, were made into prints. Others appeared on postcards, which were sold to raise money for charity.  Mathilde died unmarried on 27 March 1933 at the age of 70. She was interred in the "New Tomb" of the Katholische Hofkirche in Dresden.

Princess Mathilde of Saxony, Duchess of Saxony (19 March 1863 – 27 March 1933) was the third child and third-eldest daughter of George of Saxony and his wife, Maria Anna of Portugal. She was an elder sister of the Kingdom of Saxony's last king, Frederick Augustus III of Saxony.