Background.

Despite the failure of the Seventh Crusade, which ended in the capture of King Louis by the Mamluks, the king did not lose interest in crusading. He continued to send financial aid and military support to the settlements in Outremer from 1254 to 1266. While the "crusade" of the King's brother Charles of Anjou against the Hohenstaufen Kingdom of Sicily occupied Papal attention for some years, the advance of Baibars in Syria during the early 1260s became increasingly alarming to Christendom. The War of Saint Sabas between Genoa and Venice had drawn in the Crusader States and depleted their resources and manpower. The exhausted settlements were systematically overrun by the methodical campaigns of Baibars. By 1265, he had raided Galilee and destroyed the cathedral of Nazareth, captured Caesarea and Arsuf and temporarily took Haifa. In late 1266, Louis informed Pope Clement IV that he intended to go on a crusade again.

Preparation.

Louis formally took the cross on 24 March 1267 at an assembly of his nobles. A second ceremony took place on 5 June 1267 before a papal legate in Notre-Dame de Paris. Louis's son-in-law, King Theobald II of Navarre, who had also taken the cross, was also present. The response was less enthusiastic than to his calling of the Seventh Crusade in 1248, although its unpopularity may have been exaggerated by his chronicler Jean de Joinville, who was personally opposed to the venture. The crusade was set to sail from Aigues-Mortes in early summer 1270 in Genoese and Marseillois shipping. An Aragonese contingent under James I of Aragon sailed from Barcelona in September 1269, but was caught in a storm and badly damaged; most of the survivors returned home, while one squadron under the King's natural sons Pedro Fernández and Fernán Sánchez reached Acre. Too weak to engage Baibars, they soon returned to Aragon as well.  Louis' initial plan was to descend on the coast of Outremer by way of Cyprus. However, a new plan was developed in 1269, wherein the fleet would first descend on Tunis. This change has often been attributed to the King's brother Charles of Anjou, whose newly-conquered Kingdom of Sicily would benefit from a renewal of its traditional influence on Tunis. However, the details of Charles' preparations suggest that he was not initially aware of the change of plans, which originated at the French court. Louis may have thought that Tunis was an important base of supplies for Egypt; Geoffrey of Beaulieu stated that the King thought that the Khalif of Tunis, Muhammad I al-Mustansir, might be persuaded to convert to Christianity, if given military support.  Pope Clement ceded a tenth of the church's income in Navarre to King Theobald for the financing the crusade. The prior of Roncesvalles and the dean of Tudela were to oversee the collection of the tenth. The preaching of the crusade in Navarre was primarily undertaken by the Franciscans and Dominicans of Pamplona.

Campaign and siege.

A large and well-organized fleet under Louis IX sailed from Aigues-Mortes about a month late, on 1 July 1270. The following day a second fleet under the King of Navarre sailed from Marseille. The two fleets joined up at Cagliari on the southern coast of Sardinia. They landed on the Tunisian coast on 18 July without facing much resistance. The crusaders built a camp near a fort built over Carthage and awaited the arrival of the Sicilian contingent under Charles of Anjou. The North African summer bred pestilence, and an epidemic of dysentery swept through the crusading ranks. Louis' Damietta-born son John Tristan died of the disease on 3 August. Soon Louis, too, fell sick, and died, in penitence, on a bed of ashes on 25 August. His brother Charles arrived just after his death.  Because of further diseases the siege of Tunis was abandoned on 30 October by the Treaty of Tunis with the sultan. In this agreement the Christians gained free trade with Tunis, and residence for monks and priests in the city was guaranteed. After hearing of the death of Louis and the evacuation of the crusaders from Tunis, Sultan Baibars of Egypt cancelled his plan to send Egyptian troops to fight Louis in Tunis. The treaty was quite beneficial to Charles of Anjou, who received one-third of a war indemnity from the Tunisians, and was promised that Hohenstaufen refugees in the sultanate would be expelled.  Prince Edward of England arrived with an English fleet the day before the crusaders left Tunis. The English returned to Sicily with the rest of the crusaders; the combined fleet was badly damaged in a storm off Trapani. At the end of April 1271, the English continued to Acre to carry on the Ninth Crusade.

Literary response.

Bertran d'Alamanon, a diplomat in the service of Charles of Anjou, and Ricaut Bono criticised the de Papal policy of pursuing wars in Italy with money that should have gone overseas.  The failure of the Eighth Crusade, like those of its predecessors, caused a response to be crafted in Occitan poetry by the troubadours. The death of Louis of France especially sparked their creative output, notable considering the hostility which the troubadours had previously shown towards the French monarchy during the Albigensian Crusade. Three "planhs", songs of lament, were composed for the death of Louis IX.  Guilhem d'Autpol composed "Fortz tristors es e salvaj'a retraire" for Louis. Raimon Gaucelm de Bezers composed "Qui vol aver complida amistansa" to celebrate the preparations of the Crusade in 1268, but in 1270 he had to compose "Ab grans trebalhs et ab grans marrimens" in commemoration of the French king. Austorc de Segret composed "No sai quim so, tan sui desconoissens", a more general Crusading song, that laments Louis but also that either God or Satan is misleading Christians. He also attacks Louis' brother Charles, whom he calls the "caps e guitz" (head and guide) of the infidels, because he convinced Louis to attack Tunis and not the Holy Land, and he immediately negotiated a peace with the Muslims after Louis' death.  After the Crusade, the aged troubadour Peire Cardenal wrote a song, "Totz lo mons es vestitiz et abrazatz" (more or less: the entire world is besieged and surrounded [by falsehood]), encouraging Louis' heir, Philip III, to go to the Holy Land to aid Edward Longshanks.  Satiric verses were composed in Tunis about Louis' new plan to invade Tunis: "O Louis, Tunis is the sister of Egypt! thus expect your ordeal! you will find your tomb here instead of the house of Ibn Lokman; and the eunuch Sobih will be here replaced by Munkir and Nakir.".

The Eighth Crusade was a crusade launched by Louis IX of France against the city of Tunis in 1270. The Eighth Crusade is sometimes counted as the Seventh, if the Fifth and Sixth Crusades of Frederick II are counted as a single crusade. The Ninth Crusade is sometimes also counted as part of the Eighth. The crusade is considered a failure after Louis died shortly after arriving on the shores of Tunisia, with his disease-ridden army dispersing back to Europe shortly afterwards.


Early life.

He was born Mark Roy or Rey in 1577, in Sigmaringen, a town in modern-day Germany, then under the Principality of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen. His father's name was John Rey. He studied law and philosophy at the University of Freiburg.  Roy subsequently taught philosophy at this university, ultimately earning the degree of Doctor of Law. During his time as a student he did not drink wine, and wore a hair-shirt. He was known for his modesty, meekness and chastity.  In 1604, Roy accompanied, as preceptor (teacher-mentor), three young Swabian gentlemen on their travels through the principal parts of Europe. During six years of travel, he attended Mass very frequently. In every town they came to, he visited the hospitals and churches, passed several hours on his knees in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament, and was generous to the poor, sometimes giving them the very clothes off his back.  Upon his return, he practiced law as a counselor or advocate, at Colmar, in Alsace, France where he came to be known as the 'poor man's lawyer'. He scrupulously forbore all invectives, detractions, and whatever might affect the reputation of any adversary. Disenchanted with the evils associated with his profession, he was determined to join his brother George as a member of the Capuchin friars.

Life as a friar.

Upon entering the Capuchin order, the guardian gave him the religious name of Fidelis, the Latin word for "faithful," alluding to that text from the Book of Revelation which promises a crown of life to him who shall continue faithful to the end. He finished his novitiate and studies for the priesthood, presiding over his first Mass at the Capuchin friary in Fribourg (in present-day Switzerland), on October 4, 1612 (the feast day of St. Francis of Assisi, founder of the order).  As soon as Fidelis finished his course of theology, he was immediately employed in preaching and in hearing confessions. After becoming guardian of the Capuchin friary in Weltkirchen, Feldkirch (in present-day Austria). During a severe epidemic in a city, Fidelis cared for and cured many sick soldiers. Many residents of the town and neighboring places were reformed by his zealous labors, and several Calvinists were converted. The Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith commissioned Fidelis to preach in the Graubünden region of eastern Switzerland. Eight other Capuchin friars were to be his assistants, and they labored in this mission under his direction.  The Calvinists of that territory, being incensed at his success in converting their brethren, loudly threatened Fidelis' life, and he prepared himself for martyrdom. Ralph de Salis and another Calvinist gentleman were both converted by his missionary efforts. Fidelis and his companions entered into Prättigau, a small district of Graubünden, in 1622, on the Feast of the Epiphany, January 6. The effects of his ardent zeal, where the Bishop of Coire sent a lengthy and full account to the Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith, enraged the Calvinists in that province.  On April 24, 1622, Fidelis made his confession, celebrated Mass and then preached at Grüsch. At the end of his sermon, which he had delivered with more than ordinary zeal, he stood silent all of a sudden, with his eyes fixed upon Heaven, in ecstasy. He foretold his death to several persons in the clearest terms, and began signing his letters, ""P. Fidelis, prope diem esca vermium"" ("Father Fidelis, in days ahead to become food for worms"). After the service at Grüsch he and several companions traveled to Seewis. His companions noted that he was particularly cheerful.

Death.

On April 24, in a campaign organized by the Habsburgs, Fidelis was preaching under protection of some Austrian imperial soldiers in the Church at Seewis with the aim to reconvert the people of Seewis to Catholicism. During the sermon, his listeners were called "to arms" by the Calvinist agitators outside. Some of the people went to face the Austrian troops outside the church. Fidelis had been persuaded by the remaining Catholics to immediately flee with the Austrian troops out of Seewis, which he did, but then returned alone to Grüsch. On his way back he was confronted by 20 Calvinist soldiers who demanded unsuccessfully that he renounce the Catholic faith, and when he refused, they subsequently murdered him.  A local account:  From Grüsch he went to preach at Seewis, where, with great energy, he exhorted the Catholics to constancy in the faith. After a Calvinist had discharged his musket at him in the Church, the Catholics entreated him to leave the place. He answered that death was his gain and his joy, and that he was ready to lay down his life in God's cause. On his road back to Grüsch, he met twenty Calvinist soldiers with a minister at their head. They called him a false prophet, and urged him to embrace their sect. He answered: "I am sent to you to confute, not to embrace your heresy. The Catholic religion is the faith of all ages, I fear not death." One of them beat him down to the ground by a stroke on the head with his backsword. Fidelis rose again on his knees, and stretching forth his arms in the form of a cross, said with a feeble voice "Pardon my enemies, O Lord: blinded by passion they know not what they do. Lord Jesus, have mercy on me. Mary, Mother of God, succor me!." Another sword stroke clove his skull, and he fell to the ground and lay in a pool of his own blood. The soldiers, not content with this, added many stab wounds to his body with their long knives, and hacked-off his left leg, as they said, to punish him for his many journeys into those parts to preach to them.

Veneration.

It is said that a Catholic woman lay concealed near the place of Fidelis' martyrdom as the saint was slain. After the soldiers had left, she came out to assess the incident and found the martyr's eyes open, fixed on the heavens. He was buried by Catholics the next day.  The rebels were soon after defeated by the imperial troops, an event which the martyr had foretold them. The Protestant minister who had participated in Fidelis' martyrdom, was converted by this circumstance, made a public abjuration of Calvinism and was received into the Catholic Church.  After six months, the martyr's body was found to be incorrupt, but his head and left arm were separated from his body. The body parts were then placed into two reliquaries, one sent to the Cathedral of Coire, at the behest of the bishop, and laid under the High Altar; the other was placed in the Capuchin church at Weltkirchen, Feldkirch, Austria.  Saint Fidelis' feast day in the Catholic Church is celebrated on April 24.

Fidelis of Sigmaringen, O.F.M. Cap. (1577 - 1622) was a Capuchin friar who was a major figure in the Counter-Reformation, and was martyred by his opponents at Seewis im Prättigau, now part of Switzerland. Fidelis was canonized in 1746.


Distribution.

The harnessed bushbuck is distributed from Senegal and southern Mauritania across the Sahel, east to Ethiopia, and south to Angola and the southern Democratic Republic of the Congo. It is common across this broad geographic distribution and is found in wooded savannas, forest-savanna mosaics; penetrating into some of the rain forest zones of the southern Central African Republic, Gabon, Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Republic of Congo; in montane forests of the Bamenda Highlands and Mount Cameroon; and in the semi-arid zones of the Ethiopian lowlands. It does not occur in the deep rain forests of the central Congo Basin.

Description and genetics.

The harnessed bushbuck is in general smaller than other tragelaphines, with a mainly red or yellow-brown ground colour. It is conspicuously striped with several vertical and at least one horizontal stripe and there is little to no sexual dimorphism with respect to patterning and ground colouration. It has been referred to as the harnessed antelope or "guib harnaché". The conspicuousness of its patterning tends to attenuate slightly in a west to east cline along the species range, being least striking in the "decula" population of Ethiopia. Seven other genetically-based population groupings exist, some do not correspond to previously described subspecies. The nominate "scriptus" population occurs in west Africa including Senegal, Gambia, Guinea and Sierra Leone, while two populations occur along the upper and lower Volta River valley in Ghana, respectively, one in the Niger Basin in Nigeria as far east as the Cross River, "phaleratus" south of the Bamenda Highlands through Cameroon, Gabon, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo to northern Angola, "bor" from Lake Chad and the Chari River across the Central African Republic to the Nile, and lastly "dodingae" east of the Nile in lowland areas of southern Sudan and northern Uganda.  As the first of the bushbucks to be described by Pallas in 1766 as "Antilope scripta" from Senegal, it retains the original species name for the bushbuck. Its alternative common name, kéwel, is taken from the Wolof language spoken in Senegal. As most studies of the bushbucks have focused on the Cape bushbuck ("Tragelaphus sylvaticus"), very little is known about the biology of the harnessed bushbuck, except for what can be gleaned from museum specimens and hunting trophies.

The harnessed bushbuck or kéwel ("Tragelaphus scriptus") is a small to medium-sized antelope widespread in west and central Africa. Formerly and alongside the Cape bushbuck it was generically known as the bushbuck, however, it has since been found to be a species in its own right, with a separate geographic distribution. Of all the other tragelaphine antelopes, the harnessed bushbuck is most closely related to the nyala ("Tragelaphus angasi").


History.

Tribes of the Belgae, such as the Menapii and Nervii were the first peoples recorded in the area later known as Nord.  During the 4th and 5th Centuries, Roman rulers of "Gallia Belgica" secured the route from the major port of Bononia (Boulogne) to Colonia (Cologne), by co-opting Germanic peoples north-east of this corridor, such as the Tungri. In effect, the area known later as Nord became an isogloss (linguistic border) between the Germanic and Romance languages. Saxon colonisation of the region from the 5th to the 8th centuries likely shifted the isogloss further south so that, by the 9th century, most people immediately north of Lille spoke a dialect of Old Dutch. This has remained evident in the place names of the region. After the County of Flanders became part of France in the 9th century, the isogloss moved north and east.  During the 14th Century, much of the area came under the control of the Duchy of Burgundy and in subsequent centuries was therefore part of the Habsburg Netherlands (from 1482) and the Spanish Netherlands (1581).  Areas that later constituted Nord were ceded to France by treaties in 1659, 1668, and 1678, becoming the Counties of Flanders and Hainaut, and part of the Bishopric of Cambrai.  On 4 March 1790, during the French Revolution, Nord became one of the original 83 departments created to replace the counties.  Modern government policies making French the only official language have led to a decline in use of the Dutch West Flemish dialect. There are currently 20,000 speakers of a sub-dialect of West Flemish in the arrondissement of Dunkirk and it appears likely that this particular sub-dialect will be extinct within decades. There is, however, a movement to bring back use of the Dutch language as a second official language.

Geography.

Nord is part of the current Hauts-de-France region and is surrounded by the French departments of Pas-de-Calais and Aisne, as well as by Belgium and the North Sea.  Situated in the north of the country along the western half of the Belgian frontier, the department is unusually long and narrow. Its principal city is Lille, which with nearby Roubaix, Tourcoing and Villeneuve d'Ascq constitutes the center of a cluster of industrial and former mining towns totalling slightly over a million inhabitants. Other important cities are Valenciennes, Douai, and Dunkirk. The principal rivers are the following: Yser, Lys, Escaut, Scarpe, Sambre

Demographics.

Nord is the most heavily populated department, with a population of 2,617,939 and an area of 5,743 km2.

Politics.

The President of the Departmental Council is the unaffiliated right-winger Jean-René Lecerf.  The first President of the Fifth Republic, General Charles de Gaulle, was born in Lille in the department on 22 November 1890.

Economy.

At the forefront of France's 19th century industrialisation, the area suffered severely during World War I and now faces the economic, social and environmental problems associated with the decline of coal mining with its neighbours following the earlier decline of the Lille-Roubaix textile industry.  Until recently, the department was dominated economically by coal mining, which extended through the heart of the department from neighbouring Artois into central Belgium.

Nord ( or simply, ; West Flemish and, ) is a department in the Hauts-de-France region of France bordering Belgium. It was created from the western halves of the historical counties of Flanders and Hainaut, and the Bishopric of Cambrai. The modern coat of arms was inherited from the County of Flanders.


Description.

"Ilex aquifolium" grows to tall with a woody stem as wide as, rarely or more, in diameter. The leaves are 5–12 cm long and 2–6 cm broad; they are evergreen, lasting about five years, and are dark green on the upper surface and lighter on the underside, oval, leathery, shiny, and about 5 to 9 cm long. In the young and in the lower limbs of mature trees, the leaves have three to five sharp spines on each side, pointing alternately upward and downward, while leaves of the upper branches in mature trees lack spines.  The flowers are white, four-lobed, and pollinated by bees. Holly is dioecious, meaning that there are male plants and female plants. The sex cannot be determined until the plants begin flowering, usually between 4 and 12 years of age. In male specimens, the flowers are yellowish and appear in axillary groups. In the female, flowers are isolated or in groups of three and are small and white or slightly pink, and consist of four petals and four sepals partially fused at the base.  The fruit only appears on female plants, which require male plants nearby to fertilise them. The fruit is a drupe (stone fruit), about 6–10 mm in diameter, a bright red or bright yellow, which matures around October or November; at this time they are very bitter due to the ilicin content and so are rarely eaten until late winter after frost has made them softer and more palatable. They are eaten by rodents, birds and larger herbivores. Each fruit contains 3 to 4 seeds which do not germinate until the second or third spring.

Distribution.

Today, holly is found in western Asia and Europe in the undergrowth of oak forest and beech forest in particular, although at times it can form a dense thicket as the dominant species. It requires moist, shady environments, found within forests or in shady slopes, cliffs, and mountain gorges.  Along the west coast of the United States and Canada, from California to British Columbia, non-native English Holly has proved very invasive, quickly spreading into native forest habitat, where it thrives in shade and crowds out native species. It has been placed on the Washington State Noxious Weed Control Board's monitor list, and is a Class C invasive plant in Portland.  During the Cenozoic Era, the Mediterranean region, Europe, and northwest Africa had a wetter climate and were largely covered by laurel forests. Holly was a typical representative species of this biome, where many current species of the genus "Ilex" were present. With the drying of the Mediterranean Basin during the Pliocene, the laurel forests gradually retreated, replaced by more drought-tolerant sclerophyll plant communities. The modern "Ilex aquifolium" resulted from this change. Most of the last remaining laurel forests around the Mediterranean are believed to have died out approximately 10,000 years ago at the end of the Pleistocene.

Ecology.

Holly is a rugged pioneer species that prefers relatively moist areas, and tolerates frost as well as summer drought. The plant is common in the garrigue and maquis and is also found in deciduous forest and oak forest.  Pure stands of hollies can grow into a labyrinth of vaults in which thrushes and deer take refuge, while smaller birds are protected among their spiny leaves. After the first frost of the season, holly fruits become soft and fall to the ground serving as important food for winter birds at a time of scarce resources.  The flowers are attractive as nectar sources for insects such as bees, wasps, flies, and small butterflies. The commonly-encountered pale patches on leaves are due to the leaf-mine insect "Phytomyza ilicis".  It is an invasive species on the West Coast of Canada and the United States as well as in Hawaii.

Cultivation.

"Ilex aquifolium" is widely grown in parks and gardens in temperate regions. Numerous cultivars have been selected, of which the following have gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit:-  The hybrid "Ilex" × "altaclerensis" was developed at Highclere Castle in Hampshire, England, in 1835, a cross between "I. aquifolium" and the tender species "I. perado". The following cultivars have gained the RHS AGM:-  Hollies are often used for hedges; the spiny leaves make them difficult to penetrate, and they take well to pruning and shaping.

Chemistry, toxicity, tea and traditional uses.

Holly berries contain alkaloids, caffeine, and theobromine, saponins, caffeic acid, and a yellow pigment, ilixanthin. The berries are generally regarded as toxic to humans. Accidental consumption may occur by children or pets attracted to the bright red berries. The berries are emetic, possibly due to the compound, ilicin, though caffeine and theobromine found in the plant are toxic generally to dogs and cats. The leaves of yerba mate, also in the genus "Ilex", are used to make a caffeinated beverage, called mate or Paraguayan tea.  In traditional medicine, holly is supposed to be diuretic, a relief from fever, and a laxative.

Other uses.

Between the thirteenth and eighteenth centuries, before the introduction of turnips, "Ilex aquifolium" was cultivated for use as winter fodder for cattle and sheep. Less spiny varieties of holly were preferred, and in practice the leaves growing near the top of the tree have far fewer spines, making them more suitable for fodder.  "Ilex aquifolium" was once among the traditional woods for Great Highland bagpipes before tastes turned to imported dense tropical woods such as cocuswood, ebony, and African blackwood.

Ilex aquifolium, the holly, common holly, English holly, European holly, or occasionally Christmas holly, is a species of flowering plant in the family Aquifoliaceae, native to western and southern Europe, northwest Africa, and southwest Asia. It is regarded as the type species of the genus "Ilex", which by association is also called "holly". It is an evergreen tree or shrub found, for example, in shady areas of forests of oak and in beech hedges. In the British Isles it is one of very few native evergreen trees. It has a great capacity to adapt to different conditions and is a pioneer species that repopulates the margins of forests or clearcuts.


Early career.

Bulganin was born in 1895 in Nizhny Novgorod, the son of an office worker. The family was of Russian ethnicity. He joined the Bolshevik Party in 1917 and was recruited in 1918 into the Cheka, the Bolshevik regime's political police, where he served until 1922. After the Russian Civil War, he became an industrial manager and worked in the electricity administration until 1927. He was director of the Moscow electricity supply in 1927–1931. In 1931–1937, Bulganin was chairman of the executive committee of the Moscow City Soviet.  In 1934, the 17th Congress of the Communist Party elected Bulganin a candidate member of the Central Committee. A loyal Stalinist, he was promoted rapidly as other leaders fell victim to Joseph Stalin's Great Purge of 1937–38. In July 1937, he was appointed Prime Minister of the Russian Republic (RSFSR). He became a full member of the Central Committee later that year and, in September 1938, became Deputy Prime Minister of the Soviet Union and head of the State Bank of the USSR.

World War II.

During World War II, Bulganin played a leading role in the government and Red Army, although he was never a front-line commander. He was given the rank of Colonel-General and was a member of the State Defense Committee. He was appointed Deputy Commissar for Defence in 1944 and served as Stalin's principal agent in the High Command of the Red Army. In 1947, he became Minister for the Armed Forces and was promoted to the rank of Marshal of the Soviet Union. He also became a candidate member of the Politburo of the Communist Party. He was again Deputy Prime Minister of the Soviet Union, under Stalin, from 1947 to 1950. In 1948, he became a full member of the Politburo.

Premiership.

After Stalin's death in March 1953, Bulganin moved into the first rank of the Soviet leadership, being appointed to the key post of Defense Minister. He was an ally of Nikita Khrushchev during his power struggle with Georgy Malenkov, and in February 1955 he succeeded Malenkov as Premier of the Soviet Union. He was generally seen as a supporter of Khrushchev's reforms and destalinisation. He and Khrushchev travelled together to India, Yugoslavia and Britain, where they were known in the press as "the B and K show." In his memoirs, however, Khrushchev recounted that he believed that he "couldn't rely on [Bulganin] fully." During the Suez Crisis of October–November 1956, Bulganin sent letters to the governments of the United Kingdom, France, and Israel threatening rocket attacks on London, Paris, and Tel Aviv if they did not withdraw their forces from Egypt. In a letter to Israeli prime minister David Ben-Gurion, Bulganin wrote, "Israel is playing with the fate of peace, with the fate of its own people, in a criminal and irresponsible manner; [...] which will place a question [mark] upon the very existence of Israel as a State." Khrushchev, in his memoirs, admitted the threat was designed simply to divide Western opinion, especially since at the time he did not have enough ICBMs to launch the rockets, and in any case he had no intention of going to war in 1956. By 1957, however, Bulganin had come to share the doubts held about Khrushchev's policies by the opposition group (which Khrushchev and his supporters labelled the "Anti-Party Group") led by Vyacheslav Molotov. In June, when the dissenters tried to remove Khrushchev from power at a meeting of the Politburo, Bulganin vacillated between the two camps. When the dissenters were defeated and removed from power, Bulganin held on to his position for a while, but in March 1958, at a session of the Supreme Soviet, Khrushchev forced his resignation. He was appointed Chairman of the Soviet State Bank, a job he had held two decades before, but in September Bulganin was removed from the Central Committee and deprived of the title of Marshal. He was dispatched to Stavropol as Chairman of the Regional Economic Council, a token position, and in February 1960 he was retired on a pension.

Personal life.

His wife was Elena Mikhailovna Korovina, an English teacher from a Moscow school. The couple had two children: son Leo and daughter Vera. Vera married the son of Admiral Kuznetsov.

Nikolai Alexandrovich Bulganin (; – 24 February 1975) was a Soviet politician who served as Minister of Defense (1953–1955) and Premier of the Soviet Union (1955–1958) under Nikita Khrushchev, following service in the Red Army and as defence minister under Joseph Stalin.


Design.

Progress is of much the same size and shape as Soyuz. It consists of three modules:  Reduction in mass was possible because the Progress was designed to be uncrewed and disposable. This means that there is no need for bulky life support systems and heat shields. A small amount of weight is saved due to the lack of automatic rescue crews system and lack of parachutes. The spacecraft also has no ability to split into separate modules. After undocking, the spacecraft performs a retrofire and burns up in the atmosphere.

Versions.

There were many small variations between the different flights, but the major upgrades are reflected in the change of name.

Progress (1978–1990).

There were 42 spacecraft built using the initial Progress design, the last one being launched in May 1990.  The bureau in charge of designing the freighter was TsKBEM (now RKK Energia). They began work on the design in mid-1973, assigning Progress the GRAU index 11F615A15. The design was complete by February 1974, and the first production model was ready for launch in November 1977. Progress 1 launched on 20 January 1978 aboard the same rocket used to launch the Soyuz. It still featured the same launch shroud as the Soyuz, though this was purely for aerodynamic purposes as the launch escape system had been deactivated.  This first version of Progress had a mass of 7,020 kg and carried 2,300 kg of cargo, or 30% of its launch mass. It had the same diameter as the Soyuz at 2.2 metres, but was 8 metres in length—slightly longer. The autonomous flight time was 3 days, the same time as that of the Soyuz ferry. It could spend one month docked. Progress always docked to the aft port of the station it was resupplying (the aft being where the main rocket engines of the station and their tankage, for refueling by the Progress, are located).

Progress-M 11F615A55 (1989-2009).

The upgraded Progress M (GRAU: 11F615A55, manufacturer's designation: 7K-TGM) was first launched in August 1989. The first 43 flights all went to Mir; following Mir's re-entry, Progress was used as the resupply vehicle for the International Space Station. As of August 2014, there have been 56 flights to the ISS and more are scheduled.  The Progress M is essentially the same spacecraft as the Progress, but it features improvements based on the Soyuz T and TM designs. It can spend up to 30 days in autonomous flight and is able to carry 100 kg more. Also, unlike the old Progress crafts, it can return items to Earth. This is accomplished by using the Raduga capsule, which can carry up to 150 kg of cargo. It is 1.5 m long and 60 cm in diameter and has a "dry mass" of 350 kg. Progress M can also dock to the forward port of the station and still transfer fuel. It uses the same rendezvous system as the Soyuz, and it features solar panels for the first time.

Progress-М 11F615A60 (2008-2015).

A new modification of the Progress spacecraft, with new TsVM-101 digital flight computer and MBITS digital telemetry system, was first launched on 26 November 2008, at 12:38 UTC from the Kazakhstan's Baikonur Cosmodrome spaceport aboard a Russian Soyuz rocket. The first spacecraft of this series was Progress M-01M.  The spacecraft belongs to the so-called 400 series (GRAU: 11F615A60), and all modifications applied to it were subsequently used in the production of new Soyuz-TMA-M crewed spacecraft.  Progress M-27M was launched on 28 April 2015, but communication with the vessel was lost soon after, and it was destroyed as it re-entered the atmosphere on 8 May 2015. The last launch was Progress M-29M

Progress M1 (2000-2004).

Progress M1 is another variant, capable of carrying more propellant (but less total cargo) to the space stations. There have been 11 of these flights.

Progress M2.

Progress M2 was a planned variant, which was a proposed design for the proposed Mir-2 space station, but was dropped due to financial issues. The M2 variant would have a larger service module for larger cargo or space station modules and would have been launched on a Zenit rocket as the spacecraft is bigger.

Progress MS (2015-present).

Progress MS is an improved variant which first launched on 21 December 2015. It has the following improvements:

Current status.

Progress spacecraft are used to resupply the International Space Station as of 2020. Between 1 February 2003 and 26 July 2005, they were the only spacecraft available to transport large quantities of supplies to the station, as the Space Shuttle fleet was grounded after the breakup of "Columbia" at the end of STS-107. For ISS missions, the Progress M1 variant is used, which moves the water tanks from the propellant and refueling module to the pressurized section, and as a result is able to carry more propellant. Progress M-67, the final flight of a Progress-M spacecraft, was launched 24 July 2009 on a Soyuz-U.  On 9 July 2018, Progress MS-09 broke a previous record by reaching the ISS in 3 hours and 48 minutes, carrying about 2450 kg of cargo and supplies. It delivered food, fuel and supplies, including 705 kg of propellant, 50 kg of oxygen and air, 420 kg of water.  The European Space Agency (ESA) operated its own type of robotic supply freighter, the Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV). The first of these, named "Jules Verne", was launched at 04:03 GMT on 9 March 2008. ATVs can carry up to 8.85 tonnes of cargo into space, roughly three times as much as the Progress, and were launched annually by Ariane 5 rockets from 2011-2014 as part of ESA contribution to ISS upkeep. The design is adopted as the Service Module of the Orion spacecraft.  NASA's planned Orion spacecraft was initially designed to have an uncrewed variant of the Crew module similar to Progress, however this capability has been removed on 2009. SpaceX's commercial Dragon spacecraft and Northrop Grumman's Cygnus spacecraft also handle American logistics to the International Space Station.

The Progress () is a Russian expendable cargo spacecraft. Its purpose is to deliver the supplies needed to sustain a human presence in orbit. While it does not carry a crew, it can be boarded by astronauts when docked to a space station, hence it is classified as "crewed" by its manufacturer. Progress is derived from the crewed Soyuz spacecraft and launches on the same vehicle, a Soyuz rocket.


History.

The abbey was founded in 1089 when Leopold II, Margrave of Austria gave one of his castles to Benedictine monks from Lambach Abbey. A monastic school, the Stiftsgymnasium Melk, was founded in the twelfth century, and the monastic library soon became renowned for its extensive manuscript collection. The monastery's scriptorium was also a major site for the production of manuscripts. In the fifteenth century the abbey became the centre of the Melk Reform movement which reinvigorated the monastic life of Austria and Southern Germany.  Today's Baroque abbey was built between 1702 and 1736 to designs by Jakob Prandtauer. Particularly noteworthy are the abbey church with frescos by Johann Michael Rottmayr and the library with countless medieval manuscripts, including a famed collection of musical manuscripts and frescos by Paul Troger.  Due to its fame and academic stature, Melk managed to escape dissolution under Emperor Joseph II when many other Austrian abbeys were seized and dissolved between 1780 and 1790. The abbey managed to survive other threats to its existence during the Napoleonic Wars, and also in the period following the Anschluss in 1938, when the school and a large part of the abbey were confiscated by the state.  The school was returned to the abbey after the Second World War and now caters for nearly 900 pupils of both sexes.  Since 1625 the abbey has been a member of the Austrian Congregation, now within the Benedictine Confederation.  In his novel "The Name of the Rose", Umberto Eco named one of the protagonists "Adso of Melk" as a tribute to the abbey and its famous library.  Among its alumni was the nineteenth-century Austrian dramatist and short-story writer, Friedrich Halm.  Melk Abbey is also the metaphorical climax ("a peak in a mountain range of discovery") of Patrick Leigh Fermor's autobiographical account of his walking tour across pre-WW II Europe in "A Time of Gifts", which includes a description of the abbey at that time.

Restoration Efforts.

The first fire to impact the Melk Abbey and its invaluable library was in 1297. This left the structures destroyed. This fire, plague and famine lead to the “Melk Reform” movement in the early fifteenth century. Most of the manuscripts Melk is famous for housing were saved by Monks. During the 1683 Turkish invasion, the Melk Abbey also suffered devastation.  The abbey that stands today, built in 1702, caught fire in 1974. This second fire marred the ornamented rooms and damaged the interior and its art, leading to its restoration from 1978 to 1995. The nave of the abbey was a part of the restoration. Eight pounds of gold bullion was used to restore the statues and altars. The restoration process also focused on the church’s frescoes and brown marble columns. The Marble Hall, a popular guest attraction, was also restored during this period. These restoration efforts leave the abbey similar to its 1740 grandeur.  In July 2019, Christine Glaßner, from the Austrian Academy of Sciences' Institute of Medieval Research, while researching the abbey's archives, discovered a previously-unknown strip of parchment—measuring by —bearing 60 partial lines of the poem "Der Rosendorn". The parchment, which had been subsequently recycled into the binding of a much later book, has been dated to around 1300; this is nearly 200 years earlier than it was previously thought to have been written.

Euro commemorative coin.

Melk Abbey was recently selected as the main motif of a 10 euro collectors' coin: the Austrian Melk Abbey commemorative coin, minted on April 18, 2007. The obverse shows a view up to the façade of the abbey church and its two side wings from a low level. The twin baroque towers and the great dome of the church behind them can be seen. In the lower right corner the coat-of-arms of the Abbey of Melk (the crossed keys of St. Peter) can be seen.

Melk Abbey () is a Benedictine abbey above the town of Melk, Lower Austria, Austria, on a rocky outcrop overlooking the Danube river, adjoining the Wachau valley. The abbey contains the tomb of Saint Coloman of Stockerau and the remains of several members of the House of Babenberg, Austria's first ruling dynasty.


Main characteristics.

The Aurignacians are part of the wave of anatomically modern humans thought to have spread from Africa through the Near East into Paleolithic Europe, and became known as European early modern humans, or Cro-Magnons. This wave of anatomically modern humans includes fossils of the Ahmarian, Bohunician, Aurignacian, Gravettian, Solutrean and Magdalenian cultures, extending throughout the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM), covering the period of roughly 48,000 to 15,000 years ago.  The Aurignacian tool industry is characterized by worked bone or antler points with grooves cut in the bottom. Their flint tools include fine blades and bladelets struck from prepared cores rather than using crude flakes. The people of this culture also produced some of the earliest known cave art, such as the animal engravings at Trois Freres and the paintings at Chauvet cave in southern France. They also made pendants, bracelets, and ivory beads, as well as three-dimensional figurines. Perforated rods, thought to be spear throwers or shaft wrenches, also are found at their sites.

Association with modern humans.

The sophistication and self-awareness demonstrated in the work led archaeologists to consider the makers of Aurignacian artifacts the first modern humans in Europe. Human remains and Late Aurignacian artifacts found in juxtaposition support this inference. Although finds of human skeletal remains in direct association with Proto-Aurignacian technologies are scarce in Europe, the few available are also probably modern human. The best dated association between Aurignacian industries and human remains are those of at least five individuals from the Mladeč caves in the Czech Republic, dated by direct radiocarbon measurements of the skeletal remains to at least 31,000–32,000 years old. At least three robust, but typically anatomically-modern individuals from the Peștera cu Oase cave in Romania, were dated directly from the bones to ca. 35,000–36,000 BP. Although not associated directly with archaeological material, these finds are within the chronological and geographical range of the Early Aurignacian in southeastern Europe. On genetic evidence it has been argued that both Aurignacian and the Dabba culture of North Africa came from an earlier big game hunting Levantine Aurignacian culture of the Levant.

Art.

Aurignacian figurines have been found depicting faunal representations of the time period associated with now-extinct mammals, including mammoths, rhinoceros, and tarpan, along with anthropomorphized depictions that may be interpreted as some of the earliest evidence of religion.  Many 35,000-year-old animal figurines were discovered in the Vogelherd Cave in Germany. One of the horses, amongst six tiny mammoth and horse ivory figures found previously at Vogelherd, was sculpted as skillfully as any piece found throughout the Upper Paleolithic. The production of ivory beads for body ornamentation was also important during the Aurignacian. The famous paintings in Chauvet cave date from this period.  Typical statuettes consist of women that are called Venus figurines. They emphasize the hips, breasts, and other body parts associated with fertility. Feet and arms are lacking or minimized. One of the most ancient figurines was discovered in 2008 in the Hohle Fels cave in Germany. The figurine has been dated to 35,000 years ago.  Aurignacian finds include bone flutes. The oldest undisputed musical instrument was the Hohle Fels Flute discovered in the Hohle Fels cave in Germany's Swabian Alb in 2008. The flute is made from a vulture's wing bone perforated with five finger holes, and dates to approximately 35,000 years ago. A flute was also found at the Abri Blanchard in southwestern France.

Tools.

Stone tools from the Aurignacian culture are known as Mode 4, characterized by blades (rather than flakes, typical of mode 2 Acheulean and mode 3 Mousterian) from prepared cores. Also seen throughout the Upper Paleolithic is a greater degree of tool standardization and the use of bone and antler for tools. Based on the research of scraper reduction and paleoenvironment, the early Aurignacian group moved seasonally over greater distances to procure reindeer herds within cold and open environments than those of the earlier tool cultures.

Location.

Asia.

Lebanon/Palestine/Israel region  Siberia

Genetics.

In a genetic study published in "Nature" in May 2016, the remains of an Aurignacian individual from modern-day Belgium were examined. He belonged to the paternal haplogroup C1a and the maternal haplogroup M.

The Aurignacian () is an archaeological tradition of the Upper Palaeolithic associated with European early modern humans (EEMH) lasting from 43,000 to 26,000 years ago. The Upper Paleolithic developed in Europe some time after the Levant, where the Emiran period and the Ahmarian period form the first periods of the Upper Paleolithic, corresponding to the first stages of the expansion of "Homo sapiens" out of Africa. They then migrated to Europe and created the first European culture of modern humans, the Aurignacian.


Playing career.

Early in his career, Dopita attracted little notice as a professional prospect. At age 23, Dopita was selected in the sixth round of the 1992 NHL Entry Draft by the Boston Bruins, but never came to North America while the Bruins owned his rights. However, starting in 1993, Dopita joined the German Bundesliga with Eisbären Berlin, averaging over a point per game in the Bundeliga and with Berlin's later entry in the Deutsche Eishockey Liga.  Starting in the 1995–96 season, Dopita returned to his native Czech Republic and played with HC Vsetín of the Czech Extraliga. Dopita continued his scoring pace in the Czech Republic, averaging over a point per game every year in six seasons with Vsetín, compiling 315 career points, and being selected again in the NHL draft, this time in 1998 being selected in the 5th round at 123rd overall by the New York Islanders. However, once again, Dopita would not play with the Islanders. And at the 1999 NHL Entry Draft, his right were traded to the Florida Panthers for a 5th round choice that year.  By the late 1990s, some, such as the Hockey News, considered Dopita the best player outside the NHL. He was a member of the gold medal-winning Czech team at the 1998 Winter Olympics, and was named Czech player of the year in 2001, the first non-NHLer to win the award since Roman Turek in 1994. When it became clear that Dopita still did not seem to have interest in coming to North America, his NHL rights were moved again at the 2001 NHL Entry Draft to the Philadelphia Flyers for a 2nd round selection that year, the Flyers made a concerted effort to bring Dopita to the NHL. The Flyers had convinced Dopita's former Vsetin HC teammate Roman Cechmanek to come to North America prior to the previous season and the 32-year-old Dopita agreed to join him in Philadelphia for the 2001–02 NHL season.  However, Dopita's time in the NHL was to be disappointing. He recorded respectable totals getting limited ice time with Philadelphia, including a four-goal game against the Atlanta Thrashers, but a knee injury limited him to 52 games. After the season, his rights were traded to the Edmonton Oilers, where he was expected to be a top-two centre. However, Dopita had a terrible season, recording only six points in 21 games.  After only two years in the NHL, Dopita returned to the Czech Republic, this time with Pardubice HC. In his second year with Pardubice, at age 36, Dopita recorded less than a point per game in European competition for the first time since his time with Olomouc HC. For 2005–06, Dopita joined HC JME Znojemští Orli and has remained with the team for 2006–07 season too.  On 5 May 2006 Dopita became the majority shareholder of Olomouc HC.  Dopita is currently the head coach of VHK Vsetín.

Jiří Dopita (, born 2 December 1968 in Šumperk, Czechoslovakia) is former Czech professional ice hockey player, and currently hockey coach. He has played in the Czech Elite League most of his career. He briefly played in the National Hockey League. Dopita has primarily played center throughout his career.


Void fraction in two-phase flow.

In gas-liquid two-phase flow, the void fraction is defined as the fraction of the flow-channel volume that is occupied by the gas phase or, alternatively, as the fraction of the cross-sectional area of the channel that is occupied by the gas phase.  Void fraction usually varies from location to location in the flow channel (depending on the two-phase flow pattern). It fluctuates with time and its value is usually time averaged. In separated (i.e., non-homogeneous) flow, it is related to volumetric flow rates of the gas and the liquid phase, and to the ratio of the velocity of the two phases (called "slip ratio").

Porosity in earth sciences and construction.

Used in geology, hydrogeology, soil science, and building science, the porosity of a porous medium (such as rock or sediment) describes the fraction of void space in the material, where the void may contain, for example, air or water. It is defined by the ratio:  where "V" is the volume of void-space (such as fluids) and "V" is the total or bulk volume of material, including the solid and void components. Both the mathematical symbols formula_2 and formula_3 are used to denote porosity.  Porosity is a fraction between 0 and 1, typically ranging from less than 0.005 for solid granite to more than 0.5 for peat and clay.  The porosity of a rock, or sedimentary layer, is an important consideration when attempting to evaluate the potential volume of water or hydrocarbons it may contain. Sedimentary porosity is a complicated function of many factors, including but not limited to: rate of burial, depth of burial, the nature of the connate fluids, the nature of overlying sediments (which may impede fluid expulsion). One commonly used relationship between porosity and depth is given by the Athy (1930) equation:  where formula_5 is the surface porosity, formula_6 is the compaction coefficient (m) and formula_7 is depth (m).  A value for porosity can alternatively be calculated from the bulk density formula_8, saturating fluid density formula_9 and particle density formula_10:  If the void space is filled with air, the following simpler form may be used: Normal particle density is assumed to be approximately 2.65 g/cm (silica), although a better estimation can be obtained by examining the lithology of the particles.

Porosity and hydraulic conductivity.

Porosity can be proportional to hydraulic conductivity; for two similar sandy aquifers, the one with a higher porosity will typically have a higher hydraulic conductivity (more open area for the flow of water), but there are many complications to this relationship. The principal complication is that there is not a direct proportionality between porosity and hydraulic conductivity but rather an inferred proportionality. There is a clear proportionality between pore throat radii and hydraulic conductivity. Also, there tends to be a proportionality between pore throat radii and pore volume. If the proportionality between pore throat radii and porosity exists then a proportionality between porosity and hydraulic conductivity may exist. However, as grain size or sorting decreases the proportionality between pore throat radii and porosity begins to fail and therefore so does the proportionality between porosity and hydraulic conductivity. For example: clays typically have very low hydraulic conductivity (due to their small pore throat radii) but also have very high porosities (due to the structured nature of clay minerals), which means clays can hold a large volume of water per volume of bulk material, but they do not release water rapidly and therefore have low hydraulic conductivity.

Sorting and porosity.

Well sorted (grains of approximately all one size) materials have higher porosity than similarly sized poorly sorted materials (where smaller particles fill the gaps between larger particles). The graphic illustrates how some smaller grains can effectively fill the pores (where all water flow takes place), drastically reducing porosity and hydraulic conductivity, while only being a small fraction of the total volume of the material. For tables of common porosity values for earth materials, see the "further reading" section in the Hydrogeology article.

Porosity of rocks.

Consolidated rocks (e.g., sandstone, shale, granite or limestone) potentially have more complex "dual" porosities, as compared with alluvial sediment. This can be split into connected and unconnected porosity. Connected porosity is more easily measured through the volume of gas or liquid that can flow into the rock, whereas fluids cannot access unconnected pores.  Porosity is the ratio of pore volume to its total volume. Porosity is controlled by: rock type, pore distribution, cementation, diagenetic history and composition. Porosity is not controlled by grain size, as the volume of between-grain space is related only to the method of grain packing.  Rocks normally decrease in porosity with age and depth of burial. Tertiary age Gulf Coast sandstones are in general more porous than Cambrian age sandstones. There are exceptions to this rule, usually because of the depth of burial and thermal history.

Porosity of soil.

Porosity of surface soil typically decreases as particle size increases. This is due to soil aggregate formation in finer textured surface soils when subject to soil biological processes. Aggregation involves particulate adhesion and higher resistance to compaction. Typical bulk density of sandy soil is between 1.5 and 1.7 g/cm. This calculates to a porosity between 0.43 and 0.36. Typical bulk density of clay soil is between 1.1 and 1.3 g/cm. This calculates to a porosity between 0.58 and 0.51. This seems counterintuitive because clay soils are termed "heavy", implying "lower" porosity. Heavy apparently refers to a gravitational moisture content effect in combination with terminology that harkens back to the relative force required to pull a tillage implement through the clayey soil at field moisture content as compared to sand.  Porosity of subsurface soil is lower than in surface soil due to compaction by gravity. Porosity of 0.20 is considered normal for unsorted gravel size material at depths below the biomantle. Porosity in finer material below the aggregating influence of pedogenesis can be expected to approximate this value.  Soil porosity is complex. Traditional models regard porosity as continuous. This fails to account for anomalous features and produces only approximate results. Furthermore, it cannot help model the influence of environmental factors which affect pore geometry. A number of more complex models have been proposed, including fractals, bubble theory, cracking theory, Boolean grain process, packed sphere, and numerous other models. The characterisation of pore space in soil is an associated concept.

Porosity of fabric or aerodynamic porosity.

The ratio of holes to solid that the wind "sees". Aerodynamic porosity is less than visual porosity, by an amount that depends on the constriction of holes.

Die casting porosity.

Casting porosity is a consequence of one or more of the following: gasification of contaminants at molten-metal temperatures; shrinkage that takes place as molten metal solidifies; and unexpected or uncontrolled changes in temperature or humidity.  While porosity is inherent in die casting manufacturing, its presence may lead to component failure where pressure integrity is a critical characteristic. Porosity may take on several forms from interconnected micro-porosity, folds, and inclusions to macro porosity visible on the part surface. The end result of porosity is the creation of a leak path through the walls of a casting that prevents the part from holding pressure. Porosity may also lead to out-gassing during the painting process, leaching of plating acids and tool chatter in machining pressed metal components.

Measuring porosity.

Several methods can be employed to measure porosity: where

Porosity or void fraction is a measure of the void (i.e. "empty") spaces in a material, and is a fraction of the volume of voids over the total volume, between 0 and 1, or as a percentage between 0% and 100%. Strictly speaking, some tests measure the "accessible void", the total amount of void space accessible from the surface (cf. closed-cell foam).


Biography.

Early life and marriage to Siegfried Wagner.

Winifred Marjorie Williams was born in Hastings, England, to John Williams, a journalist and critic, and his wife, Emily Florence Karop. Winifred lost both her parents before the age of two and was initially raised in a number of homes. Eight years later she was adopted by a distant German relative of her mother, Henrietta Karop, and her husband Karl Klindworth, a musician and a friend of Richard Wagner.  The Bayreuth Festival was seen as a family business, with the leadership to be passed from Richard Wagner to his son Siegfried Wagner, but Siegfried, who was secretly bisexual, showed little interest in marriage. It was arranged that Winifred Klindworth, as she was called at the time, aged 17, would meet Siegfried Wagner, aged 45, at the Bayreuth Festival in 1914. A year later they were married. It was hoped that the marriage would end Siegfried's homosexual encounters and the associated costly scandals, and provide an heir to carry on the family business.  Following their marriage on 22 September 1915, they had four children in rapid succession:  After the death of Siegfried Wagner in 1930, Winifred Wagner took over the Bayreuth Festival, running it until the end of World War II.

Friendship with Adolf Hitler.

In 1923, Winifred met Adolf Hitler, who greatly admired Wagner's music. When Hitler was jailed for his part in the Munich Beer Hall Putsch, Winifred sent him food parcels and stationery on which Hitler's autobiography "Mein Kampf" may have been written. In the late 1930s, she served as Hitler's personal translator during treaty negotiations with Britain.  Although Winifred remained personally faithful to Hitler, she denied that she had ever supported the Nazi party. Her relationship with Hitler grew so close that by 1933 there were rumours of impending marriage (there were similar rumours about her love for English novelist Hugh Walpole). "Haus Wahnfried", the Wagner home in Bayreuth, became Hitler's favorite retreat. Hitler gave the festival government assistance and tax exempt status, and treated Winifred's children solicitously.  According to biographer Brigitte Hamann, Winifred Wagner was reported to be "disgusted" by Hitler's persecution of the Jews. In one notable incident, in the late 1930s, a letter from her to Hitler prevented Hedwig and Alfred Pringsheim (whose daughter Katia was married to Thomas Mann) from being arrested by the Gestapo.  According to Gottfried Wagner, Winifred's grandson, she never admitted the error of her ways. After the war, in true friendship, her posthumous devotion to the man she cryptically referred to as "USA" – for "Unser Seliger Adolf" (our blessed Adolf) – remained undimmed. She corresponded with Hitler for nearly two decades. Scholars have not been allowed to see the letters, which have been kept locked away by one of Winifred's grandchildren, Amélie Lafferentz, who has insisted that they not be released until the whole family agrees to do so.

Post-Bayreuth years.

Like Hitler, Winifred Wagner believed profoundly in the rite of a secular cult of German nationalism, of Nordic self-realization, and "völkisch" aspiration. After the collapse of the Third Reich, a denazification court banned her from the Bayreuth Festival, which she passed to her sons Wieland and Wolfgang.  In the 1950s she again became a political hostess. Her grandson Gottfried Wagner later recalled that "My aunt Friedelind was outraged when my grandmother again slowly blossomed as the first lady of right-wing groups and received political friends such as Emmy Göring, Ilse Hess, the former NPD Adolf von Thadden, Gerdy Troost, the wife of the Nazi architect and friend of Hitler Paul Ludwig Troost, the British fascist leader Oswald Mosley, the German NS-movie director Karl Ritter and the racist author and former Senator of the Reich Hans Severus Ziegler".  In 1975, Winifred Wagner gave a filmed interview to Hans-Jürgen Syberberg in which she appeared unrepentant concerning her past. "To have met him [Hitler]," she declared, "is an experience I would not have missed." She was also interviewed that year by David Irving, who reported that she had said she would still welcome Hitler at her door, and also that she had discussed with Hitler the saving of some individuals.  She died in Überlingen, one of the best preserved medieval sites, on the shore of Lake Constance, on 5 March 1980 at the age of 82, and was interred at Bayreuth.

In popular culture.

The friendship of Winifred and Hitler is treated fancifully in A. N. Wilson's novel, "Winnie and Wolf" (2007).  "The Music Keeper", an American play from 1982 by Elliot Tiber and Andre Ernotte, takes place two days before Winifred Wagner's death and is about Frau Wagner's relationship with Adolf Hitler and her obsession with the Bayreuth mystique and Hitler's malign mission.

Winifred Marjorie Wagner (née Williams; 23 June 1897 – 5 March 1980) was the English-born wife of Siegfried Wagner, the son of Richard Wagner, and ran the Bayreuth Festival after her husband's death in 1930 until the end of World War II in 1945. She was a friend and supporter of Adolf Hitler (himself a Wagner enthusiast), and she and Hitler maintained a regular correspondence.


Biography.

Early years.

John Maynard Smith was born in London, the son of the surgeon Sidney Maynard Smith, but following his father's death in 1928, the family moved to Exmoor, where he became interested in natural history. Quite unhappy with the lack of formal science education at Eton College, Maynard Smith took it upon himself to develop an interest in Darwinian evolutionary theory and mathematics, after having read the work of old Etonian J. B. S. Haldane, whose books were in the school's library despite the bad reputation Haldane had at Eton for his communism. He became an atheist at age 14.  On leaving school, Maynard Smith joined the Communist Party of Great Britain and started studying engineering at Trinity College, Cambridge. When the Second World War broke out in 1939, he defied his party's line and volunteered for service. He was rejected, however, because of poor eyesight and was told to finish his engineering degree, which he did in 1941. He later quipped that "under the circumstances, my poor eyesight was a selective advantage—it stopped me getting shot". The year of his graduation, he married Sheila Matthew, and they later had two sons and one daughter (Tony, Carol, and Julian). Between 1942 and 1947, he applied his degree to military aircraft design.

Second degree.

Maynard Smith, having decided that aircraft were “noisy and old-fashioned”, then took a change of career, entering University College London (UCL) to study fruit fly genetics under Haldane. After graduating he became a lecturer in Zoology at UCL between 1952 and 1965, where he directed the "Drosophila" lab and conducted research on population genetics. He published a popular Penguin book, "The Theory of Evolution", in 1958 (with subsequent editions in 1966, 1975, 1993).  He became gradually less attracted to communism and became a less active member, finally leaving the Party in 1956 like many other intellectuals, after the Soviet Union brutally suppressed the Hungarian Revolution (Haldane had left the party in 1950 after becoming similarly disillusioned).

University of Sussex.

In 1962 he was one of the founding members of the University of Sussex and was a Dean between 1965–85. He subsequently became a professor emeritus. Prior to his death the building housing much of Life Sciences at Sussex was renamed the John Maynard Smith Building, in his honour.

"Evolution and the Theory of Games".

In 1973 Maynard Smith formalised a central concept in evolutionary game theory called the evolutionarily stable strategy (ESS), based on a verbal argument by George R. Price. This area of research culminated in his 1982 book "Evolution and the Theory of Games". The Hawk-Dove game is arguably his single most influential game theoretical model.  He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1977. In 1986 he was awarded the Darwin Medal.

Evolution of sex and other major transitions in evolution.

Maynard Smith published a book entitled "The Evolution of Sex" which explored in mathematical terms, the notion of the "two-fold cost of sex". During the late 1980s he also became interested in the other major evolutionary transitions with the evolutionary biologist Eörs Szathmáry. Together they wrote an influential 1995 book "The Major Transitions in Evolution", a seminal work which continues to contribute to ongoing issues in evolutionary biology. A popular science version of the book, entitled "The Origins of Life: From the birth of life to the origin of language" was published in 1999.  In 1991 he was awarded the Balzan Prize for Genetics and Evolution "For his powerful analysis of evolutionary theory and of the role of sexual reproduction as a critical factor in evolution and in the survival of species; for his mathematical models applying the theory of games to evolutionary problems" (motivation of the Balzan General Prize Committee). In 1995 he was awarded the Linnean Medal by The Linnean Society and in 1999 he was awarded the Crafoord Prize jointly with Ernst Mayr and George C. Williams. In 2001 he was awarded the Kyoto Prize.  In his honour, the European Society for Evolutionary Biology has an award for extraordinary young evolutionary biology researchers named "The John Maynard Smith Prize".

"Animal Signals".

His final book, "Animal Signals", co-authored with David Harper, on signalling theory was published in 2003.

Death.

He died on 19 April 2004. He is survived by his wife Sheila and their children.

Legacy.

The John Maynard Smith Archive is housed at the British Library. The papers can be accessed through the British Library catalogue.

John Maynard Smith (6 January 1920 – 19 April 2004) was a British theoretical and mathematical evolutionary biologist and geneticist. Originally an aeronautical engineer during the Second World War, he took a second degree in genetics under the well-known biologist J. B. S. Haldane. Maynard Smith was instrumental in the application of game theory to evolution with George R. Price, and theorised on other problems such as the evolution of sex and signalling theory.


Early life.

She was born 17 November 1966 in Paris, the second child of Simone (née Morisset), a shop assistant (d. 2016), and Benoît Maupu, a truck driver. Her parents divorced when she was nine years old.

Film career.

In February 1980, Marceau and her mother came across a model agency looking for teenagers. Marceau had photos taken at the agency, but did not think anything would come of it. At the same time, Françoise Menidrey, the casting director for Claude Pinoteau's "La Boum" (1980), asked modeling agencies to recommend a new teenager for the project. After viewing the rushes, Alain Poiré, the director of the Gaumont Film Company, signed Marceau to a long-term contract. "La Boum" was a hit movie, not only in France, where 4,378,500 tickets were sold, but also in several other European countries. In 1981, Marceau made her singing debut with French singer François Valéry on record "Dream in Blue", written by Pierre Delanoë. She rejected the main role in a soon-to-be controversial film, Beau-père, in which she would have played as a teenage girl who seduces her step-father for a sexual relationship. The role was eventually played by Ariel Besse.  In 1982, at age 16, Marceau bought back her contract with Gaumont for one million French francs. She borrowed most of the money. After starring in the sequel film "La Boum 2" (1982), Marceau focused on more dramatic roles, including the historical drama "Fort Saganne" in 1984 with Gérard Depardieu and Catherine Deneuve, "Joyeuses Pâques" ("Happy Easter") in 1984, "L'amour braque" and "Police" in 1985, and "Descente aux enfers" ("Descent into Hell") in 1986. In 1988, she starred in "L'Étudiante" ("The Student") and the historical adventure film "Chouans!". That year, Marceau was named Best Romantic Actress at the International Festival of Romantic Movies for her role in "Chouans!" In 1989, Marceau starred in "My Nights Are More Beautiful Than Your Days", which was directed by her long-time boyfriend Andrzej Zulawski. In 1990, she starred in "Pacific Palisades" and "La note bleue", her third film directed by her companion. In 1991, she ventured into the theater in "Eurydice", which earned Marceau the Moliere Award for Best Female Newcomer. Throughout the 1990s, Marceau began making less-dramatic films, such as the comedy "Fanfan" in 1993 and "Revenge of the Musketeers" ("La fille de d'Artagnan") in 1994—both popular in Europe and abroad. That year, she returned to the theatre as Eliza Doolittle in "Pygmalion".  Marceau achieved international recognition in 1995 playing the role of Princess Isabelle in Mel Gibson's "Braveheart". That year, she was part of an ensemble of international actors in the French film directed by Michelangelo Antonioni and Wim Wenders, "Beyond the Clouds". In 1997, she continued her string of successful films with William Nicholson's "Firelight", filmed in England, Véra Belmont's "Marquise", filmed in France, and Bernard Rose's "Anna Karenina", filmed in Russia. In 1999, she played Hippolyta in "A Midsummer Night's Dream", and the villainess Bond girl Elektra King in "The World Is Not Enough". In 2000, Marceau teamed up again with her then-boyfriend Andrzej Zulawski to film "Fidelity", playing the role of a talented photographer who takes a job at a scandal-mongering tabloid and becomes romantically involved with an eccentric children's book publisher. In recent years, Marceau has continued to appear in a wide variety of roles, mainly in French films, playing a widowed nurse in "Nelly" ("À ce soir") in 2004, an undercover police agent in "Anthony Zimmer" in 2005, and the troubled daughter of a murdered film star in "Trivial" in 2007. In 2008, Marceau played a member of the French Resistance movement in "Female Agents", and a struggling single mother in "LOL (Laughing Out Loud)". In 2009, she teamed up with Monica Bellucci in "Don't Look Back" about the mysterious connection between two women who have never met. In 2010, Marceau played a successful business executive forced to confront her unhappy childhood in "With Love... from the Age of Reason" ("L'âge de raison").  In 2012, Marceau played a 40-something career woman who falls in love with a young jazz musician in "Happiness Never Comes Alone". In 2013, she appeared in "Arrêtez-moi" ("Arrest Me") as a woman who shows up at a police station and confesses to the murder of her abusive husband several years earlier.  She was selected to be on the jury for the main competition section of the 2015 Cannes Film Festival.

Author and director.

In 1995, Marceau wrote a semi-autobiographical novel, "Menteuse" (the English translation, "Telling Lies", was published in 2001). Marceau's work was described as "an exploration of female identity".  In 2002, Marceau made her directorial debut in the feature film "Speak to Me of Love", for which she was named Best Director at the Montreal World Film Festival. The film starred Judith Godrèche. It was her second directorial effort, following her nine-minute short film "L'aube à l'envers" in 1995, which also starred Godrèche. In 2007, she directed "Trivial", her second feature film.

Personal life.

From 1985 to 2001, Marceau had a relationship with director Andrzej Żuławski. Their son Vincent was born in July 1995. In 2001, Marceau separated from Żuławski and began a six-year relationship with producer Jim Lemley. They have a daughter, Juliette (born June 2002 in London).  Marceau also had a relationship with Christopher Lambert beginning in 2007, with whom she appeared in the films "Trivial" and "Cartagena". They announced their separation on 11 July 2014.  Marceau is a classically trained cellist, as seen in the 1999 film "Lost and Found". She is bilingual (French and English).

Sophie Marceau (; born Sophie Danièle Sylvie Maupu, 17 November 1966) is a French actress, director, screenwriter, and author. As a teenager, Marceau achieved popularity with her debut films "La Boum" (1980) and "La Boum 2" (1982), receiving a César Award for Most Promising Actress. She became a film star in Europe with a string of successful films, including "L'Étudiante" (1988), "Pacific Palisades" (1990), "Fanfan" (1993), and "Revenge of the Musketeers" (1994). Marceau became an international film star with her performances in "Braveheart" (1995), "Firelight" (1997), and the 19th James Bond film "The World Is Not Enough" (1999).


Family and early life.

Birth and early years.

Faisal was the only son of Iraq's second king, Ghazi, and his wife Queen Aliya, second daughter of 'Ali bin Hussein, King of the Hijaz and Grand Sharif of Mecca. Faisal's father was killed in a mysterious car crash when he was three years old; his uncle 'Abd al-Ilah served as regent until Faisal came of age in 1953.  King Faisal II was the model used by Belgian comic writer Hergé for his character Prince Abdullah of Khemed in "The Adventures of Tintin". He suffered from asthma.

1941 coup.

Faisal's childhood coincided with the Second World War, in which the Hashemite Kingdom of Iraq was formally allied with the British Empire and the Allies. In April 1941, his uncle 'Abd al-Ilah was briefly deposed as Regent by a military "coup d'état" which aimed to align Iraq with the Axis powers. The 1941 coup in Iraq soon led to the Anglo-Iraqi War. German aid proved insufficient, and 'Abd al-Ilah was restored to power by a combined Allied force composed of the Jordanian Arab Legion, the Royal Air Force and other British units. Iraq resumed its British alliance, and at the end of the war joined the United Nations.  During his early years, Faisal was tutored at the royal palace with several other Iraqi boys. During World War II, he lived for a time with his mother at Grove Lodge at Winkfield Row in Berkshire in England. As a teenager, Faisal attended Harrow School with his second cousin The Prince Hussein, later to become King Hussein of Jordan. The two boys were close friends, and reportedly planned early on to merge their two realms, to counter what they considered to be the threat of militant pan-Arab nationalism.  In 1952, Faisal visited the United States, where he met President Harry Truman, Dean Acheson, the actor James Mason, and Jackie Robinson, among others.  Hastening Faisal's demise was the decision taken by his regent (later confirmed by him) to allow the United Kingdom to retain a continued role in Iraqi affairs, through the Anglo-Iraqi Treaty of 1948, and later the Baghdad Pact, signed in 1955. Massive protests greeted news of each of these alliances, resulting in the deaths of hundreds of demonstrators and an increasing deterioration of loyalty to the Iraqi Crown.

End of regency.

Faisal attained his majority on 2 May 1953, commencing his active rule with little experience and during a changing Iraqi political and social climate exacerbated by the rapid development of pan-Arab nationalism.  Faisal initially relied for political advice upon his uncle Prince 'Abd al-Ilah and General Nuri al-Sa'id, a veteran politician and nationalist who had already served several terms as Prime Minister. As oil revenues increased during the 1950s, the king and his advisers chose to invest their wealth in development projects, which some claimed increasingly alienated the rapidly growing middle class and the peasantry. The Iraqi Communist Party increased its influence. Though the regime seemed secure, intense dissatisfaction with Iraq's condition brewed just below the surface. An ever-widening gap between the wealth of the political elites, landowners and other supporters of the regime on the one hand, and the poverty of workers and peasants on the other, intensified opposition to Faisal's government. Since the upper classes controlled the parliament, reformists increasingly saw revolution as their sole hope for improvement. The Egyptian Revolution of 1952, led by Gamal Abdel Nasser, provided an impetus for a similar undertaking in Iraq.  On 1 February 1958, neighbouring Syria joined with Nasser's Egypt to form the United Arab Republic. This prompted the Hashemite kingdoms of Iraq and Jordan to strengthen their ties by establishing a similar alliance. Two weeks later, on 14 February, this league formally became the Arab Federation of Iraq and Jordan. Faisal, as the senior member of the Hashemite family, became its head of state.

Downfall and murder.

An opposition forms.

Faisal's political situation deteriorated in 1956, with uprisings in the cities of Najaf and Hayy. Meanwhile, Israel's attack on Egypt, coordinated with Britain and France in response to Nasser's nationalisation of the Suez Canal, only exacerbated popular revulsion for the Baghdad Pact, and thus Faisal's regime. The opposition began to coordinate its activities; in February 1957, a "Front of National Union" was established, bringing together the National Democrats, Independents, Communists, and the Ba'ath Party. An identical process ensued within the Iraqi officer corps with the formation of a "Supreme Committee of Free Officers". Faisal's government endeavoured to preserve the military's loyalty through generous benefits, but this proved increasingly ineffective as more and more officers came to sympathise with the nascent anti-monarchist movement.

14 July Revolution.

In the summer of 1958, King Hussein of Jordan asked for Iraqi military assistance during the escalating Lebanon crisis. Units of the Royal Iraqi Army under the command of Colonel Abd al-Karim Qasim, "en route" to Jordan, chose to march on Baghdad instead, where they mounted a "coup d'état" on 14 July. During the 14 July Revolution, Faisal II ordered the Royal Guard to offer no resistance, and surrendered to the insurgents. Around 8 am, Captain Abdul Sattar Sabaa Al-Ibousi, leading the revolutionary assault group at the Rihab Palace, which was still the principal royal residence in central Baghdad, ordered the King, Crown Prince 'Abd al-Ilah, Crown Princess Hiyam ('Abd al-Ilah's wife), Princess Nafeesa ('Abd al-Ilah's mother), Princess Abadiya (Faisal's aunt) and several servants to gather in the palace courtyard (the young King having not yet moved into the newly completed Royal Palace). There they were told to turn toward the wall and were immediately machine-gunned by their captors. Faisal did not die during the initial fusillade and was transported to a hospital, but died "en route".

Aftermath.

Many years later, when the Iraqi historian Safa Khulusi met Al-Ibousi, who was once one of Khulusi's students, and questioned him on his part in Faisal's death, the former student answered, "all I did was remember Palestine, and the trigger on the machine-gun just set itself off".  During the regime of Saddam Hussein, Faisal II was reburied under a marble tomb located next to that of his father in the restored Royal Mausoleum in Baghdad.

Notable published works.

Faisal II was the author of "Ways to Defend Yourself" (1951), an Arabic book on judo and self-defense. and He printed 50 copies of it and gave it to kings and leaders on top of them his uncle King Abdullah of Jordan. He also gave a copy of it to the League of Arab Nations hoping to reprint it and distribute it for free on the youth in Arab countries, but that never happened.

Military ranks.

Faisal held the following ranks:

Namesakes.

Martyr Faisal II College ("Kolleyet Al-Shahid Faisal Al-Thani") is a military school in Jordan that was named after him.

Faisal II (Arabic: الملك فيصل الثاني "Al-Malik Fayṣal Ath-thānī") (2 May 1935 – 14 July 1958) was the last King of Iraq. He reigned from 4 April 1939 until July 1958, when he was executed during the 14 July Revolution together with numerous members of his family. This regicide marked the end of the thirty-seven-year-old Hashemite monarchy in Iraq, which then became a republic.


Mission background.

History.

In 1984, a high priority mission to Mars was set forth by the Solar System Exploration Committee. Then titled the "Mars Geoscience/Climatology Orbiter", the Martian orbiter was planned to expand on the information already gathered by the Viking program. Preliminary mission goals expected the probe to provide planetary magnetic field data, detection of certain spectral line signatures of minerals on the surface, images of the surface at 1 meter/pixel and global elevation data.  "Mars Observer" was originally planned to be launched in 1990 by a Space Shuttle Orbiter. The possibility for an expendable rocket to be used was also suggested, if the spacecraft was designed to meet certain constraints. On March 12, 1987, the mission was rescheduled for launch in 1992, in lieu of other backlogged missions (Galileo, Magellan, Ulysses) after the Space Shuttle "Challenger" disaster. Along with a launch delay, budget overruns necessitated the elimination of two instruments to meet the 1992 planned launch. As the development matured, the primary science objectives were finalized as:  The program's total cost is estimated at $813 million.

Spacecraft design.

The "Mars Observer" spacecraft had a mass of. Its bus measured 1.1 meters tall, 2.2 meters wide, and 1.6 meters deep. The spacecraft was based on previous satellite designs, originally intended and developed to orbit Earth. The RCA AS-4000 Ku-band satellite design was used extensively for the spacecraft bus, propulsion, thermal protection, and solar array. RCA TIROS and DMSP Block 50-2 satellite designs were also utilized in the implementing the Attitude and Articulation Control System (AACS), command and data handling subsystem, and power subsystem, into "Mars Observer". Other elements such as the bipropellant components and high-gain antenna were designed specifically for the mission.

Mission profile.

Launch and trajectory.

"Mars Observer" was launched on September 25, 1992 at 17:05:01 UTC by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration from Space Launch Complex 40 at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, aboard a Commercial Titan III CT-4 launch vehicle. The complete burn sequence lasted for 34 minutes after a solid-fuel Transfer Orbit Stage placed the spacecraft into an 11-month, Mars transfer trajectory, at a final speed of 5.28 km/s with respect to Mars.  On August 25, 1992, particulate contamination was found within the spacecraft. After a full inspection, a cleaning was determined necessary and was performed on August 29. The suspected cause of the contamination were measures taken to protect the spacecraft prior to the landfall of Hurricane Andrew which struck the coast of Florida on August 24.

Encounter with Mars.

"Mars Observer" was scheduled to perform an orbital insertion maneuver on August 24, 1993, but contact with the spacecraft was lost on August 21, 1993. The likely reason for the spacecraft failure was the leakage of fuel and oxidizer vapors through the improperly designed PTFE check valve to the common pressurization system. During interplanetary cruise, the vapor mix had accumulated in feed lines and pressurant lines, resulting in explosion and their rupture after the engine was restarted for routine course correction. A similar problem later crippled the Akatsuki space probe in 2010. Although none of the primary objectives were achieved, the mission provided interplanetary cruise phase data, collected up to the date of last contact. This data would be useful for subsequent missions to Mars. Science instruments originally developed for "Mars Observer" were placed on four subsequent spacecraft to complete the mission objectives: Mars Global Surveyor launched in 1996, Mars Climate Orbiter launched in 1998, 2001 Mars Odyssey launched in 2001 and Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter launched in 2005.

Intended operations.

On August 24, 1993, "Mars Observer" would turn 180-degrees and ignite the bipropellant thrusters to slow the spacecraft, entering into a highly elliptical orbit. Over the next three months, subsequent "transfer to lower orbit" (TLO) maneuvers would be performed as the spacecraft reached periapsis, eventually resulting in an approximately circular, 118-minute orbit around Mars.  The primary mission was to begin on November 23, 1993, collecting data during one Martian year (approximately 687 Earth days). The first global map was expected to be completed on December 16, followed by solar conjunction beginning on December 20, and lasting for nineteen days, ending on January 3, 1994; during this time, mission operations would be suspended as radio contact would not be possible.  Orbiting Mars at an approximate speed of 3.4 km/s, the spacecraft would travel around Mars in a north to south, polar orbit. As the spacecraft circles the planet, horizon sensors indicate the orientation of the spacecraft while the reaction wheels would maintain the orientation of the instruments, towards Mars. The chosen orbit was also sun-synchronous, allowing the daylit side of Mars to always be captured during the mid-afternoon of each Martian Sol. While some instruments could provide a real-time data link when Earth was in view of the spacecraft, data would also be recorded to the digital tape recorders and played back to Earth each day. Over 75 gigabytes of scientific data was expected to be yielded during the primary mission, much more than any previous mission to Mars. The end of the operable life for the spacecraft was expected to be limited by the supply of propellant and the condition of the batteries.

Communications loss.

On August 21, 1993, at 01:00 UTC, three days prior to the scheduled Mars orbital insertion, there was an "inexplicable" loss of contact with "Mars Observer". New commands were sent every 20 minutes in the hopes that the spacecraft had drifted off course and could regain contact. However, the attempt was unsuccessful. It is unknown whether the spacecraft was able to follow its automatic programming and go into Mars orbit or if it flew by Mars and is now in a heliocentric orbit.  On January 4, 1994, an independent investigation board from the Naval Research Laboratory, announced their findings: the most probable cause in the loss of communication was a rupture of the fuel pressurization tank in the spacecraft's propulsion system. It is believed that hypergolic fuel may have leaked past valves in the system during the cruise to Mars, allowing the fuel and oxidizer to combine prematurely before reaching the combustion chamber. The leaking fuel and gas probably resulted in a high spin rate, causing the spacecraft to enter into the "contingency mode"; this interrupted the stored command sequence and did not turn the transmitter on. The engine was derived from one belonging to an Earth orbital satellite and was not designed to lie dormant for months before being fired.

Aftermath.

The Mars Exploration Program was formed officially in the wake of the Mars Observer's failure in September 1993. The goals of that program include identifying the location of water, and preparing for crewed missions to Mars.

The Mars Observer spacecraft, also known as the Mars Geoscience/Climatology Orbiter, was a robotic space probe launched by NASA on September 25, 1992, to study the Martian surface, atmosphere, climate and magnetic field. During the interplanetary cruise phase, communication with the spacecraft was lost on August 21, 1993, three days prior to orbital insertion. Attempts to re-establish communication with the spacecraft were unsuccessful.


Etymology.

The first syllable of the term "bretwalda" may be related to "Briton" or "Britain". The second element is taken to mean 'ruler' or'sovereign', though is more literally 'wielder'. Thus, this interpretation would mean'sovereign of Britain' or 'wielder of Britain'. The word may be a compound containing the Old English adjective "brytten" (from the verb "breotan" meaning 'to break' or 'to disperse'), an element also found in the terms "bryten rice" ('kingdom'), "bryten-grund" ('the wide expanse of the earth') and "bryten cyning" ('king whose authority was widely extended'). Though the origin is ambiguous, the draughtsman of the charter issued by Æthelstan used the term in a way that can only mean 'wide-ruler'.  The latter etymology was first suggested by John Mitchell Kemble who alluded that "of six manuscripts in which this passage occurs, one only reads "Bretwalda": of the remaining five, four have "Bryten-walda" or "-wealda", and one "Breten-anweald", which is precisely synonymous with Brytenwealda"; that Æthelstan was called "brytenwealda ealles ðyses ealondes", which Kemble translates as 'ruler of all these islands'; and that "bryten-" is a common prefix to words meaning 'wide or general dispersion' and that the similarity to the word "bretwealh" ('Briton') is "merely accidental".

Contemporary use.

The first recorded use of the term "Bretwalda" comes from a West Saxon chronicle of the late 9th century that applied the term to Ecgberht, who ruled Wessex from 802 to 839. The chronicler also wrote down the names of seven kings that Bede listed in his "Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum" in 731. All subsequent manuscripts of the "Chronicle" use the term "Brytenwalda", which may have represented the original term or derived from a common error.  There is no evidence that the term was a title that had any practical use, with implications of formal rights, powers and office, or even that it had any existence before the 9th-century. Bede wrote in Latin and never used the term and his list of kings holding "imperium" should be treated with caution, not least in that he overlooks kings such as Penda of Mercia, who clearly held some kind of dominance during his reign. Similarly, in his list of bretwaldas, the West Saxon chronicler ignored such Mercian kings as Offa.  The use of the term "Bretwalda" was the attempt by a West Saxon chronicler to make some claim of West Saxon kings to the whole of Great Britain. The concept of the overlordship of the whole of Britain was at least recognised in the period, whatever was meant by the term. Quite possibly it was a survival of a Roman concept of "Britain": it is significant that, while the hyperbolic inscriptions on coins and titles in charters often included the title "rex Britanniae", when England was unified the title used was "rex Angulsaxonum", ('king of the Anglo-Saxons'.)

Modern interpretation by historians.

For some time, the existence of the word "bretwalda" in the "Anglo-Saxon Chronicle", which was based in part on the list given by Bede in his "Historia Ecclesiastica", led historians to think that there was perhaps a "title" held by Anglo-Saxon overlords. This was particularly attractive as it would lay the foundations for the establishment of an English monarchy. The 20th-century historian Frank Stenton said of the Anglo-Saxon chronicler that "his inaccuracy is more than compensated by his preservation of the English title applied to these outstanding kings". He argued that the term "bretwalda" "falls into line with the other evidence which points to the Germanic origin of the earliest English institutions".  Over the later 20th century, this assumption was increasingly challenged. Patrick Wormald interpreted it as "less an objectively realized office than a subjectively perceived status" and emphasised the partiality of its usage in favour of Southumbrian rulers. In 1991, Steven Fanning argued that "it is unlikely that the term ever existed as a title or was in common usage in Anglo-Saxon England". The fact that Bede never mentioned a special title for the kings in his list implies that he was unaware of one. In 1995, Simon Keynes observed that "if Bede's concept of the Southumbrian overlord, and the chronicler's concept of the 'Bretwalda', are to be regarded as artificial constructs, which have no validity outside the context of the literary works in which they appear, we are released from the assumptions about political development which they seem to involve... we might ask whether kings in the eighth and ninth centuries were quite so obsessed with the establishment of a pan-Southumbrian state".  Modern interpretations view the concept of "bretwalda" overlordship as complex and an important indicator of how a 9th-century chronicler interpreted history and attempted to insert the increasingly powerful Saxon kings into that history.

Overlordship.

A complex array of dominance and subservience existed during the Anglo-Saxon period. A king who used charters to grant land in another kingdom indicated such a relationship. If a king held sway over a large kingdom, such as when the Mercians dominated the East Anglians, the relationship would have been more equal than in the case of the Mercian dominance of the Hwicce, which was a comparatively small kingdom. Mercia was arguably the most powerful Anglo-Saxon kingdom for much of the late 7th though 8th centuries, though Mercian kings are missing from the two main "lists". For Bede, Mercia was a traditional enemy of his native Northumbria and he regarded powerful kings such as the pagan Penda as standing in the way of the Christian conversion of the Anglo-Saxons. Bede omits them from his list, even though it is evident that Penda held a considerable degree of power. Similarly powerful Mercia kings such as Offa are missed out of the West Saxon "Anglo-Saxon Chronicle", which sought to demonstrate the legitimacy of their kings to rule over other Anglo-Saxon peoples.

Bretwalda (also brytenwalda and bretenanwealda, sometimes capitalised) is an Old English word. The first record comes from the late 9th-century "Anglo-Saxon Chronicle". It is given to some of the rulers of Anglo-Saxon kingdoms from the 5th century onwards who had achieved overlordship of some or all of the other Anglo-Saxon kingdoms. It is unclear whether the word dates back to the 5th century and was used by the kings themselves or whether it is a later, 9th-century, invention. The term "bretwalda" also appears in a 10th-century charter of Æthelstan. The literal meaning of the word is disputed and may translate to either 'wide-ruler' or 'Britain-ruler'.