Early life.

Cuoco was born in Camarillo, California, the elder daughter of Layne Ann (née Wingate), a homemaker, and Gary Carmine Cuoco, a realtor. Her father is of Italian descent while her mother is of English and German ancestry. Her sister, Briana, competed on the fifth season of "The Voice". As a child, Cuoco was a regionally ranked amateur tennis player, a sport she took up when she was 3 years old. She stopped playing at the age of 16.

Career.

Cuoco made her first feature film appearance as the young Karin Carter in the 1995 action thriller "Virtuosity". From 2000 to 2001, she appeared on the CBS sitcom "Ladies Man" and in 2000 she portrayed former "The Brady Bunch" star Maureen McCormick in the TV film "Growing Up Brady" as well as starring in the Disney Channel original film "Alley Cats Strike". In September 2002, she began a starring role as Bridget Hennessy on the ABC sitcom "8 Simple Rules for Dating My Teenage Daughter" (afterwards "8 Simple Rules"). Bridget was the oldest child, despite Cuoco being six years younger than Amy Davidson, who played her younger sister. Because of low ratings, ABC canceled the series on May 17, 2005.  In addition to the final season of "8 Simple Rules", Cuoco had starring roles on the NBC miniseries "10.5", the ABC Family original film "Crimes of Fashion", the independent film "Debating Robert Lee", and in the film "The Hollow" at the same time. She also voiced the character of Brandy Harrington, a 14-year-old anthropomorphic mixed-breed dog, on the Disney Channel animated series "Brandy and Mr. Whiskers". She voiced the character of Kirstee Smith in "Bratz" from 2004 to 2005. In the eighth season of the TV series "Charmed", she appeared as Billie Jenkins, a powerful young witch with the powers of telekinesis and projection. Executive producer Brad Kern stated that Cuoco's character was initially brought in as a possible spin-off.  In September 2007, Cuoco began starring in the CBS sitcom "The Big Bang Theory", playing Penny, a Cheesecake Factory employee and aspiring actress who lives across the hall from physicists Dr. Leonard Hofstadter and Dr. Sheldon Cooper. Prior to the 2010–2011 season, she earned US$60,000 an episode for the series, the same as her co-stars. In 2010, the cast negotiated a raise for each actor to make US$200,000 per episode. As of August 2014, Cuoco and her co-stars from "The Big Bang Theory" Johnny Galecki and Jim Parsons each earned an estimated US$1 million per episode.  In late October 2012, Cuoco enlisted the help of her sister Briana to organize a flash mob on the set of the show, in which she and the cast and crew surprised the studio audience by suddenly lip syncing and dancing to Carly Rae Jepsen's song "Call Me Maybe". A video of the event was posted on YouTube and became a viral success. A clip from the performance was also played during Cuoco's January 8, 2013 appearance on the late-night talk show "Conan".  Cuoco starred in the Lifetime film "To Be Fat like Me", which premiered on January 8, 2007. She played a minor role in the "Prison Break" episodes "The Message" and "Chicago", as well as starring in the comedy horror spoof "Killer Movie" in 2008. She also appeared in the 2010 film "The Penthouse". In 2011, she appeared in "Allure" magazine's annual "Naked Truth" feature. That same year, she appeared in the films "Hop" and "The Last Ride". She was also chosen to host the Teen Choice Awards in 2011, as well as the People's Choice Awards in 2012 and 2013. She is a regular on Priceline.com commercials as the daughter of William Shatner's character.  In October 2018, it was announced that Cuoco would voice Harley Quinn and executive produce the DC Universe adult animation, "Harley Quinn".

Personal life.

In 2007, while working on "The Big Bang Theory", Cuoco privately dated co-star Johnny Galecki for roughly two years, until December 2009. She later told "CBS Watch" in September 2010 that they have remained on good terms since ending their relationship.  On September 13, 2010, Cuoco broke her leg in a horse-riding accident and missed the filming of two episodes of "The Big Bang Theory".  In October 2011, she became engaged to addiction specialist Josh Resnik, but ended their engagement by March 2012. She became engaged to professional tennis player Ryan Sweeting in September 2013, after three months of dating. They married on December 31, 2013, in Santa Susana, California. On September 25, 2015, it was announced that she and Sweeting had decided to divorce. The divorce was finalized on May 9, 2016.  In December 2014, Cuoco received significant media attention surrounding a remark she made in an interview with "Redbook" magazine while married to Ryan Sweeting. When asked if she considered herself a feminist, she responded: "Is it bad if I say no? I was never that feminist girl demanding equality, but maybe that's because I've never really faced inequality... I cook for Ryan five nights a week: it makes me feel like a housewife. I love that. I know it sounds old-fashioned, but I like the idea of women taking care of their men".  In an interview in March 2016, Cuoco said she felt her words were misconstrued, telling "Cosmopolitan" magazine, "Of course I'm a fucking feminist. Look at me. I bleed feminism: I get equal pay to my male co stars on a big show, I have my own home, I'm as independent as you could possibly be. Maybe I didn't understand the question, but for me that's feminism. I'm killing the game, man".  Cuoco began dating equestrian Karl Cook, son of billionaire Scott Cook, in late 2016. They became engaged on November 30, 2017, Cuoco's 32nd birthday, and were married on June 30, 2018.

Production.

In October 2017, Cuoco founded Yes, Norman Productions, a film and television production company which entered an exclusive multi-year first-look production deal with Warner Bros. Television. The company is named after her dog, Norman. Also in October 2017, The company optioned the rights to "The Flight Attendant", a book written by author Chris Bohjalian, which will be developed into a limited series, with Cuoco to star and executive produce.  In October 2018, it was announced that Cuoco would executive produce and voice Harley Quinn in the DC Universe adult animation, "Harley Quinn". In July 2019, Yes, Norman entered a two-year first look production deal with Warner Bros. Television, and announced that "The Flight Attendant" had been picked up by WarnerMedia's upcoming streaming platform, HBO Max. In August 2019, it was announced that she would executive produce the upcoming CBS comedy, "Pretty", which is written and also executive produced by Lindsey Kraft and Santina Muha.

Kaley Christine Cuoco ( ; ; born November 30, 1985) is an American actress and producer. After a series of supporting film and television roles in the late 1990s, she landed her breakthrough role as Bridget Hennessy on the ABC sitcom "8 Simple Rules" (2002–2005). Thereafter, Cuoco voiced Brandy Harrington on "Brandy & Mr. Whiskers" (2004–2006) and appeared as Billie Jenkins on the final season of the television series "Charmed" (2005–2006). She later starred as Penny on the CBS sitcom "The Big Bang Theory" (2007–2019), and received Satellite, Critics' Choice, and People's Choice awards for the role.


Playing career.

Irbe was drafted in the 10th round, 196th overall by the Minnesota North Stars in the 1989 NHL Entry Draft.  His first professional hockey team was Dinamo Riga of the Soviet Hockey League (from 1987 to 1991). After playing in only 2 games during the 1986–1987 season Irbe got a chance to become Dinamo Riga's number one goaltender during the 1987–1988 season when their starting goaltender and Olympic champion, Vitali Samoilov went down with a long term injury. In his only full professional season, Irbe was outstanding in helping Dinamo Riga make it to the finals of the Soviet Hockey League where they eventually lost to perennial Soviet champions CSKA Moscow. During this period he also played for the Soviet Union in the World Championships in 1989 and 1990. The Soviet team won those two championships and Irbe was honoured as the best goalkeeper of the 1990 tournament. He refused to play for the Soviet Union in 1991 because Latvia had proclaimed independence from the Soviet Union on 4 May 1990 and the Soviet government attempted to use military force in January 1991 to stop Latvia's independence. When the Moscow government sent tanks rolling to Riga, Irbe was among those who took to the streets and put up barriers to protect buildings, radio stations, TV towers and historical landmarks.  In the 1988–89 season, Irbe travelled to North America with his then club Dinamo Riga to play in a series of exhibition games against NHL teams. The next season (1989–90) he was temporarily added to the CSKA Moscow team during an exhibition tour of North America.

NHL.

His NHL career began in 1991. His first NHL team was the San Jose Sharks, he played with them from 1991–92 to 1995–96. With Irbe between the pipes, the newly established Sharks made their first playoff appearance in the 1993–94 season and upset the top-seeded Detroit Red Wings. That season, Irbe played an NHL record 4412 minutes in goal for the Sharks. Irbe, affectionately known as Archie, was nicknamed "The Wall" and became a cult figure in San Jose, a status he enjoys there to this day. Following an injury (his hand being mauled by his pet dog in the offseason) and a poor 1995–96 season, Irbe was released by the Sharks.  For the next two years, he was a backup goaltender for the Dallas Stars and the Vancouver Canucks (for whom he played significant stretches with ample success) until he became the starter for the Carolina Hurricanes in the 1998–99 season. Irbe was picked to be a member of the "World" NHL All-Star team in 1998–1999 season, where he became the first goalie to record an assist in an NHL All-Star game. The highest point of his career with the Hurricanes was 2001–02 when Irbe was instrumental in leading the Hurricanes to the Stanley Cup finals where they fell to the Detroit Red Wings.

Demotion to ECHL.

After a disappointing 2002–03 season, the Hurricanes looked to demote Irbe because they could not move him because of a no-trade clause in his contract. On October 16, 2003, Irbe was assigned to the Johnstown Chiefs of the ECHL. After going 8–2–1 in 11 games with the Chiefs, Irbe was named as the starter for the Eastern Conference in the 2004 ECHL All-Star Game. However, Irbe was unable to participate due to a wrist injury. On March 19, 2003, Irbe was recalled to the Carolina Hurricanes after goalie Kevin Weekes was placed on the IR due to season-ending hand surgery.

Return to NHL.

In June 2004, he was traded to the Columbus Blue Jackets, but never played with the club due to that year's NHL Lockout. After the lockout that canceled the 2004–2005 season, Irbe never played in the NHL again but chose to continue his career in Europe.

Return to Europe.

He played for HK Riga 2000 in Latvia and EC Red Bulls Salzburg in Austria during the 2004–05 season. He signed with HK Dynamax Nitra playing in the Slovak Ice Hockey Extraliga, but he decided to leave after his unsatisfactory results.

Equipment.

He is notable on the ice for his helmet and padding – he has worn them almost continuously since his NHL debut for the Sharks – which are creased and scuffed with puck marks and stains. He has earned the nickname "Michelin Man" as a result.  In the early 2000s, he placed an ad in the "Ottawa Pennysaver" seeking any local resident with the famed Jofa goaltender mask.

Coaching career.

In 2008, Irbe signed a three-year deal with Dinamo Riga and worked as the goaltending coach for the club. In August 2009, Irbe cut ties with Riga and decided to go back to North America to be the goaltending coach of the NHL Washington Capitals after former goaltending coach Dave Prior stepped down due to family reasons. Irbe left the team on June 11, 2011 to spend more time with his family.  In 2013, Irbe was named as Ted Nolan's assistant for Latvian national team, but resigned a year after a dispute with president of Latvian Ice Hockey Federation Kirovs Lipmans over his coaching certification. In August 2014, Nolan again hired Irbe as an assistant, this time with the Buffalo Sabres.  In August 2017, Irbe became consultant for Latvian hockey league club HK Kurbads.

Personal.

Irbe is also a member of board of directors of the Kids First Fund, a non-profit organization based in the United States which raises money for projects assisting abused and abandoned children in Latvia.  At the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Irbe was Latvia's flag-bearer in the opening ceremonies.

Career statistics.

Super Series statistics.

The Super Series were exhibition games between an NHL team and Soviet teams (usually a club from the Soviet Championship League). Irbe competed in two such series.

Artūrs Irbe (born 2 February 1967) is a Latvian professional ice hockey coach and former goaltender. Born during the Soviet era, Irbe played for various Soviet league teams and the Soviet Union national team before moving to North America in 1991. Irbe played in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the San Jose Sharks, Dallas Stars, Vancouver Canucks and Carolina Hurricanes. In 2004 Irbe returned to Europe to play until he retired in 2007. He has served as a goaltending coach with Dinamo Riga, the Washington Capitals and the Buffalo Sabres, as well as internationally with the Latvia men's national ice hockey team.


Personal history.

Wilhelm Brasse was born on 3 December 1917 to a descendant of Austrian colonists and a Polish mother in Żywiec, in the Partitioned Poland. His father was a Polish soldier in the Polish–Soviet War of 1919–1921. Wilhelm Brasse was "trained as a portrait photographer in a studio owned by his aunt" in Katowice, and "had an eye for the telling image and an ability to put his subjects at ease."  After the September 1939 invasion of Poland, he was pressured by the Nazis to join them, refused, was repeatedly interrogated by the Gestapo, and tried to escape to France via Hungary, but he was captured at the Polish-Hungarian border and incarcerated for four months. After continuing to refuse to declare his loyalty to Hitler, on 31 August 1940, he was deported to Auschwitz concentration camp, soon after it opened. In February 1941, after having been called to the office of Rudolf Hoess, Auschwitz's commander, along with four others, and tested for "photographic skills", he was selected specifically for his "laboratory skills" and "technical ability with a camera" and for his ability to speak German, and then ordered to document the Nazi prisoners in the camp in the "Erkennungsdienst, the photographic identification unit." A year and a half later, Brasse encountered Josef Mengele, the notorious Nazi doctor who liked his photographs and wanted him to photograph some of the twins and people with congenital disorders moved to his infirmary on whom Mengele was "experimenting". After the Soviets entered Poland, during the Vistula-Oder Offensive, from 12 January to 2 February 1945, Brasse, along with thousands of other Auschwitz prisoners, was forcibly moved to the concentration camp in Ebensee, an Austrian subcamp of the Mauthausen-Gusen concentration camp complex (the last remaining in the area still controlled by the Nazis), where he remained imprisoned until the American forces liberated him in early May 1945.  After returning home to Żywiec, a few miles from KL Auschwitz-Birkenau, Brasse tried to start taking pictures again, but found himself haunted by the ghosts of the dead – the subjects of his tens of thousands of Auschwitz pictures – and was unable to resume his work as a portrait photographer. Abandoning photography, he established what became a "moderately prosperous" sausage casing business.  Although he later visited the State Museum at Auschwitz-Birkenau to talk with visitors about his experiences, and although he still possessed a small pre-war Kodak camera, he never took another photograph.

Death.

He died in Żywiec at the age of 94. He was married with two children and five grandchildren, and lived with his wife until his death. His death was announced by an Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum historian.

The Auschwitz photographs.

Trained before the beginning of World War II as a portrait photographer at his aunt's studio, he was ordered by his SS supervisors to photograph "prisoners' work, criminal medical experiments, [and] portraits of the prisoners for the files." Brasse estimated that he took about 40,000 to 50,000 "identity pictures" from 1940 until 1945, before being forcibly moved to another concentration camp in Austria, where he was liberated by the American forces in early May 1945.  Dr. Mengele had insisted that Brasse take the "identity" portraits of Auschwitz prisoners "in three poses: from the front and from each side." After taking hundreds of thousands of such photographs, Brasse and others disobeyed later Nazi orders to destroy them, yet only some of his photos have survived:although it is hard to say which were Brasse's, since camp photos as a rule didn't carry the photographer's name[,]... Jarosław Mensfelt, spokesman of the Auschwitz-Birkenau museum, says some 200,000 such pictures were taken, with name, nationality and profession attached.... About 40,000 of these pictures are preserved, some with the identification cards, and 2,000 of these are on display in the museum... others are at Yad Vashem, the Israeli Holocaust memorial.  Some photographs credited to Brasse are in the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum's permanent exhibit in Block no. 6: Exhibition: The Life of the Prisoners. All visitors to the Museum are asked explicitly to respect the Site of the Death Camp and not to use cameras (both still and video) in its indoor exhibits.  Similar individual "identification photographs" or "mug shots" of prisoners of Auschwitz and other German concentration camps are accessible in the searchable online "Photo Archives" of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (USHMM); biographical-information cards including these photographs and each corresponding to a concentration-camp inmate are also distributed to Holocaust Memorial Museum visitors as they enter. Partially featured on the USHMM official Website is a photograph of the photo mural on a wall of its 3rd floor permanent exhibit. A photograph of an adult female Auschwitz inmate by Wilhelm Brasse is accessible from the USHMM Photo Archives. The USHMM official Website also features similar "identification photographs" credited to the "National Auschwitz-Birkenau Museum" (the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum, Poland), but without identifying the photographer (who may or may not be Brasse), as illustrations in "Persecution of Homosexuals in the Third Reich".

Documentary film: "The Portraitist".

A 52-minute Polish documentary film about his life and work, "The Portraitist" ("Portrecista", Poland, 2005), directed by Irek Dobrowolski and produced by Anna Dobrowolska, was first shown on Polish television station TVP1 on 1 January 2006, in the "Proud to present" series. It premiered at West London Synagogue in London on 19 March 2007, with a second screening by popular demand on 22 April 2007. In the film Brasse relates the "story behind some pictures in the Auschwitz museum archives that he remembers taking."  As the synopsis for the film emphasizes, after taking thousands of photographs from 1940 until 1945, documenting "cruelty which goes beyond all words... for future generations," Brasse could no longer continue with his profession.  Fergal Keane concurs that "Brasse has left us with a powerful legacy in images. Because of them we can see the victims of the Holocaust as human and not statistics.... The photographs are the work of a man who fought to keep his humanity alive in a place of unimaginable evil."

Wilhelm Brasse (3 December 1917 – 23 October 2012) was a Polish professional photographer and a prisoner in Auschwitz during World War II. He became known as the "famous photographer of Auschwitz concentration camp." His life and work were the subject of the 2005 Polish television documentary film "The Portraitist" ("Portrecista"), which first aired in the "Proud to Present" series on the Polish TVP1 on 1 January 2006.


History.

Early use.

Mention of the tárogató in Hungarian writings dates back at least as long ago as the 15th century. It is not clear whether it was first brought into Europe by the Hungarians when they first emigrated from the east in the 9th century. It is certain, however, that instruments of this type, descended from the Middle Eastern zurna, were introduced into Eastern Europe by the Turks in the Middle Ages, as evidenced by the term töröksip—"Turkish pipe"—which was used as a synonym for tárogató. It is possible that instruments from both traditions were combined into one entity. The tárogató has a Turkish origin, and it appeared in Hungary during the Turkish wars. Up to about the 18th century, the tárogató was a type of shawm, with a double reed, conical bore, and no keys.  Being a very loud and raucous instrument, the tárogató was used as a signaling instrument in battle (like the bugle or the bagpipe). However, depending on the type of reed used, it can also give off a very subtle, and yet, deep, mellow sound when played at a relaxed, steady pace.  Because the tárogató was an iconic instrument of the Rákóczi's War for Independence (1703–1711), its use was suppressed in the 18th century by the Habsburg monarchy. The instrument was eventually abandoned, being considered too loud for a concert hall.

Modern usage.

In the 1890s a modern version was invented by Vencel József Schunda, a Budapest instrument maker. It uses a single reed, like a clarinet or saxophone, and has a conical bore, similar to the saxophone. The instrument is made of wood, usually black grenadilla wood like a clarinet. The most common size, the soprano tárogató in B♭, is about 29 inches (74 cm) in length and has a mournful sound similar to a cross between an English horn and a soprano saxophone. Other sizes exist: one maker, János Stowasser, advertised a family of seven sizes of which the largest was a contrabass tárogató in E♭. The new tárogató bears very little resemblance with the historical tárogató and the two instruments should not be confused. It has been suggested that the name "schundaphone" would have been more accurate, but tárogató was used because of the nationalistic image that the original instrument had.  This instrument was a symbol of Hungarian aristocracy, and the favorite woodwind instrument of Governor Miklós Horthy.  Manufacturing in Hungary ceased after World War II, though tárogatós continued to be made in Romania and other countries. In the 1990s several Hungarian makers started producing the instrument again.  A modern tárogató may occasionally be heard in Act 3 of Tristan und Isolde by Richard Wagner where it has become traditional in some opera houses (e.g. the Royal Opera House, London) to use it instead of the off-stage cor anglais for the last passage (bars 999-1149) of the Shepherd's air, but Wagner did not specify this, merely suggesting in the score "a specially built simple natural instrument". In the 1920s, Luţă Ioviţă, who played the instrument in the army during World War I, brought it to Banat (Romania), where it became very popular under the name "taragot".  In 1928, the British music journal Melody Maker reported that the Oxford-based clarinettist Frank Dyer was using "a taragossa, a novelty Hungarian instrument which is a cross between a saxophone and a Cor Anglais" with his Symphonic Dance Orchestra. No such instrument as a "taragossa" exists: the rest of the journal's description fits that of the tárogató.  Dumitru Fărcaş, who was born in Maramureş, made the instrument known all over the world and was considered to be the most famous tárogató player.  German saxophonist Peter Brötzmann has used the tárogató in free jazz and free improvisation, as has British saxophonist Evan Parker.  American reed players Charles Lloyd and Scott Robinson have occasionally used the tárogató. Joe Lovano has also displayed interest in the instrument featuring it extensively in his episode of "", on Steve Kuhn's "Mostly Coltrane", and on his own albums "Trio Tapestry" and "Roma" (with Enrico Rava) (both ECM Records).  In 2015, Irina Ross, a Romanian singer, released her single "Taragot" which features the instrument in a dance-pop song.

The tárogató ("töröksíp", "Turkish pipe"; plural "tárogatók" or, anglicized, "tárogatós"; or "torogoata") refers to two different woodwind instruments commonly used in both Hungarian and Romanian folk music. The modern tárogató was intended to be a recreation of the original tárogató, but the two instruments are thought to have little in common.


Early life.

He was born to Henry Auffray, an industrialist and Amyelle de Caubios d'Andiran, (1898-1992) a musician, second cousin of the French author François Mauriac (respectively by their maternal grandfather and maternal grandmother). His sister was actress Pascale Audret (1936–2000) and his niece is actress Julie Dreyfus.  Once Aufray's parents divorced, the family left Paris for Sorèze, where he was raised by his mother. During the war, he studied at Sorèze secondary school.  In 1945, Aufray joined his father in Madrid, living there for three years. He attended the Lycée Français de Madrid in Madrid, and graduated with his "baccalauréat". He then returned to France to start singing in Spanish.

Musical career.

He first began writing songs for French singers. After finishing second in a singing competition, he signed a record deal in 1959 with Eddie Barclay.  From there, he went on to co-write and arrange many songs, drawing influence from folk, blues and rock. While supporting Peter, Paul and Mary in New York in 1962, he struck up a friendship with Bob Dylan, who would then visit him in Paris in 1964. Aufray translated many of Dylan's songs into French: their appearance on his 1965 album "Aufray chante Dylan" helped form the tastes of the new French generation.  Aufray represented Luxembourg in the 1964 Eurovision Song Contest, performing "Dès que le printemps revient" and finishing fourth.  In 1966, he sang Les Crayons de Couleur in support of Martin Luther King at an anti-racism benefit.  In 1984, he sang a duet with Bob Dylan at a concert in Grenoble, and performed with him in Paris as well.

Hugues Jean Marie Auffray (; born 18 August 1929 in Neuilly-sur-Seine), better known as Hugues Aufray (), is a French singer-songwriter and guitarist.


Animal nutrition.

Carnivore and herbivore diets are contrasting, with basic nitrogen and carbon proportions vary for their particular foods. Many herbivores rely on bacterial fermentation to create digestible nutrients from indigestible plant cellulose, while obligate carnivores must eat animal meats to obtain certain vitamins or nutrients their bodies cannot otherwise synthesize. Animals generally have a higher requirement of energy in comparison to plants.

Plant nutrition.

Plant nutrition is the study of the chemical elements that are necessary for plant growth. There are several principles that apply to plant nutrition. Some elements are directly involved in plant metabolism. However, this principle does not account for the so-called beneficial elements, whose presence, while not required, has clear positive effects on plant growth.  A nutrient that is able to limit plant growth according to Liebig's law of the minimum is considered an essential plant nutrient if the plant cannot complete its full life cycle without it. There are 16 essential plant soil nutrients, besides the three major elemental nutrients carbon and oxygen that are obtained by photosynthetic plants from carbon dioxide in air, and hydrogen, which is obtained from water.  Plants uptake essential elements from the soil through their roots and from the air (consisting of mainly nitrogen and oxygen) through their leaves. Green plants obtain their carbohydrate supply from the carbon dioxide in the air by the process of photosynthesis. Carbon and oxygen are absorbed from the air, while other nutrients are absorbed from the soil. Nutrient uptake in the soil is achieved by cation exchange, wherein root hairs pump hydrogen ions (H) into the soil through proton pumps. These hydrogen ions displace cations attached to negatively charged soil particles so that the cations are available for uptake by the root. In the leaves, stomata open to take in carbon dioxide and expel oxygen. The carbon dioxide molecules are used as the carbon source in photosynthesis.  Although nitrogen is plentiful in the Earth's atmosphere, very few plants can use this directly. Most plants, therefore, require nitrogen compounds to be present in the soil in which they grow. This is made possible by the fact that largely inert atmospheric nitrogen is changed in a nitrogen fixation process to biologically usable forms in the soil by bacteria.  Plant nutrition is a difficult subject to understand completely, partially because of the variation between different plants and even between different species or individuals of a given clone. Elements present at low levels may cause deficiency symptoms, and toxicity is possible at levels that are too high. Furthermore, deficiency of one element may present as symptoms of toxicity from another element, and vice versa.

Nutrition is the science that interprets the nutrients and other substances in food in relation to maintenance, growth, reproduction, health and disease of an organism. It includes ingestion, absorption, assimilation, biosynthesis, catabolism and excretion.


Description.

Though the best-known genus, "Viola", is herbaceous, most species are shrubs, lianas or small trees. The simple leaves are alternate or opposite, often with leafy stipules or the stipules are reduced in size. Some species have palmate or deeply dissected leaves. Many species are acaulescent. The flower are solitary in panicles. Some species have cleistogamous flowers produced after or before the production of typical flowers with petals. Flowers are bisexual or unisexual (e.g. "Melicytus"), actinomorphic but typically zygomorphic with a calyx of five sepals that are persistent after flowering. Corollae have five mostly unequal petals, and the anterior petal is larger and often spurred. Plants have five stamens with the abaxial stamen often spurred at the base. The gynoecium is a compound pistil of three united carpels with one locule. Styles are simple, with the ovary superior and containing many ovules. The fruits are capsules split by way of three seams. Seeds have endosperm.

Taxonomy.

That "Viola", previously included by Jussieu (1789) under Cisti, should have its own family was first proposed by Ventenat in 1799, and in 1803 placed the "Viola" species in a new genus, "Ionidium" which he described as "Famille des violettes." However, in the meantime Batsch established the Violaceae, as a suprageneric rank under the name of Violariae (1802), and as the first formal description, bears his name as the botanical authority. Batsch included eight genera in this family. Although Violariae continued to be used by some authors, such as Don (1831) and Bentham and Hooker (1862) (as Violarieae), most authors, such as Engler (1895), adopted the alternative name Violaceae, proposed by de Lamarck and de Candolle in 1805, and later by Gingins (1823) and Saint-Hilaire (1824). With the establishment of higher suprafamiliar orders, which he called "Alliances", Lindley (1853) placed his Violaceae within the Violales.

Phylogeny.

Historically, Violaceae has been placed within a number of orders since Lindley's treatment, principally Violales (Hutchinson, Takhtajan, Cronquist, Thorne) and the equivalent Parietales (Bentham and Hooker, Engler and Prantl, Melchior), although such placement was considered unsatisfactory, but also Polygalinae (Hallier) and Guttiferales (Bessey). Of these, that of Melchior (1925), within the Engler and Prantl system, has been considered one of the most influential. Molecular phylogenetics resulted in the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group (APG) places it as one of a large number of families within the eudicot order Malpighiales. Violaceae, as one of 42 families, is placed in a clade of 10 families within the order. Its place within the parietal clade reflects its earlier position in Parietales, those families with parietal placentation. There it forms a sister group to Goupiaceae.

Subdivision.

History.

The Violaceae are a medium sized family with about 22–28 genera, and about 1,000–1,100 species. Most of the genera are monotypic or oligotypic, but the three genera "Viola" (about 600 species), "Rinorea" (about 250 species), and "Hybanthus" include 98% of the species with about half the species in "Viola", and more than three-quarters of the remainder in the other two genera.  Many attempts have been made at an intrafamilial classification, but these have largely been artificial, based on floral characteristics. Subdivisions were recognized almost immediately. Early classifications identified two major divisions, that were followed by most taxonomists;  These also had biogeographical correlation, with the latter being almost exclusively S American and African, and the former being distributed in Europe in addition to the Americas. In contrast, Bentham and Hooker (and some others) divided Alsodeieae, giving three tribes;  Melchior utilized a more complex classification with two subfamilies, tribes and subtribes to recognize the place of "Leonia" within the Violaceae;.  The historical subdivisions shown here are those of the system of Hekking (1988), based largely on floral symmetry, petal aestivation and petal morphology. In this system, most genera occur in the Rinoreae and Violeae tribes.

Violaceae is a family of flowering plants established in 1802, consisting of about 1000 species in about 25 genera. It takes its name from the genus "Viola", the violets and pansies.


Biography.

Rosalia was born of a Norman noble family that claimed descent from Charlemagne. Devoutly religious, she retired to live as a hermit in a cave on Mount Pellegrino, where she died alone in 1166. Tradition says that she was led to the cave by two angels. On the cave wall she wrote ""I, Rosalia, daughter of Sinibald, Lord of Roses, and Quisquina, have taken the resolution to live in this cave for the love of my Lord, Jesus Christ.""

1624 plague.

In 1624, a plague beset Palermo. During this hardship Saint Rosalia appeared first to a sick woman, then to a hunter, to whom she indicated where her remains were to be found. She ordered him to bring her bones to Palermo and have them carried in procession through the city.  The hunter climbed the mountain and found her bones in the cave as described. He did what she had asked in the apparition. After her remains were carried around the city three times, the plague ceased. After this Saint Rosalia was venerated as the patron saint of Palermo, and a sanctuary was built in the cave where her remains were discovered.  Her post-1624 iconography is dominated by the work of the Flemish painter Anthony van Dyck, who was trapped in the city during the 1624-1625 quarantine, during which time he produced five paintings of the saint, now in Madrid, Houston, London, New York and Palermo itself. In 1629 he also produced "Saint Rosalia Interceding for the City of Palermo" and "Coronation of Saint Rosalia" to assist Jesuit efforts to spread her cult beyond Sicily.

Veneration.

The feast of Saint Rosalia is on September 4.  The celebration, called the "festino", is still held each year on July 14, and continues into the next day. It is still a major social and religious event in Palermo. In 1995, 1996, 1997 and 2001 the celebration was produced by Studio Festi.  Also on September 4 there is an event related to the festino and St. Rosalia; a tradition of walking barefoot from Palermo up to Mount Pellegrino. In Italian American communities in the United States, the July feast is generally dedicated to Our Lady of Mount Carmel while the September feast, beginning in August, brings large numbers of visitors annually to the Bensonhurst section of Brooklyn in New York City.

In biology.

Saint Rosalia was proposed as the patron saint of evolutionary studies in a paper by G.E. Hutchinson. This was due to a visit he paid to a pool of water downstream from the cave where St. Rosalia's remains were found, where he developed ideas based on observations of water boatman.

In Art.

Saint Rosalia was an important subject in Italian Renaissance and Baroque painting, particularly in sacre conversazioni (group pictures of saints flanking the Virgin Mary) by artists such as Riccardo Quartararo, Mario di Laurito, Vincenzo La Barbara, and possibly Antonello da Messina. But it was Flemish master Anthony Van Dyck (1599-1637), who was caught in Palermo during the 1624 plague, who produced the most paintings of her (see also above). His depictions of a young woman with flowing blonde hair wearing a Franciscan cowl and reaching down toward the city of Palermo in its peril, became the standard iconography of the saint from that time onward. Van Dyck's series of St Rosalia paintings have been studied by Gauvin Alexander Bailey and Xavier F. Salomon, both of whom curated or co-curated exhibitions devoted to the theme of Italian art and the plague. Recently the New York Times published an article about the Metropolitan Museum of Art's painting of Saint Rosalia by Van Dyck in the context of the Covid-19 virus..

Saint Rosalia (1130–1166), also called La Santuzza or ""The Little Saint"", and in Sicilian as "Rusulia", is the patron saint of Palermo in Italy, and three towns in Venezuela: El Hatillo, Zuata, and Anzoátegui. She is especially important internationally as a saint invoked in times of plague (disease). Today she is being invoked by the citizens of Palermo to protect the city from Covid-19.


Geography.

The forest floor mostly consists of volcanic rock which can be difficult to penetrate with hand tools. Since the forest is very dense, in recent years, hikers and tourists trekking through Aokigahara have begun to use plastic tape to mark their paths to avoid getting lost. Designated trails lead to several tourist attractions such as the Narusawa Ice Cave, Fugaku Wind Cave and Lake Sai Bat Cave which are three larger lava caves near Mount Fuji, the ice cave being frozen year-round.  Aokigahara has been falsely portrayed as a place where navigational compasses go haywire. Needles of magnetic compasses will move if placed directly on the lava, aligning with the rock's natural magnetism, which varies in iron content and strength by location. However, a compass behaves as expected when held at a normal height. The Japan Ground Self-Defense Force has conducted its ranger courses including navigation training in the forest since 1956.

Flora and fauna.

Mammals include the Asian black bear, small Japanese mole, bats, mice, deer, fox, boar, wild rabbit, Japanese mink and Japanese squirrel. Birds include great tit, willow tit, long-tailed tit, magerahigara, higera, great spotted woodpecker, pygmy woodpecker, bush warbler, Eurasian jay, Japanese white-eye, Japanese thrush, brown-headed thrush, Siberian thrush, Hodgson's hawk-cuckoo, Japanese grosbeak, lesser cuckoo, black-faced bunting, oriental turtle dove, and common cuckoo.  There are ground beetles and other insects, including many species of butterflies, even in the forest interior "Argynnis paphia", "Chrysozephyrus smaragdinus", "Celastrina argiolus", "Celastrina sugitanii", "Curetis acuta", "Favonius jezoensis", "Neptis sappho", "Parantica sita" and "Polygonia c-album" are found.  The forest has a variety of conifers and broadleaf trees and shrubs including: "Chamaecyparis obtusa", "Cryptomeria japonica", "Pinus densiflora", "Pinus parviflora", "Tsuga sieboldii", "Acer distylum", "Acer micranthum", "Acer sieboldianum", "Acer tschonoskii", "Betula grossa", "Chengiopanax sciadophylloides" (as "Acanthopanax sciadophylloides" a.k.a. "Eleutherococcus sciadophylloides"), "Clethra barbinervis", "Enkianthus campanulatus", "Euonymus macropterus", "Ilex pedunculosa", "Ilex macropoda", "Pieris japonica", "Prunus jamasakura", "Quercus mongolica" var. "crispula", "Rhododendron dilatatum", "Skimmia japonica" f. "repens", "Sorbus commixta" (as "Sorbus americana" ssp. "japonica") and "Toxicodendron trichocarpum" (as "Rhus trichocarpa"). The dominant tree species between 1000 and 1800 metres of altitude is "Tsuga diversifolia" and from 1800 to 2200 metres is "Abies veitchii".  Deeper in the forest there are many herbaceous flowering plants including "Artemisia princeps", "Cirsium nipponicum" var. "incomptum", "Corydalis incisa", "Erigeron annuus", "Geranium nepalense", "Kalimeris pinnatifida", "Maianthemum dilatatum", "Oplismenus undulatifolius" and "Reynoutria japonica" (syn. "Polygonum cuspidatum"). There are also the myco-heterotrophic "Monotropastrum humile", frequent liverworts, many mosses and many ferns. The forest edges have many more species.

Suicides.

Aokigahara is sometimes referred to as the most popular site for suicide in Japan. In 2003, 105 bodies were found in the forest, exceeding the previous record of 78 in 2002. In 2010, the police recorded more than 200 people having attempted suicide in the forest, of whom 54 completed the act. Suicides are said to increase during March, the end of the fiscal year in Japan. As of 2011, the most common means of suicide in the forest were hanging or drug overdose. In recent years, local officials have stopped publicizing the numbers in an attempt to decrease Aokigahara's association with suicide.  The rate of suicide has led officials to place a sign at the forest's entry urging suicidal visitors to seek help and not take their own lives. Annual body searches have been conducted by police, volunteers, and journalists since 1970.  The site's popularity has been attributed to Seichō Matsumoto's 1961 novel "Nami no Tō" ("Tower of Waves"). However, the history of suicide in Aokigahara predates the novel's publication, and the place has long been associated with death; "ubasute" may have been practiced there into the nineteenth century, and the forest is reputedly haunted by the "yūrei" of those left to die.

References in media.

Aokigahara has been referred to in several media, including anime and manga, films, literature, music, and video games. For example:  It was the subject of a BBC Radio 4 production (first broadcast 10 September 2018) in which four poets traveled to Aokigahara to write and record poetry in the forest.  The poets Arai Takako, Jordan A. Y. Smith, Osaki Sayaka, and Yotsumoto Yasuhiro co-authored a bilingual (Japanese/English) anthology of the poems and short writings on Aokigahara, titled "Sea of Trees: Poetic Gateways to Aokigahara" (ToPoJo Excursions, 2019).  An American playwright of Japanese ancestry, Kristine Haruna Lee, wrote and staged a play, "Suicide Forest", in New York City in March 2019. It addressed suicide in America and Japan, referencing the Aokigahara Forest.  The 2015 film "The Sea of Trees" with Matthew McConaughey, Ken Watanabe and Naomi Watts also tells a story happening in this forest.  The rap collective "Aoki Boys" takes its name from Aokigahara.

, also known as the, is a forest on the northwestern flank of Japan's Mount Fuji, thriving on of hardened lava laid down by the last major eruption of Mount Fuji in 864 CE. The western edge of Aokigahara, where there are several caves that fill with ice in winter, is a popular destination for tourists and school trips. Parts of Aokigahara are very dense, and the porous lava absorbs sound, helping to provide visitors with a sense of solitude.


History.

Origins.

The Nervii, and later the Romans, probably already settled in this strategic place near the river Zenne. The name "Filfurdo" was first mentioned in a 779 document whereby Pippin of Herstal ceded this territory to the Abbey of Chèvremont, near Liège. This name presumably derived from the word equivalents "villa at the ford" or river crossing.

Middle Ages.

In the 12th century, a small town started to grow, which quickly became a target for the ambitions of the dukes of Brabant and lords of Grimbergen. Henry I, Duke of Brabant granted the city its charter of rights as soon as 1192, mainly to ensure the support of the inhabitants against powerful neighbouring Flanders. The rights to build defensive walls and to export its products gave Vilvoorde a great economic boost, driven mostly by the cloth industry. In the 14th century, thanks to its position on the Zenne, Vilvoorde became an important military centre and could compete against Leuven and Brussels for the title of most important city in Brabant.

15th century until now.

From the 15th to the 19th century, however, Vilvoorde suffered a prolonged decline, mainly because of the competition from Brussels, a general malaise in the textile industry, and the result of epidemics and wars, both political and religious.  The translator of the Bible into English, William Tyndale, was executed here in October 1536. In 1597 Anna Utenhoven, an Anabaptist accused of heresy, was buried alive at Vilvoorde – the last of the Protestants suffering martyrdom for their faith in the history of the Habsburg Netherlands. Anthony van Stralen, Lord of Merksem and Jan van Casembroot both were executed in Vilvoorde.  The advent of the Industrial Revolution in the late 18th century was a godsend to Vilvoorde, which could quickly capitalize on its proximity to Brussels and its good transportation infrastructure: the deepening of the canals around 1830 and the advent of the railways in 1835. Soon, the medieval buildings gave way to newer and better constructions. The 1489 city hall was replaced by the neo-classical building we see today.  In the 1920s, the canal was broadened and deepened again, lined with new industrial zones, and an inland port was built to receive the freightliners. Following its liberation by the British in 1944, Vilvoorde was administered by a joint British and Belgian municipality, with temporary British and Belgian Mayors, Lt Col (then Major) JME Howarth Esq and (Later Prof.), before transferring back to a civilian administration. Vilvoorde became (and still is) one of the largest industrial areas around Brussels, with a population that grew to five times what it was 150 years earlier. The recent economic crises have hit the city hard, especially when Renault closed its doors in 1997. The service industry is now taking the lead in 21st century Vilvoorde.

Local government.

Mayors of Vilvoorde:

Vilvoorde (,, historically known as "Filford" in English) is a Belgian municipality in the Flemish province of Flemish Brabant. The municipality comprises the city of Vilvoorde proper with its two outlying quarters of Koningslo and Houtem and the small town of Peutie. The nickname for inhabitants of Vilvoorde is Pjeirrefretters (horse eaters) because horse meat (specially steak) is a beloved food in Vilvoorde.


Design and description.

By the last years of the first decade of the 20th century, Admiral Graf Rudolf Montecuccoli, head of the Austro-Hungarian Navy (), recognized that the latest s were already obsolete in comparison to larger and faster foreign destroyers. His 1910 expansion plan called for six new large destroyers and their construction was awarded to a Hungarian shipyard to secure Hungarian parliamentary approval of the expansion program.  The "Tátra"-class ships had an overall length of, a beam of, and a maximum draft of. They displaced at normal load and at deep load. The ships had a complement of 105 officers and enlisted men.  The "Tátra"s were powered by two AEG-Curtiss steam turbine sets, each driving a single propeller shaft using steam provided by six Yarrow boilers. Four of the boilers were oil-fired while the remaining pair used coal. The turbines, designed to produce, were intended to give the ships a speed of. The ships carried enough oil and coal to give them a range of at.  The main armament of the "Tátra"-class destroyers consisted of two 50-caliber Škoda Works K10 guns, one each fore and aft of the superstructure in single mounts. Their secondary armament consisted of six 45-caliber guns. Two of these were on anti-aircraft mountings. They were also equipped with four torpedo tubes in two twin rotating mountings amidships.

Service history.

Six further destroyers were authorised in May 1914 to increase the number of destroyers, but construction had not started at the outbreak of the war. Four units were authorised in 1916 to replace the wartime losses. These four ships were named "Triglav II", "Lika II", "Dukla" and "Uzsok" and classified as the (Replacement) Triglav class.  After the war, three vessels—"Triglav", "Lika", and "Uzsok"—were ceded to Italy and one, "Dukla", to France. The last vessel was scrapped in 1936.

The "Tátra" class was a group of six destroyers built for the Austro-Hungarian Navy shortly before the First World War.


Theory.

Essentially, the theory states that "soft" acids react faster and form stronger bonds with "soft" bases, whereas "hard" acids react faster and form stronger bonds with "hard" bases, all other factors being equal. The classification in the original work was mostly based on equilibrium constants for reaction of two Lewis bases competing for a Lewis acid.  Borderline cases are also identified: borderline acids are trimethylborane, sulfur dioxide and ferrous Fe, cobalt Co caesium Cs and lead Pb cations. Borderline bases are: aniline, pyridine, nitrogen N and the azide, chloride, bromide, nitrate and sulfate anions.  Generally speaking, acids and bases interact and the most stable interactions are hard-hard (ionogenic character) and soft-soft (covalent character).  An attempt to quantify the'softness' of a base consists in determining the equilibrium constant for the following equilibrium:  Where CHHg (methylmercury ion) is a very soft acid and H (proton) is a hard acid, which compete for B (the base to be classified).  Some examples illustrating the effectiveness of the theory:

Chemical hardness.

In 1983 Pearson together with Robert Parr extended the qualitative HSAB theory with a quantitative definition of the chemical hardness (η) as being proportional to the second derivative of the total energy of a chemical system with respect to changes in the number of electrons at a fixed nuclear environment:  The factor of one-half is arbitrary and often dropped as Pearson has noted.  An operational definition for the chemical hardness is obtained by applying a three-point finite difference approximation to the second derivative:  where "I" is the ionization potential and "A" the electron affinity. This expression implies that the chemical hardness is proportional to the band gap of a chemical system, when a gap exists.  The first derivative of the energy with respect to the number of electrons is equal to the chemical potential, "μ", of the system,  from which an operational definition for the chemical potential is obtained from a finite difference approximation to the first order derivative as  which is equal to the negative of the electronegativity ("χ") definition on the Mulliken scale: "μ" = −"χ".  The hardness and Mulliken electronegativity are related as  and in this sense hardness is a measure for resistance to deformation or change. Likewise a value of zero denotes maximum softness, where softness is defined as the reciprocal of hardness.  In a compilation of hardness values only that of the hydride anion deviates. Another discrepancy noted in the original 1983 article are the apparent higher hardness of Tl compared to Tl.

Modifications.

If the interaction between acid and base in solution results in an equilibrium mixture the strength of the interaction can be quantified in terms of an equilibrium constant. An alternative quantitative measure is the heat (enthalpy) of formation of the Lewis acid-base adduct in a non-coordinating solvent. The ECW model is quantitative model that describes and predicts the strength of Lewis acid base interactions, -ΔH. The model assigned E and C parameters to many Lewis acids and bases. Each acid is characterized by an E and a C. Each base is likewise characterized by its own E and C. The E and C parameters refer, respectively, to the electrostatic and covalent contributions to the strength of the bonds that the acid and base will form. The equation is  The W term represents a constant energy contribution for acid–base reaction such as the cleavage of a dimeric acid or base. The equation predicts reversal of acids and base strengths. The graphical presentations of the equation show that there is no single order of Lewis base strengths or Lewis acid strengths. The ECW model accommodates the failure of single parameter descriptions of acid-base interactions.  A related method adopting the E and C formalism of Drago and co-workers quantitatively predicts the formation constants for complexes of many metal ions plus the proton with a wide range of unidentate Lewis acids in aqueous solution, and also offered insights into factors governing HSAB behavior in solution.  Another quantitative system has been proposed, in which Lewis acid strength toward Lewis base fluoride is based on gas-phase affinity for fluoride. Additional one-parameter base strength scales have been presented. However, it has been shown that to define the order of Lewis base strength (or Lewis acid strength) at least two properties must be considered. For Pearson's qualitative HSAB theory the two properties are hardness and strength while for Drago’s quantitative ECW model the two properties are electrostatic and covalent.

Kornblum's rule.

An application of HSAB theory is the so-called Kornblum's rule (after Nathan Kornblum) which states that in reactions with ambident nucleophiles (nucleophiles that can attack from two or more places), the more electronegative atom reacts when the reaction mechanism is S1 and the less electronegative one in a S2 reaction. This rule (established in 1954) predates HSAB theory but in HSAB terms its explanation is that in a S1 reaction the carbocation (a hard acid) reacts with a hard base (high electronegativity) and that in a S2 reaction tetravalent carbon (a soft acid) reacts with soft bases.  According to findings, electrophilic alkylations at free CN occur preferentially at carbon, regardless of whether the S1 or S2 mechanism is involved and whether hard or soft electrophiles are employed. Preferred N attack, as postulated for hard electrophiles by the HSAB principle, could not be observed with any alkylating agent. Isocyano compounds are only formed with highly reactive electrophiles that react without an activation barrier because the diffusion limit is approached. It is claimed that the knowledge of absolute rate constants and not of the hardness of the reaction partners is needed to predict the outcome of alkylations of the cyanide ion.

Criticism.

Reanalysis of various types of ambident organic system reveals that thermodynamic/kinetic control describes reactivity of organic compounds perfectly, whereas the HSAB principle fails and should be abandoned in the rationalization of ambident reactivity of organic compounds.

HSAB concept is an initialism for "hard and soft (Lewis) acids and bases". Also known as the Pearson acid-base concept, HSAB is widely used in chemistry for explaining stability of compounds, reaction mechanisms and pathways. It assigns the terms 'hard' or'soft', and 'acid' or 'base' to chemical species. 'Hard' applies to species which are small, have high charge states (the charge criterion applies mainly to acids, to a lesser extent to bases), and are weakly polarizable. 'Soft' applies to species which are big, have low charge states and are strongly polarizable. The concept is a way of applying the notion of orbital overlap to specific chemical cases.


Description.

This species of "Boswellia" is a small deciduous tree, which reaches a height of, with one or more trunks. Its bark has the texture of paper and can be removed easily. It has compound leaves and an odd number of leaflets, which grow opposite to one another along its branches. Its tiny flowers, a yellowish white, are gathered in axillary clusters composed of five petals, ten stamens and a cup with five teeth. The fruit is a capsule about long. The new leaves are covered with a fine down.  Individual trees growing on steep slopes tend to develop some buttressing that extends from the roots up into the base of the stem. This forms a sort of cushion that adheres to the rock and ensures a certain stability.

Occurrence and habitat.

"B. sacra" tolerates the most critical situations and often grows on rocky slopes and ravines, up to an elevation of, mostly in calcareous soil. "Boswellia sacra" is abundant in Oman in arid woodland, on the steep, precariously eroding slopes in the mountains of Dhofar, but it is most prevalent in northern Somalia.  In Somalia, frankincense is harvested in the Sanaag and Bari regions: mountains lying at the northwest of Erigavo; El Afweyn District; Cal Madow mountain range, a westerly escarpment that runs parallel to the coast; Cal Miskeed, a middle segment of the frankincense-growing escarpment; Karkaar mountains or eastern escarpment, which lies at the eastern fringe of the frankinscence escarpment.  In Dhofar, Oman, frankincense species grow North of Salalah and were traded in the ancient coastal city of Sumhuram, now Khor Rori.

Resin.

The trees start producing resin when they are about 8 to 10 years old.  The resin is extracted by making a small, shallow incision on the trunk or branches of the tree or by removing a portion of the crust of it. The resin is drained as a milky substance that coagulates in contact with air and is collected by hand. Growing conditions vary significantly, affecting both tree development and resin produced. Trees in the narrow fog-laden zone where the desert meets Dhofar mountain range, a region known as the "Nejd", grow extremely slowly and produce very high quality resin in large, white clumps. Omanis and other Gulf State Arabs consider this to be superior to all other resins produced in North and Northeast Africa, India, and Asia, and it is priced accordingly.

Threats.

Recent arguing about the frankincense tree populations growth of prevalence rate. There are many initiatives taken from owners of the lands, and organizations like the international banks have invested in harvesting new trees and making protection tools for the regions where the trees are mostly growing. It has helped in the increase of the production of the resin.

Boswellia sacra (commonly known as frankincense or olibanum-tree) is a tree in the Burseraceae family. It is the primary tree in the genus "Boswellia" from which frankincense, a resinous dried sap, is harvested. It is native to the Arabian Peninsula (Oman, Yemen), and northeastern Africa (Somalia).


Early life.

Philip Livingston born in Albany, New York, on January 15, 1716, the fourth surviving son of Philip Livingston (1686–1749), 2nd Lord of the Manor and Catherine Van Brugh Livingston, the daughter of Albany, New York, Mayor Pieter Van Brugh. Along with his brother, William Livingston (1723–1790), he grew up in the Albany area, dividing his time between his father’s Albany Townhouse and the Manor House in Linlithgo, at the junction of the Roeliff Jansen Kill and the Hudson River.

Career.

Philip graduated from Yale College in 1737, and returned to Albany to serve a mercantile apprenticeship with his father. Through his father's influence, he also obtained clerkships in Albany's local government. He then settled in New York City and pursued a career in the import business, trading with the British sugar islands in the West Indies. During King George's War (1744–1748), Livingston made his fortune provisioning and privateering. He also speculated heavily in real estate and the slave trade. He had a stone townhouse on Duke Street in Manhattan and also a forty-acre estate in Brooklyn Heights. He became a merchant and served as an Alderman of the East Ward from 1754 through 1762.  Livingston was a promoter of the founding of Kings College and helped to organize the New York Public Library in 1754. Livingston founded the first Chamber of Commerce in 1770, and in 1756 was president and founding member of the St. Andrew's Society, New York's first benevolent organization. He was also one of the first governors of New York Hospital.

Politics.

Also in 1754, he went as a delegate to the Albany Congress. There, he joined delegates from several other colonies to negotiate with Indians and discuss common plans for dealing with the French and Indian War (1754–1763). Livingston became an active promoter of efforts to raise and fund troops for the war. According to Cynthia A. Kiemer, he owned shares in six privateers, making him one of the colony's leading investors.  He served as a member of the provincial house of representatives from 1763 to 1769 and in 1768 served as Speaker. In October 1765, he attended the Stamp Act Congress, which produced the first formal protest to the crown as a prelude to the American Revolution. He joined New York City's "Committee of Correspondence" to continue communication with leaders in the other colonies, and New York City's Committee of Sixty.  When New York established the New York Provincial Congress in 1775, he was the President. He was selected as one of the delegates to the Continental Congress. His brother William, a prominent lawyer in New Jersey, was also a delegate to the Continental Congress from 1774 to June 1776. In July 1775, Philip signed the Olive Branch Petition, a final attempt to achieve an understanding with the Crown. Like many of the early patriots, he initially did not advocate a complete break from the mother country but eventually aligned himself with the opposition to the measures the British were imposing on the colonists. When the British occupied New York City, Philip and his family fled to Kingston, New York where he maintained another residence.  After the Battle of Long Island, Washington and his officers met at Philip’s residence in Brooklyn Heights and decided to evacuate the island. The British subsequently used Philip’s Duke Street home as a barracks, and his Brooklyn Heights residence as a Royal Navy hospital.  After the adoption of the new New York State Constitution, he was appointed to the New York State Senate southern district in 1777, while continuing to sit in the Continental Congress. Livingston suffered from dropsy and his health deteriorated in 1778.

Personal life.

On April 14, 1740, he married Christina Ten Broeck (1718–1801), daughter of Dirck Ten Broeck (1686–1751) and Margarita Cuyler (1682–1783). Christina was the sister of Albany Mayor Abraham Ten Broeck and the great-granddaughter of Albany Mayor Dirck Wesselse Ten Broeck (1638–1717), through her maternal grandfather, Wessel Ten Broeck (1664–1747). Together, Philip and Christina had nine children:  Livingston, who suffered from dropsy, died suddenly while attending the sixth session of Congress in York, Pennsylvania, and is buried in the Prospect Hill Cemetery there. Livingston was a Presbyterian, and a Mason. When Livingston died, his estate was insufficient to meet his debts, and his executors renounced the administration of the estate. On February 25, 1785, the New York Legislature passed an act, entitled "An Act for vesting the Estate of Philip Livingston, late of the City of New-York, Esquire, deceased, in Trustees for the Payment of his Debts, and other Purposes therein mentioned", which named his son and heir, Philip Philip Livingston, Isaac Roosevelt (1726–1794), and Robert C. Livingston (1742–1794), his nephew who was a son of Robert Livingston, 3rd Lord of the Manor. As the newly named trustees, they were responsible for administering Livingston’s "property, pay all debts, and discharge the pecuniary legacies." After his son's death in 1788, Rev. John Henry Livingston, Thomas Jones, both his sons-in-law, Henry Brockholst Livingston, his nephew, and Alexander Hamilton were appointed the executors of his will.

Descendants.

Through his son Philip, the only of his sons to have children, he was the grandfather of Philip Henry Livingston (1769–1831) and Edward Philip Livingston (1779–1843), the Lieutenant Governor of New York.  Through Philip Henry, he was the great-grandfather of Edward Livingston (1796–1840), Speaker of the New York State Assembly. His granddaughter, Christina Livingston, married John Navarre Macomb (1774–1810), the son of Alexander Macomb (1748–1831) and brother of Maj. Gen. Alexander Macomb (1782–1841).  Through his daughter Catherine, he was the grandfather of Stephen Van Rensselaer III (1764–1839), the patroon of Rensselaerswyck, Philip S. Van Rensselaer (1767–1824), the Mayor of Albany, Rensselaer Westerlo (1776–1851), a U.S. Representative, and Catharine Westerlo (1778–1846), who married John Woodworth, the New York State Attorney General.

Legacy.

Livingston Avenue and the former Philip Livingston Magnet Academy, both in Albany, New York, are named for him. A public school in Brooklyn, PS 261 in Boerum Hill, is named for him.

Philip Livingston (January 15, 1716 – June 12, 1778) was an American merchant and statesman from New York City. He represented New York at the October 1774 First Continental Congress, where he favored imposing economic sanctions upon Great Britain as a way of pressuring the British Parliament to repeal the Intolerable Acts. He was also a delegate to the Second Continental Congress from 1775 to 1778, and signed the Declaration of Independence.


History.

The mass murder of Polish leaders, politicians, artists, aristocrats, the intelligentsia, and people suspected of potential anti-Nazi activity began in the fall of 1939, and was seen by Nazi Germany as a pre-emptive measure to keep the Polish resistance scattered and to prevent the Poles from revolting during the planned German invasion of France. The anti-Polish "AB-Aktion" was prepared by Hans Frank, the commander of the General Government. It was also discussed with Soviet officials during a series of secretive Gestapo–NKVD Conferences.  The first killings of Polish intelligentsia took place soon after the German invasion, lasting from autumn 1939 until spring 1940. It was called Operation "Intelligenzaktion", a plan to eliminate Poland's intelligentsia and leadership in the western part of the country, realized by "Einsatzgruppen" and "Volksdeutscher Selbstschutz". As the result of this operation 60,000 Polish nobles, teachers, entrepreneurs, social workers, priests, judges and political activists were killed in 10 regional actions. The "Intelligenzaktion" was continued by the German "AB-Aktion" Operation in occupied territories of central Poland. Both murder operations were conducted in part according to an "enemies of the Reich list" prepared before the war by members of the German minority in Poland and printed ahead of time by the German Intelligence as the "Sonderfahndungsbuch Polen" (Special Prosecution Book-Poland).  Prior to "AB-Aktion", in late 1939 and early 1940, most Polish university professors, intellectuals, writers, politicians, teachers and other members of the elite of Polish society were briefly arrested by the Gestapo and had their names registered. Frank finally accepted and approved the "Ausserordentliche Befriedungsaktion" on May 16, 1940. In the following weeks, the German police, Gestapo, SD ("Sicherheitsdienst") and units of the "Wehrmacht" arrested roughly 30,000 Poles in major Polish cities, including Warsaw, Łódź, Lublin and Kraków. The interned were held in a number of prisons, including the infamous Pawiak where they were subject to brutal interrogations by Nazi officials. After time spent in the prisons of Warsaw, Kraków, Radom, Kielce, Nowy Sącz, Tarnów, Lublin or Wiśnicz, the arrested Poles were transferred to German concentration camps, most notably to the newly created camp of Auschwitz, as well as Sachsenhausen and Mauthausen. Approximately 3,500 members of the Polish intelligentsia were executed at the mass murder sites in Palmiry near Warsaw, Firlej, Wincentynów near Radom, and in the Bliżyn forest near Skarżysko-Kamienna.  Among those killed were Maciej Rataj, Stefan Bryła, Tadeusz Tański, Mieczysław Niedziałkowski, Janusz Kusociński and Stefan Kopec. Actions were started on a similar scale in other Polish areas annexed by Nazi Germany. According to many historians, including Norman Davies, the action against Polish leaders was coordinated with the authorities of the Soviet Union, who at the same time perpetrated the mass murder of 22,000 Polish military officers at Katyń and other places.  The active persecution of Polish intellectuals was continued until the end of the war. The direct continuation of the AB Action was a German campaign in the east started after the German invasion of the USSR. Among the most notable mass executions of Polish professors was the massacre of Lwów professors, in which approximately 45 professors of the university in Lwów were murdered together with their families and guests. Among those killed in the massacre were Tadeusz Boy-Żeleński, former Polish prime minister Kazimierz Bartel, Włodzimierz Stożek, and Stanisław Ruziewicz. Thousands more perished in the Ponary massacre, in German concentration camps, and in ghettos.

Aftermath.

The total number of victims and the specific dates of executions of members of the Polish intelligentsia can only be approximated due to their multitude. After the war, many Germans responsible for organizing the AB Action were tried before the Nuremberg Military Tribunals. However, the majority of responsible commanders vanished during and after the war, before being held legally accountable for their crimes.

The AB-Aktion (, ), was a second stage of the Nazi German campaign of violence during World War II aimed to eliminate the intellectuals and the upper classes of the Second Polish Republic across the territories slated for eventual annexation. Most of the killings were arranged in a form of forced disappearances from multiple cities and towns upon the German arrival. In the spring and summer of 1940, more than 30,000 Polish citizens were arrested by the Nazi authorities in German-occupied central Poland, the so-called General Government. About 7,000 of them including community leaders, professors, teachers and priests (labeled as suspected of criminal activities) were subsequently massacred secretly at various locations including at the Palmiry forest complex near Palmiry.<ref name="yadvashem/pdf">AB-Aktion, Shoah Resource Center, The International School for Holocaust Studies. The others were sent to German concentration camps.


History.

The probable first allusion to the breed is in the Thai "Tamra Maew" ("The Cat-Book Poems"), authored between 1350 and 1767 CE and now in the National Library of Thailand. However, the illustration of the Korat in this book is not detailed enough to be definitive as to the breed portrayed. In recent years, the Korat was pictured on a postage stamp in Thailand. An example hangs in the city of Korat's post office.  Korats first appeared in Britain under the name "Blue Siamese" in 1889 and 1896, but these solid blue cats did not conform to the cat show judges' perception of a Siamese cat, and they disappeared by 1901. One early import, "Dwina", owned by Russian Blue breeder Mrs. Constance Carew-Cox and mentioned in Frances Simpson's "The Book of the Cat" (1903), reputedly produced a large number of "Siamese" kittens; the other, Mrs. B. Spearman's Blue Siamese male, "Nam Noi", was disqualified as a Siamese, but accepted in the Russian or Any Other Blue class in which he placed first (WR Hawkins, "Around the Pens", July 1896). Spearman tried unsuccessfully to import more of these "Blue Siamese".  Korats first appeared in the US in the 1950s. In 1959, Cedar Glen cattery was the first to import a pair of Korats to the US for breeding: a male named Nara and a female named Darra. In 1966, the Korat was accepted into championship status, through the efforts of a breeder from Maryland.

Appearance.

The Korat's unusual colour is actually a silver-tipped blue that appears to shimmer. The Thais refer to this colour as "rain-cloud grey", and the shimmer as "sea foam". This cat has a single coat that is short, with roots of a lighter silver blue. The hair shaft colour increases to deeper blue and the tips are silver, especially on the muzzle and toes. This is the only colour accepted for a Korat. The eyes are large and peridot green in an adult cat, but kittens have muddy, amber or golden-green coloured eyes which gradually change as they become adults, at two to four years.  Although it is rare, Korats occasionally have striking or faint white markings or spots or even very faint grey stripes. Sometimes these spots increase in size with age. These are seen as flaws, and the cats are disqualified from competing in cat shows. However, such markings have no effect on personality or health.

Thai Lilac, Thai Blue Point and Thai Lilac Point.

The Governing Council of the Cat Fancy recognizes Korat-type cats differing from the traditional solid blue appearance of the Korat on their experimental register. Such cats are registered as Thai Lilac if they are solid lilac. A Thai Blue Point exhibits the colourpoint pattern also seen in Siamese. A Thai Lilac Point also exhibits the colourpoint pattern also seen in Siamese, but in addition exhibits the Chocolate gene. These should not be confused with the Thai cat, a new name for the original (traditional or classic) Siamese cat type, with a rounder face and thicker body than modern "ultra-typed" Siamese.  The policy for full registration of Korats only allows blue cats of full-registered parents or third-generation supplementary-registered parents. It also requires genetic testing for gangliosidosis to be carried out to ensure that the breed remains free of this inherited disease which once existed in some Korat and Thai breeding lines.  The genes responsible for Pointeds and Lilacs were introduced into the Korat breed when new Korat breeding stock carrying the recessive genes was imported from Thailand. The first recorded Thai Lilac kitten was born to the Jenanca line in 1989, when "Jenanca Lilac Lillee" was born from two Korat parents in the U.K.. In 1990, Lillee's parents were re-mated with more lilac kittens resulting. A young male lilac was then born to another pair, also in the U.K., allowing more crossings without inbreeding too closely.  The first recorded Thai Lilac Point was born to the Clairabelle line in 2014 when Clairabelle Pixie Dust was born from two Korat parents in the U.K.. A re-mating from the same parents resulted in another Thai Lilac Point, this time a boy, Clairabelle Ninja Rococoa. A third and fourth Thai Lilac Point has recently been born into the Jusarka line.

Temperament.

The Korat has a very different temperament from other Thailand-derived cat breeds. They are intelligent, with a good memory. If they are brought to a place they have never been before, they can return home on their own. Male cats will not cross the line but female cats will. If they are living in a big group, they will use a hierarchy system. When fed, the sergeant of the group will eat first and then the other cats follow the hierarchy, though they will let kittens eat first. Female cats will teach their litters to survive and protect themselves by taking some small animal for the kittens to play with for practicing. Korat cats can remember their owner. If they see a stranger they might scare or make a noise, but they will run to their owner and play with them.

The Korat cat (, ) is a silver-tipped blue-grey, short-haired breed of domestic cat with a small to medium build and a low percentage of body fat. Its body is semi-cobby, and unusually heavy for its size. It is an intelligent and playful active cat that forms strong bonds with people. Among the Korat's distinguishing characteristics are its heart-shaped head and large green eyes.


First marriage.

On 8 June 1808, at Munich, Caroline Augusta married Crown Prince William (1781–1864) becoming Crown Princess of Württemberg. They had no children and were divorced on 31 August 1814.  Her first marriage was arranged to avoid a political marriage arranged by Napoleon. After the marriage ceremony, her spouse said to her: "We are victims to politics." She spent her time writing letters to her brother Louis, and learning Italian and English. The couple never bonded with each other and the marriage was finally annulled by Pope Pius VII to enable both of them to make remarriages that were valid in the Catholic Church. At the time of the annulment, it was claimed by them that they had lived separately in the palace and that the marriage had never been consummated.

Second marriage.

After the annulment of her marriage, Caroline Augusta was considered as a bride for both the Emperor Francis II and his younger brother, Ferdinand. Later, Ferdinand III, Grand Duke of Tuscany withdrew his proposal and Caroline Augusta became the Emperor's bride.  On 29 October 1816, Caroline Augusta married Francis II, Emperor of Austria, King of Hungary and Bohemia. She became the fourth wife of the emperor, who was 24 years older than her and had fathered thirteen children by two of his previous wives. The English diplomat Frederick Lamb called the new empress "ugly, clever and amiable," and the emperor her husband had this to say of her: "She can stand a push, the other was nothing but air." The wedding, and indeed their married life, was very simple due to the strict economy favoured by the Emperor. Prior to this marriage, Caroline Augusta had always been known as Charlotte, but now she began using the name Caroline.  This marriage, which lasted until the emperor's death almost 20 years later, was harmonious but remained childless. She became popular in Austria and was active in social work; she founded several hospitals and residences for the poor. After the death of her spouse in 1835, she moved to Salzburg and lived there in quiet dignity until her own death nearly four decades later. The dowager empress died in February 1873, on the day after her 81st birthday.  Like her husband Francis II, who was devoted to his family and exhorted his heir in his last testament to "Preserve unity in the family and regard it as one of the highest goods," Caroline Augusta also was close to her relatives, especially her sister and niece who were also married into the imperial family. She was good friends with her half-sister, the Archduchess Sophie, who was married in 1824 to Caroline's step-son Archduke Franz Karl of Austria and would become the mother of two emperors, Franz Joseph of Austria-Hungary, and Maximilian of Mexico. She was also close to her half-niece, the Empress Elisabeth, who was Sophie's niece and daughter-in-law.  A pearl brooch formerly owned by Caroline Augusta was auctioned at Sotheby's in 2012.

Princess Caroline Augusta of Bavaria (; Mannheim, 8 February 1792 – 9 February 1873 in Vienna) was an Empress consort of Austria by marriage to Francis I of Austria. She was a daughter of King Maximilian I Joseph of Bavaria and Princess Augusta Wilhelmine of Hesse-Darmstadt. She married Crown Prince William of Württemberg, whom she divorced, and Emperor Francis I of Austria.


Growing information.

"Schisandra" is native to northern and northeastern China (Manchuria). Cultivation requirements are thought to be similar to those of grapes. Plants require conditions of moderate humidity and light, together with a wet, humus-rich soil. In order to successfully grow fruit male and female plants must be grown together. Plants can be propagated by seed or by layering in spring or autumn, or in the summer time by using semi-ripe cuttings. Tens of tons of berries are used annually in Russia in Primorsky Krai and Khabarovsk Krai for the commercial manufacture of juices, wines, extracts, and sweets.

Etymology.

Its Chinese name comes from the fact that its berries possess all five basic flavors: salty, sweet, sour, pungent (spicy), and bitter. Sometimes, it is more specifically called "běi wǔ wèi zi" (literally "northern five-flavor berry") to distinguish it from another traditionally medicinal schisandraceous plant "Kadsura japonica" that grows only in subtropical areas. Another species of schisandra berry, "Schisandra sphenanthera", has a similar but different biochemical profile; the Chinese Pharmacopeia distinguishes between "S. chinensis" ("běi wǔ wèi zi") and "S. sphenanthera" ("nan wǔ wèi zi").

Uses.

Its berries are used in traditional medicine, where it is considered one of the 50 fundamental herbs. Chemical constituents include the lignans schisandrin, deoxyschizandrin, gomisins, and pregomisin.  In Korean, the berries are known as "omija" (오미자 (hangul) – five flavours). The cordial drink made from the berries is called "omija-cha", meaning ""omija" tea"; see Korean tea. In Japanese, they are called "gomishi". The Ainu people used this plant, called "repnihat", as a remedy for colds and sea-sickness.  Interest in "limonnik" ("S. chinensis") in Russia was associated with ethnopharmacological investigations by Soviet scientists on berries and seeds.

Culture.

In 1998, Russia released a postage stamp depicting "S. chinensis".

Schisandra chinensis (common name: magnolia-vine, Chinese magnolia-vine, schisandra), whose fruit is called magnolia berry or five-flavor-fruit (from Chinese "wǔ wèi zi"), is a deciduous woody vine native to forests of Northern China and the Russian Far East. It is hardy in USDA Zone 4. The plant likes some shade with moist, well-drained soil. The species itself is dioecious, thus flowers on a female plant will only produce fruit when fertilized with pollen from a male plant. However, a hybrid selection titled 'Eastern Prince' has perfect flowers and is self-fertile. Seedlings of 'Eastern Prince' are sometimes sold under the same name, but are typically single-sex plants. The fruits are red berries borne in dense hanging clusters around 10 cm long.


Early life.

Aaron Perry Johnson was born in High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, the son of Sarah and Robert Johnson, a housewife mother and civil engineer father, respectively. He has a sister, Gemma, who appeared in his film "Tom & Thomas" (2002) in a small role. He is Jewish. He was educated at Holmer Green Senior School and attended the Jackie Palmer Stage School in High Wycombe between 1996 and 2008, where he studied drama, tap, jazz, acrobatics, and singing.

Career.

Taylor-Johnson began acting at the age of six. On stage, he appeared in a London production of Shakespeare's "Macbeth", playing the son of Macduff alongside Rufus Sewell, who played Macbeth, in 1999. He appeared in Arthur Miller’s "All My Sons" in 2000. His television roles have included Niker in the 2004 BBC adaptation of the novel "Feather Boy", Aaron in Danny Brocklehurst's ITV1 serial "Talk to Me", and Owen Stephens in "Nearly Famous". In 2003, Taylor-Johnson appeared as a young Charlie Chaplin in "Shanghai Knights", with Chaplin depicted as a member of a London gang of street thugs. In 2006, he appeared in "The Illusionist", appearing in the early flashback scenes as Edward Norton's character, Eduard Abramovicz, as a teenager. The scenes show the young Eduard as he first learns magic, and to do this, Johnson had to learn how to perform the ball trick displayed by his character. He learned how to perform the balancing of the egg on the stick, although that was effected mechanically. Also in 2006, he starred in the film "The Thief Lord", as Prosper. Taylor-Johnson appeared as John Lennon in the 2009 biographical film film "Nowhere Boy", directed by Sam Taylor-Wood. His performance saw him receive the Empire Award for Best Newcomer and he was also nominated for Young British Performer of the Year by the London Film Critics' Circle. In 2010, Taylor-Johnson appeared as David "Dave" Lizewski/Kick-Ass, the lead character in "Kick-Ass", based on the superhero comic book of the same name by Scottish writer Mark Millar. His performance in "Kick-Ass" saw him nominated for the BAFTA Rising Star Award. He has also appeared as the central character, William, in Hideo Nakata's "Chatroom". In December 2010, Taylor-Johnson joined the cast of "Albert Nobbs" as a replacement for Orlando Bloom, who dropped out of the production due to his wife's pregnancy. Taylor-Johnson starred in R.E.M.'s 2011 music video "Überlin", which was also directed by his then-fiancée.  In 2012, Taylor-Johnson played Count Vronsky in "Anna Karenina". Later that year, he starred as Ben in Oliver Stone's "Savages". HitFix film critic Drew McWeeny was positive of the bond between Johnson and co-star Taylor Kitsch, which "seems not only credible but lived in and authentic throughout the film", and noted the evolution in maturity of Johnson since "Kick-Ass". Taylor-Johnson starred in the "Godzilla" reboot, released in May 2014. Taylor-Johnson played Quicksilver in "" (2015), the sequel to "The Avengers". Taylor-Johnson first appeared as the character in a post-credits scene of the film "". The role reunited him with Elizabeth Olsen, who played his wife in "Godzilla".  In 2016, he played Ray, a menacing Texan, in Tom Ford's thriller "Nocturnal Animals". For the role, he won the Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture. Taylor-Johnson also became first Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor winner since Richard Benjamin who did not receive an Academy Award nomination. For the role he also received a nomination for the BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role. In 2017, he played an American soldier (alongside John Cena) in Doug Liman's thriller "The Wall", and in 2018, he appeared in "Outlaw King", a British-American historical action drama about Robert the Bruce and the Wars of Scottish Independence. In May 2019, Taylor-Johnson was cast in Christopher Nolan’s "Tenet", set for release in July 2020.  In 2020, it was announced that Aaron Taylor Johnson will join Steve Pemberton on West End stage in The Pillowman play. directed by Matthew Dunster.

Personal life.

Aaron Johnson began a relationship with "Nowhere Boy" director Sam Taylor-Wood, after meeting on the 2009 set of the film when he was 18 and she was 42. They announced their engagement in October 2009 and married at Babington House, Somerset, England on 21 June 2012. The two changed their surnames to "Taylor-Johnson" and use the surname professionally. The couple have two daughters. He is also stepfather to two daughters from his wife's previous marriage.  Taylor-Johnson was named one of GQ's 50 best dressed British men in 2015.

Aaron Perry Taylor-Johnson (né Johnson; born 13 June 1990) is an English actor and screenwriter, best known for his portrayal of the title character in the "Kick-Ass" films and Quicksilver in "" (2015).


History.

Formation and first albums (1999-2009).

Sabaton was formed in December 1999. After the first songs were recorded in Peter Tägtgren's studio, The Abyss, Sabaton was contacted by a couple of record labels. The band sang with the Italian label Underground Symphony, which then released, internationally, the promo CD "Fist for Fight". The disc, distilled from two demo tapes recorded between 1999 and 2000, was intended to promote forthcoming Sabaton releases. In 2002, a new album, "Metalizer" was recorded and was supposed to be distributed by Underground Symphony as the band's debut album. After two years of waiting, during which the band held various performances across Sweden, the album was abandoned.  The band returned for a second album titled "Primo Victoria". Brodén stated that album's title track "kicked off" the band's historical theme. Sundström stated that the band decided to focus primarily on historical themes in their lyrics after he and Brodén watched the film "Saving Private Ryan". Sabaton signed with Black Lodge, the metal division of the Sound Pollution record label. In early 2005, keyboardist Daniel Myhr was recruited in order to relieve Joakim Brodén of his keyboard duties. In early 2006, Sabaton toured in support of Edguy and DragonForce. The band's third album, "Attero Dominatus", was released in Europe on 28 July 2006. In March 2007, Sabaton released "Metalizer" as a double disc together with "Fist for Fight", along with the previously unreleased song "Birds of War".  As a follow-up to "Metalizer", in May 2008, Sabaton released its fourth album "The Art of War", an album inspired by the influential book by Sun Tzu. The decision to base the album upon Sun Tzu's book came from the idea that in the 2000 years since the book was written, the human race has achieved many things but, apart from weapon advancements, operational art, strategy, and war itself have remained basically the same. The album contains the singles "Cliffs of Gallipoli" and "Ghost Division". They toured Europe in 2009 as an opening act on the HammerFall Tour. After their Bloodstock performance, the band again went on tour with DragonForce, towards the end of 2009, for eighteen shows in the UK.

"Coat of Arms" (2010-2011).

The band had hoped to begin recording the next album in October but with concerts booked and the DragonForce support tour the following month, it was pushed back. On 23 December 2009, the band announced the name of their forthcoming album. "Coat of Arms" contains a majority of songs about World War II including the Winter War. They announced it on their official website, and posted a link to a YouTube video containing the album art and a teaser music sample. "Coat of Arms" was released on 21 May 2010. The first music video, for "Uprising", was released on 1 August 2010 and features Peter Stormare. This was accompanied by a European tour. A second music video, for "Screaming Eagles", was released on 25 May.

Lineup change (2012-2015).

In 2012 two-thirds of Sabaton's lineup left the band. On 31 March vocalist Joakim Brodén confirmed rumors that the band would be going separate ways, with only Brodén himself and bass player Pär Sundström staying on board. Sabaton was joined by touring members Chris Rörland and Thobbe Englund on guitar, and Robban Bäck on drums. Former Sabaton guitarists Oskar Montelius and Rikard Sundén, drummer Daniel Mullback and keyboardist Daniel Mÿhr went on, together with vocalist Patrik Johansson and bassist Stefan Eriksson, to form a new band, Civil War. In November 2012, drummer Robban Bäck decided to take a break from touring due to becoming a father. Snowy Shaw replaced him as touring drummer.  In the same year, Sabaton released a new concept album "Carolus Rex".  In January 2014, the band announced the cover of their new album called "Heroes", then due to be released on 16 May 2014. The album proved to be a hit and made #1 on the official Swedish album chart. On 27 January the band was announced to play Download Festival in June. In October 2015 performed their first concert in Japan in Loud Park.

"The Last Stand" (2016-2018).

In April 2016 the band announced the cover of their new album called "The Last Stand", then due to be released on 19 August 2016. On 10 June 2016 the first single of the album was released, called "The Lost Battalion" and about the eponymous military unit of World War I. On 25 July 2016, the band announced that guitarist Thobbe Englund had left the band. Thobbe Englund played his last show with Sabaton at Sabaton Open Air 2016.  Tommy Johansson of ReinXeed was announced immediately as the new member after Englund's final show with the band.  Pär Sundström stated in a 2017 interview that the group would be touring less in 2018 so they could concentrate on writing and recording their next album. Joakim Brodén confirmed a 2019 release date for the still-untitled album in a September 2018 interview on MAD TV's show "TV War". On the 31st of December 2018, it was further confirmed in an official announcement YouTube video.

"Sabaton History" and "The Great War" (2019-present).

On 8 January 2019, the band announced the creation of a YouTube channel called "Sabaton History", a cooperation between Indy Neidell, TimeGhost History and Sabaton. The channel documents the history of the events behind Sabaton songs and the songs themselves. The channel was created on 7 February 2019.  On 22 of April 2019 Sabaton released a standalone single called Bismarck in a collaboration with Wargaming and their game "World of Warships". The song is about the German Battleship Bismarck, one of the biggest ever built in Europe. Commissioned in August 1940, it sank in May 1941 after an intense hunt in the North Atlantic.  On 2 April 2019, the band announced a new concept album about the First World War entitled The Great War. It was released on 19 July 2019. The first single on the album is 'Fields of Verdun', which was released on 3 May. On 13 June the lyric video for the song, "Red Baron", was released. On 27 June the premiere of "The Great War" was released.  On 3 August 2019, the band performed their 20th anniversary show at Wacken Open Air festival 2019; during the gig former guitarist Thobbe Englund joined the band on stage for two songs and in the second half of the show Sabaton invited other former members to the festival's second stage - Rikard Sundén, Daniel Mÿhr, and Daniel Mullback, along with Englund. Sundén, Mÿhr, and Mullback are all members of Civil War, a similar band formed by the three along with Oskar Montelius, another former Sabaton member, as well as Nils Patrik Johansson and Stefan Erikkson, neither of whom are former Sabaton members.  On 30 August 2019, the band was involved in a serious car accident in Tunisia while returning from a music video shoot in the Sahara Desert. Injuries from the wreck forced them to cancel an upcoming show in Gdańsk, Poland.

Sabaton is a Swedish power metal band from Falun. The band's main lyrical themes are based on war, historical battles, and acts of heroism—the name is a reference to a sabaton, knight's foot armor. The armor and battle theme is heard in the albums "Primo Victoria", "Attero Dominatus", "The Art of War", "Coat of Arms", "Carolus Rex", "Heroes", "The Last Stand", and "The Great War" in which most of the songs contain these motifs. Their latest album, "The Great War", was released on 19 July 2019, with the songs all being based on World War I. Lyrical content drawn from World War I, World War II and other historical conflicts is prevalent and lyrics often recite stories of heroic deeds by men, women, and armies.


Geography.

The archipelago has a total area of and consists of six islands:  The islands separate the Onega Bay from the main volume of the White Sea. The closest mainland is the Onega Peninsula.  The shores of the islands are very indented. They are formed of granites and gneiss. The relief of the islands is hilly (the highest point is 107 m). Most of the Solovetsky Islands are covered with Scots Pine and Norway Spruce forests, which are partially swampy. There are numerous lakes, which were joined by monks so as to form a network of canals.  One interesting feature of these islands is stone labyrinths and other stone settings, especially the Stone labyrinths of Bolshoi Zayatsky Island. Such labyrinths were typical for Northern Europe, but most have perished and now Solovetsky Islands have some of the best remaining examples.

Monastery.

Historically the islands have been the setting of the famous Russian Orthodox Solovetsky Monastery complex. It was founded in the second quarter of the 15th century by two monks from the Kirillo-Belozersky Monastery. By the end of the 16th century, the abbey had emerged as one of the wealthiest landowners and most influential religious centres in Russia.  The existing stronghold and its major churches were erected in stone during the early reign of Ivan the Terrible at the behest of St. Philip of Moscow. At the onset of the Schism of the Russian Church, the monks staunchly stuck to the faith of their fathers and expelled the tsar's representatives from the Solovki, precipitating the eight-year-long siege of the islands by the forces of Tsar Alexis.  Throughout the imperial period of Russian history, the monastery was renowned as a strong fortress which repelled foreign attacks during the Livonian War (16th century), Time of Troubles (17th century), the Crimean War (19th century), and the Russian Civil War (20th century).  In 1974, the Solovetsky Islands were designated a historical and architectural museum and a natural reserve of the Soviet Union. In 1992, they were inscribed on the World Heritage List "as an outstanding example of a monastic settlement in the inhospitable environment of northern Europe which admirably illustrates the faith, tenacity, and enterprise of later medieval religious communities". Today, the Solovki are seen as one of the major tourist magnets in the orbit of the Russian North.

Labor camp.

After the October Revolution, the islands attained notoriety as the site of the first Soviet prison camp (gulag). The camp was inaugurated in 1921, while Vladimir Lenin was still at the helm of Soviet Russia. It was closed in 1939, on the eve of World War II. By the beginning of the war, there was a naval cadet training camp for the Soviet Northern Fleet.

Transportation.

The islands are served by the Solovki Airport. There is regular air service to Arkhangelsk, as well as regular passenger sea connections (only in summer) to Arkhangelsk, Kem, and Belomorsk.

The Solovetsky Islands (), or Solovki (), are an archipelago located in the Onega Bay of the White Sea, Russia.