Route.

The Georgian Military Road ("ca". 212 kilometres long) runs between Tbilisi (Georgia) and Vladikavkaz (Russia) and follows the traditional route used by invaders and traders throughout the ages. From Vladikavkaz, the road stretches southwards up the valley of the Terek before passing through the Darial Gorge (which marks the border between Russia and Georgia). It then passes Mount Kazbek and Gergeti Trinity Church before heading south-west through the Georgian region of Khevi to the Jvari Pass, where it reaches its maximum altitude of 2,379 meters (7,815 feet) (). Not long after the pass the road passes the Russia–Georgia Friendship Monument, a large concrete monument built in 1983 to commemorate relations between the two countries and the bicentennial of the Treaty of Georgievsk. The road then turns south-eastwards, following the Tetri Aragvi River through Mtiuleti down to the town of Pasanauri, before heading due south. It then passes below the walls of the medieval fortress of Ananuri before cutting across the wide floodplain of the Tetri Aragvi down to a point just north of Georgia's historic capital, Mtskheta, where it merges into Georgia's main East-West highway (the E60). In this guise, the Georgian Military Road technically continues along the right bank of the Kura (Mtkvari) River before reaching nearby Tbilisi.  The 1914 edition of "Baedeker's Russia" describes the Georgian Military Road as 'one of the most beautiful mountain roads in the world', and mentions the fact that, as early as its date of publication,'motor omnibuses of the "Société française des transports automobiles du Caucase" ply regularly from April 15 to Oct. 15th, [accomplishing] the journey in 10 hrs.'

History.

People have used this route since antiquity - both Strabo (in his "Geographica") and Pliny the Elder mention it. Russian troops first travelled it in 1769. Pavel Potemkin sent 800 men to improve the road so that by October 1783 he was able to drive to Tiflis in a carriage drawn by eight horses. The Georgian Military Road in its present form was begun by the Russian military in 1799, after the Georgians had abjured centuries of Persian suzerainty and became a Russian protectorate under the 1783 Treaty of Georgievsk. Russian control of the Georgian Military Highway in the center of the Caucasus divided the Caucasian War (1817-1864) into the Russo-Circassian War (1763-1864) in the west and the Murid War in the east.  After the Russian Empire officially annexed the Kingdom of Georgia in 1801, Tsar Alexander I ordered General Aleksey Petrovich Yermolov, the commander-in-chief of Russian forces in the Caucasus, to improve the road surface to facilitate troop movement and communications. When Yermolov announced the completion of work in 1817, the highway was heralded as the "Russian Simplon". However, work continued until 1863. By this stage, it had cost £4,000,000 (a staggering sum in the 1860s) but according to Bryce in 1876 the work was of a high quality, with two or three lanes and "iron bridges over the torrents", something he considered astonishing given that within Russia proper at this time decent roads were virtually non-existent.  The Georgian Military Road played an important role in the economic development of Transcaucasia and in the Russo-Circassian War.

The Georgian Military Road today.

The importance of the Georgian Military Road as a through route has diminished in recent years, primarily due to delays at the border crossing between Russia and Georgia, natural disasters such as landslides, and the outright closure of the border crossing by Russia in 2006.  However, since 2013, when Russia finally agreed to re-open its side of the border as a result of Armenian demands, the road has once again become an important transport artery, mainly for trailer lorries linking Armenia and Russia.  Various restrictions, however, remained (and still remain) in place, particularly for Georgian citizens, but by 2013 a representative of the Russian side of the border could tell the Interfax news agency that around 3 million people had passed through the Kazbegi-Verkhni Lars customs checkpoint.  Currently (2015), the Georgian end of the Road is frequently clogged with lorries, apparently due to the length of time needed for vehicles transiting Georgia to be admitted into Russia.

The Georgian Military Road or Georgian Military Highway (, ["sakartvelos samkhedro gza"],, ["Arvykomy fændag"]) is the historic name for a major route through the Caucasus from Georgia to Russia. Alternative routes across the mountains include the Ossetian Military Road and the Transkam.


Taxonomy.

The common sandpiper was one of the many bird species originally described by Linnaeus in the landmark 1758 10th edition of his "Systema Naturae", where it was given the binomial name of "Tringa hypoleucos". The current scientific name is from Ancient Greek. "Actitis" is from "aktites", "coast-dweller" derived from "akte", "coast", and "hypoleucos" is from "hupo", "beneath", and "leukos" "white".

Description.

The adult is long with a wingspan. It has greyish-brown upperparts, white underparts, short dark-yellowish legs and feet, and a bill with a pale base and dark tip. In winter plumage, they are duller and have more conspicuous barring on the wings, though this is still only visible at close range. Juveniles are more heavily barred above and have buff edges to the wing feathers.  This species is very similar to the slightly larger spotted sandpiper ("A. macularia") in non-breeding plumage. But its darker legs and feet and the crisper wing pattern (visible in flight) tend to give it away, and of course they are only rarely found in the same location.

Ecology.

It is a gregarious bird and is seen in large flocks, and has the distinctive stiff-winged flight, low over the water, of "Actitis" waders. The common sandpiper breeds across most of temperate and subtropical Europe and Asia, and migrates to Africa, southern Asia and Australia in winter. The eastern edge of its migration route passes by Palau in Micronesia, where hundreds of birds may gather for a stop-over. They depart the Palau region for their breeding quarters around the last week of April to the first week of May.  The common sandpiper forages by sight on the ground or in shallow water, picking up small food items such as insects, crustaceans and other invertebrates; it may even catch insects in flight. In the Nukumanu language of the Nukumanu Islands (Papua New Guinea), this species is usually called tiritavoi. Another Nukumanu name for it, matakakoni, exists, but this is considered somewhat taboo and not used when children and women are around. The reason for this is that "matakakoni" means "bird that walks a little, then copulates", in reference to the pumping tail and thrusting head movements the "Actitis" species characteristically perform during foraging.  It nests on the ground near freshwater. When threatened, the young may cling to their parent's body to be flown away to safety.  The common sandpiper is one of the species to which the "Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds" (AEWA) applies.  It is widespread and common, and therefore classified as a species of least concern by the IUCN but is a vulnerable species in some states of Australia.

The common sandpiper ("Actitis hypoleucos") is a small Palearctic wader. This bird and its American sister species, the spotted sandpiper ("A. macularia"), make up the genus "Actitis". They are parapatric and replace each other geographically; stray birds of either species may settle down with breeders of the other and hybridize. Hybridization has also been reported between the common sandpiper and the green sandpiper, a basal species of the closely related shank genus "Tringa".


Assuming control.

Following the death of Prince Bohemund II of Antioch in 1130, the principality came under the regency first of King Baldwin II (1130–31), then King Fulk (1131–35), and finally Princess Alice (1135–36), Bohemond's widow. The reigning princess was Bohemond II's daughter, Constance (born 1127). Against the wishes of Alice, a marriage was arranged for Constance with Raymond, at the time staying in England, which he left only after the death of Henry I on 1 December 1135.  Upon hearing word that Raymond was going to pass through his lands in order to marry the princess of Antioch, King Roger II of Sicily ordered him arrested. By a series of subterfuges, Raymond passed through southern Italy and only arrived at Antioch after 19 April 1136. Patriarch Ralph of Domfront then convinced Alice that Raymond was there to marry her, whereupon she allowed him to enter Antioch (whose loyal garrison had refused him entry) and the patriarch married him to Constance. Alice then left the city, now under the control of Raymond and Ralph.  The first years of their joint rule were spent in conflicts with the Byzantine Emperor John II Comnenus, who had come south partly to recover Cilicia from Leo of Armenia, and to reassert his rights over Antioch. Raymond was forced to pay homage, and even to promise to cede his principality as soon as he was recompensed by a new fief, which John promised to carve out for him in the Muslim territory to the east of Antioch. The expedition of 1138, in which Raymond joined with John, and which was to conquer this territory, proved a failure. The expedition culminated in the unsuccessful Siege of Shaizar. Raymond was not anxious to help the emperor to acquire new territories, when their acquisition only meant for him the loss of Antioch. John Comnenus returned unsuccessful to Constantinople, after demanding from Raymond, without response, the surrender of the citadel of Antioch.

Struggles.

There followed a struggle between Raymond and the patriarch. Raymond was annoyed by the homage which he had been forced to pay to the patriarch in 1135 and the dubious validity of the patriarch's election offered a handle for opposition. Eventually Raymond triumphed, and the patriarch was deposed (1139). In 1142 John Comnenus returned to the attack, but Raymond refused to recognize or renew his previous submission, and John, though he ravaged the neighborhood of Antioch, was unable to effect anything against him. When, however Raymond demanded from Manuel, who had succeeded John in 1143, the cession of some of the Cilician towns, he found that he had met his match. Manuel forced him to a humiliating visit to Constantinople, during which he renewed his oath of homage and promised to acknowledge a Greek patriarch.  In the last year of Raymond's life Louis VII and his wife Eleanor of Aquitaine (Raymond's niece) visited Antioch during the Second Crusade. Raymond sought to prevent Louis from going south to Jerusalem and to induce him to stay in Antioch and help in the conquest of Aleppo and Caesarea. Raymond was also suspected of having an incestuous affair with his beautiful niece Eleanor. According to John of Salisbury, Louis became suspicious of the attention Raymond lavished on Eleanor, and the long conversations they enjoyed. William of Tyre claims that Raymond seduced Eleanor to get revenge on her husband, who refused to aid him in his wars against the Saracens, and that ""contrary to [Eleanor's] royal dignity, she disregarded her marriage vows and was unfaithful to her husband."" Most modern historians dismiss such rumours, however, pointing out the closeness of Raymond and his niece during her early childhood, and the effulgent Aquitainian manner of behaviour. Also, as the pious Louis continued to have relations with his wife, it is doubtful that he believed his charge of incest.  Louis hastily left Antioch and Raymond was balked in his plans. In 1149 he was killed in the Battle of Inab during an expedition against Nur ad-Din Zangi. He was beheaded by Shirkuh, the uncle of Saladin, and his head was placed in a silver box and sent to the Caliph Al-Muqtafi of Baghdad as a gift.

Personality and family.

Raymond is described by William of Tyre (the main authority for his career) as ""a lord of noble descent, of tall and elegant figure, the handsomest of the princes of the earth, a man of charming affability and conversation, open-handed and magnificent beyond measure""; pre-eminent in the use of arms and military experience; "litteratorum, licet ipse esset, cultor" ("although he was himself illiterate, he was a cultivator of literature" – he caused the "Chanson des chétifs" to be composed); a regular churchman and faithful husband; but headstrong, irascible and unreasonable, with too great a passion for gambling (bk. xiv. c. xxi.). For his career see Rey, in the "Revue de l'orient latin", vol. iv.  With Constance he had the following children:

Raymond of Poitiers (c. 1099–29 June 1149) was Prince of Antioch from 1136 to 1149. He was the younger son of William IX, Duke of Aquitaine and his wife Philippa, Countess of Toulouse, born in the very year that his father the Duke began his infamous liaison with Dangereuse de Chatelherault.


Characteristics.

The Agena was 5.0 feet (1.5 m) in diameter, three-axis stabilized (for the benefit of the reconnaissance system cameras) and its Bell Aircraft XLR81 engine produced 16,000 lbs (71 kN) of thrust using unsymmetrical dimethylhydrazine (UDMH) as the fuel, and inhibited red fuming nitric acid (IRFNA) as the oxidizer. This is a hypergolic fuel/oxidizer combination, and as such, it does not need an ignition system. This rocket engine could be restarted multiple times in orbit, by radio command, and it frequently was. The engine was notable for its unusual aluminum construction. The regeneratively-cooled channels that cooled the throat and nozzle were formed from straight gun drill formed channels. The parabolic shape of the chamber throat made for a difficult gun-drilling problem, which Bell Aerosystems engineers solved by arranging the cooling channels in a "One-Sheeted Circular Hyperboloid" shape, allowing machinists to gun-drill straight cooling channels through the curved surfaces of the combustion chamber. The engine was derived from the XLR-81 propulsion unit for the canceled rocket-propelled nuclear warhead pod of the Convair B-58 Hustler bomber. Until 1959, the Agena was also known as the Discoverer Vehicle or Bell Hustler.  Attitude control of the horizontal flying Agena was provided by an inertial reference package with three gyroscopes, two horizon sensors, and micro-jets using a nitrogen-freon mixture of cold gas. Pitch and roll were sensed by two hermetic integrating gyro units. A rate gyro unit determined yaw error by sensing orbital rate. Pitch and roll gyro errors were corrected from the horizon sensors, which were later supplemented by Sun and star trackers. This enabled the Agena to accommodate the higher pointing stability required for better ground resolution imaging with the improved Corona cameras.  As the Agena was designed to hold a fixed orientation in space while orbiting Earth, a passive thermal control system was devised.  The main source of the Agena's electrical power was silver peroxide-zinc batteries, which from the early 1960s on were supplemented by solar arrays. An S-band beacon enabled the Agena to receive ground command sequences (image motion compensation, altered attitude, etc.), which could be stored for later execution.

Versions.

Three versions of the Agena were flown:

Agena-A.

The Agena A was the first type of Agena to be built. It was launched atop Thor and Atlas rockets, mostly into polar orbits from Vandenberg Air Force Base Launch Complex 75 and Point Arguello Launch Complex 1 respectively. Two Atlas launches occurred from Launch Complex 14 at Cape Canaveral. The Agena-A was propelled by a Bell 8048 (XLR-81-BA-5) engine, which could produce 69 kilonewtons of thrust for two minutes. Eighteen Agena As were launched in 1959–61, all of them for the Discoverer, MIDAS, and Samos programs.

Agena-B.

During 1960, Lockheed introduced the improved Agena B, which could be restarted in orbit and had longer propellant tanks for increased burn time. It was equipped with a Bell 8081 engine, which could generate 71 kilonewtons of thrust, and be restarted in orbit. The stage carried enough propellant for the engine to burn for a total of four minutes. These launched the SAMOS-E, SAMOS-F (ELINT Ferret), and MIDAS (Missile Defense Alarm System) military early-warning satellites, Ranger lunar probes, Mariner planetary probes, OGO, and Nimbus satellites. Agena B's first flight was the (unsuccessful) launch of Discoverer 16 on October 26, 1960. The Agena B took months to be ready for Atlas launches and did not fly on that booster until Midas 3 on July 12, 1961. The final Agena B flight was the launch of OGO 3 on June 7, 1966. A total of 75 were launched.

Agena-D.

The Agena D was the result of a proposal by Lockheed engineering executive Lawrence Edwards, who suggested standardizing the basic Agena configuration (up to this point, each Agena was custom-built for both the payload and the launch vehicle it was used with), and adding additional features depending on payload requirements, and a requirement from the Pentagon that the Agena be made compatible with the Titan rocket. This proposal originated in late 1962 when mounting frustration over the high failure rate of Thor and Atlas-Agena prompted the suggestion that greater standardization of launch vehicles would improve reliability. David N. Spires summarizes the standardization as follows: Its orbital configuration had a diameter of and a length of, and provided 19,500 Wh of electrical power from batteries. As of 2014, the Agena-D is the most-launched US upper stage. A special production line was set up to turn out 40 Agena-D spacecraft per year. Edwards remained responsible for the engineering for several years, until the Air Force declared the Agena-D as operational and froze its design. By the time of its retirement, the reliability of the Agena-D exceeded 95 percent. The first Agena D launch was of KH-4 #7 on June 28, 1963, and a total of 269 Agena Ds were launched.  Thor-Agena flew for the last time in 1972 when it launched a KH-4B satellite. The last Atlas-Agena used an Agena D stage atop a refurbished Atlas F missile to launch Seasat in 1978. Twelve more Agenas were launched on Titan vehicles through 1987 before the stage was completely retired.  The Agena-D was used to launch KH-7 GAMBIT and KH-8 Gambit 3 reconnaissance satellites, three Mariner probes to Venus and the two Mariner space probes to Mars. The final Agena-D upper stage was launched on a Titan IIIB rocket on February 12, 1987, carrying USA-21, the last SDS-1 satellite.

Agena Target Vehicle.

The Agena Target Vehicle was based around the Agena-D, with equipment fitted to support use as a rendezvous and docking target for missions conducted as part of Project Gemini. It was equipped with a Bell Aerospace Model 8247 engine, which was qualified for up to 15 restarts. On later missions, the Agena's engine was fired while the Gemini spacecraft was docked, in order to boost the spacecraft to a higher orbit, and to bring it back again. During the Gemini 11 mission, an elliptical orbit with an apogee of was reached, which set an altitude record for crewed spaceflight that held until Apollo 8, the first crewed mission to the Moon, was launched.

Other variants.

In the early 1970s Lockheed studied the use of Agena as a payload booster in the Space Shuttle payload bay. An Agena-C with an increased diameter was proposed, but never built.  The Agena-2000 was intended as a modernized Agena, and would have been used on the Atlas V Light Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle. The Atlas V Light was cancelled in favor of standardizing the Medium configuration, and as a result the Agena-2000 was never built.

Launches.

The first launch of an Agena-D was Agena Flight #64 on 27 June 1962. By the end of 1967, a total of 162 Agena-D had been launched:

The RM-81 Agena was an American rocket upper stage and satellite bus which was developed by Lockheed initially for the canceled WS-117L reconnaissance satellite program. Following the split-up of WS-117L into SAMOS and Corona for image intelligence, and MIDAS for early warning, the Agena was later used as an upper stage, and an integrated component, for several programs, including Corona reconnaissance satellites and the Agena Target Vehicle used to demonstrate rendezvous and docking during Project Gemini. It was used as an upper stage on the Atlas, Thor, Thorad and Titan IIIB rockets, and considered for others including the Space Shuttle and Atlas V. A total of 365 Agena rockets were launched between February 28, 1959 and February 1987. Only 33 Agenas carried NASA payloads and the vast majority were for DoD programs.


Algorithm.

Let formula_1 be a graph, and for each edge from to, let formula_2 be the capacity and formula_3 be the flow. We want to find the maximum flow from the source to the sink. After every step in the algorithm the following is maintained:  This means that the flow through the network is a "legal flow" after each round in the algorithm. We define the residual network formula_4 to be the network with capacity formula_5 and no flow. Notice that it can happen that a flow from to is allowed in the residual network, though disallowed in the original network: if formula_6 and formula_7 then formula_8. The path in step 2 can be found with for example a breadth-first search (BFS) or a depth-first search in formula_4. If you use the former, the algorithm is called Edmonds–Karp.  When no more paths in step 2 can be found, will not be able to reach in the residual network. If is the set of nodes reachable by in the residual network, then the total capacity in the original network of edges from to the remainder of is on the one hand equal to the total flow we found from to, and on the other hand serves as an upper bound for all such flows. This proves that the flow we found is maximal. See also Max-flow Min-cut theorem.  If the graph formula_1 has multiple sources and sinks, we act as follows: Suppose that formula_21 and formula_22. Add a new source formula_23 with an edge formula_24 from formula_25 to every node formula_26, with capacity formula_27. And add a new sink formula_28 with an edge formula_29 from every node formula_30 to formula_31, with capacity formula_32. Then apply the Ford–Fulkerson algorithm.  Also, if a node has capacity constraint formula_33, we replace this node with two nodes formula_34, and an edge formula_35, with capacity formula_36. Then apply the Ford–Fulkerson algorithm.

Complexity.

By adding the flow augmenting path to the flow already established in the graph, the maximum flow will be reached when no more flow augmenting paths can be found in the graph. However, there is no certainty that this situation will ever be reached, so the best that can be guaranteed is that the answer will be correct if the algorithm terminates. In the case that the algorithm runs forever, the flow might not even converge towards the maximum flow. However, this situation only occurs with irrational flow values. When the capacities are integers, the runtime of Ford–Fulkerson is bounded by formula_37 (see big O notation), where formula_38 is the number of edges in the graph and formula_39 is the maximum flow in the graph. This is because each augmenting path can be found in formula_40 time and increases the flow by an integer amount of at least formula_41, with the upper bound formula_39.  A variation of the Ford–Fulkerson algorithm with guaranteed termination and a runtime independent of the maximum flow value is the Edmonds–Karp algorithm, which runs in formula_43 time.

Integral example.

The following example shows the first steps of Ford–Fulkerson in a flow network with 4 nodes, source formula_44 and sink formula_45. This example shows the worst-case behaviour of the algorithm. In each step, only a flow of formula_41 is sent across the network. If breadth-first-search were used instead, only two steps would be needed.  Notice how flow is "pushed back" from formula_47 to formula_48 when finding the path formula_49.

Non-terminating example.

Consider the flow network shown on the right, with source formula_50, sink formula_51, capacities of edges formula_52, formula_53 and formula_54 respectively formula_41, formula_56 and formula_41 and the capacity of all other edges some integer formula_58. The constant formula_59 was chosen so, that formula_60. We use augmenting paths according to the following table, where formula_61, formula_62 and formula_63.  Note that after step 1 as well as after step 5, the residual capacities of edges formula_52, formula_53 and formula_54 are in the form formula_67, formula_68 and formula_69, respectively, for some formula_70. This means that we can use augmenting paths formula_71, formula_72, formula_71 and formula_74 infinitely many times and residual capacities of these edges will always be in the same form. Total flow in the network after step 5 is formula_75. If we continue to use augmenting paths as above, the total flow converges to formula_76. However, note that there is a flow of value formula_77, by sending formula_78 units of flow along formula_79, 1 unit of flow along formula_80, and formula_78 units of flow along formula_82. Therefore, the algorithm never terminates and the flow does not even converge to the maximum flow.  Another non-terminating example based on the Euclidean algorithm is given by, where they also show that the worst case running-time of the Ford-Fulkerson algorithm on a network formula_1 in ordinal numbers is formula_84.

Python implementation of Edmonds–Karp algorithm.

import collections class Graph:

The Ford–Fulkerson method or Ford–Fulkerson algorithm (FFA) is a greedy algorithm that computes the maximum flow in a flow network. It is sometimes called a "method" instead of an "algorithm" as the approach to finding augmenting paths in a residual graph is not fully specified or it is specified in several implementations with different running times. It was published in 1956 by L. R. Ford Jr. and D. R. Fulkerson. The name "Ford–Fulkerson" is often also used for the Edmonds–Karp algorithm, which is a fully defined implementation of the Ford–Fulkerson method.


Biography.

Pierre Henry was born in Paris, France (; ), and began experimenting at the age of 15 with sounds produced by various objects. He became fascinated with the integration of noise into music. He studied with Nadia Boulanger, Olivier Messiaen, and Félix Passerone at the Paris Conservatoire from 1938 to 1948.  Between 1949 and 1958, Henry worked at the Club d'Essai studio at RTF, which had been founded by Pierre Schaeffer in 1943. During this period, he wrote the 1950 piece "Symphonie pour un homme seul", in cooperation with Schaeffer; he also composed the first musique concrète to appear in a commercial film, the 1952 short film "Astrologie ou le miroir de la vie". Henry scored numerous additional films and ballets.  Two years after leaving the RTF, he founded with Jean Baronnet the first private electronic studio in France, the Apsone-Cabasse Studio.  Among Henry's works is the 1967 ballet "Messe pour le temps présent", a collaboration with choreographer Maurice Béjart that debuted in Avignon (, ). In 1970 Henry collaborated with British rock band Spooky Tooth on the album "Ceremony".  Composer Christopher Tyng was heavily inspired by Henry's "Psyché Rock" when writing the theme to the popular animated cartoon show "Futurama". The theme is so reminiscent of Henry's song, it is considered a variation of the original.  Henry died on Wednesday 5 July 2017 at Saint Joseph's Hospital in Paris, at the age of 89 (; ; ; ).

Pierre Georges Henry (9 December 1927 – 5 July 2017) was a French composer, considered a pioneer of musique concrète.


Early life.

Loubet was born on 30 December 1838, the son of a peasant proprietor and mayor of Marsanne (Drôme). Admitted to the Parisian bar in 1862, he took his doctorate in law the next year. He was still a student when he witnessed the sweeping triumph of the Republican party in Paris at the general election in 1863, during the Second French Empire. He settled down to the exercise of his profession in Montélimar, where in 1869 he married Marie-Louise Picard. He also inherited a small estate at Grignan.

Physical description.

American politician William Jennings Bryan described Loubet as "below the medium height, even for Frenchmen. His shoulders are broad and his frame indicative of great physical strength. His hair is snow white, as are also his beard and mustache. He wears his beard square cut at the chin.... His voice is soft, and he speaks with great vivacity, emphasizing his words by expressive gestures."

Political career.

At the crisis of 1870, which brought about the Empire's end, he became mayor of Montélimar, and thenceforward was a steady supporter of Léon Gambetta. Elected to the Chamber of Deputies in 1876 by Montélimar, he was one of the notable 363 parliamentarians who in the 16 May 1877 crisis passed a vote of no confidence in the ministry of Albert, the duke of Broglie.  In the general election of October he was re-elected, local enthusiasm for him being increased by the fact that the government had driven him from the mayoralty. In the Chamber he occupied himself especially with education, fighting the clerical system established by the "Loi Falloux", and working for the establishment of free, obligatory and secular primary instruction. In 1880 he became president of the departmental council in Drôme. His support of the second Jules Ferry ministry and his zeal for the colonial expansion of France gave him considerable weight in the moderate Republican party.  He had entered the Senate in 1885, and he became minister of public works in the Tirard ministry (December 1887 to March 1888). In 1892 President Sadi Carnot, who was his personal friend, asked him to form a cabinet. Loubet held the portfolio of the interior with the premiership, and had to deal with the anarchist crimes of that year and with the great strike of Carmaux, in which he acted as arbitrator, giving a decision regarded in many quarters as too favourable to the strikers. He was defeated in November on the question of the Panama scandals, but he retained the ministry of the interior in the next cabinet under Alexandre Ribot, though he resigned on its reconstruction in January.

President of the French Republic (1899–1906).

His reputation as an orator of great force and lucidity of exposition and as a safe and honest statesman procured for him in 1896 the presidency of the Senate, and in February 1899 he was chosen president of the republic in succession to Félix Faure by 483 votes as against 279 recorded by Jules Méline, his only serious competitor. He was marked out for fierce opposition and bitter insult, as the representative of that section of the Republican party which sought the revision of the Dreyfus affair. On the day of President Faure's funeral Paul Déroulède met the troops under General Roget on their return to barracks, and demanded that the general should march on the Elysée. Roget sensibly took his troops back to barracks. At the Auteuil steeplechase in June, the president was struck on the head with a cane by an anti-Dreyfusard. In that month President Loubet summoned Waldeck-Rousseau to form a cabinet, and at the same time entreated Republicans of all shades of opinion to rally to the defence of the state. By the efforts of Loubet and Waldeck-Rousseau the Dreyfus affair was settled, when Loubet, acting on the advice of General Galliffet, minister of war, remitted the ten years' imprisonment to which Dreyfus was condemned at Rennes.  Loubet's presidency saw an acute stage of the clerical question, which was attacked by Waldeck-Rousseau and in still more drastic fashion by the Combes ministry. The French ambassador was recalled from the Vatican in April 1905, and in July the separation of church and state was voted in the Chamber of Deputies. Feeling had run high between France and Britain over the mutual criticisms passed on the conduct of the South African War and the Dreyfus affair respectively. These differences were composed, by the Anglo-French "entente", and in 1904 a convention between the two countries secured the recognition of French claims in Morocco in exchange for non-interference with the British occupation of Egypt. President Loubet belonged to the peasant-proprietor class, and had none of the aristocratic proclivities of President Faure. He inaugurated the Paris Exhibition of 1900, received the emperor Nicholas II of Russia at the French maneuvers of 1901 and paid a visit to Russia in 1902.  On 4 July 1902 President Loubet was elected an honorary member of the Rhode Island Society of the Cincinnati.  Loubet also exchanged visits with King Edward VII, with the king of Portugal, the king of Italy and the king of Spain. During the king of Spain's visit in 1905, an attempt was made on his life, a bomb being thrown under his carriage as he and with his guest left the Opéra Garnier. When his presidency came to an end in January 1906, he became the first President of the Third Republic to have served a full term and without resigning a second one. He retired into private life and died on 20 December 1929 at the age of 90.

Loubet's Ministry, 27 February6 December 1892.

Changes

Émile François Loubet (; 30 December 183820 December 1929) was the 45th Prime Minister of France and later President of France.


Biography.

Williamson was born in Ashby-de-la-Zouch, Leicestershire. He won the 1971 and 1972 British Formula 3 Championship titles. In 1973, he was offered a drive in the March Engineering works Formula One team. Williamson originally tested for the BRM team, but his manager advised him to take the March offer, as March had a slightly stronger performance in the previous season.

Death.

After his Formula One debut at the 1973 British Grand Prix, Williamson's second Formula One appearance was at the 1973 Dutch Grand Prix at Zandvoort Circuit. On his eighth lap, a suspected tyre failure caused his car to flip upside down and catch fire. Williamson had not been seriously injured by the impact, but was trapped under the car which was swiftly engulfed in flame. The track marshals were both poorly trained and badly equipped, and did not assist him. Another driver, David Purley, upon witnessing the crash of his friend, abandoned his own race and pulled over in a desperate and valiant attempt to rescue Williamson. He ran across the track to Williamson's car and tried to turn it upright, before grabbing a fire extinguisher from a marshal and returning to the engulfed car. He emptied it on the car and signalled for others to help. Purley's efforts to turn the car upright and extinguish the flames were in vain, and the marshals were unable to handle the vehicle without flame retardant overalls. Purley later stated he could hear Williamson's screams from underneath the car, but by the time the first fire engine arrived and the fire was extinguished, Williamson had died of asphyxiation. As most racers mistakenly identified Purley as the driver of the crashed car, and therefore thought the burning car to be empty, none of them stopped to help and the race continued, even as Purley stood on the circuit and gestured with his hands for them to stop. Furthermore, the track marshals were wearing normal blazers and not the fire-resistant overalls which the drivers wore, and thus were not able to go near the large flames. Purley was later awarded the George Medal for the bravery he displayed in attempting to rescue Williamson. A series of photos of the incident, showing a clearly desperate and ultimately dejected Purley, won that year's World Press Photo award for Photo Sequences. Williamson's body was later cremated with his ashes being taken to an undisclosed location. In the years following the accident, fire-resistant clothing would become mandatory for all trackside marshals so that they would be able to assist in the event of a fire. The next few years also saw a noticeable increase in drivers stopping at accident sites to assist in rescue efforts, notably at the 1976 German Grand Prix. Williamson was 25 years old at the time of his death.  In 2003, on the thirtieth anniversary of his fatal crash, a bronze statue of Williamson was unveiled at the Donington Park circuit in his native Leicestershire. Then-owner Tom Wheatcroft had provided financial backing to Williamson, and described the day Williamson died as "the saddest day of my life".

Roger Williamson (2 February 1948 – 29 July 1973) was a British racing driver, a two time British Formula 3 champion, who died during his second Formula One race, the 1973 Dutch Grand Prix at Zandvoort Circuit in the Netherlands.


Uses.

Flocking is used in many ways. One example is in model building, where a grassy texture may be applied to a surface to make it look more realistic. Similarly, it is used by model car builders to get a scale carpet effect. Another use is on a Christmas tree, which may be flocked with a fluffy white spray to simulate snow. Other things may be flocked to give them a texture similar to velvet, velveteen, or velour, such as t-shirts, wallpaper, gift/jewelry boxes, and upholstery.  Besides the application of velvety coatings to surfaces and objects there exist various flocking techniques as a means of color and product design. They range from screen printing to modern digital printing in order to refine for instance fabric, clothes or books by multicolor patterns. Presently, the exploration of the flock phenomenon can be seen in the fine arts. Artist, Electric Coffin, is known for their many colorful flocked works, including a 50-foot piece in Facebook's Seattle headquarters.  Flocking in the automotive industry is used for decorative purposes and may be applied to a number of different materials. Many rally cars also have a flocked dashboard to cut down on the sun reflecting through the windscreen. A view on the present state-of-the-art of flocking can be found in the first international exhibition "Flockage: the flock phenomenon" in the Russell-Cotes Art Gallery & Museum in Bournemouth.  In the photographic industry, flocking is one method used to reduce the reflectivity of surfaces, including the insides of some bellows and lens hoods. It is also used to produce light-tight passages for film such as in 135 film cartridges.  Flock consists of synthetic fibers that look like tiny hairs. Flock print feels somewhat velvet and a bit elevated. The length of the fibers can vary in thickness which co-determines the appearance of the flocked product. Thin fibers produce a soft velvety surface, thicker fibers a more bristle-like surface.  High-quality model cars are known to use flocking for decorative purposes. Premium model maker AUTOart is well known for its use of flocking in their model cars.

Process.

Flocking is defined as the application of fine particles to adhesive coated surfaces, usually by the application of a high-voltage electric field. In a flocking machine the "flock" is given a negative charge whilst the substrate is earthed. Flock material flies vertically onto the substrate attaching to previously applied glue. A number of different substrates can be flocked including textiles, fabric, woven fabric, paper, PVC, sponge, toys, and automotive plastic.  The majority of flocking done worldwide uses finely cut natural or synthetic fibers. A flocked finish imparts a decorative and/or functional characteristic to the surface. The variety of materials that are applied to numerous surfaces through different flocking methods create a wide range of end products. The flocking process is used on items ranging from retail consumer goods to products with high technology military applications.

History.

Historians write that flocking can be traced back to circa 1000 B.C.E., when the Chinese used resin glue to bond natural fibers to fabrics. Fiber dust was strewn onto adhesive coated surfaces to produce flocked wall coverings in Germany during the Middle Ages. In France, flocked wall coverings became popular during the reign of Louis XIV of France.

Health issues.

Flocking can expose workers to small nylon particulates, which inhaled can cause flock worker's lung, a type of interstitial lung disease. Other exposure in the flocking industry can include acrylic adhesives, ammonium ether of potato starch, heat transfer oil, tannic acid, and zeolite.

Flocking is the process of depositing many small fiber particles (called flock) onto a surface. It can also refer to the texture produced by the process, or to any material used primarily for its flocked surface. Flocking of an article can be performed for the purpose of increasing its value in terms of the tactile sensation, aesthetics, color and appearance. It can also be performed for functional reasons including insulation, slip-or-grip friction, and low reflectivity.


Description.

The relic itself is described as an oaken chair damaged by cuts and worms. The Chair has metal rings attached to each side, allowing use as a "sedia gestatoria". The back and front of the chair are trimmed with carved ivory. This description comes from 1867, when the relic was photographed and displayed for veneration.  The reliquary, like many of the medieval period, takes the form of the relic it protects, i.e. the form of a chair. Symbolically, the chair Bernini designed had no earthly counterpart in actual contemporary furnishings. It is formed entirely of scrolling members, enclosing a coved panel where the upholstery pattern is rendered as a low relief of Christ instructing Peter to tend to His sheep. Large angelic figures flank an openwork panel beneath a highly realistic bronze seat cushion, vividly empty: the relic is encased within.  The cathedra is lofted on splayed scrolling bars that appear to be effortlessly supported by four over-lifesize bronze Doctors of the Church: Western doctors Saint Ambrose and Saint Augustine of Hippo on the outsides, wearing miters, and Eastern doctors Saint John Chrysostom and Saint Athanasius on the insides, both bare-headed. The cathedra appears to hover over the altar in the basilica's apse, lit by a central tinted window through which light streams, illuminating the gilded glory of sunrays and sculpted clouds that surrounds the window. Like Bernini's "Ecstasy of Saint Theresa", this is a definitive fusion of the Baroque arts, unifying sculpture and richly polychrome architecture and manipulating effects of light.  Above, on the golden background of the frieze, is the Latin inscription: " (O Shepherd of the Church, you feed all Christ's lambs and sheep). On the right is the same writing in Greek. Behind the altar is placed Bernini's monument enclosing the wooden chair, both of which are seen as symbolic of the authority of the Bishop of Rome as Vicar of Christ and successor of Saint Peter.

Feast of the Chair of Saint Peter.

Early martyrologies indicate that two liturgical feasts were celebrated in Rome, centuries before the time of Charles the Bald, in honour of earlier chairs associated with Saint Peter, one of which was kept in the baptismal chapel of St. Peter's Basilica, the other at the catacomb of Priscilla. The dates of these celebrations were January 18 and February 22. No surviving chair has been identified with either of these chairs. The feasts thus became associated with an abstract understanding of the "Chair of Peter", which by synecdoche signifies the episcopal office of the Pope as Bishop of Rome, an office considered to have been first held by Saint Peter, and thus extended to the diocese, the See of Rome. Though both feasts were originally associated with Saint Peter's stay in Rome, the ninth-century form of the "Martyrologium Hieronymianum" associated the January 18 feast with his stay in Rome, and the February 22 feast with his stay at Antioch. The two feasts were included in the Tridentine Calendar with the rank of Double, which Pope Clement VIII raised in 1604 to the newly invented rank of Greater Double.  In 1960 Pope John XXIII removed from the General Roman Calendar the January 18 feast of the Chair of Peter, along with seven other feast days that were second feasts of a single saint or mystery. The February 22 celebration became a Second-Class Feast. This calendar was incorporated in the 1962 Roman Missal of Pope John XXIII, whose continued use Pope Benedict XVI authorized under the conditions indicated in his motu proprio "Summorum Pontificum". Those Catholics who follow the pre-1962 calendar continue to celebrate both feast days: "Saint Peter's Chair at Rome" on January 18 and the "Chair of Saint Peter at Antioch" on February 22.  In the new classification introduced in 1969 the February 22 celebration appears in the Roman Calendar with the rank of Feast.

The Chair of Saint Peter (), also known as the Throne of Saint Peter, is a relic conserved in St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City, the sovereign enclave of the Pope inside Rome, Italy. The relic is a wooden throne that tradition claims the Apostle Saint Peter, the leader of the Early Christians in Rome and first Pope, used as Bishop of Rome. The relic is enclosed in a sculpted gilt bronze casing designed by Gian Lorenzo Bernini and executed between 1647 and 1653. In 2012, Pope Benedict XVI described the chair as "a symbol of the special mission of Peter and his Successors to tend Christ’s flock, keeping it united in faith and in charity."


Biography.

Little is known about Hemma's descent; she was probably born between 995 and 1000 (other sources mention 980 AD), her ancestors were related to the Bavarian Luitpoldings and thus to Emperor Henry II. Her grandmother Imma ("Emma") was vested with market and minting rights at her estates in Lieding (today part of Straßburg) by Emperor Otto II in 975. The bestowal raised objections by the Archbishop of Salzburg and the privileges were later transferred to Gurk, Carinthia. According to her hagiography, Hemma was a member of a noble dynasty descending from Pilštanj ("Peilenstein") in the Mark an der Sann (in present-day Slovenian Styria) and was brought up at the Imperial court in Bamberg by Empress Saint Cunigunde.  Hemma married the Carinthian count William II of Friesach, mentioned as margrave an der Sann in 1016, by whom she had two sons, Hartwig and William. Her husband had received vast estates on the Savinja ("Sann") river from the hands of the Emperor. Both her sons and her husband were murdered, Margrave William II probably in 1036 by the deposed duke Adalbero of Carinthia in revenge. Hemma became wealthy through inheritance upon the death of her husband and sons.  Countess Hemma used her great wealth for the benefit of the poor and was already venerated as a saint during her lifetime. In addition, she founded ten churches throughout present-day Carinthia, Austria. In 1043 she founded the Benedictine double monastery of Gurk Abbey, where she withdrew during the last years of her life.  After her death, Gurk Abbey was dissolved by the Archbishop of Salzburg, Gebhard, who instead used the funds to set up the Diocese of Gurk-Klagenfurt in 1072. Admont Abbey, another Benedictine foundation in Austria, was founded in 1074 by the same Gebhard, and also owes its existence to Hemma's wealth. Since 1174 Hemma's relics have been buried in the crypt of Gurk Cathedral.

Emma Pilgrimage.

Saint Hemma is the patron saint of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Gurk and her intercession is sought for childbirth and diseases of the eye. She is venerated not only in Carinthia (the Austrian state coterminous with the Diocese of Gurk), but also in neighboring Styria (another Austrian state) and Slovenia. From about 300 years ago, the pious and those seeking assistance have been coming to her tomb in Gurk Cathedral, travelling from Carniola over the Loibl Pass. This pilgrimage took place every year on the fourth Sunday after Easter, but fell out of use as a result of the political circumstances of the 20th century.  In recent years, however, the routes of pilgrimage from Slovenia and Styria to Gurk have gradually reopened and are becoming increasingly used.

Hemma of Gurk (; 27 June 1045), also called Emma of Gurk (), was a noblewoman and founder of several churches and monasteries in the Duchy of Carinthia. Buried at Gurk Cathedral since 1174, she was beatified on 21 November 1287 and canonised on 5 January 1938 by Pope Pius XI. Her feast day is 27 June. Hemma is venerated as a saint by both the Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church, and as patroness of the current Austrian state of Carinthia.


Early life.

Robert was the eldest son of Robert I of Flanders (also known as Robert the Frisian) and Gertrude of Saxony. His father, hoping to place the cadet branch (or "Baldwinite" branch) of Flanders over the county, began to associate him with his rule around 1086. From 1085 to 1091 he was regent of the county while his father was away on pilgrimage to the Holy Land.

First Crusade.

After becoming count in 1093, Robert joined the First Crusade, launched by Pope Urban II in 1095. He made his wife, Clementia of Burgundy, regent in Flanders, and formed an army that followed the retinue of his kinsman Godfrey of Bouillon, Duke of Lower Lorraine. After reaching Constantinople, the crusaders were obliged to swear an oath of fealty to Byzantine emperor Alexius I Comnenus and promise to return to the Byzantine Empire any land they might capture. Robert, whose father had already served Alexius during his pilgrimage in the 1080s, had no problem swearing this oath, but some of the other leaders did and there was some delay in leaving the city. Robert then participated in the Siege of Nicaea, after which the army was split into two groups. Robert marched with Stephen of Blois, Bohemund of Taranto, Robert Curthose, and the Byzantine guides, one day ahead of the rest of the crusaders. This army was surrounded by the Seljuk sultan Kilij Arslan I at the Battle of Dorylaeum on 30 June 1097. The next day, the second army, led by Raymond IV of Toulouse, Godfrey of Bouillon, and Hugh of Vermandois, arrived and broke the encirclement; the two armies joined together, with Robert and Raymond forming the centre. The Turks were defeated and the crusaders continued their march.  At the end of 1097 the crusaders arrived at Antioch. The Siege of Antioch lasted many months; in December, Robert and Bohemund briefly left the army to raid the surrounding territory for food, and on 30 December they defeated an army sent to relieve Antioch, led by Duqaq of Damascus. Antioch was eventually betrayed to Bohemund by an Armenian guard, and Robert was among the first to enter the city, but only a few days later they were themselves besieged by Kerbogha of Mosul. On 28 June 1098, the crusaders marched out to meet him in battle; Robert and Hugh of Vermandois led the first of six divisions. Kerbogha was defeated and the Muslim-held citadel finally surrendered to the crusaders. Robert, along with Bohemund, Raymond, and Godfrey, occupied the citadel, but Bohemund soon claimed the city for himself. Raymond also claimed it, but Robert supported Bohemund in this dispute.  The dispute delayed the crusade even further. Raymond left Antioch to attack Ma'arrat al-Numan, which was captured; Robert took part in this siege as well. Raymond then tried to bribe Robert and the other leaders to follow him instead of Bohemund; Robert was offered six thousand "sous", but each attempted bribe was ignored. Raymond continued south to Jerusalem in January, 1099, but Robert and Godfrey remained behind in Antioch until February. They rejoined Raymond's army at the Siege of Arqa. In June, Robert and Gaston IV of Bearn led the vanguard which arrived at Ramla, and with Tancred of Taranto he led an expedition into Samaria to find wood in order to construct siege engines for the Siege of Jerusalem. When Jerusalem was captured on 15 July, Robert supported Godfrey's claim over that of Raymond, and on August 9 marched out with him to meet the Fatimid army under al-Afdal Shahanshah which was coming to relieve Jerusalem. Robert formed part of the centre wing in the ensuing Battle of Ascalon, which resulted in a crusader victory. However, Godfrey and Raymond quarrelled over possession of Ascalon, and even Robert could not support Godfrey in this dispute; the city remained uncaptured, although the victory allowed for the establishment of the Kingdom of Jerusalem.  At the end of August, Robert returned home with Robert Curthose and Raymond. On the way back they captured Latakia, which was returned to the Byzantine emperor, as promised years before. Raymond remained there but both Roberts continued home by way of Constantinople, after declining Alexius' request to stay there in his service. Robert brought back with him a precious relic, the arm of Saint George, a gift from Alexius. The relic was placed in the church of Anchin Abbey in Flanders. After he returned, Robert built the monastery of St. Andrew in Sevenkerke (now Zevenkerke, near Bruges. Because of his crusade and the spoils he brought home, he was nicknamed Robert of Jerusalem.

Later life.

During his absence, Holy Roman Emperor Henry IV had tried to seize imperial Flanders. Robert responded by supporting the revolt of the Commune of Cambrai against the emperor and his supporter, Bishop Gaulcher, and seized a number of castles. Peace was restored in 1102 paid homage to the emperor for imperial Flanders, but after 1105, the new emperor, Henry V, marched on Flanders, with the aid of Count Baldwin III of Hainaut and an army from Holland. Robert stopped them outside of Douai and a new peace was signed, in which the emperor recognized Robert's claim to Douai and Cambrai.  In 1103 he made an alliance with King Henry I of England, offering 1000 cavalry in exchange for an annual tribute of £500, but when Henry refused to pay, Robert allied with his nominal overlord, Louis VI of France, and attacked Normandy. With the king diverted, Theobald IV of Blois led a revolt of the French barons. Robert led an army against Meaux; during the battle he fell off his horse and was trampled to death on 5 October 1111.

Family.

He married Clementia of Burgundy, sister of Pope Callistus II and daughter of William I, Count of Burgundy. They had three children, but only the oldest survived to adulthood. He succeeded Robert as Baldwin VII of Flanders.

Robert II (c. 1065 – 5 October 1111) was Count of Flanders from 1093 to 1111. He became known as "Robert of Jerusalem" ("Robertus Hierosolimitanus") or "Robert the Crusader" after his exploits in the First Crusade.


History.

Finntroll was founded in 1997 with a line-up which included guitarist Teemu "Somnium" Raimoranta and vocalist/lyricist Jan "Katla" Jämsen. A year later they were joined by guitarist Samuli "Skrymer" Ponsimaa, drummer Samu "Beast Dominator" Ruotsalainen, keyboardist Henri "Trollhorn" Sorvali and bassist Sami "Tundra" Uusitalo, creating the first stable line-up of the band. The band's first demo, "Rivfader", released the same year.  Their second album, "Jaktens Tid", was released in 2001. The following summer, the band had their first time playing festivals in Finland and other countries.  The year after the release of the album "Jaktens Tid" proved to be a misfortune for Finntroll: some tours had to be cancelled, and vocalist Jämsen had to retire from the band due to a viral-based tumor in his vocal cords which could not be removed surgically; he retired after the release of the EP "Visor Om Slutet". The EP was recorded in early January 2003, in a forest cabin near Helsinki. It was an "acoustical experiment", where Jämsen and the new vocalist Tapio Wilska (of Sethian and Lyijykomppania) shared the singing duties among them. "Visor Om Slutet" was released as a mid-price EP and held rank on the Finnish midprice chart for several weeks.  On March 16, 2003, shortly before the release of "Visor Om Slutet", guitarist Teemu Raimoranta died when he fell off a bridge in Hakaniemi, Helsinki. Although they had lost their last remaining founding members in this tragic event, the band did not dissolve, but after some time decided to go on, touring Europe for two weeks, supported by the band Katatonia. Guitarist Mikael Karlbom was hired as a replacement for Raimoranta.  In 2004, the band released an EP, "Trollhammaren" "("The Trollhammer")", a prequel to the soon to follow album "Nattfödd" "("Nightborn")". Also in 2004, Trollhorn stopped touring with the band, prompting touring musicians to be hired to fill the void left in his absence. Aleksi "Virta" Virta joined the band in an official capacity as second keyboardist in 2005.  On January 29, 2006, Tapio Wilska, vocalist of the band since 2003, was fired from the band. In a statement issued on the band's website, Wilska stated that he would like to keep the reason for his dismissal private.  Following Wilska's parting with the band, they decided to take on Mathias "Vreth" Lillmåns of Chtonian and Twilight Moon as a full-time member on vocals.  A new album, titled "Ur Jordens Djup" "("From the Depths of the Earth")", was released March, 2007. This fourth album put more emphasis on epic keyboard riffs with very loud but melodic guitar. Former vocalist Katla was brought in to write the lyrics for this album, and continues in this capacity with the band. The last song contains an acoustic hidden track entitled "Trollvisan" which can be heard at 11:03 minutes. It is commonly believed to be the installment's "Aamund och Kettil-Song", yet there is no mention of the two priests in the lyrics, the song rather refers to "de kristna" ("the Christians") in general.  The band has recorded a live performance for its upcoming first live DVD. A release date is yet to be confirmed. They have released their fifth album, titled "Nifelvind" "("Underworld's Winds")", and Katla has again written the lyrics. The progress on the album was recorded by Trollhorn in a studio diary. On January 15, 2010 Finntroll released a music video for the new song "Solsagan" on their "MySpace" page in preparation for the album release. The new album was then released in February 2010.  The band's sixth studio album Blodsvept was released on March 25, 2013.  On May 13, 2014, drummer Samu Ruotsalainen revealed that he would be departing the band in July of that year; the parting was confirmed to be amicable by the band. He was replaced by Heikki "Mörkö" Saari.  In June 2014, the band released a live album, "Natten Med De Levande Finntroll" ("Night of the Living Finntroll"). Thomas Woroniak of RockRevolt Magazine stated ""Natten Med De Levande Finntroll" is a must-have for any dedicated Finntroll fan. Followers of the group have been waiting a long time for a live recording...the music is unique and vibrant in color and tonality, and the performance is exceptional."  On October 31st 2019, the band updated the cover photo for their official Facebook page with obscured numbers and 2020 currently being the only visible number, possibly indicating a new album or tour.

Finntroll is a folk metal band from Helsinki, Finland. They combine elements of black metal and folk metal. Finntroll's lyrics are mostly in Swedish, the only exception being the song "Madon Laulu" on "Visor Om Slutet". Finntroll's original singer, Katla, decided to use Swedish over Finnish since he was part of a Swedish-speaking minority in Finland and the sound of the language seemed to better suit the band's "trollish" outfit. Despite several vocalist changes, this tradition has continued.


Background.

Kahn was born in Bayonne, New Jersey, the son of Yetta (née Koslowsky) and Abraham Kahn, a tailor. His parents were Jewish immigrants from Eastern Europe. He was raised in the Bronx, then in Los Angeles following his parents' divorce. Raised Jewish, he later became an atheist.

Cold War theories.

Kahn's major contributions were the several strategies he developed during the Cold War to contemplate "the unthinkable"namely, nuclear warfareby using applications of game theory. Kahn is often cited (with Pierre Wack) as a father of scenario planning.  Kahn argued for deterrence and believed that if the Soviet Union believed that the United States had a second strike capability then it would offer greater deterrence, which he wrote in his paper titled "The Nature and Feasibility of War and Deterrence".  The bases of his work were systems theory and game theory as applied to economics and military strategy. Kahn argued that for deterrence to succeed, the Soviet Union had to be convinced that the United States had second-strike capability in order to leave the Politburo in no doubt that even a perfectly coordinated massive attack would guarantee a measure of retaliation that would leave them devastated as well:

Hudson Institute.

In 1961, Kahn, Max Singer and Oscar Ruebhausen founded the Hudson Institute, a policy research organization initially located in Croton-on-Hudson, New York, where Kahn was living at the time. Luminaries such as sociologist Daniel Bell, political philosopher Raymond Aron and novelist Ralph Ellison (author of the 1952 classic "Invisible Man") were recruited.

"The Year 2000".

In 1967, Herman Kahn and Anthony J. Wiener published "The Year 2000: A Framework for Speculation on the Next Thirty-Three Years", which included contributions from staff members of the Hudson Institute and an introduction by Daniel Bell. Table XVIII in the document contains a list called "One Hundred Technical Innovations Very Likely in the Last Third of the Twentieth Century". The first ten predictions were:

Later years.

In Kahn's view, capitalism and technology held nearly boundless potential for progress, while the colonization of space lay in the near, not the distant, future. Kahn's 1976 book "The Next 200 Years", written with William Brown and Leon Martel, presented an optimistic scenario of economic conditions in the year 2176. He also wrote a number of books extrapolating the future of the American, Japanese and Australian economies and several works on systems theory, including the well-received 1957 monograph "Techniques of System Analysis".  During the mid-1970s, when South Korea's GDP per capita was one of the lowest in the world, Kahn predicted that the country would become one of the top 10 most powerful countries in the world by the year 2000.  In his last year, 1983, Kahn wrote approvingly of Ronald Reagan's political agenda in "The Coming Boom: Economic, Political, and Social" and bluntly derided Jonathan Schell's claims about the long-term effects of nuclear war. On July 7 that year, he died of a stroke, aged 61.  Herman Kahn was the son of Abraham Kahn and Yetta Kahn. His wife was Rosalie "Jane" Kahn. He and Jane had two children, David and Debbie.

Cultural influence.

Along with John von Neumann, Edward Teller and Wernher von Braun, Kahn was, reportedly, an inspiration for the character "Dr. Strangelove" in the eponymous film by Stanley Kubrick released in 1964. It was also said that Kubrick immersed himself in Kahn's book "On Thermonuclear War". In the film, Dr. Strangelove refers to a report on the Doomsday Machine by the "BLAND Corporation". Kahn gave Kubrick the idea for the "Doomsday Machine", a device which would immediately cause the destruction of the entire planet in the event of a nuclear attack. Both the name and the concept of the weapon are drawn from the text of "On Thermonuclear War". Louis Menand observes, "In Kahn’s book, the Doomsday Machine is an example of the sort of deterrent that appeals to the military mind but that is dangerously destabilizing. Since nations are not suicidal, its only use is to threaten."  In "The Politics of Ecstasy", Timothy Leary suggests that Kahn had taken LSD.

Publications.

Outside physics and statistics, works written by Kahn include:  Works published by the RAND Corporation involving Kahn:

Herman Kahn (February 15, 1922 – July 7, 1983) was a founder of the Hudson Institute and one of the preeminent futurists of the latter part of the twentieth century. He originally came to prominence as a military strategist and systems theorist while employed at the RAND Corporation. He became known for analyzing the likely consequences of nuclear war and recommending ways to improve survivability, making him one of the historical inspirations for the title character of Stanley Kubrick's classic black comedy film satire "Dr. Strangelove".


Fortress.

History.

Margat is located on a hill formed by an extinct volcano high about above sea level on the road between Tripoli and Latakia, overlooking the Mediterranean Sea.  According to Arab sources, the site of Margat Castle was first fortified in 1062 by Muslims who continued to hold it within the Christian Principality of Antioch in the aftermath of the First Crusade. When the Principality was defeated at the Battle of Harran in 1104, the Byzantine Empire took advantage of their weakness and captured Margat from the Muslims. A few years later it was captured by Tancred, Prince of Galilee, regent of Antioch, and became part of the Principality.  In the 1170s it was controlled by of Antioch as a vassal of the count of Tripoli. The fortress was so large that it had its own household officials and a number of rear-vassals. Reynaud's son Bertrand sold it to the Hospitallers in 1186 as it was too expensive for the Mazoir family to maintain. After some rebuilding and expansion by the Hospitallers it became their headquarters in Syria. Under Hospitaller control, its fourteen towers were thought to be impregnable.  In 1188, Saladin marched on Margat having left Krak des Chevaliers in search of easier prey. According to Abu'l-Fida, "Recognising that Maqab was impregnable and that he had no hope of capturing it, he passed on to Jabala". It was one of the few remaining territories left in Christian hands after Saladin's conquests.  By the beginning of the 13th century the Hospitallers controlled the surrounding land and roads and made a large profit from travellers and pilgrims passing through. Isaac Comnenus of Cyprus was imprisoned there after Richard I of England captured Cyprus from him during the Third Crusade. The bishop of nearby Valenia also used Margat as his headquarters after around 1240. Margat was second in size and power only to the other Hospitaller fortress to the south, Krak des Chevaliers. In September 1281 the Hospitallers of Margat dispatched a contingent of troops to support the Mongol invasion of Syria, which the Mamluk sultan of Egypt Qalawun successfully prevented after defeating the coalition at Homs. To punish the Hospitallers, Qalawun clandestinely raised an army in Damascus and besieged Margat on 17 April 1285. After a 38-day siege during which sappers and miners managed to dig several tunnels underneath the fortress's walls, a mine destroyed a salient of the southernmost wall. The defenders panicked and on discovering the numerous tunnels around the fortress, surrendered to the Mamluk commander Fakhr al-Din Mukri on 23 May, with Qalwun entering Margat two days later. The siege was witnessed by eleven-year-old Abu'l Fida and his father, the Ayyubid governor of Hama. Qalawun allowed the Hospitallers to leave with everything they could carry. Rather than destroy Margat as he did with other fortresses, he repaired its defences and placed a strong garrison there due to its strategic value.  Marqat, known as "Marqab" by the Muslims, became a district of the Mamluk province of Tripoli with maintenance of the area financed by the sultan. Intrepid traveller Ibn Battuta visited the fortress and noted that a suburb was built outside of it for foreigners, who were not allowed entry into the fortress. The district governor based at the Marqab fortress held the military rank of "Emir of 20 Mamluks." He was charged with defending the coast, particularly from threats from the island of Cyprus, and maintaining the guard towers and observation posts. During the Burji Mamluk period, Margat was well known in the region for containing an imperial prison with many high-profile inmates. The 15th-century Muslim historian Khalil al-Zahiri noted that Marqab fortress was among the most important sites of Tripoli province. Marqab was "clearly impregnable and controls a territory containing numerous villages."  During the Ottoman era, Margat became the administrative center of a "kaza" ("district") of the same name, which contained three "nahiyas" ("subdistricts") — Margat, Qadmus and Khawabi. In the 1890s there was a total of 393 localities with a collective population of 39,671, of whom 21,121 were Alawites. The chief agricultural products were olives, onions, tobacco and silk, which were largely marketed to Beirut-based merchants. The fortress served as the residence of the kaymakam ("military governor") of the district until 1884 when the seat was transferred to Baniyas.

Architecture.

Castles in Europe provided lordly accommodation for their owners and acted as centres of administration. In the Levant the need for defence was paramount and this was reflected in castle design. Historian Hugh Kennedy suggests that "The castle scientifically designed as a fighting machine surely reached its apogee in great buildings like Margat and Crac des Chevaliers." Like the Krak des Chevaliers, Margat is a large spur castle with many typical elements of a concentric castle. It has a bent entrance leading through the base of a gate tower. A notable feature of the inner defences is a large circular tower, sometimes referred to as a donjon (though it should not be confused with a central keep). Unlike the Krak Des Chevaliers, Margat has a large outer ward, giving it a larger total area.

Village of al-Marqab.

The village of al-Marqab () is located just north of the castle, straddling the road leading north to the coastal city of Baniyas. Nearby localities besides Baniyas, include Talin to the east, Osaibah to the southeast with Basatin al-Assad and al-Bayda to the south. According to the Syria Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS), al-Marqab had a population of 2,618 as of the 2004 census. Its inhabitants are predominantly Sunni Muslims. Together, al-Marqab, Basatin al-Assad anf al-Bayda form a mostly Sunni Muslim-inhabited enclave in an area largely populated by members of the Alawite community.  A suburb has existed outside the fortress since at least the late 12th century, during Crusader rule. During this period, its chief exports were sumac, wine, must, almonds, figs and pottery. In 1325 North African geographer Ibn Batuta visited the suburb. In 1938 al-Marqab stood near the foot of the fortress and was among five Sunni Muslim villages in the area, which also contained several Alawite, Greek Orthodox, Greek Catholic and Maronite villages. In 1945, at the end of the French Mandate, al-Marqab had a population of 832. Starting in 1968, it experienced significant prosperity due to the construction of the Iraq Petroleum Company pipeline and petroleum port at Baniyas.

Margat, also known as Marqab, (), is a castle near Baniyas, Syria, which was a Crusader fortress and one of the major strongholds of the Knights Hospitaller. It is located around from the Mediterranean coast and approximately south of Baniyas. The castle remained in a poor state of preservation until 2007 when some reconstruction and renovation began.


History.

Construction of the Basilica probably began around 1232, just one year after the death of St. Anthony. It was completed in 1310 although several structural modifications (including the falling of the ambulatory and the construction of a new choir screen) took place between the end of the 14th and the mid-15th century. The Saint, according to his will, had been buried in the small church of "Santa Maria Mater Domini", probably dating from the late 12th century and near which a convent was founded by him in 1229. This church was incorporated into the present basilica as the "Cappella della Madonna Mora" (Chapel of the Dark Madonna).

Architecture.

Sant'Antonio is a giant edifice without a precise architectural style. Over the centuries, it has grown under a variety of different influences as shown by the exterior details.  The new basilica was begun as a single-naved church, like that of St Francis of Assisi, with an apsidal chancel, broad transepts and two square nave bays roofed with hemispherical domes like that of San Marco, Venice. The exterior style is a mixing of mainly Romanesque and Byzantine elements, with some Gothic features.  Later in the 13th century, the aisles were added in a more Gothic style, the length of each nave bay being divided into two aisle bays with pointed arches and quadripartite vaults.  The eastern apse was also extended in the Gothic style, receiving a ribbed vault and nine radiating chapels in the French manner. Later also, the Treasury chapel was built in 1691 in the Baroque style by Filippo Parodi, a pupil of Bernini.  Externally, the brick facade has a Romanesque central section which was extended outwards when the aisles were built, acquiring in the process four deep Gothic recesses and an elegant arcaded balcony which stretches across the broad front of the building. The facade gable shows little differentiation between the nave and aisle, screening the very large buttresses that have the same profile and form a richly sculptural feature when the building is viewed from the side.  The domes, like the domes of St. Mark's Basilica, were raised in height externally, giving a Byzantine appearance to the building, while the multitude of small belfries which accompany the domes recall Turkish minarets. Externally, at the main roof line each section of the building is marked by a low gable decorated with blind arcading in brick. These gables combine with the domes, the broad buttresses and the little towers to create a massive sculptural form, both diverse and unified in its conglomeration of features. As a work of architecture the building is particularly effective when viewed from the north west, an extra dimension being added to the facade by the huge plinth and dynamic equestrian monument of the Condottiero "Gattamelata" by Donatello.

Art works and treasures.

The interior of the church contains numerous funerary monuments, some of noteworthy artistic value. The Chapel of the Blessed Sacrament (Cappella del Santissimo Sacramento, also known as Cappella Gattamelata), in the right aisle, houses the tomb of the famous condottiero Gattamelata and of his son Giannantonio. The bronze tabernacle is made by Girolamo Campagna. This chapel, with its broad bands of polychrome and carved Gothic details, has had many stages of decoration, the final stage being the creation of an mosaic in the tall rear niche representing the Holy Spirit with rays of golden light descending against a background of intensely blue sky. This work was created by Lodovico Pogliaghi between 1927–36.  Relics of St Anthony are to be found in the ornate Baroque Treasury Chapel (begun in 1691). The body of the saint, which was in the Madonna Mora Chapel, has, from 1350, lain in a separate transept chapel, the Chapel of St Anthony, the interior decoration being attributed to Tullio Lombardo, who also provided the sixth and seventh reliefs depicting the miracles of St Anthony ("Miracle of the stingy man's heart", "Miracle of the repentant man"). The third relief "Saint bringing back to life a man who had been murdered" is a masterpiece by Girolamo Campagna. The late-16th century statues are by Tiziano Aspetti  The Basilica contains several important images of the Madonna. The "Madonna Mora" is a statue of the Madonna with the Christ Child by the French sculptor Rainaldino di Puy-l'Evéque, dating from 1396. Her name refers to her black hair and olive skin tone, being interpreted as "swarthy".  The "Madonna del Pilastro" is a mid-14th-century fresco by Stefano da Ferrara, located on the pier adjacent the left aisle.  Among other sculptural work is the Easter candelabrum in the apse, finished in 1515 by Andrea Briosco and considered his masterwork. The high altar area features the bronze "Madonna with Child" and six statues of "Saints" by Donatello, who also executed four reliefs with episodes of life of St. Anthony.  To the right hand side of the nave, opposite the tomb of the Saint is the large Chapel of St. James, commissioned by Bonifacio Lupi in the 1370s in Gothic style, with frescoed walls depicting the "Stories of St. James" and the Crucifixion by Altichiero da Zevio. Altichiero's "Crucifixion" is one of the most significant paintings of the late 14th century. There are several frescoes created by Girolamo Tessari.  The chin and tongue of St. Anthony are displayed in a gold reliquary at the Basilica.

Musical history.

The composer Francesco Antonio Calegari served as maestro di cappella in the 1720s. Giuseppe Tartini, the Baroque composer and violinist, also served as maestro di cappella in the 18th century.

The Pontifical Basilica of Saint Anthony of Padua () is a Roman Catholic church and minor basilica in Padua, Veneto, Northern Italy, dedicated to St. Anthony. Although the Basilica is visited as a place of pilgrimage by people from all over the world, it is not the titular cathedral of the city, a title belonging to the Cathedral-Basilica of St. Mary of Padua. The basilica is known locally as "il Santo". It is one of the eight international shrines recognized by the Holy See.


Early life.

He was born in London as Peter James Henry Solomon, to a large Jewish family, the only son of British-born Harold Solomon and Russian-born Flora Benenson; Peter Benenson adopted his mother's maiden name later in life. His army officer father died from a long-term injury when Benenson was aged nine, and he was tutored privately by W. H. Auden before going to Eton. At the age of sixteen, he helped to establish a relief fund with other schoolboys for children orphaned by the Spanish Civil War. He took his mother's maiden name of Benenson as a tribute to his grandfather, the Russian gold tycoon Grigori Benenson, following his grandfather's death.  He enrolled for study at Balliol College, Oxford but World War II interrupted his education. He served in the Intelligence Corps at the Ministry of Information where he met his first wife, Margaret Anderson. He worked at Bletchley Park during World War II in the Testery. He is listed as RSM Benenson in room 41 as a cryptographer.

Career.

After demobilisation in 1946, Benenson began practising as a barrister before joining the Labour Party and standing unsuccessfully for election at Streatham in 1950 and for North Herts constituency till 1959. He was one of a group of British lawyers who, in 1957, founded JUSTICE, the UK-based human rights and law reform organisation. In 1958, he fell ill and moved to Italy to convalesce. In the same year, he converted to the Roman Catholic Church.

Activism.

Benenson claimed to have been shocked and angered by a newspaper report of two Portuguese students from Coimbra sentenced to seven years in prison for raising their glasses in a toast to freedom during the regime of António de Oliveira Salazar, though this story has been shown to be a myth.. At this time, Portugal was ruled by the authoritarian Estado Novo regime, and anti-regime conspiracies were vigorously repressed by the Portuguese state police and deemed anti-Portuguese. He wrote to David Astor, editor of "The Observer". On 28 May 1961, Benenson's article, entitled "The Forgotten Prisoners", was published. The letter asked readers to write letters showing support for all those imprisoned for their political or religious beliefs. To co-ordinate such letter-writing campaigns, Amnesty International was founded in London in July 1961 at a meeting of Benenson and six other men, who included a Conservative, a Liberal and a Labour MP. The response was so overwhelming that within a year various groups of letter-writers had formed in more than a dozen countries.

Amnesty International.

Initially appointed general secretary of AI, Benenson stood down in 1964 owing to ill health. By 1966, Amnesty International faced an internal crisis. The advisory position of president of the International Executive was then created for him. In 1966, after a report of British use of torture in Yemen, he began to make allegations that the British government had infiltrated the governance of AI. An inquiry was set up which reported at Elsinore in Denmark in 1967. The allegations were rejected and Benenson resigned from AI.  While never again active in the organisation, Benenson was later personally reconciled with other executives, including Seán MacBride.

Personal life.

Marriage to his first wife Margaret Anderson ended in divorce in 1972. He married Susan Booth in 1973. They had two children and were married until his death in 2005.

Death.

He died of pneumonia on 25 February 2005 at the John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford, aged 83, having been a resident of the nearby village of Nuneham Courtenay where he was buried.

Peter Benenson (31 July 1921 – 25 February 2005) was a British lawyer, human rights activist and the founder of human rights group Amnesty International (AI). Benenson refused all honours but in his 80s, largely to please his family, he accepted the Pride of Britain Award for Lifetime Achievement in 2001.


Life.

Jungmann was the sixth child (out of ten) of a cobbler. His father was of Bohemian German descent and his mother was of Czech descent. The children grew up speaking both languages at home, which contributed heavily to Jungmann's later role as a revivalist of the Czech language. In his youth, he wanted to become a priest. After he completed grammar school in 1788-1792 however, he went on to study Philosophy and Law. Beginning in 1799, he started teaching at the local high school ("Gymnasium") in Litoměřice ("Leitmeritz"), which had a German majority at that time. In 1815, he moved to Prague, where he worked until 1845 in the Old Town Academic Grammar School as a Czech professor. He earned a doctorate in Philosophy and Mathematics in 1817; he was the dean of the Faculty of Arts in 1827 and 1838. In 1840, he became the rector of Charles University in Prague.

Work.

Jungmann was a rigorous advocate of the rebirth of written Czech language. In contrast to his teacher, Josef Dobrovský, he also wrote his works in Czech. In 1805, he published a translation of Chateaubriand's "Atala". By this, he intended to prove that the Czech language is suitable for complicated artistic texts. Later, he published translations of Johann Wolfgang Goethe, Friedrich Schiller and John Milton. Translation of "Paradise Lost" by Milton was called by Derek Sayer "the cornerstone" of modern literary Czech language. Jungmann’s original poems are few, but include two early Revival sonnets and the short narrative poem Oldřich a Božena.  In following years, he published a series of polemic texts, most notably the "Talks on Czech Language". In 1820, he published "Slovesnost", which was a kind of a stylistic textbook. In 1825, a "History of Czech literature" followed.  His most important work is the Czech-German dictionary in five volumes (1834–39). In this dictionary, he laid out the basis for the modern Czech vocabulary. In order to achieve the stylistic range of vocabulary he desired, for poetic effect, and in order to expand the lexical resources of Czech, Jungmann revived archaic words, for which he studied historical documents, or borrowed from other Slavic languages, and created neologisms. Many of his words became a permanent part of the language.  Jungmannova Street and Jungmannovo náměstí (Jungmann's Square) in Prague are named after him; the square contains a large statue of Jungmann.

Josef Jungmann (16 July 1773 in Hudlice, near Beroun – 14 November 1847 in Prague) was a Czech poet and linguist, and a leading figure of the Czech National Revival. Together with Josef Dobrovský, he is considered to be a creator of the modern Czech language.


Early life.

De Angelis was born in Rome. His father Giulio was an inshore and offshore powerboat racer who won many world championships in the 1960s and 1970s.  After a brief spell with karts, de Angelis went on to win the Italian Formula Three Championship in 1977. In 1978 he raced in Formula Two for Minardi and then for the ICI British F2 Team, he also competed in one round of the British Formula One championship and won the prestigious Monaco F3 race.

Formula One.

At the end of the 1977 season, de Angelis was on Enzo Ferrari's short list to replace Niki Lauda. De Angelis successfully tested the Ferrari at the Fiorano circuit but eventually Ferrari decided to hire Gilles Villeneuve. De Angelis's debut Formula One season was in with Shadow. He finished seventh in his maiden Grand Prix in Argentina and 15th in the championship with three points.  De Angelis's performance with Shadow caught the eye of Lotus boss Colin Chapman, who hired him to partner Mario Andretti in. At the age of 21, de Angelis nearly became the youngest Grand Prix winner of all time when he finished second at the Brazilian Grand Prix, run at the Interlagos circuit.  His first victory came in the 1982 Austrian Grand Prix at the Österreichring, 0.05 seconds ahead of the Williams of eventual World Champion Keke Rosberg. The win was the last hailed by Colin Chapman's act of throwing his cloth cap into the air. Chapman died in December that year and Peter Warr became the new Lotus team manager.  In Lotus switched from the Cosworth DFV they had been using since, to Renault turbo engines, but it was a disappointing season, suffering multiple mechanical failures. De Angelis's best result was a fifth place in the 1983 Italian Grand Prix.  In de Angelis had a much better season, scoring a total of 34 points and finishing third in the standings with three podiums. His best result was a second place at the Detroit Grand Prix. De Angelis was the only driver to finish in the top 5 in 1984 not to score a race win, showing his consistent performances throughout the season with the improving Lotus-Renault.  In, de Angelis was joined at Lotus by Ayrton Senna, who had left the Toleman team. De Angelis's second win came in the third race of the season, at the 1985 San Marino Grand Prix, after Alain Prost was disqualified when his McLaren MP4/2B was found 2 kg underweight. De Angelis also claimed his last Formula One pole position that year in Canada. He finished fifth in the championship, with 33 points, five points behind his teammate. However, de Angelis chose to leave Lotus at the end of the season, frustrated that the team's efforts were being focused mostly on Senna.  De Angelis's drive for was with Brabham, as a replacement for twice World Champion Nelson Piquet, who had moved to Williams to join de Angelis's former Lotus teammate Nigel Mansell. Fellow Italian Riccardo Patrese was his teammate. Patrese was returning to the Bernie Ecclestone owned team after two unhappy years with Alfa Romeo.  The 1986 Brabham-BMW, the BT55, was the brainchild of long time Brabham designer Gordon Murray. The BT55 was a lowline car with a reduced frontal area, the idea being to have a cleaner airflow over the car to create more downforce, while at the same time reducing the car's drag. The chassis proved effective, unlike the l4 BMW turbo that had to be tilted to an angle of 72°. This caused severe oil surge and an even greater lack of throttle response than the BMW had become famous for. Although the team worked hard to overcome these problems, it was clear from early in the season that Brabham had fallen behind the leading pack.

Death and aftermath.

In that year, during tests at the Paul Ricard circuit in France, the rear wing of de Angelis's BT55 detached at high speed resulting in the car losing downforce on the rear wheels, which instigated a cartwheel over a sidetrack barrier, causing the car to catch fire. The impact itself did not kill de Angelis but he was unable to extract himself from the car unassisted. The situation was exacerbated by the lack of track marshals on the circuit who could have provided him with emergency assistance. A 30-minute delay ensued before a helicopter arrived and de Angelis died 29 hours later, at the hospital in Marseille where he had been taken, from smoke inhalation. His actual crash impact injuries were only a broken collar bone and light burns on his back.  De Angelis's death also saw the end of Formula One using the full 5.81 km (3.61 mi) Paul Ricard Circuit. F1 cars started using the 3.812 km (2.369 mi) "Club" version of the circuit, bypassing the Verriere curves where the Brabham had crashed, and cutting the length of the Mistral Straight from 1.8 to 1 km in length. The move was unpopular with many of the drivers, although most did like the reduced straight length as it was easier on the engines. Paul Ricard would not host a race on the full layout until, which featured sharper Verriere curves and a chicane on Mistral effectively cutting the straight to two 800m straights.  De Angelis's place in the Brabham team was subsequently taken by Derek Warwick, allegedly because Warwick was the only available top level driver who did not contact team owner Bernie Ecclestone immediately after de Angelis's death asking to replace him. McLaren driver Keke Rosberg, who was a close friend of de Angelis, retired at the end of the 1986 season.  De Angelis was the last driver to die in a Formula One car until Roland Ratzenberger died during qualifying for the San Marino Grand Prix at Imola eight years later. The day after Ratzenberger's death, de Angelis's former Lotus teammate (and by then a triple World Champion) Ayrton Senna was killed on the seventh lap when his Williams-Renault crashed into the Tamburello Curve wall at over.

Legacy.

De Angelis was a concert-standard pianist, and famously kept his fellow Formula One drivers entertained with his skills while they locked themselves in a Johannesburg hotel before the 1982 South African Grand Prix at Kyalami when the Grand Prix Drivers Association held a strike in protest at the new Super Licence conditions imposed by the governing body, the FIA.  The French-Italian driver Jean Alesi, who broke into the sport in, wore a helmet that matched de Angelis's design, in tribute to his semi-compatriot.  In 2016, in an academic paper that reported a mathematical modelling study that assessed the relative influence of driver and machine, de Angelis was ranked the 20th best Formula One driver of all time.  In 2017 de Angelis was honoured at the Ludovico Scarfiotti Memorial in Rome.

Elio de Angelis (26 March 1958 – 15 May 1986) was an Italian racing driver who participated in Formula One between and, racing for the Shadow, Lotus and Brabham teams. He was killed in an accident while testing the Brabham BT55 at the Paul Ricard circuit, near the "commune" of Le Castellet, France, in 1986. De Angelis was a very competitive and highly popular presence in Formula One during the 1980s, and is sometimes referred to as Formula One's "last gentleman player".


Taxonomy.

The Eurasian coot was formally described by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in 1758 in the tenth edition of his "Systema Naturae" under its current binomial name "Fulica atra". Linnaeus specified the locality as Europe but this is now restricted to Sweden. The binomial name is from Latin: "Fulica" means "coot", and "atra" mean "black".  Four subspecies are recognised:  An extinct subspecies "F. atra pontica", has been described from the Chalcolithic (around 4800-4400 BP) from the Bulgarian Black Sea Coast.

Description.

The Eurasian coot is in length with a wing-span of ; males weigh around and females. It largely black except for the white bill and frontal shield (which gives rise to the phrase "as bald as a coot", in use as early as 1430). As a swimming species, the coot has partial webbing on its long strong toes. The sexes are similar in appearance.  The juvenile is paler than the adult, has a whitish breast, and lacks the facial shield; the adult black plumage develops when about 3–4 months old, but the white shield is only fully developed at about one year old.  This is a noisy bird with a wide repertoire of crackling, explosive, or trumpeting calls, often given at night.

Distribution and habitat.

The coot breeds across much of the Old World on freshwater lakes and ponds. It occurs and breeds in Europe, Asia, Australia, and Africa. The species has recently expanded its range into New Zealand. It is resident in the milder parts of its range, but migrates further south and west from much of Asia in winter as the waters freeze.

Behaviour and ecology.

The Eurasian coot is much less secretive than most of the rail family, and can be seen swimming on open water or walking across waterside grasslands. It is an aggressive species, and strongly territorial during the breeding season, and both parents are involved in territorial defence. During the non-breeding season they may form large flocks, possibly related to predator avoidance.  It is reluctant to fly and when taking off runs across the water surface with much splashing. It does the same, but without actually flying, when travelling a short distance at speed in territorial disputes or on land to escape from intruders. As with many rails, its weak flight does not inspire confidence, but on migration, usually at night, it can cover surprisingly large distances. It bobs its head as it swims, and makes short dives from a little jump.  When fighting other waterbirds (especially other coots), the coot attacks by charging its opponent and striking them with its long legs.

Breeding.

The nest is a bulky structure that is placed on the bottom in shallow water. It is constructed of plant stems and leaves with a lining of finer material. Normally concealed in vegetation the nest can sometimes be placed in the open. It is built by both sexes with the male collecting most of the material which is incorporated by the female. The eggs are laid at daily intervals. The clutch contains between six and ten smooth and slightly glossy buff coloured eggs that are covered with black or dark brown speckles. On average they are and weigh. The eggs are incubated by both sexes beginning after the second egg is laid and hatch asynchronously after 21 to 24 days. The chicks are precocial and nidifugous. The chicks are covered with a black down. On the body the down has yellow hair-like tips. On the sides of the head, nape and throat the hair-like tips are longer and orange-red. Between the eyes and on the lores, the tips are red. The shield is bright red and the bill is red with a white tip. The young are brooded by the female for the first three to four days during which time food is brought by the male. The male also builds one or more platforms that is used for roosting and brooding the chicks. On leaving the nest, the brood is sometimes split up with each parent taking care of a separate group. The young can feed themselves when they are around 30 days and fledge at 55 to 60 days. Eurasian coots normally only have a single brood each year but in some areas such as Britain they will sometimes attempt a second brood. They first breed when they are one to two years old.  Chick mortality occurs mainly due to starvation rather than predation. Most chicks died in the first 10 days after hatching, when they are most dependent on adults for food. Coots can be very brutal to their own young under pressure such as the lack of food. They will bite young that are begging for food and repeatedly do this until it stops begging. If the begging continues, they may bite so hard that the chick is killed. Coots will also lay their eggs in the nests of other coots when their environment or physical condition limits their ability to breed, or to lengthen their reproductive life.

Feeding.

The coot is an omnivore, and will take a variety of small live prey including the eggs of other water birds, as well as algae, vegetation, seeds and fruit. It shows considerable variation in its feeding techniques, grazing on land or in the water. In the water it may upend in the fashion of a mallard or dive in search of food.

Status.

The Eurasian coot is one of the species to which the "Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds" (AEWA) applies.

The Eurasian coot ("Fulica atra"), also known as the common coot, or Australian coot, is a member of the rail and crake bird family, the Rallidae. It is found in Europe, Asia, Australia, New Zealand and parts of North Africa. It has a slaty-black body, a glossy black head and a white bill with a white frontal shield. The sexes are similar.